Well, we survived Monday, didn’t we? It wasn’t even iffy this time. I woke up before my alarm yesterday morning, only hit snooze once, and then got up, wide awake and feeling rested (Sunday I was still feeling a bit worn out, not sure why), but I felt very good all day yesterday. I ran a couple of errands after work on my way home, which was nice. We weren’t terribly busy yesterday so I was able to get caught up on some things around the office, and somehow tomorrow we get paid again? It seems like we did just get paid, you know. And it’s almost October, and we’re well on our way into football season. I feel pretty good this morning, now that I’ve got some coffee and my breakfast sandwich into my system and my body is going oh yes, we like how this feels. I also ran some errands on my way home, but Sparky was very needy when I got home. He didn’t even want to be fed until I’d picked him up and let him wrap around my neck while headbutting me and purring. After he ate, he wanted my lap (he’s so needy after he’s not been home alone all day for a few days) and so I thought let me catch up on the news but once he was asleep in a puddle in my lap, I was done for the evening. When Paul got home we caught up on Lanterns–which is really phenomenal and may be the best super-hero TV show of all time–and then we started a Spanish language show, Oasis, which is the same kind of show as Elite was, only with a summer spa/resort in the place of the school. I guess it’s more The White Lotus?
Tonight I have to swing uptown to get the mail, and may stop to get some things on the way home; we need some bananas (they get so overripened so quickly these days) and maybe some ice cream as a treat? We’ve not had anything like that in a while–we’re consciously trying to be more healthy, food-wise–so maybe, maybe not. I’ll see how I feel once I get in the car and to the store. The weather is still scorching during the day, topping out around 100 or thereabouts, but it’s dropping into the seventies at night. This is what passes for fall here in New Orleans, or football weather, at any rate. I know next month is when we’ll experience the big drop, down into the seventies/low eighties during the day but dipping into the sixties overnight, and sometimes colder. I doubt we’ll get snow this winter, when it finally comes, but you never know anymore, do you?
I see that Jaxson Dart got injured last night1, the day after Aaron Rodgers did. Shame that karma came for you both; I wonder whatever for? What could either quarterback have done that would…oh, who cares. Fuck them both. I don’t waste empathy on garbage.
I am going to try to be productive today, since I failed so miserably last night. I need to empty the dishwasher and reload it, pick up things in the kitchen, take out the trash, and straighten the rugs. I made lunch for the rest of the week this morning, so that’s taken care of for now. Outside of the bananas, I don’t think we really need anything else….maybe I should just stop at the grocery in the CBD on my way home from work tomorrow? I don’t know. Decisions, decisions, right?
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely Tuesday, and I will check in with you again tomorrow morning!
The Krewe of Dolly is anchoring the second-line on 9-25.
Can a Congressional investigation be far behind? ↩︎
Wednesday morning and we’re making our way through the week nicely, I think. Today is going to be very busy in the clinic, and so I am expecting to be very tired when I get home tonight. That’s fine, the weekend looms, as well as my work-at-home day on Friday. I wasn’t terribly tired when I got home, but then I had to make a bed for Sparky out of my lap while I caught up on the news. What a wild day yesterday was, in unimportant news in the overall scheme of things. The whole Ed Sheeran1 torching his career2 wasn’t on my bingo card for 2026, but then again, neither was Arch Manning being a misogynist asshole about Holly Rowe either (he did apologize, both publicly and privately, but…I guess I’ll just chalk that whole mess up to he was smart enough to apologize, even if it reeked of a PR team). Bottom line–grabbing your ankles and bending over for a morally corrupt billionaire doesn’t fly in these times. The country is angry, angry about everything and rightfully so; but…I also don’t have a lot of sympathy (any, really) for the people who gleefully voted for all of this but are so penitent now (not penitent enough to abandon the Republican Party, though) and upset that they aren’t being treated like the “innocent victims” they claim to be–and he “lied” isn’t a defense. I heard him very clearly, and I saw the signs and shirts at the rallies and heard the chants.
If I knew, there’s no reason why you didn’t–because you literally cannot concede, even now, that you based your vote on your own bigotry. Given into, and following, evil isn’t a mistake and you were a very willing participant. We all saw it.You just chose not to, because it felt good to strike a blow for white supremacy, economic disaster, and another forever war. Oh, excuse me, it felt good to strike back against social justice progress and stick it to those libs, right? You voted to hurt queer people and did so with a great big smile on your face…well, this liberal faggot feels nothing for you. Finally, at long last, people are sick to fucking death of your bullshit and you’re finally feeling those consequences you wanted for everyone that you don’t like…and I’m supposed to now feel sorry for you?3I didn’t vote for you to lose your family’s generational farm and wealth, why should my tax dollars bail your stupid asses out? I’d rather student loan debt be retired than another bailout for MAGA farmers and ranchers.
