Beth Kaplan's Blog, page 159
November 16, 2016
working
Now I remember one reason I'm glad not to be an actress any more: tomorrow I give my talk at the Miles Nadal JCC, and today, I am utterly paranoid about my voice, my health, my throat. I'm getting sick! Must lie down! The actor's paranoia. I have gone over my talk several times and am looking forward to it. And also to it being over. Just got to get through and collapse.
Such a strange time - editor friends for dinner last night, a writer friend for dinner tonight, and guess what we mostly talked about? Not our jobs and lives. No, simply how - if - we and the world are going to survive Tuesday's cataclysm. The horror, the horror. Steve Bannon Rudi Giuliani the KKK the rise of racism and anti-Semitism the horror! Today in the Globe, an article that made me deeply, profoundly sad - about how glad Netanyahu and the Israeli right are about El Trumpo. That Israel should support such a foul, vicious racist ... but there you go, that's the sad, strange world. Apparently David Remnick of the New Yorker destroyed that pompous idiot Conrad Black on TV recently, must find that. Whereas a surprising new Canadian hero has emerged - David Frum, once a darling of the Republicans, now the voice of right-wing decency and sanity. His mother would be proud.
Some good news: paid subscriptions to good newspapers have gone way up. I already pay for the NYT on-line, the Star and the Saturday Globe - but a few days ago I donated 50 pounds to the Guardian, which until now I've read for free. Good newspapers, good reporters like Daniel Dale of the Star, are on the front lines of democracy. We must give them every support!
Teaching winding down. Last class at Ryerson on Monday, one of the best classes ever - a thrilling if very big group who made extraordinary progress. I felt sorry for the woman who dropped out because, as she wrote, "I don't want group therapy, I want to learn to write." The writing in this class was stunning, and the group is already arranging to continue to meet. The U of T class, with one to go, is also a joy. And a student from a few years ago wrote to thank me for what she learned in class and to tell me she now has a two-book deal with a publisher. A two-book deal! So, something's working. Something, in this strange, sad world, is working.
Tonight there's a musical tribute to Leonard Cohen at Christie Pits. I intended to go - people were to bring song sheets and sing along, how wonderful. But I'm not going anywhere, concerned about not getting sick. I am a fragile flower until tomorrow at 3.
And then I'll go nuts.
From the Washington Post - this we know:
North America’s most astonishing warmth this week has focused in Canada, where temperatures have been up to 30 degrees warmer than normal.
Such a strange time - editor friends for dinner last night, a writer friend for dinner tonight, and guess what we mostly talked about? Not our jobs and lives. No, simply how - if - we and the world are going to survive Tuesday's cataclysm. The horror, the horror. Steve Bannon Rudi Giuliani the KKK the rise of racism and anti-Semitism the horror! Today in the Globe, an article that made me deeply, profoundly sad - about how glad Netanyahu and the Israeli right are about El Trumpo. That Israel should support such a foul, vicious racist ... but there you go, that's the sad, strange world. Apparently David Remnick of the New Yorker destroyed that pompous idiot Conrad Black on TV recently, must find that. Whereas a surprising new Canadian hero has emerged - David Frum, once a darling of the Republicans, now the voice of right-wing decency and sanity. His mother would be proud.
Some good news: paid subscriptions to good newspapers have gone way up. I already pay for the NYT on-line, the Star and the Saturday Globe - but a few days ago I donated 50 pounds to the Guardian, which until now I've read for free. Good newspapers, good reporters like Daniel Dale of the Star, are on the front lines of democracy. We must give them every support!
Teaching winding down. Last class at Ryerson on Monday, one of the best classes ever - a thrilling if very big group who made extraordinary progress. I felt sorry for the woman who dropped out because, as she wrote, "I don't want group therapy, I want to learn to write." The writing in this class was stunning, and the group is already arranging to continue to meet. The U of T class, with one to go, is also a joy. And a student from a few years ago wrote to thank me for what she learned in class and to tell me she now has a two-book deal with a publisher. A two-book deal! So, something's working. Something, in this strange, sad world, is working.
