a crisis state

August 21

a crisis state

Fake news, conspiracy theories, and unaccountable accounts of what is really going on, often heralded as divine truth. All lies, most of the time. Abundant now on all our screens, we struggle to know or understand what it truly means. Uninformed opinions are allowed much credence in an era where we really need to know. Politicians rant and rave, minds so flawed and so depraved you must question followers who wholeheartedly agree.

What passes for the news is nothing now, compared to what it was. Then. Perhaps it was limited access to history as it happened that required us to believe the events of the day. Daily newspapers, trusted broadcasts at the top or bottom of the hour, later revealed events at suppertime and then late-night news; we then paid attention. We had to. It had that power. Action and reaction.

Today, rare occurrences and once-in-a-lifetime happenings happen all too often in this never-ending 24-hour news cycle. Minutes and hours blur into everyday ephemera. Less is certain, more is questionable, not enough is never enough information. Misinformation/disinformation: one in the same, a deadly game.

Who, what, where, when and why. Always with the questions. There are less authentic reporters than answers. Journalism suffers: our fifth estate in a crisis state. It is not aways fair, it is not always obvious, it is not always news. Sadly. A celebrity event disguised as the truth is simply not news.

No isolation from the devastation as our world has been compacted onto tiny screens, perhaps small enough for our minds to handle. Mainstream media is easy to blame when you don’t take the time to find out for yourself. Things will really happen when the media is not around to notice.

And you won’t believe it.

Hello Winter

The weight of winter hardly upon us, 
only now is our reality apparent.
The season must be seen to be felt.

Without snow there are only 
harsh winds and inconvenient truths.
Precipitation fuels our anticipation.

On the cusp of Solstice, Christmas 
barely a week away, winter now visible.
We live the season as much as we wear it.

Months from now we will wish it all 
away, yet today our feelings are as fresh 
as the fallen snow. Hello winter.

12/20/2024                                j.g.l.

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December 16

Mondays are just young Fridays

The learning never stops; and so, it shouldn’t.

Often, more through trial than error, I have taken on new tasks throughout my life and the experience (for the most part) leaves me in a better place; no matter how difficult it seems at first.

I am undertaking a redesign of this website. Not the type to go into things blindly, I’ve taken on some help to see myself through the process. I knew, from the outset, that I would require some assistance just as I did when I opened up Mythos & Marginalia almost a decade ago.

So much has changed in the years since. I wanted to take this opportunity to not only update the look of the website, but also my skills.

I am learning.

While I know (or think I know) what I want, turning my ideas into a tangible reality is not easy. I understand the fundamentals of page design from my years in the newspaper industry but editing and layout has come a long way from the days of pencils and pica sticks. Technically it is easier now (or should be), but it is the technology that I have issues with. My knowledge of coding was never what it should be, so I am trying to learn more.

The learning never stops.

The WordPress ‘classic editor’ — the platform I have worked on until recently — is, principally, more straightforward with its options. Selecting text size was a drop-down menu, and aligning the type was just a choice of clicks. Working in this format had become routine.

The newer (and, apparently, more advanced) ‘block editor’ mostly seems to skip those familiar steps. I, now, should be able to work more visibly to adjust the text to what I am trying to achieve. That’s a big “should be”. I am, right now, daunted by what should be simple keystrokes and sizing on a very intuitive template.

Making mistakes is easy; correcting them often proves difficult. Understanding the errors of my ways takes understanding and knowledge. I am learning. Slowly.

I guess I had become too used to doing things in a certain way, in a specific order, always able to visualize the results. Now, in this new format, all I seem to be doing is confusing myself.

I am not working in my habitual ways. But I am still learning. That’s a good thing.

You don’t learn from routine, yet you should routinely be learning.

12/16/2024 j.g.l.

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December 19

speak up

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December 17

12/17/2024

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December 15

in my journal

Incomplete thoughts, generally, complete me. Always, in my time.

Casually or constructively, I write what I think (or what I want to think) until it all falls together.

The unfinished thoughts – those bruised, blemished declarations, replete with erroneous expectations or rough edges – often lay latent in my journal. For a time.

Often intrusively confusing and so full of questions, the mandate of the message lacks even muffled clarity.

Those words will keep for another day.

12/15/2024 j.g.l.

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