#kate durbin

[bitchin-ass-pants]

Song Fic Song List

Knights From Cydonia - Muse

Playing Favorites - Genevieve Fisher

Gasoline - Halsey

Get in the Truck - Hardy ft. Liane Wilson

The Summoning - Sleep Token

Riptide - Beartooth

Enemy - Imagine Dragons

Knowing Me Knowing You - ABBA

Follow You - Imagine Dragons

Born Too Late - Poni Tails

Life on Mars - David Bowie

Get Up and Fight - Muse

Midnight Crisis - Jordan Davis

Savior - Rise Against

White Room - Jack Bruce

Lady - Kenny Rogers

Darkest Part - Red

Run Away to Mars- Talk

Break it to Me - Muse

Save Our Last Goodbye - Disturbed

Race to the Sun - 3 Doors Down

Angel - the Weeknd

Warrior - Zac Brown Band

Lifetime - 3 Doors Down

Halo - Evan's Blue

Back for More - James Durbin

The Mountain - Three Days Grace

The Legacy - Black Veil Brides

Lady - Styx

Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars

Separate Ways - Journey

Death of Peace of Mind - Bad Omens

Welcome Home - Coheed and Cambria

It's Gonna Be May - Jonathan Young (shut up I like this one)

Lay All Your Love On Me - Mamma mia

Fuyu No Hanashi - Given

Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush

Don't Speak - No Doubt

Paint It Black - Ciara (again shut it)

If I Can't Love Her - Josh Groban

The Ghost of You - My Chemical Romance

Heaven - Matt Bomer

Lost On You - LP

Burn For You - Barlow & Bear

Jet Pack Blues - Fall Out Boy

Blood Upon The Snow - Hozier & Bear McCreary

Deliver Us - Caleb Hyles & Jonathan Young

Change Your Mind - Mamma Mia

This is My Idea - The Swan Princess

Rewind The Exit Wound - Volbeat

[artisticlegshake]

THE DANCE AWARDS LAS VEGAS RESULTS 2023

Judge’s Pick awards that didn’t place top 10 in Senior Solos:

Melanie Wills - SOUTH TULSA JP!

Kaitlyn Cates - SOUTH TULSA JP!

Abby Clement - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Lauryn Williams - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Sofia Mah - DANCEOLOGY JP!

Jonah Benyamin - CLUB JP!

Bianca Zorrilla - DANCEOLOGY JP!

Caroline Durbin - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Bayli Ramey - CSPAS JP!

Kamryn Williams - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Emersyn Dickson - CSPAS JP!

Olivia Elliot - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Ella Lawrence - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Madison Goulding - CSPAS JP!

Emily Haas - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Angelica Keamy - ELITE DANCE JP!

Jessica Henry - ROYAL DANCE WORKS JP!

Jordan Wood - SOUTH TULSA JP!

Tori King - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Camille Kapsalis - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Emily Chen - SOUTH TULSA JP!

Sofi Paulk - REVOLUTION JP!

Sarah Kate Kurzius - NEXT STEP JP!

Chloe Slone - CLUB JP!

Cecelia Thielen - LARKIN JP!

Logan Peterson - NEXT STEP JP!

Charly Frost - BOBBIE’S JP!

Ayla Pilrain - LARKIN JP!

Natalie Bowen - BOBBIE’S JP!

Samantha Holck - DC2 JP!

Aidan Skelte - NEXT STEP JP!

Austin Tredemeyer - NEXT STEP JP!

Erica Manzo - STUDIO FUSION JP!

Mia Leyva - BUNKER JP!

Karleigh Radke - BUNKER JP!

LeeAsia Smith - BUNKER JP!

Cara Ricciardi - THE COMPANY SPACE JP!

Kate Abernathy - THE DANCE KOLLECTIVE JP!

Morgan Miller - ACADEMY OF NV BALLET JP!

Bella Ricciardi - THE COMPANY SPACE JP!

Brielle McCoy - KIM MASSAY JP!

Joshua Vasquez - ELEMENTS JP!

Leo Abrahamse - THE COMPANY SPACE JP!

Brecklyn Brown - THE DANCE KOLLECTIVE JP!

Kyrsten Ham - ROYAL DANCE WORKS JP!

Alexis Leistner - EXPRESSENZ JP!

Kennedy Barry - DANCEOLOGY JP!

Ryder Hettick - THE DYNAMIC JP!

[theepsteinlist]

"epstein" client lists

florida/LA:

ring leaders:

epstein and gf

r. kelly

jay-z

michael jackson

michael vick

donald trump

perps/victims: (i.e. their victims who joined the criminal conspiracy)

kelsey mayfield

megan thee stallion

beyonce knowles

targets:  pretty runaway rich girls who wanna be ~bad girls~ for a weekend and ~seduce an older man~

epstein was known locally to strippers as mr. brown

nazi blood diamond money laundering:

doc martens

chanel

wal-mart

chick-fil-a

james avery

dr pepper/snapple/green mountain/keurig

walgreens

hp

siemens

whatsapp

mcafee

doordash

uber

ubereats

hobby lobby

mcdonald's

coca-cola

american eagle

nazi pedophile blood money (m)/(b)illionaires:

robert a. eckert

sheila a. penrose

john w. rogers jr

miles d. white

richard childress

jen foyle

truett cathy

david green

meg whitman

john mcafee

alice walton

brian kelley

travis kalanick

mark zuckerberg

tony xu

texas:

new braunfels: ring leaders:

amy allen

sam allen

lori hines

donna simpson

targets: high school kids who just wanna ~have fun~ and ~have a safe environment to drink in~ because "there were adults present so it's safe"

perps:

sergio zamora

bryce parrock

chris allen

travis allen

clayton mott

curtis kostan

travis kostan

calvin hoffman

ashton henderson

hannah jeroswhatever jerosezswki

lisa pickens

rachael lee muschalek

courtney cashion

taylor davis

raelynn haggerty

adam sheldon

devin kelley

zach rhoades

ryan walker

taylor akins

samantha rich

stephanie gawlik

charlie miffleton

chris tysdal

ross johnson

reed edwards

paige beyer

landre nattinger

aubrie iverson

andrew shafer

matt durbin

spencer jergins

clint whitley

tim word

chad laborde

chez council

"victims"? (participants with a wide spectrum of consent that were nonetheless assaulted/exploited)

maggie osborne

esmerelda ??? (zapatos?)

liz perez

autumn reno

angel ??? (bustos?)

