To my surprise, it doesn’t look like I’ve ever urged you to listen to John Lithgow’s reading of The Monkey’s Paw. Allow me to urge you now.
“Way over yonder in the minor key” by Billy Bragg. Written by Woody Guthrie. 🎵
Dog vomit slime mold has appeared in our garden and, let me tell you, it is aptly named. I’ll spare you the picture.
This is awesome: “Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ at Sold-Out Virginia Tech Concert Sparks Seismic Activity” 🎵
We’re living in the age of Trickster—and The Emerald podcast has re-issued an episode on that subject that is worth your time. As discussed in the episode, when Trickster is not ritually recognized as a necessary renewing force, he shows up in more destructive ways. The repressed returns as symptom.
The meditation app Headspace has added an AI therapist to help you process your emotions. And, again, we see promoters of these services saying they should be used “with care”–as it rolls right along. My employer provides a subscription to Headspace and it’s a cheap way not to cover therapy.
Dismay at irrational human behavior is a mistake rooted in two false beliefs:
- That rational abstraction is or ought to be a normal mode of human thought, and
- That any of us ever engage in such a mode more than occasionally, for ends other than self-justification.
Thank you, lilacs, for a beautiful few weeks. See you next year.
My Political Action Plan
I came across this in my notes from two years ago. I don’t recall if I planned to do more with this or not, but it seems okay to me in its current form. My political action plan: Our political and economic system is a world eating monster with an unalterable hostility to life. Until the powers that be get serious about killing that monster, I’ll continue assuming they are emissaries of the monster and accord them all the respect that position is due.