Personal Digest Saturday: January 22 – January 28

Life news this week:

• Saturday began a pretty uneventful week. I mostly wasted time a lot and completed my blogging. There was a lot of reading things online and not a lot of productivity. I also sent/received some Polos and went to bed early.
  
  
• Sunday I got up late because I was cold and lazy. I got my trash and laundry done and Jeaux came over for a while because he wanted to take a second shot at installing a backup hard drive in my computer. (He brought a pizza, and almost forgot his milk again.) Later I recorded a karaoke song and answered a message.
  
  
• Monday I had to be at work super early for preparation for a meeting. But my work computer thwarted me by being turned off and I had to wait for my boss to get into the office and turn it on for me to remote into. We did a practice for our presentation and I had to adjust some of the presentation slides, and then we did the actual meeting with some clients we want to work for. After that I took a nap and then came back to finish some data entry. After work I got some steps, finished putting away laundry, and played games online with my friends.
  
  
• Tuesday I had to get up early for a training session for utility coordination stuff. Also did some data entry. And in my creative life, I wrote a storyboard and went on a submission blitz (sent out a bunch of short stories and a query). In the evening I talked to one of my writer buddies (Ben) and ended up huddling under a blanket because of the cold.
  
  
• Wednesday I had more of that training. Later I did another query and talked to friends on Polo. Searched through some material to find a topic for the next asexuality video. Jeaux came in the afternoon and we did our grocery run and picked up food from Vallarta's. Then at home we just hung out, watched silly things, and took a walk. After he left I updated my inventory of SU items.
  
  
• Thursday I had one more short training (unrelated to the previous two days, weirdly) and the rest of the day was just background work like gathering data for reports. Took a nap after work and in the evening Victor called and told me how crappy things are going. Got off the phone to go to sleep.
  
  
• Friday I had a long work day of doing very little besides updating my upcoming project reports. A lot of data gets released in January so I had to process it. I did that and my timesheet stuff and dealing with edit requests. After work I finally got some walking in and then had to sit back down and deal with my webcomic. Once that was posted I got a little more walking and did some planning for my podcast.

New Reviews:

• Karo gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Madeline Theisen gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Audible.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• BuzzFeed posted a list of 17 Books That Tackle Aromantic and Asexual Validation.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I'm still not seeing significant changes here but overall the average was a tiny bit lower. Maybe I need more exercise. I definitely need less snacking. High weight: 118.7. Low weight: 116.5.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I had an unexpected pizza and a very big Mexican food meal in the middle of the week, so there were some pretty big calorie spikes this week. I also finished off some candy and did a lot of snacking on nuts. But this week I got closer to a pretty balanced diet except that my percentage of fat versus carbohydrates is fattier than it should be. I'm getting the right amount of protein.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week. But I've been trying to get more done on my projects so I'm ending up having to push for those last steps in the evenings. My low day was Tuesday at 10,046 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 14,836 steps.

Finished Reading: 

• Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. I'm on page 125.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Fix you" by Coldplay.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0872: "Get Real." 

New videos:

Letters to an Asexual #87 ("Asexual people are misanthropes with no soul!") is out! This is #87 of a series in which I read correspondence between me and people who have questions, comments, or--more often--misconceptions about asexuality. In this video, I share three bad messages and one reasonable message about people's misconception that being asexual means a person can't have normal emotions, relationships, or attitudes toward social behavior.

New photos:

It's a cold week

My response when Jeaux thought I'd want to eat outside

Cute bear mug from Fred & Kathy

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,345 for swankivy (lost 5), 672 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 134 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new). Twitter followers: 924 for swankivy (1 new), 2,473 for JulieSondra (42 new). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 635 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 233 likes for So You Write (no change), 86 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,464 (no change). Instagram followers: 248 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: January 15 – January 21

Life news this week:

• Saturday was a lovely Meghan day! I got up late and we had breakfast, then went to Orlando to visit a botanical garden. It was lovely weather and we loved it. Then we went to the Daytona area to visit Buc-ee's because I had never been to one, and I bought a bunch of junk food. I got unreasonably mad about snacks in a gas station on the way there because I couldn't find anything I wanted. I guess I was hangry. Buc-ee's was actually better than I hoped! Except for all the maskless wieners in there. I got a grilled cheese sandwich there and we ate in the car on the way back. Lovely time with the BFF. At home we chilled and watched the movie Inside Out, which I had never seen. We also frosted our birthday cake and had some.
  
