High Winds in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Windy Day Today
My office is not hugely tall… not like a downtown Des Moines Office. Our office is the Old County Hospital that was re-purposed in the 1960’s. So I have a bit of a corner office on the second floor in a small town. Even still, the winds howl and whip around this corner with great strength. Today is so much more so. Wind speeds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 60 mph.

That being said… at least according to my calendar… today is a day where I’ve nothing to do BUT listen to the wind assault the world. Obviously, as e-mails and phone calls pour in.... we’ll see spikes of activity. But… so far? Expecting it to be rather quiet all things considered.

HERE’S a bit of news that came across my ticker today that makes me less than pleased.
“Kim Kardashian studying up to 18 hours a week to become a lawyer. Hopes to take 2020 Bar Exam.”
Sarcasm: Oh, goodness, Kim… up to 18 hours a week, you’re working so hard!
PISS RIGHT THE BLOODY HELL OFF! Law School? I was in class more than 18 hours a week… let alone the actual studying and reading and writing and prepping. Bar exam prep? They recommend 30 hours a week or more! So… sorry, Kardashian Fan Fops… your queen isn’t “doing something impressive”… she’s half-assing it on a lark. Though for her… half assing would equal whole assing from most people who take the bar exam. Not claiming she works harder… just that she literally has a larger ass.

One down side of having just about nothing to do is that my whole push today is just gone. Like… I’m reading Prosebox Entries and thinking things like “Good for you!” or “Oh, that sucks!” But I’m not leaving notes. Because… I don’t want to leave notes that are just “Oh that sucks!” If I leave notes, I’d much prefer to write something that has at least a modicum of substance. Like “Oh that sucks, but you’re handling things well. Just keep swimming and whatall.” I don’t know.

Wind is absolutely SCREAMING right now.

Second day of the APAP went okay. First day, I woke up at 2:30 after 4 hours of sleep and my jaw was just fucking killing me. I took the mask off, took Nala outside (she was confused and came right back in) then I fell asleep for another hour or two without the APAP. Last night it went better. I woke up at 4:00 and my jaw wasn’t in pain. I have a theory that may be totally silly but… I’m wondering if I’m waking up so early these days because my body is reacting to actually getting more oxygen. Like… my body adjusted to Shit Breathing While Sleeping and so I would sleep for hours and hours and hours. Now my body is like… “Woah, dude. Metrics from the Cardio-Pulmonary department seem off. They are reporting these current levels of oxygen, but Internal Time Supervision says we’ve only been asleep for 4 hours. The last 60 quarters we only see these numbers after 8 to 9 hours… minimum. Okay, we have to check this out. We’re going to need to temporarily shut down all departments below Conscious Level Activity and re-calibrate Cardio-Pulmonary and Internal Time Supervision to make sure we’re getting accurate readings.”

WELL… it is now 10:00 in the morning. Wind is still being crazy. Mortal Kombat Joke: This is how Fujin reacts after being told he won’t be in the new game! I’ve checked e-mail a bunch. I’ve verified that everything for next week is taken care of. I’ve read all the Unread Prosebox entries. I’ve read a few Wikiquote pages for TV shows. Checked the venue for tonight’s event. I hope work won’t be pissed if I slink out of here an hour early today. Shit is slow, my work is done, and if I can leave an hour early… we might be able to arrive on time for our show tonight.

Random Statement: One thing I think people need to remember more is our history and how we aren’t as far removed from things as people think. I’m not saying “slow progress” but when people think “Holy fuck, why is that person LIKE that?!” I think they are too quick to forget how recent our history has been.
FOR EXAMPLE
- The Civil War was fought about slavery (don’t be fooled by debate, slavery was a primary issue and this truth was not questioned until the Civil Rights movement). The last surviving widow of a US Civil War veteran died in 2004… and yes, her husband fought for The South.
- Interracial Marriage was a CRIMINAL OFFENSE until 1967. That means that anyone over the age of 52 RIGHT NOW lived during a time where people were thrown in jail for getting married to one another… simply because they were of different SKIN COLOR.
- Speaking of 1967, are you aware of Kathrine Switzer? You want to talk about changes in Gender Politics… Kathrine Switzer signed up for the Boston Marathon to be run in 1967. One of the race organizers was SO FURIOUS A WOMAN WAS RUNNING IN HIS RACE that he jumped off the Press Van and attempted to assault the woman… in front of the Press Van which would most certainly be taking video, photographs, and writing about the event. So… yeah. 53 years ago, a man thought he would be supported for attacking a woman because how dare a woman try to run a marathon!
- Hell, attorneys were able to prevent Black Men from being members of a jury simply for being black until 1986.
You’ll see that I’m only discussing Black and Women issues above. Largely because too many people think those are the areas where “we’ve achieved the most”. I’m not saying we haven’t. I’m just saying… Votes for Women (1920) and an end to Jim Crow (1965) didn’t wipe the slates clean. That’s why it actually makes sense what we’re seeing in the world right now. A Black Man was President. He was born in 1961. When he was born, Black People had to deal with lawful voter suppression, criminal charges for marrying White People, lawful segregation of everything from Lunch Counters to Water Fountains. Barack Obama was born in an age WHERE THAT WAS STILL HAPPENING. Fox News weaponizing the over 55 crowd? Should have been obvious and expected… they remember (even if distantly) a world where Non-Whites, Non-Christians, Women, and others were honestly and genuinely afforded less rights. Now (all of a sudden to them) it isn’t enough that they’re ignoring black people? Now we actually have to help them?! And what is all this bullshit about the queers and the trannies? For Christ Sake, when I was a little girl we had the darky next door thrown in jail for proposing to my sister… and now these damned kids want men to marry men and want women to be men?!

