Baker's dozen
1) I am not dead, nor vanished into an alternate reality, frozen in stasis, or wormhole-transported to another destination. On the whole, this pleases me... though admittedly the latter is kind of intriguing.
2) I'm continuing to adjust to last fall's medication changes and on the whole am mostly very pleased with those, too.
3) However, SAD is still a thing, it turns out, and I forgot all about using my light therapy. Major depressive downturn during the dark months (though significantly better than most years thanks to Pristiq et al). Oops. Must restart.
4) Communication still challenging. Improving very slowly. But improving. No, really. Honest. Less worse, anyway.
5) I'm continuing to unfuck my habitat in extremely satisfying ways. This project will last me a long, long time, since I'm dealing with stuff that's been accumulating, ignored, for decades. (I'm not a hoarder; I love getting rid of stuff. I just didn't have the oomph or the spoons* for a very, very long time.)
6) Last fall's neck/shoulder injury took an eternity to get better but it looks like it's definitively cleared up and mostly forgotten altogether. Finally.
7) I have started learning to make jewelry -- not to sell or anything, just for fun. Stringing beads, wire work, and a bit of chainmaille (this thanks to the influence of my Favorite Cousin cosmo_dk). WAY FUN, partly because of the huge learning curve (brain work feels really good) and partly because pretty rocks make me giddy with delight. Including lots of really cheap ones. OMG JASPER. Seriously. Yay, affordablity. Glass and metal are cool and pretty, too, but I'm really all about the rocks. (Plastic turns out to be a total turn-off, even when called something else, like resin. Oh, well.)
8) Late last November, my beloved goddog Indy Anna Jane (see icon) turned THIRTEEN. This is older than God for a Rottweiler. She's stone deaf and gimpy, and was recently diagnosed with a "mass" in her spleen that may or may not be cancer (and we're not going to do anything about it, so no point finding out), but she's still comfortable and cheerful and enjoying life, so we're cherishing her and delighting in her until she's ready to leave us. The loss, when it comes, will be sad, but not crushing. She's had her full measure of life and a whole lot more, so it'll be the best sort of end.
9) This gives me a huge case of the happies: Zinnias blooming in space! Botany! And gardening! And science! And space exploration! The only thing that could make this more perfect for me is if a dog were involved. Now I want to read something where a character is named Zinnia in honor of this event.
10) This year was the first time purimgifts opened to podfic, and I really wanted to team up with a writer to make something... but the sign-up period coincided with an endless series of VERY LOUD STORMS and I wasn't at all sure I could commit to recording something in time for the deadline. Oh, well; maybe next year. (I'm not Jewish, but I've always had an interest in and a certain degree of attraction to Judaism, and I also like stories that explore characters' relationship to their own religion/religious upbringing... maybe especially because I don't seem capable of faith or otherwise wired for religion myself.)
11) At the end of this month I will once again accompany Suz, my local bestie, to the Bay Area for one of her periodic medical specialist check-ups followed by two whole days surrounded by 3000 dogs at the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show (spectating, not competing). Actually, that is something of a religious pilgrimage for me, come to think of it. In a sense. And we might get to spend half a day at Annie's Annuals, which is Mecca, so as pilgrimages go, it could be a double-header.
12) Like pretty much everyone in fandom, I was grief-stricken at the loss of Alan Rickman. I'm going to be sad about that for a long time. Does anyone know where/how a person might find a way to see Truly, Madly, Deeply? *wistful*
In conclusion: Ray Kowalski. (Are we still saying that? I miss saying that.)
* Re spoons: I've started seeing the occasional non-disabled or non-chronically-ill person (as they define themselves) using this expression in reference to themselves when they're merely tired or stressed or have a cold or whatever. That pushes my buttons in a big way. This analogy, this term, refers to something huge and devastating, and it's incredibly important. I don't like seeing it diluted. Actually, I deeply resent seeing it diluted until it's meaningless. /rant
2) I'm continuing to adjust to last fall's medication changes and on the whole am mostly very pleased with those, too.
3) However, SAD is still a thing, it turns out, and I forgot all about using my light therapy. Major depressive downturn during the dark months (though significantly better than most years thanks to Pristiq et al). Oops. Must restart.
4) Communication still challenging. Improving very slowly. But improving. No, really. Honest. Less worse, anyway.
5) I'm continuing to unfuck my habitat in extremely satisfying ways. This project will last me a long, long time, since I'm dealing with stuff that's been accumulating, ignored, for decades. (I'm not a hoarder; I love getting rid of stuff. I just didn't have the oomph or the spoons* for a very, very long time.)
6) Last fall's neck/shoulder injury took an eternity to get better but it looks like it's definitively cleared up and mostly forgotten altogether. Finally.
7) I have started learning to make jewelry -- not to sell or anything, just for fun. Stringing beads, wire work, and a bit of chainmaille (this thanks to the influence of my Favorite Cousin cosmo_dk). WAY FUN, partly because of the huge learning curve (brain work feels really good) and partly because pretty rocks make me giddy with delight. Including lots of really cheap ones. OMG JASPER. Seriously. Yay, affordablity. Glass and metal are cool and pretty, too, but I'm really all about the rocks. (Plastic turns out to be a total turn-off, even when called something else, like resin. Oh, well.)
8) Late last November, my beloved goddog Indy Anna Jane (see icon) turned THIRTEEN. This is older than God for a Rottweiler. She's stone deaf and gimpy, and was recently diagnosed with a "mass" in her spleen that may or may not be cancer (and we're not going to do anything about it, so no point finding out), but she's still comfortable and cheerful and enjoying life, so we're cherishing her and delighting in her until she's ready to leave us. The loss, when it comes, will be sad, but not crushing. She's had her full measure of life and a whole lot more, so it'll be the best sort of end.
9) This gives me a huge case of the happies: Zinnias blooming in space! Botany! And gardening! And science! And space exploration! The only thing that could make this more perfect for me is if a dog were involved. Now I want to read something where a character is named Zinnia in honor of this event.
10) This year was the first time purimgifts opened to podfic, and I really wanted to team up with a writer to make something... but the sign-up period coincided with an endless series of VERY LOUD STORMS and I wasn't at all sure I could commit to recording something in time for the deadline. Oh, well; maybe next year. (I'm not Jewish, but I've always had an interest in and a certain degree of attraction to Judaism, and I also like stories that explore characters' relationship to their own religion/religious upbringing... maybe especially because I don't seem capable of faith or otherwise wired for religion myself.)
11) At the end of this month I will once again accompany Suz, my local bestie, to the Bay Area for one of her periodic medical specialist check-ups followed by two whole days surrounded by 3000 dogs at the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show (spectating, not competing). Actually, that is something of a religious pilgrimage for me, come to think of it. In a sense. And we might get to spend half a day at Annie's Annuals, which is Mecca, so as pilgrimages go, it could be a double-header.
12) Like pretty much everyone in fandom, I was grief-stricken at the loss of Alan Rickman. I'm going to be sad about that for a long time. Does anyone know where/how a person might find a way to see Truly, Madly, Deeply? *wistful*
In conclusion: Ray Kowalski. (Are we still saying that? I miss saying that.)
* Re spoons: I've started seeing the occasional non-disabled or non-chronically-ill person (as they define themselves) using this expression in reference to themselves when they're merely tired or stressed or have a cold or whatever. That pushes my buttons in a big way. This analogy, this term, refers to something huge and devastating, and it's incredibly important. I don't like seeing it diluted. Actually, I deeply resent seeing it diluted until it's meaningless. /rant