the_rck

Three interlibrary loan books done. Three to go. Two of those can't be renewed, but the third is a volume of manga and so will likely end up being read first.

I came up with a title for one of my WIP yesterday, changed the sheets, and ran two loads of laundry.

We watched Supergirl last night. I hope I get more into this season than last season because I'm not going to be allowed to drift away to do something else when it comes on. I think that part of my problem last season was simply not comprehending the attraction of Mon-El.

Oh-- Now I know why I got cranky when I watched last season-- The point of his arc was him becoming a responsible person, but the timing and the writing made it him becoming a responsible person not through choice or circumstances but rather because Kara loved him, and I loathe that trope.

I'm tired enough that I'm missing things like tracking who I'm chatting with online or remembering that I refilled that one prescription Friday and didn't need to ask my doctor for a renewal (which I totally did before I realized). I'm also losing track of what things on my to do list I've dealt with and which I haven't. Those are a little easier because I can, say, look at the sink and see the presence or absence of dirty dishes.

My Gdoc of potential titles (mostly song or poetry fragments) is getting too long to work with. The response time is sluggish, and I know that separating it into pieces would help, but that will be ever so much less convenient. 36 pages is just too long, but this isn't something with obvious break points or useful ways of sorting things. Dividing by author would cut the length but make browsing a PITA. Dividing by theme-- Well, I can't actually tell what sort of theme a particular snippet is likely to fit. Maybe use of certain substantive nouns like 'time' or 'wind' or 'mirror'? Except that I'm sure there are a lot of snippets that wouldn't sort that way.

Anybody in need of a few dozen titles? Free to good home.

I ended up ordering a small pizza and a small salad for lunch yesterday. Scott got half of the pizza as his dinner and seems to have enjoyed it, so that’s good. I’m not sure the salad was a good idea because, eight hours later, I was still burping lettuce flavor. That happens about half the time when I have salad and is a huge reason why I avoid cucumbers which always have that effect.

I got through a bunch of library DVDs yesterday. I’ve got half of one left to watch and am not sure I will. I might just return the dratted thing to the library without finishing. I’m sort of vaguely interested in knowing what happens, but given that I’m about 1/3 of the way through, that seems like a weak reason to go on.

I have a book of poetry due back tomorrow. I’ve renewed it once and have only gotten about thirty pages in. I like it reasonably well, but there are so many other things that I want to get done that it’s low on my list of things to read. I’m not sure that renewing it again would actually lead to me reading more of it, so maybe I should just take it back. No one’s clamoring for the chance to read it, but…

Scott had to work early this morning, but they let him leave an hour or two early (I didn’t check my clock when he got home, so I’m not sure how early, just that he said they had). He picked up bagels on his way home and then fell into bed to sleep some more.

I woke with a headache. It had already started by the time Scott got home and was worse by the time I got up. I did manage to sleep in that gap, however, which was good. I took an Amerge, and that seems to have helped.

I still have two characters at 1/3 done and four characters at 2/3 done. Only five of the six will get played, even if the event fills up, but I want that extra character just in case because there’s one character who must be played as female while the other five can go either way.

I’ve only got one term left to define on the terminology sheet (Pattern is the one that’s left), and I’m trying to decide how to break up that sheet. Right now, it’s mostly alphabetical with a section at the end that explains some character sheet terminology rather than game world terminology. There are some terms that are both game world terminology and character sheet/rules issues, and I’m not quite sure how to treat those.

I’m trying to decide how many npcs I actually have to name in advance. A lot of the player characters have 'allies' and/or 'minions' as things they’ve paid points for, and I’m trying to decide whether those need to be solid in advance or if I’m willing to make them up as I go. It might make sense to leave them so that the players can ask for what they need as they need it. If I have a list of names to draw on, I can do that reasonably well. (Me naming characters on the fly doesn’t tend to work out so well. Scott will never let me live down the ultra-powerful npc mage that I named Ernie because that was the only name that I could come up with on the spot.)

Maybe I can get Scott to come up with some names. I have an excellent baby name book that has lots of variant names, so I could hand him that and ask him to make some lists. He’s doing the grocery shopping right now, and he still needs to rake leaves, do some of his own convention preparation, and pay the bills today, but maybe this evening… He can do it while watching the Star Trek movie he just bought.

Of course, he has occasional issues with selecting names that people can’t reliably pronounce. He once named a geo-political group in a LARP the Remaranans. We got a lot of very confused players as they tried to say that. I think some folks gave up and called them the Ram-a-lan-a-ding-dongs for the entire game.

Cordelia’s school had a middle school fun night last night, so she and her friends went to that. It ended at 8:30, so she got home much earlier than she normally would on a Friday evening. She ended up going to bed early, too, about 9:30 or 10:00.

I stayed up until a little after 11:00, just in case Scott’s work was going to call to say he didn’t need to come in. They didn’t, of course, but they sometimes do.

