Musings of Disney, Video Games, Digital Media and Books
Hey everyone.
I’m taking today as a mental health day. I have a post mostly done, but it’s just hasn’t been a good day. I don’t want to post something that isn’t at least remotely of the quality that I believe it could be.
I hope to be back on track tomorrow. I just need the day.
Thank for understanding. Until next time.
Honestly, I’m still trying to understand this one. Over the course of twenty four hours, I had one of my worst experiences in writing fanfic in the last several years, and then less than a day later, I had one of my best.
Let me tell you about it.
Two days ago, I got a private message over on FF.Net, where I don’t post or update anymore. Since PMs also get sent to email, that’s how I knew about it. The message was a request for me to write a fic for this person, in a fandom that I don’t write in anymore, and a pairing that I never wrote for in the first place. I politely declined, saying that I don’t really write for that fandom anymore, and wished them well. Then I moved on, back over to AO3.
Well. That was my first mistake. For the next twenty minutes, I received several PMs, all of which basically said I was every name in the book for not writing this pairing. It was… well, ridiculous. Actually, that’s putting it politely. What I was called and told can’t be repeated in polite company.
My reasons for not writing this type of fic are pretty firm. I don’t like the pairing for a lot of reasons (one character was an adult, the other was a young teenager). The pairing splits up a canon pairing that is pretty much endgame. Oh, and this is in a children’s cartoon. So… Yeah, I’m not comfortable with that, in any way.
I quickly blocked the account (something that AO3 needs to impliment at some point). About fifteen minutes later, more PMs came in, from a different user. Same reterick, same talking points. I wasn’t responding, but they just kept coming.
By the time FF.Net’s Abuse Admins got everything handled, I’d recieved 32 PMs from three different accounts, all spewing the same disgusting comments. The person behind it was IP banned. I don’t exactly know what set them off, but whatever it was, it was pretty brutal.
I’m really not a fan of being treated like crap.
Of course, then you have the flip side. Yesterday around midnight, I posted my next Whumptober fic. I didn’t mean to post it that early, I just accidently hit post instead of save draft.
At 3AM my time, AO3 sends out an email to every user that has posted a story. In it has all the stories written by you, that have received a “kudo” in the previous 24 hours. It’s honestly a smart idea, since I’m now getting approxmately 70 kudos a day thanks to Whumptober.
Well, yesterday at 3AM, I discovered that I already had 24 kudos. That meant at least 24 people had already read my fic. In under three hours. Which to me was insane.
By last night, I’d already cracked 100 kudos and over ten comments, which for me is amazing. Never in less than 24 hours has I received a response to a fic like this. It’s surprising and insane to me. I’m actually really touched.
This really turned around my mindset. Though I knew I didn’t do anything wrong with turning down that guy the day before, it kinda stuck with me all day. Waking up to this yesterday, and getting more and more comments as the day progressed, just really made me feel so good.
So yeah. Two weird moments in my life. Both fanfiction related, but both important to me, because they have shown both sides of the coin.
BTW, don’t be like the first guy. It’s rude.
Until next time!
Ok, granted, it’s not a bulletin board. But I don’t have one, so I have to make do.
The other day, I decided it was high time for me to update my closet door. Because of the way I currently have my room set up, in order to maximize the space, I don’t really have the ability to have any sort of bulletin board on my walls (mostly because I have pin boards for some of my pins, and a few bookish tapestries filling the rest of the blank space not already blocked by bookcases.
When we first moved in, I decorated my closet door. It’s been added to since August 2019, but it was getting a bit full, and a bit messy.
Like I said. Messy.
Along the top of my closet is the theme cards for Owlcrate. I have all of 2020 and most of 2021 posted. It’s a fun way for me to keep track of what month’s box is coming next, especially in those months when the boxes were so delayed (due to the shipping issues plaguing the world). All of the stickers are actually just put up with sticky tack, along with everything else. I wanted to make sure that everything was easily changed, while also being fun.
My biggest problem is that I put a few things up quickly, and didn’t take into account the future. There were a lot of things I added just wherever I could find space, regardless of “aesthetics” I also had entirely too many little random things that really just don’t fit anymore.
So, the original plan was actually to use the right side as something of a memory strip. Unfortunately, the world is stupid and we haven’t really done anything outside of the house since January 2020. Because obviously.
I finally got frustrated the other day, took everything down. Well, barring the Owlcrate cards. But those were always going to stay.
Most of the sticky tack was actually pretty dry as I took it down, leaving it stuck on the door. It took a bit of time, but I was able to revive all the putty and get it malleable enough to carefully remove it. This process took about an hour, mostly because I kept getting distracted by Discord.
Once all the sticky putty was safely removed from the door, I sat down all of the pieces that I’d just pulled off of my door, as well as some others that were stored away. I didn’t want to put up nearly as much as was there before, so I actually limited it down. Another thing was I really wanted to get away from a few larger pieces.
