Miksimum

is the index page for Jesse Miksic,
a digital dilettante dayjobbing as a UX designer

Loyally feeding the following beasts:

(follow and/or friend me -- if you appear to be a real person capable of passing the human tests, I will probably reciprocate)

General

  • @miksimum on Twitter A random sampling of thoughts and anxieties and signal-boosts and self-promotion.

    • Verbal

  • Benefit of the Doubt My outlet for Media Theory, also used to track other sources
  • @Miksimum on Medium Home to more politics and theory writing, plus reposts from Benefit of the Doubt
  • Berfrois.com A great site that kindly publishes my more polished critical writings
  • 366 Weird Movies An awesome site where I'm an on-and-off contributor
  • Goodreads My book reviews are long enough that I consider this an official creative outlet

    • Visual

  • @miksimum Tumblr Reposting all my visual art from Tumblr
  • @miksimum Instagram Visual art, plus occasional snapshots
  • Symbot on Flickr Digital photography, a hobby on temporary haitus
  • Overheated Media My short video work, on extended haitus since 2012

    • Recent Output

    Aggregated from Benefit of the Doubt and Tumblr, which gives the best representative sample of work in multiple media, I think

    Back to an old haunt #manhattan #chelsea #fryingpan (at Frying...



    Back to an old haunt #manhattan #chelsea #fryingpan (at Frying Pan - NYC)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BoDfKmjAhD8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nkff1se6830q

    Posted on 23 September 2018 | 12:02 am

    Gilded grass, late September morning #dew #closeupphotography...



    Gilded grass, late September morning #dew #closeupphotography
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BoADXsHAMye/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hw7lgx2r4hzz

    Posted on 21 September 2018 | 4:02 pm

    Lehigh Valley Scenic Railroad #lehighvalley #pennsylvania...



    Lehigh Valley Scenic Railroad #lehighvalley #pennsylvania #poconos #jimthorpe (at Lehigh Gorge State Park)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn2b5TSAHxu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1k9a0hhv3wltl

    Posted on 17 September 2018 | 10:23 pm

    “Open sunrise to #sunset” (at Tobyhanna State...



    “Open sunrise to #sunset” (at Tobyhanna State Park)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn0Cyf2AMGH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18q7mktr70zkj

    Posted on 17 September 2018 | 12:05 am

    This guy was at the gates of the butterfly garden, our...



    This guy was at the gates of the butterfly garden, our fluttering amber-eyed welcoming committee #butterfly #strongmuseum (at The Strong Museum)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BnXgmEogE1y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jwxoryv5mtyt

    Posted on 5 September 2018 | 10:08 pm

    Somewhere outside of time #classiccars (at Hemlock, New...



    Somewhere outside of time #classiccars (at Hemlock, New York)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BnVTA48gDMC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1mqrutqaqph1j

    Posted on 5 September 2018 | 1:31 am

    “Pardon me, I was just admiring your luminous...



    “Pardon me, I was just admiring your luminous geology…”

    “It’s ok. You’re not the first to stare.”

    #strongmuseum #butterflygarden #iguana #technicolor (at Strong National Museum of Play Library)
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BnKVrVogpUL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ujov4buvjpp8

    Posted on 31 August 2018 | 7:22 pm

    Pierrot meets Harlequin, and the great tragicomedy goes on...



    Pierrot meets Harlequin, and the great tragicomedy goes on #clown #strongmuseumofplay
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BnILbbpgcRu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=uvj0gu69j93k

    Posted on 30 August 2018 | 11:14 pm

    We have all had quite a summer, eh Bee? (at Manhattan, New York)



    We have all had quite a summer, eh Bee? (at Manhattan, New York)

    Posted on 23 August 2018 | 11:24 pm

    The tiniest ducky for Gillian #brooklynchildrensmuseum #souvenir



    The tiniest ducky for Gillian #brooklynchildrensmuseum #souvenir

    Posted on 4 August 2018 | 10:19 pm

    Star Wars Episodes VII and VIII: The Law of the Father, the Life of the Mother

    WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Star Wars, especially episodes VII and VIII.

    Fatherhood is deeper in the Star Wars DNA than Light Sabers, deeper than the Force and the Light and Dark Sides. It's the thematic backbone and nerve center of the whole mythology.

    "Luke, I am your father."

    "You were the chosen one!"

    etc etc

    Starting from Obi Wan, and going outward in either direction, you can see how the Patriarch is implicated in every mythical moment. Obi Wan is the keystone of the first six Star Wars films.

    We are introduced to Obi Wan as mentor to Luke, through whom Obi Wan hopes to redeem himself. Obi Wan's training (continued by Yoda) allows Luke to face his own father, eventually becoming Vader's mortal enemy, echoing the patricidal impulse that the Sith swear by (the Rule Of Two).

