Hallway to Nowhere

This is how COVID-19 has impacted my life. I live in Abingdon, a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in rural Virginia. I’ve been quarantined and sick since March 11. I’ve had a harrowing trip to the ER in an ambulance, been shut in a glass cubicle at the hospital and faced with a tech who looked like he was dressed in a haz-mat suit as he swabbed me for my COVID-19 test. My wonderful ER doc had to fight to get me tested and it took a FULL WEEK-7 days- to get the results (negative, what a relief) . My current diagnosis: acute respiratory viral infection, unspecified. All the OTHER tests came back negative, too. But I remained very ill for several weeks, though I’m slowly getting better.  In the meantime, because I’m medically fragile, I cannot go out. Friends have been kind enough to bring me groceries as needed, and I had stocked my pantry just before I became ill. The independent pharmacies have performed wonderfully, as have my doctors. I can’t say the same about the massive healthcare CORPORATION that oversees everything here. I inadvertently got involved in some of their medical drama and think they behaved very badly indeed, aside from taking an appallingly long time to process COVID-19 test results. And I have heard a few individuals give the extreme right “save the economy” talk that has revealed more than I cared to know their true character.  But for the most part my community is functioning and surviving.   People who can are delivering food to friends. William King Museum is doing virtual art talks and events, as is the Arts Depot. The library has ALWAYS offered online options and and continues to do so-awesomely! Barter Theater is live-streaming a play. Local restaurants are still offering takeout. We are hanging on….for now.

I’ve read a few articles about the rise of meth as the drug of choice now. While meth might be gaining popularity here in SWVA, don’t say that the opioid epidemic has passed. Here’s what I see on the ground:

Classes on how to administer Nalaxone, and a corresponding backlash against those classes. People seeking drugs while riding public transit and riding while high (on all sorts of drugs). A friend dead of an overdose. Another currently in the process of crash and burn.

And I wonder: Where is help? Where are the M.A. T. programs? ANY rehab? This is southwest Virginia, opioid central, part of ground-zero for the opioid epidemic and big pharma’s experiment with getting doctors to push pain pills, pharmacies to sell them, patients to get hooked on them.  AND IT CONTINUES. We are still awash in pills, legal pills. People trade them, deal them, swallow them, crush them, snort them, inject them, and finally die for and from them.

When will it stop it? When most of us are dead? (Perhaps this is the plan…..)

I know, I’m really late this week! What can I say? I have the plague-AGAIN! This is what activism will get you, for I caught this week’s version at a training session at E & H, only place I’ve been, right? Besides to Griffith’s office…..Republican cooties, whaddaya think? And none of my gun-owning neighbors will agree to shoot me and put me out of my snotting misery! So what’s the use of living in a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary, I ask you? Lol….

As usual, I’m excited about the music list! I hope you will be, too! Starting off to remind us  that WE ARE ALL ONE in these days of hyper-division is the super-cool Japanese group World Order. Started by former martial artist Genki Sudo, the 7 member group looks like robotic salarymen as they perform their highly stylized videos. Staying in the region, this is followed by Quqin performing on traditional instruments in traditional dress but Western rock style. (Hope this encourages you to check out their trad Chinese sound!) Then hopping to the West to France and letting you light your Gauloise and sip your cognac while you listen to Francoise Hardy sing her wonderful cover of Cohen’s SUZANNE. Moving to Africa (hey, it’s always a world tour here) for the group Les Amazones D’Afrique, who recently dropped a new album, Amazones Power. Yes, they are indeed QUEENS! Back to Japan for one of the hottest female punk bands Stereopony (yes!) and HITOHIRA NO HANABIRA! Next, I have NO REGRETS including this selection from Eminem’s latest album, Music to be Murdered By.  For my Xian friends, I’ve included a scathing piece by singer-songwriter Daniel Dietrich that, well, calls you out: Hymn For 81%. Since we have two warring factions right now fighting about the proposed Bristol Casino, I found this song CASINO QUEEN by the awesome Jackie Lynn. Let’s take a break, breathe, and appreciate the beauty of Lina_Raul Refree’s genre-bending flamenco (really, you should listen to entire album, eponymously titled)-GAVIOTA. And to send you off dancing (unless you just hate it and tell me so, next time you see me or in an email), I found a DJ’S club mix of Tracy Chapman’s song: GIVE ME ONE REASON. Whew!

