Personal Digest Saturday: November 8– November 14

Life news this week:

• Saturday I started my morning with a walk to the post office to send out an eBay purchase, and then I spent the day working on my blog and doing photo sorting updates. I've moved into the era of physical photos that were scanned in, so they're harder to find dates for, and now I'm leaning on old journal entries to place them. It takes a lot of deep diving into 20-year-old documents. Which has led to some less pleasant memory lane stuff. Kari visited in the evening and we hung out and chatted. Then I tried to get started on my voice acting project but I had technical difficulties.
  
  
• Sunday involved bouncing around between projects a lot: reading old journal entries to help sort photos, walking and listening to Polos, exercising, editing my book, doing dishes, doing laundry, and taking out the trash. Got some voice acting line reads done finally and completed the photo log from 2005. Briefly talked to Jeaux when he wanted to complain about school.
  
  
• Monday was busy at work--had to help with a presentation and a letter. My monitor was messing up and I had to temporarily use another one until Jeaux can look at it. After everything was complete I walked to the post office with a package again. Sent Meghan Polos while walking. Then I completed data entry for a project a work and spent the rest of the day alternating between the photo project and recording lines for the voice-over project.
  
  
• Tuesday I managed to cram in my aerobics before breakfast and then went to a meeting. Did some work on project research until Jeaux came to get me for my hearing test. According to them my hearing is normal and I have no fluid build-up in my ear, so they have referred me back to my ENT. That's just a test they have to get done before they can look into rarer problems. When I got home I went to another presentation meeting. At night I did book edits, journal reading, and voice-over recording. I made hot chocolate.
  
  
• Wednesday I went to a meeting and we practiced our presentation. Also did some meeting coordination and data entry for our timesheets. Did some Polo recordings, sent a query, and did more of my journal stuff. Jeaux was late picking me up because he left later than usual and then there was traffic, but we had a nice dinner at Noble Crust. We did our usual groceries and hanging around reading each other internet stories, and then he fixed my monitor. I went to sleep early.
  
  
• Thursday I woke up super early and had time to do aerobics again before a meeting. We had a last prep meeting for the presentation and then my boss picked me up to go to Bartow. We got to go first and we were up against two other teams. They also had the results available for a public meeting, so we decided to stay and see if we won. So while the other teams were doing theirs, my boss and I hung out in the lobby and drank coffee and ate cookies. Then we listened to the deliberations and found out we came in second. (Two of the five selection panel members picked us to be first, but three of them picked someone else, so we didn't get the job.) When I got home again I had a bunch of work to do on proposal planning so I had to finish that, and then I finally got to do a Polo for Meg and go to game night. I drew some comics while listening to Steve's debut concert with his new choir. My ear issue has lessened somewhat and I was finally able to sleep without any earplugs.
  
  
• Friday I had a surprisingly good ear day and didn't have to wear earplugs again. The issue is not gone but it has become really mild. Still going to another doctor visit next week to investigate, of course. It was busy at work all day. I planned two proposals, did timesheet stuff, and prepared some reports. Then I went to the post office AGAIN and sent Polos to Steve. After work I finished drawing my comic, recorded a karaoke song, and alternated between doing voice acting recordings and researching my photos again. Still not done with 2004.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• An Instagram user, one.anxious.ace, describes reading my book The Invisible Orientation in a post with slides.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I started checking in with the scale again this week. High number was 119 pounds (!) and low number was 116.8.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I made my protein goal 5 days out of 7--one of the days I couldn't hit it being my restaurant day, of course--and I'm still getting my intended servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and I'm still taking my vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Sunday at 10,763 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 19,518 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 32.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Love Hurts" by Nazareth. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1070: ivy #344: your own space.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

My sister gave me this sweater, which is similar to one she has and wears so much it is called her "uniform," so I call mine that too.

I got colder that night and huddled in my Oodie and got hot chocolate.

