End of Month Gratitude -November 2024

I am grateful for being alert and taking my car to get repaired in Wilson NC. And to my dad ghost/angel if such a thing is real for sending me so many signs. Grateful to James the auto mechanic in Wilson. Grateful for resources and flexibility to get it done quickly.

Grateful for many safe journeys this month.

Grateful for friends to go to Orlando and other adventures with .

Grateful for Peter’s bravery, new interest in life, steadfastness, patience, flexibility, gentleness, and entertaining obsessions.

Grateful for good pet sitter and patient animals. Grateful for all the sweet dogs we met this month.

Grateful for fantastic eating and lotsa walking this month.

Grateful for the privilege to cut back on news consumption. Grateful for the switch to Blue Sky. Grateful for block feature.

Grateful for bike repair.

Grateful for Flamingocon board meeting and big decisions.

Grateful for John Hiatt and Pink and Maren Morris and Sheryl Crow.

Grateful to my brother in law Chris who seems to get Peter.

Grateful to Heidi, Matt and Barbara for pushing Flamingocon for proclaiming its support for inclusion and diversity.

Grateful for Sherbet the cat getting us out to walk dog more often.

Grateful for this fantastic southern winter weather.

Grateful, as always, for Sean for everything.

Grateful for my Small Joys project.

Grateful for good books, like James.

Grateful for cocktails.

Grateful for photo projects.

Grateful for cheese.

Grateful for late night giggles with family and friends.

Memories

I bought my first ever TV (as an adult) in 1992 at age 25 in otlrdee to … watch a sailing race: the 28th America’s Cup, in San Diego.

…

Passing through Walterboro SC. This is where I was, 16 1/2 years ago, when I heard George Carlin died, with a little kid on either side of me, sleeping in a big hotel bed as we journeyed north.

Small Joys — new music

Day 43

Random number: 333

Watch videos for 3 new musicians

Haven't watched videos yet. But Peter has introduced me to several new bands: Dirty Honey, La Luz, Greta Van Fleet, Goodbye June, Wolf Alice

update: watched “No Rest for Wicked” and “Outloud” by Cage the Elephant, “This Life” by Vampire Weekend, and “MorBud4Me” by Billy Strings

LOOKED UP: when wheel bearings go bad

So spending time in Wilson NC at a tire repair place. Why wheel bearings go bad

Small Joys — Japanese sweet potatoes

Day 42

random number: 81

Look up how to make Candied Japanese potatoes. Satsumaimo.

recipe

buy at Whole Foods or Asian market

Kamas told me that the potatoes her husband made years ago is Daigaku. Can’t wait to try this.

Small Joys — catch up: lotion, Picasso-inspired manga and the four winds

Day 39

Random number: 32

Put lotion on Sean’s feet

Sean’s favorite so far!

Day 40.

Random number: 246

Read Blue Period manga.

I started. Have not gotten far.

Day 41

Random number: 119

Learn the name of the 4 directional winds

Studied up on classical four winds during Thanksgiving. Zephyr is the only one I knew before, and the only one I will remember. He is the warm west wind.

LOOKED UP: weather and royalty of New Zealand

Learned about the former queen of the New Zealand Māori, her son the king, and her granddaughter the latest queen.

Also learned New Zealand’s weather and placement latitude placement is similar to British Isles.

Back to my original politics

For years, like many Americans, I’ve reacted to the dumbest disparaging shit that the Republicans and Trumpers have said about the FBI and military and police and CIA… and have found myself *defending* the integrity of these groups. That I had grown up learning to distrust. I remember as we put a “Vote the Prosecutor, Not the Felon” sign up, thinking that my dad would’ve laughed and been horrified.

But now, after supporting these centrist Dems for so long, I’m back to my true roots: distrust law enforcement, be wary of the government, Fuck the patriarchy.

My dad would approve.

