I ran across some artwork commissioned by one of the old gang of Usual Suspects that used to troll my Livejournal. Same old parallel set of kinks, but they seem to have dropped most of the Lifestyle Hater act. And it got me thinking.

You know, they say people change, and I think that's true. And they say people never change, and I think that's true.

One of the nastiest habits of human cognition is to try to unify everything into a single semantic unit of truth. Someone's gotta be either the same or different, good or bad, friendly or hostile.

(That's why I used to be such a cheerleader for postmodernism—because if you're still fixated on the models, truth is just gonna elude you. And we're ALL fixated on our models. You can eat the menu and tell me you feel full, but I don't think you're getting a balanced diet.)

Anyway. I think it's at least closer to the truth to talk about people like they've got sedimentary layers. More and more stuff builds up over time, and that stuff isn't necessarily just a façade. It's as real as any other part.

But the stuff buried underneath is there too, and the fact it's hidden away doesn't make *it* any less real. It's like petroleum, or lava: can pressurize, transmute, bubble up, or even explode at any time and radically transform the landscape, for "better" or "worse." And it never really goes away.

See also my semi-official break-up song, which I'll always associate with @acetone_kitten and I guess now with Kristy and Jessie too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88icyGGUSKA