#244 - A Funky Kind of Brie

I slept in until about ten o’clock when Robyn crashed through the door carrying a tray filled with tea, toasted cinnamon bagels and some egg bites. After recovering from the shock, I sat up and bed and chowed down. It’s not the worst way to start your weekend.

I put on the tv and we watched an episode of ‘Waiting for Wrexham,” which was focused on being Welsh and on the fast chair soccer team. Fast chair is played in motorized wheelchairs with cages added on to bat a large ball in a gymnasium setting. The players were of all ages, and the Wrexham club had a sponsored team in the league.

But the majority of the episode focused on Welsch heritage and pride culminating in the big game between Wrexham from the north and Sunderland from the south. A match they would refer to as a Darby, a match between long time rivals.n

They do a good job at making the football and the fans involvement and love for the team into a compelling story arc. I guess if it was just about the football, I wouldn’t be nearly as interested.

You could say the same about the show Ted Lasso, I guess. It’s show about football that isn’t really about the football.

Alison, Robyn’s oldest friend was on her way to pick up Robyn by the time we ended watching an episode of Dutton Ranch. The two other them scampered off to Terra to buy some plants. Robyn came home with four of her own to plant in a window rack I bought her months ago. It consists of four hanging pots and a rod that hangs above the interior of the kitchen window.

I busied myself with weeding the front garden and then tying back a small tree that was leaning too much. Then I headed to the backyard and moved some ferns from a rear position along the fence to a spot where they might actually be seen. I planted them amongst some hostas that make a ring around our big silver birch. It made the ring look full of vitality.

No soon had I finished, when Laura texted to say she had another Bleeding Heart to donate to our garden, so I planted that as soon as she’d dropped it off. We also confirmed that we would be seeing a matinee tomorrow together. They had originally suggested the 3D seats for ‘The Madalorian and Grogu,’ but I am not a fan of 3D movies. It never makes it any better and the colors get messed up. I said I would do it this time, but they opted to book the VIP theatre seats instead. I think I’ll enjoy that experience better than the 3D one.

And there will be chicken tenders!

Since Robyn and Alison had food while they were out shopping, I made myself some leftover chicken strips I’d bought for Mother’s Day. My nephew’s girlfriend can’t even handle regular ground pepper, and we were having Indian food. So, I made her some chicken strips and these were the ones I never took out of the box. I made them in our new oven using the air fyer setting. They came out crispy, but nothing can complete with deep fried chicken tenders. I doused them in Frank’s Red Hot and was nominally pleased with the result. I was going to order some from Dave’s Hot Chicken, so I saved at least twenty-five dollars by making my own.

I’ve spent most of my day outside on the back deck or poking around the garden. It’s been an amazing day to be outdoors. The weather is dang near perfect. Sunny skies and a temperature of about twenty-two degrees C.

I really enjoyed walking barefoot on the grass. I think there is a whole cult of people who say this is an elemental thing to do. I believe they call it ‘grounding.’ Connecting with the Earth’s energies by walking on grass, your skin contacting the ground. I can’t say I believe in all that mumbo jumbo, but I can agree that it feels nice.

It feels nice if you have soft green grass that has no prickly weeds, sharp stones, or pointy sticks in it.

I even spent a moment to take a cutting from my Lemony Lace plant to see if I could propagate another one just like it. I can see a spot in the garden where another one could go. And I love the idea of making plants out of ones I already paid for. I am gardening on a budget over here. The new shoot I trimmed off is already looking better after even jut a few hours in its new nursery pot with Ziplock bag placed overtop poked with vent holes.

Last year I tried this with a rosebush cutting and it took me three attempts to get one to propagate. I didn’t use a cover over the top last year, so maybe that had something to do with it. I may take a few more cuttings around the garden tomorrow as well. Best not to have all my eggs in ones basket as they say.

My neighbours with the new puppy named Teddy have had him in and out of their backyard all day. The dog has taken to barking at me. Not something I want to put up with. I was hoping the puppy would continue to be a quiet dog, but it seems to have learned to bark.

Apparently, it does this to all bigger dogs as well. Maybe it just thinks I am a big dog.

A big dumb dog.

