Not much to say about the week, really. Accomplished a few things, encountered more than a few frustrations, pressed on through it all because I’m a goddamn professional, and, as it appears will come to pass as I write this, will make it through to the end mostly unscathed.

Did most of it through the veil of consistent headaches, thanks to allergies and a glasses rx that’s no longer cutting it (I’ve got an appointment for my overdue eye exam scheduled), especially as I spend eight or nine hours a day staring at a screen writing emails and editing endless memos and forms to accomplish the people’s day-to-day business while the folks in charge put on cult-of-personality infomercials and skirt the Hatch Act by campaigning on public property.

I’ve been keeping tabs, of course (as I did last week, when the other team had their turn), because I dig this sort of thing, and also because, as a citizen, it’s my responsibility to stay up to date on the issues of the day, and I’ll die on the hill of insisting “responsibility” as being just as important as that other “r” word people insist on claiming loudly when they’re out being super-spreaders as long as I have breath or electrons to do so.

For me, political conventions are interesting, but ultimately not the kind of thing that changes my mind on issues, but I understand how people who are just starting to pay attention* to things rely on it to get a sense of the candidates. I liked the way the the Democratic party did some things last week, adapting to the reality of Life in the Time of ‘Rona™ and creating something interesting out of the limitations; it wasn’t perfect, but I hope things like the roll call vote that let us see the diversity of place and person across the United States sticks around. It was certainly way more compelling than drunken proclamations from the convention floor in tacky straw hats that’s been the standard of recent memory.

Otherwise, it’s been the usual sort of life. Got some exercise, read some books, y’know. I did have a birthday on Sunday that I didn’t make a big deal of (it was fine), and I played some music online with my friends, which was nice as well. The immediate future looks about the same, frankly, but as I’m just repeating myself, I’ll shut up about it.

…other than to say that I pre-ordered Bill & Ted Face the Music for home streaming (because there’s no way I’m going into a theater right now; it’s not worth it) for the weekend, because I’m a person of a certain age that has very fond memories of watching the original in high school, and there are worse things than nostalgia, and this one seems as if it’s hitting on a lot of the same mid-life crisis concepts that are in the forefront of my experience right now. Station.

Speaking of tunes, here’s this week’s output from Spotify’s “Weekly Discovery” playlist it generates for me. Some neat older stuff in here, with Billy Idol’s old band at #1, and the Ramones at their punk-by-way-of-Phil-Spector best with a catchy bit of topical political commentary at #6, plus a welcome reappearance of a certain band at the end that I still know nothing about, but every time they pop up I go down the rabbit hole of their output, because it’s catchy as hell and right in my wheelhouse:

1. “Kiss Me Deadly” – Generation X
2. “In Between Days” – Ben Folds
3. “Brave Captain” -fIREHOSE
4. “Can’t Stand It” – Wilco
5. “Vapour Trail” – Ride
6. “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg” – Ramones
7. “In Quintessence” – Squeeze
8. “Jolene” – Cake
9. “Brand – New – Life” – Young Marble Giants
10. “Low Self Opinion” – Rollins Band
11. “This Charming Man” – Death Cab for Cutie
12. “Coldsweat” – The Sugarcubes
13. “Blown to Bits” – Charly Bliss

* – I don’t totally understand, however, how someone can not pay attention, but that’s probably my privilege speaking, as I’m not working three jobs (if I haven’t lost them due to current circumstances) in order to make rent, and thus have other things that are more pressing. Eliminating that sort of thing is why I pay attention. It’s the people at least a well off as I am who don’t bother that I really don’t get.