Tonight there's a musical tribute to Leonard Cohen at Christie Pits. I intended to go - people were to bring song sheets and sing along, how wonderful. But I'm not going anywhere, concerned about not getting sick. I am a fragile flower until tomorrow at 3.
And then I'll go nuts.
From the Washington Post - this we know:
North America’s most astonishing warmth this week has focused in Canada, where temperatures have been up to 30 degrees warmer than normal.
November 13, 2016
so sad
All very well to write cheerfully that "We shall overcome." Right now, I am overcome. Watching the hundreds of thousands protesting in the States, reading an article on FB that a teacher was overheard telling children their parents would be deported and they would become foster children, then hearing that Trump has confirmed he will begin the process of deportation.
And then listening to and reading about the death of that fine, gentle man, Leonard Cohen, the opposite of Trump and what he represents - how Cohen's death, this very week, brings to the fore an image of the world as it could be, as it should be, a world of art and poetry, kindness, thoughtfulness, honour and grace - and then we will turn on the TV news or open the newspaper and fall into a pit of vileness, greed, prejudice, indifference.
So I sat at the piano to play. It's the first time playing has been a comfort. I am still a beginner and yet there is music in the fingers. I have almost mastered, clumsily, the first page of the Moonlight Sonata and am progressing to the second, and as I played, I wept that there is such music in the world, such composers and musicians, at the same time as such blind, violent, stupid men.
I guess there will be a lot of weeping in the weeks and months to come. We will turn to each other, and to music - to the music of Leonard Cohen, among others - for comfort.
And then listening to and reading about the death of that fine, gentle man, Leonard Cohen, the opposite of Trump and what he represents - how Cohen's death, this very week, brings to the fore an image of the world as it could be, as it should be, a world of art and poetry, kindness, thoughtfulness, honour and grace - and then we will turn on the TV news or open the newspaper and fall into a pit of vileness, greed, prejudice, indifference.
So I sat at the piano to play. It's the first time playing has been a comfort. I am still a beginner and yet there is music in the fingers. I have almost mastered, clumsily, the first page of the Moonlight Sonata and am progressing to the second, and as I played, I wept that there is such music in the world, such composers and musicians, at the same time as such blind, violent, stupid men.
I guess there will be a lot of weeping in the weeks and months to come. We will turn to each other, and to music - to the music of Leonard Cohen, among others - for comfort.
My talk at the Miles Nadal Thurs. Nov. 17 1.30 p.m.
http://mnjcc.org/browse-by-interest/arts-culture/history/636-finding-the-jewish-shakespeare-the-life-and-legacy-of-jacob-gordin
Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob GordinThursday November 17Socialize over refreshments: 1:00 pm
Program: 1:30 - 3:00 pm$4 Drop-In
Writer/actress Beth Kaplan shares an inside look at the life and creative achievements of her great-grandfather, Jacob Gordin, the influential playwright and icon of the Yiddish stage. Includes a dramatic performance by Jack Newman.
Russian-Jewish writer and social activist Jakov Mikhailovich Gordin landed on the Lower East Side of New York at the age of 38. Though he had never before written for the theatre or in Yiddish, within five months, he had written and sold three Yiddish plays. A born teacher and reformer, Gordin was determined to elevate the Yiddish theatre’s operettas and melodramas,
to introduce immigrant audiences to a serious theatre of ideas. A year later came The Jewish King Lear, Gordin’s breakthrough play, a key transformative moment for the Jewish stage.
During his eighteen years in America, Gordin wrote some 70 plays and countless one-acts and stories. He founded newspapers, magazines, theatre workshops and a school for Jewish immigrants. His plays were produced all over the world, including in Prague, where one fan was a writer called Franz Kafka. Many actors, including the great Stella Adler, began their careers in Gordin plays. He was known as the Jewish Shakespeare, Lion of the Jewish stage, and his era as “The Golden Age of the Yiddish Theatre.” Yet as he lay dying, a vicious vendetta by the only man as powerful on the Lower East Side as he destroyed his reputation and his life’s work.
