Anger

Anger.

Anger runs through The Jenius like a cataract of water through a narrow pipe. It's one of the first things people tell Me when (not if: when) they discuss this blog with Yours Truly. Some folks comment on the anger in a tone of surprise, as if the level of anger they perceive is somehow odd, abnormal, aberrant, an ugly bug on the front door screen. Others find it energizing and curious, especially the sense of anger being targeted and focused, not so much as a(n occasionally) foulmouthed rant, but as a knife or razor wielded to do much damage with short strokes.

Then there are those who speak to me about the anger as if it were somehow dangerous...to Me. Their take is that it will trigger something in others and I will then become the target of the others' anger and reaction. I've discussed this before (you can look it up; try the "personal" tag) and can conclude that (a) "they" don't care and (b) neither do I.

But My take on the anger that is The Jenius is that it simply cannot be any other way. The Jenius and the anger are one and the same. How else would I--as The Jenius--have the patience and determination to put together over 900 of these little diatribes/essays unless I (it) were fueled by anger? What else could the fuel be? Love? Puh-lease. True love doesn't need this much expression; just ask any poet if s/he writes more poems when happy in love or when pissed off at love unrequited or lost. (No, Puerto Rico hasn't scorned Me.)

Passion? Passion for what? Passion for Puerto Rico? Maybe, but I could have all the passion in the world for Puerto Rico and still not find enough to make Me sit before a keyboard and pound out something trenchant, insightful, witty, crass and useful 3 times a week. (I always aim for at least 3-out-of-5, if you really want to know.)

A search for power? Shut up. There are hundreds of ways to gain and use power that are light-years easier than blogging. A search for fame? Ditto. For further evidence, check out My marketing efforts for The Jenius. That's right: you can't find 'em. I don't do anything but write what The Jenius has to say. Marketing is for people who need affirmation.

And in any case, anger has ever been My fuel. It was there as a child and as a teen, as a young adult and as an older adult. It rides Me and I enjoy riding it. Anger is under-appreciated as a motivational force, deemed bad when, in fact, well-directed, it can literally move mountains. Maybe faith can do that, too, but faith would wait where anger would just grab a sledgehammer and beat the living daylights out of the damn thing right now.

Am I bothered by the anger shown here? Only in the sense that it should be more apparent where it is directed. Sometimes I use a shotgun rather than a rifle. Maybe 900+ pulls of the trigger are just enough to get the windage and distance and make the next shots all that much more accurate.

But shotguns are damned effective too...


The Jenius Has Spoken.