Helluva thing, returning to work …

Life in general

Though my first week back was only three days and most of it was sorting through six weeks worth of email, dealing with systems issues, and generally getting used to my 8:30 to 4:30 work schedule again, it was a rough transition, because transitions are hard.

The next week was better, in part because I received my letter of offer. My acting instructional designer position is confirmed to start August 6^th (after the civic holiday long weekend in Canada). In the meantime, I will have a number of small projects to keep me occupied, mostly helping other members of my team and bringing my high detail orientation to bear.

But then, on the 13^th, my mother-in-law fell and had to go to the hospital to be assessed. The doctors kept her at HSN until the following Wednesday. She’s home and well and, as of the end of July, waiting for physio and a home assessment for potential accessibility measures.

Then we find out if the recommended accessibility measures will be supplied and installed or if we’ll have to purchase and install them. We don’t know if the apartment manager/owner will commit to some measures (e.g., a walk-in shower instead of a tub).

In nature news, I forgot to mention last month that the linden trees and sumac were in bloom. This month, all the trees are setting fruit. The mountain ash berries will be orange until the first frost hardens them. Flowers are still happening, but they’re mostly in gardens.

The blueberries are small, but I love the smell of the sweet fern that likes to grow nearby.

Our berry patch has not produced this year, but Phil did transplant all the raspberries in the fall. We may have to wait another year for the plants to recover fully.

With the heat (yes, there have been more heatwaves), the monster rhubarb is suffering, but our tomatoes a doing great (and taste delicious).

I saved my clematis (a jackmanii) from getting lost in the weeds and trained it back on its trellis. But that about all I managed in the overgrown garden. Daylilies are blooming, and our hostas are huge, though the ferns are not thriving.

The month in writing

My primary goal was, once again, revisions on Reality Bomb. But I also have some poetry submissions to prepare and another creative non-fiction piece to start writing for an anthology call.

The group from the Dispatches from the World course I took with Ariel Gordon last month has decided to continue to work together. We now have a Facebook group, and I submitted a portion of a story I’ve been trying to fix for the last couple of years. We’ll meet for the first time in August by Zoom.

I met with Suzy on the 4^th. We’re getting to the exciting part of the novel now, but there’s a disconnect between the novel as I revise it and what Suzy’s seen to date. So, most of our session was really about me explaining how I’m foreshadowing the stuff she hasn’t seen before.

Our second meeting was deferred when my mother-in-law fell.

On July 1^st, I trotted over to Science North to help person the Sudbury Writers’ Guild table at the Canada Day celebration there.

On July 4^th, All Lit Up included The Art of Floating in their reading list for #DisabilityPrideMonth! So honoured to have my work featured among some of my favourite authors. And now I have even more (moar!) books for my TBR pile.

Over the weekend of the 6^th, I firmed up arrangements for a table and readings at the Greater Sudbury Roving Outdoor Book Fair, taking place Sunday August 25^th from 2-5 pm. It’ll be in Copper Cliff this year, at the Copper Cliff Complex Gazebo on Godfrey Drive (across from Bryston’s).

Then, on the 11^th, Cait Gordon posted this lovely interview about The Art of Floating on the Spoonie Authors Network.

I also had a SF Canada Board meeting on the 6^th. It was thunder storming on the day and the power had already gone out twice, but we managed to have the meeting without too many issues.

Filling the well

The new oak moon in Cancer was on the 5^th. Partly cloudy to rainy all day. Not that one can “observe” a new moon, but, ya know, I would be nice to have a clear nice for general observation. Despite the light pollution here in the city, a new moon means better viewing of the stars …

The full Buck moon in Capricorn (second in a row!) was on the 21^st.

Minimal writerly events this month.

I was hoping to go to the Jabbawong Literary Festival in Kagawong on Manitoulin Island, but it was the same weekend as the Northern Lights Festival Boreal (NLFB) where Latitude 46 would have a table. I also had the SFC BoD meeting on the Saturday. I was torn, because I really wanted to pitch myself for next year’s Jabbawong, but autistic inertia and demand avoidance kind of made the decision for me. After my first week back at work (a short week, yes, but a workweek nonetheless), I decided not to go to either Jabbawong or NLFB and attend the board meeting. Conserving spoons, y’all!

