Spontaneous Musings

If you were born in the USA and should need to get a copy of your birth certificate for any reason? It's now rather easy. Go HERE.

I just did it. I need a copy for retirement purposes. Although with any luck, Retirement is still four to five years away. Still, I've been worrying over the birth certificate thing for the past two years now, so it's a bit of a relief to realize it's rather easy to get it, and doesn't require calling the State, or mailing in a form with a copy of my passport and Real ID.
***

The social activists I follow on FB, announced that there is also a lot of good news. Except they included the controversial bit about the Dire Wolves, which after reading various other posts on social media, and articles, I've since come to the conclusion that the Dire Wolves were better off remaining extinct? And just because we can do something, maybe we shouldn't?

The Dire Wolf is Back?

(Yes, yes, I am getting to the actual good news..be patient. Although, as in all things in this day and age apparently, everyone's mileage on Good News may vary?)

70 Bits of Good News That Happened Within the Last Few Weeks in the US and Around the World (to the tune of ..."the Revolution Will Not Be Televised")

1. The Yurok Tribe lays 11,500 pounds of native plant seeds along the Klamath River. Go HERE

2. Arizona: A circuit court strikes down two state laws intended to suppress voters. Go Here

3.Rural organizers and grassroots leaders in the U.S. form the Rural Defenders Union to support under-resourced anti-authoritarian actions. Go Here

4.The digital media company theSkimm republishes the contents of reproductiverights.gov after it disappeared off the web on the president’s second day in office. Don't fret. It's no longer over there, it's now - OVER HERE. They republished it on their own site, so the idiotic White House can't take it down again.

5.Mission of Mary Cooperative in Dayton, OH uses church vacant land to produce 65,000 pounds of produce for the community. Go Here
( the rest - there's about 70 this go around.. )


Well, putting together that list (mainly copying from the individual who posts it on FB and hunting down links where possible) cheered me up considerably on a cold rainy night, with the radiators blasting.

Americans and their allies protested across America and Europe today...for our rights, our institutions, our Constitution, and our country...it was called "HANDS OFF PROTEST".

Below are links to videos, articles and photos that I've managed to locate for all the protests that I could find in the states. If you can find ones for those I left out, leave in the comments.

Hands Off Protest Movement Across the United States

( Hands Off Protest Movement Across the US )

ETA: Estimated 2.3 Million people turned out around the US for Hands Off, possibly more.

ETAA: Ahem, it's actually more like 10-20 Million. It was 5 million on the West Coast Alone. Per Alt National Parks - this may be the biggest protest in US history. It's bigger than the Women's March back in 2017 or the Million Man March on Washington.






Hands Off Protests from Sea to Shining Sea

1. New York (which is rather easy) - people held rallies and marches in association with Hands Off in Albany, NYC, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and various other areas across the state.

* New York City - Bryant Park and Fifth Avenue...in the rain no less
( they protested across NY and especially flooded NYC )

2. Hands Off Oklahoma

and HERE

3. Massachusetts

Hands Off - Boston, Mass

Hands Off Massachustus

4. Hands Off Washington DC

Hands Off March on DC

( Read more... )

5. California

Hands OFf - SF Bay

( Hands OFF - San Diego, California )
Sonoma, California - Hands Off

Hands Off Los Angeles, California


6. Michigan

HANDS OFF - Detroit, Michigan

Hands Off Detroit, Michigan

Protests Across Michigan

Ferndale, Michigan

7. Illinois

Hands Off in Downtown Chicago

Hands Off Oak Park Illinois

8. Minnesota

Hands Off - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minnesota

Hands Off Across Minnesota


9. Washington

Hands Off Seattle

10. Georgia

HANDS OFF GEORGIA

Hands Off Macon, Georgia
( the rest of the 50 states )
All 50 States participated, along with Puerto Rico (but I couldn't find any links for that one.)

