Personal Digest Saturday: December 28 – January 3

Life news this week:

• Saturday was MY COOKIE PARTY! I had a bunch of friends over to help me dispose of the cookies (six cookie types plus cheesecake). And they were very glad to do it, haha. But I had to spend the morning and early afternoon preparing for it, so I wrapped some small presents, did some laundry, made some drink labels, put away some dishes, cut cheese and fruit, figured out how to use my cool whipped cream frother, and made cider and hot chocolate and put it all out before the friends got here. My friends Ben, Avery, Scott, Meghan, Adam, Jeaux, Dare, Yasmin, and Arthur attended. We played Joking Hazard and ate a bunch of food. Some of the folks left earlyish but some stayed until after midnight just chilling and talking. It was great and I loved seeing everyone! After they left I cleaned up a little but I was too tired to do very much.
  
  
• Sunday I spent the day catching up on the day before's undone work--organizing some photos and doing my blogging since I didn't get to on Saturday. Then I did more laundry and cleaned up the house. BIRDLE CAME BACK! I was so excited. I sent a Polo to my sister about the holiday festivities and ate too many cookies.
  
  
• Monday was back to work, and it was uneventful. I collected timesheets and bothered teaming partners. Also had to take a walk to the post office because people bought a couple of Meg's items. I ate cookies for breakfast! That's fun. Then I made a video for my asexuality channel and wrote my monthly webcomic. I read some of the script for the voice acting part I got. Then washed dishes and charged my Birdle Cam but Birdle did not come back. Sad!
  
  
• Tuesday I had to work, so I bothered people for documents and processed some timesheet stuff. Did some drawing for my webcomic and got it done. Sent Meg an epic Polo. Talked to Tony outside when he came to do my yard. Then started working on my really big end-of-year post which always takes me several hours every year. I really enjoy seeing the accomplishments (and where I fell short). I hadn't already decided what my next resolutions would be so I had to spend some time thinking about it. After I was done with my posts I ate a lot of crap and watched silly videos.
  
  
• Wednesday I had the day off for New Year's Day. I slept in a little, then cleaned up the kitchen and put away stuff from the party and cleaned up a mess I'd made packing up Meg's eBay items. I played DDR and wrote up some goal progress for December. Jeaux came over and took me grocery shopping, and then we ate at Tijuana Flats, came home, and hid from the cold while I read him silly things. Then I practiced my ukulele.
  
  
• Thursday I went back to work and did some backed up work collecting contact info for one of the districts. I also went to a follow-up dentist appointment where they had made me a mouth guard to wear while I sleep so I can avoid grinding my teeth. (I've never had any issues with this to my knowledge, but the dentist said they could see evidence of it, so I believe them.) I tried on the guard and after some adjustments they let me go home. I wrote my webcomic and scanned some photos from an album. Then went to game night with my friends and got about half my drawings done.
  
  
• Friday at work I did my upcoming project reports and some more contact database stuff. Then I did the remainder of my comic drawings and posted it, walked while reading, did a little 20-minute workout, practiced my ukulele, and looked around to see if there were any more voice acting roles I was interested in trying. (Nothing yet.)

New Reviews:

• Meghan Chiasson gave The Invisible Orientation a three-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I started getting back on the scale at the start of the year and I gotta say I do not really understand how I can have a GAIN of SEVEN AND A HALF POUNDS within A WEEK?? That's like six percent of my entire body weight. How. Holiday food will do that to ya I guess?? I'm gonna guess actually both the high and the low were kind of a fluke, but I'm sure I did legit go up a bit because of holiday food and I'm honestly not worried about it. I just do want to do better going forward. I recorded a high of 118.0 and a low of 116.8. I don't have a bunch of extra junk food or leftovers lying around this week so I'm expecting I've seen the last of those numbers (even the low one), because jeez.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I've continued to be low on protein because this past week I ate a lot of cookies. I have still managed to have three servings of fruits and vegetables most days, and have felt pretty good about it. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,117 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 10,439 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dream to Me by Megan Paasch. I'm on page 178.
  

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "True Blue" by Madonna.

 

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:

 

#163: misread.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

 

#1025: ivy #320: princess hair.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #121 ("there's no reason for aces to come out; it's personal!") is out. In this video, I share an anonymous person's request for advice on how to handle another queer person telling them that there's no reason to EVER come out since sexuality is personal. I share some reflections on why we need to talk about our orientation and what the alternative is.

New photos:

The Christmas Album for 2024 now contains cookie party images too, but here are my favorites:

Cookie party Ben

Cookie party Meg and Adam

Me with hot chocolate at my party

Yasmin's famous plating skills

Dare and Yasmin hangin' out

Friends playing Joking Hazard

My cozy hot chocolate

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,476 for swankivy (8 new), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 210 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 802 for swankivy (no change), 3,651 for JulieSondra (lost 7). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (no change), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 252 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,427 (no change). Instagram followers: 281 (no change). Threads followers: 77 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 264 (2 new).

