Tag: Mississippi

No One Needs to Know

Somehow we’ve managed to roll around to last day in the office Thursday again, and I feel pretty good. I felt good all day yesterday and managed to make it through the day without getting tired–at least, not until I got home, at any rate. I did manage some chores last night too, once I was home, and that was terrific. I decided not to run any errands until tomorrow–I can make a grocery run and get the mail after my doctor appointment tomorrow. I am meeting my new doctor for the first time–my last one left the practice, and may have even left town for all I know, which is a shame, because he was the first doctor I’ve had in a while that I really liked. AH, well. Hopefully I’ll like my new doctor, who is a woman. (Women tend to be better doctors for me, probably the gay thing.) I slept really well, and feel a bit wrung out this morning, as one tends to feel on Thursday morning/last day of getting up at six for the week. I also have to make an appointment with my gastroenterologist. (Hey, spelled it right the first time; a good sign for the day.) I do want to watch an episode of Friday the 13th tonight, maybe do some picking up and cleaning, maybe even some reading or writing. #madness

I didn’t get a lot of things done last night because the final results finally came in and the race was called. MISSISSIPPI!!!! Even though it seemed inevitable, I didn’t put it past the establishment in that state to pull some hijinks, shenanigans, and outright fraud–which absolutely would have happened had the count not taken so damned long. Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida might flip next time around, too–I have high hopes of getting rid of Klandry next year, please God–as long as the corporate Democrats don’t fuck this up yet again. Don’t forget to write Senator-elect Turek about his betrayal of the queer community, too. I may not be an Iowa voter, but he needs to be shown the error of his craven ways.

I also took some grim satisfaction in knowing that his own party hates him so much that they would rather have the pedophile protecting piece of shit JIM JORDAN as leader than Steve Scalise. Ha ha ha ha, fuck you, Scalise, now and forever, you malignant racist homophobic piece of shit. I can’t imagine how humiliating it must have felt to know your own party–the one you sold your morality, conscience, and basic decency for–think that the moron from Ohio would make a better leader than you. If I were Scalise, I don’t know that I’d be able to show my face in public for a while…but again–no shame or conscience, so that won’t happen. I just am going to embrace that bitch slap for what it was, what it meant, and how good it was to hear the news. May the rest of your life be one humiliation after another, Steve, and I look forward to the day you’re as irrelevant as David Vitter.

Social media was abuzz yesterday with the news that Skydance fired James Gunn, and you know they are just going to fuck DC Studios hard enough to make it unsalvageable. That’s fine. I loved everything Gunn did with DC–vastly superior to its predecessors–and Superman was fucking incredible. Everything he did was. I’ve always liked DC since I was a kid and have always rooted for them to do well…now I no longer care. “Movies with Christian principles that my grandmother would have loved” is a tell, isn’t it? Makes you wonder how that is going to square with Wonder Woman, a figure based in Greek mythology who is from an island of only women? WIll she cover her bosoms for the first time in nearly a hundred years, and will she cover up her legs for the sake of modesty and not to tempt the other super-heroes with lust? I was looking forward to the next seasons of Lanterns and Peacemaker, too.

AH, well, life goes on and it’s not worth wasting any time being upset about it or anything. If that’s the worst thing that happens this month, then it’s a fucking good month. It looks like we are going to have some cold weather this weekend (for New Orleans) which means bundling up in the living room while reading or writing or watching television and marvelously deep sleep at night. I do love this time of year, and it’s almost Christmas, too…my favorite season. Maybe this year I’ll take some pictures of Christmas decor in the neighborhood. I do need to start taking walks…and with it getting dark earlier, I can go around six and the lights will be on. Huzzah! (I somehow didn’t get any Halloween pictures this year, either, like a terrible person.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely day, Constant Reader, and I will see you here bright and early before my meeting. Till then!

Statue of an Egyptian queen from antiquity; I think Nefertari, wife of Ramses the Great.

(If You’re Not in It for Love) I’m Outta Here!

Well, here we are on midweek Wednesday again somehow. The weekend looms on the horizon, and it will be a normal weekend for me for the first time in two weeks–I work at home on Friday and don’t have to go in for a meeting or drive to Baton Rouge, which will be lovely. I’ve not really checked the games for this weekend, but I do know the Texas-LSU game is Saturday night. I’ll watch the LSU game, of course, but am not terribly interested in much else. Last weekend’s loss put LSU out of the playoffs, deservedly so in my opinion, so paying attention to everything else really is unnecessary anymore, other than looking for games that might be fun to watch. Who knows? There are a lot of disgruntled LSU fans out there now, who thought we’d somehow make it all the way to the championship game in Coach Kiffin’s first year (which is absurd on its face, but fans are gonna fan, no matter what), but I”m not terribly disappointed. The four year cycle is next season, anyway (LSU won nattys in 2003, 2007, and 2019; played for it and lost in 2011; so the only four cycle years where we didn’t make it to the final were 2015 and 2023). The Saints aren’t doing great this season, either, but I like our new quarterback and he has a lot of potential to develop into a franchise quarterback in time…so the future looks good for Louisiana football. I have some errands to run this weekend, too, so not being vested in the rest of the college football world might help me get more things done over the days at home.

