Puttering About

[liralen]

My hands have been a real mess this past week. It's been a combination of things, but I've really broken out the dictation software and found that I can make it do what I really wanted to do.

It also helps to change the workload. I've been doing far too many of the Facebook games, and it's really the mouse work that's been messing up the tendons on the backs of my wrists. It didn't help that I was also working on the CaféPress store, chatting in text rather than audio, playing Bejeweled Blitz, and writing the odd 3000 words in one day with Allie.



I will admit that I actually wrote another thousand words today, but I used the dictation software for most of it. I also finished two more items for the store using my hands. But I also watched a lot of One Piece today without doing anything while I watched.

I'm a little surprised at how much I really enjoy One Piece. Some of it is over the top, however, the basic values of courage, companionship, and self-esteem are very evident. I really love the teamwork among Luffy's nakama, and want to emulate that in whatever I do manage to write. The multi-protagonist structure is something that fascinates me, and allows for so many subplots. I love how each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses, and how well they not only know each other, but support each other through and with them. Plus how they egg each other on to be better than they've ever been before. Giving each other courage in every way possible. I'm also really drawn to the story of Nicco Robin. I'm utterly in love with the credit sequence that has Nicco Robin with her coffee, wrapped in a blanket in the crows nest, and waking everybody up to see the shooting stars.

I'd forgotten what it was like to fall in love with all the characters in an anime series, and so happy to find that again!

I also went on a 3 1/2 mile walk with John, iced both wrists, and actually slept for over 10 hours last night. I have a tendency, when I am tired, to have worse posture in wrist, back, and body. All of which aggravates the problems in my upper body. I also took time to cook myself some breakfast, a pretty fancy lunch, then made up for it with hot dogs for dinner. *laugh*

We also had Jet's parent-teacher conference at school. That was part of why we had hot dogs for dinner, as the timing was pretty close. Jet's teacher obviously likes him a lot, and really loves how responsible he is for his work. She also understands that he's something of a perfectionist, and is gently working him toward a more reasonable standards and goals. I really enjoyed seeing her point out the mess of someone else's desk when Jet said that his was kind of messy. I think it's good for him to have a teacher that also helps him be more realistic about himself.

I was rather tickled at the fact that he pegged the CSAP testing to 100% on vocabulary, two general math sections, and patterns. Jet is particularly worried about spelling, and I am afraid that my struggles with spelling have influenced his self judgment in that subject. He's actually doing really well, compared to the rest of the class, but he still doesn't have any confidence in his abilities. That makes writing more difficult for him to want to do. He has enough anxiety about the spelling to balk a little at doing writing assignments without help.

Jet and I have been having really great evenings, though, together. John has been having a lot of evening meetings, so the two of us often get to share dinner and time together. The other night was especially cool when I made two two-egg Dutch Babies/baked pancakes and we ate them on the floor in front of the TV while watching One Piece together. I have to admit that part of the charm of the program is watching it with the young boy, who just loves the whole thing.

So it's been a busy day, and I hope I will sleep well after all the exercise. Hope everything is going well with you! I may actually be able to do more Internet browsing soon, as can be evidenced by the Karen Armstrong TED presentation stuff I was posting today. *laughs*

Ah, beyond the never-ending sky
The future that I once saw is now starting to take shape
There are days where I almost lose to myself
When that happens there was someplace warm I could go
The friends I took pride in always, without fail,
pushed me onward, didn't they?
Ah, the stars are pouring down from the sky
This unique moment...
-- closing credit song for the Nicco Robin closing for Season 2

Comments

[incandescens]

Heh. Well, I think you'll like that when you get there... and the Alabasta arc is splendid, too. It really is.