Let’s Play “What’s In My Drawer?”
So my “work at home desk” is the dining room table, meaning that I’m on the completely opposite side of our main room. I’m also right next to one of my little drawer towers. The drawers are semi-transparent, meaning I can see all the stuff in them. They’ve been driving me crazy for the past few months because all the stuff in them have been very disorganized, so tonight I decided to take everything out and re-organize it all.
Thus, you get pictures of some of my random crap, ‘cause I’m too antsy and panicky and sad to blog about anything else today.
A space pen! I’ve had this for a long, long time. Like, at least two decades, I think. And it still writes!
My “I voted” sticker from the 2012 election. I wish I’d gotten a sticker for the 2020 election, but I did an electronic download of my ballot due to all the post office nonsense, so I didn’t get a sticker mailed to me.
A bunch of Euros! These are from…I don’t know. I think some of them probably came from my dad, since he sometimes brings me currency from all the coolio places he goes. Maybe they were from when we went to Sweden/Finland/England back in 2003 (?), but I remember using Kroner and pounds instead of Euros…I think…I can’t remember.
The manual thingy that came with my bundle of Half-Life CDs from way back when. Remember PC games that came on CDs instead of Steam?
A card from the tattoo/piercing shop where Aaron and I got our piercings back in 2008. That was a fun little road trip.
I was super into The Guggenheim Grotto back in 2007. I bought a physical copy of this CD because the texture of the CD case was awesome. Look at how pretty that is!
My graduation tassels from my psych degree and my philosophy degree. I didn’t get one for my math degree (2012) because I didn’t go to graduation and didn’t go pick up my graduation crap. I was having a bad end of the semester and was inundated with papers to grade from STAT 251, so yeah. Would’ve been nice to have one, though.
BYE
Romans, yo
So I’m super interested in the Julio-Claudian dynasty now.
Thanks, Robert Graves.
I want to read more about it but I also want to keep going with my fiction list and I’ve never been one to be reading more than one book at a time (I don’t know why, I just don’t do that), so I don’t know what to do.
Also, I, Claudius has a sequel (Claudius the God) but it’s not on my “200 Books” list, so ldskghdlfjferfafslffl when am I going to read it?
Life is hard.
Edit: apparently there’s a BBC television adaptation of the two books?? I neeeeeed!
Woah, woah, woah, hold on…
Are you telling me that with all the absolute nonsense going on this year, the Doomsday Clock has only moved forward 20 seconds in 2020?
Like, I get that it’s based on nuclear threat more than anything else, but I would think that threat would, by default, increase with all this madness of COVID, Trump, the US election in general, climate change, etc. going on all at the same time this year.
Maybe it’ll change again after the election, who knows.
It’s getting colder.
It’s inevitable.
Calgary winters are long, dark, and sometimes brutally cold. The only two things that make up for them are a) summer days that aren’t usually too hot and daylight that lasts from 5 AM to 11 PM, and b) the fact that Calgary is a very sunny city, meaning even on a lot of those butt-freezing cold days, the sun is out, which makes a big difference.
This winter is going to be especially hard because I usually make it through the winters at least in part by being able to look forward to going down to Moscow for a few weeks over Christmas break.
That’s obviously not happening this year.
And another challenge for this year (apart from, y’know, trying not to get COVID): I got super into running over the summer, as you all likely know if you’ve been reading my blogs. While I feel like I could get used to running in the cold, once there’s snow and ice on the ground, I’m not so sure. The last thing I want to do is bite it on a patch of ice and screw up my leg (or something else) and be out of commission for any period of time.
I mean, I’ve got my treadmill, of course, but I don’t think I could run 14 miles on a treadmill. It’s a slightly different set of muscles and the furthest I’ve ever gone without stopping is about 8 miles.
Plus, running outside is SO MUCH MORE FUN.
So that’s going to suck once winter really sets in and doesn’t leave until like the middle of May.
USA! USA!
