Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
azurelunatic) wrote2025-10-08 08:08 pm
azurelunatic) wrote2025-10-08 08:08 pmEntry tags:
Health (good news)
My immunotherapy infusion yesterday may have been my last!! I have a scan on Monday that will probably say that. Belovedest celebrated by cracking into the Strategic Redpop Reserve. This will mean much more leeway to leave town and such.
Colonoscopy results: mostly normal, one pre (not sure how many pre-s to put here) cancerous "lesion", and all of them removed. Repeat in two years, this time with Extended Prep. (My understanding of "lesion" and the medical definition may not align entirely well.)
Started the new injectable after the colonoscopy. I can definitely feel the impact. It remains to be seen exactly what kind. One of my friends has a new injectable too; she's getting some sinus clearance from it. Of all the random effects.
After the infusion, Belovedest and I trekked up-city to pick up a package foralexseanchai. All Pampered Chef, and a high proportion of likely goodies vs. likely duds. There were some varying scrub brushes. The utensil/knife scrub brush looks like dentures that are actually a scrub brush, but I can see that coming in handy. There was also a quarter-sheet pan with two eighth-sheet pans. And then we trekked back down when Belovedest realized they'd left their tablet at the cancer center. Freakin' ADHD. We're on The Assassins of Thasalon in our progress through Penric.
I have a smallish makeup hobby. Part of that is sometimes going all Weird Barbie on my face with eyeliner or whatever. Tonight I've convinced myself (via iridescent green eyeliner) that some kind of moon phase forehead jewelry might really slap.
Colonoscopy results: mostly normal, one pre (not sure how many pre-s to put here) cancerous "lesion", and all of them removed. Repeat in two years, this time with Extended Prep. (My understanding of "lesion" and the medical definition may not align entirely well.)
Started the new injectable after the colonoscopy. I can definitely feel the impact. It remains to be seen exactly what kind. One of my friends has a new injectable too; she's getting some sinus clearance from it. Of all the random effects.
After the infusion, Belovedest and I trekked up-city to pick up a package for
alexseanchai. All Pampered Chef, and a high proportion of likely goodies vs. likely duds. There were some varying scrub brushes. The utensil/knife scrub brush looks like dentures that are actually a scrub brush, but I can see that coming in handy. There was also a quarter-sheet pan with two eighth-sheet pans. And then we trekked back down when Belovedest realized they'd left their tablet at the cancer center. Freakin' ADHD. We're on The Assassins of Thasalon in our progress through Penric. I have a smallish makeup hobby. Part of that is sometimes going all Weird Barbie on my face with eyeliner or whatever. Tonight I've convinced myself (via iridescent green eyeliner) that some kind of moon phase forehead jewelry might really slap.
goodbyebird (goodbyebird) wrote2025-10-06 10:01 am
goodbyebird) wrote2025-10-06 10:01 amEntry tags:
This and that and a very tired me.
+ All I've done since making it home is sleep, download some stuff, watch the entire season of Wayward, and play undemanding video games. Man have I slept. Would like to lie down right now and sleep some more, but I'm headed back to work for the day (we abruptly left Thursday instead of Friday as planned, so I left behind a wee bit more chaos that I'm comfortable with).
Surprisingly smooth ride on the ferry though, given the weather.
+ Dear Vidder letters for Festivids are cropping up, and they're such a pleasure to read through. Aww fandom ❤️
+ Hunting down the digital singles for Birds of Prey, bc waiting for the trade to drop in six months is just not on the table. More Big Barda and Tiny Bat NOW. And they cancelled it, so I ain't giving them extra money, no sir :p
Now to figure out how to read them in an enjoyable manner.
Oh! And posted some scans to![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
capshare from the second and third trade.
+ Watched the new Fantastic Four. It was cozy! I'm enjoying this new return to more child-friendly superhero movies. Like, I can see letting my nephew watch both this and the new Superman movie with me. I don't need all this dark stuff for grownups; the world is dark enough as is, gimme escapism!
Surprisingly smooth ride on the ferry though, given the weather.
+ Dear Vidder letters for Festivids are cropping up, and they're such a pleasure to read through. Aww fandom ❤️
+ Hunting down the digital singles for Birds of Prey, bc waiting for the trade to drop in six months is just not on the table. More Big Barda and Tiny Bat NOW. And they cancelled it, so I ain't giving them extra money, no sir :p
Now to figure out how to read them in an enjoyable manner.
