What have we done to Johnny and Susie?

They inherited a smart home,
Not a muscle to move.
They inherited AI and humanoids,
Not a neuron to use.

Until there’s a glitch.
Until the system is down.
Until there’s service outage.

Now Johnny can’t unlock the doors.
Now Susie has to hold in her pee.
Without gadgets, children are cranky.

Now Susie can’t order meals.
Or get cash. Or shop for groceries.
And Johnny can’t start a fire.
O put up a tent. Or dig for an outhouse.
Unused brain cells are dead.

Out there, no farms. Just data centers.
Out there, no water. No lake. No river.
It’s 2050. Trillionaires live on the moon.
Johnny and Susie with no brains or brawn
Blaming their parents for something
They don’t even know…
MLJ07092026MankindEnslavedByTech

When will they raise the minimum wage?

When workers go on strike? 

Wages should be increased every year to keep up with inflation. 

Who disagrees? The billionaires and trillionaires who need to buy engineers and scientists who will start their settlements on the moon and Mars? Peace! 

Gloria Steinem

 

35 Years Later...

Still lots to learn...

 

In acrylic

 Summer break practice on used paper.

Puto Pao

Puto pao or steamed rice cake. The recipe is on the box, but there's no corned beef or steamer. But there's lots of bangus sisig... Puto pancakes with sisig filling it is!

 

Second batch of my puto pao. A total of twelve pancakes made with one box of puto mix on sale. (Second tiny bean harvest from our school garden. Too hot and dry summer!)

All day in the kitchen

For peach turon, apple turon, pickled cucumbers, paksiw na bangus (milkfish in vinegar), atchara (pickled green papaya), and bangus sisig (for freezing and pancake filling later). Now I can apply as a kitchen helper...

 

Just savor bygone memories

 Buko, atis, sugarcane... I can only afford to look at them and savor bygone memories. That's it.

How much time do I have?

Lots to read and write about.

Lots to paint and photograph.
Lots of places to go...
How much time do I have?

To Impress

Hair extensions. Check.
False lashes. Check.
Lipstick. Check.
Fake nails. Check.
Heavy perfume. Check.

Impressed! My child’s teacher surely would.
With my fine clothing, shoes, bag, tattoos.
And she’d probably say,
“You have a lovely mother!”

So there we sat as I stared
At the teacher’s plain face.
Wearing hardly any make-up,
Clothes from the thrift shop.

What she said didn’t register:
Daily conversations, home reading,
Extra math practice. Journal writing.
Not to worry about school supplies,
She’d find ways to provide.

So there we sat as I stared,
Feeling bad about bringing allergens.
Her eyes tearing up. Red nose sneezing.
But my fancy phone was buzzing.
MLJ13082026ParentTeacherConferences

Mad Stampede

We didn’t sleep with open encyclopedias.
We didn’t sleep in Scott’s red phone booths.
We didn’t sleep by our rotary dial phones.

AI is a tool.
Cellphones are tools.
Unless we’re on call surgeons.
Unless we’re on call firefighters.

Carpenters don’t sleep with hammers.
Mechanics don’t sleep with wrenches.
Electricians don’t sleep with screwdrivers.
Plumbers don’t sleep with plungers.

The giants snare you with the latest,
The slimmest, the lightest, the fastest,
The coolest gadgets. For addiction.
For entertainment. For memory loss.
Of the stagnant minimum wage.
Of the ever-widening payment gaps.
Of being slaves to the 10%
Who are moving to space.

But you continue to camp out for Black Fridays,
(Or stay online, stay awake in front of the screen,
Saving the store staff’s lives from the mad stampede!)
MLJ12082026MadStampedeOfSlaves

Joe Hutto reminds me of Jane Goodall

 “My Life as a Turkey” with Joe Hutto | Artist and Naturalist (1991)

JH: Wild turkeys were always reminding me to live my life... They constantly reminded me to do better... to be present, to be here.