scordatura

Hello friends!! I've been behind on pretty much all the usual posts just because I haven't been up to much, but I've been doing a fair amount while in Belgrade, so I figured I'd send this update off while I was still here. \o/

• First things first: my grandmother continues the worst! :") Shocking news. She's gotten way, way worse healthwise; she was way more of a terror before because she could enforce her nonsense dictates and follow us around the house, and she was strong and mentally present enough that we were pretty much obligated to spend time with her. Now, though, she walks with a walker and pretty much lies in bed all day and barely even talks-- when she does it's still terrible, ha, but it's basically a million times easier to ignore and move on with your life. I don't really feel anything for her anymore, either in the realms of hatred or love, so that also makes it much easier to ignore! >_> But she's had a couple screaming matches with my mom and the women who take care of her, and she's incredibly obnoxious and whiny and unable to stand things not being her way, so... the status, it is quo.

• The first ~three days we were here it was SO hot-- highs around 100, relentlessly sunny, and it's a former-socialist brutalist city with lots of concrete, lmao, so when it's hot it's REAL hot. So we pretty much just sat inside with the a/c running, I got writing done and applied to jobs, unbothered by anyone-- bliss! :") Friday morning we went to see my cousin, who lives in what used to be my paternal grandparents' house; he has a three-year-old son who is PRECIOUS and ridiculous, and his wife is pregnant again, which is v exciting! He's about ten years older than me and we don't have a lot in common, but his dad and my dad grew up like siblings (they're technically first cousins, but bc Serbs refer to cousins as "brothers/sisters of [specific familial relation], I just save time and refer to them as uncles/aunts lmao :")) and I'm really fond of him and his wife and kids (and their hella spoiled basset hound, lmao). So it was nice seeing them!

• Last weekend, we went on a tour of a bunch of cool shit in eastern Serbia!! We saw an ~ethno-village (basically leveled-up glamping; authentic cabins taken from rural areas of Serbia, each hooked up with a/c, wifi, and satellite TV, spa and three pools on the premises), the ruins of the palace of a Roman emperor (Serbia's only UNESCO heritage site!), a couple of assorted heritage museums, a monastery, a village famous for its wine cellars (we sampled... so much wine lmao), and the cave of a historic outlaw! It was SO much fun-- my mom had never even been to all of these places, so it was just this great adventure, seeing things we'd never seen and learning a ton. We almost never get to do touristy stuff even in the city, let alone outside of it, when we visit, since we're so busy seeing family and friends and two weeks is barely enough to fit even MOST of them in, lmao, so this was such a pleasant change of pace!!

• What else have we been up to? Ordered new prespcription sunglasses for me, met my godbrother's girlfriend and hung out with them and my godmother, went out to a v trendy cafe with my other godfamily, went out into the city for my mom to meet an old friend, went along with my mom to see another friend because her daughter had a cat (a good little buddy!), hung out with a cousin at his country house (he ALSO has cats, FOUR OF THEM) and caught up with his art (he's a p successful painter, as is his mom), and wandered around the city a little before meeting up with a cousin and his gf for lunch (would have been way more fun if it hadn't gotten SO GODDAMN HOT again sob!!). So, lots of good stuff! Mostly seeing people, as per usual, but a little city exploration, too. I wish I'd gotten to a little more of the latter, but... WEATHER. One day I'll be able to be here during a non-impossible season!!

And now I'm heading home tomorrow! It'll be weird but good for sure-- I've got SO much to get to (diss proposal rewrites! Continuing the ol' job hunt! Unpacking and organizing! Planning how to start other stuff! Hanging out with my sister before she heads back to college! Cooking and cleaning while it's just me and my dad till my mom gets home!), and it'll be good to get started. :3

Hey gang! I'm going to make a life post, as promised, sometime soonish.... probably... (I'm waiting to hear back on a couple of things, SIGH, so fingers crossed I do so soon!!), but for now, Wednesday reading! \o/ An even mix this time around, of stuff I really liked and stuff I... pretty didn't, lmao. :")

