No Strings Attached

Kathleen David's weblog

Pain in my heel

Posted By on August 14, 2020

My plantar fasciitis is acting up. It has been a couple of years since I had a flair up, but this came fast and hurts like stink. I have an appointment with my foot doctor today to sort this out.

This is one of those rare mornings that the cats are napping somewhere else. Just as I typed this Fig came in and flopped down in front of me.

I had a series of very weird dreams last night. I remember bits and pieces including a hidden door in a library but not the connecting bits.

My brain is spinning through things pretty fast. Trying to grasp onto one before the next one drops in is a bit of a task.

I have a couple of things I need to do before the appointment.

I got up at 6 this morning and managed to get a good start on the day. I am hoping to keep this momentum going through-out the day.

The poor trees that were buffeted by the wind are losing a lot of leaves right now. It is also showing us which limbs are dead on the trees. I have a couple of snapped limbs in the trees still.

I do like being able to go out my backdoor again.

Now the entire clowder is in the living room taking up various spots. Maybe they had a secret meeting and now are joining me.

Make sure that you can vote in the next election. Check the roles and see if you are still on them. Find out where your polling place is and keep on top of that. Voting is your voice in government.

I am mentally substituting the word strong for the word nasty.

I am grateful for our clowder who amuse me.

RTBTCKI Boy I slept late

Posted By on August 13, 2020

First Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Beth. She is an amazing person who is a dynamite mom to my nieces. Her sense of humor and Peter’s dovetail nicely. 

This morning I woke up later than I have in months. 

The cats were very confused that Peter came down the stairs before I did.

Next door they are having their roof replaced and the roofers like death metal, which is pounding behind my head and vibrating the wall. 

Next week we are going to discover how and when Caroline’s schooling will take place. She has her Senior portrait sitting next week.

Yes, my baby is a High School Senior. I am having a little trouble wrapping my brain around that.

She has applied for colleges. She has a dream school that is here in the area that she really wanted to go to. She has some back up schools, but that college would be such a good fit for her.

We have a year to get her ready for college. She knows how to do laundry and sew on a button along with other simple sewing things. We are working on things she can cook that she can eat over the week. 

Hard to believe she will be off to college in a year.

I have sorted all my sewing supplies and am amazed how much I have of certain things and other items that I have run out of.

I have an Inky at my hip very happy to be there.

I am grateful for Caroline’s hard work for the next chapter of her life.

My Face reflects My Mood

Posted By on August 12, 2020

I am angry right now for a number of reasons. Some of which I will get into later in this entry.

I have what my sister-in-law calls Resting B*tch Face or RBF which means that when my face is relaxed it looks like I have a permanent frown. I have had my face called harsh and intimidating to my face. I have heard worse when people thought they were out of ear shot. 

It doesn’t help that my eyes are deep set into my head with a strong brow over it. 

This does not mean that I walk around angry all the time. It is just my relaxed face. 

Caroline has the same kind of face and deals with a lot of the same issues.

I have used it to my advantage. It does cut through the bull crap because I do not look like a push over.

Yesterday Joe Biden announced that his running mate is Kamala Harris. She is a solid choice for so many reasons including she has knowledge and skills that will help Biden.

Right off the bat the attacks started on Senator Harris and it is the same BS that is always said about a woman who speaks her mind and will not back down.

And that word ‘nasty’ reared its ugly head from the mouth of Biden’s opponent along with ‘loser’ and his new one ‘disrespectful’.

I know that the Republicans have been sharpening their knives waiting for this day to arrive so they can start their smear campaign. And that makes me mad.

The reduction of strong women to a series of words is a tale as old as time and is a left over from the dominance of patriarchy.

Women are too emotional and fragile.

When a woman shows strong emotions, she is dismissed as hysterical.

When she doesn’t, then she is frigid or a b*tch on wheels. 

If they work hard and go up in the world, then they are power mad or dismissed because they got there through their connections.  If a man uses his resources to better himself, he is praised. 

I have dealt with this because I am married to Peter. 

The assumption is that anything I do in terms of getting published is not my own abilities but because I am Peter David’s wife. 

Do I have connections that others would kill for? Yes. But many of them I got on my own over the years.

I was building and giving away puppets before Peter and I got together. Being married to him is making it easier. Not going to lie about that.

The dismissal of women is something that really angers me.

Women are, according to the tropes, the loving soft caregivers of the family. 

Yes, I do take care of my family and I do it with love. But I am not soft. I tend to work logically rather than emotionally which makes some people call me frigid. 

Intelligent women tended to be labeled with the word ‘uppity’ to dismiss their abilities to think and reason.

‘Uppity’ is a mild version of words that have been thrown at me for being smart and learned. I know many things. I am a sponge for knowledge and can retain what I have learned for years. Makes Jeopardy fun. 

I refuse to apologize for being the smartest person in the room.

I refuse to dumb myself down for the comfort of others. 

Liberal is another word that is being dragged through the mud that I am.

I believe in human and civil rights for all. 

I believe in healthcare for all.

I believe in the ability to get housing is a basic human right.

