Pointless

This is a comparison of the two most recent locations I did house shopping in and what they say about the areas, and in some ways society. I think these things can be pondered from a "where I want to live" perspective and a "how I want to live" perspective.

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The real thing here is the housing we looked at in '15/17, and the housing we had to compare with at sale about 5 years later. While when we moved in things were somewhat "generic" by the time we left there was a uniformity to design in Denver (both external and internal) which was, IMHO, damn depressing. It made the house search at our new location all the more mind-boggling.( Read more... )
Giving window coverings to Habitat and doing some elbow grease of painting my house myself was not that big a deal to me so I tended to ignore things when we looked in Denver because painting over walls is not that dang hard when they are white or light grey. Things were VERY DIFFERENT in Mizzu.
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I can't say I wanna stay here longer than I must, but I will say that the longer I stay the more I can find more "counter culture" or "liberal" or "progressive" people. I also find more anarchists. And this, funnily enough, is what shows up in the houses really fast when you go house shopping. I did not see this in Indy (where everything looks about the same as the trends from 5 or 10 years ago and is safe and conservative) or in Denver (where everything got generic and non-offensive and removed all the "west" from itself in the space of about a decade). Housing says a lot about an area. It says a lot about an area's culture and values. And if it weren't for the absolute annoyance for me of the evangelical Christians who tell me to have a blessed day every moment I am outside my house I might find some of it charming. Particularly the whole decorating thing. One place we called the Duran Duran house because it looked like it was from 1989 and actually had the Nagel lady from Rio painted on the mirror wall in the owner suite bathroom. Larger than life. Impressive.

The ASD/ADHD/Ikigai intersection (discussion of past with relation to trauma, abuse, and mental health and medications)

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So, I am attempting to set myself up for things that will support what I THINK will help with the finding my purpose/feelings thing. Who knows if any of this is going to connect or if I will be able to stick with the system. Still, structure isn't all bad. Sure consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds but if you are a bear of little brain then why not use what works for others for a hot minute? If nothing else the exploration of values, skills, strengths, etc (that ADHD gal defines all this stuff and actually gives possible examples and context that removes a lot of my ??@?!? responses which is GREAT) will at least give me some insight about where I am currently. My biggest fear of all this is that I am going to determine that I function best ALONE. That would bring me to some very hard choices and I do not know if I honestly should make those.

I suppose that's what the therapist is for, ne?

You didn't know I had left, ne?

( Read more... )That's basically me right now. The cat is growing and we are now in the fight stage regarding counters in kitchens. Other than that he's a total cutie and very loving. Our pet sitter took great care of him while we were away and the timing seemed just right to ensure he didn't get reclusive and kept trusting additional humans. Snow here is mostly light if a lot of it. The storm has passed and I think we are under 10 inches. No power outages. No ice. We are just rather tired and recovering from our escape.

Hope all of you have power, are safe, and your loved ones are safe. Please stay in if you are in a cold/weather impacted area. And remember that hope can win. We will all do the one or two small things we can do in our community and push forward. No one lives forever. Haters never prosper in the end. It's not gonna be fast or easy but it will happen.

Instead of dwelling on what was a roundly shitty 2025 after my return to Japan with everything from deaths, bad family issues, declining parents, declining business, declining body, and the only bright spot of a new kitten the last month I am thinking more about how to move into 2026 with INTENTION. The whole therapy thing has me trying to figure out how to start making better time for myself, for my peeps, and for what I enjoy. That means less time for people and things that stress me out and cause me issues.

With the above in mind, I am focusing on some Japanese concepts and phrases to assist with my evaluation points and for focus on 2026:

Toshi no se ( Read more... )Yoyu( Read more... )Wa( Read more... )Diligence( Read more... )Ikigai( Read more... )
I hope to use these ideas and principles to move me over 2026 toward a more cohesive me. I'm sure it will involve some reading and travel and working on connections. At some point I know I will have about 3-4 months of work which could get stressful but I hope to have good self care in place by then to stick with routines and set aside anything that comes up. And I'll keep trying to be present for my DH and my friends.

Life isn't a list of goals to achieve - although they can be helpful. It isn't a race to win. With everything going on in the world I'm going to slow down, take walks, do incrimental work, and unwind myself a bit.

