Winter Storm Shirley

I had a blackout early Monday morning and it lasted until 7:22 AM today. (There were 2 minutes on Monday when it came on but then it went off again, so I didn't have a chance to use it.) What I had was not a "rolling blackout" but a continuous blackout. I also had frozen pipes and only 1 gallon of emergency drinking water. Since I had cans of soda to drink, I figured I would use the emergency water for washing dishes and flushing the toilet. To my relief the toilet had running water again before the bathroom sinks did, so I didn't have to use up all my emergency water. My hand sanitizer pump wouldn't work, so I had to use antibacterial wipes.

I had a hand-crank radio and tried to use it to charge my cellphone, only to discover there was no USB port, but some other kind of very old port for which I had no adapter. So I had to charge the iphone from a laptop computer that still had battery life. But even when I did that, the iphone drained its entire battery within hours. I hadn't done anything but text with my family! So I charged it again and turned it off to preserve what I had.

So then I spent the rest of my time finishing my Scooby Doo game and reading my physical books. I finished the Kate Warne book, and I thought it was pretty good despite some strange typos and the repeated use of "lie" (plural subject, present tense) when surely she meant "lay" (singular subject, past tense). Kate has a colorful history growing up in the circus, and when her parents died, her Uncle Juba, a free black man, sent her to boarding school so she could have a regular domestic life. She started out being a governess, then entered a bad, impulsive marriage, and finally divorced before getting her job with Allan Pinkerton. Her Uncle Juba comes back, along with a former circus horse, and they get to work as detectives. She has a love interest that is not Allan Pinkerton, which I'm glad for, and they do undercover espionage around the Baltimore Plot. Many real life historical people are characters, including Senator Louis Wigfall, and they mention Preston Brooks viciously beating Charles Sumner in the Senate in 1856. I was disappointed that Hattie Lawton and Timothy Webster went off to Maryland and we didn't get to see them do their spying, but they might feature more in the sequel I hope. Once the Civil War starts, the Pinkertons will have to investigate the Confederacy and be the new Secret Service.

Shivering

It's so cold and icy in the Metroplex now that I didn't want to risk driving into work today. So I called in and stayed home. The TV newscasters said that there might be rolling blackouts or brownouts today, so try not to use too much electricity, such as a washing machine, during peak hours. So I replaced the ball rod assembly under my bathroom sink drain, and was glad that I made that trip to the hardware store before all the roads froze over. Then I started to do a Scooby Doo board game (more of a card/puzzle/ escape game) to pass the time without electricity. But it was just too cold in my living room, and I retreated to bed for some Netflix instead. It's Valentine's Day, so I watched a romcom.

Also this past Friday was the beginning of Lunar New Year, and I could not spend it with my family, because of work, the pandemic, and the chilly weather. I hope the bad weather doesn't continue longer than this week. I did read some more of my Kate Warne book; I just got to the good part where she's hired Hattie Lawton for the Pinkertons, and Abraham Lincoln's just been elected President. Soon I'll probably get to see Hattie passing for white and going undercover in the South to uncover Confederate secrets!

I did not watch any of the impeachment trial last week; it was a foregone conclusion that the Republicans would ignore the evidence. Still, even though the final vote wasn't enough to convict, we got a clear majority with 57 votes. So that's definitely progress. I know some people wanted witnesses, but I'm sure that witnesses wouldn't change what the Republicans would have done. It would just extend the trial into more arguing. I don't like the Senators going to recess right now, but at least when they get back, they can go straight into passing Biden's agenda. There's still so much to get done. Anyway, now the states can start to prosecute Trump for his numerous crimes, and we don't have to hear his name much at all. I want him to fade into obscurity, and I don't want to hear about anything he does until he goes to prison. Fuck him and also the inciters like Ted Cruz, who have never once apologized.

Other news

It's been very chilly in Texas this week. It always takes me a minute to remember what settings I need to use to defrost my car's windshield. Even the slightest sprinkling rain that's no big deal in normal temperatures becomes ice that blocks my view when it's this cold. This is the kind of weather where you only want to eat hot soups and stay in bed.

