I think the equinox is just before midnight, unless I’ve forgotten how time zones work, which is entirely possible.
Ate too much Chinese food, because what else are local Chinese restaurants for?
Watched: One Piece 5-7: Every pirate crew needs a cook with a backstory! Also we finally get Nami’s backstory, and it is full of doom and betrayal. Next episode: season finale battle!
Written: FAIL.
That was somebody’s fact in the fact-or-share portion of the meeting. Mine was that chickens, pheasants, and other birds in that family can eat deadly nightshade without harm, thus spreading its seeds. I got adopted by Boss B, because I was able to look up Helicoprion, but that did not save me from being on shift until 19:00.
Watched: One Piece 3-4: The ones with Kaya, Usopp, and Kuro. And Sham, who can be my minion anytime. Also Zoro’s backstory, so maybe next episode we’ll find out about Nami.
Read: MonsTABOO vol 4 (Yuya Takahashi, TALI): Instead of going on for one million volumes while never getting closer to a resolution, it ended! Many people died, who may or may not have deserved it, some people did not die, some people did both.
Written: FAIL.
SWIDT?
Fortunately work was light today, but I have to be available in case the Special Customer calls between 19 tonight and 13 tomorrow, and same tomorrow night. The expected number of calls is zero, though.
Watched: One Piece 1.1-2: Marith liked the first episode, so we continued on to the Evil Clown episode. The clown was definitely evil! Also more of Luffy’s backstory. Shanks was pretty great, it’s no surprise Luffy thinks of pirates as heroic. Not sure about this anti-Straw-Hat task force, though.
Written: 242, although I ended up deleting most of it after. It wasn’t going in the right direction.
But September means Big Bad Con is almost here!
Finally finished Good Omens 2, I was not impressed. It fulfilled Marith’s fanfic need to see more of the main characters doing stuff, but I didn’t like some of the stuff they did, or much of what the secondary characters did. Also, it was clear setup for subsequent seasons, which just seems foolhardy in this world of streaming services.
Written: 186.
For the first time in quite a while, I went over to Monkeycat Towers to play Minecraft. We didn’t do much, but it was fun anyway. Then we ate Frogmore Stew, which I guess is a regional variant of shrimp boil specific to one small island off the coast of South Carolina? It’s not actually stew, since the traditional method of serving is to pour it out onto a newspaper-covered picnic table and let the juice soak into the beach, leaving only Old-Bay-seasoned shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn to eat with fingers. It was definitely better than sitting at home in front of my computer all day.
Written: FAIL.
Today’s meeting fact: Hippos can’t swim. That’s not buoyant fat, it’s all muscle and bone to WRECK YOUR SHIT. Bonus fact, hippos are an invasive species in South America.
Watched: Good Omens 2.4-5: I’m pretty meh about the flashbacks, and in general just not liking this as much as the first season. Apparently Pratchett did add something. But maybe the last episode will bring it all together and I will understand the genius.
Read: Dandadan vol 3 (Yukinobu Tatsu): The annoying aliens are back, with reinforcements, not that it’s going to do them any good against the naked yokai powers of Earth.
Read: Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie vol 2 (Keigo Maki): Further slices in the life of a very femme-presenting but tough and cool high-school girl and her less butch and also cursed boyfriend.
Written: 325. That’s more like it, brain.
Everybody loves the void!
Traffic was horrible, probably because parents all drive their children to school in individual vehicles, so I didn’t make the transfer to the train, but the long bus got me there like twenty minutes later, which isn’t too bad. Customers were still somewhat numerous, but not like yesterday. I did a command line thing, it was okay.
I could not find the things I was looking for in my useless room of useless piles of useless comics.
Watched: Good Omens 2.3: Oh good, more ominousness!
Read: A Restless Truth (Freya Marske): It’s the same magical intrigue from A Marvellous Light, but the quest has extended to America, which can only be reached by water, so it’s time for the ocean liner murder mystery! With enthusiastic sapphic interludes.
Written: FAIL.
Mine was several days ago, but close enough!