destiney sheldon

katie turpin

kiki grossman

lauren laborde

lindsay smith

stephen lupton

landre nattinger

ashton henderson

hannah jerosewzski

kkk:

ring leaders:

david duke

greg abbott

ken paxton

vance lesseig

walton family

taylor swift

david green

perps:

james reno

edwin braun

marisol padilla

chuck kirchhof

tom muschalek

dunno mr. zeitler's name

aforementioned men's wives

oakwood baptist church of new braunfels

community bible church of new braunfels

vance langley

coach schmidt

coach mclean

mrs. lindsay

ms. pradervand

mr. baker

mr. trollinger

mr. ??? (other NBHS short term criminal justice teacher in 2009)

officer broussard

shelby lesseig

rachael lee muschalek

kelsey mayfield

henry desroches

thomas neupert

michael brennan

mark hardiman

dr. hardiman

sam allen

judge and mrs. gray

targets: young teenagers that were ~special~, i.e. identified by the duke talent program

victims:

sam coronado

samantha allen

mitchell ridsdale

aaron criddle

ben turrubiates

akash motani

faizal khan

sterling demasters

zach mares

ethan poulter

jordan thiem

edward stockwell

anthony castilleja

charles tandy

jonathan dockall

emily brandon

lauren knipe

heather brown

josh burlison

the trix family

the piranha family

gavon payne

emma roddy

alison kim

sarah perrilloux

amanda and mary pike

sarah stiponavich

stephen phipps

allie alcala

jeremy priest

jackson faires

alex mott

marco martinez

brandon anderson

scott antoine

amber antoine

star hernandez

jessica atwell

rylee young

jamie hand

suzanne stricker

emily langendorff

olivia langley

taylor francis

ana castro

maria chavez

tanner brewer

katie ha

zach parrish

anthony tran

kylie blair

cullen nisson

ranger wallace

taylor mares

kathryne mares

jayme zigler

evan zigler

gracie payne

ellie payne

manuel deleon

the dione triplets

justin and taylor schwarz

araceli ayala

jamie bell

cassie barrett

jordan d'eri

rachel jones

andrew bryant

michael trombold

stephanie bryant

ashley bryant

daniel schroeder

kirsten schroeder

alexandria ingram

julianna pappalas

kindell hardin

edward yu

alexis lewis

katherine davis

ana ??? (katherine's girlfriend, texas a&m track team 2013)

ajay patel

james lamon

emily lamon

dionne diaz

mirea ayala

katelyn warner

kirby fisher

kyle fisher

tyler rougeux

kyle rougeux

josh chappell

kyle chappell

jaimee chapell

emily chappell

tyler mcdonald

marissa maddon

john maddon

tessa loge

eden bonneville

jack rhodes

andrew romero

lauren laborde

sarah laborde

stephenea sotcheff

sophia sotcheff

david mis

britton ware

will stapleton

canaan hoffman

caitie hoffman

sarah kreuger

ben jacks

ben triesch

gabe ramos

gene jacobson

aj jerosewszki

daniel phipps

daniel schumacher

eric stiebing

stephen rapp

maisha rumman

shradha thakur

vamsi vishnubhotla

michael carl

lindsay smith

lindsey kubena

samantha partida

steven partida

victoria rich

jennifer koepp

jenniffer flores

anne manzano

elizabeth villarreal

denise ortiz

kevin korpi

brad arnold

ed gonazles

david eckert

felicia curtis

trent wenzel

coach woodall

coach kilford

mrs. bock

mrs. lopez

ms. wetz

ms. caldwell

ms. biggs

mrs. thompson

oldest batey girl

oldest gorski girl

any other teenagers in central texas that have died in car crashes since 1980 or so

bharadwadj tanikella

hayley gray

colby callahan

austin milam

heath burley

california:

los angeles:

ring leader: grayson bauer

targets: young runaway artist girls

perps:

harvey weinstein

bill cosby

jack antonoff

dr. luke

jay-z

beyonce knowles

travis scott

drake

janelle monae

megan thee stallion

erykah badu

mark oliver everett

metallica

marina diamandis

breandan urie

lorde

victims: (ranging from financial abuse to outright sex trafficking)

grimes

ellie goulding

rina sawayama

billie eilish

shakira

avril lavigne

amy lee

ky voss

poppy

christine and the queens

cupcakke

K.I.D

la roux

kreayshawn

chloe chaidez

tove styrke

tove lo

bebe rexha 

ximena sarinana

angel haze

azaelia banks

ashnikko

colbie caillat

charli xcx

kim petras

kacey musgraves

mia rodriguez

melanie martinez

jazmin bean

ivy levan

iggy azaelia

alice glass

cardi b

nicki minaj

hana

tatu

boa

charlotte sometimes

meiko

lana del rey

borns

mo

sky ferreira

florence and the machine

sarah jaffe

alex winston

jessica hernandez

tegan and sara

caitlin rose

LP

ralph

alice merton

miguel

hailey williams

emily king

rett madison

king mala

leikeli47

princess nokia

post malone

k.flay

sirah

sir babygirl

caroline polachek

yaeji

moses sumney

glasser

king princess

dorian electra

lil nas x

slayyyter

phoebe bridgers

harry styles

alicia keys

lil mariko

carrie underwood

kelly clarkson

mount moriah

zz ward

miranda lambert

the chicks

beyonce

frank ocean

chance the rapper

kesha

MNDR

ariana grande

britney spears

christina aguilera

alessia cara

mac demarco

ghost

juanes

weezer

sam fender

jason isbell

mexican institute of sound

la perla

gera mx

royal blood

st. vincent

white reaper

YB

biffy clyro

the chats

off!

PUP

corey taylor

cage the elephant

vishal dadlani

divine

shor police

diet cig

flatbush zombies

dj scratch

ha*ash

jose madero

moses sumney

j balvin

chase & status

backroad gee

the neptunes

jon pardi

sebastian

portugal. the man

aaron beam

volbeat

the hu

tomi owo

phoebe bridgers

miley cyrus

watt

elton john

yo-yo ma

robert trujillo

chad smith

dave dahan

mickey guyton

dermot kennedy

mon laferte

igor levit

my morning jacket

pg roxette

darius rucker

chris stapleton

tresor

goodnight, texas

idles

imelda may

chery glazerr

izia

kamasi washington

rodrigo y gabriela

kimbra

d'angelo

worked with grayson, benefitted from him, but were not aware anything was going on or did their best to help:

st. lucia

tame impala

the hush sound

straylight run

anamanaguchi

the naked and famous

bastille

blue october

guster

old 97's

frank turner

awolnation

sea wolf

my chemical romance

atreyu

avenged sevenfold

greenday

blink-182

slipknot

blaqk audio

AFI

fall out boy

young the giant

san francisco:

