Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

So very ready.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Stand up, dammit!

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

The revolution will be supervised.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / ‘Sunday Falls On A Monday This Week’ Self-Care Thread

‘Sunday Falls On A Monday This Week’ Self-Care Thread

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https://www.tumblr.com/nervoussquidward/662244870212173824


Because our brains are imperfect, sometimes ‘dumb stuff’ can help:

… When faced with a stressful situation, optimists tend to deal with it head-on. They use adaptive coping strategies that help them resolve the source of the stress, or view the situation in a less stressful way. For example, optimists will problem-solve and plan ways to deal with the stressor, call on others for support or try to find a “silver lining” in the stressful situation…

Optimism is typically viewed by researchers as a relatively stable personality trait that is determined by both genetic and early-childhood influences (such as having a secure and warm relationship with your parents or caregivers). But if you’re not naturally prone to seeing the glass as half full, there are some ways you can increase your capacity to be optimistic.

Research shows optimism can change over time and can be cultivated by engaging in simple exercises. For example, visualizing and then writing about your “best possible self” (a future version of yourself who has accomplished your goals) is a technique that studies have found can significantly increase optimism, at least temporarily. But for best results, the goals need to be both positive and reasonable, rather than just wishful thinking. Similarly, simply thinking about positive future events can also be effective for boosting optimism.

It’s also crucial to temper any expectations for success with an accurate view of what you can and cannot control. Optimism is reinforced when we experience the positive outcomes that we expect, but it can decrease when these outcomes aren’t as we want them to be. Although more research is needed, it’s possible that regularly envisioning yourself as having the best possible outcomes, and taking realistic steps toward achieving them, can help develop an optimistic mind-set…

Reader Interactions

207Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Ones that got away: Was in the backyard and noticed the neighborhood birds raising a ruckus. Heard a call from above and saw an osprey circling our block–my first sighting of one at home. Since we’re a couple miles from the river I was puzzled, then remembered our koi pond. Was he shopping us?

    Being a responsible fish owner, instead of grabbing a rake and glowering skyward, I ran to get a camera and tele lens. One does not see an osprey every day, or every decade. When I returned the bird was gone and the fish are all accounted for.

    The end.

  2. 2.

    Scout211

    Thank you AL.  Respite thread is a good thing right now.

    Added to the raccoon mental health meme:

    When you feel despair.
    Take a deep breath and just breathe.
    Then look around you and focus on doing the next thing that is right in front of you.

  4. 4.

    Mnemosyne

    I’m having dark chocolate chip waffles as my first meal of the day and contemplating how … interesting the family reunion in Highland Park with my Trumper cousin is going to get.

  5. 5.

    caphilldcne

    Thank you. For this public service reminder that I need to put my phone down.

  6. 6.

    JPL

    On twitter I saw a picture of a police officer covering his eyes.

    It’s time to pack the courts.   Nothing is safe, but there’s a chance we won’t lose Senate seats, but we need two.

  7. 7.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I went out for a walk with a neighbor whose kids live near Highland Park and weren’t answering her texts. She needed to vent. We both felt better afterwards

  8. 8.

    frosty

    @Scout211: When you feel despair.
    Take a deep breath and just breathe.
    Then look around you and focus on doing the next thing that is right in front of you.

    Funny, that’s exactly how my day is going. Too much unpacking from our road trip to do,  but one small thing I can do now. As soon as I finish wasting time with B-J. And the nap!

  9. 9.

    Alison Rose

    BTW since we’ve had tweets from Seanan McGuire in a couple threads now, may I recommend her Wayward Children series? They’re all novellas, around 170 pages or so, very quick reads, and super inventive and fun. I’ve only read up to book 5 (there are 7 published, I think it’s intended to be 10 in full) but I’ve enjoyed all of them, and in particular book 4 is an all-time fave.

    Seanan McGuire’s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Wayward Children series is the story of Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, a boarding school for kids who come home from portal fantasy worlds and can’t adjust to their new, ordinary lives.

  12. 12.

    Shalimar

    @Mnemosyne: If it were my family, he would say something incredibly insensitive and inappropriate, you would respond “I’m sorry to hear you weren’t at the Independence parade”, and that would be the last you spoke for at least 5 years.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I’ve been beating this drum for years.*

    *That’s it. That’s my comment.

  14. 14.

    debbie

    I am as far from observant as is possible to be, but there are just some parts of the Talmud that speak to me like nothing else can. Thank you.

  15. 15.

    Matt McIrvin

    I don’t want to be optimistic. I want to be RIGHT.

    The problem is distinguishing realism from unmotivated anxiety.

  18. 18.

    WereBear

    I have successfully switched from coffee to hot chocolate. Worked out a few flavors.