Life’s hard, bitches. Pull yourselves up by the bootstraps. FREEDOM! Maybe cut back on some of your streaming services, or make coffee at home instead of going to Starbucks. And avocado toast, I hear, is really expensive so don’t waste money on fripperies. Economize. Where’s that American “can do” mentality? Work harder! Maybe do some ride-sharing work, or delivery for an app. There’s all kinds of ways you can make some money to supplement your farm/ranch, isn’t there? You don’t need any of that socialist bail out money, do you? No, you thought “he fucked us but bailed us out with welfare the last time, so he’ll take care of us always”–ha ha ha ha ha.
Fools.
As I mentioned, creating a lap for Sparky last night kept from doing much of anything except watching the news, as I can’t use my laptop with a cat in my lap–and oh, the dirty looks I get whenever I even slightly shift while he’s asleep! Plus, it’s so lovely to come home from work and get affection from a cat. On the way home tonight I have to run some errands, and it’s also supposed to rain today. So, who knows what kind of place I’ll be in tonight when I finally trudge up the stairs and enter the Lost Apartment, having survived another day in the mad jungle. Oh, and my latest newsletter went out this morning; click here to read my takes on Flipper.
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines for the day. Hope your Wednesday is charming, lovely, and happy, Constant Reader, and I will be back bright and early tomorrow morning.
I’ve always loved this image, taken out my bay windows during a thunderstorm around noon on a Sunday a few years ago. It has a real creepy Gothic feel to it.
One can’t help but be amused that Sheeran’s statement, primarily focused on him being “responsible” to the other artists on his tour–resulted in them all quitting. That did make me laugh. When I read his statement, all I could think was, dude, this is going to blow up in your face, and I was right. Regardless where you come down in your opinions and thoughts about Gaza and Palestine, the principle here–suppressing of political speech for an artist–should concern you, and it’s partly why Sheeran is being dragged for filth so intensely. ↩︎
By the way, the billionaire who caused all this is the one at whose wedding he performed at, and has called “super sweet” before…yes, those are words often used to describe billionaires. Yes, Ed, you sacrificed your public image for a “super sweet” billionaire suppressing free speech. I’d delete you off my Spotify, but guess what? I don’t listen to your hackneyed pablum music. Way to be a free speech warrior and stand up for your fellow artists….god knows, we certainly can’t expect the half-billionaire cosplaying as Irish (cultural appropriation, especially when he has no clue how the Irish feel about oppression) to stand on principle. ↩︎
Also, did you mask during COVID? Did you get your vaccines? Because as a public health worker, there’s yet another reason for me to completely despise you, your ancestors, and your descendants. Consider it a generational curse. ↩︎
And here it is, Tuesday morning, and I feel pretty decent. I slept better last night than I have in a while, which was lovely, and comfy as the bed was this morning, I got up and wasn’t tempted to stay in bed longer than I could or should. Sparky wasn’t too hungry this morning, because he didn’t even come up before the second time I hit snooze. I didn’t do much of anything last night after I got home from work; I should have made groceries (or had some delivered) but it was 100 degrees when I got into the car to come home yesterday afternoon and it just sucked all the life out of me before I put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb. Ah, well. I also didn’t do much of anything once I got home, either; I plopped down into my easy chair and Sparky curled up in my lap and that was it for the evening. I caught up on the news, started watching another episode of Scream Queens, which I interrupted when Paul came down to eat and we watched the latest Lanterns. I really love that show; it may be one of the best super-hero TV shows of all time; definitely up there with Agatha All Along, which was amazing.
And while I may not have done any writing yesterday, I did think about what I am writing right now, which is always a good thing, and far better than actually not thinking about it at all. I should be able to get this hellish transitional chapter finished tonight or tomorrow, and then I can move on to the next chapter. And yes, I just remembered I always have problems with Chapter Five. Sigh. It’s amazing how much we forget how painful writing a book can be whenever we start writing another week; helpful selective amnesia, much as how we here in New Orleans forget every year how bad summer can be; every year it’s like a horrific reminder, and the same goes with writing a book, especially when your only deadline is your own, you know? Contractual deadlines are entirely different kind of stress and aggravation, but much as I always worry when I sit down to write that words aren’t going to come, or that I’ll veer away from the story I am telling (it’s easy when your mind wanders as much as mine does), and while I always hate having to cut good writing out of my work because it doesn’t fit, no matter how pretty the language is (“kill your darlings”), sometimes it is necessary. (Right now I am resisting cutting this opening sentence for the chapter: There’s nothing better than a nap after some intense fucking. I love that sentence.)
