elanya

Bees came today. Should have expected that, but I was not prepared. I *had* been expecting them for the past few days, ever since I identified them as a likely contributor to Wednesday's poisonous mood. I'm still sick and still tired, otherwise, but I'm almost finished my gloves, and I have a good start on my chocolate box fic. I just need to not let it get away from me and I should be golden. I have not started my cover letter. I still have time. I think I'll try and get it done and submitted on Monday. Though I need to figure out how to do references when the last people I worked for are also my prospective employers, but shuffled around.

I heard from a friend about a really cool art show by The Shadowood Collective that is going to be taking place in my home city, and I bought a ticket for that because it looks really amazing! Maybe I will even buy Art I Have Nowhere To Put! Technically I already did, as I got a VIP ticket, which includes a poster. But one of the artists there did some art for Hannibal and True Detective Season 1, and I think there will be prints of some of those pieces available. Good thing I'm poor, I wouldn't want to get carried away...

In other news, I've been plowing through watching Clone Wars (am close to the end of season 3) with Nary. Since I'm here, we've also been watching Daredevil (halfway through season 2), and Voltron (hnnnnngh @_@ No one is surprised that I am a Shiro fan, right? But really I love them all). We're a few episodes into the new season, since we've been watching it with her son, and he had to get through season 1 first. But probably if we're dedicated we can finish that before I leave ;p I have faith in us ;p We will watch some more once they get home and we have dinner (Lebanese foods from the Shwarma Shack mmmmmmm). We're planning to go see Hidden Figures tomorrow at some point as well, but I don't think we've finalized our plans.

I am doing better today, and am mostly just tired, which is probably the result of being sick again. I blame winter + travel + riled allergies. It isn't so bad and hopefully won't get any worse. At least by the time I'll be going back to volunteer at the museum next week, I shouldn't be contagious. Sorry, Windsor peeps, no guarantees for you.

Earlier today, I went and found the last (I hope) of Cat's irc friends and let them know. There were a few groups there that overlapped quite a bit, so I'm hopeful that the news will spread to anywhere else it hasn't reached yet. I also set an email that people could contact if they wanted to leave condolences to his family or get in touch with me for any reason. It was not as bad as I had expected, but some people were quite shocked. I feel much better for having made the effort. There is still one channel where I haven't had any response, but I'll keep looking there for life... I suppose I could leave my message for the idlers but I'd rather know that at least one live person will see it.

Hopefully now that I'm finished that I can move back on to some other things. I'm still working on my glove, but I need some advice on making the finger caps that I'm probably not going to be able to get right away, so we'll see how far I get on my own. I need to work on Chocolate Box, and I need to work on a cover letter. I have a little over a week left for those, at least. And a mostly empty afternoon on my own, at that.

I have been sick since Friday. I thought I was better today, but I am not. I have been eating and tolerating more food, at least, which feels like improvement, but I am still very low energy

I'd wanted to do a bunch of writing on Friday but lacked the brainpower. Instead, on flamebyrd's suggestion, I created a pseud on my AO3 account for all my drabbles: Precisely_Measured_Words. It was too clever to pass up! Plus about half my works on AO3 are drabbles, so it made sense to separate them out.

If I still don't feel well tomorrow, I'll not be going to the museum - the hour long commute, each way, seems like a terrible idea :p Last week when I was there they had me cataloging, also. Starting a new collection of thousands of things... the curator was very impressed with my ability to write tiny legible numbers. I have been doing this a very long time now... My very first experience of archaeology had me writing tiny legible numbers. I will never escape it. Theoretically I may be learning a lot more about projectile points than I have ever needed to know previously, but we'll see. I am not an expert but a lot of the pieces I was looking at were crap ass "replicas". We did know that going in, at least, and there are a lot of legit pieces in the collection. I would say I have no idea how long it will take to get through it all, except that the answer is "forever". Meh :| There is a job open at that museum but it is a community coordinator job. Meeeeeeh.

I don't wanna be sick any more :( Also I have been sleeping for shit on top of it. I have had some good dreams but haven't had a chance to write them down, alas!

Good thing though - lots of fun chatting + gaming this weekend :) Hooray for the internet!

