Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Don't Even Know, Man...

I have not felt like doing much of anything lately. It's not laziness - laziness is a delicious and hedonistic desire to stay still, and what I've been feeling is absolutely not delicious or hedonistic.

I've been stuck.

I'm back to chugging too much coffee, back to losing time, back to being tired all the time, back to losing interest, back to anxiety at weird times when nothing's wrong.

In short, I think I'm having a very annoying depressive episode.

I'm not in any danger, though. No Bad Thoughts or anything, just... meh. Not feelin it, lately.

I'm pretty sure it started when I realized at the end of September that my wrists ache. There's a feeling of stiffness and soreness just above the knob of my wrists, and it's worse on the left than the right. I started feeling a little melancholy - mid-30s is a bit early for arthritis, and there's no inflammation or swelling. They're just a little stiff and sore. They've always sounded like they've got gravel in them when I rotated them. Same with my ankles, though they're not sore yet.

The discomfort isn't too much, but it does interfere with my art and crochet, so I'm very behind on Cozytober and haven't done too much crochet lately.

Aching wrists aside, we're fixing the deck this month, and I absorb other people's stress like a sponge. The deck repairs have not been going well, and there's been a lot of upset on my parents' part as they work to make sure it's both sturdy and good-looking. It does look very nice, so at least all that hard work has been worthwhile! Still, that's been stressful for me by transference.

It's been raining a lot since I got back from the Ren-Faire, which makes it very frustrating to get around and do things, so I've been stuck inside.

And then Evie got sick again. It's a chronic infection, so we were given the same antibiotic as last time and we're pilling her at both 8 AM and 8 PM, so that's been fun.

The most recent demotivator has been the fact that pretty much every time I venture outside something goes poorly for me. My local fiber circle canceled this month's meetup and I didn't find out until I'd already crossed town. On some attempts I made at being social, I was chased by hornets. When I try to go outside and get some sun on the few days it's here, I'm buzzed by my neighbor's honeybees. Heck, I've even been hearing more people yelling rude stuff while I'm out walking! It's a residential neighborhood, you weirdos, don't yell at the preteen girls who are jogging past me that they'd better keep going or you'll kill them!

Seriously, don't do that. If you try that again, I'll unhinge my jaw and eat you. I'm getting grumpier in my middle age.

The weather has been nice and chilly, at least, which I prefer to hot and sticky. I just wish there had been more nice days that I could go down to Main Street and paint.

It's going to be too cold for that, soon, and I'll have to switch to sketchbooks. I really should get a soft-cover drawing pad with detachable sheets - it'd be fun to be able to sell sketches as I work.

But hey, enough morose nonsense - I do have good things to talk about!

I made iced tea this week! I've never made iced tea from teabags before! I dumped 7 Meyer Lemon teabags in a pitcher full of cold water and left it overnight in the fridge. The resulting tea was just a touch sweet, a touch bitter, a touch sour, and incredibly pinkish-orange. The Meyer Lemon tea I have is made with rosehips and hibiscus, so the pink was expected. What was unexpected was how freaking delicious it was with a splash of Cranberry & Elderberry juice to sweeten it. The color deepened to a regal purple-red and all of the sweet/bitter/sour notes soared. Just lovely!

I also got to have my first taste of cider for the season, which was also delightful. Early apple cider is better than winter apple cider and I will fight you on this. It has none of the mealy undertones of a winter cider.

And when I say cider, I mean the pressed apple kind, not the alcoholic variety.

I'm being needlessly pedantic sorry lol.

Oh! And today, after years of trying to fan-cast a new Kolchak series, my guy & I came up with the perfect new Kolchak - Bob Odenkirk. I dare you to disagree. You'll be wrong lol.

Anywho, I am still planning on catching up on my missing Cozytober pieces, despite having missed... a lot, so I'm going to need to get back to the drawing pad.

Go Enjoy Something, folks!

FC

Fiber Monday

 

Slow progress is still progress

So it's week 22 and we're still working on this "Secret/Mystery Project". Unless you're a better pattern engineer than me and figured out how to close & carry the bag on your own lol, then I'm the only one who's still working on this 22 weeks in.