    Don’t want to hear from any cocoa fans who hate flavors.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    @Shalimar:

    At the last one, we just avoided each other. She did send her young adult sons over to say hello separately, which they were pleased to do because my dress was showing a bit more cleavage than I had expected.

    I was half-expecting her to do a triumphal dance about Roe v Wade, but hopefully this news from the town where we both used to live and in which the dinner will take place will shut her the fuck up before I do.

    I have promised my husband that I won’t start anything, but I will finish it if she pushes me.

  22. 22.

    PST

    I noticed something positive this morning. The dog woke me up ridiculously early because she was too frightened by fireworks last night to take her 9:00 p.m. walk. So, since I was up and restless, I decided to take a bike ride from where I live in the West Loop of Chicago west to the city limits. Riding home on Warren, at around 7:00 a.m., I kept noticing very pleasant smells. For a moment I thought that there sure were a lot of people frying bacon with their windows open, but then I realized it was just serious holiday pork lovers who take “low and slow” very seriously and already had their ribs or shoulders in a smoker or cooker many hours before the picnic. Nice that so many people are enjoying the fourth in the such a delightful fashion.

  24. 24.

    cain

    I created a twitter account called “songsthatmeow” and been working on making up songs about cats or taking existing songs and turning them into cat songs. Weird? Yes – but fun!

  26. 26.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    well, I just finished a late lunch, and I’m trying to decide whether to take a shower before my nap.

    Speak to me, Wise Raccoon, tell me what to do

  27. 27.

    Suzanne

    Spawn the Youngest turned three last week. SuzMom bought her this purple dinosaur that breathes bubbles, roars, plays terrible music over and over, AND it has lights! So you can party at night, too!

    I have to say, it’s delightful and I laughed my ass off. We’re playing with it right now. If you have any children in your life whose parents you want to make insane, I suggest this as a gift.

    ETA: would also be great fun at your next family holiday.

  30. 30.

    Eolirin

    @Matt McIrvin: That’s a category error. Healthy optimism isn’t really about thinking things will or won’t work out per se, as much as believing that there’s a way to make things better and then actively trying to work toward it.

    There isn’t exactly a way to be right or wrong about that, because not putting in that effort frequently guarantees bad outcomes and putting in the effort even if there are initial set backs and failures is ultimately the only way you end up with positive change.

    It’s simply a willingness to put in the work.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    It’s Mittens, yo.

    “President Joe Biden is a genuinely good man, but he has yet been unable to break through our national malady of denial, deceit, and distrust. A return of Donald Trump would feed the sickness, probably rendering it incurable. Congress is particularly disappointing: Our elected officials put a finger in the wind more frequently than they show backbone against it. Too often, Washington demonstrates the maxim that for evil to thrive only requires good men to do nothing.”

    “I hope for a president who can rise above the din to unite us behind the truth. Several contenders with experience and smarts stand in the wings; we intently watch to see if they also possess the requisite character and ability to bring the nation together in confronting our common reality. While we wait, leadership must come from fathers and mothers, teachers and nurses, priests and rabbis, businessmen and businesswomen, journalists and pundits. That will require us all to rise above ourselves — above our grievances and resentments — and grasp the mantle of leadership our country so badly needs.”

    Maybe if you openly cooperated with THIS president then you might get a start in “bringing the nation together in confronting our…common reality?” Had me, then lost me.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    @Suzanne:

    My adult niece who I’m not too fond of has two little boys that I am fond of from a distance. That may need to be one of their Christmas gifts this year.

  35. 35.

    geg6

    I am miserable with the worst summer cold I’ve ever had (not COVID, I tested).  WTF?!?!?!  Hope none of the rest of you are as miserable as I am.
    Trying to figure out if I can still go to the concert I have tickets for tomorrow.  My older niece and I are supposed to go together.  Way back when, I took her to her first concert.  She was in loooooooove with the Backstreet Boys and I got tickets and took her (don’t @ me, it was her choice, not mine).  She was 10 at the time.  Ever since, every time they come to town, we go and laugh our asses off.  She’s now 30 and a mother of two (with another on the way).  I couldn’t possibly care less about missing the concert.  I am upset that I might miss spending a whole afternoon/evening with her because of a stupid cold.  Dammit!

  37. 37.

    Jackie

    @trollhattan: I’m surprised that as a candidate running for governor, he wasn’t participating in the parade. Apparently he lives near by.

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    @geg6:

    If you really, really, really want to go and feel reasonably up for it, this is what all those masks you have left from 2020 are for: to wear around your niece so you don’t give her your cold. And hand sanitizer and not touching anything will help as well.

  39. 39.

    H.E.Wolf

    @pluky:  ‘I won’t start anything, but I will finish it’ should be on a tee shirt somewhere. Googling madly. . .”​

      ”

    Will this do instead – in the metaphorical sense, of course?

