So my back continued to hurt throughout the weekend. It’s better now, though not all the way better, but better than it was. Very, very slow improvement. I’m not sure why it happened, only that it happened. Hopefully it is closing in on resolved.

It’s a strange thing to suddenly find you can’t do normal stuff without pain, without thought, without a little creativity. Of course anyone with a disability is reading this with a raised eyebrow, and that raised eyebrow is deserved.

Even if we are the empathetic type, and I like to think I am, we rarely can imagine the experience of other people in quite the same detail as having an incident can bring it home. And I have the most active of imaginations.

I’d like to suggest we replace impatience with people who have to do things differently than we do with patience, with offers of help if warranted or wanted, with understanding. Because if the idea of humanity isn’t enough for you, at any moment, on any day, it could be you.

Three days of nothing was a challenge for me, but I did it, as close as I could to doing it while continuing to feed myself. I’m sure there’s a lesson in slowing down in there too, and I guess the universe is going to make me hear it.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. I wish a wonderful and perfectly healthy Monday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

It’s a sunny day, maybe a little cool but that’s fine. It’s still spring so that’s allowed.

Got through Mother’s Day, which is a relief, and now on with the rest of May, which I hope will be smooth. I mean I guess we all do, right?

Basic human nature, I suppose.

I’ve been putting a lot of energy into various Cricut-based crafts, and the immediate gratification is almost addictive. I’m starting to wonder how I did without this thing. I’ve made mugs; I did a mouse pad, but apparently the video I saw wasn’t the best, as I think the temp was too high; I’ve made tote bags, as you may know.

Using creativity for practical objects has its own satisfaction. Having them go wrong but figuring out a way to salvage them feels like a workout for the brain, but in a different direction entirely.

Mistakes can be molded into something else sometimes.

Not always, of course.

But sometimes.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. Have a wonderful Monday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

Raining again, even on this, the first day of May, which should be when the flowers arrive and the rain stops. Get it together, Mother Nature.

Although if there’s anyone you shouldn’t scold, it’s probably Mother Nature.

Or just nature. Why can’t she be her own entity.

I’m really thinking about more coffee this morning and today I can’t tell you how this internal battle is going to end. I’m not sure more coffee will be good for me, but on the other hand, I want it.

Oldest fight in the book, right?

And the coffee won, it’s made though I haven’t had any yet. We’ll fix that little problem.

I’ve been seeing ads and movie trailers created by AI and as of right now, they’re horrifying and very strange. But it won’t take long for that to change.

And then what happens when it does?

Do we turn all of art over to something that, as far as we know, has no soul? No real being?

As you may know, I’ve used AI art for prompts, and one of the things I find fascinating his how not human it is. It tries, it’s close but it is not there. Something is missing.

Humanity is missing.

I wonder where this slick slope is headed, if I’m being honest. Perhaps that’s too deep for a Monday.

Anyway, have a great day, whether you are real or artificial.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

Well the good big news is Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. No final show, no fanfare, just out.

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.

We don’t know why, or if there was a straw or what the deal was but it’s nice that it’s bad news for bad people for a change. Thank you balance of the universe.

It’s one of those sort of sunny, sort of cloudy kinds of days, which is fine with me because Tucker Carlson is gone. Though I guess we’re no longer in the days when that means he’ll disappear entirely, but you’ve got to have hope.

And I just learned Don Lemon is out at CNN too.

Big day for the news channels.

Hard to get myself back into the blogging brain, I’m distracted by these shakeups. What’s behind them? Who is to say. CNN got a very conservative person, one of trump’s former people, in charge of news in some way or another a while back so it may not end well for everyone.

It’s weird how truth isn’t a thing anymore, it’s all about who can grab fleeting attention by any means necessary. It’s how the Earth will end.

Well, on that cheerful note, I wish you a wonderful Monday. At least better than Tucker Carlson’s.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

Must I think? That seems like a lot to ask.

It’s gone from nearly 80 back down into the 30s, and last night it snowed. It snowed.

Snow.

There was a dusting this morning when I got up, but none of it stuck around, and now the grass looks greener, like it got a refreshing, tall ice water.

I suppose it did.

The bad weather doesn’t seem done yet, though, and I’m trying to get my wheels turning. They’ve been slow to turn lately, and I don’t know the specifics of why. I’m sure much of the last two years catching up with me. And now I’m losing my sense of time completely as I try to remember when my mom got sick, when the slide began.

It’s like an accordion, expanding and collapsing, events near and far all at the same time.

That takes a toll too, I guess.

What an upbeat note for a Monday! Perhaps I should throw in a few “we can do its!” and “we’ve got this” and “hang in theres.”

We can do it.

We’ve got this.

Hang in there.

