WOAH it’s another survey. Shocked?
1. How has covid affected you?
Well, I haven’t gotten it and no one I’m super close to has gotten it either, so that’s good. But I haven’t been able to see my mom because the damn border’s been closed since March, my job is now online which I absolutely hate, my husband and I haven’t gotten to do any of our long summer walks because we’ve been terrified of public places/public transit, my own walks have been limited due to the same reasons, and I really miss going to malls. Not even shopping…just going in them. But on the positive side, I did really get into running this summer, which I probably wouldn’t have gotten an opportunity to do (at least to the same extent) if things were “normal.”
2. What is a comfort show of yours?
I’ve re-watched Riverdale a few times, not gonna lie. Horrible teen dramas are my jam.
3. Are you open about your past or do you not let anyone in?
My past is on this blog. My past is this blog. So if anyone cares enough to discover my past, it’s out there for ya.
4. Favourite fast food joint?
Of the chain restaurants, it’s McDonald’s. No shame. Their fries are the best. Of “local” restaurants, Cougar Country. Or Mongolian BBQ, if that counts as fast food.
5. Do you think we were put on this earth for a reason?
Nope. Unless you count fulfilling our part in a deterministic universe. But I don’t.
6. What is something you have done this year you’re proud of?
Gotten back into running.
7. Do u ever feel like surveys are usually the same questions?
Haha, yeah.
8. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago today was November 24, 2010. I was in my second year of grad school at UBC and hating it. I was also a few months into my new walking habit, though, so that was good.
9. Do you call out Karens when they’re harassing a cashier?
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been witness to someone being abusive to a cashier. But if I saw it, it’d like to think I’d say something, especially in today’s “put a mask on, you selfish asshole” world.
10. Animal crossing, yay or nay?
Never played it.
11. Why do you like to do surveys?
They’re fun.
12. Did you ever have a MySpace ?
Hahaha. That’s how this blog got started, yes.
13. Do you think breaks are toxic in a relationship?
Depends on the people. Depends on the relationship.
14. Do you have a YouTube channel? If no, would you create one? If yes what’s your content?
I have two YouTube channels. One is for teaching-related stuff, like supplementary lecture content or (more recently) recorded lectures. The other is my “personal” YouTube channel. It’s mostly stupid short videos that only I would care about, but I do have a Vine compilation vid on there that’s gotten like 15,000 views.
15. Are you a math person?
Not naturally, no. But that’s why I teach it – because I understand what it’s like to not be a math person, I understand the anxiety that causes, and I like to think I teach in a way that makes math understandable for people who get math anxiety.
16. What’s the worst thing someone has said to you?
Let’s not go there today.
17. Have you ever befriended someone because you felt bad?
In fourth (?) grade, a new kid came to our elementary school. Our class had like 23 people so we were all pretty set in our friendships, and this new kid was a little awkward. I remember one day he dropped a whole bunch of books and papers and no one went to help him, so I did. We didn’t really become friends (and eventually he got assimilated and people started hanging with him), but that kind of counts, right?
18. Would you ever date someone online?
I kind of dated Nate through OK Cupid before we met in person, so…yes?
19. Have you been ghosted before? Would you ghost someone?
Yes. No.
20. When do you think things will be normal again?
I think there will be a “relative” normal in the next few years, but if we ever do go back to pre-pandemic normal, I don’t think that will happen for quite some time.
21. Do you watch anime?
Nope.
22. Biggest goal you wanna reach before 2020 is over?
Not get COVID?
23. How old did/do you turn this year?
32.
24. Do you like tiktok?
Eh. It’s no Vine.
25. Do you ever miss vine?
I do! Vines were great.
26. How are you doing, seriously?
Absolutely terribly, thanks for asking.
27. Is there someone you want to talk to but you know you can’t?
Nah.
28. Do you make jokes to cope with your problems?
My life is a joke.
29. Have you ever had someone call you their best friend but you didn’t even consider them a close friend?
I don’t think so.
30. Have you ever dealt with a pathological liar?
Yup.
31. Long or short surveys?
Medium!
32. If ur in school, are you doing it on zoom or in class?
I’m teaching, does that count? All the math/stats department classes are being done remotely this semester.
33. Would you ever have a pet rat?
Meh. Give me cats or give me death.
34. Favourite memory with your best friend?
Playing Rock Band for hours when we lived together. So much fun.
35. Favourite type of content to watch on YouTube?
Depends on what I’m doing. If I’m drawing, I like to watch longer videos, like documentaries or Achievement Hunter stuff. If I’m grading or writing up notes, I like to watch makeup reviews. I also like to just browse through and watch random music videos.
36. Are you allergic to anything serious?
Nope.
37. Dream job?
The one I’ve got now (with the addition of tenure).