I believe in sensible gun ownership with the emphasis on sensible. I see no reason for military grade weaponry in the house or on our streets. Anything that makes a deer inedible is not something we need outside the military. Bow hunting takes a hëll of a lot more skill.

I believe that women and men are equal and should get the same pay for the same work. The idea of the man getting paid more because they are the breadwinners needs to go the way of the dodo. Wage inequality is still a major problem in this country.

I believe that the dreamers should have a path to citizenship. They came here without their knowledge or consent and have only know living in the United States. They are hardworking and trying to make something of their lives. 

I believe that immigrants help rather than harm our country. Are there some bad apples? Sure but I think you could say that about any group.

I believe that Black Lives Matter and the egregious abuses of the civil and human rights of black people by the various forms of government is criminal.

I believe the LGTBQ (or whatever the acronym is this week. I cannot keep up) community deserves the same rights as the cis het community. Marriage for all has not lead us down a path of destruction of families and the half a dozen other things that were supposes to happen.

I believe that healthcare providers should not treat men and women differently other than the biological reasons. 

I changed doctors because I was being dismissed as out of shape so lose weight and I would feel better. Where Peter was given anti-inflammatories and the like without the lecture along with PT. Stress was killing me and I was told to lose weight.

Since then I have found that I do have some problems that have nothing to do with my size. A couple of which, if they hadn’t been discovered, could have caused me lots of problems as I get older. I am under the care of a therapist and have various medications to help me with the stress which has helped with the weight. I have lost over 20 pounds during the pandemic that is staying off. 

I believe in my system of government and my country even when it doesn’t look like it is going to survive the assault upon it. 

I am an American and I love my country. 

I want it to work for all its citizens rather than the elite few. 

I am perfectly willing to be called names to achieve this goal. 

I am a strong liberal intelligent woman and I will not back down.

I am grateful to all the women who have worked hard to help with country.

Crafty Tuesday Thinking a Different Direction

Posted By on August 11, 2020

Or Brainstorming Part One

Caroline and I have applied for a table at Anime NYC if it happens. I figure a table is a good barrier and it gives Caroline and me a home base at the convention. The cost of the table is next to nothing as it come with two badges and it gives us a chance to earn some money.

Caroline will be selling her artwork both as prints and original pieces. 

I am sorting out what I can sell there.

Of course, there will be puppets. I am going to go old school and make a Harlock and Esmeraldas to begin with.

There are so many other possibilities of what I could do.

I think plushies are a must. I have almost too many ideas in that realm. 

I also want to make dolls of various Anime characters that I think people would enjoy. I don’t want to do Chibi dolls (Large head and small body) but closer to a cloth ball joint doll. 

I might make one or two dolls as well.

I also want to make some clothing for ball joint dolls because I can make really cool clothing. 

That’s a lot of ideas that I need to trim down.

I am avoiding any style that is already made to death and there are official versions that are available for sale. 

I am figuring anything I don’t sell I can toss up on my website for sale.

I am going to do a number of Furppets for sale since they are pretty easy to make and people seem to love them.

We are going to need to sort out our booth and how we can set it up. I have looked at the rules and know what dimensions I am working with. I also need to make sure it packs up small and fits on a dolly.

Back to school is going to help because they have the college dorm items for sale.

But first I need to make my pie in the sky list then the more practical one.

I am grateful for opportunities to get my work in front of new eyes.

MMHCI Battle Fatigue

Posted By on August 10, 2020

We, as homo sapiens, cannot live in fight or flight for long periods of time without it taking a toll on our physical and mental health.

We are learning more and more the mind/body connection. The stress of the mind translates to stress response in the body. 

The stress response can be broken down into three parts, the alarm or the demand on the body (physical or mental), the resistance or the response to the demand by mobilizing resources to solve the problem or issue, and exhaustion when the solution does not work or the solution is not in our power. 

We can cycle fast through this or we can get stuck in a loop. The longer we have to deal with the stress, the more we are taxing our bodies.

The feeling of helplessness doesn’t help in this situation when we have no control over what is happening around us. 

I feel like I am in a permanent crouch waiting for the next shoe to drop and praying it doesn’t drop on top of me and mine.

This is not my first time at this rodeo. After Peter had his stroke, I felt the same way. It is gets better over time, but I still have that niggling dread that something is going to happen to him again. Rationally I know he has a team of doctors making sure he is fine, and he is working hard to stay well. But irrationally I worry.

Right now, the world had battle fatigue. We have been dealing with the virus for almost six months and there does not seem to be an end in sight.

We are collectively tired and angry at the same time.

This past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster of ups and downs. 

The passing of Susan Ellison was a blow. It is hard to even fathom. 

There were some nice things that happen. 

I did get a project to the point I can do something else and not feel guilty. 

But there are still bits and bobs I need to attend to so those are in the back of my head. 

My mind is a whirl. I do have ways to get it to slow down and focus. But if I don’t need to focus, I let it go to work out problems and issues.

I look forward when I don’t feel like I am living in a crouched position trying to decide fight or flight.

But for now I keep saying, “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

I am grateful for those moments of happiness in my life.