December Goals Update

We've made it to 2025. Yay! So let's review how I finished out 2024 and how the resolutions shook out.

1. Health Goals: I resolved to drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to get digital photos sorted and collect memorable bits from Facebook for my essays; resolved to work on writing or editing at least one day a week; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, and keep creating my regular webcomic and video content.

3. Reading Goals: I resolved to read at least twice a week.

4. Relationship and Communication Goals: I resolved to document daily life stuff more, keep up with e-mails and online communication, and make time for friends and family.

5. Other Goals: I wanted to prepare and sell my mom's house, watch some TV shows I'd dropped, and not play time-wasting tames.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:

Summary: Obviously the last week of December involved a lot of TREATS and heavy eating! And during that whole week of celebrating with family and friends and getting through the leftovers, I definitely fell off on having my recommended amount of protein that week. Everything else was pretty good and I got a reading on the scale that was the lowest of the entire year! And I immediately blew it away with tons of cookies, haha. (I do not regret this. I think it's really important to not see food as "decadent" or "indulgent." We need to be able to have treats without weird guilt around it, even though I am trying to make sure I give my body what it needs.) I did manage to get at least three servings of fruits and veggies almost every day, and most days I met or exceeded my water goal. This is my calendar of progress:

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary: The photos project wrapped in 2024 with me successfully getting through all the photos I inherited from Mom's house. I did get them scanned and sorted and to some extent I've got piles started for how to store some loose photos. I found an empty photo album in with my mom's stuff, so I'll use it, and I bought a new photo box to give some miscellaneous ones a home. I still have a bunch of personal photo albums to leaf through to get this last little pocket of pre-digital photos into my inventory (from about 1993 to 1996), and I have some loose photos in the closet that need to be given the same treatment I gave to the loose photos my mom had. I think I got a lot of these when my dad's parents died and I never did anything with them, so now I am motivated. Soon after I finish that, my goal is to incorporate them all into the sorting system I have digitally--but though I had aspirations of being DONE with this by the end of 2024, I did not make as much progress as I wanted to. Sometimes that happens.

Writing goals–wise, I feel like I did okay with both submissions and writing new content--though almost all of it was on short stories and I did not come back to my novel this month. That will change soon! I finished a new short story (which was hella long) and toward the beginning of the month I got more submissions out. I am looking for a literary agent for my fiction again (I still have an agent for my existing work), so I'll continue doing that, and I want to get the short story cleaned up and through beta reading before I start sending it out. I might also start sending out another short story that I finished a while back but it hasn't ever been shown to anyone.

I did not pick up the ukulele goals. I will see what I can do with that next year.

Progress:

READING GOALS: 

Summary: I was only able to carve out time for reading toward the beginning of the month. The hubbub of the holidays took over halfway through the month and I was buckling down on other projects and activities, so that fell off a bit. I think this will fluctuate sometimes and I am okay with this being a medium priority, not a top priority.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: I have successfully kept my e-mail box clear. Very proud of that. What I have NOT done--pretty catastrophically--is keep up with the documentation I really wanted to do. We'll see if I can do it better in the new year. I have a very small backlog to get through and then I really want to start writing about everyday life again--and though I think a lot of people develop New Year's goals to stop wasting time on social media, I actually want to spend a little MORE time there (just to share updates and be more present in the various places where I have a presence), if only to post fun photos and musings. Nothing too intense.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I no longer have any dangling obligations for my mother's estate beyond selling a few things I wasn't able to place with new owners. I'll keep trying to do that, and next month I have to figure out taxes and give the right information to my sisters about how we are to claim anything relevant on our forms.

I still need to sand and paint the plaster pillar that is sitting outside.

I made and kept all my health appointments this year. Go me.

I still have a TV show I want to watch but honestly even though it's on the "to-do" list, it is never going to be a priority to watch TV!

I have liked doing this so I am going to continue this method (with some slight changes to the calendars) and continue posting these monthly.

Year-End Survey 2024

Here's my year-end survey for 2024!

1. What did you do in 2024 that you'd never done before?

• Sold a house.
• Wrapped up the affairs of a deceased parent.
• Learned how to use QuickBooks at work.
• Saw the musical Jagged Little Pill.
• Went to an Alanis Morissette concert.
  
  



• Went to a Foo Fighters concert.
  
  



• Celebrated Dad's 70th birthday.
  
  



• Saw a caterpillar metamorphize into a butterfly on one of my plants in the back yard.
  
