MilesFromNowhere
@bethygirl.bsky.social
Retired, writes poetry, plays tournament bridge, likes Astrology, Jungian Psychology, James Hillman's work. Currently binge-watching The Good Place. Studied Philosophy of Religion back in the day. That's my dog Bethany.
Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return.
George Elliot
George Elliot
November 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return.
George Elliot
George Elliot
"A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty."
James Madison
James Madison
October 19, 2025 at 2:27 AM
"A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty."
James Madison
James Madison
As of Monday, October 13, 2025, Congress is not in session primarily because of the ongoing government shutdown. And yet they get paid! Members of Congress have no personal incentives to end this thing. They should be fired, all of them, and their cushy post-service benefits should be taken away.
October 13, 2025 at 5:25 PM
As of Monday, October 13, 2025, Congress is not in session primarily because of the ongoing government shutdown. And yet they get paid! Members of Congress have no personal incentives to end this thing. They should be fired, all of them, and their cushy post-service benefits should be taken away.
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, 1911
Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, 1911
September 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, 1911
Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, 1911
Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.
Lee Simonson
Lee Simonson
September 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.
Lee Simonson
Lee Simonson
This recent deployment of Federal troops to Washington D.C. raises a question: where were these troops on January 6, 2020?
August 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
This recent deployment of Federal troops to Washington D.C. raises a question: where were these troops on January 6, 2020?
Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
August 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
August 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.
P. J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)
P. J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)
August 15, 2025 at 5:11 PM
There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.
P. J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)
P. J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991)
What's next? New York City, then Philadelphia, Chicago, Grant, Nebraska?
August 11, 2025 at 5:22 PM
What's next? New York City, then Philadelphia, Chicago, Grant, Nebraska?
Our constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators.
Will Rogers
Will Rogers
August 10, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Our constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators.
Will Rogers
Will Rogers
Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
August 7, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
"What has changed? How can we tell the difference? Simple: turn out the lights, put the iPhone aside, step far into the night, and look up: how strange it feels, the ancient Other!"
The Dream of the Ring
by Sven Birkerts
The Dream of the Ring
by Sven Birkerts
July 31, 2025 at 3:09 AM
"What has changed? How can we tell the difference? Simple: turn out the lights, put the iPhone aside, step far into the night, and look up: how strange it feels, the ancient Other!"
The Dream of the Ring
by Sven Birkerts
The Dream of the Ring
by Sven Birkerts
Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
John le Carre, "The Chancellor Who Agreed To Play Spy", The New York Times, May 8, 1974
John le Carre, "The Chancellor Who Agreed To Play Spy", The New York Times, May 8, 1974
July 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
John le Carre, "The Chancellor Who Agreed To Play Spy", The New York Times, May 8, 1974
John le Carre, "The Chancellor Who Agreed To Play Spy", The New York Times, May 8, 1974
w/r: this issue over changing the name of Washington D.C.'s football team:
how about The Washington Dictators ?
how about The Washington Dictators ?
July 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
w/r: this issue over changing the name of Washington D.C.'s football team:
how about The Washington Dictators ?
how about The Washington Dictators ?
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
July 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.
Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 14
Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 14
July 13, 2025 at 5:17 PM
To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.
Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 14
Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 14
This comic from 1953 is a famous Soviet caricature about the United States. Always check facts. The Face Book poster where I got this said it was over 80 years old. Whatever! It is still relevant 72 years later.
July 11, 2025 at 6:37 PM
This comic from 1953 is a famous Soviet caricature about the United States. Always check facts. The Face Book poster where I got this said it was over 80 years old. Whatever! It is still relevant 72 years later.
Hide-and-Seek, 1933
By Galway Kinnell
Once when we were playing
hide-and-seek and it was time
to go home, the rest gave up
on the game before it was done
and forgot I was still hiding.
I remained hidden as a matter
of honor until the moon rose.
By Galway Kinnell
Once when we were playing
hide-and-seek and it was time
to go home, the rest gave up
on the game before it was done
and forgot I was still hiding.
I remained hidden as a matter
of honor until the moon rose.
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Hide-and-Seek, 1933
By Galway Kinnell
Once when we were playing
hide-and-seek and it was time
to go home, the rest gave up
on the game before it was done
and forgot I was still hiding.
I remained hidden as a matter
of honor until the moon rose.
By Galway Kinnell
Once when we were playing
hide-and-seek and it was time
to go home, the rest gave up
on the game before it was done
and forgot I was still hiding.
I remained hidden as a matter
of honor until the moon rose.
Shore Leave
Paul Cadmus
1933
Tempera and oil on canvas
Whitney Museum Of American Art
Paul Cadmus
1933
Tempera and oil on canvas
Whitney Museum Of American Art
July 11, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Shore Leave
Paul Cadmus
1933
Tempera and oil on canvas
Whitney Museum Of American Art
Paul Cadmus
1933
Tempera and oil on canvas
Whitney Museum Of American Art