war, what is it good for?

This blog post took a week to write. It’s not the longest thing ever, but it could be shorter.After overthinking my necklace possibilities, I’d put on my Strength Tarot card pendant for going-out. “La Force,” the small brass rectangle reads. The RWS Tarot traditionally depicts Strength as a white woman in white robes who is using both her hands to hold open the maw of a lion. It’s about the sustained tension of equilibrium, with her own applied force exactly equal to that of the lion’s jaws. There is no conflict here; the woman’s face is placid and contemplative, meditative, almost smiling, as the lion gazes up at her. Perhaps she is attempting to administer medicine to the animal. A lemniscate hovers above the woman’s head1. A short while later, wearing my Strength necklace at the bookstore bar, I was saying something about gladiatorial combat. “That’s what it’s for: people clamoring for blood, satiating an audience’s bloodlust2 without anyone actually getting killed,” I blurted.…