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Keistering the Key to My Heart

I’ve been indicted on two counts of loving you
Hunted for a bounty of my tender affection
Be on the lookout for your art of seduction
I’m jumpin’ bond on your love’s stipulations

I’ve put restraints on all my temptations
So I don’t repeat-offend with a kiss
There’s no way I’m seeing parole this time
No, not for this recidivist

I won’t judge you for lovin’ me
If you don’t mind my pleading the fifth
Your plea bargaining is just trickery
You’ve expunged all my favorite friendships

You introduced yourself as Miss Demeanor
But your exes all call you ha’bitch
Because the games that you play are felonies
I’ve seen your paperwork, you’ve got a snitch

I’m want to gas chamber your broken promises
And electric chair your puppy dog eyes
I’m gonna food strike all these emotions
And appeal to stay all of your lies

You’ve incited a riot in my deepest desires
It’s time I keister the key to my heart
This lethal injection of love’s gone wrong
I think I’ll become Christian now

The Congener Interludes, Op. 1: Sonatina of Intrigue, No.2

Previous: The Congener Interludes, Op.1: Sonatina of Intrigue, No. 1

You’ve never had a sensei. You seek philosophy and enlightenment.

Having also mastered efficiency, I will ask your stupid questions for you.

You wonder: Where does one start on the road to success? Does a beginning marker appear at the crossroads of conflict? Should I expect proper signage and illuminated cautions, blaring at every turn and twist comprising the challenge I’m seeking to overcome?

The answer is: Success is not a road but a tree, branching through time and space, seeded by the moment you learn your very first death-punch and vow only to unleash it in the interest of justice.

Now, if you fuckers are committed to wasting my time, try to pay attention.

Lesson one: Prepare to be resourceful.

You don’t need to get ready for anything if you stay ready for everything. And everything — every experience, every “thing” — is waiting to be ascribed its purpose. Ambiguity is a weapon. Meditate on duality. Find the frequency that allows you to bring a life old to a close with a life new. Purpose the baby properly and it will do the work of the nunchuk for you.

Excuse me.

“Alexa, call Brenda.”

“Calling Brenda.”

Voicemail.

Lesson two: Be aware.

Let me be perfectly clear: As a structured metabolic system capable of molecular reproduction, your very state of being has been simplified and repurposed by versions of existence relative to that which your experience is derived from.

Favorable outcomes aren’t achieved with learned behaviors and lucky guesses. Success happens by eliminating non-value combinations of actions, methods and resource allocations. Recognizing something as “no value” is worth, at minimum, the expenditure of resources used to identify its worthlessness. This comes in handy when you least expect it.

“Alexa, call Brenda.”

“Calling Brenda.”

Voicemail.

Lesson three: Be humble.

Casually mentioning that the amount of resource consumption used to characterize a zero value probably exists somewhere as an entropic expansion of negative space is unnecessary. And betting random nerds wedgies that dark energy is consistent with the ones and zeroes being processed when the spatial dimensions we exist in solidify themselves via dynamic forms of measurement and transference doesn’t make any friends. Nobody likes a show off, and it pisses me off having to explain to a bunch of pussies why zero values don’t exist in terms of graphing isomorphism.

“Alexa, call Brenda.”

“Calling Brenda.”

Voicemail.

“But, Sifu,” you say, “Isn’t that of great importance? Shouldn’t this wisdom be shared for the benefit of all humankind?”

The answer is: Yes. But like the hipster gentrification of my beloved trailer park, there are forces at work you may never be able to understand.

No more questions.

“Alexa! Call Brenda!”

“Calling Brenda.”

Success.

“What do you want, Glenn? I’m at work.”

“Brenda. Oh, Brenda. Easy now. I need you to make a guess on today’s gas prices.”

“Is that all?”

“No. I’m getting low on foil. Call Bezos and have him do the thing.”

“You’re such a boner, Glenn.”

“Be a dear and schedule me a ride. No small-talk, please.”

“Schedule you with who?”

“Text Snake, ‘Lining up a gig.’ ”

“You are not.”

“Set an alarm an hour from now.”

“Can’t you do this yourself?”

“Well, Jesus and Hell, Brenda. And let the money you spent buying my Alexa go to waste like some kind of an asshole?”

Lesson four: Simplify.

Simple creatures, simple lives.

Five. Six. Seven rings.

“Here’s your stupid alarm, dick-turkey.”

“Alexa, notify Brenda I’m taking her up on her offer to give me a ride.”

Twenty minutes pass.

“I need gas, asshole,” says a woman attempting to explain the combustible engine powering her Datsun pickup.

“I know how it works, Brenda! Here’s the deal: you wear the wrap, I’ll handle the petro.”

Monetary systems are bullshit. Cash, credit and taxes all fall under the category “Regime Machinations.” There is no emotional value in a dollar. I prefer making exchanges on a more personal level.

“Arrgh! I hate you. You are such a communist, Glenn. I’m not doing this today.”

“How many times, Brenda? How many times must I tell you: I don’t subscribe to politics. A tribal interchange system is the only way to we’ll get back to our roots.”

I’m forced to listen to her incessant whining while I purpose the foil into a burka.

We achieve forward motion.

My hyper-awareness is triggered during a stoplight as the soccer mom idling behind us begins to slowly creep along our side. Soccer moms will do anything for affirmation. I give her a wink and mouth the words “I would,” saving a call to her therapist.

It feels good, doing my part.

“Oh. My. God. Glenn! Do you think you could have picked a dog with stinkier farts?”

“Oh, hang a prophet on a cross, Brenda! You’ve offended our guest. Must I fill the other half of your glass, too?” she is driving me crazy.

“Please. Please give me the Hightop ish on dog farts.”

“Brenda, Monte’s aroma is that of a fully-matured diet. This magnificent beast has entered adulthood under the love and care of a family willing to do whatever it takes to ensure his experience consists of only the best. Have you ever known a Great Dane who never took a shit that wasn’t personally composed by Rachael Ray? His releasing subsidiary buildups with no trace of fear or reprisal is majestic. He’s been nurtured to a state that allows nature to course through his being with minimal resistance. You don’t just find his breed wandering around indoctrinated by the spirit of Lao Tzu, Brenda!”

