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It's Friday, and that means it's almost time for the weekend!

Yesterday was slow at work, which meant I spent the day mostly bored. I had one Cardiac CT to fill for today, and I swear, I couldn't have paid people to take it. The problem is that the site that it's at, while busy, does 4 of the studies a day, so they're only about 3 weeks out for these scans. So people are more likely to say that they'll keep their original appointment. It's annoying. I did have one in Columbia, and was able to make someone's day getting them in 3 months sooner. Columbia is one of our two super busy sites, and they're booking in June. Then, I had three Cardiac MRIs cancel in succession. I was able to get the two on my wait list off, and make a third person's day. I felt accomplished. The MRIs are worth more than the CTs anyway, so I feel good about that. I probably saved upwards of $3000 in revenue. And I do that at least once or twice a week, so I much actually have saved us over $150k in the last year. It's a drop in the Hopkins bucket, but for one department it's actually not bad.

While I was working, I put on a lamb shank, cut into medium pieces to boil down. Then, after about 2 1/2 hours, I pulled the lamb, and tossed a couple of cups of butternut squash in. Once that was done, I let it sit til it cooled and mashed it up and mixed in a bit of rice. Then, I mixed in the lamb with a cup of the broth. Once work was done, I pulled out the vaccum sealer, amd sealed all seven packets. He had one last night, and absolutely devoured it. There was no hesitation, no fucking around, just time to eat. It's funny that his favorites are things I don't particularly like. I'm not a big goat fan, and I don't like lamb at all. But the dog does, so goat and lamb I shall get. I don't think it's more than his bougie food was. Farmer's dog was expensive. But it definitely is less convienent. Today or tomorrow, I shall cook some chicken and gizzards for puppers. He won't like it as much as the goat or lamb, but eventually he does eat it.

While I was portioning and sealing the bags, Jess kindly made dinner. The Masala marinated wings were excellent, especially with some rice. Then, my sister wanted something sweet, so she ordered from an Italian pasta and patisserie place. Holy shit those desserts were amazing. My sister got one that was a sweet cream with Italian liqueur soaked cherries. That was the standout for me. My tart raspberry panna cotta was delicious. but too much raspberry sauce. You really had to get a bite for the panna cotta to stand out. Jess' Tiramisu was lovely. It's called Daniella's Pasta and Patisserie. I can't wait to try their actual food. Maybe tonight.

I have converted another to the church of the Bento Bag. I did a test packing, and good lord, there was so much more space than I needed. Even with all the tech stuff. It fit my pills, a full change of clothes, our sound machine, etcetera. And it turns out that the hard case I got for Mounjaro slid right in the front pocket, fit perfectly. My laptop and kindle fit handily. The only thing I didn't pack was my charger for my phone, but there was So much room, it's not going to be a problem. My sister, seeing the sheer amount I was able to fit in, said that she would like one. I had a discount, so I put int he order, and she's Zelle-ing me the payment.

Hers is more of a violet, which was my third choice of color. There was a gorgeous green as well, but the pink spoke to me.

Today is sure to be another long day, with a break in the middle for the manager's meeting, which should be fun and full of bitching. One of our managers is out on FMLA for surgery, so things are falling on the remaining managers, which has been tough. We only really have four true managers. We have the head of our call center, A. Then we've got her second in command, who deals more with the employees, J. Then the two team leads, JMR and S. Beneath them are R, JM and I in pseudo management roles and N, who is our trainer. It's not a big team for nearly 40 employees.

We'll see what else I end up doing. I'm assuming the normal. On the phones a bit, filling in some appointments, tackling the tough patients, and generally being the all around all star.

I'm excited to see what my check looks like this week. I haven't done any OT, so we'll see what my base pay is going to be with the new role. It's not going to be a ton more, but we'll see on Tuesday when they post the info.

After work, I have Vecna, which has thus far been a fun game. I'm adapting as per usual, adding some characters who will reoccur. It's only the third session, so everyone is still getting the feeling of the game. I think it'll be pretty good, though. The sad thing is that it's a published module from the owners of D&D, Wizards of the Coast, and yet it's still riddled with stupid and questionable decisions and badly written puzzles. Its no wonder that the last few modules I've started have been either homebrew or independent companies.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the swan song of our Monster of the Week game. It's been going for over 5 years, so it's time, but it's bittersweet. It's the first game I started on the server, so it's truly the end of an era. I love the characters, and I'm going to be so sad to think that I won't see them again. What started out as a bunch of unconnected one shots grew into a plotline that spanned years and many worlds. The party has battled demons, saved the various lands of Faerie so may times, met gods, become selkies themselves. It was hard to think of a good mystery to end on, but I looked at the variety of things they've done, and decided to bring back their oldest nemesis. We're going back to the beginning and I hope everyone has a good time.

Tomorrow is actually a busy day. We're planning to go to the Asia in a Bite festival, which is all street food, from many Asian cuisines. I saw at least Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Thai. SO many dumplings.

Later, Yoda has his grooming, and I will probably start the chicken boiling for his meals. I don't know what we'll put with it. Some form of veggie and some rice. I'll probably put a bit of cornstarch in the leftover broth and make a gravy for it. Then, he'll alternate chicken and lamb until I need to make some more goat. Sadly the 5lbs of lamb shank only made about 7 meals. I just don't have a pot big enough to cook more than that. I could get a bigger pot, but I feel like that would be difficult to clean an difficult to work with, so I'll stick with my 7 quart cast iron pan and just make multiple small batches. If I really push it, and make food 2-3 a week, I should be stocked up for when we leave for vacation to leave with the kennels.

