Personal Digest Saturday: August 24 – August 30

Life news this week:

• Saturday involved getting caught up on relaxing. It's important! Did some blogging, reading, making zucchini pasta, and fixing the elemental personality quiz on my author website which had been broken for a while. I finally found a new plugin that can handle what I need to do.
  
  
• Sunday I read my book, did some chores, recorded some Polos, made a new asexuality video, recorded a karaoke video, and did some submission homework. Talked to Jeaux on the phone while putting away laundry.
  
  
• Monday was busy at work. New letter to send out and timesheets to collect, and I updated a report. Got featured on the SingSnap front page for some reason. Did some cleaning up around the house and made some Polos. Processed my new ace video.
  
  
• Tuesday I did more report updates at work and went to meetings. Did some more mild chores. Sent a Polo to a friend. My friend Ben came over and we just hung out talking. Wrote a new chapter in my YA novel.
  
  
• Wednesday I did more reports and teaming arrangements. Did some more submission homework for novel stuff. Sent Polos and went to Bob Evans with Jeaux for dinner. We did our grocery shopping, caught up on a couple Colbert episodes, and started watching the last season of Umbrella Academy.
  
  
• Thursday was more meetings and report updates, plus some accounting stuff. Wrote two storyboards for my comics and did some walking and reading. Went to game night with friends and worked on my comic until it was halfway done.
  
  
• Friday I did my report for the end of the week and some follow-ups. Recorded Polos and finished my comic. Did more walking and reading. Stayed up late.

Articles, Interviews, Mentions:

• Faye By the Book included The Invisible Orientation in a video show-off of several asexuality books!

New Reviews:

• DavSchi gave The Invisible Orientation a three-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I thought this week slowed down on the progress a bit, but I think it just felt like a long week because looking at the numbers there was still some good progress, and both my high and my low were lower. I recorded a high of 117.5 and a low of 116.2.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I had a good nutritional balance again, am getting most of my protein from yogurt and cottage cheese and most of my carbs from fruit and most of fats from avocados or hummus. Unfortunately this week I kinda underate--not planning to make a habit of it, even though I do want to see the scale number move. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,203 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 12,551 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Down Girl by Kate Manne. I'm on page 249.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1007: ivy #312: my new excuse.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #117 ("Asexuality = these hormone disorders!") is out! In this video, a man insists that REAL asexuality is explained by specific hormone disorders and proposes what he thinks are great tests to figure out what causes both asexuality and aromanticism. When asked to learn what asexuality's definition is, he edits his comments to make it look like he never said what he said. Gee!

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,455 for swankivy (1 new), 675 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 197 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 834 for swankivy (no change), 3,890 for JulieSondra (5 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 256 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,435 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 279 (lost 1). Threads followers: 71 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 17 – August 23

Life news this week:

• Saturday I relaxed with some junk YouTube that I shouldn't get addicted to, did my blogging, and sent Polo video messages to my friends. Did some chores, made some yummy zucchini pasta, and read some old posts looking for something I want to compile. Made some new business cards.
  
  
• Sunday I was supposed to have band practice but too many people are sick so we didn't. Got my laundry going and did some more reading of old posts. Wrote the rest of that damn chapter that's been plaguing me on my sapphic YA science fiction that I've been wanting to finish. Got all the laundry folded and put away and the trash out and some other chores done.
  
  
• Monday I did some data entry at work, along with letters and meetings and info tracking. Did some homework with novel submissions. And did my catch-up with friends and family on videos.
  
  
• Tuesday I attended some meetings and organized some calendar items. Did some more homework with my novel submissions. Did some more Polo messages. And chatted with a friend.
  
  
• Wednesday I had two meetings at work and cleaned up the house a bit. Continued with novel homework. Jeaux came over and we went shopping, ate at Little Greek, took our walk, and caught up on Colbert. We finally finished watching Dungeon Meshi and I agree with most of Tumblr that it's a good show. :)
  
  
• Thursday was a usual workday and I did some research on old projects to collect data. Did some novel homework. Wrote my webcomic storyboard for the week. Went to game night with my pals. Did some of the webcomic drawings while entertaining myself with news and cartoons.
  
  
• Friday was reports and timesheets at the office. Then I worked on my comic and did some reading and walking.

New Reviews:

• Leah gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Progress this week is unusually good and I have finally noticed a difference in how my clothes fit, so I'm pretty happy with what I saw this week. My HIGH this week is lower than last week's low! I recorded a high of 118.3 and a low of 116.9.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Really excellent nutritional balance this week! I didn't have any days that were unbalanced in any of the stuff I'm tracking, even the day I ate at a restaurant. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,058 steps, and my high day was Monday at 14,097 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Down Girl by Kate Manne. I'm on page 220.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1006: dax #149: some backup.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Finches!

