confabcon | Member Posts

You may get nothing but Ghost lyrics between now and July. I'm trying to learn the words to the new songs, but it's coming slowly. But the music is super catchy so I'm sure I'll get there.

Ghost is weird. They bill themselves as Satanic metal, but and they have a few songs that bear that out, but most of their songs are more pop or hair metal. And despite the lead singer saying that the new album is "darker," I'm finding it really hopeful. And as I said, their music as a whole is very catchy. We've got 1 month to concert #1. I can't wait.

Day two post back scritches, and my lower back is still peeved. I dislike it. IT's not as bad as yesterday, but still cranky. We'll see if today is the kind of "work things out" cranky or the "get worse as the day goes on" pissed off.

I've got some good steaks to cook, so I'm hoping for the former.

Tomorrow is a quiet day--nothing much going on. Friday night after work, we need to drive down to get Jess' computer from best buy. Then we're going to go forth and get a late dinner. It's a fairly long drive, so we're best waiting til my sister gets home at 6 to go fetch.

I got a reminder on facebook that 8 years ago on this day, we went to see a wrestling PPV. It was fun, but nothing we felt the need to do again.

This weekend is pretty busy. I've got a haircut and we've got to pick up the computer Friday night, the appointment to drop off Mao for cremation after a decade at least, and then off to a work party at the bowling alley. I will probably not be bowling, owing to the bad back, but I will go and have snacks and visit with people.

Sunday is less busy, with just two games, one that I'm DMing and then one that

poisontaster is.

I'm definitely going to be sleeping in on Sunday.

Oh, and *finally* we're closing on the house. No more albatross around our neck.

And on that note, I'm going to go consider the merits of pants. Everyone have a wonderful Wednesday!

hannah

In trying to tidy my closet and the dresses I've got in there, I'm now seeing how many "nice" dresses I have that cover a fairly wide variety of situations. It's nice to see that the ones I bought well over a decade ago are still largely holding up well.

In other news, while my sister in law E. and my brother J. are planning on going to Cancún, I somehow doubt they're at all interested in visiting the Chicxulub crater. Some people just don't know how to have a good time.

Current Mood: discontent
Current Music: nothing now

valoise

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
The premise of the book - that the moon turns into cheese - is utterly ridiculous, but that not what the book is ultimately about. Scalzi focuses on how a wide range of people deal with the extraordinary, how they come to grips with sudden radical changes in their daily lives.

The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain by Sofia Samatar
An exploration of class and oppression on a fleet of generation ships, I liked this more than most of the reviews I've read. While it's not my top choice for Hugo Best Novella, I think it definitely belongs on the ballot.

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
Another Hugo Best Novella nominee, this is part of the Singing Hills series. While not my favorite work in the series, the magic here took an unexpected turn and I liked it.

Doctor Who and The Five Doctors by Terrance Dicks
Like the televised story, this short book is so packed with Doctors, and companions, and story lines, it's hard to really give the focus to any f them. I did like how the opening focuses on Susan, providing information on her life after she left the TARDIS.

Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi
His second collection of short fiction, this was really great. His characters have a depth to them, the writing is sharp with no excess, and both his fantasy and sf are great. He experiments with storytelling in wonderful ways.

Destination: Amalthea by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
I've read books by them which I really enjoyed (The Dead Mountaineers Inn, Roadside Picnic, Monday Begins on Saturday) so when I saw this hard sf work was available as an ebook at my library I jumped on it. Very disappointing. The translation was really, really bad. If a newly translated version ever comes out I'll give it another shot.

beanside

IT's Tuesday and I have Regrets. I wet for the ASMR back scratching last night, and it was lovely. Relaxing and a little ticklish, but very good. (I need to get some of those little brushes, I loved them.). However, towards the end of my appointment, I noticed that my lower back was a little annoyed, and when I tried to get off the table, it turned out that it was SUPER pissed.

It's still angry today, and work is going to suck. I'll manage, but ouch.

We're officially closing on the house tomorrow, which is nice, I'll have to go over tonight to get a few more things, and then we'll be free!

