Greetings, Internet! I hope everyone’s staying as safe and sane as can be. This week, I finally turned on the heat in my apartment, presented some dissertation work to my peers (and now have a lot of revisions to do), and kept trying to meet with my advisor (but daylight savings got in the way). Daily summaries below!

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Six (10/29/21)

• Went to Push to Walk! Wore a Superman t-shirt. That’s about as Halloween as I get these days.
• Scheduled my procedure (the one with the six-week recovery “I’m not leaving my apartment except for post-op appointments” period). Early January. Positive thoughts welcomed.
• Caught up on “The Great British Baking Show” with my mother. It’s nice to have a show that we both enjoy watching. And it’s less stressful than when my mother started watching “Game of Thrones” towards the end of season six and I had to explain who everyone was to her.
• Played a bit of guitar and did some vocal exercises. I can finally hit the high notes in a Halestorm song and I am so jazzed. Singing straws FTW!
• Dang, this is an exciting game.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Forty-Five!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 0.
• Currently feeling: I mean, yeah, I need surgery and there’s a decent chance I also have a stomach ulcer, so, that’s not great. But I’ll deal with each thing, recover, and get back to all of my usual daily chaos. At least there’s a plan.
• Currently looping: Spiritbox’s “The Mara Effect, Pt. 3.” I need to listen with my studio headphones so I can just feel all of this brilliant and twisted song.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Seven (10/30/21)

• Did the FES cycle. Caught up on “Legends of Tomorrow,” which just aired its 100th episode! Ahh! I’m so happy for my favorite band of time idiots!
• My friend and her husband sent me edited photos from last Saturday’s photo shoot. They’re amazing, which of course they are. You should check out their photography website, and if you’re in North Carolina, you should reach out if you need a photographer!
• Turned on the heat in my apartment. Held out as long as I could, but it’s starting to get a bit chilly in here for me.
• Programmed some drums. The full band version of “Jackass” is going to happen.
• Well, this is an exciting game.
• Attempted a bit of songwriting. Haven’t done it in a while, but the only way to get better is to keep at it.
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 5.
• Currently feeling: Using this brief break from dissertation things to get back to recording audio for my other large project, a future EP. I keep telling myself that it’s going to happen, and now I have photos that could serve as album covers, so now it definitely has to happen. #manifestthatEPintoexistence
• Currently looping: Ad Infinitum just dropped a new album yesterday! So of course I’ve listened to Chapter II: Legacy more than twice. It’s heavier than their first album, and I am so here for it.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Eight (10/31/21)

• Happy Halloween! You know I started it off with watching “Clue.”
• My advisor emailed me to say that he’d read my chapter, and wants to talk about it tomorrow. <scrambles to clear schedule>
• One of the #triotime ladies stopped by for a surprise visit! It was so nice to catch up =)
• Music recording day! Recorded two guitar parts, and reprogrammed drums.
• So much sports today! I haven’t really been following the NFL, but holy cow, I am so glad I tuned in for the Jets game.
• Also glad I tuned in for the end of the Bucs-Saints game. Laughing at Tom Brady getting intercepted never gets old.
• Got too much Halloween candy for my building’s trick-or-treating. Whoops. At least I have an overabundance of Twix and Snickers. And while I waited for trick-or-treaters, I had “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and then “The Muppets Haunted Mansion” on in the background. Because of course.
• Dang, this World Series game is also hella entertaining. Today’s a delightful sports day.
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 0.
• Currently feeling: So much sports. And handing out of candy. And falling behind on other things I wanted to get done today, but oh well, this is Halloween!
• Currently looping: Will Ramos has graced us with the Halloween treat of his one take live vocal playthrough of Lorna Shore’s “To the Hellfire.” WITNESS THE HARSH VOCAL MASTERY.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine (11/1/21)

• Did the FES cycle. Watched another episode of “Ted Lasso.” It continues to be adorable. Also, straight men talking about their feelings with other straight men? This is indeed a work of fiction.
• My advisor, it turns out, forgot that we were going to meet today (even though he is the one who suggested that we meet today). So that’s been postponed to right before my workshop presentation. Because chaos.
• Recorded vocals for the “Jackass” demo. Just need that bassline now.
• Tutored some Latin.
• My mother’s here! She got here just as I was watching “Coco” (it’s Día de los Muertos!). We both love the movie.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Forty-Six!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 18.
• Currently feeling: I think I got stuff done today?
• Currently looping: Ad Infinitum’s “Son of Wallachia.” This may be my favorite song on the new album. Or at least the song I’m going to listen to before I do something epic (unsurprisingly, I have a playlist for that). “Feeling like a warrior on the battlefield without my armor.” I mean, come on. That’s epic.