One of Gordin’s eleven children was Beth Kaplan’s grandmother. Kaplan, a Canadian writer, teacher and actress, spent many years tracking down her ancestor’s powerful, inspiring and haunting story for her book, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare:The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin, published in 2007. In this presentation, Beth will speak both about her ancestor’s extraordinary life and about her search for him.
Award-winning actress and playwright Beth Kaplan is the author of three books: the memoir All My Loving; True to Life, a textbook about creative writing; and Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: the Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin, a biography of her great-grandfather (published in 2007 and reissued in paperback in 2012). Beth has lectured on Jacob Gordin, among other places, at the Medem Yiddish Library of Paris, at Oxford University, at the Stella Adler Studio and the 92nd Street Y in New York, and throughout Canada. In 2008, she delivered the Wexler Lecture in Jewish History in Washington, D.C. Beth has taught memoir and personal essay writing at Ryerson University and at the University of Toronto for many years, and she is the winner of
U of T’s Excellence in Teaching award. More information
Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob GordinThursday November 17Socialize over refreshments: 1:00 pm
Program: 1:30 - 3:00 pm$4 Drop-In
Writer/actress Beth Kaplan shares an inside look at the life and creative achievements of her great-grandfather, Jacob Gordin, the influential playwright and icon of the Yiddish stage. Includes a dramatic performance by Jack Newman.
Russian-Jewish writer and social activist Jakov Mikhailovich Gordin landed on the Lower East Side of New York at the age of 38. Though he had never before written for the theatre or in Yiddish, within five months, he had written and sold three Yiddish plays. A born teacher and reformer, Gordin was determined to elevate the Yiddish theatre’s operettas and melodramas,
to introduce immigrant audiences to a serious theatre of ideas. A year later came The Jewish King Lear, Gordin’s breakthrough play, a key transformative moment for the Jewish stage.
During his eighteen years in America, Gordin wrote some 70 plays and countless one-acts and stories. He founded newspapers, magazines, theatre workshops and a school for Jewish immigrants. His plays were produced all over the world, including in Prague, where one fan was a writer called Franz Kafka. Many actors, including the great Stella Adler, began their careers in Gordin plays. He was known as the Jewish Shakespeare, Lion of the Jewish stage, and his era as “The Golden Age of the Yiddish Theatre.” Yet as he lay dying, a vicious vendetta by the only man as powerful on the Lower East Side as he destroyed his reputation and his life’s work.
One of Gordin’s eleven children was Beth Kaplan’s grandmother. Kaplan, a Canadian writer, teacher and actress, spent many years tracking down her ancestor’s powerful, inspiring and haunting story for her book, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare:The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin, published in 2007. In this presentation, Beth will speak both about her ancestor’s extraordinary life and about her search for him.
Award-winning actress and playwright Beth Kaplan is the author of three books: the memoir All My Loving; True to Life, a textbook about creative writing; and Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: the Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin, a biography of her great-grandfather (published in 2007 and reissued in paperback in 2012). Beth has lectured on Jacob Gordin, among other places, at the Medem Yiddish Library of Paris, at Oxford University, at the Stella Adler Studio and the 92nd Street Y in New York, and throughout Canada. In 2008, she delivered the Wexler Lecture in Jewish History in Washington, D.C. Beth has taught memoir and personal essay writing at Ryerson University and at the University of Toronto for many years, and she is the winner of
U of T’s Excellence in Teaching award. More information
recovery
It is the most heavenly day - crisp and hot, with showers of red, orange and gold leaves; the Japanese maple up the street is incandescent scarlet. There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than Toronto on a magical fall day like this. I walked through the Farm and then to the Necropolis cemetery where I visited my parents, whose ashes are scattered there. I told them the world is in grave upheaval but their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are safe and well. That their granddaughter and her boys arrived back in Toronto late last night from visiting her best friend in Saskatchewan, and a family friend met them at the airport holding a bag of fresh hot hamburgers from Harry's, Sam's restaurant. Welcome home.