I didn’t feel tired yesterday, so I did some chores when I got home from the office; I even started writing the next chapter of the book! (Okay, it was only a paragraph, but progress is progress and that’s a paragraph I don’t have to write today now, do I?). I must have been more tired than I thought, though, because I fell asleep in my chair sometime between seven and eight–and finally went up to bed just before nine. It came out of nowhere, really, and I feel good and rested this morning, which is great. The clinic is going to be busy today, and so that will definitely keep me on my toes and might wear me down a bit tonight. I also need to swing by the post office on the way home from work, too, so will probably be a bit tired when I walk through the door of the apartment tonight. I was even in bed before Paul got home, so I don’t even know when that was last night! Needless to say, I didn’t watch another episode of Friday the 13th the Series, but I can catch up on that tonight when I get home–after doing so more chores. If I can keep up with chores all week and not leave them till Friday, I’ll have more time to read and write on the weekend and can do some other cleaning as well. Maybe even take the ladder outside and clean my kitchen windows. Stranger things have happened, after all.

Mississippi is still counting votes, but it’s not looking good for evil animated scarecrow Cindy Hyde-Smith, and yes, I am a terrible person because I am loving this humiliation for that hateful old witch. I hate that Louisiana elected its own version of her–the morally corrupt Julia Letlow–but she can have her six years of irrelevance in the Senate while we work to ensure she never gets reelected. It’s been so lovely since the election, you know? That sense of impending doom is gone, as is the “I don’t want to get out of bed because I can just imagine what new hellgate opened overnight” sense when the alarm goes off in the morning. Hitler’s granny Virginia Foxxe is also in a close one still being counted, but apparently it’s not a good year for the Daughters of the Reich to hold on to their seats–and that particular piece of shit should have retired when her mind started to go. I remember her hateful bigoted ass during the queer wars of the late aughts and early teens, and here’s hoping her reign of terror over the electorate is over and she can go back to making her relatives even more ashamed and miserable than they already are. Good times!

El Niño means wet winter for us here in southeastern Louisiana, which plays havoc on my sinuses but i love rain and can deal, you know. I woke up to darkness, as usual after the time change, but as the sun rose it remained gray outside, and it’s sprinkling. It’s supposed to rain all morning, which is fun; I love rain, and I have a window in my testing room now so I can watch it for a zen moment throughout the day. I feel pretty rested this morning–the extra sleep from last night certainly was an enormous help in that regard–so hopefully we’ll have a productive day.

And on that note, I am going to head into the spice mines. Have a lovely midweek Wednesday, Constant Reader, and I will be here again tomorrow morning bright and early. See you then!

If It Don’t Take Two

Sunday morning and I’m not coming down, although that is a great song. The temperature has dropped here; it’s only fifty-four this morning, which is indeed cold for a November morning in New Orleans. I slept extremely well last night under my pile o’blankets, and feel pretty good this morning. Whatever this krud was, it seems to have run its course and all that’s left is the raspy voice….which I can actually live with, methinks. I don’t mind sounding like Kathleen Turner. I have an errand to run this morning, which I’ll do in a little bit. Yesterday wasn’t a good day for me as a football fan; some teams that I wanted to win did (Georgia and Tennessee come to mind), but most of the teams I did want to win did not. LSU embarrassed itself at home yesterday–the less said about that the better–but I knew they were going to lose as soon as I learned the Slovene Hooker was there, LSU had partnered with her “foundation,” and the team was wearing BE BEST stickers. For that alone, they deserved to lose, as they did when the stadium gave her a raucous welcome. Everything they touch dies, you know, and this was all because of our piece of shit governor, the sycophantic Klandry. So the loss was bittersweet;I hate it when LSU loses, but in this instance they deserved to, and I stand by that. Klandry makes it really hard for me to root for my home team, which makes me hate him all the more.

Tick-tock, bitch, tick-tock.

But a disappointing day in college football is a small price to pay for last Tuesday, and I’ll take Tuesday’s wins over an LSU win any day.

