First Published: 2022 July 9
Pre reading note: I meant to write this last night but was too tired. Whoops.
I had the opportunity to go to Venite Adoremus, a holy hour of adoration for young adults in my diocese. It was a really great opportunity, and it reminded me that I really should go to adoration more often.
After the hour, there was a social event, which was also really nice. It’s great to meet people around my age.
First Published: 2022 July 6
Yesterday the newest book in a series I1 really enjoy was released. It’s book eleven in the series, and so I prepared in the way I tend to for new additions to a series: I reread the prior books. I found that I again completely misestimated the amount of time it would take me.
It feels like every time I reread a series to prepare for a release I panic at first. “Oh no,” I think, “I’ve started too late. I’m not going to make it to the new book in time.” Then, inevitably, I get to the last book and have to stretch it to the release of the new one.
This pattern was repeated, but it was really fun. I got to see plot threads that I’d missed on prior read-throughs that were picked up and woven in to the latest two books, and I just enjoy the series generally. I tore through the newest book, but I’m listening through it now because I really want to make sure I got all of the content.
most of my family, and some of my friends↩︎
First Published: 2022 July 5
I completely forgot about this yesterday,1 but the sky turned the violent yellow-green of a serious storm. It was extra shocking to me because I don’t remember any serious storm last night.
Today, on the other hand, was like walking through soup. It was miserably hot and humid all day, and there’s been a massive storm on the radar. As I was sitting, reflecting on my day, flashes of lightning and distant thunder have been slowly building.
I’m still not sure whether it’s going to hit here badly, but I hope it doesn’t.
Now that I’ve reflected on the direct storm experience, I’d like to talk more about how I feel about storms. In general, I really love the rain. Sure, it’s inconvenient to be caught out in it when I have a backpack or something I don’t want getting wet, but when I don’t, I absolutely love it. The feeling of rain pouring down on me never ceases to brighten what should be a gloomy day.
More than that, though, I love the thunder and lightning. The bright arcs across the sky which illuminate billowing clouds. Sounds so deep and booming that they connect you to the oldest parts of humanity. Plus, it’s super fun to do the whole “Light and sound move at different speeds so calculate how far away it is.”
The times when strike after strike comes in quick succession, so the thunderclaps overlap and you end up with a heavy roar in the air are beautiful.
Anyways, storms are pretty, and that’s all I’ve got today.
or maybe it hadn’t happened by posting time↩︎
First Published: 2022 July 4
Today I went to a crafting event with some friends. I knew that I needed a project, but wasn’t sure what to work on. Recently I’ve realized how limiting the way I know how to crochet is.
Don’t get me wrong, most of what I crochet is meant to be warm and thick, so the fabric being so is a plus. But, as these summer months go on, I’m beginning to understand the appeal of looser fabrics. So, I decided to look for an easy project that would force me to use a new stitch.
Enter the Solomon Knot.1 Though I cannot find a reason for the name, it’s functionally just a very loose set of single crochets with skips. It took me a bit to get into the flow of the stitch,2, but now that I have I really enjoy it.
I like how I can decide exactly how large the holes are, though that really adds another level to keeping consistency in my stitch. In the Solomon Stitch, you not only have to keep string tension the same, but also keep the loops you make the same size. I’m making a bag out of this stitch, which I likely won’t want or keep, but I’ve been surprised by myself before.
I’ve really forgotten how much I love crocheting, so it was great to spend time with friends and learn the knot.
First Published: 2022 July 3
Luke 10:20 “Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Today is the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Since I stopped these reflections in the Easter season, it’s kind of strange not having a season I can orient my reflections on.
The last line of the Gospel today is really striking to me. Christ commands his followers to go to the neighboring towns to share the good news.1 They return rejoicing, because they have power over demons now. Christ reorients their joy.
Rather than focusing on the temporal benefits of faith, He reminds us that everything is good only in how it leads us to Heaven. That’s something I need to remind myself more about. A rich prayer life is only worth celebrating in how it orients my will to the Lord’s. Struggles are only damaging in how they damage my trust in Him.
I’m sure there’s a deeper level to today’s readings, but this is all that I have right now.
Good News?↩︎
First Published: 2022 July 1
Yesterday I went through the past two months of my life, reflecting a little on what I did. One thing I did which I’m very happy about is that I made my yearly recipe of lemon wine.
