Reaching Out

In an effort to actually use the stuff I have constantly bought over the years, I have resolved to do the following:

( all under a cut to save your f-list lol )

- This morning, I printed out two things:

-- a set of tables to track how pushups, leg lifts, and shoulder taps I am doing, for the next three months. I got out my resistance band, so I'm also doing bicep curls and overhead lifts. I just want the satisfaction of incremental progress.

-- a list of Things To Get Done in the year, which hopefully might get done in the first quarter of the year.

- Tara hipped me to an Absol raid this afternoon which led to.... more raids, one of which was hard and scary and I swiped so hard to dodge often that it felt like a freaking workout, and finally one where we asked another friend to let us have his account on Tara's third device so we could have a GOOD fighter on our team. It was very strange but weirdly cozy.

- I took a long walk tonight, up to the "C" trail marker. This might be my new walking route, but it's not particularly challenging? The incline isn't as sharp as my summer trail. I think if I go in the morning, I could cut through Islander Park and I'd have a bit more of a challenge. Orrrrr I could go to the Botanic Gardens again and try to master the Fire trail.

- I put on full makeup with UCR colours to take selfies with my tam. I may toss this eyeliner... pressed too hard to get it on and my eye thinks it is very unreasonable.

I had a moderately productive day, I guess.

- Called to make a psychiatrist appointment. I delayed too long so my next appointment will be in late December. Oof.

- Emailed a thank-you note to the career counselor at last week's OPT workshop to see what her appointments are like, and she replied quickly with her next availability, so while I was on the phone-calling roll, I called the career center to set an appointment with her.

- Since I figured I should have something to show her when I go in, I made three resumes: one for editing, one for marketing/publicity/events organizing, and a "functional" resume which I get is not really popular but I figure I'll just have one hanging around just in case.

I'm thinking I should cut out my BA and Clarion lines from the education section.

- I'm attending a networking dinner tomorrow with alumni who are currently in the entertainment industry--one works as a publicist and another works in the games design industry, so I thought it could not possibly hurt to shell out $10 for three hours of hanging out taking notes and talking to people. The dress code is business casual, so I figured I might as well hem the new pair of pants I have, which I think might be the wrong size, even though it could be it's just stretch material. But I can shimmy out of it when it's done up, and I feel that pants should not be able to do that.

I also attempt to hem the pants without cutting off all the extra material using a blind hem (I think that's the stitch) but the result stretches weird--the bottom of the leg isn't as wide as the calf area. I decided to do a blind hem only on the seams and then did a decorative stitch at the bottom of the pant leg (been a while since I used that stitch) and maybe tomorrow I'll just suck it up and cut off the extra material.

- Daylight Savings threw me off, whew. I kinda like it but now I feel I'm sleeping too late!

I went to Chinatown yesterday, and had lunch with Susannah. But I found that the Ripped Bodice, which I had planned on going to after the temple to kill my afternoon, is closed on Mondays, and I'm not sure why I hadn't thought to check. So I went to the Chinatown public library instead to write. I took a 5pm train home, and had dinner with My.

I tried to swim, but some rowdy kids were in the pool taking up most of the length, so I had to swim the width of it. I dive when I first push off to the ground, and push myself up from there, and I guess it's the equivalent of doing push-ups underwater? Anyway I did it so much that some muscles in my arms felt tired in a way I never felt before. It was not very satisfying to swim such short laps, though.

Today I went to campus in the morning to do some website work only to find that there's a new website manager so I didn't even have to do anything. I came home and read.

I got through Charles De Lint's Promises to Keep and I finally read the PJ Confidential anthology. The de Lint book was okay, not the kind of book I'd pick up normally, had its moments. The PJ book, though, was atrocious. I think I liked only four stories in it, and out of those only one of them I could definitively say was well-written. The rest were middling or just too short to do their material justice. So, meh.

I swam around 6pm, after the sun had started to set, so that saved me from having to put on sunscreen. Tomorrow I'll try to read some more. I also have a psychiatrist appointment which I'm pretty excited about.

Today I did a rare thing: I had rice porridge for the first time in a while, with some spam, and for dinner I went to McDonald's, about two blocks away. Apparently it's been there a while and got refurbished? IDK. I tried out the touchscreen menu thing and ordered food without talking to anybody. This is how I found out that it is possible to get only FOUR pieces of chicken nuggets, not the 10 on the main menu, not the 6 I grew up with. So that is what I did. I also treated myself to a chocolate milkshake, but alas, it was too sweet to be really satisfactory.

