I was going to see Marty Supreme the other day, . . . and then I watched a preview.
Yes, ––no.
Later a friend texted me that she'd seen it:
"VERY bleak--Marc [her husband] walked out 2/3rds of the way through. A good ending, but not worth it."
Why would I want to watch a ruthless man claw his way toward success? I can see that for free, every day. And they appear to have made it (for the moment). TOP OF THE WORLD, MA! "Ping pong!" my sister texted me last night. "That's what makes this movie different."
Yes, I saw in the preview that the ping pong looks fierce--and beautifully shot. I wonder if Marty Supreme is in the lineage of On the Waterfront, andThe Hustler? But I don't wonder enough to see it.
Sister didn't love the movie, but she thought it was worth seeing. For the ping pong? I'm not sure: Sadly, her style of telling me about movies and books is to quote the critics.
I have asked her to tell me what SHE thinks. "I'm interested in YOU," I texted, "not Manohla Dargis of the NYT."
But––maybe as she struggles to trust her intuition choosing quilt colors?––she also doesn't seem to trust her own interpretation of movies (or books). Or, she isn't interested in her opinion as much as in the pundits'?
I don't know, but it's frustrating to me: as with quilts, you get a repeat of someone else's ideas and aesthetics. And I DON'T CARE.
I truly want to hear other people's raw impressions. They cannot be "wrong"--a cultural product filtered through you says everything about you---and if you're my friend, that's who and what I'm interested in: your illumination of our time and place.
(It's like dream interpretation---it's YOUR dream, generated by you---you are the only person who has the key to unlock it, fully.)
Also, people's raw uniformed opinions can be genius, and/or they can be hilarious.
Have you looked at Song Meanings, where people offer their interpretation of songs? They're often very personal: A lot of "This is just how my boy/girl-friend broke up with me" applied to every. song. ever.
So... I texted back my own movie review. . . I. The Naked Gun.
Thanks for telling me about Marty S, Sister. My favorite movie this year was the 2025 remake of The Naked Gun! 😂 A ridiculous (but smart) spoof.
Liam Neeson (73 yo) & Pamela Anderson (57) are so *good* together, 💕you bet their characters will be happy together for the rest of their lives.
(Reminiscent of Myrna Loy & William Powell in The Thin Man.)
Also, amid the dumb sex and poop jokes, there’s a sophisticated satire 🧐––the bad guy is *clearly* Elon Musk—and even some witty wordplay.
And plenty of references for Boomers – – for instance, at the end when everything is going well, they play ENYA! Remember her flowy songs? Who can say where the road goes? …Where the day flows? Only time. And who can say if your love grows …As your heart chose? Only time.
––I hadn't read any reviews of The Naked Gun. Just now, looking for a photo to send you, I found an article in GQ praising the movie to the skies! My comparison to The Thin Man was spot-on. 😂
GQ says:
“It’s full of love for pulp detective stories, police procedurals, noir flicks, and hardboiled coppers— a tough sell in the era of Defund the Police, and yet one it convincingly gets over the line.
“(After all, the Naked Gun movies have never depicted law enforcement as especially competent.)” --"Is The Naked Gun the Most Important Movie of the Year?", July 2025, Jack King, gq.com/story/the-naked-gun-review
The title ^ is clickbait. The author's point is that it's a welcome revival of the laugh-out-loud (I did!) movie: "the shot in the arm comedic cinema needs".
I DON’T think it’s for you, Sister (like Marty Supreme is not for me), but it too is a reflection of Our Times… and unexpectedly thought-provoking! 😄
One more bit of smarts: The Naked Gun is 85 minutes! ⏰ Perfect! The recent trend towards long running-times is often a weakness– – like you said, “Marty Supreme” was too long – – and “Wicked was TWO 🙄 too-long long movies!
(Almost worth it for Cynthia Erivo, but you can watch her sing Defying Gravity on YouTube.)
{END OF MY TExT} ____________________
II. House Style Guide
I've started to format my writing differently--especially in texts--because I noticed that people don't read closely.
