Visiopoetics

“it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done for ever.” - Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”

“… when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact, that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army.” - Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”

“What is rational is actual and what is actual is rational.” Also, Hegel was a beat poet.

“Carelessness and in-attention alone can afford us any remedy. For this reason I rely entirely upon them…” - Hume.

You caption it if you prefer. But that is all I want to say.

Wait, no, those are ants. It’s important to be clear on this because, like all professional chefs, I charge extra for protein.

This week, in “Wait, when did I miss this?” — Monkeybicycle ran a lovely May batch of one-sentence stories including one of mine.

I think I was taking a very long, deep post-finals nap. And then it was June.

On Slate this week, Christopher Beam asked: “What if political scientists wrote the news?”

The tagline (lowconcept) says it’s a spoof, but I find it quite chilling. Mostly because I read the piece without laughing once — I kept thinking these are great empirical points and basic questions the media should be routinely making/asking. I know the best comedy is true, but… Isn’t the punchline here really the unasked question of why the hell mainstream media doesn’t ask this stuff? That was the premise to be mocked by highlighting what the actual foci are instead of this. It’s the aberrant distance between logical and actual, far larger than the necessary distance between our minds and hearts, that’s so terrible and thus potentially hilarious.

Or maybe I’m a political scientist. Technically, that is what they pay me for. (Suckers.)

In completely related news, my herb garden is flowering. The entire bed, all at once. Party in the lavender.

The Lupus Foundation of Virginia Charlottesville chapter’s regular monthly meeting will be this Saturday, June 5 (the first Sat. of the month) at Cville Coffee at 12-noon. Spouses, friends, and family are welcome!

These are informal, open meetings where you can come for the creative ambiance of the only place in town with a climbable turtle and Galapagos Islands mural — and stay to discuss local/regional/larger rheumatology resources, problems, and solutions.

Autoimmunity affects more Americans than heart disease or cancer, and coordination of resources critical. That’s why these meetings are open to all people who suffer from or are otherwise affected by any autoimmune disorder. We are your community resource for information and support.

Except if you want to climb the turtle, you’re basically on your own.