Day 100 Kerouaction: On Uncertainty

We made it! This is the last entry in a series identifying all the passages that inspired the 100 entries in The Beat Handbook.

The above passage inspired Day 100, titled "On Uncertainty." As Krishnamurti's taught us, the only security is knowing that there is no certainty.

Can you be secure knowing that everything is happening to everyone right now in this big world and it can't be different from how it is?

As we take leave of this series, please remember to go go go and  stay beat forever, my mad friends!

Day 99 Kerouaction: On Barter

Day 99 in The Beat Handbook, titled "On Barter," was inspired by the above passage from On The Road. As I've said multiple times here on The Daily Beat, the Beats were green before green was cool. Our current example is barter, as evidenced by Dean swapping a wristwatch for a little piece of rock crystal. Next time you want something, see if you don't have something you could barter for it. It might be something tangible, or it might be your time and skill, as in time banking. Can you sing a song, write a poem, dig a ditch, sew a dress, bake a pie, build a shelf, rake a yard, get someone's groceries, etc.? If so - and I'm sure you could do one of these things if not a million others - you have the makings of a barter system ready for implementation.

Day 98 Kerouaction: On Hygiene

The above passage from On The Road inspired Day 98 in The Beat Handbook. If you're on a beat road trip and sleeping in your car or out under the stars and bumming gas money off hitchhikers and eating Cheez Whiz and salami sandwiches and drinking cheap Tokay, you still might want to clean up once in a while, especially if you just visited a whorehouse like the boys did. Beat hygiene would suggest going cheap, so keep in mind public swimming pools and campgrounds. If you're near a public beach by the ocean, they may have showers for washing off the sand and you can be in and out of there with your bar of soap long before getting arrested. Or, why not just grab the biodegradable soap out of your canvas rucksack and jump in the nearest body of water?

Day 97 Kerouaction: On "Digging The Ride"

Day 97 in The Beat Handbook was inspired by the above passage from On The Road. It's the prime source of the phrase, "dig the ride," which I usually inscribe as part of signing my books. As I say in the book, "You can accept what is right now without the aid of a guru, drugs, god, or a meditation system." Just decide to "dig the ride."

Day 96 Kerouaction: On Sleeping Arrangements

Day 96 in The Beat Handbook was inspired by the above passage from On The Road.

Something is wrong with my Blogger interface. I have no ability to italicize, bold, block quote, etc. So, being grouchy this morning and having this additional irritation, I am not saying anything about the passage. You know what you need to do if you're interested in seeing what I said . . . .

Day 95 Kerouaction: On Listening to Music

The above passage from On The Road inspired Day 95 in The Beat Handbook.

This passage was the inspiration for my using the phrase go go go throughout the book. And it should be the inspiration for you to listen to jazz. Especially George Shearing, about whom Dean said, "Sal, God has arrived."

To wit:

George Shearing

Day 94 Kerouaction: On Parking

Day 94 in The Beat Handbook, titled "On Parking," was inspired by the above passage from On The Road.

The Kerouaction? Park in dark spots with your front pointed in the direction you want to go. The latter makes for quick getaways when it's time to go go go. Why in the dark? Then you can use your car for nefarious beat purposes and not be under surveillance by squares who'll call the bobbies.

Day 93 Kerouaction: On Driving

Today's Kerouaction is brought to you by the above passage from On The Road. For details, click here and buy the book. It makes a great Christmas gift!

Day 92 Kerouaction: On Appearances

The above passage from On The Road inspired Day 92 in The Beat Handbook, titled, "On Appearances."

There are three discernable Kerouactions in this short passage, all having to do with appearances:

1. Stop shaving so often
2. Go around barechested
3. Hang out with bums

Indeed, perhaps these are part of the marching orders for the army of hobo dharma bums I discussed in a previous post.

Day 91 Kerouaction: On Picking Up Hitchhikers

The above passage from On The Road inspired Day 91 in The Beat Handbook.

It's beat to hitchhike, and it's also beat to pick up hitchhikers. When you do, ask them for gas money. If they don't have gas money, then what? An old 60s saying comes to mind: "Ass, gas, or grass: Nobody rides for free." I suppose in a pinch you could settle for a good story.

Speaking of pinches, I talked to a young man today who confirmed that hitchhiking is definitely illegal in Massachusetts. He knew this from personal experience, if you know what I mean.

