AccordingtoKirsty

The dog found something unidentifiable on our beach walk this evening. It was all gone by the time we got home. I have no idea what it was, any ideas? Ten to one, though, if it was something stinky and horrid she will have rolled on it before picking it up. Must embrace the full sensual pleasure of rotting smelly things, mustn’t we, doggo?

Looking much more majestic earlier in the week, channeling Churchill with this dog chew. Now, if I could only teach her to do a “V for victory” sign with her paw then I could send a photo to WeRateDogs and make millions.

Is Trump a dick, or what? Apparently the death toll from last years Hurricanes Maria and Irma that devastated Puerto Rico was not actually in the thousands – that was just a number made up by the Democrats to make him look bad. Huh? Come on, Donald – you were there! You were the one throwing paper towels, remember? Come on, put the phone down – you’re just embarrassing yourself. Can anyone remember how his team actually confiscated his phone for a couple of weeks before the election in 2016, because of his out of control tweeting addiction? I’m not sure how anyone can be surprised at anything that’s happened since then. (Not true actually – I myself am in an almost constant state of fascinated dismay). I watched an excellent movie the other night, very thought provoking, about the Cold War. In the end, the American President, played by Henry Fonda, saves us all from World War Three with decisive, intelligent and timely action. Heaven help us.

There are a number of serious storms around the globe at the moment. Hurricane Florence is heading towards the American Eastern Seaboard, and the Philippines is bracing itself for Super Typhoon Mangkhut. Lucky climate change isn’t actually a thing or otherwise we’d really be in trouble!

So, a nine year old Australian girl is being pilloried for her peaceful protest in not standing up for the national anthem. She sounded quite sensible in her newspaper interview – concerned about the government’s treatment of Australia’s indigenous people, as demonstrated in their anthem “Advance Australia Fair” ie may the white people prosper, and also references to it being a young country when actually people had lived there for many thousands of years before the Johnny come latelies and convicts of the last few centuries. Is peaceful protest not a civilized behavior, and a right, in a democratic country? Apparently not, according to a number of politicians who are happy to be quoted as being horrified and wishing they could kick her in the backside. “It’s disrespectful to our soldiers!” Oh! I didn’t realize that’s what they were fighting for.  “Don’t worry about what those Nazis are up to, boys – let’s make sure our grandkids are forced to stand for the anthem!” Is that what democracy is about? I like Australia, it’s a nice place to visit (apart from the heat and the flies), and some of my best friends are Australian (not really), but you have to agree, it’s a hotbed of sexism, racism, and nationalism. The former two were clearly on display this week in the cartoon published twice in an Australian newspaper (once inside, and then again, after the international uproar, defiantly on the cover) of the tennis champion Serena Williams. OK, she was having a bit of a temper tantrum, but I well remember the days of John MacEnroe (“You cannot be serious!”), and in the words of the immortal Tana Umaga “It’s not tiddlywinks mate!”. OK, not an entirely relevant quote but i like it and it does show that when it comes to top sporting events, the players blood is up and they’re really feeling it.

The most famous peaceful protester around the world at the moment is of course Colin Kaepernick (sorry, Ghandi, but you haven’t been signed with any internationally recognizable sports team in even longer than two years – I’d hate to think what any sponsorship deal you managed to pull might look like). I’ve been wearing my Nikes proudly all week. Not that I think the company has developed any sort of super ethical corporate awareness all of a sudden (I’m sure sweatshops are still a thing), but hopefully they can see which way the wind’s blowing. Colin is a hero for today, and heroes sell shoes.

Is Citrix a load of crap, or is it just me? It used to take me a couple of goes to log on from outside the hospital, but with this new workspace upgrade, I can hardly ever get on. Is it a CCDHB conspiracy with concern for our mental wellbeing in mind, trying to make sure we don’t contaminate our precious down time with work stuff? Ha ha as if…

Great Murdoch cartoon in the paper this morning. I remember trying to persuade my Mum to have a mammogram years ago. I’d just had one, and I told her it didn’t hurt at all. “Well, of course not” she sniffed “your boobs are tiny!” Ouch. Thanks Mum. This was before hate speech was illegal of course.

As an aside – poor Clare Curran. Hard to come back from having a stroke on live TV.

Wearing my green theatre hat today in honour of my friend and colleague NM who complimented me this morning on the flattering shade of green of my dress. This shade is quite different, of course, being rather lurid – but it’s the thought that counts. It’s funny, we dress to impress when we come to work – have to show our patients we are serious and important people who are worth every penny we charge them – but then we spend most of our day in navy pajamas.

Some days I catch an unexpected  glimpse of my reflection – in a window, for example – and recoil at my hideousness. Other times, I see myself and think “Hmmm – not too shabby “. I’m guessing that it’s actually psychologically impossible to be objective about your own appearance. The lucky thing is that as you get older, you just forget to care. I seem to remember the perpetual self consciousness – thinking about how you look, the dumb things you say, and worrying about how you appear to others – as being one of the more tiresome aspects of being a teenager. So painful, such a pointless waste of time and brainpower. Nowadays I tend to have the opposite problem – I get home at the end of the day to find I haven’t looked in the mirror once, and subsequently discover there’s a giant bogie hanging off the end of my nose; or spinach or other unidentified but colourful piece of food stuck in my teeth. I have other things to worry about these days; like, trying to pretend I know what I’m doing at work. On a good day, I’ll think this is imposter syndrome. On a bad day,  I know it’s because I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m just waiting to be found out.

Just finished reading “The House of Silk” by Anthony Horowitz. It’s a Sherlock Holmes novel that the Doyle family estate commissioned the author to write, and he’s done a very good job of it. Highly recommended. I managed to have figured  out about a third of what was going on by the time of the denouement, which is doing very well for me. I love detective fiction, but I never have any idea “whodunnit “. I’m just along for the ride, fall for all the red herrings, and end up suspecting every character in the book at least once. Now that I’m done, I have no excuse not to get started on my CICO course prereading, have to be ready before I face that damn sheep on Thursday.

Wut

My pick for the anonymous author of the Failing New York Times explosive op ed article the other day is Marlon Bundo. After all, Trump called Mike Pence weak for bringing his little bunny wabbit to Washington with him – and Marlon has already written a book about his time in the administration.

You heard it here first.

#lodestar