That's Gneiss #195 ~ Mayvember rains

Oh how I remember the storms of Mayvember…

Wait.

I can’t remember them yet, because they’re happening today. A storm described as being like a fall/winter storm is bearing down on us, with cold temperatures and wind gusts up to 45 mph a possibility. This is getting really old. Seemingly endless weeks of below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.

Why, just a few days ago we had 2.05” of rain in one day! The moss is happy.

Hello!

I didn’t come here this morning to fill your inbox with complaints. I promise to share some interesting things as well. I’ll just pepper the complaints here and there like a light seasoning, not overdone but discernible amongst the melange of flavors.

Oh no! Rowland just had a little barf. For once, he indicated he needed to go outside and did not barf on the carpet! Definitely not a complaint, but I did not come here to tell you about his sensitive stomach. It’s a thing, that’s all you need to know. Yesterday he posed next to our snowball plant, which is at peak bloom right now. All of the flowers are looking really lovely, which helps a bit in fending off the gloom.

I quit Twitter three weeks ago. What a brilliant decision! My mental state is improved as I’m not getting sucked into doomscrolling or watching petty dramas play out. I have about a week left to reclaim my account if I so choose and that’s a big NOPE.

I did join Mastodon, or rather dusted off an account I’d set up there a while back but never used. I like it! There’s a very different vibe and people are kind to each other. It’s a non-centralized federation of servers, with no advertising and no algorithms - it takes a bit of effort to get going and find people with similar interests. Art, music, science, gardens… lots of nice folks there. I don’t miss Twitter at all.

The other sites I still frequent are becoming nearly unusable. Both Facebook and Instagram are constant advertisements and attempts to push me to follow more people. The people I know and enjoy following are there somewhere, but getting harder and harder to find. Or maybe I’m just losing interest in those sites.

Fast forward to evening…

The storm was mostly wind and very little rain. I managed a quick walk around a couple of blocks midmorning for a break from work. It was exhilarating in the wind! And nice to get outside for some fresh air.

You’re probably wondering what I’ve been doing with myself since I’m not doomscrolling Twitter or spending each Sunday writing this newsletter any longer. Art! Reading! Working!

The art has really been a life saver. I’ve taken some online classes and tried a lot of different things out. This class took me into realms of mixed media collage that I’d always been afraid to try before, or just been intimidated by. I’ve got more confidence now and am more open to trying different things and different materials. Not going to lie, the creepiness of this was a big draw for me.

It was a lot of fun methodically adding layers and watching it all come to life. You can see the different steps on this Instagram post. I’ve started a new piece using the same techniques, but it’s been going slowly as I’ve been doing all sorts of other things.

Like reading!

Which I’m going to go do right now. I’ll come back for one more round in a little bit.

*makes progress on Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse*

Fast forward to the next day…

Good morning again!

Let’s see if I can wrap this up before work. One reason I stopped writing every Sunday is the amount of time it takes to put a newsletter together. I enjoyed it, but it had gotten to the point of consuming almost the entire day to the detriment of doing other things. Anyhow - here we are, this one has even taken three sessions to write. I enjoy writing, and will have to work it into my routine a bit better.

I’ll leave you with a couple of things. First is an in-depth online thesaurus that works a bit differently than the others you might be using. It’s called OneLook - give it a try. You can type in a word or a phrase and it will pull up an extensive list for you - and that’s just a start. Poke around with the different filters and you’ll fall down the rabbit hole of words very quickly. Here’s one of their sample phrases to get you going. If you like words, this is the site for you!

Next, I’m running out of time! Another work day is nearly upon me. Here’s some pretty flowers to gaze upon.

Oooooohhhh…

Aaaahhhhh…

The iris are just getting going, and the rhodies have been putting on their show for a while. The forecast is for sunny weather this weekend, finally! We’re going to head out for some sort of adventure on Saturday.

Thanks for reading - I’ll write again soon!