It is sunny here (yes, i know. I was surprised too) so went out for a cup of tea and a cautious poddle whilst the weather is good. Clouds where being very photographic and the light was so pretty. Made me wish i had brought the camera with me. Must set it up and have a play with it. Snapped some on my phone but it is not great at photos (which i have left on my phone, so will retrieve later)   My local has started doing pumpkin spice and other autumn flavours drinks. I am addicted to cinnamon hot in chocolate so ordered one. slight misunderstanding meant it  Came to the table with a humungous mound of whipped cream and a flake and honey comb (a type of burnt toffee we have here) and caramel sauce on top. Looked amazing but i got it switched for one without the 300 unexpected calories on top. (Bonus points for asking for what i ordered and not just lumping it in a food joint).  may order one with all the frills as a treat at some point, but trying to be careful at the moment as i still am not getting my usual level of exercise due to ankle. Aiming for maintenance calorie wise.    Experiments in going on one of my usual walks have resulted in my concluding that as long as i don't go too fast or make my stride length too long and take plenty of rest breaks, i can definitely get a decent walk in if the terrain is flat (tarmac preferred). So progress.  saw a churm of goldfinches on my walk. Rescued a caterpiller. Petted many cool succulents growing in the hedge. Watched corvids ride the updraft from the cliff edge. All the usual things i love about taking a book to the cliffs.  trying to get as much in as possible before the winter weather closes in.   Going out tomorrow so hopefully the good weather sticks. 

The roofers say it’s not the roof, but they’re systematically inspecting the house to determine the source of the leak  They’ve done roof, windows, and now they’re doing vents.   I hope they figure it out. They seem really determined.

Ursina shifted on her feet and said “Oh bother”    She could think of several things that require courage… She takes a deep breath “Bears are brave.”   Then she starts preparing…she starts by pulling out her magical fruit and swipes her finger across it. She grimaces as she orders a ticket to her 25th reunion. Her old frenemy and underlings will be there, but so will several other bears she hasn’t seen since they were cubs. She’d really like to go, but the dramaaaaaa. Ursina unwittingly growls and bears her teeth. She’ll summon the courage to actually go in two weeks, but for now, she has her ticket.   ”I need tea.” She removes her hat and shoves it down deep in the bag and then sits with her empty teacup, hoping that the next brave moment doesn’t come with so many feelings. She focuses on the faces of her friends and hopes they have the courage to show up too. 

Yeah, we are sadly on the wrong side of the “haz mountains” line ☹️ no mountains for us

Give me a yell and i can give you a crash (possibly litterally) course

The First Seed:  

Hey AP!   The moment I clicked send I put Bronze's harness on and out we went.   We had 45 mins kicking the footballball around and chasing a tennis ball.   Both sweaty and dirty.   Came home and I jumped In the shower.   Now I'm in clean clothes, I'm warmer and clean and fresh.   Bronze is also asleep already.   I will put the dishes in to soak and take recycling out to the bins. Then make a quick ham salad sandwich and a cup of tea.   I'll have that then pop to pick my meds up.   Home and sorted by half 4. Work till 6.30pm then maybe start a new painting.   Dinner. Film. Read. Bed.   That's the plan.   Xx

Buddhists would call it compassion and they agree that the world needs more of it.   I absolutely hear you on this. I am very aware of my environment, and clutter-noise affects me, too. I hope you get some nested space and peace. Sending Turn Undead boosts your way.   Hard agree. Showing up is the win.   I had a thought on my walk this morning that your new job start date serendipitously coincides with the next challenge start date.  Not that this matters, it's just kind of a delightful happenstance.    Please be gentle with your back as it adjusts to the new, now-supportive mattress. As in life, we bend ourselves to the less-supportive ways to the point that new now-supportive features are uncomfortable and strange. 🦋

Kaia Kater man. She's one of several modern black American folk players, sorta reclaiming the claw hammer style on banjo as relevant for more than white-sheet parties. Notice how high on the action she's playing, almost picking on the neck? Most three finger players, like Tony Trischka are playing barely above the bridge, except for our boy Noam, three finger picking high on the action but not quite Kaia high. Just fun to watch and notice how much resonance vs precision the players want in their sound.      I brought one of their throwback 70's flavors to drum circle, a pineapple pecan piece that was stupid sweet but the drummers devoured it.      It's weirdly encouraging for me to see that my brain was protecting me, in absence of executive function, with the dissociation/distraction piece. Weird things are weird.        Hrm, can I schedule a session with you to show me that black magic tab translator witchcraft/software you showed me and @Jarric a few months ago? I really like this piece but I'm only seeing tabs for mando, guitar, or tin whistle.     You sunnofabitch, I'm in.     Tend to be horror movies set in the rural Appalachian mountains with themes of old horrors coming from the mountains, clans of poor but proud families keeping secrets, and hard scrabble people surviving despite the horrors. Also can have racist themes of degeneracy and the dissolution of white racial purity through miscegenation and poverty, which are often seen as the same thing in this meta-genre. Just recast HP's shit in the mountains and you're there.   Also, fun fact, that mountain range used to be your next door neighbor:  

@Sherry Marcini Thanks and welcome! Narrative:   Folks, he's right! I used to have Corto Maltese as a role model when I was younger, more idealist and more hopeful. He is a confident man with an open mind, at peace with himself, living adventures and building relationships along the way. He's incredibly awesome but he's not arrogant. He's kind, strong and free and that's what radiates from him and drives people toward him. Corto Maltese is a whole man. Or a man who is whole. Let's be Corto Malteses.   So, folks, I need your help! I want to make things real simple (not easy) and real fun. It seems I've lost my innocence somewhere on the way and it's time to bring it back. In order to nurture progress, I'll tackle this as a leveling up adventure.   I want to make an impact. In order to do that, I need to work on different spheres of awesomness: * physical; * mental; * social; * financial.   I've developed a set of attributes relating to those spheres. Some are to be developped as core, some are there to give the longer term picture and nurture my aspirations and anticipation of the great things to come. Each attribute commands one or more activities that allows to develop them. Here's my character sheet:     IMPACT Valesco Jean - Fighter/Mage - Lvl 2/1 Sphere Attribute Level Activity Schedule Progression plan Physical Strength   Workouts Sun/Tue/Thu NF Coaching Agility   Parkour 1h Sat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL0HYcrQupE&list=PLYz7rudUmfJq-crhhi32HiUst8-V6mlYt&index=1 Endurance   Running Mon/Wed/Fri 4x(4+1) Mental Equanimity   Sleeping 10pm->     Walking 20'/day     Meditation 15'/day Candle / Mindful stance   Tai-Chi   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w7IS8_UzHM&list=PL1KFAvN24Rswl_qyqyib3_vP2RQ3ZHiEJ Willpower         Knowledge   Learning 1h/week   Social Looks   Grooming 15'/day   Entertainment   Music     Camaraderie   Get togethers 1x/month   Leadership         Financial Income   Work 9h/weekday     Hiking 2x/month   Wealth   Investing     Colored are the core ones I intend to tackle right away. Greyed are those on which I'll work later on. I need help for ideas for Willpower and Leadership. As of now, I can't find how to practice them. I'm also taking other ideas if you have some to share. I'll be taking this slowly, the important part, for me, is to share things as they come and not let not being fully ready on them all stop me from putting what I have down so that I can free my mind for the big picture path and actually doing the core tasks. If you want to follow along, welcome and have fun! Let's be charming adventurers and channel the Corto Maltese waiting inside of us!