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echodrops · 4 months

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The Promises I’m Making (2024)

Sheesh, this year it was even harder than last year to make promises. In particular, I really wanted to focus on promises that wouldn't cost as much money as in prior years, so I tried to steer clear of too many promises that would cost above the basic spending amounts... But it turns out it is really hard to make resolutions if you're broke. 😂

So here's what I'm going with:

2024 Promises

1) Step down from my administrative position and return to being a full-time faculty member. I literally cannot take the clown show that is admin at my work anymore. It is actually killing me.

2) Related to this, redecorate my new office as soon as they decide where they are going to move me.

3) Apply for new jobs!! APPLY FOR NEW JOBS!!!

4) Train my replacement in the chair position well so they are super prepared to take over in fall.

5) Put a new sink/vanity in the downstairs bathroom of the Utah house.

6) Get both bedroom floors sanded in the Utah house upstairs.

7) Finally get rid of the dirt pile in front of the Utah house.

8) Take down the remains of the wooden fence posts at the Utah house.

9) Fully clean out and prepare the Utah house to be rented out to new renters. Hopefully the next people won’t sneak in a parrot that poops all over the floor… RIP…

10) Clean off my back patio/car port area so I can park my car there again.

11) Call the plumber and replace the faucets. Even if I end up having to do it myself.

12) Get the dead tree removed from the Texas house yard and call the internet company to see about the cable around the tree root.

13) Plant roses where the old ones died in front of the Texas house.

14) Replace my CPU fan; the bearings are going out and it’s making an annoying noise.

15) Organize my documents (especially student papers)—my desktop and documents folders give me nightmares just looking at them.

16) Related to that, lose at least 20 pounds. 2020-2023 was not kind to me and the stress eating was real.

17) Do at least one artwork to actually use that paint program I bought.

18) Pay my credit debt down by at least $2000. I’m still paying off the hell year, but I hope I can make progress on this.

19) Buy all the Noragami volumes I am missing and do a complete re-read of Noragami now that the series is finishing up.

20) This is super nerdy, but my bro got me the FFXIV cookbook and made me promise to actually use it, so I guess I’d better at least try to make something from it.

21) Finish at least five books this year.

22) Update HaaH at least once. Please, Echo???

23) Reach the new level cap with all jobs in FFXIV!

24) Go to the graduation ceremony for my family friend.

25) Catch up with hanging up all the charms/pins I’ve gotten recently on my corkboards; these are just sitting in boxes/bags around the house. D;

26) Fully deep clean and vacuum/detail my own car at home. No more of the “It doesn’t make sense to clean it out now; the dog is just going to go back in it.” The dog is always going to go back in it. Clean it, Echo.

27) Help my parents tear out the carpet in my old childhood bedroom.

28) See at least three new species of birds. Doesn’t matter where, just three new ones!

29) Reach 3500 followers. Can I do it? You should follow me if you’re not already; I’m pretty cool. Just sayin’!

30) Cancel all the subscriptions I don’t need. There’s literally no reason to sit around letting companies passively profit off me when I don’t even really use the services/the services keep getting worse while the costs keep going up.

31) Go out on at least a day trip to take pictures with my friend. We haven’t done this in quite some time. I need to touch grass.

32) Repair the lovely one-of-kind ceramic plate that my dog broke with kintsugi. I want to try it at least once!

33) Really look hard for my passport in my house. It’s been missing for like a year and a half now, and I don’t want to have to pay for a new one.

34) Put all the small prints, postcards, and stickers I have collected in my new mini-print books. I can even use up washi tape to decorate too. (Finally, a purpose for the washi tape…)

35) Shred the million pieces of old mail I have lying around the house. I finally got the shredder so it just makes sense to use it.

36) Have more follow-through with chores. It’s not enough to wash the clothes or do the dishes if I then procrastinate on folding the clean laundry and putting the dried dishes back in the cabinets…

37) Put reminders for birthdays and major events in my phone as well as set a monthly reminder to check these promises. Maybe I’ll be able to keep more promises if I look at the list more often throughout the year!

