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Entry tags:

dreams,
writing

Press Here to Reset the World

Dreamed I was somewhere in a jumbled past. RTT was still in his bright engaging kid stage, and Ben informed me he was leaving on a trip to Florida in a few days. I tried to explain to Ben that while it was perfectly fine for him to take trips whenever & wherever he wanted, he had to give me lead-in time because now, I had to arrange childcare etc, & I didn't know how I was going to do that. Ben wasn't listening. (Of course!)

Simultaneously, I was parking a car in a parking garage where the attendant gave me a key that was also the key to a safe deposit box where I was storing all kinds of gold jewelry that was on a tray next to other depositors' stashes, & I kept thinking, This is not very secure at all! My jeweley is gonna get stolen!

And—

I was with a close, close female friend (whom I cannot place in waking life) who was over the moon in awe & admiration about the way a hospital nurse named Pamela Franklin was performing her nursing duties. My friend kept calling Pamela Franklin "PamFran," and urging me to leave long, admiring messages on the hospital HR line.

(I've never known anyone called "Pamela Franklin" in waking life. But. It is the name of the actress who plays the enchanting little girl Flora, haunted by the spirit of her dead demonic governess, in the amazing film, The innocents.)

###

I'm having a hard time writing the coda of the Work in Progress's Chapter 3.

It's one of those situations when I really wish I was capable of doing freewriting, just dumping 20 minutes worth of free-associative thoughts on a blank page. But, unfortunately, I have never been capable of doing that. I write what I hear in the back of my mind. It's exactly as though I'm taking dictation. And the persona doing the dictating has a highly developed sense of syntax.

The coda need only be three or four paragraphs.

It's the last evening before COVID shuts the world down, & Grazia and Neal are marching through downtown Kingston on their way to explore the cemetery at the Old Dutch Church.

What I need to capture is the evening's liminal quality without using the word "liminal."

And I also need to capture the raw quality of Grazia's fear because she, of course, is an emergency room nurse and she really, really doesn't want to get COVID, which she's superstitious enough to believe would be a death sentence for her. Maybe it's the first time in their friendship that Grazia is unguarded enough to reveal that superstitious side to Neal? That actually works. (I guess diary-scribbling is a kind of freewriting. 😀)

Status details would be Broadway, Kingston's main drag, absolutely empty of cars, the twilight, the gravestones (some of them dating back to the 17th century, which is very, very old in these parts.)

In the real-life pandemic around this time, I saw a grafitti someone had scribbled just above a crosswalk button: Press here to reset the world. But I'm not sure how I can work that in without being kludgily obvious.

Entry tags:

sunday

I'm liking doing this Charles Wysocki puzzle. 300 pieces and it goes fast. I did most of it last night while I was talking to Kathy on the phone. Looking forward to finishing it sometime today. The last pieces are the easiest and I love when it gets to this stage.

I stapled plastic over the screens on the chicken coop last evening so they won't be getting a draft while they sleep now.

Leaving soon to go shopping with Jules.

Well, I like them well enough

Except I think that my pupil distance was 56 instead of 55, and also the bridge seems a bit flimsy. That, I don't like, but it may be my amorphous anxiety talking.

In other news, Moonpie has completely scratched and licked up her nipples and now they're bleeding and infected, and apparently the vet prefers to do a blood test at this age, but as the blood test is $400 we declined. (E asked if I thought they judged us for that, lol, sweetie, I always think everybody judges me for everything, but that's not a rational mindset, so no, upon reflection I don't think that. We're hardly the only family to make petcare decisions based on affordability, and even if they do judge us, great, they can pay for this bloodwork themselves.) Also, NYC now mandates a new vaccine for cats and dogs. They can mandate what they like, but they can't make people follow that law. However, after the vet explained that this disease spreads pretty easily and now is spreading to humans, in whom it can cause kidney and/or liver failure, I decided, reluctantly, to make vaxxing the cats a priority. Which means full vet appointments for each one and new rabies shots as well. It's not going to be a quick process, is what I'm saying. (And we still need to replace those water heaters before they break!)

