Signal Wave On the Road

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Sorry guys. My partner Kate's sister just died unexpectedly, and she and I and her daughter have been driving up the Eastern Seaboard through wretched weather, multiple accidents (not involving us) and the worst traffic I've ever seen.

I'm at the hotel in Albany. I started writing an open thread on an unfamiliar computer (partner's laptop) and it just did...something, I don't know what...and I lost everything I'd written for the OT this week.

So this will be short and sweet:

I'm reading two things: The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram and The Fellowship of the Ring. I was reading City of Endless Night, but its politics are too ugly for me.

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Animal tracks, word magic, the speech of stones, the power of letters, and the taste of the wind all figure prominently in this intellectual tour de force that returns us to our senses and to the sensuous terrain that sustains us. This major work of ecological philosophy startles the senses out of habitual ways of perception.

I've only just dipped into this book; I hope the author manages to jump the fence he's riding toward. If it lives up to its ambitions, it should be really good.

What I've been listening to: my partner's iTunes and her daughter's iTunes. A song that stood out for me today was Rachel Price's version of "Everything I've Got Belongs to You:"

I'm not watching much of anything right now. Waiting for a new season of Lucifer.

How are you all today?

Oh, and Happy Easter, for those of you who celebrate.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

I'm on the road and therefore won't be here today. Hope y'all are having a good holiday.

Smile

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

The Computus puts Easter of 2019 almost as late as it can be (April 25). The traditional formula of the Council of Trent sets Easter as the first Sunday on or after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox (i.e., Ostara). As the full moon in March fell on the 20th, and the ecclesiastical Equinox is always the 21st, Easter ends up far closer to Bealtaine (April 30 - May 1) than to Ostara!

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Lookout's picture

Take care out on the road. I just finished reading "The Overstory" last week and I enjoyed it. https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/3729/the-overstory

As for the tube...We finished watching Unforgotten on PBS passport this week. We're one episode a night types...not so good at binge watching.

Well at any rate wishing you and yours the best. Hope it was a life to celebrate.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Sorry the family issue has propelled you so far away. You are a champ to post in spite of the adversity.
Good luck and strength your way.

For Easter. One of the local church's bells were tolling this morning. Made me think of this.

Peace

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WaterLily's picture

@QMS Seriously one of my all-time favorite songs. Depeche Mode = brilliant.

(I also associate it with "getting ready to go out" my senior year in college. Brings me back every time I hear it.)

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enhydra lutris's picture

also sorry for your having to suffer the wretched drive and losing your OT. Some times reality just conspires to cascade misfortunes and accidents, large and small into ye olde clusterf*ck. The first step is to just sit back a little and breathe. Print this and hang it somewhere between you and the world:

03272019-63

After that, go about your business trusting that the next thing you touch won't bite you in the ass, that things are looking up and smile until it smiles you.

It is Eostre or Ostara, an old pagan holiday co-opted by Christians to celebrate the alleged return of their Preferred Prophet(tm) as a zombie, joining the ranks of the undead and thence celebrated with the trappings of the old pagan holidays overprinted with mystical rhetoric unrelated to the Jewish traditions and culture in which he lived and a big ham dinner to drive the point home. Oy.

Everybody's Horoscope - It is one of those days. Don't think too much, live, sense, enjoy and go through whatever motions you must while looking out at and into the herenow from within the sanctum of yourself. It is a free day, and thus it is your day, regardless of the noise. You may eat the chocolate without guilt.

Everybody have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

magiamma's picture

@enhydra lutris i

in honor of my cat's feather toy named bunny foo foo. foo foo is resurrected every time it is attacked. amazingly. so happy foo foo day all... and happy all-the other-holidays folks celebrate too.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@magiamma
neopagan version, is the best in a calendrical sense. The neopagans recognize that the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere, and hence Ostara (N) is Mabon (S) since they are keyed to the spring and autumn equinoxes. Easter, as mandated by the magnum sacerdotes of Roma is the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal (spring) equinox, and thus should be in September below the equator but, as in so many other things, they fucked up the geography and astronomy because Rome centric.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

thanatokephaloides's picture

@enhydra lutris

Easter, as mandated by the magnum sacerdotes of Roma is the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal (spring) equinox, and thus should be in September below the equator but, as in so many other things, they fucked up the geography and astronomy because Rome centric.

