2024 Presidential Election - A Record

 Things that have happened in the one week since the 2024 election:

- Vote counts are continuing, and it looks as though DJT will take less than 50% of the popular vote. It also looks as though he will win that count only by around 1.5% of the total. This is not anything like a landslide, or a “mandate.” Even the Electoral College votes are in a normal range for a winning candidate; nothing extraordinary.

- According to Benny Johnson (an influencer being paid by the Russians - literally) and DJT’s own actions, they lied about Project 2025 not being the Trumpublican agenda. Look it up; we’re evidently going full Handmaid’s Tale if the new administration has their way.

- Nick Fuentes, White Supremacist incel and online… personality (?), went viral for posting “Your body, my choice. Forever.” on Twitter after the election, and followed that up by going on a podcast and mocking women that their rights were being taken away and soon they wouldn’t have any at all. He repeated his phrase, giggling like a junkie. It became an attack line on Twitter (women were swamped with it), someone made tshirts, and elementary school boys have started taunting their female classmates with it (in one Utah school district, the phrase has been accompanied with a smack to the girl’s backside). Fuentes was subsequently re-doxxed and people started showing up at his house; he became so afraid for his own safety that he moved back in with his mother.

- DJT has named Elon Musk to his cabinet as a Secretary of the Department of Efficiency (there is not yet any such department); though it may take time away from Musk’s busy schedule of talking on the phone with Putin (seriously), Musk has promised to cut government output by around 2 trillion dollars. This will strip the government of basically ALL programs, and will decimate the economy (we’re talking Great Depression levels) for at least two years. Musk believes this is an acceptable sacrifice to “build the economy” [currently literally the best in the world] “into something better.”

- I paid $2.79 per gallon of gas today. This is the lowest it’s been in years, and it has nothing to do with Trump or the election.

- The Taliban congratulated the US for refusing to elect a woman president. They have also recently banned the sound of women’s voices in public, and started confusing men by beginning to restrict their fashion and personal grooming choices. The men are SHOCKED that the Afghani government that has completely repressed half the population is now starting to oppress them, too. The Taliban also made a point of mentioning that the agreement that got the US out of Afghanistan and allowed the Taliban full access to power was signed by Trump.

- By the end of last week (Friday?) the economic report on the radio described how businesses were pre-emptively raising their prices in preparation for the hikes that will come next year when DJT implements all the tariffs he’s so excited about. Trump voters have not seemed to have any idea how tariffs actually work, and have been shocked to find out that they will be paid by American consumers, not foreign countries. One anecdotal story tells how a manufacturing company in Pennsylvania had to tell all their employees (mostly Trump voters) that no one would be getting a Christmas bonus since they had to order enough supplies to last a full year because of concerns about the proposed tariffs. The employees were utterly stunned and confused.

- Even though the same voting machines were used in the same districts across the country, no one has tried to call foul or scream about a rigged election (there have been some isolated reports about election officials changing vote tallies in favor of Trump). Many have expressed surprise that those who were able to successfully rig the 2020 election evidently just… didn’t bother? to do it again in 2024.

- The position of “Border Czar” is evidently officially being created; it is to be filled by the same guy who said that splitting up families when they begin mass deportations won’t be a problem because they’ll just deport the American-born children as well. He is the same person who authored the section of Project 2025 that describes how they plan to deport 11 million immigrants. (Stephen Miller, evidently taking a break to come out of his coffin, posted that they have a “de-naturalization” program in place and ready to go. He wants to strip citizenship from people who have been here legally for years.) So not only is the country about to spend literal billions to try to deport illegal immigrants and their legal children, the country is projected to lose additional billions in taxes and labor provided by those immigrants. 

- DJT today reiterated his intention (as outlined in Project 2025) to eliminate the Department of Education. This will remove all educational standards, as well as all funding for special education programs and IEP’s. Apparently all autistic children (or anyone with any need of specific support) will be on their own.  

