Yikes, Zen. I have to say you've got a solid plan of action, which is impressive. ~ma for Dave's brain to be up to helping you as much as possible.

Oy, Zen. I'm sorry. It is too much.

Roommate went to the protest tonight (I'm too swamped with school stuff to even consider participation). In the last two weeks lots of artists began to influence the aesthetics and atmosphere in the protests. As a result, orchestras and marching bands are playing in every demonstration ( [link] and [link] we got a superwoman on a water canon vehicle (yes, she was arrested) [link] (all links are to videos on Twitter).

(While the superwoman vid was cool, the part that got me was the other demonstrator with the sign "I am the women that desireth life", from Psalms 34 (paraphrasing 13:15, that so many know here by heart: "Who is the man that desireth life, and loveth days, that he may see good therein? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.")

That was enough break. I'm fixing myself something to eat and returning to write the research proposal.

(Edited to fix a link)

Timelies all!

We took a tour of Mr. S's new school today. Not too surprising, he liked the large playground area the most.

Waves quickly at Shir.

Sounds like Mr. S has appropriate priorities.

shrift, I am wishing your father the very best health.

We took a tour of Mr. S's new school today. Not too surprising, he liked the large playground area the most.

Mr. S, I salute your taste and priorities.

Zenkitty and sarameg, I hope your work situations get better.

Laura, we've loved our Toyotas. Good luck!

ION, I have lost the one thing I could talk to my brother about! He is so right wing and so in love with all conspiracy theories that we were down to discussing baseball. I am not a big fan, but I would listen to him talk about his beloved Yankees and pretend interest. Well, they took a knee so he canceled his MLB subscription and will never watch baseball again. Sigh. My sister is at a loss now because her texting back and forth during games was their main means of communication too.

I don't suppose it would help to remind him that taking a knee is itself a respectful posture. People kneel to propose marriage and to pray.

Just because Trump says it disrespects the troops (which, where did they even come in, the National Anthem is all of ours, not the sole property of the military, and the protest is aimed at policing) doesn't mean it does. I could see if players were flipping the bird during the anthem.

What upsets me (this no longer has to do with your brother, I'm just on a tear) about this is that in the beginning, Kaepernick was sitting through the anthem (and at least once was wearing socks depicting cops as pigs [link] I can see how that rubbed people the wrong way.

A former player AND military veteran (Army Green Beret no less), Nate Boyer, is the one who suggested the knee as a respectful way to protest, and it is. [link]

I am entirely over "UP IS DOWN" bullshit from the right.

All done now (for now).

Send travel~ma for DH. He is driving the car up here from Florida then flying back on Tuesday morning. He's bringing the dog too! I know he will basically drive straight through, which makes me crazy, but he will do so anyway. He will nap in rest areas.

Cindy, my brother is a lost cause. He gets more insane by the day. His health is very poor and his memory pretty awful at this point so my sisters are hoping he forgets that he swore off baseball.

Get that money, Zenkitty! It won't really help when you're doing multiple jobs, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

Sorry about your brother, Laura. It's so hard.

Okay, so I've been dealing with brain weasels plus work being busy. My mom woke me up this morning with a phone call because she was worried that I hadn't texted her back and she saw that COVID-19 cases are climbing in San Francisco. We chatted for a while and then I flopped back into bed. Eventually I managed to get up, feed myself, and shower. Put on some clean pajamas and a headband, because the hair is out of control.

And then a little while ago a neighbor started knocking on my door for help with the building laundry room. I was flustered and forgot to put on a mask when I reluctantly opened the door, but she was wearing one. Apparently the machines aren't working right? She doesn't speak English and my Portuguese is so bad that we couldn't really communicate, but I have never used the building laundry room because I have an in-unit washer and dryer. I tried to understand and help, but y'all, I don't know how to troubleshoot this. I retreated back into my apartment, but a little while passed and she knocked AGAIN. Am I terrible for not answering the door this time? I'm not the building supervisor just because my apartment is across the hall from the laundry room!

Am I terrible for not answering the door this time?

Nope!

I knew I could count on you for validation.

Always. There isn't even anything you can do. It's not your job, and it doesn't take precedence over your needs and your life.