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Saturday Afternoon Coffeehouse Tunes

Meute – Empor (2024)

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Well, it’s Pride Month, and once again this year, my timeline is filled with performative, pearl-clutching, straight, professed Christians, outraged at the supposed rainbow-bedazzled queer assault on the institution of marriage.

This year, they’re even trying to meme-manifest a “Nuclear Family Month,” which is about as asinine an idea as advocating for “White History Month” every February. Of all the Conservative Christian commentary you’ll ever hear, this is among the most ridiculous: that LGBTQ people marrying somehow devalues a straight, heteronormative couple’s marriage, like a foreclosed house down the street driving down property values in the neighborhood.

Marriage isn’t a community exercise or a collective endeavor; it’s a lifelong agreement between two people before the Law and before friends and loved ones as witnesses. It is a legal document, not a spiritual covenant (unless that coupleclaims faith). The fact that we don’t get to superimpose our religious beliefs on anyone else’s partnership is only a problem for people who also believe they get to police other people’s bodies, bathrooms, and sexual activity.

The two people making their vows to one another are not beholden to anyone but their spouse in honoring, nurturing, or preserving that union after their wedding day. Married people don’t have a Board of Directors or a group of spousal shareholders to answer to here. They have their husband or wife, and the family they create together. They alone get to govern their agreement.

I’ve been married for 32 years now, and during all that time, exactly two people on the planet have had a direct impact on the strength and sanctity of my marriage. Every single day, my wife and I work together diligently to have a vital, honest, loving relationship, and we’re the only ones who can make that happen or keep it from happening—period. The idea that anyone else’s marriage affects ours is fairly ridiculous to both of us, and it should be to anyone fully invested in honoring their own marital vows.

Ultimately, this isn’t about theology; it’s about the fading fine art of minding your own damn business.

For years, I worked as a personal trainer in a boxing gym, and at first, many new clients came in worried about being embarrassed in front of other more fit, more experienced people. I assured them by reminding them that when those people are on the floor, they are so focused on what they’re doing and working so hard that they don’t have the time or energy to be concerned about anyone else; they’re just trying to survive.

It’s too bad more straight Christians don’t seem to give half as much time to attending to their own marriages as they do to overseeing others’. Maybe they wouldn’t be failing 42 percent of the time.

Interestingly, the same folks claiming that gay people are damaging marriage aren’t nearly as vocal about the rampant infidelity, abuse, and divorce out there in so many heterosexual Christian marriages. Magically, they don’t view those people as a threat to the Institution and are quite able to separate themselves from the greater married world when it suits them.

A Facebook acquaintance recently lamented the fact that “the queer agenda is tearing apart the family unit”. I wondered whose “family unit” he was referring to. I know it isn’t mine. My family unit is pretty spectacular and secure because it exists independently of those outside my house, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or any other possible variable. I have authority and direct influence regarding only one family unit on the planet. That’s how this life works.

To all the perpetually outraged straight Christian couples out there this PRIDE Month, a few reminders for you:

Even if you believe that same-gender marriage is sinful or immoral, claiming that it does any sort of residual collateral damage to you or your spouse or your family says more about the fragility and possibly fraudulence of your relationship than it does about the LGBTQ community as a viable threat.

As much as you claim you want to protect the family unit, the reality is that queer people have family units, too: caring, imperfect, loving, flawed, beautiful ones. They daily navigate complicated relationships with siblings, parents, children, spouses, (and, even, In-Laws). They live lives together in deep community marked by all the compassion, frustration, intimacy, laughter, heartache, and richness that you share with your family.

If you can’t admit and respect that, and if you find yourself somehow threatened by any other person’s pursuit of happiness or expression of family, that’s likely a youproblem. There’s something incredibly troublesome when we as people of faith require others to believe what we believe, or worse, when we act as if their refusal to believe what we believe or practice what we practice in any way diminishes our faith experience or somehow taints our religion.

Straight Christians, when you got married, you didn’t make those flowery vows to all married people, before or since. You didn’t profess your undying love and commitment to an institution. You didn’t expectantly join the ranks of a club or fraternity or corporation. You didn’t get married to Marriage.

You pledged to a person, promising to love your spouse as faithfully, passionately, and completely as you could for the rest of your life. That’s all you are obligated, expected, and most importantly, qualified to do.

The bottom line is that if your marriage is adversely affected by anyone else’s marriage (straight or queer), you probably have a pretty crappy marriage.

