Ampersand Gazette #86
Welcome to the Ampersand Gazette, a metaphysical take on some of the news of the day. If you know others like us, who want to create a world that includes and works for everyone, please feel free to share this newsletter. The sign-up is here. And now, on with the latest …
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How to Destroy What Makes America Great
I want to describe the damage the tariffs will do to the American psyche and the American soul.
Trump is building walls.
The problem is that great nations throughout the history of Western civilization have been crossroads nations. They have been places where people from all over met, exchanged ideas and came up with new ones together. They were meeting spots for people from different nations.
Peter Hall writes, “People meet, people talk, people listen to each other’s music and each other’s words, dance each other’s dances, take in each other’s thoughts. And so, by accidents of geography, sparks may be struck and something new come out of the encounter.” This, he continues, happens in junction points, places that encourage global interaction. Such places have common characteristics: They are unstuffy, un-classbound, nonhierarchical, informal.
This used to be America. A crossroads nation, we attracted highly driven immigrants who wanted to be where the action was. We championed free trade. This used to be our future.
But that’s not even my main concern. My main concern is over the spirit and values of the country. People’s psychologies are formed by the conditions that surround them. The conditions that Trump is creating are based on and nurture a security mind-set: We need to build walls.
Once again, the problem is that if you look at the cultures of societies at their peak, that is pretty much the opposite of the mentality you find. In, “Civilisation,” his survey of the high points of Western history, art critic Kenneth Clark concluded that great periods are built on great confidence—a nation’s confidence in its laws and its capacities. That shared culture of confidence naturally infused people with social courage, a venturing spirit.
Think, for example, of the kind of people who drive innovation and dynamism. What are they like?
They put themselves in unfamiliar situations. They are enthusiastic about novelty.
They have diversive curiosity. Their interests and enthusiasms span many spheres.
They have social range, a wide variety of friends.
They are able to combine disparate worldviews. Creativity often happens when somebody combines two galaxies of ideas.
They are driven toward continual growth. They seek to expand their interests and attachments, to engage in continual self-improvement.
There’s a name for the values and posture I’m describing here: cosmopolitanism. Sometimes it seems like the 21st century has witnessed one attack after another upon cosmopolitanism—from September 11 onward. Leader after leader appeals to fear of impurity and threat. This mean world vibe not only reduces contact between peoples but also squelches the venturesomeness that has been America’s best defining trait.
Excerpted from an Opinion Essay by David Brooks in The New York Times
“How to Destroy What Makes America Great”
April 3, 2025
That great Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Not in his goals but in his transitions man is great.” Let’s just for clarity’s sake add, woman is great. And, yowzah, are we in transition!
Transitions can be some of the hardest times in human experience. The end of one thing sometimes happens before anything else can begin. It’s in the in-between, when the old is gone and the new is merely beginning that you are able to recognize the seeds of what you’ve sown previously, and begin to cotton on to the notion that there really is a new something beginning.
At the moment, it’s hard to see those seeds in America, but I have two words for you: April 5th. Yeah, April 5th. Many, many, many protests. In all 50 states. Anne-Christine D’Adesky analyzed it thus: the uprising is beginning, but it needs organizing.
If you’ll zoom out, you’ll see that Americans, and perhaps the whole world, are all in transition. We’re changing, and Lord have mercy, but the Old Order is fighting tooth and nail to keep itself in power. Still, it’s dying. All living things do.
There was another article in that issue of The Times called “The Anti-MAGA Hat Goes Global.” In it, political strategist and messaging consultant Anat Shenker-Osorio was quoted as saying, “[T]he hats represent the three components you need for a successful protest: “resistance, refusal, and ridicule. Ridicule,” she said, ‘is critical.”
Certainly ridicule works, but I might instead add a sense of humor to Mr. Brooks’ list of cosmopolitan qualities. Cosmopolitans …
… put themselves in unfamiliar situations.
… have diversive curiosity.
… have social range, a wide variety of friends.
… are able to combine disparate worldviews.
… are driven toward continual growth.
Every single one of these things has a common possibility. Do you know what it is?
Surprise.
Later in his essay, Mr. Brooks writes, “Creativity often happens when somebody combines two galaxies of ideas.” I recently learned, for example, that jazz grew out of a combination of musical improvisations made by black and Italian New Orleans street musicians.