38. Do you think dreams mean anything?
On a certain level, yes.
39. Fav clothing brand?
Whatever the hell fits. Most of my clothes come from Walmart, though, so whatever the Walmart brand is up here. George and g21.
40. Do you miss anyone?
I miss my mom. I hate that it will be at least half a year (probably longer) before I’ll be able to see her again.
LOL A STATES-BASED SURVEY
I AM FEELING VERY SAD BUT ALSO VERY HYPER AND MUST INJECT SURVEYS INTO MY BLOODSTREAM TO LIVE BYE BYE FOLKS
Alabama: Do you like the movie Forrest Gump?
I do. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, though.
Alaska: Would you rather deal with 30 days of day or 30 days of night?
30 days of day. Get that darkness nonsense out of here, I’ll sleep when I’m DEAD
(I could actually sleep in any degree of sunlight, though, so that wouldn’t be an issue.)
Arizona: Can you handle heat well?
Not particularly, but I think I do better with it than with cold. At least it rarely gets super hot up here in Calgary.
Arkansas: What are your opinions on Bill Clinton?
Personal/relationship issues, but a good president overall.
California: Who is your favorite actor? Favorite actress?
My current favorite actor is Adam Arkin, because I’m still coming down off the high that was the short-lived run of Chicago Hope on YesTV up here and I absolutely love him in that. I don’t have a favorite actress.
Colorado: Do you smoke weed? What are your opinions on its legalization?
I don’t, and I think medical marijuana should be legalized. Don’t really care about recreational weed.
Also, FUN FACT: when I was a kid, my friends and I thought “smoking weed” meant literally smoking weeds, like the kind you’d find in your yard. So sometimes on the playground we’d go pick some weeds and roll them up and pretend to smoke them to be cool. D.A.R.E. clearly did nothing for us.
Connecticut: Have you ever had a school shooting at your school?
Nope. We were on lockdown once in junior high, but that was right after 9/11 and I think it was just to be super cautious about some sketchy dude wandering around the school parking lot. At U of C they found a bunch of guns stashed behind a ceiling tile, but no shootings or anything ever happened.
Delaware: Are you usually the first to do something, or are you more of a follower?
A bit of both.
Florida: Have you ever been to Disney World?
Nope. Disneyland was a frequent stop of mine when I went to visit my grandma and grandpa in California, though.
Georgia: Would you consider yourself a southern belle?
Hahahahahaha…no.
Hawaii: What would be paradise for you?
Being able to walk (and run) as much as I wanted to every day. Being able to continue to teach stats/math. Cats everywhere.
Idaho: What is your favorite way to eat a potato?
(Of course it’s a potato question)
Either French fries or mashed potatoes.
Illinois: Did you vote for President Obama (or would you have)?
I did. Twice!
Indiana: Do you like corn?
Eh. Corn on the cob is good. Cornbread is good. That’s about it.
Iowa: Are roses your favorite flower?
I don’t have a favorite flower.
(WHY DIDN’T THIS STATE GET THE CORN QUESTION)
Kansas: Do you like the Tin Man, Scarecrow or Cowardly Lion better?
I always liked the Tin Man. I’m like that kid in “A Christmas Story.”
Kentucky: Have you ever been to a horse race?
Nope. No desire to, either.
Louisiana: Have you ever celebrated Mardi Gras?
Not in any serious way, no.
Maine: Do you like lobster?
Crab is infinitely better. Lobster is chewy and weird-tasting.
Maryland: Have you ever been to Washington DC?
Yup! I went when I was in…9th grade? 10th grade? I don’t remember it very well, though, because I got some serious heat stroke while there.
Massachusetts: Are you smart enough to go to Harvard?
No idea. Never applied. Probably not.
Michigan: Have you ever swam in a lake?
Yup. Lake Coeur d’Alene. So…probably shouldn’t have done that. Heavy Metal City.
Minnesota: Have you seen Drop Dead Gorgeous?
Nope.
Mississippi: Do you follow college football?
Only the Vandals, and only loosely.
Missouri: Have you ever convinced someone to show you their private parts?
Probably. I WAS in marching band.
Montana: What is the greatest treasure you have ever found?
I found a $50 bill by a bus stop once?
Nebraska: Do you eat beef?
(Is Nebraska known for its beef?)
(Did the survey maker get to Nebraska and go “oh shit, we already used the corn question, what the hell else is in Nebraska? Cows? Probably cows.)
ANYWAY.
I don’t eat much meat in general, but beef is good.
Nevada: Are you good at card games?
Not particularly.
New Hampshire: What are your views on gay marriage?
Who freaking CARES, let a person get married to the person they love!
New Jersey: Do you watch The Jersey Shore?
No.
New Mexico: Would you consider yourself a hippie?
Not really.
New York: Have you ever been to New York City? Would you like to?