• Stephanie Danler, Sweetbitter
I should have known that p much any super highly praised new literary fiction (the ~voice of our generation!!) would underwhelm me, and I should have known that a book with a Sappho epigraph that stars a hetero romance would be bullshit!!! (In all fairness, there were two lesbians in it! They... were both terrible, but so was everyone else, so.) But yeah, overall... highly underwhelming. I thought the plot of someone working at a restaurant and the drama it involved would be interesting, but the style was super weird (like, that strange slightly false artsy-for-the-sake-of-artsiness excess nonsense a lot of literary fiction tends towards) and the plot made no sense?? I spent like 75% of the book just having no idea why anyone was doing the things they were doing, and I think a large part of it was a first-person narrative from a person who had no personality. Like, every time another character described something about her I was like "news to me!" bc the actual narration did nothing to give me even the remotest idea of what kind of person she was. It just sort of felt like most of the plot happened because... it was happening? And not for any actual reason? All of the food stuff, too, just felt... so weird and pretentious (man, why can't I read a food book with good food descriptions!!), and next to none of the characters were even remotely sympathetic.

I will say this: about 75% of the way through the book, the plot started getting interesting and the characters started behaving in ways that made sense! And I actually felt compelled by the story! Amazing! The ending still felt... very weird, and I definitely wouldn't recommend it, unless you LIKE weird literary fiction nonsense with annoying characters and incomprehensible plot, but it was slightly less terrible than I had previously thought, which is always nice. :")

• S. J. Goslee, Whatever
Ugh... man, I really wanted to like this book? Published origfic! So many tropes! But... just... ugh! I couldn't do it. I didn't like the writing style at all; I should have known from the, like, first few chapters just being about the MC getting high and doing nothing that it wouldn't be my jam? Also the book did that thing a lot of debut novels do where they're just... clearly so enamored of every single detail they've thought up that they want to cram as much as possible into the narration, even though it often detracts from the actual narrative and is distracting. Also, like, there was... so much misogyny in the narration?? So much referring to boys as "girls" or "pussies" and I just... mb that's realistic for teenage boys, but it's not what I want to read about?? It's not at all relatable or fun or a character trait I empathize with??

And speaking of which, I didn't like most of the characters-- they felt more like stock high schoolers than actual well-rounded people with legit relationships in which I was meant to be invested. I couldn't get invested in or fond of Mike at all-- he just dicked around SO many people, especially Rook, and I didn't understand his thought process at all. Also I felt like there was a lot of like... nonsense (for lack of a better word, lmao) that was meant to be ~cutesy or relatable but was actually awful and dickish? e.g., Mike's grandmother referring to him being bi as "indecisive," but it's hilarious and great bc she's accepting that he's gay! It's cute that Rook beat up Mike when they were kids bc ~he just wanted an excuse to touch him! (Seriously, Mike was fucking awful to Rook, but I can't believe that past bullying was just never fucking brought up after they kissed??? ??? How is that okay??)

So just... overall, ugh. Not my jam. Not cute or quality or compelling enough to even be fun trash fluff reading. (Also, minor nitpick, but why the heck would you give a character a cool name like "Rook" and then not use it!!! Rude!!)

• Sharon Shinn, General Winston's Daughter
A wild reread appears! These have been rare this year! :") But since I'm about to be moving, I didn't want to overwhelm my book selection with stuff I was unsure about, so I went with a lot of fluff and a tried-and-true classic. As you know if you know me at all, you know that I adore everything Sharon Shinn does, and this book is no different-- a gorgeously wrought world, a beautiful love story, a wonderful female lead who grows and changes and has great female friendships... The "imperialism is bad" story arc is, of course, pretty heavy-handed, as such arcs tend to be, lmao, but the plot twist helps to mitigate that somewhat, I think. And I love all of the characters and I love the story, and it's such a good and fun reread that I love coming back to again and again!

• Laura Wettersten, My Faire Lady
This book got picked up as one of aforementioned fluff books -- I expected it to be silly YA nonsense, and it sure was, but it was actually surprisingly good overall!! Of course the Renn Faire environment endears me to the entire cast instinctively (GOOD NERDS), but it was just so sweet and good-spirited overall: a lovely found family with great well-rounded characters, a hilarious and relatable lead with so many good friendships, a great story arc about discovering one's dreams, and a genuinely adorable love story with a dude I LOVED (a rarity in YA! :")). I wanna read a sequel or like watch a whole TV series about this, because it had such a lovely sweet cute tone that I just wanted to live in. Would def rec to anyone wanting some high-quality fluff!

