Personal Digest Saturday: May 3 – May 9

Life news this week:

• Saturday I had a slow morning and then redecorated for the new season. It's all May in my house now. Did my DDR and blogging and wrote my webcomic (early because I would be traveling and needing to post the comic while out of town!). I also drew half of it. The first episode of the Dracula remake I am in hit the Interwebs! And my part was included. I play a doctor who interviews one of Dracula's victims. It's neat.
  
  
• Sunday I got a lot done but still felt like I procrastinated a lot I did laundry and took out the trash like usual on Sundays, and then I started the process of packing for California. I drew Negative One and I did get to practice ukulele too. I made some lists and got my ducks in a row.
  
  
• Monday we got officially shortlisted at work so it's time to prepare for the next interview. I'll have to go after I come back from California. After work I got a nap in, then did my DDR and sent Polos and double-checked my packing. I processed my comic and put the needed files on my computer for taking to the West Coast. Also ate an artichoke and updated a bunch of files. And played ukulele.
  
  
• Tuesday at work involved bothering team members for responses, creating a transcript of an interview, and preparing some forms. Took all day. I did step out to talk to Tony a little when he came to do the lawn. I sent my transcript to my boss, did some housekeeping, and finished packing. Read a lot and practiced ukulele.
  
  
• Wednesday I got up early to check in on my app but it was being a jerk and wouldn't let me at first. It kept going to the completed screen but instead of the boarding pass, it would show a graphic prompting me to check in--and that would lead me to the same process I'd just done. Indisputably, doing it three times finally worked and I got to go back to bed. Later in the morning I got up for meetings, and then later I did DDR, read the rest of the book I was reading, and posted some reviews. I did one research project at work too. After work, Jeaux picked me up and we ate at Ahi, did some errands, grocery shopped, and added a few new items to my bags for my trip. Jeaux left and I didn't go to bed because my Lyft to the airport was at 2:30 AM.
  
  
• Thursday began with me getting in a Lyft and I had some trouble because my driver couldn't open the trunk for me because he was an amputee and his instructions weren't working on opening the trunk. I finally managed to do it and had a very hard time getting the suitcase in his trunk because he already had stuff in there, and then I was too short to close it and I had to jump! Driver was fine though, just couldn't help me work his car. I got to the airport and it was DEAD inside--no employees at the counters to check anyone's baggage, and even the kiosks to do it yourself were asleep and would not make bag tags, so basically I got to the airport extremely early and spent more than hour standing in a line that had no employees. Dang. Eventually people did come to the posts and it was fine after that, and we all went through security and waited at the gate. I got a seat on the plane to Atlanta and everything was fine there. Then I sent Meg a Polo from the airport in Atlanta before boarding a flight to San Francisco, where I had a terrible seatmate who made it impossible to sleep. She kept picking up her phone and BLASTING music periodically, even though she asked for headphones from the plane staff. She just wouldn't use them and kept waking me up by playing music out loud. What is wrong with people.
  
  When I finally got off the plane, my sister picked me up from the airport and unfortunately my suitcase broke while we were lifting it into the car. Ugh. But despite that, we had a nice drive to her house and we hung out a little bit. We walked to a local small restaurant and got grilled cheese and soup, then walked to pick up my nephew from school. I took a tiny nap while my sister did an errand taking care of another dog she'd agreed to attend to, and then we walked to take Ash to coding class and hung out at a coffee shop while waiting for him. We had some nice drinks and chatted. We picked up donuts and made pizza at my sister's house and ate. Her husband came home from work and we all hung out a little and attended to some doggie drama. I finally got to have a good night's sleep.
  
  
• Friday was my sister's birthday! I had some coffee and breakfast with my sis, and we did an aerobics video together and had lunch. I got a little tour of the plants in my sister's garden and we sat and enjoyed the sun for a while. Then we did some errands--pet store, grocery store, Ross to get new luggage. We picked up Ash from school and went home to get ready for our concert. We went out to eat and had soba and veggies, and then went to the Fillmore for our They Might Be Giants concert! We saw the band play and enjoyed the show, and we got some souvenir shirts and posters. Then home! We ate some cookies and went to bed.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• Just the first episode of the Dracula remake I am in and its cast reveal.