That should be cause for great worry, and it’s probably something you should pray on.

Outside of your spouse, the only person who can really damage or devalue your marriage is you.

So, Happy Pride Month, and Happy Mind Your Own Damn Business Month.

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Amalia Hernández House

Architects: Agustín Hernández Navarro
Year: 1973
Photographs: Felipe de Hoyos, Julius Suliman
Type: Private House
City: Mexico City
Country: Mexico

The Amalia Hernández House, designed by Agustín Hernández Navarro in 1973, was created for his sister, renowned dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernández. The house merges rigid geometric forms with organic, curvilinear shapes, reflecting the architect’s unique exploration of space and symbolism. Inspired by 16th-century Mexican convents, the home features sacred uses of light and color to evoke peace and emotion. The design also draws from the spiral structure of nautilus shells, with the interior divided into sections that create fluid, organic forms. This combination of soaring volumes and warm, sensuous shapes gives the house a monumental yet light appearance, blending tradition and modernity.

In 1973, Agustín Hernández Navarro completed a house for his sister, Amalia Hernández, a renowned dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Ballet Folklórico de México. The design showcases a playful juxtaposition of forms, with rigid geometry intersecting more organic, curvilinear shapes.

“Today’s architecture has to have something from yesterday, but much more of tomorrow.” – Agustín Hernández Navarro

A lesser-known aspect of Mexican architect is his poetic work, Gravity, Geometry and Symbolism, where he explores space through concepts like “the fear of vacuums” and the interplay between “positive light and negative shadows.” In these writings, Hernández provides insight into his creative process, explaining how he draws inspiration from symbols found in pre-Columbian archaeological sites and monumental structures of historical significance.

For Amalia Hernández’s house, he drew inspiration from 16th-century convents in Mexico City. He introduced color and light into the interior in a sacred manner, aiming to evoke a sense of peace and comfort. The architect strongly embraced the belief that spaces have the power to evoke emotions.

“My sister wanted a convent-like house, with reclusive, compartmentalized rooms, so we toured a bunch of convents. That’s how I arrived at details like ocular openings, which were my interpretation of 16th-century windows.” – Agustín Hernández Navarro

The design of the house was also influenced by the spiral shape of nautilus shells, which are divided into chambers. Inspired by this form, Hernández divided the interior into sections that generate flowing, organic shapes. This approach allowed him to incorporate sensuous curves, contrasting with the sharp angles typical of his own studio. He also employed creative methods to illuminate the inner gardens, enhancing the fluidity and natural feel of the space.

The house exudes a sense of lightness, with volumes that seem to soar or float, yet it remains distinctly monumental and sharp. On closer inspection, many of the forms are sensual and warm, defying gravity and adding a unique blend of delicacy and strength to the structure.

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Oh Yeah, It Sounds Like Satire Now…

Good morning!

As you remember, macOS Tahoe was amazing. And this can be clearly seen with the record-high adoption rate and the smallest number of downgrades ever!
We received a lot of incredible feedback as well. More rounded corners, more subscriptions, more ads in the built-in apps – so much to choose from!
But of course we didn’t stop there.
Now, macOS 27 is a whole new level for your Mac. You love so many foundational things about Mac – so we decided to remove them for good, thus making you love them even more!

Here’s what’s new in macOS 27 Braindead Valley:

    • First, the Menu bar. There are so many buttons there, which is so old-fashioned. You loved the new formatting bar in iOS 26 Notes app that magically scrolls left and right depending on the context. We are going to apply this truly intelligent system to the menu bar as well: from now on, one button for an app at a time will be shown, which randomly changes to any existing option
    • Next, Dock. No one has loved it since it was introduced – and it is not actually needed. Want to show a minimized window? Just search its name in Spotlight, as you always did for apps!
    • Mouse cursor. An obsolete thing that clutters the OS and bothers everyone. I’ve never used a mouse cursor in my entire life; I don’t know anyone who does. Just use the Full Keyboard Access feature, which is much more efficient. It is so much simpler and you really always wanted to use it this way, you just didn’t know you did
    • Control center is not needed – just use Spotlight. The new agentic macOS is made like your beloved ChatGPT: everything you need is just several sentences of typed text away
    • macOS Finder gets an update: introducing Files app on Mac. A reliable, incredibly fast, and feature-rich file manager is coming to your Mac
    • Adding more granular controls for volume and brightness, including changing the volume per app (requires Apple Intelligence)
    • Keychain.app is now deprecated. For developers, certificate generation is available in Image Playground
    • Automatic Time Machine backups are deprecated. Creating a backup is much simpler now, as you can make one like you always wanted – in Spotlight: type “Time Machine,” press Tab, “I want a backup,” press Tab, then enter the date in YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS format
    • QuickTime Player is deprecated. Watching movies is available in the Photos app

