Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Fried

I spent the last week or so out-of-office, as it were, cat-sitting for my sister & her husband as they honeymooned abroad. The apartment was delightful, the cat was a precious hauspanther with the cutest white spot on his chest, and the town was marvelous. Z & I had a blast! But...

Tiny, the cat, prefers to get fed at 3am.

And neither Z nor I are morning people, naturally. So today was a recharge day.

Not that I slept in - I got up at 8 and was out the door by 9:15 to run some errands.

You would think, that, having not slept for 7 or 8 nights, I'd have gone to bed early last night.

Lol no, I was playing Tears of the Kingdom. It took until this afternoon for me to reach the surface and I just got my paraglider.

I did get to keep Chonkers the Giant Horse, though, so that has been fun!

Also I do keep falling to my death. Shocker.

Also I suck at Recall.

While Away, I did actually figure out how to write part 2 of my wrestling story! I will keep writing the other story, too, but it felt so good to figure out where I was going!

I'll get back to doing wordcounts next week, but for this week, I'll just get on with writing and resting and arting.

I do have at least one finished piece that I'll be showing next week, and I'm making progress on a hilariously oversized piece. I may also try to do some fanart this week, but we'll see.

For now, I'm going to change into pajamas because it's basically bedtime, and hopefully wake up early enough tomorrow to actually do things.

The plan for this week is to write a bunch, read a bunch, have art done for Thursday, and take some pictures of the small progress I made crocheting for Monday. It's a weird project and I don't know if I can actually make it work, but I'll try.

If you'd like to have a say in what I draw/paint/pixel this week, feel free to go over to my Ko-Fi and send me a coffee with a message Recommending one of the following categories: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Location, Dedbert, Geometric, or Word. I also take commissions as seen in the sidebar!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Speak On The Week

Let's talk about what I've been up to since last Tuesday, shall we? I have done some crochet (as seen yesterday), and I have sketched a bit, and I've written so much! But I've also had a few fun little experiences.

Firstly, everyone survived the Polar Plunge as I'll call it. Yes, there are places that routinely get down to around -63℉/-52,8℃ with windchill, but this isn't one of those places. This place tends to stay around 10 to 25℉/-12,2 to -3,9℃ in February. Somehow no one in my county even suffered a cold-related injury! I'm very, very happy about that. Of course, that's not to say there won't be tragedies discovered later on in the quiet, tucked-away places that our unhoused population feel safest in, but for now, we don't seem to have lost anyone. I am unbelievably grateful for that.

No pipes burst, no windows broke, no cars failed to start. We were fortunate. Yes, the top step of our deck's stairs came off, but honestly? That deck's been rotting for years. I'm surprised it took that long.

Regardless, the weather was abysmal. And then yesterday got up to 41℉/5℃. And today was back down to about 25℉/-3,9℃. Yoyo weather.

Now that I've told you the weather, here's some storytime:

On Friday, which was the a bitter cold day hovering around -28℉/-33,3℃ with windchill, my boyfriend and I were hanging out in my parents' kitchen, enjoying some delicious brie and coffee when I saw something under the bird feeders. Something small was wriggling around and suddenly I realized it was a mouse!

Pretty much the second I pointed the mouse out to my mom and my boyfriend, a crow hopped down and...

Brutally killed the mouse.

Plucked it up into its beak and thrashed it around until it was limp.

And then ate it.

Nature! Nothing like it!

So guess what I'm drawing for Thursday...

I won't be graphic, don't worry.

Still, that was the most metal thing I've seen in a while. Our hawk hasn't been around to cull pigeons and doves, after all.

Death aside, I mentioned that I'm still writing!

I did miss a day or two of writing, including one day where I only got seven words down (ouch), but because I was on such a roll today, I still made my week's goal! This week, I wrote 1347 words! Guess how many I wrote today? No seriously, guess.

Okay did you guess over 100? Because you'd be right.

I wrote 948 words today.

Nine hundred forty eight!

That's over an entire week's expected wordcount!

More than that - I wrote an entire chapter in one sitting!!!

So that's the high I'm riding tonight!

And hopefully that will carry me through the sketching portion of my evening. I missed a sketch yesterday because I kept interrupting myself lol.

I may not be posting on time for the next couple of weeks, however, because I'll be helping some friends out on Mondays & Tuesdays. If I am overly distracted on those days, I'll try to write a Hybrid Crochet/Blather Blog on Wednesday, but I should still have my Art blogs regularly!

Speaking of art blogs - if you want a say in what I draw (besides my attempt to immortalize the intrepid huntscrow), feel free to send me a coffee over on Ko-Fi with a message attached letting me know your preferred category (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Dedbert, Location, Geometric, Word), and I'll make your dream come true!

It might come true in a confusing fashion, but it'll somewhat come true lol.

As for me, I'm going to groove to Stuart Copeland's Spyro soundtracks and draw things.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which Today's Art is... Prestigious

Today's art was brought to you by Z, who bought me a coffee and asked for a DEDBERT drawing! I was, as always, very excited to draw my boy, so here he is channeling his inner Zatara and performing some magic for us!