    “I never quarrel, sir. But sometimes I fight, sir; and whenever I fight, sir, a funeral follows, sir.” – Thomas Hart Benton​
    ​
    ​

  41. 41.

    MagdaInBlack

    @PST: I had that out here in Arlington Heights over Memorial Day weekend. I was sitting on the balcony and the whole neighborhood was permeated with “bacon” scent. Took me  awhile to figure out it was smokers.

    I did not complain

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    @Jackie: Good question. Missed out on his one chance to unholster and pick the sniper off that roof. Instant poll surge!

  44. 44.

    raven

    @Mnemosyne: I’m estranged from my wing nut half-brother and his wife. I didn’t go to a family event a couple but my brother did. He was holding his breath about the whole deal and really disturbed that their daughter was wonderful!!!!

  45. 45.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Jackie: I think this one, Darren Bailey, is the trump backed clown from downstate.

    Eta: Yup, he’s the one that wants Chicago to become its own state, it’s a drain on downstate…..

  46. 46.

    BC in Illinois

    The Talmud reminds me of this:

    There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
    And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions
    That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss.
    For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

    T. S. Eliot, “East Coker” from Four Quartets

    Hilary Clinton, in her book *What Happened* referred to this passage and I have had it marked ever since.

    Her book is a marvelous reflection on how to handle grief and setbacks. (Not just in 2016.) In the back of my copy of her book, I have a list, with page numbers, of all the authors she refers to:

    T.S.Eliot, Timothy Snyder, Al Gore, George Orwell, Maya Angelou, Anne Lamott, Bill Shilady, Pope Francis (Ted Talk), Heni Nouwen, E Hoffer, Vaclav Havel, A. De Tocqueville, Harriet Tubman, and Kate McKinnon of SNL.

    Again and again and again. For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

  47. 47.

    geg6

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m not real worried about her catching it as much as I feel like garbage.  It’s an outdoor concert and I will probably wear a mask in the car.  I’m not gonna cancel as of now, but I may change my mind later.  I can transfer my ticket and reserved parking if she can find a companion.

  48. 48.

    H.E.Wolf

    Meanwhile, on the topic of the actual post: many thanks for the selections you chose.

  51. 51.

    JML

    @Alison Rose : Seanan McGuire is great. I’m amazed at how fast she writes! (Her Aeslinn Mice are one of my favorite creations ever, and frequently make me wish I could speak in CAPITAL LETTERS. Hail!)

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: Our dog Ellie is suspicious of new things.  Kids riding by on noisy skateboards.  People in hats.  Whistles or squeaky noises that she hasn’t heard before.

    Yesterday we were walking on the sidewalk and she saw water with white bubbles running down a driveway (someone had finished washing a car).  She normally wants to eat anything white, so potentially food!  But she was not having anything to do with those moving bubbles!  No way!!  We had to loop around into the street so that she didn’t back out of her harness…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    Josie

    The quote from the Talmud reminds me of a quote from Micah in the Old Testament.

    “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

    I learned it in Bible school at least 70 years ago. I am not a church goer, but that verse has stayed with me all these years and is a guiding precept.

  54. 54.

    Kathleen

    @frosty: I found this VP Harris clip uplifting and shared it on Dr. Heather Cox Richardson’s site:

    ******************************************************

    Vice President Harris offered some much needed perspective in her remarks at Essence Fest, which included words by Coretta Scott King:

    “Remembering the words of Coretta Scott King Harris said, “The fight for civil rights — which is the fight for freedom, the fight for liberty, the fight for justice — the fight for civil rights must be fought and won with each generation.”

    In relation to the continued fight for freedom in America, Harris suggested two key points from King’s words: “The very nature of these fights is that whatever we gain, they will not necessarily be permanent.” And that, “you have to be vigilant.”

    (Vice President Harris added:) “Don’t be overwhelmed to the point that we are disheartened and we think that we can’t do anything about it,” she said. “It’s the nature of it that these gains will not be made. And so we must be vigilant and we must remember we are always going to have to fight to maintain these rights.”

    The link to the entire clip is here:

    wsjm.com/2022/07/03/kamala-harris-speaks-on-outrageous-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-at-essence-fe…

  59. 59.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m having dark chocolate

    Accurately describes about 40% of my caloric intake.

     

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Nap first, shower later.

    You are as correct on napping/showering order as you are on music. Nice work.

  64. 64.

    Jeffro

    We got back from a week in Dewey Beach on Saturday…went ocean kayaking most every morning.

    Today, we went kayaking at our local flatwater reservoir…zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

    Gimme waves and dolphins over not having waves and dolphins, any day!

    Happy 4th peeps!  My “optimistic” take is that next 4th we’ll have something to actually celebrate.  Maybe if we follow Max Boot’s suggestions?