Ghost of Mary, Spirit of Jew.

“Huh. And explain why I’m wrapped in foil again?”

“We’re a pack, Brenda. We can’t have Monte flying solo. We move together, as one organism.”

“You could have at least given me eyeholes. And why aren’t you wrapped up, too?”

“Because he needs to be able to identify the alpha. It’s hard to explain to a woman. You just need to trust me on this.”

“And why wouldn’t I offer you my blind trust. After all you’ve done for me…”

“Exactamundo, Brenda. I spent fifteen Ghillie-suited hours of surveillance filling up your gas tank. I’m hurt by your accusations. I would never ask you to participate in any aspect of a mission not conducive to its success.”

“Will you please just make the call? We’re running on fumes.”

“Alexa, have Brenda dial the Roberts.”

“That’s not how it works, Glenn!”

But it does. It works just fine.

The second hand reaches business-casual-thirty, “Mrs. Roberts? Is this Mrs. Roberts? …I’m so sorry, ma’am. Ma’am? …I’m having a hard time understanding you. Perhaps you can put the decision maker on the line. Is Mr. Roberts available? …Oh, this is Mr. Roberts?”

Bingo.

“Yeah, hey there, champ. Now, I can’t be certain, but I believe I’ve found your dog. …Oh, jeez no. He’s okay, thank Jehovah. Just a little lost. …Hmm. You don’t say? Couldn’t get a signal on him, huh? Well, I’ll be… You know, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Boy, when you can’t trust the pet locator service industry… Tell you what: I know a guy — super honest. He doesn’t use the chips or anything. Beyond reliable,” snapping for Brenda to get a card ready.

“…Well, he was quick runner, that’s for sure. Took a while to tire him out. A little too carefree, if you ask me. Weaving through traffic like that, he almost got clipped. …Oh, isn’t that the truth. You don’t know what’ch’ya got until it’s gone. Jinx! Ha! Say, I’d love to bring him to you. Uh, the thing is: I used all my gas running him down and I still gotta get my lady to the hospital. …Explosive diarrhea. Yeah, never seen anything like it. Any chance you could pick him up and give us a lift? She won’t stop shitting all over the place…”

He arrives and we make the drop. One good Samaritan recognizes another and we are freshly fueled — ready for takeoff.

File this satisfied customer under “Repeat Business.”

“See, Brenda? See how the universe treats you when you show a little reverence to your planetary experience? I’m not going to be here forever. You need to figure this shit out.”

“Why, Glenn? Why does it still smell like farts?”

The alarms have been long sounding by the time we reach an entrance to the lot.

Facial recognition must have picked me up me a mile back.

Noticeably shaking from nerves is a youthful booth attendant, right now wondering if a job in Designated Parking is worth it. His fear is understandable, considering my history.

A dozen suits with cookie-cutter haircuts rush from the center building in a weak attempt to secure the complex. I watch the lead raise a cuff to his face and mouths the words I hear crackling from a radio mounted in the booth. “That’s a no-approach, son. Repeat, no-approach. Let it through and report for debrief.”

“Been here before?” Brenda knows the routine.

Memories of a time long past slide into my DM’s .

Life was easier as a simple accordion lead for cartel-mariachi in Sinaloa.

I failed to reacclimate to the suburbs following my years abroad committing unspeakable acts.

War-torn countries don’t just rebuild themselves. As one-of-six left behind to engage in the high-pressure confrontations that come with establishing reliable information networks, I was a necessity.

You’ve heard stories from soldiers who made it home, and you thought they had it tough. Well, after three tours of door-to-door magazine sales in the bush, my description of Hell is a little more accurate.

I came home to open-arms missing, and, instead, found a crooked and bitter man of the law. He failed to understand that removing a man from the wild jungle means nothing to the wild jungle living in a man.

Things went bad.

The same day that Hollywood picked up the story and took some liberties, I woke up drugged and concussed, knowing only two things for certain: The potato sack I was hogtied up in had been doubling as my pajamas, and the speed of a still-moving train multiplied by the degree of shift in my cerebral star chart equals me stranded deep in southern territory.

Months were spent drinking from mud-puddles and fighting for back-alley scraps in a city better left unpronounced.

By the time he found me, I was desanimado and farmacodependiente — peeling like a banano in the desert sun. Like an angel of redemption, he pulled me up from the filth I was drowning in. I’ll never know what he saw in me, but it was certainly something I couldn’t see for myself.

In taking me under his wing and curing my cursera, he saved my life. And then he made me his brother.

“Pastelito,” I remember him saying, “You are the only person con deficiencia en el desarrollo I have ever known. I am safe with you. I must insist, you will stay and play for me accordion.”

I served Jefe for what seemed like ages — hunted by the contraterrorismo for every minute of that time.

Our days were spent staying two moves ahead of multi-national taskforce operations. Their armies may have lucked into finding and burning the occasional villa of coca, but they could never find a way to prevent us from harvesting the people’s admiration.

We were untouchable. We were loved. And these bastards took him from me.

Dropped off in front of the building, I’m surrounded by their emergency response team.

Brenda’s pickup backfires pulling away. Somewhere calls a referee: False start, tight end! My underwear accepts the penalty and we’re both down by a safety.

“What brings you in from the cold?” says the designated douchebag in charge.

“Just here to warm my mitts and enjoy my timeshare. You don’t see a problem with that… do you, Waymon?”

“You don’t get to walk away, Zamboni. That’s not how it works. You’re in too deep!”

“I’ll decide. And it’s best you don’t forget, Way-way: I’m the reason this program still exists.”

My visitor’s pass feels more like a badge of irony: this was my house before it ever was theirs.

The building once offered cover to a small, elite unit of abstract problem-solvers. A set of uniquely-talented individuals blended with civilian workers and utilized their respective skill-sets to accomplish high-priority, covert tasks. These operators were responsible for the rise and fall of my Jefe.

After six months of zeroing in on the city, four hours off the the train was all it took to locate the facility.

It goes like this: Black-ops require funding. Funding requires creativity. Creativity means nothing is on the up-and-up. To uncover an Operation Control Center such as this, set your headings to the scent of large-scale fraud. When you find the nickel and diming of your average American’s hard-earned tax dollars, it’s game-on.