- It’s interesting that the vast majority of those who post messages about how “we shouldn’t allow politics to damage our relationships” seem to be Trump voters unwilling to listen to honest concerns and fears about the things DJT has said and the policies outlined in Project 2025. “It’ll all be OK,” they say, usually to people who will lose all access to health insurance if the administration succeeds in getting rid of the ACA. (Apparently, there are also Trump voters who rely on the ACA but don’t like Obamacare and are gobsmacked to realize they are the same thing.)

There’s more, of course, but it will have to wait for the next round-up. Y’know, if we still have access to the Internet.

Miserable Useless Menopausal Childless Single Teacher Lady here - I can’t complete the list because I don’t have any cats due to a slight allergy. Sorry, JD Vance. Looks like you’ll have to find some other way to talk about how you hate women. Fortunately, a solid percentage of men in this country agree with you and also hate women, so I’m sure you all will come up with something. 

Can’t hardly wait.

Maybe Avoid Public Spaces on Bank Holidays

 I had been very excited to visit one of London’s “hidden gems”, Kyoto Garden in Holland Park. Monday (5/2/22) was a bank holiday, which didn’t mean much until I got to the otherwise somewhat lackluster Holland Park and walked around marveling at the crowds of people walking around. The garden-in-the-park turned out not to be 1) all that much of a garden - it was basically a walking path around a pond - and 2) particularly “hidden”. The path was swarmed with wanna-be influencers getting their photo at the (admittedly lovely) man-made waterfall. Forget about serenity and reflection. I trekked around the park, did my loop around the pond in Kyoto Garden, and headed back to my Airbnb to pack up to move to the student flats the next day.

(My pictures do not necessarily load on the blog in the order the are saved on my phone; but I got tired of adding them one at a time. Eventually, I may get on here on my laptop and re-arrange them. But probably not.)

The British-est embodiment of a park EVER.

Love the wisteria.

Everyone getting stalled at the waterfall while waiting to move around the pond.

The most photographed element of Holland Park (by way of Kyoto Garden)? I suggest yes.

Lord Holland. Yes, that’s HIS pond. It’s…. a mess.

I love crowds. Especially stupid, oblivious crowds. Bank holiday? Thank you, no.

I headed from Holland Park into the Design Museum, largely because I needed to refill my water bottle and use the restroom, and the Holland Park bathrooms were out of toilet paper. It was interesting, and I needed to be in a better headspace to really appreciate it. (Also, to look better in pictures. Ongoing challenge!)

Life and Death

 Super-dramatic title, I know - but Brompton Cemetery is actually a fascinating example of how spaces of death are merged into everyday life. I spent an hour Sunday afternoon (May 1st) wandering around a city-block-(bigger?) sized graveyard stuffed full of historical artifacts. It’s been around for a couple of centuries at least, and has been planned (re-designed?) with community life in mind. The paths are full of walkers and joggers, and there is a posted dog-walking route through the space. Gravestones are piled together, all different eras, singles and family groups, and everything is roughly laid out in blocks. These sections have varying levels of greenery; some are nearly waist-high fields of weeds and wildflowers, some with stands of trees and bushes, others cut down to turf. I do wonder if there is a grass-cutting schedule…

There’s a major theme running through exhibitions and discussions right now on the Suffrage Movement, and Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the leaders.

Usually, when the community is invited in to this kind of space it’s because vampires are looking for a snack (Buffy).

A very small selection of the headstones and markers on offer - TONS of crosses and Christian symbology.

Fascinating place (includes - locked up! - catacombs) for walking and thinking and pondering mowing techniques.

Although…

 What is WITH the accompanist? What is his deal? The Sacrament hymn was beautiful as he played it, and it was also incredibly distracting (particularly the key change on the third verse). Does he expect no one to sing the parts? Does he not know, for all his apparent skill on the piano, that it is very hard to sing parts when there is random accompaniment all over the place? Anyone in the congregation with perfect pitch must have been going NUTS with the key change and knowing the notes on the page no longer matched what they heard. Or is the fancy impromptu arrangement his way of making the singers concentrate more on the words, since they couldn’t follow the written notes anymore?

