Horses are good company -- The Witcher

I've been taking a bit of a social media / internet break, watching comedies and resting.

Just posting here to check in! I am doing OK. Grateful for my roommate, friends, dog in good health, lots of things to watch, heating pad for my back.

Today I am giving myself credit for managing several complex health problems. I'm giving myself credit for resting, for leaving volunteering tonight when I didn't feel good, and for generally taking care of myself.

I am grateful for my dog, my roommate, and my friends.

I am grateful that i have a recliner to sit in at home, that is comfortable. I also have a comfy bed and warm blankets.

I'm grateful for Netflix.

Things that are good:

The red maple in front of our apartment. The dark reddish-purple leaves are so lush and striking.
All dogs
All horses
House plants
When dogs sleep and their paws twitch
Iced drinks
Shoes that you can just slip on and go
Podfic that you can listen to for hours
Books with beautiful cover art
Books with heinously awful cover art that are good to laugh at
How the evening sun sets things aglow
Fireflies winking in the lawn
Little free libraries
Laptop stickers

There's not a lot I can do to make the world a better place. I'm grateful that I can at least volunteer at the humane society a few hours a week. And maybe I can brighten people's day a little bit, check in on folks, share something nice.

I stopped at got a hamburger yesterday, and thought about all the infrastructure and people that allow us to have fast food. Thanks to the farmers who grow the vegetables and care for the animals. Thanks to the people who keep the eletricity going and allow for fresh, clean water to come through our pipes. Thanks to the folks who make the roads, and design them to be safer, and to the truck drivers who deliver things. Thanks to fast food workers, janitors, cooks. Thanks to food-safety inspectors. Thanks to the people who made my car and those who change the oil. There are people who design and make the packaging, and garbage handlers who deal with the trash. Everyone working together. Interdependency.

--Dried mango
--Trail mix
--The marshy area I drive by on the way back from the pharmacy. Sometimes it looks very wild and alien
--Internet friends
--Netflix
--Fanfic

A memory.

You know when they make you run in elementary school? Sometimes when I ran hard my bottom front teeth would hurt for a little while, in the same nervy way they do now. But now it's most all the time.

Good things:
Seeing Tempest today
Cooler weather
Working in the garden with my roommate
Reading a good comic book -- "O Human Star"
Seeing my dog park friends yesterday

Mouth pain, 'nuf said. It's so exhausting and demoralizing.

Good things:

--Saw an old friend at the dog park, unexpectedly!
--Saw The Martian tonight with trinityclare. We both liked it.
--Really, really enjoying Elementary. I'm in season three now because I watch it every day. There is a scene where Sherlock tells Joan that she shouldn't try for a conventional relationship, that it goes against her eccentric, adventure-seeking nature. She feels that her family wants her to have a conventional relationship but she ends up sabotaging her attempts at them. And that this makes her a more interesting person; it's a feature not a bug.

1. I've really enjoyed seeing my pals lately. I went to the cheap seats to see Mad Max (for the 3rd time); saw some friends and acquaintances at Comics Club today, and saw the film Mr. Holmes yesterday. Gabby is back in town which is great.

2. I got an awesome haircut which was a collaboration between Jesse and my neighbor Devyn, both of whom own clippers.

3. I read Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley and loved it. It features a talented, flawed woman as the main character. Katie is the main chef at a successful restaurant called Seconds, where she also lives. She wants to strike out on her own with a new restaurant, but is having trouble with that venture. Her ex-boyfriend is hanging around and things are awkward. When a young co-worker gets in an accident, party due to Katie's negligence, a house spirit appears and gives her the opportunity to fix it. Katie then gets addicted to fixing all the mistakes she can, and things start to go bad. This book is funny, charming, affecting. I loved it.

My Kobo decided to start working again. Yay! I've been reading a lot of fic of the "Live Free or Die Hard" fandom variety.

Saw the Lego movie today and enjoyed it.

A few things I've been enjoying during this long, cold, lonely winter:

I can Has Cheezburger Feed for cute and silly pictures and videos of animals.

Humans of New York (which is a Tumblr, but you can also subscribe to on FB). Portraits of people with quotes attached. Super awesome. There's also a book which I bought for my parents.

1. I've been really stressing about money (btw thank you to those of you who bought my gift cards); but my family has been quietly helping me out without me even having to ask. This is really humbling. Also, it's weird to think about how I was making it before the Scott Walker pay cut to state workers. And now, it's harder.

2. I went to Cheers with Queers last night and had a great time.

3. I wore my really awesome wool suit today.

4. I am finished doing recruitment and enrollment for my study at work!! \o/

5. A few days this week I've seen my friend Kendra at the dog park which was really fun. I know her from outside the dog park, and she just got a dog.

6. I really enjoy my Thursday lunches with jesse_the_k. This week we watched a film called "Wretches and Jabberers", which is about two men with autism who are activists. They travel around the world and meet other people like themselves. In the movie, they go to Sri Lanka, Japan, and Finland. I really enjoyed and recommend this film.

7. There was a good seminar today that I got to attend most of; about diagnosing disease before and after death (ie at autopsy). It was really interesting, and the pathologist who was presenting is a bit of a fuss pot and makes everyone laugh. For instance his power point appeared pink, and he complained, "Whoever is in charge, I am not going to be happy here, because the words are supposed to be white not purple!" My boss tried to soothe him, "It'll be all right," to which he responded crankily, "For you maybe but not for me!" (cue laughter). They figured out the color problem was due to a bad connection, so then the director of the whole program sat there with his hand holding the connection down, to keep the wires tight. Also he said the first case's name, which is a big no-no, and when the director chided him, "no names!", he sighed and said, "OK, this person is [PATHOLOGIST]!", saying his own name.

8. I got a free cookie at the seminar.