Nothing good comes ever from this kind of talk. MAGA is going to end the American age, and it's possible that will turn out for the best, but it won't feel good for citizens of the formerly dominant empire. 

Movie #64 of 2025

 "Perfect Days."

One of my pastimes is doing dishes while watching the CHEERS/FRASIER channel on Pluto. Every episode of Cheers has at least one moment that gives me a good belly laugh. Frasier often does as well, but the latter seasons the energy flagged a bit and you can tell.

Texting with a longtime friend, one of my favorite persons in the world, who is of foreign origin but became a citizen decades ago. Still, they worry because even though they're a citizen the Trump administration's aggressiveness and willingness to move the goal posts means they can't feel entirely safe.

And I cannot tell this friend that they're worrying about nothing. I think they're right to worry. Damn it.

UPDATE: The friend is not nonbinary. I'm just hesitant to put even the least bit of identifying info out about them, even on this barely-read microblog, because I don't trust in their safety.

Movie #63 of 2025: "The 400 Blows"

About the time Antoine stretched out on the couch and took a drag on his cigarette while reading Balzac, I realized I have never in my life been as cool as this fucking French tween.

Seen on a not-badly-English-dubbed film print at Liberty Hall in Lawrence KS.

Currently reading Alexander Navalny's memoir, "Patriot," and it's reaffirming something that I've long suspected: Pop culture is a gateway drug to freedom. More on this later. But so far, it's an unexpectedly charming recounting. It's always a pleasure to find that something you pick up feeling like it's assigned homework is actually absorbing.

The Washington Post has a new cable-news-style scroll across the bottom of its homepage and it might be the thing that forces me to finally cancel my subscription.