D&F 1-10-21

Well, it’s been quite the week. With both a violent invasion of the nation’s capital by a bunch of chuds, and the final banning of their god by Twitter, its one for the history books. While I feel like a lot of the banning and resignation is shutting the barn doors after the animals are out, it’s somewhat nice to know there is a line somewhere out there. Hell, even Parler is being banned from the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store. I’m a prison abolitionist, and believe strongly in restorative justice, so I’m thinking about what social policies and pressures would prevent these behaviors in the future. I’m also curious what this sort of thing means for an industry that depends on outrage and endless scrolling to make money. Surely, a pox on Facebook’s house is in order.

As a side-note I do find it absolutely hilarious that in an effort to be recognized by their fans and echo chambers, the most dedicated dinguses were their own worst enemy. Even the zip tie guy got caught.

As much as I still wish we had a different candidate taking over on the 20th (a younger socialist perhaps?), I mostly hope that we get a peaceful transition.

Know that I’m also trying not to doomscroll, and instead love on the people around me and do a lot of yoga and meditation. I hope you’re able to find some calm.

a brief hacking interlude I love Bert Fan’s cyberadventures. I still can’t believe I work with this guy. He’s hilarious and kind, and finds the most absurd and great side-projects. If you watched Terminator 2 as a youth, you will likely enjoy this link.

I think I’ve posted this in the past, but it might be a nice time to virtually walk with someone, perhaps with some nice music. If you want to listen to your music in a retro fashion perhaps you’ll want to explore Panic’s archives.

It’s still a lovely time to light a candle or ten and settle into a good book. I’m really looking forward to a new afrofuturism book: A River Called Time. This week I’m also reading one of my favorite authors’ favorite authors, which I bought from Borderlands in SF.

During this lockdown, I’ve found myself buying and reading a lot more physical books, perhaps because so much of my day-to-day life is conducted through screens. It’s a nice break. I’ve also loved journaling another year with a nice fountain pen.

Looking back at my writing from the past few years, and in particular at my homes, dreams, and growth each year is a gift my past self gave present me. I’m really appreciative of the friends and therapists that helped me become a kinder, more empathetic person. Ah, introspection. I love it. If there’s one thing spending copious amounts of time alone during a pandemic does, is provide ample time to consider ourselves. A nice reading I’ve done lately is from a text my former sangha used often: The Issue At Hand by Gil Fronsdal. Between this and Beginning Our Day, there’s a real chill Buddhist vibe that has given me something to meditate on throughout my week. If you haven’t loved mediation in the past, or have never tried it, it’s nice to just do a basic breathing exercise sometimes when I find myself reaching for that doom.

I helped my friend L setup Self Control the other day on her Mac, as Freedom was behaving weirdly with the new M1 architecture, and while I was at it, I also blocked Twitter.com at my router, ensuring that I would need to leave the house if I wanted to doom scroll that site. You may not need or want something so drastic, but it’s been pretty nice not seeing Twitter all week. If you have questions about how I set up either of those things, let me know.

Closing

As we move forward into 2021, I’m also thinking about grief. This is a really complex topic for me, and I’m pretty intentionally bad at sitting with it. One of my larger goals for the next few years is to really think about loss and find peace with grief.

We’ve lost so much collectively and individually, and stand to lose much more unless we begin to act as a collective, and grasp that our planet is an ecosystem that we must act responsibly within. I have a feeling our generation won’t be remembered fondly by those in the future, but even as I never plan on having kids, I think about what sort of legacy we leave the Earth with in the coming millennia. Alone, it can be hard enough to plan what I’m having for dinner, or working on the next day, but together I think we can really made a difference. Perhaps that sounds naïve, but I like to hope because it sure beats giving up.

With that said, I hope you love yourself this week, and share that love with your friends and family. Keep dreaming, keep caring, and keep fighting, space cowgirls~