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Insofar as I am not going to name names, this is vague-posting. But there are some people who are moderately likely to be reading this who probably remember me going on a rant years (decades, in most cases) when they made some offhand remark about how, if they ever experienced cognitive decline, they wanted to be "put out of their misery." They figured it was safe to say in front of me, I'm guessing, because most people have known me as quite high-functioning cognitively and so forth. What they didn't realize is that I have not taken my cognitive abilities for granted for a very long time.
The situation I am in right now is that remembering when people said that in front of me hurts even more than it did at the time.
During a recent speech and cognition assessment, I had to name as many animals as I could in one minute. I topped out at twelve.
Anyone care to reiterate their comments? Because you didn't know back then that your remarks and attitudes might be directly relevant to me and my situation, but I always did.
(Thanks for reading this. I know it's an unpleasant and really difficult topic, but I need to say it, and I hope some people listen and think about it.)
Thanks.
The situation I am in right now is that remembering when people said that in front of me hurts even more than it did at the time.
During a recent speech and cognition assessment, I had to name as many animals as I could in one minute. I topped out at twelve.
Anyone care to reiterate their comments? Because you didn't know back then that your remarks and attitudes might be directly relevant to me and my situation, but I always did.
(Thanks for reading this. I know it's an unpleasant and really difficult topic, but I need to say it, and I hope some people listen and think about it.)
Thanks.
Encouragement Wanted, Please?
Sep. 18th, 2026 03:38 am There has been some discouraging news insofar as my concussion recovery goes.
The first is that while there is some improvement, I'm at a bottle-neck. My eyes are not working together yet. And until they are, there is a bunch of other therapy that I cannot yet do. They will be doing work with me specifically to get my eyes and brain all working together, but it's been more than four months since the injury, and I am bummed out about it right now. The work is solid and they are pretty sure they can make a positive difference, but oh, I wanted to be farther along than this, and I want to be able to do the other PT work already, and get back to my regular and ongoing life, and I know this is just one phase in adapting to whatever things are now and will be next. But still, argh, and ow.
The second is that my concussion seems to have given me shortness of breath. They tell me this is not unusual, but it's a particularly unpleasant situation for me. Those of you who know how I took voice lessons to address -- successfully! -- my previous diminished lung capacity know what a big deal it is to have to start over, in a way. There will be PT and/or OT for this, I'm sure, and I intend to contact my voice teacher and see if she's taking students. If not, I will find another who is. I know this, too, can be addressed, but still, argh, and ow, and also this is particularly scary to me for Reasons.
Anybody got experience, encouragement, or even just Good Things to tell me about?
Thanks in advance.
The first is that while there is some improvement, I'm at a bottle-neck. My eyes are not working together yet. And until they are, there is a bunch of other therapy that I cannot yet do. They will be doing work with me specifically to get my eyes and brain all working together, but it's been more than four months since the injury, and I am bummed out about it right now. The work is solid and they are pretty sure they can make a positive difference, but oh, I wanted to be farther along than this, and I want to be able to do the other PT work already, and get back to my regular and ongoing life, and I know this is just one phase in adapting to whatever things are now and will be next. But still, argh, and ow.
The second is that my concussion seems to have given me shortness of breath. They tell me this is not unusual, but it's a particularly unpleasant situation for me. Those of you who know how I took voice lessons to address -- successfully! -- my previous diminished lung capacity know what a big deal it is to have to start over, in a way. There will be PT and/or OT for this, I'm sure, and I intend to contact my voice teacher and see if she's taking students. If not, I will find another who is. I know this, too, can be addressed, but still, argh, and ow, and also this is particularly scary to me for Reasons.
Anybody got experience, encouragement, or even just Good Things to tell me about?
Thanks in advance.
DreamLog: spookyfashionhorrorgame dream?
Sep. 10th, 2026 08:16 pm Last night, or whenever I slept earlier today whether night or not, was full of a dream. So much dream. This may have something to do with ongoing recovery from the concussion on May 10. Then again, my brain can get up to its own weirdness even without TBI assistance. Anyway, it was a thing.
The dream started with the exploration of a partly-destroyed set of adjacent buildings, in which there were a number of fashionistas. Whether they were living there, or prospecting and camping there, was unclear. What was clear was that they were there for cloth. And methods of draping. Which the destroyed buildings had. The cloth was in piles, or under fallen timbers sometimes, or caught on them. The methods of draping were on the haunts, revenants, and inexplicably beautiful undead who processed through the space at unpredictable intervals.
