Fri. Sept. 5, 2025: The Need for Rest
image courtesy of Stephanie Ghesquier via pixabay.comFriday, September 5, 2025
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde
Rainy and humid
Yesterday was exhausting. Whenever there was a pocket of quiet, I just wanted to collapse.
I forgot to mention that I accepted an invitation to join a group of feminist writers, scholars, and educators based out of the Five Colleges Women’s Studies Research Center over in Amherst. They have weekly write-in meetings, both in-person and online every Monday, and lots of other activities. I hope to be able to join some of their sessions in person (I would go on Monday for the writing and then the luncheon, had the sidewalk chaos been handled and I could have gotten my new tires by then, but no. . .). In the meantime, I will join sessions when I can via Zoom.
As someone who often writes about women forgotten by history, this seems like a good fit.
I really hope all the New England snowbirds who claim they support democracy do not go down to their “winter homes” in Florida this year, boosting Florida’s economy and then bringing back disease.
Our MA Governor supposedly signed authorization that acts as a prescription so everyone who wants a COVID booster can get one this year. Hopefully, CVS will stop blocking me soon. But will insurance cover it? According to the BOSTON GLOBE, insurance is required to cover it. But the information on the state’s website says one thing, and then when one follows the links to the places supposed to offer the vaccines, it contradicts what the state says. I should just give them a minute to catch up and coordinate. I usually get the booster in November, and by then, maybe everyone will be all caught up.
My insurance is supposedly accepted by the community health partners around here, so I’m hoping maybe I can get a booster when the mobile clinic comes around. I can’t drive back from Pittsfield (where the center is located) after the shot, because it starts affecting me within 5-10 minutes. One step at a time. I wish the urgent care clinic next to Stop & Shop hadn’t closed. The community clinic states on their website that the vaccines are not available at the center, but available at the mobile clinics. So we’ll see how that works out.
I challenged one of my mom’s medical bills a few months ago, because the insurances should have covered a larger portion between them. That challenge was successful, and I received the adjusted bill, which I will pay today.
I ordered copies of TAPESTRY and MURDER BELLS to have at the reading on October 4. I had to pay priority shipping, or the books probably wouldn’t arrive in time for the reading. The shipping was almost as much as the books. I also put in the order for some copies of CELLULOID CRIMES (author copies cost more than double what my author copies for the Nina Bell books cost), and they should get here just in time for the reading, too. Fingers crossed I timed it properly. Four weeks is supposed to be enough time. I’m doing a special discount for books sold at the reading.
The Sidewalk Chewing Demons caused chaos all day, with very little progress. Public Services, who is supposed to be communicating with the residents, has gone from simply dropping the ball to refusing to respond to questions, which is not acceptable. THAT IS THEIR JOB.
No #FreelanceFriends yesterday, which meant I could dig into the ghostwriting earlier than I hoped. I did a good few hours on it (some of it out on the back balcony, with Willa in her playpen, because it was such a nice day).
I have a list of theatres at a specific tier, and I’m going through it and seeing what their play submission guidelines are for each. I am pleasantly surprised by several who are open to the kind of work I do, so I will start submitting those next week. Nothing ventured, and all that.
In the late afternoon, I put on Real People clothes, got my act together, and walked down to the R&D Store at MASS MoCA for my colleague’s book event and signing. We’d been in the 2024 A4A cohort together, and I’d seen bits and pieces of her graphic novel in progress. It was great to see it all put together and published! I bought a copy of her book, and she drew me a special little cartoon with her signature, which I will treasure.
I could not face cooking, so I stopped at Golden Bamboo, which was on my way walking home, and picked up Chinese takeout. That ended up being more fraught than it needed to be, because the order was put in incorrectly – both the wrong food and the wrong price. The server felt awful and explained it was her second day. I told her it was no problem, we all have to learn things, and I wasn’t in a hurry. So we worked, step by step together, to void out the original order and get the correct one in. As I sat and waited for the food, a group of senior citizens, who’d taken up the center tables in the restaurant, kept expanding their group. By the time I left, there were more than 20. At least one was talking about just coming from her writing group. I guess they meet there regularly to catch up, and it was great to watch their community and their pleasure in spending time together.
Walked home, ate dinner, relaxed for a bit, and then worked on the ghostwriting until about 10:30. I have a little more work to do on it today, and then I’ll give it a polish and hopefully get it off my desk by the end of the day.
Then, of course, I couldn’t get to sleep, because I was too wired up from the ghostwriting. I finally fell asleep and woke up around 5.
The Sidewalk Chewing Demons showed up around 6:15 and stood on the corner yapping until 7. They took down the crime scene tape from the parking lot, but there’s no way one can drive over those frames and railroad spikes without trashing one’s tires. How much do you want to bet, if I can even get out by driving through the walking pass to the other complex’s Hoosic Street exit when I leave to run errands this morning, I can’t get back in when I return? As I write this, they are filling in the concrete to our parking lot access. Which means it will be inaccessible at least until Monday.
Un-fucking-believable.
One of my first errands today is to swing by City Hall. According to our city ordinances, Public Services is supposed to communicate with, you, know, THE PUBLIC they are supposed to SERVE about all of this, including sidewalks. Since they refuse, even at the City Councilor’s behest, I found another ordinance that says the permits are held by the City Clerk and are public record. I have an early voting question for them anyway, so I will lead with that and then ask them to pull the permit, so I can see what’s what. Then, I have to pick up a prescription for my mom, do a big grocery shopping (better make that list right quick), and do runs to the post office and the library.
Hopefully, I can access the parking lot when I get back, and not have to leave my car in the street all weekend, with the Sidewalk Chewing Demons driving heavy machinery way too close to the cars because they’re bitching that cars are in the street, when THEY have cut off access to driveways and parking lots.
The whole thing is so poorly planned and executed.
MA has 44 potential ballot questions in next year’s election. I went through the summaries this morning. There are some I really agree with, and will vote in favor, and some I will vote against. I do want to read the full ballot questions that make it on, though, and do some additional digging. The final questions will be announced in March or May of next year, so I will have some time on that.
When I get back, I hope to finish the ghostwriting project. Tonight is First Friday, and most of downtown is blocked off to traffic (starting at noon) for a community supper on Eagle Street. I won’t be able to attend that, but I do hope to get down to some of the gallery openings. If the weather is terrible, or if the ghostwriting takes longer than expected, I may have to give that up, but I’ll try.
I plan to stay relatively quiet for the weekend – housework and working on the anthology story. Depending on what goes on with the anthology story this weekend, I might push to finish it in Monday morning’s Zoom session with the FCWRSC group, or I might work on either I WILL BE DIFFERENT or CONSEQUENCE (which I’m thinking of re-titling THEORECTICALLY). CONSEQUENCE has a tight deadline, whereas I WILL BE DIFFERENT does not, so CONSEQUENCE should probably get the first attention.
The 15-minute writing sessions on the 90-day experiment make such a huge, positive difference in comparison to the 10-minute sessions.
Have a great weekend!
