Oh, DEAR

Yesterday was super-busy in the library. It was World Book Day, and we had our annual "Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR) promotion. Students, staff and faculty were encouraged (but not required) to set aside their usual work for an hour in the afternoon and read for pleasure. No screens -- we're talking printed books, newspapers or magazines.

It's a great idea, but of course for me it's never very relaxing, because there are always a hundred kids who don't have anything to read and who wait until the last minute to come to the library and check something out. So the first part of my DEAR hour is consumed by checking out books. Also, we have research classes going on in the library at this time of year, and those teachers almost always opt out of DEAR. So, ironically, the library is about the least peaceful place in the entire building!

I did get some reading done, starting my next book, which is about Q-Anon and its effects on the American family. I bought it several months ago after hearing the author on the Q-Anon Anonymous (or QAA) podcast. She describes the ways in which previously sensible people slip down the Internet rabbit hole of Q-Anon and are pretty soon alienating spouses and children and everyone close to them with their insane beliefs and conspiracies. They're very personal stories and quite compelling.

Many of these people began getting into Q-Anon even before the pandemic, but the isolation of lockdowns and the government's advocacy of vaccines seems to have really poured gasoline on the whole Q-Anon and Internet conspiracy movement. You know, I don't think I fully appreciated at the time how damaging pandemic lockdowns were for people psychologically. I don't recall having a problem at all -- if anything, I appreciated more time in the garden. But I didn't have family nearby that I was unable to visit, and I wasn't trying to keep a business afloat or dealing with depression or grief or many of the other issues that confronted people head-on during that period.

Anyway, it's a very interesting book.

I think I may once again have induced root-rot in one of my Christmas cacti. I have one that looks a little peaked and I think that's what's going on -- which annoys me to no end because I know not to overwater and I've managed to do it twice now. It's the salmon-colored one that is struggling. I'll give it a little more time to sort itself out. Maybe now that spring is arriving and there's more sun it will come around. I only water them weekly but even with good drainage I suppose that might be too much during the winter.

Graffiti seems to be my pictorial theme today, so here's a photo of Olga nosing into the frame while I'm trying to photograph some graffiti on a utility box. Graffiti may be unsightly but I am intrigued by the handstyles of some writers -- it's a bit like admiring someone's penmanship. Olga's expression brings to mind the word "hangdog."