Oh! And posted some scans to
capshare from the second and third trade. + Watched the new Fantastic Four. It was cozy! I'm enjoying this new return to more child-friendly superhero movies. Like, I can see letting my nephew watch both this and the new Superman movie with me. I don't need all this dark stuff for grownups; the world is dark enough as is, gimme escapism!
Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (azurelunatic) wrote2025-10-01 10:13 pm
azurelunatic) wrote2025-10-01 10:13 pmEntry tags:
New frontiers in conflict resolution
As apparently the result of some long-running bad communication (not on Belovedest's side) there's a certain snarl at their work currently. They laid out the situation and the players to me.
Regarding the largest part of it -- "You have a leg to stand on there," I said. "Two legs. And my legs. That's four. And Yellface's. That's six. Eight. And when you have eight legs? ( creepy AND crawly )!"
Regarding the largest part of it -- "You have a leg to stand on there," I said. "Two legs. And my legs. That's four. And Yellface's. That's six. Eight. And when you have eight legs? ( creepy AND crawly )!"
Tucker McKinnon (jazzfish) wrote2025-10-01 10:58 pm
jazzfish) wrote2025-10-01 10:58 pmEntry tags:
been a minute
So, I'm not journaling. I am doing quite poorly, I think. Mostly this is a response to Lack Of Job but partly it's that I have spent an inordinate amount of time playing Silksong, a video game that came out somewhat unexpectedly at the beginning of September. Which is also something of a response to Lack Of Job.
Continuing to apply for both GIS and tech-writer jobs; so far I've seen a grand total of three responses, since May. Not great.
Anyway, I'm currently in Duluth MN at a GIS conference, in the hope that there will be Networking Opportunities. Not that I know how to Network; I am notoriously bad at being social with strangers even at SF/gaming/etc conventions.
In other fun news, the connector port on my phone died last Monday (while I was spending the day accompanying Mya for minor outpatient surgery), and the connector port on my tablet died on the way to Minnesota. The phone I can at least charge magnetically; the tablet is as good as dead until I can get it fixed. Bah. Never rains but etc. I would consider replacing my phone but a) money, and b) it is the Correct Size of phone (iPhone Mini) and they don't make them like that anymore.
Finally getting around to reading Neon Yang (fka JY Yang)'s Tensorate novellas. I forget who recommended these, or if it was anyone specific vs a general "hey these exist and are pretty good". They are in fact pretty good: Chinese-inflected fantasy, magic that feels magical, excellent prose and broad but quite believable characters.
Onward. Sleep and then more sociable.
Continuing to apply for both GIS and tech-writer jobs; so far I've seen a grand total of three responses, since May. Not great.
Anyway, I'm currently in Duluth MN at a GIS conference, in the hope that there will be Networking Opportunities. Not that I know how to Network; I am notoriously bad at being social with strangers even at SF/gaming/etc conventions.
In other fun news, the connector port on my phone died last Monday (while I was spending the day accompanying Mya for minor outpatient surgery), and the connector port on my tablet died on the way to Minnesota. The phone I can at least charge magnetically; the tablet is as good as dead until I can get it fixed. Bah. Never rains but etc. I would consider replacing my phone but a) money, and b) it is the Correct Size of phone (iPhone Mini) and they don't make them like that anymore.
Finally getting around to reading Neon Yang (fka JY Yang)'s Tensorate novellas. I forget who recommended these, or if it was anyone specific vs a general "hey these exist and are pretty good". They are in fact pretty good: Chinese-inflected fantasy, magic that feels magical, excellent prose and broad but quite believable characters.
Onward. Sleep and then more sociable.
Althea Valara (althea_valara) wrote2025-10-01 04:48 pm
althea_valara) wrote2025-10-01 04:48 pm
Entry tags:
Crafting & Creative Update, September 2025
Let's dive right in, shall we? (you know you are a knitter when you accidentally typo "shall" as "shawl").
[Image Description: A spreadsheet table showing the various creative things I did in September. I spent 7 hours and 40 minutes on crochet, 3 and a half hours knitting, a whopping 10 hours on my Small Web project, and 4 hours writing fic.]
That was only from September 15th. I also did over 4 hours of knitting from the 1st to the 15th, and numerous hours working on mysmallweb project (I didn't track it for the beginning of the month, but I'm guessing about 7-10 hours?)
