Dear President Biden, If you are keeping up with what’s going on in the world, you probably did check out the clip of The Linda Lindas’ performance of Racist, Sexist Boy that I told you about yesterday since it was splashed all over the place, from NPR to the Washington Post. If you did, then …
Joe Manchin ~ ‘he’s got the whole world in his (grubby, power-hungry, little) hands’
Dear President Biden, At the end of his article about where things stand on the For the People Act (HR1/S1), Mike DeBonis quotes Senator Richard Durbin (Il) as saying: “I say a prayer every morning and evening for Joe Manchin.” Indeed. Joe M. may just become the most difficult person in my loving-kindness meditation not …
It’s ok to get off the damn hamster wheel
Dear President Biden, It might not rank in the tippy-top tier of Big Lies, but the tyranny of glorifying uber-productivity and over-extension is certainly right up there on the list. Moreover, I’m convinced that it’s purposely wielded like a cudgel to keep scads of us off-balance and mired in shame and self-doubt, constantly worrying that …
Continue reading "It’s ok to get off the damn hamster wheel"
The Big Lies
Dear President Biden, It’s a small problem, but it’s one that I don’t think is unique to me (though how it manifests for me might be a tad unusual), which is the problem of not knowing exactly how to efficiently call out the “bad guys” anymore. It comes up every morning when I’m reciting the …
Biden needs to stop mollycoddling Whites and gaslighting Blacks
Dear President Biden, I saw in the Washington Examiner that Friday morning you said the following on NBC’s Today show: “I don’t think America is racist, but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow — and before that, slavery — have had a cost.” What a shitty dance you all are doing. …
Continue reading "Biden needs to stop mollycoddling Whites and gaslighting Blacks"
Safety, love, and respect are not pies to be apportioned
Dear President Biden, I’m pretty sure it was Saturday, but it could have been Friday, and I was sitting in our living room looking out the window when the 73 bus passed by heading south on the arterial out front. This is not a remarkable thing in and of itself – buses go up and …
Continue reading "Safety, love, and respect are not pies to be apportioned"
Magpie words
Dear President Biden, I don’t think I’ve confessed to you before that I’m a magpie – I collect things, ideas, words, stuff that catches my eye, or my heart. Some of the physical bits are sitting on the kitchen windowsill or the mantel, but mostly the stuff gets incorporated into these letters or my art. …
Strides aren’t enough; we need to hold out for leaps
Dear President Biden, I’m rather in a funk today. It’s not a big deal at all – it’s just what happens when I need to buckle down and start drafting a paper that doesn’t feel straightforward to frame. I spent much of the day picking through Google Scholar trying to get a better handle on …
Continue reading "Strides aren’t enough; we need to hold out for leaps"
The vaccine bone’s connected to the carbon bone…
Dear President Biden, You know that song about how the toe bone is connected to the foot bone? It’s variously called “Dem Bones,” “The Skeleton Song,” or “Dry Bones”. Well, back when we lived in Albuquerque and had our most wonderful dog, Barbara the Doberwoman :), Laura used to sing that song to her with …
Continue reading "The vaccine bone’s connected to the carbon bone…"
“The lives we are all entitled to.”
Dear President Biden, This morning on our dog-walk-in-the-rain we took a lap around the Sandpoint Country Club to the east of us, an old haunt that we used to frequent almost once a week pre-COVID for it’s lush landscaping, sweeping views of Lake Washington, and sedate drivers. About halfway around the loop I pondered aloud …
