November Goals Update

Hey, hey, there, December. I guess I gotta tell the world how November went as far as my goals.

1. Health Goals: I resolved to continue drinking an appropriate amount of water (around 4 glasses a day), eat 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day and keep my nutrition balanced, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day plus add in an aerobic activity every other day.

2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to keep working on getting photos sorted as the first stop on a website rebuild; resolved to work on writing three days a week and submissions when I can; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, keep creating my regular webcomic and video content, and get some small voice acting gigs.

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: Get rid of some things in my garage, paint the pillar, keep the house clean, watch some backed up TV shows, and avoid biting my nails.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:

Summary: I didn't have specific weight goals and have mostly not visited the scale, but this month I got back on it a few times just to see where I am, and ya know. It'd be nice if that number was something else. I'm also not overly concerned about it. I'm still hitting the three-fruits-and-veggies-a-day goal most days, but still kinda struggling with the protein goals a lot. I may need to investigate some additional sources that I like eating. Water goals have been okay this month, though I missed my four-glass goal a few times, and I've continued with exercise (still mostly aerobics, but I did get in some DDR too) and taking vitamins. Here is my Health calendar of progress:

(Click these calendars and they will expand so you can actually read them!)

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary:

EDITING: The book has completed its second edit. It's at 140,000 words and change. I built an outline as I read and have now spent a couple days digging through it from a bird's-eye view, and have identified a few things to cut, a few things to summarize/fold into other chapters, and quite a few things to shorten. Third edit proper will start soon.

SUBMISSIONS:

No new news about agents or short story sales; if I don't have another sale in December, I'll be at only one sale this year, which is kinda sucky. I did also enjoy the cover reveal that came out last month for the book I wrote an introduction to.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I buckled down and got a ton done on the photo project, but I'm still not done. I have completed back to 2002, with the help of journals (which is why it takes so long), but the journals end at the beginning of the year 2000, so after that it will be a lot of guesswork. Hopefully I can get this done before the end of the year.

UKULELE PRACTICE: I don't have an active goal with this right now since I met my goal earlier this year learning all the songs I assigned myself. I pick it up and noodle sometimes but I am not really practicing anything.

VOICE ACTING: Last month's multi-tier audition ended in success: I got the lead role in an upcoming audio thriller. I have completed my recording under a pretty tight deadline and we'll see how it sounds when it comes out. I also landed another role immediately after I got this one (also the lead role!), but I'm not sure if anything will happen because the creator of the project has not contacted me with any instructions. And the first project I recorded lines for at the beginning of this year finally released its first episode. My contribution to two roles is in the first episode. Others are cooking and coming out soon; the second episode of a fantasy show coming out shortly should have my voice in it during one scene, and a couple other shows are coming up on my parts or releasing this month.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS: 

Summary: This has really been my worst goal this year--trying to read twice a week ended up being twice a month this time. I always say something's gotta give, but I do wish I was making time for this more consistently. The issue is that I don't schedule it, so it happens whenever, and sometimes that's never.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: Besides Jeaux Day and Game Night, my social life included a movie hangout, a Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's, and three band practices! Plus some doctor's appointments and company interviews which aren't social but do have to go on the calendar. I don't owe anyone any e-mails, so that's nice. I haven't improved on the documentation goals I've had. Still just as disappointing.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: My eBay sales are going pretty well and clearing out some junk in my garage. I still need to sand and paint the plaster pillar that is sitting outside and need to sell some garage items. I now have three TV shows I want to watch, with two being in progress. I need to catch up on photographing the updated Steven Universe collection.

Personal Digest Saturday: November 22 – November 28

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up early and had breakfast, and then Jeaux picked me up and took me to see the second half of Wicked. We enjoyed the movie! Then we had lunch at Moe's and did our grocery shopping for Thanksgiving ingredients. When I got home I wanted a nap but the neighbors were too loud partying so I had to use earphones to listen to white noise to drown them out. (I'm pretty bitter about having to put anything in my ears now that my ear issue has let up, because I had to do that involuntarily for like two months to be able to sleep, so I am extra irritated at my neighbors.) When I got up I did my blogging, sent Steve a Polo, and went back to sleep early (again with earphones because my neighbors continued their loud partying until after 1 in the morning). The first episode of a show I did voice over in came out--it's a half hour long and I play two major roles in the show!
  
