weapons of massdistraction

The same thing happens every year. I take my son away for a delightful Spring Break adventure. And we return home only to be greeted by more blizzards, in April. It’s so discouraging. That, combined with the added bonus of jet lag, has made it particularly hard to find my footing. We’ve been back just over a week and I’m still dazed and confused. But Amsterdam was a goddamned delight. Since 2015 I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in Canada (Montreal, mainly), Denmark, France, Croatia, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, and The Netherlands. These travels have only reinforced the idea that it is time for me to move on and away from Minnesota. Never mind the political messes of local, state and federal governments here. I returned home to all this nonsense just in the past week:

• More than just a pothole: St. Paul alley attempts to eat recycling truck
• Mother, son arrested after chaos ensues in Eau Claire Walmart: The woman did karate moves, the son took all his clothes off and the dog stole cornbread mix.
• File under truly horrific - a stranger threw a five-year-old child over a third-floor railing of the Mall of America. The boy survived but is seriously injured. The attacker is in custody. But wtf?
• In places like The Netherlands the government offers grants to artists so they can create art full-time without having to worry about the essentials. Here all the artists I know, myself included, have multiple jobs. Several side hustles and maybe a full-time gig to make ends meet. Here are 17 Indie Artists on Their Oddest Odd Jobs That Pay the Bills When Music Doesn’t.
• The Scary Shortage of Infectious-Disease Doctors: Superbugs are spreading. We need doctors trained to treat them. (The shortage is because they aren’t being paid enough.)

It is just about time for me to bug out. But I’m trying to get my now adult son prepared first. A few days ago I took him to a college open house. He was drawn to the art classes, naturally. We were given some paperwork for him to fill out. Once that’s turned in his orientation will be scheduled. This is what we’ve been working toward for a while but it’s all happening now and it’s a little surreal. I’ve been looking into programs like Remote Year for myself. Though I have seen some negative comments about it on Reddit, it is the sort of experience I’m looking for, as a single woman. I’ve done plenty of solo international travel and haven’t experienced any major problems yet, but I appreciate the safety-in-numbers argument. And this program would get me to South America and Asia. Places I would like to visit but not on my own. We’ll see if I can make this - or something like it - happen within the next year or two.

Don’t watch the videos. Please. It’s horrific enough that white nationalist terrorists committed these atrocities. I’m terrified of these internet trolls who are moving their hate from online to the real world. And feeling empowered to do so by right-wing politicians.

At least 49 people were killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, in a horrific and methodical afternoon slaughter, part of which was broadcast live on the internet after the publication of a white supremacist manifesto online.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/world/asia/christchurch-shooting-new-zealand.html

New Zealand mosque attacks and the scourge of white supremacy: Shootings at Christchurch mosques are only the latest on a long list of acts of white supremacist terrorism in the West.

Although US media and political elites spend considerable time discussing “Islamic terrorism”, far-right, white supremacist terrorism is far more common. A recent study showed that two-thirds of terrorist attacks in the US are carried out by far-right individuals and groups. Research by the Southern Poverty Law Center, meanwhile, shows that most far-right violence is unambiguously linked to white supremacy.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/zealand-mosque-attacks-scourge-white-supremacy-190315090752857.html

As usual, I feel overwhelmed and powerless. This morning all I can do is offer up five hopeful or inspiring Muslim stories and events:

• A Canadian acquaintance, Shireen Ahmed, wrote this in 2017. After the Quebec mosque shooting. I am deeply saddened that it is still so relevant today: Mothering in a time of terror
• Sisters Launch Library Collection To Empower Muslim Girls Through Books
• Profile of boxer Amaiya Zafar: This hijab-wearing trailblazer from Oakdale packs a wallop in and outside the ring
• Ubadkaa Mudnaanta Leh (“Children Have Priority”) is a new bilingual Somali-English children’s album created by London-based Somali artist Aar Maanta and youth from Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Cedar Riverside neighborhood. The album flows between generations and genres, mixing traditional Somali music with hip-hop influenced beats, spoken word and poetry, Islamic greetings, educational children’s songs, and much more. Album release event at The Cedar on Friday, March 22nd
• Mizna teams up with Poetry Asylum & Moon Palace Books to present a reading from Dubai-based poet Zeina Hashem Beck (Louder Than Hearts, Bauhan Publishing). Zeina will be accompanied by an exciting lineup of local artists including acclaimed poet and playwright Ifrah Mansour, award-winning playwright Willie Nour, poet, rapper, and comedian Nader Helmy, and film curator and poet Valerie Deus: Monday, April 8, 2019 at 7pm at Moon Palace Books

The other night my therapist was talking - again - about viewing events as neither good nor bad, without making a value judgment. And making a distinction between value judgments and observations. Well, yesterday morning I observed my little hatchback being rear-ended by a giant Dodge Ram. I am ok and I think my Volvo is as well. I had taken a different route to work than usual. At one intersection I started to turn right on red before realizing this was prohibited (there was a text-only sign reading “No Right Turn On Red”). So I stopped but the truck behind me did not. Well, not until it ran into my car. Randy, the Ram driver, tried to blame it on the ice but I think it was just morning commute impatience. We pulled over around the way and exchanged info. Such an exciting start to a Tuesday.

In other news, last week I was reading a roundup of local Twin Cities saunas (Rooftops! Mobile units! Infrared technology! Space eggs!) and posted to Facebook, asking if anyone wanted to join me in the golden egg. Thankfully a friend reminded me he has his own sauna. That I would be free to use, for free (instead of shelling out $35 for a half hour). On his farm. That also has goats. Thank you, yes! So we put a plan together to co-host a party at his place. I’m so very excited. I’ve already obtained the groceries needed to make BBQ tofu and more. And we’ll be drinking LaCroix instead of alcohol because - sauna. Safety first.

