Clear mammogram, good visit w/ my breast surgeon. Even my BP was normal. I'm grateful for this excellent healthcare I have. Taking advantage while I can. I want to live long enough to see things start to shift toward progress & diversity again, though cleaning up the current mess will take decades.

"I am not in denial, but I am in open rebellion." That is a phenomenal rallying cry and one we should all carry, because it outlasts and outmatches any developments, any "improvements"; it doesn't matter how "good" the plagiarism machine gets. The better it steals and harms, the more we will rebel.

In what universe would an innocent man threaten the ICC?

I just did a dramatic reading of the orange blob's truth social network post about his hard work (mostly medical stuff) & the seditious NYT, & now I need to either barf or go to sleep. Or row on my littler rowing machine.

They keep undoing everything Ohioans have voted *for*. It's like they hate us.

The Trump administration is proposing that all tourists entering the United States be required to supply 5 years' worth of social media posts before they're allowed to enter. Goodbye tourism money! we have 60 days to comment: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

I have this habit of looking up my medical team members' voting registration, available in OH, & I've noticed that some of the docs & nurses who used to be registered Rep. are now unaffiliated. That makes them less terrifying to me. (tho I still have iatrophobia)

When I fly, I generally wear whatever will be appropriate for the post-flying activity when my people pick me up from the airport. From now on, I'm going to wear my pajamas, & I think I'll find myself some fluffy bunny slippers. easier with the on & off thru TSA.

Texas, let’s win this thing. #JasmineForUS #TexasTough

I need to row because my mood is bleak, & rowing helps. My day sucks b/c I'm letting other people steal my time without compensating me for my skills & energy. I'd say I'm running out of spoons, but I have no right to use the spoons analogy. I normally don't mind offering my gifts. But today ...

While I haven't killed all of my social media accounts, I have deleted all of them from my phone as of tonight. Thinking I'll sleep better. And if I can't sleep, I have a ton of good books to read, poems to write, & novels to outline.

I spent yesterday afternoon helping a former Inkblots writer w/ her a critical paper for her seminary application. We also talked about All the Things, and she said, "These people in charge, all of them, from Peter Thiel to Elon Musk to Trump to Mike Johnson, are all losers." She's right.

When I was temporarily flush during the pandemic lockdowns (millions of us were!), I was finding new ways to give money away. I paid off debts, helped out family and friends, and created a giving category at the top of my budget. I don't get the logic of hoarding resources once your cup is full.

I'm much better with teenagers than I am w/ little kids (k-4). I *like* the little kids, but I'm too ... something. The 2 (sweet) boys who were working off community service at the Civic League seemed more open to what I offer. (so young for community service, one of them still in middle school)

I just watched an update on Ohio legislative news, and all I can say is that the GOP legislators truly hate us, think we're too stupid to know what's good for us, & want to ensure that we stay stupid, sick, broke, and ultimately die so they can do ... what? What do they want?

(do not open that email. do not open that email. delete that email without opening. delete that email without opening. you deserve your own kindness.)

Family of Colombian man killed in illegal U.S. strike files human rights challenge The petition from the family of Alejandro Carranza says the military bombed his fishing boat on when he was sailing off Colombia's Caribbean coast, in violation of human rights #Wrldpoli🌐 www.npr.org/2025/12/04/g...

Well, this Kate Bush video/song from last year isn't going to help me to stop weeping, but God is it beautiful. all of it. the animation ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXUk...

I made it to 2:40 p.m. before something made me cry. Go me!! (I hate it here.)

I don't know what I started looking up that led me to rennet, but I might have to stop eating certain cheeses b/c of it. sigh. I do love cheese. I know some are made w/ "microbial rennet," so those are safe. I can't stand the idea of eating anything baby cow adjacent. Am vegetar.ian, but not ve.gan.

Oh, God, now I'll be on Moreno's freakin' email list (I can unsubscribe). (I'm in the middle of what the "kids" call a crash out today. On a funny note, a 2nd- or 3rd-grade girl I was volunteering with asked me if I knew what "cringe" meant. hahahaha! I AM cringe, my darling.)

Listening to Shostakovich's Jazz Suites while I finish drafting a letter to Bernie Moreno (one of my vile OH senators) about the "Exclusive Citizenship Act" he just introduced, asking him to withdraw it (he won't. he hates us). The music gives me life. www.newsweek.com/dual-citizen...

I am once again telling everyone to get the fuck off Substack leavesubstack.com

Everything is still awful (Hong Kong fire, W.Va. guardsmen shooting, the orange shit goblin is still president), so I'm reading submission guidelines for literary journals in anticipation of submitting work that they will surely reject. Also listening to amazing instrumental music. And fasting.

