Dance In A Hurricane?
Newsletter + On This Day
“YOU CAN DANCE IN A HURRICANE
BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE STANDING IN THE EYE”
THE EYE BY BRANDI CARLILE
WRITTEN BY TIM HANSEROTH & BRANDI CARLILE
While I live in an area rarely affected by hurricanes, my heart breaks every time Mother Nature’s wrath destroys lives, homes, and businesses.
Sadly, in this election year, hurricanes have become cannon fodder for those with more political ambition than common decency or sense. These asshats are far more interested in slinging mud than filling sandbags.
I try to be a “keep calm and carry on” kind of person, but lately, the “Ughs” are working my one last good nerve.
Never in my life have I seen so many hateful, ignorant people buying the brand of bullshit these cult of personality “leaders”—and their minions—are selling.
If back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton can’t knock some sense into them, I doubt “Hurricane” Clint can either. But I’m sure they’ll find a way to blame me (and you and most of those we know and love) sooner or later. Cuz that’s all they know how to do: Blame and shame, huff and puff.
If only the hurricanes and the Ughs would run out of hot air and steam.
Before bed, I watched coverage of Hurricane Milton making landfall in Florida.
Both from the safety of tv studios and from the frontlines of the storm, reporters’ voices cracked as they reported on the chaos and devastation and loss millions of people across the Gulf of Mexico.
Before I turned off the tv, I saw a few stories in the storm coverage about people arguing over whose fault it is, denying the storm’s power, and spreading lies and misinformation like a venereal disease.
How did we get here? How did we become a society where facts are optional and twisted to suit the loudest voices? Am I missing something?
It hasn’t always been this way, has it?
It’s infuriating to me to witness people bicker over facts while buying into fictions of lying liars. All while too many are fighting just to survive.
This is why I try not to watch the news very often.
My brain and heart can’t take these circle jerks of jerks.
Hurricanes are indiscriminate. Fact. Like ever other “act of god,” they don’t care about your bank account, gender identity, political leanings, religious beliefs, or sexual life. Hurricanes tear through everything.
Yet, when we need to find ways to come together, some supposed “leaders” are quick to find way to divide us more, arguing about things that—in the grand scheme of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—seem meaningless in the face of natural disaster.
Like Brandi Carlile sings in “The Eye,” it is possible to dance in a hurricane. But it’s far from easy, and it sure isn’t graceful. Last night, I watched Anderson Cooper doing his best to navigate through Milton. In the process, he got hit in the face by flying debris, but I’m hopeful he’ll live to report another storm and story.
Finding your balance (and rhythm) amid chaos and destruction is fucking hard. I can’t always do it, but when I can muster the strength, I know that storms, both literal and metaphorical, demand grit and resilience. They also demand clarity, compassion, and cooperation, and compassion. All qualities in limited supply, even on a clear day.
Instead of mudslinging, it’s time for asshats and conspiracy theorists to grab a shovel, and start filling those sandbags with sand instead of bullshit, lies, misinformation, and propaganda.
Instead of arguing about coulda-shoulda-woulda, I’m doing my best to find ways to help rebuild and support those knocked down again by Mother Nature.
Thanks for dancing (as best you can) and reading (with an open heart and mind)!
Clint
HOW TO HELP AFTER HURRICANE MILTON
AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU NEED AID
(WaPo = No Paywall)
HOW TO HELP PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HURRICANE MILTON
(TODAY Show)
P.S. In his newsletter The Hungry, Dave Conrey shared links to help the creative community in Asheville, North Carolina, rebuild after Hurricane Helene’s recent wrath:
In the short video above (by The New York Times), LGBTQ bar owner Brandon Davis shares his visceral and emotional reaction to the devastation, lamenting how his dream became a nightmare overnight. If you’re able to help them rebuild, there’s a GoFundMe available.
The River Arts District is one of the most devastated parts of Asheville, and the district's website features many ways to help.
Arts Asheville is taking donations to help artists and arts organizations.
Many more Asheville resources are listed here.
ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER 10
BIRTHDAYS
1861 = Fridtjof Nansen = Norwegian explorer, scientist, and Nobel Prize laureate
1900 = Helen Hayes = American actress
1901 = Alberto Giacometti = Swiss sculptor and painter
1930 = Harold Pinter = English playwright, screenwriter, and Nobel Prize laureate
1950 = Nora Roberts = American author
1954 = David Lee Roth = American singer-songwriter and producer
1973 = Mario Lopez = American actor and television personality
1982 = Dan Stevens = English actor
EVENTS
1780 = The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean.
1899 = Isaac R. Johnson patents the bicycle frame.
1957 = The Windscale fire results in Britain's worst nuclear accident.
1971 = Seven lesbians, including Barbara Gittings, break new ground on U.S. Television when they appear on The David Susskind Show.
1974 = Bewitched actress Elizabeth Montgomery finalizes divorce with the show’s director-producer William Asher after 11 years of marriage.
1980 = Private Benjamin is released in theaters.
1987 = 2,000 gay and lesbian couples exchange vows in a mass wedding held on the steps of the Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington, DC.
1995 = The United States Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Romer v. Evans, the case that would eventually overturn Colorado’s Amendment 2, which banned gay rights laws in the state.
1996 = Buenos Aires enacts legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and repealing laws that allowed police to arrest lesbians and gay men and hold them without charge for 24 hours.
1997 = Boogie Nights is released in theaters.
2003 = Kill Bill: Volume 1 is released in theaters.
2008 = Connecticut overturns a state ban on same-sex marriage and becomes the third U.S. state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples, following Massachusetts and California.
2010 = The Only Way Is Essex premieres on ITV2.
PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ARTISTICALLY I AM STILL A CHILD WITH A WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF ME TO DISCOVER AND CREATE. I WANT SOMETHING, BUT I WON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS UNTIL I SUCCEED IN DOING IT.“
ALBERTO GIACOMETTI
ON SUBSTACK = NEW + FEATURED
MORE FROM COLLIDE PRESS
Ko-Fi + Linktree + Shop + Storefront + YouTube
I guess the dividers are sitting comfortably in their dens hurling imprecations against people who understand that, while there are groups of people who plan things, even possibly thing we don't like, they are not super-intelligent super-villains, and have almost as little ability to guide events as we "ordinary" folks do. Sometimes less, because they're caught up in theoryville while the rest of us have to make sure our roofs don't leak.
Anyhow, it seems a lot of people find comfort in the supervillain stories. It helps them believe that things in general make sense, even if evilly. But unlike them, I read Kant! And a bunch of Buddhist stuff and Taoist stuff. No supervillains possible. Sorry!
I'm pretty sure that the bigwigs everyone wigs out about put on their pants or panties one leg at a time like the rest of us, and are as puzzled by things that happen as we all are. A single act of kindness outweighs an ocean liner of theories and invective...
Clint. Sincerely written and ment comment from you 🫂🫂🫂 I also hope San Andreas doesn't want to take a side too. Period. DougT 🇫🇴 and I'll leave out my usual ending as it doesn't seem appropriate just now.