* We have a Heat Advisory tomorrow and Thursday because of the sheer level of humidity - apparently all the rain we got a while back is slowly returning to the atmosphere but deciding to hang around in the air for a while first. They are threatening heat indices of 106 tomorrow. At least for me it's a lecture-only day, so I can wear one of my thin light little dresses and not have to worry about spilling chemicals on it or something.
* And yeah, every single one of the soil test chemicals that comes in powder form has clumped, as have many of the granulated spices (especially the granulated garlic) I use at home. Really not a fan of humidity.
* I wonder how long before brownouts become an issue? I need to do laundry but I guess I wait and do a load or two later in the evening rather than right as I get home.
* I am alarmed that it is this hot this early in the summer. Not looking forward to August, when I will be here full-time (not traveling) and will be trying to do SOME research that involves a field component.
* Also I think people are getting angry easier and earlier. Recently I had do "soothe" (ugh) someone who was stomping around and griping about something that happened to him that was an accident where another person just kind of derped - it sounds like the kind of thing that sometimes just happens when someone is tired. Anyway, he was stomping around complaining about how "all Oklahomans are stupid" and I was like dude, you were born here and you have lived here far longer than I have so chill a little.
I mean, I get it - I could see myself spinning up some Righteous Anger over someone derping but often when I realize that's what happened I can get my emotions to stand down.
But yeah. Am not up for being a people-soother this summer. I don't know why I so often wind up in that role. I did not become a mother, in part, because I tend to run out of patience for things like complaining or attention-neediness at inopportune times.
* I need to knit something. I've been dinking around too much on the Internet when at home in the evening and not actually DOING anything that seems productive.
* Also I wind up spending money maybe I should not spend. I found, in an Etsy shop, a Big Brother pony for a "reasonable" price (he is missing his hat and scarf, but I'm okay with that and I might even see if I could bash up a little replacement hat for him out of felt or something). It is "Salty," the sailor pony, who has a boat (like a little cabin cruiser) as his butt symbol.
But I'm changing his name. Oh yes I am. Because when I saw the photo, my brain went "It's Boaty McBoatface" and I couldn't resist buying him and doing the name change. (I wanted a boy pony for my herd anyway. I HAVE to, HAVE to get a shelf to hold them now)
* I also did a tiny trial-wash of the FREE PONY. Part of her problem is just plain old grime; she will look better after she's had a bath and had her hair done. She'll never be true-color again; the lilac she is supposed to be has faded and there are a few speckles that might be what they call "pin dot" (None of these toys were meant to last, and honestly it's kind of amazing they have. I know someone once talked about how "they" should make a biodegradable Barbie and I was like "Won't someone think of the collectors?" (or: "won't someone think of just the sentimental people who want to hang onto a childhood toy?"). Some of the collector blogs speak of "pony cancer" which is a designation that makes me twitch because I know too many people who have had real, genuine, person-cancer and it seems....dismissive? to call the incipient chemical breakdown of plastic by that name. (There are also "age spots" on some ponies which is what I think this one has. I don't mind that designation; that seems more benign).
* I wonder if any chemical engineers have devoted any study to the changes that take place in old plastics and what those changes are. And even things like how coloration of items change - I said yesterday that I liked the old yellow ponies because they seemed to hold their color well (a lot of the white ones get dingy, and some of the other colors - like this lilac - can fade). I wonder what dyes are used and how they differ? (Apparently there has been at least some anecdotal research by fans: MLP Preservation Project has a lot of stuff. Apparently some of the issues are bacteria getting into the vinyl? Ick, and I didn't even know that there was enough "stuff" in vinyl bacteria could "eat." (then again, stale coffee will grow mold....)
(Actually, that whole site is fascinating to me. I love the idea of being able to repair and renovate stuff. On another page they talk about how to re-dye the "fugitive pink" hair that was used on some ponies like Posey. I am lucky in that my Posey still has pink hair, but the Up, Up, and Away I have, I thought she was made with white hair? Apparently it was originally pink. No, I'm not going to try to dye it, I kind of like it in its current shade).
Actually, I like some of the imperfections I've seen in the ponies I own. It reminds me that we're all imperfect but we're also still worthy of love. I've talked before about how I'm one of the "dreaded unboxers" and I could not see, for example, spending $70 for a pony still on its card - it's like buying "collector" wine, you can only hang on to it to sell to the next person, you can't ENJOY it. I'd rather have my $10 and $15 not-quite-perfect ponies that I can hold and pose and enjoy than something that's so mint I'd be afraid to breathe on it.
And yeah, I think the "none of us is perfect but we are still worthy of love" is something I (with my tendency towards self-criticism and perfectionism) needs to be reminded of. I saw this last night and at first I laughed - because really, finding that in a grocery store* would be really funny, but then it made me think:
"Not the best/But still good"
Because really, I think that's a realistic goal, which is better than an unrealistic one.
(*If it's not Photoshop, which I kind of suspect it is)
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