They didn't fuck up anything. The formula is tied to the land where the commemorated events happened. As the Easter events occurred during (and at the principal scene of) the Jewish Passover, the holiday's timing needed to correspond. And the newly-emergent Christian Religion wanted Easter to be the same date for everybody; it's far more a solidarity thing than a Rome thing. Interesting fact: the Ecumenical Council where these decisions were made was held at Nicaea, deep in Constantinople's turf, not Rome's.

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

enhydra lutris's picture

@thanatokephaloides
celestial reality. The critical full moon, the "paschal" full moon can occur on different days in different time zones, so they had to declare the full moon to be the 14th day of the lunar month the same way that they declared the equinox to be 3/21, regardless of when it really was. I'm too tired to work it out right now, but I suspect that if one did it would turn out that in forcing it to be the same calendar day throughout the globe they guaranteed that it could not be the same sideral day throughout the globe. Let's take today, for E-day to fall on the 21st all over the globe, it must occur yesterday in Sydney.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

thanatokephaloides's picture

@enhydra lutris

Ah, but they couldn't do that without fudging and ignoring
celestial reality. The critical full moon, the "paschal" full moon can occur on different days in different time zones, so they had to declare the full moon to be the 14th day of the lunar month the same way that they declared the equinox to be 3/21, regardless of when it really was. I'm too tired to work it out right now, but I suspect that if one did it would turn out that in forcing it to be the same calendar day throughout the globe they guaranteed that it could not be the same sideral day throughout the globe. Let's take today, for E-day to fall on the 21st all over the globe, it must occur yesterday in Sydney.

Oh, I know. That's why "the Computus is a puta"!

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

detroitmechworks's picture

Went to the couples counselor's office, and explained as calmly as I could that the relationship needed to end. I got yelled at. I got cried at. I got called a lot of names.

Every time I opened my mouth she told me I was hurting her and that I hadn't given her enough chances to fix her problems.

So, far as I'm concerned, I'm willing to be the bad guy here. I ended the relationship, I'm the one who's the jerk. Fine. I at least called her NO names when I left, and tried to be kind. I guess I failed, but I'm starting to think there was nothing I could do to properly end this amicably. I had already tried three times amicably,

So, I handed her the phone she had begrudgingly allowed me to use. (She wanted me on a smart phone again, but I HATE those things, and will not own one.) She said she'd send me her key in the mail, but after the storm out that she did, I'm not holding my breath and will change the locks next month.

I'm not going to lie. It hurts. I didn't want to end the relationship, because I love her, but sometimes a relationship keeps falling into bad patterns. She told me enough times that I hurt her that I don't see any point in continuing to do so. So, I guess I hurt her one last time yesterday, and I am sorry about that. But it's over, and I hope she can find someone who can give her the support and help she needs without hurting her like she told me I did constantly.

I know I didn't see things that way. Hence, if the relationship was going to work, I was going to have to change DRASTICALLY to match her expectations. I regret it took me two years to see what she wanted wasn't what I did.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNCM8IjtQ-o]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@detroitmechworks

I'm not going to lie. It hurts. I didn't want to end the relationship, because I love her, but sometimes a relationship keeps falling into bad patterns. She told me enough times that I hurt her that I don't see any point in continuing to do so. So, I guess I hurt her one last time yesterday, and I am sorry about that. But it's over, and I hope she can find someone who can give her the support and help she needs without hurting her like she told me I did constantly.

I know I didn't see things that way. Hence, if the relationship was going to work, I was going to have to change DRASTICALLY to match her expectations. I regret it took me two years to see what she wanted wasn't what I did.

Sounds like no matter what changes you made, she wasn't going to allow you the gently loving, supportive and healthy relationship that is your right, desire and need. (And her right, desire and need, for that matter!)

You showed your genuine love for her in one of the hardest ways possible. You surrendered your relationship that both of you might someday be whole, the precondition for any gently loving, supportive relationship.

You showed your nobility of spirit and your genuine willingness to love. Your scribe here is humbled by your actions and your exposition of the same here. I am grateful to Providence that I have gotten to know you in any way.