*****

Pictures of Hands Off Protests Around the World

European Solidarity with US 5051 HANDS OFF Protests
( links to the European Protests and Canada )

I don't know about you, dear friends and readers? But I'm feeling kind of depressed and a little surreal...it's sunny outside, a pinkish haze to the clouds, crisp and in the upper fifties, although with the breeze feels like the forties outside. Earlier it felt like the sixties. Crocuses are in bloom here and there, and violets sprouting in little clusters almost hidden from view. The weeping willows have threads of green - and there are buds on the trees. The air smells like spring, with just the right buzz in the air. Yet, the national and world news is grim, and getting grimmer, with the ever encroaching creep of totalitarian fascism on the horizon, coming closer and closer as we speak.

I also feel frozen. Unable to move. Stuck in place. Yet, I am doing things. I donated to a lot of places in the fall. And my work is of course furthering diversity, inclusion, equality, accessibility, and equal transportation for a low cost. As does my art. So, there's that at least.
My family and friends are furthering the cause as well in their own ways.
Or to the extent that they can.

It's overwhelming, all of it. I'm overwhelmed with reading material. I have stacks of books, magazines, and digital forms of reading everywhere it seems. That said, if you want a comforting and uplifting read - that is also inspiring, and meditative, Rick Rubin's The Creative Act: A Way of Being is worth a look. Here's a little excerpt:
( Read more... )
Anywho...I've subscribed to some newsletters that provide "good news" because I feel overwhelmed with the negative and it makes the muscles tight, and leads to eating the wrong things (like, ahem, too much chocolate).

News from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies

1. Resistance is alive and well in the US - in a new report from Erica Chenoweth, Jeremy Pressman, and Sohoa Hamman, shows that protests are actually more numerous and greater in number than in 2017.
( Read more... )

The article points out that it isn't just street protests, and sit in's but also legal actions, and economic non-cooperation that gains results. If you think about the Civil Rights Movement - it was the combination of the three that resulted in desegegaration, the Civil Rights Act, and Voting Rights Act. A protest accomplishes nothing by itself. What is shutting down Telsa is the fact that people are selling their stocks and not investing in it, not just the protests.

2. Serbia's Government Resigned after it saw the largest public protests in decades

Serbia’s government, led by Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, resigned Wednesday, with President Aleksandar Vučić saying he may call fresh elections in early June.

Although Vučević announced his intention to resign in late January, the Belgrade parliament confirmed the resignation only weeks later, shortly after the country saw its largest protests in decades.

Vučić said Sunday that if a new government is not formed within 30 days of Vučević’s resignation, he will call early elections, likely to be held on June 8 — just a year and a half after Serbia’s last general election.

3. Thousands protest in Turkey despite a ban on street gatherings over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul's mayor

4. Judge Rules that the National Park Service Must Reinstate All Fired Employees

"A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the National Park Service and five other federal agencies to immediately reinstate probationary employees who were fired en masse last month, ruling that the Office of Personnel Management had no legal authority to mandate their terminations."

5. Federal Court Ruling that Over 25,000 illegally fired Federal Workers must be Rehired

"US President Donald Trump's administration is working to bring back nearly 25,000 fired federal workers after judges ruled their terminations were illegal, court documents show.

Officials at 18 departments and agencies have submitted documents to a federal court detailing their efforts to rehire the laid off probationary workers to comply with the court orders.

Last week, two federal judges said the mass layoffs of the recently hired workers was illegal and ordered them to be reinstated pending further litigation. "

( the rest of this weeks actions via the Resistance )

Whew. Some good news, at least? I mean I feel like something is happening?

Oh Wales did a "die-in" protest - basically they did performance art as part of a protest, where they acted as if loss of Medicaid was killing them. Because it will kill people.

I took a break from social media and the news on Sunday, and watched The Avengers Infinity War and Endgame - which cheered me greatly. Also did the whole work thing today. Trying to figure out if I want to fly down to South Carolina to see Mother at the end of April or the beginning of May, with a pesky Doctor's Appointment in between. When one gets older - one gets plagued by Doctor Appointments.

Anywho here's some relatively good news from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies in the on-going and seemingly futile fight against fascism, oppression, inequality, conformity, climate change, and evil oligarchs (aka altogether? THANOS or the forces of darkness).