"Prestige"; colored pencil & micron pen; 2022

Dug out an old sketchbook of mine to do this. Unfortunately, this sketchbook is too chonky to go in my scanner (if the thing is works again...), so I had to snap a pic and upload it.

I love how he always looks faintly bored with anything he's doing! He's just so... mono-expressive, and yet that single look conveys so much lol!

If you'd like to have a say on what I draw next week, feel free to buy me a coffee over on Ko-fi with a message telling me what category you'd like to see next. This week's was "DEDBERT", for instance!

Available categories are:

• Animal
• Vegetable
• Mineral
• Dedbert
• Location
• Geometric
• Word

Anywho, minor self-advertising aside, I'm looking forward to sketching and writing more this month.

Yes, it's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so I'll be working even harder than usual on my various manuscripts. I'm hoping to make some real headway this month, too.

I'm not, however, ascribing to the, frankly insane, wordcounts recommended by some people doing NaNoWriMo. No, your manuscript does not have to be 80k-100k words long for the love of God.

You're not Stephen King.

You're don't need to write 1200 words a day. You don't need to avoid sleep or food or hygiene to get your book done.

Just... write.

Just sit down and write a sentence.

Will you finish your novel this month? Probably not. It's an unrealistic expectation for a world where a lot of aspiring writers work 40-90 hours a week.

Just write one sentence after another as often and as long as you can without causing yourself undue hardship. Don't skip meals. Don't skip sleep. Don't skip hanging out with friends. Don't deny yourself your life while you're writing.

Your book is in you. You're just putting it down into writing. It's not as scary or complex as you think it is. You can do that. You can write your book.

And so can I!

By the way, if you're more art focused and feel a bit of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) with NaNoWriMo, then you could try writing/drawing a graphic novel of some sort? They're usually much shorter than a novel, but that's because you're cutting out most of the visual detail in the writing process and putting it into the art process! I still recommend writing out a script for a comic or graphic novel - that way you have a plan for what you're going to do!

Heck, if you're an artist who wants to branch out into writing, you can also use Visual Storyboarding to help you work out what you'll write! Basically, just storyboard out a scene, image by image, and then try to write out what you just drew - describe it! Writing is just describing life, whether or not that life you're describing is or was happening in the real world.

Anywho, that'll about do it for me. I'm a little bran-jellied from the art and I'm gonna try to figure out my next move in my manuscript.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I've Been A Busy Bee

Good evening, folks, it's your friendly neighborhood couch potato! I haven't been lazy today!

Instead, I have:

• Done some cardio (danced like a moron to City Pop)
• Worked on my sibling's birthday present
• Started rewriting Part 2 of my novel because I realized one of the Big Important Plot Points... kinda sucked and betrayed the character.
• Got the plastic spoon my cat became obsessed with out from under the stove
• Got the cat wrangled into her harness so she could go for walkies with my mom
• Detangled a crapton of yarn from Gordon
• Ate cheese

It's been a lovely day, too, except for the wind! While the high was around 60℉ (15.5℃), the winds were just as strong as yesterday. They've dropped off almost entirely, now, and it's a pleasant 56℉ (13.3℃) out there. Sun and clear skies as far as the eye can see, too! Just... fantastic!

My plans for the week are:

• Detangle more of Gordon
• Write more of the novel
• Art on Thursday
• Maybe food if I remember lol
• Fiber updates Monday
• Blather next Tuesday

If it seems like I'm minimizing my commitments, I am. I'm trying to focus on writing and crochet a bit more, though art is still a very necessary outlet! I'm also planning to exercise more, since I'd like to be able to ride my bike without my fat-encrusted heart exploding. The pandemic and my own lack of motivation have been very unkind to my health, so I'm working on that!

I'm also looking at more watercolor pencils, since I miss the medium. If you see any deals and you know my socials, let me know!

That'll about do it for me today, it's just a quick lil update!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Really Tired

I'm not having a great week, guys. I'm feeling very run down and I'm having a harder time than usual focusing on things, which is why I didn't get my Fiber Monday blog up yesterday. I'm having some pretty significant discomfort (nothing to be that concerned with, don't worry!), and I'm just... always tired. All the time. This isn't that unusual this time of year, as you may notice from going back through the blog, but still, it sucks when it happens.

Today's goals are simple: 

• Write 100 words (I'm halfway there!) in my novel because I know I can't focus more than that
• Finish another round on my new Massive Bubble Art Project
• Play a day or two of Stardew Valley (my character married Elliott the Writer and now I'm trying to reach the bottom of Skull Cavern)
• Eat my last peanut butter cup

As you can see, I've got a packed day going :P

My goals for the rest of this week (and up to Monday next) are:

• Post an Art (not sure what!)
• Discuss Teas
• Maybe talk about the Death of Flash and How Much That Sucks (the Adobe program not the DC Comic Book Character, though Flashes dying tends to have a net negative effect on the overall storylines and writing in general of DC comics...)
• Actually post some crochet next week lol

I think that'll about do it from me today - I have cat photos to look at and crops to water :)

Go Enjoy Something!

