Personal Digest Saturday: May 10 – May 16

Life news this week:

• Saturday vacation in San Francisco continued. I enjoyed coffee with my sister in the morning and listened to a little bit of Suzanne Vega's new album. I worked on my blog periodically through the day when we had down time. When we were ready to get moving, we took the dog to a park and looked at the ocean. Yusuke picked up some donuts and we ate them, and then he went out to hang out with a friend so Patricia and Ash and I played a silly game called Poetry for Neanderthals. For dinner we had spaghetti and then I took my one solo walk to get a little extra walking in. Lots of hills to deal with! After I finished my blogging we listened to a school project recording that I had a bit part in for voice acting. (I had not heard it yet so we listened to it with no expectations. Pretty good.) After she went to bed I hung out talking to Yusuke for a long time in the kitchen, just hanging out. It was a nice day.
  
  
• Sunday we had coffee and breakfast together again and then did an aerobics video together. Patricia got Mother's Day gifts from her husband and son (flowers and chocolate!), and then we went to Golden Gate Park for a while with the doggie. He tried to get gophers. We hung out while Patricia got a PTA newsletter done and took the dog out again before dinner. Then I got to have a meatball sub with vegetarian meatballs that were great. We played the Poetry for Neanderthals game again and joined in a game of Gartic Phone. Another nice day.
  
  
• Monday we had a slow morning with coffee just chatting and waiting for P's husband to get up. Then we went to the Castro where I got to see a bunch of gay businesses (excellent!). We saw a knickknacks store and a bookstore and then stopped for expensive sandwiches. A couple we ran into said Yoshi looked like their doggie that had just passed away and they were touched by getting to see him. Later we picked up Ash from school, took him to his coding class, hung out at a café for more lattes and a cake, and went home for laundry and dinner. We got some food from a Japanese restaurant where I had excellent food and then we painted our nails and hung out until bedtime. I converted my stuff over to my new suitcase.
  
  
• Tuesday I got up early and did my aerobics video while my sister took her son to school. Then she took me to a dog park to enjoy some trees and pups. We ran into one of the ladies we'd seen in the Castro the day before who was especially baffled to see the dog that reminded her of her dog AGAIN. We didn't really get to talk much because there was a lot of dog activity and interacting with other dog owners, and Yoshi tried to hunt gophers again (hilariously). After lunch at my sister's house, we went out again and she left me at Cinderella Bakery to chill while she went to an appointment, and I got to relax and eat cake and write a storyboard. Then we walked around more with Yoshi, I found a four-leaf clover, and we hung out in a field. Later after we picked up my nephew, we had dinner (lentil soup and bread) and just did nothing. I made sure I was packed up for the morning.
  
  
• Wednesday I had to get up at 3 AM and my sister helped me make sure I was ready to get in my Lyft. Everything went fine and I didn't forget anything. I had a quiet ride to the airport and got a little frustrated with some of the annoying signage at the airport. I was actually able to sleep on the plane for most of the ride even though I did have a seatmate who was kinda annoying. Then on the connecting flight from Atlanta I had the worst coffee of my life. Jeaux picked me up in Tampa and we had a meal at IHOP. At home, I put my suitcase in the house before going grocery shopping and found out ants had invaded one of my plants so I had to put it outside. Then we shopped and came home. I was gonna nap but I got distracted by the urge to unpack so I did that instead. I also updated some online stuff.
  
  
• Thursday I came back to work after not checking in during the vacation at all. Not too much chaos but I had a few things to organize, and found out that in my absence we got shortlisted again (so now we have two interviews to prepare for). I did some data entry updates and went to a couple meetings. Then after work I did some walking and updating Meg on Polo about my San Francisco trip. We had Game Night and I got to see my friends, and I worked on my comic. I got it half done before I stopped to do late-night aerobics and went to bed.
  
  
• Friday I got up early for work and had more data entry updates, timesheet wrangling, report generating, and meetings. Took my time on everything and didn't even finish too late. After work I drew the rest of my comic, posted it, sent a Polo to Meg again, and did a karaoke recording before relaxing with some silly videos.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• I'm quoted in this blog post by Jessica Leibe called "Asexual Perspective: The Blood is the Life." (Interesting, just when I'm involved with a production of Dracula, this post uses a lot of Dracula references. It is unrelated, I promise.)

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I didn't get any data on this during my vacation and will start checking it out next week.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Despite being on vacation, I was still able to get my three servings of fruits/veggies--pretty easy when you're visiting someone who does keep those things in the house! But I definitely had some big meals and some sweets that were outside the usual. The seven days for the nutrition balance:
  
  

  	Days High	Days On-Target	Days Low
  Carbs	3	0	4
  Fats	5	2	0
  Protein	1	0	6

  
  I consistently did not get enough protein while I was on vacation, and there was probably a high fat percentage because of donuts and cake. Oh well! Guess I should try to make an effort to get more protein in while out and about in the future. 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 10,009 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 13,838 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver. I'm just starting.

New singing performances:

This week's song is "Light My Fire" by the Doors.

Stuff drawn:

 My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1044: ivy #328: in a bad way.

Videos Made: 

None this week.

New photos:

The San Francisco Photo Album 2025 is up for all photos! Here are the ones since Saturday.

Yoshi hunting gophers

Selfie with the Pacific Ocean

View from the park

Family in the park

Sister finally got her cinnamon roll

Selfie I took on a walk to the ocean

Yoshi finally started eating his food

Family horsing around

Ash gets the "no" stick

Our feet in Golden Gate park

Sister cookie selfie

Yusuke hanging with Yoshi

Yoshi in the shade

Yusuke and Ash walking ahead

Yoshi tries to get gophers again

Sisters at the Castro

In front of the Castro theater

Patricia's lunch

My lunch

Lattes at Blue Danube again

My sister's family has a Japanese copy of my book

Takeout for the family

Bird's Milk Cake and Latte at Cinderella Bakery

Cinderella Bakery Cake

Yoshi hunting gophers AGAIN

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,475 for swankivy (lost 2), 682 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 772 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,513 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 292 friends for swankivy (lost 1--I defriended someone for doing something I had repeatedly asked him not to do), 637 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 250 followers for So You Write (1 new), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,420 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 283 (no change). Threads followers: 75 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 358 (2 new).

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 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.