all made up with nowhere to go

I keep starting entries and then not posting them because I either lose steam halfway through, or I decide what I've written isn't very interesting.

So here's a numbered list post because *shrug emoji*

1. I have a job! It is at exactly the same place I already volunteer, and it's only six hours a week, but it's a job! (It's also on Sundays, which is not the best, but ugh, I guess I'll live. This is why no more comics meets for the foreseeable, because they're also Sundays).

1a. Related news in that yesterday I had my second Job Centre appointment in a row where I didn't feel like I was going to get yelled at (for clarification, this has never happened, ever, but yay brains!)

2. I finished reading the D&D3e player's handbook and HOLY MACARONI there are A LOT of spells. I mean, I kind of knew this anyway, but seeing them all in one place at once was kind of...whew, is what it was.

3. I've been doing Draw A Random demon since the 2nd of this month, using an A5 sketchbook and mostly feeling like it isn't going well (but that's my brain being, well, my brain). But then I did one the other day, and I enjoyed it, and that's good because I do enjoy drawing, I (almost) always have. But when I have crappy brain, I tend to forget that.

4. I'm on episode 33 of campaign two of Critical Role! I am only 43 episodes behind! \o/ (I'm kind of getting a bit bored with it, though, as I've been bingeing for two? months now, and not a lot is happening at the moment).

5. I got the Art of Mass Effect book from work! By complete and utter chance! I've wanted that book for so long, and now it's mine!!

I was awake in the night last night as it was a) warm and b) I had anxious brain. I mean, I always have anxious brain, but I think it is a million times worse at the moment, as it is coming up to a year since mum went into hospital. I eventually got up and walked around the house, and had a drink, and fussed the cat. It felt very warm like it had done on that night, so it didn't make me feel any better.

Anyway, I went back to bed and read twitter for a bit, and I saw a tweet about contact juggling. Which, I didn't know what it was, but from the attached video, it's where the ball(s) remains in contact with you at all times, and you roll it around (hence the name). And now I kind of want to learn it? Between this, poi, wanting to learn staff twirling, and being bendy, I should've just joined the circus, y'all.

I mean, it also made me think about poi, as someone in the replies to the tweet mentioned fire twirling and I was all, "OH YES POI!"

I haven't spun poi on the regular for years but I have learnt in the past that it's a bit like riding a bike. You might be a bit wobbly when you go back to it, but you don't forget how to do it. And I have enough space in the house now that I can practise without having to go outside (feeling self-conscious anyway, and then teenagers who think they're funny heckling you put me off that). And it's exercise! (a quick google tells me it strengthens wrists and arms and, oddly enough, I'd been after something that does that).

So I might start doing that again. And maybe learn contact juggling and staff twirling, but also get a job first, because the equipment costs money (although not as expensive as I thought! A practise contact ball is about a tenner, and a staff twenty quid - though the one site I looked at charges a tenner on top of that for delivery, given it's a large object, but even thirty quid for a staff seems reasonable).

(Weirdly, I never got on with actual juggling. Although I've got some balls and hella free time so maybe I should see if I can learn that? *shrugs*)

~

I am determined to get to the end of Campaign 1 of Critical Role, and I am on, I think, episode 109 when I next watch? I managed to binge 15 episodes in a week, and now I know how other people managed this - copious free time and a fairly reliable internet connection.

(One of my biggest grouses back when I started watching was the amount and length of episodes, and how did people ever manage it. But also back then was when I was looking after mum, and I had to do literally everything, so if I managed an hour or two in a row, I was lucky).

I have got hella ending fatigue, though. Except for the first Vecna fight. I was practically biting my nails and not doing a lot else while watching that. But otherwise, I'm just kind of like, "GET ON WITH IT!" even though I know that's impossible because of how TTRPGs work. I suppose part of it is being narked at myself because I could've caught up years ago and just didn't.

Anyway, yeah, six episodes left, ermahgerd!

So that order of art stuff? They tried to deliver it on NYE, when I was out of the house. I did not get the delivery slot notification until halfway through the freaking slot.

Then I came home to a "sorry we missed you!" slip that said they'd come back on the 2nd, when I would be working, with no contact details for me to say don't come in the morning, I will not be here!

Which is, of course, what they did.

And the same thing happened with the notification email. I was halfway through my shift when I got it. I decided not to rush home when I'd finished, though, because if they can't be arsed to let me know beforehand when they'll be coming, I literally can't make sure I'm there. They are allegedly coming back today (on their last attempt), but nobody's turned up as yet.