  
• Sunday I got up less late than the day before. We hung out and had breakfast and Meggie opened her presents (she loved them!) and we tried some of the Buc-ee's snacks. After she left I took care of my trash and laundry. I played around on the computer for a bit and checked in at work because of a deadline. Then I had more cake and got my steps in updating my sister about my weekend. Uploaded some photos and watched reactions and sang karaoke.
  
  
• Monday I did not have the day off, even though it was MY BIRTHDAY. I'm 44! Did the rest of my data entry at work and had cake for breakfast. Made a long thread about expectations of women's appearances on Twitter, and had a not-so-pleasant conversation with a friend. Ronni sent me a nice birthday message on Marco Polo so I guess I have another Polo friend! And I played games with my friends and I won a lot--they joked that people must be texting me answers so I could win for my birthday. I opened some of my presents and got some cool stuff--a cute dress and plant holders from my sister, and a snack box from Fred and Kathy.
  
  
• Tuesday work was kinda Mondayish because some of our deadlines had been moved to Tuesday. I had to work on two letters and my data but it all got done. Also had to wrangle a proposal. Exchanged more Polos and did online errands. I worked on my podcast. Ate too many Beaver Nuggets from Buc-ee's and ordered my free Covid tests. A couple more presents came--markers from Meggie, a book, a decorative bowl, and some pens from Ronni, and a dress from my dad.
  
  
• Wednesday I dealt with a proposal and had to call a support person because an online portal was behaving badly. (It was someone else's fault.) And did more data entry. Did some Polos with birthday girl Meggie. Finished podcast editing and got a new episode up. After work Jeaux picked me up and we got Chinese food and groceries, and I got to open my presents from him (he got me a mandoline and a new kitchen scale). I worked on an e-mail before sleeping.
  
  
• Thursday was more data entry and preparing a PowerPoint for an upcoming presentation. Wrote a storyboard for my comic and worked until Victor called. He had finally been released from the hospital (8 days) but told me some pretty bad stories. Ate my dinner and drew some pictures and went to bed.
  
  
• Friday I got up on the late side and worked with my team on the presentation some more, plus updates on data entry. I submitted a proposal and dealt with data entry the rest of the day. Yasmin called in the evening and we chatted a bit. I finished my comic and posted it and spent some time relaxing on Twitter and playing games before bed.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• Cody Daigle-Orians had an interview with GeeksOUT in which he mentions my book. I consider him a friend and great content creator so that was nice of him. :)

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Since I had some birthday treats, I didn't really expect to go back down this week, and I've had a weird amount of hunger. Despite that, I've had a slightly lower average this week. High weight: 118.7. Low weight: 117.1.
  
• Nutrition stuff: It seems like I'm getting the right amount of protein and then the balance between carbs and fat is always off--I'm having too much fat in my diet and not enough carbs, if you can believe that. Though this week there was a lot of fancy treats so I am not too worried about it! I am going to be cutting down on cheese but maintaining most other things and working more on the veggies in the upcoming weeks, but I still did okay with including diverse nutrition and somewhat consistent vegetables. Not so much on fruits so I could do better on that, and I am continuing to take my vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week. I was surprised it was still a stretch on Saturday because we walked around the botanical gardens, but I still needed more steps when I got home! My low day was Tuesday at 10,026 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 15,451 steps.

Finished Reading: 

• Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. I'm on page 125.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0871: "Something That Stings." 