Give rose

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

detroitmechworks's picture

@thanatokephaloides There's another part of me that keeps hoping. Unfortunately I tried listening to that part that was hoping for WAY too long. Sometimes people change when you give them another chance, and sometimes, all you do is absolve them of the consequences.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Pluto's Republic's picture

It's modern and precise, but so very atmospheric. Somehow, just right for my morning.

Like everyone, I'm surely sorry to hear of your melancholy journey. At the same time glad to hear you all have each other. Onward, braveheart. See you on the other side.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

Thank you for checking in, anyway. I hope your trip home is easier.

My mom died suddenly and too young. Sudden death is hard on the survivors, but I consoled myself that, as far as we could tell, she had not suffered. I hope that was the case for your partner's sister.

I binged on The Medicis recently and liked it. I've come to start anticipating something good the minute I hear the sound at the beginning of a Netflix original, be it a series or a film.

If you can, spend a vernal equinox in Chichen Itza, Mexico some year.

Rachael Price, the arrangement and the Les Paul-type guitar sound so 1940s.

When the 1940s ended, it was 1950, when the film Easter Parade with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland was released. (I would have thought it was older than that.) For $2.99, you can watch the film on youtube, but here's a free taste. (It's probably on TV today for free anyway.)

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2RMiBcTAM]

Special shout out to the rabbis who asked people not to cross a picket line in order to buy Passover supplies at Stop & Shop because failing to support oppressed workers is not kosher (not Torah).

[video:https://youtu.be/Cql4Y927vhg]

Happy everything, everyone.

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lotlizard's picture

Aloha and warm wishes for spiritual consolation and healing and the strength to carry on, to both dmw and CStMS.

As far as relationships go, I couldn’t make long-term relationships work and didn’t understand why until I went to “Co-Dependents Anonymous” for a few years. It was what Germans call an “Aha-Erlebnis” for me (roughly, “it was like a light went on in my head”).

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thanatokephaloides's picture

Sorry guys. My partner Kate's sister just died unexpectedly, and she and I and her daughter have been driving up the Eastern Seaboard through wretched weather, multiple accidents (not involving us) and the worst traffic I've ever seen.

My love and condolences to you both. And my sorrow over your loss.

As for the Rachael Price track, the Jazz Gods have been speaking to me lately, too. I'm going to add your track to my "nu jazz" collection.

Hang in there, gentle one.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

thanatokephaloides's picture

I'm not watching much of anything right now. Waiting for a new season of Lucifer.

Did someone say Lucifer ??

[video:https://youtu.be/Eav12-yK6EI]

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Anja Geitz's picture

Having already been through the death of my own Mother, I couldn't imagine what losing a sibling would be like.

Grief. An unpredictable process with its own trajectory. One minute you seem okay, and the next you think you might get swallowed up by a fearsomely numbing black hole.

I imagine it's very difficult to watch someone you love navigate the white water rapids of that kind of emotion. Sad

Glad you were able to check in and let us know what's happening with you. Be well.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

WaterLily's picture

But let me add my voice to those expressing sympathy and support during this difficult time.

Virtual hugs to you, Kate, her daughter and the rest of the family.

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WaterLily's picture

I don't watch much these days because we ditched cable and, while we have AppleTV, rarely use it. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out; others, not so much.

I did just finish reading Dream Land by Sam Quinones; it's a few years old, but a tour de force (imo) regarding the opioid epidemic. He examines and weaves together so many threads. I learned a lot, and have an updated perspective on a challenge that we're still collectively at a loss to adequately address. Highly recommend it to anyone who's interested.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

and Kate and her daughter. I know what it's like to lose a sibling, and, how it's especially unsettling and sad, when they pass totally unexpectedly, or, out-of-the-blue.

(Same happened when my older Brother suffered a massive and fatal cardiac arrest during a predawn walk--one he'd taken for literally decades.)

We lived in different states, but, thankfully, I had talked to him only a couple days, prior. Of course, with no hint of anything being amiss. (He had no clue, either.)

Anyway, it just made our last conversation--which happened to have been an especially good one--even more special. Hopefully, Kate's got many good memories to comfort her, as well.

Take good care.

Pleasantry Mollie

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.
~~Gilda Radner, Comedienne

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.