This is how it came out! Much smaller, much simpler, but still just as colorful. I based the entire design off of the “Just Breath” piece. It’s something I look at when I start getting stressed out. The quote pieces are from some of the different book boxes that I’ve subscribed to (most of which are no longer in existence). The Old Guard art pieces fare from my preorder of the TOG Zine that came out about six months ago. A bunch of the stickers are from FrameRateMerch, which is a merch company owned by Ray and Tina Narvaez, streamers that I really like on Twitch. And the bookmarks are actually from two of the Barnes and Noble YA Book Club meetings before the pandemic.
I didn’t want to fill the space up this time, so I left a good amount of room to grow. Also, the Owlcrate cards will be changing once I get the December 2021 card. I’ll be packing away the 2020 cards. Otherwise, I’d run out of space.
It’s just a simple thing, but it’s something that really helps my brain to know that it’s done. And honestly, I love how it turned out! The only thing I’m currently wanting for the door is some 9-1-1 rep. One day…
(Shout out to the AGQU 2018, AverageTrey’s Super Mario Sunshine run! Listening along to it helped me get through the process quicker.)
Until next time!
It’s been a very stressful few weeks, so I decided that having a Mid Month Check In would probably be a good idea.
Starting at the top, I’ve been on top of Blogtober every day! Only a few days have I been “late” to post. By late, I mean past 5PM PST. My personal goal is to always have the next day’s post ready to go and be scheduled to go up at 12pm (though, I usually get the notification between 12:30pm to 1:30pm). I’m not sure what topics I’ll be focusing on during the back half of the month, minus of course the 9-1-1 episode reviews. But I’m happy that I’ve been getting better about it.
I’m also so glad that I got ahead on Whumptober, because I have been in burnout mode for weeks. Before October, I ended up writing up through October 17th (and a few other random days). I know I have to finish the rest, hopefully within the next few days. Something I decided to do was keep up with the stats of each story, which has been amazing to do and watch. I’ve been surprised about which fics are getting more noticed, and which ones haven’t been. I’ll go thorugh all the stats in November, once it’s been a couple days for the last story.
Which leads me into the next part. So, because I’m post every day in October and planning to posting throughout December, I decided that I want to take a bit of a step back in November. So, I’m hoping to post twice a week, probably Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that’s subject to change. I’m trying to avoid completely burning out, and this will probably help.
November is already shaping up to be busy. I have to finish a Halloween/fall fic for a “fic crawl” right as November starts. Then I have to make massive progress on my Holiday Gift Fic for someone on the 118 Discord. I also have to write a bunch of continuations of different Whumptober fics, which will be… stressful. On top of that is my birthday in the middle of the month, and also I’m responsible for Thanksgiving planning and cooking and everything. It’s going to be… a busy month.
As for December, I’m again going to do Blogmas, which is from December 1st through the 25th. I did it last year and enjoyed it, so I decided to do it again. I don’t have too many plans for this time. The only true December plan that I have is that I want to watch 25 new (to me) movies. I’ll be spending the rest of October and all of November deciding them, and I’ll be announcing the list at the end of November. Any suggestions for things I should watch can be thrown into the comments.
In my personal life, I actually had some news, thought I wouldn’t say great. I actually recieved a email from a position that I really want! I even had a short interview via phone, where I was told that I’d hear something between three days to the end of the week. That timeframe just happened to end… last Friday. I’m somewhat discouraged, because this is a position that I really want. It’s looking more and more like I didn’t get one of the ten spots. But I’m actually somewhat OK, because I know that I at least made it in once. That means I can do it again.
Until next time!
Ah, October. The beginning of the three month period that holds all of my favorite holidays.
When someone asks me what my favorite holiday is, I always give a blank look and say something along the lines of “You can choose?” My three favorite holidays are Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, in no particular order.
But surprisingly, we don’t normally decorate for Halloween. It’s not because we don’t like it, it’s because we usually would forget to until the day or so before Halloween. You know, when there is absolutely no possible way to get my hands onto anything. We usually would cut up a pumpkin, but that would be it.
Until this year.
So, we live in an apartment complex with some… dumb rules. One of which now basically bans holiday decorations from being on patios until ten days from the holiday, and must be removed two days after the holiday. For example, that means we can’t decorate our patio for Christmas until December 15th, and must have them gone by December 27th. Even though my family loves to keep our holiday decorations up until after New Years.
I happened to be talking a walk the day after this email came out, and walked past a neighbor’s apartment. Said neighbor was decorating her window with holiday decorations on October 2nd. She had one side open, so I decided to wave. She laughed out loud and said I wasn’t the first person to stop. I made a comment about the decorations, and her response was more laughter. She said she called the office to clarify the rule on decorations, and apparently the rule only applies the patios. Not windows.