Hello friends!! At long last, here is my ~commission post!~

A couple of things: 1. please don't link anyone to this or share it with anyone I don't know; I mayyyy at some point open it up to everyone, but for now I would really like to keep it small and manageable, given the circumstances. 2. wrt to the writing, I'm going to leave it pretty open-ended, without any guarantee as to how soon it'll be done-- I'm really sorry for that, but I hope y'all will understand that between inspiration/not wanting it to suck and my current situation, there's not much of a choice there. ♥ 3. I may at some point change my mind about offering the baking (since it's the only thing on here that requires actual materials/labor/set chunks of time in which I can't do anything else), so please let me know as soon as possible if it's even something you might consider, so I have a good gauge as to how much I might be doing and I'm not COOKblocking anyone (HO HO HO)!

If you don't have any requests but would just like to toss me a lil money, or tip me for any of this, here's my Ko-Fi; I am also happy to, for each tip, offer a 500-word progress update on any of my origfic or fic in progress that you most like. :3

And, of course, I super super intensely appreciate and adore anyone who would be willing to offer me money in any capacity, let alone for my ridic creative stuff. ♥ ♥ ♥ Y'all are the best.

WRITING
(priced by word count)
<1-2k: $5-$10 (we can talk discounts for anything REALLY short)
~2k-6k: $10-$25
~6k-10k: $30-$50
10k+: we'll discuss!
(The price range is both meant to encompass the range of word counts and a sliding scale; we can talk specifics based on what you're able to pay and what you're requesting! The higher numbers are sort of Ideal Tier, so please don't be intimidated by them, and please feel free to just give me a "max I could pay" number or something instead. We can always figure something out! <3)

Please don't feel obligated to give me a specific word count; estimates are totes fine, or just give me a prompt (optional: and your budget!) and I can estimate! If it ends up a little longer than said estimate, no worries on pricing up, but if it ends up being way longer I might ask for a little extra.

You can find a non-comprehensive fandom list here; please feel free to ask about anything not on the list, but no guarantees!! I'm also happy to do origfic, either of anything existing I've got or of whatever other plot. :3 I'm also happy to write in any of my existing origfic verses, if anything there inspires u--!! :") Esp wrt fairy-tale retellings, I will write u ANY fairy-tale retelling, I fuckin swear!! (Depending on the complexity, I may ask for a couple extra dollars for some origfic, but it might not be necessary!)

I'm happy to write gen, canon ships, non-canon ships, plot, fluff, etc.-- the only thing I ask is for SOME kind of prompt, no matter how vague. You can give me anything ranging from a really specific scenario to a song lyric to a simple AU to, like, a WORD; I am just so awful at coming up with ideas on my own, I need at least a little to get me started. :'D (I've got a bunch of prompt posts bookmarked for just this reason, lmao, so if you would like some inspiration!) If I end up needing more inspiration after already starting to write and poke you for further details, we can talk a small discount. >_>

There are only a few strict DNWs for me in terms of writing (mostly along the noncon/excess-trauma-for-trauma's-sake lines); I don't think any of you are so diametrically opposite my own tastes so as to request them, lmao, but should they come up I'll let y'all know and you can request something else! I'm willing to write any and all ratings, but may request you shoot me an extra dollar or two if you explicitly want porn. :")


EDITING
(priced by word count)
<5k: $5/1k
~5k-10k: $5/1k + $3 flat rate
~10k-15k: $5/1k + $6 flat rate
~15k-20k: $5/1k + $10 flat rate
20k+: we'll discuss!
(Again, if these are too high, let me know what you can afford and we'll work it out, especially if you're looking for less intense edits! <3)

The prices above are for SPAG edits: if you're looking for characterization and/or plot comments as well, it'll be an extra $2 for under 10k and $4 for 10k-20k; if you're looking for sentence structure/flow, it'll be the same. Again, give me a heads up if any of this starts getting too pricey, we'll figure it out!!

