Saturday, May. 22, 2021 - 10:43 am.
Some good things this week:
- Last Saturday, Andrew and I went out of the apartment! For fun!
We hadn't done this since March last year. Lockdown measures were eased, and we allowed ourselves to go check out a store of independent creators. I missed these things, Sheffield was big on independent business and artists. It isn't so big and shiny here, but the field seems to be growing.
Andrew had gone out earlier that day to vote on the elections, which for once had a very exciting outcome. People were elected to write the new constitution, and the right was defeated. It hurt that no trans candidates were elected, though, despite their strong careers in civil actions.
As consolation for my personal favourites (I can't even vote here), we got the fierce woman who came to the protests in a Pikachu costume. People may laugh at the thought, but she did a lot, and endured a lot, on the streets because she knows precariety. She was arrested and tear-gassed but never stopped showing up to cheer people up and on. People nicknamed her Aunt Pikachu and truthfully, she's a hero.
I digress. Andrew voted and then we headed to the store. It was early so it was just us there, good things as the pandemic is not over. I was delighted with all the stuff there, Andrew and I left with a huge bag full of goodies.
Cherry on top: They took five copies of my novel to sell it there. Andrew had me take the copies just in case (I'd have not taken them, me being me). It was a very non-complicated business transaction, bless these people. I just asked the person in charge, who is presumably one of the owners, if they'd take a book I wrote and she said yes. She said they were all for supporting independent artists. Me, an independent artist?
Joyous. Joyous, I tell you.
I do hope the book catches the attention of someone at the store. Or several someones. I feel like the people who shop in that store would be a good audience. Fingers crossed.
- I have a launch date for my IG comics accounts.
June 1st. My girlfriend has been looking into details to run the account and increase the chances of reaching the right audience. She reads my old comics, out of her own volition(!), and picks the ones that she thinks should be remade.
She has a lot of praise for my work, most of which mirrors my own (hey, you gotta believe in yourself). I'm glad it's not just me thinking too highly of myself. The comic has some good stuff, even in its early days, I just need to polish the dialogue and the illustrations to make it more reader-friendly and match the current style of the strip.
- A message from a fan.
I'm not thinking too highly of myself here either, the subject line actually said "I'm your fan". That actually put me off a bit, I don't think I'm worthy of receiving those kinds of words, so openly and explicitly.
STILL. This person was (is) a journalist in the newspapers for which I write my columns. He said he liked them a lot and used one of those, the one from the bunch that has been translated to English, for an essay on the current government in an English-speaking outlet.
My face was: :3
I didn't know what to say, but of course I wrote something back. It was REALLY great to get some feedback, and I'm grateful that this person took the time to read my columns, use them, and tell me he found them useful. My texts are not able to change my country's miserable reality, they're not read by the people who should change their authoritarian/conspirative mindset, but I'm glad they resonate and provide some sort of support and encourage to those doing the fighting.
Now, a couple of nasty things:
- My dad had another of his "fits". My mom is crushed and has been talking about getting him into a clinic when that happens again, because she cannot stand seeing him all vomited on, and pooped on; she's too frail to do anything about it (and shouldn't have to!). My dad just lets himself go. No will to move, but he still finds the will to make my mom's life miserable.
I know this is the kind of things that make you look like an ungrateful child that should burn in hell, but I want to put him away. He's an asshole, he's hurtful and abusive towards my mom, he cares about no one's suffering but his own and half of said suffering does not correspond to reality. He's uncapable of looking after himself, and I don't mean physically. He doesn't have the mental capacity to understand that taking care of his body is his own concern and not my mom's. I want him to dissapear. He's caused too much harm.
- This just in, I wouldn't mention it if I hadn't opened Facebook before coming in here. My old friend CR is all pro-government. I actually don't find it surprising, he's always been prone to conspiracy theories.
For some reason, Facebook has taken to notify me when he, and another old friend we have in common, post something AND reply to the other's posts. I don't look at what they post. I see the first words in the notification list and it's enough to horrify me.
I'm done with this friendship. People say "boo-hoo, how can you end a friendship over politics", and it's because politics reflect the way you think and view the world. I don't want friends who justify soldiers breaking and entering human righs NGOs. I don't want friends who minimize corruption just because it has been done before, or justify the new legislature throwing away dozens of law proposals regarding human right protections, because "they will do something better" (they won't). I don't want friends bedazzled by government propaganda, and looking for enemies to blame whatever goes wrong.
I'd love to delete these two friends from Facebook. Yes, including CR, the guy who helped me keep my sanity and even grown after a painful break-up. It'd be very easy to never hear from them again. This is where my social desirability kicks in, though, my rational thinking is of the above, my gut is afraid of them going "boo-hoo, how can you end a friendship over politics".
These friends have also posted something like the above before (hence, I don't like to scroll down my feed anymore). A friend of one of these friends did have the guts to cut off contact with this friend, after the latter said that having a dictator in the country miiiight not be such a bad thing. Bitch, you don't even live in the country, military harassment won't ever run over by your body, nor your daughter's. Be grateful and have some fucking solidarity with those who will have to suffer through that.
Ugh. I don't want to ruin my day. I know I have to say something, but I have yet to think about what, and how. The good things should keep me going to face the bad the best I can.
RIGHT. Back to good news: yesterday was a holiday (and Brother #1's birthday!), and this week we have a break from uni. I still have to do some things to keep my research project going, but at least I'll be able to work on my writing and my comic strips for longer hours.