changes

I wrote a letter to one of my senators, John Curtis, thanking him for calling for an independent investigation into the ICE shootings in Minnesota and urging him to go further.

https://www.facebook.com/SenJohnCurtis/posts/pfbid029JSzJGFgxFMYUSjCYs8wB76S9MR6u8emAD93XgdaeRxEt4ZMYXVzGiM4bDHpepVKl

Senator Curtis,

Thank you for calling for an independent investigation into the tragic Minnesota shooting.

I urge that you go further, that ICE agents and DHS officials be investigated for not just this single shooting but all the potentially unlawful actions and violations of constitutional rights that they may be perpetrating in Minnesota and elsewhere in the nation.

I urge you to vote against any funding for DHS until these matters can be thoroughly and transparently investigated and any agents or officials having been found to have acted unlawfully or unconstitutionally are removed from their positions. The American people must be able to see that lawful, constitutional, and humane policies and practices are put into place and followed by ICE and DHS. If these organizations cannot act constitutionally and humanely they should be dismantled and reformed with new leadership, including up to the impeachment and conviction of the president if he and his administration continue in this unconstitutional manner.

I look to you as my Senator to uphold the Constitution and be a check on unlawful and unconstitutional actions of the federal government and the Trump administration.

Thank you,

Joshua Whiting
[Street Address Redacted]
Millcreek, Utah

I don’t know that there is any hope or reason to send a letter to Sen. Mike Lee, other than to maybe to get myself added to some kind of list of Democrats and other problematic constituents to ignore, if I’m not already there. Please correct me if you know something about this and I am wrong and it is worth contacting him.

I also just cancelled my Home Depot credit card for good measure. Not a big deal if you tell me Home Depot is actually wonderful now and doesn’t support or collaborate with ICE anymore, because I haven’t used the account in a year or two anyway.

![[20260126_cancelledHomeDepotcard.jpeg]]

Standalone post link: Letter to Sen. Curtis RE: ICE Investigation

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Standalone post link: Reading Log: The Moon Without Stars

“…what the meaning of this border line that’s been forced into my mind…everybody talk about it like it’s the greatest line that humans could ever draw…”
– Lonnie Holley, from “A Border is Just a Space Between Two Lines”

Related quote I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:

“The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.”
– David Graeber, who I apparently need to read.

Album recommended by Benjamin Booker, who I’ve also been listening to a lot and has a song on the album.

I bought a digital copy, with proceeds going to American Gateways and Casa Marianella, and also donated to the following this morning:

Immigrant Rapid Response Fund of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Passages - Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers

(Drafted handwritten a review this morning that I will likely finish and post on granitemedia.org and/or here. It’s been ridiculously long since I actually wrote and shared reviews, need to just do it.)

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![[20260121_coverart_kingoftheneuroverse.png]]

Standalone post link: Reading Log: King of the Neuro Verse

Genre: creation story, mythopoetic science writing, psychedelic illuminated manuscript, nature, life, ecology, Earth, picture book for teens and adults…

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![[20260119_forgottenteachers-cover.png]]

Standalone post link: Reading Log: The Forgotten Teachers

I suggested this title for a PD book club at work and they actually took me up on it!

I’m in kind of a weirdo role in my organization and so it is rare that PD offerings, book clubs, and similar activities align with my actual work and interests, so this was a refreshing change. And the other book we are reading - 5 Kinds of Nonfiction - to be logged here once I start reading it - is also of interest and applicable, not just for my work but maybe even for my secret personal goals of someday actually writing for young people.

So far this is really helpful. I’m learning some things but also getting reassurance that I have an understanding of this already and have made some good collection development decisions with manga (probably thanks to having already read around some of these authors' manga review websites.) In the past few months I’ve also been sampling a lot of manga that middle school students have requested for Sora or that I came across and think might be good to add to Sora. I should start writing reviews and sharing them on our reviews website (granitemedia.org) and/or here, because librarian and educator reviews of manga are sparse.

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75/200

Standalone post link: Reading Log: Manga Goes to School

Another book I’m happy to read for a PD book club at work.

(See also Manga Goes to School)

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60/160

Standalone post link: Reading Log: 5 Kinds of Nonfiction

The long-haired chihuahua stood on the armrest of the passenger seat and gazed at me serenely through the window of the white minivan, an actual American flag draped behind it, shrouding the entire second row of the van.

The most noble and patriotic of long-haired chihuahuas, it did not once bark or agitate at my presence, its luscious, golden locks just brushed and billowing in the slightest of breezes, likewise the flag billowing behind it, perhaps the vehicle’s air conditioning causing the effect. I regarded and saluted in my heart, but could not stop in the middle of the handicapped parking area to take a picture, and so instead continued with my raucous shopping cart to my car and made this note.

(4:50:38 PM @ Winco Parking Lot, South Salt Lake (40.72347533489298,-111.8903883259518, 4265ft elev))

Sunset, the geese again standing and sitting in the softball fields. At least fifty Canada geese safe and at ease in the grass behind the towering chain-link fences, an impromptu suburban wildlife refuge in the peach particulate haze. I continued driving.

(5:03:30 PM - @ 1300 East, Larry H. Miller Softball Complex, Big Cottonwood Regional Park, Millcreek (40.67538577924466,-111.8542093145097, 4314ft elev))

Standalone post link: Patriotic long-haired chihuahua and Canada geese softball sunset | Two pictures not taken on the way home from work, 2026-01-15

ART
is
PUNK
is
JOY¹
strong strokes of white paint on the back of the person’s long coat
walking down 1100 East toward Sugarhouse
drizzly dark January afternoon
cold but not as cold as it maybe should be

(4:03:18 PM - Salt Lake City (40.728079, -111.859654))

Standalone post link: ART is PUNK is JOY | Picture Not Taken

Gotten into summer of the first year. Tempted to start over and try spring again now that I know a little better how things work…

My kids have been playing this on the Switch but I got the Steam MacOS version for my laptop since we have just the one Switch.

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Standalone post link: Playing Log: Stardew Valley