I identified the target’s potential by their hiring policy: felons facing the threat of recidivism should management report to their parole officers an inadequate sales performance, only. Leave it to the government to shield themselves by “providing opportunities to the disenfranchised” one fraudulent phone call at a time.

A deeper inspection identified classical propaganda: the business name insisting it was completely American, the selling Mom and Pop businesses advertising space on high school sports posters to help the children, the sociopathic sing-song voice used by brainwashed civilian recruits to deliver their captor’s message while lulling you into a false sense of security…

Bullseye.

The things that bring you home…

The setup: basic and easy to infiltrate. I followed their protocol. I earned their trust. It took two months to reprogram half of their civilian workers. There was nothing I could do for the other half. The men would have to go it alone.

Quota was required, but I could do no harm to innocents. Hacking their call-monitoring system using my own proprietary algorithm allowed me to coast under-the-radar.

Assets’ behaviors, activities and success ratios were monitored by computer. A program tracked operators’ call averages with the duration of time spent live on the line — after a call has been answered.

I kept a list: lunch hours, business hours, vacations, etc. The computer was stupid and couldn’t detect high volumes of repeat-calls. Utilizing this blind-spot allowed me to surf automated directories for long transfer times. And by surfing switchboards all day, I honed the skills necessary for navigating sketchy waters.

There were no preventions in place to protect from my methods. The closest they came were sounding the alarms against workers trying to victimize corporations. “It’s easier to sucker money from hard-working, struggling middle-class proprietorships,” they would say.

A good operator knows certain liberties need taken when deep undercover, and ransoming precious moments of time from goliath, corporate bullies was a gift of mine. I wouldn’t call me hero, I tend to think of myself more as a victim of awesome mutations with an interest in justice. Either way: I didn’t find the high road, I built it.

This little side-gig was responsible for siphoning one-percent resources into the millions.

The ships I channeled were all the same: manned by a captain with a delegation assigned to prevent casual interference from scavengers. Strictly accustomed to barking protocols at deckhand clones, the chain-of-command operates blindly.

Using a patent-pending process dubbed “Climbing the Corporate Ladder,” I’d pass undetected through several levels of these biometric safeguards.

Requiring patience, this procedure could take an entire day. Sometimes weeks were submerged attempting to reach the first mate keeping gate. But, from there, a “Hey, Janet! Glenn, with publishing. Rough day, today. Need an executive decision real fast. Can you put Anne on? I’ll make it quick, lord knows she’s busy…” was all it took to summons the commander.

Unaware and unwilling, the commandant assists the heist: One part trying to understand how I made it past the buffers, one part trying to convince me the international chemical conglomerate being overseen can’t justify spending a buck-ten on my square-inch of advertising space. They would hold firm despite us “talking featured on a high school badminton poster with guaranteed window-optimization in over seven local-to-Parma, Idaho business locations.”

The amount of money corporations pay their CEO’s for thirty minutes of haggling bullshit is nothing short of sin.

A few weeks of dismantling these monsters from the inside and management spotted me as talent. They studied my techniques, adopted my methods and brought me in with full artistic control.

It was a working op before I walked in. By the time I left it was an Elron-a-don Hubbard magic show.

Watching Waymon call security to assist with the last set of doors leading to the lush cubicle acreage of my old stomping grounds, I know what to expect. They won’t respond to his request. The voice-confirmation code I designated him when I left is obviously still a hit.

He is sweating now.

He has no choice.

He leans into the speaker.

“You’re listening to DJ Way-way — from Way-Gay’s I-8-6.9 — serving you a hot one with the Liquid Turd’s, “Holy Spokes, I’m Deep in Your Love.”

The doors open.

I don’t normally displace time for my fans. Slow motion feels gratuitous when you share genetic ancestry with six species of panthers. Nonetheless, they’ll expect it.

Finger-pistols, ready: it’s time to tell the kids that Daddy’s home.

Next: The Congener Interludes, Op.1: Sonatina of Intrigue, No. 3

Forever My Way-Way

A Tribute to the GEO Group’s Warden Waymon Barry of Eagle Pass

Oh Waymon, my berry
My fruitful and bold
Oh, how did I dear take a toll on your soul?

Was it the corn dogs I doubled, the staff on my team
The lounge for employees where I did things obscene
The entropics I preached and practiced all day
The Scientology group I petitioned to fake?

Oh please, you must, tell what could it be
The bookdrive I started or adseg TVs
Were you bothered I read or upset I write
Was there pain in your heart to lock up a white?

You still owe my pizza
You still owe my blankie
I caught you all naughty
And primed for a spanking

Forever deep in my heart
Of origin rings truth
Once a pain in my ass
Now expensive for you

Regarding Disciplinary

(Included as a cover letter:)

6-12-19
Dear Mailroom,

Under the Idaho Public Records Act, Disclosure of Idaho Department of Corrections Records Under the Idaho Public Records Act, IDOC Public Records User Manual v3.0, section 2 (Types of Records) – you must allow this communication to proceed to its intended recipient so that it can be received and placed in my case management file and IDOC’s Department Business Operations Records.

This is NOT a disciplinary appeal.

Irving 82431
—————-

(Actual Letter)

6-12-19
Dear Mr. Fraser,

Thank you for reviewing my Disciplinary Offense Report. I appreciate your consideration. While I respect your ruling and understand its finality, I’m confused by your understanding of prisoners’ rights, Federal Guidelines for Disciplinary Due Process Procedures, Idaho Department of Corrections Policy 318 and IDOC Policy 316. Of specific interest to me is your phrasing that disciplinary “is not a criminal prosecution and does not require the same evidentiary thresholds or processes.”

I can understand these are not identical processes. I can not understand how that allows a person to be served with an offense, offered a hearing for that offense, given sanctions for the same offense, be denied their ability to appeal through forms and instructions made unavailable, and then have the offense they were served with and had a hearing for changed four months later.

The purpose of policy 318 is to “establish guidelines for ensuring the inmate disciplinary system is managed consistently, effectively, and ethically throughout the Idaho Department of Corrections.” This policy states, “Staff have specific authorized responsibilities for the inmate disciplinary system processes.” This is clearly made to extend to contract facilities under section 8 of this policy.