Ah, my coffee is kicking in and I am feeling pretty good and awake and cheerful now (I know, right? What is wrong with me?) ; we’ll see how the rest of the day goes, shan’t we? We’re not terribly busy in the clinic this morning, so I should be able to get some of the paperwork done that I need to get done around my appointments. My new testing room is taking some getting used to, because I always have had my clients sit to my right when I am testing them; now they are on my right and the entire room is geared to the left instead of the right, which is taking me some getting used to; it’ll probably feel normal to me by the end of this week. Changes of habit aren’t easy when you’ve been doing something almost exactly the same way for twenty years, you know?
The news continues to be grim, and while I see many people being excited about a blue wave, that’s not taking into condition the possibilities that there will again be election shenanigans, or election outcome shenanigans. We’re already well on our way down the path to authoritarianism; it’s now a question of what will be left to rebuilt from once this administration and its un-American treason. (Interesting how the presidencies regarded by historians as the most corrupt in our history always has an R after their name, isn’t it? Grant, Harding, Nixon, Bush II, and now this thing.) I also believe two things about yesterday’s dialing back of AI by the plagiarists who want to make “thinking machines’; one, that the money dried up and it’s all about to crash and take the economy with it, and two, they’ve finally realized they can’t contain it, and that technology, in the wrong hands, is extremely dangerous. (Has no one at all ever watched the original Terminator movie, or Blade Runner, or The 100, or read Dune? Christ, even Azimov killed off all the robots in the universe except for one!)
Oh, I did finish writing a newsletter about Flipper, which is scheduled to go out tomorrow morning. I have to say, I am enjoying myself writing these newsletters, and I am slowly but surely beginning to feel more confidence about writing them, which is a really good thing, methinks. The fiction I’ve been writing at a snail’s pace is also much better than things I’ve done over the last six or seven years–or at least, I feel much better about them. I feel more confident about writing in general, I think; it’s just a matter of reining everything back it and focusing on getting things done.
And on that note, I am going to head into the spice mines. Hope you have a great day, thanks as always for stopping by, and hope to see you again tomorrow.
Work-at-home Friday, and here we are! I am taking the day off because I have a doctor’s appointment this morning and I have another one in the afternoon. Sigh. That’s what sick time is for, after all, and I am going to try to get caught up on things I’ve let slide longer than I should have. It rained most of the day yesterday, along with flash flooding in the metro area and yes, they were thunderstorms. When I woke up yesterday morning, I opened my eyes in time for a very bright flash of lightning, followed instantly by a low rumble of thunder that lasted as I pulled on my sweats and fumbled around in the dark like Velma on Scooby Doo Where Are You looking for my glasses. By the time I got downstairs, turned on the kitchen lights and the coffee maker, it was pouring. The water draining off the roofs and the rain fall on the side yard made a stream about two inches deep, and the current heading toward the street was very, very fast. I’d used my wagon last night, and hadn’t folded it up and put it away, so it was out there filling up with water. It was still raining heavily when I went to work, then the rest of my work day it was off and on all day. Yesterday was an odd day at work, actually. We’re restructuring the department again, which meant the testing room I usually use needs to be used by someone else–our next nurse, which meant a big production of moving me to another testing room. Long story short, they set me up in the wrong room but I couldn’t get into the room they wanted me in because someone else had already set up in there for the day. So, I couldn’t set it up or anything, and piles of the stuff I used in the original room was stacked up on a table, which made the room look messy, and yeah–I didn’t like that off-balance feeling. It wasn’t raining when I ran some errands on the way home, and then Sparky and I got in the easy chair and got caught up on the news. Paul came home late, but we watched the finale of The Shards (more on that later), then Coco’s exit from the US Open before going to bed. I did sleep very well, and I actually feel pretty good this morning. I am going to do some chores around here before cleaning up for my appointment, and this afternoon I’ll get to work cleaning and doing laundry.
It’s also 9/11 today, and the 25th anniversary of that horrible day when everything changed. I’ve been working on a newsletter about my own memories of that day and time; and everything that happened afterwards. It’s a very somber day–kind of how Pearl Harbor Day was more of a thing when I was a kid, because it had only been twenty years since the Japanese attack when I was born. Not even twenty; I was born in August and the twentieth anniversary was in December, of course. We barely even notice December 7th anymore, which is wild to me; when I was a kid I thought we’d always remember World War II–which is clearly not the case.
The Shards was infuriating. For one thing, nothing was resolved in the finale. Why would you open the season finale of a show with a major subplot involving a serial killer with a new, completely unrelated murder and turn the last episode not doing much with the serial killer at all into a whole new whodunnit, which is completely unresolved. Nothing was resolved, everything was left hanging, and I have no one to blame but myself for watching another beautiful mess produced by Ryan Murphy. I am going to start reading the book this weekend–people I know and respect loved the book and hated the show (quelle surprise), so I am hopeful that the book will provide more of what I wanted from the show (and didn’t ever get).
There are some good games this weekend, but LSU is playing Louisiana Tech tomorrow night at the same time as Texas-Ohio State, which means flipping back and forth between games. Will the Tigers have a big night against La Tech? Will Clemson rebound from last weekend? The Saints also play this Sunday, and I imagine we’ll watch the US Open men’s final, too.