  
• Dyed my hair (yes, I had never ever done this--just some cool blue stripes).
  
  



• Drank black coffee (yes, I had never ever done this).
  
  
• Cosplayed a male character at a convention.
  
  



• Took photos for Pride month all month.
• Saw SIX on Broadway in New York.
• Rode an Amtrak train.
• Went to the Cartoon Network Hotel.
  
  



• Evacuated to another state for a hurricane.
• Wrote in the genre of Found Fiction.
• Broke a tooth.
• Auditioned for and got a voice acting role.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Last year, these were my resolutions, and whether I kept them:

1. Health Goals:
   
   
   1. I didn't declare a weight goal and said I would be happy with whatever happens. Result: I am.
      
      
   2. I decided to drink more water, which involved drinking water as my first beverage of the day and then drinking another glass of water in between every other beverage. Result: This was 100% successful and has made me feel very healthy and hydrated.
      
      
   3. I decided to eat more fruits and veggies, with intent to eat one meal with fruit and one meal with veggies every day. Result: I did BETTER than this by having three servings of fruits and veggies almost every day.
      
      
   4. I decided to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. Result: This was successful except for two days this year (I missed it by less than 200 steps both days).
      
      
   5. I declared an intent to go to my doctor, dentist, and dermatologist for regular appointments. Result: I did all of these.
      
      
   6. I thought about starting a sport and put it down as a maybe. Result: I did not end up doing it. The maybe became a no.
      
      
2. Personal Project Goals:
   
   
   1. Website stuff: I meant to get all my digital photos sorted into the proper years by the end of February and get them processed onto my website by the end of March, then scan some more photos from hard copies by May and process them in by June, leaving the second half of the year to tackle writing-related website projects (partially assisted by collecting some Facebook memories). Result: I did get my digital photos sorted, but did not process them onto my website since it turns out it will be easier to do it all when they are all scanned. Some of the hard copy photos from longer ago are scanned and sorted now. Some more recent ones are not. I collected Facebook memories for the skeleton of my planned essays page, but since I didn't finish the photo project, the writing site project did not materialize.
      
      
   2. Writing stuff: I meant to work on writing projects twice a week (aiming for Tuesdays and Sundays), including submissions if I did not do any new writing. Result: I did a fair amount of submissions this year, with some that were initially promising but did not end up landing. I did not write as much as I wanted to and did NOT finish my novel--a big disappointment. But I did write four new short stories this year, which is pretty cool.
      
      
   3. Music stuff: I meant to stay in practice with our band songs and learn all the songs on a list on ukulele. Result: My band songs are fine this year but I did not work on the ukulele project.
      
      
   4. Regular content: I resolved to keep up my weekly and monthly webcomics, post a new asexuality video monthly, and sporadically post Not-So-Giant Women whenever Daria sends me content. Result: I was completely faithful to this goal. Daria just didn't give me much to process this year, but the project is not shelved.
      
      
3. Reading Goals: I resolved to read twice a week. Result: This was a little all over the place, but I was able to adhere to it when I wasn't sidetracked by major happenings.
   
   
4. Relationship and Communication Goals:
   1. I meant to focus on documentation of daily life more consistently. Result: I'd say I failed on this. I'd really love to do better.
   2. I meant to clear my e-mail box and social media comments regularly. Result: This worked out very well. My e-mail box is empty going into the new year.
   3. I meant to be present with friends and family and make time for them. Result: I think this is a yes.
      
      
5. Other Goals:
   
   
   1. I intended to sell my mom's house this year. Result: I did it.
   2. I intended to watch a couple TV shows I've been putting off watching. Result: I watched some of them. Some remain.
   3. I intended to stop playing time-wasting games. Result: I completely quit the one I was addicted to. I did not play it at all the entire year. But what took its place was little geography quiz games. As a result I learned all the countries, capitals, and flags in the world. It made me think some kind of down time is important and I deserve it.

This coming year, here are my resolutions:

1. Health Goals: I really liked having health goals this year and will make similar for next year.
   
   
   1. WEIGHT: Weight continues to be a tricky thing to talk about. I'm happy with how I handled it this past year keeping my eye on it (partially to see if I'm having any thyroid-related issues). I will be nebulously trying to stay the same or go down a few pounds, but this is all about comfort in my clothes and feeling good with my body for me.
      
      
   2. DRINKING WATER: Last year worked out GREAT so I will keep doing the alternating-between-beverages thing. I will up the ante by specifically aiming to drink four glasses a day, and will track it on my app. If I am going out I'll bring a water bottle to help with this.
      
      
   3. NUTRITION: I will continue last year's tradition to eat three servings of fruit and veggies, with one of the veggies being a green veggie. I want to keep my eye on nutritional balance and keep taking the vitamins I take.
      
