Archive

Avoiding YouTube’s algorithm I’m still trying to spend less time watching YouTube, and the trick mentioned in this earlier post has been really good. I’ve actually gone one step further now, and I’m pleasantly surprised with how well it (usually) works. I mentioned it a …

Skyrim will always be delightful

Finished reading: We Are the Beasts by Gigi Griffis 📚

🍿 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) - ★★★★☆ Don’t think I’ve seen this since it came out. Pleasantly surprised that it’s still really funny

Just been watching this YouTube video about using YouTube in a ‘healthy’ way. The main point was to get away from the algorithm by staying away from the front page for the most part, and instead using your Subscriptions page to browse and choose something to watch. And to be happy to …

🍿 The Thursday Murder Club (2025) - ★★★☆☆ The more I think about it, the more I realise this is missing the lovely ‘neat little package’ thing that murder mysteries are supposed to do at the end (and the book does do it, so it’s a shame). I still enjoyed watching it though, and Ibrahim is still my …

Waiting for it to become officially official, but at the end of the month I’m going to be stepping down from my current role at work into something less people-focused. I’m going to be sad about the reduced pay, and nervous about working with a new peer group, but I’m also kind of …

February review: watching films in my living room is awesome Hearing aids are awesome ear infections aren’t 🫠 productivity: it’s good to make a list but don’t expect to actually do it all don’t be scared to ‘think on paper’ You’re not wasting paper

Ascetic Bullet Journal The main problem with the bullet journal method is maintenance. Separating the entries into multiple locations and transferring them from one place to another, for me, was too much. What I was looking for is, quoting Steve Losh(2), a “list manager for people that want to …

Finished Reading: How to Come Alive Again by Beth McColl 📚 This was an audiobook from the library. I wanted something that could be kind of playing in the background, just giving me some advice while I’m doing chores and driving to work and things. It worked.

An update from this post: here is my completed tracker for January. No alcohol all month! And the stress/anxiety levels weren’t too bad. The thing is I can’t tell if alcohol had an effect on how I felt because I didn’t drink at all. So I suppose that means I need to drink tons in …

Finished Reading: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman 📚 Scary to think I’m almost caught up - only one more book out! Like, I know these books should be silly and far-fetched and they are, but they’re also somehow really really good. I hope the seventh one isn’t going to be the last one

Finished Reading: Dead Happy by Josh Silver 📚

This sticker seemed appropriate for my new #bulletjournal

2024 in the bin where it belongs

Not surprised to see Skyrim and The Witcher on here, but I am kind of shocked at how much I played Enter the Gungeon! I got it while it was on sale, I think, and it’s not really my kind of game. And I’m definitely rubbish at it. But I do find it quite fun to play now and again, and …

This is my tracker for January in my #BulletJournal. I want to start off slowly, not put any real pressure on myself to do anything I wouldn’t normally do, and also test out a little theory. When I drink alcohol, I notice when I go to bed that my heart is beating pretty fast, and it makes it …

Look at this handsome A6 notebook. I’m going back to pen and paper bullet journaling. This time I’m armed with a bit of self-compassion, to remember that if a task isn’t done or an idea isn’t acted on it’s actually okay. I ordered some stickers off Redbubble so I might …

Finished Reading: Wastelands by John Joseph Adams 📚 Slowly made my way through this over several months. A couple of the stories made no sense, a few made me say ‘well okay’. My favourite stories were Waiting for the Zephyr and The End of the World as We Know It

Finished Reading: Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix 📚 I love Ikea, I like scary books. This was fun

Renewed my domain name just now. Reminds me that I should be blogging a little more. I mean, I enjoy it, why don’t I try and find a little more time at weekends and stuff?

Finished Reading: Cocoa Curses by Erin Johnson 📚 Between this and Meltdown in Christmas River, I… guess I like cozy mysteries? The Christmas theme is definitely optional though. Are… are there any gay ones?

Finished Reading: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 📚 I read Notes of a Nervous Planet by the same author a few weeks ago, and in that book he talks about how much he likes the film It’s a Wonderful Life. Totally agree by the way, considering it’s December now I will have to find …

Hit my goal of 25 books in 2024. I’ve aimed for 25 for a few years now and usually manage it. I think I might increase it to 30 for 2025. Reading seems to becoming more of a habit for me now 😊📚

Finished Reading: The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman 📚 I am kind of addicted to this series!

