Personal Digest Saturday - May 16 – May 22

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did a few digital errands (updating collections and blogging), but the majority of the day was focused entirely on editing my short story, or novella more accurately. Not sure why I have been so fixated on this one but I couldn't leave it alone. Also fine-tuned the synopsis for it.
  
  
• Sunday I did DDR early (before coffee!) and did some laundry and trash chores. Chatted on Polos and Discord. And again spent the entire day pretty much working on the novella.
  
  
• Monday was another day of not being able to climb out of the story! Dang. I did go to work and send out teaming requests and do some data entry. And I also read the ending of the book I've been reading recreationally. But damn, I couldn't let go of this thing.
  
  
• Tuesday I worked and did nothing remarkable, and AGAIN spent the day on my story but finally I got the thing finalized and submitted it somewhere. Finally I could kinda use my brain for other things and did my walking, did some Polos, and recorded some voice acting auditions.
  
  
• Wednesday I did more work with timesheets and teaming partners. Then I started working hard on the pitch materials for my novel, finally. I wrote my first query letter (but I still have more work to do; it's a draft). And I started the arduous process of looking for comparison titles, which is tough for a book like mine, but you gotta do it. Jeaux and I did errands and ate at Noble Crust, and it was rainy later so I had to get all my walking done inside. Jeaux and I shared silly stories and also I found a book finally available to buy that I've been trying to get for YEARS to complete my collection. Hooray!
  
  
• Thursday I did some research and a meeting at work. Continued work on my synopsis and query and began editing the manuscript again. My crit partner is preparing some notes for me on the part of my book he's read up to now. I sent out a short story and a query and wrote my webcomic storyboard, then played DDR and went to game night. I practiced music and then played with my novel some more.
  
  
• Friday I woke up early because my power supply was making an annoying noise and I couldn't get back to sleep after. Went to work and did my usual reports and coordination. And I did some work on my novel and practiced music and did some reading. I got my webcomic drawn and posted with no issues.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The book tour for Being Aro has been announced. I don't know the actual access details yet, but I'm part of the virtual tour on May 27.

New Reviews:

• Meg gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
• <li>Shany Eowin Falwan gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads (in French).

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week, and met my protein goals five out of seven days. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Monday at 10,072 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 12,545 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. Three-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. I'm on page 21.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song: "Mad About You" by Belinda Carlisle

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1097: ivy #364: before i join you.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,432 for swankivy (lost 1), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 6 for Vinyl Impact Band (2 new). Twitter followers: 739 for swankivy (lost 3), 3,352 for JulieSondra (lost 7). Facebook: 285 friends for swankivy (no change), 621 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 241 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,409 (no change). Instagram followers: 309 (2 new). Threads followers: 89 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 464 (6 new).

Personal Digest Saturday - May 9 – May 15

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did my blogging relatively early and texted my sister 'cause it was her birthday! Tried to play DDR but only got partway through my intended games because one of the buttons broke. Worked on singing practice. Did a bunch of research for drawing references for my story characters and got two of them done before I got too tired to keep going.
  
  
• Sunday I did some laundry and other chores, and I learned a song for the band, sent a Polo to Meg, and spent the rest of the day just sketching, inking, and coloring drawings of characters for the new story.
  
  
• Monday I got up early because I fell asleep early. Went to a meeting, edited a letter, and dealt with subconsultants. Then it was back to drawing. Also met up with Kari and took a walk, did some aerobics, and did more drawing.
  
  
• Tuesday I worked on a technical paper at work and that took up a bunch of the day. Other than that I just did more work on silly drawings.
  
  
• Wednesday I did organizational tasks at work. Also worked on editing my short-story-turned-novella, sang the song I learned Sunday on the karaoke website, got some chores done, sent in a query, and did some aerobics. Jeaux came and we visited Lowe's, ate at Mandola's, and grocery shopped. Then he fixed my DDR pad and we showed each other the usual silly internet things. After he left I drew a little more.
  
  
• Thursday I had more miscellaneous stuff at work. I doodled a silly comic with my characters, wrote my webcomic storyboard, and did some walking and reading. (I've been skipping reading a lot this week.) Then I went to Game Night and played with my friends. After work I tried to work on a synopsis for a publisher but I got too tired and went to sleep.
  
  
• Friday I finished the synopsis before going in to work. I had a meeting and some reports to do. I worked on my story some more and then drew my comic. Played DDR because my pad is fixed. Sent a Polo to my crit partner Ben and did some more work on my story.

