Hortense @Hortense@qoto.org

@Turttle63 I am newish around here, too. When I first joined, someone recommended that I do an introduction post and include hashtags of the things that interest me, like #knitting and #progressive and #pacifist. Then people with the same interests will be able to find your post and follow you, and you will be able to follow them.

TW! I am an old pacifist and what follows is pacifist in content. You have been warned.

I'm reading "The Machiavellians" by James Burnham. It's dated, but still relevant. At the beginning he uses a historical example to make his point (which is what Machiavelli did in his work "The Prince.") Burnham's point is that politics is about the struggle for power and that a powerful tool for the rulers is the public lie that the slaves believe, that leads them to participate in their own exploitation. I am reminded of how strange it always seems to me that soldiers and their families parrot the idea that somehow being a soldier and fighting for your country is noble, selfless and right. When, clearly, if ordinary people, all of them, simply refused to participate in war, wars wouldn't happen. You know, the question asked in the 1960s and 1970s -- what if they gave a war and nobody came? Anyway, I'm enjoying the book. I found "The Prince" really interesting, too, when I read it. It isn't at all what I thought it was. It's a clear analysis, with the emotional content removed, of historical examples of how people obtained and kept power.

@mttaggart That's what I thought when I read the email. Then I read the whole thing on their blog page. Why can't they just tell us what information was actually compromised? I'm a bit suspicious.

@handserifed@artisan.chat When I was learning to knit socks, I made a few pairs with Socks That Rock yarn, which was lovely and had great colors. Also I like Louet Gems yarn for socks.

@cherylgoldk “From 'the lesson of the moth':

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself”
― Don Marquis, Archy and Mehitabel

@cherylgoldk It's one of my favorite books, I love it. Especially Mehitabel, although Archie's philosophy is pretty interesting, too.

wotthehell wotthehell
toujours gay
I always say
there's life in the old girl yet

“i have had my ups and downs
but wotthehell wotthehell
yesterday sceptres and crowns
fried oysters and velvet gowns
and today i herd with bums
but wotthehell wotthehell
i wake the world from sleep
as i caper and sing and leap
when i sing my wild free tune
wotthehell wotthehell
under the blear eyed moon
i am pelted with cast off shoon
but wotthehell wotthehell”
― Don Marquis, The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel

@SilverSalmonAK I see. Just like lots of other American states, inadequate health care for the people who need it.

I have only visited Alaska a couple of times. My husband and I took a trip up there and drove all over the place, to see as many places as we could. It was wonderful. I'd like to do it again. And I was in Juneau once for a bit, teaching a massage class. It was mid-winter and so pretty. I had the opportunity to do it again, but I retired instead.

@SilverSalmonAK Yes, John Straley! Such good stories. Did he have to move somewhere warmer? I'm trying to talk my sister into going to Alaska with me for a trip. Might make it up there, sit on a bench, knit and stare at the ocean. If so, I'll def meet up with you for a cup of coffee and local gossip!

@SilverSalmonAK I see you are in Sitka. I have had a fantasy of visiting Sitka for a long time, since reading those mysteries set in Sitka. Can't remember the name at the moment, even though I've read them all several times. It sounds like such a special spot, with so much ocean around it.

@SilverSalmonAK Well, you're right about that. I still like celebration food now and then. Although I have lost interest in doing any of the cooking myself.

@MissCrystal81 Pretty! I always love the Noro colorways, but the only time I knit something out of Noro it seemed scratchy and actually had what looked like bits of straw in it. I like your scarf, though, and I'll bet it's really warm.