getting better sort of maybe hopefully we'll see
So, last night was Day Three of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and given that tonight is the final night, just by definition it is likely to be more exciting—last night generally held my attention, but I did find it on average to be the least compelling so far. This in spite of speeches by great people like Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, and the nomination acceptance speech for VP by Kamala Harris. All great people, but the only one with a speech that itself approached greatness was Obama's, and that's keeping in mind his uncharacteristic darkness in warning where we're headed if we don't make the most fundamental change in the upcoming election.
Still, not even his speech was as powerful or as memorable as Michelle Obama's speech on Monday night, and no part of the two hours last night came even close to the beauty and excitement of the virtual roll call of delegate vote counting that happened Tuesday night. Probably nothing will tonight either, considering how not-exciting Joe Biden is as a candidate. But, and I will keep saying this, "exciting" is not what we need right now. We need stability, and decency, and fucking logical thinking. Even in the face of accusations against Biden drudging up from decades ago (all of which seriously pale in comparison to the complete lack of moral character in the White House right now, something that amazes me how many people lose sight of in all this), I actually think Biden will offer all of those things. And honestly, Kamal Harris is better than Biden on all of those fronts, and even without having any idea what the real chances of it happening are, I am enjoying the prospect of a very real possibility of her becoming president as soon as 2024. But, Biden has to win first.
And frankly, no matter what, I keep thinking back to that 57-states-and-territories roll call, and how uniquely effective it was at showcasing our nation's truly rich diversity. Nothing at the Republican National Convention is going to come even close to doing that, quite the opposite in fact—what few people of color they will feature will just be trotted out as tokens. They're already confirmed to have invited guest speakers who are icons of the far right, and of bigotry itself, such as that unhinged couple who pulled guns on protesters in St. Louis.
I asked Shobhit last night if he was going to watch the Republican convention, really afraid he might do so, just because he generally would, probably, any other presidential election cycle. But he shook his head no, and I must say, I was much relieved. First of all, I don't want all that xenophobia, racism and bigotry pumping out into my living room from the TV, much less from the fucking president himself. And secondly, it's best to deny that attention whore narcissist the ratings. Seriously, fuck him. Fuck his enablers. Fuck his supporters. Every one of them is a stain on this country.
We watched the Rachel Maddow after show for maybe half an hour, and then I asked Shobhit if I could watch something else. I wanted to check out the pilot episode of Lovecraft Country on HBO, which I am only interested in based on how much I have heard about it on podcasts I listen to: its principal cast centered on people of color, specifically Black people, and how that very choice subverts the apparently truly overt racism held by H.P. Lovecraft himself, which I never knew. His body of work, none of which have I read, was highly influential. (I only learned this week that Cthulhu was his creation.)
All Shobhit had to hear first was that it was a kind of horror genre show, so far as I knew, and he responded with bizarre anger: "Why do you want to watch horror when real life is horror already?" He was really snippy about it, too, like: what the fuck is your problem? The thing is, I suspected, so long as it was done well, he would probably actually like it. And guess what? I was right. By the time the monsters finally appeared near the end of the episode and were literally eating the racist cops (also, this is set in the fifties, about two decades after Lovecraft's actual publishing prime), Shobhit was literally applauding. He loves it when bizarro shit like that happens and people start getting killed. Once the episode ended, he declared, "That was a weird ass show. But it piqued my interest." Duh!
I don't know why he can't just give things a chance instead of having to be dragged kicking and screaming into it.
Now, this having been the pilot, I suspect next week's episode won't be quite as harrowing or exciting. I'm sure it will still be weird. We'll see.
My new plan of reading my library book seems to be working out pretty well so far. I tend to read at least ten pages during my half-hour break, and although it's still only occasionally, I am still reading a bit before bed now as well. This means it's still slow going, but now I should finish this book in the next two or three weeks, at this rate, rather than the previous six months it's taken me just to get this far.
Finding a place for it in my new routine is the most key element, but I think it's also that it's easier to sit and read now. Even though I never had this problem with TV shows—always a welcome distraction—in the early days of the pandemic, I could not focus my mind well enough to sit and read for any length of time. There were just too many horrible things to think about. That technically remains true today, but half a year in, it feels much more like we have all kind of settled into this new reality, and we have new routines carved out of our lives. There's a strange sort of comfort in that, and it makes the focus it takes to read a book much easier.
[posted 12:37 pm]