Below are the most recent 19 friends' journal entries.

Thursday, January 7th, 2010
ankewehner	9:19p	This morning I tidied up a bit more thoroughly this morning, including wiping down my table, in addition to keeping up with online stuff, and fiddling with programming a bit. In the early afternoon the webshop group met on campus to discuss face-to-face what was still to do until next week, and who'd do it. On the way back I paid a fabric shop a visit. I'd been thinking that black velvet might be nice as background for photographing sometimes, was about time I actually got some. I was even lucky enough to get the rest of a bolt, paying something like 1.2 times the price for one metre for a piece 2.5 metres long. The width is 1.5 metres. What do I do with that much black velvet? XD I also took two short detours for photo opportunities, even if the light today was not so great. I think it has been snowing for twelve hours straight now, but it was so lightly that the streets stayed free. (salt helps) After frustration with the camera software, programming only got some more fiddling; I'll get more serious tomorrow morning. (Comment on this)
violetice	12:19p	today is one of those days where I have little motivation for anything. It's snowing out and I have to be to work in a few hours--I'm on rotation. bah My cousin Steph will be moving in on Monday. Woo! However I really need to clean out that room as I have a lot of crap in it but I keep putting it off. I don't know what the point of this entry is other than to waste some time Current Mood: bored Current Music: the dishwasher (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
ankewehner	9:13p	You know what I noticed? Getting stuff done makes time pass more slowly, in the long run. I'm more used to thinking it's one or two days earlier than it actually is, but this week I have the feeling it's Wednesday when in fact it's Tuesday. Whee. I've been wibbling this morning if I should go out and test the camera or not (cold weather, I mentioned), but decided I can't always put off stuff I want to do. Temperature wasn't really a problem, since the air was fairly dry, I was properly dressed, and walking pumped blood to my fingers and kept them warm. Otherwise I, well, kept up with stuff. The tidying up in my room needed a bit of catching up, since it had been deteriotating a bit since last Friday, but it was still not much work. I FINALLY found out what settings to change where to make the IDE work as needed. :D The guy running the class also sent around a mail on Monday cancelling the meeting tomorrow, so there's an extra week to work on stuff, so I might actually contribute something. I hate being useless in group work. X( Also, the SVN repository is acting up again. *sigh* Ehwell. More to do tomorrow. :) (Comment on this)
Monday, January 4th, 2010
ankewehner	9:49p	There was a little white fluff on the sidewalk this morning that needed removing, so I did that after the bit of gymnastics. Afterwards I went shopping. Fun moment: One section of an aisle had the special offer was "training" stuff, dumbbells and whatnot, banking on the "I will do something for my fitness/lose weight in the new year"-crowd. The next had leftover offers from last week, with the electric fondue set right at the start. Most of the rest of the day I spent at the computer. Still no luck with the IDE. The club is running or at least walking, and the next mrcaex round started. In between I helped cooking my own lunch, and got distracted by my new camera arriving. Upgraded from a Canon Power Shot A430 to a SX10 IS. It will take some getting used to. Quite apart from the whole being able to set stuff like aperture manually, it's just.... kinda conspicious. I can't really carry it along in my little handbang. XD Getting a new camera when a) your favourite kind of photography is "nature", b) They're predicting subzero temperatures for the next two weeks and c) you get cold easily is a bit suboptimal, but I shouldn't complain. (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
ankewehner	10:33p	Something I've been trying: I write down stuff I want to get done the next day on a sticky note, and stick it on the side of my screen. Been doing that for a few days now, and I think it helps prevent procrastination. Not perfectly, but a good deal. This morning I slept in a bit, but not badly, and used the rest of the morning to catch up with Deviantart messages. Fun moment of the day: Someone who'd faved this of my images had highlighted on his own page this one: Eclectic tastes rock. :D I helped a bit with lunch (fried fish filets), and afterwards tackled uni stuff. Given that I spent pretty much the whole afternoon and more-or-less-early evening at it (minus breaks to download stuff), I did not get much done. What I hate most about programming is trying to get the compiler/IDE to work. I seem to have rotten luck with those things. And, well, comic strip, see below. First image for 2010, yay! And will it ever take time to get used to the 2 being followed by only one 0 rather than two... (Comment on this)