My outfit for the Polk County presentation.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,439 for swankivy (lost 1), 678 for JulieSondra (lost 2), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 765 for swankivy (no change), 3,454 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 627 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,416 (1 new). Instagram followers: 292 (2 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 409 (2 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: November 1– November 7

Life news this week:

• Saturday my health was a little better and I didn't feel dizzy. I made some brownies in my messy kitchen and cleaned up while they baked. Managed to straighten up the house a little too. I worked on the blog in between practicing some music. Got my photo gallery for Halloween up. Got some aerobics done and put away laundry. Updated all my calendars and monthly goals posts. Finally Kari came home from Orlando and I walked over to her house for the first time to deliver brownies! We hung out and talked outside and she gave me some good advice about medical stuff. Edited a book chapter and went to bed.
  
  
• Sunday I got up early because of the time change. Had plenty of time to get ready to go to band practice. Dad picked me up and we chatted about life stuff and music and health. We had a good practice with our little band; I got to share my treats; and then I got home and had some lunch and put out trash and did laundry. Asked for some advice from Meg about my illness now that I have finished a medication dose with no improvement. She gave me some great pointers. Found out late at night that I was granted a new voice acting role after three rounds of auditions. (From 57 auditions for the part, down to a shortlist of 29, down to a final audition of 4, and I got it! It's the lead role in an upcoming science fiction show.)
  
  
• Monday I got up too early again. I had a LOT of time-sensitive work! I threw together a required submittal package, and then I worked on THREE letters that had to be sent in by the end of the day. We also had two meetings to get ready for our interview. In between, I also sent messages to doctors that went along with Meghan's advice. I took a brisk walk outside with weights for my aerobics because I didn't feel up to doing DDR. Then I worked on my book, and tried to talk my dad through sharing large files. Also, I found out I got ANOTHER voice acting role for a project I don't know much about yet. (I'll find out more when the auditions close, but it looks like they preemptively picked me before the deadline.)
  
  
• Tuesday I woke up early again and got ready to be picked up for our interview. My boss came and we drove over to the District headquarters. Our whole team got there in time and we did a pretty good interview, handling the nine questions they asked us. And I got to talk three times, which is more than usual because I'm generally not a big part of the team. I was excited to go to First Watch with the team afterwards and got some yummy avocado toast. Then at home I was tired but I didn't have time to nap. I did some data entry and started working on a proposal with my coworkers. I contacted the doctors again and eventually I managed to move one of my exams to much earlier (next week) and got a referral for an MRI. Took a walk to the post office to send an eBay package. When I got home I worked on my webcomic, edited my book, recorded a karaoke song, and exchanged e-mails with one of the voice-over project directors.
  
  
• Wednesday was slightly better, health wise. I was able to schedule my MRI. Had some computer issues when I tried to go to work but it resolved. Spent most of the day glued to a proposal preparation. Also did data entry and attended a meeting. Later I did dishes, Polo'd Steve, and ate at SoFresh with Jeaux. We did our grocery shopping and watching silly crap. I went to sleep after he left--getting tired earlier.
  
  
• Thursday I had to deal with proposal stuff most of the day again but it was due so we got it out. Also sent in some teaming requests. Still feeling physically better than I did earlier in the week but the ear problem persists. Walked to the post office with an eBay package again. Two water-related professionals came to my house; first a plumber, then a water system maintenance person. (The plumber fixed a flap on my toilet and was a very cool guy who likes antiques and had cool tattoos. The water maintenance guy gave me the bad news that my tank's motor is broken and not rebuildable, so they have to get me a new system. Until then I get to have "yucky" water.) Sent out a query letter, updated some lists, and worked on the photo project (now completed photos from the year 2006). I got a FitBit to get some data about my vital signs! Just because my health is so weird lately and I want to have data. Finally got my pass pages approval sent in for my introduction on an upcoming anthology. Went to game night but we just did some chatting because Meggie's under the weather, so we ended early. I got back on to talk to Steve when he was done with his musical performance. Did a little bit of drawing. Brainstormed some band names but I'm not done.
  
  
• Friday I felt pretty normal except for incessant ear noises. Spent the morning outlining proposal we probably won't chase. Then I worked on reports and data entry. Polo'd Meghan, did some aerobics, and listened to a cool opening recording for the project I recently got awarded. Worked on my webcomic really slowly. Read the beginning of a book. Submitted a short story. Talked to Fen about book spam. Worked on my photo page but didn't get 2005 done because notes and cues are getting vaguer as I go back in time.

