Triscribe

Author: ssw15

  • Good Trouble, Fighting the Good Fight, and Finding Hope

    I was watching A Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert when the breaking news coverage came out on the night of July 17, 2020, on the passing of Congressman John Lewis. It’s sad, but at least we celebrate him, the last surviving speaker of the March on Washington of 1963. John Lewis, a student of non-violent protest, taught us the meaning of “good trouble” and fighting the good fight, giving his own blood in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, for the right to vote and civil rights. He was the “conscience of Congress” because he was about moral principles and equal justice.

    I personally don’t like using the word “hero” because I think it’s an over-used word and I don’t think people know what it means anymore for quite awhile now. But, John Lewis always struck me as one of the few moral heroes, in a world where I question if “morality” is meaningful.

    You could probably disagree with Lewis (a lot of people have, even on his own side), but he stuck with non-violence, compassion, and equity so much and for so long. I wonder if we will ever have more moral leaders like him.

    See here for the NPR obituary on John Lewis. Gothamist had a good collection of links in its post regarding Lewis. The NY Times’s obituary by Katharine Q. Seelye, published July 17, 2020, updated July 21, 2020, was quite in depth.

    Worth reading the NY Times editorial, “John Lewis Risked His Life for Justice,” published July 17, 2020, to remember what Lewis did and the legacy that’s left behind. The NY Times’ editorial reminds us that the US Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, and Lewis urged Congress to restore it to protect the right to vote; he had said that voting is the most important non-violent tool.

    As the editorial also notes:

    “The passing of John Lewis deprives the United States of its foremost warrior in a battle for racial justice that stretches back into the 19th century and the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments. Americans — and particularly his colleagues in Congress — can best honor his memory by picking up where he left off.”

    Political commentator Mark Shields observed, toward the end of the PBS NewHour segment on July 24, 2020:

    “Well, one of the absolutely disarming qualities of Congressman Lewis was, whenever you ran into him, he would just grab you by the hand and said: ‘Hello, my brother. How are you?’ And I don’t know. Being called ‘your brother’ by John Lewis was sort of special, and no matter how many times it happened. [….] He was an incredible gentleman. He was an incredible leader, an incredible example. He left America so much better than he found it. And people talk about changing the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to John Lewis Bridge, which is fine. What they ought to do is pass a Voting Rights Act, after the court decision in 2013, which naively thought this problem was over. We have seen the systematic denial of the right to vote, whether it’s cutting polling places, cutting hours, purging of lists, I.D.s, voter I.D.s. And that would be the testimony and memorial to John Lewis that would be appropriate, is a Voting Rights Act, a real Voting Rights Act.”

    I have no real opinion on the naming of the bridge, but I do think we need to strengthen the Voting Rights Act.

    I remembered being moved when Lewis staged the sit-in in Congress to demand gun control in 2016; he was always so hopeful in the face of seriously hard issues.

    Some years ago, when Lewis’s graphic memoir (I can’t quite call it a “graphic novel” because it isn’t really a novel) “March” (Vol. 1) came out and he was in New York City for the book tour, I went to hear him speak. Lewis was just amazing, talking about how he defended his aide for reading a mere comic book, because even comic books had been a tool for the Civil Rights Movement; and then his aide talked him into writing together what became the March trilogy, as a way for future generations to understand what Lewis did.

    In this interview on NPR’s All Things Considered, July 20, 2020, Lewis’s aide and co-writer, Andrew Aydin, best retold how he and John Lewis came to write “March”: specifically, others teased him for wanting to attend Comic Con after a campaign, and Lewis defended Aydin, by saying how a comic book did influence the Civil Rights Movement, which got Aydin thinking that a comic book about Lewis would be a way to communicate to young people today.

    I still have to get Volume 3 of “March.” There are also lots of videos to watch and great stuff to read to recognize and appreciate Lewis’s legacy.

    Fellow triscriber YC shared on Facebook this link, so I’m sharing it here on triscribe: Smithsonian scholars on the legacy of John Lewis. What a fascinating read. You can also do a search on triscribe and find more posts where I had shared links about Lewis.

    So, on this day, July 26, 2020, it’s the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This morning, the body of US Rep. John Lewis made his final crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. See here for the NPR report and here for the NY Times coverage. I was really moved to see the ceremony on television.

    Lewis’s body will lie at the Alabama State Capitol tonight, and on Monday, July 27, 2020, his body will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., for those who wish to pay their respects in a socially distanced manner, after an invitation-only ceremony.