      
   4. EXERCISE: I will continue to walk at least 10,000 steps a day (tracked with the app on my phone). I would like to increase the stakes here and do another non-walking aerobic activity once a week. Maybe I'd like to get stronger. I think this may help with metabolism issues, and I feel much better when I move around.
      
      
   5. HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: I plan to make and keep appointments to do the important screenings for bloodwork, physical, mammograms, dermatology, and a cleaning at the dentist once a year.
      
      
2. Personal Project and Professional Goals: This is where I really want to make some progress and I'm still a little stuck regarding whether more structure or less structure is the answer. Deadlines haven't worked super well for me this year. Looking at the most successful goals of last year--the health goals--it seems like I did really well with goals that could be broken down with very specific, measurable successes--and I ALWAYS meet goals like doing my videos and webcomics. So I think for this to work better, I'll try assigning days.
   
   
   1. WRITING STUFF. The goal: Two novels to finish in 2025. Also at least one short story, and more if I think of them. I will write NEW CONTENT after work on Mondays and Tuesdays and sometime during the day on Saturdays if I don't have social plans. Editing active projects also counts as writing. On at least two days a week that I don't write anything new or edit anything, I will focus on submissions as well. This seems like a lot, but if I want to be serious about my writing as an art and a career, I need to treat it as more than an afterthought. I have learned that I do need down time, but I won't do any mindless scrolling or time-wasting games until after I have completed my goal that day.
      
      
   2. WEBSITE STUFF. First up: The photo project, for real. First: scan the rest of my photos from physical albums. Second: go through the boxes in the closet and scan/sort those. Third: Put loose photos in albums or boxes. Fourth: Post and tag the photos on my website. I have no timeline for this. It takes how long it takes. Second up: Once the photos are processed, I can pick up where I left off on my autobiographical website stuff. I wrote an illustrated autobio that stops at 2006. I plan to keep living and stuff, so it's going to keep getting more and more out of date if I don't catch it up. This will take a long time but is far less disorganized than writing the first 20 years because I have journals from the year 2000 on. Third up: Revamped essays and rants for my website. I want to create a tagged, organized, somewhat comprehensive collection of writings in blog format. There will be a lot of cutting and pasting, and I want to collect some content from my old LiveJournal, my Twitter posts, and my Tumblr posts. I'd like to have my short stories, long fiction, and writings from my youth somewhere on the site too, but I haven't decided yet whether I want to keep creative writing on a separate page or just have one big one. Fourth up (or whenever): I thought I might want to have a fan site for Steven Universe, mainly to house better photos of my collections and recipes, but also for other fan content like cosplay photos, analysis, fan art and fan comics, book reviews, interview highlights, and song covers. This is a pretty big project though and I do not know if I feel like undertaking it.
      
      
   3. MUSIC STUFF. I flopped on this goal last year but I am going to try again. I want to learn the Steven Universe music on ukulele so I can play it whenever I want. And I would like to do it before a summer convention comes again, so this is a goal for the first half of the year!
      
      
   4. REGULAR CONTENT. Same as last year, but I wanna keep it current: I resolve to continue posting a new Negative One webcomic every week and a new So You Write webcomic every month. I'll post a new asexuality video every month. I'll keep sporadically making Not-So-Giant Women with Daria but that depends on her schedule so I can't commit to a post schedule.
      
      
   5. VOICE ACTING. This one's new: I got a wild hair recently and decided getting into voice acting would be fun, and was a bit surprised that the first project I responded to led to an audition and getting cast. I'll be looking for more opportunities for small roles in amateur or small professional projects for a while and then see what I can do next. Hopefully by the end of next year I'll have a few roles under my belt?
      
      
3. Reading Goals: I won't resolve to read a particular number of books (again). I think my previous goal of reading at least twice a week (and combining it with exercise) will work out great. I'll keep documenting my progress here.
   
   
4. Relationship and Communication Goals: 
   
   
1. DOCUMENTATION: This is a big one. I fell through the floor on this and don't want to be here again next year. I really want to post more private and public reflections about everyday life, more thoughts and essays and ponderings as well as documentation of daily silliness, celebrating triumphs and ranting about awfulness. Once I get to that point on my website progress, this goal will join with that one, but in the meantime I plan to do a MUCH better job sharing thoughts publicly, not just on private social media.
   
   
2. COMMUNICATION: I'll continue to answer e-mails promptly and keep my e-mail box clear. I'll respond to the social media comments I get quickly and not put them off or forget about them. I'd like to post more frequently--perhaps to share photos or short thoughts--on places like Instagram, Bluesky, and Threads, and maybe it would be nice to post some of the same things on my Tumblr blog.
   
