Observations

 Jenn's Observations for Facebook:

1) If it's a public post, especially by a politician, people will weigh in on completely unrelated topics, usually their own pet peeves.

2) If it's a public reel, and the OP is LGBTQIA+, Jewish, a POC, a parent, obese, or otherwise not a cishet, ostensibly Christian, physically fit white male, some people will say they're doing it wrong/abusing their child/should get a real job.

2a) Other people will call these folks out on it.

2b) The people saying the OP is doing it wrong will then accuse the folks calling them out of being woke, stupid, fat, ugly, mean, abusers, predators, groomers, communists, or man-hating, whether or not these things are demonstrably true.

2c) Someone will chime in with a comment about hard work or bootstraps.

 

3) If it's a post about Star Wars or Doctor Who (and I'm sure there are others that I don't follow), someone will accuse the OP or the page of "pandering to Disney," being too woke, being weak, crying too much, "ticking all the DEI boxes," or "turning everything into that musical song and dance crap that the fans don't want."

3a) They claim to speak for all fans, even when other fans disagree.

3b) Star Trek is the same, except that they blame "pandering to the woke left" instead of "pandering to Disney."

3c) Someone will claim "Go woke, go broke," while simultaneously complaining that the "woke left controls everything."

 

4) If it's a post or reel about a person (usually a child, teen, or young adult) with a difference or disability, able to at least partly support themselves, someone will inevitably remark that said person is "being manipulated for clicks" or taken advantage of by their parents or caregivers.

4a) Or that the person in question is incapable of doing anything for themselves. Which they can, with a few accommodations, which is the point of the post.

4b) Or that the disability or difference should not be mentioned because "labels are unnecessary."

4c) The people who do this generally appear to be the "poor things can't speak for themselves" types... who talk over them when they try to speak for themselves.

 

5) Everyone on the internet knows better than teachers, other school personnel, epidemiologists, foreign relations experts, professional nutritionists, and sports coaches.

Alone Time Thoughts

Look, a post from my desktop computer! 

A bitmoji cartoon of a chubby, gree-eyed
brunette woman wearing a rainbow tie-dye tee
under an open blue shirt

At my desk!

I can now sit here comfortably for about an hour and a half at a time without my leg swelling up like a balloon.

This is progress.

And it's useful, because I have that remote summer job I was looking for, researching for (and once I'm more familiar with the subject matter, revamping) a website to be better with SEO and so forth. Reading (or watching documentaries) about metaphysical toolsets of self-knowledge is something that can be done from my phone or my TV easily enough, but as stated in the link above, taking extensive notes and web design and those sorts of things are very difficult on the tiny screen on my phone, but can be done pretty easily on the Windows 10 machine, even at 90 minutes twice a day.

I have the basics, as I do yoga and meditation (and tai chi 22 years ago or so) already. At the moment, I'm still learning to speak the myriad metaphysical dialects of American English. I'm pretty good with this sort of thing - I write for fun, after all - but I still need to get up to speed before I will feel confident messing with the website and search terms and all that.

And Grammarly is still complaining that I don't sound professional or confident enough. It's my personal blog here, Grammarly; you should know by now that my personal writing... meanders. You should also know that I can switch that off when appropriate or when requested by an employer.

Anyway... I'm sitting here with a bum knee and a head cold (negative for covid, and so were both the kids when they had it last week), sucking down soup and juice, bumping up against that 90-minute comfort window, and ready to go back to my spot on the couch with my feet up now.

Until the kids (both of them!) get home from work.

It's been nice being at my desk, though. Normal. I like that.

Not a Bum Knee in Sight

Oh, my knee is still in recovery, but the point here is that this

Flying saucer with rainbow beams
from a free photo site

post is not about that even though I’m still writing on my phone. So enough about the knee(s).

What I’m talking about today is something that I have touched on before, but mostly it’s this: If you don’t like it anymore, stop watching/playing/reading/listening.That’s what adults do, instead of all this whining and trying to ruin it for the rest of us. It’s those sour grapes that make me want to slap y’all.

At this point, I’m tired enough about this whole process that I do not care if you’re an outright bigot (on race, gender, sexuality, whatever) or if you’re just not good with change. I’m not great with change in real life, but I don’t spend all my time screaming down the house (in other people’s houses) that things in fictional universes “just aren’t the same as they used to be” and clutching my pearls because “history isn’t like that” (of course it’s not; this is a fictionalization of history. That’s why they call it historical fiction) or because two characters kissed or one character cried or whatever.

Note: this is not anll about Doctor Who or Star Trek, although those franchises are two that I see subject to this often.

For me, it falls in the same category as what they call “hate following,“ which is when you follow someone (usually a vlogger or a politician) on a social media platform just so you can bring your favorite pet peeve up every time they post anything at all. This gets really really old. Sure, I’m complaining here, but this is my own platform; I’m not going to other people’s posts just to assert that my personal opinion is fact.

And if you don’t like it anymore for whatever reason (for instance, I don’t think that certain show runners were particularly good for a few of my favorite series) that’s fine. As I said above, you don’t have to watch/play/etc. Or if you do want to watch just to see whether it improves or through some sort of personal issue you have, fine. Why do you have to keep on and on and on and on about it on every single post you see on a given social media platform? 

Honestly, just shut up and let people enjoy things. It’s not that hard.

A Post From my Phone

Warning: medical/surgical procedures. Nothing graphic.

Okay, y’all, making a blog post from my phone is hard…

…but it’s a lot more comfortable than sitting at my computer. Or at the laptop I borrowed, mostly because elevation of the leg is key in recovery.

