IN-PROGRESS: 12/18/2025

Still singing in the cathedral, but feeling the ache of the empty room. I wonder if Drew ever felt this way, as he was making his Guitar Mage website and his YouTube channel, creating complex and coherent bodies of work in quiet corners of the internet, without the promise of audience or recognition, let alone applause. I think of Drew on video, playing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" on his guitar, as another figuration of Effie—minus the cascading, excessive affect. He was always much more contained. The devotional quality, though, is shared, and it's in that spirit that I will continue to write through my resistance, through the ache of grief and/in solitude, toward the vibrating remainder.

But, that said, I want to lighten the tone a bit today, get back into OPWC, and circle back to the GPT/Cruel Optimism dialogue, which should be fun to write (and, dare I say, funny in a dry, acerbic way). Here's today's agenda:

• The Path of Compassion (OPWC Ch. 9)

• Unborn Child (OPWC Ch. 10)

• Moonlight Flute (OPWC Ch. 11)

• When Optimism Becomes Cruel: The GPT Dialogues

• Folding Chair Philosophy (short, fun, possibly might be pushed to Friday depending on how much gas I have left in the tank)

More soon. The work continues in the quiet.