Personal Digest Saturday: June 22 – June 28

Life news this week:

• Saturday began another week that was just as busy as the previous week for some reason! I hung out with Meghan and we didn't really have an agenda, which was nice to do for once. She and I ate at Burger Monger (I had a Beyond Burger!) and had artichokes for dinner. We also watched some animatics from the Steven Universe DVD and just enjoyed each other's company.
  
• Sunday Meghan and I hung out in the morning and then she left to go home. I spent the afternoon chilling at my table, doing laundry, and doing a bunch of preparation for the upcoming team interview with my co-workers, as well as writing my speech for my upcoming USF talk. It was pretty intense work but I did all the research I needed for work and got the talk written as well. I did karaoke and then got a transcript done for work, but couldn't finish the other transcript that had been assigned to me.
  
• Monday was very busy at the office. I had a long letter to edit (and it was more of a pain than usual fitting it into the page requirement), plus I had to finish the other transcript, order lunch for the interview practice group, and rehearse with the team. I've never been to an interview before, not in 13 years of supporting engineers! I had to be ready in case they asked a utility question because I'm the utility coordinator. Unfortunately the air conditioning also died so we were very uncomfortable. When I got home I finished the transcript and transferred my USF talk to index cards. I went to sleep early.
  
• Tuesday I got to work early, ate donuts, suffered in the heat because of no air conditioning, and rehearsed one more time with the group. There was a mini-crisis because of spilled water that got all over our map that we had to bring. We had to make another one. We made it over to the DOT and had our interview. We DID have to answer a utilities question! I'm glad I was prepared! After that, I had some research to do back at the office, but I was able to go home early and get a little rest before the USF talk. I practiced the talk one time and it was short enough to fit in the time slot. I took a Lyft over to the USF Library and met with the organizer, Eric, who was very accommodating and pleasant. The talk went well and the members of the group were attentive and engaged. I spoke on traditional publication and some Pitch Wars stuff. After, Eric and I went out to eat Thai food and talk about publishing and science fiction. It was nice! After it was over, I crashed.
  
• Wednesday I got up early and read a Steven Universe comic online before going to work. When I got in, the copy machine AND the AC were broken. What a day! I wrangled repair options and didn't have that much stuff to do beyond that, though I found plenty to keep me busy. Did an errand and picked up the physical copies of my comics. After work, I met Jeaux at my house because he no longer gets off at a time that is convenient to pick me up. We ate at Moe's and shopped at Publix, watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and had some adventures with a flipped breaker and a giant frog in my bathroom. I can't get a break--stuff is always exciting and tiring.
  
• Thursday it was cooler because of the previous night's rain. The copy machine got fixed but the air conditioning keeps not being fixed. I did some catch-up work and then after I got home I built a bizarre Pile of Food from a Steven Universe episode. I ate what I could of it and fell asleep early.
  
• Friday was another hot day. The air conditioning was better but still not fixed. I did some drawing and silly stuff, tried to organize my login info for an upcoming data entry job I'll be doing, and after work I had to work on my comic. Victor came over and I finished my comic while he was here. Then we ate burritos and watched a silly sketch comedy television show.

New reviews of my book:

• Alice Lemon gave it a four-star review on Goodreads.

Diet progress:

Check out my nutrition readout. There was too much social stuff and weird eating to really see any progress. I'm making the screencaps smaller to avoid it being so ugly on the blog.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Haven't finished the current book, but I read #29 of the ongoing Steven Universe comic book series and I gave it a five-star review.
• Currently reading: The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Wrong Impression" by Natalie Imbruglia.




Stuff Drawn:



Webcomic Negative One Issue 0737: "Wrong Before."






New videos:

None, but working on it!

New photos:

Meghan and me waiting for our food at Burger Monger

My Beyond Burger!

Gals with their artichokes

What I wore to the office interview

PILE OF FOOD based on a cartoon

Victor helping me eat the Piles of Food

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,257 for swankivy (2 new), 681 for JulieSondra (1 new). Twitter followers: 970 for swankivy (lost 1), 1,340 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 293 friends (1 new, but it's actually just the new account of someone who was already friends with me) and 205 followers (lost 2) for swankivy, 646 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 151 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,516 (no change). Instagram followers: 180 (no change).

Wednesday Factoid: Exotic Pets

Today's Wednesday Factoid is: Have you ever had, do you currently have, or would you want to have an exotic pet?

No, definitely not.

My family once had an iguana! I did not take care of it or interact with it. (I think we named it Phydeaux.)

