Another week, another bunch of…not much. It’s a quiet time of life right now. I ain’t mad at that.

MONDAY

Wow. Peaceful work days continue. WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?

TUESDAY

Once I decided to give myself a little blogging break (and yes, I am aware that I am blogging at this very moment) I realized I had time to READ, so I had a pleasant late afternoon sojourn on the patio with a new book…moving indoors to the sofa when it got a little chilly. And it was lovely.

WEDNESDAY

My first “vacation” day was lovely. I’m still WORKING obviously, but it was so nice to come home, do my tiktok video and ootd picture, then just go out to the patio to read til it was getting dark, then move inside for dinner and tv til bedtime, with no thought of “oh, I should really be ____.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love doing the blog and “talking” to you guys…but sometimes it’s nice to have no obligations.

On the Bad News side, I learned my hair salon is PERMANENTLY closed and my beloved hair cutter guy is lost from me forever (#notdramaticatall). I feel like I JUST went back to him after the no-hair years. I loved his cuts; he listened to me and never went too short. I liked the salon; it was small and quiet. I hate a big, busy, production-line salon. I liked HIM; he was quiet and calm and didn’t feel the need to chit-chat while cutting my hair.

He’s the one who calmly told me “It’s okay…it’s okay” the time I got flustered on the phone.

I will miss Peaceful Haircut Guy 🙁

THURSDAY

Excitedly looking forward to the series premiere this evening of season 2 of I Told Sunset About You. The new season is called I Promised You the Moon…and I can already feel the heartbreak. Just the title…I promised you the MOON. Well, THAT’S not a thing 🙁 I can’t bear it already. But hopefully it will be as well done and visually engaging as the first one.

But so DON’T CALL ME DON’T EMAIL ME DON’T TEXT ME tonight. Ha. Not that I ever respond to anyone anyway, ha ha.

I am going to break my cardinal rule of asian-series-watching, which is Don’t Watch Until the Series is Over so I can then watch the whole thing at one time (like over a week). But this show is SO much-awaited I don’t think it will be possible to avoid spoilers on social. So I’m going to watch episode by episode and OH THE AGONY of waiting from week to week to see what happens next.

While waiting for the show to drop, I watched a zoom lecture on “Joseon Dynasty Art and Social Structure in BTS,” which was an interesting look at South Korean traditional art from 1692-1910. She related it to Min Yoongi’s (BTS) music video from his solo song Daechwita.

BTS is touching EVERYTHING. Ha ha.

And oh, YES, I DID have a McDonald’s BTS meal, haha. It’s silly, but I couldn’t NOT.

FRIDAY

I’m at the laundromat. Started off with a win, not a single quarter bounced back to me while loading the machines! BUT (always) I spilled a LOT of laundry detergent on top of the machine (I totally tipped the bottle sideways so it wasn’t pouring out the spout but just gushing over the side) and I had to seek out Laundromat Lady for a towel so I could clean it up. THEN, as she watched me wipe up the sticky gush, I somehow jettisoned the detergent bottle cap off the top of the machine into The Place of No Return behind all the machines. She laughed. Haha.
They’re always nice here. I feel like I ALWAYS screw something up (laundromat: metaphor for life) requiring them to come to my assistance. But that’s why I come to this one that’s not close to home OR work. It’s clean, large, with good tables and a lot of seating. And snack vending machines. And they’re helpful and pleasant. It’s a win.
To recover from my foibles (and to celebrate my small win) I bought a mega millions ticket. It’s $22,000,000 tonight! Can you even imagine?? That’s like BTS money! I could buy Kim Taehyung! I’m kidding I’m kidding (sigh).
I finally broke down and got an app on my phone to buy lottery tickets (TOOK them long enough to come up with that!)…and I STILL always forget to do it!
Sitting in the laundromat is the perfect place to do all the little small tasks you usually forget or put off.
Enough about the laundromat.
Oh. But if I DID buy Kim Taehyung (hee hee) I would release him into the wild and just ask that he come visit me once in a while like his favorite aunt. OR… introduce him to Katie and maybe someday he’d be my son-in-law!
Okay, enough. My fantasy life is rich…but mostly PG.

SATURDAY

I’m happy cuz it’s Saturday.

