Q: I’ve had it up to here with my [boss / partner / neighbor / child / sibling / parent / friend / coworker / in-law] and would do anything to make this better!
A: You didn’t say you’ve actually talked to them — maybe try that?
Two Quotes on Arguments
“Never argue with a man whose job depends on not being convinced.”
— H. L. Mencken
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!”
— Upton Sinclair
You, Too, Can Own a Nick Bergus Original
For the longest time, my dream was to move to a cabin in the woods that was big enough for a comfortable bed, a simple kitchen, a reasonable bathroom and a studio for letterpress printing.
Not that I knew how to set type or print with a letterpress, but the hands-on monotony was appealing.
The fantasy also presupposed the cabin had clean running water, electricity, internet and was accessible all year round.
Flash forward, and I discover Public Space One and the Iowa City Press Co-op offer workshops, including letterpress and found a joy of making art.
And now you can buy some of my prints on Etsy. All proceeds will go to Iowa City Mutual Aid.
It’s not a hermit cabin in the woods, but it’ll do.
Reminder for Pride
If you’re making a sign or chalking on the sidewalk or spray painting 500 South Clinton Street to remind the community that the elected Johnson County Attorney chose to prosecute seven trans people for protesting an anti-trans speaker and shouldn’t be at pride, a quick reminder:
It’s Rachel Zimmermann Smith with two Ns and no hyphen.
Zuri
The dog we’d come to adopt was already spoken for, but we got a better one.
Zuri was athletic: a jumper of fences, a chaser of squirrels, and an eater of rabbits. Once she chased a herd of deer through Iowa City’s alphabet streets, collapsing in ecstatic exhaustion when she got home.
She escaped from the yard, from the house, and, once, her latched kennel. She loved running and diving into the snow after voles and cricking her neck at impossible angles to rest her head against chair legs and wall edges.
One time she ate rat poison at an Airbnb. Another time she surreptitiously ate a large gingerbread house in the middle of the night until she was surprised by a sleepy, suspicious human. Once she ate her own bed. And in her final days, she ate ice cream, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, a bacon cheeseburger, and cake.
When she first moved in, Zuri wasn’t supposed to get on the brand-new dog-fur-free couches, but we let her curl up there after a single day.
Zuri loved walks and could hike for miles. She loved car rides. She hated thunderstorms, fireworks, and going through the car wash.
She was a looker. Kids loved her one brown eye and one clear blue eye. She also shed a lot of fur.
When she started to limp, we guessed she was getting old and had maybe pulled a muscle. When it didn’t go away, the vet thought maybe it was arthritis. A scan revealed it was cancer and inoperable.
As the cancer progressed, she didn’t let it faze her. She was almost as good on three legs as four, and, even as she continued to atrophy through the late spring, Zuri caught a rabbit in the backyard.
All good things come to an end, and Zuri was a good dog.
How Lame Can It Get?
I know I said it wasn’t worth critique any longer, but a double byline story carrying this clickbait hed is outlandish.
If you have to print this, maybe just run the number? At least they got in published the next day, I guess.
We Are All We Have
Like any sane person, I’m distressed and overwhelmed living in a world that is a whirlwind of terrible things: rising fascism, the dismantling of democracy, our neighbors being stripped of their civil rights, the social safety net being sold for parts, hostility towards science, etc.
As we look around for help, it’s increasingly clear: there is no one but ourselves.
In this swirl of a grim reality moving at breakneck speed from bad to worse, I have found taking a deep breath, overlapping my sphere of concern with my sphere of influence and focusing on the people around me has been empowering and calming. As our federal, state and local governments continue to let people slip through cracks or be increasingly unable or unwilling to address ongoing crises, others are continuing to organize.
Iowa City Mutual Aid is one such collective working to meet the survival needs of the people whom our systems continuously fail. They work to support the most vulnerable: supporting unhoused people, writing letters to incarcerated queer folks, a community garden, emergency needs as they arise and more.
If you’re angry and looking for a way to help, please consider giving — and consider making it monthly to empower their work to help people and build community. (Des Moines Mutual Aid is their fiscal sponsor and donations are tax deductible.) Funds go to keep people in their homes, support international students getting their visas pulled and needs across our community.
Everyone Wants Something for Free
Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton and son of Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann, according to Tom Barton in The Gazette:
“With assessment letters coming out, Iowans have been louder than ever with their concerns about property taxes. Iowans have expressed their concern, rage, and fear about unpredictable increases and their ability to afford staying in their homes. We are working to provide real relief to Iowans and their families, make Iowa a competitive state to live, and deliver a property tax overhaul that focuses on property taxpayers.”
First about those letters: they are required to be sent around the same time as the propaganda about tax rates despite not having any impact on a property owner’s tax liability until 18 months from now. Shocker everyone is mad about their largest asset appreciating in value. Wait. What?
Look, everyone dislikes taxes, but they sure do love parks, libraries, roads, sidewalks, safe buildings, emergency medical attention and their homes not being on fire. The GOP plan might fix the former, but it will absolutely not have a positive impact on the latter.
I Assure You
You have met someone who is transgender, and they were a person who deserves to live authentically and be loved just like you.
“Joyous”
So much joy after all the recriminations of the campaign. Grassroots movements , and welcoming people in, matters.