38) Since I can’t afford to go to the salon, spa, etc. too much this year, I should at least do some self-care days at home. Will this be the year I finally manage to use all the fancy scrubs and face masks and bath salts I keep getting from people?

39) Use up one whole notebook. It doesn’t matter what goes in the notebook, but I gotta use the whole thing from cover to cover. I have so many pretty notebooks that never get used just because they’re pretty.

40) Change the burned-out lightbulbs in the recessed lighting in the Texas house ceiling. It’s like twelve feet high and the lightbulb charger stick I bought didn’t work, so I’m going to have to find someone with a ladder. Save me, handyman. Save me.

41) Build the pretty koi paper lantern my brother got me, or the Korean temple model my coworker gave me after his trip to Korea.

42) Actually use the yoga mat I bought forever ago. At least a few times, please???

43) Finish watching the Fruits Basket remake with Kacchan. I think we stopped in the second season, RIP.

44) Spend more time with coworkers—go out to lunch more often.

45) See about removing the PMI from at least one of my house loans to try to save money. I’ve been paying on these loans long enough I shouldn’t need PMI anymore.

46) Practice my German skills (or I guess other language skills?) by translating something at least once a month.

47) Get a new bookshelf. The current ones in both my office and foyer are already overflowing. @_@

48) Make more time to call people and talk on the phone. Texting is not the same. D;

49) Get the new COVID vaccine to stay healthy.

50) I will keep my promises!

Good luck, 2024’s me!

#50 promises #new year's resolutions #irl stuff #Echo is on the struggle bus #literally starting off Day One of the year with a cold #love this for me

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echodrops · 4 months

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The Promises I Made (2023)

Oh man. Oh man.

At the end of last year, I said that I had really struggled through 2022 and hoped that 2023 would be an easier year, but also that I didn't want to count any chickens. Which was... ultimately the right mindset to have, because 2023 was even worse for me than 2022. Between the stressors of work, money, and things just falling apart on me left and right (car is still in need of $3000 worth of work...), I couldn't be more glad that 2023 is over.

Consequently, it was a very bad year for promises. Possibly the worst year I've ever had since I started, actually. Oof, icing on the cake after all the disappointment I dealt with this year.

Still, a tradition is a tradition. Here are the promises I made for this last year!

2023 Promises

1) Work on the Texas house yard. It’s still never really recovered from the frost that killed everything in 2021 and it looks pretty shabby right now.

Status: Broken, mostly. I did have the gardener come and do a lot of trimming as well as take out one dead tree, but still, one dead tree remains, and the tree in the backyard has grown roots so big now that they've exposed a underground wire, so uhhhh... gonna have to deal with that this year...

2) Get both bedroom floors sanded in the Utah house upstairs.

Status: Broken. This just didn't happen. No money. But it really, really needs to happen soon though... Oof...

3) Get the Utah house sprinklers up and working ALL the way for this summer.

Status: Broken. This is the hardest promise on this list, I swear to god. This city in Utah has NO ONE who is willing to work on normal residential sprinklers. Please someone save me.

4) Actually get the back fence fixed up and the greenery back there trimmed and managed.

Status: Broken. Well, one day...

4) Put a new sink/vanity in the downstairs bathroom of the Utah house.

Status: Broken. I sure... made a lot of promises about the Utah house, didn't I... Where did I think all this money would come from...

5) Related to that, lose at least 20 pounds. 2020-2022 was not kind to me and the stress eating was real.

Status: Broken. I didn't gain weight this year but I didn't lose any either. RIP.

6) Take my mom on a road trip to one of the U.S. states that she has not been to before.

Status: Broken. I was busy all summer and we just didn't do this.

7) Get back in touch with the allergy specialist to continue working on my allergy/inflammation issues.

Status: Broken. Yikes, seven in a row without a single kept promise. Anyway, I did want to do this, but again, the surgery they want me to have will take all my insurance and then $2000 out of pocket. It's just... not going to happen...

8) Go through my closets and donate or throw away clothes that I know I will not wear.

Status: KEPT. Oh my god, one I actually did. I ended up donating SO MANY shirts to Goodwill.

