Personal Digest Saturday: August 16 – August 22

Life news this week:

• Saturday was going-home day. Jeaux and I hung out with Dad and Connie at the vacation house for a while (and saw Dad's friend Jimmy when he dropped by, too), and then we packed our stuff and got ready to go back to Tampa. My dad also managed to win ONE game of ping-pong against me and got to go home happy. When we got home I watered my plants (they survived my absence!) and spent the night unpacking and settling back in. Did my blogging and read some of the scripts I owe voice over lines on. Sent a Polo to Meg and edited my book. Fell asleep early.
  
  
• Sunday I finished a book edit I didn't get through the previous night and re-processed some stuff I lost when my computer restarted during the night. I did some laundry that built up during my trip, did some DDR, and recorded voice over for two projects. Opened a package of cute toys that came while I was out of town. Put out my recycling.
  
  
• Monday we didn't have any letters due at work so there were no deadlines to meet. I went to a meeting and updated some files. Reached out to a couple directors on projects I'm providing voice work on to ask some questions about the lines. They both got back to me quickly so I started working on the recordings, which were both challenging because on one I had to voice a five-year-old child and on the other I had to sing. After work I had a nap, sent another Polo to Meg, and worked on my book.
  
  
• Tuesday I did project research at work. Then I recorded some more for the role where I have singing. I did my DDR and lots of laundry. Got a bad headache for no apparent reason and tried to sleep it off but my neighbors were being loud again. After both the noise and the headache waned I got the rest of the voice work done and finished up some editing.
  
  
• Wednesday I did more project research. Put away some stuff and did Polos. Listened to a reaction someone posted about that KPop Demon Hunter movie and got caught up in watching people react to the crazy vocals. Sent in final edits on the content of the intro I'm doing for the aromantic stories book. Jeaux came over and we ate at Benjarong Thai. We did our grocery shopping and did our usual silly hangout.
  
  
• Thursday I had a meeting and some project organization at work. Then I did some editing on my book and wrote my webcomic. Did my DDR and watched more reactions. Recorded a partial cover of one of the songs to impress my friends. People are cute. Played games with friends at Game Night and then sent a Polo to Steve while getting my steps. (Somehow fell short and didn't notice! Dammit.)
  
  
• Friday I dealt with timesheets and reports at work. Took a short nap after work and then watched more reactions while drawing my comic. Had a lot of steps left to get after I was done with the comic so I did some reading while walking. Also submitted a query letter.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I didn't get any numbers this week, so dunno.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I ate up some of the leftovers I had from the beach house vacation, so the balance was a little weird and my protein was down every damn day, but I still got my fruits and veggies every day! I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or play my dance game every other day. I missed my walking goal one day by less than 200 steps (how did I not notice I didn't quite get there?? weird!), but every other day this week I made it. My low day was Thursday at 9,820 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 13,010 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page. I'm on page 156.

New singing performances:

None.

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1058: weaver #166: in their service.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,460 for swankivy (1 new), 684 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 768 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,474 for JulieSondra (lost 6). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 628 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,414 (no change). Instagram followers: 285 (no change). Threads followers: 80 (2 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 386 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 9 – August 15

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up before everyone again and woke my sister up with coffee. We chilled a bit before we had to get ready to go to her friend Amber's place. We picked up Amber at her mom's and took her back to her place, where we set up some food. We originally planned to go swimming but the weather didn't cooperate, so we just hung out along with some of Amber's friends and had a nice time watching Patricia's dog and Amber's dog interact and chatting and nibbling. Nice afternoon! I also managed to draw all of my comic while sitting around--I had to get it done early because of vacation stuff. We drove home, mostly missing the rain, and then Patricia encouraged me in a coach-like fashion while I packed my suitcase for our out-of-town trip. (I hate packing.) Patricia made some dinner and we ate together with Yusuke and Ash, and then I did my blogging and edited a chapter of my book. I tried to do some digital "packing" too but I got too tired.
  