1.More than 100 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration, with courts fully blocking 26 executive actions and another 61 pending in court. Some important cases and updates include:
( multiple listings below the cut )

2. AOC introduces a bill to ban Congress from owning and trading stocks. [It won't go through - they've tried this before. But there is hope at least.]

3.Via Zann Z on FB: The rest of the world needs to know this: the physical size of America is VAST. [It is. It takes at least a week maybe two to travel across the US by car. Seven - eight hours by plane.] We ARE protesting EVERYWHERE! We are gathering on small town street corners, in front of suburban Tesla dealerships, on the steps of city councils. We are an isolated land by nature. Seprated by mountain ranges, miles of terrain, and disastrous economic conditions, but we are not sitting home doing nothing. The media is not painting an accurate picture of the resistance, but We The People are not complying. [This is actually true - over the weekend, people turned out in mass and protested at all of the National Parks.The United States has 63 national parks, which are congressionally designated protected areas operated by the National Park Service.]

( Here's a few of the protests ) [there's even mover listed further down the list]
4. Tesla Manhattan closed permanently.

This is kind of why and Hundreds of New Yorkers stormed it to shut it down

Note this was all going on at the same time as protests over the detained Columbia Student.

5. CBS's 60 Minutes reporting on music and DEI. Go 60 minutes diversity, equity, inclusion!

60 Minutes has Students Perform Despite Trump Admin DEI rollbacks

Also Here

6. A federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump administration efforts to illegally deport Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident, and a Palestinian activist who helped lead protests at Columbia University. Or he would have already been gone. Speaking up matters.

Federal Judge Hears Challenge to Mahmoud Khalil Detention

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Deportation of Pro-Palestinian Activist Arrested by ICE

7.Republicans in the South Carolina House tried to push through a provision barring DEI practices in the state budget. It nearly succeeded until Rep. Jermaine Johnson and other Democrats stepped up and called them out.

8. Focus group: Trump swing voters in Michigan have buyers' remorse. [I would think so? They set the house on fire.]

9.Christer Gardell, a Swedish billionaire and hedge fund manager, issued a stark warning about Tesla stock and what he believes are bubbles in the stock market. ( Read more... )

Go HERE

10. Armed Forces Brewing Company (AFBC) opened in Norfolk in 2024.
In a statement, the brewery said it was closing its Norfolk location and "we had chosen Norfolk because of the large military and veteran community ... unfortunately our ability to profitably operate in Norfolk was severely impacted by a local woke mob.” multiple local civic leagues came out against the brewery's request for a conditional use permit due to AFBC shareholder and veteran Robert O’Neill sharing anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online, including calling members of the LGBTQ community “pedophiles." Beal said it created a "toxic environment" and that they would relocate to a "more pro-small business social and economic climate.”

11.Canada’s Mark Carney vows to fight Trump's tariffs: Liberal Party of Canada leader Mark Carney vowed on March 9 to “keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect” in a message to Donald.

Go Here

12. Bernie is turning out huge crowds. 9000 in Michigan. And they are all huge like that.

Bernie Sanders Steps into Leadership of the Anti-Trump Resistance

Bernie Sanders Draws 10,000 supporters to Warren, Michigan

13. 3500 turned up in Austin with Sen Elizabeth Warren.

14.In a town with just over 1,000 residents, hundreds of people packed Belmont's Community Building Saturday for a town hall hosted by Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan. The building was filled to capacity with people even waiting outside and peeking through the windows.

In Belmont, Wisconsin - a Democrat gives a master class on how it is done by holding a town hall meeting with a 1,000 people, filled past capacity, while the Republican hides

Also go here

15. Meet the Federal Worker who went Rogue

( excerpt )

16.New school program aims to help boys thrive academically. Boys are at least half a grade behind girls in reading in nearly every U.S. state — to address that gap, one school made three big shifts.

A New School Program Aims to Help Boys Thrive Academically

( and the rest of the 48 items of good news )

Whew. Off to bed. That made me feel better, not sure about anyone else. I wish I could do more than go to work, post these lists, sign petitions..and do boycotts, but we do what we can, don't we?