It was also really cold inside, where the cushioned seats were, so bleh. I went to sit outside on the patio for a while and that was nice, but blah, the seats were not comfy. So much for trying to get some book reading or writing done.

I really should try to get out to campus tomorrow, maybe do a hike (and see if I can get a clipping of my favourite rosebush while I'm out there). I need to clear out my office some more too.

Still no work from my adviser on the state of my dissertation. I hope it's not because it's too much garbage to wade through.

I'm otherwise feeling pleased because I finally finished reading a couple of back issues laying in my e-reader, and am now going to read the August Lightspeed issue. I'm a bit tired from staring at the screen a lot and should try to figure out some better reading habits. But the rest of my room is overwhelming (or boring) to look at (I keep thinking I need more containers or whatever). I don't like looking out the window because it's so fucking bright. Gaaahhh IDK.

Last night Emily called me because I felt particularly moody and we chatted for several hours as we took our respective walks. I have discovered it is possible to run Pokemon Go while on the phone in this way.

I swam 18 laps today in under an hour! I feel ready to try for 21 next time ^^

Nothing much new to report aside from my brain's asinine refusal to produce new words and re-reading old ones instead.

I did apply for the Graywolf internship, sent it off this morning.

This morning I went to Coco's to work, had horrible bowel movements, at the tail end of which Jose called to see if I was down to join a Lugia raid, and of course I was. Four raids in, I've got a Lugia and another Articuno.

Latter half of the day, after a two hour nap (WHY) I started outlining the analysis for the final novel, which I'm excited about. I'm gonna sleep with the CPAP tonight and see if I can concentrate better tomorrow. The deadline looms. I'm vaguely terrified.

The walk up and down Blaine Street feels shorter, although I'm sure it is still taking me the same amount of time (I walked out around 8.30 and got back around 10; 1 and a half hours seems pretty normal for me on that stretch). This makes me wonder if I should try to up my game a little and do a little jog instead of brisk walking. It is kind of harder to play Pokemon Go while jogging though.

ETA: OH! My new phone arrived! I still can't get the SIM cards out of my Xiaomi because I don't have a pin strong enough (I don't really have any earring studs I'm willing to sacrifice) but it's here!

My phone died overnight, having refused to charge without being babysat, so I decided, once it was charging merrily without my overnight but taking too long for my liking, that I would go to campus and do work without the phone. This turned out to be a very good thing indeed, because I wasn't tempted to watch it all the time. I've also logged out of most social media on my work computer, so that was nice too. Emily Jiang checked in with me around 11.30 for some writing, and that was nice too.

I still can't focus on the screen, it seems, so I switched to handwriting some paragraphs instead. This helped quite a bit. Except for some sentences here and there, I'm starting work on a new section, articulating the concept of minor literature in relation to multicultural steampunk.

I ate at the Getaway, taking laptop and writing book and pencil and eraser with me. Had a couple of slices of a pizza, packed the rest, got back to my office, and coughed up a couple more paragraphs. Then I went home.

Swam 16 laps today. Was gonna stick to 15, but thought I could push on just once more. I'm feeling, as oracne calls it, the Glow of Virtue, which I promptly ruined by eating a sponge cake. I finished my remaining sausages, too. I haven't heard back about the results of my blood test from yesterday, but I assume I'll hear back by the end of the week, and if there's anything big, the doctor will call me (which is what he did last time). But I'm really crossing my fingers that my blood sugar levels have dropped.

I have been very good and did not text anybody today.

I submitted a poem. It's been a while since I wrote a poem I felt good about, so that's nice. It might be a bit too sentimental, IDK, I like its tweeness, but maybe it's too schmoopy? Oh well.

I'm gonna try to make it to campus tomorrow for some more writing by hand, and I think I will leave the phone home again so I don't get anxious around it. Until my mini-USB port replacement comes, I'll use it as little as possible so I don't keep freaking out over recharging it and possibly aggravating the problem even more.

Things I did not do:

- work on my dissertation
- finish the OPT application
- clean house
- call the computer repair center to see if they know any smartphone repair centers
- make a doctor's appointment for bloodtest
- fold the laundry

Things I managed to do:

- make an ophthalmologist appointment
- swim 12 laps
- clear my writing desk
- have a difficult FEELINGSTALK conversation about something that's been bugging me
- sweep the patio
- do laundry

I really need to learn how to watch the water filter, though, because I forgot about it while making my appointment and a lot of water spilled over, oops. The bright side of the new water filter is that it filters junk water out, and I use that to water my plants. I think the potatoes are a no-go now, but maybe next planting season!

