lizvogel

I just found out my friend Stephen T. Vessels is fighting a rare form of cancer, following on the heels of a heart attack earlier this year. The prognosis sounds good, but of course expenses are mounting up at the same time he's been too ill to work, and he could use a helping hand. There's a GoFundMe to help with basic living and medical expenses here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cancer-support-for-stephen-t-vessels

Stephen is a writer, artist, and really nice guy. If you want to know more about the writer and artist, you can check out his website. If you've had the pleasure of meeting him at a convention or elsewhere, you already know about the the nice guy part. ;-)

Please spread the word!

Current Mood: hopeful
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/262569.html

Excellent article in the New Yorker on reserve capacity, bureaucratic obstacles, and the general f'ed up-ness of the American medical industry that contributed to the current mess, and will likely contribute to the next one, too.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/04/what-the-coronavirus-crisis-reveals-about-american-medicine

Current Mood: thinky
Current Music: Nomad Planets, "Save Me"
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/261392.html

Housemate and I went for a walk the other day around the university campus, which really is a lovely place with lots of trees and green spaces. As we were heading back to the car, one of the campus squirrels approached us, looking for a handout. Sadly, we didn't have anything to give him. (Imploring little squirrel face!) But I held still, and he came up and sniffed my shoes to make sure. And when I got the housemate to also hold still, he went over and checked out her shoes, then sat up and put his paw on her leg to steady himself while he sniffed her jeans! Then he moved over to her other foot and did the same there! For a minute I thought he was going to climb right up her, and she'd end up with a squirrel hat; but no, he finally decided we were in fact bereft of squirrel fodder, and moved off a few feet. Though he did keep looking wistfully after us until another squirrel distracted him.

Current Mood: squirrel!
Current Music: the wind in the trees, the river in its bed
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/261073.html

I am having technical difficulties doing edits for a sold story, and so all the Zen with which I would normally approach the process of the text editing itself is getting used up fighting with fscking Google. (Google Drive, why even is it.) Which means every time I sit down to work, by the time I get to the actual words, I am far too cranky to reasonably evaluate the suggested changes.

I have tricks for recovering my Zen, but every single one of them depends on something that is unavailable due to fucking COVID.

Yes, stupid virus, you have now exceeded the annoyance level of incalcitrant technology. Congratulations.

Current Mood: infuriated
Current Music: R.E.M., "Shiny Happy People"
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/260706.html

Back around the end of March, I decided to cheer things up by putting all of my pink plastic flamingos out in the flower bed by the mailbox. All Lucifer references aside, with all the different sizes I've accumulated over the years, it looked like four generations of flamingo family got together to say hi to passersby.

During the shutdown, one of the big craft stores had large metal flamingos that would have been the perfect addition, sitting right there in their front window. Taunting me! The store was closed, and they weren't available from the website. I waited, and waited, and then one day I saw the store was open, so in I went... and they'd already sold out all 20+ flamingos, with no more to come.

So I went home, thwarted. And then I looked at the old sheet of plywood that I'd been wanting to get out of the garage, and I got out the jigsaw and bought some pink paint, and I made this:

( Click for pink! )

It's nearly eight feet tall!

You can't really see them now that the balloon flowers have taken off, but there are stealth flamingos hidden amongst the greenery, too.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Enter The Haggis, "The Three Little Jigs"
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/260042.html

Housemate went to five different stores yesterday to buy cat food. Up to now, I've been doing all the grocery shopping, and while she's heard my tales of empty shelves and random shortages, she hadn't really taken it on board properly. So she didn't think it was a big deal when I said, Hey, we're opening the last bag of cat food, we should get more now. And now here we are at the end of the last bag, and... yeah, you get to go on an epic quest, because it's no longer something that can be put off.

Apparently Purina is having supply problems. And of course whatever variety we decide is our standard immediately becomes hard to find even when there isn't a pandemic going on, so....

(We aren't hoarding. But I have been making an effort to keep more margin on the necessities, restocking when we're down to one package instead of one item, etc., so that if we can't get something right away we've got some leeway. And now, so is she.)

ETA: I went to another store the next day: Of the size we wanted, their chain (one of the big ones) had only one bag in the entire state (and that about two hours away). And just 57 bags throughout the chain nationwide. Fortunately the cats will eat other things, but sheesh!

Current Mood: vindicated
Current Music: Jupiter One, "Wrong Line"
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/259802.html

I'd forgotten just how annoying humans can be in large quantities. And none of them can drive.

Current Mood: cranky

Because important.

Military leadership defends right to protest.

“Every member of the U.S. military swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution and the values embedded within it,” Milley wrote. “This document is founded on the essential principles that all men and women are born free and equal and should be treated with respect and dignity. It also gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.”

(Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Includes the full text of both the memo from the chairman to the Joint Chiefs and the memo from the Sec'y of Defense to all service personnel.

Current Mood: complicated

I went errand-ing yesterday. It was weird to see so much traffic! Really I think it was about the normal amount of cars, but I'd started getting used to the reduced level. Fewer family bike rides and such, sadly.