Loopholes for the win!
Of course, since I found this out in early October, most decorations in stores have been sold. So, I wasn’t able to do too much. But I did get some thanks to some creative Target searching (there are four within a half hour of my doorstep), I was able to make the windows look amazing!
This is the window right by the door. I wanted to do something with Mickey Mouse, since I have two different Mickey plushies from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (2016 and 2017). I went with the trick or treat theme, even though I doubt there will be any trick-or-treaters. (Two years ago, we have like three total, last year and this year we’re putting up a sign that basically says “Happy Halloween, sorry no candy here” because of Covid risks). I really enjoyed setting this one up, though the purple light bulb kinda ruins it. (Someone in maintenance is changing the lightbulbs to be this purple color so that it doesn’t bother residents, but it makes me feel less safe when I’m out at night…)
Mom’s room was actually the first window I did. She asked me to not make it crazy looking, and to keep it from looking like Halloween threw up. So I went with more of a fall theme, something that followed exactly what she said. The two pumpkin bags are actually ceramic, and we’ve had them since I was a small child. The last detail is the baby Groot, which Mom put in her window about a day after I put plushies in mine right after we moved in. He hasn’t moved since (except for dusting, of course.)
The lights were supposed to be purple, but they’re very pink. But I’m dealing with it. This is my window. I actually changed it a lot from what I had originally planned. I wanted to have a slew of Mickey plushies, all in different costumes, like Halloween outfits. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get them to stay on the windowsill. So instead I added an autumn fox that is designed to say sitting like that. I also didn’t get to add nearly as many window clings as I wanted to, nor anything hanging from the top, mostly because I was too damn late.
But I am happy with how they came out. Not too bad for three hours of work. I’m already planning my Christmas windows, so you’ll see those sometime in December!
Happy early Halloween!
Until next time!
So, I’m doing something that I don’t really like to do all that often. It’s something that actually bothers me a little bit, but I’m doing it for a good reason.
I’m doing a book unhaul.
For those of you that don’t spend too much time on Booktube, an unhaul is when you remove books from your collection. It’s called a haul, because it is the opposite of a book haul, where you get new books.
I don’t normally do book unhauls, because I like having my shelves filled with books, both read and unread. Unfortunately, I’m at the point that I really don’t have a choice anymore. I’ve double parked my books on my shelves, and I’m absolutely sick of seeing some of them. A good portion of them were gifts or panic bought at the beginning of the pandemic last year. The last major pile are book box books.
So, what are my criteria for keeping or unhauling books? Let’s discuss.
(Just a quick note, I’m going to try to avoid naming and shaming some books, because I don’t want to be that person. I will name some that I’ve made comments about in the past, both good and bad. So don’t expect to see a massive list of books here, this is just my thought process.)
Automatic Keep
These are the books that I doubt I’ll ever remove from my collect, at least any time soon. I don’t count a lot of books on that list, but there are enough to make a bullet point all on their own.
Some of the books on this list are my Owlcrate and BNYA Book Club books, regardless of my feelings for the books (which means, yes, I still have Wilder Girls, which I absolutely hated. I have at this point amassed most of both of the ever growing collections, but I want to be able to say that I have just about all of them (not counting the first twelve Owlcrate books, as I didn’t join until box 13).
I also include certain books from my childhood, including my set of Harry Potter novels (my paperback copies from college). Though the books are now surrounded by controversary (thanks JKR), they are staying because the books themselves hold a special place in my heart. I’m also keeping my entire Percy Jackson collection, because I’m reading it alongside my cousin.
The final set of books being kept are books that I absolutely enjoy, regardless of rating or popularity. I have several books (including two copies of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson) that I refuse to be parted with. They will be staying regardless.
Kept For Reading
There are another good amount of books that I’m keeping simply because they are on my TBR, or to be read list. I’d say that there are about twenty on that list, including six books from the same series. These are books that I’m actively planning on reading at some point soon, though I haven’t yet do to time or because of other reasons. I’m trying to keep this list pretty low, but there are some that will be staying around only until after I’ve read them.
This category also includes books that are sequels to books from Owlcrate or BNYA Book Club. Several of these books now have sequels, and for the most part I’m reading all of these in the next year or so.
Kept For the End of the Year
Something that I like to do is take a photo of all the physical media that I read over the year. This means that I’m keeping several books until December/January for one purpose. They are staying on my shelves simply because I don’t have any other place for them, but they will be leaving once I’m finished with that.
If you’re curious about which books these might be, my Goodreads is mostly up to date. If a book was rated low and wasn’t part of a club/box, it’s probably on this list.
Automatically Leaving
Books by problematic authors. This is number one on my list. Several books in my collection, both read or unread, are written by authors that are now under scrutiny for publicly being problematic. As such, I’m removing several novels from my library that I can no longer stand to have in my collection.
