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Released 30 years ago today!

1995 - Common People, Pulp.

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As today is his birthday, I thought now would be the perfect time to tell The Absolutely True Story of How I Named My Vacuum Cleaner After Russell Senior. Enjoy.

-I got a new vacuum cleaner

-I kept forgetting where I put it, seeing it out of the corner of my eye and becoming mildly unsettled for a moment because wait what was that?

-This reminded me of Russell's story about getting a Vic Reeves cutout for his daughter, placing it at the top of the stairs to scare off burglars and terrifying himself every time he saw it

-This made me think of Russell any time I saw the vacuum

-I remembered how Russell's surrealist play included instructions to turn on a vacuum and not turn it off until the audience became restless/the first audience member left and this strengthened the connection between Russell and vacuums in my mind

-I realized if I named the vacuum after Russell, I could call it Russell Cleanior, which is the sort of terrible pun I adore

-I decided it was official—the vacuum would be named Russell Cleanior

(I followed this up by naming my air purifier Candidair Doyle, though that was more pun-based and as such has a less interesting backstory.)

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Tulips!

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It can be hard to have hope when you're still COVID-Cautious and feeling left behind, but here are five ways I'm trying to find hope anyway.

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Easter Flowers!

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If you're a Covid-Cautious Christian and want to be part of an online community that shares your beliefs and values, send me a message and I'll invite you to the Covid-Cautious Christian Discord server I made last month.

It's a small, friendly place and most of the users have chronic health issues and will understand if you take a long time to reply to messages. 💕

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the green vase strikes again 💐 24x30 inches, oil on wood

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picked up some flowers at the grocery store 🌸

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Don’t mind me, just following trends 🪩

Oil on wood, 2022

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Heart Macarons with Lemon Buttercream

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Gingerbread Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream

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I originally wrote this over a year ago and assumed an essay about baseball, ableism, and Ignatian spirituality would be too niche to ever be published, but it recently found a home in Valiant Scribe.

(Just a little note that when I talk about allowing the albatross to fly, I'm talking about living with our negative emotions, not suggesting we shouldn't challenge harmful systems!)

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Peaceful walking trail (and a filter that makes it look like a sketch)

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A blessing I wrote inspired by the fourth beatitude

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Instagram

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It seems to me that, even when I back up my COVID boundaries with scientific studies and medical reviews, I can't necessarily get anyone to understand them or live more cautiously themselves. But at the very least, I can make a plea for compassion. I can challenge the way society is treating chronically ill and disabled people who just want to be safe and protected. And I can do it by referencing an old Ryan Gosling film that shows humanity at its best.

People need safety to heal, and safety is not found in or through shame, in telling someone to move on instead of sitting with them and asking what they need to get through. It’s in the little changes and sacrifices we make to include someone else and show them their value. It’s in the choice to say, “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you” instead of “why are you still living like this?”