Read: More Serious Pleasure by Sheba Collective Staff 📚This book is a collection of Lesbian erotic short stories and was loaned to me by a lesbian writer friend as a study guide for writing sex between women. It was helpful for that purpose though it was generally more bluntly graphic than I would choose to be in my writing. As erotic literature, which I do like, there were several stories I found especially compelling and most of the others were a good enough read. Contains poetry too.

Beyond frustrated. Got tired of Black and Decker weed trimmers breaking down every other year from minor part failures. Decided to spend extra money for highly rated EGO trimmer. Completely failed in two weeks. WTF! Does nobody know how to make a durable tool anymore?

In the realm of the utterly irresponsible:

Twitch streamer’s ‘huge giveaway’ sparks police response at Union Square in NYC | CNN

CNN – Social media influencer Kai Cenat has been charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly after thousands-strong crowds gathered in Union Square in New York City for a giveaway, leaving dozens of people arrested and several police officers injured.

… what on earth was he thinking?!!

Brazil Reports a Big Decline in Amazon Deforestation Last Month – Mother Jones

“The main reason is the decision of Lula to aim for zero deforestation. Since then, we have created new conservation units and indigenous territories that have produced some results… Now we need to move towards a new model of prosperity that is less predatory, less damaging to local people and the forest.”

Florida public schools have “effectively banned” AP Psychology. ‹ Literary Hub

Today’s news from the front lines of Florida’s war on kids: The state has “effectively banned” Advanced Placement Psychology because its anti-LGBTQ law forbids the course’s material on gender and sexuality. Because the College Board quite reasonably refuses to excise sections acknowledging the full spectrum of gender and sexual orientation to suit the hateful whims of a supremely shitty state legislature, the three-decade-old course will be unavailable to all Florida public school students.

August 4, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson

The attack on our nation by individual Republicans seems to be a theme these days. After yesterday’s arraignment on charges that he conspired to defraud the United States, conspired and attempted to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspired to overturn Americans' constitutionally protected right to vote, Donald Trump today flouted the judge’s warning not to try to influence jurors. He posted on social media: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”

plant and flower pots in an office window shot from the outside, venetian blinds drawn up above the plant and pots

display in shop window with women’s eyes looking out from a rectangular card

watermelon sitting on table in a restaurant various furnishings and accessories arrayed around the edges of the frame

wood board wall finish and yellow, blue, orange linoleum floor tiles in vertically running stripes with a stack of chairs on the right edge of frame and reflections of street and feet and legs of photographer overlaid

chain link fence and white aster flowers

brick building wall with two windows, the one on the left with a cat photograph hung on the inside, the one on the right with a dog image hung on the inside and a faded painted sign running from top to bottom on the right third of the frame

looking down on a creek with foam collected in a cove, rocks and plants from the right corner of the frame and bridge railing and pier running from the left corner diagonally to the middle of the lower edge

Required Reading

“Children like sweet and safe stories but they also like dark, bleak, unsettling or horrible stories. Children are like everyone else, they want stories that reflect the whole contradictory tangle of their lives.”

Young people who identify with gun culture are more likely to believe in male supremacy, survey shows

Dashtgard said this speaks to a larger cultural dynamic at play currently, where many White men are feeling unsure of how to articulate themselves as men in current society. As a result, many young men are turning to guns as an “unimpeachable access to masculinity.”

Young people who identify with gun culture are more likely to believe in male supremacy, survey shows

This isn’t a case of somebody typing in ‘the Holocaust isn’t real,’ but a 14-year old boy who is nervous about talking to women and going on the Internet and searching for tips for how to do that.

From that simple search, he said, many young men are quickly entering into a world of “really awful content” that is rooted in male and white supremacist ideology.

Young people who identify with gun culture are more likely to believe in male supremacy, survey shows

“As feminist discourse has entered into mainstream conversation, there has been an understandable focus on the ways patriarchy has impacted women,” Dashtgard said. “There hasn’t been articulated as clearly an understanding of how patriarchy affects boys and men.” 

This is soooo important!

From yesterday…

closeup of demolition site fencing with dust control fabric tied to a fence post, concrete slab, ground and plants visible through the dust control fabric

pile of metal demolition debris on asphalt surface with trees and weeds in the background

rack of women clothing in a shop, a vertical red striped mini dress, stripes narrow and spaced 3-4 inches apart

small water fall photographed from above

closeup of discarded brewing grain (hops?)

close up of rectangular concrete sidewalk surface with square patch where a pedestal used to be, chain link fence on the lefthand edge of the frame

row of colorful bold sunglasses, in a shop window, stickers on the window running around the lower and right edge of the frame, black lives matter sticker with three fists in the middle of the lower edge of the frame

cat’s eye green sunglasses head up by mannequin hands and arms in a shop window

Read: Summer People by Marge Piercy 📚Compelling story told well. I read continuously without loosing interest. Well written, but I found it a little emotionally removed from the stories of intimacy it told, which seemed strange for such intimate relational material. Recommended with that caveat.

Went to see… 🎥🍿🎬

From yesterday…

mural of head and shoulders of man with bowler hat, suit and tie, no facial features, just silhouette, fire escapes and shadows in upper left and right corners, utility pole in fore ground on left

From today’s walk…

blue/green velvet curtain gathered with a white string

light pink and white trumpet flower

small vase and large floral pattern vase with wilting roses sitting on wood inlay display surface in a shop window

yellow woven. fabric purse in shop window

I have been getting the Nikon out lately… a noticeable difference in image quality… I think I may stop being lazy… from yesterday…

aluminum ladder in a space under construction, sunlight streaming in from the light across the floor and the lower two rungs of the laser

children’s fancy dresses in a range of pastels hanging on a rack in a children’s boutique

woman’s abstract print dress in orange brown and blue hanging on the wall in a women’t clothing boutique, sun streaming across it from left to lower right

upholstered armless chair with beige print fabric in a vacant lot with weeds

arrow arum plants at the edge of a stream, sunlight falling across, reflections of the undersides of the leaves on the water surface

Queen Anne’s lace bloom in the sunlight with additional blooms and foliage in the background

blue/gray silk sundress on a mannequin form with blurred leaves from a plant in front screening the lower part of the dress

From this morning’s walk…

close up of cardboard packing tray like an egg carton but not for eggs

close up of plastic and aluminum takeout containers piled up in a trash receptacle

close up of a jimsyn weed flower but not jimsyn weed, light pink fading into white color

partially dead plant in a shop window

wet tissue paper on concrete sidewalk with a freeform pattern made by air pockets under the paper and looking a little like neurons

From yesterday’s walk…

fair-weather clouds in a turquoise sky

stickers on a window, the main subject a feminine sticker in the shape of a rabbit head

stickers on a window, the main subject is a yeti type monster with the words “american gross” in a banner at the top

stickers on a window the main subject is a woman in a black sleeveless dress holding up her hand to a butterfly with wings in a Puerto Rican flag motif

boiling rapids shot from above

From this morning’s walk…

Streetlight against blue sky and clouds. Street light cuts across upper right corner of frame and is lit.

Matching floral print blouse, belt and shorts. Print is varying shades of red on pink striped background.

Medalla Premium Light 12 Can box on asphalt pavement. Box is shades of yellow leaf motif background with “light” in script letters, white with black outline. “Premium” is white sans serif lettering on red stripe. “Medalla” is navy blue stylized sans serif lettering with white outline above the red stripe.

Interior of women’s clothing store with off white dress on a mannequin in the window and on the left and a sundress of similar color hanging on the wall from a hanger.

Succulent plant, gray/blue, draping over the edge of a terracotta pot.

Queen Anne’s Lace blooms in various states of unfolding.

White cloth gently undulating and creased with soft light casting soft shadows across the undulation. Undulations run vertically in the frame.

From this morning’s walk…

Blue sky with fair weather clouds at the bottom.

Restaurant table with stainless steel tray and salt, pepper, sugar and small plant on it. Brown leatherette banquette seating behind table.

Shop window with drop cloth covering the inside. Two wooden poles running horizontally across the frame. Residential building reflection overlaid.

Flat wooden ice cream spoon on concrete sidewalk.

Off-white cotton dress on mannequin gathered under the bust line with pleated short sleeves. Large brim straw hat caps it off. Sky and buildings reflection overlaid.

The Woman I Want/To Be :: Essays On Attention Paid(https://essaysonattentionpaid.com/2023/07/25/090000.html)

As I look through the images I am sharing in this post, I can see that the concept of womanhood they present is very feminine and not just a little sexy. I don’t, however, come to it from the proposition that women who might inhabit these clothes are required to fulfill an idea of womanhood that the dominant heterosexual culture seeks to enforce. The womanhood I imagine would inhabit this clothing with an intelligent, goddess-like presence, full of confidence, self-possession and sexual power.

The Woman I Want/To Be :: Essays On Attention Paid

In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir makes a compelling case that gender is a social construct. The social landscape we are raised in has a profound effect on what womanhood and manhood are conceived to be and how we conceive of ourselves as men and women.

From our garden…

Tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers on a blue circular plate.

We don’t have a large garden. Not even close to producing what we can consume, but it’s satisfying to grow food.

The World’s Real Queer - by Rhyd Wildermuth

What I mean to say is that the world has always been a thing of unpredictable wonder and utter strangeness, but we stopped noticing it because we got too comfortable. Like a lover, who is really a strange and fucking wonderfully unknowable person, but we stopped noticing all that. Then, suddenly, they do something we didn’t expect or predict, and we’re thrown off, confused, afraid they’ve changed, afraid they don’t love us.

The World’s Real Queer - by Rhyd Wildermuth

We all have pronouns. We all have sex. We all dress funny. We all think we’re different. None of that’s queer, that’s just fucking normal.