  
• Sunday my neighbors started being jerks with the noise pretty early in the day and literally did not stop all day until after I went to bed. They are very selfish. I spent the day editing my book and actually completed the second edit; I'm pretty proud of getting it down to 140,000 words, but there's still a ways to go. I updated some blogs, finished the 2003 photo log, and read a chunk of my friend Dare's book. Also did a bunch of laundry and did aerobics and put some stuff up on eBay.
  
  
• Monday I had to enter some accounting stuff at work. I texted with my friend Ronni for a big chunk of the day and took a walk to the post office to drop off a toy that sold on eBay (from Meggie's stuff). I looked for voice-over auditions to do but didn't find any projects I wanted to audition for. Didn't get much done on my projects because I was sleepy.
  
  
• Tuesday I did more accounting data entry, sent reminders to people who needed them, and did data entry for my roadway inventory. Did some DDR, sent a Polo to Meggie, did some dishes, and finished reading Dare's book. Worked on my 2002 photo log. Did some work on my edit plan for my book. Updated my voice-over page.
  
  
• Wednesday is usually Jeaux Day but since he would be coming over for Thanksgiving we decided not to meet. I went to work and did some prep work on an upcoming shortlisted project. Also did some research on a project and did the reports I usually do on Fridays. Sent a Polo to Ben and made a corn casserole for Thanksgiving. Jeaux called to tell me he somehow got his car towed from his own parking lot for a silly reason. I'm really glad he didn't realize it the next morning because that would have messed up our day! I did some agent research and wrote my storyboard for my comic.
  
  
• Thursday I got up early and had plenty of time to do DDR and get ready for going to my dad's. I sent out a query letter in the morning. Jeaux picked me up and we went to Sarasota, where we ate a lovely meal with Dad and Connie. Jeaux had brought green bean casserole and a pumpkin roll. Later we had dessert but we were stuffed. We had a fun time chatting and catching up and being silly. Then when we got back to my place we took a walk and shared silly things on the internet and finally watched a couple episodes of the anime Secrets of the Silent Witch.
  
  
• Friday I got up and ate leftovers. Worked on my comic slowly in between doing other entertaining things. The water pump person came and replaced the motor on my chlorine tank. I also sold two posters on eBay (two different people, from listings that were over a month old) so I had to figure out how to package them. I then took them to the post office with another package that sold the day before. Then I worked on the comic more, finished and posted it, did some reading and walking, texted with Meggie, and sang along with some karaoke songs.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The first episode of a show I'm in was released on Saturday! Check out this page for listening options.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I only got on the scale a couple times this week so I have incomplete data. High number was 118.2 pounds and low number was 117.8.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Still having trouble hitting protein goals (though Thanksgiving and leftovers got in the way obviously)--I missed my goal pretty significantly 4 days out of 7. I think I missed one day of getting all my fruits and veggies too, but every other day I did make the goal. And I'm still taking my vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,079 steps, and my high day was Monday at 13,854 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 62.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1072: ivy #346: sit and watch.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Going to see Wicked with Jeaux!

Thanksgiving dinner 2025!

My Thanksgiving plate

Jeaux sprinkles sugar

Three desserts!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,438 for swankivy (lost 1), 677 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 757 for swankivy (lost 6), 3,446 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 628 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,418 (no change). Instagram followers: 295 (2 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 417 (7 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 15– November 21

Life news this week:

• Saturday I sent Meggie a Polo and otherwise just spent the whole day alternating between working on my blog, recording lines for my latest voice-over project, and working on my photo log (which included reading old journals). I finished recording episode 7 of the show and completed the year 2004 of the log. Also slid in an aerobics session and some music practice--had to learn a couple songs last minute for band practice.
  
  
• Sunday Dad picked me up early and we went to his place for band practice. Had a great practice and went to sushi after, with a stop to see his drum teacher play at an event on the way. Back at home, I did laundry and took out the trash. Did an edit on my novel and worked on my journal some more. Texted with friends and sent Meghan a Polo again.
  