Working from home today, so took the opportunity to get my laundry out of the way. I'm off to visit my brother and his family on Friday, a nice little three day weekend. I'm coming back on Sunday, because Doctor's appointment on Monday.

Crazy Workplace attempted to schedule not one but two Teams Meetings with me on Friday. I declined both - was quite happy to do so actually. Didn't see a pressing need to be at either. They can hold those meetings without me. If not, they can reschedule.

Crazy Workplace can be nuts on their own for a few days without any help from me.

**

Father is slightly better and more lucid today. Although they had to switch meds, since the previous one wasn't working. My mother didn't think it would, so wasn't all that surprised. He told her today that companionship was important, and she felt depressed - because they are losing that or appear to be. Then she said, I most likely worried about not having it too. I told her that I tried not to think about it. I honestly have no clue what the future is going to bring my way. I'm trying to stay rooted in the present at the moment. Plus, it's not like there are lots of dangerous things multiplying outside ready to kill me.

Asked bro if I needed a swimsuit for my brief visit. He didn't think so, unless I wanted to swim in the lake (I don't), and he was too scared to do the waterfall due to all the rain we've had. (If my brother is afraid to do the waterfall - that's enough to give me pause, right there. The boy is a daredevil.) But he did say it would be interesting to check it out.

He told mother that living with niece was akin to living with a 1940s or 30s comedienne. Someone like Hepburn or Carol Lombard. I thinking witty banter with ill-timed pratfalls?

***

COVID

Mother: You're brother's not sure that your niece is going to make it to the UK this fall. Apparently they are in the RED Zone and there's travel advisory's blocking folks from traveling to and from the UK right now - due to a sizable uptick in the virus. They have over 50,000 cases.
ME: Yeah, I know. I've been wondering if she can make it to London this fall myself. Following it on my interactive correspondence journal - I've all these Brits on it. And they've been talking about how there's a new lockdown in place, and how Boris's stupidity has led them to be cut off from the rest of the world - yet again. Apparently Boris opened up the UK to India a while back - which flooded the UK with the Delta Variant, and he opened it up 100% before it was ready to be opened up...
Mother: Oh god.
Me: Yep.
Mother: the Dow went down several point because of the pandemic and rise in cases across the country and globally.
Me: Niece told me she thought the pandemic would be over in the fall of 2021, actually she thought it would be over by fall of 2020. Then amended to 2021. I told no, she needs to read her history. But she said, surely with all our technological and scientific advancements...being sixteen at the time, she didn't factor in how stupid people are. A year, later, she admitted I was right - she'd forgotten how dumb folks are about things.

I keep telling people - it's a pandemic. It's not going to just go away like some storm. Viruses are living organisms that hang around until people build up an immunity to them and they've no where to go, and become dormant. The Spanish Flu last from 1918 to 1922. That is about four-five years. And the HIV pandemic is still kind of going on.

The reason there's an uptick in cases across the US - is people aren't getting vaccinated. Lots of poor, uneducated folks refuse the vaccine along with others, mainly young people. It's mostly the under 25 set that is getting sick with the Delta.

People are still wearing masks inside the apartment complex and laundry room. I did today. And one man who wasn't doing it early on in the pandemic, does it now.

By the numbers or per the Governor's Email (it's really the NY Depart of Health and Human Services Email...but whatever)...

( New York vs. the Corona Virus )

The Doomed Olympic Games in Tokyo, which are supposed to start this month are having issues.

* A coronavirus cluster has overshadowed the run-up to the Games, as a U.S. gymnast tested positive.

* Toyota pulled its Olympics television ads.

* The beds at the Tokyo Olympics are cardboard. Counter to rumors, that’s not a Covid precaution against sex. [Apparently the rumor was debunked by an Irish athlete - who jumped up and down on one of the beds and posted it on Twitter. The Olympic Committee thanked him. I don't know about anyone else, but I found this tid-bit to be hilarious.]