Folks, all this creativity has been doing WONDERS for my mood. Usually I mark the "how do you feel about today?" question in Finch as only 2 or 3 stars, but lately it's been consistently 4. I feel better about myself these days, and am starting to feel like maybe, just maybe, I *do* have the oomph to be a productive, organized adult and still do my passion projects. I still have a ways to go on that, but it feels in the realm of possibility, and that's a GOOD thing.
I completed one item this month, and that was a very basic knitted kitty from a kit I picked up at Five Below, which I wouldn't have picked up if there hadn't been a thread on Ravelry in which someone was lamenting that Five Below was selling such a thing. (1) Bwuh? I don't get their logic at ALL; (2) hey cheap craft kits LET ME AT THEM. I bought two for my birthday, the knitted kitty and a crochet Halloween Stitch, which I still need to complete. But I was pleasantly surprised at the quality for the kits! They only cost $4 for the kitty and $5 for the Stitch, and they had everything you need PLUS really good instructions. I mean, the knitting kit had instructions showing you how to do the knit stitch in the English method for both left and right handers. WOW!
smallweb: I did SO MUCH on my Neocities site! I finished porting over the FFBE Season 1 script and all my FFXIV "summaries" to date, and have finished FFXI for Bastok missions up to rank 5 as well as the first expansion, Rise of the Zilart. I'm very pleased! I'm hard at work now on FFXI's Chains of Promathia, but I've exhausted what I have the game logs for, which means I need to go on my documentation alt and play some more, oops.
Writing: FOLKS! It is rare that I write fic. ANY fic writing from me is a cause to celebrate. So the fact that I have THREE fics in the works is astounding, and that doesn't count my1character stuff. I'm having fun with the fic, but haven't worked on it in a few days. Need to get back to it. But I also need canon review, which might mean replaying some patches in FFXIV/doing a particular job's storyline.
SO yeah, VERY successful month, especially since my contract job has spun up again and I've worked 13.5 hours two weeks ago and 15 hours last week. I did all THIS and also worked? WOW. JUST, WOW.
[Image Description: A spreadsheet table showing the various creative things I did in September. I spent 7 hours and 40 minutes on crochet, 3 and a half hours knitting, a whopping 10 hours on my Small Web project, and 4 hours writing fic.]
That was only from September 15th. I also did over 4 hours of knitting from the 1st to the 15th, and numerous hours working on my
smallweb project (I didn't track it for the beginning of the month, but I'm guessing about 7-10 hours?)Folks, all this creativity has been doing WONDERS for my mood. Usually I mark the "how do you feel about today?" question in Finch as only 2 or 3 stars, but lately it's been consistently 4. I feel better about myself these days, and am starting to feel like maybe, just maybe, I *do* have the oomph to be a productive, organized adult and still do my passion projects. I still have a ways to go on that, but it feels in the realm of possibility, and that's a GOOD thing.
I completed one item this month, and that was a very basic knitted kitty from a kit I picked up at Five Below, which I wouldn't have picked up if there hadn't been a thread on Ravelry in which someone was lamenting that Five Below was selling such a thing. (1) Bwuh? I don't get their logic at ALL; (2) hey cheap craft kits LET ME AT THEM. I bought two for my birthday, the knitted kitty and a crochet Halloween Stitch, which I still need to complete. But I was pleasantly surprised at the quality for the kits! They only cost $4 for the kitty and $5 for the Stitch, and they had everything you need PLUS really good instructions. I mean, the knitting kit had instructions showing you how to do the knit stitch in the English method for both left and right handers. WOW!
smallweb: I did SO MUCH on my Neocities site! I finished porting over the FFBE Season 1 script and all my FFXIV "summaries" to date, and have finished FFXI for Bastok missions up to rank 5 as well as the first expansion, Rise of the Zilart. I'm very pleased! I'm hard at work now on FFXI's Chains of Promathia, but I've exhausted what I have the game logs for, which means I need to go on my documentation alt and play some more, oops.Writing: FOLKS! It is rare that I write fic. ANY fic writing from me is a cause to celebrate. So the fact that I have THREE fics in the works is astounding, and that doesn't count my
1character stuff. I'm having fun with the fic, but haven't worked on it in a few days. Need to get back to it. But I also need canon review, which might mean replaying some patches in FFXIV/doing a particular job's storyline.SO yeah, VERY successful month, especially since my contract job has spun up again and I've worked 13.5 hours two weeks ago and 15 hours last week. I did all THIS and also worked? WOW. JUST, WOW.
goodbyebird (goodbyebird) wrote2025-10-01 07:39 pm
goodbyebird) wrote2025-10-01 07:39 pmEntry tags:
(no subject)
+ My brain is mush. We dock sometime during tonight, so tomorrow will be another hectic day. Thankfully come Friday I shall have freedoooommmm.
