We spent much of that day, today, with an almost-five year-old. Matilda King.

Last week it was her sister, Mirabelle. This week it was Tilde’s turn…and she knew EXACTLY what she wanted. It was a Frozen castle at a consignment (used stuff) shop nearby. She must have seen it a few days or weeks ago, and that’s exactly where she wanted to go and get it. It was HUGE. I can see why she wanted it.

It wasn’t actually that great of a deal, considering it was second-hand…but at the end of the day, it was still something we could afford to splurge on for her. Then we went down the block to have lunch at Lemonade, which is a cool cafetria-style spot with all kinds of fancy salads, sandwiches, and of course lemonade. This is what I mean by fancy: I had a curry cauliflower salad, and some avocado and ahi tuna Poke. Yuuuummmmm.

Then we went to the park for about a half hour, I went pee in the nastiest friggin porta-potty I think I’ve ever seen (benefits of peeing upright, lemme tell you), and then we went home and she proceeded to show her big sister all the cool stuff about her new castle.

I remember some big presents like that when I was a kid. I had this tractor that I could peddle around…I remember the lego set I got that was a monorail like the one at Disneyland…I remember Seth’s Pirate Ship…the big purchase toys that you go crazy for and actuall play with them all the time. This castle might just be one of those toys. We’ll see. She’s the right age to play with it for, like, years to come.

I cleaned today, finally. FINALLY. I have been feeling so, so cluttered and helter-skelter for…man, probably since Thanksgiving, and I finally took the time to clean today. I need to made more space in my days for that. I really do. It definitely helps my frame of mind.

In other news…the late-winter allergies are upon me. My head is all achey right now, have to take meds on the regular…it’s not a good time of year for this guy down here in LA.

In other REAL news, there were massive protests today (and last night) about this whole Muslim ban. I fear for my country right now. I really do. In a way I never have before. The onslaught that’s currently happening online is a lot to take in. Exhausting. But I also understand its function – we can’t ignore what’s happening. We can’t ignore what history tells us can happen when this type of singling out certain ethnic groups is done by the government. We must make our opposition clear and present, and that’s why social media and the media in general is ablaze at the moment. And, I’m fairly certain, not just the “moment”…I think this is going to persist for a long, long time.

Time for some reading. Then, sleep. Long, long day for me tomorrow work-wise. And the rest of the week. I have a rewrite to finish, and by god, I will do just that.

Artwork tonight from Phillipe Caza.