#dave richardson

[sirianasims]

Chapter 43.7

The scent of spices still lingers in the air, mingling with the warm, dry breeze drifting in through the open terrace doors. The table in front of me is a landscape of wine glasses and the plates that once held Dave’s mouth-watering lemongrass chicken.

I fold my napkin and leave it by my bowl, which has been scraped so thoroughly clean that it looks like I licked it. Had I been alone, I probably would have.

“That was delicious, Dave. Best I’ve had outside Tomarang.”

Dave beams with pride. “The secret is in the red curry paste, I think I finally found the perfect mix. I hope you left room for dessert though, I’ve got more coming.”

“Now you’re just spoiling me. What’s the occasion?”

“It’s the end of an era. I think dessert is justified.”

I nod solemnly. I recorded my last lines as Llama Man two days ago. Lee dropped by the studio with champagne to commemorate the occasion and I ended up with a hangover that still haunts me.

The fact that the show is over feels weird to think about. I’ve had many roles, but most of them were pretty minor and, most of all, temporary. They were just something I did for a little while, but I’ve been Llama Man for fifteen years and now, jarringly, I’m not.

Sierra interrupts my wallowing. “So, have you thought about what you’re going to do now?”

I shrug. “I don’t know yet. I still get a few gigs here and there for other voiceovers, but nothing steady.”

“What about finally going back to acting? On camera, I mean? It’s the perfect time, the show finale is going to get you some buzz, and my agent would love a chance to work with you, you know that.”

“Sierra, honey, it’s only been a couple of days, maybe it’s a bit soon to worry about what’s coming next?”

Sierra chews on her lip, clearly eager to keep going, but she doesn’t. She always says that Dave is her rock, the calm counterbalance to her temper. Some of my previous girlfriends didn’t like my closeness with Sierra, assumed that we used to date or at the very least slept together, but we never did. We would probably have strangled each other.

Julia was refreshing like that too, she never interrogated me about Sierra or seemed to feel threatened, she just took our friendship at face value.

Or maybe she simply didn’t care enough about you to get jealous.

Sierra gives me a sideways glance. “Fine, we can discuss it later, but how are you doing, really? I mean, the show ending is a big change on its own, but after everything with Julia…”

“I told you, Sierra, I’m fine. I knew the show was ending, it was announced last year. And Julia and I have been done for months, it was sad but I’m over it.”

“Are you, though? It’s just, you haven’t really been yourself since you broke up with her and-”

Dave rubs his forehead. “Honey, please, we talked about this. Let the man breathe.”

It has no effect. Even Dave isn’t enough to stop Sierra after three glasses of Soft Shadow Avornalino.

“I’m just trying to understand, though. You were happy, she seemed happy too, and the next thing I hear is that you dumped her? I don’t get it.”

“Sierra, can we not talk about this, please? I don’t want to go over it again, it’s complicated.”

“Again? You never went over it the first time! And you seemed to be doing so well, this is the longest I’ve seen any of your relationships last, so what went wrong?”

“Ten months isn’t that long, and since when do you care so much about Julia anyway? You were the one who was sceptical about her from the start!”

“I care about you, Paul! I was only sceptical because I was worried about whether she was, you know, right for you. I love you, you know I do, but you can be kind of a lot to deal with sometimes!”

A weary sigh from Dave finally makes Sierra pause.

“Sorry, Paul, that was uncalled for. I just wish you’d get a bit more, well, serious about your life, your career, everything.”

I don’t respond.

Dave clears his throat. “Honey, why don’t you and Paul go for some fresh air while I clean up in here and get dessert ready? The garden is really coming along.”

She looks at him gratefully. There’s a unspoken understanding between them that makes me feel strangely sad. I wonder if it’s something you develop when you’ve been together for as long as they have, or if the trick is to marry someone exactly because they can tell what you need without speaking. Maybe it’s a bit of both. I certainly wouldn’t know. Like Sierra just reminded me, I’ve never been with someone long enough to find out.

