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I’ve lived in California for more than half my life. Natural disasters are part and parcel of living here. Mother Nature provides us with good weather, but the price can be far too high to bear.
When I wrote yesterday morning’s newsletter, the sky outside my studio window looked like Mars, glowing orange with soot and ash from the fires ravaging across Southern California.
I didn’t write about it because I was in denial. The show must go on, right?
But I spent most of yesterday and last night doing something I rarely do: watching the “news.” I saw entire neighborhoods I once loved burned to the ground and leveled.
This morning, after a very sleepless night, I’ve moved from denial into rotating between three other stages of grief: anger, bargaining, and depression.
I’m angry at the media and politicians for turning tragedy into an opportunity.
I’m bargaining with a God I don’t always believe exists to end this destruction.
I’m depressed because I can’t do more to help those who have already lost so much.
The good news is that my loved ones and I are safe—for now. The winds are calm—for now. But I know better than to take any of this for granted. Calm winds and safety can change…quickly.
It’s hard not to feel helpless in a world so big and so broken. But I know despair doesn’t help anyone—not me, not you, not the people who’ve lost everything, and not the firefighters risking their lives to save what’s left.
So, I’ll focus on what I can do:
Donate to organizations that make a real difference.
Spotlight resources for evacuees and first responders.
Continue checking in with friends and family in the fire zones.
And keep going, even when it feels too small to make a difference.
If you are able and would like to help, here are a few reliable sources to start:
Here’s How To Help SoCal Wildfire Victims (Los Angeles Daily News)
Wherever you are, please be safe and hold your nears, dears, and queers close.
Thanks for reading…
Clint
P.S. Amid this devastation, former POTUS Jimmy Carter is being laid to rest today. He’s the best former president I can think of—a man of quiet dignity and service.
P.P.S. What’s former-and-future POtuS Donald Trump doing? Besides sharing a joke with Obama—who was unlucky enough to be seated next to him? Typical dick-tater shit like trying to buy or invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico, and threatening to take control of the Panama Canal. Just another so-real-it’s-surreal day in ‘Murica. Bless this mess.
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ON THIS DAY
BIRTHDAYS = HIGHLIGHTS
1823 = William Johnson Cory = English classical scholar and poet 🌈
1915 = Fernando Lamas = Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director
1935 = Bob Denver = American actor
1944 = Jimmy Page = English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1955 = J. K. Simmons = American actor
1967 = Dave Matthews = South African-American singer-songwriter
EVENTS = HIGHLIGHTS
1793 = Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
1839 = Louis Daguerre privately demonstrates the daguerreotype photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences.
1959 = Rawhide with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS.
1978 = Sir John Gielgud, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and 26 other international celebrities take out a full-page ad in Time magazine to protest the recent series of political backlashes against gays in the US.
2007 = Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone.
PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I may not believe in myself, but I believe in what I'm doing.”
Jimmy Page
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Celebrating “The Male Gayze” by mixing and remixing found footage and photos. If you “color” outside the lines too, welcome to the crew, boo! 🌈✌️
Sorry I haven't had time to keep up till now Clint. I had forgotten you are in Southern California. I lived in Venice beach, North Hollywood, Laurel Canyon, Malibu, and on and on for the first 45 years of my life. I was born 9 miles south of city hall in Huntington Park. Have had dear friends who've had to evacuate but so far none have lost homes. I'll try to get through the rest of your posts to date, tonight. I do enjoy your work so very much. Hope all is well with you. Again, Thanks for all your hard work. a.
Thinking about you and other friends I have there, I find that words fail to address the incomprehensible suffering and destruction of resources. It is good to know you and your domicile are safe for now.