And I hope your week goes way better than mine :P

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which Business Breeds Lateness

November being National Novel Writing Month, I am (predictably) working on my first novel. It's long, hard work, and I don't get my word counts down more often than not, but I am plugging away! The first part of the novel is 11.7k words long (and unedited), and the second part, which I'm currently working on, is currently 14.7k words long and... only about half done I'd estimate. I've been working on this novel for about a year now, all told, and it's the longest I've ever focused on one project. Which is why it is currently 3x longer than anything I've ever written, makes more sense, and doesn't suck (according to my First Reader).

You'd think I was fueling this mad dash for literary completion with a flood of my morning instant mocha blend, but instead... I've switched half of my hot beverage intake to tea. I've mentioned my testing of various Chamomiles (and the new Bigelow chamomile I've been drinking lately isn't quite the same as the... aged variety I found in the back of the cupboard, but it's still incredibly good), but I have needed to branch out into other kinds of non-herbal teas, so my mother was kind enough to deliver me a box of Morning Thunder from Celestial Seasonings.

Morning Thunder is a black tea with roasted maté. When my mother was in college, she swears she would drink it because she hadn't yet converted to coffee and she believes that, forty years ago, it contained roasted carob instead of maté. It did still have a buffalo on the box, though! I have to wonder if she perhaps is conflating Morning Thunder with Roastaroma, which is sold as a caffeine-free coffee alternative? It's over thirty years old, so perhaps that's what happened.

Morning Thunder brewed in my nice teapot!

The teapot has a bit of a story to it, too. My mother has had this teapot and its four little matching cups for as long as I can remember, but during one of her Object Purges, she decided she didn't want it anymore. I rescued it from the Goodwill bin, always hoping that one day I'd find a tea I liked and use it. One day, I set it down and the lid flew off, breaking into pieces on the floor. I was devastated. I was also very careful with the mending epoxy and unless you look inside the lid, you have to almost have your nose on it to see the hairline crack! I have the chips I rescued saved on a piece of tape in a plastic bag just in case I get one of those repair kits where you fix something with silver or gold.

I brewed the Morning Thunder in my pretty pot the other day and tried it, hoping it wouldn't leave me pulling faces and dumping it out like the Red Rose with Lemon experiment (yuck - that had to have been a bad lemon!).

I know my first mistake was in only using one bag for the teapot. My second was being impatient, but...

It was still quite nice!

It definitely had that... soggy flavor that most teas impart on me - a dark, rounded tone that reminds me of hiking in the woods of Camden Hills State Park as a kid right after a downpour - but it was balanced out by the stronger, drier flavor of the maté, which you could certainly tell was roasted! Overall, it's not a mocha alternative, but I'll drink it again and gladly! I tried this tea naked, but my partner had milk and reports that it was a bit weak but still quite good.

I'll brew it stronger next time, and we'll see how that goes.

I've since used the teapot to make two separate pots of Chamomile from Bigelow. The first attempt was with two Chamomile bags and another bout of impatience which left me with a fairly weak flowery tea that was still enjoyable but nowhere near my usual four-to-seven-minute steep (I may or may not take the steeping time to go take care of whatever the quickest chore is). My second attempt was a single teabag but I left it in the pot and poured myself several smaller cups of tea until the pot went cold.

This is a major issue, because I cannot finish an entire pot within one hour while crocheting and writing - it's physically impossible.

Solution? I'm making a tea cozy for it. Now, that yielded its own problems because, again, I'm impatient. I don't like having to hunt for the perfect pattern, and Ravelry failed me. It would seem that no one has made a free pattern that I like for a vertically handled teapot. They're all side-handled. Boo.

So I'm making my own pattern using the ugliest yarn I have because there's not enough of it for much else, and I love it in spite of the fact that it's a grungy taupe, navy blue, denim blue, and bright orange. I'm using an F hook, and you can expect pattern notes next Monday if you, too, have a light DK weight yarn you'd like to convert into a teapot sweater.

I think that'll do it from me tonight - it's past midnight and is now officially Wednesdaymania, but I'm both impatient and lazy, so I won't change the title or the content :P

I'll get back to bobbling and weaving my way to cozy perfection and then go to bed.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which It's Been A Day

It's late on Tuesday, and I'm pretty sleepy. I've had a long day of cat guarding, writing, and crocheting. My grandmother dropped by with her dog, and my cat is terrified of the dog, so she crept upstairs into my room and hung out with me, sitting in my window and looking to me for assurance. I had to carry her back downstairs so she could eat and drink and go to the litter box after they left because she would not believe my mother and I that the dog had finally gone lol.

After the catsitting was done, I came back up and wrote a little more of my novel, and played around with yarn for a while. It's been a fairly slow day, to be honest!

This week will probably include me talking about Talkin Shop a Mania 2 tomorrow, posting art on Thursday, and maybe talking about a video game idea I've had on Saturday. 

The weather today, by the way, was pretty good, if a bit cool (mid-40F/5-7C) and surprisingly sunny. Poor Evie kitty spent her morning on the back of a chair soaking in the sun's rays, so I'd imagine the dog showing up really startled her out of a solar stupor. Poor baby.

She's still looking for the dog, btw.

