"If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”

-C.S. Lewis

Empathy and compassion are not profitable. It's not that it's impossible to make money with empathy and compassion, but one can make much more without them. That is why they are not nurtured in our society. We in fact encouraged to let those muscles atrophy.

The actual outcome of this election with •the whole US population• as the denominator:

22% voted for Harris
23% voted for Trump
<1% voted for other
26% eligible but did not vote*
28% not eligible to vote

* (whether by choice or by voter suppression)

Numbers might shift a tiny bit as last votes are counted, but this is close to the final tally.

Just sit with that for one quality minute. Think about what stories people are telling about this election. Then think about what stories are true.

The news kept talking about "Donald Trump's golf clubs" and I kept picturing a set of golf clubs. You know, with the cylindrical bag and the metal sticks with the heads used to hit balls. And then I would wonder why the Justice dept would be interested in Trump's golf clubs. And then it would hit me that the news means club as in like a country club, with the exclusive memberships and restaurants that require jackets and wealthy, mostly white clientele. And it's "clubs" plural because Trump has more than one of these things.

This same line of misunderstanding, confusion, and then re-realization has happened at least three times now.

Last night while laying in bed trying to fall asleep.

Me: I’m hungry.

Also me: That’s because you didn’t eat anything for dinner.

Me: Really? But I have a distinct memory of heating some spinach nuggets in the toaster oven!

Also me: You did. And then you forgot about them and left them there. If you don’t believe me, get up and go check.

Me: No, that’s ok, I believe you.

@cd24, I do use an antihistamine when things get bad, so allergens is a good candidate to pay attention to. Thanks.

@McPatrick,
Nothing really. I mean we eat more fresh corn and strawberries and stone fruit in the summer. But if those things are causing me migraines, then I'll live with the migraines. 🙃

@pammcst, thanks for sharing your experience. San Francisco weather doesn't vary that much over the year, and we very rarely get hot. (Most people would say that we do not have real seasons.) But yes, it is very possible that I get less sleep in the summer due to the light. It's so much easier to wake up early/harder to sleep in.

@DeborahLeagueFineArt, They look similar, and I should've guessed sandpiper as they are more common. But I love snowy plovers, so... 😂 Anyway, cool painting!

I've been thinking a lot lately about how our society is structured around the idea that some lives are expendable for the comfort of everyone else. For example, we could try to make it so that we don't generate toxic waste but it's easier/cheaper to designate a "sacrifice zone" such that beings living there die sooner while the rest of us stay relatively safe.

I think that's why the Bodhisattvas' Vow is so important. It may be aspirational to say "I will not be liberated until everyone is liberated" but it at least forces one to look for solutions that include the well-being of everyone instead of saying "This works for 90% of the people and 10% suffer so good enough." Lately, it seems, the percentage that we're willing to sacrifice has become even higher.

So... for some reason I seem to get migraines more often in the summer than I do other times of year. SF is so often so cloudy/foggy that it's hard for me to believe that it's due to increased light, tho maybe. Anyone have any other theories?

It's been a while since I've been on Mastodon. Ironically, it's all the brouhaha over Threads that reminded me to check-in here again.

Glad to see the community is still here and still a little weird and hecka charming.

@DeborahLeagueFineArt, Snowy plovers?!

A spell to wound your rival: muster your mettle, then fill a skull with your silent love. To finish, forget about the whole thing.

@njudah, I think it might look crass if we did that given that people are dying from the heat elsewhere. But yeah, I'm with you on the cold and cloudy. None of the veggies I planted this spring are growing except the potatoes.

This photo is the Norman Rockwell moment for SF 2023:
#innersunset #goodneighbors

@UUXMNR @krohne @RevSarah @ScottMGS @danlharp @Uutimatkins @alixklingenberg @revmolly @Rosiejay @however

Unfortunately I will not. 😥 If I'd realized that there won't be an in person GA next year, I might've tried harder to make it work. But anyway, wishing you all safe travels, loads of fun, and connections/reconnections with beloveds.

I have never spent much time on the bird site. I cam to Mastodon mainly out of curiosity, because the distributed model was intriguing. The platform that I spend the most time on is Facebook, but that may be about to change.

Happy May Day!
Happy Beltaine!
Happy First Day of Summer!

(Yup, I said what I said.)

Good morning, Karl!