9) Finish at least five books this year.

Status: Broken. I finished two I believe. But... maybe the 50+ 100k word fanfics I read this year could count instead?

10) Organize my documents (especially student papers)—my desktop and documents folders give me nightmares just looking at them.

Status: Broken. Jesus, why am I so allergic to this promise? I think it's been on the list for like three years running now.

11) Help Kacchan through her first semester as a teacher! Exciting!!

Status: According to Kacchan herself, this promise has been kept. Go me.

12) Get a decent paper shredder to shred old mail.

Status: Kept! I finally got a shredder!!

13) Clean off my back patio/car port area so I can park my car there again.

Status: Broken. Literally there's not that much stuff out there other than my coworker's old bikes she dumped on me. Why have I not done this...

14) Get the Texas house dishwasher fixed… I’m so tired of washing dishes by hand… How do people do this, oof.

Status: Kept! I got a newwww dishwasherrrrrr. I am so happy...

15) 100% complete FF16 babyyyyy!!

Status: Broken. I played it, but did not 100%. Too busy. TvT

16) Talk to an HR rep about my retirement savings so that I can consolidate my retirement accounts. I have been putting this off for like five years now.

Status: Broken. I think this has been on the list for years too. And given the current uncertainty of my workplace, I honestly think at this point I might be better off not asking anyone who works there for any financial advice...

17) Do at least one artwork to actually use that new paint program I bought.

Status: Broken. Well, I THOUGHT about it. Does that count?

18) Pay my credit debt down by at least $2000. I’m still paying off the hell year but I hope I can make progress on this.

Status: Broken. The hell year of last year became Hell Year 2.0, Economic Boogaloo this year. So many things went wrong and had to be paid for. My wallet is C R Y I N G.

19) Finish making changes to master courses. No more major revisions!

Status: You know what, I'm going to count this as kept, because we're now down to the really specific courses that only one or two professors teach. So, close enough!!

20) See a zone-tailed hawk. This is another rare-but-possible bird for my area.

Status: Kept! Conveniently, one flew over my car one day?? I got only a terrible cellphone photo, but I did see it. Yay!

21) Attend the FFXIV Fanfest in Las Vegas!

Status: Broken. I tried!! But I did not win the lottery for a ticket, so I was not able to go. This one was pretty much out of my hands, though.

22) Update HaaH at least once. Please, Echo???

Status: ...I'm sorry, forgive meeee. OTL

23) Get the small leak fixed in the side bathroom of the Texas house and have the faucets replaced.

Status: Plumbers are... so expensive... Broken.

24) Look into the cost of light housekeeping services to give myself a little more time to do things that aren’t work.

Status: Technically kept... in that I did look into the costs... But ultimately, I chickened out of contacting anyone. I don't know why, but I feel like even if I got a housekeeper, I would be so embarrassed by my house being messy, I would frantically clean it the day before the housekeeper arrived anyway...

25) Catch up with hanging up all the charms/pins I’ve gotten recently on my corkboards; these are just sitting in boxes/bags around the house. D;

Status: Broken. My god, I thought about doing this so many times this year but I just never did it... I even both MORE charms and then didn't hang them.

26) Use Spotify more often or cancel my Spotify Premium subscription; it’s not worth it if I don’t use it.

Status: Kept. I cancelled it when they decided to raise the price. Cancelled Amazon Prime and Netflix this year too. Honestly way too tired of companies raising the prices of subscription services while offering LESS quality than in prior years.

27) Get an art display book to preserve my great grandfather’s artworks.

Status: Kept. They are safeeeee now.

28) Fix the screens on the Texas house.

Status: Broken. Probably for the best I didn't do this though, since the dog developed a habit of scratching at the office WINDOW to be let back into the house...

29) Bird watch at a specific location in Texas. It’s my secret where since I’d rather not share my specific location on social media, but let’s hope I can finally make it to this place!

Status: Kept. I didn't see many birds there though, RIP.

30) Finally get rid of the dirt pile in the front of the Utah house.

