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Seeking friends who have nothing but disrespect for Mark Zuckerberg ✌️

America is an oligarchy organized by the hierarchy of the white supremacist patriarchy. Pancake Brain is a (free) Friday newsletter dedicated to replacing the status quo with equitable public power, and a community dedicated to building the discipline of democracy that equity requires. We move through the world committed to a daily practice of activism and critical thinking. We reject limitations and embrace the possibilities of social imagination, certain that the queer future is better than anything we’ve yet dreamed up. We insist on our right and duty to the political conversation, and empower others to join us. Out of love for ourselves and the collective, we are engaged in a sustainable practice of freedom, endlessly un-fucking our brains.

This project is based on How to Start a Revolution, which I hope you will read (or listen to), if you can.

Dearest Pancake Brains, 

On Monday, I wrote about the cancellation New York Pride. If you dig that piece, or any edition of this Pancake Brain, I hope you’ll share it on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook — I would be honored to aid in the education of America’s well-meaning white women / your aunt Becky.

Side Note: Facebook blocked my account when I tried to buy ads promoting this newsletter. Russia is warping the American mind through intricate campaigns of disinformation, but apparently this newsletter is “too political.”

Side Note to the Side Note: I wish Mark Zuckerberg would start dressing up like Saruman from Lord of The Rings, don’t you? The man controls a platform that could facilitate global liberation, and instead he’s optimized it for ad sales. At the very least, Zuckerberg should embrace the pageantry of a full-on Liberace villain. I mean, seriously, if we’re going to have an evil overlord, I wish he’d at least have the decency to dress up in fine jewels and couture, or at maybe sprinkle in some maniacal laughter into his interviews, instead of squirming around in his signature black hoodie like a worm trying to figure out how to turn on an invisibility cloak. 

Anyway, Facebook sucks, Twitter sucks, I’m willing to admit that Instagram warms my heart sometimes, but it’s also owned by Facebook, and therefore also sucks. I want to carve out a niche community away from the toxicity of those mainstream platforms. I want Pancake Brain to be not just a newsletter, but a discussion forum, a place where we can engage in the kind of thoughtful conversations so sorely missing from social media. It will take time to grow that kind of space, and an ongoing effort to tend to it, but that’s what I’m committed to here, and I hope you’ll join me. Let’s make this a little virtual garden for people who are interested in the spiritual and political practice of un-fucking your brain and choosing love.

On that note, I must admit that my brain has been feeling especially fucked lately. Writing always exposes my state of mind. I’m working on a book about my journey to finding God, and I have been scraping away on the hamster wheel of perfectionism this past week.

I talked about being in a funk and getting out of it for Amy Cuddy’s Quarantine Writing Hour on Thursday. I’ll leave that with you here:

duca.lauren

Joined @amycuddy’a #quarantinewritinghour and talked about trying to write with my inner editor / anxiety demon 💩

April 24, 2020

How about you? How’s your brain been feeling lately? What are your best writing tips? I’m looking for wisdom here, but all submissions are welcome. 🤪

Lauren Duca @laurenduca

I have been asked to share a writing tip. I have three: 1) Clean the bathroom. 2) Should you re-organize your bookshelf? 3) masturbate

With earnest irreverence,
Lauren