  
• Monday I was up super early and did aerobics first thing. Jeaux picked me up to take me to my appointment to get an MRI (technically it was an MRA, actually). We went to Keke's for breakfast after. Was great! Then at work I went to a marketing meeting and a planning meeting. Got the results from the test already and everything's normal, so they're referring me again. My ear issue is still doing really well, with mild to nonexistent symptoms this whole week, but it persisted so long that I think I should keep looking for answers. After work I sent a Polo to Ben, put away laundry, and did more voice acting and photo sorting.
  
  
• Tuesday we had a proposal due and I assembled it and turned it in. Put out some fires and attended a constructability meeting. Gave some feedback to the band members after listening to the recordings of our practice. Sent another Polo to Meg, did more voice acting, and wrapped up the project. Did more of my journal/photo project. Updated some lists and worked on my website. Edited a chapter of my book.
  
  
• Wednesday I tried to go to work but my computer was offline for most of the day, so I worked on personal projects. Got a request to do a quick fill-in for a bit part in a show so I recorded my whole four lines. Did some DDR for the first time in a while. Got to hear some preliminary cuts from the show I was most recently cast in. When I got into the computer at work finally, I did some data entry. Recorded a karaoke song. Jeaux came over and we ate at Burger 21, then did our shopping and exchange of silly internet things. We took a walk too. I did another chapter edit on my book. A trailer came out for the first show I recorded lines for when I started voice acting (back in January) and it looks like the show itself is out Saturday!
  
  
• Thursday I finally finished the data entry project and had to write up some utilities stuff and do project research. I sent a Polo to Meg and to Steve. Then I wrote my comic, reread some old Bad Fairy stuff, and sent out a query. Went to Game Night and played with friends, then went back to my cycle of reading old journals, watching reactions, drawing comics, and reading old work.
  
  
• Friday I did my utilities project at work and worked on reports. Then I drew the comic, listened to reactions, read old journals, and read old writings. Took some walks and listened to Polos. Did a DDR session again and completed my comic. Sent out a short story. Helped promote the cover reveal of Being Aro, for which I wrote the introduction.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• On LGBTQ Reads, the cover reveal for Being Aro has been released! I wrote the introduction for this book of aromantic-centric short stories that is coming out on May 26, 2026.
• On Daniel Dashnaw's blog, an article on The Underground Linguistics of Queer Microlabels" refers to me as an "ACTUAL queer community thought leader" who is usually hidden in footnotes.
• Trailer for the show I'm in.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I started checking in with the scale again this week. High number was 118.3 pounds and low number was 117.5.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I couldn't hit my protein goals this week much at all (only one day!). Maybe because I went to restaurants a bunch more than usual (sushi on Sunday, breakfast on Monday, burgers/fries on Wednesday). I'm still getting my intended servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and I'm still taking my vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,058 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 16,097 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 32.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Do You Wanna Dance" by the Beach Boys. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1071: ivy #345: two ways.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Sushi with daughter

Sushi with Dad

Big pants

Tucked big pants into the socks!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,439 for swankivy (no change), 678 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 763 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,447 for JulieSondra (lost 7). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 628 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,418 (2 new). Instagram followers: 293 (1 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 410 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 8– November 14

Life news this week:

• Saturday I started my morning with a walk to the post office to send out an eBay purchase, and then I spent the day working on my blog and doing photo sorting updates. I've moved into the era of physical photos that were scanned in, so they're harder to find dates for, and now I'm leaning on old journal entries to place them. It takes a lot of deep diving into 20-year-old documents. Which has led to some less pleasant memory lane stuff. Kari visited in the evening and we hung out and chatted. Then I tried to get started on my voice acting project but I had technical difficulties.
  
  
• Sunday involved bouncing around between projects a lot: reading old journal entries to help sort photos, walking and listening to Polos, exercising, editing my book, doing dishes, doing laundry, and taking out the trash. Got some voice acting line reads done finally and completed the photo log from 2005. Briefly talked to Jeaux when he wanted to complain about school.
  
  
• Monday was busy at work--had to help with a presentation and a letter. My monitor was messing up and I had to temporarily use another one until Jeaux can look at it. After everything was complete I walked to the post office with a package again. Sent Meghan Polos while walking. Then I completed data entry for a project a work and spent the rest of the day alternating between the photo project and recording lines for the voice-over project.
  
