Author: Allegra

Born when atmospheric carbon was 316 PPM. Settled on MST country since 1997. Parent, grandparent.

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters Afterlife was a perfectly charming addition to the canon; the child actors were without exception great, and the casting of Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd as the adults was a nice touch because they are always worth watching.

Great special effects and a genuinely funny script rounded the entertainment out.

The wind never got too bad yesterday, thank goodness.

Tammy should be on her way to Hawaii today.

Katie and her kids’ COVID tests came back negative. I should have more RATs delivered next week.

The sun came out yesterday and nearly blinded us, it was so unexpected.

I’m really feeling my lack of exercise; Paul and I haven’t walked together in weeks.

BP not great but not critical.

 

 

Trolls come out to play

Boy Howdy if you want to get shat on in subreddits ? supporting trans people is def the way to do it.

Still very sore in my muscles but the walkways look great LOL. Weather today involves rude amounts of wind, so charge your devices.

Tiny bits of writing.

Made a really nice bean stew / sorta chili last night. Forgot to seal the instant pot but it cooked up okay anyway. (after enlivening Jeff’s evening. IT HISSETH MOST SCARILY)

One can Heinz veggie beans, two cans diced tomatoes, one can black beans, one cup frozen corn, one can garbanzos, one can red kidney beans. Half teaspoon of cayenne, teaspoon of cumin, many many many shakes of garlic powder, a shake of black pepper, and no added salt.

The astronomers are watching a star blow up in real time, and it sounds really cool, although the event itself is rather warm.

 

shovelling was horrible

My back hurts from shovelling so much in the last week that I collapsed around ten and slept for about four hours. I’m scared to take my blood pressure, but I will. Please be advised that Jeff shoved more snow around than I did.

No Suzanne today. Either next Thursday or this weekend, depending on when and whether the weather tries to fucking kill us next. Streets as icy af.

We FINALLY FOUND WALKWAY SALT my God that took a while.

Alex Fraser Bridge closed by cops, both ways, around noon today. Skytrain morning commute on the Expo line by all accounts a disaster.

However there has been no power interruption, and I give the workers of BC Hydro a wave of appreciation for their labour.

And I got a wholesome award today on reddit, and talked to a neighbour to make sure he had salt as well.

 

Lovely to see Tammy last night

We got two kinds of Japanese takeout (far too salty, but oh so tasty) and ate at her accommodations, which included a view of the Science Centre. She was half a block from a taxi stand, and I got home just as the temperature was dropping and it was about to snow. I haven’t had the courage to look outside yet, but I need to pee so…

Yup, there’s another 3 cm out there, just as the prophecy foretold.

Moar effin precip

Moar shovelling today I imagine. It’s supposed to stop today and start again tomorrow, might be as much as 15 cm but my heart misgives me and I think it will be more. AND STILL THERE IS NO SALT IN THE STORES.

Much horror, humour, excitement and a happy ending –  with the fam over in Victoria – yesterday. To preserve the privacy and dignity of those involved I shall say nothing here except that we are all well, and perhaps some of us collected some bruises. I shall also note that in the midst of my hysterics (yup, cried like a baby on the phone with my mOm), when I was first informed of the precipitating event, that I kept my cheese assembled long enough to provide useful and actionable advice to someone under stress, so go me. Everything came out as okay as it can but I sure learned that I’m a hair from weeping and flailing about pretty much anytime.

Jeff and I, partly because of the effin precip, partly because of the news, and partly because (WAVES HAND OVER THE IDEA THAT A MILLION AMERICANS AND QUITE A FEW CANADIANS GOT DIAGNOSED WITH COVID YESTERDAY) did not have a fantabulous day yesterday. I ran the dishwasher and shovelled and fed the birdies but other than that I can assure you I did not do a thing. Okay, I did write 1391 words on the ‘meet cute in the airport during a snowstorm’ story.

Tammy comes to town today to visit friends and fam on her way to Hawaii. Fingers crossed for her travel luck; there’s a break in the weather on both ends but if COVID knocks too many people off work, that plane won’t leave… Like I said fingers crossed. She’s double boostered. If anyone is safe to travel in a pressurized aluminum skin full of plague she is. She just messaged me to say her flight’s still showing on time. With luck she’ll call me a little after noon.