I'm willing to edit pretty much anything, though if it's a canon I dislike or am so unfamiliar with I don't think I'd enjoy reading it, I may say no? And I'm willing to give it as thorough or as cursory a look as you want-- I like editing a lot and I'd like to think I'm p good at it. :3

Also, don't consider this limited to fic and such, either-- I'm willing to edit cover letters/personal statements/papers/etc. etc. as well! Just, again, if I'm not super familiar with the subject or it seems too dense, I may decline, but try me anyway. ♥


BAKING
One container: $20
(~a dozen cookies, ~a dozen brownies/bar cookies, ~8-10 cupcakes/muffins)
Two containers: $25-$30
(lower prices for cookies/bar cookies, higher for muffins/cupcakes)
Any more: we'll discuss!

I can also make herb flatbread crackers or cheese crackers; if you're interested, we'll discuss price, since I don't make those as often and so have NO IDEA how many/what recipe proportions fit into a container, lmao. :")

Sadly, unless you're a local friend, I can't talk discounting for smaller amounts here, because most of that price is just to offset shipping costs. But that does mean that if you want more, I can probably not price it too much higher if more containers will fit into the same flat-rate box! u win some, u lose some. :'D

I am happy to include more than one variety of thing, but if you want multiple types of one dessert it'll be an extra $5, and if you want more than one type of dessert, it'll be $30 total if it fits into two containers (and if it requires more, as I said above, we'll talk!).

I can't ship anything with ingredients that need to be kept cold, so no cheesecake or frosting; I would prefer not to make anything like pies or cobblers or other fruit-heavy things, since they take more time and require more expensive ingredients, unless you are willing to pay more accordingly!

Some of the things I can make, which I've done in the past--
Cookies: chocolate chip, double chocolate, oatmeal, snickerdoodle, chai snickerdoodle, peanut butter, sugar (I can do salted caramel sugar, apple cinnamon sugar, lemon sugar, banana split sugar, or chocolate sugar, too), harvest spice, chocolate sables, maple shortbread *
Brownies/bar cookies: brownies (cakey or fudgey), salted caramel brownies, jam brownies *, blondies, Nutella brownies *, red velvet brownies
Muffins: whole wheat apple cinnamon, cinnamon streusel blueberry
Cupcakes: vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, chocolate stout *, pumpkin spice *, Nutella swirl *
Cakes: raspberry buttermilk, devil's food, applesauce, cranberry vanilla coffee cake *, pound cake, gingerbread
* - might cost a little more, just due to ingredients being more expensive
Most cakes can also be made in cupcake form!

I am also happy to use whatever recipe, or to improvise based on fillings/flavors you think you might want! :3

It's been a while since I've written one of these!! So I have a fair amount of TV to catch up on. :'D

American Gods
I'm still not caught up with show (I'm on ep 5 right now!), but I'm really... excited/confused as to what the other three will include?? :'D Since I feel like the show has... pretty much covered everything up until the House on the Rock (which I think is where they've said S1 is ending?), so ???? WHAT'S NEXT. The Laura episode definitely didn't super resonate with me (I don't tend to like cold, overly-logical characters to begin with, and turning Laura into that type for like... no real reason doesn't sit well with me at all), and the fifth episode was... also weird?? Like, fun, but weird??? As I said the other day on Twitter, I think I like the details of the show more than I like the overall structure and plot?? But again, I think I'll need to see the full arc before I decide this for sure. Sigh!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
AAAAAHHHHHH THAT FINALE !!!! I can't believe how this show likes to escalate, lmao-- from going undercover to losing a captain to witness protection to GOING TO GODDAMN PRISON, FUCK!!!! But it all comes back to the squad being a family and all of their relationships (esp Jake&Rosa and Rosa&Holt !!!) are so so good, and I can't WAIT to see how they work to get Jake and Rosa out of this, aaaaahhhhhh. (Sidebar: Gina and Charles's cousin are super goddamn cute. :'D)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
I can't believe I'm almost done with the second season now!!! I only have a few more episodes left!!! I'M GONNA MISS SHOW (until it comes back for S3 !!!). I'm waiting impatiently for how badly Josh/Rebecca is gonna crash and burn this time around; I'm SO glad Rebecca and Paula made up (and that Rebecca is being better!!); I LOVE Rebecca/Heather/Valencia (and ship it so hard tbh); and I just met Nathaniel and I am so excited for him too. :'DDD WHAT A FUN AND WEIRD AND DELIGHTFUL SHOW.

