As part of my adventure in invalidism, I’m watching Fox News because I never do and it’s fun to explore. What strikes me as curious is the frequency and the intensity of the narrative of “this might actually prevent Democrats from winning big in November. Oh, this will definitely prevent Democrats from winning big in November. There is every sign Democrats will not be winning in November.”

Things must be a lot better than I thought if they are this worried.

I think I really overextended myself in my efforts to prove I’m not one of those sickly invalid women I detest. All the cooking, driving, writing, association work, errands, shopping and scheduling appointments were probably not the smartest thing to do right after abdominal surgery.

So today I took to bed with a vat of cherries, a book and a TV remote control. I’m going to be an invalid for the day and I’m planning to enjoy it.

I used to want more readers in the early years of this blog. I self-promoted, participated in link fairs, etc.

These days, it’s the opposite. All I want is to not be noticed. I find it useful and fun to be able to post random things that occur to me throughout the day. I love the people we have here right now. Nobody is an idiot, nobody agrees with everything I say, nobody tries to make me swear allegiance to their dogma. Everybody has something of value to say and when they don’t, they stay silent.

I literally don’t know a place online that is so devoid of eager idiots. I’m very scared of eager idiots re-discovering my blog.

I often meet people around here who offer to pray for or with me, ask me to pray for them, or say they need to take a moment to pray. What I find culturally curious is that praying means something entirely different to them than it does to us.

For us, praying is done through a set statement that you recite, usually to yourself and not aloud. It has a cadence, a rhythm that is not only soothing but has numerical, mystical qualities. The text can’t be changed, it is what it is. You are not supposed to roll out a list of demands because you can’t know better than God.

And here people improvise and create their own little statements tailored to a specific occasion.

Neither method is better or worse. They simply serve entirely different purposes.

Klara says “thank you, you are welcome, excuse me, I apologize, and I’m sorry” very easily and often. But she never says “please” and stares at us in confusion when we ask her to say it.

This is obviously because she’s imitating my speech patterns. I’m a teacher, so I don’t ask. I give commands. Hence, no “please.”

But there are perks to being a professor’s kid. Today she said, for instance, “initially, he didn’t want to do it but then he did.” Initially, eh?