the which (eric) blair project @js0000@toot.cat

bought a new bike for myself today ...

i think the last time i had a new bike i was about 12 years old

i will admit to feeling almost out of my self with joy on the initial ride home (have not commuted by bike for months now after doing it almost daily for years)

and its a nice machine too:
+ wider tires make ride safer, more comfortable
+ modern separate up/down gear shifters
+ disc breaks
+ larger tires (circumference)
+ more upright riding position

🚲✨

woke up with night sweats again
covid a MF

getting better (but at a glacial pace)

"if i was 20/30/40 years younger ... "
(i was, but have managed to stay alive anyway)

👴🧫

ethics and politics and freedom:
these are all types of (beneficial) relationships

-boggs

-

later, reading summaries
of spinoza's life and thinking

he was
kicked out of the conservative jewish temple in amsterdam
and banned by catholics

now that catches my attention

-

god
nature
thinking

(balancing act)

✒️♾️🍃

threw out my copy of pound's _cantos_ (along with guide)
after getting through ~ 0.67

thought twice about it
(imagist)

i like to think i can separate creative work from human imperfections

in the end i guess
it's just another dead (whiteman) poet

(like i will be too one day)

📚🪦

reading the "changing concepts for changing realities" chapter of _revolution_and_evoltion_ (j. & g.l. boggs)

on every single f'ing page i am stunned not only by their clear analysis of the problems facing the citizens of the american empire at that time (40y ago), but also how relevant all of the points are for people living in our time now.

i get the sense these arguments were all talked over, broken down, and reassembled after many hours of thoughtful coversations.

reading & learning

📚

watching some clips of iranian women cutting off their (gorgeous) hair as part of the ongoing (deadly) protests against patriarchy after the death of m.amini

people are dying in the streets everyday

i don't know if it can go beyond the current rebellion; but i'm hopeful for (another) iranian revolution, this one for the dignity of all humans regardless of any divisions that can be made between us

those sisters are so inspiring to me

♀️🗡

everytime i see oksana markarova (ukrainian ambassador to usa), i am so impressed by her clear analysis, graciousness, and compassion for her nation.

she makes it clear there is only one way forward for the ukrainan people: victory

-

as an american, i am reminded of something i heard about vietnamese people having only 2 options in their war against the usa:
victory or death

-

of course, it's heartbreaking that humans keep thinking slaughtering each other helps anything

💔

does the transience of life only add to its beauty?

(asking for a friend)

🍃

no fan of disney, but watching the clips of little black girls overflowing with joy at h.bailey playing ariel made my heart explode with happiness

if you don't think representation matters, just watch

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp4yfmOOv6Q
(one of many)

💓

FL gov desantis flew dozens of migrants to marthas vineyard without any notification to anyone on the island in a jaw dropping display of ignorance.

he apparently is so wrapped up in the bizarre GOP-driven culture wars that he forgets these migrants are not only part of the human family, but also that his ancestors did the very same thing.

what kind of country is this?

sindh province PK

-

jackson MS
flint MI

-

floods and failures

water is life
race for death

"the social anarchy in the united states today is the result of the lack of any human values or /qualitative/ standards imposed by human beings on the /quantitative/ cancerous growth production for the sake of production"

_revolution_and_evolution_
-j.&g.l.boggs 1974

@dthompson

got a small hydroponic set up to grow some herbs (basil, chives, cilantro) and am now faced with acquiring seeds

as you are relatively local and have more experience with growing things, i thought i'd ask you if you could recommend any seed sellers?

best (and thx)

🌱

got a parking ticket from the university because i did not affix a new parking sticker to my rear window ... (the old one was still there)

my license plate number was on the ticket, so if the computers could have seen that i was registered (and issued a sticker)

and the university is in a residential area- so there are never any people stealing parking places to go to a nearby business

apparently, logic has nothing to do with any of this- just a shake down of the staff

i have not heard the word "colonialism" in connection with the queen of "england's green and pleasant land" passing on in the media i have consumed thus far (ok, there was one story from barbados)

not even as reigning over the dismantling of much of the empire

-

to say nothing of the feudal thinking underpinning of the entire concept of the monarchy

-

🖕👑

hearing a lot of anti-migrant propaganda for local (GOP) election candidates

sounds like white supremacy to me

also weird framing of conservative principles as essentially american (um "revolutionary" war, and mass democracy itself certainly informed by progressive values)

✊

good for dawn staley (🏀🔥) to cancel games with BYU over latest incident of racism (SC volleyball player met with racist heckling)

it's inexcusable (and she's acting that way)

BYU typical (pathetic) apologists:
- "ask for patience with the on-going investigation"
- "we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match"

also, shouldn't someone outside of BYU do the investigation?

visited detroit apartheid wall today

it was more moving than i expected it to be (isn't a wall most often suppressing emotion?)

part of it was also the neighborhood around- some houses cared for, others abandoned ...

now a mural is on the wall ...

fanciful
historical
colorful

it was more important to me than i thought it was beforehand, standing there alone in front of the wall ... considering misdeeds of the past ... breathing in the present

(worried about the future)

🧱🖌

back in the D (& environs) for a family event

typical dysfunction is painful- so i am just letting it go off my back

boston having its first "workday" commute with one of its main subway lines completely shut down

it went pretty well in an unambiguous victory for mayor wu and the MBTA

also, very happy to hear the mayor manage to answer questions in spanish that were asked in that language