mallorys_camera: (Default)
[personal profile] mallorys_camera
They are dropping like flies!

Got the news through the Well network this morning that Mattu had dropped dead—also unexpectedly, also sitting in his favorite chair. Eerily like Brian.

Mattu was my boyfriend in the late '80s/early '90s.

We lived together for a couple of years in Oakland. The breakup was bitter.

Some years after, by a weird coincidence, he ended up living in Monterey just four blocks away from where I lived in Monterey. I walked Xena the Warrior Russell by his house twice a day; often, he would be sitting outside on his porch, and he would glare at me. I could have walked the dog on a different route, but I kind of enjoyed needling him.

He had married; he had procreated.

And then one day, his house burned down. No shit!

He smoked. And when I was living with him, would occasionally drink till he passed out. A vestige of his Midwestern Bad Boy past.

So, I always kind of assumed he had burned down his house by passing out drunk with a lit cigarette butt in his hand.

Many years later when we'd gotten back on civil terms—who remembers how?—he told me, no, it had been an electrical fire. Mattu was an electronics fanatic. The electrical systems in those old Monterey houses were not built to support three computers, two modems, a monitor, a plug-in boombox, and a printer on a single outlet.

###

Mattu had a habit of dropping in and out of online hangouts. For a month or so, he'd post up a storm & then he'd disappear. He was a really terrific writer. The bio he posted in his kamakazi Internet runs reads thus: Born some time back, dead at some indeterminate point in the future, everything else is now. Which I think is really quite terrific.

Our last exchange:

Mattu: Hey, pdil! I’ve got a question that’s been tormenting me for decades now: remember the Mexican restaurant that we used to eat at in Berkeley, Max’s preschool days? As nearly as I can tell, we were just a few blocks from 924 Gilman, soon-to-be world famous as the launching pad of Fugazi, Operation Ivy, any number of terrific bands. I never once stepped foot in the place, alas. But a few years later, Mike Cowperthwaite was dating Ian MacKaye’s (Fugazi guitarist) sister, and they used to stay at our house in Monterey. Ach, the days.

(What’s the point? I honestly couldn’t say. My mind tends to be more focused at 3am than 10am. Maybe I should email you then,)


Me: Ah, yes, those 3am treasure hunts through ancient memories... I don't remember any Mexican restaurants on Gilman. I DO remember Juan's, which was on Carleton Street in southwest Berkeley (pretty near Max's daycare provider's house.) I had lunch there on a Berkeley trip maybe five years ago, so it may well still be there

Mattu: THAT’S the one. Sam and I went by there in…2015?, when we passed through. Wanted to pick up some coffee at my old place on College, but it had turned over (Coles?), so we went across the street and had some strawberries. Time to go back, I’m losing traction,

I didn't really feel sad when I heard Mattu had died. It was more like when I heard Bradburn had died. This picking off of the old gang just feels so random. Am I next?

###

In other news, I am meeting Flavia & Mimi up at BB's house in a couple of hours to clean the perishables out of the fridge & do whatever else needs to be done to lock the house down till Flavia decides what to do with it.

I am quite numb.

Utterly incapable of anything remotely resembling thought or emotion.

monday

Jul. 7th, 2025 08:51
summersgate: (Default)
[personal profile] summersgate
DSC_0210.jpg
Trying a new variant. I'm dividing the 5" by 7" watercolor paper into smaller squares for these.

Last night I asked Jules, Roswell, Jordan and Candy to try doodling on some as a preview for me of what it'll be like at the BHU on Wednesday and they were game. Though Jordan and Ros took theirs home to finish. They needed to leave early so Roswell could go home and take his meds. Jordan even asked for a couple extra because she liked doing it so much. Yay.

DSC_0211.jpg
Jules' "Weird Landscape" and Candy's "Me and Bill".

Hiking today. Need to get going...

At Home Day

Jul. 6th, 2025 22:27
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

I was debating whether to weed this morning—I really want a nap—when it started raining. Well, that settles that. Bella and Gracie were chewing a branch that the tree people left.

I really like Bella and Gracie’s new personalized collars with my phone number on them. I think that I want to get some for Oliver and Lily too. (Zara will never get out. Well, maybe I’ll try one for her too, but she probably will resist it.)

There’s a cat (Oliver) in my face. Someone wants to eat.

Serendipity. I got a mail-order form for a “Comfort Tower Pro” that heats and cools. I’ll put it upstairs.

I think that I’ll stay home today and get the package ready to send tomorrow. My Walmart order hasn’t arrived yet. And I need to empty the storage shed. The dogs are barking at nothing in particular.

