I’ve been away for a while. Not away away. Not ‘away’ as in a different location. I’ve been away from this blog. The last thing I posted was on 16 December, almost three weeks ago. I’ve been writing this blog since 2011, and this is the longest I’ve been away from it.
Why? Family crisis. I’m not going to go into any detail (partly because it’s not my story to tell, partly because it’s nobody’s business, and partly because I dislike folks who whinge online…or anywhere else, for that matter). I’m only tangentially involved in the FamCrisis (not my monkeys, not my circus); my normally calm, quiet, incredibly happy life is collateral domestic damage, so to speak. Life here has been wildly disrupted; everything is now crowded, noisy, busy, and chaotic. It’s this way, in large part, because it was calm, quiet, and happy. I mean, where else are you going to go to escape, right?
In any event, the situation hasn’t been conducive to writing. But so what? People have written under worse circumstances. And while everything is still ridiculously chaotic and rather grim (and likely to stay this way for some time), I’m starting to acclimate to it.
Even before the FamCrisis, I’d shifted away somewhat from my usual blog posting. Most of my posts over the last several years have been political. But the 2024 election left me in an absolute funk. Since the election, I’ve written more about photography than politics.
But in a short time Comrade Donald Trump will once again infest the White House as an expression of the will of the people (the bastards). It seems pretty obvious that we’re entering into a grimdark era. Truth, decency, logic, kindness…that shit is out. Lies, grifting, loopiness, and willful cruelty will be featured in US ‘governance’ for the foreseeable future.
Ain’t no way I’m going to shut up about that. I’ll still write about photography and other stuff, of course, but I think it’s going to be necessary to call bullshit frequently and loudly in the coming months and years. So I’m back.
Editorial Note: Many/most of the problems we face are either due to or exacerbated by patriarchy. So we need to burn that shit. Burn it to the ground. Burn it, gather the ashes, douse them in oil, and burn them again. Piss on whatever is left, then salt the earth where the burning took place. Then burn the salt. Burn it and keep burning it, over and over. Burn it for generations. Then have tea and biscuits.
gregfallis.com 
Glad you’re back to dispense social/political insights to help us all survive this dark time. Hold the course with that fam crisis even though it’s brought chaos to you calm, quiet life and space. Happened to me too years ago a couple of months after I gave up my day job because my freelance business was successful and paid more, and it’s still amazing what I managed to accomplish in the midst of all that.
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Even with the FamCrisis, I know I’m still markedly better off that most of the people in the world. This is massively inconvenient, but I won’t miss a meal or worry about being homeless. I’m going to be just fine.
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In a perverse sort of way, it’s good to know that you were not away because you had succumbed to the post-election funk. Life continues, often in ways we’d prefer it did not, but nonetheless there it is. I managed to squeeze out a post or two during a family crisis of my own almost three years ago. It can sometimes sharpen the focus–when it doesn’t consume all your energy.
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Oh, the post-election funk lasted longer than it should have, and having the FamCrisis arrive just as I was emerging from the P-EF didn’t help.
But lawdy, I’m not very good at being miserable. It’s a lot of work to be steadily unhappy. I’m too lazy for that. It’s just so much easier to be happy and enjoying life.
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Sorry that your calm and quiet is shattered. We now have mum living with us. She’s in her own little home in the garden. I thought that would make it OK. But I find it very demanding in ways I didn’t expect. I don’t feel free in my own space anymore. There is aways a responsibility, usually a list, waiting for me every day. I can’t get away from it. The demands are relentless. Small things usually, but they still build up to annoy me. Lifting things down, putting things up. Tidying up. Hanging clothes. Getting the airer out and set up. Putting it away. Getting the bread maker down to a low table. Putting it away. Endless rubbish to dispose of. It’s like constant little drips of water. And then there are all the appointments I have to get her too in the car and the task of getting her to the car…
It’s exhausting. It’s stressful. And it doesn’t stop.
You have my sympathy. I like quiet and my own space. I’m not good in sharing it except with David, who is just the same as me. We go for hours in the same house and don’t cross paths sometimes and we are perfectly happy about that.
Anyway, before the orange twat gets back behind the Oval Office desk, Happy New Year to you and yours. Look for the little wins each day. Despite the shite that’s happening nationally. We’ve learnt to do that here in the UK ever since Brexit ruined us.
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“It’s like constant little drips of water.”
That’s exactly it. It never stops. But the thing is, I’m just rubbish at being miserable. I can’t maintain it. There’s always something that comes along (usually several times a day) that makes me happy.
The hardest part for me is the noise (we’re temporarily caring for an 8-year-old boy who is 90% noise) which is ongoing. But school started yesterday, so he’s gone for a few hours every day. That helps. It also helps to keep in touch with people (including you) on a regular basis.
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I am sorry to hear about your family crisis and hope that it smooths out in due course. I’m pretty sure you know how to take care of yourself, so keep on doing what you need to stay mentally and physically healthy.
Me, I’ve been listening to the history of Rome on an excellent podcast while I get back to hoofing it through local neighborhoods, which reminds me both that upheaval is a constant of history and that in the here and now, neighbors (actual people who live together in community) mostly manage to get along. I am concerned about what Trusk and their colleagues will do to further damage the US I’d come to accept as “normal,” and for once I am actually hoping that Congress remains in a deadlock–though that won’t necessarily stop the “executive” from grabbing ever more power. So, we’ll see where we are in another 2, 4, or more years… At least we’re not being sacked by Visigoths and Vandals, I suppose.
And I LOVE the photo, which at first appears to be b&w, but with a little study the red, the green, the gold appear and give it depth. Just lovely.
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Anne, I’m SO glad you noticed the colors in that photo. I thought maybe it would be too subtle. But that’s what stopped me in my tracks…the green light and the reflected red light. I had to stand there for 5-10 minutes waiting for that to happen again when there were no cars around.
How are you doing with your new Ricoh?
Also? Yes, we ARE being sacked by Visigoths and Vandals, just not physically.
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Sorry that you are having a family crisis, even if it is tangentially. As far as Comrade Trump is concerned, we are very worried up here in Canada. Things could get ugly for us very fast. So I am following the steps set out by my friend Dr. Lynne Quarmby, microbiologist, in the image I have attached. Keep making good art. Heather CameronÂ
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Part of the problem with Trump (well, a large proportion of the problem) is that he’s a chaos agent. That bullshit about Canada as the 51st State, the bullshit about buying Greenland, the bullshit about invading Mexico…it’s all noise and distraction and keeps attention focused on him.
That said, he will fuck up worldwide economies in ways that are both predictable and wildly unexpected. I still can’t believe he’s going to be POTUS in just a few days. We really fucked this up.
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I learned a new term today, which is going to be all too relevant for some time.
Brandolini’s law – Wikipedia
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Good to see you again and sorry for your troubles. Yes, all our voices will be needed in the coming months to call out the lies and shine the light on truth, as we can hardly trust the mainstream media to do so these days. We’ve got quite a job ahead of us!
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Sending thoughts of strength and patience along to you and the family to get through this period. Having been going through perhaps similar domestic upheavals ourselves lately, I kept holding onto the thought that everything passes, and it would change. And it did. Not in easy ways, but it did… Glad you’re ok. Hoping for the best possible outcomes for all of the ones we care about trying to find a path through troubles, both in your family and mine.
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Beckett, I’m going to be just fine. It’s a massive disruption, but it’s only a disruption. And yes, it’ll eventually pass.
Like I’ve mentioned to others, I’m sort of a natively happy guy. I’m just not capable of maintaining misery and sadness for very long. Between the FamCrisis and Trump Redux, my capacity for fun and joy will be tested, but while I worry for the state of democracy, I’m not at all worried about being miserable or depressed.
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I like that photo.
At first glance it seems pretty low key, but then I notice that the green light is reflected red in that bit of water, like a slice of a neighboring universe is peeking through, just a bit off kilter.
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Seriously, the fact that you noticed all that (which is exactly WHY I took that photo; I had to wait a ridiculously long time to catch both a red and green light without any cars on the street) makes me happy.
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