William Morris Textiles Circa 1880

'Rose and Lily' (1893) textile length by Morris and Co

Wool and silk twill.

Image and text information courtesy LACMA.

The next few weeks are going to be hard for many of us in the US. The new regime is going to come out of the gate in full attack mode. The LGBTQ community, people of color, immigrants, women, the poor and even our (already broken) health industry are going to be targeted.

This is an attempt to exhaust us with a game of civil rights whack-a-mole, and there is no doubt that some of us are going to feel absolutely wrecked every time we look at the news.

Here is my advice on surviving the next four years

Limit your exposure to the news, it's fine to check the headlines, but

Order a big roll of postcard stamps from the USPS and buy some cheap, blank, postcards.

Sending physical mail can be more effective than signing online petitions, and it has the added benefit of getting you away from the computer. I personally prefer writing postcards because it feels more like I am taking tangible, physical action.

If you are especially organized, you can pre-print address labels for your representatives. I am 100% not that organized.

The ACLU has a guide on what to say here: https://www.aclu.org/writing-your-elected-representatives

Most importantly, don't fall into despair. You are not alone in this, there are millions of us out here who want to see a kinder world.

We've got your back.

DREW STARKEY AS EUGENE ALLERTON Queer (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino

Similar to Sargeant, I recognize a Boldini whenever I see one on my dash and feel the need to repost. This is the artist Whistler, or more formally James Abbott McNeill Whistler, painted by Giovanni Boldini in 1897.

“Public libraries are such important, lovely places!” Yes but do you GO there. Do you STUDY there. Do you meet friends and get coffee there. Do you borrow the FREE, ZERO SUBSCRIPTION, ZERO TRACKING books, audiobooks, ebooks, and films. Have you checked out their events and schemes. Do you sign up for the low cost courses in ASL or knitting or programming or writing your CV that they probably run. Do you know they probably have myriad of schemes to help low income families. Do you hire their low cost rooms if you need them. Have you joined their social groups. Do you use the FREE COMPUTERS. Do you even know what your library is trying to offer you. Listen, the library shouldn’t just exist for you as a nice idea. That’s why more libraries shut every year

JONATHAN BAILEY as FIYERO Wicked Part 1 (2024) dir. Jon M. Chu

I get these in the form of ocular migraines usually a while after some strenuous activity. They are not usually accompanied with a headache, though sometimes a real whopper of a migraine follows.

Person with migraine aura today: Ow ow ow my head hurts and all I can see is TV static :(

Nineteenth century doctors describing migraine aura with the manic horror of a lovecraftian horror protagonist:

At first it looked just like the spot which you see after having looked at the sun or some bright object; I thought it might be an eyelash in the way, or something of that sort, but I was soon undeceived when it began to increase…

When it was in its height it seemed like a fortified town with bastions all round it, these bastions being coloured most gorgeously... All the interior of the fortification, so to speak, was boiling and rolling about in a most wonderful manner as if it was some thick liquid all alive. (Hubert Airy, 1856)