Personal Digest Saturday: February 18 – February 24

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got to sleep late. Mom had asked if I could help her put up her knickknacks again now that a big paint job has been done, but when I said I could, she bailed and said she couldn't do it that day. Welp. Spent the day reading blogs, playing ukulele, blogging, doing Polos, and writing some more of my novel.
  
  
• Sunday I slept super late again! Started working on meal plans for my upcoming vacation with the pals. Practiced ukulele. Put my laundry in, took out the trash, and spent too much time dorking around on games listening to news. Also spent too much time on Twitter.
  
  
• Monday I actually got a letter proofread and sent in the morning before noon! Had a meeting with my boss about a proposal. Updated my collections list and worked on some info-gathering for Mom's taxes. Got interviewed by a USA Today reporter on the phone. Talked to Mom while putting away laundry because we had to make plans for her tax appointment the next day.
  
  
• Tuesday I had to go with Mom to the tax appointment. (She was late so I got kind of annoyed. But all was well otherwise.) After filing taxes with her I went back to work and had to do some data gathering reading through lighting plans to get info about light poles for a database. I thought I might get to work on the proposal but my boss didn't have everything done yet so it was bumped to the next morning. The article I was interviewed in USA Today came out but I wasn't super happy with how my quotes were presented. Not the end of the world though. I took a nap, did some Polos, practiced ukulele, and listened to news.
  
  
• Wednesday I got up early and spent several hours putting the proposal together. We turned it in a few hours before the due date. Then I had a meeting with potential clients and I was there but didn't get to talk. I finished the pole details database for my coworker RIGHT as Jeaux was arriving for Jeaux Day. He took me to Little Greek and we had a leisurely dinner sitting outside at a cute little table. Then we did our grocery shopping, watched Colbert, took a walk, read each other silly stuff, and watched the last two episodes of Extraordinary. I thought it was pretty good.
  
  
• Thursday I spent the work day on my project manager reports. The pest control guy came and he said there is evidence that rats are visiting my garage. I sent some repair requests to the property manager because the specialist took a bunch of pictures to show me where they're getting in. I have never seen or heard rats but I definitely believe him. I wrote my comic and ate a potato, worked on a podcast plan, practiced ukulele, and played games with my friends.
  
  
• Friday was busy. I did my timesheets and upcoming project reports, then some data gathering and utility stuff for a couple upcoming projects. I had to go right from that into working on my comic, which hadn't gotten much done the night before. After publishing it, I was way behind on walking so I got my steps while reading and finished the book I was reading and started another one. Then I had a late-night shower, updated my websites and book reviews, and just about finished up my podcast planning.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• "Paris Hilton thought she was asexual. What we often misunderstand about asexuality." - This is the article I was quoted in from USA Today. I would like to note that one of the quotes from me could, in some interpretations, imply that asexual people who have undergone trauma are not legitimate (because I'm quoted as saying that doesn't "delegitimize the rest of us"). There is never much space for nuance in these kinds of pieces and that's not their fault. In my interview I did discuss how important it is to support and make space for asexual people who have a traumatic history and went into detail about the legitimacy of people with that intersection. Anyone, including people with trauma, should be able to access asexuality labels and communities.
  
  
• Books About Aromanticism: It was Aromantic Spectrum Week and my book was included on this Book Riot list of books that include aromanticism.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Continued the trend of making decent choices with food and saw a little bit of improvement this week. Maybe next week my low weight will be my high weight. High weight: 122.0. Low weight: 121.0.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I had one day where I ate less than the recommended daily fat intake, two days where I ate exactly the recommended daily fat intake, and the rest of the days were over. And it seems to come from unexpected places, like vegetarian products, as well as obvious places like when I put butter on a potato. My sodium's pretty high too some days, but I am not doing anything to try to lower it; I haven't ever been told there's a problem. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,005 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,360 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. Four-star review.
• Currently Reading: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 9.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Where's the Party" by Madonna.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0928: "Installation." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,413 for swankivy (no change), 676 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (lost 1), 173 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 69 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 876 for swankivy (no change), 3,684 for JulieSondra (40 new). Hive Social: 26 followers (no change). Post: 2 for juliesondra (no change). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 241 likes for So You Write (1 new), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (1 new). Tumblr followers: 2,434 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 257 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: February 11 – February 17

Life news this week:

• Saturday involved alternating between blogging, playing games while listening to news, and rereading my in-progress novel. I finally got all the existing chapters named and wrote a little more. Also ate a really good potato.
  
  
• Sunday I slept late and finally got around to laundry and trash. Then I did my taxes and then did my mom's taxes. I was definitely procrastinating on working on the book. Got annoyed by my loud neighbors. Processed some music video stuff and wrote some more of my book.
  