Anyway, that's basically all I did today and all I plan to do this week (besides writing a bunch more of my book lol), so...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

In Which The Work Progresses

It's hard work being a Filthy Casual like me. Today was not taken up as much with crochet as it often is - it was instead taken up with writing. With nearly 1k words under my belt on my novel and another several hundred written out as a video game idea (more about that on Saturday, perhaps?!), I had very little time to hook up anything... kind of.

See, I actually did make an entire half-double crochet (or half-treble for UK folks!) headband in a very, very fluffy yarn on Saturday while watching Talkin-Shop-a-Mania 2, Rise of the Torturer (stay tuned for Wednesday lol), but I have no pics, and frankly, I don't feel like digging around in the Finished Box to take any right now. It's half past ten in the evening. I'm tired. I'm word-drunk. I love you darlings.

Anyway, I also did work on the spider web doily again! I'm up to round 22.

Here it is spread out on my poor battered laptop

Right now, I'm also relaxing with a small mug of Sleepytime Classic steeped a full 6 minutes. Very relaxing while I watch a baby otter frolic with his friends.

Don't pay any mind to the candy wrappers I forgot to clean up lol

I hope your Mondays haven't been too hellacious, and I hope you take some time tonight to

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday... On Wednesday

 

In Which Tuesday Was Very Busy

I am winding down for the evening (well, technically early Wednesday morning, but gimme a break lol), so I'll make today's blog fairly brief.

Today was a day of getting out of town for a bit, because I live in an area with lower-than-the-national-average risk of COVID exposure. Some friends, my partner, and myself all piled in a car and went to another town and ate pulled pork sandwiches by the ocean, and it was awesome. We wore our masks. We socially distanced.

We were not, however, immune to reality creeping in.

Tuesday morning saw the sun being lightly filmed with a haze born from the wildfires devastating the opposite side of the continent. The fresh sea breeze was slightly salted and tanged with the touch of the hurricanes lining up like abusive suitors far to the south. Political survey people tried to knock on my front door and asked for me by name, though they seem to think my French Feminine name (on a person descended from both Scotch/Irish and German stock) is a British Masculine... My mother sent them on their way (thank goodness) none the wiser that there is no such person by that pronounciation.

You'd think that would have made the day anxious, but it didn't. None of it did.

We ate too much food by a beautiful waterfront, watching healthy mats of seaweed bob in the surf near the hewn stone below. We laughed. We talked about Dungeons & Dragons, about silly movies, about that cute orphaned sea otter I watch at night, about the food, about trips we could take in the future, people's families and their adventures (or misadventures).

And then one of the myriad little sparrows that had been investigating the area for potential dropped crumbs took flight.

And apparently it needed to clear some weight before it could properly lift off.

It crapped all over my folded hands, spattering a line of cold, slick-yet-gritty asphalt gray feces all over the heels of my thumbs.

In short, nature informed us it was time to go back into the car.

After copious amounts of hand sanitizer (in the car), a return trip to the house, several handwashings, depositing my nice yellow plaid flannel shirt in the wash with a dab or two of dishsoap on what I'm hoping were just meat-juice stains and not another bird's farewell, my partner and I settled into a sleepy torpor from which we only roused briefly to order a pizza for dinner (which was delicious - spinach & feta on garlic-parm sauce), argue laughingly over what YouTube videos to watch, and then to separate for the evening.

In short, today was great.

It never got above 65℉ (18.3℃), and right now I think it's about 45℉ (7.2℃). I'm in a green flannel shirt and capris, but I've snuck a flannel blanket bedecked in owls onto my bed, so I'm still deliciously chilly-yet-cozy. The tip of my nose is like ice, but my fingers still have some heat to them, so I'll call it a 100% win!

I'll be writing all day Wednesday (not counting this blog). Thursday I'll have some more art for you. I'll be writing Friday through Sunday, and Monday next should have a much more completed bag (with a bonus one day make for you!)

I think that'll about cover my Tuesday. I'm going to go brush my teeth and sleep deeply while dreaming of loaded pulled pork sandwiches, a warm hand in mine, and absolutely no bird poop.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Monday - Wafflebag

 

In Which Progress Is Waffled... er... made...

I'm a wee bit tired, as of late. I've been staying up too late, waking up later, and just generally feeling run down and sleepy constantly. I'm 99% sure it's because I'm moving around more during the hours I'm awake, but there's always the worry that it could be a hormonal response or worse - my depression creeping back in. Which would be weird, since this is the most hopeful I've been in a while! My future is open wide, after all!

So I distract myself from my brain not understanding how to person.

And I do that with two things: Entertainment and Work.

For Entertainment, of course, I read (I'm working my way through Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest right now), I play video games, and I watch lots and lots of YouTube videos.

For Work, however, you've seen a lot of what I do. I'm writing a novel (which, let's be real, takes up 75% of my Awake Time because that's what I want my JOB to be!). I draw (both digitally and on paper). I crochet.

And Right Now, I Am Crocheting A Bag!

The bag I'm crocheting right now is done using a basketweave pattern, but because the word "basket" likes to hop out of my brain like a frog from a log, I end up calling it a Waffle Weave bag, despite Waffle Weave looking like this.

