“I’ve survived a lot of things, and I’ll probably survive this.”
—

J.D. Salinger

in a Buzzfeed article. Buzzfeed is crazy. Anyway, I call it “There’s a big crack in the world, people’. Well I like it.

And Music, you’re going to love this:

Had a couple of good, getting-things-done days, then a couple of ow, ow, ow pain days. Better this afternoon. Actually cooked dinner. Pork chop with cider sauce. Oh, so easy. Baked sweet potato, applesauce. Yum. No green veg. Oh, well. Didn’t go with the color scheme.

Came across an article about Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (disorder, human variation, whatever), which I didn’t know was a thing but is what I have. There are articles about how to correct it, all of which things I have done and none of which worked, so I am going to give one of the things one more try, and if it doesn’t work yet again, I am just going to relax and accept that I sleep from 4am to 10am or so. Get over it, world. I already have most people trained to the fact that I am NOT a morning person, so don’t try to make an appointment for me then, or call me, either. It’s myself I need to work on. I always feel guilty for getting up so late, and it’s worse now that it gets dark so early. I could live in Finland, next door to my friend, and get about as much daylight as I’m getting here now.

Some people think this is a disorder, and some think it’s just a variation of regular human circadian rhythms. Someone suggested we start our own town, with business hours starting at ten am. Sounds good to me, and we would have to also outlaw Daylight Saving Time, which I hate, hate, hate.

People are so different individually, and yet we are all of us expected to conform to some ‘norm’ in whatever behaviour is in question. If we learn differently that the ‘norm’ we have ADD and must be drugged for it. If we love people of our own gender, we are ‘deviant’ and must be punished and ostracized and even killed for it. If we learn better by doing it rather than reading about it, that causes its own problems. We are forced to ‘fit in’ by some nameless majority who get to set the rules for all of us, not just themselves and those like them. Screw that! Take your rules and your written-in-stones and… okay, I won’t say what they can do with them. I am a family friendly blogger (I think).

My youngest daughter, who is quite brilliant /we all are, actually. ;)/ had a terrible time with school. She used to say that they wanted her to just sit still for long periods of time, and she needed to move. They wanted her to do hours of dull and very mind-numbingly boring homework, when she knew the subjects and didn’t need the rote learning and whatever else was forced on her. I wished I was rich enough to send her to Montessori, but that was waaay beyond our budget. I wish I was a smarter parent and understood what the issues were and had the wherewithal to do something about them, instead of just going with the current mindset promoted by the schools. She suffered a lot because of me as well as because of the schools.

I would bet that most ‘troublemakers’ in school have similar issues. Either sitting for long periods is impossible, or they are very smart and get bored to death. When I was in school in Colorado, lo these many years ago before the dinosaurs, I was given extra work when I was done before everyone else. I could read faster than anyone in class, so was given extra books to read. Once we moved to Massachusetts, it seemed my kids only got the ‘you have to do things this way or else’ type of education. If you don’t learn that way, if you don’t work that way, you don’t fit in and are punished for it. I really hope we wake up some day to the wealth of resources and brilliance that are there in people who do not just ‘fit in’.

We were supposed to have high winds tonight, as well as the rain we’ve been getting, but so far there doesn’t seem to be any wind at all. I love weather. It’s so unpredictable, in spite of all the technology. Too much predictability is just boring, which is why living in New England is so great. There are even sayings about it. If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute. I like that one, because it is so true. Even though I am not ‘from’ here originally, I definitely belong in New England. It’s a good thing.

I am waiting with great trepidation to find out what the outcome is in Ferguson. They police are armed and ready to put down a revolt by the revolutionaries who are trying to take over the country….I mean by the people who are angry and protesting the lack of any kind of punishment for murder-by-police. Who are exercising their constitutional right to protest, but are being treated as terrorists. It really does make me ashamed of my country, and disgusted by those in power locally. Give small-minded people a little power, and they lose all perspective. It’s just wrong, and I have no idea what to do about it, which just leaves me feeling helpless. Guess I’m done here, readers.

when you need it. This video is mesmerizing. The Sun

I am not very communicative lately. Dealing with constant pain is very wearing. I managed to get out briefly yesterday with a friend, though. It was a gorgeous day that took three extra-strength Excedrins and two cups of coffee to get outside to enjoy. My fingers hurt. Bah! Also, humbug!

