[Life] The week in 10 points.

[moonvoice]

1. Our internet is experiencing some major issues which could either be a line fault, or a router fault, but Telstra has to monitor the line first just to be sure (if it's the former, they'll send out a technician, if it's the latter, we get a new router. I suspect it may actually be some sadistic combination of both). The problem with FTTN connections, I swear. But in the meantime, I can't access Tumblr or DeviantArt (too slow-loading), I can't upload artwork and I don't expect to be around on the internet a great deal until it's fixed. I don't know if this will post. Oh, Telstra Velocity Network, if only we weren't locked into your service because you're the only one with the technicians to deal with this stupid fibre optic technology.

2. Still working on totems. Another eight, this week. Very busy. If I don't respond to posts promptly, or at all, it's likely because of how hard I'm working. That, plus dealing with some intense emotional stuff, just means I don't have the energy to connect as much as I used to / want to.

3. Also working on writing. Fanfic (the Sherlock) fic is on pause (but not diapause) while I work on some original fiction instead (a novel and a short story). Not having very successful internet is frustrating in the research department, since I like to research as I go.

4. It's starting to cool down (finally!), really looking forward to cooler weather and shedding the last of this Summer SAD. It's hit me unusually hard in the tail end of this season, possibly because of the record-breaking number of heatwaves Western Australia has had in the past 3 months, and the fact that I had to be out in the heat for some of them. Bah. *kicks Summer SAD in the head.*

5. We are going to see Rachmaninov's 3rd Concerto performed by Garrik Ohlssen and the WASO in November. I don't recall if I've already said this, but if I have, it's worth saying again. *excitement*

6. We now have a pot of aloe vera, and are soon to have an extremely healthy and large pot of lemongrass coming our way. The beginnings of our potted herb garden. :) This makes me very happy. The idea was to always have a potted herb garden. One we could take with us. But primarily so that the nutrients that the herbs required didn't interfere with the lack of nutrients that Australian natives required. I do not fancy killing off my beautiful Verticordias with phosphorus, thanks. I can't wait to start getting things like parsley and rosemary and so on. Eventually I want a meyer lemon tree, or a lime tree, since I cook with a lot of acids, and citrus grows so well here.

7. I keep thinking I'm going to come back and start posting regularly in this journal again, but I don't know if I ever am, at this point. While I appreciate being able to keep up with the others who are still allowing me access, and commenting where I can, I'm not missing spooling off reams of information to a lot of people multiple times a day. At some point, I went from 'let's talk about a lot of things,' to 'I think I'm becoming a rather private person.' Well, as private as I ever get. You know, still relatively open book in the stuff I'm willing to publically talk about.

8. Writer's Group is going so well. I think our next 'official' meeting is at the end of the month. Can't come soon enough. Something about the four of us in the same room, and there's always this alchemical need to write, write, write afterwards. Glen has been asking me to start writing poetry again, so I've sort of started taking around the small notebooks that I used to write poetry in with me, wherever I go. It's not very good.

9. On an aside, since growing my nails for the first time ever - consistently - over the past three months (I've been a chronic nail-biter since a child and hadn't ever stopped until now), can I just say how disgusting nails are? Even if you clean them multiple times a day. They're just gross. I keep them filed really short as a result (i.e. I might as well be biting them still, lol). I've decided I don't find anything 'aesthetic' about long nails anymore, knowing that even with scrubbing a few times a day, they're just dirt-traps for skin cells and whole amounts of other crap (and graphite and pastel and bits of paper and eraser; being a 2D artist with long nails is feral). Yuck.

10. I have a very exciting project coming up (an art project) which I can't tell anyone about yet. But it's really wonderful and a step in the right direction in my career as an artist. *bounces*

Comments

[silverjackal]

This did post. Huzzah plants and projects! And best of luck getting everything sorted (work, personal issues, and internet issues)!

[moonvoice]

Very much huzzah to the plants and projects! :D

[ariestess]

I should get an aloe vera plant, now that you've mentioned it. I've been wanting one for a while now. Hmm...

And yes, long nails for artists are really rather... Just not pretty. I can only imagine how much worse it can be for artists that work in clays and such.

Can't wait to hear about the new project when you are able to share. And woohoo on all of the totems.

However you feel best about journaling here is what is best for you. If there are people that don't like it or don't get that, they don't need to be around, do they?

[moonvoice]

I like aloe vera, not only for its healing qualities (though I like those very much), but also because it's so damn hardy.

It will probably be many months before I can share information on this project, but it's exciting none-the-less. *g*

[ariestess]

*nods* I used to get aloe vera juice to drink at one point. It was an interesting taste, to say the least. Mainly, I like the fact that it's so fun to look at.

And I don't mind waiting for the info sharing. It makes it more fun to speculate. LOL!

[moonvoice]

I like aloe vera juice; especially when doctored to remove the bitterness. My brother lives on the stuff. :D

[ariestess]

*nods* I usually took it in a quick shot, followed by something else that tasted yummier.

[laughinglotus]

Wow. You've been busy.

[moonvoice]

Very! I seem to need a ridiculous amount of sleep in my downtime as a result.

[amalnahurriyeh]

Herb gardens are the best. We're getting an early taste of spring here, and so mine has just started greening up again--the chives are sprouting, and there are some green leaves mixed in with the brown on the thyme. No news yet from the mint, but I'm hopeful. Whenever we get permanently settled somewhere, I definitely want some fruit trees.