New Reviews:

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

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Unfortunately I missed my protein goal every day this week, and I know why--I haven't been having as much yogurt, and my non-yogurt protein sources are sometimes also high fat, which throws off the balance. I haven't been paying much attention to the balance lately, nor have I been making a lot of intentional choices, but one thing has happily remained true: I'm still getting my intended servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and I'm still taking my vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,087 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 17,040 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 32.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1069: ivy #343: what i don't want to say.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,440 for swankivy (no change), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 766 for swankivy (no change), 3,455 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 627 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (1 new), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (no change). Instagram followers: 290 (no change). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 407 (2 new).

October Goals Update

It's November 1, so you know what that means: tell the internet how my October goals went!

1. Health Goals: I resolved to continue drinking an appropriate amount of water (around 4 glasses a day), eat 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day and keep my nutrition balanced, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day plus add in an aerobic activity every other day.

2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to keep working on getting photos sorted as the first stop on a website rebuild; resolved to work on writing three days a week and submissions when I can; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, keep creating my regular webcomic and video content, and get some small voice acting gigs.

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: Get rid of some things in my garage, paint the pillar, keep the house clean, watch some backed up TV shows, and avoid biting my nails.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:
Summary: I've continued not getting on the scale--just not very concerned about numbers, weight-wise, at this point. (Last time I went to the doctor early in the month, I was in a healthy range.) I'm not sure when I will feel like looking at numbers again. I'm still hitting the three-fruits-and-veggies-a-day goal almost every day, but not doing very well with getting enough protein this month. (It might be because some of my protein sources are also high fat.) Water goals have been good this month; haven't missed getting four glasses in except for one day, and I've continued with exercise (favoring the aerobics this time) and taking vitamins. 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: Almost done with the in-progress edit. I've knocked it down to 143,000 words, which isn't enough, and I feel like I'm not shaving off as much in the second half of the book. The outline I'm still building should help me make some choices about what else I need to cut. I don't have a specific goal.

SUBMISSIONS:

Still on an agent search to get my older work to a new representative and sending short stories to new markets. I'm still doing submissions consistently but I don't always get to them on the day I mean to. I finally sold a story last month, and I feel pretty good about a couple of the prospects I've sent other stories to.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I was too busy in the latter half of the month to get much done on this, but I managed to get back to the year 2007. Hopefully I can get this done before the end of the year. I'll be so happy to have it out of my hair after wanting to do it for so long.

UKULELE PRACTICE: I don't have an active goal with this right now since I met my goal earlier this year learning all the songs I assigned myself. I pick it up and noodle sometimes but I am not really practicing anything.

VOICE ACTING: I haven't won any new roles this month but a role I got shortlisted on turned into a multi-tier audition and I've made it to the final round. Now waiting to find out if I got it. Another one of the projects I'm in premiered October 30, but I'm not in the first episode, so my acting on it still isn't out there.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS: 

Summary: Did better still on reading this past month, but didn't quite make the "twice a week" guideline. I finished reading the book I was reading for several months, finally.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS: 

Summary: Besides Jeaux Day and Game Night, the only things on my calendar were a hangout with Kari, three doctor's appointments, and a big fat Halloween party. I don't owe anyone any e-mails, so that's nice. I haven't improved on the documentation goals I've had. Disappointing.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I did finally put up a bunch of stuff from my garage on eBay for myself and Meggie. I still need to sand and paint the plaster pillar that is sitting outside and need to sell some garage items. I still have a TV show I want to watch. I need to catch up on photographing the updated Steven Universe collection.

Personal Digest Saturday: October 25 – October 31

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up early and sorted out the labels and containers I'd be using for my evening party. Got my blogging done in the early part of the day and then got the rooms ready, setting out the trash cans and chairs and cooler arrangements for drinks. I put out my plates and utensils and napkins and finally started prepping some food--cutting up cheese and fruit, mixing dips, and getting the drinks in the ice. Finally I made the apple cider and put it in the container. I had just enough time to get my costume on and put out all the food before my first guest arrived--best timing ever! I enjoyed my friends' costumes and all the music and food. Ended up having ten guests in all. We mostly just talked and laughed all night. When the group got smaller toward the end of the night we played a card game and had fun with it. I got some help with cleanup at the end of the night and that was nice of them! Some people took food to go but I still had tons of leftovers. I didn't do as much cleanup as I usually do the same night because I was just tired. Ear status: Moderately annoying off and on all day.
  
