The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

[owlion]

(ETA - Put my Smaugusts up on Flickr, for the bored...)

These are so good I've seen a couple of mentions about Smaugust but hadn't seen any art for it yet (dragons are the best).

I'm having my MRI done this week and there's another heatwave coming, so I'll be in the hospital on one of the hottest days - and hospitals here generally don't have air conditioning. The only room that might have it is the one with the MRI machine, because they have to keep the equipment below a certain temperature. But yeah, I'm not looking forward to it, my CFS makes me feel the heat a lot more than I should even during a standard summer.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for hot days and no air conditioning in hospitals!

Monday, creeping up on noon, and my throat's threatening to be sore. (Sinuses haven't been happy for a couple of days, but that's pretty much their normal state.)

Ate a slightly early lunch, so now I'm contemplating Sisyphus editing/redoing/whatevering. Also trying to decide if I want to finish off Prime's Paper Girls before giving Netflix's Sandman a try. (I read a review that specifically addressed one of the issues I had with the first volume of the comics, and how the show made that story less off-putting, so I think I'm going to give the thing a go.) Paper Girls isn't bad, and is improving, but it's not one I'm eagerly queuing up the next ep of...

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

A few basics from stuff I picked up from the old guy (my dad, not Noah):

........

You might also try the Children's Non-Fiction of your nearest library, there are some nice kid's books of historic ships that have illustrations of the parts and names, etc. Sometimes a picture is better than a thousand words.
Sorry, idiot me forgot that you are a librarian, working in a library, and know all about the children's non-fiction.

This was awesome info; thank you! The ships I have in mind are closest to Chinese/Vietnamese junk ships, and I was frustrated because there is not as much information in comparison. I did find a few good Youtube videos of hobbyists and now I feel like I really understand how the slatted sails work, at the very least. But I will slowly learn all the boat things for draft 2 (and, unfortunately, the next WIP...ugh). I live (against my will) in the Redneck Riviera, so unfortunately not as many old boat shows as my original side of the state.

Ha, merely a displaced teacher, not a librarian. I am far less qualified than that.

(ETA - Put my Smaugusts up on Flickr, for the bored...)

These are so neat!!

But yeah, I'm not looking forward to it, my CFS makes me feel the heat a lot more than I should even during a standard summer.

They told me earlier this year that I have CFS, so I have an inkling of how you feel. I hope the hospital is cooler than expected.

 

[owlion]

This was awesome info; thank you! The ships I have in mind are closest to Chinese/Vietnamese junk ships, and I was frustrated because there is not as much information in comparison. I did find a few good Youtube videos of hobbyists and now I feel like I really understand how the slatted sails work, at the very least. But I will slowly learn all the boat things for draft 2 (and, unfortunately, the next WIP...ugh). I live (against my will) in the Redneck Riviera, so unfortunately not as many old boat shows as my original side of the state.

That sounds like really interesting research at least! My sister loved ships when she was little, so she has a collection of models including a junk ship. I wonder if models would help for visualising scenes (though probably not for technical terms).

They told me earlier this year that I have CFS, so I have an inkling of how you feel. I hope the hospital is cooler than expected.

Ahh, sorry you have it too, though it's good you have a diagnosis! I hope you're doing okay with it

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

That sounds like really interesting research at least! My sister loved ships when she was little, so she has a collection of models including a junk ship. I wonder if models would help for visualising scenes (though probably not for technical terms).


Ahh, sorry you have it too, though it's good you have a diagnosis! I hope you're doing okay with it

I literally had to write the scene with an image pulled up on one monitor and my MS on the other, because I don't have enough familiarity to visualize properly. I have been on precisely two boats in my life. One was when I was 5, and it had a glass bottom. I think there was an old-school vessel that stopped by the harbor when I was about 6, but they only let you on the top deck, and I barely remember it. Can I watch Pirates of the Caribbean and count it as research?

From what I read online, my CFS is not nearly as bad as what others have. Does make me getting tired so easily my entire life making a bit more sense lol--I was always the kid who had to rest or sit down while everyone else kept playing. I hope you're doing all right with it as well!!

 

[owlion]

I literally had to write the scene with an image pulled up on one monitor and my MS on the other, because I don't have enough familiarity to visualize properly. I have been on precisely two boats in my life. One was when I was 5, and it had a glass bottom. I think there was an old-school vessel that stopped by the harbor when I was about 6, but they only let you on the top deck, and I barely remember it. Can I watch Pirates of the Caribbean and count it as research?

