a dumb b*

The governor of Utah gave an interview to NPR in the last week. I listened to the part that was aired on the radio.

He [Spencer Cox] seems harmless.. almost peaceful. but then again, can someone who promotes organized religion be ever truly harmless?

He had this to say:

“We’re looking for tribes somewhere,”

“And we’re finding that in politics.”

“Politics is replacing religion.”

I agree. But it’s not like the two ever truly separated in any shape or form.

Stephen Dubner suggested to spend 15 minutes/day without a phone.

So during that time, I am writing this post. Why did I jump from Gov. Cox to Stephen Dubner? Probably because Stephen (first name basis now) said he hates politics (I need to check if he actually used the word “hate”. I am pretty sure he did not because he is very mild when it comes to expressing his feelings. always measured with a pinch of economic rationality).

There is no winning here with arguments. There is no winning anymore. So what is left other than trying?

I am looking for a village. I created many small villages, but the problem is that I moved around too much for any one of them to stick. So I have virtual villages, little bubbles of people all around the world. I am looking to find a way to make things a little bit better.. by thinking out loud. I have been stuck inside my head for too long. And here we are. Can we build villages based on our shared humanity and nothing else? More to unpack…

naloxone: a synthetic drug, similar to morphine, which blocks opiate receptors in the nervous system.

It reverses opioid overdose.

Imagine every town having only one drone hidden on a rooftop, or on top of some traffic light.

The following is fiction influenced by wishful thinking mixed with cautious optimism:

911 gets a phone call – someone is overdosing.

911 operator: Ma’am where are you now?

Caller: [insert a place where someone may have overdosed – it’s not hard to imagine given the opioid crisis]

911 operator: OK, EMTs are on their way, in the meantime I am sending over a drone which has a nasal spray in it – once it arrives all you have to do is take it out of the drone and administer it just like any other nasal spray- the drone has a little video if you press play it will show you how to administer it- and i will be with you on the phone.

Not stuck in traffic, the drone arrives first. EMTs eventually show up. They take the hopefully still-alive person to the hospital and they pick up the drone to refill with the next dose and send it off to its homebase to be charged and ready to deploy again.

Poke holes in this idea please. What do I know about robotics and engineering and systems implementation? Nothing. But I bet there are tons of sweetsplainers out there who are ready to educate me.

The floor (or should I say… the sky) is yours.

Action movies, tense conversations, important work meetings.. I hold my breath.

I did it so much over the years – unless i see or hear “take a deep breath” I don’t even remember the last time I might have taken one.

I think I look at my phone at least 5 times/hour. I said at least before the imaginary judge in my head says “you know, it’s probably a lot more – so before you comically underestimate this number, do the research”. No! I mean yes, I want to find the research that gives me an accurate number and I will follow up with a more realistic/scientifically sound estimate, but this is how I derail myself. I get nothing done because I want it to be thorough and there is not enough time to do everything thoroughly.

Back to my point. I want to increase the frequency of high quality deep breaths I take and some other things.

So I made this screensaver. Let’s see how it goes.

We keep quiet in real life, because, you know – shut the fuck up, dumb bitch – but then there’s this little monster, the Diva, singing:

Come with me, you little dumb bitch.
We’ve seen some shit, and we survived.
It’s time to shine, dine, and wine [and whine] because
it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to,
I’ll sing if I want to,
I’ll burn it all if I want to.

Well… not really, but… maybe?