Happy Endings
I don't have too much to say about this one-- I'm about halfway into S2 and it's still really fun and enjoyable. :") I think Brad is my fave thus far?? But all of them are fun and I do a literal lol at least once per episode and I'm having fun with it!!

Master of None
THIS SHOW, ON THE OTHER HAND, I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT!!! I just rewatched S1 (like, RIGHT before the S2 release date dropped, lmao, I am a god) and it reminded me again of how much I liked the entire arc up until the last episode?? It's such a good and fun and smart and snappy and relatable and surprisingly realistic show-- it makes such good points that never feel preachy and has such great dialogue that never feels fake. And then the last episode just sort of drops that gross message of "oh ur not really living unless u drop everything and go do something ~crazy and impulsive!!!", totally ignoring the fact that you can only do shit like that if you have enough money/security to float yourself both in a foreign country and when you come back home. SIGH. It's just a gross overlooking of financial privilege for a show so good at discussing other forms of privilege and it makes me mad!!

So I moved on to S2 while Boyfriend was here and, again, mostly really enjoyed the first eight episodes! (Especially the first dates and the Thanksgiving one. DENISE IS SO GOOD.) And then... ughhhhhhhh. Just, ughhhhhhhhhhh. What an awful, awful storyline, start to finish. A plot that hinges on the impossibility of (straight) men and women just being friends, a vacation fling being touted as a be-all end-all love story, a single man who repeatedly encourages a woman to cheat on her fiance and gets mad when she's conflicted about her choices, an engaged woman who's horrible at setting boundaries with her single male friend and instead encourages really inappropriate intimacies.... UGHHHHHHHH. I was just so angry and disappointed and felt so gross and bad about the whole thing. I hope there's a long time till S3 because I CANNOT deal with more disappointment over a season finale of this show anytime soon. :/

Hi friends! As promised, here's the post talking about all of my (non-Gay-Werewolves) origfic in progress/with strong ideas brewing. I'm excited to hear all of your thoughts on it and if there are any you'd particularly like to see! :D I also really wanted to talk about fic in addition to original stuff, but then, uh, this got long? :") So I'll do a separate post for fic at some point, and also stuff I'm done writing but still need to edit and post!

( Stuff to write below! )

Hello friends, it's Wednesday reading time!! It's been a while, lmao, but I haven't been reading SO much, so still shouldn't be too long. :'D

• V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light
!!! !!!!! !!!!!!! I obvs can't talk too much about this bc spoilers, but aaaaaahhhhhh read these books they're so good!!!! I love everyone but especially Rhy, my wonderful precious darling son; I had so many unexpected Holland emotions, and ALUCARD, AAAAHHHH, and Lila is as amazing as always, and Kell!!! And!!!!! UGH I loved this so much, it was such a good conclusion to such a wonderful series and I'm crying about it forever goodbye!!!!

• Catherynne M. Valente, Six-Gun Snow White
This was, much like Palimpsest, very weird and very interesting?? I'm not sure if I'd recommend it-- it started off cool, then veered into very weird, then got cool again, then got ???, then ended on an interesting note. :") I liked the take on the fairy tale -- definitely not like anything I've ever read before -- but the actual plot definitely fell a little short (again, much like Palimpsest, lmao). Things I did especially love: the origin of Snow White, Deer Boy, and the very end. Otherwise, eh.

• Cecelia Ahern, Perfect
This is the sequel to Flawed, which I read a few months ago and liked okay? I described it as "slightly above average dystopia fluff" which I still think holds true, lmao. Nothing too shocking or innovative happening in this book, though the slight twists were kind of fun; I also thought this one took a slight nosedive in writing quality, which was unfortunate. And, of course, the v stereotypical and unnecessary moving-way-too-fast het romance, sigh. But overall fun and readable and generally optimistic about humanity, and I did like it.

• Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
There were a lot of things I liked about this book! But there were also more things that I... either didn't or wasn't sure about? It's kind of the sort of book I'd rec to people that I think would be into it more because of the material than because I liked it so much. I feel like I almost certainly would have DNFed it if I hadn't been told in advance it would be gay-- it took a long time for things to happen and I didn't love the writing. I thought the plot was difficult to follow (it's always hard to tell with books like these if you're not getting stuff bc it's not well-constructed or bc you're supposed to be confused??) and I really wasn't a fan of the only major female character being so not-like-other-girls-y and villainous? I was never quite sure how to feel about Mori, even though I wanted to like him, and I'm never fully sold on main characters/narrators who are as self-contained as Thaniel, since it's way harder to get to know and care about them. The setting was fun if sort of... inconsistently magical? And I did enjoy the clockwork octopus, ofc. :") I'll probably still read the follow-up, but overall, solidly lukewarm feelings that would almost certainly have been much more negative were it not for The Gay.

I also DNFed a ridic tropey prince-falls-in-love-with-girl-on-vacation YA fluff (it wasn't BAD, p cute and fun European settings, just... nothing special and I kind of got bored), and also read the first book of Bella Andre's Seattle Sullivans, which I've owned for ages but haven't gotten to till now (it's typical contemp romance novel fluff, but I enjoyed!!) and Laini Taylor's short story collection, which is chock full of the delightful creepy magical lovely prose I've come to expect from her. :") Delightful all around. And I'm also midway through yet another anthology of fairy tale retellings, this one called Beyond the Woods; I'm enjoying it bc most of the stories read more like actual retellings than just fairy-tale-inspired short stories (which I also love! it's just a v different flavor of writing). I've been a pretty big fan of most so far, though as of now Holly Black's faerie story is the only queer one so it's an obvious runaway fave. :")))

Hello friends, I am home and it's a wild Thursday post!! I've started a couple new shows and continued watching several others, so I figure it's time to catch up. :D Hopefully I'll get a travel recap post up sometime soon too!

• American Gods
So, uh, !!!!!!! Holy SHIT this show is bringin it. I think some of the timeline changes they've made are interesting and I'm not fully on board, but I think it's harder to swallow when watching in serialized format; I won't know for sure if it Works till it's done as a whole unit. But what they have done so far is!! Really good!!! I love everyone's casting (esp Ian McShane, obviously, aaaaahhhhhhh), I LOVE the aesthetic (these visuals might have singlehandedly convinced me to give other Bryan Fuller shows a try, ha), and the entire concept put in visual form is just !!!! So so cool. And the intro credits might be the single greatest and most appropriate intro credits ever created, don't @ me.

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine
I!! love show!!!! The precinct-possibly-closing storyline was so stressful, so I'm v glad that's been resolved, and the Moo Moo episode was one of the single most poignant and relevant and on-point and beautiful episodes of television I think I've ever watched?? I'm so so fond of this ragtag group of ridiculous humans, and the show is so consistently delightful and funny and warmhearted, and I'm not ready for this season to be over in two weeks!!

• Happy Endings
I just started this a week or so ago-- I'm about halfway through the first season and enjoying it! I needed a new fluffy half-hour sitcom to watch and I've heard good things about this, so it was a good time to give it a shot. I don't have a whole lot of nuanced thoughts yet, just that I'm fond of everyone, I like the ensemble dynamic, and it's fun! \o/

• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
I watched the first few eps of this months ago and I'm finally continuing and !!! I like it so much! The cringey parts are SO cringey lmao but it's augmented by how #relatable and fun and hilarious it is. I kind of love everyone?? Even the terrible people??? And I'm so excited to continue (and eventually meet Cappie-from-Greek's character !!!). :")

I also watched the first ep of The Handmaid's Tale with Boyfriend and... I'm not sure if I'll keep going? I think it's being done in an interesting way, but it's just... not entertaining? It's SCARY? idk if I want to keep being alarmed by it :") With the book at least you can enjoy the writing with some level of detachment, but the show is so all-encompassingly foreboding, it's just not enjoyable to me. But at the same time I'm def kind of morbidly curious about how it's gonna go on, so... who knows!

Omg I super blipped on posting this in any sort of timely fashion last week, lmao, so I'm gonna do a two-in-one week recap now! :") THAT'S HAPPENING.