After telling everybody in the office “Go home for the rest of the week. No reason.” the company told everybody “Get back in the office this week. No reason.” That does not make me confident that they have identified and mitigated any safety issues.
Watched: Good Omens 2.2: I am in awe of the beard. Also, angels r dum.
Written: 220/1212/14965.
Watched: Good Omens 2.1: Well, that can’t be good. Hopefully the cute lesbian B-plot will somehow solve everything, because Heaven and Hell are still not particularly competent.
Written: 259.
“Cut down, not across.” (Like anyone remembers alt.sysadmin.recovery these days.)
Usually I don’t get much grief from vaccine side-effects, but the old-person vaccines I had to get yesterday are more obnoxious than most. Still better than either shingles or pneumonia, I’m pretty sure.
Even had I been minded to, I couldn’t have reasonably taken the day off sick since two people were out and one called in sick, but whatever. Fatigue and headache build character, right?
The high point of the day was definitely going with Marith to see Barbie. That was really quite something, even if I’m just Ken. (Actually, people said I have Allan energy, so :shrug emoji:.) Apparently some of the thing it was is Innana’s journey to the Underworld, so that’s awesome.
Written: FAIL.
I have nothing against Australian lemon-choco cakes, but probably wouldn’t have picked this for my header if Coworker T hadn’t used it for his fact in the meeting today. (My fact was about turtle butts.)
Watched: Murder Drones 4-5: Still pretty ???, but then YouTube rolled over to somebody explaining his theory of what happened, and it seemed pretty plausible. No idea whether it’s correct.
Written: 181 today, 994 for the week, 10541 overall.
I think it’s too hot for sharks.
Watched: Murder Drones 1-3: The first episode makes perfect sense, but then ?!?!?
Written: 118/1168/9177.
If I looked up what day it is ahead of time, instead of much too late, I could have eaten way more chocolate today. Instead, I went back to work to cover the late shift and then Marith came over for watching.
Watched: Nimona. It was swell! Recommended for all creatures including children.
Written: FAIL. Why am I so dumb?
We went to the park to see Jus’s Shakespeare camp production of Twelfth Night, Abridged Cowboy Version. Obviously she was brilliant, but also it was 897582 degrees outside so we all died and I didn’t come back to life until Marith came over for pizza and anime.
Watched: Mob Psycho 100 3.9-12: This time, Mob must face… his own heart! The end (of season 3).
Read: Micchi vs The New World vol 4 (Jammin’ Rabbit aka Tony Huo): We finally find out why the long-lost senpai of the main character has been doing all these terrible things, and everything is resolved. Also a lot of people get severely clobbered because seriously, don’t fuck with Micchi. The end.
Written: Only 176, but that’s more than my daily goal, and brings me to 1420 for the week, 6836 overall. More than 2/3 of the way to my 10-week goal!
Went to Shakespeare in the Park with Ayse & fam and Marith who is back from France. It was Twelfth Night, telenovela edition with dramatic music stings, so that was pretty fun.
Written: FAIL, the play went later than I expected.
No gaming, I blame capitalism. Instead, Marith came over and we watched more Mob Psycho 100. Also I played too much Minecraft, and got ganked by a wet zmobie when I stopped to mine clay on my way to the village where I might be able to turn my string into emeralds. I managed to refloor my hall of making, though, even the edges under the furniture.
Watched: Mob Psycho 100 3.6-8: End of the giant broccoli (and Dimple?), then aliens. That was actually super-nice of the Telepathy Club.
Read: My Cute Little Kitten vol 1 (Milk Morinaga): Roommates adopt an orphan kitten in a no-pets apartment, then one confesses to the other, but the kitten has excellent (terrible) timing for cat stuff. Life ensues, in slices.
Written: 167 today, 573 for the week, 573 overall.