“How Many U.S. Cities Can You Name?” aka “Your Recall of the State Capitols is a Lot Worse Than You Thought.”
I can’t name a single damn city in West Virginia. What the hell is in West Virginia? I like to think my inability to recall a single location in West Virginia is because I’ve been traumatized by the shape of that freaking state and my brain is just trying to protect me.
“It’s okay,” my brain whispers as I cry in the corner. “West Virginia isn’t real. It can’t hurt you.”
Things I Want to Do:
- Make spaghetti
- Get hit by a truck
Not necessarily in that order.
IT’S THE SEPTEMBER LIST OMFG
- Mongolian BBQ survived the (first round of) the pandemic. THANK THE GODS.
- Someone tell me why my fucking toenail is turning into a concrete brick. Here’s a picture. That fugly bit at the front? That’s not the top of my toenail. That’s the width of the thing. What in the ever-living ass goblins, guys. I can’t trim this toenail because it literally will not fit into any nail clipper. I’m going to have to get like dog nail clippers or something. (Yes, there are sock fuzzies all over my toes.)
- I’m sorry, but are we really assuming that people are staying completely inactive during these quarantines? Exercising without a gym is a thing. I get that not everybody has the ability to do that, but I think most people, at least in the US and Canada, live in a situation where they could go outside and just walk around on occasion. And if not, what about exercising in the house?
- Did you know that there is a maximum number of videos that you can have in the “Watch Later” playlist on Youtube? Apparently there is, ‘cause I just hit it today.
- To add a little structure to my book list choices, I think I’m going to choose my next books “alphabetically” in the sense that I’ll have to pick a book from the books starting with each letter. For example, I just finished As I Lay Dying (my “A” choice) and am reading The Bonfire of the Vanities (my “B” choice), so the next book I’ll read will have to start with a “C.” Just to make things easier.
- Here’s another little tree picture I took on a walk. I did a bit of Photoshop to it to give it a little effect. Do you like it?
Uggggggggggggh.
Mets, oh my god, that was such a fitting end to a very rough season.
Anyway.
Look at how pretty Calgary is! Time to enjoy it for the next few days before everything dies and the temperature drops below zero. And stays like that until May.
I Voted!
After getting an email copy of my absentee ballot (and dealing with a few issues regarding the address printed on said ballot), I was able to fill it out and mail it today! Super fun. Don’t forget to vote, my American brethren.
Also, last Christmas my dad got Nate and me some Ancestry.com kits, and we FINALLY got around to spitting in the little collector tubes, so I sent those off as well. Mailing the tubes was a lot cheaper than mailing the ballot, but I wanted the ballot in a tracked package and expedited so that there’s very little chance it won’t get there before election day.
Once our Ancestry samples get to their destination, we should have our results in six to eight weeks. I’m curious to see the comparisons with my 23andMe analysis.
Also, no, I have no qualms about sending off my DNA to companies like this. What’re they going to do, clone me? Trust me, no one wants that.
CUZ BABY YOU’RE A FIREWORK
WANT SOME BIG BOOMS?
YOU KNOW YOU DO!
AND THEY’RE SERVED WITH A SIDE OF CAPS LOCK IN THESE TRYING TIMES!
North of the Border
This is probably going to sound super stupid, but every once and a while I remember that I am not living in the country I was born in and I’m like…oh.
Yeah, that sounds pretty stupid as I’m typing it out. But it’s not something that I consciously think about very often, so when I do actually think about the fact that I live in a country where I’m not technically a citizen, it’s kind of a weird thing. It’s kind of a shocking thing. I never thought I’d be living anywhere other than the US, but HERE WE ARE in a world where I’ve spent more of my adult life in Canada than in ‘Murica.
Kinda wild.
Sorry, that’s all I’ve got for today.
Cranefall
NOOOOOOOOOOO, the cranes surrounding the new cancer center are being dismantled! Those four cranes have been up since at least 2017 and provide so much extra light at night. I’m going to really miss them.
