the bone-joint-muscle test was awful (class average 55% excluding the two who got 100% and the fact several people didn't show up) This test for whatever reason (I suspect because it's their first real hard core physiology) is always a blood bath. I always make them work for extra credit for the test (by doing short essays on the most missed questions) Took me all night to grade it.

And all day. Had to learn new software for it but that was easy peasy.

My hip is still in horrendous pain. Fun times

And here's the real reason for the post. Music Monday today was best song from High School Years

Here have this

I swear my whole dorm (the next year since this came out in my senior year) would stop and race to our tvs when this video came on MTV


And bonus music because Angel is Italian and Husk is fluent, have Losing Streak in Italian

I'm still very upset with myself and deadlines. I miffed another one by a day. (Ditto with a con a friend wanted me to go to AND scheduling the exams this week). I swear my brain see it but writes it as something else. I've barely submitted this year. It's disappointing but a lot of the open calls haven't matched anything I have in my stable.

So what shall we talk about today? Something I've mentioned before but let's touch on this again because of Hazbin Hotel last week. The OverPowered character and what to do with them. ( spoilers for S2 if that matters to you )

So what do you do? Superman has this issue so they came up with kryptonite but then it gets ridiculous. That crap turned up everywhere. Ditto green lantern who is threatened by the color yellow. Captain Marvel faces the same issue. She's so powerful she could have smited Thanos so they sent her to the other side of the universe.

How then do we deal with over powered characters without things getting silly or making them look stupid? It's not that easy. Hazbin went with both pulling Lucifer's fangs AND making him look stupid which annoyed me. There needs to be a way to do this that doesn't make your character look/act dumb.

One way is to not get into the situation in the first place but what if you can't avoid it, say in the case of Lucifer an established entity in everyone's mind.

Another way actually is what they did with Marvel, get them out of the picture for some (hopefully good) reason. In this case above with Lucifer, there was no reason they couldn't send him to another ring of hell and he didn't know what was happening because he was busy elsewhere (though I suspect they are planning to use this to force his daughter into actions she doesn't want to take)

Any thoughts on this? Have you handled it? Ideas for handling it?

Any thoughts on the student who just emailed me at 10 pm asking for when unit 3 test is as if I haven't been posting it for weeks? It's tomorrow btw.


Open Calls


5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in November 2025

Dracula Beyond Stoker Issue 9 Theme: Bram Stoker

Book Worms Horror Zine Theme: Apocalyptic Horror!

Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores December 2025 Window Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch

25 Manuscript Publishers Always Open to Submissions



From Around the Web

Sensory Feast: The Power of the Five Senses in Writing got this one from ushobwri

Heads up! from a Short Story Judge

Should You Submit To The Non-Paying And/Or Semi-Professional Markets?

How to Worldbuild (Your Physical World)

How Do Book Clubs Find You?

Is Your Writing “Good Enough” to Publish?

So all I did was go to the writers group meeting in Athens to relax and that helped until my sugar decided you know what would be fun? Let's hit 500 and now go into freefall. Maybe she'll live, maybe she won't. It's falling so fast right now my dexcom has double down arrows. I've never even SEEN that before. This shall be a fun night.

So have the story I wrote this week. I'm happy about it.

Title: The Way You Look Tonight

Summary: All Husk wanted to do was something fun for his special day. What he got was paperwork and disappointment until something unexpected happened. In that moment, he truly saw Angel for what he was: one of the most amazing people Husk had ever known.

Rating: teen

( story under here and at link above )


And also for fannish 50 have my thoughts about this week's Hazbin Hotel episodes and my rec of the week and let me be the last to say woo hoo fandomtrees is back. I need to fix up my requests.

( My spoilery thoughts under here )

I decided to put the music outside the cut but obviously they have spoilers too

My boy: (also Keith David singing!)