Finch gang!

Doves lined up like turkeys!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,454 for swankivy (2 new), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 197 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 834 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,885 for JulieSondra (5 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (lost 1, don't know who it was), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 256 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,436 (no change). Instagram followers: 280 (no change). Threads followers: 69 (3 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 10 – August 16

Life news this week:

• Saturday was a sleeping-in day. I did some hanging out and updating records, and did my blogging, and caught a nap too. Watched my Birdles. Took a walk while reading. Played some quiz games about where countries are.
  
  
• Sunday I started laundry and relaxed. Sent in some short stories. Washed dishes. Recorded a song. Documented more Birdle. Made a couple funny posts. Talked to Jeaux on the phone. Took out trash and swept the garage. Finished my edit of my in-progress novel and did a tiny amount of new writing on it.
  
  
• Monday I got the company's timesheets done and got two letters edited and submitted. Got a bunch of formatting done for a proposal. Got the results of our latest interview (we came in second). Made a song list for our band. Listened to some Polos and made a silly bingo card for political debates.
  
  
• Tuesday I worked on the proposal most of the day along with some data entry. After work I put away some clothes, watched and recorded Polos, and did some more silly country games. Did some query research.
  
  
• Wednesday the proposal was due and we crunched its final version together. I almost lost an important file to a corruption. Man I hate that. I also went to some meetings. I built a vinyl record storage rack and installed it in my living room. Got some walking in. Jeaux came and we ate at Saki. We did our grocery shopping, Colbert watching, walking, and watched more of Dungeon Meshi. We're almost done. I found out a short story I sold almost two years ago and still wasn't published is not going to be released because the publisher is closing. (Weird, since I have been paid for it.) So that's a shame.
  
  
• Thursday I updated some data and researched some selected projects. After work I wrote my comic, played games with my friends at Game night, and read old Reddit posts. I sent a Polo to my sister too.
  
  
• Friday I got my weekly reports done early and did some project research. Caught a lizard in my shower. Got a cute lanyard thing for my reading glasses! So I'm officially old and it's awesome. I like shiny things. I finished drawing my comic and posted it, took my walks, caught a spider, and sent out a story.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I think the good news and bad news is the same as last week! Meaning that I am seeing progress, yes, but it continues to be slow, so boo. Both the high and the low are lower than last week, but only by fractions of a pound. I guess I can't complain. I recorded a high of 119.2 and a low of 118.5.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I ran out of spinach and all my fresh fruit before grocery day came around, so even though I still got in my allotment of fruits and veggies, it was harder than usual and I had to depend more on the packaged fruit and frozen veggies. I had one really high-fat day because I ate a bunch of avocado sushi on the same day that I had hummus, but that's not a terrible way to get fats in your diet. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Wednesday at 10,031 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 11,638 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Down Girl by Kate Manne. I'm on page 196.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Big Time Sensuality" by Björk.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1005: adele #247: all that matters.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,452 for swankivy (3 new), 674 for JulieSondra (lost 2), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 197 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 67 for Tides of Time Band (lost 1). Twitter followers: 835 for swankivy (no change), 3,880 for JulieSondra (lost 11). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (no change), 643 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 256 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,436 (no change). Instagram followers: 280 (lost 1). Threads followers: 66 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 3 – August 9

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got blogging done early, did some quizzes and made some Polos, and installed a security camera that's set up to catch footage of Birdles! But did not see any birds arrive. Did some reading while walking, edited a short story and a novel, and bought some socks.
  
  
• Sunday it was rainy because of Hurricane Debby. I did my laundry and worked on some quizzes and my novel. Recorded a karaoke song, finally managed to get the trash out despite the rain, and made Polos.
  
  
• Monday I had to jump into proposal preparation with some coworkers, and had a little extra free time because the hurricane postponed a deadline. Did some document updates and did a Polo. Worked on my book more. Did some dishes and updated some documentation.
  
  
• Tuesday I attended an internal meeting for our planning, then walked to the Post Office to drop off a package for one of Meg's eBay items that sold. Came home, worked on proposal documents, and had my friends Ben and Scott over. (I don't know why they didn't hang out with me the past few weeks, but this week our hangout happened!) We got food from SoFresh and just caught up on life stuff. Birdlecam finally recorded a Birdle arrival! Talked my sisters through installing an app so they can also watch Birdle. Talked to Jeaux on the phone and got my steps, then worked on my books and quizzes.
  
