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The only way my pops can get my pic is if he tuckers me out first. Mom has taken to calling me Gladys Kravitz for my nosy window peeking at the neighbors outside. Pops calls me misspearl, pearlygirly, and pitchpipe because my meows are brief, one-note affairs for the most part. “B, C#, D” I only really make longer statements if I want something in particular. More of a “me!” Rather than a full “meeeeoowww” I do purr very easily, especially with a neck rub. #whiskerwednesday #misspearl #catsofinstagram #tabbycatsofinstagram #stripedcatsofinstagram #honkshew

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdMRQijphr2/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

“We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase,” Fauci told PBS Newshour, a statement he gave while the media was announcing that the VP has COVID, and that almost 60% of Americans have had COVID.

So, what phase are we in now, just endemic?

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/27/1094997608/fauci-us-pandemic-phase-covid-19

Later he stated – “The United States and the entire world is still experiencing a pandemic, but there are different phases of the pandemic,” he said. “And what we are in right now is somewhat of a transitional phase, out of the accelerated component into hopefully a more controlled component.”

So, we are still in a pandemic. Just not in the pandemic phase. We are having enough of an issue without this sort of muddy communication. 

To clarify for folks –

COVID-19 has killed nearly 1 million people in the U.S. — by far the most deaths reported by any country. It has taken a particularly brutal toll on Black people and other people of color, as well as on poorer communities without easy access to health care. While the U.S. is currently in a period of comparative calm, the coronavirus is raising alarms in other parts of the world, including China.

“Pandemic means a widespread throughout-the-world infection that spreads rapidly among people,” Fauci said. “So if you look at the global situation, there’s no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing.”

I will continue to be socially distant and wear my mask in any environment where I have to interact with folks. I am in a high risk group, as are many members of my immediate family.

I am not interested in dealing with unnecessary death, long covid, heart or brain damage  due to people willing to drop guard just because they are tired of fighting or simply don’t want to face the facts of this situation. 

There are people out there that are *still* actively ignorant either by will or design. My tolerance for them is extremely low these days. If they are lawmakers,  influencers like teachers or clergy, or people looking to make a buck off of suffering….you guys are murderers in my mind. An actual *MILLION* dead Americans. Countless others damaged for life. 

This is in no small part the fault of so many people that just couldn’t be bothered to just sit tight, had to just stir a pot full of poison, and help to distribute it to everyone with whom they interact. 

Government has its large share of blame, too, on both sides of the political aisle.

We could do better in the future. Will we? I suspect not, based on the last two years.

That makes me in almost equal parts angry, sad, and frightened.

The humor in this is pretty great. The Skrulls are looking for an outlaw name of  De’Lila that they have tracked to earth, and for some reason these creatures register as “part Skrull” which I wonder if that is related to Deviants at all…

ALSO, this plot hilariously makes an upcoming plot make absolutely no sense, because these guys are tracking down rogue Skrulls and -technically- there is more than one of them running around 4 Freedom Plaza right now…

Boats burned up at rod and reel this morning! #huntingtownfiredept https://www.instagram.com/p/CbYJVzAOQo2/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Happy out of touch Thursday! #oott #talkingheads #outoftouch #outoftouchthursdays https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZ0a6-Wl-I5/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Looking back at my journal posts from 20 years ago.

bus rides, tulpa-folks

Sakes, I used to ramble far worse than I do these days.  Nonsense about folks seen on the bus, tulpas, and the usual nonsense in my mind at the time.

I guess you can call me El Ocho, now.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZKsE2alsCg/?utm_medium=share_sheet

Sisto forgot to mention the carrot shreds and basmati rice to the cauliflower, broccoli and tofu simmer, it was butter chicken sauce, but no chicken. I think it was more of a very mild curry, but I kicked it up just a little with some hot sauce. Leftover dinner from a night or two ago, very yummy. Perfect late lunch to warm the tummy on a cold winter day.

Harold behind the scenes holding the phone steady, and munching on a bit of rice.

#sisto #glyos #modulartoys #toyphotography #toystagram #battletribes #spymonkeystudios #warlordsofwor #gormiti #onelldesign #vegetarian #tofu #broccoli #cauliflower #carrot #curry #rice #sistobrak #harold

What Was I Scared Of?

by Dr. Seuss

I was walking in the night

And I saw nothing scary.

For I have never been afraid

Of anything. Not very.

Then I was deep within the woods                                      

When, suddenly, I spied them.

I saw a pair of pale green pants

With nobody inside them!

I wasn’t scared. But, yet, I stopped

What could those pants be there for?

What could a pair of pants at night

Be standing in the air for?

And then they moved? Those empty pants!

They kind of started jumping.

And then my heart, I must admit,

It kind of started thumping.

 

So I got out. I got out fast

As fast as I could go, sir.

I wasn’t scared. But pants like that

I did not care for. No, sir.

After that a week went by.

Then one dark night in Grin-itch

(I had to do an errand there

And fetch some Grin-itch spinach)

 

Well, I had fetched the spinach.

I was starting back through town

When those pants raced around a corner

And they almost knocked me down!

 

I lost my Grin-itch spinach

But I didn’t even care.

I ran for home! Believe me,

I had really had a scare!

Now, bicycles were never made

For pale green pants to ride ‘em, 

Especially spooky pale green pants

With nobody inside ‘em!

And the NEXT night, I was fishing

For Doubt-trout on Roover River

When those pants came rowing toward me!

Well, I started in to shiver.

And by now I was SO frightened

That, I’ll tell you, but I hate to

I screamed and rowed away and lost

my hook and line and bait, too!

 

I ran and found a Brickle bush

I hid myself away.

I got brickles in my britches

But I stayed there anyway.

 

I stayed all night. The next night, too

I’d be there still, no doubt,

But I had to do an errand

So, the next night, I went out.

 

I had to do an errand,

Had to pick a peck of Snide

In a dark and gloomy Snide-field

That was almost nine miles wide.

 

I said, “I do not fear those pants

With nobody inside them.”

I said, and said, and said those words.

I said them. But I lied them.

 

Then I reached inside a Snide bush

And the next thing that I knew,

I felt my hand touch someone!

And I’ll bet that you know who.

And there I was! Caught in the Snide!

And in that dreadful place

Those spooky, empty pants and I

were standing face to face!

 

I yelled for help. I screamed. I shrieked.

I howled. I yowled. I cried,

“OH, SAVE ME FROM THESE PALE

GREEN PANTS WITH NOBODY INSIDE!”

 

But then a strange thing happened.

Why, those pants began to cry!

Those pants began to tremble.

They were just as scared as I!

I never heard such whimpering

And I began to see

That I was just as strange to them

As they were strange to me!

 

So….

I put my arm around their waist

And sat right down beside them.

I calmed them down.

Poor empty pants

With nobody inside them.

 

And now, we meet quite often,

Those empty pants and I,

And we never shake or tremble,

We both smile and we say…”Hi!”

Wordle 211 6/6

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Social isolation day #672

(March 13, 2020 – January 14, 2022)

Simple observation: it is hard to believe that it has been approximately two years since we have eaten any takeout or dine in restaurant food. We used to go out for Sushi, Pizza, Thai, or Chinese at least once a week pretty much since I moved here and married my sweetheart.

Without hyperbole, I seriously wonder when (or if) we will ever dine somewhere that isn’t our house or the in-laws. I am thankful that the four of us are passable (me) to superior (mrs) cooks.

Current mood has been up and down. Squirrel cam and swampwalks have helped a great deal.