There’s little to no smoke in the air. I have the windows and doors open. I’m not stuck in a room with the whirring sound of the air conditioner running. It’s going to be a great day.

My Bad

I didn’t get any writing done yesterday. There was an update to my writing software and I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Fortunately, my techie husband was able to take care of the matter before heading to work today.

Schools in Session

Because I was unable to write, I had several options, including catching up on some reading. Instead, I started an online writing course I purchased when it was on sale. Much of it is pretty basic, but there have been a few nuggets of wisdom in there. It certainly was more productive than searching for apartments I may never move into, or watching past episodes of The Walking Dead.

Speaking of The Walking Dead. I watched an episode last night that may be the most disturbing one I’ve seen. I won’t share the gritty details, but it still gives me the willies this morning. Dramatic, gruesome, sad, and brilliantly done.

I digress. While it was frustrating not to do any “real” writing, I’m quite pleased I did the next best thing rather than piss my day away with so many options to do so.

A Touch of Politics

The latest Gallup poll shows Trump’s approval rating has gone up a tad. I still think, or at least pray, that he’ll lose in two weeks, but I still find the poll disheartening. According to the poll, his approval rating is at 42.7%. No matter the outcome of the election, this makes me feel shame for my country. How can over 40% of our people think he’s doing okay? Are they that blind or have I had my head buried in the sand and didn’t realize there are so many misguided, hateful, bigots in our country? I think the answer to that is I’ve been misguided.

Much of my surprise comes from living in Los Angeles. We are in a bubble here and it’s easy to forget what the rest of the world is going through. Yes, we have poverty, racism, homophobia, etc. but generally I feel safe holding the hand of my husband who happens to be black. California is actually a pretty conservative state. Outside the major cities it can get deep red. Fortunately the population in our cities keep us bright and blue.

When I look outside our bubble it feels like I’m looking at an entirely different universe.

Missing the Movies

One thing that happened in The Walking Dead episode last night is they got to watch a film in a movie theater. They had a generator running and found a useable projection bulb and people enjoyed their first movie in many years. Many of the younger kids had never seen a movie before. This made me realize how much I miss theaters.

Maurice and I never went to the movies that often. We refuse to put up with your average theater and will only go to one that is clean, easy to check in and has no tolerance for talking or cell phone use during the show. We have to pay quite a bit extra for this theater so we save it for BIG films that can only be appreciated on the large screen. The Avengers and Star Wars come to mind, but there are plenty of non action films that are visually stunning as well.

Now, that’s no longer available here in California. Even once restrictions are lifted we don’t plan to go soon after. Let other people be the guinea pigs if they so choose, we’d rather wait and see what happens rather than be part of the experiment.

I hope that changes soon.

Short and Sweet

I probably could find much more to write about today, but why blog about something for the sake of blogging? I’ve got some writing to do dammit.

I moderate a Facebook group so I’m unable to stay off of there entirely, but I’m hoping to be able to jump in, take care of pressing matters, and jump out.

I’m a little overwhelmed at getting started this morning, so I’m going to be easy on myself and not set a word goal today. I have a ten minute segment to record for the podcast and that’s it. No excuses to waste more of my day than that.

Time to start getting some words out.