In the final analysis, it’s a scary time, scarier for some of us than others. We’re sharing a worldwide transition, Beloved. Despite being told for decades that computers and social media and 24-hour news cycles keep us connected, they don’t. The reason they don’t is, cyber-connection isn’t personal connection. In addition, because of the turmoil, we are generally sorely lacking in confidence.
Confidence is a magical word. Etymologically, con- = with, and -fidence is a variant of our word fidelity, or loyalty. When we’re at our most confident, we’re being loyal to ourselves. It is this that will get each and every one of us and our planet connected and through this transition.
What do you feel strongly about in this time of change? Begin to think about, dream about, envision how the world will be changed when your ideas come into being. I will guarantee each one of you that there will be an element of surprise inside your resolution, some combination of things which have not been defined before, but are ready to be now.
The fastest way to see those dreams take shape is through connection. As Maya Angelou wrote, “There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.” The future of our world and our lives is an untold story right now. Get to storytelling, would you? We’re all listening.
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Failed Conversion Therapy (With a Side of Ranch) at Hooters
It was an annual tradition. Every Thanksgiving, I would fly down to Florida before the rest of the family. My grandfather would pick me up at the airport. But this particular trip, I was 14, maybe 15, and in ways I could not yet name, it was becoming apparent that I was not like most of the boys I grew up with. My grandfather pulled off a sun-bleached stretch of highway to take me somewhere new: Hooters.
Our waitress was a tall, brassy blonde—a caricature of the caricature that is a Hooters waitress. She was in her late 20s with a deep yet indistinct Southern accent, and I could tell she clocked me almost immediately. Later, when my grandfather went to the restroom, she slipped into the booth across from me and leaned in close. “You’re perfect just the way you are, kid,” she said, or something near enough to it, her voice low, kind and certain.
Consider the delicious irony that a chain restaurant famed for its cleavage and chicken wings somehow became a secret sanctuary for young gay men. I posted my story on social media. “Conversion therapy with a side of ranch,” speaking loosely, was the wry refrain I saw time and again in my inbox.
It was an act of kindness, at least in theory. Their relatives could see the young men struggling to hide an unspoken it. It was a baptism into manhood—one that would backfire beautifully.
A host of Hooters employees echoed these accounts. What explains the connection between Hooters waitresses and young gay men? Perhaps these women—so often stigmatized as almost sex workers, so accustomed to society’s sidelong glances—see kindred spirits in the boys who aren’t quite “right.” Or maybe it’s simpler: a waitress’ knack for reading a room, turned tender for those who need it most.
Recently, I ventured back to Hooters for the first time since that lunch with my grandfather. Two nights in a row I drove out to Queens for the chain’s sole remaining location in New York City.
As I left, I found myself thinking about the irony of the Hooters mascot: that wide-eyed owl. The bird’s name is a juvenile jab, a wink to the mammary fixation that fuels the franchise. Yet, in Greek myth, the owl is a symbol of divine knowledge and reason. How fitting that it should preside over a place where the waitresses, far from being empty vessels of titillation, embody a savvy the oglers and mockers fail to appreciate. The Hooters owl, in its dual role as racy pun and all-knowing observer, mirrors the waitresses themselves. It’s a cosmic joke, really, that the bird should roost where wisdom is the last thing expected, yet often the first thing served.
Excerpted from an article by Peter Rothpletz in The New York Times
“Failed Conversion Therapy (With A Side of Ranch) At Hooters”
March 23, 2025
Speaking of surprises … Hooters servers and gay teens? I love it. This story also answers the question of how humanity is going to get through the current chaos.
What is it that those Hooters waitresses did with those boys? Can you name it?
Despite their well-meaning fathers or grandfathers, those women, doing what is often, tips notwithstanding, thankless service work, saw those young men and boys. Saw them really, as they were.
That’s how we have to build connection, too. Through a two-fold seeing:
First, we need to see ourselves as we truly are.
Then, we need to see others as they truly are.
And we need to affirm both.
The reason for that is that if you don’t affirm yourself as you are, you won’t have the confidence even to look at others properly, let alone truly see them, or affirm them when you do.