We're only 34 days from trip. I'm getting excited, but also having the anxiety and dread that something will go wrong and it won't happen. I'll feel much better when Yoda has had a successful stay at the boarding kennels. He's not going to be happy, but hopefully he behaves. If not, he's going to the vet for boarding. It makes me sad to think that he won't have someone to cuddle for bed, but we need our vacation.

I've downloaded a ton of books onto my Kindle, and I'm going to download some videos so that I have something to read or watch on the plane. That's assuming that I can't get a nap in.

I've confirmed with most of the vendors, that we're using, and I've got everything on my phone as well as a printed itinerary. Definitely printing out the boarding passes at the kiosk so that I don't have to stand there with my phone and pull up each ticket individually getting on the plane. I bought the tickets, so everything is in my account.

I'm excited to see when our vow renewal will be. I might stuff one dress into the carryon, just in case our luggage gets lost. Probably not my fancy dress, but something. Plus then I can change for the steakhouse when we get into vancouver without digging in the suitcase.

After packing the bento bag, I'm questioning the enormous suitcase that I have. I will definitely have room for souvenirs to fit, I think. Plus, it's looking decidedly like we'll need the heavy coat. Juneau still has snow on the ground, so it may be colder than excpected. That's okay. I like cooler weather.

Okay, time for me to hop off and work on Marchen. Everyone have a most excellent Friday!

dine

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althea_valara

Someone at Stitch Club today (who I think was a visitor? not sure, but I got the impression it wasn't one of the regulars) brought yarn to destash. GOOD yarn. EXPENSIVE yarn. I have a bunch of new yummies!

1 skein Brushed Suri by Blue Sky fibers (142 yards / 50 grams, 67% baby suri / 22% merino / 11% bamboo) in color 901 (a rust color)

1 skein Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio DK (275 yards / 4 oz, 100% Superwash Merino) in color Park Heights

1 skein Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky (108 yards / 100 grams, 100% Baby Alpaca) in color CP21 Winter Queen

1 skein Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande (110 yards / 100 grams, 100% Baby Alpaca) in color 403 (a deep gray, almost black)

2 skeins Shibui Knits Maai (DK, 175 yards / 50 grams each, 70% Superbaby Alpaca / 30% Fine Merino) in color Cove (a deep green)

3 skeins Blue Sky Fibers Eco Cashmere DK (164 yards / 50 grams, 50% Recycled Cashmere / 50% Virgin Cashmere) in color Gold Rush. CASHMERE!! (a goldish yellow)

1 skein Julie Asselin hand dyed yarns Fino (400 yards / 115g or 4oz, 75% Merino / 15% Cashmere / 10% Silk) in color Olea (hard to tell the color at night, but I'd say it's a yellowish olive)

Some of the colors aren't ones I would gravitate to, but the fiber content was too good to pass up. And the yarns that had prices on them? were $18-$26 a skein. It is RARE that I can splurge for yarn that expensive! Normally I just use big box acrylics. So I'm, like, drooling some now, lol.

If you wanna see photos, I'll get them during daylight tomorrow. Too dark now.

I was pleased to get some more Misti Alpaca. I have a hat/cowl made out of that yarn that I really, really like. I haven't been wearing them this winter because my new coat is green and the hat/cowl are predominately red, and I didn't want to look like a Christmas tree. The color of this one is creamy white, which would look good with the coat, so probably a new hat?

Man, am I gonna have fun looking for patterns!

julian

I'm a Unitarian Universalist, not quite birthright but almost. (We started going when I was about 4.) My parents are both lapsed Episcopalians, and wanted somewhere to give me a community and a religious upbringing, so they went with the Dedham Unitarians.

At that point, in the mid-1970s, the UU Church as a whole had much more of the Christian vestiges than it has now, but they were also very much connected (I feel) to the Spirit of the 60s, as well. The denomination has since become Less Officially Christian, which is (for me) a Good Thing, though some individual churches are more steeped in it. (I just don't attend those, because I don't mix well with Christianity on an ongoing basis.)

While I'm pagan and find my spirituality in nature and in intent, I first found it in community and liberal religious faith, and have the UU church in my blood and psyche. I have spent some years of my life not involved in a church, and some years involved, and it always makes me feel better about life to *be* involved in community with others, so I've been casting about, past month or two, to see which UU church will work for me, locally. (My town doesn't have one.) I'm currently going with, basically, checking out some of the ones within about 15 miles/25 minutes' drive. (I may look at a few others slightly further out, like Fitchburg or Bolton or Harvard, but only if I can't feel OK with any of the three I'm considering now.)

There's one in Groton (MA), which would have the advantage of being on the way to/from work, so I could maybe sometimes drop in on evening activities on the way home. Unlike a lot of places I've been at, they do do a *lot* of non-Sunday stuff, which is cool if mostly unworkable with my current work schedule. On a less good note, their minister's been there for *20 years*, which is a long damn time. This worries me, tbh; I might like her a lot and then she'd retire soon, or it might be that the place has calcified around her, or, you know, many other possibilities. The one time I went on Sunday, it was a perfectly nice and very welcoming place, but I miscalculated/didn't read the webpage right, and the minister was off that week. Also it's a freakin' classic Old New England Church Building (which is what I grew up with and am bored by) and feels pretty suburban as a community. I'm leaning toward no, but I do want to meet the minister first.