No gaming, because even though we aren’t going to Roseville, we cancelled too late to reclaim the time slot. Instead I got up before noon to go grocery shopping, and then went over to play Minecraft with everyone. I’m working on a 9-Channel Lavamatic, because every town needs one, but the most accessible lava is way off thataway, so I spent most of the afternoon being very bad at Cartesian orienteering and too stubborn to just build a landmark. If I ever make it back to town, I think I have enough lava to finish filling the reservoir, but I still need enough iron to build nine cauldrons, some more stalactites, and more polished diorite and water to build the safety moat.
Since Ken, who does most of the cooking, is still at Kublacon, we had Thai food and pizza and repletion and happiness.
In my own world, I replaced some poorly-organized chests with slightly better-organized barrels. They stack better, and also don’t autocombine.
Read: Valkyrie (Craig Alanson): And then everybody died! Not really, we’re only like halfway through the series, but that was quite a twist.
Written: Only 93 words, boo. Maybe it’s okay if I write 107 tomorrow.
There’s no going to Roseville because there is only sickness, but It’s not like I gave up having today off. Mostly I slept stupidly, though.In the evening, Marith came over for anime and pizza, but the pizza was bad. The anime was good, though.
Watched: Mob Psycho 100 3.3-5: You know it’s bad when calling yourselves the Giant Broccoli Cult would be a step up.
Read: Bones of the Past (Drew Hayes): Further supervillainous adventures of Hephaestus and friends. Includes superheroes being butts, supervillains being terrifying, and an extremely ambitious plot for vengeance. Also, the secret origin of Fornax!
Written: 154 words
I got up and almost went grocery shopping, but then went back to bed instead. Social Minecraft is today because Nonny and everybody are busy tomorrow, so I can shop then.
This week, I explored the desert some more. It turns out to have two rivers, which may explain why I couldn’t find the riverside cave I found earlier. It also has at least two wells, which are pretty but mostly useless since thirst is not a thing, a bunch of cactus, and some suspiciously rectangular skylines that are not desert temples. I bought some custom banners from Nonny’s banner shop,which now has a colored sheep breeding program as part of its supply chain. After we finished, I went to my own world and finally found two cows to lead back to my paddock. Once my wheat crop comes in, I can make them smooch adorably and spawn new cows, and finally I will have a steady supply of leather for books.
I was on call all afternoon, but the customers were quiescent.
Read: Renegades (Craig Alanson): Immediately upon returning from their last expedition, the PCs have to steal their ship back from duly-constituted authority and set out to save Earth by doing the impossible. Again.
Written: 152. If only two points were enough to draw a line…
Of course, not going into the office at all is the best, even when there’s a meeting first thing.
Watched: RWBY 9.2-4: Yep, very Wonderland. The cat is kind of alarming.
I stayed up past midnight playing Minecraft, which caused my eyes to turn into little spirals. I got two side halls in my grand orange terracotta hall dug, and most of a third (except for the random lump of gold ore that I can’t mine because I have no iron), explored some caves of dripstone and death, respawned on the steep slope of plummeting and zmobies several times, maybe saw some iron ore before getting exploded by a creeper, and finally hunted a third sheep so I could make a bed to respawn at home. When I put it that way, it was a lot of Minecraft!
Written: No writing, only video games.
It is also the birthday of my slack friend who loves manuls the most, so clearly she wins at life.
I can’t get up in the morning to write, but I can get up to slog all the way up to Mountain View for the blood draws I’ve been putting off. You’d think that would be much more work, but it’s a simple task with no cognitive requirements and a real scheduling requirement. (Later it turned out the busses were all messed up and I did have to think about what to do, and also walk, but it started out easy.) By the time I got back to San Jose, it was apparently church time, because I was able to get seated for brunch immediately. I almost certainly should not have eaten any of that, but it was really good.
Then I got home and it was all Minecraft all the time. Nonny is sick, so it was remote Minecraft, but I found a secret ravine behind a mountain that had piles of coal, and then a cave with more coal. I also got lost a lot, and missed out on seeing the amethyst geode, but that’s okay. There will be be more Minecraft parties. When everybody else was done, I made worlds based on the RNG seeds of Marith’s world with red sand and a mesa and a huge dripstone cave, and Ayse’s world with giant holes everywhere. I haven’t done much hole exploring, but I have a jungle house and a great hatred of bamboo.
