Bread & circuses . . .

Dear you,

Bread and Circuses:  a diet of entertainment or political policies on which the masses are fed to keep them happy and docile.

I applaud the NBA players who refuse to be a part of the strategic circus. They are resisting, speaking, and fueling for a fight. Meanwhile, the current administration is pushing to get citizens back into a cycle of watching, ingesting, embracing distraction.  I recycle the cycle myself now and then, escaping into entire weekends of Sex and the City reruns. But while I am sleeping in distraction cycle, more literal shit is going down.  The latest:

Jacob Blake was shot in the back by law enforcement.  He may be paralyzed for life.

His name has not been mentioned during the circus called the Republican National Convention.  I hear clips from speakers describing a world that does not exist, a Camelot-like fabulousness that Donald has created.  And if we do not reelect this man?  No one will be safe.

Really?

We aren’t all “safe” now.  Those of us who have the luxury of interacting with law enforcement without getting shot in the back need to be resisting, speaking, and fueling for a fight.  The watching, ingesting, and distraction days are done.

We aren’t playing.

Love,

Joyce

Q who?

Dear you:

“Where we go one we go all.”

This is the QAnon motto.  The syntax is awkward as hell.  But it does have that fifth grade-secret-society kind of ring to it.  Donald Trump likes it because they like him.  Yes, it has come to this.  Another bad motto and another misinterpretation of V for Vendetta. 

But what does this motto mean????

Does it justify the Qs lust for attending packed rallies, even during a pandemic?

Does it mean the blob is all and the individual must be absorbed? 

Does it mean the Qs are like lemmings running off a cliff? What if “one” decides to drink the disinfectant Donald was talking about months ago?  Does that mean they all then belly up to the “We Go Lysol Cocktail Bar”?

My Q research to answer those questions revealed that these morons are embracing a contradiction.  And not the good kind associated with complexity or depth. Consider one of Q's merch-shirts and that motto again:

Think.  Who needs to think if “where we go one we go all”? Follow the Q.  Well, you know the cliché, liberals fall in love, but conservatives fall in line.  And they are falling in line, I hear, by the millions.  Apparently, I am no longer just a terrorist, I am now a cannibal who eats and/or sells children.   They know this to be true, I guess, because Q says it is.  They don’t need to think.  They just need to “we go all” in for the titillating mystery of Q. 

But who is Q?  I think it's this guy:

Where he goes, I am NOT going at all.   Because I actually do think instead of wearing the word on a t-shirt.

And I would so much rather fall in love than fall in line.

Come on Qs.  Think.  If you dare.

XO

Joyce

Lost Things . . .

Dear you,

Saint Anthony is the Catholic Saint of lost things.  Perhaps you know the common people’s prayer to him:

Dear St. Anthony, please come around.  Something is lost and it cannot be found.

Very 2020 relevant.

What have we lost?

What cannot be found?

What will never come back, no matter how much we pray?

Someone lost their mask in the Publix parking lot this week:

This is a new form of litter/garbage we see on the streets these days, and the lost (or abandoned) mask reminds me how often we dispose of good, helpful things . . .  and people.  I like the photo, my shadow self looming over the heroic little accessory.

What have we lost?

What cannot be found?

What will never come back, no matter how much we pray?

What we have found, if lucky, is resilience and possibly revolution.  And even a parking lot phone-photo can be viewed through an interpretive lens of the new, things as they are, the way we never expected them to be.

I hope you are seeing what is new.  And I hope you are finding things too, things you did not expect to discover.  It can only get better.

Love,

Joyce

Defiance?

Dear you,

Stop the spread.  Well, this won’t help:

The student who snapped the picture, Ms. Waters, was suspended by the Georgia school in question.  Later, she was un-suspended.  Thank you, goddess of justice.  However, the image is still ridiculous and alarming.  What are these young people thinking?  What are they not thinking?  I do see one teen in a mask. I am sure he was not alone. But why not require masks for all, especially when crowded together in hallways or gyms?  Is it that hard? 

The superintendent for that school thinks it is hard.  His words, as published by CNN.com:

“There is no question that the photo does not look good . . . Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them.”

Really?  How about PANTS.  I promise you, if a student showed up for class pants-less, he/she would be forced to don the britches or exit the facility.

How about BELLY SHIRTS?  The requirement to wear a full shirt is probably enforceable.

How about SHOES?  Barefoot in Art History 101 may look cool, but I am pretty sure that is forbidden too.  And enforceable.

I am so tired of these weaklings backing down about masking.

In closed public spaces, put one on.  Data shows they help limit the spread. So, why reject easy masking?

I keep hearing it is all about defiance.  “Don’t tell me what to do!”  I also know the science about young, undeveloped brains tending to embrace risk.  But why place others at risk?

Such cowardly defiance, darling.  “I have a right to spread the virus.  I have a right to kill you.”

That is what they are saying.  And as Trump would say, “it is what it is.”  And what it is, is bloody cruel.

Happy Friday to all, and good luck.

Love,

Joyce

Am I Drunk or Is This Really Happening?

Dear you,

Earth 2 existence continues to be a shock and not so awesome experience.  Muddle headed, I needed to blog something, having missed last week's entry due to constant tourist nonsense.  I certainly have my pick of topics from the (surreal) headlines, confirming my suspicion that Earth 2 craziness has gone global.  Is what I am reading/hearing real or have I mistakenly clicked on www.theonion.com, our favorite satirical news source?  What the hell is going on? 

Examine the following headlines.  Tell me which is real and which is Onion fare.

1. “Animal Rights Group Offers $5,000 Reward for Information on Who Put ‘Trump 2020’ Sticker on a Bear”

2. “Federal Agents Drive 3 Hours Away from Portland Before Realizing Abducted Protester Still in Backseat”

3. “The FDA’s List of Dangerous Hand Sanitizers Has Now Grown to More than 100”

4. “Ron DeSantis Cuts Phone Line Outside Nursing Home So No One Can Report Coronavirus Data”

5. “Man Loses Penis to Infection, Doctor Builds New One on Arm”

6. “Federal Troops Tear-Gas Yankees Off Field So Trump Can Throw Out First Pitch”

7. “Forget the Friendly Skies, Fight Breaks Out on Flight Between Drunk and Maskless Passengers”

8. “Knowledge That It Could Kill Him Actually Making Man Appreciate Day at Disney World A Lot More”

                                                                *****************

How did you do on the TRUE/FALSE test?

Yes, headlines 1, 3, 5 and 7 are TRUE.  Headlines 2, 4, 6, and 8 are FALSE.  And every single one of them is possible.  Hence, my muddled head.

Meanwhile, as I type, Trump is giving a word-salad news conference.  (“The China Virus” . . . “Governor DeSantis is great” . . . “telehealth is incredible”), the “guests” downstairs seem to be body slamming the walls, and MY HAND SANITIZER IS GOING TO KILL ME!

It’s all breaking news in a broken world . . .

Inhale, exhale, and carry on 😊

Love, Joyce