Is he being deliberate, or just having fun? Obliviously, delightedly, talentedly, jackassedly having fun?

Argh.

ETA: Next post - Sunday wanderings in a crazy cemetery. Well, not that crazy. And not specifically limited to Sunday; that’s just when I happened to be there. Lots of picture, lots of thoughts. 

Church Is Wild, Y’All

 Caught a bus, made it to church on time, super proud of myself. Also forgot it was May 1st and, therefore, Fast Sunday, and had yogurt before leaving the house (but not the candy bar - Bounty! - in my bag). Slightly less proud of myself, but not cranky. So.

The meeting was a little bit crazy. The accompanist is highly talented and overdramatic; it’s not a BAD thing to play the hymns as written! People can sing the parts to the music when you do! (FYI, floppy-haired drama piano dude.) One of the first testimonies was from an older gentleman (my age? Urgh) with a fantastic beard who talked like a preacher from the early 1900’s. I’m fairly certain that one is not meant to preach to or ‘exhort’ the congregation while bearing testimony. Love the British accent, though. A slightly more confusing accent was up next; he looked like a Spaniard and greeted us in Spanish but his English bore traces of Scottish (verified when he talked about dedicating the ground to bury his father’s ashes in the garden of his mother’s house in Scotland). Great story: he talked about how this experience showed him his family is afraid of inspiration, and testified that following the Spirit is actually a revolutionary concept. The things we take for granted are definitely strange and new, sometimes!

Then an elderly man in a motorized wheelchair came up the aisle, shoved a stroller out of the way that was (literally) in the spot he wanted to ‘park’ in next to a bench, and proceeded to run over a little girl’s foot (twice) while trying to navigate the chair to where he wanted it. He had no idea - at least not until she started wailing. He caught on at that point.

An earnest young man said, as part of his testimony: “I believe in righteousness.” I haven’t thought all the way through that yet, but I love it.

It seemed like almost everyone who got up mentioned when they had been baptized, and a few counted down the anniversary. Justin was visiting from Arizona (he invited everyone to come visit him in the States) talked about a time he was having “a discouraging, but not disheartening, experience”, and I thought that was so profound. Adds some perspective, and a measure of control, even when we’re having some of our hardest times, yeah? He went on to talk about how the Lord is always mindful of us and the things we’re going through. Then a young dad got up, and mentioned how, during an episode of sadness he had the (very normal) thought: “This too shall pass.” However, he was then edited by the Spirit, which revised the thought to: “This too is a gift.” He said that every moment of this life is a gift; it has literally been given to us. Then he bore testimony of the gifts of the Lord and the Spirit and I thought: what about giving all the moments of our own lives as a gift to our Heavenly Father? Give Him the happy moments to share, and give Him the sad/difficult moments as a display of trust that He will know what to do and will help us get through them.

It was cool that nobody was blasé about their testimonies. They were sometimes slightly inappropriate, but what they were saying was always heartfelt and important to them. 

Somebody quoted Sister White from the April 2022 General Conference, on how waiting on the Lord is and should be a sacred place. (I need to go read/listen to that talk. Well, all of them - I was a little out of it this last Conference - and that would be a good one to start with.)

So when I looked back at my notes - I took notes! - I realized that I have a complete Sacrament Meeting talk here, made up of concepts and connections from things people talked about in their testimonies. It was fascinating, and quite lovely. I’ll have to report back (I will probably not report back) if I ever get the chance to give that talk.

Oh, and in this ward the sacrament was at the end. I suppose that might be tricky for some, but after a meeting of testimonies and wonderful moments (even with children shrieking - and not just the one who’d had her foot rolled over!) I felt well-prepped to take the Sacrament. 

