culture

Art is Hope

Art

is hope.

Even

this expression

of mine,

mining

for 

some lesson

to lessen

my anxiety

about 

our society

and politics,

is crafted

in the hope

that we

connect.

Classical

works

and modern

classics

soothe

with reminders

of brilliant

skill

and technique,

and reminders

of unique

voices

in other

eras

and moments

that still

speak

to us

today.

The arts

often 

define

the times

in which

they were

created.

In this century,

identifiable

styles

have been

reincarnated

and mixed

together.

New

textiles

are used

that last

forever

in the earth

and sea

leaving debris

without

learning.

Our current

moment

feels

inartful;

lazy,

simple-minded,

destructive,

and hateful.

Perhaps it 

is reflected

in the minimalist

fashion

suggesting

dispassion,

despite

passions

flaring

24/7.

We need

art

to hope

to cope

to scope

out 

new paths

of thought

and action.

Hardly 

distraction,

art’s attraction

is creative

extraction

in reaction

to now

with hope

that tomorrow’s

sorrows

will be less

severe

and fear

will be transformed.

Art is

transformation,

which

gives me

hope.

Gag Reflex

A Gag 

Order

was reinstated.

You know 

what that 

means:

a dare

to air

and impair

potential

jurors,

witnesses,

clerks,

and anyone

associated

with each

trial

of the vile

former POTUS.

He taunts

what he wants

with the confidence

of no consequence

to him. 

The running gag

is no joke

however much

he needs

to provoke

and invoke

“rights”

that are wrong.

That reflex

is strong

but doesn’t 

belong

only to him.

The say anything

world

in which 

we live

could use

more thought

before

speaking freely.

Of course

celebrity

adds intensity

to any message.

So retractions

soon follow

as they swallow

their pride 

trying to hide

their ugly

or stupid

side.

And now 

universities,

struggle with

absurdities

beyond fraternities

as asymmetries

highlight

bigotries

and hostilities,

no longer on

the peripheries

of campus life.

Everywhere

people

seem to reflect

less

and sloganeer

more.

Meanwhile….

“We’ll see

what happens,”

as he likes

to say,

now gagged

and bound

by law 

and order. 

His Gag 

Reflex

effects

everything

coming up. 

Thanks Given

I have been

given

everything.

Not 

that I never

studied

or worked

or pursued

or accrued

accomplishments—

if accomplishments

mean

that which 

I have

managed

to manage.

I have been

given

everything

to give

everything

I have.

That may not be

adequate,

but if 

another

can benefit,

then I reckon

it still 

matters. 

I have been

given

everything

to face 

the moments

like this,

when what

I thought

was 

a given,

is actually

a vison

I didn’t see

coming.

I am most

grateful

that I 

am not

hateful

except 

of hate.

I have

been given

voluminous

love

and was taught

to learn

from

everything

that I have 

been given–

even considerable

pain,

which I do not

consider

a gift,

but a continuous

lesson

nonetheless.

Asserting

gratitude

given

the magnitude

of awful

acknowledges

the whole,

not merely

the shards

that have marred

us. 

We are more 

than that which

is broken.

Words yet spoken

that recognize

what we’ve been

given

identify what we have

yet to give.

Post Impressionism

Vermin.

From the river to the sea.

Globalists.

Confederate flag.

Noose.

Ok gesture.

Welfare Queens.

Real Americans.

Law and Order.

America First.

MAGA.

Speech

can be

a weapon

that kills

the bodies

politic

and civic.

Let’s not

pretend

that words

may offend

without 

consequences.

Posting hate

through images

visual

and linguistic

is intentionally 

antagonistic

and characteristic

of the most

objectionable

among us.

Proudly

bigoted,

they promote

identity-based

appeals.

These signals

of utterly

inappropriate

appropriations

are coded 

language

that convey

affiliation

by othering

while intentionally

demeaning.

The Dog Whistles

that may have

once been

mostly political

are predictable

and critical

for everyone

to hear.

This coded

communication 

provides 

information

and plausible

deniability.

Hate speech

may be free

to post,

but the cost

of expression

that leaves 

an impression

of hate

and threat

as code

for action

is not 

an abstraction

or mere

distraction.

There is no

innocence

in a call

to violence

without

saying as much.

The impression

says it all. 

Daylight Savings Time

Lindbergh baby

John Paul Getty III

Patty Hearst.

Munich

Entebbe 

Iran 

Lebanon

Gaza.

Black September

Idi Amin

Ayatollah Khomeni

Hezbollah

Hamas.

Gilad Shalit

Daniel Pearl.

What could be darker

than kidnapping

and holding

hostages?

