Winter Break, and Something You've Been Putting Off
So... Winter Break kinda sucked. It was good for a couple of diet-breaking days at my parents house, but then Xmas day we went to my cousin's home for dinner. And her family keeps a whole bunch of pets. By Monday night I had a brand new sinus infection for Xmas. *headdesk*
I wonder if going off the elimination diet made me more susceptible? I certainly didn't have any sinus problems when I wasn't eating wheat, dairy, etc., not even when I went off antihistamines for three days for an allergy test.
And despite the illness, I still went to my doctor's office for the 'we messed up your blood tests' follow up. Got the forms I needed, went to the NYU hospital's outpatient lab and got moar blood tests. Still haven't got the results, will call the office after my desk shift.
From Tuesday thru Saturday I hid in my home and whined a lot. Got high on Claritin D, and then had a very bad come-down. Went out local for Indian food on Wednesday, which was nice, and did not explode. Yay Indian food!
Listened to a lot of gothy internet radio. And started downloading a bunch of music off Bandcamp, mostly a Steampunk band I'd liked at DragonCon, and I slowly started to stop feeling annoyed at Steampunk. So now I has costume plans, and may attend SWF whether or not I'm vending.
NYE a friend came over and we ordered Chinese food and watched Old Skool Doctor Who, until about a quarter to midnight and we watched the ball drop thingie. And that was about as much NYE as I could take, having been sick for a week and whacked out for weeks and weeks before that. And all of my friends' house parties included kittehs. But my friend came over and it was good to have company :-)
I did finally make that health-improving honey pot that I'd been planning, a few days late of the new moon but I'm sure it'll be OK. They're like pet rocks for pagans. Not sure if it helped me overall, but I like it. And I finished the last couple of sewing projects I had lying around and put all the equipment away. January is for jewelry now, I need to prep for Wicked Faire in February.
While stranded in my own home and messed up on otc meds (my doctor did give me a prescription for antibiotics when I stopped by, but I ended up not being so bad that I needed them, phew), I wasn't really able to do much but think about what went wrong this year. Distanced myself mentally from the health problems (b/c I still don't know where they came from) and focused on the mental/emotional. And looked back at my Saturn Return research.
Tried thinking back to a time when I was happier, more content, felt more like myself. What was I doing, who was I hanging out with, what was I wearing?
Much as I have friends in a bunch of improv peoples, and had some good experiences performing there, its just not my scene. The over scheduling, the drunk-culture, the annihilation of social life beyond improv, the fact that I'm way out of high school and still last pick for teams, eeek. In regard to that quote about "Everyone is a genius, but tell a fish he has to climb a tree and he'll live his life thinking he's stupid," I have lots of creative skills that just aren't utilized by improv. I'm not saying burn the place down, I'm just not cut out to be an active improv cultist.
I also need a certain amount of geekiness and intellectual stimulation in my life, and the improv scene did not have enough of that to sustain me. Tho I'd very much like to abscond with individual improv friends to places where I *can* get that.
The last time I felt more content than I am now, may have been the years after larping when I was living con to con. Being geeky, putting (bad) costumes together, playing with lightsabers, hanging out with sci fi writers, etc. Making jewelry and preparing for vendorship (even tho it stressed me out too, it was more manageable than improv stress). Wicked Faire, other Mach events, ICon, DragonCon, and loooong ago Dexcon. (Never really liked NYCC, I like my cons more fan-based).
Oh, and I still miss goth clubbing. Tho I was never really a member of that scene. But goth dances overlap with lots of con events anyways.
So assuming I get healthy again, my new life-back-on-track plans involve getting back to my fen roots. And being a con-slut.
Already doing Wicked and DragonCon, probably also Steampunk World's Faire, maybe ICON. Going back to NYRSF and KGB Fantastic Fiction when I can to hang out with the geeky writers.
Oh, and as for the magic writing prompt...
After my friend went home after the New Years celebrating, I think the refined sugars in the sparkling apple/grape juice must have hit me weird b/c I suddenly has this weird sense of being ... constricted.
Following my instincts and a sudden energy surge, I turned on my wardrobe and started purging like crazy to Steampunk muzic. I purged around 15 items out of my closet, and several more from the dresser. Especially things that were never comfortable to wear even tho they technically fit. I haven't put it into under-bed storage yet, but it is all on probation. The next day I did the laundry, and with everything that survived the purge within my eyesight I started making a list of clothes to look for at Macys the following week (I got madd Xmas giftcards to spend, and I tend to do better shopping in winter for sales and colors). Also kept in mind my renewed interest in Neo Victorian looks, b/c my office clothes are f'ing boring nowadays.
