@wobs@heads.social
@wobs@heads.social avatar

wobs

@wobs@heads.social

labor organizer, music appreciator, weirdo enthusiast, liberal arts casualty, based in DC in the States.

digs: https://heads.social/@SarahSingsank, biking, photos, listening to and learning about music, kundalini yoga, social science, anti-fascism, urbanism. Pretty fucking wholesome.

he/they

avatar is a painted photo of the author in sunglasses and a straw sunhat on a neighborhood street.

header is a photo by the author of the sunset, the sun at the horizon over sand dunes surrounded by incandescent orange.

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wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

I gave Gibbon the old graduate school try, and with the same course of action that I secured my terminal ABD, I did not finish. His verbosity and the ridiculousness of his discussion of early Christianity broke me.

Getting my head back on straight with Ursula Le Guin.

“The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” back on the shelf at the neighborhood little library.
Text from the back cover of "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Text reads: URSULA K. LE GUIN'S GROUNDBREAKING WORK OF SCIENCE FICTION- WINNER OF THE HUGO AND NEBULA AWARDS A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants' gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters... Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of science fiction.
Cover of the book "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin, 50th Anniversary Edition. The design is split into light and dark halves with the title text spanning both sides.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@mrcompletely I'm excited to get going on this one. I'm looking forward to an experience where I'm not constantly trying to get through the same sentence for 15 minutes.

philip_cardella, to random
@philip_cardella@historians.social avatar

Things people say when they don't understand what fascism is. And this one I believe is actually honestly against fascism. They just don't know anything they didn't "learn" on social media or YouTube.

These people are the same ones that allowed the Brown Shirts and the Nazis to win in 1922 and 1932.

I cannot emphasize this enough.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@philip_cardella I’m sorry you’re catching that flack. I just wanted to let you know I avidly read and learn a lot from your posts and would feel the loss of your absence .

mrcompletely, to random
@mrcompletely@heads.social avatar

I didn't think we'd top as a term for the cybertruck but @wobs just taught me "IncEl Camino" and folks...

I am demised.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@mrcompletely I wish I could think of where I first saw it. Whoever coined it is a comic genius.

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

The son who avoided a TBI this morning has delivered! As promised, Cupcake is on her back in play-off form taking full advantage of the perfect combination of full sun, perfect temperatures, and a cool breeze.

Pinchy is definitely over-performing in her favorite indoor nap spot. She's typically in a tight curl, so the full extension curl with chin perched on paws is a high degree of difficulty and a real stretch for her.

Another tortoise shell cat napping in an elongated curl on a blue sheepskin in a modern chair.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@mrcompletely @thesizzler @tor_haxson Short for Pinchythelobster

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

My liberal arts education weirdly compels me to pick up and read any so-called "Great Book" I happen to find in a local little free library. I recently found an abridged version of Edward Gibbons' "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", and friends, I have thoughts. 🧵

1/N

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

I haven't given much thought to the Roman Empire since taking the required (and unfortunately named) "Western Heritage" course my freshman year of college and one viewing of Gladiator. I'm a history buff and I absorbed a lot, so I recall significant dates and events which have come in handy for certain pub trivia rounds, but other than that, there's been no need for me to think about it.

2/N

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

Let me summarize for you the typical cycle of a Roman emperor. You can add, subtract, or rearrange the middle parts: ascension, non-specific palace intrigue, repel barbarians, put down internal revolts, war of conquest, civil war, and CHOOSE ONE: assassinated by army for being too virtuous/assassinated by army for being too depraved/died 50 days after ascension because he was old.

3/N

wobs,
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That's what this book has been so far, and given its "Great Book" status, I assume that its the basis for much of what we think about the Empire in popular culture.

To the apparently significant number of men who think about the (presumably Western) Roman Empire several times a day, you're kinda sick in the head and also absolutely boring.

4/N

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

Don't get me wrong - "Decline and Fall" is an impressive work of 18th Century history, but historiography has come a LONG WAY since this was written and is richer and more interesting than the (absolutely repetitive and boring) chronicles of the rich and powerful of which this volume is probably the exemplary case.