We also spent some more time with Black Doves, which is quite fun, primarily thanks to Ben Whishaw, who should get more flowers, and of course, Sarah Lancashire is a gift in everything she does. I can highly recommend the show, and do. I think there are some other shows we want to watch that have also dropped. I also got caught up on The Traitors–New Blood, and am loving Victor, who is the breakout star of the season. There are also some films that have dropped that I would like to watch as well, which is always fun–and I have my Friday the 13th-the Series to rewatch, too. I didn’t really do much yesterday, which is quite shameful, but this morning I think I’ll read a bit before running my errand (groceries), and maybe do some writing, too. Paul will probably not come downstairs until this afternoon, and the Saints game isn’t until noon, so I should be able to get some chores done.

It’s hard to grasp that it’s already November, and almost mid-November, at that. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and I’ll have a marvelous four day holiday. This entire year seems to have flown past–the Olympics seem like they were a million years ago, remember that? It’s very strange to me that it will be 2027 in no time at all; how is that even possible? Heavy heaving sigh. I also have so much writing to get done–short stories, essays, the book–that I really need to spend some time organizing my thoughts and figuring out a workable writing schedule. I also need to take the time to take a walk this morning, too, in the cool outside. So much, as always, to get done around here. Heavy heaving sigh. I’ve also not done a lot of reading since the 1st, either, so I need to rectify that some;I am excited about reading, and writing about, true crime. I’ve introduced a character into the Scotty series a true crime writer, that I consider spinning off into his own series sometime…but his story is so similar to both Scotty and Chanse that I stopped working on his spin-off, I Know Who You Are. And I do love reading true crime, so there’s that, too.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines while hoping for good news to come out of Mississippi and Alaska. Have a great Sunday, and I’ll be back tomorrow morning before work. See you then!

It’ll probably never happen now, but the new Egyptian Museum is something I would love to see,

True to Life

Saturday morning in the Lost Apartment and all is well, at least so far. Yesterday was gorgeous; sunny with some cloud cover, low seventies and no humidity. It’s nice to remember, once again, that going outside isn’t always hellish here in New Orleans. I slept a bit late and feel better physically this morning than I have all week, which is marvelous. Paul had been terribly sick before I went to Baton Rouge last weekend, and this week I had a much milder version of whatever crud he had. DayQuil kept it under control for the most part, but this morning I feel ever so much better and am glad that it’s on the way out. I didn’t do much of anything this week other than tale DayQuil, blow my nose, and joyscroll social media, but reality is beginning to take over for the euphoria again and I have things to get back to work on. There’s a lot of excellent college football today, anchored by LSU-Alabama at 2:30, and there are some other key match-ups today, notably Georgia-Mississippi and Kentucky-Tennessee (among others) so I will probably spend a lot of time in my chair with the games on. I also am going to dip into and out of She Kills by Skip Hollandsworth, while also beginning a revisit of In Cold Blood for Nonfiction November.

Yesterday was pleasant. I got a lot of chores done around here after work, we took Sparky to the vet, and had a nice relaxing, low key day. I watched this week’s reality shows (why is Real Housewives of Orange County still on the air?), and we also started watching the new season of Black Doves, in which Ben Whishaw continues to kill it. Today I am going to just stick around the house and have a low-key kind of day; football games and reading and probably picking up stuff, having stuff delivered, and trying to get the house back under control as well as getting some rest so I can get back to writing tomorrow. I”m going to make a grocery run tomorrow morning, and have some things delivered today so I can make dinner later.

Exciting, am I not?

I also want to work on a newsletter. After the election, I was too caught up in afterglow and possibility that I couldn’t focus on anything else. They’re still counting in both Mississippi and Alaska, and I am really hoping for that wretched Klan bitch Cindy Hyde-Smith to get the karmic bitchslap she so richly deserves. I have several that are close to fruition; one about my short story in Unloaded 3, soon to be released and, I think, only my second publication this year; one about A Streetcar Named Murder; and another in my series about masculinity. I also have some short stories I need to get back to work on, and of course, I need to get back to the book. It is sort of disheartening to know the week was a bust for writing for the most part, but election euphoria and whatever this crud I’ve been fighting off all week had a lot to do with it. At least I didn’t fall behind on my day job duties, thank you Lord and pass the ammunition. I will probably do a lot of scribbling in my journal today, too. I also need to do some other chores around here, too–and honestly don’t feel like doing a fucking thing, which is also an option. It looks to be a gorgeous day outside, so maybe I can take a walk later and get started on building up my stamina again…and I do need to update the to-do diary.

As you can see, all kinds of things for me to get going on today!

