Items

• 
  2022-04-06

  The Pass Wars

  This is an Instagram post by namastou. This post is partly in French, and it is a satire on Star Wars. The post references President Emanuel Macron, the current French president in the tags. It also uses the tag #plandemie, which is a French way of saying "plandemic", which is the belief that this pandemic was planned out by the rich in order to get richer and control their populace. They also say #liberté, or "liberty", possibly referring to their side being the side of freedom. #thegreatreset is another tag that is about the pandemic triggering a "great reset" where the rich have almost near control of the population through things like vaccine passports, which would limit freedom of movement if some refused to get the vaccine, thus creating discrimination between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
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  2021-08-14

  Star Wars Meme

  picture showing a meme posted by Mark Hamill. It pokes fun at how ridiculous anti-maskers sound about having the right to not wear a mask. He calls on people not to be "maskholes"
• 
  2021-02-24

  MY MOOD. MY MASK

  Will we miss them when we no longer need them? What will become of these scrappy, sometimes brightly-colored statement pieces? In many ways, a mask has become the sartorial equivalent of a tie. Men still wear ties, but really…why? They serve no purpose. Will we do the same without masks? A mask can reveal who the wearer is in a way that a bare face cannot. Study the mudroom collection in this photo reveals and you will know that someone loves Star Wars and the other is a feminist who adores penguins. After the Texas deep-freeze, and Ted Cruz’s air cruise to Mexico to escape the failure of the power grid, he returned to the U.S. hiding behind an enormous Lone-Star state face mask—as if donning it would make everyone forget his Marie-Antoinette moment. For future generations reading this: Cruz abandoned his constituents who were without power and water for days and flew to a Cancun resort with his family because they were cold. Did the mask hide his shame when he returned home after being caught? If so, maybe we should keep the mask in our wardrobes in our post-COVID futures. Perhaps the year of plague has given us a new fashion choice as well as a place to hide when necessary.
• 2020-11-04

  A Silver Lining

  I’m so glad to have supportive friends that share my interests. As a huge Star Wars nerd, I’ve been eagerly awaiting Season 2 of The Mandalorian. On November 4, my friend and I sat down together to watch the first episode of Season 2 that was released. It was FANTASTIC. It was a nice reprieve from the monotony of everyday life and our discussion post-watching was a great distraction from what is to come for the nation. I just about died from laughter when my friend, quite poignantly, asked me: “do you think that we should just say ‘fuck it’ and move to Tatooine and fight giant Alaskan Bull Worms in the sand for a living?” That’s a friend for life right there.
• 
  2020-07-21

  Stopping to smell the flowers.... and focus on gratitude

  Since mid-May, our 18yo son's friend has been living with us. D's mother is immunocompromised, and he needed to return to work when restaurants re-opened to save money for college in the fall. He moved in, adding a fourth teenager to our house. He is a wonderful guest and we have enjoyed having him. It can't be easy for him to live with a family that is not his own, but he handles it very well. Last week, these flowers arrived for me. D's dad and grandmother sent them (they live out of state) as a thank you for us hosting D these past months. I was so surprised and touched by the gesture. I know D and his family are grateful that he has a safe place to live while ensuring his family's health, and I appreciate that. While literally stopping my day to smell my flowers, I started thinking about gratitude, and the ways I will always be grateful to 2020: - My family is healthy, safe and together. - I realize that my son knows the value in surrounding himself with good people; getting to know his friend has been a blessing. - We were able to continue our school and work lives, even while isolated at home. Not all are so lucky. - As things re-open slowly, our lives are not returning to the crazy levels of busy that is our normal. Instead of school and practices and large gatherings, small groups of friends are coming over almost every day, and I love having a full house. - Our future plans are still moving forward, albeit in a different format. Online classes for my high schoolers and hybrid college classes for college kids. Working from home. We are making it all work. - While we haven't been having family crafting projects or other Instagram worthy activities, we have been able to connect often and easily. A conversation about politics; one about ethics; another about relationships. All of these happened organically because we are physically together. Also conversations about LeBron vs. Michael and ranking of the Star Wars franchise; not every conversation is deep. - Most importantly, I realize that the first half of 2020 was a gift: I got extra time with my kid, right before he leaves for college. I got extra time with my high schoolers that wasn't carved out of a crazy schedule. My husband and I spent time reading next to each other and doing puzzles. It would be crazy for me to say 2020 has been wonderful; it hasn't. It has been awful. However, even in these crazy and unsure times, there can be gratitude. And flowers. And Star Wars movies.