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Showing posts from April, 2024

Topical swag from a few days ago.

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Two Find a Riderefrigerator magnets and the wackiest brightly colored sugar stars ever  4.9 hours of sleep. Too much caffeine yesterday. Okay I DO NOT regret the coffee beverage, but more sleep is never terrible even if the sleep gap is because of being productive. Breakfast was only sensible if one considers the occasional bowl of Lucky Charms an essential part of a balanced diet. Lunch: a hard boiled egg, two healthy fig bars and some chocolate covered marzipan. The chocolate covered marzipan makes it a balanced diet. Now back to the rest of the day's storms. And yes, there is an advisory to cover already planted tomatoes because of risk of frost in some parts. Happy Tuesday.

SNOW???

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The view off "my" balcony 5.3 hours of sleep plus a before bedtime nap.  Feeling comparatively GOOD except for aches because lots of days I don't get enough exercise. The weather app really did forecast SNOW but that seems to have faeded to cloudy and chance of rain. Techno hassles: --Amazon does not believe my credit card preferences for something. --Verizon is delivering confusing messages about usage. I lost at least an hour of work time fussing with the problem. Now I get to lose another hour dealing with customer service. --I would consider switching but competitor annoyed me last time I reached out. Good morning capitalism.  

Beauty and a barber

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Gushy story about a friend of mine! Haircuts even when encampments get swept as happened near me recently. 4 ish hours of sleep. I woke up "too early" and used the time to make a pot of soup for the week. Quarterly Meeting by Zoom is just the thing this time around. Stars and blowy weather aligned so I did not try to go visit Mom. Thursday is the big day for a tour of possible facility. I also scored about the banana fresh kale garlic supply at the PCC. I am set for the week.

Iced tea time.

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Time to be drinking iced tea instead of hotter things. 5.1 hours of sleep. Enough sort of.  And in any case, time to be awake before Zooming to Quarterly Meeting. I woke up with ache in left side. Blame too much fancy food yesterday? Also muscle aches. Exercise ROCKS as long as one does it all the time so one doesn't get stiff from taking a break and then picking it up again. Still ahead late afternoon:  --FINISH MY TAXES --scrub the kitchen floor. Decide what can get put off until tomorrow.  

When in doubt bring on a Mozart flashmob in Prague by Azerbaijan Student Network

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The international title is as close to world affairs as I want to get. Plus I would have posted about chocolate dipped coconut macroons, or macaroons in lieu of drinking to schmooze and network. But drinking after two days of seminaring and people appreciating my questions and project manage brain trying to network into some projects.... Plus a Quaker voice zoom.... 4.0 hours of sleep. And lots of stretching mid afternoon when I might otherwise have dozed off. Eureka. I will see if my mom wants my most underpowered laptop. And and....

A gong every hour and 76 or so trombones, tubas, kazoos

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I can't find any mention of what piece this is or who wrote it. But it's a nice chunk of music. As for the title: 1. There is a meme going around Twitter / X about tuba players who show up every day at Trump tower and serenade #OrangeFoolius as he comes and goes from court. #DonSnoreleone reportedly hates it. Readers want video. The whole thing MAY be satire, but I think NY's best kazoo talent rendering Hail to the Chief every morning and evening would be just the thing. 2. All the anti mayhem pro Palestine protests going on around the country take me back sort of sentimentally to the overnight protest we had late in senior year about divestment from countries doing business in South Africa. That part of the protest lasted only a couple nights. There is a bell that tolls every hour on the hour. Enough said. 4.1 hours of sleep. Food schedule is a little messed up and will be messed up again tomorrow because of an all-day event. COOL event. I should find a way to get paid som

From Witness Wednesday: Trees

Recipe for popcorn worship: a good meaty poem.   The  Trees   The  trees  are coming into leaf Like something almost being said; The recent buds relax and spread, Their greenness is a kind of grief.   Is it that they are born again And we grow old? No, they die too, Their yearly trick of looking new Is written down in rings of grain.   Yet still the unresting castles thresh In fullgrown thickness every May. Last year is dead, they seem to say, Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.   “The  Trees ” by Phillip Larkin 4.6 hours of sleep. Reality check: going to QM is unfeasible. I will save a rant for another time. Or maybe not. Which device and which trip planning needs will I take to events tomorrow and Friday? and which devices? STAY TUNED.