ankewehner	9:50p	Breaking Comics Originally published at ankewehner.de. You can comment here or there. (Comment on this)
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
ankewehner	10:49p	I cut the gymnastics short today, but only because I sweeped snow afterwards; less than a centimetre, but enough activity to count. After a break during which I caught up a bit with online messages, I vacuumed my room, and in the kitchen emptied the diswasher, did the dishes that wouldn't go in there, wiped down the countertops and stove, did some spot cleaning on cabinet doors and walls, and vacuumed and wiped the floor. By the time I was finished, I needed a shower and an early lunch. Afterwards I spent some time with the communications and rhetorics stuff. There is one idea that I found very interesting, that seemed to be important, and that I think could be expressed more clearly in the writeup, but damn if I can make it work. X( I did finally manage to go to another MTG draft later in the afternoon. Lost the first round 2-0, and the other two 2-1 each, but all in all it was fun. Back home I renewed another Etsy item, and gave the uni stuff another go, also failed. More of that tomorrow. At least seen all in all it was a pretty productive day. (Comment on this)
Friday, January 1st, 2010
ankewehner	8:32p	Somehow I can't imagine a job as anything but "something I have to do to get money", rather than something I would like to do. Is anybody reading along who's in a career they like, and would share how they figured out that's what they wanted to do? ( daily stuff ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
ankewehner	5:31p	Microfiction: The right words On the New Year’s party, Marie received a lot of compliments, all including some form of, “you have lost weight!”, and she smiled through all of them. When she retreated to the balcony for a bit of solitude she found it occupied already.  The date of someone else’s acquaintance, practically a stranger. He also seemed to be quiet, so that was all good. She leaned on the banister, keeping her distance, and he watched her watch the street. Eventually he asked, “So, how is your health?” After the initial shock, Marie all but collapsed with relief that someone cared. Originally published at ankewehner.de. You can comment here or there. (Comment on this)
kehrli	1:38a	2000 - 2009 Well. Here we are. At first, I wanted to say something like: "I'm not the same person I was ten years ago." But that's not true. I'm not the same person I thought I was ten years ago. The distinction is entirely important. I'm sure most people can say the same thing about similar periods in their lives, but... the past ten years have defined me. When the news channels tried to drum up a ridiculous amount of fear over Y2K ticking through the Russian time-zones, I was fifteen. I think that fifteen-year-old me would be disappointed with where my life is now. I was going to be some sort of scientist, a published author, and famous. Famous at something awesome. (Just WHAT exactly changed regularly.) But then, fifteen-year-old me hadn't just spent ten years learning that life is far more complicated than they make it out to be in high school and had unrealistic goals. (Don't get pregnant and turn in all your school work and then INSTANT SUCCESS... yeah, not so much.) So, the oughts, the oughties, the 0-whatevers, etc... ( Cut because long post is long. ) May 2009: "Machine Washable" published in Sybil's Garage no. 6 September 2009: "Advertising at the End of the World" published in Apex Online - Apex is also having a reader's poll for best story of the year. Winter 2009: "Bone Dice" published in Talebones. Phew. Looking forward, I will have stories out in Electric Velocipede and Fantasy Magazine this year. I intend on having a novel finished and shiny by the time I turn OLD (26). Although I'm still going to be spending a few years fixing the mistakes I made in my early 20's, I think I'm overall in a good position for the future. Money is a problem, but hopefully I'll be able to work things out. The most difficult part will be finishing the transition to being male full time. Chest surgery would make that all kinds of easier, but I can't afford that yet. Boo. For the next year / ten years, I'm trying not to let my own perceptions of my failure keep me from fixing problems before it's too late. I'm older, hopefully a bit wiser. I feel like I know who I am. Also, fifteen-year-old me would hopefully be placated by the professional short fiction sale. Happy New Year! Happy New Decade! Happy 2010! Finish it off with a song: VNV Nation - Ghost Current Mood: tired Current Music: VNV Nation - Ghost (14 Comments |Comment on this)
