secondsilk | them

1. I felt much better today when I woke up! Still not sure what set off that bout of stomach issues but I'm glad that level is not constant for me anymore the way it was several years ago when this first started.

2. I worked from home today, partly because I was expecting a large package, but partly because I didn't really have any need to go into the office. I think I'm going to do the same tomorrow.

3. The package I was expecting today was a new CD rack for the garage. Carla has a nice stereo system out there (including a turntable, though she hasn't gotten hardcore into collecting vinyl and is still mostly into CDs) and she's been building up her CD collection again after we sold off a lot of them years ago. Sometime last year I bought a new CD rack in the same style as the one we'd had in the house (which we also moved out to the garage), but when I went to order a third one now, they're completely discontinued! D: I really would have preferred to have everything matching, but we settled on one that's at least somewhat similar (light wood). I was expecting to have to put it together but it came completely assembled, so all I had to do was get it out of the box and set it upright. Nice!

4. I love when they sleep with all their limbs together like that. So cozy!

musesfool

Today was super annoying because I had a very weird internet outage. Spectrum acknowledged that there was an outage in my area even! But it was only partial? Or intermittent? Just fucking weird. I could get to my work-related sites fairly frequently (outlook, sharepoint), but literally nothing else would load except for some reason gmail. Like, no news sites. No bank. No shopping sites. Bitwarden timed out trying to log into my password vault. I couldn't get anything at all to load on my personal laptop until I plugged in my phone to use it as a hotspot, which was greyed out and not allowed on my work laptop. Finally, around 4 pm when Spectrum said the outage was over but I still didn't have full service, I chatted with them and somehow their reboot of everything worked (even though I rebooted the modem and router several times on my own without any luck), so I was able to get full access to the internet on both laptops and on my TV. *hands*

In other news, I found that a stint overnight in the fridge greatly improved those cupcakes. I wasn't impressed by them at room temp (texture was super spongy), but they're really good with the extra time in the cold! So if you need vegan cupcakes, the KAB recipe is recommended, especially if you make them ahead of time.

Meanwhile, it looks like we might get a nor'easter this coming weekend? A big storm potentially, though with less snow and more wind. No warming of temperatures anyway. Oy.

*

feeling okay
listening When You Were Mine - Cyndi Lauper

torachan

1. I did have a few brief periods of intense itchiness on my tattoo today but overall it has been less itchy than the past couple days so hopefully it's getting past the itching stage.

2. I don't know if it was one particular thing I ate yesterday or just a build-up of stuff that doesn't agree with me, but starting yesterday evening I've had some of the most painful bloating I've had in a while. I considered not going in to work this morning because of it, but ended up going in for the morning and then coming home after lunch because I just wasn't feeling any better. I'm finally starting to feel better now, still bloated but just normal uncomfortable bloating, not painful. I'm going to stay home tomorrow anyway (was already planning to because I'm expecting a large package to be delivered) but hopefully will be feeling better when I wake up.

3. One nice thing about coming home early is that I was finally able to get to the doctor's office for the blood draw I've been meaning to do all month. It's checking my hormone levels, so I have to do it halfway through the week from my injection, which means Monday. But the last couple Mondays I've had something else I needed to do and was unable to get over there. I had resigned myself to skipping today, too, because I had an early-ish meeting, but decided to go on my way home. So now that's out of the way at least.

4. Chloe's showing off her whiskers.

celli

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

torachan

1. This morning I walked to the fancy donut shop and got a fancy donut.

It was called crispy (or possibly crunchy) french toast donut and it was so good!

2. It was a very nice morning for a long walk, so rather than go directly home, I headed down towards the beach, which is only a few blocks away at that point. This area is actually on a cliff quite high up from the actual beach, so there is a little area with plants and trails and a railing to separate the upper part from the actual cliff, and at one point I spotted the cutest kittens who appear to be living there.

( Kittens! )

There was a bowl of water set out for them and they look very healthy, so it seems like someone's taking care of them. I almost got the black one to get within petting distance, but not quite.

3. My tattoo continues to be itchy but is looking really good. As the redness and bruising goes down, the colors are looking brighter. There are a few spots between the colors where it needs to be filled in more, but she told me to come in after a month or so for a free touch-up, so that will get taken care of soon enough.