Eventually our pest control lady ended up adopting our iguana because she loved iguanas and had some, and the people in my house didn't really know the best care for them.

I also was given a hermit crab when I was a child, but apparently it died before it was given to me because I tried to gently pick it up by the shell and it fell out of the shell motionless. It was pretty awful.

Uh, and my sister had betta fish, parakeets, and a newt?

But I never had any of these animals. 

I'm not into pets (not even typical ones) and definitely wouldn't want the extra responsibility of taking care of "exotic" creatures.

Personal Digest Saturday: June 15 – June 21

Life news this week:

• Saturday was a bit of a slow day at first, and then I cleaned up the kitchen and made some funny Steven Universe—inspired cereal and baby food. I made a post about it on the Amino and it was picked for a front-page feature, which always amuses me. I had some problems with my oven and my new coffeemaker didn't work, so that was sad. Also got some nice compliments on Reddit and made plans with my friend Steve. I made some blondies for the next day's barbecue. And I found out I got approved to do a panel at Metrocon! I'm going to run a panel about Steven Universe. Yay.
• Sunday was Father's Day and Day 1 of Social Madness. I had a coffee breakfast and brought veggie dogs to a barbecue at my sister's in-laws' house, and I hung out with my dad and sister. I had some delicious grilled food (veggie dog and a veggie burger!) and then after the event, I did my usual Sunday laundry and karaoke.
• Monday I got buried under business letters to submit and shared some leftover blondies with my co-workers. It was a really busy day. And our team got on the shortlist for a project so that's awesome. It was raining when work ended and Steve picked me up. We ate at the Thai restaurant Sawatdee and I had pad thai. We caught up and chatted for the entire rest of the evening, which was terrific, and then he left and I went to bed early.
• Tuesday was also busy. I did a bunch of editing and after work I went out with my friends Yasmin and Arthur. We also had Thai food and I ordered pad thai, but at a different Thai restaurant called Singha (which also serves Viet food). Afterwards, we chilled at my place singing karaoke and playing with cartoons and talking. I got sick after and had to spend the evening in bed, but I recovered quickly.
• Wednesday I was late to work because I had to go to the post office to mail a co-worker's shirts. Got in and missed part of a meeting but it was okay. My boss was back from his international trip and he had brought us sweets from India! Yay! I did some more editing and interview preparation, because I'm supposed to go with the team to an interview next week. I did some transcripts and some research. Then after work I ate at Which Wich? with Jeaux and we shopped at Publix and caught up on Night Vale.
• Thursday morning was like the hottest walk to the bus stop ever. I worked and did more editing and interview prep. So much to do! Also had some computer difficulties. Argh. Thursday was the only day this week I didn't have social plans! But I still talked to Victor and drew my comic while talking to him. Updated a couple websites and posted funny pictures.
• Friday was another VERY busy day at the office--meetings and timesheets and reports galore. Then after work I scrambled to get my comic posted so I could hang out with Meghan. My Steven Universe trading cards came in! So exciting! So Jeaux came by and we all sat around opening trading card packs and recording it for the Internet. We ate Boston Market food and had a good time. It is great to see Meg again.

New reviews of my book:

• Chelsea Lyn Roden gave it a five-star review on Goodreads.

Diet progress:

Check out my nutrition readout. Nothing special.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli. Three-star review.
• Currently reading: The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Superman" by Five for Fighting.




Stuff Drawn:



Webcomic Negative One Issue 0736: "The Same Age."






New videos:

Just made a video about unboxing my trading cards!




New photos:

The "Tasty" cereal and mushed-up carrots I made based on SU food this weekend

Mushed-up carrots are good.

Me with a large Garnet.

Father's Day with Lindsay and Dad!

First photo with new friend Steve!

Quilt made for me by Connie in my favorite colors, pink and black!

With Yasmin and Arthur in the Thai restaurant

Arthur singing karaoke

Yasmin sings karaoke

Jeaux is in my kitchen for no reason.

Me in my new Pearl dress!

My collection of six SU dresses!

A complete set of the base card set!

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,255 for swankivy (lost 4), 680 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Twitter followers: 971 for swankivy (2 new), 1,339 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 292 friends (no change, but someone unfriended me, not sure who, and I friended a new person who's into trading cards) and 207 followers (no change) for swankivy, 647 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 151 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,516 (lost 2). Instagram followers: 180 (1 new).

Wednesday Factoid: New Friend

Today's Wednesday Factoid is: What's the first thing you always want to do with/show to/experience with a new friend?

Oh yeah, I like this one!