Robyn has left to go do her support worker job and I have continued to stay outside on the deck to write. The new laptop privacy screen is performing well in the brighter setting as it also reduces glare. Robyn commented last night as I was typing in bed that from her angle it looked like I was pretending to work because from her vantage point the screen was pure black.

If my wife sitting next to me in bed can’t see the screen then I think anyone on the train is going to have a hard time peaking over my shoulders and seeing very much. And that gives me a bit of peace of mind.

I took a moment to dig out my rechargeable Thermacell mosquito repellannt device. I have a feeling as things cool down this evening the flying vampires will be out hunting and I am their favourite snack. I bought the unit when we were travelling to Cuba, because on a previous trip that was cancelled, our friends who had been able to make it to the resrt were being eating alive to the point of not wanting to go outdoors.

When we rebooked, (at a different resort), we came prepared for a bug invasion. I don’t thing I saw a single insect the entire time I was there.

So, today is the first time I have ever fired this particular Thermacell up. I have the other style that uses butane to create the heat, but it cost a good bundle to buy those little fuel cells. I like that this new style can be recharged and you only have to buy the repellant cartridges. And as a plus the new cartridges can last up to 72 hours, while the old ones lasted for about six at most.

It’s a bit early in the evening to be running it but I wanted to see if it still worked. The battery didn’t need charging at all, and I think it heated up faster than the old butane version. The last time I charged it was in Novemeber. It’s also smaller and easier to pack in a bag or throw in the car. I’ll take it with me if we go to any barbeques, drive-in movies or fire works displays.

I hate being bitten my mosquitoes.

It ruins whatever fun you are having.

There was short video update from the solar boat guy from YouTube stating that the broken panels seem to still be producing current and they are underway to head to another destination in Spain. It’s got to suck when people destroy something you built for no reason at all.

Kids do stupid shit.

I was going to make the butter garlic crab recipe from the Dishoom cookbook, but then I realized that I needed to buy some of the ingredients. Dod you ever get yourself into a mindest that you are going to do something and then realize you can’t. That kind of stuff pissed me off, even when it’s my own fault!

Stupid Brian!

I need to make sure I spend more time out here on the back deck this year. It really is our own little slice of paradise, an imperfect slice for sure, but it’s the slice we have.

And I happen to really enjoy it.

It is the perfect little spot to write in. With a pair of mid level sound cancelling earbuds I can drown out most of the background noise and easily focus on getting some words down.

Glancing through the news, I see Trump is getting some bad news. Over 75% of the musical guests have cancelled for the 250-year celebration and three judges have just put him on the spot. Not a good day for the Big Orange fella.

Not that I feel bad for the guy. He brought all this on himself. I wonder if any of it will stick, like the court order to have his name removed from the Kennedy Center. Adding it was found to be unlawful and outside his purview.

And he is also being held to account over the IRS settlement that a judge said Trump was an actor on both side of the argument and that is not how the law works.

I can only imagine their will be some sabre rattling over the next few days. He’s not the kind of boy that likes to have his toys taken away.

I finished reading a short story by Mick Herron this afternoon. I thought I had figured it out before I got to the ending, and for the most part I had. But Mick added a little extra twist, just the tiniest amount at the end that kept it fresh. Like he knew we were going to see it coming but that we wouldn’t see it all.

The man’s got some talent

I am looking forward to reading some more of these shorter stories the rest of this week.

Our friend Sasa sent Robyn and old photo of the two of us one day we all went for lunch while working at Elliot Animation. I think we were eating at the Brazenhead Pub in Liberty Village, which meant I was having an Irish breakfast for lunch. We both looked so much younger and thinner it was hard to recognize ourselves for a second. But we were both smiling and that hasn’t changed a bit in all those years.

A pair of very fast and small birds just appeared at the deck. I think they are looking for a place to build a nest. I’m not sure what kind of bird they are but they move like lightening. The have dark heads with white and a grey colouring. They might have been chickadees, but whatever they were they were cute. I think my presence made them decide the deck was probably not the best place to build a nest.

I would have given them favorable rates if they had bothered to inquire.

