Personal Digest Saturday - July 11 – July 17

Life news this week:

• Saturday was obviously dominated by the performance with the band, but in the morning I got my blogging done and packed my stuff for the show. Did a little reading and relaxing. Then Jeaux picked me up and we drove to Sarasota. We were late because of a small accident slowing him down from picking me up and difficulty finding parking. I had to go right on as soon as I got there. Meghan and Adam came to see us and got a seat right in front of the stage with Jeaux! We played our long first set and it was fine, then took a break and my friend Kari showed up to join them. The heat wasn't as uncomfortable as I'd expected but I'm probably just speaking for myself. We did our second set which was probably the loudest, and then after a long break we did our third set and had to kinda negotiate while on stage how much additional music we wanted to play since we had extra time at the end. We repeated a few songs and also ended up getting a group dancing while playing "Highway to Hell." Afterwards, we broke down the equipment and Jeaux took me home. I cleaned up and crashed as soon as I got home.
  
  
• Sunday I got up late and relaxed, doing some laundry and trash chores but making sure to go easy. My voice was pretty wrecked from all the singing so I didn't do any karaoke or voice acting stuff. I spent the whole day writing on my new story and it became clear right away that it would be far too long for the word count cap I was aiming for. Well, I guess that's my life. I also did some Polos and did my aerobics.
  
  
• Monday I really wanted another weekend but I showed up to work anyway! I got some logins working that had been messed up so I was able to get caught up on some backed-up work. I caught up with some timesheet stuff and upcoming project reports. And I wrote some more of my new story. Read some of the book I'm reading and talked to my sister on Polo.
  
  
• Tuesday I went to a meeting about a proposal and started planning the proposal. Played DDR and managed to put my laundry away. And . . . surprise! Wrote more of my story!
  
  
• Wednesday I had a surprise meeting and had to dig up some research. Wrangled some timesheets too. Did some reading and planner research and I did do a little work on the new story before Jeaux came. We ate at 4 Rivers, shopped, and told each other silly things. I wrote some more after he left.
  
  
• Thursday my computer had some issues but I eventually got to work. I outlined a proposal and then got another proposal to outline too, plus I had to do some more project research and utility stuff and data entry. I did not have game night because everyone was busy so I got in a nap and read some more planner stuff, and I played DDR. And of course I worked more on the story.
  
  
• Friday I did my reports and timesheet stuff and data entry for projects. I got my webcomic drawings done early and took a break to read and pace around coming up with story idea elements for my new story. (It's better than just staring into space writing-not-writing.) Posted my comic and did some rereading.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• ria's website riadms has a website section that recommends my book.

New Reviews:

• Galayne gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.
• Michel A. Hodge gave The Invisible Orientation's audio book a five-star review on Audible.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week except Saturday (performance day), and I only met my protein goals 2 out of 7 days. Had a rough time balancing it this time for some reason. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Thursday at 10,089 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 13,884 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 80.

New singing performances:

No available recordings yet, but I played with my band for four hours at a show, so I didn't record anything else!

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1105: ivy #366: yell at me.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Dad on drums, me on the mic

Vinyl Impact band

Me on the mic

Glenn on guitar

Dennis on bass

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,435 for swankivy (no change), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 738 for swankivy (no change), 3,335 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 285 friends for swankivy (no change), 622 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,407 (no change). Instagram followers: 317 (3 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 471 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday - July 4 – July 10

Life news this week:

• Saturday I just hung out avoiding people and not doing any holiday stuff 'cause I like it that way. I had my first table read with a voice-over cast I recently joined (I was introduced as supporting cast from the second episode on so some of them already knew each other), and that went well. I worked on my blog and my practice notes for the upcoming performance with my band. Played DDR for my exercise and finished my blogging. Submitted some voice-over auditions until obnoxious neighborhood fireworks made recording not feasible. Responded to some social media messages.
  
  
• Sunday I did my chores early (laundry and trash) and sent a Polo to Meggie. Did a bunch of band practice and more voice-over auditions. One of my shows that I did very minor voice work on came out today--check here for more details and hear me play an unnamed concerned family member. I read the beginning of a new book and recorded a karaoke song.
  
  
• Monday I completed some forms for an upcoming package due on our shortlisted project at work. Did some data entry for our timesheets too. And attended one preliminary meeting about the shortlisted project. I updated some documents and compiled stuff for the band members to use for rehearsals. Played DDR and sent a Polo to Meg. Put away laundry and talked to my lawn maintenance guy, Tony, about some sad stuff going on. Received the first edits for my accepted short story "Aquarius" and they're going to give me more room to flesh out some stuff (hooray for an expanded word count!). Read through old planners for photo research and practiced music.
  
  
• Tuesday I went to a debrief meeting, coordinated with some utilities, and invited some team members to an upcoming effort. Went to my hair appointment to get my pink hair refreshed and a trim. I spent too much money on shampoo. When I got home I attended a long meeting about the shortlisted project. Then I submitted a short story, wrote my webcomic storyboard early, drew a bunch, practiced music, and read more of the book I'm reading.
  