Send me cheery stuff, people. I need some cheer. Please. My email is in the upper right. 🙂

I didn’t vote. Yes, I am a horrible human being. I just could not manage to get there. I should have planned ahead and asked for a ballot to me sent to me. I’ve done that before. But planning ahead is not my thing. Living in the moment, coping with the pain. Which the ibuprofen seems to have given up on helping with. Yay.

I was really pleased that Scott Brown was defeated in NH. He was talking to people on the sidewalk here in Mass when he ran for office here last time. I was walking down the sidewalk (better days), He turned and looked at me, but apparently I wasn’t up to scratch, because he looked at me and deliberately turned his back to me. Sorry, Mr. Snob. Never voting for you for anything. You want to represent me, at least have the courtesy to acknowledge my presence. A nod, a quick hi’, something. But no.

I was very not happy that Martha Coakley lost to Charlie Baker. We’re Massachusetts. We’re supposed to have a brain. But, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain, right?

Anybody out there have any ideas for dealing with pain that does NOT involve ibuprofen or Tylenol or Aleve? I would like to be able to function now and then.

There’s a program called Second Opinion that I’ve seen sometimes. One ep they discussed allocation of resources, and how doctors decide who to give their resources and attention to, beyond the ‘here, have a pill and go away’ stuff. Since I am not Jane Goodall , Sophia Loren, or Mrs. Gotrocks, (Important, beautiful, young, rich. Those are the criteria, it seems.) I am in the latter category. ‘Take three aspirins and never call me again.’ So nobody really tries to help with pain management. I am not worth the effort. Like I’m not worth giving a polite nod to on the street.

So that’s my whine for today. Aren’t you glad you checked in?

Found picture on google, from here:

wames.org.uk

Find article here:

Brain Abnormalities in CFS

The comment by Unwanted House Guest is interesting, too, since I have all those ‘mental aspects’. Why yes, I am ‘mental’. Thank you for noticing.

AND SO AM I

Comcast version. I wanted to post screencaps from my chat with Comcast today, but not worth the effort. Could not find an easy way to do it. Suffice it to say that OMG, could someone just fix the mess that cable is? Please?

Health version. OMG, after the renovations that exacerbated the asthma so I had to go on a stronger med, they are working in the storefront right below me, and something is making my allergies go insane. Have the windows open today and much better, but if they don’t finish up soon, I will have to get out seven more blankets or freeze, cause I’m not closing them again for awhile. I’ve spent two days and most of a night just sneezing, dripping nose, stuffed up feeling, like the worst hay fever you can imagine. Oi. My expensive new allergy pills did not help. Thanks for nothing, generic Allegra. I need to move. Seriously.

Also, I think the Prednisone has finally kicked back in. This is the first day I have not been in full-body, every little move really, really hurts, mode. So yay. I’m sure my bones are swiss cheese by now, but pain. Really, pain sucks, if you didn’t know. Constant pain sucks constantly, exhausts you, and severely limits your ability to do ANYthing.

I have been pretty miserable for a couple of weeks. Had to go back on Prednisone, and still having quite a lot of pain. Wasn’t on line at all for several days, except for checking mail and weather on my Nexus. So here I am, reading the blogs, and came across this. I love this guy anyway, but this is just really funny and why I don’t watch the news.

Been off it for a couple of weeks now. Been mostly miserable the whole time. Seriously hoping that my body will adjust soon, but going to doctor this week just in case something else is making me feel this terrible. Still, I managed to actually cook something yesterday. A lovely red pepper, garlic, and a chopped up tomato with egg scrambled in. Tasty. I’ve been making a sort of smoothie thing, too, with either fruit and cream, or tomato, pepper, cucumbers with lemon/lime juice. The first one of those I made was with produce straight from a friend’s garden and it was like drinking summer. Lovely.

