Category: Cute

pleasant times

Lovely indoor walk with Paul yesterday at Lougheed. He seems very beaten down and oppressed by his illness but cheered up for the walk. It always cheers folks up to eat, so we got some lo mai gai, which was particularly fine in comparison with previous outings, and there was a lone har gaw in there because they were out of enough lo mai gai to fulfil my order, and the hot and sour soup was as good as I ever remember it being there. We went to Cobb’s but I didn’t buy treats, just spongy crusty white bread which is my kryptonite for stuff I’m s’posed to lay off for my liver.

Continue reading pleasant times

The return of the catfather

Buster was waiting on the back stairs for Jeff upon his return, which made for a pleasant moment. Jeff has recovered from the grab bag of indignities that ferry travel subjects him to. Before his arrival I managed to get all the food containers and compostable trash dealt with so the kitchen wasn’t armpit high in trash.

Continue reading The return of the catfather

Do you believe it?

  1. Ivana Trump dying alone in her house from a fall down the stairs. When her kids and ex are about to be deposed. Go ahead and believe, I’ll be over here thinking that’s one way of avoiding being deposed.
  2. medieval marginalia of snail attacking man responding with a broad axe
  3. That’s for pOp, in honour of his consulting animal, the snail.
  4. An entire generation of young Democrats in the US is going to watch the Republicans flat out steal the midterms and the next presidential election and decide that since they’re all fucking broke and have no health insurance it’s time to try revolution.
  5. G20 Finance ministers depart from their most recent confab with a ‘strong’ consensus on global food security and not a sausage of agreement about Russia invading Ukraine (twice in this century, but apparently only the most recent invasion counts).
  6.  Simone Ashley’s Monot Dress is capturing the fancy of the world but all I could think when I saw her was God, those shoes don’t really…. okay fine she’s beautiful but I wish she was wearing nicer shoes.
  7. Dr. Jen Gunter, a true phenom OBGYN who speaks fire and truth about reproductive systems and justice, has received her OWN FLUEVOG SHOE DESIGN
  8. So maybe I’m not the best person to have OPINIONS on SHOES.
  9. I should probably leave the house today.
  10. Pork collops and salad and tea for breakfast.
  11. Wow to continue the snail-ish trend Helmet in the shape of a sea conch shell, Japan 1618, Worcester Museum
  12. what more snails? This lil one lives on hydrothermal vents and has steely toesies. Okay so it’s a scaly footed gastropod but it does have steely toesies.

tired arms

Well I got to hold Ryker A LOT yesterday and given that he’s six months old he’s a heavy little cuss and he has distinct preferences about how he wants to be held and that is UP and BOUNCING. Definitely feeling it. No pictures; I made memories.

When he smiles at Alex I am so happy I want to invent words. You hear people talking about how a baby is the light of a house, but Ryker just is. He makes people happy just by existing.

However I didn’t just fawn over the little one. I asked Alex if he would like an almost endless supply of free games and he asked if there would be ads and I said, well, no, because our taxes already paid for the website. Then he went entirely nuts on the cbc.ca/kids game site (there are dozens upon dozens of games) and he had a fantastic time checking through them. I gave him useful information. I also found out that he wants a Playtime Poppy poster. (Warning this is a really scary horror game which is not 100 percent age appropriate, but I’m going to get him a poster anyway.)

Keith was in fine form and fed me vegetarian bean stew for lunch and half a Stella. Katie continues to dote on her two boys and that’s lovely.

All in all a lovely visit. Paul’s in Seattle of course.

My tinnitus is MUCH MUCH WORSE. First in my right ear, and now in my left ear, day and night I have ticking noises. It started right before the camping trip.

Lovely long talk with Sue last night; she’s auditioning for a lead role in a film AND I’M SO EXCITED FOR HER. (She’s also my canonical casting for the human form of Grandmother Zosime in UPSUN)

New do

 

B-Bombshell took good care of me. The gal who sheared me was an absolutely lovely person and we cracked each other up, it was a jolly time. (I went to Big Star for lunch first, got the number 27 small, shoved half in my bag to take home for Jeff, I do believe Jeff enjoyed the crispy onions. Nearly died when JJ Cale’s ‘Travelling Light’ came on the sound system, I haven’t heard that song in 30 years if it’s a day (bugeyes))

They have a reading area that is NOTHING BUT CONTEMPORARY LARGE FORMAT COMICS and I read an entire Groot special while I was waiting because I was early. B-Bombshell specialize in loud hair but I am only going to get my hair dyed if I’m nommed for an SF award. I’m sitting in bed under a fluorescent light and I still manage to look okay, so I’m happy.

Still laughing to myself about how the precut looked like several dead tribbles on the floor….

Not too much about Ukraine

It’s terrible. The Russians are being indiscriminate with the bombings, but so are the Saudis and the Americans right now. The hypocrisy is thick as jam, and as sticky.

