AWESOME!! 
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The sickness has progressed- pretty light, occasional coughing, and my ability to breathe has gotten better (there was a bit there where I felt like I was suffocating just laying down, and standing up had my heart racing and vision blacking out), but the cold chills have set in, as has bouts of convulsive throwing up. The fever and alternating congestion and drippy nose is gross and annoying, but really the symptoms that bothered me the most (being unable to breathe properly, heart racing) abated, it’s just the cold chills rustling my jimmies. The vomiting is par for the course. I do have my appetite back, which is encouraging.
On the bright side- another day sick means a day closer to it being over. Having to live with a chronic condition means that I appreciate the passing nature of acute illness a whole lot. Also, my bed is so comfortable and so cozy, and having perfectly soft blankets and pillows and a mobile set up means I can still participate and do some fun things (writing with friends, watching kitten videos, perhaps draw) since most of my hobbies are pretty low key. And there are so many cute kitten videos online! I found a channel with 11 rag doll kitties and it’s really soothing to watch the cats play with each other and run about, or get pampered at their kitty spa day.
Also, my favourite animal foster mum uploads educational and adorable kitten overload all of the time, (Hannah Shaw), and there’s two Youtubers I watch to listen to their Project Zomboid shenanigans to unwind (Private Lime and Ambiguous Amphibian) and of course CallMeKevin who makes me laugh hysterically even when things are particularly low during chronic pain flareups, plus he uploads so frequently and his Sims, City Planner, and Prison or Hospital simulators are hilarious.
I don’t usually have the coordination or inclination to play strategy games, but I love watching other people play- reminds me of being a little kid and peering at my da playing MMOs. Especially when you’re all sick and flopsy and exhausted, it’s nice to have a laugh at some Youtuber being silly.
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I found out today that my highschool teachers still remember me, even though it’s been years? Apparently my English teacher mentioned that I had been a pleasure to have in her class and a real peach. That really took me aback, but it’s nice to hear.
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I didn’t know there’s a timer involved, so I mostly just focus on getting straight line.
So, it takes longer but 3-4 minutes seems about right. All but 2 are straight lines, in recent memory.
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Ah, there’s no timer: I’ve just been timing mine for fun lately.
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My new phone case arrived, which was initially exciting. The kitten print is fantastic, just as pictured, it feels sturdy and slots well to the phone- but the bumper colour is insanely off- rather than being a pink to blue gradient along the trans flag colours, it’s a teal green to orange, both of which are colours I dislike…
The returns process is pretty annoying and I don’t want to deal with the hassle of international shipping, so I’m stuck with the case. I just won’t be buying from them again, but at least the artist collection the kitty is from does support one of my favourite cat artists. And it is Magsafe compatible, so my sparkly blue pop socket does fit.
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I have the most obnoxious phone case ever. It’s hot pink and electric blue and sparkles. It’s the most not-me phone case you could imagine, but Tom got sick of me not being able to find it even though it’s sitting somewhere obvious, and got me the most visible case he could find. Everyone who sees it winces. It’s my penance for being so scatterbrained.
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There’s an audiobook bundle on Humble for $20 that includes all six of Martha Wells’s Murderbot books. Which, OK, most of them are novellas but that’s still an amazing deal even though I might not be interested in any of the other books. And they’re plain DRM-free mp3 files.
Although uhh… they initially messed up the downloads so there was only a one-chapter sample for each book, which was a shock, like oh no, is this a scam? but they got right on it and I’m just waiting on the last one to get corrected…
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I have been really, really sick this last while. Passing out randomly for hours at a time and waking up writhing in the throes of fever kind of sick. I think the worst of the fevers have passed over, though, and I feel a lot more alert. Still taking it easy while I recuperate… And enjoying the ingenious idea I had to turn the cotton candy bucket into a waterbottle for myself, it’s perfect to slam as much ice in it as I’d like, and the lid snaps on around my reuseable (and colour changing?! That startled me earlier, it went from cream to pink!) straw really nicely, so I’m less petrified of spills.
