Signal Interference: Velvet Dusk

got my MRI results back! the good news: no surgery. the bad news: i probably have arthritis, sob. at least now i know why the treatments the hand doctor gave me weren't working...

in any case, the past week was mostly spent mucking about in new ff14 content, as is typical for patch week. i never got around to writing a post on the new raid tier but i quite enjoyed the fights (and am still quite sad i won't be able to do savage this time around). my hands have generally been feeling well enough for me to actually play, which has been nice, though it's clear that i still need to take it easy overall. still, i'll take what i can get.

also, the new extreme is WILD. what a wild fight. the designers were really cooking with this one.

planning on seeing family this week for the holiday, though the specific plans are still somewhat up in the air. i should be able to see both sides of my family though, so that'll be nice. i got the last few bits of my shopping done this past weekend, so i should be good to go on that front.

still reading this brutal moon; i didn't really intend to read it this slowly but at the same time i've been enjoying it so much that i'm glad to not be rushing it. that said, i've clearly reached the point in act 3 where everything comes to a head and i'd like to read the rest in one sitting, so hopefully i can find time for that this week.

it's that time of the year where i'm starting to think about plans and goals for next year, but i think i'll hold off talking about them in depth until next week. i do think i'm not going to make weekly posts next year; i've enjoyed having an excuse to blog regularly but also i've definitely struggled to think of what to post on slow weeks.

had the MRI last week, but don't have the results yet... here's hoping i can proceed to surgery swiftly, sigh. i really want the full use of my hands back.

other than that, not a whole lot has been going on, tbh. ff14 patch day is tomorrow (yay!) which means i'll be occupied with new stuff in this coming week. in the leadup i have been... still puttering about in the diadem. only 39,000 more grade 3 materials to go! sob. i did completely finish the crafting portion of the firmament grind this week, so now it's just gatherers left.

spotify wrapped came out recently, but in truth it's not that accurate for me because my primary music library is on itunes; i just use spotify for instrumentals when i write. despite the lack of stats, though, i'm pretty sure this has been the year of ayu for me. i've been hooked on her in a way i haven't been for years: i've been listening to my favorite tracks playlist nonstop. (which is a solid 18-hour playlist, lol.) i really should update my ayu site because i've definitely had some new thoughts about old albums. (i'm sorry, Party Queen! i didn't get it!)

in reading news, i am up to 30 books read for the year, which is damn good for squeezing them into the last ~5 months of the year. i'm a little ways into this brutal moon, the third book in the kindom trilogy, which has been phenomenal. i've read a lot of good books this year but this series has jumped to the top of my favorites, i'm truly so enthralled by it.

that's all for now. my holiday plans are a bit up in the air; both of my parents want to see me at the same time on xmas, so we'll see how that shakes out. i still have a fair bit of shopping to do myself, so i should really get on that while i have time...