Finished Reading: Plague by Graham Masterton 📚 Well, this definitely was a break from reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. I think I was expecting something a little bit different (not sure what exactly) but what I got was a badly-aged book from the seventies where all the guy characters seemed to be …

Finished Reading: How to Make the World Add Up by Tim Harford 📚

I got myself a library card the other week. Then idea started when I went with my sister and 4-year old niece to collect their cards. Our local library is actually tiny but there’s a kiddie section with a few bookshelves full, plus a little table where you can do colouring in, so my niece is …

🎮 A Short Hike (2019) This was on sale recently on the Nintendo eShop so I grabbed it. Played for an hour or so and finished the game (although I didn’t complete everything). What a cute funny game, and there’s no padding or anything at all, just get started, get exploring, and see about …

Finished Reading: Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig 📚 I kind of feel like this is the book equivalent of a packet of biscuits. very comforting, maybe not as substantial as might like, and, admittedly, kind of repetitive. But comforting, and very nice, and will help you feel better if consumed …

I’ve played a few hours of #Factorio 2.0 this week. I’ve bought Space Age but since I’ve started a new game I haven’t seen any of the expansion content yet. Looks amazing so far though! The way the world generates seem cooler now. On my map I don’t have little cliffs …

Finished Reading: Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman 📚 Time to have a break from this series now. The last part of this book brings in some new perspective though, but if a teaser for the next book and I am pretty intrigued. I feel like I shouldn’t like this series, it’s either gross or it’s …

Finished Reading: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman 📚

Finished Reading: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman 📚

Walking home the other day and there’s leaves on the ground. Some of them were oddly white

🎮 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) Thoughts I know Skyrim is eight hundred and seventy four years old now but every year, as soon as the weather starts to get a bit colder, for some reason I get an urge to play Skyrim again. Usually I make myself a stealth archer, play for a few hours and get …

Currently reading: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman 📚

Finished Reading: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman 📚 Flew right through the second book of this series. I feel as though I should find the gamified stats and talk of menus and tooltips to be cheesy and to spoil things, but I suppose it all moves fast enough that it’s actually …

Finished Reading: Looking After Your Autistic Self by Niamh Garvey 📚 Another book that I’m still thinking about. I’ve made myself an initial Quick Calm Plan that I’m sure will change but it’s nice to have something to get started with. I never thought much about bring things …

Finished Reading: The Courage To Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi 📚 I am still thinking about this one so I’m not sure I have too much to share. I think I read this at the right time to have it resonate with me. The idea of ‘tasks’ and looking after your own tasks, and not interfering …

Finished Reading: Problem Child by Victoria Helen Stone 📚 This is book two in a series and I read the first one ages ago but I can’t remember it. My Kindle says I read it though. They’re on Kindle Unlimited so I must have read it during a free month or something. I don’t know how I …

Finished Reading: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman 📚 My new Kindle Scribe came with a few free months of Kindle Unlimited and that’s where I spotted this book. I’ve never heard of LitRPGs but I suppose this is a one of them? I was expecting mindless silliness and to be fair, …

I’m behind on posting my thoughts about books I’ve read recently. Mostly, this is because I’ve finished reading them (once) but I’m not finished thinking about them yet. Still, want to post some initial thoughts for now

Finished Reading: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 📚 I’m not sure if this was quite as amazing as the internet makes it out to be, but I definitely did enjoy it. I was aware going in that the prose would go from descriptive and flowing to a sudden, very modern sort of slang. I thought that …

New idea for wardrobe organisation: I’m not sure if it’s an autism thing, or a depression thing, or just a me thing, but I find it hard to get dressed on a morning. Like, it just seems like a harder task than it needs to be. Recently I had a clearout of my wardrobe and I thought I’d try rearranging things to see if I …

Currently reading: The Courage To Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi 📚

Currently reading: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman 📚

Currently reading: Looking After Your Autistic Self by Niamh Garvey 📚

🎮 Reigns (2016) Downloaded this from Apple Arcade because I was looking for a simple game that would be fun to play on my phone to kill 5 minutes here and there. I thought this would be a pretty straightforward randomised-type of game, and it is, but there are ‘achievements’ that you can …

Finished Reading: Fast. Feast. Repeat. by Gin Stephens 📚 Interesting book, and it’s helped me to neaten up what I think my body has wanted me to do all along. Key points for me: water and black coffee only until you’re ready to start actually eating. Other stuff will make you feel hungry or shaky …

Currently reading: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 📚

Currently reading: Wastelands by John Joseph Adams 📚 Gonna try and slowly make my way through these stories. Been ages since I’ve read an ‘apocalypse’ type story

Currently reading: Fast. Feast. Repeat. by Gin Stephens 📚 I heard about this on a podcast and it’s got me interested because actually I think I kinda do this already? I’ve said for years that my stomach wakes up several hours after I do, so I’ve never really been big into eating …

Finished Reading: Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies by Tara Schuster 📚 Bit of a case of reading the right thing at the right time. I think overall I’m glad I read this. Her life is really different to mine, and so is her personality, and also so are a lot of the ways she went about fixing …

Nintendo Direct - Thoughts I got round to watching the Nintendo Direct that came out a week or so. Here are my thoughts: Mario & Luigi I loved Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and the other games have been alright but not amazing. I’ll keep an eye on this one and stay hopeful Nintendo …

Currently reading: Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies by Tara Schuster 📚

Finished Reading: Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers 📚 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This series is just cosy and nice, just… people getting along and trying to understand themselves and each other. It’s not exciting but it just makes you feel quietly good.