Day 90 Kerouaction: On Cheap Travel

One might suspect that the entry in The Beat Handbook inspired by the above passage from On The Road would focus on Dean's choice of places to make it with a waitress he met in a luncheonette. Instead, Day 90, "On Cheap Travel," points out that we still have services that put together cars that need to be somewhere and drivers willing to get them there. Just Google "driveaway" and you'll find info on becoming a "driver" for one of these companies. You get a car with a full tank of gas and pay all the rest of the expenses in getting it from Point A to Point B. Just like Sal and Dean. Pick up some hitchhikers along the way and ask for gas money, sleep in the car, pack a bunch of salami sandwiches, and go go go on the cheap. Yass, yass . . . .

Full text of On The Road plus

This site is probably illegal as Hell, but Terebess Asia Online does include the full text of On The Road and a few other Kerouac works.

Day 89 Kerouaction: On Sleep

The above passage from On The Road inspired Day 89 in The Beat Handbook, titled, "On Sleep."

A student asked his master, "What is enlightenment?"

The master replied, "When hungry, eat; when tired, sleep."

In this passage, Jack's (Sal's) behavior embodies this Zen principle.

Trivia question: How many times does Jack mention sleep or sleeping in On The Road?

Day 88 Kerouaction: On Dress

The Beat Handbook's Day 88 entry, "On Dress," was inspired by the above passage from On The Road.

Want to dress beat? Then it's jeans and T-shirts. Can you imagine a time when they were considered "rebellious"? Rebellious things often become mainstream after a time, but no matter because jeans and T-shirts are comfortable, low-maintenance, and versatile, all important characteristics for a beat wardrobe. Add some plaid flannel shirts, Carhartt or Dickies work pants, and black railyard shoes and you'll have a fairly complete beat wardrobe.

Day 87 Kerouaction: On Kidney Function

Day 87 in The Beat Handbook was inspired by the above passage from On The Road.

Titled, "On Kidney Function," this entry extracts several beat actions from a short scenario, including the kinds of restaurant bathrooms to seek out (and why) as well as the possibilities of finding entertainment in the simplest situations.

Day 86 Kerouaction: On "The Road"

Here it is, the passage from On The Road that inspired Day 86 in The Beat Handbook!

What's the point? The road is symbolic of action, mindfully experiencing what is. But don't wish you were Dean. Or Sal. Or even my hero from the TV show, Then Came Bronson. Be them. Take off on an adventure right now. No plan. No supplies. Just go go go. See where you end up!

Day 85 Kerouaction: On IT

The above passage from On The Road inspired Day 85 in The Beat Handbook, titled, "On IT."

If you get what IT is, you know that words written about it are useless.

Period.

Day 84 Kerouaction: On Unconditional Love

We're winding down with our series of posts showing which passages from The Dharma Bums and On The Road inspired the 100 entries in The Beat Handbook. Only 15 to go.

The above passage inspired Day 84, titled, "On Unconditional Love." In it, I suggest doing some research on what Carl Rogers said about sunsets, or what Krishnamurti had to say about measuring love and thereby destroying it. Find someone who lets you be who you are, and do the same. I'm not suggesting being a doormat, or ignoring your own needs, but I am suggesting that we all realize that no one makes us happy or sad, that love is more than a feeling, that commitment really does mean taking the good with the bad (because we all have both), and that allowing your partner to be who they are and vice versa is pretty damn important. No, I wouldn't be thrilled if Crystal sauntered in at 3 AM with a bunch of loud, drunk friends and proceeded to talk and drink till dawn. But I hope I would empathize with how that behavior met important needs of hers, for connection and fun and what-have-you. If I didn't want to join in, and I needed my sleep, there's always the camper and my nice warm sleeping bag. Jack would approve.

Be who you are! The world needs you to do that.

Day 83 Kerouaction: On Time

Day 83 in The Beat Handbook was inspired by the above passage from On The Road. I remember asking my great friend Keith what time it was and him answering, "Now." Well, course. It is always "now." The past and the future are mental illusions, and greatly responsible for suffering (guilt over the past, anxiety over the future).

So if you want to call on a friend, but it's 2 AM, so what? Do it. Don't let an artificial construct like time keep you from being fully alive and acting on your gut instincts. Hungry for pancakes but it's dinner time? Have pancakes. Sleepy but it's high noon? Sleep. And so on. I think you get the point: Don't let the clock run your life.

Day 82 Kerouaction: On Greeting the Morning

Day 82 in The Beat Handbook was inspired by the above passage from On The Road, in which Dean demonstrates the proper way to greet the morning: nude and standing in front of your window. Have you tried it? If so, we look forward to hearing about the experience. If not, why not? What's holding you back? Conformity? Fear? Conditioning?

Break free! Tomorrow morning, stand naked in front of your window - drapes and blinds wide open - for a few minutes and greet the morning skyclad (my favorite Wiccan word)! Trust me - you'll reap emotional benefits all day long.