+ I want a Big Barda icon but I'm too zapped to make one *sulk*
Maybe after I've had my shower.
+ Not helping: my mom constantly asking me when I can come see her in Oslo, and for plans this Christmas when she'll be visiting and living at my brother's. I do not have capacity for this. Love her to bits but it's tough to convey that SOCIAL BANK EMPTY, PLAN QUEUE FULL.
+ Booked my flu shot for next Thursday. Apparently they're not doing Covid shots at the doctor anymore, boo. And the only information I can find is that it becomes available week 42. Hopefully I manage to get in there early enough that it will mostly be in full effect by the time I go to Thailand.
+ One Battle After Another will be showing at the small local cinema next week. There's been some very positive buzz. I may try to lure some friends to come with.
+ Decided to try and move away from using GoodReads, and so far StoryGraph seems a good fit. I know there's quite a few options out there, but I only made it through two before settling on StoryGraph. (Fable being the second option, but just way too busy for me. Someone looking for a move involved and social experience might vibe with it!)
One of the fun things is you can make your own book lists or challenges. I started putting together a small Queer Comics one. I could only find two other comic/graphic novel challenges by searching, so that's certainly a void in need of fillingthat's what she said.
Anyways, I'm here, in case anybody else is stretching their wings.
Sad eta: Jane Goodall has passed.
+ I want a Big Barda icon but I'm too zapped to make one *sulk*
Maybe after I've had my shower.
+ Not helping: my mom constantly asking me when I can come see her in Oslo, and for plans this Christmas when she'll be visiting and living at my brother's. I do not have capacity for this. Love her to bits but it's tough to convey that SOCIAL BANK EMPTY, PLAN QUEUE FULL.
+ Booked my flu shot for next Thursday. Apparently they're not doing Covid shots at the doctor anymore, boo. And the only information I can find is that it becomes available week 42. Hopefully I manage to get in there early enough that it will mostly be in full effect by the time I go to Thailand.
+ One Battle After Another will be showing at the small local cinema next week. There's been some very positive buzz. I may try to lure some friends to come with.
+ Decided to try and move away from using GoodReads, and so far StoryGraph seems a good fit. I know there's quite a few options out there, but I only made it through two before settling on StoryGraph. (Fable being the second option, but just way too busy for me. Someone looking for a move involved and social experience might vibe with it!)
One of the fun things is you can make your own book lists or challenges. I started putting together a small Queer Comics one. I could only find two other comic/graphic novel challenges by searching, so that's certainly a void in need of filling
Anyways, I'm here, in case anybody else is stretching their wings.
Sad eta: Jane Goodall has passed.
The Wild Beyond (rebelsheart) wrote2025-09-30 08:26 pm
rebelsheart) wrote2025-09-30 08:26 pm
Entry tags:
The Government Shutdown and Me
There will almost certainly be a shutdown of the US government tonight. In about 90 minutes.
I work for them.
At the start of the day, I did not know if I would be declared critical/exempt (work and get paid), excepted (work, get paid when the shutdown ends), or furloughed (don’t work, get paid when the shutdown ends.) I had a guess as to which.
And I was right... with a caveat.
I am excepted, but weird excepted because of the specific nature of my work.
I support group X, but I am employed by group Y. Group X has a special situation for funding and they are not immediately impacted by a potential shutdown. If the shutdown lasts longer than X's funding, my status gets reevaluated.
Yay.
I work for them.
At the start of the day, I did not know if I would be declared critical/exempt (work and get paid), excepted (work, get paid when the shutdown ends), or furloughed (don’t work, get paid when the shutdown ends.) I had a guess as to which.
And I was right... with a caveat.
I am excepted, but weird excepted because of the specific nature of my work.
I support group X, but I am employed by group Y. Group X has a special situation for funding and they are not immediately impacted by a potential shutdown. If the shutdown lasts longer than X's funding, my status gets reevaluated.
