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)

November 1, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson(https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-1-2024)

In Madison, Harris told a reporter: “What I am enjoying about this moment most is that in spite of how my opponent spends full time trying to divide the American people, what I am seeing is people coming together under one roof who seemingly have nothing in common and know they have everything in common, and I think that is in the best interest of the strength of our nation.

November 1, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson(https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-1-2024)

Trump’s mental state continues to deteriorate, taking with it the former president’s inhibitions. After going on a rant about the people he blamed for troubles with his microphone at a sparsely attended rally in Warren, Michigan, the Republican nominee for president of the United States of America simulated oral sex on stage.

From this morning’s walk…

Early morning streetscape, wrought iron gate shadow lower left corner, mountains and building in distance, sidewalk receding around corner of building on left, pickup truck parked on the street.

Early AM streetscape, Valero gas station canopy and car on left, price sign right of center, corner store in distance on right.

Illuminated front of local mosque.

Key Food grocery storefront. Empty parking lot in front of store.

Bale of cardboard boxes, white abstract shaped box at front that says “eggs”.

Public service announcement…

Plastic encased magazine on sidewalk. Cover of magazine says “VOTE”… did you?

From this morning…

Scaffolding in front of a building, illuminated by a security light. Peaked roof house structure in background.

Building in distance illuminated by street lights, some windows illuminated from within.

Store fronts on a street illuminated by street light. Early morning.

Shop display window illuminated by light in window hanging from ceiling.

… and one for the end of Halloween

Skeleton on an exercise bike in an antique shop window.

And one having nothing to do with politics…

One finds that there is beauty or at least interest in everything, seen with an acute enough eye. (And the aestheticizing of reality that makes everything, anything, available to the camera is what also permits the co-opting of any photograph, even one of an utterly practical sort, as art.) (Susan Sontag, On Photography)

This may be an extreme point of view, but views like this sour me on religion in general and Christianity in particular because it is such a sinister force in American politics.

October 31, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson(https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-31-2024)

Christian pastor Dale Partridge posted: “In a Christian marriage, a wife should vote according to her husband’s direction. He is the head and they are one. Unity extends to politics. This is not controversial.” But, he added, “submission does have limits. A wife doesn’t need to submit to her husband in sin (in this case voting democrat).”

October 31, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson(https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-31-2024)

To assist those women who might not feel safe letting their husbands know how they voted, women have been posting notes in women’s public bathrooms assuring other women that their vote is secret.