  
• Tuesday I managed to cram in my aerobics before breakfast and then went to a meeting. Did some work on project research until Jeaux came to get me for my hearing test. According to them my hearing is normal and I have no fluid build-up in my ear, so they have referred me back to my ENT. That's just a test they have to get done before they can look into rarer problems. When I got home I went to another presentation meeting. At night I did book edits, journal reading, and voice-over recording. I made hot chocolate.
  
  
• Wednesday I went to a meeting and we practiced our presentation. Also did some meeting coordination and data entry for our timesheets. Did some Polo recordings, sent a query, and did more of my journal stuff. Jeaux was late picking me up because he left later than usual and then there was traffic, but we had a nice dinner at Noble Crust. We did our usual groceries and hanging around reading each other internet stories, and then he fixed my monitor. I went to sleep early.
  
  
• Thursday I woke up super early and had time to do aerobics again before a meeting. We had a last prep meeting for the presentation and then my boss picked me up to go to Bartow. We got to go first and we were up against two other teams. They also had the results available for a public meeting, so we decided to stay and see if we won. So while the other teams were doing theirs, my boss and I hung out in the lobby and drank coffee and ate cookies. Then we listened to the deliberations and found out we came in second. (Two of the five selection panel members picked us to be first, but three of them picked someone else, so we didn't get the job.) When I got home again I had a bunch of work to do on proposal planning so I had to finish that, and then I finally got to do a Polo for Meg and go to game night. I drew some comics while listening to Steve's debut concert with his new choir. My ear issue has lessened somewhat and I was finally able to sleep without any earplugs.
  
  
• Friday I had a surprisingly good ear day and didn't have to wear earplugs again. The issue is not gone but it has become really mild. Still going to another doctor visit next week to investigate, of course. It was busy at work all day. I planned two proposals, did timesheet stuff, and prepared some reports. Then I went to the post office AGAIN and sent Polos to Steve. After work I finished drawing my comic, recorded a karaoke song, and alternated between doing voice acting recordings and researching my photos again. Still not done with 2004.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• An Instagram user, one.anxious.ace, describes reading my book The Invisible Orientation in a post with slides.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I started checking in with the scale again this week. High number was 119 pounds (!) and low number was 116.8.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I made my protein goal 5 days out of 7--one of the days I couldn't hit it being my restaurant day, of course--and I'm still getting my intended servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and I'm still taking my vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,763 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 19,518 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 32.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Love Hurts" by Nazareth. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1070: ivy #344: your own space.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

My sister gave me this sweater, which is similar to one she has and wears so much it is called her "uniform," so I call mine that too.

I got colder that night and huddled in my Oodie and got hot chocolate.

My outfit for the Polk County presentation.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,439 for swankivy (lost 1), 678 for JulieSondra (lost 2), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 765 for swankivy (no change), 3,454 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 627 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,416 (1 new). Instagram followers: 292 (2 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 409 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 1– November 7

Life news this week:

• Saturday my health was a little better and I didn't feel dizzy. I made some brownies in my messy kitchen and cleaned up while they baked. Managed to straighten up the house a little too. I worked on the blog in between practicing some music. Got my photo gallery for Halloween up. Got some aerobics done and put away laundry. Updated all my calendars and monthly goals posts. Finally Kari came home from Orlando and I walked over to her house for the first time to deliver brownies! We hung out and talked outside and she gave me some good advice about medical stuff. Edited a book chapter and went to bed.
  
  
• Sunday I got up early because of the time change. Had plenty of time to get ready to go to band practice. Dad picked me up and we chatted about life stuff and music and health. We had a good practice with our little band; I got to share my treats; and then I got home and had some lunch and put out trash and did laundry. Asked for some advice from Meg about my illness now that I have finished a medication dose with no improvement. She gave me some great pointers. Found out late at night that I was granted a new voice acting role after three rounds of auditions. (From 57 auditions for the part, down to a shortlist of 29, down to a final audition of 4, and I got it! It's the lead role in an upcoming science fiction show.)
  
  
• Monday I got up too early again. I had a LOT of time-sensitive work! I threw together a required submittal package, and then I worked on THREE letters that had to be sent in by the end of the day. We also had two meetings to get ready for our interview. In between, I also sent messages to doctors that went along with Meghan's advice. I took a brisk walk outside with weights for my aerobics because I didn't feel up to doing DDR. Then I worked on my book, and tried to talk my dad through sharing large files. Also, I found out I got ANOTHER voice acting role for a project I don't know much about yet. (I'll find out more when the auditions close, but it looks like they preemptively picked me before the deadline.)
  
