Administrivia: 13 August 2023

I haven’t updated in pretty much two weeks. Obviously, right? Not all of you follow me around (going by the visitor stats — yep, I’ve got ’em on my homepage too), so I thought I’d catch up a bit here.

Things have gone from Probably Good to Probably Dubious. I won’t elaborate much, I made this too much my alt personal blog already, but I can say things are better than the last time they went dubious so I’m cautiously optimistic. It was yet another situation where my mental health was going into the tank and now it’s not so much, plus I think I’m about to make a bunch of new friends and hey, you can’t beat that with a stick. I’m not Ms. Gregarious at the best of times but God, there have been days I wondered if I actually exist. That can get a little bit tiresome.

I’m hearing bupkis about Rory, which is to be expected. Thus far he’s still only posted on his Instagram those four times, which is also to be expected. (I probably warned you all to not expect him to post often, right? Well, there you go. I couldn’t be fucking wrong about everything forever.) I did finally figure out that my Google Alert set for him updates me every day at 8pm. I had been vague about that whole process. It’s the same old recycled crap, but I suppose at least I hear anything, ever.

My stuff never appears there, of course. I was tempted to think that was because I use a lot of mirrored material instead of it all being original but I don’t think it’s even that. I don’t update enough. The end. There are so many garbage clickbait “entertainment” blogs out there publishing speculation and recycled things about Rory McCann and getting time on Google Alerts. They must update pretty much every day. I want quality here though, not just quantity and I was never going to get the quantity with Rory being reclusive in the first place. I accepted that occupational hazard going into this. It is what it is.

(Good thing I never wanted to make money with this or I’d be fucked, huh? Go figure.)

I did learn a new tidbit, and was absurdly charmed. We knew he has nephews, because he mentioned them being wrestling fans when he was interviewed for the Jumanji film he was in. Well, according to the info I found and followed this past week, some of it (not all) via Rory in an old interview, the total count actually adds up to at least two nephews (thus his referring to them in the plural) and one niece. I will elaborate in no more detail than that, because it isn’t really important to us random strangers and also it would freak Sally-Gay (Rory’s sister, if you didn’t know) out. But I thought at least some of you would be charmed too. I hope he spoils them absolutely putrid. I hear he is great with kids. Sniff.

I never did see Sally again on Instagram after the last time. I make it about three different handles she had in the time I was aware of her presence there, each account with a distinctive clue in it that to me was a dead giveaway. Apparently she’s stopped doing that. Good woman. What DID you people say to her, anyway, in DMs? I don’t want to know, do I? Damn.

Rory is now following Cary Elwes from his IG. Forgot to mention. Hey Dread Pirate Roberts! Follow Rory back! He’s basically your one-man Brute Squad!

“You obsess too much over Rory!” you’re saying. Eh… not really? I go at it in fits and starts. If I update myself about anything daily it’s Scotland, not the big man. It’s all Rory’s fault though. I started searching up some Scottish things and places he mentioned in his interviews and next thing I know I’m following like three dozen different Scotland accounts on IG and a whole lot more on Facebook. It’s been mental. But also fun. And you would not believe how many Scottish references there are in American culture and I never knew; they were right there in the open the whole time! I had originally hoped to see mention of the big man here and there, which of course didn’t happen, but then got caught up in the country itself. It’s kind of cruel because no way in hell can I go visit anytime soon unless something really cool happens. But from this distance it makes me think of the Pacific Northwest except with friendly people and more snow. I lived in the Puget Sound area from ’87 to ’89 and that’s my favorite area of the USA, though I will probably never live there again because the locals have gone fruit loops. I mean people in general are crazier than they used to be, but it’s particularly bad there. Sad too, because one of my brothers lives in Oregon. But I can’t. I’m so done. I might visit, that’s it. Scotland looks like a real gas, though, and really the only question is which two weeks out of the year should I go dip my toe in. I used to fantasize about doing the entire six months that we’re allowed to do in a year, but let’s face it, I’m lucky I can make my rent at the moment. If I could work remotely and do it I would, but the UK hasn’t caught up to reality about that yet. Probably won’t happen in my lifetime, either.

That said! I wish I knew the first fucking thing about running a gift shop or importing anything. I’m seriously considering doing some SCORE courses and seeking out a mentor. I already have this other thing I want to kick off that will do as a half-assed substitute for a while. Scotland has contributed so much to American history and culture, and it appalls me how ignorant I was about the place until I started crushing on a Weegie. Even most of what passes for pArTiCiPaTiOn iN ScOtTiSh CuLtUrE in the USA is stereotyped as hell. I thought I might take some of this fangirlishness and channel it into, well, educational pursuits. That might be fun. You never know.

Won’t link to it here yet but will when I’m happier with it. May be a while yet. Dunno.

Speaking of getting happier with projects. Be back later. Need to do more shifting things around here. Mwah.

mwah