There is also a series I’m removing this time around, as I’ve fallen out of love with it due to time. This series is quite large, and I’ve read most of the books, but I have completely lost interest in it. I’d rather pass on everything to others that might enjoy it more than I would now.
Leaving Because of TBR
Like I said at the top, I managed to buy a large amount of cheap books early on in the pandemic. And then, of course, I got hit with a massive reading slump. Most of these books are living on my book cart going completely unread at this point. I need the space, honestly. And for most of them, I’m just not going to read them. They either don’t really interest me after reading their summaries, or I’ve tried and put them down.
This part of the list also includes books that came recommended to be my way of YouTube or Tiktok. There were a bunch I picked up that ended up not being something I didn’t want to read.
Leaving Due to Lack of Interest / Fandom
So, here is where I’m actually going to name and shame, a little bit. I ended up purchasing several books that I ended up not liking. Most of these never ended up on my GoodReads for various reasons, mostly because I put them down within ten to fifteen chapters or in under 100 pages.
One of these series is the Shadow and Bone series (as well as the Six of Crows duology). I realized quickly that these were not for me, and I also wasn’t really impressed with the Netflix show, so I see no need to keep them.
The other is The Raven Cycle series. I was recommended this one early on by exactly one person on Tumblr. I gave it a try and was just not interested. So, passing them on to people who will like them more.
There are also a few other books that I was encourage to read, but those are also joining the goodbye pile.
So… Where Are They Going?
By the time I finish packing up the books going, it’s probably going to be at least two boxes (hopefully three). They are going to be donated to my local library. We (as Mom is paring down her collection as well) chose to donate to the library instead of selling them for a couple of reasons.
The books we’re donating are in really good condition, and stand a good chance of being added to the library’s collection. What can’t be added actually gets added to the library’s own used book store, which raises money for local charities and to give back to the library. Last year, all proceeds from the library book store in October and early November actually went to buying Thanksgiving dinner to nearly 100 needy families, and from November 15th through December 22nd helped by Holiday presents for those same struggling families. (They were called holiday presents to keep to being non-religious, as my suburb is very diverse in faith.)
The reason we chose not to sell them is because trying to sell books online is an incredibly annoying task that I’ve done before, and I swore to never do it again. This way, these books, which tell amazing stories that should be told, will go into the hands of people who will enjoy them.
I’d love to donate to one of our local schools. Unfortunately, they are not accepting donations at this time, due to COVID restrictions. I tried to personally reach out (using the Nextdoor app) but got no takers.
The only other place we thought of was to add books to some of the local Little Free Libraries. I went to a couple of them, and unfortunately, they were already overflowing with mostly romance novels, and novels by Stephen King and James Patterson. It wasn’t possible to add to the boxes. But I did try!
Basically, what’s going is a bunch of standalone novels, some series, and some manga that I bought last year, but I’ve fallen out of love with. (This does not count SAO, Negima, or any manga I brought with me from Florida, as I still don’t want to part with them yet.)
When is this happening?
Currently, the library is accepting two boxes of donations per car on Mondays and Fridays during normal business hours. We’re hopeful to get at least two boxes dropped off on Friday, and another two on Monday (as Mom has a four day weekend, so this makes it perfect timing.
I’ve already started pulling books, which yes means that this post is technically premature, but I wanted to get a jump start. The goal for tomorrow is to cull my collection by a third. Hopefully, by more.
(Fun fact, when we moved across the country, I had 14 boxes of books, as well as several Owlcrate boxes with manga. That was the remaining third of the collection I’d been growing since I was in middle school and could pick my own books out at the bookstore. I’ve regrown that collection since we moved here, and I’d say I’ve added about 150 books as this point. I’d say I’ve doubled what I brought out here.)
So, I’m going to go finish pulling the books I want to pass on. Have a good day!
Until next time!
September is done and over with, and what a whirlwind it was.
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t complete all of the challenges I set for myself for this month. In fact, I technically only completed one, with a second being kinda on a technicality. But there are reasons, personal ones, that I’ll explain after I go through all five parts of the challenge.
Part One: Reading
Okay, I tried. I really did. But I think limiting myself just made it worse. I only read two books off of the list, towards the beginning of the month, That Weekend and Yolk (both reviews are posted). I actually did try reading some of the others, but I really haven’t been in the mood for sci-fi or fantasy, and that’s what most of the rest of the list deals with.
I did try, I swear! I read a third of The Witch Haven, and Ace of Spades is on my bedside table. I just… I just couldn’t. I guess reader’s block still exists.
Part Two: Writing
This is where I make an exception. So, the goal was to do five bingo squares. I didn’t. Like, at all. I think I looked at my bingo card twice this month, and once was because there was confusion on the rules and I may have not written enough for the prompts (I was right, the rules had gotten mixed up by a former mod, all is well and good).
