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2024 Reading List

Welcome to the 2024 Reading List! I read 39 books last year! Very happy with that number! This year I will keep the list more orderly, with newest acquisitions at the TOP. It got messy last year! All the books brought forward from 2023 will be at the bottom, with xmess next, and so on. Here we go!

Number of novels: 26 (inc. in progress)
Number of graphic novels/comics collections: 27

Courtney Crumrin, Ted Naifeh. (Things I realised I’d missed!)
Courtney Crumrin Vol 4: Monstrous Holiday
The Crumrin Chronicles Vol 1: The Lost and the Lonely
The Crumrin Chronicles Vol 2: The Charmed and the Cursed
The Crumrin Chronicles Vol 3: The Wild and the Innocent

Ollies/Goodwill Summer

The Drowning Kind, Jennifer McMahon.

The Restaurant, Pamela Kelley. The author calls this “fiction for women”, I call it a 100% predictable, light summer beach book.

Rewired, S.R. Johannes. A YA novel that is VERY teen oriented. The author misuses tech terms (LAN is NOT any cable) and there are many typos of the sort that autocorrect will miss (breath is not the same as breathe; sentence fragments) which tells me this is definitely a low budget YA book. It’s just OK. The story is fairly good if the author would get out of her own way. I’m not in a hurry to read anything else by her.

Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult.

The Cure for Dreaming, Cat Winters. A YA novel set in 1900. It centers on suffrage and women’s rights with a little hypnotism thrown in for colour. It is a good read and the author added a suffrage timeline as well as more reading for the younger readers this book is aimed at. Well done!

Strike Me Down, Mindy Mejia. This was a mystery, action-y type story. A fast read and entertaining.

Ollies Hurl Feb 2024!

Finding the Flavors We Lost, Patric Kuh. Started today. It’s a tad dry, but it is an exploration of the notions of “artisanal” and “farm to table” and how they’ve shaped the American restaurant landscape. This is my treadmill book, so it will take a minute to get through it. Finally finished! Yay! This one is strictly for those who wax poetic about high end chefs and restaurants. It is ponderous and meandering.
Continue reading “2024 Reading List”

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Looking for VSG/Bariatric info?

Hi there! If you’d like to see ONLY my extensive research on Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, bariatric diet and managing GERD (reflux), you can filter out all my other posts and see just those by clicking HERE. You can see my vlogs about my VSG journey here.

To see any category (recipes, for instance), use the drop down menu to the right labeled “View Posts by Category” and select the category you’d like. Thanks for stopping by!

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And the Hits Keep Coming!

Small update 12/4: This person had another blowout with some other friends and pissed them off, too, so I really do not think this has anything to do with me. They are obviously going through something. Whatever it is, I hope they get back on track.
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The end of the year is always a challenge with the holidays and spending and all that crap. But I did not have end a long term relationship on my Bingo Card.

As I said in my whiny post on Oct 30, I am tired this year and I doubt I’ll do many social events:

I am typically maudlin this time of year, but this year is really bad. I doubt I will do much socializing. Don’t be offended if I pass on invites and/or don’t offer them.

Apparently this friend did not see that post (or did not care) and a dust up occurred when I told them that I was not doing a big Thanksgiving this year and only having two dudes (who have no local family) over. Cooking for four is the same as cooking for two, but I assume they think it should be THEY rather than the guys and they’re incensed that I’d not want to cook for six. If I cook for six, I may as well do eight, since I have to double the recipes. Slippery slope. I DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT MUCH PREP, COOKING OR SPENDING THIS YEAR. This is about me, not anyone else.

They say that I “made plans” with them in early October. I most certainly did not make plans – trust me, when it comes to cooking, I know exactly what I’m doing and when. This has nothing to do with them at all, really. Yet here we are.

