Clever Manka is dressed and undressed

I know I post stuff from Breaking Muscle all the time, but it's just SO GOOD. Today I came across this four-week workout plan that is designed for people with adrenal problems. Nice, eh?

pointoforigin posted the link to this wonderful essay on the great love story of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun. TRUTH and GOOD and YES and oh my god THAT SHOW.

There's a lot of stuff going on for me right now, physically and emotionally. Job-wise, too. SO MUCH GOING ON.

At the office, I wrapped up the last of the application stuff on Monday. I processed all the admits and denies for the Fall 2014 graduates and queries about "why wasn't I accepted" have already started to roll in. Luckily, I don't handle those. But now I'm moving to the next stage, which is doing everything I can to entice our top applicants to actually enroll here. Getting the best of the best to actually agree to KU isn't easy. We're a state university and not a prestigious one. State politics are abominable. Our weather sucks. But our faculty and graduate students are pretty fucking awesome and the vast majority of the time if we can get an applicant here in person, s/he accepts our offer of admission. This technique is so effective that the university actually gives us money to hold a recruitment visit for our top ten accepted applicants. That's what I'm working on now. The visit is scheduled for March 10, so it's scramble time. At least I don't have to make the travel arrangements. Buying my own plane tickets is stressful enough. And then of course, it's spring semester, so a lot of people want to schedule exams and defenses so they can graduate in May. I do all the scheduling for these, and right now I've got four open proposals (waiting on faculty confirmation of availability) and have ten exams already on the books. That is a lot of people-wrangling.

Then I've got some frustrating things going on with my body. Like usual, I suppose, but grrrrrr. I'm on this stuff to help my body increase progesterone production, right? And it seemed to be working well last month. This month not so much. The first day of my cycle was January 31 (my birthday, of course). On February 10 I started spotting and had bad swelling. The swelling persisted for three days, although I only had spotting on the first day. Then this week (starting Monday February 17th) I noticed I was physically fatigued even though I wasn't terribly tired. Just my body was slow and weak. I couldn't move around as much weight as I had been, and walking up stairs was exhausting. On Wednesday I started spotting again and had more swelling (not as bad as last week, at least). I had a blood test yesterday to check my thyroid and female hormone levels. My appointment with Dr. Khosh is March 3.

Because of my weakness issues, I canceled Saturday's PR test with Andrew because seriously, why bother right now. It wouldn't be an accurate test since I can barely lift myself right now.

I want to go see The Latenight Callers play a show at Replay this evening and I'm considering skipping this evening's gym session because I don't know that I have the energy to do both things. I'm not good at taking it easy at the gym. I like to work hard in the weight room and it's difficult for me to regulate myself (this is why Coach Andrew is so good for me--he keeps me calm and in check). Anyway. I'll decide that at the last minute.

Emotionally...eh. I've just got some shit I'm dealing with concerning people around me. Nothing about my own life (hurray! still drama-free!), but just navigating around the behaviors of others and keeping their actions from negatively influencing me. Sometimes we have to do hard things to make our lives easier and this is one of those times for me. I'm grateful that I have friends who support and encourage me. Doesn't make it not tiring, though.

Because I have all of this going on, I've purposefully done nothing that isn't a Requirement For Adulthood (things like grocery shopping, cooking, making it to work, caring for my body). This means I haven't done jack as far as restocking the Etsy store, I haven't spent much effort posting here, and I haven't made any art since the due South Secret Santa gift exchange. *le sigh*

Also I need to get my hair cut but either me or my stylist are booked solid on Saturdays through March 22. UGH. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and schedule a weekday appointment. Burn some vacation time. It's not like I don't have over 200 hours accrued.

Mmm. Vacation. You know, once I get the Recruitment Visit stuff a little more figured out it might be really nice to take an afternoon off. Yes. But for now:

Shit is going down in Kiev, y'all. WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK. Thanks to redheadfae for the heads-up on this.

I don't like the phrase "I want to be him/her when I grow up." I'm going to write a blog post about that when I have the time. Right now things are still a little busy at the day job and I'm dealing with a stupid, tiny, non-split/non-ergonomic keyboard because I spilled tea in my ancient and beloved Microsoft Natural Pro keyboard that saw me through nearly TEN YEARS of typing. You guys, WE WERE REALLY CLOSE and I am grieving for it.



A new keyboard is on order because honestly, typing on this current piece of crap is horrible, but I am worried about the inevitable getting-to-know-you period. Just, ugh. WHY WITH THE SPILLED TEA. WHY.

The idea of "Do What You Love" needs to die in a fire (also thanks to redheadfae for that one). Because seriously. FUCK THAT. I can't even say it's a nice idea because it's based in such utter discrimination and privilege. I mean, nice work if you can get it, bro, but don't tell people to Follow Their Bliss when they can't even be sure they're going to be able to pay for rent and groceries in a given month.

