mtadkins

Truth to Power

2025-03-15T17:35:57Z

“…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

Growing up

2024-10-24T22:18:25Z

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

Don’t Leave

2024-10-20T01:57:52Z

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

Decade

2024-08-17T21:00:09Z

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

Fancy Footwork

2024-06-24T02:45:04Z

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

One Hundred Years of Solitude.

2024-05-11T20:47:53Z

Oh, ah, hmmm, look at that… I wonder if this can deliver?

“This is our story, simplified: Life. Loss. Transformation. Love. Death. Iteration.”

2024-05-11T20:37:35Z

Wonderful writing in “We Will Teach You How to Read We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M. Yoachim

“…hopefully as you transform our words, you will keep some sense of the vastness of each moment, the illusion of holding more story in your mind than you are actually capable of holding.”

~ xoxo, m

Sometimes, I still need you.

2024-04-26T20:37:19Z

‘xx day’ … Ah, another day on the calendar that stirs the memories.

I’ve made so few posts here (sigh…maybe for the best… perhaps not?) that anyone giving a quick glance at the prior entries will see these annual items & know the story of them having been my #MostFaveBandEVAR for a dozen years now. Its odd to realize the differences between my life then & to now… the people & things lost somehow loom larger than what’s been gained, & the xx music has so much longing in it — something I know resonated deeply with me upon first listen & still works its magic.

Its been pretty quiet on the site here, as I’ve pulled back from the constant social media posting of years past to dwell instead on personal things, but I think (fingers crossed) that might change this year, as I’ve been re-focused on completing some of those long-simmering projects & conquering my deep, oh-so-deep sense of inertia. More on all of that later…

I moved to Hawaii in Oct’22. Its pretty great, but as a tiny island in the Pacific that’s far, far away from everything, its *ahem* isolated as far as live music goes. Not a decent concert for me from a favorite band in all the time since the move, which is quite a downgrade. I have, however, self-promised to fly over to the mainland when necessary, & by most accounts it seems that the xx are working on new tunes, surely with a tour coming soon after. Also, btw, Romy’s LP was a banger. Loved it.

Another year gone, but at least I heard music.

moar later, babies, xoxoxo ~ m

No Tech for Apartheid

2024-04-10T15:49:27Z

“…TIME, which noted that over 13,000 children had been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since the beginning of the war; that Israel had fired upon Palestinians attempting to reach humanitarian aid shipments; and had fired upon convoys of evacuating refugees.” — “Google Workers Revolt Over $1.2 Billion Contract With Israel”

TGIF

2024-03-16T00:28:24Z

Friday vibes with some Sade.