Saturday my family had a gathering in place of the one we usually have on July 4. It was nice to see everyone and the food was great. Though I ended up spending so much time at the table with the (other) olds that I didn't get to visit as much as usual with my younger cousins. Consolation prize: lots of petting time with our host's adorable dog before she made a break for a forbidden dive into the pool.

Water dogs are just hysterical. There are some at the dog park that declare the large water bowl a wading pool. The doberman's have no interest in swimming.

Just sent Matilda off to work, stumbling out the door with coffee in hand.

I had a long talk on the phone with my friend this morning and we discussed: the disappearance of ham salad, relatives who smelled of overly cloying perfume, coworkers who reeked of nicotine and cat pee, how St. Louis' vintage housing stock was razed in the 90s because the old bricks they were made of were more valuable than the property, her ex-boss who was a woman married to a gay man who had three goals in life - to own a castle, own a theater and have a princess daughter (and achieved these goals), best recipes for avocado toast, the delight of having a blackberry bush in your back yard and eating 7 or 8 perfectly ripe berries off the bush in the morning, the great Chestnut tree blight, how Hank Williams is the music of pain, misadventures at the Mayo Clinic and how our respective 19 and 20 y.o. daughters were spending the summer.

A good and wide ranging conversation.

That sounds like a wonderful conversation!

I just don't do phones. There is absolutely no one that I enjoy a phone conversation with. Sitting face to face I can converse for countless hours. I'll happily email, message, or text. I just hate being on the phone. My mom felt the same way so we had frequent super short conversations. If I had to tell or ask her something, and I would always announce my safe arrival to any destination. Just the facts, love you, bye.

Alas, I have one sister and my MIL who love to talk on the phone, so I call them when I am driving. DH would like to talk on the phone more, and I humor him often, but he tries to limit his urge. Instead he somewhat does the same as mom, just quick questions and answers. The exception being when he is working through a problem and I am the sounding board.

Gasping even though I shouldn’t be because I * know* how crazy those prices are. Yikes

Sad to say that I didn't think "Hacks" was funny, but I haven't seen that many of them, either. (Half of America wants to throw down with me because I don't like 30 Rock, either, though, so my comedy heresy is probably well-established..) Things have not been especially good here, though not in crisis mode(for the moment) as with many on here. Am not exactly in the mood to hide out from the heat for months(not that I'm not *used to that* as much as someone can be) but it's about that time, never mind that I'm having my now-quarterly freakout about not having given life a big wet tongue-kiss or whatever--not exactly sure what I would *do*, at least not as much that I'm certain I'm not doing it. Just in time for Nature to be like "Hey, since we had *so much fun* with your digestive problems from your thyroid last year, and since you are becoming A Crip Of A Certain Age, remember how overheating made you vomit when you were a kid? I thought we should do all that stuff on a bunch of random Thursdays...see, you can get dates after all." #WorstMiracleEver

Cereal: I cannot believe I was on "Cracked" Facebook page talking about de-institutionalization--well, it started from a newbie's dumb Reagan question, but it disturbs me that old-school institutions appear to be having something of a cultural...faux-stalgia moment. Maybe it comes from the same pot as Trad Wives and plantation weddings. What people picture is someone walking a mentally-ill person around well-tended grounds and gently insisting that they take their meds, which is pretty much what happened, never, and is still pretty much ripe for abuse...literally from where I sit. Even people who might seem pretty radical say "Well, it's okay if *some* people get locked away forever," more than I would like.

Today is Gudanov's birthday! It has been far too long since I've seen Gud around these parts, and I am sending lots of love his way. Is anyone in touch with him? I think of him and worry about him often.

It is also Sean and Bridget's birthdays, but I do see them on FB where greetings of the day can be sent.

Aw, I hope all of them are having good days!

Maybe it comes from the same pot as Trad Wives and plantation weddings. What people picture is someone walking a mentally-ill person around well-tended grounds and gently insisting that they take their meds, which is pretty much what happened, never, and is still pretty much ripe for abuse...literally from where I sit. Even people who might seem pretty radical say "Well, it's okay if *some* people get locked away forever," more than I would like.

The "good old days" notion is probably the bulk of it, yeah. Its hard to see people on the street who should be somewhere quiet and safe and cared for - but that never actually was an option, now was it? Even when that was the initial intent funding was shit and the need outweighed means just about immediately just about always.

And the abuses when no one even tried to do well or were just fucking greedy evil sadistic bastards... a boyfriend of mine worked with former Willowbrook residents. Enough said there.