sideways | (no subject)

The post-workathon recovery is well underway. I've clawed my apartment back from two months of neglect to something I could unashamedly have other humans visit again, given the hair a good chop, and even baked a cake! (Not very successfully, but points for baking effort nonetheless.) Feels good feelin' human.

Ironically, partway through The Great Scrubbing my apartment complex advertised that they're now offering an in-house cleaning service. I have to confess there's an appeal to it, as an emergency resort for those periods when work is being a bit all-consuming if nothing else. I still feel sheepish about the idea - 60 sq m is not exactly a lot to manage, so I should be able to stay on top of it by myself. On the other hand, I do stay on top of it by myself when I'm not maxed out on stress! And of course it's just silly to buy into the guilt game in general.

I've managed to gateway drug myself into a 2k3 rewatch; it's been about 3-4 years since the last, so at least I'm on schedule? As comfy a place as it is to rest my attention, I am starting to think about moving onto something properly new and a little more live-action next. It's been a while.

Some short stories I have read lately and enjoyed:

"A Stranger Goes Ashore", Adam R. Shannon
"Do Not Look Back, My Lion", Alix E. Harrow
"Sarcophagus", Ray Nayler
"Heron of Earth", Vajra Chandrasekera
"Open House on Haunted Hill", John Wiswell
"To Catch All Sorts of Flying Things", M. L. Clark

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I really liked "To Catch All Sorts of Flying Things."

Love a bit of creative worldbuilding!

Exactly! And it seemed to really get at what it would be like to try to communicate with beings who have a different perspective, all the way down into their DNA. I really liked that.

I kind of wish my building had something like that. There's no shame in needing help sometimes! I hang out in a group that emphasizes that cleaning is morally neutral and I've been working a lot on not assigning guilt and making myself feel worse.

Man, cleaning is so rarely phrased as morally neutral! And to some extent there's an argument to be made around whether your habits are harming another person (or, in my case as a renter, their property). That said, definitely agree that objectively there is no shame in getting some help in avoiding such an outcome.

Ahh, I'm glad you're recovering from the workathon! That in-house cleaning service sounds like a great thing to take advantage of - it's so easy to get overwhelmed, no matter the size of the space.

Thank you for the short story recs! *queues up to read*

Why does everything just get dirty again D8 What is this Sisyphean hill we have planted ourselves upon??