Natural phenomena because people are TOO MUCH Iceland volcano erupts amidst Northern Lights

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Your task, should funding come through: write an audio description text for this volcanic eruption+ northern lights performance. 5.5 hours of sleep. NOT ENOUGH EXERCISE Campuses erupting all over the country. I am trying to digest and stay on track with other stuff. I am not succeeding.

Another flash mob saved in DraftsSom Sabadell flashmob - BANCO SABADELL

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5.5 hours of sleep. Imagine what happens when on e gets enough exercise. Running the sun lamp in the morning helps. So does listening to one's body and just GOING TO BED.

Bruckner 8th Symphony Finale

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Okay, so I have a short attention span and this feels like eating dessert and not worrying about the rest of the meal, but enjoy the drama 5+ hours of sleep counting a couple naps. Gorgeous day. I think I had other things to say but Compline was a lovely brain cleanse so maybe this is enough

No serenaded cows; just a regular performance Torelli: Trumpet Concerto in D Major, complete (Roger 188).

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4.6 hours of sleep. More would not be terrible BUT up in time to wash hair and go fetch some badly needed mail order clothing. And yes, I WILL still do laundry even with the new supply of key items. GORGEOUS day. Warm, sunny A vexatious level of pollen. But I made it home before the air filled with the smell of spring rain even if not yet actual rain.

"Wisdom" from Twitter / X "Every cat should own a giant ill-fitting sombrero

 Friday silliness? Our fine friend @Dbwagner104 has a noble dream that every cat should own a giant, ill-fitting sombrero. Alas, many of our humans do foolish things with their money—like order the whole costume instead of just the sombrero… #FridayMorning https://t.co/oa3BFsHkYX pic.twitter.com/MhtBrT7tpj — "Mad Cat" Cattis (@GeneralCattis) April 19, 2024 4. 4 hours of sleep. Thank heavens for online calendar reminding me of 9 am appointment that I thought was at 9:30. Sunshine is lovely. Pollen sucks. Snark rocks and now I get to TRY to stay on task.

Handel for the 21st century Trumpet Suite in D Major HWV341, Michele Santi,...

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Yeah, Yeah, the baroque era was probably a lot smellier with a lot fewer modern conveniences and a whole lot less internet. But this piece is wonderfully calming. 4.0 hours of sleep in bed plus another hour of nodding off. Not enough of course but going back to bed is SO not obvious. Let's see what email I can plow through now that I THINK I have done my daily quota of Twitter /x and persuaded the computer microphone that it should not try to interact with my talking phone and my talking phone has reminded me that it is silly to tangle one's life up in one device. 

Escaped circus elephant in Buttee Montana streets

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Aside from YouTube comments about the general question of elephants and circuses, Butte MT probably has not seen this kind of excitement in quite some time. Story definitely makes me smile. ANd I don't blame the elephant for being spooked when a car backfired while it was being bathed. And the doings of large quadrapeds also help keep humans in perspective 4 ish hours in bed and another almost 2 immobilized in a chair. So I slep through Tuesday night ? Wednesday worship in Kyiv. Oh Well Bummer because usual Wednesday Zoon has been rescheduled. And if I had read my email... but it's now on Youtube so I can watch it anytime I want. Digesting last night's transpo meeting and much more transpo stuff in email. Happy Wednesday.

Start the Youtube day with Chanson Flameng - Lute

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4.1 hours of sleep. Memo to self: coffee late in the day is a mixed blessing. On a peculiarly related topic, the toilet in my apartment decides intermittently to flush appropriately. Extension on taxes. Agggghhhh!

Look Ma! They're serenading Cows with our song Mother by #meghantrainor -

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Is serenading cows REALLY a thing? If you are a wind player of any kind is more barnyard aroma what ANYONE relying on extra breathing needs? Never Mind. It's tax day. 4.6 hours of sleep. ALMOSt enough motivation to get me over the hoop of taxes. Paid an estimate and asked for an extension.

Msagnolias and multiprocessing.

 This post comes courtesy of X / Twitter. It is posted as is, partly as a gesture to give proper credit to the person who posted the photo. PS. I DO NOT CARE if the X-meister wants the world to forget the word Twitter. On the internet language is often OUT of the hands of people even tempted to herd the online cats. Good morning! For this Sunday’s #FlowerReport we have a magnolia tree against a bright blue sky in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood 💗🍃💙🍃 pic.twitter.com/cftHJMTsrA — Litsa Dremousis 🐳 (@LitsaDremousis) April 14, 2024 4+ hours of sleep in bed plus a couple inadvertant catnaps. The world has not blown up overnight and SO FAR, cross fingers, tit for tat seems contained. You bomb our diplomatic mission, we will rain down a lot of airpower even if it gets destroyed by air defenses. And there is other four dimensional chess with energy politics, regional rivalries.... All so we can keep feeding various military industrial complexes. Did I mention ANNOYING new fire alarm? T

Come be obsessed!

