Floating Leaf

Today I want to share a link to a fascinating article. Yes, another one of Charles Eisenstein's essays; I'm afraid I may have become a bit of a fan. ;-P This is a brand new one, though, and it gave me some valuable insights into the huge ideological "war" that seems to be raging across the US (and global, to some extent) media and the entire cultural landscape these days. Because I am somewhat allergic to politics, I tend to feel lost in the nuances of various popular controversies, puzzling over why on earth some people say or believe the things they do. So I am always grateful for a balanced, detached, thought-provoking explanation. And Charles seems to be really good at that. That's what drew me to his writing in the first place. His ability to step back from the polarization and offer a different perspective: not from "somewhere in the middle", but from OUTSIDE the entire dichotomy. Seeing the flaws, the blind spots and the "hidden gems" on either side. As well as delivering a hopeful message at the end, despite some really uncomfortable conclusions along the way. He really gave me a lot to process... and so I feel the need to quote a few choice bits. But first, here's he entire text:

https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/from-qanons-dark-mirror-hope/

Now for the uncomfortable conclusions. He basically starts out with a rather grim vision of the future that seems inevitable - unless we, as a society, collectively take a breath and examine the sources of our respective convictions, seeing the humanity in our apparent "enemies" and honestly searching for common ground. Here are the two "grim possibilities" he envisions: (1) In a few years a new and more formidable demagogue will arise to channel the repressed forces [= Trump supporters and other right wing groups] toward a fascist coup. (2) A neoliberal corporatocracy, costumed in the garb of progressive values, will consolidate its already well-developed powers of surveillance, censorship, and control to establish a techno-totalitarian state that will attempt to repress those forces forever. But then he also says this: (1) I believe that the blind spots both sides share are more significant, and more dangerous, than their disagreements, and (2) Beneath the conflict is a hidden unity that will emerge when all parties humbly try to understand the other.

So I've been chewing on that. ( Read more... )

So I did go shopping yesterday, but entirely failed to find any suitable winter boots or clothing. Instead, I bought a pretty summer blouse (it was ON CLEARANCE, for TWELVE BUCKS, it was BLUE and had a lovely frilly design - need I say more?... LOL), a new lunch box, a towel (in a nice geometric pattern of blue, green & gray), a pair of socks and a can of tea. THIS can of tea:



Bad picture taken with my "dumbphone" (as my friends call it) - because while my iPod Touch takes better pictures, I cannot then email them to myself, since I don't have WiFi.:( Anyway - how could I have resisted that? I hardly need more tea, I am running out of shelf space to house all the tea I already possess... but when I saw this nifty blue box (it is indeed royal blue, you have to take my word for it - no flash on the dumbphone camera, LOL), I had an immediate case of grabby hands, and so it was added to my already impressive tin collection.:P

Then I watched my latest Netflix DVD, Agora, which turned out to be another biopic about a scientist.:) Something I actually wasn't expecting, because the blurb on the DVD envelope entirely neglected to mention the fact that any of the characters were historical figures. I was expecting an entertaining period drama/romance - which would have been perfectly fine - but what I got instead was a truly stunning depiction of the turbulent events that shook the fabled city of Alexandria around 400 A.D. ( Read more... )

OK, so I know I didn't post anything here last weekend. Despite having every intention to do so. I'm not even sure how that happened, considering I actually had Monday off, so it was a long weekend. Said Monday was spent running some errands, which included applying for a passport. I still don't know for sure that I will actually get to use it - but there is a good chance that I might, and I want to be prepared just in case.:) Cryptic, I know. But I really don't like to talk about things that aren't certain - call me superstitious if you like... *shrug*

This weekend was shorter, but more productive, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that I am plagued by PMS (sometimes it makes you useless, other times it gives you tons of nervous energy that must find an outlet). I shopped, I cooked (twice!... well, cooked and then made a salad), I did laundry... I even watched a movie. David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. Which is absurdly brilliant - or brilliantly absurd, however you want to look at it. I mean, for the first 5 minutes I was all, "OK, WHY did I decide to watch this?"... but then at some point I started clapping and squealing with laughter. Which possibly proves that my own sense of humor is nearly as twisted as Cronenberg's (or his favorite actor Viggo Mortensen's... LOL). Anyway... I loved it, as disturbing as it was, and I watched the entire lengthy "making of" featurette too, for good measure.:)

Also, summer seems to have finally arrived. As of yesterday. We barely had any spring to speak of, but apparently it's summer now. Who needs spring anyway - it's so last century... *sigh* Don't get me wrong - yesterday the weather was beautiful, and it felt sooo good to go outside in a summer outfit, for the first time in God knows how many months... but today was just grey, muggy and suffocating, much like it often happens here in July/August. No transition period whatsoever. It's like May has been cancelled, and we are stepping from early April right into late June, or something. But then, what do I know - it could be cold again tomorrow...

