Month: March 2023

goodness I slept late

I have no idea how that happened. (10 mg THC lozenge rolls tiny cartoon eyes). Alex is still passed out but he’s stirring so he’ll be up soon. I will not be partaking for the sake of my fatty liver, but we’ll go to Tim Hortons and get treats plus orange juice for Alex.

Sent the ‘Gamer Uncle’ photo to Suzanne, who said bwa ha ha and advised me of such by return email. Keith is working very hard to be a good rellie to Suzanne, and it’s working because she adores him (most especially for his efforts with Ryker – who, just in case anyone hasn’t been paying attention, also adores Keith – and his being committed to cooking her gluten free.)

Battle Cats, Alex’s latest game, has very compelling music… so compelling that Alex feels compelled to sing along with it (he misses like one note in a hundred, so that makes me feel good too.)

 

Scales on a moth wing from a microphotography contest
Scales on a moth wing, Alex’s new desktop pic.

Wordle in three HURRRAAHHH, Lumosity no top scores, 2242 words on Instructor, 23321 words on T.B.

Errybuddy have a good day yall.

Alex just got a good night call from his parents

Which was very sweet.

I’ll be asking him to “lights out” in a few minutes. Also just learned what his email address is.

So many happy feels right now.

pOp’s recent surgery results are back and he’s going to be with us for a while longer. Which is good, because the Camaro will be coming back in a week, all fixed up thanks to Uncle Gary. There is definitely something to live for

SOMEBODY IS BLONDE YALL

Blond Alex plays Batle Cats just before bed.

Anecdotage

Drunks are such a downer.

flattened 'report drunk driving sign' next to the backwards facing sedan that hit it.

Working on a letter to Auntie Mary. In a few minutes I’ll take my morning pills, wait until I no longer feel like throwing up (the pills are bitter as squill), and go get money to pay Suzanne with, for today is a day of enshinening.

A black kitten sits on the back of a unicorn stuffie with the label And lo, I saw a rider on a pale horse and the rider was death.

Finished S1 of Van Der Valk (the new series) – you can faintly hear the old theme song hiding in the new one! Yes Dave you were right to recommend it.

 

 

Ukraine update

Putin and Xi have finished their meeting and sadly, China’s ‘suggestions’ for ‘peace’ are basically Russian eating Ukraine and shitting out grain shipments and rooting around for Black Sea oil while jacking off to dreams of Romanov imperial splendour, opulence and supremacy.

The Kyiv Independent reports:

Statistics agency: Ukraine‘s GDP down 31.4% in 4th quarter of 2022. Ukraine‘s GDP fell by 31.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a 30.8% drop in the third quarter, according to the State Statistics Service.

464 children – have been killed by Russia in Ukraine.

934 – injured to varying degrees of severity.

150,000 – were kidnapped and moved to Russia. – Source unknown but it matches everything else I’ve seen.

PLEASE NOTE 11000 CHILDREN HAVE DIED IN THE YEMEN CONFLICT. (In other words brown children are getting killed too; it’s just that Ukraine was twice the land of my foremothers and I feel a connection.) I wasn’t able to figure out which proportion of the 52000 civilians killed in the Tigray conflict (Eritrea) have been children. And of course there’s more than one way to run a genocide; China sterilizing Uyghur women at the rate of 250/100000 <—- insanely high for a country with a PLUMMETING BIRTH RATE, and budgeting enough money to sterilize one third of the women of Uyghur origin in a single municipality in a single year is also horrific. It’s easier to prevent kids than waste them I guess. Source, Vox.

Maxim Tucker reports:

In some battles, like Vuhledar and Bakhmut, the Russians have a 1:1 ratio of killed to wounded, Nato says. Ukraine’s medevac procedures have helped it achieve 1:9, KIA to WIA according to statistics it shared with Nato. Half of those rescued will be able to return to active duty.

Jesus Christ on a rubber crutch, I’m glad I’m not a Russian medic. This is Putin treating his troops with the ultimate disrespect. Medevac must be a joke to them. Ukraine at least treats every combatant as precious and the difference in how their commanders treat them must be VERY OBVIOUS to the guys taking fire.

Wagner Group is apparently having to release half of the soldiers they have left because they fulfilled their contracts and managed to survive the meat-grinder. So on top of everything else, Russia’s going to have another call up, and they’ll probably be sending reform school teens and the worst scum of the Russian prison system. Good thing the first thing you hear from the Ukrainians is how to surrender without getting killed…

Keith cooked lunch

it was a veggie burrito bowl

and NOM and SO FILLING I DIDN’T NEED DINNER. I had a weird turn when we went to the Buy Low for groceries and had to sit for most of it on the stairs outside (got to watch a worker install flashing) but was feeling better by the time we went home and at least got up to help pay for it all at the register. Definitely a lovely experience shopping there – they added a cashier, processed us fast and were very warm and professional. It’s been open for years and it’s around the corner and it’s the first time either of us went. Funnily enough it’s exactly the same distance to either, 1.4 km. If I was walking I’d go to Buy Low because it would be downhill on the way back. Keith said the prices are comparable or better unless it’s Costco.

Alex overnight tomorrow unless it turns out that my ‘turn’ is actually me being too sick to care for him. I feel fine right now but I haven’t tried to get up yet lol.

LEFTOVER BURRITO BOWL AND TEA EQUALS NOM.

So satisfying to eat what he cooked.  Tee Hee.

2179 on Instructor; no progress TB. Wordle in five (it was a hard word…) and two top fives and a best ever in Lumosity. I do feel snappier in the brain than I did yesterday.

