Finished week 2 at Google (on contract). It's quite a relief to get a job where i'm given a task and am not micromanaged (even if all my various facets of existence within the Google hivemind have yet to fully coalesce, which hindered my ability to work until this Wednesday).  I've had to thrash against the limits of my ignorance yet, after establishing the initial parameters, managed to surpass obstacles on my own, needing only once to ask for clarification.

Plumbing and electric work on the new house is nearly done, which will allow us to insure it.  The garage at the current house has been obliterated and removed, and the dogs are greatly loving the new roaming grounds.  Memo hates shovels and, when faced with the Bobcat that remained overnight (the garage demolition took two days), felt that it was his duty to bite the largest shovel he'd ever seen.

Our grandson Elliott drew some capybaras during his last visit. They now grace our fridge.

Ever since i put on a pair of my mom's heels at 11 and loved them, i've always wanted to know what my deal was, mainly because i thought it would help me figure out how to express myself in a way that i felt was true to myself, whatever the hell that means.

It looks like it would take forty years for not just me to settle down as a person but also for society to change with a whole bunch of young people changing attitudes and language enough for things to fall into place.  In the meantime, i took some baby steps by starting in 2008 to wear kilts, a heteronormative-approved skirt for men.  I started buying nicer clothes in general as a result of, for the first time, caring about how i dressed and looked on a daily basis.

Two years and a half ago, i bought my first non-kilt skirt from eShakti, which a coworker had recommended primarily for the ability to customize the garment's measurements, as she has an unusually shaped body.  As i do, too, given my typically male proportions, and the fact that most of their skirts have pockets (which i had no interest in going without), that sealed the deal.  But i still didn't know where to wear it (although i did take it out to go see Florence + the Machine for my granddaughter's birthday with her stepmom [my stepdaughter], which was a perfect occasion as i saw other guys there wearing clothes with femenine festoons), so it mostly languished in my closet.

Last year, after i started at Zoox, i decided to rip off the bandaid on Halloween (how cliché) and wore the navy skirt with these, which i'd bought in Portland on a bit of a lark in 2019 and were also looking for an opportunity to shine in public.  After that, i ended up buying a couple more skirts, and also some mid-heeled boots, and it's really feeling like it's all coming together.

Following are the skirts, in order of purchase, plus my favorite pairs of knee-high boots.

So how am i labeling myself?  I'm a cis hetero dude with femme fashion tendencies; that's good enough.

In closing, here's Neko Case.

In vaguely alphabetical order:

Baby Velvet, Please Don't Be in Love With Someone Else — Hannah Crofts from All Our Exes Live in Texas has her solo debut.  Lovely, sightly neurotic pop.

Andrew Bird, Inside Problems — What more can i say?  Bird always brings the goods.

Dead Engine, Brake — (EP) Another small set of power trio rock.

Guilhem Desq & Sébastien Gisbert, Storm — Desq's manic electric hurdy gurdy is joined by Gisbert's thrumming percussion.

50 Foot Wave, Black Pearl — (EP) There was always a clear stylistic break between her two bands as well as her solo work, but the latest Throwing Muses, 50 Foot Wave, and Kristin Hersh releases sound very similar.  Sludgey, abrasive, sometimes it feel like i'm still listening out of inertia.

Florence + the Machine, Dance Fever — A fuller and broader work than her previous album.  Her voice is still a marvel to behold.

Grieflines, Fathoms — (EP) Electronica side project for I Like Trains guitarist Guy Bannister.

Imogen Heap & Dan O'Neill, Chordata Bytes I — Heap has taken a library of oceanic sounds from marine biologist O'Neill and turned it into electronic music.

Jean-Michel Jarre, Oxymore — Jarre had been collaborating with Pierre Henry, musique concrète pioneer, but he died in 2017.  That work is now finished.  It's a... grimier work, but still very Jarre.

Zola Jesus, Arkhon — Spooky, haunting vocals are her bread and butter.

Rokia Koné & Jacknife Lee, Bamanan — Malian pop, a Bandcamp suggestion that hit me right away.

Midnight Oil, Resist — My album of the year, everything the Oils are known for, a massive comeback album.

Sea Power, Everything Was Forever — Their soundtrack to Disco Elysium (an amazing video game that is accessible to any level of gaming skill) piqued my interest.  A few of the DE tracks resurface here with lyrics.

Tears for Fears, The Tipping Point —Another comeback album, this one where an old rift between the band members was repaired.  It's a lovely work.

He's the hack from Mar-a-Lago
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
told his workers, "No te pago"
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
He thought big, he was optimistic
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
They didn't know he was narcissistic
Little Donald rants on the big stage
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
What he says doesn't make no sense

Sometimes people can be oh so dense
He didn't want it but he won it anyway
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
Little Donald stands in the White House
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
What he says don't make sense
What he says doesn't make no sense
(Little Donald, Little Donald)
Little Donald stands at a rally

Oh Donald John Trump I see you behind
The barred door of federal prison

I heard that Twitter's dead
Well, I don't care about it
I heard that Twitter's dead
But I don't care about it

It happens anyway
It happens anyway
Thought i'd just buy Twitter
I thought i'd just buy Twitter, oh

I said no fake accounts
Just mark them "parody"
I said no fake accounts
And then I changed my mind
And then I changed my mind
And then you heard me say
"Well, that's the way I like it
Well, that's the way I like it
I like it too much"

I'm having a tough time enjoying the first two episodes on their own merits.  The departures from the book seem to grate me more than, say, the first season of American Gods (of which i was reminded by the intro sequence, same feel, except for the bit they lifted from The Expanse's intro).

Our son married his sweetie, who wore a dress made by my sweetie.

If you have CBS All Access^W^W^WParamount Plus, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is everything you liked about old Star Trek plus all the coolness of the newer Treks.

If you have Showtime, The Man Who Fell to Earth is fantastic.  Chiwetel Ejiofor deserves all the awards.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is absolutely amazing.  We braved going to the theater for the first time since "Parasite" and it was more than worth it.