Doing a meme, which is super-late...

Straight from the coolness that is Music Memoirs, the webmistress asks readers to list:

"Top 5 Songs That You Wish You'd Never Hear Again"

1. "Flying Under Radar" by Jerry Harrison
This song has amazing power. It almost, ALMOST, invalidates his work with the Modern Lovers and Talking Heads. I also believe this song singlehandedly killed his solo career.

2. "Oh Diane" by Fleetwood Mac
Probably one of the worst songs Lindsey has ever written, the worst off of Mirage... and the worst by the band, period.

3. "Gift of Screws" by Lindsey Buckingham
Gotta step up your game, man, your bandmate did a better job singing a poem. Maybe Emily Dickinson just isn't singable...

4. "Someone Like You" by Adele
The high notes she hits in this song are like cheese graters against my nerves. It doesn't help that I'm also tired of her stuff being played over and over. The perils of working at a bookstore. /lulz

5. "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri
You know you are already on my s***-list when you write lyrics like "you're gonna catch a cold/from the ice inside your soul". Most ridiculous image ever.

I really need to quit disappearing like this...

Trigger warning: there are discussions of depression in this post.

So yeah, didn't feel like doing this blogging thing for a while. I actually have a good reason. For a while now, I had suspected something was up with me. Couldn't really put a finger on it and give it a name, lessen its power and attempt to control it. As time went on, it was inevitable. I was depressed again.

Everything came to a head about a month ago. With both my jobs colliding (in terms of weird times among other things), my overspending and obsession with my financial well-being, and overall low mood... needless to say that it finally overtook me. I was unable to perform well at my jobs and be the best that I know I am. Atop that, I almost lost my health insurance with my bookstore job, which I needed in order to go see a counselor.

It has been a few weeks since the worst of it has vanished, but like the two times before that I had been depressed, I feel like I'm playing catch-up to make up for those lost hours. At this point, I can safely say that I probably lost quite an amount of time. But it is pointless to regain it. All I can do is work with what I have now. I'm also seeing a counselor and that's been helping me, along with other issues that I've been dealing with.

So, that is what's up with me these days. Continuing to write and pursue hobbies while working two jobs. So, business as usual. Well, sort of. But you know what I'm driving at.

Finally, an update on Invisible

I finished Part 2 and beginning Part 3. It took forever, because I was getting worried over little things that can be easily resolved with "it's a first draft". And now, it also wants a fourth part. Why, Invisible, why? You're already a long-ass novel thing!

Ahem. Anyway... if I get 1,000+ words done before I head to bed, I'll take the day off and read until my mid-shift at the bookstore.

Or I get Raptured. Whatever happens. /lulz

Randomass thoughts for your reading enjoyment

• I'm lacking an important tool: a paper awl. So I have been using a small awl my father uses for household projects. It works well, but it hurts to use. Earlier today, I bought a hole punch that you use with a hammer to see if that ends up being better. Will let y'all know.

• On the hunt for more hobbies, my mother suggested that I try crocheting (one of her longtime hobbies, alongside reading). We found a beginner's kit on sale at Hobby Lobby. We'll see if that ends up into something good.

• I currently have 13 library books checked out. What hast thou done?!

• For the first time in f***ing forever, I'm gonna get right back into writing and editing. I swear to God, if I don't do something about my procrastinating... I will kick my own ass. *grumbles*

To close, here are some of my finished bookbinding projects:

And yes, that is a crocheted afghan. My mother made it.
Yes, it is awesome.
No, you cannot have it.

'Tis be tiny

Not much to say today, but been listening to podcasts (they piled up) and catching up on some reading.

You think, with that long post, that it'll be a frequent thing?

Sorry. Not today, friends. Maybe next Monday?

Discussions of a recent interest

A while back, I talked about becoming interested in the politics behind the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I wanted both sides, wanted to know how the thought process went for America when we decided to attack Japan; and then why Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor (among committing other atrocities, like the Rape of Nanking). Most important, how these atrocities affected everyone, even to this day. For example, after Pearl Harbor, America imprisoned many Japanese-American citizens in internment camps.

Just from the few books I read so far, I have concluded that both countries were in the wrong. Also, that nuclear warfare is one of humankind's shining moments of how we are capable of creation and destruction.

Minor update on the foot and flash fiction

Well, it turns out I had sprained my foot (thankfully, the worst of the pain is gone), so I'm wearing a orthopedic shoe and taking some pain meds now until it fully heals.

Still working on flash fiction and having a good time with it.

Not much insight for now. Until next time...

A brief note on flash fiction

Because I can't seem to write anything else right now (*grumbles*), I'm polishing a flash fiction piece and plan to send it out to a place that's currently accepting that type of writing. It's probably best, since it seems like I can't stick to a freaking novel.

So much for a surplus of time.

Some thoughts on bookbinding

When I began my first project, I hand-cut the text weight papers (e.g. the lined paper for notebooks) with a craft knife. The papers were uneven, this with the aide of a metal ruler. Then, just earlier this evening, while at my friend's house, I managed to hand-cut papers and actually they turned out very well. Well, I told myself to do a few projects a week, to get the hang of it. So far, my skills are slowly improving.

Already done a few Japanese stab bindings, getting the hang of those too.

More to come, along with pictures of some of my projects. Until next time...

Why there was no Monday post

I don't know what's up with my left foot, but while doing stuff for my other job (at the literary arts non-profit) yesterday, I tripped over a crack and fell down. My ankle bent inward and I heard a "pop" noise. The thinking is that I popped a joint, but now the whole left side of my foot hurts like hell. It does hurt to walk and to put weight on it (the weird thing is it's the foot I put weight on [my right side has the sciatica and scoliosis, so I rarely favor the right foot]). The pain is no better today, but I'm hoping it fades by Thursday, or I'll have to go in and get it checked out.

Either way, I was so tired and in a neurotic state about my foot that everything slipped my mind and forgot to do some things. Gonna play catch-up today. Lord knows I will, can't do much literal sprinting.