New Reviews:

• Joshua Silva gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I don't have as much data as usual since I am on vacation, but while I was home I recorded a high of 116.2 and a low of 115.1.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Got a decent balance with my fruits and veggies throughout the week, but while traveling I'm having more trouble with the protein balance and am seeing higher carbs/higher fat percentage. The seven days for the nutrition balance:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	5	1	1
  Fats	2	0	5
  Protein	4	0	3

  
  I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to play my dance game or do aerobics every other day. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,330 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 18,645 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. Four-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver. I'm just starting.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "Jesus He Knows Me" by Genesis.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:

#167: celebrate. 

 My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1043: dax #154: insecurity visits.

Videos Made: 

None this week.

New photos:

My knees on the airplane

Patricia petting Yoshi

Lattes at Blue Danube

Patricia's new birthday chair from Dad

Patricia in the garden

Yoshi in the shade

Soba before the concert with my family!

They Might Be Giants on stage!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,477 for swankivy (lost 1), 682 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 213 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 774 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,512 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 293 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 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: 2,421 (no change). Instagram followers: 283 (1 new). Threads followers: 75 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 356 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 26 – May 2

Life news this week:

• Saturday was my first usual writing day that I "had the day off" because I finished the novel and I'm taking a break! I figure after I get back from vacation I'll start working on editing on those days. Maybe through the end of June? And then see if I'm okay to dive into working on the next book. I spent a good chunk of the day recording my lines as a last addition to a new audio drama I got cast in. It's the second most lines I've had in an episode so it took a while. I like my character. (She's a doctor.) I got my blogging in and did some Polos for my sister and Steve, and I also did some queries.
  
  
• Sunday I had a drowsy day, waking up late and not really feeling awake most of the day. I did three loads of laundry and my trash chores, sent in some new auditions, recorded a new video for my asexuality channel, sang karaoke, and practiced all the movie songs I've learned so far on ukulele. Then I scanned a bunch of photos from the photo box. Got in some aerobics too.
  
  
• Monday we found out we did not win the District 2 contract I went to Lake City for (boo) but we were shortlisted on another contract in the same district (yay). But then there was some weirdness and they retracted the shortlist and they need to re-do it next week. So I guess we wait a week to see if we're REALLY shortlisted. Anyway. I processed and posted my video, did some reading, put laundry away, did some dishes, learned a new song on ukulele, drew my So You Write webcomic, napped, scanned some more box photos, and made a Polo for Meg.
  
  
• Tuesday I was busy with teaming arrangements and meeting requests and another meeting. I practiced ukulele, worked on my comic, did my aerobics, scanned more box photos, and did some reading.
  
  
• Wednesday I had to attend a pre-proposal, meeting, outline another proposal, and work on a transcript. Cleaned up the house a little, talked to Meg, and went to Moe's with Jeaux. Then we grocery shopped, got some candy and vitamins at the drugstore, and went home to do our usual routine. He also fixed my DDR pad with a soldering iron! Now I can play again!
  
  
• Thursday I did the rest of the transcript and worked on my data entry. I received a package of Steven Universe pins and opened them hoping I would get the pins I still needed AND I DID! Hooray. I played DDR, submitted some short stories, played online games with friends, and saw some fun promos for the shows I will be in. And got invited to the Discord server for another upcoming project that I will be acting in but it hasn't started yet. Worked on my goals posts and calendars since it was the first day of the month.
  
  
• Friday was busy at work--I worked on timesheets, data entry, and reports, and didn't get done until evening. Then I had to do my comic too and get my walking in. Blew off steam by playing silly games before bed.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• My book is recommended in an advice column from Ask a Cleveland Sex Therapist The Complicated Feelings of Being Asexual by Matt Lachman. 

