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activist-FOMO
Thursday, March 26 2026
We had another beautiful spring day today, with temperatures in the 70s and even sunshine for a time. But this was just an island of pleasant weather in a series of otherwise cool or rainy days.
Due to recent issues with heart palpitations, I've been nervous to take my recreational doses of pseudoephedrine. But I don't have firm evidence that they are being caused by pseudoephedrine. A lot of things can cause heart palpitations, including nutritional deficiencies. And one possible one that applies to me is an omega-3 deficiency. We take supplements to combat this, since vegan diets are low in omega-3s, but we often forget to take them or are in often in places (such as the Caribbean) without out supplements. With this in mind, I've started taking the omega-3s more religiously. And today I decided to see take a recreational dose of pseudoephedrine. I went with a 120 mg, with is 150 mg shy of the recreational dose I've taken for many years but it enough to give me most of what I want out of such experiences.
Another health issue is that weird tenderness over the ribs of my left chest. Had it been the result of an injury, there would be visible bruising and the tenderness would've begun to recede. But there is no visual indication of anything wrong with the tissue, and when I palpate it, the tissue feels identical to the tissue over the ribs of my right chest. This has me wondering if the problem is actually in the nerves. For over a decade now I've had a patch of numb skin on my right thigh just above the knee, and that is almost certainly a problem with a nerve, possibly some distance away. I could imagine a problematic nerve ight instead transmit pain in response to pressure signals. Interestingly, when I massage the tissue briefly, the pain goes away for awhile, suggesting the sudden flood of information overrides whatever the nervous problem is. Hopefully religious ingestion of omega-3 supplements will set everything right.
Late this morning Gretchen asked what I would think if she got arrested as part of an activist operation. There's some farm for breeding beagles (the dog breed, not the Darwin boat) in Madison, Wisconsin, that produces dogs specifically for animal testing. Such testing itself is horrible, but the story on the breeding operation is that it is that the breeder dogs are kept in conditions so nightmarish that a judge has ordered it to be shut down. But prior to some decision, it is allowed to continue operating. So it has become a Mecca for animal rights protests. Gretchen read about all this and was feeling activist-FOMO. Now she wanted to go there and get arrested. She told me there are several tiers possible for protestors (evidently the protests are highly organized). One can just protest and not get arrested. Or one can get arrested and be charged with a misdemeanor. Or, for the serious animal rights types, one could sign up for a felony. We have a pretty comfortable life, and I really don't see how it would help the cause for Gretchen specifically to be dealing with a felony. So I said, "Well, I don't you'd want to get a felony!" That was my way pushing back against her starry-eyed dreams of activism. She seemed a little disappointed, even asking semi-seriously if this was because I am "conservative." I told her that these protests just need bodies when it comes to being arrested and that she could help the movement (whatever it is) a lot better using her talents than having to spend all her time (and our money) being ground up in the judicial system. That was a good enough answer, it seems, because later she asked if it was at least okay if we adopted one of the rescued beagles. I said "sure!" But the conversation had me feeling a little alienated from Gretchen in a way that I haven't felt in years, as if maybe our goals in life aren't as well aligned as I'd thought. I honestly don't think rescuing dogs from horrifying breeding operations is a cause we should be devoting our limited attention to. There are so many houses on fire right now that that one seems like one we should pass on. Also, the organizers fighting it seem to be doing very well with their effort, producing great headlines and involving celebrities. Surely there is a less visible cause having greater significance, one that it might even make sense for her to get arrested fighting. The thing is, I'm not an activist. I find most of activism to be cringe-inducing. I understand it's essential for there to be activists. But there is a limit to how much support I am willing to give any particular cause. Having my wife jailed in Wisconsin is a headache I will always want to avoid.
Because I was on pseudoephedrine, at some point I wanted to drink booze. So I made a very quick and dirty painting of Neville. It's not great, but I am happy with the result given how little effort went into it. That's been a goal of mine of late: paintings I can create with as little effort as possible.
Meanwhile Gretchen went out to dinner with her off-again (but now on-again) friend Carrie. That was part of the reason I wanted to be able to drink tonight.
Just after sunset, I remembered that I'd wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and cut my hair today. So I stripped naked and went out in the yard with the laboratory scissors and cut my hair without using a mirror (or other way to see). I just felt my hair for long parts and cut them. That was it. I then cleaned up the front a little in the bathroom in front of a mirror before showering away the tiny pins of hair segments that end up jabbing me if I fail to wash them away.
Today's simple Neville painting. Click to enlarge.
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