There's really not a ton of stuff at this point, but I want to do a last run through and make sure I have everything. The most important thing is our documents. We need to grab the handful of stuff that's still relevant out of Dad's file cabinet. We're also picking up the frozen body of our dead cat, Mao. He died like 10 years ago, and we put him in there so we could cremate him when we could afford it. And somehow, we just never did. So now, we're going to do that. He deserves to be on our bookshelf o'ashes.

I'm not sure if I'm going to the farmers market today, we'll see how my back is feeling.

I did the post yesterday for the opening of CONfab's registration. It's virtual this year, held between Discord and zoom. It's a lot of fun, held between 10/17-10/19. If anyone is interested the registration link can be found here.. For more information about the con, you can check out the main website at https://confabcon.com/

Okay, time to go forth and take some fucking motrin. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday!

beanside

And somehow, we're back to Monday.

I had an excellent weekend. Saturday and Sunday were both filled with my favorite things, and while I am sad that I don't have another day to fuck around, I'm okay with work today. It's bound to be insane, but it's okay.

It's going to be a busy Monday, but in a good way. I've got work til 4:30, then an appointment for an AMSR back scratching at 5, and then back home for a psych appointment at 6:30pm.

https://www.instagram.com/fitzhairstudio/reel/DJzmxavy1S-/

The morning isn't getting off to the best start, as the dog has begun acting like an asshole. My sister insisted that he had to go, so I took him out, despite the fact that the pain meds haven't kicked in and I am hurting. He'd drag her down the stairs. No matter what she thinks.

I walked him up and down the apartments, and he did absolutely nothing. Then I gimped back in and now I'm pissy. Both with my sister, who wouldn't listen to me when I said that he absolutely did not have to go, and the asshole dog.

I was going to take a shower, but I don't feel like I can go in there, because the moment I did, the dog barked at a noise outside.

The dog is frustrating the hell out of me lately. He's such a sweet baby, but he's also neurotic and a total asshole.

Maybe this weekend, we'll take him for temperament testing at the doggy daycare.

Okay, anyhow. Sunday was fun. I had D&D, and then we made cheese fondue. I think I need a different recipe, because it stayed really thick, but it still tasted amazing. The hot pot still owns my heart, though.

Tonight, I think we're going to have carry out, and then tomorrow when I only have the farmer's market, I'm going to cook steaks. I have two Tbones, and an enormous tomahawk ribeye to cook, and I'm looking forward to it.

I'm debating what I want to have for breakfast now. I usually have a couple of hard boiled eggs, but right now there is so much food in my fridge that it's hard to decide.

Okay, time to get myself together for work. Everyone have the best Monday you can Monday!

hannah

I spent several hours today not knowing where my towel was. I knew I'd taken it down to the laundry room and brought it out from the washer, and somewhere between the dryer and my apartment, it disappeared. Couldn't be found. I went back and checked, and didn't find it. I figured it wasn't a huge loss, all things considered, and tried to move on.

I just went back to check to be sure, and somewhere between the washer and the dryer, it got misplaced without leaving the laundry room, because that's where I found it. Someone had tossed it into the garbage bin - not even hanging it over the sink, but tossing it out entirely, which has me irritated on the general principle of throwing out a good hand towel being a bad idea because hey, free towel.

It's also got me relieved because I again know where my towel is. I couldn't well go hitchhiking otherwise.

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: Iowa - Brian Perry

beanside

I woke up SO fucking sore today. My head and back are just thoroughly pissed off. I took some meds, ad I may lay down for a few minutes. I had trouble gettin to sleep, until after 2 am. I'm very tired. fortunately, I don't have anything to do until 1pm and that's game.

Yesterday was an awesome. My back was behaving, and then I got up and futzed around, then went to go get a pedicure. I opted for the Spa pedicure. and had my legs rubbed until they were limp noodles. Then, we played Arvandor, which was a particularly awesome game. The team dealt with the reality of the Dracolich, and searched for clues, which had some truly outstanding role play. I was very proud of mu babies. They've come a long way from Dragn Heist and Mad Mage. It was really well done, and I'm deeply curioius to see what the players will do next.

The, I began setting the table with the assumption that my new hot pot would come, and lo, it did! One side, we used mushroom soup broth. Very tasty, very mild. On the other, we used Little Sheep hot hot pot broth. I was assured that it was meant to be the less spicy alternative! I may well have been, but it was still pretty spicy.