Words Written: 693.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Nothing too significant happening here so I have no real insights to share. I recorded a high of 116.6 and a low of 114.3.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Fruits and veggies going strong! And I feel like I'm not lacking in anything major lately. Last seven days for the nutrition balance:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	4	0	3
  Fats	1	2	4
  Protein	5	0	2

  
  
  Honestly I'm not sure how informative this chart is since the percentage points are usually SO small in one direction or another. Seriously so often it's 1% under or over what the target is and I'm still listing it as high or low based on that. I don't try to make my diet match exactly because it's just a guideline, but I guess I'm doing what I'm supposed to do if it's so close to matching most days. The very high fat day I had was when I ate a bunch of the tortilla chips at the Mexican restaurant. That'll do it. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to play my dance game or do aerobics every other day. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,088 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 10,858 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. I'm on page 137.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "Like a Prayer" by Madonna.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:

#167: celebrate. 

 My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1042: ivy #327: spelled different ways.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #125 (Heteroromantics and Queer Inclusion!) is out! 

This is #125 of a series in which I read correspondence between me and people who have questions, comments, or--more often--misconceptions about asexuality. In this video, I read and contribute to a conversation about why heteroromantic asexual people are not functionally the same as heterosexual people in a queer context.

New photos:

Jeaux fixing my DDR pad

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,478 for swankivy (1 new), 682 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 213 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 776 for swankivy (no change), 3,511 for JulieSondra (lost 8). Facebook: 293 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 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: 2,421 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 282 (no change). Threads followers: 75 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 354 (1 new).

April Goals Update

It's May 2025! Which means it's time to review April. So let's check in with the monthly 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'm quite happy with my nutrition goals and keeping it up is still relatively easy. Worried I'm getting a little too stagnant with the fruits I eat but honestly there's a lot of variety so I don't know why I'm whining about that. Health is good, and I had two doctor's appointments this month (just the yearly mammogram screening and dermatology screening) that came up with nothing noteworthy. I am not super happy with the number on the scale but I don't have any official goals about that so I guess that's also kind of neutral. And I'm taking vitamins consistently and exercising every day (10,000 steps or more) with aerobic activity (dancing or aerobic routines with weights) every other day. I have not slacked on this. This is my calendar of progress:

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

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary: Writing is going excellently and I FINISHED WRITING A NOVEL THIS MONTH. On many of the days didn't write new content, I'm editing or submitting queries or stories. I'll be diving into editing soon and will probably work on that until June, and maybe I can start working on another novel by the middle of the year. It's been weird the last week of this month to not be working on a project, but I need a break. I may write some short stories soon if I am inspired.

Writing Progress:

Photo album scanning is going well still. I have broken into the loose photos. And after THAT, I'll want to organize the photos that don't have a home and get them into albums before I finally get them all electronically organized on the photo album site. And the ukulele goal is still going very well. I am most of the way through learning songs and just have to keep the practice up; I have 11 songs left to learn to meet my goal. And for voice acting, I landed THREE new roles this month and have recorded work for two of them (the third does not yet have a script for me). Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS: 

Summary: I didn't do so well on this one--I fell behind on some of the other goals that I felt were more urgent so this is the goal that got less attention, again. I have not abandoned it, but it is not a focus.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: Happy with my social time and events. Next month I go to California to see my sister! I'll want a lot of alone time after that too. I spend time with Jeaux on Wednesdays, with the friend group at Game Night on Thursdays, and random friend visits or band practice whenever they happen. I have no outstanding e-mails. The documentation goals are just completely ignored and it's still bothering me. I wonder when I will finally tackle it?

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I still need to sand and paint the plaster pillar that is sitting outside and need to sell some garage items. I did my doctor's appointments. I still have a TV show I want to watch. I need to catch up on photographing the updated Steven Universe collection. I hope I can dive into the documentation goals soon. Looking forward to seeing how everything lines up this year.

Personal Digest Saturday: April 19 – April 25

Life news this week:

• Saturday was another day of late sleeping. I love those. I made some Polos and played DDR (even though the pad is broken), did my blogging, and worked on my book. I had kinda hoped I would finish writing it but couldn't close the deal. I did my walking, put away some dishes, and somehow did not get around to scanning photos like I thought I would.
  