There really isn’t much going on to report on, in all honesty. Like I have said repeatedly, I am still in a euphoric state of bliss that started Tuesday night and is only now beginning to wear off. Reading some will help, without question; I am very pleased with how much I read in October; and am looking forward to this nonfiction palate cleanser. I also need to make a grocery list and order some things to be delivered. Getting the apartment cleaned up will help, too. They are dishes to unload, too. One thing I have managed to do lately is get files cleaned up while I am watching things on television.

And on that note, I am going to get cleaned up and get moving on my day. The walk isn’t going to walk itself, and the apartment isn’t going to clean itself, either. Have a great day, Constant Reader, and I will check back in with you again tomorrow morning, okay? GEAUX TIGERS!!

Those legs….

The Space Between

Friday and I have a meeting this morning, so it is not, after all, a work-at-home Friday completely; I am ust going in for the meeting before I come home to do some work. Sparky also has to go to the vet this afternoon, so he can’t eat this morning, which isn’t going very well. (It’ll be worse when I get home from the office. “What do you MEAN no breakfast? What do you mean you left and came back and it’s not dinner time?” Sigh. He’s whimpering under my desk right now, and I get it totally; I hate not being able to eat something when I am hungry and it’s my usual time to eat. Sigh.

I’m still basking in the afterglow from Tuesday, just waiting for the Democrats to officially win Mississippi and Alaska now, and even if the fascists hold those two seats, it won’t matter1. Soon, the Republicans and Fox are going to pretend they were never MAGA and will try to distance themselves from this entire anti-American movement, and this cannot happen this time. We allowed them to move on from January 6th, which should have ended the entire thing. There’s also no doubt that the Democrats, particularly if led by Schumer and Jeffries, can easily fumble this opportunity. But all the right-wingers who might run in 2028 are uncharismatic and not very well-liked across the board; they’d be better off getting a governor from a red state that no one has ever heard of–much like the Democrats brought in an outsider after Watergate, which is how we got Jimmy Carter. But…they never really do the smart thing, do they? Either side? I’ll never forgive the DNC for not helping Louisiana, Florida or Mississippi flip; which all three could have done easily. Both Louisiana and Florida were a point or less from understanding the assignment.

Howard Dean should have never been let go from party leadership after the massive blue shift in 2008. The way the national party has abandoned the South since then has been positively shameful; is it any wonder there’s voter apathy down here when the national party has basically said, “oh, well, you’re on your own, we can’t win there.” Scott Colom’s winning campaign, as well as the close ones Angie Nixon and Jamie Davis ran, beg to differ. This absolute failure of party leadership should end with every leader stepping aside for fresh blood; the people do not want the same-old, same-old. I don’t trust either Schumer or Jeffries, in all honesty. I’d love to be proved wrong, but…I sincerely doubt that will happen.

Bliss.

I am planning on enjoying this through the weekend, for the record; Monday I’ll come down from my cloud and face the world again. But, for now, I’m going to enjoy knowing that Russell Brand is going to jail; the Tate Brothers will never see freedom again, and the country is bouncing back. This is what I’ve been waiting for ever since the golden escalator, and it is beyond time for it to have happened. The cybertruck is also dead, this morning, and and the AI bubble is bursting.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. May your Friday be as marvelous as you are, Constant Reader, and I’ll be back in the morning.

The Byzantine horses, stolen from Constantinople by the Venetians during the 4th Crusade, when they sacked the capital of the last vertige of the Roman Empire.

  1. There are so many delightful karma stories, too–Cindy Hyde-Smith, aka as a Scooby Doo villain, had blocked Scott Colom’s appointment as an appellate court justice, so now he is taking her seat in the Senate. Now she can focus on attending lynchings and cross-burnings while brewing up some ‘shine back in her rancid holler. ↩︎

To Turn You On

Thursday and not my last day in the office for the week; I have a meeting tomorrow morning and I am also going to put some hours in at the office once it is over. Sparky is going to the vet tomorrow afternoon, too–huzzah for trimming his nails–but I plan to spend the weekend getting caught up on overdue chores. I didn’t get much done yesterday, as I was tired from staying up too late watching the glorious election returns on Tuesday night, only to wake up to even better news yesterday morning. So, yesterday I spent the day joy-scrolling and replying to MAGA tears with one of those photos of a lovely MAGA couple in their Fuck Your Feelings shirts. Because yes, I am petty and yes, these people need to be fucking trolled off the Internet. That’s me–my drag name would be Petty Davis.

Apparently the “fuck your feelings” people are *checks notes* having a lot of feelings this morning. Who knew MAGA tears were even more delicious than liberal ones? Me, I did, I knew, it was me.

