Personal Digest Saturday: November 23 – November 29

Life news this week:

• Saturday was mostly a day for Internet errands. I processed photos, did book reviews, deleted a bunch of phone photos to free up space, and did some updates to my Amino collections. Also worked on my book. I returned a call to my dad that I'd missed and he surprised me by saying he was marrying his longtime partner in just a couple days. Wow! In the evening I just worked on some podcast stuff.
  
• Sunday I did laundry, worked on my book, and met up with Daria to do our podcast recordings for episodes 3 and 4. Then I did some planning for our next podcasts.
  
• Monday I did work on proposal plans at work. Besides that, I did work on my book and more podcast prep. I did another recording session with Daria for episodes 5 and 6. And then I did nothing. My dad officially got married! It was a courthouse thing and I wasn't there.
  
• Tuesday I did data entry, proposal stuff, and writing. I finally got to see Steve again and we went out to pizza and chilled at my house and ate Cookie Cats. So nice to catch up in person! After he left I recorded a new ace video.
  
• Wednesday was kinda frustrating at work, but I got through it. I did data entry and sent three proposal plans to my boss! Whee. I worked on my book and went to Burger Monger with Jeaux. Then we finished watching She-Ra and after he left I baked a cake and played with trading cards.
  
• Thursday we had the day off for Thanksgiving. I baked some rolls in the morning and went to my mom's with Victor and Jeaux. We had a great time playing games and eating the food. My mom kept apologizing for being exhausted and needing to rest but she did so well! She seemed to be in a really good mood and engaged with us and everything. We played one more board game and ate the cake I'd made for dessert, and then we all went home.
  
• Friday I also had the day off from work. I spent most of it working on the webcoming and closing in on completing National Novel Writing Month. Didn't quite make it but I have one more day to meet the quota. Texted with my friend Victor about helping him get through the month since he's not yet employed. Jeaux wanted to go buy a cheap Nook e-reader from an online seller so he convinced me to go with him. We met the person and bought it, and Jeaux bought me a Denny's dinner. Then I finished my webcomic and went to sleep.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

Duck Soup quotes my book in an asexuality discussion.

NaNoWriMo progress:

• Saturday, November 23: 1,752 words.
• Sunday, November 24: 1,742 words.
• Monday, November 25: 1,884 words.
• Tuesday, November 26: 1,949 words.
• Wednesday, November 27: 981 words.
• Thursday, November 28: 1,896 words.
• Friday, November 29: 1,790 words.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: No books finished this week!

• Currently reading: When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis. I'm on page 148.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Other Friends" from Steven Universe.




Stuff Drawn:

Some cool keys I drew on an envelope at work

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0759: "Paying Attention."









New videos: 

Letters to an Asexual #73 is about how men think I should be catering to their needs to the exclusion of mine.



New photos:

Updated drink receptacle collection

Steve & me with Cookie Cats!

Yeasty Boys for Thanksgiving

Mom and my friends eating

Dessert: My homemade pound cake!

Victor and Jeaux playing games!

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,265 for swankivy (3 new), 681 for JulieSondra (1 new), 15 for v & V Vids (lost 1), 18 for Not-So-Giant Women (4 new). Twitter followers: 976 for swankivy (1 new), 1,354 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 294 friends (no change) and 210 followers (2 new) for swankivy, 649 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 63 likes for Negative One (no change), 163 likes for So You Write (no change), 21 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (3 new). Tumblr followers: 2,508 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 188 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 16 – November 22

Life news this week:

• Saturday I spent catching up on a lot of stuff. I drank a lot of coffee because it was cold in the house and I didn't want to turn on the heat. I cleaned the dishes and I broke one of my Steven Universe drinking glasses! I bought a replacement online. I managed to clean and straighten up my whole house, which I'd let go for a little while, and felt much better. Then I did blogging and writing for NaNo, talked to my friend Steve, and huddled under an electric blanket for most of the night.
• Sunday I got up pretty late but still did a lot. Did laundry, cleaned up some more, and worked on my ridiculous purple pear cake. I basically spent the whole day on it, and even though I made up a lot of the recipe stuff and included some substitutions, everything went right! In between making it, I talked to my sister to finalize our thoughts on Mom's Medicare, did karaoke, took out the trash, and got my writing done for NaNo.
• Monday I spent a bunch of time on proposals at work. At home I worked on my book for NaNo, received a featured post on Amino for my purple pear cake, and received my cool pink vinyl of the SU movie soundtrack.
• Tuesday I spent the majority of the day on proposals again. At home I finished my NaNo words and spent the evening working on editing the first episode of my podcast pilot with Daria! It took a long time. Oof. I also stayed up until a comic came out for Steven Universe and then I reviewed it and went to bed.
• Wednesday was the launch for our new podcast, Not-So-Giant Women! It's just Daria and me talking about Steven Universe; she's new to the show so each episode is a fresh reaction from her and then we discuss! Please subscribe if you're into that.
• I was late getting up on Wednesday so I took Lyft to work. My driver recognized my shirt from SU and excitedly talked to me about the show--right at the end of the ride. Too bad, if she'd noticed it earlier we could have been talking the whole ride! Awww. At work I did proposal and letter stuff. I took a field trip to get comics at the end of the day. Jeaux came over after work and we ate at Applebee's. Then we watched She-Ra.
• Thursday I took a day off work! My garage door was busted so I had a repair person come help me. Since I had the day off, I invited Mom to come over and SHE WAS EARLY. I signed her up for the Medicare plans my sister and I had decided on for her and it's finally done. Also I had to argue with her previous insurance company a little because I think she overpaid. Anyway! We also had some lunch and watched some videos and she brought my steam cleaner back after borrowing it. After she left I cleaned the steam cleaner, did maintenance on my water system, and scrambled to finish my NaNo words before Victor called and I drew comics while chatting with him. Also I received my aqua-colored vinyl record for SU! Hahaha.
• Friday I spent the work day on RCI data entry and proposals. After work I did my NaNo writing and my webcomic. I had a little time after finishing before I was too tired to work anymore so I tried to clean some photos off my phone because it's getting full. Yikes!

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

Aeon discusses asexuality leading off with a quote from my book.

Next Step Cake makes reference to my book while discussing the term "allosexual."

New reviews of my book:

• Mara gave it a four-star review on Goodreads. (It's in German. The person says they liked the book but took off a star for being repetitive.)

NaNoWriMo progress:

• Saturday, November 16: 1,402 words.
• Sunday, November 17: 1,002 words.
• Monday, November 18: 1,567 words.
• Tuesday, November 19: 1,709 words.
• Wednesday, November 20: 1,905 words.
• Thursday, November 21: 1,174 words.
• Friday, November 22: 2,387 words.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane. Four-star review.
• Finished this week: Steven Universe ongoing comic #34. Five-star review.

• Currently reading: When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis. I'm on page 43.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics.




Stuff Drawn:






Webcomic Negative One Issue 0758: "Not Watching."









New videos: 

Our first podcast covers an introduction and a discussion of the pilot.




New photos:

Photos of my JUNGLE MOON FRUIT CAKE:

Cold at work, dressed in Steven Stars

New Gem sweater

New Amethyst sweater

Three different colored vinyls

Cat fingers

Hard to get a sandwich when your fingers are cats

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,262 for swankivy (7 new), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids, 14 for Not-So-Giant Women (new channel, come like us!). Twitter followers: 975 for swankivy (lost 2), 1,356 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 294 friends (no change) and 208 followers (no change) for swankivy, 649 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 63 likes for Negative One (no change), 163 likes for So You Write (no change), 18 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (new page, come like us!). Tumblr followers: 2,509 (1 new). Instagram followers: 188 (lost 1).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 9 – November 15

Life news this week:

