From yesterday…

Empty Ello Market popcorn bag on the sidewalk. Bag is white from top to midpoint, and blue from midpoint to bottom.

A streak of cornmeal on the sidewalk.

Sunoco gas station canopy with white car pulled up to the forward gas pump. Modelo beer delivery truck and silhouetted building in the background.

Building with dust tarps dropped over it. Illuminated entry to the building in the lower left corner.

Shop window with disco mirror ball hanging and reflection of mirror ball in an adjacent window pain to the left.

The Matter With Things :: Essays On Attention Paid

i have, just now, finished the closing chapter of The Matter With Things… an argument about left and right brain hemisphere roles… the author, Iain McGilchrist, tells us the world has settled too much in the left-hemisphere, and ignores a right-hemisphere way of seeing and understanding, which he says is more complete and approaches nearer to truth… he argues that science in tandem with materialist society have driven us this way…

From this morning…

side of a brick building with a roof access ladder, u shaped bike hitching bar. A forward corner of the building casts a shadow on the stepped back wall that fills most of the frame.

American and New York State flags flutter in the breeze against a cloudy sky backdrop.

Illuminated pendant globe lights in a shop space. Lights are dimmed and objects in the store are increasingly visible the closer they are to the lights.

Female mannequin in a shop window with light colored sweater top and dark colored pants on bottom. A mountain, trees, utility pole and building are visible as a reflection in the window of the shop.

the new world order…

A male bust mannequin in a bridal shop window. Mannequin is wearing a formal suit and tie. Two female mannequins with wedding dresses are visible in a mirror behind the left shoulder of the mannequin.

my informal survey of supporters of Donald Trump indicates that none of them believe what i believe about him... they all say he won't do the worst things he has said he will do... i deeply desire to be proven wrong...

From this morning’s walk… Gallery display window with photographic art hanging on the wall.

Wood shipping pallet closeup. Paletboard is broken at the top. Woodpiece lies against the pallet and points to the broken board.

Single story M&T bank building in the early morning.
Three story commercial brick building with street crossing in front of it.

more from the theater of the absurd…

November 8, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

There are also stories that voters who chose Trump to lower household expenses are unhappy to discover that their undocumented relatives are in danger of deportation.

i feel i am living in an absurdist play…

November 8, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

Social media has been flooded today with stories of Trump voters who are shocked to learn that tariffs will raise consumer prices as reporters are covering that information.

i am starting to review my internet footprint for being secure from prying big tech eyes and ultimately government eyes… i have a Proton email account and have now signed up for their cloud drive and vpn service… i don’t use FB and Instagram very much… other ways to secure privacy?

November 7, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

a glimmer of hope?…

There is another, major problem for the party, as well: Trump won the election in part by promising everything to everyone, but the actual policies of the MAGA party are unpopular, even with many Republican voters.

from this morning…

Close up of collapsed venetian blind and connecting string.

Disco mirror ball.

Matte silver ballet flats on feet with black leggings extending up.

From this morning…

Elevator tower waiting for building to be constructed around it.

Intersecting planes of storefront window elements and reflections leading to an abstract composition.

Tunnel under a building with square opening at the end.

From this morning…

Sunoco gas station canopy and pump in early morning.

A note taped to a utility pole saying “Little detectives solving BIG problems! A drawing of a key and keyhole underneath.

Sunrise, telephone pole and mountain beyond the roof of a car.

Well, investors are enthusiastic about the outcome…

Screenshot of stock market graph showing Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P 500 trading graph.

the Jesuit monk Teilhard de Chardin’s ideas, written down during the first half of 19th century, didn’t see the light of day until after his death in 1955… his ideas considered radical by the church and forbidden to be published… this sounds like panpsychism to me… Iain McGilchrist also describes a universe where matter is the product of mind…

First let it be noted that, by the very fact of the individualisation of our planet, a certain mass of elementary consciousness was originally emprisoned in the matter of earth. (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man)

Sex-role divisions of labor have meant that as parents women have supported war effort by instilling in their children an acceptance of domination and a respect for violence as a means of social control. Implanting this ideology in human consciousness is as central to the making of a militaristic state as the overall control of males by ruling male groups who insist that men make war, and reward them for their efforts. (bell hooks, Feminist Theory)

taking this to hear, how would one ever act again?… and yet, there is a truth embedded here…

The essential point is that every disclosure is also a concealment. Every closing down of potential into an actuality – itself a necessary, even fruitful step – is by the same token a limiting of reality to what has been selected. If it had not been selected, one might have discovered something immensely larger within that field of potential – now forever narrowed to what it is we think we clearly know. (Iain McGilchrist, The Matter With Things)

… i have cancelled a trip to the west coast to see family… i couldn’t leave my wife by herself to process the news and frankly i need her shoulder to cry on too… we are going to take the time we need to grieve and process then figure out what to do next…

Three selfie images…

Headshot portrait of trans-person in black and white, lips glistening with lipstick, large crystal frame glasses, sequined headband.

Bare legs extending out from a dress garment with wooden table in background top of frame.

Reflection of the lower half of a person. Yellow orange glow overlay washes up from the bottom of the frame to about 1/3 point. floorboards painted white extend up and across the frame.

Optimism assumes that all will go well without our effort; pessimism assumes it’s all irredeemable; both let us stay home and do nothing. (Rebecca Solnit, Call Them by Their True Names)

To not actively commit to possibility—to not actively commit to making some kind of humane, livable future a reality—is to help ensure that the future is not humane or livable. To abdicate to hopelessness and resignation or “realism” is to be part of the violence and destruction. (Jeff Golden, Reclaiming the Sacred)

From this morning’s walk…

Road directional signs against a cloudy blue morning sky.

Orchid flowers on a glass table outdoors.

Silhouette of building corner, utility pole with street light, and tree branches with leaves.

Revolving door entry to a building. Glass canopy overhang.

Paper towel randomly folded in an interesting way on concrete sidewalk.

With the time change, the lighting conditions change…

Side of car in the foreground, bottom of frame. Mountains in the distance. Dawn.

Rocky bottom of creek lacking water because of drought.

Closeup of pile of bricks behind construction fence.

What do you think of this idea of imagination…

Imagination is not, as it is sometimes conceived, the capacity to conjure the unreal, but, for the first time, to see the real – the real that is, for reasons of deeply ingrained habit, no longer present to us. … To see is not just to register sense-data, but to see ‘into’ the life of what is seen; and ‘through’ it to the greater picture that lies beyond it, is implicit in it, and makes sense of it in terms of the totality of experience. (Iain McGilchrist, The Matter With Things)

I hated it when it first started happening, but sadly have gotten used to it… our local theater is not so bad in this regard though…

Nowadays we go to a movie and must watch commercials first. The relaxed, receptive state of surrender we like to reserve for the pleasure of entering into the aesthetic space of a film in a dark theater is now given over to advertising, where our sense and our sensibilities are assaulted against our will. (bell hooks, All About Love)

Looking forward to the end of the patriarchy…

The worship of death is a central component of patriarchal thinking, whether expressed by women or men. (bell hooks, All About Love)