  
• Wednesday I dealt with utilities again and updated some stuff on our company website. We had another practice meeting. Then I played DDR and sent a Polo to Meg and got my steps in. And I sent in a couple queries for my YA book. Jeaux and I ate at Nawabi Hyderabad Biryani House and I had saag paneer which was great. We then did our shopping and I got tired early. We still managed to trade silly stories for a while before I went to sleep.
  
  
• Thursday involved another interview practice with the office team. Then I practiced more band music and went a little nuts submitting more queries and short stories to places. I'm really antsy and inspired lately. I got another short story idea and dragged myself into starting it even though I was too busy to do much and I don't want to think about creative projects right now. (But when the muse knocks, you answer.) I feel excited and silly. Then I printed some stuff for band and the interview, and read some of a book, and went to game night with my friends. After, I wrote another storyboard for my comic so I could draw in the car during the long ride, planned my interview outfit, and went to bed early.
  
  
• Friday I had to get up at 5 AM so I could get picked up by my boss at 6. We picked up my co-worker and drove a long way to check out our project site. We met up with another co-worker when we got there and drove the project, then holed up in a business room at a hotel where the dude helping us was very solicitous and asked me if I was single. We practiced our stuff and got through another practice with an additional subconsultant member of the team, and then we grabbed a snack and went to the actual interview. The questions were substantial and we had to really keep an eye on the time, but we got through it. Then we ate at Cracker Barrel and drove through pouring rain to get home. I didn't get home until close to 8 PM. Then I had to discuss some last-minute small set list changes with my dad, update documents, and get through posting my comic. I went to bed shortly after since I was exhausted.

New Reviews:

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

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week, and I only met my protein goals 6 out of 7 days. Weirdly, it was not the restaurant day this time. Just a random Monday but I only missed it by like a percentage point so I think I did well this week. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Friday at 10,047 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 14,091 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: None this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 58.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Baba" by Alanis Morissette.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1104: weaver #169: fast instincts.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Please do not eat royalty checks directly

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,435 for swankivy (no change), 674 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (1 new). Twitter followers: 738 for swankivy (no change), 3,337 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 285 friends for swankivy (no change), 621 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,407 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 314 (lost 1). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 471 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday - June 27 – July 3

Life news this week:

• Saturday I had band practice. Dad picked me up early and we chatted about music on the car ride. We were set up on the porch instead of in the usual music room because we needed to do a test run of the electronics and make sure we could play in the heat. There were a lot of songs we'd added recently that we'd never played before so it was a little rough but at least we knew where we needed to apply the most work. A rain storm cut our practice short so we weren't able to practice the last set. We had a nice lunch at JPan afterwards and went home--it was good to catch up on life stuff with Dad as well. Then I did my blogging, walking, and Poloing Meg. I relaxed a bit and did some reading.
  
  
• Sunday was productive. I did relax a little in the morning reading old comics and stuff but I also got my redecorating done and my trash out early. I evaluated the band recordings and wrote up some practice notes. Then I did my DDR exercise. Kari came over and we caught up on life events. As she was leaving I discovered Birdle had returned after a very long absence! (Okay, well, Birdle is probably multiple birds that have visited me over the years. But still! Birdle!) I did my laundry and found out I was shortlisted on a pretty big project for voice over.
  
  
• Monday I went to work and had two meetings and a letter to work on. Then I worked on my monthly writing comic and recorded a video. Birdle came again! I processed the video I'd recorded, read some of a book, got some feedback on my YA novel from my critique partner Ben via Polo, and put away some laundry.
  
  
• Tuesday I did some data entry updates and some video transcript stuff for my new video. I sent a Polo to Ben responding to his feedback. Made some edits to a sound file to help the band practice. Did some voice-over audition stuff and found out that big voice-acting shortlist isn't going forward for me--it looks like they kinda UN-shortlisted me? The organization and communication for it was very weird, so I'm okay with that. I did some aerobics and made a hair appointment. And I updated my voice-over website with my latest small roles.
  
  
• Wednesday I did some meetings and planning for our interview at work. I did another Polo for Ben and one for Meg. I did my monthly goals update post and sent a bunch of queries. Jeaux came and we ate at Mandola's but I didn't like my main dish. Too bad! We shopped and hung out at my house after. After he left I sent a few more queries.
  
  
• Thursday I did some stuff with timesheets at work and put together a draft staffing chart. We had a long meeting about the interview. Did some short story submissions and practiced music. Updated our business cards. Wrote my comic storyboard and drew some of it while hanging out at game night. Did aerobics.
  
  
• Friday we had the day off for a substitute July 4, so I went to a band practice. It went pretty well practicing the songs we didn't have hashed out yet. Then Dad took me home and I worked on my comic. I took a little nap and finished the comic when I got up, and posted it. Did some reading and finished the book I was reading. Read over some lines for a scheduled table read. Made an ad for our upcoming performance.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The Invisible Orientation got recommended in the comments of a Reddit post this week.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week, and I only met my protein goals 3 out of 7 days. My dad gave me a bunch of cookies and they threw off the balance in the early part of the week, along with my restaurant day. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Monday at 10,152 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 12,079 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. Three-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Reckoning of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm just starting it.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Surrender" by Cheap Trick.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:

   

#181: not a no.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1103: ivy #365: what our courage has earned us.

