Personal Digest Saturday: April 22 – April 28

Life news this week:

• Saturday was a lovely day with Meggie. We got up and had breakfast and then headed out to Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. We looked at all the flowers and wildlife and I managed to avoid getting sunburned. It was a really lovely place and we had a beautiful time! The weather wasn't too hot. Then we headed over to Jackson's and met up with Adam for sushi. It turned out Jeaux didn't have D&D so he joined us! We hung out for a long time and moved to the bar when their lunch area closed. Then we made arrangements to meet up later after Adam went off to do some other stuff. Meg and I hung out resting and I made banana cinnamon rolls. It's a long process because it has two rising periods. When Adam arrived we had pizza and later I put the rolls in the oven, let them cool, and frosted them so we could have dessert. We just sat around chatting until they got tired and Adam stayed over.
  
  
• Sunday Adam had already left before I got up. Meg and I had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and spent the morning chatting. Then she headed out and I did my Sunday chores plus karaoke. Sent a Polo to my sister and made a Letters video.
  
  
• Monday work started to get really busy. I did an accounting task, had a meeting, read a letter, and had another meeting. Then I took a nap, joined my friends for game night, and put away my laundry.
  
  
• Tuesday I finished my data collection tasks on upcoming projects and worked on a presentation. We found out we got on another shortlist which is putting us into crunch time. I stayed late wrapping up stuff and went out to talk to Tony after work. Then I wrote an e-mail, played games, and laid my collection of Steven Universe shirts out for an updated photo. I have 100 SU shirts!
  
  
• Wednesday I worked on presentation stuff at work, sent out teaming requests for upcoming letters, and attended a practice. Jeaux came after work and we picked up food from Burger 21 after grocery shopping. All we did was eat, watch Colbert, and take a walk.
  
  
• Thursday I just had a debriefing and bothered people for materials. I wrote my webcomic and drew some of it. And I got super scared during a storm because the broken tree in my backyard was getting wrecked. It ended up coming within 2 feet of falling on the house and sounded very scary coming down. They really didn't take me seriously as having reported it as dangerous a month ago and didn't arrange the tree service as fast as it really needed to be done. I also got to take some photos of my cool new Cookie Cat jacket.
  
  
• Friday was busy dealing with the presentation, support materials for contracts, reports, and going to meetings. Got a LOT done but had to stay late. Then I finished my comic and posted it and got my last steps in talking to Ben on Polo.

New Reviews:

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

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I had a spike one day because I was full of sushi, pizza, and cinnamon rolls. It was just one day. ;) High weight: 122.0. Low weight: 118.9.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Decent balance most days--was really paying attention to protein because I didn't want to have another week where that was too low. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,246 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 14,051 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown. I'm on page 35.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" by Elton John.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0937: "Antagonized." 

Videos Made:

Letters to an Asexual #102 is out! In this video, I share a man's comment on my first online asexuality essay wherein he insisted my perspective was only useful for women, who don't have actual problems if they come out as asexual while men do. Men, he argues, are actually in danger because they might be mistaken for gay. For some reason he believes a similar belief about asexual women would not be dangerous for us, and that I really should have made a helpful essay for the real victims here: men.

New photos:

There's a Comprehensive Sunken Gardens with Meghan photo album if you want it, but here are my favorites from that trip:

And a couple pictures from Jackson's:

And now my cinnamon roll photos:

My 100 Steven Universe shirts:

Jacket collection and pics of me modeling the new Cookie Cat one:

And some broken tree photos:

This is how close it came to hitting the house

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,429 for swankivy (1 new), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 171 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 870 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,831 for JulieSondra (6 new). Facebook: 296 friends for swankivy (no change), 639 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 likes for So You Write (no change), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,439 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 255 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 15 – April 21

Life news this week:

• Saturday I had wanted to go to a birthday party but decided the rideshare would just cost too much to be practical. (It was in another city.) Instead I spent the day getting steps, practicing music and ukulele, blogging, reading, and sending/listening to Polos. Then I spent the evening recording two new podcast episodes with Daria ("Gem Harvest" and "Three Gems and a Baby"). I also got some photo albums updated.
  
  
• Sunday I got up early for band practice. Dad picked me up and we caught up on stuff on the way there. We had a surprisingly great practice considering how long we've been out of commission. We're trying out a new in-ear monitoring system which is really sweet and makes a huge difference. And then afterwards we went on a wild goose chase to find a place to have lunch. We ended up at Gecko's Grill & Pub and I had an excellent fake hamburger. Had some more lovely conversation on the way home and then at home I did my laundry and trash chores before taking a ridiculous nap. Which of course led to staying up too late, too.
  