Currently reading: Cheer Up Love by Susan Calman 📚

📺 Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99 (2022) I watched this after listening to the episode about Woodstock ‘99 on The Big Flop podcast. I’m a bit surprised I hadn’t heard about this before as this was kind of my era (then again I was only a teenager and the internet wasn’t as …

I really like the new Apple Watch Pride Strap. The fluorescent colours are very pretty. (I promise it isn’t as tight as it looks in this photo, it’s nice and comfy 😊)

Dropping a stress ball in slow motion: 

One of my fidget toys - a big squishy ball with tinsel-ish stuff inside. My sister and I were wondering what it would look like in slow motion. I like it!

Finished Reading: The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris 📚 Like when I read the first edition years ago, I’ve come away with some ideas about the kind of person I want to be and how I might realistically start moving in that direction. I like the new ‘tools’ in this edition too

I’m looking forward to seeing actual videos of the new Apple Watch pride strap. It looks nice in Apples photos and I’m pretty tempted

📷 Blue sky and green trees today

My little niece had her first sleepover at my house yesterday. I probably got about 2 hours sleep total last night but we had fun and I returned her to her parents in one piece at lunch time today so overall it was a huge success. We talked about her sleeping over again something and I said yes but …

DNF: You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney 📚 Meh. I’ve been on Reddit too

Currently reading: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore 📚

My little bike: I should have bought a bike ages ago! I bought this little folding bike from Halfords a few months ago, thinking that it will be a way to get myself outside a bit more. I’m still taking my time here because it’s kind of hilly where I live, and there are some really bike-unfriendly roads. …

After having a really rough time at work over the last several weeks, my boss suggested I move my compressed day off from a Monday, as I was coming in to work every Tuesday morning on the back foot, with everyone else having a day’s worth of demands to chuck at me. I asked if I could have …

Currently reading: Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers 📚

Redoing my todo list for non-work stuff: Trying out a new way of keeping a todo list for non-work stuff, inspired by Plaintext Productivity. I’m not using todo.txt as I can’t see a way to have that information available on a widget that I can have on the home screen of my phone. So I’m sticking with using iOS’s …

Finished Reading: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett 📚 The Witches are definitely my fave Discworld characters. I want to be Granny Weatherwax when I grow up lol

Currently reading: The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris 📚 I’ve read the first edition but not this one. I’m cautious of self-help books but this one actually had some real substance and practical stuff that has helped me before. March was a super crummy month for me and I need that help …

🎮Resetting my progress on Vampire Survivors today. I think the pretty lights and dopamine will do me good at the moment

Todo.txt, Notepad++ and AutoHotKey: Recently been getting oddly excited about using todo.txt, after I discovered plaintext-productivity.net. My work laptop is super locked down though so I can’t install any apps (can’t even get Sleek off the App Store) so it’s Notepad++ and AutoHotKey all the way (I’m thrilled …

🍿 The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) - ★★★☆☆ Finally got around to watching this (with my sister and my niece). It’s exactly what you expect it to be. Dumb fun, my niece loved it

A notebook to save you from infinite scrolling. - Invidious The life tracker system is a journalling method I developed to help me optimize and document my life. It’s one of the lowest friction ways to start the habit of journalling. Just wanted to share this with you guys, hope you found it …

Goodness me, today’s Knotword had me stuck for a good while!

Before and after. Finally giving my poor long-neglected succulents another try. I can’t explain how there’s a flower on one of them because I’ve hardly watered them for months and months. I hope I haven’t upset it too much.

Spent some time with my sister today and as part of our talking we pretty much both agreed that we are both autistic. It’s not something we’ve ever discussed with each other in any real way. We chatted about how we’re rubbish in social situations, except for those rare times when …

Thinking about interoception today. When I was little I was super skinny, I guess it would have been looked at like an eating disorder or something. But as I remember it, I was just never hungry. I think I still get this nowadays, maybe when I’m feeling down, or stressed or overwhelmed. I just …

📺 The Traitors (2022) - ★★★★★ Watched Season 2 of this across a span of a few weeks just now and it was awesome! I’m looking forward to the next series. I’ve always thought this game (Werewolf or Mafia or whatever you want to call it) is really interesting, I think because quite often I …

The nice Irish lady who does the VoiceOver for the mindfulness videos on Silvercloud is some good ASMR 😊

I’m going to give One Album A Day - 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die another go. I treated myself to the ebook to go with it cos I think I’ll enjoy browsing that Any reviews or thoughts may or may not end up here! 🎶

Currently reading: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett 📚 A re-read because Granny Weatherwax is awesome 😊

