Settler words&music in S'ólh Téméxw, (leanpub.com/upsun) living where privilege meets precarity in MST country. she/her/they———– Novels: Midnite Moving Co., Upsun; Sweep Off Those Waves coming soon, Hair Sinister after that. —Restore All Indigenous Lands!
I keep finding things to irritate me in the pile of papers. I found an angry note saying “Find cheaper telecom rassenfrassen!” but unless I want to ditch having the internet on my phone at all I will be stuck with paying between 60 and 75 dollars a month. So I can play 2048 on my phone and download books? Sheesh. At least Bell Mobility only kept me on hold for four minutes and the person who answered the phone wasn’t struggling to speak intelligibly.
I need some of this. Mildly unsafe language.
Phase 1 of operation Garage Sale is now complete.
I have cleaned my room. I now have three boxes of papers to decruft and file (and, truth be told, mostly recycle) and then the really, really hard work comes, which is purging my clothes and shoes and costumery and craft stuff AND sorting papers for taxes, all of which is more emotionally draining than room cleaning, although it is less physical ’cause less bending. I’ll be setting up three staging areas in the house, for paper, clothes and items for the garage sale in September. Jeff is supportive but mildly dubious, as the dining room table looks like an outtake from Hoarders. He did yell a most unseemly “Holy shit!” when he saw my room yesterday. Blessings to the friends and family who have been supportive while I deal with my chaos issues and a big shout out to Renée S. for permanently loaning me a Nifty Nabber, which saved my back no end of grief yesterday. Hail Robaxacet.
The word of the day is Jalapeño.
Poor George. No matter how many doubting Thomases he converts, there’s always one more.
Enniwess, word count for the day done, banana bread is in the oven, Miss Margot is missing Jeff and wandering about the house calling. He is off to fix computers and chew gum, and he’s all out of gum. Or no, I think I saw some in the car.
Beyond the Edge is an excellent documentary about Hillary and Everest. Recommended.
I did a shop this morning; while out a katydid crawled over the visor of the MR2 and waved its long green feelers and googled its googly eyes at me. I ejected it from the vehicle.
People in New Westminster amaze me. One stood in the middle of a crosswalk and laboriously blew his nose.
I dropped of my library books (yay, no fines) and also all the alkaline batteries we’ve used in the last six months. I feel happy about keeping them out of the garbage stream.
It’s been absolutely sweltering here in Vancouver, but some things are great….
The dogwood is in flower again, astonishingly, all over; it shines in the sun.
Still all happy about Guardians of the Galaxy. It won’t be as much fun the second time but I am looking forward to it.
Saw Zero Theorem, a film by Terry Gilliam, and it’s interesting. I liked the end and thought it made sense, Jeff was kinda meh about it.
Finally finished Europe Central; I’ll be heading back to the library today after my dentist appointment. I’m having a filling replaced. Not looking forward to it.
Paul and I are supposed to get together and do something exercisy today. Maybe we’ll swim in Katie’s pool cause it’s damned hot for a walk unless we’re going up in the hills to hike.
Right now all the doors are open … we’re trying to cool the place down since it’s like an oven in here even with the air conditioner.
Thick cut porkchops for brekkie.
It has been yonks since I visited the library… I picked up two doorstops, one being the really excellent William T. Vollman novel Europe Central, which is an examination of totalitarianism as it affects the creative mind, set during the period just before and during WWII. Some reviewer or other said you don’t read Vollman for the plot but for the individual sentences, and he was absolutely right. Vollman is a powerfully strange individual, but his depiction of Kathe Kollwitz was so amazing I looked it up. I am looking up much of what he references on the internet and going to some strange and dark and eerie and interesting places. He’s also, like Dunnett, a portrait painter and polymath and this impacts the work. Good times.
I also picked up Part II of the Mark Twain autobiography, but the way it’s put together really sucks and it weighs 5 kilos if it weighs a gram, so I put that one down, even though some of the anecdotes are killer.
Last night filking with Cindy and Tom and Peggy; tonight Birthday Celebration with Mike M and friends; tomorrow hymn sing, back at Tom and Peggy’s. I just love singing Frobisher Bay with those folks. I took Peggy hazelnuts as a thank offering.
400 words on Tarot for Atheists yesterday. If I ever get finished with the introduction it will be one of the strangest pieces of atheist literature ever written; I know I’m saying the right things in the worng way, and some of it simply has to be cut but like most writers I don’t edit myself worth a darn. Also practiced lots.
Keith double booked himself for his own birthday party a while back so Paul and Jeff watched Internet’s Own Boy without him, so there, and had barbq chikn.
Time to make pancakes, I promised Jeff.
There was a certain amount of ugliness at both ends of the trip – I came home day before yesterday – but I’m going to take the high road and not whine about it since it all came right in the end… always a hazard of complaining live, you may look like an ass in real time rather than recollecting the horror with a suitable amount of alcohol to hand, speaking of which, there is none in the house.
It’s a rainy and overcast and not particularly warm day in Vancouver. The alternator is starting to go on the MR2 so Jeff will be babying it until he has a chance to get it fixed. He’ll be off to visit the folks sometime soonish, within the next week, and I’ll be doing the walk on thing to visit them shortly thereafter.