I think the next stage in my psychosocial development with respect to politics is to really examine how I am untrue both to my grandfather’s approach to other human beings, which should, since he was gentle and helpful, be a guide to me, and to my sparse and weedy ethics, infested as they are with my own version(s) of gender essentialism, ableism and libertarianism, not necessarily in that order on any particular day, and I’m sure in almost 20 years of doing this I’ve revealed enough of my other bigotries to hang myself twice, were such things possible.

I mean if I’m going to bust it back to first principles. Is it a material universe – the commonality of detectible ‘reality’ – or is it an imagined and engineered projection, taking place in real-time, or is it a natural phenomenon which one can interrogate without ever knowing the full truth of, or is it God’s Creation, or (all the Creation gods’ names)’s Creation or something else entirely? I mean, I know which way I play it, every time, but is it a material universe? Should it make a difference? Should I be ashamed that the best argument I’ve seen for it NOT making a difference was from Buddy, in Free Guy? Anyway, can’t have a philosophy without taking that one one.

Sorry about the late post, I had yet another disturbed night of sleep and when I went back to sleep I slept late, it’s now almost 10 am.

2249 words on story thus far. I think I’ll try and go back to finishing the landslide one.

Yesterday was wonderful.

We went to breakfast at IHOP (it was deserted), came back here for some TV. Paul called and we went for a walk in Fraser Foreshore (I masked, he didn’t, I drove) and I took my camera, secure in the knowledge and belief that I WOULD GET PICS for my mOm, and I sat in the appointed place at close to the regular hour, and Paul and I couldn’t even hear the tweety birds, let alone see them.

Much abashed, I trudged back to the car, grousing in a desultory way at Paul, and then I saw one of the other unofficial feeding stations and put down a handful of non salted raw Styrian sunflowers and next thing I know, there’s a chickadee in the bush on the other side of the trail making the excited food song, which is the same as their regular song but buzzier, louder and with an extra DEE in there. I had put away the camera.

So I got my disney princess moment, but didn’t get a picture. BIRDS YOU ARE ANNOYING. But cute.

CW Picture of Tom Lunderville; Paul and I went to Peggy’s after that, to pick up the hat that I gave Tom after wearing it for a while. Now I’m getting it back again. He ruint the crown but I’ll reblock it. We got tea and soup. We chatted for a long time. She’s in relatively good shape all things considered and coping as best she can with how different her life is now. We talked about Ukraine a bit.

We left to go pick up my library book from the main branch of New West Library (‘this is how you lose the time war’) and then came back to Geekhaus to eat – soup Peggy gave us and borscht and lentil soup. I also showed Paul some of the stuff online that I’ve been telling him about Ukraine.

Then I ran a couple of loads of laundry and napped and cleaned out the microwave. It was a lovely sunny day, and I’m glad I wrote about it, because I was happy yesterday and I needed a reminder.

 

Elders are so precious

OMG my ontie Mary just sent me $25 in the mail to help defray my costs for sending her letters. SHE DEMANDS AT THE OUTSET THAT I AM TO ISSUE NEITHER COMPLAINT NOR DEMURRAL LA!

Someone should tell that rare and precious woman that she’s basically too good for me as a rellie and having said that I will top up the envelope supply; I’m fixed for stamps at the moment.

as reported by CNN today

Hurricane Ida has slowed to 10 mph, remains a cat 4, and is currently putting the shove to the entire flow of the Mississippi river, which is apparently flowing backwards. Normally it’s 2 feet per second and it was temporarily at -.5. Deep sections of the river could still have been flowing normally, this all depends on where the gauges are.

The river temporarily flowed backward during Katrina. Given climate change’s known exacerbation of wind speeds and duration of storms this looks to be a harbinger of the new normal.

If my pOp wants me to buy this for him he’ll let me know.

Yesterday and today

First, have a bear from the Capilano neighbourhood of North Van, as of about last week.

AND we don’t deserve dogs. Nor cats. (Buster when he see WOMBAT he CRAZY). NOR ORANGS.

Yesterday Paul and I walked in Fraser Foreshore. I had a dizzy spell coming out of the house so I didn’t drive, and thus nagged Paul freely the entire way back and forth.

Virtually no birds singing, none of our usual animal companions, not very well attended, nobody but us and an Asian couple bothering to wear masks. I told Paul the Delta variant is like cigarette smoke and even outdoors on pathways where we have to pass close by to people you can can get a whiff…. also I’m getting REALLY MIXED PRESS on how good Astra Zeneca is on suppressing Delta. Apparently, the word is now that it’ll keep me out of hospital if I get a breakthrough infection but I’ll be more likely to be contagious to other people if I’m asymptomatic. Not exactly the shit ya wanna hear when you’re going to visit your parents, who while not frail are elderly (sorry guys but you are over 80 after all.)