More on the Doomed or possibly Cursed Tokyo Olympics..
( Read more... )

The Games begin at 9 a.m. Tokyo time on Wednesday (8 p.m. Eastern tomorrow) when Australia and Japan play the first game of a softball tripleheader. The Summer Olympics are expected to be the hottest on record.

We'll see how this works out. I'm not feeling overly optimistic.

And about the stock market diving again over worrying pandemic news.
( excerpt )

Canada is actually doing better than everyone else is at the moment, it surpassed the US in vaccinated. As previously noted, the UK is being stupid again...Nightclubs across England threw open their doors at midnight as the country ended nearly all of its coronavirus restrictions. But the long-delayed milestone was marred by risk and confusion as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to quarantine because of exposure to the coronavirus, and cases surged to more than 50,000 a day.

But the UK is still better off than Indonesia, which had been doing okay last year at this time, but is now - this year, at the epicenter of the pandemic. Why? Indonesia has relied heavily on the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, which has proved less effective than other shots. At least 20 Indonesian doctors who were fully vaccinated with Sinovac have died from the virus. Meanwhile, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand are also facing their largest outbreaks to date. [The pattern appears to be which vaccine you got, and how many got it?]

France decided to take the polar opposite approach of the UK, and ruled that without proof of a vaccine, you can't do anything at all. And I do mean pretty much anything - no public transportation, nightclubs, dinners out, etc. Thousands protested of course - stating it was a dictatorship and a violation of their rights. However - it did result in the desired effect of getting more folks vaccinated - apparently people flocked to get vaccinated ahead of the ruling going into effect. New York keeps flirting with the idea - but backs off, most likely because our court system wouldn't uphold it.

Meanwhile Pfizer is pushing the US officials for a Booster Shot. The gist - is that there is no evidence that it is required, and all eyes are on Israel. Israel has done the best job of administrating the vaccine and has the best data to date on it. They've been administrating the booster.

***

Other News..

Last week, or at least I think it was just last week - the US told Russia to put a stop to the Russian hacking, this week it's China.

( Biden formerly accuses China of breaching Microsoft's email system )

I kind of knew about this - since I work for a government agency and we keep having issues with email servers etc due to hackers.

While my neighborhood chat thread on Next-Door Neighbor site, got busy fighting over bicycles again. It was original about bicycles on sidewalks - and how this is illegal and they shouldn't do it, to bicycles vs. cars, and bicycle docks taking up motor vehicle parking spaces.

Personally, I don't think people should drive in NYC unless absolutely necessary. Or if they are in areas that absolutely require a car. Otherwise no. My area does NOT require a car. I also think NYC drivers are insane, and most can't drive safely and are just one step away from killing themselves. And, bikes do not belong on sidewalks and should be relegated to the perfectly nice bike lanes they've gone to a lot of effort to put in.

But not everyone agrees with me. Sigh. Enug to make you just want to smack them.

There was also a post on FB - from someone in Japan or China, with three Golden Retrivers who yanked a poor tabby cat to sit for pet photos. The cat did not want to sit for those photos, and was refusing to look at the camera or sit still. The dogs kept pushing the cat into position, or pushing it to look.

People responded regarding how they wanted the dogs. While I wanted the cat, I wanted to rescue the cat from the dogs. Poor cat, I completely understood it's dilemma.

Anyhow, enuf - I'm starting to go to sleep as I type this. Methinks I'm tired.

Back to the office again tomorrow, then two days remote from home, then off to see brother and his family.

1. The Rise of Dismal Science Fiction - which of course, I can't read at the moment. There's a lot of books and television shows that I can't read or watch at the moment.

Apparently, I'm in the minority in this.

2. At 88, He's a Historical Rarity - the Living Son of a Slave - apparently the Washington Post is letting me read their articles again in the hopes that I'll subscribe. (Nope, can't afford it - already subscribed to the NY Times.)

( excerpt )

3.You can stop cleaning your mail now

( excerpt )

Be nice if we could move work and school outside. Maybe I should move into my brother's barn. Probably be freezing in the winter. Also it's too close to the post-apocalyptic book I wrote - where the protagonist moved into her brother's loft space. And - he has horrid wifi/internet access, which is crucial for what I'm doing.