ankewehner	12:33a	Edited to add: Oh, yeah, happy new year, everyone. :P I had planned to stay in bed a bit longer, but not THAT long. Oh, well. I did stick with the itty bit of gymnastics for day 2. Someone else did a writeup for one of the classes, so I got to read instead of write from scratch. For another course I still haven't head back from any of the others, so I sent another email. As far as online stuff goes, I uploaded images to my webspace and DA, kept up with the group and messages stuff and contacted a few small to medium size groups for affiliation. Daily Drawing prompts are filled in until the 10th, including. My mailbox is under 50 messages, too. I also sorted my socks and underwear. When the fireworks started, I decided I had enough of going "next year" or "some time in the future", and got dressed real quick and went out on the street to say "hi" and "happy new year" to passing people, and watched people better prepared make things go "bang" and flash. ( note to self ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
ankewehner	3:48p	2009, and Fuzzy things Another year’s over. I don’t feel like writing up a detailed look back on my year. I feel like I’m growing, but slowly. I think during the last month I did a lot to get out of my chronic habit of putting things off, at least as far as housework is concerned, but I need to get that to grow and include all aspects of my life. One other thing I need to work on is deciding what to pursue and what to let drop. Right now I feel more focused ont he future than the past, and I think that’d be a good thing to keep up. Have some links instead: Celebrate what’s right with the world, a video that might make you feel all warm and fuzzy. I loved the last story. Some images found on deviantart: Incidentally, this is the 100th post published on this blog. Nice timing, entirely unplanned. Originally published at ankewehner.de. You can comment here or there. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
kehrli	9:18p	Everything is different. I'm not actually sure that you can even say I'm exaggerating -- I did set out to change "my life" in a vast and nebulous fashion, and have pretty well succeeded. I'm totally out of any loops I may once have been in at this point, as well. STUFF is going on all around me, and I'm still trying to get my bearings. Like LiveJournal. Chances are very high that if you've said something on LJ in the past two months, I haven't seen it. Sorry! Since November 25th: I started taking testosterone, so I'm finally actively transitioning female to male. Quit one job, got another job, moved to Seattle. (Am now living with mikigarrison) Started an actual work-out plan, as opposed to just running on the elliptical occasionally and calling it good. I now read slush for Shimmer. (I love slush. It makes me happy.) I feel like I should have more to say, but I'm sort of drawing blanks as to what I ought to expand on. The testosterone is great, I wish I'd started taking it earlier. Uh. Stuff. Oh yeah, and the computer is totally fixed. Finally! Current Mood: awake Current Music: none (22 Comments |Comment on this)
ankewehner	9:09p	So. Before buying the last bits of groceries for this year, I picked up a recharger with batteries that'll fit both my current camera, and the one I have in mind buying some time. It's a lot better than the one I have, changing control LED colour when the batteries are fully charged, taking only 3 hours rather than 16, and whatnot. Lunch was warmed up, and apart from the whole keeping-up-wish-picking-up stuff, I kept to art-related stuff today so far. I cleaned out old messages on deviantart, and most new ones, apart from ones that actually need some time and effort. Invitations for the traditional art community went out as others were accepted, and I'm also caught up with the owls. Looking at a bunch of owls was good for ideas, too; filling another four pages of the sketchbook was pretty easy. Just may not forget to turn some of the ideas into finished pics... I guess I'll switch off for today, and spend a bit more time with the communication science book. (Comment on this)
Monday, December 28th, 2009
ankewehner	9:54p	Between-the-holidays shopping to fill up the little grocery holes isn't so bad if you do it early enough in the day. It's a bit awkward standing in front of a small shop that decided to extend the Christmas holidays to the 28th, but, eh, now I'll go again tomorrow, and pay a visit to an electronics shop, too, for my own fun. After shopping I cooked pasta for myself, unloading and partly-filling the dishwasher in between. Online I got a message on DA that the traditional media themed club I had been neglecting was converted to the new groups system, so I sent out the first batch of invitations (there's a limit of 25 that can be pending at any given time, so I couldn't do all... 40 or what it was at). As far as actual creativity, rather than managing creativity is concerned, I filled up another four pages of the sketchbook, and wrote a draft for what seems to want to be a piece of nanofiction (54 words, so it needs a bit of tweaking). I did some more studies-related reading in the second book I borrowed, and the first one was better. Easier to understand, and since our topic is the