  
• Sunday I did work on my photo scans and got around to laundry and trash. Made Polos for Meg and spent over an hour trying to get ONE line right for one of the shows I'm cast in. The character I'm playing has to hum a song "off-key." May be a surprise to some people but sounding authentically tuneless is difficult. I recorded four different samples and hopefully one of them sounds okay. (It's up to the showrunner.) I then recorded the rest of my lines for the first episode, which was way less difficult, but it still took up a lot of time. Afterwards, I practiced ukulele, edited my short story "Karma Is Dead," and played some silly geography games.
  
  
• Monday I had to deal with a letter to turn in, some random documents, and timesheets. I did some modifications to my DDR pad to try to get it working, and that involved a screwdriver, two different kinds of saws, and a pair of pliers. I got the pad working better, but not perfectly; because of the modifications, I can't anchor the button properly. More experiments to do. Worked on editing my short story some more, scanned more photos, wrote more content on my novel and STILL didn't finish the book, and learned a new ukulele song. My neighbors were outside screaming, throwing bottles around, talking and hooting, and playing music until after 5 AM. I'm not even kidding. Before I went to bed, the results for two more voice acting projects I was shortlisted on got cast. I got one of the roles but didn't get the other. I was sad about not getting the other one, but it's exciting to get the one I did get! That brings me up to 5 character roles.
  
  
• Tuesday I answered some work e-mails in the morning and then went to a doctor's appointment. Had a frustrating time there where they treated me like they had no record of anything, then found old records which they compared and said they found "discrepancies," then told me they had upgraded their computers so the data they were pulling from was almost a decade old (and yet they acted like it was SO WEIRD that my information wasn't up to date in their system; come on, man). And everyone in the waiting room was annoying, talking out loud on their phones or playing loud games that make obnoxious noises. People are so rude. Glad the appointment itself was a breeze once I finally got in. Came home, did more teaming coordination and data entry at work, and then sent Polos to Meg and Steve, did some ukulele practice, and sat down to write. I FINISHED WRITING THE NOVEL. I'M DONE. GONNA TAKE A BREAK FOR A WHILE BEFORE I EDIT IT.
  
  
• Wednesday I had morning meetings and then sent some follow-ups and downloaded some information we needed at work. Did my ukulele practice and worked on my DDR pad again. I put some foam into it to pad it so it would stop shifting around and my mod worked! But the tile is STILL not completely responsive and it's only working if you step on one of its corners. Still played the best I could but dang. Then I went to a dermatology appointment and all was well. Came home, went to dinner at 4 Rivers with Jeaux, did our grocery shopping, and took walks and told stories. He also asked to take a look at my DDR pad and he figured out what is probably wrong with it, but fixing it requires a soldering iron and I don't have one. He is going to bring his next week! We also ordered some special tape to improve the function. After he left I practiced ukulele and scanned more photos.
  
  
• Thursday I had a meeting, outlined a proposal for my boss, and walked an eBay sale to the post office for Meg. Came back and did some data entry, wrote my webcomic's storyboard, and went to Game Night with friends. Practiced ukulele and submitted a short story to a magazine.
  
  
• Friday morning a showrunner I'm working with told me I'd be a good fit for a character in another production and asked me to take another role as well, so after reading through some materials about the character I accepted that. First time getting a role I didn't audition for! Haha. That's six. Neat! I did some teaming requests and project reports that took all day at work. Then I drew my comic, recorded a karaoke song, did some aerobics, and relaxed.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• After the recent foolishness with J.K. Rowling calling asexuality a "fake oppression" identity, LGBTQNation has an article up called JK Rowling said asexual people don’t face discrimination. She couldn’t be more wrong. The author, Tyger Songbird, references one of my older YouTube videos and my book, citing my materials to give elaborations on asexual discrimination. Wondering now if any of the (very few) asexual people I've known who nevertheless support transgender exclusion are now second-guessing their decision to ~stand with~ Rowling, or whether they're more inclined to just agree yes, yes, maybe we're fake too--how can a billionaire author be wrong if she just keeps saying she wants to protect women, even if she's said all kinds of misleading and nasty things about queer people?
  