New Reviews:

• Haley gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week, and met my protein goals six out of seven days--the restaurant day involved pizza, so as per usual, the higher-fat foods won out. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Sunday at 10,108 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 12,811 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. I'm on page 288.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song: "Heartbreaker" by Pat Benatar

Stuff drawn:

I drew a LOT this week but not all of them will be posted--just trying to go backwards drawing pictures of characters so I can then go back into the story and get their descriptions a little more consistently. (I'm bad at remembering to include visuals.) Here are the character cards for the new characters from In Your Favor with whom I've been spending a lot of my time lately. (Want to try to guess who's the protagonist?)

And here is a group doodle I did to try to figure out their heights and colors:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1096: ivy #363: something pretty special.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,433 for swankivy (lost 1), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 4 for Vinyl Impact Band (1 new). Twitter followers: 742 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,359 for JulieSondra (lost 8). Facebook: 285 friends for swankivy (no change), 621 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 241 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,409 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 307 (3 new). Threads followers: 89 (2 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 458 (3 new).

Personal Digest Saturday - May 2 – May 8

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up earlyish and knocked out my last karaoke contest song so I could be done with it. Then did some blogging, talked to my dad on the phone, talked to Yasmin on the phone, and ate a potato. It kinda knocked me out and messed up the whole day. Guess I should be careful about eating potatoes.
  
  
• Sunday I didn't have breakfast because I was going to Vallarta's with Jeaux! I did two loads of laundry before he came to get me. We enjoyed our lunch and then I did more laundry and snoozed. Did my trash and chores and played DDR. Kari came over and we talked and caught up and we watched one episode of Bojack Horseman, which I'd been meaning to watch for a long time. Then I screwed around looking at the karaoke contest stuff.
  
  
• Monday I had a productive day. I had my make-up radiology appointment and they STILL tried to say I had the wrong order even though I explicitly read their last note to the doctor and got a new order based on what they said. It still wasn't good enough, they said. I had to wait around and get them to call the doctor once they opened and wasted about two hours sitting around trying to get it done. At least that's over and I got a bunch of reading done. Then at work I processed FOUR letters and did a staffing chart and processed some timesheets and bothered subconsultant team members. I got in a nap, practiced some music, redid my decorations for the new season, and cleaned up the house. (Finally.)
  
  
• Tuesday I was kind of bored for the first time in a while. I have been so busy and now not as much. The results for the singing contest came out early and I found out I took home third place. That's not too bad and I still got a prize. I played DDR and went to one meeting at work, and then I practiced my band music a little and then Meghan came over and took me to Sarasota for a planned open mic night with my band I have with my dad--our public debut. It went pretty well, though it would have been better if we'd been able to do a full sound check. I ate some fries and good cornbread, and Meg took me home. At home I didn't do anything and fell asleep early.
  
  
• Wednesday I was still kinda bored and weird. Did some stuff with QuickBooks at work. Talked to Tony when he came to do the lawn. Spent a bunch of the day editing videos for our band sampler. Sent in a query. Jeaux came early because had school stuff and wasn't working late. We ate at Saki and did our grocery shopping, took a walk, and watched a couple more episodes of the anime we're watching. After he left I did some reading and went to bed early again.
  
  
• Thursday I got up early and went to work. Attended a forum and invited some teams to our latest effort. Sent a Polo to Meg. Wrote Negative One and made some character cards for some stuff for my new story. Played DDR. Finished working on the band sampler and posted it. Went to Game Night and drew some comic frames. Sent my sister a Polo and ate another potato. BAH!!!
  
  
• Friday I was up early again and had to do some extra tasks at the office before finishing up my reports. Then I did some reading in between drawing and got my comic done. Continued to be tired and took some more naps. I did also get around to practicing some music.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The cover reveal for Common Bonds 3 is up on LGBTQ Reads. I have a story in this upcoming anthology. The BackerKit Link allows people to join the funding campaign, including a list of authors that lists my story, and the authors' bios are up on the anthology's website, including mine.
  