Currently, the bag is about 3.5" (~8.9cm) tall, and I'm debating whether to make it a proper bag or to convert it into some kind of zippered clutch. What do you guys think? Purse with straps or zippered clutch?

I'll let you know how I plan to complete this project (if it's a zippered clutch, I'll probably have to line it...), and you'll continue to see progress shots :)

I think that'll about do it for me today - I gotta run downstairs and get some fresh water and maybe a sandwich!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk

 

In Which I *Have* been working! I promise!

Oh boy are Thursdays a struggle, guys. I know what I want to be painting, and I'm working hard on things, but... I'm doing such small details that there's really nothing to show for it. Yet.

So I had to do a sketch instead!

"Otter Bliss" mechanical pencil & ballpoint pen; 2020

I've mentioned that I've been watching an orphaned otter named Joey, right? Because I have. A lot.

So here's an homage to the lil guy, floating in blissful sleepy peace, lil shark toy on his tummy, fake kelp floating behind him.

It's been a little difficult to draw lately, since I'm mostly focused on writing, but I'm pretty proud of that sketch, and I look forward to scanning it in and then working on it digitally!

I don't usually talk about social media in this blog, I don't like asking people to smash that like/subscribe whatever button or to comment and/or share, but I'd really dig it if you can Retweet the Tweet you maybe used to get here or hit Share if you found it on Facebook? Regardless, I can see y'all seeing my blogs, and I really love that you're here!

Anywho, I have writing to do, baby otters to stare at, and spooky ladies on roadtrips to watch, so I hope you are all doing alright, and I hope you're safe and that your projects are going great :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Fiber Mo - WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S TUESDAY?!

 

In Which Time Is Slippery

But Yarn is Not

I'll be honest, I lost track of time both today and yesterday. I legit forgot that it was Monday, despite knowing that Tuesday was one sleep away (I haven't had that sleep yet, btw, I refuse to flake 100% on Monday :P ). I did have kind of a long day, after all, with a lot of writing and a lot of running around and doing laundry and working out... The weather today was spectacular - warm, sunny, breezy. My old man took out the hammock and cleared the mouse nests out of the riding lawnmower in between renovations and rebuilds on the camper he bought. My mom gardened. I wrote, did some situps, ordered chicken taco pizza for my family's dinner. Busy busy.

I didn't do any crochet until after dinner.

I didn't even think about crochet until probably 9:30PM (that's 1730 in military time, lol).

And now I'm too tired to keep crocheting lol.

But I did some work, I promise! On a woven stitch bag!

But it's not for a laptop like the pattern suggests - it's probably only big enough for an iPad or a notebook. It'll be a nice little purse or something :)

It's starting from the bottom, of course, which is closest to the ball.

So that's what I eventually got to work on.

That and page 19 of Part 2 of the novel. I'd like to finish pages 20 & 21 on Tuesday, but we'll see lol.

I'm very much enjoying the work, though. All of the work. The writing, the crocheting, the reading and the art. I enjoy my work.

I hope that all of you out there can find some work you'll enjoy, too, whether it's art, writing, music, video making, cooking, or teaching. Make something.

The weather tomorrow (Tuesday) is supposed to be (and I quote): "Partly Sunny and Delightful" with a high of about 73℉/22.8℃ (which will feel like 79℉/26.1℃ in the sun) with about 82% humidity (which will be pretty annoying!) with only 7-9mph breeze! 

I intend to spend it writing.

So please, Go Enjoy Something!!!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Blather About Today

It's another Tuesday here in the YarnCave, and it's been great weather lately. Days cool enough to wear pants and flannel shirts (provided one is not moving about with any great vigor), nights cool enough to keep only one fan spinning and more than one light sheet on the bed, and oh man is it perfect for writing through!

Today's blog will have to be a bit short, though, because between writing and getting lunch ready soon, I'm a little busy lol!

Weather today: Mostly cloudy, temperature is at 67℉ (19.4℃), and there's a steady breeze. More of a light wind, really. It's nice, to be honest. I'm thinking about putting on jeans. Too bad it might be back up near 90℉ (32℃) by Friday! Ew!

I've written two pages in the last 24 hours, and I'm halfway done with another page today already. I hope I get a lot of writing done today, because I'd like to finish Part 2 of my book in the first half of this month.

I've been writing to a lot of Takashi Kokubo music lately. It's repetitive, relaxing, and odd, kinda like me!

Today, I think I'm making pickled sausage to go on lunch (maybe it'll be some yakisoba?), and tonight it's roast chicken, so food is all set (though I have few snacks...).

On Thursday, I'll be doing more art, but I don't know what yet, so keep an eye out. I may have more yellow crochet on Monday, too!

That'll about do it for me - gotta go make lunch!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday 326

I am so delightfully tired!

Today was a very good day for me. It was a beautiful day, with a high of about 76℉ (24.4℃), a light breeze, not much by way of clouds, and not very humid. In short, it was perfect out there. My partner and I retired out to the 1990s pop-up camper my dad's restoring and did some writing work on our respective novels (I can't wait to read my partner's novel!!!). We were even able to share a meal outside with some friends (social distancing was in effect, but we were super happy to see each other.