While IDOC may have neglected to have properly trained Grievance and Disciplinary Officers at Eagle Pass Correctional Facility, that is through no fault of the inmate. Had IDOC taken the time to inform EPCF that we classify offenses and process them differently from their usual non-English speaking immigration detainees, this wouldn’t be at issue. That being the case, because you plead guilty to and pay for a speeding ticket in Mexico, you would never reasonably expect that agreement to be discarded so you could be punished for vehicular assault four months later, in Idaho.

EPCF staff aren’t the only people “responsible” for the disciplinary system being managed “consistently, effectively, and ethically” as purposed by this policy. Although I have documented a great deal of references I’ve made to IDOC Agreement Number A18-002, no one person at GEO Group or IDOC appears interested in becoming familiar with section 5.5. This states, “Once all appeals processes are exhausted at the Facility, Inmates may submit an appeal to the IDOC Contract Monitor or designee.”

As my first appeal was never processed, I grieved a policy that was ineffective. Contrary to popular belief, this was not an appeal for disciplinary. This was an appeal for the basic human decency needed to provide the Appeals process offered by IDOC Policy 318. My grievance regarding retaliation was also not a disciplinary appeal. It was a grievance concerning classification that resulted from disciplinary action, and, according to Policy 316.02.01.001 (3. Exceptions:, Example 3), never should have been dismissed citing Policy 316. Furthermore, the response to this grievance recommended I could only present this issue using the appeals process that I previously grieved for not being made available.

If my attempt to use the provision placed in IDOC Agreement Number A18-002, section 5.5 was a test, the result was predictable. Tim Higgins and Monte Hansen, IDOC Contract Monitors, delegated their responsibility to Warden Waymon Barry – the same man responsible for my first nonexistent and disappearing appeal.

In my experience, the only thing being applied “consistently” and “effectively”, in regards to Policy 318 at IDOC’s Contract Facility, is a complete lack of morals, ethics, and competence. This is of an inmate’s concern. Please log it as such.

Regards,
Patrick Irving 82431

Messaging Elon

5/05/19
Dear The Musk Foundation,

The word-missiles I launch are manufactured for $.55 each. A majority of the cost is for the delivery mechanism, USPS. My current targets are private prison operatives and the reasons they exist.

The missiles are crafted to direct influencers to a recent private prison experience I compiled using materials that were available to me while I was in solitary confinement. It is a thoughtful, introspective presentation of self that guides you through the fight for basic rights with the private prison company currently holding Idaho residents on the Mexican border. It is available free for download at bookofirving82431.com.

The Idaho Department of Correction has recently held these invitations to lawyers, press, advocates, religious organizations and lawmakers with the implication they are indeed weapons. Weapons directing agents of change to a presentation consisting largely of information that should already be available by way of The Idaho Public Records Act. This act of censorship has only helped my cause.

It is risky for me to seek funding in the amount of $110.00 for 200 launches. So, that is not what I’m doing at all. Wink, wink.

Lovingly embattled,
Patrick Irving 82431
IMSI
PO Box 51
Boise, ID 83707

The Congener Interludes, Op. 1: Sonatina of Intrigue, No. 1

I wake up stiff and dehydrated, with questionable bruising — telltale signs of a drunken battle the night before. My feet find ground and close the distance to the bathroom so I can fix the leak that woke me up. Sleepy hand-eye coordination is no match for that stubborn spigot. By the time the leaking has stopped, my socks are soaking in a puddle made fresh on the floor.

The cat box will provide cover to inquiring noses until it’s discovered that its asshole owner left with its asshole owner. Meanwhile, the commercials say if this thing lasts longer than four hours I may have an emergency. I’ll keep that in mind, but for now I’ve got bigger problems.

Over to the coffeepot for round two of yesterday’s brew. I’ve said the same thing for four days now, let’s not get into semantics. Also, fuck math. It’s better we don’t talk about it.

What we should discuss is how my jezebel wife won’t sign the Leviticus papers, even though she is now a He that insists on my calling him Tank. I’ve taken more shit from lesser men. That’s something that happens when you can’t fight.

Tank’s parting gift was this angel-deucin’ seven-gallon Brewmonster that requires power tools and computer literacy to put in fresh grounds. Hence, my being forced to drink a matured version of what he left me with six days ago. I can’t imagine him leaving it at all if it wasn’t media equipped to play that stupid video every time it turns on. It’s the one of Tank doing sixty-pound curls while psycho-eyeing the camera and snarling, “Zip it up faggot, it’s time to put in work!”

The friendly reminder serves to inspire my productivity so I’ll make maintenance payments on the pair of Cambodians we went halfsies on while we were still in love. People tend not to run numbers into the future when the single adoption agency willing to work with them calls with a one-time-only, buy-one-get-one-free special — good for the next six hours. Stupid fuckin’ math!

The business I’m in carries more dilemmas than trying to earn a Tumbling Patch from a Catholic Boy Scout Leader before your body loses the limber edge that it was gifted by adolescence. And similarly, I’m forced to navigate a gauntlet of dicks end-over-end, for weeks at a time, to remain in my parents’ good graces and continue receiving an allowance. It’s also not uncommon having various forms of starter kits and contraband knuckled deep in my anus, depending on the task at hand. Not that I’m one to complain.

Our paths meet at a quaint little hole-in-the wall with a sign on the entrance illustrating Shotgun Tacos. Waiting in line for the Korean behind the counter to call my number, she catches my eye as a crack appears from the door to the crapper. She’s washing her face when a goliath emergency squeezes past her, forcing her to evac for safety.

I know she has me in that first exchange.

“Funny,” I say. “And here I thought this joint got its name because of how quickly they serve the food.”

“No, sugar,” from between the freshly moistened lips of a cracked smile. “It’s because it leaves the barrel with a wide spread and high gauge at mach velocity. I would know, I use to be a physicist.”

“Tell me then, in your professional opinion: Should I be concerned that I just ordered the Number Two, extra risky?”

“Oh darling, you may need a friend. It just so happens I’m in the friend business. I suppose I’ll get us a booth. Find me when you get your food.”

