tlpete

@absurdbeats

Anger. Coffee. Cats. Political theory & bioethics. Order of importance changes daily, sometimes hourly.

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tlpete@absurdbeats· 11d

This is a Trickster

Close-up of the face of my late cat Trickster, a grey tabby, looking slightly down and to the left. She had leaf-green eyes, a mauve nose, a white chin and grey-and-white whiskers. She was a Good Cat and I miss her.

tlpete@absurdbeats· 18d

Cover of Holly Golightly—a kick-ass singer, formerly of Thee Headcoatees—album, God don't like it. It shows a drawing of a white woman in a white turtleneck & plaid shirt and large dark hat, staring into the distance. There are smaller drawings, in ted & green, of her band members, scattered around. This is a great album & you should buy it.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jul 14

Not directly related, but it certainly put me in mind of this: Ernst Fraenkel, in The Dual State, quoting from a court opinion that the police could strike a taxi driver from the taxi drivers' association:

Text from the book The Dual State: 'It is irrelevant to discuss whether S. is an enemy of the state in the broader sense of the word. Those regulations which derived from the second sentence of the Decree of February 28, 1933, confer authority on the police. The hitherto prevailing legal guarantees are now suspended in favour of the police. It makes no difference whether the association in question is an economic one—such as a commercial enterprise or a joint stock company. Any previous laws concerning associations are now superseded by the relevant sections of the Decree of February 28, 1933.'

These words pronounced the death sentence of the Rule of Law.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jul 4

Happy 250th.

A bad photo of a very old framed print. The print shows a largely-submerged Statue of Liberty, frozen in ice, with twenty or so people standing around the torch and looking at the eyes and crown. This replica was created in Lake Mendota by the Pail and Shovel Party at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, after they won student govt elections in 1979. I bought the print when I was a student there in the 1980s and finally framed it this past year. The print's kinda beat up, which seems entirely appropriate.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jun 30

1941-2026

An old, slightly damaged black-and-white Polaroid of a young white woman with short black hair (with a gray streak swooping up & out of a part on the right side) and a dark winter coat stares directly into the camera, her chin resting on her hand. She's been Christmas shopping, and, given the shelves & low ceiling, is probably in the basement of a local department store. She was a force, and I will miss her.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Mar 14

Be a tourist in your own town. Share a photo.

Off-center shot of the Guggenheim Museum, looking up toward the window (which I'm sure has a technical name that I don't know). The white balconies from each level of the spiral are visible, as are various plants (ferns & leafy) hanging at different lengths from the ceiling. It's cool.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Feb 23

Emmylou is unimpressed with this so-called blizzard. "It's snow. In February. It's just snow."

A gray dilute tortie kitten, stares straight at the camera. Her right ear is pulled back, her left ear, straight up; the left side of her face is shadowed, but you can see her caramel brown eye, and a gray nose. Emmylou is judging you.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Feb 14

Emmylou is ready

A gray tortie kitten lays on her back against a beautiful green, blue & cream quilt. One front paw is crossed over her body, while the opposite back paw is propped against the outstretched other back paw. She is staring straight into the camera with her dark caramel eyes.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jan 19

Classic:

Street map comparing New York (really, just Manhattan) to Boston.

New York (which is an orderly grid): "Because we want you to know where you are and how to get where you're going"

Boston (disorderly non-grid): "Because fuck you"

(True enough, but have y'all ever been to Queens?)

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jan 18

Hey, @djinnandtonic.bsky.social , I don't know if you do straight-up reproductions of old posters in your Etsy store, but this image, taken from a recent Lawyers, Guns & Money post, would be great to have.

A copy from a library of the front page of The American Teacher: Democracy in Education, Education for Democracy, Vol V, no. 6, New York, June 1916, 50 cents a year. Across the top it says Harmony, with a handshake graphic just below, with "The Boss" on one side, "The Worker" on the other. Below that there's split in advice between the boss on the left: "Trust in me, for I am your leader and chief" | and on the right, the worker: "Trust in one another for we are partners in service." Below that, centered, "Then we shall have Harmony" Then, again centered, "Work earnestly to promote our common aims" | Boss: "selected by me", Worker, "agreed upon together". Centered: "Then we shall have Harmony". Boss: "Do always and everywhere just as I command---and do it quickly" | Worker: Do always and everywhere the best we know how---and to it cheerfully". Centered: "Then we shall have Harmony". Centered: "Be patient and forbearing when things go wrong". Boss: "---for I am only human" | Worker: "---for we are only human". Centered: "Then we shall have Harmony"

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jan 14

Everything is terrible; have a cat

Close-up of the face of a sleeping gray dilute tortie cat. She has a gray nose, and she's resting her head on two gray paws. Her face is a muc of gray, cream and peach, with a small peach line down a gray forehead. And while you can't see it, Emmylou is purring.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Jan 9

Finally got a frame for my Mamdani poster:

A framed print of a Civil War-style broadsheet on Zohran Mamdani's victory; from the top:

Let the people rejoice!
(An ink drawing of an eagle with the banner 'Capital shall not own us!')
The people true to liberty
New York redeemed!
See votes for Mamdani
She chooses Progressive Mayor
She repudiates Cuomo
The greatest city in the world!
God bless New York!
Mamdani carries all boroughs except Staten Island
An avalanche of freemen
Shout bots shout, victory is ours, freedom is triumphant.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Dec 20

...how?

A bit of cat poo stuck between the rim of a gray litter box and a green tiled wall. Do I even want to know how this happened?

tlpete@absurdbeats· Dec 14

Trickster, 2009-2025.

tlpete@absurdbeats· Nov 18

🚨Alert! Alert! 🚨 Old cat is sleeping not just in clise proximity to new cat, but they are touching—and Trickster has not hissed & stomped away from Emmylou!