I'm in the transit hotel at Incheon. It's been a few travel full days. My computer says it's 1pm, and the clock on the wall says it's 5pm. I got in around 6pm local time, checked into the transit hotel, and crashed.

As soon as I got back from Clarion, I was out having dinner with Birgit. S came over on Wednesday to hang out--we went to lunch and watched Ghostbusters. (Leslie Jones was underused; Katie McKinnon was annoying except when she was talking science and even that was tiresome; Melissa McCarthy is good; Kristin Wiig's character was so incompetent I couldn't stand it.) Stopped by JoAnn's so I could get some jewelry things for my new piece of tree sap (which I saw on a tree in Balboa Park and made my classmate Derek get for me). It looks really good. Then the next day, I hung with Maurisa and Eric, and then Maurisa and I met with Nalo in the evening. Maurisa brought her friend and we went to Haagen-Daaz to get some icecream and listen to the live band playing in Uni Village.

The Amtrak to Oakland was some 11 hours; I missed the 6.50am train to LA because taxis are unreliable. But the 8.10 train got me to the train tracks, right on time for the Coast Starlight. I lugged my luggage to the Bart station, found Claire's place, and was greeted by Tempest.

Spent the whole Saturday with Tempest! We had breakfast with one of my classmates, and then worked in Borderlands for several hours before heading out to dinner with Chris. Then Joyce and Randy came out to hang and play Pokemon Go so we went to Dolores Park for it. So many Pokemon in SF!

Sunday morning, Maurisa came to get me and we went to dim sum with Emily.

Airport airport airport. The flight was 11 hours long so I watched the following:

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2: This was AMAZING and I am SO glad I got to watch it. It picks up 17 years after the first movie, and since the characters have been established, there is SO much more going on alongside the main three plotlines. Paris is annoying as a teen as can be expected, but adorable all the same (especially her face when she discovers her date is a nice Greek boy, and I also like that he doesn't show up at the end); Toula and Ian are still sqwooshy. I was VERY pleased to see the continued involvement of Ian's parents, who were taciturn and a bit nervous in the first movie, in the whole family drama. It took me a while to realize that yes, they were in the family group, actively volunteering to help out. There were subplots involving family reunions, and as usual I really love how the men of the family act so macho but it turns out to not be a kind of toxic masculinity ("It's not good to keep secrets from your family," said Nick and I BAWLED when I realized what happened). Mama-yaya's character got really fleshed out in a really beautiful way; she was used mostly for comedy in the first movie, and she got a lot more moments in this one that's interestingly, uh, symbolic. Things have changed for Toula and Ian, like Toula losing her travel agency job due to the economy, but it was so believable, and the ups and downs of the family are trite but WHO CARES, it's a story about a family, with attendant suffocation and all. It was a satisfying, satisfying movie that hit all my buttons.

ZOOTOPIA: I see why this movie is good--it's got an ambitious scope and the plot twists and turns are really great. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are also really competent characters, which I like. I, uh.... I don't buy the worldbuilding, really. I think the scale is great with multiple climate types in a single city to have multiple types of animals, but what are the predators eating? Seriously. This bugged me all through the movie: WE NEVER SEE THEM EATING. Except donuts and popsicles. But it moves right along, each act feeding into each other really well.

THE MASTER: I watched this because I saw it playing on someone's screen ahead of me, which had two main characters having an intense conversation about their marriage while the husband is beating up thugs, and she's all like "we got married with the understanding that we would separate" and had great lines like "With or without a gardener, flowers die regardless. With or without a man, a woman would still live her own life."| It's not very coherent as a movie: a Wing-Chun master comes to Tianjin to establish a school (translated as dojo in the subs) but apparently the rules are that he needs a disciple who is a local to defeat at least 8 of the schools, and the disciple afterwards must leave Tianjin. Then there's the whole business where he marries a local woman (who's unmarried because she had a baby out of wedlock) for reasons unclear to me. Then there're the machinations of one of the leading schools (led by this woman who never does any actual martial arts, she's the wife of a former Grandmaster, and she's always really well-dressed), some double-crossings by a current grandmaster and the military gets involved and also a dual love story involving the disciple and a local noodle seller who I think is supposed to be coded as an ethnic minority due to her costume and aaaaaaaaaaaaaa what is going onnnnnnn. Like I felt like the movie was shot just so everyone could look cool (and to be fair, everyone does look cool)--it's so artful and posed. I also have never seen a Chinese movie with SO MANY random white people in the background before: the wife worked in a Western restaurant, seemingly the only local there; the grandmaster likes to watch performances of that Russian folk dance where the dancers seem to float across the floor. But really one would watch it for the escalating fight scene, especially the last part where it looks like the protagonist is making his way through a series of final bosses.

THE TALE OF TALES: This movie is hella fucked up and I watched it because I like fairytales but as far as fairytales go, this got hella dark and the bodycount was really high. It has about THREE stories in the one movie, and they never really cohere together other than, sometime at the beginning the characters come together for a funeral, and at the end the three courts come together again for a coronation. But you don't really see the characters from the different threads ever really talking to each other otherwise. And it's super fairytale because it's lush and gorgeous but apparently each kingdom really only needs like the ONE town to sustain it. it's based on a collection of Neapolitan tales, everyone is a one-note character, and it's made to be beautiful and lush and gorgeous, not to make any sense.


THE JUNGLE BOOK: This was pretty meh. There's still hella anthropocentrism up the wazoo; Mowgli is a special snowflake; I don't understand why the animals have American accents. It was entertaining but in the end I didn't care.

I played a lot of Phlinx, and now am in a transit hotel killing time trying to sleep some more. It's 7am, I only need to check out at 9am. So I'm gonna try to be horizontal a bit more.

So, I had a pretty productive weekend! Maybe. Sort of.

Thursday:
Karen Lord, Tobias Buckell, and Karin Lowachee came to UCR! They came to Nalo's seminar, and then went to the library. There was a late afternoon panel, and I hung out afterwards with Nalo, Toby and Karen. Karen gently pointed out that my suggestion of Gina Torres and Laurence Fishburne to play the main protagonists of The Best Of All Possible Worlds didn't work, and she had mentally cast Angel Coulby as Delarua already, which I was cool with. We talked about reviewers, and she was also annoyed at the John Clute review from a while back--which, incidentally, was also the same review article in which he missed the point of my SP3: Revolution essay.

(Karen is so cool, sob sob.)

Friday:

OK, not actually as productive as it could have been. I was really underslept for some reason, so I went home early and napped. I don't really remember what I did, which is quickly becoming a theme of my life for days that are unmarked by an appointment.

Saturday:

I tried to do some writing! I did a little bit. I also went to listen to the bell tower recital, and Ma Yan came to join me! She's a visiting scholar, working with Dr. Kalu. I'd never had the opportunity to just hang out with her before this, so it was really nice that she came out. After belltower recitals, it's unlocked for visitors, so we went up. Afterwards, we walked to the Botanic Gardens, since she'd never seen them before, and then went to dinner.

Busy Cafe has been bought over my Pho Vinam, which makes me sad! The crispy panfried noodle recipe for Pho Vinam is WAY SALTIER and almost inedible. I HATE complaining about something like that, but the waiter caught my cringing face so I kinda fessed up. I got a slice of cake? Sigh. I'll really miss Busy Cafe... I guess it's really time to move on from Riverside!

Today!

Was super productive! Tempest and I wrote for most of the afternoon, then Marianne came to join us! I think I got about 2000 words done today! But now I'm stuck at the second part of the chapter, trying to articulate the form of Eurocentrism that basically says, "so this thing which is super white is getting kind of boring! let's shake it up a bit" while completely ignoring WHY it was super white in the first place. I'm going to try researching around tomorrow and see what happens. If not, Mariam has a seminar on Tuesday--she's running for Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Equity Excellents (Yolanda is stepping down)--and I'll try got grab her afterwards to ask her.


Anyway, other news!

- I have been voluntold by the inestimable Nisi that I will be chairing the jury for the Carl Brandon Society Parallax and Kindred Awards, seasons 2012 & 2013! What does this mean I'm sure I do not know but I will figure it out, I'm sure. But there are a lot of books to judge, and the more the merrier, so if you want to join the jury, please sign up asap!

- The Sea Is Ours is now available in Southeast Asia!! The publisher and distributor, Gerak Budaya, is a favourite of mine; they publish a lot of local academic material, and distribute a ton of great leftist material. They're also a source for local socialist books, and a Malaysian socialist newspaper! So I"m really proud about this!

- I miscalculated and turns out I shan't be missing the first Friday of the new quarter after all! I can go to ICFA and AnomalyCon guilt-free! Now to figure out whether I can get to UC Berkeley for a SEAS conference, Diana's Wedding, and WisCon, similarly guilt-free.