My boys together (what Blake did with this song is pretty amazing)


Chaggie (it's catchy)


All the recs

A Terrible Thing Torchwood

Reading Time FAKE

Waste Of Time Hazbin Hotel

Losing to a Bottle Hazbin Hotel

Weathering The Storm Torchwood

Left Behind The Fantastic Journey

Candid Hazbin Hotel

Braid and Twist Hazbin Hotel

From the Mornings You Ease to the Evenings You Quiet Legends of Avantris

Fight Fire With Fire Hazbin Hotel

Sewer Surprise Torchwood


he looks like the real thing Hazbin Hotel

She Screams Quietly Hazbin Hotel

Before She Asks Hazbin Hotel

To Be Ordinary Torchwood/Doctor Who

Traitorous Thoughts. Fake

This is my second to last yoga session and this is the first one where I am hurting afterward. Like a lot. Yay. head desk. I am encourage to know our instructor is looking for her own studio and is thinking of adding chair yoga. I would sign up for that. My days of doing floor yoga is coming to an end.

And I'm THIS close to getting water fitness on the books at work for next semester. yay.


What I Just Finished Reading:

nothing. sigh, not even fanfic

What I am Currently Reading:

Blacksad - a anthropomorphic noir graphic novel

Haunted Cemeteries of Ohio - you know why

Anne of Green Gables - I am shocked at how much I like this


Revenge Serve Royal - historical mystery

What I Plan to Read Next: Elfquest for popsugar

sung to the tune of I drove all night.



We're not even waiting for winter to get snowy. I do like snow though. I like it IN my mail box less especially since there were 2 gifts in there, well gifts for me but still. An Abney Park CD and the new
Mooncat nail polish I hope the cold didn't change the chemicals because this is the most expensive nail polish I've ever bought and I hope I can figure it out since it requires the use of magnets.

I think the entire class traumatized the poor German young man in there. He probably thinks Americans are insane (sorry sir but you're in Appalachia. You need to understand people here are gonna eat squirrels and rabbits. His eyes bugged out when I asked 'no Hasenpfeffer?')


I did look around at Pintrest for music challenges and found a couple 30 days things so I'm borrowing from but it'll be weeks. I have to finalize the full list but the one I picked for day is a song from your childhood that you played to death. Okay mine is very weird and then I found this bizarre, disturbing video that went with it (also keep in mind as a child I understood Italian better than I do now as after my great grandma died it was no longer spoken at home until my grandmother got into her 80s and wanted to relearn things). Feel free to share a favorite song from your childhood

So I was there when it opened because I had to vacate the hotel and the coffee house I wanted to go to is on street parking and good luck finding a spot. Ha. My new GPS doesn't know its left from its right but it's rather hard to miss the Washington County fairground building. I have questions. Big ones.

This venue is on par with the tiny cons my friends run in Athens or the one at my university. the space is about the size of a basketball court. So HOW did they get nearly a dozen guests lined up? Granted these aren't A listers but still. I thought there would be more events than this. Nope just the cosplay and the vendors so note to self, next time just drive up. There are no lines for this (much like the aforementioned small cons) or at least come up to Marietta and do other things the night before.

The vendors were good. I bought crap I don't need like usual (You bought a plant Dana. Go to your shame corner). I bought more rocks (now you stay in that shame corner) but I didn't buy books (okay you can come out eventually) I did get a cool wine glass (I thought it was glass but its food safe resin) with Medusa on it. More and more she feels like my spiritual twin. Bought some holiday gifts.

Had the singularly worst cup of coffee this year. They had a drink vendor, mostly these fruity drinks made of 90% torani syrups and pop. I can't drink those (because my sugar is sky high today, maybe because I slept like crap on that rock hard broke ass bed) 'oh we just added coffee'. It sounded good. Basically caramel and butterscotch with some whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. At least it wasn't pricey. I swear to you there was a demon in it that drank up the sugar because it was bitter as hell in spite of the syrups and I'm fairly sure it was just brown water. Like did you make a singular cup of coffee and then water it down into this?!?

