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Ah-heh-heh-haaaaauuuugh.
Feb. 19th, 2025 04:34 pmWorld continues to be on fire south of the border, stoked by the blood and flesh of innocents, undesirables, and smarty-pants.
It has started to be telling that when I discuss my workplace or my insurance, I get either a shocked look indicating that I am clearly talking about an organization whose oxen have escaped; a recommendation to make sure to have my union rep present; or a recommendation to contact a lawyer. I realize I am probably not a completely neutral narrator but at this point it is probably not just me.
You would not think a place that I am on LTD from would take up so much of my time, fourteen months on. --no, fifteen. Fifteen months on, sweet bleeding Christ.
I finished the second Slough House book (the thing they've been basing the Slow Horses TV show on?) and it is apparently kind of perfect for my mood right now.
It has started to be telling that when I discuss my workplace or my insurance, I get either a shocked look indicating that I am clearly talking about an organization whose oxen have escaped; a recommendation to make sure to have my union rep present; or a recommendation to contact a lawyer. I realize I am probably not a completely neutral narrator but at this point it is probably not just me.
You would not think a place that I am on LTD from would take up so much of my time, fourteen months on. --no, fifteen. Fifteen months on, sweet bleeding Christ.
I finished the second Slough House book (the thing they've been basing the Slow Horses TV show on?) and it is apparently kind of perfect for my mood right now.
I am putting this here at least in part because otherwise the last thing here is the post about Angus's passing and I just cannot. I am doing better, but I still miss him so much, and seeing those pictures makes me remeber how okay it was to sit in the shair and have him fall asleep on my lap.
Well, it's 2025. I just drove to and from the US to pick up a package which turned out not to be there yet. It was a very nice road trip--Chelle came along, f'd if I can remember how to tag people on here--but I do wish it had also resulted in picking up the things I wanted to pick up.
The US inauguration thing is happening today. (Dear future historians: I have not forgotten, I am not oblivious, I am just limiting the amount of mental real estate it gets.) It's weird how you can hit a point of both profound not-surprise and exhausted disgust at the same time.
Other stuff... Mhm. Apparently work screwed up the filing of the start date of my medical leave, so I'm trying to get that straightened out. I have clutter and too-much-to-do. I also have very nice things that are holding me together. (The LOML has cooked dinners for the last three nights straight, they have been amazing.)
I'm on Bluesky, and it's so much less awful than Twitter had become. I haven't imported or exported or however you do everything yet, and I should get to that, but (imagine me waving tiredly at my to-do list here).
Oh. The World Gone Wrong podcast is helping a lot. (So are some others, but I got to share this one on a bunch of the drive back.) Highly recommended. Very funny. Very sweet.
(yes I also have horror recs but not today.)
I hope you have a better tomorrow soon.
Well, it's 2025. I just drove to and from the US to pick up a package which turned out not to be there yet. It was a very nice road trip--Chelle came along, f'd if I can remember how to tag people on here--but I do wish it had also resulted in picking up the things I wanted to pick up.
The US inauguration thing is happening today. (Dear future historians: I have not forgotten, I am not oblivious, I am just limiting the amount of mental real estate it gets.) It's weird how you can hit a point of both profound not-surprise and exhausted disgust at the same time.
Other stuff... Mhm. Apparently work screwed up the filing of the start date of my medical leave, so I'm trying to get that straightened out. I have clutter and too-much-to-do. I also have very nice things that are holding me together. (The LOML has cooked dinners for the last three nights straight, they have been amazing.)
I'm on Bluesky, and it's so much less awful than Twitter had become. I haven't imported or exported or however you do everything yet, and I should get to that, but (imagine me waving tiredly at my to-do list here).
Oh. The World Gone Wrong podcast is helping a lot. (So are some others, but I got to share this one on a bunch of the drive back.) Highly recommended. Very funny. Very sweet.
(yes I also have horror recs but not today.)