Tara Said So

 My friend Tara recommended I visit Kew Gardens, which I wasn’t consciously aware of (I mean, it shows up in Regency novels on occasion, so I vaguely knew it was a place - but not a NOW place, you know?), so I went. First I had decided to go to Oxford, since I haven’t been (and I was already aware of it as a place), but I woke up all nervy and angsty and did not get out of bed in time for the planned train to Ye Olde University Towne. (The trains run every half hour, but meh.) I was already having A Day, and I kind of just wanted to hole up and do nothing, but also the sun was shining and Sunday it’s supposed to rain and I really should do SOMETHING and Kew Gardens had a student ticket rate and FINE, I’ll GO.

I’m very glad I did.

It’s not as good as Longwood Gardens (someday I’ll come back!) and it probably wasn’t as good as it will be when more of the flowers are out, but it is green and sprawling and the weather was wonderful and boy howdy, did I WALK, and I will recommend that the students go on a weekend (cheaper train fare) when they need to get out of the city. Definite mood booster, and I should sleep well tonight! (Yeah, whatever, Ambien [generic version]. You’re only here because the doctor said so.)

Anyway, 18,000+ steps later:

Kew as in ‘cue’, but with a ‘K’.

There are some pilots out there ALSO enjoying the weather and having a great time.

If you can’t find pyramidal topiaries in a British garden, where can you?

This tree came from China and is a million years old (or a few hundred, give or take), and nobody knows why it started growing sideways like this. But they supported the roots with bricks and keep adding steel poles to hold up the branches, and it keeps right on flowering every year. There’s a lesson here, I’m guessing.

The Hive is an artistic representation of what it’s like to be in a beehive, as the park has this whole thing about bees and pollinators and all that good stuff. This hive hums and buzzes (there are speakers) and it has lights that respond to the vibrations of an actual hive somewhere on the grounds (not pictured). It was trippy, there is video.

This Monkey Puzzle tree looks like velvet from a distance, and feels like cactus IRL. DO NOT TRY TO CLIMB. (Just saying.)

Cupid in the Queen’s Garden behind Kew Palace, which is really just a big house King George III and Queen Charlotte liked to hang out in (at least until he was tortured, er, “treated” for his physical and mental illnesses there, NOT COOL) and it was still too small for the entire family of 15 children. Yeah, you read that right. They have the black horsehair chair Queen Charlotte died in, still draped with a ribbon so no one else will sit in it. Except you know someone HAS, right? Some idiot teenager with their first summer job got bored between tours and totally rebelled and moved the ribbon and sat down and freaked out and did not take a selfie because this was before cell phones. Possibly waaaaay before. Anyway.

The Brits really are surprisingly cool with the whole Hamilton thing.

I just thought this tree was neat.

THEY HAVE A BAMBOO FOREST. Y’all, if they can grow bamboo in the UK they can grow it anywhere - we REALLY need to be using bamboo (and hemp!) for all the things.

Snack break -  first in-country Crunchie bar! It was delicious.

Okay, but going on the treewalk meant going up all those stairs first. I hate stairs.

I talked myself into it. Other people were there, which made it less fun (including other tourists who couldn’t read the signs telling them to stay on the left - Americans!) and it will probably be amazing in 20 years when the elevator they are just now starting to build has been refurbished and all the trees have grown up further and it LEGIT feels like you’re in a massive tree house. It’s been a garden space for a solid 200+ years, what’s another 20? (Yes, the walkway is metal grating, and you can see through to the stuff below. No biggie.)

There’s a tower-style pagoda (because of course there is) and it has dragons (because of course it does). I did not even THINK about talking myself into trying to climb this one.

See? Dragons.

I call this picture “Work in Progress”. The statue/puppet/art piece should be pretty cool when it’s done, at least. (I’m guessing I’ll always be a dork. *shrugs*)

I made a beeline (heh) for the Waterlily House, and then left as quickly as possible. It was muggy in there. But real waterlilies!

