Things have been quiet here, I haven't written a personal post in a few months, but mainly because I've been super busy in the new year! When 2024 rolled over, I wrote down four resolutions for the year in my planner:
- Get my ear pierced
- Get The Surgery
- Finish my second novel
- Pick up rollerblading again
Now it's April, officially a third of the way through the year, and I've done the first two!
I got my ear pierced in a highly impulsive yet businesslike transaction at Blancolo, which is located under the Glasgow Central railway station bridge. It was basically painless, and after six weeks of waiting around with a plain stud I can stick in a variety of hoop/spike/skull/eyeball related options.
After that, I also visited Stephen in Colorado for a week, since he was staying there all of January to cat-sit and also spend some time visiting with a friend. We ate tacos from a nearby place pretty much every day, one of the main things I haven't found a suitable substitute for in the UK. I also really enjoyed the landscape, which was so different from anywhere else I'd been in the states. It was lovely!
Shortly after coming back I had a consultation for The Surgery (ie, seeking a radical breast reduction), and unlike several other places I'd approached, I felt really good about it and like they'd give me what I wanted.
Stephen came back a few weeks later, and by then I'd gotten a letter saying my surgery would be scheduled for March 6th, which was eventually pushed back to the 25th... On the day of there was also a lot of nerve-wracking back and forth over things running behind and it was uncertain if it'd happen but! one timeslot later than planned, I was put under and three hours emerged extremely loopy and with A cups... "nearly a kilo" taken from each side.
Recovery has been kind of crazy. I feel like I make huge leaps, and dealing with the pain per se hasn't been so bad, but I can still often feel surprised at how delicate I feel, how uncomfortable the on and off swelling can be, or how easy it is to go lightheaded when I have to check my surgical wounds. Taking a shower is a crazy production and I don't leave the house much except to go for walks around the neighborhood. But in other ways it doesn't feel that different, like it just feels like my body matches my self-perception now rather than having this huge, annoying "extra" on it.
After I recover, I want to do a big spring cleanout of clothes I don't wear anymore, and make sure what I have still suits this change to my body. I also want to be able to walk around pollok park and get an ice cream cone carefree, without feeling fragile OR self-conscious about my chest. I have to be patient and know it'll happen eventually.
Even though the month when it took place was crazy due to surgery prep and recovery, I did manage to get in a submission for the most recent iteration of DOMINO CLUB... though I can't reveal which games I had a hand in yet. >:) I've also been working on a zine about my breast reduction (of course) that will likely be among the new stuff Plaintext Distro will have on sale at Glasgow Zine Fair in May. I'm still taking submissions this week if you also have something new you'd like us to distro!
I've been reading and napping and just chilling a lot since the surgery, but I feel like I haven't really been in the right, energetic sort of mindset to keep going with writing fiction, not quite yet anyways. Novel 2 is significantly done barring the last section, which still needs around 5k more words by my estimate... it would be nice to get it done soon. And by then, the weather in Glasgow might be good enough to invest in a pair of rollerblades...