I hope you have a better tomorrow soon.
Well, the creek rose.
Apr. 11th, 2022 08:08 amGodwillingandthecreekdon'trise, I would've had a new floor on Thursday.
I am typing this to the sounds of the new subfloor being screwed down. By three people in my house.
Apparently after this it should be quite quick to get the flooring in, but it is definitely throwing me off. And I am finding it surprisingly hard to not start working from home.
I am typing this to the sounds of the new subfloor being screwed down. By three people in my house.
Apparently after this it should be quite quick to get the flooring in, but it is definitely throwing me off. And I am finding it surprisingly hard to not start working from home.
*blows off the dust*
Nov. 29th, 2020 08:57 am I'm vapour-locking on writing. Part of this (I know) was because my focus switched to all the SIWC content for a bit. Also work is kind of doing... hrm. Not a feature-creep thing, but a time-creep thing? I'm getting more likely to think about it after the day is over, and more likely to check my work email after work. And it's still very manageable, but it's not a great practice and could turn into an actively bad trend.
Knitting is going well, though. And the number of books on my tsundoku pile is still feeling manageable. And I am very much looking forward to vacation, so there's that.
Knitting is going well, though. And the number of books on my tsundoku pile is still feeling manageable. And I am very much looking forward to vacation, so there's that.
Winter stories
Feb. 1st, 2020 04:17 pmI probably should have mentioned this earlier, and I don't know why I didn't. I had one story come out in December and one in January.
The December one is in Pulp Literature - they're a Canadian press, and you can get a copy here. Prices are in Canadian, FWIW.
The January one is in Cossmass Infinities. You can read it free online here, and you can get the ebook copy (on Amazon only, sneef) here. There's also a physical copy available here.
The December one is in Pulp Literature - they're a Canadian press, and you can get a copy here. Prices are in Canadian, FWIW.
The January one is in Cossmass Infinities. You can read it free online here, and you can get the ebook copy (on Amazon only, sneef) here. There's also a physical copy available here.
So between the job and the part-time job and the writing and the critting and the inbox clearing and the reading and the knitting and the frankly ridiculous IMHO amount of physio homework and related stuff (which I am taking care of, but also complaining about), not to mention trying to make time to stay in touch with people I care about and assorted housecare errands, plus the seemingly more and more impossible desire to actually play a video game again someday, I appear to be slightly overcommitted.
Slightly.
(I am nearly two weeks behind on reading comics, is what I mean to say. Do you know how ridiculously hectic things need to be getting for me to not have managed to read a comic? One that is sitting right next to me at home?)
I'm trying to manage it. Hopefully I'll catch up soon.
Slightly.
(I am nearly two weeks behind on reading comics, is what I mean to say. Do you know how ridiculously hectic things need to be getting for me to not have managed to read a comic? One that is sitting right next to me at home?)
I'm trying to manage it. Hopefully I'll catch up soon.
(no subject)
Jan. 2nd, 2020 08:57 amIt's 2020.
I still have a dog, as she did not get kidney failure and die from eating mincemeat. (Which contains raisins. Which are basically concentrated grape pellets. Which are, I cannot emphasize this enough, bad for dogs.)
New Year's Eve at the emergency vet's: nobody is there because they want to be.
I'm a bit tired. Still at work, though.
I still have a dog, as she did not get kidney failure and die from eating mincemeat. (Which contains raisins. Which are basically concentrated grape pellets. Which are, I cannot emphasize this enough, bad for dogs.)
New Year's Eve at the emergency vet's: nobody is there because they want to be.
I'm a bit tired. Still at work, though.
Lest We Forget
Nov. 11th, 2019 11:11 am| In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields. - John McCrae | Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.-- Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin, If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs Bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. - Wilfred Owen |
I am reorganizing my home office. A lot.
I have considerably more floorspace, now, and have gotten rid of a bunch of old paper.
(My goodness, I have a lot of yarn and candles.)
