Time for another case…

I need another pencil case. As it is, I still have around 100 of them that aren’t in a case, and I’ve gone and added more. See all that lovely info on the Prismacolors? It’s stamped metallic, and if you do microwave to repair a core, it will go up in a pretty shower of sparks, so you’ll no longer have it. I prefer to keep my info intact, including the colour names. The Staedtler Noris Colour are lovely, much like Cretacolor, harder than the Prismacolor, they apply well, and keep a good point. The problem with sets is that there is zero identification on the pencil, no name, no number, so if you are looking to replace a specific colour, you’re rather screwed into buying a new set. I did buy the Prismacolors off the rack, so I’ll see how many broken cores I have to deal with.

© C. Ford, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

© C. Ford, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

All safe and snug. © C. Ford, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

All safe and snug. © C. Ford, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

©voyager, all rights reserved

These 2 small ponds belong to a sand and gravel company who have dug down far enough to hit the water table. The front pond’s been around for many years and has naturalized into the landscape. As well, the owners have stocked it with fish. The rear pond is only a few years old and is oddly lighter in colour than the one in front. I suspect this is because it doesn’t have either plants or fish yet.

Many years ago people used to bring their dogs to swim in the front pond. The water was always clean, fresh and cold and it was one of Jack’s favourite places. Then the owners began excavating here again and the gates were locked. Poor Jack lost the one swimming hole that always had good water quality. The caution sign is new this year and whether it’s true or not, it seems pretty effective.

 

Demonization and Ridicule and Mockery, Oh My!

Detail of Satan from Hans Memling's Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (c. 1485).

Detail of Satan from Hans Memling’s Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation (c. 1485). Source.

This little snippet from Paul “Advanced Luciferian Beings” McGuire caught my eye in his latest screeth, in which he takes issue with people mocking his lunatic nonsense. It’s exactly like what Hitler did to Jewish people, donchaknow? He ends with this:

“Demonization and ridicule and mockery is an essential component in a mind-control brainwashing process that gives you the cultural license to destroy, kill your enemies simply because they may believe in the Constitution and the biblical God,” McGuire warned. “So you are looking for a moral license to kill them and you are looking for an immoral narrative that gives you the fake legality to destroy them and massacre them.”

That’s rather the plan of the religious reich, is it not? You want to force everyone else, regardless of belief, to adhere to your lunatic beliefs and ideals. You want to strip women of their autonomy, make sure only white, male, lunatic christian assholes run everything, and force every single person to conform to christian straightness. You want your hate and fear to rule. The rest of us want acceptance and inclusion, and are not afraid to treat all people as people, with full human rights. We want all people to be taken care of, able to provide a roof and food; a good education for all, and we don’t find diversity all terrifyingly scary. And I have absolutely no interest in tearing children from their parents arms, or stripping them of icons which are meaningful to them. But you’re in favour of all that. When I saw this photo, the first thought was “concentration camps. Now we’re doing concentration camps.” I have zero interest in putting anyone in a camp, let alone killing them. I’d be happy if you’d all just shut the fuck up, and get on with your lives. You and the rest of the religious reich would institute the Inquisition in a heartbeat if you could. Being blinded and driven by hatred and fear is no way to live, Mr. McGuire, and yes, I will keep mocking and ridiculing you, because that is exactly what you have earned. I think I’ll stick to my side, thanks.

The whole screeth is at RWW.

Word Wednesday.

Anodyne

¹Adjective.

1: serving to alleviate pain.

2: not likely to offend or arouse tensions: innocuous.

[Origin: Latin anodynos, from Greek anōdynos, from a- + odynē pain.]

(1543)

²Noun

1: something that soothes, calms, or comforts.

2: a drug that allays pain.

(1550)

“Well,” I said, “look at this way. Some collectors are only interested in things that are like new, factory fresh, mint in the box. If something looks like it’s had a life before they got their hands on it, it loses its value. But then, other people believe that an object’s worth more if it’s been used for whatever it was designed for, so a stamp should have been stuck to an envelope and posted to somewhere a long way away, and a comic book is meant to be read and enjoyed, not sealed in a protective case and never opened, and an old racing car should be scuffed and grimy and—” with no particular emphasis “—scarred. And it’s the same with people. How much time do you think you’d want to spend with Barbie and Ken? Anodyne, by definition, is not entertaining.” – Normal, Graeme Cameron.

Book Note: This was one of the weirdest books I’ve read, a slice of life story, with the main character being a serial killer. You never know his name, and he’s never described. The book is filled with black humour, but the casual cruelty of the character is never disguised in any way. This is also a story of how everything starts to go wrong in his life, in a very big way. The book is written in such a way that the main character is often amusing, and finds himself in a situation you can sympathise with, which makes the reading a bit uncomfortable. Altogether, it’s an engaging and entertaining read. There are a number of different cops involved in the story too, and the second book is just fresh out, centering on Detective Sergeant Ali Green, who was very present in Normal. That one is called Dead Girls. I haven’t finished it yet, but there’s considerably more tension in the second book.