ring leaders:

marc benioff

elon musk

travis kalanick

evan spiegel

steve jobs

jeff bezos

mark zuckerberg

steve chen

bill gates

michael dell

ren zhengfei

eoghan mccabe

secondary: grayson bauer using this circle for remote revenge crypto shills from 20mission and burning man preying on runaways as well

targets: queer tech-inclined teenagers

perps:

zach snow

dan granquist

jeremy whittington

taran patel

jim spagnola

seth tager

walter harley

jose garcia

connor cook

andrew zigler

chris sullivan

"anna lytical" (billy)

kelsey mayfield

caroline rhoades

henry desroches

mark hardiman

ben angel

ian coldwater

"belgium solanas" (michael troy judd)

meagan clawges

nalini prakash

lovi yu

peeyush aggarwal

victims:

matthew allen

samantha allen

janus rose

c boucher

chelsea manning

keffals

ben turrubiates

emily johnston

gavon payne

jamie delton

chris koch

amanda le

naomi wu

tux pacific

sev welker

alison kim

cara mazzi

ruby ??? (caroline's old roommate)

nick ??? (caroline's ex-boyfriend)

rachel forbes

daphne gunawan

trisha day

sidney powell

srijita mori

rebecca ??? (srijita's partner)

scott conger

erin nielsen

qinlin chen (catherine chen)

hank yang

kevin ren

aaron wong

matt hwang

chloe cauley

zane witherspoon

ana garcia

jeremy cruz

john lewis

lida wang

waylon clanton

wyatt clanton

tyler mcdonald

jasmine christiansen

new york/london/vegas && norcal/socal rivalries

ring leaders:

bernie madoff

jack antonoff

joanne rowling

evan spiegel

fox news, et al

new york times, et al

washington post, et al

the guardian, et al

noah pentecost

mark zuckerberg

jp morgan/chase bank/etrade

viacom

verizon

disney

scientologists

perps/profiteers:

lin manuel-miranda

bari weiss

sarah jeong

juliette sieve

ravi gill

will yang

jesse yang

sahil bhumi

???? (their armenian friend from stanford 2012 class)

antonis kartanapis

marko salkovic

erykah badu

oakstop coworking space

wag dogsitting app

kent from youtube & his sri lankan sugar mama

gabriella from wag

stephenie meyer

"e.l. james"

john green

hank green

susan collins

meg cabot

angela santomero

john kricfalusi

tom cruise

george r. r. martin

david benioff

targets: expressive, artistic teenagers envied by big money bankers and "feminist" writers

victims:

tori holland

janus rose

andrew bryant

daniel schroeder

max parks

amanda le

kelsey mayfield

samantha allen

josh burlison

ben turrubiates

henry desroches

nico ??? (from shippo)

sev welker

rachael kauffman

janelle monae

kim petras

scarlett ??? (my friend in the london club scene)

james sampson

james twigg

james sanchez

maria nunez

young asian women, age 18 - 22, going to raves and to vegas (i.e. "asian baby girls")

john lewis

lida wang

katie holmes

stacy london

carrie brownstein

boston

ring leaders:

richard stallman

steven pinker

mark zuckerberg

targets:

queer software engineers

perps:

priscilla chan

victims:

amanda le

samantha allen

josh burlison

jamie delton

jamie hand

katie ha

emily johnston

chris koch

cara mazzi

jasmine christiansen

mark hardiman

chicago && washington dc

ring leaders:

barack obama

rahm emanuel

beyonce knowles

joe biden

targets: pretty, light skinned, liberal teenagers interested in politics

victims:

samantha allen

emily brandon

lauren knipe

andrew zigler

andrew bryant

michael trombold

carissa nietzche

cassie barrett

jordan d'eri

haley gray

ben turrubiates

jose garcia

ana garcia

victoria benson

cj dehart

austin scarborough

stephen lupton

michael morton

michelle moon

jeff stevens

becky pickert

ashton nicole casey

carter freeman

[hollerpresents]

The Los Angeles Review of Books published an interview on September 24 with Scott's wife Juliet Escoria, promoting her book You Are the Snake.

[newagesispage]

                                                                   AUGUST         2024 

THE RIB PAGE 

YEAR OF THE WOMAN 

Cole Escola is killing it in Oh Mary! on Broadway!! 

***** 

Keir Starmer is UK’s new Prime Minister! ** The left took France!! America ..... Don’t let us down!! 

***** 

Is the Government of the U.S. going to run in the interest of the people as a whole, or in the interest of a small group of privileged, big businessmen? - Harry S. Truman 

***** 

I like being woke. It’s much nicer than being an ignorant fucking twat. - Kathy Burke 

***** 

N/A, a play about Pelosi and AOC stars Holland Taylor and Ana Villafane. Yes! 

***** 

Days alert: Oh Nicole, you will be missed! But a great way to send she and Eric away!! ** I love Abe and Kate working together and I hope they do Body and Soul justice. Haddie Adams is the perfect choice to bring back!!!! 

***** 

People are dying in the heat for religious destinations, dozens are killed in a stampede at a religious event in India. Is it time to ban religion? What conflicts could be eliminated with that ban? 

***** 

After my Netflix special, I’m done. - Ellen DeGeneres 

***** 

We are officially in the era of the American King/ Queen. ** Get ready for every shady character trying to be President so he can make up the rules for his own game. The Supreme Court has made a mess about Presidential power. Every lower judge will interpret official powers. ** The courts of the U.S. are supposed to rule on punishment of people who broke the laws of our country, regardless of color, gender, wealth, political position, fame and any other differences we have as individuals. It is possible the damage that has been done to our nation by Trump may heal and we might move forward towards a better stronger nation, but it is also very possible that this decision has doomed ‘the great experiment’ that was the U.S. of A.  - Craig Sicknick  ** The Supreme Court has effectively given MAGA extremists their seal of approval. - Aquilino Gonell ** We can’t count on the Supreme Court or any institution to hold him responsible. - Harry Dunn ** Should Biden use this to ban convicted felons from running? ** Biden dropped out of the Presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris. What a selfless act and what can he now accomplish with no reelection to worry about and the Supreme Court giving him Carte Blanche?? I felt things turn when the phrase, “big boy press conference” was bandied around. That, to me, marked the end. The scuttlebut since has mentioned that Jeff Katzenberg was misleading the Hollywood supporters by not mentioning how age has creeped up on Biden. Like other times in history, we have a little too much old guard in charge. Generations are being blocked by the aged at the top. Many say that they don’t want to leave with Trump still in the mix. They feel like they would be leaving when their party needs them the most. The world moves fast and a little new blood sill do us a world of good. Harris made a hundred phone calls that first day. ** Dick Durbin announced the judiciary committee will hold hearings on the Supreme Court immunity ruling in September. 