The Nephews are downstairs atm watching some kind of tv, I think. We're kind of stuck on what we can do with them right now for Reasons

( Kid-related medical TMI! )

So, no play place, no going to the gym... we could take them out to the park I guess!

Yesterday we went out for Canada Day - we had lunch at a really good Mediterranean place (um maybe Lebanese, I'm not 100% sure), and then went to Marble Slab with some coupons. The coupons were for two regular and two small ice creams - Longpig and I got the regulars, kids got the smalls, and wererogue used a different coupon for a milkshake. The smalls were.... not small. They both had BRIGHT BLUE cotton candy ice cream with various mix-ins (sprinkles, marshmallows, gummy bears - Nugsy also had reeces pieces), and Bubby's, in particular, leaked allllllll over. It was adorable! But hella messy! Thanks the the random dad who stopped by and gave us some wipes - we wad napkins and water but I'm not convinced they would have helped @_@ Next time I think we're going to see if they have kid cones :p None of us had dinner after that.

Anyway, that was not what I was going to say! I was going to complain about how I have not had any more interviews and don't generally know what to do with my life :p Because of the Reasons above, I don't want to leave Longpig alone with the kids to deal with stuff on her own, so I'm not going to go out to the temping agency like I had planned until that is all resolved. Likewise, I want to go sort out driving license type things, once I figure out where to do that, but not until this is resolved :/

I wish I had a good way that I could make a little money doing something online, or from home, but I don't have any good ideas. I could try and write, I suppose, but I don't know what I would write, I don't have any good ideas for original fic lately. I'm kind of stalled waiting for character input and comments on the bigger fic I was writing, so I have been doing drabbles, but I wish I had something more in-depth to occupy my brain. I suppose I could start something anyway, but I feel kind of guilty not writing original stuff that I could see because, again, money >.> The only things that have been poking my brain lately though are too long - I wold kind of like to resurrect the story-world I did for the three-day novel I wrote aaaages ago, because that was basically an introduction to what could in theory be a real novel. Except I'm not convinced I'm organized enough to write a real novel, or that I could actually draw something out, or that I could finish it a: ever or b: in any kind of useful time frame.

Well, naryrising did just link me a story contest for a short Lovecraft story thing, though it pays in B&N giftcards, not actual moneys. It could be a good distraction, at least!

I feel like I had more to say, but instead I think I am going to go investigate lunch possibilities and think about a plot >.>

Another odd day, and so the question comes from fishmalk, who asked: What are some things that you think are worth suffering for?

I had a hard time answering this, partly because it is so open ended. (I am using that as my excuse for why I am a day late, nd it is *mostly* correct!) Like - how much suffering are we talking here? Is it like - it is worth walking around the British Museum in bad shoes for a day, knowing your feet will be killing you later? Or are we talking - leave behind everyone you love knowing you'll never see them again? Losing a limb?

In any given situation, I'd rather find ways to mitigate any potential suffering, for the most part. That said, I had my wisdom teeth removed two weeks ago and am still having jaw pain, and decided to have dinner without waiting for my ibuprofen to kick in, so apparently 'dinner' is worth some minor amount of suffering? in this case, some extra old cheddar, hummus and naan (couldn't find the pita at the store), and some cold rotisserie chicken. Ow? maybe 'pride' is a better answer, but even that is slightly mitigated. I *did* take painkillers, just too late :p

I think that self improvement can be worth suffering, to some extent - that's a thing that requires constant assessment, whether you are talking about physical suffering from physical training or emotional/mental suffering from isolation, stress, etc... You need to let yourself decide whether the threshold is of where the costs outweigh the benefits. Quitting is okay, and if you think otherwise, you risk failing even when you succeed.

Enough pith I think!

I did a big entry yesterday and apparently forgot to post it, and semagic didn't save it. Balls!

