Personal Digest Saturday - August 29 – September 4

Life news this week:

• Saturday I still had a pretty bad day with my throat but it got a little better later in the day. Walked to the post office to mail packages to people who bought my nerdy merchandise. Then I got to have breakfast and relax. I worked on my blog and did some Polos. Got a vague e-mail that suggested some interest in one of my stories from one of the publishers I sent it to, but it wasn't a typical acceptance with a letter or contract so I figured I'd just wait for further instructions. Made a video for my asexuality channel. Did a couple voice-over auditions and did a little weight-lifting workout video. Read over my in-progress book to get back into the headspace.
  
  
• Sunday my throat was better for some of the day and then got bad again. I set up a camera in my garage to see what kind of pest is in my garage and finally got video of it but still couldn't tell. But most people think it's a rat that's sneaking in through a hole in the side door. Boo. I did some laundry out there with the rats and got my trash done. Processed my video and posted it, drew my writing comic, and listened to an episode of an audio drama that I'm a character in (but I'm not in the first episode). Felt weird and tired most of the day. Read more of my in-progress book.
  
  
• Monday I went back to work with four meetings, including one at 8 AM. I worked on proposals and entered timesheet data. Did my exercise, worked on my writing, and spent too much time on Bluesky whining. Got a couple of trolls on my video because some people just HAVE to be jerks about anything supportive of trans rights.
  
  
• Tuesday I got up early for work and did more meetings and proposals. Also fixed some data for my data-entry project. Got more clarity and communication from the publisher interested in my story--looks like it's being evaluated by an editor. Cool. Did a Polo for Meg, did more laundry, and started a new Instagram account for just my voice-over stuff. Read some of the book I'm reading. Posted my new goals update on my blogs. Did some writing briefly.
  
  
• Wednesday involved knocking out a proposal and sending it in. Also went to a utility meeting. Read over the new chapter I'd written. Did some more laundry and dishes. Played DDR and sent out a query and wrote some e-mail. Jeaux came over and we ate at GrillSmith. We went shopping and acted like boring old people at my house. Wrote a tiny bit more on the book.
  
  
• Thursday I checked in at work before heading out to go to the doctor for my throat. I was seeing an ENT. She stuck a camera up my nose! My first upper endoscopy. And it was a nothingburger--had no problems with it. The doctor saw evidence of a nasty infection and prescribed antibiotics. I picked the prescription up and went home and took my first dose, and was already feeling better later in the day. When I got home I had to do a bunch of work on proposals and I really went all out on doing all this prep work to make the engineers' jobs easier. Then I did some reading, wrote my webcomic storyboard, and tried to learn some songs for the band. I went to game night and talked to my friend late at night.
  
  
• Friday I had a huge checklist of stuff to do. Work was packed with proposals stuff, meetings, team invitations, reports, timesheets, and data entry. After I finished it all I did my exercise, finished my comic, posted my comic, got my walking finished, submitted a short story, recorded a karaoke song, and recorded a backing track for my band. I fell asleep early after that and didn't have time for writing. Too bad!

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week and met my protein goals 5 out of 7 days. (I dunno what happened on Thursday and Friday really. I even met the goal on restaurant day somehow! Maybe it's the influx of hummus.) 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 Friday at 10,137 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,692 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 63.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:


#183: our turn?.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:


#1112: ivy #369: life with her.

Videos Made: 

SwankiVY on LGB Separatists: This video discusses the troubling push from some people insisting that the LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) should be cut off from the T (transgender) and the rest of the community that might fall under Q (queer) and the + (everything else, including aces and aros). Some in this movement believe their orientation is legitimate while other people's isn't, and treat us like we actually are sick or perverted in an attempt to legitimize themselves. I talk about why this is wrongheaded, some of the legitimate roots of their arguments that still blossom into awful conclusions, and what we have in common that should unite us under one umbrella.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,464 for swankivy (6 new), 675 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 735 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,319 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 624 likes for JulieSondra (2 new), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 244 followers for So You Write (1 new), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,406 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 327 (2 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 483 (lost 1).