  
• Monday I did some spreadsheet conversions for my boss, went to a marketing meeting, and did some more Polos. Put away some laundry. Talked to my old critique partner Ben on the phone. Practiced ukulele. Went to bed early.
  
  
• Tuesday there was a bird war in my backyard and a dead bird in the yard. Sad. Worked on data updates and info gathering on a proposal. Practiced ukulele. Wrote some more of the book. Wrote a long e-mail to a friend.
  
  
• Wednesday I worked on a proposal and gathered some data about utilities and crash statistics. Practiced ukulele. Put on some fancy makeup. Jeaux and I ate at Garden Gyros for the first time and we were impressed with the food. Then went shopping at the little Publix and couldn't find a bunch of the stuff I usually get. Won't do that again! We took a walk and watched Colbert and Extraordinary. I completed my last required soaking session for my toe! I still haven't looked at it, LOL.
  
  
• Thursday was a lazy day. Worked on the proposal all day and didn't do any walking until after work. Got some done while reading and took a nap. Played games with the friends. Did the rest of my walking.
  
  
• Friday I was a little lazy in the morning. Got my reports done. Alternated walking and drawing comics. Got into another pointless argument on Reddit.

New Reviews:

• isa ♡ gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Still not seeing any results from making reasonable choices. It's annoying. I ate just under the threshold of what's supposed to be a weight-loss diet EVERY SINGLE DAY this week and my highest weight is HIGHER than last week. There seems to be no reason for this. Except maybe water retention or something. High weight: 122.5. Low weight: 122.0.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Very good balance this week! Pretty much every day I had good nutrition and a good balance of protein versus carbs versus fat. Just one day had too much fat. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week (despite toe stuff). My low day was Saturday at 10,045 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,613 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. I'm on page 274.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Gulf War Song" by Moxy Früvous.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0927: "The World is Wide." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,413 for swankivy (9 new), 676 for JulieSondra (no change), 18 for v & V Vids (no change), 173 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 69 for Tides of Time Band (1 new). Twitter followers: 876 for swankivy (no change), 3,644 for JulieSondra (9 new). Hive Social: 26 followers (no change). Post: 2 for juliesondra (no change). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 240 likes for So You Write (no change), 93 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,435 (1 new). Instagram followers: 257 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: February 4 – February 10

Life news this week:

• Saturday I had plans with Mom but she canceled so I spent the day working on the blog, practicing ukulele, catching up on book reviews and photos, napping, sending Polos, reading, and jumping back into rereading my in-progress book that I'm writing.
  
  
• Sunday I downloaded and watched some of our performance videos from the previous week and read more book chapters. Mom decided to keep our plans this time and picked me up to hang out at her house and check out her bathroom remodel. Looks great. We hung out and ate sushi and fruit. (Well, I ate sushi. She doesn't like it.) We just chatted and I helped her buy something on the internet. Then once I got home I got my chores done (trash, laundry) and did karaoke and reading.
  
  
• Monday I finished the project reports that I couldn't finish last week. Also worked on some new data processing I'll be doing for the company. After work I wrote a long e-mail and went to sleep late.
  
  
• Tuesday I did some data crunching and it's not too bad. Also some data entry on my other project. Got some walking in while putting away laundry. Sent an e-mail and some messages.
  
  
• Wednesday I had to go to the podiatrist early in the morning before work. They decided my cracked toenail had to go right then and there and before I knew it I had had an operation and now I don't have a toenail. Fun! I got a big pink bandage and instructions on how to take care of it for the next couple weeks. After, I went to work and did some teaming invitations, some utility stuff, and some organizing. I reviewed an academic paper I'd been invited to review and submitted my comments. Then Jeaux came over and we went shopping, and we got Moe's food and watched Colbert and two episodes of Extraordinary. I didn't want to go for a walk because of my toe.
  
  
• Thursday I had to change the dressing on my toe and soak it in an epsom salt solution. Now I have to do that twice a day for a while. It was fine and I had no trouble. At work I did my data update and reports. Took a nap, wrote some comics, and answered messages. Played games with my friends and we got a very dumb new joke about eating out of a tube sock. Victor tried to call me from the hospital for the first time in over four months, but he was calling way after the time when I answer the phone so I didn't actually talk to him.
  
  
• Friday I just had the usual report preparation and timesheets. Then I worked on my webcomic and sent Polos and watched silly videos while walking.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• A Room of One's Own has announced the I AM ACE Book Panel Discussion featuring me and two other ace activists, Cody Daigle-Orians and Ashabi Owagboriaye. The panel is online attendance and takes place Monday, March 6. It's part of an event surrounding Cody's book release.
  