Sunday dawned, and I started all of the household projects I was too sick to do earlier in the week. With a mix of goth radio and teh steampunks. Most people probably relax on NYD, but I'd been 'relaxing' for days and needed to do something constructive. Garbage and laundry, recycling, swiffering, cleaning of the bathroom (tho by trying to unclog the sink I made it worse :-P), throwing away the live-active-cultures bath curtain, washing all of the bathroom linens, and replacing the broken toilet seat. I also threw out an old garbage can from the kitchen that I wasn't using anymore. Tried to clean the tape-gunk off the windows (leftovers from Hurricane Irene) but that didn't work. Used some cedar and frankincense for smudging afterwards.
I wore a dust mask while cleaning, still terrified that my sinuses would rebel again, and in the end I was OK. Tho I did run out of steam before I could put the probation-clothes in under bed storage, where lives an enormous dust colony.
The strangest thing happened as I was cleaning, I suddenly had the energy to do it. Like someone flipped a switch and I was *on* again. I felt pretty antsy when I was finished, so I went over to
arcane_the_sage's house for dinner and movie and hanging out. Finally saw Up, it was adorable.
Things just got weirder after that. Went to therapy at 2pm Monday, and afterward went to Macy's with my list and giftcards. On the subway I noticed that my body did not feel like a gigantic lead weight that needed to be dragged around, for the first time in ages. And I was in a good mood. After therapy. WTH?
Figured that Herald Square Macy's would end my yay-spree, but I decided to head directly to the plus size department on the 7th floor and work my way downstairs. I never needed to head downstairs. Wandered in and immediately found pants that fit me, including plushie black jeans that *didn't* ride all the way up to my chest. They were the most expensive and only full-price item I picked up, but I haven't found black jeans that felt comfortable ... evar? Not to mention that I didn't have to scrape through a rack and a half to find a size 18. Picked up another plush pair of jeans, some interesting shirts, a cami, some cardigan-ish things, and some button up office shirts that also fit. In colors I actually like. Everything but the black jeans was discounted. What strange alternative dimension did I fall into?
Once home I was tired, but not miserable. Yay! I think I made some jewelry that night after tidying up the workbench. And then when I tried to go to bed, my writing muse showed up for the first time since July and started to poke at me!
Tuesday I managed to get the groceries and weekly cooking taken care of, but I also wrote a first-draft episode of my podcast sitcom. The one that's been rolling around in the back of my mind for years. And then my muse kinda got tired and wandered away again before I could start another ep. Wow. Things like that just don't happen to me anymore. However, it didn't take long to type it out from the book full of disjointed episode notes I keep, so that will make it less intimidating in the future. Ironically I missed NYRSF to write an urban fantasy sitcom. *shrugs*
Unfortunately, my eating habits were a bit weird on Tuesday, and I may have had a bad apple on top of that, so Tuesday night I did not sleep due to stomach horribleness. When I finally got up, feeling dried out from the heating vents getting set to 11, I also found that my nose was bleeding. Had to call in sick for work the next day. Drank water, boiled some water on the stove, and passed out again for a few hours but could not keep sleeping.
Spent Wednesday feeling too sick to write, although I did match up some beads to make into jewelry later. (Did I mention its going to be a very Neo-Victorian Wicked Halloween? Whups.) I guess it could also be viral, but its just more of the same-old stomach problems I've been having for six months, and I think they're getting worse :-P
In brief, once I somehow got juiced on the new year I went into mega productive mode without wanting to curl up into a ball and die afterwards. Cleared a ton of clothes out of the closet. Cleaned most of the apartment. Smudged with cedar and frankincense. Went shopping to get clothes that actually fit me. Made moar jewelry. Wrote the first draft of a podcast sitcom episode. Got sick again (:P) but what can ya do. All of these were things I was putting off, in some cases for months at a time. Too bad I couldn't keep putting off the stomach aches.
I was well enough to come to work today, at least, tho I don't think I can do Tai Chi tonite. I still have the energy but the tummy is all owwwwch. I can go home and do jewelry or writing instead, or just relax my tummy and watch a fancy movie on teh Netflix.
Today I also found out that most of my vitamins & supplements contain wheat and/or soy, so much for elimination diets. And the probiotics I was taking contain milk. YOU FAIL GNC. Tho I had the energy surge despite not taking the vitamins since the Friday before Xmas, so maybe I'll leave off them for a little while and see what happens.