I had gotten all my Asian groceries from a online retailer named <href="https://www.sayweee.com/en">"Weee!". I really liked them, they have every type of asian you can imagine. They had the hot plate prepared meat, wihch was lovely, made my life easier. and easy mix broths.

All in all, it was a lovely sucess, with delicious food and sauces. I overbought a bit, so we're definitely going to be doing it again. soon. I just need to get another box of mild soup. I'm thinking a nice Miso this time.

After that, we took Yoda on a nice walk, and then came hom. It was the perfect day. Tonight, we shall have cheese fondue for dinner! I stocked up with sourdough bread and granny smith apples. I grated my cheeses, and got some white wine to add to the pot. I'm hoping this works as well as the hot pot did, and is tasty. We shall see.
First, game at 1pm. That'll finish up at 4, at which point, I'll start the garlic and wine in the fondue pot.

Tonight, we may go to IKEA to look at a cabinet for a potential pantry for our kitchen. We desperately need one, as the cupboards are jam packed. I'm hopeful. I'll probably do a bit of a walkthrough and see if there's anything else we want for our apartment. I wouldn't mind a squeezie for the bathroom mirror. And maybe a new kitchen rug.

Monday will be busy. I'm going to be busting my ass all day, then immediately afterwards, I'm going to go get my AMSR Scratch therapy at Fitz Studios. https://www.tiktok.com/@fitzhairstudio/video/7504892058067422494?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7320965213670114859

I've never done this, so I'm curious how it'll be.

After that, I hurry back to have my monthly check in with my psych doctor. Then, sleep.

But first, today! Right now, I am a giant sloth on the couch. Everyone have an amazing Sunday!!

hannah

At present, settling into telling myself the story and figuring out how it's put together, is the important part. What the story's about, its purpose and intentions, can come later. Right now, I'm telling it to myself. Well, myself and the accountability readers. Mostly myself. Nobody else is thinking about it as much as I am.

Keeping to that tunnel vision of one word at a time, no matter how good the word happens to be or how much I like it, is where I'm at. I'm likely going to opt to stay in New York for most of the vacation my parents planned for upstate and that's only in part because I'm not sure how I feel about always automatically being included. It's a lot of complicated feelings, and what's not complicated is it's easier to keep writing when I'm in my apartment. All my stuff is here. My notes, my research materials. Also the practical momentum of sitting down and getting the words out.

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Music: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire

serrico

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: listless

beanside

It's Saturday! And a day when I don't have to work, so I slept in until nearly 7:30. It was lovely. My back feels a bit better today, which is nice. I'm still going to take my anti infammatories for a couple of more days, though.

Yesterday was bugfuck busy. We had a bunch of late cancellations, so I was getting a TON of emails to schedule urgent patients in those spots. It was a lot. But that's okay, we got a lot of urgent patients the slots they needed. After work, I had our annual training material to work through. Honestly, I did most of it while I was working, and just fucked around for the majority of the hour afterwards that I was supposed to be training. I get paid OT for the extra hour, so I'm happy.

Today is kind of a question mark. We have a game at 12:30, and my sister has a birthday party, so that part is done. The question will be what we do afterwards. I got a grocery order to make hot pot, so that may be what we do for dinner. This may depend on whether the hot pot itself gets here on time. Otherwise, we may do the hot pot in a fondue pot, which will sadly only allow for one broth. (the hot pot has a divider that lets you do two. My grocery order, which has the hot pot meats is due in between 9:30 and 12:30, so hopefully it gets here before game.

I got so much shit. Dipping sauces and rice cakes and gyoza as well as the meats. I ordered from Weee!, which is an Asian grocery delivery service. I swear, they have everything. If the delivery goes smoothly, and the stuff is good, I can see making them a regular part of our shopping.

Tomorrow my sister has another birthday party, and I have a game at 1pm, so I'll have to see what we're going to have for dinner.

And now, I must get myself together, as I am going to get a pedicure. My toenails desperately need attention, but with my back, I definitely can't do it right now, so off to let a pro handle it.