[moonvoice]

I can't wait to expand my herb garden. Using dried herbs just isn't the same! I hope your mint says hi to you soon. :)

[tulikettu]

being a 2D artist with long nails is feral). Yuck.


bwahahahahahahaa! ew. lol

Yeah... as a life-long nail-biter, I find that only when it's warm and sunny out do my nails actually grow and I get enough happy from the sun to lay off my typical chewing tendencies. And then I get to use them as tools! yay!

[moonvoice]

bwahahahahahahaa! ew. lol

So ew! And I'm noticing stupid things like, when cutting raw chicken, a piece of it got stuck in my nails and I couldn't dislodge it straight away. It felt awful. I tend to be quite fastidiously clean with my hands (mostly because residue oils, even the oils of my own hands, can permanently stain and damage illustration board - battling with constant dry skin is the bane of the paper/illustration artist).

Anyway, basically, I do like to keep them very short!

[tsukikokoro]

Everything sounds so tense and intense and WOW. I'm super glad the weather is cooling down for you. :D

I am still a problem nail biter, but it certainly doesn't help that every time I manage to restrain myself for a week, my nails get filthy. I don't know how people manage! It's not like I'm a 2D artist. It might be worth investing in a metal soap with a nail thingy. Trent's parents gave us one because they didn't want it, and I find it super useful for nail cleaning... when I have them.

[moonvoice]

I don't know how people manage with nails either, especially if they cook a lot. Blargh. I'll look into a metal soap. At the moment I just scrub and then clean out my nails pedantically a couple of times a day.

[bunny_m]

So very glad that things are finally cooling down.

As for posting more/less often, it's your journal, post as much or as little as you feel like/are comfortable with. Anyone that doesn't like that idea should get down off of their damn entitlement.

Glad to hear the art and the writing group are going well, and that the SAD is starting to fade.

*offers hugs*

[moonvoice]

*hugs back*

Huzzah that things are cooling down, yes? Now if only we would get some rain and some really awesome thunderstorms.

[hrafn]

Yeah, I hate how quickly grime builds up under fingernails, but I use my nails as tools way too much to trim them as short as possible :\

Congratulations on the new mysterious art project!

[moonvoice]

I've actually found I don't really use my nails much as tools at all since they've been long. Aside from opening condiment flip-top lids and cans of soft drink (the latter I have like once a year, so not really a big issue) - but I could do both before that, with different parts of my fingers, anyway.

They come in handy for scratching though. *g*

[redsixwing]

Hooray for herbs! And boo for internet problems. :p

Fingernails do get filthy in a hurry. Working with stone, I tend to take my nails down very short just by virtue of hand-cutting cabochons on an arbor- I use my nails to guide the stone, which means I lose the ends of them on a regular basis. If my nails are ever all the same length or not scuffed up from sandpapers and files, I generally need to go work on some jewelry and fix that pronto. XD

I'm glad to hear that art and writing are both swinging up - all the best wishes for your continuing career!

[moonvoice]

Boo internet problems, I think everything is fixed now! Though it involved staying on the phone to Telstra for something like three hours of everyone being very patient with me (and vice versa).

[mirrorred_star]

I've been growing out my nails too, and oh yes, they get so much dirt and everything caught under them.

I would like some aloe vera, though I would probably be too tempted to pull leaves off and pull them apart like I used to as a kid. I think its a good idea to have herbs in pots so they don't annoy your natives. And also, you can put them places where you couldn't grow garden plants, like on the back porch or a window ledge, and there would be more room for plants.

[moonvoice]

Hee, thankfully I've managed to keep the aloe vera intact (I haven't needed it for any burns yet or anything too, which is good). We have lemongrass now! It's so healthy!

[spider_fox]

Yea, I like the pretty designs my coworkers get on their acrylic nails, but mine get nasty when grown out from working with dirt and cleaning stuff, lol. I keep mine as short as possible as well, unfortunately through nail-biting mainly D:

That concert sounds exciting. I went to one once for a christmas concert, and it was lovely even with my hearing impairment.

Good luck with the indoor plants. May Maybe be kind to you on that venture, lol.

[moonvoice]

Oh man, I was going to say, you working with clay would be a nightmare with nails as well.

Oh, the plants aren't going to be indoor; they're just going to be in pots outside. I'm pretty sure Maybe would eat / shred anything inside.

[lichen]

i'm getting nervy because spring is here, which means summer isn't too far off, and i am at my worst, mood-wise, in summer. i love cool weather and grey skies! :)

the nail thing! oh my gosh, i hear you loud and clear on that. i keep my nails so short because first of all, it feels weird and unnatural to me to have them any longer than the fingertips. i'm so tactile i need all my fingertip to feel, dammit. *laughs* and ugh, yes, they catch all the dirt and things, and ughughugh. *shudders* i just can't do it at all! problem is that clipping them is such a gross feeling to me, it makes me bristle mentally and it takes me so long to do it. on average it takes me a couple hours to trim and file them, and i'm always left a frazzled mess afterwards because of the gross feeling. boo!

[moonvoice]

Oh man, I'm with you on the cool weather and grey skies. I hope very much that you have a colder Summer than usual! Or at least one that gives you some respites from the heat.

on average it takes me a couple hours to trim and file them, and i'm always left a frazzled mess afterwards because of the gross feeling.

*nods* Agreed. I don't enjoy filing much at all, plus it's time-consuming. And I haven't been game enough to use clippers either, I was told not to use them by a GP (medical doctor) because I was prone to infections and filing was safer.