  
• Monday involved two letters to proofread and send out. Also had to prepare a document to take minutes for the next day's meeting. And our team got shortlisted on a project, woo-hoo. Time to work hard! After work I did Polos and put away laundry while watching videos from our band practice. Bought some stuff online and did some more work on my photo albums. Wrote my comic and played games with the online friend group. and then did a Polo for my sister.
  
  
• Tuesday was my big utility meeting. And it was indeed big. We had to have a second follow-up meeting at which point we found out we need more meetings and plan adjustments. A lot to pull together. Also was wrangling communication with the tree guy! He came to see my broken tree and we decided on the plan--unfortunately he has to take the whole tree down. I also called my neighbor to let her know about the tree coming down because some of it fell into her yard. Then after work I ate a potato, worked on the photos page, practiced ukulele, took a walk, and drew some of the comic.
  
  
• Wednesday was busy--worked on my data gathering for upcoming projects and went to debriefing meetings, sent invitations to teaming partners, worked on a presentation template, and did some crash analysis. Jeaux came after work and we ate outside at Vallarta's (I had a coupon!) and then grocery shopping. Finally we watched Colbert and took a walk. Nothing fancy.
  
  
• Thursday was another super productive day at work. I finished the last of my upcoming project data gathering, went to a meeting, sent support documents for a teaming effort, attended a meeting about planning our presentation, updated my roadway characteristics inventory database, and completed all the project manager reports for two districts. AND then I did most of my timesheet to cut down on the next day's work. After work I ate a potato, finished drawing and processing my comic, and did some karaoke recording.
  
  
• Friday was also busy at work. I handled timesheet stuff and worked on some reports. Then I went to a two-hour planning meeting and had to come up with a revised presentation template to send to everyone. Still not sure if I am going to be part of the team going to the presentation in Fort Myers. Then after I finished the reports and processed some timesheet stuff, I got some steps while doing Polos, took care of plants, and took a walk. Meghan showed up for a visit after 6. We picked up Burger 21 food and sat around chatting, then watched the movie Anchorman. She went to bed, I wrapped up my comic, and I worked on my blogging.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• I don't usually link Twitter stuff because people kinda mention me on there all the time, but this thread about my book was just particularly heartwarming. ;)
  
• Singsnap for some reason featured my rendition of "Walking on Sunshine" in their Featured Spring Playlist.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: A little better this week! Let's keep it going. High weight: 120.3. Low weight: 118.9.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Did well with fruits and vegetables this week. Had a few pretty fat-heavy meals so that threw off the balance, but in general I'm keeping my choices really balanced. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,071 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 10,782 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown. I'm on page 33.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "In Too Deep" by Genesis.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0936: "What Kind of Response." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,428 for swankivy (lost 1), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 171 for Not-So-Giant Women (lost 1), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 872 for swankivy (no change), 3,825 for JulieSondra (62 new). Facebook: 296 friends for swankivy (lost 1, don't know who, but if I scared some TERF/transphobe off with all the trans-positive stuff I posted this week, good riddance), 639 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 likes for So You Write (no change), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,440 (lost 2). Instagram followers: 255 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 8 – April 14

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up after NOON which never happens! Must've needed the sleep. Worked on blogging sporadically and bought some new shirts for my collection. Updated my websites with some new favorites that I've been meaning to include. Did a photo page, practiced ukulele, and received my long-coveted comic book in the mail.
  
  
• Sunday I slept not as late as the previous day, but still late. It's nice. Took out trash, did laundry, updated a photo page, and posted a picture of my anthology that came in. Took a nap. Mom had asked if she could come over but when I told her when my availability was she just didn't reply to me so it didn't happen. Wrote some podcast planning documents, took a walk, did some reading, recorded a karaoke song, and watched some reactions.
  
  
• Monday I had meetings and letters going out; pretty typical Monday. Also did some data entry updates. Managed to update a photo page and take a nap before game night with my friends. Rewatched some old videos while getting some steps in. Worked on my book.
  
  
• Tuesday I had a work meeting and a bunch of data to deal with. After work I talked to Tony when he came to do my lawn. Then I did some walking and practicing. Did a photo page. Had a potato. Practiced ukulele and learned a new strumming technique.
  
  
• Wednesday I had meetings and data gathering. After work I took a nap and did Polos and practiced ukulele. Jeaux came by and we ate at SoFresh and went grocery shopping. Watched Colbert and the last episode of The Owl House (finally I don't have to dodge spoilers!). We took some walks and after he left I listened to news, played a game, and updated my photos page.
  
