Week 27-26 - Curiosities
Greetings from the Mesa
Here we are just past the 250th birthday of America. We spent the day sporadically socked in by wildfire smoke. It was a signal, a symptom, and/or a metaphor. We ate cherry pie, and chatted sporadically about the state of the dis/union. We napped. I finished a book, and returned to another. We watched fireworks (during a burn ban) from the comfort of our front porch. They were far away and silent. A lot of sparkle with no bang. A symptom, a metaphor. I am old enough to remember the patriotism of 1976. I witness the slow (and sometimes rapid) decline of 2026. Let it burn. The rebuilding will be long and painful, and maybe will both address and redress.
Curiosities
- The Demoralization of The White-Collar Worker I would argue that ALL workers are currently demoralized.
- Julie Dash interviews Octavia Butler (1995)
- Dump's GOP is a Cult, an interview with Hillary Clinton. Love her or hate her, she always has something provocative to say.
- Eight vaccines linked to a lower risk of dementia. A growing body of research is beginning to reveal the impact that regular routine vaccines could be having on the likelihood of conditions like dementia. Here are the jabs with the strongest evidence so far.
- Resisting Dystopia | Becky Chambers & Annalee Newitz. The authors discuss how science fiction can help us imagine new futures that can make sense of our current civilizational struggles. I would really enjoy a similar discussion from two black sci-fi authors.
- Tanabata - The Japanese Star Festival is celebrated on 7 July.
Consuming
Books:
Currently reading: Songlines (Chatwin)
Just finished micro-reviews:
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (Science Fiction):
It’s been ages since I last read a Pern book. They are fast reads comfort food. It’s time to revisit the series starting with the first book Dragonflight. Dragonflight tells the story of Lessa a down and out Ruathan noblewoman who becomes a dragon rider. The dragonriders of Pern co-evolved to combat Thread, essentially a space fungus, which falls to the planet when the Red Planet is at perigee. Thread burrow into the land if left unchecked and cause desertification of a kind. It’s a perfect mixture of science fiction and fantasy that has surprisingly aged better than I expected.
Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton (Science Fiction):
The sequel to Pandora’s Star delivers a satisfying conclusion to the Commonwealth saga. It slogged in places, but wrapped everything up in a nice tidy package. My favorite characters were Paula and Ozzie. At first some of his characters vapidity annoyed me, but then I gave it more thought, and they are real. Really real. Dumpster fire real. But it is his highly descriptive world building and mixed genres that really suck you in, and keep the ~2000 page saga moving forward. It’d be fun to live in this universe where FTL, wormholes, rejuvenation, and planet hopping is all possible.
TV/Movies: None, we have been watching sunsets and moonrises. But I am excited to start S3 of Silo.
Music: This band is fun. Fills the empty hole the passing of Belle du Berry left behind.