A tray full of tacos arrives wrapped in advertisements for an emergency medical service of the unusual sort. Thoughts drift from pictures of a gerbil wearing tights and a stethoscope to the fact that it’s not often I walk with confidence to a table seating the sexiest lady in any establishment. It crosses my mind that this is a setup. I’m not on anyone’s bestie list this month. I have to further consider this possibility.

Proceeding with an old interrogation technique that involves the element of surprise, I sit down with a smile, cut a fart and get right into it. “So, care to tell me who sent you?”

“Oh, my! Cautious and carefree — I didn’t think it could be done. How do you do it stranger?”

I cheese again. “You’re either a daydream or a nightmare, lady. I’m looking to pass the bullshit and get to the nocturnal emission. What’s your story?”

“But what if sharing my little secrets encourages you to get up and walk away, leaving my tender heart all broken?”

“Look doll, number one: My wiener doesn’t pass judgement based on back story. And two: Those farts weren’t exactly carefree. Believe it or not, I have some major concerns going on back there lately. As far as I’m concerned, we’re in this together now.”

“And suppose I trust you enough to let you in on my being in some kind of trouble?”

I take a moment of careful deliberation to consider the kind of trouble she’s capable of: Possibilities of a pimp or estranged boyfriend, credit card or bank fraud, maybe some kind of high-dollar theft…

Never underestimate the situation. This I’ve learned over the years. It also helps to refrain from putting people in boxes. Asians don’t all know karate, bleached buttholes don’t all belong to women, heterosexual powerbottoms do exist and the woman of your dreams might just end up being a psychotic, steroid fueled, gender-revising rape artist searching for the perfect victim to marathon mindfuck.

All this considered, I know I’m in before I know what I’m in.

We finish the tacos and let the tears dry while the Korean proprietor grows anxious for us to leave.

Standing up to walk her out, my guts are alerted they have access to legs. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shit myself in excess of any number of times. It’s a lesser-known fact that an underwear derby is classically underrated as a defense mechanism, typically good for many types of situations. My instinctual ability to perform rapid assessments informs me this is not one of them.

Never underestimate a woman’s need to test a man. It would simply be odd if my grimacing behind a waterfall of sweaty tears didn’t provoke an, “I just need a minute with the Lady’s Room to collect myself.”

My wanting to clarify it is actually a unisex free-for-all shitter lying twenty-seven paces from the booth she picked — knowing damn well as a messiah-crippling physicist this moment would arrive in the future — somehow translates into the puckered screeching of, “It’s no problem, I can handle danger”

I dismount the throne still partially blinded by what I thought was Heaven’s welcoming light and realize only as the Korean is demanding an additional fiver that I have been “Splash Mountained.” His camera’s ability to recognize the precipice of pain and fear while cresting above a heart-wrenching drop — cushioned by open water’s smooth sailing — is uncanny. Never underestimate the business acumen of a diversified entrepreneur.

The asshole cat showed up around the same time as our little Cambodians. The day after we brought them home, I found Fister trapped in the tiny hand-me-down barbecue we use to moodlight our romantic encounters. The timing of his arrival and location of his discovery rang bells of suspicion. Tank’s downplay noted that I should be thankful Fister didn’t find a way into the microwave, the fork in his head could have spelled disaster.

Keying in the code to the front door, I’m plagued by intuition a fickle one-eyed monster is lurking about. My instincts are confirmed before the door has finished rolling up. He’s pissing nonchalantly on my favorite childhood blanket while drinking from the bowl of cereal I had locked in the cooler. Under normal circumstances, I would be pissed, but home has been lonely, lately. In truth, I’m just happy to see him.

“Hey Tank, you’re looking good. Say, is Fister with you?”

As a married couple, our communication was always lacking. Anymore, despite being generally used to elicit a plea for mercy, my ears perk up at even the slightest grunt of aggression. When you stop appreciating the little things, it’s time to walk away completely.

I’m fortunate in that picking up on the subtle cues of body language is a necessity in my craft. The skill comes in handy when navigating the minefield of a dysfunctional marriage while trying to decipher the degree of your partner’s homicidal intent. Currently observing one hand rubbing a fist straight into his eyeball and the other finger-pistoling our makeshift table, I assess it’s best to appear nonthreatening from a seated position.

I pull up a milk crate to the big neon “N” I adopted after the family business was court-ordered to undergo sensitivity training and make a minor adjustment to our DBA. I brought it home and found it could “do business as” a six-seater if laid on it’s side. That kind of resourcefulness in my trade is also a necessity.

Tank leans against the stack of crates he has prepared opposite of me — a move to establish my inferiority from an elevated position — smiles, breaks wind and snarls, “Who is she?”

“Baby, I…uh, tacos,” is punctuated by the hard slap of a man resenting being called “baby” on account of it crossing the lines of gender neutrality into a feminine leaning danger zone.

A long silence performs measurements of my being I can’t begin to comprehend. No more grunting. No more words. I’m left to be alone in my feelings again, and without the hope of my wife seeking reconciliation.

Nothing mends a broken man like the comfort of a reasonably medicated mother figure.

My folks should be up moving around as soon as the sun has fully set.

Right now, Mom is likely to be lining up her dailies in order of granule size, color and drip bite. Dad is probably waiting for Mom’s mix to take before stepping out of a sensory deprived, meditation chamber and going right into a Texas Ranger kata.

Living together on opposite sides of unknown spectrums, my procreators call home the house attached to my apartment. Even though they continue to run the same skip-trace outfit they started in another time, I worry of their ability to function at full capacity. We agreed it couldn’t hurt if I kept an eye on their well-being from the French studio that came with the house. That gives them the space they need to escape the embarrassment of having a live-in babysitter, and, for the last nineteen years, it’s an inconvenience I can tolerate.

Tending to them daily can be a fulltime job. For that reason, I’m careful not to let other responsibilities tie up my schedule. After the name-change, Pops suggested I switch occupations from lead consultant at Run Bigger, Run! to CEO of a secret philanthropy operation. It’s completely off the books. The official job description my parents have outlined is to “do good things that can never be traced back to the family business.” Wayne Enterprises does the same thing with Batman.

“Hi baby! How’s Karen?” is the first thing I hear from my mother.

“Why? What did you hear? Am I in danger?”