Then when I said that they were getting VERY upset over ONE event, they lost their shit. They accused me of cutting them out of plans and then proceeded to bully and gaslight me in an attempt to get their way. Very bratty. (I have the whole convo saved; RECEIPTS) They even went so far as to say that Thanksgiving is not about food, it’s about hanging out. UM, SINCE WHEN? Apparently they think I’d be cool making popcorn and toast like Snoopy? That is not how I roll and I find it offensive that they’d even say something like that. I can see why they might think that, since every occasion is a party and not about food for them. Then they said ‘merry christmas and happy new year, too!’ (paraphrased) Ok, so now in their mind I’ve cut them out of everything forever and even amen? I did no such thing! This is 100% in their head. Yet here we are.

I think the real reason this blow up occurred was that we’ve been having Sunday Canasta for a while and they’ve been mad that we won’t invite them. THERE IS A REASON: we actually play cards. Canasta is not a simple game and we don’t feel that they’d have the concentration to play. It is not a party occasion, we might have a beer and perhaps some food, but WE PLAY CARDS. We don’t even really chat that much! I think they have the idea that it’s a big party every week – it is not.

I am not happy about losing an old friend, but it is not my decision and I can’t control what other people think. They think that my not wanting to do a big Thanksgiving thing is all about them and there’s nothing I can do about that. I took them off my FB for my sanity. They can read this or not. They can contact me or not. I am open to fix things, but damage has certainly been done.

But I have done nothing wrong and I will not apologize for not being obligated to cook for them on demand. For me, it is about the food and always will be.

I like to party as much as anyone, but DUDE, I am old and tired. And frankly, I’d rather spend time playing cards or having small dinner parties with people who actually do care about the food and want to enjoy it, than staying up all night partying. Parties are great, but there are more things in life than that.

All I can do is move on. So, this is me, moving on. Sigh. Comments turned off, there really is nothing to discuss. :(

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The Season Finale I Expected

This timeline sucks.

I knew the mouthbreathing hillbillies would win. This country’s history of racism and misogyny is not getting better or going away. Clearly.

I knew that Obama was an anomaly. I also knew that many, MANY male democrats simply could not bear voting for a woman. I wish voting was PUBLIC. Let’s see who you REALLY are, fuckheads.

I’ve been saying for YEARS that the majority of this country consists of uneducated, ignorant people who have no intellect with which to understand even the most basic concepts of government and society, nor to determine what is propaganda and what is not. I have, AGAIN, been proved right.

This is what happens when you have a populace that has been taught nothing of history, has no reading comprehension and can barely write. This is how the fascists WANT IT. Dumb people are easily manipulated. As for the fucking Boomers whose PARENTS fought Nazis to give them the best economy in the history of the US, welp, I guess they are just so narcissistic and self centered they really don’t give a single FUCK about anyone. I do find it amusing that they are voting to take away their own benefits. I will enjoy watching them struggle with no social security benefits or healthcare. I hope they suffer.

I am too old to get out of this fucking garbage country. I am stuck here. The rest of my life will be affected by the shitshow of T**** and V****. When the orange shitgibbon gets tired of ruling, the young Nazi will have a field day. The Supreme Court will be packed with fascists who are there FOR LIFE. (I use * in their names to keep Google AI from pinging this as an article FOR the fascists.)

It’s awesome to know that the REST OF MY LIFE will be dealing with this. The goddam Boomer motherfuckers will DIE soon, but the rest of us are stuck. We will not get rid of the Electoral College. We will have a packed Supreme Court for decades because the terms will not be shortened. Democracy is DONE, my friends. This country is now in the hands of neo-Nazis and Christian Nationalists who cannot wait to put in their sharia laws. (Yes, the word sharia is associated with Muslim law, however, I feel that it can encompass Christian religious rule as well. The Wiki article is long but worth a read since the tenets of it will be in place here soon enough.) IT WILL HAPPEN. IT IS THEIR PLAN.

The Handmaid’s Tale was not intended as a fucking instruction manual, you idiots.

For those of you who are trying to say “oh, just be nice to them, it’ll all be ok”, well you guys can go fuck yourselves. And for those who did not vote or voted third party you can fuck yourselves, too. And let’s not forget the businesses who support companies who funnel millions into far right causes, you can fuck off, too.

