Category: Domestic Life

Peaceful day

I wrote 657 words yesterday on TB, so I’m very happy I’m making progress at all after such a long break. Thinking about going shlepping this morning until I remembered that on Monday everything is pretty much shopped over and there’s never any of the milk that I drink.

Made chocolate syrup this morning and the container I’ve been using since I was working at Statpower finally gave up the ghost and cracked, and I’m sad because I get very attached to my stuff and now it’s going out in the recycling.

STILL eating leftovers from the meal Cindy bought us on Friday and it’s still nommy. (The restaurant, Argo, calls it ‘dinner for two’ but that’s in a universe when two eighteen year old body builders need sustenance, believe me.) I should be through it today. Bought fish for dinner last night. I was supposed to run errands but I changed into my pjs and lounged the entire day, when I wasn’t writing and running the dishwasher and making iced tea and forgetting to press ‘send’ on the dinner order, making Jeff wait an hour and a half for his halibut….

mOm enjoyed the poetry chapbook I sent her.

Katie called me to go for a walk and I didn’t feel right enough to go even though it meant missing seeing Ryker. Sigh.

I hope I write again today but who knows what the day will bring.

 

concert went great

Cindy received plaudits for her glorious voice, of course, and Lem was happy to see me. She fed me again, blessed woman.

Buster was making little wailing noises and walking around at my feet as I was sitting on Couch # 3 in the media room. Jeff was watching Le Mans or playing Borderlands, I can’t remember which. I said, “What’s wrong buddy?” Then I said, “Yesterday it was very noisy around here… Alex, and then me and Cindy rehearsing. Are you upset because it was noisy?” He gave me a look and then jumped into my lap.
 
Buster doesn’t have a problem with TV noise unless a) there’s a dog barking and he can see the ‘stupid dog’ b) there’s a big animal noise like an elephant trumpeting or a lion roaring c) there’s prolonged bass rumbling. It’s real life noise that gets him down.
My computer’s battery continues to slowly die. If it’s at full charge and unplugged from the charger it takes about 20 minutes to get to 50 % – My Reaction:
I am pleasantly still tired but I only have one errand today so that’s good. My errands yesterday went well.

the cumulative effect

so

if Keith hadn’t asked me to come with for Peggy’s luncheon

Peggy wouldn’t have reminded me that Cindy’s Festival of the Living Rooms concert is Saturday and suggested I back Cindy up

and I wouldn’t have messaged Cindy to be so kind as to allow me to accompany her

and I wouldn’t have found out that Cindy was low key panicking, and we wouldn’t have rehearsed last night and I wouldn’t be backing her up today for the 3PM concert. She brought like 80 DOLLAH of greek food and we ate like chieftains wit’ da meat on spits, good god yall.

Yesterday with Alex was fun. We didn’t call GGMa but we did have a good time, and I got to see my neurodiverse grandson HAVING A SOCIAL LIFE WITH FRIENDS WHO ALSO HAVE DYED HAIR (three little cis boys with red and pink hair noisily occupying a living room) and once again I was moved to intense and grievous anger that he’s being renovicted and may lose these friends, as children do in moves. I will keep that friendship going if I have to take him on the bus I publicly swear it. Anyway he was invited over and I squared it with his mummabear and we exchanged numbers and his mummabear picked him up. It rained, but not enough to really put out any fires.

He played me something on youtube called Rush E. Don’t bother, it’s a memey thing and your life won’t be better if you look at it. Also he needs to remember to bring his blessed charger with him.

I got him to pick a beat on the Kaossilator and we recorded him playing overtop of that. I will post a fragment when I get around to it and quit panicking about the performance this afternoon.

The counteroffensive has begun. Qapla’ Ukrainy (Success Ukraine in Klingon)

 

eviction notice

Keith, Kate, the kids and Paul got their eviction notice yesterday. So it’s August 1 they have to be out. Kate and Dax are (not surprisingly) having animated discussions about whether they should consolidate households and I know it’s difficult… but the rents are unbelievable. Truly heinous.

Keith dropped by yesterday and we had a pretty good talk about growing up ADD and how Paul and I completely underestimated how disabling his autism/social anxiety/ADD combo is for school and work. Like everyone in the family he masks very well, and then everyone who expected better is disappointed, himself most of all. He feels very at sea at the moment. However I was able to get him to drink some homemade iced tea and pressed some money into his hand to pay a bill. The thing that sticks in my head, apart from the more personal stuff, was that he said that he attended (via Zoom) a tenants’ rights association meeting the same day he was served with an eviction notice.