I hear my father’s footwear approaching before I hear the sound effects he adds to all of his upper body movements. He says the gear fell off of a Swiss army truck, but hints of their origins speak more towards Nigerian arms dealer. The ankle purse and shin rack are made from Superbowl jerseys proclaiming a losing team has championed.

“Boyo! Come give your old man a hug. I knew I heard you weeping. Shew. Shew. What have we told your mother — fwit, fyeeew — about calling her Tank now, huh?”

Just two strong men embracing.

I don’t correct his improperly pronouning the wife because the time one gives to details is always better used elsewhere.

I quickly deduce Mother hasn’t any new signs of stroke. Evidenced by Dad’s not wearing pants is his keeping jungle instincts sharp.

Straight to debriefing the need-to-knows: I’m doing “good”, I need money and tech, please pick up if the phone rings.

Waiting to see her for the second time today, I reminisce of the last time I went to an evening circus.

I know the choice of venue is of significance relevant to her recent troubles.

A good rule of thumb is to always take extra precautions in the event an emergency extraction is required. There is no problem too big or small to ask for help running away from. With this in mind, I feel no shame having asked Dad to lend me a handcuff key and emergency beacon for Mom to index in my hole-a-dex. In fact, this has been something of a family ritual since I was a free-range seven-year-old. And, unless your captors get off by watching you sit in your own filth, they’re easier to access than one might imagine. With a little extra creativity, one can even work around the “unless.”

I followed her instructions to a back entrance and have been waiting under a sign suggesting “Performers Only” will be permitted access.

Another rule of thumb is to dress appropriate to the occasion. While I have a plethora of apparel and nuances to match, I felt it wise not to change out of what I woke up in. Reaffirming this decision is an Amish tollbooth signalling groupies into the tent, “You too, cockholster. The freak show is starting without you.”

“Thanks, but I’m not here as a sideshow attraction.”

“Really? Because the dickhole you got burnt into the back of your trousers tells me you’re the slide-bone stash-magnet.”

“Not today,” thinking quickly, “I’ve been promoted.” It’s obvious I’m dealing with a professional.

Tollbooth bites the line.

The scents and sounds of wild animals being held captive has awoken my primal instincts. Knowing this is strictly a recon mission, and not in any way meant to be romantic, I can’t help but consider how the thrill of a shared adrenaline rush might offer potential for a well-crafted segue into a parking lot tryst.

“I’m not going to fuck you,” is the first thing she says walking up, “The swing was the closest thing I had to any kind of performance gear at my house. Grab the stirrups, we’re tandem trapeze artists.”

We begin to make our way through the tent and notice the smell of horseshit and hay bales transitioning into hard liquor and burning tobacco. We find a poorly lit corner stacked with holding cages and assume it to be where the little people are kept.

Something is wrong. A poker game has been recklessly abandoned with a cigarette still smoldering in an ashtray, a lipstick-stained meth pipe lay freshly puddled by an exercise wheel, the wheel still spinning as if haunted by the ghost of a massive tweaked out hamster.

I watch her heart break as she states the obvious, “They must have known we were coming.”

Nothing makes a man feel vulnerable like an inability to take action. These are the moments when you have to re-evaluate the situation and focus on maintaining morale. I do my best to salvage the integrity of our mission, “Why don’t we go back out to the parking lot and talk this through while the adrenaline settles?”

Five. Six. Seven rings.

“Topper,” my uncle, Glen. Twin of my father, brother-in-arms.

Over the years, Glenn “Hightop” Zamboni has been my Alfred. That is, if Alfred is capable of combat ribbon dancing reservation-drunk, or able to perform under the pressure of having to place in a Wilt Chamberlain sexathon being held in ISIS-controlled territory.

“I’m in need of assistance.”

“To whom is the party of which I am speaking?”

“It’s your nephew.”

“Name, please?”

“Not applicable.”

“Still haven’t decided, eh?”

“I’m in no rush. You have the same Pappy as my father, you know that’s how the government gets you. Besides, Mom says names are cages that define the space of our being and it’s more fruitful to exist in multiple states simultaneously.”

“Fucking Heisenberg. Look, I’m kind of busy. Between Shark Fest and Shark Week… hell, I got sharks all up in my asshole! Also, the box sitting next to an entire cast of circus freaks is getting checked today. I almost missed a tandem trapeze artist last night. She’s super vulnerable right now and in desperate need of Uncle Topper’s Zamboni Service.”

Coincidence. The universe is trying to tell me something.

“That’s perfect. I’m going to need you to use your new connections and gather some intel. Call me when you come up for air.”

I took the nephew out a couple of nights ago to get Terry-Bradshaw-wasted. I’ve been turning his confidence up by having him snort boner pills while he’s black-out drunk. A couple of minutes in an industrial dryer and a bullshit story the next day keeps him walking on air between visits from that monster he married. It’s the very least I can do, and the most I’m willing to.

I saw him again last night at a traveling circus.

Hanging up the phone with him this morning, I was already apprised of the situation.

My returning the bearded lady was suppose to be the final send-off to a show of strange and unusual performances running from my bedroom this last week. Dropping her off, I spotted the two of them crying uncontrollably in the parking lot. Historically speaking, this was a sure sign they had just put their clothes back on. As an uncle, I was proud he finally scored some vag that wasn’t scientifically refashioned to fit inside his butthole. As a wild jungle cat competing for territory in the bush, I was relieved to overhear the tandem trapeze girl wasn’t crying from sex. I waited until she was out of his peripherals and one well-timed glide that toed the line of dance-walking was all it took.

I’m not the World’s Greatest Uncle, but I’m no heartless douchebag, either.

After careful deliberation, I ruled it would be irresponsible of me not to properly vet my nephew’s new love interest. I find it unlikely other justices would present dissenting opinions, in light of all we’ve been through with Karen. It’s no secret the boy has a knack for finding himself in trouble. He’s as lucky as Lois Lane to have access to my hear-and-see-all supernatural capabilities. The court has moved to uphold my motion and will allow me to proceed in treating the witness as hostile.

