Home Archive by category "Bloggish Things" (Page 8)

Category: Bloggish Things

Thoughts, essays, and comments from the writers of Turtleduck.

noooo the holidays cometh

Do you know what’s in a week, friends? American Thanksgiving. Do you know who hosts Thanksgiving and hasn’t ordered a turkey yet? If you guessed me, you’re absolutely correct. (In my defense, the place I always order from went out of business about two months ago, and now I don’t know what to do.) It feels like as soon as November hit everything went full-bore toward Christmas and, for the life of me, I am not ready to do Christmas. Let me enjoy November! Let us at least get through Thanksgiving before we worry about Christmas! But, alas, it seems not to be. For example, the small-ish, mobile one’s school is having their Holiday Market, where they can buy presents without us parents knowing what they’ve gotten us, tomorrow. And I don’t know how many emails I’ve gotten that are titled something like “Haven’t gotten your Christmas cards yet?” I can only imagine how irritating this season is for people who don’t celebrate Christmas. The Christmas market downtown opens Saturday, as do a number of other Christmas-themed activities. Please. Please can we just wait until after Thanksgiving. I don’t even have a turkey. It also adds unnecessary stress, you know? I haven’t done my Christmas cards or bought presents or anything, and quite honestly I won’t until after Thanksgiving anyway, but now I have to worry about it. Thanks, commercialism. Any tips for keeping Christmas at bay for another week? Any tips at all? (help me)

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An American on the Other Side of the World

One of the luckiest folk in the world, here, reporting on her return from one of the most beautiful places in the world. Did you know the Maori only found New Zealand 800 years ago? People have been in Australia for 60,000 years, but New Zealand…? Even the indigenous people have been there just eight centuries. Have another amazing fact—while scientists argue about exactly how New Zealand became so isolated, they are quite certain that only two mammals are native—and they are each a species of bat. (The fur seals don’t count, despite being super cute, as they live in the ocean and haul up on land.) So. Super fascinating, check. Astonishingly beautiful, check. Home of some super cool stuff? Oh yeah. One thing this country is not? Always on. There was a 24-hour kebab place near our hotel in Brisbane. (Australia.) I didn’t see anything twenty-four hour in New Zealand. Even the Denny’s (Yes, Denny’s) that had a “24 Hours!” sign, had a small paper sign next to it that they were open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. holidays excluded. Also, they sold booze at the Denny’s. In Christchurch, there was a pedestrian mall around the corner from our hotel, full of cafes, bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops. When I went in search of coffee one morning, the café I’d IDed from the internet that opened at 0730 wasn’t open at 0800. I walked on, desperate for coffee—and found several more cafés, all closed. I came back…and the one…

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Re-entry, Part 4

KD is still off having adventures, so you get bonus Siri this month! [CW: pandemic, mental health] Last time I wrote a re-entry post, I’d just gotten back from visiting family in Montreal, and I wrote about how big a step it was for me and how exhausting I found it. Well, I’ve just had another Montreal visit (to see a very small human and their parents — my third bit of travel this year, all for family reasons). I’m pleased to report that it felt much more doable. My stamina for peopling was better — I did need frequent introvert-recharge breaks, but that’s always been true for me. I kept my mask on during most of the long train ride and on public transit, but not in a coffee shop or on busy sidewalks. (Also, the weather and the leaves were gorgeous, as has been the case every time I’ve visited in the fall. Highly recommend October in Montreal, especially if you can get there by taking the train.) I’ve started going to contra dances again — masks are still required, which makes them feel much safer, and it’s wonderful to be back with my dance community after so long. My spouse and I have been cautiously eating in restaurants now and then, as long as they’re mostly empty and/or there’s a lot of airflow from open windows. I still wear masks on public transit and mostly in stores. I’m in no hurry to risk going anywhere crowded —…

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Birthday Celebrations: Yay or Nay?