  
• Sunday I felt sluggish all day--maybe after-party blues? I did end up getting the cleanup mostly done--washed all the dishes, put all the chairs back, cleaned and vacuumed, and did my usual Sunday chores (laundry and trash). I ate leftovers all day and caught up on the new episode of Fionna and Cake that just came out. And I did some editing on my novel (that's usually a Saturday thing but obviously I was busy). Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Monday I was busy with editing letters at work. Also walked to the Post Office to drop off an eBay sale. Just missed getting soaked in the rain and wasn't even thinking about it! So lucky. I worked on my book, did some Polos, worked on some music for the band, recorded a karaoke song and a new video, and got tired kind of early. Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Tuesday I worked on our shortlisted project and did some data entry for timesheets. Outlined a proposal. Played DDR without issue even though I felt kinda weird. Planned my comic So You Write and drew all the frames. Did some reading. Processed my video and subtitled it and posted it. Ear status: Bad most of the day with a couple short stints of less bad.
  
  
• Wednesday was a weird day. Got a message on my medical chart about scheduling physical therapy for my foot (I haven't been able to do that because they referred me to a place that doesn't even have an office in my city), and they they called me offering to get me in for the ENT appointment I've been waiting for much earlier than expected. (I was gonna have to wait an entire additional two weeks otherwise.) They had an appointment that morning and I slid in and grabbed it. The ENT was really nice and said I'd need a more in-depth appointment since nothing stuck out to her after a cursory exam. And guess what. That exam isn't until December 2. Ridiculous honestly. But she prescribed me a low-dose steroid to see if I'm dealing with inflammation, and I picked up the prescription and went home. I continued my work day and took care of some maintenance stuff. Got my book worked on since I didn't get to finish the previous day. Talked to a director about a third round of callbacks for a voice role I'm trying to get. Went out to eat with Jeaux at one of our faves, Vallarta's, and then in the grocery store my ear stopped bothering me for the entire rest of the night. I was cautiously optimistic. After Jeaux left I sent in a query and got to go to bed with no interventions for my ear problem for the first time in almost six weeks.
  
  
• Thursday I had an ear-problem free day all day and was very grateful for it. I went to meetings at work and did some data entry. Did a Polo for Meg, wrote my webcomic, did DDR, went to Game Night, and recorded my lines for the final callback for that project I'm shortlisted for. And I processed So You Write while listening to reactions on YouTube. Unfortunately at the very end of the night my ear problem came back. I only got about 27 hours of relief.
  
  
• Friday I was awakened by annoying ear noises. And again, it was bad all day, plus weird side effects from the medicine and I was dizzy. It took a lot longer to do everything I was trying to do and I had to cancel my evening plans to go visit Kari with brownies. But I did get all my work done at the office, go to a couple meetings, complete some reports, get my webcomic drawn, get both webcomics posted, and get my steps in while talking to Steve. I also chatted with the director a little regarding my latest audition and it sounds like he liked my take on the character but I'm sure the other finalists are talented too. I did manage to close out the night with some productive stuff regarding a book review and updating some online tracking. I did not get any trick-or-treaters, which was super disappointing because I was ready for them! Weirdly, at the very end of the night my ear noises got almost nonexistent and I chanced going to bed with nothing in my ears again, and it worked out. But I definitely need to make another appointment with a doctor to figure this out because I don't think it makes sense to just put it off until some general "hearing test" more than a month from now. Oh, and the first episode of an audio drama I'm cast in came out, but I'm not in the first episode, so I have to wait for the next one to hear how it sounds.

Interviews/Articles/Mentions:

• I was the guest on Asexuality 201 October Aces! Listen to my interview on I Don't Know If This Counts. (This is a different interview from the one that posted for Ace Week.)
• An Instagram user named marginnotesandmaps recommended The Invisible Orientation in honor of Asexual Awareness Day.

