Maybe I'm remembering

by Daniel Arsham

How many things do you have in your life that you love but never use? A piece of clothing that you don't wear because you're afraid of ruining it? Jewellery for which no occasion is special enough because what if you lost it? A china teacup from a grandparent that hides in a cupboard and has a sticky film of dust?

What box of memories do you have down in the basement or up in the attic? Behind the winter coats in the hall closet? Photographs of people you don't remember, but they were in your flat for dinner once, you recognise your old home in the print. A printed photo.

And how very many circuits get activated when you think about all these things, all these behaviours. How incredible the life you have lived and the things you have to remind you of it. How infuriating that the present can feel like nothing has ever been nor will it ever be because we are repeating our days over and over again.

I'm small > https://catandgirl.com/4000-of-my-closest-friends/
Content warning: This piece is about grief and mentions traumatic death, including taking ones own life. It's dark af, so please don't read it if you are feeling wobbly. What's left behind* > https://www.laurahilliger.com/whats-left-behind/
Where have all the websites gone? > https://www.fromjason.xyz/p/notebook/where-have-all-the-websites-gone/

*I shared this with you a couple years ago. I had it password protected. It's now public.

Maybe I'm the rebel next door

the way back from the protest cc-by Laura Hilliger

About 3 months ago I accidentally introduced myself as "the rebel next door" for the first time. A week or two later, I added it to my Mastodon profile. Then in December at a conference I used the line on stage. It's cheeky, and it fits me.

This past weekend hundreds of thousands of people in Germany took to the streets. We were protesting the literal existence of a political party called the AfD (Alternativ für Deutschland). Here are some quotes from people leading or representing this party (translated, originals fact checked and with sources here):

"Antifa should be put in concentration camps."
"Homosexuals in prison? We should do that in Germany too!"
"Burning down refugee housing isn't an act of aggression."

and this absolute gem from a real life actual Nazi, "I really wish for civil war and millions of dead. Women, children, I don't care. It would be so great. I want to piss on corpses and dance on graves. Hail Hitler!"

Clearly, these are not people that should be representing their views in our democratic governments. Governments are institutions that are supposed to set the parameters for social life. It's incredible to me that we still need to explain that nazism is bad and that the parameters of "kill those we define as 'others'" is unnatural, insane and generally disgusting.

Secret plan against Germany > https://correctiv.org/en/top-stories/2024/01/15/secret-plan-against-germany/
My Grandpa was a Nazi > https://bastianallgeier.com/notes/grandpa
German Far-Right AfD Party Loses Ground After Mass Protests > https://news.yahoo.com/german-far-afd-party-loses-133610404.html

Maybe I need help?

I took on too much this week and didn't manage a big chunk of my to-do list. Now it's Friday and I have 17 plans for today and none of them are even on the to-do list. So, that's where I'm at.

What about you? You're still reading? That's very kind of you, thanks. I hope you're well.

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