  
• My book is cited in a ScienceDirect research paper called Variations in suicidality across multiple social identities in asexual people: An intersectionality analysis by Sinéad Kelleher and Mike Murphy. 

Words Written: 5,461.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Meh, nothing great to report here. I always get like one high one a week right after I have my weekly outing with Jeaux. But I don't want to just ignore it because if I'm making progress, that should be getting lower too, right? But it isn't. Well, it's annoying. I dunno. I recorded a high of 116.6 and a low of 114.6.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I had one day when I didn't make my veggies/fruits goal, but overall I did it most days, and the balance was a little tighter than usual (closer to goals). I try to get higher protein and low-to-on-target ratings with the other two. Last seven days:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	2	0	5
  Fats	2	0	5
  Protein	6	0	1

  
  
  I had high protein all days but one and managed to get low carbs and fats 5 out of 7 days. (One of the high ones was obviously the restaurant day.) I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to play my dance game or do aerobics every other day. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,027 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 15,419 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. I'm on page 115.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1041: adele #255: resourceful.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,477 for swankivy (no change), 682 for JulieSondra (1 new), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 213 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 776 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,519 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 293 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 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: 2,422 (no change). Instagram followers: 282 (no change). Threads followers: 75 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 353 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 12 – April 18

Life news this week:

• Saturday I slept late, got my blog done and wrote some content for my book, and then I had to get ready to go to Sarasota for Passover. Jeaux picked me up and we got a little slowed down in unexpected traffic, and also stopped to pick up one thing on the way in. We got to my dad's house and immediately started working on dinner because I needed to get a long-baking kugel in the oven. Jeaux had a fun time with my food processor. He really does like those gadgets. From there I made a feta/spinach casserole with matzo, some matzo ball soup, and some charoset. We basically got our stuff done in time for the service to start on time, and Dad's two friends came over as well. My dad led the service and we got to eat about an hour later, and the meal was well received, but because of everything starting at sunset we ended up having a really late night. Everyone was pretty tired once dinner and the rest of the service was over! After helping to pack up a bit, we took a walk and drove back to Tampa. Good day!
  
  
• Sunday was way less eventful, and I needed that. I had a planned phone call with my friend Sarah, so she and I caught up in the early afternoon, and I got my laundry and trash done during the day. Also did an aerobics routine and recorded a voice-over audition. I did manage to get a little ukulele practice in as well.
  
  
• Monday was busy at the office--had to get a letter sent out, a package turned in, and a bunch of practice done for our upcoming interview. My pest control guy came to do my house's treatment and we had a nice chat (he's a cool guy). I wrote most of a chapter on my book after work, and while I was outside I found two weird things: One, a plate thrown into my yard; and two, my pineapple plant that I rescued from my mother's house after she passed away, which later outgrew its pot so I planted it, is bearing its very first fruit! Anyway, I went to bed early (for me) so I could get up for the interview.
  
  
• Tuesday I woke up at 3 AM to get ready for the interview. I had plenty of time for coffee and breakfast and getting my interview outfit on, and then my boss picked me up at 5:30 AM and we drove to Lake City. We met the rest of our team at the DOT office and went into our interview, where we felt like we did pretty well. Then after we left in two cars, we somehow ended up at the same Dunkin' Donuts so we ate together. :) When I got home I did a little more work and took a nap. I then found out that I got cast in a new radio drama, which is a modernization of the Sleepy Hollow legend, and I will play the main character's younger sister. :) Seems like a really cool project, so after a quick discussion with the showrunner I accepted the role. Later I played DDR and helped my sister with taxes, but didn't get around to the writing I usually do on Tuesdays.
  
  
• Wednesday I did project research all day at work and also read up on some of the background info associated with the role I accepted. I was a late addition to the cast and everyone else was already established since early March (I do not know why), so my lines are on a pretty tight deadline. I sent a Polo to Meg before going out with Jeaux--we ate at Mandola's, did our usual grocery shopping, and showed each other silly stuff and took a walk like usual. After he left I procrastinated and didn't write again.
  