I don't feel like rowing, but rowing is my anti-anxiety/anti-depressant. I'm a mess today. So Baby the rower waits for me, I've pulled up a soundtrack, I'll change into workout shorts, brush my teeth, etc. While I row for however long I row, I'll draft poems, plot a novel scene, write rants ......

People looking for signs of change often assume the change that matters most, the watershed, the rubicon, the turning point will be a dramatic event. But a case can be made that the changes that matter most happen in minds and hearts, and the events follow from that.

I think I see a woman in a window listening and protesting with the crowd. I love this energy.

I'm reading updates on the bills that have passed or are about to pass the Ohio legislature before break. These people HATE Ohioans, my God. I'm laughing and crying simultaneously as I read other news because these cartoon villains are implausible characters. Right? Right.

And here's how to order Killing Spree. Thanks @fsgbooks.bsky.social us.macmillan.com/books/978037...

My volunteer gig for this afternoon was canceled due to a power outage. So I wore myself out running errands in this crazy season of consumerism (I just needed bagels, oatmeal, & printer ink). Now I'm trying to decide if I have the energy to go to the city council meeting, see what I can sniff out.

Criminal cases dismissed against New York A.G. Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey www.nydailynews.com/2025/11/24/c...

I don't know why this helps, but it does: www.tiktok.com/@supahkenji/...

This one officially wins as our favorite comment on the photo.

One of my favorite erotic poems. So specific, such character, such story. From Dorianne Laux's book, Smoke: bookshop.org/a/862/9781880238868 #poem #books #writing

No one will see this, nor will they care, but I met up w/ just 1 of my teen Inkblots Writers today, others were busy or ill. She's a brilliant 14yo. We talked about turning trauma into art, a friend she's worried about, how our characters sometimes embody us, & we collaborated w/ hilarious results.

I can't believe it's too late for us, & I know SO many people are fighting for democracy, but man .... www.tiktok.com/@the.fifth.m...

Not sure why, maybe it's the pile up of all the Awful, but DJT's threats against Democratic senators is leading me to a major "crash out." We should ALL be crashing out. Loudly. In the streets. (except I hate that part of resistance for my ochlophobic self)

It's too late to plead w/ my OH state rep not to vote for the several heinous bills that are coming out of the house, & after I read through the list, I admit I folded over in grief & guilt. I should be out there banging pots & pans to chase these demons away.

Listening to Patti Smith's *Horses* this afternoon. This album came out in Nov 1975 when I was a *very* young college freshman. I had no idea who she was then & didn't discover her until I was middle aged (huge fan now). I would have been a different sort of person if I'd known her 50 years ago.

Genuine question, is anyone who surrounds the president a semi-decent person? anyone? Or are they ALL ghouls who celebrate cruelty & steal from the people (& steal people from the people)? Just one? A single good(ish) person?

Dear indie media company, while I love & appreciate the work you do, I deleted w/o opening the three emails in a row that were obvious requests for paid subscriptions. I just can't right now. Too many "asks" of my money, time, & soul. No one pays me for the work I do lately, so I'm fucking broke. ej

I'm proud of myself. I didn't start my daily weeping until 1:22 p.m. (this is regarding the state of the country, I.C.E. in North Carolina in particular, how people are showing up for each other against the face-covered cowards, how it still feels too hard).

I think we packed up ~200 lunches for homebound clients today. If I return, I'll try to count next time to help me with the assembly line rhythm. I was an awkward donkey. When I left, a sweet old man w/ a walker called out, "You're a good little worker!" That's me, worker bee extraordinaire.

I’m still struggling with the fact that ICE “brown shirts” went to a taco shop and thought they would get served. F that!

I have confused a strong need to "be of service" with a tendency to be a chump & to allow people to take advantage of my inability to say "no." I'll fix this because my energy level is much lower than it was before cancer (it's the medication that's preventing a recurrence that wears me out, man).

This was a really lovely treat to happen upon while sitting here at home knitting. Knitting and singing along to Neil Young! Have loved him and his music from the beginning. Happy Birthday Neil ❤️ youtu.be/USp4W2M1X-0?...

It's so horrifying that these agents seem to enjoy this violence. I can't even fathom living this cruelty. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

I'm so sad today I can hardly breathe. The violence in the world, the lack of humanity, seasonal grief, a misunderstanding, my inability or unwillingness to write poems that need writing. Whatever.

stray thought on a kind of a not-very-good day: my mama, who died nearly 32 years ago, would have loathed Bill Clinton for his inability to keep it in his pants. Lucky she missed that shit. But DJT would have made her spit tea, & she would have called him uncouth, boorish, vile, violent, and evil.

Everything is gross. My seasonal grief is upon me. I want to hide out until 1/1 (but can't). Megyn Kelly's "into the barely legal type" remark makes me want to vomit up my lunch. Two of the Inkblots Writers I mentor are 14, & they are CHILDREN! Brilliant, but still children below the age of consent.