make it so

 

Dear Dodos,

It's about the time of the year when I review what the Dodo is doing-  February, 2013 is when the Dodo first started, and this makes 13 years; over a dozen years of Dodo posts.  There have been over 1400 posts.  There are more than 893,129 page views.  Most months, there are a total of 8 posts, twice a week.  

It is a good time to wonder what I am doing here, what you are doing here.  It should feel re-assuring, it should feel like we have witnessed it together, it should feel safe & sane, although an occasional outburst is to be expected; it should feel encouraging.  

There is SO much out there, out here, in here.  I don't really know about you, but it feels overwhelming; there are piles and piles of sites I want to visit and read and listen to and look at.  I cannot get it all done- I don't want this space/place to feel like a thing you need to do- it should not be like brushing your teeth or a big 'should.'  Although, then of course the obvious question is why look here at all, then?  Well, I like to hope that it is a bit curated, a bit thoughtful and not just another place that must provide content to you, dear consumer.  Ugh.  See, I don't really think of you like that, a consumer.  I think of you as a friend, and I want to touch you in that way.  

Even so, things change, and the meaning and purpose of things change.  I like to put the things I am excited about, or engaged in, here, for you to maybe take, maybe not.  Maybe become engaged in, maybe just walk on by.  It's a big world, I won't feel hurt if you don't have time; as a woman once told me, I am not inventing a narrative about why you couldn't be here. (Although, oh!  It is so tempting!  Narrative no. 1:  You were on your way here, going through the car wash, when the machine broke down, and you and your car were trapped in an endless shower of suds!  Narrative no. 2:  You attended a candlelight vigil in your park, to commemorate all that ever was, and you stayed there so late, with all the other beautiful mourners, that you didn't wake up when your alarm went off!  Narrative no. 3:  Instead of coming here, you went and did the three things you have been meaning to do since 2022: schedule your shingles vaccine, rotate your tires, and call someone to have that old piano hauled away!)

Shall we meet here again this year as usual, then?  Make it so.

2800: same old song

 

Sims skate wheel

Dear Skaters,

Today is day 2,800 of daily roller skating.  I am still doing it, and I intend to keep on at it, but today, I don't have much to say about it.  It may be that I have grown tired of trying to induce you to enjoy roller skating; it may be that I have grown tired of making suggestions of any kind, period.  When I think about it, all this unsolicited advice and curated stuff, I wonder that anyone has any time or inclination for such things.  I read a lot of good things on the internet, and there are heaps of good things I don't make the time for, even though I'd like to read them, to watch them, to learn from them.

If there was a purpose, to my dashing off a couple of letters a week to you, here, it might be to encourage you, to let you know that you can do it, whatever it is; that there are no negative consequences- you can try to play the trombone, because, why not?  You can try to make your own paintbrush, to sew a pair of kid gloves, to write a television script.  In fact, I hope you try all four of those things, and roller skating, too.  However, if you are busy defending human rights this week and the next, you might not have the time, and that's fine too.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I have a song for you for today, too.

cake, because you can

 

film still from Věra Chytilová’s film Daisies*

Dear Ovens, and Kitchens, and Pans, and Things,

This for you!  There are other places to find this same recipe, but no matter where you get it, be sure to make it.  I have made it twice in 6 weeks.  It's that good.  If you do not want a lot of Sea Salt Butter Cake, make a half recipe; it comes out dandy!  I didn't have the Einkorn flour; I used a heritage bread flour.  I would say use whatever you have, or go out and find the fancy flour; just don't let not having it stop you from making it.

PS  Marla's jewelry company is pretty neat-o, too.  Have a look, but cake is going to be a lot cheaper than these baubles.

PPS Here's another nice thing, cake porn!  I see very clearly that I need to up my game on the look of my cakes!

PPPS  Yes, of course I think you see it; I think you should see all of Věra Chytilová’s films!  I think my life is richer for  the three I have seen, and I wish I'd seen them sooner.  I also think my pressuring you to grab these riches, these treasures, like cakes and films, is perhaps just pressure in general, and it's not my intention to make you feel like you have another thing you need to do, or that your life will only be complete if you do such and such.  Take it or leave it, all of it.  Watch tiktok instead; you won't even have to make a decision in that case, because it. just. keeps. running. on.

for you

 

Dear Everybody,

There was an extra delicious sky the other evening; I saved you some!  Please enjoy!

your rights

 

Dear People,

All there is now is crying and fear.  An endless plain of suffering that Republicans have wrought for us. 

Ray Bradbury said that we should be feeling when we write, not thinking.  My feelings are a huge burning ball of rage and despair, and articulate words are not easily formed from this magma.

Historian Heather Cox Richardson tells me that just 16 Republicans could stop this abuse and terror; that 23 of them could remove our hateful dying President.  Know this, that if you come around me and I find out you are a Republican or that you sympathize with any flavor of conservative racist crap, it will be the last time you see me.  I will not be doing any forgiveness, no exceptions, no "but they didn't realize."  I won't even be discussing it, there will just suddenly be an empty space where I was.

The thing that you know, in the core of your existence, is that any power you wield as a human, your height, your wealth, your weight, your intelligence, your brawn, your speed, your keen eyesight, your anything, must MUST be used to shield and protect the people less powerful than you.  Our responsibility is to take care of others and not to harm them.  This is it.  The whole thing, the whole state of being human.  Ask yourself if you are one and know your rights.

 

another delight

 

Dear Listener,

Here is a thing that you might enjoy:  Digging with Flo.  In this episode she is talking with the marvelous Laurie Anderson, who perfectly describes the work of being an artist as simply "noticing."  This is something I believe at a cellular level, and yes, what freedom!!  I think I have said it before, and I know, dear one, that you are doing this already, but, join me!  Come, be an artist, notice & observe!  

PS  Ok, you don't have to be an artist; maybe you'd rather grow some saffron; that's good too!

rambling round