Author: Allegra

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

Foodicles

Jeff found the last of the whipped cream to go with Peggy’s lemming pie.

After she dropped off pie the soup I had recently started was finally done. I kind of ignored the recipe on the package so it was basically a pound of split peas (rinsed many many times), half an onion (the other half of the onion that went into the salad so I felt all housewifely thrifty cuz the onion half didn’t languish for two weeks in the fridge before dying), about ten thin slices of double smoked pork loin cut fine, two teaspoons of bouillon paste,  and ten cups of water. Plain af but Jeff pronounced it exactly what he needed so that was pleasant. I may have it for breakfast.

I wonder if Jeff ate both pieces of pie.

Peggy and her sister have come and gone

They look so much alike, it’s just delightful. More of someone I love!!! Her name’s Sally, I thought it was Sandy, I just gapped it I was so overwhelmed.

Anyway, we exchanged food and a very brief hug. She brought lemming pie, and I gave her salad. In a nice container. I am going to read the poem I wrote for Tom when he was in hospital at his memorial service and I am going to do my best. Now to look up the song “You’d better get it while you can,” by Steve Goodman, because apparently I get to play that for the recessional if I can learn it fast enough and no one else bothers.

10 minutes later… It’s fucking long, y’all. I’m escairt to talk to Paul about it. I mean Katie’s about to have a baby but it’s better to practice at his place because it’s a concrete building but anyway…. I should probably check with Katie before I even broach the subject with Paul. No strategy but more tactics than Satan, that’s me.

weird non coincidence

I called Peggy to ask if now was convenient to deliver some food.

Peggy said, “It’s remarkable that you called.” Peggy had a dream that I made her some fruit bread and I had to apologize because what I actually made her as soon as I got home this morning from the shop was shirazi salad (one container for her, one container for me and Jeff and probably Paul because he loves the stuff). I offered to deliver it and she counter-offered to pick it up because she has a lengthy car appointment and will be by later this afternoon. Technically tomatoes are a fruit. Isn’t the message on the wind the strangest thing?

My recipe:

five on the vine tomatoes

one English cuke

half a white onion

all the above chopped fairly small

juice of half a lemon

two sprigs of fresh mint chopped fine

two sprigs of fresh parsley chopped fine

The thing I love about this salad is that it is entirely devoid of salt and pepper, and maybe someday I’ll get some sumac (the spice, not the poisonous shit) and make it more authentically. This salad comes from Iran/Persia, after the introduction of tomatoes as a crop.

Laundry listing again again

 

 

Well, Jeff and I went for a walk and ran an errand, so let’s tick the box for leaving the house yesterday. I also backed up my hard drive, made myself a fried egg sandwich on brown bread for breakfast, cleaned the stovetop and side of the stove, stayed hydrated, cleared the sinks, finished cleaning off the keyboards and set it up downstairs, put some more junk in the box to go to Value Village, ran some more laundry which is still resting comfortably downstairs, talked to Keith on the phone (part of which conversation involved talking about Keith looking for work, which I’m not convinced would be ideal for him currently) arranged another sleepover with Alex, brushed my teeth and hair, started some letters, decided to completely ignore NaNoWriMo because I’m not mentally healthy enough to do that to myself, threw a chicken pie from M&Ms into the oven for lunch, used my medication holder to demonstrate to myself that I keep thinking I’ve already taken my meds, so I’m really glad I have stopped pretending I don’t keep forgetting to take my meds even after the alarm has gone off, learned that Paul’s gf had a brain bleed – she’s apparently able to talk on the phone and all this happened during the period that she was moving house, which sounds terrifying and inconvenient for everyone involved. Whether this means that she and Paul are still broken up – they certainly were the last time Paul and I went for a walk as far as he was concerned – is unclear to me. Keith doesn’t think so, but I’m on the periphery and wish to remain there. There’s supposed to be a Dunnett event today, I believe. I should be going to it. (ACTUALLY IT’S ON THE 13TH AND THE PLACE HAS BEEN SET)

I’m learning to deal with various different aspects of my recently upgraded Scrivener software.

I for once managed to go back down after rising to the call of the toilet and so managed to sleep from 8:30 to 5:00 am, with a couple of interruptions, literally the best night of sleep I’ve had in ages.

We also finished watching, “Joy Ride,” Dana Gould and Bobcat Goldthwaite’s road movie that got delayed when the two of them went off the road and were hospitalized in a car accident. There’s a bit Dana does in the middle that slows things down but otherwise if you’re a leftist and enjoy challenging humour you will make yourself sore laughing. A rewatch of Master and Commander is planned.

This morning we are going to do a small shop and then I hope I’ll be bright enough to keep working on “Clearing the Plains” by James Daschuk, which is a remarkable text, and which, when I’m up for it, holds my attention without difficulty. If I can’t read today I’ll be trying to clear out the living room in preparation for getting rid of some furniture that won’t be coming with me to my next apartment, because I’m going to go where there are no stairs.

This is a summary of what I learned so far.

