Personal Digest Saturday (but posted on Sunday!): October 21 – October 27

Life news this week:

• Saturday was my Halloween party! I got the house ready and had time for a leisurely breakfast before preparing my costume and putting out the labels for the various dishes. I managed to make my spiced apple cider without any boil-overs this year, didn't make too much of a mess filling the coolers, and everything went perfect with putting out food and preparing the house for guests. People started arriving close to 7 PM and we ended up having a total of 14 people (me, Kari, Dorian, Ben, Meghan, Adam, Dare, Jeaux, Michael, Rachael, Finch, Goose, Yasmin, and Arthur). People's costumes were great--I went as Pearl from Steven Universe. My candy corn fudge was a surprise hit and all the apple cider actually got consumed! We listened to music and hung out for a long time and the last person to leave (my friend Ben) helped me clean up the kitchen too. I got to bed about 3 AM.
  
  
• Sunday was a nice breather--slept late and lazed around a bit. I texted with some people about Halloween and did the remaining party dishes. Did laundry and took out the trash. And got a karaoke song recorded. I put my living room furniture back how it's supposed to go and did Polos for various people. Went to bed early.
  
  
• Monday I had no meetings and two letters, with some teaming discussions and meeting setup. After work I did my walks, set up an Ace Week event, did Polos, put away laundry, and played silly games. With lots of eating leftovers.
  
  
• Tuesday work was a little slow so I got caught up on back-burner items. Had two meetings and some utility stuff. I worked on my webcomic since my ace event was planned for Friday and I needed it done early. Did my walking in between drawing, collected some info on asexual characters to talk about in my livestream, and reread some old blog entries.
  
  
• Wednesday I kept getting weird spam calls. I worked on crash data and taking screenshots of speed limits for my coworker. Got excited about new Steven Universe collection items that are mysteriously still coming out at Hot Topic. Cared for plants and talked to Meg. Talked to Tony before going out with Jeaux to eat at Mandola's and grocery shop. We watched some more of Our Flag Means Death, took a walk, and caught up on Colbert.
  
  
• Thursday we wrangled the utility stuff on our project trying to certify it. We had one marketing meeting, one debriefing, one consultant meeting. I bothered teaming partners about materials. Did some walking, worked on the livestream content, and finished coding for my webcomic. Finished and started reading a book.
  
  
• Friday I had to go to the doctor before work and it took a lot longer than it should have (plus surprise blood work). I got back home and back to work to knock out project reports and bother people for documents. Worked on wrapping up my ace fiction list, and then after posting my comic and taking a nap, I did my Ace Week livestream for about 2 hours. Then I got my steps in and made some cupcakes for Ben's birthday (pumpkin spice with cream cheese frosting!) but I had a small disaster when I found out I didn't have any powdered sugar in the house (what??).

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• My book was recommended to a mom asking for advice about her ace daughter in a Reddit thread.
  
• My book is on a list of the best sex books at Blinkist. I'm not sure what's going on with the cover they're using. I've never seen it before.
  
• My livestream was listed on the events page at Ace Week.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Obviously eating leftovers from the party all week hasn't been the best for any goals I have here, haha! I am sure I'll see some improvement when I go back to better habits. It's no big deal. High weight: 123.7. Low weight: 121.7.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Protein has been very low this week since I'm eating party leftovers full of sugar and fat--but hey, pumpkin pie has pumpkin in it, right? Yeah, I did my best to still get some protein here and there but I wasn't hungry for much after eating snacky kinds of food a lot. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,112 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 10,438 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Be Gay, Do Comics by Matt Bors. Five-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Loveless by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 23.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "I Hate Myself For Loving You" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0963: "Not My Business." 

Videos Made:

Ace Week with Swankivy 2023 - Ace Characters in Fiction - We talked about some fictional asexual characters in books and TV.