***** 

But let’s remember what Biden has already done for this country. I don’t agree with his Israeli stance and a few other things but he has accomplished so much! His NATO press conference was awesome. It is time for Harris!! This campaign comes down to a prosecutor V a felon.  Aaron Sorkin thought we should have Mitt Romney. WTF?? Get out of here with that strategy. Trump loses to lawyers, she is perfect! The right is already spewing nonsense about her. They think she will take their straws and cows. I expect more racist and misogynistic remarks. The right does not even seem to know how to try to be politically correct. It will be sad and infuriating and scary and hilarious to watch them try. The people who idolize the serial cheater have already thrown out the theory that she slept her way to the top. Ugh!! But the facts look good for the Dems right now. Crime is down, economy is good and border crossings are down. James Carville thinks she should concentrate on corporations and price fixing.  

***** 

What? Fox news thinks voting for a woman is like transitioning? Is that true? 

***** 

One of the best interviews ever with Trump at the National Association of Black Journalists. Harris happened to turn black. - Trump 

***** 

Pete Davidson has checked into a wellness facility. 

***** 

I have to laugh when the uninformed say Harris is ignorant and has never done anything. Those being interviewed don’t seem like they themselves have been Senators, AG’s, prosecutors or Vice Presidents but perhaps they have. In a world where a woman usually works twice as hard to rise up the ladder, she is more than qualified. Serious, compassionate, fun, smart check ,check, check, check. Go girl power!! The same uninformed wonder why we can jump on her bandwagon so quickly. That is indeed the difference in being informed or not. We know her already; we pay attention. Her team is in place with a few adjustments and we have been waiting for this. She seems tailor made for this moment. The right place and the right time and history can just make these things happen. It takes a leap of faith to get where we want to be and this is it. Many great moments have come from the right person just jumping in where and when they are needed. When we see a moment, we must take it!! And, it may seem superficial but she has a wonderful smile, a great laugh and America needs a warm hug right now. I mean, Trump never smiles or laughs. 

***** 

WE ARE NOT GOING BACK!!!- Kamala Harris ** We want to ban assault weapons. They want to ban books. -Harris ** Steph Curry endorsed Harris at the Olympics. ** Kamala Harris was a hit at Comic Con after an old clip of her reading a Simpson’s quote was played. Apparently, a few years ago, Groenig and co. were looking for a politician to play along and read the quote and she was glad to do it. ** And Maya Rudolph has agreed to come back this fall on SNL which premieres Sept. 28. 

***** 

Everybody used to say, “If you only knew the Hillary that I knew.” and now they are saying the same about Kamala. Ok, let’s get to know her, give her a chance. This is an opportunity we can’t pass up. 

***** 

Trump was almost killed in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. The venom still spews as some wonder if this was planned by his team. We must all condemn the violence, whether it be Paul Pelosi, Gretchen Whitmer or Trump.  The shooter, Thomas Crooks was killed but he murdered a rally goer. Why is it usually young, white men who turn out to be the shooter? The people who seem to have life the easiest in this country are the most disgruntled. It was a strange scene after as the Trumpers looked so sad in all their shiny regalia. It seems the loose gun laws make the Policeman’s job even harder. Russia blamed Biden’s rhetoric for the disaster, of course. Biden called Trump right away to send well wishes and told us “This is not America.” I am afraid that it is kind of us now. The Daily Show cancelled the coverage they were going to have at the RNC. The RNC came and went with fans like Kid Rock, Amber Rose and Hulk Hogan. Nikki Haley and Ron Desantis kissed some ass. Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy got into it on the RNC floor. The new VP pick, JD Vance wrote Hillbilly Elegy and is a bit too Martin Sheen in Dead Zone. He makes no bones about his love of Russia. He has openly said he does not care about Ukraine. Vance’s wife, Usha was a law clerk for Chief Justice Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh. She now works for the law firm, Munger, Tolles and Olson. Some Republicans are openly unhappy about his wife being the daughter if Indian immigrants. Some seem to disagree with the Vance pic altogether. Word is that Trump is a bit troubled at the way we are mocking his VP choice. Is he the only one who can really get away with politically incorrect? Does he not see that we mock him all the time? Is this Palin all over again? In the end, this just gives Trump someone else to blame. A VP pick for his team must know they are replaceable. ** Trump gave the longest acceptance speech ever at 90 minutes. For the first time, a teamster addressed the republican convention. There were no former Presidents or vice Presidents there. They mostly claimed they were not interested at all. That tells you everything you need to know. Why do they love a cover up so much? Don’t they have better things to do than make shit up? * *Kim Cheatle, boss in the Secret Service, has resigned.  

***** 

The Secret Service was grilled by senators. The acting director is Ronald Rowe. Josh Hawley is such an arrogant prick Do these people think if they ask the same question a thousand times, the answer will change? All agreed it has been 17 days since the incident but some think all the answers should be ready. Secret Service believe they need time to investigate so they can reach a proper conclusion. There is a process! I’m not even sure why they are being questioned before this was completed. It is sort of a waste of time. I do wonder why the site was even approved. As much as the Republicans love this ‘fired’ thing, we can’t go willy nilly into firing everyone until we know exactly what happened. I suppose a lot of future assassins are learning a lot from these hearings. ** Somebody’s got to be fired. - L. Graham ** Graham seemed to court the conspiratorial side of the story. ** On the other end, it seems we usually hear so much about the shooter and their family but that has been sort of quiet. It was alarming to hear local officials thought the shooter seemed suspicious for 90 minutes or so. Secret Service was told about him 30 minutes or so before he was killed. There are probably lots of suspicious characters at these events so it has to be a tough job. And I was with this Rowe person all the way until he said, this was a “failure of imagination”. He couldn’t imagine someone really doing this. What? Isn’t that your job?? 

***** 

The Republican party has nominated The Angry Ticket. Trump/ Vance sounds like a new sitcom, America’s Hitler and the hillbilly. ** Starbucks is providing coffee for both conventions’ first responders. They have made no donations to the RNC. ** Trump is running for his freedom and money. - Al Sharpton ** He’s fighting for his freedom. She is fighting for ours. - Nicole Wallace ** To see Stephen Miller and the rest having meltdowns over Harris is beautiful. They do not seem to know how the system works. Shit happens and this was not a big plan. If it were? Hooray for the strategy and forward thinking on stepping aside and putting a black woman in the top spot.  

