then there are blackbirds

Happy Lunar New Year! 新年快樂! I'm not normally one for horoscopes, but this one was pretty entertaining (I didn't realize there were breakdowns by birth year!).

New Year's Eve dinner was pretty weird this year! At this point I'm used to celebrating at a distance from family as I never have time off to visit, but this year we didn't exactly manage to eat together either. We were all on facetime, but we ended up just talking about random things as we had dinner one by one? xD At least I cooked a decent (one-person) spread. I never tried making guo ba before but my mom sent me some in a giant package o'dry goods earlier this winter, so this was a good excuse! Between store-bought chicken dumplings and fish for the guo ba, I had my bases covered in terms of traditional foods that my family does. The only thing missing was spinach, because I couldn't find any whole ones in the grocery nearby. Frozen and (more importantly) chopped nullifies the longevity parallel, wouldn't you say? :P

♣ Back from my dance weekend (so worth the massive sleep debt) and back to work! The dance post will have to wait until later this week, but I haven't forgotten about the meme prompts.

♣ Not having participated in any of the marches, I was still super happy about all the updates my friends and family were sending me this weekend. Must figure out a photo post, but for now, the best sign I've seen (c/o my sister): "SUPER CALLOUS FRAGILE RACIST EXTRA BRAGGADOCIOUS", and the best link I've seen: protest llama!

♣ Lunar New Year is coming up this weekend, and I'm not sure how I'm going to celebrate yet! Well, I've already figured out when I'll get my preparatory cleaning in, but that's about it; I don't know if I have the time or energy to do a dumpling party the way I did last year. We could go to Chinatown for dinner or something but I'm guessing it'll be crowded and possibly a bit more expensive. Maybe a potluck or a dim sum brunch...?

♣ I've lost track of a number of links from private conversations, alas, but I've updated my resource list with some additional organizations.

♣ Roomie got some perfumes and essential oils on her family vacation, which all smelled nice but were completely perplexing. My nose is not accustomed to this many different things! The lavender oil she gave me relaxed me into a puddle of contented sleep yesterday though. \o/ :D

新年快樂! Happy Lunar New Year to everyone celebrating! :D

eta; relevant considerations:
- LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!!
- I don't have class until Monday evening.
- At home there is food!
- However, here there is library access (and I put in a book request this afternoon...).
- Also, no worries about post-blizzard road conditions and shoveling.
- Productivity may or may not be a toss-up at either place.

Wow, okay, this is the first time in the last 48ish hours that I haven't been frantically doing ALL THE THINGS! I still have a lot more things to do, alas, but while I'm on my mental break, have some shinies:

&hearts eastasianfandomgiftbag! Fandom-stocking-style wishlists! I am SO doing this the second I have free (procrastination) time again, omg. *____*

&hearts wistfuljane made a reclist of Ouran OT7 fic! SO MUCH GLEE.

&hearts Kaleidoscope! I know, I know, I am like THE LAST PERSON ON THE INTERNET to rifle through the collections (& am being terribly slow at that), but seriously, so many gorgeous things! &doers of darkness; Actual recs to come at... some point, I promise. :3

&hearts white_lotus Lunar New Year Exchange is running again this year! Signups have closed, but drop ALL THE TREATS REQUESTS, you guys! ALL OF THEM. :D

1. Happy lunar new year to everyone celebrating! &hearts

2. I am wearing red today, but not visibly: the gorgeous new shirt my mom gave me happens to be very obviously Chinese, and I don't feel up to being questioned and prodded as some exotic sideshow on a holiday that I'm already celebrating without my family this year. It was a no-win situation, really, but I still feel like I lost.

3. I still haven't decided what I'm doing for tonight/whether I want to brave Chinatown after work. My email chain regarding Saturday's hotpot/potluck party is exploding like a firecracker, though, and wistfuljane pointed to the most adorable Appa/Catbus fanart and posting for the white_lotus Lunar New Year exchange has kicked off, so I think I'll be content no matter what. :)

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