Finished Reading: All Systems Red by Martha Wells 📚 Enjoyed this. I’ll be on the lookout for the rest of the series. I usually wait until ebooks are 99p on Amazon before I buy them and I don’t think these have ever changed price, plus they’re pretty short. But I enjoyed reading it …

Had my first talking therapy session today, then drove to the nearby park for a little walk. I’m quite scared of driving so getting to the appointment was good, going to the park was like a victory lap

Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase Thoughts: 🎮 I finally got around to watching the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase from a week or two ago. Here are my thoughts: Grounded - meh Ender Magnolia - Vague Hollow Knight vibes. Doesn’t mean I’m excited about it though. Might be worth keeping an eye on Arranger - I like puzzle games but …

My phone case was intact about a week ago. Now it’s crumbling before my very eyes. I don’t think I’ve done anything to hurt it 🤷‍♀️

Goodness me my first talking therapy appointment is on Monday! That turned up much faster than I was expecting. I wanted to make a decent bit of progress on SilverCloud first and I’ve done like 1.5 modules. So I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend. Feeling a bit weird about it, …

I don’t know if this is the case in every Ikea but at the one here the display for the scented candles is absolutely spectacular, and I can’t figure out why they’d put so put money and effort into £5 candles 🤷‍♀️

Drafts is brill so I'm trying to use OneNote the same way at work: I’m trying out using OneNote at work the way I use Drafts at home. I’ve finally memorised the global hotkey to create a new home (it’s the Windows key + control + N…. I think haha) and any time I want to start writing an email or making the beginnings of a powerpoint or …

Currently reading: All Systems Red by Martha Wells 📚

My sister told me about Longdog on Bluey yesterday and we spent the most intense half an hour watching episodes we’ve seen dozens of times before, while my niece chilled out drawing and not playing attention in the slightest. Had to switch the TV off when we both got headaches

The Lion of Gripsholm Castle popped into my head today and I had to go and read about it again so I thought I would share: The Greatest Castles in Sweden: and the Story of the Gripsholm Lion - Exploring Castles

Went out for another go on my little bike again today. It’s been so long since I’ve been on a bike and considering the fact I fell off the last time I went out, I thought I would just practice the absolute basics. So spent a nice 30 minutes in a quiet part of the street just braking, …

PlateUp! Thoughts: 🎮 PlateUp! (2022) I’ve played a bit of this on the PC and bought the Switch version last week. My first thought when I tried it on the Switch was that it looked a bit rough and ready. I’m not sure why but the graphics looked okay on PC, and then just a bit rough and unclear on the Switch …

Finished Reading: The Fold by Peter Clines 📚 Enjoyed this quite a lot. I read ‘14’, the previous book in the series years ago and I’m kind of wondering why I waited so long to read this one. If there’s one thing that 14 had over this book it’s the way that the story …

Stinge Watching and why can't we have TV Playlists: Stinge Watching Is the Opposite of Binge Watching When I find a new show I really like or I’m digging into the newest season of a favorite series, instead of getting hooked and then blasting through all the available episodes, I’ll slow down or even stop watching so as to prolong the pleasure…or to …

Had my talking therapy assessment appointment this morning. I was feeling a bit unsure about it because mostly I’ve been feeling alright recently, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. The lady was really nice though, went through some questions and things, and now I’m set up …

Using Drafts to post 3GoodThings to Mastodon, and add to a running list in Bear: I like being part of the 3GoodThings group and hashtag on Mastodon. It’s a little bit of my self-care routine, my version of keeping a gratitude log I suppose. I’ve been thinking recently that I would like a way to be able to post to that group (and to the hashtag), but also to have the …

…and shortly after that last post I figure it out: you need to have ‘wait for response’ ticked to bring the focus back to Drafts ready for the next step

I think I should be able to make a Drafts Action that will add some text on the bottom of a Bear note, but will also send that text plus some extra bits to an Ivory post. I can get both parts working on Mac, but when I run the Action on iOS it’s as if it runs the first step and then …

I’m not really feeling paper Bullet Journalling at the moment. Just… not feeling motivated to pick up the notebook. I think the pendulum is swinging back towards being organised digitally. I’m getting into using Drafts a little bit, plus I’m dabbling with Bear, and I use iOS …

Hearing test done and the person who did the test basically said my ears ain’t right. So now I’m being referred to ENT, possibly for a scan? I feel like it’s going to be a wild ride, this.

I think I’m starting to ‘get’ Drafts. It’s actually doing the same job as the Daily Log in a paper bullet journal: you know you want to remember something, but there’s a big cognitive ‘cost’ to figuring out the best place to note it. Drafts and Daily Logs …

I try to post ‘3 good things’ on Mastodon as often as I can. I’m challenging myself not to repeat them, plus I think it might be nice to have all of these in a big list to look back on from time to time. I wonder if there is a way to automate this?