Robyn has returned from her second job and is now engaged in a third. She took some overtime work from the studio to get more hours and to earn more money before she gets laid off in July when her contract runs out.

She’s a hard worker; I’ll give her that.

I just sent a message asking my niece what she wanted for her upcoming birthday and she immediately asked for a CD by Fontaines D.C. titled, “Skinty Fia.” Which is meaningless to me, and I had to check to see if she had made a typo or just mashed her fingers into the keyboard. Or perhaps dropped her phone into a toilet mid text.

Turns out Fontaines D.C. is the name of a real band, and the album is actually called Skinty Fia. I naturally had to go and hear some of there music. They sounded a little depressed to me and bit like the Smiths.

So what is a Skinty Fia? A poor brother?

Nope.

Turns out it is an Irish phrase whose literal translation is, “the damnation of the deer.” Which refers to an extinct Irish Elk or deer. And the meaning is the same as saying, “What the fuck?” Must be folklore based or something.

If they are missing their elk, it might explain why they sound so anxiety and sad.

Not sure it’s my cup of tea, but the kid seems to like it and that’s good enough for me.

I took the protective wire fencing around the tulips down the other day. I think they are near the end of their flowering state and safe from being nibbled on by rabbits and skunks. There is definitely less animal activity this year in the gardens. Maybe the chicken wire fence did its job.

In the backyard, I have kept up a similar fence around a giant Hosta that has never been bigger than a teacup. Three years in a row something came and bit the thing in two. Last year I planted both ends in pots to see which one would come back. Strangely it was the top part that was severed from the main body that propagated. At the end of the season, I planted it back in its spot and built the fence around it determined that it should get a chance to get bigger.

And so far, it has developed three leaves. Two of a decent size and a third smaller one. It is currently the largest it has ever been in my yard. But for so-called giant hosta, it is tiny. All the other Hostas have already outgrown it. I can only hope that this year is the year it fills the giant raised bed I built solely for it. Right now, it looks a bit ridiculous sitting in the middle of a large bed all by itself in its tiny protective cage.

The things I’ll do to get a plant to grow.

I took a short break to take a bubble spa time out. A little selfcare is important now and again, made myself a cup of tea and got the laptop back out to get my larger than normal word quota hammered out. I am aiming for about 4500 words tonight and the same again tomorrow to finish off this month of the 2026 words a day challenge.

And after a short sprint of more writing, I craved something snackish, but we don’t really have anything like that in the house at the moment.

But we do have cheese!

And I digging through the pantry I came across some Breton crackers. Now I had something worthy of a snack. I like an older cheddar and the one we happened to have was made by Cracker Barrel. Tonight I could taste a bit of funk in the cheese. Strong enough that I looked to see if there was any mold forming. But the cheese was immaculate. Maybe it was justmy taste buds, but I felt like I was eating a Brie and not a cheddar. It was a brie kind of funk, I guess.

That would be a great name for a song.

We need more ballads about cheese.

There is a massive cheese place in Toronto that I have always wanted to visit. It called the Cheese Boutique, but really it should be called the Cheese Palace, or the Cheese Emporium. The place is huge and has so many different types of fromage. A cheese lovers paradise.

One day I will make the pilgrimage to the holy land of solidified dairy.

#Lifegoals.

I just stopped writing to play a game of chess to keep my streak going. I think I am at 133 days of playing everyday. My game has not improved one little bit. Recently, I would have to say it is getting worse. Probably because my mind is already taxed from the events of the day. And I am playing to keep the streak and less for the enjoyment.

The best thing I ever did was do chess puzzles in a book that was by someone from the famous chess family of the Polgar’s. There was something about forcing your brain to see the board and where the imaginary pieces were that made me better at chess. I think our modern lives are taking away this fabulous ability our brains possess. And it’s an ability that needs to be nurtured, it won’t develop on its own, you have to make it work in the same way a muscle gets stronger.

I still have that book somewhere on my shelves, but I put it away because the puzzles on Chess.com are more convenient and I always have them with me on my phone.

I used to study the chess puzzles from the book on the train on the way into work, but that book it a chunky monkey and not easy to bring around with you.

But I’d like to start doing a puzzle a day again.