They didn't always notice the fashionistas or us. By us I mean myself and a growing number of young people who seemed to be playing a game in the space. By this point, my time with the fashionistas had yielded some truly interesting lacework cloth and left me with ideas I hope to follow up on while awake. But at this time, the ruins had begun to unruin themselves, and a couple of the younger fashionistas had been joined by other young people, and they were all intensely involved in a complicated game. The way the walls and interiors reconstituted themselves into a rather elegant hunting lodge did not seem to matter to them. Getting the drop on the spooky folks progressing through the space mattered a lot, though.
The snacks I kept seeing the young people with turned out to be part of the game, as the candy and so forth would transmute itself to game-spells and game-armaments once selected by a player. I suspected interesting variables and choices and roll tables. To have a small butterscotch suddenly unfold to be a seemingly green glass test tube full of fuming liquid was a surprise, but not as much of a surprise as it being still completely edible. In fact, eating it was the way of setting off the spell. (That particular one was a power boost and offensive spell boost in one, if I recall aright.)
The two fashionistas who were playing in the game were continuing to pick up interesting textiles as play continued. I admired their ability to multitask. Also, they and their friends were excellent company.
The particulars of the dream are slipping away, but it will probably influence some textile work I hope to do once I've triumped over the paperwork that needs to be cleared away.
Dream anything interesting lately?
The dream started with the exploration of a partly-destroyed set of adjacent buildings, in which there were a number of fashionistas. Whether they were living there, or prospecting and camping there, was unclear. What was clear was that they were there for cloth. And methods of draping. Which the destroyed buildings had. The cloth was in piles, or under fallen timbers sometimes, or caught on them. The methods of draping were on the haunts, revenants, and inexplicably beautiful undead who processed through the space at unpredictable intervals.
They didn't always notice the fashionistas or us. By us I mean myself and a growing number of young people who seemed to be playing a game in the space. By this point, my time with the fashionistas had yielded some truly interesting lacework cloth and left me with ideas I hope to follow up on while awake. But at this time, the ruins had begun to unruin themselves, and a couple of the younger fashionistas had been joined by other young people, and they were all intensely involved in a complicated game. The way the walls and interiors reconstituted themselves into a rather elegant hunting lodge did not seem to matter to them. Getting the drop on the spooky folks progressing through the space mattered a lot, though.
The snacks I kept seeing the young people with turned out to be part of the game, as the candy and so forth would transmute itself to game-spells and game-armaments once selected by a player. I suspected interesting variables and choices and roll tables. To have a small butterscotch suddenly unfold to be a seemingly green glass test tube full of fuming liquid was a surprise, but not as much of a surprise as it being still completely edible. In fact, eating it was the way of setting off the spell. (That particular one was a power boost and offensive spell boost in one, if I recall aright.)
The two fashionistas who were playing in the game were continuing to pick up interesting textiles as play continued. I admired their ability to multitask. Also, they and their friends were excellent company.
The particulars of the dream are slipping away, but it will probably influence some textile work I hope to do once I've triumped over the paperwork that needs to be cleared away.
Dream anything interesting lately?
(I grew up across the street from someone who started every conversation with "So otherwise then," as a preamble to the news of the day. I forget exactly which part of Europe/Eastern Europe his family's mother language had been, but it came out as "So odderwise den," which tickled my parents immensely.)
So otherwise then, the sewer repair man has rescheduled his estimate appointment from earlier this morning to a time which will be after the emergency drain cleaner person he located and scheduled for us will have cleaned the drain out so that the sewer repair man can tell us whether this will be a $4K, an $8K, or a $15K-$18K fix. (We knew a fix had to be done, and we can now handle paying for one, though of course it'd be preferable to have the lower cost option and be able to roll any extra money into the replacement of the fallen retaining wall and deteriorating front steps... which in any sensible plan is the order in which these things should be done.)
Anyhow, the sewer repair man is very helpful and we are grateful, and likewise to the emergency drain cleaner.
So that's our morning here at Lindenhaus. So how's by you, den?
So otherwise then, the sewer repair man has rescheduled his estimate appointment from earlier this morning to a time which will be after the emergency drain cleaner person he located and scheduled for us will have cleaned the drain out so that the sewer repair man can tell us whether this will be a $4K, an $8K, or a $15K-$18K fix. (We knew a fix had to be done, and we can now handle paying for one, though of course it'd be preferable to have the lower cost option and be able to roll any extra money into the replacement of the fallen retaining wall and deteriorating front steps... which in any sensible plan is the order in which these things should be done.)
