NETWORK has assembled a non-partisan, educational resource contrasting Project 2025 and the tenets of Catholic social justice doctrine, which are shared by millions of Americans, whether or not they themselves follow a faith tradition.
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/18/one-liner-wednesday-you-know-you-need-coffee-when/
(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)
Today is Voter Registration Day in the United States.
If you are eligible to vote in the United States, visit vote.gov for instructions on how to register or update your registration in your state.
There are also helpful articles about how to vote if you are a new citizen, voter with a disability, active duty service member, US citizen living abroad, etc.
Voting is a privilege that comes with citizenship and registration is the first step to casting your ballot in November. Today is a great day to make sure you, your family, and your neighbors are ready to vote!
Top of JC’s Mind is now 11 years old.
I observed my tenth anniversary by finally claiming my own domain as joannecorey.com and with a long, reflective post.
This year’s post is decidedly low-key, in part due to my health issues that are limiting my brainpower and energy.
I’ve also been struggling to deal with complications that occurred when I upgraded my plan to have my own domain last September. The behind-the-scenes wrangling finally got resolved but I really need to choose a theme with newer features so that I can keep the blog’s look while also having my author site pages display with my photo. I really like the clean, easy-on-the-eyes look of my current theme, Twenty Sixteen, but it doesn’t allow me to have a separate look for my blog. Someday, I’ll have the time, brain, and tenacity to get it sorted, but that time isn’t now.
I’m not someone who views their stats very often, but my blogaversary seems a good time. My current all-time views number is 70,855 with 39,647 visitors from 129 countries for 2,013 posts. There are 1,933 subscribers.
Whether you are a regular reader of Top of JC’s Mind or someone who just happened upon this post, I’m grateful that you are here. I want to send a special thank you to my handful of ever-faithful readers and commenters. You know who you are! I appreciate your support over the long haul, especially in the challenging times where my posting has been sporadic and/or mired in a single, all-consuming narrative.
So, on to year 12! Here’s hoping for some better health in the coming year so I can get more writing done.
In gratitude,
Joanne Corey of Top of JC’s Mind
I know I’ve written before about my troubled relationship with my cell phone, including in my JC’s Confessions series.
That was a while back and I can’t say that the relationship has gotten any better. I’m still not a fan of people thinking they can call or text me at any time and that I will respond. And by “people” I mean businesses and individuals who aren’t close family/friends.
Unlike most people, I don’t have my phone with me at all times and I turn it off at night. When I’m out and about, I usually have it silenced so that it doesn’t interrupt whatever I’m doing.
For the most part, I try not to give out my cell number. It annoys me that, in situations where I have to use it as a secondary or emergency contact number, places like doctors’ offices will default to using it, even though I’ve said that it is for emergencies only. I sometimes have to remove the number from my profile to get them to stop calling or texting.
I prefer to have people call my landline and leave a message if no one is availabe to answer. Then, I can return calls when I am available and have time.
I just don’t need the dentist office telling me I have an appointment the next day when I’m in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store.
In truth, I don’t use the phone as much as I used to. For decades, I spoke to my mom nearly every day by phone, usually even on days that I would be seeing her in person later on. She passed away in 2019 and my father in 2021. With B working from home and T living with us and E and her family in Europe, I don’t have any regular family phone calls anymore.
When the phone rings these days, it’s most likely to come up as “potential spam” on the caller ID.
The answering machine can handle that…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “phone.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-14-2024/
SWWIM Every Day is featuring the poem “Anger” by my fellow Grapevine and Boiler House poet Merrill Oliver Douglas, with the special bonus of a recording of Merrill reading her work. Enjoy!
This post is brought to you through Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/11/one-liner-wednesday-do-you/
“Tick-tock. Time’s a-wasting.”
I remember that saying from when I was young, although I haven’t heard it for a long time now.
But, yeah, time is rushing by with so much pressure these days.
My inbox is filled with urgent messages about the upcoming election, the climate crisis, closing submission calls for poetry and manuscripts, important meetings and webinars, pleas for donations. (I probably should have said inboxes, as I have several email addresses that I have to maintain.)
And I have very limited energy to respond.
While we continue to rule out reasons for my health issues, we haven’t been able to track down the underlying cause. We are addressing the symptoms that we can but the most upsetting ones, the fatigue and brain fog, aren’t able to be improved at this point. I’m working around them as best I can by listening to my body and trying to be gentle with myself.
But, tick-tock, time is rushing by with all its demands and things that can’t/won’t wait.
And I’m only able to do a sliver of what I wish I could.
I do try to remind myself that I’m only a very, very, very tiny entity in this world and in all these efforts and that others are taking up the slack. It won’t be my fault if the election goes to the Republicans and they crash the country and trash the climate (except that I know I share the guilt of social sin, but I can’t stream-of-consciousness an explanation of Catholic social justice doctrine and our responsibilities to humanity and the world. And you’re welcome that I’m not trying to.)
The more personal side of dealing with my health right now is that I have a ton of work to do with my poetry and it is taking a loooong time to do it, if I can do it at all. There is also the sinking feeling that it isn’t as good as it could/should be. There is also the fear that I won’t be able to recover fully from this and will face yet another instance in my life where I set aside my own work to deal with other pressing concerns and then lost the ability to go back to it. I am content with those past choices I made and would not change them, but this feels different because it is my own health that is the obstacle this time.
The biggest regret, though, is that another family member is dealing with a bigger health issue and I’m not as able to help as I would like to be.
Tick-tock. Time’s a-wasting…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “tack/tech/tick/tock/tuck.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-7-2024/
Project 2025, the lengthy document spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation to lay out plans for the “conservative president” they expect to be elected this year and which mirrors Trump’s Agenda 47 and the Republican party platform, would raise middle class taxes by thousands of dollars per year per household while lowering taxes by over a million dollars per year per household for those making over $10 million.
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/04/one-liner-wednesday-whee/
After presenting evidence to a new grand jury, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed this superseding indictment against Donald Trump in the 2020 election interference case before Judge Tanya Chutkan, charging Trump as a candidate in conspiracy with other private citizens, thus avoiding any evidence that could be thought of as part of his “official duties” after the controversial Supreme Court decision bestowing broad presidential immunity for official acts and evidence related to executive branch communications, including the Department of Justice.
This post brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/08/28/one-liner-wednesday-take-a-guess/
Inspired by Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz’s video of a campaign stop in Nebraska where he grew up, spouse B made runza for the first time.
He chose a classic beef and cabbage filling and made his own bread dough because that’s how he rolls!
They were delicious!
Thanks, Tim Walz, for introducing us to a Nebraska specialty and for your support of local businesses as you tour the country on the campaign trail!
On the first day of the New York State Fair, we call on Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the bill adding carbon dioxide to our state’s fracking ban for the good of our health, environment, and climate.
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/08/21/one-liner-wednesday-are-you-allergic-to-anything/
Joanne Corey 