All posts by X Teri

Airbnb, Fayetteville, Lemon Moment, Personal, Travel

Dickson

01/25/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Dickson Street is a ghost town early in the morning, after all the night zombies make their exodus. I love the experience of seeing and hearing things when the world is silent. It’s a little warmer this morning but the wind puffs and reminds me that it’s still cold. The crescent moon hangs in the southern sky.

At one point in my walk, the thunder of distant sirens wailed for a bit. It was a strained metaphor for the wild and uncertain world spanning out around me. Beauty and horror are constant companions.

We’re all visitors here, no matter where we call home. Just because we have decades to call a place our home, it doesn’t conceal or deny the fact that impermanency is our master. Yet we keep arguing and fighting, as if our efforts are more than personally significant milestones.

I can’t walk around deserted towns without being introspective. It feels like there’s an elusive revelation just around the corner each time I do it.

Government, Justice, Law, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Racism and Prejudice, Safety, Security, Social Rules, Trump

Immigration

01/22/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Francisco looked at me before he ran. Had he not, the immigration officials never would have looked twice. He came back to work later under another name. When he came to the United States, he worked hard. He rode a bicycle everywhere. I learned a lot of culture and language from Francisco.

After he ran, I went to the back docks were immigration officials were zip-tying people I knew in a refrigerated trailer. I had left my identification in my locker and diligently tried to be detained with the rest of my coworkers. I demanded in Spanish that the people I knew be moved out of the cold trailer. I refused to identify myself or provide identification. While I was not eloquent, I had to remind immigration that these were people being needlessly scared and put in discomfort for no reason.

I watched some of the agents half-heartedly perform their duties. They knew that the problem wasn’t the immigrants. It was the system and companies that relied on their labor. There were also agents who relished doing their jobs.

Later, I looked out at the back acres adjacent to Bethel Heights. At the work smocks hanging from the fence, left there by human beings fleeing.

It’s impossible to describe the people who didn’t experience it. Or to those who don’t speak the language and understand the need and drive to have a better life.

What a f mess.

I forget these experiences until I am required to remember. Every person rounded up or diminished by political grandstanding is still a person. And needed by the demands of our economy.

I did countless interviews and I-9 forms. The law required me to take a cursory look at identification prior to employment. If their identification was rectangular, it was good enough for me. Because anyone who wanted a job could have one. We constantly had unlimited positions available.

As immigrants become targeted, you can of course nod or applaud. But in so doing, you’re ignoring the bigger problem of economic necessity. Removing workers is a harsh solution that does not address the shadow economy or why we need so many additional workers.

Each time I see raids, I see Francisco. He was a hard-working man brought here by the fact that countless companies need workers. I think of that look of desperation on his face as he stood there zip-tied, knowing he faced a trip to Brownsville.

The raids were pointless. One man came to work with his suitcase. Instead of fleeing from immigration, he came to work ready for a free trip back to Mexico. He understood the economic reality that a job would be waiting for him when he came back across the border. And that it would likely always be this way.

Raids don’t address the problem.

They amplify it.

Companies who need labor anywhere they can get it will continue to do so.

Even if only 10% of undocumented immigrants disappear, it will have a devastating impact to our economy. Even if you’re unconcerned about the fact that these are people just like us, you probably won’t consider it to be an issue until prices rise and the reality of your choices results in discomfort for you.

We are not a nation of laws. We’re a nation of economics. Current events consistently prove this to be true.

Que desgracia.

X
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Government, History, Justice, Law, Opinion, Politics, Religion, Social Rules, Trump

On Pardons

01/22/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Dumb Things Seen Today:

“Innocent people don’t need a pardon.”

Uhh…

You’re wrong. It should be written this way:
“Innocent people DIDN’T need a pardon.”

When a convicted felon with a penchant for felonious misconduct threatens you, you protect the innocent ones around you. Doubly so if the felon in question actively attempted to violently overthrow the government – and proceed to threaten anyone trying to hold him accountable.

Trump is the embodiment of what’s wrong with politics. He’s broken so many of the expectations and requirements of a President.

He’s the only president who wanted to pardon himself.

But I digress.

Using the logic of the above quote, Trump pardoned 1600+ people. If “innocent people don’t need a pardon,” it follows that these 1600+ people were guilty. Anyone citing the quote suffers from massive cognitive dissonance.

You can’t have it both ways.

Let’s not forget that 47 insists that the Central Park 5 were guilty, even after DNA and a confession freed them. Trump wanted them to be executed. They are suing him for defamation; Trump tells so many lies that it’s hard to hold him accountable for it. These same lies and disinformation erode our collective confidence in our government. It benefits him, but we will suffer the consequences long after he’s gone from the world stage.

Trump himself declares that he’s always innocent. Even though juries, grand juries, and judges said otherwise. Afterward, he argues that although he’s guilty, it was protected behavior.

Trump is a convicted felon with a long history of fraud, bankruptcies, and legal issues – not to mention the issue of sexual misbehavior.

