Last week's political circus
I keep a list of topics to write about on a little whiteboard. One of the items I wrote down last week was "this week w/politics." ...I'm a little behind. But let's see why:
--Time change. Tired.
--Work room renter client jamboree. My fourth late night of the week.
--And, oh yeah, band and work and band.
Work just in general exhausts me and makes me brain-dead a lot of the time. Add in nature's jet lag and taking on a work task I'd not done before and I hit last Saturday--which was the first one in five weeks where I didn't have anything going on--and I just needed to veg. As in, my brain became a vegetable. Iceberg lettuce. Not a whole lot going on in there.
So that was just my personal life without even adding in the crapshow that happened on Tuesday. I didn't work as late as I was expecting, and I basically turned the TV on, saw a bunch of red, and immediately turned it back off. I didn't really want to watch it anyway; turning the TV on was more of a reflex than anything. And then I was doomscrolling, essentially, past 1 AM, so I had ideas of what was happening. At 6 AM, when I woke up and heard the news, there was just this sinking feeling inside me. I didn't sleep well all week after that.
Wednesday, a work client and friend brought her dog and a box of doughnuts, figuring some of us, like her, might want to eat their feelings. Normally I skip the doughnuts; that day, I had two. But also I got to pet the dog for probably 10 minutes, and he would paw at me when I'd stop. Sorry, dog. Better for me, that was the second day in a row she'd brought the dog by. All dogs are therapy dogs for me at this point. I just sat there on the ground stroking his fur. I'd have stayed longer except other clients came into the business. Can't they see I'm busy here? But also, several of us were gathered 'round the dog to talk about the results, and the dog owner client and I agreed that the current Republican party is nothing like that of our childhoods. We're a few years apart in age but close enough--closer than BBC and my minion--and recall the Reagan, Bush 1, and Bush 2 years. How they comported themselves was so different. Respectful. At least, that's what I recall. It all changed after Obama.
Thursday, band was pretty subdued, and director A alluded to things but basically took the approach of getting down to business, which is fine. I did have the discussion with trombone P, and then a bit later P, trombone D, and bassoon V, who I'd mentioned are all young people and all have something to lose with the election of Voldemort. (I just can't say his name.)
Friday, after the jamboree, the former room renter whose clients participated was talking to me about the election, and I mainly just let him talk, but he's pretty disgusted by the situation. He's not quite a granola hippie, but he's not too far removed, and I know he's very into equality and that sort of thing. Alas, I think I broke him, because he asked if I'd talked to my boss about it and I went, no, I'm not bringing this up to him. (Truthfully, I'd been dreading Wednesday morning, when he ended up doing client calls, because I was afraid he'd call the business because he was bored and then want to discuss things. Looks like he knows better than to bring that up with me.) That would be how he found out my boss is a Republican. He had no idea, especially because my boss' wife is very much a Democrat and active with politics, and the former room renter had had political discussions with my boss in the past, and my boss didn't let on. I'm sure my boss was just letting him talk or vent or what have you and had gone into "close your eyes and think of England" mode. I'm not sure how this is going to affect my business' relationship with this former room renter but if we don't see him again, I'll know why. I did caution that I had no idea if my boss had voted for Voldemort or not, though I wouldn't doubt it.
It's been interesting to see the online commentary of the situation, where people are pointing out how relatively quiet it's been on Voldemort's side. Like, here is a man who crows about the tiniest triumph, yet he's somehow not making a big deal about winning a second term in office? This is unusual behavior--and it led to many people saying, his team is muzzling him, because otherwise he'll say something he shouldn't, like he knows things that are trying to be hidden from the public. But also, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz handled defeat graciously, the way true leaders are supposed to, not like bratty children who lose a board game and flip the whole thing around. This was unsettling to the side that rioted at the Capitol. It is eerie. And now, just before I came here, I saw a story that, oh, perhaps some of the voting machines were in fact rigged, and perhaps there should be a recount. Hmm. But a lot of people were pointing out how unusual it was for so many people in swing states to have voted Democratic for everyone *but* Voldemort. That is strange and unusual.
I don't know what to believe at the moment. This year has been so mind-numbing in so many ways that I just want to turn off. Turn off the TV, turn off my brain, just barricade myself at home and not leave for the next four-ish years. Watching Voldemort put together his cabinet, it's like he's actively trying to choose the worst people for the jobs.
Four years. We have, potentially, four years of this madness ahead of us. This is keep calm and carry on, the American version. We've been told to stay strong, and we'll get through. Since I'm reading Harry Potter--I'm up to book 4 now--I just keep thinking of Harry's predicament, and how the wizarding world saw horror, saw peace, then saw horror again when Voldemort finally returned. I'm seeing some similarities going on. At least in the stories, Harry comes out victorious at the end, but not before some wicked battles. This may be our future, so help us. But I have to hope that good will triumph in the end. Otherwise...then what.
