Texts In Conversation
How do our texts prepare and warn us for the perils and complexities of life?
Who asked for this? This is a question I ask daily as artificial intelligence applications try to take over my every interaction with technology. Yes, I am that old lady shouting “Get your AI off my lawn” because most of the time AI is trying to do something for me that I’d rather do myself. Where is the smart laundry system that just delivers clean stain-free laundry without requiring me to sort and pretreat? Where is the smart dishwasher that scrapes and loads for me? My mother wants to know where are the self-cleaning toilets (Japan, I think?) and I immediately thought of how useful a robot toilet could be for health tracking, but then realized that our corporate overlords would totally take that information and use it against us. But these questions are really why I love good stories that dig into these questions (see Murderbot in book and television formats or Star Trek of any flavor for excellent examples) and perhaps one of the reasons why I am drawn to superhero stories is their examination of power (uses and abuses). See Community/Text Talk updates below.
Today’s headlines focused on the exploitation of girls and women, law(?) enforcement violating bodily autonomy in multiple ways, and continued attacks on our freedoms and rights but are also part of ongoing conversations in the stories I (we?) love which is both comforting and frustrating. Of course, this may be another reason why I find superhero stories so interesting (see Superman for example and, of course, Community/Text Talk updates below).
One of the reasons I love stories is the desire to explore complex issues in a safe space. One of the ways I make that exploration less traumatic is to select genres and storytellers that deliver if not a happy ending at least a satisfying and/or not-completely-unhappy ending. No tragedies for me, thank you. I am a woman living in 2026 America. Just trying not to be an ostrich (and often just moving about in the world) leaves enough tragedy in my psyche. No reason to add more! One of the reasons I am drawn to fantasy, science fiction, and other alternate realty stories is exploring interesting “what if” scenarios. What if we had to rebuild society from scratch? What if we thought about the implications for new technology before unleashing it upon the general populace? What if we granted women full control over their bodies and lives? What if we made humans into mindless automatons?
Of course, I also choose my stories as momentary escapes from questions like these and the tragedies unfolding in the world. Did I binge Mary Balogh’s Remember That Day yesterday? Yes I did. Did I read The Wedding People in one weekend? Yes I did. Part of this is the pressure I feel when my library hold is finally delivered because I know the agony of waiting weeks (or months) for a book, but also because I’ve been waiting and often times that book comes just when I need an escape the most (gestures wildly at the world).
However, sometimes your chosen escape forces you right back into the conversations and contemplations you were seeking to escape. So that is how Charlie Chaplin made me binge The Wedding People and Remember That Day (see Community/Text Talk updates below).
As a writer and writing teacher I have not seen how AI solves any of life’s challenges for me at home (see above) or at work. In fact, as an educator all I see is AI creating problems in the classroom and our brains. I do acknowledge that there are AI applications (medical research for example) that can/do solve problems and possibly make our lives better, but I also want to point out that many times AI is simply slopifying tasks and jobs that were already pretty garbage. The Pantsuit Politics duo talked about many of these questions/concerns/headlines in their “What are you going to do about it?” episode. But I also love how their outside politics segment (discussing astrology or other woo-woo things) landed in the same place I did about the importance of stories. Astrology, religion, and woo-woo things are really just a way for us to find meaning in a confusing and often frightening world. The stories we tell and share are also ways (often serving or overlapping with the woo-woo) that we try to explain and respond to the ways that life and the world and other humans confuse and frighten us. And that is why I know that AI will never be able to fully replace human intelligence. In fact, the more I think about it I think AI is just another woo-woo way we are trying to solve the unsolvable: life is a chaos lottery. Our emotional intelligence and our feelings can only be mimicked but no machine can actually think and feel the way humans can think and feel. When they do then we have a whole new set of problems to consider (see Monk and Robot books). Last, and late addition, to this rant is the Vibe Check episode “Epstein Files and the American Psyche” that touches on some of the headlines breaking my brain and heart but more important for this conversation the important role of reading and stories to saving our souls and our brains. “These are all the skills and qualities that develop our humanity.” All the snaps Saeed Jones who also left us with this parting shot: “The Problem with Early Warnings” by Charles Rafferty.