I have, however, figured out what to do about the straps!

Good old slip stitches.

That's right, I made 421 chain stitches with my 1.9mm hook and I'm going to slip stitch each row (chaining 1 before I turn and slip stitch down each row) until it's wide enough for my liking. Will it be quick? No. Will it be stable? Heck yes.

This is nowhere near wide enough

But it is very sturdy!

I'll probably do 12-24 rows at 420 stitches for the main strap and then switch to red for a 120 stitch long 6-12 row wide loop for the top of the bag. Just something nice and short to hang the bag by!

And since I do not have any other zippers to sacrifice to the mouth of the purse where the cap & stem connect, I will be attempting to attach something stiff like maybe a plastic cable tie to the inside this week. And then it will just be time for spots and maybe a cute charm! We'll see...

Still, thank you all for coming on this journey with me!

I know this is the first week I haven't included the rest of the bag pattern, but in my defense, it's 10pm and I'm heckin sleepy. Yes, I've only got that much done since this morning. I'm disappointed in me too.

But hey, that's life sometimes. Sometimes you work all day on something and the progress, once you set it down, seems minute.

But especially with crochet, any progress you can see is going to be way smaller than the effort you put in, because you can't see the sixteen times I had to frog it or the six attempts at mushroom lace I failed at or the many many many curses I uttered while stabbing myself in the thumb with the pointy end of my hook because those stitches are super tiny and I can't stop making them super tight. I need to chill lol!

So that'll do it from me for today!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Struggle With Timekeeping

I was supposed to write this blog post 12 hours ago, but uh... I didn't wake up until almost noon. I started writing tonight after 9:30PM (2130 in 24hr). I didn't sleep well, though. I kept waking up. Sometimes it was the wind (we had 35-40mph/56,3-64,4kph gusts), sometimes the rain (we got almost 1.5"/3,81cm of rain last night), and sometimes I just felt cold (it was only about 38℉/3,33℃).

tl;dr - I overslept in tiny, unsatisfying chunks all night because the weather sucked so now I'm mildly grumpy and my brain is lumpy.

In nicer news, tomorrow should be sunny, though it'll still be windy, so I might go do some errands to get outside for more than five minutes. Then I'll do my best to write some notes, do some crochet, sketch, etc.

I wish I'd finished something artistic last Thursday, but it wasn't gonna happen. The art project I was trying out just didn't work right, and none of my sketches looked even mildly presentable. Bleh. Just not having a very creative time lately.

I keep thinking I'd like to work on something like a clay sculpture, but let's be real, I'm not spending money on yet another art supply I'll get bored with in 3 weeks. And if you buy clay, you have to buy something to paint it with, and acrylics can be as pricey as watercolors. Bleh.

You know what, though...

I think it might be my bed.

See, usually, my bed only squeaks if I rock back and forth, but now it's freaking insane. It groans and squeals when I move even a little. Yes, I'm heavier than I was even a year ago, but... I'm pretty sure it did this last year, too. In fact, I think it did something similar in the fall...

I'm dumb.

Of course the bed makes noise. It's a transition period. Relative humidity, temperatures, and air pressure are in flux. My bed frame is over 70% wood (the only metal being the rails). Of course it's having issues!

I'm glad I've figured that one out!

Anywho, here's the plan for the next 7 days:

Tomorrow - go outside, touch grass, maybe do some sketches, some errands, etc.

Thursday - Art. I hope.

Friday-Sunday - catch up on crochet, maybe work on some of my book ideas.

Monday - Crochet!

Next Tuesday - Blather!

Alright. I think that'll do it for me. I am le pooped lol!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday

 

In Which I Am Still Alive

Guess who hasn't had the energy to blog in a few days lol. While yes, I did get my shot last week and yes, my previous doses were 24-hour affairs... this time it took until *today* for me to feel better. And I got my shot last Wednesday. Nearly a week of soreness and weird sleep. I don't know why this booster was so much rougher than my previous doses, but it's nice to have the full range of motion back in my shoulder. Even yesterday, it was hard to shift my shoulder, so crochet was basically out of the question.

