I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted—like I just woke up from a bad dream. Except the dream is real. And it’s Chump’s version of “Murica,” which looks a lot more like a dystopian nightmare than a democracy.
And, somehow, it’s already July. And, somehow, Chump is still in office. Still grifting, still being a felon, still selling the same hateful, ignorant nonsense. So I have to ask: Can someone please do it already? Enough is enough. 🤬
We’ve officially crossed the halfway mark of this wild, whiplash-inducing year. Pride flags are being rolled up and put away. But it doesn’t feel like a natural pause or a moment to exhale—it feels like a good time for a hard reality check.
Pride Month gave us bursts of joy, resistance, remembrance, and celebration. But now it’s July, and the air feels heavier and hotter. We’re still facing relentless attacks, book bans, and power grabs. Soap operas have been replaced by “breaking news” reports.
Yes, the fireworks will be going off soon—but so are alarm bells all around the world.
And yet—we’re still here.
Still showing up. Still speaking out. Still dreaming, dancing, building, voting, fighting, creating, and loving—against the odds.
If June was a time for celebration and protest, maybe July is a time for recharging and recommiting. Our promise to keep showing up even when the parties are fewer and farther between. A reminder that joy is still resistance. That hope is still strategy. That there’s still so much worth protecting, celebrating, and building.
Because the year isn’t over yet. We’ve got six more months to go.
Our story’s still unfolding—and so are we. Ready or not, here we go!
Keep calm and carry on…
Clint 🌈✌️
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ON THIS DAY = JULY 1
BIRTHDAYS
1654 = Louis Joseph = French military commander (aka Vendôme) 🌈
1804 = George Sand = French author and playwright
1869 = William Strunk Jr. = American author and educator
1873 = Alice Guy-Blaché = French-American filmmaker
1899 = Charles Laughton = English-American actor and filmmaker 🌈
1901 = Irna Phillips = American screenwriter
1902 = William Wyler = French-American filmmaker
1906 = Estée Lauder = American businesswoman and makeup mogul
1912 = Sally Kirkland = American journalist
1916 = Olivia de Havilland = British-American actor
1923 = Scotty Bowers = American marine, author, and pimp 🌈
1924 = Georges Rivière = French actor
1925 = Farley Granger = American actor 🌈
1933 = Dom Orejudos = American artist (aka Etienne) 🌈
1934 = Jamie Farr = American actor
1934 = Sydney Pollack = American actor and filmmaker
1936 = Wally Amos = American entrepreneur and Famous Amos founder
1939 = Karen Black = American actor
1941 = Twyla Tharp = American dancer and choreographer
1943 = Kiyoshi Kuromiya = Japanese-American author and activist 🌈
1945 = Debbie Harry = American singer-songwriter and actor
1951 = Terrence Mann = American actor, singer and dancer
1952 = Dan Aykroyd = Canadian actor, producer and screenwriter
1956 = Alan Ruck = American actor
1960 = Evelyn "Champagne" King = American singer-songwriter
1961 = Carl Lewis = American long jumper and runner
1961 = Diana, Princess of Wales = British royal
1962 = Andre Braugher = American actor
1967 = Pamela Anderson = Canadian-American model and actor
1971 = Missy Elliott = American rapper, producer, dancer and actor
1977 = Liv Tyler = American actor
1981 = Orlando Cruz = Puerto Rican professional boxer 🌈
1998 = Chloe Bailey = American singer-songwriter and actor
EVENTS
1862 = The Russian State Library is founded as the Library of the Moscow Public Museum.
1867 = The British North America Act takes effect as the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join into confederation to create the modern nation of Canada.
1874 = The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale.
1881 = The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, and Calais, Maine.
1903 = Start of first Tour de France bicycle race.
1928 = The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall is published in the US and sells an initial 20,000 copies.
1932 = Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is formed.
1958 = The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave.
1966 = The first color television transmission in Canada takes place.
1969 = In Norton v. Macy, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rules that the termination of a NASA employee for "immoral conduct" relating to his alleged homosexual conduct was unlawful.
1979 = The Susan B. Anthony dollar makes its debut. While there were many complaints about the coin, it was mostly because it was nearly the same size as a quarter, not that it was the first US coin to feature the likeness of a lesbian.
1989 = Bob Paris comes out in an interview in Ironman magazine.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“As far as what I hope they'll feel about me and about my work, I think it would be nice if they would find it exuberant, that there is life in it, that it would sound echoes of a nice spirit.”
Dom Orejudos (aka Etienne)
Yes Clint, everyone is commenting on how fast the last couple of months have gone by! Anyway, I appreciate your attitude on keeping on keeping on with love and hope and all the rest, etc. Carry On, Man! Peace & Love xo
Amen