4. I think I have a mouse, at least I hope it's a mouse.

Me: I think I have a mouse. I saw it run across the stove.
Mother: The stove? That's a bit high up for a mouse, they are usually on the ground.
Me: Well, it was big - so I hope it's not a spider.
Mother: I was thinking a cockroach.
Me: Too big and it moves more like a mouse.
Mother: Have you had mice before? I know in the last apartment -
Me: Yes. I found three dead ones. Used mint - they hate it, and steel wool, which didn't work as well. Mint worked better - but actually what killed them was the paint job. I'm not afraid of them, I just find them startling.
Mother: Yes, I'd prefer not to have them show up in my bed in the middle of the night. Our cats kept doing that. I was always having to chase them down and get rid of them. Your father never did - it was always me.
Me: You were also saving all our pets from the cats, the hamsters and the gerbil. Poor things.
Mother: Always in the middle of the night.

Me to Brother via texting: I have a mouse. Can I borrow Piper to get rid of it? (Piper is the cat.)

Bro: Oh, Clover (the other cat - which may be the pic above, they look alike to me) brought us a mouse in the middle of the bed at 4AM in the morning. I threw a towel over it, scooped it up and threw it outside. I'm a pro.
Me: Maybe I should borrow you?

5. Per the Governor's newsletter ....tonight.

We have exciting news today. The Eastman Kodak Company, a storied New York manufacturer based in Rochester, was awarded a $765 million federal loan under the Defense Production Act. This loan will allow Kodak to create a new business unit, Kodak Pharmaceuticals, dedicated to producing pharmaceutical ingredients that are essential for vital medications. New York's long-term support for Eastman Business Park helped allow the company to take advantage of this opportunity. Today's announcement means 300 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs for New Yorkers. More importantly, it will help ensure that America can provide for our own needs in a pandemic like this one. Never again do we want to rely on shipments from China or elsewhere in order to get lifesaving medical supplies. It is not just a public health issue—it's a national security issue. This is a great step forward and a great business opportunity for New York.

That's nice. I'd rather they gave the money to my agency. But admittedly it would be a drop in the bucket at this stage. Maybe I should quit and join Kodak Pharmaceuticals as a contract administrator. Honestly, if you work in medicine right now, in any capacity? You're golden. That and technology.

Here's what else you need to know tonight in our on-going and seemingly ceaseless coverage of New York vs. the Coronavirus (and apparently idiotic Americans who can't get their act together)

( Read more... )

The world is doomed.

Brother's Barn hidden behind the trees - taken last fall, before all hell broke loose.

1. I've mixed feelings about A Letter on Justice and Open Debate in Harpers.

Which is also commented on in the NY Times - due to the pursuant debate : An open letter published by Harper’s, signed by luminaries including Margaret Atwood and Wynton Marsalis, argued for openness to “opposing views.” The debate began immediately.

Before I go any further? I don't know if you are familiar with Harper's? But it is a progressive liberal magazine composed mainly of short stories, essays, op-ed's, and lengthy op-eds. It's...very academic and intellectual. Kind of a sophisticated or Ivy League version of the New Yorker. My brother go it for a while - and gave me a subscription once as a present. I'm not crazy about it - but it does have some excellent articles and is an interesting discourse on ideas. Hard to get published in it however, you have to have some serious credentials or know someone.

Anyhow, the list of names on this letter is kind of interesting. Everyone on Twitter and online - went right for JK Rowling, but she's actually the least interesting name on the list. She may be the most well-known, but she's the least interesting.

It's suffice to say a diverse list including people like Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood, Wynton Marsalis, Gloria Steinman, various historians, academics, musicians, Salaman Rushdie, etc. (Salaman Rushdie received death threats when he wrote his books, and had to go into exile from his homeland, and many on the list have had similar fates.)

