kaffy_r | Entries tagged with work

Hi - I'm Not Quite as Stressed as I Was Friday Night

That might be because I finally got my for-money interview transcribed today. It takes me about 2.5 hours to transcribe a 59 minute interview; but I can now put the story together. I'm so glad that, as my manual dexterity and ability to write up interviews has declined, my ability to record interviews and then transcribe them has increased. I think back to my years of blithely telling people that I'd always prefer written notes "because then I can see the pattern of the interview, which makes it easier to write my story."

I was a bit of an idiot back then.

Speaking of recordings, I was very glad to watch last night's Kamala rally in Houston, thanks to MSNBC's "The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell" being on my "record" list. The network ran the whole rally. It was amazing, and upped my hope quotient. I hope I'll be able to see the rally where Michelle Obama spoke in the same fashion.

Lawrence was in the middle of reading a joint statement from Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward about the WaPo decision, when they cut to the rally, so I haven't had a chance to hear what he might have said about the whole disreputable situation. And, oh yeah, after sleeping on it, I cancelled my subscription, and began putting $60 a year toward The Guardian. I'm also considering whether or not to cancel my Amazon Prime account, which some folks have suggested would hit Bezos harder.

I saw a conversation on FaceBook (I still occasionally peek in there, although I then usually run away, screaming internally) where one of my fairly disabled acquaintances made the point that folks like them can be incredibly dependent on Amazon for everything from grocery delivery to medical supply delivery - and for contact with the outer world. I understand that. If one needs Amazon in that fashion, then hang on to it, and don't let anyone guilt you (not that this person would be guilted easily, but they were very angry at someone saying that everyone needed to do that.)

I've been watching episodes of a Korean survival show, Kingdom: Legendary War, from 2020, featuring six KPop bands vying to win the contest. Yes, SKZ was on, but I'm getting a chance to hear several other bands I've heard about, but never heard. It's cool.

I don't have much else to say, but I wish all of you a good night, and a good morning. Hope to see you here again.

Current Mood: relieved
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: Stray Kids "The Tortoise and the Hare"

They Still Think I'm Useful

Over the weekend, I started worrying about whether a) I could get cracking on a rather amorphous story that one of my news outlets wants (large and amorphous stories are the bane of my reporting existence, because they're like trying to find a nice solid handle in a large, poufy pillow) and b) where I should hunt around and pitch story ideas to the editor of the other news outlet I string for.

Yesterday, the editor of the second news outlet asked if I'd be interested in doing a profile on a group operating in their coverage area. Why sure, I said! I finally touched base with the group's contact. We're working on a date to get together for an interview, and I have some research to do, but that's gotten started. I also finally got in touch with an interviewee for the amorphous story. I'll be talking to her tomorrow morning. And getting that first interview means I've finally gotten the ball rolling. Yay, me? Yeah, I think so; at least a tiny yay ....

I'm still working on my latest Arcane AU fic. Someone who read some of the earlier fics in the series said she'd like to see a story featuring Vi and Caitlyn and their relationship. While I like both characters, Mylo, Ekko, and Powder have been closest to my heart. Still, I took it as a good writing challenge to put together a good quality story about people in whom I'm less invested. I'm enjoying getting into Vi's head; it's being written from her point of view.

And now I'm going to sign off, and enjoy time with Bob, while we both geek out on our favorite animes.

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: MSNBC, but I'm turning it off

Another Post in 24 Hours - w00t!!1!

( Read more... )
And finally, I'm still sad about the death of Gordon Lightfoot. He lived a long time, beat a lot of his demons, and continued being one of Canada's Iconic Bards. Lightfoot's songs were the soundtrack to some of my most memorable life events. He's part of the warp and weft of my life, and of Canada's culture. So when I learned he'd died, it really did feel like a hit in my gut, no matter how full a life he'd lived.

Here are some of the songs that he wrote and are part of Canada. (The final one's a bit problematic, since it doesn't look at the indigenous people from whom the land was stolen, or the hundreds of Chinese immigrants who died helping build the railroad - but it still captures something of the Canadian experience, and it still raises the hair on the back of my neck.):

Watch on YouTube

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Gordon Lightfoot, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"

Success! More or less!

I finally figured out a way to start the story that should start it with the kind of bludgeon they seem to want. I checked with the PR person I deal with. She likes it. She also said that my original story was just fine, and that there were too many people in a position to make "suggestions" that can't be ignored. We commiserated a bit, since she's a former news person as well, and now I feel I can actually do a revision.

Yay!

No, really; yay. I needed to be able to do it, and I was freezing up a whole lot. Possibly because Friday and Saturday I was dealing with a news story/feature that I got from the other folks who are willing to pay me. It left me a little drained by the time Monday rolled around, and then Tuesday. Now that I have a map, I can get up on Wednesday, and know where I need to go.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: MSNBC

Yep. I Aten't Dead

I'm exhausted, but I'm not dead.

( It's all under here. )

Current Mood: cranky
Current Location: the livingroom
Current Music: Leadup to the 2023 State of the Union

Positive Things

That includes me, unfortunately. I'm now at *checks* three weeks two days of apparent COVID infection. My doctor's team, which I've contacted twice about this, tells me that it's not that uncommon. Their advice, which was to say that I don't have to isolate if I don't have a fever, as long as I mask when I leave the house, made me feel a little better. because that's what I've been doing. Still, my nose wants to have a serious talk with me about my regular attacks on it with swabs ....

Wuxtry, wuxtry, alert the press - I finally finished the NaNoWriMo novel I started back in November 2021! It's roughly 87,000 words, and took me 15 months to complete it as a first draft. For me, that's lightning fast. I have a couple of people - my Bob and

a_phoenixdragon - who will take a look at it, so that I can tighten and polish it up a bit, but I have no intention of putting it out for consideration anywhere. It's much more apt to be put out to pasture.

(I may put a more edited version of it up here, or start another journal specifically for any original fiction I might write. I'm not sure yet. It's original, so it can't go to the places I normally park my fic. We shall see.)

Still ... I finished it! That makes me very happy, although I'm trying not to get a swollen head about it.

And now I can do one of two things: get back to work on my 2022 NaNo novel, which is probably only half completed at this point, or tackle an Arcane fic plot bunny. I find it interesting that in the past year, I've written far more original fiction than fic.

And in other writing news, the private school for which I wrote a feature is interested in giving me another assignment. I learned that on Monday. The same day, I got a call from the editor of the local news outlet to whom I sent my resume. She wants me to cover a meeting tomorrow night, via Zoom. Did I want that? Indeed I do, although getting prepped for the meeting will keep me busy today. I'm just geaering up for that now, but I wanted to post something of my own before doing that.

Here in Chicago, we have a winter weather advisory until 3 p.m. our time. Looking out my window, I see we already have about three quarters of an inch of snow on thee ground. I welcome the snow, since we haven't had much this year, but I worry about our unhomed residents who are living in tents around the city. At least It's not supposed to be too cold.

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: the furnace

Watching the Electives*

So now that I've put together an updated resume and a cover letter, and sent it off to my target community news outlet; now that I've calmed myself down and come to some sort of ragged calm about seeing our bank accounts disappear and making the decision that I must return in some fashion to the working world; now that I've put together my basic holiday card list ... now I can settle in with MSNBC to watch the Georgia federal senatorial run-off returns. I had a glass of wine with dinner, and may celebrate a Warnock win (IhopeIhopeIhope) with an Empire.

Oh, and I can share some of the evening with y'all. Hi!

(Let me know if you'd like a card from me. I may already have your address, but if you're not certain about that, I'd rather get your information twice than not at all.)

How is everyone?

*Sorry; it's the best I could do on short notice.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: MSNBC

Starting To Slow Down

And that's no way to be. So I am going to get up earlier tomorrow, and I'm going to do what used to be very helpful to me in my former reportorial life: I'm going to set up a minute-by-minute agenda for myself.

I'm not kidding. It works for me. What works for you when you start losing focus? I'm interested.

Now I'm going out to the livingroom to watch some anime (I can't recommend Carole and Tuesday highly enough. And it's available on Netflix, y'all), and then, I hope, another episode of Good Omens.

Current Mood: curious
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/530919.html

Waiting For the Plumber or Someone Like Him. Oh, and Advanced Policy-Wonking

I'm actually waiting for an actual plumber, who's set to come between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to evaluated our leaking garbage disposal unit and determine whether it can be reset in place to eliminate the leak, which would be the case if it had somehow been jarred loose enough to create an opening at the top for water, or whether there's an actual un-repairable physical crack or hole near the top. The guy said he'd bring a new disposal unit "just in case," so BB and I are set to question him sharply in an effort not to be talked into a new unit that we don't need. Wish us luck.

I have actually tackled something that I've been avoiding for some three weeks; writing up a draft report on recommendations for possible changes to the Chicago News Guild bylaws. We got a start on that, as I said, three weeks ago, when I and another Guild member appointed to the task got together an did a rather rudimentary review of our existing bylaws.

( The true wonkishneth begins hereunder )

Current Mood: determined
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/513739.html

Updates Are Us

I can't believe how long it's been since I actually posted something, or responded to other folks. Here's my "n things makes a list" post.

1. Vincent is settling in, and Opie, while continuing to growl, seems to be getting used to him. I was saddened when I saw Vincent awaken to the fact that "this other little ginger guy actually doesn't like me! Why?" but I'm hoping that they'll eventually get comfortable with each other. We got a new cat litter pan, or more accurately, a "litter loo" that is essentially a mini-shed for holding the real litter pan. It's taller than our old Booda-box, which allows Vincent to get in, turn around, etc., without getting his fur into the litter or his own leavings (and that is still a big problem; I can hardly wait for his Feb. 2 grooming date, during which he'll have the fur around his butt trimmed. Cleaning a very big cat's behind is an exercise for two people, and it's tough to do well even with two.) The litter loo has the added benefit of being a small table, providing another horizontal surface in a kitchen that needs them.

2. Last Saturday, I attended a Pioneer Press reunion-cum-goodbye-for-the-buyouts-and-earlier-laid-offs party. It was one of the most surprisingly positive, and positively intense, gatherings I've recently been to. Somewhere between 30 and 50 people attended, nearly all of them Pioneer alumni of various types. I saw people I hadn't seen in decades; I saw three of my old editors, including one who I'd served under in the late 1980s; she told me that seeing me and my colleagues was the only reason she'd braved the weather that night (it was pretty bad.) I didn't even mind seeing my last editor; he might have been what tipped me over into taking the buyout, but I realized that I could interact with him pretty darned pleasantly when we weren't forced to interact on a professional basis. There were loads of hugs, freely and enthusiastically given and received. One of my buyout colleagues said, .as we headed home, that it was very much like a high school reunion; you realize that even the people you hated or feared as a high school student have turned into people you are happy to see.

3. A couple of nights ago, I was feeling kind of down - can't even remember why - and my beloved husband put on the first episode of "The War Games," the final adventure for the Second Doctor. We binged the entire adventure over two nights, and it was rollicking good fun. The pacing was remarkably decent, and I was surprised at how much action there was, since I think the received wisdom is that it was the Third Doctor who was action-oriented, and not the Second. The acting varied from "a bit better than decent" to "OMG this is horrible, and it's viewable only as scenery-chewing OTT fun!" The fellow playing the War Chief was marginally better than the guy playing the security chief, and the War Lord was actually pretty good. It was my first encounter with Jamie and Zoe; both actors did well, especially Frazier Hines. Of course, it doesn't do to inspect the plot too closely, lest one break out into snickers and, eventually, guffaws. But I'm so glad I saw it.

4. We in Chicago are bracing for the coldest week thus far this 2018-2019 winter season. By Wednesday, the high temp. for the day will be -10F, and the wind will put daytime wind-chills close to -25. The night time temps and windchills for Tuesday and Wednesday are even more dire. I therefore went out today and got all the necessary things we'll need; Japanese fish cake, bean sprouts, seitan, fried tofu, Japanese and Korean baked goods, mochi, curry and mapo tofu mix ... WHAT??!?

5. Also? Roger Stone was arrested and indicted. The world got a little brighter ....

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: the living room.
Current Music: The furnace. MMmmm, heat ....
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/509566.html

Still Alive

But goodness me, it seems to be taking too much energy.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Location: Heading Out on the Road
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/501954.html

Got Through It

I wrote three stories, and covered a fourth, which I'll have to write about tomorrow, in time for a 10 a.m. deadline. I think I can do it, but yeah, a hell of a start to the week.

I had a video chat with Andy this evening; I want to let him know that we're here for him to vent to, as he needs it. He's looking for work in all sorts of places, and waiting for his Washington Uber driving OK to come through; I knew that work and available cash was going to be their stressor really soon after they got to Seattle, but knowing it doesn't make it any easier to watch. And of course, they knew it was going to be difficult at first - but knowing it and experiencing it are completely different things. Sent them some good vibes, if you think about it, eh?

I did clear up one potential glitch in my efforts to get a new Canadian passport - I'd simply downloaded the wrong form, which was giving me wrong, and very worrisome, information about the process I need to go through. Thank heavens it was, as I found out today, wrong.

I still haven't uploaded our Seattle visit pics. Then again, I don't intend to inflict too many more of those on you, My Faithful Readers.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: the living room.
Current Music: Someone singing quite well upstairs
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/499801.html

Today Was ... Not Bad, Eh?

That's a phrase from My Home and Native Land, and it suits today. I only got one micro-managing email from The Boss From ... uh ... Heck. That's not bad, eh? I didn't eat healthily today, but I didn't go overboard on chocolate, as has been the case in recent weeks, so that's not bad, eh? (Yes, I know that chocolate is always On Point, but man, have I ever been eating a lot of it.)

I'm getting out of my awful meeting before 9:30 p.m., which is not bad, eh?

And we're getting more than $2,000 back in overpaid taxes. That surprises me, because I was certain we'd end up owing. So ... not bad, eh?

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: On the Job
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/484986.html

I Do Indeed Exist

Although I haven't done much posting. I did manage to get another chapter of Hearts & Moons uploaded, and the next chapter is about 2/3rds done. (I'm not talking any more about "last chapter" because I don't want to be like the boy who cried wolf, which was what I was in danger of becoming. We shall see what happens over the next little while, and I shall endeavor not to jinx myself.)

Bob and I are largely recovered from what various doctors finally decided was the "bacterial flu." Whatever. If they couldn't figure out what it was, and if the blood tests didn't help the detective work, then by all means, call it what you will. We both ended up taking antibiotics. I really don't like taking them, firstly because I really don't want to be in absolute need of them somewhere down the road, only to learn that no antibiotic will work on me and, secondly, because antibiotics make everything taste weird and do unpleasant things to the necessary biota in one's body.

Still, much better, so hurrah for antibiotics.

I am into the third week with my new boss. I haven't killed him. Only 30 more months ....

Bob and I went to see "Black Panther" on Friday, and if you haven't gone to see it yet, try to make time for it. It's pretty much glorious. Next on my list: "A Wrinkle in Time."

Current Mood: moody
Current Location: the living room.
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/481508.html

Things What I Have Done Lately

1. Had (yet another) bout of back pain. Luckily, not major spasms; unluckily, it hurts when I sit at my desk, to type. Which is, you know, my job. Back to the exercises, silly woman!
2. Seen "The Shape of Water," which I thought was close to a masterpiece. I read a very good piece on tor.com by Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, on why she was disappointed by it. She has some valid points to ponder, worth lowering my defensive "but ... but!"s and listening to. Still, I can't help it; I still think it's close to a masterpiece. Perhaps, had del Toro thought about some of the things that she brought up, it might have been even closer to one. Still ... close ....
3. Been put under even more pressure at work. It's painful to talk about, so I won't do it here. Just send me good vibes. I've been down about it, but I want to get up.
4. Worried about BB. He is my rock, and my beloved, and I wish I could do so much more for him than I can.
5. Made hotel reservations for FB's June wedding. Less than five months away ... it's still weird to me; I keep joking (not joking) about how he and Miss Em need to elope, dammit, but this is what she wants. And that's important. And now I have to think about weird-ass Middle American things like buying a mother-of-the-groom dress in the right color. Their wedding colors are teal and orange. Teal and orange. Sweet lord.
6. I found a copy of "Coastlines:The Poetry of Atlantic Canada" and ordered it. I bought a copy several years ago, and then lost track of my copy, and desperately wanted another. The two times I went back to Canada after buying my original copy resulted in fruitless searches. So off to Amazon I went, and I got it, and immediately turned to my favorite poems. And then FB told me today that he had my copy. Heh.
7. Other things I shall probably remember when I am in bed.

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: the living room.
Current Music: WDCB Jazz with Dee Alexander
Crossposts: https://kaffyr.livejournal.com/476506.html

Things What I Have Been Doing

( All under here )

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: Going to bed
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/451425.html

Sunday After the Deluge

It took me far too long after my last post to get back online. In part, that's because I last posted the night before the local elections that I had to cover on April 4.

( Local election verbiage under the cut )

If you've gotten to this point in the post, you'll deserve a pat on the back. Also, you'll have figured out that I was completely wrung out by Wednesday night. I was. I barely managed to drag myself through Thursday and the first half of Friday. By 2 p.m. Friday, I was done.

The weekend has been a time of getting things done that have nothing to do with my weekday work. I even cleaned the bathroom floor, getting down on hands and knees with a brush and getting into the (eurgh) corners. Yes, it made me happy. Yes, I took a shower after cleaning the bathroom floor.

Now, my beloved husband is making a late dinner for us, and that is a more than reasonable way to end the weekend.

Current Mood: nauseated
Current Location: the livingroom
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/448984.html

Observing the Oncoming ~~Storm~~ Week

I'm almost afraid to say this, kinehora, but I'm feeling better about myself than I did at the end of last week. That took working some self-imposed non-paid work-related overtime this weekend (about 11-12 hours over two days), which has caused BB to side-eye me a bit, but ultimately he understood that, if it took that to stop me beating myself up about the work situation, then it was - barely - worth it. As a union rep, I should be reading myself the riot act, but mental and emotional self-care trumps the contract - something I wouldn't tell many of my younger colleagues, who routinely let themselves be coerced into working hours and hours without putting in for the OT. They're getting coerced, though, so I have to stand behind them and give them the strength to resist doing that. What I'm doing is, as I've said, quiet self-care.

Yeah, sure, whatever, dude. So long as you believe it.

We're having corned beef and cabbage tonight, two days too late, if one believes strictly in holiday-centric menus. I used to dislike boiled cabbage with a great and adolescent hate. As I've gotten older, I've discovered that I like it every so often. Today is "every so often."

So tonight I'll spend a little time with BB and go to bed early so that I can get up and take a running leap at the week. Wish me luck - and may your week be a good one!

Current Location: the livingroom
Current Music: Shoutcast, Jazz Swing Manouche Radio, McCoy Tyner "When I Fall in Love"
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/444868.html

Wish Me Luck

In an effort to make Monday less apt to be the first through ninth circles of Hell, I'm doing some workday work on Saturday. I'm giving myself two hours to get some reasonable things done, (checking backgrounds on candidates, uploading a police blotter, sending emails with questions to the candidates I haven't reached yet, which probably means having to hunt up emails, and telling people they can call me on Sunday), and then I"m going to tell myself to relax again.

And, hey, I may even have something to say beyond this, later today. We'll see.

Current Mood: stressed
Current Location: the livingroom
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/444298.html

I Got to 15 Days ...

... and then the week that truly was from hell hit me. Last night I lost the last of my spoons. I went to bed without having posted anything.

Still, I have been better at posting this month than I've been for quite some time. And, hey, I'm getting back up on the bicycle, and posting now, amn't I? Which, when I put it that way, sounds extremely defensive, but then I've been feeling rather defensive for the past 48 or so hours.

I'm not going to go into all the awfulness of Wednesday through today, at least not today. And certainly, my stress is ongoing, as is the difficult time at work. But tonight, my beloved took me out to our favorite sushi place, and it was so relaxing just to sit and talk with him, drink miso soup and eat chirashi and mackerel jaw, that I don't want to think about anything else. (BB actually pointed out, when I said that, that it's the only one we go to, but that's not completely true and anyway, even if we did go out to other sushi places, this is the one I think I'd like the most.)'

It's Friday, and I am home, and I'm going to watch something enjoyable with BB, and then I'm going to go to bed and cuddle with him, put my head on his chest, and try to unknot my stomach.

Current Mood: groggy
Current Location: the livingroom
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/444082.html

Cauliflower, Capons, Early Deadlines

I have just roasted cauliflower florets after tossing them with coarsely chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and olive oil. It is really, really good. I don't know why I didn't think about roasting cauliflower before the age of 61. (Me, not the cauliflower.) I have a new side-dish for Thanksgiving!

I was playing around with the idea of having a capon rather than a turkey for thanksgiving dinner. After some thought and reading, I've decided not to do so. I'll just go with a smaller turkey and slow/moist roast it.

Can you tell I'm going into Thanksgiving dinner mode? Doing so makes me happy. We're having FB and Em, our friend JT, Drs. Gonzo and Bob (not my BB, a different Bob), and maybe a couple of others. BB has asked that we don't talk about politics. Knowing our friends, that may be impossible, but we'll try to minimize the talk. As he says, he'll even be willing to watch football if it stops the political talk. "I want to be thankful," he says, and I understand.

Early deadlines, early deadlines, early deadlines. Lord, what a pain. And I signed myself up for a Saturday evening assignment, which is also a bit of a pain, although it'll be an automatic 6 hours of pay.

And now, to sit with my beloved and watch anime!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: the livingroom
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/431236.html

I Am Running Around in All Directions

I am not quite acting like a chicken with its head cut off (and yes, children, that was a thing in the days when one might dispatch a chicken for dinner), but whatever I'm doing is very close to that. I shall search for a simile when I have time.

So it seems as if I definitely must complete three days' work before the end of Thursday, because the medical procedure I'm undergoing on Friday has been moved up from 1 p.m. to 10 a.m. And I just realized that I'm supposed to attend a meeting Thursday night, in the midst of preparing for my procedure. The combination of meeting and procedure prep is, for a variety of reasons undoubtedly known to those of you over 50, unrealistic. I am praying that the meeting will actually be viewable online; then I can cover it from home, which will a much more suitable locale, given the prep necessities.

(What? No, I'm not going to spell it out for you, although the hint I gave you ought to be enough. I will say that, in addition to that for which I'm prepping, I'll be undergoing an endoscopy at roughly the same time. God, I love growing old.)

Yesterday I realized that, by covering one story last Thursday, in The Place That I Have Come to Loathe, I missed another meeting in my regular and much-preferred beat. Luckily, I was able to cover that meeting by archived video. Hurrah for 21st century tech.

And therefore I'm off! Perhaps I'll have enough energy to check back in later today. I'd like that.

Current Mood: rushed
Current Location: the livingroom
Current Music: Chris Proctor "Ruby Tuesday"
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/425500.html

Stuff I'm Happy About

Since I think I've spent too many recent posts bitching and moaning about stuff, here are some random — very random — things about which I'm happy.

I remembered, thanks to this neat piece at Tor.com, how much I adore Cordwainer Smith. He is, as the writer states, one of the Great Peculiars of SF&F. Anyone out there a reader of his work?

In what is a first for me, or certainly for the first time in a long time, I started and completed a news feature story in the same day, without the nerves and trepidation which that task has lately engendered in me; what's more, I feel as if I've done a good job.

After two days of undoubtedly necessary rain, we had a glorious fall day.

I managed to confirm that my iPad and laptop bag, which I'd mistakenly left in a union meeting when I grabbed the wrong bag, was safe, and that I could swap the bags tomorrow. Relief!

I am not achy today, and that's good.

Kitties!

And tomorrow is Friday. Hurrah!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/424691.html

Things I Have Done Lately

1. Obsessed over every episode of Game of Thrones, without ever watching a single episode. Yes, I've watched every scene on YouTube that YouTubers can offer me, loads of reviews and responses. No, I don't have HBO, and ... it's stupid of me. But I'm going to be so upset at the end of the season next Sunday.

2. Thrown out all the Marion Zimmer Bradley books I've had on my shelf for years. I'd thought I'd keep a couple of books of hers that were important to me because of how they shaped my love for SF&F, and for the sense of wonder they engendered in me. In the end, I couldn't keep any of them. It was a decision a long time in coming, and it was the first time in my life I have ever thrown books out. I don't believe I shall ever do it again. But for me it was the right thing to do. I couldn't stomach giving them to a second-hand store.

3. Picked up the partly empty drink cup a well-made up gym rat had left on her seat as she headed out the L train door to get to a Cubs game, handed it to her (or her friend, the even more made-up gym rat) and "asked" her to throw it away in a garbage can once she got onto the platform, since "I believe it belongs to you." She did. I am ashamed of being petty about their looks. I should not be that way, since I support anyone's right to decorate their body in the way they see fit. I can only point to my upbringing and say it's hard to escape the attitudes I grew up experiencing when it comes to make-up. On the other hand, I am very glad I told her pick up her damn trash. Politely.

4. Became an employee of tronc. Yes, tronc. tronc. tronc. Mother of fucking god.

5. Wrote a little more of "Hearts & Moons." Go, me.

Current Mood: morose
Current Location: the livingroom
Current Music: a thunderstorm
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/413474.html

The Weekend. Dear Lord, the Weekend

Monday: Sinead
Tuesday: More Sinead
Wednesday: Union rep at two discipline hearings, 1 clearcut, 1 less so. Learned I'd be getting another town added to my beats, with at least 3 more beats in said town.
Thursday: Can't remember, because of Monday-Wednesday. Not enough stories written
Friday: Results of discipline hearings. Teh Suck. Not enough stories written.

BUT ... This

"Hymn to Friday" (Watch on YouTube)

Also, old-fashioned jazz, and a mimosa.

And a very handsome husband.

Maybe things are looking up?

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: living room
Current Music: Spade Cooley: Blonde Fiddler Blues
Crossposts: http://kaffyr.livejournal.com/411303.html

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kaffy_r

June 2025

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Style: Green Summer for Modular by branchandroot
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Page generated Saturday, 7 June 2025 06:12 pm

Grasping at Grace (and Growth)

Transformation is Inescapable

Entries tagged with work

Dept. of It's Not All Bad, Is It?

Dept. of Working for a Living

Dept. of Back on the Bicycle

Dept. of Back on the Bicycle

Dept. of State of the Union

Dept. of Catch Up

Dept. of Democracy, Etc.

Dept. of Getting Things Done

Dept. of Work That Must be Done

Dept. of Retirement, Etc.

Dept. of Is It Friday Yet

Dept. of Monday

Dept. of Mondays

Dept. of I Still Exist

Dept. of Once More Into the Breach

Dept. of This and That

Dept. of Back Up On the Bicycle

Dept. of Sunday

Dept. of Saturday

Dept. of Just Keep Swimming

Dept. of Thursday

Dept. of Tearing Hurry

Dept. of Good Things

Dept. of Getting Back on the Damn Bike

Dept. of Small Mercies