Right next to the spot where my parents are scattered is a headstone from the 1870's for a woman whose infant daughter died at 19 days old, and who died herself only six months later. There are so many stories in those headstones.
I've been reading a lot of analysis - Naomi Klein et al - about the election, about how wrong, blind and intolerant we all were. Valuable lessons. My cousin in Washington is in such despair, she doesn't want to leave the house or do anything. So I wrote to her.
It’s such a beautiful day here, I just went out for a walk to celebrate being alive on the planet. We have had terrible news this week but there’s much to be learned from it. I am taking heart from the fine writers of the New York Times who, even as they express fear and anguish, are analyzing this crisis with thoughtfulness and wisdom.
The fact is that the political process has always been a pendulum - the United States elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and it elected Richard Nixon. So - Obama and Trump. My consolation is that there was so much poison in the air, Hillary wouldn’t have been able to govern. So let them have their guy, see where it gets them. Let’s just hope the world survives until the pendulum swings the other way. The Democrats have certainly learned a hard lesson and will be different by 2020.
I only hope you take heart in humanity, remember that half the country did not vote for Trump - and maybe find a cause you can get involved in, that will help you to feel you’re making a contribution to a better America in its hour of need. I certainly hope this debacle fires up young people - in fact, everyone - to volunteer and jump in and do their bit. But yes, what matters most, in the end, is love and kindness, and that, no matter what is happening in Washington or elsewhere in the world, we can do.
So let's.
Received this lovely note from a student, heartening after a hard week - not just the election and the death of Leonard Cohen, but also after hearing much editorial criticism of the new memoir:
Just before supper, I was reading your Paul memoir. The description of your mother having had to quit school because of the war and not really trusting working women is very powerful.
When someone reads a writer’s memoir, because it is TRUE, the reader gains genuine insight into the writer’s life. Even though the two people haven’t necessarily conversed, or even met, there is an authentic connection. Very cool.
P.S. Just got out my Leonard Cohen poetry books. Inside "Flowers for Hitler" is written "For Beth, Christmas 1967, Mum and Dad, xx."
You're still here, Mum and Dad. Still with me. Thank you.
Right next to the spot where my parents are scattered is a headstone from the 1870's for a woman whose infant daughter died at 19 days old, and who died herself only six months later. There are so many stories in those headstones.
I've been reading a lot of analysis - Naomi Klein et al - about the election, about how wrong, blind and intolerant we all were. Valuable lessons. My cousin in Washington is in such despair, she doesn't want to leave the house or do anything. So I wrote to her.
It’s such a beautiful day here, I just went out for a walk to celebrate being alive on the planet. We have had terrible news this week but there’s much to be learned from it. I am taking heart from the fine writers of the New York Times who, even as they express fear and anguish, are analyzing this crisis with thoughtfulness and wisdom.
The fact is that the political process has always been a pendulum - the United States elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and it elected Richard Nixon. So - Obama and Trump. My consolation is that there was so much poison in the air, Hillary wouldn’t have been able to govern. So let them have their guy, see where it gets them. Let’s just hope the world survives until the pendulum swings the other way. The Democrats have certainly learned a hard lesson and will be different by 2020.
I only hope you take heart in humanity, remember that half the country did not vote for Trump - and maybe find a cause you can get involved in, that will help you to feel you’re making a contribution to a better America in its hour of need. I certainly hope this debacle fires up young people - in fact, everyone - to volunteer and jump in and do their bit. But yes, what matters most, in the end, is love and kindness, and that, no matter what is happening in Washington or elsewhere in the world, we can do.
