I'm tired, angry and frustrated too.

Putting this here as a time and place marker. Because if things do not substantially change then we are going to have to face this again. And again. And then someday, what the fuck just happened.

Watch the whole thing before you start to have an opinion.

And sit with it and try to understand it.

You Can Learn A Lot from a Parsnip

Parsnips and social distancing. I went to the other market because I needed a walk. Had my mask on. I'm over at the discount veggies looking stuff over. I grab about a pound of crookneck squash and some parsnips. 

Woman with mask come up to me less than 20 inches and ask "What can you do with those?" I back up as I tell her she can use in soups and stews or as a roasted veggie. She picks up a bag and goes on her way.

Los Angeles Public Health Poster

Here is the thing. In normal times, there is only space for one or two people at the discount veggie spot. I honestly didn't think it hit her consciousness that she was too close.

I, however, are conscious of many things. I as a black woman cannot yell " get the fuck away from me" or, more likely "please maintain social distance from me' in any tone of voice without somebody pulling out their phone and calling 911.

Look how long and how many videos it took America to learn to wash their hands. 

I also know that many markets have narrow isles, packed with food, for now. A person would have to wait for someone to leave a section of fruit and veggies before entering it. That ain't happening. 

There are recordings in the store about please maintain social distancing. I kept hearing the recording, the other shoppers did not. 

Not at the meat case, where we all were stunned at the new prices of soon to vanish bacon, sausages, and pork products. Beef and chicken have hit the $10+ mark. 

Which now makes the imitation meat almost more affordable. I'm going to have to work on that concept for a bit.

One More Thing About American Health Care...

Really have to go but I want to put this here as a marker of just how dysfunctional we can be when it comes to taking care of our medical business. And our veterans. And the future vets to come into the system.

Today in dystopian medical care news: An Army veteran has his prosthetic legs repossessed after the VA refused to pay for them. He earned a Bronze Star in both Vietnam and Iraq https://t.co/eyEKpZlcCo

— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) January 10, 2020

We, As Americans, Are Responsible to Know The Truth

It has been too long and I'm not happy about it. I'm deep into the Anxiety Road podcast trying to lay down information that can be useful. That sucker + a work week + doing other stuff makes for a lonely blog.

But I do want to put this item into place so that it can be found six months or six years from now.

You see, I recently saw a video of a speaker having a roomful of white Americans recite that they are not responsible for the actions of their ancestors, that they have nothing to be ashamed about and are proud to be who they are in this space and time.

Before you can disclaim responsibility you have to know what your ancestors did to native people, Africans, Asians, Latino/Hispanic people and a whole bunch of other folks.

You have to know what you are trying to separate yourself from, and when you do understand what your ancestors did then you might feel a little twitchy about what is going on right now with some of your peers.

Now there are reprints of the magazine from NYT but that shipping cost is twice the cost of the magazine. Not to worry. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has the magazine posted as a pdf and other educational materials to aid in your education.

For those of you that would like to listen to the content there is an audio series by NYT being delivered by podcast at https://www.nytimes.com/column/1619-project

The second part; they have nothing to be ashamed about.

Dude and Dudette, if you are an American citizen, you need to understand this is a shameful part of our collective history. When you take on being an American whether by birth or choice, you take on part of the shame, no matter who you are. These are fact that cannot be smudged away with with emotional feel good blinders.

Now I know that there are folks that do not cotton to reading. Not to worry. There is a podcast for your alternative access to information.




NPR interviews Nicole Hanna Jones on the 1619 Project.


As to the third item. I can't speak to that.

So yeah, I'm gonna dive in because I know I have culturally induced patches in my historical education. And I am still and American, unless somebody starts messing with an amendment and then yeah, we'll have a situation or two if that happens.

Don't let it happen. 

I Don't Want This to Get Lost

Because people make the case all of the time for what they know. Only much of what they know is by exclusion.

Exclusion of what was actually happening.

Exclusion of the people that were kidnapped and murdered along the way.

Exclusion of other people in the world who had a voice and vision for the world long before Europe as we know it.

Ok, ok. Deep breath. @sam_kean wrote a piece for @sciencemagazine about how European science was largely made possible by the #slavetrade. Sure. But the LANGUAGE IN THIS PIECE is irresponsible and it hurts!!! A thread...https://t.co/mDBWI2jfAX

— Rae Wynn-Grant, PhD (@RaeWynnGrant) April 10, 2019

Making history whole means telling the whole history. And because I don't trust people anymore, I'm going to post a photo of it just in case:

https://twitter.com/RaeWynnGrant/status/1116076320188981250

Fighting the Fear Bots Anyway I Can

So, a FB friend posed something and somebody reported it and it was removed.

Happens everyday.

Happens to people I know and care about.

And it doesn't mater if it was a bot or a human censor; this was her page, her post and somebody didn't like it and had it removed.

I'm going to set a photocopy of it right here.

So it doesn't get lost again.

Now to me this is more like announcing water is wet. But not everybody understands the concept of water. When you do understand then you want to tell somebody.

Messing Around With Pixlr X and Fastcut and This is What I Got

I had a bunch of old photo that I never threw away but didn't know what to do with them. Time marched on and I have Fastcut on my computer and access to the newer quick photo editor Pixlr X.




Now, the thing is that bothers me is that I had limited input. I did pick the photos.

I changed some of the aspect ratios, rotated or colored the images.

But the animation is based on the music. Change the music and you have a different animation style and effects. That can render a different video each and every time.

Still, I can see some uses for this and I am delighted that Autodesk is replacing the original Pixlr Express.