And on that note, I am going to get another cup of coffee and adjourn to my chair to relax a bit before getting to work on chores and getting ready for my appointment. So, gave yourself a lovely little Friday, and I will be back tomorrow morning bright and early. Til then!
Thursday and the last day in the office for the week. I woke up to a marvelous thunderstorm that I am not going to want to run to the car in, but there are worse things. I wish I was still in bed and under the covers! There’s no rain just yet–or it’s not coming down very hard–but the lightning is very close, so I’m getting quite the light show outside my windows as I swill my morning coffee. It also explains the sinus attack I experienced as soon as I got out of be (thank you, sweet relief from Claritin-D), and I do feel a bit groggy physically–not mentally–but the shower will take care of that. I am very delighted it’s Thursday, and I am having my work-at-home day again tomorrow. I do have a doctor’s appointment at eleven, and I’ll run errands after that before getting home and settling in for the evening. I doubt I will do much of anything when I get home tonight–which is what usually happens on Thursdays–but I need to at least do a load of laundry and empty the dishwasher. Ah, the glamorous life never ends, does it?
For a pay-the-bills day, yesterday wasn’t that bad, other than watching my bank balance dwindle as I paid said bills. I slept really well and didn’t want to get out of the warmth and comfort of the bed; I even went to bed early on Tuesday night because I felt a little inside-out. We were steadily busy in the clinic but not in a bad, exhausting way, and that was nice. It had rained overnight Tuesday night as well so it was a little cooler yesterday–in the 80s and not terribly humid (or, horror of horrors, I’ve adapted to it), and I did run errands on my way home. I spent most of the evening getting caught up on the news for the day, ignoring that gathering of evil in Dallas (GRINDR crashed again, quelle surprise), and rolling my eyes about all the college football lunacy and the complete meltdown of on-air personalities around it (more on that later) and I eventually went to bed early. (Paul was late getting home, and will be again tonight too–meetings.) It’s so dark outside with the storms! I really want to get back into bed and pull up my warm pile of blankets over me, but that isn’t anything I can do, alas…tempting as it is to call in sick.
I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but I find it interesting that as everyone is struggling to put gas in their cars and food on their tables is that my credit cards have been raising my limits. Now, my credit rating has been improving, as I continue to pay the debt down, but not so significantly that my credit companies have raised my limits by either doubling or even tripling my credit with them. I know having more available credit improves your credit score, but increasing the available credit also means more available credit which means the rating will go up again which means the credit lines will increase again and damn, what a fucking merry-go-round this is. Ah, he’s paying off his cards that means he’s more solvent and can take on even more debt! Seriously, fuck off with these evil increases.
It’s quite exciting that we have two US women and two US men in the US Open semi-finals; when was the last time this happened in the same tournament? It’s been a long fucking while. Andy Roddick was the last US man to win the Open, and of course, there were the years of Venus and Serena at the top of the women’s draw.
Well, it looks like all the LSU/SEC drama has subsided. For the record, y’all should know that not only has LSU embraced its villain era, so has the entire state. I’ve also been highly amused watching all the ESPN “analysts” beat their chests and scream to high heaven that the Lane Train is trying to undermine and ruin college football. First of all, the initial question–can people who signed pro contracts but were never paid and never played regain their final year of eligibility in the wake of a recent court decision granting some players from 2022 an extra year; does that apply in this case as well1? It’s a fair question that deserved an answer. The Big Ten and the SEC then decided to ban “pro” players, defining “pro” as anyone signing anything with a pro team, without question and without discussion. It’s murky, and it was our governor and attorney general who started the legal shit. LSU is being blamed for the actions of its governor and attorney general–and remember, the governor fired anyone who could oppose his will at LSU and its Board of Governors, and our new athletic director is just a Janky Jeff rubber stamp. The real problem in Louisiana is its elected officials. I kind of hoped people would turn on him for potentially fucking up LSU’s football team, but instead Louisiana reverted to its usual “everyone is out to get us!” mentality that is the reason we have the elected officials we have.
And really, wasn’t this all about Greg Sankey’s ego? He’s already fumbled the leadership position the SEC had for years, letting the Big Ten take over. And really, look what happened as a result of all this nonsense. LSU’s season opener was one of the highest rated season openers in televised college football, even with a two hour rain delay before the game started. The ratings for LSU-Mississippi are going to be off the charts. Everyone is talking about LSU and Lane Kiffin in ways they’ve not been talked about since Joe Burrow graduated. Every single pundit forgot all the legal mess after that game Saturday night and has just raved about LSU and its potential this season ever since…and that’s his plan: make LSU impossible to ignore. As for me, I just rolled my eyes. Were they really going to kick LSU out of the SEC? I think Sankey got in his widdle fee-fees because he wasn’t asked how high as LSU jumped to his fingers snapping, and he sure didn’t like that, did he? Very testerical of him. Maybe we should have a woman commissioner, since men can’t handle their emotions?
