Bowl? What Bowl?

Bless us oh Lord for, although the new Administration bathes us daily in new outrages, RantWoman and those in vicinity of RantWoman's Inner blowtorch already experience a bounty of vexations, fixations, conniptions, and other impediments to RantWoman achieving the civilized centered presence she aspires to be....

I lift up my eyes to the mountains ... my help cometh.

Except, the latest Tweet of God to the Not Quite Lost, I lift up my smartphone to the Cloud from whence cometh MORE TWITTER!

RantWoman, ONE thing at a time.

Dear Friend With Whom RantWoman thinks it is reasonable to expect better conversations than have occurred.

Thank you for letting us know you like to be in control. That is not exactly what you said but RantWoman has formed that strong impression and has decided to shorthand what you said that way for now. News flash. You are not in control God is. RantWoman also heard you say, basically, that not being control makes you edgy. Cope. "Cope" is not necessarily where one would predict RantWoman would fall on the personality test axis being discussed. Cope. For one thing RantWoman perceives that you probably have had lots of practice and are in fact able to do it.

RantWoman thanks everyone who noticed that one particular moment at a recent gathering that other people must have thought wonderful was ACUTELY distressing to RantWoman. RantWoman would not have minded if one Friend who asked had MAYBE probed a little better but RantWoman really had clearly said all that she could at the moment. RantWoman had a sense of that Friend feeling entitled to more that a clear request repeated MULTIPLE times just to hold the problem in the Light for now.

Points causing conniptions, in no particular order:

RantWoman is going to SAY it was not all the seeing language "I see you you see me .... love"  RantWoman is going to SAY that; it is not entirely true but RantWoman will still feel entitled to go on at length some other time.

Apparently there was some kind of bowl beign passed around. RantWoman had no freaking idea there was a bowl being passed around because no one freaking said anything about it at the beginning. If RantWoman had known to pay attention to its passage, she might have interacted. If RantWoman had been sitting next to different people MAYBE she would not have been startled and jumped if someone had tapped her on the arm to pass the darn thing. But RantWoman did not even learn of the freaking bowl until someone asked her about her reactions a day later.

Next we have a tune. It was a nice tune except RantWoman can hear that she is not matching the pitch but cannot figure out how to match. The fact of this not being able to match is a wellspring of HUGE music-related angst around the Rant Family.  Plus, even though RantWoman cannot match the pitch, after approximately 10 zillion repetitions of a tune, RantWoman tends to want to add harmonies, arrangements, other complexity. But no, we continue repeating the same tune for approximately another eon or so.

In other words, the whole effect is already Love Each Other Dammit. We have the impossible singing issue. We have the forget to mention the bowl. We have the "I like to be in Control." RantWoman does not even apologize that this all adds up, on Planet RantWoman, to Love Each Other dammit!

And then the problem with "I see you you see me ...we see love:" RantWoman was seated closest to and really not free to move away from two, um, challenging personalities." Challenging personalities as in they get along with RantWoman and therefore by definition they are challenging personalities. But RantWoman digresses. The point is, merely, that I see you you see me wee see love goes a WHOLE lot better with respectful boundaries and space for something other than suppressing urges to well... and a mind-numbing expectation that RantWoman is supposed to sing along blissfully and pretend that all is lovely and wonderful and hunky dory just because, well just because...

There is more to this train of thought than necessarily needs to get spilled all over one teeny group exercise. RantWoman has had a wonderful mental health practitioner who has been a great help about such things. Alas, Mental Health Practitioner has not been seeing clients and needs to be held in the Light because of what RantWoman thinks would be an utterly distressing and disconcerting medical event, one RantWoman has little information about current recovery progression for.. At this point RantWoman has new insurance and also needs to make the next phone call and the next  and ...

And RantWoman now needs to return to her burgeoning inbox, a "security certificate error" wth a specialized piece of software important in her life, and numerous other throbbing concerns. But yeah, RantWoman also needs to be held in the Light.

Incidentally, the rest of the day had sufficient gifts.

Comfort Food

The instructions for a Quaker event say bring comfort food.

Comfort food? Like calorie therapy?

Careful what you ask for. Examples of comfort food around RantWoman; please note stunning lack of guarantee about vegan, gluten free, or even universal agreement as to edibility. Further Worship Sharing: what do we mean by comfort food and what deeper realities do our preferences and experiences connect us to?

--Peanut butter Rice Krispie treats

--Jello

--no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies

--Lentils, prepared various ways

--deviled eggs

--Potatoes prepared various ways

--salad of grated beets, garlic, walnuts and either Russian style mayo or olive oil

--collard greens

--Powdered milk mochas.

--Velveeta stirred into cooked Macaroni and baked until crispy

--Some sort of pickled cabbage and fish thing served at the Korean lunch program.

--greasy canned sprats

--fried plantains

--chips and homemade guacamole

What will RantWoman actually bring? Stay tuned.

What will others bring and how will God stir all the flavor palettes together?