    The original trilogy is resolved, in episode 6, when Luke refuses the patricidal role that seems to be his destiny: refusing to destroy his father, even at the most decisive moment, he effectively breaks the murderous chain that runs through every Star Wars.

    If you trace the line of fatherhood from Obi Wan in the other direction, you find, in the prequels, Anakin the fatherless, rebelling against one father-figure (Obi-Wan) and ultimately destroying another (Emperor Palpatine).

    Anakin, the fatherless, the betrayer... from his betrayal of Obi Wan, unto his redemption, the betrayal of Supreme Leader Darth Sidious. And of course, in Kylo Ren, Anakin finds an analogue.

    And so, fifteen years go by, and then come Star Wars VII and VIII, proudly restating the themes of their predecessors. Kylo Ren is Vader with his mask off: the tortured product of a compromised ideology, following in Anakin's footsteps as the consummate patricide (first Solo, then Snoke). He is a creature of naive idealism, twisted into a reactionary when faced with the imperfections of his symbolic order.

    Fatherhood is still a pivotal theme in episodes VII and VIII, but now, a new question emerges to complicate it:

    What of motherhood? Of the masculine, we've seen much... but of femininity, all we've seen, in Episodes I-VI, is maidenhood. The only mother who has any role in character development is Shmi, and she is effectively a disposable device, part of a section of backstory clumsily soldered to the Clone Wars narrative arc.

    At the very least, we saw that the death of his mother was the first trigger for Anakin to drift toward the dark side (though it may have always been within him). In a sense, Anakin was a failure of nurturing, an id conditioned entirely through the one-sided application of austerity, specialized training, and detached spirituality.

    So we might take the license of really reading into that: the whole story, from episodes I through VI, is the story of a universe without motherhood.

    It is only in Episode VII and VIII that motherhood stands up and makes its return. Leia Organa is the motherhood of strength and survival, Maz Kanata is the motherhood of the concerned bystander, and Amilyn Holdo is the motherhood of secondary relations, the aunts and godmothers and best friends of the world. This motherhood includes both survival and sacrifice, two dominant themes of Star Wars Episode VIII.

    In Episode VIII, Luke returns, and through Luke and Kylo Ren, the fatherhood theme continues its critical role. However, Luke Skywalker, now a hermit sage, drives a massive shift in momentum: he hesitates to become the father figure, and when he finally does, he is the ghost of a dying ideal. His critical contribution is a duel with no intention of winning; his final gesture is to fade away and vanish altogether.

    This is Luke seeing this history for what it is, and attaining the clarity of two crucial insights:

    FIRST, that the fatherhood complex is toxic... it has always been about ideological purity and passivity (the Light), or about envy and murder (the Dark).

    SECOND, that the new virtues must be wholly different: the virtues of survival and sacrifice and rebirth. These are the virtues championed by the maternal spirits, and they are the stamps of destiny upon Rey, the orphaned female successor to the Jedi philosophy.

    And still carrying this thematic burden, despite her tragic loss: Carrie Fischer as Leia Organa, forever the survivor, sending severed tongues to abusers, always shattering her stereotypes: the princess, the sexual chattel, the hysteric. Carrie Fischer, who seemed so linked to her own mother that the latter followed Carrie into the dark.

    And so, we can follow Star Wars, one of our greatest mythologies, into one of its greatest discoveries: that motherhood survives and blesses our successors with their survival, and fatherhood finally learns when to let go and overcome itself, dissolving back into history.

    * Benefit of the Doubt * | Miksimum

    Posted on 24 May 2018 | 1:30 pm

    #Nature invented #drama



    #Nature invented #drama

    Posted on 2 May 2018 | 3:52 pm

    Jesse Miksic Publications

    Jesse Miksic Publications:

    Had a few poems published last weekend, in some excellent online lit markets!

    Sky Island Journal Issue 4

    Five:2:One #thesideshow

    … and prompted by those developments, I added a page to my personal site that lists my poetry publication credits. So there ya go!

    Posted on 30 April 2018 | 12:02 pm

    “Let’s stay up all night.” -the moon tonight in #Peekskill 🌙. ...



    “Let’s stay up all night.” -the moon tonight in #Peekskill 🌙. #haunted #sleepless #moon #timelapse #hudsonvalley

    Posted on 29 April 2018 | 11:58 pm

    Some old friends returning with the warm weather #peekskill...



    Some old friends returning with the warm weather #peekskill #depewpark #geese #sunset (at Depew Park)

    Posted on 13 April 2018 | 10:14 pm