June 18, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

“Christians” who want to rule the country…

That May, Russell Moore (no relation to Ms. Moore) left the church leadership and then, the following month, left the church itself over its handling of sexual abuse allegations and racism. A 2022 report on the church and sex abuse was so damning that Russell Moore wrote: “I was wrong to call sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention…a crisis. Crisis is too small a word. It is an apocalypse.” The investigation, he says, “uncovers a reality far more evil and systematic than I imagined it could be.”

To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility.

— All About Love: New Visions (Love Song to the Nation Book 1) by bell hooks a.co/itHHQlY

bell hooks quoting Erich Fromm’s definition of love…

“the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” Explaining further, he continues: “Love is as love does. Love is an act of will—namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.” Since the choice must be made to nurture growth, this definition counters the more widely accepted assumption that we love instinctually.”

— All About Love: New Visions (Love Song to the Nation Book 1) by bell hooks a.co/08X8dFK

A selection of the more eccentric photos from this morning’s walk…

Shadow of a tree on the pavement with a trapezoid shaped area of reflected sunlight in the middle.

Small succulent plant in a shop window with a galactic print curtain as a backdrop.

A paper bowl on a concrete sidewalk. The bowl is placed equidistant from the left, right, and top of a 4x5 frame area.

Finished reading Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, bell hooks. Really good.

Our emphasis must be on cultural transformation: destroying dualism, eradicating systems of domination. Our struggle will be gradual and protracted.

It is disheartening that this gradual and protracted approach has been used by far right conservatives to move society deeper into white supremacist patriarchy and cement it. The feminist revolution never materialized in this way. It petered out in a series of rebellions which gained some ground, but never got to a revolution.

Window AC units installed… ready for the heat.

These four images will be the prompt for 8 different writers to write a story to be read in public. The event is called twice told and will take place on July 11. I have participated as an author in two previous iterations. This will be the first time I am the featured visual artist.

Three leaves on concrete pavement casting shadows in the early morning sun. The shadows look like four legged animals.

A grid of 15 images of the ocean taken from the same place on 15 consecutive days.

Head and leg of a baby doll empaled on a metal car antenna. Car and buildings in the background.

Illuminated light bulb with a clear glass shade. Th bulb is reflected in the glass shade in a number of places. The image floats in a black field.

Rhetorical skill was useless, or even damaging, if it did not go with virtue and moral purpose: all must be done in the service of good. Cicero drew a distinction between virtuous eloquence and the mayhem created by demagogues. (Sarah Bakewell, Humanly Possible)

Pursuing logic will not in itself achieve understanding, which comes from living a thoughtful life. (Iain McGilchrist, The Matter With Things)

What is also true is that we have a responsibility to make these changes regardless of any larger-scale impact. Moral philosopher Peter Singer notes that failing to cut our emissions as individuals is like taking a bulldozer and plowing under the crops of a subsistence farmer in Africa.26 It’s horrifying and it’s wrong and we need to stop, regardless of whether it contributes to larger political change. That is our personal responsibility. (Jeff Golden, Reclaiming the Sacred)

Just came out to my family. They embraced me with love and kindness. I need not have worried.

I enjoyed capturing these early morning scenes on our Main Street. Red chairs stacked on the right side, indoor plants on the left, sunlight and shadows on the wall.

Commercial street scene with early morning sun illumination of storefront and picnic tables.

Storefronts illuminated by early morning sun and sunlight reflected onto the sidewalk and street by window glass.

Storefronts illuminated by early morning sun and sunlight reflected onto the sidewalk and street by window glass.

a work of art cannot be wrong: it is what it is. (Jennifer Higgie, The Other Side)

June 14, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

One CEO left the meeting with the takeaway that “Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” and several, Andrew Ross Sorkin of CNBC reported, said that he “was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought [and] was all over the map.” He could not explain how he planned to accomplish any of the policies he was proposing. When asked why he had chosen a policy of bringing the corporate tax rate down to 20%, he allegedly answered: “Well, it’s a round number.”

June 14, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

Reacting to the news of the Supreme Court’s decision in Garland v. Cargill, gun safety advocate David Hogg, who survived the Parkland shooting, wrote: “Ah yes because who doesn’t need the ability to freely turn a semiautomatic AR-15 into what in effect is a machine gun. This is f*cking insane.”

… this is about the civil war that is coming…

Feeling a little extra fetching today…

Trans person with hair down to shoulders, black headband, black top, and rainbow colored resin bead necklace.

When i bought this necklace deep in the winter pride month hadn’t begun to surface in my consciousness as something it would be appropriate for…

Trans person wearing green crystal frame glasses and rainbow colored resin bead necklace, looking down at camera.

My take on the bump stock ruling? Revolution is coming and we want our side armed to the max…

My look this morning…

A trans-feminine person with rainbow headband, green crystal frame glasses, long hair falling onto shoulders, subtle pink lipstick and glass bead necklace.

Sexy Ducati motorcycle parked on Main Street…

Ducati Scrambler motorcycle parked on the street.

I like messy bulletin boards… makes the community seem vibrant.

Bulletin boar in a shop window with a dense and messy display of fliers.

A new, apparently high end, lingerie shop has opened on Main Street.

Woman’s lace teddy in the window of a lingerie shop. Lit by morning sunlight.
Tiny flowerpot with small plant and happy pride month sign in it.

I have been trying to photograph this bit of creepiness for months… It feels a little disturbed to have such a thing flying from the antenna of your car… come to think of it, how unusual are metal antennas on cars any more?

Peonies are especially beautiful as they are wilting.

Wilting peony blossom against a blurred green background.