New Reviews:

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

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Since I had an overwhelming amount of leftovers (a lot of it snack foods and sweets!), I completely prioritized eating things before they went bad instead of focusing on nutrition. I had leftover fruit and stirred a lot of it into yogurt, but that ended up being my only large source of protein this week, and I was low on protein every single day. However, I DID pay attention to still getting my three servings of fruits and veggies and still taking the vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Thursday at 10,009 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 13,162 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. Three-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm just starting.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Pleasantly Blue" by 4 Non Blondes. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write: #173: diverse book privilege.

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1068: ivy #342: breaking rules.

Videos Made: 

Letters to an Asexual #130 is out. In this video, I share some comments I initially made on a HuffPost asexuality-related feature regarding people's misconceptions about how relationships won't last if they don't include sex. I also share a Tumblr user's commentary on my post and my reply to them.

New photos:

The 2025 Halloween Party album is up in full, but here are my favorites:

My Rose Quartz costume

Jeaux's Dib costume

Dare's Luigi costume

Meghan's witch costume

Meg & Adam (Donald "Dump" with tiny hands)

Kari, Meggie, Adam

Yasmin's excellent plate

Yasmin, Business Phantom

Arthur put ranch on his pumpkin roll

Zak, Dare, Dorian

Friends (hi Michael!)

Jeaux explains things

Arthur in pillow heaven

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,440 for swankivy (lost 4), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 766 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,460 for JulieSondra (lost 4). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (1 new, I friended Zak who came to my party), 627 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (no change). Instagram followers: 290 (1 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 405 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: October 18 – October 24

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did some organizing projects in the bathroom storage and the bedroom closet--just stuff I've been meaning to get to. I listened to some lengthy reactions to entertain me while doing it. Then I redecorated for the Halloween season. I chatted with Steve and Jeaux and did some aerobics. Did my blogging. Worked on my book edit. Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Sunday I spent nearly the whole day listing stuff on eBay. Some was Meghan's stuff and some was mine. I also cleaned up the house a little and did a Polo exchange with Meghan. Recorded a karaoke song as well and someone featured it on the front page again for some reason. Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Monday I had a long day at work. Updated some subconsultants' documents and dealt with the administrative stuff we have to do whenever we get shortlisted (because we got shortlisted in our home district!). Walked to the Post Office to send some stuff that sold on my break. Processed a letter to go out, went to a meeting, and then after work I did my aerobics. Updated some lists, did some inventory on what ingredients I need for my party, and made my final list. Wrote my webcomic storyboard early because the end of the week would all be party prep. Edited a chapter of my book. Ear status: Bad all day.
  
  
• Tuesday I had to spend most of the work day entering credit card charges in QuickBooks. I got some to do a bunch of voice-over auditions, sent some Polos for Meg, talked to Tony, washed some dishes, and vacuumed. Kari stopped by because she is now my neighbor! In walking distance! Edited my book, watched some reactions, and finished drawing all the frames for my webcomic. Ear status: Bad all day, so I asked for a referral to an ENT because the medicine they prescribed has not resolved the issue and it's a week later. I also tried to get my referral info for the physical therapy that was recommended (for my foot) since it STILL hasn't arrived in the mail, so they sent it electronically and I tried to make an appointment but they don't even have a branch in my city, so I'm requesting a different referral.
  
  
• Wednesday I had trouble staying asleep because my ear was real bad. I had to call to reschedule my ENT appointment because it's the same day as our shortlisted interview and they ended up bumping me ANOTHER week out. I don't know if I'll make it. Ugh. At work I did some adjustments for timesheets, applied stamps to stuff, sent some reminders, updated some data, and reviewed our "go" projects. Sent Ben a Polo. Played DDR for the first time in a while because my foot had improved. Jeaux came and took me out to 4 Rivers, where I ate WAY too much and was very uncomfortable and thirsty afterwards! I think I overdid it on the salt. We grocery shopped and I got my last chunk of supplies for the party. He and I watched silly videos while I tried to recover from dinner. Then we made pie together. After he left I sent out a query. Ear status: I was expecting that by today it would wane a little because that's been the pattern, but nope, still bad all day.
  
  
• Thursday I had a bunch of prep work to do for upcoming projects, so I spent all day on that. I talked to my friends on Polo, observed some drama on Discord and had some discussions about it, and made my cookie dough for the animal cookies. Worked on the cute food labels for my party. Went to game night and the Jackbox people released a new game pack so we explored new fun games. After, I finished processing Negative One, cleaned up the kitchen, and baked all the cookies while listening to reactions. Submitted a short story before going to bed. Ear status: Mostly bad most of the day.
  