Scott tells me that conditions at work are improving under the new manager. Basically, the new manager understands people a lot better than the old one did. The old one was mostly the top expert in how the machines worked and didn’t much care if the workers were happy or miserable because he didn’t realize it mattered. They’ve shunted him sideways in order to keep his expertise with the machines, but he’s not telling people what to do any more.

Well, I got more sleep, but I also got a spam phone call and had Cordelia come in to cuddle for a while, so it wasn’t unbroken sleep. I think it helped, however. I went back to bed around 7 a.m. and got up for the day at about 11 a.m.

I came across this at the NPR Science Blog. It’s a little quiz that offers sonnets written by people and sonnets written by computers to see if readers can tell them apart. I thought the difference was clear, but I also thought that comparing the two was fascinating. My suspicion is that the programming will get there eventually, but it’s a long way yet.

I’ve also been poking at the SCOTUS blog. I’d seen that they’d ruled in three cases today, but I’d only seen information about two of the three cases and was curious about the third. The first case had to do with restrictions on abortion clinics in Texas. The second had to do with whether or not the federal government can use a state level misdemeanor (for domestic violence) as grounds to forbid someone from owning a gun. Both of those went in the direction I was hoping for— The clinics can stay open. Folks with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions can’t own guns.

The third had to do with what exactly constitutes actionable corruption by an elected official. That last is one of those rulings that is right, long term, but is being applied in a case where, despite the evidence not being sufficient, the person being prosecuted was doing something solidly on the dubious side of the right/wrong divide. But the justices were unanimous in the ruling, and when that happens, I look several times at the case. I have the impression that the court was concerned that any government official taking action on constituent concerns could be open to corruption charges if that constituent had ever made any sort of gift/donation. That interpretation could certainly be used to harass and destroy people, and I don’t want that as an option even if, right now, it’s being used on people I don’t like. My hope is that the ruling will result in clearer legal guidelines so that everyone has a better idea of where the line is.

In the end, I managed to reach my mother yesterday. She was in the middle of varnishing a floor, so she asked if she could call me back. We talked about half an hour later. She told me that their house won't be ready for visitors for a few weeks yet. She was also surprised that we have another week of school yet because schools around Lawton are done for the summer already.

I'm still trying to wake myself up and to find my energy again. I'm hopeful that it's just a matter of time. I think I'm better today than yesterday, but it's very hard to tell.

After we picked up the library holds yesterday, Scott and I decided to walk around a little and do some Ingress. Scott wanted to walk to campus and hack some portals there, but I didn't make it quite that far. By the time we got to State St, I desperately needed to sit down. I was tired enough that I couldn't think where to do it until Scott pointed out the Espresso Royale. After we sat for about fifteen minutes, I concluded that heading back to the library (where we had parked the car) was the best course. I probably could have carried on through sheer willpower, but doing that would have left me wiped out for several days after.

I have two chores I want to do today. First, I want to load and run the dishwasher. Second, I want to walk over to the school and pick up the ibuprofen I left there for Cordelia that she never used at all. I have two CDs from the library that have long waitlists, so I'd like to finish listening to them. I also have three more hours of the Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) set that I got last week. That also can't be renewed.

I got an interlibrary loan book of women's poetry throughout history. Our library used to own a copy, but some time between when I put it on my list of things to read and when I wanted to request it, that copy went away. I don't know if it fell apart or got stolen or what. The ILL copy is a largish paperback that's not in great shape, so it may well be that the book simply couldn't stand up to prolonged circulation. I'm finding, as with Sappho, that I want something other than the translations of the poetry. I'm still looking at the very, very old stuff, and I'm wondering about what words were actually used and what different meanings and connotations those have. I'm also wondering about things like what else we know about, say, the gods of ancient Mesopotamia. I could certainly research that bit, but I'd like to have it in the book (I'd also like, when the editor comments that we know a fair amount about the poet's life, to have some actual details beyond that).

I told the mods of WIP Big Bang that I'm not sure I can finish a draft by Sunday. I feel terrible about that. I really thought I could do this when I signed up originally. I don't think anyone signed up to do art for my story. If someone did, I will work very hard to try to finish, but if no one did, then I'm really only letting myself down. It occurred to me last night that the solution to my current technical problem with the story might be to split the story into multiple parts and have later parts be from the POV of someone other than Jadis. That will make the dratted thing a lot bigger than I wanted it to be, but it may be the only approach that will work.

I'm just so very, very tired.

I’ve got a book of Sappho’s poetry out from the library, and I’m finding it frustrating. The fragments that we have are often so tiny that I don’t feel like I’m getting anything out of them, and I know no Greek, so the facing text in Greek is lost on me. The editor is, I think, indicating in the Greek text where the breaks are in what we have of a given poem, but I would really like those indications in the English text as well. I would also love annotations that talk about where the fragments were found and give some sort of context— speculative or otherwise— for them.