Articles: I’ve got a few! So happy reading!

Everyone’s worried about the coronovirus.Will it be the NBO? But hey, don’t forget about the often deadly virus that’s been making people very sick for months and doesn’t show signs of letting up: INFLUENZA!

https://time.com/5758953/flu-season-2019-2020/

I know I said I wouldn’t post from sites with a paywall. But this article from the WaPo is so USEFUL that I’m breaking that rule. It concerns FACEBOOK and how the company tracks you even when you AREN’T ON FB. The article tells you how to disable this setting, clear your history, plus some other useful stuff. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (Has me considering even more strongly quitting FB altogether…..)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/28/off-facebook-activity-page/

You might have been hearing about the effort to combat the climate emergency by reforestation and the planting of trees by different countries and organizations. You might be thinking, WHAT A COOL IDEA! HOW CAN I HELP? Well, here’s a way, if you don’t own  land where you can plant your very own tree (or more)!

If You Buy a Sapling For This Rainforest, Money Also Helps Turn Illegal Loggers into Forest Guardians

Okay, on to books!

You might (or maybe not, Idk) have heard about the furor surrounding American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Book first got praised then panned; book tour got cancelled, as the author was accused basically of telling a story that wasn’t hers to tell. (Cultural misappropriation, yeah?  She calls it “being a bridge”.)  She told the tale of a Mexican woman and her son running from a narco drug lord. So, a thriller. It’s NOT on here. You wanna read a book that tells a genuine story by an actual Puerto Rican woman, read THIS memoir: Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz (Warning: deals with mental illness; sexuality; other potential triggers)

If you like your mysteries creepy but unnervingly realistic, intense, and relatively short, then read this novel by the always masterful Joyce Carol Oates: Pursuit. A reflective book on the vulnerabilities of childhood and just how to navigate trust.

Finally, if you are a Neil DeGrasse Tyson fan, then he’s come out with Letters From An Astrophysicist. Eminently readable, he addresses everything from comets to terminal illness. Nice to see he’s not become embittered…..

Now for the musing portion. I’ve found a site to recommend. It’s a site devoted to nothing but positive, inspiring, hopeful news and stories. And who among us in this day and time can’t use a peek at that? It’s divided into sections, so you can choose your anodyne to the dreck you get in the morning/evening newsfeed.

Good News, Inspiring, Positive Stories

And the OTHER thing I found this week that gave me hope was a game on Steam (yes, I’m on Steam, are you surprised?). It’s called Kind Words. it’s pretty much just what it sounds like, only you are writing these to someone you don’t know. Now, not one of the free games. But to help someone who is having a bad day, even if it’s just once or twice a week, I don’t think 4.99 is too high a price….(you buy the game for that once, so it’s a one-time fee.)

In the always apropos word from Hill Street Blues, lets be careful out there! See ya next week!

 

It’s that time again. I was talking to a friend not too long ago and remarked how as I’ve gotten older, time passes quickly, while simultaneously the amount of time it takes to get tasks done has increased. (Warning to you younger folk on the list, lol.) And when I was wondering why my father never warned me about this, I had cause to reflect that I’m now almost 3 years OLDER than he was when he died….time, time, time. As I used to say to the chagrin of my language profs: tempus fugit, nicht wahr?

