State of the Texty: Slightly sunburnt edition
So, aside from all my navel-gazing blather over the past several weeks, and my short-form updates on FB and Twitter, what's been going on for moi...
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Had a lovely, if slightly hot and long, drive around the base of Mt. Rainier yesterday. (Evidence here.) We've never done that drive before--hell, I've never been anywhere near those environs--so it was quite the adventure. Lots of narrow, twisty roads, but definitely gorgeous scenery. It's actually exciting to me how much of it is just pure, unspoiled wilderness: Extremely dense forests, giant, rocky hills, and of course the volcano itself. I feel so amazingly lucky to live in a place where I can drive for a couple of hours and see such majesty in person.
--
It was nice to have a road trip, too. We've been such homebodies this past year (aside from that brief Vancouver trip) because of lack of funds/time, that it was nice to just get in the car and drive--even if it was for eight hours in a giant circle. I used to do major roadtrips all the time, and haven't done nearly enough lately. I guess because I have such limited physical mobility, being able to get behind the wheel and just go anywhere is really important to me.
--
There are other forms of mobility I miss, too, however. I love that we live closer to the airport, now (and that we have a small airport just down the hill--tons of Cessnas and such flying overhead all the time) but it's been a little heartbreaking that I haven't been able to just jump on a plane. So I'm very much looking forward to doing so when we head to ATL in just a bit more than two weeks to go to Dragon*Con. We sprung for a 1st class upgrade this time, so the 5-6 hour flight should be a lot more tolerable than it might otherwise be. But then there's the southern heat/humidity to face, too. Hope it's not too bad. Sadly, it looks like Mah Yorkshire Lad and his Primeval folks aren't going to be at the con like I'd hoped, but there will be plenty of other folks there I want to see, so it'll definitely be worth it.
--
The lack of said Yorkshire Lad at this con is making me want to go do that UK trip. Though his lady did pull out of the one in Feb., so that's slightly less of a draw, I'm guessing at least one of them will do some sort of con thing in the runup to s4 (in January)--only it won't be stateside. Still considering the trip even if there aren't Primeval folks (because I wanna go, and because I wanna see some lovely fellow fans), but it's all still dependent on time and money, of course.
--
Other fandom stuff has still been entertaining, too. I love how close-knit the Primeval fan community is, and even Andrew-specific fandom is largely nice. I've had some Issues here and there with some stupid teenies on the fan FB page he started up (which I think was rather naive of him, the poor boy...) but by and large, this is a far more pleasant experience than my last one. I'm really getting a kick out of all the fanworks I've been creating, too. I've discovered I have a bit of a talent for vidmaking, and I'm enjoying the fic writing as well.
--
Also enjoying plenty of other pop culturey stuff this summer: Eureka, Warehouse 13, True Blood, Leverage. Have been catching up on Supernatural, too (currently just started season 4.) Also have been amusing myself following the Twitter accounts of many of the actors and creative folks behind these things, and having some fun interacting with a few of them from time to time (I feel particularly proud of myself for freaking out Neil Grayston. In a good way, mind.)
--
Have been enjoying some non-fandom social time here and there, including some lovely bits of watching the Z man (will be watching the adorable little muffin again tomorrow evening so his daddies can have a nice anniversary.) Also spent a couple of days hanging out with K (and her youngest) recently, too. Some illuminating convos there. The other bit of news for her is that her oldest miscarried at six weeks. So no 40-year-old grandmother thing for her. Sad as it is, I'm actually a little relieved, too, and hoping that this may shift some priorities.
--
Still enjoying staring at birdies. Got a nice look at a Stellar's Jay while having lunch outside today. Wanted to see some other birds on our trek yesterday, but we didn't stop long enough to do so, and it was too hot for them to be out anyway. Looking forward to maybe spending a little time traipsing around a park or something in ATL to see critters I wouldn't see here.