So let's.
Received this lovely note from a student, heartening after a hard week - not just the election and the death of Leonard Cohen, but also after hearing much editorial criticism of the new memoir:
Just before supper, I was reading your Paul memoir. The description of your mother having had to quit school because of the war and not really trusting working women is very powerful.
When someone reads a writer’s memoir, because it is TRUE, the reader gains genuine insight into the writer’s life. Even though the two people haven’t necessarily conversed, or even met, there is an authentic connection. Very cool.
P.S. Just got out my Leonard Cohen poetry books. Inside "Flowers for Hitler" is written "For Beth, Christmas 1967, Mum and Dad, xx."
You're still here, Mum and Dad. Still with me. Thank you.
November 11, 2016
the next world war, Cuisine, Leonard
People at the Y still talking about it. An elderly woman said, "Why should the young always be subjugated to the old and right-wing?" Another said, "We've already seen the world descend into madness with a lunatic dictator. We don't want that again."
No we don't. Here's a superb article giving a historical perspective on where we are now. It's worse than you thought. I spoke this morning to a friend in Washington, who said a friend of his saw a sign in an Atlanta restaurant yesterday: "Whites only."
It's worse than we thought.
I am in a FB battle. It's pointless, I know, but so hard to resist - the friend of a friend posted a nauseating bit about how she was concerned about Trump but couldn't stand Hillary's lies and deceit so voted for Trump and thinks he will be wonderful. My fingers trembled and I tried not to reply, because it's pointless. We will all just stand and shout at each other. I did reply, and just now posted this article. Will she read it? Of course not, just as I won't read the latest vile diatribe from Fox News or wherever she gets her "information."
Oh it's ugly. Worse than anyone thought.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tobias-stone/history-tells-us-what-will-brexit-trump_b_11179774.html?
Okay, as I wrote yesterday, to cheer myself up, I took my son for his birthday to dinner and a play, both superb. "Cuisine and Confessions" is extraordinary - nine rubber-bodied Cirque-du-Soleil type performers do incredible feats of athleticism and daring while cooking a meal in front of our eyes, bringing audience members up to help them, and standing at a mike to tell us about their lives. One beautiful moment - a young man tells us about his father, one of the "disappeared" of Argentina, taken away, tortured and murdered when the narrator was eight months old. And then he leaps onto the long pole that spans the height of the stage and does dangerous, almost violent feats. Breath-taking. On for a few more weeks and highly recommended.
My son is a good person, and so is my daughter - caring, thoughtful, generous, loyal. How much, how very much values like that are going to matter in the dark days ahead.
Oh Leonard Cohen, you gave up the ghost at a fraught time; you were ready to go. I spent my entire 17th year obsessively reading your books of poetry and singing "Suzanne" a thousand times with my Goya guitar. What a joy to see you in concert a few years ago, with your haunting gravelly voice, singing quite a few songs on your knees, accompanied by a chorus of angels. A beautiful soul of sublime gravitas. Hallelujah to you, and thank you.
And now, to eat a lot of very good chocolate.
No we don't. Here's a superb article giving a historical perspective on where we are now. It's worse than you thought. I spoke this morning to a friend in Washington, who said a friend of his saw a sign in an Atlanta restaurant yesterday: "Whites only."
It's worse than we thought.
I am in a FB battle. It's pointless, I know, but so hard to resist - the friend of a friend posted a nauseating bit about how she was concerned about Trump but couldn't stand Hillary's lies and deceit so voted for Trump and thinks he will be wonderful. My fingers trembled and I tried not to reply, because it's pointless. We will all just stand and shout at each other. I did reply, and just now posted this article. Will she read it? Of course not, just as I won't read the latest vile diatribe from Fox News or wherever she gets her "information."
Oh it's ugly. Worse than anyone thought.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tobias-stone/history-tells-us-what-will-brexit-trump_b_11179774.html?