Today, a Costco run. I’ve already applied for all of the interesting looking jobs; now to map out some kind of more useful job hunting plan than I have at the moment, as it is entirely too passive.
I was thinking after we came back from brekkie (steak and eggs… should you care) that I don’t feel like working on George today, so it will be Tarot for Atheists.
Flying squirrels have a really weird distress call. There are plenty of them here.
Yesterday we made the trip to Bancroft since the weather didn’t cooperate with respect to grass cutting. We provisioned and avoided big piles of junk food or beer.
Military aircraft just went by about 30 meters off the deck.
The cat here, Shadow, is an elegant longhaired tortoiseshell who hides in the catnip bush and minces through the tall grass. I’ll have pics later.
Today I pulled tall grass out of the rose bed and deadheaded the roses. They will probably set on more blooms.
The Least Flycatcher female sat still and let me admire her, then her hubby came by and told her to move along.
Sandra made me roast lamb and red wild rice and I just et a really fabulous mulligatawney soup. World is a tasty place here.
I hope everybody is having a good day.
A child I once went on a camping trip with has turned out to be an evilly-reputed international call girl. What a world.
I got to hang with Katie and Paul, and it was lovely. We ate on the deck overlooking the Fraser at Wild Rice at the Quay. I didn’t think much of the kangaroo buns (kangaroo meat is gamey) but the chicken wings were the best I’ve ever eaten, and the lamb gyoza and vegetarian spring rolls were esculent, and the gluten free chocolate cake served a la mode was nommers. Prior to that I hung out with Suzanne (we ARE going to be joint grandmothers, so…) and that was also a most satisfactory visit. Prior to that I hung out with Katie and visited Village de Valeurs and picked up travelling clothes as I don’t have any summer weight pants or shorts. Prior to that I took Jeff to breakfast. It was a really really tasty day. Also showed Otto off and practiced lots.
Today, laundry and packing for the trip east.
She’s someone I’ve only met the once, IRL, but this comment of hers on a help forum is one of the many reasons I like her.
Yesterday I put all my concert tickets in my scrapbook, aired out my comforter, finally started sorting through paperwork, and transcribed a letter mOm wrote to me and Jeff in May of 1977; I have four more to go, I picked the short one with the biggest handwriting first.
Earlier this week I baked a salmon. I cleaned the kitchen like a fiend afterwards and got all the scraps and bones out of the house, which is the only thing that prevented the house from smelling like a trawler.
On July 14 1999 I got to see Hole’s last ever concert. That’s how old I am, heavy sigh. I didn’t put anything in order, and I actually threw out some memorabilia, which is amazing. I’m currently making a list of things to sell preparatory to downsizing. Jeff and I are here until next summer at least, but after that who knows. I feel a wind blowing through my life.
Yesterday I communed with a moth in a rather unusual manner. It flew into Jeff’s car and hid, and then announced its presence by flying into my face (cue subdued screaming, which seems to be my second language these days). I encouraged it to crawl onto my hand and then held it out the window, expecting it to… well, candidly, be ripped off my hand. Instead, it grimly turned into the wind and clung on at 60 kmph (37 mph for those of you who have not metriculated). It finally picked its own time to fly out of the car, so it was a reminder that life will not only find a way, it will be rather chaotic and self-willed about it.
I hung granddad’s watch over my bed so I can be reminded of how time is sliding by. Time’s winged chariot is double parked, kids.
I just made rice pudding. At one I go to see my financial dood and then I’ll book my flight to Ontario.
I hit about 480 words today, but I’ll do more after I get back.
It’s hot out.
Went for a walk to buy milk and later went for a walk on Burnaby Mountain. Watched the USA Portugal game.
According to the word count I’m up 848 words today.
Router was down for a good chunk of the day.
After five years we’ve finally gotten to the Burnaby Farmers market.
The radishes are so yummy and crunchily perfect. We came away with pork chops, potatoes, blueberry pie, radishes, carrots, artisanal chocolate (lemon basil OMnomG), snickerdoodles and egg bread. Brilliant, brilliant sunny day in the lower mainland, full of wonderful things to do.
Iran and Argentina are going at it for the World Cup; there was a hilarious joke on the internet this morning which I repeat here for your amusement; “What’s the difference between England and a tea bag?” “?” “The tea bag stays in the Cup longer.” Seeing has how my grandad played for the Sons of England futbol club in Saskatoon back in the day, I should prob’ly have more respect. But no, I really don’t.
It is a strikingly gorgeous day. I am still feeling the effects of Keith coming over here and helping with the lawn, because a) he just melted me with maternal pride, and b) it really needed to be done and c) I did the weed whipping and my shoulder hurt afterwards but more in a “Ha you used it” not “OMG I’m dying” kinda way.
Today is beautiful!
Jeff Keith and Paul took me for a walk down at the Quay yesterday, and that was lovely. Dentist appointment today, and continuing to plug away at projects. George has gone quiet so I worked on Tarot for Atheists and continued on working on a couple of new airs, plus we’re trying to get caught up on Bones.
I’ve made some lovely rice pudding, and we had pork patties and other noms for dinner.
