elanya

I have not been great at this.. ha ha ha...but its fine, I don't have a ton to say I gues!

I read three more KJ Charles books (Specterd Isle, Band Sinister, and Death in the Spires). The continue to be very fun! There is also an excellent fan community that I am enjoying very much.

I also read Blood in the Machine, a book about the Luddites and the modern tech revolution, which had some really interesting stuff that was really engaging and in other parts was more of a slog. And today I finished Becky Chambers A Psalm for the Wild Built, which was a cozy light little novella that I think would have been better if I had never read Braiding Sweetgrass, because I am just looking at the relationships of people to the world in that and going 'no you could do better than that actually' when it is supposed to be utopic. But I still enjoyed it and grabbed the sequel. For 'cozy books with low stakes plot focused around cozy beverages" I enjoyed it better than Legends and Lattes, possibly just because I am a Tea Person more than a Coffee Person.  I'll tackle the sequel next, and then I have Daisy Jones & the Six and then probably back to a couple more KJC and then who knows!  Probably my hold on Godkiller will come in again while I'm in the middle of something else long of have a queue piling up and I will out it back into circulation again :p

I realized I never did post links to all the things I wrote for the Rare Kink Buffet but, it's all on my AO3 :x  I also did post my long (for me) plotty Adventure World thing which 7 whole people have looked at and maybe half that actually read.  It is okay, its fine.  I'm not a popular taste, I'm a speicialty one.  or something.  IDK.  Despite being in my feelings forever about never figuring out how to entice people to read the things I write that I get super invested in, I have turned around and started a massive spin-off slow burn fic about a character I created whole cloth for the last one.  So even more of a niche audience.  I'm a good 7k into it already, ha ha ha.  This will be the 10th thing I have written, even that is over 10k.  I do this to myself, literally no one else is asking for it :V 

Family homes things continue to continue.  Probably no one is going to sell my home out from under me at this juncture, but I also doubt my housemate will actually ever move out either, because they also can't afford it.  So meanwhile they do things like have week-long visitors and never wash a single dish.  And my sister twisted her ankle, so I have been doing extra dog duty as well.  This is fine when it is nice and I can just go out in the back and kick a ball around with Hades and he is happy.  The yard is greening up, and my wild strawberries and sweetgrass are going mad, and lots of plant that may not even be terrible plants are coming up in place I want them too!  But also of of terrible plants.  who will will: catmint vs bellflower -_-  Possibly I have forgotten with knapweed looks like, or else I really have made a major dent in it, finally.  I need to get a garden fork to deal with some of this stuff more effectively.

Oh, I also got my tax return!  I treated myself to a new Fancee Pillow, which arrived yesterday, some nice hand lotion, and diner for the fam.  And then I had to buy a bunch of dog stuff and was immediately poor again.  But not in debt, so I'll take it.

Anyway, I am watching Fangs of Fortune very slowly with Nary and Kennesaw, and we are scheduled to do a few more eps imminently. 

And also - I signed up for Jukebox and I already have offers for my songs and found some cool stuff to offer.  So, yay!  and now, off I go for TV times.

Still on a KJ Charles kick - I devoured the Will Darling books, and my hold came in on the second of the Doomsday books and I devoured that as well! I didn't love it as much as Country Gentlemen but it was satisfying and a good conclusion to the duology. I also, last week, listened to Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus which was a good side step, but next week I'll go back to KJC for a bit with Think of England which i want to read to properly appreciate the crossover fics with Will Darling ;)

Otherwise - things are pretty samey? Sister and her ex are moving along on the formal separation, which is good, but apparently IL has been making sounds about maybe selling the house after all, which is not ideal, I think for anyone 9including them), but especially not for me. They think they might be able to afford a place with the money from that but. I don't think so, at least not anywhere local. Like basically if they want to move out so they can maybe host the kids, it is going to trigger a much bigger mess as sister can't afford to live here, so that means moving away *with the kids*. Meanwhile my job is here, I also can't afford to live on my own, an I have a dog who needs a lot of space and does not get alone with anyone outside the family, so we'd both be thoroughly screwed. While I can't say I love living with IL, I think it is probably the best solution, financially, and sister feels much the same. It would be better if they wanted to act more like an actual roommate and not like. Still expect what I'll call 'family privileges' (having a clean house and sharing in family meals among other things) but also only contribute beyond finances at the most basic level.