Today — well, yesterday, as it’s now midnight — was my husband’s birthday. I once wrote a blog about how awesome he is, so I won’t repeat that — although he is still awesome, and he just gets more awesome by the year. 🙂 We’ll be having a family party in a few weeks, but today we had a nice dinner (take out, of course, because of COVID. We do this every year for the birthday person as per tradition). Then his parents surprised us by stopping by, which is always nice. All in all, it was a great day. And he was very happy. But recently, I was shocked to learn that some people don’t celebrate birthdays. I understand the idea of an adult not having a party — maybe he or she feels like that’s more of a thing for when you’re younger — and when you’re older, it’s not really a big deal. But in my family? We make a big deal out of birthdays and holidays. For life. The family parties have it all — the dinner, the gifts, the cake (or desserts, in some cases), and ice cream. (Now some are gluten free to accommodate my diet, which is awesome). Is that childish? I dunno, to be honest. It’s always been this way. We’re firm believers in celebrating every year. I believe that you should celebrate each trip around the sun. Especially in these times, with COVID, because let’s face it — we’re never guaranteed…

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Playing Catch Up

Hi friends! Like Siri, I too love autumn (and am an autumn baby), and October is my very favorite month of the year! I just…feel very exhausted this October. It’s hard work, getting a book ready and then out! I’ve essentially done almost nothing but Hallowed Hill since, oh, May? June? Goodness, I don’t even remember. But I had to get the book ready, and then I needed to do marketing, and publishing, etc., and it was A LOT. And now the book is out! And aside from generally poking it (and fighting with Amazon, which keeps losing bits of things) it doesn’t require a lot of my attention anymore. So now I can move on to all the other stuff I should have been working on, right? I mean, in theory. But generally I am just tired. MileHiCon is this month, which I’ve been doing for, oh, eight years or so. I’ve got copies of Hallowed Hill ordered, and I’ve submitted my permits and have my panel schedule and all that jazz, but there’s still stuff to do. I need to figure out a card reader, and do panel research (maybe–I’ve already forgotten what panels I’m on. I had to drop the dinosaur panel which was devastating), and I’m pondering maybe making little booklets with the excerpt, or the first chapter, in them to hook people into buying the book. Or maybe I’ll just do bookmarks. But I’ve got to figure that out. And I’ve got a big volunteer…

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Autumn Love

I was born in autumn, and I’ve had an affinity for the season ever since. In recent years I’ve had difficulty with the humid heat of summer, so I’m relieved when the crisp breezes blow in, even though I despise the damp cold and grey skies of winter in Toronto. It’s always a dance between being present for the few months that autumn lasts and spending them bracing myself for winter. This year, though, I’m really feeling the love, letting myself sink into the sensations of fall… My taste buds switched over weeks ago from salads to stews and roasted vegetables. This past weekend we cooked beef brisket for the first time, and it was phenomenal. I’ve started to crave tea again — in the summer I mostly just drink coffee and cold beverages. We’ve started baking again — next weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and we’ll be doing GF pumpkin pie, as usual. I’ve been enjoying pulling out my hoodies, warmer cardigans, and plaid flannels (shout-out to Patagonia, who carry a properly thick cotton flannel shirt in lots of colourways, although I just went for blue because of course I did). I’ve even worn my down vest a couple of times already — it’s Canada, what can I say? It hasn’t been all that cold at night, so we’ve been leaving the bedroom window open a crack, which makes it deliciously cool and makes our blankets feel even cozier — a feeling I really miss in the summer. This is…

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I’m Going on an Adventure!

I, KD Sarge, seriously lucky duck, am going to Australia at the end of the week. Australia, then New Zealand. I’ll be gone for a whole month. Did I mention I am soooooo lucky? For reals. The plan was to go last October, but it wasn’t deemed safe enough yet by my traveling companions (those doing the planning!) I was afraid it might be that way, so I didn’t think about it. And then this year it was on, but another COVID wave could still cancel everything. Stuff could go wrong. I wasn’t the one planning, so I didn’t think about it. If it happened YAY!! If it didn’t–well, if I didn’t think about it, I would be a lot less disappointed if it didn’t happen, right? So here we are. I barely got my passport in time because I was working very hard at Not Thinking About It, but I did. I have it. I have all the other paperwork required. I’ve made my packing list, and done a practice pack to make sure I can take what I need within the weight and space limits. I have people set up to drop in on my kid. I have to-do lists written up, and rewards for doing the to-dos, and I am as sanguine as I can be about leaving her alone here for a month. Zoe: You sanguine about the kind of reception we’re apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Cap’n? Mal: Absolutely. [pauses] What’s “sanguine” mean?…