August Goals Update

We have hit September, and that means you get an August update from me. Here we go with a quick review of the goals I set at the beginning of the year:

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: Walking and exercise were 100% this month. I didn't miss any water goals either. There was one day I didn't get in three servings of fruits/vegetables and I don't have a good excuse, and toward the end of the month I did better with the vague goals I have to get enough protein. I do still have the vision appointment and dentist appointment that I need to do this year, and unfortunately had an unforeseen doctor's visit that will involve a follow-up in early September because my throat is being weird. I'm going to schedule my vision exam very soon.

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: My YA novel In Bloom finished edits and is on submission, and my edits for "Aquarius" have been turned in (I'm awaiting further feedback).

WRITING: Unnamed new novel has 47,000 words. I wrote about 35,000 of them last month and slowed down on it this month because I took a break to write another new short story (first draft 13,000 words; edited it down to 10,000 for a submissions call). This is one of the more active writing streaks I've had in some time.

SUBMISSIONS: In Bloom is still being queried and there's been almost no movement on it--yeses OR nos. Wait times are so long now! I still have THREE outstanding statements of interest from different publishers on my novella ("Karma is Dead"), and the newer novella I wrote a few months ago ("In Your Favor") has been accepted into consideration by a publisher as of this past month (with some other submissions unresolved), and the new short story ("The Wagon") has been submitted to the place that issued the submissions call. Two of my accepted short stories ("For the Record" and "Aquarius") are waiting to be published.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I've made it through the majority of the planners I'm reading through but there are still a few to go. This is not my priority right now because it's really taken a back seat to writing.

VOICE ACTING: I've continued to cut way down on auditions, and that's probably also why I have no new roles to announce. I completed line reads on a portfolio project this month and my submissions have been approved, but I haven't seen the final piece yet. One project I did voices for has just released its first episode, but I'm not in the first episode so I won't link it. And we're gearing up for an October release for a project I have a big role in; that one's releasing little mini-trailers and breadcrumbs, some of which feature me. You can check out some of them on YouTube or Instagram.

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:
We're getting back into our band practices but we haven't had one yet that I went to since our performance--just instrumental practices. I'm learning some new music and have returned to making karaoke recordings.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS:

Summary: I again missed just one "assigned" reading day this month. I'm still not reading a whole lot per day most times but I don't consider myself in any rush to finish books. I finished one book this month and got started on another.

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 have done no extra journaling. I'm caught up on e-mail.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I cleaned out my garage a little bit because there is evidence that a critter is living in there and I wanted the pest control people to be able to have a clear view. They are still working on getting the critter(s) out. After that I will clean the floor in there real good. I have taken some of the stuff I've been meaning to organize out of the garage, but there are still a few things to sell and I haven't made an effort. I have bought one new plant. My night routine was better this month than last month but I keep just kind of boycotting pajamas. Onward!

Personal Digest Saturday - August 22 – August 28

Life news this week:

• Saturday it was nice to sleep in. I then spent the rest of the day cleaning up two things: my house, and my manuscript for "The Wagon." I wanted to straighten up the house because I was getting my pest control visit and I wanted them to be able to get into corners without "stuff" that had accumulated. So I cleaned up the game room, the kitchen, the living room, and the entryway. And for the story, I added in some description that wasn't there before and then it was back to cutting. I also did some Polo communication, some walking, and my blogging.
  
  
• Sunday I had a successful day! Began working on the remaining cleaning tasks nice and early. Got all my toys cleaned up and organized/cleaned my office room and the hallway. Didn't have anything to do in the bedrooms because they weren't dirty. Then I did the dreaded garage clean-out while listening to musicals. Very happy with that! Also got laundry done and trash out. AND I played DDR. Kari came over in the evening and we shared pizza and caught up about her recent house-buying adventures. After she left I did a voice-over audition and worked on my short story editing.
  