 

finished ‘Prehistorian’

mOm do tell Ontie Mary that I finished reading the book she gave me. Absolutely loved it. V. Gordon Childe was an incredible original, reminiscent in many ways in his antiestablishment and decidedly leftist views to our dear and now passed Prof. Mick Aston; he excavated Skara Brae (although he was dead wrong about the dating, it’s Neolithic not Iron Age) and systematized many aspects of modern archaeology we now take for granted. He read a dozen languages and couldn’t pronounce any of them for shite. He was so confirmed in his view that older archaeologists were a fucking plague on the profession that when he turned sixty five he returned to Australia, land of his birth, said goodbye to remaining family and friends, put his affairs in order, went for a walk and jumped off a cliff.

Sometime in late February we got a Walmart delivery to the back basement door and didn’t notice. It got et by critters. Jeff phoned Walmart. We can now recycle the rotting order from the back deck. There was a child’s playhouse in there too, I guess Ryker is getting it. Jeff and I feel terrible about it. I’m going to make a weatherproof sign for the back door so hopefully it never happens again, because this is twice in a year.

There’s something very contentment-making about friending an old boyfriend on facebook and …. he’s acting like an old friend without being nosy. Not whatever it is that young men are supposed to have turned into. Age has its consolations, youth its horrors.

Today Keith comes over to fix us a vegetarian lunch. I roasted some beast yesterday (three veg nuked). It was edible but far from choice. Didn’t stop me and Jeff from piling it down, however, and horseradish sauce covers a multitude of sins.

1974 words on Instructor, no progress on TB.

Lumosity was a bust today. Wordle in 4. The word was tough, quite literally.

 

 

you little punk

I am still laughing once in a while as I remember a phone call – brief and sputtering – during which I was ATTEMPTING to communicate with Katie and she began to yell,

“HEY I NEED THAT YOU LITTLE PUNK”

and then she told me that Ryker was running madly around her place naked with a pen so she had to chase him down. You could then hear him grizzling in the background for about 4.5 seconds before he started zooming around again.

Those poor cats.

Alex is coming for a sleepover later this week, exact evening to be determined. Jeff is considering asking him to assist with pinball fixing.

My allergies are not horrible – I don’t take antihistamines and I can still manage to sleep – but they sure aren’t great.

Very much enjoying Medium, which Jeff suggested, and it’s proving to be a fine choice as it depicts a solid marriage relationship and normal family life…. as well as the spookier stuff.

Spoke to Dave yesterday and he recommended the new “Vandervalk”.

1685 words on Instructor, still stuck at the old word count on TB. Wordle in 4, Lumosity will happen after some tea and toast.  Then a shopping expotition.

 

lovely afternoon filking

I am very happy about that today. Laundry continueth. I think Jeff’s gone downstairs to watch March Madness.

Today will be ACHOO.

Alder’s my fucking Kryptonite; I feel like my eyelids are sandpaper.

Finally finished Sinner season 3 (so now we’ve finished because we accidentally started on season 4). I appreciate Matt Bomer as an actor but as Jamie Burns he was the among the most detestable characters ever and when he deleted deleted I was very very happy.

My liver is still misbehaving (as evidenced by my output, sorry to be so blunt). I am trying to eat properly but I feel like I don’t want to eat at all unless it’s bad for me, a sad state of affairs. Started the day with tea and fibre bread and marmalade. Promptly upsidedowned the marmalade onto my dress. Changed clothes.

 

 

little bit of everything day

Yesterday I got a key to the Junction FINALEMENT jfc and did a teeny bit of child care coverage while Keith had to run errands and then we put away the groceries that were delivered and Rob W was in the middle of moving and took a two teacup restorative break and we caught up.

Later me and Jeff and Mike watched Frank Grillo and Beau Knapp in Little Dixie, an unapologetically violent and cynical movie with a happy ending.

Today FILKING at Peggy’s

22847 TB, 835 words on new fic.

Image

Lovely weather yesterday

Didn’t go out in it though.

Still thinking about that amazing dense, perfectly iced chocolate cake Peggy brought us. She literally can’t eat chocolate, so it is amazing that she bakes it, but not amazing that it tastes so good. Because she is excellent at most of what she tries, and her hospitality is the model and standard against which I hold myself.

Buster is shedding still, sigh, but nothing like Margot good god.

Tuesday we go to see the new cats. Excitement! One of them is already a lap cat and is in training to be a shoulder cat. Words cannot express Keith’s happiness at this. Hoping to get a pic of him with Ryker passed out and the new olde cat on his shoulder WHILE HE’S GAMING for an update of that last gem! ‘Twould be awesomesauce.

330 words on a new fanfic ‘The Instructor’; I am trying to work on stuff for TotesBoned but it’s not flowing at the moment. Also the plotty stuff approaches and I’m fer shit on that.

Three top scores in Lumosity, Wordle in 4. My brain is working.

I’ve been sleeping through the night and almost four hours extra in the middle of the day. Well, the blood test did say I was fighting a viral infection. As for what the air is like in Vancouver, lemme see now….

Pollen index for Vancouver March 16 2023 VERY HIGH Cedar Juniper, HIGH Alder

the peace of glob be achoo

not alone

Called Dave, his room has changed. Still no ultrasound. His test results continue to puzzle the specialists, often an unwanted combination of words, but his electrolytes are better. His cats have been fed and watered and he has additional phone numbers if he needs them. My relief is most great.

Jeff has been super helpful and kind the last few days. We actually left the house yesterday, picked up some treats, were the only people (almost 100 percent except for some staffers) wearing masks indoors.

Wordle in three, haven’t done Lumosity yet, 22847 words.

James Hong wore googly eyes on his bow tie at the Oscars. You’d have to see the movie ‘EEAAO’ to understand why that’s even funnier than it is on the surface.

Paul is still in Seattle, he’ll be back eventually.