--Time change. Tired.
--Work room renter client jamboree. My fourth late night of the week.
--And, oh yeah, band and work and band.
Work just in general exhausts me and makes me brain-dead a lot of the time. Add in nature's jet lag and taking on a work task I'd not done before and I hit last Saturday--which was the first one in five weeks where I didn't have anything going on--and I just needed to veg. As in, my brain became a vegetable. Iceberg lettuce. Not a whole lot going on in there.
So that was just my personal life without even adding in the crapshow that happened on Tuesday. I didn't work as late as I was expecting, and I basically turned the TV on, saw a bunch of red, and immediately turned it back off. I didn't really want to watch it anyway; turning the TV on was more of a reflex than anything. And then I was doomscrolling, essentially, past 1 AM, so I had ideas of what was happening. At 6 AM, when I woke up and heard the news, there was just this sinking feeling inside me. I didn't sleep well all week after that.
Wednesday, a work client and friend brought her dog and a box of doughnuts, figuring some of us, like her, might want to eat their feelings. Normally I skip the doughnuts; that day, I had two. But also I got to pet the dog for probably 10 minutes, and he would paw at me when I'd stop. Sorry, dog. Better for me, that was the second day in a row she'd brought the dog by. All dogs are therapy dogs for me at this point. I just sat there on the ground stroking his fur. I'd have stayed longer except other clients came into the business. Can't they see I'm busy here? But also, several of us were gathered 'round the dog to talk about the results, and the dog owner client and I agreed that the current Republican party is nothing like that of our childhoods. We're a few years apart in age but close enough--closer than BBC and my minion--and recall the Reagan, Bush 1, and Bush 2 years. How they comported themselves was so different. Respectful. At least, that's what I recall. It all changed after Obama.
Thursday, band was pretty subdued, and director A alluded to things but basically took the approach of getting down to business, which is fine. I did have the discussion with trombone P, and then a bit later P, trombone D, and bassoon V, who I'd mentioned are all young people and all have something to lose with the election of Voldemort. (I just can't say his name.)
Friday, after the jamboree, the former room renter whose clients participated was talking to me about the election, and I mainly just let him talk, but he's pretty disgusted by the situation. He's not quite a granola hippie, but he's not too far removed, and I know he's very into equality and that sort of thing. Alas, I think I broke him, because he asked if I'd talked to my boss about it and I went, no, I'm not bringing this up to him. (Truthfully, I'd been dreading Wednesday morning, when he ended up doing client calls, because I was afraid he'd call the business because he was bored and then want to discuss things. Looks like he knows better than to bring that up with me.) That would be how he found out my boss is a Republican. He had no idea, especially because my boss' wife is very much a Democrat and active with politics, and the former room renter had had political discussions with my boss in the past, and my boss didn't let on. I'm sure my boss was just letting him talk or vent or what have you and had gone into "close your eyes and think of England" mode. I'm not sure how this is going to affect my business' relationship with this former room renter but if we don't see him again, I'll know why. I did caution that I had no idea if my boss had voted for Voldemort or not, though I wouldn't doubt it.
It's been interesting to see the online commentary of the situation, where people are pointing out how relatively quiet it's been on Voldemort's side. Like, here is a man who crows about the tiniest triumph, yet he's somehow not making a big deal about winning a second term in office? This is unusual behavior--and it led to many people saying, his team is muzzling him, because otherwise he'll say something he shouldn't, like he knows things that are trying to be hidden from the public. But also, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz handled defeat graciously, the way true leaders are supposed to, not like bratty children who lose a board game and flip the whole thing around. This was unsettling to the side that rioted at the Capitol. It is eerie. And now, just before I came here, I saw a story that, oh, perhaps some of the voting machines were in fact rigged, and perhaps there should be a recount. Hmm. But a lot of people were pointing out how unusual it was for so many people in swing states to have voted Democratic for everyone *but* Voldemort. That is strange and unusual.
I don't know what to believe at the moment. This year has been so mind-numbing in so many ways that I just want to turn off. Turn off the TV, turn off my brain, just barricade myself at home and not leave for the next four-ish years. Watching Voldemort put together his cabinet, it's like he's actively trying to choose the worst people for the jobs.
Four years. We have, potentially, four years of this madness ahead of us. This is keep calm and carry on, the American version. We've been told to stay strong, and we'll get through. Since I'm reading Harry Potter--I'm up to book 4 now--I just keep thinking of Harry's predicament, and how the wizarding world saw horror, saw peace, then saw horror again when Voldemort finally returned. I'm seeing some similarities going on. At least in the stories, Harry comes out victorious at the end, but not before some wicked battles. This may be our future, so help us. But I have to hope that good will triumph in the end. Otherwise...then what.