Read: Chosen of Chaos (Benjamin Medrano): It’s like a cross between Dark Matter (dragons and wizards in space) and Tenchi Muyo (some individuals are as powerful as entire fleets of ships). There are almost no male characters, but the MC is so OP (in combat, in finance, in bed…) that she never faces any challenge whatsoever.
Written: 238 words, which is not much for a week. Maybe two weeks.
Yay, no commuting! Lots of customers, but whatever. I did at least as much work as I would have in the office, so bite me, capitalists.
Also I can have cleaners in when I’m not at the office, so my apartment is slightly less squalid.
Watched: My Hero Academia 6.24-25: Uraraka finally got to do something, even if it was only make a speech, and now the team is back together. Apparently the next season will consist of a single scene that takes 25 episodes.
Watched: RWBY 9.1: Well, that’s better than what it looked like was going to happen at the end of season 8. Maybe. Also, brightly colored!
Read: Zero Hour (Craig Alanson): Even more shenanigans, but Skippy’s quest has advanced by one milestone. Also everybody is even more doomed than they were before they tried to fix things.
Read: Trouble on Paradise (Craig Alanson): Side characters from book three get into extra trouble, but the explosions don’t damage human-alien relations. Much.
Written: FAIL.
No office today, so I was able to handle my part of the zillion customer cases that came in without unnecessary discomfort and humanity. Spent a while setting up an important tool because the automatic copy from the old laptop didn’t happen, but I think overall it was better to set up the current version fresh.
Watched: My Hero Academia 6.21-23: Well, that villain didn’t last very long. Deku is becoming totally OP by the expected method of abandoning all self-care, but All Might is still not to be fucked with. Two episodes left in the season!
Read: “Salt Water” (Eugenia Triantafyllou): Kind of like “Ponies” but mermaids and fish and not darkest horror.
Read “Fitting In” (Max Gladstone): “Wild Cards” universe, a former reality-TV superhero and other Jokers protect a local institution from goons.
Written: FAIL.
Went over well before dinner to play Minecraft with Ayse and Nonny. I explored a swamp and a large mountain and only died a few times, so that was fun. Then Earl appeared (Cat was not feeling up to humans) so we talked about books and ate ham and various delicious sides and there was great happiness. Not sure Ken’s heretical explanation of Easter and Ayse’s Catholic explanation left Jus any the wiser, either alone or combined.
When I got home, we played even more Minecraft, because we can do that from different places, and used a copy of my world. I’ve barely started exploring the caves of the next island over, and Ayse and Nonny built a boat right away to sail hundreds of blocks away and rampage Acacia Island!
Read: Spy x Family vol 9 (Tatsuya Endo): End of the cruise ship arc where Yor murders everyone, but the focus is more on Anya and then there’s some small stories with various characters, including Bond. It’s hard being a doggo when humans are so weird.
Written: FAIL.
grocery shopping, burger lounge chicken tenders, egg dying, dumplings, barbecue pizza
Stayed in bed all morning reading, but finally had to get up and go grocery shopping. Since I never managed to get lunch, I ended up eating at the burger place next to the grocery store, which had chicken tenders that were battered(?) instead of breaded, so that was tasty. Then I went over to dye eggs with Jus and Nonny and fam, and ended up staying for Chinese dumplings. (Also I traded Ayse a dumpling that she was already going to have in her fridge as leftovers for a slice of barbecue pizza.) It was a pretty good afternoon.
Read: Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m A Giant Monster (Richard Roberts): Eighth in the series, third of the spinoffs about secondary characters from the first arc. This time it’s the catgirl made of glass, who has to mostly use her healing powers to fix the microfractures she gets from walking around, sitting on insufficiently-padded chairs, etc. It is thus a book about disability and chronic pain as well as having a supervillain for a brother and finding mysterious ancient artifacts and so forth. I like it at least as much …Queen of the Dead.
Written: FAIL.