🎮 Two games that I’m looking forward to this month: PlateUp and Balatro, both on the Nintendo Switch

Got out on my little folding bike this afternoon. So much fun! But I’m so unfit I need a nice cup of tea and a sit down now

My Weekend: This weekend has been nice. I haven’t really done much but I’ve had this feeling of actually enjoying things again. Being excited about things and having the energy to want to do them. It’s lovely. I hope I can make it stick. One of the things I did was buy a couple of domain …

Finished Reading: Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff 📚

Just got a Daft Social account. No idea what I might do with it but I like it for some reason.

Tomtoc 9L Sling Review What's in my Bag: I got one of these a few months ago for work. I was using a bigger backpack before this and I wanted something a bit more compact. And since I liked the EDC sling so much I thought I’d go for another Tomtoc bag. The laptop I have for work is a 14inch Dell one. This bag is designed for a 14inch …

Also re-did the way Micro.blog and Mastodon cross-post. Now it goes Micro.blog -> Mastodon instead of the other way round. Should stop hashtags turning up on Micro.blog, and I suppose I can easily edit them in if I want them on Mastodon? Is this the best way to set it up?

Woo, my blog now has its own custom domain name: http://jaymys.place ! I guess this is officially a hobby now

First time out on my folding bike today. It's so cute haha. But it also feels fine, like, I haven't been on a bike for years and years but it didn't seem weird at all. I still can't hear properly so I was literally sticking to super-quiet streets and I wasn't out long but I still …

@3goodthings 💻 My WFH set up (I should work from home more often) 🥤Ginger beer 🧦 Nice socks (like you know when you have a pair of soft, warm, cosy socks. Nice socks)

So the plan now is: one more swab, my left ear is probably going to need hoovering out. Then a hearing test for both ears. SUCCESS? 🤷‍♀️

Got rather upset, got sent home from work, rang 111. Got an appointment this afternoon. So last week when they gave me antibiotics they shouldn't have. Instead of reading latest test results they looked at some stuff from 2021. BRAVO

Still can't hear anything! GP surgery rings me at 10:30 while I was at work, said appointment is at a different GP surgery, in 30 mins time. I said I couldn't make that. They said ok, next available appointment is 3pm on Monday! And that was all they could offer me. Receptionist implied it …

@3goodthings A day of doing not much at all as it's been cold and very windy, and I'm still having trouble with my hearing. 🛌 Lie-ins 🟦 Cosy blanket 🌃 Watching the sun going down and the sky getting dark

Currently reading: The Fold by Peter Clines 📚

Finished reading: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers 📚 I liked The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet the first time I read it, then I wasn’t as keen the second time. It just seemed too overly-wholesome and “quirky” the second time. Having just finished the sequel I think …

@3goodthings it's been a while, let's have a go. 📆 Weekends 🔥Oodies 🥃 Baileys Ha, guess what I mostly did today

Ear infections are still undefeated. I still cant hear anything. I got new drops yesterday so hopefully they work but today seems the same as yesterday. I’m actually really surprised at myself how much I’m missing listening to music

I’m posting this again because I remembered about it today, watched it and I still think it’s amazing and hilarious https://https://yewtu.be/watch?v=ZmxLja-DRIw

Currently reading: Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff 📚 OK, I think this is one of the actually good self-help books! I’m following the exercises and learning a little more, and I don’t know if it’s just good timing (it’s been about 6 weeks since I went up to 100mg Sertraline) …

New Oodie today! I'm basically living in my old one at this point and would do well to wash it at some point so I need two on the go. Old one is plain navy blue from Kuddly. New one is purple with planets and space stuff on it, and is Oodie-branded. They are both super cosy so I'm happy 😊 …

Wordle Sorry for Wordle-tooting but look at how Tetris-y I did today! (also I’m furious that it took 4 guesses 😂) Wordle 943 4/6 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Discovered PokeDoku https://pokedoku.com, a daily Pokemon-based puzzle, while watching Northerlion. Today wasn't *too* bad but OMG I can't believe how little I know about Pokemon! (I've played **most** of them since the original Red Version on the Game Boy)

Had an ear infection for over a week now ☹️. I miss my airpods! My hearing is affected and I can’t wait to be able to to listen to things again. On the plus side, nice walk to the GPs in the crisp cold weather to drop a swab off I suppose…

I ordered a folding bike last week. The local Halfords don’t have it in stock but it’s due on Friday. They build it up for free too. I do technically have a bike at the moment, an Apollo mountain bike that I think I got for my birthday when I was about 12 or so. My sister got an …

If you're trying to do #DryJanuary but you're also poorly, does whisky count as medicine?

blog post: #Factorio review / ramble https://jaymy.micro.blog/2024/01/12/factorio-review-ramble.html

🎮 Factorio Review/Ramble: Someone at work asked me what Factorio was about once, and I said something like ‘it’s this game where you’re a space engineer who crash lands on an alien planet. There’s not much there except raw resources that are randomly placed, and you build a factory to collect those …

Currently reading: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers 📚 About halfway through and I’m enjoying this the same way I liked The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet the first time I read that. Books about people being generally nice to each other! Maybe there’s a time and place for …

Messing around in Procreate to try and get more familiar with using it, and maybe use it to draw a little more in future.

