Weird, and Practicality

I had an old-fashioned deadline to revise an academic article in order for it to become a book chapter, which was OK until I learned that I'd need to edit out 3000 words. It's in PDF format, almost impossible to change without conversion software, and I don't even have an up-to-date version of Word any more. I respectfully wrote to the editors yesterday saying that I would not be able to do it; I also no longer have any sort of institutional support. This morning, they offered me a person to help- so it will happen. 

Clunky ancient laptop on the point of dying, I'm dependin' on you son.

I shouldn't be procrastinating at this point but actually I'm taking a breather. I listened to yesterday's song and I'm actually jealous of it! How stupid is that? But it just came rolling out like a steam train. In my night time song terrors, I decided the song that it sounds like is too similar (it's not, really), and that I should revise the original one. This is not a bad thing. I started to write another song today, mostly words with just air where the music should be, so I'm taking that out with me for a walk this afternoon to see what happens.

I'm agitated because of the local elections. There has never been a political party that aligns with what I believe, so I've always voted for the people that I think will work for people who most need to be noticed and helped. This time around, it is hard to see which party this is. All of them are making a noise, and none of the noises are music to my ears. What is most exhausting is the assumptions and declarations made by people in power about what people with left-wing politics believe. This is often infuriating. I think I have probably been braver in challenging unfairness in workplaces and other situations than many of those politicians who have been surrounded by support for their whole lives. There is no point in broadcasting this fact here or anywhere else; it is private information that the internet would love to have so it can twist it and turn it and make it come out bad. Sanctimony is not a good look, and one party lost my vote in one fell swoop this week, because of just that.

So it's time for a last visit to academic writing, which I'd call slow politics. It feels like planting a root for future solidity, good for the soul if not for the bank balance. After tomorrow's inevitable horrors, I feel that the engine of life can start revving again. This weekend I will be making a pineapple upside-down cake for Offsprog Two's birthday complete with glacé cherries in the middle of the pineapple rings. I can't find Angelica unfortunately, so the lurid 1970s elements will be a mite turned down, but I don't think that will matter too much.