  
• Friday I had to get up early to let the pest control guy in and then I had an early meeting. After that I worked on my usual weekly reports. Made a pumpkin roll early in the day and cleaned up from it. Swept out the porch and table, straightened up the garage from where I threw boxes all over the place, and then got busy in the kitchen again. Made peanut butter candy corn fudge, two kinds of muffins, and a new recipe: Halloween brownie cookies. Got all the cleanup done and some food labels sorted before it was bedtime. Ear status: bad all day. Wow!

Interviews/Articles/Mentions:

• Asexuality 201 Special on Substack! Listen to my interview on I Don't Know If This Counts.
• University of Birmingham discussed considering the impacts of media representations of asexuality and quoted my book.
• An Instagram user named annas_sweets_and_stories said The Invisible Orientation changed their life.
• An Instagram user named omahaforus referenced me as a notable asexual awareness celebrity.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: This time only 2 out of 7 days were low protein again (one, of again, was my restaurant day). I continued to monitor it more closely than earlier in the month and am pretty happy with the result. (The non-restaurant day was only just under the protein goal I wanted.) Still managing to get the three servings of fruits and veggies and still taking the vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,162 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 15,120 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I'm on page 416.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Take It on the Run" by REO Speedwagon. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1067: ivy #341: everything has a name.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,444 for swankivy (lost 1), 680 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 767 for swankivy (1 new), 3,464 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 290 friends for swankivy (lost 1, don't know who), 627 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 79 followers for Negative One (lost 1), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (1 new). Instagram followers: 289 (4 new). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 405 (3 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: October 11 – October 17

Life news this week:

• Saturday my ear behaved all day, which was nice. I listened to some music and relaxed for a long time, then got my blogging done and got around to sending Polos to my friend Ben. Then I cleaned old photos off my phone to make space and read old comic pages. I submitted a short story and edited my book.
  
  
• Sunday my ear was okay when I woke up but then it got bad again ALL day so I decided to make a doctor's appointment. Listened to music and did some laundry and took out trash. Had a chat with someone doing a project that I auditioned for. Did some more voice-over auditions. Worked on my photo page and got 2009 done. Recorded a karaoke song.
  
  
• Monday I called the doctor and managed to get a same-day appointment in. I did some filing and teaming invitations at work, and then in the afternoon I saw the doctor (and asked her about my foot too). She gave me a prescription for what she thinks is wrong with my ear and referred me for an X-ray for my foot. But no slots were open so I had to make an appointment for the next day. I got my prescription from the store and listened to some music. Recorded a song cover. Recorded a reprise audition and a callback audition for voice-over stuff. Worked on my book and my photos page.
  
  
• Tuesday I got up super early to get to my X-ray appointment. They knocked it out quickly and I went home and went to work. Later the same day they said everything is normal for my foot and they're going to refer me to physical therapy. I also started my medicine for my ear. No real difference. I outlined a proposal at work and did some dishes, listened to a Polo, worked on my photo page for 2008, and did some aerobics. Then I went out to talk to Tony. While we were chilling out there a little girl who lives next door who is mentally and physically disabled came wandering out of the house and kept coming up to us, then wandering back in the house--didn't seem like any adults were there and the door was left open for this poor kid to wander into the street over and over again, so I called the non-emergency number and had a welfare check done. Hope everything was okay. I finished my photo page for 2007 and edited my book, then updated my website with some new favorite music and movies.
  
  
• Wednesday my ear was doing better. I went to work and did project research. I cleaned up around the house, went to a meeting, and did some follow-ups for communications. Jeaux came over and we ate at Little Greek, then did our grocery shopping (a big one for me since I'm getting party supplies). My foot was really acting up. Hard to make it through the trip. Argh. At home we watched Pitch Perfect 2 because Jeaux wanted to show it to me. Then after he left I watched some reactions and relaxed.
  
  
• Thursday I worked on project research all day. Ear was still mostly behaving and foot was not as bad. I did some aerobics and wrote my webcomic, then went to Game Night. Send some photos to my sister for a project her son is doing. Submitted a query. Dealt with some random drama online.
  