I did manage to get a little work done on the book yesterday–very little, but something is better than nothing.
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Enjoy your Thursday, Constant Reader, and I’ll be back tomorrow morning without fail.
Note: pro basketball players from all over the world have played in the NCAA, notably at Alabama, with no controversy. ↩︎
Tuesday after the holiday and it’s back to the office with me today. It feels like I’ve not gone into the office for weeks, weird how that works, isn’t it? But it was a nice, if weird, holiday weekend. I’m still aglow from the LSU game Saturday–trying not to get my hopes up, as it is still very early in the season, but it’s nice to win the season opener two years in a row, and again, 51-10 was something I didn’t see coming. The beating was so bad that Dabo Swinney is really in the hot seat. They weren’t even competitive...which nobody saw coming, even though Clemson hasn’t been operating at the level they did in the previous decade. LSU ended their championship run six years ago, and now it looks like LSU may have cost them their coach. Yeah, no wonder they don’t like us very much, beyond the whole “real Death Valley” nonsense (clearly it’s in Baton Rouge, duh).
A really marvelous thunderstorm rolled in yesterday morning as I sat in the living room, catching up on the news (and rolling my eyes any number of times) and watching more college football chatter. I felt very rested yesterday when I got up, but not especially motivated to do much of anything. So, I didn’t. I literally did little to nothing yesterday, and wasted the entire day and honestly, I can’t even begin to tell you how I spent that time. I know I watched a lot of sports news about the college football results this past weekend, and I did do a load of laundry. I need to get back in the writing saddle again soon, but it was nice just doing nothing for three days and just letting everything recharge. As I expected, though, the entire sports media industrial complex has completely turned around regarding LSU and Lane Kiffin. Everyone was calling for his head Saturday morning, LSU’s highest ranking anywhere was 11 (which was kind of high, in my opinion, given last year), and for the SEC to expel LSU and the NCAA to fine them out of existence. No one is talking about that anymore, are they? And if they do, it’s to say well he didn’t need them did he? It’s also kind of insane that ESPN has them ranked Number 2 now. This is why I pay so little attention to the broadcasters who are paid to fill silence; they always need something to talk about and often make much out of very little.
I’ve decided that my next read is going to be The Shards, by Bret Easton Ellis. Why not? The show is weird, but there’s something interesting there that might work much better in a book–and several people who’ve read the book love it, and despise the show with a raw intensity that usually is inspired by something like casting Tom Cruise as Reacher. I didn’t care for Less Than Zero when I first read it (don’t get me started on the movie; the best thing about it was the soundtrack), but I really liked The Rules of Attraction, which is something that I usually don’t care about–rich kids and their rich kid problems, cry me a river–so I’m willing to give another Ellis a try. The opening sentence is either brilliant or a sad example of pomposity; I guess I’ll find out the further I read into it.
This is a short work week, and I actually feel good this morning–it must be the coffee, although I did sleep deeply and well last night. The apartment isn’t that bad, considering how little I did this weekend, but doing the dishes always makes it look tidier. I am going to try to get a lot done at the office this week, too–we are always busy after Southern Decadence–and I need to start writing and reading more again. It’s like my brain went on hiatus after my birthday, and of course, that makes sense. I spent my birthday long weekend doing nothing, and that interruption has made it hard to get back into the sadle again. It doesn’t take much to talk myself out of doing it, which is always a problem, and always has been my primary problem. I also can’t write as fast or as much as I used to, but that could also be rust and atrophy.
We did watch some of the US Open yesterday–Coco Gauff is looking good–and got caught up on Lanterns last night, which is really excellent and we are really enjoying it. I also watched this week’s Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, which has been going mostly well but….it looks like the show is about to get more housewife-y in the next few episodes.
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely Tuesday, Constant Reader, and I will see you again tomorrow morning.
Sunday morning! I got up earlier than I thought I would this morning, given how late I went to bed last night because the LSU had about a two hour rain delay and didn’t get started until almost nine. I didn’t see that as a good omen, honestly, but…yeah, more on that a little later.
