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!

I hope the rest of the move is easier, smonster. Moving always sucks, but often oh so worth it after it is said and done. Yay for Kate time!

David, the advance of AI is absolutely going to be faster than all of our worst fears. It is accelerating at a frightening pace. Yes, a serious threat to artists, but I also dread the summer political season. There is going to be almost no way to distinguish the deep fakes, and they are going to be nasty.

“I know what you need better than you do,” is not charming.

Honestly I know as many women who think they know better than their partners, friends or grown children. I find it more of a personality thing than gender. Prime example is my MIL. I've told her countless times, adults get to make their own decisions. My sisters too, now that I think about it. Personally, I don't want to tell anyone what they need to do as I have enough on my plate making my decisions. I won't hesitate to ask if I need help, or let you know if I don't! Thankfully my circle knows this well. Alas, I need more help with a lot of things than I used to.

Well, at least SCOTUS got one right. They tossed out the case meaning that mifepristone will remain available.

Well, at least SCOTUS got one right. They tossed out the case meaning that mifepristone will remain available.

I get a few medical-related e-mail newsletters every day, and I cheered when I read the subject line on that one this morning.

I have a cold (Covid test yesterday was negative), so I think today's going to be a day off for me. I might just go back to bed.

Got my driver's license renewed today (or, as Texas insists, driver license.) Nothing says dystopia quite so much as the renewal form asking you to donate to help process sexual assault kits.

Sooooo Dad is back in the hospital. He won a trip in an ambulance yesterday because he passed out from GI bleeding. I took today off because I'm going to go visit, of course, even tho' the hospital is 50+ miles from us. (Which is inconsequential, because my Dad.)

We won't be heading out until late afternoon, and I'm feeling some residual guilt that I took today off even tho' I could have been around the first half of the day. Even tho' I know that I wouldn't have been able to concentrate or get anything done.

You would think I was raised Catholic with the constant background murmur of guilt in my head.

Oh dear, Atropa! Best wishes for your Dad. And back off, guilt murmurs!

Dana, that is disturbing