I’ve never been there. I’d like to go, but I’d also be absolutely terrified there, I think.
North Carolina: Are the Panthers your favorite football team?
Of the…three NFL teams I can name without Googling “NFL teams” or asking Nate or asking my mom, the Panthers are not one of them. So…no.
North Dakota: Have you seen Fargo?
Nope.
Ohio: Did you watch The Drew Carey Show?
I watched it occasionally with my dad when it was on. Cleveland rocks!
Oklahoma: What is your favorite musical?
The Music Man. That counts, right?
Oregon: Did you ever play the Oregon Trail game?
Hahaha, yes indeed. My sole mission every time I played was to acquire as much bacon as possible.
Pennsylvania: Do you watch It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia?
Yup!
Rhode Island: Who is the smallest person you know?
My friend Jade from high school. Or Nicole from elementary school.
South Carolina: Do you think Aziz Ansari is funny?
I only vaguely know who that is.
South Dakota: Who is more interesting: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln?
Teddy was pretty badass, but Jefferson seemed to be a very interesting person from the little I know about him.
Tennessee: Who is your favorite country singer?
I don’t listen to enough country music to have a favorite country singer.
Texas: Do you like barbecue or Tex-Mex better?
Neither.
Utah: Do you know anyone who is Mormon?
Yup! I know a few people who are Mormon, actually.
Vermont: Do you get the full autumnal colors in the fall where you live?
Yup.
[WHERE IS VIRGINIA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DID WEST VIRGINIA EAT IT?!?!?!?!?]
Washington: Do you like grunge?
No.
West Virginia: Do you like the mountains?
West Virginia is not a valid state.
Wisconsin: What’s your favorite kind of cheese?
Colby-Jack. No contest.
Wyoming: Do you love westerns?
Not particularly.
Walkie Talkie
Hey NERDS, so up until this point, I’ve walked 4,585.06 miles. At this same time in 2017 (my record walking year), I’d walked 4,573.77 miles. So that means (unless I royally screw up) I’m on pace to beat 2017’s distance of 5,100 miles.
YESSSSSSSSSSS.
(I live for this crap, sorry.)
Um…
Calgary, u ok?
This is why I can never find my way anywhere. This is why I walk the same five routes all the time. Because the universe is ready to destroy me with this nonsense if I ever stray off the righteous path.
(The “righteous path” being the Bow River Pathway).
Edit: Nate, I know you were waiting for a hilarious blog on this sign. Instead you get mediocrity. It’s just like everything else I do, isn’t it???
??????
??
?
(?)
LEG
WHAT UP DUDES
Want some funky socks/hosiery/rave clothes? Check out Leg Avenue!
I’ve gotten socks from them before, but never directly from their site (usually through Sock Dreams). But they’ve got a lot of other stuff too.
Favorites:
Book Review: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
Have I read this before: Yes! We read it in 8th grade. We actually read it as a play – we volunteered to read certain characters (I was Caesar because of course I was) and we read the whole thing aloud. I loved when we did that with plays. It made them so much more enjoyable. We did it with The Crucible in 9th grade (I was Parris) as well as some other plays that I can’t remember.
ANYWAY.
Review: Shakespeare is lost on junior high-schoolers, yo. Except for those junior high-schoolers that are really into Shakespeare. I don’t think I appreciated everything that was going on in the play back when I was 14 because of the language, but I definitely got a lot more out of it re-reading it now. I certainly didn’t pick up the extremes of Brutus’ moral dilemma in high school, but that was probably because my character was dead within the Third Act and so I just sat there not getting to read any lines, haha. Junior High Claudia, you were an idiot.
Favorite part: Probably the moral dilemma of Brutus! Because I missed that when I was younger.
Rating: 5/10
Let’s Play “What’s In My Drawer?”
So my “work at home desk” is the dining room table, meaning that I’m on the completely opposite side of our main room. I’m also right next to one of my little drawer towers. The drawers are semi-transparent, meaning I can see all the stuff in them. They’ve been driving me crazy for the past few months because all the stuff in them have been very disorganized, so tonight I decided to take everything out and re-organize it all.
Thus, you get pictures of some of my random crap, ‘cause I’m too antsy and panicky and sad to blog about anything else today.
A space pen! I’ve had this for a long, long time. Like, at least two decades, I think. And it still writes!
My “I voted” sticker from the 2012 election. I wish I’d gotten a sticker for the 2020 election, but I did an electronic download of my ballot due to all the post office nonsense, so I didn’t get a sticker mailed to me.
A bunch of Euros! These are from…I don’t know. I think some of them probably came from my dad, since he sometimes brings me currency from all the coolio places he goes. Maybe they were from when we went to Sweden/Finland/England back in 2003 (?), but I remember using Kroner and pounds instead of Euros…I think…I can’t remember.
