April First - No foolin'

Kicking off Q2 of 2025

I had dreamed up a brilliantly stupid idea to write an April Fool’s post today, and then I got a phone call from a friend telling me a ridiculous story that had happened to her this morning. She totally fooled me (the story is not suitable for public consumption) and reminded me why I hate April Fool’s Day so much. So I scrapped the original post idea, but felt that I needed to write something today.

I bought posterboard and markers to make my sign for the upcoming rally on Saturday in Evansville. Although my mother is now terrified - she actually suggested that I go out and buy a bulletproof vest - I’m really excited about the rally. I saw a fantastic graphic on Bluesky thanks to a user named Bruce Little that I am going to tailor with my less-than-excellent graphics skills.

Hopefully I’ll be able to make a sign to carry at the rally that expresses this message clearly!

What I’m Reading

During the season of Lent, our church is doing a book study called Turning Over Tables: A Lenten Call for Disrupting Power by Kathy Escobar that was published early this year. It is a really excellent book. Although it uses biblical scripture as a foundation, it doesn’t jam any verses down your throat. It’s powerful message about what we can do to fight back against unlawful power.

The book is a testament to the progressive theology that demonstrates not all Christians are of the sect that worships the felon in the White House. I’m grateful for Rev. Escobar’s message, and our pastor has been preaching each week during this season on the topics in the book. It has been both motivating and calming to me in these troubled times.

What Else Motivates Me

I’ve subscribed to too many Substacks! I’ve cut back on some of them when they raise my blood pressure too much, but I keep updating my Recommendations page with my favorites. I do want to give a shoutout to my new friend (we met on Bluesky but have had a few email conversations and one Zoom meeting together) Mark McNease. I’ve talked about him before, but his post this week really resonated with me. He only writes once a week, but I always look forward to Monday mornings when I get to read more of his writing.

Mark is an author, editor, coach, and teacher who helps others learn to write better. The Zoom meeting I was invited to was a small group of folks who share a journaling exercise once a month. I enjoyed the March topic so much that I used it for a post here before sharing it with the group over Zoom. It was such an honor to be invited and included in the group, and I’m looking forward to the next get-together (which I haven’t written about yet).

People like Mark help me to be better writer. I haven’t touched my novel in months, but that hasn’t stopped me from working on it in my head. Eventually I’ll regain the motivation to tackle it again, but since the inauguration, I haven’t felt any compulsion to open the document.

I’m also enjoying reading Kristin Fellows’s writing about her family’s experiences in Africa. Kristin is my second cousin, once removed (her grandfather Perry Fellows and my paternal great-grandmother Bertha Fellows O’Keefe were brother and sister). Uncle Perry and his wife Gladys lived in Ethiopia after his time working for the Works Progress Administration during FDR’s administration, and Kristin retraces their journey in her Substack “Lions, Peacocks & Lemon Trees.”

It is fun to get to know a cousin that I’ve never met in person through her writing. I think I met Uncle Perry once during a visit back to the US. He died when I was not quite 10 years old, so any memory of him would be very hazy.

Final Thoughts

I was never a fan of Twitter. When I did sign up many years ago before the muskrat took it over, I found the signal-to-noise ratio to be very low. There was a lot of noise, and eventually I just stopped visiting the site. I canceled my account the day Musk closed the deal on the purchase and never looked back.

Bluesky, on the other hand, has been so much fun. There’s a good mix of news, politics, photos, and humor, and a few people have helped me connect with many like-minded folks. President Obama joined almost two weeks ago, and should-have-been-president Hillary Clinton joined the site three weeks ago. Their presence shows that the platform is rising in popularity, although it has nowhere near the users of other social media sites. I appreciate that it is an open platform that caters to more liberal-leaning people.

Two guys that I’ve encountered on Bluesky have become my morning go-to because they help center my mind for the day: Jeremy David Engels and Christopher the Coffee Shop Sage. If you’re on Bluesky, I recommend giving them a follow. You won’t be worry.

I still have my Facebook account but visit it rarely, and I get on Tiktok once a day, usually to see Lovina make another one of her Amish recipes. She is delightfully fun! One of these days I’m going to buy her cookbook.

Do you have some favorite non-celebrity people on social media that you don’t actually know in real life? Share them in the comments.