Everyone have an excellent Saturday!

valoise

In some ways VidUKon has filled the hole left by the death of Vividcon - a plethora of vidshows, a scattering of how-to panels, and hanging out with fellow vid fans & makers (although not quite the same interaction on Discord as in the hotel lobby or con suite). I've had vids at VidUKon for the past several years (usually in themed vid shows, occasionally in premieres). This year I was poking through my old vids for something to submit for Vidder's Choice. I chose my old reframing of Show White as the evil character.

Watch on YouTube

on AO3

hannah

Earlier this week, my older brother J. wanted to inflate an exercise ball for his wife E. My younger brother R. and his wife G. who live about a block away have several bike pumps that could be used to that precise task. Now, they're a block away from each other. J. doesn't walk to R.'s apartment to borrow the pump, inflate the ball at his place, and walk back to return the pump when he's done. He doesn't ask R. or G. to bring a bike pump over to inflate the ball at his apartment. He brings the un-flated ball to their apartment to inflate it there.

I know I have my own set of strengths and weaknesses, and I know I'd aim for a more practical solution to the problem of how to move around a fully inflated exercise ball. Like keeping it in one location. The pump's a far more modular device.

Also of note is that E. told G. - not in confidence, not in secret - that she wasn't interested in coming to Friday night dinners anymore. She didn't feel up to it. I know she's pregnant right now, but even before she was expecting, she was pulling the exact same excuse of having a long week at work. She's been using that excuse for several years now, and I'd figured not every week could be that long. I'd apparently figured right. At the same time, it's nice to know that if she's not making the effort, I don't have to worry about it. I'd had a small bit of concern my attempt at polite behavior - attentive listening, eye contact, not interrupting, waiting patiently for people to finish their sentences - had sent the wrong message, what with being told that she probably found it intimidating. Maybe she did, and thinking it's just on me is something where I can't afford that level of vanity. This part isn't me thinking, this part is me realizing: no matter what I do, at some point she needs to make the effort. And G. told me she told E. that at some point, she needed to make the effort, and E. didn't seem all that interested.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire

beanside

Yesterday was all set to be a bad day, and then I figured I'd call the bank, and see why the change. The dude I spoke with was very alarmist. He said it was something to do with the issuer of the check, that the check might have a stop payment or something like that.

So, I texted Lisa at the financial team, who basically said that the bank is on crack. So, during my break, I called them back. This time I went a little Karen-y, I will admit. And I got tossed from rep to rep, and held forever. Finally, they said to call them back. I did, and they said that Edward Jones couldn't verify the check.

So, back to the financial team, and at this point, I was pissed. I got nowhere with them, but figured I had nothing to lose if I called one more time. I called out of work for the afternoon, and called the bank back. Things looked grim, but then I got a really sweet rep. Shout out to Tasha, who went above and beyond to reach out to the local level, and get the check verified.

And lo, after six reps, two calls to Edward Jones and two and a half hours sunk into it, they released the full amount of the check into my account, and I used the rest of the day to pay a fuckton of bills, and get tickets for Ghost.

For the Baltimore show, they still had the Ascended package. Hopefully, the seats will be okay. Then, I got tickets for the Philly show the next weekend! Lower Level, good views, and booked a hotel room for Philly.

We'll get there around 3:30pm, have dinner at 4:30, then at 6, we'll take the hotel shuttle over to the Wells Fargo center for our second ghost concert.

It's going to be awesome. (After much research, I also picked up a couple pair of Loop Experience 2 Plus earplugs. I love Ghost, but I love my hearing, too.

So, as of this morning, my bills are all paid for the month, I have a grocery order coming tomorrow, and the farmer's market on Tuesday is going to be epic.

We also had really good Chinese food from Red Pepper Sichuan Bistro. Excellent Dumplings. I overbought mightily, so we all have plenty of leftovers.

Today, it's back to work. Then, I shall go forth and DM Frostmaiden. And now, off to prep for it.
Everyone have a brilliamt Friday!

hannah

You know a drink's good when you take a sip and all you can say is, "Hot damn." It was a 35mm at Metrograph, one of the in-house cocktails. I was in the mood to give something like that a try and I'm happy I did. Also worth a "hot damn" tonight was the bar making two Pink Flamingos by accident and giving us one for free, and getting home by midnight.