I enjoyed the Nashua (NH) church when I went, but it's more urban than I like, and also, they do Joys and Concerns in a stupid way, so I will use this as a reason to Not Go There More.

Um, let me restart that. In some Christian churches, they have weekly prayers for people, and the Episcopalians (with whom I have nodding acquaintance) often read them aloud during service. (I know other denominations do too, just, I don't know as much about, for example, Methodists.) The UU Church instead has incorporated a thing (at many parishes) where, at Sunday services, they have people who want to talk about a good thing or a stressful thing in their lives come up and light a candle, and (briefly) talk about it. (And the rest of the folks there that day can send them hope, love, congratulatory or concerned expressions, supportive energy, or a kind thought.) I think this is neat and, among other things, can decentralize the minister as the sole focus of the service, and can also let people get to know each other more.

Anyway, so Nashua does it by having people write down their joy or concern, and the lay worship leader then reads them out, instead. Nope! Dun' like it. Impersonal and hierarchical. So, no.

I went to the Milford (NH) church last week, and they're the leaders in the clubhouse at the moment, despite being in entirely the wrong direction for the rest of my life. Milford's a larger town than Groton, and feels more funky-urbanish even though it's only 16,000 people or so, and there's a domestic violence support organization right next door to the church, which is neat (for my particular interests, anyway). Unfortunately, the pagan store I finally was able to go to, after a few attempts to find it open over the past couple months, was literally closing for the last time that day. (I mean, at least everything was 50% off? Also, they're going to be keeping going via an online presence.) But it's still a reasonably off-kilter town even so.

Unlike my other two exploratory visits at Nashua and Groton, the minister was actually there, which was a pleasant change. This was the 1st anniversary of her starting ministry in Milford, and the church had had some major (unspoken in the service) divisions, and she came out of retirement to take over and, basically, help heal them. (After having a major accident of her own that she's still recovering from, so, healing and recovery not just one way.) All the readings/meditations were based around the theme of growth and coming together, and she basically opened the sermon up by talking about how she came to be minister to the church, and then invited parishioners to talk -- about a moment of beauty in their lives, or a moment of reconnection, or a moment that encapsulated the church, for them. And some people talked about their private lives, and some people talked about church stuff, and it all worked rather well.

And then afterwards they had a rainbow potluck. (With some of the foods being rainbow-y, and some being one specific color of the rainbow.) Which, entertaining. Plus I met some neurodiverse pagan SF geeks, so that was *also* nice.

Anyway. Not decided yet, but... leaning.

julian

I wish that abused people who become/became centers of community would stop dying on me.

I'm sorry, that sounds callous, but it's true.

badfaun, who I first met in roleplaying MUSHes, died in the wee small hours of today, of metastatic cancer. They'd beaten breast cancer, and then it came back in their brain and ultimately, spread to the cerebrospinal fluid, which again, is impressive in its inventiveness, but really not what you want out of life.

Anyway. I met her on GarouMUSH, and they came to an offshoot RP MUSH vaguely based on original Whitewolf games, with the then-Pink-House-Crew. Eventually I started hanging out with her and Various Friends on an offshoot non-RP MUCK, and then Discord, and just, you know, things. I met her and her then-partner-eventual-husband

aerynvale back in 2002, when I went on my Long Trip across the country, and they still lived in San Diego. I sort of always had vague ideas about seeing them in Seattle but Oh Well.

I am not as rip-roaringly angry and shocked by Leah dying, as opposed to

minoanmiss, where it was unexpected liek whoa, so I for some reason don't feel like encapsulating her life in small bits, but: poet, writer, fierce intellect. Earth scientist, finding a way to volunteer and study locally when she could. Gender was a prison and a construct and cancer and its after effects were a different kind of prison, and the abuse by her father led to so many different kinds of fatigue and physical and emotional fuckery, but she, too, kept pushing and trying, until the cancer wouldn't let her.

To sum up: Am sad. The end.

ursamajor

Facebook memories reminded me that as of the day before yesterday, it has been twelve years since one of the most atrociously awful endings to a TV series I've ever watched was broadcast, and I am still mad about it. The family ability to hold a grudge will out. ;) (To illustrate, it has been 32 years since my mom deigned to set foot into a Safeway, despite it being the closest grocery store to my parents' house.)

Last year, I turned Penny Mosby into a budding urbanist; this year, I just looked at the entire post-series timeline and thought about how Penny may have been too young to help Zohran Mamdani get elected, but she's just about the right age right now to get in trouble with her dad over riding one of her classmate's unregulated internet-acquired emotos that's labeled as an ebike despite going twice as fast and the batteries being the ones that set houses on fire, especially because if her mom did die in 2024 (and given this timeline, probably from COVID-related health issues, augh), you all know Ted would be the most overprotective helicopter dad ever, his worst impulses unchecked with the love of his life gone.

( musings on how COVID changes the post-HIMYM timeline )

Anyway. I finally got off the waitlist for Heated Rivalry at the library, so of course I devoured it, and now I want to actually watch the show and read the rest of the series (and acquire a stupid Canadian wolf-bird shirt), but again, waitlist. And I do want to pick up the new Abby Jiminez first. And I got off the waitlist for Ladies in Hating for romance book club this month, so it's not like I don't have immediately pressing reading material already.

And my plans for Indie Bookstore Day this year - by transit, per usual. Bonus stipulation: I'm going to try to hit up an indie bookstore in each of the five Bay Area counties affected by the imminent transit fiscal cliff. Look, gas is almost $6/gallon, it's not getting better anytime soon, and you know how traffic *already* sucks? Imagine how much worse it'll be when those of us not regularly driving add our cars to the road. But we need to get the measure on the ballot before it can be voted on, so.