As always, music first! I would encourage you to WATCH the videos if possible, esp. the one of Gary Clark, Jr. It’s visually such a treat to see him, almost enough for me go watch the movie. I start off with a polyphonic offering from the band San Salvador- La Fin De La Guerra.  Doesn’t matter that you don’t know the language (though there’s always Google Translate!)-they sound so wonderful…….; Then transition to the Senegalese musician Cheikh Lo singing Kora music , the song Degg Gui from his album Balbalou in Portugese-Wolof. Back to America for Fantastic Negrito, as he sings about what we are all feeling these days in Push Back. And then Gary Clark, Jr just gets BEYOND AWESOME on his version of COME TOGETHER! ( Seriously-watch this one video, if you watch no other!) I don’t drink, that one glass of hard cider at Abingdon Vinyards notwithstanding. But I found this video called Drink by La Chica and thought it fun for y’all who do. When I heard that the group And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (of COURSE I’d listen to this group, right?) had a new album out, I knew I had to include a song-so here’s one for All Who Wander! Maybe to South Korea to hear Ak Dan Gwang Chil do music like THIS-Youngjeonggeorri. They are a multi-award traditional music group. BACK to America for some American Indie with Green Day’s new Father Of All. (And let me say, that they are one band that hasn’t lost their edge with age!) Then a female punk band to keep the theme going-The Bombshells with Notre Dame. And finally I’m sending you off with some 70s ska I chose with my tongue firmly lodged in cheek for ALL sorts of reasons. Plus ca change…..lol! You can look up the references if you wanna know why. Otherwise, just enjoy the song! Here’s The Specials singing A Message To You Rudy.

Articles! It’s become a standing joke among some of my friends to throw random “namastes” at me. (Long story.) So I found an article that explains the origin of the word and why Hindi users cringe along with me when it is casually misused EVERYWHERE in America.

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/01/17/406246770/how-namaste-flew-away-from-us?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Second. I know a lot of you like to cook. But even if you don’t cook, this is still fascinating. A group of archaeologists  and scholars have been busy reconstructing from cuneiform the world’s oldest recipes! How cool is THAT? There’s a lamb stew, a lentil broth, a vegetable soup akin to the one you might serve to someone recuperating from a cold or flu, and a chicken pot pie!

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191103-the-worlds-oldest-known-recipes-decoded

Third. We all cuss sometimes. (As part of my resolve to be kinder this year, I’ve limited that.) But in case you DO need to use profanity, here’s a list of useful LATIN curses!Some of them are actually pretty funny. My personal fav is: Te odeo, interface cochleare! (Yes, you will have to look it up!)

14 Useful Latin Profanities You Can Use To Curse At People (And Impress Them)

Books, books, books! (I’m 7 books ahead on my reading challenge, in case anyone wants to know.) Starting off with a wonderful book of POETRY (coz poets read other poets!):

Oblivion Banjo: The Poetry of Charles Wright. With a name like THAT? He’s won multiple prizes: Bollingen, Pulitzer, and been Poet Laureate of the U.S…not that that would mean I would like his work. He currently lives in Charlottesville. But I do like his poems very much. He writes with a sense of place and time that resonates.

The Highly Selective Thesaurus And Dictionary For The Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich. This was a gift many years ago from a dear friend. It is now worn from being well-used but has a permanent place by my chair-side, as I find it an invaluable resource.

Stay With Me by Ayoba mi Adebeyo. Written by a Nigerian author and set in Nigeria, this book offers a picture of family life that will be unfamiliar to most living in the U.S. But it deals with themes that are familiar: How to save a foundering relationship? How to negotiate the ties of family? How to deal with the pressures of society?

Halibut On The Moon by David Vann. I miss Todd at the library for so many reasons. He introduced me to Vann several years back and both of us would eagerly await his (Vann’s) new book. I offer you this one. But I will warn that Vann is a savage writer who deals with difficult issues in visceral ways. (Why I love his books, right?) This book, for instance, re-creates the last days of the author’s (in the book, not Vann’s) father as he struggles with mental illness. Powerful, gripping, and potentially triggering.

