Hints on how A.E. Graves spends her imaginary spare time
I’ve been profoundly ill these past few days, the sickest I have been since my December 2022 bout of COVID.
I’m on the mend now, but I’m relieved that my habit of writing posts in advance and scheduling them to post days ahead hides these awkward interruptions to my ability to read/see/type!
If you can avoid getting this season’s respiratory ailments, do so. I give this one zero out of five stars. I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT.
I have several books in storage that I started reading before the move to my temporary apartment, and will likely need to start over when I get to unpack them. I have a long reading list of newer and older things that are waiting for my attention.
But what else am I reading, aside from daily news at WaPo and the UK Guardian, plus some posts on Mastodon (which I visit weekly-ish, only to fall into various research rabbit holes)?
The book I am most likely to stay up late reading: System Collapse (the Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells. I love Murderbot!
II have finished a few manga I haven’t written about yet. (Next weekend, maybe?)
Reading in progress, in no particular order:
I have started and stopped several manga that are not my cup of tea. While very few aren’t drawn consistently well (rare for published work!), there are some that start well but eventually all the girls are showering for no reason that advances the plot; they are nothing but fight scenes; they are about a video game, and a bit too much like playing one in which you respawn and have to replay the same levels; or they start strongly as a revenge tale, but somehow wind up having entire chapters that are discussions about… royal politics and agriculture??!? I won’t write about those. There are more fun things to write about!
I have abandoned a few audiobooks, but subscribe to support a local bookstore, so I’ll be back on that horse soon. I have several digital books that I will read if ever my eyes aren’t so tired from staring at screens (ahem).
Here’s another modest-but-fun pen in my collection, with matching velvety ink. I’ve been surprised at how many shades of gray ink are available, especially since some are so subtle and pale that I’m unsure how they can be used…
My handwriting with this style of pen is nicer when it is not hurried, but all of this year I’ve felt like I have so much to write and so little time that I can’t slow down…
While I’ve fallen behind in my posts here and at my fine art photo blog, I have been posting images semi-regularly to mobilelene.blogspot.com, my smartphone photo blog.
Yes, you may question the wisdom of trying to maintain three blogs. (I mean, who does that?) Just… roll with it, please.
I’ll periodically cross-post new content from those sites here, just to add variety to my book talk.
Yes, it is outrageous. Yes, it is good practice. Yes, I’ve been at it so long that they keep updating the lessons AROUND me.
This year I spent time on Hawaiian, and then switched back to German. I miss Japanese, but fear that I forgot all the kanji already. I’m not cool enough for French and Spanish this year, though I’m happy that I found my notebook with Spanish and Japanese notes. (They… are not similar!)
Yes, I’m a paying member, so I was able to buy a “streak freeze” on the few days I couldn’t get to my lessons before midnight. But STILL. I’m… persistent! The owl (die Eule) mascot, Duo, is momentarily appeased.
You know what helps make it easier to get out of a warm, cozy bed in the morning?
Knowing that you baked a pie the previous night.
Just knowing that there is a freshly baked pumpkin pie somewhere in the house (well, in the fridge), waiting for the right moment to join a meal or coffee, is so ENCOURAGING.
(My recipe for a high protein, vegan pumpkin pie here.)
For someone with a very steady and predictable blogging habit, it’s exotic for me to START posting for the year in December. But… it has been quite a year.
In brief: a death in my immediate family, an enterprise-wide technology project, an underperforming vendor whose work I took on, an incompletely staffed team, a previously unenforced building code, a potentially broken bone, an immediate family hospitalization, a death in my partner’s family, countless COVID tests, and other events inflated 2023 beyond a year’s natural dimensions. It has been… an experience which would make for low-quality television, though there have been numerous comedic side quests which could be garishly animated to break the tension.
I still have books to write about, of course. I don’t plan to write often about coffee: though I enjoy my precious French press brews often, I don’t want to write about my local coffee suppliers in a commercial-feeling way, despite recent internet trends (which I’ll write about eventually). But there are plenty of books, and even Korean comics (!), to fill any perceived gaps.
So, I’ll get back to it.
So, I haven’t posted in a very long time, and… so much has happened that I can’t summarize it all today!
The highlights: I emptied my home of 20 years, moved to a neighborhood where all the little dogs have their own outfits, had a major structural retrofit start at my house, covered the work of multiple open roles at my job, photographed an amazing series of sunsets, spent a lot of time enjoying holiday lights, and caught COVID.
The books I was in the process of reading are all in storage, and most of my ordinary habits have been very much disrupted. I’ll get back to them, but I’ve been living in an interim (liminal?) state for months.
I’ll get back to myself and start posting again. In the meantime, best wishes for a healthy and happy 2023.
I’m here! I really am! I’m just… adjusting to a new schedule, commute, job, and all that stuff.
I read a stack of books before work started, but haven’t yet stayed awake long enough to write about them.
I did keep up my Duolingo practice, at least!
I’m quiet, but things are good. I’ll write more… soonish.
I was hoping to post a pandemic living update AFTER the omicron peak was far behind us, but the peak isn’t happening everywhere at the same time. While there is a lot of chatter about how the infections can be less serious with the omicron variant of COVID-19, they are still serious for too many people: the US is still losing more than 2,200 people to COVID EVERY DAY.
But: a downturn in local new case numbers after an alarming spike is still somewhat encouraging, and we’ll take encouragement where we can get it.
As noted in an earlier post, there aren’t many restrictions that affect me, as a fully vaccinated and boosted person here in San Francisco. I now have some fashionable and very comfortable FFP2 masks (a European variation of a good mask standard) for transit and indoor public places, and can largely go anywhere and do anything. Outdoor dining has been delightful recently.
The bigger things I’m not doing – like flying on airplanes to visit other regions – relate to my risk tolerance. Why go to locations with poor health figures (indicated by low masking/vaccine rates), dangerously full hospitals, and/or unusually high case numbers? No one is preventing me from going, but regions that are struggling (or which are actively opposed to infection prevention politically) are unlikely to be both comfortable and fun.
(There are still countries that are restricting non-essential travel, and I don’t blame them – the US did the same thing! Some are much safer to travel within than the U.S., but that’s also why they are closed to Americans right now.)
A friend in [a European country] who had COVID in 2020 said they are tired of COVID restrictions, but… they’ve been under so few meaningful restrictions over the duration of this pandemic that I’m wondering if they are just saying that to be polite. (Currently: restaurants there must have guests depart before 11pm, and there are limits on group sizes of 8 for dinner, 50 for other events… how would this even be noticeable?) Another friend in their country just got COVID this month, and so may view it differently, but it may be too soon to ask.
I’m just excited that ZERO friends have announced new COVID infections in the past two weeks! That bodes well.
I visited an office that requires masking and vaccine boosters (YES!), and was quite comfortable. It was novel and vaguely pleasant to be in an office and around other people in a place with a safety culture! I… could get used to that.