Week 47

So, I'm camera-less officially now. I have my camcorder but it pretty much sucks for pictures. We are going full old-school as I will now be taking pictures mainly with... the banana phone! Be prepared for the worst quality, the most blur, and most awful lighting you've seen in a while. 

I was so down in the dumps last week. No miracle improvement this week, but I'm steadily feeling better. On Monday I started to study, and by study I mean I just decided to read. I felt so scatter-brained trying to stick to my previous routine so I realized it just wasn't going to work. Instead I picked up my Volume 1 of Ao Haru Ride and started reading, translating what I didn't understand, and making my vocab list. I also finally got a handle on the stupid pronom 'y'. Honestly, screw whoever it was that spread the rumor that French is a romantic and ethereal language. French is a language of pain and suffering. Self-inflicted confusion and complication. Poor, poor French folk. One guy who's French told me he once took a grammar test where he got a negative mark... meaning he made mistakes that the teacher didn't even account for.

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ I can't move every morning because... ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

On Tuesday I finally finished the CDwORLD micro site. It's been a hell of a ride starting this clique... low key abandoning it. But a lot of people (maybe like five...) wrote to me asking about it's future. So I finally have it ready for being published anew. 

I've also been getting through episodes of Listen To Sassy, a podcast going through all the issues of the Sassy magazine. I was obviously not alive in the 80s but it's so much fun to realize teen girls/teenagers in general have always been kind of the same. Worried about the same stuff. I haven't been a teen for a long time but it's fun to remind myself there was a time that I was...

On Thursday it was V's birthday, she's my best friend. I wrote her a message late as usual because I was so overwhelmed with getting more documents ready for the bank, which is where I was on Friday. The usual, I gave the lady at the bank all the same documents but this time they were okay for some reason. Unfroze our fridge which is so ass that it grows a 20 centimeter thick layer of ice every few months. We really need to get a new one but they are damn expensive. Everyone ate dinner and wasn't hungry when I was done so I went and got myself a small pizza and watched a Mike Leigh movie. Me and mum also got a little too crazy and bought some shower gels that smell exactly like desserts. Seriously, the cookie one smells identical to an actual cookie. It's uncanny.

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ I want them all! I want moreeee! ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

Saturday me and mum dropped by the recyclerie/thrift store and I picked up some cute things for the house. I got a necklace that's really pretty even though it's just plastic and metal. My brother finally got his payments while he's waiting on his interview. Yes, he also got his interview date at OFPRA. That's the office of protection of refugees and stateless people in France. Me and my mum already went there, had our interviews, and were granted refugee statuses. It was the most nerve-wracking time in my life. Someone having so much power over the way my life would have gone in a single decision. I was lucky. I want to write about how it went for me one day, I think I will, but I really need to be ready to lay it all out. I haven't felt ready yet. So, me and him are going to Paris on the 11th, his interview is early on the 12th. He's as frantic as I was but I believe with all I've got that it will go fine. I'm not a believer in karma, fate, or deities so I'm just hoping for kindness and reason from people who make the calls. Blah! That was pretty heavy, but we'll just hide him if anything goes wrong... but don't go telling the gendarmerie that.

On Sunday we had a big brocante in the center of town (that's a flea market). I saw a super cute Sony Ericsson flip phone but this lady wanted 10 euro for it so I refused. Should have gone back and bargained, but alas. However, I did find Nada Surf's High/Low and was so excited I even paid 2 euro for it. My mum got herself some stuff too and Mo won a huge lighter with the Cuban flag on it. We also finally finished up my little cabinet so I have somewhere to store all my goods. Overall, a busy week but it's looking better. 

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Knick knacks, doo-dads, etc. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

So, I have to finish up Wrimo come next week. There's only so much time left... I can't give up now, I've got just about 10k words left to write.  

 ◀・week 48┆✦ʚ❤︎ɞ✦ ┆week 46・▶

Week 46

Way, way late but here we are. It was a pretty terrible week. My writing streak evaporated right before me (but then came back for a bit). I forgot to text some good friends 'happy birthday' on time. Disaster! 