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Free photo of the week. We love Deposit Photos Free image of the week 4.4 hours of sleep This after being basically immobile after supper until bedtime. Anyway awake early which sort of helps about getting body on more conventional sleep schedule. Cooking is self care so 2 days worth of porridge, today with dried pineapple, apricot, a few raisins and coconut added to the oatmeal and flax meal. Then on to beef vegetable stew. Then eventually turn the cooked pumpkin plus a can into pumpkin custard. In other news. Enough sunlight with blinds open wide to contemplate the desk. Not enough to do more than contemplate on account of I owe my day to TAXES. Enough self-employment to owe taxes is a GOOD thing. And my computer is doing flakey and inconsistent things but I am lazy about troubleshooting. I so wish I had a workplace but maybe I still get to be responsible for my own sTUFF. And I will wash hair. Survived all week withouth creme rinse but hair was still flighty yesterday. So remember t

Friday supernova: Scientists discover cause of brightest-ever burst of light | BBC News

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Look I know we are supposed to be above all that, but the one woman has what almost seem like horse teeth. 4.4 hours of sleep. The good news is that I am tired enough to go to bed at a decent hour. The bad news: I am not staying asleep long enough to up the total amount of sleep.

As a break from the rest of the news: Lavafalls or April 7th 2024 - Volcano crater turned into a huge lavafall...

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4.6 hours of sleep That delicate balance of when to try to go back to bed and still be up for a late morning appointment. Body is STILL trying to be on a semi regular sleep schedule. Emphasis on trying.

Youth Orchestra does Ode to Joy Himno a la Alegria - CORO Y ORQUESTA REGIONAL INFANTIL EDO VARGAS

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Where we reflect again on the charm of flash mobs, which thtis one isn't and on the enduring hope of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. 4.3 hours of sleep. I STUPIDLY did not read my email and missed the first hour of my usual Wednesday Technozoom which is off schedule today. Oh Well. There is always YouTube No falling asleep during the day. ALL the different people in Zooms helped. Biggest achievement of the day: untangle a knot I myself made in the cords on the venetian blinds in my bedroom. Lots still undone. And yet, too easy to get sucked into my social media.  Adulting is SO much fun.        

Possibly even more fun than eclipse vibe: Orangutans were dying of LONELINESS, until these RASCALS moved in

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1.3 hours of sleep or trying to sleep. So what if it was before 4 am and breakfast did actually seem like a good idea. At that point I was not going back to bed because of an in-person meeting. And I was thinking of two people grieving recent deaths. My friend from college just lost her mother and her husband is suffering terribly with Parkinism. So I emailed and ask how her week is going. She told me, with a couple elements that made me laugh. Fruits of my own insomnia. And I decided to save the conversation I want with beloved aunt for another day. So now after other meeting, I am staffing computer lab WELL buzzed on donutS and coffee. But I did figure out bus routing and pedestrian path to the meeting. Route is all level though there is one pretty wide gnarly street crossing, for people not excited by a long and windy pedestrian bridge. Destination is RIGHT on the waterfront with freight trains going by outside the windows. I am not sure how I would deal with that fulltime. Happy Tu

Eclipse? What Eclipse?

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  Partial eclipse in Seattle before during and after #Eclipse2024 6.5 hours of sleep. Really. There was waking up after two hours, use bathroom, turn on as few lights as possible, drimnk water, make sure to turn CPAP back on, and THANKFULLY GO BACK TO SLEEP. The eclipse was all over all the media. In Seattle it was clouds so not even any partial noticeable effect. At least I did not drive hundreds of miles to some place that was also cloudy. It's SO easy to get sucked into LOTS of time on social media. I think I need to chat with my favorite sane, trustworthy aunt about some family soap opera. Bummer because her husband, favorite uncle just recently died, but....

FUlly clothed and yet NAKED

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  Dandelions image from BackWoods Home 5,1 hours of sleep Dandelion joy borrowed image because I left my phone at home and could not snap something on the way to my bus. I feel NAKED without my phone. First world problems. I went to see Mom. So beautiful. Now I have to clean out my purse to seewhat I did with her apartment kcy. She had unplanned tourism on ACCESS and got home later than she expected. So when I got to ICH I wound up just hanging out in the sitting area near the elevator...