LOOKED UP: best wine restaurants in Tampa Bay Area

Best restaurant wine lists in Tampa

LOOKED UP: Greensleaves song

Talking about what movie the song was featured in. Greensleaves

Small Joys: English

Day 38

random number: 130.

listen to an English Language history podcast

I love this podcast History of English. I listen to it off and on, and it was good to be reminded to do so again. Today with a 7.5 hour drive, it was a perfect way to whole away 1.5 hours of the drive.

The host is a lawyer with a love of the English language. He researches deep into topics. He’s said he mapped out an idea to do 100 episodes but as he dug into specific topics, he went deeper and deeper. The most recent episode is #180 and he’s still on Shakespeare. Fantastic history, culture and linguistic information. Highly recommend.

LOOKED UP: why is there a statue of Winston Churchill in New Orleans

a statue of Winston Churchill in New Orleans

Small Joys — birthday surprise

Day 37

Random number 223

Plan a birthday surprise for someone

Turns out it’ll be two someones! Gonna message everyone with Susan’s address to send her birthday cards or postcards. It’s her 67th, I believe.

Then I literally just watched a video of a cool idea for a party. We’ll try it at Stacy’s birthday party/murder mystery. It’ll be a fun souvenirs for her of some of her factories. Here’s a screen shot from the video I just watched:

Small Joys — smug rule breaker

Day 36 ( after taking 4 day break)

— i wasn’t doing the Small Joys on our trip to anew Orleans. I felt a bit guilty and stressed about it, kept moving to next day, and then I remembered: I am in charge of the rules. Turns out a four-day break is perfectly okay. No one is going to get mad at me. So moving on … —

Random number 229

Allow a moment to be smug for the things you’ve achieved this year so far

Sean and I jokingly both took a second to feel smug this afternoon to fulfill this Small Joy. But we didn’t list our reasons at the time.

Here are many good reasons for me to feel smug:

i have survived at my job, and turned it into a even more flexible job, and have found I am still needed and relied on more than ever. But away a lot of income into retirement account.

i spoke at a tax conference. It was on how to make friends, which isn’t a very concrete subject. I did ok. But the important thing is I volunteered and did it.

I've made good investing decisions.

I've cut way back on social media, and dumped twitter.

i took care of my stress after the election, protected myself. Also with Peter: setting boundaries on topics

I’ve spent more time with Peter, treated him more like an adult, been patient, and been happy to see his growth.

I re-started therapy.

I made big progress on declutterring the house, getting my office in good shape.

New York, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, (Williamsburg next). That’s a lot of navigating different cities, and I did it!

I spoke Italian in Italy, in untested situations!!! Dealt with Peter, and corralling people, and a backpack robbery… and did well! I do feel smug.

Started a new medicine, which has a bunch of different hoops to jump through for prescriptions, but has been worth the hassle as i do feel better.

Didnt take the bait.

Asked for, received and enjoyed a 57th birthday party from B and S. Delightful day. Celebrated living longer than my dad.

Did some crafting, did some reading, did some drinking, saw some art… but without should or should nots bothering me in my head.

Saw Nora graduate. I feel smug — even though she did an awful lot, ok, all the work.

organized a stargazing adventure.

got invited to more things than we hosted. That used to be unbalanced the other way. It was nice to have a change.

Started a regular cribbage group.

LOOKED UP: a good poem

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.

  So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

STUMBLED ON: bike races/rides in Florida

Gotta check this out after all our traveling is done: Florida rides

LOOKED UP: what’s showing at NOLA art museum

NOMA exhibits

LOOKED UP: many things

Was a busy day. Things I looked up:

Sicilian flag vs Isle of Man flag

Times for Wicked at theater near hotel

Location of Treme neighborhood in NOLA

How many seasons of TV show Tremé

What is Pimms? Answer British gin liqueur

Bernard de Marigny and Craps

what does NOPSI stand for — this is on half the manhole covers in the city

a Pimms cocktail: Satsuma Citrus at Napoleon House

Small Joys — wear a scarf

Day 35

Not-random number: 179

Wear a scarf

I must confess to picking this one from the list. I knew I’d be sleeping in and focused on the big Pink/Sheryl Crowe/Maren Morris concert, so I went with one I was already doing that night!