I was worn out yesterday–not just from staying up later than I should have, but from the emotional release. It’s been ten fucking years of existential dread, like an albatross around my neck, and I feel like a weight has been lifted…this feels like 2006, Obama’s election, and Biden’s win times 100. I am sure they are all frantically pointing fingers at each other and tossing around a lot of blame, particularly at the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society (sewer princess Meghan McCain is already backpedaling away from MAGA at light speed, for one example), and it may take awhile before the new obstructionist battle plan is in place for them all to parrot without thinking, so this brief respite has been marvelous–as is their complete meltdown. I always thought Fox and others of that ilk were craven manipulators and liars who didn’t believe anything they said; but in the last couple of days I’m starting to think some of them might have actually drank the Flavor-Ade1, too–to which I can only say good, I hope it’s excruciatingly painful for you.

No more pretending about the majority of Americans being MAGA. No more pretending these hateful and destructive policies either work or are popular. No more crowd size boasts.

Finally, the God-Emperor has no clothes.

And I am glad he is still alive. I want him to go on living, alone, lonely and hated and his ego destroyed, knowing he was a complete and utter failure at his entire life. But he got his wish: he will probably be one of the most famous and studied presidents in US History…just not the way he wanted.

Your grave will be a urinal, sir. I hope I live long enough to use it as such.

I don’t think I am going to get a lot done this week, honestly. While I do feel like I am finally breathing fresh air again, I am emotionally drained and exhausted–yet need to rest to be ready to get back to work on the next Louisiana election cycle–I believe we can kick Klandry out of the governor’s mansion, and I think we can ditch the bitch Attorney General as well. FAFO, Louisiana MAGA. And there are so many great games on Saturday, I have to break my routine and come to the office tomorrow, so that day is already messed up for me anyway. I did make some groceries on the way home last night, and have an errand or two on the way home tonight. I did make some progress on the disaster area that is the apartment, and while I am sure I’ll be too tired to do much of anything once I get home this evening, I am going to try to do some things. Sparky also has to go to the vet for his annual check-up and razor-blade trim, and of course it’s bed linen day. I think I am probably just going to make my own way this weekend, and re-center and recalibrate Sunday morning.

One last thing: COME ON MISSISSIPPI!

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely Thursday, Constant Reader, and isn’t it marvelous knowing we aren’t waking up to another new fresher hell every morning? Woo-hoo! And see you tomorrow morning!

  1. One of my biggest factual irritations is “drinking the Kool-Ade.” Jones was too cheap and used Flavor-Ade to save a couple of cents per package. I think that detail is both important and telling. ↩︎

Avalon

Well, well, well, what a morning in the United States this is! All day yesterday I was tense, in spite of the medications, and coudn’t really focus on anything beyond doing my job. I ran an errand on the way home from work–my injection had arrived–and once I was home, I walked over to the school to do my civic duty, and walked home, satisfied that I had participated. By the time I turned the television on, Jon Ossoff’s reelection had already been called–quite decisively–and once again, I became mesmerized by the process of the returns coming in. The Democrats had retaken both houses of Congress before I went to bed, and the landslide the polls had been promising and I didn’t get my hopes up over was coming true. The country decisively beat down fascism at the ballot box, and I am cautiously hopeful this morning that this is indeed the end of MAGA–Democrats winning in Kansas? South Carolina? Iowa? Maybe Mississippi and Maine, too? I’m going to enjoy this for a few days before fretting some more. What a night, right? SO many frights finally gone from Congress–and while the evil and corrupt Julia Letlow did win in Louisiana, it was close enough to throw a scare into Louisiana MAGA–and maybe if THE FUCKING NATIONAL PARTY HAD INVESTED IN LOUISIANA WE COULD HAVE WON HERE, TOO.

They write the South off so completely, every fucking time. Southern Democrats don’t turn out because they don’t have a reason to–and what a fucking smiting this could have been. But again, I am just going to enjoy this for a few days before settling down again. I actually have hopes we can throw Kennedy out the next time around, and Klandry might not get a second term. STAND FAST LOUISIANA.

And somehow, it’s Wednesday-pay-the-bills-day again, and maybe now we can have a respite from elections and campaigns? 2028 is going to be a fucking nightmare, too. Can we block another fucking MAGA president? I don’t see any MAGA with any kind of charisma anywhere, so maybe they’ll nominate another Dole or Romney. Ted Cruz will probably try again–although there’s also a very strong chance he won’t get reelected, either.

It’s nice to be hopeful about the country again, rather than dreading getting on-line every morning.

