I guess having been in the Senate for a million years (actually not quite 30) made it seem to me that she's much older. I try not to give my actual age online, but close enough.
Interesting article by Sara Luterman about discrepancies in how people think about women vs men with some visible disorders.
https://19thnews.org/2026/05/senator-susan-collins-essential-tremor/
Interesting article by Sara Luterman about discrepancies in how people think about women vs men with some visible disorders.
https://19thnews.org/2026/05/senator-susan-collins-essential-tremor/
Pleasantly surprised
May. 11th, 2026 06:34 pmThe CDC has an accurate (AFAIK) page up about the Andes version of hantavirus. It was updated two days ago, which means that not only was some medical person consulted, people were working on a weekend.
https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html
https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/andesvirus.html
Not a centenarian
May. 11th, 2026 07:16 amAuthor Douglas Adams died 25 years ago today, at age 49. I thought about him a couple of days ago, particularly the book "Last Chance to See." I don't think I realized how close he was to my age.
I don't need to get ready for Towel Day - in my large backpack I always have a black washcloth, in case of sudden need. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towel_Day
I don't need to get ready for Towel Day - in my large backpack I always have a black washcloth, in case of sudden need. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towel_Day
Centenarians
May. 10th, 2026 08:50 pmDavid Attenborough turned 100 this week. When he was 90, Ardman animation did a series of tribute videos. They've popped up on social media due to this birthday
Also 100 this week was Arthur's Aunt Harriet (his mother's sister). There was a party in the dining room of the retirement apartment building she lives in. Relatives came from near and far (the farthest was her elder granddaughter, who lives in India). It was the first time my grandchildren had been on planes. I was with them on the southbound plane, and they did pretty well. They weren't the youngest attendees - two of the family babies have been born in the last six months. Not everybody gets to be 100 with mind sharp and body mostly OK. And wear a sparkly gold outfit surrounded by people who love her.
Also 100 this week was Arthur's Aunt Harriet (his mother's sister). There was a party in the dining room of the retirement apartment building she lives in. Relatives came from near and far (the farthest was her elder granddaughter, who lives in India). It was the first time my grandchildren had been on planes. I was with them on the southbound plane, and they did pretty well. They weren't the youngest attendees - two of the family babies have been born in the last six months. Not everybody gets to be 100 with mind sharp and body mostly OK. And wear a sparkly gold outfit surrounded by people who love her.
Mother's day is OK
May. 10th, 2026 08:20 pmI miss my mother every day, so the hype about Mother's Day doesn't make me think of her with extra sadness.
As is my habit, I participated (walked) in the Mother's Day Walk for Peace in Dorchester. Bought a book at the nearby Book-ish (close to the Fields Corner T station), went to ring at Old North, went home. Not weepy or anything.
As is my habit, I participated (walked) in the Mother's Day Walk for Peace in Dorchester. Bought a book at the nearby Book-ish (close to the Fields Corner T station), went to ring at Old North, went home. Not weepy or anything.
Living in not quite so much ignorance now
May. 5th, 2026 09:04 amSomeone on twitter pointed out that the police murders of students at Jackson State was only 11 days after Kent State. Not exactly comparable - police, not national guard troops, other stuff going on, but can be held in the same part of one's mind. I didn't remember it. I am not sure I ever knew about it. Now I do, and you can too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_State_killings
They're still dead (in Ohio)
May. 4th, 2026 08:02 amhttps://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/953946.html
and many other years. For some reason I still fixate on that.
I am grateful that snipers haven't been sent to remove Guido Reichstadter* from the Frederick Douglass bridge but a point about Kent state was that the dead students weren't even protesting (or not all) - just walking across campus. It was like the Boston Massacre, in that the occupying troops were on edge and there had been what might be considered provocation (thanks, John Adams) but passersby were killed.
* https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/person-climbs-frederick-douglass-memorial-bridge-top/65-30e5359e-9815-4d1b-a672-f932deaf6615
and many other years. For some reason I still fixate on that.