When I make a new friend and we are intent on discovering all of each other's awesome stuff, here are the things I like to do with them or expose them to:

• Make homemade pizzas from scratch together
• Give or lend them a copy of my book or link them to short stories
• Expose them to my favorite musicals or musicians and ask for theirs
• Probably follow each other on social media where appropriate
• Watch Steven Universe together if they're not a fan yet
• Visit a cool local bookstore I like and patronize their café
• Find out their taste in books and share recommendations
• Invite them to my Halloween party

Personal Digest Saturday: June 8 – June 14

Life news this week:

• Saturday my mother got kidnapped by aliens and left a stranger in her place. She came to pick me up and she was EARLY. ????? Anyway, she needed help installing a shower head so I went over there and did it for her and cleaned the bathroom a little but it didn't really need it! She seems to be doing better than usual and has a new car. (Well, a used car that's new to her.) She ate two of my brownies and loved them, and told me later how much she was enjoying them. More evidence that she's a replacement sent by aliens. After I got home, I did my blogging, talked to Meggie on the phone, and played with my new karaoke microphone thingie.
• Sunday was too rainy to sit at my table. Bummer! Did laundry and had a slow and unproductive day. I did draw a cute picture and process a video, though. And I got up to date with a couple posts I'd been meaning to make.
• Monday I did some editing and some working. Pretty slow day. Didn't get much done and just looked at Reddit. Did some laundry and karaoke that I didn't get done on Sunday.
• Tuesday I narrowly missed the rain while taking the bus to work. I had to do a letter for work and not much else was really going on so I just did my documentation. Finished a traditional version of the digital coloring I'd done the other day and I played DDR and played quizzes and texted with my sister about cartoons.
• Wednesday was more editing at work. After, Jeaux picked me up for eating at Perkins and shopping at Target. After, we watched some Brooklyn Nine-Nine and listened to Night Vale. I got some drawing done. Someone on Amino wants to challenge me on quiz scores but they're nowhere near beating me so I don't know why. Also I found out my book is out in Japan, in the Japanese translation.
• Thursday was a wash because I was super distracted by new news about Steven Universe. The movie we've known about for a while had some details dropped and I obsessed over it a bunch of the day and chatted with a friend. I talked to Victor on the phone and drew comics.
• Friday I basically just did editing all day and finished my comic in the evening. My house is kind of a wreck and I didn't do anything about it. A drunk guy harassed me at the bus stop. And I found one of the comics I've been looking for for almost a year! I'm thrilled!

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The Japanese Amazon.com page for my book is allowing purchase now. There are a couple Japanese reviews:
• One five-star rating from an Amazon Japan customer: (Google translate review): "We purchased as a clue to look for the research paper of sexual. Reference data and URL are described and it is likely to search for articles from this. The contents of the book were mainly inspired by the sexual parties and people around sexuality. Common misunderstandings and discrimination from social systems are summarized in an easy-to-understand manner. If you are looking for an introduction to learning about sexuality, I would recommend purchasing it."

• One five-star rating from an Amazon Japan customer: (Google translate review): "It is said that about 1% of the population exists. However, in Japan, about sexually explicit, it was about written on LGBT book in 1 or 2 pages, to a degree of apology. This book is a very easy-to-understand explanation of everything from basic matters to answers to common questions and biases, all in one volume. Although it is a translation, it is a universal content that is also useful to Japanese people in the world. Of course it is useful for the people of sexuality, but it is also a deep book that makes them aware of their sexuality beliefs, even for those who are not."

Here's the Japanese cover:

Diet progress:

Check out my nutrition readout. What's weird is I again got my lowest weight so far, but it kept jumping around and being higher at the end of the week! I'll keep exercising and doing what I'm doing and hopefully it'll continue to have a new low point each week.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Dean and Shannon Hale. Five-star review.
• Currently reading: Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "I'm the Only One" by Melissa Etheridge.




Stuff Drawn:

Here is my attempt to draw the same drawing using traditional methods and digital methods.

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0735: "Tantrum."






New videos:

Just a long and silly video with Victor from a couple months ago when we opened our Universal Yums box for Ukraine.

v & V try Universal Yums: Ukraine!


New photos:

Jeaux and I accidentally wore the same shirt.

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,259 for swankivy (3 new), 681 for JulieSondra (no change). Twitter followers: 969 for swankivy (1 new), 1,336 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 292 friends (no change) and 207 followers (no change) for swankivy, 647 likes for JulieSondra (2 new), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 151 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,518 (2 new). Instagram followers: 179 (lost 1).