  
• Monday I had some usual work tasks like timesheets, meetings, proposals, and letters to edit. The pest control guy came and said whatever animal that's pooping in my garage is a squirrel. I don't know if that's right but that's what he said. Trying to investigate how to get it to not get in there anymore. I swept the garage out and cleaned the floor after that, and talked to my yard maintenance person Tony. Then after work I worked on "The Wagon" and finally got it back under 10K. Sent a Polo to Meg and finished reading a book.
  
  
• Tuesday I had no sleep but I had meetings so I had to get up. I did a debrief and a meeting about a proposal. Also had to redo a proposal outline because it somehow got overwritten by something from last year?? I hate that. I took a walk to the post office to send eBay stuff and got really hot. Took a nap. Recorded songs for the band practice files and did some more editing on "The Wagon."
  
  
• Wednesday I had more morning meetings. Had to change my access to remove view my work computer and the new program is way crappier but I don't have a choice. Did some utility stuff for a project. I've had an ongoing throat issue for a while (like a mild sore throat that comes and goes and just kinda feels like there's something swollen going on on one side) so I finally made a doctor's appointment to get it checked out. Swept more critter poop out of my garage because nobody's responded yet to the work request. Sent in a query. Jeaux came over and we went to Five Below to see if I could get the rare charm I'm looking for but I was STILL unsuccessful! We ate at our favorite place, Vallarta's, and then went to the grocery store to spend too much money. After we hung out a little at my house and he left, I watched silly things on the internet.
  
  
• Thursday was a frustrating day. I had my doctor's appointment and got examined by one of the docs I don't usually get to see, and she said she was "not worried" about my throat issue because there are no signs it's anything serious but she was "curious" about it so she referred me for an ultrasound. I got the ultrasound later the same day and they notified me later in the same day (again) that it was "negative" (for what?). And basically just told me to take aspirin and "use ice packs." Ice packs for a sore throat? That's weird. I followed up and managed to get them to refer me to an ENT but I have to wait until next week. Boo. At work in between appointments I had to work on a proposal that was due Friday, and I wrote my comic and played games at game night with my pals. Did one more once-over on "The Wagon" and submitted it to a submissions call. Chatted to a friend on Discord.
  
  
• Friday I got up early to deal with the proposal and we had a bunch of back and forth but got it turned in in plenty of time. Also made the skeleton for the next (very similar) proposal. I went in the garage to check on the critter situation and I think I heard it moving in the garage! I got freaked out and ran away. Later I put my bird camera in the garage to see if I could catch video of what it is but I haven't managed to yet. It is really pooping all over the place. It's horrible. After work I made a post about my extra keychain charms and sold a couple. I did some reading, listened to some music for the band, and finished my webcomic drawings and posted. Also sent in a voice-over audition but didn't get much else done.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week. I again focused on meeting my protein goals and managed to do it 5 days out of 7! (One of those was of course the restaurant day, and the other was the day Kari and I had pizza.) 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 Thursday at 10,099 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 12,062 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. Three-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 32.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Rockin' in the Free World" by the Neil Young.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1111: weaver #170: room in my room.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

My bad photo of the lunar eclipse

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,458 for swankivy (1 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 736 for swankivy (no change), 3,322 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 622 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 243 followers for So You Write (1 new), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (1 new). Tumblr followers: 2,407 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 325 (3 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 484 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday - August 15 – August 21

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did my exercise and morning routine stuff early so I could be free to hang out with Jeaux and play a video game. This is the second time he's brought his system over for us to play Split Fiction. I did better this time but I still was probably pretty frustrating for a seasoned gamer to play with, and the game is collaborative, so I have to hold up my end at bare-minimum levels at least. We got pizza too. And as he was leaving we found a tiny snake in the house. Only my second time finding a baby ringneck! After he left I did my blogging, walking, and Poloing. Didn't get to work on my short story.
  