  
• Sunday we had time for coffee, a walk, DDR, and final preparations before leaving for our vacation house. There was a lot to do to get ourselves and the house ready but we got through it. We had a pleasant ride to Lido Key and our dad ordered pizza for us. We got to the vacation house and it was a nice little spot. We didn't do anything but hang out and talk and mostly discuss dog-related things.
  
  
• Monday I had to work even though I was at the vacation house, and Mondays are pretty busy, plus my computer at work was not behaving again (nothing to do with my different setup while on vacation), and then on top of that our Wi-Fi went out at the house for a short time. I still managed to edit a couple letters and turn them in for the office and did some research for projects. I got a little nap in at the end of the day. Everyone else enjoyed the beach and swimming. Then I went to the store with my sister so we could stock the house up with what we needed for the week, and we also bought some breakfast-for-dinner ingredients. Then we went out for dinner and I had a yummy veggie burger and some strawberry lemonade. At the beach house again we played a game called Mind the Gap which is calibrated for generational trivia but we struggled with it a lot even though it was also fun.
  
  
• Tuesday I mostly worked on project research during the day, though coffee with my sister was nice in the morning. I also got some timesheet data entered. I got some walking in and did my exercise. My sister and her husband and son went to the beach while I was working. They got me some boba. Nice! I washed some towels since we were going through them fast with all the swimming and beaching. Then we made breakfast for dinner (with three cooks in the kitchen, but we managed), coming up with pancakes, biscuits, sautéed mushrooms, fruit, hash browns, and eggs. We fed everyone and it was satisfactory! Then Yusuke, Dad, and I took a walk to the beach for the sunset. I walked with my sister to walk the dog that night and we saw bunnies. Then I worked on some writing and editing late at night.
  
  
• Wednesday I got up a little later than usual but still earlier than the rest of the house. I was around at work but also worked through some edits on the introduction that I wrote for the upcoming aromantic stories book. Also sent in my bio for the book. Chatted with family here and there and had an afternoon meeting for an upcoming project. I did a little walking and a little project research. Then Jeaux dropped in on us in the afternoon and I fed him cold pizza (one of his favorites). I finished up at work and my dad wanted to play ping-pong so I beat his butt real bad, and then Jeaux and Yusuke each took a turn getting beaten by me. Haha. I was undefeated. I'm not great at ping-pong but I like it. That night we went to the Columbia and I had eggplant and too much sangria. We walked home and played Cards Against Humanity (same game group; Connie and Ash didn't want to play) and my dad laughed until he was red a couple times. We had ice cream and it was great.
  
  
• Thursday there wasn't much going on at work and I kept getting distracted by family things so I will probably have to put that I had the day off. I got dressed for the pool finally and did some laps. Jeaux swam with me. After I got out and got ready for the day, I did some processing on my webcomic so I'd be ready the next day. Then I made some tofu and we all ate burritos with beans and cheese and stuff. My dad, Yusuke, Patricia, and Ash went to this cool arcade while Jeaux and I stayed behind, but then my dad tempted me with a photo of a DDR machine and we followed them. We played some games and I did play DDR (so did Jeaux!) and we got some old-school gaming in. The rest of the family left before we did and we ended up meeting them on the beach. We wandered around and watched the sunset. Then it was a little late for dinner so we had to squeak in a Chinese food order, which worked out great. I beat my dad at ping-pong again while we waited.
  
  
• Friday I spent the morning with my family while my sister's family packed up to go back to San Francisco. We had our last Together Coffee. I worked on reports at work while hanging out with them, and saw them off when they had to leave in the afternoon. House seems empty without them! Then after I finished my reports toward the end of the work day and wrapped up some stuff, Jeaux and I went to a mall but it wasn't a very good place to walk and most of the stores weren't active, so we shopped at Five Below instead. We came back and Dad took us out to a place called Boca where I had excellent gnocchi. And at the beach house again we all just hung out while I did my webcomic and Jeaux played a game Patricia got him addicted to. Then we took a walk, came back, and had ice cream while watching a reaction video. I got too tired and we had to stop it.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The Soul Index's Books on Asexuality list includes my book in its recommendation list.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Didn't get on the scale while out of town on vacation! Lots of big meals with family and restaurant stuff, so I'm expecting some higher numbers in the next week, which I am OK with.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Protein was low and fat and carbs were high this whole week since I was on vacation. I did still manage to get my fruits and vegetables in, though. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or play my dance game every other day (and even got some swimming in one day this week!). I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,101 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 17,489 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page. I'm on page 104.