The depths of the ignorance, violence and depravity of the settlers never ceases to appal me. Not a new learning.

Thanks to climate change, a large portion of Turtle Island’s Indigenous population at the time of contact was in a state of movement and social reorganization; many nations were pushed into decline or extinction as rainfall and water sources and water courses shifted; many nations amalgamated, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not so much; there were a couple of hot spots of inter-nation violence which were not pacified by the re-arrival of horses; and the trade routes which had been running for centuries got messed up as the groups that had supported them died, lost access to resources, or moved, mostly west and north. TB and other infectious illnesses (once again, this is prior to when the really hard diseases like smallpox flooded across the land) in a pressured and transient population were endemic. It’s possible that in the 13th C a volcano half a world away screwed up farming on Turtle Island. Agriculture ceased being a sure bet so places like Cahokia, which was only surpassed in size later by the settlers’ Philadelphia, emptied out, and for the groups closer to the plains, the buffalo herds looked like a better bet, so many nations coalesced around that resource. And they did all this over the course of a couple of centuries or even less, developing new or borrowing existing cultural protocols that protected their new way of life without destroying the land, an achievement that blows my mind.

Also, across the plains, nobody killed beavers. They didn’t need civilizations capable of moving waterways through engineering. They had beavers.

And what was the first thing that the settlers killed.

It’s a hard read but worth it. That’s only chapter one.

Short walk plus Vietnamese food

Paul and I went for a short walk in the neighbourhood, locating about seven thousand dollars worth of expended fireworks in the process.

While we were on the walk we sat on a bench and just ABSORBED sunshine, because it was an incredibly warm and gorgeous day, and I did the visual purple thing. If you have average colour vision:

1 sit someplace with your glasses off and your eyes closed, facing the sun.

2 wait

3 wait some more

4 at first the light behind your eyes looks orange. Over time the colour changes until it’s a smooth, even, silvery green

5 palm your eyes

Your visual field will FLOOD WITH PURPLE a colour of such magnificent intensity that you’ll go HOLY COW. because seriously, you didn’t know what it is like to recharge the rhodopsin in in your colour vision.

Congratulations, briefly, your colour vision and visual acuity will briefly improve.

Sadly, if you have floaters, you will see all of them while you’re waiting for the rhodopsin.

 

Then we went to Edmonds Pho.

I got the electric piano cleaned off and set up downstairs.  I got the spare acoustic guitar (the one John and Paul gave me that has a huge crack in it because Keith dropped the guitar on purpose (he says not but people don’t smirk if that’s not true) in the driveway at the Augur Inn) and the Johnson mandolin hung up in the racks upstairs because I rarely actually play them. I ran the dishwasher and did two loads of laundry. I think I left a load in the washer though.

I finally got hold of Mike. He is still employed. He is ravaged by insomnia though and sounds at a low ebb.

 

Bang bang rrrr

So there were SO MANY EXPLOSIONS in my neighbourhood last night. Buster basically ASKED to be locked in the house (ask Jeff if you don’t believe me) and he was hiding in various places yesterday, since the bear scares started around 11 am and are STILL GOING off in the distance.

This was interspersed by ratrunners zooming at godless speeds and ludicrous RPMs up and down Kingsway. I thank my heritage that I can sleep through damned near anything once I’m asleep but I kept waking up and thinking you bastards.

Cockney Kings Fish and Chips yesterday. They fucked up the order, but not the delivery and more or less said gee that’s too bad when I complained via phone, so no cole slaw with the order.

First world problems, right?

Started transferring musical instruments around in a bid to get all the instruments I actually play or want to play in the same place so it’s more fun for Alex when he has sleepovers. I’ll bring the two instruments I’m not playing upstairs and take the keyboard downstairs.

Jeff and I have an errand to run today, I’m hoping it’s nice enough to walk over there since it’s very close by.

I haven’t been talking much about writing. I’ve been working on fanfic (the current ones about a bad restaurant review (lots of social justicey side comments regarding restaurant workers and COVID) and a do it yourself spa day for two men, (which is very funny IMO) (pretty skinny structural supports for stories but ah well), but I may actually try to do something for November Novel Writing Month, also called NanoWrimo, in which case I’ll talk about it next month when I’m finished.

Left a message for Mike. I’m hoping he’s okay, but I’m not really in shape to be socializing, so.

Time for some more tea.

Buster has never been so clear about wanting me to keep the cat door locked. He peed in the cat litter tray right in front of me; normally if the weather’s decent he likes to commune with nature while he’s draining the main. So I locked the door again. He can’t stand the noise outside, and he feels protected from it if the door is locked. He’s been hiding all over the house; in the towels in the bathroom, under the stairs, under my chair downstairs, on the top deck of the bunkbeds. Poor lamb. He’s also compulsively licking himself so he may be working on an anxiety disorder.

so what does the American Democratic party do?