   
3. SOCIAL LIFE: I'll continue to be present with friends and family and make time for them. But I think I can actually afford to be less proactive with some friends and try to meet in the middle more. I really want to get some of these creative and professional goals more front and center, and sometimes that will mean I have to fool around less--though I do not want to do that at the EXPENSE of any relationships. I plan to continue going to game night, having Jeaux Day, and hanging out with pals when they ask! We have some plans to do some friend-group karaoke in early 2025.
   
   
5. Other Goals:
   1. Sell or donate some of the extra things in my garage.
   2. Paint that damn pillar I've been putting off painting.
   3. Keep my house clean (I do a good job with this).
   4. Try to watch those silly TV shows I have been talking about watching.
   5. Don't bite my nails. I discovered after my tooth cracked that I had been using that tooth to bite my nails. If I want to take care of the repaired tooth, I have to stop biting them. I have now been entirely successful not biting my nails at all for the three weeks since it happened, but I plan to carry this into next year.

I THINK THAT IS ENOUGH ABOUT RESOLUTIONS. DON'T YOU? ON TO THE REST OF THE SURVEY.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No one close to me, but Jeaux's niece Amanda gave birth to baby Ronin. What a cutie.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My beloved friend Blake passed away from leukemia on July 19. We were pals back in the Gainesville days. May his memory be a blessing. It was also a terrible day for pets this year. Meghan's family lost doggie Barney and kitties Tut and Steve. Sister L lost beloved doggie Chewbacca. Dad and Connie lost precious doggie Max. And my online acquaintance Holly just lost her good dog Meera.

5. What countries did you visit?

I did not leave the USA this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024?

• More quiet time by myself to do projects.
• Better organization and success on those projects.
• Less stress about politics (I am not going to receive this).
• An uneventful hurricane season.
• Quieter neighbors.
• Short story sales.
• As always, a book deal.

7. What dates from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

• March 6 – March 10: Visited Charlotte for family birthdays.
• June 14: Sold Mom's house.
• September 27: Hurricane Helene came for Asheville.
• October 2 - October 7: Went to New York City on a vacation with Jeaux.
• October 8 - October 13: Evacuated for Hurricane Milton.
• November 5: Trump somehow got elected President again. . . .

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Probably getting Mom's house ready to sell and on the market, selling it, and wrapping up all the paperwork required to properly settle the estate. There was also the whole pulling off a surprise for my dad's 70th birthday to go see his favorite band and he had no idea what we were planning! I also think finishing four short stories was very good. And I hit 1000 issues of my webcomic!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not completing the novel I was working on and not spending NEARLY enough time on my creative projects.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No! I didn't get sick AT ALL this year, unless you count the down time I had after getting my Covid booster. I did have to get a cavity filled (second time ever in my life), and broke a tooth (randomly just cracked--I wasn't even eating when it happened).

11. What was the best thing you bought?

For items: Steven Universe rare zines that I NEVER thought I'd see. For experiences: Alanis tickets, New York tickets, and North Carolina tickets!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Civil liberty fighters and queer rights activists who are NOT LETTING THIS COUNTRY GO. I will be with them.

   

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The usual list:

• Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Elon Musk, Matt Gaetz, and their supporters.
• Warmongers, torturers, and kidnappers participating in these terrible wars.
• People who spread lies and conspiracy theories (many of which have their roots in racism, sexism, queerphobia, and antisemitism).
• All the bastards who have been feeding the fire on "trans women are men who want access to single-sex spaces to do harm to REAL women" and "LGBTQ+ people are groomers."
• Fake friends.
• People who use tragedy to capitalize.
• Every single fatphobe.
• People who blamed oppressed people for their own oppression.
• People who expect me and others to clean up the messes they made.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Travel and travel-related expenses, I guess! I went to Charlotte, New York, and Georgia this year.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

• Steven Universe zines
• Pot pies
• Birdle
• My hilarious Halloween costume
• Surprising my dad with concert tickets for his birthday
• Birds
• Seeing the Cartoon Network Hotel
• Chocolate coffee
• Broadway productions
• My short stories
• Finally selling Mom's house and getting to eventually give my sisters their cut
• Seeing my family every time we got to
• Jeaux getting a new apartment that he was so excited about
• Getting to do a blurb for Cody's book The Ace and Aro Relationship Guide
• Metrocon 2024
• The Alanis concert
• Game Night with friends

16. What song will always remind you of 2024?

"Reasons I Drink" by Alanis Morissette.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

• i. happier or sadder? Happier, marginally, but scared of some aspects of the near future.
• ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner. 
• iii. richer or poorer? Hard question. Technically richer. But operating like I'm poorer because I'm not being paid regularly despite having a full-time job. (Long story.)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Reading and writing! Writing of all kinds.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Getting stressed about politics, being patient with people who treated me badly, scrolling to read random stories that make me mad.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

I spent Christmas day with Jeaux making cookies. The day after, we had family over for our holiday dinner.

