sunday sun day

A beautiful day, again. And I'm feeling down, again. N canceled our Marin hike because the dog is sick. I'm disappointed but then again, I'm sleep deprived -- I can't seem to get out of my every-other-night rut. I can use the day to do housework that is long overdue. I haven't vacuumed in weeks, and there is laundry, as usual.

And I can go walking all by myself.

I hated writing that $4,000 check on Tuesday, especially since it was the second time I've paid to have rats evicted from the attic. I hope those people knew what they were doing. I hear sounds and am not altogether sure they are not coming from above.

Cue the tiny violins. I'm struggling with my demoralization at work, concerned about m and d, and feeling alone and lonely.

But hey, I went to the circus yesterday. Or rather, the circus came to a park near me.

civility vs. morality

Adam Serwer, in the Atlantic:

When those in power are caught abusing that power in ways that are morally indefensible and politically unpopular, they will always seek to turn an argument about oppression into a dispute about manners. The conversation then shifts from the responsibility of the state for the human lives it is destroying to whether those who object to that destruction have exhibited proper etiquette. . . .

This variety of tut-tutting is irresistible to many ostensibly objective journalists, who by convention are barred from expressing opinions on policy but are welcome to lecture on tone, and take nearly every opportunity to remind the rabble of their obligation to be polite to their rulers. But to express outrage at the criticism of nefarious conduct while treating that conduct as a typical political conflict in which there are two equally valid positions is to take a side.

And, finally:

Demographics are not destiny, unless you make them so. A conservatism that appeals almost exclusively to white people, and views nonwhites as an existential threat, is not worth fighting for.