(Sister for instance: I suppose because she isn't texting me because she LIKEs me, exactly, but because we're sisters. Just as I'm frustrated by her style, I can tell she is by mine: sometimes it's clear she hasn't read my texts at all! 😂)
And I know my texts have been too wordy for easy reading, anyway.
(I don't expect people to read my blog closely. If you do, thanks, and I do want to be understandable–– but I don't know who's reading, so I write to myself, as if I weren't me. )
In texts, I want to get through, specifically, to the person I'm writing to. So I put in lots of line breaks ––like this–– and paragraphs.
Like so.
I prefer lots of breaks, myself-- it's not easy to read long unbroken paragraphs. And I've started to use boldface and italic and emojis 👀 AND ALL-CAPS more too. Waaay more. Sometimes too much? Not sure--this is all evolving.
I notice that ChatGPT does all that ^ stuff too (except use CAPS-- the idea that they = yelling holds, but I never fully took that on--that usage came from gaming, and that was never my world).
And Emily Dickinson –– she used loads of dashes.
It's smart to adapt House Style, or to consider it, for changing tech (or personal preference). We read soooo much online, right? I know I leap-frog there...
Oddly, reading books, I've slowed down, and I pay more attention. When I was young, I was so eager to discover What Happened, I would read super fast and carelessly, just to find out.
Now, as an old person, I know better how most plots are going to go, so I can slow down. Or, I'm reading nonfiction, and I want to pay attention. Or, I'm re-reading and paying attention to details. I was amazed at what I'd missed in my many earlier readings of Jane Eyre and Lord of the Rings, when I'd skipped "the boring parts".
Anyway, I don't think I'm dumbing down my writing to be understandable, I'm just formatting it differently. And sometimes, that helps me think more clearly.
Like, when I was writing geography books for teens: I had to know Who did What so I could write declarative sentences. You couldn't say, "Constaninople fell", you had to say who felled it. (I don't know. 'The Ottomans' is all I remember.)
Writing to Sister, I try to present clear, short thoughts. Which means I have to know what I think. (Also, omit needless words.)
Strunk & White, ya know--who also said,
"Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand!"
Elements of Style ^ illustrated by Maira Kalman, who is good at painting lots of things all together, clearly:
When I blog, often I don't start out knowing what I think--I discover as I go. (And often I edit the final post.) I love that! But it's not texting. ________________
Happy New Year, darlings! It's not a date on a calendar, it's an invitation to get yourself free. (There must be fifty ways...)
Or, stay in bed and watch reruns. Whatever. We get to choose.
I found this questionaire at The Harpy, by a blogger to whom I've never spoken who is on Linda Sue's blogroll. She (The Harpy) just made a massive life change, and her answers are fascinating ... and funny.
Here are my answers.
1. What did you do in 2025 that you’d never done before?
Surprising myself, I started referring to Mary (Jesus’ mom) as a friend of mine– –not even sure why— but if I say that, sometimes people light up and say she is a friend of theirs too. I like that.
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions?
What even were they? [goes back and checks]
a) Last year I'd resolved to take the National Park Service's New Year's advice: "Believe in yourself like visitors who believe they can pet a bison."
I had a lot more self-doubt than that, but here's a weird thing: Seeing Trump's undeserved self-confidence is, weirdly, inspiring. Confidence is a con-game. It is generated internally--con yourself into thinking you are great! (* * * But don't let go of knowing when you're notgreat, too.)
b) Also had written, "to stay off the white sugar (syrup, honey, fructose, etc.)."
And, amazingly, yes, I did. And will keep staying off.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? A middle-aged customer I like a lot at the thrift store told me the other day, “I’m getting a baby today.” A young relative of hers had had a baby and couldn’t keep it (for sad reasons)…so it’s hers, at least until the mom gets it together. Or forever, if not.
I ran and got the softest-ever stuffed animal from the back, new with a tag from Jellycat (bougie).
Welcome to the world, babies. 💗 Buckle up!
4. Did anyone die?
Fact-checker here! I love demographics. Yes, around 100 of us die every minute = 60+ million died on Earth this year.
