It’s been a surprisingly hectic spring. Since my last post, we had a quick visit from J during her spring break. Before she even left, I headed down south, first to visit my sister and her family in adorable Maplewood, New Jersey, then on a flight to Savannah to visit more family. In Georgia, there was such absolutely perfect weather that I spent a couple of hours at the beach and an afternoon in the pool. It was so beautiful!
I also got caught up on a bunch of family news, since my last visit was way back at Christmas. In fact, when I was driving back from Newark to Niskayuna, I ended up on a group video call with Cute W and the girls catching them up, which helped me while away the time at the end of a long day of travel.
I’d already had the Savannah trip planned when Cute W and I made plans to head to Colorado for his lovely Auntie’s memorial service. I was extremely glad that I was able to come along, because there were a whole bunch of family members that we don’t get to see often. That was the weekend of the No Kings protest, and it was a warm and beautiful day, with a surprisingly good crowd right there in “red” Cañon City, Colorado.
As usual, I took plenty of pictures and chatted up the crowd. A surprising number were recent arrivals to Cañon City: with people looking for someplace beautiful and affordable, the place seems to be popping, and with recent improvements like the fun river side, I get the appeal.
Luckily, neither trip included any particular TSA drama. Still, it was a lot, and we ended up very grateful that we had begged off any Easter plans in anticipation of being fully exhausted after all the travel. The next weekend we were really happy to just sit on the couch.
So we’ve been recovering and enjoying finally getting a chance to bike again now that it’s spring. Of course, the weather’s been a little unpredictable, leading me to ride home from yoga in a pouring thunderstorm and Cute W to reluctantly skip the bike commute due to a weather forecast that ended up entirely inaccurate. But with gas prices as they are, there’s no better time to get an e-bike! (More here and here.) It is much easier to smell the blossoms while you’re biking than while you’re driving. You can even stop and take a picture if you’d like.
That frog is from the little pond under the bridge at the Central Park rose garden, and there were tons of them just a few days ago. Don’t worry: I made sure to alert my local preschool moms.
For this weekend, Cute W is once again traveling, this time to visit his parents in Kansas City to celebrate his dad’s birthday. I’ve been puttering around on my own, catching up here, doing Zumba and reading, and doing other stuff like my local Friday evening protest, clearing some lawn debris to let this baby lupine get some sunshine, and cooking meals Cute W doesn’t like, like this eggroll-in-a-bowl.
And this is what happens when it’s been so long since I’ve posted: I have entirely skipped the topic that I meant to write about, and then there’s so much catching up to do that I’ve written a whole post before I get to the topic that was banging around in my head. But I think I’ll just do it quickly.
Okay, so I was reading the Noah Wyle GQ interview, which was linked from social media somewhere and sadly, now that I’ve looked for it again, it is for subscribers only. But one of the reasons why “The Pitt” is so popular, is what he calls “competence porn.” He says: “this is essentially ‘competence porn.’ You’re watching really smart, dedicated people do what only they know how to do at a level that you don’t know how to do it, and you’re so fucking glad that they’re there doing it, and compartmentalizing their own stuff to put your broken pieces back together. You’re so reassured by knowing that there are people out there that laugh and joke and have the ability to lock in like that.” This completely resonated with me
It feels like the same impulse that made so many of us completely ga-ga about the recent Artemis II mission. And in that case, there’s so much competency, but also, for those of us who can’t stand how the current administration is running things, there’s so much that’s inspiring. It’s a mixed group including a woman, a black man, and a Canadian who show so much mutual respect and teamwork, the men aren’t afraid of group hugs and weeping on camera, and they all studied photography to better communicate their own sense of awe to those of us who are earthbound.
In the same way, I’ve been pretty obsessed with NYC Mayor Mamdani’s progress, and it sure helps that the video documentation is stellar. As someone who used to live in the city, it’s amazing to see him optimistically tackle the big issues, like taxing the massively rich people who hoard huge amounts of real estate while so many people struggle with affordable housing, and helping provide child care and cheaper groceries all over the city. And I love his plan to connect Grand Army Plaza to Prospect Park, a spot that I always thought seemed crazy as a Brooklynite. But also it goes all the way down to the most mundane downers of city life that, it turns out, we don’t have to accept, like rats and scaffolding everywhere. Most recently, his 3-minute meetings with constituents film was just so lovely. And yes, I’m sure that some people totally yelled at him about how much he sucked and they didn’t include those in the edit because it is propaganda, but compared to a video pretending to drop feces on American protesters or an AI image of someone being Dr. Jesus with military-mythological creatures floating in the background… well, inject this Competency and Empathy Propaganda directly into my veins.