Perhaps that sounds selfish to you? Affirm yourself.
But let me ask you a question. When was the last time you really listened to your own self-talk? Really listened. What sort of tone did it take?
Were you warm, kind, and caring with yourself? If not, how did you speak to yourself? A lot of us have a pretty judgey inner voice. Do you? Maybe it’s time to change that?
I’m not talking about those little pokes you give yourself when you do something silly or when you, say, forget the thing you went to the grocery store for in the first place. I mean your general everyday inner voice. We all have one.
A lot of times, when people start to become aware of the tone of that inner voice, they discover that they’ve unwittingly borrowed the tone from an outside authority. Parent, coach, critical English teacher. It doesn’t matter where you got it. What matters is that you get conscious about it, and decide if you like that tone. If you do, excellent.
If not, CHANGE IT.
I’m also not talking about coddling yourself or indulging your every whim. Doing laundry isn’t everyone’s favorite thing to do, but clean clothes generally are. So, do the laundry. This isn’t about babying yourself—except occasionally.
It’s about knowing how you talk to yourself, liking it or not, and changing it if you don’t. All of us encourage ourselves. We talk ourselves into things. And out of things. That inner presence has a spiritual name: Witness.
It’s the impartial part of consciousness that lets you be self-aware. Your inner witness is meant to be supportive of your free will choices. Learn your inner witness.
It’s that part of you that will let you see yourself truly, and then, when you do, you’ll be able to see others, and tell them so.
Those lovely women at Hooters saw those gay boys and let each one know that she’d seen who he was, and that who he was, was perfect just the way he was.
You don’t have to go to Hooters for that affirmation, Belovèd. Here you go: I see you. You’re perfect just as you are. Now affirm your perfection, so you can connect others to their own.
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Here’s a universal affirmation. It works every time, for everyone, always and forever …
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And in publishing news …
Okay, I’ve got the template. Now it’s only a matter of time until I get it designed, up, and running. And I will finally have the Spiritual Q & A Column I’ve wanted for years. It’s become clear to me that there was really no way for me to do this until now, and that, given what’s operating in our world at the moment, it’s needed more than ever before. Spirituality, in all its magical disguises, is going to have to be a part of our global recovery.
The first book of the series, Oklahoma! Hex, is back to permafree after sixteen days in pricing limbo. Happily, it remains in the Amazon Metaphysical Bestseller List top ten, after four days at #1. I never set out to make lists or win prizes when I started writing fiction, but it does just seem to be happening on its own merits. Quite gratifying.
By the time this goes out I will be over 75,000 words into Impending Decision, Book Five of The Boots & Boas Romances, the saga of attorney Jamie Jenkins and his about-to-graduate-from-law-school paralegal and cabaret singer extraordinaire, Jayne Jordyn Jewell. One of the coolest things about these chosen family romances is that each book surprises me anew with the depth of its learning about life. I thought this one would be a straightforward book about a workaholic and romantic neglect, but oh, no! You’ll have to read it to find out more.
Jaq Direct, the final book of The Subversive Lovelies, my speculative fiction series, is now over 80,000 words and counting. Jaq is set in 1907, ten years after the four siblings go into the vice business. He’s getting clearer about what he wants his vicety to be, and it’s taking some time to get things organized and flowing in the direction he’s dreamed. I’m having fun watching Jaq put it together.
The Besieged edits are still languishing in a file all alone, no matter that they’re calling to me. I am, however, continuing my research into the 1980s HIV/AIDS experience. I have fallen over article after article that analyzes what happened during that time to a whole demographic of people that no one bothered to care for. It’s heartbreaking, especially in terms of what’s happening on the ground right now over public health. Measles, anyone?
The tiny courses are niggling me to get going, but I only have so many hours in the day! This is why they say time is the great leveler. The first four courses will be Body, Heart, Mind, Spirit chakra teachings. Each is a dive into one aspect of learning how to have Exponential Energy—something we all need right now. The biggest mistake people make when attempting to raise their own energy is to look outside themselves for solutions. Nope! Exponential Energy is an Inside Job.