Anyhow, the sewer repair man is very helpful and we are grateful, and likewise to the emergency drain cleaner.
So that's our morning here at Lindenhaus. So how's by you, den?
In an essay published on Medium, in reaction to a New York Times guest essay about Gay vs. Queer, James Dale said:
"We don’t win by figuring out who to leave outside. We only win we when we stand as one."
This is what I wrote back:
This is what I wrote back:
THANK YOU. That's the heart of it. Figuring out who to leave outside has always been a practice encouraged by fear and weakness. Strength is standing with each other. Even when we don't understand each other sometimes. Even when we disagree with each other sometimes. Even when we cordially dislike each other sometimes.
Nobody's expendable. Nobody's expulsion can be the price of our freedom.
Though I do understand the occasional impulse with every fiber of my came-out-in-the-1970s being. And it's not a new feeling. When I was doing a lot of bisexual/queer activism in the 80s and 90s, someone showed me a quote attributed to someone during the furor over Radclyffe Hall's book THE WELL OF LONELINESS. Supposedly the someone, who was also queer, said in a letter to a friend, "It is, in a way that is particularly inconvenient at the present moment, not a very good book."
Preference, whether for words or other things, varies. Taste varies. Approach varies.
What doesn't vary is the need to back each other up, to stand together when it counts.
That's what I posted as a reply, and there's a part I want to unfold a little more here.
Standing up for each other, even while personally side-eying this and that and the other thing, is one of the important practices of activist work. It's really hard to do sometimes. (And some people just have a genius for being annoying AF.) But I do not have to completely understand someone to defend their civil rights, and so forth.
(If I have to, I repeat the bit about "in a way that is particularly inconvenient at the present moment" through gritted teeth, and then get on with doing whatever accords with principles, respect, and solidarity.)
Have you had this sort of thing happen to you? How challenging was it?
That's what I posted as a reply, and there's a part I want to unfold a little more here.
Standing up for each other, even while personally side-eying this and that and the other thing, is one of the important practices of activist work. It's really hard to do sometimes. (And some people just have a genius for being annoying AF.) But I do not have to completely understand someone to defend their civil rights, and so forth.
(If I have to, I repeat the bit about "in a way that is particularly inconvenient at the present moment" through gritted teeth, and then get on with doing whatever accords with principles, respect, and solidarity.)
Have you had this sort of thing happen to you? How challenging was it?
Pretty sure I used up my entire supply of exclamation points in the previous post.
The Good Ship BIRTHDAY PARTY Sails Again!
Aug. 22nd, 2026 05:26 am (Since I'm recuperating from this concussion, I'm making things easy by recycling parts of this earlier explanation of what the good ship BIRTHDAY PARTY is, how it works, and so forth. Welcome!)
Welcome aboard the Good Ship Birthday Party! It's been a while since there's been a proper birthday cruise, and I'm turning 66 today, so it's time for fun again. Also it's the best way to do a birthday party right now, seeing as how a virtual ship lets things like posting and reading happen asynchronously, which helps tremendously with being overwhelmed with sudden exhaustion or Too Much Delight All At Once.
Come on and join the fun! Feel free to bring imaginary comestibles to add to the potluck, yah? Wear whatever flamboyant or quiet garb you like. If you prefer to hide out happily in the library, you're in luck, as this ship is equipped with an excellent one -- and please do take an imaginary book home with you, as a memento of the day.
Oh, hey, somebody asked about virtual gifts. If you have a recommendation for something you like a lot, readable or watchable or listenable (I got new headphones and will need to test them out - I am a happy hard-of-hearing Lioness!) please do leave me a recommendation or two. This is a great chance for me to find new things to read or listen to or look at or watch. Thanks!
And if you want to share a memory of some adventure or fun moment we had together, that would also be lovely. The concussion recuperation and my mental filing system are resulting in discovery of old things lately, if you know what I mean. What did we get up to in days of yore? Remind me?
Welcome abord! Thank you for coming to help me celebrate!
Welcome aboard the Good Ship Birthday Party! It's been a while since there's been a proper birthday cruise, and I'm turning 66 today, so it's time for fun again. Also it's the best way to do a birthday party right now, seeing as how a virtual ship lets things like posting and reading happen asynchronously, which helps tremendously with being overwhelmed with sudden exhaustion or Too Much Delight All At Once.
