Greetings, Internet! I hope everyone is staying as safe and sane as can be. This week, the MLB regular season ended, I started watching “Ted Lasso” and “Squid Game,” and I submitted the first draft of my third dissertation chapter! Daily summaries below!

Day Five Hundred and Sixty-Eight (10/1/21)

• Went to Push to Walk! My legs were more spastic than usual, and I have no idea why.
• My sister sent me treats from one of my favorite chocolate shops because she’s the best <happy sobbing>
• The Mets won! I’ve been so focused on Mets things that I haven’t even noticed how insane the NL West is, and how ridiculously close the AL Wildcard race is. Dang. Hope my Giants and Yankees friends are doing all right. For the AL Wildcard, what happens if there’s a four-way tie?
• And 10,000+ words later, I have a very rough draft of a chapter that I shall edit over the next few days before sending to my advisor. Can I get a wahoo?
• It’s October 1st, so of course I watched “The Addams Family” movie.
• Did some vocal practice for the first time in days. I’ll try to practice some harsh vocals soon-ish. It’s been a while.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Thirty-One!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 0. I’ll catch up.
• Currently feeling: That moment of relief when you’ve got a chapter draft you can start to read over. I already know the introduction is going to need an overhaul, and I’ve got some terminology/abbreviations to fix, but also I need to cut parts where I am being unnecessarily wordy. But that’s for another day. Today, I rejoice and eat chocolate. October’s going to be a big writing month (because after this, I have to revise/overhaul an earlier chapter for a workshop in early November).
• Currently looping: Halsey’s live performance of “I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God.” That last part is going to be so much fun at karaoke. And also really difficult. Also, Halsey’s live vocals. That breath control. Dang.

Day Five Hundred and Sixty-Nine (10/2/21)

• Did the FES cycle. Watched the first episode of Jon Stewart’s new show. It was as informative as it was depressing, so he’s got a fan. Also watched the pilot for “Ted Lasso.” So far, it’s got a cute premise.
• Was planning to go outside, and then decided to do it tomorrow.
• Did my first edit runthrough for egregious errors. Fixed a couple of things that made absolutely no sense. At some point in the next two days, I’ll do the second runthrough for smaller edits/errors.
• The Mets are the team that will be down 6-1, then get to 6-5 with the bases loaded in the ninth, only to ground out. Le sigh.
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 27. Still not caught up.
• Currently feeling: Contemplating whether I should send an email to my advisor like, “Hey! The next draft will be in soon!” or just send the draft like, “I know you haven’t heard from me in over two months, but whoomp, here it is!” Okay, maybe the “whoomp” is unnecessary, but, does it make more sense to give him a heads up, or just send it? He has no idea when I was going to send it in, anyway.
• Currently looping: Radiohead’s SNL performance of “The National Anthem.” I don’t know why SNL is releasing old musical performances, but I’m not going to argue. This performance is awesome, and there’s something captivating about Thom Yorke’s very strange dancing.

Day Five Hundred and Seventy (10/3/21)

• Was going to meet a friend in the park, and about an hour before we met up, she asked me to bring my guitar to serenade her. Have I done much playing in the past two weeks? No. But am I going to tell her no? Also no.
• Three songs later, she has been serenaded (along with her boyfriend and dog).
• And with that, the Mets have been shut out for their final game of the season. Will Conforto return next season? Thor? Who knows? <sobs quietly>
• Well, so much for the potential four-way AL Wildcard tie. Tuesday night is going to be exciting! And Wednesday (go Cards!). Rooting for a Giants-Yankees World Series matchup.
• Remembered there was a thing I wanted to include in my chapter draft and included it. The full readthrough will happen later this week.
• Worked on my writing workshop draft.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Thirty-Two!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 19. Still catching up!
• Currently feeling: Gosh, today was eventful. I’m going to miss the SNY booth, but I think Ron Darling might be doing some postseason booth work for TBS, so at least there’s that!
• Currently looping: I’m With Her’s cover of “Crossing Muddy Waters.” Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, and Sara Watkins? Um, yes please.

Day Five Hundred and Seventy-One (10/4/21)

• Did the FES cycle. Am halfway through season one of “Ted Lasso” and it’s definitely living up to the hype. Gosh, this is such a delightful show. So many good positive quotes from Ted Lasso, like, “Sorry, I can’t hear someone who doesn’t believe in themselves.” And Hannah Waddingham is #armgoals.
• Spoke with the surgeon. I can delay the procedure. This is a bit of a relief, because I have a lot planned for the next few months, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle everything and recover from the procedure.
• Attended a department meeting to talk about funding. I kind of wish they’d pay us to teach during the G3-G5 years, instead of from G6 onwards (when our funding gets cut by a third), because I could’ve put that teaching money away when I taught last semester.
• Tutored some Latin.
• Read through my dissertation chapter draft out loud. It took two hours because I would come across a passage that needed some fixing, fix it, and then continue. I also feel bad because I’m definitely hating on Louis the Pious, but his symbolic gestures of attempting to fix things in times of crisis is really irritating.
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 8.
• Currently feeling: Another eventful day! Which means another late night, but yay, I read through my chapter and didn’t come across too many glaring errors!
• Currently looping: Ad Infinitum’s “Afterlife” feat. Nils Molin (of Amaranthe). Oh my gosh, I am so excited for their new album!!

Day Five Hundred and Seventy-Two (10/5/21)

• Went to Push to Walk! Oh, the planks.
• Read another person’s dissertation chapter for a graduate medieval workshop tomorrow. The topic is super cool (but I don’t think I’m allowed to discuss because it’s a work-in-progress).
• This wildcard game would be so much better if I didn’t have to listen to A-Rod. And if the Yankees won. Alas.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Thirty-Three!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 4.
• Currently feeling: And thus begins the postseason. I’ve got Giants fans in the family, so I’ll be rooting for St. Louis tomorrow.
• Currently looping: Birdy’s “Little Blue.”

Day Five Hundred and Seventy-Three (10/6/21)

• Went to a medieval graduate workshop. The topic was super cool!
• Attempted to record a cover. It’s got some errors, but it was the best take I could get in 1.5 hours of takes, and my fingertips were in a decent amount of pain, so I knew I had to stop.
• Attended a virtual meeting. <yawns>
• Dang, this NL Wildcard is INTENSE. And hooray, we have Ron Darling as one of the commentators!
• I really need to get ready for bed and stuff, but also, THIS GAME.
• Aaand the home team won both wildcard games.
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 1.
• Currently feeling: Going to bed after 1am. I suppose this was expected, given how awesome the game was.
• Currently looping: Within Temptation’s “Firelight” feat. Jasper Steverlinck. It’s one of those songs that I skipped on the album (“Resist”) a few times before realizing how awesome it is, and now I can’t stop listening to it.

Day Five Hundred and Seventy-Four (10/7/21)

• Did the FES cycle. Watched the first episode of “Squid Game.” There’s more of a plot to it than I had thought there would be, considering all the hype about how violent it is.
• My mother’s here! She baked cookies. They’re amazing.
• Posted my cover of The Decemberists’ “Shankill Butchers.” October means creepy songs!
• Ordered new boots. Because I don’t have knee-high boots and I want them.
• Sent in my draft to my advisor! Phew! Here’s hoping there aren’t any major errors.
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 0.
• Currently feeling: Three chapters down, two or three to go. Plus introduction and conclusion. And hella revisions. Still feels like progress.
• Currently looping: Rihanna’s “Work.”

Thanks so much for reading! Stay safe, get vaccinated, and get your flu shot!