This is what everything looked like 60 hours after the surgery to reconnect my meniscus to its root. I have three little incisions where they put in the micro tools and the teeny tiny little arthroscopic camera.

It’s kinda cool, huh?

So now I am 13 days after the surgery and went in for my two week check to make sure everything was OK. And everything is OK. The orthopedic surgeon, whom I really like, basically said that I was doing everything right and to continue on as I am for the next four weeks.

Doing everything right is being relaxed, just a little bit, and that I no longer have to use the ACE Bandage unless I feel more supported with it on. I’m keeping the Band-Aids though because the pretty new patterns and themes that Band-Aid has for their flexible fabric bandages make me feel better. I guess it’s a looking-better-feeling-better thing, mind over matter. In any case, it works.

So I am on crutches and in this brace for another four weeks, But things are moving comfortably forward. Going to the doctor today was tiring (Even considering that my mother brought me breakfast) and my low back hurts from sitting in the same position for two weeks and using crutches and so on, but things are looking up.

Assistance

A bitmoji rendition of me, a chubby
brunette woman wearing blue and
waving, with the caption HELLO

You may know from my rambling previous posts, that I'm not a huge fan of asking for help, at least not financial or physical help (for myself); I think the last time was almost nine years ago when Laston had just been diagnosed with Stage Four colon cancer. I don't usually mind asking for advice and moral support, although I often do a lot of editing and internal debate to avoid the risk of offending people.

I like people and I want to please people. I'm trying to have better boundaries and not be a people-pleaser to my own detriment, but that takes time and practice.

And meanwhile, life keeps right on happening.

Right now, life has happened in assorted annoying ways, the most obvious of which is that I have a left knee riddled with arthritis and a right knee getting surgery on May 29th to repair (reattach) a torn meniscus. This means I can't drive, which means I can't work at my usual school-year job (which I love - and sorry if that Vocal link is down; looks like they're having technical difficulties). I have irons in the fire for my usual summertime job (remote technical writing and the like; I don't ramble nearly this much when it's writing for other people), but no dice yet.

Anyway, back to the surgery.

There are varying paths here, ranging from nope-can't-reattach-it (in which case they trim it and I would likely have to get one or both knees replaced sooner rather than later) to wow-that-fixed-everything (which is unlikely). Either way, I'm going to be pretty much stuck on my butt for at least six weeks even if I get a job I can do from here. I don't need advice on this part; I've got most major expenses covered, a safety net if I need it, and - as I said - irons in the fire.

What I don't have is a lot of disposable income at the moment. So this wish list (yeah, Amazon, because there is no ethical consumption under capitalism and Amazon has all the things in the same place) is things I don't need but that would make my recovery easier and more pleasant. And as these are wants rather than needs, I'm not picky about where they are purchased.

It wouldn't hurt if anyone would like to commission some of Lizzy's bead art, either. This allows her to buy her own supplies, which means I don't have to. None of them are very expensive, but all those beads and elastic cording add up.

Again, no needs here, just wants. Want to help a girl out?

***Recovery Items***

Random Stuff May Eighth 2024

Fire cuff close-up in yellow, orange, gold,
red, and dark red.

Mrs. Frazzled is not actually talking to grownups that way, you twonks. She's using that condescending language and voice as satire, showing sarcastically what she would like to say to adults who are entitled asshats.

Lizzy is still taking commissions for her beaded jewelry and Shaker Cubes. Click here for the full blog post with pictures, descriptions, and pricing! They're really fun pieces, from single-strand bracelets to earrings to big ol' cuffs (with or without additional decorations).

Speaking of fun pieces, why are people who say they don't pay attention to celebrities all up in arms about the Met Gala this week? The Met Gala is not primarily a fashion show or an award night, nor is it what (most) celebrities choose for fancy evenings out (although I'm sure there are some). It is a fundraiser for the museum and is meant to be completely impractical and over the top.

My washing machine won't lock and therefore won't run and I don't have the expertise to fix it nor the money to have it fixed by an expert. From the Whirlpool website, YouTube, and assorted other information sources (I can troubleshoot, but not fix it in this case), it looks like the latch sensor is busted (shut up, Grammarly; I don't care that "busted" doesn't sound professional!). This is not a calamity but it's a pain in the ass.

On that note, my therapist told me to stop apologizing for what I can't do and simply thank people for doing things. I'm very bad at this, but I'm trying hard.

Waiting for my doctor's office to call me back about pre-operative labs. A little nervous about the upcoming knee surgery, but pleased that despite my bulk, I'm fairly healthy overall. I don't have very many of the legion of medical issues listed on the preoperative questionnaire they had me fill out, for instance. This is probably - at least in part - because I don't (never have) smoke or play with recreational drugs, and I drink alcohol a few times a year. I've lost 13.2 pounds since April 3rd, but that's not enough to make an appreciable difference in that particular risk metric. Go me.

I'm constantly annoyed right now with people who think their opinion is fact and those who feel the need to yuck other people's yum. Naturally, this is mostly on social media, which is like that anyway, but that's what I've got at the moment if I want to connect to the outside world. And I'm probably cranky because I'm sore from the hips down. But the bizarreness of the Met Gala or people showing their baby's first word, or clips from new seasons of a show or strange party tricks or whatever? Why do folks feel the need to denigrate people online about these things? Just for funsies? 

If it really is just for funsies or because saying things like, "Her dress was garbage woke BS and this show is gonna faaaaaiiiiilllll," makes people feel better about themselves? That's just sad.

In my opinion, of course.