Dan Savage, the advice columnist, often tells people with problems because of an impasse with their significant other(s) [too much sex, not enough sex, the wrong kind of too much sex, whatevs] that they should 'use their words.' It's good advice, and doubtless the Habermasians in the cheap seats will heckle something about Gricean maxims,... Continue Reading →
One day, civwilling, I hope to say “I haven’t missed the red mist.” Or “kiss my cathARSEis.
Uggh. I think of all the people I’ve annoyed/hurt and (because I am not a saint) the opportunities I’ve squandered/never had because one of my more obvious flaws (there are several), namely anger, lack of anger management. In the word asshole the a is surely for anger (and one of the esses is for sanctimony,... Continue Reading →
Reddit and weep – of #climatewhiplash and how things are going…
Someone pointed me at a reddit group where people swap links about the pending ecological debacle (no longer pending, actually, has solidly arrived). In it was this heart-breaker of a comment, entirely accurate. https://www.reddit.com/r/environment/comments/wb41zu/comment/ii6gczm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 "We are solidly on the RCP 8 path and I have to work hard to not freak out about it often.... Continue Reading →
Michael Connelly’s Rene Ballard and the issue attention cycle. No, seriously
Sometimes I write about how popular culture either directly - see this one about punk singer-songwriter TV Smith - or indirectly is 'about' how the world works/policymaking. Recently I've been bingeing on the "Rene Ballard books by Michael Connelly (better known for his Harry Bosch and Micky Haller novels - Ballard is in the same... Continue Reading →
Planet of the planet-trashing apes, and I am scared af
I read this tweet. https://twitter.com/MrMatthewTodd/status/1557288961135067137 And I think about how worse-than-useless our education system and media systems are (for lots of reasons, some of them probably pretty intractable, not that we ever really tried to tract them). And how we are not joining the dots between the energy and food crises and just how bad... Continue Reading →
Of “Oil Goggles” and the veil drawn back. Proust etc
I just put up a post on "All Our Yesterdays" about beer goggles and "oil goggles." A few things a) a good friend pointed to the wording that would allow people to reasonably infer sexism/misogyny (I used the term "arm-chewer" - I had worded things to be equal opportunity offensive, but the term itself skews... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 