I am grateful that snipers haven't been sent to remove Guido Reichstadter* from the Frederick Douglass bridge but a point about Kent state was that the dead students weren't even protesting (or not all) - just walking across campus. It was like the Boston Massacre, in that the occupying troops were on edge and there had been what might be considered provocation (thanks, John Adams) but passersby were killed.
* https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/person-climbs-frederick-douglass-memorial-bridge-top/65-30e5359e-9815-4d1b-a672-f932deaf6615
forgot to mention yesterday
May. 3rd, 2026 08:48 pmSimilar to the first Saturday of May in the past, after doing all the day's things including Somerville open studios, I got almost home while there were still fifes and drums playing in the park, although the group had dwindled to about a dozen folks by the time I got there. Still cool.
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/820311.html
We haven't switched to sword for the summer yet this year. In fact it seems like the weather hasn't switched to summer either. It keeps going into the 40s at night, although flowers are busting out all over.
I did buy a drum I hardly ever practice.
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/820311.html
We haven't switched to sword for the summer yet this year. In fact it seems like the weather hasn't switched to summer either. It keeps going into the 40s at night, although flowers are busting out all over.
I did buy a drum I hardly ever practice.
Art made with paint
May. 2nd, 2026 09:19 pmI often quote Ellis Marsalis, responding to someone who didn't like jazz and who said "I know what I like." EM: "You like what you know, and you don't know much."
I did a whole post about this in 2020, with some instructive remarks from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bitterlawngnome.
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/619636.html
But I'm still going with my gut reactions, years later. I have decided that I have a scale
1. Actively dislike
2. neutral
3. That's nice, but I probably won't remember it
4. I like that
5. I like that so much that I will go back to the museum sometime to see it again
6. I would like to buy that so I can see it every day (and maybe touch it)
I went to the Tampa Art Museum on Monday (many concert-goers were also spending the day Namjooning
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/845822.html so I was not alone). I liked most of what I saw. I learned a lot about the innovative ceramic techniques of Jun Kaneko. I learned about local artists. I took picture, and made mental notes.
This 1970 painting by Alma Thomas would be in category 6, except one doesn't even consider buying something from a museum's permanent collection. My photo doesn't do it justice, of course. I liked it up close. I liked it from across the room, at a slant.
As I mentioned, today was one of the days of Somerville Open Studios. I had not before been to the multi-person studios near the East Somerville T stop. The first building I entered had a lot of art in category 1. A lot of them were nudes. I don't object to bare skin, but in some I didn't like the paint colors and I thought most of them (by many artists) were ugly. But there were a few things I liked, and there was this, by Junggyun Park, that might almost get to category 6 in a more plausible way. I didn't actually ask the price, and it wasn't marked. I didn't like all of his stuff, but a few. I chatted with him about this. These are shrimp from his imagination/memory. There were not real shrimp posing, which was one of the things I asked. He had a smudge (maybe charcoal from sketches?) on his nose. I successfully fought the urge to wipe it off.
Another one that I liked (would be category 5 if it were in a museum) is this, by Zach Faugno-Teig. Why do I really like this one but find all his other stuff (on display and on his website) to be meh, at best?
I liked everything on display by Pauline Lim at Brickbottom*, including not just the paintings but the note on her door (a special dispensation to wear shoes in the room, due to the occasion), her living quarters, and her corsets. I texted Flo, offering to buy one of the paintings for the children, but we decided they're good without expensive art at this time.
I came away with a couple of postcards.
https://pauline-lim.pixels.com/
I suppose it would do me good to figure out why I feel the way I do about individual pieces of art, but for the time being, I'm OK with vibes.