  
• Thursday I got up and worked a little on my data entry at the office. Also finally got around to working on my book a bit. Later when I tried to do my exercise, my DDR pad messed up and I took it apart to try to fix it, but was mostly unsuccessful. So it looks like I'm stuck with one of the buttons not working most of the time, which makes it a LOT less fun. I practiced ukulele and got mad because recruiters suddenly started spamming me about a job I never applied for and do not want (I got over 40 messages, by e-mail on two accounts, text, phone, and voicemail). I do not understand why anyone's business model has any procedures that should result in that. I also repotted a bunch of my plants that were just getting too big to be happy in their pots. I went to Game Night with friends and had fun. Later I got all my webcomic drawings done early and practiced ukulele.
  
  
• Friday I was busy with timesheets and a peculiar amount of work for the upcoming project reports. Took me all day! And I invited some new teaming partners to team with us. After work I sent a Polo to Steve and got my webcomic processed, and then I played games and read the full script of the first episode of the Sleepy Hollow show I'm in. I'm a pretty minor character but I had a good chunk of lines in the first half, so I made some notes to get it done over the weekend.

New Reviews:

• Client Kindle gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Amazon (in French). The system doesn't let me link to the foreign reviews anymore for some reason.

Words Written: 3,642.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: This was an odd week because of holiday food (leftovers too!) but I didn't see a huge change. My high and my low are both lower this week, so I guess I should be happy. I recorded a high of 115.6 and a low of 114.0.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Balance between the carbs/fats/proteins was a little weird this week because I had a lot of nut protein (which is fattier than the usual protein I tend to get) and because I ate leftovers a lot. But this week I had three servings of fruits and veggies and decent balance overall. Last seven days:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	3	0	4
  Fats	4	0	3
  Protein	1	3	3

  
  
  Looks like I missed my protein goals a few times and ended up with a few high-carb and high-fat days. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to play my dance game or do aerobics every other day. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,054 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 12,743 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. I'm on page 115.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "Hand in My Pocket" by Alanis Morissette.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1040: ivy #326: just sounds.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Passover!

A cool butterfly in my backyard!

A cute baby pineapple in my backyard!

My interview outfit for Lake City!

My interview outfit for Lake City!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,477 for swankivy (lost 4), 681 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 213 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 777 for swankivy (no change), 3,518 for JulieSondra (2 new). Facebook: 293 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 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: 2,422 (no change). Instagram followers: 282 (lost 1). Threads followers: 75 (lost 1). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 353 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 5 – April 11

Life news this week:

• Saturday someone knocking woke me up. It's those losers who keep coming back to proselytize and they left me an invitation to an Easter party. Went back to sleep. Got up and worked on my book pretty much all day. I'm not sure why writing a relatively small amount took so long, but it did. It's just like that sometimes. I also played DDR, sent a Polo to Steve, worked on my blog, and played around with some distractions.
  
  
• Sunday I woke up in the afternoon because sleep is still a funhouse mirror. I didn't use the day very well but I did get my chores done and I did manage to scan some photos. I recorded a really good version of "Bad Romance" on the karaoke site and I did a cleaning trick on my shower head. I KNOW THIS IS EXTREMELY EXCITING.
  
  
• Monday I had a meeting and three letters, so I was busy all day long. Also did some prep work for the upcoming interview. Chatted with Dad about our Passover plans and some philosophy about our band. After work I did DDR and researched a few recipes for Passover, sent my dad a shopping list, and wrote the recipes out on cards. Finally got some work done on my book but not much.
  
  
• Tuesday we had a meeting to practice our interview stuff. Had to do some teaming invitations too. I got my steps in watching Polos. I worked on my book and argued with internet losers who keep targeting a popular comment I made on an art page. So tired of people who think they made a point. Updated some website stuff.
  
  
• Wednesday I had early meetings. Had to work on interview stuff and send out reminders to people about stuff. Later I cleaned up some messes and did dishes, then did my DDR and got ready to go out. Jeaux picked me up and we tried a new restaurant called Esposito's. After grocery shopping, we took a walk and chilled how we typically do. Sent some short stories out after he left.
  
