New kitten Lucy, because kitten pictures make everything better.
I re-read my last blog post and realized I sounded pretty bitter. That's not like me. (Okay, it is, but I lie a lot—it's my blog; I'm allowed to fudge. Plus, fiction writer here. Lying is what we do.)
Of course I am still bitter, but I've learned to ignore that and get on with life. Which, as a privileged person, I'm able to do. Others aren't so lucky, so that's why, when I can, I volunteer with the Democrats, the only party that can save your ass from this grim quagmire we've found ourselves in due to too many people thinking they could sit out the last election.
Ah, bitterness, my old friend! Welcome back! Have a seat while I try to entertain my readers—okay, my one reader who hasn't abandoned my blog for Netflix.
I've done a lot more of that fiction writing since I was here last. In fact, I have just about finished made some progress on my next book, which was on hold while I moped and volunteered and debated slashing my wrists. I've also, um, watched a lot of Netflix—or rather, BritBox, since my new strategy is pretending that I still live in England. I also listen to Radio X UK exclusively, even when I drive, thanks to TuneIn radio app. I try to read books set in England, too, which is another fun way to live a life of illusion.
I suppose I could watch French tv, or listen to Spanish radio, but I don't speak the languages, so there's that. And Danish telly hasn't been the same since The Killing (Forbrydelson) ended.
Have you seen The Detectorists? Great show, all about likable British men (who probably didn't even vote for Brexit!) with a passionate hobby of metal detectoring and cultivating quirky friends. We also watched every single episode of ten seasons of MI5, (aka Spooks, in the UK, because "spooks" doesn't mean CIA there) since that was a great way to imagine the good guys saving us from the apocalypse. Now I'm looking for something else featuring Nicola Walker, Britain's Meryl Streep, although actually I think that's wrong: Meryl Streep is America's Nicola Walker.
You probably wonder how Sparky's doing. After making peace with Tony, my daughter's cat, Sparky was saddened by Tony's unexpected death. Or rather, we all were saddened by Tony's death, and Sparky became aware that sometimes cats are "gone" for mysterious reasons. Then, a new kitten arrived, and Sparky realized that some cats are a lot more bold than others, and will steal your food WHILE YOU'RE EATING IT! Seriously! Also, it takes more than one bark to scare her to the basement. But she's still learning to use her claws, so that's a good thing.
Also, kittens are great for curing bitterness.
At the same time Daughter Number Two announced the arrival of Kitten Number Two, I was in the hospital, trying to find the source of mysterious chest pains. It turned out to be a bad gallbladder, which then attacked my liver and put me in the hospital for two days while they tried to figure out what was wrong. All this was followed by surgery a month later, and thankfully, a full recovery. After having every test they could think of, I at least know what I DON'T have. So there's that.
And since the local military hospital was having a two-for-one special on surgeries this summer, I went ahead and had my other cataract taken out and replaced with a bionic eye. (Not really, but it was the new, super-duper Symfony IOL that left me with at least some near vision and pretty good distance vision, so my long fight with poor vision is almost a thing of the past!)
How's 2017 treating you? Still bitter? Or dancing through the dark with shades on?
Sparky, giving Lucy the side-eye.