Coffee has been made and consumed; laundry is done but not folded, and I’m currently sadly contemplating having to replace this laptop. It is getting elderly and the battery is no longer holding a charge for long. It’s just a matter of time.

Jeff continues to walk every day, hope he gets out early today while the smoke is low. The Chehalis River fire is 800 hectares and the Harrison Lake fire is growing ‘explosively’ so it’s gon’ be smoky in the Sto:lo valley. He also changed out the burnt out kitchen light bulb this am and so I fetched the globe from the top of the fridge where he put it while he found a replacement bulb and cleaned it BLECCCCCH. BURNT INSECT BITS BLERG.

I am assembling a package to send to the parental units. It will full of ART or something similar.

Contemplating moving my social media presence to mastodon, but I simply don’t want to change anything about my life – everything’s getting rigid…

 

 

i’ve been sitting in the sun

but not at Vantan, one thing, another, the whole Dinsdale stale trail of when plans go awry. I shall be crispy tonight. Jeff said I looked a trifle sunned. I heard stunned but you know how siblings are. (That did not, in fact, happen.)

However Mike came over and cooked supper outside on a campstove and it was nom nommity yes indeedy. Gai lan and beef&onions, over rice, mochi balls to finish. For whatever reason Buster who has in past been his devoted fan, wouldn’t go near him. He’s been fine but weird lately.

Knoweth how to party, Mike, in any event. Jeff had two whole beers. (I am drinking de-alcoholized, as is Mike. The cannabis was stylishly abundant I will leave it at that.)

He is now cleaning up, the Mobile 8th Wonder of the World.

We’ll reconvene over John Wick 4.

I was tired yesterday

I slept SO much yesterday, I think I napped twice. I feel fine this morning, and my brain is pretty clear.

Finally started reading the novella Glenn sent me. My roundtuit is busted I reckon.

Off to the Save-On for foodicles this morning.

Mike’s going to pick me up to go to Vantan sometime this morning. Yinkies, time to do a load or two of laundry.

D Roti Shak for shrimp curry yesterday. DAMN IT IS SO GOOD. I think if I was forced to only choose one way to eat spuds for the rest of my life, it would be the Caribbean style aloo. HAPPY SIGH.

Everybody have a good day now! I’m going to get some sun where the sun ain’t been since the pandemic started…

Not much happening

I think I’ll go spend a couple of hours helping Paul pack today.

Mike says we may go to Vantan, the private members naturist club up at Mt. Fromme, this weekend, weather depending.

Really looking forward to it. Place is completely off grid – even the hot tub is wood fired.

Membership requires 10 hours of work each year or a donation of cash or kind if you can’t work.

Church yesterday

It was a service with a LOT of music. It was all standard white people music that wouldn’t have been out of place any time in the last half century, so it matched the congregants quite well.

I was the ONLY PERSON who brought animal flesh to the soup lunch (there are always meatatarians in every crowd) so I’m proud to say that two thirds of the chicken thighs I baked last Thursday got consumed by people like John H. The leftover leftovers went with Keith back to the Junction where I imagine Dax and Katie will consume it.)  I had lentil chickpea soup, which was quite tasty and had the right amount of salt. Keith is so loved at church, everyone wants to talk to him and he’s always helping out.

I was seriously peopled out and came home and consumed media. Jeff took me to White Spot for breakfast and I still have some in the fridge. I’ve already had my coffee and scritched and trained Buster.

Posted this to FB yesterday:

why you want to train your cat to understand you speak, example the entienth.
Buster: I am minding my own catly business snoozing in the music/spare room. (Further note – we leave this door closed as it bleeds too much light into the media room so Buster has to ‘ask’ us to open the door for him when he wants to use the room)
Allegra: Enters room. Holds up guitar. “Noisy, Buster. Noisy. Can you get down please?”
Buster: Teensy-weensy put-upon mew, jumps down from bed, finds another place to hang.
Allegra: Vigorously and noisily practices after closing the door.
Allegra: Opens music room door after 45 minutes. “All done Buster, no more noisy.”
Buster jumps down from the media room sofa and retakes his music room perch.
The most important thing about communication is respect. I know he hates it when I play. It’s kind of a drag after Miss Margot, who loved music (especially the theme for Stargate Universe and U2) but Buster and I seem to have a quid pro quo….
I am extremely happy to say that Paul has signed a lease for an elder facility and he will be living there starting July 1. it is walking distance from here. MY RELIEF MAY BE IMAGINED.

the state of the world

The state of the world is such that I am quite anxious, but I’ve got some food to take to church for a potluck so I suppose I can feed the anxiety beast that way. Keith will come and get me around 10. It’s possible Paul will come but he’s not fond of getting up early so it’s 50 50. Lois is for sure not coming.