We were trying a new place that offered bahn mi sandwiches and bulgogi beef tacos (among a lot of other things) and it was all extraordinarily good.

But more than the food, it was nice to be outside with people I like, and while I doubt that'll happen a ton over the next few weeks, it was nice :)

So yeah, today was eating, socializing, and writing. I also did a little inking on some art I'll photograph for Thursday. You'd think I'd be wide awake.

I could nap at any moment. And by nap, I mean sink into the mire and delightful dredge that is true sleep until the first stinging rays of dawn swim through my window and prick my eyes awake.

I'll be working more on the book this month, so regularly scheduled updates are... unlikely, you may have noticed. Apologies.

But I think it'll be worth it when the book is done.

Go Enjoy Something, guys :)
FC

Wednesdaymania 323: Working Hard For The Coffee

Exciting News: I'm boring.

I've been commissioned for another PPV, recently, so that's what I'm watching this week! Stay tuned next week for that commission. For now let me see if you can guess what it is with three hints:

• "I'm gonna wear what I wanna wear"
• An American Mortician in Peril
• Kids being forced to say the pledge in a voiceover

Yes? No? Check back next week to find out!

I'm also working hard at my book, averaging between 100-150 words a day, and some days I've written over 300 words at once. I'd like to be more at my max than my average, but when your bedroom is 84 degrees with both fans running and you're a fridgeblossom like me, it can be hard to concentrate.

I'm pleased with the quality of my work, though, and that's just as important. If I hate my story, I won't write it, and that would be devastating.

So stay tuned, keep on keeping on, and stick around. It's been a really rough month for wrestlers, so if you're following any on Twitter or other Social Media, maybe send them a few positive messages - like telling them what you love about them!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday 323

In Which I Blather

It is a beautiful day, despite a foggy, muggy start. Yes, there's a continual breeze. Yes, it seems a bit hazy. Yes, it is still muggy.

But it's almost 70℉ (21℃), and it's pretty sunny out there.

I baked a loaf of quickbread today (recipe here) with Everything Bagel mix in it. Drank some coffee, wrote some lines in my book. Pestered the cat, talked to ducks, and even did a few squats.

Today has been pretty good!

I will admit, I'm pretty tired - my brain kept waking me up last night with ideas and schemes, and I'll be honest, I've forgotten maybe 99% of what was waking me up, but I do remember one thing: I came up with some underpinnings for the dragon lady dress I came up with. In order to make the conical bust (not the 1950s kind, the 15th/16th century kind) - using either a Pfalzgrafin, Effigy or this kind of stays or early corsetry. Basically, I want to minimize the appearance of individual breasts, since the dresses are depicting a non-nursing specie (dragons) and a ton of cleavage would throw off that idea.

There's a time and a place for booby dresses. This is neither.

So yeah, today is productive, though I'm a little sleepy. I have some stuff to finish setting up, and I think I'll be getting a thing or two today, so keep an ear out lol.

Here's the upcoming ideas I have for the blog:

• Tomorrow, I'll be blathering about Wrestling, though, boy, it's been a rough month.
• Thursday will have some art progress to show you
• Friday I might talk movies or I might not, we'll see lol
• Saturday might involve cheesy games
• Sunday might involve me gushing about food because I'm fat.
• Next Monday, I hope to have a lot of progress to show you on my projects
• Next Tuesday I'll blather at you some more.

If you're in quarantine, stay in and stay safe.

If you're stuck out there in the world, stay as safe as you can.

Wear your mask when you can, don't breathe on each other, don't call the cops on guys who are reminding you of local laws, and try to enjoy one thing today, whether it's a show you like, a food you enjoy, or the delicate scent of fresia dancing on the breeze.

Just...

Enjoy Something.

FC

Talk About Tuesday 321

In Which Birds Are Hella Loud

It's 5AM. The sun is rising slowly behind a damp slate gray wall of clouds towards the ocean. The road is drying from last night's rain. I just heard my mother go outside to feed the birds - a scoop of mixed seeds for the songbirds who woke me, a huge scoop of duck feed for the wild mallards who have decided our backyard is the finest diner in town, a brick of suet for the brazen woodpeckers, and if I'm being honest, probably some seeds for the chipmunk who lives near the steps.

I'll probably go grab some coffee soon, maybe some toast, and I'll start my day (grudgingly). I haven't been able to sleep lately. Not more than a few catnaps. I can't get comfortable. I should try bringing up a full water bottle tonight - it's been a while since I properly hydrated.

Sunday was Mother's Day, and I made a last minute doily for my mother. I can't remember which pattern I used, but I made it with pink thread and it has two 3d rows of petals on it like some strange flower. I'm pretty proud of it! It should've taken less than five hours to make, all told, but let's be real, I was skating on too little sleep even then.

I do worry sometimes that I've developed chronic insomnia or that weird brain condition where you stop being able to sleep and just... die slowly.

That's not at all likely.

I'm probably just dehydrated. That's what it always is.

But paranoia is easy (if exhausting), and I'm a suspicious-minded moron, so that's how things are sometimes lol.

