Hanging in there...

1. On the way to the train station a few weeks back (November 1, before the US decided to shit its pants again), sis-in-law rec'd a series of podcasts that she's been listening to.

They are Revolutions by Mike Duncan - available on Apple and Spotify.

There's 12 seasons.

The first season is the 16th Century Scottish Revolution. The twelfth season is a fictional account of the Martian Revolution of 2247, hence the reason she rec'd it to me - she knows I'm a sci-fi fan like my brother.
We both watch sci-fi, we're also binge watchers of dramatic serials. We went through The Diplomat in two evenings.

I may try it after I finish my Illona Andrews audio books.

2. Goodreads Reader Choice Awards Voting is up, and I've officially not read (or for the most part heard of) any of them. There's maybe two that I own, but have not read.

I clearly do not have the same taste as the majority of the reading public, or the television or film public. Or for that matter, the people who voted in the US election. I voted for Harris/Waltz - I thought it was a no-brainer and obvious choice. Apparently, I was wrong.

We keep discussing it off-hand at work - in snatches. Not at length, and not for more than two seconds. None of us can bear to think about it or those who inflicted it upon us.

I got surprised by MK. I thought she was a conservative Long Islander, she's not - or probably a moderate. We had a brief conservation about it - shifting to cruises. Apparently you can take a four year cruise to well escape the US? Villa Vie Residences is offering it - they are a long-stay residential cruise line.

( excerpt )

I don't know - I'm not sure I could handle living at sea. I get motion sickness and sea sickness easily. I took dramamine when I did a sailing trip in my thirties. (I'm too old and creaky to do it again.)

Co-worker (MK) said she'd done a cruise to Bermuda recently and won't do it again. It had a lot of heavy drinkers and party folks on it. They basically drank all day long. She told me that it's not that she had anything against drinking or didn't like to drink - but all day long, every day? Drunk?
It was a Celebrity Cruise (ETA: no, it was Norwegian) to Bermuda, so maybe I won't do that?

Having never been on a cruise (unless you count the sailing trip I did in Turkey way back in 2000), I'm becoming a bit of an expert on it. I'd do another sailing trip - but you have to be in good shape for those. They are physically tasking. Albeit cheaper than the cruises on the yachts and big ships.

If you have $50K-$160K lying about that you've no clue what to do with, lucky you, then this may be your thing?

I don't.

3. I'm bored at work, which is exhausting in its own unique way. ( Read more... )

4. It's overcast but still no rain. Cold too. So there's that. Although not too cold, just in the fifties.

5. Sis-in-law posted a bunch of charities that her company gives 10% of their profits too, on Instagram. Here's the ones, I'm considering?

* The Trevor Project

"The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. We provide information & support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round."

* The Brennan Center for Justice

"As an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization, the Brennan Center conducts rigorous research to identify problems and provide in-depth empirical findings and compelling analyses of pressing legal and policy issues. We also pioneer and champion policy solutions, such as automatic voter registration and small donor public financing."

* National Park Service

"The generosity of our citizens through their tax dollars and their donations helps to sustain America's national parks. Donations may be made:

to a national park—find your favorite!
to a park friends group
through a purchase at a park bookstore
to the National Park Foundation, our Congressionally chartered national
philanthropic partner
to support our national programs"

* The Sierra Club

We are a grassroots movement of 64 chapters and millions of members and volunteers nationwide. We are ready to stop DJT’s extreme anti-environment agenda and corporate polluters at every level of government, because we’ve done it before. It's time to protect our health, our communities, our lands – our future.

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She also listed the Legal Aid Society of NYC, Ouahu Water Protectors, and Planned Parenthood and the International Rescue Center.

Last time - I gave to the ACLU, the NYCLU, Planned Parenthood, Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, National Parks, Green Faith, Southern Poverty Law Center...and Sierra Club. Also Alzheimer's Foundation.
NAMI - The Mental Health Charity, Amnesty International and UUA-Human Rights Advocacy.

It's overwhelming how many there are.

(no subject)

I'm struggling with drawing this woman that I saw on the subway yesterday. She had corn braids, was in her forties, and sitting with her legs wide apart, and a rice and curry food tray in her lap. She took up almost three seats. A baby carrier was between her legs, but no baby was in it. She talked loudly as she was eating, but made no sense, and I turned up my headphones and darted across to the seats opposite her once one became available. She was messy, although her way of disposing of her food tray remains was to throw it out of the subway. She would open the doors between the trains and throw the packages out onto the tracks.

(Don't do that, please - it's a good way to cause a track fire or attract rats. Take your food with you and dispose of in a trash can or don't bring it on to begin with.)

Sprawled, legs and arms akimbo, yet a slight woman who normally wouldn't take up space, took up a great deal. When I jumped across and sat in the seats across from her, a bigger and younger woman sat down next to her. The most noticeable thing about this woman was her pants kept slipping down her thighs, and you could see the neon blue tights underneath.

I write it out in hopes that I can draw it tomorrow. It's vivid in my head but my hands refuse to obey my brain at the moment.

Didn't sleep well last night, an alarm on my phone woke me up at 2::26 am in the morning. I didn't know it was 2:26 at the time - I thought it was 5:45, and leapt up, got changed, only to look down at my watch and discover - ooops 2:26. WTH? So I checked the phone and discovered it was the Freestyle Libre sensor that went off - apparently my blood sugar was crashing. (I think it's the increase in meds.) So I took a glucose tablet, half of one, immediately. I have a tube of them for emergencies. Then struggled to get back to sleep.

Sleep is an elusive thing. It comes and goes at will, and often when I don't want it too.

So, is my artistic muse - that seems to come and go at will as well - sometimes I can draw like gangbusters, sometimes not at all. I never know quite why.