But I was so grateful for all the messages from friends who bought a copy of TAoF at NLFB!

On the 11^th, I signed up for an online reading and discussion with Annalee Newitz about her new book, Stories Are Weapons, through the Argo Book Shop in Montreal. Fascinating. Another one for the TBR pile.

On the 18^th, I attended a Canada Council for the Arts webinar on applying for the Explore and Create grant. I’ve only applied once for this grant so far and was not successful. I hoped to get some tips and tricks for improving my chances next time.

Later the same day, the League of Canadian Poets (LCP) launched their summer chapbook series.

Finally, I attended another Mary Robinette Kowal webinar on “Writing through Fatigue” on the 28^th. Every time, I learn something new and useful. I can’t recommend her courses enough.

In non-writing events, I registered for the virtual component of the Desiring Autism and Neurodivergence Symposium at Queen’s University from the 23^rd to the 25^th. A lot of interesting insights into the decolonization of education, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ intersectionality, and accommodations in the current context.

I had my follow up with my doctor on July 2^nd. It was anticlimactic. The infection is gone, and I have meds and neti pot in reserve in case it seems like things will rebound. The nurse was happy with me, though. I was their good news appointment of the day.

And I had a massage appointment on July 31^st, just before taking a couple of days of leave followed by a long weekend. After three full weeks of work bracketed by two short weeks, I needed to destress and relax.

What I’m watching and reading

I finished watching Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Netflix). I wanted to check it out because Young Woo is autistic, but the character was diagnosed in childhood, exhibits savant-level ability in the law, and has fairly high support needs. I enjoyed the series. The love story was, in particular, adorable. And my usual why-don’t-you-just-talk-to-each-other complaint was neatly sidestepped by Young Woo’s inability to articulate what she was feeling (alexithymia), and Jun Ho’s desire to respect/protect Young Woo. The court cases were interesting, as well, and provided some insight into Korean law and life.

Then, I watched the second season of Reginald the Vampire (network). In the first season, Reginald is glamoured into asking his crush, Sarah, out, is turned, subsequently messes up his new relationship, and has to pass a trial, or be executed. In this season, the overarching plot is that the angel Balestro wants to destroy all of vampire kind. In sub-plots, Reginald struggles to mend his relationship with Sarah, Maurice struggles with his responsibilities as Deacon, and Todd forms a bond with Mike. It’s a fun, if occasionally ridiculous series, and I’m looking forward to seeing more. If SyFy doesn’t cancel the show.

Phil and I watched the fourth season of The Boys (Amazon). This one was the grossest yet, though the violence is always turned up to 11. The Boys have all been captured, except Butcher, who’s now a tentacle monster. Victoria Newman is dead, her daughter’s in the home for troubled supers, almost-president Singer has been arrested, Ashley’s taken Compound V, A-Train has fled with his family, Ryan knows what his father has done and has accidentally killed Grace Mallory, and Homelander is now the power behind the new president, who has just declared martial law. And most of that happened in the last episode (!)

Can’t wait to see what fresh hell is unleashed in season five.

My first read/listen of the month was Habits for Mastering Anxiety by Dr. Tim Sharp. Again, I’ve already read/learned most of the information and techniques he suggests, but reinforcement is queen.

Then I moved onto The Heart of Valor, the third in Tanya Huff’s Confederation series. In the first book, Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr was supposed to be part of an honour guard for a diplomatic mission … and ended up defending said diplomats from a hoard of juvenile Silssviss. In the second, a routine salvage mission becomes a battle zone when the Others show up, and the ship they’re trying to salvage turns out to be a shapeshifting plastic-based lifeform with its own agenda.

In this book, Torin’s been promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and is accompanying a friend and superior officer, who’s recently had most of his body reconstructed in a “tank” due to is last, near-fatal mission, to Crucible, the marine training planet. Major Svenson and his doctor are eager to field test his new body in a non-fatal environment. But almost as soon as they arrive on Crucible, things start to go pear shaped. Good series, so far.

