Dog Days 36, 37, 38 and 39

It's been cool but it's about to get hot again. Also summer is quickly shifting to fall (astronomically speaking). I've been busy but also lazy, mostly lazy.

Anyway, can't remember what I did Monday. Went to work, certainly. Oh, actually got an email asking if the tables were ready (they were not). Did some review for my advisor. That's about it in the morning. In the evening went with my sister to pull out FHE, which ended up being playing Smash Bros with the kids (who'd just gotten it for their birthday). Went out home and yeah, that seems about it.

Tuesday, I only went to work to meet with my advisor before he went back to Japan. So that went fine (I finally told him about my trip and he's going to help set up a meeting with potential collaborators and also we'll meet up in Tokyo). Oh I think Tuesday was the day I learned that my workstay would probably fall through (the profile was locked for some reason) and so I decided to go crazy with my newfound week. While not getting to see Lake Matano will be disappointing, I found that the Pelni ship from Makassar to Larantuka will be leaving on just the right day, so I have a chance to do a interisland boat trip like I've been wanting to do for years (this one is only 29 hours) and then visit Flores like I've also wanted to do for a long time. I'll take buses across the island, planning about 5 days for that. The highlight will be Kelimutu (since I won't have time to do Komodo justice and Labuan Bajo/Komodo is relatively easy to get to compared to the other cities I'm planning on visiting) but also just wandering all sorts of different towns and cultures (I need to find my hiking Flores book, not that I'll be doing many hikes). Anyway, it's time to get my tickets to Palu, the boat ticket to Larantuka and then contact the hotel in Tentena to figure out transportation and a guide to Lore Lindu/Bada Valley. So figuring out all of that was exciting.

After meeting my advisor, I went shopping to get food for Thursday. Then I went home and started prepping for DnD. I was homebrewing some enemies, which is new for me. Anyway, I was planning for 5 people (since that's who soft RSVP'd). We ended up having 8; two who didn't RSVP but I though might come and one who was a (welcome, to be clear) surprise. So I just doubled the enemies and cancelled the second/third fights. Was very chaotic, I knocked out a couple of the PCs and kept forgetting I had multiattacks and readied actions. Also forgot which enemies I was going to have target who, though that's more in character (they were all of average intelligence, despite being gnomish pirates). Anyway, it was fun (especially making an extensive backstory for a throwaway NPC because people kept asking questions) but a lot and I need to start enforcing the sign-up sheet. Oh and I broke yet another charger (this time it was my fault), so I had to rush to the library to borrow one. After a bit of debate, I decided I will get at least one more charger, so I can finish some Šyþed Pyklez songs and back up this computer in a windows readable way. Eventually I'll get a new Mac too.

Wednesday was very nice, chilly even. Got up at 7 for an 8 o'clock run, our final pace was like 9:40 despite taking it very easy. Hung out, showered, went to lunch and then went to donate blood (wasn't planning on it, but the rewards were good). Couldn't donate since my hemoglobin was still too low despite taking a 6 month break by this point. Might want to get that checked out. Anyway, that's my last chance till like February since I'll be on the travel deferment list after this trip. Played Catan (lost badly, the rolls just weren't in my favor despite good positions), waited around for institute. Looked at entry level record players just for fun. Learned that Labor Day sales were already in progress and decided to get a well reviewed player that came with speakers (that don't have to be used with the player) and vinyl recording capabilities (I also got the backpack I was wanting for 60 bucks cheaper than planned, I guess procrastination helped for once. And a bunch of other swag). I've been spending a lot of money, but like my investments are doing well enough, I'm making more than enough money to survive (even with all these extra expenses I'm still saving a bit every month) and why not treat myself? Half these purchases are long term investments anyway (backpack, travel towel, hiking sandals etc). 

Thursday I went into the office because I was supposed to make an appearance for new student orientation lunch. I also got an email from Exploding in Sound Records about bandcamp friday and how they're doing a 1-day only sale tomorrow on 6 different albums (6 bucks each). That's a great deal, I like the label and shipping is lower with a lot of albums, so I plan on getting 5 of them tomorrow (I already own the last one)...there's also a couple more albums I might as well buy tomorrow while it is bandcamp friday. After lunch I hung out a bit and then got the new department t-shirt (and sticker). Gotta wear that tomorrow. Went home and made bipimbap for the missionaries. I did manage to get that sweet taste on the meat and cooking the carrots and mushrooms in the meat sauce/fat was an excellent idea (I'm most happy about how the mushrooms turned out, they were delicious). Anyway, fed them (and my sister and both my roommates) and then my sister and I talked awhile about life and logistics (car insurance...should probably be in my name because I get better quotes being over 25, health insurance, money (she actually gets paid like $3 an hour more than me, though she also has to work more) etc). Then got around to doing this (and some dishes). 

Other things of note. I saw a green heron today. Wednesday was the Blue Supermoon and I got some cool pictures. It was very bright, which was good because my lights need new batteries. I've been getting a ton of page views on this blog all the sudden, due to webcrawlers finally finding it I think. Really crazy, I had like 4k views the other day, all from "other" referral urls, on linux computers in the United States. And yet I still can't find my blog on google. Tomorrow I'm checking out the record shop (just want info about when they're doing the listening party for Mitski's new album; probably not buying anything there since the two albums I want from them should be around for a while) and also the outdoor supply store right next to it for more swag (they sent an email the other day about labor day sales) and like an water resistant sack. Was gonna get my bag there but obviously that's not happening due to other great deals. Oh and I'm planning a fast 5k (well 3.2 miles really) in the morning. My hope is to run it 25 minutes, we'll see if I can actually do that, I barely made it in 27 minutes last time I did it. If so, that's a sub 8 pace and 8 is my 5k goal. I think that's everything?