Monday was a nice day to go out so we took the cats for a walk. They were much better about their leashes and not running towards the road this time. My brother also carried Yoshi on his shoulder instead of in the carrier. It was super cute. He also tried to train him to walk home beside us but Yoshi was not having it and wanted to stop every five seconds to smell everything. Understandable. Simona was tucked in comfortably in my sister's hoodie. In the evening, my brother's friend streamed himself playing Mouthwashing so I'm in the loop now. 

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Space cadet in training. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ View of our big-ass river. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ He just refused to walk with his own legs. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

On Tuesdays there were two birthdays! I texted both the friends late 'cause I'm dumb... It's both people I knew since childhood and one of them was a friend I finally reconnected with because we are both rarely or never on social media. My stupid phone died so I don't have WhatsApp anymore and have no idea how to text her now... I think I'm gonna send her another message on Insta.A bunch of stuff we ordered online came in so I rewarded myself today by hitting my third writing goal (20k words). 

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Charmmy Kitty keychains for my Nintendi. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Fluffy heart for a Gal-inspired look. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ My regular use bag with a new mini-guitar! ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

I was on fire on Wednesday and reached 25k words. Also finally made a post to my movie blog about what I watched in October. I don't really know why but October is always a good month for me movie-wise. Did a little cleaning up on my PC but it needs way more work... it's terrible right now.

Thursday, my anxiety built up to a boiling point. I was panicking all day and I couldn't tell why. Everything, I guess! I was worried about not studying French enough, worried about the bank, worried about looking for work. I was stressed as hell. 

Friday I took some time to re-outline my story and it went pretty well. I was happy with it and felt like I can keep writing without feeling too discouraged. Also really working on readying my site to be published by the end of the month. We started to watch Derry Girls with my mum and sister, last time I watched it was probably mid-pandemic.

On Saturday I felt like shit... my own fault. I procrastinated a lot and then I feel like total garbage that I did. At least we had delicious pasta for dinner. Also the mini amusement park is in town so my sister and brother went to play on the bumper cars.

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Now imagine the lights flashing and shitty pop music playing. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Wake the fuck up, samurai...we have a city to burn. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚  

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ I hate you, claw machine! ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

Sunday was another bad day, everyone was feeling irritated and argumentative so everyone was kind of on their own, fuming. It settled down by the evening but it's exhausting.  And that was the week. Nothing exciting... honestly it was mostly very draining. I did watch Yi Yi though and it was amazing.

 ◀・week 47┆✦ʚ❤︎ɞ✦ ┆week 45・▶

Week 45

Same old, same old. I'm still writing my Wrimo stuff and it's going very well. Monday was especially good, I got 4k words in a day. I haven't done that much since the days when I worked as a copywriter. Feeling stressed out because of French. I haven't studied in a while... and I hate speaking but it's literally what I suck at most. I have to overcome this barrier I have... there is really no choice, man.

On Tuesday I went to the store and bought the Collector's Edition of Witch Hat Atelier Volume 13. It's so gorgeous and came with a cute little art book. I'm totally amazed. It's my reward for hitting 5000 words. Got myself a cute little set-up for writing tonight with candles and all. The writing went shit though.

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Like what the fuck, why are you so beautiful? ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

I was going to give myself a little home spa treatment when I got 10,000 words but just on time, our water heater died. It's still not fixed yet so I'm going to have to postpone. Instead I went to both thrift stores on Wednesday and got a very cute slip dress in a pastel blue. The other thrift store has been renovated and split in two. The clothes and stuff stayed in out town and the furniture was moved to a bigger storage spot out of town. I also made some cupcakes to try to use up the leftover icing but I still have so much left...

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Hell's Kitchen: I am in hell and this is my kitchen. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

On Thursday I went back to the store but with my brother. We bought the Collector's Edition of Witch Hat Atelier Volume 12, which I thought was out because the site said so! Liar! I got it in case they really did run out by the time I get to 40,000 words. It has a big puzzle and I'm so excited about it so I made him hide it away from me. 

˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Channeling 18th century poets. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 

˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Kitchen's not far... ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚  

Today was the day my phone died... the screen is totally black, it makes sounds like its on so I'm going to make it power down completely and then fuck around with the battery. Meanwhile, the banana is back. I missed you so. It was my go-to phone for about a year but sadly modern life is totally not compatible with it right now. It makes me mad... I'm also going full 2008 blogger now. Most of these pictures are going to be taken by a digicam. Just like grandma used to make.The Nokia 8110 is actually a remake of the famous old school 8110 from the Matrix. Mine is in yellow though.

 ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Hello? Keanu? But from Bill and Ted, I guess. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚  

Friday was a bit more productive, I'm writing pretty late these days. Marta, my sister, and her friend had swimming practice and her friend stayed for dinner and a movie after that. The paragraphs below get rant-y and political, so please skip them if that kind of stuff bothers you but it's been an ass week for everybody.

Saturday morning was totally ass from the start. First the fucking stupid Israeli football ultras in Amsterdam, attacking protestors, taxi drivers, and ripping Palestinian flags. Yeah, in addition to all that they are screaming racist songs, slurs, and remarks. What fucking scum. Obviously all the news outlets report it like this is an attack on some simple football fans due to antisemitism. Well it's fucking not. First of all, it's fucking football hooliganism. I used to keep up with the Premier League and I still enjoy FIFA and shit, but dude... honestly, it's a rotten sport with rotten fans. They are often crazy and violent, and like super racist. But anti-zionism is not antisemitism. Fuck Zionists. Where's all this energy when white football ultras are throwing racist and antisemitic slurs in Italy? Yeah, as usual. Obviously there was also the U.S. election, what a disaster.

Worse still for me personally, we find out Jordan Bardella, stupid waste of space right-hand to La Pen and another moron in the RN is coming to our town on Sunday. He has some of the dumbest things to say and apparently a biography. He's only 29, what's the story? I was born a privileged idiot and still am one? He tells a tall-tale about seeing violence and so forth, living with his mum in a really poor Parisian district. Yeah, single mother on the weekdays except Wednesdays, but a rich daddy business owner on the weekends in Montmorency. Nice fucking try. Massive, massive loser. Fuck it, anytime I feel bad about anything I can at least remember that I'm not a piece of shit conservative dumb ass. That's really something in this climate. 

There's no protest or anything but apparently our town has a anti-racism collective which was a pleasant surprise. This is what I get for being antisocial and not active locally. I can't help myself, I am seriously socially challenged. It's pathetic, it's sad. It's unfortunately true. They are having a small get-together on one of our streets for a little unity celebration which I think is lovely. I will probably go if I find the bravery but I feel like the one place where I won't be judged about my French is probably the anti-racism get-together.

Here's an update. Sunday I showed up to the get-together at about noon, it was relaxed. Food and drink, Spanish party music, both lots of old and young people. Especially inspired by a lady who looks like's she's pushing 90, walking slow as all hell but still full of energy that she poured into poster-waving and rallying everyone. We got lots of progressives of any age and background. 

˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ United against Fascism. They shall not pass! ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚    

Learned a new phrase. 'No pasaran' in Spanish or 'Ils ne passreont pas' in French means 'They shall not pass'. Very Gandalf. It came about sometime in World War I. In Spain it was also used as an anti-fascist slogan by the Communist Party. Very cool.

 ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ 47 is our region code: A welcoming place. Equality, brotherhood, solidarity. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚

  

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ There are no foreigners on this earth. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚    

  ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ One day, man... ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚    

I went home for lunch, it was super convenient that the party was literally right outside our house in our town's small plaza. Sometime at two the marching band club gave us a great performance. The whole thing was moved closer to the main road at this point and there were two large banners. People who were with us honked as they passed us by, the cars that didn't may have been coming from the theater after their shitty meet-and-greet with Bardella. It was fun. 

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ I was shy to go but it was worth it. ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚    

The fucking mayor came down the street, did not stop by, and went past us to a bar. He was coming from Bardella's snooze-fest for sure and then went to have a drink with more wishy-washy administrators. So, the usual. 

   ˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚ Stupid over-sized utensils my mum bought for some reason.˚ʚ ☘︎ ɞ ˚    

It was a terrible week. I think for most people. But at least it's over. Time is coming for us all. No one is exempt. Remember if you're under 60 you will probably outlive all of these freaks. And if you're not, we will do it in your name and honor.  

◀・week 46┆✦ʚ❤︎ɞ✦ ┆week 44・▶