New photos:

Halloween Album 2023 is out, so that has everything, but here are a selection of photos from the Halloween party.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,443 for swankivy (lost 3), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 191 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 849 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,865 for JulieSondra (8 new). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (1 new; became friends with Goose who came to my party), 648 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 245 likes for So You Write (no change), 97 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,434 (1 new). Instagram followers: 262 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: October 14 – October 20

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did some home repair stuff, put up Halloween decorations, wrote my webcomic and started drawing it, and updated website stuff to show my latest interview. Did my blogging, did my dishes, made some Polos, and chatted with friends.
  
  
• Sunday I did my karaoke and my breakfast, then went out to meet my new friend Ben at the bookstore. We hung out, got coffee, later got Boba, and ended up at Five Guys nine hours later. Yeah, he's pretty cool. I'm glad to have a new friend and we had a lot of great chats, and we seem to have a lot in common. I hope he likes my other friends when he meets them at my party next week. When I finally got home I did laundry and took out the trash, and relaxed a bit.
  
  
• Monday we had just one letter going out, and I had a meeting. I finished the webcomic and processed it (doing everything early because of the upcoming Halloween party). Practiced music, read, and updated recipes.
  
  
• Tuesday was a day of meetings, data entry, and teaming invitations. I put away my laundry and organized my recipes and ingredients. Dealt with more of Mom's bills and had to renew her insurance policy on her car which seems stupid.
  
  
• Wednesday I dealt with the insurance some more, and worked on research at work. Jeaux took me to Beef O'Brady's and grocery shopping, where I got the last of my party stuff. We watched the first four episodes of the latest season of Our Flag Means Death (it's good!) and took our walk and caught up on Colbert. I meant to finish some other stuff after he left but I was too tired.
  
  
• Thursday I did more meetings and research. I made my animal cookies and did Polos, and I did pumpkin pies too. I met my friends for game night and had fun with them, and afterwards I made my cream cheese pumpkin roll.
  
  
• Friday was more meetings, timesheet stuff, reports, traffic data, and teaming follow-ups. I made my cheesecake brownies and candy corn fudge. Then I decided to make muffins instead of waiting until the morning, so I also made banana muffins and pumpkin muffins. Managed to get the kitchen cleaned up and will be ready to set up for the party.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: A lot of delayed eating this week but hasn't affected anything. I seem to wait until really late at night to eat sometimes. That's probably not the smartest. High weight: 123.1. Low weight: 121.7.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Incorporated more vegetables into the diet this week but still an awful lot of just sandwiches and fake meat. I have had very good balance between carbs, fat, and protein this week too. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,078 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 14,386 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Be Gay, Do Comics by Matt Bors. I'm on page 246.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Our Lips Are Sealed" by the Go-Go's.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0962: "Textbook Reaction." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

None.

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,446 for swankivy (2 new), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 191 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 851 for swankivy (no change), 3,857 for JulieSondra (no change). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 648 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 245 likes for So You Write (no change), 97 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,433 (2 new). Instagram followers: 262 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: October 7 – October 13

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did some housecleaning and vacuuming before hopping on to talk to a podcast host. Then after an hour of that, I worked on my blog, texted with Ben, and played DDR. Also got annoyed at an art thief (not of my art). Finished processing my Not-So-Giant Women episode.
  
  
• Sunday I had a leisurely morning during which I also did some mildly responsible stuff like paying bills and doing dishes. Sarah and David came over and we ate at Saki, and then hung out at my house for a while before they had to go home. Then I did my karaoke and my laundry and my trash. I took some photos of updated collections and watched a video I didn't like.
  
  
• Monday I had three letters to get out again, and helped with some accounting stuff and teaming arrangements. Made some appointments, took a nap, put away laundry, and worked a little bit on a story.
  
  
• Tuesday involved organizing, reports, and researching at work, along with four meetings. After work I mostly wasted time and played DDR.
  
  
• Wednesday I did more teaming organizing, utility coordination, and reports. Talked to Tony outside when he came to do my lawn. Jeaux took me to Black Rock and then grocery shopping, where I spent a lot of money because I was buying stuff for my Halloween party. We got rained on during our walk. And we watched Colbert.
  