    “…there are steps we can take, even without amending the Constitution, to make our political system more democratic and representative. We should, for example, expand the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court. They reached their present size in 1912 and 1869, respectively, when the country was far smaller. (The U.S. population has tripled in the past century.) We should also end the Senate filibuster…”

  65. 65.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @trollhattan: I got about 5 sentences into that trash before nearly throwing my tablet across the room. A Republican politician lecturing me about climate inaction?!!

    Mitt Romney can go fuck himself.

  67. 67.

    Steve in the ATL

    @raven: I can believe that, though I never spent it there.  Pretty damn hot, I would imagine, on the Cumberland Plateau. Usually St. Simons for us, but didn’t feel like making that drive this year.

    So how is your NIL collective progressing?  We could use a franchise running back!

  68. 68.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Mnemosyne: We we’re just at the Hermasillo for beers and burgers yesterday.  One of our fave places in Highland Park.  In addition to beer they have a Very good wine selection too.  The fried pickles are a bit too salty though.

  72. 72.

    Steve in the ATL

    @raven: RB is far less important than OL, as the Denver Broncos proved with DGD Terrell Davis et al!

  79. 79.

    raven

    @Steve in the ATL: My buddy was in advertising and worked with Stafford’s mom. When Matt was a senior in high school my friend told me he’d be the number one pick in the NFL draft!!! He knew of what he spoke.

  80. 80.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Mnemosyne: Ahhh…my bad.  When you are back in SoCal (assuming you still live here) the other HP Brewery, downtown by the big park off the goldline, is also great, though not as cool as the Hermasillo.

  81. 81.

    sab

    My city had cancelled most of the weekend festivities downtown ( Ribs, White  and Blue eating and music festival. ) Late last night or early this morning they finally cancelled the fireworks. I hope it was too late for everyone to buy their own, but a good decision in any case. We have problems every year when the suburbanites come into town and have to function with us locals. This year it would have  been a tinderbox. 9 pm curfew. I wish we had gotten the dog a tranquilizer.

    Will catnip all around help or make things worse? 5 cats. Already checked the Feliways.

  83. 83.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @trollhattan:

    Several contenders with experience and smarts stand in the wings; we intently watch to see if they also possess the requisite character and ability to bring the nation together in confronting our common reality.

    Would love to learn who Romney thinks could be a contender, besides himself. If it’s the likes of Abbott or DeSantis, then it’s patently clear he has no interest in his own call for unity.

    As for confronting our common reality, whatever Mitt means by that weird turn of phrase, he should spend some time confronting those tens of millions Republicans who don’t accept reality…the 2020 election, the insurrection, their compromised President…

  84. 84.

    Mike in NC

    MyPillow asshole has another ad on teevee, with everything discounted about 80%. Maybe he can provide sheets and pillows to the federal prison where the Trump family will be relocated to.

  85. 85.

    Jeffro

    Illinois’ GOP gubernatorial candidate is already – yes, just hours later, with 40+ people being treated for gunshot wounds and 6 people dead – saying that we should “move on” from the Highland Park mass shooting and get back to celebrating ‘Murica.

    Un.  Real.

    Make this kind of insanity the first thing people see in your ads this fall, Dems.

  88. 88.

    raven

    After days of near misses it’s raining and garden girl is sooooo happy. We’re having turkey dawgs with blueberry slaw dressing and Mexican street corn!!!

  98. 98.

    PST

    @schrodingers_cat: Happy anniversary of citizenship. This also happens to be an anniversary for my wife and me — seven years of marriage. We got our celebrating out of the way a couple of days ago. This will be a quiet evening at home with a nervous dog.

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    @Baud: Random hunch the only thing keeping him in bidnez is sales by the same organizations that buy wingnut vanity press books. “New York Times bestseller!” is code for “WTF are we going to do with all these cases clogging the warehouse? Oh yeah, NRO cruise coming up.”

  100. 100.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Matt McIrvin: ​
     

    I don’t want to be optimistic. I want to be RIGHT.

    I’m a pessimist, but I’d love nothing better than to be proven wrong.

  101. 101.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jeffro:

    Illinois’ GOP gubernatorial candidate is already – yes, just hours later, with 40+ people being treated for gunshot wounds and 6 people dead – saying that we should “move on” from the Highland Park mass shooting and get back to celebrating ‘Murica.

    Especially our Second Amendment rights, of course.

  102. 102.

    trollhattan

    Did not know of this until now. Good for these patriots. We need to take that word back.

    Demonstrators have moved off of Interstate 5 in downtown Sacramento, but some highway ramps remain closed Monday afternoon following an abortion rights protest. Dozens of demonstrators marched towards the interstate from a protest organized by the Sacramento Group Progressive Unity, which began at 10 a.m. Monday at the state Capitol. The group was protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to an abortion.

