Keep an eye on your mailbox--ballots mail out soon! Our local elections have the power to shape our state. Make a plan to vote this Election Day!

I just want to go downstairs and write. But I've got doctors appointments and continuing education and seminars to get through before I can get back to the joy I feel creating characters only to put them through hell. So their reprieve continues...

I feel so exhausted all the time. Struggling to get through the days without just falling asleep where I sit.

I'm from Louisiana. I know how to make a King Cake. So, how do I convert this to a No Kings Cake?

I really worry about this country and the standard that we're setting for authoritarian regimes in the world.

Medical news to actually be excited about.

Trying to be positive, so with a lot of prospective office waiting time, I'm gonna hit my TBR. This might be scarier than the MRIs and biopsies. That's a LOT of books...

Finally got a diagnosis this morning for what's been happening with me. Not happy, but at least no one is telling me it's anxiety or stress anymore? #MedSky #BelieveWomen

It's getting to the point where foreigners assume that I'm Canadian again because I'm not an asshole and not grossly overweight. If I hadn't experienced this before, I would be confused. But I was introduced to this at 9, and it's never really changed.

What time is the #Rapture supposed to be today? If I'm going to be stuck at home, I want to make popcorn and wave goodbye to the selfish, small-minded cretins who have made this place Hell.

This ought to be engraved somewhere.

Tylenol doesn't cause autism. It's literally one of the safest medications to use in pregnancy. Kenvue should consider suing the federal government for such a grossly negligent medical statement, which will have safety consequences nationwide for pregnant women and unborn children.

Yay, new symptoms! It's like Christmas every day these days.

Anyone ever gone to the #MayoClinic to figure out what's wrong with them when no one else has a clue? Came as a recommendation from a family member and I am seriously considering it after today's episode.

For those who aggressively resist the concept of socialism, I would like to remind you that we already have a ton of socialist infrastructure that's normalized. Like every single kind of insurance - some of which, like auto insurance, are mandatory. Taxes and all the things they pay for. And so on.

I feel like the argument that "Charlie Kirk didn't go to college" is some of the strongest support to get a good education. The man was a menace that spouted the kind of ignorance disprovable by any child doing a Google search.

I'm SO MAD that I only just realized that my "normal" labs have footnotes modifying their normal ranges based on my sex, age, and the time of day taken. Almost NONE of my labs are actually normal. WHY ISN'T THIS SHIT ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE REPORTING?!

Hahahaaaaaa! My heart finally misbehaved while I was at the doctor's office! VINDICATION

Damn this whole chronic illness thing really sidelined the rest of my life.

I need to come up with a shorthand way to describe why I would go from walking with a cane one day to being in a wheelchair another. I literally work with clinicians. You'd think this wouldn't throw them quite so hard.

Today, I'm going to try not to scream and pull my hair out or cry. Those are my only goals. The scream is already trying to claw its way out from under my sternum.

Every now and again I'll say things like, "God, I love water," or, "Why are salads so good," and the people around me almost inevitably stare at me like I've declaimed blood relation to the sun. Is it really that weird?

Ugh. Airports.

I love the resistance posting where 47 claims there's a safety emergency and then folks who actually live in the supposed danger area post videos of just a normal street on a normal day. So extremely dangerous.

Oh heck yeah!

I got called for an interview for my state's Master Gardener program! I'm so excited. Gardening is one of the few things that help me feel centered and well when I feel terrible. How cool would it be to teach other folks modified ways to garden while disabled?

Today I felt well enough to take my ADHD meds, then proceeded to put together a 20 page booklet about the research that I found on the diet that my new headache specialist put me on. I love Canva.

DUDE #Migraine folks, look up SPG Nerve Block. Holy shit. Not a miracle cute but I'm like 80% better. I can FUNCTION. I'm losing my mind. #ChronicIllness

Counting down the hours until my follow-up with the specialist and the consultation with the service dog trainer, from the floor of my bathroom because migraines are kicking my ass SOUNDLY. Gods, please let this go well. I need something to go well.

Every time I have another migraine episode, I check my email and Instagram messages to see if one of the service dog trainers has responded yet. Trying not to harass them. But GAHDAMIT.

Friendly bad day reminder that it's totally okay to just want pasta with butter or a PB&J if that's what you're willing to eat. Any food is part of a healthy eating habit if it gets you to eat. So go have the cup of ice cream or the handful of olives and be proud that you ate something.

Finally making strides on the service dog, and I'm SO anxious about potentially getting denied over something stupid.

The epistolary horror story came back to me in a visceral nightmare of living trees screaming in a vast, gray nothing. So I guess we're pivoting again.

Holy peaches, I'm tired. And this is only about half of what I made today. 🍑 #HighFunctionDay #FoodIsMagic

I know how we feel about using #AI for creative endeavors. How do we feel about using AI for non-creative research? Like, if I don't know what breeds of dog I should consider or what breeders are in my area for a service dog, is it still bad to use the AI bot for help finding info? #ChronicIllness

Why am I getting a bunch of OF content? What in the algorithm has triggered this, and how do I undo it?

PLEASE REPOST! WRITERS! Uncanny Magazine will be open to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! Uncanny Magazine will be open to Poetry Submissions from August 9 to August 26. WE WANT TO SEE YOUR SHINY WORDS! buff.ly/9AyStcb

It's my birthday. I don't want to celebrate. Not because of any silly notion about age or whatever. But because it feels wrong to celebrate when my brother can't. We shared the same birthday for more than 30 years. I still haven't learned how to do it without him.

Exploring my new(ish) home state is always an act of discovery. #Colorado #KineticArt

How can I more grotesquely describe body horror? *opens medical textbook* Yeesh...

I have this weird sense of imposter syndrome because I feel like the things I write aren't creepy enough and then friends read my work and talk about how they couldn't read my stuff because it's too scary. But they're probably just being supportive, right? Is horror dysmorphia a thing?

Friendly reminder that every word on the page, every page read in an e-book, every book sale is progress. It may be small, but it is still progressed, and you should be proud. #WriterSky

Not just the workers in them either. In places with open shops (ie. Union membership and dues payment is elective), like Colorado, a lot of benefits extend to non-members as well. Shift differentials, wage increases, benefits packages, & more are fought for by the Union but enjoyed by all employees.

Quoting so I can show my kid later.

Creeping myself out by discovering late night writing notes that I don't remember writing. This one sounds like the "Would you love me if I was a worm" thing, except with progressively more disturbing body horror.

I just spent the day feeling like I'm dying, so I'm venting by murdering people with cosmic euphoria and ophthalmology.

Me: Why do I always get sick on vacation?! Body: We're sick all the time. Why not now when we can rest? Me: Because for once, I HAD PLANS. Body: Well, that was our first mistake.

Make this our model, America.

What are you working on? 1. haunted houses with serial killers 2. writing out the psychosis 3. what if your bones could evict themselves from your body? 4. cannibalism

Summer in the Smokies +alt text