Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues

Well, it seemed like a good idea but it’s a bit difficult to see the computer screen in the sun. I was going to grade midterms, after I completed the midterm – which I have to do because the answer key is wrong. Note – LIFO means LAST in, first out, not the other way. (And no, I don’t care if you insist you’re right, Mr. Dept. Chair, you are not) (Look it up and if you’re teaching this to your students, ummm, seriously?)

However, I can’t really see the excel spreadsheet so I can’t do the exam. Maverick is pleased, however. Maverick would like to live outside now, it’s not too warm, there are plenty of leaves on the bank from last Fall that he can amuse himself by watching as they blow around and every now and again, a hawk flies over and he can chase the shadow. I think he has the right idea.

I could be knitting, but I’d have to get off the lawn swing and go get my bag. I’m not feeling motivated enough to do that. However, I did managed to pick up and knit a couple of rows of the WW pouch so I’m feeling pretty damned proud of myself for that. I might work on that tonight when Law and Order is on – one of the few shows I try to watch regularly. I don’t like some of the newer characters but I love Olivia and well, Elliot – he’s just yummy.

So I’m listening to a book. And enjoying the breeze. And I think it’s a pretty perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Peachy and I run a book group. It has a gazillion members who discuss what book is going to be the next hot item in the y/a market, what author, what artist is the new wonderkind, etc. (That totally doesn’t look like I spelled it right but I’m too lazy to look it up)

Last night someone wanted to post an unsubstantiated – at that time – rumor that a certain unnamed author was a racist and anti semitic. I refused to publish the post because a rumor is a rumor and I’m not about to help ruin someone’s career by helping to spread something that may not be true.

I was immediately questioned as to why I declined this post. After a conversation with Peachy, we put up a post saying that we didn’t want to participate in cancel culture and until this accusation was proven, we were not going to discuss it.

You would have thought I drowned a puppy. HOW DARE I not participate in cancel culture????????? Don’t I know that racism is important???????????? Don’t I know about ASIAN HATE?????????????????????

News flash – Peachy is Asian.

Back to the book group. I commented, after a bit, that they were forgetting that one admin is Asian. HOW DARE I USE HER AS A TOKEN??????????????????

Pretty sure no one uses Peachy for anything unless Peachy says it’s okay. But then, I know her, they don’t. And the more I’ve thought about this, the more it pisses me off. How dare THEY think that Peachy, apparently because she’s of Asian descent, is so stupid and gullible that she would allow herself to be used? How racist is THAT? She can’t possibly have thought the same way I did about this issue because I’m white and she’s not so one of us is leading the other and it can’t be her doing the leading because she’s ASIAN! (Yeah, tell my credit card bill how often this child leads me down the path of one more book!)

Anyway, cancel culture – where do we draw the line between investigating true instances of hateful behavior and believing every rumor? And honestly, is it my job to do this? Do I really care what someone does in their personal life as long as it’s not impacting children or puppies? Write me a damned good story, and I’ll read it. I may hate the author, but does that seriously mean I have to hate the work?

Most famous people are not terribly nice, even if they portray themselves to be. (It’s called acting. It’s how they make their livings) Do I care? Am I horrible for not caring? Am I a horrible racist because I honestly don’t think that someone should really take the words of a book so seriously that they feel that they have to destroy the life of the author? Read it or not, but don’t try to make that decision for the rest of us. I’m pretty capable of knowing when something is a stereotype or not.

So what are your thoughts? Should we censor or cancel authors?

**News flash two – think about CCP trolls and Asian hate suddenly being a thing. Just think about that for me.

The current occupant of the White House has heavy ties to China, that’s not a rumor. Suddenly we have a problem with Asian hate? Seems a touch suspicious that this has become the latest cause celebre. Or maybe I’m just suspicious. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, by the way, I’m asking why it’s suddenly in the forefront of all conversations.

A former student sent me a message today. I had a feeling I shouldn’t open it because he’s known to send those stupid memes that end with a scary face jumping out at you. I don’t think those things are funny. I’ve told him this more than once, but there’s something about scaring other people that seems to hold an appeal for some.

I have arachnophobia. I have this to the point where if I see a spider, I will run screaming from the room before I realize I’m gone. I then shake uncontrollably and normally cry for several minutes. I think this started when I was a little kid, I have a vague memory of my oldest sister putting a spider on me and then calling me a baby when I screamed.

I guess this sort of thing was always considered funny.

So in spite of my gut feeling, I opened the message. Two young boys, sitting in front of a cabinet, slowly opened the drawer and out jumped a huge spider. Realistic enough that it seemed to be jumping at me, and my phone flew across the car seat, landing face down, as I screamed and then began to cry. In my car. At the park.

He knows I have arachnophobia and he knows it’s bad. When I calmed down, several minutes later, while praying that this image wouldn’t haunt me all day (and yes, that sometimes happens), I messaged him. In caps. If he ever sent me anything with a spider again, I would unfriend him and never speak to him again. His response – “hahaha, I just had to.” My response was not fit for virgin ears but since I know y’all don’t fit that description, it was “no, m*****f****r, you did NOT HAVE TO.”

