Decluttering and Minimalism

In the coming weeks, this will be a big focus for me when I’m not working on the kitchen. I’m very close to being able to move some things into their proper places. Once the first cabinet is in place, I can relocate my reading chair. Once there is some flooring in the kitchen, I can relocate my fridge. These two things will be huge improvements in my day-to-day living space.

DIY and Projects

By Wednesday, I hadn’t achieved much on the kitchen project. My system was all messed up from drinking at the softball banquet. By Sunday, the most I had gotten done was to tape in preparation to paint the upper cupboards. I was feeling a lot better at least.

I want the kitchen done before year end. As long as the countertop comes in on a reasonable timeline, that should be doable. I think I need one piece to cover the two cupboards. I haven’t ordered it as I can’t properly measure until the two lower cupboards are in their places.

Education and Spirituality

This month’s Music Oracle is Johnny Cash. I guess I’ll be walking a line or taking a highway trip this month? Actually, yes on the highway as I had an event out of town on Saturday.

I thought I might be gambling, but that’s Kenny Rogers. I should know better as I once got to hand Kenny Rogers a guitar on stage in my hometown. Goth me wasn’t happy to be at a country concert, but I was being paid at least. Then I faded back into stage tech obscurity. I didn’t last in that job. I wasn’t physically strong enough to move meat racks (what we called racks of lights back in the 90s). Combine that with being under five feet tall and I was limited in what I could do. It wasn’t a good fit for me.

Gaming and Videos

I’m thoroughly enjoying Neverwinter. I installed a few more games I own just because I could. Maybe I’ll try again with Subnautica. I had such hopes for it, but couldn’t get to shore and just kept dying. I’ve also been playing Satisfactory. It’s pretty chill and every now and then, the computer says something messed up. It was like, “You have earned a break. (Pause). I hope that was refreshing.”

I’ve left my gaming group. I just can’t afford the 5 hours a week on something I don’t enjoy enough. Turn-based combat drives me nuts. Perhaps it’s the martial artist in me. Part of my goal in joining was that there are many writers who feel that it’s an important thing to do for writing. I disagree. I would be a lot further ahead if I had just spent the five hours every week on my writing projects.

Health and Fitness

I didn’t make it to karate this week. My iron was too low to be doing that level of exercise, so I just focused on getting it back to normal. At least I figured out what was causing me issues. Unfortunately, it can take a long time to fully resolve this kind of thing. I took a walk instead.

Given how prone I am to this, I think it’s best I either quit drinking entirely or just have a very occasional drink of something on special days like Christmas. I’d rather be healthy. There are tons of yummy mocktails anyway.

The long awaited schedule for the 2025-2026 PWHL Season dropped on Wednesday! The first game isn’t until November 21st, but at least we can plan around it now. We as in myself and many of my friends.

Movies and Television

I finished Slow Horses this week. It grew on me. It was quite a change from The Morning Show when I began it. Next up is Surface. Basically, this woman has lost all of her long term memory after falling off of a ferry. There have been a lot of enjoyable plot twists.

Music and Songwriting

I got myself some other materials including a practise logbook for bass. One is a 14-day bass book. I wanted to have a book of exercises to help guide me early on. I also got a 50 First Songs You Should Play on Bass book.

Choir began this week. The first practise was a mix of singing and just getting to know people as some newbies had their vocal range checked to know which part they should be singing. Given the somewhat dim lighting and the low iron, the church environment made me feel a bit sleepy.