I observe that when white people stick their noses in the ‘pan-Indigenous’ concept it’s usually about control over, grift from and erasure of distinct nations and persons. Only nations can determine belonging and categories of belonging. It isn’t a single, simple concept or law.

I have opened YET ANOTHER PROJECT FILE this one non-fiction. It’s called Common Human Cognitive Issues and What to Do About Them. I realize I have zero experience with that! (actually that’s not true, but it wasn’t peer reviewed, which is a grift anyway) which is why it’s going to be a jolly parody of self-help books.

Time to acknowledge

Omicron is really, really fucking with my mental health. I’m terrified for my grandchildren – just because I’m not talking about it doesn’t mean it’s not true – and terrified for all the non-boosted and immunocompromised people I know and love, and you know who you are so I don’t need to call you out.

I’m angry into the next century at Dr. Bonnie. I’m filled with loathing at how immediate improvement to the ventilation of school classrooms isn’t on the top of the list of every school district in BC. I’m filled with despair over the testing situation. All of it has been a maelstrom; but since there’s no blood, no yelling, and no drama, it’s easy to dismiss.

Someone said on Twitter recently…. rather than misquote let me dig it up, because it’s HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW

@disnazzio
·
Jan 2
If the pandemic ended tonight I still don’t think I would ever get over the two years of constant relentless exposure to the fact that very few people think human beings have a duty of care to each other.

 

blurb today

Born in western Mi’kma’ki in 1958, settled in S’ólh Téméxw since 1996, Allegra Sloman works across a broad range of word forms, including written correspondence with friends and family, homilies, ranting, poems, a conlang called ‘bih-bah’ based on the sounds basketballs make going through hoops, twenty tweets a day, open letters, teaching a cat to speak, songwriting, standup comedy, essays, daily blogging, fanfic, parody, and short stories. She is also self-publishing SF novels which are available at leanpub.com/upsun. Much of her material is available at allegrasloman.com under creative commons 2.5.

More writing games

  1. I do not remember
  2. a spy
  3. Destiel fic in which the Dean character rescues the Cas character from a landslide
  4. Well it changes every day so I guess finishing “The Sword that Cries Ruin!” which is another fanfic which is already over 200K long
  5. Cochin.
  6. Scrivener
  7. Don’t have one. I guess Brainpickings comes closest.
  8. A.M.
  9. David J. Dowker, but unfortunately our writing process isn’t compatible. He’s a cogitator and I’m a pantser.
  10. fuck you it’s the published books I care about LOL
  11. ERM all of them? I do like Wine Gums
  12. Typing. Handwriting is for when I’m more thoughtful and less reactive.
  13. High fantasy. I’ve had stabs at it but they never ‘stuck’.
  14. Probably mystery. PLOTS MAKE ME DIE INSIDE.
  15. HAW HAW I bet anyone who knows the UPSUN series already knows the answer to this and the answer is yes.
  16. Name first.
  17. I don’t write heroes and villains because I reject the reductionist and colonial approach to plotting. (JUST TRY AND PROVE THAT WRONG.)
  18. JUST THREE ARE YOU HIGH. Jane Coaston. My God. It doesn’t matter whether she’s writing about college football or racism or local politics, there’s just something so crisp and clear about her writing. @apebbleinthesky is so wonderfully discursive about left wing politics without ever getting into the namecally stuff…@mssinenomine (Gabrielle Peters) is also a fiery fiery writer.

I’m wearing Loki’s rune after all

This popped up this morning, evidence that I don’t need much inspiration for a poem:

From the yew-grove to the valley of the fallen
I shall travel with my bow, my knife, my faithful dog
Under the light of the ancestors, bright now,
Dancing the heavens, I shall walk with my thoughts
And my shadow, cast green along the snow,
Until the tale of all my deeds is told
And Freya gathers me into her field at last

So, there isn’t just Valhalla. There are two other places the dead go. Freya has a field called folkvangr (pronounced folkwongs, just to mess you up) where she gathers half the dead. The Allfather gets the other half of the noble dead in Valhalla.