LOOKED UP: the Brownings and their son’s house in Venice

Looked up biographies of poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and the house their son Pen lived in in Venice, which I’ve seen from outside.

This was inspired by the novel The Swan’s Nest that I’ve begun reading.

also sheepishly I realized I had them confused with the Beecher Stowe’s… different literary couple.

Small Joys — card art

Day 34

random number: 207

Research Art to make with playing cards

I have loads of old playing cards, and have been wanting to make art. Today’s Small Joy is a kick in the pants.

Beautiful re-working of playing cards

Gift tags — look to see if I still have gift tag punch in scrapbooking supplies!!

Garland — find some nice ribbon — for cribbage day, for birthdays. Tape ribbon across back, instead of using holes.

Gift box — for cribbage pals

playing card flowers/hairpin

Wreath for Valentine’s Day with red cards, and heart suit cards

LOOKED UP: gold in them thar … stores

Where to sell gold locally

Small Joys — silly feet

Day 33

Random number: 259

Wear silly socks

an excuse for a foot selfie!

the number wasn’t truly random as I kept getting tasks that I needed to be home for. Had to be sure it was one I could do while traveling. This was the first non-home one that came up — it’s fantastic it’s the day after: tidy sock drawer 😆

Social media free weekend — a saga

This will be an ongoing tale.

8:45: thought of something pithy for Blue Sky, thought I can put that on blogger, but already forgot what it was!

9:12: was itching to check responses to my Insta photos

10:30 I have more free time when not busy wasting time on social media. Actually MEDITATED this morning. It’s always on my To Do list, I always want to BE a person who meditates, but it always gets forgotten. Not today Satan! 15 minutes of quieting the brain does me wonders. I’ve put on To Do list to meditate twice a day this weekend. When I went to use the Calm app, i remembered that I’ve paid $70 a year for ages and barely used it… except clearly at some point I put a stop to that nonsense. So I had to resubscribe, and good ol’ Calm missed me and offered $42 for the next year. So that started the meditation on the right tone: ah, I have not been wasting money! Yay! Calm app wanted me to share to social media that I had meditated — not today, Satan!

11:37: I have 34 Pikmin out for 2-115 days picking up gifts.

11:45 Sitting bored, and was itching to see reactions to me saying I was taking a Soc media break. Two minutes later itching just to open FB for something to do. Reminded self it’ll be so satisfying to accomplish this, see the reactions on Monday. And it’ll take the same amount of time

12:15 get rich plan

1. step one: buy lottery ticket
2. step two: win lottery
3. step three: use tax knowledge and plan for spending

3:56 haven’t been missing the apps. Been talking with friends during our drive last few hours. Just now thought about opening a soc media app out of habit, not any particular need.

5:35 playing a board game, slow point in game, I reached for phone… wasn’t even sure why, so habit. Breaking that habit.

7:25 am Sunday — Woke up, checked phone for emails and texts. Checked to Do listZ Then a second of confusion: isn’t there something else I need to check? Ahhhh, nope! Not today satan!

10:59 Amazing how restful doing nothing is when doing nothing does not include mindless scrolling. I really must work on set times, with a time limit, for social media use.

11:29 second meditation of the weekend. I said this SM vacay was only two days but I’m already wondering if I want to go back in Monday.

11:31 photos I would’ve posted in SM so far:

1:14 pm Sunday — a few tunes I’ve felt the urge to post something to show off. So ephemeral, I can’t even remember what it was.

1:15 pm (Sun). Not a show off: I’d just tell my Pikmin pals I have 42 Pikmin out for gifts. Though 4 will be back today.

1:38 pm Sunday — The building housing the Stagger Inn in downtown Orlando was originally a hospital … huh. I love how buildings change purpose.