( excerpt of NY Times article )

I like what the NY Times article states about this. I've noticed a lot of righteous folks online have forgotten how to be kind. More can be achieved with kindness than righteous indignation which like it or not can often take the guise of bullying, or so I've discovered. (I've been attacked and bullied by people whose politics and views I actually agree with because they either misread what I said, I made a typo and wasn't careful enough with my phrasing, or they couldn't handle any questions or criticism of their righteous views.) Righteousness tends to lead to damnation. Always. Always. We tend to demonize the other, as opposed to their actions and words - and the very act of demonizing is often utilized against us by someone else.

The Universe has a wicked sense of humor - it likes to thrust us on the opposite of every argument we've ever been on. I sometimes think the Universe thrives on dramatic and comedic irony.


2. 100 Most Popular Sci-Fi Books on Good Reads - keep in mind it is Good Reads, which has funky taste to begin with.

I've read roughly 40% of them. Mainly because I leap frog around genres, and there's more books out there than I have time to read, and I've been in a book reading slump since Feb. I have not finished one book since Feb. Or made much progress on the novel I'm writing. But I've written a lot of DW posts, and completed a lot of actual work. Plus taken a lot of photos of a cemetery.

3. Flirting with television shows, so if you've seen any of the below and can offer thoughts or a synopsis or rec, appreciate it.

* Black Sails - about six episodes in, very compelling. But, I'm wondering if I'm loving the wrong characters? I adore the real life fictionalized pirates, Jack, Anne Bonny, and Vane. Also Max. Long John Silver gets on my nerves, I want to smack him. I do however like Flint. Also want to smack Billy Bones. And I like Mrs. Barrow. But Eleanor is also getting on my nerves.

Should I stick with it? Does it get better? Does it end on a cliff-hanger?
Is there a lot of sexual violence?

* The Mandalorian - is this more adult or kid fare? How would you describe it? I loved Star Wars, Empire, Return - was kind of silly, Force Awakens - I liked. My favorite - Rogue One and Empire, actually. They haunt me. Everything else...eh.

* Warrior Nun - what's this one about and is it any good? It looks like fun and I think it is off a book I was flirting with a while ago.

* The Order - on Netflix - anyone seen it?

Can anyone rec a good supernatural soap? (I've seen Vamp Diaries, Legacies, Supernatural, Angel, Buffy...)

* Avatar: the Last Airbender - is this really just for kids? Is it all coming of age? Any romance? Any older characters?

Thanks in advance.

4. John Scalzi writes about a friend who turned out to be a creep - Kind of depressing. The owner of the sci-fi book store Borderlands, which helped launch a lot of Sci-Fi writers, turns out to be a sexual predator who used the store and his position in the Sci-Fi community to prey on the vulnerable and weak within it. What's interesting about the article he links to - Alan Betts - Borderlands Books Owner Accused of Sexual Assault by Own Daughter - is that the daughter states " she did not want to “cancel” her father “who has done a lot of good in her life” and who was “her best friend” growing up. She told Keene that speaking out was not meant to ruin his life or get revenge. " (By the way, you may not want to read those articles - if you've suffered in this manner yourself - most likely will be very triggering. It bothered me, and I haven't experienced it.)

5. Good news...sort of..

* Supreme Court Says Eastern Half of Oklahoma is Native American Land.
( Excerpt )

Proof that you have no idea what these people will do.

* Trump isn't King and not above the Law - although COVID crisis has kind of shown the world the limits of the President of the US powers. He really has no control over what each individual state chooses to do within its own jurisdiction.

( Excerpt )

1. I'm torturing myself watching Diane Sawyer's special "Our New Reality" about the virus. Although I found out a few things I did not know. ( Read more... )

2. It's official, The COVID MAP of DOOM - has 100,396 deaths in the US, 1.69 million cases, and 355,575 deaths world-wide.

Painful. Cases are increasing in the areas that opened too early and without precautions in place.

3. Every Type of Zoom Call Participant Illustrated by Cats - I'm the one who can't figure out how to angle the camera on my laptop so it keeps seeing the top of my head.
Or I use no video at all.