This is my musing section. I rent my dwelling. Over the years I’ve found a number of items to be extremely useful. So I thought I would share these, for those of you who are also renters. And for those of you who own your places, well, skip this if you like or read on. Who knows, maybe you might need these things, too…Lint roller. Useful for much more than cleaning Miss P’s fur off of my black cashmere coat. It can de-wool an ottoman, do a quick pick-up of the couch if you lack time to vacuum, and remove odd things here and there.  Basic tools: hammer; screwdriver; pliers; wrench; allen wrench; You don’t need buy a toolkit, unless you just want to be pretty in pink (or whatev.) They generally contain items you will never ever use. I’ve listed the items I have used over the years. Flashlight. We all know the power WILL go out at some point. So grow up and buy a good one already. And batteries, fer goodness sake.  Tape, duct and otherwise.  Funnels. I have a set of three I recently purchased at the thrift store.  Incredibly useful. Comes under the category of “how did I not realize I needed these?” Your mother might not be around to tell you, so I am.  Micro-duster. It will dust EVERYTHING, including your pet! (Miss P is looking nervously at me as I type this…..) Finally, a step-stool, folding or otherwise. Speaking of Miss P, the folding metal step-stool I own is part of her trifecta of terror. Every time I fetch it out, she hides under the bed.  No idea why. Poor whippet. Her life is fraught….

 

 

 

Greetings, all! I’ve decided to make The Review available on my blog (andifnotnowblog.wordpress.com).  I write the drafts there anyway, so why not publish them? Duh! Sorry this was belated-Virginia Organizing has been eating up time this week. I’ll do better next week.

You might be wondering at the marked absence of overtly political items from the items I proffer. So I thought now might be a good time to give a brief raison d’etre for The Review, at least as I’m doing it now.  If you’re a good enough acquaintance to get this, then I know your political bent, more or less.  We’re inundated and saturated with politics, I figure. From tweets from the Cheeto-In-Chief to Anthony’s TGIF Rural Progressive Roundup, there is plenty to keep up with. I don’t need to add my two cents to that. The Review is meant to be about more than ephemera, as important as those might be. And I want you to find herein articles and books that might make your life better, more interesting, or at least make you think a bit. (Or in the case of the music, listen and sometimes dance.) What I used to do when I taught, right? But again, don’t worry, I grade easy!

That being said, let’s go! Music first, as always! I began with Souad Massi, a wonderful Berber singer-songwriter. Then the new song by Alicia Keys that celebrates those who are doing the hard work. The song by Concrete Blonde, Days and Days, WAS chosen for political reasons, after I heard Trump & Co going on with their endless (and ever-changing) explanations about Solemani’s assassination. (If I had to choose ONE group to provide a soundtrack to this admin, I think it would be Concrete Blonde!) Nathaniel Rateliff provides a little hope with his And It’s Alright. But then Beth Hart takes some of away with her haunting Woman Down. To relieve you a bit after that, I give you The Black-eyed Peas and J Balvin RITMO to dance a bit. The next two songs take us out of the country. The HU do their Wolf Totem, And for some Chinese grunge that rivals anything Nirvana ever did, here is Xie Tian Xiao doing Cold-blooded Animal. Bringing it back to home with Mavis Staples singing We Shall Not Moved. And to end on a positive note, I hope that you enjoy this as much as I do, the wonderful experience of musicians joining in to collaborate simultaneously to play STAND BY ME. (I really encourage you to watch that one!!!)

On to articles! I’ve got some good ones. YOU prompted some of them! 😉 I’ve watched friends and loved ones say I’ve got to get my steps in. And I wondered just what was the rationale behind this. I found an article that explains it. (A Japanese company wanted to sell their pedometers…..)

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190723-10000-steps-a-day-the-right-amount

Aside from whippets and capybaras, naked mole rats are one of my favorite animals! I check out the Smithsonian’s Mole Rat Cam regularly (it’s live!) There’s also one by the Pacific Zoo, if you need more Mole Rat! So there you go, if you become enamored yourself, after reading this article!

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/751235929/in-defense-of-naked-mole-rats-and-what-we-can-learn-from-them

And b/c MLK Celebrations are upon us here in Abingdon, I found this AWESOME paper by a university student that gives a history of APPALACHIAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISM.

https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Parker,%20Patrick_2016_Thesis.pdf

Moving to BOOKS:

Hill Women by Cassie Chambers. Subtitled: Finding Family And A Way Forward In The Appalachian Mountains. This was eminently readable, well-written, and very warm. Another antidote to J. D. Vance. Can we PLEASE have a forum of writers-in person-to counteract that hated tome? Just a suggestion, now that it’s being made into a movie?