    Thank you, John Lewis, for what you did, and may we reach the better, more equal world that you fought for us. We still have long ways to go before we have a truly equitable American society and let’s keep trying to get there.

    (cross-posted on sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • Independence Day 2020

    Happy Independence Day 2020. Or, if you can’t be “happy,” just reflect and observe.

    We have a pandemic, and our country sucks at getting out of it. We squandered a lockdown to get things under control and prep up testing, tracing, and any other means of mitigation. The only thing that is predictable is fear and unpredictability, and they are what they are.

    I’m just hoping that New York and New Jersey can try harder to keep things okay and not like it is in the rest of the country. But, I heard that Connecticut is doing very well with the Covid numbers. So, maybe it isn’t all crap in the tri-state area? I don’t know. Who knows?

    At the individual level: keep your masks on, stay six feet away, and wash your hands. I really don’t trust that we keep hoping and praying that individual responsibility will save us, because individual behavior has not persuaded me on that front.

    On the local and state levels: keep testing and contact tracing. Well, this presumes that a spread of Covid hasn’t made contact tracing impossible and that there are enough capacity and supplies for testing.

    I wish that the federal government can provide real leadership, but… these are such trying times on so many, many issues.

    Happy birthday, America. Thanks to Facebook’s On this Day/Memories feature, I get to review my past status / comments on past July 4s. I can’t quite tell what my arc is – maybe more cynical and reflective, than freely patriotic? What is patriotism? Can we grow and reason where we are and choose to proceed where we want to go?

    According to Facebook: on July 4, 2017, I said, “…take a moment to reflect on the meaning of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ and don’t forget that the Constitution does say we’re ‘to form a more perfect union.’ I was listening to Brian Lehrer’s show on WNYC the other day and he made an interesting point about America’s birthday: like any birthday, acknowledge it, warts and all, and hope (and work) for better. “

    So, can we reflect and learn? Do we acknowledge the warts and all, even if we can’t and should not accept them?

    On July 4, 2018, I noted on Facebook this quote from James Baldwin: “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

    Take the criticism and use it for what it’s worth. Constructive criticism? Can this country take it?

    I’ve recycled this status / comment on Facebook for two years, and maybe I’ll do it again: “As I get older, I’m more struck by the end the Declaration of Independence: ‘And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.’ The Founding Fathers were about to do something dangerous, and they knew it. But, they went ahead together, in hopes of something good and better, and as social contract theory – working together in agreement – meant something to them.”

    Do we understand what social contract theory means? Do we want to work together, do we have agreement, or are libertarians right – that individualism prevails, so who cares? Is that how we sacrifice democracy and rule of law?

    I’m rambling. And, I apologize to libertarians for being so glib. But, I’ve been frustrated with individualism because it seems so neglectful of others.

    You’re welcome to do a search on the blog and look at our prior posts on Independence Day. (I may be recycling my ideas or concerns at this point?).

    Anyway, I don’t have Disney Plus, so it’s not like I’m joining in on the fun of streaming a Hamilton watch of the original cast. As much as I’d want to see Lin-Manuel Miranda as the original A. Hamilton, triscribe – well, FC, P, and I – did see it when Javier Munoz played the role. (we saw it when he had alternated with Miranda; he later took over the role).

    Munoz was arguably the sexier A. Hamilton (NY Times’ chief theater critic Ben Brantley said so way back in 2015!). 😉 But, as Miranda acknowledged recently, they did have to keep the filmed/streaming Hamilton PG-13 for audiences!

    However, seriously, you don’t have to look to a Broadway musical – as good as “Hamilton the Musical” is – to learn American history. Is that musical all about how Hamilton and the rest of the Founding Fathers were heroes? Not quite. Is it great about showing their weaknesses and failures? Eh. Maybe it’s not strong on portraying women, and the great sin of slavery and race relations weren’t the real aims of “Hamilton” (a musical isn’t the way to really show the sins of slavery and racism, is it? I mean, it could be, but not really?).

    But, “Hamilton” is a great musical.

    It can’t hurt to pair a watching of “Hamilton” and “1776” on July 4. That way, you get a whole bunch of Founding Fathers at once (and pretend that the Founding Mothers had some part), and maybe realize that a musical could be a way to see how such humans could be so vibrant and so human.

    Do remember: the Founding Fathers really were only human. I wonder what they would think about where this country is going and how we let factions get in our way, and how we could be our own destroyers.