4. I finished up my first 1000 piece puzzle today! Looking at the date of the previous puzzle, it looks like it took be a little over three weeks.

5. Gemma's a cutie pie.

musesfool

I would guess we got about 7-8" of snow today before it either stopped or turned to rain (I'm not sure which), and my phone lit up with work chats because they did not make the choice to close the office and make everyone remote on Friday like they should have (in past years, these big forecasts have sometimes turned into duds in reality), so they had to do it today. I was wfh regardless, so it didn't matter to me.

I hope all of you in the path are safe and warm.

More delightfully, I also got pics of Baby Miss L in her Minnie Mouse snowsuit with big smiles on her face - and a video from earlier when she was all, "go in the snow, Mama!" and her mama was like, "We will, but not yet." But Baby Miss L insisted, "But snow, Mama!" Super cute! 🥰🥰🥰

I spent the whole weekend in pajamas, and today I finally tried out a couple of recipes I'd had my eye on for a while: vegan chocolate cupcakes (always useful to have) and whipped ganache (not vegan but delicious) (pics). The cupcakes are okay - a little spongier, texture-wise, than I like, so I'll probably stick with my preferred recipe unless I have a need for ones that are vegan - but the whipped ganache is delicious. It also has butter in it, which I haven't seen before - previously when I've whipped ganache, it's just been the chocolate/cream/vanilla version. As for the cupcakes, I made minis instead of standard, and I swapped in coffee for the water, but otherwise followed the recipe. I got 40 cupcakes out of it, and probably could have gotten a few more, but 40 was more than enough, since I am not taking them anywhere.

*

feeling satisfied
listening Seahawks vs Rams on tv

siria

It is so, so cold. So cold. And the really bad snow hasn't even hit here yet. Brr.

( The Pitt, 2.03, 9A.M. )

( The Traitors Ireland, S1 )

torachan

1. I bought some purple sweet potato spread at work a couple months ago and hadn't used it yet because I had other toast toppings that needed to get used up first, but I finally tried it today and it's so good!

2. I took four walks today and walked almost ten miles total. It's really nice weather for it. Mostly cool and overcast, and though it was a bit sunnier around lunchtime it still wasn't really hot or glaring.

3. I wanted to walk somewhere for lunch today and go somewhere new, so I was just poking around at the maps app and seeing what was around and remembered this place called Pita House down the street that we'd wanted to try. I took a look at their menu as I was walking down and saw they have cheesy shawarma fries and that locked my decision in lol.

They were amazing. I still have half of them left, as well as a beef kebab and some pita, because the fries were listed as an appetizer so I thought it might be small, but I was wrong. The fries alone would be good for two people and the kebab was overkill. But now I have something to eat tomorrow for lunch as well.

4. I haven't seen the granola bar guy at the farmers market in a few weeks but he was there today. He said he was there a couple weeks ago, but that must have been a week I missed. He's got a new flavor, peanut butter and chocolate, and it's really good. I also got a couple of my favorite coconut macadamia ones.

5. Look at this blob!

torachan

Recently Finished
The Grapples of Wrath
New book in the Grave Expectation series! I had no idea this was coming out until very recently so it was a nice surprise. Still enjoying the series.

A Poison at Castle Gloaming
Second in the Jemima Flowerday mystery series. Enjoying this one as well.

Blackmail, My Love
Stand-alone mystery set in the early '50s with a queer woman investigating the disappearance of her (also queer) brother. I enjoyed this but didn't love it. Kind of slow-paced for a lot of it.

A High Five for Glenn Burke
Sweet middle-grade book about a boy who does a report in class about Glenn Burke, the baseball player who invented the high five, but is afraid that people will find out the other reason he likes Burke so much: that he was gay just like the MC.

Banned Book Club
Graphic novel about college student activists in South Korea in the '80s. This is not a period I had any background knowledge of so it was really interesting. I'm definitely interested in learning more.

The Great British Bump Off:-Kill or Be Quilt
New John Allison comic! I had no idea about this but it suddenly showed up on Hoopla. Although it shares the title with a previous comic from a couple years ago, it's not connected at all except by the main character (who is also a character from his Bad Machinery series). I love pretty much everything by him, and this was no exception. Very silly and cute.