Work continues to be annoying, I feel over-relied upon but also under support and undervalued, and it is frustrating. I had a productive day yesterday but still have a lot on my plate, and it is all petty annoying things. The biggest hassle is trying to get the new back-up service set up, which is me trying to get things out in their online vault, from the networked cloud storage we are trying to back up, which doesn't want to play nice. I have a plan to try out on Monday, but I also have a tour to give (I'm not 100% sure what all Neal actually wants for that? he was unclear).

Talked to grad school friends last night for out regular bi-weekly ladies night check it - US friends are stressed and uncertain, not a lot I can do for them other than listen, and try and talk about more fun things as well, like books and other stuff. I am really glad to still be in touch with them, anyway. I went to queer knitting and was trying to explain ti someone about how I basically grew up with close internet friends and still have those ties, but I don't think I managed to convey how that works for me and how those toes stretch well beyond social media. in fact some of my friends I'm not really tied to on social media at all? Anyway, I feel like I live in a world and context that's very strange to most people. I'm very lucky to have friends all over, including locally. On Monday I'm going to a friends place and we are gonna make sock puppets for a terrible puppet game, for instance. I do feel like probably other online and fandomy people are likely to understand *more* but I always feel like a weirdo wherever I am. Just gotta roll with it at this point!

I am still working on writing, probably by the next time I do an entry, there will at least be things I have written that are able to be read, though still anon. I've got... 4? Fills done for RKB and might finish another this weekend. I have two more planned but we'll see how it all... comes together ;)

In other news, I have got the yard reasonably cleaned up and did some of the tree trimming and such I wanted to do, finally. There is still more but it is a start, at least the minimum I wanted to get done this year. I need to get mulch, and I'd love to get bulk mulch but since IL has to part their car at the back of the driveway in order to plug it in, there isn't as much functional space. Also I need a new wheelbarrow.

Maybe tomorrow I'll see if I can get some logs split? If the weather is nice, which is iffy. If i can't physically do it they are just gonna have to remain whole logs, I guess. I need more gear to get the chainsaw going. I was okay using the sawsall but the chainsaw just seems conceptually more dangerous, if only medium so in practice. And also.. I need to, uhhh,... find it :p This will be the year though! and also the power washer. Yeah. This is gonna happen :V the other thing I do need to do is decide if I want any plants form the plant sale this year, and get that order in pronto! Maybe I can do that over lunch, at least. Then some writing :3

Next week - what is time - I am going away for a long weekend with Nary, which i hope will be nice :3 Who knows what the weather will bring, especially up where we are going. But I understand the stars will be really nice to watch so there is at least that to look forward to :3 She's had a lot of family stress recently too, so hopefully it will be a good get away for her as well.

ETA: I ordered the plants! A columbine, big bluestem to replace the one that I planted last fall and fell victim to overenthusiastic plowing (it pushed our entire front step out of alignment and ripped it out of the ground before it was fully established), gonna try a fern out front in the shade of the cedar, and Canada anemone which I will will to take over the front yard with the strawberry :3

just a quick one... I finished World War Z and K.J. Charles The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, which I quite enjoyed. and they I got gifted a copy of the first volume in the Will Darling Adventures by the same author and started that this morning. It is a shorter book, only about 7 hours, so I'll probably finish it on the weekend. However I'm already seeing some tropey patterns in the relationship development between them. Also the plot? They both hinge on the main guy being threatened to produce something of value that they don't have. And the other guy is Shifty in some way.... though notably different ways. The characters do feel very distinct, and this one is interwar rather than regency.

What else.... writing wise I am getting sucked into this years round of the Rare Kink Buffet, which just opened for posting today. I have one fill done (but not posted) and am hoping to do a few more. Playing with my blorbos in pseudo fandom of OW based on tabletop games.... maybe someone will read them for the kinks, idk. I'm having fun with it and that's what's important.

This weekend there is a workshop I'm doing for work - well it is at my work and I wanted to attend, so I am. but I'm also providing stuff for it and I am apparently giving people a chance to poke around the repository afterwards and who knows what else.

and now I want to change into comfier pants and maybe grab a lil snack before I have a different online game :)

Still trying to post here semi-regularly at least... let's see. Maybe some cuts this time as there is a lot to review!