I catch myself staring at them and quickly look away. I’m not really superstitious, but all Tartosans grow up learning about malocchio, the evil eye, it’s habitual. My grandmother always said that you’re not supposed to look at someone with envy in your heart, or you might curse them, even if you don’t mean to.

Maybe I’m cursed. If anything invites envy and jealousy, it’s fame. Maybe that’s why I keep fucking things up, why I’m never satisfied. It would almost be a relief to be cursed. At least then it wouldn’t be my own damn fault.

Dave starts clearing the table, and both Sierra and I get up as well. She looks at me apologetically, but I walk outside without waiting for her, into the neatly kept garden.

It’s the height of summer, and the chorus of cicadas fills the air, a rhythmic, comforting hum that blends seamlessly with the faint sounds of water trickling from a small fountain. It’s hard to believe we’re in the desert, the entire neighbourhood is like a carefully crafted oasis, each house more exquisite than the last, all lush gardens and towering palm trees.

I sigh, looking up at the dusky sky. Behind me, the sound of gravel crunching under Sierra’s feet mixes with the soft clinking of dishes coming from inside the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, Paul. Dave did tell me not to bring it up.”

“I was planning to propose to her, you know. How’s that for getting serious?”

“What?”

“Yes! Bought the ring and everything. But luckily I came to my senses before I utterly embarrassed myself.”

For the first time in all the years I’ve known her, Sierra is speechless. She simply stares at me, wide-eyed, and I realise that I must look deranged, my face contorted by grief and fury and shame, my chest heaving.

I feel a burning sensation in my nose and her face softens. She pulls me into a hug and I let her do it, like so many times before.

“For fuck’s sake, Paul.”

I hold back, not wanting to crush her under my weight, but she pulls me closer, insistently, until I relax and lean on her.

“I’m such an idiot.”

Sierra says nothing, she just rubs my back in gentle circles and I feel my anger slowly dissipate. She finally lets me go and cups my face with her hand.

“Paul, look at me. Do you regret leaving her?”

Desperately.

“No.”

The word leaves my mouth automatically. I’ve thought about Julia every single day, but each time my finger hovers over her name in my phone, I get overwhelmed by a feeling of dread I can’t quite put into words.

Admit it, you’re just afraid that she’d reject you the way you rejected her.

“Sierra, am I just meant to be alone? Is there something wrong with me?”

She snorts. “Nope, you’re perfect, that’s your whole problem. You could have anyone, you just can’t make up your mind.”

“She’s the only one I ever wanted like this.”

She shrugs. “You have a strange way of showing it, then. But if you really don’t regret it, I guess it must have been the right call.”

There’s doubt in her voice, like she knows I’m lying.

“It’s for the better, Sierra. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life yet, she needs time to figure it out.”

“Maybe she could have figured it out with you.”

I hadn’t even thought of that, but I reject the idea immediately, it’s too painful. “No. It was never going to last.”

“So you keep saying. You make it sound like you expected it to fail from the start.”

“So did you.”

“True. Sorry about that.” She leans against my shoulder.

“Careful the paps don’t see you like this, we wouldn’t want the rumours to start again.”

She chuckles. “I think they gave up on us when I married Dave.”

“They could try a new angle. I’m single again, what will I do next? I might try to add some drama to the most boring, sorry, I mean stable marriage in Del Sol Valley.”

She laughs and punches me in the shoulder, surprisingly hard.

“Watch it, Romeo. I may only be a cop on screen, but I’ve learned a lot about hiding evidence.”

I put my arm around her and for a moment we just exist, listening to the cicadas until Dave calls us back in for dessert.

beginning / previous / next

[casselsims]

Dave Richardson knows how hard it is to afford a house in this economy, so when his grandmother left her home to both him and his cousin Sierra, he was more than a little irritated. Despite this, he suggested they renovate it and make it nice.

[yasperapologist]

*banging on pots and pans* Watch The Afterparty for free this weekend!

