I fed the dog, finished up the gear move, but got all enthusiastic about it again and laid down a couple more tracks. Oops. When something's more fun than a bath...

Anyway, it's all working again in the permanent location, including the new element of the SO's monitors. After a little flurry of remembering what order to turn things on in.

So yeah, bath, dinner, admin. The mix stems might have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks, -t. It was, despite being beyond capacity, really really nice. She's so old! We're so old....

She was saying she feels dumb and turgid and misses school because she lacks camaraderie and mental challenges. I told her that it was perfectly normal to miss that about university, and it's really hard to replace, but that if she ever wanted to get neck deep in a debate about anything the internet was waiting for her. And no, she can't have the shoulder-bumping full press of people you get on a campus, but you can still get emotional interactions and support.

Which...cue Safe Harbor From Ann Arbor (kinda dicey because it's her aunt I was fleeing, but that was skimmed past), and she was really captivated by y'all, as far as I got. Her big sister is very right-here-and-now in-front-of-me sort of a person--I don't think she'd ever really get caught up on the internet, but Megan's eyes lit up when I told her about Allyson's futon, and Kat's kids, and Jilli's clothes, etc.

Which is sweet--they think I'm weird as all fuck because I don't get rewards where they do, but Megan totally got this.

And, dear lord--shopping. Her sister needed Rodeo Drive. So we went past actual malls and shit, to go into stores I only drive past. Last time she got me into a Saks, I left with a Cole Haan leather jacket, and so the Choos aren't a huge surprise (well, other than that they exist--I thought he was straight up 4 inch heels). It was a deliberate frippery on my part, because I have not bought myself a gift yet, and she's trying to convince me that saving $300 is important.

Uh, no? Because these are easily twice as expensive as any other pair of shoes I've ever owned. It's the money spent, not the money saved, dearie.

She saved well over a grand, because she ended up with five pairs of (pretty impressive) heels, but clearly my exasperation at my shoe collection is not something she'd ever understand. My red-soled shoes are knockoffs (bought when I didn't know that Louboutins existed--I just needed a really subtle red accent for an all black getup), but she had that exact pair of Loubs (they say that?) in beige, and now she has them in black too.

Her quest for a dress for the inauguration ball was fruitless, but I did end up poking at clothes I had no business touching, because EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS for that dress? I...it was really pretty, but no. She wouldn't spent that much either, to be clear, but she was looking for sales in stores that sold dresses like that as if was no thing. In fact, I need to look up some of the brands...these were in the running for Meg to get for her new bride, for instance--they looked great, and they looked like they'd be insanely comfortable, but...and look at the loafers--I finally felt like I was getting it--the "what" that is the rich person's tell. They just looked like shoes I couldn't afford in a way that I'd never be able to discern a mega-expensive pair of jeans. And the other light bulb store was Michael Kors--I can't find the outfits I was looking at there--they had some leather and wool dresses that were remarkable, and in general just great silhouettes, so that was all wildly depressing. The Guccis etc at some point became white noise.

But--I can't be mad. I'm not willing to work three jobs to be able to buy that sort of stuff, or put in the level of effort it took Megan to get where she is right now. Doesn't mean I don't feel pangs of jealousy, though.

Ah yes -- like the time I thought I'd check out the "Bridge" lines at a department store -- turns out, they are the bridge between normal expensive and CRAZY expensive. So yeah, no. That shit was real nice.

It sounds like a great visit, though.

I finally have double-cranberry muffins in the oven.

Also, I'm watching Criminal Minds, and it's real funny to see Parker scared on a roof ledge, with Dawn holding the gun.

was I with you that day, Jesse? Lord & Taylor?

I'm sure it was L&T, but think I was alone? But also maybe!

The real problem with me looking at really expensive things is it makes the $500 dress store by me seem more reasonable.

Brian was saying how he never uses fabric softener because it wears out clothes faster and I just wryly shrugged and said that most of my clothes were so cheap, they either wore out or developed holes from my rough wearing of them that I doubted FS played much of a role. He tut-tutted me.

This is the guy who cleaned up the laundry area when he came over to use the dryer when I was out of town. And admitted to cleaning up after the cats when he came in one day and they'd cleared the coffee table of all the debris on it and knocked over every trash can in the house. And grinned sheepishly when I teased that the real reason he swept the laundry area was cause he couldn't stand the chaos. He probably thinks me a hot mess. But we enjoy each others' company.

Devi's sneezing. Finally. And at the moment, breathing better, though the need to sneeze seems to be uncomfortable, the way she's holding herself. Or maybe she's just exhausted. I'm pretty sure I overreacted today (inasmuch as there is nothing that can really be done but hope the anti-bs work, and if it is a tumor or polyp, then it gets real hard,) but it was the steady torture of every breath being this laborious whistle that I think did me in. But maybe the pred helps. I don't know.

I should have gone swimming. And to DC. I AM a hot mess.

Why am I hungry? I've eaten an absolutely normal amount of food today and done not much, there is no reason for me to be ravenous.

Fortunately I have some jello made, that should tide me over.

Expensive clothes, I don't know, probably it's best if I'm never exposed to them up close and personal and don't really know what I'm missing. I do dream of having one excellent designer outfit, maybe a suit, but I'd need my size to stabilize so I could theoretically wear it for many years and, y'know, money to spend on that.

Also, I'm watching Criminal Minds,

I just finished watching, and I think Reid just won the Woobie of the decade award.

I get real hung up about expensive things sometimes, mostly because I chose my current income level. Like I simultaneously want them, can't believe people spend that much on them, and also don't really understand what they are. With houses, for example: nice houses have basically all the same things as mine, but the surfaces are all nicer. For example my wealthy friends with the unbelievably comfortable pull out sofa. That's the kind of thing that money makes a difference in quality.

But clothes and fashion, I sometimes understand and sometimes don't. Better materials, a better cut. Better tailoring for sure. But I have never understood buying the name. I'm like that William Gibson character who was allergic to brands--I used to cut the tags off my clothes.

I guess ultimately it's the class status thing. The things that I'd buy that are expensive I'd never actually buy because my lifestyle is very rough. I spend a lot of time on my knees. I haul wood and shovel ashes. I practice archery in subzero weather. Quality clothing is important, but in a very different way.