Status: Broken. I feel like the dirt pile is getting smaller and smaller over time as erosion takes its natural course, but I didn't really do anything to decrease the pile this year.

31) Sign NeNe (my puppy) up for the intermediate dog training course.

Status: Broken. I thought about this several times, but decided not to in the end. I wasn't massively impressed by the trainer she had for her puppy class, and honestly she's pretty decent at learning things at home anyway.

32) This is super nerdy, but my bro got me the FFXIV cookbook and made me promise to actually use it, so I guess I’d better at least try to make something from it.

Status: Broken. I keep making this promise and continually forget it, over and over.

33) Take down the remains of the wooden fence posts at the Utah house.

Status: Broken. This one I could have done and just... did not do. I'm pretty useless.

34) Take part in the fitness challenge at work this coming semester.

Status: Broken. To be fair to me though, in August I fractured my pelvis and basically couldn't do anything past basic walking all the way until December so I kind of have a semi-reasonable excuse for this one.

35) I will remember to take my medicine on time, all the time. Taking them late is messing things up quite a bit.

Status: Mostly kept. There was a night or two where I did forget, but since I literally require this medicine to live, I can basically immediately tell when I need to take it again, so most nights I do take it on time.

36) Get a stand for the toaster oven in the break room so we can finally use it!

Status: I'm going to count this as kept even though we did not get a new stand. Instead, we rearranged the order of the room to make it possible to fit both the toaster over and the microwave on the same countertop. So the toaster oven can indeed be used now!

37) Get my car detailed because the inside really needs to be vacuumed.

Status: Broken. My god, the car needs this so desperately now. But... money...

38) Go horseback riding on the island. I’ve never ridden on a beach before!

Status: Broken. Nobody really seemed that interested in going with me, and I thought it would be weird to go alone...

39) Eat healthier. Maybe cutting out snacks is too much to ask, but at least replace some average meals with salads, etc. and overall make an effort to actually eat better. Sometimes the fact that I feel like garbage is my own fault.

Status: Broken. The stress eating was extreme this last year. Please save me.

40) Wait, I should probably acquire a Playstation 5 so I can actually play my new copy of FF16, lol.

Status: Kept.

41) Help make sure the new tutoring requirement for the English classes goes over well.

Status: Kept, in that I did the best I could with a very, very weird plan. We immediately abandoned this plan the moment the grant expired anyway, since no one liked what admin had wanted us to do.

42) Finish decorating the main office. I’ll feel better if my workplace reflects the level of professionalism and school spirit that I envisioned it having this year.

Status: Broken, and I'm not going to roll this one over to the next year because I am 100% stepping down from my current administrative position and going back to being a full-time instructor again, so I will not need to decorate the main office anymore! Whoo!

43) Catch every variant of Vivillon in Pokemon Go. I’m currently missing Icy Snow, Marine, Meadow, Monsoon, Ocean, Polar, River, Sandstorm, Savanna, Sun, and Tundra, if anyone would like to be friends!

Status: Broken. I caught some of the ones I was missing but I really didn't play as much Pokemon Go this year. Broken pelvis decreasing walking ability but also just got tired of the game pushing more and more microtransactions, so I kinda took a longggg break.

44) Try to be more comprehensive with giving feedback to students. I’m always good at providing detailed comments on essays, but I’d like to spend more time commenting on smaller assignments too this year.

Status: Broken. Every year I try, every year I feel like I still haven't given enough. Maybe the issue with this promise is that I don't really know what is "enough" for the students compared to what I personally think I should give...

45) Make sure the retirement party for my coworkers who retired this year goes off without a hitch and honors them well.

Status: Kept. Oh, this was so nice and so much fun. It was really great seeing the retiring faculty members so emotional over how much we were able to honor them and their contributions to the school.

46) Take part in more activities on campus; I have a tendency to not attend many events because they’re in the evening when I’m tired, but I should really stay more often.

Status: Kept, though mostly by necessity. I kept constantly getting called in to help on things, even in other departments.

47) Write some Chainsaw Man fanfic for @mistystarshine!

Status: Broken. I'm so sorry, this just did not happen. I wish my work schedule was manageable instead of actually insane. There are so many things I want to write and do for myself, rather than for work...

48) Help my parents tear out the carpet in my old childhood bedroom.

Status: Broken. My mom talked about it a lot, but it never ended up happening.

49) Do something to destress (massage, pedicure, something?) at least once per month. I gotta take better care of myself…

Status: Broken. So broken. I only got more stressed this year. More and more and more and more...

50) I will keep my promises!

Status: Oof, mostly broken. Next year I'm going to set a reminder for myself so that I remember to check my promises every few weeks or something...

Kept promises: 15

Broken promises: 35

Another year, another chance, I guess. See you all in 2024!

#50 promises #new year's resolutions #irl stuff #that's a big yikes from me dog

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echodrops · 5 months

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*angry teacher noises*

Please... I'm begging you... Just put the title of the novel in italics... Please...

#irl stuff #I'm in pain #how many times can I say #italics for titles of books #before someone actually listens???

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echodrops · 7 months

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I'm just procrastinating work by thinking about the distressing decline of critical thinking and media literacy, but the take "Writing dark content allows people to heal from their own negative experiences," while true enough, also feels like it is missing a critical dimension:

Fiction needs victims because empathy is a learned skill.

Through sympathizing with the plights of fictional characters, upon whom we can safely project ourselves, we learn to identify with the suffering of others in the real world as well, even those with whom we do not share similarities.

Fiction's central function is the recognition and resolution of conflict, an absolutely vital real life skill that requires the ability to resonate with the challenges of those outside our Self.

Our stories need suffering so the real world can have less of it.

#irl stuff #so tired of online literary debates hosted by people who've never read anything but fanfiction #and I say that as a fanfiction author #just thoughts sparked by things on social media #so I can write this instead of grade essays #can't believe we're having to relearn the ancient Greek concept of catharsis 2500 years late

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echodrops · 7 months

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what do you mean with noragami being called noragami?

I'd really rather not speculate too much here, as I could be completely wrong in what I'm considering or reading into the story.

I'll just say that I think the title itself should not be overlooked.

Who is Noragami's noragami?

#noragami #echo answers asks

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echodrops · 7 months

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I am thinking very hard about the fact that Noragami is called Noragami.

#noragami #I don't want to say anything else #but I have #THOUGHTS

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echodrops · 9 months

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The more rugged and masculine they make Meteor look, the funnier it gets that every single convincing love interest in the game is male.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: DAWNTRAIL

#this is our glorious knight in shining armor #he is EVERY DUDE #he is the generic male power fantasy!!#also #he is very gay #has at least two dead husbands though #track record is a bit sus #are the writers doing this on purpose?#who knows #I'd accuse them of just killing off all the cool women #before they have a chance to become love interests #but they kill off the cool dudes too #soooo...#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #ff14 #final fantasy xiv: dawntrail #meteor survivor

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echodrops · 1 year

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Hi! I started reading Home and a Half in 2018, and after all these years it never really left my mind. It’s a beautiful work, and I remember waiting and checking for an update for so long until life got in the way. I haven’t been in the fandom for years, though Voltron has a special place in my heart. Recently I started writing again and stalking my old works and bookmarks and came across the fic. I wondered if it was going to be continued? I can’t check the time stamps of your other posts explaining the situation so I’m not sure if there’s any recent updates in 2023. I’m sure me and others would love to know. I hope all is well! ¨̮

Thank you for your kind, kind words about the fic. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it and thought of it again after years!

As for the question of whether the fic will be updated again, the answer is yes? Probably?

Unfortunately, I also left the Voltron fandom years ago, honestly before season six of the show even dropped (because of how awful the writing became), and the thought of dedicating hours upon hours to writing what would inevitably be 150k+ more words for a fandom I'm not even in anymore is kind of exhausting. I have such a tiny, itty-bitty amount of free time to enjoy my hobbies; I'd really much rather spend time writing fic for fandoms I'm currently actively part of...