The manual thingy that came with my bundle of Half-Life CDs from way back when. Remember PC games that came on CDs instead of Steam?
A card from the tattoo/piercing shop where Aaron and I got our piercings back in 2008. That was a fun little road trip.
I was super into The Guggenheim Grotto back in 2007. I bought a physical copy of this CD because the texture of the CD case was awesome. Look at how pretty that is!
My graduation tassels from my psych degree and my philosophy degree. I didn’t get one for my math degree (2012) because I didn’t go to graduation and didn’t go pick up my graduation crap. I was having a bad end of the semester and was inundated with papers to grade from STAT 251, so yeah. Would’ve been nice to have one, though.
BYE
Romans, yo
So I’m super interested in the Julio-Claudian dynasty now.
Thanks, Robert Graves.
I want to read more about it but I also want to keep going with my fiction list and I’ve never been one to be reading more than one book at a time (I don’t know why, I just don’t do that), so I don’t know what to do.
Also, I, Claudius has a sequel (Claudius the God) but it’s not on my “200 Books” list, so ldskghdlfjferfafslffl when am I going to read it?
Life is hard.
Edit: apparently there’s a BBC television adaptation of the two books?? I neeeeeed!
It’s tiiiiiiiiiiime
Time for the annual NaNoWriMo excerpt!
Yeah, I know. I’m not excited, either.
Like I said, I hate this freaking story but it won’t get out of my head, so I’m writing it. Again. Sorta.
So to spare everyone too much pain from scrolling past a long rambling excerpt, I’ll just give you a short one. And a short one that only needs a (relatively) short preamble so that you know what the hell’s going on.
(As if you care.)
So this story takes place in a world where (some) people have the ability to see ghosts, and a portion of those people work for the Bureau of Death, Dying, and Deceased, which regulates ghosts and ghost-human interaction as much as possible.
The main character, Nick, works at the Bureau as a ghost realtor. His job is to relocate ghosts that are haunting houses in living-zoned areas to literal “ghost towns,” which are towns that have been converted for ghosts only. Basically, he gives a ghost a deed to an empty house in the ghost town so they can “haunt” it legally and without bothering the living.
People at the Bureau are ranked by “Witness Level,” which is essentially how many different types of ghosts they can see. Witness Level is roughly correlated with age; the older you are, the more ghosts you can see, generally. The main conflict of the story revolves around Nick’s Witness Level increasing dramatically when he is relatively young and how he reacts to it. But that’s not super relevant here. The relevant stuff here is that as Witness Level increases, ghost realtors start having to deal with bigger, more volatile ghosts, so they typically work with a partner. This is the scene that introduces Nick’s partner, Ben. While Nick is quite sympathetic to ghosts, Ben is…not.
Oh, and the “destabilizer” is basically like a ghost Taser. Realtors carry them but are only supposed to use them if they feel their lives are in danger.
Yeah. Stupid, right? Anyway, here’s the excerpt:
Ben thundered into Nick’s office later that afternoon. He led by his voice, which had such a carrying boom to it that it hurled itself into the office well before Ben himself made his appearance in the doorway.
“Nick!” came the voice, followed by the heavy thud of Ben’s boots, then by the large, wide man wedging himself through the doorway. “I’ve got somethin’ fer ya.”
Benjamin Price was the size of a refrigerator and marginally more intelligent than one. He was never without a cowboy hat and at least one article of clothing made from alligator. Sometimes it was the hat itself, but more often than not it was his boots, belt, or vest. You could smell Texas in his accent and tobacco on his breath. He was the color of Wonder Bread except after exerting himself, in which case the white would give way to such an alarming shade of bright red that one almost ventured to ask him if he’d forgotten to take a breath in the past three minutes.
He was this particular shade of red as he burst through Nick’s office door, puffing but pretending not to, with a small box clutched in one of his meaty fists. When Ben said, “I’ve got somethin’ fer ya” to someone, he usually either meant he had a stern word or a lousy piece of advice, which is why Nick was surprised when the enormous man plunked the box down upon Nick’s desk and panted, “A present.”
Despite working with Ben for the past five years, Nick still got a kick of just how out of breath his co-worker got just from hauling his massive self around the office. He waited with a patient smile until Ben’s breathing finally calmed, then glanced down at the box. “A present for what?”
Ben parked his behind on the corner of Nick’s desk. It creaked unsettlingly beneath his weight. “I heard you moved up a Witness Level. Figured you’d need somethin’ to help you with the tougher ghosts that you’ll be dealin’ with now.”
Nick had to laugh. “Tougher ghosts? I’m a Level 4 now, Ben. Blue Types. Caspers. The worst thing they could do to me is accidentally bump into me in a hallway.”