I tried a new recipe for beef stroganoff recently and it actually came out creamy this time, almost like gravy. Usually I cook stroganoff in the crockpot, and I can never get the sauce to thicken at all. But cooking on the stove apparently works better, with butter.

The new Equalizer show premiered after the Superbowl, so it aired 40 minutes late. I had extended my recording only half an hour, so I missed a little bit at the end, but was able to find recaps online. I never watched the original show, but this does fit my taste for vigilante shows about helping underdogs, like The A-Team. Also, it's good to see Adam Goldberg on a show again. I like it enough to continue.

Crises

I'm seething after reading the headlines about Israel's so-called successful vaccination rate, at the same time not doing much for the occupied Palestinians. Newsflash--Gaza and the West Bank are not a separate country. They are still part of Israel, because the rightwing government refuses peace talks and always refuses a two-state solution. Therefore if the Palestinians aren't vaccinated, then NO, Israel is NOT super-successful and well vaccinated. It is NOT a hopeful miracle story. It is apartheid, it is continued war crimes, it is attempted fucking genocide. The fact that they are only counting vaccinations among the Jewish population, while pretending that the Palestinians don't count, that they "aren't our responsibility" is fucking fraudulent. How dare they? How fucking dare they! Stop parroting their lies, media! Don't play games with vague statements like "some say" they should share with Palestinians. I'm still angry that Netanyahu is still in power after he should have been ousted by the last election. Fuck!!

Meanwhile, other international news is pretty grim too. There was a military coup in Myanmar, and citizens are protesting it. (Not that the democratically elected government was any better to the persecuted Rohingya Muslims.) Plus in India, farmers are protesting new agricultural laws, while the authoritarian government is squashing protests and demonizing anybody that supports the farmers. I don't even know the content of these new laws, but the strident defense does not look good. No better than the crackdowns in Hong Kong against protests.

Well, at least we have a Biden administration that can tackle complex issues with nuance, instead of blustery tweets.

Black History Month

Every year I learn about more historical figures that were never taught to me in school. Daily Kos recently had a post about Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, also known as the "Black Mozart." Though he was an illegitimate son, his father acknowledged him and took him to France for an upperclass education. His African mother even got to join him later and stay with him rather than continue being a slave on Guadeloupe. This accomplished violinist, composer, and swordsman earned his own title of chevalier, though he could not inherit his father's title. When I read more about him on wikipedia, I then learned that Bologne even had a duel in London with the androgynous Chevalier d'Éon, who lived sometimes as man and sometimes as a woman. These are just two examples that history is way more diverse than the traditional whitewashed version of history that TV and movies perpetuate. That's why we need to correct those misconceptions with colorblind casting in period dramas such as Mr. Malcom's List or Bridgerton. At least Hollywood is planning a movie about Bologne.

I was also looking up more information about Kate Warne lately, and I found this magazine article about lady Pinkertons, which revealed that Hattie Lawton was mixed race, and she was the 2nd female agent hired by Pinkerton. Apparently she was light-skinned enough to pass for white when she went on espionage missions against the Confederacy during the Civil War. There's so much I want to know. Wasn't she afraid of being found out? If only Pinkerton records weren't wiped out by a fire in the 1930s.

Speaking of passing, I was reading about Rebecca Hall's new movie starring Tessa Thompson. Netflix is trying to buy Passing, and I would love to see it. But in reading the press about it, I learned that Rebecca Hall had white passing ancestors too. Life and people are infinitely more complex than at first glance. If only our schools actually taught the real rich history, we wouldn't have to discover everything ourselves.

Barbie stuff

I recently bought the new curvy fashionista #144 with the microbraids. She's so pretty, and I named her Keisha. I also did leg transplants on a "beach feet" Barbie I own; these 1990s dolls came barefoot with large flat feet that don't fit into typical Barbie high heel shoes. I don't mind the realistic feet at all; what I minded was the rubber bend and click legs which are so difficult to dress in pants. It's the same reason why I hate vintage Ken's rubber bend and click legs. So anyway, I found a pair of hard plastic legs that matched my Barbie's tan skin tone, and I managed to do the leg swap without breaking the legs or joints. Success!