This was also the first time I ended up with lymph node swelling.

And to top it all off, we had a blizzard. I get very hibernatory when we get blizzards lol.

I also started rearranging my room, which if you know me is QUITE the chore lol. I haven't finished, but boy do I have a lot of cardboard to get rid of now lol. There'll be more after tomorrow.

Yesterday I was still sore and tired and I couldn't focus. Today I'm just tired, but I had a headache when I woke up and couldn't shake it until dinner tonight. I actually worried I'd miss another blog, and I know this one's going up late again.

I think the weather's getting to me. It's hard to leave the house once it snows. The city takes days to clear the sidewalks out here and the ice is very slippery. I know there are cleats, but those are for walking from your house to the mailbox, not walking a mile round trip every few days. I always wear them down to rusty nubs by the end of winter. Being stuck inside isn't all that good for human beings. 

Aaaaaanywho, I have been staying up too late lately and waking up either super early or super late, so my sleep schedule needs a refresh. My intention over the next week is to:

• Post Art on Thursday
• Post Crochet on Monday
• Blather at you all on Tuesday

And if I hit all three of those goals, I'll be doing well.

Now I'm gonna go see if there's any good teal hair dyes out there for brunettes...

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Thursday Art Walk: The Drip

 

In Which I Practiced Some Art!

I've been very busy the last 9 days!

Okay, that's not 100% the truth. I've been doing a lot of things, but I've also just not been thinking about the blog for the most part.

Exactly 7 days ago, I turned 32. I was busy last Thursday, as you may imagine, but an idea for more weird stuff I could do in a paint program came to mind and I decided to play with it!

That's where The Drip comes from - me playing with colors, layers, and just bein weird as heck :D

"The Drip"; digital; 2021

I won't go into the math I did planning this out (spoilers, it wasn't enough and I should've resized the canvas first!), but I will tell you it was so much fun! Was it frustrating at times? Yes! Was I annoyed when my computer installed updates and ate the original try I took at it? Very, Yes! But I'm glad I tried it!

Obviously there's a lot I'd like to experiment with, here, and you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be doing more of this style in the future, maybe playing with antializing, nearest neighbor, resizing, etc, but for now, I'm just happy it exists. 

I should be back on my nonsense come Tuesday, but for now, I got dinner to eat and pixels to place :)

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Talk About Tuesday - Where The Heck Was I?!

 

In Which I Explain Myself
Probably Poorly

It's somehow been since the end of April since I last blogged. Yikes! I hope I didn't worry anyone! I promise, there's not really anything wrong.

Time just kinda got away from me.

I've been working on some big projects for family (which is my fault - I am not yet at the stage where I can make clothing patterns on the fly, but I tried it anyway!), playing around with digital art, working on my novel again, and...

not sleeping.

At all.

Kind of.

Let me explain:

Sometimes I go through these cycles where, instead of sleeping like a normal human being, my body does everything in its power to keep me awake for several nights. Sometimes it's triggered by stress - say, the anxiety of getting an inoculation when I'm scared of needles, having to do things by myself instead of with a support buddy, frustration of trying to do paperwork, etc - and sometimes it's just natural.

This time, as you may have guessed by my super specific examples, it was stress. And it was my fault.

In order to get a vaccine for the 'rona, I needed a valid photo ID. I did not have a valid photo ID at the time of my setting up my appointment, and had not realized I'd need it when I signed up. I noticed after I'd confirmed both date & time, and... had to cancel. Then I had to go get my ID, which was an hour of my life wasted at the DMV, five dollars down the drain, and a moment of panic beforehand when I realized I didn't have any recent mail with my name & address on it. Which it turned out I didn't even need for the ID.

Then I had to wait a week for the ID, during which I was panic-making a birthday present that just wouldn't come together dammit. The birthday was missed. By nearly 2 weeks. Because I gave the gift on Sunday the 9th. Oops.

The ID arrived the day after my original appointment, which the system did not cancel when I cancelled it, so I had to call the helpline which... not very helpful the first two times I tried, as robots tend not to be. The third time was the charm and last week I got my first dose of Moderna! The guy at the door complimented my Creature from the Black Lagoon shirt, and I bought myself sushi and dumplings and it was actually a great day!