So...I met Butch Patrick. I did think Eddie Munster was cute when I was a child. He was a sweet guy seemed very impressed that I was a doctor (that came up in conversation with someone else standing in line while we waited for the boomer to figure out how to use his phone to take payment). Shook my hand upon meeting me wasn't expecting that.



I had planned to go to Spagna's for lunch, the Italian place I like in Marietta but oops it's dinner only but right around the corner (literally) is Harmar historical village within Marietta (one of the oldest cities in Ohio) and Harmar tavern. I did a dumb thing. I looked at the ABV percentage of alcohol after I drank the drink. I'm like Oooo Ace's Peach cider (they do, for my money, the best ciders in America) I didn't think about it having a lot of alcohol. Only as much as three beers. Oops. I tried food I wouldn't normally eat, a juicy lucy with pimento cheese, hot honey and pickles. It seemed like usual sandwich price...only I learned it had no fries/chips/side of any kind so that made it pricier and...someone in their kitchen needs to learn what a juicy lucy is (the cheese is inside the burger). It was tasty but it wasn't a juicy lucy.

I also needed gas so I swung past Stokes coffee shop on my way to the gas station which I haven't been too in forever. Pumpkin Maple Macchiato oooo so good. I let the caffeine and alcohol battle it out (shut up liver, you're fine)

I stopped off in Athens at Marshall's for more christmas shopping and into Jackson for my brisket sandwich (eating more beef in one day than I usually do all month)

And then I cam home and started grading the last class of bone practical exams. It's finally happened. Someone scored a zero. They wrote something in every blank but missed all 85 questions. I didn't think that was possible. Also everyone the hyoid is NOT a baby mandible. Good guess though. Can someone get more about five more of those 10% alcohol ciders?

Have the fannish recs

Organizing the Future Teen wolf

Angel Enchanted Hazbin Hotel

Out of Touch Chainsaw Man

An Invitation ("Say It") Doctor Who

No Program In My Spice Please Star Trek: Lower Decks

Out Of The Frying Pan… Torchwood

Perfection Hazbin Hotel

Hypocrites Get What's Coming Hazbin Hotel

Stuck in this Godforsaken Town. Hazbin Hotel

Toxic Bliss Hazbin Hotel

Lot #69 (Lurched Like a Stray to the Arms That Were Open) Hazbin Hotel

we can go forever, until you wanna sit it out Hazbin Hotel

Burn The Murderbot Diaries

Behind The Scenes Hazbin Hotel

The Ol' Razzle Dazzle Hazbin Hotel

Family Fears Torchwood

Life After Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Slumber By Your Side Star Trek: The Original Series

forgetting any other tie but this 山河令 | Word of Honor

Red Hood: Hollow Mercy Batman

To Be Known Merlin

Pretzels and Pizza Hawkeye/Thunderbolts

Open Arms Teen Wolf

Not My Father Batman

Meanwhile, Back in Beacon Hills Teen Wolf

93 from Oak HIll to Ironton (on my way to Ashland KY) is perfect for curve hugging cars and I'm sad my parents no longer have their miata because it would have been fun. But naturally because I planned to get to Ashland in time for brunch at this brunch place, I get behind someone terrified of curves going up and down the hills and is crawling along.

You can't pass on this road for the most part. Sigh. At least Wayne Forest (which it cuts thru) was beautiful in colors. And I made it to the clinic on time.

I instantly liked Dr. B. What an old hippie with tons of gemstone bead bracelets on. He shook my hand upon meeting me and leaving. He even escorted me out the back way because it was quicker to the elevators up. He essentially said the same thing the other surgeon said but explained his reasonings. Most thyroid tumors are benign (I knew this).

Yes i should be concerned about the one that is a TR4 nodule (which can be cancerous). We're going to take the watchful waiting approach and follow up next year. We can biopsy it which has changed since my days in the OR. They now do genetic studies on the sample which is over 90% accurate. Good to know because that's a mere needle biopsy.