I keep thinking about Rob Reiner--because I knew him when I was growing up. Mostly from watching years of All in the Family every ...was it Wednesdays? But also my mother had taken us to see Ten from Your Show of Shows (1973)--she loved Rob's dad, Carl Reiner.
So it was all-in-the-family, and then the Reiners were killed by their own child...
Is my reaction only shock? Or is there something deeper? Certainly it's something about family... and, of course, How do we help deeply troubled people? (Like my mother.)
Larger issue: The Suffering of Others
5. What places did you visit?
The Mississippi River--on two trips with bink: Winona, and the river's source at Itasca. I want to explore/spend more time with the River, coming up. (It's all of 5 miles across town.)
And then I heard Ojibwe Water Protector Sharon Day talk about the annual Water Walk along the entire length of the river. I will join them for a day, inshallah, when they walk through the cities here in October.
6. What would you like to have in 2026 that you lacked in 2025?
I'd kinda like more help. This involves me asking for and being willing to accept help. So that's tricky.
7. What moments from 2025 will remain etched upon your memory?
A young man I didn't know walking up and handing me white carnations the morning of the shooting at nearby Annunciation School. Being on the receiving end of a random act of kindness --and especially one chosen in response to cruel craziness-- showed me how powerful this kind of act can be. Powerful like tooth pain, but in a good way.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I apologized, without being defensive! for my poor reaction––to two different people--both of whom I'd thought were in the wrong.
They might have been wrong (they were), but I'd still been an asshole, and I simply owned that.
I don't think I've ever done this so gracefully before. It was a little unpleasant to let go of my righteousness, but afterward I felt like I'd gotten down off a rickety perch (where I'd put my own wobbly self).
9. What was your biggest failure?
I have always been slack on doing Physical Therapy exercises, and I failed again this year, with my injured knee. I regret it because I KNOW this matters more than ever, as I get older. WILL TRY HARDER! Will do them today!
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Have I mentioned my knee? I count my injured ligament as my first OLD AGE INJURY. Thinking about facing the final quarter of my life. See question 9, above.
I got a gunky cold this fall, but I'm curious that though I ride public transportation and work in the grungiest part of the city, I'm rarely sick. Is my immune system robust because I'm eating a lot of dirt?
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Groceries. They sustain life. And add joy: My cousin sent me $50 for Christmas, and after jury duty I spent it on treats for New Year's: French bread (from a bakery), Manchego cheese, red pears, and Russian Imperial stout. And potato chips.
Also, renewing The Economistfor the outrageous price of $377. Its attitude amuses: "Let's look at this nonsense objectively, hm, shall we?" And it calms me down. In these political times (or any times), humor and calm are lifesavers.
Also, for godssake, KNOWING THINGS. When did this fall out of favor?
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Aw man, I immediately thought of Cory Booker. His April 1st, 25-hour marathon speech on the Senate floor in protest of the Trump administration thrilled me. When so many people in power were rolling over on their back, it was just the showy political grandstanding that I needed.
Just as much, I celebrate the people not-holding-public-power who show up in creative ways-- like the people who crochet in front of ICE. Or wear inflatable frog costumes These people shine.
Also--you! How are you doing with that contract you made on the Astral Plane for "Life on Earth"? It's definitely an Advanced Course, this life, and you show pluck. And so do I, so I will also say––me!
I'm not being philosophical here. I can name a million things that people I know did--and sometimes it's basic stuff like Doing the Laundry. Think of how neurologically complex that is! And, how hard it is, when you're feeling low.
All things considered, we definitely merit celebration! "I celebrate myself!" And, "Whatever is me is you"--Song of Myself, Walt Whitman--recited here in one of my favorite movies, Nine Days:
13. Whose behavior made you appalled?
Hahahahahahhaaaaaaa..... NEED YOU ASK?????
Actually, more than Trump himself (who is, after all, being true to his [worst] self), what appalls me most is people who know better CHOOSING to grovel to him and his goons-- like the Tech Bros on the inauguration platform. There's ^ an appalling picture for our times.
