Since you all were obviously waiting for my opinion, here ya go:
Social norms are designed to keep people in line. Some norms are good and useful to the survival of the community as a whole, and some are created to enforce or excuse an imbalance in wealth and power.
Which one of those aims do you think is furthered by the social construct of gender?
I believe the best outcome for any community is egalitarian. Mutual support, equitable distribution of resources, and reasonable requirements that do not unnecessarily burden any member beyond any other, or endow any member or group with unearned rewards is the way to go.
I have many, many issues with the idea of gender constructs, which is why I've had to stand up to many staunch feminists in my cohort over the years. I don't believe equity can be achieved if we maintain single sex spaces and define ruffles or rusty cars as the purview of anyone other than the people who are interested in those things. People should be allowed the freedom to enjoy whatever toots their horn, so long as no one is harmed by said horn tooting.
Lastly, I think all sports should be intramural and divided by height and weight.
We would all be better people if locker rooms were more embarrassing for everyone, and everyone learned to respect one another's privacy up close, and subject to the same discomfort as everyone else.
There's my $.02, now I'll go back to painting my toenails and looking at used Toyotas.
When you feel terrible — or just numb — singing can be easier than talking.
---
I’d gathered a group of friends for my monthly singing night: a chance to make music together for the joy of participation rather than performance... After putting the foldable chairs away and clearing the wine glasses into the dishwasher, a few of us lingered behind.
Inspiration struck, and I shared my heartache about the latest horror from the White House. One by one, others started to share their pain, too. And then, Matthew, a particularly talented musical improviser, got behind the piano to sing his sadness. His voice jumped from one note to another and suddenly my eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with life. Something was shifting.
Ahlay Blakely is not surprised by this. Not at all. Blakely is a modern-day grief ritualist, songwriter, and facilitator. She sees herself as a professional mourner, hosting retreats and gatherings that help people touch their grief in tender and radical ways.
“Singing with people is often a gateway to deeper work with grief,” she explained to me. Because so many of us have a sense that our voices aren’t good enough, singing immediately makes us vulnerable, opening us to the deeper pain we might be avoiding in our everyday lives. Singing, Blakely said, is “not about what it sounds like at all, it’s what it feels like in your body.” Blakely’s insight into the power of communal singing led her to create an entire album of grief songs with some 200 amateur singers, and that listeners like us can join in with. Its purpose is nothing less than the re-enchantment of the human soul.
Heidi Wilson, the composer of “Hold On,” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCEj7Bpu3qk - which has become somewhat of an anthem in the Singing Resistance movement, puts it best. “Grief is about feeling cut off from something, losing something, and singing is an experience of reconnecting.” I think that’s what we’re all looking for now. In fact, it might be the only way forward.
I've been have trouble with Windoze Eggsplorer being crazy slow. It wasn't that, rather it was a Western Dig 5TB external HD that was crapping out. Now have to go to a shop and get the data pulled from that HD, which is a pain as that WD drive encrypts. Grrrrrr.
Might makes right? Nah, might IS right. If your ass gets kicked, you obviously didn't want it hard enough. Besides, I've got a harem to uphold to progenerate my seed
“You really can’t fake it,” Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army Ranger who helped lead recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told me.
Our Democratic candidate for CO 3rd district, Dwayne Romero, leaned heavy into his history of being a veteran and an Army Ranger. My wife and I are like, “Whaat?”. We know him as a local developer responsible for some of our least favorite development, so we were a little surprised when he highlighted his military service. We voted for his opponent. We will certainly vote for him over Jeff fucking Hurd who took over after “Handy Oakley*” (Boebert) carpetbagged her sorry ass out of here. I got nothing against manly men, it’s just not any kind of qualification as far as we’re concerned. Being a person who worked for a living matters as does service to one’s country, though not necessarily in the military.
I worked with a guy, who of course drove a pick up truck, who one day informed his co-workers that he was an "alpha male". He did yell really loud when he disagreed with someone which counts for something.
Cool, we can just cancel debates in favor of the most masculine activity a manly man can engage in: trying and failing to park an enormous pickup in a standard-sized parking spot. We could assign points for how many times each candidate has to back in and out of the spot, how much of the vehicle is outside the parking spot when finished, and how many people in the lot start laughing. Bonus points could be assigned for any incursion into a handicapped spot.
So, after taking with my young dentist today who didn't know who the Talking Heads are, a friend mentioned this music video on social media.
My God. I feel ancient.