Stop by my chat to add your AI rant or push back against mine! Also, tell me about your sacred communities. How do you cope with all the things in the world that frighten and frustrate you? I choose stories to sustain hope, open my heart, and fire my brain up!
Community/Text Talk updates
So what has been going on with my communities and texts since my last update (Feb. 6)?
Reading in Community: If you love regency romance and/or family drama then I cannot recommend Mary Balogh enough. She really delivers a delicious escape. I also very much enjoyed The Wedding People. It was a fun read but also emotional. Very satisfying ending. Highly recommend. I finished Wuthering Heights for my family book/movie club and hated every minute. Do not recommend. I also truly wonder about the many people who say they love it. Seriously wonder. I’m currently reading The Maid and, of course, The Stand, for book clubs and Blood Dazzler for a writing group. Check out what else I’m currently reading and what else I’ve read. Note the completed list often glitches for me and requires going back and then viewing again. I should ask Fable about that sometime. I also populated my Want To Read list on Fable with all my book club books (known to date). FYI, Giant and Vineland are on deck first with Wrong Place, Wrong Time to follow. I should note that I have 18 books on hold with my library plus another 309 books tagged “Borrow This” in Libby. I should probably sort that “Borrow This” list at some point because that is too long a list to scroll when I’m looking for something to read. As for the community part, sadly I did not get to talk much about my reading in person for various reasons beyond my control so I am looking forward to The Stand book group meeting even more than usual.
Watching in Community: My husband and I continuing our journey with the Pantsuit Politics Book and Film Club with Mississippi Marsala and Modern Times. We did not enjoy Mississippi Marsala although I have thought about it from time to time because it explores issues of identity and home/belonging so I won’t recommend it but not going to diss it either. Modern Times I will recommend for a number of reasons. Definitely laughed (although I can only enjoy so much physical comedy before I’m over it - if you love it then this is the movie for you) and have thought about it and talked about it with others since watching. Just an example, the eating machine still hits in so many ways. I kept thinking about AI because who asked for this robot solution? (see rant above) Also, horrified that all the social problems Chaplin highlighted have only gotten worse. I am (somewhat) following the New Rockstars Road to Doomsday with 2005 Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I enjoyed the 2005 Fanastic Four more than The Fantastic 4: First Steps because I think the 2005 movie was more fun. Also, First Steps probably suffered in comparison to Superman which I loved. While I loved the Silver Surfer story that was the only saving grace of Rise of the Silver Surfer. I really hated everything they did with Sue Storm in this movie and there was nothing fun to balance it out (because let’s be honest, they weren’t great to Sue in 2005 either). I am enjoying the journey even when I’m not enjoying all the movies though because I find it fascinating. I’m not a comic book reader but I am attracted to these stories and characters. I was sad that my Arts, Crafts, and Conversation February meetup did not include a deep dive into this journey but there is always next month. Will Doomsday be a satisfying watch? Who knows but I am much more about the journey than the destination so does it really matter? On TV I wrapped and can recommend Down Cemetery Road and am eagerly awaiting the second drop of Bridgerton (so much so that I re-watched Season 2). I have been more about reading and movies and not watching much episodic (TV). Loved a delightful conversation with my son about all that we have been watching.
Writing in Community: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about all the teen writing events coming in late March and early April (it will be a busy three weeks) and of course the Rebel Cartographers meet every Thursday (recent prompts include Poetry In Small Moments and What A Character) and I am working on my poem count for the Lexington Poetry Gauntlet. I am also slowly savoring Blood Dazzler and finding lots of writing inspiration. Truly all that I am reading and watching is informing my writing in interesting ways. Stay tuned!