4. Well this happened in Central Park this week... -

5. Emotional Regulation Skills - eh, except I kind of like to numb out.
But I admit I am dealing with the feelings head on.
( what I do )

6. From the New York Times Magazine from a writer in Cambridge...
We Can’t Comprehend This Much Sorrow History’s first draft is almost always wrong — but we still have to try and write it.

( Read more... )

7. Kind of cool - Doctor Who Fandom does a rendition of a Doctor Who Song with over 500 fans from around the world singing via Zoom

Or you can just look at the CHOIR doing it

Zoom and social conferencing software is doing rather well.

8. Hmmm...two things to check out on streaming soon:

* The Great - starring Nicholas Hoult and Dakota Fanning
* Hannah Gasby - Douglas

Also I'm taping Grant on the History Channel. Now I just need to find time to watch television.

9. And the New York Governor's Latest missive on New York vs. The Corona Virus

( see missive below cut )

This made me laugh - So I left it outside the cut.

Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": Finley, a 6-year-old Golden Retriever from Canandaigua, NY, was recognized by Guinness World Records for being able to hold six tennis balls in his mouth with no assistance — shattering the previous record of five tennis balls. Congratulations to this very good boy on his world record.

The poor Governor, he is trying really hard to keep the moral up.

1. The Pandemic has really hurt Disney, who'd been riding high last year
( excerpt )

2. I Just Flew - It as Worse Than I Thought it Would be: the surreal experience of flying during a pandemic and the false promise of a return to normal

( excerpt )

3. What are Doing this for? Doctors are fed up with conspiracies ravaging ERS

4. Albert Camus on the Three Anti-dotes to the absurdity of Life

( excerpt )

5. How the 18th Century Gay Bar survived and thrived in a Deadly Environmnet

( excerpt )

1. Jupiter Came Like a Wrecking Ball and Paved the Way for Earth

2. You can now download over 200 Art Books from the Guggenheim for Free

3. Department of Defense Isn't Admitting that Aliens Exist but They Apparently Don't Mind that You Check Out Their Sweet Rides

Personally I agree with Mark Hamil on Twitter, it looks like a Tie Fighter or an old Atari version of taking out Tie Fighters.

Also this information was already released, the fact that it's official...is kind of irrelevant at the moment. But good try Federal Government in attempting to distract the news media from the Coronavirus.

4. The Rise of Valkaries - why were the heroes who chose a warriors fate female?

5. Debunking Campbell and Jung's The Hero's Journey or Hero of a Thousand Faces

* Eight Reasons Why the Heroes Journey Sucks

* Why I Seldom Teach The Hero's Journey

* Is the Monomyth a Myth

( excerpt )

* Trouble in Mythland - Campbell and Moyers

I actually agree with all of the above. I remember getting really annoyed that whenever I looked into how to write a synopsis of a book that I was working on - I'd get an outline of the heroes journey from some third rate English Lit Professor amateur mythologist - as if my plot synopsis had to automatically fall within that frame work and if it didn't there was something wrong. (It never did. Not all stories fall within that story-framework. The only ones that do are rather simplistic stories. The more interesting and complex tales did not.)

Also, a bit of honesty here? I couldn't get through Campbell's books. I tried, but I disagreed with a lot of his analysis and found a lot of it to be generalization - not helped by the fact that various folks on the Buffy Boards, who were of scholary persuasion and from other countries, hated him with a blind passion. I bought all of them while I was analyzing Buffy in the 90s, and recalled why I didn't use them at all in my undergrad minor - Epic Myth and Folklore. The reason was simple, it wasn't supported by actual mythologists, anthropologists and folklorists.

But I tried. Then I think I got rid of all of the books. Can't remember.


6. Umbert Eco's Antilibrary - why unread books are more valuable to our lives than read ones?

Reassuring if you are like me and have published a largely unread book.

( excerpt )

7. Okay, I keep ignoring it, but it keeps appearing on my feed and I just can't avoid any longer... Inside the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Nightmare Voyage - does validate my reasons for not taking cruises.

I have a feeling that cruises may be a thing of the past? And travel may become either ridiculously expensive or very cheap.

( Excerpt )

8. My new discovery...Fiona Apple's new album and this song in particular..

Relay