Curios of the improbable. Truth Stranger Than Fiction, Dark Fairytales, Fiction, SciFi, Fantasy, Speculative Architecture, the Writing Life and anything else that strikes my fancy.
My family and I are fine. I have a house on high ground and most of my friends are fine as well. One friend lives near the Puyallup River, but the levee held and so did the pump. We had Thanksgiving in North Bend which is in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains where my Maternal Aunt and Uncle live. I knew when I hugged my uncle and looked him in the eyes it would be the last time we would see each other, so I hugged him again. A week later he had a massive heart attack and died.
Yep, so I've lost two uncles this year. Both of my aunts live within an hour of me. I've been checking in with them, and my younger cousins regularly. I'm supposedly "the smart one" on both sides of the family. My Paternal and Maternal aunts were roommates for a year when they were in their 20s back when my parents were dating/married since they all went to the same high school. It's a silver lining that they have each other to lean on as well. I've got one uncle left in Texas. He's on the outs with his sister, so he had to hear it from me that his brother-in-law died. I'm not mending that through bridge, I just gave him the facts as they are. None of us need to hear his MAGA fanboy bullshit right now.
We had to cancel my shared birthday dinner with friends because the Cherry valley flooded between us and they became an island. Still, looking forward to a good dinner with them in January, so something to keep looking forward too. My birthday was nice, I can't complain.
I'm sorry First Nations, Sumas flooded again. Makes me grateful you left for Idaho when you did. B-ham wasn't without its problems either.
Pics from the Cherry Valley flooding, one of three big valleys in the Puget Sound that were flooded:
Despite over 150,000 people being told to evacuate I've only heard of one death and two serious injuries. There were over 1,000 water rescues. What bothers me most is that our disaster wasn't bad enough for some people, so they felt they had the right to make AI images with false narratives adding to the confusion and chaos. I had friends as far away as Japan concerned for my safety!
I'd always held onto the illusion that this Washington (the State) could insulate itself from whatever kind of crazy went on in the other Washington (DC), but it isn't so. The funding cuts are painful. A lot of people are suffering. The economy is great when you can choose what numbers to show.
I'm not online much these days because my real-life community needs me. I'm volunteering for an organization that offers housing and donations for children, young adults and their families that have nowhere else to go. The family shelters are full with long waiting lists. There are also some kids who are kicked out of their homes by their parents for being... ~out of alignment with their parents' value system~ you're smart people, you know what I mean.
Despite all this talk of dour things, I am happy. We're strong here and we look out for each other. Today is the day of the winter solstice and I walk as easily through the dark as I do through the light.
Wow, what a great country to live in where the president shares an AI video of himself literally shit-bombing the American people after a record-breaking 4 million strong protest! Embarrassing, really freaking embarrassing! It did my heart good to see pictures of and hear about solidarity protests in other countries like Britian, Germany, Canada and Brazil!
Then on the eve of 42 million Americans losing SUPPLEMENTAL NUTITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) benefits, many of whom are working poor, yes, many work full-time, some even work multiple jobs to make ends meet! Trump & Co. had a Great Gatsby party! They really don't care. They think it's funny.
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With every protest I learn to make a bigger and better sign. Two sides of the latest one.
They tried to call the No Kings Oct. 18th protest a "Hate America" protest, but that couldn't be farther from the truth! We hate what the Trump Administration is doing to America!!!!
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Okay, enough about that! I went to one of my favorite places to be distracted. Originally, I went because I saw on their website that they had a funny "German Luck door" for $15.00, which seemed reasonable, but alas! It was made of plastic, not iron, not even wood! So, I just took pictures of it for you and some other pictures for your viewing pleasure, to take you along with me. (Inspired by Ms Nations, of course!)
I was thinking about all of you, trying to imagine what you might say and what might strike your fancy. If I haven't said so before, Your friendship means the world to me! I really love this group!
I'm trying to convince my son to do university in Germany after he graduates from HS and to just stay there, anywhere else in the world, but here. What scares me most is that he turns 18 in 2028 and will be required to register for Selective Service, which means if this psychotic administration tried to initiate a draft for military service, he would be prime picking.