Week 1 of #DryJanuary accomplished! I went to my sister's yesterday and she offered me a glass of wine and I said no. That was alright.

Currently reading: Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff 📚 I am trying out this self-kindness thing and have been for the last couple of weeks. I have started talking out loud to myself sometimes even, saying things that are a bit reassuring or encouraging when I’m feeling a bit of a mess. It is …

Knotwords (iOS) Review / Thoughts: 🎮 Knotwords (2022) - ★★★★★ Knotwords is a nice iOS puzzle game. I like that there’s no subscription, you buy it once and that’s it. It’s a kind of crossword combined with anagrams sort of word puzzle. Every day there are 3 new puzzles to solve: Daily Mini which is quick and easy, …

🎵 My “jam” at the moment is Boris Brejcha. I don't know a damn thing about electronic music but this is awesome for focusing and I actually got stuff done at work while listening to it. Each track never really goes anywhere and I find it kind of hypnotic …

My key organisation: I’ve been trying to keep things minimal / useful when it comes to what I carry around in my pockets or bag. Recently I’ve re-done my keys. I have 3 little command hooks stuck on the wall in my kitchen. The first hook has my front door key attached a Nite Ize Cinch-A-Lot Mini Stretch …

In the spirit of being more gentle with myself: none of that business with the GPs was my fault. It's annoying but I've done well to keep things going at least. And I went to work afterwards and survived that so that's something too

GP appointment cancelled this morning. Originally called to make appointment in mid-December because I didn't think my Sertraline was working. Rescheduled to the 18th. I tell them my medication will have run out by then. Receptionist says she'll see the GP about it. I check on the NHS app …

Default Apps 2024: Recently been trying to keep things simple and since I bought an iPhone 13 a while back to go with my iPad I’m more and more sold on using Apple stuff so there’s a bit of a theme here! I think some of this will change soon as I do want to get a bit more into blogging and that will …

Going to try and read 25 books this year. One book a fortnight seems to be about right when I'm in a half-decent habit. Want to try tracking and writing a little bit about them on micro.blog too, instead of GoodReads

Tree, decorations and lights all put away. House is back to normal. Don’t get me wrong, I like having the space back and of course you’d be fed up if things didn’t change back but it always feels like New Year just dumps you like ‘that’s it, show’s over’ into the long, cold dark beginning of the …

Does anyone happen to know where in the UK you can get B6 hardcover #notebooks? Either dot grid or squared. I've got a nice Scribbles That Matter one at the moment but they don't seem to do B6 any more and that seems like such a nice size to me #BulletJournal

I started my current #BulletJournal on the 1st of January 2023, and I'm about two thirds of the way through it, so I'm just going to keep going with it. I estimate it will last me until around March. Seems like a bit of a shame to not get that nice fresh start like last time in the new year …

First attempt at making an ambigram. This was pretty fun!

Currently reading: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers 📚 Read book 1 a couple of times. Really liked it the first time, thought there was something a bit off about it the second time. Still made me feel quite cosy so I’m hoping book 2 will be similar in that regard.

I think I'm gonna try doing #DryJanuary next month

Time for a new #introduction post now that chosen a new instance for my account. Hiya, I'm a 30-something shy nerdy gay lass from the north-east of England. I also suspect that I am autistic and at the moment I'm dealing with the mental health that comes with... well... all of the above. …

Lego bonsai tree - my first Lego in years and years: This is what I’ve spent a very pleasant chunk of my day today doing. I haven’t had Lego since I was little and I’ve really enjoyed building this. The finished product looks good on my shelf too! The box The pot for the tree built The main trunk built. I missed a step right after …

Currently reading: You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney 📚

Trying out an Apple One subscription. I’ve used up all my free iCloud storage so I had to do something. Already use apple music. Will I waste all my time on Apple Arcade and regret subscribing? Maybe!

Currently reading: Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff 📚

I think I should try and get back into blogging again. I used to like that a lot when I was at uni. I never put a huge amount of effort into it and it was just a stupid little personal blog, but I think that might actually be just what I want at the moment. A chance to sit quietly and put some …

My 2023 Nintendo gaming trends: 🎮 Not surprised to see Tears of the Kingdom the top but I AM a little surprised that Vampire Survivors got in the top 3. I must have really binge-played that. Not surprising though, it’s way more addictive than it has any right to be. Actually, that’s true of all of my top 3, holding them to varying …

🎮 Been getting caught up reading some Factorio Fact Friday blogs. Factorio 2.0 looks like it’s going to be amazing, I can’t wait!