However, I did write! A lot actually. I ended up finishing up 18 (yes, 18) Whumptober prompts. That was over 21000 words. So, while it’s not bingo squares, I’m counting it as a win anyway. (And this is all before the main event as well.)
(If you’re curious, I’m finished with the following days: 1-9, 11-13, 15-17, 22, 29, and 31. 10 is almost done, and 14 is plotted out, I just haven’t started it yet.)
Part Three: Gaming
Here is my success!
I finished Lego The Hobbit. Finally. After the game kept fighting me in the end. But I finally finished it, and it was a wonderful day. Mostly because I ended up mismanaging my studs, and I had to spend an hour making a loop in one of the areas so that studs would respawn. It was a thing.
I didn’t get started on my next game, only because I’ve been so focused on Whumptober and Blogtober prep. I have Lego Pirates of the Caribbean all set to go, I just am taking a minute. Probably next week, if all goes well.
Part Four: Watching
I am so glad that I gave myself permission to fail this part of the challenge, because I did. In spades.
So, I normally watch One Chicago on the Peacock app on my PS4, while writing. Unfortunately, for some reason, it’s been glitching for me (even post updates) and I can’t get an episode to save my life. Watching on my computer meant I can’t write, and I just can’t, because it means no notes. So… I watched like three episodes on my phone. That’s it.
Of course, it doesn’t help that I rewatched 9-1-1 Season Four ahead of the Season Five premiere, as well as 5×01 and 5×02. I can’t help it. I just think I like 9-1-1 more.
Part Five: Creating
This is where things get tricky.
So, I basically failed at Instagram. I just got distracted by everything going. I did update my story, but that was just with some of my Tiktoks.
Speaking of Tiktok, I basically stopped posting anything when I finished Lego The Hobbit (since that ended up being a great source for jokes). It’s on my list to get back to, but I just haven’t uploaded anything. I did film some, but deleted them for various reasons.
I’ve been more active on Twitter, thanks to Fox FanHub and Tudum, as well as talking about the Dodgers and 9-1-1. This is something I’m going to continue, so I’ll count this part a success.
Wrap Up
So, two completes, one somewhat, and two outright failures. Hey, 50% isn’t terrible, right?
As for why I didn’t get done as much as I wanted to, a couple updates in my personal life are needed to be said.
A few weeks ago, I got a call from a place I interviewed at around the end of July. This was the first time I’d heard from them in six weeks. They offered me a second interview, which was surprising because I thought I absolutely bombed the first one. Anyway, I went, and I was offered a “working interview” the next day, which I accepted. Unfortunately, I had a panic attack about ninety minutes into the working interview, which I can directly attribute to not feeling safe. Too many people were coming into the location I was working at without masks, or pulling them down to talk to the owner and I behind the desk, and it just wasn’t safe in my opinion. So, I politely declined to continue the interview. (I also wasn’t impressed with the job, and it really felt like I would be micromanaged forever by everyone in the building, including past the trial period.)
But then, I do have some tentative good news on the same front! A few weeks ago, I became aware of a job posting for a position that I really would love to do (goverment job). I applied immediately after it was posted, and I received an email on Tuesday that basically said I had it, though that’s not entirely accurate. I had a three question phone interview on Thursday, and I’m waiting to hear back to see if I got one of the ten spots. If I did, I’m going to be much busier, but this is the type of position that I’ve wanted. It’s mostly work from home, with only the occasional trip into the office. It’s giving back to the people that need help most. It’s exactly what I have wanted to get into since I graduated from college, but there were never any openings to outside people, only currently government workers and veterans. So, this could be the chance of a lifetime.
I bring up both of these because this is partially why I didn’t finish. I’ve been emotionally exhausted because of this for days. Now I’m waiting for an email that could basically change my life, and I’ll probably hear something this upcoming week.
And now, that’s all that. See you all tomorrow!
Until next time!
I received some amazing news Monday morning (I’ll talk about it at the end of the post) which inspired me to set up a personal challenge for myself during the month of September. It’s in multiple parts, but it’s something I’ve been thinking of, and now I have the wherewithal to do it.
Part One: Reading
Immediately I think you can see where this challenge is going. When I was posting my review of Lost in the Never Woods, I decided to finally look and see how far behind I am in my Goodreads reading challenge. It’s… not very pretty. As of today (September 1st), I’ve read 22 books (though like five of those were comics). My goal for the year is 52, which puts me 12 books behind schedule. This is the slowest reading year I’ve had. In fact, since I started doing this 2016, I’ve only failed twice. 2018 was due to the move across the country and having to pack my books and things early, and really not having the time to read. Last year was because of the stress of the pandemic, and honestly just mental burnout.
This year, I really don’t want to fail, or if I do, I want to be close to my goal. So, I came up with an idea.