New singing performances:

None.

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1057: adele #260: the official story.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

I have an online album for this vacation now, but here are the faves:

Amber's dog and Patricia's dog are getting pets

Amber's dog and Patricia's dog are getting pets

The family with pizza at the beach house

Patricia warms up her pizza while Jeaux likes it cold and thinks she's a heathen

The tub here is giant

I made the perfect pancake!

Breakfast for dinner.

Patricia likes to track how people like their eggs, but we were in agreement

Sunset Selfie

Lido Key sunset

Dad points at the sunset in case we didn't see it

Patricia added a countering message to the wine culture décor

I had sangria at dinner.

Dad laughs a lot when he gets funny cards in Cards Against Humanity.

At the arcade, Jeaux played pinball.

The family found a game to play together!

Jeaux tried the DDR game.

Nice time on the beach.

There was a rainbow!

Ash made a shoe out of sand.

Ash made a shoe out of sand.

Yusuke had a nice beach walk toward sunset.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,459 for swankivy (3 new), 684 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 769 for swankivy (no change), 3,480 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 629 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,414 (no change). Instagram followers: 285 (2 more). Threads followers: 78 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 385 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 2 – August 8

Life news this week:

• Saturday I finished my photo project! Finally I don't have photos lying around in my living room. I got them all into albums and labeled them. And also managed to find time to clean my smoothie blender like I've been planning to do. I put away some laundry, did my DDR exercise, and got my blogging done slightly late. Then I started cleaning up the living room and finished the cleaning I wanted to do out there. Then I redecorated for the next season, edited some of my book, and enjoyed the return of Birdle.
  
  
• Sunday I briefly dusted the living room, tidied up the kitchen and entryway, and cleaned the bathtub in the guest bathroom since I'm about to have family over. Took a break to do an audition and browse the internet, and then cleaned up the guestroom and hallway as well as changing out the air filter and cleaning out the air vent. Did laundry, took out the trash, and used up the last trash bag that I still have from a haul of 8 rolls of free trash bags I got from when my old workplace closed down. End of an era, haha.
  
  
• Monday was very busy at the office. I had to finish a package for a shortlisted project and edit three more letters. After work I did some of the organizing tasks on my to-do list and wrote the next webcomic, and then I got distracted after I cleaned the screen on my bathroom window because a bunch of screens outside around my house looked like they needed a brush-down. I had been meaning to clean my bathroom for a while (nobody uses it but me, but that's enough!), so I worked on that as well as tidying up and vacuuming my back room (which I call the game room) but my vacuum cleaner died. :( I was so happy to have a clean bathroom.
  
  
• Tuesday was slower but still kept me busy. I went to a marketing meeting and did some project research. I cleaned up my office room (nobody really goes in there either, but I like tidy spaces!) and took a break part way through to go talk to Tony who does my yard. I decided to install some hooks in the wall to help some flimsy shelves I have stand up without tilting, so that slowed me down, and I took another break to talk to my friend Steve on Polo. Finally I finished up my office room super late, and decided hey, I'm already doing this junk, I'll clean the last room I haven't cleaned and did my bedroom. (That's an easy room to clean.) I was very happy I did it (minus vacuuming since the vacuum cleaner died).
  
  
• Wednesday I had an epic laundry day. Four loads. I was getting bedclothes ready for guests and doing my own as well. I did the loads in between tasks at work, including research on a project and inviting teaming partners to our team. Later I played DDR and talked to Meg. Jeaux came over and took me to Moe's, then Target, then grocery shopping. I put my new vacuum cleaner together and tested it out. Cool! After he left, I vacuumed the rooms I hadn't gotten to do. Yay.
  