Well, the tl;dr version: I am destined to be a decrepit old lady and the cat woke me up freaking out over nothing :|

Seriously though - my shoes are wearing out, and I hadn't realized how badly. On Friday I had some pretty bad foot pain, and further investigation has confirmed this is because of how the sole has worn through on my sandal on that side - basically the actual sole is gone in the middle, so the center of the ball of my foot just has squishy foot bed foam between it an the ground, but the bones around it have more sole support, and it puts pressure on my foot bones in terribly interesting ways. So I'm going to ditch them in favour of still worn but more wearable shoes until I can replace them.

Also, to recap what I didn't post yesterday, I probably have hip bursitis that flares up any time I try to run even a bit and affects other forms of exercise, plus knee problems, hand joint issues (that interfere with pushups if I try to do too many), etc - decrepit old lady. I'm not even old yet ;_;

Anyway, it is Star Wars Day! Woohoo! Here's hoping the new movies don't suck and have moar ladiez!

I feel like I had more to say about today, but apparently not? I finished a story I am happy with and am now waiting to be able to post it :3 I am also still waiting to hear back about some stories I submitted for publication back in, um, January >.> But I emailed the editor and they haven't been outright rejected yet anyway so I can be patient :V I should also get some feedback o them even if they aren't accepted, so score! I suspect, in fact, that this is probably the main reason for the hold up. I would be incredibly surprised (but pleased) if they were *both* being seriously considered for publication.

Time to go Write More Things! Or maybe fold some laundry >.>

ETA: I bought these! \o/

I willlll stay in the habit of posting regularly, I really really will!

Yesterday was just an off day though.

For one thing, I woke up in Houston. I missed my connection in Charlotte because of delays leaving Detroit, and as a result I missed the shuttle back to College Station. I couldn't get on the internet reliably and missed my chance to crash with a friend due to a combination of bad internet, lack of comunication, and impatience. Which is to say that I caved and got a nice and cheap hotel room that had a free shuttle.

So yesterday I woke up in Houston. I caught the shuttle home at 9:15 or so - we actually left early since everyone scheduled to be aboard was there early, which was nice. So I got back home a little after eleven and then had to decide if I wanted to go into work. I ultimately decided yes, because I don't have much sick time left (I had to use sick time for my trip rather than vacation because I haven't been employed at A&M long enough to be able to use the time I've been accumulating :p). Also I had an appointment at the blood drive and wanted to keep that, and it was in my building, so... may as well?


...ETA: Oh it may have been less 'angry liberal ranting' and more talking about delicious food. I want to make garlic fingers again...
So I went in around noon, and gave blood, and went to work for like 3 hours. This was a good call in the end as I don't think I actually had enough sick leave to take a full day anyway. Bleh. At least I'll get some more back in February.

And then we heard that the university was being closed from 8pm to 10am because of the impending ice storm! Woohoo!

We had a gallery opening last night too, for the Ukio-e (Japanese historical prints) show. Attendance was pretty decent considering the weather, really, but I expect I can scam a leftover sammich for lunch today. There were snacks and a guy from the performance studies department playing Japanese flute (very cool to listen to) and then a guy who was talking about/performing parts of sadoo (the way of tea, or what is more commonly called the tea ceremony, which is a misleading name as there are many), which was really super cool! I went with my friend Mara, and we both had tea, which was sort of a mistake because it was after seven and we both have low caffeine tolerance. And powdered green tea (matcha) has hella caffeine :p It was worth it though! I had not actually had matcha tea - it is not my favourite taste, but the experience was still cool. Tea bowls are so pretty :3

After *that*, there was a profit shgare for the GLBT group on campus at Grub, the fancy burger bar. Also the ice storm had started. Fortunately mara is from PA, and has experience driving in questionable conditions and also good tires, so we were fine. Grub was PACKED. Apparently there were two profit shares and a lot of overconfident drivers ;) We got a table easily only because it was just the two of us. Because I'd had sammiches at the event, I only got a bourbon caramel vanilla milk shake (mmmmmmm) and sweet potato fries. Mara had their market burger (a seasonal/limited thing), which was a chicken fried hamburger patty on a handmade biscuit bun with grated cheddar and jalapeno cream gravy. It was delicious, I can report as she let me steal a bite.