* https://brickbottom.org/
I did a whole post about this in 2020, with some instructive remarks from
bitterlawngnome.https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/619636.html
But I'm still going with my gut reactions, years later. I have decided that I have a scale
1. Actively dislike
2. neutral
3. That's nice, but I probably won't remember it
4. I like that
5. I like that so much that I will go back to the museum sometime to see it again
6. I would like to buy that so I can see it every day (and maybe touch it)
I went to the Tampa Art Museum on Monday (many concert-goers were also spending the day Namjooning
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/845822.html so I was not alone). I liked most of what I saw. I learned a lot about the innovative ceramic techniques of Jun Kaneko. I learned about local artists. I took picture, and made mental notes.
This 1970 painting by Alma Thomas would be in category 6, except one doesn't even consider buying something from a museum's permanent collection. My photo doesn't do it justice, of course. I liked it up close. I liked it from across the room, at a slant.
As I mentioned, today was one of the days of Somerville Open Studios. I had not before been to the multi-person studios near the East Somerville T stop. The first building I entered had a lot of art in category 1. A lot of them were nudes. I don't object to bare skin, but in some I didn't like the paint colors and I thought most of them (by many artists) were ugly. But there were a few things I liked, and there was this, by Junggyun Park, that might almost get to category 6 in a more plausible way. I didn't actually ask the price, and it wasn't marked. I didn't like all of his stuff, but a few. I chatted with him about this. These are shrimp from his imagination/memory. There were not real shrimp posing, which was one of the things I asked. He had a smudge (maybe charcoal from sketches?) on his nose. I successfully fought the urge to wipe it off.
Another one that I liked (would be category 5 if it were in a museum) is this, by Zach Faugno-Teig. Why do I really like this one but find all his other stuff (on display and on his website) to be meh, at best?
I liked everything on display by Pauline Lim at Brickbottom*, including not just the paintings but the note on her door (a special dispensation to wear shoes in the room, due to the occasion), her living quarters, and her corsets. I texted Flo, offering to buy one of the paintings for the children, but we decided they're good without expensive art at this time.
I came away with a couple of postcards.
https://pauline-lim.pixels.com/
I suppose it would do me good to figure out why I feel the way I do about individual pieces of art, but for the time being, I'm OK with vibes.
* https://brickbottom.org/
Possibly useful maps?
May. 2nd, 2026 06:42 amSomerville open studios this weekend. Someone by the river gave me a paper map yesterday. She and I agreed that paper might be the best way to go, but there's stuff online, of course.
https://www.somervilleopenstudios.org/
I am not going to try to coordinate with the trolley. Person-at-the-river kept pointing to the map and insisting that Porter is the best T station to use, even as I kept poking the Green line stations depicted and saying it would work best for me. I hope it doesn't rain much. I'm not planning to buy art, just feel guilty about not buying art.
Outdoor restaurant seating in Boston for the summer. A deliberate dearth in the North End. The city thinks streets are too narrow to give permits
https://www.boston.gov/departments/small-business/outdoor-dining-program#map--814496
https://www.somervilleopenstudios.org/
I am not going to try to coordinate with the trolley. Person-at-the-river kept pointing to the map and insisting that Porter is the best T station to use, even as I kept poking the Green line stations depicted and saying it would work best for me. I hope it doesn't rain much. I'm not planning to buy art, just feel guilty about not buying art.
Outdoor restaurant seating in Boston for the summer. A deliberate dearth in the North End. The city thinks streets are too narrow to give permits
https://www.boston.gov/departments/small-business/outdoor-dining-program#map--814496
I belong there
May. 1st, 2026 10:59 pmAt a BTS concert with thousands of other fans of many colors and ages. Me looking like me, with a mask and a cooling cloth and badly spread sunscreen (also a custom-printed t-shirt suitable for the occasion that is not visible in the photo).
By the Charles River at dawn on May Day, continuing my streak that has gone on since 1978 (the event itself started in 1974, but I was in NC on May Day 1974-76 and Delaware May Day 1977).