  
• Thursday we had an interview practice and I did some research. After work, wrote my webcomic, took a little nap after sending Meg a Polo, and went to game night with friends. Afterwards I did some walking, reading, and submitting queries.
  
  
• Friday I slept late but didn't miss my meetings. We had another interview prep meeting. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon doing my project reports and project research. After work I did DDR, finished my webcomic and posted it, and did some dishes. I made a Passover dessert and got it all done, and packed up my stuff to travel the next day. Also wrote my next comic because I'll be in cars a lot and need to be productive all the dang time I guess.

Words Written: 6,238.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Not seeing the numbers I want but I'm not sure what direction I want to go to get what I do want. I recorded a high of 115.9 and a low of 114.5.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I had a LOT of pasta on Wednesday with Jeaux! That day I was way out of balance with what I try to keep to because of the high-fat sauce and low protein. But this week I had three servings of fruits and veggies and decent balance overall. Last seven days:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	2	1	4
  Fats	1	2	4
  Protein	6	0	1

  
  
  I think the high carbs came from having yummy bread in the house. I'm really happy that I don't seem to have trouble meeting my protein goals most days. 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 Tuesday at 10,034 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,224 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. I'm on page 115.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1039: ivy #325: one name.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,481 for swankivy (1 new), 682 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 213 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 777 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,516 for JulieSondra (no change). Facebook: 293 friends for swankivy (no change), 636 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (lost 1), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,422 (no change). Instagram followers: 283 (no change). Threads followers: 76 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 351 (17 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: March 29 – April 4

Life news this week:

• Saturday I slept in because I can. Did some chores, worked on my book, sent a Polo to Meggie, took a long walk, and did my blogging then more book work. I didn't get much done but still felt like I was busy. Also watched a reaction and reviewed some voice-over opportunities but didn't find any I wanted to do.
  
  
• Sunday I got up relatively early to be ready for band practice. Dad picked me up and we got to catch up during the car ride, which is always nice. We even got time to stop for coffee because we were early. Then band practice (first full practice with our new second guitarist!) was really productive. Dad and I had sushi afterwards but I wasn't hungry enough to finish mine because I ate too many snacks during the band break. Once I got home I took out trash and started laundry, napped, made a Polo for Meg, drew my So You Write comic, did some aerobic exercise, and recorded some voice-over auditions. One of them was immediately shortlisted which was cool.
  
  
• Monday I had to edit two letters and we found out our team is shortlisted for a project and I will be part of the interview team, so it's time to start preparing for that! After some naps during the day I worked on my comic coloring and processing and then worked on my book. I fell asleep trying to write a scene.
  
  
• Tuesday we had a meeting and then I worked on a transcript all day to help us prepare for the interview and that took the whole work day. I worked on ukulele practice and checked in on the news to watch Cory Booker break a record. I talked to Tony outside when I went out to pay him. Then I played my dance game, played ukulele, and processed my March goals update. Did some more auditions and wrote the rest of the scene I couldn't seem to finish the day before.
  
  
• Wednesday I worked on documents for our proposal package at work and did some marketing research for a Turnpike project. I sent a Polo to Meggie too. Then Jeaux took me to a restaurant we hadn't been to before called Sogna Napoli. I had some yummy gnocchi there. Went shopping, came home, and he had me watch an episode of Seinfeld (surprisingly, I've never seen ANY Seinfeld episodes before). We took a walk and shared silly online things with each other. After he left I sent out some short stories, scanned some photos, and practiced ukulele.
  
  
• Thursday I finished some project research and attended a prep meeting for the interview. After work I wrote my webcomic, Polo'd Meg, played DDR, and found out the foreword I'm writing for an upcoming book is actually something they'll pay me for so that's cool. Went to game night, did some drawing, did a voice-over audition, submitted some queries, and played ukulele. I also got some stuff done that I'd been putting off: I made a doctor's appointment, booked air travel for a vacation, bought some event tickets, and called my Senators and Representative for the first time. Just as I was going to bed I had an hour-long war with a frog in the kitchen which resulted in a broken plant pot and a bleeding hand, so that was fun. (I did manage to get the frog out of the house unharmed, but was very sad about the broken pot. I had to rehome it.)
  