  
• Tuesday I woke up early again and got ready to be picked up for our interview. My boss came and we drove over to the District headquarters. Our whole team got there in time and we did a pretty good interview, handling the nine questions they asked us. And I got to talk three times, which is more than usual because I'm generally not a big part of the team. I was excited to go to First Watch with the team afterwards and got some yummy avocado toast. Then at home I was tired but I didn't have time to nap. I did some data entry and started working on a proposal with my coworkers. I contacted the doctors again and eventually I managed to move one of my exams to much earlier (next week) and got a referral for an MRI. Took a walk to the post office to send an eBay package. When I got home I worked on my webcomic, edited my book, recorded a karaoke song, and exchanged e-mails with one of the voice-over project directors.
  
  
• Wednesday was slightly better, health wise. I was able to schedule my MRI. Had some computer issues when I tried to go to work but it resolved. Spent most of the day glued to a proposal preparation. Also did data entry and attended a meeting. Later I did dishes, Polo'd Steve, and ate at SoFresh with Jeaux. We did our grocery shopping and watching silly crap. I went to sleep after he left--getting tired earlier.
  
  
• Thursday I had to deal with proposal stuff most of the day again but it was due so we got it out. Also sent in some teaming requests. Still feeling physically better than I did earlier in the week but the ear problem persists. Walked to the post office with an eBay package again. Two water-related professionals came to my house; first a plumber, then a water system maintenance person. (The plumber fixed a flap on my toilet and was a very cool guy who likes antiques and had cool tattoos. The water maintenance guy gave me the bad news that my tank's motor is broken and not rebuildable, so they have to get me a new system. Until then I get to have "yucky" water.) Sent out a query letter, updated some lists, and worked on the photo project (now completed photos from the year 2006). I got a FitBit to get some data about my vital signs! Just because my health is so weird lately and I want to have data. Finally got my pass pages approval sent in for my introduction on an upcoming anthology. Went to game night but we just did some chatting because Meggie's under the weather, so we ended early. I got back on to talk to Steve when he was done with his musical performance. Did a little bit of drawing. Brainstormed some band names but I'm not done.
  
  
• Friday I felt pretty normal except for incessant ear noises. Spent the morning outlining proposal we probably won't chase. Then I worked on reports and data entry. Polo'd Meghan, did some aerobics, and listened to a cool opening recording for the project I recently got awarded. Worked on my webcomic really slowly. Read the beginning of a book. Submitted a short story. Talked to Fen about book spam. Worked on my photo page but didn't get 2005 done because notes and cues are getting vaguer as I go back in time.

New Reviews:

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

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Unfortunately I missed my protein goal every day this week, and I know why--I haven't been having as much yogurt, and my non-yogurt protein sources are sometimes also high fat, which throws off the balance. I haven't been paying much attention to the balance lately, nor have I been making a lot of intentional choices, but one thing has happily remained true: I'm still getting my intended servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and I'm still taking my vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,087 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 17,040 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 32.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1069: ivy #343: what i don't want to say.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,440 for swankivy (no change), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 766 for swankivy (no change), 3,455 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 627 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (1 new), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (no change). Instagram followers: 290 (no change). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 407 (2 new).

October Goals Update

It's November 1, so you know what that means: tell the internet how my October goals went!

1. Health Goals: I resolved to continue drinking an appropriate amount of water (around 4 glasses a day), eat 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day and keep my nutrition balanced, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day plus add in an aerobic activity every other day.

2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to keep working on getting photos sorted as the first stop on a website rebuild; resolved to work on writing three days a week and submissions when I can; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, keep creating my regular webcomic and video content, and get some small voice acting gigs.