One of my goals for 2021 has been to read every Owlcrate and Barnes and Noble YA Book Club book. Over the course of the year, that should amount to 24 books, less if there is duplicates (which has happened twice as of July.) As of today, there have been seven Owlcrate books sent (August should be shipping any day, pandemic delays) and nine BNYA Books announced. Accounting for the two duplicates… I’ve read two books. It’s a problem.
So, my goal is to read the rest of the Owlcrate and BNYA books. I’ve honestly been shying away from them, because for some reason they just haven’t clicked with me (And The Ones We’re Meant to Find was beyond a disappointment). However, I made a challenge, and I’m gonna give it a shot.
Here’s the list, skipping the ones that I’ve already completed:
My rules are simple. Read and review each one. I can read other things, up to and including the final issue of The Old Guard: Tales Through Time, which is set to arrive sometime this month. (Which reminds me, I have to call my comic shop. I still don’t have the 4th issue…) This shouldn’t be too much of a difficult challenge, especially if I take my time and just get through books in one or two sittings.
Part Two: Writing
I’ve been neglecting my writing since May, when I finally completed Febuwhump. Since then, I’ve written one story, with another one plotted out. Even though I’ve written more this year then any other year I’ve been on AO3 combined (31, 891 words at the time of this post), I’ve been dragging.
In an effort to combat that, back in July I signed up for the 9-1-1 Bingo, hosted by the 118 Discord. I was given a 5×5 bingo board with 24 prompts (and a free space). The challenge is to write at least 500 words (if not more) per bingo square. Yesterday I started and knocked one out, which I’m going to be posting sometime today. I’ll talk about the prompts in another post down the line this month, mostly because I have to figure out what the hell a “Meet Ugly” is…
Anyway, onto this challenge. My goal for this month is to at least five squares, not counting the one I did yesterday. I have a couple ideas, so this shouldn’t be too hard. The big thing is that I want get back into writing prompt fic, as I’m planning on taking part in Whumptober starting October 1st (though I’m going to get a jump on it once the prompts are posted any day now).
The only big road block I currently have is that we’re not allowed to double prompts up with any other prompt, including cross challenges. I knew that going in, so that means I need to get a good amount done before October 1st, even if I don’t post them all in September. My aim is once a week, and once October passes, more then that.
Part Three: Gaming
Here’s where the fun is. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I’m trying to play through the last Lego games I have left on the PS3. Since that post, I completed Lego Dimensions, though I only did it to trophy completion due to the PS3 not exactly liking loading the game. I also finished Lego The Lord of the Rings the other day, which I would place solidly in the “C” rating on the scale. It’s a perfectly fine game, but I’m not a fan of the story and there were some graphical and map issues I took issue to.
As of the writing of this post, that leaves Lego The Hobbit (which I’ve started, since I’ve played it twice before), Lego Star Wars III, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, and Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventures Continues.
For this challenge, my goal is to complete one of these games. The reason it takes so long is because my PS3 isn’t exactly in perfect condition anymore, which means I can only play for about 2-3 hours before the thing starts having issues. On top of that, the games themselves just don’t exactly like the console. I’m working my way through Hobbit right now, and I forgot just how annoying some of the levels are. I’m using a guide for this exact reason, and thank god for that. I also always have the trophy guide up to keep track of everything. Otherwise, this might take a miracle.
Part Four: Watching
This is the part of my challenge list that will probably not be completed. My goal for September is to finish this “year” in One Chicago. As of my last check on my list, that’s 58 episodes (including one Law and Order: SVU crossover). More than two days worth of content.
The reason I’m basically giving myself permission to fail this is because I know I’m going to need a break sometimes. Gaming and reading and watching are all well and good, but I don’t want to completely stress for a month, especially since I dedicate at least two hours every day to applying for jobs, and I know if I do get one, this whole challenge gets nixed. But I wanted to make sure I had something that I could relax on, and this counts.
This also allows me to plan for the two episodes of 9-1-1 that will air during September, which I may or may not review (depends on how they structure episode one. If it’s like Season Three, I’ll just wait until the three episode arc is done. If not, I may go ahead and review it in a special Tuesday post. Maybe. Don’t hold me to it.)
Part Five: Creating
I should put “Content Creation”, but I have a pattern going, and I’m not ruining it, damn it.
Something I’ve been trying to do, to not a lot of success, is try to work more on content creation. I’ve been trying to tweet more, engage with people I’m following and who are following me on Twitter. I’m trying to post more on Instagram, both as pictures as well as in my stories. Twitch is something I’m coming back to (you’ll understand in a few minutes, I promise). And even now, I’m starting to use TicTok to making short videos of Lego gaming gags, as well as discuss TV and film creation, and how people make mistakes. And of course, there’s this blog, where I’m still trying to keep my three posts a week thing going (until October and December, because Blogtober and Blogmas will be happening again this year!).