Got my groceries in. Crud, my donuts fell down and the dogs helped themselves to two of them.

They are saying thunderstorms later in the afternoon, but I have stuff to do inside.

Ate lunch. Gracie: "Why won’t you give me your food?" Me: "Because it’s my food. I get to eat too." Gracie: "Oh."

The Washington Post suggested taking your bank statements and some highlighters to see where your money is going. That’s easy. I’ll try that. Ordered highlighters.

I got my new loofahs, which I put in the shower. A program to wipe files off my old computer plus some transfer software. And I got the purse in which the tablet fits.

Went to order markers for delivery from Walgreens, but they are "age-restricted items," so I need to be available to receive them. Now they’re saying thunderstorms after 6 PM, so I need to get outside.

Well, I made it to 5 PM. I was dripping sweat, and I figured that the dogs (who were outside with me) were hot too, so we came in. Gracie liked being staked out on a long leash. I got some weeding done in front and almost emptied out the storage shed. (There are a few bags of leaves that I need to take out in the morning. Everything else, including my bicycles and the lawn mower, are out and in the basement.) And the markers arrived.

I’m looking at day lilies for the patch at the corner. I’m going to move some of my orange day lilies and add some additional ones for a day lily patch. But I should deal with the plants that I have first.

The Week keeps on trying to get my mom to resubscribe. I like The Week, so I subscribed on a discount magazines site.

I really want a nap, but I need to feed the beasts first. Here comes the storm. Fed us all. Nap time. Gracie loves having her belly rubbed. Had a nice nap. There was an alert about a severe thunderstorm, but I went back to sleep.

Me: “Bella, leave your brother (Oliver) alone." Bella: “But I like bothering him.” Sigh.

Hmm. Now I’m wondering if I should get up a half-hour early and get the package together to send tomorrow. I’m having stomach cramps and want to go back to sleep.

I'm still having issues with Semagic. It won't let me post to multiple journals.

(no subject)

Jul. 6th, 2025 15:34
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
I seem to have a new sleep pattern lately. I have a few bad nights in a row, where I can't get to sleep or I wake up too early or I wake up often during the night, then comes a night where I can't keep my eyes open for long enough to stay up until my normal bedtime. Last night was the night for not being able to stay awake, and I slept well, but still felt slightly tired when I got up this morning.

Today's photo prompt is "urgent", so I walked over to the nearby Urgent Care place to take a photo of all their signage, then continued on to the nearest Giant supermarket to take a photo of their signage for an upcoming prompt of "giant". The walk to and from Giant turned out to be slightly longer than I had thought and I ended up covering about 8 km/5 miles. I wasn't unhappy about that but I was getting very hungry by the time I got home as I'd only had one piece of toast at around 5 am before I left.

When I got back I found my new phone had been delivered in my absence, so after breakfast I spent about an hour getting it set up. The thing that took the longest was transferring my Signal account over from my old phone, but that was essential because that's what we use for the photo challenges.

It's not extremely hot today (about 28°C/83°F) but it's cloudy and feels very oppressive and the forecast says there's a chance of showers.

Alexa is always listening

Jul. 6th, 2025 11:52
bill_schubert: (Default)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
While posting my complaint about Amazon's non delivery I must have said something out loud.  The delivery that had been postponed to the 9th (same one supposed to be here yesterday) is now coming today.  I think Alexa heard me say something about going IRL to get what I wanted.  

 

before the storm

Jul. 6th, 2025 15:24
[syndicated profile] amw_feed
I am tired. I am so tired. I am hoping that next week i will finish up all the outstanding stuff i had left over from Q2 and then i need to take a break. I am so fucking burned out. I don't know how to work this long in the same job, i haven't done it since literally the first and last time i ever worked more than 18 months in the same place - 2002 to 2006. And i remember after that stint i was like fuck the tech industry i am going back to work in a kitchen. Nowadays i am too old to change career, especially into hard labor/blue collar work, but i feel like i am on the edge of a similar breakdown.

So, anyway, here's a can of asparagus juice.

IMG_20250706_132409.jpg

First big storm of the season is hitting today/tomorrow/etc. It's not officially a typhoon and may yet fizzle out, but all the alerts were posted so i went for a bike ride and it was really quiet out. I don't know why everyone decided to spend their Sunday sheltering in place when it was clear the rain bands weren't going to hit till the later afternoon at the earliest (it's now night time and they still haven't hit) but i'm not complaining when it means i got a whole-ass beach to myself. It was hella windy and i loved it.