So you'd think I'd be able to sleep again, right?

Lol no.

Instead, I got to have very mild muscle aches in my left arm and neck for two days (normal! All normal!) and then my body was just so used to not sleeping that I still can't sleep!

In fact, on Sunday I was operating on maybe 5 hours for the last week and that is Not Alright.

So I cut back on caffeine.

Fun fact, caffeine headaches will also not let you sleep.

So I added caffeine back in.

And finally I started feeling sleepy last night...

Except now my room is about 75℉ (23.9℃) and my optimal sleeping temp is in the low 60s (16.7℃)... I was roasting. And my head hurt. And my neck was sore from pressing my head into my pillow to sleep. And then my jerkwad neighbor decided that 5:30AM was a great time to start revving the engine on his crappy Cutlass.

So I woke up pretty cranky.

At 11AM.

I'm a mess, basically, is what I'm saying.

But! There is hope for a nap!

If the New Pokemon Snap doesn't consume me alive lol!

But seriously, on the second day of Moderna soreness, my copy of Snap came in and I. am. addicted!

Even though the underwater level is going to terrify me at some point. And even if there are some really upsetting moments (that poor Corsola! That poor Pyukumuku!!!) so yeah...

Uh...

Posts may be sporadic for a while due to a combination of temporary insomnia and a shiny new game :P

I do want to start posting again, though it'll be tough on Thursday, since it's kinda my birthday that day.

I have plans for Thursday.

They consist of sitting on my ass and eating Thai food.

I'm exciting.

So aside from all that and the surprise hailstorm we had today (which the ducks next door loved, fighting over the hailstones like they were peas from heaven lol), that's pretty much all I have to say!

Sorry for the radio silence, but now you know that I'm half-vaccinated, sleepy, and obsessed with fictional photography?

Anywho, Go Enjoy Something!

FC

PS It's raining on my roof but not the road. The weather is freakin weird, yo.

Thursday Art Walk: Witchtober Wk 2

 

In Which It's Another Week of Witches!

So, I have a lot to explain for today.

Firstly: I was absconded with on Monday, hence no Fiber Monday. I did succeed in getting a few new pattern repeats done on some projects, though! 

Second: I was busy on Tuesday with both writing and art and also doing a lot of juggling of household stuff, so no Talk About Tuesday. I got some writing done, pre-gamed with my art, and cooked some noodles. It was a very good day.

Third: Yesterday was the worst day I've had in a while for motivation. I could not get anything done. Nothing. I didn't even bathe. It was bad. BUT!

Today, I:

Drew a bunch of pictures of witches that I skipped like a lazy butthole

Wrote a paragraph of my novel

Wrote a comment on a Tweet about the lady authors I read as a kid while obsessed with dragons and Margaret freaking Weis LIKED IT!!!!!

Cooked dinner (cheddar sausages with pierogi!)

So without further ado, here's this week's Witches for @A_Ginger_Witch's Witchtober list on Instagram (which I don't have, like, or want, so I'll hashtag it on Twitter like the dork I am).

"Alys"; 9. Wonderland Witch

"Audhumla"; 10. Zodiac Witch (Taurus)

"Timothy & The Captain"; 11. Tea/Coffee Witch

"Rachel"; 12. Demon Witch

"Xue"; 13. Academic Witch

"Cadhla"; 14. Pinup Witch

"Kara"; 15. Candy Witch

I always forget after October what a grind a daily picture can be. I'm proud that Kara's prosthesis looks believable, and I like that I drew one of Cadhla's shoes dropping from the sky, and I'm so proud of my cute lil demon-summoning bow-loving Rachel, but I think I'm most pleased with sweet lil Timothy pouring a cup of love potion coffee (it's just a magically delicious cup of coffee, exactly what you wanted, every single time). A close second to Tim is Xue, with her frustrated look, and the fact that she may look like the oldest witch on here!

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep up with the blog next week, but if I miss Monday & Tuesday again, don't panic! I'm probably just busy lol.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC