I should be working on my fic right now

[ratbones]

1. Rattiekins is cold. Needs hugs. Or at least a blanket and some tea. It was 75 degrees here a week ago, and today's high was barely above freezing. I don't hate winter, I just want more autumn first. :(

2. Got a box from Bangkok this week: presents from my aunt! It included a notebook with a kitty on it, two pens with hedgehog-shaped toppers, and a shirt that both fits me and suits my tastes. Everything was wrapped in colorful paper and tied with curly ribbon. Am I too old to get hedgehog pens from my auntie for no reason? I'm glad she doesn't think so. Don't tell the rest of my flock of relatives, but she's my favorite.

3. The anxiety I had when I started posting Zombie WIP was that nobody would like it. The anxiety I have now is that several people like it and I must not disappoint them. I much prefer the second one, but it's still a thing, and now I also have anticipatory anxiety about what to do with myself and my words when I get to the end. These are good anxieties to have, though. These are anxieties about wanting to make sure that I and others continue having a good time. Since when do I get to worry about things like that? It's new.

4. According to my own schedule, I'm meant to post a chapter on Tuesday. That might not happen. I've never promised anyone I'll post a chapter on a certain day, but I've also not fallen behind my own personal deadlines since August, and that was for external reasons. This is just...I procrastinated a lot this past week? I have a little section here, prior to endgame events, where I just have to let the characters figure out how they're going to muddle through, but after the last three chapters, in which every scene had to happen exactly how it happened, I got a bit spoiled and now I don't FEEEEL like muddling. As soon as I have a chunk of time -- tomorrow evening, I hope -- I need to sit down and just bang out a few imperfect scenes and see what's going to work. I do recognize that the procrastination has something to do with the anxieties mentioned in #3.

5. Every item on the list got longer than the previous one, so I've made a short one at the end to prove that I can stop myself if I want to.

Comments

[ratbones]

I was there in...uhhhh 2014? So that may have been before everything got worse. Or I just picked a good week. I'll give you that 30°C is legit hot.

Now, if only it were less cloudy here with a chance of aurorae...
Eeee, that sounds lovely!

\o/ Success!
XP

[extrapenguin]

I was there in...uhhhh 2014? So that may have been before everything got worse. Or I just picked a good week.
IIRC 2014 was still tolerable; it only started going to shit properly after that, and the last two-three years have been the worst. Summer's also been sort of shifting backwards, so it encroaches on autumn's territory.

I am also entirely justifidely bitter at the fact that we've been getting cloudier. That time Greece saw aurorae? Finland was covered in a thick layer of cloud. Grumble.

[ratbones]

Summer's also been sort of shifting backwards, so it encroaches on autumn's territory.
This is absolutely happening here as well. Or summer is just expanding and possibly winter too? It feels like we have way more weather extremes, although I shouldn't complain so much, really -- this autumn has been quite long and nice compared to the last several years. Except a severe windstorm took down all the leaves around Halloween. (Weeks early.) But today's actually warm, so.

That time Greece saw aurorae? Finland was covered in a thick layer of cloud. Grumble.
That is awful and unfair and the grumbling is a bit cute though. Pretty sure Greece and Pennsylvania are at similar latitudes, so that is...very south. We've had a few occasions where the meteorologists freaked out because we might be able to see aurorae here, but it's never worked out, or it's been cloudy.

[extrapenguin]

Or summer is just expanding and possibly winter too?
Summer's expanding, but mostly from the back end, I'd say. Winter is shrinking/becoming a pile of slush here. I just want the seasons of my childhood back, when days of 25°C were rare and slush was a thing of spring. :(

That is awful and unfair and the grumbling is a bit cute though. Pretty sure Greece and Pennsylvania are at similar latitudes, so that is...very south. We've had a few occasions where the meteorologists freaked out because we might be able to see aurorae here, but it's never worked out, or it's been cloudy.
It doesn't quite work like that for aurorae, as the North magnetic pole is biased towards Canada; Greece is roughly equivalent to North Mexico. I have also decided that if I move, I want to go to Canada or some other place where one can actually see aurorae.