Anyway, i left early and made it back early just to be sure and it was fine. I'm glad i got some sun and air. I also felt sad i didn't share with you all what asparagus juice looks like, so enjoy.

I did some shopping on Steam and Bandcamp to stock up with entertainment for the storm and it seems i was in a bit of an IDM/braindance mood. Here is some beautiful acid from a long-established figure in the scene:



But you know what the real treat is on Bandcamp? Random bedroom musician who nobody has ever heard of who lives in the ass end of nowhere and will probably never make any money from their music and still makes tunes as good as the top guys.

A masterpiece of wonky progressive acid from some mystery cat in China who is too busy with work to edit and upload: https://meowwood.bandcamp.com/track/processed-fm-acid

Fucking relatable.

Sigh.

Oh, and even though i didn't buy this game over the weekend, it's really worth sharing a game i just started playing this weekend. It's called Clarevoyance: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145830/Clarevoyance/

The game is set in Nova Scotia, in an Acadian community, and the whole game is voiced in Acadian dialect. You walk around a village talking to people and looks like there is going to be some paranormal/supernatural/folklore stuff and it's great. All the character portraits and locations are photos, so it feels like you are really visiting the area. I play a lot of indie games that are set in small towns and they're often fun escapist yarns, but they often feel artificial, a romanticized or hipsterized IFC/Sundance version of the simple life... This feels more authentic to me somehow. I'm looking forward to playing through a bit more, and hearing more of that wild dialect.

I've been reading a series of articles in our local left wing rag about the indigenous languages of Taiwan and the challenges to try keep them alive in the modern world, and it makes me think that games like this could be a neat component of it. It's a way to involve members of a community in preserving their language, recording their everyday conversations and providing a fun way to walk around and hear those conversations in a culturally appropriate context. But then i'm an outsider so for me niche or endangered languages are curiosities that i can enjoy as part of a gaming experience... it might feel different for people whose ethnicity is more entwined with it?

I don't know how i feel about preserving language. I mean, i think all human knowledge is worth preserving just for posterity, but whether any particular language per se really matters? Eh. I do get that language impacts the way you think about things and thus forms a central pillar of culture, and that a key aspect of violent acts like genocide and forced assimilation is killing the language... But there's also a lot to be gained from having a common language that allows different peoples to communicate efficiently. I can't imagine that it would be a good thing for humanity to go back to a world where over every hill there's a whole nother language, a whole nother band of people who can't effectively communicate with their neighbors. On the other hand, from a romantic point of view, the idea of exploring and trading and having to spend enough time living with other peoples to develop a pidgin, to create a creole, that process feels like the essence of humanity, and in a homogenized world without that process perhaps we lost something?

Ha, there i go again, even when i imagine the past, i am imagining it through the eyes of a traveler, a migrant... I guess i'll never truly understand the mindset of indigenous peoples. I'm a third culture kid, my dad's a third culture kid, being an outsider is in my blood. What insight could i ever bring to folks whose identity is their connection with the land, with a particular place?

But maybe you don't need to really understand people to respect them. Actually, definitely you don't need to understand people to respect them. And that's the basis of solidarity, i suppose, just respecting that other people have different backgrounds that may lead them to a different system of values, a different prioritization of needs... I might not always get it but i do get not wanting to be marginalized.

I'm not sure where i'm going with all this. I just wanted to post a picture of asparagus juice.

Oh yeah, Sunday night blues. Thinking about anything but work. There are so many more interesting things in life than work. Why oh why do i have to waste so much of my life on shit i hate?

Backing Up Is Hard To Do

Jul. 6th, 2025 07:57
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[personal profile] susandennis
Google has had the same backup situation for years and years. You request what files you want and then they zip them all up and send you a link to all the zip files that you then must download. They do not understand the concept of incremental backup so to keep current, this process must be repeated often. I have a shithoad of files in Google Drive alone and that's not even touching Keep, email, photos, and a variety of other miscellaneous bits.

I am now nearly halfway through downloading the backup to the drive files. Once I get it onto my external drive, I'm done. I may or may not go back and copy over recent files/changes. I could be done. Their scheme just sucks eggs. And while, two days ago, I was all over the whole idea, today I'm rapidly losing interest. Who the fuck cares, I'll be dead anyway and if I'm not, the one vital piece of data I need will be in the haystack that is this mess. So...

My foot, now, only hurts once in a while. It's 100% manageable. And I'm enjoying wearing shoes that feel good knowing they are not exacerbating the issue. (Contrary to what the original podiatrist I went to two years ago told me.)