2:12 already anticipating leftover scotch egg for breakfast… yum

3:46 pm Chewing Mentos gum, and it’s so minty fresh, I think I just improved my breath all the way to last August…

3:58 pm What games are you playing this weekend?

clearly I think about posting a lot during games like Wyrmspan

1:20 pm Monday — late last night I re-downloaded Blue Sky. And insta. Spent a chunk of time scrolling BS this morning. That’s why I didn’t post to blog all morning! So yet again, didn’t get birthday cards done. I guess technically this weekend’s experiment is done. It ended a little earlier than I planned. But it felt good, I learned something. Definitely have to delete for a true break. I’m well into reading my novel now so I don’t want to scroll. I guess I’ll be posting Pink photos later. Maybe just one. People’s concert photos are boring. 😆

Memory

“Three little birds” by Bob Marley and “Odds Are” by Bare Naked Ladies… got me through a period of a couple months when we had a couple doctors telling us our son (age 10 at the time) needed open heart surgery. Eventually a new pediatric cardiologist said: let’s just keep an eye on this heart issue and see when he really needs surgery. 12 years later, still no sign he *needs* surgery. Those fecking docs were forcing non-urgent open heart surgery …

ANYWAY… still love those songs.

Friday Wins

 Apple Pie

Went to CR Chicks with stepmom. Got their fantastic apple pie. Brought it home. It is so huge, I can not eat it in one sitting. It is mostly apples, and a bit of crumble crust. So good.

Taking care of myself

When I ran out of steam or just didn't have the spoons to tackle anything on the To Do list, I allowed myself to lay down in a dark room with a cat for a couple hours and just be. This week has been hard. We didn't have to be here. I am starting very very very small, and taking care of me. I can't resist if I am not here, so I am keeping myself safe for now.

Got a tax return done

By some miracle I got the papers I needed at 4:40 on a Friday afternoon before a 2-week vacation, and I finished a return and turned it in. Feels good.

Bluesky -- and sabbatical

Trying to greatly reduce my social media presence. Deactivated all extraneous Twitter accounts -- found two more old ones from projects from ten years ago, so was glad to add to the numbers deactivating. My main account, I have put private, deleted personal stuff, and am letting it go dark. Deleted the Twitter app from my phone. And as always, Facebook is just remains fucking annoying.

But meanwhile, Bluesky is taking off. I am happy to be connecting with cool people. Enjoying the joy and fun again. I signed up back in August 2023, hopeful to leave Twitter even then, but not enough people did. I kept dabbling, but until this week, Bluesky hadn't truly taken off. It is glorious.

And now I take the weekend off social media. I have plans with friends. Books to read. Walks to take. Drinks to drink. And a blog I can go to if I absolutely need to natter away into the ether. Bluesky will still be there, and I will rejoin the fray on Monday.

Small Joys -- socks

 Day 32

Random Number: 91

Weed out sock drawer

My silly friends on Facebook thought this meant -- take the POT out of the sock drawer. Goofballs.

Pretty straightforward. I will post photo of funny socks later.

LOOKED UP: various

How to find lost objects

join a lending circle

Energy star windows

residential energy credits

what is BlueSky

Small joys — hahaha

Day 31

random number: 137

Watch a comedy special

Here’s a list to choose from 

Because of that list, I was inspired to watch a 1995 Janeane Garafolo comedy special. It was funny, nostalgic, and a reminder of how she tried too hard to be cool by not being too cool, and it’s all rather painful.

And discussing comedy specials with Peter, he’s now got us watching an Icelandic comedy special of Ari Eldjarn.

Small joys: smell the roses

Day 30.

Random number: 275

Make paper roses

Used these instructions

Used up some old scrapbook paper. Only cut, shaped and assembled. Will glue tomorrow.

Wasn’t too hard. I’d do it again.

LOOKED UP: clear the fog

How to clean foggy headlight covers

update: tried this on Sean's headline covers. It helped a little. But also I was using toothpaste with a mint gel in it. Need to buy standard toothpaste.

Small Joys — Bright lights of Broadway

Day 29

Random number: 132

Today’s small joy: research upcoming broadway plays

Ok, a science fiction musical might convince Sean to come with me to NYC next spring. I’ll skip George Clooney. Several others look good!

2024-2025 season

Racism

Once upon a time, we had water fountains. At first, in the US, water fountains were separated by which “race” could use them. With Civil Rights movement, that nonsense went away.

