I got to talk to DerbyK yesterday and chat with M today, which has had a big impact on my week. I’m doing shitty at day job and only okay at physical wellness but it was really good to talk to people this week after too long away. DerbyK is getting married this weekend 1No big parties obviously, but I promise we’ll do something cool to celebrate when the world allows it., which was an excuse to send a package. I got to pick out something fun and slightly silly and that came with no English instructons. I got to write a story 2The ultimate cheapskate gift – a printed…

I can’t get on board with the idea of ancestral lands 1An idea often promoted as a sort of reparations for native peoples and other groups that have been subject to genocide under colonialism. I do think we should make reparations, including land. I think that will take a very long time, and that we should make accommodations until those reparations are complete. But I don’t think ancestry is a … Continue reading. I can agree that it’s better than colonialism, but it just nomiates the patriarchy (or whatever defines “ancestry” in a given culture) as a replacement for captialism, at least in terms of land usage. It still just picks…

Mostly naps and D&D today. Which is fine. The world is pretty high on physical threat today and I’m happy to hide from it. I wish I could hide from the smoke. My eyes feel like it’s 1998 and I live in a mold factory and I haven’t removed my contacts for 4 days. The game went well. We started late and spent a lot of time worrying about how the rules should work, but we got into it eventually. Got to make actual character choices and mush the stats around a bit to fit the game model and RP goals. We got Shanda in top the game too, where…

The air here is significantly more grirty than my body is rated for. It’s not great, even inside (not that inside and outside are super distinct in a century old house). It did keep the temperature down though, and made a passible impression of heavy overcast. My eyes could really go for some fall weather though. That constant falling most for a few days would go a long way toward sanity 1Mine at least. The city is still in the middle of this thing where we pay cops overtime to organize violent assaults and property damage, while the mayor lies to and threatens citizens, so overall levels of sanity are…

Up early today and lots of driving to get Dog to chemo. He had a late appointment today, which still means 11 AM 1in fracking Lynnwood. I like life less on days when I have to face the day star face-on, particularly when I feel tired. But it went well enough, and got me to a place where I could advance the plot on urgent day job bits before HA4H, which was great. Dog is doing well. He gets a little sick after chemo but otherwise he acts like he feels better than he did in March. His spinal growth doesn’t seem to be a big factor right now, so…

Today was fine, except when it wasn’t. I did no day job and (mostly) don’t feel bad about it. I did Dog things and Shanda things hide for a while outside on the outdoor couch 1Despite the Ames, IA rules about indoor-outdoor-rental furniture, I have come to really appreciate the outdoor couch. I could 100% be homeless on a couch with rain cover. If there was electricity and a nearby bathroom I’d be in pretty good shape. I’m excited to get the backyard setup for movies, even before I get a real theater inside. … Continue reading when things were hard. I found my aging plaster walls to be a challenge…

If you just start it’s often not as hard to keep going, once you’ve made it past the bit where your brain won’t engage. But it’s not really any different over there. You’ve just given up some of your dread. It’s been a medium weekend. Things are hard because Shanda is having a hard time, but I did accomplish things that I like and mostly avoided feeling burnt out. That’s only a minor success on an absolute scale, but it it’s a big improvement over the version where sustainable isn’t an option and it feels like negotiating your survival. I’ve spent too long close to that survival place in recent…

Today I put down the curtains at 6:30 PM. Is that how these things start? It’s like I forget how these are shaped, though my fingers have tapped out hundreds. Today I put down the curtains at 6:30 PM. I live at the 49th parallel and I have an unobstructed view of the setting sun, so murder rays come late in the day. Until now I had been merely subject to this assault but finally there are curtains, and I can keep the sun behind them. Finally it feels like I can exist here on my own terms, at least for a minute. I also got my first Ethernet run…

This is what I hope will be my last communication with the landlord. And it’s too late for more writing so it’s also today’s Screed. I didn’t send him the attached picture, but I’m sure he’ll discover it soon enough. He didn’t like the last garage message and I bet he’ll like this one even less. He particularly won’t like that I added all 3 garage messages images to Google Maps. I didn’t mean the account changes as notice specifically, but yes, we are out. All our property has been removed, the door is repainted to just green, the interior doors are in their original configuration, and the yard and…

These are always so hard for me to start again once I get more than a couple of days deep. But let’s give it a shot. The second one will be easier after this one gets out. Since last episode I finished moving. Or at least all the parts that involve people and places outside my new house – there’s still a ton of work to do here, but we’ve got all the totes and boxes unpacked and all the bits we need setup for daily life. I am already sick of not having good lights here, and of being subject to daily sunshine from all the poorly covered windows,…