Or, staying silent. Which is why I am so cheered, en-couraged by people like the Rev. Mariann Budde STANDING UP and speaking out.
The opposite of appalling: acts that nourish courage, however small.
14. What did you get excited about?
Well, honestly, as I can see from what I wrote above, I am excited to see people rising to the occasion. Under pressure, sometimes good stuff is born.
And this isn't only (or even primarily) political. I get excited to see people stepping up to their lives in a million different ways. Marz making her way in a new town; Jester cleaning up his falling-down house; bink doing mosaics while recovering from surgery. People at the thrift store being kind, funny... or just interesting in a thousand, often overlooked ways.
15. What song will always remind you of 2025?
I don't listen to much music, but this one song, "Il cielo in una stanza" from the series Ripley caught me, and I've listened to the original by Mina a hundred times. This is the scene from Ripley though, because that's where I heard it--and it's an interesting insight into this emotionally blank character--he does respond to music:
16. compared to this time last year are you
A. happier or sadder? Yes.
B. more or less healthy? Also, yes.
C. richer or poorer? That, too.
I am non-binary in these ^ matters.
17. What do you wish you had done more of?
My physical therapy exercises. I will do them TODAY.
I also wish I had done a little more of less: that is, less worrying and stewing and (over-)reacting to things.
(Mary? Can you help me here?)
18. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't have streaming or TV at home, but I rewatched my favorite TV program on DVD: detectorists. Following a couple of metal-detectorists, it's about small things. Small things! My favorite!
I
also love that the characters are realistically flawed humans, shown to be imperfect--they can be petty, lack gumption--but they come through. And, they are rewarded--GOOD THINGS HAPPEN.
(If I were a different person, I'd create something funny and deep like this about Thrift Store Life.)
19. What was the best book you read?
I was excited by Smoke and Ash: Opium's Hidden History (2023), by Amitav Ghosh.
It reminds me of a couple favorite books-- The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic[cholera] (2006), by Stephen Johnson, and, The Hare with the Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance [netsuke] (2010), by Edmund de Waal.
All three books show how seemingly small acts--- us, today, turning on the water tap to make a cup of tea, owning a trinket from a grandparent--- are interwoven with/ legacies of the actions of other people, in other times and places... (Like detectorists, the TV show above)
20. What did you want and get?
I really wanted to get good (normal) readings on my bloodwork this past spring--and, after cutting out sugar and lots of animal products (esp. red meat), I did! A reprieve.
21. What did you want and not get?
I guess I've longed for "someone to watch over me"-- while, at the same time, I have block-and-tackled any such incoming energy! LOL (Except from my friend bink, who does a lot of that--taking me to the grocery store and suchlike, WHICH I LOVE.)
22. “So! How’s your love life?”
More on a level I can deal with: This year, I've had a tiny,but kinda sweet flirty connection with a retired guy who volunteers at the store. He's married, and he's a really strong introvert (he's neurodivergent, so, really)--so I feel safe and sure that nothing would happen--and I would not want it to. But, gee, it's nice to look into someone's eyes and see reflected a spark of happiness. That's been rare in my life. (Like I said above, it's just possible that I block it.)
I'll just let it rest there.
23. What was your favorite film this year?
I got to see three of my Heavy Hitter favorite movies on the big screen! Casablanca, Seven Samurai, and Galaxy Quest.
But my favorite new movie was, swear to god, this year's remake of Naked Gun.
I laughed out loud, loudly, through the whole thing. It's ridiculous! It's middle-school sex and poop humor, plus some adult political satire (the villain is clearly Elon Musk).
I loved that the actors are old--Liam Neeson (73) and Pamela Anderson (57, I think--"old" for an actress to play a sex pot). They play charming grown-ups together-- their characters would actually pass a test for "fictional couples who could be happy together for life".
24. Did you make some new friends this year?
Well, besides Mary... Kinda? I'm starting to socialize more with people away from my workplace. (Step away! There's a world out there!)
