Birthday flowers from Lark Street Flower Market.

Happy belated birthday to me! (It was two days ago.)

                                                                My latest advocacy!

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

Last night, I finished the book I have been reading (Knife). It was excellent overall and beautifully written. In my head, I have snippets from memorable books that I have read over the years; for example early in the book, when Francie responds to the librarian "she is eleven" in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. That evokes the image of the girl asking for a recommendation and anticipating the opportunity to reread a beloved novel that had been suggested many times before, as well as my own pleasure of reading a wonderful book. In the case of Knife, it came in the last chapter, when the author is preparing to revisit the scene of the attack after 13 months. He writes, “Maybe I was going to Chautauqua to face up to the unbearable knowledge, common to all human beings, that it would never be yesterday again.” What a poignant and exquisitely-crafted sentence.

Today little Bindi is seven years old.

 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'm having to put in a few hours every day for a week or so on administrative tasks associated with my job. It's a bit more than my routine daily email (which admittedly can be quite time-consuming). I get a small stipend to do it, and it isn't a big deal, but it is reminding me of the looming semester six weeks away! 😳😳😳

Many things to write about but they will keep for another day.

It is so hot!!! 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

 July already. I just finished reading Dead Wake, a 2015 book about the Lusitania. It was excellent. Next I am going to read Knife.

My cold is somewhat over I guess, but the symptoms linger. I feel like I could blow my nose for three hours straight and still could keep at it.

Yesterday my cold was dreadful! I am thinking of my father, and how during all the hurricane news coverage, he described his cold as "category 5." 😊 He was always so funny.

 I have a cold! It's not Covid. I have not been sick since before the pandemic. I think the extreme heat and poor air quality are making it worse. 😒