Lemon wine is a recipe I have adapted1 from here. It’s functionally just lemonade that you add yeast to, but I really enjoy it, and it seems like my peers did as well.
Briefly, I cooked boiled 8 pounds of sugar in water with a heavy splash of lemon juice to hopefully break the dimerized sugar into monomers. From there, I combined it with two quarts of lemon juice with yeast nutrient and water to make 5ish gallons, and added EC-81 yeast. I then measured its density and aerated it 1-2 times a day for the next four days, until the density readings showed it was approximately halfway through fermentation. At that point I added another quart of lemon juice and sealed the container
I then left it alone for 10ish days, at which point it was finished fermenting. I then transferred it off the lees2 and let it sit for about a month. At that point I backsweetened it and bottled it up.
It’s always really fun to share with friends because homemade goods feel better to share than storebought, at least for me.
First Published: 2022 June 30
So... I took a while off from blogging. I could make a lot of excuses, like that it was the end of the semester. If I look at my daily reflections, it somewhat supports that.
Anyways, life updates.
I finished the semester
I presented at a conference
I1 passed my second year exam
I played at an open mic with a friend
i think that’s it
So, looking at my goals for May, and thinking about that into June:
In May:
Blog daily. I still like how it forces me to think about something every day.
Write a poem a day. I need to do this more and I will try.2
Stretch daily. I like how stretching makes me feel, and maybe I’ll be able to touch my toes at the end of the month.
Listen to BiaY 7 times a week. This feels more aware of my tendency to listen to three or four in a row.
Finish a draft of the book I’m writing.3 This may be optimistic, but in theory these past two weeks suggest I can do it.
Practice guitar every day. I’ve been getting better and I really like it.
In professional news: finish a reasonable draft of my exam. I need to write this, and soon
Um
Did not do, gave up one week in.
...I completely even forgot that was a goal
I stretched most days, though I’ve recently gotten back out of the habit
I think I listened 7 times since then
I apparently kept writing off and on until the 23 of May, getting up to 74382 words, which is still progress
I practiced most days
I just presented my exam, so I guess that counts as reasonable
Now that I don’t have that existential dread over my head,4 I think I’d like to get back into writing. July is apparently Camp NaNoWriMo, so I would really like to try writing here and a short story every day. I’ve already written a few5 of them and I really enjoy the fact that it’s done when I finish writing. I’d like to get back to the LitRPG I was writing, but it’s beginning to feel like an albatross. That transitions nicely into my goals for July:
Blog daily. I kind of completely have no idea what happened in May or June because I have minimal records from them. I don’t like that
Stretch daily. I liked how I was starting to get more flexible
Be able to run a 5k. I tried one at reunion, and did not do well
Listen to BiaY more. I would like to finish at some point, but it’s hard to motivate
Practice guitar every day. I still like the incremental improvements, and I think I’d like to start shifting more up the fretboard
Practice accordion at least 2x a week. I just got this and I don’t want it to feel neglected6
Write a short story every day. I want to force myself to do more creative writing, especially in short contexts
Maybe finish the book?
Finish either of the two songs I’m writing. I started working on a choral setting of Stabat Mater Dolorosa, and I finally put some words and a melody to a chord loop I really like. It would be nice to finish a project
Ok so having looked at what I thought my updates were, I think there are more. To check, I’m looking at my daily notes for the past two months in far more detail than I did to see why I stopped blogging. Since I stopped blogging I have:78
Seen a lunar eclipse.9
Started jamming with a fellow chem grad student
I think started working out with a fellow groupmate10
Tried recording mental state of the day with my daily reflection.
