On language

 Came across an interesting and witty article recently. No, really.

In wokese, if you say some sort of discrimination exists, you have to say it is “systemic.” It’s just a moral demand that if you talk about one thing, you also have to gesture toward another—but it pretends to be grammar. You do not actually have to explain how the system functions as a system in a way that removes the agency of the actors within it, and indeed you would be messing up the syntax if you did. This is sort of like the previously popular wokese term “problematic,” which unlike its English equivalent does not mean that the person using it intends to expound on what the problem is.

In Britain, they know they have a class system, whether they like it or not. We have on in the US as well, but it's hidden. Which means that when the aristocracy takes steps to keep the proles in their place, no one wants to say that that's what they're doing. And language is, as always, one of the prime ways of accomplishing that.

Oh well

 Bad luck on my part. I  went to a place where the bus didn't run after 6:30 and didn't start to suspect anything until well, well after seven. Maybe bad planning that I didn't look this up beforehand, but this place really should have some later service.

Ah well, at least I've been relaxing since I got home.

All this to say, what's it to you?

Gone

 The state of being neighbors in an apartment building is an involuntary condition. It's driven by the need for shelter and the landlord's judgment on who's an acceptable tenant. Still, sometimes you wind up with neighbors whom you actively enjoy living near. If you are that lucky, it's a shame when they have to leave. Especially if that departure is highly abrupt. Especially, especially if it's under conditions that strike you as unjust.

More than that I won't say in this forum. I'll be available to talk about it in some other, though.

Some dream description ahead. Apologies.

 The other night I dreamed that I walked into a room of my apartment, not necessarily the one I live in now. There was broken glass on the floor. Which made sense because the window suddenly had a great jagged hole in it. I flicked the switch, but the light wouldn't turn on, although I tried and tried.

What does it mean? Maybe something, maybe nothing. Does it point to a certain amount of anxiety? Well, not having any would be somewhat unusual. To be sure, though, it wasn't a "wake up screaming" situation. In essence I just remember it because I happened to have a full bladder at the time.

Also, since I started writing this, I've managed to stop my router battery from beeping. So I seem to be capable enough in real life.

Out back there

 

Kangaroos, even putting aside their marsupial attributes, aren't quite like anything that lives outside of Australia. Their heads are somewhat deerlike, but the way they get around is of course more reminiscent of rabbits, especially jackrabbits. But much bigger. And they're impressively tough, as well. How much of this is an adaptation to the harsh environment of the Outback, I wonder.

Failure to communicate

I recently came across a quote something along the lines of  "White people shouldn't be writing POC characters." I'm not sure how widespread this opinion is. Full disclosure #1: The person retweeting it was not in agreement. It's shortsighted anyway. White people who have James Baldwin quotes on their Instagram might well feel constrained by this edict. White people who lock their car doors while at a drive-thru restaurant with a black cashier, not so much. 

Somehow reading about some of the controversies surrounding <a href="https://quillette.com/2020/09/18/the-dishonest-and-misogynistic-hate-campaign-against-j-k-rowling/">JK Rowling</a> had me thinking along the same lines. Full disclosure #2: I haven't read the book Troubled Blood myself. The early Harry Potter books are the only thing I've read by her. But it does sound like a lot of anti-fans, haters, call them what you will are distorting what the book is about in order to stoke outrage. And maybe some people who used to like her have fallen out with her because of things she said. Fine, that's their right. But you can, you know, just kind of leave it there. Not everything has to be a crusade.