Personal Digest Saturday: April 23 – April 29

Life news this week:

• Saturday I tried to replace my toilet seat but the attachments were the wrong size, dangit. Almost lost my mind when a comic book I've been looking for for five years popped up on eBay (and it was cheap!). I bought it and rejoiced. Worked on blogging. Then Mom came over when she said she would! We had pizza and caught up on a bunch of stuff. She didn't leave until like midnight. After she left I caught up on Amphibia and read a liveblog.
  
  
• Sunday was band practice. We had an excellent practice focusing on songs we want to do for open mic and a couple alternates, plus some extra fun stuff. Dad took me and Connie to Applebee's after (they had Impossible burgers!) and we went back home. Took my trash out and got hit on by a dude in a Trump hat. Did laundry and took a nap. Shared some music. Dug up some old letters to use in a video.
  
  
• Monday work involved three letters and a fifty-five-page proposal. Lots of editing! After work I worked on Negative One (early, because I have to get two comics done before I go out of town!) and worked on a podcast recording. After a quick nap, played with my friends at game night. Drew more, put laundry away, and fell asleep early.
  
  
• Tuesday was busy! Knocked out more editing for the big proposal in Connecticut and did some utility docs, with data entry in the afternoon. A guy came to pressure wash my house and he did such a good job! He even fixed my fence. Talked to Meg and P on Polo, worked on Not-So-Giant Women podcast and Negative One, recorded a Letters video, and tried to fix my sink because it was clogged. No go, it's really clogged. Took some photos of merchandise.
  
  
• Wednesday I hosted a utilities meeting with no drama. Then had a bunch of work to do afterwards. Did some letter updates and busy stuff too. After work I did some more comic work and talked to Tony. Jeaux took me to the grocery store and we got Moe's food. We watched Owl House and Colbert and took a walk. Processed the Letters video.
  
  
• Thursday there were a couple more meetings (one marketing meeting, one utility-related meeting) and a bunch of reports. Nobody was responding to my clogged sink maintenance request a day later so I called about it and apparently the maintenance guy never received the work order. I tried to negotiate about it. Had some trouble with processing my Letters video but finally got it posted. Drew a lot of pictures. Victor called and we talked about pizza, meat, TV, pizza, meat, and why women don't want to have men comment on their butts in public. *shrug*
  
  
• Friday the nice maintenance guy woke me up before my alarm coming in to fix my sink (before 8 AM!). That was great but he couldn't fix it and said he'd be back with a snake, but he never came back and nobody told me that they were going to have to get a plumber with a longer snake (I had to call about it and apparently I'm just out of the loop). At this point I'm pretty sure it's just not going to get fixed before I go out of town. I spent the work day busy with utilities, reports, and data entry. After work I finished my writing comic and talked to my sister.

New Reviews:

• Beth gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I was happy with my weight stuff this week, seeing it mostly stable, no big changes. High weight: 117.1. Low weight: 115.3.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Balance between fats, carbs, and protein continues to be really good this week, but I had a high-fat week because of pizza and cheesy mashed potatoes. A little better with greens and fruits. Vitamin-taking continues.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,037 steps, and my high day was Friday at 12,858 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 104.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic So You Write Issue 131: "Wasted Potential." 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0885: "Fix It." 

New videos:

Letters to an Asexual #90 (Letters FROM an Asexual) is out. It's about revisiting old letters from detractors who made condescending and ignorant predictions--people who were SURE asexuality was a phase or a fake, and were very nasty to me about their certainty that I would change--and I write letters back to them now that time has made their position look very foolish.

Not-So-Giant Women #34 is out. Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Watermelon Steven" and cover such topics as the Universe men's watermelon tricks, Rose's past use of the plant ability, Beach City's money, the Gems' new abilities, the surprising difficulty of fighting the watermelons, American television and its take on soft blasphemy and violence, judging Steven for eating Baby Melon, and Greg and Steven's wholesome bonding.

New photos:

Cool green spider on my mailbox!

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,410 for swankivy (lost 5), 673 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 140 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 923 for swankivy (lost 3), 3,067 for JulieSondra (31 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,458 (lost 2). Instagram followers: 243 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 16 – April 22

Life news this week:

• Saturday my gardenias appeared! After a really long time of having no flowers on my gardenia bush, suddenly there they were! Very happy. So I enjoyed my flowers, did my blogging, took a walk, watched the new episodes of Amphibia, and worked on new photo albums. I talked to Mom for a little while and tried to talk her into coming over the next day, which she said she would. Did some Polos and practiced music. Posted about food on Reddit.
  