So, I’m setting goals for the individual accounts. Ones that are actually possible to obtain. I want to try to post and engage at least three times a week on Instagram and TikTok, though posting on TikTok and reposting it to my story on Instagram doesn’t count. I want to keep up with posting three times a week here, with only one of the book reviews from this month counting as a weekly post. As for Twitch, I want to get back into streaming at night, as streaming during the day just isn’t possible with our internet. But I want to at least be consistent at some point.
Wrap It Up
That’s my five part challenge for this month. As for what inspired me to do this, it all comes down to one thing: sight. I can bring everything to sight, to seeing, to being able to use my eyes… and not really worry anymore.
I’ve posted about it on Instagram and Twitter, so I’ll just barebones it here. As I’ve mentioned before, I was diagnosed with iih (idiopathic intercranial hypertension) back in November 2017. On Monday, I went to get my eyes check for the first time in two years (due to the pandemic) and my optometrist took a photo of my optic nerve. It was fine, healthy, completely normal looking. The only way that would be possible is if the fluid in my skull was draining better. And it is. I no longer have to worry about iih (at least not every minute. It’s totally possible that in future, it could come back. But I’m bright sighting this, damn it.).
Because I have this new lease on my sight (and new glasses coming during the middle of the month), I’m taking September as a time to celebrate. And I hope you all are ready to be along for the ride on this one.
Until next time!
Hey all, I guess this is the week of me only talking about personal things. We’ll be back on more fandom/book related things next week.
I’ve kept this really quiet, but my apartment complex has been having massive internet issues. It’s something that has been getting steadily worse over the past year (thanks pandemic), but it really got horrific around May. I discovered that I couldn’t stream on Twitch for more than a half hour, otherwise I’d drop frames and crash. It was to the point that I basically just gave up.
Other issues were that Mom would be kicked off randomly, which was bad because she works for the government and this was affecting her job. She’d be on calls with coworkers and suddenly she’d get disconnected.
While all this has been going on, several of our neighbors have moved in and out, and I’ve been noticing that things have just been getting worse. The last straw was last week, when Mom was kicked on and off the internet a grand total of 26 times in under an hour. Yes, that’s almost once every two minutes.
So we called our ISP and had a grand old time trying to troubleshoot. (I’m summarizing the four conversations, but suffice to say the Italian in Mom came out… Loudly.) Finally, during the fourth call we got them to agree to send someone out.
The gentleman from our ISP came on Monday, right after work. After he checked in with us, he went out to where the lines came in. This room (outside, which services our entire building) happens to be located right next to my room. The man opened the door… and let out swear word combinations that I hadn’t heard before. I popped my window and asked if everything was ok, and he asked if I would join him outside, as there was something he needed me to see.
So I masked up (because duh, and he was masked as well), and came out. He showed me a mess of cords and told me that he knew exactly why there were so many issues. And he wasn’t happy about it.
Apparently, there are supposed to be two lines for each apartment that run off the main lines from the ISP. But what was happening was when we had someone new move in, they weren’t setting them up on their clearly marked lines. No, they were splitting OUR lines, because ours happened to be the first they saw. What should have been an easy job just became a nightmare.
The poor man had to call a supervisor out, because this issue far exceeded our apartment. He apologized to me (and in turn Mom, but she was still inside) about the issue. Honestly, I was just glad for an answer.
The supervisor arrived along with an area manager, and the three set out to make things right. Very long story short, they had to let the other residents know, switch out their internet to the lines that were dedicated to them, and apologize for the inconvenience.
Suffice to say, they got our internet back online first, along with a wonderful discount. We got all new equipment too, because ours was burned out after having to run double-time for two years without anyone realizing it.
It’s been a couple days since then, and we haven’t had any issues. In fact, both yesterday and today I have done test Twitch streams, and all worked great. It looks like I’ll be able to stream in the afternoons as well as evenings. Yay!
So, I’m basically back to streaming. No set schedule yet, so ignore the sidebar for now. I’m still trying to lock down a schedule that will work for me. We shall see.
Until Next Time!
At the end of July, I mentioned in a post that I was going on an interview. This was pretty monumental for me, as I’d only had two phone interviews since I started applying for jobs again in May. (Why? I was waiting for more people to get the vaccine. I live with someone who is immunocompromised, and we both agreed to be safe about it.)
I won’t go into too much detail about the job I was interviewing for, mostly for privacy reasons. What I will say is that it was a receptionist position at a type of health spa. Completely above board (I checked) But I do want to talk about it.
Before we get into the interview, I want to set up where it was. The job was in Calabasas, which is about 30-40 minutes from my town. There are basically three different ways I could get there. One is through the San Fernando Valley, one is taking the 118 to the 23 to the 101, and one is going through Box Canyon. Now, I’ve driven the first two routes before. Mom and I have been taking bi-monthly drives around Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, so that I can get an understanding of the area, and she can tell me about her old stomping grounds.
