Saturday, June 24

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

A beautiful summer day, not too hot. Just nice.

I remembered to put the turtle outside; I have a little pool set up for it, and during the summer I put it outside for part of the day to get some sun.

I did some house stuff; changed the cat litter, put away clean dishes, put away clean laundry, hung more laundry on the clothes line thingy.

My Sweetie's first day of the bike ride apparently went well, with good weather.

I found a very convoluted way to get my recent video of River and I doing the most recent pattern onto the International Liberty Horse Association's entry page (that's who does the online virtual shows we've been doing). So at least I got that figured out, I hope. It took some doing.

Then I spent pretty much the whole day mowing the lawn. I still hadn't mowed since our big rain, because the ground was just mud beneath the grass. It still is in a few low spots, and I didn't mow there.

Anyhow, at least the yard looks like someone cares a bit again.

I actually like the grass when it is a bit long and "natural" looking, with clover flowers and such, but you do have to mow it because it won't stay that way. It will get very long and seed out, and then when it dies you'll have a standing mess and won't get nice grass the next year. Soon it will be full of poplar trees.

This is what I say to myself as I cut, because I actually kind of hate mowing it when it is so pretty and long-ish.

I did talk to a siding company in town about coming to look at our house to do the soffits. My husband tried to get someone else to do them, and that guy just kind of ghosted us. So, we'll see if this guy will do the work.

My husband COULD do it, but here we are again with that time vs. how much needs to get done.

I feel like every time I work on something, all I see is the hundred other things that need doing. Does anyone ever get caught up? Ever?

I came in, kind of rested but didn't nap, and had a nice bath.

I learned that there is a whole thing in Japan, where people pay to disappear. It's not a small thing either, as it is estimated that as many as 100,000 people "evaporate" every year there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jouhatsu

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

I'll have to read at length about disappearance. There are days (and I can't predict them) when I am invisible to everyone. It is peculiar to be in a roomful of people and listen to conversation bob and weave around you, hearing things that would never be said if you could be seen.

If I want anything to look close to "done", I'll have to start learning how to fix and maintain.

[ratunderpaper]

As for one's disappearance and "fresh start", it was much easier to achieve in the 50s, when accurate documentation was often unnecessary and easily faked. I had a family member who created a wholly different identity for themself.

[gottawonder]

Maybe you are a very quiet person who doesn't engage in those conversations? It's easy enough to fade into the back ground if you are very quiet.

I have gone through life periods where I have felt invisible. Not a nice feeling. It happens when I don't feel like I belong anywhere, or I am a bit down and feel like others might not really care to engage with me, so I don't bother.

I had to just remember that people won't often just start talking to you if you don't seem like you want to engage, so whenever I feel like this, I just kind of make myself start a conversation. Usually it works out just fine.

Over the years, I have had to become a lot more handy. I never knew how to use a lawn mower because we didn't mow our lawn on the farm where I grew up. We just put the cattle into the yard to keep it down.

I learned how to use a power drill/screwdriver, I've used an air nailer, a reciprocating saw, a hand held sander, a belt sander, and assisted with a lot of things.

I don't always LIKE doing this work, and sometimes it has been dangerous (am now advocating for myself more, and saying no to things that look dangerous).

Painting and such isn't so bad.

I end up doing a lot of pruning and hauling away branches that are low enough to reach from the ground, and just tons of digging and hauling stuff around.

I still don't think I could do much actual home maintenance other than simple painting or fixing very small things on my own.

[ratunderpaper]

I learned how to use a power drill last year (to install iron curtain tiebacks) and I think I need a bit of a refresher.

I would like to learn to use an air nailer.

I've used a palm sander. Not difficult.

I would like to learn to use a mitre saw this summer, and install a bit of moulding on the walls. I want to make a frieze or a dado (chair rail), not the ubiquitous fake panel moulding on every Instagram DIY account.

Basically, it's power tools that intimidate me, but unless I get used to them, I won't get much done.

[gottawonder]

I really don't like the saws. They're scary to me. Justifiably so, I think.

What's really interesting, is artists who just keep making new music. Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam has put out a recent album, and it's nothing like Pearl Jam. He's kept creating.

Willie Nelson kept putting out new work, and a few others.

I would only want to see older bands perform if they were still able to perform well. I think some work ages better than others; I don't know if anyone really wants to see their favorite metal band from high school perform if they are up there wheezing and gasping, with big guts and wigs.

[ratunderpaper]

The Cure was playing here a week ago, and I'm afraid the years have not been kind to Robert Smith. I have to admire his tenacity, though, especially with eyeliner.

I will never use a table saw. I may have said this already. But I'm hoping to learn how to use that mitre saw, first occasionally, and then more frequently. The sound of these tools is often just as scary as the potential for being cut.

[ratunderpaper]

If you google images of "Robert Smith 2023"...

[gottawonder]

Well, if his performance is still good, then that's one thing.

One can't always do much about appearance, but if they can't put on a good show anymore then it's time to wrap it up.

It can CHANGE, as in be sung in a different register, or in a different arrangement, but it's hard to go to a performance of a beloved band and they're just awful.

It's bad enough if they're young and they're awful live. No one wants to see the zombie version of a once great performer.

Billy Idol still looks pretty good, and sings well. I was happy to see that. Stevie Nicks too.

[ratunderpaper]

Elton John performs in a bathrobe. What's up with that?

[gottawonder]

No idea. He's likely just at a point in his life where he can get away with it, and it just seems funny to him.

Yet, I bet his performance was great.

[ratunderpaper]

His performances are no longer great. He was at his best many years ago, alas.

[ratunderpaper]

Being relatively quiet around people who are discussing a common topic among them is a good way to enhance one's invisibility. I'm not likely to talk about Pride when the others are getting into their plans for a Jesus march - especially not on their turf.

[gottawonder]

I didn't mean "stirring the pot", I just meant participating in the normal ebb and flow of things.

Why are you surrounded by Jesus marchers if they are not your flavor of folk?

[ratunderpaper]

I might be at an extended family picnic.

[ratunderpaper]

Or themselves, rather.

[gottawonder]

I know that it used to happen a lot all over the world. Generally to avoid messy relationships, issues with the law or other criminals, all kinds of fraud, and probably for some personal reasons too.

This article was about modern people disappearing, and I was a bit surprised that you could do it still. I'm not sure how legal it is, it COULD be legal. You could hire a company to help you change your names and then all of your documents and swiftly relocate you, but I don't know how you would avoid people finding out about the name change if it was done officially. It does sound like you have to leave a lot behind.

[ratunderpaper]

I'm guessing that most of the reasons for disappearance are nefarious. But decades ago, women sometimes disappeared and changed their identity so that violent or threatening spouses couldn't get them.