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It's Saturday!

Half of Fridays plans got cancelled on account of not giving a fuck. We are still new computerless and we didn't make it to the steak house. Instead we went to a steak and sushi buffet. It was okay--standard buffet fare, though the abundance of seafood was very good. I had crab legs, stone crab claws, plus lobster tail and a pretty credible NY strip steak. Also some pretty good sushi. All that for $36 sounds pretty good to me.

One thing that did not get scrapped was my hair. It's not exactly what the picture showed, but I love it. It's bright and happy and fun and it makes me feel good. Picture below the cut.

( Read more... )

I'm going to go grab a shower and wash it out for the first time, so we'll see how much the tub looks like I slaughtered a muppet.

Today, we take Mao to be cremated. He's waited a long time, so it's good that we're finally doing it.

Then later, we have bowling with the work crew, which should be fun.

Tomorrow is all games all the time which will be fun. Okay, gonna go shower! Everyone have a perfect Saturday!

dine

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sine_nomine

"You survived a world that told the wrong story about you. That’s not nothing."

Oof.

kaberett

A significant part of the problem is that we only start saying "all pain is in the brain" (or "the tissue isn't the issue" or whatever) to people with complex or chronic pain.

And there's a good reason for that! It's the same reason that I need to have a much more detailed idea of the fine detail of what an atom is and how it behaves than the vast majority of the population, for whom the Bohr model is perfectly adequate!

... and we need to explain that, we need to explain why we don't tell people with simple acute pain that All Pain Is In The Brain -- it's not because it's any less true for them, it's just that for most people most of the time they don't need to worry about that level of detail. But if you don't explain that, it sure do sound a lot like "your pain isn't real (unlike those people over there)".

Lies-to-children. That. That thing. That's a thing I need to explain.

jesse_the_k

99pi.org/adapt

Kurt Kohlstedt has spent ten years creating audio and print stories for the design podcast, 99% Invisible. He also co-authored the 99% Invisible City book.

Last year, 99pi’s Kurt Kohlstedt suffered a severe injury that incapacitated his right arm and dominant hand. In the aftermath, new everyday challenges led him to research, test, and evolve accessible design solutions. These experiences set the stage for Adapt or Design, a twelve-part project of 99% Invisible in three acts, available at the short link 99pi.org/adapt

The Adapt or Design series includes many groan-worthy puns related to hands; six essays exploring assistive designs for people with one functional hand; three design hacks and mods that helped Kurt manage long-term rehabilitation; and three final essays diving deep into adaptive writing technologies including a free one-handed "mirror keyboard" for Windows PowerToys.

While the first article posted in April, I just heard about it via the 99% Invisible podcast 630, where Kurt and Roman talk about all these things.

pauraque

Next up for Pride Month media, I read Made in Korea, a graphic novel about an android called Jesse who is purchased by a childless couple to be their daughter. Both the author Jeremy Holt and the illustrator George Schall are nonbinary (they/them).

parents gaze at an inactive android child in a box and marvel that she is beautiful

parents gaze at an inactive android child in a box and marvel that she is beautiful

I had mixed feelings about this one. On the positive side, I really liked how the themes of identity and coming to know oneself were explored. Jesse's story is at least partly a metaphor for transnational adoption (Holt is an adoptee) and also resonates with more general feelings about not being the child your parents expected and needing to grow out of their narrative about you. Gender identity is directly addressed, which I love to see in an android story! It bugs me when androids uncritically accept a binary gender role based on the anatomy they're built with, even when the story digs into their personhood and free will in other ways. This book does not assume that an android built to look anatomically female is a girl, nor does it assume that if androids existed they would all be built with binary anatomy!

The major aspect that did not work for me was the plot element of ( a school shooting. (cut for content) )

So there was a lot that I liked, but also a pretty big section of the narrative that seemed totally out of place and mishandled. I don't regret reading the book and I think some aspects will stick with me in a good way, I just wish it had kept the focus on its strengths.

beanside

It's finally Friday! Whoohoo! It's a short day at work for me, which I'm looking forward to, because the rest of my day is busy as hell. First, work til 11am, then I go to get my hair cut and dyed. I'm a little nervous about this, but I'm sure it'll be fine. The person I'm going to was in the same shop as my former hairdresser (the one who died suddenly) and they do good work. I'm not asking for anything particularly tough. I'm a little worried about borking my back up, but I'll be fine. Then, its home to relax for a few minutes, then we drive 45minutes to get Jess' new computer. Then, we go grab dinner, and then head home. It's a lot, but it'll be good.

Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, which just figures. Tomorrow we shall go down to get the frozen cat cremated. Once that's done, we have a bowling party tomorrow night. With my back, I won't be bowling, but I want to go to see people from work.

Sunday, we have games, which will be fun. I'm hoping the weather holds off tonight while I'm driving in the dark. The bowling is at 4pm, so I won't be out too late on Saturday.

Yesterday was busy, but not horrible. I had one spicy patient, who was scheduled incorrectly by a team member who is no longer with the team, so it fell to me to reschedule. They were not happy, but y'know, it's nothing personal, and I don't actually care that she's upset.

The other day, I went a little insane on pastries from Paris Baguette, a new bakery that opened in Towson. Holy shit, y'all, it was so good. The pastries are light and delicious and I will definitely be ordering from there again.

Tonight, since I'll be getting my hair cut, Jess is going to take care of dinner, which will be chicken. It's the first chicken I've had since the money came in. I'm sure it'll be good, but a little part of me was really enjoying the steaks.

Oh well, maybe more steak on Monday. We'll see.

I now have completed the trifecta of big box stores. I reupped my Costco membership and went ahead and got BJs, too. BJs had the creamer I wanted, and I've always been a fan of their fruit and veg. And Costco has Gimbap, and other ethnic foods that the others don't. And Sam's is cheap.

Okay, time for me to get my shit together. I still do have three hours of work to do today. Everyone have an excellent Friday!

dine

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sine_nomine

Discharged yesterday evening. Have spent most of today asleep because I could. Reached out to both Dr. ID's office and Dr. Hematology's office. The former to check if he wanted to see me in office (receptionist asked a great question, "Are you on IV antibiotics, to which I got to say no; oral [which is its own hot mess; I am not going there]. So she is supposed to call me back.

Dr. Hematology's office seemed ready to shunt me into new patient needs full workup routing so I am writing him tomorrow to have him try to get me rerouted so I can get labs done Wednesday. I am fine with weekly but they have to get drawn! Will miss June surgery date but would prefer not to miss July (which is why weekly labs are crucial; he was like every other week is fine. Um no.

Okay time for more sleeping.

archersangel

1. Have you ever been to summer camp?
no. that was for kids whose parents had money.

2. Have you ever made a s'more?
yes. both with the marshmallow melted on stick over the hot charcoal briquettes of a BBQ & heated in the microwave.

3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)?
no. not even out in a tent. hung out on a porch/deck to watch the stars though.

4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
no.

5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
twin. it would be nice to have a full, or queen, bed but we can not afford to up grade now.

other answers are over here.

Current Mood: hot

kaberett

On Tuesday, I picked a kohlrabi. The stem itself got eaten at the plot; the leaves I brought home to cook and eat subsequently rather than compost them. I stuck them in a glass of water to keep them going while I work out what exactly it is I want to do, and -- they are stunning. I am enjoying them so much every time I go past them: dark blue-tinged green leaves, pink-purple stems and veins (the cultivar is Azur; I do not currently have photos but will attempt to get my act together tomorrow.)
I have four spikes of ginger, one thoroughly unfurled into leaves, and at least one more thinking hard about it. I do not expect to wind up self-sufficient in ginger but I am very much enjoying the experiment.
a word you've never understood (Prophet, 9k words). I did not read it all in one gulp -- I paused to take notes -- and I'm now on my second read through, which could in theory be more of a gulp but mysteriously I seem to be taking more notes and also remembering that I wanted to shake the internet for more information about the experience termed "aftersensations", for Book Purposes. (Also I think I've lured another person into at least starting the book...)
Asparagus for lunch! Still in season; still delicious.
My house once again contains Large Quantities of hazelnuts and pecans. I Monch.

fayanora

Been kinda stuck in a weird way concerning my latest book, book 7. The Dalia arc part needs more planning out, same with the other arcs in the story. Struggling with planning, emotionally I want to write, not plan. Usually if I get stuck on one arc, I skip to another. But none of the other arcs are in the "writing" stage, they're all in the "needs planning" stage.