I just want nice weather two weeks from now - not necessarily here, even, only in New York City.:D Yes, I will be there in less than two weeks. O_O I try not to drive myself crazy angsting about various travel-related things (like going through airport security, for example - which I haven't done since 2009, and which is possibly much less pleasant now than it was at the time).

Oh, and I am also permanently distracted by Skype (honestly, I can only think of ONE day in the past week or two where I didn't send or receive any Skype messages at all). And the VC community on Dreamwidth (yes, I did help a certain someone prepare ANOTHER discussion post about The Vampire Lestat recently, why do you ask?...;P). And AO3, where I have put up a few of my Aragorn/Legolas ficlets. Which are getting lots of kudos, I might add. I also wrote another drabble in the VC fandom. So yeah, I definitely have enough stuff on my plate to justify letting my LJ participation lapse a bit. But I still feel bad about it... *sigh*

The weather has been positively hormonal this weekend. One violent rainstorm after another, with brief periods of eerie, gray stillness in between. There was even a tiny bit of sunlight this afternoon - right after a vicious storm that rattled my windows. And then, a half-hour later, another bank of heavy rainclouds rolled in. So I haven't been out-and-about much, except for grocery shopping. Btw, my timing of said shopping trips totally sucked, since I managed to get rained on every time. Also, my total at the checkout of the local supermarket came up to exactly $66.66. Good thing I'm not superstitious... LOL.

That was yesterday. Today I went to Whole Foods, for some cosmetics and a few food items I don't usually find at the local stores. I wasn't raining when I left, so I thought I was going to be fine. You know, at Whole Foods they give you paper bags at the checkout instead of plastic. I could have brought my own canvas shopping bags... but I didn't. So I walk out of there with a huge paper bag full of stuff... and of course it's raining. And by the time I reach the bus stop, the bag is starting to tear.:/ I managed to hold it all together until the point where I need to transfer to another bus... but then the bottom of the bag gave out and I dropped a few items. Luckily, nothing was ruined. The jar of organic honey lost a part of the lid... but, amazingly enough, didn't spill a drop.:) I picked up what I could and just held it all in my arms the rest of the way home. And only then did I realize that the bottle of agave nectar didn't make it.:/ I didn't even notice when it fell out. It was plastic, so most likely didn't break, and perhaps someone else has found it by now. At least it won't go to waste... LOL.

Yeah... exciting weekend adventures, you have to admit.;) I'm off tomorrow, but I don't feel like going anywhere unless the weather changes (and it doesn't seem likely at the moment). I have to make some calls for work, anyway.:/

I'm not in a bad mood, though. ( Read more... )

First of all, I haven't forgotten whose birthday it is today.:)



FIFTY-FIVE already. Time flies, doesn't it? *headshake* BUT. He is still utterly awesome, and I am very much looking forward to his future cinematic endeavors. Two Faces of January should be out soon, if memory serves right... (I am not getting younger either... LOL)

But speaking of cinematic endeavors... I have seen two more festival movies since my previous post. ( Read more... )

Pissed off to report that the monthly affliction hasn't started yet.:/ Which obviously means it's going to hit me at a highly inconvenient time. Why do you have to be such a bitch, mother nature? What have I done to you? Can we just stop this whole useless ovulation thing already?... *grumbles*

But since I'm not laid up as of right now, I may just as well share my thoughts about the film I saw yesterday. ( Blue Is the Warmest Color discussed extensively under the cut )

Sooo tired. Had a busy weekend for a change. Yesterday morning I went to see my chiropractor (which is quite a time-consuming trip in itself), then lugged in the usual weekly load of groceries, followed by some email catch-up and another Lost marathon (finished Season 3, which I really hadn't had a chance to do during the week). I swear this show is killing me. They somehow manage to end each season on a cliffhanger, and the drama is so intense I get dizzy.;) But anyway... today the weather continued to be incredibly gorgeous, so I decided it would be a waste to spend such a beautiful day pottering about at home. I thought of going shopping, but somehow that didn't seem appealing either (WTF happened to me, btw?... I haven't really experienced the random urge to shop in MONTHS... I mean I do shop when I need something specific, but traipsing around malls in search of bargains no longer sounds like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and I wonder why). So I opted for some culture. ( Read more... )

Well... guess what? I did clean my place yesterday. I got up relatively early, since the fireworks started before 8 a.m. (sic!!!), so there was no hope of a longer sleep-in anyway. So I got my ass in gear, took a bath, cleaned up, dusted, vacuumed, scrubbed the tub and sinks etc... then got dressed, made myself look decent and went to see the movie. I felt somehow energized by this unexpected bout of high productivity, LOL. I wasn't nearly as tired or drained as I expected to be. Plus, there was no stress involved in getting to the theater this time, since I knew VERY well where it was and how long the trip should take - so that part of the day was actually quite relaxing. I arrived in good time, and even treated myself to a bag of popcorn (which I hardly ever do). It was the smallest bag they had on offer, by the way - and yet, it seemed so huge that I was still munching on it on my way back home 3 hours later (despite having unintentionally spilled about a quarter of it on the floor... *sigh*). But the standard snack sizes in the US are a whole another (quite disturbing) topic, LOL.