Ukraine stats…

16000 dead Ukrainian civilians according to their government closer to 40K according the the US.

60K dead Russian troops 150K wounded according to Russia

280K Russian troops ‘taken out of combat – killed or wounded’ according to Ukraine

120K dead or wounded Ukrainian troops according to Ukraine – US estimates a lot more than that.

Went to twitter this am and some pendejo in the states is saying that Russians are killing Ukrainians 50-1. Armed with the above (rounded up from wikipedia) I told him to stop tweeting nonsense. Ukraine can ill afford to lose any troops but they are holding up. Russia is having a very hard time raising more troops and there are apparently tens of thousands of Russians of conscription age still outside Russia doing whatever it is they do when they don’t want to be drafted.

We are still watching Medium. I have never seen a show which depicted white north american family life as well as this one. Absolutely a fucking standout show. Two limp episodes in two and a bit seasons so far. Love all the actors, INCLUDING the child actors, who are magnificent and well directed.

Polls SAID UCP was going to win in Alberta but as the election inches closer (Monday) an NDP majority is actually looking more likely.

 

 

 

pollen so bad

My eyes are not actually dry but they are very gummy. My nasopharyngeal parts are gummy too. I’m not coughing but my chest feels tight. (AQI good pollen counts moderate)

Tried Fatburger yesterday. White Spot is superior in virtually all ways, and not that much more expensive.

I miss my grandsons. Spoke to Keith yesterday. No word on whether Janice has left.

Watched John Wick Chapter 4. The clunkiness of the script poses a bit of a challenge but the fight scenes were exactly the way I like them and Donnie Yen was fucking perfect as always. (I mean how do you get typecast as a blind martial artist??? by being fucking good at it.) IT’S A COMMITMENT it’s like 3 hours long. All action movies should be ninety minutes or so. It is a law. Unobserved, sadly.

I am continuing to practice la la la on the ukulele. My brain appears to work okay today.

I am continuing to wrestle with edits on TB. The last pass was to make sure that every word of every line of dialogue in the first part is a) to the education level b) in character c) germane d) unmagical (ie there is a plausible way the character could know it to say it). I suppose editing dialogue without cementing the plot bunnies in place is useless & pointless (deck chairs, Titanic, Augean stables, etc.) but still I endeavour to persevere in the worst way possible – which was standing up in a hammock last time I checked.

Elon Musk is going to turn Ron DeKrampus loose on twitter in an effort to help him get elected.

I don’t get these people, but I guess I don’t have to.

For the first time, Russian nationals fighting for Ukraine have made incursions and captured enemy weapons and tanks inside the Russian border. What impact that will have to escalate the war is anyone’s guess.

 

 

damnation

Well I found another ghastly technical problem with the mss and I’m feeling like really not thinking about it right now, so may I recommend the 30 year old Studio Ghibli masterwork “Pom Poko” (literal title translation = Heisei-era Raccoon Dog War Ponpoko) which is an animated fantasy as a way of directing attention away from my creative solecisms.

One of my fave brotherkins on twitter @aPebbleintheSky a Swedish manbear anarchist recommended the film as among his favourites, and I can understand why.

  1. Japanese folklore is the primary aesthetic driver. Specifically folklore about Tanukis. (Raccoon dogs.)
  2. Testicles ARE A PLOT DEVICE. LOTS OF THEM. It is gobsmacking. They can be transformed into other things, like parachutes and smothering weights
  3. It is a primer on running an anarchist revolution, right down to how everyone runs away from the problems after setbacks and how MUSIC ART AND DANCING ARE INTEGRAL TO THE REVOLUTION god this was so amazing to watch
  4. There is a strong element of #LandBack
  5. Almost half of the film is narrated so you at least have a fighting chance of figuring out what’s going on.
  6. The gay fox is one of the most hilarious animated characters I’ve ever seen.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste but I adored it.

No church yesterday. Dishwasher’s running, and when it’s done I’ll run a load of laundry or two.