  
• Thursday I got up early but went back to bed because I didn't have meetings. Had a call to discuss crash data and then a failed meeting. I worked on my data updates. Then I made some Polos and wrote my webcomic. I shopped for my friend Kari's (late) birthday gift, drew some comics, and got my last vacation photo page processed (so now I'm caught up all the way back to 1996). I just have some convention photos, Halloween photos, and Renaissance Faire photos to incorporate and then I'll just have loose photos from in between events plus photos from childhood to post (selectively). Glad this project is coming along.
  
  
• Friday involved upcoming project reports and meetings and some data entry. After work I did my webcomic and my walking. Played ukulele a little and processed the new shirts that had arrived into my collection. (I have a comprehensive list of the collection on my website, but also a list of their values in a spreadsheet. Collector nerd central!)

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Haven't really made any progress this week. The opposite really. Maybe next week I will have better news. High weight: 120.3. Low weight: 119.5.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Mixed bag this week. Some days I'm close to goals, several days I was low on protein, a couple days a little high on fat, but overall no patterns emerging. I'd like to get closer to the goals. I'm happy that I'm managing to incorporate my leafy greens in every day most of the time until I eat everything I have in the house. I think I'm going to need to cut out the chips-and-dip thing I've been doing--the vegetables I'm eating with them are carrots and mushrooms and those don't add much nutritionally. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,031 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 14,658 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown. I'm on page 25.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Babooshka" by Kate Bush.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0935: "Sit Down." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

Me with Ace and Aro Journeys, a book I blurbed

Me with Transitions, the Spoon Knife anthology I have a short story in.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,429 for swankivy (7 new), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 172 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 872 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,763 for JulieSondra (19 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 likes for So You Write (no change), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,442 (3 new). Instagram followers: 255 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 1 – April 7

Life news this week:

• Saturday I slept very late and was very happy and relaxed. I made myself an omelet in the morning. Did some Polos and blogging, took care of plants, and planted some seeds. And I cleaned up the house a little and sent my dad a present for his birthday. Finished up the blogging and made some plans with Kari. Got some files updated and submitted some short stories. Put together a proposal package for the office.
  
  
• Sunday I got up early enough to have coffee and breakfast before going out to the movies with Jeaux to see Dungeons and Dragons. It was good! I haven't been to the movies since 2019. Then we picked up some food at Saki and ate it at my house while watching Colbert. Put my laundry in. Called Mom and finally she picked up so we got to catch up a little. She asked if we could come by on Wednesday to try to help her fix her remote control so I said I'd ask Jeaux. Then Kari came over and we hung out and ate pizza and caught up on our lives. Finally took out the trash and then I had to read a letter at work because we were going to be slammed if I didn't get ahead.
  
  
• Monday was somewhat chaotic but I had expected it so I was well prepared. A proposal package and four letter went out, plus a utility submittal with no support from the management team because they were all on the road preparing for their interview. Dang I did good! Also had a short chat with my departing coworker Suma, whom I will miss. Took a walk, read a book, and relaxed a little. Played games with my friends now that we're back to Mondays. Then did some Polos and started working on photo pages again. Got some sleep in too.
  
  
• Tuesday I had to distribute plans to utilities and I managed to get through it, plus I did some upcoming project research. Then I slept for several hours after work! I texted my dad to wish him happy birthday and he got my birthday present! Yay. Talked to Meg and found out my nephew got Covid so that sucks. Worked on my novel In Bloom for the first time in a while. And the photo album for the day. And found out Trump got indicted so that's nice progress.
  
  
• Wednesday Mom canceled our plan to come over and help her with the remote because she wanted us to stay for dinner too and we already had plans. Welp! I spent the day at work finishing data for upcoming projects and doing longlist notes. Jeaux and I did our shopping and got our Mandola's dinner. We ate VERY good food (mine was ravioli) and watched some Colbert and finished Heartstopper. Also I got mail: A book I blurbed AND a book my story is in arrived at my PO Box. I posted my photo updates after he left. My sister ended up getting Covid too. Argh.
  
  
• Thursday work was slower-paced for once so I got to take some down time after some of the extra time worked this week. I read some old posts and wrote some of my webcomic storyboard. Bought my nephew a video game to help him stay occupied while sick. Did some Polos. I made matzo ball soup and ate some, and texted with my family. Did some arguing on Reddit, posted photo updates, and went to sleep early.
  
  
• Friday I did my timesheets and project reports at work, plus some teaming coordination. Finished writing the storyboard for Negative One and worked on the drawing too. Got it posted with just enough time to finish my walking too. Worked on my book some more and posted photo updates.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Bah. Could be worse, could be better. Just gonna keep on keepin' on. High weight: 119.5. Low weight: 118.4.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Weirdly I've been low on protein this week. Lots of carby meals I guess. Still eating spinach and fruit a lot which is good. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,074 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 12,368 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown. I'm on page 10.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Cold Hearted" by Paula Abdul.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0934: "We Still Have Something." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

Matzo ball soup cooking

Matzo ball soup ready!