21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?

Writing this blog entry and evaluating what my plans will be for next year.

22. Did you fall in love in 2024?

I did not "fall." I have all the love I want in my life.

23. How many one-night stands?

I should probably just delete this question from the survey. But then I'd have to re-number and ew.

24. What was your favorite TV program?

Steven Universe is still my undisputed favorite, but this year I saw the following new seasons or new series: Our Flag Means Death, Heartstopper, The Last Airbender live action, What We Do in the Shadows, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Delicious in Dungeon, and Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld. The one that was new to me that I liked the best was Delicious in Dungeon. So much fun and so unexpected.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No.

26. What was the best book you read this year?

Down Girl by Kate Mann. I read some good fiction too but that book on the logic of misogyny was incredible.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The SIX soundtrack!

28. What did you want and get?

A resolution for my mom's estate, a cool new artistic opportunity, a Covid-free year, a lot of quality time with friends and family, good coffee, good health, a happy home, love and humor, good entertainment.

29. What did you want and not get?

A different result for the election, positive responses for some of my submissions, a hurricane-free year, a better resolution for my job situation.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

I didn't watch any movies this year except Wicked and The Big Year. They were both great but I did appreciate Wicked more.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 46. I had to work on the day, but I got a nice long phone call from my sister, and later my dad showed up to take me and Jeaux out to dinner at Vallarta's. Later that week my birthday buddy Meghan came into town to celebrate our birthdays.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

If people had done what they said they would do when they said they would do it, and not left me hanging or needed me to follow up and bother them so much to get things done.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024?

T-shirts, jeans, cozy sweaters, and granny glasses.

34. What kept you sane?

Marco Polo videos and creative expression.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Oh, you silly survey.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Trans rights and all the frigging liars in government.

37. Who did you miss?

C'mon.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn't have a lot of new people in my life this year. I will say Scott--I technically met him the previous year, but we started hanging out this year and he is lovely.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024.

Pick your battles.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

"The pen's in my hand. Ending unplanned."

Personal Digest Saturday (but posted on Sunday!): December 21 – December 27

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up on the early side and worked on my short story. Got my steps in and did my blogging. Wrapped up some holiday plans. Did some more sorting and scanning of photos.
  
  
• Sunday I got up pretty early again and it made the day feel long. Did laundry and trash. Worked on the short story all day but didn't get much done somehow. Worried about Jeaux because something went wrong with his phone and he wasn't answering some kinda important questions. We talked later in the day when his phone started working again.
  
  
• Monday was my last day of work before the holidays. I sent in a letter, bothered people to reply to me with materials they owed us, and updated a project report. Then I worked on the short story and finally finished writing it in the wee hours (though it's just a bloated draft). Also had to coach Jeaux on what food to buy when he did his shopping.
  
  
• Tuesday I got up late. And had to text with Jeaux about a butter emergency. Turned out both of us miscalculated some of the ingredients we would need and the butter was just the first stumbling block for that! But he was going to the store for other things anyway so he was able to get me more butter to bring the next day. My cookie-making plans got a little screwed up because I wouldn't be able to get one of the ingredients until Jeaux came over on Christmas, so I just made the cookies I could make with what I had in the house (snowball cookies and candy cane kiss cookies). I had issues with my mixer not letting me put the beaters in (but eventually I found out what was wrong), and also weirdly I got an egg that had THREE yolks in it. Weird! Then I did some dishes, washed the bedclothes for Jeaux to stay the night the next day, and recorded a karaoke song. And I did a Polo for Steve. AND I finally finished the last of the photo scanning from the photos in the garage. Very productive day.
  
  
• Wednesday I got up on Christmas Day and sent Jeaux a list of things to remember to bring. I prepared a recipe that would be complete once he brought sour cream, but he was kinda late so my cookies got into the fridge to chill kinda late too. Then he helped me make a cheesecake--my first cheesecake!--and we discovered we didn't have enough heavy cream or cream cheese for everything. But beyond that we did okay. We went out for Chinese food on Christmas, and then when we got back we made our homemade Thin Mint-inspired cookies and the chocolate wafer cookies that become sandwich cookies. After they cooled, we dipped the Thin Mints in chocolate coating and we made filling for the sandwich cookies, and once I sliced the refrigerator cookies and baked those too, we were done! Jeaux went to bed, I vacuumed the baking mess up and finished the dishes, and then I crashed.
  
