liminal_luke

all my friends and I talk about is getting rid of our phones— a dystopian dream dominating dinner conversation, our phones on the middle of the table   like candles   like altars like tiny gods we are trying not to worship we talk about quitting like smokers do— “next week” “after this trip” “when I found the love of my life on a dating app” we make promises to each other the way people talk about leaving a bad relationship while still keeping their toothbrush ready by the sink we dream of flip phones— clamshells of another life decorated with glitter and stones and dangly   little charms the pixels soft enough to forgive our youthful acne and ringtones we bought by texting MTV the only calls we received were from our mother, telling us to   come home,   dinner was on the table there was no algorithm to drill us into compliance no one to tell us:   you are behind     you are cutting your onions wrong       you need to buy this thing (and this one and this one)         you are a rat girl joan didion girl soft girl clean girl iphone face never enough girl we say: let’s go camping   just us   and a map   and maybe a knife just in case (but what if we lose our way what if someone dies what if I see something beautiful?) we delete tiktok but never at the same time so someone is always missing out on the joke we say we cannot meet the modern world without a screen plastered to our hands— this second self we cradle like a   self-inflicted wound and maybe we’re right maybe we’re too far gone maybe this thing knows how to be us better than we do somewhere, there is a version of me who dared to take the leap she knows the constellations   by name her eyes are soft from looking   outwards i wonder what she wears i wonder what her hobbies are, and how she finds her way i wonder if she’s ever bored   or late     or lonely       without the glow to hold her and i hate it—      i hate it this tether this glass ghost this thing too big to understand i’m tired and my window to the world has no curtains     i want to close my eyes     i want to become very         very            very               small -- Quirine Brouwer

Tomorrow, June 20th, will be the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, and the winter solstice for our southern friends. I always think of these yearly turning points as potent times for spiritual practice and reflection. Whether you´re experiencing an apex moment of light or darkness, I hope the day brings you joy.

Nah, that type is not so self-aware.

Good for you @BigSkyDiamond for looking it up; I was too lazy. And as for our birthday boy, @Mark Foote, anybody who uses words like semi-sesquicentennial to refer to their natal date has a brain younger than their years.

Thanks, @Apech. While I don´t agree with every mod decision, I trust that the mods want what is best for the forum and are doing their darndest to make it happen. My own interest is not so much in discussing Current Events per se, so much as the emotional and mental health issues that swirl around the subject. How connected do we feel to ourselves and the larger community? Are ideological divisions wrecking havoc on families and friendships? Is it possible -- or desirable -- to feel a sense of kinship with those who think differently than ourselves? This is my particular bag. Whether or not other people care to discuss these kinds of topics I don´t know.

@Apech @stirling Question for Mods: Is discussion of current events and politics allowed within one´s PPJ?

People are sensitive and rarely take kindly to any perceived slights of dignity. I´ll be surprised if Old3bob is willing to post much at all under the current conditions. Nice that he can still use the private message function though to keep in touch with those he´s close to.

Thanks for clarifying. I misunderstood the post in the Moderation Logs section.

For the record, I´m glad that Old3bob appears to be back and did not report any posts in this thread. As @Nungali points out, my own posts have not been entirely current-events free. I plead guilty. In my defense, I´ll mention that the point I was trying to make was not that people should feel any which way about No Kings day or any other political issue. My point was that it´s possible -- a good idea even! -- to feel warmly towards people who don´t share one´s politics. We´re all just human here and most of us want what´s best for our fellow humans and the planet, though we may have starkly different ideas of what "best" looks like.

Welcome back, Old3bob!

...

Hopefully I´ve stayed on the right side of the law, but if "someone" -- you or anybody else -- thinks this post (or any other politically-themed post of mine) crosses the line, I´m happy to edit it out.

I also feel empathy for what people are going through right now and think it would be great if we could support each other without arguing about the merits of any given view. My mom marched in a recent "No Kings" event, her first political protest in her more than eighty years. She sent me a picture of herself out in the sunshine, smiling and waving a tiny American flag. She said it felt good to be there, in the world amongst so many other people who felt as she did. I was happy for her. Although I´m wary of much that is going on in the US politically these days, my own politics has slid somewhat rightward since Covid and I wouldn´t of wanted to march in No Kings myself. But that doesn´t mean I don´t care about the thoughts and feelings of those who disagree with me. Those who disagree with me are not "idiots." In fact, many of them are smart and well-informed, kind and thoughtful -- some of the best people I know. I gather from another thread that the mods are currently debating Old3bobs status in the forum. He consistently brings up political topics, even though it´s the current policy of the board not to do so. It´s not my place to comment on his future here, but one thing´s clear: he´s a person that cares about the state of the world and he´s hurting. I think so many of us are hurting. I´m not much of a Buddhist but sometimes a Buddhist saying fits the moment. May all beings be free from suffering.

Here, as I see it, is the trouble with political talk on the board. Most of us come to this forum wanting and expecting a friendly and supportive atmosphere. We´d like to be able to learn from others and share what we know in an environment where we feel respected and valued. Mostly, political discussion isn´t like this. Many people feel contempt for those who disagree with them politically. This can lead to name calling (officially against the rules), but even when Bums manage to avoid bumping up against forum policy there´s considerable disharmony and bad vibes. The bad vibes tend to leach into the board in general and spoil the experience for many. As a recipient and occasional purveyor (apologies!) of bad political vibes, I know of what I speak.

I´m all for protecting marginalized people who suffer invisibly from the creeping normalization of bigotry. Who isn´t? But I no longer believe that one political "side" is clearly innocent and the other clearly guilty. I´d say more but the moderators might object to the spreading of right-wing bullshit in the "no more right-wing bullshit" thread.

Whose days do you mean?

Your friend sounds great. How wonderful that you were able to teach him and he was open to being taught. Yeah!

Pride is the Wrong Word I´m a gay white man. What would happen if I say that I´m proud to be white? My fellow Bums would likely get a lot of use out of the new "oh boy" emoji. I might be banned from the board for being racist -- and rightfully so, I think. What would happen if I say that I´m proud to be gay? On the whole, I´d wager the reaction would be a lot more positive. And yet being attracted to other men is not like winning the national tennis championships -- it´s not a soaring personal accomplishment. I didn´t train hard daily, sweating through grueling workouts, in order to think that Brad Pitt is hot. This is why I think Gay Pride is misnamed. Nobody should be proud -- or ashamed -- of their sexual orientation. It´s not a hierarchy thing; there´s no better or worse. Just like it´s not better or worse to be white or brown or black. Pride isn´t the right word. I´m not sure the right word exists in the English language. There´s a subtle feeling of self-affirmation all people have access to when they do the hard personal work of making friends with themselves, a feeling of basic OKness that is not dependent on anybody else giving a thumbs up. It´s this subtle feeling of self-affirmation I hope all of us feel this June, whether we march in a Pride march or not. If you feel it, whew -- well that´s something to be proud of.

The Correspondent (Virginia Evans). A epistolatory novel featuring the correspondence of a Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous septuagenarian whose life gently expands over time -- even as her vision fails. I cried towards the end (a good thing). Heartily recommended.

like the falling rain I plink, pour, puddle, and plop Leia´s sweet revenge.

You are perfect just as you are, and you could use a little improvement. --attributed to Shunryru Suzuki-roshi I suspect this saying could apply to a great many of the "ten-thousand things." A related paradox: when we accept ourselves and others as we are, resistance softens and change for the better comes easily.

Luke is now Leia I wish that Maddie could see my transformation.

Which way? Which way now? Why not traipse through the garden, so lovely this year?

Good point. Although in some ways the program behaves in a quite inhuman, or at least unBumlike, fashion. When confronted about it´s duplicity, Chat GPT immediately confesses, says "there are no excuses," and promises to do better. There´s no dodging. I often ask Gemini (Google´s free version of AI) for culinary advice and recipes. It always seems happy to help out and disconcertingly enthusiastic about my kitchen plans. My partner, on the other hand, is less keen on my cooking.

I usually prefer to read novels that take place in contemporary times, but a story featuring a reincarnated version of Taomeow with "under-erased memories" set in the Paleolithic era? I wouldn´t begin to guess even what genre such a work might belong in. The literary possibilities boggle.