From what I read online, my CFS is not nearly as bad as what others have. Does make me getting tired so easily my entire life making a bit more sense lol--I was always the kid who had to rest or sit down while everyone else kept playing. I hope you're doing all right with it as well!!

I had to do that with my last story, where I needed to visualise the entryway (or apparently foyer) of a Victorian-style Gothic mansion, so I understand that feeling! Those films set on boats might be good actually, though I haven't watched many, or maybe reading how other authors have simplified the technical side of ships in their writing? I know Kate Milford did some good stories about ships and boats in Bluecrowne and The Left-Handed Fate, which are both written for a 9-12 year old audience, plus some of the Redwall books (I think Pearls of Lutra in particular and maybe Mossflower and/or Legend of Luke) because the author of those spent a lot of time at sea. There's a preserved very old ship in the docks of my city that you can ride on, so maybe there's something like that around you could look for?

Yeah, there are definitely degrees of it! After I was diagnosed, I went to a couple of workshops on how to manage it and got the advice to never use more than 70% of my energy, even on a good day, because that makes it worse. I also had CFS from childhood (around 12?) and didn't get it diagnosed until my mid/late twenties after years of repeatedly going to the doctor about being exhausted and off school all the time. At least now it's getting a bit more attention/research so maybe one day there'll be a proper treatment for it!

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

I had to do that with my last story, where I needed to visualise the entryway (or apparently foyer) of a Victorian-style Gothic mansion, so I understand that feeling! Those films set on boats might be good actually, though I haven't watched many, or maybe reading how other authors have simplified the technical side of ships in their writing? I know Kate Milford did some good stories about ships and boats in Bluecrowne and The Left-Handed Fate, which are both written for a 9-12 year old audience, plus some of the Redwall books (I think Pearls of Lutra in particular and maybe Mossflower and/or Legend of Luke) because the author of those spent a lot of time at sea. There's a preserved very old ship in the docks of my city that you can ride on, so maybe there's something like that around you could look for?

Yeah, there are definitely degrees of it! After I was diagnosed, I went to a couple of workshops on how to manage it and got the advice to never use more than 70% of my energy, even on a good day, because that makes it worse. I also had CFS from childhood (around 12?) and didn't get it diagnosed until my mid/late twenties after years of repeatedly going to the doctor about being exhausted and off school all the time. At least now it's getting a bit more attention/research so maybe one day there'll be a proper treatment for it!

Man, I have not thought about Redwall in a long, long time. I think my massive collection is still in tact at my mom's house. I had considered re-reading whichever Outlander book had Claire seafaring, because I vaguely remember Just Enough Boat Stuff happened that it felt distinctly maritime without boring me to tears,

My diagnosis was hilarious: "your blood work indicates your body is fighting off an infection, but you have no other signs of illness. You're always tired, so it's probably CFS. Try taking some vitamins. But nothing has actually been proven to work."

 

[Unimportant]

My diagnosis was hilarious: "your blood work indicates your body is fighting off an infection, but you have no other signs of illness. You're always tired, so it's probably CFS. Try taking some vitamins. But nothing has actually been proven to work."

Wha--?!?!? They think you have an infection, so let's just ignore it? Don't bother testing for infectious mononucleosis or whatever? FFS.

 

[owlion]

Man, I have not thought about Redwall in a long, long time. I think my massive collection is still in tact at my mom's house. I had considered re-reading whichever Outlander book had Claire seafaring, because I vaguely remember Just Enough Boat Stuff happened that it felt distinctly maritime without boring me to tears,

My diagnosis was hilarious: "your blood work indicates your body is fighting off an infection, but you have no other signs of illness. You're always tired, so it's probably CFS. Try taking some vitamins. But nothing has actually been proven to work."

I was obsessed with Redwall as a child, so I still have all the books on my bookshelf That sounds like a plan, it sometimes does help at least with gauging how much detail is expected by the reader (or how much they need to understand what's happening).

Oh man, that's a fairly... relaxed diagnosis? Like Unimportant mentioned, mononucleosis is a possibility and can look fairly similar to CFS (it's what likely caused mine, so the specialist says) so I'm surprised they didn't look into that further!

