Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

If my grandmother were to have had a Life Motto, it would have been something like 

“If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all.”

In which “right” meant “her way or the highway”.

Or maybe “if you’re going to do a half-assed job, then don’t even bother.”

I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I heard some variation of those two while I was growing up.  To paraphrase a tumblr friend, perfectionism is a hell of a drug.

But I?  I have come to the conclusion that no matter how bad part of my brain thinks it is, “half-assed is better than no-assed” IS a good Life Motto.

Because half-assed IS better than no-assed.

Something IS better than nothing.

And I refuse to let that part of my grandmother that lives in my brain to make me feel ashamed because I didn’t do something absolutely pristinely perfect the first time around.  I’m human, not a fucking Rosie-bot.

It’s taken me nearly 40 years to figure that out.  Man, parents really fuck you up sometimes.

I can only hope I don’t pass along the same fucked-up-ness to my kids.  (I’ve probably fucked them up regardless, but can it at least be a different fucked up?  Please, universe?  Thanks.)

Starting Point:

I’ve come to the realization this is going to be something I have to do at least twice a year, unless I can figure out a way to stop the weeds from coming back (and somehow I doubt that).  Part of the problem, as you can see below, is that along the fence, the weeds are actually coming from both sides.  And not only do I not have control over what goes on next door, but nobody does, as the house has been empty since I moved in.

I posted closer-up shots of the Invasion of the Weeds here.  Up above is just a general overview of what I started out with.  Not terrible, but if I didn’t do something, it could get that way.

I couldn’t tell you how much time I actually spent working.  I did it in spurts, largely because it involved a lot of bending and sweeping and my back doesn’t like that very much.

But after day 1, in which I spent at least 2 hours outside (even if I wasn’t actively working the whole 2 hours), I had this:

No, the bin doesn’t live there but I left it there for the time being.

I’m trying the boiling water method of killing the weeds.  Obviously it’s too early to know whether it’s been any help or not, but I figured it was the simplest, cheapest, and quickest (since I can boil nearly 2 liters of water in my kettle in like 2 minutes) method to start with.

Aaaand this is what I have after day 2:

Tidy garden, complete with garden gnomecat.

The bins have been sent to their usual homes.

It may be green and mossy, but it’s weed-free (at least for the moment) and swept!  (I even moved all of my plant pots to sweep and hot-water the areas behind and under them.)

I swear to god, every time I leave the house I come home with another dog story.

Today it was a chihuahua that nearly got crushed underneath my boot-wearing feet because he was so excited to be let down to run that he was just going all over the place (AND wriggled out of his collar).

(“I love dogs” aura.  Seriously.  Gotta be.)

asexualsammy:

i would give my left kidney for asexual taystee jefferson.

she’s an extrovert who cares more about her family in all its forms than she is in dating.

none of her flashbacks or current prison drama revolve around fucking.

when poussey kisses her she says she’s “not like that” but cuddling is fine and she obviously enjoys that - why is everyone assuming she means she’s straight?

when she yells at p in the library she never says the issue is that she liked her, it’s that she liked her “like that” and “wanted her to take off her clothes and shit” - those are not the words of someone uncomfortable with a lesbian. those are the words of someone uncomfortable with sex.

she jokes about sex but it’s /always/ a joke. “a nubian king with a nubian thing”? come on. she uses it like a punchline. she uses it like an ace.

can you imagine? if any show were to have some ace representation, i could see it being orange is the new black. and can you imagine it being TAYSTEE? the fan favorite, loud and happy and dancing - sings like an angel, stings like a bee - can you imagine? taystee saying, “no, i’m asexual. not like a fucking plant, like a person. i just don’t like it.” can you IMAGINE? allosexual people being forced to see an ace character who wasn’t a novelty or a joke or treated like it was a disorder? can you imagine allosexual people actually /hearing/ the word asexual on one of the most popular tv shows that exists right now? can you even imagine?