Whomever decided to get Jude Bellingham to do Calvin Klein underwear ads needs a raise and a promotion. I enjoyed him during the World Cup, thought he was charismatic and attractive, but damn, that man is a work of art. May I also recommend perhaps some gymnasts and divers while we’re at it? Calvin Klein really missed out back in the day not having Greg Louganis model for them.

Data centers also went down to defeat all over the country; even my old county, Lyon, voted against one that was going to be near Emporia. I also can’t get over Kansas electing a Democrat! And yes, I am trying to figure out how to use the data centers and the spaceport and everything crammed into a Scotty novel.

Why are people shocked that Kate Gosselin is a monster? I have never been interested in the lives of the overly fertile, in all honesty, and always look at these parents with a raised eyebrow and a bit of a curled lip. The Gosselins, while not as horrific as the Duggar perverts, were pretty fucking awful. I never watched a single episode of either show, but alas, have been trapped into seeing clips on commercials or on video discussing how fucking weird they all are. My primary takeaway from the Gosselins was that Kate was a hateful, mean-spirited bitch who couldn’t say anything nice unless she was getting a check for it. I kept wondering when her husband would get some self-esteem and walk away from that harpy–and nothing I’ve learned about her in the times since she first forced onto my radar without my consent has changed that original opinion. She’s a monster who should have never had children, never should have married, and most definitely shouldn’t have had a reality show…it always seemed to me like she saw her kids as her meal ticket, which is repugnant.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely day, Constant Reader, and pamper yourselves. We deserve it after the hellscape of the last ten years! And I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning, okay? See you then!

This image shows the historic old general store and railway stop in Lettsworth, Louisiana, located along Louisiana Highway 1 near the railroad tracks, which also features a historical marker dedicated to blues legend George “Buddy” Guy, who was born in the community on July 30, 1936

Amazing

Here we are, the last Monday in September and it feels like fall came to New Orleans this past weekend; we’ll see how long it lasts. But this absence of humidity is so lovely it just makes me happy to be alive. When I barbecued last night, it was so lovely outside were the Saints not playing I would have taken The Dead Zone outside and stayed out there. The days are also starting to get shorter, too. Yesterday turned out to be a nice day. I got up in the morning and did some cleaning and organizing and chores while the LSU game played again on the television, and so managed to get some things done. I cleaned up a lot of computer files, for example, and organized the desktop. I also worked on some newsletters (my rage about Cornell driving some of them, of course; rage so often fuels my writing), and did a little work on my fiction, too. The weekend was overall lovely, and naturally, I didn’t want to get out from under the pile of blankets this morning. I feel well rested this morning, too, which is also kind of nice–even yesterday I was feeling a bit run down still. We’re busy today in the clinic, but we also have a mostly slow rest of the week. I also had some things delivered, but I have to run uptown after work tonight, and will make another stop to make some more groceries; odds and ends we’ve run out of over the weekend.

The Saints lost yesterday, but they could have won had they not fumbled away winning chances in the fourth quarter. I never think about the Super Bowl with the Saints anymore–actually, not since they actually did win it sixteen years ago (still can’t wrap my mind around the Saints winning the Super Bowl, but they actually did once, in a magical season that had the whole city walking on air). But cheering the Saints on when they lose is a time-honored New Orleans tradition, and one that most likely will never get old. I like our new quarterback and am willing to give him more than another chance. I also like that his last name is pronounced shuck, which pleases me to no end.

And we watched the two episodes of American Horror Story: 13, and it’s weird…but is it wrong that I kind of figured out the big twist at the end of episode three, hence the cliffhanger (and why we had three episodes drop at the same time, and why episode three was only twenty-two minutes long). After Ben, the hospice worker, survives the plane crash that opens the show, and shows up for his new job at a big, imposing old apartment building in New York (think: the Bramford in Rosemary’s Baby), and as soon as Jessica Lange introduced herself as the dead Constance from the original season (and several others since)…I thought he died on the plane and this is the portal to Hell (I was also getting hints of The Sentinel, a 70s horror film, with a sort of similar set-up), and when they descended down into the basement at the end of Episode 3 and the big reveal1….I didn’t gasp, I thought, of course.

I do hate-watch Murphy shows at this point, and am pleasantly surprised when one of his shows doesn’t go off the rails. I suspect this one is overly ambitious, and will go off the rails relatively soon and whatever sense it made at one point…it won’t after that. It’s kind of like rooting for the Saints; you’ll have some fun, but you’ll end up disappointed.