It took multiple hours of appraising the asset to discover, in intricate detail, two items of concern. The first was the people she mixed it up with. Having dealt with counterfeiters before, I know for a fact people dealing in bootleg midgets are a different kind of criminal. Generally speaking, they possess the brains to network black-market contacts and iron out logistical wrinkles accompanying traditional human trafficking operations, while also packing the brawn used to equalize any threat presented by a clan of angry little powerhouses who have been cornered into psychotic states with their sole purpose maintaining survival. Lucky for her, this won’t be notch one on my belt. On the unfortunate side of things, there is nothing I can do for a puffy vagina.

The underworld and Glenn have had an arrangement for some time now. It doesn’t show up on my doorstep trying to collect a down payment on child support, knowing I only ordered the bearskin rug, and I don’t advertise the fact that a whole library of Zamboni’s greatest hits are three feet from surfacing at any given time while I continue to learn more about this so-called Internet every day. It’s safe to say the calls I make don’t got unanswered.

As a prospect for eleven separate street gangs, three different motorcycle clubs and several miscellaneous chapters of the Anonymous variety, it’s seldom that I make my own coffee or go without a ride. I have contacts. It’s a thing.

Say ol’ Topper can’t get ahold of his brethren from the Falafel Dusters or Shinobi Stingrays? My personal roadie has a very helpful girlfriend. Together, they have no problem backing me up.

Did I fail to mention I’m a fill-in drummer for thirty-six equally amazing bands?

I wouldn’t say I run these streets, because leaders that brag aren’t sexy.

Next: The Congener Interludes, Op.1: Sonatina of Intrigue, No. 2

About “The Book”

Sections 1-4 of the Book of Irving were mostly compiled using what materials I had available in solitary confinement. My goal was to offer a thoughtful, introspective presentation of self while guiding you through the fight for basic rights with a private prison company holding Idaho residents on the Mexican border. Whether I succeeded, I don’t really know. Everything was crazy, including myself.

A few years following the original four sections and I’m feeling a bit better–coming back into my realm. Possessing the same sense of humor, curiosity and clamor for human compassion, I hope I’m now better able to convey the tumultuous aspects of afflictions and corrections. (I personally like to think of this project as an inverted version of “Flowers for Algernon”, but where I introduced myself in the middle at the lowest of points and allow observers to influence my work and convalescence.)

That said, questions are welcome, thank you for visiting, and please explore where my project is adapted in song.

“iRobot”
— Jon Bellion

Irving 82431

Following My Retaliatory Transfer to Idaho

Followup to Retaliatory Transfer Back To Idaho

My inmate property arrived with the most expensive items missing, as well as legal work that was in progress at Eagle Pass Correctional Facility.

The property wasn’t compensated for following an exhaustion of the grievance process. The legal work was sent from EPCF a month after my transfer and held by the Idaho Department of Correction for an additional month before being delivered incomplete. GEO Group also neglected to forward items still arriving at EPCF, legal mail included. Grievances filed for missing property and undelivered mail were responded to with a lack of action. An appeal based on an insufficient response requested encouraging immediate safeguards to ensure I would receive all mail parcels being delivered to me at EPCF, including responses from the complaints I filed while in Texas.

Corrective action for the mail issue took effect on the day of the appeal’s decision but failed to inform me of notifications that arrived prior. IDOC took no action to compensate my missing property following the exhaustion of appeals and calls requesting explanation from my immediate family.

Meanwhile, IDOC placed limits on the letters I was sending to media, special interest groups and Idaho lawmakers. An inquiry into my inability to access the postal system was responded to with a Sgt. Trobock stating that IDOC’s property policy limits inmates to twenty envelopes a week, therefore any amount of items being received by the mail-room exceeding that number are to be denied. A grievance submitted requesting access to my First Amendment rights was then reviewed and denied by the same Sgt. Trobock.

An appeal maintaining that while Property Limits does limit an inmate to possessing twenty stamped envelopes argued that the envelopes I was attempting to process were not stamped. They were submitted naked as mail to be metered for the fifteen percent inmate savings on postal access. As there is no limit placed on envelopes to be metered, the number being sent to the mail-room was irrelevant. Sgt. Trobock misstated the policy.

The policy for property shows no restrictions on manila, blank or envelopes received. The only mention is of “stamped envelopes.” When the question was presented to an IDOC property officer, they informed that these other types of envelopes are considered paperwork and allowed to be kept in increments of three cubic feet. Additionally, IDOC’s policy on mail places no restrictions on the amount of items one can send in a week.

We now break format for a summary of events with “Irving’s Ish”.

My status as an American was reinstated despite the Appeal Review’s neglecting to view the property policy cited in the grievance. The citation, iteration and immediate reiteration of the actual policy had no effect on the adjudicator bonds formed between the two responding correctional operators. The Appeal Review supported the first reviewer’s misrepresentation of the property policy cited. I was also mis-FYI’ed in the final response while being assured that even though I’m right, I’m still wrong.

I deem the result of these exchanges acceptable: Sgt. Trobock will be metering my mail while working in the mail-room, as federally required when one works in the mail-room, regardless of the quantity being sent.

Sidenote: A letter sent to a Canadian Book Fair full of invitations to my civil dissent project was held for three weeks before being returned to me with a stamp that said only commissary purchased envelopes were allowed to go out. As the envelope sent was one of the hundred I purchased that week from the Keefe monopoly, the operating assumption is the stamps I placed on the envelope – which came in transit with my property from Texas – induced an emotional response that triggered the childhood defense mechanism known as “Nuh-uh.”

While stamps are and always will be a valid form of postal currency – so much so that IDOC only permits the possession of twenty stamped envelopes at one time, and the United States Postal System guarantees them “forever” – the stamps exposed to Texas invited such panic in Idaho that salutations to anarchist book enthusiasts in Montreal had to be offered by other means. Because I’m only allowed to exercise the First Amendment serum three grievances at a time, I put this one in my pocket for the future.

Meanwhile, of federal concern…

The grievance regarding staff retaliation was filed a week after arriving in Idaho. It focused on the timing of my transfer coinciding with my publicly airing inmate concerns and filing several formal complaints in Texas. That a disciplinary offense from four months prior was modified was significant as I was (and am still) the only inmate of a large group sharing the same offense from the same day to be reclassified. The grievance’s investigation, initial response and appeal were all processed by the staff members facing my allegations.