--
Speaking of Outside, I'm really loving our back yard. It's been an unexpected pleasure and benefit of the new house--one that we didn't have a chance to really enjoy before since we moved in just as it was getting cold. I'm growing stuff in a small kitchen garden in one space--have been harvesting strawberries and blueberries, and have a bunch of tomatoes and herbs growing quite well. Have had some problems with something chewing on some plants--Japanese beetles, I think--but otherwise it's been good. The lawn has some weed issues, but we're working on that, too. The thing I love the most about it, though, is that it's so incredibly private. The way it's laid out, there's only one neighbor that can see anything at all, and that's only one small section of it--the majority is very sheltered. You can see a tiny bit of it from the park across the street, but you'd have to have binoculars to see any detail. So I can just sit outside in next to nothing and soak up the sun anytime I like. Bliss. Also spent a lovely couple of evening hours there a few days ago watching the Perseids. Only got slightly bitten by mosquitos, and the view was worth it.
--
The one frustrating bit is that we're still having kitty issues. We've been trying to find a food that they'll all eat that Fammy won't barf up, and not having much luck. I think I may need to take her back into the vet to see if there's something else we can do for her. She's getting enough down that she's not losing weight or anything, so she's not in danger, but it's still annoying.
--
Not much time left on my sabbatical, now. After the ATL trip, I'll be contacting my agency again (who already tried to get me a gig recently) and will prolly start doing interviews mid-September. I may also look for something more permanent and maybe a little less... button-monkeyish. I don't mind doing the short contracts--it's nice to have some flexibility with that, and the pay is good--but I really, really want a career-type job soon. I need to have something that uses my brain instead of just doing little more than formatting content. We'll see, I guess. Finding something like that is going to be hard, I suspect.
--
This does mean I only have a few more weeks to work on my novel, though. I'd hoped to have done more on it, but I just haven't been motivated (long story as to why.) The Rainier trek was part of getting back on track with that, however, and I think I may have a bit of a fire building to get going again. Likely won't get a ton done, but I can at least make some progress, I hope. I'm actually glad for all the fandom writing I've done lately, though. It's helping me kill some bad habits, which will make the eventual end product for my Real Writing that much better.
--
See? My life's not all Sturm und Drang. Really. ;)
--
Had a lovely, if slightly hot and long, drive around the base of Mt. Rainier yesterday. (Evidence here.) We've never done that drive before--hell, I've never been anywhere near those environs--so it was quite the adventure. Lots of narrow, twisty roads, but definitely gorgeous scenery. It's actually exciting to me how much of it is just pure, unspoiled wilderness: Extremely dense forests, giant, rocky hills, and of course the volcano itself. I feel so amazingly lucky to live in a place where I can drive for a couple of hours and see such majesty in person.
--
It was nice to have a road trip, too. We've been such homebodies this past year (aside from that brief Vancouver trip) because of lack of funds/time, that it was nice to just get in the car and drive--even if it was for eight hours in a giant circle. I used to do major roadtrips all the time, and haven't done nearly enough lately. I guess because I have such limited physical mobility, being able to get behind the wheel and just go anywhere is really important to me.
--
There are other forms of mobility I miss, too, however. I love that we live closer to the airport, now (and that we have a small airport just down the hill--tons of Cessnas and such flying overhead all the time) but it's been a little heartbreaking that I haven't been able to just jump on a plane. So I'm very much looking forward to doing so when we head to ATL in just a bit more than two weeks to go to Dragon*Con. We sprung for a 1st class upgrade this time, so the 5-6 hour flight should be a lot more tolerable than it might otherwise be. But then there's the southern heat/humidity to face, too. Hope it's not too bad. Sadly, it looks like Mah Yorkshire Lad and his Primeval folks aren't going to be at the con like I'd hoped, but there will be plenty of other folks there I want to see, so it'll definitely be worth it.
--
The lack of said Yorkshire Lad at this con is making me want to go do that UK trip. Though his lady did pull out of the one in Feb., so that's slightly less of a draw, I'm guessing at least one of them will do some sort of con thing in the runup to s4 (in January)--only it won't be stateside. Still considering the trip even if there aren't Primeval folks (because I wanna go, and because I wanna see some lovely fellow fans), but it's all still dependent on time and money, of course.