Monday: academic work.
Last week: Well, since I hadn't gotten proposal edits back, I used this for job applications-- I got five whole ones done (!!). I ended up just going to my bakery for a couple of hours in the evening, as the marathon prevented me from library-ing or feeling like going too far. But it was a success nonetheless!
This week: Went to the library to write up the references for my proposal! It was... not fun. :'D But as always the library makes me feel productive and awesome, so.

Tuesday: cooking/baking.
Last week: I actually did this, despite my also having a total mental breakdown, lmao! I made tomato sauce to freeze for pasta, possibly this weekend (I have other food I need to get to too, but the tomatoes were also starting to go bad, so this was urgent). Also, I def got better breakdown-wise, so win-win all around. :'D
This week: I didn't this week, just because I didn't need to-- I had made mac and cheese and chicken salad last weekend, and so had plenty to eat. :3 I was also so goddamn busy with diss edits I didn't even think about making a dessert, ha. (WHITHER MY RICE PUDDING... ONE DAY.)

Wednesday: creative writing.
Last week: Done, at my favorite Starbucks! I got a little less done than usual, in part due to some computer nonsense and in part due to general distraction, ha, but I did manage over 1k of Gay Werewolves rewrites, and I'm well into this scene I'm really enjoying. :3
This week: At the Starbucks again! And also at the bakery! I got nearly 3k done, and I'm SO close to being done with the chapter that means that I can SEND IT OUT, AAAAAHHHHH. Nerve-wracking and exciting!!!

Thursday: language-learning.
Both last AND this week: Ugh, am I ever going to actually do this?? Maybe if I fit it back in as a regular routine other days, I can make this easier? Sigh. I really don't want to give up on it, but for some reason it's been hard to make it happen. >:( Gotta set it up!!

Friday: going out somewhere.
Last week: Done! Had a lovely day at the MFA; I've been breaking it off into chunks (doing half of the first and second floors at a time-- I still have the ground floor and the third floor left), and it's been great. This time around I got to see the Monet room, so I wore my Water Lilies socks and brought my Water Lilies notebook. :") I'm a fucking nerd, I know, but they're my favorite paintings and I live for that #aesthetic.
This week: I hit up Faneuil Hall, which is the tourist-iest area of Boston imaginable, but where better to continue a potential farewell tour! It would have definitely been more fun if it hadn't been SO unexpectedly warm; I had dressed a little too warmly for walking around outside, and I had also worn boots bc it was supposed to maybe-rain, so it was not a good combo. :") Still, I did get to hit up the Public Market, a Fave Place, and eat a Boston cream doughnut from my fave place, AND even grabbed some cheap fruit from the weekend outdoor produce market. An overall win!

Saturday: new TV/movie.
Last week: I saved the last episodes of Trial and Error for this, hard as it was!! Aaaahhh, I'm sad show is over but I enjoyed it SO MUCH, y'all should 100% watch with me and have ridic found family emotions. (And, uh, time to start planning that poly AU properly, I guess. >__>)
This week: I started Happy Endings, bc I need a new half-hour show and I just recently saw it was on Hulu! Fun so far. :D Also I marathoned all three High School Musical movies, because why the heck not, and it was delightful. :'DDD

A couple other things: my parents are back from Belgrade and they brought me the best chocolate in the world and I'm SO impatient to have it! I saw Jonny Sun and the @dog_rates guy at MIT and it was incredible! I have a third phone interview scheduled with Cambridge job and an in-person with Chicago job !!!! !!!!! I spent all last weekend rewriting my dissertation proposal and I want to die! I'm visiting Boyfriend for a week on Tuesday and I'm extremely excited! I genuinely have NO IDEA what my life is going to look like past the next two weeks???? It's more than a little nerve-wracking. :'D

So bc of travel and such uncertainty, this'll be the last week recap for a while, probably-- and sometime soon I'm gonna restructure the month recap posts a little, too, bc as I mentioned they've been feeling somewhat formless and I think setting them up as specific goalposts will be more helpful for me! (And that, ofc, might get restructured again if my future becomes more definite in the meantime, lmao. A CONFUSING TIME FOR ALL.)

Week recap time!! It's been a productive one all around!

