1/22/2020: Woke up way early
to the sound of dripping rain, and knew I was in for a gray one. Prayers,
catechism, Bible (got to the end of Acts), rosary. Had to do the ‘in and out of
the house’ and watch out for mud game all day. Made Kam eggs, bacon, and
biscuits. Gloom intensifies when I find out Terry Jones just passed away.
Napped – more like hibernated – from 11 AM to 2 PM. Made supper (pork chops,
sauerkraut, baked sweet potato, and parmesan green bean). And so on etc. with
ordinary details – ramen, Flintstones, DW shows. Some meditating on starting
Chapter Four.
1/23/2020: Read much as
taken. PCBR. Made Kam’s breakfast, got him off early (10:16 AM). Weather bright
and clear, but ground still muddy. Worked on notes for American Prometheus (AP,
from now on), and wrote about a page. Indications that the new Picard show
isn’t so good story-wise, no matter how pretty it looks or how many itches it
scratches. Made chili, noodles, and corn on the cob. Might as well note here
that for the past few weeks my neck has been really sore at the end of the day,
stretching down to between my shoulder blades. Arthritis? Meningitis?
1/24/2020: Up pretty early.
PCB. After wavering a bit, got dressed and left a little before 7 AM and went
to get Powerball. Came home; rosary, then Perry Mason at 8 AM. At 9 AM made
Kameron bacon and a grilled cheese. Started my ramen, then left it to soak to
await the exterminator at 9:40 AM. Got Kameron on the bus at 10:15 AM. Checked
the pool; not running so called Andy and he told me how to shut it off. Came in
and ate my ramen (with peas), watching the end of Monster Zero. Now 11:20
AM.
1/25/2020: Chinese New Year.
The Year of the Rat. PCBR. Went in and made omelet, and I think I’ve finally
got into the groove again as it turned out well. For lunch made my last box of
spaghetti. For supper had a ramen, corn, and ground turkey dish. All day
reading conflicting reports of how ST: Picard is, and I must say I’m
leaning toward the negative view, if only by the analysis of the appearance of
‘magical technology’ and ‘narrative’ over our old-fashioned ‘barely possible
tech’ and ‘story-telling’. Chill and gray weather. All day balancing ‘a dollar
for the collection tomorrow’ against ‘one package of cookies right now’
dilemma; the lateness of the hour has finally removed it from consideration.
Don’t really need it as food but have a yen for something sweet.
1/26/2020: Woke up about 1
AM from a dream; I think I have my next short story now: The Reunion. Got up to
write it down and worked on my Dream Diary a bit commenting on my dreams of
late. They have been different; even, measured, even when strange or full of
problems. Almost 2 AM now; must try to sleep again.
So up, PCB, and off to
church, where R. It was a graceful day. Came home. After Susan called to ask
about chili powder, I went in and got a slice of cheese and a nutty buddy. In
the evening Andy brought me a garippe; after I ate the meat (not a whole lot),
I made a broth from the bones. This was all the food I had today. Wrote about a
page today on “Reunion”. Read some ghost stories. Tried to sleep off most of my
waiting, but not really hungry per se.
1/27/2020: Up at 5:30 AM.
PCB; before 8 AM Andy asked me not to do my wash just yet, as the washing
machine is leaking, and brought me a banana. Listening to the GGACP eulogy
episode about those who passed away in 2019. Hearing everywhere about Kobe
Bryant and his daughter passing away in that helicopter accident. He was a
Catholic. Made Kameron an apple today for breakfast and had my ramen. Just as I
took him out to catch the bus the roofers came over. Checked the pool and
turned off the pump because it wasn’t working. Made the broccoli salad. About
1:30 PM started my wash and finished by 3:30 PM. Grassed the Chis twice, at 2
PM and 4 PM. Started a Lexicon for Bob’s Book 2 today; 4 pages. Made supper:
fish rings and couscous. Flintstones, some DS9 today, all the DW Shows. Made
Kam grilled cheese at 8 PM. Rosary. John sent a wonderful picture by Morgandy
today in the Maus style.
1/28/2020: Up at 6 AM (slept
late – ha!). Took a shower. PCBR. Went in at 9 AM, peeled Kam an apple. Made
ramen for my own breakfast; added an egg. Got Kam off to school at 10:10 AM.
Brought the recycle bin in. “Miss Angie”, Kam’s bus driver, came out and asked
if I could meet the bus Friday to take Kam’s food basket in. Sent Kris Jerome
information for my W-2.
Well! A day of dipping in on
House and DS9 and DW shows, and not much else (except reading some John Aubrey
on Wiltshire). At 1 PM I went in and got a ramen and the last crumbs of Fritos.
Started supper at 3:30 PM; sausage, cabbage, and taters. Kam home at 4 PM. Took
my food out and ate. A little before 5 PM the Rotts raised a ruckus, and I went
out to find a couple of bearded policemen coming out from behind the sheds.
Their car was drawn up in the driveway. They said they had been chasing a
fellow, that he was caught, and sorry to disturb me. After they left, I went
around and checked the garage, the ticket booth, and down by the creek, then
waited outside till past 6 PM to tell Susan and Andy what had happened. In the
meantime, watched the sun go down and the trees blowing in the evening wind,
and two raccoons coming from opposite sides of the yard to meet in the middle
in the tree over the shed to have a fight. Came in and worried about petting
the cats after they had got their medication (flea spots). Bed about 10 PM.
1/29/2020: Woke up about 4
AM from a rather purgatorial dream of wandering a parking lot through the
night, waiting for the sun to rise or to get a ride. Felt glum, so decided I
was up and started to say my prayers. I almost immediately felt better, and only
got better and better as I read the Catechism (and finished it!), then a couple
of chapters in the Bible (Romans). It’s now about 5:20 AM and I’m dressed and
ready to give writing a shot.
I brought Chapter 4 (The
American Prometheus – hereinafter AP) up to page 5 today. Kam off to school, no
problems. Breakfast- ramen with an egg. Lunch – made a sort of stew with a
little chunk of meat out of the freezer, leftover cabbage and taters, and made
a gravy with milk and flour. It was delicious. At supper made pork chops and
brussels sprouts, baked sweet potato, and parmesan-encrusted green beans. Swept
the kitchen porch. Kam went to church and when he came back had eaten snacks
and didn’t want supper. Continue to read Aubrey. Bed about 9:30 PM.
1/30/2020: Morgandy’s
birthday today. Up at about 5 AM, PB, then caught up diary. I had awakened from
a dream of working with a hoe straightening up the end of Nanny’s driveway,
chopping up weeds and breaking sandy clods. A vague remembrance of discussing
something with a woman (not anyone I could identify) before that. Somebody won
the Powerball last night, so I don’t have that as a temptation this weekend. Made
Kam an apple for breakfast and got him to the bus; pretty cold today. Ramen for
my breakfast, then a nap at 11 AM, where I had a dream again about Nanny’s
house, where I was passing between the different parts of the apartment and
hearing people that I wanted to avoid moving from part to part. Finished my ten
pages and sent them to John; while at email found out that Kris Jerome had sent
me a tax form for my ‘royalties’, which if I read it right shows I got a little
less than $2 more after my initial payment. Sigh. I don’t think I’ll have to
file.
While I was writing, I
realized I didn’t have to tell everything right away but can keep feeding facts
as I go along; i.e., don’t reveal all Frobisher’s history with Franklin. Also
stop writing ‘almost’, ‘just’, and ‘seeming’. Sent my pages and the idea for a
one-panel comic to John; didn’t hear back from him all day, but he did take the
day off from work to take the family to the Snake Farm and the Gristmill.
I was rather bad in that I
took a few Oreos at lunch, but pickings are rather thin here at the end of the
week. For supper made chili, noodles, and corn. Later made Kam a grilled
cheese. At 6 PM said rosary.
1/31/2020: Up about 5 AM to
write down Picard dream. While at computer went over sites; searched
illustrator Fred Banbery (Paddington, Hitchcock). Prayers; Bible. Took a
shower. Saw end of Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. Spent time looking at
reviews of Ep.2 of ST:P. Now 8 AM. Today I am scheduled to meet Kam when he
gets off school and carry in his crate of groceries, and to make chicken, rice,
and broccoli for supper. With any luck, John will be by with $20, which right
now I feel I could spend entirely on cookies.
I keep thinking that I must
be somewhere on the autistic scale; my childhood experiences seem to support
it. My social awkwardness, my uncontrollable fidgets, my obsessive collecting.
Ramen for lunch. About 3:30
PM made the rice and broccoli. Went out and waited at the oak for Kameron about
4 PM; I should note that after clouds in the morning it was a nice clear day.
Kam arrived and I carried the food bin in for him (I think it was especially
heavy today. No chicken thighs like we had hoped, so I started baking the
breasts on top of the rice. That took until 6 PM. The stuff Kam brought back
wasn’t what at all what I had wanted: two enormous hard heads of cabbage, a bag
of white potatoes, three big cans of ‘pork meat’ (Irish stew, anyone?), a bag
of tiny oranges, 4 bags of sausage patties, 2 bags of white rice, 2 enormous
bags of pistachios (oh, my teeth!). I just wanted peanut butter and brown
bread.
I took the pork meat, a bag
of pistachios, and a bag of rice; also took half the oranges. I ate the oranges
right away; they were tasty but tiny and hard to peel. Ate four sausage
patties, then opened a can of pork meat. A little bland and greasy, but with
pepper tolerable. It’s obviously a mixer, so the next can I’ll have with
potatoes. I mixed some of the broccoli rice with the leftover ‘gravy’, and it
was good.
In the evening got e-mail
from John that he couldn’t bring over the $20 until Monday, so no cookies just
yet. But I do have supplies for the weekend, so thank the Lord for that. I only
hope I don’t eat up the $20 before next weekend. That’s on me. Rosary about
10:30 PM, then to bed.
Notes
PCBR is short for Prayers,
Catechism, Bible, and Catechism; I was reading the Catechism straight through,
which was an interesting experience and answered a lot of questions I hadn’t
even thought to ask yet.
I’m not sure at this
distance what ‘Reunion’ was about. Maybe it exists under another name; perhaps
I just dropped it. The Goldfire Questers? Bob and Daisy? ‘American Prometheus’
was the story about Benjamin Franklin as Frankenstein. It hasn’t been finished,
to this day; it got too involved and sprawling, almost a book in itself.
Lot about food here; January
was always a rather bleak month. It still is. But it was harsher in those days.
I wasn’t getting social security yet, to get my own groceries. Kameron was
working for a church pantry at that time, and they would give them supplies
that were about to expire. I could eat pistachios – by grinding them up with a
mortar and pestle.
I had been hopeful about Picard,
but I learned better as time went on. The Star Trek rot was setting in.
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