  
• A review of Being Aro is posted by Punk-Ass Book Jockey. I wrote the introduction and there's quite a lot of discussion in the review of my contribution.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week, and met my protein goals only three out of seven days again--been getting really tired and just not eating balanced meals, I guess. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week except Potato Day when I fell asleep early. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Saturday at 9,128 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 11,662 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. I'm on page 272.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song: "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles

Also you can check out the band sampler to see some clips from Tuesday's open mic.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1095: ivy #362: room for growth.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,434 for swankivy (lost 1), 675 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 3 for Vinyl Impact Band (3 new). Twitter followers: 743 for swankivy (no change), 3,367 for JulieSondra (lost 4). Facebook: 285 friends for swankivy (lost 1 and I have no idea who dropped me or why), 620 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 241 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (lost 1). Tumblr followers: 2,410 (no change). Instagram followers: 304 (no change). Threads followers: 87 (lost 1). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 455 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday - April 25 – May 1

Life news this week:

• Saturday I woke up after the first decent sleep of the week, but it was almost noon so that busted my schedule a little. I had a HUGE to-do list for the day because I was going out of town the next day and wanted to finish everything. I did laundry, got my entry in the singing contest completed early, and sent Meg a Polo. Packed my overnight bag and my band practice bag. Then did my blogging, did my aerobics, and did a little reading. I practiced music, wrote an e-mail, looked at some voice-over postings, and wrote one more new scene for my short story.
  
  
• Sunday I was up early. Dad picked me up for band practice and we went to the Music Compound building to use the practice room. We had a videographer capture some of our practice. Later my sister wandered in, visiting from North Carolina, and she watched our practice and hung out. We went for sushi after and then hung out at my dad's doing nothing of note. Ate banana bread and crashed in the little bed in the sewing room. It was the first day I didn't write anything in a week.
  
  
• Monday I logged in at work though I was at my dad's, just seeing what was going on, and hung out with my family having coffee. Then it was time to take my sister to the airport, which we did, and then my dad and I had Cracker Barrel and he took me home. I jumped into work and didn't have to do the editing I thought I'd need to do because we decided not to turn in our letter due to getting shortlisted in the same District! Yay us! I took a nap, played DDR, and then ended up working on my short story all night and finally finished it.
  
  
• Tuesday I did some forms and reminders at work. Did some editing on my new story and developed some pitch materials. Went to the dermatologist and had no issues. Took a nap. Made a Polo for my sister. Talked to another writer on Facebook. Did more editing. Filmed a video. Downloaded some video footage from our band practice.
  
  
• Wednesday I did project research and accounting data entry at work. I also found out I advanced again in the singing contest and have made the Top 10. I sent in a query and edited my story more. Jeaux came over early and we ate at 4 Rivers and watched some anime. Then just read each other stuff like usual. After he left I processed my video and wrote up some ideas for my final entry into the singing contest.
  
  
• Thursday I went to a meeting and did some project research at work. I fine-tuned my ideas for the singing contest entry and worked on my writing comic. Took a nap and sent a Polo to Meg. Posted my new asexuality video. Did more work on the story. Went to game night and processed my comic. And made a Polo for my sister.
  
  
• Friday I had a podiatrist appointment but I went in and they said "oh sorry the doctor isn't here, we won't be able to see you, sorry, bye." What is it with me having to go to doctor's appointments and then they don't tell me they can't see me until I'm already there? Anyway, went to work and had a meeting and had to do crash data for the shortlisted project, and also my usual reports. After work I finished my comic, did my walking while talking to Steve on Polo, and did some aerobics. Got my goals update posts up and spent the evening fine-tuning my singing contest submission and playing with my short story (which of course is not short).

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• San José Public Library posted an asexual visibility thread with suggested titles. The Invisible Orientation was included.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week, and met my protein goals only three out of seven days. Sunday and Monday involved being out of town and eating at restaurants, which usually means I struggle to get all my protein, and I had my Jeaux Day restaurant day that did not overcome the protein trap, and then one other day I just ate high-fat foods and missed the quota by one percentage point. I could have done better. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day, with an executive decision to move some stuff around at the end of the month for traveling. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Tuesday at 10,009 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 14,477 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. I'm on page 217.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song: "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:

   

#179: it wrote itself.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1094: ivy #361: a deal.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #136 (Hormones =/= Sexual Attraction) is out. In this video, someone asks for suggestions on how to handle a man claiming asexuality (and other non-straight orientations) are caused by atypical hormone production.

New photos:

Dennis at band practice enjoying popping the business cards out

Sushi sisters

Dad photographing his sushi

I just like this outfit

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,435 for swankivy (4 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 743 for swankivy (no change), 3,371 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 286 friends for swankivy (lost 1 and I have no idea who dropped me or why), 621 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 241 followers for So You Write (no change), 101 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,410 (1 new). Instagram followers: 304 (2 new). Threads followers: 88 (2 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 455 (1 new).