About 20-30 years later, bottled water became a thing. And water fountains have disappeared. Capitalists make more money and racists don’t have to share drinking fountains. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Once upon a time, we had slavery in this country. After the Civil War, new petty laws and newly formed police forces started locking up citizens, often more of one race than another. To this day, prisoners provide free labor to many corporations. Prisons themselves are more and more overwhelmingly private companies. Capitalists win, and a sizable portion of one race provides free labor the rest of us don’t have to think about.

Once upon a time, we had public swimming pools in many cities and towns, again separated by race. But we have far fewer today. Somehow public pools became less of a civic priority since the 1970s.

Our nation started and built a magnificent public education system. Unlike other nations that could show “better scores” by teaching only certain parts of their society, the USA educated everyone no matter socioeconomic level or disability. This was a fantastic achievement.

Since the 1970s, private education and home schooling have grown. More options are good, of course! Except when coupled with efforts to undermine and ruin the public education for all. We shall see how the closing of the Department of Education pans out over the next four years, and who benefits and who loses.

Small Joys — Go Spurs!

Day 28

Random number 389

Check Tottenham history, roster, prospects, schedule

There’s back story: In fall 2019, Sean and I went to Delray Beach, to our favorite British Pub, the Blue Anchor. We both happened to be wearing blue shirts that day, no particular reason. And we walked in during a big soccer (football) match between Liverpool (in red jerseys) and Tottenham (in blue jerseys). In the pub was a large crowd of Liverpool supporters. They were markedly cool to us in our generic (non-Tottenham-supporting) blue shirts.

But since that day, we have joked that we are Tottenham fans — even though we pay nearly no attention to UK football other than through Ted Lasso. I did buy Sean a Tottenham T-shirt for Christmas a couple years ago and it’s since become a nightshirt for me.

The couple times I’ve looked into it, Tottenham is not a great team. They did lose to Liverpool that first day we became aware they existed.

So my small joy today is to learn more about this team I’ve nominally and jokingly supported for five years. Oh look, they’re 10th out of 20 in the standings, so that’s not so awful. Note: Liverpool is #1.

Upcoming games to watch

Roster of players ranked — I’ll need this when I watch so I know who’s doing well

official roster with pictures. As diverse as Ted Lasso team

LOOKED UP: Slovakian poppyseed apple pie

Slovakian apple poppyseed pie from GBBO

LOOKED UP: Comfort TV to watch

 Matlock (CBS)

Survivor (CBS)

Great British Bake Off (Netflix)

Moone Boy (Prime)

IT Crowd (Prime)

Friday Night Dinner (Prime)

Hudson & Rex (Prime)

Detectorists (Prime)

Diplomat (Netflix)

Trying (Apple)

Shrinking (Apple)

Murders in the Building (Hulu/Disney+)

Agatha All Along (Disney+)

LOOKED UP: why are car batteries more expensive than ever

Besides general economy excuses and Covid excuses… our cars are more complicated with lots of computer electronics. Si batteries are more complicated.

Why are car batteries so expensive

Small Joys — listen to read

Day 27

random number 304

listen to something on tape - ok, an audio book totally counts

This is good. Making me go back and finish the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0. Now that the weather is finally lovely I’ve started getting back to walking and listening to podcasts and audio books.

I listened to audio book for awhile in bed this morning. Taking a lap around the neighborhood and listening to book again. Learning new things!

Small Joys: checking credit report

Day 26

Random number: 199

Check credit report

This is a boring one. But still brings me joy to know I am keeping an eye out for fraud and keeping my capitalist file tidy. This is one government benefit I could see going away soon. So consider checking your own. I am going to check Peter's. 

You can checks yours free as well right here.

A reminder: goals

I need to remind myself:

LOOKED UP: reading Jane Austen and Terry Practchett

2025 reading goals: reread all 6 of Jane Austen's books and fill more gaps in list of reading all of Pratchett's Disc World books. These are comfort books, and with Jane Austen, it is escaping into a world where there are rules I would chafe under, but there are RULES to society. And with Disc World, it is all chaos all the time, but it is a different world than this one we are in.

