Insomnia, MoF Preview, Bi-Lingual Shopping and Updates

It's clear that I'm not in the habit of writing the blog. The big issue has been that I'm not in the habit of being consistent about anything. It's still something that I'm struggling with as we come up on five years since the MOAS and chemo. I don't write on a regular basis...or cook or swim. It's all very distressing. And it's nothing new. I'm muddling along as best I can but never as well as I'd like. I suppose I can take some solace that the momentum is generally forward.

Life in our tiny, luxury adjacent (though far from luxurious) abode has been a bit too exciting of late. Jon had a bad health scare (he's fine) that launched me into the most serious bout of insomnia I've had since the early days of my illness. I went for three straight days without sleep at the worst part of it. Fortunately, I have friends on the interwebs in all time zones to chat with though mostly I was up trying to be productive. Then, I was feeling terrible for not being very productive at all. This is nothing unusual for these sorts of bouts. The TV options are better, but that's about it. I have a sleep study scheduled for the first week in June.

Speaking of my illness, Friday, April 22^nd will be the sixth anniversary of the MOAS (Mother of All Surgeries), the only known treatment for the kind of Appendix Cancer I had. As always, I will celebrate. I'd love to kick my heels up with a certain group of gorgeous Cosplayers I know, but that will have to wait for September. Cosplay Bishies, you all owe me a dance!

Month of Fun 2016

As this is April, next month will be the annual Month of Fun. For those new to the blog, I celebrate my birthday for a month. I don't do anything extravagant. I try to give myself – in the words of Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks – a little present every day. That can be as small as a 'damn fine cup of coffee.' The plan is to continue the practice throughout the year. I've been less than successful with that, but the Month of Fun has always been a grand time. My usual plan involves seeing what Groupon has to offer as far as facials or massages go. Perhaps, I can grab and early discount seating at a restaurant I've had my eye on for a while. There is usually a big new film coming out during the month. I know for sure there will be a special screening of an Anime Film that we have tickets for. I almost always try some sort of new recipe. Hopefully, there will be presents from kind friends. Last year, I didn't celebrate the Month of Fun. I was in the midst of a fight with Social Security and that depressed me quite deeply. This year, I plan to make up for that. Nothing will keep me from my enjoyment this year. I'll try to keep you posted on how that goes.

Bi-Lingual Shopping

Speaking of recipes, I was doing a bit of shopping at Mitsuwa Marketplace. I like to keep my pantry

stocked with proper Japanese ingredients. I really enjoy shopping there for produce there. Only Gelson's has prettier fruits and veggies, but the ones at Mistuwa are priced for normal people. ($5 for a bunch of collards my rear end. I don't care how beautiful the leaves are). I'm strangely attracted to the vast array of mushrooms. The mixture of varieties really tastes great as a duxelles or a coup. The enoki (long, thin white ones are awesome in a Ramen soup. And then, there was the mackerel. I was so excited to see it, I sent the photo to my father. He's a big fisherman of mackerel. He uses it for fertilizer in his vegetable gardens and loves to eat it. I enjoy it broiled with onions on top the way he makes it. The cooking isn't helping with my Japanese language skills as much as interacting with the market staff, but it is helping me understand the culture.

Erotica will be discussed. Fair warning!

Updates

Now that I've finished the latest Vampire Rent Boy, Hopefully, that will publish this week. I will move onto sketching the covers for the print Version of Ensnared Volume Three and the ebook version of the first installment of Ensnared Volume Four. I now know what I want to do for both of them. I'll start work on that as soon as I get back from swimming tomorrow. I made sure that I got all of my errands done over the weekend, so I just have to head home afterward...and state at a large, white piece of paper instead of a laptop screen. It's a similar creative process.

I've also finished an online course in creating comics in preparation for the webcomic I'm planning. It will be a prequel to my Soldiers novels. I've been acquiring images for backgrounds to various locations. At some point after finishing the next two covers, I plan on doing the model sheets for the characters. My hope is to begin publishing it on or shortly before Yaoicon, but that all hangs on my being able to do something more consistently than I am now. Hope springs eternal.

Stay tuned!