  
• Thursday was a slower day but I still got plenty done. Did some voice acting auditions, karaoke, and comics. And the telephone table from my mom's house that my sister wanted got picked up to be shipped to her today. Later in the day, my family arrived! My sister, her husband, her son, and her doggie. I have never had a dog in my house before and this one sometimes barfs when he's nervous, so I was being sort of cagey about where he was allowed to be since that's hard to get out of a carpet or furniture, but he didn't have any incidents. I got to hang out with my family, eat SoFresh takeout, and have some chit-chat. After they went to bed I submitted a query.
  
  
• Friday I spent some time with my family but also was working. I had a meeting, timesheets, and reports to do. My sister went out to see a local friend, and I did my work and did a DDR session as well. I got to take a nap after work which was nice. Then when my sister got back I made pasta with a side of zucchini pancakes and we had a nice dinner. I cleaned up and we played with the victrola a little. After more low-key hanging out, I had to work on my webcomic processing. I got that done, chatted with my family some more before bed, and after they settled down, I sent in a short story and worked on some digital tasks.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Had some newly low numbers this week too, but when my family arrived to visit, I haven't been jumping on the scale in the morning. I'll probably abstain from this this next week and see where I am after vacation! High weight was 114.3 Low weight was 113.5.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Did pretty good with the protein balance this week. I only had a lower-than-desired protein percentage on the one day I ate out with Jeaux. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or play my dance game every other day. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,002 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 17,438 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page. I'm on page 104.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke performance is "Caught a Lite Sneeze" by Tori Amos.

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1056: ivy #333: all men.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Ash "enjoying" a lemon

Yoshi the dog getting double pets

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,456 for swankivy (lost 2), 684 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 769 for swankivy (no change), 3,482 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 629 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,414 (lost 3). Instagram followers: 283 (no change). Threads followers: 78 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 385 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: July 26 – August 1

Life news this week:

• Saturday was the big convention day! I found out I had to be there really early to have a chance of getting in to do the voice acting audition, so I got up at 6:15 and got everything ready with my Cotton Candy Garnet costume, and then Jeaux picked me up and we went to the convention. He dropped me off so I could get in line, then he went and got his own Dib costume ready. I was able to register for the audition and then Jeaux met me and we walked around in the dealer room for a while. We attended the auditions but I didn't get called in the first round, so then we spent a bunch of time walking around looking at other people's costumes and taking photos. Great fun! We went back to the auditions for the second round, and I got called toward the tail end of that. But I unfortunately had already determined that I didn't like/connect to any of the personalities they wanted us to audition for, and so I did a kind of silly audition for a robot and wasn't surprised they didn't ask me back for the callbacks. (It was also pretty clear to me that I wasn't interested in the direction this company takes with voice acting--to be honest I'm not really into ADR, though I guess I would have at least tried it if I'd had the opportunity!) After that event, Jeaux and I ate at Jackson's for a break, and then went back to the convention for a good while. We took more photos and talked to nerds. Neither of us bought anything in the dealer room. Then Jeaux and I walked back to his car and he drove me home. I was gonna do some stuff but I was just too tired and went to bed early.
  
  
• Sunday I had a pretty low-key day even though I had a lot of catch-up on things I didn't get done on Saturday. I did some editing on my book, got my photos processed from the convention, did some laundry, played DDR, took out my trash, and worked on my late blogging. I sent Meg a long-ass Polo about my weekend, revised and sent in my introduction for the aromantic anthology, sorted some more of my photos for my photo project, and went to bed.
  
  
• Monday I worked on letters at work and dealt with timesheets. Since I've been switched over to a new computer after my previous one died, I've had some glitches trying to work in the new environment, so I was slowed down a little whenever I had to locate or remake files. After work I messed with photos, napped, sent Steve a Polo, recorded a request that came in for additional material from one of my voice-over auditions, worked on my book, and recorded an asexuality video for my channel.
  