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A Queen and a Princess

It’s been a weird couple of weeks, friends. Between the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the release of the controversial new Little Mermaid trailer, the Internet has been busier than usual fighting with itself. It’s hard not to see parallels between (1) the rage against those pointing out that the British monarchy has done great harm to much of the non-European world (with a side note of “any guesses as to why the British press hate Meghan Markle so much?”) and (2) the rage against those who are excited to see a Black woman play the live-action Ariel. Let’s break those down. I’m a bit of a royal-watcher, I confess. I thought King Charles III seemed absolutely shattered, Princess Charlotte looked like an adorable Edwardian orphan in her flat black hat and coat, and it was bittersweet that Her Majesty passed away in the place where she loved to relax. The Queen did her duty to her country, for so many decades, unflaggingly and with flashes of humour that humanized and endeared her. She meant something to an awful lot of people, who have been grieving her loss as if she were their own grandmother or at least a dear family friend. I don’t wish to belittle those feelings. At the same time, she carried on an institution — the British monarchy — that has done immeasurable harm. The Queen is invoked and commemorated in various ways all over Canada, she is (was) the head of state, she appears…

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This is My Emotional Support Game

Hi, friends! I’m deep into the preparation for Hallowed Hill’s release on Oct 1, and so I’m also operating with more stress and anxiety than normal. Yay! Life is fun. I don’t know if you remember, but in the depths of lockdown (late 2020/early 2021) I was playing a lot of Among Us. I mean, a LOT of Among Us. I joined a Discord server specifically for that, where we played for hours a day, and I even did a few tournaments (and placed). At the end of March, Among Us released the long awaited Airship map, and–the whole thing fell apart. As lockdown restrictions lessened, everyone went back to work or school or wherever, and no one was available to play anymore. No one wanted to play anymore. We’d burned out. My server stayed together–we still hang out and chat–but we didn’t really play AU anymore, aside from every now and again, or the odd round of Vent Tag. Now, about a month ago, two of the mods on said server started organizing AU games again. Regularly. Turns out they’d accidentally found another server where people WERE still playing on a regular basis (and weren’t jerks–I had to leave one AU server because of that). Those of us that were interested got invited over, and now I’m playing AU again, on a regular-ish basis, eighteen months after I more or less stopped. It’s not the same game. Oh no. The bigger lobbies actually make lying way easier, because there’s…

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Lessons from The Tarot: Empress

So, if you’ve been hanging around here awhile, you know that I’ve been reading Tarot since I was sixteen (thirty years!) and Lenormand for the past two years. And while I originally, as a kid, used it “to tell my future” LOL, I now use it mostly for guidance. And writing, but that’s another post. Today I’d like to talk about the Empress card and the lessons it has taught me. First of all, the Empress is Key 3 (of 21) – Major Arcana (major life themes/karma/big things) and she represents creativity, abundance, nurturing, motherhood, a mother figure, home and hearth, and, in some contexts, pregnancy. (She’s actually HUGE for pregnancy if the question is about that). The interesting thing about the Empress is that she is my personal significator card. See, the Tarot selects a card for you when you start reading. And that card will show up in a lot of your readings. And the Empress is totally interesting as my card because, well, I’m not really maternal, and I’m not a mother (except to a cat), but I am creative and I am all about home and hearth and I can be very nurturing. So it’s kinda like an inside joke. Here’s me, the woman the least likely to pop out kids, and I’m the Empress. Ha, ha. But there’s another aspect to her. She’s also the Divine Feminine, counterpart to The Emperor, Key 4, the Divine Masculine. The Divine Feminine what, you say? Well…that’s all about…

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