Today is laundry and baseball. The house is kind of organized. The kitchen is tidy. Nothing else really needs doing. I have good food in the fridge and the freezer. I have no pending Amazon returns. Things seem under control. It's warm here, not hot but the sun is blazing and I love my poorly hung shades and my very chill air conditioning.

I think I'll click a few more downloads (it seems to work best if I download about 4 of these 2 GB files at a time) and go get dressed.

All is well with us

Jul. 6th, 2025 09:37
bill_schubert: (Default)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
Well, Amazon is letting me down but other than that.

When I wrote yesterday the water was at its height in our back yard.  The rain stopped and everything has been receding since then.  The areas of Georgetown and Williamson County that are getting all the attention are east of us.  There are trailer parks near the river and they were evacuated as were some apartments also overlooking the river.  The bridges were closed near downtown mostly to keep people from going out there and taking pictures.

Although this has happened three times since we moved here in 2005 the population has boomed in this area and, yeah, climate change.  The combination of the two will continue to result in this every year about this time.  I've been watching the developments move closer and closer over the past couple of years to where I know the river will rise.  No one should be surprised but, of course, they are.

As for Amazon they were supposed to deliver three things yesterday one of which was my display port to HTMI adapter.  Now it will not be here until Tuesday.  I may go to Walmart and buy one.  Once you miss a promised Amazon delivery they kick it way down the road.  And of course they are in the midst of one of their most active times of year so who knows what will happen and when I might get the adapter.  So I might not wait.

Meanwhile, I ordered some protein drink for Dana that arrived same day.  So strange.

Nothing on the schedule today.  

sunday

Jul. 6th, 2025 06:06
summersgate: (Default)
[personal profile] summersgate
IMG_20250705_185738382_HDR[1].jpg
Yesterday afternoon we took the dogs for a walk down back and afterwards I set up for painting on the picnic table by the creek. Something about seeing that rainbow of a paintbox always makes me happy.

IMG_20250705_191433157[1].jpg
3 backgrounds using the *very wet* cardstock method.

DSC_0208.jpg
I'm Giving It All I Got. Finished yesterday.

Going shopping with Jules this morning, then finishing the house cleaning. Sunday dinner later. It's 70F right now (6 am) and it's supposed to go up to 90F later. Dave's going to clean up the back porch and then I'm going to hang the summertime sunblock curtain up on the south side. I have a new string of rainbow flags that I want to hang. It'll probably be too hot to sit out there for the cookout but it'll look nice anyway.

The fairy light string that I have hanging around the edges of the ceiling in my room have developed a flicker so I had to unplug them this morning. They've been up there and on constantly since 2013. I'm sad to see them go.

Errand Day

Jul. 5th, 2025 19:40
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[personal profile] days_unfolding

I got a face full of dog when they decided that I should get up. Gracie needed to pee but used the litter box in there. That works.

Well crap. The return label for the laptop isn’t printing. I just ordered new ink. Maybe I should stop at Staples today and also get more and return it tomorrow.

Gracie has figured out how to go upstairs! But she hasn’t figured out how to get downstairs, so I had to carry her downstairs. She and Bella swapped food again. Oh hell, she went upstairs again. I think that I’ll wait until after my shower to bring her down because Bella scratched my legs when I brought her down. But wait, I was going to wear shorts. Hmm. I threw some jeans in the wash. Oliver stuck his claw in my leg, so I removed him.

Whenever I go to South Carolina, I’d also like to go to Asheville in North Carolina. I found a senior living place that I’d like to check out.

Nap time. Woke up a little before my alarm. Gracie figured out how to get downstairs.

My massage was very nice (hot stone this time, which helps unlock my muscles). Whatever part she hadn’t rubbed yet felt tense. I was good and relaxed when she was done. She invited me to use the new sauna, but I said that I had errands to run. I forgot that it was 1.5 hours, so I didn’t make it to the UPS store. Plus, I was very hungry. I’ll go tomorrow. Stopped at Steak and Shake for a bite to eat. Got printer’s ink at Best Buy. Bought two more lamb toys at PetSmart so that Bella and Gracie each can have one (although I could see Bella trying to take them both). I also bought cat ball toys that probably will get stepped on. Went to Prairie Gardens and bought a Boston Fern for my porch, two enormous spider plants for the kitchen, and two more coneflowers. All were on sale.

Bella and Gracie were thrilled that I came home. Gracie is now taking the stairs upstairs and downstairs like a champ.

Fed us all. I have the shakes. Placed a grocery order for tomorrow.

