the verdict
Last night I watched and reviewed the Oscar nominated Tunisian film The Man Who Sold His Skin. I quite liked it, even though I also did not think it was nearly as good, or as "deep," as it seemed to think it was. Thus: solid B. It gave me something entertaining to watch for a couple of hours, anyway.
Shobhit had his Project Management class, and as per usual, he had discussion with a select group of classmates after the class ended. With his previous course, we sometimes had time to watch something together after his class, but that doesn't seem to happen with this new course. I spent a fair amount of time just watching TikTok videos before going to bed.
I suppose I could mention the guilty on all counts verdicts for Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd and set off waves of protests for months last year, the likes of which I'm not sure I had ever seen in my lifetime. The Women's Marches in the wake of President Fuckwit's election in 2016 certainly surpassed these ones in sheer numbers, but these were easily more charged, more talked about, and caused more property damage—something I only mention to underscore the emotional heft of it, not at all to complain about said property damage. I'm sick to death of people spending more time complaining about that than about cops killing unarmed civilians.
In any case, these verdicts feel very much like a historic flashpoint in the ongoing struggle for civil rights in this country. What kind of legacy it will have over time, or indeed if it will even really have one at all, remains to be seen. It's depressing that it took a nine-minute video and a trial presenting evidence (not to mention straight up insane arguments by the defense) to get to a point where a jury finally set a precedent like this. Chauvin would almost certainly not be facing what he is currently facing, if not for the person who shot that video. And by the way: a cop in Columbus, Ohio shot and killed a black teenage girl all of half an hour before the Minneapolis verdict. I will acknowledge that the Columbus incident is more complicated, but the use of lethal force still indicates that this verdict is a beginning, and far from an ending, when it comes to work and struggle ahead. At least that's the best we can hope for.
I just finished with Office Lunch Meetup #39 on Microsoft Teams. Now that I finally have a new laptop with a working camera, and I actually remembered the lunch meetup (unlike last week, when I didn't think to join until 12:30), it was basically back to normal for me. Just in time for next week to become the first time I have a planned absence from it. But at least now they got a proper notice beforehand; Rebecca was assuming last week it was the reason I had not joined the call.
Just like last week, however, it was only three of us this time; it's just, instead of seeing Brent for half an hour last week, Noah returned this week. And then it was, as usual, Rebecca and me. I'm sure more of the others will return in future weeks. I really appreciate that we do this every Wednesday, but holy hell, am I ready to be back in the office. I know, I keep saying that. Today I actually had to turn around and yell at Guru to shut up. He was just sitting on the bed behind me meowing over and over again.
Now I guess I'll get back to work. Two and a half days until my vacation!
[posted 1:04 pm]