Come on and join the fun! Feel free to bring imaginary comestibles to add to the potluck, yah? Wear whatever flamboyant or quiet garb you like. If you prefer to hide out happily in the library, you're in luck, as this ship is equipped with an excellent one -- and please do take an imaginary book home with you, as a memento of the day.
Oh, hey, somebody asked about virtual gifts. If you have a recommendation for something you like a lot, readable or watchable or listenable (I got new headphones and will need to test them out - I am a happy hard-of-hearing Lioness!) please do leave me a recommendation or two. This is a great chance for me to find new things to read or listen to or look at or watch. Thanks!
And if you want to share a memory of some adventure or fun moment we had together, that would also be lovely. The concussion recuperation and my mental filing system are resulting in discovery of old things lately, if you know what I mean. What did we get up to in days of yore? Remind me?
Welcome abord! Thank you for coming to help me celebrate!
Onward, Valiant Snail
Aug. 12th, 2026 05:37 am Recovering from a traumatic brain injury is a bigger project than it seemed at first.
Tell me something good? A thing you did, or know, or are working towards? A place you got to go, a little bit of shared joy? A moment like a poem or a song? Someone that you celebrate?
Thanks.
The concussion clinic sees me in a few weeks. They've been really booked up this year, apparently. The physical therapy for the doubly-broken ankle starts this Friday. The ankle is healing splendidly so far.
Tomorrow I finish the thing I've been trying to write for my patrons on Patreon, with an update and some options. It's just difficult to make words get onto the page these days, and I've been very slow.
Tell me something good? And I'll tell you one: you exist, and that counts as good in my book.
Tell me something good? A thing you did, or know, or are working towards? A place you got to go, a little bit of shared joy? A moment like a poem or a song? Someone that you celebrate?
Thanks.
The concussion clinic sees me in a few weeks. They've been really booked up this year, apparently. The physical therapy for the doubly-broken ankle starts this Friday. The ankle is healing splendidly so far.
Tomorrow I finish the thing I've been trying to write for my patrons on Patreon, with an update and some options. It's just difficult to make words get onto the page these days, and I've been very slow.
Tell me something good? And I'll tell you one: you exist, and that counts as good in my book.
a quick sketch of an update post
Jun. 10th, 2026 05:03 amThere were thunderstorms going flickaflick kaBOOMba in the Twin Cities much of the night, so I am awake. Now that doesn't mean awake enough to make a proper post on how things are, but here's the basic stuff:
On May 10, I unexpectedly surfed down a collapsing retaining wall which then yeeted me headfirst into the side of the house. I got a concussion and a double-fractured ankle. And now I'm recuperating.
It was a short retaining wall, which is a great piece of luck, because things could have been so much worse. Even at the height of a couple of feet or so, like it was. There were a lot of important bits of good luck. Those stories are for later, though. For now, I'm just waving at everybody here and saying hi, I'm still here! Some of you have heard already, and have been kind and have helped get me to the ER, the ortho team, the imaging people, and all the rest, and there are not enough words to express this gratitude, but THANK YOU SO MUCH.
And now, probably sleep time. Again. It's remarkable how much sleep a person can need when recuperating from fractures or concussions, or both.
(And I hope you are having a much more pleasantly calm spring/summer yourself!)
On May 10, I unexpectedly surfed down a collapsing retaining wall which then yeeted me headfirst into the side of the house. I got a concussion and a double-fractured ankle. And now I'm recuperating.
It was a short retaining wall, which is a great piece of luck, because things could have been so much worse. Even at the height of a couple of feet or so, like it was. There were a lot of important bits of good luck. Those stories are for later, though. For now, I'm just waving at everybody here and saying hi, I'm still here! Some of you have heard already, and have been kind and have helped get me to the ER, the ortho team, the imaging people, and all the rest, and there are not enough words to express this gratitude, but THANK YOU SO MUCH.
And now, probably sleep time. Again. It's remarkable how much sleep a person can need when recuperating from fractures or concussions, or both.
(And I hope you are having a much more pleasantly calm spring/summer yourself!)
Happy May!
May. 2nd, 2026 05:32 pm It's nice to have good news to share.
As of May 1, I have health insurance again! In all directions available! (Medicare is complicated that way, and explaining it takes more words than I have time for, but the TooLong,Didn'tRead of it is: if your Medicare lapses, any supplemental insurance is also voided until you get the Medicare back. Which took from January 25th until now, in my case.)
Anyhow, yay health insurance. My doc will be pleased, as will my other providers.
Social Security also told me that the lapsed time period (for which I had paid, because they don't do reinstatement until you've paid for the part you didn't get -- I AM NOT KIDDING) will include reimbursements, which will mean I can close the pay-in-installments agreement with the providers for the three over-$500-each appointments I had before I was notified that I had lapsed already. Or if not close the arrangement, I can keep paying the providers knowing that someday SocSec/Medicare/whichever will reimburse me someday. So that's good too. Complicated and more paperwork, but good.
Sorry, I'm tired just thinking about more paperwork. Am going to go do the next thing, which is cycling laundry, and then go to my workbench and Make Something.
But still, good news!
How's your May going so far?
P.S. Heh. My phone notification just reminded me to go to my workbench. I'd better get the laundry moved and get to the bench!
As of May 1, I have health insurance again! In all directions available! (Medicare is complicated that way, and explaining it takes more words than I have time for, but the TooLong,Didn'tRead of it is: if your Medicare lapses, any supplemental insurance is also voided until you get the Medicare back. Which took from January 25th until now, in my case.)
Anyhow, yay health insurance. My doc will be pleased, as will my other providers.
Social Security also told me that the lapsed time period (for which I had paid, because they don't do reinstatement until you've paid for the part you didn't get -- I AM NOT KIDDING) will include reimbursements, which will mean I can close the pay-in-installments agreement with the providers for the three over-$500-each appointments I had before I was notified that I had lapsed already. Or if not close the arrangement, I can keep paying the providers knowing that someday SocSec/Medicare/whichever will reimburse me someday. So that's good too. Complicated and more paperwork, but good.
Sorry, I'm tired just thinking about more paperwork. Am going to go do the next thing, which is cycling laundry, and then go to my workbench and Make Something.
But still, good news!
How's your May going so far?
P.S. Heh. My phone notification just reminded me to go to my workbench. I'd better get the laundry moved and get to the bench!
waving hello from the month of April
Apr. 10th, 2026 01:07 pm How did it be April? It seems simultaneously sudden and somehow like it took a million years. Guess I'd better catch people up; sorry about being out of touch.
State of the Me:
Still waiting for my insurance to be reinstated. (There's a whole saga that I'm too tired to retell right now, but rest assured that Things Are Being Followed Up On.)
It's been eleven weeks and one day since my mother died. My father died three years ago; their funerals were three years apart on the same day. (Which I guess makes future anniversaries of that day more efficient or something, but the last day of January is likely to not be a great day for me next year and ongoing. Just saying.) My sister continues to be a hero on dealing with all sorts of things big and small connected with all this. (My mother-in-law Ruth made me promise to remember to say my sister is a hero, but I would remember anyhow. Also, I miss Ruth, who passed in February two years ago. Which adds to the grief anniversaries.)
There are a lot of finished pieces I need to get up in the shop. I did manage to get the "Autocorrect" series up, the ones with a duck and an ice cube, or a fork and an ice cube. There will be more. Also, I just found all these hockey player charms, and something needs to be done with those.
The interruption in insurance is delaying some parts of the work on recovering from agoraphobia, but other parts continue. I have plans for a stroll down the block with a neighbor soon.
There is so much art I want to make. And so many people I want to talk with. (Hi!)
So that's part of the State of the Me. If you feel like sharing, what's the State of the You? And hi! Hi!
State of the Me:
Still waiting for my insurance to be reinstated. (There's a whole saga that I'm too tired to retell right now, but rest assured that Things Are Being Followed Up On.)
It's been eleven weeks and one day since my mother died. My father died three years ago; their funerals were three years apart on the same day. (Which I guess makes future anniversaries of that day more efficient or something, but the last day of January is likely to not be a great day for me next year and ongoing. Just saying.) My sister continues to be a hero on dealing with all sorts of things big and small connected with all this. (My mother-in-law Ruth made me promise to remember to say my sister is a hero, but I would remember anyhow. Also, I miss Ruth, who passed in February two years ago. Which adds to the grief anniversaries.)
There are a lot of finished pieces I need to get up in the shop. I did manage to get the "Autocorrect" series up, the ones with a duck and an ice cube, or a fork and an ice cube. There will be more. Also, I just found all these hockey player charms, and something needs to be done with those.