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Prep & Landing

Rating: G

Director: Kevin Deters, Stevie Wermers-Skelton

Cast: Dave Foley, Sarah Chalke, Derek Richardson, Mason Vale Cotton, David DeLuise, Peter Jacobson, Lino DiSalvo, William Morgan Sheppard, Nathan Greno, Hayes MacArthur, Kevin Deters, Kasha Kropinski, Adam Shapiro, Stevie Wermers-Skelton

Release year: 2009

Genres: fantasy, comedy, adventure

Blurb: Seasoned elf Wayne gets a new rookie partner in Lanny after his previous partner got the promotion Wayne wanted. Lanny has to remind Wayne of the spirit of Christmas and the importance of being an elf in Santa's prep and landing elite unit.

[noel-fielding-web-page]

Is your top of the favourites still the same?

No. It will never be the same. As I told before, I was extremely disappointed in James Acaster, coz his jokes about Noel were awful, so he’s not in the top of my favourites anymore. I know that it was just for the show, but he gone too far this time. I’m not going to remove my posts with him, even with Noel behind, but I’m still offended for him. That’s why my top looks like that now (he’s not even in top 20!)

Noel is upper than all this tops!

Top 20 after Noel Fielding

1. Dave Brown

Played Bollo the gorilla in The Mighty Boosh. I love his photo works. And I think he’s a great guy, no worse than Noel. Yeah, he probably doesn’t look so extraordinary, but still awesome :) x

2. Joe Lycett

I have told already that I luved him after Taskmaster. He's actually lovely, smiling boy. I'm really enjoying watching the shows with him. Yes, he looks silly sometimes. But it makes him adorable. And he looks pretty :)

3. Sean Hughes

This man was the first reason why I started watching Never Mind The Buzzcocks, before I found out about Noel. I'm genuinly cried when he passed away, was depressed quite a long time. Now I calmed already. I still luv him and rewatching old shows where he took a part with a light nostalgy. I think he was a nice person.

4. Alan Davies

Looking at Alan on QI, I always thought that he is a big kid. Always laughing, joking around and laughs contagiously, being dummy :) Then I watched his show As Yet Untitled. Quite comfortable and soft dude. This show made me to change opinion about Alan in better way, so now he's my favourite.

5. Simon Le Bon

True legend! Strong voice, looking gorgeous and having a great sence of humour! It's a frontman of my favourite band Duran Duran. I was Duranie before Noel. Being Duranie I found out about Never Mind The Buzzcocks where Simon took a part. Then it become my favourite show! And I still in love with this band <3

6. Rhod Gilbert

When I seen him in NMTB first time, he seemed too rough and angry. Then he took a role as permanent host of the final BBC series. I was wrong, he is a nice guy, just brutal ;) Although he couldn't rise the show, he's still great!

7. Phill Jupitus

I've never been his fan. But I still respect him for a long time being on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. This show could be cancelled much shorter if he would leave it behind.

8. Brian Cox (Professor)

I'm not a fan of the scient, but this guy is not just a Professor! He also a great actor! Entire The Universe musical explains everything! All you need is just to watch it to realize how wonderful is it! <;3

9. Ed Gamble

I found out about this pretty guy from Mock The Week. He is so positive and funny, always laughing :D Sometimes being rough a bit, but still very nice. My interest to him become stronger after Taskmaster and then after The Great British Bake Off and also I like his podcasts :)

10. Ed Byrne

Another Ed that I started interest in after Mock The Week. It's an Irish crazy comedian. He can be mad as hell then say anything unusual and laughing hard. They are obviously good friends with Dara O'Brain :) Their tandem was a classic. I'm not a fan of the show, but I will miss it (BBC axed it), still very nice <3

11. Lliana Bird

I respect this woman first of all for Noel! She gave him a big support that helped him to be alive now. It's a big love! Who knows full story, will guess what I mean! It's not just a beautiful lady!

