I did get permission from my boss to punch in a few hours late. Thank goodness. It was still not very much sleep, but it made a difference, and my tiredness didn’t affect me too much. Got some housekeeping (work housekeeping, not home housekeeping) taken care of and updated my to-do list. Worked on the next proposal, which has been almost done for more than a month. I’m a little annoyed with myself about that one.
InDesign did something funky on me in the wee hours of the day, as I was working on the proposal keeping me up all night. So at the end of our daily department Zoom meeting, I threw it out there for some opinions. Me and three coworkers talking InDesign. It was maybe the highlight of my day. It was just nice to have work-related discussions about an aspect of the work I enjoy, completely detached from work-at-home topics and COVID-19 topics. Felt like a normal work day, except instead of leaning over a cube wall, I stared into my phone.
Aside from personal emails, work emails, and the Zoom meeting, it started off as kind of low-contact day, which my tiredness was totally okay with. Then Crush Girl texted me to tell me about a book she just started and is really enjoying. Man, I love text messages like this. Later, I sent her a screen shot of one of Thursday’s crossword puzzles. It had a long answer that’s the name of a character on her favorite TV show.
My group text with my friends from the engineering firm woke up for a little while, Suzanne mentioning that Hustlers, the Jennifer Lopez film with Constance Wu, is on demand on Showtime. We chatted a bit about whether or not Suzanne owns “stripper shoes,” which I claimed she does.
Sylvia sent me some photos of the sourdough crackers she made. Very cool! I seriously want to try this with my sourdough starter discard.
Jennifer texted me to ask when I’m going to do Led Zep in this FB thing I’m doing. That led to a short conversation about our favorite Zep songs. Sharon texted me a photo of this Korean instant noodle stew she thinks I’ll really like. It looks great; I’m going to try and get my hands on some. F5 girl and I talked a little bit on FB Messenger about this week’s Friday 5 and how long it takes her to drive to Detroit.
Good connection all around, none of it initiated by me. I’ll take it!
I skipped the walk hoping to get to bed early and hit the beach before work, but it’s 4:11 a.m. now, so it’s clearly not going to happen. Bleah. Now I have to wait for Monday or Tuesday, because there’s no way I’m going during the weekend. People in this town do not know how to stay away from me.
Instead, I made a dash to the supermarket. Totally not needed, even though it’s been exactly two weeks since my last visit. I just really want some white rice, something I haven’t had much of, and certainly not in my house, for several years. When I make rice at home, it’s brown rice. But there are some super simple dishes I favor that don’t work with brown rice, so I’m going to try making hapa rice (a first for me) and see how that goes. So while I was there I picked up Diet Pepsi, some veggies (peppers, onions, bok choi, potatoes), some canned things, milk, and (holy cow) three boxes of breakfast cereal. No, I do not know what got into me.
Oh wait; yes I do. I’ll get into it more later (because I’m tired), but one of the sports podcasts I listen to every day had an interesting conversation about breakfast cereal, so I’ve had cereal on my mind non-stop for two days. It’s so bad for me, but I really love breakfast cereal.
Food. I pretty much ate the same thing all day. I woke up not very hungry. I had a few bites of the pulled pork (with Carolina-style BBQ sauce) just because my meds go down better when I have food in my stomach. Just before the Zoom meeting, I threw in a bag of chopped kale and pressure-cooked it for five minutes. That was lunch, the wonderfully vinegary pork and kale, in some orphan hot dog buns. Dinner was more of the same.
I didn’t snack all day, but right now I’m taking a few hits off a snack-size bag of Cheetos Popcorn. I’m so not into Cheetos that this little bag is going to last me a few days.
I’m only aware of two metal albums coming out today, both of which I’ve a passing interest in. Havok and Vader. They can wait. There’s still some good stuff from last Friday I haven’t checked out yet. There doesn’t seem to be anything in non-metal either.
There’s a five-hour PBS series on Asian Americans, May 11 and 12. The PBS website says
Asian Americans is a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever. As America becomes more diverse, and more divided while facing unimaginable challenges, how do we move forward together? Told through intimate personal stories, the series will cast a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played.
Some people I follow on Twitter are in it. Advance word is that it’s quite good. I’m mostly writing this here to remind myself, but hey. If you’re looking at this, especially if you’re not Asian American, I’d encourage you to check it out. Asian American history and culture are American history and culture, but it is so seldom represented in either the history classes or pop culture. Yes, it’s a lot better now than it was even a few years ago. Still, I feel almost as disincluded today as I did when I was nine.
There’s a tiny chance an Asian will be the vice president in a few months. Kamala Harris is on the shortlist. Tammy Duckworth is on the long list. This could go a looooong way.
I’m babbling now. Time for bed. If you’ve got something to babble about and need someone to whom you might babble, please reach out. I’m here for it!