(no subject)
I guess it's time for my monthly update? Jeez.
1) Fitness! I've been sticking with crossfit, and it's totally paying off. Well, at least I think it has, and that's all that matters. After a month of going three times a week, my measurements have stayed the same, but I definitely feel more defined in some places, and I'm certainly being more relaxed with my diet, plus being much more hungry. I like it a lot; there have only been two workouts that I really truly hated, and one of them definitely killed me more than the other. I love the weightlifting, and I'm getting better and stronger, so you know. That's awesome.
2) Work! I finally told them! It was easy. I was worried that my boss was going to freak out a little because we've had some other changeover but it was fine. My friend Ami has got the job after me, so I know that training is going to be easy and minimal since she's going to know everyone and how all the scenes work anyway. And we're wrapping up my fourth-last issue this week, and I've got most of the two following wrapped up... it's all going according to plan! Having a month off is going to feel weird, but I have just... just so much to do.
3) Other Work! I signed up to be in the pool of freelancers for a blog/social media outsourcing group called Yeeshoo, which launched a couple weeks ago. I got my first client this week and have to write some blog posts about marketing. It's a pretty great deal, USD$250/month per client for writing four blog posts? I can definitely handle that. And the great thing is that I can do it from anywhere, so when I go back to Australia I'll have at least a little bit of income while I'm bumming around looking for jobs and apartments.
4) Beijing Gig Guide! I haven't talked about it in a while, because it has slowly been falling off my radar. I picked it back up but then realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep it going, so I put out the word - after I told work - that I was leaving, and my other music-inclined friend Jo said that she was interested. She's helped me with the site before so it was an easy pick, and we've just this week finished the handover in total. She just did her first Gig of the Week newsletter and... gosh, the end of an era!
5) Arashi! I finished off D no Arashi and have since gotten more than halfway through G no Arashi. My episode descriptions for D are also finished, and G will be polished off quickly (they are less involved), and then I think I'll move onto MMA and AnS, though I need to make sure my stores of those are up-to-date and as complete as possible. I think those are all I'll do, though I wish someone would do others. I mean, it's great to get the guest's name, but sometimes you're like OH MAN DO YOU REMEMBER THAT EPISODE WHERE THEY DID A NO ARASHI WITH THE CANDY FLOSS CLOUDS?? (that was a terrible example) -- you don't remember the guest name! Come on. Also it allows you to target-watch for MAXIMUM EFFECT. Just want to rewatch all the Meguro-san episodes? Air guitar Arashi? All the shitty meaningless episodes? There. Done.
6) Writing! The deadline for my je_otherworlds fic is next Sunday. There are loads of things getting in the way of me writing, which include, in no particular order: the heat and my room's lack of AC, the aforementioned freelancing work I've picked up, my regular job and its regular requirements, and the steady stream of Arashi shows I'm subjecting myself to. BUT the great thing is I love what I'm writing and can't wait to get it all out of my system. I really need to get it done this weekend so that I can throw it to beta and have it all done by next weekend.
7) Boys! I met this guy at Ami's birthday. He's really cool. Has a girlfriend back in the States but apparently their relationship is open (though he didn't tell me that; longer story than necessary in parenthesis). I'm still seeing him every now and then because he's an insanely fun and interesting guy and we have a great time whenever we've gone out. Of course I wanna bone him but I can put that aside for knowing someone awesome.
8) Stuff I've Done! This past weekend I went to KTV all night, and apparently it had only been like five weeks since I last did that! It was great, if annoying at the start because our reservation needed to be confirmed five times or something. Whatever, it was loads of fun. I've had brunch with Jeff from Mai Bar and Stephanie from Mao Mao Chong, because they're two of my favorite bar owners in this city. I also set up a bathhouse day which was delightfully relaxing and needs to happen again soon. I also caught up with my friend Kevin who I met, god, through a high school buddy who was visiting Tsinghua, and who also randomly knows loads of people in the music industry. He's been living in Denmark, in their second most populous city of Aarhus, which has just over 240,000 people. o.O
9) Stuff I'm Going To Do! I've got an August 30 trip to Qingdao to plan, and I've just finished ironing out most of the details for my family's visit. They're here for two weeks at the beginning of October and it's going to be SUPER fun. We're spending a few days in Shanghai to start with and then bumming around Beijing - maybe hitting Dalian but I'm not 100% on that. That's part of the wrapping up we have left to do. Before they get here, though, I have my birthday to plan (easy; I'll do the same as last year), and my going away, which I want/need to be epic. Also, a couple of friends want to fly up at the END of October to visit, which won't be stressful but it makes my calendar fill the fuck up when I should be packing.
10) A Summary! I've still got that feel-good feeling, though this week I have been feeling more of the time crunch. Part of it is the new work for Yeeshoo, but once I get a few of those in the bag, I'll feel way better about it. Part of it is just literally time ticking away, and organizing things, because it forces me to take note of how long I have. I've got some great time management skills, but when one of my deadlines carries so much emotional weight... well, I just troop on through it, but it throws into relief how little time I have in Beijing. I've just handed over something I've worked on throughout my years here, and it's the first step of many that I will have to take in saying goodbye. Don't even start me thinking about saying goodbye to my bunny....