Okay, as I wrote yesterday, to cheer myself up, I took my son for his birthday to dinner and a play, both superb. "Cuisine and Confessions" is extraordinary - nine rubber-bodied Cirque-du-Soleil type performers do incredible feats of athleticism and daring while cooking a meal in front of our eyes, bringing audience members up to help them, and standing at a mike to tell us about their lives. One beautiful moment - a young man tells us about his father, one of the "disappeared" of Argentina, taken away, tortured and murdered when the narrator was eight months old. And then he leaps onto the long pole that spans the height of the stage and does dangerous, almost violent feats. Breath-taking. On for a few more weeks and highly recommended.
My son is a good person, and so is my daughter - caring, thoughtful, generous, loyal. How much, how very much values like that are going to matter in the dark days ahead.
Oh Leonard Cohen, you gave up the ghost at a fraught time; you were ready to go. I spent my entire 17th year obsessively reading your books of poetry and singing "Suzanne" a thousand times with my Goya guitar. What a joy to see you in concert a few years ago, with your haunting gravelly voice, singing quite a few songs on your knees, accompanied by a chorus of angels. A beautiful soul of sublime gravitas. Hallelujah to you, and thank you.
And now, to eat a lot of very good chocolate.
November 10, 2016
Soma chocolate saves the day
Day Two and the world has not exploded yet. I am doing my best to avoid news outlets - TV, newspapers, anywhere I have to see a picture of the giant orange blowhole who will soon, through some grotesque, incomprehensible error, be POTUS. But avoidance can't last; the media fascination with El Trumpo continues, and I'm sure it won't stop anytime soon. Actually watched a bit of CBC news last night - during the commercials for "Call the Midwife," so good! - and then Peter Mansbridge announced that Ann Coulter was going to be on. Could not switch channels fast enough, to avoid Ann Coulter. A truly nasty woman in every sense of the word, and now she's a pundit on CBC? Heaven help us.
Sigh. I'm still feeling sick and battered, as if I've been kicked in the gut. Just like everyone I know. Do I know one Trump supporter? Not a single one, I think. Proud of that. (Maybe my New York cousin's husband who inherited many millions. But perhaps not even him.)
So - feel good strategy #643: I went to Soma Chocolate in the Distillery and bought $40 worth of good dark chocolate with nuts and ginger. That should keep me going for a week. Tonight I have a date with a handsome young man. Yes, he happens to be closely related to me, which is good because he'll have no choice but to look at my bright red eye. And he won't mind, because I'm taking him to dinner and the theatre for his birthday. "Cuisine and Confessions" - sounds like fun, just up his alley, people leaping about and cooking.
What is marvellous about this political debacle is the outpouring of creativity - the essays, articles, letters, the little films online, and of course, the comedians who have the next 4 years full of rich, rich material.
Yesterday my daughter sent, to comfort me, an audio clip on my phone - how does she do that? - of Eli singing "Bye baby bunting", which is my favourite lullaby, and then saying "I love you, Grandma." Thank you, universe. That's all I need to get by.
Sigh. I'm still feeling sick and battered, as if I've been kicked in the gut. Just like everyone I know. Do I know one Trump supporter? Not a single one, I think. Proud of that. (Maybe my New York cousin's husband who inherited many millions. But perhaps not even him.)
So - feel good strategy #643: I went to Soma Chocolate in the Distillery and bought $40 worth of good dark chocolate with nuts and ginger. That should keep me going for a week. Tonight I have a date with a handsome young man. Yes, he happens to be closely related to me, which is good because he'll have no choice but to look at my bright red eye. And he won't mind, because I'm taking him to dinner and the theatre for his birthday. "Cuisine and Confessions" - sounds like fun, just up his alley, people leaping about and cooking.
What is marvellous about this political debacle is the outpouring of creativity - the essays, articles, letters, the little films online, and of course, the comedians who have the next 4 years full of rich, rich material.