  
• Sunday I did my laundry early and sent a Polo to Meg, and got my trash taken care of. I read some of the book I'm in the middle of. And I spent most of the rest of the day just writing a big chunk of my new story "The Wagon."
  
  
• Monday I had a letter due and project research to do at work. I ordered some more of the collector balls from Five Below and still didn't get my coveted figure. Meg sent me a longish Polo to listen to. Did my workout and it was a tough new one but at least the workout lady had a cute dog that kept wandering into the shot. Then I finally got to work on "The Wagon" and finished it. And I even had time to do a first edit to try to cut the word count down since, as per usual, the word count is too high.
  
  
• Tuesday at work involved a meeting and some utility stuff and some proposal stuff. Other than that, all I did was hack the word count down on my new story. Also sent a Polo to Meg and got my walking, reading, and unsuccessful collector-ball ordering done.
  
  
• Wednesday I had a meeting and utilities to deal with and an internal meeting for proposal planning. I finally got my word count down below the 10,000-word cap (comically hitting 9,999). But there's work to do yet. Did some dishes and ordered more balls and was unsuccessful AGAIN. I played DDR and submitted a query. Then Jeaux came. We ate at a new place called Beijing House. I had some lo mein with broccoli. Jeaux and I told each other silly stories and finally finished watching Secrets of the Silent Witch. After he left I put in a voice-over audition and slept.
  
  
• Thursday was uneventful at the office. I developed a proposal for a publisher for one of my novellas and sent it in. And I wrote the storyboard for my comic. Meg and Jeaux independently went to Five Below stores looking for the figure I can't find! Meg was only able to get one and it wasn't the one I need. Jeaux went to a Five Below store and found like 17 of them, and STILL NONE OF THEM WAS WHAT I NEED. Ugh! Beginning to think it doesn't exist, except that I've seen pictures of other people getting it in unboxings. Played games with the friends and drew a little. Didn't get much done besides walking after getting off games.
  
  
• Friday I had computer issues for the first hour of my work day. I barely made it back online in time for a meeting. I went to the meeting and did some reports and timesheet stuff. Then after work I did my comic, played DDR, listened to a Polo from Ben and sent one to him, did some editing, and finally cleaned out my inbox. (I had a bunch of mostly receipts from ordering Five Below balls, and bills. No correspondence.)

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week except one--I fell asleep early and didn't have fruit for my evening snack, so I suck. I again focused on meeting my protein goals and managed to do it 5 days out of 7! (One of those was of course the restaurant day) Good job me! 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 Tuesday at 10,206 steps, and my high day was Friday at 11,819 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 338.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "The Breakup Song" by the Greg Kihn Band.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1110: ivy #368: inside this frame.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

My brown sugar espresso latte at Beijing House

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,457 for swankivy (2 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 736 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,327 for JulieSondra (no change). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 623 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 followers for So You Write (no change), 99 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (lost 1). Tumblr followers: 2,408 (no change). Instagram followers: 322 (2 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 482 (6 new).

Personal Digest Saturday - August 8 – August 14

Life news this week:

• Saturday I went out to Five Below to try to see if they had a difficult-to-find Steven Universe item. They did not have it but I did get a new poster I didn't have! And some candy and fun stuff for Jeaux. Then at home I worked on the photo gallery for my most recent convention experience, read some of the book I'm reading, read over an old planner that belonged to Mom, and worked on my blogging. I also did finally do some work on my book.
  
  
• Sunday I spent the whole day either working on a significant voice-over product or working on my writing. I also did an aerobics video and did my laundry and trash chores. Got my voice acting website updated with the latest stuff.
  
  
• Monday was just usual housekeeping at work but we didn't have any letters going out. Worked on my new story for a while and put away laundry. Finished watching the TV show The Residence. It was very ambitious. Ordered some of the difficult-to-find item from Five Below because there was suddenly an option to do so. Did some voice-over auditions. Read.
  