Wednesday Factoid: Giving Up

Today's Wednesday Factoid is: Tell about a time you gave up on something you tried to do, and why.

The only class I ever dropped in college was Meteorology.

I don't even understand why I was allowed to take it in the first place. It was listed as a 1000 level class (entry level) and only had a high school prerequisite for having taken physics (I did, though I got a C in the damn class). This class was so bafflingly beyond my capabilities that I was ABSOLUTELY COMPLETELY LOST within the first 20 minutes of the first day.

I gave it a pretty good try, too, even though I knew I wasn't good at it. It had enough math in it that it was going to satisfy a math credit for my graduation requirements, and if I could pass, I wouldn't have to take a straight-up math class. I actually worked really hard on homework and everything, and my roommate's boyfriend was in the class because he wanted to be a weatherman (lol), so we sat together and he gave me some pointers but he never studied with me or anything.

I just couldn't pass the tests though. I think I failed a couple and then just dropped the class. It was a relief but pretty disappointing that even when I applied myself I just couldn't do all this vector nonsense.

I leave it to the physics geeks! I ended up taking a basically remedial math class for credit and passing with a B. (I'd already taken College Algebra but they wouldn't award me the credit because I got a D, so I had to take this applied math thing. Nobody's good at everything.)

Personal Digest Saturday: June 1 – June 7

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up and Victor fixed my coffee machine. I got caffeinated and then we did our Universal Yums box video, which turned out to be from Korea! Korean snacks! Yes! It was a good day and he left to go do his thing so I worked on my blogging and argued with an ass on Reddit.
  
• Sunday I had a lovely day! Got out to the table early and had my coffee, chilled, argued on the Internet, and answered some messages. Talked to Mom on the phone and had a nice chat, hung up my new prized possession (a San Diego Comic Con Steven Universe poster from 2014 signed by Rebecca Sugar and Ian Jones-Quartey!), and got all my chores done. Fell asleep super early.
  
• Monday I walked to the bus stop and people were being gross at the stop (including one dude who called me baby and another guy who tried to give me the pork chop he was eating off of), so I went to the post office and got a paid ride from there. Work was slow--we usually have letters to do but they were moved to Tuesday and everyone was at a conference. After going home, I talked to my sister on the phone and finished laundry. Then I played Dance Dance Revolution and did a bunch of digital organization.
  
• Tuesday I had to prepare a letter, but I worked from home! I had to struggle with the remote technology but we got it working, and mostly I had the day off (the water guys came and fixed my tank thingie!) but I got the letter formatted and sent out for my boss. I also sent out a comic book to someone who bought it from me through eBay. My mom told me she got a new car finally! But she didn't come over to show it to me. I baked a Cookie Cat cake.
  
• Wednesday I went back to work and the air conditioner was getting repaired. I helped one of my friends with job applications and worked on some editing. Went to CiCi's Pizza with Jeaux and shopped at Publix. We finished watching What We Do in the Shadows and She-Ra so we had time to catch up on Night Vale. I put another icing coat on my Cookie Cake and sent some with Jeaux to give to Victor.
  
• Thursday wasn't busy either. I did some editing and organization. After work I talked to Victor and drew comics. And I made a funny post with some toys.
  
• Friday I did reports and timesheets and editing at work. After work I finished my comics and listened to podcasts and made another funny post about updated an outdated cartoon book. 

New reviews of my book:

• Hope Martin gave it a five-star review on Goodreads.

Diet progress:

Check out my nutrition readout. I got in more exercise this week and I did have a lower low point than any so far, but my weight chart goes back up at the end again. Maybe because of brownie cake?? In any case it's only really small fluctuations, which I guess is expected considering the very small scale of my efforts.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Didn't finish any books this week!
• Currently reading: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Angry Johnny" by Poe.




Stuff Drawn:




Webcomic Negative One Issue 0734: "What Children Have I Known?."






New videos:

None.

New photos:

Universal Yums from Korea!

5 years of SDCC posters!

48 Steven Universe shirts!

Wearing the new "Believe in Steven" shirt.

And the Cookie Cake pics:

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,256 for swankivy (4 new), 681 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Twitter followers: 968 for swankivy (no change), 1,338 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 292 friends (no change) and 207 followers (1 new) for swankivy, 645 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 151 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,516 (no change). Instagram followers: 180 (lost 1).

Wednesday Factoid: Near-Death Experience

Today's Wednesday Factoid is: Have you ever had a near-death experience or been through something you actually thought you were not going to survive?

Hm. I don't think so.