Because of the emotional side of this issue, attempts to plan go by very slowly and with difficulty. So it's basically me being stuck.

Maybe a long walk where I can think and plan would help. Problem is first the heat, then even when the heat isn't an issue, I tend lately to do "can-boxing" walks, IE checking these boxes on garbage cans that returnables are supposed to go in, and raiding them for more money.

I hate being stuck on writing.

vass

Books
Finished Jazz Money's how to make a basket. Mostly I liked it. Some of the concrete verse didn't work for me, but that's a me thing, not a problem with the writing.

The book's main theme seemed to be time travel: back before her land's invasion or back to her father's childhood or simply travelling minute by minute; the wish to change the past and the impossibility of doing so.

( more )

After reading

skygiants' review of KJ Charles' Death in the Spires I remembered that I had bought a copy of that when it came out and hadn't read it yet. Read it.

( more )

Games
I hear that Long Live the Queen is getting a followup game, Galaxy Princess Zorana! I'm excited. (Long Live the Queen itself is current on 70% discount on Steam if anyone reading this might be interested in a fun visual novel game. It's pretty and pink and really astonishingly lethal.)

Slay the Spire: I did a few daily climbs. I'm finding them more fun than the regular runs at the moment.

Tech
Still working on the laptop. In the meantime I bought a webcam and plugged it into my desktop so that I could still attend Telehealth appointments. Got complimented on how I looked: turns out that a room with better lighting, and a better-positioned camera, really do make a difference. Go figure.

Household
My laundry area now has a shelf above the washing machine. I took the opportunity to do some decluttering of that area, and it looks much nicer now. So nice that now I want to paint the wall behind it. /o\

Weather
It's fucking freezing.

Links

Petition: Justice for Kumanjayi White. (Police killed a young disabled Warlpiri man outside a supermarket in Alice Springs.)

Why I Revealed My Kink On Television: Meghan Cherry, a Seattle comedian, on her recent audience appearance on Game Changer. (Some of her own comedy work can be found here.)

Cats
Currently headbutting my hand while I'm trying to type.

beanside

It's Thursday! We've almost made it to Friday!

Yesterday was a momentous day. The house is officially sold. The albatross is gone. The house that felt like my personal antagonist. (By the end, when there were problems, it felt like it was having problems at me personally.) Perversely, I'm having feelings about it.

I feel relieved, because it's over, but also a bit sad. It had been my grandparent's house since before I was born. We lived there until I was two with them, and then went to the apartments, which were literally around the corner. Then, when I was 17, we moved back in to take care of my grandmother. I'm 52 now, so that's better than half my life tied up in one place.

I remember it how it was, sparkling clean. All the years of Christmas morning, going over to open our pile of presents in front of my parents and grand parents, followed by the parade of family and friends. And all the animals that house saw. Tammy, Freddy, Sandy, Tigger, Flakey, Willow, Millie, Gracie, Mao, Samwise, Koty, Kyan, Tucker down to our current pair, Boodle and Yoda. All those memories. So many good things are bound up in those four walls.

But lately, there's been more bad things than good. Watching my grandmother die, my mother's death, Dad's slow deterioration. The flood in the basement, the heat being turned off for three long painful winters. The constant fear that if something happened, we wouldn't be able to afford it. The fear every rain or snow that this would be the time the roof leaked. It was a constant stressor. And with Dad taking up most of our time and energy, cleaning wasn't even a vague possibility. We spent our lives in constant filth, and no one had the spoons left to do anything about it.

Since we moved, so many physical symptoms have eased up. my asthma has improved, my anxiety, though still there, has gotten better.

Still, I feel wistful for what was and for now, what will never be again. I hope the new owners do an amazing job of refurbishing it. I hope it holds another family soon, and I hope they have good years in it. I'm just going to miss the good things that we had.

Tomorrow, I get off work early, and go to the hair dresser to see if she can make my hair look cool. It's way too long at the moment, but I haven't been able to afford to get it cut. I'm also getting it colored, because a vacation from gray sounds lovely. I will post a picture tomorrow, once it's done.