There are ten animal statues representing 10 different support factions for Queen Victoria, and there are pretty fascinating. They include a unicorn for Scotland, England’s crowned lion, and even a ‘yale’, which is apparently a legit mythical creature (mythically legit?), for the family of Henry VII’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. They’re lined up along the front of the Palm House, which I did not go into because I decided I didn’t want to be in a sub-tropical space or that close to that many people. (Sunny day in the UK? There were a LOT of people out strolling, picnicking, wrangling screaming children, etc. Good times.) Also, since I didn’t go into either of the massive greenhouses, I have an excuse to go back later. Win!

I got back after 5 hours out in the fresh air and sunshine, picked up groceries, and did nothing else. I was going to watch a movie and/or read for next week’s classes, but, nope. I’m blaming jet lag - which is going quite well, considering - and taking my pill (last one?), and going to sleep. Rain forecast for tomorrow - may sneak in another park (there’s a Japanese park nearish by that I didn’t know about) after church. And then Shakespeare and class prep. For sure.

All of the Travel, None of the Glory

  All in all, it was a fairly undramatic travel day(s), which is just the way I like it. I hadn’t slept well the couple of days before leaving, and then didn’t sleep much at all on either flight, so it also ended up being a ‘dealing with bouts of woozy’ couple of days; but that’s why I planned to get in a few days early. Catching up via naps!

Dallas Fort Worth airport. I mean, if your airport doesn’t have a crazy-castle-thing, is it even real?

Dramatic lighting. Thanks, crazy castle thing!

View from the waiting area. (Nothing clever to say.)

I was just struck by how much the clouds looked like dirty cotton candy.

Made it to London, found the Heathrow Express. Did I mention my suitcase handle broke at the very top of the trip? Because it did. And it was a pain.

Did a pretty good job of matching the decor on the train.

Another pan chocolate, this one marginally better and totally British. Chillin’ (literally, it was cold) outside the Hyde Park Chapel on Exhibition Street. They had agreed to let me stash my luggage there until I could check in to my AirBnb. It was nice - I freshened up, stored all my stuff, and tried not to think about hiding in a classroom and sleeping on the floor. 

I walked the neighborhood (honestly, to keep awake) and found the three places the study abroad students in our group will be staying. Also found this random display of restored cars in one of the mews that included this Bentley.

Spent a minute in Hyde Park (the actual park) sitting on a bench near a group of schoolgirls practicing four-way cricket (I KNOW. For real.) and catching up on a few Marco Polos. Walked past the Albert Memorial, which is not dramatic or elaborate AT ALL.

Wanted to get out of the chilly-ish air and keep sitting (while hopefully not falling asleep), so I headed for the Victoria & Albert Museum because it is free and full of interesting things. Didn’t help - I kept trying to doze off standing up. Was surveyed by an employee on my experience, which I totally went along with even though I had nothing substantial to offer because talking to someone kept me awake and I still had an hour before I could head to my AirBnb. Will go back to the V&A, hopefully on the regular, and take things in a bite at a time.

Not a bad view to wake up to, eh? I held out as long as I could, meaning I fully planned to stay awake until 8-ish and then pop a (prescribed!) sleeping pill, but I made it to about 2:30. I met the Airbnb hosts, vaguely thought about showering or finding some food for later, washed my face, and lay down for a nap. Five hours later I got up, had a snack, puttered around a little, tried to read, (did not leave my room - it has an en-suite bathroom! Woo!), took my pill (to keep me asleep during jet lag turnover) and went back to bed.

It is currently 9AM - I decided to go to Oxford today, then decided that was too much work; I think I’ll go to Kew Gardens instead. If I can get myself up and showered and past wanting to take a nap, that is.

This is a weird mental place; I’d like to blame some of it on the jet lag, and I will, but I’m fighting between holing up and hermitting, and getting out to see and do. Thinking about the walking is exhausting (got my 12,000 steps and 5 miles yesterday!), but I know I need to get out and stop missing things. The battle is between “rest up” and “sleep when you’re dead”, and the winner has traditionally/overwhelmingly been “rest up/be lazy”, but I will drag myself out for breakfast. And if I keep on going from there I just might do something new AND take along some reading to prep for class. 

Gotta have goals, right?