I need coffee

378 words yesterday, and as is typical as soon as I get to the end (ish) of writing one novel another one presents itself. begging to be wrote

This is how it presented itself IN THE MIDDLE OF A TB SCENE

Dying gods.

The words echo. The words are not even a map, although they are a key. Words keep destroying our morality. Only deeds restore it. The messages you hear? They’re real. The gods who speak them are real. They’re also dying, and untrustworthy, and malicious as demented fuck.

The feeling when you’ve been given a ‘randomly selected’ opportunity offered by the provincial government to comment on things like racism in BC and you’re the only white people on your block…I mean, there may be other people who are white living on our Street but they do not look that way to me.

Alex again today and tomorrow. I have some stuff I have to do for Paul, wish me luck. Car’s insured. Buster stayed in the doorway looking at him yesterday for 20 whole seconds.

Load of laundry yesterday.

Can’t shake this utterly horrific feeling of impending doom, Pop is home from hospital and yet I can’t stop thinking the worst.

One of the non binary Indigenous people I follow on twitter had an elf-bear-baby on September 3 with their Indigenous love and they just posted a pic of the baby’s elf ear and I am dying of the cuteness. So you can see after posting the above thought I went looking for a styptic against the cuts of the world.

Alex again

Very peaceful stay. Buster of course is not happy.

672 words yesterday. Brad and Omar burst into song and how on earth do you respond to that as a reader why by reading more. Just remember folks, neurotypical people DO NOT BURST INTO SONG. I feel so sorry for people who can’t.

pOp still in hospital, Mary’s rehab continues, mOm is very downcast by his continued absence but she did get the laundry done.

a few words

676 words so far today IT’S SO FUZZY

lovely call with Dave last night. His cat was yelling about his hairballs in the background; he sounds like a siamese with his tail being run through a woodchipper, poor lamb.

vivek ramaswamy has actually come right out and stated that ‘human flourishing requires fossil fuels’ and thousands of indigenous nations across the planet say mmmm no fuck you along with hundreds of millions of climate aware school aged children….

 

My dear kindred in Christ

It has been reported that 12 hours ago a bear was sighted at Cumberland and 10th. I scanned those words with horror – I pass through that intersection FREQUENTLY mostly as a driver, and this person recounted nearly striking it.

It’s walking distance from here. Just the other side of where the kids used to live by about ten minutes or less. It’s also more or less at the far end of the block Peggy (and her kids’ families) lives on. So ZOWEE urban bears aren’t just in PoCo anymore. Almost for sure bruin came in through R. Brunette, and its attendant ravines. It must have been scared witless; I can attest the traffic is fitful but continuous at that time on a Friday night. (10th Avenue at that point is also designated Highway 1A, and forms part of the border between Burnaby and New West, and receives a hefty portion of the transport trucks in these parts.)

Some guy making a living building a repair to a partly burned building is also banging banging banging and it’s a good thing goddamnit that my tinnitus is allllmost drowning him out.

Alex is not here

And Buster is back to his old self. I brushed him for a long time and played with the ‘birdy’ with him and gave him snacks, both yesterday and today. For whatever reason he asked me to close the cat door around four this morning, so I did.

only a hundred words so far. Everything I write seems like hot garbage so it’s hard to turn up the spigot

I think I really need a cup of coffee, my body is screeching for it.

Still thinking about the Barbie movie. I told mOm about it. I wish to gestate the ideas a bit longer, after my heartfelt bleatings to mama

I really enjoyed having Alex. I have to talk to Katie about what’s happening next week.

Just looked up Merryn Tate, our midwife. She’s moved back to Aotearoa and is still a practicing midwife.

 

 

house is cleaner

Of course, from the outside this house looks like a teensy little yellow hell-hole, covered in algae and arrayed in rotting concrete.

Suzanne and Alex and Katie and me all got to be in the same room at the same time yesterday so that was nice. Jeff kept gaming and gritted his teeth through the noise.

Must run the dishwasher, there’s no decent clean cups.

Buster is still hiding from Alex but progress is being made.

Just wrote the single funniest line of description I’ve ever written in my life. Don’t worry beta readers, you will know it when you see it. 553 words yesterday.

No news is good news from the recovering elders.

solid day

Got the ringer reset on Paul’s land line, sent some waords off to Dave, got a new watch battery into Paul’s watch, hung out with Alex. Spoke briefly to Keith to update him on some stuff, fired off an email covering all that to the kids and Ruth. Ate lunch there, what a disaster. Was seated with two other people; the man was deaf and the woman is early dementia; she had a permanently startled expression that was rather disturbing. I need to get over myself regarding my ableism, it’s startling.

Mary and pOp continue their recoveries in Victoria.

