I didn't leave the Siamese title on... in Candy Corn on the Cob (October 2019)

you’re welcome. Every time I type, Makenzie has to come sit on or near or very close to the keyboard, as if she is telling me that she needs my hands on her more than I will ever need to express myself with words. Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should stop writing. But she’s a cat, and she doesn’t get much forum for her opinions on my “art.” I mean, her entire day is getting her ass scratched, scratching in her litterbox, and snagging kitty treats. And sleeping on my pillow, because everyone needs a faceful of Siamese first thing every morning. This is a big deal, in cat, I know. She wouldn’t have much to do with us while we were conscious for the first couple of years she was here. Now, we have to pray she’s snoozing, because if she’s awake, we have incoming. Or at least, I have incoming. She doesn’t have anything to do with Spouse and she only interacts with the children in my den of iniquity.

She’s my dog, basically.

I got tiny motivated this afternoon and did the “replacement” exercise for those missing readings. Which, I might add, came in with less than 48 hours to print, read, annotate, select, and type up (and print out again.) I really do not appreciate work that I cannot access by Friday if it’s due Tuesday. Giving it to me late in the day on Sunday is NOT enough time. I’m thinking of filing a complaint with his dean (who teaches my other English class.) But I don’t want to be a thundercunt. But I also want to feel I’m getting competent instruction. I am very torn on this. I’m literally paying thousands for my seat in this class. Should I demand the same level of service I would expect for that price, or do I make an exception? He said his laptop with the readings died, but…well, when you’re doing something important, you back that shit up. Also, there are services that can take your laptop hard drive and image the fucker. I would have done this if I hadn’t been smart enough to cloud-storage everything I intended to use…and I would have. I…feel cheated by his inability to predict what shit is missing from our Sakai and make arrangements for it by class on Thursday (or email Friday.)

But perhaps I am being oversensitive?

I need to pre-read some stories for that class (the ones we’re workshopping Thursday, which WERE posted Friday - by their authors.) (It pisses me off that WE’RE on time…but he’s not.)

Anyway. The last two big things I need to do tonight - I did my Spanish already, but badly, and I need more practice on por and para, as well as positive and negative commands - are shower and make tea. I like to drag a big thing of iced tea all around campus, it makes me feel…I don’t know, happy. Smart. I get exactly the drink I want (unsweetened tea in a flavor I really like, I don’t buy bad tea ever) and it’s basically free and it’s delicious. If I could make the damn tea AT school, I’d consider it. But we don’t have a commuter stove/oven, except in Kreidler (long walk.) I guess I could bring a teakettle and do it there, but that would be silliness. Wouldn’t it? I mean, most people probably microwave by the cup for tea…but I like it cold.

I wonder if I have any peppermint yet. The good peppermint only comes out after Halloween, though, and I think I used up my stash from last year (which was not Stash. Stash makes terrible tea.) I think I have ginger-peach, Zen, (which has mint in it), Passion, and Wild Sweet Orange. I might have original Good Earth, which tastes like cinnamon red-hots. I know I have lemon zinger (where did the Mandarin orange zinger go?? Haven’t seen it in years.) I might have mango. I have Earl Grey (the kids wanted it) and also chamomile (Kitten said it would help her sleep.) I’m pretty sure those boxes are so old I should toss them (how long are sealed teabags good for?)

But no, no peppermint yet. Well. Fuck. Tis the season…almost. I like Gingersnappish and the peppermint that Bigelow puts out for Christmas, and those should be in stores any time now. Perhaps they already are? I could go wash my hair and find out? I could try something new, too, I guess, but I have a bunch of boxes and not much cupboard space. I need a solution for teabags. I don’t want to bin them all together, because only some come separately wrapped (the Zingers don’t come separately wrapped, neither do the plain teabags, like Red Rose or Tetley.) Also, I like the boxes. They’re…genteel. They’re attractive and when you open them, they make you feel, I don’t know, fancy. It’d be worth a couple more bucks to find a wooden tea caddy or something, but I’ve no place to store or display that. I can’t put the things I love out on display in my own home because eh, I don’t honestly LIVE HERE.

I just sleep and eat here. The things I love do not matter here. But one day, I am going to have a splendid tea caddy on my counter, packed with tea bags or tea boxes or whatever fancy contraption they have for tea is by then. I wonder if I could get frou-frou ceramic boxes.

I do love pretty things. But I can’t have them - here.