Nothing Personal Exhibition Entrance Video
Channel surfing. To begin his essay for the book Nothing Personal, James Baldwin describes watching commercials on his black and white television. His unique command of language transforms this normally mundane and ubiquitous experience into a revelation of the American consumer subconscious and its addictions to surfaces, quick fixes, sexual gratification, and power.
Nothing Personal was first published in November 1964 by Atheneum Publishers and Penguin Books priced at $12.95, equivalent to $130 today. A paperback edition was released the following year in April by Dell Publishing, costing $1.50. In 2017, the book was reissued by Taschen Books and is now out-of-print, commanding up to $1,200 as a rare book.
Nothing Personal is a large-format, slipcased book containing a four-part essay written expressly for the book by Baldwin and fifty-four photographic portraits made by Avedon taken between 1954 and 1964. The book’s radical design was conceived by Marvin Israel, the influential art director at Harper’s Bazaar, the leading fashion magazine of the time, where Avedon was his close colleague and collaborator.
He wanted to be an actor?
His recent actions may seem like micromanaging, but they reveal a darker intent. In his first term, Trump received vociferous condemnation from most in the culture industry, particularly in Hollywood. He doesn’t intend to let speech flow unfettered this second time around. Fascism’s perseveration about cultural control can’t help but recall the repressed and the libidinal, such as Hitler’s obsession over his failure as a painter contributing to his desire to be seen as a great artist, working not with paints and canvas but with people and the nation. Even here, Trump’s own humiliation at being an outer borough has-been never fully accepted in Manhattan is the emotional impetus to his middle finger to the arts establishment.
Though
Trump never wanted to be a painter, he has clearly always wanted to be
an actor. In a sense, he is — one with a massive international stage.
Just as Hitler drew upon all of the creative energies of German culture
to evil result, so too could only the United States produce a Trump — a
carnival barker and medicine man, shock jock and pornographer, reality
show star and pro-wrestler. The Nazis traded in German kitsch, and so
MAGA will trade in Americana. Last week, Trump posted
an AI-generated image of himself as a conductor before the National
Orchestra with the caption “Welcome to the New Kennedy Center!” As the
maestro takes up his baton and the rough beast slouches toward
Washington, we must, as artists and critics, ask ourselves: How can we
preserve our souls?
Why It Sucks to Be Around People Who Are Always High or Drunk
OH HELL YEAH!
There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to have a real, meaningful experience with someone who is perpetually under the influence—whether it’s alcohol, weed, or psychedelics. When you're sober and fully present, hanging out with people who are altered is like trying to have a deep conversation with someone who keeps buffering.
They’re not fully there. They’re not operating on all cylinders. And yet, you’re expected to adjust yourself to fit into their distorted version of reality—which is exhausting and a complete waste of your precious time.
You Have to Constantly Adapt for Them
When you’re the only sober person in a room full of high or drunk people, guess what? The burden falls on you to keep the social dynamics from completely collapsing. You have to:
Slow down your speech so their fried brains can keep up.
Dumb down your jokes because they’ve lost the ability to process anything beyond basic humor.
Pretend their repetitive, slurred, or paranoid thoughts are insightful.
Tolerate their unnecessary giggling, emotional outbursts, or half-baked theories that only make sense to them in their altered state.
Your experience is now centered around their high, buzz, altered perception— and not anything real, nothing reciprocal, and not anything fulfilling.
You're Not Talking to the Real Person
One of the worst parts? You’re not even engaging with the real version of them. Whatever they’re on has hijacked their personality, turning them into a distorted, watered-down, or exaggerated version of themselves.
That deep talk you were hoping to have? It’s not happening. They’re too distracted, emotional, or fried to engage in anything real.
That fun night out? It’s now a babysitting job. Someone’s too drunk to walk, too high to function, or suddenly having an existential crisis because the weed hit too hard.
That inside joke or meaningful moment? It’s lost in translation because they’re not mentally present enough to register it.
It’s frustrating because while you’re here for a real exchange, they’re just floating through the moment, disconnected, distracted, and dulled.
You Have to Dim Your Light
Being around high or drunk people forces you to shrink yourself down so they don’t feel uncomfortable in their altered state. You can’t be too sharp, too aware, or too quick-witted—because then they’ll feel slow, lost, or paranoid. You can’t be too deep or too intense, because their brain is stuck in a loop, and they can’t follow.
Instead of having an exchange where both people bring something to the table, you end up holding back, simplifying, and playing along with their substance-induced nonsense.
Why? Because they can’t meet you where you are. And instead of them rising to your level, you’re expected to dumb yourself down to meet them at theirs.
No Meaningful Exchange Ever Happens
You could spend hours with a person who’s high, drunk, or tripping, and at the end of it, nothing real has occurred. No authentic connection. No intellectual exchange. No genuine emotional moment. Just time wasted in a half-reality that only made sense to them.
You know how some people record their high conversations and listen back the next day? Most of the time, it’s embarrassing. Because what felt profound in the moment was nonsense.
That’s what it’s like for the sober person in real-time. You see through the illusion while they think they’re on some next-level wave of genius.
Hanging Out with Altered People Is Just a One-Sided Experience
The worst part? They’ll never fully remember or appreciate the time you spent with them.
That deep talk they thought was life-changing? They’ll forget most of it.
That stupid joke they laughed at for 20 minutes? It wasn’t funny.
That moment when they got all sentimental and told you they love you? Meaningless.
Because it wasn’t them—it was their high/drunk self hijacking their experience. And you were just along for the ride, forced to entertain their intoxicated reality.