I answered their finding themselves not guilty of retaliation by grieving the policy that allows staff to investigate themselves for accusations of misconduct. The initial response confused this grievance as a repetitive claim of retaliation, and failed to recognize that it specifically stated an issue with policy. This point was made in an appeal and responded to by Warden Howard Yordy. Yordy denied the appeal based on my assumed confusion over whether or not IDOC employees are accountable for conspiring with GEO Group employees to infringe on Civil Rights in Texas. Confused or not, my grievance addressed the IDOC policy that allows employees to investigate themselves for misconduct.

Because Monte Hansen, Tim Higgins and P. Donaldson didn’t forward the retaliation grievance to the Special Investigations Unit for review, my grievance addressing that failure found a different audience.

Per IDOC policy, accusations of employee misconduct are to be reviewed by SIU. Tim Higgins responded to a Concern Form asking if he followed this policy by stating this information was not to be shared with an offender. When sent the same question, Investigator Nicole Fraser did inform me that Higgins didn’t follow this policy requirement while processing my retaliation grievance. Neither did Donaldson or Hansen.

The response to the grievance addressing this failure confirmed that the retaliation grievance has since been forwarded to SIU. This response was then appealed as insufficient in that it failed to address additional training for the staff charged with neglecting to follow the policy requirements.

Begins more commentary with Irving: Copies of additional grievances showing that this isn’t an isolated incident can be made available.

It is concerning that the accused has access to an investigation focused on the charges belonging to them. Increasing the likelihood of additional retaliation is as bad of a management example as doing nothing after something like this has been brought to your attention.

Thank you for watching “People in Taxpayer Funded Positions of Authority.” Is it normal to pay employees of state departments to decide whether or not their behavior is unbecoming of their position? Will I one day be allowed to decide what corrective action and penalties I should face for my own criminal actions? What a horrible example being set by the very people responsible for my rehabilitation, folks!

Tune in next time, when this mismanagement strategy inspires our antihero to organize a petition and lobby to prevent correctional employees from investigating themselves for misconduct. Will the petition be limited to Idaho? Will it address property damage, medical denials, sexual assaults, forms of violence and administrative manipulations, etc? We’ll find out after our legislative break…

It should be hard to imagine a state-paid employee anywhere in the United States having the keys to drive their own criminal investigation.

8-04-2019

Patrick Irving 82431

Brandelion

Once upon a time, in a perfect valley of perfect trees, an ugly, clumsy creature crawled out from a cave to be under a perfectly shining sun.

He saw the sun and wondered why it shined so bright. He saw the flowers and trees and wondered how they could be made to look so nice. He saw the butterflies flutter and birds fly high and wondered if they knew of their charm.

Every morning, crawling out of his cave, he’d wonder why he ever woke up. Every night, while going to sleep, he’d wonder if the day was even there. When he dreamt he wondered if dreams were real. When he didn’t he wondered if he was.

He wondered, with all of his wondering, how he’d in any way find time for the answers.

During an afternoon of wondering and wandering, he discovered the prettiest flower sweetly singing the happiest song. Because he didn’t know what else to do, he ran away and hid. He waited for the moon to become a blanket before using its cover to aid his escape.

Again came dawn and he found his path leading in the flower’s direction. He was awkwardly cautious to not come into view, worried she may scare at his sight and fold her petals to hide forever. He looked long from as far as his eyes allowed before running his fastest back to the cave.

Sitting in the cave, he wondered how long the flower had been there before he found it. He wondered how long it might stay. He thought of a million words to say she smells pretty and more that described how it feels when she sings. Dancing alone and singing her songs, he tried to build up his courage.

The days were passed watching her glitter and, with meticulous motion, rehearsing his words. His nights were spent waiting for days, and the songs that they carried with them.

Then came unexpected, and with lovely surprise, a melodic request for, “Hello.” She was singing that this she wishes whenever he’s dancing, “So, pretty much, all of the times!”

His tune didn’t carry an abundance of sugar when he answered, “Oh, how I really, wholly, truly want for us to be friends, but my wondering how much you won’t like me is always holding me back.”

The flower got giggles and asked him, “Why?”

“Because I’m ugly and clumsy and far too different from all of the other things, I imagine you won’t like me a lot!”

The flower got giggles and asked him, “Why?”

He explained how everything he sees is so perfectly pretty and, surely, he felt, he is not. He told her that all he does is wonder all of the time and of all the things he wonders about.

She asked him why he would even need a reason for any of those things.

That was the last thing he ever wondered about.

It felt so nice to sit next to the flower that he decided never to go back to the cave.

He sat with the flower for all of summer. They never stopped laughing all through the fall. He kept her warm while she slept when winter came, patiently waiting for her to awake.

He waited. And waited. And waited…

Her rising in spring came with a fright from the way all the trees had sprouted around her. When asked, “What’s the matter?” she said she couldn’t see the sun shine through. With the trees in the way, she will not be able to grow.

It hurt his feelers to see his most favorite thing in the world be sad. It was only right for her to be as happy a flower as she could be.

Because of his clumsy, he couldn’t try to move her. He didn’t trust himself handling something so fragile. He was going to need an idea.

His idea came at night while she slept and he worked hard until the morning arrived…

She woke up, surrounded by sunshine, to see his smiling face. Quietly asked the flower, “And, what did you do?”

He told her how he couldn’t risk moving her, so he moved the earth around her, instead. “First,” he said, “I just gathered enough dirt to make a mountain, and when that mountain was ready, I spoke to all of the trees.”

“But what did you say?” she wondered.

“I asked if they might better like that mountain for being closer to the sun. They liked that much,” so he had moved them one by one.

He was so happy to do something nice for the flower that he didn’t notice the splinters in his hands when he was finished, or the fact that he had built a perfectly beautiful mountain. He was too busy watching the flower sleep while he worked to have paid attention to anything else. In all of his excitement, he never even considered taking a break.

Sharing their fresh new breath together, he questioned, “Is all this okay?”

She has yet stop singing long enough to give a “yes” or “no”.

Fin.

Best enjoyed with the following:
1. Sigrid – Dynamite (Acoustic) 3:51
2. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats – I Need Never Get Old 4:14

A Rando Mand Irving Production
7/18/19