***** 

The press reported that Elon Musk donated $180 mil to the Trump campaign. Musk claims the donation was much lower. Who fucking knows. ** Trump claims that he will take care of this pesky voting thing in 4 years. “It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.” -Trump 

***** 

Re: JD Vance... I’ve never seen someone with more couch fucker energy. - John Oliver 

***** 

Saboteurs struck rail lines outside Paris before the start of the Olympics. 

***** 

Boeing is looking deeper into their forgery’s investigation. 

***** 

Jon Stewart claims that CNN and NBC won’t allow their reporters to come on his podcast, Weekly Show. Stewart says that the reporters want to come on but have to have, ‘network approval’.  

***** 

Senators Sheldon and Murkowski are bringing us the Octopus act to prevent U.S. companies from Octopus farming. 

***** 

Video game performers went on strike. 

***** 

Fred Trump III has a book out, All in the Family: The Trump’s how we got this way. He claims his Uncle Donald seems to hold the belief that handicapped people have too many problems. “Those people, the shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.”  - Donald Trump at a WH meeting with his nephew, Doctors and handicap advocates.* * Scary Clown 45 told Netanyahu that if he loses, there will be a third world war. 

***** 

The U.S. arrested El Mayo AKA Ismael Zambada and El Chapo’s son, Joaquin Guzman. 

***** 

Babies are good because we’re not sociopaths. - JD Vance 

***** 

Paul Dans, director of Project 2025 has stepped down. Trump still claims he knows nothing about the ‘project’. About 140 former members of the Trump administration are a part of Project 2025. 

***** 

Tim Burchett should resign. 

***** 

Delta seems to have run out of pilots. 

***** 

The Weinermobile crashed near Chicago. 

***** 

Project 2025 is a lot easier to understand in the original German. - Left action 

***** 

Sotheby’s sold a stegosaurus from Colorado for 44.6 mil. 

***** 

Hey Colbert: Enough with Meanwhile, More Skuyler Chole facts!! 

***** 

The newest Kennedy Center Honors are Francis Ford Coppola, The Grateful Dead, Arturo Sandoval, Bonnie Raitt and The Apollo. The honors will be held on Dec. 8 and broadcast on Dec. 23. 

***** 

Michael Cera just finished the new Wes Anderson film. 

***** 

A U.S. appeals court has blocked the SAVE student debt relief plan. 

***** 

Crowdstrike caused all kind of big tech problems with places like airports, UPS, Fedex and even McDonald’s. 

***** 

Riki Lindhome and Fred Armisen have been married since June 2022 but he public seems to just be finding out. She has a new musical, Dead Inside. 

***** 

Bob Menendez was found guilty on all charges. 

***** 

Richard Montanez has sued Frito Lay for denying him his share in discovering flaming hot Cheetos. 

***** 

Longlegs brought in 22.6 mil in its debut!! 

***** 

There are still people without power in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott said he would send a letter to the public utility commission. What? 

***** 

Gnatalie, a long neck, long tail herbivorous dinosaur are the only bones found that are green due to the mineral, celadonite. The Jurassic dino is on display in LA. 

***** 

Seth Meyers has an hour on HBO coming this fall. 

***** 

Wiz Khalifa was arrested in Romania for smoking weed on stage. ** Viking Jordan Addison arrested on a DUI charge. 

***** 

All we need to prove what idiots are in the world is the reaction to the not the Last Supper display in the Olympics opening ceremony. Some got their panties in a bunch and it turns out they did not know what they were talking about. Da Vinci would have loved it! ** Flavor Flav has been financing the U.S. Women’s water polo team. 

***** 

Why do films make serial killers look slicker and better looking as time goes on? The first movie is usually heavy on their grossness but by the 3rd or so in a famous case, the maniac is kind of cute. 

***** 

CBS is bringing Matlock to a new generation. The name and the profession is the only link to its past. Kathy Bates will play Madeline Matlock when the show premieres on Sept. 22. The show also stars Jason Ritter and Skye P. Marchall. 

***** 

When 6 men out of a thousand crack the whip over their fellows backs, then what the other 994 dupes need is a new deal. - Mark Twain 

***** 

Horizon: Chapter 2 won’t be out on Aug. 16 anymore. Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema say they want the audience to have more time to discover the first one. Others have said that it simply bombed. What will happen next with the other chapters? Older viewers are holding steady. 

***** 

A big team is headed to Titanic to use state of the art tech to scan ALL of the wreck. If weather permits the team will explore for 20 days. Paul- Henri Nargeolet who died in the Oceangate sub was supposed to lead this expedition. This is RMS Titanic’s ninth visit to the site. 

***** 

Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case was dismissed. Line up for your money people!! 

***** 

Eddie Murphy wed Paige Butcher. 

***** 

Kevin Roberts wants a revolution. 

***** 

Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ case was dismissed. 

***** 

Daniel Burda was sentenced to 4 years in prison after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse. Burda killed former Mickey Mouse club member, Dennis Day in 2018 and the body (in Day’s home), was not found by Phoenix, Oregon police until 2019. 

***** 

Weston Coppola Cage was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and released on $150,000 bond. 

***** 

I’m not the conspiracy kind but did Trump pay Biden off to give that debate performance? When the ABC interview showed us the same and then Clooney writes a letter of concern and states that Biden was showing his age at the fundraiser he attended, it starts to add up. ** It seems we owed Biden a bit of latitude after the ridiculous nonsense that Trump spouts but the Dems do not blindly think with cult mentality the way the right seems to do. Trump is great at saving his own ass too. Just think what he could achieve if he gave a damn about anything the way he does about himself. ** Why do so many fight progress every step of the way? The constant egotistical, big $ racism should be well over by now. Slavery- reconstruction- voting rights- the Klan- civil rights- MAGA nation is all just Generational hate.  

***** 

The National Rally in France is being investigated for embezzlement, forgery and fraud. The charges stem from the 2022 Presidential election. In the recent European Parliament elections, Ms. LePen’s far right party came in third. 

***** 

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of congress. After months of trying to find a way to end the war in Gaza, VP Harris skipped the speech. Israel was carrying out raids in Gaza as he visited. Darin LaHood was bad mouthing Harris for not being there. Dick Durbin also did not attend. ** At his oval office visit, Biden invited families of the hostages since Netanyahu would not meet with them privately.  

***** 

Salt Lake City has gotten the Winter Olympics. 