I actually did a phone interview with the owner’s personal secretary before getting asked to come in for the in person one. It went well! I was able to answer all of her questions, get a good sense for the position, and I made her chuckle, which I thought was a plus. After the phone interview, I was invited to come to the owner’s office building to meet with him for an in person interview. This interview wouldn’t take place at the actual location, but at the owner’s office in Chatsworth. If I succeed in this interview, I would then interview with the manager, but this would be more of a formality. I agreed to this, and set the date and time, which would end up being about five days later (due to the owner’s schedule).
The secretary confirmed the date and time via email several times leading up to the interview. I was fine with this, as I figured that it was a pretty popular position. Receptionist gigs seem to be a dime a dozen, and according to Google, this place made bank.
The night before the interview, I get yet another email from the secretary. Instead of the fourth confirmation of time and location, she was asking if we could push the interview back to 5PM, and instead of being in Chatsworth, it would take place at the actual spa, with both the manager and owner present. I agreed, thinking it would be two birds, one stone.
During the hours before the interview, I kept an eye on the traffic. Up until an hour before I left, it was clear. And then, the thing I worried would happen, happened. Traffic, both routes I had been before.
So I had to take Box Canyon Road. If you’ve never seen it… Think steep, tight, and nightmare inducing. My heart was racing the entire time. I was honestly terrified. I am never driving that way again.
I got to the spa with about twenty minutes to spare. Which was a little later than I wanted, but I was ok. I took the time to get myself mentally prepared, had some water, and put on my mask. Then I went to the building.
What followed was me walking around the damn thing twice, checked the address, used Google Maps for directions (did nothing), and then discovering that it was located in the small hallway off to the side. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d probably never find it.
Apparently, that was a test. Thanks.
Anyway, I walked into the spa about five minutes before my interview. The first thing I noticed was that the receptionist behind the desk didn’t have her mask on properly, though she did fix it as soon she saw I was wearing mine. But she greeted me, and took my name. She also made a point to give enough space between us as she went to get the manager and owner.
The owner came out to the front, greeted me, attempted a handshake (which I politely declined, because we’re still in a pandemic) and brought me into the back office. I was offered a chair, and he said he’d go grab the manager.
That alone took almost ten minutes. I could hear the owner chatting with several people, including the person I would soon be introduced to as the manager. Because the door to the office had been left open, it felt incredibly awkward.
Finally they both came in, leaving the door open (and tried the handshake again, WTF). The first big issue was that they came off totally unprepared. There wasn’t an extra seat next to the owner, so I had to switch to one that was more in a corner. Then they didn’t have two copies of my resume, only one (luckily I had several copies, so that was covered). They also kept joking amongst themselves as they got situated.
The entire interview lasted about eight minutes. Standard questions (what made me move to California, why did I leave my previous position, why is there such a gap in my work history) were answered quickly. Then there were some more awkward questions, mostly about my sense of style and would I be comfortable moving closer, as they wanted people to be available to come in with a half hour’s notice. I told them that I was happy to work on getting my work wardrobe up to their dress code standards, but moving closer was not possible right now.
It just felt incredibly awkward. The tone that both used came off as if they had already picked someone for the job, and they were just doing my interview because it was scheduled. Some of the questions they asked were somewhat out in left field, ones that I swear were designed to get me to not accept the job.
But honestly, the kicker was that other staff kept popping in with questions or comments to the owner and manager, and they kept stopping the interview to answer. I’ll admit, nothing sounded like it was a major emergency, it was things that totally could have waited. But no, they talked over me to answer those questions. It was… just yuck.
They thanked me for my time and told me I’d hear from them by the next week with their decision. Then they tried once again to shake my hand and I was out the door.
By the time I got to my car, I had already decided that my answer would be no. The pay wasn’t worth the drive, and the rudeness of the staff to interrupt during a meeting more than once was something I wanted no part of. Also, even though at that time there was still a mandate for mask wearing inside, most people were wearing them wrong, if they were wearing them at all. Same with the two patrons I saw. One didn’t have a mask on, and the other was only wearing it over their lips.
From my car, I took the time to quickly email a standard “thank you for the interview, let me know if you need any other information” message. Then I debriefed with Mom as I drove home.
Well, that was right at the end of July. It’s now the middle of August, and it’s been radio silence. The email was never replied to, and the listing for the position is now gone. It’s safe to assume that I didn’t get the job. But not calling when you said you would is just unprofessional.
Granted, I was already tempted to decline like I said, but still.
I should point out that I was sent the initial job listing through Zip Recruiter, I didn’t go find it. The secretary reached out to me, not the other way around.
So that was the worst interview I’ve been on yet. We will have to see what comes next.
Until next time!