This last week started badly with Hailey having another case of meningitis, but ended incredibly, with Hailey bouncing back and me finding absolute treasures at Shelley Duvall’s house. (Long story. It’s on my blog.) And it was sprinkled with little bits of insanity as internet rapture jokes (did you know it’s supposed to rapture?) made me laugh while also lightly triggering my past religious trauma. Ah, the complicated pleasures of being alive!
I’m trying to focus less on the loud bullshit in the world that I can’t control, and focus more on the quiet good in the world that inspires me to keep going and to do small things to make the world better. It is really hard though because I tend to hyper-focus on “SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET IS WRONG AND/OR MEAN” rather than “Someone on the internet is kind and calming and has a good plan to help others that I can support.” How long will this well-intentioned plan last? Probably 4-6 hours, with my record. But it’s worth a shot.
And that’s what this week’s doodle is about.
“Teach me how to give no fucks about assholes. (Please.)”
I super crazy love you. Thank you for being a bright spot to focus on in a sometimes dark little world. You make a difference.
This Substack writer followed me, for some reason, so I followed him back on the free plan. He’s a heck of an author! Here is this that came out today. Just click on the Read on Substack hyperlink to get the whole piece. It’s a worthy click.
Canadian 🇨🇦 Speaking with American 🇺🇸 of Goodwill by Dr. Richard Francis Hogan Read on Substack
Canada K1R 7X1 Tuesday April 29, 2025 17:39
My dear American friend,
As a Canadian—rooted in the North’s enduring landscapes, shaped by the intellectual rigor of Princeton, Harvard, and Alistair—the perspective I bring carries both the weight of my country’s values and the lens of scholarship. Canada itself is a testament to resilience: vast, unyielding, and profoundly ethical, it stands as a quiet lodestar amid a fractured Western Alliance.
The Alliance, once a cathedral of shared ideals—its pillars of democracy, its arches of trust, and its foundation of justice—has weathered quakes of greed and waves of corruption. Criminal actors, conspiring in darkness, have sought to erode these sacred stones, testing the integrity of the principles that bind nations and people alike. Yet Canada, like the glacier’s edge cutting through stone, does not yield. It understands that sovereignty is not merely a possession, but a responsibility—a covenant to protect truth and justice, not only for itself but for all who look to it as a beacon.
Ethically, Canada reflects what true kinship should embody: colleagues whose integrity is a bridge over tumultuous waters; partners who root themselves in mutual respect, like the intertwining roots of the great boreal forests; and friendships, which are the wildflowers that flourish even in the harshest tundra, bringing color and life to the frostiest of divides. To betray these values, through complicity or complacency, is to allow darkness to encroach upon what light remains. (snip-MORE)
I woke at midnight and got up at 2am after laying there hoping to go back to sleep. Then I started doing Joe my God news stuff. But at 5 am Julie Kamyk’s sister came on and started talking to me. I listened to what was happening to her and she is suffering as I am from seasonal depression. But we both are fierce fighters for her brother and she did not know the crap her father was doing over the laptop Kamyk paid half for but his dad refused to give him. I offered to pay the half price the dad paid that he was holding over Kamyk refusing to release it, and I told her if that did not work I would buy a new $400 dollar one myself and send it to him. She said that wouldn’t be needed, she would take the laptop from him and give it to Kamyk. She and I discussed other needs of his and she made lists to get them done.
Then as I started to do posts and stuff … I got a Skype call from Kamyk. Well that started a 6 hour call. I asked him how I could help him and he said just stay on the line and talk to him. So I did. Because when one of my friends is in a care house with few of his own resources and they ask me to just keep talking with them … oh yes I got that covered.
We got a lot covered, we talked and talked and talked. In and out of bad things and into good things.
After all that expenditure of energy and spirit to support my friend, I find I am drained and hard to move forward to dealing with blog things. I gave him my all. Hugs
Kamyk was moved to an ICU with Covid and an O2 level in the low 80s. I spent all day after only getting 3 hours sleep texting on Skype in group chat and private chats all day and into the next. I got to bed at 12:30 … am. Yes Ron was and is upset about the long hours and the toll it is taking on me, but he understands I am doing my best. Kamyk is in the best place for care, the ICU. Problem is his mother and one sister have Covid and visited him in his old room for days. Knowing they had Covid. They find masks inconvenient and unpleasant.
That sister is a complete narcissist who kept trying to make the group chats about her. She was reminded several times we needed to concentrate on Kamyk, but she couldn’t even use his chosen name, constantly dead naming him. Finally the good sister started a separate private chat with me. She was very angry at her other sister’s actions. I just started ignoring the bad sister. Had a good talk with the good sister on the private channel. We learned about each other. I wouldn’t share with her what Kamyk shared with me as that was his right to do so if he wanted. She said she knew about some of the adult stuff but not the kid stuff. I advised her to talk with her brother when he gets better.
She also was abused, but did not go into details. I have a policy of not asking if the person doesn’t seem to want me to, I figure if someone wants me to know something they will tell me most of the time. Anyway Ron has gone out shopping, there are a few dishes to wash, so I am going to take medication and do them so he has clean counters to set stuff on. Hugs. Thank you all for not only understand but sending thoughts, feelings, and prayers for my friend. He has been through so much he did not need this set back. I know he was talking he wanted it all to end. I think that was desperation talking, not his normal self. Hugs all.
Hi everyone. I spent the late morning / early afternoon making a couple videos. I was talking about what was keeping me busy and occupied the last couple of weeks. But these videos touch on my hurts, my pain, not news. One is shorter because when Ron came to the door, I meant to hit the pause button but hit the stop recording one. I am using new equipment, so if there is any sound or video issues, please let me know. Hugs. Scottie
I talk about my own childhood abuse and helping a friend with his own abuse issues first part.
Me speaking about my abuse and trying to help a friend who was abused also. I also explain my time management issues.
Scottie's Playtime 