  
• Thursday was more meetings, utility coordination, research, and administrative tasks. Argued with some people on the internet and met my friends for game night. Played DDR and texted with Ben.
  
  
• Friday was meetings, reports, and research. Then I got my webcomic done and worked on the labels and ingredient lists for my Halloween party. Made a good to-do list.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The Silencing of Asexuals: The podcast Flow had me on as a guest. This recording has me and host Sheila Das chatting about conversations surrounding asexuality for about an hour.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I'm doing a lot of exercise and eating less but nothing has changed. Hmmm. High weight: 123.1. Low weight: 121.7.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Very good balance this week, but I have been very lax on eating veggies! Having a lot of fruit and yogurt though. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Wednesday at 10,025 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,920 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Be Gay, Do Comics by Matt Bors. I'm on page 150.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Hella Good" by No Doubt.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0961: "What Strong People Do." 

Videos Made:

Not-So-Giant Women Episode 65: Onion Friend is out. Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Onion Friend" and cover such topics as Onion's birth video, Onion's snake, Onion's speech idiosyncrasies and whether Sour Cream can understand them, the confirmation of Onion's family relationships (and discussion of other familial relationships in Beach City), Vidalia's shotgun, Vidalia's permissive parenting, Onion's potato sculpture of Steven, Amethyst's feelings about being an inspiration to Vidalia, and how the show continued to keep the ongoing conflict still be felt in an episode that wasn't about that.

New photos:

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,444 for swankivy (2 new), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 191 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 851 for swankivy (no change), 3,857 for JulieSondra (2 new). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (1 new--finally became FB friends with Finch), 647 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 245 likes for So You Write (no change), 97 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,431 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 262 (lost 2).

Personal Digest Saturday: September 30 – October 6

Life news this week:

• Saturday I drew, colored, and posted my So You Write comic, took a walk, did my blogging, talked to Jeaux, and got very little else done.
  
  
• Sunday I caught up on stuff I'd been procrastinating on. Ordered something online, worked on some podcast planning, learned a song for karaoke, and made the event for my Halloween party coming up. I did my usual Sunday chores (trash, laundry) and baked some cool cookies that looked like teabags.
  
  
• Monday involved three letters going out and lots of busy stuff at work. After work I finished taking photos of my cookies and posting the recipes, and I played DDR before going to sleep early.
  
  
• Tuesday I had tons of organization, meetings, and research--super busy all day. Got my walking in toward the end of the day and did some Polos. Worked on processing a podcast recording and made some calls about my mom's stuff. Followed breaking news stories. Participated in an interview on the podcast Flow.
  
  
• Wednesday I did more scheduling and research at work. Did some Polos and cleaning after work. Jeaux took me to eat at SoFresh and we went grocery shopping and watched the return of Colbert when we got home.
  
  
• Thursday I was busy with a proposal and data entry. Had to work a little late to get it all done. Jumped right into podcast recording after that and got three episodes recorded with Daria.
  
  
• Friday there was supposed to be a pickup for my donations from Mom's house but they didn't pick up my boxes. We hired a new employee so I got him processed and did some stuff with timesheets and reports at work. Then I had to do my comic in a rush because I hadn't even written it yet and I usually start drawing the night before, but it came out fine. Worked on the podcast episode but I got too tired.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Making a little bit of progress with my schedules but nothing monumental right now. I seem to be doing better about only eating when I'm hungry instead of just doing it when it's something to do. High weight: 123.1. Low weight: 121.7.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Weirdly I seem to be not getting as many carbs as I need this week, but I tried to counter that whenever I'd see it there. Usually this isn't a problem I have. Still consistently taking the vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,074 steps, and my high day was Monday at 13,174 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Be Gay, Do Comics by Matt Bors. I'm on page 130.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic So You Write Issue 148: "Sight Unseen." 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0960: "A Clean Break." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

Teabag cookies!

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,442 for swankivy (5 new), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 190 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 71 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 851 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,855 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 647 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 245 likes for So You Write (no change), 97 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,432 (no change). Instagram followers: 264 (lost 1).