Yay.
the_shoshanna (the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-30 06:00 pm
the_shoshanna) wrote2025-09-30 06:00 pmbook rec: Emily Skidmore's True Sex
While I was in Wales, when I wasn't hiking, collapsing after hiking, drinking local beer after hiking, or blogging, I read Emily Skidmore's True Sex, and I recommend it highly to those of you who are interested in queer history! She traces the lives of eighteen American trans men in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, which is fascinating in itself, but part of her focus is that, while queer history has tended to focus on cities and the development of queer communities in them, these men pretty much all lived in small cities, towns, or rural areas, and clearly did so by choice in most or all cases. I mean, many of them moved around a lot; they could have moved to Chicago, but they stayed in Nowheresville. And they could sometimes be welcomed and treated as men there even when their communities knew they were AFAB.
Also, of course, a significant number were only publicly revealed as AFAB after years of living as men, sometimes only after their deaths. Skidmore doesn't spend a lot of time on this, but to me that means that there were a lot more stealth trans men who never got found out at all.
I did want her to dig deeper into racial issues, She often ties the ability to live as a man to white privilege, but I think that tie is weak without a discussion of the experiences of, and community acceptance of, black (or other nonwhite) trans men, which she doesn’t really offer.
Her research is impressive, and it's smoothly readable, not jargony. I recommend it highly!
Also, of course, a significant number were only publicly revealed as AFAB after years of living as men, sometimes only after their deaths. Skidmore doesn't spend a lot of time on this, but to me that means that there were a lot more stealth trans men who never got found out at all.
I did want her to dig deeper into racial issues, She often ties the ability to live as a man to white privilege, but I think that tie is weak without a discussion of the experiences of, and community acceptance of, black (or other nonwhite) trans men, which she doesn’t really offer.
Her research is impressive, and it's smoothly readable, not jargony. I recommend it highly!
goodbyebird (goodbyebird) wrote2025-09-28 07:45 pm
goodbyebird) wrote2025-09-28 07:45 pmEntry tags:
Look mom! I killed another one!
Guess who picked up a super fun comic, tore through three trades, then wanted to find folks talking about it and searched on BluSky... to find it got cancelled the very day she picked it up? AYUP.
Why aren't people buying super fun team comics?? *shakes fist at universe*
(yes it was cancelled due to poor sales)
The comic in question? Birds of Prey, written by Kelly Thompson. It had team! Quips! Competency! Siblings! Big Barda and Tiny Bat!! Muscles and mind-controlled beefcakes!
The last issue comes out in December and I'd prefer to pick up the trade. When I went to check if we'd even get volume 4 - comics! they treat us so well! - there was some good sprinkled in there. Firstly, she's pitching a new book at DC featuring a couple of the characters from BoP. My feral mind is slamming both fists on the table, chanting "Big and tiny! Big and tiny!" Probably not but gimme.
Secondly, Thompson's heading up the new Buffy and Angel run at Dynamite!
Thank god BOOM! lost the license because oof. Outside of the pretty covers and first issue, that was rough to say the least.
But I'm excited for this! We could, dare I say it, get a good Buffy comic.
Why aren't people buying super fun team comics?? *shakes fist at universe*
(yes it was cancelled due to poor sales)
The comic in question? Birds of Prey, written by Kelly Thompson. It had team! Quips! Competency! Siblings! Big Barda and Tiny Bat!! Muscles and mind-controlled beefcakes!
The last issue comes out in December and I'd prefer to pick up the trade. When I went to check if we'd even get volume 4 - comics! they treat us so well! - there was some good sprinkled in there. Firstly, she's pitching a new book at DC featuring a couple of the characters from BoP. My feral mind is slamming both fists on the table, chanting "Big and tiny! Big and tiny!" Probably not but gimme.
Secondly, Thompson's heading up the new Buffy and Angel run at Dynamite!
In my early days trying to figure out how to be a writer and what stories mattered to me and why — no heroine quite broke through for me like Buffy Summers.
She was somehow everything my young geek heart had always wanted but hadn’t known to ask for. Something about that delicate alchemy of horror, fantasy, and comedy paired with a hero so pure of heart and yet flawed and relatable was… impossible to deny. I fell deeply in love with Buffy, and following that, her whole world. Her ex-boyfriend is now a supernatural detective in Los Angeles you say? Inject it directly into my veins! But unlike a lot of other worlds I loved, the world of Buffy and Angel somehow never fell to the wayside. I could always come back to it and find something new, or something I’d missed, or something I needed. And I hope this new story we’re telling can do the same for old and new fans everywhere.
Thank god BOOM! lost the license because oof. Outside of the pretty covers and first issue, that was rough to say the least.
But I'm excited for this! We could, dare I say it, get a good Buffy comic.