The Funk has its claws deep in me. I am down & discouraged with things in general. I can't help but wonder if this is worth the effort, if there's anyone paying attention, if I want anyone to pay attention. Maybe I just should find another kitchen hereabouts & consider that's it. The Funk plus the Sleep is tough to deal with, it's like a one-two punch. Still, the Work demands.
On the upside, I spent most of my waking hours today reading. Still reading on A Mountain Walked, with some forays into Lovecraft originals & Ramsey Campbell. I know how problematic Lovecraft is - to say the least - but I do find myself fascinated with the worlds he created, & in addition, the stuff that influenced him. I've long been a fan of Edgar Allen Poe & Ambrose Bierce, & I really enjoyed the Cosmic Horror stories in The King In Yellow & the short story "The Great God Pan" by Arthur Machen, & works by Lord Dunsey. I prefer the Cosmic Horror stuff as opposed to the Dream Cycle, but that's quibbling.
It just makes sense to me. We overestimate our importance, not just on this planet but in the universe. If you look up at the Sun - don't stare - there is 93 million miles of absolutely nothing that will kill you dead in less than a minute. Even here on this planet, our home, there's just a thin band where we can live with fighting the planet, & we're destroying that at a pretty fast clip. We're just not that important in the grand scheme of things, despite what we tell ourselves.
Sometime in the future I'll go deeper into this, but I'm just not up to it tonight. I also need to bang out a review of Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, but again, tonight's not the night. I'm burnt out & melancholy, & since I can't put my finger on any specific cause, it must be the treacherous chemicals in my brain playing havoc with my life.
So, let's get on with the news, I guess, as it's been a particularly stupid day.
First off, though, I found a link to The New York Times Magazine's "1619 Project if you can't get/don't want to pay for the newspaper that employs Bret Stephens. It's in PDF form & set up for use in classrooms. It's also for sale, though it's currently sold out.
A lot of hoods are coming off with this one. A whole lot of conservatives are not at all happy with this exploration of America's dark history. No one's pointing out factual inaccuracies; they're merely saying it doesn't glorify the U.S.A. like they believe it should. Check it out & judge for yourself. Me, I'm just waiting until Trump catches a FOX segment & tweets some godawful.
Speaking of the babbling fool in the White House, Trump outright repeated an anti-Semetic shibboleth today, specifically that Jews have a "dual loyalty" to Israel & the U.S., & that any Jew who votes Democrat "shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty". This is, of course, part of his ongoing attempts to get "The Squad" either run out of office or outright killed, & of course, his cult followers will bark right along approvingly. Us normal folk will stay disgusted while "Never Trumpers" & "sane Centrists" will sigh wistfully at extremist on both sides while they vote for his dumb ass again come 2020.
And I'm serious in saying he's trying to get people killed or, at the very least, he doesn't give a shit if people (politicians or citizens) are killed in his name. An outright neo-Nazi in Washington state was napped for sending death threats to a Hispanic woman in Miami, tried to hire a man to beat her up to the tune of 10 grand, & kidnap her while vowing to kill every Hispanic person in Miami. He also wrote a profanity- & slur-laden rant championing Trump's election & eventual purge of minorities in America.
In other dumbassery, he postponed a trip to Denmark after the prime minister mocked his desire to buy Greenland like he was a petulant goddamn three year old. Furthermore, he called Wayne LaPierre of the NRA to assure that he really didn't mean it when he suggested strengthening background checks following the multiple mass shootings by people who possessed high-powered weaponry legally a couple weeks back, shocking absolutely nobody. And, of course, his MAGAts are down to the ground with all of this & think buying Greenland is a stroke of genius akin to Seward buying Alaska, regardless of what the residents of Greenland want. I've even seen calls for military action on Twitter from the real far gone. Crazy, man.
Finally, some local news. Monroe County sheriff Cecil Cantrell announced his resignation today, apparently right out of the blue. In office since 2012, Cantrell has been a figure in Monroe law enforcement for as long as I can remember & he's been considered somewhat controversial, to say the least. He lost the Democratic primary to Kevin Cook on Aug. 6, & the Monroe board of supervisors will meet Friday, so who knows what we'll find out.
And that's that for tonight. Like I said, nothing's really sparking for me & I'm not in a real good mood. Maybe tomorrow will be better; Wednesdays generally are.