We were awakened about 9:30 this morning when one of Cordelia’s teachers (math and science) called to find out how she’s doing and to assure me that she and the other teachers will do everything they can to help Cordelia adapt. She suggested that I consider keeping Cordelia home all this week because that will involve three days and be followed by a week of vacation. I explained that a lot of what’s bothering Cordelia right now is not being sure how she’s going to manage school. I don’t think that putting that off will be beneficial because she’ll get more and more scared about it. The teacher then suggested that we try a half day on Wednesday, and that might be a good idea. I’ve told Cordelia that, if she finds herself getting tired or hurting, I will be happy to come get her and bring her home.

I don’t think that any of us are actually looking forward to our afternoon of family Easter celebration. Staying home would be very, very nice, but it will be good for Cordelia to make a car trip and to successfully get in and out of someone else’s house, and this is family. Easter is hugely important to Scott’s extended family. I don’t think we’ll stay late. Cordelia getting tired will be a good excuse to leave any time we want to (and she will be tired. I know that. She’s also probably going to be fairly bored).

I think I have the start of a migraine, but I’m not certain, and I haven’t taken anything but Tylenol yet. I’m debating Ativan versus Amerge. I can take both, but I’d rather just take one or the other. I just can’t guess which one would be more useful. Hm. We leave in about half an hour, so maybe I should just take both…

Scott just found pictures on Facebook that show that my parents are at my sister’s place. That doesn’t actually explain why they haven’t called. My sister knows Cordelia got hurt, and I can’t think of any plausible circumstance under which she would not have told them. I mean, she told our father, and that was hugely less likely.

Mostly, I want today and tomorrow to be over. The challenges involved are different, but they’re all kind of daunting, and I really ought to call around to see if any of our friends might be available to drive tomorrow and also have a sedan that doesn’t have a car seat in the back seat. I know one person with a sedan with a car seat and one person who wouldn’t have a car seat (her kid is eleven) but who might not have a sedan. Scott’s sister drives an SUV that Cordelia couldn’t possible get in and out of. I have no idea if she’d even be available, anyway, but there’s no point in asking. I wonder about her sister-in-law… She’s local and works part time. I’ve ridden in her car, and I think it would work. I suppose I can ask her when I see her today.

Okay, I need to finish getting dressed and cook some green beans that we can take with us. Oh, and pack the medications we need to take with us and all of that. I just want very much to go back to bed. Oh, well. Not an option.

I’m up at 3:30 in the morning because, when the hydrocodone wore off, the pain was bad enough to keep me awake. When I stood up— Ow. I’d put it close to labor levels of pain. I’ve taken more hydrocodone, and I’ve got washcloths soaked in the Domeboro solution all over my breast. Well, over most of my breast. I’ve only got two washcloths, and I really need three.

I ought to wash washcloths before I go back to bed as I’ve only got one clean one left. I think, though, that I can reuse one of the two I’m using now when I get up at 8:00. I really can’t face laundry right now. In the morning, I might be able to get Cordelia to do it.

I really don’t think I’m going to Thanksgiving with Scott’s family. He’s still really focused on all of us going, however. I think he’s hoping for magic or something.

Scott will have to work 3:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving. His employer considers everything before 7:00 a.m. to be part of the preceding day because the shift starts at 11:00 p.m. This leads to occasional confusion on my part because sometimes Scott will use that convention when talking about when he has to be at work.

Monday night, Scott had to make a special trip out to get his hearing checked as part of his employer’s OSHA compliance. They did testing in the plant during the week he was on vacation in October. Fortunately, there was a clinic here in town that would do it and that stays open until 10:00 p.m.

I have to have Scott get more Domeboro on his way home from work. We also need some sort of liquid or chewable painkiller for Cordelia. She had a headache last night, and we had nothing for her. I don’t think the headache was too awful; mainly, she was tired. It’s hard to tell, though, because I don’t have a good feel for her pain scale. I think she doesn’t have much sense of what’s possible in terms of pain. She had back pain a couple of months ago that she rated a seven but didn’t think merited even thinking about a trip to the doctor. (It also didn’t affect how she moved.) A seven would send me to the ER— For me, labor was a six. I figure a ten would actually kill you.

I wish I was better at reading poetry. I’m starting to get poetry from the library because I would like to be more literate that way, but I’m not having great luck finding stuff that my eyes don’t simply skid off of. I’m going to try reading some of the current volume (Cristina Rossetti) out loud to see if that helps. I used to read poetry from anthologies in middle school and high school, but I got out of the habit. I like Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Lee Masters, Emily Dickinson, Edna St Vincent Millay, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Robert Frost. Barring the Kipling and the Millay which I read in college, those are all poets I liked in high school. I don’t think GoodReads is giving me useful recommendations in this category as it seems to be focusing heavily on 20th century poets and on stuff pre-Shakespeare (based, I think, on me liking Beowulf and The Elder Edda and several Icelandic sagas and on my having read a good bit of Shakespeare and some Greek tragedies).

Okay time to go back to bed. I’ve been up an hour, and Scott’s alarm will go off soon.