GRASSROOTS LEFT MOBILIZATION HAPPENS =>

MOBILIZATION BECOMES A THREAT TO THE STATUS QUO =>

DEMOCRATS FIND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MOST MODERATE ELEMENTS, CO-OPT AND HIRE THEM =>

CO-OPTED LEADERS USE THE LANGUAGE OF POPULAR MOVEMENT TO FNNEL ENERGY BACK INTO THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM =>

NOTHING FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGES =>

 

BACK TO THE TOP

From @butchanarchy on twitter

Did I have a productive day?

Jeff brought donuts home after an errand. I ate two.

I got dressed and left the house; Paul and I went for an absolute brute of a walk at Fraser Foreshore. I’ve been wearing orthotics in the house (I have slippers I put arch supports in) and my walking speed picked up most remarkably. Paul was not struggling to keep up but he said I was booting along. Somebody had just put down bird seed so I put it in my hands and let the chickadees do their thing. I now have a 5000mA solar charger on my backpack so I’ll be a powerhouse wherever I go.

I aired out one of the stench suppressors (this one is for my room, there are others in the basement and the basement bathroom) – you’re supposed to ‘recharge them’ in sunshine.

I also recharged my solar light, it was getting limp.

I made brown buns and fed Paul a havarti, roast beest and brown bun sammich.

I received a parcel. My grip strength isn’t what it was so it was an electric can opener.

Did I mention that the day before yesterday I accidentally opened a neighbour’s wrongly delivered parcel and had to wringingly apologize for viewing his Star Trek boxers. One thing I have learned about life is that an apology delayed is murder on the nerves, so I literally got dressed (I’ve been sludgy) to leave the house to apologize.

I am reverting to paper for keeping track of addresses so I have a backup. I’ll be filling it up and then putting it in one of the earthquake packs.

Weather yesterday was wonderful, the park was perfect. I was one of very few people wearing a mask and it was irritating but I’m not exactly doing it for me 100% now, am I.

An elderly woman in Burnaby was assaulted and briefly hospitalized after investigating a noise in her yard. The last time I investigated an outside noise it was a juvenile coyote and a raccoon branniganning up and down the freaking alleyway (the fight started under my window, and I haven’t run across a worse feeling waking up in many years… this was a while back). I definitely won’t be doing it without a stoutte cuddgel and a flashlight anymore.

Somebody left a couple of kudos on a couple of different fanfics.

Somebody let off a bear scare on River Road while we were out walking and it reverberated across Sto:lo in the most unpleasant way and startled me and all the dogs walking in the Foreshore.

They’re fixing the concrete walkway next door

so I told Paul to git on over hyar, they may drop 450 kilos of concrete on his damned plastic canoe (the one that’s heavier than the aluminum one, calice) and I said I’d go walking but that was before I remembered that I had forgotten bread dough for brown buns in the bread machine.

So I had to stop what I was doing, and do that, and now I’m updating you because I’m waiting.

Still so happy Jeff hooked me back up to my twitter account.

The three titles

Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life by James Daschuk (considered a tour de force and foundational text for reconciliation written by a settler)

Unsettling Canada, by Arthur Manuel (Secwepemc Nation)

Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada by Paulette Regan (settler)

I will try to read them. It’s hard to get my ass parked long enough to read, rather than just scroll through the internet, I feel so restless.

Off topic, Suzanne has been here and YAY there’s no more cat barf on the living room floor.

the amazing Brentwood

It was spitting when Paul and I left the house around 1 pm yesterday so we mall walked instead. We went to Brentwood to look at the new mall, and it’s actually very nice and pleasantly accessible. We ate at Cazba, having the chicken platter and shirazi salad (which is actually a late addition to Iranian cuisine thanks to the introduction of the tomato during the Qajar period). It was spendy as hell but the chicken was done over a grill and it was very nom, and my body kept encouraging me to finish the salad, it was so tasty, fresh and healthy. We were back home in a couple of hours after walking all over the joint and checking out the spots where the old mall and the new mall have been joined up. Personally I really like the new food court which is not completely full yet but it was funny listening to Paul feel sorry for the retailers because he said “Malls are dead, they were dying before this pandemic,” and we walked mostly in silence past covered shop window, after covered shop window. Some of the old merchants like Purdy’s and the banks and phone kiosks, and Daniadown are still there, but the smoke shop/post office (to my sadness) was gone, and whether in the old part of the mall or the new there were lots of signs saying who was moving in and a lot of empty shops. One thing about Brentwood hasn’t changed though, the fucking surface parking is a disaster zone; we went all the way to the southern Beta Street exit to find a goddamned parking spot.

There are enough seats all around the new Brentwood and even the outdoor ones are the kind you can stretch out on (they are all backless). I saw a lot of people with strollers and in powered wheelchairs, and at the base of the walkway there’s a little nook with comfy chairs and a fireplace – which was jammed with people using the wifi. That’s also close to a place called the Rec Room which uses their smart phones to track guests as they play on a wide assortment of games. Not exactly pandemic friendly but they’re checking IDs and vaxx status.

Unfortunately all those hard surfaces did a number on my joints and by the time 6:30 rolled around I felt like I’d been wheelbarrowed across cobbles for a while. Had a lousy night of sleep.