the myriad of things that haze my days

[silveraspen]

I scrolled back through the last several entries here, and it's beyond crystal clear that I haven't been talking at all about some of the things that are going on around these parts. Having realized that there's never going to be a time where I can prepare a nice in-depth post and that again, as always, "the perfect is the enemy of the good," here are some bullet points about recent events.

The Good

• Sister's first movie! As of April 22, the first indie film that my sister's company produced is available on DVD, on-demand, and through rental at Redbox. Obviously, everyone should see it! It won something like 17 awards at film festivals, so it's not just me who thinks it's good. Although it's technically unrated (cost issues in getting a rating for indie films), I'd call it around an R for content and violence. On that note, trigger warning for child abuse.


• Starfest Denver. This was fairly low-key, but fun all the same. I went with
  vivien to hear Nichelle Nichols speak, primarily; we missed a couple of others that we were somewhat interested in, but had a good time wandering around. I ended up with an Ohtori Academy Alumni bumper sticker and a CA2 t-shirt in the color of and with the symbol from Commander Rogers' uniform, which I've had fun wearing while jogging around City Park. :)


• Travel, Past. I was in D.C. for a conference at the end of April, (which I didn't make widely known for reasons of a packed schedule - next time, Gadget!) and it went very well. In what free time I did have, I was able to explore Roosevelt Island with
  phoenixchilde, which was amusing for many reasons, although not nearly as amusing as heading down to the reflecting pool and hearing a high school band playing the theme from Captain America: The First Avenger from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.


• Travel, Future. In one week, I will board a plane for Belfast, Northern Ireland. It's the first time I've been out of the country in over 10 years, and I'll be going with good friends to visit somewhere I've never been, and work will not be able to reach me. This is going to be a great vacation.

The Less-Good

• Work stress. Without getting into the details in a public forum, one of my projects has involved some strain recently. No harm, no foul; the issues are handled, and it's all going to be resolved in the very near future, but it's also been a little annoying and draining. In the meantime, I'm trying to finish my first grant proposal in the role of PI, and with less than a month to go before submission, that ratchets up the stress levels a bit.


• Shoulder injury. Yeah. So I have no real idea how I did this, not for sure. It may be a function of normal aging; it may be due to strain from holding some degree of weight in a semi-awkward position for long periods of time; it may be something else that's the cause, I don't know. What I do know is that it's been a problem for over a year now. I got used to the low-grade constant discomfort, the 30% reduced range of motion, and the pain when I tried to sleep on my left side, but when I started to experience nerve impingement I finally went to the doctor. The verdict is exactly what I thought it was: I have a rotator cuff injury to my left shoulder. (We think it's tendinitis, not tearing, so that's good, and at least I still have my left arm, right?) Anyway, therapeutic exercise routine ahead!


• House repair. Last summer there were some very, very bad storms here in Colorado. It looks like the effects were enough to put some fairly large finishing touches on both the siding on the back of my house, which is now both peeling away and leaking water down the inside wall (the non-brick parts, for those of you who've seen it) and on the roof of the garage, where it now rains inside. These are not repairs which are advisable to delay, so I got contractors involved and went through the bidding and evaluation process. The result is unpleasantly high, like $12-14k high. While I don't happen to have that kind of savings nor a convenient winning lottery ticket, I do have enough equity in the home to finance the repairs accordingly, so that's what I'm doing. I've also picked up a couple of consulting jobs over the summer to augment my regular income and bring down the balance (yes, I know, that means I am going to be working even more than I already do). I am fortunate to have all these options, I know, and I am grateful for it-- but wow, let me tell you, it's kind of a stressor to be managing.

I think that's about it, or at least it's enough for now. Hi, everyone. I missed you.

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