Chanukah so far...

Fist night

Second Night

Third night

So tired

I was absolutely exhausted last night and crashed. Because it was Sabbath, we ate early, right after nightfall. I'd gone to get some Captain D's and then my friend lit the Chanukah lights (the eight-armed menorah used at Chanukah is called a Chanukiyah, plural Chanukiyot) and then the Sabbath candles. We ate our meal and talked and then I couldn't stand it anymore, the constriction of day clothes. I went and changed out of my jeans and shirt into my sleep shorts and tank top, took out my contacts, came back to the table for all of 10 minutes, and then announced I had to lie down. It was a little after 7:30 PM. My back was hurting and I'd just had a long (albeit not particularly busy day; we mostly worked in queues). So I fed the animals, let the dogs out and in, and put my nebula projector on and a Bluetooth speaker that cycles through lights, and I was gone within 10 minutes, dead to the music and the world. I got up briefly at 11:30 to take my meds, and then slept till about 6 AM. It's just 8 AM now and I have gotten dressed, made my bed, sat in front of the SAD light for a bit, taken my thyroid medicine (I can't eat for an hour after that, so it gets taken first), driven to Kroger and made them give me a deal off a digital coupon that wasn't scanning, got ice from the Kroger Starbucks (it's free, and we don't keep it in the house; I don't know what they think of me, I'm the little older lady who asks for ice each week), came back, have almost finished making coffee for my roommate, have started caffeinating with soda, and moved the dryer against the wall so it wasn't blocking my chair or the utility room, and I think that's good. In about half an hour I'll wake him up for services (he's reading a passage) and start making my to-do list, like most Saturdays. I'm feeling pretty darn productive. It's amazing what rest can do for you.

Twenty-seven

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness for Beginning Readers by RJ Ivankovic
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I spent two years in real time playing weekly sessions of Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Chaosium's campaign based on HP Lovecraft's story 'At the Mountains of Madness'. I got this for myself and each remaining player who made it through that grueling adventure as a holiday present/badge of honour.

Its rhymes are sometimes a bit contrived, but they hit all the highlights of Lovecraft's story while referencing the later expedition of their campaign.

It is a delightful book, with lovely Seussian illustrations, and it still conveys the horror of Lovecraft's story although it is simplified in verse. I would highly recommend it, especially after reading Lovecraft's story or playing the Chaosium campaign. I will say as a group we were scarred by that adventure, and this brought back memories of what happened and beyond, particularly the musical tones heard in the distance...but I should not speak of such horrors.

View all my reviews

Full citation: H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness for Beginning Readers by RJ Ivankovic, 2024, Chaosium, 142 pp. ISBN: 978-1568824956

I love this. And despite the fact that it's set up as a children's picture book, it was 142 pages, so not just a tiny book.

Love this song

If you need to speak to someone and are having problems that seem overwhelming, call or text 988. It is our national mental health crisis line, and it's 24/7 and confidential.

I think this will be the next movie we're going to watch

We did finally get to see Barbie on Netflix today, and this came up as a new release. It looks really good, particularly if you're a fan of historical dramas, especially along the lines of The Help or Hidden Figures.

HAPPY YULE!!!!!!!!!

 I wish you a blessed Solstice. May your holidays be full of light, laughter, and love.

X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand

Via NASA:

In addition to this cosmic wreath, a new version of the “Christmas tree cluster” is also now available. Like NGC 602, NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars between one and five million years old. (For comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old — about 1,000 times older.) In this image of NGC 2264, which is much closer than NGC 602 at a distance of about 2,500 light-years from Earth, Chandra data (red, purple, blue, and white) has been combined with optical data (green and violet) captured from by astrophotographer Michael Clow from his telescope in Arizona in November 2024. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Twenty-six

Citation:

26. The Autism and Neurodiversity Self Advocacy Handbook: Developing the Skills to Determine Your Own Future by Barb Cook and Yenn Purkis, 2022, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 167 pp. ISBN: 978-1787755765.

I didn't care for this one. It was too general and really didn't give me what a sought, which was ideas for advocacy and requesting accommodations if needed.

Oh, well...I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads.