250 Years Are Too Many

     4 July 2026

        I see that last night at Mt. Rushmore Trump said communists will take over the country.

       How retro of him, and thanks for starting the next Red Scare.

       Yet Momdani spoke from Washington's desk at City Hall in NYC, and knocked an authentic patriot's speech out of the ballpark.

        Trump's MO has always been "blame someone else". He shifts--remember during Covid it was the Chinese. He hated/loved/hated/loved Putin. Their relationship is "complicated" according to Truth Social. So I'm not surprised it's "communists" this time, because he's an idiot and cannot differentiate between democratic socialists and progressives, let alone communism and socialism.

        He attacks anyone who disagrees with him. A four year old can recognize the pattern.

        I'd say "We're doomed" but honestly, where Americans have failed, other countries and Mother Nature have stepped up.

        We watched a few My Cat From Hell's yesterday while Jim made chicken rice soup for Genoa, who has strep. Yes I threw that in there. He was dealing with a cat bully, and was focused on the victim--a beautiful black cat named Scout. I took umbrage with that, I thought he should have focused on the fluffy villian of the story. He said "A bully will back off when the victim stands up to them". Ok, he said it more cat friendly, but he said it. I still don't agree with his focus, but when he spent time with Scout...well, he uncovers other issues. Not unlike Bar Rescue, when Tanner diagnoses spousal issues, or management bullying, or incompetence that are the cause of the faillure. Jackson called out the mom for allowing her kids to not contribute in any way to feeding/ cleaning/helping with the cats. 

        So mom was actually being "bullied" by her three kids' apathy, and she was allowing it.

        Hmmmm.

        I only have six people who read this, I don't need to connect the dots on these stories any further, do I? Y'all are smarter than I am.

        The Irish Dance Festival in Florida was having none of the right wing flag waving --he wasn't even a politician, he was some Hoo Ha with an adjacent company---who decided that Ireland's one transgender dancer be disallowed to perform. Because transgender.

        You don't get to boss an Irish dance company around, Florida Dick.

        And the dance company quietly batted him on the nose. They wrote a few words about inclusion and the hisotry of dance and how nobody in Ireland gives any shits about gender, and the festival continued as planned.

        It's always other countries. They will not allow themselves to be bullied. That's it. That's the bottom line. 

        For all the protests at Delany and elsewhere, there have been no prison breaks. Nobody's been busted out. Nobody stormed the Bastille. 

        But Mother Nature saw to the coldest day of the year for his inaugeration and is burning DC for his "America 250" nonsense. Hailed at Mt. Rushmore. DC will be one of the hottest places on earth today for his "speech". So ya.

        Everyone is stepping up except our own congress.

        I came across a nasty repost---Heather Delaney Reese/ Cox Richardson or The Other 98% or some such commie liberal site I follow---that said 

     "So a cockroach can enter this country and have a baby and in 18 years that cockroach's vote will cancel out mine."

        I'd like to take a moment to unpack this. 

        Firstly--cockroaches cannot vote. Your posit is dismissed because you don't understand that you just used a metaphor, you were just being a dick.          

        Secondly--you are racist. You just referred to a human being as a cockroach. You should be censured or deprogrammed or something. You Need Help.

        Third--you assume this "cockroach" will have different views than yours. What if they believe in racism and exlusion and cruelty the same way that you do? Then their vote does not cancel out yours. They could be on your side for all you know.

        Fourth--cockroaches have up to 50 babies. You will have more than one who votes against you--or with you--or split.

        Birthright citizenship has been the law of the nation since 1868. 

        It's why you, "Bridget" (I avoid Karen-calling, other names are fun), are an American Citizen. I have no idea what your cockroach origins are, but unless they are indiginous or you are a descendent from slaves (which I can assume you are not because you sound Really White) your great great X(how many generations back) grandparents were considered cockroaches from Ireland, or Poland, or Yugoslovia, or Germany or even Russia.

        It's also why I am an American Citizen.

        We were all --OK, not all ---wound up excited about 23 and Me to discover our roots and celebrated learning Where We Were From. Did you do that too?

        I did. I am a meatloaf cockroach hailing from Ireland, Wales, Poland and Germany. Sadly I do not have any Chinese which I understand most of us do thanks to Atilla The Hun, or any Neanderthal thanks to the fact that they were kinda dicks, if I remember? They were warlike...or the others were warlike...shoot. I have to do research. Anyway, I had 1% "other" which I like to believe is Neanderthal. I have zero indiginous, which I already knew. Someday I'll tell you the story of how my family was misled somewhere along the line, and my mom believed we were Cherokee.

        We are not. Not even remotely. But definitely Irish. 

        All Americans are immigrants, you stupid woman. Your ancestors benefitted from birthright citizenship so your vote could cancel out mine.

        In response to all of this, I chose to post three favorite poems on Facebook:

        "I Am Waiting" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

        "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman

        "I Too Sing America" by Langston Hughes

        Look 'em up. It's clear why they are a fabulous trio of American Voices.

        Enjoy your day. Turn your flag upside, down, eat a bagel, do a dance, sleep in, start your house on fire by exploding your grill---live your life. We're all Americans.

60 Years Are Too Many: When The Old Ways Are Actually Cooler But My Brain Still Skips Around.

 3 July 2026

        While I wonder at congress' inability to physically move and form a human chain in front of 100 year old cherry trees, and can't understand how being against Israel's bullying make someone an anti semite, and listen to CPR and mourn so much fire in my state, I am heartened by a small blip.

        Ya gotta take the delights even when they're small.

        I hear Gen Z is dialing it back-pun intended;ditching iPhones and social media for flip phones. I wish I could take credit for this, as a person who has taught high schoolers how to dial old rotary phones for many years. The trend includes many who are getting "into" old school photography---buying Canons and sending film off for developing. I actually know of one 18 year old doing this, and a kid on the musical had an old polaroid. Deeeeelightful.

        As someone who was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age; someone who sitll refuses to put apps on her phone. I refuse to attach my school's email to my phone. Someone who does not use instant messenger on facebook any more because they want a PIN and I don't think I should have to do that. I am someone who will go to the bank to make deposits and use the ATM to deliberately use cash. Someone who has analog clocks and my dad's analog watch. 

        Someone who is addicted to facebook.

        Which I am not going to get on at all today. I've done it for 24 hours before, I can do it again. I can find my news--Meidas Touch and Aaron Parnas---on my computer, and I'm currently listening to morning addition on NPR. I long for a newspaper dropped on my driveway.

        I doubt this little spark of interest in old school photography and phones will translate into a beautiful wave of anti tech sentiment. But if it did, I would be delighted. I would not be one of the New Leaders, there are others more staunch than I about turntables and radios with batteries and VCR's. Yet I would definitely rejoice, as I would take their interest as younger people as a positive sign that All Is Not Lost. I would celebrate by waving my old red slider phone that I was forced to give up when the slider broke, and they stopped making them!

        I still need to follow through and figure out how to get a land line again.

        I have some great old typewriters in the props closet, I just need to clean one up and buy a ribbon. Doesn't Jeff Goldblum restore old typewriters? What a cool hobby.

        I'd love a real homecoming parade with actual floats.

        I am dreading the new tech they're installing in the theatre. Apparently we're getting a tablet to control the fly system. That'll go well. It works in professional theatre because they get superior equipment with appropriate support. We get whatever they have the most of, or misordered and have an overstock. That is how every theatre in Aurora got the same light board that was intended to be for DJ's. To be fair, once I learned the thing it was fabulous-really user friendly and easy peasy to set cues.

        When we did Earnest at Littleton, the light designer found an old fixture with gel rotators and worked tirelessly to make it work. It added to the steampunk vibe on the show. We were both pretty jazzed about it.

         There are a stack of old instruments on the second floor of the Kennedy cat, but I am not qualified to sort through it and figure out how to use it. Especially if we're going to all LED color changers now. No room for anything cool old school. 

            I've done my share of creative lighting. Borrowing light trees for side light. Building footlights-which I do not take credit for I supplied the materials and said "I want footlights" and the kid made it happen. I lit NYC behind the window of Odd Couple this fall with two floor lamps with blue bulbs and one sourcie par with a blue gel. Kennedy has zero trees. I had trees at Hinkley and Littleton and used the heck of out of them, because schools don't have side light fixtures. They like to claim that they do because they mount trees in the house on both sides of the house, but those only throw the the apron and people are stupid.

            I know just enough about lighting to sound like I know about lighting.

            I am the kid that would hold a clear jug of colored water in front of a spot light for effect. I like old school. 

            I am heartened by the news that others younger than myself feel as I do about old stuff. I switched from NPR to 93.3, and I am loving having a radio in my house. I love local.

            Sometimes writing is truly just a journal. But I'll hit "publish" anyway, because that's part of the ritual.