LSU won, but dropped out of the Top Ten to number 11 in the rankings; Florida jumped, so they had to be ahead of Mississippi, whom they beat, and LSU, whom Mississippi beat the week before. It’s all stuff and nonsense at this point in the season, anyway–rankings and so forth aren’t important this early in the season at any rate–but it’s also interesting how the SEC games this season are either close, or blow outs. I have to say, I’ve been impressed by Florida so far this season, and they looked really good on the last two Saturdays, and the Florida-Auburn game’s outcome two weeks ago makes a bit more sense now, and Auburn looks a lot better than they did after that game.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a marvelous Monday, Constant Reader, and I will be back again tomorrow morning, bright and early. See you then!

The ceiling of one of the temples at Luxor. Sigh, Egypt.
  1. It also galls me that Murphy also casts so many queer actors–because I want to support them so they get more work, like Joey Pollari, who is playing the lead this time. It really is a ouroboros, isn’t it? ↩︎

The Power of Goodbye

Monday morning and a return with me to the spice mines. Sparky again let me sleep late yesterday, which was nice, and I didn’t feel bone tired when I got up, either; Saturday was a bit hit or miss for the day, frankly. But I did get up, worked on a newsletter as well as cleaning up computer files (and finishing some unfinished chores from Saturday) before turning on the Saints game at noon and sitting in my easy chair with my laptop and an early lunch snack of mozzarella salad, which I love. Paul came down to watch and nap with Sparky during the game, so we were all in the living room like the sweet little family we are, and when I am the most content. That literally is my happy place.

In one of those weird moments, the other night (Friday, to be exact) we were running around doing our errands and one of my favorite songs, Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” came up on the mix, and as I was humming along with the lyrics one in particular stood out to me. The thought process went something like this: “Running through the shadows, chain chain chain, we go together, running through the shadows…hmmm, running through the shadows is a great title, wait didn’t I have a story in an anthology called that yes I think I did and I think my story was called “The Rosary of Broken Promises” and the main character was the Oracle of Orange Street, my psychic I wanted to write a book about”–it was something like that. Anyway, imagine my delight and surprise to find an email about that anthology in my inbox Saturday morning. (I don’t, however, read emails on the weekend; I only delete them.) I’ll read it later on, when I am more functional and awake.

The Saints did win, which was a lovely way for the day to go, and then we watched the first two episodes of The Traitors: New Blood, which is quite fun, and retired to bed relatively early to get a jump on the morning today, which I did. I only hit snooze the once, and got up, feeling rested and relaxed this morning over my coffee and a slice of coffee cake. We finished Reacher off over the weekend, and tonight, it’s back to Lanterns. I also actually wrote for a while yesterday–working on a short story that is due soon, clocking in at about fourteen hundred words, which was nice and felt good. I also finished paying the bills this weekend, and we get paid again on Wednesday this week. I also sent out my latest newsletter, about The Stepford Wives. I’m not sure what the next one will be about, and the goal is to get it out on Wednesday or Thursday, but we’ll have to see how that goes, won’t we? I have a few that are close to completion; we’ll have to see how it all goes, won’t we, though? The kitchen is a bit of a mess this morning, alas, so after running an errand or two on the way home, I am going to have to pick up around here a bit before going to the easy chair for some Sparky time.

LSU is still ranked in the Top Ten this week, and I am very pleased with how zen I am about the loss on Saturday night. I’m even happy for the Mississippi fans1; they haven’t had much for a very long time, so more power to them and I wish them well on the season. We still don’t know how good either team is, but they are about equal, really. Texas A&M will be fired up after losing to Kentucky (!!!) this past weekend, but…it’s at LSU, so it will be loud and raucous in the stadium. I didn’t read any write-ups, local or national, on the game this past weekend because I don’t need to know anything more than the result. I like this new policy of “it’s just a game” and just enjoying it for what it is–something I enjoy watching–without all the emotional ups and downs and swings from watching. That actually isn’t fun, and neither are the “trash talk” bullshit, either. Whether LSU wins or not doesn’t change or affect anything in my life unless I allow it to–and while a lot of people seem to enjoy that aspect, I don’t and never have.

And unless you’re on the field and in uniform, there’s no “we” or “us” when you’re nothing more than a fan–even less so if you’re not an alum. As someone who is not an alum of LSU (I just live here), I try to be careful in never including myself as part of LSU as anything other than a local fan with opinions, usually based on what I’ve watched on the field. Yes, I want LSU to do well, but if they don’t–the sun will still rise in the morning and my alarm will continue to go off at six every day.