Also my teeth/gums are still hurting, so I'm going to see if I can get an appointment to see my dentist early next week. I don't think anything is seriously wrong, but it's better to check than all my teeth fall out, right? I actually think I may have had a very mild sinus infection in part, so am also going to get that checked out (I didn't have 100% of the symptoms, but a lot of stuff lined up when reading about them).

In happier news, I have been making some books with coloured paper and card to use as sketchbooks! I've watched a few videos about how to do it, and had a go, and it was so easy! (and also the one type of binding I can use to repair old books! *spins*)

I am super excited about this, as I've wanted/tried to make books several times before, but never quite got the hang of it. Now I know what I'm doing, I think things will be better!

~

Memes:

I'm going to cheat with my first Post Once A Day meme, and post it today, rather than tomorrow, as I'm unlikely to be online tomorrow (because work). I'll continue taking questions until the 15th, if you're interested in asking them

And I'm going to post the video game meme (more on that in a sec) in batches of five questions, as I can't imagine my answers will get too rambly anyway.

Post Once A Day: thenicochan asked: What was the first video game you remember loving?

( my answer )

Video game meme, nabbed from althea_valara:

( all the questions )

( first five questions and answers! )

~

I'm going to make a list of all the artists I've been watching on youtube, in case anyone is interested. They are all ladies, and most of them are left-handed.

I was going to post about Buffy (I'm two thirds of the way through S2), but this post feels waaaaaay long already. next time!

Yesterday, I had A Day.

Oh well, it was Friday. I suppose it should be expected by this point.

( Read more... )

So I spent a lot of yesterday incredibly brain dead. Thankfully, I managed to sleep a lot better (and have no disasters) last night, in spite of waking at four AM for no apparent reason. (It happens anyway, sometimes. I went through a period one year of waking at five AM on the dot, after having had a nasty dream. Thankfully, it stopped, and so will this).

~

I have a question for today!

lassarina said: something you'd like to do in 2017 that you haven't done before

I don't think there is anything, apart from maybe learn to play the ukulele, but I keep saying that, and the last thing we need in this house is more musical instruments I pick up maybe once a year.

Also I'm kind of limited in what I could choose to do anyway, with having to look after mum. And I'm really a very boring and unadventurous person. This is not to say that there aren't things I haven't done that I don't want to do (oh god too many negatives). There are things! I just really haven't given them much thought, and there's nothing pressing right now.

Occasionally I toy with the idea of learning ANOTHER language, but I'm trying to stop myself doing that because I don't have mastery over any of the ones I know anyway. As I mentioned in the post about new year's resolutions, I think it might be nice to publish some of my work in a book or a zine type thing, but I don't know if that will happen. I have no confidence in myself at the best of times, and I don't know if there's an audience for my art anyway. But it's another thing I might consider. I don't really know right now.

~

I am approx halfway through season four of Lost and oh my god a lot of it is boring. ( Read more... )

Two Some things that are vaguely related:

A. In the entry about my birthday memories, I completely forgot that I watched the Halo 5 cutscenes, and Cortana made me cry, damnit.

B. If you are wondering about influences for the abominations story (probably not, amirite?) - it started off with Pacific Rim, but from the perspective I'd thought the film was going to be from*. Which is why it's called the abominations story anyway. Then something made me check out the Halo story, and we took a violent swerve down from that (in that holy moly, I don't think I've ever been so influenced by something in my life? I wrote a heck of a lot of background detail over the course of about a week after reading up on games).

B2. I also think this story is going to end up somewhere different than I originally intended it. Although it's already done that once, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised at this point in time?

C. Writing blogs are great and everything, but I now find that I more often than not get bogged down in having to plan everything out, and follow writing advice slavishly to the point that it paralyses me from writing.

D. I've planned out this whole sci-fi story now, and that's great, except that because I've world-built (which I don't normally do), I'm now bored, and that's stopping me from writing the story. Also what's stopping me is that it's going to rely on a lot of action, and I am rubbish at writing that and need to get better.

D2. I need to shut that little voice up in my head that tells me science doesn't work that way, because some of my favourite sci-fi stories are extremely unscientific and don't explain anything. And I like it that way.

D3. I might either try noodling with an AU of this universe (I have one I'm particularly struck by), or just writing some random shit set in this universe and seeing what happens. Because WHY NOT. I might not end up with the story I wanted, but at least I will have written something.

E. I really like the Deus Ex: Human Revolution soundtrack.

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*i.e. that humans were invading an alien planet and the aliens were understandably pissed off about this. Because that's how the trailers I saw made it look.