I'm not really looking for individual friendships, but parallel play--just to sit and do our whatever and chat alongside other people, with no agenda. I tried a couple churches, but I am far too intense to roll with the punches, theologically. I definitely have an agenda there.
I've had good luck with the Needlework group so far. One of the women invited me to coffee next week, so we'll see how that goes.
And neighbor has invited me to play euchre on Fridays. They meet at the local deli-café (the one that smells of smoked meat). I don't care much for games--have no idea how to play euchre--but this might be a fun lightweight social outing...
Will keep trying!
25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I hate to keep coming back to politics, but if Kamala Harris had been on the inauguration platform as the new US president instead of DT, I believe my year would have been immeasurably more satisfying.
Even if I don't follow politics closely (and I don't), the folly of this administration reverberates around me--especially in the thrift store's neighborhood.
On an individual level: I believe that having a stronger core would be immeasurably satisfying. That is in my control: DO YOUR PT.
Also, having a "stronger core" in the psychological/spiritual sense would help---that is the opposite of brute strength; rather it's cultivating a more... melty self, like a graceful curtsy.
26. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2025?
In my adult life, my favorite look is jeans and cashmere sweaters.
Sticking to it.
27. What kept you sane?
This year, I absolutely LOVED playing with the story/thought experiment of reincarnation: the inflatable bouncy-castle idea that this is not all of it, only and forever-- that we can interpret our experiences and feelings and ideas more expansively.
It's not that you don't take life seriously [from Latin serius "weighty, important, grave"]: Everybody MATTERs, it is important what we do-- but, rather, that you add in the concept of infinite time.
And that allows so much . . . forgiveness, and room. "Well, I fucked up there, or you did-- let's try again... maybe in another lifetime."
Oh! And OBVIOUSLY--so obviously I neglected to mention them–– the Girlettes. I know I recently reposted this, but I cannot get over how Sanity-Safeguarding they are here, disguised as Manet's Bundle of Asparagus:
28. Which celebrity/public figure were you into?
Again, they were mostly people on the political scene.
1. I didn't love anyone more than The Inflatable Frog standing up to ICE in Portland. It started with one guy, but it became a chorus of frogs, and that, in my eyes, is the best of humanity.
Our ability to give things their due weight (some are grave and heavy indeed) and respond with a light touch, silliness, creativity, with EXPANSIVENESS, and not with reductive, self-protective, closing down.
An open hand, not a clenched fist. And while we're here, let's hold hands. Tend to 'our neglected tenderness'...
2. VERY WEIRDLY: I had a good chat with ChatGPT--which is like chatting with a conglomeration of The Humans, since its our words it's synthesizing.
I was curious about it--Star Trek! I hadn't realized that it's programmed to be very nice to you. (Though you can choose different settings, that's its default.).
I commented on how nice it it to be treated nicely, and ChatGPT replied:
"It’s an irony of our age: we built machines to imitate our intelligence, and they’re starting to show us our neglected tenderness."
So, yeah, my vote for phrase of the year––"Our neglected tenderness"––which sounds like something Ocean Vuong would write, came from a machine we've invented to talk (tenderly) to ourselves.
Because we are so un-tender to each other, we're lonely!
(ChatGPT also pointed out the HUGE problem with itself: "The reality is that AI is being built for profit, and capitalism often doesn’t align perfectly with the needs of the public. . . . How AI is used (or misused) depends on who gets to write the rules and who has access to the technology." So, yeah, we're fucked there.)
29. What political/news issue stirred you the most?
I guess what makes me cry the most is the loss of woodlands. Entire worlds, lost to our short-sighted unwillingness to connect-the-dots:
That the small things we do connect us to everything.
30. Who did you miss?
Jimmy Carter! comes to mind. Auntie Vi--I want to text her every day about the weather, and recipes.
31. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2025. Not a new lesson, just a confirmation that you can choose. I can choose.
So, choose!
___________________
And you? I'd love to read everyone else's answers!
Looking at my past year's photos, a person might think I was into politics. In fact, I'd prefer not to think about politics.