******************************

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

dreams,
iggy

What's the Difference Between Herpes & True Love?

Dreamed Jeanna had taken me to visit (ulp!) my father, who was either a real-life magician or playing a magician in a movie—the dream wasn't clear—but anyway, he was sitting on a throne and when he spoke, his eyes kinda flashed these purple & green pinwheel sparks, the corniest fuckin' special effects in the world (thought I, dans rêve).

He lived in a huge stone mansion, high up on a hill. Jeanna was trying to arrange some sort of audience for me. All I could think was, He's got to die soon! Maybe he'll leave me some money! (In non-dream life, he's been dead for quite some time.)

###

Remuneration this past week has been sloggy to the n^th. I didn't want to do it, but, of course, that didn't matter: You do what you gotta do. Cleaning one's house is actually not one of the things you gotta do—as the state of the Patrizia-torium amply demonstrates—but making $$$ to keep the kiskas in toys & their preferred brand of kibble is.

###

It's an Icky week.

Immediately upon arrival, Icky told me Dante is in imminent danger of dropping out of college, which did not come as any big surprise to me: The kid is obviously massively fucked up, a fact both his parents seem in massive denial about "He's partying nonstop, and he's got this weird eating disorder thing—"

"Anorexia?" I asked. Wouldn't have expected that. If anything, Dante was fatter when I saw him over fall break, still very handsome but with the unmistakable beginnings of a double chin, his diet of potato chips, soda, & no physical exercise catching up with his adolescent metabolism.

"No, he thinks his body is ugly because he sees all these influencers with perfect bodies on TikTok," Icky said. "I keep telling him they're all AI-enhanced, and then he tells me, I don't want to talk about it with you; you don't understand. He's doing steroids. And vaping & smoking."

"Tough time to be young," I said. It was all I could think of.

"Good thing I didn't rent out that other bedroom."

"Really?" I asked. "If he drops out, you want him up here?"

"What's wrong with up here?" Icky asked belligerently.

"For a 19-year-old kid? What is there for him to do up here? Get a job at a fast food restaurant? He doesn't seem to have any friends. If he drops out, you should take him to live with you in the City. There's more for him to do there."

"I can't do that," Icky said. "I'm dating."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm looking for a real relationship. Someone I can settle down and grow old with," he explained.

What do you mean "grow old with," Icky? I thought. You're 63! You are old! You're looking for someone who will uncomplainingly change the bedsheets when you start peeing on yourself. Good luck with that.

But I said nothing because, of course, what is there to say? Sure, sell your kid down the river for a relationship that will probably never exist.

"You know, like the old joke!" Icky continued. "What's the difference between true love and herpes?"

"I don't know," I said. "What?"

"Herpes lasts forever."

(no subject)

I was hoping to go for a run this morning, thinking the girls would be watching tv for at least some of the morning. However, I had forgotten that Violet had a cub scout event all morning (from 8:30 until 12:30) and her father would be with her, so someone needed to do something with the other two while their mother was working. So I ended up walking them to the library again, where we spent an hour or so until Eden announced that she wanted to leave. I think she would have been happy to stay for longer, but she was looking forward to spending most of the rest of the day getting ready for a friend's sleepover birthday party tonight and her anticipation wouldn't let her relax and stay longer at the library. Unfortunately, while we were out, the friend's mother let my daughter know that the party has had to be postponed until 22nd November because the family is sick.

It's a beautiful day (around 65F/18C - much too warm for this time of year in Connecticut), and would have been good for a run but was also very good for a walk to the library and back. It's supposed to be similarly warm tomorrow but with rain in the afternoon, so I'm now hoping to get my run in tomorrow morning.

