Springtime for H...🧬🌷🍾
This is formally a Jennifer Welch appreciation account moving forward.
Her ability to plainly and succinctly voice the experience of growing up in a loving atheist/agnostic home surrounded by a (parted) sea of heretical evangelicals and other religiosos in middle America is both comforting and inspiring. Openly questioning the status quo around you can be an uncomfortable and, in many regions inside and outside the US, a dangerous path to tread. At least in my experience it is emotionally harrowing being dismissed, condescended to, ostracized and everything in between. In honor of Ms. Welch, I've had it with passing by acres and acres of land covered with churches, crosses, billboards condemning healthcare or reminding you that a dead person no one today has ever seen (and whose passages they've never actually read, by the way) forgives me or loves me. Some come up with the whole "Can't you just keep your thoughts to yourself?" "Don't force your lifestyle down my throat!" and of course the evergreen "Why don't you just let everyone be and let them believe what they believe, instead of trying to make them feel X?" X being everything from sad to disgust to rage. Sound familiar? Evidently thinking it's okay to teach children millenia-old fairytales as if they are historical records and they should trust any adult with their emotional and physical well-being because they talk to invisible friends and eat transubstantial corpse pieces on a regular basis ISN'T abusive, but saying the sky is a layer of gas with electronic waves and light particles passing through instead of an invisible wonderfield of dead relatives is problematic.
Science is magic, but real. Supernatural beings don't exist. Questioning these facts does not make you antisocial or immoral, in fact it is quite the opposite. Thank you Jennifer Welch and your team for speaking up and being seen.
I can't let this past weeks' No Kings 2026 rally go by without a celebratory post and tip of my Kamala cap to my fellow Ohioans who showed up. We were loud, creative, determined and numerous. So much so we are finally hitting the magic rebellion number, too large to ignore and ready for another blue wave in November. Am I optimistic? Yes. Do I think anyone who supports the fascist regime is concerned? Probably not. That includes a vast minority of adults in the US who believe angels exist. See above for details. If you choose to ignore or allow for abuse of children because you THINK there's a chance in hell the billionaire class is letting go of their wealth to trickle down your chin after you rise off your knees, well I'm sure there's a place in that invisible wonderfield for you too. More likely a cauldron in Hades for you to simmer in for eternity.
In closing, keep your fists and voices raised in defiance, laugh as much as you can in these dark times, and protect your neighbors and loved ones from as much violence as possible. And many, many thanks to Jen and Pumps for the laughter.
As always, I'll be the one saving seats at the bar for people who I choose to be around and ordering as much Bacchanalian delight as I can.
For your enjoyment, please find this earworm that I have at the moment thanks to Shane and Ilya. Worth it.
All the things she said, All the things she said, Running through my head, Running through my head, All the things she said. All the things she said, All the things she said, Running through my head, Running through my head. This is not enough...
-Til the last drop, N