[ratbones]

Winter is shrinking/becoming a pile of slush here. I just want the seasons of my childhood back, when days of 25°C were rare and slush was a thing of spring. :(
Aww. Winter's always been a pile of slush here, but I feel you. I wish we still had spring, and it didn't just go from 35°F to 75°F in the space of like a week. BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS etc etc my memory is probably super biased

It doesn't quite work like that for aurorae, as the North magnetic pole is biased towards Canada; Greece is roughly equivalent to North Mexico.
And I've still never seen aurorae? :( Now I'm feeling cheated! booo. I approve of moving to Canada, though. Moose are terrifying, but apart from that, I'm a fan.

[extrapenguin]

TBH I never got it when people said their favorite season was spring – did they mean slush season, mud season, dust-and-grit-everywhere season (from the winter's anti-slipping measures that had yet to be cleaned up), or the 1-2 weeks of something spring-y when stuff started to grow and it wasn't summer yet?

(The time in March when there's snow on the ground but the Sun is high enough that it's t-shirt weather when it's sunny is pretty nice, though.)

And I've still never seen aurorae?
That is a terrible state to be in! I checked and Pennsylvania is just outside of Kp=7, so you're equivalent to, like, Ireland and Northern Germany and Belarus. (NA, E&A) I suggest blaming clouds. Though the Sun's also been slacking off recently.

[ratbones]

Spring used to be beautiful here! And still is, for the one week when it happens! All the trees go into bloom and it's attractive-jacket weather and the birds come back and, as you say, the sun is finally out -- okay, it's pretty muddy sometimes, but even though fall is my favorite, I totally love spring. I've got a huge unruly patch of forsythia growing up against my porch that gets covered in flowers. Ideal for Professor Shen to have a late-night chat with. Oops I got all excited and flailed at you. But. FLOWERS. I suspect your idea of t-shirt weather and mine are marginally different, but I HAVE been in t-shirt weather with snow on the ground a few times, and that's also nice!

I suggest blaming clouds. Though the Sun's also been slacking off recently.
Aren't we around the bottom of the solar cycle right now? And this past cycle wasn't very active even at the peak. Low solar activity = not good for aurorae, right? Clouds really, really don't help though, obviously. [Young Woman Yells At Cloud] [also thank you for doing research for me, I know things now <3]

[extrapenguin]

for the one week when it happens!
Spring: your favorite day of the year, eh? :P (That's a joke hereabouts.) Blooming is nice, though the tree jizz is annoying when it gets everywhere and covers everything in a yellowish goo when it rains. And never be upset over flailing! Enthusiasm is nice!

Aren't we around the bottom of the solar cycle right now? And this past cycle wasn't very active even at the peak. Low solar activity = not good for aurorae, right?
Yup, yup, and yup. Hopefully there'll be more activity at the next maximum. (Or I could move to Kilpisjärvi, I guess?) Definitely going to join you in the shaking fists at clouds.

[also thank you for doing research for me, I know things now <3
<3 right back at you! Research is lovely.

[ratbones]

Spring: your favorite day of the year, eh?
Ahaaa yeah. Adding that one to my repertoire of droll small talk. The tree jizz (pfft) is not ideal on the car windshield, but it's better than scraping off ice so by that point I'm not complaining.

And never be upset over flailing! Enthusiasm is nice!
I was once publicly mocked by an authority figure for getting excited about snow and I'm still recovering. :|

Me googling Kilpisjärvi: "Oh, it's even smaller than my town."

[extrapenguin]

Here the tree jizz, when wet, doesn't come off windshield or scraper - I guess we're just unfortunate in that regard.

I was once publicly mocked by an authority figure for getting excited about snow and I'm still recovering. :|
What a horrible authority figure! >:( Enthusiasm is the best and should not be quashed. Boo.

Finland is full of small places which are also dying due to urbanization. I am a sensorily oversensitive child of the forests, so I dislike the trend of jobs and such only being available in the capital. I have managed to find a Podunk which fits my needs well enough, but in my heart of hearts I hate the very concept of neighbors.

[ratbones]

Here the tree jizz, when wet, doesn't come off windshield or scraper - I guess we're just unfortunate in that regard.
Ewww, yeah, I have never experienced that kind of goop.

Enthusiasm is the best and should not be quashed. Boo.
thanks <3

That entire last paragraph...s a m e. Okay, not the forests part, I'm from farmland, but all the rest. The slow economic death of rural areas is a personal problem for me. As it is, it would've been really hard for me to get a job and a house here if I didn't have a convenient family situation (which may not last), and I still want to move further away from town because I don't like hearing cars. Blegh.

