Dormancy

     Been a bit quiet of late. Some of that is that I've been busy getting things done, and some of it is that I'm simply becoming quieter. My opinion does not need to be given on every issue that comes my way, especially since I'm not completely informed on many of them. Unfortunately, since sketches are usually my opinion on things, that does mean I've done less drawing lately. It's not gone, though, no worries there.

     Anyway, as things are slowing down with the season change, thought I'd catch up here. In no particular order, here are things that I've worked on recently:

Sewing: Halloween outfit (Slytherin student from Hogwarts, and apparently this was the most people who've ever dressed up for Halloween at work), and work pants.

Exercise: Still doing boot camp two nights a week, and running twice a week at home. The Kenpo Karate class is on break until December; I'm enjoying that quite a bit.

Financially comfortable

     One of my goals when I was young was to be "financially comfortable." I knew being filthy rich was probably out of my league, but I was happy with the idea of having enough money so that, when emergencies arise, they don't completely derail finances.Maybe not an exciting goal, but hopefully a realistic one.

     Recently, I took my car in for scheduled service, and they told me all four of my tires had low tread, and would need replaced before winter. I had noticed some slipping on rainy days, or when trying to take off too fast, so I believed them. I shopped around a bit, and found a deal on some decent tires - not super high end, but not settling, either - for about $450, and just... got them. Made an appointment, got them done, paid it off as soon as the charges hit my card. Yeah, it wasn't a big emergency, but I remember many times in life when that would have put a serious crimp in things. It was a pretty good feeling to know I'd hit a goal. Maybe it's time to raise the bar on that one.

#Metoo

     When the #Metoo hashtag started trending, I didn't copy it at first, for a couple reasons. Unfortunately, in bringing awareness to the problem, it's also brought my awareness back to my own experiences, which I thought I'd dealt with and put away. Perhaps those feelings of shame and anger and self-loathing - both immediately after it happened and years later, asking myself why I didn't stand up for myself at the time - will never really go away, I'll just be able to forget them from time to time.

     Anyway, one of the problems with talking about it, as someone who's experienced it, is the fear of reaction. I'm sure it's incomplete, but here are some possible responses:

• Disbelief: will they even believe me? 
• Dismissal: "That was just one instance." As if that makes it okay.
• Justification/ victim-blaming: "I'm sure there's more to it than you're saying - were you drunk, or wearing a short skirt? Were you flirting with him?"
• Avoidance: "Well, not all men do it, there are good men out there, too!" Agreed. But I had to deal with one of the bad ones, and nothing is being done to stop them.
• Pity: Being relegated to being "A Victim," and watching a friend/coworker/boss/whatever treat you differently because you're not a friend/coworker/employee - you're A Victim.

     The biggest thing that keeps me from saying anything, even today when the topic came up at work, is that I don't want the above reactions, but I'm honestly not sure what a positive reaction would be. A friend on facebook posted that his feed was flooded with the hashtag, and he didn't realize it was so pervasive; he didn't know what to say, so he put #ibelieveyou. Just reading that - words on a screen, that someone realized it's an issue and needs worked on - brought me to tears. Because someone believed. Because someone cared. Because things might actually change and fewer people will have to deal with it in the future. 

     Now imagine if someone said that in person, at work, and a coworker started crying. You'd look at them differently, wouldn't you? And that's with a positive response. See why we don't say anything?

Rhymes and recipes

     For some reason, the witches' speech from Macbeth was going through my head the other day, and it occurred to me that making a recipe rhyme would probably be very handy back in the days before writing and recipe boxes were common. Without more ado, then, here's a modern recipe in rhyme form:

Trail Mix Cookies

Laughter, love, and lots of kisses,
Time to fill some cookies wishes.
Foil cover a cookie sheet,
Set the over to 350 heat.

Painting

     So they've been painting the new kitchen for the past few days, and apparently they're using a special kind of applicator for a special flecked paint, which is REALLY LOUD. Again, my brain went other places... (it really did sound like something roaring).