( Writing and exchanges )

( Read more... )

( Other life stuff )

This is the first week of having Fridays off through the end of the fiscal year to use up my vacation, and I'm looking forward to having a long weekend. I keep thinking that they are never going to give me a raise at work ever, even though minimum wage has gone up over two dollars since my last contract, and I'm the only person who works there full time who is making due with a single income. Sort of. But if I didn't live with my sister I wouldn't be able to afford to work there! This is partly because Hades is so expensive (big dog, lots of food, also not the healthiest dog, and his daily meds certainly add up). But in the end its the same. What I keep thinking about is whether I could convince them to reduce my hours so I am down to 4 days a week regularly. I feel like that would do a world of good for my work life balance, giving me back the 10 hours a week I lose currently in transit commute. I don't think they would really go for it though, though I did just waste some time looking at indeed for points of reference. there really aren't a lot of jobs like mine out there. My job is a really cool special thing, and in that I'm lucky, but they don't really compensate me fairly for it, which is shit. I can barely afford to go away for an occasional weekend right now, let alone plan a longer trip without going into debt. in other work news, the heat is still broken but will hopefully be fixed on Monday.

Other than that - I can't remember what I said in my last update, but I finished candyhearts and posted two treats! I started my next AWRR AU fic that's been eating my brain for months. I also signed up for EAD's Lunar New year: wood Snake flash exchange, which seems like it should be lots of fun! I have a vague idea of what I want to do for it, and maybe I'll get a few treats done also, as it is also just a short thing. We'll see. I'm pretty sure I know what my candyhearts gift is, also.

I'm listening to the Odyssey now, the Emily Wilson one, and am already about halfway through. It's wild to me how much shorter it is! but that works out because I want to cancel my free audible trial on the weekend, and I should be able to get through it by then. Unless they offer me some kind of fabulous deal, I'll probably just stick to what I can find on Libby/Overdrive - I'm hoping if I start getting enough holds on things, they'll start coming regularly available. But we'll see! Maybe this phase won't last. Not sure what I'll go for next, anyway.

Nary and I are close-ish to finishing Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies. We're on the last chapter/case. It is a wild ride but I really do love all the characters. After that, in theory, we are going to see about doing Baldur's Gate 3, which i got for Christmas. She's not sure if she'll enjoy watching me play, and her computer isn't good enough to run it. But I don't really have the time to play it just on my own. So we'll see. I could try and play it with my sister but she is also really busy, idk.

It is almost ladies Night, which is something I started during the pandemic to keep in touch with some grad school friends, the folks I used to do a fandom podcast with, so Nary, earis and lukoni. Every second Thursday we try and get together and just hang out online. It's been really nice, actually, so stay in touch with folks!

I'm probably forgetting something to talk about here, hmmm... I guess on Tuesday I went to a talk by a local nature group and learned that the Canadian Supreme court recognized climate change in a decision, so that is nice, and also that having pollinator gardens may actually be covered by the charter right to freedom of expression, even if municipalities try to legislate against them. "Municipalities do not have the right to legislate aesthetics". So that's nice, although they are legal in my city anyway. They are also trying to push for urban gardening, which is cool, but are eyeing 'underused lands' like park space but a lot of 'unused' and underdeveloped parkland in this city and I suspect in the province are actually archaeological sites so. That's a conflict I'm not sure is even on their radar.

Okay, I think that might actually be all I have to say for now!

Had the first session of my friend's new Pathfinder game this week! The party gelled really well - we all used to work at or hang out at a circus together, and so we;re all already friends. We got sucked into some kind of game thing and need to find these tokens to get out. I got mine by using the only skill I have: intimidation. I terrified a bugbear into giving me his, upon which he immediately died. Score? I'm a necromantic oracle, basically. It's pretty rad. I have a skeleton kitty. This kitty used to be a jerk kitty who peed on all my things, bu now it is a skeleton and that, and hairballs, are no longer an issue! We have a ranger who is a trick rider, an acrobatic rogue, and a cleric of Desna who mostly used to hang around and gamble a lot/cheat at cards.

There was a baby fawn at work today. Mother deer sometimes leave them in the village, and that's fine - that's how deer do, basically - but this one was right on the edge of the open field and right where people were going to be conducting a field school. But it was fine, we closed up the village early and it left with its mother :3 Seriously, it was teeny tiny, probably born that morning :3

( pic! )

I also started reading my book of indigenous sci fi short stories (Mitêwâcimowina: Indigenous Science Fiction and Speculative Storytelling) - there are some really great omes so far. I'm super pleased with it! There are some authors in it I'll probably try and find more works by, for sure. Especially if they have short story collections.


And I got the corrections on my story for RTSW, though I haven't looked at them yet....And now I have, and they look fine. Only 3 places where they have a comment or need clarification, and more minor corrections other than that. I'm so excited, still!