    Those at the demonstration stressed that though California has some of the strongest reproductive protections in the country, protesting is still crucial in sending a message to lawmakers in Washington. “Even in states like California where it’s legal, I think that if it’s illegal anywhere, it’s illegal everywhere,” demonstrator Hailey Amparano said. “We have to band together and fight for everyone’s rights, not just our own.” Demonstrators made their way onto the interstate via an on-ramp, stopping northbound traffic and causing a blockage in downtown Sacramento near L Street.

    sacbee.com/news/local/article263162623.html#storylink=cpy

  103. 103.

    lowtechcyclist

    @trollhattan: ​
     

    Maybe if you openly cooperated with THIS president then you might get a start in “bringing the nation together in confronting our…common reality?” Had me, then lost me.

    The first step would involve saying just what the major elements of that “common reality” are*. And if he did so with any degree of accuracy, that would get his sorry ass kicked out of the GQP.

    To his shame, that’s what he’s trying to avoid.

    *Which reminds me, that ‘lighting round’ debate clip with Liz Cheney informed me that in addition to the coup/insurrection, she’s also on the right page with respect to Ukraine and the pandemic. That’s two more things than I expected to be in agreement with her about.

  106. 106.

    Gravenstone

    @trollhattan: Our elected officials put a finger in the wind more frequently than they show backbone against it.

    Thus spaketh the Human Weathervane. Ironic…

  108. 108.

    JMG

    For whatever reason, there have been fewer fireworks explosions in our neighborhood this year leading up to tonight (when that could all change, of course). One year our across the street neighbor accidentally sent a Roman candle across our deck as we were eating dinner.

    This quiet year we’re having the usual. Hot dogs on the grill, chips, homemade cole slaw and strawberry shortcake. Beer and iced tea are the beverages.

  112. 112.

    trollhattan

    @lowtechcyclist: Right? TBF daddy carries his anti-commie card so maybe defense against Russia comes naturally. But IIRC she did go further and stipulated that they need to be stopped because post-Ukraine, Vlad will keep going if not halted now.

    Punching hippies can be suspended for an infinite time until resumption is required.

    She’s very effective in the hearings, and laser focused.

  114. 114.

    J R in WV

    @JML: ​

    Seanan McGuire is great. I’m amazed at how fast she writes! (Her Aeslinn Mice are one of my favorite creations ever, and frequently make me wish I could speak in CAPITAL LETTERS. Hail!)

    Wonderful author under all her ‘nyms.

    And I agree that the mice are a wonderful invention!!

  115. 115.

    J R in WV

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Happy 4th and happy 5 th year anniversary of becoming a citizen to me!

    And 4th or 5th set of congratulations from the hillside woods of West Virginia!!! So glad you decided to join us!

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

     

    For those not from Chicago….
    Highland Park isn’t even in Cook County

    If from Boston, think Brookline
    If from Detroit, think Bloomfield Hills
    If from New York City, think a half step below Greenwich…

    THAT is Highland Park

  118. 118.

    Jackie

    Police have named the shooting suspect:

    “Police have identified the person of interest in the shooting as 22-year-old Robert “Bobby” E Crimo III. His location is currently unknown and he was described by police as wearing a white or blue T-shirt.

    Crimo, who police said is from the area but did not specify if he is from Highland Park, is believed to be driving a 2010 silver Honda Fit with the Illinois license plates DM80653.”

    nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-respond-to-incident-in-downtown-highland-park-urge-public-to-avoid-…

  119. 119.

    sab

    Beyond burgers ( Not Meat!) are actually very tasty with a good texture. Excellent if you like a burger with condiments. We have switched from beefburgers to them in the last year, and quite satisfied. Not for the “I want my beef raw and bleeding and only slightly singed,”  but quite good for normal people who want food rather than the opportunity to chew a chunk off a live cow.

  120. 120.

    sab

    @Jackie: Yay if they catch him without damaging the FIT. Honda discontinued them and the dealerships are desperate.

  122. 122.

    Quiltingfool

    @Mnemosyne: One of my favorite phrases is, “Don’t start none, won’t be none”.   I’d say that would be good advice for the Trumpie cousin to follow.

    Oh, haven’t had the chance to tell you how glad I am to read your comments once again and I like how you think!  I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter, lol!

  126. 126.

    Jackie

    @sab: The FIT is the last of my concerns. I just hope they catch him  – dead or alive. Although, I really want to know his motive.

  127. 127.

    Ohio Mom

    Ohio Family celebrated by going to the parade in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Northside, as we do every year (at least the years the parade is not cancelled for pandemics). I am not sure how to best describe Northside, it is the arty, hippy, alternative, gay-friendly neighborhood, and its parade reflects that.