Orange Cat DNA lotto and that has to be #Caturday until I GET ANOTHER CAT

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Who knew? People seem to read this blog. I should figure out better what Google counts but I went looking to see whether i had already posted this excursion into orange cat DNA lotto. Answer: apparently not, but I have used the word orange a bunch of times and the number of people whoapparently have read is not huge but is bigger than I expected. So happy orange cat stereotypes. 4.5 hours of sleep. Sleep pattern is trending A LITTLE more toward conventional hours of sleeping. AND most of the time I have the sense to GO TO BED even if I might be tempted to push through some of the things on my mind. I woke up early enough for the Saturday shower before the first meetup. I spaced out the creme rinse after the shampoo so I get to see how that works until the next shampoo. Speaking of shampoo, note to self: SWIMMING. More to come about that subject Randomness for today between zooms. Notes to self: Pay rent, etc Socks: I LOVE the blue socks with green dots but THEY HAVE HOLES so I should l

Modernity with Ancient March - San Francisco Brass and Pacific Brass Bands

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Not the crispest performance I have ever heard and also a vivid illustration of how brass instruments just somethimes sound like splat splat.  I don't care. I'll take it with gusto. 3.8 hours of sleep + a nap grabbed later in a chair. two zooms, an afternoon at the STAR center, and another call. Mental note: need to whine about sore right little toe. And go buy shoes.... NOW time to catch up on email.

Happy Thursday. UofM Mazi: Lunar Lullaby - Jacob Narverud

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The point of this selection: music to address the upcoming eclipse? Although I might be more interested in the musical rendering of data pointing out climate change 4 hours of sleep. I thought I was being virtuous with no snacks after dinner except tea. But I woke up hungry and needing to pee and then i did not go back to sleep. Achievements: --I took some trash out and braved both the groundwater puddle by the bottom elevator and the absurd swimming pool puddle probably due to rain outside the door to the trash area. --Given the puddle situation, I decided to procrastinate about the clean out the fridge problem. What's some more procrastination anyway? --I made a zoom call appointment for tomorrow. --I cooked up my pot of beans and the pork neckbones I bought last week at Uwajimaya. Mom received news yesterday that her retirement community is on the path to moving people out while they wait on permits. Census is below sustainable levels. Some key staff have moved on. So now I at l

Flash Mob - Gustav Holst - The Planets: Jupiter (Berklee Contemporary Sy...

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Berklee music program: known for teaching students to plan financilally even if that comes with self-employment                                                                                                fees and  4.0 hours of sleep in bed. Nap earlier. Awake in time for breakfast before webinar. Good think because now I need to rant about the choices of internet portal. Other than that, whine about the content of my news feed

Fretless banjo--with chickens: Down In The River To Pray

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Okay, so it's homey. I was still charged.  It's only the instrumental which somehow seems apt to me for anyone who might not be sure about the whole praying thing. 4.1 hours of sleep plus an hour snatched after evening snack. Headed for a noon webinar. I figure I will at least get my under the desk cycling done even though I could more around more freely at home without headphones. Korean lunch is back, as is the social worker helping people wade through their bureaucracies. What is home anyway? I have been thinking about this moving around desks and having to step through the set up I need every time I sit down. I pretend I do that so I remember steps in case i need to show others, but.... Did I mention how tiring it is to have a whole room full of bright lights? It's SUNNY outside too and maybe I should just be out sunbathing where at least my glasses would turn grey and filter some of the excess light. Weather is supposed to be warm enough to deal with Chaco sandals and

Formidable: J.S. Bach Toccata in D Minor - accordion score

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Why would it occur to anyone to do this, except if one is going to do it, do it as masterfully as here. NOT an April Fools day joke 5.3 hours of sleep. Alternately still blissed about yesterday and massive upheavals of the soul. ANOTHER committee effort to talk about disability. MUCH cool resonance and progress but so many ways to fall apart around the edges.Also clarity about need to continue to make progress. The lazy luxury of working through email, tending to writing on my mind, and not even trying to go outside even though the weather is GORGEOUS. College admissions decisions out. 2 of my interviewees got waitlisted. Everyone else denied. Not as cool as when someone gets admitted, but this year it was harder. Nobody clearly popped to the top though the two that got waitlisted and one other were kind of favorites. A couple were in the probably not category from the beginning and in the middle a mass of really interesting but not completely standout applicants. I hope everyone is ha