Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
Day 64: Whether because of the heat, the drone from the air conditioner, or just pure orneriness, I was having trouble sleeping, when I suddenly realized I’d forgotten the day’s photo! Turns out a green nightlight in the restroom makes for a nice moody (if a little goofy) late-night photo opportunity.
With everything going on, and particularly with recent SCOTUS decisions and That Fucking Guy still being, yet again, the GOP’s front runner, I see no particular reason to celebrate where we are as a country right now.
But my hopepunk determination to not just wish that things were better, but to continue to fight to make them so, goddammit, prevails.
We can be better than this. It’s not easy — not now, not in the past, and not anytime soon — but we can keep fighting for ourselves, for each other, and for those who don’t even know we’re fighting for them. (And “fighting” is different for everyone. Pick your battles, and pick battles and methods that work for you.)
Original image by TJDPoetry on Instagram.
(I’ve been seeing this image go around Facebook, and really like it, but noticed that the image showed signs of degradation, and was uncredited other than the signature in the image. So I went looking to find a better quality image file and to give a credit link back to the artist.)
Day 63: We’re not really much for the patriotic thing, especially these days (I try to be hopeful about the future, but don’t quite feel like celebrating the present). However, we do like a nice meal out in our pretty little backyard with a small fire going.
Day 62: Geeky flirting at its finest. My wife finds me the best shirts!
Here’s a fun little entry in my small and random collection of Trek stuff: A set of four drinking glasses issued by Dr. Pepper. They all have TAS artwork on the front, some technical or biographical information on the back, and have a copyright date of 1976.
This set was found by my brother at a garage sale or antique store (I don’t remember exactly) a few years back and sent to me as a present. They’re great! Though they’re definitely display pieces, as I don’t want to risk damaging them…or the possibility of their using some sort of funky ’70s-era lead-based paint or some such thing.
Thanks to this simple Twitter archiver, I’ve just added my Twitter archives to my website, and added a link under the “Worth Reading” header menu item (though whether or not they’re actually worth reading is debatable).
While I wasn’t one of the most prolific users out there, I had my share of silly, serious, inane, or thoughtful things to say over the years, and it would have been a shame for them to have entirely disappeared. So I’d downloaded my data before deleting it and locking down my account, and have had it sitting on my computer waiting to find the right way to get it online somewhere. Nice to have them visible again.
(I actually have them all also imported into this WordPress blog, but the tool I found to do that imported them all as their own specific post type intstead of adding them as standard posts, which means they’re not easily visible. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to either covert them to regular posts or incorporate this other post type into the rest of the blog. For now, though, they just sit in the database.)
Day 61: About to get ready for bed, I realized I hadn’t taken my photo for the day. Then I turned in circles for a minute or two trying to find a camera angle that didn’t have an embarrassing background. I rather desperately need to get my home office straightened up.
Day 60: We noticed yesterday that one of our headlights was out, so today I figured out how to fix it. Some car headlight bulbs are ridiculously difficult to access and swap out, but the process on a 2016 Chevy Sonic is remarkably simple. Even I could do it! We’re pretty sure I’m an auto mechanic now.
31/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hopepunk and Afrofuturist stories in the world of Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer. A really good set of stories, written with a lineup of coauthors. There wasn’t a story here that I didn’t enjoy. While not strictly necessary, I do recommend at least watching the Dirty Computer “emotion picture” before or along with reading this for a little more background on the world and its characters. And, of course, Monáe’s Dirty Computer album, along with the rest of her albums, is excellent.
Day 59: Since my wife has the summer off and my schedule has shifted to four tens until fall quarter starts, we now have our Fridays free. Today, we started our day with a trip to the Point Defiance Zoo. It’s a little smaller than the Woodland Park Zoo, but makes up for that by having two aquariums…well, usually, at least — one is closed until next year for renovations. Still, we always enjoy this zoo, and it made for a nice way to spend our morning. Now we’re back inside and hiding from the sun once again.