Sakura, Saku vol. 9
I don't think I would have followed this series to the end of it hadn't been on Viz Manga, which I already subscribe to. It's cute enough, but started to feel annoying with the hurdles introduced. This was a decent ending to the series, though.

torachan

I went down to Disneyland after work this evening as it's the first day of the lunar new year festival. A lot of other people were doing the same, as it was pretty crowded. The parking lot was also ridiculously full, though not just from park guests, as it's across the street from the convention center and is used for convention parking as well and there's a big convention this weekend (NAMM). I had to park waaaaaay at the far corner of the lot from the bus loading area and the lines for the bus were looking long, so I just decided to walk over to the park.

( Read more... )

torachan

1. Work was kind of annoying today as I really only had one big thing to work on, but I couldn't work on it until the afternoon because something was messed up with the sandbox environment we were uploading files to and it had to be fixed first. But that meant I got a lot of reading done while I was waiting around for it to get fixed, so that was a bonus anyway.

2. I went to DCA in the evening and got some really tasty foods from the lunar new year festival. Today was the first day so it was pretty crowded (though still not Christmas levels, thankfully) but I had a good time.

3. My tattoo is still healing well. It's at the peeling stage and has been peeling for the past couple days and is almost all done. The skin underneath is looking good and for the most part it hasn't been too itchy. There's still some bruising in spots and redness under the yellow band, but both of those have improved a lot, too.

4. I'm very glad it's the weekend. Since I went to Disneyland tonight, I'm just planning on staying close to home and relaxing for the next couple days.

5. Look at this Jasper!

siria

Wound Care
The Pitt | Robby, Gen | ~1400 words | Thanks to

sheafrotherdon for betaing. Episode fic for 2.03.

(Also on AO3)

( Mrs Kovalenko was nothing like his grandmother, except for how she reminded Robby of her all the same. )

torachan

1. Having remembered the new Shake Shack near work, I decided to go there for lunch today to try more of the Korean menu items.

The chicken sandwich was so good. It did make me feel bloated for several hours afterwards, but it was worth it. The fries with kimchi powder were also very tasty, though I didn't love the dipping sauce that came with them. And I almost forgot, but the drink was pomegranate basil lemonade. Not part of the Korean menu, but they always have a variety of seasonal lemonades and they're always good. This one was delicious.

2. There was a tiny bit of rain today but nothing that interfered with my day. As I was getting home from my morning walk there were a few sprinkles, but it was over soon. When I got down to work, the streets were wet, so it had clearly rained a bit more down there, but it wasn't raining when I got there or when I went out for a walk after lunch. It rained a little bit on the drive home, but only barely more than sprinkles, and was done by the time I arrived. I feel like we had enough rain earlier in the month so I'm fine with no more than this amount now lol.

3. I have gotten some really great pics of Tuxie yesterday and today. He looks like he's on a prayer mat here lol.

musesfool

Over the past few days, I finally watched the most recent season of Only Murders in the Building and I enjoyed it tremendously. I feel like I laughed a lot more than I did last season. The thing that is so great about this show, other than all the other things that are great about it, is that the cast is so stacked that you can't play the "most famous guest star is the murderer" game. I mean, this season alone, we had ( spoilers )

In other news, we are - and possibly you are too - supposed to be getting a big winter storm this weekend so I'm thinking about baking plans. I will definitely post if I make something good. *g*

*

feeling pleased
listening In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

torachan

1. I took Carla to the airport this morning before work and she has arrived safe and sound in Wisconsin.

2. Our heat spell is over and it was chilly and overcast today. It might even rain tomorrow, though the forecast has gone down from 50% to like 25%, so maybe not.

3. I love when cats morph into their slug form.

celli

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musesfool

I did indeed get in bed by 9:30 last night and slept pretty hard. I probably could have slept even more, but 11 hours is a pretty good night!

For some reason, I woke up with Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik in my head, and when I wondered to

angelgazing whatever happened to him, she said he co-wrote Spring Awakening, which I did not know, so good for him! From one-hit wonder to Tony winner!