Important: because of the evil EU legislation, WLAN/Wi-Fi will not be available in macOS 27 in the EU. For everyone else we are thrilled to announce, that sideloading is discontinued starting this fall, to better protect your privacy. Also, in order to ensure the security and continuing stability, Mac App Store from now on will only allow iPhone apps, which greatly complements the iPhone Mirroring mode – for a safe and secure Mac usage!

Also, for the first time ever – you can choose the codename for macOS! Here are the options by our crack marketing team:

    • macOS 27 Silicon Void
    • macOS 27 Barren Basin
    • macOS 27 Stripped Ridge
    • macOS 27 Liquid Vista
    • macOS 27 Mount Monotony
    • macOS 27 Laguna Bleak
    • macOS 27 Point Nowhere
  • So what are your 2 things you can live without in new macOS 27?
    • Menu bar
    • Dock
    • Finder
    • QuickLook
    • Spotlight
    • Time Machine
    • Preview app
    • I will not update

[source]

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has anyone in US politics been more unfairly maligned than Hunter Biden?

he’s been harassed. he’s been the target of multiple smear campaigns. he’s been accused of corruption and crimes. he’s been forced to testify. he’s had his personal life put under a microscope — and he’s had photos of his freakishly oversized trouser hog put on display on the floor of the House.

all of this is why it’s super fucking satisfying to see that Hunter Biden is finally hitting back.

Trump hasn’t made a public appearance in 8 days. This after an unscheduled visit to the hospital- because he “likes getting check ups.” Thank God Jake Tapper (or as I like to call him- the Brick Tamland of his generation) is on the case hunting down clues in a book about my mom’s experience as First Lady four years ago.

I have to confess that No Fucks To Give Hunter Biden is my favorite Hunter Biden, and I am so here for it. after letting his social media presence dwindle for years, Hunter’s back with a vengeance.

Hunter Biden’s complaint is the same one we all have: why are the Jake Tappers of the world still sniffing Joe Biden’s pant leg, while right in front of their faces, the current sitting president is a cognitively-collapsed fuckwit who lost control of his bowels years ago?

except, of course, for Hunter Biden this hits much closer to home.

So let me get this straight. Jake Tapper is focused on attacking my Mom. Jared and Ivanka are building a private island paradise on Albanian protected land. Don Jr married the daughter of Epstein’s banker, and a startup his fund backs just got a record $620M Pentagon loan. Eric is taking an Israeli drone company public for $1.5B in the middle of a war with Iran that nobody wanted. And I know: “But what about your paintings, Hunter?” Please.

remember how the worthless scribblers of the corporate-controlled press lost their fucking minds because Hunter Biden sold some paintings for a few thousand dollars? where are their howls of outrage, now that Dear Leader’s awarded multi-hundred-thousand dollar contracts to companies co-owned by his two felonious failsons?

hey, you know what Hunter Biden can do that MAGA can’t? laugh at himself.

can you imagine Donny being this self-critical?

can you imagine Donny’s failson Cokey McSniffles being this honest?

this is why Hunter Biden was able to turn his life around, while Don Jr. is still walking around with the half the gross national product of Bolivia up his nostrils.

it’s because Hunter was able to face the brutal facts about himself, and get the help he recognized he needed, while Cokey remains the result of a multi-generational exercise in self-delusion and denial.

and it doesn’t hurt Hunter Biden has a caring father who loves him, while Cokey’s own fucked-up dad once slapped him in the face for not wearing a suit to a baseball game.

congratulations, Hunter, on being seven years clean.

mad respect.

now let’s check in with the other member of that multi-generational exercise in self-delusion and denial, because for the second day in a row — lucky us— Preznit Fuckwit graced us with another Oval Bordello dog-and-pony show.

there he was, surrounded by his Emotional Support Flunkies, as he sat behind the Resolute Desk, closed his weary eyes, slumped over, and began to crop-dust the entire room.

look at this. all of Dear Leader’s neutered toadies have to stand there and pretend that what’s happening isn’t happening. seriously, Jake Tapper, are you getting all this?

oh dear. now that he’s finished assaulting the Reflecting Pool, Lord Shitticus is going to fuck up the Lincoln Memorial next.