• Saturday was a wonderful fun day after having various difficulties the previous week! I got to have my friend Kari over to watch Steven Universe and eat pizza and Cookie Cats (she is still catching up on the show and we watched from episode 120, "Storm in the Room," to episode 128, "I Am My Mom"). Then I got to enjoy even more SU fun because Daria and I recorded our first podcast episode for our new SU deep-dive podcast, "Not-So-Giant Women"! We watched and discussed the pilot episode! Daria made excellent observations and is going to be a great partner. I fell asleep a little after completing my blogging for the day.
• Sunday I was just a bump on a log mostly. I did do laundry and I drew a picture for an online pal, and I did record some musical sounds Daria is using in editing our episodes, but other than that and giving Jeaux some files to make music videos with, I didn't get much done. Just sat around and rested.
• Monday I worked on a Winter Haven proposal and some other stuff. Had to deal with more research for Mom and worked on my novel. I also prepared some notes for podcast recording for the next couple episodes with Daria. And I tried and failed to make lizard candy. (I know. Weirdo.) I sent some presents to Ronni to celebrate her book release.
• Tuesday I hit the post office before work to mail some comic books. Then I worked and had to go to a utilities presentation, where they had lied about vegetarian options and there was nothing but chicken to eat so I didn't get to eat. Besides work, I did novel stuff and more research for Mom. Then I recorded two long episodes of our podcast with Daria! We watched and reacted to/discussed Episode 1 ("Gem Glow") and Episode 2 ("Laser Light Cannon"). Am ever more convinced that this is going to be a fantastic ride! After finishing podcast recording, I stayed up really ridiculously late to watch all the special features on the new Steven Universe Movie DVD. Today was also extra special because one of my oldest friends, Ronni Davis, had a book birthday. Her book When the Stars Lead to You was released! WOW!
• Wednesday I had to work on RCI data at work. Besides work, I did novel stuff and shared info on Tumblr about a DVD factoid nobody seemed to be talking about. It got a lot of attention, hooray! I went out with Jeaux for shopping and we picked up pizza to watch while we watched the DVD special features and a couple episodes of Season 4 of She-Ra. I fell asleep on the couch after because I'd stayed up so late the previous day.
• Thursday I missed the bus so I had to take Lyft. Did more RCI data entry. Besides work, I did more novel stuff and had to walk home in the rain. Weird day. My house was very messy because I haven't been cleaning up or keeping up with chores. It feels pretty bad to get to that point. Talked to Victor on the phone and got six drawings done for the comic. And did more research for Mom's healthcare and updated online collections.
• Friday I got up late so I again had to take Lyft. I did some RCI stuff and some database updates at work. Besides work, more noveling and finishing my comic. And I received my preordered copy of the Steven Universe movie soundtrack on vinyl! Cool. The deluxe version was delayed though, so I only got the regular one. I made some video communications for my friend Steve and fell asleep before I meant to.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

WOODSoftheBOOKS did a video where my book pops up, and the video creator talks about motivation to buy it and plans to discuss it later.

New reviews of my book:

• Sina gave it a three-star review on Goodreads.
• Russell gave it a three-star review on Amazon UK.

NaNoWriMo progress:

• Saturday, November 9: 1,787 words.
• Sunday, November 10: 1,674 words.
• Monday, November 11: 1,895 words.
• Tuesday, November 12: 1,822 words.
• Wednesday, November 13: 1,679 words.
• Thursday, November 14: 1,874 words.
• Friday, November 15: 1,685 words.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Welcome to Beach City by Rebecca Sugar. Five-star review.

• Currently reading: Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane. I'm on page 494.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Bruces' Philosophers Song" by Monty Python.




Stuff Drawn:

"Right into her eyes!"

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0757: "Five Things."









New videos: 

None.

New photos:

Cookie Cats with Kari

Ronni's book is in my hand!