Yesterday my daughter sent, to comfort me, an audio clip on my phone - how does she do that? - of Eli singing "Bye baby bunting", which is my favourite lullaby, and then saying "I love you, Grandma." Thank you, universe. That's all I need to get by.
November 9, 2016
aftermath - a few wise words
I stepped out into the world this morning expecting it to be a far uglier, meaner place; as I rode my bike, it felt like people were driving with more anger, more freedom to be rude and endanger others. At the Y, everyone was talking about only one thing, by the lockers, in the gym, in the sauna, we all joined in with commiseration and genuine grief. I went to speak particularly to my friends of colour there, Annie and Charmaine, who were both in shock. We were all in shock, and sorrow, and horror and despair. And then I talked to a bright young man in my class, a Muslim immigrant from Jordan who said, "Hillary or Trump, they were both just as bad." I jumped down his throat. "But she's just a professional politician and a liar!" he said. When asked what exactly she'd lied about, he couldn't say.
Bravo to Fox News, Julian Assange and Vladimir Putin, who did their smear job extremely well.
But it was my friend Godana who really helped, Godana who's been for decades in political exile from his native Ethiopia. "Being depressed and scared doesn't help," he said. "There's nothing we can do. Yes, when we can do something, we should do it. But here, there's nothing we can do. So we let it go, we go on, we hope for the best." He's right. Despair accomplishes nothing. Even though I feel like I've been pummelled with bricks, there's nothing to do but ...
But wait, how is it possible, everyone kept saying, for a country full of intelligent people to make such an appallingly stupid destructive choice? Stephen Hawking opined that human greed and stupidity are going to destroy the planet; how right he was. Michael Moore knew what was happening. At least 3 weeks ago, he said on the Bill Maher show that Trump was going to win. Nobody believed him because it just was not possible. But Moore understands the soul of the white working class.
Michael Moore
5 hrs · Morning After To-Do List:
1. Take over the Democratic Party and return it to the people. They have failed us miserably.
2. Fire all pundits, predictors, pollst...See moreBut wait - I'm grabbing desperately for a silver lining - had Hillary won, she would have had to deal with such poison and hideous dysfunction, such a blatantly unrealistic vision of America, her job would have been impossible. Maybe half the country's corrosive anger and desire for change, any change, needs to be indulged; it's a festering boil to be lanced and drained, and then we start again. Sorry for the nasty image, but that's surely one of the only possible positives to come from this.
There's nothing we can do except hug the people we love and be kinder to one another. Always, be kinder to one another. And to thank Hillary Clinton for a profoundly moving speech and all her incredible hard work. That poor woman.
Lynn wrote from France that Trump's victory has empowered the vicious fascist Marine LePen. Thinking about the environment, the economy, refugees, the chaos that will ensue, the heart breaks. Nothing to do except let it go. Let it go. Let it go.
Well, maybe a little glass of wine too, though it's early.
Bravo to Fox News, Julian Assange and Vladimir Putin, who did their smear job extremely well.
But it was my friend Godana who really helped, Godana who's been for decades in political exile from his native Ethiopia. "Being depressed and scared doesn't help," he said. "There's nothing we can do. Yes, when we can do something, we should do it. But here, there's nothing we can do. So we let it go, we go on, we hope for the best." He's right. Despair accomplishes nothing. Even though I feel like I've been pummelled with bricks, there's nothing to do but ...
But wait, how is it possible, everyone kept saying, for a country full of intelligent people to make such an appallingly stupid destructive choice? Stephen Hawking opined that human greed and stupidity are going to destroy the planet; how right he was. Michael Moore knew what was happening. At least 3 weeks ago, he said on the Bill Maher show that Trump was going to win. Nobody believed him because it just was not possible. But Moore understands the soul of the white working class.