Oh hell. I didn’t get the mail, which has Bella and Gracie’s new collars, but I don’t want to go back out in the heat.

I’m thinking of going to bed REALLY early to get up in the cool morning. I really want to weed and plant tomorrow. And drop my returns off in the afternoon. And maybe go to the other garden shop.

I don't know why Semagic keeps saying that my DW password is invalid.

Saturday

Jul. 5th, 2025 09:56
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
Volleyball was fine. Elbow coffee was fine. And now the rest of the day is mine which is VERY fine.

Dick and Jan (the new peops) were at elbow coffee this morning. They actually, officially, move in on Monday. The California king bed that they have slept on for years will not fit into their new bedroom so they are bed shopping. They said that the bad new is their bed won't fit but the good news is that Dick has now shrunken in his old age and he fits on a regular king which does fit! So win. They are a cute couple.

I got an email from Microsoft that they wanted $20 for another year of One Drive. Nope. After the password debacle, I'm over you, Microsoft. Plus, I pay for storage on my web site host so I'll just pop important stuff there. Mail is already copied so all I really need is the stuff on my Google Drive. Which is 23 4GB zip files. I was going to download them all and then upload them all but why? cheaper and easier just to plop them onto an external drive that I already have. So that's the plan.

I also figured out how to get Apple TV without fighting Apple. Somehow my Apple TV account got hosed and Apple won't let me back in. NFW am I going to call them which is my only option. BUT! Prime Video let's me subscribe through them AND they are having a sale. Win win.

Where there's a will...

My foot is far less purple and not nearly as hurty today. I did not even think about it while playing volleyball. And neither one of my feet or ankles are even remotely swollen. Nice.

There is stuff around here (Timber Ridge) that bugs me. Food stuff, services, stuff, options stuff. Having Scott and Julie around to point out all the marvelous thing here, has led me to rethink. I agree with them both that this place is lovely and impressive and comfortable and caring and a great place for me to live. But, I forget all of that when they replace french fries at lunch with fucking tater tots. Or they change the package receiving system so that I can't get my packages in a timely fashion. And then I tend to focus solely on the bits that are annoying.

I have two packages, neither of which is critical and one is a jacket I can't even wear til fall. I have a photo of the package being received so I'm fairly certain it won't get lost in the waiting. I have a lot of french fries in the freezer.

So what remains is training myself to NOT focus on the annoying bits. I think I can do that and that's today's project. I was going to do laundry but that will be tomorrow. In my fridge, for lunch I have fixin's for BLT's and two fried chicken thighs and one whole hot dog with chopped onions and potato salad. I'm not going to be hurting for meals anytime soon.

I having knitting to do and baseball to watch. And I might even watch some Wimbledon.

In 1985, I got to go to Wimbledon with my mother. My father gave her the trip for Christmas and then, at the last minute, could not go (union problems at work) and she asked me if I wanted to. ER.... yes!! We had a great time but it was, that year, the hottest Wimbledon on record. We fried our asses just sitting there moving our heads back and forth. I understand they are celebrating this 20th anniversary with even hotter weather. But, alas, without us.

I will be here in the cool, apartment remembering.

20250705_122242-COLLAGE

(no subject)

Jul. 5th, 2025 14:06
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
I did another stupid thing yesterday evening; I remembered to put my loaf of sourdough bread in the fridge before it rose too much, but when I got up this morning I discovered I hadn't closed the fridge door properly (it doesn't close all the way by itself, you have to make sure you push it fully closed yourself) and the dough had risen too much and then deflated anyway. It will still make good toast but it isn't a pretty sight. Plus now I'm worried the milk will go off before it's use by date.

I walked to parkrun this morning (and then of course had to walk home an hour or two later when the temperature was higher). I managed to run the 5 km course but I kept to a slow and steady pace. It was hard work and of course I ended up very sweaty but I was satisfied that I'd done it. I walked home the slightly shorter way on the trail (rather than on the road) where it's mostly shaded, and the walk was quite pleasant.

I decided to order a new phone instead of trying to use one of the ones already in the house, because I suddenly remembered while I was trying to get to sleep last night (while loud fireworks were going off in the neighbourhood keeping me awake) that there might be a problem with the size of the SIM card. I think the very old RCA phone uses a bigger SIM card so I won't be able to put the very small card from my broken phone into it. I took the SIM card out of S's old phone and discovered it is the very small size and the phone could therefore take the small SIM from my Pixel phone, but I'm really reluctant to use that phone. I've ordered a Pixel 7. The latest version is Pixel 9, but I never order the latest model as older models are cheaper and I can't see any benefit to paying more for the latest model.