I took my younger brother and his wife out to see Magnolia on, yes, 35mm film. They covered the tickets and I covered dinner, food and drinks both. They said it was a lot, and it might have been; I don't have a good frame of reference for a fairly upscale dinner for three with dessert and drinks included, especially when I usually drink at home and the closest I ordinarily come to eating out is buying some ready-made food at a grocery store. Especially when it was my genuine pleasure to do so. A great movie followed by a good meal with lovely company - well worth the end cost.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Save Me - Aimee Mann

beanside

It's Friday eve, and I'm hoping for a quieter day today. It ended up being a good day, but whoo baby, it was pure chaos.

I started the day working on the PET exam queue. When we get orders, we call the patients to schedule. Don't want to risk the cancer patients on them calling, so we track them down. During some downtime, I texted the financial people to see if I could get the tracking # for the check. Once I got it, I refreshed that shit every 30 seconds.

It was a busy morning--lot of calls, ad a fair amount of emails of people to call. One time when I was calling someone back, Jess popped in to say that they got the email to schedule their appt for a top surgery consult. Unfortunately, the doctors who have availability are in Washington, DC, so that's going to suck, but we'll manage. They have their consult on 6/25, which is sooner than either of us expected, which is awesome. I'm very excited for them, though I know they are very nervous.

Around 11:45am, I checked the tracking and lo, there was a picture of my front door, with an envelope in front of it. I immediately grabbed it, and found my check. It's lovely and has a lot of numbers on it.

At 12:27, I couldn't stand it anymore and went to lunch 3 minutes early so I could deposit said check. It was smooth and easy, and I had the cutest little teller. He was personable, and sweet, and seemed to feel like I'd be angry that there would be a hold on some of the money for 5 days. My dude, I literally made this account two weeks ago, and I just deposited over $40k. Yes, I expect that you're going to hold my money til it clears. They actually are clearing a generous amount this morning at some point, so I'm happy.

All in all, I was back home by 12:45, having taken less than 15 minutes in the bank.

Then I got back from lunch and all hell broke loose. Our scheduling software was letting adult patients be scheduled in a pediatric room. So there were a dozen patients who were scheduled incorrectly, and I got to call each of them to break the news. It sucked and took most of my afternoon. But I got most of it done. I have three patients to try back today.

Either way, busy, chaotic day. Add to it the excitement over Jess' consult and the check, and you get a severely discombobulated Teresa.

Today will hopefully be slightly less chaotic. I have my "you hit all your goals for the month" hourlong lunch, and then I'm staying a bit late to do some annual training package.

And motherfucker. I just got an email from Wells Fargo that my deposit will not be available until 6/6 at all. Goddammit.

Oh well. That sucks. But there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm just going to have to suck it up.

I may call them this morning, just to touch base and verify that they're not going to honor the original information.

Well, guess we won't be going out this weekend after all.

And on that note, going to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an excellent Thursday!

beanside

It's Wednesday!

As expected, yesterday was utterly bugfuck at work. In the first four hours, I took 32 calls. I ended up around 44, because the afternoon, I was doing other stuff. Unfortunately, I was doing so much other stuff that I got very little of it done. I'm going to try to buckle down and get the PET queues down this morning, and then I'll work on calling people once those are done.

By the end of the day, I was wiped out. I went to the farmer's market and got some veggies, and then proceeded to be a lump the rest of the day.

Today, my lower back hurts. Not like I threw it out, but like I definitely pissed it off. It's not at all pleasant, and I dislike it.

I've been trying to figure out how much of the money I'm going to need to use, and how much I can save for emergencies. I'm not sure we're able to pay the rent in advance, I'll need to call the leasing office for that. The car is a definite, as is my credit cards. I plan to have a bit of fun with some of it. And the rest I'm going to sock away. I might put some of it in a CD, but most of it is just going to sit and be there if we need it.

The very first thing I'm going to do is get a pair of better seats for the Ghost concert. I've got my eye on a couple of seats that I'd like. Either via Ticketmaster or on Stub Hub or Vivid Seats. I'm hoping at least one of them is still there.

Then, I'll pay of the car. That's not going to go anywhere, so it comes in second. Then, the credit cards. Also not going anywhere. After that, I'm going to go get a haircut. Debating on getting it dyed as well. I don't know how well the gray would take the dye, but I'll give it a shot.

Okay, time to go eat something so I can take some ibuprofen. Everyone have an awesome Wednesday!

hannah

I ended up recording a video and uploading it to Google Drive, and providing a link to that. I emailed the organization for advice on how to go forward and that was their suggestion, and it's my hope that it'll at least get the application looked at by a person, though I'm trying to be realistic and not hold out hope for anything more than that. Just take what comes, whatever that happens to be.

Same with having sent out another novel query today. It's out and off, and it's not something I'll be thinking about until I get a response - and if I never do, then I'm going to let myself forget about it. It's a little odd to conceptualize this as having been fairly productive as days spent in my apartment go, for the productive things to be forgotten almost immediately, but then again, that's how doing the laundry usually works.

Current Mood: ditzy
Current Music: Suburban War - Arcade Fire

ride_4ever

April-May mail from fen!

The USPS damaged one of my pieces of mail so badly that I couldn't read the signature because that part of the postcard was torn off -- and it's a wonder that the postcard ever got to me at all since the part with my last name and half of my street address and half of my zip code and the entirety of my state was torn off -- but I recognized the style of the message as one written by

elayna, an amusing comment about having a vision of Fraser gaining some kind of super-powers caused by getting an electrical shock.

From "across the pond"

smallhobbit sent me a card for "National Greeting Card Day".

minoanmiss sent me two postcards for "National Poetry Month," one with a poem by Emily Dickinson and one with a poem by Mina Loy.

My "MFU cousin"

vysila sent me a box full of zines.

And ION about the USPS: two cards that I mailed to fen at the winter holidays in 2024 were returned to me by the USPS in 2025. One was a fairly quick return, as the card I sent to

lauramcewan came back to me within one month. The other card, the one to

ver_verlain and Rebel, was returned to me FOUR MONTHS after I had mailed it and it had stripes of black marker on it and the "Title IX" stamp was defaced.

Current Mood: postal
Current Location: near the lake they call Michigan

beanside

It's a Tuesday that's going to be like a Monday! Work is going to be so psychotically busy today. It always is the day after a holiday. At least the day is going to go quickly. Tonight is the farmer's market, so I'm definitely going to go pick up some tasty treats.

Yesterday ended up being a mixed bag. Work was feast or famine. Some of it, I was sitting twiddling my fingers, but then some of it, I was stuck on the phone for a full hour with one oncology coworker scheduling 17 patients. I ended up with 29 for the day, which is a lot.

After that, it was onto our Arvandor game, which went really well. People got to be sneaky, and Jess' character had a good backstory reveal. And then, dracolich. I killed a player's character. Don't worry, they got better, but they were fully dead for a few seconds.

Tomorrow, the check will come! And I will put it in my bank account. And then, I will see how long they want to hold it.

I'm plotting what to do with some of the ill gotten gains. I mean, I'm definitely paying off my car. Aside from that, vet visits for both animals. And then we shall get a few things for the apartment, and then we shall have a lovely lunch with our friends, and then, we shall go see Ghost.

And with $448 less a month that I shall have to pay, I shall actually be able to get ahead of my bills. I'm so excited about this. I'm looking forward to being mostly debt free. That's going to be amazing. Maybe, I can rebuild my credit some!

Okay, time to get myself together for work. Everyone have an amazing Tuesday!

hannah

It turns out something that I thought conflicted with plans this week is happening next week. I'm almost disappointed: it would've been nice to have an outstanding commitment preventing me from having to make a decision. It's eminently possible something might come up and take care of things for me that way. I'm hoping it does. If not, I won't be able to complain - I'll have the day free for it, so I might as well spend it on the event with an invitation.

Today would've been spent being more productive, but then I saw the job listing required a link to a short video explaining why I should get hired. Stopped me cold. I figure with something like that, I might as well just call them in the morning, because I'm probably about as likely to get a job cold-calling a place as I am linking to a video. Not sending it in; uploading it somewhere.

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: nothing now