Entry tags:

100 photos

100 Photos

https://maju01.livejournal.com/2899853.html

A little less volleyball

Volleyball hours have changed. We used to play 2 hours. But now we are going to start 30 minutes later on Tuesdays and Thursdays and end 30 minutes earlier on Saturdays. I like the 2 hours but apparently, others do not. Whatever. I can sleep in.

Today I need to remember to do pills. Put them in my sun-sat boxes I do 4 months at a time and it's time. I put them out on the bathroom counter the other day so I remember and I'm tired of looking at them.

Elbow coffee this morning.

And my back stretches. My back is way better but my leg is still cranky. Its cranky is coming from my spine. So back stretches.

In the olden days, when I would put on something with pockets, a dress, top, jacket, it wasn't odd at all to find money in the pocket. Most often, a nicely washed dollar bill or, if times were fat, a five dollar bill.

These days, I put on a top with something in the pocket and it's a very nicely washed wad of kleenex. Every time. It's why I always buy Kleenex instead of off brand or another brand. All the others seem to shred in the wash. Not Kleenex. I should do an old lady commercial.

Time for elbow coffee.

Postcard of the Day

Entry tags:

saturday

I had an odd morning this morning. Around 6:15 while it was still dark the chickens were making a lots of noise over the baby monitor and it woke me up so I went out to see what was happening out there. Nothing. But it was near dawn so I opened their door and let them out into their run. Then I went back to the house and sat on the couch looking at my phone. When I looked up from what I was reading I was amazed by how pink the dawn was. I adjusted the white balance of the phone so it was showing natural light and took a picture. Here was my view from the couch:

I kept my eye on the colors for a while until they faded back to normal in about 10 minutes. It was neat. Could the chickens have sensed something was going to be different about the dawn this morning? It was very slightly foggy.

Hot Water

Last month, when we installed the stove, the propane got shut off. That happens when one needs to cut into the pipe! After which the hot water heater never got re-lit. There was so much to do I just put it off till after our Alaska trip. There is hot water out at the 5th wheel and LOTS of things were more important. Coming home I was so sick that it took a week for me to be well enough to try draining and relighting the heater. I tried to relight it multiple times and could never even see the pilot light get started. I took the propane line off and verified that there indeed was gas flowing. Also verified which way the valve opened. I vacuumed out the regulator in case a speck of dirt had gotten in the line. Still no pilot light ignition. I also couldn't figure out how to break the airlock in the tank and drain it. It's been 3 years and I'm supposed to drain the thing every other year. So I called the plumber. I really like my plumber, and his son as well. His son is taking over the business due to his dad's ill health. I was fortunate to get both of them. They patiently walked me through the "drain the tank" steps, and then had me light the pilot. It turns out that I had missed one crucial step in pilot lighting. That was to get my head down at floor level so I could see through the tiny 1 inch window and back 5 or 6 inches to where the pilot light was. I got close on my own, but didn't quite get my eye level with the window. ARRGH! I bet the pilot light was lit from the first try on!
On the tank draining I'm really glad they walked me through it. It isn't hard. What I missed. Opening the valve on the pressure release pipe. The valve is a little flip switch. I probably wouldn't have gotten a little bucket under the pressure release pipe either, which would have made a mess. They used a 1# coffee container. What I didn't know was the final step of refilling the tank where it is important to open a faucet in the house to release air. All the steps are now written down and we have had glorious hot water for three days now!!!

Update

Took the tractor down to the Arena, groomed the whole arena, which involved cleaning masses of vegetation out of the drag regularly for the first several hundred feet. Glenn helped me remove some of the boards that run all the way around the arena on the bottom. The boards are poorly attached and periodically one warps and falls off entirely. The boards don't seen to help keep the sand in, and they are very much in the way for drainage, so I'm just removing them. Once the boards were gone and the arena tilled up, we set the obstacles. Took hours to do all this but it all looks really nice.
I took Firefly out and had her do several obstacles. She did fine, but we have more work to do!
Came home very tired and had a nice nap before going back down to do the evening feeding for our horses. It was a beautiful starry night, cool but not at all cold.
Tomorrow morning is the event, after which I'll have an easy afternoon. Phoebe is coming on Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing her.