Michael Moore
5 hrs · Morning After To-Do List:
1. Take over the Democratic Party and return it to the people. They have failed us miserably.
2. Fire all pundits, predictors, pollst...See moreBut wait - I'm grabbing desperately for a silver lining - had Hillary won, she would have had to deal with such poison and hideous dysfunction, such a blatantly unrealistic vision of America, her job would have been impossible. Maybe half the country's corrosive anger and desire for change, any change, needs to be indulged; it's a festering boil to be lanced and drained, and then we start again. Sorry for the nasty image, but that's surely one of the only possible positives to come from this.
There's nothing we can do except hug the people we love and be kinder to one another. Always, be kinder to one another. And to thank Hillary Clinton for a profoundly moving speech and all her incredible hard work. That poor woman.
Lynn wrote from France that Trump's victory has empowered the vicious fascist Marine LePen. Thinking about the environment, the economy, refugees, the chaos that will ensue, the heart breaks. Nothing to do except let it go. Let it go. Let it go.
Well, maybe a little glass of wine too, though it's early.
8.30 a.m. the day after
Well, the weather is still beautiful and mild. There is still air in my lungs; my right eye is still blazing red. My children and grandchildren are alive and well. There are birds and squirrels in the garden and red and yellow leaves fluttering to the ground. The world will go on, until it won't.
I've offered shelter to my American family.
Today is like the day after 9/11: a profound grief and fear throughout our planet, except in Moscow. Except that 9/11, the scale of that monstrous attack, was a one-time event. This is four years, and possibly eight.
I repeat, here's a great poet to illuminate it all for us.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
We're about to drown in a flood of passionate intensity. Good luck to us all.
Later. Okay, praise be, my son who's six foot eight just posted this on FB. A laugh, much needed, as we sit around staring in a stupor at the wall wondering how the planet will survive.
One step closer to the destruction of society as a whole. Then The Tall shall rule! Hahahahaaaaaa. Basements will be eradicated! Low hanging chandeliers will be torn from ceilings! WE will ask YOU how tall you are with impunity! It has begun.
I've offered shelter to my American family.
Today is like the day after 9/11: a profound grief and fear throughout our planet, except in Moscow. Except that 9/11, the scale of that monstrous attack, was a one-time event. This is four years, and possibly eight.
I repeat, here's a great poet to illuminate it all for us.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
We're about to drown in a flood of passionate intensity. Good luck to us all.
Later. Okay, praise be, my son who's six foot eight just posted this on FB. A laugh, much needed, as we sit around staring in a stupor at the wall wondering how the planet will survive.
One step closer to the destruction of society as a whole. Then The Tall shall rule! Hahahahaaaaaa. Basements will be eradicated! Low hanging chandeliers will be torn from ceilings! WE will ask YOU how tall you are with impunity! It has begun.
November 8, 2016
11.30 p.m.
Profound sadness. There's still a remote possibility for her - but as a pundit is now saying on the Daily Show, even if she wins, which she won't, the country is far more racist, sexist, uneducated and hate-filled than we had realized. She said she feels sorry for the people who voted for him. "They've traded away their health care and their financial future in order to be a bit more explicit in their racism."
Heartbreaking. Angry white rural voters turned out in force, and here we are.
She says voter suppression worked, and now the Republicans can expand it to ensure the next election. My daughter is tweeting, heartbroken, from Saskatchewan. "What do they see in him?" she asked. "People loved Hitler," I wrote back. "We are a flawed species. But remember, almost half the country voted for her."
I feel sick. What forces of evil have been unleashed?
Heartbreaking. Angry white rural voters turned out in force, and here we are.
She says voter suppression worked, and now the Republicans can expand it to ensure the next election. My daughter is tweeting, heartbroken, from Saskatchewan. "What do they see in him?" she asked. "People loved Hitler," I wrote back. "We are a flawed species. But remember, almost half the country voted for her."
I feel sick. What forces of evil have been unleashed?
election night 9 p.m.
Friends Monique, Isabel and I eating cheese, drinking wine, feeling sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Too close. Nauseating. Incomprehensible. Horrendous. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.