I wrote over 800 words in the last two days. I'm pretty damn proud of that.

Aside from the doily for my mother, however, I haven't been crocheting enough. I just haven't had the focus. That's right, writing - the creation of entire worlds and narratives from sheer imagination and willpower - is easier for me to do tired than crocheting - a series of small muscle twitches and basic counting skills.

I'm looking forward to trying to play Pokemon SNAP like this today lol. It should be a blast. I don't remember all of the ways you're supposed to make things work, though, so I don't know if I can get past the first secret! Seriously, I've forgotten how to solve the hidden routes, where the signs were... I seem to recall being really good at the game, but the last time I played... I barely got that Voltorb to explode.

I think it's raining again. Ugh. I don't want to close my window. I like hearing the chickadees, sparrows, cardinals, blue jays, grackles, red winged blackbirds, woodpeckers, and ducks. I even like hearing the neighbors' silly chickens. And yeah, very little is funnier than watching a chicken in a vest jumping over another, bigger chicken.

And big news!

Tomorrow I turn 31. I already have my major gifts - a gorgeous bike from my parents, and hands-down the cutest mug I've ever owned from my partner! I legit don't know which I'm more excited for, because yeah, the bike is going to open up my possibilities over the summer, but... Tato mug! I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, maybe blathering about wrestling a tiny bit on here, but if the spirit moves me, tomorrow might just be a workathon on the novel.

The novel is, after all, about wrestling. It suits.

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do!

I'll wear the awesome Marty Scurrl t-shirt my partner gave me, I'll throw on a YouTube playlist or a music stream, and I'll work until the afternoon.

That actually sounds pretty nice :)

Yeah, the rain is coming in now.

I'll have to shut the window as the crows caw outside, huddled and dripping on the telephone wires. It's pretty pleasant, but the wet will ruin my woodwork, so... shut it must be.

Here's the week's plan real quick:

• Wrestling talk tomorrow? Maybe. Might just be a quick note and a smile from me.
• Art Thursday - hopefully unassisted
• Movie discussion on Friday - not sure what yet, but I'll think of something.
• Video game talk on Saturday - maybe I'll tell you how badly I sucked at a game for babies?
• Maybe food talk on Sunday - we'll see lol.
• Hopefully I'll have pics of stuff for Monday - I need to free up some space first
• See you back for blather next Tuesday!

I love you all.

Stay in if you can.

...

I really should close this window.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday 318

In Which I Still Exist

So far today has been very short. I have only been up since 11AM (hence why this is an afternoon blog), and I don't really know what I'm gonna do today. Here's what my week has been like:

• Part 2 of my novel is now 3100+ words long (which is nice, but I have so much more to say, and I can't wait to say it!!!)
• I have had 2 kinds of Japanese noodles this week: The black garlic tonkotsu I bought and one of the tasty Mustard-Mayo Yakisoba packs I bought. I'd link to them, but because they're imports, they're super expensive right now. If you're eager for some tasty noodz, I'd suggest trawling the internets all over the place. I found mine on Amazon, but you might have better luck on ebay or somewhere else like SugoiMart or something. Go nuts, guys ;)
• Played a bunch of Breath of the Wild and had to remind myself that now that I'm on Master Mode, I have Majora's Mask and can just... walk past all the bad guys and steal their weapons. Which I do. A lot.
• Helped my mother find recipes for peanut chicken and chicken satay because she's craving it, but refuses to actually buy some from a local restaurant... because I don't know why. It's a great restaurant, and if I had a car, I'd have bought a bunch of Thai food by now (they're doing pickup/curbside only). I miss pad thai and their orange chicken and... oof. I am craving the good noms lol
• Speaking of good noms (again), I ordered a delicious pizza the other day - light bbq sauce, bacon, red peppers. Delicious. 10/10. Do recommend. Bought it with some Cherry Coke and some bbq bacon chicken bites. Yus. Might order it again in a bit.
• Ew. It's pouring. That damp is just gonna make our mushroom problem worse.
• Speaking of mushrooms...
• Any amateur or professional mycologists out here?

Because we're having a mushroom problem

Seriously, they're just... popping out of the plant pots in my kitchen!

I should add that we do not cook with mushrooms here bc my dad hates them.

I don't even know if they're all the same kind of mushroom

All I know is that they are growing in both the pot with the Sea Holly and the planter with the cat grass. I'm asking about the shrooms because I'm trying to make sure we aren't endangering the kitty. I know that cat's usually don't deal well with mushrooms, and I'm also apparently quite sensitive to the spores, but if they're not deadly, I won't have to panic-pluck them every stinkin day.

Right. That'll about do it for me today, guys! Stay inside if you can, gear up if you must be outside, and stay as safe as you're able.

Go Enjoy Something (from the comfort of your home, hopefully)!
FC

Talk About Tuesday 316

In Which I Blather About My Day/Week

Today is a fairly nice day - the sun is peeking out from behind puffy clouds, the stiff breeze keeps the bugs down, the birds are going bonkers outside, it's somewhere in the upper 40s/lower 50s (between 8.5 and 13℃), one of my neighbors keeps driving his crappy truck that sounds like a mail truck around for some reason, and I am grumpily awaiting ramen that might not arrive until sometime around the 28th...