Videos Made: 

New asexuality video: "Why do asexual people like CHILDISH things?" This is a deep dive into why people suggest asexual people like childish things, what they're trying to communicate such things, and what it says about the people who make this claim. Also examines to what extent it might be true in some cases and why.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,435 for swankivy (1 new), 674 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 9 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 738 for swankivy (no change), 3,342 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 285 friends for swankivy (no change), 621 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 78 followers for Negative One (no change), 242 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,408 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 315 (2 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 471 (no change).

June Goals Update

What?? It's July?? Okay. So. Summary of June.

1. Health Goals: Four glasses of water per day; three servings of fruits and veggies; taking vitamins; walking 10,000 steps a day plus an aerobic activity every other day; visiting health professionals on an appropriate schedule.

2. Personal Project Goals: Complete editing on In Bloom, share with test audience, collect and incorporate feedback, develop pitch materials, start querying it; start another book; write two more short stories; submit queries and short stories; finish the photo project and start the SU site, autobio site, and essays/rants site; practice music; post regular webcomics; post ace videos; submit voice-over auditions and complete assigned voice-over work.

3. Reading Goals: Read at least every other day.

4. Relationship and Communication Goals: Document more consistently; keep up with e-mail and online messages; keep social life active.

5. Other Goals: Get rid of garage items; clean the house; watch TV shows; plant herbs; wear pajamas/have a night routine; use a new coffee cup every day; do something cool with my hair.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:

Summary: Things went better this month--no missed goals on the walking or exercising, no unexpected health events, eating slightly better most of the time and getting all my water allotments and fruits and veggies in. The two health professional visits I have not yet taken care of for the year are my dental checkup and my eye doctor visit/vision screening--I plan to get those in, but don't have a specific timeline for it right now.

Here is my Health calendar of progress:

(Click these calendars and they will expand so you can actually read them!)

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary:

EDITING: My YA novel In Bloom has reached its goal--it has dropped into the 120,000-word vicinity and that's about as much as I can expect. I do have some additional feedback that I just got from a beta reader to incorporate this month.

WRITING: I wrote a new short story this month--well, that's not 100% true. I rewrote about half of a very old short story and revamped the parts of it that I was keeping from the old. That still counts as writing something new! I have exceeded the plan to write two new short stories this year because this is my third, and I'm only halfway through the year. I do still hope to start writing on the other novel I'm working on sometime this year.

SUBMISSIONS: I've started querying for the YA book and am still sending out short stories periodically. I have THREE outstanding statements of interest from different publishers all on the same novella, so I'm thinking that one's gonna eventually have a home. The querying is really exciting but I have not gotten any replies yet! I have not given up on getting my older novel-length fiction out, but I'm shifting focus to my untried project and hoping the others can be next projects if I'm successful with this one.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I got some more work done on researching these journals and planners from the past and they are turning out to be VERY helpful in narrowing down the dates of events! I'm not really very close to being able to actually organize the photos according to the overall timeline I'm constructing yet, but I'm moving in that direction, and I think I need to give myself more assignments to dig in on it if I ever want to call this one done.

VOICE ACTING: I'm caught up with auditions for the most part--much more activity this month. I have been awarded THREE new roles this month, though all are relatively minor. I have completed recording on one of them and I owe lines on the other two. Should be a table read on one of them coming up. Still looking forward to another show that will release in August.

REGULAR CONTENT: I have posted my Negative One webcomic every Friday; my So You Write webcomic on the last day of the month; and a new asexuality video for the month.

MUSIC:
Our band got hired to provide entertainment for a restaurant/bar the second weekend of July, so we've been putting a lot of effort into practicing our established songs and learning some new ones! Hopefully the performance will go well and I'll have some cool video to share.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS:

Summary: I did not miss any "assigned" reading days this month. I'm still not reading a whole lot per day most times and haven't finished the book I've been reading, but it's still progress.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS:

Summary: I've been doing Jeaux Day, Game Night, band practice, and hanging out with Kari here and there. I have only done a little extra journaling. Correspondence is mostly up to date but I owe two e-mails.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: No movement on the stuff I need to sell from my garage. I may decide to tackle this next month or the month after. I did a bunch of cleaning over a few days this month and made a huge amount of progress. I looked into whether I want to move to a new place this year, but have concluded I can't afford to do that if I want a place that's as good as what I have. My herbs that I planted were stolen from my backyard (like, the entire pots are gone, all of them). So I want to try them inside when I get some more. I had a plant I liked finally die and I'd like to get another one like it too. My night routine has been better this month--sometimes I really get myself too tired and end up not having the energy to do everything I like to do before sleeping, but most of the time I've managed to be responsible and do it, and I always feel like I get better sleep when I do it.