The interruption in insurance is delaying some parts of the work on recovering from agoraphobia, but other parts continue. I have plans for a stroll down the block with a neighbor soon.
There is so much art I want to make. And so many people I want to talk with. (Hi!)
So that's part of the State of the Me. If you feel like sharing, what's the State of the You? And hi! Hi!
Cardinal John Henry Newman filk, repeated
Feb. 26th, 2026 12:22 pm Whoops! It was John Henry Newman's birthday the other day, and I missed the opportunity to post this again. It can be sung to at least one version of John Henry, though things may have to be adjusted here and there. Here ya go:
When John Henry Newman was an Anglican
He went down to the Holy See
Said I wanna see the Pope 'cause I got a crazy hope
That they're gonna make a Catholic out of me, Lord, Lord,
They're gonna make a Catholic out of me.
When John Henry Newman was a young man
He wrote about a Kindly Light
He called it "Pillar of Cloud," and if you sing it real loud
It'll lead you through the gloomy night, Lord, Lord,
It'll lead you through the gloomy night.
John Henry Newman was at Oxford
He was a deacon and a curate too
He got to be a vicar but decided it was quicker
To scribble down a tract or two, Lord, Lord
To scribble down a tract or two.
John Henry Newman up at Oxford
At St. Mary's chapel on the side
He told them in a lecture that it was his conjecture
The middle way was fine and wide, Lord, Lord
The middle way was fine and wide.
John Henry Newman got in trouble
Reading monophysite lore
"This bit about "securus" -- it doesn't reassure us
I think I better think a little more, Lord, Lord,
I think I better think at Littlemore. "
John Henry Newman had a buddy
Father Ambrose, he liked Rome
They liked St. Philip Neri, so in the vale of Mary
They built themselves a home sweet home, Lord, Lord,
They built themselves a home sweet home.
John Henry Newman got converted
And it made him feel alive
But he lost a few subscribers the day he swam the Tiber
On 9 October '45, Lord, Lord,
On 9 October '45.
John Henry Newman bought a ticket
John Henry Newman went to Rome
But though he got ordained, he did not remain
He packed his bags and headed home, Lord, Lord,
He packed his bags and headed home.
John Henry Newman went to Oscott
To have a little toast and jam
And in a blaze of glory to build an Oratory
They later moved to Birmingham, Lord, Lord,
They later moved to Birmingham.
John Henry Newman took exception
To what he heard Kingsley say
Newman said "I showed ya ; I wrote an Apologia
And it's Pro Vita Sua all the way, Lord, Lord,
It's Pro Vita Sua all the way."
John Henry Newman got promoted
And they gave him a big red hat
They put it on his head, and everybody said,
"Mercy, will you look at that, Lord, Lord,
Mercy, will you look at that."
When John Henry Newman was an old man
He was a little on the quiet side.
He got a telegram from heaven on August eleven
And laid down his missal and he died, Lord, Lord,
He laid down his missal and he died.
John Henry Newman in his coffin
On compost did recline
He said "I have chosen, by completely decomposing,
To leave not a relic here to find, Lord, Lord,
I will leave not a relic here to find."
There. That was written by me some while ago -- September 20, 2010, I guess it was. Enjoy!
There. That was written by me some while ago -- September 20, 2010, I guess it was. Enjoy!
There's someone who is trying to raise funds for memorial services and to bury his brother who died of exposure last weekend. I'll just say what I said on bluesky:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-harold-lightfeather-benny-boy
Thank you.
And thank you also for sharing the info elsewhere as well if you can.
His family wants to do memorial services in Minneapolis and in Wisconsin where he was born and will be buried.
If you've felt grief, if you've comforted people in grief, please help these folks.
(My own mother died this morning.
If you were gonna bring me a hot dish,
please give here instead.)
https://www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-harold-lightfeather-benny-boy
Thank you.
And thank you also for sharing the info elsewhere as well if you can.
in the midst: another passage
Jan. 21st, 2026 03:23 pm After some trouble getting ahold of me, my sister has let me know that our mother died this morning.
(So maybe don't assume I remember anything I'm supposed to remember this week?)
My sister and her husband continue to be awesome in these matters. As does Juan.
OK. Gonna go have food and meds now.
(So maybe don't assume I remember anything I'm supposed to remember this week?)
