The I I thought I was . . .
Monday, May 19, 2025. It's the Moon's day . . . Forecasts for TulseyTown today indicate strong Southerlies, temps in the upper 70's and with a 70% chance of thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado could manifest with some storms so says the weatherfeather, and a 50% chance that the storms will extend until midnight tonight.
We never really know whether an event is fortune or misfortune, we only know our ever-changing reactions to ever-changing events. – Alan Watts in Maria Popova's The Marginalian.
Late last night, the House Budget Committee passed what Republicans are calling their “Big, Beautiful Bill” to enact Trump’s agenda. It is a disaster for middle and lower income Americans. Heather Cox Richardson's Letters From An American provided a clear picture that should lead you to verbal outrage at your House/Senate Congressional representatives.
Joyce Vance's The Democracy Index is meant for people with less time to devote to following what Trump is doing to our country, but who still want to understand what it all means.
Today is the birthday of Malcom X, born in 1925 Omaha, Nebraska. The assassinated civil rights advocate is still making news 60 years after his death.
And its the birthday of playwright Lorraine Hansberry. The author of “A Rasin in the Sun” was born in 1930 Chicago.
My heart is a pen in Your hand
Who am I when love obliterates the I
I thought I was,
drawing me from one path,
leading me on another?
I could tell you,
but everytime I get to this point,
the tip of my pen breaks.
[…]
This pen feel no pride or shame.
It doesn't applaud or lash itself.
It knows only that it traverses the unknown.
The mind can't contain these paradoxes--
how the pen surrenders form to the formless,
giving the formless form.
– Rumi, in Water:Rumi, translation by Haleh Lza Gafori, New York Review Books, 2025.
Doubtful door-knocking . . .
Sunday, May 18, 2025. It's Sol's day . . . The weatherfeather indicates that thunderstorm chances for TulseyTown today are slightly less than 50-50 this afternoon rising to 70% tonight. Some of them could be strong. Moderate Southeasterlies are to maintain low 80's.
British philosopher mathematician and Nobel Laureate Bertrand Russell was born on this day in 1872 Ravenscroft, Monmouthshire. His influence continues.
The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other....The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. – Bertrand Russell
Ignore the calculated firehose of outrageous distractions. If his lips are moving, he's lying. – Heather Cox Richardson in Letters From An American.
Wake up, folks. The tornado is on your doorstep, and this time you’re not going to get a warning. – Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse.
The occasional Sunday Sermon:
As the inventors of agriculture and the primary food-gatherers, early humans made the image of the female the first personification of the divine, if you will, the source of all life – nurturers and life-givers. And like the woman who heals in the Xian Gospel of Matthew, we must continue to transgress boundaries, resist cultural norms, and press on toward healing for the sake of our children and their children and their children's children. What does resistance to domination, exploitation, and hierarchy look like in your day-to-day life? – Kat Armas, Meditations, The Center for Action and Contemplation, 5.17.25
No matter the religion or denomination in which we are raised, our spirituality still comes through the first filter of our own life experience...There is no such thing as an entirely unbiased position. The best we can do is own and be honest about our own filters. – Fr. Richard Rohr, Meditations, The Center for Action and Contemplation, 5.18.25.
Knock on Your Own Door
...after Sophie Strand
Duality is recognized but not embraced
by the feminine, rather
celebrates the liminal
that confuses the unintegrated
masculine, landlocked
in the absolutes of polarities.
The “inner voice” isn't confined
behind the physical door
of the brain-case.
It is a call and response
through the senses
as much in touch
with the flotsam
as the jetsam
of The Way.
– jab
Courageous atoms of amber . . .
Saturday, May 17, 2025. It's the Satyr's day . . . and moderate Easterlies bring increasing clouds and slight — 15% — rain chances to TulseyTown this afternoon and evening.
Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life. – David Whyte
The first legalized same-sex marriages in the U.S. were performed on this date in 2024 Massachusetts.
And it's been 159 years since French composer Erik Satie was born in 1866 Honfleur, Normandy.