Of course, the construction they started while everything was shut down is still ongoing, so starting back towards normal wasn't as much fun as it could have been. ;-P

A lot of things suck right now, but it does make grocery shopping deeply satisfying. I not only scored toilet paper, it was our preferred brand! Large packs, too, one of the housemate's prefered variety and one of mine! Of these small things are a happy hunter-gatherer instinct made.

In fact the TP aisle was fully stocked (a startling sight these days), although what I think was the bleach aisle next to it was pretty wiped out.

I still ended up going to three stores to get everything, but that was as much due to pickiness and the first store being in the middle of a reorg as anything. And I got quite a lot of Red Bull, because the first store had a good sale and then the last store had an even better one. Storage is an issue, but I feel wealthy now. ;-)

Current Mood: grown up
Current Music: 4 Non Blondes, "Spaceman"

During one of the ice storms this past winter, the big tree that visually separates us from the neighbors went over, ending up propped on the woodshed. We didn't want to lose the tree, so we figured we'd see if it survived the process. It's been leafing out with great enthusiasm this spring, better than it has for a while, and the woodshed seemed willing to bear the weight, so yay.

I just looked out, and the woodshed roof has crumpled.

Anybody have any clever ideas for propping up a very large tree? I realize the standard response is to cut down the tree and plant something new, but I don't want to be staring into the neighbor's upstairs windows for the next twenty years.

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Music: Goo Goo Dolls, "Name"

I cut my hair today.

I feel like this is something I ought to make a big deal about -- I'm sure there's a #covidhaircut or some such hashtag out there -- but the truth is, I've been cutting my own hair most of my adult life. It was a little overdue for a trim, but no more so than it usually is by the time I get around to it.

Once again, not much difference here. ;-)

Current Mood: normal
Current Music: Elf Power, "Never Believe"

( cut for ranting )

Current Mood: pissed off
Current Music: Matt Pond PA, "KC"
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/256474.html

I want to feel connected to the rest of humanity.

The only way to connect to humanity right now is through social media.

Social media makes humans stupid and annoying.

...This is not working.

ETA: That said, I'm starting to run into less OMG THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER and more reasonable perspective, this is not the worst thing ever, and let's find fun ways to get through this. Which is more like it, humanity.

ETA2: Which correlates significantly with my having stopped reading Twitter and started reading Dreamwidth. Which is a lesson for future, self.

Current Mood: cranky
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/256123.html

XKCD is hit-or-miss for me, and I generally only read it when someone else links to it. But this one... yeah. A couple of the panels were so good that housemate & I scared the cat laughing. And the mouse-over is one of the more inspirational things I've read recently.

Current Mood: pleased
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/255961.html

A measurement I never thought I'd need to make: one medium-sized roll of toilet paper + one adult = about five and a half days.

Obviously your mileage will vary, depending on roll size and a host of personal factors we needn't go into. But at roughly five days per roll, that six-pack you scored before they all disappeared will last about a month.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: NCIS:LA background music
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/255567.html

housemate: Happy April Fool's Day!

me: /*shakes fist at window*/ Not funny, universe!

Current Mood: amused
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/255382.html

So, Michigan is under stay-home orders as of today, essential services excepted -- pretty much what we were supposed to be doing anyway. Housemate is already working from home because of the broken leg; my freelance work is from-home anyway, and the Day Job is considered essential, so no real change here. Except that coordinating a trip to the grocery store is even more of a hassle than it is under normal conditions, as I try to guess when the panic-buyers will be at low ebb but there'll still be something on the shelves.

In the meantime, who wants to talk writing? I'm declaring this an open post for any writing-related subject that's on your mind. Comment with your questions, insights, or muddled writerly musings, and let's get some discussion going.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: probably the theme song to something
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/254921.html

Yesterday, I did All The Things. The day before, I finally got the bleepity-bleep medicine cabinet up in the bathroom, which has been waiting for... months, now.

Today, I was trapped in bed by a pair of cats until dinnertime. Today wins.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: *purrs*
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/253511.html

I've had two Red Bulls and I'm working on a Coke, and I still don't want to go snow-blow the driveway (again).

I suspect the limitation here is not a matter of caffeine-based nutrition. ;-)

Current Mood: soggy
Current Music: Dire Straits, "Water of Love"
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/253237.html

Burned my hand. Owe replies, but can only type for a few seconds at a time. Expect delays.

Current Mood: pissed off
Crossposts: https://lizvogel.livejournal.com/252679.html

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Signal Boost: Stephen T. Vessels fundraiser

Linkage, medical edition

Squirrel!

Argh

Witness the growth of my flamingo army!

Cat Food: The Quest

I kind of want the shut-down back.

Because this is America, damn it.

Doth normal approacheth?

Trees, gravity, why?

A quick trim

Shall we all just throw mud at each other on the playground, now?

In theory, it's great....

Perspective Is Everything

Rolling on

The first day of April

Keep Calm and Talk Writing

A doubly-good day

Yeah, snow.

What is the sound of one hand typing?

Profile

Links

Syndicate

Page Summary

Active Entries

June 2025

Expand Cut Tags