April Goals Update

May's upon us! Time for a check-in with how my goals went for April.

1. Health Goals: Four glasses of water per day; three servings of fruits and veggies; taking vitamins; walking 10,000 steps a day plus an aerobic activity every other day; visiting health professionals on an appropriate schedule.

2. Personal Project Goals: Complete editing on In Bloom, share with test audience, collect and incorporate feedback, develop pitch materials, start querying it; start another book; write two more short stories; submit queries and short stories; finish the photo project and start the SU site, autobio site, and essays/rants site; practice music; post regular webcomics; post ace videos; submit voice-over auditions and complete assigned voice-over work.

3. Reading Goals: Read at least every other day.

4. Relationship and Communication Goals: Document more consistently; keep up with e-mail and online messages; keep social life active.

5. Other Goals: Get rid of garage items; clean the house; watch TV shows; plant herbs; wear pajamas/have a night routine; use a new coffee cup every day; do something cool with my hair.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:

Summary: Had my first stumble (well, two of them) with getting all my walking in. One day I just couldn't get it done in time after a busy day in the computer chair, and one day I was distracted and forgot how late it was getting hanging out with Jeaux. Everything was good with the water goals, fruits/veggies goals, vitamins, and health professional visits. My health professional visits this month included a podiatrist visit and a mammogram, and BOTH of them were canceled by the health professional AFTER I got to the office and they had some reason they couldn't do them. I hate lack of communication. (They are both rescheduled.)

Here is my Health calendar of progress:

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

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary:

EDITING: Work on the book has fallen off--I'm just not getting any feedback from my test readers. I guess I should just accept that no one's going to do what they offered to do and maybe I ought to just develop my pitch materials and go forth.

WRITING: I finished ANOTHER short story this month--a novella, actually, clocking 23,000 words in 7 days. I do still have notes on another one I plan to write when I am not as busy, but now I've completed my goal of writing two new short stories this year. Likely there will be more.

SUBMISSIONS: I've kept up submissions of queries and short stories. I sold the short story I wrote last month--and it was immediate. It never even had time to get rejected. It'll come out in November. I have two outstanding statements of interest from different publishers on another story I've been trying to sell for a while. I guess I'll go with whichever one turns into an offer first.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I've been too distracted with music and writing this month to do much of this, but I did get a little done on the journal review toward the beginning of the month. I'll get back into it probably in the second week of May.

VOICE ACTING: I finished some pickups on my only outstanding voice acting job, so I have no pending work. One of the shows I was in--the very first one, actually--released its final episode this month, and it's cool to have it completed. Another show has not yet completed but my character died in an episode that's out, so that's it for me. I have a promo airing about that role sometime after the show ends. Another show I'm in will release in August, I just found out. Most of the other ones aren't doing much. I have kept up with auditions poorly this month and am way behind on some postings I want to review.

REGULAR CONTENT: I have posted my Negative One webcomic every Friday; my So You Write webcomic on the last day of the month; and a new asexuality video for the month.

MUSIC: Our first band performance is coming up on Tuesday, and we filmed some footage of a band practice the last week of April. Also, I randomly entered a singing contest on the karaoke website, and have survived all the elimination rounds and am now in the finals! Just one more round with the Top 10 and we'll see if I take it all!

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS:

Summary: Not quite a perfect stretch of every-other-day reading, but I did do it nearly every "assigned" day. The end of the month was a little disrupted with an out-of-town trip (only an overnight), but also writing like a madwoman stole all my free time for a bunch of the week and I was exhausted.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS:

Summary: I've been doing Jeaux Day, Game Night, band practice, and hanging out with Kari here and there. I did do a little more journaling than before but I'm not back up to where I want to be. Correspondence is a teeny bit behind--just a couple messages to answer.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: No movement on the stuff I need to sell from my garage, and my house is super dirty right now because of spending all my time on creative efforts. (Other people probably would not accuse me of having a dirty house but by my standards it is disappointing.) I planted the plants I wanted to grow this year and only one of them sprouted so that sucks. My night routine has been consistent more than it hasn't been, but again, when I was bone tired from all the creative stuff I flopped into bed without doing skin care stuff quite a few times. I think I'll live!