(“Cranefall” sounds like a good story title.)
Edit: only Crane #2 still stands.
Two Things Today!
1. I did my longest run ever today: 15 miles. That’s no marathon or anything (obviously), but that is my standard daily walking distance…a distance I never thought I could run. So that’s kinda cool.
2. The case for Kondle came today! Check it:
Now he’s pretty AND protected!
I wish I had a normal belly button
Is that a weird thing to say? I guess “normal” is subjective, but of the people whose navels I have seen up close and personal,* mine looks quite different than theirs.
Lemme ‘splain. Of the few people whose navels I have gazed upon in relative close inspection, you can see where it “ends.” Basically, you can see that it is a finite hole that has a bottom/end to it. It looks like a little cup or something.
Mine does not look like that. Mine looks like a bottomless pit. Mine looks like what I would expect the tied part of an inflated balloon looks like from the inside. You can’t see the end/bottom of it and it’s weird and I hate it. I mean, when you Google “belly button,” a good number of the pics that come up look kind of like how mine looks, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a belly button like that in person apart from mine.
Part of why mine looks the way it does might have to do with the fact that when I had my appendix taken out, they inserted one of the wands/probes through my belly button during surgery. I can feel a small little scar in there, but it’s nothing too dramatic.
Anyway.
I know this is stupid and that NO ONE CARES, but it just bugs me.
STUPID BLOG POST IS OVER, BYE
*There haven’t been many of them, let’s be honest
List-a-Thon: August 2020 Edition
- Hahaha, sorry, what? I feel like there’s a story behind this very specific piece of advice.
- This is such a weird freaking baseball season. Watch the Mets not make the playoffs in a season where like 80% of teams are going to be in the playoffs.
- These are beautiful little objects.
- Need some ambient noise?
- Here’s a calculator to approximate your risk of getting COVID from certain activities.
- I love how all the nonsense in 2020 just hasn’t been quite enough for the US, so the universe was like “lol let’s add some raging forest fires in the west” just to make things more interesting. How much do you want to bet that Trump either a) completely ignores these fires or b) somehow blames them on the Democrats?
- Edit from September 12: so three states are ON FIRE and Trump has said nothing publicly. Called it.
Kindle!
So I got distracted by the redwoods yesterday and forgot to mention that my Kindle came! Check it out:
(Yes, that’s Jazzy in the background of that second pic, haha)
It’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it’s super light and, now that I think about it, it’s about the size of a typical paperback. You can adjust the font size and everything, too, so if I want to read it while I use the treadmill, it should be fine if I make the font big enough.
Supa cool!
Edit: his name is “Kondle” now. He’s my son.
NOT THE REDWOODS
Redwoods do well with fires, but these fires are incredibly intense and hot, which damages the trees. How many other redwoods will be affected by these fires that are so obviously exacerbated by climate change?
Consider helping via donation. I don’t know how many of you have seen the California redwoods in person, but they are incredible beyond words (even the “smaller” ones).
Help them. Help the parks.
Annnnnnd the Mets have COVID
Of course. At least they weren’t the only ones to get it. Or the first.
Hopefully those that have it will only have mild symptoms and will recover fully!
Somebody’s Got a Tan
Hint: It’s me.
At least on my arms. You can see where I normally wear my Garmin, haha.
Also, ignore how hairy my arms are. I am a yeti.
TYPE ME, BABY
HEYO, so body typing is weird and completely unscientific, but it can be helpful for people who want to…want to dress to accentuate their body shape, I guess?
Anyway, I’m ugly as hell so there’s nothing to accentuate but the ugly, but I like meaningless quizzes and such, so I decided to figure out my Kibbe body type.
Test here!
(Or here, with pics to help)
I fall barely into the “classic” category, but I also suck at describing parts of my body, so.
Fun anyway.
LOOK AT THIS CLOUD AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
That is one seriously looming cloud. It’s supposed to storm later; wonder where it’s going to come from?