  
• Thursday Jeaux and I got up early to run to the store to pick up our missing cream cheese and heavy cream! We were ready to start making our feast for my family gathering. I made biscuits, did dishes, took a coffee break while Jeaux logged in at work, and then began making a new recipe for me: fake chicken pot pies. Jeaux jumped in to make his vegan scalloped potatoes. We shared the kitchen pretty nicely, but I was stressed out because we were kinda behind schedule. I prepared some fruit and cheese to put out for my family in case they needed something to munch while waiting. (The cheese was very popular once they got there.) We then moved on to our other recipes: I made something called yum-yum corn, and he made green bean casserole. My dad and Connie arrived with brisket my dad made from his mom's recipe. We figured out how to get everything to share the oven, got the table set, and provided beverages. And then later Lindsay and Mike showed up. Very nice to see everyone and Lindsay asked "How's my little big?" (That is so cute. I am her "little big" because I'm five inches shorter but five years older.) We had a lovely meal and everything turned out as good as I could have hoped! I think everyone liked everything despite that apparently half my family does not like peas. (Peas were in the pot pies.) We then moved on to coffee, then dessert (my dad bravely had one of each of our SIX cookies plus cheesecake!), and finally gifts. I got some awesome presents from my generous family and Jeaux. Felt very loved. They left relatively early, and Jeaux hung out a little to help me clean up a few things and put the table away, but after he left I did a bajillion dishes and went to bed early.
  
  
• Friday I went back to work! I did some timesheets, reports, team invitations, reminders, and wrangling some communication. And also, something weird that will be a surprise to everyone: I found out I was cast in an upcoming comedy podcast as a voice actor. (I have not told anyone I was trying out. But I got the part!) More on that as it develops. After work I had to rush to draw Negative One because I did not do any drawing on the family celebration day. I got it all done and then had to do a lot of walking to get my steps in so I did a Polo for Steve. Then I processed some of my received gifts into lists I keep if they added to any of my collections, and sent thank-you texts to the appropriate people. And I finally got to read over about half of my recently completed short story.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• ingloriousgigi on Threads recommended my videos and my book to people who want authentic information about asexuality, and two people discuss how important the book was to them.

New Reviews:

• Booklady gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Amazon.
• Claire gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads. (It appears to be the same as the Amazon review.)

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Well I've had a ton of weird eating this week because it's the holidays! Which is why it's also very strange that I had a new low within the week. Who knows how that happened. I recorded a high of 114.3 and a low of 112.4.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Holiday time is a good time to avoid worrying about restrictions, but despite that I am still managing to get three servings of fruit and veggies a day. It's become a definite improvement to my daily routine and I don't have to try very hard to make sure I get them anymore. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,036 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 13,881 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dream to Me by Megan Paasch. I'm on page 74.
  

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Over at the Frankenstein Place" from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

 

#1024: adele #251: an unearthly color.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

There is now a Christmas Album for 2024 if you want to see all the food pics and unabridged photo collection, but here are my favorites:

One egg with three yolks

Hanukkah Day 1!

Jeaux putting together a sandwich cookie!

The holiday dinner spread. . . . 

Family enjoying!

My plate.

The desserts! Six cookies and a cheesecake!

A few of family opening presents:

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,468 for swankivy (no change), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 210 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 802 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,658 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (no change), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 252 followers for So You Write (lost 1), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (lost 1). Tumblr followers: 2,427 (no change). Instagram followers: 281 (1 new). Threads followers: 77 (1 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 262 (8 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: December 14 – December 20

Life news this week:

• Saturday I organized my holiday meal ideas and wrote out some new recipes. Made a shopping list for all the extra stuff we'll need to host two parties at my house. Then I got my blog done, wrote a book review, and worked on a short story.
  
  
• Sunday I watched someone make Hanukkah donuts, did some laundry, redecorated for the new season, did some more laundry, trash, and chores, and worked on my short story a lot.
  
  
• Monday I had some hectic stuff at work--letter reviews and working on a transcript. I also took some packages to the post office and prepared notes for our upcoming interview. Did some Polos, did dishes, texted with friends, and worked more on the short story.
  
  
• Tuesday I went to a prep meeting for the interview and worked on another letter to go out, and completed some documents for our package that was due for the interview. Did some Polos, wrote my comic, and wrote some more of the short story.
  
  
• Wednesday I finished the interview package and submitted it, and then drew some comics. Jeaux picked me up to go to Panera, and we stopped at a bunch of places to get special items (Fresh Market, Walgreens, the liquor store to get a tiny amount of bourbon for one recipe, and the grocery store). Finally we watched the very last episode of What We Do in the Shadows and read silly things to each other.
  
