Encanto

Hello My Friends,

Remember when international affairs and world politics were mundane and peaceful? If you said no then you’re right. Don’t get me wrong, what’s happening in Ukraine is terrible, but it’s not unprecedented. Maybe it feels bigger because it’s not in the Middle-East. Or maybe it’s the extremely on-point social media coming out of the country.

A big name author has recently raised a ridiculous amount of money on Kickstarter for 4 books. Last I checked, the total was just over 25 million. That’s amazing and I want to be happy for them. But this author is also on record as being against same-sex marriage because of their religion. It frustrates me to no end when I know there are authors out there with massive talent and fantastic books and they’re barely making rent. No one needs 5+ million to write and publish a book.

I need to stop reading comments. I’ve come much too close to just replying F-you to people in random comments. It’s not healthy. I have to stop.

The world sucks sometimes. Apparently people are trying to bypass the laws against conversion therapy in Canada by using “life coaches” from other countries over video calls. It’s reprehensible and disgusting. No one should be tortured or abused because of their sexuality.

In that same vein, I wish the laws had included other forms of radical therapy that psychologically and physically tortures participants until they behave a certain way. ABA is an example and churns my stomach to think about.

It seems the major protests funded by the right wing fringe are calming down a little, or getting less attention anyway. It still seriously hurts that I have family and had friends who were willing to support Tamara Lich and Pat King. It was always the same thing too. The family and former friends were willing to overlook the white-supremacy, anti-semitism, homophobia, and general hate because the organizers of the convoy were fighting against mandates. That hurts and I just can’t believe people can forgive and support hate just because they agree with someone on one subject.

We watched Around the World in 80 Days (the television show with David Tennant). It started off a little more intense than I would have liked, but it built up really well and had some great characters in it. I’m glad it’s been renewed for a second season. I can also see why so many commentators and reviewers (I really need to stop reading comments) didn’t like it. It tackled a lot of race, sex, and class issues that are still extremely relevant.

Shopping for appliances is a ridiculous process involving much too much jargon and misinformation. As much as the hyperfixating part of me is loving researching washing machines, I’m getting annoyed at the lack of forthcomingness. Unfortunately, while I have friends who are experts in cars, computers, cooking, gardening, books, games, and many other things, I don’t seem to know any washing machine aficionados.

I think that’s enough random half-baked thoughts for today. (Okay, now I want cookies.)

Feel free to let me know your thoughts on any of these in the comments. I shouldn’t read them, but I probably will.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric