#hurricane lore

Hurricane lore time: I started working at the local library part-time when I was 18, gradually getting promoted to a full-time position doing archives and digitization; I also went through college, graduating with a master's in library science. I spent four years applying to every library job opening in the state that I thought I had a chance of getting, but the field is oversaturated - even with a degree, a state certification, and several years of experience, I got interviews but no job offers. The director (my boss) gradually got more erratic and power-hungry over time, eventually cutting my hours to part-time. Between losing hours and health insurance, my paychecks were cut in half overnight, and I left there to work at a resort an hour away.

A few weeks ago, the library board of trustees called me to say that my old boss's position was "suddenly open" (their words) and would I like to apply? So I sent in my resume and cover letter. I also reached out to one of my former coworkers to find out what had happened. My old boss was fired for not showing up for work and for harassing staff - which yeah, that tracks.

-plan @chosen-tp-zelink: done and ready to roll! with any luck i'll remember to promo it on discord, bluesky, etc. Scheduling reminder posts on Tumblr has saved so much time and energy! I am really curious how many people will participate -- I'm the only person that I know is making something, although whenever a reminder post goes up, people interact with it. Idk we'll see how many people participate - if 5 or more people make something I'll probably host it again.

-host @gone-awry again: also ready to roll! I also forget to promo this one 😅 I keep thinking about opening it up to any LOZ ship, and I think I'd only be up for doing that if somebody's up for modding it with me. Last year there were 11 works, and that's without prompts geared for art. If I change the rules to allow any LOZ ship, there will be a lot more fanworks to check and make sure they're tagged appropriately. After the event this year, I'll probably make a post with the info about what another mod would need to do

-make progress on the botw longfic: I haven't touched this in months. It's not just on the back burner, it's stuck in the garage with the propane camp stove and covered in dust. On the other hand, I've been writing pretty much everything else, so...any progress is good progress? 😂

-find a house that's closer to work: I live less than 2 miles from my new job, although we don't like the spot we currently live. We're low key looking for something better, but everything that we like is too expensive. Overall house prices are starting to come down where I live, but the interest rate is going up, so the monthly payment is still ridiculous.

-start a native plants garden: I've had a few sprouts, and honestly they're probably ready to plant now (you know it's been a cold spring when the plugs aren't ready to go until the end of June). I'm probably going to put most of them in the spot where I've been ripping out all the poison ivy, but since that isn't done yet, I'm waiting until the poison ivy is all gone. Somehow I've managed to avoid getting a rash from the poison ivy, which is impressive because I've accidentally touched it with bare skin at least twice. On the bright side, a dogwood shrub showed up in the perfect spot in the backyard, and I found a chokecherry tree about 1 foot from where I was thinking about planting one, so other than the poison ivy, the yard is cooperating with me

-get my press on nail shop up and running: I'm taking this off the list - my new job is 5 days a week. I don't have time for a full time job, taking care of a kid, making sure the house stays livable, and a side hustle. At some point I want to try making press ons for myself, but I haven't even had time/mental bandwidth to do anything but plain gel with no art, so that probably won't happen any time soon. It's been 10 YEARS since I did one solid color 😭 nail art was the thing people irl knew me for, so it's weird to not have it, but I just haven't had time (and work's been absolutely bonkers. I thought it was just me starting a new job, but other people confirmed that it's been ridiculous).

Thanks for the tag @karama9!

Currently reading: Concrete Botany by Joey Santore (It's partly autobiography, partly rant about capitalism and modern society. I think it's mostly written to appeal to people who want a book version of his podcast or YouTube. It's pretty good, but I'm not sure I'll reread it.)

Planta Sapiens by Paco Calvo (this book is fascinating. It explores the ways plants are smart, calculating how to best survive in an environment where they can't really move. People tend to not see plants as smart because they can't move, don't have eyes we recognize, etc).

Coyote America by Dan Flores (this is an audiobook that's going back to the library today, so I haven't gotten very far. I love deep dives about one specific animal, and this is really good so far)

Last film: kpop demon hunters, at the request of my kid. I've seen this movie a zillion times now and it's so good

Last show: probably Bluey for my kid, tbh I don't remember the last show that I sat down to watch. The last thing I watched for my own entertainment was a Twilight Princess playthrough

Coffee or tea: if the choice is only those two, tea. If it's any caffeine option, sugar free mountain dew

Video games: replaying Echoes of Wisdom because it's fun and doesn't require much focus. I have a to play list, but it'll probably wait until my kid is older 😔

Working on:

TP Zelink soulmate au! I'm almost 19k words in, and I think I've figured out a title. Writing these two dorks is so much fun!

I've also been coming up with some ideas for inspiration fics. I didn't think the soulmate au was going to take over this much, or I would have started them already.

Also ripping out some poison ivy at home, but that's not fun to talk about 😫

Ask game (if you want to play): list 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers ✨️

I'm so sorry this took a while to get back to, life stuff took over 😅

my new short commute! I didn't realize how tiring and stressful an hour of driving one way was until I came back to a five minute commute. I only have to fill the car about once a month, and that's with occasionally running errands in town. I was hoping to walk to work, but I wind up having to go to the store or community meetings for work often enough that I haven't walked yet.

the Zelink Sprinters discord. I've written almost every day since February because there's usually somebody else who's ready to sprint there (I tried in other servers, but I don't like sprinting alone, and usually nobody else was ready to sprint when I wanted to).

Kpop Demon Hunters. My toddler loves this movie, and it's one of the best kids' movies I've ever seen. If Zelink didn't have the chokehold on me that it does, I might write fanfic for it.

It's finally green outside. This winter was long, cold, and dark here, and we had SO MUCH snow and ice and general bad weather here. I don't normally get cabin fever, but hoo boy I had this year! But we survived, and now we get to enjoy summer (we skipped spring 😅). I keep finding new plants in my yard that I didn't know were there - a couple weeks ago I found wood anemone, and I thought the soil here was too sandy and acidic for it.

TP Zelink! (saved the best for last ✨) I love writing these two figuring out their relationship. Shipping them makes me so happy, even if I sometimes see gameplay/promo pictures of them and all I can think is "I've written SO MUCH porn of these two" 😅