New videos:

Not-So-Giant Women #30: Island Adventure is out! Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Island Adventure" and cover such topics as Sadie and Lars's abusive relationship dynamic, more about how warp pads work, whether anyone missed Sadie, Lars, or Steven while they were gone, the "Sadie hid the Warp Pad" reveal, Sadie's badassery, theories about the invisible Gem monster, Amethyst's fly impression and Garnet's approval, the difference between context-dependent and non-context-dependent songs in the show, and who the gayest Gem might be.

New photos:

Botanical Gardens photos:

Buc-ee's photo and the haul:

Cake Photos:

And my first selfie at age 44:

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,350 for swankivy (3 new), 672 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 133 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 923 for swankivy (no change), 2,431 for JulieSondra (64 new). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 635 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 233 likes for So You Write (no change), 86 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,464 (no change). Instagram followers: 248 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: January 8 – January 14

Life news this week:

• Saturday began the Great Parent Weekend of 2022. (I saw my dad and the next day saw my mom.) Dad picked me up and took me to band practice, where we got through 17 songs on our list! We then had a sushi lunch and Dad took me home. Caught up on Polo when I got home and slept for a really long time for some reason. Got my blogging done when I got up and then did more work on my photo blog.
  
  
• Sunday I texted with Mom and she let me come over to see her new carpet. I picked up Panera on the way and we had grilled cheese and tomato soup. Then I spilled the tomato soup on her carpet. Not kidding. Funnily enough, a gift I had for her in the car was an upholstery and small mess cleaner! So we got to try it out. :/ We hung out and I helped her with her mail. Then she took me home. I talked to Jeaux, then did my chores and recorded a karaoke song.
  
  
• Monday was busy at work. I had utilities to deal with and a few conflicting instructions. Also had to work on support documents for teaming and updating resumes for 2022. After work I took a nap and played games with the friends. After, I got my steps in and took pictures of my new shirt for a post. I did some photo site work and some napping.
  
  
• Tuesday I had a meeting about a proposal and dealt with trying to figure out the utilities. I worked on Negative One and finally put my laundry away. And I ate potatoes.
  
  
• Wednesday I had a utilities meeting and found out a bunch of stuff about how to get certain kinds of information. Also had to work on the proposal. Mom came over during my meeting and had to wait for me to get out. She gave me some gifts she had finally gotten for Jeaux for Christmas. After she left I went back to work. I received a Vualá figure in the mail which completes my collection of these hard-to-find figures! Jeaux came over (a little late) and we grocery shopped and got takeout food from Which Wich. We finished watching Infinity Train season 1 and started season 2, and took a walk, and after he left I slept.
  
  
• Thursday I had another meeting for a potential client. Then I did my utility stuff and some project manager reports. And worked on a proposal. Did some laundry in preparation for Meghan coming so she would have fresh blankets. Worked on my comic. Got late-night texts from sisters because baby sis is sick. Don't know if it's Covid. Also had a short call with Victor, who DOES have Covid and is in the hospital.
  
  
• Friday I got up a little late and worked on my reports at work, did some household duties, posted my webcomic, and did the rest of my work duties. Meghan arrived just as I was finishing up work. We hung out and talked, ate veggie burgers, hung out more, watched some episodes of Animaniacs, made our birthday cake, and got ready for bed.

New Reviews:

• Katri gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Britta gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Jin gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I've gone back to a regular diet this week and . . . nothing changed at all. LOL. Late-night snacking has been a tiny problem. Maybe if I'd go to sleep at a reasonable time? High weight: 118.7. Low weight: 117.9.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Just like last week, I've kept up with my vitamins, but haven't been doing as much to keep any eye on my nutritional goals. I've been doing pretty well with my protein/fat/carbohydrate balance and have been including carrots and spinach in my diet a lot.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,028 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 15,473 steps.

Finished Reading: 

• Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. I'm on page 125.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "China Roses" by Enya.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0870: "Damage Potential." 

New videos:

None.

New photos:

Air plants

Air plants

Air plants

Complete collection of Vualá prizes!

