Loosely Speaking

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Everything Else

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Dominion vs Domination--part one

This morning I watched Our Planet, narration by David Attenborough. Once again, I felt almost over-sensitized--tears welling up with the beauty and fragility of our world. What struck me most is that it is all one, all connected, and it is all us. Nothing is apart, no matter how much it tries, from the rest of the world. Even humans with our unique ability to construct and invent and alter and pave over to suit our own convenience try to make the world something to which we are superior,... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Another sigh of relief...

So, it's settled: The Senate now, at the moment, has 51 Democratic seats. Manchin has lost his ability to strangle legislation, and Sinema, too, can no longer grab the limelight with obstructiveness. Of course, things change, and the Parties will be playing behind the curtain, I have no doubt, to get players to switch sides. There will be deaths; there will be traumas that challenge the measure of integrity; things will happen to mess with this balance that is slightly less delicate than the... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, December 4, 2022

What's un-natural, and what's not

This is what I posted a couple of days ago over on FBook. Trans-ness, gay-ness, bi-ness--none of these things are new to the human experience. They have been recognized in many non-Western cultures as normal and authentic for literal ages. They have always been here, though in the shadows at the edges of this dominant Western culture and disparaged as 'un-natural' by this and other patriarchal societies. Only now over the past few generations these human qualities have been coming into the... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

It's Wednesday

It's "Wednesday" Wednesday. This show, a spin-off of several spin-offs of Charles Addams' ADDAMS FAMILY cartoons, has gotten good notices from several of my friends and acquaintance.Charlie has been watching, but suggested waiting to watch the final episodes of the season with me. This means I'll be watching the first several this morning, and he'll join me when he gets up. I was introduced to Charles Addams' work in several cartoon books I discovered in my parents' library. Loved em! What a... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Breaking Hearts, Broken Children

The shootings here in the Springs, and then yesterday again, in a Virginia Walmart...So many families and communities torn open, devastated because of insanity with a gun in hand. The guns are a problem, but insanity is the bigger one. Sane people can manage their guns with safety and good sense. The biggest problem here is how easily the insane can acquire guns, can walk around with them unchallenged in many states. Could it be we need to address the insanity that is a product of a terribly... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, November 20, 2022

It's not the karaoke.

Last night there was another reckless, hate-inspired shooting at a nightclub here in the Springs. Five were killed, 18 injured, and the shooter was apprehended alive. People in the club subdued the shooter themselves before the police arrived. The club is a very popular venue for a wide community including the LGBQT folks, but also for many others, many theater people especially. It's a karaoke, dance, socializing club, too, that puts on shows and live-dj dancing on weekends. But of course,... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Anticipation, Colorado Edition

Sitting warm enough at my window, watching through the weeks, the leaves all turning, dying, flying-- Autumn draining of its color, of its spicy scents and all its memories of Summer... Winter churns and blows not so distantly it blusters up among the peaks, breathes out across the plains, all flurrying and hurrying to reclaim the air, the land, the bleak it seeks to hide beneath the shimmering romance of snow, the lovely shine and treachery of ice. I will delight in snow dancing in the air,... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, November 14, 2022

Don't say "Yes."

The phone rang just after 6 this morning. Who would call at such an hour, except for an emergency? I answered... after some delay, a cheery voice was asking me about my Medicare arrangements. She asked, "Can you hear me all right?" This is a scam signal, a warning, a Red Flag! They want you to say "Yes" and then they will isolate that simple sound and plug it in to make it seem as if you are agreeing to some kind of deal, or giving permission for something. Never say "Yes" on a stranger-call,... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Breathing easier...

Most of the numbers are in now, and it feels like a great storm that was expected has passed, and was less damaging than I feared it would be. That's from my point of view, of course: I have no illusions about America being less passionately polarized than it was a week ago. There still is a great deal of work to do, confrontations to be faced, challenges to be responded to, before any real balance is achieved in this fractured society. I stand by my contention that the key lies in education,... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Election Day-After

Mostly, its over. It's like pregnancy, though: when pregnancy ends, it's not really the end, it's the next beginning. Colorado did well from a blue perspective, and that's a relief for me and most of the people I know and respect here. And it's a relief that the great Red Wave turned out to be more of a ripple than a tide. The country is still, from where I'm looking, pretty profoundly benighted and deluded. But Pennsylvania gives me hope. And counting still continues in some very close senate... Sign in to see full entry.

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