My sister has been discharged from hospital and seems to be doing very well in spite of an incision running for about 7 inches/18 cm down over her stomach. She is not allowed to lift anything heavier than 2 kg for six weeks (and she has two small grandchildren she babysits frequently), and was told she should work up to walking for about 30 minutes in one to two weeks - at which she quietly snickered, as she normally runs every day for a couple of hours, and longer on weekends. She won't be running for six weeks, but she will definitely be walking for more than 30 minutes very soon.

saturday

Jul. 5th, 2025 12:41
summersgate: (Default)
[personal profile] summersgate
DSC_0207.jpg
Card stock. Tried something different this morning. Sprayed it down good and had it saturated with water before I put any paint to it. I scribbled with watercolor pencils on a couple and then painted with gouache. Then I sprayed them with water again. Very wet stuff going on. Tomorrow when I get the watercolor paper that I ordered I can start to use that instead of this cardstock. That will be a whole new adventure of learning. I don't think I have ever spent so many days painting so loosely.  It's very addictive because it's so easy and quick and it's not meant to look like anything. Backgrounds. How easy can you get?

Today is my cleaning day of the week - vacuuming and sweeping. And I want to boil potatoes ahead of time for tomorrow's potato salad and bake a frozen pie too. Onward to that...

Texas flood

Jul. 5th, 2025 09:15
bill_schubert: (Default)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
There's a music group by that name. Texas Flood. True Texas rock and roll.

But today it is where we are rather than someone playing guitar. The floods down south have worked their way up here. We are perfectly safe. The summer after we moved into this house it rained like this and flooded all around so I know we are not in a dangerous place. But not so much for new houses down the valley from us. I tried to get a picture this morning of the South Fork of the San Gabriel river. It has, as they say, spilled its banks.

About 15 years ago it rained like it is now. It was June and It just kept coming. I used to ride my bike on the back roads around here and frequented one that cut across the river in a couple of places, low water crossings. After the rains the Georgetown lake backed up 15 miles or so and the water that I was riding across when it was dribbling slowly over the crossing was now at a high water mark of 20 or so feet up the trees on it's bank. The whole valley below us was flooded. It was pretty amazing to see and note after it had receeded by the remnants on the trees.

I don't think we're going to be near that now but it is trying hard. A couple of more days with rain like this morning would do it. Our back yard is typically dry but we are downhill from the rest of the houses on our street and next to a storm drain that has, apparently, backed up.

Screenshot 2025-07-05 9.41.11 AM

I'm listening to a pretty serious rumble of thunder that is rolling down the valley just like the river so we might not be done yet.

Earlier I drove down to get some bagels and crossed over the San Gabriel.  I've been watching for the past year or so as they built a development on the banks of the river remembering, as I do, that the water had flooded up those very banks not so long ago.  It has not reached the lower houses yet but I suspect the people in them are reviewing their flood insurance or, more likely, their lack of it.  

I was going to write more but this computer is too slow and stops when I start to type at times so rather than do something with it I'll regret, I'll stop.



Little Starbursts Dishcloth

Jul. 5th, 2025 07:39
nverland: (Cooking)
[personal profile] nverland posting in [community profile] creative_cooks
image host - image host

Little Starbursts Dishcloth

Hook size: 5.0 mm
Yarn: Worsted Weight Cotton
Gauge: Finished main body = approx. 18 cm x 18 cm

Abbreviations:
Ch: chain
Ss: slip stitch
Sc: single crochet
Dc: double crochet
YO: yarn over

Special Stitches:
Starburst: [Worked over 3 stitches] Draw up a loop in same stitch previously worked in. (Draw up a loop in next stitch) 2 times. YO and draw through all 4 loops on hook.

Main Body

To begin, ch 26.

Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook. Work starburst stitch. *Ch 1. Work starburst stitch.* repeat from * to * across. Sc in same ch.

Row 2-24: Ch 1. Turn. Sc in top of sc. Work starburst stitch. *Ch 1. Work starburst stitch.* repeat from * to * across. Sc in same sc.

Edging

Round 1: Ch 4 (counts as first dc and ch 1). Do not turn. Dc in same sc. Ch 1. *Skip next row. Dc in next row. Ch 1.* Repeat from * to * 10 times. Dc, ch 1, dc in first unused loop of foundation chain. Ch1. +Skip next stitch. Dc in next stitch. Ch 1.+ Repeat from + to + 10 times. Dc, ch 1, dc in last chain. Ch 1. Repeat from * to * 11 times. Dc, ch 1, dc in first sc. Ch 1. Repeat from + to + 11 times. Join with ss to top of first dc.