Tomorrow I am going to try and do more writing in the evening! I also need to dig out my goth prom clothes for Saturday. I should probably also figure out if I need to be at work on Monday....

Man I almost even forgot what they were. But things!

I finally trimmed Jola's toenails again. She was very good about it, for her.
I called the EI people and got an issue sorted out. They thought I had to pay them back money, but in fact it had already been withheld. Basically the person who did my paperwork wasn't paying attention at all. I saw it coming, and I was right, grr. But I called and got it sorted.
I applied for a job I am probably not really qualified for (but close!),
I did 2/12 loads of laundry. I could get that all the way up to three if i wanted to go get stuff out of the drier and fold it. Yeah. >.>
I cooked dinner - Turkey piccata, which I'd never made or had before. This is because of an in-joke for Thirteen.
I did a Diablotin solo
I baked a cake - white cake with basic chocolate buttercream icing and raspberry jam. It turned out damned delicious.
I think I have a handle on what I want to do for Space Swap, if it doesn't get away from me.
Longpig and I trashed the local pokemon gyms and took them back from Valor goons and their stupid Blisseys, ugh.
I have been thinking a teeny bit about the writeup I need to do for Underworld as well.

The Ride the Star Wind anthology I submitted a story to is going to try and get back to everyone by the end of March, which would be cool. Especially if they buy my story :V They are also running a kickstarter to raise money to get the stories illustrated. It's a very basic short campaign, and I'm debating whether or not to support it. I probably will, even though I have a backlog of mythos anthologies at this point! I've been reading other stuff lately, but maybe when I'm through with the things I'm reading I'll go back to it.

( Have some cake. )

I finished my first book of the year :V

I'm a slow reader. I have to prioritize my time and books don't always make the cut between knitting and other things (games, tv). This was an anthology (I am a short story person, really) of Lovecraftian stuff, Lovecraft's Monsters, put together by Ellen Datlow. I thnk I stopped reading partway through because it was just grossly oppressively male dominated and it was wearing, as the last anthology I'd read was explicitly female-centric, and I have now been spoiled. I read about half the rest of in in the last week or so. Some of them were good, some of them were infuriating, one was really good and one was damn, I wish I could have written that. Of the ones I remember earlier, only one other fit that last category. Is it a coincidence that both features female protagonists? I don't think so. TBF some of the other earlier ones may have as well, but they were not as memorable. I could give more of a review of them if anyone was interested.

What's next? Not sure yet. I have a stack. Maybe I'll dip into my non-fiction... Maybe....

Now moar Clone Wars!

I remember to bring my nice scissors to work to cut twill tape to sew labels into object cases. I did not remember to bring needles.

Bring needles to work tomorrow!

I did remember to bring my copy of Emilie and the Sky World though, and to bring my eldersign pattern so I can finish that washcloth for my facebook 'make stuff for people' meme, so that's good.

I did not send my RSVP for my friends' wedding reception yet, though I did draw a Pusheen on the back of it. I also did not send my book review contract yet, though I did sign it. I managed to misplace the envelope that came with it, d'oh! I am going to email the review editor *right now* and ask where I should send it (done!). I also opened a file for said book review, and put in all the header information. So that's waiting for me tonight, I suppose!

In hunting around for the review editor's address, I got an update on the pirate book I submitted an article for (based on my Sheffield research, actually, heh). It is out to reviewers now, and hopefully can move along nicely from there. :D

Now if I would only hear back from Shroud >.> I could poke them maybe? Last I heard they were hoping to have news for me in 'a week or so', but that was back in May >.>

In other writing news, the All-Female Author Mythos book that I backed on IndieGoGo has announced its open submission period will be from November-December. They limit is 4000 words. I *really* *really* wanted to send them Cursed Wreck, but it is just over 7000 in its current form. I need to cut it down if I want to do that, but I'm not sure I have the perspective to do so. I'll try looking at it again, but I might need to see if I can find someone else to help me with serious edits. Or I could write something entirely new, I suppose... I'll think about that. But damnit I want to sell Cursed Wreck ;_; It's a good story at heart. Possibly needs some chopping anyway :p

I wandered away from where I started in this post, but that's okay, because I was clever and thought to call upstairs to my old boss/the collections manager for the other gallery and *she* has needles, so I should be set :D

One of my favourite authors is going through some house-related financial issues, so I thought I would take a chance and do a little story pimping! She has a lot of her older works self-published as e-books, and they're all a: good books! and b: cheap!

( Pimping within! )