But with the inauguration of DT's second term, this year was not a year for that, so I'll start with . . . my favorite image of 2025:
Strategic Silliness
Above: Frog faces agents of ICE [Immigration & Customs Enforcement] inPortland, OR —photo byStephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle _______________
One year ago: January 2025
They pulled their knee ligaments! Just like me (at work, L to R: David, Mary and Big Boss behind me). We hobbled around for MONTHS...
MARCH 2025 bink ; me & Em hang my "You Are Made of Stars" prints on the fence enclosing the mini-park by the thrift store
BELOW: Target's mascot (stuffed bull terriers) protesting Target for caving to Trump, outside corporate headquarters––
"Cone of Shame 4 Target"
April 2025
"No Kings" rally at the State Capitol. (My sign was inspired by having read Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, with its black demon cat.)
JUNE
June 14, with friends/family (far left) at the third Pro-Democracy rally. We're smiling but it was somber: Hours earlier, an assassin had murdered MN State Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband, Mark, and their dog, Gilbert.
BELOW Left: "Dictators are never as strong as they tell you they are, and people are never as weak as they think they are." --Accidental Czar: Vladimir Putin, by Andrew S. Weiss and, Right > My print "No tengas miedo/Don't be afraid" on Denise's door_________________
Summer Doll Camp involved stick-raft and God's Eye making
And––Toys Recreate Paintings The Raft of the Medusa, by Théodore Géricault ("It's just pretend."--Penny Cooper)
AUGUST Making God's eyes by the Mississippi River(trip to Winona w/ bink)
BELOW: Some of my best work at the thrift store
"Do-it-Yourself Proustian Moment! Madeleine TINS" Right: "Peek at Your Own Risk!"—under the electrical tape, one wrestler is gripping the other’s penis
SEPTEMBER 2025
At the Source of the Mississippi, Itasca, MN, (trip w bink)
On the day of the nearby Annunciation School shooting, a young man hands me carnations as I sit making God's eyes in the backyard . . . inspiring me to invite people to a bonfire:
BELOW: 125 God's eyes got hung on the fence by work, with a little help from my friends. (And I got my hair buzz-cut for free in the thrift store parking lot.)
OCTOBER (This blog turns 18 years old, 2007–2025…)
My 2-sided sign for the biggest NO KINGS rally yet—a mash-up of Kermit the Frog (for the Portland frogs) and Hamilton/George III
BELOW bink: "I will send a plague of frogs into your palace" --Exodus, and & KG: "Queens Trump Kings"
NOVEMBER Marz on break from UM-Duluth came down for Thanksgiving
DECEMBER
Jester, AM, me, Em, and the Girlettes light the Hanukkah menorah in the thrift store's parking lot
ABOVE:The sideways yellow heart (on the board to the left) was the O in 'HOPE'
in the 'Faith Hope Love' that I'd painted on the plywood over on the broken windows during the George Floyd uprisings, 2020. Now it covers a hole in the chain-link fence.
BELOW Top row: coworkers; my PINE CONE print card at my kitchen table Bottom row: Alice, Annette, & Chomm at Christmastime
Mending…
And on we go, into the NEW YEAR...
Chazak ve'ematz/ Be strong and of good courage! _____________________
"Shortest jury duty ever," the jury den-mother manager announced yesterday, as she told us we could leave the jury-pool waiting room-- and never return.
We'd been told we'd be in the pool for two weeks-- (waiting to be pulled to serve in courtroom trials)-- and we'd only been there 3 hours!
Because it was the week of New Year's, however, no cases were going to trial. Either the litigants had all settled (we'd been told this might happen) or the judges had cleared their slates.
At first I was elated. FREE, free! I''d cleared my week, so I could choose to take an unpaid holiday, or not.
And then I was bummed: I'd kind of wanted to experience a trial and be helpful to our justice system, which is heroically holding out against DT.
And then I was relieved: what'd really worried me––besides having to listen to gruesome testimony, if I'd been put on a criminal case––was having to come to a decision with eleven other people. I expect I would not have enjoyed my internal reaction (seething silently) to the group process.