12. Aisling Bea

Irish female comedian with original voice. She is beautiful and interesting person. Started like her after QI and Big Fat Quiz :)

13. Chris Ramsey

One of the fewest celebrities that I like firstly for the laugh and beauty :D Started to love him after Never Mind The Buzzcocks

14. Eddie Izzard

Interesting drag comedian. He likes dressing as a female, but still staying a man. Started interest after his tandem with Noel in Big Fat Quiz.

15. Kevin Scott Richardson

It’s the oldest member of Backstreet Boys. When I was younger, he was my favourite. And I still like him. He still looks beautiful and young :)

16. Greg Davies

I always respected him, from the first season of Taskmaster. But after that reviving of NMTB, there were some rumours that he helped the Sky team with that! And now he’s on my top!

17. Ricky Wilson

During the period when I was Duranie, I found out about Kaiser Chiefs. I didn't knew anything about them at all, but their lead singer Ricky Wilson interested me. He was a little chubby then and his voice was similar with young Simon Le Bon. It was the song I Predict Riot. Then I found information about him and realized that there is nothing in common between these two singers. Years later, Ricky lost weight and became a handsome man. But for me, he's always been cool. I like him :)

18. Lee Mack

True legend of Would I Lie To You! But I stareted respect him much earlier! Whe he hosted NMTB! I'm surprising, how the hell he didn't become a permanent host??? He would be amazing! His legendary "BAATMAAN!" explains all :D

19. Paul Foot

Not quite fan, but he’s so damn hilarious! I’d be happy to see him in NMTB again, obviously in Noel’s team. They’re both worth each other :)

20. Martin Kemp

I can’t say that I’m a fan of Spandau Ballet, but after the last Never Mind The Buzzcocks without Noel there, Martin Kemp was the one adequate guest. He didn’t make dirty jokes about Noel or anyone else and was unbelievably polite. So I liked him and started to respect. Quite deserved!

[captaindahlin]

various old bleed from within bits from magazines

[mikyapixie]

Dave The Barbarian premiered 21 years ago today on Disney Channel!!!

This Show Was Hilarious & I Swear To God I Still Have Dave The Barbarian Toys That Came From A McDonald’s Happy Meal!!!🤣🤣

[infraredmag]

New Music Review: JIM PETERIK & WORLD STAGE - 'Roots & Shoots Vol.2'

Rating: 7.5 / 10 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 7.5 out of 10. JIM PETERIK & WORLD STAGE is: Ed Breckenfeld (Drums & Percussion), Mike Aquino (Electric and Acoustic Guitar), Bob Lizzik (Fretted and Fretless Bass), Colin Peterik (Keyboards), Nick Lane (Brass arrangement on “Until”), Christian Cullen (Orchestration on “The Road To Forever”), Matthew McCauley (Orchestral arrangement and conductor for…

[bungitonthen]

9/9/24

for richard (live at the fairfield halls 1974) - caravan (cunning stunts)

syntelman's march of the roaring seventies ... riding on a cloud ... paralyzed paradise - amon duul II (live in london)

hymnen: region II (tracks 13 - 22) - karlheinz stockhausen (hymnen (40))

[gameofthunder66]

'Somewhere Quiet' (2013) film

-watched 7/31/2024- 2 [1/4] stars- on Hulu

Didn't get this until I read some of things people said about it on Reddit, and like a lot of them, I still think it was a stupid movie.

92% Rotten Tomatoes

[sirianasims]

Star-Studded Premiere of "Les Mélodies de la ville"!

Del Sol's Happiest Couple?

Action star Sierra Moss dazzled the red carpet as always, accompanied by Dave Richardson who matched his wife to perfection in a striking suit. The couple looked happier than ever as Sierra flaunted a figure that could rival any of her younger counterparts, undoubtedly a result of her intense training regimen for her next movie. Fans couldn't get enough of the radiant duo!

Rare Public Appearance by Fashion Power Couple

Fashion icon Jessica Clemons graced the red carpet with her elusive husband, Nicolas Clemons. The couple have been the subject of divorce rumours for years, but their stunning appearance left everyone guessing about the current state of their relationship. However, this may not be enough to silence the speculation about what a potential split could mean for their fashion empire, House of Clemons.

