If I had my way, I'd never get the urge to roam.

  I've put this off all evening because I just haven't been in the mood. But it's fifteen after eleven and I should see if I can't get something done before midnight.

 I'm a little burnt out on paying attention to things. Woke, cancel culture, critical race theory, should we be paying attention to Trump announcing he's starting a LiveJournal, blah blah and increasingly blah. I don't know whether this is a result of having a president who's still in the boring phase of his presidency and one who is, well, boring. I can understand a little the idea the Bigtime Press is having trouble dealing with Life After Trump.

 That being said, I can also agree with folks who make up said press' readership saying how goddamn tired they are of reporters trying to keep Trump in the news. Well, trying to make "Biden's people react to Trump" is what they're considering news, apparently. On the plus side, it's always a good laugh when Press Secretary Jen Psaki rhetorically smacks some overpaid goofball's hand for asking a dumbass question about Trump.

 Still, Trump is important to the GOP. They're trying the eviscerate Lynn Cheney and Mitt Romney for their disloyalty to that weird asshole. It's very, very silly. I knew he'd have an outsized impact on the future of the GOP, but this is ridiculous. The flipside of all this is everyone who wants to stay in with the base is a complete douchebag on Twitter while complaining on the Sunday morning television shows how Big Tech and Big Media are censoring them. That geek Josh Hawley actually said while being interviewed on tv by that the reporter couldn't "cancel, censor or silence" him which is what he considers "asking a question clarifying a statement" as he hawks his new "vote for me for president in 2024" book.

 Like I said, tedious. Even more tedious is the drawers-twisting outrage conservatives are having on critical race theory. Everything is CRT. Diversity training is CRT. History that puts forth the controversial idea that chattel slavery was "bad" is CRT. Acknowledging the systematic racism that affected the lives of African Americans throughout the 20th century still has an impact on culture is CRT. Affirmative Action is CRT. 

 It's so dumb. I'm not interested in debating the merits of CRT but, for the record, I don't really see a problem with it. It's driven white folks nuts, though, to the point where anti-CRT types have slipped right over the edge of common sense. I saw one goob claimed writers Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright disproved CRT, which tells me this person not only doesn't know what CRT is, he's never read a lick from the two authors' work. Guess they learned the name of another Black intellectual besides Dr. King.

 Okay. I don't know if I can squeeze out any more. I do have some Actual Paying Work this week, due Friday. I don't know how that will affect this week's output, but who knows. I've been playing The Witcher 3 the last couple of days and I think I've got into the groove of the game. I may have to take a break, though, the thing is so goddamn dense. I'm also bouncing around with a couple of books and haven't found one that holds my attention. Nothing but harmonicas these days, y'all.

Yeah, I can't think of a song lyric to put here. Go listen to Paul Butterfield.

 I've been dicking around playing The Witcher 2 all evening and let time slip up on me. It's twenty till midnight and my head's still empty. I doubt I'll knock out the word count before I run out of time, but what the hell.

 Though I've owned all three Witcher games for a couple years I've never put much time into them. I got the first two for less than ten bucks on a GOG sale and snagged the third one for about twenty bucks. They're pretty decent games but they're so damn deep, so much to get into. They're sort of like the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games in that way. Fun but I feel like I have to block out a couple of days just to get started on them.

 For whatever reason, I've had a helluva time of getting on Steam. It keeps saying there have been too many failed attempts to log in, but there shouldn't be anyone but me. After it not working all evening, it's working now. Go figure. I can only guess it has something with us getting the fiber optic.

 Also, we got fiber optic. I don't know if I've gone into this, but they finally got it all hooked up the week before last. We were supposed to get it before the end of last year but that was before COVID sat on everyone's faces and farted. Anyhow, we have it now and we're up to the same speed I had in New Orleans. So nice to rejoin the 21st century at least in one way.

 Speaking of which, I saw the Therapist today. It's been a fairly chill couple of months since the last time I saw her and, frankly, nothing's been weighing too heavy on my mind. So that means it was a "let Matt rant about politics" type of session. Specifically, raging about the shit Jackson has been dealing with since the Big Freeze. Her son lives there and for four weeks he'd have to go somewhere every morning to take a shower. And it's still not really fixed.

 Of course, the state government would rather spend its time banning trans kids from high school, though that's not a problem anywhere, or try to keep people from voting. As it is, state law has it if someone catches a charge on a number of minor felonies like bad checks or shoplifting, they lose the right to vote. Ten percent of the population can't vote because of that and, of course, most of them are Black.

 I really don't understand why Roger Whitaker's taken a hard Trump turn as of late. He's always been solidly right-wing, but he's gone wacky lately. He backed Trump's claim of a stolen election and now he's on the anti-voting team. His numbers must look like hell. Tate Reeves makes more sense. I really think he's gearing up for a presidential run in 2024 or 2028 and he's obviously decided being an obnoxious dick is the way to go. I don't know why, it's done Ted Cruz no good.

 I've topped five hundred words and it's five past midnight. I reckon that's close enough for jazz. I do want to mention my harmonicas. My harmonica collection is growing, I have two more coming Thursday, and at least two more down the line. All are different keys or different tunings, mostly in G or C. It's getting a little silly, honestly. I'm trying different brands beyond the Hohner Marine Bands or Blues Harps, like Easttop or Fender Blues.

 For what it's worth, I highly recommend the Easttop. It's cheaper than Hohners or Lee Oskars yet still a well-made harmonica. The Fender Blues is pretty solid, as well, though the Easttop gets the nod. I've got a pretty good set if I wanted to play out, so, something to consider there.

 But harmonicas are cool, so it's okay.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

 Today's the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official beginning of winter, it's been pouring down rain all day, and for the fourth day hand running I don't really have anything in particular to write about. Because it's raining, Otis can't go outside and has already spent all day napping, so he's pouting, too.