Jim! What a nice surprise!
If this is your last winter in Alaska, where are you headed next?
And yes, I recall those Rumsfeld pressers, too. I feel like Trump was a "known known" ("I'm going to cause chaos while enriching myself"), the effect of whose behavior was a "known unknown" (create chaos, expect the unexpected). Biden, who I think is a "known unknown" masquerading as a "known known" (those of us on the left assume he's more conservative than he says; those on the right think he's more progressive; Deb Haaland, and whether he sticks by her and empowers her, for me, is the litmus test). But at least amongst liberals, Biden's "known knowness," which at this point is not much more than a return to the Obama-era status quo (with some HINTS of progress; see: Haaland), I fear is going to function as a smoke screen for a ton of "unknown unknowns"—which tend to proliferate when people have forgotten how to pay attention. The rupture of January 6 already feels like, in how most people talk about it, an isolated incident firmly in the past. I was horrified by what happened at the Capitol. But in a weird way it made me feel more sane. The country—and more broadly, the world—is spinning out of control. The insurrection was proof of that. That it failed is a good thing; it was a blow to American fascism. But it wasn't a fatal blow. The energy hasn't dissipated. And the more we applaud the "return to normal" that Biden represents, the more likely things are to blow up bigger next time. Under Trump, the white supremacist + Q + whatever bloc was a known unknown (we know they're there, we don't know how powerful they are). Under Biden I suspect most people will pretend the dark energy around Trump was Trump—rather than something Trump just released. Something's still rotten in Denmark. We're screwed if that rot goes back to being an unknown unknown! End rant lol
Davis is going well! Wrapping up quarter 2 (of 3 in the first year). Doing it all remote. Writing a lot, but editing a LOT. And getting close to a draft of my new book. I know you've thought about MFA stuff a bit. I couldn't recommend this program more highly. Not only am I not going into debt; I'm being paid (a bit) to go! So are almost all the other students in my cohort. So think about it, Jim! I'll pass on my recommendation if you decide to apply next January for enrollment in Fall 2022. We wouldn't overlap at all, but I can guarantee you'll be working with great professors.
