Time will say nothing but I told you so, Time only knows the price we have to pay; If I could tell you I would let you know.
If we should weep when clowns put on their show, If we should stumble when musicians play, Time will say nothing but I told you so.
There are no fortunes to be told, although, Because I love you more than I can say, If I could tell you I would let you know.
The winds must come from somewhere when they blow, There must be reasons why the leaves decay; Time will say nothing but I told you so.
Perhaps the roses really want to grow, The vision seriously intends to stay; If I could tell you I would let you know.
Suppose all the lions get up and go, And all the brooks and soldiers run away; Will Time say nothing but I told you so? If I could tell you I would let you know.
Silence can hold more meaning than words. It has power to make a heartless person love and an innocent victim hate. It is much more powerful than words because it takes effort to keep. It is not only about closing your mouth. It is about taking in others’ actions or words, thinking about them, formulating an answer, criticizing that answer, searching for logic from your mind and reason from your heart, and then convincing yourself that not saying the answer is better.
Silence is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of intelligence and inner power. It is a sign of faith that replying in the same manner that you were treated with will only make you just as ignorant. Learn to be an observer, a deep one, who reflects not only on his or her mistakes, but also on the mistakes of others.
~Najwa Zebian, who – in case you hadn’t ever heard of her (I sure hadn’t) – is a Lebanese-Canadian author, poet, activist and educator. Silence is my constant companion, yet true inner silence, meditation and breath work, can be elusive, many days. I have to make myself settle down, make myself sit still, working to turn off the several competing radio shows in my busy head. Attempting to enter deep quiet and silence daily, I hope, I intend, I visualize that I can and will be more thoughtful, less anxious, less reactive, calmer, more at peace. Especially at night, when I so need my sleep…a girl can dream, eh? 😉
Being silent in the face of others noise is also a challenge. How do we respond to the prodding, insistent provocations of others, to the demand we react in one way or another? Silence is one way, certainly, or at least taking a deep breath – or several – before responding, if one responds, at all. If I could stay silent in the face of provocation, and by silent I include my eyes not rolling back in my head – my face staying silent, as well?!! A girl can dream is right. Working on it!
*Dildos. Dildos are being thrown at WNBA games by men – white men – potentially injuring players and the public, as well as being lashed to public infrastructure by ICE. Men behaving badly or stupidly should surprise no one, but this is about as childish – no, infantile – as infantile it gets. Right? We can only hope that the manosphere doesn’t dig any deeper, or stupider. Several arrests have been made but whadda ya wanna bet the perps don’t get anything more than a hand slap? Deep breaths.
From writer Brandy Jensen (an edited version) in Defector.com (full article linked below):
Every misogynist joke poses a question to its female audience: Can you laugh along? Will you be chill or are you going to make a big deal out of this? Are you going to be a bitch about it? Arriving in the form of a dildo, the joke that is also the question becomes a double entendre: Can you take it?”
Writing in The Guardian, Lee Escobedo [yes, male] argues that we must understand these events in the context of “TikTok’s cultural logic” and “the Skibidi Toilet ethos,” even going so far as to claim that “in a memetic landscape poisoned by irony, absurdity is the point. The dildo isn’t symbolic. Its function is noise.”
A dildo—arguably the object which provides the conditions for having a symbolic order at all—is thrust into a scene predicated on the absence of men, and we are meant to buy this isn’t symbolic? Many other objects would have provided absurdity, but it was a dildo for a reason. Whether that reason was wholly comprehended by the person who threw it doesn’t matter. The goal might have been going viral, but the message was still: Stop thinking you can play this game without any dicks involved.
And it’s happening now precisely because players in the WNBA have succeeded in thinking that. The league is getting more attention, more money, and more legitimacy, despite the claims of its many male detractors, who have long insisted that people don’t want to watch female athletes. It’s attracting a wide audience, at a time when members of the federal government are sharing videos about repealing the 19th Amendment. It also, not at all coincidentally, involves a number of high-profile lesbians.
He isn’t a heat loving pup, nor does he swim. He will approach the water’s edge, with caution, and get his feet wet, take a few large sloppy drinks, but that’s about it.