  
• Friday I didn't sleep well. Got up and fixed up some packages for stuff I'm selling online. Fixed my messed up OKCupid account. (They flagged me for "attempting business activities" and wouldn't tell me what they thought was business activities. I promise I have never ever tried to sell anything on OKCupid, but maybe it's misinterpreting links that used to be allowed as if they're commercial material. I recreated it with no links.) At work I did some reports and timesheets and sent reminders to people. Then I worked on my comic, got my steps talking to Steve, and submitted a short story to a place I feel good about.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: This time only 2 out of 7 days were low protein (one, of course, was my restaurant day). I paid attention to it this time trying to get closer to the goals. Still managing to get the three servings of fruits and veggies and still taking the vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Thursday at 10,077 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 13,075 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I'm on page 416.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "One Way or Another" by Blondie. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1066: ivy #340: something in return.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,445 for swankivy (lost 4), 680 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 766 for swankivy (1 new), 3,461 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 290 friends for swankivy (lost 1, don't know who), 626 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (2 new). Tumblr followers: 2,414 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 285 (no change). Threads followers: 81 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 402 (4 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: October 4 – October 10

Life news this week:

• Saturday my ear was annoying all day. I got my morning coffee and aerobics done, and then my friend Kari texted to say she was ready to come over. We made our plans and went to Best NY Pizza to get salads and a margherita pizza. Then we hung out at my place just catching up and talking. She is moving to my area so she had a lot of new updates. After she left I got my walking in talking to my friend Ben on Polo about old updates and I got my blogging done. I didn't get to my writing even though I meant to.
  
  
• Sunday my ear was only annoying for the first part of the day and then it calmed down. I worked on my book and got through the edit, did some voice-over auditions, worked on my photos page, and listened to a guy reacting to the EPIC musical so I could hear it again. Also recorded a new karaoke song and made my invite for my upcoming Halloween party.
  
  
• Monday I worked on two letters and some utility coordination. Did some aerobics, sent another Polo to Ben, and watched someone else reacting to EPIC. Got in an edit on my book.
  
  
• Tuesday I had meetings and more utility coordination, and I updated some timesheet stuff and coordinated meetings. Watched more reactions and edited another chapter in my book. Started building up my party playlist on my newer laptop because my older one has finally decided nothing works.
  
  
• Wednesday I had a packed day at work and my ear was acting terrible. Went to two meetings, sent teaming invitations, updated some data entry stuff that needed adjustments, entered stuff into the accounting software, and tried to get my new work computer all in order. Then I did my DDR and straightened up the house before Jeaux came over. We ate at Applebee's, shopped at Target and Publix, and watched the second half of the EPIC musical (him for the first time).
  
  
• Thursday my ear was better again. I did some research and follow-ups on teaming at work. I took a nap, sent a Polo to Meg, and wrote my comic storyboard. Went to Game Night, which was fun as usual, and then afterwards stayed chatting with Steve and Jeaux for a while after everyone else left. (We usually don't do that.) I did more drawing on my comic and listened to reactions. I sent a query also.
  
  
• Friday my ear was still behaving. I got up relatively early for someone who stayed up all night. Went to a meeting, did my reports, and did some DDR and a Polo. Finished my drawings and posted the comic, did some walking and reading, and watched more reactions. I was looking around for a place to submit a short story but couldn't find one before I got tired.

New Reviews:

• anne k. gave The Invisible Orientation a five-star review on Audible.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I have no data this week. :)
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: 3 out of 7 days were low protein, which is better than last week, but two of those days were just a hair under, so I am happy to say this was a much better balance than last week. I'm basically always listing spinach as my green food though--I should probably throw in some variety. Still taking the vitamins!
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or play my dance game every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. My low day was Thursday at 10,108 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 16,971 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I'm on page 328.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "The Warrior" by Scandal. 

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1065: ivy #339: a map.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

The new Steven Universe vinyl (volume 2!) is out!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,449 for swankivy (lost 1), 681 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 765 for swankivy (3 new), 3,463 for JulieSondra (no change). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 627 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 247 followers for So You Write (no change), 101 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (1 new). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (no change). Instagram followers: 285 (no change). Threads followers: 81 (1 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 398 (3 new).