Entry tags:

sugar creek

comparing

I came across this picture the other day. It's of the creek down back last February. I thought, wow - all the different ways that spot can look through the seasons.

IMG_20251106_134739306-(1).jpg

Yesterday the same view.

Postcard of the Day

Entry tags:

friday

What a dull and dreary day today has become. A light and cold rain is falling presently. I'm out of hotspot internet for my laptop so I don't even know if I can post this. (Update - Dave let me hook up to his hotspot.) Tomorrow we get a fresh batch of internet hotspot - 15 gb for the month. This is the first time I ran out before the month ended. Usually Dave's the one who runs out. I need to remember, I absolutely can not watch any video stuff on my laptop next month.

This morning we met Chloe for brunch in Oil City at Heaven's Bakery. I had my usual - honey salmon with broccoli and rice. Got a brownie to take home. We shopped at Core Goods too and I got more candied ginger root. I love that stuff. This batch that they were selling now is extra hot and spicy. Good, but a shock.

I started back on a puzzle I had abandoned for the summer. I just wasn't getting anywhere with it so I left it on the desk in the spare room covered over with a piece of poster board so it wouldn't be disturbed. But I want it out of there now and I want to do a different puzzle. I considered just packing it up, unfinished and moving on but then thought, dammit, you are not going to beat me. So that's what I'm doing in spats of time between painting mirrors.

Today's.

Yesterday's batch.

365 Questions 2025

1. In one word, how would you describe your childhood? Cold.

2. What celebrities do you admire? Why? Princess Anne because she is very hard working but not at all loud or flashy about it. She just seems to get on with the job without fanfare.

3. What is the number one motivator in your life right now? Necessity.

4. What music do you listen to to lift your spirits when you’re feeling down? I don't normally turn to music to life my spirits, but I always enjoy listening to music that's tuneful and has a good beat.

5. If I gave you $1000 and told you that you had to spend it today, what would you buy? I'd probably go looking for some new clothes considering the shabby state of many of the garments I'm currently wearing.

6. What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud? Violet and I were reading lists of "the weirdest baby names" together and some of them were hilarious. There was one which was pronounced "Yamajesty" which made Violet laugh very loudly.

7. What is your biggest pet peeve? How to choose? One is when people chew gum loudly in public.

Friday Fine

I had a fine sleep last night. My egg carton foam got more foamy, hopefully as foamy as it will get. It's really lovely to sleep on which really surprises me. I didn't mess with the extra pillow anywhere. Just slept like I normally do and it was fine. And my back is better than it was yesterday.

I walked the long way down to the pool and stopped in the gym room to use the nice padded table for stretches and other exercises before my swim. Swam and walked the long way back and now I'm done. I'll walk back down stairs again at least once more today to pick up dinner, probably and back and forth to the elbow. I need to put the puzzle away and get ready for the next one.

But, mostly, I'm done for today.

I just got a reminder to check my website hosting and it turned out to be a little mini tour down memory lane. In the olden days, back when web pages were THE thing, hosting companies were everywhere. You picked one, moved your shit, got it all set up and the company went under. Lather, rinse, repeat. In 2004, I found an outfit called Total Choice Hosting that looked boring enough to be around for a minute so I moved my sit and got it all set up. Susandennis.Com is still there. All my images, most of my mp3's, a lot of genealogy stuff that a remote cousin dug up and digitized is there and backup email. It cost me $44 a year*. Most years, I do ponder on whether it's worth it to keep it and the answer is always yes. And it is again this year.

My relationship with my current website hosting company is now 21 fucking years old. It could VOTE! Wild. I sure can't quit it now.