Then he was sorry. I said not to apologize, just don’t ever do this shit again.

All of this got me thinking. Why do people think it’s funny to scare people? Do they like it when they’re on the other end of it? I have a happy, everyone loves me, puppy, who thinks that every person – almost – in the world has been placed there simply to pet him. I, however, know that there is the odd person who fears dogs. (One of my sisters is one of them) (She won’t admit it but she is) So if someone doesn’t appear to want to pet him, I ask if they would like to, and if they say no, I walk him away. We’re all afraid of something,

I could say it’s just boys being boys but I’ve had women do this to me, as well. Grown women, who should know better, cackling with laughter when I threw something across the room because they had hidden a rubber spider inside.

These are not people who don’t know about my fear. I just don’t get it.

And if anyone posts a picture of a spider in the comments, you will immediately and irrevocably be banned. Momma ain’t playing here.

It’s gorgeous outside so to heck with cleaning- it’s the lawn swing, the Kindle and knitting today!

the birds are singing in the trizz

my nose is really on the fritz

Okay, it’s not great but it sorta rhymes

I have allergies

Spring allergies. Big time allergies. My head is clogged, and I swear if I sneeze many more times, my head is gonna fall off and roll down the driveway.

I love Spring. I love the awakening of everything that went dormant over the winter. I love the warm days and cool nights, and even though I dearly love summer, spring is probably my favorite season.

Except for the damned sneezing. And the itchy eyes. And runny nose. And exhaustion.

I can’t take allergy meds, they make my heart race. So I suffer, but I never suffer in silence. Nope, if I’m suffering, I want the world to know about it.

So no, darling students, I’m not grading your stuff tonight. Perhaps tomorrow, when the exhaustion has lifted, I will look at your journal entries and they won’t all look backwards.

Or maybe I’ll just put a border on this:

I think a plain pale blue border and then a wide puppy print border for this one.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

He’s gotten into the habit of being a real butnit in the evening so we go for a ride in the car and that seems to settle him down. Only problem is we inevitably end up at Hobby Lobby.

Today’s haul was a couple of skeins of yarn for another Wallaby for the baby that’s due in a few weeks, since the smallest size is a 2, I may as well make a couple. (I always plan on making a couple of whatever project I start and sometimes I even do it) Some pretty plum yarn that was super soft caught my eye, so I’m sure someone will get a scarf next Winter from that. Quilt battings were on sale and there’s the baby blanket that needs done and the puppy themed throw I cut blocks for the other day, so that went into the basket. Some dog themed fabric I hadn’t seen before also caught my eye – my niece in law has never met a dog she didn’t love and she’s snagged every mask I’ve sent with a dog print, so this was for her. A half yard is plenty for a couple of masks, and even though I swear I’m not making any more, she’ll love it, so there you go.

And home we came. The weather is beautful but Barky McBarkerson has to let every bird fart be greeted with a barrage of bellowing so we didn’t get to sit outside long. Soon the Bear will have the lawn swing put back together and we can sit in the back yard, where the birds don’t fart, the squirrels stay away and Maverick can’t see every car that passes by 750 feet away from the house.

in case anyone is interested, this is the quilt I’m going to attempt. https://youtu.be/Uyd3jbTXRS0

If you’ve never watched this lady, she’s a hoot.

There’s some nasty stuff right there.

Maverick does not agree

Maverick thinks it’s quite tasty

This is a good thing. Mommah is hiding his pills in it. Mommah doesn’t like shoving them down his lovely little throat, and he won’t swallow them otherwise. So, little balls of stinky liverwurst to the rescue.

Oh, the things we do for our kids. My fingers are stinky but the pills are swallowed.

I currently have no self control when it comes to shopping. Hence the recent purchase of the pattern for the Wonderful Wallaby sweater. http://cottagecreationspatterns.com/patterns/sweaters/the-wonderful-wallaby/

I got both the adult size and the child’s because I have no self control, remember?

Last night I bought some brown yarn. My BFF’s daughter is giving birth in 3 weeks to a little boy that we’ve chosen to call Charlie. This is not his name, but we like it so we figure he’ll learn to answer to it as we all do to a nickname. I shall make my first Wallaby for him.

This is not my fault, it’s because a fellow blogger told me I needed to cast on and I’m also not good with ignoring suggestions.

At any rate, that was my fun for the weekend. I also managed to do three months worth of journal entries, t-accounts, trial balances and financial statements in Excel for my classes. Which start tomorrow. All five of them. What the heck was I thinking taking five classes? It’s okay, I have plenty of booze.

Meanwhile, the world keeps getting nuttier by the day. I’m trying to figure out why some things are cancelled but not others. Hawkeye Pierce is a womanizer, and that whole Spearchucker thing? And Klinger? Really? Why hasn’t THAT shit been cancelled?

I’ve let my nails grow. This rarely happens and the clicking while typing may be one of the reasons for that.

That was a digression

I talked to my sister yesterday. She thinks that the current occupant of the White House is “offering hope.” I did not, in spite of myself, guffaw. I’m pretty sure that “Dark Winter” and ‘You might be able to gather in small groups by July 4th” is not really offering hope. “We’re going to open the hell up in two weeks!” would be offering hope.