  
• Sunday I had even more gardenias. Made some Polos, did laundry, worked on photo galleries, took out the trash, adn walked around a lot. Got a karaoke song done too. Mom ghosted me again so I didn't get to see her. Reread some old messages and watched a reaction.
  
  
• Monday I got up early for work meetings. After the meetings and enjoying my flowers on a break, I came back in and set out a letter for work. Took a nap, then made a big spaghetti dinner with mushrooms and zucchini. Played games with friends. Worked on the photo galleries. Watched the entire first season of The Office.
  
  
• Tuesday I had more morning meetings. Worked on utilities at the office and reminding people about a big meeting next week. Mom said she'd come over but then she fell asleep and didn't. Worked on reports. After work I took a nap and made Polos. Worked on photo pages. Talked to Jeaux on the phone and played around on Reddit.
  
  
• Wednesday I didn't get up super early because I did not have morning meetings. I had a later morning meeting! Wrangled utility stuff some more and made an announcement on our LinkedIn about our coworker who passed away. After work, Jeaux and I went to SoFresh and ate outside, then shopped at the grocery store and watched a bunch of TV stuff before our walk. Oh, and I spent a bunch of time arguing with weenuses on Reddit.
  
  
• Thursday I did utility stuff and a meeting, and did some data entry and teaming materials. Wrote my storyboard and made Polos for people. And replied to dorks on Reddit. Later Victor called and updated me on his life. My property management folks finally got the junk off my roof!
  
  
• Friday I didn't have meetings, but had plenty of stuff to do! I pestered people about the big meeting and I worked on my upcoming project reports. Did some walking, worked on the comic and posted it, and got the rest of my steps in. Looked up some info on what's around the place we're staying when my sister and I go to North Carolina.

New Reviews:

• Kaitlin gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Alexis gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
  
• Raluca Dumitru gave The Invisible Orientation a three-star review on Audible.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I was happy with my weight stuff this week, seeing it mostly stable and on the lower end of what I've seen lately. High weight: 117.1. Low weight: 115.8.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Balance between fats, carbs, and protein continues to be really good this week. Unfortunately, though, my choices in terms of incorporating green foods more often seems to have failed pretty hard. I've been ignoring my beloved smoothies for foods with fewer steps because I'm busy and tired. Vitamin-taking continues.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week EXCEPT that one day I was TWENTY STEPS SHORT so I really don't count that, no fair. My low day was Saturday at 9,980 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,296 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 104.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0884: "Maturely." 

New videos:

None.

New photos:

First Gardenia!

Dwarf powderpuff doing well

Matzoh socks ("Pesachs"), Hahah it's a pun

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,415 for swankivy (3 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 140 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new). Twitter followers: 926 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,036 for JulieSondra (46 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 637 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,460 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 243 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 9 – April 15

Life news this week:

• Saturday we had a rare Saturday band practice. Dad and I had a nice chat about music, a rehearsal full of new and problematic songs, and a whole-band lunch at our favorite sushi place! I was sleepy. I got to give my dad his birthday present with our band logo on it and stickers for everyone. We also FINALLY got to try Crumbl Cookies. When I got home I took a four-hour nap, and when I finally got up I did some Polos for my dears and did blogging and still went to bed early.
  
  
• Sunday I woke up late despite yesterdays epic sleeping. Did chores and not much else. I didn't even take the trash out until the very end of the night. I also took a walk to see if there was a garage sale still happening but it was over. I edited a video and looked for organizing apps for my phone to make setlists. Talked to Sister P about planning a trip together. Did some karaoke. Ate a lot of protein. Spent a bunch of time looking at Twitter.
  
  
• Monday involved two work meetings and some business. I wrote a Twitter thread that got really popular so I had a lot of notifications after that. Did a bunch of Polos. Game night was full, the gang was all there! After game night I talked to Patricia on the phone and we bought airplane tickets. We're going to Charlotte to see Lindsay!
  
  
• Tuesday was an early awakening without that much going on. I folded my laundry, briefly talked to Mom, and got caught up in some more utility coordination stuff. I felt really well prepared for that meeting! It was nice. My Twitter thread was still Really Popular so I replied to some stuff there. Practiced music and did chores.
  
  
• Wednesday I spent the day wrangling utility documents, planning for a proposal, sending support documents to a firm we're teaming with, and proofreading someone else's proposal. Jeaux got off a little early to pick me up to get to the pool store before they closed so I could buy chlorine for my water system. We got our groceries, ate Five Guys food, and watched Colbert, The Owl House, and Our Flag Means Death. We took our walk and watched some silly videos.
  
