THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO BE STUPID

THE RIGHT TO BE STUPID

Is it a constitutional right?

I realize that the economy is in tatters, and that this is the sole fact for many. I know the terror of not having the rent money with prospects for future rent not good either. I would understand if people, suffering PTSD from multiple crises all at once, covid, unemployment, no pub respite, ranted against the powers that be. Yet to fulminate about mask-wearing? Yeah, masks are hot and fog my glasses, and not glamorous. My lipstick gets mussed and left inside—yes, bite me, lipstick! The only good thing about the masks? They cover the lower, most age-revealing part of my face. Oh, and they save lives.

CABERNET-19

CABERNET-19

Husband and I have been happy together for a long time. More than 30 years. And while it is a second marriage for both, 

it's probably the last as well. 

Many who meet us think we are newlyweds. People ask how we do it. And while I usually give the true answer that it is him, that I completely trust him and he is easy and non-judgmental--not to mention handsome--there is more. And it may not seem like anything, but IT COULD HELP 

WE ARE SILLY. 

Right. I think that if we were recorded during our day, we would be embarrassed. We do back-and-forth puns, make noises instead of words, to avoid answering awkward questions or commenting when we'd rather not. 

About this, parenthetically. Making meaningless sounds is satisfying in a weird way. I mean it's weird that it works. 

I even use the nonsense sounds to cover an angry thought. 

Exaggerating an angry thought to an absurd point is good for a laugh. 

I won't say laughter is the best medicine, but it may be the best relationship-preserver/extender.

Every time we walk by we either kiss or air kiss. Or double air kiss. Or we touch each other, a glancing caress, a small pinch, something a teensy bit suggestive, maybe.

The reason I mention all this silliness is that it is so very easy to do. It does take a bit of thought, and probably an investigative conversation with sig oth. Otherwise, let 'er rip!

Which is not to say that that the Covid-10 isn't the Cabernet-19 for me--talking pounds here.  

THE MUSEUM OF BAD PEOPLE

EVERYONE'S WONDERING WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE STATUES THAT MISREPRESENTED HISTORY--THAT'S EASY. WE NEED A NEW MUSEUM: THE MUSEUM OF BAD PEOPLE!

TALKING TO STRANGERS

Strangers, cont’d.

I want to talk about my other favorite podcast, the one who got me hooked on them to start with. So there is no unnecessary suspense, it’s HIDDEN BRAIN always wonderful.

Now podcasts are so valuable to me, it’s hard to imagine what it was like before. Before, I might lie awake trying to sleep. Now I lie in bed, trying not to sleep because the podcast is so interesting.

But I can’t. I must talk about Gladwell’s book.

Talking to Strangers

AT first, you wonder what he’s after. The many stories he discusses have been widely covered. But as we know, he’s always got something up his sleeve. And by the time he’s done, after many go-rounds and interweavings, everything is in a new light. Often in an unimaginable way. Things you think you understand, believe me, you don’t.

Also, many of the discussions are so pertinent to what’s happening today, it’s almost as if he just wrote on the heels of the recent police murders.

The tag line of my radio show was CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING. And this has proven to be a necessary adjunct to any effort to learn the truth.

Podcast: Malcolm Gladwell's REVISIONIST HISTORY

REVISIONIST HISTORY: Malcolm Gladwell's Podcast

I'VE BEEN DRIVING MYSELF CRAZY

So many topics, such a lazy bum...

From women and guns to no police to why I hate literature to drinking so much. And those come to me when I'm not even properly thinking about it. Oh, and then there is Ruthy's 96th birthday, celebrated on Zoom. Without me, but she says I was a presence.

Malcolm Gladwell has a nice voice. There is a lot of melody and affect, and a free use of colloquialism. There is no sentence too compex to understand. Which is why it's so wonderful that he delves into the most complicated matters with joy and curiosity, and fully brings us with him.

The phrase "revisionist history" is often misunderstood. I wonder if he knows that and is having fun with his title. Revisionist sounds like a bad thing, like what we were taught the Soviets did, rewriting their so-called history books to reflect well on the regime and leave out inconveniences like starvation, failed farms and factories, etc. 

But in truth, revisionist history is the opposite. It is the revised history made possible, nay mandatory, by new knowledge. What Gladwell does is look at events, ideas, whatever, that in many cases have already been looked quite a lot, and he re-examines them in light of new facts and theories. A lot like the spirit of FREAKANOMICS.

I always read him, the science writer, starting with THE TIPPING POINT, which I read in excerpts in The New Yorker. This was wonderful to me because it explained unexplainable things, like why a neighborhood would fail. I understand just enough of quantum mechanics to be intrigued, but not enough to explain it to someone. More about that later. But it seems like many things do not change gradually. But in quantum leaps. Suddenly it is ice when a second ago it was water. This may not be a scientific analysis, but it's easy to understand. I loved OUTLIERS, too. A much better explanation of certain kinds of success that the usual bromides involving bootstraps*, or possibly worse, "you can do anything" when nothing is explained. 

I put the links below to two of my favorites. The King of Tears is about why country music makes you cry, as opposed to Rock. And the second, Chutzpah vs Chutzpah is a primer to understanding Israelis.

More later. I must go make a salad and some lemonade for a socially distant dinner party now. 

revisionisthistory.com/episodes/16-the-king-of-tears

revisionisthistory.com/episodes/39-chutzpah-vs-chutzpah

Listen to "Chutzpah vs. Chutzpah" Season 4 Episode 9 of The Revisionist History Podcast with Malcolm Gladwell.

*The origin of the phrase picking oneself up by the bootstraps came from the self-evident fact that such an action was impossible. It was meant to describe something that couldn't be done. And somehow it has come to mean its opposite. A cat o' ninetails used to whip people into frenzies of guilt when they can't pick themselves up, I think mainly used by Republicans agaainst the poor.