My sister and her husband continue to be awesome in these matters. As does Juan.
OK. Gonna go have food and meds now.
National Weather Service sez
Jan. 21st, 2026 01:31 pm ...EXTREME COLD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THURSDAY TO 11 AM CST
FRIDAY...
...EXTREME COLD WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH
SATURDAY MORNING...
* WHAT...For the Extreme Cold Warning, dangerously cold wind chills
of 35 to 45 below expected. For the Extreme Cold Watch, dangerously
cold wind chills as low as 35 below possible.
* WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central,
southeast, southwest, and west central Minnesota and northwest and
west central Wisconsin.
* WHEN...For the Extreme Cold Warning, from 9 PM Thursday to 11 AM
CST Friday. For the Extreme Cold Watch, from Friday morning through
Saturday morning.
* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 45 below zero
could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
And where is this for?
And what do we do?
Which mostly means "Keep yer ass indoors! You, and your little dog too!"
And also means "Look after each other. We keep us safe." OK? OK then.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish the bag for the supply depot and start on one for Pow Wow Grounds.
What's the weather going to be doing where you are? And how are the people in your neighborhood?
And where is this for?
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
1202 PM CST Wed Jan 21 2026
MNZ051>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028-220615-
/O.NEW.KMPX.EC.W.0001.260123T0300Z-260123T1700Z/
/O.EXT.KMPX.EC.A.0001.260123T1700Z-260124T1800Z/
Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa-Kandiyohi-
Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington-Yellow Medicine-
Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-
Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-Martin-
Faribault-Freeborn-Polk-Barron-Rusk-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-
Chippewa-Eau Claire-
Including the cities of Chippewa Falls, St Peter, Mankato,
Stillwater, Victoria, Hudson, Fairmont, Blue Earth, Hutchinson,
Olivia, Faribault, Gaylord, Waseca, Owatonna, Benson, Madison, Elk
River, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, Cambridge, River Falls, St Paul,
Minneapolis, Menomonie, Shakopee, Red Wing, Durand, Blaine,
Chanhassen, St James, Center City, Litchfield, Monticello, Osceola,
Montevideo, Granite Falls, Albert Lea, Willmar, Hastings, Rice Lake,
Eau Claire, Ladysmith, Le Sueur, and Chaska
And what do we do?
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Dress in layers including a hat, face mask, and gloves if you must go
outside.
Keep pets indoors as much as possible.
Which mostly means "Keep yer ass indoors! You, and your little dog too!"
And also means "Look after each other. We keep us safe." OK? OK then.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish the bag for the supply depot and start on one for Pow Wow Grounds.
What's the weather going to be doing where you are? And how are the people in your neighborhood?
(Whoever hellseries on AO3 is, this is for them, because it was their comment on https://archiveofourown.org/works/75916086 that made it happen.)
Edna St. Vincent Black Lightning Millay
Says the reader to the poet, “Your verse fine and wild
My attention has caught, and my senses beguiled”
Says the poet to the reader, “Are you going my way?
I am Edna St. Vincent Black Lightning Millay
You’ll not find me in found verse; the sonnet for me
Is the path of a poet determined to be free”
And she’ll pull you on behind
And down among the Muses you will ride
Some say that her love life is skid marks and swerves
But she’ll tell you in earnest it is Beauty she serves
She is changeable weather with a quicksilver soul
Edna St. Vincent’s not the kind you can control
But she writes like an angel with a devil’s sense of style
With heavenly precision and a wicked knowing smile
She says “They all will know some day
The name of Edna St. Vincent Black Lightning… Millay”
“Come down, come down, dear reader,” said the poetry patrol
“For they’ve taken young St. Vincent for the stealing of souls
She was speed racing Sappho, the Brownings, and Poe
Oh, come down, dear reader, to her final folio”
Now her body is broken and her breath is enjambed
She’s off to be the laureate of lays for the damned
But she smiles to hear you say
“I love you, Edna St. Vincent Black Lightning… Millay”
Vincent, by all opinions, could pour power into a poem
And take your breath and your heart before she took you home
Now too many poets — I won’t name names — they just came to play
They didn’t have a soul like St. Vincent Millay
She left us all longing, in spite of our pleas
But she reached out her hand and she left us with these
She gave us her visions, she gave us her poems
And the Muses swooped down to carry her home
And the name we still reverence today
Is Edna St. Vincent Black Lightning… Millay
Yuletide progress: it is posted!