 

[Brightdreamer]

On (mostly younger) books that deal with Boat Stuff (all "Western", though):

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi) has an upper-class girl taking a solo trans-Atlantic voyage on a sailing ship, and learning more than she bargained for about them. Avi also wrote a book about a boy learning to sail, Windcatcher, but True Confessions was a much better book IMHO....

Bloody Jack (L. A. Meyer) has a London street girl escaping poverty and starvation by hiding her gender and setting sail as a "ship's boy". Great adventure.

Depending on your tolerance for phonetic dialect (and tedium), Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous throws a spoiled brat into the deep (literally) when he falls off a vessel and is scooped up by a schooner - whose captain wastes no time putting him to work and teaching him the value of hard labor.

IIRC, the movie Master and Commander (based on an adult book series by Patrick O'Brian) got high marks for accuracy in depiction of the Age of Sail.

(Tangentially, if you're interested in pirates, the book Pirate's Passage by William Gilkerson does a solid job of that, as a boy at a seaside inn meets a stranger with peculiarly intimate knowledge of old piracy.)

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

Wha--?!?!? They think you have an infection, so let's just ignore it? Don't bother testing for infectious mononucleosis or whatever? FFS.

Oh man, that's a fairly... relaxed diagnosis? Like Unimportant mentioned, mononucleosis is a possibility and can look fairly similar to CFS (it's what likely caused mine, so the specialist says) so I'm surprised they didn't look into that further!

I had mono in middle school, so I guess that's why? I've also gained about 25 lbs in 1.5 years that they are unconcerned about, so I'm on the waiting list for a new doc that will hopefully be more investigative lol.

I was obsessed with Redwall as a child, so I still have all the books on my bookshelf That sounds like a plan, it sometimes does help at least with gauging how much detail is expected by the reader (or how much they need to understand what's happening).

I tend to go rather overboard when it comes to the amount of background knowledge I think I need vs what the story actually needs, so I'm trying to stop a repeat of the '3 hours spent investigating the history of scissors' incident.

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

On (mostly younger) books that deal with Boat Stuff (all "Western", though):

These are all fabulous; thank you!

 

[owlion]

I had mono in middle school, so I guess that's why? I've also gained about 25 lbs in 1.5 years that they are unconcerned about, so I'm on the waiting list for a new doc that will hopefully be more investigative lol.

I hope the new one is more helpful! It's a shame medical investigations often feel like you're having to fight for them.

I tend to go rather overboard when it comes to the amount of background knowledge I think I need vs what the story actually needs, so I'm trying to stop a repeat of the '3 hours spent investigating the history of scissors' incident.

History of scissors sounds so interesting though

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for lousy medicine!

Hooray for historical scissors!

And just got today's Smaugust done, so I think I need to make myself exercise. Still mentally gnawing on the bland gristly lump that is my Sisyphus; definitely going to hold off on subbing even if I get it edited until later, in the hopes something better turns up in the gray matter between now and September.

 

[frimble3]

Can I watch Pirates of the Caribbean and count it as research?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has Asian pirates, so, I suppose some ships would be shown.

 

[MaeZe]

Pinterest is my go-to for anything I need to visualize before I can write about it:

https://www.pinterest.com/compassrose7577/parts-of-the-ship/

A warning though, the rabbit holes there are deep and never ending ... but so interesting.

 

[MaeZe]

If it ain't one thing it's another. Somehow I left the map light on in my car last night, or more like two nights ago. I go to run errands and I have a dead battery. Fortunately there was enough juice in it to see the map light was on, otherwise I would have had to call my son to come over so I could try to jump start it. My neighbors don't look to be home.

Fortunately, being the old weathered homeowner that I am, I just happen to have a battery charger in the garage. So I give it an hour or so and I can still get the chores done I was on my way to do.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for dead batteries!

Hooray for chargers!

And somehow it's Monday evening. Dinner (hot dogs) heated and consumed, dishes washed. Also managed some exercise and a quick nap. Still can't quite shake the feeling that I'm on the edge of a bug, but hopefully it goes away. (Doesn't feel covid-y, just general bug/sinusy).

Tomorrow morning Mom has her follow-up for her thyroid (or lack thereof) scan. Didn't seem to be much worth saying on MyChart, so it should go quick. But she has to go up and get blood drawn a second time because the idiots wouldn't approve it for her general physical at the same time they drew blood for this visit... and the people working in the blood clinic suck. The entire back of Mom's hand is one big bruise after they drew blood there. She is Very Not Happy about this.