It'll be a little challenging - no bookstore opens before 10 am; geography means I have to optimize my route in a way that gets me to the fifth bookstore before it closes at 6 pm, which means I probably have to be out the door at 7 am in order to get the 60-odd miles south to a Santa Clara County bookstore; I've got 120 miles to go to cover the five counties and the four most-affected transit agencies. But it's exactly the kind of logistics I love planning for. 😁

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: wait for it

carenejeans

Quote of the Day:

"I cannot find any patience for those people who believe that you start writing when you sit down at your desk and pick up your pen and finish writing when you put down your pen again; a writer is always writing, seeing everything through a thin mist of words, fitting swift little descriptions to everything he sees, always noticing."

— Shirley Jackson

My Check-In:

I'm working on a large-ish nonfiction project with a lot of moving parts, and have been editing & revising it for several weeks; so I did more of that yesterday. I'll do more of it today, too!

Tally

Day 1:

badly_knitted,

brithistorian,

carenejeans,

china_shop,

cornerofmadness,

dswdiane,

goddess47,

the_siobhan,

sanguinity,

sylvanwitch,

trobadora,

ysilme

Day 2:

china_shop

Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet. And remember, you can join in at any time!

pauraque

The 1979 alt-history novel Malafrena, set in Le Guin's fictional Central European country Orsinia in the years leading up to a revolution, was only available from my library as part of The Complete Orsinia. In addition to the novel, this 2016 omnibus edition includes a new introduction from the author, as well as all eleven stories comprising Orsinian Tales, two other stories which were anthologized in her 1996 collection Unlocking the Air, and three short poems, two of which were previously unpublished. So if you love Orsinia, this edition seems to be the definitive way to experience it!

Unfortunately I don't love Orsinia, and I didn't love Malafrena either, though I didn't dislike it as much as I disliked Orsinian Tales.

The novel centers on Itale Sorde, a young political activist from the provinces who moves to the capital city and starts a newsletter that is critical of Austrian rule and promotes the restoration of an independent Orsinian monarchy. The narrative is somewhat sprawling, also keeping up with some of the people Itale left behind at home, as well as following various of his friends and associates even when their paths diverge from his.

The things I liked about it were the vivid descriptions of physical setting and what it is like for the characters to be present as events are unfolding. I've never been in a violent political insurrection, and I do not think Le Guin ever was either, but I felt very convinced by the living, breathing details of how she wrote the one towards the end of this book. The confusion, the waiting, the hiding, the crowding and pushing and knocking down, the uncertainty about who is where, who's in charge, and if anyone is winning—it feels real. (The realistic, non-idealized depiction of a battle was also one of the things that stuck with me from Planet of Exile.)

( The things I didn't like were many of the same things I didn't like about Orsinian Tales. [cut for length and negativity] )

beanside

It's Thursday, and a long slide towards the weekend!

This morning, I didn't really want to get up with my alarm. I was up a little bit later than normal and I can tell. I was fucking around on YouTube and it threw up a video of Jeremy Jordan (Lucifer in Hazbin Hotel) singing Let it Go. And that just took me down the rabbit hole. Here he is belting out some Celine Dion.

Watch on YouTube

I really enjoy his voice. He also has a band called Age of Madness, who does and excellet version of Seven Nation Army.

Watch on YouTube

So anyway, I was up late, and this morning came way too early. I'm getting up at 4am now in preparation for school which starts in 1 week! God, that came up quickly. We'll see how it goes!

Hopefully I'm able to keep up.

I've got a lot of stuff scheduled for April and May, so that could be a challenge. I thought about delaying my classes until the next semester, but honestly, that's probably no better, as that would be in June, right before we go to the Rocky Horror. Though I suppose that's and end of July with Weird Al are the only things I'd have, as opposed to a giant 10 day trip to Alaska. I don't know, I will think on it. On one hand, that might make more sense. On the other, I really hate to push it back.

When I look out at the sheer number of things we have coming up, I'm so happy and excited. First up, on 4/18, we have the Lost Boys musical. Then, Alaska, leaving in early-mid May. Then we get back and in June we have the Rocky Horror. July brings a Weird Al concert. Then we have a break until October, when we have CONfab, and in November the Undertale symphony.

I got my new bag yesterday. I had planned for it to be my personal item on the plane, but it may well be my carryon. I got a Bento Bag from Nomad Lane. It cost as much as I make in two days of overtime, but it's so nice. Plus with all the aforementioned travel, I think it'll be worth the high price point. It's got pockets galore, and it just feels quality. It's got some structure, and I think it's going to easily fit everything I need it to. Best of all, it fits in the seat in front of me for easy access. I got it in Sangria, which is a very pretty pink. At some point, I'm going to try packing it, just to see what I can get in there, and if I need anything else. It can fit a 16" laptop, so I may have to reconsider taking the big laptop with us.

A very pretty abd efficient bag.

I think of all the things I had coming, this is what I was most excited about. It makes up for the somewhat disappointing backpack I had gotten previously. It was rather small, and not well set up.

So I think I'll be taking this and either my Beis purse or possibly my old black one. The Beis is bright orange, so that will clash with the pink. But on the other hand, it's small, comfortable, and will hold everything I need for walking around on the ship or in Alaska. I don't want to be hauling my normal enormous purse with me. This is just big enough for wallet, pill case, phone, inhaler and epi pens. The black one is a little bit bigger, but is very unobtrusive. I will think upon it.