We bailed on pho as soon as I mentioned Schnitzel, by gar, and I got three takeout schnitzel dinners from Balkan House so Jeff could enjoy our celebratory meal too. Paul took exactly the same amount of time to get beer from the Oliver Twist, which faces Balkan House (I suspect he actually used the crosswalk, since jaywalking across Edmonds is something only silly young people do) as it took for the food to arrive. It was fantastic… much better than the last time, although the food portions on the rice and potatoes were smaller than I’m used to. The breading though… always a classic.

That plus beer (Red Racer Vanilla Stout, a total rip off of Granville Island Winter Ale) and a blueberry turnover for dessert, and we had a lovely meal.

Finished Swan Song and loved it. I think it’s a one-watch but it was a lovely, heartfelt movie with lots of great bit performances, the young gay bartender being a standout. Wish I had his name but imdb is oooooosssssssslessssss.

We’re really feeling the Lack of ‘Wanted’. They made three seasons and stopped, like sensible people, but we are not sensible people and want more. As always, we are salved by Elementary and the inhuman perfection that is Lucy Liu in that show.

Danny DeVito’s been locked out of his Twitter account for supporting the Nabisco strike. LOL

Small shop & collapse

Well my brief burst of energy has imploded. I’m feeling small and tangled-up and misanthropic, but many things, including Buster’s training schedule, are exactly as they should be. But…. blueberry turnovers, for the first time, so that was tasty.

Slept from 9:30 pm to 6 am this morning! I am well rested but not energetic, what gives, body.

Heading to Victoria next week with some descendants, unless something hinders. Fingers crossed for a good visit.

This is for me mam.

Still LOVING “Wanted”, coming up on the end of the show, 3rd season.

And from the JOSUS FUKING CHRIS IT’S A PANDEMIC PEOPLE department…

OTTAWA — The Public Service Alliance of Canada president says he “will not stand for the termination” of federal public servants who refuse to get vaccinated, after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau warned of “consequences” for those civil servants.

In an interview with CTV News, Chris Aylward said “it’s very concerning to us when national party leaders are making statements around discipline around terminations when it comes to these vaccinations. That is totally unacceptable to us.”

Aylward, who represents more than 160,000 federal public servants, stated that he supports the government’s stance that all federal public servants should be vaccinated. But he said unvaccinated employees will require accommodations to keep their jobs.

  • CTV News, from website 10;08 am PST 18 Aug 2021

An Alabama doctor is tired of helping people who refuse to protect themselves and others – so he’s no longer taking appointments with anti-vaxxers.

Mobile, Ala., physician Dr. Jason Valentine posted a photo on Facebook in which he’s seen standing in front of a sign that reads “Effective Oct. 1, 2021, Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against COVID-19.”

from

By 
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
AUG 17, 2021  5:23 PM
Today is the 40th anniversary of the day Paul and I went to housekeeping. I emailed him asking him if he wants to get takeout for lunch. His response was that he has appointments so we’ll do it tomorrow.
copyright Masato Mattori

I am not going to spend a lot of time yoinking your chain about Afghanistan. The politics of exploitation and colonization stretch into pre-history and I’m not a pro. Therefore I will stick with the present.

  1. If you have the money or donations in kind, please give generously to Afghan refugee and aid organizations in Canada or your jurisdiction. They are more clued in to what is going on and what is needed than I am and I’d rather give money to an Afghani woman in Canada, who will most intelligently disburse what she can to current refugees, than try to give a dime to international aid organizations, given the difficulties with freight at the moment. If your hope is lively donate directly to Afghan Red Crescent
  2. Please, if you have the stomach for it, read this: Stonekettle’s comments about Afghanistan.
  3. Please consider sponsoring or assisting in sponsoring a refugee, or asking your house of worship to sponsor someone. The one time I signed sponsorship papers for an individual it was the brother in law of a co-worker. I signed up for being financially responsible for him (as did another co-worker, who awesome as they are will remain nameless here) but never had to expend cash because he was working and self supporting two months after landing here (despite his considerable health problems, a consequence of the privations he endured as a refugee).

Happy Sunday

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Above noted needlework rondel of two skeletons looking at each other and shaped like a heart from @AnythingSews on twitter.

Mini turkey patties on breakfast muffins this morning. The sweet Walla Walla onions are in season now so that plus a slice of havarti cheese and it’s food! Hardly any effort, and the turkey mince got to mingle its flavours for a day longer while I got ‘round to cooking it.

The 2021 Heat Dome Round II is now over. Hopefully 500 senior citizens extra didn’t die this go round.

I’m working on writing and interspersing that with watching the Keith and Kate show, transferred 8mm video from the 80s….

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Sign says MASKS REQUIRED . If you are standing either inside or on the patio, please wear a mask. Once seated (drinking or eating) we do not require you to wear a mask

If you cannot wear a mask due to a medical condition, ask yourself if you should be going to a bar\restaurant during a pandemic. If you are making up a medical condition to avoid wearing a mask, please don’t, none of us have the patience to deal with your crap.