Category Archives: Complainey

COVID-19 Journal – Entry 37

It occurs to me today that, if the world was operating as normal, I would be in France or Italy right now. I had a wee plan in my head at the beginning of the year to get to get to these places and look at the art from my art history books. That would have been three weeks starting this week – I had the time booked off from work. Instead, I moved my vacation days from this week so I could have time off in May. I still have two weeks off starting next week with no plans. No worry, no fuss. This is good too. Maybe I’ll start my holiday crafts. And by “start” I mean start doing holiday crafts at all, as I haven’t ever, really.

Some places I wanted to go:

  • Paris – the louvre mostly. Other galleries I can’t remember. Just to be in Paris for a bit.
  • Avignon/Arles – Van Gogh, and to be in southern France for a bit.
  • Nice – to break up the distance between France and Italy
  • Florence – the Renaissance
  • Rome – ancient Rome – day trip to Pompeii
  • London – I like London – some shows, some lunches from M&S. The usual.

That seems like enough over three weeks. London at the end because that’s sort of like going home – because I’ve been there several times now and it’s familiar, not because it’s actually home. Home is Canada where the trees are tall.

I usually have a trip to get excited for in fall, and that helps with the evenings getting darker. It’s fun to have the distraction of packing, and getting organized to go. This year I have other fun things to distract me:

  • Waiting for my flu shot! When will they be here? When can I go?
  • I need a new lightweight black jacket for spring and fall. My current incarnation was purchased during my first trip to Spain in 2012 and it shows. The fabric is fading. It’s still pretty, though. Maybe I’ll just Sharpie over the dull areas?
  • My mum gave me her silk blouse to mend a year ago. I should get to that.
  • Kimberly invited me to a Pampered Chef party a few weeks ago and I bought a popcorn maker. I’m going to have popcorn!
  • I need to buy popcorn!
  • The colours yellow, orange, red and green, all swirled together on the same leaf.
  • Candles
  • Sweaters, when it gets cooler.
  • At work today I learned about a massive hoodie-poncho-blankie thing with a pocket. I want one.
  • I’ve started scanning my paper archive onto my computer so that I might store it on a small external hard drive instead of in six boxes stacked in the corner. Admittedly this maybe become three boxes. Or four. I have much precious paper: schoolwork, writing, journals, travel ephemera. I just found the journals/scrapbooks (paper-based!) that I kept on trips to San Francisco (2005) and Toronto/Ottawa/St. John’s (2007) that I forgot about. I used to take a paper journal with me when I traveled, and also tape so that I could attach ticket stubs and museum maps to the pages while I wrote.
  • I have to clean up my flower pots on the balcony. There are some fresh buds appearing, so I should get rid of the dried up flowers to make room.
  • This is morphing into a list of things to do during my days off.
  • Feathers and brushes
Me! In what was then my new black jacket. Admiring the evening view of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, circa March, 2012.

I have no idea what time it is right now. This is kindof a lie, since I just looked at the in-flight navigator that the passenger in front of me and to the left has up on their monitor (making it so I don’t have to turn on mine.) It’s 12:30 in the night in Taipei, and 9:30 of the morning at home. Currently I’m somewhere over Japan and trying to sleep. Also it’s Wednesday now, so I got a little bit of Tuesday, but otherwise it’s a day that didn’t exist. I wonder what the Lindsie in a parallel universe did on that day. Did it exist for her? Am I the Lindsie in the parallel universe? Probably.

I’ve slept 3 or 4 hours (can’t tell how long. Time is calculated different here.) which is the usual for me on a plane. I would love to sleep longer since it’s a 12 hour flight and time goes faster when you’re asleep.

I have neglected to vent about how my speakers are broken.  The speakers I hook up to my computer are broken.  The left baby speaker doesn’t work.  Although it could be the right one.  It’s the one with the power and volume buttons on it.  I keep it on the left side.  The big speaker on the floor still works, and also the one I have here on the right.  This means that if the volume needs adjusting, I am reaching for the right speaker, which has no buttons! but does have sound coming out of it, sometimes too loudly, making me want it to be quieter, and so I reach for the volume control.  It’s all very inconvienent.  It’s something to do with the plug-in cord, I think, because sometimes if I fiddle with that then the sound comes back for a second, all pleasant and rich in stereo.  But that’s only for a second.  Thinking about it, these speakers might be getting close to being ten years old, so it might be time for new ones.  Whatever.