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,255 for swankivy (1 new), 680 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Twitter followers: 977 for swankivy (lost 1), 1,357 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 294 friends (lost 1, who knows who) and 208 followers (2 new) for swankivy, 649 likes for JulieSondra (lost 2), 63 likes for Negative One (no change), 163 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,508 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 189 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 2 – November 8

Life news this week:

• Saturday I enjoyed a nice opportunity to not deal with anyone in person. I got my NaNo writing done and my blogging done, and spent a lot of time putting out small fires on the Internet (though I haven't managed to get back into the swing on any of my e-mail). I also hit my 1000th post on Steven Universe Amino so I made it about my new Rebecca Sugar variant comic. :)
  
• Sunday we got an extra hour! I thought I kinda ruined it by sleeping late and eating up the hour overnight, but then the day still felt really long and it kept feeling later than it really was. I had a potato, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, wrote some of my book, did karaoke and laundry, and discovered Mercari (an eBay-like secondhand site where I bought 3 new items I didn't have for my SU collection).
  
• Monday was back to work on the bus. I updated some District 4 project manager data and went to lunch with the new guy, who told me his very interesting life story. At home I talked to Daria about podcast stuff, talked to Jeaux on the phone, and just barely got my word count up to date on time.
  
• Tuesday I slid into work on the bus after listening to two women fighting over who touched somebody's baby. Did some proposal work. Got an unusually high word count for NaNo. (Well, unusual for the program. It's been a long time since I was writing regularly enough to get writing streaks like I used to.) Got laundry folded while talking to Mom about Medicare stuff--good chat. Ate a bunch of junk and drank wine for no good reason.
  
• Wednesday was more bus and more proposals and more database info collecting. Got my writing done and went out with Jeaux after work. We ate at Five Guys, shopped at Publix, and watched Season 4 of She-Ra. I took a weird nap and got up to take photos of my new shirts.
  
• Thursday I was lazy so I went to work in a Lyft car. Got a proposal worked on for a local city. Talked to a counselor about Medicare for Mom. Got my writing done, did a podcast equipment test with my podcast partner Daria, and had Victor over. He was supposed to do an assessment for a job that his computer wasn't fast enough to handle, but it was a bust because I sent him to a site that turned out to be a scam and when we figured that out and went to the right site, they didn't have jobs he could qualify for. We still had a good time with our Yum box with snacks from Greece, and we ate shepherd's pie for dinner.
  
• Friday Victor and I left the house in the morning together and took the bus to where we needed to be (me: work; him: Walmart). I did reports at work and organized some paperwork. Struggled with some prescription stuff for Mom. Did some digital errands. Had to scurry through my webcomic drawings after I got home and then tried to get some words in for NaNo but I was pretty tired and ended up with a lower-than-recommended word count. (I'm still ahead overall but still, frustrating.) I was tired so I fell asleep early.

New reviews of my book:

• Gina gave it a five-star review on Goodreads.

NaNoWriMo progress:

• Saturday, November 2: 1,696 words.
• Sunday, November 3: 1,704
• Monday, November 4: 1,831 words.
• Tuesday, November 5: 2,262 words.
• Wednesday, November 6: 1,882 words.
• Thursday, November 7: 1,786 words.
• Friday, November 8: 894 words.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: No books finished.

• Currently reading: Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane. I'm on page 279.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Letterbox" by They Might Be Giants.




Stuff Drawn:




Webcomic Negative One Issue 0756: "The Wrong Sugar."









New videos: 

None.

New photos:

What a winer

53 shirts

Universal Yums Greece

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,254 for swankivy (no change), 681 for JulieSondra (1 new). Twitter followers: 980 for swankivy (4 new), 1,354 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 295 friends (1 new, a person from a SU group thought I was neat and asked to be my friend) and 209 followers (2 new) for swankivy, 651 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 63 likes for Negative One (no change), 163 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,509 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 187 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: October 26 – November 1

Life news this week:

• Saturday I finally got some rest. I also organized with my friend Daria about a podcast we want to do about Steven Universe, which is something I've wanted to do for a long time--find someone who hasn't seen it and podcast about our thoughts as we watch each episode! I slowly did blog stuff and Inktober drawings too. I did photo updates and spent too much time just eating and reading blogs.
  