It has been the most gorgeous summer and autumn I can remember. Probably less than a week of yellow (not that unhealthy, but still…) air days. I get an email, that’s how I know these things. LOL Probably less than two weeks worth of having the central air on. Both of these things are unprecedented, as far as I can remember. I know other parts of the country, and the world, have not fared as well, so I have made an effort to appreciate and be grateful for each lovely, lovely day. Besides, any day that is not hot and sticky is a fabulous day, in my book.

Came across this bit today. True. Very true. One thing you learn in meditation is to not focus on thoughts, but let them just sort of float on by. It really, truly makes a huge difference. Anyway, here it is:

and has been for several days. I like rain, but still….

I forgot to show you my teapot, the one I’ve had for a few years, and that coincidentally goes with my new dishes. So here it is:

I have a few other things that go with, as well. It’s a cheery pattern, and I need all the cheery I can get.

Discovered that my new glasses have a small problem. One lens is not right. Didn’t even realize til I was having the glaucoma tests. Had to look through something with them on and left eye was totally blurry. When I was home, I checked and could not read the closed captioning on the tv, or the vcr clock (yes, I still have a vcr, to watch old tapes from when I used to tape things). So I guess I have to go back and have them corrected. Which means figuring out how to get there, or bothering my friend to drive me again, which sort of takes the ‘friend’ out of the equation and makes it ‘chauffeur’ instead. I do not like that. I can’t return the favor, so it’s very one-sided, and that bothers me a lot. Anyway, I thought I could take a taxi, but it seems the taxi company I’ve used before is no longer in business, and I couldn’t find another one in the phone book. Too much dependence on individuals having cars is not a good thing. Mass transportation was a good idea, and I’ve read that way back when you could mail something from Vermont in the morning and get a reply from Boston in the afternoon. That could never happen now, so thank goodness for email, but that’s a whole different issue. I haven’t ridden the bus in a long time, and mobility issues make it difficult anyway. Sometimes you have to walk quite a way from the bus stop to your destination, and I am not really great at walking any distance. Pain is debilitating in that way. So one more stressful thing down to crappy illness that I would have not given a second thought to before. You really don’t know what you take for granted until you don’t have it or can’t do it any more. The simplest thing, like preparing something to eat, becomes this monumental task that you may or may not be able to succeed at. Sometimes I just don’t eat, because I am in too much pain or have too little energy to make a sandwich or whatever. Boy, you’d think I’d be thin as a rail, but nooooo. LOLAbout the vcr. I am a total electronics geek, it seems. I have a flat-screen tv, a radio/cd/cassette player, a vcr, a dvd player, a Roku, three Kindle readers, a Kindle Fire, a Nexus, a laptop and a desktop computer. Hey, I don’t get out much, so I need to be connected. The only one I really regret buying is the Fire. I wish I’d started with the Nexus, because it is just much nicer and easier to use than the Fire, and you can do a lot more with it, too. Lighter, also. I don’t have a smart phone, but my daughter, who gave me the one I have, says it’s ‘almost smart’, whatever that means. LOLOL I love it, even if it doesn’t stand on it’s head and do tricks. I can make phone calls on it. Duh!!

It’s autumn. I love autumn. Even when it’s gray for days on end.

Discussing how a book is almost always better than the movie that comes after, other person bemoans that they have too many responsibilities to spend much time reading. It occurs to me that this is one of the ‘good things out of bad’ philosophy I may have mentioned before. I am ill. I have pain, I can’t do a lot of things I used to do, want to do. On the other hand, I don’t have to clean the toilet, or do the laundry, and I have loads of time to read, and access to unlimited sources of things to read. Even if I can’t get to the physical library, I can borrow online and get books picked up and returned by my homemaker, I can borrow ebooks, I have Kindle Unlimited, there are bazillions of free books available on line on many, many different sites. It’s a dream come true, when looked at from the reader point of view. It’s a good thing. Except for pain. Pain really sucks. But good comes out of everything, if you allow yourself to see it. I firmly believe that. Life is really all about how you look at things. You choose your reality in so many ways you may not even be aware of. Think about it.

The article, not the gif. Although the gif is good.

English Major?

from shock that some of these were actually banned books. Where’s Waldo? Comments say there was a naked lady (supposedly) in one of the pictures. God forbid a child should see a naked lady. People graphically murdering each other on ‘entertainment’ tv every day is okay, but naked ladies? Or men? Oh, the horror.