I got back sometime around 10:30 p.m., and I thought I was going to just hit the pillows and sleep like a log - but, obviously, the fireworks were still in full swing, and I was too wound up after such an "active" day anyway... so I kept tossing and turning for quite a while. And this morning, unsurprisingly, I felt like death warmed over. I dragged myself to work (ridiculously late, btw, since I forgot my lunch and had to walk back all the way from the bus stop to get it) and went through the motions, but my head was on a trip far, far away.:) Fortunately, there wasn't much going on, so my "productivity index" didn't really matter.:P And the fireworks are over now (*knocks on wood*) - so hopefully I can get some decent sleep tonight...

As for the movie... I loved it, of course. ( mild spoilers for Byzantium under the cut )

I know I have said this several times already this year, but... the summer has arrived. For real this time. *knocks on wood* ;) I wore one of my most revealing dresses today: spaghetti straps, plunging neckline (with a cotton sports bra peeking out from underneath) and skirt that barely reaches the knee (that's as short as you'll ever see me wear outside; I hate exposing my flabby thighs, no matter how hot it is). I LOVE that dress. It was ridiculously cheap (I got it at Target, I think), but it has such a perfect cut for me: tight-fitting around the chest and flaring out from beneath. Sort of like those Empire-style gowns - except it's shorter, of course, and sleeveless, as well as dark (bluish) grey instead of white. But it does a perfect job of emphasizing the package (*ahem*) and masking some other less enticing curves (those around the waistline, LOL). Makes me look younger, I think. I usually feel very self-conscious whenever I put on something revealing - so a hot summer can be challenging, clothes-wise. But if I find something that fits just right, I am suddenly a flower-child all over again...;P

Going to see my parents tomorrow, since I couldn't go last Sunday. I have not scheduled Monday off this time, since I need to save my precious PTO days for when I REALLY need them - but I was sort of productive today, so I should manage just fine. It is too hot to cook anyway, so I made a simple salad - and will make another one Monday or Tuesday after work. I will not clean the place, obviously - but it should hold another week...

Btw, my parents are getting serious about buying an apartment building. ( Read more... )

Last but not least, I watched an absolutely chilling drama yesterday. We Need to Talk About Kevin. It was shown during the Chicago International Film Festival two years ago, but I didn't see it then - I just made a note to myself to check it out later, then forgot about it. But finally it did end up in my Netflix queue. ( Read more... )

Did I mention summer in my previous post? Well, it's gone. Lasted about three days this time. Right now we're back to murky cold weather reminiscent of either early March or November. For the past three nights or so, the temperature has been dropping below 10C/50F. In light of this, you might want to ask whether my heating is back on. Um, no. It is the end of May, so of course not. And I have already put the fan in my kitchen window, right? Which means I can't even close it properly - unless I take the fan back out. Aaaarrrrrghhhhh. Btw, it's supposed to be hot again by next Tuesday. So I decided not to bother removing the fan and just quietly freeze to death instead.:/ Oh, I did take out my little electric heater, of course. I need it to warm up the bathroom before I can persuade myself to take any clothes off, LOL. I sleep in my thickest flannels & socks, with an extra blanket on top of my duvet. Today I cleaned the apartment, which was the perfect thing to do, since it kept me moving around for a few hours, and therefore I stayed warm. But now the chill is seeping right through the fleece jacket I'm wearing over my sweater.:/ Oh, the irony. With all those fans standing around. I usually postpone setting up all the fans until it gets REALLY hot - at which point it is VERY unlikely to get cold again. But the thing is, it WAS really hot. This sudden, massive temperature drop was nothing short of astounding. If I still had any doubts that there are no rules anymore when it comes to the weather, they're all gone now. "Seasons" are a mythical concept in this brave new world of climate change...:|

But that's not what I wanted to talk about tonight. My latest Netflix movie turned out to be absolutely stunning. It's called Cracks, and the story takes place at a girls' boarding school in England in 1934. I know - sounds like a cliche. But it is quite surprising, in a number of ways. ( Read more... )