***** 

We have to keep an eye on Hong Kong. It is practically a police state after China put in place the National Security Law. 

***** 

Saoirse Ronan wed Jack Lowden. 

***** 

I can’t believe I am saying this but the trailer for Harold and the Purple Crayon looks pretty good. I could do without Journey. I know people are inspired by ‘Don’t stop believin’ but I am ready for this song to be done. 

***** 

Lady Gaga is engaged to Michael Polansky. 

***** 

Emma Samms, Jonathon Jackson and Rick Hearst are all headed back to General Hospital. 

***** 

Tim Allen and Kat Dennings will star in ABC’s Shifting Gears. Look out Kat! 

***** 

His Three Daughters is a new film with Natasha Lyonne, Carrie Coon and Elizabeth Olsen. 

***** 

Harland Williams will do some voice work in Isla Monstro, an animated sci- fi film. 

***** 

Sesame Street is biased to the left, according to Project 2025. I assume because it has black and brown and gay characters, but maybe also because it teaches basic reading skills? And compassion? - Carrie Coon 

***** 

Syphilis and covid are soaring. ** Polio is spreading thru Gaza. 

***** 

Sexual assault news: Animator Kyle Carrozza of Cartoon Network, Disney, PBS kids and Nickelodeon was arrested on child porn charges. 

***** 

 They (mask bans) make vulnerable members of our county less safe and make everyone less able to participate in L.A. together. - Violet Affleck ** I know people who still have to wear masks because of their fragile health and they feel a bit ostracized because of it. Bans? WTF? 

***** 

I still miss that Martin/ Maya variety show. Who killed that show? 

***** 

It’s a bit late but check out 2020’s The Tree Man. 

***** 

Faith is not wanting to know the truth. - Anonymous 

***** 

There are 3 things I won’t eat, a human, a monkey and a dog. - RFK Jr. 

***** 

Ivanka and Jared are building a resort in Russia. ** Russia is determined to forever punish Navalny. The arrest of his wife, Yulia Navalnaya has been ordered. 

***** 

Mike Bloomberg donated $1 bil to Johns Hopkins. 

***** 

A Federal Judge dismissed the Trump documents case. 

***** 

Taraji P. Hensen hosted the BET awards. Usher won the lifetime achievement award. Best international act and best new artist went to Tyla. Album of the, Michael went to Killer Mike. Regina King was best actress and best actor was Denzel Washington. Video of the year and HER award went to Victoria Monet. Viewer’s choice was Beyonce. Best movie was Bob Marley. Lauryn Hill, YG Marley and Wyclef Jean closed the show. My best dressed were Halle Bailey, Killer Mike, Gunna, Chloe, Keke Palmer and DC Young Fly. 

***** 

Donald Glover has released his final Childish Gambino: Bando Stone and the new world. 

***** 

Enough with the big, bold glasses. 

***** 

The Emmy noms came out. There weren’t a lot of surprises. Good luck to all. Iam so glad to see the Daily Show, Seth Meyers, Jodie Foster, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Carol Burnett, Kristen Wiig, Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Christopher Lloyd, Bob Odenkirk, Maya Rudolph, Mr. Monk’s last case, SNL, Steve! (Martin), Dick Van Dyke 98 years of magic and Conan O’Brien Must Go. Baby Reindeer, Shogun and the Bear got lots of love. 

***** 

Victims of the Jan. 6 mob are not happy with the Supreme Court. They feel re-traumatized. Why so much deference for the criminals? I suppose most of the Supreme Court don’t remember they are supposed to do the right thing. So many of them appear to be corrupt and birds of a feather... well, you know. ** Jay Johnson pled guilty to participating in the riot. 

***** 

The Biden age thing was a big fat mess. In some polls, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton were both polling better than Trump. In some polls Trump and Biden are neck and neck and in some, Trump was winning. The polls told us nothing in 2016 so I don’t really trust them but it did give one pause. The talkers are putting up candidates. Bill Maher always seems to have a hard on for Gavin Newsom. I don’t really think the rest of America would like him much. Harirs/ Buttigieg sounds good or Harris/ Pritzker. I could live with those.  

***** 

Norah O’Donnell is leaving the anchor chair at CBS. Oh no. 

***** 

Watch out for exploding cans in this heat!! 

***** 

The new doc, Piece by piece about Pharell Williams sounds amazing. 

***** 

OK.. Good news Jack Schlossberg is now Vogue’s political correspondent!!!!! Finally, the Kennedy I have been waiting for to step forward. 

***** 

Carla Bruni- Sarkozy was charged with witness tampering regarding the 2007 election funding scandal. 

***** 

Oh Shelley Duvall.. Thank you for one of my favorite things ever- Faerie Tale Theatre!! Peace to you sweet lady!! ** Bob Newhart has always been one of my comedy heroes. I will listen to and watch him for the rest of my life. Thank you, Bob for your genius!! And BTW if ya get a chance to go back and watch Celebrity bowling for the 70’s, do it. Bob Newhart was an excellent bowler and his bottom looked fine in those plaid pants!!** John Mayall will be greatly missed but who knew he used to own one of the largest vintage porn collections in the world? 

***** 

R.I.P. Renauld White, Robert Towne, Jason and Kelly Nelon Clark, Amber Nelon Kistler, Martin Indyk, Tony Knight, Judy Belushi-Pisano, Jon Landau, June Leaf, Audrey Flack, Claudia Franc-Williams, Benji Gregory, Alabama shooting victims, Corey Comperatore, Pat Colbert, Cheng Peipei, Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, war victims, Jimmy Lai, Spencer Milligan, Gail Lumet Buckley, Tom Fenton, Lewis Lapham, Bobby Banas, Francine Pascal, Kathy Willens, Erica Ash, UK stabbing victims, James B. Sikking, Joan Benedict, Soma Golde Behr, Shelley Duvall, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Richard Simmons, Shannon Doherty, Whitney Rydbeck, Lucy-Bleu Knight, Nguyen Phu, Christina Sandera, Carla Balenda, Sonya Massey, John Mayall and Bob Newhart. 

[likeagrapefruit]

losing my mind about Hoarders by Kate Durbin, which I only read in snippets at bookstores

[jwclapton]

Thanks, @i-am-becoming-the-midnight-sun! I've missed doing song tags!

This was my toughest music tag yet, as I can't think of many songs that are so good I want to relive the first time I heard them.

Eric Clapton & Luciano Pavarotti – Holy Mother

Laura Osnes – Christmas, Will You Stay?