I've got a week left on my Whole30. NGL, I am looking forward to my glass of wine on February 1. Pretty sure that's gonna be my only indulgence, though. I played around with the idea of doing regular Whole30s through the year, thirty days on, one day off, thirty days on, wash, rinse, repeat, but I'm not sure how that's gonna play with all the travel I've got on the menu this year. I might just declare that I'm Strict Paleo-ing except when I don't want to and call it good.

Holy fucking shit, this fanvid. Some vague spoilers for Sherlock season 3.

The East Wind: A Sherlock AU trailer. What if there was no Fall? With John's help Sherlock is tracking down Moriarty's Web; but you can't expose the secrets without exposing yourself to the world's only consulting criminal who is determined to burn your heart out.

I've already picked up a few super cool folks from the Friending Frenzy I mentioned last night. HEY THERE NEW PEOPLE! Looking at the content of this post, it's pretty much a perfect representation of how I post and what I post about so if you're backing away slowly at this point, feel free to bail early. No hard feelings.

I just got switched over to the new Gmail formatting which (surprise) FUCKING SUCKS ASS. It's all top-posting, which I hate. I got my first email account in 1989, and the standard style of responding was in-line responses. Top-posting responders were generally considered lazy assholes. For those of you who don't know these designations, here is how in-line responses look:

> On 12/12/12 at 12:12, Chernobyl Red wrote:
>
> I am so fucking fed up with dipshit internet services updating their
> services with the end result of only making them less useful and
> more annoying. I am looking at you, Gmail, LJ, and Tumblr.

SERIOUSLY.

> I mean, it's one thing to make updates and changes, but why don't they
> give us a choice if we want to upgrade?

Because they're a bunch of fucking douchebags.

...

Top-posting is just what it sounds like, where you write your response all at the top of an email. I dislike it for a number of reasons. It's difficult to tell sometimes, as a writer and a reader, what is being said in response to what. People have a tendency to pay less attention to the details of what's being said if the words aren't right there for them to answer. Email exchanges turn into exercises in monologue-ing instead of a conversation. I don't mind so much when people answer my emails in top-posting format (although I definitely prefer responses in-line), but I absolutely hate answering emails in top-posting format, and that is (as far as I can tell) going to be the only option in gmail.

I hate it enough that I'm seriously considering looking into getting a different email service. Anyone got recommendations?

While I'm on the topic of annoying social networking sites, I'm putting together next week's Tumblr collection. The theme is Sherlock Fanart. If anyone has recommendations for a particularly beloved piece of fanart (SFW) that they'd like to see in the collection, send me a link.

The new Tumblr posting format sucks ass. It's so horrible, you guys. It's fine if you're posting something that you want to go up right away, and it's even okay for things you're putting in a regular queue. But for arranging a whole collection of stuff to go up on a certain day, it's tedious and frustrating and UGH. First I have to type in the date on each entry in the Post Date box (January 29, 2013 for example) and then choose another option that does the exact same thing, only in a different spot on the page, called Publish On that has the usual default of Next Tuesday, 10am. And you have to do both or it posts it immediately (I checked). It's not so bad for a couple images here and there, but my collections have upwards of twenty images every time.

So it's possible that today's collection will be my last one, unless Tumblr staff changes the posting format. At least I'm going out on a high note. Tuesday, January 29: Tom Hiddleston, part 2.

OH HOW CHARMING. For some reason, Tumblr decided to change the date for that collection. It will not (I hope) go up Tuesday, February 5. Even though when I set up this collection last week, I specified next Tuesday. Which would've been today. Fuck you, Tumblr. Just fuck you. No collection today.



Oh wait. What the fuck. Now some of them are showing up. JESUS CHRIST TUMBLR.

Aaaaaand now they're all up, and the ones that said queued for February 5 are up today.

I don't even know.



Thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday's post. To answer annamatic's question, no I haven't made the jewelry from her bones yet. Someday.

Here is the post I would have put up yesterday if Tumblr hadn't been down most of the day:

I've been having dreams lately, which is kind of weird, but awesome. I don't always remember them, but I know I've been dreaming. I do remember this one from a few nights ago, though, because it was very odd and a teensy bit disappointing. I dreamed I was in a relationship with David Tennant. WTF, brain? David Tennant? *sigh* Not even in my dreams can I get Tom Hiddleston. It was all very emo because he was trying to shield me from the press but we were SO IN LOVE and there was this magic jewelry box involved that was a jewelry box that I'd had as a child (it looked like a pirate treasure chest and played a really pretty song) and I woke up from it with my heart hurting in that gloriously angsty way. It was kind of awesome even if it was David Tennant. At least he has lovely eyes and a spectacular nose. But he's still David Tennant.

I kid! The man is adorable and is totally my type if I wasn't already smitten with Tom Hiddleston.

Fellow Sherlockians, check out this Tumblr post and listen to the sound clip. PRICELESS. I laughed so hard I cried.

And here is something everyone can enjoy. DJ Schmolli's mashup "Titanium 500" (The Proclaimers vs. David Guetta feat. Sia vs. Midnight Oil).

My best advice for today? Go to this website. Totally safe, no porn, no viruses. It's amazing.