I did find a company that lets you buy antibiotics for travel, just in case, so I ordered that. It should cover us if anyone needs something while on the ship. I'd like to avoid the expensie Med Bay if possible.

I also got my long-awaited Derpy cat Squishmallow yesterday.

It wasn't supposed to ship til May, but it came early! It's so cute and soft, and I love it.

I went an picked up a ton of meat yesterday. SO much goat for Yoda plus some tasty Masala marinated chicken legs. We've had them before, and they are amazing. I might have gone overboard on what I got, but he eats two 7oz packets of food a day. We'll probably go through it pretty quickly. Today I'm going to be cooking a lamb shank. I think I'll add in some butternut squash as well. And of course some brown rice to keep him regular. I got a whole lamb shank, which is 4lbs, so hopefully that will render enough meat to make at least a few days worth of his food. He really likes the goat, so I'm hoping the lamb will go over well, too. I need to get a pork shank or something to make him, as he's a big fan of pork. I'd use a butt, but they're way too fatty for his little tummy.

I may use chicken broth and cook a pork loin. I wish they sold that with a bone so I could make pork broth for flavor. I need to go to a butcher, since obviously, the Halal butcher does not do pork.

When I went to pick up the groceries, this sweet older man insisted on carrying my groceries to the car and told me to make my husband bring them in. Jess was kind enough to bring in the bags, so I guess he was half right?

I carried the bag with dinner in it from a place I used to get from when I worked at IKEA. The food was pretty good. I wasn't horribly hungry thanks to Mounjaro. I ate too much at lunch and was paying for it. I'm looking forward to eating it today though.

Today should be a bit quieter at work. It wasn't bad yesterday, I was mostly off the phone making switches happen and calling patients back. And, I found out that the friend I had referred to our dept is getting the job, so that's cool. Another $1000 that should hit right around the holidays. I will share it with her, of course. She, after all, is the reason I'm getting it.

On Monday, I'm going to be on the phone most of the day, as I will be modeling good behavior for the two trainees. That should be just thrilling. Then, on Thursday, I have my training for the new phone system. Which I still believe is going to be a disaster. We're changing over at the end or April, so I need to figure out how I'm going to run the ethernet cord that they swear we're going to need.

Okay, time for me to hop off and maybe work on Marchen for a bit. Everyone have an astounding Thursday!

dine

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vass

Hi. How is everyone?

I seem to have gotten nearly two months behind with this, so I have a lot to report on.

Books

Finished (back in Feb) Sarah Kurchak's I Overcame My Autism And All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder and found it extremely relatable, especially the burnout parts and the struggle to accept that some careers aren't compatible with one's neurotype.

Finished Margaret Killjoy's Escape from Incel Island, which was pulpy fun.

Finished Ursula Le Guin's The Tombs of Atuan, yes, for the first time.

Reading Robin Hobb's Assassin's Quest on a library audiobook. It's due back at midnight tonight, and I've run out of renewals. I have 12 hours and 38 minutes remaining, and I listen at 1.5x, so if I listen to it every minute I'm not interacting with another person then I might finish it by then. It's worth trying, but it's hard to parse what I'm listening to when I engage words!brain.

ETA: Finished reading at 11:33. \o/

Comics
Remembered about How To Be A Werewolf, which was on hiatus until early this year. Have just started catching up.

Games
Still playing Breakout 71 on my phone.

Links

Keep Android Open: this is a thing that's happening

Weather
It's cooling down, I'm happy to say.

sineala

What I Just Finished Reading

Still no books, only migraines. Trying to read today's comics before today's migraine happens.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

( Captain Marvel Dark Past #1, Doctor Strange #5, Nova Centurion #6 )

What I'm Reading Next

I wish I knew.

Current Mood: exhausted

althea_valara

[Image Description: A pivot table, showing I did almost 43 hours of creative work in March 2026.]

I still can't yet show you the Fan Fest entry. I believe finalists will be announced this month? I promise to share photos as soon as finalists are announced.

I'm less certain of being a finalist this year. While I do think what I produced is AWESOME, the actual qualities of the photos are not great, because I finished working on it about 2.5 hours before deadline, so it was nighttime when I was taking photos and I just did them in my room. Still, I'm hoping they'll overlook the technical quality of the photos and focus on the item itself.

I feel I had a good month writing-wise. I worked four days this month, which is still below the GYWO goal, but each day I wrote for at least an hour, adding about 1k words per day. This is by far the longest piece I have written that *isn't* utter crap. I mean, at least I don't think it is? I'll admit the plot is pretty weak, but I'm having fun with the fic, and that's all that matters.

But enough about that - you want to see what I crafted, yes? HERE WE GO!

[Image Description: Knitted bunnies, one gray and one white, sitting on a white crocheted doily.]

These are samples for my first knitting class. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out, and the pic looks great.

[Image Description: A mosaic knit coaster in pink and white yarn, featuring a geometric design.]

This is also a sample for a potential class project. I've made this pattern as a washcloth and a bag before, so it was fun to revisit it and do the coaster.

[Image Description: A round lacy coaster in Coral yarn, but the pic makes it look bright orange.]

Also a potential class project. I'm less pleased with this one. I need to knit another with some mods I have planned and see if it turns out better.

Also worked on but not finished:

Cabled Chapeau - this is a knit cabled hat with a visor-style brim. It's very cute! I'm about two inches into the body, so still a ways to go.

