What’s really really sad is that these days every little snowflake who gets pouty begins to scream “privilege! Abuse! Toxic cis-het-masculine harassment!”

And what’s even sadder, the only response that these silly flare-ups evoke is groveling, servile self-effacement on the part of those who could easily put a stop to the unfortunate spectacle.

For about two seconds, it seemed like something good could come from a general discussion of sexual harassment. But soon it became clear that the discussion has been hijacked by shameless opportunists who coldly rattle off the fashionable terms in order to self-promote. It will take forever before anybody can take the words “allegations of sexual misconduct” seriously again.

A self-important fellow booms on the news, “There’s never been an administration before now that would be this reluctant to notice the danger that comes from Russia.”

Do people like that go into a pod and have their memories erased? Or is he faking it? How can one so easily pretend that Bill Clinton, Bush Jr and Obama didn’t exist? All three sat by vacantly as Russia invaded countries, ramped-up the anti-US rhetoric, worked to weaken the EU, nourished chaos in the Middle East, bent over for the corrupt oligarchs, etc. Do you think Trump would stay quiet if he knew Russians were trying to hand the election to the opposing party? I have no idea what he’d do but we do know that Obama just stood by and let it happen.

Trump just said at the Cabinet meeting (this is my retelling, obviously, not an exact quote), “Of course, the media love me and will support me. Because if I don’t win in 3 years, they’ll be out of business.”

And then somebody is going to say he’s not lucid? 

The pedicurist is learning (modern) Greek because she loves the ancient Greek mythology and wants to travel to its birthplace.

I love it how everybody in this country is constantly learning something. And very very often there is zero material reward that is being sought by the learning.

If you ever see me try to become part of an organization again, and especially assume a leadership role, please use whatever means necessary to stop me. There is no better way to become completely disillusioned with people than when you discover the intimate workings of an organization.

________________________

Two years ago, all of my gym bags turned into diaper bags. And now they are turning back into gym bags. The cycle of life. 

_________________________

The beginning of a semester smells of freshness because it requires that one fashion an entirely new daily routine. This is one of the extra perks of my profession. I get completely to redesign my routine three times a year. Who else gets so many fresh starts?

_________________________

Yesterday when Klara counted to ten, I continued with “eleven, twelve. . .” and all the way to twenty. And you should have seen the joy on her little face. She made me repeat the numbers several times. “So there’s more? More to discover, more to learn?” she seemed to want to say. 

How come my students still know Ricky Martin? Weren’t they still in diapers when he was famous? Or has there been a revival? Or what do you call it, a comeback?

MOMA can be used instead of opioids because it has a pleasantly numbing effect. The art appeals neither to the intellect nor to emotions. It’s like a sweet, unoffensive vacuum. 

For instance, the installation I really loved and spent a lot of time enjoying consisted of 4 screens in a dark room arranged in a square. When you go inside the square, you see the images on the screens and hear the sounds. For instance, one screen features bleating goats. Another has gently clinking crystal balls. The third screen shows something like a mini foundry. The sounds are neither loud nor jarring. None of the images have any meaning whatsoever. And it feels really restful to be in a dark room surrounded by these quietly bleating goats and clinking crystal balls. The sheer triviality and meaninglessness of it all feels like a relief. 

There was also this art piece that represented a torn piece of fabric on a wall. The caption explained that the artist was referring to the torn fabric of society in the wake of the Vietnam War. The whole thing is so clearly ridiculous that it feels nice. It’s liberating to be in a space where any kind of silliness is accepted and celebrated. There needs to be space in life for the quietly ludicrous. Quietly is the operative word here because when the ludicrous is tweeting, Facebooking or emailing at you, that’s not restful at all. We need to be able to control our exposure to it for it to do no harm. 

I walked out of there renewed and at peace. 

A good article on how social problems are medicalized. Instead of recognizing that poverty, grief, unemployment, lack of prospects, etc are ovjectively existing factors that cause a legitimate emotional response, people are told that they are broken and require medication. It’s part of the neoliberal program to convince people to assume individual responsibility for collectively generated problems. It’s not that things are ovjectively shitty for a group of people. It’s that something is wrong with you as an individual. As Paul Verhaeghe says, people begin to feel guilty and any chance of solidarity in the face of exploitation dies. This is profitable on so many levels.

It’s not serious about Oprah running, though, is it? Surely, it can’t be. Trump vs Oprah can’t be the first presidential election I get to vote for. It’s just too cruel.