Tomtoc EDC Sling Thoughts : I bought this bag a few weeks ago. I think I’ve just had a bit of a ‘thing’ about being organised and having a place to put stuff recently, and I saw this on the internet, watched a load of videos, and ordered it. I really like this bag. A lot of the reviews and videos I watched …

#MyJam https://yewtu.be/watch?v=uFzPW2mlg28&list=PLh4Eme5gACZHaNOYGUuj_wFO0IR5x54Ad&index=16 liking Rimworld quite a bit these days and this one from its soundtrack is constantly in my head

Lamp-post with hedge climbing up it. I can see the very top of this on one my usual walks and took a little detour to find out how the greenery is getting up there. Still think it’s quite strange and cool.

Images loading on here have been super slow the last few days. Not sure if it’s something going on with Ivory or with Universeodon? Is it time to change instance?

🎮 Vampire Survivors (2022) - ★★★★★ I played this for about 7 hours on Steam, then saw that it was on the Nintendo Switch, bought it again (for £4 how could I not), and I’ve played at least 15 hours on the Switch. This game is awesome. Super simple, you only use the left analogue stick to have …

I'm a bit obsessed with #VampireSurvivors on the Switch at the moment, and can't get the Inlaid Library music out of my head, I love it. Best £4 I ever spent #MyJam https://youtu.be/dwx2DtyqSLc?si=dtg8-MnHy78UUrld

First three weeks on Sertraline (Zoloft): I’m coming up to the three-week mark of being on Sertraline (which I think is known as Zoloft in the US) and thought I would share how things are going. I wanted to share this as I was feeling apprehensive when I was first prescribed it, and I went online looking for other people’s …

#Wordle 787 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Guess number 3 though, wow!

#3GoodThings 1) First day back at work after a week off. I thought I would be really nervous but actually it was fine. 2) Had to drive to work a different way due to a road closure. Again, I thought this would have me feeling really anxious this morning and I was a little nervous, but I did it, and …

Finished reading: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett 📚 I feel like getting back into Discworld again so thought I’d start near the start. The first few books are definitely a little bit different to the rest, as if he hasn’t quite found the way he wants to do things properly yet. Still very …

#wordle Wordle 784 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟩⬛🟩⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Good one today! I mean getting it in 5 isn’t good but kept me on my toes today

3 Good Things - 7 Aug: 💊 Had a GP appointment today, probably long overdue to talk about depression/anxiety. Been given a prescription for some medication. I feel like I’ve tried everything I can try on my own so this is good? ☀️ The walk to collect my prescription was lovely actually, nice and warm and sunny but …

I have a week off work and I think I want to try and spend the time with the mindset of doing some nice things, but ultimately remembering that there's nothing really pressing that needs doing. No major plan but also making that little extra effort to do things that I want to do. Not just …

So this arrived on Friday, my new Kala KA-B baritone #ukulele! Have been having tons of fun with it so far - C’s are now G’s and G’s are now D’s and it just sounds so cool!

The case for “dusking”: In a world of light and noise, embracing the dark can be healing - Big Think - I think this sounds like a cool idea and I might give it a go this evening. I think one of the issues that I have with anxiety is that I worry that I’m not relaxing ‘well enough’, which totally …

The case for “dusking”: In a world of light and noise, embracing the dark can be healing - Big Think - I think this sounds like a cool idea and I might give it a go this evening. I think one of the issues that I have with anxiety is that I worry that I’m not relaxing ‘well …

#wordle Wordle 777 3/6 ⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩 🟩⬛🟩🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Solved pretty quickly, again another day with lucky guesses

A walk near where I live. This is just a strange spot because you’ll be walking down a quiet road with a row of houses alongside, turn left and you see this - it’s like you’re instantly transported to the middle of nowhere. I always like part of the walk

#Wordle Wordle 776 2/6 ⬛🟨🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Appreciated the nice gentle one today after a couple of tricky words this week!

#Wordle Wordle 772 2/6 🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Very lucky/easy today. Not that I time myself but I bet this is the fastest I ever solved a wordle

Today I’m quite strongly considering getting a baritone #ukulele. I like my little Makala Dolphin but I think I prefer the way the bigger ones sound?

