mtadkins

“…I believe, and have believed for years, what is brewing in this country is an American fascist movement rooted half in grievance and half in Jesus and enabled by tech oligarchs and an inundation of propaganda from many sources…It is shameless and proud. Culturally, the combination of blatant racist fear mongering and the anti-woke movement has delivered their message for the future. A future that marginalizes almost all voices.”

“…Whether or not they are self-serving or true believers in the new fascism is unimportant. They are of the movement. Whether they see themselves as acolytes or just comics doesn’t matter. Whether they are driven by the idea that what they are fighting for is a free speech issue or whether they are truly morally bankrupt racists doesn’t matter. They are part of the public face of a fascist political movement that seeks to destroy the democratic idea.”

Marc Maron, re Bill Maher & the rest of the new fascists : https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/marc-maron-bill-maher-agrees-donald-trump-1236337070/#utm_campaign=syndication&utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=referral

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world… but then you read.” — James Baldwin

Caroline Polachek, live at the Musée de l’Orangerie, with her cover of ‘True Love Waits’ [Radiohead, obvs]

Of course, ‘memory’ is one of the most fascinating elements of life for us… allowing us to grow via perspective but also providing the pitfalls of attachment & nostalgia. This month both of my sons have birthdays, so I’m constantly reminded of the various ‘Augusts’ of my life.

Yesterday, while having some feels, I picked up an old favorite book with a small note inside:

“Smith Family Bookstore, 1pm, 8/18/14”

Who knows what else I had been up to that day? — likely an uneventful work day in Eugene in which I stole away during the lunch hour to wander the aisles — dreaming my favorite dreams for a bit before real life came crashing back in. Perhaps I would have recalled the day anyway while re-reading, or conflated that with another time?

Someday, the boys will have to sort thru all of the detritus I left behind…never fully knowing why this book stayed on shelf after shelf, moving from house to apartment to house, across an ocean no less, only to end up in the ‘donate’ pile that we all leave behind. Maybe it won’t survive that long, as I live on a tropical island now where Nature’s damp, mold, floods, or hurricanes might re-claim the delicate little pages before anyone else needs to concern themselves with whether or not I loved a thing, or simply couldn’t let go.

A bit of melancholy musing, but not sad. I’m here. I’m now.

And there’s even a bit more of this August left still for a re-read…

xoxo,
m

Haven’t seen this video in a while… brought a smile & good vibes.