This fall 2023,

Hamas’ kidnapping 

of 250 

people

of all 

ages,

has the world

reeling.

Somehow,

the conversation 

quickly shifted

from unspeakable

atrocities

on October 7th,

and the hostage

taking

for nearly a month

now,

to the deliberately

triggered,

hideous

war,

conceived

to decimate

innocents—

the ones 

just trying

to live

above

the tunnels—

the innocents 

who are

supposed

to be liberated

and recognized

to live in

a self-determined

nation state—

intentionally 

doomed 

to suffer 

and die

at the hands

of the

enemy

(Israel),

subjected

to the brutality

of war

just

as Hamas

calculated

along with

massacring 

a kibbutz,

a peaceful

community

across 

the border.

As the world

watches

the horror

in horror,

and diplomats

quietly

seek

negotiations,

profound 

destruction

and devastation

persists

in retaliation.

Hostage taking

works

to call attention

and change

the narrative,

to gain

status,

power,

money.

How quickly 

the conversation

has become

about 

Israeli brutality

against innocent

Palestinian

people

living 

now suffering

and dying

in Gaza. 

Even nonviolent

hostage taking

works:

Tommy Tuberville

Matt Gaetz

Donald Trump.

Who wouldn’t

do anything

to save

lives

and restore

families

and normalcy

and peace?

Hostage takers.

So much 

of politics

is hostage 

taking.

The gun lobby.

As profoundly 

broken

and helpless

as 

we feel

right now,

real

hostages

kidnapped 

from their homes

are still 

in captivity

as bombs

drop

around them.

To those

who struggle

with 

the politics

of everything,

channel

the struggle

to release

and support

those

kidnapped

and held

in captivity

and the families

of the massacred

and hostaged.

Insist on

and contribute to

humanitarian

aid

to innocent

civilians.

We need 

to fall back

to daylight

not add

to the darkness

with political

slogans

and hostile

rhetoric.

I get it.

Our world

feels

out of control

and spiraling

further

away

from all 

that we 

cherish.

Indeed,

too much

is too 

awful.

But we 

have to

begin

to figure out

less damaging

resistance

and build

greater

resilience

because there

will always

be turbulence.

It’s Daylight

Savings Time.

It always 

starts

in the middle

of the night. 

Gutted

It’s so very

exhausting.

Thoughts

abound

suggesting how

to live 

better.

More this.

Less that.

Kale?

Pro

Democracy.

Anti

Autocracy.

Greener.

Cleaner.

Healthier planet,

gut,

you name it.

Safety.

Growth.

Resilience.

Endless

issues

demanding

urgent,

immediate

attention.

Everything

feels like

crisis

self imposed.

Backlash to

institutional

disparities,

injustices,

bigotries—

hate

with deep roots

like oaks trees

and hickories

live for 

centuries.

It’s overwhelming

and painful

to reckon

how we are

living now.

I can not 

tolerate

the intolerable,

or accept

the unacceptable,

which is inundating 

us 

daily. 

I am enervated

but not 

yet

defeated.

The culture 

that I embraced

is being 

gutted

without conditions

suitable

for growth. 

We may

or may not

need kale,

but the gut

needs

to be rid

of toxins

and create

homeostasis

to foster 

health. 

Fire Power

With 

the former

guy

who branded

himself

on tv

saying,

“You’re fired,”

the wannabe

important,

desperate 

for attention

and power,

led

the charge

to fire

the Speaker

of 

the House.

An assault

on The House

of Representatives

again,

this time

we witnessed

from within,

it is clear

that 

fire

and power,

assaulting

institutions

and traditions

while

calling themselves

conservative,

is the Republican

brand

in the 21st century.

Cruelty

sparks drama

while pretending

it’s some sort 

of political

philosophy.

This century

began for us

with a disputed

election

followed

by a terrorist

attack

from

abroad.

The answer

to difficulty

and complexity

it seems,

is assault 

weapons. 

Now in human

form,

some openly 

carry

banners 

and weapons

of hate

to intimidate

to feel

important.

AH, 

to be

seen

in scene

after scene,

matters more

than governance.

It’s the anti

social

media power

that

fires up 

the pyromaniac

group.

I thought

of calling

this

“Burning Down

The House”.

But fire power

is really 

the only

discernable

stance 

beyond 

no taxes

that is consistently

attempted

at all costs.

Excusing

hostage 

taking 

with a government 

shutdown.

Excusing

mass shootings.

Excusing

insurrection,

and then twisting

and distorting

truth

while nuclear

secrets

were being

shared.

The relentless

spray,

like an 

AK

47,

requires

more 

than duck

and cover

and remaining

silent.

