Community giving, mutual aid

In January I took over Radio Free Monday, a fannish-community resource started by Copperbadge. This resource has been running for over a decade and has now expanded a bit beyond just the fandom communities. I created communities on both Tumblr and Dreamwidth, so that eventually, in another decade, when I hand it off to someone else, the URL won't change :) Copperbadge did an incredible job running this by himself for so long! When he announced that he'd be ceasing operations at the end of 2024, I asked if others could take the helm, and here we are.

If you want to find folks who could use an extra boost, if you could use a bit of help yourself, or if you see someone else who's sent up the "Help" flag, follow either community and add your submissions.

(I just wish that Dreamwidth had reblog capability...)

Monday, Monday (blah blah, blah blah blah blah)

I spent the weekend feeling yuck, and today the head cold is attempting to become a chest cold.

No no no no no. We are NOT. DOING. THAT.

(Good reminder to me to get the second bit of my breakfast, which includes Emergen-C drink. I cannot get Airborne in Mexico, but I can get Emergen-C. I also have lots and lots of tea and cup o noodles ramen soups, and two more bottles of Electrolit.)

Over the weekend I did some jewelry organization, and the final load of laundry from the 3-month buildup. Not a lot...but seeing as I was staving off bronchial-somethingorothereth, I'm calling it a win. Last night I got a decent night's sleep without having to use Afrin, so I'm sure the sleep helped quite a bit. Night time temperatures are warming up - slightly - but they're still in the 40s. And daytime temps are staying quite firmly in the high 70s with the occasional 80 or 81. Once the nighttime temps get to the upper 40s/low 50s I'll be much more comfortable. That will start happening in about another month.

Today's tasks:

• wash breakfast dishes
• gather up the trash (I'm currently storing the large bags of trash on the patio until I feel well enough to load them into the car and drive to the bins)
• sort out coloring books: two for display, one for scanning
• pack another box to go to storage (I need strapping tape!)
• figure out where to move the remaining boxes against the patio-door wall so that this coming weekend, I might be able to start putting together the big Kallax and put it in its place. (Yes, I'm blocking the patio door. The screen has a big ol' tear in the down-low corner, and I don't want my cats getting out, so I need to block that somehow. Repair it?? I'm not permanently repairing anything that was messed up when I moved in. And it's a Kallax! There will still be airflow through the upper three rows, which I plan to use mostly for decorative stuff; but the bottom two rows' worth will be blocked solid with books and, in the case of the bottom row, those storage cubes with doors.)

I'm still trying to figure out what I can do with the crocheted afghan panels that my Mom had completed, but hadn't put together. When she was still alive, she tried teaching me how to make these afghans, but she only had one page of the pattern-papers. Searching online or with the manufacturer didn't work, since the pattern was from 1974. I did find others looking for the same pattern, but none of us could help each other. So...I have to find another thing to do with the last of these panels. I never learned to crochet, so I don't know how to backwards-engineer these. I do have two completed afghans that my mom made for me, and they came in quite handy here in the armpit of winter.

• Check out this week's Radio Free Monday, on Tumblr or on Dreamwidth.
• Want to keep up with national US news but don't want to marinate in hatred, rage, or despair? Check out What the fuck just happened today for a quick headline-summary, or the Associated Press or Reuters for the longer stories.

well...fuck

Major tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas. I have some relatives that live in Kansas. (And I was born there, but my family left when I was still wee and tiny, so I don't personally feel any connection with the state.)

Avian flu is causing LOTS of poultry and duck farms to have to significantly cull, or in at least one case, totally destroy, their flocks.

And the CDC and all government agencies have been asked to stop telling the general populace any more information.

Oh, joy in the morning.

And yes, I'm in Mexico, not the US. But I still grieve for the US' descent into chaos. And...avian flu doesn't respect human conventions like international borders. Yes, I'm going to be able to get eggs and chicken for less than USians, until avian flu comes south to visit and wreak havoc.

Now it the time to form local networks for information. Now is also the time to start looking around for shelf-stable substitutes for milk and eggs, and if you easily can, it's time to start growing beans to harvest and eat as a reliable protein source.

But now, a palette cleanser. I've been following Sarper Duman on Patreon for several years now. He recently released some music through YouTube.