    I wonder. Can differences of opinion create creativity and pull us together? Can we be better?

    On July 3, 2020, I listened to the NPR Morning Edition annual reading of the Declaration of Independence. The words of Thomas Jefferson – no easy man to figure out – express outrage against the British and the decision to build a new identity. But, Jefferson’s words were also a tool – not to explain but also foment rage to get things going against a bigger power – those darn Brits, that horrible king who was so oppressive to the governors and people in America! – and yet, did Jefferson realize how many people in the future would draw inspiration from American ideals? He, a slave owner, may not have intended for freedom to be extended to all, but his words empowered others.

    If Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite – you know, “Do as I say, not as I do, regarding freedom” – what about other American leaders? Kind of like how Woodrow Wilson was complicated, even if he wasn’t that complicated. I thought that this article by Joshua Keating over at Slate, June 30, 2020, “The Accidental Anti-Imperialist,” was a fascinating read. As Keating noted, this is what’s odd (and not odd) about Wilson: for a man who was racist even for his own times, he inspired global cooperation, advanced an American foreign policy that was activist and into intervention (maybe for good and not-good reasons), and inspired anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movements.

    Like Jefferson and the slavery issue, Wilson might never have intended anyone to take up against imperialism, but it happened anyway, because he used empowering words (his 14 points included self-determination!). It’s ironic, and history is full of these complicated ironies.

    I’m not sure where I personally am on the issue of pulling down statuary and memorials or names of institutions of racist, imperialist figures, when so much of history is full of the likes of Jefferson and Wilson. Do we then have to figure out who are the forgotten”better” heroes of history and celebrate them? Maybe we should!

    But, what if they turn out to suck too for anything awful that they did? (and face it, they probably were terrible parents/spouses/neighbors/etc. or even sexist/homophobic/bigots of some kind/etc.).

    The bottom line is that we’re all hypocrites. I like to think that we should not “celebrate” figures; we should learn and realize nuance (somehow). There are moral questions and it shouldn’t be that easy to say we’ll just ignore the bad things a person did or forget the good that a person did. (This observation applies to understanding history: we can’t ignore the good or the bad and the ugly that a country like ours did).

    Some things to think about anyway. The American experiment continues, 244 years later. Let’s keep trying to do and be better. Happy Independence Day, indeed.

  • On the Last Day of APA Heritage Month 2020

    Here at triscribe.com, APA Heritage Month is really every day. As usual, life distracted me, but honestly, I never imagined that 2020 would bring in a global pandemic, an economic depression, and racial injustice all at once in less than six months.

    Racial injustice is, unfortunately, a perpetual problem and fear of others keeps going on. Asian Americans get wrongful blame during the pandemic – as if they’re (still) the source of disease since the 19th century and (still) have to be told to “go home.” (when home is supposed to be America, thanks). Police brutality is especially infuriating to me because I feel as if there’s a willfulness in continuing unnecessary police violence toward African-Americans – in conflict with training, policy, law, and morality, so far as could be apparent to me.

    The same problems continue to happen; it’s “normal.” (see here from NPR regarding former President Barack Obama’s thoughts on the maddening normalcy of racism). I wonder, as usual, about where’s the cultural shift for greater morality, rationality, consideration, compassion, and empathy? I look for basic decency and I wonder I’ve lowered my expectations too much.

    Anyway, on the waning hours of APA Heritage Month, some stuff to consider:

    With the pandemic ongoing, see here for “AAPI Frontline” from NBC Asian America for the voices of AAPIs on the front lines to deal with the coronavirus that has caused so much pain.

    PBS presented the documentary series “Asian Americans,” which can still be accessible for streamed viewing (and even easier if you have PBS Passport, so support your local PBS). I still have to watch properly the 4th hour part, but overall appreciated the stories told with an activist frame. The writer in me would have liked a little more editing and closure to the narratives, but I fully realize that documentaries are never easy.

    With Daniel Dae Kim and Tamlyn Tomita as alternating narrators, it was fascinating to watch the stories of Filipino farm workers fighting for unionization, or how Tereza Lee was one of the first DREAMers, and to be reminded of the consequences of 9/11 on South Asians.

    The World War II segment of the documentary series was really moving to me, to see the complicated stories of the Japanese American families and what it means to be American, when the American country has subjected you to discrimination and tests loyalty in a very one-sided and unfair way.

