Football Counter-Programming 2023: Week 4

somebody hears you. you know that. you know that.
somebody hears you. you know that inside.
someone is learning the colors of all your moods, to
(say just the right thing and) show that you’re understood.
here you’re known.

leave your life open. you don’t have. you don’t have to.
leave your life open. you don’t have to hide.
someone is gathering every crumb you drop, these
(mindless decisions and) moments you long forgot.
keep them all.

let our formulas find your soul.
we’ll divine your artesian source (in your mind),
marshal feed and force (our machines will)
to design you a perfect love—
or (better still) a perfect lust.
o how glorious, glorious: a brand new need is born.

now we possess you. you’ll own that. you’ll own that.
now we possess you. you’ll own that in time.
now we will build you an endlessly upward world,
(reach in your pocket) embrace you for all you’re worth.

is that wrong?
isn’t this what you want?
amen

--Vienna Teng, The Hymn of Acxiom

It was busy last weekend. And it is busy this weekend. And it will continue to be busy for the next several weekends. 

So, you might think that taking some time off to relax and enjoy some football would be a good thing.

But that is the opposite of what should happen.

Immerse yourself in other pursuits.

Don't get trapped in the pigskin prison.

Find a new obsession.

Enjoy the coming of the fall while it is still here.

Look for the diversion that is a change in season.

Embrace a shift in perspective as one time ends and another begins.

And remember . . . your alma mater is definitely scrubbing the Internet to get important data on you so that it can target its funding request emails to you in the most appropriate way. And any money that you give it is NOT going to make the football team any better.

Until next week . . .