    It’s a mostly homemade carnival, some of the established marching groups are the Dad’s Drill Team (middle aged guys wearing hard hats, carrying battery-powered electric drills that are capped with red, white and blue decorations that spin around) and the Lawn Chair Ladies (who carry those retro folding aluminum lawn chairs and perform choreographed formations with them).

    As lighted hearted as it tends to be, this year a good number of the groups made clear they will be fighting for the return of reproductive rights. The next to last group was outfitted in references to Andy Warhol (bananas, Brillo box and soup can costumes, etc.), carrying one sign announcing “This is WARhol” and others angry at the Supreme Court decision. I am not doing it justice, it was clever and clear.

    Like most neighborhood parades, there are fire engines, high school marching bands, floats advertising local businesses, and elected officials and candidates — usually, almost always, Democractic ones. Republicans know it isn’t worth their while.

    Anyway, I always feel safe and at home at the parade. There was one moment when I wondered if even though it was outside, maybe a big maskless crowd isn’t a great idea, but now home, having heard about the Highland Park shooting, maybe that’s what I should have worried about.

  128. 128.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    It’s also very Jewish. After we moved up to Libertyville, they stopped having a Santa house at the holidays in Highland Park because there just weren’t enough Christians in the town to continue to support one. Even before that, I had to move to a different Catholic school because Immaculate Conception closed down.

    We’ll see what the killer’s stated motive was, but I’m more than a little suspicious.

  129. 129.

    schrodingers_cat

    @rikyrah: I am glad you guys want me!

    I started writing my thoughts down and this is what I have so far

    It is corny to say this but I love this country, flaws and all. The striving to be better, the optimism that tomorrow is going to be better than today is infectious. I believe in the promise of America. In my years over here I have met and become friends with people all over the world. Three of my first four house mates were Muslim, and two were from Pakistan. I wouldn’t have made it without them. I remember that when I see the relentless bile against Muslims spewed by the ruling party in India and its enablers.

  130. 130.

    Professor Bigfoot

    Baby-back ribs in the electric smoker (I love the thing, but I always feel like I’m cheating— it’s too easy!).

  132. 132.

    Sure Lurkalot

    On the last leg of a morning bike ride, there were about 15 kiddos on their bikes in a park for an arranged parade, most of them with 7/4 hats and their bikes all tricked out with red white and blue streamers and crepe paper. Average age…5. Lots of doggos and parents too. They had a blast from what I saw.

    Grilling some ribs (after 3 hour dutch oven braise), corn, homemade slaw and beans. I’m nowhere near that hungry so hope a beer will help.

  134. 134.

    Ohio Mom

    @MagdaInBlack: Yeah, most of these shooters have a certain look.

    Not just how they dress and wear their hair, but often their facial features seem off to me — not quite in typical proportion. I sometimes wonder if as a group, there isn’t a disproportionate number with FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) or something similar.

    At any rate, most if not all of them could have benefitted from some sort of intervention, in addition to living someplace where they couldn’t get their hands on guns to act out their worst impulses.

  135. 135.

    JaySinWA

    The Talmud quote reminded me of Sisyphus. I see from checking the spelling that others have interpreted Sisyphus less from a punishment angle and more from perseverance and duty. So uplifting, if you pardon the pun.

    I still see it as a relentless dystopia. I’ve napped, showered and eaten though.

  137. 137.

    Jackie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Nothing stated, as yet. There’s some info about his dad; wannabe politician, Republican loser of two local races different years. Political influence of the shooter unknown/not mentioned.

  140. 140.

    Ohio Mom

    @Raoul Paste: What lucky high school friends you have!

    Northside has long been on my short list of where to move next (now that Ohio Son is done with public school and we no longer need a district with deep pockets for special needs) but housing prices there were ridiculous before the recent run-up.

    Meanwhile, the local area with the most affordable housing stock is the super-conservative West Side.

  141. 141.

    Baud

    I’ve started watching For All Mankind.  They really make Nixon look like a dick.

  143. 143.

    Jackie

    More info is trickling in:

    “Online accounts associated with Crimo feature him in music videos acting out the aftermath of a school shooting. In one clip, a newspaper headline of presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is tacked to a wall behind him. That music video was posted in March.

    A music channel associated with his performance name has more than 3 million streams on Spotify. Bradley’s quick check has not revealed a criminal record but he continues to search databases.”

    wfla.com/news/national/what-we-know-about-the-at-large-highland-park-parade-shooter/

  147. 147.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Baud: I’ve gotten through the first 7 episodes and I’m still not hooked.

    The racism is underplayed and the sexism is just *cringe,* and I know they were trying to capture an era; but still.

    [ed to add— they really did a magnificent job of mocking up Nixon’s voice, you’d think the old bastard was in the cast]

  153. 153.

    something fabulous

    @Mnemosyne: (Have gone back to my usual 3-days-behind reading schedule, so have missed a chance to welcome you back in real time before this! Sorry it is under such sucky circumstances, all the way around.)

