brainsplotch

Amidst all the horrors taking place in Minneapolis right now--I swear that every week and almost every day the terribleness changes location--I managed to finish reading a book. It was just the sort of book I needed right now. When Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress (by Lorissa Rinehart) crossed my desk at work last month, I was quickly intrigued. I had never heard of Jeannette Rankin. In all the American history classes I took at an undergraduate, I don't recall ever hearing her name. This probably speaks to the way history was taught in the 1980s, and how women's stories were relegated to Women's Studies courses. It's a shame, because Jeannette Rankin was an incredible and inspiring person. I want to share my impressions of the book and of Rankin's life right here on this blog because for one, it's fresh in my mind and secondly, I want anyone reading this blog to seek out this book ei...

Oof, sorry about the buzzkill that was my last blog post. I was not feeling good that day, not that I'm that more upbeat today. I mean, we're still living under the Trump regime. How much happier could I get? I hope there's a day in the future where we can just say, "Wow, what a relief we survived THAT! What the heck was THAT about?! We lost our minds for [??] years." Do we have to live through some of the darkest years in American history in order to emerge into the light and a better future? Or am I delusional. All I know is I can't cave in to despair, particularly when our president is such a buffoon. (On the other hand, his buffoonery could get us into trouble if there aren't any adults in the room to reign in his worst implulses. For example, need I reiterate how batshit crazy this "take over Greenland" nonsense is?). After my lowpoint on Thursday morning, spending far too much time doomscrolling, I had a nice late afternoon and ...

I am sitting on the living room couch after work on Friday evening and I can feel the chill from outside. It's allegedly 19 degrees outside ("feels like 10" according to the weather app on my phone. All I know is it feels frigid, even in the house. I wrote that first paragraph almost two weeks ago and never got back to it. I'm still cold. Looking at social media news posts this morning, I found myself spiraling worse than I have in months. I had to look away for my own sanity. The depression and despair was overwhelming. Never in my life did I, in my wildest imagination, picture the United States lowered to such depths as we watch fascism and authoritarianism envelop us, while also making enemies all over the world. For example, the threats to invade Greenland are insane. We have elected--make that RE-elected, a madman. He is completely out of his mind and nobody in a position of power has the bravery to do anything about it.