From the Mind of Trevor Stone

It’s poetic that U.S. elections happen in the autumn: the civic work we did throughout the year gets harvested, the campaign leaflets are raked up, and the promises of the old year are composted to provide fertile soil for the policies of the new year. Following Celtic traditions, many Neopagans see Halloween/Samhain as the time when the king dies, to be born once again on the winter solstice. In the American political calendar, the time between the two is the lame duck session, when the old symbols of The People’s Will harvest the last of their legislative crops before this political will is reborn, sometimes into the same physical body and sometimes into a new human who shall carry the charge.

As Joe Biden's hero's journey draws to a close America begins a journey through the underworld. If we support each other through the time of darkness we will emerge we will emerge stronger, ready to till the fields of democracy once again.

I added tongodeon as a friend because he created the Red Meat Constructor Set, but his journal is regularly full of insightful political and social commentary and well-written amusing anecdotes.

His views on holiday shopping are quite similar to mine.

Nobody should feel obliged for social or personal reasons to give me a gift. If you would like to do something nice for me, invite me over for tea and games. If you have money you would like to spend so that I will appreciate your generosity, make a donation to KGNU, ACLU, EFF, WikiMedia, or an open source project of your choice. If you find an object you know I would appreciate owning, I thank you for your generosity.

If I don't give you a gift it's because I didn't know what you could use and/or figured you could use the resources you would ordinarily expend in acquiring a gift for me could be more efficiently be used by you to get something you actually need.

If you would like a winter holiday-themed physical greeting from me, provide your postal address and which winter occasion you most enjoy celebrating. (I'm leaving comments public on this post, so if you don't want stalkers to find you, send your address to tstone (a) trevorstone.org.)

I make an exception for white elephants in which everyone finds something they already own, have fun wrapping it, have fun watching other people unwrap it, have fun stealing presents, and go home with an object they don't need but can appreciate (at least ironically).