In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined that people would look to him for moral guidance, much less directions to Walmart. That the Bibles he touches don’t burst into flames is sufficient evidence that God is no interventionist.

I don’t have a problem with a convicted felon holding office, as shocking as that may be for some people. I believe felons should retain the right to vote. Even Trump. I do have a serious problem with so many overlooking Trump’s ridiculously long list of misdeeds, both personal and political.

He is an embarrassment and a literal threat to our system of governance.

Assuming our democracy survives this experiment with lunacy, history will not be kind to those who enabled it.

I would ask anyone who agrees with me to raise their hands, but Elon ruined that gesture for all of us.

Innocent people do need preemptive pardons. It’s not been a necessity prior to the arrival of 47.

I’m shaking my head at people defending salutes, insurrection, and rebukes toward people such as Reverend Mariann Budde. She spoke the essence of the message Christians claim to follow. When adorational politics lead people to demonize spiritual voices such as hers, the warning bells should be sounding universally.

Trump is a masterful showman and has played multiple groups to rise to power, none more so that Evangelicals and the lower class.

He’s not a ‘good’ person or one I look to for insight, inspiration, or authority. The bulk of his words reek of threats, bullying, and authoritarianism. It’s particularly telling that he rarely displays a positive attitude, acknowledges his own mistakes, and seeks to use political power to insult, harm, or threaten those who don’t agree with his words or behavior.

That he’s my President is beyond my control.

I, of course, hope that our deomcracy can erase this craziness at some point. I didn’t put in my quarters for this circus.

Our government runs at all is due to power being disbursed among the branches and entities of government. While the system is corrupt, it used to protect us from any group or person from subverting the collective mess of groups and interests within it. Trump has broken this compact we share among ourselves.

Trump is the four-year root canal surgery that the rest of us must endure.

The FAFO stage will affect all of us.

I legitimately have a concern that the Gulf of Mexico won’t be the last large part of our current United States to have a new name.

X
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Government, Law, Opinion, Politics, Privacy, Safety, Security, Social Media, Technology

United States Of Idiocy

01/19/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

PSA For people who haven’t used TikTok, it has an invaluable feature that the competitors do not. You can separate your information feed to exclusively show content you specifically follow. Bluesky does the same. TikTok also has a STEM feed if you’re interested in the sciences. Can you imagine the difference your Facebook or Instagram experience would be if you saw only content you chose to follow? Community building is also another feature that’s intrinsic to TikTok. It’s one of the features that threatens the competitors. I’ve been a TikTok fan for years. The advantages of its simple tools are incalculable. Not to mention that it provides a means to earn money for your content. The notion that it is a security risk compared to Google, Meta, Truth Social, or other social media platforms is illogical.

Because I have many acquaintances across the world, I get to observe how they perceive our political and economic systems. We are not held in high regard nor as a standard for governance. The consensus is that our political process is corrupt, possibly beyond repair. Inequitable and corrupt forces aligned to target TikTok. Money wins, of course.

Unfortunately for me, I know a considerable amount about the technology and tracking that allows for some companies to data track us all. It’s why it’s not a concern for me. Even if you choose not to use Facebook or a particular company’s services, these companies still maintain an extensive dossier on you and your interests and activities. Most of our phones default to allowing companies to use our private content to make money.

Five major telecoms were infiltrated last year by hackers. These hacks were not limited to a singular app. I’m surprised by the number of people who are unaware that their private conversations across a variety of apps were compromised.

Finally, I’ll add that the ban currently in effect for TikTok has exemptions for certain government officials. While the app is used predominantly for entertainment for the United States populace, it’s interesting that our government specified an exemption for what could only be described as a propaganda outlet. Which is precisely what our misguided leaders accused TikTok of being guilty of.

Meanwhile, more than 13 million Americans downloaded RedNote. You can’t make this lunacy up.

Nostalgia, Personal

Purple Rain Memory

01/06/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

I do not think a long-lost memory would have returned to me today had I not been showering in the dark. Alexa played the the song I almost always listen to – “Tiny Dancer,” and then went to the next song: “Purple Rain.”

For those of you who don’t know that there is a term for repetitive sensory input, it’s called stimming. One of the odd consequences of receiving the same sensory information repetitively is that sometimes the act of repetition results in an almost blank state of mind. It can work like meditation or cognitive distraction, much like the tendency toward having shower thoughts.

People sometimes ask me why I shower in the dark. At times, it amplifies the disconnect that brings disassociated shower thoughts.

As the song played, I felt like a light flashed in my head. The long lost memory came to me. My brain traveled 39 years into the past. At first, all I could recall is that a high school band friend had dragged me somewhere to watch “Purple Rain” the movie at someone’s house. I couldn’t remember which bandmate it was. He knew my circumstances and that I did not get out much. It seems like I can remember the names of four or five people who also watched the movie. For some odd reason, Winfield Watson is the most vivid name and face among those who were there.

I hadn’t thought of that movie night in years. Had someone asked me about it, I’m convinced I would have told them they were mistaken.

