From Alison Lurie's magnificent 1984 novel "Foreign Affairs" How much nicer and less boring it would be if we were all still children, Vinnie thinks. Then, as she often does on boring public occasions, she relieves her restlessness by imagining the weight of years lifted suddenly from everyone in the room. The older members of... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Alison Lurie’s “Foreign Affairs”
Alison Lurie, I've read a bunch of books and feel that I can mention that there are common themes and methods. Her books tend to involve "smart" people, (or at least people with lots of cultural capital, especially around English Literature,) who think that they know themselves very well. Thanks to their knowledge of narratives,... Continue Reading →
On juggling five balls and keeping two eyes
A renewed target - by close of play on Tues 28 February 2023 I will juggle five balls in a basic cascade pattern. I can juggle four balls relatively confidently and I know the drills I need to do. And I have enough discipline to do them... Niels DuinkerInstructional videoTaylor GlennInstructional video1High toss three ball... Continue Reading →
On the use, abuse and non-use of history…
I do a climate histories site (All Our Yesterdays) and so clearly I believe there is value and wisdom in reflecting actively on what has happened before. Not in a cheerlead-y "weren't we right? Aren't we still right, still great" kind of way (though I suppose you need some of that for morale maintenance?). I... Continue Reading →
Hudson’s law of nugatory plenaries
Plenary, n. meeting or session attended by all participants at a conference or assembly. ("working parties would report back to the plenary with recommendations") Nugatory adj. of no value or importance. Let's say, for the sake of a making a seemingly robust argument (i.e. one with numbers and percentages) that the likelihood of you getting... Continue Reading →
Cartoon – The Scraped Knee Theory of Climate Activism
Word-y meme. Thanks to my friend Marc Roberts for the as-ever-on-point image. The longer rant... sorry "considered and structured viewpoint" from which the quote below comes is here. To be clear about what I am and am not saying I am NOT saying we don't need policy change, that we do not need to pressure... Continue Reading →
Of COVID, Cohen and… collapse?
Short post because - the clue is in the title - I finally got COVID, two and a half years after it began. I think I am on the mend, slowly but this could be a false dawn, and anyway, the real danger - as smart people have warned me - is that you try... Continue Reading →
Lacking the capacity to sustain themselves – (eco)social movement organisations in decay, in decaying societies
Dashed off thoughts again because busy af. Feeling more-than-usually maudlin because it's obvious to me now (and always was, but I used to want to/was able to pretend to think otherwise) that voluntary groups can't sustain themeselves to keep on keeping on. They decay. They then either die or shamble on, incontinent and incompetent zombie... Continue Reading →
Doomers, brightsiders, all missing the point: who is this “we” who can fix things/are all going to die.
There's a bunch of people on climate twitter knocking lumps off each other. (What's new). The two lump-knocking I have seen over the last few days amount to this. a) "I am no longer supporting XR because self-identified XR folks keep telling me I am a denialist for believing that optimism is good/valuable and that... Continue Reading →
“The Silence” as the enemy – BBC can’t even say “climate change” when talking heatwaves
There is a Doctor Who "monster" called "The Silence". It was a religious order whose " existence is a secret because anyone who sees them immediately forgets about them after looking away, but retains suggestions made to them by the Silence " And it seems to be hard at work at the BBC. Check this report... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 