Monday, 23 February 2026

All Tied Up #dreamdiary 216

I’m in the neighbourhood dumping ground. It’s a large pit that backs onto people’s houses that used to be an embankment containing an old railway tunnel. It’s full to the brim with kitchen sinks and shopping trollies, and on this occasion, large boxes wrapped in red tissue paper. They’re about the size of what you’d store a Christmas Tree in, and they’ve even got labels on. I rip one open and stuff a hand inside. I pull out something green and viny. I suddenly realise that it's a trap. Someone has filled the boxes with Japanese knotweed. Within seconds, I feel my wrists tightening. I look down and green veins have started sprouting all around my wrists and a purple pansy appears like a 3-d tattoo. My whole arm is paralysed. I need medical help. The fastest way for me to get help is to pass through a block housing estate to get to a doctor’s surgery. At a footbridge, I’m approached by two youths. One of them stabs me in the left side of my chest with a small blade.

Sunday, 15 February 2026

Cars

This was a film that I recognised but I never got in too deep with the characters. It was less of a mechanical effort and more of the story of a small town where a bigshot found a team. It was good fun and I did wander how it was going to stretch to  two hours but the second hour just flew by. It was interesting to see how a world without humans and cars in their place would run. It was a bit odd that McQueen went back to his usual paint job including the tyres after returning for the final race. I thought that there might have been more Pixar references slipped in. I did catch a glimpse from the animation, and it was good to see a few captions thrown in the outtakes at the end. But there’s still plenty of opportunities as there’s two more films to watch.

Friday, 13 February 2026

Quiz me about You

This one seems interesting. I might be about to learn about a lot of new features that I never knew existed before. Am I supposed to know her birthday and favourite flowers? If I get it wrong, will she take offence and not talk to me every time I ask something until I make it up to her? It’s a set of true or false questions so I’ve got a bit of a chance. I fail on the first question. Who would have thought that Ro-ha-ha would be her favourite phrase? Surely it would make sense for the standard wake word to be the favourite, as it call her into existence. Luckily, I get the other two questions correct so it’s not quite a lover’s tiff yet. I take a second round and the questions are all different but I manage to get all three correct. I think it’s odd that it considers Seattle to be its home town because of Microsoft being there, but I got the question correct because it lives in the cloud.

Wednesday, 11 February 2026

What if you couldn't walk any more?

Life would be very difficult to adjust to if you suddenly couldn’t do something that you’re used to doing every day any more. Unless, of course, you could fly everywhere instead. Running everywhere would leave you out of breath constantly and you’d look a bit weird crawling around or slithering to the shops every day. It would mean that you’d be immobile and you’d have to rely on others for assistance. You might be able to negotiate a different way of getting around via a chair or crutches; but you still wouldn’t have your freedom or independence that other people have. You’ll have to put your trust in people more. You’d have to entertain yourself or have someone assist you; either a family member, a paid assistant or state-funded carer. You’d have to make special arrangements and allow extra time for transportation, making sure that that there’s adequate facilities in both the vehicle and destination. You need to find people who care.

Tuesday, 10 February 2026

The Centre

It’s not afraid as it’s put itself in the middle. It’s not trying to hide somewhere where it hopes that you wouldn’t notice. It wants your attention. It could even be trying to create a diversion. There might be a nose and a pineapple wearing sunglasses. There could be a neck and shoulders. There could be a head shaped like a bear with sack eyes. Something is bleeding through. We assume its intention is mischievous, but there’s no way of knowing for sure. We might attack it as soon as we see a physical form, as it’s something that’s creating fear and we don’t want to give it any opportunity. We might not be interested in what it has to say. It might even be asking for help. But we’re determined to shoot first and ask questions later, whatever its appearance may be. And we could be at a loss for doing so.


Monday, 9 February 2026

Metres from death: The hero city defying Putin despite constant drone attacks

It’s not a city that fights back with a large force. It has to be a city that’s still occupied and the locals are looking after the army as well as their own to keep things going as normal as reasonably possible. There’ll hopefully be tales of teamwork and people working together to repair their infrastructure as quickly as possible. Mind you, it’s a bit laughable that Putin hasn’t managed to achieve his objective after all this time. It’s one of the very first cities that was attacked owing to its proximity to the border. Initially, they were abandoned by the state but still came together to defy the enemy. They were reporting where the drones and tanks were. Volunteers came forward to undertake rescue missions to preserve life. Their terrain and change of everyday life has completely, and it becomes difficult to maintain hope each day. The odds aren’t in their favour, and more effort needs to come from the outside world.

Sunday, 8 February 2026

Blackout

Perhaps this is all that’s left to see. The media has stopped and all that’s left is this fuzz. Our screens will never display a coherent image again. No-one knows what’s happening. The papers have stopped coming to the shops because no-one can type them. Nothing can change because no-one can alter it. Transactions continue slowly but no-one knows how accurate they are. The cash will dry up soon and people will have to grow their own. It’s a virus that has made things very difficult as it’s a system that we’ve come to rely on too much. Vehicles can’t be refuelled as they require screens. All people can do is boil water and roast on an open flame. All people can do in their homes is read, write, drum, strum, roll or sleep. Although some of it can be recorded via a scribe, none of it can be transmitted.