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,422 for swankivy (1 new), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 172 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 71 for Tides of Time Band (1 new). Twitter followers: 874 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,744 for JulieSondra (6 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 likes for So You Write (no change), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,439 (1 new). Instagram followers: 255 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: March 25 – March 31

Life news this week:

• Saturday I finally sent the cost analysis of our trip to Meg for review so we can get reimbursed by our friends. Did my blogging. Planned out a Letters to an Asexual video and recorded it. Took a walk and read the rest of A Deadly Education, the book Jeaux lent me that he likes. Updated some sites and looked for a solution to get my personality quiz on my website working again because I had to disable the plugin to upgrade my PHP to a more secure version. Website conflicts are a pain. I couldn't find a good plugin for the quiz, so I guess I'll keep looking.
  
  
• Sunday I engaged in some procrastination but still got things done. Talked to Meg, did laundry, took out trash, sang karaoke, and made some funny GIFs for my Steven Universe blog that I don't post about here. Watched some reactions. Found an eBay listing for THE ONE COMIC I'M MISSING FROM MY COLLECTION THAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR SINCE 2019. Put in a bid and hoped for a win at the end of the week. Worked on some Letters of Response at work for a few hours because we needed to not be so slammed on Monday. After finishing the work I put away laundry and watched more reactions.
  
  
• Monday we had to send four letters in and I proofread them all. Also had to deal with timesheets and some data to enter. Played DDR after work for the first time in a long time. Got paid by some of my pals for vacation. Did some Polos and went to bed early by accident.
  
  
• Tuesday I had to do a bunch of interview-related tasks for a coworker and work on the info packet for our upcoming interview. Also we got selected as part of a team and needed to prepare info for the Prime firm. Yay! Mostly other than that I did my data entry. Did some walking and Polos after work, did dishes, cleaned out my messages, and played on Twitter. Didn't really get anything done except writing a storyboard for So You Write.
  
  
• Wednesday I had to work on teaming invitations, data entry, a proposal for Pasco County, updates to existing letters, and gathering upcoming project data. Jeaux was late but we had a good dinner from Vallarta's after grocery shopping. We took a walk, watched Colbert and Heartstopper, and talked about jackass dudes. He didn't find my pen that he misplaced, boo. I did some drawing after he left.
  
  
• Thursday I worked on data entry all day except when I edited one letter. Worked on the data until evening when it was game time (8 PM). Found out they indicted Trump and watched news. Played online games with the friends until 10, then played DDR again because that's one way to get fast steps and I was behind because of working so much. Drew the last sketches for So You Write and prepared the comic for posting.
  
  
• Friday I had an excellent day, though work was busy--did my upcoming project reports and my meetings and utility stuff for upcoming requirements. And a tree broke in the backyard and made a loud sound crashing into the yard. Very yikes. Hope the neighbors didn't like that fence. Anyway, then I won the auction for the comic on eBay (so as long as it makes it to my house I WILL FINALLY HAVE A COMPLETE COMICS COLLECTION). I heard from two people I don't hear from enough (Kari saying she might come visit me this weekend; John laughing at a video I sent him and catching up briefly). I got my comic finished and got my steps in while reading. AND I found out that the story I sold back in September finally has details of publication available; I'd been worried the project had fallen into a black hole. "Aquarius" will be published in the 18th volume of PRIDE: An Anthology of Diverse Speculative Fiction in October this year. It can be preordered in Kindle format and we'll wait for other options.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Stabilizing! Now to hopefully see lower numbers just little by little next week. High weight: 118.9. Low weight: 118.4.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Starting a tradition of eating spinach every day until my box of it is gone! That manifests as either a smoothie or a salad. Both are great. I've gotten good nutrition this week but the balance has leaned high fat. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,018 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,708 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Four-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown. I'm on page 7.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic So You Write Issue 142: "Pretty Normal." 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0933: "Daredevil." 

Videos Made:

Letters to an Asexual #101 ("Just call it celibacy!") is out! In this video, I share a YouTube comment exchange between me and a person who repeatedly recommended I just call asexuality "what it is: celibacy!" and insisted the word "asexual" was a ploy to feel special. Later, they accused me of getting angry, compared asexual people to Jesus, and flew into a rage at my supposed hypocrisy when I told him a religious messiah figure isn't an appropriate comparison.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,421 for swankivy (lost 1), 680 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 171 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 70 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 875 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,738 for JulieSondra (20 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 likes for So You Write (no change), 94 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,438 (lost 3). Instagram followers: 255 (lost 2).