Conclusion: It’s a Waste of Your Time
If you value genuine connection, deep conversation, and real experiences, being around people constantly under the influence is a dead end. You will always be the one adjusting, compensating, and wasting your energy on interactions that don’t matter in the long run.
So if you’re wondering why you feel annoyed, drained, or disconnected after spending time with perpetually altered people—it’s because you’re the only one present. Might as well be alone.
Lakota Author Tiokasin Ghosthorse : GO FUND ME (urgent)
Dear readers and listeners,
I
could write a book. Actually, at least three of my books have been
influenced by a Lakota friend, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, and his perspectives
coming from the Lakota Nation, but i'll keep it short.
Virtually
every day when i'm out and about talking with people casually, or on
the phone, and some topic arises, i'll mention something Tiokasin has
said. For example, the Lakota language has no words for "domination" or
"exclusion" or "I/me". Those are three of the main culprits of all the
world's problems and the disrespect and abuse of Mother Earth and all
manner of species including fellow human beings
("species" a sciencey word for what Native Peoples refer to as
"relations", which, to my interpretation is how a "rock" can be like
your grandfather, a "tree" your uncle/aunt, and so forth).
About
15 years ago i met Tiokasin at an event showing Native films and with
live talks and musical performances. I asked him if he knew of any
Native poets because at the time i was hosting a poetry reading at
Locust Valley Library and i thought that would be cool. He raised his
hand in the air. Sometime after that i picked him up at the Locust
Valley train station and when he got in the car, he said to the effect
of, "Poetry, huh? I write prosetry." Typically i would have told
someone, well it's a poetry event, but having heard him speak once
before at the Native event, i didn't care b/c i simply wanted to hear
more about the Lakota perspective, because what little i had already
heard i hadn't heard before and it was truly mind-bending. He read from
his essay in the anthology Soul Companions:
"The
way we, the Lakota people, speak about Spirit is not a rational process
that can be measured. The Indigenous thinking process is relational and
egalitarian, where everything is alive and everything is energy. ...
When we hear a bird or animal speak, we try to mimic them because
they're speaking the language of the stars."
If that's not what in English is called "poetry". . . i don't know what is.
And
that's just one example of how Tiokasin, and many other Natives and
non-Natives, think outside the box of labels and categories and rules, and try
to live outside that box but it's darn near impossible nowadays, for
example, try not paying the every two years car registration -- for a
car you already paid for or are monthly paying for -- just so you can
have a new sticker to prove it's kosher, it's still you driving the same
car. But in this case Tiokasin is having to pay steep medical bills and
other living expenses.
As the gofundme page
explains: "Last spring of 2024, Tiokasin inhaled Roundup (Glyphosate)
during waking hours while the fans were running. He unknowingly inhaled
this toxic spray which led him to have an acute lung episode, leaving
him debilitated. This episode happened just one or two days after the
spraying and activated some underlying comorbid conditions which have
brought his life to a halt. Over the last months Tiokasin has been
unable to breathe with ease, he struggles to stand and to walk, even to
do basic things like button his shirt and put on socks. He is unable to
work– except for when he is invited to do online talks and has the
energy to do so. This barely pays for his rent. In addition to Tiokasin
being unable to work, he is in need of several medical treatments which
Medicare does not cover. At the moment he is receiving mediocre care
from a Medicare doctor and cannot afford to get the treatments or afford
the medicine, food, and housing that he needs to heal during this
time."
SO..... to read more about his situation and if you have the ability to kick-in some money, please look at the gofundme page:
"Communal Medical Fund for Tiokasin Ghosthorse"
https://www.gofundme.com/f/communal-medical-fund-for-tiokasin-ghosthorse
Also,
he's the host, founder and executive producer of: ”First Voices Radio,”
now in its 32nd year on the air, an internationally syndicated one-hour
radio program originating from and heard weekly on Radio Kingston WKNY
1490 AM and 107.9 FM in Kingston, New York. "First Voices Radio"
explores global topics and issues of critical importance to the
preservation and protection of Mother Earth presented in the voices and
from the perspective of the original peoples of the world."
And btw he's a world class, master flute player...
thanks for reading this and be well,
~ mankh
 |
| Water coming off my roof on 6-30-17 - big thunder booms too |
Excerpt By Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Recognizing, Honoring, and Respecting Water
There has to be recognition, honor, and respect given to Water in a way that equates all life’s thinking, feeling, memory, consciousness, and motion with what Water gives and with what Water represents to all the cultures of Grandmother Earth. Water is in your breath, on your tongue, fingertips, and water keeps your eyes moving in your sleep. Water dreams with you and retains what we humans forget in our busy “timed” lives. Water keeps us humble when we think ourselves too important. Almost every morning nearly everyone has a Water ceremony whether or not they are aware of it. This includes all plants, birds, trees, and all life that depend on the life-giving being of Water.
I splash Water on my face and cool the fire in my eyes in the morning. I sprinkle drops over my head and body in recognition and gratitude for giving life to all in the past, present, and the potential possibilities; if only we as forgetful humans would remember to be givers-of-care rather than takers-of-care.
I ask permission before I drink water. Water gives me the language and responsibility to carry the message of life. Water is not a noun, but a loving, moving, growing, cleansing, and powerful living being. So I drink this cup of stars called Water while thinking, speaking, and wanting all things to live fully, rather than purely exist within the lonely world where too many of us have found ourselves—an anthropocentric world that has disconnected us from the Being of Water and caused us to take so much for granted.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
oh yeah...
-
Dean Henderson and Jeff discuss current events and take a whack at the global oligarchy. Check out more info from Jeff Rense at Alt News ...
-
Burt Bacharach, Music artist Co-author (with lyricist Hal David) of an extensive string of hits in the '60s, Burt Bacharach is one of...