    The story of Susan Ahn Cuddy was also illuminating. She was the first Asian-American woman in the US Navy during World War II, training men to shoot. I had realized that I heard about her story over at NPR’s Story Corp segment awhile back, but I had no idea that she was the sister of actor Philip Ahn. Really fascinating stuff.

    Check out the NY Times’ interview with Daniel Dae Kim (who recovered from Covid-19), from earlier in May 2020, about the “Asian-Americans” documentary and how timely it is.

    I also thought that this Smithsonian Magazine overview of “Asian-Americans” – “Watch 150 Years of Asian American History Unfold in This New Documentary” by Nora McGreevy – was interesting, as it included links to other articles about coverage of the documentary series.

    Also, check out NPR’s Alisa Chang’s interview of Renee Tajima-Pena, the series producer (from May 28, 2020). Tajima-Pena brings up the iportant question of how do we move forward together, and her hope that the documentary series helps us see what has happened to figure out the future. (h/t Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)’s Facebook page post, May 30, 2020).

    Even though a lot of in-person APA Heritage Month events were cancelled, a lot did go online. For instance, yesterday, some of us triscribers and friends viewed some of Flushing Town Hall‘s “Crazy Talented Asians & Friends: Live Comedy & Animation Shorts” via Facebook Live. Always great to see what a rich range of short animations from talented Asians and Asian Americans.

    On a non-APA Heritage Month note, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have become the first two American astronauts to have made it back to space from American soil, for the first time in nearly a decade, via SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, as they launched on May 30, 2020, from Florida and docked with the International Space Station on May 31, 2020 (links to NPR reports).

    SpaceX-NASA effort could lead the way to cheaper and sustainable spaceflight. I’m still not sure how I feel about private entities doing this (money is good and bad). But, it’s exciting to realize that Americans are back in space without hitching a ride with the Russians, as discussed in “SpaceX’s Crewed Launch Restores America’s Status Among an Elite Group of Spacefaring Nations” by Jeffrey Kluger, Time Magazine, May 30, 2020, which worthy reading.

    Always great to find some hope in a crazy world.

  • Distraction and Stuff in the Pandemic Age

    Well, triscribe is still here and the triscribers are doing what we can. We are living in trying times, where the phrases “in excess of precaution,” “lockdown,” “shelter-in,””quarantine,” “isolation,” and so on – become part of our language because of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and the pandemic age. We have lost people; having our lives disrupted is preferable to further loss of life. Fear and unpredictability prevail, yet we have to have hope?

    I put a question mark because I really find it hard to have hope, but can’t stop hoping. Fear the worst, hope for the best, and what else can one do, when there is only so much one can control?

    I resent COVID-19 for ruining Lunar New Year, for being an awful bitch, and all that. Our public health is the priority, but we have an economy in free fall (so, I wonder if we realize: without health, do we have an economy? It’s really not an either/or question, folks). Do we have societal solidarity? What about xenophobia and racism, and who do we leave behind? We’re so focused on coronavirus all the time, but our world really still sucks in all kinds of ways (climate change is still real). YC and I end up posting all these articles on Facebook. There is so much to read and to figure out. There are no simple answers to questions.

    After awhile, I have to do some self-care, and I do my breathing exercises and I think that I’m in the middle of another round of spiritual searching in the middle of a public health crisis. I look for ways to distract, because the ongoing news hits the anxiety to levels I could not previously envision. History is made when there is no precedence. The news can be – is – overwhelming.

    So, I end up watching “Joy of Painting” with Bob Ross’s happy little trees; cooking shows, even though I don’t cook; and animal videos or images (cute kitties and puppies are wonderful). I’d watch cooking videos on Food52, marathon episodes of “America’s Test Kitchen,” and whatever illuminating thing that could keep my anxiety at bay. There are the even many videos of Chef John of Food Wishes on YouTube. I’d giggle over more marathons of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

    Back in January of this year, a friend of mine (L) shared this link on Facebook to the video of how to make no-bake cheesecake with a chocolate-covered strawberry, and I then saved it to share on triscribe and procrastinated. This seemed a good a time as any to finally share it, as it is very nice to watch because it looks very doable and yummy:

    I have also appreciated that FC posted on Facebook photos of his progeny’s school lunch, as part of the remote learning program; they really do not make school lunches the way they used to when I went to public school. My ongoing Facebook addiction can’t be any good, but so that goes. I binged on podcasts, but I’m not going to pretend that I’m caught up on Star Trek or Doctor Who. (I’m still behind).