Chick Fil A, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby and Uline – which is the LARGEST DONOR OF ALL – dump millions into the far right. THESE COMPANIES SHOULD BE BOYCOTTED. If your business buys regularly from these far right corporations, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. Especially Uline. Fuck them, use SE Paper or ANYONE else. And check your local vendors to see if THEY use Uline. They probably do, since Uline is the Sysco of paper goods (meaning pretty much a monopoly). I know you can’t just not get the materials you need to do your job, but you can at least TRY to be aware and choose wisely.

Of course, SpaceX is the second largest behind Uline, but we all knew that M*** dumps millions into the right. Remember that every time you see a Tesla. Here are the first nine top donors with red being R and blue D. Notice the first D donor is less than HALF of Uline’s contributions. This is why the right is winning: corporations who pay off the government to avoid taxes. In a word: GREED.




You can see the whole list HERE. If you think that goods and services are higher because of Biden you are an idiot. The pandemic was a great excuse to raise prices to cockbag levels, then your boi T**** made sure that corporations had zero oversight and could keep prices artificially high. Do you think record profits have nothing to do with inflation? If you do, I again call you an idiot. If the populace had enough intellect to understand economics, taxation and oligopolies, perhaps the corporations would not be running things. Alas…

Corporations are all about the right because T**** will eliminate taxes for them while taxing the shit out of the rest of us. We’ve had tax bills the last several years because of the changes the shitgibbon made LAST TIME. It will only get worse. We pay about $150/mo ALL YEAR on our tax bills. And we DO NOT have the money for it. Even with Nick’s new job, we are far from flush. And now it is guaranteed that we will never be flush. Never.

We will work until we die if we are not strung up for being queer first. In some ways, just getting it over with would be a relief. I’m just too old and tired for a civil war.

So, I hope you mouthbreathers are happy. I can’t wait for YOUR social services to be taken away and for YOU to be taxed to the hilt. It will be my pleasure to hear your cries of “no fair!!” when you get exactly what you asked for.

Assholes.

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Two Steps Forward

One step back.

Can’t win for losing.

I am so tired.

Tired of living paycheck to paycheck.

Tired of having to pick and choose who gets medical care (me, Nick, Shasti). I’d LIKE to give my cat every chance to live longer, but I guess that’s OUT since we can’t afford the meds and getting that rotten tooth pulled, which will poison her system. Awesome.

Tired of thinking things are looking up, only to have someone fuck it up.

Tired of dealing with fucking GERD issues. Can’t do a fucking thing about them but get through.

I’ve not had a vacay in over a decade. Not going to get one any time soon, either.

The investment fund is just an auxiliary savings acct. It is pulled from every other month. It will run out. Then what?

My hands keep me from f/t kitchen (hell, even P/T) kitchen work. My narrow skillset makes me unemployable. Awesome.

I feel 100% defeated. As usual.

We will work without a break until we die. No vacay. No nothing, just work.

I am typically maudlin this time of year, but this year is really bad. I doubt I will do much socializing. Don’t be offended if I pass on invites and/or don’t offer them.

I just need time to get through this. Give me space, I’ll be over it soon enough.

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DragonCon ’24

I think this is the end of DragonCon for us. This year was TERRIBLE.

We got Saturday passes only, since we just wanted to shop and get a couple of autographs.

WELP. That was a bust. The line to get into the Mart was 2+ hrs. It was doubled up on the sidewalks, wrapped around the building several times AND serpentined through the loading dock.

Needless to say, we did not get in.

We did not get to see our vendor friends that we only get to see at Con. We did not get to shop. We did not get to see our comics and author pals. Nothing.

DragonCon is notorious for overselling. The owner is a money grubbing asshole who does not give a single shit about the con, only the money he makes from it. He does not care about vendors, guests or attendees. If this convention cared, it would not be the dumpster fire that it is. As I’ve stated before, it must be nice to have a business that makes MILLIONS with no staff.

When people complain, the standard con response is “oh, well, we do the best we can!” Right.

Well, people are certainly complaining now. There are several forums/groups that are chock full of vendors, guests and attendees who are vociferously complaining about the shitshow that we witnessed this year. I hear it was the same last year – we skipped, so we were unprepared.

Not only is it unpleasant and unsafe for guests, the vendors that must load-in and -out of this con spend pretty much a whole day just waiting to get into the dock.

