Month: July 2022

cp from facebook

Yesterday mini house filk at Peggy’s – we went page by page through an Echo’s Children songbook interspersed with songs memorializing John, who continues to be greatly missed, although his guitar is still getting a regular workout, thank you Paul. More filking next month! Peggy as always fed us and we were continually refreshed with spearmint tea from her garden.

Her recent purchase of a heat pump = great comfort in the stupendous heat (and it still wasn’t as bad as last year’s heat dome although it was plenty rude).

When Peggy was playing standup bass for a tune it was automatically 100% better. It’s a lovely instrument with a booming voice!

veering away from Echo’s Children (as usual I wept continuously through ‘Outward Bound’, that song is my fricking kryptonite lol), I played Warren Zevon’s ‘Shit’s Fucked up”, and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and Brooke’s “It’s Just so Nice When Someone Knows Your Name”.

Paul played “History is Made by Stupid People”, and the Hallelujah song (aka the Fighter Pilot’s song). As always we nagged the tar out of him for not practicing enough. HE’S RETIRED like me he has no excuse. He also backed me up on cross harp for ‘Spinal Clinic’.

Cindy played “Unexpected” which is a most wonderful song based on the first Vorkosigan books, held down the lead for most of the Echo’s Children songs (plus guitar) and was as always as delightful a voice to lean my alto harmonies against as I ever I encountered.

more later

Jeff sure has been fixing people’s stuff recently.

Paul knocked a side mirror off his car so he won’t be giving me a lift to Peggy’s this morning.

It was damned hot yesterday.

Progress on Part II stalled. I don’t want to do that thing where I skip the hard part in order to get to the easy part and then never write the hard part. But if Omar doesn’t grill Blossom about her situation with Steve then it completely shoots holes in the next part of the plot. He shouldn’t trust her until he knows, and how can he know without asking, and how can he confirm it even if he asks? these are distinct problems and cracking open a case lot of story logic won’t fix it.

 

rounding up and counting down

Wordle in three tries this morning, I’m impressed with myself.

Two kudos last night, good for the ego. I went back and read the ‘Spa and Grill’ story and it’s just a little perfect story, funny and sweet and adorable, just what you want when the word’s a cesspit.

Buster’s got issues with something outside – probably he’s smelling something he doesn’t like.

1117 words on Part II.

Found out that the printer I bought yonks ago can tell when you put in non-approved ink so IT DON’T WORK NO MORE so I have to replace the ink and it’s like 75 dollars so I’m pissed.  Print heads were filthy, Jeff fixed it. Paul’s about to drop by with a misbehaving cell phone.

Suzanne was here and floors are clean. She’s looking forward to the camping trip. I don’t have a lot of camping trips left in me and solh temexw is the most beautiful place on earth so I’m looking forward too. She too dropped by with a computer and Jeff was able to say that while the behaviour of the machine is unusual it doesn’t seem to have anything fatal wrong with it.

I have been told to write more poetry. LOL. I shall cherish the conversation directing me so to do as long as I have memory of it.

Today’s the day for an appointment set up a while back that with luck will have a positive impact on the whole family. Fingers crossed.

Singing and playing at Peggy’s on Saturday.

IT IS FUCKING HOT AND WILL STAY SO FOR A FEW MORE DAYS.

Time to get up and make coffee.

NOPE JEFF GOT ME AN ICED CAPP AND PAUL IS HERE

alex has been and gone

He complained of a tummy ache the entire time he was here. “You are experiencing anxiety. If this was a real illness you’d be fucking hurling,” this is not what I said, I just wanted to sound like the Batman of grandmas to my 30 readers. Instead I said, “You’re concerned about Ryker, but your mother is doing all the right things, and he’s going to be fine.” I mean, he’s fine right now, he just may need some some surgical tweaking, I’ve had surgery, you know, it’s not an uncommon thing. So I am proceeding as I’ve done so far. It’s in the best hands in the world, my role is to be supportive and otherwise free of opinion, and I need to work on my grandma skills, ha ha.

He quit complaining, and fired it up again when his mother appeared. This is like watching three generations of children in one precious bundle. THEN HE PLAYED PLANTS VS ZOMBIES WHILE KATIE AND I ATTEMPTED TO CATCH UP WHILE yEllING aDViCe at him. It’s a damned good thing pOp wasn’t listening, he’d probably laugh until he cried. WE TOOK AIM — I TELL YOU — AT KEEPING A COHERENT CONVERSATION GOING but it did not happen. We hydrated and mocked our conditions. Then went back to tag teaming yelling strategy and tactics at Alex, who appeared to all the world to be enjoying himself, talking himself into additional games while Katie and I flopped in the blessed cool.

Jeff is best of brOs, he got me a device which takes jacks from both recording inputs and headphone jacks so I can hear what the hell is happening in the Kaossilator as I’m recording, something I haven’t been able to do since the second last Mac died. (It had completely different input jacks and there was something else that was different but of course… I do not remember. Something about being configured to deal with Garageband. I think. Do not test me on this, I’ll only cry.)

I wrote a letter to Alex. I put it in an envelope. I didn’t seal or stamp it. He immediately ripped it out of the envelope and threw the envelope on the floor. The only word that tripped him up was Kaossilator, so I told him what that was, then he finished reading it and said ‘Awwww’ like I’d handed him a puppy. My god, he is one of the most convincingly manipulative people I’ve ever met.

Cazart, I should do a backup.