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: Get rid of some things in my garage, paint the pillar, keep the house clean, watch some backed up TV shows, and avoid biting my nails.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:
Summary: I've continued not getting on the scale--just not very concerned about numbers, weight-wise, at this point. (Last time I went to the doctor early in the month, I was in a healthy range.) I'm not sure when I will feel like looking at numbers again. I'm still hitting the three-fruits-and-veggies-a-day goal almost every day, but not doing very well with getting enough protein this month. (It might be because some of my protein sources are also high fat.) Water goals have been good this month; haven't missed getting four glasses in except for one day, and I've continued with exercise (favoring the aerobics this time) and taking vitamins. Here is my Health calendar of progress:

(Click these calendars and they will expand so you can actually read them!)

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary:

EDITING: Almost done with the in-progress edit. I've knocked it down to 143,000 words, which isn't enough, and I feel like I'm not shaving off as much in the second half of the book. The outline I'm still building should help me make some choices about what else I need to cut. I don't have a specific goal.

SUBMISSIONS:

Still on an agent search to get my older work to a new representative and sending short stories to new markets. I'm still doing submissions consistently but I don't always get to them on the day I mean to. I finally sold a story last month, and I feel pretty good about a couple of the prospects I've sent other stories to.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I was too busy in the latter half of the month to get much done on this, but I managed to get back to the year 2007. Hopefully I can get this done before the end of the year. I'll be so happy to have it out of my hair after wanting to do it for so long.

UKULELE PRACTICE: I don't have an active goal with this right now since I met my goal earlier this year learning all the songs I assigned myself. I pick it up and noodle sometimes but I am not really practicing anything.

VOICE ACTING: I haven't won any new roles this month but a role I got shortlisted on turned into a multi-tier audition and I've made it to the final round. Now waiting to find out if I got it. Another one of the projects I'm in premiered October 30, but I'm not in the first episode, so my acting on it still isn't out there.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS: 

Summary: Did better still on reading this past month, but didn't quite make the "twice a week" guideline. I finished reading the book I was reading for several months, finally.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: Besides Jeaux Day and Game Night, the only things on my calendar were a hangout with Kari, three doctor's appointments, and a big fat Halloween party. I don't owe anyone any e-mails, so that's nice. I haven't improved on the documentation goals I've had. Disappointing.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I did finally put up a bunch of stuff from my garage on eBay for myself and Meggie. I still need to sand and paint the plaster pillar that is sitting outside and need to sell some garage items. I still have a TV show I want to watch. I need to catch up on photographing the updated Steven Universe collection.

Personal Digest Saturday: October 25 – October 31

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up early and sorted out the labels and containers I'd be using for my evening party. Got my blogging done in the early part of the day and then got the rooms ready, setting out the trash cans and chairs and cooler arrangements for drinks. I put out my plates and utensils and napkins and finally started prepping some food--cutting up cheese and fruit, mixing dips, and getting the drinks in the ice. Finally I made the apple cider and put it in the container. I had just enough time to get my costume on and put out all the food before my first guest arrived--best timing ever! I enjoyed my friends' costumes and all the music and food. Ended up having ten guests in all. We mostly just talked and laughed all night. When the group got smaller toward the end of the night we played a card game and had fun with it. I got some help with cleanup at the end of the night and that was nice of them! Some people took food to go but I still had tons of leftovers. I didn't do as much cleanup as I usually do the same night because I was just tired. Ear status: Moderately annoying off and on all day.
  
  
• Sunday I felt sluggish all day--maybe after-party blues? I did end up getting the cleanup mostly done--washed all the dishes, put all the chairs back, cleaned and vacuumed, and did my usual Sunday chores (laundry and trash). I ate leftovers all day and caught up on the new episode of Fionna and Cake that just came out. And I did some editing on my novel (that's usually a Saturday thing but obviously I was busy). Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Monday I was busy with editing letters at work. Also walked to the Post Office to drop off an eBay sale. Just missed getting soaked in the rain and wasn't even thinking about it! So lucky. I worked on my book, did some Polos, worked on some music for the band, recorded a karaoke song and a new video, and got tired kind of early. Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Tuesday I worked on our shortlisted project and did some data entry for timesheets. Outlined a proposal. Played DDR without issue even though I felt kinda weird. Planned my comic So You Write and drew all the frames. Did some reading. Processed my video and subtitled it and posted it. Ear status: Bad most of the day with a couple short stints of less bad.
  