Round 2: Ch 1. +Sc in same dc. 3sc in next ch 1 space. Sc in next dc. Work starburst stitch. *Ch. 1. Work starburst stitch.* Repeat from * to * 11 times.+ Repeat from + to + around. Join with ss to first sc.

Round 3: Ch 1. +Sc in same stitch and in next sc. 3 sc in next sc. Sc in next 2 sc. Work starburst stitch. *Ch 1. Work starburst stitch.* Repeat from * to * 11 times.+ Repeat from + to + around. Join with ss to first sc. Finish off.

Transplanting

Jul. 5th, 2025 08:06
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[personal profile] mallorys_camera
Grass clippings turn out not to be good weed deterrents.

Here was the Hyde Park garden before I weeded it:



Okay. Ten days of neglect.

Here is the garden after I weeded it. My tomato plants shot up a foot in those 10 days.



I am thinking I will go back today, finish the weeding, & put down straw—which I know from experience is an effective weed deterrent.

###

I don't even want to think about what the New Paltz garden looks like. I may venture out there tomorrow.

Flavia, Mimi, & I are supposed to rendezvous at BB's Monday. I was thinking of rescuing some plants from his enormous garden and transplanting them in New Paltz—that is, if they are at all rescueable. They may not be. Their root systems may be too well established.

But BB has rows & rows of really nice heirloom tomatoes.

And it would be a pity to let them all perish.

###

Other than that... I got an enormous client assignment yesteray. The kiskas are pleased they will not starve.

I sat out on the back porch for a long while last night and watched the fireflies and Black Chicken strutting about. Black Chicken crows! Just like a rooster.

I am brain dead in a peculiar fashion: There is just nothing very much to think about because there is no one to tell what I think about to. Not here, at any rate.

The wedding weekend was very good because I just chattered away through it; there were lots & lots of wonderful conversations. Here, BB was literally the only person I had to talk to. Oh, I have lots of acquaintances! People I don't recognize are constantly coming up to me in supermarkets: "So good to see you again!" I suppose I must have done their taxes.

###

I did everything you're supposed to do to make connections in a new place when I moved here. I'm a member in good standing of all sorts of community organizations. But those community organizations did not yield friends. I met virtually no one I wanted to get to know better. I have no idea whether this is because I am too old to make new friends or whether the people here are shallow, conventional types who don't attract me, but vanity compels me to assume the latter.

So, Bad Fit to my current surroundings. DUH, right?

When I move, it should be a big move.

But I'm too brain dead to think about that very much now.

July 4th Holiday

Jul. 4th, 2025 20:53
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[personal profile] days_unfolding

Some idiot was setting off loud fireworks at midnight. The dogs took it surprisingly calmly. They were barking at something though.

Woke up at 7 AM. I stayed up late reading a book about The Big Bang Theory.

Hmm. It’s supposed to be really hot today. Not sure what to do. Sunday, it’ll be cooler but it’s going to rain.

Nap time. Gracie is barking at nothing in particular. The dog waste people are here. Bella, Gracie, and Oliver are all snoozing.

Had a nice nap and then ate lunch. Shower time. I’m getting a headache though, so maybe I need to lie down? Bella and Gracie were wrestling, so I escorted Gracie out.

My headache is gone and I want to get up, but Oliver is sleeping in the crook of my legs. Now he’s awake.

I ordered some Blue Sage and purple Coneflowers. I need to remember to pick them up on campus on Wednesday.

I started cleaning off my old laptop by copying files to a hard drive. Salt and Light refurbishes old computers and gives them to people in need, so I’ll donate this one.

Showered. I have Lily on my lap. I explained to her that it’s too early to eat, and she left.

Ugh. 92F/33C, feels like 97F/36C. No. I need to get to bed early (no reading!) and get outside early tomorrow and Sunday. Though I was going to go to the Unitarian church on Sunday. Took the dogs out and yes, it’s hot.

Got my new cool sheets on the bed, with a lot of hassle from two dogs and a cat. I lost my temper a little bit. But the duvet cover has beige stripes rather than gray ones, so I want to exchange it for one that matches the sheets. Contacted them.

My new laptop is updating. However, I accidentally bought two of them, so I'm returning the other one. I need to package it up tonight to drop at the UPS store tomorrow.

What now. I need to feed the critters and myself (done). Watered the garden.

Bella chewed up my external hard drive. I love that dog, but damn. I ordered a new one. Meanwhile, I'm recovering my files and downloading them.