• Sunday was slightly more productive than Saturday. I did dishes and laundry, wiped the patio table, drew for Inktober, talked to Meg while putting away laundry, organized some more with Daria, did some karaoke, and found the missing Rebecca Sugar variant comic that's missing from my collection FOR SALE ONLINE! So I bought it! Aiiiieee!
  
• Monday was back to work with resume updates and letters. I thought I had a dentist appointment but it was actually the next day. After work I just did drawings and more coordination with Daria.
  
• Tuesday I went to the dentist first thing. I don't want to admit in public how long it's been since I went to the dentist. Yikes. But! They said my teeth were in good shape after they took x-rays! I just had one cavity that needed to be filled, and I was aware that they would say that. (It hadn't been painful, but I could see the spot.) I got a cleaning and my very first filling! It was a really gentle and good experience and I'm relieved that it's done. I also went back and forth to work in between the procedures, haha. Then I did some utility coordination and signed up for an event in a couple weeks about utility design. Went home, talked to sister P on the phone about Medicare for Mom, and fell asleep early. Also, one of my Inktober drawings got an Amino front-page feature. Yay!
  
• Wednesday I had to start compiling some project manager data for my boss so I drove in and did the District 2 PMs for Florida. After work Jeaux and I went to eat at this restaurant called East! and I got something that sounded like a terrible idea but was delicious: a sushi burrito. It was rice, cucumber, avocado, and fried tofu wrapped in seaweed. I loved it and was sad when it was gone! After that we shopped at Winn-Dixie, watched some Stephen Colbert and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and chatted. I went to sleep early.
  
• Thursday I worked on my PM database for District 3. I wore my witch hat and carried my Pumpkin plush! It was funny. I posted my very last Inktober drawing and was very pleased that I drew 31 drawings in 31 days and did not miss any! At home there was a frog in my toilet. I caught him and put him outside. I drew a So You Write comic and talked on the phone to Victor. I barely got my Negative One started. I had NO trick-or-treaters at all! So sad. I'll have to eat the candy. Fell asleep pretty early. Happy Halloween.
  
• Friday began November so you know what that means: NaNoWriMo! That's right, National Novel Writing Month! Come buddy me! At work I finished up District 3 and started District 4 PMs. After work I sped through my comic, made a post about my new Rebecca Sugar variant comic that had arrived, and wrote enough words to be on task for the writing program. I'm continuing my novel from last year, In Bloom, and keeping track of the words separately. So excited already!

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• An AVEN newbie posted about reading my book and having trouble owning the asexual label.
• I missed that The Asexual Agenda promoted my livestream last week.

NaNoWriMo progress:

• Friday, November 1: 1,685 words.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift, Part 2 by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko. Five-star review.

• Currently reading: Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane. I'm on page 68.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees.




Stuff Drawn:

Inktober continues with Steven Universe drawings!

Day 26: Dark

Day 27: Coat

Day 28: Ride

Day 29: Injured

Day 30: Catch

Day 31: Ripe

Webcomic So You Write Issue 101: "Marketing."

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0755: "Vigilant."









New videos: 

None.

New photos:

Sushi burrito??

Happy Halloween!

Toilet frog! Oh no!

Released toilet frog.

Rebecca Sugar comic variant!!

All the #1 variants

Social Media Counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,254 for swankivy (lost 1), 680 for JulieSondra (no change). Twitter followers: 976 for swankivy (lost 1), 1,353 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 294 friends (lost 1, dunno who) and 207 followers (no change) for swankivy, 650 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 63 likes for Negative One (no change), 163 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,510 (no change). Instagram followers: 186 (lost 1).