We're headed out of town this weekend to go cross-country skiing a few hours from here. The place we're going is out of cell range--in fact, it's off grid-- so I'm writing this on Wednesday. If I remember how to schedule it correctly, this will work, right?
1. We are, as always, watching the Olympics in the evenings. I get
addicted, every time. Before it started this year, though, I wasn't sure I would
watch because like everything, it turns out the Olympics are problematic and awkward right now. But finally I just decided to go with it. I'm tired of making decisions because of the principle of the thing. Really, really tired. I love the Olympics. I'm watching.
2. This was fascinating: The Dissenters Trying to Save Evangelicalism from Itself by David Brooks. It's in the NYTimes, which is usually behind a paywall, but I used the "gift an article" feature so maybe it will work. It's long, but if you're interested in evangelicalism either as a friend or a foe, it's worth a read. It gave me some hope that maybe Evangelicals are finally starting to come out of the reactionary thinking that has defined them for the past (half dozen? forty?) years, but what gave me even more hope was reading some of the reactions. Sure, there were some who intentionally misrepresented what Brooks said, but there were also many who were either agreeing, or thinking about it in intelligent ways.
3. Another interesting read on an entirely different subject: Ezra Klein on whether or not policy really matters.
4. Skip to #5 if you're not a Star Wars fan. One of my pet peeves in movies is when someone walks up to a computer they've never seen before, sometimes even a computer belonging to aliens, and they know exactly what to do to save the planet or the human race or whatever. It happens in Independence Day, it happens in Rogue One. We watched Rogue One last week, and although I did like it better than I have other times we've seen it, it's just absurd at the end. But you know what I loved this time? Darth Vader in the final sequence. That's one of the few times the presentation of Vader on screen has lived up to the reputation he is supposed to have as the fiercest, most skilled warrior of the empire. It's terrific.
5. I'm having trouble reading right now. I know I'm not alone, but it's messing with my understanding of the universe.
6. I walked into Target today without a mask, and it felt weird. It was the first time in months I'd been in an enclosed public space without a mask. The store policy, which they announce over the loudspeaker every ten minutes or so, is that you should wear a mask if you are unvaccinated, but I'm pretty sure the people who are unvaccinated aren't wearing masks. I've had two vaccines, plus the booster, plus I've had covid. I'm pretty sure I'm as covered as you can get. But it still felt weird-- and oddly, I felt like I was betraying the other people who are still wearing masks. I'll tell you what, though: I'm not interested in wearing a mask forever. *shrugs* But when I went to Costco later, I put my mask back on. Baby steps.
(For the record, Montana doesn't have a mask mandate. I'd guess the percentage of people wearing masks in public spaces runs 10-20% in our town, higher in some of the larger towns, and zero in the more rural areas.)(Our county has a population of about 100k divided up among four towns, making it one of the more populous areas of the state. One of my favorite Montana moments occurred after we'd lived here for several years when a co-worker told me she wanted to move back home to a more rural area because she didn't like living in a big city.)
7. I might wear a mask on airplanes forever, though. It's so nice not to find out you have a cold two days after you get home from vacation.
That's all. Have a nice weekend.
(for the non-Star Wars nerds, the title is a Darth Vader quote.)
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