  
• Tuesday I saw Tony outside. He told me his girlfriend has passed away. (She had cancer.) I knew it was coming but it's so sad. At work I did my data entry and timesheet stuff. The charms I ordered didn't include the one hard-to-find one I'm looking for so I ordered more. (They have a five-item limit so I couldn't just order a bunch.) Played DDR. Redecorated my house for the first harvest. And I started writing a new short story that is currently called "The Wagon." I wrote over 3,000 words on it.
  
  
• Wednesday I did some work on a subconsultant package and organized timesheet packets for invoicing for my boss. Did some reading and some walking. Did some dishes. Sent a query. Talked to Meg on Polo. Jeaux came over and we shopped at Michaels and Office Depot before eating at Mandola's and shopping for groceries. We got back to my place kind of late so we just shared silly internet things with each other and didn't make time to watch any shows.
  
  
• Thursday at work I did some utility coordination and project research. Wrote my comic and a little more on "The Wagon." Did some exercise. Talked on Polo. Submitted a short story. Got more of the charm balls and still didn't get the rare figure. Argh! I went to game night and worked on my story a little more at night.
  
  
• Friday I did my usual reports and some utility coordination. Worked on some writing and the rest of my comic. Read some of the book I'm reading and reread some of the books I'm writing. Wrote more on "The Wagon." Got more charm balls and still didn't get the rare figure. WOW. I swear being an obsessive collector is a pain in the butt.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• If you want to hear some of the teaser shorts for a science fiction audio drama I play a major character in, check out the YouTube account on the linked page.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week. I worked very hard on meeting my protein goals this week and managed to do it 6 days out of 7! (Couldn't make it work on the restaurant day.) Good job me! 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 Thursday at 10,026 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,791 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 280.

New singing performances:

None.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1109: adele #270: the darkness i miss.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,455 for swankivy (7 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (lost 1), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 737 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,327 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (lost 1, don't know who hit the road, but byeee!), 623 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,408 (no change). Instagram followers: 320 (1 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 476 (lost 1).

Personal Digest Saturday - August 1 – August 7

Life news this week:

• Saturday was Metrocon. I got dressed in a cute Cookie Cat–themed outfit and Jeaux drove me to the convention center. I got through the line quickly because it was early. Jeaux was not as lucky--he went home to change and had some drama with his outfit, so he ended up being a lot later and the place was mobbed by the time he got in line. So I was on my own without him for a while. I walked around and photographed costumes, went to the Epic: The Musical singalong panel, and checked out some vendors. After Jeaux arrived we walked around looking at costumes some more, waited in line to play DDR (I did well), and walked off the grounds to get lunch at American Social. Then we went back to the con and just explored the dealer room, enjoyed more costumes, and rested here and there. After, we went to his apartment and hung out for a while, then he drove me home. I took a quick nap and then got up to do my blogging (which was double the amount I usually do because I had to do my Saturday update AND my monthly goals update). How meta, I'm blogging about blogging.
  
  
• Sunday I worked on my story a little but not as much as I wanted. I did my chores with laundry and trash as usual, replied to some messages, and read a script for a role I've been offered for voice-over.
  
  
• Monday at work I had a letter due and edited it. Sent out some teaming invites too. Did a bunch of writing on the new story (which I guess has become a book). Sent Meg a Polo. Did a new exercise video for aerobics and it was incredibly creepy. Never again with these soulless smiling ladies. I put away laundry and did some upgrades on my sound recorder and messed with settings to get a better recording setup but it wasn't as successful as I wanted. I did do one audition as well.
  
  
• Tuesday I had a meeting at work and did some data entry and various update things. Walked to the post office to drop off an eBay package. Read some of a book. Wrote my butt off for the new story. Talked to friends on Discord.
  
  
• Wednesday I had a meeting at work and had to bother teaming partners and fix some data entry stuff. We had a power outage for like an hour! But it came back before anything got too bad. (I worry about the temperature and losing my food.) I did DDR and sent out a query. Did some dishes. After work Jeaux took me to Grain & Berry and on a disappointing shopping trip. We watched silly videos and some more of The Silent Witch. After he left I read over some of my book.
  