Cozy Lace Knit Cup Holder - Also a potential class project, but I'm hating the way it's coming out. Might be the yarn, so I will try again in different yarn.

Central Park Hoodie - I noticed a miscrossed cable in it back in January, so this month I set about fixing it. I've dropped down half the cable to the offending crossing and started knitting back up, but not finished with it yet.

Knit a Felted Bag - I did not actually knit on this, just tweaked my pattern instructions, but I counted it as creative work because it's knitting-related AND I brought a printout of the pattern to my knitting instructor interview.

carenejeans

Happy April 1st, however you celebrate it!

It's that time again for me to pop unexpectedly to host a month of Write Every Day. 8-)

What is Write Every Day (or as we affectionately type it to save typing) WED?

Once again copied from previous stints as host:

Write Every Day is an informal writing challenge that moves from journal to journal, hosted by different people instead of on a central comm. It's probably a weird way of doing things, but that's how it's set up and — it's worked so far!

I'm hosting it for the first half of this month (

sanguinity will take over on the 16th) . Every day I'll make a post where people can check in to comment on what they've written that day, whether a single sentence or thousands of words; or to talk about problems, ask questions, and generally cheer each other on.

There are no sign-ups. Anyone is welcome to join at any time. Just comment and voila! You have joined.

What counts as "writing" is fairly relaxed, and can include working on research, plotting, RPG text, free-writing, and the ever-useful "alibi sentence," which is what it sounds like, a single sentence written primarily to count as writing for that day.

The goal is to write every day, but it's not required. A tally is kept of everyone's daily writing check-in, but it's to help people stay on track. It isn't a race.

The challenge is meant to help each other develop a consistent writing habit, keep procrastination at bay, get through difficult times, overcome writer's block, and to just keep at it.

If you want more information, read

zwei_hexen's, (

ysilme and

sylvanwitch) Welcome to Write Every Day! which goes into the rules (mostly guidelines) in more depth.

Goals & Plans for the Month

If you have any special goals or plans for the month, feel free to share them! My only plan for the month is to write every day. ;-)

Quote of the Day:

"You don't have to write every day to be a writer, you just have to feel guilty every day that you don't."

— Nic Farey, in his SF fanzine This Here.

Onward!

dine

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beanside

We've made it to the halfway point! It's Hump Day. Mind you, it's also April Fools day, so don't believe a thing you read unless you verify it with a trusted news source. (Though really, that should be every day.)

Yesterday, I had a migraine for half the day. It started kicking in around 1, and by 2, I was having a migraine aura that made me 100% unsafe to drive, so reluctantly, I called and moved Boodles appt. Jess also had a migraine and had taken a weed mint to help, so they also were not going to be driving. Instead, I napped (with Yoda outside the door alternately wuffling and crying that I would separate myself from him so. I gave up after about 45 minutes, and he joyfully barked at me. Ow.

I mean, I love that I'm one of his alternate people, but an actual nap would have been nice.

Dinner was Greek food, ordered from a new highly ranked place. Their meats were great, the spanakopita was meh, and the avgolemono soup wasn't bad. I had a salad with a stick of souvlaki meat. I gave my second stick to Jess, who had the spanakopita. I wasn't going to eat it, and I'm probably going to order from another Greek Restaurant to get some decent calamari today. IT was straight rubber.

Then, we walked the dog. It's funny, for years, we've struggled with his digestion. How many times have I said "oh, he's got a poopy butt?" A LOT. That's the answer. Because his poops were always very loose. Since I started cooking and adding in the brown rice, he's been having so much more solid poop. It's been much easier to pick up, plus less chance of a poopy but, because it's so firm. It' just comes popping out instead of straining and getting part of it stuck in his fur.

After that, I passed out in bed and did not wake up til my alarm at 4 am. I'm trying to get up then to get ready for school next week.

The weather has really been doing a numer on my head lately. I've had at least annoyance headaches pretty much every day. My allergies have started kicking in a bit, which I'm not enjoying.

Only 36 days til we leave for Alaska. I feel like we're leaving a lot to last minute, but it's just the animals that are pending. Yoda, I'm doing the best that we can. Boodle is set, though she does need her vet visit, but we'll try to get that done next week to make sure she's okay.

She came over at about 3am to wake me, but Jess got up and fed her, which I deeply appreciate. Last I heard before I dozed back off was Boodle happily slurping her food.

I decided to put an order in at the halal butcher. I'm ordering some more goat and lamb for Yoda's meals, since that seems to be his favorite, but I'm also ordering some chicken for him, and then some Masala marinated chicken legs for us. We've had them before, and they're amazing. Lightly spicy, with a good curry flavor. Just really tasty. I've never had a problem with their quality before.

I cannot find the Halibut in our freezer. I'm going to look in the small freezer to see if it migrated there, but all I could find was cod and salmon. I was going to make halibut in a lemon butter sauce for dinner tonight, but that's hard when you don't have the fish. And It's not like I can just go to the corner store to get more. Our local seafood places just don't stock it. I could get it for $35/lb at Wegmans, but good lord.

In other news, I switched our "Welcome to Canada Dinner" to another location. We were at CHOP, now we're going to Hy's. Chop just seemed a little too modern and loud, where as Hy's seems quiet and like an old-time steak house. Dark wood, rich colors. It looked about right for somewhere to have a good quiet meal after what will end up being 9+ hours of travel. Five hours in flight, and then three and a half to four hours to get to Vancouver. By the time we get to our hotel, our bodies will feel like it's bedtime. And by the time we finish dinner it'll be later than I'm normally up at the end of a nighttime game. I will definitely do my best to sleep in later the next day, and I feel like sightseeing may get a late start. (Late by my standards, that is.).

