A misread that made me do a double-take...

...the other day when I was reading a book and came across this phrase:

"...vivid existence of excrement and triumph..."

(which was actually, "...vivid existence of EXCITEMENT and triumph...").

. . .

What a thunderstorm.

The other week, I woke up at like 6:30am, and it sounded like such a downpour out.

Then, I realized the sound wasn't changing all that much, so on a hunch I got up and headed to the bathroom.

As it turns out, when I had gotten up groggily at like 5:30am to go and take a piss, the toilet had gotten stuck on "constant flush."

So, I jiggled the handle and the stopper went down, and I headed back to bed to try to sleep for another hour before my alarm went off.

My new experiment in unionization messaging.

So, I'm really only on Twitter and Twitter-to-Facebook to do messaging, in order to disseminate articles with seemingly neutral but actually politically advantageous political framing, in order to create a "common sense" in people where none existed before.

I also add in some personality every once in a while, to lighten things up.

Anyhow, this one guy from high school's mom is totally a conservative Catholic Trump Republican, and sometimes she comments on my posts.

It's been interesting trying to learn how to respond to her.

Usually, I state an opposite, positive-framed messaging first, to instill a different "common sense," then I reply to her substance within light of that frame.

I've also been experimenting with weird use of "responsibility" and "reality" language popular on the right, e.g. something along the lines of, "Come on, we have to be realistic and live in the world as it is! Workers have to take responsibility and improve their jobs, when they have irresponsible employers."

She didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and so she dropped her point and changed subjects.  It's like it short-circuited her brain.

With effective messaging, I've noticed that you have to claim everything on your side, whether America, or economic growth, or "living in the real world."

I also notice that me and her usually end up agreeing, when I boil down through her kneejerk bullshit.

Great response of a bus driver the other day.

The other week it was horribly windy and rainy weather and I was out new barhopping, when I left one bar to pick up the bus and go head to another bar.

Right by the bus stop there was this huge rain puddle, and I had to stand close enough to the curb so that the bus would see me, but I also needed to get back as soon as possible as it started to pull up, in case it drove right into the puddle and splashed all this dirty water all over me.

So, I stood by the curb, then I hopped back, and the bus just eased right over towards the side of the road and slowed down smoothly and stopped right before the edge of the huge puddle without going into it at all.

So, I stepped off the curb and got onto the bus, and as I was swiping my card for the fare, I told the (younger) (black) (female) bus driver, "Nice work with the puddle, I was afraid you were going to drive into it and splash me!".

"I try," she was like.

Houseplant problem?

My one houseplant occasionally has leaves that get brown from the edge for no reason and occasionally drop off or get to the point where you can pluck the stem off with like no effort at all, and the texture of one of the top leaves is a rough light brown all mixed up with the green, like it got all distorted from inside somehow.

I can't figure out if there's something I'm doing to the plant, or it's just an unhealthy plant, or this maybe just maybe is a natural part of its growth.

On the one hand, I think it's unhealthy because of the weird top leaf, but on the other hand I think that one of the healthier plants has had smaller leaves drop off now and then, so maybe it's a combo?

Who knows.

A dream with new slang:

The other week I dreamt -

I was talking with a(n undergrad) coworker about something cool, and he was like, "Man, that's creamy good."

And, I thought to myself, "creamy good" must be new slang of the kids, kind of like how you say certain kinds of soups are good the creamier they are.

And then I woke up!

Neighborhood poverty.

Besides all the (young) (heroin addicts) downtown, I've been noticing more and more people selling stuff on the streets, especially in my neighborhood.

The other Saturday afternoon, I was walking up on the main drag to the local library branch, and this (older) (fatter) (kind of blank faced) (hispanic American) guy who was shuffling along with a plastic shopping bag dangling from his hand called out to me after I passed him and was like, "Hey, want to buy some razors, real good ones, Mach 3 with 3 blades!".

I was like, "No thanks, I don't need any," and I tried to use a kind voice, and then I went about my business.

That night like 9 or 10pm in the local taqueria when I was having a leisurely dinner, this (older) (white) guy in a thin dirty faded turquoise jacket comes in and stops at the counter with the (Mexican women) and throws something on it and is like, "Don't kick me out!", and then he mumbles something, and finally he's like, "What, don't you brush your teeth?", and then he picks up whatever was on the counter and turns and goes out the door again.

I'm guessing it was maybe an electric toothbrush set or something, that he had stolen and was trying to sell them?

It's very odd, for him to be trying to sell that so late at night, it's probably a sign of how much he's "off" or on drugs or something.

I also wonder where all these people live; rents keep just getting higher and higher, and it must be hard for them to afford anything, if they're actually living in an apartment.