Shit! Here's those pictures I was talking about! Back to a nicer topic...
This large ornate piece appears to go over something, but I'm not sure what. A sideboard? A church something, something?
Some old British fellows. I forgot who the tag said they were. I was just so disappointed that the grey-haired fellow was not John Cleese as some character.
Look out guys, he's a Topper!
Drinking accruements. What are we drinking?
I'll never forget the sad tale of Norell Hardy having to go on stage right after learning of the death of his infant son who was sick with some kind of cold or flu. They told him that he didn't have to go on, but he said he would and give the best performance of his life because his little guy was watching from upstairs (in Heaven). RIP, Sir.
A vintage sausage maker.
(Somewhere within all of us lives the humor of a 13-yo boy.)
I was really tempted to get one of these scales. Reminds me of the childish days I used to fantasize about being an old-timey shopkeeper.
And finally....
This is the thing that brought me out to the salvage store. I'm not mad, only disappointed that it wasn't $15 and made of wood.
Mago can give us a proper translation, but it's something like
"Knock upon this door and wish for good luck"
and this is what you get.
It looks like he's got a balloon coming out of his butt, but it's a German penny (or equivalent.)
This likely won't be your cup of tea and that's okay. I just have so much pent-up rage, but I won't risk collateral damage. I need to focus on the things that matter. So, I've dragged out the old boxing bag. All this energy has to go somewhere! They want us to riot, so they can put the boots on our necks, but we know their games. So, we come out and party, dancing in silly costumes, music, water and friendship. We can't just sit at home in silence while they take our neighbors, break our laws, and threaten our health. We watch; we wait, we anticipate. Oct 18th. No Kings!
My new workout song from Arcane: League of Legends on Netflix. Love the soundtrack! Dammit, IDV give the show a try! You're the one most likely to like it!
I don't know how many of you have Facebook, but it's the only place in which I have a Meta account, only because some very old friends that live in other countries still show up there. Over the
things I admit to buying...
A fluffy kiwi pillow
A shirt inspired by one of my favorite shows Firefly and the subsequent movie Serenity. I made sure to always have the shirt covered before picking my son up from primary school so I wouldn't get sent to the principal's office.
This is one of the last things I bought at JoAnn's before they went out of business thanks to yet another private equity firm that rapes everything good about a store and then sells off the remains to the highest bidder. They don't care about customers or employees. Will America ever wake up to the pandering of shareholders over the needs of the community, customers and employees? Doubtful.
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Oh yeah, there's one other thing I bought through a Facebook ad ages ago, a kindle book about a woman that gets saved/abducted by a handsome demon dude with a tail and pointy ears. I admit it, I'm a sucker for pointy ears, but Fb has gone too far this time in trying to figure out my kinks! The aforementioned book was okay. Not something I would recommend even if I could remember the title.
Yesterday though, Fb recommended a discreet female "massager" to you know, increase your pelvic floor muscles, I guess. I don't know. That was surprising, but whatever.
Then TODAY, one of FB's sponsored ads was for an AI-generated book of Orc-Human erotica complete with book cover and um, excuse me while I go wash my eyeballs with something strong than water! What the actual fuck? I'm starting to get some serious "creepy Uncle" vibes from this "Sponsored content."
I really should just delete myself from FB. Ew, friggin' boundaries Meta, get you some!
Meanwhile my grocery store is morphing into one brand available for purchases, the store's own brand. What little is left offered of decades familiar brands like Kraft, Heinz, etc is being jacked up in price so you'll be incentivized to choose the store brand to save money. Amazon is starting to do this too, they've become what we call "Patent Trolls." They see what sells well in all departments then make a "generic version" of it and sell it as "Amazon Basics" there was a lawsuit filed about it, but it's gone quiet since Jeff Bezos contributed $$$$ to Trump's campaign. Now today at Home Depot, you have your choice of Miracle Gro products or Miracle products, or this other expensive bag of non-Miracle Gro product tucked in the corner of the shelf.