This is a twofer - I have been hanging out in English traditional folk music/SCA-adjacent spaces for my whole adult life. But I'm not the only one - there were eight bellringers at the gathering this morning, including some of the Morris dancers.
By the Charles River at dawn on May Day, continuing my streak that has gone on since 1978 (the event itself started in 1974, but I was in NC on May Day 1974-76 and Delaware May Day 1977).
This is a twofer - I have been hanging out in English traditional folk music/SCA-adjacent spaces for my whole adult life. But I'm not the only one - there were eight bellringers at the gathering this morning, including some of the Morris dancers.
Like Shakespeare ("Twelfth Night, or what you will") or Gilbert and Sullivan ("Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri"), the Voting rights act is "An act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States."
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act
So it has to be constitutional, right?
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act
So it has to be constitutional, right?
My favorite version of this song
May. 1st, 2026 07:55 amExplanation of how Steve Goodman came to write the concluding verse at about 2:00
David Allen Coe, gone at 86. I don't think I would have liked him as a person, but that isn't required.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allan_Coe
David Allen Coe, gone at 86. I don't think I would have liked him as a person, but that isn't required.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allan_Coe
phooey (concert adjacent)
Apr. 29th, 2026 08:19 pmI typed out a very long concert and art museum report but did it right in the composing window here instead of as a document that I frequently saved. I did something or other that deleted the whole post. I couldn't get it back through the history. I'm not going to do it again right now.
I'm just going to put this link here. One of their new songs includes four lines of an old traditional folk song. Have tens of thousands of people including me singing along on Sunday evening in someone's fan cam video (but not mostly the members, who were listening to the crowd)
https://youtube.com/shorts/YmMSKNrqcJM?si=aciiiGrSCIOkDOg6
Have this one too, which is focused on Jimin but gives a view of all the goings-on with the backup dancers at the time
https://youtube.com/shorts/FU-ZwHRdhZA?si=-GkmjSmQQCyGsXuv
I'm just going to put this link here. One of their new songs includes four lines of an old traditional folk song. Have tens of thousands of people including me singing along on Sunday evening in someone's fan cam video (but not mostly the members, who were listening to the crowd)
https://youtube.com/shorts/YmMSKNrqcJM?si=aciiiGrSCIOkDOg6
Have this one too, which is focused on Jimin but gives a view of all the goings-on with the backup dancers at the time
https://youtube.com/shorts/FU-ZwHRdhZA?si=-GkmjSmQQCyGsXuv
Justice Kagan:
"I dissent. The Voting Rights Act is—or, now more accurately, was—'one of the most consequential, efficacious, and amply justified exercises of federal legislative power in our Nation's history.' It was born of the literal blood of Union soldiers and civil rights marchers. It ushered in awe-inspiring change, bringing this Nation closer to fulfilling the ideals of democracy and racial equality. And it has been repeatedly, and overwhelmingly, reauthorized by the people's representatives in Congress. Only they have the right to say it is no longer needed—not the Members of this Court. I dissent, then, from this latest chapter in the majority's now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act."
"I dissent. The Voting Rights Act is—or, now more accurately, was—'one of the most consequential, efficacious, and amply justified exercises of federal legislative power in our Nation's history.' It was born of the literal blood of Union soldiers and civil rights marchers. It ushered in awe-inspiring change, bringing this Nation closer to fulfilling the ideals of democracy and racial equality. And it has been repeatedly, and overwhelmingly, reauthorized by the people's representatives in Congress. Only they have the right to say it is no longer needed—not the Members of this Court. I dissent, then, from this latest chapter in the majority's now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act."
I watch other stuff too
Apr. 29th, 2026 06:51 amWatch is especially the word for this. Thanks to the rec from Derek Guy on twitter for the part that starts at about 4:30. I am amused by the name Yung Lean, which looks Chinese to me, but presumably is meant to be a bad spelling of English. His actual (Swedish) name is Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad.
I'd like to hear this on a Depression-era 78. It's good on youtube, though.
