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August and Everything
Aug. 11th, 2023 07:07 amI realize I've not posted anything here in a while, but there hasn't exactly been a lot going on. Mostly just bitching about the heat. I can go out and run in this if I get out very early, but I'm still wiped out for at least an hour when I get home. I can even manage a long run if I fill my hydration vest with an electrolyte mixture, but it's brutal out there. Too bad man-made climate change is a hoax, right? (sarcasm - there's no good way to include a sigh and an eyeroll here)
We're heading off camping this weekend because why not go camping in the middle of August. :D It's camping at Disney so it's less bad, but you still have to go outside. We're planning to do our park stuff in the early mornings and late evenings, and then just hide in the camper during the heat of the day. I should be able to manage later nights than I'm used to since I'll be able to nap. I couldn't relax enough to nap in a Disney hotel because of the "health and safety" inspections. But no one's coming into the camper so my anxiety brain feels like it can stand down.
Anyway, it'll be fun to be at Disney on my birthday. We've done this a few times for Fox, but his birthday also falls very close to Wine & Dine race weekend. In my case we've been in August, but we'll actually be on property on the day. I don't have anything super specific I want to do, but whatever I do ought to involve ice cream, so if it feels like something we could do I might ask for a trip to Beaches & Cream, unless I see something inside EPCOT that's serving ice cream, like outside the normal offerings.
In books this month or so, I read some pretty weighty tomes. I finished Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae after having it sitting on my shelves for literally decades. I bought it and read maybe the first twenty pages, but if I remember correctly I had to put it aside to write my thesis, and Paglia doesn't touch on the authors I was writing about. I do wish she'd gotten around to bringing us into the twentieth century, but I enjoyed her take on Emily Dickinson. I feel like Paglia might be one of those people who would agree that Hamlet is best read as a black comedy. I also read Sleep Demons: An Insomniac's Memoir by Bill Hayes, an engaging book on sleep and the lack of it. My insomnia problems aren't as bad any more, but it's always encouraging to hear from someone who suffered with it as a child, given how often I was told I "couldn't" have trouble sleeping. It's tempting to go down a rabbit hole with this one - Hayes has written a lot more, and has worked with Oliver Sacks, whose writing I also enjoy.
I'm currently reading Chuck Tingle's horror novel, Camp Damascus about a gay conversion camp in the wilds of Montana. I preordered, but have been saving it for the trip, so I just started reading. I also received a gift for preordering, a spiffy yellow bandanna that says BURN IT DOWN, which nicely sums up my feelings about any and all conversion therapy. In addition I've got a copy of Picnic at Hanging Rock which should be fun. I have not seen the movie, but I'm familiar enough with the book's reputation to know some people think it's a true story.
In gaming, I hit the halfway point in Okami, which I'm still enjoying greatly. I also picked up Rain World again and started a new campaign as the Survivor, and I'm finding it actually a bit easier than the "easy mode" Monk slugcat. Monk does less damage with his attacks, and is slower and less agile. For me, the Survivor's more robust movement makes some of the platforming sections a bit easier. Not that anything is actually easy in this game. I hit on the idea of "activating" echoes as I go around the map, and then backtracking with my earned passages to actually meet those echoes, and that's worked out well for me. I'm about to head into the game's last major area, and the home stretch for getting my slugcat back to her family.
Fox is considering getting me a new bike, because we just discovered my old one is a steel frame. He thinks I might have an easier time riding an aluminum frame, and maybe save The Tank for later. Or donate it, IDK. His parents know a lady in Orlando who refurbishes bikes, so I might be able to buy a pretty good bike through her for cheaper. I'm still not really looking at riding competitively, running is going well and I'm far less likely to crash into things.
We're heading off camping this weekend because why not go camping in the middle of August. :D It's camping at Disney so it's less bad, but you still have to go outside. We're planning to do our park stuff in the early mornings and late evenings, and then just hide in the camper during the heat of the day. I should be able to manage later nights than I'm used to since I'll be able to nap. I couldn't relax enough to nap in a Disney hotel because of the "health and safety" inspections. But no one's coming into the camper so my anxiety brain feels like it can stand down.
Anyway, it'll be fun to be at Disney on my birthday. We've done this a few times for Fox, but his birthday also falls very close to Wine & Dine race weekend. In my case we've been in August, but we'll actually be on property on the day. I don't have anything super specific I want to do, but whatever I do ought to involve ice cream, so if it feels like something we could do I might ask for a trip to Beaches & Cream, unless I see something inside EPCOT that's serving ice cream, like outside the normal offerings.
In books this month or so, I read some pretty weighty tomes. I finished Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae after having it sitting on my shelves for literally decades. I bought it and read maybe the first twenty pages, but if I remember correctly I had to put it aside to write my thesis, and Paglia doesn't touch on the authors I was writing about. I do wish she'd gotten around to bringing us into the twentieth century, but I enjoyed her take on Emily Dickinson. I feel like Paglia might be one of those people who would agree that Hamlet is best read as a black comedy. I also read Sleep Demons: An Insomniac's Memoir by Bill Hayes, an engaging book on sleep and the lack of it. My insomnia problems aren't as bad any more, but it's always encouraging to hear from someone who suffered with it as a child, given how often I was told I "couldn't" have trouble sleeping. It's tempting to go down a rabbit hole with this one - Hayes has written a lot more, and has worked with Oliver Sacks, whose writing I also enjoy.
I'm currently reading Chuck Tingle's horror novel, Camp Damascus about a gay conversion camp in the wilds of Montana. I preordered, but have been saving it for the trip, so I just started reading. I also received a gift for preordering, a spiffy yellow bandanna that says BURN IT DOWN, which nicely sums up my feelings about any and all conversion therapy. In addition I've got a copy of Picnic at Hanging Rock which should be fun. I have not seen the movie, but I'm familiar enough with the book's reputation to know some people think it's a true story.
In gaming, I hit the halfway point in Okami, which I'm still enjoying greatly. I also picked up Rain World again and started a new campaign as the Survivor, and I'm finding it actually a bit easier than the "easy mode" Monk slugcat. Monk does less damage with his attacks, and is slower and less agile. For me, the Survivor's more robust movement makes some of the platforming sections a bit easier. Not that anything is actually easy in this game. I hit on the idea of "activating" echoes as I go around the map, and then backtracking with my earned passages to actually meet those echoes, and that's worked out well for me. I'm about to head into the game's last major area, and the home stretch for getting my slugcat back to her family.
Fox is considering getting me a new bike, because we just discovered my old one is a steel frame. He thinks I might have an easier time riding an aluminum frame, and maybe save The Tank for later. Or donate it, IDK. His parents know a lady in Orlando who refurbishes bikes, so I might be able to buy a pretty good bike through her for cheaper. I'm still not really looking at riding competitively, running is going well and I'm far less likely to crash into things.