Then I came home! I watched another Person of Interest with naryrising (we're up to episode 19 of season 2), and did some writing, and stayed up too late talking to my roommate. Or engaging in mutual angry liberal ranting, though I forget about what now ;)

Well, okay. Technically I have a job I have been hired for, yes, but I can't actually start work until i get my Visa, which I'm hoping will be by the end of the month. Really *really* hoping.

For now... Well, there are things gong on. My dad is coming down here on Wednesday for my graduation on Friday morning. He flies out again on Tuesday morning. I have no ides what all we are gong to do, though - he doesn't really want to leave the sweet protection of the air conditioning ;p I guess I can get him to listen to Night Vale? Watch Firefly? I dunno :3 I'll figure something out, I suppose. Theoretically on Sunday night I have my game, but I'll see if he minds if I play, or what.

I'll be through house sitting next Monday, and then back at the condo. There was someone who was interested in renting the other room, but I never heard anything more about it, so I assume that is not happening. ( This turns into rambling about money things )

That is really not what I meant to write about when I sat down to do thins though. I meant to talk about the fact that I am already flailing about uselessly due to the lack of structure. It used to be I would get home from work/social lunch at like 2:30 and do fuck of of use for the rest of the day. I mean, I've written a lot in the past couple of weeks/months. A *lot*. And that's great! I do enjoy it. I'm having a lot of fun playing in the Night Vale fandom. I even got a tumblr! That should really tell you everything about how my days have turned into a wasteland of uselessness (measured-words.tumblr.com, for the record. Reblog allll the Night Vale @_@). I'm one of the tag-wranglers for the fandom on AO3 and it is hopping. My co-wrangler cleared out the bins of new stuff earlier this morning, and there are already 17 new ones. I'm slow and picky about it too, so it eats time, but I enjoy it as well. But at the same time, it is not precisely helping me get ahead in life. Okay, so it is actually very similar to what I will be doing with my new job, on a smaller scale, but I'm not sure how I'd put it on a resume :p

I'd meant to be doing all kinds of useful things with this time. I thought I'd have started the new job a lot sooner, and that I'd be acclimatizing to a real, actually busy, 8 hour work day, but that once I'd done this, I would start, say, putting together course syllabi and trying to get articles published from my dissertation research. I have done... none of this. I was planning to read more academic stuff on fandom and poke at my co-hosts to keep gong with more ficthropology stuff, and that hasn't happened either. And just read more academic stuff in general! I have so many books I've bought and have only really just peeked at, or read parts of, or never even opened. I need to read more - I have the time now - I should do that right? Heck, there are books in this house I should read if I have time in the next week :p

Anyway. I have a lot of time on my hand, and I'm having trouble organizing myself to make good use of it. I have writing commitments, and I have story ideas and I have original material I want to do Something with. I have knitting to work on. I have articles to write and courses to design. I just need to figure out how I can make myself do these things. Maybe I need to make more lists? Schedules? I don't know. If you see me online too much, make me do something useful. If I'm being morose and whiny, tell me to have some tea. I was feeling meh when I started this, but now I have had tea and feel less meh and more just... bored I guess? I know not having concrete things to do is not going to be good for me longterm :p

Right now, I'm going to go make lunch. That should help too. And after that... I dunno. Maybe I'll read, or knit. Maybe I'll do some market research for stories. Maybe I'll do something with friends in town...

Sick as of yesterday with a head cold - trying to fight it off with tea and some meds. Also slept poorly yesterday due to lack of wind down after game, probably compounded with meds/illness-related insomnia and possibly ventolin jitters. Bleh. At least I don't have to work today! I'll be in on Friday instead. I also need to rearrange my schedule some this week/next week to compensate for longer hours next Monday when we have another exhibit changeover.

I have stuff I need to get done today though!

I need groceries, and I need to get Jola some flea/tick stuff from her vet which is conveniently close to the grocery store.

I need to get stuff to make snacks for the office party on Wednesday - spinach/bacon stuffed crescent rolls (some without bacon on account of vegetarian), and some kind of dessert - probably just cookies at this point, but I suppose a pumpkin or squash pie is not out of the question. Someone else is bringing cupcakes. I need to remember to get flour though!

I need to shower first, and drink more of my tea. And maybe sleep some more :/