Ed Sheeran has only made things worse after performing Saturday night in Philadelphia? I’ve stopped paying attention because at this point he’s managed to make everything somehow about him and his poor choices; it has always been my experience that if you have to cry and tell everyone you’re not a bad person…well, you might be a bad person. Your mistake was caving into that Kraft creature. It doesn’t seem like you’re even aware of what you did wrong….and a little bit of advice? Maybe stop centering yourself in everything? No one was asking you to speak about Palestine, you know; they were mad because you caved to a billionaire’s demands instead of standing on principle. That was your mistake, and that’s the one you need to acknowledge–you are complicit in that. It’s not a good look, Gingerdoodle. That’s why everyone on both sides is mad at you–and you need to save your anger and reproaches for Pink–she started this whole mess.

Again, don’t get into parasocial relationships with celebrities. They will always disappoint you because you actually don’t know them at all.

Sigh.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely Monday, Constant Reader, and I will see you again tomorrow morning.

  1. It also doesn’t hurt to remember that when Nick Saban came back to college football at Alabama, that we beat them his first year there. ↩︎

Good for the Soul

Work-at-home Friday! Huzzah! I was a bit on the tired side yesterday, which was to be expected. I had to go to work in person every day last week, and I always am a little tired come Thursdays. It was surprisingly pleasant outside when I went to work yesterday morning–in the low eighties–and everything was glistening and wet from the previous night’s rains. The city was also low-key and kind of mellow, too. It was a slow day at the office, and I decided not to head uptown after work to run my few errands, I was a bit tired and I forgot my list, too. I want to get a lot of cleaning and organizing done this weekend, and I also have a lot of quality assurance to get caught up on today. We’re going to go to Costco later , which is also going to be incredibly expensive, especially since it’s been so long since we’ve gone. Over a month, I’d say–or at least since Paul’s surgery, and that was definitely a while back. (I have ordered some things to be delivered from them–not much of anything, really–but supplies are low.) But…the tired wasn’t too bad, I did some chores when I got home, we watched an episode of Cross, and I caught up on the news, which was either not horribly depressing or I’m becoming deadened and desensitized; I’m not sure which. And I came down to a picked-up apartment, and a clean kitchen, so am already off to a good start this morning. The first load of blankets are in the washer, and I need to unload the dishwasher.

I also have chores to do today around the work and the errands, and I would also like to get some writing time in, too. It will, of course, entirely depend on how long everything takes and how tired I het doing everything. It was cool when I left the office yesterday–for this time of year, mind you–and there was a lovely breeze. The car was an oven, though. I did sleep in a bit this morning before Sparky became insistent on being fed. I feel pretty good so far this morning and my coffee is excellent, so no complaints here.

I am missing the World Cup, honestly; what a delightful few weeks that was. I’m very glad that Spain beat Argentina; what a pathetic group of sore losers and dirty players. That great player of theirs (I won’t mention his poor sport ass name) is also a piece of shit, apparently; decades of being ‘the greatest’ etc, only to throw it all away as a poor sport. Always remember the Nazi to Argentina pipeline, and I will always wonder why they made a musical glorifying that fascist grifter Eva Peron. I’ve never gotten a good answer to the question. Some gays don’t like having their theater standards questioned, but why not do one on Imelda Marcos? She actually fancied herself a singer, at least. I am missing the world cup, though. There’s any number of monstrous fascist women in history; did Eva stand out because she started out as a prostitute and actress?

Oh, well, college football will be here before we know it, and then my weekends will be built around college football and the Saints–errands on Fridays and Sundays only, etc. I’m cautiously optimistic about both LSU and the Saints this year, but LSU’s schedule is brutal. Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida and Tennessee, and the opener is Clemson. That’s eight games they could lose, right there. Oh, well. Fingers crossed! Hope always springs eternal down here on the bayou.

I am also hoping that having a “normal” weekend will set me back to normality. I feel good and rested already this morning, which is delightful, and of course my coffee is starting to hit me with its best shot…I should get out the espresso machine this weekend and make myself some cappuccinos, because it’s been a hot hot minute. We’re apparently in a heat advisory all weekend, too, and into next week again. And yes, it would be nice to stay inside all weekend, but I will run those other errands tomorrow, because I don’t think we’ll be out of this heat any time soon.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely day, Constant Reader, and wherever you are, stay hydrated! I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning, so until then, be safe!

Heracles battling the Hydra. It’s always bugged me that people use his Roman name when talking about Greek mythology; in Greek, his name was HERACLES. In other words, if you’re talking about Zeus and Hera, his nam is Heracles. If you say Hercules, you need to use Jupiter and Juno. (I blame Disney for a lot of this, but it happened before their movie, too.) I’ve also kind of always wanted to write about him, too.