The word that best describes my election attitude: Indifferent. News embargo continues. Will I plug back in four years from now? IDK.

Wildfires rage. It's horrible.

Back to Standard time a couple weeks ago. YAY!

 Friday night I had a wonderful, fun dream featuring my father and pizza.😊

And in other news, pick your poison! Righty or lefty fascism!

I just had a class where a nontraditional student called a young man who was making a presentation "sweetie." In 2024!

November 1 was my ninth anniversary as a vegetarian.

Today, Bob got a mailing that said, "Remember, who you vote for is private, but whether or not you voted is public record." It listed years and it included that he had not voted in 2016. The organization sending it is called "The Center for Voter Information." How creepy and weird. It feels threatening and intimidating. Bob remarked that it seems like a fascist nation -- pick your poison. Fascism from the left or fascism from the right. I'm sure this movement and others like it justify such actions by claiming it's an effort to boost turn out and assert that's a good thing. News flash: Those who have routinely voted and then skip or stop have very good reasons! The candidates suck, the parties suck, the media coverage sucks. WAKE UP. In other political news, I've discovered that texting back "f*** you" is about as effective as "stop" (but far more satisfying).

I have been intending to make a post every day this week but ran out of time. First, Election irritations: 1) the Molinaro/Riley ads are awful. I am so happy to not live in a so-called swing state. One nasty congressional race is too much; 2) I am inundated with texts from senate and house races in other states. LEAVE ME ALONE. Texting back "stop" doesn't work. Second, because we have unplugged from politics since being awakened and then disenfranchised, we have immersed ourselves in the '80s. We're currently watching "Highway to Heaven." I loved the show when it was on, and it has aged well! What a great show! Finally, last night I had a dream that had my father in it. It had something to do with food. It felt like a dream, a confusing medley, more than an ADC; regardless, it was good to see him.

                                                                My latest advocacy!

 Also: Mimmie's 120th birthday today. She probably would not approve, but she lived in a different time.

 This is spot-on! Funny yes but sad.

 I am crushed. I will never vote or watch the news again.

 Bob put out signs today!

Lately I have been thinking about the model of community power structures (specifically school boards although it can also be applied to other organizations) by McCarty & Ramsey (1968): Dominated, Factional, Pluralistic, Inert. More later!

I have an answer to the question at the end of my last post. The two parties and the media are corrupt, motivated by greed and gaslighting is the tactic. The Times Union recently had a column (by Chris Churchill) and an editorial about RFK jr. and minor parties. The column argued that RFK jr. should be on the ballot because removing him disenfranchises voters (yay). Of course cheap name-calling was included ("kook") which diminished the piece considerably. The editorial had the laudable view that the 2020 change that made it harder for minor parties to get on (and keep) ballot lines needs reform. But the article ends with a slap at RFK jr. over the bear story. It's truly amazing how so-called journalists don't bother with actual policy. National Enquirer-type stories are more fun. Yes, I know both the column and the editorial are not news, but the TU (and most other legacy outlets) have never had an article about anything of substance that is part of his platform, such as corporate capture or the chronic disease epidemic or the excruciating national debt. Too scary to unplug from the matrix, I guess.

The upcoming semester is creating a lot of work for me, but I wanted to make a few quick notes here. First, two nights ago I had another dream with Daddy in it. This one was a brief glimpse, and it felt more like a dream than an ADC. The focus was money! Funny, because the farm will be on the market soon and I know he'd be thrilled by the price it will bring!

Second, July 25 was Harry's eleventh gotcha day, and August 10 will be the Kitty's third gotcha day. 😊

And finally, I am so disgusted with the ANC and UNC duopoly. 😩 (That's the autocratic national committee and the undemocratic national committee.) Ugh. How did we get into this dystopia?

I saw the most reprehensible hit piece on RFK jr. from CBS by Major Garret. I'm not sure whether his name is spelled correctly, but who cares. The promo and six minute excerpt were awful -- clearly displaying a biased agenda. It was an inaccurate summary of the full interview, deliberately misleading, outrageous editing, just plain misinformation. I watched the full interview before seeing the hit piece, and the full interview of over an hour was not bad. CBS and Major are unethical and should be ashamed -- afraid of losing corrupt corporate sponsors I guess.

