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Mother's day 2026
May. 10th, 2026 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tedwords
"The phrase 'working mother' is redundant." — Jane Sellman
After the week we've had, Corb and I are dining alone tonight, having spent four days in complete socialization mode.
It was totally worth it, that socialization thing. But man, it does get us tired. We had dinner with Theo on Monday, caught up with with MB and Pauline on Tuesday, received travel tips on Paris and Barcelona from the lovely Bea Schmid at the Norton Singers fundraiser Wednesday (PS: I won the lottery tree! Go me!), and of course, spent seven hours yesterday videotaping the Money Unscripted segment with my friends Jessi and Ally, after which we were thoroughly exhausted. Corb asked, is that what your life was like, before you retired? I nodded. Yes. Different, of course, but just as intense.
I'm excited to see how that segment turns out. It was interesting being on the other side of the media lens. I think I took direction well. Ally said I did just fine. You know I'll be sure to share it.
Also, let's talk a wee bit about mothers, shall we? This weekend is of course mother's day, and we will be socializing with my parents tomorrow and Corb's mom on Sunday. And how lucky and grateful we both are to still have our parents in their 80s, still so vital and enduring. My sister Laurie and I were discussing this, this afternoon, and we both feel so blessed (and looking forward to spending a week with them this summer). I know that MB was discussing how her mom is now 96 and going strong. She sleeps a lot, but I figure that's just the batteries recharging. Long life is such a gift; not many are not this fortunate. We need to remember just how lucky we are.
Happy mothers day in advance, to all my favorite mothers out there. You know who you are. But Josie and Annie, you are definitely at the top of the list!
So tonight, I raise a lavender lemon drop martini and toast to socialization, to mothers, and to living life on the other side of the lens. Life on that other side is good, my friends. And of course, only two and a half weeks to go before we head off to gay Paree! So, a toast to the launch of another big adventure.
As always, I raise a cup to my friends, to all the awesome members of the Friday night Martini club! And love you, mom and pop! You truly mean the world to us. Have a great weekend, everyone.
###
Post-Friday night scribblings
And after that night...we went right back into socialization mode.
Saturday we woke up at 6:30 for the annual Eldredge Players Yard Sale. Anna was there but was clearly sad about the passing of her sister, who she was extremely close to, despite Wales being so far away. We stayed there until around 1:30 and celebrated Bea's birthday.
After that, we drove to celebrate Mother's day with my parents and Kerrie at Longhorn. Theo was supposed to go, but my parents changed the time and it was too late for him.
But it was a nice dinner. Tommy has decided he wants to live full time in Florida as he cannot afford paying for two houses. That means Kerrie and I will have oversight for Mom and Dad full time. I have mixed feelings about that.
Sunday we went to Scott and Tina's at around one. It was okay, and for a change, the food was decent, since Scott did the cooking (Tina is an awful cook).
However, around six or so, after about an hour of Corbett and his brothers reminiscing about their high school years, and the faint whiff of misogyny and racial microtriggers that follow Scott and Greg everywhere they go, I kind of hit the wall. And I was kind of anxious about trying to get Corb to go...I made a beeline to the garage to exit and moved into the car as quickly as I could. But frankly, by that point, Gregg and Scott were talking entirely to each other, not including everyone in the conversation, and Corb and his mom were just standing there listening to them talk. I am not a fan of standing their listening to cis white males chatter on incessantly about "man talk"...it bores me to tears, and I don't realluy have any need at this point in my life to put up with it.
Still. It is something I think I have to get better at, as it is probably embarrassing to Corb. I am really going to make an effort to be less "let's get a move on" in the future. Really. Seriously.
huh?
May. 11th, 2026 02:55 pmtwistedchickSomewhere along the last few years my Introvert/Extrovert balance must have shifted to the left.
My doctor ordered a blood test that requires a 12-hour fast, so I did the fast, went to get the test first thing after I woke up, then went with the SU to our favorite deli, which was normally busy, and got home -- and I am completely exhausted. Too many people in too little time, also in too small a space. Yet this is the deli we've been going to since 1989, except that we weren't there for the last six years. The food is great, the wait staff is friendly and longterm -- I saw a couple of people who've worked there for more than a decade -- and it's a good place.
Yet I am feeling radically overpeopled, as if I'd had to sing an opera in the round, with no wings at the side of the stage to rest in.
Next time, one or the other; clinic or deli. Not both.
ETA: Also, I am having trouble with Etsy. It won't let me sign in with my always-used email, kitmason@gmail.com. And I can't contact Customer Service to ask them why this is happening because they are only contacted once you've signed in. Suggestions, anyone?