    I am not feeling the desire to write fiction. The first idea I had in ages was inspired by the Spanish influenza, and I was somehow intrigued but then the mindlessness of technically working from home has been sucking me into blech.

    On a happier note: John Krasinski (the ex-Jim of “The Office”) started “Some Good News” and the 2nd episode, the original cast of “Hamilton” returned. Some 16 minutes total; around 8 minutes in, Krasinski just happened to have his Mary Poppins connection, when his wife Emily Blunt appeared and then her Mary Poppins co-star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and his crew came on screen. The original Hamilton cast still looked and sounded so good! I embed the video below:

    So, I’ll end on that happier note. Keep hoping for better. We need better and we have to be better.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Observed 2020

    On this observed holiday today, remember to take a moment to reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and consider what we can do to do better to meet that legacy. The work continues.

    As a relevant item as food for thought: a Story Corps oral history dialog with US Congressman John Lewis (Georgia, Democrat), regarding how Dr. King inspired him and how he met him.

    The segment was originally aired on NPR’s Morning Edition on Jan. 17, 2020, and especially poignant as Rep. Lewis is in treatment for pancreatic cancer.

    On Facebook for the holiday (via its Facebook page), PBS NewsHour shared the link to its website‘s re-posted from Jan. 21, 2019 (and it looks like the interview was from 2018): an interview with Reverend William J. Barber, who co-chaired in 2018 the revived Poor People’s Campaign, 50 years after one of Martin Luther King, Jr., did it. As we face the presidential election campaign in 2020, Barber reminded us of what King tried to get us to face: what kind of democracy do we want? What are our moral values and how do we define justice?

    A lot to reflect. We’ll keep trying.

    (cross-posted at sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • Happy New Year 2020!

    Hey everybody: have a Happy and Healthy New Year! Goodbye 2019; you have got to be so much better, 2020… wait, we made it to 2020?

    OMG, it is 2020! We’re living in the future and it’s been 20 freakin’ years since the year 2000? (yeah, kids, back in the day, we thought that Y2K would be scary and weird…. well, the 21st Century kind of has been scary and weird but we have to keep at it to make the world better – right?).

    Oh, and a great meme to end 2019 and begin 2020:

    The Barbara Walters meme was so great that Saturday Night Live alumnus, Cheri Oteri (who had played Barbara Walters on SNL), showed up as an amusingly bemused Barbara Walters on CNN’s New Year’s Eve special with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Oteri’s appearance sent Anderson Cooper into one of his giggling fits…

    Oh 2020, if only you can just keep us laughing in a good way!

    (cross-posted at sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • OMG – It’s New Year’s Eve 2019!

    Happy New Year’s Eve! I cannot believe that the year went by so fast. I am in denial that there are so much year in review and – gasp – decade in review stuff out there.

    Food in 2019 – well, we had the whole Popeye’s chicken sandwich craze, which caused Popeye’s to run out and then brought the chicken sandwich back. That people went that crazy in the first place was — yes, nuts.

    When Popeye’s brought back a new supply of chicken sandwiches, I finally had one and I will agree – it’s a damn good sandwich. But, is it worth long lines and violence? No.

    But, it is tasty. It’s also Popeye’s. They do a good job with chicken (but that’s my opinion; you can have your own opinion!).

    In addition to the Popeye’s chicken sandwich, in 2019, I got into the burekas at Michaeli’s Bakery, which opened on Division St. at the border of Chinatown and Lower East Side (see Eater’s New York City section for coverage on its opening by Stephanie Tuder, and Gothamist‘s coverage by Scott Lynch with photos). Not a 2019 thing (it might have started in 2018?): I’m still into the burekas at Breads Bakery. (It turned out that the owner and pastry chef Adir Michaeli of Michaeli’s was Breads’s opening executive chef; but his burekas are so light and a lovely size!).

    Yes, I know the babkas are the thing with Breads Bakery, but I love a savory pastry.

    (the holiday markets at Union Square and Bryant Park this year were where I still hunted for Sigmund’s Pretzels! The truffle cheddar one is so good).

    Food 52 did a list by Caitlin Raux Gunther of the Best and Worst of Food trends in the decade (date line Dec. 19, 2019). I have some disagreement with the list, but it was a quick and decent overview.

    I liked to think that food waste acknowledgment and the desire to eat less meat are good trends; I think food crazes that lead to violence – Popeye’s chicken sandwich – aren’t necessary.