Long day in KC today. Time to get moving!

On Wednesday night I packed up my winter clothes (!sob! my wardrobe is the only thing I like about winter) and put out the summer stuff. I am so bored with my old summer wardrobe. I want to make some new stuff, but I'm still having such terrible swelling issues that I don't want to invest the time. I like to hope that I'll have this problem resolved (or at least minimized) by May or June. Spending hours making a new summer wardrobe to fit my current body doesn't seem to be the best use of my time.

Right now I have two summer dresses that fit, and no skirts. I didn't have the courage to try on the pants. mckitterick took a look at me last night and said "It looks like you put on twenty pounds in the last twenty minutes." Thursday morning, I was still up two inches around my waist, from what I would guess was a high of four and a half or maybe even five inches the night before. It was worse than the comparison photo I took last year. Much, much worse. I should have taken another photo, but it was just so depressing. And uncomfortable.

Blah.

Thank goodness for stretchy jeans.

After getting through my f-page (and all the ontd_p posts), I can honestly say that I am fucking done with humanity at this point. Done.

Exhibit A: Southern Miss Band Hurls 'Where's Your Green Card?' Chant At Latino Player

Exhibit B: The Arizona Senate is considering a bill that would give all businesses the option to exclude contraceptives from health insurance coverage.

Exhibit C: 'We Have No Choice': One Woman's Ordeal with Texas' New Sonogram Law

My heart physically hurts after reading that third one.

There are times when I become so enraged and terrified at the prospects of women's and reproductive rights that my brain just starts spinning in circles and I can't form coherent thoughts. As someone who has been very sexually active for her entire adult life (and then some), those issues are important to me, and I'm incredibly sensitive about them. Perhaps it is my unreliable feminine nature, but I can't even discuss them rationally. These issues should not be up for debate, and in my world they are not. If you disagree with me, keep it to yourself. Trust me, you don't want me to know.

And now I really need to get away from the internets before I have an aneurysm (or heartburn). Time to start my first day of vacation.

So. Yesterday. The errands went well. Mostly. Let's recap. ( Cut because when I describe Fail, I describe it At Length )

But yeah, basically: Kind of a lot of suck for one Saturday. I was thinking the cold and wet might keep me home today, but now I'm thinking I could really use some Dance Church today.

I was chatting on email with elaine4queen this morning and related to her my exciting morning activity of putting music on my iPod. I'm working on this laptop that doesn't have any of my bookmarks (read: Porn) or anything. My little netbook that I usually use for internetting doesn't have a CD bay. So I'm using this giant old castoff laptop of mckitterick's that he's had since 2007.

Not complaining, though, because Music! iPod! Working!

I have to go to the post office to mail something to Canada (heads-up, shanmonster!) and I want to take my field riding boots to BKB Leather. I hope he can get the calves stretched out because while they're okay with regular tights, they are too snug when I'm wearing tights and socks. Since they're actual riding boots, those babies are so narrow that my tight-and-socks-clad calves cramp in them when I'm walking to work. Not liveable. So, off to see if BKB can figure out how to stretch the shaft of the boot. If he can't, I was told that my leaving the back zipper halfway undone was taken as some sort of Fashion Statement by a couple of the graduate students, so...

But anyway, the post office closes at noon and BKB doesn't open until noon, and it's 7:30, so I have a while to putter around the house. And work on this laptop. And rip CDs. To my new iPod. Which I finally figured out.

Ew. It's raining? Gross. Maybe it'll stop before I go running around outside. Here's hoping.

I didn't sleep well last night. That Turkish coffee last night at 7:00 was Mighty Tasty but also a Bad Idea. I need to cut off the caffiene after 2:00 in the afternoon. And maybe not mix it with a lot of wine and hookah smoke. Good times, though. Good times.

And oh for heavensake, I forgot what I actually wanted to post about. So, yesterday, late afternoon, when I was just done with work, and it was 4:30 and LJ was fucked (again), I called up Tumblr (whom I now consider the person with whom I'm having an illicit affair because LJ occasionally cannot perform if you know what I mean). One thing led to another, and after putting this, this, and then this together, my head exploded and I was pretty much worthless for the rest of the afternoon. Yes. And you're welcome.

Update: JFC. It's thundering? Maybe I won't run those errands after all. Hm.

I experienced a tragedy last night.

Around 7:30pm, the doorbell rang, and it was a huge group of trick-or-treaters. In great costumes, to boot (Zombie Harry Potter and Hermione! A jawa! A classic top-hatted magician!) After five (ish?) years of living in this house, we've given up on kids in costumes, so of course I had no candy. I felt awful. Really really awful. I asked them to come back today and I promised to have candy for them. Oh, I hope they come back! And next year: Candy. Just in case. Worst case scenario, I buy a bag that doesn't get distributed and I put it in the office candy jar.

Never again will I suffer the heartbreak of turning away children on Halloween. I'm not lying when I say I almost cried I was so upset.

But now, here's something from graydown to lighten the mood. In her words, Warning: Contains Proclaimers. ( Cut for embedded video )