“Never hurts to be prepared.” He tilted his head toward the box. “Open ‘er.”
Nick knew what it was before he even laid a hand on the present, but he humored Ben and pretended not to have a clue until the box was opened and the protective plastic cover was removed from the gadget within.
“A destabilizer?” He held it between the very tips of his forefinger and thumb as it if was trying to bite him. “Really?”
“Fer the ghosts.” Obviously.
“Thanks, but I already have one.”
“Not like this one, ya don’t.” In his enthusiasm, Ben leaned forward, causing the desk to give another pained creak. “You’ve just got the company issue, and that model’s three years old now. This new one is better. It’s safer ‘cause it’s got a two-factor shooting system. It won’t go off in yer pocket by accident. And it’s more powerful. Higher voltage. Makes fer scramblin’ up those ghosts a lot longer so ya got more time to get reinforcements.”
As always, Ben made it sound like an encounter with a ghost was a fight for one’s life where only an army could defend you if you entered at a disadvantage. If only his enthusiasm for relocating ghosts was as high as it was for destabilizing them. He’d be a better realtor than Nick.
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but Ben stopped him with a roll of his eyes. “I know what yer gonna say. ‘I’ve never used one. I don’t like destabilizing ghosts. Blah, blah, blah, ghosts can feel the voltage.’ I know what yer gonna say. But on one of yer jobs one day, yer gonna be blindsided by some big-ass ghost who won’t respond to yer touchy-feely way of relocating it and yer gonna wish you had one of these more modern destabilizers to deal with it.”
Nick gave him a forced smile. “Well, when that day comes, as I writhe in agony on the floor with twenty broken bones, my only thought will be, ‘that Ben was sure right.’” He was still holding the destabilizer; he moved to put it back in its box.
“Hey, wait,” Ben stopped him. “At least humor me by switching it out with yer old one. Ya still got yer old one, right?”
Nick sighed as he opened his lower right desk drawer. “Only because I’m required to.” As much as he hated to admit it, the new destabilizer did look like quite the impressive piece of equipment compared to the older model that he produced from the drawer. Even in its yellow holster, Nick could see that the company-issued weapon was made of an inferior metal as compared to the new one and, as he made the switch, realized just how much heavier it was compared to the sleek, streamlined version that Ben had presented him with.
“There ya are,” Ben said with satisfaction as Nick worked the new destabilizer in his old holster. “Yer a regular sharp-shooter now.”
“I’m still not going to use it.”
“You will,” Ben said with a frightening level of confidence. “Some day you will. Just remember to aim at their heads. I read an article that says a destabilizer fired at the head will discombobulate them for a full twenty minutes longer than a shot anywhere else on them.”
“Christ, Ben.”
“‘Christ, Ben,’” he mocked. He then reached over and gave Nick a playful punch in the shoulder that nearly sent him reeling to the floor before he hoisted himself from the desk and headed out the door. “Yer welcome for the gun,” his voice boomed from the hallway.
Nick spent a moment massaging his shoulder where Ben’s fist had crashed into it, then picked up the destabilizer. He held it in his hand for a moment, then opened his bottom right desk drawer and tucked the weapon deep beneath a pile of folders. Upon closing the drawer, he promptly forgot about it.
Book Review: I, Claudius (Graves)
Have I read this before: Nope! First time.
Review: Man, I was not expecting to like this book, but I got into it, yo. My knowledge of Roman emperors is (was?) close to 0%, especially with respect to timelines, families and relationships, and who did what. So I started this book thinking “haha, I’m not going to be able to place any of this in any sort of historical context, I’m not really interested in the time period, and I’m probably not going to get much enjoyment out of this.” But the way it’s written is so engaging and does such a good job of creating a clear timeline and a clear setup of the relationships amongst a lot of important historical characters that I’m now finding myself wanting to read more about that period of Roman history. The book is written as a fictional autobiography of Claudius and basically covers the period between Julius Caesar’s assassination and Caligula’s assassination, at which point Claudius becomes emperor. It’s a mixture of his telling of the history of many of his family members and relations and his personal experiences from childhood onward. He’s written as a very intelligent and sympathetic character. Great book. Read it.
Favorite part: There were a few lines/sections that were pretty great.
[Claudius had a stutter among other things, and people assumed he was stupid (he wasn’t; he was quiet but very observant and intelligent). This is Claudius’ grandmother, Livia, explaining to Augustus why Claudius speaking clearly through a declamation didn’t mean he wasn’t an idiot]
“The surprise that you had behind that curtain was no greater and no less than the surprise we once had when the Indian Ambassador took the silk cloth off the gold cage…and we saw the bird Parrot for the first time with his emerald feathers and ruby necklet and heard him say, “Hail Caesar, Father of the Country!” It was not the remarkableness of the phrase…but that a *bird* spoke it astonished us. And nobody but a fool would praise Parrot for his wit in coming out with the appropriate words, for he did not know the meaning of any one of them. The credit goes to the man who trained the bird, by incredible patients, to repeat the phrase…So with Claudius, though it is hardly complimentary to Parrot, an undeniably handsome bird, to compare my grandson to him: what you heard was without the least doubt a speech that he (Claudius) had happened to learn by heart.