Jane Austen books in order by publication date or written date — I’m going with written order

Disc World books organized by sub series

I think I’ll add on some Agatha Christie books too. 2025 will be a lot of escapism.

Small Joys — catching up: bits and baubles

Day 24

random number: 139

Weed out jewelry

This grew from a simple task to a full jewelry box clean out, dresser top cleaning, plans to sell some gold, and at least one re-gift.

Lovely to remember gifts and travel memories. I still have pearl earrings a friend gifted me in college in 1989. I have three pairs featuring glass from Murano in Italy this past summer.

Gathered a pile of unwanted jewelry and single earrings of a lost pair to sell at one of those gold selling places. Maybe I’ll take Sean out to eat afterward. Will it be Burger King or Buccan? Photo of some jewelry to sell off.

Excited for my Christmas jewelry — all 3 pieces. But maybe I’ll remember to wear them.

Love all my various pins. Couldn’t get rid of any.

My single earrings from lost pairs that make me sad. Sent this to my family saying, if you find something similar, I’d love it as a gift.

Small Joys — good news

Day 25

random number is 269

Find positive stories in the news & share them with others

What a week to get this task. But I found some fun stories:

Moldova incumbent president wins — she’s female and progressive, and won despite Russian interference

Biker traveling across country relies on goodness of strangers (video)

This guy in United Kingdom shapes hedges into interesting topiary. Lovely creative and community story.

Small town wins case and their money back from Bitcoin scammers

At least Europe is doing a good job with reducing pollution.

List of recommended books — not news, but a lovely collection and reviews

In personal news, Peter has been learning to drive from his dad off and on for 6 years. After looooong break, he’s back in the drivers seat in the past few weeks, and maturity seems to have kicked in and he’s improved greatly. We plan for him to take the test and get his full license in December. So excited how his world will open up.

Time wasted?

a text to a friend:

Yeah. We live in dark times. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time “participating” by being part of the social media political frenzy of the past… fuck?… 15 years? with no results. I guess I had a few laughs, made some friends. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Gonna focus on the local, and inside my house, and the people I already know. On all the creative stuff i want to do. I’m a cog, but for now, I’m a cog who can enjoy life and my people.

All this time spent *caring* about the global news appears to have been for naught. Time to focus on what I can do, time I can spend with people I love and trust.

Gonna use the post office, while I can, to send mail.

Going to host some get togethers for people to commiserate and feel supported and … whatever living in this timeline needs.

I’m in a near news blackout. It’s delightful.

We will move out of Florida. It’s untenable to live here — esp 8 miles from that motherfucker’s Florida house.

Books to read

Books to read

LOOKED UP: yoga videos

 Best yoga videos online

Nothing new -- dealing with the chaos and bleakness of the world, and remembering hope

 E.B. White’s letter to someone who had lost faith in humanity:

Dear Mr. Nadeau:

As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

Sincerely,

E. B. White

LOOKED UP: can violin rosin go bad

 Turns out rosin is good for 6 months to 2 years. Mine was purchased in... 2009. I think I need new rosin

Growing up in America vs Growing Old in America

I grew up in America full of promise and hope and progress. America was the best. We’d made mistakes but we were fixing them and improving.

But really it was a lie. I mean we DID make progress and life was good. But most americans -- me included -- did not see the price. We were spoiled. Our fantastic economy and materialistic culture was and still is built on exploitation and abuse of people in other places out of sight. Our military overstepped its role and hurt people in their own lands. We were conveniently kept oblivious of this -- most of the time.

The other thing that was a lie? That peace & prosperity was the norm. Chaos, war, oppression are the norm around the world and throughout history. I grew up in a brief period of the 20th century where the USA was mostly at peace and mostly prosperous. And willing to ignore most of the bad stuff.

Now, Americans are being broken out of their bubble of comfort and excess and privilege and taking things for granted. Me included.

Life is hard. A functioning society is hard work. Assholes are power hungry. The privileged abuse those who aren’t privileged. None of this is new... except to those of us who've been oblivious the past 50ish yaers.