AC/DC – Shoot to Thrill

Deanna Durbin – More and More

Kate Smith – God Bless America [This Is the Army, 1943]

Martha Tilton – Somewhere in the Night

The Boswell Sisters – Alexander's Ragtime Band

Jo Stafford – Ev'ry Day I Love You (Just a Little Bit More)

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra – I Know Why (and So Do You) [voc. Pat Friday]

Nancy Adams – Love

Tagging: @a-republican-mind, @darkvictories-fullheart, @ocabodastormentas, and @teamliberty. 😊

Thank you so much, @tattwovonbeardy for the tag!

POST 10 SONGS THAT YOU WISH YOU COULD LISTEN TO FOR THE FIRST TIME ALL OVER AGAIN, AND SHARE!!

Where do I even begin?? Music is my life, and there are so many I wish I could hear for the first time again.

This is from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. I'm convinced Vivaldi was the metalhead of the Baroque period.

Tagging @echoanddust @jwclapton ☺️❤️

[nprbooks]

For her new collection Hoarders, poet Kate Durbin took inspiration from reality TV -- not usually a favorite subject of poets!

"I'm really intrigued by [reality TV shows] because I do feel like there's something almost anthropological about them," she says.

She spoke to Morning Edition's Jeevika Verma about the book -- check that out, and find some of her poetry, here.

-- Petra

[citylightsbooks]

5 Questions with Kate Durbin, author of Hoarders

Kate Durbin is a Los Angeles-based writer and artist. Her books of poetry include E! Entertainment, The Ravenous Audience, and ABRA, which won the 2017 international Turn On Literature Prize. Durbin was the Arts Queensland Poet-in-Residence in Brisbane, Australia in 2015. Her art and writing have been featured in the New York Times, Art in America, Artforum, The Believer, BOMB, poets.org, the American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She has shown her artwork nationally and internationally at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, The PULSE Art Fair in Miami, MOCA Los Angeles, the SPRING/BREAK Art Show in Los Angeles, peer to space in Berlin, and more.

Kate Durbin will be reading from her newest poetry book, Hoarders (published by Wave Books) with special guest Alex Dimitrov, also reading from new work, in our City Lights LIVE! virtual events series on Thursday, May 6th!

*****

Where are you writing to us from?

Los Angeles, California. I’m sitting at my writing desk with a bowl of Lucky Charms.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

I recently bought a View-Master from eBay, and I’ve been looking at all these beautiful old reels, of places like Yellowstone in the 60s, and miniatures of old Disney movies like Pinocchio. There’s something comforting about a little 3-D world inside a View-Master. It gives this feeling of a world continuing on, outside the frame, beyond your vision.

What books are you reading right now? Which books do you return to?

Right now I’m reading Carribean Fragoza’s Eat the Mouth That Feeds You, Kate Zambreno’s To Write As If Already Dead, Sam Cohen’s Sarahland, Henry Hoke’s The Groundhog Forever, Women in Concrete Poetry: 1959-1979, Divya Victor’s Curb, and Ted Dodson’s An Orange.

I return to more books than I can list here! I’m a big re-reader. The most recent is Nathalie Sarraute’s Tropisms, which are beautiful, short, strange meditations on everyday objects and spaces. I have been thinking a lot about objects, how mysterious they really are. And their complicated relationships to people. This object-person question is a thread through my books E! Entertainment, Hoarders, and a novel I’m working on now about my childhood.

Which writers, artists, and others influence your work in general, and this book, specifically?

Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons was a big influence for my most recent book, Hoarders. Stein’s book is filled with slippery little objects with a language all their own. In Hoarders, the objects also have a kind of animism, or life to them, and a sense of humor too. For example, there’s a poem filled with surreal Barbies, that are real Barbies that have actually been made and marketed! Walk and Potty Pup Barbie, who comes with a tiny dog with nuggets of fake poop, Claude Monet Water Color Barbie, Tippi Hedren in The Birds Barbie, and many more.

If you opened a bookstore, where would it be located, what would it be called, and what would your bestseller be?

My bookstore would be located inside the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas, somewhere near the shark slide. It would be called McDonald's Chicken Nuggets, and our bestseller would be Jean Baudrillard’s America.

[nateglogan]

MY FAVORITE POETRY OF 2021 (Prologue) This past fall semester I taught the most I ever have (five days a week, split between two campuses). Surprisingly, I didn’t go to the wrong school once! This schedule took away my writing day, but I was still able to carve out time to write. I think Cate Marvin said in an interview once that the world doesn’t want you to write, that to write is to resist against the capitalist spin of the world.

Personally, this was a good year for me publication-wise. My chapbook, Small Town, was published by The Magnificent Field. I had two poems published as part of two different anthologies: The Little Black Book of Bedfellows and Belt Publishing’s The Indianapolis Anthology.Additionally, I had 15 poems published across ten different journals.

As always, these books are just my favorite, not a best-of list. There are many I didn’t have the time to read and look forward to reading in the future.

FAVORITE FULL-LENGTH POETRY COLLECTIONS OF 2021 A Better Word for the World by Daniel Bailey (Apocalypse Party) Hoarders by Kate Durbin (Wave Books) Wings in Time by Callie Garnett (The Song Cave) Returning the Sword to the Stone by Mark Leidner (Fonograf Editions) Salad Days by Laura Theobald (Maudlin House)

FAVORITE CHAPBOOK OF 2021 Mushrooms Yearly Planner by Jen Tynes (above/ground press)

FAVORITE NOVEL I READ FOR A COURSE I TAUGHT IN 2021 Seeing Red by Lina Meruane (Deep Vellum)

[jwclapton]

Thanks, Liz! 🤍

last song: The Knickerbockers – 'Lies'

last movie: Trading Places.

currently reading: The Deanna Durbin Scrapbook (Kate Gaddis).

currently watching: America's Funniest Home Videos.

currently consuming: Pepsi on ice.

currently craving: Snuggles.

I'm not sure who to tag this time, as I feel like I'm just pestering my friends if I tag them too often. Anyone else who wants to do this is welcome to.

thank you @muirneach for tagging me! 💕

1. last song: "Hawks & Doves" by Neil Young (I listened to this album spread out over two days for some reason. felt good.)

2. last movie: Harvest Time if I can count that?

3. currently reading: nothing :( I want to start Bob Dylan's book

4. currently watching: also nothing! I just finished Wednesday tho.

5. currently consuming: black coffee

6. currently craving: direction and/or intimacy lol (but really)

tagging @itbe1964, @youngshakespeare, @ziegfeldghirl, @freshwatercatfishjpegimage + @thechonkyfrog + anyone who wants to do it 🫶

[ifiwereahoarder]

Kate Durbin’s new book, Hoarders just arrived! 