*I don't remember the details but while the price has not changed, I do know the value has. In the beginning, there was barely enough storage available to house a tiny website. Now the same amount of money provides way more storage than I could ever use.

52/255-256: Catawampus

My Friday went askew before it had even started. I'd intended to do grocery shopping today, and texted my niece Thursday evening to see if she'd be able to pick up the order, but she never responded to the text. I forgot to recharge my phone, it went dead, and them I fell asleep while it was recharging and didn't wake up until late that night, so... well there was a thought but it's gone.

Anyway, now it's about the time I'd have been finished ordering, but the whole day is up in the air, and I'm twisting in the wind. My brain needs to do something about it all, but can't seem to get a focus. I'll try another text I suppose, to see if the first one went through, and maybe I'll find out if there was a response that somehow didn't arrive because the phone was de-charged. I don't really know how texting works. I don't know how anything works anymore, to be honest.

It might be too late for shopping today, but maybe I'll get to do it over the weekend. It probably doesn't really matter all that much. I'm not out of anything but donuts, and odds are I can live without those, especially since I have more cake mixes. And there's stuff in the freezer I need to use up as well. What an exciting life I lead (I believe that final word is in the past tense.)

(no subject)

This morning I started on the process of transferring my driver's licence and car registration to Connectitut. First I went and had an emissions test done on the car; I thought this was going to be the hardest part, but it was quite easy. The next thing was gathering the various official documents I'll need, which was also easy except for the insurance. I have to present evidence of current insurance to transfer the registration, but my current insurer can't insure the car in Connecticut so I have to find a local insurance agent and have them give me a new policy starting on the day I have the registration transferred. I assume the current insurance card I have will be good enough proof that the car was insured before the registration was transferred. (I also found out from the current insurer that I will have to return the MD plates to the Maryland MVA, which I already knew.) Anyway, after all this, I have an appointment with the Connecticut DMV on 18th November to transfer both licence and registration.

I received a text message from my real estate agent asking me if he could arrange for "his" contractor to do some painting and replace the damaged flooring in my house before he puts it on the market. He knows I wanted to sell it as is, but he thinks these two repairs will make a big difference in getting it sold. I do think the appearance of the damaged floor will detract from the appeal of the house so it's a good idea to have it replaced. I just didn't want to deal with that myself.

Entry tags:

cooking

(cooking)

Yesterday i made a marvelous soup -- dried figs, chickpeas, and a can of fire roasted tomato with half a jar of harissa sauce. Blitzed up some of the figs, chickpeas, and tomatoes, but kept it chunky. The only issue is when i dried the figs i left the stems on. I usually blend them up when making my buckwheat bread (blending with the buckwheat) and between the long fermenty soaks and the blending, i have never noticed the stems. Noticed this time. Other than that, divine.

I'm trying to decide if buying The Spice House's Harissa mix is worth it. (https://www.thespicehouse.com/blogs/recipes/20-minute-harissa-spread) This resource (https://www.chefs-resources.com/culinary-conversions-calculators-and-capacities/dry-spice-yields/) says 4.25 tablespoons per oz, so it's roughly 5 batches of the recipe. (OMG olive oil prices.) I will buy Tampa resident nephew who fishes and cooks two Hawaiian sea salts and Sichuan peppercorns for Yule, and NYC student nephew maybe a popcorn seasoning and a baked potato seasoning, and then i start looking for me and i want all the flavors.

The mix is probably not worth it. The sauce i bought may have sugar in it and leads with water, but it was fine (not too garlicy).

Well, I've picked out a new set of frames

It was a penny more than the old ones, so there's that. (But I paid for super expedited shipping, so actually it's like $40 more.)

They're green. I'm not so sure about this, but there will be NO MORE TAKE-BACKS. I triple checked that they weren't safety glasses with the things on the side, which would've been great if I was in a field where I needed those but, as it is, was unwearable, and they're the exact same measurement as my old glasses, I checked that as well.