Dan Hartman, We Are the Young
#25 Billboard Top 100 chart, #2 Dance chart, 1984
https://youtu.be/6uzGmcRN114?si=qEdxWc7VQ0AEZQOs
Since you all were obviously waiting for my opinion, here ya go:
Social norms are designed to keep people in line. Some norms are good and useful to the survival of the community as a whole, and some are created to enforce or excuse an imbalance in wealth and power.
Which one of those aims do you think is furthered by the social construct of gender?
I believe the best outcome for any community is egalitarian. Mutual support, equitable distribution of resources, and reasonable requirements that do not unnecessarily burden any member beyond any other, or endow any member or group with unearned rewards is the way to go.
I have many, many issues with the idea of gender constructs, which is why I've had to stand up to many staunch feminists in my cohort over the years. I don't believe equity can be achieved if we maintain single sex spaces and define ruffles or rusty cars as the purview of anyone other than the people who are interested in those things. People should be allowed the freedom to enjoy whatever toots their horn, so long as no one is harmed by said horn tooting.
Lastly, I think all sports should be intramural and divided by height and weight.
We would all be better people if locker rooms were more embarrassing for everyone, and everyone learned to respect one another's privacy up close, and subject to the same discomfort as everyone else.
There's my $.02, now I'll go back to painting my toenails and looking at used Toyotas.
Damn
'Miracle on Hudson' Capt. Sully Sullenberger reveals Alzheimer's diagnosis
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/miracle-on-hudson-capt-sully-sullenberger-reveals-alzheimers-diagnosis/ar-AA27TY4g
At Vox, Casper ter Kulie has some advice for dealing with weltschmerz (the despair at the state of the world).
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿
When you feel terrible — or just numb — singing can be easier than talking.
---
I’d gathered a group of friends for my monthly singing night: a chance to make music together for the joy of participation rather than performance... After putting the foldable chairs away and clearing the wine glasses into the dishwasher, a few of us lingered behind.
Inspiration struck, and I shared my heartache about the latest horror from the White House. One by one, others started to share their pain, too. And then, Matthew, a particularly talented musical improviser, got behind the piano to sing his sadness. His voice jumped from one note to another and suddenly my eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with life. Something was shifting.
Ahlay Blakely is not surprised by this. Not at all. Blakely is a modern-day grief ritualist, songwriter, and facilitator. She sees herself as a professional mourner, hosting retreats and gatherings that help people touch their grief in tender and radical ways.
“Singing with people is often a gateway to deeper work with grief,” she explained to me. Because so many of us have a sense that our voices aren’t good enough, singing immediately makes us vulnerable, opening us to the deeper pain we might be avoiding in our everyday lives. Singing, Blakely said, is “not about what it sounds like at all, it’s what it feels like in your body.” Blakely’s insight into the power of communal singing led her to create an entire album of grief songs with some 200 amateur singers, and that listeners like us can join in with. Its purpose is nothing less than the re-enchantment of the human soul.
Heidi Wilson, the composer of “Hold On,” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCEj7Bpu3qk - which has become somewhat of an anthem in the Singing Resistance movement, puts it best. “Grief is about feeling cut off from something, losing something, and singing is an experience of reconnecting.” I think that’s what we’re all looking for now. In fact, it might be the only way forward.
https://www.vox.com/advice/495193/singing-lamentation-grief-despair?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6Im5YZjdwbXFrbUciLCJwIjoiL2FkdmljZS80OTUxOTMvc2luZ2luZy1sYW1lbnRhdGlvbi1ncmllZi1kZXNwYWlyIiwiZXhwIjoxNzg1Mjc4MjcwLCJpYXQiOjE3ODQwNjg2NzB9.hkaWHMZeCk4Sx26Xg2LvYq9I-VIC28SAlGWrJE1AZK4&utm_medium=gift-link
I've been have trouble with Windoze Eggsplorer being crazy slow. It wasn't that, rather it was a Western Dig 5TB external HD that was crapping out. Now have to go to a shop and get the data pulled from that HD, which is a pain as that WD drive encrypts. Grrrrrr.
Might makes right? Nah, might IS right. If your ass gets kicked, you obviously didn't want it hard enough. Besides, I've got a harem to uphold to progenerate my seed
https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pat-oliphant-political-cartoonist-santa-fe-d72082
Pat Oliphant, Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist, has gone to the Lands Beyond. He was 90.
https://youtu.be/p5yza2YWmDA?si=SWXsV7SXNNqQbQUS&t=1614
Angine De Poitrine - Full Live Performance @ Club Soda Montreal 2026
Tour Dates - Where will YOU be when AdP is in town?
https://gotickets.com/angine-de-poitrine?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&tid=kwd-2468114866780&agid=197183122975&cid=22792803780&int=&pres=9026920&network=g&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22792803780&gbraid=0AAAAAqsaoUSal4KEUD6uLBDDXT2l6Bqk0&gclid=CjwKCAjwvNfSBhBiEiwAyaGMCfN_7RJ6vr9iRXjYh9GeY8rvTx03KcYiWb3FvBasiMao-iutslR_5RoC0JAQAvD_BwE
They typically tour around Quebec and Ontario. I've considered timing a visit up there to one of their small gigs.