[eskaries]

hoarders by Kate Durbin

LINDA WASHINGTON, D.C.

My name is Linda, and I love cooking rotting food

My kitchen has all kinds of wonderful molds for salmon mousse, bombe mold, Mongolian firepot, got that bag of sugar with mice in it

Food is like creativity and possibilities in life jar of old nuts with bugs

But I don’t have a working refrigerator black sludge

When I buy food, I hang it from the chandelier in order to keep the rats from getting intoSafeway bag slowly rotating with moldy hummus, CVS bag with stale Special K, Yes Organic Market bag with blackened corn, Safeway bag with shriveled lettuce, CVS bag with stale Fruit Loops, Yes Organic Market bag with puckered granny apples, Safeway bag with budding onions, CVS bag with stale Cheerios, Yes Organic Market bag with old organic indecipherable

It’s as if somebody took a municipal garbage dump and just dumped it into kitchen cabinets streaked with brown goo

Or a swamp thing growing a new life form in the basement tub of old chicken bones, sweating

Or an evil witch from a fairy tale rotting peach

Or Texas Chainsaw Massacre dead squirrel in a butter dish

My daughter threatens me that everything could be condemned, that the house could fall in upside down egg carton with a postcard of the sky on it

Because I’m not doing enough to maintain kitchen sink piled with years old dirty dishes

This is a million dollar neighborhood and the neighbors are not happy, so they’ve called the zoning board smashed Starbucks cup with X2 2M N WE M handwritten on it, and rat poop on it

I’ve been living in this house about thirty years, but it was much different before 25-year-old blackened candy

It was spotless on the kitchen mantle, a figurine of an Italian villa wrapped in plastic

My husband was an abusive sociopath fossilized rat

It was like living with Jim Jones dirty unmarked bottles of black liquids

It was constantly up and down—very good, and very bad 20-year-old hot sauce that belonged to her husband that she doesn’t even like

I love you, I love you, I love you, move out, I can’t stand you apple, apple, apple, that thing in the peanut butter jar isn’t peanut butter

Even though I kept a beautiful home, he convinced me I was maggot larva

He didn’t like me to do any artwork or any crafts, so that’s why I channeled my creativity toward The Taste of Mexico, The Jewish Cookbook, Flavors of Portugal, From Hearth to Cookstove, Vegetarian Times, Scandinavian Cooking, First Ladies’ Cookbook, Julia Child’s Kitchen Wisdom

My daughter tried to convince me that the food I cooked was weird apple pie with raw chicken hearts

What’s weird about dried mealworm bodies ground up to make nice cookies oven window black with mold

She encouraged me to give up cooking and do more painting Linda made of herself looking into a hand mirror with harrowed eyes; surrounding the mirror in the painting are perfume bottles and flowers

I save old soda cans because the tin snips can be used as flowers dried orange peels Linda put on the radiator so when it turns on the house smells of oranges and rot

My husband tried to keep me from going to the doctor because I would have found out he’d given me venereal disease, so it got worse and worse flies buzzing room to room

He left me when I was sick and then I started to lose my grip on the house over the kitchen window, a cloth with cut fruit on it

I had gone through so much, I had cried so much, and I’d gone into a frozen state old ice chest piled with oozing Breyers ice cream, popsicle sticks smothered in goo, dirty ceramic snowman, First Alert smoke alarm box, burlap Jesus, Marcus Aurelius bust wearing sunglasses

One day I might make make another mistake and eat cracked pineapple jar with something black inside

[completepeach-blog]

How Postmodernism Has Changed My Thinking and My Life

I changed my major five times in college, swinging from human sciences to education to the arts and back again. I didn't know what I wanted to do (I still don't, really), but I loved learning about a wide range of topics, perhaps none more than the concepts of perception and reality and the relationship between the two. This topic was covered time and time again in my classes, with some professors examining the neuroscience behind perception and others discussing the practical implications of the differences between us. My favorite class, Contemporary Literature, presented the concepts of perception and reality in a different way; it was in this class that I was first introduced to a movement called postmodernism. Postmodern artists and philosophers operate under the belief that nothing is absolute, and therefore anything can be anything.

It's difficult to explain. Let's turn to the source of all reliable knowledge, Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, postmodernism is "defined by an attitude of skepticism, irony or rejection toward grand narratives, ideologies and various tenets of universalism, including objective notions of reason, human nature, social progress, moral universalism, absolute truth, and objective reality... it is a broad movement that asserts to varying degrees that claims to knowledge and truth are products of social, historical or political discourses or interpretations, and are therefore contextual or socially constructed."

My literature professor, a spiky-haired, perpetually-excited man who admitted to enjoying recreational drug use and music that sounded like it came from another planet, had another way of putting it.. When he surprise-attacked our ears with his musical preferences on the first day of class, his explanation was simple: "I'm a postmodernist. I like everything." I was drawn to the idea right away. My interest in postmodernism grew as he showed us examples of postmodernist sculptures, films, music, books, performance art, and museum installations. Some brought tears to my eyes, some made me uncomfortable, but most just confused me (check out the links above to see what I mean). As students in my class rolled their eyes and debated with the professor about whether or not the bizarre things he was showing us were, in fact, art, the professor asked, "who are we to say it's not?" He challenged us to come up with a strict definition for art or music or literature, and we all failed to do so. I was enchanted by the idea; if there was no strict definition of art, then maybe everything was art, including me.

I started looking at my life with a postmodernist lens. If a friend said something vague that made me worry, I gently reminded myself that not everything has a meaning and it's okay to appreciate things at face value. If I was feeling bad about how I looked, I told myself that fashion and beauty rules are not rules at all, and I found joy in creating my own look. Who decided that acne looks ugly and casual wear looks sloppy? To postmodernists, everything is art, because there's no surefire way to determine that it is not. Everything has a million different interpretations or perhaps nothing inherently has meaning at all. Once I accepted these loose guidelines, the world opened up to me in a new way. It was freeing. I suddenly became a performance artist and the world was my exhibit.

I'm not sure that I've explained myself or the movement clearly, and I encourage you to do your own research. My worldview has changed because of that one class and its professor; I've more or less stopped seeing art as good or bad. I enjoy what I enjoy and I don't allow anyone to make me feel bad about it, even if they see it as "just another cheesy pop song" or "just a bunch of splatter painting." I urge you to erase the word "just" from your vocabulary, especially when it comes to the things that make you feel good, make you feel alive. As famed postmodernist Robert Rauschenberg would say, "it is what I say it is because I say so."