annanotbob2's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indoors again, miserably No result of my PCR test yet, so I didn't go to acupuncture this morning - just too unbearable to think I could take Covid into a clinic where sick people go for treatment, but awful to be missing it. I'm so pissed off at missing the end-of-project bookshop party too - there were several people I met in passing that I'd hoped to have a proper chat with and that was the opportunity. Meh. So today I've done virtually nothing and not in a good way. I am indeed still in my pyjamas, with a fleece jacket, stylish to the end. I did manage to sort out addresses for some of the people I want to send Christmas cards to, though I've lost the list for abroad - oh as I wrote that I had a brainwave and there it was - yay - though probably too late to arrive before Christmas now. But let's take the continental approach and say Christmas lasts till 12th night, which is Jan 6th and they'll almost certainly have arrived by then. To be honest, I'm disappointed with how the cards came back from the printer, but I can't face trying to get them changed with the arsey bloke who runs the place. I ought to find somewhere else - it's been crap since I first went there, yet still I return rather than find somewhere better. I watched a really good programme about social media this evening - on BBC so might be available - by David Baddiel, a writer, comedian and commentator I've liked for a while. Two things stood out, neither of them intended by him. Firstly he interviewed a journalist who's been the subject of much online trolling and they filmed it walking on my seaglass beach! Sat at tables outside the cafe where we go! How was I meant to pay attention to what she was saying when they were walking up and down on my favourite beach? Secondly, he interviewed his daughter who wanted to speak up about the impact of social media when she was suffering from anorexia. She was very eloquent but spoke mainly about the issue of identity, the importance of claiming an identity. I struggle with this. I don't have anything written in the bio space for any of my social media pages because I don't have a clue how to prioritise different aspects of my identity. When my kids were small and I was a single parent I knew that the word mother was a good description because all my days were defined by keeping those fuckers alive and moderately cheerful and well-balanced. There are other words that can be used - teacher, writer, friend, sister, artist, cook, gardener, walker, dog-lover, yogi, meditator, knitter, crocheter, needlewoman, mental health service user, blogger, anti-capitalist, feminist, socialist, anti-racist, anti-nationalist, music lover, dancer, festival-goer, old woman, non-make-up-wearing, non-shaving, sea swimmer, grandmother, gossip, night owl... and that's without starting on adjectives. And as a straight (ish), middle class, able-bodied white woman, I tend not to think about those categories as I'm in the privileged category, apart from woman. I wouldn't have a clue how to pick which identities matter most as they all rise and fall like the tides. Oh I forgot, beach cleaner, jewellery maker. Dope smoker... not any more it seems, though I haven't written it off as an idea, I'm just waiting for some old school, non-skunk grass to come along. We had a telephone consultation about Christmas dinner, me and MH. It's going to be at her house, with its massive kitchen and actual dining room that can be opened up into the living room. There will be 14 of us, including six of my lot. We do it between us on the day but she's doing all the shopping as she lives in a town full of organic food shops and has storage space and money. I'm in charge of making the sausagemeat, sage and onion stuffing for the turkey, getting the vegan sausages that Z (grandson's girlfriend) will eat, and making a non-alcoholic trifle for those who don't like Christmas pudding which will include small children, bread sauce, which my family eat but not hers, and smoked mackerel pate to put out as a starter while we panic in the kitchen about getting all the veg cooked just right simultaneously. Piece of piss. Though Son warns not to be complacent about it all going ahead, that stringent lockdowns are mighty possible, and he should know. We're ignoring that on the grounds that we can carve it all up to cook and eat separately if we have to. The latest spectacular govt achievement has been announcing a million booster shots a day to be given out without informing any health authorities in advance. Today there are no lateral flow test kits to be had for love nor money and the site for booking booster shots has crashed. Led by donkeys. Oh my result just popped into my inbox - negative - yay! Today I am grateful for that and for having a great writing group session this morning. Keep safe y'all. Love and hugs xxx 11:12 p.m. - 13.12.21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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