I have Semagic installed on the new computer, but I'm having problems getting it to work with DW. I'm going to give up for tonight. I'm tired.

friday later

Jul. 4th, 2025 16:07
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[personal profile] summersgate
DSC_0206.jpg
They Have Stars Upon Thars.

A quiet day here. I sat outside this afternoon (perfect summer weather) in the adirondack chair beside the young chickens and drew on this picture. A little chipmunk was running around finding sunflower seeds that the big chickens had overlooked. Chloe sent me a photo of two eggs that her chickens had laid this morning - a smallish egg and a normal sized egg. Her chickens are the same age as my young chickens but hers somehow seem to be a bit more mature. Maybe it's the extra love and attention that she gives them. I don't really fuss over my chickens. She's out there holding them, petting them and carrying hers around. I haven't done that. Maybe that extra love helped hers mature faster?

DSC_0205.jpg
Three more - on cardstock. I think I should stop painting on cardstock and wait till Sunday when I'll get actual watercolor paper to paint on. It's hard to stop though. 

(no subject)

Jul. 4th, 2025 12:35
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
My morning started off okay even though I was awake well before my alarm went off and ended up getting up early. It was a pleasantly mild morning (about 19°C/67°F) and I was very much enjoying my walk, stopping to take photos every so often for the photo challenge, until I dropped my phone getting it out of my pocket, and the screen smashed. The phone still works but there are cracks all over the screen. I'm really annoyed with myself. I do actually have a couple of other phones I could use. One is a very old cheap RCA phone I bought to try out using a smartphone, and the other is what used to be S's phone, a Samsung Galalxy-something. The RCA phone is lighter and smaller than any phone I've had since but the camera quality isn't great. The Samsung seems to be good quality but is horribly hard to use. S used to really struggle with it because the on-screen keyboard was very cramped, and I have the same problem. I don't understand how two phones which are about the same size (my now-damaged Pixel phone and the Samsung) could give such different keyboard experiences. Yes, the Pixel keyboard is small because it's on a phone, but it's definitely not as fiddly to use as the one on the Samsung. I'll probably keep using the broken Pixel until the end of the month (i.e. until the end of the current photo challenge, because everything is set up on that phone to take photos and easily share them to Signal) and then put the SIM card into one of the other phones. (Unless pieces of screen start falling out…)

I walked home past the post office and stopped to look at the sign up sheets for the Fourth of July Fun Run just because, not because I was planning to run in it. I was glad I'd made that decision, because unlike previous years when they've had a category for women over 60, this year the highest level was "Masters - Women 40+, and there's no way I want to be in a category with women more than 30 years younger than me. It's not a race, but they do note who comes first in each category and make an announcement at the lunchtime gathering. Looking at the categories, I was impressed that there was one for "Non-binary", although no age was given for that and at the time I was there, nobody had put their name in that group.

This feels like the most pleasant weather we've ever had for this holiday. Usually it's at least 90°F/30°+C; right now it's still only about 78°F/25°C. In spite of the weather, I chose not to attend the festivities this year. It's not *my* holiday.

July 4

Jul. 4th, 2025 07:08
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[personal profile] susandennis
Years and years and years ago, the Vietnamese War killed my patriotism. I was in college. My friends were being drafted to go over and get killed. Then, an hour from my college, the National Guard fired guns at the students at Kent State. And that was the final blow.

I could have - maybe should have - left but never even seriously considered it. I got a little hopeful when Obama was elected but, of course, that's been squashed.

So celebrating the birth of this ugly political pit is not something I gravitate to. Red White and Blue represents stupid old white guys who make ridiculous decisions.

Yes, I have enjoyed the fruits of those stupid white guy decisions and I get the irony but I still hate all patriotic holidays and the crap that goes with them. So... today will be a Friday for me.

New menu day and the last week of my meal month so I need to eat up whatever they are serving. Scott and Julie helped this month so it's not so much of a scramble.

My foot is a little better. It's no longer bruised looking from the shot so there's that. I still have another shot to go but that's not til August. I've been watching my ankles and they are weird. One day they are huge and the next they are back down to normal, lather rinse repeat. I'm now taking an embarrassing number of pills each day. 1 for cholesterol, 2 for high blood pressure, COQ 10, vitamin D, AREDS2, now an allergy pill and one for my feet. That's 8 every morning and another AREDS2 at night. AND I'm healthy! (Oh and the allergy pills are working again so whew!)

Baseball starts at 10 today. And I might do some laundry or not. My little UPS shop is closed but I have nothing to return today anyway.

20250704_075521-COLLAGE

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