On a semi-related note, I do think I like Solstice Scents, but repeated attempts have forced me to come to terms with the fact that Midnight Marquee meets my skin chemistry and implements the "scream, fall over, turn to baby powder" protocol. Anyone want an imp?
I have considerably more floorspace, now, and have gotten rid of a bunch of old paper.
(My goodness, I have a lot of yarn and candles.)
On a semi-related note, I do think I like Solstice Scents, but repeated attempts have forced me to come to terms with the fact that Midnight Marquee meets my skin chemistry and implements the "scream, fall over, turn to baby powder" protocol. Anyone want an imp?
So I got Fallout 76. It mostly seems like a crafting-heavy version of Fallout, with the exception that sometimes there are other people running around. I waved to one of them, but that's about it.
It's slow, because I'm slow - I need to adjust the mouse sensitivity. But it's pretty, and mostly I don't need to deal with other people, and it's fun to explore.
Also I found two housecats.
This is probably not a big deal to most people, but cats have been pretty much extinct in the Fallout-verse for nearly twenty-one years (to me as a player, I mean; that's established in 2241, although right now I'm playing a game set in 2012). The Chosen One has never seen or heard of them, and Stacy's clearly used to people not knowing what they are when she explains her story about her cat Cuddles. Seeing one walking around alive before they all get eaten made me curse the developers for not giving you an option to pet them.
It's slow, because I'm slow - I need to adjust the mouse sensitivity. But it's pretty, and mostly I don't need to deal with other people, and it's fun to explore.
Also I found two housecats.
This is probably not a big deal to most people, but cats have been pretty much extinct in the Fallout-verse for nearly twenty-one years (to me as a player, I mean; that's established in 2241, although right now I'm playing a game set in 2012). The Chosen One has never seen or heard of them, and Stacy's clearly used to people not knowing what they are when she explains her story about her cat Cuddles. Seeing one walking around alive before they all get eaten made me curse the developers for not giving you an option to pet them.
Okay. General catching up.
I still like the new job.
The not-hating my job (and the time to sleep, and the walking forty minutes a day) seems to have reduced my stress levels a lot, and I'm not writing. I'm not even really playing video games. I'm knitting and watching TV and reading, and I'm not unhappy, but apparently I have dived hard into sources of relaxation that require me to make absolutely no choices whatsoever.
(I have asked around and apparently this is kind of a normal reaction having a source of stress suddenly removed, but no lie that it's been a bit weird.)
I'm hoping it goes away soon, and in the meantime reminding myself that I am having a good time even though I'm not writing.
(I sound cool with it. I mostly am cool with it. This is still totally the kind of thing that I'm going to bring up in therapy.)
=====
I watched The Umbrella Academy, and I am very engaged with it. It does something that is not-quite a superhero narrative pretty much the same way that The Wire does something that is not-quite a police show, and has the added detail of (almost) every single character charging headlong into deeply deeply understandable but horribly flawed choices.
(Plus it has a fantastic soundtrack.)
Also I'm... maybe eighty-three percent sure that the one thing that I absolutely didn't expect, that was a genuine surprise, was telegraphed in a kind of quiet in-joke way in the first episode, and I love that.
=====
I also watched Weird City, and that was an entirely different thing, but still a lot of fun. And I found a horror author who wrote a short story that I like so much that I promptly went to buy his collection from Amazon, which is an option I generally skip if I can do anything else.
Speaking of horror, I sat down and watched Velvet Buzzsaw. It's interesting - the idea of horror spreading that way is fairly rare. It's not unique - you can see similar stuff in The Ring and In The Mouth of Madness and Smiley - but it's rare enough that that I don't really have a vocabulary for it yet. I'll think about it some more and maybe come back to it.
=====
I inked up the fountain pen that I bought with the gift card from my sister - the Monteverde Invincia Nebula. This thing is a brick - everything is steel and brass and glass, everything screws firmly together instead of snapping into place. It weighs nearly three times as much as my Lamy Safari, and while it's not uncomfortable to write with, I definitely notice it.