At least I didn’t have to commute today, but where did my month go? Where did my quarter go? What is wrong with my life? Why do I only have one sister to come watch anime with me?
Watched: My Hero Academia 6.18-20: One of the downsides of making heroes an idealized class, or alternately, of entrusting society to “them” instead of “us”.
Read: You Sexy Thing (Cat Rambo): Soldiers who retired to run a restaurant get pulled into interstellar intrigue and piracy, with a living ship. For no apparent reason, there’s magic as well as high tech. Not like there needs to be a reason, I guess.
Written: FAIL.
Today I went to visit Ayse and Ken and everybody to play Minecraft socially. That’s definitely better. Also we had delicious Thai food and Ken made me a sugar-free chocolate cream pie, because it was nominally my birthday celebration. I could not blow out the candles with a single clap, though. I guess I need to practice up for next year!
Written: FAIL.
Yay, I get to work from home again! But there’s still a multi-hour customer meeting every day and it looks like we’re going to continue next week.
Fortunately the meeting is in the morning, so I was able to skip out early to go see Jus perform in Once Upon A Mattress (clean middle-school version). There was singing! There was dancing! There was heteronormativity, but otherwise it was great all around! We will be able to say we knew famous actress Jus when she was just starting out!
Writing: FAIL.
Grocery shopping worked so well yesterday that I was able to sleep in until it was time to get ready to play Minecraft. Then I went over and played Minecraft and did not die hardly at all. Also we had a barbecue and stayed up partying and fighting off zombies all night. I still don’t dare go underground yet, but I chopped down a bunch of trees and dug up a bunch of sand and stuff. Then we logged out and ate Thai food.
Read: The Ascension Game vol 1 (Ace Arriande): LitRPG apparently based on some game that’s like Minecraft with more boss fights, but I’m pretty sure the ridiculous smut parts were added later. They do not help.
Written: FAIL.
Was I smart today? Only vaguely, I think. Mostly I read Nebula nominees, and probably didn’t appreciate them enough.
Watched: My Hero Academia 6.16-17: Backstory for Hawks, additional backstory for the Todorokis. I understand that regulating parenthood would be nothing but wall-to-wall abuse, but some people really should not be allowed to reproduce.
Read: Wild Massive (Scotto Moore): Artificial multiverse, colonization/assimilation, genocide, theme parks, revenge, sufficiently-advanced sorcery, unethical experimentation, higher powers, sufficiently-advanced technology, mayhem, shenanigans, narrative warfare, and no romance. It was a pretty wild ride.
Read: “If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You” (John Chu): An actor meets basically-Superman in his secret ID at the gym. Slice of life.
Read: “Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold” (SB Divya): I figured out which fairytale this was as soon as we saw the MC’s full name, but I don’t think it was supposed to be a puzzle, just less Eurocentric.
Read: “The Prince of Salt and the Ocean’s Bargain” (Natalia Theodoridou): Original fairytale with a modern sensibility.
Read: “Rabbit Test” (Samantha Mills): I really hope Christian fuckfaces aren’t still going to be denying women reproductive freedom in a hundred years…
Read: “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” (CL Clark): Kind of Beauty and the Beast, but sapphic and there’s a lighthouse and it’s different.
Read: “The Calcified Heart of Saint Ignace Battiste” (Christopher Caldwell): Young priest spies on a spooky ritual in Spookytown and learns that the orthodoxy is a lie.
Read: “The Goldfish Man” (Maureen McHugh): Homeless lady has a hard life for a while and then meets a strange person on the streets.
Read: “Ribbons” (Natalia Theodoridou): Another modernish fairytale, in a world where fairytale things happen. Not sure what the ribbon is a metaphor for — there’s already plenty of queerness.
Read: “This Village” (Eugenia Triantafyllou): Welcome to Wicked Witch Town.
Read: “The Coward Who Stole God’s Name” (John Wiswell): The most beloved man in the world reveals his true self to a reporter. Chaos almost doesn’t ensue. Read to me like a direct commentary on celebrity/billionaire adulation.
Written: FAIL.