It’s interesting to see what you’ve read and what you haven’t, though. I’d only read 39 of them. For Shame.

Banned books You’ve Read (Or Not)

Yes. I actually like her. Answered my questions, listened to and discussed my concerns. It went well. I am happy. She made me feel more hopeful than I have been that I can get myself out of this morass my life has become. I CAN take more ibuprofen than I have been. It’s the only thing that really helps with the pain. Less pain will mean I can move more. Moving more means my metabolism may actually begin to work again, and I will lose weight faster than molasses flows in January, which is how it’s been going for the past year or so. Since I was pretty much bed-ridden and/or housebound much of last year. I gained about twenty pounds, and have only lost about ten, even though I don’t eat a lot at all. So hopeful, very hopeful.

I bought a new vacuum to replace the duct tape mess, and splurged on some Polish hand-painted dishes. I love these. I bought my first one (different pattern) way back in Jordan Marsh’s Basement years ago, and have bought one or two here and there over time. I don’t have a lot, a few bowls, a pitcher, a couple of sugar bowls, two large coffee cups a friend gave me, but now I got four plates, four small plates, four cups, and four bowls, all in the same pattern. Cheery dishes. It’s a good thing.

They are quite expensive if you don’t buy them from The Christmas Tree Shoppe or other discount store, but I’ve never paid full price. I couldn’t afford to. Here’s the page, if you’re interested: Polish Pottery

I heard from my missing friend in Finland, which made me soooooo happy. Not missing any longer. 🙂

It’s gray and cool and looks like it good rain any second. All in all, a very good day.

My vacuum cleaner is being held together with duct tape. I have been searching on line for a new one. Very confusing, but then read about a particular one that is good with pet hair and has no bag. I hate vacuum cleaner bags. It’s for sale at Walmart, but not Amazon. I seriously was thinking about it, then I came across this on Tumblr. It reminded me of why I don’t shop at Walmart, and that there is nothing I need badly enough to compromise my own principles, nor is saving a few bucks any kind of excuse at all:

“Wal-Mart earned $27 billion in profit last year. They could afford to pay their bottom million workers $10,000 more a year, raise all of those people out of poverty, cost — save taxpayers billions of dollars, and still earn $17 billion in profit, right? It’s simply nuts that we have allowed this to happen. […] You know, this ridiculous idea that a worker on Wall Street who earns tens of millions of dollars a year securitizing imaginary assets or doing high-frequency trading is worth 1,000 times as much as workers who earn tens of thousands of dollars a year educating our children, growing or serving us our food, throwing themselves into harm’s away to protect our life or property, that this difference reflects the true value or intrinsic worth of these jobs is nonsense.”
— Nick Hanauer, Venture Capitalist, on the necessity of a living wage (via cognitiveinequality)

So it’s not enough that I have constant pain anyway, now my right wrist is a bit swollen and quite painful. Don’t see any bug bites (hooray), and not aware of having injured it, so? Pretty good day. After googling a bit, figured out a plan that let’s me have breakfast and COFFEE first thing. Happy campers R US! Also, it is darned cold and getting down to around 40 degrees tonight.
Not hot and sticky. It’s a good thing. Meanwhile, I’m freezing. It it was winter, this would be a heat wave, but since it’s not…OMG It Is Cold In Here.

From here: the Backlot

“Reports say that the entire Palin family was involved in a giant 20 person street fight started by 25-year-old Track, who was upset to see his sister’s ex-boyfriend there. Bristol evidently has quite the right hook, and Sarah was screaming “Don’t you know who I am?” Evidently the fight closed out “As people were leaving in a cab, Track was seen on the street, shirtless, flipping people off, with Sarah right behind him, and Todd somewhere in the foreground, tending to his bloody nose.” “

From a blog on nutrition.  Post is about easy lunches to pack.

…frittata, cheese quesadilla, grass-fed hot dogs

Seriously?  Hot dogs eat grass?  Hot dogs EAT?  I am sadly undereducated, it seems, because I did not know that.  I wonder who feeds them.

Oh, snarky Jean is feeling snarky today, people.