Dog Days 35: Flock of Seagulls Edition

And I ran, ran so far away

Got up at 7, went over to the park to run with friends (3.2 mile bike ride). It was a nice day and we took it pretty slow, though I think our pace still ended up being under 10 minutes. 9:40-9:50 maybe? Went home (3.2 miles back), showered, ate and got ready for church. Since it was a nice day, I decided that I'd ride my bike to church (just over 6 miles and I must've been cruising because even with walking up the terrible hill it only took me just over 30 minutes). Church was fine and I decided that since it was a nice day I'd take the arboretum route back home. I don't feel like doing the math, but the total to and from church was 15.45, so I guess I tacked on an extra 3 miles and a bit or so. Arboretum was very pretty and I made it home quite fast, even with the extra miles. 

Sat around at home for a while and then after 6 it was time to run again (as part of the training I need to run multiple times in a day). I did the 8.5 mile route (which is actually 8.76 but I didn't measure till after the fact) and set my timer with a 10:00 pace in mind...so 85 minutes. Anyway, I made it to the halfway point in just under 40 minutes (the album I was listening to was 38 minutes long and did run out before I made it to the water fountain, but not by much. Also my timer said I had like 45 and some seconds to go), so like a 9:10 pace or something like that. Which is crazy and way faster than I was planning. I didn't even feel that bad. I took an exactly 1 minute water break and then started the return journey. I was a lot slower on the way back, ultimately taking about 43 and a bit minutes to get back. In all, it took me just under 83 minutes to do the 8.76 miles, or a 9:27.5 pace overall. Even adding in the water break only brings that up to a 9:35 pace. So not bad considering that by that point I'd already run 4ish miles and biked 21.85. Sure the conditions were close to ideal (cool, partially cloudy and while the route has hills, none of them are very steep or large) but I'm pretty confident that I can do the race at or under a 10 minute pace. In fact by the end of that run I felt like I could've definitely done at least another mile or two. I didn't feel like I was dying quite yet.

Got home, showered and then ate a whole box of mac and cheese (which basically just covered the evening run. My burrito for lunch plus yogurt for breakfast and a bagel in the afternoon, plus some candy hopefully covered the calories of the other activities...though I still would've burned a lot from just my resting metabolism) because I was starving. I weighed myself post run in the morning and the evening and the difference was 2.6 pounds, which is a lot of water weight to lose, especially since I drank like 10 oz immediately after getting home in the evening. After eating, I talked for a while with my roommate and basically just sat around because I'm tired and sore. Gonna go to bed soon, will be fun to see if I can get out of bed in the morning.

Dog Days 33 and 34

Well Friday was hot, today less so. Dog days are ending?

Anyway Friday I got up and fixed my flat tire. I then eventually ambled my way over to my office and hung out there a bit. Eventually I went over to my sisters apartment and prepared for the move. 'Twas nice to see her and my grandfather. Luckily she didn't have too much stuff and a friend from church came over to help carry the dressers up the stairs. Anyway after doing that, we got dinner at a Thai place and then got various stuff at Target. Hung out at her apartment a bit and then went home with my grandfather. Pulled up a mattress from the basement (actually wasn't too bad soloing it), talked a bit and went to bed. 

Saturday I got up and eventually we went over to my sister's place for more moving stuff. First we went to get bagels and not only were the bagels good but so were the lox sandwiches. Gotta keep that in mind. Then we returned the trailer, dropped my grandfather off at the airport and went to the bike shop to get a new inner tube and seat for my sister's bike. After that we went over to the zoo for a ward activity. It was a scavenger hunt and my randomly assigned group won (of course, because we ran around and were very competitive). Hung out longer and then went back to her house. After that, I went home. Was going to do pathfinder but it got cancelled last minute so I noodled around on the electric guitar instead. Oh yeah, my sister brought the spare electric guitar from Utah here. I actually got okay at "Miserlou" (used that to practice double picking) and "Pinkie Swear" (by far the best song on 52 Weeks). I also tried out "Never Meant" and can sort of do the main riff. My big problems over all is that I know no chords and tend to create harmonics. Then I went to my computer and got some cheap albums (basically all in the 0-2 dollar range, except one 8 buck electro jazz album because I need some variety in my life). I really want Prawn's Kingfisher as a vinyl because the art and the limited edition vinyls are so cool but they're out of print and seemingly expensive, so we'll see. Also I need to set up a shelf over the tv to actually display some of my vinyls.

Still feeling fine I think. Maybe a bit sleepy but that's my own fault. Is it the meds or the lack of stress (not that the lack of stress helped with the June episode. It's so easy to forget what feeling bad really feels like).