I explain my concerns about the compressive sensations. He believes it's because my thyroid on the right is 25% larger than it should be. He doesn't want to remove it yet because there is a chance of nicking the nerves to my voice box (he does use a nerve finder, another cool tool I did not have access to 30 years ago) and if my parathyroid glands are stuck into my thyroid (which is not uncommon) i could have calcium issues for life.

Fair. I can live with the sensation now that we're sure this is what it is. I do worry I won't see him again because seriously he is an old hippie, dude has to be approaching 70. But we shall see. This is how you treat patients btw. (also he was super impressed with the thyroid ultrasound, wanted to know who did it)

I hit Superhero creamery on the way home. It's a combo comic book, superhero themed ice cream, paint your own greenware ceramics joint. Thankfully I remembered it moved in the mall and I got myself a laven-doom (Dr Doom) lavender ice cream/blackberry swirl ice cream dish. Yum.

I wanted coffee (needed the caffeine) saw a starbucks. ugh but beggars can't be choosers. The line was onto the road in the drive thru so I went inside. Also nuts and they were getting constant phone calls. Apparently some Hello Kitty stuff dropped today and at 6 AM there were people lined up and it was sold out before the official opening of the store. Wow


Got home, called for a hotel room in Marietta for tomrrow. The front desk lady askes 'do you know what's going on in Marietta this weekend?

Me - Well I know I'm coming in for the Marietta Monster Mash

Desk - SQUEEEE. It's so good. Have you been before?

Me - no

Desk - EDDIE MUNSTER IS STAYING AT THE HOTEL

Me - cool. (listens to her gush about the horror con for a while, gets my room) oh it'll be a late check in (I have my writers group meet up in Athens first)

Desk - Hon, I'm here til midnight. I get to check in all the stars!!! See you tomorrow.

She's so excited. Ha.

I also managed to do my writers group on zoom tonight and fit in both episodes of Hazbin. Wow. Just wow. (also almost every story of mine got jossed but such is the perils of an active fandom)

But waste it I did. There were still mistakes on the test. two caught in test and fixed, one while grading. Ah well. Some of the students wasted my time. Can you tell me what you mean by what is this projection of bone? No. I have spent SEVEN weeks telling you that so no. And the one who's slated to do this test on friday asks 'is there a list online?' If you don't know this after 9 weeks, I don't like your chances. (the answer is yes, I've been showing them this every week for 8 weeks)

But the biggest waste of my time...it's a toss up between sleeping and voting.

I slept great from 2-6 AM and then from 6-8 I woke up and fell asleep so many times I was convinced I forgot to set the alarm and sleep paralysis-ed my way through it. And the dream was weird. I was in a fancy spa bathing area, trying to bathe...with the door open and somehow this led to murder. I don't know why I killed the person or how I disappeared the body but the rest of the dream was me trying to dispose of the chair I set him in (which had been mixed in to a church hall sort of room) and the blade...

As for voting, I have zero tv stations from OH (as Charleston WV is the closest big city along with Ashland NY) BUT on Facebook governor and senate race ads have been hitting hard and heavy so I thought that was what we were voting on. I have to go thru the hinter lands to get to my voting bingo hall and...it's for 3 school board members and three levies to keep 911 and firefighters rolling. Really? I could have skipped this.


Fannish 50 junk

Baking shows. I don't watch many anymore but I do watch Halloween and Holiday baking shows and I guess they're getting long in the tooth. I'm also wondering how rigged all of this is? Or how swayed we are by sad stories.

In Halloween we had one guy who apparently thinks this is another type of show, where you have villains etc but that was only episode 1. I thought maybe they spoke to him but that wasn't true apparently because in the second to last episode another baker commented on this sort of bullying and smack talking but they opted not to show it. I guess it tested poorly. It did with me. I can watch other shows if I want that. The winner had two sob stories. Was she good enough? I think the other two were better and it made me wonder did they decide to give it to her?

Holiday baking challenge aired last night and it is in teams with them bickering like the other sorts of cooking challenges with teams. I hate that. I have enough drama without that. Do you like that kind of thing? I figure someone does as it's so prevalent. I hope that won't be the whole of the show.