My doctor ordered a blood test that requires a 12-hour fast, so I did the fast, went to get the test first thing after I woke up, then went with the SU to our favorite deli, which was normally busy, and got home -- and I am completely exhausted. Too many people in too little time, also in too small a space. Yet this is the deli we've been going to since 1989, except that we weren't there for the last six years. The food is great, the wait staff is friendly and longterm -- I saw a couple of people who've worked there for more than a decade -- and it's a good place.
Yet I am feeling radically overpeopled, as if I'd had to sing an opera in the round, with no wings at the side of the stage to rest in.
Next time, one or the other; clinic or deli. Not both.
ETA: Also, I am having trouble with Etsy. It won't let me sign in with my always-used email, kitmason@gmail.com. And I can't contact Customer Service to ask them why this is happening because they are only contacted once you've signed in. Suggestions, anyone?
Elon Musk and Tim Cook among CEOs expected to accompany Trump on China trip
May. 11th, 2026 06:26 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
bbcnewsworld_feedA total of 17 US executives are set to join the president on his visit, where he will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Trump says Iran ceasefire is on 'massive life support'
May. 11th, 2026 06:17 pmbbcnewsworld_feedThe US president criticises an Iranian counteroffer to end the war, and says the month-long ceasefire is "unbelievably weak".
US passengers being monitored for hantavirus as officials say public risk 'very low'
May. 11th, 2026 05:17 pmbbcnewsworld_feedTwo people are being monitored in Atlanta, while 16 others are in Nebraska at the nation's only national quarantine unit.
Dozens of Nigerian fishermen feared dead after Chad air strikes on Boko Haram
May. 11th, 2026 04:30 pmbbcnewsworld_feedA fishermen's leader tells the BBC that 40 people are feared dead - either in the strikes or drowning as they tried to flee.
Philippine VP Sara Duterte impeached for a second time
May. 11th, 2026 09:28 ambbcnewsworld_feedIf convicted in a Senate trial, which is uncertain, she will be disqualified from running for president.
Well, minuses and pluses I suppose
May. 11th, 2026 07:30 pmoursinHaving spent a fair amount of time last week finally doing some prep for forthcoming talk on condomz - well, at least pulling together existing visuals from former presentations and digging up a few fresh items to create suitable slides - get message that advance bookings are being very laggardly (apparently a problem with event programme generally?) and they may have to cancel.
SIGH, though I feel this is not lost work and may very well come in useful at some time.
And of course they may not have to cancel, bookings may pick up I suppose.
In rather more cheery news, a little while ago I bopped off an enquiry to The Academic Press with which I published The Co-authored Volume, since I have not heard from them for many a year, and in spite of the fact that lo, 'tis over twenty years now since it burst upon the world, it is still in print. (And still getting cited, yay.)
And I must say their website was a bit of a nightmare to navigate and I ended up sending a plaintive message to a very generic enquiry email as I could not find any other relevant one to apply to.
Behold, I have heard from an Accounts person that they sent a cheque to Former Workplace in 2020 (hah!) which was never cashed, surprise - what between lockdown and the various staff upheavals I was not at all astonished to hear this - but they have now sent me a statement of the royalties accruing (a very modest sum) and asking for my bank details.
Which is better than a bat in the eye with a burnt stick, do admit.
(I am not sure whether the royalties match up to the amounts earned for the same work via the Authors' Licensing and Copyright Society over the same period, but I am not sure that I am massively motivated to check.)
Last week's media, a bit belatedly
May. 11th, 2026 03:29 pmumadoshiReading: I had a pretty good reading week--I read both Role Model and The Long Game, so I'm caught up on the Game Changers books until whenever the new one comes out, and read Platform Decay once my hard copy finally arrived on Friday night. (Tracking info put it in the city by last Sunday and it got delivered around 8 PM on Friday. WTF.)
I also read The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope.
And tomorrow All Hail Chaos (Sarah Rees Brennan, sequel to Long Live Evil) comes out! So that'll be my next read. (I'm going to get it in hard copy and also in ebook, and doing so will only cost a few dollars more than buying Platform Decay did in hard copy alone. Fucking book pricing.)
I also need to browse my manga collection and decide what to read next from it.
Watching: A few more episodes of Justice in the Dark, and we also watched ep. 1 of Witch Hat Atelier. (I read a volume or two of the manga quite a while ago, and remember essentially nothing about it.)
I also read The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope.
And tomorrow All Hail Chaos (Sarah Rees Brennan, sequel to Long Live Evil) comes out! So that'll be my next read. (I'm going to get it in hard copy and also in ebook, and doing so will only cost a few dollars more than buying Platform Decay did in hard copy alone. Fucking book pricing.)
I also need to browse my manga collection and decide what to read next from it.
Watching: A few more episodes of Justice in the Dark, and we also watched ep. 1 of Witch Hat Atelier. (I read a volume or two of the manga quite a while ago, and remember essentially nothing about it.)