I still like the new job.
The not-hating my job (and the time to sleep, and the walking forty minutes a day) seems to have reduced my stress levels a lot, and I'm not writing. I'm not even really playing video games. I'm knitting and watching TV and reading, and I'm not unhappy, but apparently I have dived hard into sources of relaxation that require me to make absolutely no choices whatsoever.
(I have asked around and apparently this is kind of a normal reaction having a source of stress suddenly removed, but no lie that it's been a bit weird.)
I'm hoping it goes away soon, and in the meantime reminding myself that I am having a good time even though I'm not writing.
(I sound cool with it. I mostly am cool with it. This is still totally the kind of thing that I'm going to bring up in therapy.)
=====
I watched The Umbrella Academy, and I am very engaged with it. It does something that is not-quite a superhero narrative pretty much the same way that The Wire does something that is not-quite a police show, and has the added detail of (almost) every single character charging headlong into deeply deeply understandable but horribly flawed choices.
(Plus it has a fantastic soundtrack.)
Also I'm... maybe eighty-three percent sure that the one thing that I absolutely didn't expect, that was a genuine surprise, was telegraphed in a kind of quiet in-joke way in the first episode, and I love that.
=====
I also watched Weird City, and that was an entirely different thing, but still a lot of fun. And I found a horror author who wrote a short story that I like so much that I promptly went to buy his collection from Amazon, which is an option I generally skip if I can do anything else.
Speaking of horror, I sat down and watched Velvet Buzzsaw. It's interesting - the idea of horror spreading that way is fairly rare. It's not unique - you can see similar stuff in The Ring and In The Mouth of Madness and Smiley - but it's rare enough that that I don't really have a vocabulary for it yet. I'll think about it some more and maybe come back to it.
=====
I inked up the fountain pen that I bought with the gift card from my sister - the Monteverde Invincia Nebula. This thing is a brick - everything is steel and brass and glass, everything screws firmly together instead of snapping into place. It weighs nearly three times as much as my Lamy Safari, and while it's not uncomfortable to write with, I definitely notice it.
*deep calm breaths*
Feb. 4th, 2019 09:29 amFirst day at the new job!
Everyone seems very kind so far. My chair doesn't fit quite right, but I'm fiddling with it. I'll need to bring in a few things, but picking them up will be an excuse to step out at lunch, which I'm going to need just to breathe and quietly flail.
Everyone is in a meeting right now, so I'm reading documentation. They have documentation, people. It's a dream.
(In other news, I'm catching up on grading.)
Everyone seems very kind so far. My chair doesn't fit quite right, but I'm fiddling with it. I'll need to bring in a few things, but picking them up will be an excuse to step out at lunch, which I'm going to need just to breathe and quietly flail.
Everyone is in a meeting right now, so I'm reading documentation. They have documentation, people. It's a dream.
(In other news, I'm catching up on grading.)
Vast update.
Jan. 28th, 2019 10:24 amOkay.
(1) The job thing. I've mentioned it around, but: I have a new job, it starts Monday, the last week at my current job is being weird and quiet but not unpleasant.
(2) I'm teaching an SF course at Algonquin. I'm having a lot of opinions about the slide decks for the course. I can go on about them quite a lot.
(2b) ...apparently scrolling through Pinterest calms me right the heck down when I'm... I don't know if hyper-focussing is the right word, but I ca't think of a better one. This is actually super useful to know.
(3) I am actually feeling like I have more time right now. It's very odd, and part of my brain keeps going "It's a trick. Get an axe." On the flip side, I actually got to play The Flame in the Flood for a little bit this weekend past, and it was lovely. Also Weyrwood is utterly charming.
