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A Very Busy 2018
Friday, 23 February 2018 15:09Giant pile of various things crammed into one post! Because I know if I split them up into separate posts I will not actually getting around to doing all of them.
House
Most of my stuff is in the house, which is a good start! Except probably two-thirds of it is still in boxes, or in piles on the floor, because I've been so busy I haven't had much time to actually unpack things. And jesus christ I have a lot of stuff. So far the two biggest downsides to home ownership are 1) having to shovel the driveway and 2) no outside constraints on how many rooms my crafting detrius can creep into (which was true when I was renting, actually, it's more of a 'living alone' problem). But it's nice to be able to decorate how I want, and set things up to my own tastes!
Cat
Of course, Storm got some sort of skin infection on her ears like two days before we moved. Originally cause may have been mites, but I bought an OTC mite treatment and was using it for the week before I could get her into the vet, and there were no mites present at the vet visit, but something got her scratching at her ears, which turned into pyoderma and more scratching, complete with huge crusty scabs that were coming off with fur attached. She's been on both oral and topical antibiotics for a week now and is doing much better, though she hates the topical ointment (it's reeeeeally sticky). Also she's upset about moving, and has spent a lot of time sleeping in my closet and being unenthused about food. Hopefully once the infection clears up she'll be a little happier, which will stop me from stressing out too much.
Iaidou
One of the things keeping me a bit busier than in the past is that I've started doing iaidou once a week! I've wanted to try a weapons-based martial art again (I took fencing lessons in middle school), and I'm finally in a location and financial state where I can. The dojo also offers kendo (which happens right after the iaidou group) but I'm not quite ready for that time commitment, and less interested in sparring/competition. So far I'm really enjoying it - because iaidou is pretty much just solo kata, there's a lot more emphasis on focus and awareness, and practice is very meditative for me. There's one guy who started a few weeks before me, which is good, because it means I'm not the only one there who doesn't have all the gear or know all the kata yet.
Gastropod Live
I finally managed to remember to buy tickets in time for one of the Gastropod live shows at the Museum of Science! It was a lot of fun - some stuff on aphrodisiacs, including having a couple try one of Pliny the Elder's less awful (but still not super-appetizing) remedies on stage and discussions on pheromones, and how they start disappearing in mammals about when we evolved the ability to differentiate between green and red. Then there was a brief bit on taste-hacking, which means I finally got to try a miracle berry and now I super-want to have like, a miracle berry party and play around with tastes. Also either I got a PTC strip that was not well-saturated, or my tolerance for bitter has gone up over the years, because it was still nasty and bitter but nowhere near as nasty and bitter as I remember it being. Things closed with a discussion on the history of pasta shapes, and how to pair pastas and sauces. Lots of fun, and I would definitely go again.
Katsucon
The thing eating most of my free time: Katsucon was last weekend, and I somehow managed to get Clow done in between all the house stuff. I was not organized enough to buy plane tickets ahead of time so I ended up driving because it's waaaay cheaper, and with transit to/from the airport and time spent waiting at the airport, it was like max two hours longer to drive, and a less stressful packing experience. I was a little worried I'd get bored really quick with no company in the car, but I put on podcasts and was fine up until the last hour or so when 'are we there yet'-itis set in. I didn't get to see quite as many people as I had hoped, because after the last few weeks I was not up to organizing a ton of hangouts/partying hard, but I did run into many of my friends, and Andy and I had a good time people-watching and getting cosplay photos.
Unsurprisingly I am behind on basically everything else, but my plans for AB and ACen are light this year so hopefully I'll have time to get caught up.
House
Most of my stuff is in the house, which is a good start! Except probably two-thirds of it is still in boxes, or in piles on the floor, because I've been so busy I haven't had much time to actually unpack things. And jesus christ I have a lot of stuff. So far the two biggest downsides to home ownership are 1) having to shovel the driveway and 2) no outside constraints on how many rooms my crafting detrius can creep into (which was true when I was renting, actually, it's more of a 'living alone' problem). But it's nice to be able to decorate how I want, and set things up to my own tastes!
Cat
Of course, Storm got some sort of skin infection on her ears like two days before we moved. Originally cause may have been mites, but I bought an OTC mite treatment and was using it for the week before I could get her into the vet, and there were no mites present at the vet visit, but something got her scratching at her ears, which turned into pyoderma and more scratching, complete with huge crusty scabs that were coming off with fur attached. She's been on both oral and topical antibiotics for a week now and is doing much better, though she hates the topical ointment (it's reeeeeally sticky). Also she's upset about moving, and has spent a lot of time sleeping in my closet and being unenthused about food. Hopefully once the infection clears up she'll be a little happier, which will stop me from stressing out too much.
Iaidou
One of the things keeping me a bit busier than in the past is that I've started doing iaidou once a week! I've wanted to try a weapons-based martial art again (I took fencing lessons in middle school), and I'm finally in a location and financial state where I can. The dojo also offers kendo (which happens right after the iaidou group) but I'm not quite ready for that time commitment, and less interested in sparring/competition. So far I'm really enjoying it - because iaidou is pretty much just solo kata, there's a lot more emphasis on focus and awareness, and practice is very meditative for me. There's one guy who started a few weeks before me, which is good, because it means I'm not the only one there who doesn't have all the gear or know all the kata yet.
Gastropod Live
I finally managed to remember to buy tickets in time for one of the Gastropod live shows at the Museum of Science! It was a lot of fun - some stuff on aphrodisiacs, including having a couple try one of Pliny the Elder's less awful (but still not super-appetizing) remedies on stage and discussions on pheromones, and how they start disappearing in mammals about when we evolved the ability to differentiate between green and red. Then there was a brief bit on taste-hacking, which means I finally got to try a miracle berry and now I super-want to have like, a miracle berry party and play around with tastes. Also either I got a PTC strip that was not well-saturated, or my tolerance for bitter has gone up over the years, because it was still nasty and bitter but nowhere near as nasty and bitter as I remember it being. Things closed with a discussion on the history of pasta shapes, and how to pair pastas and sauces. Lots of fun, and I would definitely go again.
Katsucon
The thing eating most of my free time: Katsucon was last weekend, and I somehow managed to get Clow done in between all the house stuff. I was not organized enough to buy plane tickets ahead of time so I ended up driving because it's waaaay cheaper, and with transit to/from the airport and time spent waiting at the airport, it was like max two hours longer to drive, and a less stressful packing experience. I was a little worried I'd get bored really quick with no company in the car, but I put on podcasts and was fine up until the last hour or so when 'are we there yet'-itis set in. I didn't get to see quite as many people as I had hoped, because after the last few weeks I was not up to organizing a ton of hangouts/partying hard, but I did run into many of my friends, and Andy and I had a good time people-watching and getting cosplay photos.
Unsurprisingly I am behind on basically everything else, but my plans for AB and ACen are light this year so hopefully I'll have time to get caught up.
