Does the twenty-year-old pictured above deserve to go to prison? . (Read the story here) Maybe he does. But then, if he goes to jail for stealing identities and money, why do the folks at Anthropic, who are behind this act of thievery and identity theft get to settle out of court? Could it be because Antghropic is backed by some of the richest men in the world? What do you think? … [Read more...]
Harvest Moon
"The Harvest Supermoon rises in all its golden glory, marking the closest and brightest full moon of the season. The term “Harvest Moon” comes from ancient farming traditions — it’s the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, when its extended evening light helped farmers gather their last crops before winter. This year’s Harvest Moon is also a Supermoon, appearing about fifteen percent larger and thirty percent brighter than usual as it comes closer to Earth in its orbit. Look east shortly after sunset, and you’ll see the golden disk lifting above the horizon — a breathtaking symbol of change, reflection, and gratitude for nature’s cycles." … [Read more...]
Niko and Patricia’s Excellent Adventure
Between the ages of four and eight, my son was enthralled by the adventures of Bill and Ted, one excellent, one, as in 1980s American lingo, 'bogus', like so: These comedy/adventure/sci-fi films were the YA cult favorites of their time, and Niko was so onboard with them too. Can't remember how many times we watched those films together, nor how many times he repeated the dialogue, mimicked the air guitar playing of the two lead characters, and declared pretty much everything in his life, from his grandmother's pastitsio to his but-I'm-not-sleepy bedtime, as either, "excellent!" or "bogus," just as those characters would. "Bill" S. Preston Esq., and Ted "Theodore" Logan … [Read more...]
Sooper Sekret
TELEGRAM It's time to change strategies. STOP. An inquiring mind, an open heart, a spiritual soul, a sure and steadfast will. STOP. Off on a very important mission. STOP. See you soon. … [Read more...]
Nepal
Nepal is in the midst of what appears to be a genuine revolution against a corrupt government. Gen-Z Nepalese have chosen their new leader via a poll on a Discord server. Their new leader is expected to meet the Army Chief to form a new interim government to hold new elections. Whether this will work or become a tragedy remains to be seen, but the crucial thinh here is that the young people there put aside their differences and banded together. Something to think about. … [Read more...]
Today, It All Got to Me.
My resolution is to write here once a week, every Wednesday. I'm doing this in response to the class action suits against AI, in which many authors, including myself, are involved. (If you have an interest in what those entail, you can read the details on the Authors Guild website here.) And, since one of the suits includes Meta, apart from wishing people "happy birthday," or sharing fact-checked posts and videos about the inexoriable march to a dictatorship the United States is on, a march which too many people don't seem to realize is taking place even though they're being pushed right along, I'm here instead of on Fartfacebook, here, on my good old-fashioned Wordpress blog, set … [Read more...]
Liked
Recently, I saw an episode of a Chuck Lorre creation, "Mom," a comedy/drama centered around several women who are in recovery. It aired for eight seasons until 2021, but I hadn't seen it, and now I'm hooked, partly because the writing and the performances are so adept, but primarily because women banding together to support one another will always be my thing. Another reason I find the series so compelling is due to the fact that one of my closest friends struggles with sobriety, and the writers do an excellent job of not only portraying that struggle, but demonstrating through plot and action how a loved one can help in that struggle. In one episode, Nora, played by Yvette Nicole Brown, … [Read more...]
Purple or Green?
Here's a photo of a purple sofa. (Not mine, just a photo off the web) We can see it's purple, but depending on what monitor we have at home, depending on what device we might be using to view it, the quality of our individual graphics card, the shade of purple will vary, sometimes quite a lot. So, if we were to discuss what shade of purple, there'd be some debate, some conjecture, but when we hold it up to the light, when we examine it carefully, we are in agreement that it's purple. The human brain is tricky, though. It can be persuaded to believe, or it can, under certain circumstances, persuade itself to believe that this is not a purple sofa. Our environment, our upbringing, our … [Read more...]
Patience
The first four decades of my life, I accepted the dictum that was canon in my nuclear family and later, in my marriage, that my needs should come last after the needs and wants of my loved ones, for that was the only way I would be deemed a good daughter and good wife. I went after those titles "Good Daughter", "Good Wife", as though winning them would put money in my bank account and food on my table. I never allowed my personal satisfaction, my own quality of life, to enter the equation. By age thirty-nine, I had given up my hard-earned profession as a high school English teacher, a diploma and certificate that had taken me ten years longer to earn than it might have, had I not still … [Read more...]
To Women, About Men, On International Women’s Day
I know this is a weird screed for March 8, and I'm probably going to get sh*t for it, but what else is new? [Note: I reference sex acts in this post.] Anyone who has read one of my books or watched LYVIA'S HOUSE knows that I'm a proponent of women's friendships, women helping women, and women's rights. But this International Women's Day, I have something to add to that message: If we, as WOMEN, don't also scrutinize and alter how we think about and interact with MEN, whether we are siblings, friends, colleagues, significant others, or mothers of men, we are only fixing the leaks on one side of the boat. Look, we were all spoon-fed the ideology growing up: A WOMAN can only be … [Read more...]
THEY
My first year of teaching English in a New York City high school, my pruney department chairperson was walking past my open classroom door, and heard me ask my class, "Has everyone finished their essay?" She pulled me out into the hallway so she could chastise me on my usage of the word, "they." "The word 'everyone' is singular, as I certainly hope you know, therefore it is not qualified by the pronoun, 'they.' When you use 'everyone' in a sentence, the correct pronoun is 'he'. 'Has everyone finished 'his' essay?' is what you should have said." As this lecture between us took place centuries ago, she was right, as it happens. Back then, the proper pronoun to use … [Read more...]
Dana White and ‘L’
The quote is all Dana White, the red arrow and underline added by me. It resonates, because it took me far too long to learn this. About four years ago, something wonderful happened for me in my publishing career. It doesn't matter what it was in the context of this post, what matters is that I worked so long and so hard for it, had experienced so much disappointment before it, but had persevered, no matter how many times I'd felt like giving up. So when this wonderful thing happened, I was both elated and a bundle of anxiety all at once. It meant so much, yet at the same time, it felt like I was experiencing a success that actually only happened to other people, not to me. Can … [Read more...]
Conformity
First of all, we’re all susceptible to brainwashing and radicalization. Don't for one moment think you're "too smart" for that. It’s nothing to do with being "smart", it’s to do with what you're exposed to. It has to do with being conditioned, while our brains are still young and malleable, to accept a belief held by our caretakers without being offered facts to back up that belief by our caretakers. Up until a certain age, we accept any and all ideas from those nice people, without whom we wouldn't be housed, clothed or fed. Our parents are the first line of defense against us developing early critical thinking skills and the cultivation of original ideas. Schools and … [Read more...]