Flying Solo and Looking Fabulous

Prolific composer Lee Thompson made a solo entrance as expected. Rumour has it that he recently ended things with his latest boytoy, but that didn’t stop him from looking dapper and composed. Thompson’s solo appearance only fuelled the gossip mills, with everyone eager to know more about his personal life and upcoming projects.

Llama Man: Back in Action?

Del Sol Valley's most eligible bachelor, Paul Romeo, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday, also turned heads on the red carpet. Romeo is rumoured to be making a dramatic return to the big screen after almost a decade of voice acting, and fans are eagerly anticipating his comeback. Is Paul Romeo ready to reclaim his on-screen heartthrob status? The suspense is killing us!

Event by @nilonne ❤️

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #1-4 (1991) & trade paperback (1992) by William Messner-Loebs, Dan Barry, Karl Kesel and Lurene Haines. Edited by Diana Schutz and Mike Richardson. All covers by Dave Dorman.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #1-4 and TPB covers by Dave Dorman

A four-issue adaptation of the computer game by William Messner-Loebs and Dan Barry, published by Dark Horse Comics (March-September, 1991)

[yasperapologist]

Happy New Year! 2024 was the The Afterparty consumed my soul, and for that I am thankful.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Dave Whamond

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 17, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Jan 18, 2025

As President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris prepare to leave office at noon on Monday and President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President–elect J.D. Vance prepare to be sworn in, on the one hand last-minute orders are being made and goodbyes are being said, while on the other, the incoming administration is setting expectations.

On Thursday, Biden issued an executive order to strengthen the cyber defenses of the United States after hackers from China, Russia, and other countries have broken into federal agencies. The executive order requires software manufacturers like Microsoft to prove that their products meet security requirements before the federal government will buy them.

Today, Biden issued a statement declaring his belief that the Equal Rights Amendment guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex is the law of the land. Congress passed the amendment in 1972 and sent it off to the states for ratification, imposing on that ratification a seven-year deadline. Thirty states ratified the ERA within the next year, but a fierce opposition campaign led by right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly eroded support among Republicans, and although Congress extended the deadline by three years, only 35 states had signed on by 1977. And, confusing matters, legislatures in five states—Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee—voted to take back their earlier ratification.

In 2017, Nevada became the first state to ratify the ERA since 1977. Then Illinois stepped up, and finally, in 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, putting it over the required three quarters of states needed for the amendment to become part of the Constitution. But the radical right worried that women’s legal equality to men would protect abortion rights and that, as Catholic bishops of the United States wrote to senators, it would prohibit “discrimination based on ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ and other categories.” Opponents have challenged the amendment’s ratification over both the original deadline and whether the states’ rescinding of previous ratifications has merit.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) agrees that the amendment would help to protect abortion rights and has spearheaded efforts to get Biden to direct the national archivist, Colleen Shogan, to certify and publish the ERA, pointing out that the American Bar Association agrees that it has been ratified. But the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel says it considers the ERA expired unratified in 1982, and Shogan says she will defer to the opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel.

The executive branch doesn’t have a role in the ratification of constitutional amendments, and Biden’s announcement did not direct the archivist to certify the amendment. But a president’s public disagreement with the Office of Legal Counsel will add weight to the argument that the amendment has been ratified.

“We, as a nation, must affirm and protect women’s full equality once and for all,” Biden said.

Biden also set out to right the wrong embedded in the 1986 Anti–Drug Abuse Act. That law imposed a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison without the possibility of parole for possession of five grams of crack cocaine, which urban Black Americans favored, while the same penalty applied to 500 grams of powdered cocaine, the form of the drug favored by white Americans. That disparity has been a symbol of racial injustice in the federal justice system, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission called for its reform in April of 1995. Today, Biden shortened the sentences of 2,490 nonviolent drug offenders convicted of crimes related to crack cocaine.