Anyway, I'm running out of reasons not to poke the lethargic lump that is Sisyphus. Got to make myself do that before streaming anything, dang it... and I still haven't decided if I'm going to finish off the one show season before starting something new. No reason I can't intercut, but if Sandman's as good as I hope it is, I probably won't want to go back to Paper Girls until I've binged the whole thing.

--

And Tuesday morning, overcast and sprinkly, which means weed whacking I'd planned on doing this afternoon probably won't happen. Dawdling as I get ready to take Mom to her doctor appointment this morning. After that we need to hit a store for dinner options.

--

Later on Tuesday morning, nearing noon, and eating an early leftover lunch after the doctor and store runs. Mom needs to schedule a full-body scan for follow-up reasons. She also found out, after two years of complaining about the pain and nerve damage done from the thyroid removal surgery, that there's apparently meds to help with that. And nobody told her. For two years. Mom is Not Very Happy with doctors right now... but she has the medicine, and will try it. (It "may cause drowsiness" so it has to be taken at night, so she's extra hacked off that she has to wait a full day. Fingers crossed it helps; she feels like she's being strangled 24/7 from nerve damage.)

Anyway, plans for after lunch include Smaugust sketching, Sisyphus attacking, and deciding what I'm going to do for exercise - if it's dry enough for weed whacking or if I need to do something else. (It really wasn't much of a sprinkle this morning, just enough to make everything damp.) (ETA - Well, it hasn't sprinkled since I last posted, and I got my Smaugust entry for the day done, so I think I'll chance weed whacking, because the weeds are looking quite smug in their unwhackedness.)

--

And it's Tuesday evening. Did some weed whacking and some hedge trimming, which I'll probably be feeling tomorrow but it needed doing and now it's done. Dinner was heated and consumed as usual (ribs), dishes were washed and mostly put away, and now I need to brace myself to peek at the vaguely story shaped clot of congealed words that is the closest thing to a Sisyphus I have thus far. This will not be pretty...

Wait. I still have to get stuff ready for work tomorrow. I can procrastinate at least a few more minutes doing that!

--

Wednesday morning, overcast, and about to head workward. Instead of editing Sisyphus, I wound up doing a quick-sketch outline for a second prompt. We will see how that goes later today, hopefully...

And I just learned that Atlas moths have been sighted nearby and are considered invasive species. Movies teach us that they will inevitably fight the murder hornets, and after that the two will team up against some third, even bigger invasive species. (The sibling actually saw one a while ago on her night shift, but wasn't sure what it was.)

 

[E.F.B.]

Went outside this morning and actually heard a fawn bleating. The only reason I even know what that sounds like is from watching animal shows on TV. This is the first I've heard one irl. It's one of the older-ish ones that we've seen with our mini herd for the past couple months. A truck went by and it ran away from the road, so at least it's street savvy. I think, according to internet research, it's old enough to feed itself on greenery. Hopefully, it just got disturbed and was wanting mama, and nothing has happened to mama. About all I know to do to help it if it ends up in distress would be to call animal control or see if there's a rehab around here that could come catch it because I'm sure I couldn't do that on my own. Neither of my parents could help catch it, either.

 

[MaeZe]

Atlas moths vs the murder hornets?

From the pictures those moths are gorgeous. I'd love to see a moth with a ten-inch wingspan.

Poor little fawn.

Well apparently however much I spent on my car wasn't enough. After a disaster day yesterday with a dead battery I had to spend almost $300 more to find out why the battery died and get a new one.

My son came to the rescue yesterday and drove me to a job in Seattle, the bank, the library and the store to buy dog food. Then we jump started my car and he followed me to the car repair place.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for battery issues! (Is it possible there's a short? Mom's car has a short somewhere that's draining the battery - they're a pain in the tail to track down, apparently)

And the Atlas moth was spotted in Bellevue officially. (Department of Agriculture link) (Sibling saw what she's pretty sure was one in Issaquah, but can't confirm without pics.) We have both apple and cherry trees in our overgrown orchard, both of which the caterpillars feed on (and one of the main reasons they don't want Atlases setting up shop, those being major crops in our state), so I'm keeping an eye out.

And it's later on Wednesday. Work existed. New person started, and seems to actually do the job. Also had a couple temp workers, who were... present.

And on the way home there's a sign up saying that our road will be closed for two days next week. Work days, of course. Because why the frell wouldn't it be work days?