<3 Chrysilla
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, http://chrysilla.dreamwidth.org/
I wonder if going off the elimination diet made me more susceptible? I certainly didn't have any sinus problems when I wasn't eating wheat, dairy, etc., not even when I went off antihistamines for three days for an allergy test.
And despite the illness, I still went to my doctor's office for the 'we messed up your blood tests' follow up. Got the forms I needed, went to the NYU hospital's outpatient lab and got moar blood tests. Still haven't got the results, will call the office after my desk shift.
From Tuesday thru Saturday I hid in my home and whined a lot. Got high on Claritin D, and then had a very bad come-down. Went out local for Indian food on Wednesday, which was nice, and did not explode. Yay Indian food!
Listened to a lot of gothy internet radio. And started downloading a bunch of music off Bandcamp, mostly a Steampunk band I'd liked at DragonCon, and I slowly started to stop feeling annoyed at Steampunk. So now I has costume plans, and may attend SWF whether or not I'm vending.
NYE a friend came over and we ordered Chinese food and watched Old Skool Doctor Who, until about a quarter to midnight and we watched the ball drop thingie. And that was about as much NYE as I could take, having been sick for a week and whacked out for weeks and weeks before that. And all of my friends' house parties included kittehs. But my friend came over and it was good to have company :-)
I did finally make that health-improving honey pot that I'd been planning, a few days late of the new moon but I'm sure it'll be OK. They're like pet rocks for pagans. Not sure if it helped me overall, but I like it. And I finished the last couple of sewing projects I had lying around and put all the equipment away. January is for jewelry now, I need to prep for Wicked Faire in February.
While stranded in my own home and messed up on otc meds (my doctor did give me a prescription for antibiotics when I stopped by, but I ended up not being so bad that I needed them, phew), I wasn't really able to do much but think about what went wrong this year. Distanced myself mentally from the health problems (b/c I still don't know where they came from) and focused on the mental/emotional. And looked back at my Saturn Return research.
Tried thinking back to a time when I was happier, more content, felt more like myself. What was I doing, who was I hanging out with, what was I wearing?
Much as I have friends in a bunch of improv peoples, and had some good experiences performing there, its just not my scene. The over scheduling, the drunk-culture, the annihilation of social life beyond improv, the fact that I'm way out of high school and still last pick for teams, eeek. In regard to that quote about "Everyone is a genius, but tell a fish he has to climb a tree and he'll live his life thinking he's stupid," I have lots of creative skills that just aren't utilized by improv. I'm not saying burn the place down, I'm just not cut out to be an active improv cultist.
I also need a certain amount of geekiness and intellectual stimulation in my life, and the improv scene did not have enough of that to sustain me. Tho I'd very much like to abscond with individual improv friends to places where I *can* get that.
The last time I felt more content than I am now, may have been the years after larping when I was living con to con. Being geeky, putting (bad) costumes together, playing with lightsabers, hanging out with sci fi writers, etc. Making jewelry and preparing for vendorship (even tho it stressed me out too, it was more manageable than improv stress). Wicked Faire, other Mach events, ICon, DragonCon, and loooong ago Dexcon. (Never really liked NYCC, I like my cons more fan-based).
Oh, and I still miss goth clubbing. Tho I was never really a member of that scene. But goth dances overlap with lots of con events anyways.
So assuming I get healthy again, my new life-back-on-track plans involve getting back to my fen roots. And being a con-slut.
Already doing Wicked and DragonCon, probably also Steampunk World's Faire, maybe ICON. Going back to NYRSF and KGB Fantastic Fiction when I can to hang out with the geeky writers.
Oh, and as for the magic writing prompt...
After my friend went home after the New Years celebrating, I think the refined sugars in the sparkling apple/grape juice must have hit me weird b/c I suddenly has this weird sense of being ... constricted.
Following my instincts and a sudden energy surge, I turned on my wardrobe and started purging like crazy to Steampunk muzic. I purged around 15 items out of my closet, and several more from the dresser. Especially things that were never comfortable to wear even tho they technically fit. I haven't put it into under-bed storage yet, but it is all on probation. The next day I did the laundry, and with everything that survived the purge within my eyesight I started making a list of clothes to look for at Macys the following week (I got madd Xmas giftcards to spend, and I tend to do better shopping in winter for sales and colors). Also kept in mind my renewed interest in Neo Victorian looks, b/c my office clothes are f'ing boring nowadays.