    The Takeout did a list of their best stories of 2019 (December 27, 2019). And compiled a list of “quintessential food of the 2010s (date line December 23, 2019)”

    I’m still sad that Kevin Pang, the founder and former editor-in-chief of The Takeout had left and moved on from The Takeout for other opportunities in 2019. He had a nice and sweet farewell.

    Even if we said hello this year to Hudson Yards (overwhelmingly too much as a luxury spot, even if the food there are fascinating) and the new Essex Market (at least they moved a community to it, rather than developed one artificially? That’s just my opinion), and we saw the rise of food halls (as opposed to just saying “food courts”) come about in the 2010s, 2010s saw a lot of places say good bye. Gothamist compiled a list of NYC spots to miss from the 2010s.

    I might get around to a list or post or something on pop culture 2019? Honestly, I haven’t seen the latest Star Wars movie yet; and streaming TV has left me confused, as yet another trend or cultural shift that I cannot follow as it leaves me behind in the dust. Maybe even review my lists of books read in the past decade? We’ll see?

    I’m thinking of re-thinking resolutions. Maybe be organized and accountable with them as a long-haul thing. I mean, if I learned anything from National Novel Writing Month, there are ways to reach a goal: having a goal (preferable doable); breaking down steps to get there (whether I’m that organized or making it up as I go); being accountable for the goal; having support to get there; and being okay if you don’t quite get there, because the fact that you made steps is better having made none at all (okay, that last one is still very hard to accept for me, but at least I’ve thought about it!).

    If anyone has any bright ideas of how to make 2020 a year that will be good (rather than, say, yet another disastrous year in American or global politics, or how we continue to not find ways to save the Earth from human evils), let me know. I am open to bright ideas! (well, trying to do that, anyway).

    See you on the other side of 2020. I’ll try to blog more, at the least, even if my eyesight may never be 20/20 without corrective lenses (okay, that is a silly joke for the new year, but this is the 21 century and it’s all very weird). Have a Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone!

  • Goodbye November, Hello December 2019!

    November went fast. That also meant the end of the latest National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

    Woooo. So, I did it again. Streak continues (and not really “finished”). I learned that I have a lot to learn about writing. And that I don’t want to drag myself until the last day like this. Writing through Thanksgiving was so irritating, which is what I get for not planning properly my re-write of an old NaNo.

    But, I am grateful as ever to the New York City NaNoWriMo community for the support that we gave each other through this writing month. The word gods and the Spirit of NaNo were beneficent! Even if you didn’t get to 50k words, it’s better than zero words. We did it again! (you know who you are).

    December means catching up on some (ok, a lot) reading and watching some movies. Maybe I’ll finally get to some year-ending blogging. We’ll see!

    (cross-posted at sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • Happy Thanksgiving 2019!

    This Thanksgiving, take moment to reflect and consider how much we gratitude we have (or should have) or how we can do so much better for each other to earn that gratitude.

    This year’s National Novel Writing Month has been a sad and hard slog. Wish me luck; I somehow want to still get to 50k words, but not sure how…! May the words gods and the spirit of NaNo save us all…

    The year is flying by! Hopefully I’ll get to a year-end post. I feel really badly about not blogging very much, even though I kept thinking that I would do more of that in 2019 and failed miserably to cut back on Facebook (I am still on tumblr, even though the tumblr-verse is well past its prime after the tumblr crackdown on porn and making people mad on censorship and various other issues that I’m behind on; so you can still follow me there!).

    I’m not into streaming, I’m behind on books, and I hope to get to some interesting movies before 2019 ends. Who’s with me on hoping this year will end on a great note, before we face the madness of 2020? 🙂

    (cross-posted at https://sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • Taking a Moment to Pause and Reflect 2019

    Try to remember the kind of September

    When life was slow and oh, so mellow.

    Try to remember the kind of September

    When grass was green and grain was yellow.

    -“Try to Remember,” from The Fantasticks.

    I’m still amazed by how time passes, and how sometimes it feels like everything is okay. But, sometimes, when the sky is that blue like it was on that day, and if there was some hint of memory of what was, I start feeling sad.

    As done before, some photos:

    Above that photo I had taken some years ago at the Brooklyn Promenade.
    I had also taken this photo a couple of years ago at the Brooklyn Promenade.
    I took this one on Sept. 10, 2012, via my old phone.
    Photo that I took on Sept. 10, 2012, via my old phone.

    See here for last year’s post, here on triscribe.com.

    Take a moment to pause and reflect, and thanks for being here.

    (cross-posted at sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)