Anyway, got an audiobook review to write up, then a Smaugust to sketch out.

 

[frimble3]

Boo for dead batteries!

Hooray for chargers!

And somehow it's Monday evening. Dinner (hot dogs) heated and consumed, dishes washed. Also managed some exercise and a quick nap. Still can't quite shake the feeling that I'm on the edge of a bug, but hopefully it goes away. (Doesn't feel covid-y, just general bug/sinusy).

Tomorrow morning Mom has her follow-up for her thyroid (or lack thereof) scan. Didn't seem to be much worth saying on MyChart, so it should go quick. But she has to go up and get blood drawn a second time because the idiots wouldn't approve it for her general physical at the same time they drew blood for this visit... and the people working in the blood clinic suck. The entire back of Mom's hand is one big bruise after they drew blood there. She is Very Not Happy about this.

Anyway, I'm running out of reasons not to poke the lethargic lump that is Sisyphus. Got to make myself do that before streaming anything, dang it... and I still haven't decided if I'm going to finish off the one show season before starting something new. No reason I can't intercut, but if Sandman's as good as I hope it is, I probably won't want to go back to Paper Girls until I've binged the whole thing.

--

And Tuesday morning, overcast and sprinkly, which means weed whacking I'd planned on doing this afternoon probably won't happen. Dawdling as I get ready to take Mom to her doctor appointment this morning. After that we need to hit a store for dinner options.

--

Later on Tuesday morning, nearing noon, and eating an early leftover lunch after the doctor and store runs. Mom needs to schedule a full-body scan for follow-up reasons. She also found out, after two years of complaining about the pain and nerve damage done from the thyroid removal surgery, that there's apparently meds to help with that. And nobody told her. For two years. Mom is Not Very Happy with doctors right now... but she has the medicine, and will try it. (It "may cause drowsiness" so it has to be taken at night, so she's extra hacked off that she has to wait a full day. Fingers crossed it helps; she feels like she's being strangled 24/7 from nerve damage.)

Anyway, plans for after lunch include Smaugust sketching, Sisyphus attacking, and deciding what I'm going to do for exercise - if it's dry enough for weed whacking or if I need to do something else. (It really wasn't much of a sprinkle this morning, just enough to make everything damp.) (ETA - Well, it hasn't sprinkled since I last posted, and I got my Smaugust entry for the day done, so I think I'll chance weed whacking, because the weeds are looking quite smug in their unwhackedness.)

--

And it's Tuesday evening. Did some weed whacking and some hedge trimming, which I'll probably be feeling tomorrow but it needed doing and now it's done. Dinner was heated and consumed as usual (ribs), dishes were washed and mostly put away, and now I need to brace myself to peek at the vaguely story shaped clot of congealed words that is the closest thing to a Sisyphus I have thus far. This will not be pretty...

Wait. I still have to get stuff ready for work tomorrow. I can procrastinate at least a few more minutes doing that!

--

Wednesday morning, overcast, and about to head workward. Instead of editing Sisyphus, I wound up doing a quick-sketch outline for a second prompt. We will see how that goes later today, hopefully...

And I just learned that Atlas moths have been sighted nearby and are considered invasive species. Movies teach us that they will inevitably fight the murder hornets, and after that the two will team up against some third, even bigger invasive species. (The sibling actually saw one a while ago on her night shift, but wasn't sure what it was.)

3 inch long hornet and a moth with a 10 inch wingspan? I don't want to hear about a third, even bigger invasive species that they would team up to fight, let alone see it.
I think we'd be into vertebrate territory: birds, rodents, reptiles?
Or, eww, us?

 

[Brightdreamer]

They probably wouldn't take on humans until they got the African clawed frogs, the green crabs, the nutrias, and the feral pigs on their side.

And it's Wednesday evening. Dinner and associated dishes have been dealt with, review has been written, and I need to get moving on tonight's Smaugust (though I may end up being a day late on that 'cause I'm sorta crashin' energywise here - sinuses have been sinusing terribly all day again).

 

[MaeZe]

That is one beautiful moth on the side of a Bellevue garage in that blogspot.

 

[Brightdreamer]

I'd like to see one, even if they aren't supposed to be around here...

And I got Smaugust out of the way, so it's time to wind down the day. May stream something, as I'm not thinking story right now...

(Our little weather station monitor thingy says it's 70 outside and 70% humidity. I'm starting to wonder about our little weather station monitor thingy...)