Bought a guitar
Played at an open mic
Saw my sibling at their institution of higher learning to celebrate a major life milestone
Joined a new bible study
Made lemon wine
Bought new clothes
Went on group retreat
Went to a reunion and reconnected with a lot of lovely people
Ran a 5k
Saw my family
Got positive reviews of the lemon wine
Went to a conference
Met many of my collaborators
Made new friends
Tried new food
Gave a presentation
Wow that really looks like a lot when I write it all out. Anyways, sorry for rambling, but also not really. I’m excited for the next month of 31 days of writing.
literally today↩︎
starting tomorrow↩︎
likely 100K words, 50 chapters↩︎
I’m ignoring the next exam that I need to start soon↩︎
if you’d like to get the link, just ask↩︎
I still find it weird that most people gender and name their instruments↩︎
not counting the things mentioned above↩︎
mostly chronologically↩︎
it was cool↩︎
tbh no clue when I started↩︎
It’s really interesting where I do and don’t get writer’s block. In the exams I need to write for my program, I get them constantly. In the novel I’m writing for fun but also have committed to in some respects, I get it occasionally. In this blog, which I’ve done for longer, I get it often. And, in the random short story prompt I was given and inspired to create a tumblr for, I apparently don’t have it. Weird.
Anyways, writer’s block is such a weird concept when you stop to think about it. There are infinite ways that I can combine letters to create meaning, and infinitely many ways to make nonsense. But, when I have writer’s block, I can’t even think of a way to write nonsense. It’s really fun to think about.
That also, as I read it, may be a good solution to writer’s block. Just keyboard mash until you see a word and hope it sparks something. If I get this again, I may try it.
First Published: 2022 May 4
I think I may have written a few poems in the intervening days, but more importantly, I was able to compose a double acrostic in my head on the walk to work today. I’ll call that good enough to move on to the next form. According to my list of poems, the final acrostic to work through is the compound acrostic.
I’ve been struggling with this one primarily because I want there to be a nice symmetry between the two words, and so few words that bookend well share the same letters. Come and go, for instance, works not at all. Fight and flight, here and there, see and hear, and so on. I guess I came up with one just now, though, so we’ll see how it goes.
Wave and Moon
What starry skies in nighttime skies ne’er claiM
And daytime’s star can never dO.
Vast though the ocean in its turning to and frO
Each day is pulled to her when she comes agaiN
Well, not the strongest poem ever. I think one thing I really struggle with in the ending portion of each line is that I really like rhyme, so the ending letters mess me up. I already have corrections actually, I’m going to make them.
Wave and Moon
What starry skies in nighttime never claiM
A force which calls, rememb’ring long agO.
Vast though the distance ’tween the two
Each day they pull to join agaiN
I don’t know if this one is any better, but the flow is at least slightly better between lines.
First Published: 2022 May 4
As I’ve mentioned now too many times, I’m currently writing a book. I have a variety of ideas for what to do with it once I finish writing the words, but nearly all of them involve some level of self-publishing.1 I learned that if you self-publish through the largest E-book distributor, the ISBN you get is associated with them. That makes sense when I think about it for even an instant, but I’ve also learned that many independent bookstores will refuse to stock books with that publisher, for again, obvious reasons.
I also found out that the owner of an ISBN gains some controls over the book, which made me want to assign my own ISBN. Of course, since we live in America, the company responsible for managing the numbers also sets the pricing scheme.
It is the most asinine pricing scheme I have ever encountered.
A single ISBN costs $125. Knowing nothing about ISBN, that could be a totally valid price. 10 costs $295, or less than a quarter the cost per ISBN of buying individually. 100 costs $575, which is less than a fifth the cost per book of 10, and less than 5% the cost per individual ISBN. That’s so ridiculous that if you need 13 ISBN, it is cheaper to buy 100 than any other method. Finally, 1000 ISBN costs $1500.
For reference, that is 1.2% the cost per ISBN of buying individually, about 5% the cost per 10, and only slightly over 25% of the per hundred. When people say that it’s hard to be an independent business, they never mention this, though they really should. At 211 ISBN, it is now cheaper to buy 1000. That’s completely ridiculous. It’s a way of penalizing small creators and forcing them to go to larger publishing houses.
Anyways, that was a bit of a rant, I have no solutions, and I’m just generally annoyed by that fact. Oh! Any edition of a book needs a new ISBN2, so unless you’re planning on only ever releasing a single book in two editions3, there is literally no reason at all to buy ISBN one at a time. The option to do that is there, as far as I can tell, entirely to screw over new authors who aren’t sure what they’re doing.
The same company sells barcodes for $25. For reference, a barcode can be made online with any number of free tools in a matter of minutes. For a single QR code, they charge $75, which is even worse to me, since I doubt they take care of the hosting for the QR.