  
• Thursday was a later morning for me. (Which still means I'm at work by 9!) I did the rest of my proposal outline but I had some concerns about the amount of work it would take versus the likelihood of us getting any work from it and it turned out my boss agreed with me and decided it was a no-go. I wrote a storyboard and took a nap. Victor didn't call me because I guess he was distracted with getting out of the hospital. He tried to call later but it was too late to start a call so I missed them. I drew some pictures for the comic. Our band members talked about songs we want to focus on for if we do an open mic night.
  
  
• Friday was another late morning and it got started even later because my computer wasn't booted up at the office so I had to bug my boss to start it for me. Aw. The day was busy with a data request and a revamping of one of my reports so my boss can track more data. I worked late and after I got off I finished my webcomic and did some walking.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I was hungry at weird times this week but I did pretty well with not going overboard. Weight is lower than last week. High weight: 117.1. Low weight: 115.8.
  
• Nutrition stuff: My balance between fats, carbs, and protein is really good this week. I'm still not back to doing as well as I want to with my greens though. I ate something green maybe five out of seven days. Vitamin-taking continues.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,163 steps, and my high day was Monday at 11,163 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 92.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0883: "Swallowed." 

New videos:

None.

New photos:

Crumbl Cookies with Dad

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,412 for swankivy (21 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 139 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 927 for swankivy (lost 1), 2,990 for JulieSondra (327 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 636 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,461 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 243 (lost 2).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 2 – April 8

Life news this week:

• Saturday I slept pretty late, spent most of the day doing preliminary planning for podcast recording and working on my blog, then practicing music while getting my steps in. I got a little time to relax and watch some fun reactions before jumping into recording with Daria. We recorded two episodes and had a catch-up session. Then I ate a yogurt pop and went to bed.
  
  
• Sunday I was up early because I went to bed early. Seemed like a very long day! Did some morning errands and chatting, then did my karaoke song, laundry, and trash. I posted a duet recording on Amino. I practiced the music while getting steps in again. And I finished up a 25,000-word e-mail to my friend Cara. Also finished reading a website I have been tweaking for like a year and was able to close that window. Very satisfying. Finally I began watching an anime called Ranking of Kings because it keeps getting recommended to me. I can't even believe how cute the protagonist is.
  
  
• Monday at work I was busy with two letters. Other than that, I made Polos and watched more of that anime. I got my laundry put away, and in the evening I talked to my friends and played games like usual. I continued watching the anime. And I submitted a short story to a magazine.
  
  
• Tuesday I got some marching orders for my utility stuff at work so I got something important to do. Other than that I watched more of the anime and finished it off, and made Polos. Washed dishes and took a walk. Answered another e-mail (which was not a ginormous tome) and some messages. Worked on music in between various fun things like reading a liveblog and working on my photos website. (Got another new page added!)
  
  
• Wednesday I was up early after interrupted sleep. I got up and sent out utility documents and set up a meeting! Had some more internal communication about marketing stuff and later I took naps. Saw Tony briefly when Jeaux arrived to take me shopping. We got our food at Vallarta's and had a lovely time eating, watching Colbert, watching the latest Owl House episode, and saw the first episode of Our Flag Means Death. We watched some other fun videos too and after he left I practiced music.
  
  
• Thursday I had a bunch of support documents to prepare for a submittal and I was very busy. I was super happy to get a Polo message from Cara who is new to Polo! I told her about it in my epic e-mail. Maybe she'll get to hear some of my rants sometimes. :D At the end of the work day I took a round trip in a Lyft to go get my new glasses and contacts! Happy to have those. I took a nap and then Victor called and talked to me about food mostly and after I got off the phone I talked to my sisters on a Sister Chat and went to bed. Nice to see them. :)
  
  
• Friday I spent the workday preparing more support documents for other stuff and dealing with timesheets and upcoming project reports. Not too stressful. Sent a long Polo to my sister and got drawings done for the comic. I'm excited that my gardenia plant looks like it might be about to get flowers. After I got my comic posted and practiced some music stuff, and spent too much time on Twitter, I went to bed.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• At barcelona.cat, in their Sexual and Gender Diversity section, a list of resources was published called International Asexuality Day: tools for a deeper understanding. They reference my book and for some reason refer to me as "a militant asexual." 'Kay?
  
• The F Word.org posted Celebrating International Asexuality Day 2022 which included my book as a resource.
  
• Largo Public Library shared some recommended books for International Asexuality Day. My book is included.
  
• Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center spotlighted my book for International Asexuality Day.
  