RS Greatest Emo Albums: 34-31

First album (#34) is Owls by Owls. So basically another Cap'n Jazz album. I really like Cap'n Jazz so I'm excited for this one (Algernon Calladweller is also in this post so a lot of Cap'n Jazz). So the first song ("What Whorse You Wrote Id On") could maybe be a bit more energetic but on the other hand I like the chill, almost islandy feel at the beginning. Really liking the start of "I Want the Quiet Moments of a Party Girl." The guitar is doing cool things (almost reminds me of Big Black or Shellac but less abrasive), there's a nice driving bass. Let's drive to Alaska indeed. Favorite song of the album so far, it's driving in a way that almost reminds me of something like Neu!'s "Hero" (but only sort of) and I like songs like that. Plus the weird ending. "Everyone Is My Friend" is even better. Tim Kinsella is finally putting some energy in his singing and the instrumentation is fun. Despite the big mood in the title "I Want the Blindingly Cute to Confide In Me" didn't really grab me at first. But it does start building up, which is cool. Are those bongos? The switch between the first and second halves of "Holy Fucking Ghost" was weird at first but I think it works well. Really liking the weird, offbeat (?) claps and the back vocals. "Later" (which is cheating because it's a Japan only bonus track) is pretty fun, all the parts of it except maybe the vocals (not that the vocals are bad, they're just the weakest part of this song). 

Overall, this album is pretty good but I miss the energy of Cap'n Jazz. And I get it. Cap' Jazz encapsulates that late teens spirit and now the members are young adults and so they are different. Still miss it though. The album feels a bit incoherent at times, like the different instruments aren't really communicating with each other but like not in a fun anarchic way. Vocals could be a bit more yelly or at least not so lethargic. Not my favorite Kinsella project, that's for sure. But like I said, still good and is probably the sort of thing that would grow on me with repeat listens.   

---

The next album is The Medicine by The Jazz June, the video of which I was going to use apparently disappeared between when I loaded it up a couple days ago now. But I found a backup playlist. So let's go! The Jazz June is a band I had never heard of before starting this list, so that's going to be interesting.

The first song is "Viva La Speed Metal". It's interesting enough, there's some cool rhythms and changes going on."The Scars to Prove it" is such an emo title. I like the musical shifts in different parts of the song (as people following this series certainly know). I like how "Except" starts. And its riffs, especially near the end. "The Phone Works Both Ways" has a really fun bass line and the guitar starts doing some crazy stuff in the last third or so. The title track builds up well and I quite like the chorus (?) both lyrically and musically. "So I fucked up but I'm getting on with my life/it feels like there's a point to everything" so true homie, so true. The shift after that (well the first iteration of the chorus) to a different style is weird but I really like it. It builds up so well and the guitars just sound cool.

"At the Artist's Leisure, Pt. 2" also has a really good building start and just gets better when the bass comes in. The high pitched guitars in the middle are cool. The beginning is definitely the best part of this song. "Motorhead's Roadie" has a bass solo, or at least a cool bass. Nice and driving. The bridge (? the quite part in the middle) does the loud to quiet to loud nicely. This song does go on too long though, it just doesn't build up right to justify the length. There's a lot going on musically in "Get on the Bus" but I'm not sure it works. And now for a 10 minute song. Will it build right? "Balance" starts good. The riffs work together, are driving and it seems to be getting larger quite nicely. It gets a little lamer about of a third of the way in but quickly catches itself. The reverby and echoy vocals actually work well and I like the random piano and squealy guitars (synths?) in the middle. What is this bizarre sample? I'd say overall this is pretty good for a long song. Gets a bit self indulgent at parts but it stays mostly coherent (at least the first 8 minutes at least, the last two minutes feel more disconnected with the rest of the song though it's a fun crescendo in its own right) and there's some really cool sounds going over the driving bass which keeps everything together.   

Verdict: This album is fine but not my favorite. It has a problem with too much happening in any given song, and not in a fun way like The Brave Little Abacus. This distracts from both the songs themselves and their build-up crescendo that a lot of emo songs like these ones try to do. And I have no idea what's going on the lyrics, but again they aren't delivered in a way that makes that not matter like say Cap'n Jazz (or The Brave Little Abacus, but those lyrics are amazing. Then again, so are some of Cap'n Jazz's). It's not bad by any means and it certainly is emo, so credit due where credit is due. My favorite songs are probably "The Medicine" and "Balance". 

---

Third album (#32) is Some Kind of Cadwallader by Algernon Cadwallader. Weirdly enough, I actually haven't listened to them (partially because of this but mostly because they just haven't shown up in my playlists for some reason...so this must not be true because I've apparently listened to all of Parrot Flies but I have no idea when and a youtube history search reveals nothing) so I'm fairly excited. Just gotta say that I love the album cover (and all their album covers really, though their self titled album/compilation is clearly a rip off of Fishing for Birds concept art). I kinda want to buy their vinyl just for that, but first I want to see if I like the album.

I like the way this one starts. Good twinkly guitars and screams/yells. No idea what he's saying though (looking at the lyrics, they're really aping the Cap'n Jazz nonesense). Great build up into a scream and then the end of the song. So yeah, "Casual Discussion in a Dome between Two Temples" is a banger. Great bass in the title track. The vocals in "The Stars" are really channeling Cap'n Jazz. Another good bass in "Horror" while the guitar goes off and does whatever it does. Also great opening line, being about a toilet and all. Wait is that a harmonica? Interesting. And it builds really well with the "ooohs" and everything,  before coming back down nicely. "Motivational Song" definitely hits its stride when it's just actual nonsense before the real quiet bridge (?), not that point isn't nice too. Love the feedback at the end.