  
• Wednesday was a weird day. Got a message on my medical chart about scheduling physical therapy for my foot (I haven't been able to do that because they referred me to a place that doesn't even have an office in my city), and they they called me offering to get me in for the ENT appointment I've been waiting for much earlier than expected. (I was gonna have to wait an entire additional two weeks otherwise.) They had an appointment that morning and I slid in and grabbed it. The ENT was really nice and said I'd need a more in-depth appointment since nothing stuck out to her after a cursory exam. And guess what. That exam isn't until December 2. Ridiculous honestly. But she prescribed me a low-dose steroid to see if I'm dealing with inflammation, and I picked up the prescription and went home. I continued my work day and took care of some maintenance stuff. Got my book worked on since I didn't get to finish the previous day. Talked to a director about a third round of callbacks for a voice role I'm trying to get. Went out to eat with Jeaux at one of our faves, Vallarta's, and then in the grocery store my ear stopped bothering me for the entire rest of the night. I was cautiously optimistic. After Jeaux left I sent in a query and got to go to bed with no interventions for my ear problem for the first time in almost six weeks.
  
  
• Thursday I had an ear-problem free day all day and was very grateful for it. I went to meetings at work and did some data entry. Did a Polo for Meg, wrote my webcomic, did DDR, went to Game Night, and recorded my lines for the final callback for that project I'm shortlisted for. And I processed So You Write while listening to reactions on YouTube. Unfortunately at the very end of the night my ear problem came back. I only got about 27 hours of relief.
  
  
• Friday I was awakened by annoying ear noises. And again, it was bad all day, plus weird side effects from the medicine and I was dizzy. It took a lot longer to do everything I was trying to do and I had to cancel my evening plans to go visit Kari with brownies. But I did get all my work done at the office, go to a couple meetings, complete some reports, get my webcomic drawn, get both webcomics posted, and get my steps in while talking to Steve. I also chatted with the director a little regarding my latest audition and it sounds like he liked my take on the character but I'm sure the other finalists are talented too. I did manage to close out the night with some productive stuff regarding a book review and updating some online tracking. I did not get any trick-or-treaters, which was super disappointing because I was ready for them! Weirdly, at the very end of the night my ear noises got almost nonexistent and I chanced going to bed with nothing in my ears again, and it worked out. But I definitely need to make another appointment with a doctor to figure this out because I don't think it makes sense to just put it off until some general "hearing test" more than a month from now. Oh, and the first episode of an audio drama I'm cast in came out, but I'm not in the first episode, so I have to wait for the next one to hear how it sounds.

Interviews/Articles/Mentions:

• I was the guest on Asexuality 201 October Aces! Listen to my interview on I Don't Know If This Counts. (This is a different interview from the one that posted for Ace Week.)
• An Instagram user named marginnotesandmaps recommended The Invisible Orientation in honor of Asexual Awareness Day.

New Reviews:

• Martyna Trojgo gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Since I had an overwhelming amount of leftovers (a lot of it snack foods and sweets!), I completely prioritized eating things before they went bad instead of focusing on nutrition. I had leftover fruit and stirred a lot of it into yogurt, but that ended up being my only large source of protein this week, and I was low on protein every single day. However, I DID pay attention to still getting my three servings of fruits and veggies and still taking the vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Thursday at 10,009 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 13,162 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. Three-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm just starting.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Pleasantly Blue" by 4 Non Blondes. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write: #173: diverse book privilege.

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1068: ivy #342: breaking rules.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #130 is out. In this video, I share some comments I initially made on a HuffPost asexuality-related feature regarding people's misconceptions about how relationships won't last if they don't include sex. I also share a Tumblr user's commentary on my post and my reply to them.

New photos:

The 2025 Halloween Party album is up in full, but here are my favorites:

My Rose Quartz costume

Jeaux's Dib costume

Dare's Luigi costume

Meghan's witch costume

Meg & Adam (Donald "Dump" with tiny hands)

Kari, Meggie, Adam

Yasmin's excellent plate

Yasmin, Business Phantom

Arthur put ranch on his pumpkin roll

Zak, Dare, Dorian

Friends (hi Michael!)

Jeaux explains things

Arthur in pillow heaven

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,440 for swankivy (lost 4), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 766 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,460 for JulieSondra (lost 4). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (1 new, I friended Zak who came to my party), 627 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (no change). Instagram followers: 290 (1 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 405 (no change).