I’m having a stressful week between a logistical thing at work (unsure if university administrators still understand that we need physical spaces to teach), some personal family stuff, and my stress over the presidential debate. So this is a more loose diaristic entry, rather than a cultural analysis, just to keep up a posting schedule and explore different modes of writing. I’m still working on a write-up of the Stephenson novel I just finished reading. Hopefully, I will have that together by the end of the week.

On nights like last night, big-hype political nights, I do what I can to avoid the source of what is just stress and no excitement for me. I buried myself in a video game and hid my phone. I have watched clips and analyses this morning, so I know it was a good night for Harris and a bad one for Trump. But the sporting event style of our political life is deeply uninformative, gets on my nerves, and stresses me out. Nothing that happened last night was going to change what I was going to do, so I avoided the misery and still got some of the relief that it went well when I read up later. I feared Harris had more to lose than gain, but hopefully, I’ve been proven wrong and her trouncing of Trump in that forum makes a difference. He looked remarkably small and weak in the clips I’ve seen, which undermines the power fantasy his supporters get from him.

Not that I’m “happy” with how Harris has staked out her policy positions. I think there are ways to appeal to the wide public while promoting humane positions on immigration and climate change, for instance, (not that I expect any presidential candidate to embrace the open borders ecosocialism I prefer). And I fear the Democrats fetishize chasing centrists and moderate R voters at the expense of empowering their base. But I understand in this particular election why they are so focused on creating permission structures for normal R voters to vote Democrat “this one time.” And I also don’t want another catastrophe, and am willing to be selfish about not wanting my life to get significantly worse. I can’t imagine living in DC with another Trump administration rolling into town, composed of even worse people. I can’t imagine raising a son under the oppressive sexist and racist counter-factual nonsense he floods the scene with, and I can’t imagine being an educator while being watched over by people who think like J.D. Vance and Ron DeSantis about what we should and shouldn’t teach.

That’s all I want to say about politics at this moment. As I’ve said, the anxiety of election season does not make for interesting commentary or thinking, and I don’t particularly like my willingness to accept the severe compromise of my actual beliefs in cheering for a Democrat every four years. It is what it is. I’ll be thrilled if Trump is finally done, but I fear Democrats still don’t have a plan to adequately confront the larger international fascist crisis through policy that will improve lives, break our addiction to war, and deal with the manifold crises of climate change humanely.

In better news, my son is adjusting well to his new school year (Pre-K 4) and I’m so grateful for the excellent quality of DC’s Early Childhood Education programs. It is a lifesaver that the city offers near universal Pre-K 3 and 4 through its public schools and free after-care. Childcare is still too expensive, but it these public ECE programs make it possible and demonstrate the beginnings of what a reasonable childcare system would look like throughout the U.S.

We are also on a nice run of concerts. We saw Waxahatchee at Wolf Trap on Sunday, with openers Tim Heidecker and Snail Mail. Yes, the comedian Tim Heidecker, who expanded his occasional songwriting into a full folk-rock touring band. It was fun to see him, the songs are only okay. Snail Mail was impressive, I don’t know their albums that well. And Waxahatchee was wonderful.

Tonight we are going to see PJ Harvey, and I’m quite excited. It will be my first time seeing her live, and I’ve been wanting to for a long time.

I’m too frustrated by a situation at work to talk well about teaching right now. The semester continues, and each day I find more reasons to work towards my exit from higher ed. I will miss the actual intellectual work of researching and teaching, it’s just those things are such a small part of what I do or get to think about at this point (mostly I fight with a dysfunctional skeleton staffed bureaucracy and against the anti-faculty and anti-student fiats of negligent administrators).

I want to try not to be overly negative in this space. I’m excited about fall plans, and I feel like I’m in good headspace with a lot of stuff right now. It has just been a stressful week so far, and it’s seeping out in what I have to write.