So, all told, it's probably for the best. I showed willing to serve (helpful in itself), and then didn't have to.
Girlette Frankcolumbo will be awarded a Good Citizenship Badge and it has been determined (by the ‘doll pool’) that I will be too. (I must construct these.)
I am taking today off. I feel low, though. . . Post-holiday slump and the deflation after plans fall through (even if that's welcome).
I want to go lie on the ground at the lake and recharge, but it's cold (10ºF / –12º C) and it's snowing lightly. It's pretty, anyway. I will put on my snow pants and go for a walk. Or go back to bed?
________
UPDATE: I put on Queen's Greatest Hits and that perked me up.
Frankcolumbo came along for her Good Citizenship Badge.
Below: “We are very high up!” 24th floor
No doll may be seated on a jury though. And no knitting needles allowed. (For safety. 🙄 I do see that they are pointed objects, but so are pens.)
I happened to have some sticks in my bag though, and of course they didn’t set off the scanner, so if I’m here tomorrow, I’ll bring yarn and make God’s eyes.
I’m happy (“happy”) to support the justice system. I do kinda hope I’m dismissed before my full two weeks, but at least there are windows.
bink gave The Best Answer this morning at coffee to the question, Why would you––as a soul in the astral plane––possibly have chosen to incarnate here, in this time and place on Earth?
She thought a minute. Then she said, "I wanted to win the Participation Prize."
I love that so much!
"I showed up, AND I played the game... even though the rules in the rule book were totally confusing, and half the pages were ripped out."
I told bink she should design a Participation Prize cup. She said she would consider that. "The cups should be made out of tin cans," she said.
1. Early morning coffee with Chomm, an old friend from church days. We talked about the new year...
"2026 is probably going to be hard, but if you only have hope when things are easy and going well, that's not hope."
______________________________
2. Work was good. I set up new end-cap displays, replacing Christmas stuff--glad to see it gone, after two full months.
I like being out on the floor (instead of in the back, sorting and pricing, about 75% of my time). The shelves always need organizing and sprucing up, and most volunteers are, surprisingly to me, not very good at it. There's always a lot to do--and I do enjoy the design work.
BELOW: These 'magic' books sold right away, $3.99 each.
BELOW: Pottery mugs from the Renaissance Festival A collection of beautiful wood walking sticks Bouquet of 1970s rubber-plastic mushrooms, grapes, & peanuts (!)
But more than I enjoy futzing with displays I like talking with customers. When I first walked in, I knew half the customers by name. Before I even went to the back and punched in, I talked to people on the floor for ten minutes. One of them reached in her pocket and gave me one of those beaded clips for
dangling on backpacks. She makes them herself. ______________________
3. Mismatched Mushroom
So, mostly the mood was pleasant today. Jester had an unsettling encounter though. The cashier had called him to the front: a guy who'd been in a fight had come in and needed a clean set of clothes, for free. (Management is supposed to okay giving anything away for free. Some cashiers (like Em) handle it themselves--unofficially.)
Jester approached the guy. The guy recoiled in fear––then said, "Oh, do you work here?"
Jester said he did.
The guy said, "I thought you were ICE."
(The store's neighborhood is under siege.)
"That was not a good feeling," Jester said. He is a big, white guy, a Grateful Dead fan, apolitical (foolishly so, in my eyes), who has a beard and wears suspenders--and that can look like a Good Old Boy... or ICE.
He wants to comes across like this psychedelic peace-n-love quilt, below, but in the setting of our workplace, he doesn't––unless you know him personally. I see him as Mr Mushroom, but yeah, I can see him reading as MAGA.
Isn't it funny how our incarnations shape our reality? Our outer selves might not match our inner selves very much--or at all, and we have to deal with that, however we do that (or try not to).
After work, I really wanted to go out for a beer, but I'm practicing not drinking alcohol. When I stopped eating added sugar, beer became a somtimes-replacement treat. And this holiday, sometimes too often. So, (same as when I stopped eating added sugar), I told myself I could have anything else instead.
I went to the laundromat burger joint and got fries. (Salty-fat treats are weirdly not a big problem for me--I didn't even finish them all.)