A long time ago -- about 45 years or so, there were things I "knew" or at least suspected: Both idealistic things and cynical things. This drove my decision to be an independent, rather than a member of a major political party. I still knew these things 35 years ago and 25 years ago and 15 years ago, but gradually over time, the vibrancy of that idealism and cynicism faded. To quote Billy Joel's song Angry Young Man, "just surviving is a noble fight." So while I remain idealistic and I believe in advocacy, I have become complacent. Within the past year, again gradually but building up steam as weeks have past, I have become energized by Kennedy's campaign for president. I feel as if I have been unplugged from the Matrix. I know things again, more deeply than 45 years ago. More to come.

 I am not "childless." I am "childfree."

I've been doing some thinking about whether writing publicly (as in a blog or on social media) is empowering or stifling. This is a question I remember being extensively discussed on blogs 20+ years ago. I could argue "empowering" because I have managed to keep this e-journal for over 22 years -- something I was never able to do in the days of handwritten or typed "private" journals (scare quotes because sometimes it was an assignment, read by a teacher or professor). I could also argue "stifling," because I absolutely self-censor, even though I have never tried to promote this blog and so the audience is small.

On social media, Bob has decided to be brave and make some political posts about Kennedy. I think it is admirable, even though I cannot do much more than click "like." I have PTSD from my days on the village board. People were so rude. To maintain peace, I can't engage in a lot of discourse. His shares have resulted in the blue-no-matter-who crowd commenting, in what I perceive as an effort to get him to delete posts and shut up.

An outrage on the news is the daily coverage of Belmont -- the race is being held at Saratoga this year, due to construction. It was bad enough that Saratoga has added race days in recent years. Now we have to hear the constant media gushing even earlier this summer over what amounts to animal abuse, due to Belmont.

We saw the last of the ten movies that were nominated for best picture: the Killing of the Flower Moon. It was good, although a difficult story. I can now say with assurance that "Poor Things" was the worst of the ten -- in fact it was much worse than that, and no way should best actress or anything else have gone to it. It was nothing more than a creepy celebration of abuse, and that simple fact renders good performances or make up or whatever meaningless.

On Saturday, Bob & I went to the East Greenbush library and signed a petition for RFK Jr. to appear on the NYS ballot in November. 

Today, I am taking care of details related to the spring semester.

This has been a tiring week. Classes end April 30, grades are due May 12, and so I had a huge amount to do, caused somewhat by 4/10 & 4/12, when I had to get my haircut and work on the taxes. (How dare you?) The good news for me is that there is light at the end of the tunnel: For the first time since 2001, I am not teaching in the summer. YAY.

While I surely don't agree with him on everything, I do on enough things to be motivated to vote, and I find the media opposition appalling. Here is my recruitment link. I'd stay home otherwise. Certainly not going to vote for the lying, misogynist grifter under any circumstanced, and I just cannot support the tired old leadership of (admittedly) the lesser of two evils candidate. Why are these two husks running?

Easter was nice. My brother hosted a brunch. It was my first large (32), mostly indoor gathering since 2019 (or very early 2020). So much has happened since then. It's a good thing we live mostly not knowing what is coming.

 What an a-hole! Full disclosure, I don't know her at all, nor did she ever represent me, but I have met him and I live in the county.

 Classes start this week. My first class is Thursday. Boo hoo. Winter break over. Not that it was much of a break, but not teaching for a few weeks is good, and I did get to do a few thing, such as read. Unfortunatly, I have gradually returned to my preferred mode of staying up late and sleeping in, so now I have to mend my ways.

We watched another hyped movie on Saturday: Maestro. Neither of us liked this one much either! Again, acting was fine, but it felt too long, confusing, difficult to hear, with a story line that focused too much on his sex life and too little on other more interesting aspects of his biography. Recently friends have been recommending "Killers of the Flower Moon," but after Oppenheimer and Maestro, I'm reluctant to invest over three hours...

I joined No Labels. Wonky snarky self-important pundits who diss the idea can go F themselves.