• Isthmus Community Media also covered the announcement about the panel.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I did better on the amounts and choices I was eating this week but haven't seen results yet. At least I am down from the new high last week and haven't seen it return. High weight: 122.0. Low weight: 121.0.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Pretty good balance this week (and have cut down on snacks when I'm not hungry for them) but I could have made better choices with including more vegetables. There were a couple days where I didn't have any green vegetables. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week (despite toe stuff). My low day was Saturday at 10,072 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 10,761 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. I'm on page 169.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Magic Dance" by David Bowie.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0926: "Outside World." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

Sushi and fruit salad at Mom's

Post-op toe

Pretending to eat out of a tube sock

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,404 for swankivy (lost 4), 676 for JulieSondra (no change), 18 for v & V Vids (no change), 173 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 68 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 876 for swankivy (no change), 3,635 for JulieSondra (26 new). Hive Social: 26 followers (no change). Post: 2 for juliesondra (no change). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 240 likes for So You Write (no change), 93 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,434 (lost 2). Instagram followers: 256 (lost 1).

Personal Digest Saturday: January 28 – February 3

Life news this week:

• Saturday I had some down time, besides doing some blogging and writing/planning my next writing webcomic. I practiced the band music for our upcoming show in between other obligations. I rearranged my song book before going to bed.
  
  
• Sunday was band practice in preparation for our Tuesday performance. It was a long practice and we still didn't get through everything. Dad and I elected not to go to lunch (but I got some business card paper on the way home), and after he dropped me off I did my usual trash and laundry chores. Also did some Polos and messing with the webcomic.
  
  
• Monday was not busy at work but I worked on some reports. I finished my drawings for the webcomic and ate a bunch of ice cream. Put away some laundry and packed an overnight bag for the possibility that I would sleep over in Sarasota. Posted my comic after midnight because I like to post them on the last day of the year.
  
  
• Tuesday was another slow day but I only worked half the day. Dad picked me up about 1:15 and we headed out to Sarasota. We chilled at his house a bit before going over to the Harley-Davidson dealership to set up our equipment. Building the drum set back up was a lot (but it was so cool to see our logo on the drums!) and then there were too many technical difficulties with the monitors so we couldn't hear ourselves/each other when we got started. Could have been a lot better but we got through it and had some fun at our first paid engagement. Dad elected to take me home instead of having me stay over so I also got to sleep in my own bed after.
  
  
• Wednesday I was a little achy from too much standing. Work again was not busy. I went out with Jeaux to eat at SoFresh and then we shopped, watched Colbert, took a walk, and saw two episodes of a show he's showing me called Extraordinary.
  
  
• Thursday work was again somewhat slow. I later worked on my weekly webcomic and downloaded some videos from our performance (but haven't processed any yet). Made some good pasta with mushrooms for dinner. Played games online with the friends as usual and had a nice time. Finished reading a book. Went to bed early.
  
  
• Friday at work was busy with reports and attending a meeting to learn a new part of my job. We also took a lunch break to have a farewell party for the employee who's been working at the company the longest (outside the boss and his wife). So sad to see him go. (We ate with a group at Olive Garden and everyone who couldn't come attended a Teams meeting to say goodbye.) I didn't get finished with my reports but it got too late so I left and put them on the agenda for next week. Finished my comic and then did some walking while talking to my sister and Meghan on Polo.

New Reviews:

• adriane gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads (in French). (This reviewer was apparently annoyed that the book was too liberal and queer.)
  
• Nivi gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I've just been eating up the ice cream and everything I felt like eating, for some reason, even if I wasn't hungry. I'm pretty unhappy with that. And am not surprised that I got a new high, which I will try to not let happen again. High weight: 122.5. Low weight: 121.0.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Some days I have an okay balance and some days it's been really carby. Probably because of the ice cream. I will work harder on this. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,007 steps, and my high day was Monday at 16,577 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: You Too? by Janet Gurtler. Four-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. I'm just getting started.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Only Time" by Enya.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic So You Write Issue 140: "Meeting of Equals." 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0925: "Meeting of Equals." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

A few from our Tuesday performance:

And a couple photos from our farewell party for my coworker:

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,408 for swankivy (no change), 676 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 18 for v & V Vids (no change), 172 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 68 for Tides of Time Band (1 new). Twitter followers: 876 for swankivy (no change), 3,609 for JulieSondra (121 new). Hive Social: 26 followers (no change). Post: 2 for juliesondra (no change). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 240 likes for So You Write (no change), 93 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,436 (no change). Instagram followers: 257 (no change).