But thanks to reactionary state legislators and corporatist college administrators gutting the humanities, get used to more history like this written by dudes of privilege.

5/N

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

And the writing... the narrator clearly enjoyed reading his own prose and probably sensibly chuckled at all his witticisms. It's a slog for a modern reader.

So there you have it. I'm enough of a nerd and masochist that I'm going to finish it, but please, pick up almost any history written in the last two decades on any other topic if and when you have the chance.

6/FIN

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

I'm alive today because yesterday I read the installation instructions for the new dishwasher and decided to call a professional.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

We now have a working dishwasher and no one was electrocuted! "Easy to install" my ass.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@mrcompletely @noahitall Not shocking.

mrcompletely, to random
@mrcompletely@heads.social avatar

Hey scuzz friends and BB crew, it's the original Lost Sailor himself, @UncleJimmy

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@mrcompletely @UncleJimmy He's Gone recs incoming.

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

Geez, I even sound middle-aged talking about buying weed.

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@mrcompletely "Grass and grass-related activities."

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

So are we all going to keep sitting here pretending that “Detroit-style pizza” is something other than Sicilian pizza?

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

Hey y'all - DC's revered DIY art space, Rhizome, is looking to buy a new home. Rhizome is an inclusive space that hosts art exhibits, community workshops, and all sorts of AMAZING music, from punk to experimental jazz to psychedelic drone, that isn't gonna be booked in DC's commercial venues.

It's a pillar of the arts community, and if you might be able to throw a few bucks so it can have a forever home, you'd be a freakin' hero to me and countless other art lovers.

https://givebutter.com/rhizomedc

Defiance, to random
@Defiance@sfba.social avatar

"For the first time in 15 years, there are no self-made billionaires under the age of 30"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahunter-hart/2024/03/31/worlds-youngest-billionaires-2024-john-collison-ben-francis-evan-spiegel/?sh=29755c291352

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@Defiance "Self-made" is obscuring a helluva lot there.

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

If all you recall of this album is the charmingly goofy "She Don't Use Jelly", please reacquaint yourself with one of the best psych rock albums of the early 90s. Unhinged lyrics and layers of absolutely massive guitars can't cover the underlying sweetness of the songs. It's like someone hired a punk band for the sock hop, dosed the punch, and in the end, everyone finds the cool Jesus.

The Flaming Lips - Transmissions from the Satellite Heart

https://youtu.be/E1he3a9zass

#NowPlaying #FlamingLips

wobs,
@wobs@heads.social avatar

@etherdiver The Lips were best when they were "just" a rock band and when Ronald Jones was there. I'm with you on your preferences for Hit to Death and Clouds - Moth in the Incubator just happened to come up on shuffle on the way home and I felt like I needed to take the whole ride with Transmissions!

wobs, to punk
@wobs@heads.social avatar

Bed Maker's line-up of Rhizome and Ft. Reno vets dazzled with their take on the Discord sound with a set of tight, growling post-hardcore rock. (I got to see Jeff play 'regular' guitar, @dave_heumann!). 2/🧵

https://bedmakerdc.bandcamp.com/

#BedMakerDC #WashingtonDC #LiveMusic #Punk #PostHardcore

Bed Maker perform at the Black Cat in Washington, DC on March 29, 2024. Jeff Barsky shreds on these jagged tunes. A man of European descent bushy black hair and a bushy graying beard, wearing a button down shirt, jeans, and glasses, with tattoos on his forearms, intensely plays an electric guitar. There are amplifiers in the background.
Bed Maker perform at the Black Cat in Washington, DC on March 29, 2024. Amanda MacKaye (left) vocalizes catharsis while Arthur Noll (right), a man of European descent with short dark hair, wearing all black and glasses, lays down dance punk grooves on a white bass guitar.

wobs, to random
@wobs@heads.social avatar

I'd be interested in some advice from people who are proficient in life skills coaching about how to teach the members of my family to flatten the fucking cardboard boxes before placing them in the waste receptacle.

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