time and headspace

Yep I'm going to talk about the show Community here too. But first... If our online social networking spaces disappeared tomorrow, where would we find our communities? Would we transition easily into irl spaces, or would we be set adrift in isolation until rehabilitated into society proper? An uncomfortable, growing trend I've noticed is that when people refer to their "communities", what they largely mean is "people who follow me" or "people who share my niche interests". Even within circles I consider to be my longtime community, and especially within creative circles, those seeking social media alternatives to Meta are most anxious that their "communities" won't be there, generally meaning the followings and audiences they've built their livelihoods around.   I get it. The capitalist structures we're forced to navigate, plus the realities of our online age, have conditioned us to rely on transactional engagement. It was abo...

I'm a theoretical physics fan girl. Do I understand it? Barely. Can I speak its language? Hardly. But can I apply its principles to my every day? Yes. That joke format should've ended with a hard "no", but guess what reality isn't what it seems, bitches. Before we proceed, I just want to make sure everyone watches the Quantum Leap theme song embedded above. Please do that now. Okay great. So I loooove quantum physics. It succinctly rounds out my perception of reality; existentialist absurdism plus quantum mechanics equals *gestures at everything*. It's comfortable. The ultimate zoom out. And it accounts for everything—nothing is left out when it comes to entanglement. It's the canvas that accommodates all. Mulling its principles brings me somewhere close to the sublime. I just frickin love it. Where some people find meaning in astrology or religion, I find meaning in the problem of time . I think the observer effect  is the pinnacle of play, and I will rea...

  The guy in both of these images is Palantir Technologies CEO, Alex Karp. The first photo is from a 2019 article found on opencanada.org . The headline reads, "Palantir's big push into Canada: As Justin Ling writes, the data mining giant is branching out in Canada — now with a Trudeau ally heading its operations here. Should Canadians be concerned?" The second is from an article published on Mother Jones , February 6th, 2025 (last week as of this post). The headline reads, "The Gleeful Profiteers of Trump's Police State: Palantir’s stock soared this week as its CEO cheerfully screamed, “We’re doin’ it,” on an investor call—clarifying that “it” includes “on occasion” killing people." I'm not a journalist but I am completely gobsmacked that this isn't a five alarm emergency given what's happening in the US. So here I am, a single mom on Blogger, trying to clarify things for folks in the back (which appears to be everyone???). 2017 A 2017 CBC artic...

Listen, I'm not a journalist. I'm an anxiously-wired overthinky-type with a lightweight gift for zooming out. In the various rabbits holes I've recently found myself in while trying to make sense of what's happening, I've come across some pieces that are starting to form a picture I didn't understand before. And since I've had a few "aha" moments, I thought I'd share them. These will be simple, quick facts with limited commentary. They are a few joints that connect the bigger pieces. Feel free to add them to the crazy detective boards in your minds. 1. Peter Thiel was Zuckerberg's first investor. Who is Peter Thiel? He's this guy , and he's important in all this. And yes him and Zuck are still tight . 2. Since 2011, Thiel has run a fellowship for young people under the age of 22, encouraging tech-types to drop out of school and "build things". The fellowships last two years and many graduates go on to work for Thiel's...

Trying to keep up with the fall of Western democracy is exhausting. Tracing the web of the US's technocratic takeover is like walking a tightrope over a pit of conspiratorial lava. It's easy to feel crazy. I follow some brilliant tech voices on Bluesky. When the platform first broke through the top crust of platform giants it was, in my eyes, a historical upset within the order of conventional social media. Not just a new platform, but an entirely new model of social media —user-owned data, user-controlled algorithms, freedom from advertisers—it legitimately boggled my mind that the overall reception within my comms circles was as passive as it was. It still does. If immunity to the sedative effects of social media should exist within any profession, it should damn well exist within communications. That communicators and "strategists" are still ho-humming about what open source and decentralized comms could mean for our broader systems, even now, when our comms sys...

This is the first of a short series of posts exploring communications as both a craft and a tool. My perspective is that understanding the role communications plays in our present age is vital if we are to build effective tools of resistance. Twenty years ago I got a BFA with a major in Drawing. Drawing was an interdisciplinary stream that suited my asynchronous inclinations. I wanted to do everything—digital media, animation, sculpture, sound, painting, etc etc, and the Drawing department accommodated those sprawling ambitions.  I excelled in my liberal studies classes and legitimately enjoyed essay writing. I can still remember the moment essay structure fundamentals gelled and I realized information organized in a certain way could validate thought and compel understanding. I remember when the rule of threes became clear in my mind and I began to understand why three entities listed together resulted in more effective impact (and how quickly that trick could become a crutch)....