Lauren Grace, my soul sister in Australia, has my visit with her live as a full-length episode on her award-winning Afterlight Podcast. Here’s what she says about it:
Restore Your Energy and Reclaim Your Power with Dr. Susan Corso
In this episode of The Afterlight Podcast with Lauren Grace, we dive into energy leaks and how to restore yourself to exponential energy with special guest Dr. Susan Corso.
✨ Using the chakras to gain clarity and heal
✨ Releasing the past & transforming rage
✨ The power of prayer & energy work
✨ Tapping into your energy system & reclaiming your power to choose
And so much more... If you’re ready to heal, recharge, and step into your full potential, this episode is for you! Listen now!
She also has two mini-episodes from that same chat which are live in March and April. March’s episode went live Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Exploring the Emotion of Rage with Dr. Susan Corso. April’s episode went live Saturday, April 12, 2025. Are you listening to the Watcher or the Witness with Dr. Susan Corso.
Eep. What isn’t next? I have a bunch of things in all different pots simmering on the stove in my creative mind awaiting creative expression. Did you know that this is why you can’t copyright an idea? Nope. You can only copyright the expression of an idea—a very different matter. That’s why I’m so disciplined about my writing. Unless I express it, the idea is just an idea. It’s when it takes form that the magic happens. Or, maybe not. It’s the process of the idea becoming expressed is where the magic happens, and oh, I do like me some magic.
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My review request this issue is … if you love speculative fiction, would you please read Jezebel Rising—the permafree book that starts my Subversive Lovelies? If you love it, would you leave a stellar review? I need THREE MORE reviews of four stars and above to do one of my special series promotions … please. This will take you right there.
Reviews really are the engine that powers the career of an indie author.
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In traditional publishing, it used to be that editors, once they’d bought a book, would work through it with their authors, recommending where changes needed to happen before the book would sell to the general public. Far fewer editors (or agents, come to that) who work in publishing do this any more, but a lot of them use freelance editors to accomplish the same work. This kind of an editor needs to be kind, but also to slash and burn, making the book the best it can be before putting it out in the world. I happen to know an editor who’s really good at this.
Tony Amato is my favorite editor for lots of reasons, but mostly because he’s a uniquity. A very fancy word for one-of-a-kind. His bushel of talents serves authors and their books in a way unlike any other editor I know. May I encourage you to reach out if you need book-husbanding? Seriously, this is the guy.
Now more than ever the whole world needs your creative input. Really, if it’s about books—you name it, he’s done it. Like I said, if you need anything in your writing life, Tony Amato is the person. Find him here.
P. S. Tony Amato, as you know, my favorite editor, has a new substack. He’s writing about writing and he’s sharing some of his own fiction. Subscribe here.
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Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight Loss Drugs by Johann Hari
from the blurb … In January 2023, Johann Hari started to inject himself once a week with Ozempic, one of the new drugs that produces significant weight loss. Hari was wildly conflicted. Can these drugs really be as good as they sound? Are they a magic solution—or a magic trick?
Finding the answer to this high-stakes question led him on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo, and to interview the leading experts in the world on these questions. He found that along with the drug’s massive benefits come twelve significant potential risks.
He also found that these drugs radically challenge what we think we know about shame, willpower, and healing.”
Johann Hari is an exemplary investigator, with razor-sharp instincts, genuine wit, and a mind that likes to weigh all sides of an issue. He also doesn’t let go until he’s satisfied he’s done his best. This he does beautifully with Ozempic and Friends. Follow him as his research changes his mind again and again about these life-saving and potentially life-limiting drugs. Well worth your reading time.
P.S. I’ve left this review from the last issue. It’s too important a book to gloss over.
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Are you waiting for a sign?
How about this one?
These wings live on one of the bridges
that cross the Merritt Parkway
in Connecticut,
and have often been default imagery
for me,
especially if I’m feeling discouraged.
A lot of us feel that way right now—too much
change too fast, and helpless in the face of it.
Are you aware of the images to which
you default?
Are they uplifting like this one?
Or do you need a new one?
Borrow my wingèd bridge, by all means,
and look for and identify
your own default images.
When enough of us use images that
connect us to our dreams,
and to one another,
our world will change for the better.
I am, without doubt, certain that And is the secret to all we desire.
Let’s commit to practicing And ever more diligently, shall we?
Until next time,
Be Ampersand.