Dec. 17th, 2025 04:28 am I have met the deadline and posted the thing! Now we just have the week between today and Reveal Day, also known as "the week where I find all the hidden typos and fix them." Main Collection Reveal Day for the fics is the 24th, and is followed by Author Reveals on January 1.
This year was more work than previous years, for a very particular reason. I got COVID for the first time in October, and while I got very lucky (Paxlovid turns out to work for me, yay!), I am so easily drained to exhaustion, by pretty much anything including brain work, which has never been this bad before. Also, I'm used to multitasking, and hoo boy do I need different strategies and approaches now.
I'm planning for a very long recuperation, since it looks like that's the smart way to go. But here we are, and today is a milestone day. The story is a story, and it's posted, and now I can catch up a little on my Etsy shop (I hardly posted anything new while writing) and my eBay offers (I'm selling most of a half-century's worth of queer and related subjects library, since I'm not a working journalist any more and somebody really should get use out of these books and periodicals).
It's been a long time. I had forgotten the peculiar satisfaction that comes with meeting a deadline.
This year was more work than previous years, for a very particular reason. I got COVID for the first time in October, and while I got very lucky (Paxlovid turns out to work for me, yay!), I am so easily drained to exhaustion, by pretty much anything including brain work, which has never been this bad before. Also, I'm used to multitasking, and hoo boy do I need different strategies and approaches now.
I'm planning for a very long recuperation, since it looks like that's the smart way to go. But here we are, and today is a milestone day. The story is a story, and it's posted, and now I can catch up a little on my Etsy shop (I hardly posted anything new while writing) and my eBay offers (I'm selling most of a half-century's worth of queer and related subjects library, since I'm not a working journalist any more and somebody really should get use out of these books and periodicals).
It's been a long time. I had forgotten the peculiar satisfaction that comes with meeting a deadline.
Yuletide progress
Dec. 15th, 2025 12:19 pm Yes, I am cutting it close. I blame getting COVID Halloween week, and having to rest like a potato. Which I am still doing, but I have advanced to the stage of literate potato. I hope. Because this thing is due in, what, fifty-some hours?
Anyhow, I came here to post that I have reached the milestone in writing the current draft where I just reread a section and said out loud, "OK, so there are actually a few bits in here that aren't completely shitful." Like, it's a known milestone. So that's encouraging.
Onward.
(Yes, that's why nothing new is in the shop this week. I have been on a schedule of sleep, write, sleep, write, with meds and basic necessities in there as needed. Not enough oomph left to photograph new work and still write and edit. Potato has limited spoonage here. But Potato is too proud to default on Yuletide. Please point people to go shop in the Etsy shop, though. Potato is fretting about this being a rough December for so many artists. Oh! Remind me to tell you about Boxing Day, which is going to be completely bonkers in a new way.)
Anyhow, I came here to post that I have reached the milestone in writing the current draft where I just reread a section and said out loud, "OK, so there are actually a few bits in here that aren't completely shitful." Like, it's a known milestone. So that's encouraging.
Onward.
(Yes, that's why nothing new is in the shop this week. I have been on a schedule of sleep, write, sleep, write, with meds and basic necessities in there as needed. Not enough oomph left to photograph new work and still write and edit. Potato has limited spoonage here. But Potato is too proud to default on Yuletide. Please point people to go shop in the Etsy shop, though. Potato is fretting about this being a rough December for so many artists. Oh! Remind me to tell you about Boxing Day, which is going to be completely bonkers in a new way.)
Um.
I tried to write an intro for this, but all I can do is gesture incoherently. No, I wasn't a Baldy, I wasn't a skinhead, but the milieu affected my life for Reasons. If you watch this documentary it may give you a better understanding of (some of) what made Minneapolis in the 80s what it was. Or maybe you were there too, and this will be an interesting tour of byegone days.
I really want to get together and share stories of those times. For now, here, have a pretty good documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=8BSDZ1DIEIQ
I tried to write an intro for this, but all I can do is gesture incoherently. No, I wasn't a Baldy, I wasn't a skinhead, but the milieu affected my life for Reasons. If you watch this documentary it may give you a better understanding of (some of) what made Minneapolis in the 80s what it was. Or maybe you were there too, and this will be an interesting tour of byegone days.
I really want to get together and share stories of those times. For now, here, have a pretty good documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=8BSDZ1DIEIQ