I’m happy cuz I have coffee.

I’m happy cuz it’s rainy and cool out.

I’m happy cuz I finally went to the laundromat last night and washed my favorite flannel shirt and I can wear it today cuz it’s rainy and cool out.

I’m happy cuz I finally bit the bullet and cut the tight bottom off a graphic tee I’ve been dying to wear and now I’m wearing it OKEY DOKEY YO.

I’m happy cuz the deli finally had grapefruit juice back in stock.

I’m happy cuz I have time to lay on the sofa and read today.

I’m happy cuz I had lovely clean sheets and a freshly-made bed to sleep in last night.

I’m happy cuz I get to see my baby next week.

I’m happy cuz my baby’s happy cuz she got a new baby (puppy).

I’m happy cuz spicy ramen for dinner tonight.

So much happy.

SUNDAY

I saw that BJ Thomas died. I’m at that age where so many people who were iconic from my youth, are passing away. I’m sort of surprised every time.

Rainy again. Cool again. Totally gave myself yesterday off, so…today has a To Do list.

I have to make the apartment “landlady clean” as she’ll be checking in on Janey while I’m away. Its current state is far from landlady clean so I have a lot to do. And I don’t wanna.

I broke down and ordered new white Keds…I don’t have time to run around trying on the Converse in a bunch of different stores to find the ones without soles from hell. But so I have to drive back near work today to pick them up. And I don’t wanna.

My feet are cold and I should shut the front door. But I don’t wanna. I like hearing the rain on the leaves outside.

I still have to put away the laundry from Friday night. But I don’t wanna.

I need to go through still unopened boxes to see if I have Drano to unclog the shower drain AND pull out hair gunk…and I REALLY don’t wanna.

I probably should tell the landlord that the toilet keeps running but. Yeah. I don’t wanna.

Ooh! I got a molasses cookie with my soup this morning, gonna go have that.

PS: I did not win MegaMillions.

WHAT I’M READING

Our Lizzy Hadfield (Shot From the Street) is getting some big recognition with an article on Vogue.com. She talks about dealing with grief (she lost her father when she was 17) and how last year (#covid) helped her come to terms with some things. She has talked about her father from time to time over the years, on the blog and YouTube…and you can tell it still weighs on her. As it would. She’s young (I forget how old but I don’t think 30 yet) and only 10ish years from when he passed away.

It had me thinking about the loss of my own parents: my father when I was 22 and my mother when I was 30. Not that young, but. I definitely moved past grief at some point, as one does (time heals blah blah blah) and now I miss them more in a…intellectual way? As opposed to emotional. Like I wish they were around for me to talk to, now, as an adult. At the ages I lost them both, I didn’t really recognize my parents as anything other than “my parents.” Now, I understand, obviously, that they had lives, dreams, goals, etc., beyond me. I wish I could ask my father about his photography and gardening and time in the military. I wish I could ask them both about living in Japan. I wish I could talk to my mother about why she was so unhappy during my lifetime. And why the HELL she told me and my sister we were 1/16th Cherokee Indian…when we’re NOT!?!

I wish they were around for Katie. They would have loved her so. She’s much more lovable than I have ever been 🙂 (#ImAComplicatedPerson). And kids deserve all the grandparents they can get, to dote on them and love them and spoil them.

Anyway, it’s a good article. I’m glad to see she’s getting some…peace (?) around it.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO

NPR’S Pop Culture Radio Hour: BTS and Beyond: A Guide to K-Pop This was interesting to me, as I have not really looked at the history of k-pop. Obviously, I have a strong interest in BTS, but I do like other Korean music as well, pop, rap (which I find more palatable than most western rap), tv and movie soundtracks, etc.

I’m digging Joe Hisaishi…his lovely piano playing and musical scores…

Continuing in the piano vein, I found this cover of Min Yoongi’s solo song “First Love,” which is about his piano and how it and music have always been there for him from an early age. I really love his original version – his voice, his passion, the rap, the story, the underlying music. I feel a connection to the lyrics because of my love for a piano I’ve never even had.

If you’re interested in comparing/contrasting it to the cover above, here’s the original:

And that’s it for another exciting (not) week of Life with Bettye.

Hoping for peacefulness and happiness for everyone <3