THey will be in Boston Nov 19 - my birthday - I"m thinking about coming out since I have family in Boston I have not seen in 20 years
Quote of Rep. Jason Crow: "He said that people can tell a lot about a candidate just by shaking their hand—“Do they have calluses?”"
Robyn: "You know who also has calluses? Joni Mitchell. Just gonna put that out there. "
You know who doesn't have a single callus, who wears a girdle, make-up, and diapers? Donald Trump.
Then there's JD Vance's eye liner. And no calluses.
And paints himself orange.
That's his idea of "make-up", he's just shitty at it. I really like the "paint himself orange except for giant gaps around the eyes" thing.
“You really can’t fake it,” Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army Ranger who helped lead recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told me.
Our Democratic candidate for CO 3rd district, Dwayne Romero, leaned heavy into his history of being a veteran and an Army Ranger. My wife and I are like, “Whaat?”. We know him as a local developer responsible for some of our least favorite development, so we were a little surprised when he highlighted his military service. We voted for his opponent. We will certainly vote for him over Jeff fucking Hurd who took over after “Handy Oakley*” (Boebert) carpetbagged her sorry ass out of here. I got nothing against manly men, it’s just not any kind of qualification as far as we’re concerned. Being a person who worked for a living matters as does service to one’s country, though not necessarily in the military.
*Thanks Jeff!
Guys who yell loudly seem hysterical.
"This SCOTUS Term Was About Weakening Democracy" - Garrison Hayes hosts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv-U_Fgs6xQ
The Real Threat Is the Consolidation of Power - Angela Rye hosts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8kpTwZ9Y5k
I worked with a guy, who of course drove a pick up truck, who one day informed his co-workers that he was an "alpha male". He did yell really loud when he disagreed with someone which counts for something.
That and whining a lot are the primary Alpha Male traits.
This guy complained about EVERYTHING.
"He did yell really loud when he disagreed with someone" – my hero. I mean, my anathema.
Doesn't count until he eats curly fries at Hooters with Nick Adams, Alpha Male™.
Who for some reason says of his lunch "The left HATES this!"
Hey, the left likes curly fries. And bewbs. Shove off, Nicky.
Although the left is not a fan of bewb-dependent wages.
Sigh. I know. It ocurred to me the second I hit reply.
No criticism intended!
Besides, NICK. Curly fries are not Alpha Male material. They're, well, curly.
Real men eat STRAIGHT fries.
Cool, we can just cancel debates in favor of the most masculine activity a manly man can engage in: trying and failing to park an enormous pickup in a standard-sized parking spot. We could assign points for how many times each candidate has to back in and out of the spot, how much of the vehicle is outside the parking spot when finished, and how many people in the lot start laughing. Bonus points could be assigned for any incursion into a handicapped spot.
Snort. Man, I hate that. Those guys should go to a truck driving school where they make you practice backing up into tight spaces over and over again.
Finally, a contest Donald Trump could win without cheating!
Donald has never driven a day in his life.
Imagine getting carted around since you were a young child.
"Brian Poindexter had just finished wolfing down a Reuben sandwich in a deli outside Cleveland"
Do they have to eat like pigs too, or can they have some "manners"...?
My brain first thought Buster Poindexter.
PabloReports: Why do you think Donald Trump is having so much trouble staying awake at these meetings?
Chip Roy: The president has got more energy than all of Congress combined! I don’t even know what you’re talking about.
https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mqn6pgj3k22x
Republicans will lie any lie for Jesus Trump!
These people are fucking deluded. Either because they believe that shit, or because they think that kind of lying is acceptable.
oh - especially Chip Roy
That sure gives 'Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life' energy.
Remember that Chip lost his primary and is still triggering his gag reflex.
Because he's up all night threatening Iran and whining about 2020.
He's crashing after his "meds".
Nice time – E. Jean Carroll collected her $5.6 million from Trump yesterday! https://ejeancarroll.substack.com/p/the-eagle-has-landed
And she finishes her list of thank-yous with a special shout-out to Alina Habba: "I could not have done it without you."
*Chef's kiss*
Seriously!