Have a great Monday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

It’s maybe cloudy, maybe sunny, one of those days when it’s difficult to tell. What it’s easy to tell is that it’s one of those days where I have to coax my brain into getting going.

You can do it, brain!

“Eh,” says my brain in reply.

I woke up way too early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep, and I suspect that’s the base of the problem. Tired but not sleepy, what a time for a distinction.

Anyway, it’s getting springier all the time, the temps climbing, the green starting to appear, early flowers popping up. Yesterday I was in the Loop, and there was an entire island of little blue flowers tucked at the base of the trees. As I watched from the car window, people walked by them, not one of them noticing this tiny magical space fit for a fairy.

That’s how it goes, isn’t it, we often miss the little changes, the gradual shifts, and even the sudden bloom of flowers that only last about as long as you see them.

And that’s a shame.

So even though it’s a Monday, and even though, like me your brain might be stuck on “eh,” try to notice one thing no one else is noticing.

It will feel like a present only for you.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

The featured image isn’t mine, I just love that bird.

I am too tired for a Monday morning. I mean if I start out the week at, like, say a 1, where is the rest of it going to go?

Sure hope you said “up.”

Our local election is coming up in Chicago and I’m probably going to vote early, I think. There’s more flexibility that way, you can go to any early voting site in the city. That way it doesn’t have to be a special trip.

And it’s gray again today, it’s supposed to rain later. It looks like it could be sooner but I’ve said that a lot and then it turns out to be not at all. Only a heavy sky doing its heavy sky thing.

I went to the lakefront yesterday, took pictures of some birds and animals, and though it was colder than I thought it was, much colder, it was nice. The birds were busy and chirpy and didn’t mind people at all.

I wondered if they’d missed us during the pandemic. Far less food during those days, I’d say.

Posted some pics on twitter here:

Colder than it looks. pic.twitter.com/TGIPUq4Qvq

— Isa-Lee Wolf (@IsaLeeWolf) April 2, 2023

Also learned something really cool, if you have a clear enough picture of a bird, if you search with google, it will tell you the species. I tried it with the birds from the thread and it worked really well.

Anyway, that’s it for me today on this draggy, draggy Monday. I hope you have a lovely day with more energy than I currently have.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

Coffee coffee coffee pretty much sums up my thoughts this morning. Is that enough for a post?

Maybe?

I can tell you I don’t think I’m getting away with one cup. Maybe it would be best for all of us if I go get that second one going right now. And off it goes. And since I had some interruptions, it’s now more than half gone.

Look at how I can control time here on my blog. All compressed into an instant.

Amazing.

It’s finally sunny after a long string of not being sunny, though it’s still pretty chilly. But maybe not for long, because that’s how these things go.

The seasons follow, one after the other, steady, unyielding. Which makes me want to share this with you, I saw it on twitter, and I can’t get it out of my mind. It’s very calming to watch.

pic.twitter.com/5gtRe4yHao

— Urbanartist (@Urbanartist2) March 26, 2023

The artist’s name is Howard Lee, and his work is remarkable. It’s a truly great use of five minutes.

Anyway, that’s it for me today, have an incredible Monday and a great start to your week!

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

It’s in the low 40s and the clouds and the blue are taking turns. It’s almost a springy day. Not quite but almost.

Yesterday, the wind was fierce, my hair a tangled tornado, and I wondered aloud when we would be getting to that lamb part of March.

Soon, I hope.

So after trump’s rant about being arrested Tuesday, there are heavy steel barriers going up in New York. Perhaps, but perhaps, the piper has opened his cashier’s window.

Time to pay up, trump.

One of the things that amuses me are all the people saying he did nothing illegal. If he did nothing illegal, why did Michael Cohen go to prison?

It’s not like Cohen took it upon himself to do all of this for trump’s benefit, that makes no sense whatsoever. And he got the money back, from what I understand.

And this case may be the first but it’s very unlikely to be the last. Maybe they’re going in the order in which the crimes were received.

I kind of hope not, though, because 1/6 and the Georgia call to manipulate the outcome of the election were so many terrible things later.

It all boils down to this: Justice is coming. At least it sure looks like it’s coming.

Have a great Monday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

It’s snowing. Enthusiastic snow, tiny little flakes snow.

Winter wants to hold us a little while longer.

Maybe it’s still the weather, maybe it’s just what it is, but I’m very tired, that hard to get moving tired.

Inertia tired.

I have a second cup of coffee but it’s still too hot to drink.

The almond milk foam on top is losing bubbles though, pop pop pop, fleeting worlds destroyed over seconds to us.

Maybe millennia to the bubbles. It’s all relative.

Perhaps that’s the gift in my glacial thoughts today, having the calmness to sit and watch the bubbles pop.

And that’s the way I’ll choose to look at it. Have a great Monday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.