Ferdinand-Victor-Eugène Delacroix:
A Turk Surrenders to a Greek Horseman (1856)

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In the mid-1850s, Delacroix returned to themes he had treated thirty years earlier, though with an important difference. Rather than carefully distinguish literary from historical and topical subjects, he conflated them, as in this instance. Here, he draws on Byron’s description of the giaour (a Turkish slur for non-Muslims) overcoming the Turkish pasha in his poem “The Giaour, a Fragment of a Turkish Tale” (1813). To a contemporary audience, the composition could have appeared to be an episode from the Greek War of Independence (1821–32), a romantic cause célèbre that had inspired two of Delacroix’s large canvases of the 1820s. The result is a nostalgic invention that appealed to mid-century French orientalist fantasies.

"We seem the most curious crown of creation imaginable."

People often accuse me of "not getting with the program." I do not feel all that plugged in. Others seem to have access to resources I never imagined existed. One might proclaim that we might never recover from our incumbent's inept non-administration, and I usually feel the need to ask them how they know, for I can't sense a source of information that might lead anyone to conclude anything with such certainty. I usually receive some litany of evidence that doesn't quite add up to proof by my accounting, and typically leave the encounter at that. I, convinced they were talking out of their hat, and they with their confidence bolstered, neither of us any wiser.

People seem to react to uncertainties by becoming overly confident about something nobody can ever be sure about. These confident predictions might help the pseudo-certain better cope with their situation, and I gladly grant them the right to project whatever they might need to ease their distress. Most people feel very uncomfortable when uncertainty haunts them. They (we) seem to need that anchor, and when it disappears, they're (we're) more than capable of imagining a handy replacement. Often, these characterizations tend toward the catastrophic, which might reveal something profound about the magic that such certainties provide. They need not exude sunshine and daffodils to restore the balance that uncertainty brings. Certain Hellfire might well seem superior to unsettling and unanswerable questions.

I create my certainties in other ways. I've been actively practicing my generous interpretations to ward off the otherwise hollow sensations that uncertainties bring. I figure that if all interpretation amounts to some made-up story, then I'm free to make up any story that seems to work for me. I've been thriving on the obvious ineptness our incumbent brings to everything he touches. He talks big and acts exclusively infinitesimally. He seems to hope to scare away any opposition by pretending to be fierce, but he's overused this tactic. He hardly projects an imposing figure. His accent makes him sound like a cartoon character. His word salads render most of whatever he's trying to threaten incomprehensible. He rarely carries through with any of his promises, but seems to depend upon terrorizing with threats. Sticks and stones might break bones, but I find his words reassuring, primarily because they seem so barking mad.

Some seem sure that this incumbency will end in fire, while others believe it's more likely to result in a deep freeze. I say probably neither, though I admit I don’t have access to whatever data convinces my colleagues and friends. They proudly sit astride a high horse headed South, damned for sure, thank heavens! They accuse me of not being on board with the program, but as I mentioned earlier, I never received the invitation. Maybe I need to watch Cable News after decades of steadfastly refusing to subscribe to cable. Perhaps I need to get out so I can achieve a more proper level of paranoia by interacting with terrified fellow citizens. My kittens consented to lie down on either side of me yesterday afternoon, an unprecedented event, where we took a leisurely nap together through a blazing afternoon. This was a lions lying down with a lamb-quality experience, and, curiously, reassured me again.

I have no idea how this chapter might end. I figure I'm probably better off not knowing. As usual, I expect some unexpected event to profoundly influence whatever emerges as a resolution. Also, as usual, I expect that resolution to not really resolve much of anything. If any of us are getting any smarter from our experiences together, I didn't receive that memo, either. I intend to continue questioning, though, wondering how anyone who exhibits much certainty about the future came to conclude that they know. I anticipate no enlightening responses, either. We're probably poking sticks into darkness because that, alone, reassures us. We seem the most curious crown of creation imaginable.

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