Author: Clarissa

The Cabaña Mystery

~ Clarissa ~ Leave a comment

OK, so see the cabañas?

N loves the cabañas. He doesn’t want to travel anywhere that is devoid of the cabañas. But here at our favorite place, they are only available between mid-November and April. In summer, there are only beach chairs with umbrellas, and those are uncomfortable and provide barely any shade.

Does anybody know why there’s a summertime absence of cabañas?

There’s an announcement up saying that the cabañas don’t appear outside of the winter months, so I’m not inventing it. I want to ask the rental guy but I’m not managing to coincide with him.

Monoculture

~ Clarissa ~ 36 Comments

Why does the idea exist that you can mix together people from different cultures and get great results? Why was the belief that “diversity is our strength” advanced when it’s clearly not true?

Multiculturalism was invented by people who live in a monoculture they mistake for diversity. These are wealthy, hyper educated people who are members of the intellectual and financial elite. They don’t have culture in the either good or bad sense in which regular people have culture. They are completely deracinated, severed from any roots. They have a supporting cast of shrinks, coaches, and shamans to offset the costs of the deracination. It’s a nice life. But it breeds terrible cluelessness as to what happens to the brains and the souls of people who are torn away from their culture, language, food, community, familiar air, etc. Of course, it’s also profitable not to notice.

Book Notes: Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose

~ Clarissa ~ 10 Comments

As the sexual revolution is crashing around him, a crippled middle-aged professor of history Lyman Ward is grappling with the casual abandonment of his freshly liberated wife by researching the life of his talented grandmother.

In the 19th century, Susan Ward, a gifted writer and illustrator, sacrifices her dream of living the life of an East Coast intellectual in order to follow her husband Oliver on his geological ventures in the American West. Oliver has neither Susan’s gifts nor her connections. He’s perennially unlucky and creates endless trouble for Susan and their three children.

As Lyman researches his grandmother, he wonders how Susan’s life, with its self-discipline and sacrifice, compares to that of the liberated women not only of his but of the younger generations. Angle of Repose is truly a great novel, which means that it provides no easy answers.

This is one of the best reading experiences I’ve had all year. Stegner is probably the most important American novelist of the second half of the twentieth century, and this is one of his greatest novels.

People vs Politicians

~ Clarissa ~ 5 Comments

I swear, I’m going to quit watching the news because it’s only spoiling my mood. Look at this:

These absolute bitch bastards, I swear.

In positive news, we are in Florida. I’m seeing a strikingly large number of people, including children, reading paper books by the pool and on the beach. So far, I’ve seen a grand total of two kids with a device. Everybody else either plays or has paper books.

The people of this country are so much better than its politicians, it’s almost funny.

Read the Room, Dude

~ Clarissa ~ 50 Comments

OK, what needs to happen for Trump to drop this talking point? It’s horrible, it’s losing him support, yet he persists with the intensity of an alcoholic reaching for a bottle.

Read the room, dude. Your base hates this endless drumbeat of how America’s greatest problem is Americans.

Is there anybody on any side of the political spectrum who doesn’t subscribe to the Magic Dirt theory? Is there anybody who realizes that a country is its people and not a landscape, populated by whoever is more convenient to drag over to save a buck?

I’m growing increasingly desperate to find any political representation for my views.

An Illusion of Activity

~ Clarissa ~ 8 Comments

JD Vance is asking Americans to have patience until the economy improves. In the meantime, Trump pursues yet another harebrained scheme for a “peace deal” in Ukraine. Can anybody point towards the electorate that voted for Trump so that he can dedicate most of his time to chasing these fictitious peace deals overseas? It’s been months now, and what exactly have Americans gotten out of all this peace-dealing?

This is what I mean when I talk about the withering away of the nation-state. Nothing can be achieved nationally (or internationally), so these fake shows are put on to pretend there’s a flurry of Very Important Business being conducted.

The Undisciplined Can’t Discipline

~ Clarissa ~ 1 Comment

Walsh is absolutely right, and his 6 children are very fortunate to have such a father. Whatever defect parents want to eradicate in their children, they should first eradicate in themselves. Whatever virtue they want to inculcate, they should first develop it in their own personalities.

The mom in the video is exactly what N’s mom was. It’s horrible to be like that. It’s self-indulgent, it’s wicked, it’s immoral.

The Undisciplined Can’t Discipline

~ Clarissa ~ Leave a comment

Walsh is absolutely right, and his 6 children are very fortunate to have such a father. Whatever defect parents want to eradicate in their children, they should first eradicate in themselves. Whatever virtue they want to inculcate, they should first develop it in their own personalities.

The mom in the video is exactly what N’s mom was. It’s horrible to be like that. It’s self-indulgent, it’s wicked, it’s immoral.

Additional Warning

~ Clarissa ~ Leave a comment

I also have to add that, unless you are very aware and suspicious by nature, don’t use the method described in the preceding post. There are many scammers, and you can fall prey.

Big Company Hack

~ Clarissa ~ 3 Comments

If you have an issue with a large company, don’t email or call them. And don’t use their online chat option. The only way to get them to notice you and start responding is to write your complaint on X and tag the company.