The laundry’s all folded and upstairs. In about ten minutes I’ll drive Alex to school.

374 words yesterday, 500 words so far today. Progress continues.

Much love to those who labour and worry.

Learning how

Jeff played turn and turn about with Alex (Burnout Revenge – crash cars for points and lulz)

Now we learn that Alex is going to school with his dad and I pick him up at 3.

This works well for my day.

Ryker yelled my name (from behind his soother) at pick up that was adorable.

Anecdotal but blowout public diarrhea is a feature of the current COVID variant.

 

 

a few words

pOp is staying at least one overnight in hospital. My poor mother. He’s got an intermittent fever and the docs don’t like it. Her cleaning specialist was there today and (as always) a sweet and gentle Godsend for my mOm. Of course I told mOm to call me anytime. Conveyed Liz’s greetings to her and pOp.

This is Willow

Alex played with his friends for 15 minutes after school and got to see a chameleon!  (I waited in the car; friends are important!) His mommabear supplied him with a sammy for lunch.

I am continuing to train Buster regarding Alex. Before Alex came over I said about ten times; ‘Alex coming, noisy. Noisy Alex. Alex will be here soon.” Then when Alex was here (and playing gaming videos and minding his own business) I took him in to say hello but he didn’t bolt. He went into the next room, and didn’t hide (progress!!! yes!) and then I played with him and brushed him FOR A LONG TIME. He’ll get used to the lad yet. But of course letting him know that Alex is coming will help him adjust.

Buster isn’t complaining at all when we close the cat door. I think there’s a new mean kitty out there.

More laundry; two more loads today and the first three either folded or put away.

No joy whatsoever in getting hold of Paul. I assume since it’s a nice day he’s conversatin’ with the ladies out on the patio at Thornbridge. And I hope he has a lovely time!

Alex is using expensive paints and a seven dollar canvas to paint right now and I can hardly wait to see what he does. Right now it looks like the Eye of Sauron. He just threw huge swathes of copper paint on it this should be good.

 

 

Alex today

Actually I’ve got him all week.

Today will be the longest day, I’ve got him before school and then from 10ish to when Katie comes for him. I’ll be taking him with me on errands with Paul, who needs a battery stuck in his watch. He’ll be here in an hour or less.

466 words yesterday

Put away some laundry and the dishes.

Mike took me to supper at Little Minh’s. I had the Banh Hoi (Vietnamese pork sausages with cucumber and lettuce, fine rice noodles in sheets (never seen it like that before) with basil on top. (He had the chicken, fried egg and noodles.) He showed me videos of the animals he’s seen in Brunette and Alouette – a beaver and a young bear, respectively. The bear came right into the water so Mike was careful to mention that he was yonks away and the zoom function on his phone is crazy amazing. He’s given up all other activities but kayaking, and does that whenever he can. We didn’t really talk that much. Work is bad, but he’s not putting up with anything they throw at him. He’s being locked out of meetings for a product for which he’d normally be required to write customer support documentation. And the rollout is 3 weeks hence. Basically it’s the same shit as 2012, it’s just ten years on. And as soon as the meal was over, he drove me home. I think it was at his outer limit of what he can deal with socially, and I’m just glad he wanted to spend the time with me.

Mary is still on the mend, with all the tubes, and pOp had a fall and will likely be home from hospital today. I know I’m all blithe about it here, but I’m really not; I’m just letting my feelings be guided by my mother, who was concerned but not frantic.

Jeff of the Miracles

So someone decided to say on the internet PRONOUNCE POPSICLES THE GREEK WAY

and the following story appeared

Popsicles said to Spectacles – ‘Can’t you see what’s going on here?’

Spectacles replied, “Vehicles is trying to drive away, but Tentacles won’t let him go, Barnacles keeps trying to come along and Obstacles is in the way. You don’t have to be Oracles to see what’ll happen next.”

At which point I had to stuff my fist in my face not to howl with laughter.

35 words yesterday

Got a lovely comment on my most recent fic the other day.

Jeff of the Miracles got all the data off Paul’s old phone onto the new one AND got Gmail onto the new phone. We none of us deserve him. I fed Paul lunch and tried to help him run an errand but the shop was closed for repairs.

mOm talked to her sister Mary on the phone yesterday and words can cover the gratitude and relief. She’s still gravely ill but recovering.

quiet day

435 words. Not really feeling the writing at the moment, I’ll have some coffee and see if that helps. Bought beer yesterday, couldn’t drink it. AREN’T I FUNNY I lost my taste for it!

I’ll be minding Alex next week. It’s a big adjustment for me and Jeff. But after everything Katie has suffered, to have a convenient stopping off point for childcare is a big deal.