However, that said, HaaH was and remains a labor of love for me, one that has very little to do with the events of the show as they ultimately unfolded, to the point that I'm almost inclined to view the entire cast of characters in the fic as original characters, for how little bearing the official canon of the series has on the fic. I'm also extremely loath to leave things unfinished, especially something that so many readers enjoyed.

So, all told... My intention is to continue working on and eventually updating Home and a Half. Since 2017, my life has been one unending parade of crazy, and I don't have the time or energy to really continue the fic right now, but it is still my intention to do so in the future!

I'm sorry I can't give a more definitive answer than that, but I hope one day soon I'll have better news!

#Home and a Half #HaaH VLD #voltron fanfic #echo answers asks

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echodrops · 1 year

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hi! i just came to your blog to read your noragami manga chapters analysis and i want to ask something... i feel like i've read somewhere how yato mentioned something like "if yukine was still alive and grew up, he would be taller and bigger than me." nevertheless, i'm not really sure whether it's canon or just me being fanciful hahaha. enlighten me please >.< and if it's canon, do you know what chapter it is? thank you!!

This sounds like it could be true, but I'm sorry, I wouldn't remember the specific chapter if it is, especially since the chapter numbering has become a bit wonky post the hiatus...

My guess would be that this might be back when Yukine's height was being discussed after they discovered the size chart on the doorframe of their family's old apartment?

Maybe?

Sorry I can't be of more help!

Edit: According to @lost-your-mind-in-the-sound , it's chapter 44! Try there!

#noragami #echo answers asks #eventually #maybe someone else knows?#if so #put it in the replies!!

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echodrops · 1 year

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A key problem I’ve seen bandied about over and over is that Y’sthola doesn’t have a “character arc” and that she is a very static character--she has no growth because she essentially came in without any flaws that could be fixed over time in the narrative.

Characters don’t need flaws to be good characters. But in the absence of flaws, what they do need is organic motivation. Y’sthola ostensibly has a motivation: she loves knowledge and wants to learn more to sate her own desire for information about the world. She’s literally a ham-fisted “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back” metaphor.

The problem with this motivation is that no reason has ever been given for it. Why is she so driven to pursue knowledge? What made her choose this path? What events in her life led her to this specific course, when we meet her sister who behaves in a totally different (read as: much less self-sacrificial) way? What made her leave her family to study with Matoya and then leave Matoya to join the scions?

At her core, Y’shtola is characterized by her lack of prevailing connections. She has essentially no backstory other than “has a sister and studied with Matoya.”She has a family but never spends time with them. She loves Matoya, clearly, but still made the choice to leave her to join with Louisoix. Why? Although she’s friendly to all the scions, she still isn’t given any of the truly personal relationships that mark the other scions’ stories--she doesn’t have a Papalymo, a Minfillia, or a Moenbryda to truly “humanize” her; Matoya is the closest, and Matoya is a side character at most.

To be honest, I don’t care about learning a ton more about Y’sthola’s search for knowledge. It’s a typical and, in her case, criminally under-developed motivation. What I do care about is why, surrounded by so many opportunities to connect, she remains quintessentially a stray cat.

It seems to me that Y’shtola’s story would be much more interesting if it was not about this or that arcane magic she can learn to advance the plot, but instead about the deep and personal struggle between individual desire--endless pursuit of knowledge to sate one’s own curiosity--and the abiding desire to belong to others, to forge meaningful connections even if that sometimes means giving up on some of your personal, lone pursuits.

If you are never satisfied, can you ever settle?

Y’sthola’s "character arc” shouldn’t be about intelligence. It should be about wisdom: the discovery that the road to enlightenment might actually be the road that leads you home.

#Y'sthola #ffxiv #ff14 #Final Fantasy XIV #character musing #just some thoughts I was thinking tonight #and I guess I should say #I don't mean this in the sense of #'powerful female character gives up dreams to have a relationship'#I mean this very much in the Ahab and Moby-Dick way of #'sometimes endlessly pursuing a personal aim leaves you bereft'#'sometimes your own desire denies you peace'#what value is knowledge without meaning?#what happens when you've learned all there is to learn?#where lies happiness?

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