    Yes. I grew up in Evanston/Skokie: Highland Park was the snooty and insular neighbor to the north, and always very very Jewish, in our lifetimes anyway. Oddly for having never spent time there really, Highland Park Hospital is where my dad went into hospice and died, eight years ago now. So it always has had sad associations for me, even before this. They were as much as is possible a nice and friendly and helpful hospital: almost impossible to imagine them dealing with 26 gunshot victims. Not that any hospital should have to. Hate crime immediately came to my and my brother’s minds while talking about it this morning, too. Donated and then posted links on FB to Abortion funds, ACLU and moms demand action– what else to do?

    Thanks for being here, y’all.

  155. 155.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: Accurate, then.

    Also, the show skips ahead in the timeline, a decade or so between seasons and a year or two at a time within each season. You won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around for much longer if you keep watching.

  160. 160.

    Jim Appleton

    I’m of the opinion that media need to show graphic images/footage of the carnage left by mass shootings.

    Blur the faces, but don’t require family consent.

    Show everyone, gunhumpers especially, the results of “2A” freeeeeeereedom in 2022.

    A single photo of a heap of fifteen 7-YOs, dead and wounded in Highland Park, Las Vegas … shot full of holes, some with limbs missing, some minus most of their head, will do more to advance gun control than all the serious, impotent beard pulling that passes for “enough is enough.”

  164. 164.

    JWR

    @Jackie: Just heard on TV news that, after a short pursuit, he’s been apprehended. Alive. (No 60 bullets for you!)

  165. 165.

    JWR

    From NBC

    HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — A person of interest in the July Fourth parade attack that killed 6 and injured 38 others Monday has been apprehended, authorities said.

    Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III was spotted in a Honda Fit described as wanted by the FBI in North Chicago, where local police attempted a traffic stop before the man allegedly took them on a short pursuit, authorities said.

    At the end of the chase the person of interest surrendered peacefully to North Chicago officers, they said.

  166. 166.

    r€nato

    “Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.” [emphasis added]
    – Og Mandino

    I’m going through a tremendously difficult part of my life. An unwanted and completely unnecessary, heart-shattering divorce is only the start. About the only things going right in my life are that I have a not-bad-at-all roof over my head, a degree of financial security (though still a great deal of financial limbo due to the impending divorce), I’m pretty healthy, and I’m looking pretty good due to losing a lot of weight.

    (The divorce/depression diet is highly effective but I don’t recommend it!)

    About two months ago I decided that every time I’m out and about I would seek to spread kindness.

    This usually takes two forms:

    1) kindness to everyone I meet while doing errands. Sometimes it’s as simple as yielding to the other person when we’re both trying to enter an aisle in the grocery store at the same time, but usually it takes the shape of genuinely engaging with the cashier. When they say, “how are you today?”, I reply, “I’m doing well, how are you?” I say it in such a way that it’s clear I’m genuinely interested in their welfare (and, I am!).

    Almost every single time, the cashier gets it and responds with a big smile on their face. It brightens both of our days. Doing this over and over has actually made a huge difference. Lousy days turn into so-so days, and so-so days turn into good days. Annoying errands have become opportunities to spread kindness in the world, and I look forward to them!

    I cannot recommend this practice highly enough.

    2) I practice kindness in traffic, which often means I end up yielding a lot. I promise you’ll never be late because you yielded! But you will have made someone’s day a little better and shown others it.

    Practicing kindness has been healing for me and costs a lot less than the therapist.

    When I was younger, of course I was filled with the urge to change the world. I thought you did that by getting involved in activism, voting, etc.

    Now that I’m older and wiser, I’ve found there’s other ways to transform the world.

    Spreading kindness doesn’t have to wait for an election cycle. It doesn’t depend on someone else telling you what you should be thinking and doing. It never descends into bitter partisanship.

    If you truly want to change the world… all you have to do is be kind, all you have to do is be the change you want to see in the world.

    #spreadkindness
    spreadkindness.org

  168. 168.

    Starfish

    @Jim Appleton: This has already happened. The toddler whose picture was posted because they were trying to locate his family had little socks covered in blood.

    Renato Mariotti posted a picture of one of the victims who had been shot in the head. People argued with him about this.

    Every mass shooting scares people into buying more guns.

  169. 169.

    Suzanne

    @Ohio Mom:

    but often their facial features seem off to me — not quite in typical proportion. 

    If only for “a few millimeters of bone”…..

  171. 171.

    Gin & Tonic

    @JWR:

    Just heard on TV news that, after a short pursuit, he’s been apprehended. Alive.

    So I guess he’s white. (I’ve been off the grid most of the day.)

  172. 172.

    David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch

    @Baud: Well, he was.

    (President Nixon): The Jews are born spies. You notice how many of them are? They’re just in it up to their necks.

