One of my favorite t-shirts: "California girl in an Iowa world." You gotta wonder...are there that many of us they someone decided to make the t-shirt? Kewl.
Okay so I always assumed these shirts had to be algorithmically designed for automated print-on-demand, because there are 1,225 ways to pair 50 states — add DC and Puerto Rico and it’s 1,326 — plus you have to figure they have girl and guy versions (at minimum), so double it (at minimum), and I’m thinking: there’s no way this can exist except as a fill the blank data mined algorithm designed graphic based on social media targeted advertising info. But all that is nothing: one of our students told me his phone buzzed with a discount code for an “I am Kenough” sweatshirt AS HE WAS EXITING THE THEATER after watching Barbie, and he was so excited he tapped “buy” on the spot. Now THAT’s targeted advertising! 🎯
Yes, the math nerd in you gets it! However, the jokes on them (or whoever?) cuz I never bought the shirt; I just love the fact that it's in the world. Do you see Florida girl in an Iowa world shirts??
Ok Iowa, I'm British, tell me I'm wrong, that I missed it, its not virtual or augmented. smile. For me Florida is that King Croc unconcerned crossing the golf course in the phone video before AI got started. Wished I'd seen it.
Philip, do you have eyesight? I’m just asking so I can give you the best answer. If visual information isn’t a good mode of reference, I have others :)
Fair enough :) When I was a kid, the American Alligator was an endangered species. American Crocodiles are still endangered, or 'threatened' or 'vulnerable' or whatever phrase they use for just short of endangered. People used to swim in the lakes and ponds and canals back in my parents' day. That is unfathomable today, or when I was a kid, really, because the grasses grow underwater so thick, kids used to get tangled underwater and drown. But I used to play as a child in the muck on the edges of the waterways -- completely unfathomable today because that's just serving an alligator lunch with your life.
Humans are a part of nature. And some parts of nature are sturdier than others: if humans were to retreat from the Florida peninsula even slightly, it would sense our weakness and attack. In Iowa people diligently dig out those rooting maple babies every summer, pulling them when they're still small from the yard, just "weeds." But if you miss one, next year you have a sapling. If Iowa retired its lawn tools, the forests would return. I can't say that about Florida.
The post-human ethos tells us geography is irrelevant. In this view, whether you live in San Francisco or Milan or Saigon or Marrakesh is as relevant to your reality as the wallpaper on your laptop. You live online, you choose your view, and perhaps your conveniences. Embracing humanity in the post-human world requires a few ground truths: each of us will die; each of us is limited by the laws of time and space; and the precise time and the precise place where we find ourselves are as uniquely individual and as subject to interpretation as we are.
I was being a touch facetious about life and its limits. I can still take in visuals even as my eyes need help in my old age. Hearing gets trickier.
There are some very oddball folk leading the band these days into post-human land. Seriously I think they are making a mistake. I agree from what I understand about the precarious position of America.
A good deal of England would probably be oak trees again if we vacated, according to our experts, but I guess we worry more about getting a 2nd barrier flood defence for London. The sea is coming.
The pic/video I saw of the golf course in Florida seemed totally authentic, and I gathered that the Great Croc was a regular and they didn't worry too much. Crocodilians I understand survived the extinctions and end times for dinosaurs. I read that inAustralian formidable Sea Crocodile "The saltwater crocodile has gone from almost being extinct in the 1970s to now being widespread in large numbers
Thank you Meg! And PS I’m behind on reading your latest fiction, but only because of work related overwhelm — I’m looking forward to getting back into that ribald and reckless headspace soon :)
One of my favorite t-shirts: "California girl in an Iowa world." You gotta wonder...are there that many of us they someone decided to make the t-shirt? Kewl.
Okay so I always assumed these shirts had to be algorithmically designed for automated print-on-demand, because there are 1,225 ways to pair 50 states — add DC and Puerto Rico and it’s 1,326 — plus you have to figure they have girl and guy versions (at minimum), so double it (at minimum), and I’m thinking: there’s no way this can exist except as a fill the blank data mined algorithm designed graphic based on social media targeted advertising info. But all that is nothing: one of our students told me his phone buzzed with a discount code for an “I am Kenough” sweatshirt AS HE WAS EXITING THE THEATER after watching Barbie, and he was so excited he tapped “buy” on the spot. Now THAT’s targeted advertising! 🎯
Yes, the math nerd in you gets it! However, the jokes on them (or whoever?) cuz I never bought the shirt; I just love the fact that it's in the world. Do you see Florida girl in an Iowa world shirts??
I used to when I was on social media :) they’d also mix Arkansas in there, because they knew where I’d gone to school :) silly robots 🤖
Ok Iowa, I'm British, tell me I'm wrong, that I missed it, its not virtual or augmented. smile. For me Florida is that King Croc unconcerned crossing the golf course in the phone video before AI got started. Wished I'd seen it.
Philip, do you have eyesight? I’m just asking so I can give you the best answer. If visual information isn’t a good mode of reference, I have others :)
Amy, Enough still tho' need new specs
Fair enough :) When I was a kid, the American Alligator was an endangered species. American Crocodiles are still endangered, or 'threatened' or 'vulnerable' or whatever phrase they use for just short of endangered. People used to swim in the lakes and ponds and canals back in my parents' day. That is unfathomable today, or when I was a kid, really, because the grasses grow underwater so thick, kids used to get tangled underwater and drown. But I used to play as a child in the muck on the edges of the waterways -- completely unfathomable today because that's just serving an alligator lunch with your life.
Humans are a part of nature. And some parts of nature are sturdier than others: if humans were to retreat from the Florida peninsula even slightly, it would sense our weakness and attack. In Iowa people diligently dig out those rooting maple babies every summer, pulling them when they're still small from the yard, just "weeds." But if you miss one, next year you have a sapling. If Iowa retired its lawn tools, the forests would return. I can't say that about Florida.
The post-human ethos tells us geography is irrelevant. In this view, whether you live in San Francisco or Milan or Saigon or Marrakesh is as relevant to your reality as the wallpaper on your laptop. You live online, you choose your view, and perhaps your conveniences. Embracing humanity in the post-human world requires a few ground truths: each of us will die; each of us is limited by the laws of time and space; and the precise time and the precise place where we find ourselves are as uniquely individual and as subject to interpretation as we are.
That's all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Amy
I was being a touch facetious about life and its limits. I can still take in visuals even as my eyes need help in my old age. Hearing gets trickier.
There are some very oddball folk leading the band these days into post-human land. Seriously I think they are making a mistake. I agree from what I understand about the precarious position of America.
A good deal of England would probably be oak trees again if we vacated, according to our experts, but I guess we worry more about getting a 2nd barrier flood defence for London. The sea is coming.
The pic/video I saw of the golf course in Florida seemed totally authentic, and I gathered that the Great Croc was a regular and they didn't worry too much. Crocodilians I understand survived the extinctions and end times for dinosaurs. I read that inAustralian formidable Sea Crocodile "The saltwater crocodile has gone from almost being extinct in the 1970s to now being widespread in large numbers
Sorry about the above- it posted while I was trying to prune it.
I really loved this post, Amy. 💜
Thank you Meg! And PS I’m behind on reading your latest fiction, but only because of work related overwhelm — I’m looking forward to getting back into that ribald and reckless headspace soon :)
You're welcome to visit my mercurial manifestos anytime!