[extrapenguin]

The slow economic death of rural areas is a personal problem for me.
Yeah, it's... I currently live in an apartment, which is madly stressful because strangers slamming their doors at night. And with urbanization plus car-discouragement due to climate change stuff, I honestly expect I'll be forced to live in cities forever, or have to choose a different career, which makes me sad. (And even all the alternative careers inevitably drift to the cities. Bleh.) Even when I'm sure that all the sensory stimuli have worsened my mental health. Yay. At least this place has decent sound insulation.

[ratbones]

I have no solutions and I sort of wish you had magically offered me one, but -- commiseration and hugs, anyway. This is a big part of why I'm not working in science or getting another degree at present. (Hour-long commutes are a possible alternative here, but that would suck for a bunch of obvious reasons.) I actually liked my apartment when I lived in a big city, it was very quiet and felt brilliantly isolating, but I barely ever went outside voluntarily except going to and from class, which was, uh, probably not the healthiest thing.

[extrapenguin]

A magical solution would be so nice! (I'm crossing my fingers for a teleportation system so I can live in East Podunk and still work in a job that matches my degree. Dreams!)

Hour-long commutes are a possible alternative here, but that would suck for a bunch of obvious reasons.
Oof, yeah. I find my will to live disappears at the half hour mark. (Though I heard once of a couple originally from Lapland where the wife found a job on one side of Finland, the husband on the other, and they lived in the center. She thought a two-hour drive was all fine and dandy and quite short on balance.)

I barely ever went outside voluntarily except going to and from class, which was, uh, probably not the healthiest thing.
Going out into public spaces is so much more of a barrier than going out into the private garden from which no neighbors can be seen, yes. The great outdoors is good for you, but all the outdoors nearby involve walking past people.

[ratbones]

If you ever happen upon (or invent) that teleportation system, lmk. Stop making me compromise, real world!

(Though I heard once of a couple originally from Lapland where the wife found a job on one side of Finland, the husband on the other, and they lived in the center. She thought a two-hour drive was all fine and dandy and quite short on balance.)
...Damn. That's a LOT. I somewhat enjoy a long drive, but only because I'm not required to do it often. For a few years, my mother had a 2-hour-ish commute every day, but it was by rail, so she could sleep through it (a cheat that only works if you're going between a city and another city.)

The great outdoors is good for you, but all the outdoors nearby involve walking past people.
Yep, that was my problem. Tremendously unhelpful to the mental health situation. And also the exercise situation, which just compounds things. Urgh.

[extrapenguin]

If you ever happen upon (or invent) that teleportation system, lmk. Stop making me compromise, real world!
*eyes science career in not reality warping* Well... If I see one, I'll let you know!

Long drives are occasionally okay, but even then at the 3h mark it becomes an annoyance. And commutes are much more enjoyable if one can sleep, it is true. Or if once can walk/cycle on a scenic route!

Tremendously unhelpful to the mental health situation. And also the exercise situation, which just compounds things. Urgh.
Yup. I just want to live in a scenic location in the forest with fast internet and zero neighbors and chill outdoors occasionally! Or at the very least at the edge of an unpopular trail into a forest. Sigh.

[ratbones]

It's never too late to make a career shift! Maybe you could work on some kind of relativity-based device for me and my aforementioned sleep/writing conflict while you're warping spacetime? Think of all the good you could do for the world. By which I mean me. :D

I just want to live in a scenic location in the forest with fast internet and zero neighbors and chill outdoors occasionally! Or at the very least at the edge of an unpopular trail into a forest. Sigh.
THAT'S THE DREAM. Yeah, I'd take the second option too, but that first one is a powerfully seductive image. I've contemplated full-on running away to the woods before, but I'm trapped in civilization by internet access.

(I'm trying to mostly avoid the current drama, but you can always honk into my PMs/email/whatever if you would like a sympathetic ear. I don't agree with you on everything, but I care about you and the last 24 hours have been...um...rough. <3)

[extrapenguin]

Think of all the good you could do for the world. By which I mean me. :D
You make a valid point! Hmm, relativistic rockets would make the commute short for you but not the rest of the universe. Back to the drawing board...

(I'm reminded of that Greg Egan? story where space travel happened via sending person-templates over the void at c, and there was one planet where all the residents went on "slowdown" when one person had to skip time via space travel to a nearby planet and back. Everyone altered their sensation of the passage of time so they'd experience the same subjective time onplanet as the traveler.)