  
• Wednesday I was annoyed because my Birdlecam fell down! I investigated more secure ways to anchor it but my concrete drill bit did not do the job, so I went back to using the adhesive bracket and some superglue. :P Also, the camera fell down onto a frog decoration on my porch and broke it! Sad. At work I played with forms and went to two meetings, but I got kicked off the internet for a while, so I picked up hurricane debris in the backyard until it was back. When Jeaux came over we went to Grain & Berry for dinner and I got a lovely açaí bowl made with granola, bananas, Nutella, peanut butter, strawberries, and nuts. DELICIOUS. We went grocery shopping and watched more Dungeon Meshi, and I got very excited about Birdlecam because not only did we get to see birds but THERE WERE THREE OF THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME. Three Birdles! Thirdles!
  
  
• Thursday I was pretty tired and had some naps. Worked on proposal documents and updates to project manager reports, and went to a meeting. Did some walking and reading. Enjoyed Birdle again! Went to game night with my friends. Played some quiz games.
  
  
• Friday I worked on timesheets, reports, and proposal documents. I was busy all day and didn't have much time to get up for breaks. Afterwards I had to have more sitting time to finish my webcomic. So I almost didn't have enough time to get my steps in after all that! Barely made it. Also had two Birdles again with a brief appearance of a Thirdle.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: The good news is there is progress! The bad news is it's slower than I expected. I recorded a high of 119.8 and a low of 118.9.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Still doing great with three fruits and veggies every day, and my nutrient balance being skewed slightly toward protein. Even on the two days I ate restaurant food, I did okay with that! I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,099 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 13,642 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Down Girl by Kate Manne. I'm on page 156.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Penny Lover" by Lionel Richie.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1004: ivy #311: for people my age.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Two Birdles cuddling.

Grain & Berry Bowl.

Glimpse of a Thirdle!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,449 for swankivy (lost 3), 676 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 196 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 68 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 835 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,891 for JulieSondra (6 new). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (lost 1), 643 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 256 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,436 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 281 (lost 1). Threads followers: 66 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: July 27 – August 2

Life news this week:

• Saturday I worked on my story, my blog, and on updating my websites. Did a Polo for Steve. Played silly geography quizzes. Ate a potato (I know, such news!). But I love my potatoes. I eat them with peas, carrots, fake ground beef, soy sauce, and parmesan cheese on them. Delicious! Watched and read some random internet things. Only had one Birdle at night.
  
  
• Sunday I stopped putting off cleaning up my outdoor table; a fallen tree limb ripped one of the chairs' coverings a few weeks ago and it's been raining, so when I pulled the covers off it turned out the cushion had gotten riddled with mold. I threw out my cushions for the chairs and covered them with new waterproof covers. I did some laundry and trash chores. Did some money stuff for the estate. Got my steps while reading again. Planned and drew my writing webcomic while watching cute reactions. Was visited by both Birdles!
  
  
• Monday I edited two letters and found out we are shortlisted again in District 3. Wow! So I did some work for that project. After work I recorded a video and worked on my novel.
  
  
• Tuesday I bothered subconsultants and entered some data. I processed my video and posted it. Recorded a karaoke song. Did some walking and reading, worked on my novel some more, and drank a lot of water.
  
  
• Wednesday at work was project research and data updates. Cleaned up the house a little, got some walking in, and then went to Best NY Pizza with Jeaux. We did our shopping, watched Colbert, went walking, and watched four episodes of Dungeon Meshi. Very cute. We also got to enjoy two Birdles. :)
  
  
• Thursday was more very long project research and preparation of an info packet. My sister Lindsay is sending me a camera so people can watch my Birdles. Completed my goals update for July and did some webcomic drawings and played with my pals at game night. Walked while listening to a Polo from Cara and redecorating my house for the new season. Drew more comic drawings while watching a movie reaction on YouTube.
  
  
• Friday I did some project reports and some review of data for other projects to see what needed to be updated. Completed my comic early because it was raining and I was afraid we were going to lose power (but we didn't). Did some walking and reading and a Polo for Steve. Finally got two things I'd been waiting for: my latest royalty check and the information for a check I needed to send to the probate lawyer to settle a debt claimed on the estate.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Still making progress toward my goals! Maybe I'll get where I want to be by the time I go on vacation? Not necessarily a time goal but it would be pretty cool. I recorded a high of 120.7 and a low of 119.5.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I did well with the intentionally protein-heavy balance this week, but honestly I am undereating a bit. I don't plan to make a habit of it though. Strangely, my app updated itself and now shows a measure for sugar intake, and is now showing that I eat a "high sugar" diet. Like, consistently, every single day, it shows VERY high sugar, even on days I ate a smoothie for breakfast and fruity yogurt for lunch and carrots with hummus for dinner. I know I eat a fair amount of fruit, but despite that, what the hell are its standards? I don't have a high sugar diet except compared to someone who needs to limit sugar. Anyway, I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
• Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,036 steps, and my high day was Friday at 12,516 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Down Girl by Kate Manne. I'm on page 121.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "All That She Wants" by Ace of Base.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:

#158: obscure.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

#1003: weaver #157: girly.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #116 ("Asexual spokespeople should be more attractive!") is out. In this video, I share an ace community member's suggestion that spokespeople for our community need to be more attractive or we'll give the wider world the wrong impression--and that person's retraction--as well as the pressure some of us feel to prove that we're legitimate in specific ways.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,452 for swankivy (3 new), 676 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 196 for Not-So-Giant Women (lost 2), 68 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 836 for swankivy (no change), 3,885 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (no change), 644 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 256 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,437 (no change). Instagram followers: 282 (lost 1). Threads followers: 65 (no change).

July Goals Update

 August is here! So I will do a goals update for July:

1. Health Goals: I resolved to drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to get digital photos sorted by the end of February and collect memorable bits from Facebook for my essays; resolved to work on writing or editing at least one day a week; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, and keep creating my regular webcomic and video content.

3. Reading Goals: I resolved to read at least twice a week.

4. Relationship and Communication Goals: I resolved to document daily life stuff more, keep up with e-mails and online communication, and make time for friends and family.

5. Other Goals: I wanted to prepare and sell my mom's house, watch some TV shows I'd dropped, and not play time-wasting tames.

Progress Update: (you can click to see the calendars better):

HEALTH GOALS:
Summary: Water-drinking is an established routine now and it's going great. I've been succeeding with my three servings of fruit and vegetables (with one always being a green veggie) and have found more fresh fruit than packaged fruit is becoming the norm lately. And I walked at least 10,000 steps every day of July. Here is my calendar of progress:

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary: I haven't done any more with the photos project since last month, but now that I know how to approach it I anticipate jumping back in soon. As I mentioned last month, extra projects got a bit derailed because I was preparing for the 1,000th webcomic for Negative One, and was able to do all the updated info pages as well as run a contest for the milestone. I have continued collecting Facebook clips for future essays almost every day.

Writing projects have ramped up in addition to my weekly webcomic. I wrote a new story and did some more submissions, and I have jumped back into working on my novel. My ukulele practice has continued to be sidelined, which was sad because I was originally motivated to be able to play a lot of songs at Metrocon, but that came and went and I had a good time anyway.

READING GOALS: 

Summary: I've done reasonably well with this, but the book I'm reading is academic and makes for slow reading. (It's about the logic of misogyny. Heavy on the logic.) Enjoying it immensely but it is not a fast read.

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: My documentation goal is actually building behind the scenes. I'm collecting some stuff from places I documented what I want to transfer to posts. My e-mail box is at 3 unanswered mails. Social schedule has calmed down this month versus the first half of the year. I'm not really in any rush to change this since I'm enjoying having extra time for my projects, but I'm disappointed that one of the hangouts I'd been having appears to have vanished. (I have no explanation for it, but I've been very conscious lately of how I don't want to always be the one who has to initiate everything, and it looks like if I don't, this is how it is.)

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I am still waiting on the exact same issue as I was last month because no matter what I do the lawyer I'm working with has not come up with the information I need to move forward. It's now been six weeks since I initiated and at this point I've called them twice and e-mailed them four times, and I'm still literally no closer at all to wrapping up. I just need them to tell me who to write a check to for my mom's last remaining debt that was filed through the probate process, and they keep saying they don't know, then never getting back to me after they say they'll check. I am very much ready to be rid of this whole thing and distribute money I owe to my sisters but I can't do anything until this is closed out. What's fun is I DO reliably get statements reflecting money the lawyer is charging me to talk to me on the phone and read my e-mails.

Back-burner projects like my plaster pillar painting are still waiting. I put some of the unsold items from my mom's statues and candy jars up on eBay but no takers so far.

I scheduled and went to my eye doctor appointment, so another item checked off the list. The last one I have for this year is making it to the dentist.

Time-wasting has mostly defaulted to reading and watching news. I wouldn't say it's an unproductive use of time but sometimes I do spend too long on it, and instead of maybe picking up reading or something I am sometimes playing little quiz games to memorize world capitals and stuff. Again, not useless, but I should probably be doing less of it. I have not picked up any of the TV shows I want to watch.