It rained off and on pretty much all day yesterday, which was nice. I felt good, if a bit on the low energy side, but it was fine. I had some groceries delivered, managed to get a lot of chores done, worked on straightening up the books, washed the bathroom rugs, and did two (!!) loads of dishes. Sparky was also cuddly and wanted to sleep on me most of the day since Paul wasn’t home; he worked out with his trainer and then went to the gym to do cardio for a couple of hours. I worked on the computer files some, cleaned off the kitchen counters, and organized the refrigerator. I should have been more tired, shouldn’t I? *snicker* In the morning, after I posted my blog and a new newsletter (which you can read by clicking here!) I went into the living room for cuddle time with Sparky. I finished watching The Burbs, and watched this week’s Real Housewives of Orange County (yawn) before putting it on to the Alabama game, which I didn’t need to pay attention to, and then had the Baylor-Auburn game on. It’s still too early in the season to know how good anyone is yet, so we don’t know what the seasons holds for anyone–I mean, Michigan almost lost at home to Western Michigan yesterday–which makes it all the more interesting to watch while dismissing “expert” opinions on who is or isn’t good.. It’s nice not being so emotionally vested in college football anymore (a topic for another time), to be honest, and dialing back my fandom in my dotage isn’t something I saw coming, but…it’s probably better this way. That emotional roller coaster I used to ride during LSU games was exhausting and unnecessary.
The Auburn-Baylor game turned out to be a lot better than I expected; wasn’t sure what to expect from either (I do like Baylor coach Dave Aranda, he was our defensive coordinator in 2019) and Auburn has a new coach this year. Can the new coach turn Auburn around and get them winning again? Auburn made a goal-line stand on a two-point conversion in the final seconds of the game to win, 17-16. Good for you, new coach! While it wasn’t an impressive outing for Auburn, they lost the close games most of the time in the last five or six years.
The LSU-Clemson game was weather delayed, as I already mentioned; we were also having a thunderstorm here. I managed to cookout between waves of the storm, and after watching the US Open during the delay, finally settled in to watch the game. Oh. My. God. As I said yesterday and reiterated above, it’s hard at this point in the season to tell who’s good and who isn’t. So, yes, it’s entirely possible that Clemson is really bad this year–but LSU beat them 51-10, and it wasn’t even that close. I’ve not seen LSU beat a top tier college team that badly in–well, since the Oklahoma game in the play-offs with Joe Burrow. The defense was incredible. It was also Dabo Swinney’s worst loss in his time at Clemson–maybe as a head coach in general. Sam Leavitt and that new running back Dilin Jones certainly looked amazing. Even the back-ups, going in late in the third quarter, looked really good. I had hoped for a big win, like I always do, but 51-10? Never in my wildest dreams would I have anticipated that. This is going to be a very interesting season, but Coach Kiffin sure seemed to be having a really good time last night, and Death Valley was rocking. I am trying not to get too excited, choosing to keep my “cautiously optimistic” hat on for now, just as I did with the 2019 team.
I also loved the signs at Gameday (I didn’t watch; because Macafee) that I saw on-line later: You can’t spell lawsuit without LSU and Don’t sue me Jayden I’m only 5.
I started rereading Celebrity by Thomas Thompson; it’s a rather long and deeply involving crime story that takes place over the course of over twenty years. It’s always been one of my favorites (Thompson wrote one of my favorite true crime “novels,” Blood and Money) and a friend mentioned it recently on social media, so I got it down from the shelves (I have my original copy still, hardcover) and started looking at it again last weekend, rereading the opening. Does it still hold up? No crime novel would ever get away with being this long now–it would have to be marketed as something else; I don’t know what it was considered or marketed as on its original release. I bought it because I’d loved his earlier true crime writing, and this intrigued me. I’ve always loved stories that go back and forth in time, with the reader not knowing much about what’s going on in the present. The book opens from the point of view of a cop at the hospital with someone having emergency surgery; all we know is someone has been arrested, someone is dead, and someone could die, but not who they are and how we got to the point, which is an excellent way to open a book, if you ask me, It’s not until we go back in time that we learn who the three central characters are, and we meet them as high school seniors whose graduation party plans have been rained out by a flooding rain…it’s also quite well-written, but I also wonder if anyone would publish it today. It’s going to make for a good essay, methinks.
I got an email yesterday with the subject line Six Gothic thrillers for fans of horror. Excuse me, what? It was one of those lists of books things, but…Gothic isn’t always horror, and horror isn’t always Gothic. Rebecca, for example, is a Gothic novel that isn’t horror. It really annoyed me–Gothic can be any number of other subgenres, but…I will have to concede that Gothic thrillers may appeal to horror fans. As someone who is a fan of horror and Gothics, I used to make that same mistake–but classifying books is not an exact science in the first place.
I also read a Richard Matheson short story yesterday. Matheson is one of my favorite writers; it’s amazing how many films and episodes of television shows (like The Twilight Zone) are based on his work, and I never think to include him (and Robert Bloch) as authors who have influenced me. I should revisit some of this novels…anyway, the story was a Western called “The Conqueror.” It’s actually very poignant, about a young man who has come west to prove himself as a quick draw duelist. It doesn’t end well, and is kind of sad; someone who, in 1871, wanted his fifteen minutes of fame. It also reminded me again what a master Matheson was.