So welcome a little early, 2026! I'll be getting ready for you and be happy to see a little more sun every day soon. May all of you have warm and cozy evenings, good rest, and enjoy your holidays in ways that feel best for you. Be safe and take care!

After a couple of trips to the local shelter to visit with some cats we have ended up with a 3 month old boy kitty. We are not keeping the shelter name and are actively workshopping for something that fits his personality. He has been with us a day and a half. He is kind, careful, a little timid (expected), and FIV pos. We were a very good fit for him as we have some means for extra care when needed, have an existing relationship with a local vet who will treat FIV kitties, and have no other animals/cats in the house. Little one had been at the shelter six weeks with all other kittens flying out of the kitten bins at record pace. He is not very talkative yet but we hope for more soon and he is already coming out of "his" area in the main suite/bath to explore the rest of the house.

Photos will be up at Tumblr if you have interest.

Currently we have as potential names:

Silver (DH said "Coors" to which I vetoed naming this little child after a beer and he tossed off Silver Bullet and that's actually not half bad if you drop the bullet)

Durango (Rango for short covers both animation and our loved Colorado)

Rei (Pronounced Ray which covers an anime character I adore, Raymond from Princess and the Frog, Ray Charles who is a top lister for both DH and I, and Rey in Star Wars so that's got a lot of ground)

Syd (for Pink Floyd founding member, Syd Barrett and also for Sydney Australia)

Note: This is adjusted for my "American" tastes. Generally speaking most Japanese prefer delicate flavors or not-as-strong flavors. I add a little more of things to my recipe as a result. I'll be putting a ** next to my addition(s) so if you want to try it a more original way, or if you prefer more subtle flavors, you can do both. Both is good! I also keep my leftover broth from this and then use it as a veggie/bean soup start after. Yum.

Mille-Feuille Nabe Recipe
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I'm off to make a batch right now!

So lovely to see everyone at the con! Very grateful to know all of you and particularly grateful to Glo for the flash writing challenges. So little writing in the last five years. It's nice to know I can get thrown prompts and still come up with something coherent.

FYI if you have never attended Con*strict and you are a member of our lovely slash community please do consider attending. It is quite "boutique" and you get a lot of time to gnash over fandom(s) and fan issues of the day in addition to sharing vids and crafting skills. I was shown an interesting hand quilting method I had not seen before, there were cross stitch lessons/kits to be had, our fearless leader makes sure we have abundant wonderful snacks and drinks, and the hotel currently has a "mixer" in the evening on weekedays (if you come in early) with a live piano player! Srsly, check out the little group here and think about showing up next year. If nothing else it is a fun excuse to visit Las Vegas with like-minded folk.

Also, The Empire Strips Back is currently in town. We were unaware until Saturday night but if it is in town still next year a group of us will totally be going to that!

Yes I am that fucking mad. It went in the mail today certified so I know it is received.

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I managed both my flu and my COVID shots yesterday. I feel much better about the flight for the con now. No troubles doing flu but they wanted a prescription for the COVID and I had it scheduled before I knew of this change. As a result I ended up going to CVS to get my COVID shot instead. They were not asking for a prescription and getting one would have taken until at least tomorrow.

Thanks so much Mr. Kennedy. NOT.

My husband has lost 70 pounds over the last 3 years. He has only one condition and it isn't on the "approved" list for the COVID shot. We've got nearly 90 year old people we are becoming increasingly concerned about so looks like we are going to have to pay out of pocket for him to get a shot (assuming we can find one soon). If we have trouble on that front will likely post to let everyone know.

Which normally wouldn't cause me to post here but it was an 8.8 and the tsunami warnings are going all the way to Alaska, Oregon, Washington state, and parts of Cali.

I know some of you are at least in potential impact states. There has already been damage to eastern Hokkaido island in Japan. Please check your alerts and/or get online quickly to see if you may need to be ready for higher ground.

EDT: Looks like potential impact runs from north south. Looks like Oregon around 2:40am and heading down toward SF by 3:40am. If you are awake and live near the coast check your local news and/or emergency lines and get to safety if needed.