Fannish miscellany

[luzula]

1) I managed to keep away from the computer for almost all of yesterday, which was good. I've been having problems with my shoulders and hands this week, and computer work is what causes it, so. There's a big workload on the tag wranglers this week in preparation for Yuletide, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's not worth it to sacrifice my health for that. Instead, I played a zombie board game with some friends. One of my friends had made the game, and is beta-testing it. We had lots of fun with that, and then we cooked dinner together. \o/

2) I posted a Fraser/Victoria folk ballad recently for the ds_flashfiction genre challenge. I'm really quite happy with it.

3) I'm doing guest reccing in November for ds_recsredux, and my first set of recs is for short podfics (or podficlets, as I like to call them).

4) Recent podfic: That Which Gives Extras, by katieforsythe (Sherlock Holmes (book canon), Holmes/Watson, NC-17, 1h 7m)

5) Have written 300 words of my DSSS fic, and I'm pretty confident that I can make it.

6) I was pondering [really rare fandom] yesterday, and wondering if I could offer to write it for Yuletide. And then a whole fic suddenly unfolded in my mind! Yuletide isn't quite as nervous-making as it seemed before.

Comments

[suzumenoko.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this!

FYI - When I was in grad school I developed terrible pain in my neck and shoulders from computer use, reading, carrying books, stress, etc. I tried everything and was miserable for a long time. In the end, what helped/cured it was some simple exercises recommended by a physical therapist. She explained that people often develop strength imbalances that cause the wrong muscles to engage, thus bringing on pain. Strengthening the muscles on the opposite side of the body corrects this. The exercises were very mild, gentle movements: "rowing" motions with a light exercise band tied to a doorknob, "push-ups" performed leaning against a wall, holding the head with one hand and leaning gently in the other direction, etc. After a few days of doing this, the pain decreased, and after a few weeks it completely disappeared. The therapist also did massage and hot towels on the affected area, to stimulate healing and relaxation.

It's good to go to the doctor to make sure there's no other health problem, but if it's the kind of thing students, writers, and other computer users suffer, don't despair, it can be cured.

It's a good excuse to visit a sauna, too, or get a nice massage! :)

suzu

[luzula]

Thanks for the tips! I've had problems on and off for years (mostly in my hands and fingers), and never got a real diagnosis (though rheumatism and carpal tunnel syndrome has been ruled out), but I, too have had good help from physical therapists.

I do know how to handle it, though it's hard to make myself do it sometimes--keep away from the computer and do lots of exercise. And massage and liniment are good temporary relief when it flares up again.

[garonne.livejournal.com]

I've listened to The Mountie and the Skogsrå several times already, and I thought I should come back here and tell you how much I loved it!

On the subject of English ballads with supernatural female creatures courting human men, I couldn't but think of King Henry (http://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/songs/kinghenry.html). Like Allison Gross though, it's maybe not so well suited to Victoria... ;)

[luzula]

Oh, thank you! I am so happy that you enjoyed that one--it's still got a special place in my heart.

Huh, I'd never seen King Henry before, but yeah, it has that same thing with the ugliness of the supernatural female creature again. What is with that? The Swedish ballads don't have it...