I saw an anthology submissions call for crimes without corpses; in other words, any crime but murder. I don’t think I’ve ever written a non-murder crime story, which is kind of wild. Why do I always only think of murder when it comes to crime? Something to ponder at any rate.
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. I am playing today by ear; whether I read or write or clean or any combination of the above will remain to be seen predicated on what I am feeling like. I feel a bit lazy today–staying up so late but still getting up early is not recommended–so today is what it is. So have yourself a merry little holiday Sunday, Constant Reader, and I will be back again tomorrow morning! Till then, stay cool.
These kinds of staircases always make me think o The Haunting of Hill House. I would never climb one, but they are pretty to look at.
I am up early to get blood drawn before I head into the office for the meeting, after which I am running some errands before coming home to do more work. Not sure when I am going to be able to finish and post this, but that’s just part of the thrill-ride that is my life! We’re also supposed to have rain off and on all day, with thunderstorms this evening. YIKES! But I will be safely home well before that, and the low possibility of street flooding. Never a dull moment in New Orleans!
Yesterday was fine. I got a little tired yesterday afternoon, but it was overall a pretty good day for me at the office. It wasn’t busy in the clinic so I was able to get a lot of other odds and ends taken care of, which was kind of nice. I finished paying my bills–turns out I had made a mistake last month; I thought I hadn’t paid the phone bill at the beginning of the month so went ahead and paid it again mid-month, which was actually my September payment. So, it’s not due again until October. Yay for me making a good mistake? I’ll take it–in this economy? You bet your ass I will. Traffic was heavy for some reason on the way home, but I did make it home and into the house to a needy kitty, whom I gave some attention to, before going into the living room and sinking into my chair. I caught up on the news, caught an episode of The Burbs, and when Paul got home, we watched this week’s Reacher and The Shards. At this point, The Shards is a gloriously beautiful train wreck, finding new rails to run off in every episode.
Okay, I am back at home and taking a lunch break. I got my errands taken care of on the way home, got the laundry started, and then dove headfirst into day job duties. I just came up for air, hungry, and remembered I hadn’t finished this, either. So hopefully I’ll be able to get this finished and posted before I have to go back to work. I do love working at home. And then…well, it’s a holiday weekend, isn’t it? I’ve kind of decided to set the book I’m reading aside and move on to something else, circling back to it again next month for Halloween Horror Month–which is also going to include watching some films I’ve not seen before; starting a slow rewatch of Dark Shadows; a revisit of The Dead Zone; and some horror short stories I am looking forward to digging into. This weekend, as I believe I have already mentioned several times, is LSU’s first game of the season, and yes, I am vaguely aware of the current lawsuits and controversies, and yes, am currently frowning in concern and disapproval, but I said when they started paying college players things like this–legal issues and eligibility questions. ow are college players not professionals already? That’s why I am not commenting on this. I don’t know enough about it to think about it logically, but my emotional knee-jerk reaction is to once again reiterate that I always said that money would eventually make college football unrecognizable to people of a certain age. Our governor seems determined to strip LSU of all academic credibility, they enrolled a rapist this semester, and of course, there was that horrifically racist video of the girls dragging a black baby doll with a rope through campus. LSU is slowly turning into a life-support apparatus for its athletics.
Sigh. I’m beginning to understand why older people are nostalgic for the past–but that feeling fades very quickly.
And on that note, I am going to bring this to a close as I need to head back into the spice mines. Sorry to be so brief, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get much of an entry done today; my apologies. I’ll try to make it up to you tomorrow, okay? Till then!
Big Sur in California is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The drive on Highway 1 is spectacular–and terrifying.
I slept well again last night, and feel pretty good thus far. The bed was so comfortable last night and this morning! I did wake up once, but was able to go back to sleep. Friday I have a department meeting at the office and I need to get blood drawn that morning–fasting labs, too–but can come back home after the meeting. It’s also a three-day weekend, and LSU’s first game (in case you’ve not been paying attention) is also Saturday night. It’s also Southern Decadence, which used to be one of my favorite weekends of the year. No, this year we won’t be partying all weekend like the olden days. They are lovely memories, but nothing I really wish to revisit. I guess I really am a senior citizen, aren’t I?
Nothing wrong with that, either.
It’s going to be miserably hot today, too. There’s a chance we’ll get a cooling rain this afternoon, but…New Orleans summer weather forecasts are notably unreliable (from late May to mid-October: hot, humid, chance of rain) so we’ll see. I am going to come straight home from work tonight–last night I had an errand to run–and did quite a bit once I did get home. I cleaned up the kitchen, did a load of dishes, and picked up some. My mind was all over the place last night, so once I was done with my chores I caught up on the news. For some reason we didn’t have a lot of juice on our Internet last night, so I couldn’t watch another episode of The Burbs, so started watching old LSU football highlights (I have told you, I am a big college football fan!) to get ready for this weekend. I can’t believe football season is here again already….but I’m glad. And the US Open! Woo-hoo! Although outside of LSU, the rest of the games seem like they’d be boring. Ah, well, I can have the US Open on for background noise while I clean or write. And I can cook out before the game! Woo-hoo!