I don’t realistically think I have the time to do it if I am being honest with myself.

I haven’t even had my scooter out for a run this month. It was my stress reliever last year starting in March. I do miss my rides through the trails on that thing. The feeling of freedom it gives was wonderful and I loved touring around the neighborhood and seeing it in a new way that I had never seen before.

In one week, kiddo #1 will be returning home for at least the summer months and will be working at a kid’s camp put on by the local college. I think she could use a few months being around her mommy. I think she could use some hugs and time cuddle time. Hanging out with her mom is one of kiddo #1’s favourite things to do.

It will be good to have her back. She has a good sense of humor and is good at the quick comebacks. She has a way of introducing us to new songs and things as well.

One thing is for sure, we can say goodbye to any leftovers we may have been planning to eat for the next day’s lunch.

I’ve skipped all the sleep aids again except for the magnesium glycinate. On the weekends where I get to sleep in, I am not so desperate to get a great night’s sleep. But on Sunday night I will be taking all three of the aids for sure and using the sleep mask. There is no way I want to enter the work week feeling like a bag of shit.

And this way I can keep the costs down a bit by abstaining on the weekend.

I have yet been able to source frozen kiwi fruit anywhere, but I also haven’t left the house today. Tomorrow, after we leave the theatre, I will try to stop at Home Depot and then Longo’s to pick up some things I need for projects around the house and for recipes.

I also need to get me some more of the Nespresso capsules that I like for making cortados at home. I seem to prefer those over the full hazelnut coffees that used to be my favourite.

I just realized that tonight, I have just passed a three-hundred-thousand-word count for the year so far! It’s just crazy to think how much more productive I have been because of this challenge and the streak. Almost double the combined writing totals of 2024 and 2025 in only five months time.

I am flabbergasted by it all, but also proud.

We all have the little voice inside our head’s that says, “you aren’t good enough to do this.” But if you ignore that little saboteur and listen to that playful and optimistic childlike voice inside your head, you can do wonderful things. And once you realize that you can do even more.

I’ve been on this writing journey since about 2023. Three years of studying and writing. At first my efforts were tentative, and each time I succeeded at something, I gave myself an even harder challenge.

And there have been some failures along the way.

I took a science fiction course, and the idea was to write a sci-fi mystery and send it in to the teacher. I choked hard on that assignment. I couldn’t get myself to finish it because the instructor was a world-famous writer, editor and publisher.

I hated failing that course.

But now that knowledgeable writer is my mentor and send her stories every two weeks like clockwork. Well, that’s not entirely true. I have missed a few deadlines early on. But I did eventually complete the assignments. And after the second one, I made myself a promise to never do that again. And with each assignment, that voice loses a little bit of its hold on me and the fun voice gets a little stronger.

The daily writing has bolstered my confidence and skills.

I have such a long way to go, but I prefer not to look to far down the road. I take it day by day and cross the bridges as they appear.

And one of these days I will fail horribly again. But I’ll succeed far more often in the long run that those failures will lose their power of me.

If you’re reading this and you have been knocked on your ass, I hope you dust yourself off and get back on that horse.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day. I have about five thousand words to write and a deep desire to sleep in. We also have plans to see a movie with some friends in the afternoon. Writing that many words will take a good six hours of my day, so it will be important to get some writing done in the morning, the afternoon, the evening and late into the night.

Leaving to the end is no way to succeed in this challenge, even though that is how I have done so far this year. One thing I am pleased about, is that I will end the month with enough energy to start the new month with.

Previously, that hasn’t been the case. I have exhausted myself at the end and then needed a few days to recuperate from the effort. This time I am feeling more energetic, thanks to the sleep aids and less stress at work. Learning to write at multiple times of the day has been another hard lesson and one that I need to codify into my workflow moving forward.

I think June will be a month of higher productivity if I can implement writing at different hours in the same day. Days riding on the train have proved how effective this way of working can be. And writing all day and night for my assignments has shown me what can be done all at once and what the price of the focused output of creative energy costs me afterwards during my recovery.

But that is something to try after tomorrow’s writing sessions.

It’s already one AM and I am feeling the pull of my bed and the magnesium glycinate.

Until the next day.