Ah bless her! #AnimalCrossing #HollowKnight #ACNH

#wordle Wordle 771 4/6 ⬛🟨🟨⬛🟩 🟨🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 There we go, a 'guess the remaining letter' day. At least I got it on the second go. I know you should probably play these smart and try for a totally different word that will eliminate as many letters as possible but I'm always just SO SURE …

Finished reading: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price 📚: https://jaymy.micro.blog/2023/07/29/finished-reading-unmasking.html

Finished reading: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price 📚 The first chapter actually made me cry because it seemed to describe me really well. I’ve been doing a bit of research recently, after feeling really burnt out for several months. I remember wondering if I was autistic back in the days when people said only …

#Wordle 770 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 love it when you can just sit and think for a bit and figure it out, no repeated guessing what one letter might be

🎮 Messing around with Island Tune makers for #AnimalCrossing and made this. Can’t wait to hear Isabelle sing it all out of tune and everything! #HollowKnight Theme http://nooknet.net/tunes?melody=d-s-s-s-d-s-s-s-e-s-f-s-e-s-s-s&title=%0AHollow%20Knight

🎮 Messing around with Island Tune makers for Animal Crossing and made this. Can’t wait to hear Isabelle sing it all out of tune and everything! Hollow Knight Theme

#Wordle 769 2/6 🟨🟩⬛⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 So lucky! Really pleased with this today

After a crummy two days (actually ringing in sick to work which I never do!) I think #3goodThings are required 1) the support I’ve asked for at work seems to have been heard. Fingers crossed I get it 2) ginger beer 3) I treated myself this evening by making steak, curly fries, mushrooms and peas for …

#Wordle 768 4/6 🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟨 ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 will do for me

Finished reading: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar 📚 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ https://jaymy.micro.blog/2023/07/26/finished-reading-this.html #bookreview

Finished reading: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar 📚 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Technically a re-read, but the first time I read this I wasn’t doing well mental health-wise, and I could only remember a tiny bit it, so in a way this was also a first read? I really wanted to like it, I remember …

First post!: I’ve been on Mastodon (@jaymy@universeodon.com) for a little while, but checking out here. I like the idea of less scrolling through a timeline and more focus on me writing some rubbish. Also looking forward to checking out the bookshelves thing, I’m pretty hopeless at it but I like …

#Wordle 767 2/6 ⬛🟨🟩🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Heck yeah

#Wordle 766 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Had me stumped for longer than I care to admit!

And leading on from that mopey last post, #3GoodThings! 1) The people I work with are actually really supportive 2) Peace and quiet 3) Things are actually *done* at the moment. So I might feel really tired but it'd be fine to let things slide for a little bit @3goodthings

I need to stop coming home from work feeling *exhausted*. I know I’m probably not looking after myself when I’m there, starting early, staying late, no breaks, working through lunch, forgetting to even eat half of the food I take in sometimes. I wish I could remind myself to step away from it all …

#Wordle 764 4/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩 ⬛🟨🟩⬛🟩 🟨⬛🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 not bad

#Wordle 763 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩 🟩🟨🟨⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 the other day it looked like somone lying on a bed, maybe today it looks like a baby in a cot? Happy with 3 though, did NOT feel confident about that last guess

@3goodthings #3goodThings It’s Friday, I’ve got three days off and I’m having a takeaway What else do you need really!

#3GoodThings @3goodthings 1) My car is fixed! 2) I had to drop my car off at the garage this morning then walk into work. It's about a 20 minute walk. I listened to a podcast on the way and it was a really lovely time. Walking back to collect it this afternoon, it was raining, but that was …

I’m going to try and get myself out for a walk today. Feels like recently my world is shrinking down to being at work, being at home, and going to supermarket - but only after work when I know it’s going to be quiet. I’m sure there’s a wonderful world out there but it feels overwhelming. I have my …

#3goodThings @3goodthings It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, I’ve had a bad cold among other things that had me feeling really miserable. However 1) my cold is nearly gone! I got a proper nights sleep and feel reasonably well today 2) I worked from home today. Got the important …

#Wordle 753 2/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Woohoo!

#Wordle 751 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Had visions of it being one of those days where you’ve got 4 green boxes and then run out of moves

#Wordle 746 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💪

@3goodthings #3GoodThings 1) Some more nice heavy rain today. Still waiting on some thunder and lightning though! 2) Made chilli, then portioned it out and put it all in the freezer for easy meals over the next couple of weeks 3) Got some Kraken black cherry and vanilla today and it is LOVELY

#3goodthings @3goodthings I forgot to post this yesterday evening so this for yesterday really: 1) making coffee in my aeropress 2) I got **all** the washing done 3) Bought Cities: Skylines and played for a couple of hours and had fun. It was in the Stram sale so I feel that even if I don’t pick it …

Been fancying playing #CitiesSkylines for a little while. Launched a rocket in Factorio so thought I'd take a break, and I've been looking for something similar but different. Turns out it's in the Steam Summer Sale right now - yay! I install it, run it, it immediately crashes. Try the …

So, from today I won't be wasting time on Reddit on my phone anymore. That's good I guess? I already had it stripped right down to just a few little subreddits that I liked to visit, and I think I managed to find somewhere either here on Mastodon or on Discord that will do the same thing. …