I did work on some newsletters yesterday, too. I didn’t get one out over the weekend, which I had intended to, but got a bad case of the tireds/lazies/mind scatters. I feel very good this morning though–better than the last two for sure–which is a good thing. I’m going to try to finish one today–and the other for this Saturday (and the first day of LSU football) is already finished. I also need to get back to work on the book; I feel like my brain is capable of focusing today so hopefully I’ll have a good day. We shall see how it goes, won’t we?
I am looking forward to the long weekend, not going to even try to pretend otherwise. Old habits die hard, I suppose. I will always complain about having to work because my preference is always to do absolutely nothing and not give a shit about anything. (It also didn’t help being told regularly that I was lazy when I was growing up. What can I say? It stuck because I knew it was true.) Being around people doesn’t make me anxious and stressed the way it used to–thank heaven for better living through chemistry–but it was a serious issue before. I need to finish my newsletter about anxiety, don’t I, and being able to look back at it from the other side is actually very lovely. I’m sure it has helped me beat insomnia (although again, chemistry), and the anxiety/stress no longer impacts my behavior, which is nice. People still frustrate me, but I don’t wish them dead anymore when they do. After all, they’re clearly miserable so I now wish them a long life with their misery…and then they go to Hell.
It all depends on point of view and context, doesn’t it?
And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines for the day. Hope you have a marvelous day, Constant Reader, and never fear: I will be back tomorrow bright and early.
Lightning on Royal Street, by Marco Rasi. This is the birthplace of Alice Heine, who also grew up there. Alice was the first American born princess of Monaco.
Here it is, Tuesday morning, and the weather is a bit cooler this morning. It rained off and on for most of the day yesterday, thanks to that tropical system to be named Edouard off the coast. It’s supposed to make landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border, with a very strong possibility that it will come ashore in or around Vermilion Parish–you know, where the big SpaceX spaceport is going to be. How much will the taxpayers be on the bag for every time a storm hits Vermilion Parish? Because you know SpaceX isn’t going to absorb any of the costs.
Anyway, we have the oddest weather here. At one point I walked past a window and rain was just pouring down…in bright sunlight. New Orleans always works to keep you slightly off-balance, which is part of the magic here. Nothing is on the level in New Orleans, and you often see things here you don’t see anywhere else. Crystal clear puddles of rainwater in the gutter, for example, or a downpour of rain while the sun shines. We’re supposed to get more rain today and through the rest of the week, and it has cooled things down a little bit–even if the humidity is more miserable as everything dries and the water evaporates. I didn’t get a lot done last night, actually. I ran some errands after work–mail and groceries–and was delighted to have my new moccasins arrive! They are very comfortable and are so cute! I got caught up on the news some, caught this week’s Real Housewives Ultimate Girls’ Trip (Vicki is completely insufferable), and then we finished off Furious, which was spectacular and absolutely nailed the landing. Emmy Rossum should at least get an Emmy nod for it, but they ignored her great work on Shameless for years.
I also woke up again at four, and slept fitfully for the next two hours before the alarm went off. That’s two days in a row, and not sure what that is all about, but I am not tired during the day. That’s the most important thing, frankly. My new shoes have ended the aches in my joints, which is awesome, and I keep thinking it’s later in the week than it actually is. Probably wishful thinking.
I haven’t watched much of the US Open thus far, but I love that Carlos Alcaraz is going viral for his longer hair and nip-slips in his tank top. He really is handsome, such a great player, and seems genuinely nice. I was also delighted to see that “Novax” Djokovic lost in the first round of a major for the first time since 2006. Maybe if you hadn’t hung our with RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz ahead of time, you wouldn’t have gotten sick? I used to like him, because he was a great player that was fun to watch and he was kind of funny. That stopped as soon as he became a COVID denier. Yes, someone who has lived in a tennis bubble and shielded from the rest of the world and reality is who I want to take my health advice from. I truly believe his on-line Google searches are the equivalent of studying epidemiology and infectious diseases for eight years. Imagine winning the most Grand Slam titles of all time for men, but your legacy is being a sideshow freak hawking snake oil.
I think the only good thing about Dolly Parton’s death (RIP, Queen) was watching the “contrarians” try to drag her on social media, only to be driven off social media for such a stupid and shitty take. Did they forget that so-called “Christian” bitch who called Dolly Parton a “false prophet” and not a real Christian in that article she wrote a while back? I participated in that internet pile-on, and gladly. If you don’t see the purest interpretation of the ministry of Jesus when you looked at her, well, there’s something inherently wrong with your readings of scripture.
And on that note, I am going to head into the spice mines. Have a terrific Tuesday, and may it be filled with tacos!