Somebody wake me up from this nightmare! ðŸ˜
We're looking at leaving the country and even Canada doesn't feel far enough away. I see a lot of YouTube channels where Brits are buying and fixing up big old mansions in France. How do the French feel about that? I'm sure a lot of places aren't interested in being flooded with Americans right now and I can't say I blame them. I also don't mind American products being boycotted by other countries either.
I'm sorry most of all to the Ukraine. I'm sorry that the U.S. has failed to be your staunchest ally and supporter against Putin's aggression. You deserve good allies! I'm ashamed and disgraced that we will no longer be the dependable allies we once were to our oldest counterparts around the world.
This country is consumed by greed. It is both pernicious and infectious. I hope that other countries will do better. I feel no pride for being American on this day. After all that my family has fought for and sacrificed for this country, none of it seems to matter!
Ah, the United Kingdom, sounds about as united as the United States right now.
I imagine us waving forlornly from our respective sinking ships.
While I've been away from my post here news of Britian, in particular, has been stalking me bloody fluffin' everywhere! Even rural America is talking about the apparent demise of England! Just wait until they start taxing the tea!
The American Hillbilly dispatch, aka overheard in a small-town pizzeria, states that Britian has become an authoritative state complete with people being thrown in jail for Facebook posts that the government doesn't like! You need guns? I think these Good ol' boys are ready to ship you some guns for the next revolution.
Houses plummeting into the ocean, check. Inflation is terrible, check. The medical system is failing, check. I also learned a new word "Fly-tipping." Apparently, it means illegal dumping and is nothing like the American idiom "Cow-tipping," which is what drunk high school and college age jocks like to do to sleeping cows, knock them over.
Rude!
Today I read about the illegal dumping in Hoads Woods, a bluebell woodland in Kent. Four acres (1.6 hectares) , "tens of feet deep." I don't know what the BBC means by that. It's not a valid unit of measurement here nor there. The waste could be as high as 10 feet or 99 feet, but not 100 feet? And it smells, ew!
This could have been stopped if England had more guns!
All you needed was one really angry British grandma with a gun and those dump trucks would have tucked tail and kept their load.
"Sorry Ma'am, we took a wrong turn, we won't mess with your bluebells."
The Council response to this travesty has been as disappointing as a limp handshake, which feels like grasping a dead fish and smells just as pleasant.
I bet the Queen knew how to give a proper handshake.
RIP Lizzy. It was only a matter of time before you left the board completely.
Would you say you trust the British government? What terrible things have they inflicted upon the citizenry? Spill the tea!
Here's a short list of why Americans don't trust their government:
- Project MK-Ultra 1953-1964 The CIA gave LSD and other psychosomatic drugs to volunteers and random people in an effort to make a mind-control drug. One person died.
- Biological Weapons Testing on populations in multiple U.S. cities 1949-1974 this included bacterial tracers and nerve agents (think LX and Agent Orange)
Also, radioactive leaks and dispersal coverups. Where I grew up is downwind of the Handford Nuclear Reservation, we're called "Downwinders" and there was one successful class action lawsuit before they got better at destroying documents and evidence. Same timeframe as above. Many people have thyroid disease and nearly everyone dies of some kind of cancer. There is also a higher-than-average rate of MS and Parkinson's disease. Both of my parents have Parkinsons disease.
See also, Manhattan project, killing some poor Australian boy and giving radioactive cocktails to pregnant women in the name of Science!
-Tuskegee Study on Black Airmen who were purposely given syphilis and not treated for it so Scientists could study the disease progression. 1943
-Stateville Penitentiary Malaria Study - Giving inmates Malaria and if you participate and you don't die, we'll shave some time off of your prison sentence. 1949
-Willowbrook State School 1956-1971 Giving children with intellectual disabilities hepatitis in their chocolate milk to distinguish between the different strains and develop vaccines.
You'll note that these are all from the late 1940s to mid 1970s, but that doesn't mean the government has stopped doing shady studies. Instead, they mostly farm it out to universities and private corporations to make their hands look clean. You would be surprised what kind of projects get funded with government grants.