Silence by Thich Nhat Hahn. Subtitled: The Power Of Quiet In A World Full Of Noise. I’m always struck by the power of Master Thay’s writing. He writes so simply and sparingly. Therein lies the beauty. If you know anyone who has ever said: I can’t do meditation but they WANT to try? This is the book to give to them (or use yourself.) An excellent book for anyone who wishes to learn to disengage for a bit.

I wanted to throw some Haruki Murakami at you but struggled with WHICH one of his novels. To save myself from agony, I chose his latest, Killing Commentadore. It is a tour de force, complex as are all of his works, and well worth your time. It’s winter-curl up in the evening and devote some time!

And for my final book, the Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza. This one is uniquely suited to this cold winter months, as it is set in a very frigid environment and is a enigmatic mystery indeed. I read this one on my Kindle.

McAfee has calmed down about the Wolf Whistle. But the events I have to mention come knowledge outside of that source. MLK Events Sat Jan 18 (held in Abingdon, center of the universe): Discussion On Diversity-Jerry Hill, Charles Wesley UMC 12:30; MLK March from Charles Wesley UMC 1:30: MLK Celebration, Abingdon UMC 2:30. January 19th Barter College Playwrights Festival.

Lastly, I’d like to recommend three things. We’re none of us getting any younger. I keep reading article after article about the benefits of: REGULAR EXERCISE. (Not necessarily steps, lol.) Diet I can’t speak to, though that IS important, certainly. MEDITATION has also shown to be of benefit, and there are different kinds. Lastly, I would suggest learning a SECOND LANGUAGE (or more for some of us). You can use apps such as DuoLingo on your phone OR go to your wonderful public library and use their Rocket Languages database. (It replaced Mango b/c the one patron who used Mango to learn languages apparently was yours truly).

Hope you enjoy this. Let  me know if you have any thoughts or comments. I welcome feed back! Stay warm, coz winter is heading back our way!

I cannot drive due to a seizure disorder. I rely on public transit to get from point A to point B. Well-intentioned friends will occasionally provide me with rides, and I am grateful, esp. if they are to places that I can’t access via transit. However, friends have ALSO taught me the following lesson through their behavior:

Unless it is an out of town medical trip, you can’t really rely on us. We’ll say in a conversation that we’re going to the grocery and pick you up (or maybe get some items you need), but THIS MIGHT NOT HAPPEN. And I get it. Things come up. Life happens. But unlike you, I can’t hop in a car to go get whatever. I have to call transit in advance and take a bus route that is lengthy, or walk to wherever. So I’m now asking my friends this new year to please NOT volunteer this sort of thing. I’m tired of dealing with “thoughts and prayers” offers….if you get what I mean. Offers that are insubstantial and  might not materialize. Life is uncertain enough without this sort of guess work.

Transit has its own problems, fer shure. I’ve been forgotten by THEM, too. But transit I can hold accountable…and do, btw. I will write transit up and submit a written formal letter of complaint if they miss me more than 3 times in one month. Hey, their policy holds passengers accountable….I feel that WE should do the same to them! Let the powers-that-be know that someone is paying attention! Document, document, document! But by and large, transit is reliable, and I know that I can get where I need to go. It might take longer and be convoluted. But no-one ever said life would be easy, fair, or quick.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

To ALL Board Members:

While you might think  that this amendment is so fragile that it needs extra protection here in Washington County and elsewhere in so-called Second Amendment Sanctuaries, rest assured that it is robust and stands strong. Legislation that provides for sensible restrictions, such as universal back-ground checks, red-flag laws, and other such will not tamper with the body of the 2nd.  It will not affect those who use guns for the purposes so often cited here in SWVA: hunting and recreation; farmers who use them for various purposes; or those who own guns for personal protection.  These laws are designed to catch those who purchase guns for OTHER reasons, and I urge you to consider those before you pass this resolution. Those reasons  do not bode well for the persons on the opposite end of the fire-arm. Consider the Virginia Beach shooting and the spate of innumerable Walmart-related shootings and school-shootings before you vote. These individuals purchased their guns somehow and could have possibly been stopped or caught beforehand  with some of these types of laws.  Think about this.