Reality: Coping with the hard stuff, enjoying the life we are given, making moral responsible choices as best we can, enjoying our people and our moment, being grateful for when things go right, being resolved and tenacious and also wise about when things go wrong.

my plan: Find and enjoy small joys. Love my people. Keep hope alive. Do no harm.

LOOKED UP make a gallery

Let's make an art gallery!

Small Joys -- Learning and Loving

 Day 22

Random number is: 210

Sign up for an online workshop

At first I was thinking I would do something artsy. That was probably the original intent when I added this to my Small Joys list. But when I went searching, i came across a storytelling course. And you know, I always wanted to be better at telling stories when among friends. This course emphasizes how it can help you in professional settings, so I guess there is that too.

Signing up on Udemy wasn't working on my phone, and then I got distracted by the election -- SIGH --but now I am all signed up for The Complete Storytelling Course for Speaking & Presenting.

Day 23

Random number is: 28

Think of a good thing about 5 people you know -- if you can, tell them

Hmmm. 

My son Peter: He is loving, thoughtful, and he knows himself better than most 22 year olds.

Mary McD: so kind and uplifting and welcoming; she made me feel brave on my first-ever panel at a conference. I still can't believe I participated.

Mike F: One of my longest friends, he is creative and smart and funny

Barbara: hardest worker I know and most generous friend ever

Mattea: brave and enthusiastic. i was so touched when she said she thought of me as an "auntie." As I have no siblings, I have no nieces of my own so I am ecstatic that this fantastic creature can be that for me.

Well here we are — post election

We said all along, we’d make decisions after the election. Here we are. Time to decide vacations, retirement, friends, investments.

I'm too heartbroken to go to DC at Thanksgiving. Our summer trip will now be planning where we will move to: Canada or blue state.

I am 57 1/2. I’ve been open and honest and optimistic and a believer in the goodness of people all my life. I can talk to anyone and make fast friends. But not anymore. My spirit is broken. I don’t trust anyone new and hell, I’m a bit suspicious of some friends. I’m gonna suspect everyone is stupid.

I have locked up all of my social media. Deleted the apps for most. I don’t want to rehash. I don’t want to provide support. I am shrinking my world on purpose. I have been too expansive and too trusting. I’m taking care of me and mine.

I want to live in a no-news bubble that clearly others do. I do not need to be informed or react to the garbage happening in this country. I will not take enough pleasure watching these MAGA voters suffer to be worth my own suffering.

Small Joys -- learn my phone

 Day 21

Number randomizer says: 125

Learn something new on phone

I just watched this video and learned about reducing battery usage with less notifications. I had turned off many notifcations ages ago, but lots of new apps means a bunch of then were sending me notifications or could. Bunch of those got turned off.

Also I cut down on background app refresh,. Nearly all were on; hardly any of my apps need to be refreshing all the time. Pffft! Just turned a bunch of those off.

I already had voice trigger for Siri turned off (another battery saver!). And I just learned to change my Siri voice to an Irish voice. I am excited!

And it is a relearn, but I just changed lock screen to a cute photo of Skitty and my wallpaper to a photo of Capri Italy. I learned to add the weather and Things 3 widgets to lock screen. Let's see if I remember to use them. it is nice to see a short view of my To Do list easily!

OK, I learned a few things on my phone. Good Small Joy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3RyKjnqz_E

Small Joys — a small repair to a bear

Turns out I never journaled this:

Day 19 (11/2/24)

number randomizer: 343

Repair bear pillow

I have been meaning to do this tiny task for years. Silly how we don’t get around to things. This adorable pillow had been a gift from my mother-in-law on long-ago Christmas, if I recall correctly. Developed a little tear on the seam over time. Put it in bedroom to keep it safer than couch. Then years passed, and I added this task to my Small Joy list.

And I’m glad I did. I love this pillow. And I take joy that it’s repaired and back on the couch for the holidays. Took a moment to pull off all that pilling as well. Mr Bear is all proud again.