I was productive/non-productive today.  I replaced the broken zipper on my hoodie with a shorter zipper and some stitching.  So now it’s a pull-over with a zip closure.  I designed it thus because the zipper I found in my recycle fabric-and-such box was about half the length it should have been and I chose to repurpose instead of new-purchase a long enough zipper.

I would like to purchase some kicking boots.  I have boots already, but they are either nice and grown uppy, or just cute.  I would like some boots I could use to kick my way out of situations, if needed.  Also, they should clomp in a satisfactory way, as well.  I will wear them with skirts and be mischevious.

*kick-kick*

I keep forgetting to make bread until it’s too late.  Brown bread needs five hours to cook and I got to bed around 10 lately.  I have to remember before 5 to set up my bread machine.  Maybe I could set the timer so that it cooks overnight, beeping around 6:30.  Only no, it makes disturbing noises while mixing, and would no doubt scare the bejezzus out of me in the midddle of the night.  Not cool, bread machine.  Not cool.

Movie Review: Sylvia starting Gwynnie Paltrow and Daniel Craig.

I like the name “Sylvia”.  Sylvie.  Sylf.  Sylvia.  Very pretty.  I’m in such a mood where I can imagine naming a girl child such.

I’m spending this movie thinking why bother.  This is Sylvia Plath.  She’s just going to kill herself.  And really, there’s no excitement to prevent me from thinking that.  And really, my attitude is just like, perhaps, that towards female writers of Sylvia’s time: why bother, she’s just a woman.  Rrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Stupid modernists.

Really, though, and this is something we’re taught at writing school, writers are boring.  Even if they are played by Gwynnie and Daniel “James Bond” Craig.  See, even now the DVD’s playing over there and here I am writing in my blog.  Hoo!  Now I’m going to shut it off completely, put on some Zeppelin and read my book (Illustrado by Miguel Syjugo.)

For someone who has sub-titled their blog “grandeur of summer” I sure haven’t written very much during described season.  The reason is thus: lazy and hot.  Today I have ballet class and then I’m going to get a Big Mac.  It is the last ballet class of this summer session and it has been well worth the time and money put in.  A good teacher and I am remembering how to position my body to do ballet.  Also, by ballet musles are reminding me that they don’t like to be used in this way, at least not after a year of atrophe.  It seems modern dance just doesn’t use them in the same way.

Next week I have five whole days of work, whereas this week I had only three (holiday on Monday and flex day today.)  Grrr.

Today I thought it would be good to write a story.  Then I remembered I am yet to download OpenOffice on my new thing, so I am in the process of that now.  The new thing came with Microsoft Works (??) installed, and I didn’t even know they still made that.  I didn’t want it to come with Microsoft works (??) installed, but I didn’t have a choice.  It was Microsoft Works (??) for free or pay extra to get Microsoft Office, which I didn’t want either.  I have nothing against Microsoft Office, I use it at work and it is quite jolly.  But Open Office is free, and I quite love it. Although I guess I have to set it all up again so it’s as I like it.  Shoot.  I’ll do that some other time.

I ate at the Reef twice this week, once on Monday with Susan, and again today with the cooworkers.  “We should have lunch,” said supervisor.  “We’ll go to the Reef,” I replied.  “When? Today?”  And so it was.

I wore the stupidest pants at dance tonight.  They are meant to be yoga pants but they are cheep and don’t breath and are too loose so I have to tie the string around my waist so they are tight, but in an annoying way!  And if I don’t tie the string they fall off.  When the string around my waist isn’t bothering me, I’m grossed out by the sweat forming in a layer on my legs and being slippery because the fabric of the pants doesn’t soak any of it in.  Ew and ew.

Other than that, my favorite step of the evening was an arabesque with the arms hanging straight down in front.  It looks pretty when the teacher does it, and I hope it looks pretty on me.  (There were people in front of me so I couldn’t see in the mirror, and besides, I was concentrating too hard to look, and besides, *we’re supposed to be looking down* at that point.)

And that’s all I want to talk about today.

While eating an apple yesterday, I bit the inside of my cheek Really Hard. I had to stop eating for a few moment so I could cry a little bit: this was how hurty it was to chew on the inside of my cheek. Lesson learned: self-canabalism is a bad idea.

Speaking of the inside of my mouth, I’ve made another dental appointment for whatever I need done next. I don’t know what the procedure is named eveb though the dental receptionist said it a few times. Pre-fixing the teeth with cavities before they disintigrate. That will take place in April, which is fast approaching.