Your primary concern is the  well-being of your constituents. I know this. You are good people. Vote for the right thing, not the expedient thing.

 

 

Well, now that there is a new Democratic day in Virginia, folks all over the place are panicking and passing “Second Amendment Sanctuary” resolutions. Really. Do your GUNS NEED THAT MUCH PROTECTION? Why not just wrap your whole county in (red) bubble wrap, turn on Fox as loud as you can, and call it a day.  Campbell County, Lee County, y’all already fallen. There’s a petition out for Frederick County to go the same way, and maybe one for Appomattox County. And I’m SURE that the BOS will vote Washington County to declare itself, too.

This is Republican gesturing, nothing more. They are signaling to their conservative base that they will play to them and their fears and cater to any conspiracy-driven notions that might arise. (Hey, guess what? Obama NEVER came fer yer guns, now did he?)  But I misspoke. I inserted the word “conservative”.  By now it should be clear to ALL that the partisan divide is this: Republicans (and by this, I mean you have to be a red-capped Trump-lovin’ gawd-fearin’ CONSERVATIVE…or else!) and Democrats (and by this, I mean you need to start getting with the progressive program, folks!).  The time for thinking or lying to pollsters, “Well, I’m an independent, you know,” is OVER.  No-one is that. I’ve done canvassing for candidates and grassroots organizing. I know better. That is a fiction people tell  themselves so they don’t have to take a side. But most? Are truly Republicans afraid to admit it. But rabidly so. They want their guns, their god, their babies, and their (confederate) flag….in that order.

Sorry, got off-topic a bit. My point is that this rush to protect the SECOND AMENDMENT is symbolic, unnecessary, and flashy.  The counties and possibly later cities that do so aren’t REALLY concerned so much that guns will taken (except perhaps for the truly paranoid) but wish to tell those watching that they are staunchly WITH THE PROGRAM, STANDING WITH THE PREZ, KAG, etc. etc. It’s a form of wrapping themselves in a NRA/MAGA/GOP flag. (Pardon me while I go throw up at this image. Ugh.) It’s SO red that if it had a sickle and hammer, China could use it. Or make it into a MAGA hat. 😉

So the elections have come and gone. I’m feeling…conflicted. On one hand, since I DO live in Virginia, and we flipped the Assembly, I’m happy. As an member of the LGBTQ community and a resident in general, that can only be good for the values I hold near and dear. However, I live in SWVA-Washington County. Not quite the coalfields, but Appalachia, still. While I love where I live in many respects, this election brought me up short. When I went to vote, I was confronted by a veritable wall (and I use that word deliberately) of WOMEN wearing MAGA hats who urged me to go cast my vote for the President.  I mildly, esp. for me, told them I wasn’t aware that he was on the ballot in my precinct and proceeded to vote. Not that it did any good. Republicans swept the ballot, with the exception of Josh Cumbow, who somehow retained his position.  Here’s my take:

We frequently lament that the powers that be think that Virginia stops at Roanoke. Well, with this vote that we just did? It might as well. Unless the folks we are sending to the GA are prepared to work in a mighty bipartisan way-and, yeah, REPUBLICANS are SO known for that ability, we don’t exist. We have NOTHING to offer the rest of Virginia, except a cautionary tale: we are what the state ONCE was like in terms of cultural mores and hopes to put to rest. God, guns, and babies might play well in the pulpit, and it sure turned voters out here to vote for “Trump Republicans”. But has it GAINED us anything, in terms of political, economic, or other benefit? I would argue not. We still can’t attract businesses, b/c who wants to bring employees here to a place that literally has so little to offer, except for gorgeous terrain? Young folks leave as soon as they can,  b/c it is regressive and going backwards rather attempting to find ways to change.  We seem to be militant in our embrace of stagnation and, dare I say, stupidity.

I speak as one who is a transplant. I love this region and have called it home for many years.  I do not want to see it die. But dying it is, far as I can tell. And the folks who live here it are in large part hastening Appalachia’s demise. And that’s a shame.