There is a lot to unpack there but I’m gonna just say go spite, choose spite

I have all of my Extendeds on mute(Not really about politics, really, though if they did it to me back, I bet it is.) No, I did that when we were most broke and they were all flaunty...on top of everything, I didn't need to feel like fucking Tiny Tim three times a week or whatever. I'm not missing anything, even though we were living better, and cracks in the facade and all that jazz. And my stupid cousin with the multiple kidney transplants who, like, enjoyed age nine so much that she...just decided to camp there does rouse herself to vote GOP now and again and it's better for my health that I don't think about that...too much more than this, right now.(and I can't really be mad at her...she never lived in reality and then she had a Health Crisis and *really* never had to. And we're both..you know, on the supplemental Hoping The 'Rents Don't Die plan, but, you know, only one of us really understands how informal that arrangement is--you'd think that might bring us together more, wouldn't you? There's actually kind of a lot of disability in my family, but if there's a message in that, I'm not sure anyone has it.) I am not upset with the Russian *people* just the Russian government, but if your SIL feels attacked personally, I'm sure that wouldn't help that much.

cereal: I feel badly for ordinary Russians...ordinary Israelis too. It sucks not getting to choose.. Not that I thought we'd all match. I find how my cousin lives to be nauseating, for all that I liked being nine when I did it the once, and though I find being this single right now to be lonely, my cousin is married to Lucky from King of The Hill so it's not like I'm jealous, Except that she's not hung up on by strangers, chasing a creative dream that she only catches about a fifth of the way, if that, and she can still think God is Santa Claus. She's not tracking every time the legislature twitches. Sometimes that's where I get jealous.

cereal: I feel badly for ordinary Russians

In contrast to the Israelis I know, V and her family are all in on every bit of wacky propaganda and Putin bullshit. Between this and Covid, these past few years have been difficult to say the least. I’m about done with them.

But I’m not ready to consign my brother to the rabbit hole. Or to his own depression and persecution mentality. It’s a delicate balance. I tend to save my powder for election seasons since he’s in a swing state and I’ve been able to pull him back from “there’s no point in voting” nihilism the past several elections.

“there’s no point in voting” nihilism

There have been several occasions where I've had to use "If you don't vote, you don't get to complain about the results."

Timelies all!

I'm sorry for your loss, Sophia. She sounds like a wonderful mentor.

We had another overnight with Mr. S which went ok. No meltdowns, but a fair bit of mood swings. We went to the zoo yesterday(and saw one of the two new pandas) but spent more time in the gift shop than seeing animals. It took him a little longer to settle down for bed than the last time, but still managed to be up around 5. He was kinda hyper this morning. He spent a lot of time playing shooty games on his Switch, which didn't help things.

Our weekly town hall thing got Zoom-bombed with lame pornographic images.(if they were literally lame, I might be fascinated, but...)

Random: Ha! I just typed "Thirded!" In a chat as if everyone would know what I meant. I mean, maybe... but it is funny to assume the rest of the word gets Phoenix-isms. Heh.

I've definitely done this.

I’m gonna just say go spite, choose spite

Thirded.