Thoughts on the Journey

I woke up extra early today after my long weekend to clear off my car and get to work to open the Ref desk. After using a broom to sweep off a lot of snow, my car fob didn't unlock. I looked up various things and sent an email to work that I'd be late or not in. Tried in the warm, no luck and I changed the fob battery earlier this weekend without a problem. But its also been stupidly cold here though oddly the snow isn't too bad.

Its nice snow, fluffy and pretty and not a lot of ice. So I've had a day off of work but not a restful one, tomorrow I work later so up again to try the car and see if I can find my spare car fob and try again. This seems to be a thing that happens to me at least once every winter, something goes weird with my car after a storm.

I did watch a video related to work and picked up a weekend later this year, just need to go this happens, this is why there's time off. I can't help but wonder if some of this is also cold and reaction to *gestures* what happened yesterday. Car stuff happens, and its too cold.

I keep meaning to write an entry on where I'm at but this past month and the start of November has been a lot. In good news, working the election was a really tiring and hopeful experience. Now though I'm just so tired and worried. It seemed like for a time things were looking up and the thought of maybe seeing my parents around Christmas might be possible but I don't see that happening. And my sister-in-law had a surgery this weekend which went well but her parents came to visit which worries me. That whole side of the family has been doing more travel so it makes me fret. I know they can take care of themselves but I just miss everyone so much.

Then I'm waiting for the paycheck from election work and also there are jobs that I can apply for and do but I keep getting in my own way. I'm really bad at overthinking and so tomorrow I think its a matter of writing out some cover letters and filling out one long job application. With how things are now, the thought of libraries hiring is weird but I miss getting out and helping people. Also I never heard back from the place I interviewed with in I think September or August, the one that went really well. I even sent out an email and never got a response, so I know that's been hard on my confidence. I'll feel better for applying for things as I'm a good librarian.

In October I watched a bunch of ghost media which I enjoyed to various degrees. The Haunting of Bly Manor was melancholy and gothic but I keep getting stuck at some choices made at the end that weren't satisfying. If you're thinking about watching it, know that its incredibly different from Haunting of Hill House in terms of tone, beautifully made but creepy more than scary. Because of watching it, I'm reading a collection of Henry James' ghost stories which I like more than I expected to. I hated The Portrait of a Lady when I tried to read it in I think high school. It turns out that he works better in a shorter format.

A completely different type of ghost story that I watched was Julie and the Phantoms which I loved. The music and story and feel of it was wonderful and made me smile and I even wrote some fic for it. If you want something happy and distracting with some 90s nostalgia, highly recommended. Kenny Ortega's behind it so all the musical numbers are full of life.

One of the best books I read recently was Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee, which is a book about artists and resistance and occupation. It pulled me in so much that I read it in a few days. That was a really pleasant surprise since I had trouble finishing the same author's Hexarcharate Stories, the writing was wonderful but the world was far too brutal.

At the moment, I'm making my way through The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison which is a fascinating Holmes' redo while a mix of slow and fast going. The writing has that real Doyle feel with a mix of angels and hellhounds, beautifully crafted but I think I might be hitting some not my trope feelings. I think I might pause it since I have The Return of the Thief and the new Penric and Desdemona novella to read.

My writing has been going slow but did move a little faster after the election, there's progress on my major stuff; start to my Yuletide, and my two little/big bangs for rebelcaptain.

At least the weather's feeling more like November, while the warm weather was nice, it was also strange. I'd rather be chilly and have reasons to wear my sweaters.