I saw the ultimate chapter of the original Star Wars last night. Viscerally, it brought back the sights, sounds, smells, and topoi--sites for conversation and debate in "rhetoric speak"--of my preteen world. It was a world in which we kids would ride our bikes in the neighborhood, fending off swarms of gnats at dusk. My… Continue reading Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker: Why the Backlash?
Category: life and love
Better than I know myself
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Notice
Giving Notice She asks, did you feel that, or was it Hugo under the bed? Hugo indeed had flattened himself against the floor under the bed, like he does in elevators. I said, I didn’t feel anything. Most significant tremblor in decades it turns out. Tonight there will be fireworks for atrocity children in cages… Continue reading Notice
In the basement before moving
Not a hunting breed, he nosed the carpet bolt behind the boxes. A lifted edge--a flash of fur-- but Hugo was faster. One brutal shake. and the hedgehog pup was still, suddenly, a shapeless tribute at my feet. I grieve the animal's life. I grieve this hard lesson in attachment, this gift, this mortal meditation… Continue reading In the basement before moving
The investment in our things
Since I am on the verge of a big cross-country move, I must sell my house and sell or discard many if not most of the objects in it. The home to which I am moving is already furnished. Although my partner and I plan to integrate some of my belongings, including beloved red sofas… Continue reading The investment in our things
The Importance of Being Earnest–and Pete?
I've been paying attention, as has most of the country, to the presidential campaign of the young Pete Buttigeig. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana is impressing liberals with his down-home charm, his military service, his happy marriage to the man of his dreams, his easy and winning speaking style, and his apparent working knowledge… Continue reading The Importance of Being Earnest–and Pete?
Capitalism, Socialism, and Mental Illness (delivered as talk to Socialism 2014)
Capitalism, Socialism, and Mental Health Dana L. Cloud Socialism 2014 In the days after Eliot Rodger murdered six students of the University of California, Santa Barbara, commentators rushed to attribute the violence to “angry, resentful, mentally ill individuals” (Time) or “deep and puzzling psychological problems” (NYT). The problem could not lie in the ominpresence of… Continue reading Capitalism, Socialism, and Mental Illness (delivered as talk to Socialism 2014)
Happy Birthday, You’re Not a Person
Today is my birthday. North Carolina voters just decided I'm not fully human. Here is a response. Whereas miscegenation queered the rite's unstable battle, today another state banned endogamy, the joining of like to like, ironically as ever calling difference into being. Not so much for domestication but facing inhumanity ratified by popular declaim, I… Continue reading Happy Birthday, You’re Not a Person
Why Marry at all? A poem by Marge Piercy
Why marry at all? By Marge Piercy Why mar what has grown up between the cracks and flourished like a weed that discovers itself to bear rugged spikes of magenta blossoms in August, ironweed sturdy and bold, a perennial that endures winters to persist? Why register with the state? Why enlist in the legions of… Continue reading Why Marry at all? A poem by Marge Piercy
Speech by Silky Shoemaker to Queerbomb (alternative pride gathering) June 4
Loved this--political, funny, celebratory all at once. This night has been a long time coming. Im so glad we’re all here to celebrate our wild and beautiful queer identities. Tonight we proclaim who we are and what we love, without shame or apology or beer commercials. Pride is strength in what we love and it… Continue reading Speech by Silky Shoemaker to Queerbomb (alternative pride gathering) June 4