I've been watching some videos on Vancouver, and have been getting increasingly excited about that part of the trip. I can't wait to walk around Granville Market and try foods. I know my sister is all about trying the maple candied Salmon, but I just want to walk throguh and try everything.

We agreed that for dinner on Friday night in Vancouver, my sister and brother in law are on their own. We're going to see Mortal Kombat II on opening night, so we'll probably get something on the way. We're thinking Dim Sum in China town, or Sushi or just something we couldn't get with BIL in tow. Vancouver has so much good Asian food that we've gotta try something.

I'm excited about the ship, and trying new foods. I'm thinking about scheduling a massage for Jess and I. I can't decide whether it's better to do it on the first or last day. Start the vacation right or wait and end the vacation with a little bliss before we have to get on a plane in 2 days.

Or, alternately, schedule one for after we're back, to relax us after the flight. We will have that Monday after we get home to relax and catch up on laundry. We could slip in a massage then, before we go fetch Yoda from the boarding place.

The ports should be fun as well, but there's not too many places that I really must try in Alaska. There's Klondike Doughboy, so we can get a big fried dough to share. Maybe Tracey's Crab Shack, but I don't know that I need $100+ Alaskan King Crab legs. I'm just as happy with Dungeness. And coincidentally, we're having a dungeness crab feast in Ketchikan. I'm really looking forward to that. All the Dungeness you can eat in an hour. We've been having mini crab feasts here in preparation and I think we can make a dent in it!

But mostly, I'm looking forward to seeing and doing things. I can't wait to see the pacific ocean. I might not get to touch it right now, but I'll see it. Next year, I'll swim in it in Hawaii.

I'm going to see some of Seattle, though we only really have three spots lined up for that tour. The Space Needle for my BIL, Pikes Place Market for me and for lunch, then,a park that the limo company recommended.

Then, the long, hopefully pretty drive up the coast to Vancouver, where we're going to be total tourists about it. We're going to do the hop on hop off bus, and use that to get around, and go to the Granville Market, and Stanley Park, and the Gastown Steam Clock.

The next day up early so our bougie hotel can pick up our bags and take them down to port. Then breakfast and some Coffee and Timbits from Tim Hortons.

On one of the forums I'm on, someone asked a question about the Pinnacle Suite, and a lot of people hopped in, talking about how awesome it is. I'm very excited about being a VIP for a week. The benefits of the Pinnacle Suite start in the terminal, where an employee will walk you through check in and security and up to your suite, and then introduce you to your concierge. I'll see if I can set up a standing coffee and pasty delivery for the mornings. While I have a coffee maker, I also would like a pot. With four of us, that machine is going to be a busy place in the mornings. Instead, we'll just have a big vat delivered and be all set with no waiting.

I'm going to have to do some schoolwork on the ship, plus we may try playing a game on the first sea day. We'll be starting around 9am, so that could be a challenge, but we do have the premium internet package, so hopefully that's enough to have a stable connection and play.

Depending on how that goes, I might also try scheduling another game on the last full day of the cruise, which is also a sea day. We shall see.

Okay, I feel like I've talked about all this before, so I'm going to hop off now. Everyone have an outstanding Wednesday!

purplethebunny

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Current Mood: shrapnel is shrapnel
Current Music: "Wired Wrong" - Steam Powered Giraffe

fayanora

I know this is weirdly timed, but I literally just wrote this last night. It takes place in the Ravenstone setting. Given the Ravenstone series takes place in a canonical multiverse, it might be canon in some universe, it just isn't canon to any of the universes in the series we've seen so far. Anyway, I could see it being a fictional work written by one of the Ravenstones. It IS from Orpheus's point of view, after all.

Another note: The Ravenstones are multi-cultural. The adults, sans Nizoni, are all Yoruba practitioners who have syncretized their faith with Wicca and other neopagan traditions, so they celebrate Yule and Samhain and other neopagan holidays as well as the holidays of the Yoruba culture. (Dalia is also Yoruba. Maybe Ashkii too, I haven't made anything canon about that. And I don't know Chooli's beliefs yet either.) Samhain also syncretizes well with the "Dia de los Muertos" tradition of Morgana's youth (she was born and raised in Mexico until she and her mom moved to the US when Morgana was 12.) Oh and remember that "Samhain" is pronounced "saw-when."

BTW, it starts serious and gets funny.

"Twas The Night Before Samhain."

Twas the night before Samhain, and all through the home,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a gnome.
The ofrendas were placed on the altar with care,
In hopes that the ancestors soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar skulls danced through their heads.
And Maddy¹ in her bonnet and myself in one too,
Heading bed-ward the last thing of the night left to do,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang down the stairs to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a gale,
Tore open the shutters and opened the veil.
The moon in the heavens like a baleful eye,
Shone like the sun at noon from the sky.
When what did my wondering eyes did regard,
But a cadre of spirits afloat in the yard.
With an old African woman dressed all in white,
Leading this train of ghosts in the night.
More rapid than ravens these specters they came,
And she moaned, and wailed, and called them by name:
“Now Accalon! Now Pandora! Now Oluwatosin!
Now Ife! Now Bunmi, Iyabo, and Kayin!
Now Henry! Amadi! Now Lanre and Femi!
On Boniface! On Celeste! On Justine and Remy!
To the tops of the roofs! Past the top of the wall!
Now haunt away! haunt away! haunt away all!"
All as ephemeral as a feverish dream,
The ancestors flew through the streets for to scream:
Thus to every house of the whole HOA,
Our ancestors flew with little delay.
With a lifetime of nightmares for the Karens so vile,
As I watched, I laughed more than I have in a while!
And then, in a moment, I heard from the houses
The terrorized screams of those self-righteous louses.
I stuck out my head, and with a quick spell,
My voice amplified to a tsunami-like swell.
Thus did I call out to the frightened masses
Of all of those Karens, those HOA asses:
“Happy haunting to me on this wondrous night in the fall!
Merry Samhain to you, to one and to all!”

Might add to it, describing some of the mayhem, to better fit the original poem, since the original poem was quite a bit longer.

1 = Maddy is a mix of "mommy/daddy," and is what the kids call Morgana.

beanside

Thankfully, Monday is done, and now it's Tuesday. Sure to be very busy, but we'll deal.

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time on the phones, trying to keep the call volume down some, with little breaks to do shit. The emails to the add on box were fast and furious, and I struggled to be on the phones and keep up. Since I have holds on some days, that was semi important, so I could tell people where we had slots for patients. Right now, I don't have a ton of holds, but we'll see.

Unfortunately, towards the end of my day, I was trying to fill in a cardiac MRI slot for our Columbia office because they had a cancellation for Monday, and with their restrictions, they can be tough to find patients for. And as I was working on it, one of my coworkers filled it with a patient they absolutely could not see. So, I was curious, and started looking through a few appointments, and since they opened up their schedule for regular scheduling, it looks like there's quite a few that have been scheduled incorrectly.

So that's my job this morning. I get to comb through the next two months plus of their schedule and see how fucked up things are. I am of course, going to make a spreadsheet about it.

It turned out that they already have a document with some common responses, so my grand idea was moot. I may still make up some for my benefit, but we'll see. Depends on what kind of time I have.

After dinner, we had a pork loin with a Hawaiian smoked seasoning. It was really tasty, but had a little kick to it. The Kailua Seasoning Company has some amazing blends. So far my favorite is the Aloha Smoke Spice, but the others are really tasty as well. Tonight will be the lemon pepper blend on some halibut, which should be tasty. I may make a lemon cream sauce to compliment it, but we'll see how I feel after a busy day of work.

We've got an appointment to take Boodle to the vet for a check up. She's lost a bit of weight, and I'm a little concerned. Okay, a lot concerned. That's how our last two cats passed. She's still eating, drinking and doing her business perfectly normally, but I worry. She's about 15 years old, and she's my baby. I had a little meltdown about it last night, but today I am very firmly not thinking about it.

Tomorrow, another fun day of work. Wednesdays are usually when the call volume slows down a touch, and I can get more administrative work done. Still no word on when I'm going to be shadowing the trash fire, so it may not be this week. It doesn't matter much when it is. I'm going to do it and I'm going to make notes, and then, I will present them honestly.

I've been watching the videos of the curtain call for the Rocky Horror Preview shows. We're going to be seeing it in June. I'm glad we're in the last row of the mezzanine, so I don't have to see Luke Evan's junk in detail. Lets just say that he was very happy to see the crowd. It was a wee bit distracting. It looks like a cool show. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

It's down to 37 days til the Alaska cruise. I've hired a cat watcher, but we still can't get Yoda acclimated to the kennels. He needs his second flu shot, which is scheduled on April 9th. Then another two weeks for it to take effect, and then we can send him to the kennel on the 23rd. Which we're going to do. He'll stay for four days. Then, he'll have another couple of days their on that Thurs and Friday 4/30-5/1, and then on Wednesday the 6th, he goes for 11 days. God I'm nervous about this. The vet is our backup plan, but I'd feel horrible about that. I already feel bad that for 11 nights there will be no one for him to snuggle up to. But we deserve a vacation.

Pet care is costing me more than renting a chauffeured van to take us on a tour of Seattle, and up to Vancouver, which will probably be a 6-7 hour service.

We were watching a video for ideas of where to eat in Vancouver (so many places) and the hosts were complaining over things being expensive. Their version of expensive was $8 CAD. Which is like $5.74 in USD. I was rolling my eyes so hard. They had a couple of good suggestions, but mostly I spent it annoyed. The next video was much better, and it gave me ideas for our night out when we go see Mortal Kombat II. Our choices are very limited with the Brother in Law. He's very much a meat and potatoes kind of guy. But he and my sister aren't coming to the movies with us, so we can go wherever we want. Currently leaning towards hitting Chinatown for some dumplings and dim sum.

Either Baltimore is very expensive (likely) or Vancouver isn't that expensive (also possible).

There's a Hy's steakhouse in Vancouver, which I only know about because of Hawaii videos. It's kind of the big steakhouse in Waikiki, and when I looked it up, it had a franchise in Vancouver. I'm tempted, though it's super pricey. I did say that I wanted this trip to be first class all the way, so I think I might do it.

Hopefully the Vancouver uber scene is up to snuff so we can get to places. We're going to use the hop on hop off trolley for the daytime, but I think they stop running in the evening, so Uber or taxi it shall be. With four of us, we'll need a bigger vehicle, or for someone to sit in the front of the car and cram the rest of us in the back. But a mini van would be better, because none of us are small people.

Okay, time for me to get myself together and maybe write a bit on Marchen. I keep going back and adding things to the ealier parts, so I haven't made a ton of headway in the last couple of days. Everyone have a stellar Tuesday!