She also is defending Andrew Cuomo for some reason. I don’t talk political stuff with her because I value her as my sister and I don’t want to have to cut her off again. I think she needs to get off MSM though!

So the other night when I went to bed, the bow fell off my glasses. I’d like to say it was because of some vigorous activity but alas, it was just me taking them off to place them on the headboard. I am blind as the proverbial bat. (and this is where my mind goes these days – I hope that isn’t offensive to bats) My glasses are never far from me because I quite literally cannot see more than a few inches before it all turns to a blur. (I was going to type “feet” but I took them off to check and the computer screen went all blurry) (I have a second pair, settle down, Beavis, I’m getting there)

I was all snug in bed and decided that the broken bow – it actually wasn’t broken, it just fell off – could wait till morning. Bear got out the trusty crazy glue (don’t put it in your hair, by the way) (wait, that’s Gorilla glue, you might be okay with Crazy Glue) and fixed the damage. Sort of. I think there may have been a piece lost because that bow is a bit floppy, so my glasses slide off a lot.

Thankfully, I never get rid of the last pair. (See, I told you to hold on) They’re not perfect but they’re better than stumbling about the house and considering that I do need to drive most days, they keep me from crashing the car into things. Bear gets cranky when I break the car. It’s okay if I break me, but damn, that car is precious!

So I gave up the struggle yesterday because even though the old ones stay on my face, I don’t see as well as I should and I can’t read with them so there’s that. If I can’t read, well, it’s not a happy thing. Me without a book is like a day without sunshine. (That is a pathetic analogy but I’m getting there too)

Today I’m driving out to the optometrist to get the glasses fixed. I invariably get lost going there so I brought in Stephanie and got her ready. (Stephanie is my GPS, as in “No, Stephanie, you bitch, I will NOT take a right, so recalculate now!) (Don’t judge) My appointment is at 4:30. I have a faculty meeting at 3:30 that better not last long because I’m planning on giving myself ample time to get lost, even with Stephanie yelling at me to turn right. Has she not figured out that you have to yell DEBIT or CREDIT at me? Geesh

There’s been a slow leak in our propane tank for a couple months. Nothing serious but damned if I’m paying for that stuff and having it leak out. So the company was called and an appointment was made to fix it. For 8:00 am. This morning. We were ready for Maverick to be a barking fool, he doesn’t like it when people come on his property.

The guy showed up at 6:30. SIx effin thirty. This morning. And the barking commenced. It would stop for a bit, then start again. Each time it stopped, I nodded off. Each time it started, Bear yelled. (I’ve told him that yelling is the equivalent of barking and Maverick thinks he’s just joining in, but men don’t listen to dog training tips because they don’t. And I don’t care if that’s sexist. It may be but it’s also true.) After about a half hour which seemed like 7 years, I got up. Maverick and I snuggled on the sofa awhile and then the barking started again. At this point, the guy needed to come into the house, I got a leash on Maverick and the wrestling match began.

He’s effin strong. (Sorry, Kristi, I’m tired) I had the leash in my left hand. Wrong move, that’s my weak side, so now I’m nursing a broken boob. Oh hush, I know you can’t break your boob. Well, I don’t think you can. There’s a muscle that I’m pretty sure is already either strained or torn and he made it worse – my fault, use the right hand, dumbass!

The good thing is he’s tired right out from 3 hours of the guy being here, and then a long walk at a windy park. The bad news is that I got 5 hours of sleep and I can’t nap, no time and it normally makes me feel wonky if I don’t sleep for more than a couple of hours.

I’m gonna sew hats and refrain from answering student emails today. I think that’s the best decision.

Also, and this is random, I’m sort of wondering if any of the people who thought Cuomo was doing such a great job with the pandemic still think that.

Every day, we’re hearing about how we should all get vaccinated against the Rona. ( I figured that we’ve been aquainted for long enough that I can call it the Rona now) I’m not convinced that these vaccines are actually all that safe, I keep thinking back to something called “thalidomide,” and how it was marketed as totally safe and a wonder drug for pregnant women. It caused children to be born with shortened limbs – when I was a kid and we were absolutely politically incorrect, they were known as “flipper babies.” It was never sold in the US but was given out as samples.

Maybe it’s not a good analogy, at least that’s what the MSM is telling me, but thalidomide was also rushed onto the market without adequate testing and the results were not great.

All of that aside, yesterday I read a long article that detailed “What can you do after being vaccinated?” Well, from that article, seems like you won’t be able to do anything you can’t do now. It warned that you can’t eat in a restaurant, you shouldn’t gather with friends, you still need to wear a mask and socially distance (umm, can we say “physically” because we’re already socially distant, dammit) and you have to wash your hands every time you touch any surface at all. Sooooooooooooooo…………this is where I get confused.

I’m supposed to allow someone to put something into my body that isn’t going to change a damned thing? I might still get the Rona? I’m totally shaking my head and wondering if I’m living in the Twilight Zone.