...I just got the pun of "Yo Soy Milk". It's not just saying I am milk in bad Spanish, it's also soy milk. Anyway fun song but not much to say. Once again, a good bass. "On Up" is an exercise in stretching out words. Love the congas (?) and after the first line or two the instrumentation in general gets better...and weirder post slide whistle (?). "Katie's Conscience" feels a lot like Cap'n Jazz in its energy and just in general (hilariously, I read a Pitchfork review after listening to this album which pointed to this exact song as acing the Cap'n Jazz exam and getting extra credit). Great screams near the end. Awesome driving bass in "Serial Killer Status" even if it is simple. And now is time for a 13 minute closer in "In Response to Irresponsibility". It starts out good but lets see if it can justify itself. Three minutes in (just before the vocals) and the build up receded but there's like maracas and shakers so all is good. Plus the way the guitars come back in is great. I like the feedback that starts like halfway through the song. Okay like 8-9 minutes in gets really weird in a good way, with what sounds like tape loops or some other sort of manipulation. There's still a lot of song left so I wonder where it goes from here. Doesn't quite build back up but there's some good noise. Song still probably overstays its welcome.

Anyway this is probably my favorite album of this review (so far?). I saw the one comment on youtube that was like "Cap'n Jazz vocals with American Football guitars" and that's fairly accurate. The whole album has an energy level that I like. Is Cap'n Jazz better? Well none of the songs are as good as "Little League" and there's nothing quite like that amazing three song opener of Shmap'n Shmazz but Algernon Cadwallader is definitely more competent and the instrumentation is probably a bit better. So yeah I like Cap'n Jazz more, but this is a better Cap'n Jazz clone than Owls, which is literally just Cap'n Jazz.

Imma buy that vinyl now.

---

The last album for this post is Kill Them with Kindness by the Jealous Sound. What an emo name. I don't think I'd ever heard of them before starting this activity.

First song sounds fine. Definitely more on the poppy side, but not in a bad way. Reminds me a lot of Jimmy Eat World, but a bit slower and with more phaser (?). All these songs have very pop-punky guitars (lots of power chords or whatever). Again fine, it's just quite different from all the midwest emo I've been listening to.  Liking the intro synth on "The Fold Out". I'm vibing with "Does That Make Sense" for some reason. Liking "Abandon, Abandon"'s guitars for some reason and once again, loving the synth on "Troublesome". So much glissando and just that good kinda sharp vibe. Ugh "Recovery Room" is a ballad. Ballads are hit or miss on a good day and this one is definitely a miss (today at least). It's six minutes long too. Closer ("Above the Waves") is a pretty traditional closer. There's some build up (in a pop way, not a midwest emo way) but it's still like the rest of the album overall. Last rendition of the chorus (with the backing vocals) is pretty great.

Vocals are very samey across all the songs and not in a fun yelly way (so much reverb). I know that's how this style of emo is (there's two! Brand New albums on this list. Tied with Jimmy Eat World. Only Mike Kinsella has more) and the main focus really is the lyrics, not the delivery, but more variety would be nice. Or at least more energy. 

As a side note, I love how with each release the album cover gets higher and higher quality.

---

And with that, another set of albums done. Almost a quarter of the way through the list. Everything was actually emo this time and it sure revealed my preferences for fast, very energetic music. And cool album covers. I keep going back and forth about buying the Owls album. I think I will because the local record shop apparently has a special, indie record store only edition and I love colored vinyls. But there's another, slightly more expensive special edition on Bandcamp, so we'll see (I guess quite a bit more expensive with shipping).

Dog Days 29, 30, 31 32

I've been really lazy, okay. And it's been really hot.

So Monday. I didn't go to work because it was hot, I had no real reason to go to work and FHE wasn't going to be at the church. Can't think of anything notable during the day. In the evening we went to my roommate's parents' house to do blacksmithing. A couple other people came early to help set up/do the smithing and overall the activity turned out really well. A lot more people came than expected and the forge took a long time to cool down, so we didn't get home till well after 10. After that, I started prepping for Tuesday's DnD campaign. 

On Tuesday, I did have to go to work because I had a two different drs appointments. The first was with the travel clinic to get a script for malaria pills and see which vaccines I'd need (tetanus and typhoid). I ran into one of the students from my IO class while getting lunch before that, so we had a nice little talk. Went back to the office and hang out with some of my friends for a while before going to the psychiatrist. The session was fine, I don't really need therapy at the moment so it's hard to say what to work on but I did get my script renewed (which was the main point of the appointment). Went home and set up for DnD. That night's adventure included a lot of my favorite tropes (cults and fairies and puzzle battles) so I was pretty excited for it. It of course went very off rails (and they decided to leave the forest instead of looking for a certain NPC so that questline is stalled for the time being) but it was really fun watching them slowly figure out the environmental puzzle I set up for the main battle, even if they didn't engage with it fully. 

Wednesday I went running. Even at 7 in the morning it was hot, and I'm impressed we kept a 10 minute pace. I was originally planning on staying in the office all day but instead decided to go home before it got too hot (of course, by 10 it already felt >90) even though it would mean I'd skip lunch, Catan, Institute and the Republican Debate watch party. I was able to pick up my meds though. Did some work, napped I think and not sure what else. Was a much lower key day than planned, but that's okay. Oh and my back tire went flat for some unknown reason, which was all the more onus to just go home.

Thursday (so today) I also didn't go to work because it was still hot. I did get up at 7 to send in some work/handle some logistics before going back to sleep for a while. Got the key to my sister's apartment from her roommate and yeah did some work. In the evening I went (indoor) bouldering and did fairly well. It always feels nice to do a mix of medium and hard problems and actually have some success. Oh and one of the missionaries transferring wanted to visit us because apparently he likes my and my roommates that much. There wasn't time but that was really sweet. Always nice to make a good impression.