Next, I finished my reread of The Wandering Fire, the second book of Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry. Ah, this was a rough one. Death and loss and all the feels.

Returning to non-fiction/self-care territory, I listened to another Dr. Tim Sharp audiobook, Habits for Mastering Depression. There is a fair amount of redundancy in the series, Sharp emphasizes the power of habits while making space for feeling our feelings, good or bad. It’s okay not to be okay. Depression, anxiety, and other instances of poor mental health are a part of life, even for the most diligent of us.

Then, I read Peter S. Beagle’s I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons. It’s his first publication since his legal woes were resolved and I had to read it. Let me tell you, Beagle was the originator of the cozy fantasy (like Legends & Lattes). In this novel, there is a non-conforming princess who’s ironically made it her (outward) life’s mission to conform, a crown prince who doesn’t want to take his crown, and a dragon exterminator who’d rather be a valet and squire (to someone like the crown prince, perhaps?).

Sword battles (and more horrible things) do happen, but they’re not the focus of the book, rather the characters have to find their own ways through the muddle of their lives to find their true callings. Robert was a little too angry, and Beagle didn’t quite stick the landing, but I still love the book. It’s been too long.

Then, I listened to Dr. Tim Sharp’s Habits for Happiness. Some similar elements but some different ones as well. Oddly, Sharp updated this audiobook after the pandemic and the updated chapter comes first, before the breakdown of the original ten habits? Again, decent information, but I don’t know how much I can actually implement as an autistic.

Then, my annual Audible credits were deposited, and I nabbed Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Anguish and Anarchy. At the end of the last book, just as the monarchy had been toppled for good, Zélie, her brother Tzain, her sometime boyfriend Inan, his sister Amari, and hundred of their people were captured by a new enemy whose warriors wear iron skull masks.

They spend months in cages, injected with majicite to suppress their abilities, are tortured, and some killed by the people they name Skulls. Baldyr, king of the Skulls, seeks Zélie so he can drain her power and become a god. The book is filled with action, beginning to end, as Zélie fights to regain her power (again) and save not only her people, but the world from Baldyr’s conquest.

Another Tim Sharp Audible Original: Habits for Humanity. This one had a different emphasis, more like Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. Basically, as technology plays a greater and greater role in our lives, how to we reconnect to being human?

I also finished Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow. The book introduces us to the two principle thinking systems that define how we perceive everything. System 1 is fast and intuitive, and System 2 is slow and analytical. There’s a continual feedback loop between the two systems and they influence each other.

Most of the book focuses on the assumptions and logical fallacies that System 1 is prey to (and therefore makes us prey to) and how we can resist and correct them by the thoughtful application of System 2 thinking. Most of the examples in the book were from economics, insurance, and big business, which made it difficult to relate to, but it was interesting. I don’t think my System 1 is well developed.

Then, I finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. Yeah, I know, I’m late to the party. I watched the series last year and wanted to read the novel because adaptation is always a fascinating study. In this case the book and the series were similar, but I definitely see why the changes to the series were made. Most of the changes were made to add to the climax or denouement.

[Here be spoilers!] In the book, Izzy sets the fire and runs away in search of Mia, Bebe abducts Mayling and flies back to China, and Mrs. Richardson has a change of heart and begins what may be a life-long search for her youngest daughter. In the series, Moody encourages Trip and Lexie to set fire to the house with him after Izzy runs away. Bebe has a scene where she’s driving away with her daughter, happy, but destination uncertain. And Mrs. Richardson takes responsibility for setting the fire herself, to spare her children. The differences are subtle but telling. And I kind of like the series better, though the novel is excellent.

Next, I finished Robert J. Sawyer’s Red Planet Blues. It’s basically a hardboiled detective story set on Mars, with all the off-colour tropes that entails. Sawyer’s worldbuilding is excellent, and the fact that he’s dealing with transfers (people who opt to upload into nigh on indestructible bodies) and fossil hunters doesn’t detract from the Marlowe-esque narrative. Fun read, but with a typically bittersweet ending.

And that was the month in this writer’s life.

Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!