Catching Up
Oct. 15th, 2017 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kelly_chamblissThis Week: Big Picture: I can't even begin to enumerate the dastardly, dangerous, and damaging things Trump has said and done this week. He's been busy screwing the American people (sick people, Puerto Rican people, and LGBTQ people in particular), undermining the democratic process, and saying "fuck you" to the entire world. Seriously, we're all being destroyed by the hour, and there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. Trump and the alt-right and the misogynists and the white supremacists just steamroll on.
Outside of politics, the big US story seems to be the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Amazingly, many people are shocked -- SHOCKED -- that an enormously wealthy, enormously powerful white man has spent decades abusing women, bullying subordinates, and paying to cover up his crimes. A lot more people are double-shocked to learn that a) this situation has been an "open secret" for years and c) -- triple shocker -- that serial creep Harvey Weinstein is not the only powerful man in Hollywood or politics who behaves like this.
I mean, using sexual power to demean and diminish women and getting away with it and having people cover for you and excuse and justify you. Who'd a' thunk it?
Two Weeks: My Picture: I've dealt with the horrors in a totally courageous way: by running away while the running's good (that is, while I still have the health insurance to cover me if I'm in a car wreck). Luckily, the running has turned out to be a lot of fun. Where have I run to?
1. HP Fandom -- Got a great assignment for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hp_halloween.
2. Washington DC -- Still a fabulous place to visit despite the metaphorical mushroom cloud hovering over it.
I spent our Fall Break visiting my 88-year-old bad-ass friend. While she went to a doctor's appointment (just a check-up), I toddled off to the National Postal Museum, which was fascinating, totally free, and only steps away from the Union Station metro.
The next day, since my friend now finds the metro too difficult, we took a cab to the National Portrait Gallery, where the hall of presidents has only recently reopened following renovations. It's really quite well done, and best of all, there's no portrait of the Great Imposter yet. (A president's portrait is not added to the gallery until he leaves office.) We also got to see interesting exhibits on Marlene Dietrich and Sylvia Plath.
On my last night, we went to see Hal Linden (of Barney Miller fame) in an Arthur Miller play called The Price (1968). A couple of fine (if rather over-the-top) performances, but a really weak play. (Miller's an erratic playwright at best.) Speaking of bad-ass elderly people, Linden is 86 years old. . .and he was all over that stage, his impeccable comic and dramatic timing fully intact. Here's The Washington Post's review.
3. BFF Visit -- My best friend, who I've known since sixth grade, had a couple of days off and was able to make her first visit here in twelve years. We had fabulous weather, went out to dinner, went to a play, took a day trip to Nearby Fun Small City, and talked ourselves silly. A fine time was had by all.
So, I'm home now, AND. . .all my papers are graded for the moment. Yes, we're all flying along to hell on the Muggle equivalent of a Gringott's cart, but there are a few nice times to be had along the way.
Outside of politics, the big US story seems to be the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Amazingly, many people are shocked -- SHOCKED -- that an enormously wealthy, enormously powerful white man has spent decades abusing women, bullying subordinates, and paying to cover up his crimes. A lot more people are double-shocked to learn that a) this situation has been an "open secret" for years and c) -- triple shocker -- that serial creep Harvey Weinstein is not the only powerful man in Hollywood or politics who behaves like this.
I mean, using sexual power to demean and diminish women and getting away with it and having people cover for you and excuse and justify you. Who'd a' thunk it?
Two Weeks: My Picture: I've dealt with the horrors in a totally courageous way: by running away while the running's good (that is, while I still have the health insurance to cover me if I'm in a car wreck). Luckily, the running has turned out to be a lot of fun. Where have I run to?
1. HP Fandom -- Got a great assignment for
hp_halloween.2. Washington DC -- Still a fabulous place to visit despite the metaphorical mushroom cloud hovering over it.
I spent our Fall Break visiting my 88-year-old bad-ass friend. While she went to a doctor's appointment (just a check-up), I toddled off to the National Postal Museum, which was fascinating, totally free, and only steps away from the Union Station metro.
The next day, since my friend now finds the metro too difficult, we took a cab to the National Portrait Gallery, where the hall of presidents has only recently reopened following renovations. It's really quite well done, and best of all, there's no portrait of the Great Imposter yet. (A president's portrait is not added to the gallery until he leaves office.) We also got to see interesting exhibits on Marlene Dietrich and Sylvia Plath.
On my last night, we went to see Hal Linden (of Barney Miller fame) in an Arthur Miller play called The Price (1968). A couple of fine (if rather over-the-top) performances, but a really weak play. (Miller's an erratic playwright at best.) Speaking of bad-ass elderly people, Linden is 86 years old. . .and he was all over that stage, his impeccable comic and dramatic timing fully intact. Here's The Washington Post's review.
3. BFF Visit -- My best friend, who I've known since sixth grade, had a couple of days off and was able to make her first visit here in twelve years. We had fabulous weather, went out to dinner, went to a play, took a day trip to Nearby Fun Small City, and talked ourselves silly. A fine time was had by all.
So, I'm home now, AND. . .all my papers are graded for the moment. Yes, we're all flying along to hell on the Muggle equivalent of a Gringott's cart, but there are a few nice times to be had along the way.