Sunday dawned, and I started all of the household projects I was too sick to do earlier in the week. With a mix of goth radio and teh steampunks. Most people probably relax on NYD, but I'd been 'relaxing' for days and needed to do something constructive. Garbage and laundry, recycling, swiffering, cleaning of the bathroom (tho by trying to unclog the sink I made it worse :-P), throwing away the live-active-cultures bath curtain, washing all of the bathroom linens, and replacing the broken toilet seat. I also threw out an old garbage can from the kitchen that I wasn't using anymore. Tried to clean the tape-gunk off the windows (leftovers from Hurricane Irene) but that didn't work. Used some cedar and frankincense for smudging afterwards.
I wore a dust mask while cleaning, still terrified that my sinuses would rebel again, and in the end I was OK. Tho I did run out of steam before I could put the probation-clothes in under bed storage, where lives an enormous dust colony.
The strangest thing happened as I was cleaning, I suddenly had the energy to do it. Like someone flipped a switch and I was *on* again. I felt pretty antsy when I was finished, so I went over to
arcane_the_sage's house for dinner and movie and hanging out. Finally saw Up, it was adorable.
Things just got weirder after that. Went to therapy at 2pm Monday, and afterward went to Macy's with my list and giftcards. On the subway I noticed that my body did not feel like a gigantic lead weight that needed to be dragged around, for the first time in ages. And I was in a good mood. After therapy. WTH?
Figured that Herald Square Macy's would end my yay-spree, but I decided to head directly to the plus size department on the 7th floor and work my way downstairs. I never needed to head downstairs. Wandered in and immediately found pants that fit me, including plushie black jeans that *didn't* ride all the way up to my chest. They were the most expensive and only full-price item I picked up, but I haven't found black jeans that felt comfortable ... evar? Not to mention that I didn't have to scrape through a rack and a half to find a size 18. Picked up another plush pair of jeans, some interesting shirts, a cami, some cardigan-ish things, and some button up office shirts that also fit. In colors I actually like. Everything but the black jeans was discounted. What strange alternative dimension did I fall into?
Once home I was tired, but not miserable. Yay! I think I made some jewelry that night after tidying up the workbench. And then when I tried to go to bed, my writing muse showed up for the first time since July and started to poke at me!
Tuesday I managed to get the groceries and weekly cooking taken care of, but I also wrote a first-draft episode of my podcast sitcom. The one that's been rolling around in the back of my mind for years. And then my muse kinda got tired and wandered away again before I could start another ep. Wow. Things like that just don't happen to me anymore. However, it didn't take long to type it out from the book full of disjointed episode notes I keep, so that will make it less intimidating in the future. Ironically I missed NYRSF to write an urban fantasy sitcom. *shrugs*
Unfortunately, my eating habits were a bit weird on Tuesday, and I may have had a bad apple on top of that, so Tuesday night I did not sleep due to stomach horribleness. When I finally got up, feeling dried out from the heating vents getting set to 11, I also found that my nose was bleeding. Had to call in sick for work the next day. Drank water, boiled some water on the stove, and passed out again for a few hours but could not keep sleeping.
Spent Wednesday feeling too sick to write, although I did match up some beads to make into jewelry later. (Did I mention its going to be a very Neo-Victorian Wicked Halloween? Whups.) I guess it could also be viral, but its just more of the same-old stomach problems I've been having for six months, and I think they're getting worse :-P
In brief, once I somehow got juiced on the new year I went into mega productive mode without wanting to curl up into a ball and die afterwards. Cleared a ton of clothes out of the closet. Cleaned most of the apartment. Smudged with cedar and frankincense. Went shopping to get clothes that actually fit me. Made moar jewelry. Wrote the first draft of a podcast sitcom episode. Got sick again (:P) but what can ya do. All of these were things I was putting off, in some cases for months at a time. Too bad I couldn't keep putting off the stomach aches.
I was well enough to come to work today, at least, tho I don't think I can do Tai Chi tonite. I still have the energy but the tummy is all owwwwch. I can go home and do jewelry or writing instead, or just relax my tummy and watch a fancy movie on teh Netflix.
Today I also found out that most of my vitamins & supplements contain wheat and/or soy, so much for elimination diets. And the probiotics I was taking contain milk. YOU FAIL GNC. Tho I had the energy surge despite not taking the vitamins since the Friday before Xmas, so maybe I'll leave off them for a little while and see what happens.
<3 Chrysilla
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, http://chrysilla.dreamwidth.org/