Monday: academic work. Done and DONE, in that I sent my chair a full draft of my dissertation proposal !!!! I wrote my original draft back in November and we've been reworking it almost from scratch ever since, and it has been so obnoxious and lengthy and I'm sure there will still be issues, but this let me relax for a couple of days!! I did this at the library, which I won't be able to go back to till Wednesday now because of the marathon tomorrow (the finish line is like half a block from the library, plus it's a local holiday so it's actually closed, boo). So I'm glad I enjoyed it while it lasted, ha.

Tuesday: cooking/baking. Done! I made chai snickerdoodles for a friend's wedding package, and they turned out pretty darn good. :D

Wednesday: writing. Done! I had to be on campus for TA purposes midday, so I used that time to write, and then went to my local cafe in the evening. Very productive-- wrote nearly 2k of Gay Werewolves revisions (I'm eight pages into revisions, but draft #2 is nearly 16 pages because I keep adding stuff, ha), started a new prompt meme fic (I've been delaying it because I needed a bit of a canon refresher, but now we're good to go!), and the Elle/lady Emmett fic has surpassed 5k, lmaoooo help. :'D I also decided to write a Trial and Error fic, but not till S1 is over, so I just did a brief snippet of that. >_>

Thursday: language-learning. Ugh, I super wanted to do this, and... I don't remember why I didn't, lmao, but I super didn't. GET IT TOGETHER, MAJA.

Friday: going out somewhere. Boy did I ever do this!! I went to the Institute of Contemporary Art, which is a museum that I don't love (it's v small, especially when one of the exhibit halls is closed!), but find very peaceful because it's located right on the coast, so the view is amazing. And then I saw a Harvard production of In the Heights, which was so good!! It was at p much my favorite theater of all time; it has a bar and it's set up as immersive, so actors will go among the audience and up on the bar and on the balconies around the stage. Which was so great for this show, since you felt like you were in the neighborhood, too!! A++ all around, super well done and awesome.

Saturday: new TV/movie. Done, with the new Trial and Error ep that (randomly??) aired on Thursday! I LOVE SHOW, PLEASE WATCH SHOW WITH ME.

Some other week stuff, while I'm at it: didn't have the second Chicago interview, sigh, but it did get rescheduled for this week! (Why am I having such bad luck with actually conducting scheduled interviews??) Boyfriend's bus got hit by a car the other day, which was an alarming call to get, but he and everyone else is fine, thankfully. My parents are in Belgrade and I'm thus getting the usual annual updates on family; my godfamily on my dad's side is having SO many health problems (my godmother has macular degeneration and my godbrother has leaky gut !!), and my grandmother is looking really really awful (which is not surprising-- she's 91 and broke her hip last year, and is p much 75% alive on pure spite at this point, as I said on Twitter). But hopefully they can catch up with everyone and there'll be some better news from other friends/relatives!

Week recap time! A little late, because I'm lazy and forgetful, but. >_> Last week was really productive, both academically and creatively, even if I didn't have a chance to do all of the things I'd usually like to.

Monday: academic work. Done! I went to my campus library and it was great; I managed to find a spot on the silent floor way back in the corner, so I was in my own little cubicle against the wall and no one could see me and it was beautiful. :D

Tuesday: cooking/baking. I was out most of the day, including for dinner with friends, so there was no need for this. But this week I'll definitely be using it as a baking day! :D

Wednesday: creative writing. Done! Went to both my favorite Starbucks and my local cafe, and wrote nearly three thousands words of Gay Werewolves revisions !! Got through the first chapter and a good start on the second, aaaahhhh. :DD

Thursday: language-learning. Did not do, but I did a ton of other things (job interview !!, academic work, food-making), and like I said last week, while I'm in crunch mode it's hard to find time to focus on other things. So SOON, hopefully!

Friday: going out somewhere. Done! I went to the MFA and had a lovely time, as I always do there. :D Very relaxing, did a lot of reading and writing and it was a great break from all the stupid work I've been doing. :")

Saturday: new TV/movie. New TV again this week as I continue making my way through new episodes of Trial and Error! I have to say I'm still really enjoying this show-- I love the wacky but heartwarming dynamics of the cast, I consistently laugh out loud at the jokes, and I'm so invested in the actual plot, every new break in the case has me going !!! I want more people to watch so I can talk about it!!