I wish I could write. Not just here, though I'm happy to be doing something, anything. I mean really write. I wish I could pour it out and wonder where it came from afterwards. I know it would help me. I blame it on limited time, but that seems like a cop-out. If I wanted to write, wouldn't I make the time? The same thing is true of drawing cartoons. I have an idea, but don't get my pencils (Tyrant Racist Uneducated Misogynist Pedophile is the idea; I dream of creating a design and silk screening tee-shirts). 

I am feeling profoundly sad. I am mourning my mother, and she's still here. I am thinking of my father as Spring, Easter and his 99th birthday approach. I think of myself, and others perceive me, as above average in brain power. It's not as if I'm naive, I mean I've always known how life is...but still, I feel profoundly sad about my parents, about this cruel march of time. 

The horrible political leadership and the various immoral policies they are pushing don't help.

March 30 was the 5th anniversary of little Rosie's death. 😪 

 

So yesterday was my birthday. I am 64 now! How can this be?

It is quite remarkable to be teaching a class after a seven-year hiatus and have nearly daily examples appear in the news! Earlier this week I was struggling with class material, and the question: At what point does tolerance become complicity? How do I convey such difficult philosophical content to the impressionable, anxious young people in my class? Hard as it is, I do feel honored to have been entrusted with leading this important class right now.

Those cartoons are coming once I catch up. 

It seems people who identify as transgender, people who are homeless and undocumented migrants in the US under this idiotic oppressive regime = people with mental disabilities, gypsies and Jewish people in Nazi Germany. 😭

 

I have my classes ready on Brightspace and the syllabi are in good shape. I am teaching Toleration after seven years of hiatus, so there is much to do in terms of reading and assignments updates. I got a new smartphone. After a decade (at least) I will miss my cute little mini, but it could not do so many things. I drew one panel of a cartoon. Not sure whether to share now or wait until the whole series is done.

 LOL. If you get a bruise from shaking hands, you are not in excellent health. What liars, and most media is complicit. Stay tuned! Nileston News is brewing.

 

HAHAHAHA!! Now it is totally outrageous to deny someone a visa because they had this hilarious photoshopped image on their phone, but the photo is funny. Paranoid much? Threat to national security for LOL?

Recent absurdities mean I am itching to draw some rude satire. Alas, it will have to keep for a while longer. My last class for Spring 2025 semester was today and grades are due May 18. I've been having a flare in my right wrist. No fun. Hope it holds up OK.

 In the last post I wrote about wanting to draw or write this idea. On Saturday, after two years of no drawing, I picked up my pencils.

I have an idea for a satire cartoon or short story based on this article and pending village elections. Revitalize Main Street! Like Castleton's cats, how about Castleton's rats? Oh I am itching to write and draw. This is why I am excited to not teach this summer.

I wanted to post at least once before the end of March, and I had plenty of things to write, but my time evaporated. I barely have time for all the things I must do - writing here is not a "must," sadly.

So I am snatching a moment to share this graphic I made last night (it's been forever since I did anything like this). We have an evil creep in the Village who should be shunned but instead the current regime lacks a moral compass and kisses his a*s.

We watched two more movies from this year's Oscars: The Fabelmans (which was awesome) and Elvis (which was a little hard to follow in the beginning, and also it was sad (of course) - but very good overall). Maybe I'll have time to write more after the semester ends.

Finally - I had another dream last week that included my father. There was much more than him in the dream - and I mostly don't remember it - but his presence is still clear. He was in some sort of sales contest that involved a costume. He won (of course). His costume had "May" emblazoned on it. It was referring to the month. What could that mean?

So happy to not be in Florida - or Tennessee!

 This week I am uneasy. Two of my "friends" (I always use scare quotes when I am referring to the Facebook variety) have COVID-19. One is from high school. We were not "best" friends, but my hometown is not a big place, and we attended the same elementary school that fed into a larger centralized high school, so I have known this woman since Kindergarten. She has been married for many years, and this summer took a vacation to Florida to celebrate the milestone. She shared many pictures of their trip, then yesterday, she resurfaced after a couple of weeks' silence to report that she has had COVID for over two weeks. When I saw her beach sunset pictures, I thought it was unwise to take a holiday in the coronavirus capital of the nation, but since I don't engage in that sort of dialogue, I un-followed her. I had not done that before, because although I am aware she has views that conflict with mine, she is not in the habit of writing controversial, argumentative, or political posts. But, the post about being very sick generated many comments from others, some of whom are also my "friends." There was a variety of perspectives, and no one got into a fight, but someone asked if she was vaccinated, and another asked how she got it. She said she is not vaccinated, and that she thought she got it from her husband, who got it from the plane ride home. Then she was asked if she wore a mask on the plane, and she said, yes, except when they ate and drank, and also the plane was packed. Someone responded, I guess masks don't work. The original "friend" has always been a lovely person inside and out, and she did not engage, but that commenter, my "friend," and two other mutual "friends," all of whom attended school with me, make up what I call the idiot quartet. They have become quite conservative (and have married extremely right-wing men), have always been physically gorgeous, are mostly nice (some more than others), and they are hard-line true believers in their POV (religious, political, social). So, no vaccine under any circumstances, virus is overblown, conspiracy theorists make valid points, and I suspect if they succumbed they would say it was God's will, they are living true to their beliefs. Last night, bothered by the situation, I wondered if they would change if their child or grandchild was dangerously ill. Going back to getting it on the plane, that is the likely place, although depending on what they did on that celebratory vacation, given that it was in Florida and they were there for 2-3 weeks...but she would not go there. No doubt she & her husband will be first in line to endorse governor cretin should he manage to mount a campaign.

The other "friend" is someone I met more recently. She is a neighbor and acquaintance. I un-followed her a while ago because of political posts. She is as lefty as the idiot quartet is righty, one of those blue no matter who types, which to me is an equally ignorant perspective to the idiot quartet's. She got a breakthrough case, and was not as sick as my other "friend," but it wasn't fun for a few days. She blamed it on the waning effectiveness of the vaccine and her comorbidity (obesity), but then admits she had gotten lax in her behaviors (mask-wearing, distancing, gatherings). If you are wondering how I know either story, to pull off un-follow (not un-friend), one has to occasionally drop in and see what's up. That's what I did yesterday with the anti-vaxxer. The lefty neighbor I heard about through regular gossip, so I checked her page to confirm.

 

This is true: It is COLD and windy. I forgot...yesterday was GBP's 19th anniversary! And I didn't forget -- but didn't post here, Saturday was Rosie's ninth Gotcha Day.

 

 

The universe has started to send me cartoons again! 

My next post from Cornell study: I wrote this yesterday but was using a tablet and think it did not save. I am upset that people are pushing to re-open. Not that I am unsympathetic to business and unemployment, but I'm scared people will be careless, not social distance, and we will have a spike in cases. People protesting! Really? Also ignorance on Facebook - blaming the left or the right. Why are people so petty? I thought we were all in this together.

I didn't write this as an entry (yet), but Facebook "friends" who take the appalling Darwinist view that the vulnerable should just die are held to the policy displayed in the cartoon below. It's better than a sleepless night, or a commenting argument. (Although I am so tempted to respond to their cold, hearless views by writing inspired by Scrooge ("are there no workhouses?," -- "wouldt you be offended if I took the similar position of asking why I should care about unemployed people with money problems? I have a good job. I have a cushion. I can work from home. Why didn't the struggling get a better education, find more secure jobs, and be smarter about saving money?") Of course I would never respond that way, it's just a fantasy.