most basic one ("what is communication?", I guess that's good.) One thing mentioned in passing was hot and cold media. It's an idea put forth by a Marshall McLuhan: "Hot" media provide much detail, while "cold" media require recipient participation; it's a continuum, for example, film is hot, literature is cold, and comics would be lukewarm. The example actually in the book was photos vs carricatures, but it did remind me of some things Scott McCloud wrote in Understanding Comics. More stuff To Do: I think one of the "will tackle on occasion" projects of mine will be "draw hummingbirds that are not ruby-throated, rufous, or generic green" (the latter might be female ruby-throated, at that). Those seem to be over-represented in images, at least judging from DA, and I'd like to show some less well-known species. Some rather spectacular ones are: Marvellous Spatuletail Crimson Topaz Red-tailed Comet also, need to look for images of the various lophornis While taking notes marked as such: The critter that looks like a cross between a marten and a red panda is called "ringtailed mongoose". (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
ankewehner	9:09p	The vacuuming (my room and the kitchen) was a day late, but, well, yesterday I was out and about, and it was a holiday. I got it done before lunch, because I didn't know how much or little I'd feel like work in the afternoon. Vacuuming the kitchen before cooking probably is not a terribly smart move, but the hell with it. :P I made fish and potatoes (yay, I can peel and cook potatoes! And they're edible! :D), and after eating tidied up the kitchen, up to and including dishes, dishrack, stovetop and sink and surrounding countertop. One of the drawers of the chest of drawers in our bathroom lost its front, so I glued it together again. There were visitors (uncle, cousin...), mostly for my grandfather, but I was along for a while, too. As to uni-related stuff, I spent some time reading, too, and sent out two emails to try and get some teamwork running again. The sketchbook is down to 12 pages for *counts on fingers* 4 days, that should be workable. (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
ankewehner	9:48p	Yesterday I ended up reading one chapter of studies-stuff, and rather more of a novel (Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, yet again), the latter in bed. So, "all of the above". Today I was invited to a dinner (is it a dinner if it's in the middle of the day?) with my father's side of the family, at a greek restaurant. The food was good and the conversation was fun, so that was good. I got a plush owl from my father, which is fuzzy and has stubby wings (which are also fuzzy), and cute, and bigger than what I'd wanted to collect, but as long as it doesn't turn into a herd parliament, it's just way cute. ^_^ Back home I spent more time than yesterday with uni-related stuff, before returning to the novel for a bit I also looked around online a bit for cameras - I'm leaning towards a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, but not entirely sure yet... at least not WHEN to get it. Given that of the 4 rechargable batteries I've been using with my current camera, which takes only 2 at a time rather than 4, one pair doesn't work anymore, I'll need a new set (or two), and might as well get a better/quicker recharger, too, so probably putting it off a bit longer. Oh, and sketched a bit. There are only 14 pages (A5 sized) in my sketchbook left, and I'd like to fill it up before the year's over. (NTS: Don't forget getting your website up to date with art stuff before January, too.) The "picking up after myself" stuff is still working out, and I might just stop mentioning it until it doesn't. I'm pretty much keeping up with my email and deviantart inboxes, too. (Comment on this)
Friday, December 25th, 2009
ankewehner	7:51p	Holiday My mother and I cooked together - I took care of the potatos and pork filet, she cooked sauce for us and something else for my grandfather. It was very good. Apart from tidying up the kitchen, I was mostly lazy, re-reading a novel, but I had another go at finding deadlines for study-stuff, too. Originally I wanted to draw a bit, but I'm not really feeling it anymore. Now I'm torn between reading another novel (yay, escapism!), or studies-related material. And/or going to bed. (Comment on this)
ankewehner	7:53p	Microfiction: Party Plans When Nico arrived, Sylvie stared. From Nico’s grin and expectant look, she judged that surprise had been the desired reaction, and asked, “Why is your hair pink?” “It’s dyed. I won a bet.” “Won or lost?” “Won. Someone bet me I wouldn’t dye my hair pink. Didn’t know me as well as he thought he did.” Taking in the slightly frilly dress, and cat’s ears, Sylvie asked, “And the rest?” They were not going to a costume party. “Just seemed to go with it well.” If it was a joke at Nico’s expense, she sure had fun with it, anyway. Originally published at ankewehner.de. You can comment here or there. (Comment on this)