Happy Friday! I forgot to do most of the things I was supposed to do yesterday, so – damn. But Friday! We’re supposed to THANK GOD that it’s Friday and another week hath passed us by, but I don’t know who atheists are supposed to thank (presumably the planet Venus? Though that still smacks of astrological significance, it’ll have to do because I’m not willing to do more research on the subject. I figured that Wikipedia rabbit hole would be a little shorter.
I have friends calling for reconciliation, friends expressing contempt for said reconciliation, friends calling for revolution, and above all, friends making a LOT of noise on social media. It’s our way. Society’s safety-valve turned placebo-protest – where our angry words can be vented to people who think just like us (if your friend-base is localized both mentally and geographically) or vented to people who will then immediately take them personally, blow them out of proportion and use this as just another example of the stupidity an racism of the right / elitist contempt of the left.
Blah. Sorry. It’s Friday. I’m turning y’all off. I have the suspicion it’ll still be there, waiting for me when I turn it all back on.
I’ve not had a productive week. I’ve been a good rob, going to the gym, but the emotional toll of the election, which I still have yet to fully unpack in my mind, has left me listless. Monday night’s open mic was SO good, and I was so “on” – probably the best performer-self that I’m able to be – but Tuesday was a long, slowly-unfolding nightmare, home alone in the house watching idiot talking-heads fade into shock that all of their friends, pundits and computer models could possibly be wrong.
That offended me. But eventually I got to sleep – unfortunately early the next morning it was time to get the furnace cleaned because practical Life events still take precendence over politics, and I got into my annual chat with Derek the furnace guy – an interesting dichotomy of Baltimore Hon and liberal philosophies. We didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything but I think he seemed genuinely relieved to have someone to talk to about the election. A LOT of basements he was going to be in today were NOT going to be friendly to someone having doubts about our new president-elect…
Real Life keeps getting in the way. Saturday morning my friend Scott Morgan had a heart attack and died. This is shortly after my friend Sarah Hensler and her father crashed and died in their little Piper airplane. Saturday night my friend Karl Kalbaugh went into hospice with aggressive cancer. He died shortly after the election as we got news that two other friends in the music community have been diagnosed with cancer. Leonard Cohen passes, Trump rises ascendant. These things are not equivalent, but it’s been just a horrible week.
I can’t QUITE stop reading of course, and though I’d thought through a lot of Trump’s “100 day plan” a bit back when it was first summed up, I was looking at it again today. I think there’s about 30 points on it, two of which I think are absurdly implausible (good luck with that Constitutional Amendment, buddy), two of which kind of leave me terrified (yes! Let’s encouragement more ignorance through the further fragmentation of education – and really? Just pull out of the environmental accords and “cancel payments”?! THAT’S an existential threat – but he Lives in towers so I guess he don’t care…. ). There are at least two points that, as a states’ rights person myself and especially since Trump has declared HE’S a states’ rights guy too, I think are dramatic overreaches into how states work (on the education and law enforcement fronts) and at least three things that I frankly agree with. The remainder tend to be idealogical things about fiscal policy that I don’t claim to truly understand, but I tend to be against on principle – like the idea that corporations are best run by themselves is just absurd.
Oh, and in case you hadn’t noticed, I can’t stop writing either.
All of the social agenda stuff – well, I’m glad to see it’s not on the agenda – but all of that falls into line with the placement of a new judge – and I’m just disgusted that the Republicans managed to hold that off. That slot should’ve been ours. And with this election having gone to the winner of the lowest voter turnout in recent history, it REALLY should’ve been – but you know, sometimes we click “share” when we MEANT to get out and vote.
Ugh. Well, this is mostly about clearing my head. I’ve got work to do. My brain’s been kind of shut down, though mostly by association and hideous overuse. Emotionally drained, but yesterday was valuable as Heather and Artem and I sat and watched a crappy movie and some excellent television. I debate with myself as to which I inherently enjoy more, but as a responsible media consumer I GUESS I should fall into the camp of the latter.
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