The extreme heat this summer, including several stays at Doggie Overnight Camp (the very nice kennel that I’ve been using for decades) wiped my fur baby out. And, he is getting calmer, maturing as he ages out of his more hyper behaviors, my sweet boo. We ran into a friend of mine the other day, out biking on a road near my home; he agreed that Diego had matured (outside positive affirmation is always welcome) and the big boy showed it by not jumping or climbing all over said friend. Phew!
This photo was taken by his fond momma from inside the house, where the A.C. keeps it – and momma – cool. He doesn’t like the heat, but remains vigilant – especially in the afternoon hours, when pesky, intruding neighbors are making their way home from work.
Truth is, the 1st year I had him, I thought he’d be the death of me, or me of him. We both survived, and now – could he be a better boy? Well, yes – but he’s durned near perfect, regardless.
*this is a repeat post from earlier this year – January in fact, which repeats because Mr. W has been in the news again, our current Secretary of Defense having passed on one of his twits with a strong ‘Amen’. Ugh. Hegseth, on his 3rd wife, is a deeply religious (at least he plays deeply religious on/for TV), conservative creep with actual power now, like Vance. His guru Wilson is yet another conservative regressionist and pastor whose views endanger us all, but particularly women and female children. Read on, with my thanks for being here.
Who dat? Doug Wilson? Doug Wilson, yes, not Doug Emhoff, our former and charming first Second Gentleman (sigh, coulda, shoulda, woulda be the first first gent. sigh.). Doug Wilson is a white nationalist pastor and ‘thought leader’, and an inspiration for a group of young white men called ‘The Theo Bros’. Theo, by the way, as in theosophy or theology, not Ted or Teddy, although I suspect infamous serial killer Ted Bundy would fit right in, given they are deeply conservative (Ted Bundy was a registered Republican), misogynistic, and racist.
The Theo Bros, who are connected to J.D. Vance because of course they are, are a group of ultra-conservative evangelical and Catholic men who don’t like the world as it is, guys who like Vance and Peter Thiel, Leonard Leo and Tim Busch, Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas, are committed to using whatever platforms they can, including the levers of power, to impose their views on the rest of the population. Unlike Alito and Wilson, however, the Theo Bros are young men, primarily millennials whose number one agenda item is to overturn the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. And I’m not kidding.
The Theo Bros believe that women prioritize issues like education, the environment, children and the elderly, thus, by their lady votes and ability to become actual lady legislators (so wrong!!), these split tails misdirect money – tax payer bucks, y’all – to pay for these softie lady issues! These dudes also believe that immigrants and POC generally, along with women, are stealing their rightful jobs and rights, period. They see the world as pie: a slice for POC and women, as well as immigrants and our allies overseas, means less pie for them. In other words, they’re simplistic fucking idiots in love with the past or the imagined ‘better’ past.
Doug Wilson’s most controversial views include those on race expressed in his pamphlet Southern Slavery, As It Was, which he co-wrote with one more crazy-ass Christian minister J. Steven Wilkins. Wilkins is another white, super conservative evangelical Christian pastor originally from that bastion of all things equality, Alabama; he and Wilson wrote in Southern Slavery that “slavery produced in the South a genuine affection between the races that we believe we can say has never existed in any nation before the War (Civil War) or since”. Really? Really?!!
The Theo Bros want to return to a former way or life, wherein the races didn’t mix, women didn’t vote or work outside the home, when white men ran everything and when progressive values, rights, and social programs (buh-bye LGBTQ+ equality and social security!) didn’t exist, thus they’re erased because – capitalism? It might be okay by these creepy idiots if married women do secretarial type jobs once the kids are in the local Christian school, and maybe teaching or nursing, you know, trad-female jobs, but who knows and for sure they will be making those decisions, not us’m poor dumb women-folk!
It’s hard for me to determine exactly where they’re coming from because I find them a joke, except – it’s not funny; they’re close to people in power (*now in power), like Vance. Doug Wilson has, essentially, taken over a sizable chunk of a town in Idaho (Moscow, which name association tickles my funny bone) to live out his vision of America, which means – to me – that women and children are suffering in real time – because implemented, Wilson’s political, personal, and religious philosophies are dangerous, and evil, as are his millennial followers.