[Caligula, now emperor, has told Claudius that he (Caligula) and his sister are gods.]
I grovelled on the floor again and retired, backwards. Ganymede stopped me in the corridor and asked for the news. I said: “He’s just become a God and a very important one, he says. His face shines.”
“That’s bad news for us mortals,” said Ganymede. “But I saw it coming. Thanks for the tip. I’ll pass it on to the other fellows. Does Drusilla know? No? Then I’ll tell her.”
“Tell her she’s a goddess, too,” I said, “in case she hasn’t noticed it.”
[Talking about more Caligula doing Caligula stuff.]
Another chance remark that I made at supper about this time had an unexpected effect on Caligula. Someone mentioned epilepsy and I said that Carthaginian records showed Hannibal to have been an epileptic, and that Alexander and Julius Caesar were both subject to this mysterious disease, which seemed to be an almost inevitable accompaniment of superlative military genius. Caligula pricked up his ears at this, and a few days later he gave a very good imitation of an epileptic fit, falling on the floor in the Senate House and screaming at the top of his voice, his lips white with foam – soap-suds, probably.
[Even more Caligula madness.]
Soon after this he had a thunder-and-lightening machine made. He lit a fuse and it made a roar and a flash and catapulted stones in whatever direction he wanted. But I have it on good authority that whenever there was a real thunderstorm at night he used to creep under the bed. There is a good story about that. One day a storm burst when he was parading about dressed as Venus. He began to cry: “Father, Father, spare your pretty daughter!”
Rating: 8/10
The United States is in a Freefall
That is an absolutely terrifying curve. Remember when we thought that “second wave” curve in July was bad? This is so much steeper.
What a time for the dilapidated pumpkin we call “President” (at least for now) to go silent, eh?
It’s like the perfect storm has led the US to where it is now. A huge political divide in the country that crested in the form of that ridiculous election, a pandemic that seems to be deepening that divide, a frightening number of people who don’t believe in science, a frightening number of people who won’t accept the mildest inconvenience in order to possibly save many, many lives, and leadership that’s done nothing to try to ease the strain of the pandemic and that as gone radio silent as the pandemic is crashing through the country.
Like…this is horrifying to watch from outside the US. How are y’all doing down there in the US? Please stay safe. Please wear a mask. Please stay the hell away from other people.
I miss you guys and I hope you’re all okay.
I already miss baseball so freaking much
YAY, Freddie Freeman won the NL MVP award. Super well-deserved. Freeman is definitely in my top five favorite players.
Here’s a video compliation of him being awesome.
Wowza
I found the most distressingly haunting song and it works so well with one of the end scenes in my NaNo. Check it out:
Nightmares, anyone?
(Sorry, that’s all I’ve got for today)
2020, you are not my friend.
Have a survey.
1. Something someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
Back in 2010, I reconnected (online) with a friend I’d known in junior high after not seeing him or speaking to him since then. I remember him saying over instant messenger, “you never seemed very happy.” I thought I’d been pretty good at hiding that in junior high, but I guess not.
2. What are your 3 top pet peeves?
1) people who do not use sidewalks/pathways courteously; 2) people who lie for the sole purpose of getting attention/praise (I knew someone in college who did this relentlessly and nobody seemed to ever call her on it; it was infuriating; 3) company logos that change for the sole reason to look more “modern.” I don’t know if that counts as a pet peeve, but it sure upsets me to an irrational degree.
3. List five places you want to visit
Antarctica, Leibniz’ museum in Hanover, Moscow (I’m super homesick right now), Washington, D. C., Vancouver.
4. Share something you struggle with.
Anger. I am a very angry person and I’m not very good at handling it in a constructive manner. I do my best not to take it out on other people, but I definitely take it out on myself in less-than-constructive ways.
6. Something you always think “what if….?” about
I always think about how historical figures would react to today’s world. Not just Leibniz (but definitely him), but others. What would George Washington think of what the US is today, for example? What would da Vinci think of the technology we have today, especially with regards to flight? That kind of thing.
7. Five blessings in your life.
My mom, my husband, my kitty, the fact that I am physically healthy, the fact that I am employed in a (hopefully!) stable job.
8. Something that you miss.
I miss pre-pandemic normality. It’s hard to appreciate something like that until it gets taken away from you, but the pandemic definitely has taken it away from us all.
