Excellent post! Thanks for the history lesson on China. It is ironic indeed that instead of TIKTok people are opting for "the Little Red Book." In terms of historical analogies to what's going on in the US, the Chinese Cultural Revolution is very apt. Where they had a violent cult of personality that carried around a little red book, which at least encouraged literacy, the US now has a violent cult of personality that carries around little red hats and relies on deranged tweets. Oy Gavolt! Also, I wonder will be the "Gang of Four" that will be held responsible in the future for the consequences of our ill-conceived, destructive cult of personality?
Thank you, Thomas! I'm glad the humor in that came through. I was quite annoyed when I was noticing how quiet it was, and then someone came walking by watching a video on their phone, and their volume was so loud, I could also hear all the chimes from someone texting them. That annoyance quickly turned to bemusement, but I never know how well that will transfer in a haiku 🤣
Thank you for the Chinese history lesson! I'd heard of Mao's Little Red Book, but I didn't know the details. I loved your poetry readings. This haiku is my favorite:
Thanks! My old lives as a political scientist scholar and Chinese culture aficionado are bleeding through to my current daily mental musings more and more lately
Great! I'm going to be doing some more experimenting with vertical video in newsletters and Notes as I finally have a setup that makes it easier for me to shoot videos
Excellent post! Thanks for the history lesson on China. It is ironic indeed that instead of TIKTok people are opting for "the Little Red Book." In terms of historical analogies to what's going on in the US, the Chinese Cultural Revolution is very apt. Where they had a violent cult of personality that carried around a little red book, which at least encouraged literacy, the US now has a violent cult of personality that carries around little red hats and relies on deranged tweets. Oy Gavolt! Also, I wonder will be the "Gang of Four" that will be held responsible in the future for the consequences of our ill-conceived, destructive cult of personality?
Thanks! The red hat proto-militias do feel a bit like history rhyming
I particularly enjoyed your haiku about birds becoming quiet in the afternoon only for phones to begin chirping. Great metaphor and humor.
Thank you, Thomas! I'm glad the humor in that came through. I was quite annoyed when I was noticing how quiet it was, and then someone came walking by watching a video on their phone, and their volume was so loud, I could also hear all the chimes from someone texting them. That annoyance quickly turned to bemusement, but I never know how well that will transfer in a haiku 🤣
Loved Mom/Mother, and the haiku—wonderful as usual, Jason
Thanks, Paul!
Thank you for the Chinese history lesson! I'd heard of Mao's Little Red Book, but I didn't know the details. I loved your poetry readings. This haiku is my favorite:
"desaturated
leaf litter covers the ground
joy of change is gone"
Thanks! My old lives as a political scientist scholar and Chinese culture aficionado are bleeding through to my current daily mental musings more and more lately
I always welcome learning new things!
Vertical works for me as I use my phone to read/watch Substack!
Great! I'm going to be doing some more experimenting with vertical video in newsletters and Notes as I finally have a setup that makes it easier for me to shoot videos
I really enjoy hearing you chatting, feels like an extra layer of getting to know the person behind the writings ☺️