Being a little rude with Meghan

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,347 for swankivy (4 new), 672 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 133 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 923 for swankivy (no change), 2,367 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 635 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 233 likes for So You Write (no change), 86 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,464 (no change). Instagram followers: 247 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: January 1 – January 7

Life news this week:

• Saturday I kicked off the new year right by sleeping in and getting some rest. I worked on my blogging and updating all the bad links from my karaoke page (when SingSnap changed their platform earlier in the year, a lot of the older songs had their links change and it destroyed most of the ten-plus-year history of my songs, so it was hundreds of links to update). Then I made a quiz for Amino and took a nice walk outside talking to Meggie. I also ate too much crap so all my chips and dip disappeared.
  
  
• Sunday I got up late and after breakfast I played Dance Dance Revolution for the first time in a while. Then I went out to the AT&T store to buy a new phone, but they didn't have the one I was looking for so we ordered it to my house. I went shopping at CVS and went home, then worked on trash, laundry, and karaoke. I messed around with some website stuff but didn't actually get anything done. Talked on Omegle just for a lark and ended up connecting with a young writer who also likes the cartoons I like. We followed each other on Tumblr.
  
  
• Monday it was back to work after the holiday and it was nowhere near as busy as I was expecting. I had to work on a letter but there was no drama. Also participated in a planning meeting for a proposal. Spent some time working on the photos website. Then went to game night after work and saw my friends. Later I caught up with my sister on Polo and worked on my photos page more.
  
  
• Tuesday work involved the proposal and some utilities work. I worked on my website and when my new phone arrived in the mail I initiated all the changeover procedures. My new phone is the Samsung A32 5G. I took a walk while talking to Jeaux and the new phone picked up where my old one left off counting my steps. :)
  
  
• Wednesday I had a couple meetings (one internal, one with potential client) and set up my next data entry task. Later I worked on the photos site some more. Jeaux came in the evening and we did our usual grocery shopping and ate takeout from SoFresh. Then we watched Colbert and Infinity Train and took a walk. After he left I worked on the photos site more.
  
  
• Thursday my morning meeting was canceled. I spent the day doing my data entry task and also put together some utilities contacts for a job. Then later I did some Polos and some cleanup in the house. I worked on the photos site some more and finally got the conventions album done. (It goes back to the 1990s.) Got half of Negative One drawn also. Victor didn't call like he usually does but I still managed to get a lot done. And I sent an e-mail that finally got my e-mail box into the single digits--I have 9 waiting e-mails. This is after spending most of last year with over 1200 e-mails in my box (and I don't mean junk mail at all). Looking at that 9 is surreal.
  
  
• Friday I got up late but didn't miss my meeting. We did some more proposal planning and I tried to help my coworker with a grant account. Did some more data entry on the project and some report databases. Later I worked on Negative One while listening to the news. Then I was done early so I played Dance Dance Revolution again and took a shower and caught up on Polos again. I received some really cute air plants for an early birthday present from my sister! Yay!

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Now that I've more or less finished off the leftovers and weird food that's not usually in my house, I hope to be able to go back on a normal diet, because I'm concerned about the scale going up again. Let's hope I see better numbers next week. High weight: 118.7. Low weight: 117.9.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I've kept up with my vitamins, but haven't been doing as much to keep any eye on my nutritional goals. I've been doing pretty well with my protein/fat/carbohydrate balance and have been including carrots and spinach in my diet a lot.
  
• Activity stuff: Walking goals have been met every day except one day I got very close and didn't quite make it. I still consider it to be a successful week, plus I did DDR two of the days. My low day was Tuesday at 9,321 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,960 steps.

Finished Reading: 

• Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. I'm on page 125.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry" by Suzanne Vega.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0869: "Future Carrots." 

New videos:

None.

New photos:

No new photos yet this year!

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,343 for swankivy (lost 7), 672 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 133 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 923 for swankivy (1 new), 2,369 for JulieSondra (4 new). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 635 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 233 likes for So You Write (no change), 86 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (1 new). Tumblr followers: 2,464 (1 new). Instagram followers: 247 (lost 1).