Tomorrow things will cool down, which is good because I have a lot to do. Gotta fix my bike, then take care of some things at work, then help my sister move in and then figure out things from there. 

Dog Days 27 and 28

 It's so so so hot. So the title is relevant again.

Saturday I overslept. Finally made it out of bed to go to the grocery store and get supplies for cooking. Then I went to a baptism, followed by a bit more shopping (this time with other people). Got home, showered because I was very sweaty and then made tomato confit and garlic confit (which turned out a bit overcooked I think). For the most part, this just meant I peeled a lot of garlic. My main herb base was the Scarborough Fair herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme). I also added salt and black pepper, plus dried chilies for the garlic and apple cider vinegar for the tomatoes (should have added sugar too, oh well). While those were cooking, I decided to use the leftover herbs to make pesto. Except I had no cheese and no pine nuts, so I used my leftover shredded coconut and a bit of palm oil for texture and oils. I also added too much lemon juice, so it came out quite sour. I guess I could call it pesto-like instead of pesto. While everything was cooking, I also watched more of My Adventures with Superman. I'm quite liking it. After cooking was done I did dishes.

Sunday I got up at 6:30 so I'd be ready for our 7:30 run. It was already so hot (like 75 degrees) so the run was pretty miserable. Got home, showered and finished doing the dishes. I decided to toast the rest of the baguette I bought Saturday in the oven. Burnt some of it but that was okay. Went to church (threw my bike in the back of my roommate's car because biking to church would have been miserable). Sacrament was fine, so was Sunday School (where I spread the good word of Christian Anarchism and my belief that 4th Nephi is the best book in the Book of Mormon). Had elder's quorum presidency meeting after church and then hung out at a friend's house for a bit while writing my message to a potential workaway host. Then we went over to the park for the charcuterie picnic (which is why I made those spreads in the first place). It was very hot, but more bearable in the shade of the pavilion. I didn't play volleyball because I had to take a phone call and that was a convenient excuse not to. Hung out more, returned to my friends' house and then biked home (by this point it was still hot but more reasonable, like sub 90). At home I rested a bit and then dug up my vaccine records for my appointment Tuesday. Apparently I'm due for tetanus as well so that's two shots I forgot I needed along with a consultation about malaria pills (the reason I set up the appointment in the first place). How serendipitous. And that was my day, pretty much. 

Feeling fine, just hot. Have my next appointment with the psychiatrist Tuesday.  

Dgo Days 25 and 26

You know, it's actually been quite cool these past few days. Next week though the title might be relevant again.

Worked from home Thursday. Which meant not much work at all. In the evening I went over to someone's house to play a DnD one shot. That was fun. Not much else to say. Haven't been waking up early again (in fact I overslept today).

Today I went to work in the afternoon, called up the dr to schedule a travel consultation (want to see if I need malaria pills and also I guess the typhoid vaccine) and did a bunch of programming simple simulations to determine fair cutoff points for character creation in my campaign. Went to a concert this evening for a local post-hardcore/emo band. That was nice, I bought a download code for their new album afterwards (and got a sticker). No idea what I'm doing tomorrow yet, need to commit to something. Probably won't be going on the temple trip though. Oh and I published my server and have been filling out things about various gods/worldbuilding. 

I'm tired because I keep staying up way too late.

Dog Days 23 and 24

So Tuesday I got up and actually went to work. Luckily the window was closed in my office so not everything was wet. I mostly planned my trip, trying to figure out what to buy and when to go to different places. I saw that a nearby outdoors shop had the bags I was looking at so I went over to try one out. Didn't buy since I already had a bag with me but definitely plan to get it. I also got hiking sandals, since they were solid, I needed new ones and they were on sale. 

Then I went to play frisbee. I'm not very good and it took me a while to remember all the rules but I made a couple of good catches and throws. After that I went home, bought a linen towel (after lots of research about how those are the best travel towels: slightly larger than microfiber but dry a lot better and don't smell as bad), storage cubes and a fancy travel adapter. I'm spending a lot on this trip but the idea is that most of this stuff I'll be able to use for years. The travel pack especially for hiking/camping/as a carry on and the sandals for hiking. Then I filled out my workstay profile and went to bed.

I forgot to set my alarms but woke up before six, which is kind of worrying since that often precipitates a depressive episode. We'll see. Set my alarms and went back to sleep for an hour before going running. We did a 9:00 pace today, so I was dying by the end of the run. Then I hung out at my friend's house since I wasn't in a rush. Went to the gym to shower, got lunch with friends and went back to my office to work. Then I played catan (almost won), downloaded Rise of Nations and played a game of that (which took forever since I got stalemated for a while due to the nature of the game I was playing. I had to focus on just one enemy at a time). Rushed to get dressed for the priesthood meeting and rode over to a friend's house for a ride to that. That went well, ice cream was good and we went home. I biked home, rested a bit and then had a large dinner because I need to clear out leftovers. Even cut up more potatoes to fill out the soup I have. Maybe they can go in the saag too? 

And that's me. I have a lot to do, both for work and setting up my trip. It's time to figure out my final schedule and start buying tickets. Also tell people what I'm doing and find a place to dump my suitcase in Jakarta. Oh and I need to create a level 10 character for a one-shot. At least I'm not DMing tomorrow.

Dog Days 20, 21 and 22

More tired and busy leading to laziness. 