  
• Thursday I went to an interview prep meeting and drew some comics. Also took another post office trip to take eBay items to be sent. Did some processing for my comic. Ben came over and hung out for a bit before going in to Game Night. After he left I finished processing the comic and posted it before going to sleep once it was officially Friday. Also got my bag packed and outfit planned for the interview.
  
  
• Friday I met my boss to go out to Bartow and our interview went fine--no surprises. Hopefully we did okay and the District will pick us. At home I did my upcoming project reports and took a nap. Jeaux picked me up to go to his company's holiday party, which was on a boat. We had some good food and decent conversation with other people seated with us. Then we visited Sprouts to buy special grocery items. We went back to my place and told each other silly stories before he went home and I went to bed early.

New Reviews:

• Kelsey H gave The Invisible Orientation an unrated review on Goodreads.
  
• MuffinMan gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads. 

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data on this this week. :)
  
• Nutrition stuff: Fruits and veggies are in the right balance again this week, and I seem to have rediscovered that soup exists. Yum. Every day that I didn't get enough protein was a day that I ate dinner out, so I think on days I plan to eat out I should try to focus more on protein for breakfast and lunch. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,028 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 10,778 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dream to Me by Megan Paasch. I'm on page 74.
  

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve.

 

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

 

#1023: ivy #319: a whole arm.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,468 for swankivy (lost 2), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 210 for Not-So-Giant Women (lost 1), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 803 for swankivy (1 new), 3,663 for JulieSondra (lost 9). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (no change), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 253 followers for So You Write (no change), 101 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,427 (no change). Instagram followers: 280 (no change). Threads followers: 76 (no change). I just joined Bluesky Social (where people are flocking for a post-Twitter life). Bluesky followers: 254 (10 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: December 7 – December 13

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did some shopping for the few gifts I'll be able to give, and then worked on blogging, walking, and reading in between watching some episodes of that new show Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld. I finished watching it and thought it was decent but it's not on the level of my favorites. That's okay! Also sent my sister a Polo.
  
  
• Sunday I did some photo album processing, some karaoke, and some querying. Played some games, prepped an eBay package, and did my usual chores. Watched Jennifer Paz on a Streamily signing again. Read over an in-progress story.
  
  
• Monday there were no letters going out! I just did some invitations and data entry. Also walked a package to the post office. Did some more photo sorting and scanning. Did a Polo for Meg. Randomly had a piece of one of my teeth come off and I wasn't even eating, so that was weird. (???) Wrote some more of my in-progress story.
  
  
• Tuesday I made a dental appointment to fix my tooth and they had an opening later that day so I went and got it fixed. Boy it's fun dropping money on the dentist when I'm also low on cash. Otherwise I worked on data entry. Ben came over and hung out with me for a short time. We didn't really even have time to catch up on what's been going on, but it was nice to see him. Worked on the short story more. And watched a Streamily Q&A with AJ & Aly but they didn't talk about Steven Universe at all so I didn't write anything up for my blog.
  
  
• Wednesday I bothered people for resumes and got caught up on some materials due next week. Jeaux took me to Vallarta's and we did our grocery shopping and watched What We Do in the Shadows.
  
  
• Thursday I had to work on a transcript so that took most of the day. After work, I planned my comic and finished reading a book and started on a new one. Went to Game Night with friends and drew some comics. Got my steps in and watched some reaction videos.
  
  
• Friday I went to a meeting, worked on timesheets and reports, and got some more transcript stuff done. Finished the comic and posted it, got my walking done, and did a little more on the transcripts.

New Reviews:

• MRS.Denning gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Audible.
  
• Michelle gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads. (This appears to be the same reviewer who reviewed on Audible, but the review is slightly different.)

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Data not quite as incomplete this week, but I didn't get a reading every day and that's okay. But nothing really seems to be moving much. I'm having a lot of late-night moments where I want a bedtime snack and that's been a little unusual. I recorded a high of 114.5 and a low of 114.1.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I was very good about getting my fruits and veggies in this week! A couple of days were out of whack with high fat versus carbs and protein, but most of the days were balanced. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,028 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 10,778 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: American Panda by Gloria Chao. Two-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dream to Me by Megan Paasch. I'm on page 74.
  

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "The Miracle" by Queen.

 

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

 

#1022: weaver #160: he's grown.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,470 for swankivy (lost 1), 680 for JulieSondra (1 new), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 211 for Not-So-Giant Women (2 new), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 802 for swankivy (no change), 3,672 for JulieSondra (lost 7). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (no change), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 253 followers for So You Write (no change), 101 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,427 (no change). Instagram followers: 280 (no change). Threads followers: 76 (no change). I just joined Bluesky Social (where people are flocking for a post-Twitter life). Bluesky followers: 244 (13 new).