I’m Coming From All the Places I Have Been

Hello, Terrible Ideas. We meet again. I just woke up from a nap, plan to go to bed in two hours, and am currently eating caffeinated yogurt as a delicious blueberry-inclusive snack. This should go great!

On the plus side, my dog seems very happy with life and I'm glad. Sometimes she isn't very excited about me sleeping in the evening, apparently because she feels we should go to bed in the evening instead of sleeping on the couch? I'm not super clear on why this is a problem, since I usually do wake up in time to go to bed. (I didn't used to, I would fall asleep on the couch and that would just be the whole night, or at least half of it. But I would have said that was more common when I had Mimi than Daphne. Maybe I misremember and Daphne is in fact judging me based on personal experience.)

Yesterday we went for some fun walks with Marci, and today we went for more. Genuinely can't remember what I was going to post about yesterday, or frankly today, but that's no excuse for not doing it. Probably.

Halloween celebrations started in earnest in town today, with a bunch of kids' activities and Main Street Trick or Treat (distinct from official Trick or Treat, which is next weekend). The lights and decorations are delightful, as always, and yesterday I realized that next weekend is also NOVEMBER.

This is important for two reasons: one, as we all know, Christmas starts the day after Halloween and I can't remember where my colored Christmas tree and outdoor timer went (I also haven't looked, so I'm sure they're around), and two, NaNoWriMo.

Oh, that's what I was going to post about. Marci and I were talking about novel-writing month last night (before we went to get our race shirts? after? there was a race this morning, and also as part of a town event we learned that oil-based paints are considered hazardous waste but latex-based paints are not; we have a lot of paint in this house for people who have never painted a wall here - we inherited gallons of paint from the last two owners) and I said when I thought "maybe I should write about Christmas for NaNoWriMo" I also remembered I've written two Almost Human Christmas stories which might be fun November topics.

In rereading them (Decorating Delta and How Not to Fall in Love with Your Partner, the latter of which is at least a great title) I was not particularly inspired, but it did prompt us to look for the actual Almost Human show, which is apparently only available on Apple TV right now, so I dug out my DVDs (marvel at my ability to find something I purchased before moving) and we watched the first two episodes. That's right, it was so interesting that we kept watching after the pilot. I'm genuinely surprised at how well this show holds up, especially considering it's a show about the future.

I guess that's all I've got. I'm off to probably not do my homework and tell myself I should take more Chinese classes. Thinking of all of you and sending you good energy and happy thoughts for the day/night ahead.

ETA: The ebay doll saga continues! Did you know you can appeal an ebay "item not received" case decision? ebay doesn't make it easy to find this option, but the google AI can find it. I will be getting my money back, yay! On Monday we find out whether I also get a doll. (After three tries at resolving the initial doll purchase with an uncommunicative seller, I initiated a second purchase with someone else. Fingers crossed.)

I have a class in half an hour: first time with this teacher, this company, this technology, and first time one-on-one (except by accident in the past when a different teacher was more interested in learning English than teaching Chinese, which is fine, just not what I was there for). As you may imagine, I have nerves and little to do with them.

(I tell myself "if you already knew everything there'd be no need to take a class" but whenever I'm particularly nervous about an upcoming event I remember my junior prom, which was the first time I remember realizing that time would pass no matter what. I was sickeningly nervous at the time, but I remember sitting in the bathroom while my mom did my hair and thinking, "in a few hours this will all be over," and that was the best thing about getting ready. Perhaps that reveals more about my relationship with traditional social activities than I realized before I started the story.)

Anyway, here are some pictures! I have another snuggle pup today, plus two sunsets and a rainbow.

( same, friend. same )

Also a fun work story! Last Friday the communications director at the company where I work reached out to me and asked if I would write a short article about my work that would be linked in the monthly company newsletter. And could I have it to her by Monday.

So I thought to myself, what's a nice positive message that I could share with the few people who are likely to read this, that will make their day brighter without being too... anything. And I remembered, as I often do, the message of a Star Trek novel I read many, many times when I was in, I don't know, middle school maybe. The book was "Strangers from the Sky," a story about Vulcan's first contact with Earth, some 20 years before it officially happened.

My memory of the actual story is somewhat--dare I say very--hazy, but the message was "stronger together than alone," and it's the reason the Wei Sect motto in Magical Marriage Ribbons is "Better Together."

Anyway, this was the inspiration for my article, and I even managed to get it into the last paragraph. The communications director was responsible for titling the piece. Imagine my delight when I clicked through from the newsletter this morning to see that my article had been titled, "Stronger Together."

Friends, I cheered. Thank you Star Trek, for making all our lives better.

Anyway, I'm off to class. I'll report back afterwards, unless it's upsetting and/or I have to pretend it never happened. Wishing us all well ♥

Most importantly, another snuggle pup picture.

( snuggly )

Also I have signed up for my first Chinese class in three four (!) years. Although I might have taken some non-live courses since then, who knows. Clearly not me.

I miss Duolingo community classes; they were a delight. I learned so much slang. And the singing! I don't know if Duolingo did away with them because they didn't make any money or because they were too hard to regulate, but they were just the right kind of chaos for me.

This class is a 1:1 at mandarinmonkey.com, largely because I wanted to try out the group class and I thought it would be courteous to meet the teacher first.

Unrelatedly, I have so few plants right now that I actually 1) can get to dollhouse #4 without needing binoculars to peer through the forest, and 2) thought to myself the other day, "I could get another plant!" (I definitely will not get another plant.)

( hobbies )

Tonight will be the night of randomly grouping things to avoid making 6 small posts all at once.

♥ I am sending all of you all the love and support. We're in this together, friends. Know that I'm thinking of you, and I'm grateful to be in this space and time with you.

"if it was up to me, I'd take the easy ride
but I'd miss the grace that changed my life"
--ben fuller & carrie underwood
"if it was up to me"

♥ Chinese restaurant build with Wei Ying and Lan Zhan observing~

( restaurant build 1-4 )

♥ Study hours, did I skip week 2? Apparently. I think I mentioned I was sick last weekend. I watched my Garmin-tracked HRV plummet and for once I was like, "yeah, that seems right."

September | [activity] October weekly numbers (hours)
71 | listening 17 → 31
5 | reading 1 → 4
6 | speaking 0 → 2
13 | videos 3 → 6
2 | writing 0 → 0

I would say I'm clearly behind for the month, but I think that's what motivates me. I used to set my alarm too late to actually get to class on time on purpose, so the adrenaline of needing to leap out of bed would make me actually, you know, leap out of bed. I mean I was late a lot, but I did go,* so I feel like that was a win when it comes to putting self-awareness to use.

*In the interests of full disclosure I should add "sometimes."

The snuggle pups are a success!

A little bit to my surprise, I'll admit, and I haven't actually outfitted them with their warmth or heartbeat, so it's possible that any cozy dog-shaped toy would do. (I was going to say, she has a dog-shaped squishmallow that she does not cuddle, but she is very possessive of it, so that's perhaps more of an argument for than against.)

Pictures to follow.

In other life notes, possible hard freeze tonight, so the plants are in. A few plants. Okay, too many plants, but not as many as last year. Far, far fewer than last year. I'm ready for some new hobbies, although you wouldn't know it by how slow the progress of my lego restaurant is. I'm taking pictures of Lan Zhan and Wei Ying minifigures watching it go up, one bag at a time. They remain charmingly interested despite the glacial speed.