The moment in the shower left me feeling like I was on the verge of a flood of newly-accessed memories. It took me a long time to realize how many gaps I had in my childhood memories. I understand why that it’s the case. Having this one took me by surprise and it lingers.

Personal

2025

01/02/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

I got up at 12:15 a.m. Flashing blue lights bounced through the windows. Instantaneously, I remembered my impromptu intervention in someone’s life before I went to bed. I forget the number of times in the last 3 years I’ve stuck my hand in a window or tried to offer words or a hug as needed and without thinking. I can’t decide if it’s foolish or the right thing to do.

Convinced that the worst had happened, I went outside into the cold morning (or late night, depending on your viewpoint). 3 or4 police vehicles lined Gregg Avenue. To my left, I noticed that my neighbor’s vehicle was gone.

Probably in part due to the other news from yesterday morning, I was certain the worst happened to my neighbor. Just as I was walking toward the street toward a police car that had my parking lot blocked, I heard a clear voice speaking in Spanish.

…Which meant my neighbor wasn’t involved. It’s about 1:00 in the morning now. But that strange cloying feeling that something is off has not lessened.

I’m on my second cup of coffee, scrolling the news and social media. I can’t watch for the Quadrantids meteors this morning because it’s too cloudy.

Didn’t we all ask that 2025 be like a lazy Sunday afternoon with a sleeping dog or cat on our laps?

Opinion, Personal, Social Rules

December In The Silence

12/29/2024 X Teri Leave a comment

Banal magic. Walking along the early December streets when the world is silent but my mind isn’t.

The fog and humidity that permeated the air made the attempt of a snapshot tricky. Because my brain is a feedback loop, the words from SFU ran through my head: “…it’s already gone.” But I tried because sometimes in the briefest of intervals and through the indiscernible capricious luck of the moment, I get a picture that defies the inability to describe the universe in my head at that moment.

One such picture escaped me. As I walked the dead end length of Leverett, rabbit after rabbit fled from the greens of the apartment complex and across the road into the thick brush. At least a hundred of them made the odyssey in front of me along that strip of road. Does the moment sound magical or mirthsome to people after the fact? Probably not; such moments require presence.

When I doubled back down Poplar, a man on a ridiculously large bicycle asked if I had any money. I told him no. I saw him near the torn up section of sidewalk being rebuilt near the trail and suspected he might ask me something as I approached. I didn’t catch what he said in reply but the tone was inescapable. “I’m sorry. Have a good morning,”I told him. “F*** you,”he said. “Anatomically improbable,” was my reply. I once again did not catch his response. I’m certain my life is much better because of it.

As I walked the streets, I took a long look at all the houses still lit up by Christmas lights. I wondered if the sentiment of holiday charity and kindness would last as the new year approaches.

Something I read yesterday popped into my head: “If you don’t give when you have little, you won’t when you have a lot. If you don’t practice attention and love when you’re busy, you won’t when you’re idle. If you don’t wave hello first and often, don’t be surprised if the world seems hostile. And if you haven’t lived long enough to know that on a long enough timeline you could be everyone you see around you, give it time.”

The words sound like a New Year’s invocation. And they feel true.

Love, X

New Word, Nostalgia, Personal

Cold Wisdom

12/22/2024 X Teri Leave a comment

Since I went to sleep too early last night, I was up at 12:30. I took advantage to attempt to see the less spectacular Ursid meteor shower. The vantage point in the open parking lot about a half a mile away had too much radiant light interfering. It confuses me when I’m up at that hour because the bars and strip joints still thrive with people making dubious choices.

But back at the apartment, I used my Star Walk app to orient myself facing Ursa Minor. Normal people refer to it as the Little Dipper. Our current North Star, Polaris, is the end of the handle of the dipper. It could not have been more ideal due to the towering pine trees behind my apartment blocking the moonlight – and most of the city’s lights. The Ursid meteors are more sporadic. I always find myself half frozen with a crick in my neck from soft-focusing my eyes toward the sky.

Flight Delta DAL 2036 flying from Salt Lake to Fort Lauderdale flew over at 38,000 ft. It was pretty dazzling. 🙂

I accidentally learn something each time I take the time or make the time to watch the sky. It’s rare for me to watch the stars and not think of my grandpa pointing toward the constellations. He wasn’t well educated. But like most people of his generation, knowing things like that was second nature. Before good maps, GPS, and all the things we take for granted. I wonder what he would think or say if he were standing next to me at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, watching me hold one of the most advanced communication and information devices ever created.

The irony of me using such a device to watch and learn about remnants of our universe that are 4.5 billion years old isn’t lost on me.

One thing I do know. Grandpa would have laughed if I told him I was cold and it was about damn time for another cup of coffee. I got my jadeite green coffee cup off the shelf when I went inside. As I drank from it, I thought about the fifty years I’d enjoyed between now and the first time I learned the name of a constellation.

“Age does not bring wisdom. It brings experience that teaches you that everything passes whether you do anything about it or not.”