Originally posted at Dreamwidth.
1) Fitness! I've been sticking with crossfit, and it's totally paying off. Well, at least I think it has, and that's all that matters. After a month of going three times a week, my measurements have stayed the same, but I definitely feel more defined in some places, and I'm certainly being more relaxed with my diet, plus being much more hungry. I like it a lot; there have only been two workouts that I really truly hated, and one of them definitely killed me more than the other. I love the weightlifting, and I'm getting better and stronger, so you know. That's awesome.
2) Work! I finally told them! It was easy. I was worried that my boss was going to freak out a little because we've had some other changeover but it was fine. My friend Ami has got the job after me, so I know that training is going to be easy and minimal since she's going to know everyone and how all the scenes work anyway. And we're wrapping up my fourth-last issue this week, and I've got most of the two following wrapped up... it's all going according to plan! Having a month off is going to feel weird, but I have just... just so much to do.
3) Other Work! I signed up to be in the pool of freelancers for a blog/social media outsourcing group called Yeeshoo, which launched a couple weeks ago. I got my first client this week and have to write some blog posts about marketing. It's a pretty great deal, USD$250/month per client for writing four blog posts? I can definitely handle that. And the great thing is that I can do it from anywhere, so when I go back to Australia I'll have at least a little bit of income while I'm bumming around looking for jobs and apartments.
4) Beijing Gig Guide! I haven't talked about it in a while, because it has slowly been falling off my radar. I picked it back up but then realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep it going, so I put out the word - after I told work - that I was leaving, and my other music-inclined friend Jo said that she was interested. She's helped me with the site before so it was an easy pick, and we've just this week finished the handover in total. She just did her first Gig of the Week newsletter and... gosh, the end of an era!
5) Arashi! I finished off D no Arashi and have since gotten more than halfway through G no Arashi. My episode descriptions for D are also finished, and G will be polished off quickly (they are less involved), and then I think I'll move onto MMA and AnS, though I need to make sure my stores of those are up-to-date and as complete as possible. I think those are all I'll do, though I wish someone would do others. I mean, it's great to get the guest's name, but sometimes you're like OH MAN DO YOU REMEMBER THAT EPISODE WHERE THEY DID A NO ARASHI WITH THE CANDY FLOSS CLOUDS?? (that was a terrible example) -- you don't remember the guest name! Come on. Also it allows you to target-watch for MAXIMUM EFFECT. Just want to rewatch all the Meguro-san episodes? Air guitar Arashi? All the shitty meaningless episodes? There. Done.
6) Writing! The deadline for my je_otherworlds fic is next Sunday. There are loads of things getting in the way of me writing, which include, in no particular order: the heat and my room's lack of AC, the aforementioned freelancing work I've picked up, my regular job and its regular requirements, and the steady stream of Arashi shows I'm subjecting myself to. BUT the great thing is I love what I'm writing and can't wait to get it all out of my system. I really need to get it done this weekend so that I can throw it to beta and have it all done by next weekend.
7) Boys! I met this guy at Ami's birthday. He's really cool. Has a girlfriend back in the States but apparently their relationship is open (though he didn't tell me that; longer story than necessary in parenthesis). I'm still seeing him every now and then because he's an insanely fun and interesting guy and we have a great time whenever we've gone out. Of course I wanna bone him but I can put that aside for knowing someone awesome.
8) Stuff I've Done! This past weekend I went to KTV all night, and apparently it had only been like five weeks since I last did that! It was great, if annoying at the start because our reservation needed to be confirmed five times or something. Whatever, it was loads of fun. I've had brunch with Jeff from Mai Bar and Stephanie from Mao Mao Chong, because they're two of my favorite bar owners in this city. I also set up a bathhouse day which was delightfully relaxing and needs to happen again soon. I also caught up with my friend Kevin who I met, god, through a high school buddy who was visiting Tsinghua, and who also randomly knows loads of people in the music industry. He's been living in Denmark, in their second most populous city of Aarhus, which has just over 240,000 people. o.O
9) Stuff I'm Going To Do! I've got an August 30 trip to Qingdao to plan, and I've just finished ironing out most of the details for my family's visit. They're here for two weeks at the beginning of October and it's going to be SUPER fun. We're spending a few days in Shanghai to start with and then bumming around Beijing - maybe hitting Dalian but I'm not 100% on that. That's part of the wrapping up we have left to do. Before they get here, though, I have my birthday to plan (easy; I'll do the same as last year), and my going away, which I want/need to be epic. Also, a couple of friends want to fly up at the END of October to visit, which won't be stressful but it makes my calendar fill the fuck up when I should be packing.
10) A Summary! I've still got that feel-good feeling, though this week I have been feeling more of the time crunch. Part of it is the new work for Yeeshoo, but once I get a few of those in the bag, I'll feel way better about it. Part of it is just literally time ticking away, and organizing things, because it forces me to take note of how long I have. I've got some great time management skills, but when one of my deadlines carries so much emotional weight... well, I just troop on through it, but it throws into relief how little time I have in Beijing. I've just handed over something I've worked on throughout my years here, and it's the first step of many that I will have to take in saying goodbye. Don't even start me thinking about saying goodbye to my bunny....
Originally posted at Dreamwidth.