On the Mets front, they finally got a centerfielder in Luis Robert Jr. I guess if he can stay healthy, he'll be an upgrade over last year, offensively at least, though I am still a Tyrone Taylor fan for his A+ defense. #better call tyrone

In other sports news, my attempt to get interested in basketball seems to have done serious damage to the Knicks. They have been losing a lot lately. Plus, everyone I mentioned it to was like, don't do that. I didn't realize people in my wider circle felt that way about basketball. I guess there's always the Liberty! I should figure out when that season starts. Or the Sirens for hockey, but I don't think they've been very good either. Just a bad time all round for NY sports, I guess. And it's not like I'm a fair weather fan, though this certainly sounds like it - it's just I'd like to root for a team that isn't completely terrible, you know? As a treat!

On the books front, there is finally cover art and a real blurb for Dungeon Crawler Carl 8: Parade of Horribles, but still no Kindle* or e-book edition, so I broke down and pre-ordered the hardcover. (I can't do audiobooks. I've tried.) I also decided to do a reread of the series, because I've been trying to map out all the various stuff that needs resolving - and it is A LOT - so I wanted it to be fresh in my mind. So at some point there will be a post that is basically me as that Charlie Day-at-the-murder-board meme trying to figure it all out. *hands*

*I realize that I probably need to do a "free trial" of Kindle Unlimited to get the Kindle edition but I do not want to do that at this time. As the release date gets closer, we'll see if a Kindle edition shows up and I end up cancelling the hardcover, as I would prefer not to buy a hardcover tbh. I have all the rest on kindle, which is where I do 99.5% of my book-reading these days.

So anyway, I guess for the Wednesday reading meme, I just finished a reread of book 1 of Dungeon Crawler Carl and started rereading book 2: Carl's Doomsday Scenario. And I will probably read book 3: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook after that and so on and so forth. *wry*

***

feeling okay
listening Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik

torachan

1. Got my hair cut this morning. Carla wanted to get hers trimmed before her trip (she's going to Wisconsin for a week tomorrow for her aunt's 80th birthday) so it was the both of us and we decided to pop over to Universal Studios for lunch afterwards. The crowds were so low! If we'd stayed to go on any rides, almost everything was like 20 minutes or less, even the massively popular ones. As it was, we just had a nice lunch, spotted some characters, and came home.

2. Because of the haircut appointment, which was awkwardly timed for late morning, I just made today a WFH day. Did some stuff in the morning before we went, and then had a meeting later in the afternoon. I didn't really have a whole lot on the agenda for today anyway, so it worked out well.

3. Shake Shack is apparently having a Korean inspired menu right now, so we got the burgers with Korean BBQ sauce. They were so good! There's also a chicken sandwich and fries with kimchi powder and dipping sauce, and even a caramel gochujang shake, so if they've still got this stuff on the menu when Carla gets back from her trip, we're planning to try some of those as well. Actually now that I think of it, there's one near work, so I might just go over there for lunch one day...

4. Warming bed + stretching = best combo.

musesfool

The conference was interesting, if maybe 1 panel too long (it ended at 4:55 pm, but the last panel was...not great, imo), though the lunch options were, to me, appalling. (Many people ate and enjoyed the sandwiches but there was not one that I would eat. I made do with salad, chips, and cookies.) My boss and I both felt validated by some things being mentioned that we already do and some that we are planning to do (if the new board chair approves), so that part was good too.

It was hard to get up (it was hard to sleep, knowing I had to get up 90 minutes earlier than usual), but I did it. I also saw two fun signs on the way: "Lube Entrance" and "You can ship anything." As

devildoll said when I told her, I'll take AO3 tags for $200, Alex. *g*

Now I'm going to try to stay awake for another hour and then go to bed because I am le tired.

*

feeling exhausted
listening Get a Grip - Semisonic

torachan

Universal Studios has short hours during the off season, making it inconvenient to go for dinner on weeknights, but today we had an opportunity to go for lunch since we were sort of partway there.

The park wasn't crowded at all, but all the good parking was taken, so we had to park at the ET parking structure, which is at the far end of CityWalk, but at least that meant we got a nice walk to and from the park as well as inside.

( Read more... )

torachan

1. Pretty chill day at work today. I got stuff done. The office situation is a bit annoying now because as of last Thursday we have a handful of new people moved in, but there weren't enough empty desks so they brought desks from their previous office and crammed them in where we had previously had a meeting table and it feels very crowded now. I'm sure I'll get used to it, though.

2. I love the dramatic lighting on Gemma. It suits her dramatic personality lol.

know

secret welfare poet

Fic on AO3

February 2024

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look at our footprints in the dust

them

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February 2024

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