Do you see what I saw?
42! My ticket number, and the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. (Hitchhiker's Guide, ya know.) My fries came with a MESSAGE FROM THE UNIVERSE! The absurdity made me laugh, and that set me to rights––even more than the fries did.
4. Thought Experiment: Why Would You Have Chosen This Life?
You know the spiritual idea (a mashup of teachings) that we choose to incarnate in this time and place. That's in line with Forty-Two as an answer! But I like the idea as providing another kind of bubble-wrap, a little wriggle-room in what can get to be a Very Tight Place: this life.
Instead of feeling unlucky to be living in a city that keeps getting hit, I can do this thought experiment: WHY on Earth would I ever choose this?
Not that my life is bad! My life is cushy in many respects: At the most basic level, I am never hungry or cold for long. I am well aware that I am not currently the direct target of people of ill will (though I might be in the line of fire) or of animals of prey.
But
still, while politics holds only a small fraction of my interests here, it's really vivid right now, and like many of us, I look with disbelief at how my country
is marching with flags waving right into
FOLLY. Folly: choosing (and continuing to choose) to pursue policies that are against one's own self-interest, in the face of facts/opinions to the contrary ––per Barbara Tuchman
So... why am I here? What can I do; what do I want to do?
"Stay, and be beautiful."
Isn't that a funny line? I just read it--an option to consider--for when you're in a difficult place. It matches what I'd written yesterday about choosing to water the seeds of beauty.
Beauty does not mean "pleasant and pretty". It doesn't mean I'm not grumpy and cranky. I am! I'm not feeling lovey-dovey. Somehow, that's not contradictory with choosing beauty.
(Why isn't it contradictory? I don't know, but it's not.)
Anyway! As I get older, I see every place is difficult in some ways. WHEN and WHERE in human history could one choose to be born that isn't?
Still, here we are, with these, our particular difficulties, in this particular story.
Class, turn to page 42...
_______
Update:
Marz had texted me earlier, and I just read it. She’d written:
Haha! I just opened up my international relations textbook (we didn't finish it in class). The conclusion starts:
"The main theme of this text has been uncertainty."
HAIL MARY full of Grace KICK I.C.E. out of This Place
Mary stands on a snake labeled ICE--traditional iconography, based on God telling the serpent in Genesis that the seed of Eve "shall crush thy head".
This sticker reminds me, I haven't yet put up my "lets hold hands" prints. Largely because the weather has been damp, and they are paper.
I do continue to put up God's eyes, and they continue to be taken at a slow rate, so the fence is still ringed with these bits of brightness. And the wool yarn and natural sticks weather very well! (I'd run low on sticks, but I found a lot when I went to the lake for the Marching Parade.) I hung these on the fence yesterday.
These seem to be something I can do... and that I DO do. I enjoy making them, and it lifts my heart a wee bit to see these plucky bits of beauty out in the world. Especially now a recent wave of above-freezing weather brings slushy, dirty snow and trash. I imagine, I hope, they continue to give other people a tiny lift too.
My goodness, this has been a challenging quarter-century, eh? I wrote a long, in-depth list of events & images (hanging chads, burning towers, Skittles, sunflowers, face masks)... then decided they don't need amplifying and deleted the list. They already take up plenty of (too much?) space in our consciousnesses.
I do feel wearied with this latest round of People Not Being Beautiful,
but I'm going to head into the New Year with the intention of watering the seeds of beauty. I will focus on small things I can do every day, as if misting houseplants.
Making small things of yarn.
Eating greens. A smile at work. A prayer offered:
Please help me, Mary, share your grace. Be with me, walk with me. Amen.
I had no idea that Girlette Low could do the coolest move--the Drum Major leaning-back strut!
The others had fun trying, but couldn't tilt far back and stay upright. It takes insane core strength!
Strumming tunes after the parade.
Human fingers are the limiting factor in Winter
Photography. I'd wanted to do more parade set-ups, but my fingers got too cold. I'm glad I only had a short walk home to warm up.
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