I've been to the emergency room once. I didn't think I was going to die, but I'd been having fairly frequent episodes of unexplained rapid heartbeat and this time I was also trembling for a long time and didn't seem to be able to stop it no matter how long I waited for it to pass. It was never explained. I saw a cardiologist and everything. They had a theory that I might have a certain syndrome but it turned out I didn't. It stopped happening and I still don't know why. But that's the only time I've gone to the emergency room for myself.

And even there I took selfies

I worried we were going to die when Hurricane Irma barrelled into my state mean and ugly, but that's not the same thing as a near-death experience.

And once I got hit by a car while I was on my bike, but it was over so fast and when I was lying in the road I already knew I wasn't very hurt, so I had no suspicion that I was about to die.

Never really had any close calls or issues, and have never been very sick.

Personal Digest Saturday: May 25 – May 31

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got some blogging done in the daytime and then in the afternoon went out with Jeaux to buy him a futon for his big 40th birthday! Hooray. His car is too small to carry such things so we had to rent a U-Haul van, but we got it done. We also ate at Five Guys and I got a video processed. Something funny happened too: I met another Steven Universe collector freak on Tumblr and they turned out to be the person I was bidding against to win a poster on eBay. Whoops!
• Sunday I had invited my mom over but she just completely didn't answer any of my communication so I didn't have any company on Sunday. I hung out at my table, which I always love doing, and composed a nice message to Eve, someone I hope is going to be a great friend for me in the future! I also won another eBay auction, did laundry, and argued with a homophobe on Reddit. Good times.
• Monday I completed a theory essay about cartoons and it got featured on the Amino. My mom continued to be inconsistent with her responses and said she fell down again but not to worry about her. Argh. My coffee maker broke and I had to fish out my old one and clean it up really good so I could become caffeinated. Finished a comic for So You Write. Did some video editing on some v & V videos, and got my karaoke and laundry done too. And I baked an ube cake again. This was the prettiest yet.
• Tuesday it was back to work. We had three letters to get out and one was a long boy. AND we had an office meeting. So very busy work day. Went home and played DDR for the first time in a while! Mostly just spent some time updating my collection stuff and puttering around online.
• Wednesday I helped co-workers with computer stuff. Got a recipe and went shopping with Jeaux. We ate at Panera and he got his hair cut. We watched What We Do in the Shadows and She-Ra and enjoyed hanging out.
• Thursday wasn't too busy at the office but I had to help one of my co-workers some of the day. At home I cleaned up some crap I'd had lying around, chatted to Meghan on the phone, made a kugel, and got some of my drawings done for my webcomic.
• Friday was a pretty quiet day at the office except for some letter prep. After I went home I finished my comic and hadn't quite finished processing it when Victor arrived. He gave me some time to finish and I also unboxed a bunch of cool posters I bought. He had been napping. When he woke up we ate kugel, drank Manischewitz wine, and watched Fiddler on the Roof: three things that were new to him! We had a good night.

Articles, Interviews, Mentions:

• The publication of my book seems to have been added to a Wikipedia timeline of asexual history.
• When unimportant relationships are important: Siggy wrote a ramble that bounced off one of my rambles on The Asexual Agenda last week and I forgot to mention it.

New reviews of my book:

• SongoftheWolf gave it a five-star review on Goodreads, recommending it as a primer and an intermediate resource.

Diet progress:

Check out my nutrition readout. I did do some exercise this week but weirdly even though I had a new low weight this week, it didn't stay there toward the end of the week. That's okay though!

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Four-star review.
• Finished this week: Steven Universe Ongoing Comic #28. Four-star review.
• Currently reading: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "My Funny Valentine" from Babes in Arms.


Stuff Drawn:




Webcomic So You Write Issue 96: "Montage."










Webcomic Negative One Issue 0733: "Fun Day."






New videos:

Letters to an Asexual #68 is about someone who has nothing ~against~ asexual people--he just thinks we deserve pity and stuff!



And a couple newly processed but older videos for my new channel with Victor:

We try starfruit:



We try snacks from Italy:



New photos:

Whipping egg whites for ube cake!

Mixing in ube!

Delicious finished ube roll cake

A slice!

A shot of all my SU bags

A kugel! Some of the noodles got a tiny bit crispy.

Victor enjoying his first kugel

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,252 for swankivy (lost 3), 682 for JulieSondra (no change). Twitter followers: 968 for swankivy (no change), 1,339 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 292 friends (lost 1--I unfriended someone because he just made too many snotty privileged comments that made my stomach turn) and 206 followers (lost 1) for swankivy, 646 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 151 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,516 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 181 (lost 1).