Thoughts

"She guessed that behind the conscious evil there was an unconscious blackness. That was what distinguished the earth's children of darkness; they couldn't make things but only break them. God the Creator had made man in His own image, and that meant that every man and woman who dwelt under God's light was  a creator of some kind, a person with an urge to stretch out his hand and shape the world into some rational pattern. The black man wanted--was able--only to unshape. Anti-Christ? You might as well say anti-creation.

He would have his followers. He was a liar, and his father was the Father of Lies. He would be like a big neon sign to them, standing high to the sky, dazzling their sight with fizzing fireworks. They would not be apt to notice, these apprentice unshapers, that like a neon sign, he only made the same simple patterns over and over again. Some would make the deduction for themselves in time--his kingdom would never be one of peace." --The Stand, Stephen King

So, over Halloween I decided to re-visit one of my favorite novels The Stand. Some parts of it haven't aged well, and the unconscious/casual racism is pretty bad. (Hey, we all internalize oppression. That doesn't mean the author hasn't evolved. I know I have quite a bit.) So, I don't like the use of "black man" in that quote...however, the novel is still a damned good one--in spite of the ending. And the similarities to what is going on right now in American politics are too terrifying to ignore. I say this as I watch Trump's inability to form a working transition committee. It's crumbled twice already. His decisions to split the White House Chief of Staff position into two different positions doesn't bode well for the TeaParty's [cough]bullshit[cough] agenda regarding "smaller government." But hey, the man is a pathological liar. Why should anyone be surprised?

That said, for the most part yesterday was a pretty good day. I got things done. I advanced my goals regarding activism. I even got my first dirty look for my Black Lives Matter patch. ;) I even made art. (I'm working on a logo for a new writing-community-activism group I'm forming with a few very wonderful local writers. More on that once we've solidified everything.) The only thing that didn't happen was writing. But that should happen today after Martial Arts class.

And another semi-random thought...

via GIPHY

"I used to want to save the world, this beautiful place. But the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness within." --Wonder Woman, 2017

Never in my life have I ever found Wonder Woman inspiring. Never. She's always seemed to be too much of a slave to the Male Gaze of Comicbook-dom. (I mean HEELS?! SHE WEARS HEELS INTO BATTLE? WTF?! They're wedges. Sure. But they're still MF-ing HEELS.) Nonetheless,  Gal Godot has done something that no other actress or comic book has ever been able to do before. She's made me believe. And no matter how sucky the film ends up being, she's my new go-to for inspiration during the coming years. That quote says it all.