Day Six Hundred (11/2/21)

• Woke up at 1:30am to the sound of a very loud fire alarm at a business across the street. Everyone’s fine. <yawns> Just sleep deprived.
• Whoa, happy day six hundred of my self-isolation diaries!
• Went to Push to Walk!
• Got new boots in the mail. They were too small. The search continues.
• So, I don’t care for the Braves or the Astros. Well, the Astros cheated, so I’m rooting against them more than I’m rooting against the Braves. That said, I love that the Braves are putting the hurt on the Astros in Houston. Also, eff Joe Buck for repeatedly saying that the Astros are “behind” their cheating scandal. No, they got away with it, and you aren’t enough of a baseball fan to care. #letmefeelmyfeelingsokay
• And yes, I’m watching Election coverage. Any excuse to watch Steve Kornacki. And democracy. I did notice on my way to Push to Walk that there were so few Phil Murphy signs, but Ciattarelli signs everywhere along local routes, so one of these guys seemed to be better at getting his name out there. But maybe the route I take skews one way politically? Who knows.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Forty-Seven!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 18.
• Currently feeling: Tired. Turns out doing a two-hour workout after not enough sleep can do that to you. I feel like I should stay up to watch the end of the baseball season, though.
• Currently looping: Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever.” I am super late to the game on this, but I can’t believe I nearly slept on the most incredible breakup song to come out in years. This is a masterpiece of righteous anger. The backing vocals behind the line, “You made me hate this city” just makes the line cut deeper. And then the breakdown. Holy moly.

Day Six Hundred and One (11/3/21)

• My advisor and I had planned to Zoom meet. But he’s in Germany, where Daylight Savings happened this past Sunday. American Daylight Savings is next Sunday. Guess who did not end up meeting with her advisor today because the agreed-upon time was wrong.
• Medieval graduate workshop, and oh boy, there’s nothing to make you feel like an inadequate scholar than to have a group of your peers ask you about things that you legit do not have an answer for (but could get an answer if given, like, 24 hours to check some things).
• Went to the doctor. Will have a test to determine if it’s a stomach ulcer next week.
• My bestie stopped by for an impromptu visit! The catch-up was much needed.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Forty-Eight!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 15.
• Currently feeling: So many revisions that need to be made! And I need to start a new chapter outline/draft at some point soon.
• Currently looping: Aoife O’Donovan’s “Prodigal Daughter” (feat. Allison Russell).

Day Six Hundred and Two (11/4/21)

• Another doctor’s appointment! I appear fine, but if I have another couple of super painful periods, I should get an ultrasound. Fun times.
• My mother and I split a latte from a nearby chocolate shop. And then got some Ladurée macarons. Their quality has, sadly, slipped. But the nutella bomboloni from the bakery next to the chocolate shop is a delight.
• My sister called! I can’t wait for her to visit soon!
• Therapy!
• My mother baked an apple pie!
• A fellow grad student introduced me to this awesome series where a historian breaks down battle tactics from The Lord of the Rings series (both film and book). Siege warfare at Minas Tirith!
• You know what’s on brand for the Jets? The hope of a great QB who then gets injured in his next start. So on brand that it hurts. Just like Mike White’s forearm.
• Total Times Outside: One Hundred and Forty-Nine!
• Total videos watched by other YouTubers: 0.
• Currently feeling: Another Thursday without a video. This past month has been a bit chaotic, but I definitely want to get some holiday videos up come December. But also I am working on “Jackass.” So many things!
• Currently looping: KT Tunstall’s “Invisible Empire.”

Thanks so much for reading! Stay safe, get vaccinated, and hug your Jets fan friends.