She's cool and all, and we've know each other since childhood, but my god are her beliefs incoherent. This morning I was in a bad mood, so she asked if I wanted to go for a walk, which I happily accepted. We don't see much of each other lately because she loves working overtime at her admin job, which I don't get but whatever.
So we walk around in a nice area of town, me pointing out and taking small cuttings from the plants of various wealthy yards (the best and free-est way to get new plants), and we're laughing, riffing, just having a good time. But eventually, as I dreaded it would, the conversation turned to more "political" matters. I try to avoid this with her because she's a Rogan listener and has wildly contradictory beliefs, as well as an endless need to play devil's advocate on ghoulish positions like not giving people sick leave (She's a hiring manager for a fairly large shipping company). Rather than recounting the multi-hour conversation, here are some highlights, presented in chronological order, of our descent into P U R E I D E O L O G Y:zizek-joy:
-She feels irritation at many of the people she interviews for her job, saying "They feel entitled to work". Also expressed displeasure with people calling in sick, with a mocking "mY sToMaCh HuRtS sO i'M nOt CoMiNg To WoRk ToDay". Bragged about having only taken three sick days in the last two years.
-She was chair-bound with a joint problem for a year, and said that after she got over that, she was grateful to have the privelige of working. When pointed out that that's only a good thing to her because she lives in a society that would leave her to die otherwise, she had no response.
When talking about last summer's protests and how the winter has slowed things down, said "Now I laugh at the people who riot, like they're gonna let a little cold stop them?" Also implied there would be no further protests over George Floyd because the court awarded his family a settlement.
I brought up the horricially skewed demographics of our area's COVID deaths, talked about some of the systemic failures, sabotages and racism that drastically affect the resources, outcomes and standard of care for PoC. I told her it was medical Apartheid. Her response was to scoff and say "I always take it with a grain of salt when white people say something is Apartheid, because something something privelige."(literally the point) When I told her that white people living in South Africa would have been correct in calling their government an Apartheid government, she again just kind of "yeah well"'d and equivocated some more.
The subject changed from Corona, to China (of course), and then Taiwan. I mentioned the 208 incident, the White Terror, and how it's ironic that the Kuomintang, despite oppressing the Chinese people to the point of being kicked the fuck off the mainland, today play the role of the poor bullied island nation in need of protection from the big, bad commies they created. Also ironic considering what they did the the Formossan people. Her response was to both-sides it, saying the KMT "Just represented an older idea of government" (Yeah, a fucking oligarchical one.)
Finally, predictably, disastrously, the conversation turned from Taiwan to Tibet. This has been a point of contention in the past (fucking white Buddhists, I swear to god). Luckily I had just read my One Thing Of The Month, which happened to be the Parenti paper. She was like "I'll never forgive Chyna for what they did to the Tibetan monks" to which I replied "Tibetan serfdom, forced conscription, mass torture, Prima Nocta, etc." Her only response to that was, no shit, talk about how her grandparents were serfs, and she knows what it's like to come from that, but she said it to...defend serfdom?:improve-society: "
Also this gem: "As a Buddhist, I just identify strongly with the monks." I pointed out that the CIA tried to do another Bay of Pigs, parachuting in exiled rich monks and estate owners, but that they weren't heard from again. And then she says it:
"Yeah, the Chinese did a pretty good job genociding the Tibetan people."
I asked her how she knew this, she said it's common knowledge. (Cool, cool. Nevermind that in 2001 it was "common knowledge" that Iraq had WMDs, and something like two million civillians died for that.)
I told her that the number of deaths claimed by the Dalai Llama, 1.2 million, would have been almost the entire population of Tibet at that point. She said yeah, they damn near killed everyone. I asked her where the mass graves were, she said "everywhere". I asked her why people weren't constantly digging up skeletons, she said "They burned everyone". I asked her how the fuck there's still a Tibetan government, economy or society if 99% of everyone got got by Mao over a period of like 8 years? At that point she expressed her intent to disengage with the conversation, so I did.
This is how the groundwork is laid for actual fucking genocides, and she just drinks the State Department atrocity propaganda from a fucking hose. I get it, you're a Buddhist, I'm genuinely glad you found something that nourishes your spirit in this hellworld, but that doesn't mean you are obligated to defend literal feudalism, jesus fuck.
Like I said, Rogan listener.
I also got two new plants, a thistle and a succulent :bloomer:
TL;DR
NTL;AR- All you need is a knife, some pumice-like stone and a decently loose pocket or bag. Once you find the plant you want, choose a stalk segment of medium thickness (too thin and they usually die, too thick and they have trouble adapting. So if you want to clone an orange tree, the ideal piece would be a thick green sprout that's juuust starting to turn woody). Then, making sure your section includes at least two nodes (the lumps on the branch from which new leaves sprout, hotbeds of cell growth), cut just below the bottom node at a 45 degree angle. This maximizes the exposed area of potential growth, which will make it easier for your cutting to grow new roots and become it's own plant.
Next, trim down the leaves to practically nothing-without the ability to draw water from the rest of the plant, the cutting will rapidly die of dehydration through it's leaves unless we severely limit it's respiration (it's needs are small now anyways). Most of my transplant deaths have been from failing to remove enough leaf matter because I felt bad. Be harsh now, and plant has better chance. Finally, put it in a temporary pot filled with pumice or some other light, porous rock. It allows the water to drain quickly, which prevents rot in the new stem as it grows roots. The survival rate of my cuttings shot up dramatically after I switched from dirt to pumice. Still, cloning plants this way is always a longshot, so expect about 2/3rds of them to die. The ones that survive grow up into full-ass free plants though, so :shrug-outta-hecks:
Just a couple things I noticed:
-Tropical plants are more vulnerable to air dehydration when first cut, but resistant to it after rooting. Spraying them with water occasionally helps a little
-Most succulents hold their breath during the day (I'm not kidding) and breathe at night to mitigate water loss. This makes them very tough and very water-retentive as well as growing new roots easily. They're ideal for beginners and how I first started. They are however vulnerable to rot from overwatering.
-If you want to turn a single stalk into a shrub, just keep cutting the tip off. That's where the vertical growth hormone is produced, and if it stops, horizontal growth hormones kick in to compensate
And yeah, that's about it for basics. There's rooting gels and powders you can buy, but I never really noticed a difference. So just head outside with a pocket knife and see what looks good to you. Happy hunting!