I Hear You're A Racist Now, Father! - Father Ted

RantWoman humbly offers two items from her media streams intended to guide Friends reflections on many relational realities of our time. Please understand, RantWoman takes the concerns she is meditating about very seriously. And RantWoman still needs to laugh sometimes. RantWOman hopes these offerings nurture both seriousness and laughter, and if they don't RantWoman promises to hold all so distressed in the Light but may or may not be able to have centered conversations herself!

Useful article
How to survive Intersectional feminist Spaces

Laughter evoking video

Cheeto

Bad Friend discerning whether a message rising within is for worship, worship sharing, the Association of Bad Friends Facebook group or the dustbin of history.

Consider the phrase " thin-skinned small-fingered Cheeto."

Does God call one to unpack all the sociolinguistic, physiological, and political entanglements of this phrase out loud and likely at length during Meeting for Worship?

Is there ANYTHING about this phrase that constitutes looking for that of God in an individual, say the elected occupant of the Oval Office?

Seeking minds do want to know but MAY be distracted by the question "What kind of leader announces in a press conference that his country has the best prostitutes in the world.

Oh Lord bless us and keep us....

Memorial January 29, 2 pm: Cristina Taran

The RantWoman department of proper celebrations for Departed Friends sincerely offers the following invitation:

A memorial will be held for Mow the Lawn Friend on Sunday January 29 at 2 pm at RantWoman's Meeting.

Mow the Lawn Friend lived a long and colorful life of activism and commitment and probably outlived many people who knew her well, but RantWoman invites anyone curious about her life to join us for the memorial. Even if you never met Mow the Lawn Friend. there should be some wonderful and inspiring stories, and hopefully many laughs especially if there are some people who remember her jokes more completely than rantWoman does.

And if the idea of going to a memorial for someone you never met sounds a little out there but you are still a little bit curious, RantWoman would be happy to put you to work tending to coffee and refreshments!

Mental Hiccup

Meeting for Worship for Business produced much meaningful data in Worship sharing.

Not to mention bad friend mental hiccups.

One Friend: "My inner 4-year-old  wants ...out Out OUT!"

RantWoman, instantly in bossy older sister mode mentally cues Mick Jagger "You can't always get what you want."

Mick Jagger showed up again while RantWoman was holding Meeting for Worship for seeing what clatters out of one's head  while shopping  or on the bus

Then the Still Didn't Get the Memo Committee on Email moderation showed up with one email about a possibly harebrained approach to the problem, a phone call, a second email to a smaller recipient list, and another brainstorm that clattered out of RantWoman's head while she was walking around doing something else.

RantWoman promised only one email / 24 hours on one thread and then already exceeded expectations. Sigh. The brainstorm email has to wait until tomorrow. Maybe RantWoman will even manage a phone call.

Gratitude: Vision Collages Not civil Disobedience anymore

RantWoman sincerely thanks Vision Collage Friend for her annual gesture of Beginning of the Year reflections, generous supplies of collage materials, and tasty nourishing foods.

RantWoman also thanks those who participated in the vision collage making for their presence.

RantWoman celebrates the fact that, thanks to a legal settlement RantWoman had little to do with, plastering vision collages all over her apartment door is no longer civil disobedience. RantWoman hopes this point serves as one small beacon of courage for others who need to stand up for themselves.

RantWoman also celebrates the fact that other years collages have more warm and cheerful backgrounds. This year, in a fit of Trumpling pique, dread, and visual impatience sorting the many image options, RantWoman wound up with collages that run heavily to green, yellow, and blue. Hold the problem in the Light especially as the Light returns and the days lengthen.

RantWoman had hoped that what would emerge would be strong images full of resolve to keep recreating what makes America great every day, to #LoveThyNeighbor, that #LoveTrumpsHate But sometimes if bilious dyspepsia is what shows up, bilious dyspepsia is what we've got. Hold that problem in the Light too.





UnNameTag with Pronouns

Behold RantWoman's all-purpose reusable UnNameTag:



UnNameTag Side

 




UnNameTag Name Side

Please Tell Me your Name on one side

RantWoman's name on the other.

Now in response to a request, RantWoman's name side also has pronouns. Actually RantWoman is both a language nerd and possibly an insufferable showoff. So RantWoman included first person pronouns in all three languages she has formally studied as well as possessive pronouns for two. RantWoman ducked about the third. Cope.

Does this mean RantWoman can have completely intelligent, terminologically correct and  linguistically nuanced conversations about gender identity, transgender concerns, inclusion for people of all genders, and related topics as well in Russian or Spanish as in English?

Nope. At least not yet.

But RantWoman can probably distract / divert / digress into chatter about the psycholinguistics of gendered nouns.

Okayyyy, RantWoman but what does that have to do with our Meeting trying to have a conversation about transgender inclusion, the work done in other Meetings...?

Look, RantWoman put her pronouns on an UnNameTag she uses and reuses all kinds of places  This UnNameTag is showing signs of wear so RantWoman will shortly put pronouns on any replacement.

Beyond that RantWoman is meditating about how to engage with various announcements and emails.

RantWoman is also meditating about MAYBE possibly not flooding the world with the entire RantWoman fire hose, as distinguished from the RantWoman internal blowtorch.  RantWoman is meditating about this so at least the world gets multiple blog posts.