Then, we go to pick up Jess' new computer, and have dinner, and then come home. We're trying out Rodizigo Grill, which is an all you can eat Brazillian steakhouse. I'm looking at it as a possibility for the get together in August. It's a little cheaper than Fogo, so I want to see how the food stacks up.

Okay, time for me to get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Thursday!

dine

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ysobel

(see tag for details)

I got an email from the art dude announcing that he's temporarily opening registration to his courses.

(Still full price, just you usually can't sign up, just get on the waiting list. Which I had not explicitly done.)

I unsubscribed. Grumpily.

I can understand his logic -- entering a contest to get X indicates interest in X -- but this wasn't opt-in, and it should have been '

nilchance

( navelgazing about family and top surgery )

kaberett

Picture me: sat on the sofa, opposite the French doors, vaguely paying attention to what was going on at the bird feeder, mildly amused by the extremely ungainly magpie.

The magpie that inspected the water bowl (that someone had thrown off its stand) and the feeder (that was empty) and the me (on the sofa) and Came To A Decision.

It did a tiny hop-skip-flap over and landed, very deliberately, on the workbench just the other side of the glass. It turned its head from side to side to get a good look at me from both eyes.

And then, having glared at me, it started yelling.

And kept yelling until I was up off the sofa and clearly heading for the door, whereupon it retreated to a safe distance, i.e. the garage rooves, and Continued Observing.

I sorted out the water dish. I got the crates of Misc Birdseed out of their cupboard. I sorted out the feeder. I sorted out the other feeder.

I went back inside.

Some time elapsed.

Eventually I got sufficiently puzzled about why the magpie hadn't come back yet to actually notice that I'd left the crates of seed out, and their cupboard door open.

I heaved myself back off the sofa.

I returned the seeds to their cupboard, and shut the cupboard's door. I returned myself to the sofa, shutting the patio door behind me.

Not terribly long after that, the magpie returned, and drank, and nibbled suspiciously (I had changed which food was in which feeder position), and appeared satisfied at least to the extent of not yelling any further...

... right up until the squirrel showed up to claim a portion of the restock.

I am absolutely delighted to have made this neighbour's acquaintance.

sineala

What I Just Finished Reading

Marie Javins, Iron Man: Extremis Prose Novel: Extremis is an Iron Man arc I have read a lot, and I read this prose adaptation because I was interested in comparing the two; novelizations often flesh out the stories with additional details and I wanted to see what additional material was in here and what it was like.

(Also I promised myself I'd read one book a month and I finished this on the 31st in, like, an hour. I had a lot of migraines last month.)

The answer is that it's... weird. There is a lot of MCUification -- Tony has an arc reactor, a public superhero identity, and an AI named JARVIS, as well as a massive crush on Pepper -- but then it's also very comics -- Tony is sober, is clearly a working superhero and has been one for many many years, has a human butler named Jarvis who still works for the Avengers (who are clearly Tony's longtime friends), and has undergone at least a few of his bigger comics storylines, like being drunk and losing his company to Stane and being broke and living on the streets. You know. That one.

So I'm not really sure who this is for, because it's gonna annoy die-hard comics fans. I guess it's for fans who want to read some Iron Man and don't care much about continuity. Also, if you want a whole bunch of body-horror details about how Extremis works that are even more body-horrific than canon (like, Tony is conscious, mostly lucid, and blind and paralyzed and in pain the entire time he's in the cocoon and he is aware that Maya is talking to him) then I guess this is for you?

Also, weirdly, one of the ongoing themes is basically that it's Sexual Humiliation Hour for Tony? The first page of this book wants to tell us that there are tabloid stories about how Tony can't get it up, and the big Extremis reveal features Maya making fun of Tony because his dick's not bigger. I, uh. Okay? Yeah? Wasn't expecting any of that.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

( Doctor Strange of Asgard #4, Imperial #1, Ultimate Spider-Man Incursion #1, Ultimate Wolverine #1 )

What I'm Reading Next

IDK. All my Not Having Migraines time is going to finishing this exchange fic and not reading.