I'd like to hear this on a Depression-era 78. It's good on youtube, though.
update on #18 (concert adjacent)
Apr. 28th, 2026 07:17 pmA week ago I was told that #18 needed to go.
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/1048278.html
I called the periodontist. Wednesday they called to say they'd had a cancellation for the next day (Thursday, two days before I was going to fly to Tampa). My Thursdays often involve driving a friend to Dana Farber (and hanging out with her for the day). We agreed that the tooth opportunity was important, so I was with her for much of the day and then a different friend drove her home. I had looked at the standard guidance for post-extraction. The top thing was "don't fly for two weeks." * I assumed that my appointment would basically be a checkup to see what she thought she could do. Nope. She and the assistant were planning to remove the tooth. I pointed out the no-flying thing and said that I would be flying four times in those two weeks. She waved it away, saying that it's more of a problem with upper teeth. #18 was on the bottom. She gave me a few minutes to consider. I called Flo, who said that if the expert said it would be OK, go ahead. I agreed (with Flo) and agreed (to the procedure). It took about an hour. She prescribed a week of amoxicillin and a medicated rinse (you're not supposed to swish - you tilt your head and let it pool up around the wound for 30 seconds twice a day). I was told to eat mush food for a couple of days, no nuts for a while (a major part of my diet, so that has been hard), and chew on the right side only for quite a while. I don't like the idea of unnecessary antibiotics, but I was going to be far away and it would be a weekend, so I went along with it. I definitely didn't want an infection. When I got to Tampa I bought a tub of yogurt to try to keep some gut flora going.
I told the periodontist that I was going to a BTS concert but would try not to scream. She earnestly told me to scream all I wanted. (I only screamed a little bit). They recommended icing my face and taking ibuprofen. I iced for a day and did the ibuprofen for three. The dissolvable sutures have started partly dissolving. One of them fell out earlier today. I am not done healing yet but am hopeful. I plan to invest in the implant.
*other things on the don't do list I don't do anyway, like drink alcohol or smoke or use a straw
https://lauradi7dw.dreamwidth.org/1048278.html
I called the periodontist. Wednesday they called to say they'd had a cancellation for the next day (Thursday, two days before I was going to fly to Tampa). My Thursdays often involve driving a friend to Dana Farber (and hanging out with her for the day). We agreed that the tooth opportunity was important, so I was with her for much of the day and then a different friend drove her home. I had looked at the standard guidance for post-extraction. The top thing was "don't fly for two weeks." * I assumed that my appointment would basically be a checkup to see what she thought she could do. Nope. She and the assistant were planning to remove the tooth. I pointed out the no-flying thing and said that I would be flying four times in those two weeks. She waved it away, saying that it's more of a problem with upper teeth. #18 was on the bottom. She gave me a few minutes to consider. I called Flo, who said that if the expert said it would be OK, go ahead. I agreed (with Flo) and agreed (to the procedure). It took about an hour. She prescribed a week of amoxicillin and a medicated rinse (you're not supposed to swish - you tilt your head and let it pool up around the wound for 30 seconds twice a day). I was told to eat mush food for a couple of days, no nuts for a while (a major part of my diet, so that has been hard), and chew on the right side only for quite a while. I don't like the idea of unnecessary antibiotics, but I was going to be far away and it would be a weekend, so I went along with it. I definitely didn't want an infection. When I got to Tampa I bought a tub of yogurt to try to keep some gut flora going.
I told the periodontist that I was going to a BTS concert but would try not to scream. She earnestly told me to scream all I wanted. (I only screamed a little bit). They recommended icing my face and taking ibuprofen. I iced for a day and did the ibuprofen for three. The dissolvable sutures have started partly dissolving. One of them fell out earlier today. I am not done healing yet but am hopeful. I plan to invest in the implant.
*other things on the don't do list I don't do anyway, like drink alcohol or smoke or use a straw