I've contemplated full-on running away to the woods before, but I'm trapped in civilization by internet access.
I USED to live in almost-the-woods with super fast internet access as a young penguin, but then other people bought plots next to us and built houses and now my parents have neighbors, boo. It was the dream for a while.

Avoiding drama is a good call. Wading into the shit will only stir it up and make the mudpile grow. Let's hope it's over soon and everyone can go back to wanking about whether Shen Wei is best characterized as the hero or the heroine of a bodice ripper or whatever.

[ratbones]

I haven't read the story, but damn, that's cool. I like the question about, I guess, the ethical and pragmatic way to deal with people losing or gaining time relative to each other. The planet-wide slowdown is awesome but surely resource-intensive, although if they can shoot people-templates around at c, they've clearly got resources.

I USED to live in almost-the-woods with super fast internet access as a young penguin, but then other people bought plots next to us and built houses and now my parents have neighbors, boo. It was the dream for a while.
Ugh, your idyllic childhood! So jealous! I always had distant-but-visible neighbors (not enough trees), and we still had dial-up when I started internetting. I didn't discover fanfic till after we got DSL, fortunately.

Let's hope it's over soon and everyone can go back to wanking about whether Shen Wei is best characterized as the hero or the heroine of a bodice ripper or whatever.
Agree! I think Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are both the heroine and they should rip each other's bodices. Fite me. :P

[extrapenguin]

IIRC the book was actually about something else entirely (I think it was the one where there was a new form of vacuum spreading through the universe at 0.6c?) and this was a character's backstory. Greg Egan has a lot of cool hard SF books with interesting concepts, but damn if I remember what any of them are called. (Except Diaspora and Dichronauts, both of which I enjoyed but neither of which is the book discussed.)

My idyllic childhood became less idyllic fairly rapidly, but it was a nice place to be (both of them - I moved as a kid). My parents had a good taste in houses. :P (Though I only discovered fanfic after the neighbors had arrived.)

I think Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are both the heroine and they should rip each other's bodices. Fite me. :P
They are complex characters whose defining traits and archetypes aren't from the Western bodice ripper genre so reducing- Yes. They're both the heroines and should rip off each other's bodices. And other items of clothing. I'm sure Shen Wei can dark energy them back together for another round of ripping!

[ratbones]

Taking this as an author rec regardless. I'll look into his work! Thanks. I'd like to read more pro fiction but am sometimes overwhelmed at the number of options and things I "should" read, especially in such Serious Business genres as this.

They are complex characters whose defining traits and archetypes aren't from the Western bodice ripper genre so reducing- Yes. They're both the heroines and should rip off each other's bodices. And other items of clothing. I'm sure Shen Wei can dark energy them back together for another round of ripping!
actual real-life LOL. A valiant effort at disagreeing, but the truth cannot be denied! More ripping, more stripping, more fun. With interludes of mutual bosom-heaving (for maximum titillation)!

[extrapenguin]

Greg Egan is 100% an author rec! Diaspora and Dichronauts are also book recs, though the rest of his output is also well worth reading. (Including the short story collections. There was one with a super cool story about a person who lives in a different person's body every day, but again, damn if I can recall any titles. This is even worse than me not recalling which title went for which book for Frederik Pohl's The World at the End of Time and The Other End of Time.)

I'd like to read more pro fiction but am sometimes overwhelmed at the number of options and things I "should" read, especially in such Serious Business genres as this.
No problem! The "classics" are mostly readable, but a lot of them are very dated, so there's no pressing need to read them outside genre-historical curiosity. (Eg Ringworld is a classic, but sexist, so I'd give some other introduction to the Big Dumb Object subgenre.) And any genre is only exactly as serious business as you want it to be. After all, they were all set up by monkeys with delusions of grandeur! ;P (But seriously, feel free to hit me up for SF recs. I've read hard SF, milSF, and space opera, plus a bunch of the classics, so I can give at least some sort of rec breadth.)

More ripping, more stripping, more fun. With interludes of mutual bosom-heaving (for maximum titillation)!
Of course! Is it even a romance if there are no bosoms heaving? (...I'm now having flashbacks to the Blackadder episode where all the guys had obvious fake boobs hanging from their necks.) But yes, I bet Zhao Yunlan would absolutely love to rip off all of Professor Shen's layers to get at the skin beneath. Especially as the good prof seems to have wholeheartedly embraced buttcheek tailoring. And would no doubt love to return the favor.