Saturday: Got up and went to Walmart to get milk and a couple of other ingredients. Then we went climbing. Embarrassingly couldn't make it up an easy route but I did make it up some highball slabs (and a fun chimney problem). Swam in a lake but it was dirty enough (non blue-green algae bloom) to not want to swim across it. Tried the Culver's pub burger, it was excellent. Got home and played pathfinder (was very late). Made paneer by boiling milk, adding lemon juice and then squeezing out the whey. Pressed the cheese for 2 hours and meant to write this while that was happening but ended up falling asleep on the couch instead.

Sunday: Got up early to cook. Took like an hour to fry my paneer/tofu and blanch 3 pounds of spinach. The rest of the cooking went a lot faster. I doubled the spices of the recipe (and the number of chilies and yogurt) which was probably a quite good idea. I also let the onions caramelize (for much longer than the recipe suggested) before adding the ginger and garlic. This is something I always do, not sure why the recipe called for adding them all together. Anyway, the saag paneer turned out really well.

Church was fine, I skipped out on the last third of elder's quorum to reheat my dish before the potluck. Was really glad someone else brought rice as well because mine was demolished. There wasn't much food so it was a good thing that I brought so much of a main course. Everyone (who could handle a little spice) got some. The sisters asked if I could sit in on a lesson and it went well. The investigator really wants to set his life straight and feel the progression of the gospel. The prayer he gave at the end was very sincere and powerful. Anyway, he's aiming to be baptized this Saturday. Went home, did dishes and I honestly don't remember the rest of the day. I did watch the first few episodes of the new Superman show, which is quite cute.

Monday: Got up and it was storming. Prepared a bag just in case but decided it wouldn't be worth it (especially since we weren't doing FHE at the church). Did a little bit of work, but not enough really. I know what I need to add to my proposal, but I just haven't done it yet. Took a nap (I've been really tired this past week but not in a depressed way, in a I'm not getting enough sleep because I'm dumb way). Ordered a record. Went to FHE. And that's about it. Now I'm back here. 

Dog Days 17, 18 and 19

So I've been lazy and staying up far too late, hence the delay. Just the important stuff follows.

Wednesday: Ran as normal. Met with a professor about some temporary work. Played a very long game of Catan (cities and knights, so there was a lot of new stuff to learn). Got dinner with friends. On the way to institute, found a portable record player on the side of the road. Worked on DnD stuff.

Thursday: Not much to report in the morning. In the afternoon I continued to work on DnD stuff. Made monster cards to help me with tracking initiative and make combat go faster. Drew a map and keyed in parts of the hex map. Ran the session, with 7 players and 10 enemies at parts (actually I think the other battle had 11 enemies at one point). So I spent way too much time afterwards reading up how to move combat faster. Seems like narration is important.

Friday: Big thing today was getting my new computer (which despite being cheaper than my current laptop, has more memory and RAM because it is much newer). Couldn't go to the office until it arrived because it was being delivered to the door, not the mailroom. Anyway set up was easy and then I immediately downloaded Risk of Rain 2 to try it since I haven't actually played it. Having both a windows computer and a mac is weird. Anyway, once I get dropbox, stata and word working on that computer, I'll use that one as a work computer (but also some games) and this mac as my hobby/general use/home computer. I definitely like the mac more from a general use perspective. These retina screens are something else. Then in the evening I went to a friend's house for pizza and smash. Made it home just before the thunderstorm (a stick actually hit me on the hand as I was coming up my street), unplugged everything because there was a lot of lightning and waited around. Eventually I could plug things back in and thus I worked on this. Oh and I bought Impossible Creatures because I've been wanting to play it since it came out 20 years ago and it was 75% off on steam (so 2 bucks). So I'm gonna do that.

 I need to get up early tomorrow to go shopping (didn't today on account of threatened rain and the laptop) so I can make cheese (and eventually saag paneer) for Sunday's potluck. And that's about it. 

Dog Days 16

 Got up and then slept in a bit. Went to Walmart to get some ingredients for dinner. Went to the Asian Market to get some other ingredients (no candlenuts though; place was near cleared out since it's closing at the end of the month because the owner is retiring). Went home and worked on my literature review. Sat around a bit. Started cooking. Since most of the cook time was boiling meat, I decided to rerecord the bass and vocals for the last part of "Fishing for Birds". The bass is much slower and out of time, so I might rerecord it again as triplet quavers or just eighth notes instead of quarter notes. My microphone also just doesn't capture the noiseyness of what I'm doing, though it did catch a cool effect I did with a vibrating string and a coin. Also my amp was picking up changes in electricity (in the atmosphere) when I touched my laptop, which was cool. I also rerecorded the vocals. They're a bit screamier and less shouty now but I still have a ways to go. Went downstairs to finish cooking. Ground my paste (used palm oil instead of candlenuts), cut the potatoes and in general it all went very smoothly.

The missionaries arrived just as I was finishing cooking the bihun (well glass noodles, I couldn't find actual bihun) and dishing up the soup. The elders were on splits so I ended up hosting a very green missionary. He loved the soup and had like three helpings. Dinner and the lesson went well and right at the end I got a call from a member of the bishopric asking if I could help with a blessing. I could, so I biked over and did the anointing. Weird that after a long time of not blessing anyone, I've done two within two weeks. I'll admit it feels pretty good to be the sort of person people turn to when looking for help with this. It's nice to be known as a reliable person, I guess? Also helped that I was nearby but we'll ignore that for now. 