Alex did some more art, he did letter art since I handed him a bunch of different stencils and he took it with him so you know he put some sweat into it. I just got the miniature shapshifters.

I think he’s happy it’s air-conditioned at GG and Grunkle Jeff’s house. But you know he was having too good a time to comment except to say that we weren’t going outside.

Now I gotta make supper it’s hours since I said I would.

Alex today

It’s 8 am and the air conditioner ran all night, and today’s supposed to be worse.

976 words

Buster is easily startled thanks to the construction across the street. We’re trying to be extra nice to him, not that that’s hard.

Here’s a blast from the past (made while I was still working for Planetkiller Enterprises™)

I have lots of thoughts and feelings but I’m going to sit on them until they’re large enough to hatch.

New poem – privilege

but i don’t want to wait through this iteration of this sequence of derangements

i want a room with a door i can shut, a privy i don’t have to clean every day

and the rest is whatever else you want for a socialist paradise

what ho introversion! you give me all my best moments, the times when i can

lovingly and laboriously think about all this stuff before i go offline that last time

now i think, bending and bending toward the ground, of my good fortune

the “lucky bitch” invisibly stamped onto all of my life’s accoutrements 

the way i’ve dodged virtually every responsibility thrust upon me so well

that you would think that i was born to it, a rich saxon baron’s wife, who not once

lacked for bread her whole life, no not though the whole world else were starving

 

Here’s a jpeg of the poem, with better font and blocking

Feasting accomplished

Ordered from Cockney Kings Fish and Chips, watched the latest episode of Westworld, sat on the deck and enjoyed the evening. We hung out until the grand old hour of ten, and Mike declares the 0.0 Heineken beer quite palatable. I got Fat Tugs and drank most of two, so I was plenty plenty last night.

Mike has announced that he’s putting together a skookum gaming computer.

I’m content with the world right now and perhaps I shouldn’t be, but it is a nice feeling to see a friend.

825 words

I get Alex tomorrow afternoon while his brother gets his urology consult. Katie really stayed on top of it, she’s the matriarch now.

Double nickel birthday

Mike’s 55 today. It feels like yesterday that we went to the Dylan concert for his 50th, but nope, five years got out from under us, how amazing.

I’ve got a brief bit of shopping to do for snacckies to do but otherwise we’re just going to bake in the heat on the deck and order out.

Sakurajima erupted yesterday but it has since calmed down somewhat, so that’s good because Japan just can’t catch a break. “The Isle of Cherries” blowing up is kinda mean.

Bulldog Hanover, driven by Dexter Dunn, has set a new world record of 1 minute 46 seconds for a harness racing mile. I just want the names to be Bulldog Hangover and Dexter Diddit. sad

708 words

how about something lighter

  1. United Church is the first denomination in Canada to elect an Indigenous woman as its leader.
  2. Métis from Batoche got some #LandBack
  3. Bear about town becomes bear into bin.
  4. Escaped farm pigs add to BC’s piggish sitch.
  5. Katrina Chen is now co-running David Eby’s leadership campaign. Given how much I’ve been peeing on Eby’s head (at last check Katrina follows me on twitter) this is amusingly embarrassing. Katrina also has a kid in the same school as Alex. hey at least it isn’t private school and Eby’s still superior to many of his cocontenders.
  6. People are very stupid about love. Just thought I’d mention it.
  7. practiced hard on my mandolin Otto, so glad he’s back.
  8. MIKE IS COMING tomorrow. yay. MUST GET TO STORE FOR DE-ALCOHOLIZED BEER.
  9. Mike Parker Pearson has a lot of archaeologists in UK upset (on twitter, what a row) over basically wanting to completely kibosh the tunnel that’s supposed to be DUG UNDER A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE GOOD GOD Y’ALL. Yes indeed. However people like Raksha Dave and Paul Blinkhorn aren’t as upset as all that so it’s definitely interesting AND OF COURSE EVERY TIME THEY DIG there’s archaeology so bizarre they need to take months to check it out…. Anyway it’s a done deal; how much of the diggings will get sieved remains to be seen.
  10. Ben Affleck – demonstrating once more that you have to be in the same room with him to understand his charisma – has managed to marry the evergreen beautiful workaholic known as J-Lo …. I know, I don’t get it either. But I wish them decades of happiness and hope that he can at least keep it in his pants this time.
  11. SHETLAND SERIES 7 TRAILER HAS DROPPED. Yeah!
  12. There’s a street fair walking distance from here, mebbe I’ll go.
  13. Probably I won’t.
  14. Jeff got me brekkie at Foreshore Restaurant yesterday AND I STILL LOVE THEIR SAUSAGE MAN IT’S SO FREAKING GOOD
  15. I think there’s still coffee from yesterday. No peanut butter for me thanks, I’m finally back to not itching as much.
  16. 540 words and I READ THE ENTIRE THING TO mOm YESTERDAY which is terribly ableist of me she needs it in written form but she puts up with me and I love her.
  17. People are still reading my fanfics. Not as much, and never any comments, but it’s nice to know people are still reading.
  18. One little comment from the last time I went walking with Paul. THE ELECTRIC BIKES COMING THROUGH THE TRAILS AT 40 KPH ARE NOT CONSISTENT WITH FRAIL ELDERLY PEOPLE TAKING A CONSTITUTIONAL. I predict that shortly a senior will be injured by a cyclist who WILL UNDOUBTEDLY TAKE OFF AND LEAVE ME THERE.