“the Lincoln— Memorial, the uh, front was supposed to be the back, the back was supposed to be the front, never got built because they built two roadways behind it. after it was built. and it shut off the uhhhhhh— gateway to the water. that was really gonna be the main entry. and we’re gonna be doing that, we’re gonna— it’s called the promenade. buh duh— the promenade. they wanna call it the Trump promenade. but I dunno if I wanna— it’s gonna be beautiful. it’s a beautiful project and it’s gonna take— the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac.”

wait, who wants to call it ‘the Trump promenade’? are they in the room with us right now? is it the ceaseless shrieking noises inside Donny’s own fat head that are telling him this? sweet Jesus, this is just one more thing that the next president’s Secretary of Unfucking All That Shit is going to have to put back the way it used to be.

what is Donny gibbering about, with the back is the front and the front is the back? he’s just making stuff up on the spot — yet instead of calling in the nurse to jab Donny with a powerful sedative, everybody just stands around as if some fucked-up proposal to molest the Lincoln Memorial because it’s backwards were the most perfectly normal thing they’d ever heard.

now, because I’m a Responsible Journalist and Everything™, I had to make sure I was in command of my facts — so I googled ‘is the front of the Lincoln Memorial supposed to be the back,’ and this is what Google’s janky six-fingered plagiarism robot answered:

The Lincoln Memorial was designed to face east towards the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, not the Potomac River. Its current orientation remains exactly as the original architect, Henry Bacon, intended it to be.

so let me repeat myself: what the fuck is Donny gibbering about? Jake Tapper, do you have any idea? Jake? hello, Jake?

sigh.

but what I really want to know is, can we make the Lincoln Memorial more secure? I mean if the Epstein Dance Hall can have sniper nests and a drone army on top of it, why not the Linc M?

and if we can’t have drones, can we at least have the dogs or the bees, or the dogs with the bees in their mouth, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?

because that would be fucking awesome.

oh wait, Donny doesn’t want to talk about any of that. he’s too busy committing a racism.

reporter: “the Black unemployment rate is 7.3%. when you ran for president, you courted Black voters and talked about what you described as ‘Black jobs.’ how do you explain why this disparity happened?”

Donny: “well, we’re doing very well with uhhhhh, the Black jobs. African-American jobs.”

racist much, Donny? wouldn’t you love for some reporter to ask Donny what he considers a ‘Black job’? because we all know what the answer would be. janitor. cook. maid. nanny. I just want to hear Donny say it out loud.

oh, wait. in this case, a reporter doesn’t have to ask — because Donny answers the question all on his own, without being prompted. let’s just play the rest of that clip.

“where we’re really gonna do well is when all these plants are open. we’re building many car plants. we’re bringing cars back from Germany. it’s all coming back. it’s amazing. and where your Black worker is going to do really well, is when those factories open.”

ohhhhh, assembly-line worker, that’s a Black job, too. I’m so glad we cleared that up.

is it too much to ask that someday we might have a president who doesn’t scream the quiet part out loud? or maybe one who isn’t a racist fuckhead in the first place?

have a great Friday, everyone. try not to commit any racisms.

this is going to be my closing message for the foreseeable future:

practice self-care. do what you need to do to keep sane. if that means you need to disengage with my daily posts for a while, I get it. this community of ours will still be here when you return.

to all the people who have signed on in the days since the election, welcome aboard. settle in as we all try to deal with the shitfuckery that’s ahead of us.

we are all in this together, and we are all here for each other.

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Facing Reality

I purged my closet this week. I finally faced reality and admitted that I will never get back to my previous weight (not that it’s a bad thing, but I would like to put about 20 lbs. back on) or anything resembling it to allow me to continue to wear these things.

To that end, all my old 2X and 1X shirts, and all my size 36—and 38!—pants/jeans went to donation. I’m now back to a sensible size 34 pant size and down to a regular large size shirt (basically what I was wearing in my 20s and 30s).

I kept a few shirts that had sentimental value, and a slew of cute, now grossly-oversized printed t-shirts that can still be used to sleep in, because replacing those—assuming I could even find them again in the proper size—would cost a fortune.

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