9. Post about your zodiac sign and whether or not it fits you.
From astrology-zodiac-signs.com: Aquarius-born are shy and quiet, but on the other hand they can be eccentric and energetic. However, in both cases, they are deep thinkers and highly intellectual people who love helping others. They are able to see without prejudice, on both sides, which makes them people who can easily solve problems.
Although they can easily adapt to the energy that surrounds them, Aquarius-born have a deep need to be some time alone and away from everything, in order to restore power. People born under the Aquarius sign, look at the world as a place full of possibilities.
Aquarius is an air sign, and as such, uses his mind at every opportunity. If there is no mental stimulation, they are bored and lack a motivation to achieve the best result.
I’d say I’m pretty shy, yes, and I definitely need my alone time. I like to believe I’m a “deep thinker,” but who actually knows. I do get bored and demotivated if I don’t have at least one project or goal to work towards.
11. Write about an area of your life that you’d like to improve.
All of it. I’m terrible at everything and everything needs improvement.
12. What made you laugh out loud today.
This thing, oh my god.
13. What are your goals for the next 30 days.
To not get COVID, to win NaNoWriMo, to survive the end of the semester (though I guess that’s beyond the next 30 days).
14. Your highs and lows for the month.
Highs: none
Lows: everything
I hate this pandemic and it’s really starting to mess with me.
15. Favorite movies that you never get tired of watching.
I could probably watch Mystery Men every day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. I love Mystery Men. Same with Apollo 13 (two very different movies, haha).
16. Books you have read more than once.
I tend to read books only once unless I really like them. I’ve read The Caine Mutiny many times, as well as The Great Gatsby. Candide. Lolita.
17. Something about which you feel strongly.
I think the car-centric nature of most cities is very detrimental to people. It really bothers me how it’s basically expected that everyone has a vehicle or has access to a vehicle and a lot of places (in big cities especially) are only accessible via car. It’s not even “this place is 20 miles away from where you live, so it’s a long walk.” It’s “the only way you can get here is via a very busy road with no sidewalks.” That’s something that I think needs to change. I don’t know how, but it does.
18. Five things that make you really happy.
Leibniz, teaching math/stats, walking, good music, being unhealthily stuck in the past
19. What are you excited about?
Ugh, not much anymore. Not anything, currently. Like I said, the pandemic is really messing with me. I’m not even excited about my job right now because teaching online is balls.
20. Three celebrity crushes
Leibniz, Leibniz, Leibniz.
Book Review: Hiroshima (Hersey)
Have I read this before: Yes! I can’t remember when, though.
Review: So I don’t think I knew this the first time I read this book (it was a while ago…probably in high school), but the six characters that are followed in the book are real people. I think I had been under the impression that these were six fictional individuals that were introduced to describe the varying experiences and effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on six people who had no real reason to have survived it given where they were in the city. But the fact that they were real people who went through all that they went through makes this book even more impactful. The impact is further developed by the fact that Hersey doesn’t just describe the immediate effects of the bomb on these people but follows them throughout the rest of their lives and discusses all the ways the trauma and the radiation sickness effected them until they died.
Favorite part: I liked the way that the focus skipped from character to character throughout the book but also showed that several of them were actually connected in various ways and interacted in the book.
Rating: 5/10
Book Review: Go Tell It on the Mountain (Baldwin)
Have I read this before: Nope.
Review: I had trouble getting invested in this book and I’m not exactly sure why. It wasn’t like the writing style is bad or anything like that, but I just had a hard time getting into the story. The first main event/conflict in the book almost seemed disconnected with the rest of the story by the way it was introduced, and I think I just kept expecting the book to go back to that. I was so busy waiting for that that I didn’t even let myself get into the main event of the book. I don’t know. Maybe my brain just reacted to “here’s a book about church and god and Christianity” by kind of checking out.
Favorite part: Baldwin does do a good job of presenting this issue of a minister who is extremely dedicated to god but also very abusive towards his family.
Rating: 4/10
And it goes on
I’d say this election is absolute madness, but it actually is fitting in quite well with the theme of 2020.
Which, I guess, is the theme “absolute madness.”
But anyway. Every time I see an update on the election from a Canadian news source, you can tell the reporter is trying to hide their exasperation and disbelief over the whole situation. I’m sure it’s the same sort of thing in the States.
And while it’s frustrating that the outcome is taking so long, it’s understandable (with COVID) and I’m glad that the remaining states seem to be trying their best to be as accurate and sure as possible so that Trump will have less ammunition to use against them if he loses.
(Not like that will stop him from going after people, though.)
Ugh.
Edit: I love this. The joy.
There’s freaking celebrations in the streets. I don’t remember such widespread joy at the changing of Presidents in the past. Like…did people rejoice in the streets when Bush (the second one) was finally out of office? I don’t think they did.