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Oh no! Fever is the worst. Lots of liquids and rest, OK? I also tend to recommend crap TV for fever times-- like binge watch Dallas or some such ridiculousness.
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Oh, yes- I’ve been chugging so much ice water. Plenty of naps, too- I haven’t really been capable of much else besides reclining in bed and watching silly kitten videos on Youtube. Even writing is sometimes beyond me, but I’ve been slowly on the mend.
Today I’m grateful for painkillers- it makes it so much easier to eat and drink when swallowing doesn’t feel like scraping your throat against razor blades with every cough or sip. Trying to be conservative about the dose though since the house only has pretty heavy stuff and I’ve been too sickly to pop down to the shops. I have years of experience handling how to mete them out due to chronic pain though, so I’m not all that worried.
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In a similar vein, today in my ambiguously ill state I am grateful for Pepto-Bismol. This might not be a universal experience, but for me, being unfixably sick for an extended period of time has made me almost forget medicine exists. When I remember, take some, and the desired result occurs, it’s as pleasant as it is surprising!
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I unearthed a fancy, gorgeous little about hand size Paperblanks notebook in a Klimt design. The paper is thick and lovely, the cover has texture, there’s even a pocket at the back, a ribbon, and a snappy elastic band- but I’m not quite sure what I’ll use it for, on account of it’s petite size. It would make a good travelling companion. I still have a larger (B5) notebook in transit, and had been planning on using it as my main diary. Maybe it would make a good notebook for drafting something linear in? (I already have a handful of notebooks for planning, drafting, and particular projects.) Either way, for now, I’ve prepped it for use (torn out a few pages delicately that’d been marked) and propped it up to enjoy as a little piece of artwork in my bedroom that I can admire while reclined in bed.
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Woke up feeling alert, and overall good. The worst symptom is just the cough, which hurts. My notebook arrived! It’s as beautiful as I thought. B5 really is huge compared to A6… The heat rages on, so I’m sitting at our breakfast table and sipping iced drinks. Today I’m using the cute little polar bear mug! Hoping that I’ve gotten through the worst of the illness, but taking things gently.
Rov sent me a lovely drawing and a funny little comic packaged along well wishes, which was an unexpected, but darling surprise, as is all of our correspondence. He’s very sweet.
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Yeah, but then he tests your game and leaves it shaking on unsteady legs from the merciless parser-whacking, blinking back tears and trying to erase the memory of all that licking. It’s traumatic.
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I went to Target today to get a new desk lamp. The kitties finally knocked my small top-heavy lamp over enough times that it broke in two.
I was glad to see the modest Pride display at the very first corner you encounter before going right or left. It wasn’t hounding anyone, threatening children, pushing anything down everyone’s throat. It didn’t mention sexuality, drag queens, nor attempt to groom anyone. It was just some rainbow-branded merchandise on a shelf asking people to take pride in themselves. Nobody was offended nor stopped in their tracks by it. It peacefully co-existed with everything else and everyone in the store just like you’d expect.
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My neighbour’s neghbour had a large photinia (robusta, I think) hedge trimmed on the weekend and got left with about 8m³ of prunings. He’s in his 80s and has neuropathy, so he had no idea how he was going to get rid of it.
I happened to hear this was happening and said “Our goats eat that!” and now I own 7.5m³ of prunings and some fat, sleepy goats.
Everyone is happier now!
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In the space of 2.5 days, I’ve written two songs for the post-comp version of I Am Prey. One song for looking around the place, and one song for running for your life.
Pulled out the complex meters and polyrhythms, because people are usually uncomfortable from unresolved and disjointed rhythms, and a percussion-based score will have to lean on that, as there aren’t enough melodic instruments to use dissonant chords effectively.
In short: I’m having fun.
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I finally figured out how to get a simple stat scrern to work in Twine Chapbook. I’m extremely proud of myself for that.
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Experimented with writing over the last few days. Didn’t get very far work-wise, but learned more about my writing style / design choices / work ethic. A little bit more confident. So I say that was worthwhile.
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