Personal Digest Saturday: December 25 – December 31

Life news this week:

• Saturday my mom was still sleeping in my bed in the morning so we got up and chilled a little bit before she went home. I ended up taking a really long nap after she left. Then I spent the evening writing a long e-mail to my friend Reeny and opened some of my gifts. It was nice to spend some quiet time with my nice scented candles.
  
  
• Sunday I had a lazy morning and then spent the afternoon finishing my blogging and doing laundry, taking out trash, and writing some of my thank-you messages. Also did a karaoke song and balanced my checkbook and got my inbox a little more cleaned out.
  
  
• Monday I went back to work and there was not exactly a mountain of work waiting for me like I'd feared. I got a letter edited and organized some stuff. After work I watched Encanto because I liked a song from it and I thought the movie was okay, but the music was the part I liked. I ate cookies and leftovers all day. Then I played games with my people but there were only four of us online. I took some photos of my cool new reversible jacket and posted them online.
  
  
• Tuesday at work was uneventful. I got some laundry put away and wandered the house to get steps done. I watched some analysis videos on YouTube and got a video recorded for my Letters to an Asexual series. Ate too much candy.
  
  
• Wednesday was another very slow day at the office. I made a graphic for our New Year's post. I got my So You Write comic drawn and worked on Negative One. Posted my video after I finished with the subtitles. Jeaux came and took me shopping. We got Moe's food and hung out watching Colbert and Infinity Train.
  
  
• Thursday I worked on some reports and had to take a little time off to go to my radiology appointment. (I had a weird Lyft driver on the way there who blasted country music in the car because he said he couldn't figure out how to turn the volume down and kept getting lost, a weirdo in the waiting room telling me my phone is going to give me cancer, and a weird Lyft driver on the way home who was listening to a romance book on audio during the car ride.) Wrote a long e-mail to Ronni and worked on my 2021 Year End Post and my comic. Victor didn't call like he usually does and didn't notify me that he was not calling.
  
  
• Friday was a paid holiday but I still logged in in the morning to do a few tasks. Then I finished my comic and posted it, and began working on some food for a mini gathering. I made fruit skewers, spinach-artichoke bites, and mini-muffins, plus putting out a bunch of chips, dips, and treats. My friends Yasmin and Arthur were really late though. Jeaux dropped by for some of the gathering. We told stories and I had wine and we stayed up too late. They didn't leave until 2:30 in the morning. I had missed calls from Victor but I was busy, and I wondered if he called because he got the days mixed up.

New Reviews:

• Illysa gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Carrie gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Sarah gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Holiday weeks have a lot of unusual activity, so I'm not going to worry about what's going on during holidays, though I'm still going to record readings. High weight: 117.1. Low weight: 115.7.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I've kept up with my vitamins, but haven't been doing much to keep any eye on my nutritional goals. There were a couple days in the middle of the week where I got to pay attention to it like usual because I was out of leftovers but not yet into the New Year's food I was making, so I got a couple days' worth of better vegetable and fruit representation in my diet.
  
• Activity stuff: Walking goals have been met every day, but it's been close, have been really having to push to get to the goal. My low day was Sunday at 10,064 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,865 steps.

Books Read:

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.

• Currently reading: Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. I'm on page 125.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Always Remember Us This Way" by Lady Gaga.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic So You Write Issue 127: "Rough." 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0868: "A Little Castle." 

New videos:

Letters to an Asexual #86 is out. In this video, I share some comments from a viewer who thinks asexual people don't date and are purer and better than everyone else, and discuss the dangers of this attitude.

New photos:

Varsity Jacket Expanded Collection!

SU dresses expanded collection!

Fruit skewers for NYE

NYE goodies

Yasmin's artful plate

Yasmin's plate

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,350 for swankivy (lost 6), 673 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 133 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 922 for swankivy (no change), 2,365 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 634 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 233 likes for So You Write (no change), 85 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,463 (2 new). Instagram followers: 248 (2 new).