Biden and administration officials have been saying goodbye to their teams. On Thursday, Biden bid farewell to U.S. service members, thanking them for “your service to our nation and for allowing me to bear witness to your courage, your commitment, your character.” He asked them to “remember your oath” and to protect “American values: [o]ur commitment to honor, to integrity, to unity, to protecting…and defending not a person or a party or a place, but an idea…that we’re all created equal.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland also bid his team farewell yesterday, thanking them for their work confronting fentanyl dealers who threaten our communities, disrupting threats from both foreign and domestic terrorists and from authoritarian leaders that threaten the country’s security, protecting economic competition and prosecuting fraud and corruption, and defending civil rights. “You have worked to pursue justice—not politics,” he said. “That is the truth, and nothing can change it.”

Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked those in the State Department for building partnerships and strengthening alliances, “rallying the world in common cause.” “We come from different places, different experiences, different motivations and backgrounds,” he said, “But I think what brings all of us together in this place, in this time, is that unique feeling that you get going to work every single day with the Stars and Stripes behind your back,” “working every day to make things just a little bit better, a little bit more peaceful, a little bit more full of hope, of opportunity.”

Blinken told members of the department, “the custodians of the power and the promise of American diplomacy,” that he would always be their champion, but that he was returning “to the highest calling in a democracy, that of being a private citizen.”

As Biden administration officials leave, the incoming Trump administration is vowing to unleash “shock and awe” in the first days of Trump’s presidency as the new president issues what Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) called a “blizzard of executive orders” to reshape the country according to his policies. In The Bulwark today, retired U.S. Army lieutenant general Mark Hertling, former Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army, explained that the concept of shock and awe calls for gaining an advantage over an enemy with overwhelming firepower followed by brilliant execution. The plan anticipates paralyzing the enemy with “such overwhelming force that resistance is futile.”

For his part, Hertling seems unimpressed, noting that “[i]f your plan calls for your side being all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect in execution, and immune to surprise—when you’re working with human beings and you presume your enemy is stupid, weak, and all but inanimate—the plan probably isn’t worth all that much.”

Aaron Zitner and Xavier Martinez of the Wall Street Journal reported today on a new Wall Street Journal poll revealing that American voters want what they call “MAGA lite, rather than extra-strength MAGA.” More than 60% oppose Trump’s plan to replace nonpartisan civil servants with loyalists. More than 60% also oppose Trump’s plan to eliminate the Department of Education. Almost 75% of voters oppose his plans for sweeping deportation raids, wanting only those with criminal records to be removed from the country. More than two thirds oppose calls to take control of Greenland, and only 46% approve of his choices for cabinet positions.

But the Republican-dominated Senate seems poised to approve Trump’s picks for cabinet secretaries and other appointees that require Senate confirmation. As they have been appearing before the committees responsible for vetting those candidates before they go on to the vote of the full Senate, key appointees have been demonstrating that their primary qualification is their loyalty to Trump.

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth revealed that he knows close to nothing about the actual requirements for the job but declined to say he would refuse an unconstitutional order. Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, said she would “study” the Fourteenth Amendment after being asked about the birthright citizenship embedded in it, and she refused to say that Biden won the 2020 election.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has apparently caved to Trump’s demand that he remove Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) from the chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, an action that will remove him from the committee altogether because of term limits for those committee members who are not the chair. Turner was well respected in that post by members of both parties, but was a staunch defender of Ukraine who last April had warned that it is “absolutely true” that Republican members of Congress are parroting Russian propaganda. “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.”

Alice Miranda Ollstein, Caitlin Oprysko, and Irie Sentner of Politico reported yesterday that experts expect Trump and his allied political action committees to pull in as much as $250 million for Trump’s inauguration. But much of the cost of the inauguration is actually covered by taxpayer dollars, they report, and while laws require the inaugural committee to disclose its donors, there is no requirement to say where the money goes. Trump’s Inaugural Committee fundraiser told the reporters that any money not spent on the inauguration will likely go toward Trump’s presidential library.