  175. 175.

    Immanentize

    @Baud:

    They really make Nixon look like a dick.

    What, do they show him bald wearing a flesh colored turtle neck? Odd Directorial choice.

  176. 176.

    Jim Appleton

    @zhena gogolia:  Again, blur the face, as is commonly done to preserve privacy in many media already.  No, do not intrude there.

    But the value of treading right up to that line versus what we have now — reflexive protection of “tender sensibilities” to the absolute exclusion of graphic truth — does us more harm in the long run than gunhumping.

    Show us the bodies.

  179. 179.

    Jim Appleton

    @Starfish:   You describe something different from what I think needs to be seen.

    Large numbers of victims of mass-casualty shootings, in context, their privacy protected, is missing from the handful you cite.

  180. 180.

    Immanentize

    The killers name is “Crimo.” “CRIMO!” Is this an Adam West Batman production? His father got crushed as a mayoral candidate in Hyde Park. CRIMO stikes me as not a-member-of-the-tribe last name?

  181. 181.

    Immanentize

    @zhena gogolia: or even die a miserable death. Show the bodies? Fuck him!

    ETA I gotta get out of here, this place is rancid right now. A new thread might help.

  183. 183.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: you have good comic whatever that thing is that comics talk of as being important. You got it!

  185. 185.

    prostratedragon

    @JWR:  Cynicism is so cheap, which means in this case that it just fits my humble budget. I knew he’d be taken alive.

  189. 189.

    Another Scott

    @Jim Appleton: Condolences to you and to everyone who has lost someone to violence.

    I would have to think on how far to go with showing pictures, but I do think there is value in forcing people at large to see what’s going on.  We know how powerful images of Emmett Till’s body was in galvanizing the civil rights movement.  (Yes, his mother pushed for that.)  Supposedly Vietnam was the least popular US war at the time because it was the first televised war.

    I think that too many people didn’t take the Pandemic seriously because they didn’t see with their own eyes what it was doing.  News stories from inside over-run hospitals might have made a significant difference…

    Too many people aren’t outraged by what’s happening with gun violence.  Sometimes graphic pictures are needed to wake people up from their complacency.

    But, as I said, I don’t know where to draw the line, myself.

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  200. 200.

    TriassicSands

    Optimism is reinforced when we experience the positive outcomes that we expect…

    That’s not optimism, it’s called being realistic.

  201. 201.

    Jim Appleton

    @zhena gogolia:  In my own case, you’re likely correct.

    As for mass shootings, how, in your estimation, is it a given that awareness is 100% out of the question?

    Another Scott above points to several cases where graphic imagery permanently and positively changed history.  I agree with him that drawing the line is challenging, and consent can be critical but has not always obtained.   I respect you and really want to know what gives you certainty.

  203. 203.

    J R in WV

    @schrodingers_cat:
    The first expert in windows programming we hired was named P—, from India. As we got to know him better we learned that he came to America after marrying his college sweetie L—. Unfortunately P— was Hindi and L— was Muslim. He told us if they had stayed in India they would have been, killed, by one family or the other.
    Here I think the worst penalty would be shunning, which is hard enough for people from a close knit society with no friends outside the “cult” of that sect. Last I knew they,  P— and L— were both working in IT on the west coast. For many years I got a Xmas card from them, which went away not long after I retired. I’m sure they are doing well, they were so smart and well educated in their  IT specialties.

    P— and I sat in a large cube together, back to back, when a shelter in place took place during a chemical spill at a plant next to our DEP office building. An hour or so into the emergency I asked him if his eyes were burning, and he replied “I have been telling myself it was all in my head! But since you ask, YES ! my eyes are burning!!”

    I felt some guilt over the situation, here we had hired a top guy to help us migrate from a mainframe system to a replacement system using Windows and Oracle DB, and first thing we have a chemical spill somewhat like Bhopal, though not nearly as toxic nor dangerous.

    The next day we found that the old cinderblock walls had gaps wide enough for daylight to shine through, and for gaseous industrial poisons to filter through “solid block” building walls.
    No one was harmed by that particular leak, but the other substances used in those plants could pose a real hazard. Chain link fences do not prevent chemical exposures from crossing the plant property lines!

    Later on I managed to acquire a case of chloracne, an outbreak of exzema caused by exposure to carbon di-sulfide. It really sucked, but seems to have mostly passed on these 25 years later on.​

  204. 204.

    Ohio Mom

    @Another Scott: I was thinking something similar about Viet Nam being brought into our living rooms by the evening news, and how shocking that was for Americans.

    And as evidence for how powerful those images were, the military worked very hard to try to prevent that from happening again in later war zones.

  205. 205.

    Another Scott

    We must be moving up into the almost top 10,000 blog category if #205 is any indication.

    Good news??

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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