Gratitude

Tonight I’m grateful for:

1. *Tax Twitter
2. *Pedego store in Boca
3. *Hilton honors points
4. *Discovering The Raincoats & the Slits with Peter (1970s all female British punk bands)
5. *Carrabbas leftovers for dinner
6. *A new toothbrush
7. *A tidier garage
8. *Election is almost over
9. *Phone apps that remind me to list my gratitude

Small Joys: star light star bright

Day 20

Number randomized data: 379

Practice drawing fancy stars

I saw a video of different fancy stars. I thought I’d try it out too. I definitely need more practice but it’s fun to know different ways to draw stars

The point isn’t to be perfect; it’s to enjoy the moment.

LOOKED UP: the raincoats

The Raincoats — all female post punk band

November Ins & Outs

In

1. walking outside
2. sitting outside
3. riding bikes middle of workday
4. shopping for holiday gifts
5. Blue Sky
6. music lessons
7. Getting invited to parties

Out

1. long work hours
2. hurricanes (we can hope)
3. excess sugar
4. Black Friday
5. twitter
6. sitting at computer too long
7. garage clutter

Small Joys: tell a joke

Day 18

Number randomizer says 54

look up a joke and tell it to someone

i looked up some cheesy accounting jokes and shared on Twitter. Then I found one mocking actuaries and I text it to Max. He came back with his own zinger. It was a good silly moment in the day, and connected with a friend.

Monthly goals — update and new list

October, my first month of goals, I made it to two activities at the art museum as planned, but none of the other goals were finished. I will keep working on the grout and birthday cards.

I did more walking in Oct than Sept but only hit the 10,000 steps on two days. Going to change that goal to walk at night listening to audio book. Not a steps goal: instead focus is on get outside, off screens, “reading” and moving.

Goals for November:

1. wear something from closet that hasn’t been worn in ages x 3
2. walk nightly a lap or two of neighborhood with audio book
3. take donation stuff from garage to Goodwill
4. Weekly social media sabbatical (Thursdays)
5. Inventory, clean up party supplies
6. apply for credit card with Peter
7. renew passport
8. Finish grout project: DR, front door, 3 bathrooms
9. Birthday cards for the rest of year — stamped and addressed

Odds are in my favor for success as a few of these are planned for this weekend. Whew!

UPDATE NOV 3

1. Wore an orange gnome shirt from Indiana that someone gave me. Been sitting in a drawer for a year or two. I like it. It was soft, and it has a big gnome beard on it. I also wore a long sleeve green t-shirt that I have owned for years but haven't worn in ages. And ... it really doesn't fit well. Time to donate that.

2. I keep forgetting to walk. ARGH

3 DONATIONS DONE -- and it feels so good

7. Started to fill out form, remembered I need photo. Doing that this week.

8. Peter and I made more progress on grout.

UPDATE Nov 7

1. I wore a long-sleeve green tshirt that I have had for years. It is an LL Bean, and good quality, and a lovely color which is why I always hang on to it. So I wrote it for the first time in ages, and ... it does not fit me well. So to the donation pile.

2. Finally got in a walk the last two days. One with Sean and one with Peter. Eventually I will get around to walking with an audio book!

4. Fail on first day. I stayed off all morning. So 1/3 of a win? And I have only scrolled and liked stuff, not posted. But I have done more things and even took a nap. And it has felt good. I will do better. I still think Thursday is best day for this,

7. Getting photo today

8. Grout by front door is done. Later today: dining room

UPDATE on December 1:

1. i did wear at least 3 things that hadn’t been worn in awhile. And caused a couple things to he donated rather than worn.
2. Did not walk much with audio book. Will continue in
3. I did take donation stuff from garage to Goodwill
4. I did one 2-4 day sabbatical. It lead to somewhat less social media time SJ ce. But not a weekly one. Going to try more.

5-9: All moved to December

Friday wins

I’ve learned a bunch of Xero (bookkeeping software) this week and gotten two months of huge checking account reconciled. I think. 😆 Ready to start July now.

I found gift cards from past christmases we haven’t used and I’m taking my honey out for a hot FREE date!