  
• Tuesday was a kind of slow day at work. I got some timesheet stuff done and sent out teaming invitations for our upcoming letters. I spent most of the day on my photo project, which was really coming together. I got pretty much all my photos sorted by the end of the day, which leads to the next phase: putting them in albums. My boss came over late to have me notarize something after hours. I found a clump of photos from a vacation I never put in my vacation gallery, so I did that (and finished putting up the Metrocon photos too). I did some DDR, wrote and drew my webcomic So You Write, processed my asexuality video and posted it, and ignored my writing like a jerk. I got the news that I was selected for the voice acting role I'd sent in additional material for. My first villain role! Yay! (And I get to sing.)
  
  
• Wednesday I had a debrief meeting and some utility reviews. I tried to do some accounting stuff too but the software wasn't working on my new machine yet. I went back to the photo project and got a few piles incorporated into photo albums. Sent Meg a Polo and did some dishes. Jeaux picked me up and we went to Citrus Park Mall to buy candy and shop. We ate at Red Robin at the mall and then we did our grocery shopping and showed each other silly things on the internet. After he left I went back to working on my comic and edited my book.
  
  
• Thursday I was finally able to complete my accounting tasks, and I did some work on a shortlisting package. I spent the whole day sorting photos again. Almost done! Played DDR, wrote my webcomic storyboard, and played games with the friends. Drew some comics early and got about halfway through. Listened to some Polos and sorted more photos.
  
  
• Friday at work I did reports and bothered people about writeups. I finished my drawings for my webcomic, posted it, submitted a short story, and wrote up my goals progress in my monthly post. Sent Steve a Polo and then processed the rest of the photos into piles. Watched some silly internet things and put more stuff into albums.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• My book The Invisible Orientation is referenced in the new paper "Sexual and Gender Diversity Beyond Minority Identities: Do Empirical Trends Call for a Paradigm Shift?" in Sage Journals.

New Reviews:

• C. gave The Invisible Orientation an unrated review on Goodreads, saying it was probably boring and they don't remember finishing it, lol.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Low numbers all week until a random high number on Friday? Weird. High weight was 115.1 Low weight was 114.3. I got a lot of exercise during all the walking at the convention, but that irregularity didn't make a difference.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Several days of not hitting my protein goals, so I think I need to really start watching this. It's harder to get the protein in when I'm eating out, and I think some of the proteins I've been getting this week are also higher-fat sources, which throws off the balance. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to play my dance game every other day. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,059 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 17,720 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page. I'm on page 104.

New singing performances:

None this week.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:#170: Not AI. 

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1055: dax #155: curious people.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #127 ("Oh YEAH? Would it be wrong to PLATONICALLY hit on someone??") is out. In this video, a man suggests I should not be annoyed by unwanted sexual attention because surely I also am at fault for harassing men to only be my FRIEND. (I argue this is not an analogous situation.)

New photos:

There is a Metrocon 2025 Album, but here were my favorites from the convention on Saturday:

Pride Jesus

Glimmer from She-Ra

Me as Garnet

Scorpia, She-Ra, Catra

Me as Garnet with Scorpia, She-Ra, and Catra

Me as Garnet with Princess Bubblegum and Marceline from Adventure Time

Jeaux as Dib from Invader Zim

Blue Diamond and White Diamond from Steven Universe

Me as Garnet with Blue Diamond and White Diamond

Rose Quartz and Pearl from Steven Universe

Me as Garnet with Rose and Pearl

Marcille and Laios from Delicious in Dungeon

Senshi from Delicious in Dungeon

Mabel, Soos, Dipper, and Wendy from Gravity Falls

Me as Garnet with Stevonnie and Pearl

Me as Garnet with Rose and Greg

Me as Garnet doing heart hands

Lars and Ronaldo from Steven Universe

Me as Garnet with Lars and Ronaldo

Jeaux with Ronaldo

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,458 for swankivy (1 new), 684 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 769 for swankivy (no change), 3,484 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 628 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,417 (no change). Instagram followers: 283 (1 new). Threads followers: 78 (1 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 383 (lost 1).