  
• Friday I was extra sleepy because of the Frog Encounter the night before. At work I did my timesheets and reports, and after work I finished my comic and did some ukulele practice. Posted the comic, did some karaoke, did some walking, and learned a new ukulele song.

Words Written: 6,035.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Last week's spike settled down a little but it still hasn't ended up where I was hoping. I recorded a high of 115.9 and a low of 114.1.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Been happy with my diet when it comes to servings of fruits and veggies for the most part. But I'm really wanting to see protein high and carbs and fats low or on-target, and I'm seeing a lot of higher-carb days. (The percentage points are really small and debatably significant sometimes, but I still count it.) Last seven days:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	4	1	2
  Fats	0	1	6
  Protein	4	1	2

  
  
  I missed my protein goals twice this week and carbs were high, so I guess I did something weird. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to play my dance game every other day; I did do the aerobics once but I've been more interested in doing the DDR instead. I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,007 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 11,706 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Assholes: A Theory by Aaron James. I'm on page 78.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "Galileo" by Indigo Girls.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write: #166: ending it.

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1038: weaver #164: real worries.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,480 for swankivy (lost 1), 682 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 213 for Not-So-Giant Women (3 new), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 778 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,516 for JulieSondra (lost 6). Facebook: 293 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 250 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,422 (no change). Instagram followers: 283 (no change). Threads followers: 76 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 334 (2 new).

March Goals Update

It's April. March 2025 is in the rearview. So let's check in with the monthly 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'm still happy with the guidelines I established and I find them easy to meet most days. I find that if I don't have a smoothie or a bowl of fruit for breakfast, I'm more likely to not get all the servings in, so I'm trying to do that pretty much all the time. I've continued with the water system that's been working, and taking vitamins with no problem. The addition of aerobic exercise every other day has been workable with no dropouts, but I did have a streak where I only did the dance game instead of aerobics with weights. This is my calendar of progress:

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

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary: I'm burning it up with the writing. Sometimes it seems like a little too much, but I think I need to ride it out a little more. On some of the days I am not writing new content, I'm editing or submitting queries or stories. Editing does not have a schedule. I do it when I find time. I'm going to be done with the novel soon and I'll have to figure out if the writing time will be converted entirely to editing time or what. I am still regularly pushing the writing sessions until the very last thing of the day, with only a couple of days where I didn't do that. It's messing with my sleep which is not great.

Writing Progress:

Photo album scanning goals are coming along. I actually only have one album left and then I can dig into the last shoebox of loose photos. And after THAT, I'll want to organize the photos that don't have a home and get them into albums before I finally get them all electronically organized on the photo album site. And the ukulele goal is still going very well; I've relearned the songs I forgot and have moved on to new material. I'm trying to take it slow so I don't overwhelm myself with new content and forget what I've learned, so I've only learned six new songs while making time to practice the old or difficult ones. And for voice acting, I recorded work for two episodes of a new project I got cast in and managed to get a third minor role in a student project, which I also completed. I am continuing to submit auditions and am currently shortlisted for three more than I know of! (Possibly more for the ones that don't share their shortlist.) Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS: 

Summary: This goal has continued to be the one that "gives" in favor of the other goals sometimes. I got pretty close to reading twice a week this month but there were some misses, and I don't spend much time on it generally. Finished a fun TV show tie-in book and have started reading a cheeky philosophy book.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: I love my friends but I'm glad I'm getting as much alone time as I do. I spend time with Jeaux on Wednesdays, with the friend group at Game Night on Thursdays, and random friend visits or band practice whenever they happen. I have no outstanding e-mails. The documentation goals are PISSING ME OFF because I just can't seem to get that to be something I do regularly.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I still need to sand and paint the plaster pillar that is sitting outside. I need to make a doctor's appointment for a regular screening--should do it next month. I still have a TV show I want to watch. I caught up with adding some Steven Universe collection items (and hanging up new art!) and Copic Marker collection items to my inventories, but I need to catch up on photographing the updated Steven Universe collection. Next month!