@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar

AnotherJen

@[email protected]

Trying to find the right balance between cute animal pics and resisting demagoguery in its many forms. Living in the Anthropocene cataclysm (she/her)

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@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

for the day before Valentines, here at Procrastination Manor:

Opening Yule presents with my sweetie!

Flowers 💐 from my sweetie's sweetie!

Having achieved parity between cats and mandolins on the premises.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

Some very good health news for a dear friend;

A colleague who picked up the mess after I dropped the ball;

Naps.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

Visiting Philadelphia? Our mass transit system includes trolleys. Trolleys run on rail tracks, along the same streets cars use.

Don't park on the trolley tracks.

Don't park so close to the tracks that trolleys can't get through.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

Often misattributed to Kurt Vonnegut; actually from a Tumblr poster with the handle Three-Rings (in a thread that started with discussion of Vonnegut), and something that I found today. I think more people need to hear it, esp with AI out there now:

When I was 15 I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.

And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”

And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

A ride in memory of Alex Pretti is set for on Saturday 1/31.

I don't do Instagram -- if there's any indication of the ride's route, could someone put it in the replies?

(Of course, I would understand if the organizers don't want to give out TOO much info. )

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUDaFwUjpfQ/

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

A Helen is the amount of beauty needed to launch a thousand ships.

A milliHelen launches a single dinghy.

When someone calls you a ten, check the units


@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random


You know you make me want to slouch
Just lie down there and slouch
Hold my hands low and slouch
Drop my head down and slouch...

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random


If I can't have two
I don't want nobody baby

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

First bluegrass class! Bluegrass isn't my usual music genre, and I didn't know the songs the teacher expected everyone to know, but it's a way to listen for chord changes and play in a group and (gulp) improve. Yes, folks, I took my first solo in a jam tonight.

Went to the dentist. Most people might not consider that a good thing, but I love how shiny smooth my teeth feel after the hygienist does her thing.

Made some tasty mushroom stroganoff for dinner.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

An MLK Jr day conundrum:

Many of us have a three day weekend, but none of us are living the dream.


@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

At Friday night's candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good, Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire:
“I have asked the clergy of the diocese to make sure their affairs are in order and they have written their wills. This is ,not the time for statements. It is time to put our bodies between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable”.

h/t @clancyny on Bluesky

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

this quiet day at home

Sleeping in after a day of driving and happy fuss;

Neighbours coming to call;

A walk on the high street to look at the decorations and get take-out Indian food. (Indian, not Chinese -- a variation on tradition?)

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

For those wondering why I'm making such a fuss about , here's an excerpt from Terry Pratchett's . Susan, a mortal who is Death's granddaughter, has just saved the Hogfather (a Santa/Father Christmas type figure) from a messy death at the hands of those who would prefer a more clockwork universe.

I WILL GIVE YOU A LIFT BACK, said Death, after a while.

"Thank you. Now... tell me..."

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T SAVED HIM?

"Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"

NO.

"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."

THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN.

...

"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"

A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.

They walked in silence for a moment.

"Ah," said Susan dully. "Trickery with words. I would have thought you'd have been more literal-minded than that. "

I AM NOTHING IF NOT LITERAL-MINDED. TRICKERY WITH WORDS IS WHERE HUMANS LIVE.

"All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable. "

REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little --"

YES. AS PRACTICE YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

Happy to all who celebrate.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

Household tradition is to light a flame at sunset before the moment of , and keep it burning until after sunrise after solstice.

This year that means lighting the flame on the evening of 20 December and keeping it through solstice at 10am (ish) on 21 December until sunrise on December 22.

Some things were easier when stoves had pilot lights.

A single candle, alight.
ALT
@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

for Thursday

A that got me thinking about why arrangements are the way they are, and why it might be better for me to try to come up with my own for my favorite songs -- for playability, and for the learning-by-doing;

A good haircut;

French fries for dinner.

(This is an occasional reminder that "good things" don't have to be "good for me things".)

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

from Monday

A busy day at work went well;

Found online videos to walk me step by step through a task I'd been putting off;

My sweetie came home from a business trip days earlier than I expected!

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

Getting music I like and supporting
a local record shop;

My cats' reaction to their favorite treat;

A flexible work schedule with deadlines communicated months in advance.

@AnotherJen@mindly.social avatar AnotherJen , to random

Just canceled my Disney+ subscription.