Say What You like About Trump But…..

Say what you like about Trump but…..

I would love to have a dollar for every time someone has said that. And I should pay a penalty of that same amount for starting a piece of writing in such a lazy, cheap way. But this man who annoyingly, but hopefully for their right reasons will be remembered for generations, is such a polarising figure, such a larger than life one of a kind that everyone knows him but really does anyone  like him?  I don’t know anyone who likes Trump. Almost everyone I know, me included, thinks he is a contemptible human being, manifestly unsuited for the role which the Republicans helped him gain. He is almost certainly a sociopath. And yet there he is running the country that for seventy years has been the” Leader of the Free World” as we know it.

Obviously some people must like him, he has family and I guess he has friends.  And as much as it hurts me to say so, as it lays bare the slow demise of the USA for all to see, there are many millions of people who support and vote for him.

Anyway we know all of this. Many writers from all sides of the political spectrum and from all parts of the world have written about Trump the President. What am I going to offer?  

I am glad I asked. It is simply this. I love his signature. I love the look of it. You can see his personality in it. The way it goes up and down, the heavy strokes, the sharp angles all sum up the arrogance and self-importance of the man. It is like a proclamation from a Roman Emperor or mystical runes carved in rock in deep in Tolkien’s mines of Moria.

 It somehow resembles a word from medieval books of learning. Those texts in Latin written by monks in freezing isolated monasteries, beavering away by candle light forever, copying and copying by hand.

By the way if the previous paragraph somehow tickled your fancy by all means read Umberto Eco’s Name Of The Rose or see the movie starring Sean Connery, or see the mini series starring Jon Turturro, so good in a number of Coen brother’s films [as Jesus in The Big Lebowski as an example.] It is a murder mystery set in a medieval monastery and it is pretty good however you take it in.

Sorry, I got distracted. Signatures are funny things you see. They say a lot about their owners. Flowery signatures are not often found belonging to introverted people. And what does it mean when people just print their names or write their names in running writing with no flair or individual touches? It as if they were just writing two random words of the English language instead of something they would use for their whole lives. And just how important do you have to be to make your signature just a first name plus second initial written in large showy letters? I am not brave enough to crank out a Scott H with a big underline taking up about 30 square centimetres. For that shit you need to be an Elton John or a Lady Gaga. What does it mean when you make your signature completely unreadable?

Surprisingly Trump’s signature is not a big flashy thing but not surprisingly nor is it just boring words meek and only a centimetre high. It is like the person, quite unique. I am sure he practiced it as part of the invention of the Trump persona. Plus as another point of difference is the effect is helped gained not by a sophisticated writing instrument but by using a fine point black marker. Donald prefers a Sharpie marker for those big important signature moments.

I have to say, I loathe the man but I love the signature.

Someone once said Trump’s signature looks like an EKG readout just before the patient flat lines and the paddles have to come out. If so, it would be fitting, as America is starting to flat line but just who is going to be the paddles?

By the way Blaze has a fashion update for you all. I wouldn’t normally pass on Blaze’s comments in this area. Let’s face it, Anna Wintour he is not. But after one of our more productive surf trips last week we stopped into a surf shop. We were there to buy a leg rope but as Blaze is a tightarse I was not surprised that we walked out without a leash. But we did get a fashion insight. I am here to tell you via Blaze that by careful observation of the men’s t shirts, hoodies and the highlight colours being used in the female Boho tops and dresses that the “IN” colour for this winter is a dirty sand colour. Not Queensland beach sand, that is too white, more like the stuff you find where the water is cold. So if you are buying any of the above garments this winter make sure it is the colour of the sand at Jan Juc. You will be on trend.

 When we got back to the car I gave Blaze a pen and a piece of paper and asked him to write down his signature for me. I told him I was testing a theory. He  drew a picture of a flickering flame. I almost crashed the car.