Dumb and Dumber

“Every time

I hear

you,

I feel

a little bit

dumber”,

hailed

candidate Haley.

Honestly,

I feel this

all the time

every time

I hear,

read,

see

news.

Some want

candidates

to say 

what the

voter

feels,

like:

Make

America

Great

Again.

or 

Yes 

We 

Can.

Defund

(you name 

it)

or

My pronouns

are…

or 

Build

Back

Better

or even

The Climate

Crisis—

no matter 

how valid,

the issues

have been

poorly

constructed

taglines.

These have

caused

backlash,

mockery,

spin,

failed explanation,

but little

social connectivity

beyond 

the already

connected. 

Even

pro-lifers

understand

the misnomer,

and seek

to advance

a more 

effective

rebranding

to keep

abortion

a crime.

Knowing

the fraud

perpetrated

in front

of us,

while

pretending

it’s just

business

as usual,

keeps us

fighting

a rather

uncivil

war

of culture.

Languaging

the culture

becomes

most

important. 

‘Alternative

facts’

is now

an alternate

reality.

‘Alternate’

electors

were

real news,

despite

the 

declaration

that

‘lame-stream’

(Palin’s Seussian

coined term

for mainstream)

news

is Fake 

News.

As 21st

century-

speak 

defines

a new era,

now 

the sides

have different

languages

further

balkanizing

the states

we are in.

I feel dumber

every time

I hear

the attempts

to project

fraud

on the

electorate

when the

evidence

is abundant.

As the 

dumbing

down

gets dumber,

it seems

to get

dirtier.

Disregard

for any 

correlation

between

verbiage

and 

reality

means

anything

can be uttered

or typed

with no

accountability.

Fraud-

shmaud,

as there

is no debate

about 

who they applaud

on his own

stage

staging

a get- out-

of- jail-

run -for -his-

life-

candidacy

for President.

Our feeling

defeated

and depleted

is the goal.

I’ll take

feeling dumb,

but we can’t

be numb

to the inanity

and insanity

being perpetrated

upon us.

Don’t withdraw.

Don’t stay silent.

Don’t be mute.

Don’t be dumb.

Retirement Age

Rupert Murdoch

retired yesterday

at 92.

Michael Cain

confirmed

that he is

“sort of”

retired.

He is

“Bloody 90

now”.

Nancy Pelosi

was named

“Speaker Emerita”

nearly 10 months

ago.

Now 83,

she is running

for reelection

to Congress

in 2024.

A couple

weeks shy

of the big

Six O,

“Is there

ever a 

letting

go?”,

I wonder.

I can’t

imagine

feeling

so important

and indispensable

that I 

could not

retire,

as long as 

there was

sufficient

money.

Then again,

in retirement

we get 

to do

what we

want.

Clearly

that describes

the age

in which

we are 

living now.

In our 

Retirement Age,

we have

retired

the norms

and bonds

that used

to sustain us.

We have

retired

the decency

and potency

of democracy,

letting the

memories

remain

as the insults

to our body

politic

and social

fabric

damage-

even ravage-

us.

The age-old

hatreds,

bigotries,

grievances,

and even

ideas

of populism

have been

repackaged.

We are in

a Retirement

Age,

stagnating

creatively,

as everything

new

feels old

again.

I thought 

so much

had been

retired,

only to

see the

resurfacing

and 

enduring

old,

lingering

or

rerunning.

In our 

current

Retirement

Age,

nothing

is retired;

just tired.

White is the New Black

Affirming 

colorblindness

ignores reality 

and history 

that has shaped

today.

Performing

diversity

with factual

mystery 

has draped

the way

institutions

accept,

nurture,

and promote

opportunities.

Identifying race

no longer 

in place

affirms 

what does not

exist

under

or beyond

the law:

Equal opportunity.

Equal justice.

Well integrated communities.

Post 

or Anti

Racism.

Now 

6 justices

feign justice

affirming actions

confirming factions

historical,

structural,

largely intractable,

without rules

guiding

the game.

All lives

matter?

The content

of one’s

character

is the cream

that will

rise 

to the top.

Ha!

The top

has a legacy

of skin 

in the game—

I mean

the actual

color 

of their skin

in the game,

which was

built in

to the game,

now overturned.

Whiteness

is somehow

eliteness

and politeness,

and also

aggrievedness,

seeking

legitimacy

in the ranks

of the oppressed,

that has historically

been structurally

suppressed 

based upon 

non-whiteness.

Culture

and color

have grown up

together,

becoming entangled

despite

newfangled

efforts to claim

the old game

is no longer

played.