Got home and after some looking, found the mailroom key so I picked up my shipment of dice and my battle map. Now I just need some wet erase markers and I'll be ready to really wow my players (I suggested two possible adventures for this week if people want to play). I've been reading up on encounter and battle design too. Did dishes and worked on this. Such was my day.

I feel fine, as I should. Tired though but that's fine. 

Dog Days 14 and 15

You know it's actually not been too hot. Or rather, the humidity has been down so the 80s have been more bearable than they were a few weeks ago. But it's still gonna be marked as dog days for a while.

Sunday I got up at 7 and decided that running while fasting was probably a bad idea after all so I went back to sleep instead. Church was fine, it was weird only showing up a few minutes early. Didn't participate much in sunday school (was working on some family things) and testimony meeting was very average (which is fine!). Waited around for like an hour after church because roommate had meetings. 

Got home, sat around a bit, did some reading and eventually decided to go running (after eating of course). Was going to do a 10-10.3 mile course but my headphones died and I didn't want to do that long of a run without them (I was all ready to use Analphabetapolothology since it's only just a tad too short for the 10:00 pace on that course). So I decided to do speed training. Mapped out a 3 mile (actually like 3.2 mile) course, set my timer for 27 minutes (so a 9:00 pace...for three miles) and started running. I was doing drills where I'd run fast for 30 seconds and then run at normal pace for a minute. Well I made it in exactly 27 minutes, which means my actual pace was like 8:30. Felt like dying afterwards.

Rest of the night was DnD prep. I'm creating a discord server to organize my open table so I've been working on that. Made a logo in paint. Messed around with different hex map programs. Stayed up till like 2:30 working on this hence not making a blog post.

This morning I intended to go shopping for Tuesday but was lazy getting out of bed. So I didn't. Made it to the office around noon and worked on various things there. Mostly cleaned out my desk but I'll do the actual move Wednesday. FHE was a family history night, I shared a story about how my (probable) 14-great grandfather was one of the printers of the original KJV bible. It was very silly and I played into my whole "all my stories are ambiguously true" vibe. Went home and didn't work. Decided I should go to bed at a reasonable time tonight.

I need to actually get up early to shop tomorrow (the dish I'm doing takes about 3 hours, though most of that is boiling meat. I can do spice prep during that time). I also told my advisor I'd send back my edits by noon and I've barely done any so far. And there's a bunch of emails to respond to, mostly about moving my defense date back. 

I tagged this with music because I listened to quite a few things worth mentioning. First is the Front Bottoms' You Are Who You Hang Out With. It was fine. Some of the songs work really well (like basically all the singles and "Batman" really got to me too) others were just alright. Decent album but not one of my top ones for the year. I also listened to somethings I haven't heard before. Prawn's Kingfisher was pretty good, though I do see why it gets criticized for having too samey sounding songs on it. I absolutely love its album art, shame that posters are out of print. Today I listened to Crying's double EP Getting Olde/Second Wind. It's a mix of power pop and chiptunes, which is fairly interesting. I quite liked it.  

Emotionally feeling fine. Too good maybe? I'm always so paranoid about that, but I've been tired rather than hyper and aggressive/confident so I don't think I'm going hypomanic. Not that staying up till 3 working on a project is a good sign. I still feel a bit of imposter syndrome about my diagnosis but I think the meds are working (hard to say, seeing as I started them in a good time and all) and when I go back through the records there's just no denying it. So I dunno.

Dog Days 11, 12 and 13

So I've had a lot of late nights recently, hence why I skipped journalling. Only going over the important parts (that I remember).

So the big things I did on Thursday were review the grant proposal and host DnD. Five people showed up and we spent the first hour or so building characters. Then we got to the actual adventure and man was that a lot of ad-libbing. I had actually prepared some encounters and a general idea of what should happen and of course we immediately went off the rails. The party was much more interested in the psychological condition of the barkeep than I expected, so instead of having the adventurer guild be pre-established we took a detour to make it before going on the real adventure (also now the barkeep is racist towards goblins). They also captured the goblin ambush (which went hilariously poorly on the goblins' side) instead of killing them, which I decided will cause problems down the line. Thanks to a series of extremely poor rolls, it took forever for the party to discover what was supposed to be a pretty easy mystery. And then we accidentally recreated Thanksgiving (which was not my intention at all) because the players got really into negotiating peace between the pixies and the cultists utopianists. Also everyone seems convinced that I'm trying to kill them while I play every NPC very sincerely (and never even considered trapping the bridge). Overall though (and despite running late) people seemed to like it and I'm getting a lot of praise for my DMing, probably because I'm loose, fun and good at improv.

Friday was a grant writing day. I had a good meeting with my advisor about moving forward and assembled my committee (but will probably push back my defense date). I went home and did a 5 mile run in the evening (pace was a bit faster than 10:00, which is good since that includes stopping for cars and getting distracted by a deer. I was sprinting at the end though). Then I got back to grant writing and finished the sections I'd say I'd do at like 2 in the morning. At least I don't feel terrible doing the writing like I did back in March. Yeah (temporarily?) not being depressed.