• Asexual Spectrum Part 2 is up on Valid Love. They discuss asexuality broadly and include references to my book.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: This week was just kinda average. Not as low as I want to be, it wasn't as low as last week, but the choices I made about meals were just somewhere in between. High weight: 117.9. Low weight: 116.4.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I failed pretty hard on getting greens in this week. I was tired and went for easy foods, so that was a little disappointing. Still taking vitamins as recommended!
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,190 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 16,002 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 92.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0882: "The Real Gift-Givers." 

New videos:

None.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,391 for swankivy (3 new), 674 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 139 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new). Twitter followers: 928 for swankivy (1 new), 2,663 for JulieSondra (30 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 636 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 82 followers for Negative One (1 new), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,462 (no change). Instagram followers: 245 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: March 26 – April 1

Life news this week:

• Saturday was pretty productive despite the late awakening. I did my blogging, watched the latest episode of Amphibia, practiced music, sent Polos to my sister and Meg, recorded a Letters to an Asexual video, talked to Jeaux, and did dishes.
  
  
• Sunday I responded to video comments while eating oatmeal in the morning. Did laundry and water system maintenance and talked to my mom on the phone. Planned and drew the next So You Write comic. Practiced music and recorded a karaoke song. Made zucchini and linguine for dinner. Did dishes and took a nap.
  
  
• Monday I expected it to be busy but we unexpectedly didn't send a letter we were planning due to a staffing change, and I didn't get responses to some business about utilities so I wasn't that busy. I practiced music and made a recording of the duet "Do It For Her" from Steven Universe while in two different costumes. Hung out with friends to play games.
  
  
• Tuesday I went to a meeting about utilities and in the afternoon I went to the eye doctor. Kind of a frustrating experience--I know it happens a lot and is usually unavoidable, but I hate when I have an appointment (and was half an hour early!) but then I don't get seen for over an hour. They also weren't enforcing the posted Covid policies and that bugs me. At home again I went back to work and wrapped some stuff up, then did some coloring and played with music stuff.
  
  
• Wednesday I knocked out some more utility stuff with more meetings. (I have two utility coordination things going on at the same time.) Later I decided to clean the dishwasher and had trouble with some of the mechanisms so I ended up taking it apart and cleaning some parts by soaking them in vinegar. Not pleasant. Went to the grocery store and got pizza with Jeaux. We watched the latest Owl House and Colbert and took a walk as usual. After he left I finished cleaning the dishwasher and ran a cycle with vinegar and left some baking soda in the bottom of the dishwasher to sit overnight.
  
  
• Thursday I prepared materials for teaming and did some reports. I posted my So You Write comic and practiced music. Did some Polos. Compiled some info for an upcoming letter. After work I wrote my next webcomic and did some more practice. Victor called before he went into a sleep study. I got tired early but I got a lot of drawings done.
  
  
• Friday I had a morning meeting and not much else going on so when my dad dropped by for an impromptu visit I was able to spend some time with him. We had some coffee, played some music duets, and went to lunch. Later because I ate a lot I took a nap. I finished my comic and posted it, and was done really early. So I chatted to my sister and Meghan and worked on my plans for the next day's podcast recording.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• Valid Love Podcast's episode "Asexual Spectrum Part 1" referenced my book. This podcast involves two sex therapists named Rebecca and Leah, responding to multiple requests to cover the topic.
  

New Reviews: 

• Emily gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
  
• jenn(y) gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads just to elaborate that they really want to give it 3.75.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Doing much better this week as last week's low weight is this week's high weight. Doing better with my choices of meals though there have been a few big meals. High weight: 117.1. Low weight: 115.8.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Doing way better with the green foods and the lower fat food. I've even had a few days where fat was lower than recommended in my diet. And I'm continuing to take my vitamins like I'm supposed to!
  
• Activity stuff: I met my step goal every day this week by a LOT again because of walking around while practicing music. My low day was Wednesday at 12,431 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 19,553 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 72.

New singing performances:

My cosplay singing with Pearl and Connie's song "Do It For Her"--I do both parts in a duet. (Here's how the original song goes that I'm copying.)

This week's karaoke song is "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic So You Write Issue 0881: "Fixing It." 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0881: "Every Kid." 

New videos:

Letters to an Asexual #89 ("You need to have sex first before you identify as asexual!") is out. In this video, I share an exchange of YouTube comments with a person who thinks asexual people need to try sex before they use that label because otherwise they're holding themselves back from something potentially beautiful, and besides, people generally don't know what they want and NEED to be pressured into new experiences externally.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,388 for swankivy (45 new), 673 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 138 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 927 for swankivy (no change), 2,633 for JulieSondra (2 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 635 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (1 new), 236 likes for So You Write (1 new), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,462 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 244 (1 new).