It is perfectly clear that putting comics, pop art, vendors and authors all in the same building is not working. This convention needs to spread out these tracks like it used to be, in order to have more access for the attendees. But even with that, this convention needs to have a cap that is not whatever it is now. I’ve heard 80k, and I think that’s about 20k too many people. Every single area was overcrowded.

When the bulk of the con is either walking, standing in 90 degree heat in a line or dodging projectiles thrown by drunk people, that is not much of a con. Panels were pretty much inaccessible as well, with lines wrapping around the hotels. On top of that, the Walk of Fame (that is now run by a third party) has become too pricey for most people. $60 for an autograph from a NOT FAMOUS person outside one show is pretty fucking ridiculous. It was $40 2 yrs ago.

In the Olden Days™ (pre 2010s), the con was bustling and there were crowds, sure, but not like this. Also, we RARELY had fighting, people throwing projectiles from hotel balconies and other such jackassery. In all our years of going, we only saw one blackout drunk guy throw a beer bottle from the second floor of the Hyatt. That’s IT.

This convention refuses to hire security or any other needed staff, which is the main issue. When you cram 80k people together, you fucking need REAL security, not some con slave with a radio. DUH. This seems pretty obvious to me. But staff is not hired because the owner is a money grubbing ASSHOLE (as previously mentioned). Hells bells, they won’t even fund a proper green room for celebrities! They feed them hotdogs and other junk because “there’s no money” for a properly catered room. BULLSHIT. I’d be ashamed to run a multimillion dollar convention and have such a shitty green room!

I am so disappointed in this convention. It used to be our big event of the year. People go now just to stay in their rooms and party. That is NOT why I go to cons! I want to see the panels! I want to shop! I want to be able to afford getting the whole SNW cast to sign our poster. But DragonCon is not interested in doing any of that. I can stay home and party with friends. I don’t need a $500/nt hotel room for that.

So, I guess we’re done. I am really sad about that. But so many of our friends have already stopped attending, it’s not like we see THEM there, anyway. Sigh. I tell you, if they limit ticket sales and fix the logistical issues, we might consider attending again, but I seriously doubt anything will change. What would help is that if you are a vendor/author/artist and are sick of this shit, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING. Go to the groups/forums and BITCH. It might encourage this convention to fix its shit. Other conventions can manage it, why not this one? (Answer: GREED)

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Writing this Summer

My blogging has been sparse this summer! Mainly because I’ve been busy with reading, keeping this place going and rebuilding our deck!

Pretty much every weekend has been dedicated to working on the deck for the last 3 months. We are not fast, but we are VERY meticulous! We are 95% done, only the stair rails remain as far as construction. We’ll have to put lattice on the base to completely finish, but we’re taking a break from the deck to pursue other things for at least a month. Probably two. Anyway, here is a shot of where we are – we are SO proud of our hard work!!



If you’d like to see ALL the refurb photos, please to be perusing the Google Drive.

In other news, I’m having a LOT of VSG troubles. I’ve begun throwing up in addition to getting the spits, which is a new development. It’s not often, but I’ve never had the spits for an hour and/or thrown up before. I looked up “throwing up years after VSG” and found that this could be gallbladder issues, which are fairly common. My nails changing into soft, peeling messes coincide with this new tummy issue, so I think I’m also having vitamin/mineral absorption issues as well. Which makes sense, I can only take my vitamins occasionally since they make me nauseous and/or make me throw up. Blood tests are called for. I’ll get them once we have taken care of the Ranger ($1000) and Shasti ($500 blood tests + checkup).

I’m not saying much about politics, other than to say I think the Democrats have lost their damn minds. OF COURSE I’ll vote for Harris, but I am very concerned that many ::cough white men cough:: will not be able to manage a vote for a black woman. OTOH, if we do manage to pull it off, seeing the Orange Shitgibbon lose to a black woman will be SAWEET. At least until the civil wars start. Sigh.

I’m reading the Scalzi Old Man’s War series and enjoying it a lot. Highly recommend!

Enjoy the rest of the summer, y’all. Stay hydrated!