Five Things I Am Interested In And/Or Thankful For:

• Life’s Wicked Problems, and How to Get Past Them: Wicked problems are problems that are, “difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize.”
• It’s been a while but The OA is coming back with season two. Trailer. Everything We Know About Netflix’s The OA Season 2
• I find her to be hugely inspiring - Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris on leaving Hollywood behind: “They can blow me”
• This was an interesting read. When Do You Know You Are Emotionally Mature? (26 Suggestions)
• The Medieval Masterpiece, the Book of Kells, Is Now Digitized & Put Online. Neat!

Last weekend I was feeling motivated. I had just listened to an Imaginary Worlds podcast episode about Margaret Brundage, who illustrated some of the best Weird Tales cover art in the 1930s. And then I saw a call for submissions, from women writers only, for 1930s Weird Tales style short stories. Sign me up! Initially, I had just been excited by the idea. Saturday morning I woke up with a fully formed story in my head. And I managed to flesh out the whole thing Saturday and Sunday. Now I’m making the final tweaks before I send it off. Whether or not my submission is accepted is irrelevant. It was just incredibly satisfying to write fiction again.

I can no longer recall where I spotted that Friedrich Nietzsche quote recently, but it pops up now and again and has always stuck with me. Music has been one of my main coping methods for as long as I can remember. And my quality of life improved with my first pair of headphones. Better still these days, with bluetooth noise-cancelling ones. My younger self could have benefited greatly from these. And anyone else who suffers from misophonia.

Five Good Things, music edition:

• This new interview with Stevie Nicks made my day - topics ranging from Tom Petty to Drag Queens to “Game of Thrones” and missing Prince.
• Tuesday night I dragged my tired self out, while it was snowing again, to see a band I was really excited about. ADULT. And I’m really glad I did. They were incredible. It even felt like going out to a show on a school night, back in the day, because I picked up some friends along the way. The buddy system is the best. Tonight I have a ticket to see The Chills, on their first US tour since 1996. I hope I can manage it. They are long-time faves but it’s going to be such a long day. Day job, then teaching at the part-time job then show? Then work in the morning. I’m getting too old for this kind of endurance test.
• Next Tuesday I finally get to see Robyn! You and me together, Stars 4-Ever! I managed to buy a ticket during the pre-sale. That show sold out so quickly.
• Brought to my attention via Mizna, this a great article written by Miray Filobos analyzing Rami Malek’s recent Oscar win:
  “My Facebook feed is engulfed with images of Rami Malek winning awards, and none of his role playing Freddie Mercury – a flamboyantly androgynous and queer legend. Erased from their Facebook posts – intentionally, I think – is part of Rami’s speech where he emphasizes that the film is, indeed, ‘about a gay man, an immigrant, who lived his life just unapologetically himself.’ The selective celebration of immigration and not of queerness is blatant, and the heroization of Rami Malek as an immigrant makes me wonder if he would have been so quickly claimed as ‘one of us’ had he, himself, been queer.”
• Low covering Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire has been in my regular rotation lately.

Still thinking about Stevie Nicks. So many highlights in that interview. This bit is pretty great:

I don’t like what the Internet has done to people and I don’t like the fact that it’s nailed romance to the wall. I think it’s hard for people to find love these days. That makes me sad as a songwriter, because I want to write about love — I write about my friends’ relationships. People who call me up and say, “Oh my God, I met this gorgeous man and I totally fell in love with him,” and and I’m like, “Tell me more!” But it’s not happening near as much. Girls, don’t take it personally. It’s not you — it’s the Internet. There has to be romance before there can be love and it’s very hard to find romance in this hardcore high-tech world.

I’m not in a relationship and haven’t been in one for a long time, because I have chosen to follow my musical muse all over the world. When I was 20, 30, 40, I always had a boyfriend — always. But I have decided I’m just going to be free and follow my muse and do whatever I want, because I’m 70 years old and I can. That’s my choice. But if you do want to find romance? Throw away your fucking phone.

It’s Saturday and tonight there’s a big happening with old friends and their old bands. I’d planned to be there. But woke up feeling like it’s just too much. I’ve given myself permission to sit this one out. Another friend - also on the fence about going - told me “there’s no shame in staying home.” That would make for a great tattoo but I would have to leave the house in order to get that tattooed. By Spring I’ll feel more social again. After all the wicked icicles melt and the constant winter storm watches cease. For now I’m recharging at home.

Five Good Things in the dead of winter:

• This twitter account is too real: “compulsive self-analysis that leads nowhere is my jam.” Melissa Broder, the writer behind these tweets, regularly helps me laugh at myself and my angst.
• Science confirms: Dancing makes you happy. Maybe I need more dancing in my life. It’s been a while. I have such fond memories from high school and early adulthood, of the all ages Sunday Night Dance Party in First Avenue’s Main Room. Often I would see a hardcore/punk show in the Entry first and then dance my ass off after. It was great.
• Death metal music attracts sharks, documentary crew finds out. “The low, rumbling frequencies of death metal mimic the sounds of struggling fish”
• A good read. “How an X-Men writer inspired binge-worthy, character-driven TV from Buffy to Game of Thrones“
• I’ve admired this photographer for some time now and here’s a fun interview with her. Pixy Liao’s best photograph: eating a papaya off my boyfriend’s crotch

Bonus: This had already been on my mind, again, and reinforces the notion I’ve got some habits in need of curbing. Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain