I have a poetry workshop this afternoon. Sundress Publications does a lot of "suggested donation" Zoom ones.

They have a pool!

The best!

I was getting peckish and feeling flummoxed about lunch and then I found a turkey birria quesadilla from Bi-Rite in the bin. And it was still good!

And it only took five minutes of the world's easiest cooking (flip it over a couple times in a frying pan) and was so delicious. They give it to you with a birria dipping sauce and that was very tasty.

Also, it's so big I usually only eat half at a time, so just the right amount of satiation.

Despite kind of looking like a delicate flower, I don't eat like one. But still, I always have takeout leftovers...I'm like a wife in an Eddie Murphy bit, always wanting half. maybe there is something to expanding portions and stuff.

It still feels wild and futuristic to be posting here while on an airplane. Even though there’s been wifi on flights forever.

But y’all are not posting! What are you doing, having LIVES on the ground? Balderdash!

Um, David when you say you found it in the bin you mean…?

I am so incredibly thankful for everyone that has helped and supported me from afar and in person.

And I am thankful all the way to the bone that they are ALL GONE. It is just me.

Today was a really tough day. Could have been worse, but plenty tough. Thing after thing went awry and I kept rolling and kept rolling with it, and then around 4 pm I went into bitch on wheels mode after a full day of three men either not listening well and/or me not communicating well. Plus other fuckery and confusion.

My helper is so earnest it makes the back of my teeth ache, and by the end of the day I wanted to kick that puppy so badly. The last straw was when i was stumbling over my words, because I'd been up for 12 hours, not to mention having twenty thoughts at once, and he laughed.

Normally, NBD. I took a very deep breath and said "I am this close to snapping-" and he jumped in quickly and said "I think you're doing great."

When I tell you I nearly pulled a Michael and dropkicked that puppy into the sun… I took an even deeper breath and said "…yes but you are the one that's here, so maybe don't make fun of me right now."

I am, quite legitimately, hypersensitive to men talking over me, interrupting, or failing to follow directions. And it was all day today.

Thank god I got two hotel rooms in Nashville and I'm going to Kate's for dinner. So today was about the peak amount of time i will spend with N.

So sweet!! Very deeply nerdy! Just wants to help! I might very well kill him!

Haven't even mentioned that he tried to take boxes out of my arms without asking. Which is something we just talked about the other day that really, really bothers me. He's the kind of nerd who believes in "chivalry" and argued with me about whether it's inherently gendered.

ISTG, next time it is all female movers. At least i have three women on the other end.

Rant over. Now i get to shower and sort my Halloween decorations and organize my tools, which I'm legit excited to do. Sorting things is so soothing, and I could use some soothing.

But y’all are not posting! What are you doing, having LIVES on the ground? Balderdash!

I just got back from my Wednesday drink at Alembic with my friend Jes.

Usually I see her on the weekend, but was in LA so it was good to catch up. We had a really good conversation that took a kind of sad dip as we discussed how AI is going to devastate the finances for artists.

I've seen stuff in the last month that shows that it's much more advanced than most people think. It's already capable of creating a perfectly acceptable top 40 ready country hit, and animated movie trailers. Even on my FB posts it wants to re-write things for me.

It's already here and is more advanced and entrenched than people recognize. It's not just that there will be an AI generated pop hit on the radio, but it's going to be most of the songs that are streamed within a few years.

That was my little epiphany, because of everybody going to streaming and everybody getting used to autotune, Spotify (or whatever streamer) will ardently push AI hits because they don't need to pay artists. They already don't want to pay artists so all the streaming media platforms have a strong monetary incentive to cut artists out.

It's going to start with kids animation and romance novels and people will definitely buy it. Things which can be formulaic but with some variations.

It won't be everything; there will still be niche market for people who value artistic expression. But the big, profitable middle chunk of popular media is going to push that way so quickly.

Ooof, that sounds like a long day with difficult friction, smonster.

They're helping but they're just working your last nerve at the same time!

Glad you get to see Kate! Huge bonus in my estimation.

Note to Everybody: Don't take boxes out of smonster's arms.

Ugh. I hate it when men think chivalry = not listening to women’s clearly expressed wishes and needs. “I know what you need better than you do,” is not charming. Best of luck with the move, smonster!