With a Kremlin puppet poised to move into the White House, with our beleaguered social and environmental protections already falling to the incipient Fourth Reich, with an empowered extreme-Right attacking vulnerable populations in Congress and state legislatures, and with white supremacists celebrating the demise of the only values that gave America a legitimate claim to greatness — with all this going on, it’s hard to blog about anything else.
Non-political biz all seems kind of . . . insignificant, yeah? Kind of “so what?” Kind of “why bother?” I’m floundering in unfamiliar conversational seas, here. Do I keep calm and carry on as of old? Or is that tantamount to playing the fiddle on the sinking Titanic?
In some ways, I’ve already made a significant shift. When I signed up on social media, for example, it was to make/maintain contact with folks with whom I would otherwise never connect and to take a stab at creating an online “presence” that would someday be a boon to my literary aspirations.
For years, my FB page was blissfully free of almost all personal and political info. My posts were performance clips, memes that made me chuckle, and a few pithy articles, generally focused on women, body-positivity, and remarkable archeological finds.
This past year, my posts have been way more controversial. I promulgated info on disparate incomes, racism, gender issues, civil rights, you name it. My only exception was election news. I flat refused and still balk at posting anything that sticks the despicable D’s image on my timeline. Damned if I’ll give that arsehole more publicity.
That said, my FB timeline is now almost exclusively political. When I have something else to offer, I feel vaguely guilty and totally insecure. Is posting a crazy dance number or a silly meme inappropriate at this point, or a welcome relief? Does small talk even have a role in society any more?
Which brings me to the entirely personal subject of this post. My newly-revised, thoroughly updated website is UP.
It’s really just the old info in a new format, tweaked to get rid of the obsolete items, spiffed up with a few new graphics, that sort of thing. If you’re reading this online at Neither Here Nor There, you can get to my home-page via the link in the far-right column. If you’re reading this in an email, try: http://www.risaaratyr.com/
Website design and construction is by Janet Guastavino. Janet not only applied her formidable technical and literary skills to the project; she learned a few new ones to make the site as elegant and user-friendly as possible. We’ve been collaborating on this project for about half a year, squeezing in the website stuff between day-jobs and the eternally stressful exigencies of life. Above and beyond, Jan. You are the best.
It won’t make the world a better place, it won’t solve a single problem that plagues us . . . but please check it out, let us know what you think. Let us know when you find spelling, grammar, punctuation errors, too. We did our best, but we’ve been looking at this copy so intently for so long, I’m afraid we’re missing the obvious.
This website re-launch is fortuitously timed to coincide with the last full moon of the solar year. In honor of the night, in celebration of the event, and in the belief that, in dangerous times, individual creative expression is, in itself, a political act, I offer you Word Up, a full-moon poem by my website designer and best friend.
Word Up
sunset and moonrise at the same time
a child giving her penny to the cellist
touching the bottom of the pool
digging in the dirt and finding old glass
talking with a Siamese cat
being embraced lovingly
greeting your baby for the first time
hearing the music, doing the music
blending viridian with cobalt blue
downing psilocybin with Häagen Daz
cantering on a cow-horse across a dried-grass path
wishing every wish you wish will come true
— J.A.G.
Risa, I told you we were weaving a rug! :)
PS: I like the new site. However, by clicking on the “My Writing” tab I inadvertently triggered my desire to know more about “Shadows Road”. It heartened me to read that you have taken it out of the trunk. If I said any more it would be tantamount to whinging.
d
Big thanks, D. I needed that! Great point, and by re-framing my question in a martial context, you’ve made the answer crystal clear, irrefutable, assuaging all my doubts. Just in time, too. I’m nearing the end of my annual forced Fall hiatus (this semester always kicks my butt), which means Shadow’s Road can come back to the front burner. I confess, though, some of those doubts were about going back to Éirinn, wondering if this was quite the right time to re-devote myself to an escapist fantasy. Now I’m thinking, yes, it’s exactly the time. The archetypal tale of good triumphing over evil against all odds never grows old and was never more apt.
Your Question: Is posting a crazy dance number or a silly meme inappropriate at this point, or a welcome relief?
My answer: When warriors take relief from battle (as they must) They often read poetry, write pleasant letters, listen to music, talk to their fellows. Not to do so would have a horrible effect on the morale of themselves and others. What is inappropriate about balance and keeping our sanity?
d
So lovely,great job Janet!
Hi, Jan and Thanks, guys. Naturally, now that I’ve announced it on here, on social media, and in a group bcc-to-100 folks email, we’ve discovered a new glytch (sigh). I’m sure we’ll have it straightened out in short order, though… what an adventure ;)
Congrats on the new site.
Dearest, dearest Risa, you do me great honor. My motto regarding technology is, “You are the boss of it”, and I vowed that I would make your Contact page behave itself, come hell or high water. Well, the Goddess was willing and the creek didn’t rise, thanks to a couple of good books on PHP.
It was purely a pleasure to be part of the adventure of your evolving web pages, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for publishing my poem.
In closing, great moon photo!