Edit: no storm at all, haha. Just a lot of wind.
SOUND THE ALARM
Hello friends. Today I want to share with you all of the alarms that I have on my phone.
Why, you ask?
Because that’s the kind of worthless content I’m sure you’ve all come to expect from me.
Because it’s…uh…interesting. Yeah, let’s go with that.
Anyway. Here is the list of all the alarm times I have as options on my phone:
- 00:00
- 00:10
- 00:15
- 00:30
- 00:45
- 01:30
- 02:00
- 02:20
- 02:20
- 02:30
- 02:34
- 02:38
- 02:40
- 02:47
- 02:55
- 03:00
- 03:05
- 03:10
- 03:20
- 03:25
- 03:30
- 03:31
- 03:32
- 03:35
- 03:36
- 03:37
- 03:40
- 03:42
- 03:45
- 03:50
- 03:51
- 03:55
- 04:00
- 04:05
- 04:10
- 04:15
- 04:20
- 04:30
- 04:33
- 04:35
- 04:40
- 04:45
- 04:51
- 04:55
- 05:00
- 05:05
- 05:10
- 05:13
- 05:15
- 05:20
- 05:30
- 05:35
- 05:36
- 05:40
- 05:41
- 05:43
- 05:45
- 05:46
- 05:50
- 05:55
- 06:00
06:05 - 06:08
- 06:12
- 06:15
- 06:20
- 06:25
- 06:27
- 06:30
- 06:32
- 06:35
- 06:40
- 06:42
- 06:45
- 06:47
- 06:50
- 06:52
- 06:55
- 07:00
- 07:05
- 07:15
- 07:20
- 07:25
- 07:30
- 07:35
- 07:40
- 07:45
- 07:55
- 08:00
- 08:07
- 08:10
- 08:15
- 08:20
- 08:24
- 08:25
- 08:26
- 08:27
- 08:30
- 08:35
- 08:39
- 08:40
- 08:45
- 08:53
- 08:54
- 09:00
- 09:05
- 09:10
- 09:15
- 09:25
- 09:30
- 09:45
- 10:00
- 10:30
- 10:45
- 10:48
- 11:35
- 11:56
- 12:15
- 12:20
- 12:25
- 12:30
- 12:48
- 12:50
- 13:45
- 13:40
- 13:45
- 13:48
- 14:30
- 14:40
- 14:50
- 15:00
- 15:30
- 15:40
- 15:45
- 17:05
- 17:15
- 17:30
- 17:40
- 17:45
- 18:00
- 21:45
- 21:50
- 22:30
- 23:15
- 23:20
- 23:30
- 23:50
I’m sure you have questions. Let me answer them.
Q: That’s 146 different alarms.
A: Not really a question, but…yes.
Q: Do you use them all in a single day?
A: God, no.
Q: Do you not have a snooze function on your phone?
A: I do have a snooze function on my phone. The problem with the snooze function is that my lizard brain goes “DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO MAKE THE BEEPING STOP” and I will, in the half-daze of sleep, manage to disable it.
Q: Why are there several sequences of alarms going off every minute?
A: Because I really, really, really have trouble waking up.
Q: How many of these do you usually utilize to wake up in the morning?
A: I’d say anywhere from 10 to 30 of them. Depends on when I’m getting up.
Q: Why are there so many in the morning but not as many in the afternoon/night?
A: Because I’m usually up by that point. Usually.
Q: An alarm at 02:34 in the morning?
A: Yes.
Q: What the hell is wrong with you?
A: Many, many things.
THE OUCH OF THE TOES
Me: You know what would be a fun addition to daily 15-mile walks?
Toes: Don’t say it.
Me: Replacing some of the miles with 13-mile runs!
Toes: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—
Yeah, they’re angry. I don’t blame them.
Haha, I love how every summer there are at least five blogs dedicated to how much I’ve brutalized my feet.
Eigenblogger 