  
• Thursday I had to do more data entry and map out a proposal and go to a meeting. I did a Polo for Meg. Wrote my comic. Took a nap. Went to game night and drew a little and wrote a little (well, a very little).
  
  
• Friday I did my usual work stuff plus some data entry. Listened to Epic: The Musical between drawings. Read over my book some more. Posted my webcomic, played DDR, sent Ben a Polo, and read more.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week. I only met the protein goals once. I have absolutely not been using my tracking app to make any decisions about balancing, and seeing that I only managed ONCE this week is kind of surprising. So I will work on it for this next week and see if I can get it back up. 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 Wednesday at 10,103 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 15,547 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 233.

New singing performances:

None.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1108: ivy #367: finally.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Convention photos! There's a whole album here, but here are a few faves.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,448 for swankivy (6 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) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 738 for swankivy (no change), 3,330 for JulieSondra (lost 4). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (lost 1, don't know who hit the road, but byeee!), 623 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,408 (1 new). Instagram followers: 319 (3 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 477 (4 new).

July Goals Update

August has arrived, and so . . . let's have a look back at how July worked out for me in terms of goals and resolutions!

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: I didn't miss any goals on the walking or exercising again this month, got all my water allotments, and got all my intended servings of fruits and veggies in all days but one (when I was busy with my musical performance in Sarasota). I lapsed quite a lot on the protein goals, which is a soft goal anyway but I hope I'll do better through August. The two health professional visits I still have not yet taken care of for the year are my dental checkup and my eye doctor visit/vision screening--I plan to get the vision appointment scheduled this next month, and haven't decided when I'll do the dentist.

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: My YA novel In Bloom still has some additional feedback I haven't incorporated from a beta reader, but that one's on submission. I also received edits for my short story "Aquarius" that will be published next year, and sat down and tackled the edits this month. They are due in August but I'll spend a little more time with them before I send them in to the editors.

WRITING: So. Weird change of plans. I had a plan that I would start a new novel this year and intended it to be a back-burner project that I would start working on again, but a new short story idea jumped up and bit me, and as I started writing it, I realized the scope is NOT going to fit into a short story. So it turns out I'm over 30,000 words into a new novel, all sprayed onto the page firehose style over the course of the last few weeks. This one seems like it's going to be a fast draft and then we'll see what happens. I'm pretty excited.

SUBMISSIONS: I'm querying for the completed YA book and am still sending out short stories periodically. No movement on the query yet--I swear it takes a LOT longer than it used to. I still have THREE outstanding statements of interest from different publishers all on the same novella ("Karma is Dead"). No new sales on short stories. I have one waiting to be published in November and one waiting to be published in January.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I increased the "assignments" when I had enough space in my schedule to dig into the journals searching for dates, but there hasn't been a huge push forward this month. Just some slow and steady progress.

VOICE ACTING: I've done fewer auditions this month, but there have been some releases of projects I did voices on: I have a bit part in the beginning of this one and a major role toward the end of this feature-length one. I have been awarded one new major role in a portfolio project as well and will be reading over the script this weekend.

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 band had its first four-hour performance at a restaurant. It was a good experience but also required a lot of practice and time getting ready. I haven't been making karaoke songs on the karaoke website lately.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS:

Summary: I missed just one "assigned" reading day this month. I'm still not reading a whole lot per day most times but I don't consider myself in any rush to finish books.

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 have done no extra journaling. I owe a few e-mails but I plan to work on them this weekend.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I have no specific plan for selling the stuff I need to sell from my garage but it's still in the "I'll get to this at some point" phase. I've had some issues with some of my plants--several died and one I'm still trying to save. My night routine has been a little haphazard--usually I have time to do my skin care stuff but I'm finding myself sleeping in my clothes sometimes instead of changing into comfy pajamas and that's not what I want to do. We'll see how next month goes.