Edit 2: Hahahaha.
COVID PARTY 2020
Six-digit daily case counts in the States? Yeah, sure, why the hell not.
That is absolutely terrifying, America. I feel like it’s right on the verge of being past anyone’s control and the only way it’s going to slow down is by just chewing through the whole US population.
But Canada isn’t doing all that much better. Here’s our second peak going strong:
Alberta, specifically, has really dropped the ball. We were in new daily case numbers between 100 and 200 for the longest time, then things jumped up to the 500s a few weeks ago. Yesterday? 800 cases. Today? 1,441 cases. People keep gathering and are apparently not staying home when they’re exhibiting COVID symptoms.
Why is everyone so freaking stupid and selfish, I don’t understand.
Like, I get the whole “pandemic fatigue” thing, but holy hell. If people just calmed their tits for like TWO MONTHS and isolated as much as they could, we could probably cut this thing down significantly.
Why is that such a hard concept?
UGH I AM SO FRUSTRATED WITH THIS WHOLE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Daybirth
It’s Nate’s birthday!
Happy birthday, Nate!
Apart from it being his birthday, today absolutely sucked for me, so I don’t have much more to say.
Sorry.
Huh.
I want to know if this countdown was manually modified as COVID developed or if it had been left alone and happened to coincide with all of this nonsense. Because if it was left alone…wow. Good predicting.
I don’t know if humanity will be ravaged by COVID, but it’s definitely messing us up.
But I guess we’ll have to wait another month or so to see if we get ravaged.
HERE WE FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO
Election 2020. Let’s do this shit.
- I love how as soon as I turned on the TV and saw that little electoral college tally thing that CTV news has on the bottom of the screen, I had immediate PTSD flashbacks to watching the 2016 election and that feeling of increasing dread as the red side of the tally thing encroached upon 270.
- Edit: I knew this would be a super close election. No one else I talked to seemed to believe that (hell, all the political experts said it wouldn’t be close), but I had a feeling.
- Edit 2: CTV just did a little two-minute recap on the progression of COVID in the States and it made me want to cry.
- Edit 3: One of the CTV commentators just said “what in the actual hell?” when referring to how close the election is so far. Same, bro.
- Edit 4: Florida, I SWEAR TO GOD…EVERY ELECTION, man.
- Edit 5: I love how all of the Canadian news anchors and commentators really tried to start out the night being as impartial as possible, but every single one of them is now displaying obvious dread and disappointment with every state that gets declared for Trump.
- Edit 6: how can such a large proportion of the US population have enough faith in that orange dumpster fire to vote for him?
- Edit 7: Yaaaaay, we won’t know who won this freaking election for at least a few days. That’s great for world anxiety levels. Who needs COVID for that, right?
UGH.
Screw It, It’s 2020.
I ended up choosing to re-do my “Ghost Town Realty” story for NaNoWriMo this year. This is due to a few reasons:
1) I hate “Ghost Town Realty” just slightly less than I hate the other idea I had for this year.
2) I want to infuse more humor into the story, and I think the only way to do that is to start from scratch. I will use nothing that I’d written out from last time I did this (2018?) as far as actual words go, but I’ll probably re-write some scenes to add some actual humor. The story was completely devoid of that last time I attempted it and I really think it drained the life out of the whole thing.
3) I can’t get this damn idea out of my head. I hate it, it’s dumb, and it’s probably been done a billion times, but for whatever reason, the idea keeps sticking with me.
So yeah, that’s the plan.
At least until November 7 when I inevitably change my idea and have to spend the rest of November frantically trying to catch up on word count.
It’s tradition, after all.
Tweetball 2020
So like everything else this year, baseball got all screwed up by COVID. But there were still some Twitter highlights, at least. Here’s a list!
Originally tweeted by Cara Jeffrey (@cara_jeffrey) on May 1, 2020.
My Plans: 2020:
Originally tweeted by MetsKevin11 (@MetsKevin11) on May 19, 2020.
Mets fans only fans who get nervous with a 5 run lead in the 9th
Originally tweeted by Marc Luino (@GiraffeNeckMarc) on August 19, 2020.
The Mets just hit a walk-off at Yankee Stadium.
What a strange year.
Originally tweeted by Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) on August 29, 2020.
It turns out all these “Schitt’s Creek” headlines are about the Emmys, not the Mets’ postseason chances.
Originally tweeted by Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) on September 21, 2020.
Last night: He’s day-to-day with a stomach bug
This afternoon: He’s receiving some fluids at Hospital for Special Surgeries
Tomorrow: 15-day IL
Sunday: Jed Lowrie
Originally tweeted by Blueshirts Breakaway (@BlueshirtsBreak) on October 2, 2020.
Win probability off the charts!
Originally tweeted by Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) on October 25, 2020.
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