(4, for the future) My Kobo battery is being wonky (spontaneously hitting zero, dropping from 41% charge to 20% charge after 1 minute of use), so I'm going to look at places that might replace the battery, and at saving up for a new one. Also need to look at saving up for a new phone; I got a replacement when my old one died, but the warranty is nearly up, and when I need to get an actual new one it'll be less of a pain if I've saved for a bit.
(5) I'm knitting a sweater! I'm knitting this sweater, in fact, in purple. It's going okay.
(6) I'm... working on cleaning things up, I guess? Clearing out stuff I don't use (bless the CDA and their pickup) and going through what I already have, rather than getting Yet Another new thing that will go into the pile of unread/unknitted things. It's more of a guideline than an actual rule, but it's a good guideline.
(7) Contemplating getting a notebook for Monday. Might be nice to have my own, but that could be over-egging the pudding; I could probably do just as well by making sure that my pens are inked up. Will figure it out.
Anyway, that's most of where I am right now.
(1) The job thing. I've mentioned it around, but: I have a new job, it starts Monday, the last week at my current job is being weird and quiet but not unpleasant.
(2) I'm teaching an SF course at Algonquin. I'm having a lot of opinions about the slide decks for the course. I can go on about them quite a lot.
(2b) ...apparently scrolling through Pinterest calms me right the heck down when I'm... I don't know if hyper-focussing is the right word, but I ca't think of a better one. This is actually super useful to know.
(3) I am actually feeling like I have more time right now. It's very odd, and part of my brain keeps going "It's a trick. Get an axe." On the flip side, I actually got to play The Flame in the Flood for a little bit this weekend past, and it was lovely. Also Weyrwood is utterly charming.
(4, for the future) My Kobo battery is being wonky (spontaneously hitting zero, dropping from 41% charge to 20% charge after 1 minute of use), so I'm going to look at places that might replace the battery, and at saving up for a new one. Also need to look at saving up for a new phone; I got a replacement when my old one died, but the warranty is nearly up, and when I need to get an actual new one it'll be less of a pain if I've saved for a bit.
(5) I'm knitting a sweater! I'm knitting this sweater, in fact, in purple. It's going okay.
(6) I'm... working on cleaning things up, I guess? Clearing out stuff I don't use (bless the CDA and their pickup) and going through what I already have, rather than getting Yet Another new thing that will go into the pile of unread/unknitted things. It's more of a guideline than an actual rule, but it's a good guideline.
(7) Contemplating getting a notebook for Monday. Might be nice to have my own, but that could be over-egging the pudding; I could probably do just as well by making sure that my pens are inked up. Will figure it out.
Anyway, that's most of where I am right now.
Well I am apparently Setting Goals (TM)
Jan. 2nd, 2019 02:05 pm
[img: notebook and pen on wooden desktop with "GYWO 2019" printed in large white letters with a black shadow. under that, "writing decathlon" in handwritten white letters with a black shadow.]
GetYourWordsOut: Year Eleven!
Pledges & Requirements | GYWO.net
Dear folk and gentles,
Dec. 6th, 2018 12:08 amIt's that time of year again. I have a fountain pen, a kind of ridiculous number of stamps, and many (?tasteful?) cardboard rectangles.
If you didn't get a seasonal card last year and would like one, please let me know.
If you did get a seasonal card last year and this year you just don't want one, please let me know. (It's okay! I would hate to send you something you didn't want.)
If you got one last year and your address has changed since, please let me know. (I mean, obvs don't worry about this if you've already told me you don't want another one, that's fine.)
If you didn't get a seasonal card last year and would like one, please let me know.
If you did get a seasonal card last year and this year you just don't want one, please let me know. (It's okay! I would hate to send you something you didn't want.)
If you got one last year and your address has changed since, please let me know. (I mean, obvs don't worry about this if you've already told me you don't want another one, that's fine.)
Lest We Forget
Nov. 11th, 2016 11:11 am| In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields. - John McCrae | Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.-- Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin, If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs Bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. - Wilfred Owen |