Saturday I got up early to go to the Renaissance Faire. I didn't get around to making a costume, so I just threw on a sarung and a blangkon. It was really fun, probably the best RF I've been to. Some highlights include all the carnival rides being completely human powered, a famous glassblower doing demos and of course the drama that is the joust (3/4 competitors were "dead" by the end). On the car ride there and backed I worked on different travel routes for my October trip. I'm thinking about leaving Jakarta a day earlier (since I have all of Saturday to shop, Sunday to meet with people/shop/etc and Monday to potentially meet with co-authors, I don't really need another flex day) to give me just a bit more time in Sulawesi (pending this guy actually wanting me, but I think he will). I discovered this one park in Central Sulawesi I really want to go to (it has megaliths and birds so it was basically designed for me) but it's a bit out of the way so I've been thinking up a couple of routes. I think in the end it really depends on 2 things: Can I get to Kendari from Sorowako and how easy is it to get to Sorowako from Tanah Toraja (or really Palepo). That determines when I go to Tanah Toraja, either on the way to Sorowako or on the way back towards Makassar. But there's no way I'm going to South Sulawesi without visiting Tanah Toraja (I might skip Makassar though because it's easy to hit on another trip). I have some flex time, I don't think I need to spend more than 4 days in Surabaya. Then I have a day or two in Jakarta to recouperate and buy more swag (and possibly a trip to Bandung on Monday riding the new HSR if that's an option) before going home (and doing a shopping trip in Tokyo for my sister maybe). It's going to be a very busy month.

Tagged this one for music because a couple new albums came out this week. There's The Front Bottoms' You Are Who You Hang Out With which has "Punching Bag" (a song I really like). I haven; listened to it yet but I'm excited. I just finished Chris Farren's Doom Singer (I got introduced to him by the music video for one of the singles on this album, "Cosmic Leash". Awesome song). It's pretty good. The song "Screensaver" got to me, even if it is less relevant to my life now post-answer.

Oh and I ordered a new (cheap) computer today. So that's exciting I guess. Anyway, time to go to bed, I'm running in the morning tomorrow (and then probably again in the evening; gotta train). 

Dog Days 10

Got up, went running. Showered and then checked out an apartment for my sister. Dunno if she and her future roommate decided to take it or not. Ate lunch with friends, played Catan (I had terrible luck today) did some work and then got dinner with friends in exchange for helping with a move last week. Chinese, was pretty good. There's not much else to say about today. Building key is definitely lost though I'm going to wait for a little while to see if I just happened to drop it in the apartment I was helping move yesterday. 

My allergies seem to be hitting me hard this week. Post-nasal drip to coughing and itchy eyes (but not red). Mostly just annoying but my hypochondriac self is freaking out since this could be an early sign of SJS. Really don't want that in my life (right now or at all). Definitely on the look out for any rashes or ulcers/sores but haven't seen any yet. Will have to call the doctor right away if so. Feel fine emotionally though. 

And yeah that's like it for today. 

Dog Days 8 and 9

 So I didn't write yesterday because our internet was out, not because I was lazy.

Anyway, got up and went shopping since I hadn't done that in like 3 weeks. Went home, put away food and ate lunch. Went to the office. Got a response back to one of my emails (I need to respond back to her, she was so prompt and her info was really useful) and then talked to my advisor about what I figured out with regard to costs. Wrote a report on that and also on what fieldwork might entail. Went over to the library to look at the Censuses again but they hadn't been reshelved yet. Went to FHE and played games. Gave a blessing to one of my ministerees (been a while since I did that; I just did the anointing and had the handbook open the whole time). Came home and learned our internet was out so I couldn't work. Helped one of my players make a homebrew race (we fudged some of the rules because it's hard to evaluate how much the weaknesses and feats interplay...definitely going against the 5e grain here). Went to bed with the intent of going to the office early to finish my work.

Got up and then went back to sleep. Did make it to the office by like 9:30. Worked for a bit and then ate lunch and went to help with a move. Luckily it was a pretty easy move (everything in boxes and not much furniture). Despite the day being fairly cool compared to last week, it was still hot in the sun. I think I lost my building key during the move, not sure though. At the very least, when I went to leave the office it wasn't where I thought it was. So I might be out 20 bucks (and in a lot of shame). Go back to my office, finish up some work and go to a meeting. Meeting concludes and I go back up which is when I realized I didn't have the building key. Retrace my path and can't find it. 

Since I was in the area, I went to the record shop to check it out. Lots and lots of stuff. Of course I couldn't really find anything I was interested in in the used section; they were all in the new section. Bought Rites of Spring's S/T because that's out of print and I've been thinking about it for a while. Such a good album. I'll probably also buy the digital form (plus the EP) straight from the label. Also picked up a $4 mystery grab bag too. 5 vinyls of things I'd never listen to. Went to the climbing gym but by that point everyone else was there too so I didn't climb much and just went home after like 30 minutes. Didn't want to deal with a crowd. Went home. Zoomed in to a friend's mission call opening. San Jose, which means my guess of San Bernardino was actually somewhat close. Took another phone call from a friend. Read through some stuff and now I'm here writing this.

I'm checking out an apartment for my sister tomorrow morning, after running (so no hanging out post run). There's also lunch, games in the afternoon and then I'm skipping institute for a dinner. Busy, busy day. Should be good though. Not that these past days have been bad. I feel pretty good (and I don't think that's the meds, they're more for stabilization than actually improving moods plus I was feeling good before the meds). Slowly working out the logistics of my trip. I need to actually announce it so I can find a place to drop my suitcase off in Jakarta. If I do end up doing a crazy bus trip, I don't want to be dragging that around. Need to get my grant proposal drafted by Friday. Lots to do is the point. 

Oh I forgot to mention. I saw a heron in the bushes and went to take a photo of it. As I did that I saw a kingfisher fly past. No photo but that's when I knew today would be a good day. Then I saw a heron in a tree and another one in the water. So many herons today.