I’m not arguing FOR that mentality. I’m not excusing it either. But I’m all about trying to make as much sense of this crazy broken world as possible. MY PARENTS grew up in a world where racism, discrimination, and prejudice were lawful, expected, and standard. Many people my parents’ age raised their children with similar beliefs… because it is the job of every good parent to raise their child with values. If I embrace my values, I want to pass those values down to my children. SO… there is a 77 year old person somewhere in the country right now that actively and passionately attempted to prevent black students from entering Central High in Arkansas. If that person still passionately believed in those values when they were raising a child? That means their child could have been born during the 1960s, when things started shifting for Black People’s Rights even more (which would likely cause an even more impassioned approach to passing on Racist Values) and that child would be somewhere around 50 to 57 years old right now. And THAT person may have children of their own. Children that are MY age. And THOSE Children might have children. Arguably… right now in the United States… you could have 4 Generations of a Family where Great-Grandparent was part of the Central High Protest, raised Grandparent during the Civil Rights Movement (teaching their child hate), who raised Parent during the economic whirlwinds of the 1980s and 1990s, who raised/raising Child in the Obama/Trump era. I see this clearly in my racist cousin.
Great Grandparent (on his Dad’s side) fought to keep The Wild West free of Negro Influence. Grandparent watched as Negroes overran America and got rights but “never seemed to be satisfied.”
Parent (my ex Uncle) was furious that Black People were still talking about racism. Absolutely furious that de-segregating wasn’t “enough” for the “lazy, complaining, no-accountability urban hoodlums infesting Montana, Wyoming, and Utah… God-Fearing White States that needed to be protected!”
SO… no wonder my cousin turned into a Trump Supporting, Ocasio-Cortez harassing racist that advocates for violence against democrats for “turning on America and Americans.” This kid is only 31 years old… with children of his own now.

THIS is what we’re seeing. THIS is what our world is. President Trump is 72 years old. He was born in 1946. That means he was already 20 in 1967. 1967… where a woman was assaulted for running a marathon… where black people could be arrested for marrying white people.... Trump was already a full grown “adult” in that world. Our President is part of a generation where it wasn’t racist to treat Black People or Women as inferior.... because that was just the expectation. Don’t get me wrong… I absolutely 100% believe Trump is a racist, misogynistic, incompetent fuckface. But I’m me. If I can’t sit down and try to understand where someone may be coming from… I can’t effectively discuss things. Because we need to know our history. And our history right now? Is that Interracial Marriage in the United States has only been legal for 51 years. Hell… let’s do a visual on that.
Loving v. Virginia was decided in 1967. SO… we’ll call that The Birthday of Legal Interracial Marriage. How old or young would that look today? Well… other famous faces born in 1967?

Vin Diesel

Matt LeBlanc

Will Ferrell

Julia Roberts

Jamie Foxx

Jimmy Kimmel

Nicole Kidman

Jason Statham

Mark Ruffalo

Hell, Kim Bassinger, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Sandra Bullock are older than this. So if we’re trying to visualize how “recently” REALLY OVERT GOVERNMENT AUTHORIZED RACISM was? Stop thinking Civil War or Decrepit Grandma… start thinking Julia Roberts and Jason Statham.

I mean shit.... Until February 7, 2013, the state of Mississippi had never submitted the required documentation to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, meaning it never officially had abolished slavery. That means that technically, legally Slavery was still “lawful” in Mississippi while Barack Obama was in office! Granted, it would be most honest to state that if slavery was continuing in Mississippi, the Federal and Constitutional laws would apply so it wasn’t truly lawful… but as far as State Law and Procedural Law? Yeah.