Porridge, an excerpt

 He stretches out of bed every morning and performs the same ritual, beginning with half-closed eyes and finishing fully a-wake and a-lert:

He fills the small coffee percolator with coffee and water and places it on a low heat for fifteen minutes. As it warms, he takes a handmade japanese blue-glazed cup from the shelf above the sink, measures out just less than a cupful of crushed oats and throws them in a pot. He fills the cup twice with water, allowing it to spill over the sides and wash any remaining bits of oat dust into the pot. He adds a pinch of salt for the acidity, a pinch of cayenne pepper for the kick and cooks it gently on the lowest heat for thirty minutes. He pours the coffee into the same blue-glazed cup and sips on it while reading a book from the library, passing regularly into the kitchen to stir the solidifying mixture.

About five minutes before the consistency is right, he adds half a mashed banana, eats the other half, and puts on a second coffee.

When the mixture has become porridge, he turns the heat off, tumbles the gloopy mixture into a bowl and lets it sit. After about five minutes, he adds a tablespoon of crushed linseed and a quarter chopped avocado, mixes it all together and stirs in half a teaspoon of honey - thyme, linden or tea-tree work best. Finally, he places twelve blueberries evenly across its surface, eight around the edges of the bowl, four in its centre, and pours the second cup of coffee.

This morning, however, he does none of this. He wakes up after only six hours of sleep thinking about his grandmother who recently passed away. She lived in meath... 

[aidan :: BLOG: https://app.sigle.io/floatinghome.id.blockstack]

pandemic situation and the dream of a living wage

the argument for a living wage feels very real. it is not just a thought for lock-down time but would help reset the rift between the rich and poor that has grown drastically in the past 30 years, and reinject some diversity into the world or at least stop the last bits of colour from draining out. 

we need to stop with this perpetual growth model - it can't be sustainable on a finite planet ! we should take stock of where we are: what works and what does not. we need to scale things back to more sustainable levels and be considerate of global effects and the global population.

perhaps governments could start by covering healthcare and basic housing, maybe even a basic amount for food and amenities, making the job something we do to improve our standard of living, thereby hopefully reducing the constant need to create meaningless positions just so people can earn. perhaps financially incentivise jobs that are undesirable but necessary and can't be automated. i know there is social welfare, but this should be made more accessible. in fact, i would argue that it should be a default state ! i also believe there should be a cap on expanding wealth, but here i just wish to outline my situation, knowing that there are others situated similarly...

i constantly find myself in debt due to the exorbitant prices of anything with a minimum ethical and quality standard; due to the constant charges common to every person that should in my opinion, be overseen by a social structure or government, along with no-interest banking; and due to the absorption of the entertainment industry into the easily duplicable virtual realm !

i feel trapped in this system and excluded by it at the same time, and i don't think i'm alone.

before the pandemic i was living hand-to-mouth, common for people in my line of work. i am principally a live musician and sound-engineer, so when the live entertainment industry was shut-down in march 2020 and all work was cancelled, i was fucked ! i am not alone in this either. there are a lot of struggling people right now, mostly freelancers (including artists and all that in here) and small-business owners, some with families and dependents... i, on the other hand, am lucky to have amazing friends and family who were able to step in and help bridge the gap until the government responded with an aid package (in which regard, kudos, germany have been quick and accessible). that money ran out in august and luckily, i had some work during the autumn, while restrictions were temporarily lifted. once again, though, i find myself looking for help to get through the next bit of lockdown. i have faith that the german government are once again on it. if not, it will be slim pickings come christmas !

in the mean time, however, there is the existential question of what is the point ? 

why wait for work to come back in an industry that is probably going to struggle for a number of years to get back on its feet when i could be learning to do something else in the mean-time ? sure i enjoy the work, but is that really enough ? i am quite fed-up with the '0' constantly staring back at me from my bank account and i find it hard to see art fixing this problem... how would i have got through a situation like this if i was living in ireland, for example ? how would i get through a situation like this again ?

i am looking into the british government's advice on the matter: to retrain ! currently i am learning the german language and hope to join the forces of academia once again as an electricians apprentice in september 2021 (if any of my berliner friends reading this has advice, please pass it my way - im not sure yet how to do this !). it will probably be useful in conjunction with the music and all, but mostly i hope it will help me with the bank balance !!! again, i don't think i'm alone here !

"what next ?" i hear the chorus sing.

be well y'all... winter's coming !

my next post will be something light, like a winter porridge recipe !

[aidan :: BLOG: https://app.sigle.io/floatinghome.id.blockstack]