The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., for Monday’s inauguration predicts a high in the low 20s (approximately –5° Celsius), and late this afternoon, Trump announced on his social media company that he was moving the inauguration inside to the Capitol Rotunda because of the cold. This leaves workers less than 72 hours to change the plan for an outdoor inauguration they had begun preparing for on September 18.

Members of Congress have been distributing tickets to their constituents, but because of the change, the Joint Inaugural Committee of Congress has told the public that the “vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person.” The House sergeant at arms suggested to members of Congress that they should tell their constituents that their tickets should now be considered “commemorative.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[alloalouette]

It’s pretty clear that the men in my life, even the ones who oppose trump, think it’s just going to be another shitty four years filled with “stupidity”, merely.

They genuinely do not comprehend the immediate threat to safety and mortality this new era is to women, to any person who is non-white and non-conforming to conservative christofascist nationalism.

They can still go about their lives relatively unscathed if they don’t say much and just make it through what they perceive to be four years of drudgery. As much as they are concerned, and care about me and the other women in their lives, they have not grasped the deadly seriousness of the situation.

They genuinely have not perceived the future that will come soon and, once things are set in motion, will decline with extreme rapidity. Just like with roe v wade: there one day, gone the next, and life-saving care just vanished all over the country and women started literally bleeding out in parking lots.

Open misogyny and assault will become the normative social behavior, more than it already is in online right spaces, because the punishments will be few or dismissed entirely.

Men who secretly are intrigued by or even love the idea of controlling and harming women will behave with what appears to be “mob mentality”—once it is permissible they will let it all out of hiding. Just as we saw ugliness we did not dare to believe existed in family and friends come out unhindered and without shame during the first term, we will be shocked, just as we were then, at the way trump et al. will have changed, broken, people we thought we knew. The same will be true for any person with social privilege turning on anyone they deem beneath them, unworthy of dignity or safety or care.

The legal frameworks that in that past would have kept men like trump, Fuentes, Elon, and everyone they are shouldering up with from doing what they already have done to arrive at this moment—frameworks that should have been used to prevent this, their integrity having already been crippled by not being applied to stop him et al. from advancing—those remaining scaffolds of decency he is going to dismantle swiftly.

In every instance of autocracy and fascism throughout history, again and again is the shock and awe at how rapidly democratic norms, public institutions, and acceptable human behavior just unraveled.

Do not — DO NOT — imply to women, to non-white and non-conforming people in your lives that the next “four years” are going to “suck”. If that is your belief, your feeling, your impulse to say or think, hush.

Read project 2025, thoroughly.

Watch Walsh, Fuentes, and those adjacent to them, to hear their glee at owning women, at controlling and ruining, at smashing their faces into brick ceilings (gloating in their abuse and suffering, and their delight at being the hand that delivers it metaphorically and literally).

Listen to the people who are terrified. Fucking remember what trump did in four years when it was a “fluke” and everyone with a shred of decency left was scrambling to hold everything together through tenuously and wide-spread grasping fingers, futilely in many cases. Fucking remember.

Read Sarah Kendzior, Jared Yates Sexton, Heather Cox Richardson, Dave Troy, and anyone they retweet or quote. These are historians and analysts, experts in political history, especially fascism and autocracy. They are the ones running out of the mines shouting that all the canaries are dead. Pay attention.

If you want to know what to do next, start reading Octavia Butler, George Jackson, James Baldwin, and expand from there. Start listening to indigenous people and reshaping your concept of social bonds, social cohesion, and how we survive this.

It’s not how you think, men in my life. It’s not how you think, those of you who think this is reactionary and extreme. Indigenous communities that are still here today have survived every empire, for good reasons. Learn them. Learn from them.

For the rest of us, and those of you who make the inward journey and meet up with us, cultivate resistance. It begins in your heart and mind. Existence is resistance. Joy is resistance. Empathy is resistance. Anything that supports freedom for others (which will always come back to you), is resistance. Get after it.

[lonesomedreamereccentriclover]

Happy Birthday Aubrey Plaza!

Happy Birthday Aubrey Plaza!