--
Other fandom stuff has still been entertaining, too. I love how close-knit the Primeval fan community is, and even Andrew-specific fandom is largely nice. I've had some Issues here and there with some stupid teenies on the fan FB page he started up (which I think was rather naive of him, the poor boy...) but by and large, this is a far more pleasant experience than my last one. I'm really getting a kick out of all the fanworks I've been creating, too. I've discovered I have a bit of a talent for vidmaking, and I'm enjoying the fic writing as well.
--
Also enjoying plenty of other pop culturey stuff this summer: Eureka, Warehouse 13, True Blood, Leverage. Have been catching up on Supernatural, too (currently just started season 4.) Also have been amusing myself following the Twitter accounts of many of the actors and creative folks behind these things, and having some fun interacting with a few of them from time to time (I feel particularly proud of myself for freaking out Neil Grayston. In a good way, mind.)
--
Have been enjoying some non-fandom social time here and there, including some lovely bits of watching the Z man (will be watching the adorable little muffin again tomorrow evening so his daddies can have a nice anniversary.) Also spent a couple of days hanging out with K (and her youngest) recently, too. Some illuminating convos there. The other bit of news for her is that her oldest miscarried at six weeks. So no 40-year-old grandmother thing for her. Sad as it is, I'm actually a little relieved, too, and hoping that this may shift some priorities.
--
Still enjoying staring at birdies. Got a nice look at a Stellar's Jay while having lunch outside today. Wanted to see some other birds on our trek yesterday, but we didn't stop long enough to do so, and it was too hot for them to be out anyway. Looking forward to maybe spending a little time traipsing around a park or something in ATL to see critters I wouldn't see here.
--
Speaking of Outside, I'm really loving our back yard. It's been an unexpected pleasure and benefit of the new house--one that we didn't have a chance to really enjoy before since we moved in just as it was getting cold. I'm growing stuff in a small kitchen garden in one space--have been harvesting strawberries and blueberries, and have a bunch of tomatoes and herbs growing quite well. Have had some problems with something chewing on some plants--Japanese beetles, I think--but otherwise it's been good. The lawn has some weed issues, but we're working on that, too. The thing I love the most about it, though, is that it's so incredibly private. The way it's laid out, there's only one neighbor that can see anything at all, and that's only one small section of it--the majority is very sheltered. You can see a tiny bit of it from the park across the street, but you'd have to have binoculars to see any detail. So I can just sit outside in next to nothing and soak up the sun anytime I like. Bliss. Also spent a lovely couple of evening hours there a few days ago watching the Perseids. Only got slightly bitten by mosquitos, and the view was worth it.
--
The one frustrating bit is that we're still having kitty issues. We've been trying to find a food that they'll all eat that Fammy won't barf up, and not having much luck. I think I may need to take her back into the vet to see if there's something else we can do for her. She's getting enough down that she's not losing weight or anything, so she's not in danger, but it's still annoying.
--
Not much time left on my sabbatical, now. After the ATL trip, I'll be contacting my agency again (who already tried to get me a gig recently) and will prolly start doing interviews mid-September. I may also look for something more permanent and maybe a little less... button-monkeyish. I don't mind doing the short contracts--it's nice to have some flexibility with that, and the pay is good--but I really, really want a career-type job soon. I need to have something that uses my brain instead of just doing little more than formatting content. We'll see, I guess. Finding something like that is going to be hard, I suspect.
--
This does mean I only have a few more weeks to work on my novel, though. I'd hoped to have done more on it, but I just haven't been motivated (long story as to why.) The Rainier trek was part of getting back on track with that, however, and I think I may have a bit of a fire building to get going again. Likely won't get a ton done, but I can at least make some progress, I hope. I'm actually glad for all the fandom writing I've done lately, though. It's helping me kill some bad habits, which will make the eventual end product for my Real Writing that much better.
--
See? My life's not all Sturm und Drang. Really. ;)