Still, that means I won't be eating all of that Tonkotsu ramen by myself...

Regardless, here's what I've done so far today:

• I drank some coffee
• I tried to convince my cat that I was not a pincushion
• I got into a lively argument with said cat about whether or not she liked spaghetti
• It turned out that she thought my spaghetti leftovers were the source of the fishy smell. The spaghetti was not the source. That was my mother's lunch - fishsticks being cooked in the toaster oven.
• I had a second cup of coffee
• I crocheted some dragonflies into a headscarf I'm working on.
• I ripped out three rows from said headscarf because I'd botched two of them - neither of which was the row I'd been working on at the time >:(
• I was so annoyed by this that I did 25 assisted pushups and 12 squats.

I'm a bit tired today because I stayed up pretty late watching videos with my partner on watch2gether, a website that lets you share videos with a person or people! Say you want to watch a YouTube video with your best friend, but they live in Colorado. You go to the watch2gether website, open a room (which is super easy), and then you copy/paste the link for the YouTube vid you want to watch with your friend into the search bar in the Room. Click your video, pause it, and add your friend to the room. They'll be able to chat, video chat, interact with the video (play, pause, etc), change the background color, etc. You'll be able to do the same.

Once your video is done, maybe they want to show you a video from Dailymotion or something - they can! All they have to do is copy/paste the link to that video into the search bar et voila, you have another video to watch together.

Each room only lasts 24 hours, so you'll probably have to open up a new room every time you want to watch stuff with your friend(s), but I don't believe there's much of a limit to the number of people you can invite! There's all kinds of websites you can share from, too, and that selection increases incredibly if you download the plugin for Chrome. So go try it - it's a blast.

It also didn't pay me for this (I'm always very upfront if there's money involved - I like bragging about getting paid), so you know this is just an excited person blathering about something they're happy to know about.

A huge thank you goes out to Wolf Friendo and Llama Friendo, who told me about the website.

***

NOVEL UPDATE: I've written 859 words since April 1. Half of those were last night lol.

***

As for the coming week, here are my plans:

• I'll probably be watching a lot of stuff with my partner this week as a way to stay connected (and yeah, I'm really glad that video chat and watch2gether exist!!!)
• Thursday should include some Art from moi, but we'll see.
• I hope to have another 850+ words done by next Tuesday, so keep an eye out for that ;)
• I'll try and keep myself honest about physical activity, too. Hopefully I can get more pushups and squats done from here on out :|
• Gonna try to do more crochet this week, including disassembling the rat's nest my poor stash has become. It's seriously a wreck, and I am ashamed :(

I'm pretty pleased with the work I've done so far. I look forward to doing even more work, and I hope to have part 2 of the novel finished by May :)

How are your guys' projects going?

Are you keeping yourselves fed and clean? If that's all you can do right now, then that's fine, guys. I'd rather you guys be alive than be stressed out trying to finish a project. If you're reading this, that means you're alive, and that makes me happy. See? You've already pleased one person - you're alive and that's what counts.

I love you all.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday 315

It's mostly cloudy today, and it snowed yesterday. It's still freezing cold and blowing a gale out there, so I'm not in the best mood. I was in a far worse mood yesterday, though, when it was pouring and snowing and not a bit pleasant.

Today, I'm just trying to get motivated. I feel very tired and my brain is not working great, but I'll try to focus more. I won't be updating the blog daily after today as part of an ongoing effort to finish my book before 2021, because while I'm working it'll be hard to blog. I will try to keep up with Tuesdays and Thursdays at the very least but for now don't be alarmed if I go quiet.

I do want to keep posting things that are useful or interesting, though, so you may end up with a few scattered days here and there where I'm blogging a random recipe or game I've played.

There... isn't a whole lot of wrestling right now, either, though if you want to send me a Ko-fi with a link to a match on YouTube you'd like me to watch, definitely do so!

Art will continue on - I'm working on a few pieces right now, including one that will require some reference photos... I'm thinking of possibly taking prompts from people, though I cannot, in good conscience, charge for those. I'm notoriously flaky when it comes to these things.

Movies may be reviewed now and then, but I'm mostly on an X-Files and Dark Shadows kick right now, and it's hard to focus on movies when you're dealing with the current existential dread of a pandemic.

I still play silly clicker games, but I haven't been able to focus on any of them long enough to form a proper opinion. I died in Breath of the Wild yesterday by accidentally landing on a bear while I only had 3 hearts.

Cooking is also difficult - since everyone's home, that means I'm having more proper meals, but it also means that there's no room in the kitchen for lil old me.

Meanwhile, crochet is the easiest thing in the world right now. I'm working on several head scarves that I'll use when I'm done making them. After things calm down and I can get a dang haircut, though, I might sell a few of them... And, y'know, I'm also working on that shrug...

Next week, however, I'll probably still be back on Tuesday to update you on how the writing is going, what's up with my life, etcetera.

So... no schedule this week because I'll be writing!

Go Enjoy Something
FC