Samhain came, and went. It was a very quiet day; we all needed as much. There’s still bowls of candy on the dining table, but that’s a problem which will fix itself in due time.
We didn’t even hear the shouts of excited children up and down the street. We’re so close to kids getting the vaccine, I think a lot of parents felt like this is the last gate to make it through. There will be other Halloweens, after all. Especially if one cares for one’s child enough to get them a lifesaving poke.
I also spent a great deal of the time watching the Bob Ross marathon on YouTube. I’d had no idea about the Kowalskis and their theft of Ross’s legacy from his family, so I won’t be buying any Ross merchandise again until that’s all cleared up. But the YouTube and Twitch marathons don’t appear to benefit the Kowalskis, so they’re probably safe to consume. (The YouTube marathon is going on until Nov 6, 2021; the Twitch channel is here.)
NaNoWriMo is also upon us; I’m doing Klemp’s book (Ghost Squad #2) for it, and have revisions on The Black God’s Heart diptych to get done as well as working ahead on Hell’s Acre. So November will be even busier than usual. Alas, I won’t have a great deal of time to argue with strangers on the internet.
It will probably do me nothing but good. I’m sick of being patient with murderous trolls. The pandemic has severely depleted my ability to care about the deliberately, viciously obtuse. At this point, if you call yourself “conservative” or wear a red baseball cap, you know exactly the message you’re sending, and I shall respond accordingly. I suppose at the very least it’s easy to see who’s a murderous bigot, since they’re self-marking with such lockstep discipline these days.
Silver linings, and all that.
There’s dogs to walk and work to do today, so I’d best get to it. I’m sure the “holiday” season will be anything but calm, between the supply chain issues and the habit of publishing to offload all the work onto freelancers right before holidays as all the salaried people are clearing their desks. (If you imagined me rolling my eyes and sighing as I typed that sentence you’d be spot-on, my ducklings.)
It’s not going to slow down until mid-February. Might as well get off the mark now.
At least the weather is wonderful–misty and cool, with masses of color hanging on deciduous trees and rain coming in waves. The evergreens, helped by a stiff wind, have shed most of the heat damage, though the rhododendrons are still looking a bit draggled. Summer seemed endless; I’m so glad we’re not suffering it at the moment.
Onward and upward, then. One last swallow of coffee before we get out the door. Caffeine is a gat-damn miracle, but you already knew that.
See you around.