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 but at the same time, good chunk of it not used, plus I can't seem to find any notebooks like this one any more and I like it

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. I'm here for nice stuff, I won't be talking about politics or anything like that.

Things I like:
#books
#journaling including #bulletjournal
#videogames recently #Zelda, before that #Factorio
#ukulele
#drawing

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 this because this is the part where you're supposed to add the 'pebbles'. It's a little more awkward to do after the leaves are on! The base that the pot stands on Completed Lego bonsai tree!

This was definitely the coolest Christmas present I got this year and I’m going to love having this on display in the house. I might have to look into getting more Lego some time 🤔

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 things together, an excuse to draw or add a photo, and then a central place to have all of this anonymously stored. It sounds like a really nice idea and a nice hobby. I’m already paying for micro.blog and I like it well enough so I think this will be where I put it. The few times I’ve posted already I had a nice time doing so. I should start considering this a proper hobby again.

I suppose on the opposite side of this, I’ve been enjoying reading RSS on NetNewsWire, maybe browsing through it during a quiet few minutes and saving the ones that look interesting to my Reading List. Then, when I’m on my iPad, going through my Reading List and enjoying reading through the articles. It seems like a nice relaxed sort of flow and I think I prefer this to scrolling through Mastodon or whatever (although I do still like doing that now and again). I like how I get to have a ton of control over what I read this way and that I get to have a quick browse during just a couple of minutes, and then a ‘real’ reading session that I’ve already curated when I actually want to sit down and do that.

🎮

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 standards (high expectations from Zelda, low for VS and somewhere in the middle for Pokémon). Good year for my little Switch!

🎮 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!

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 were by men who described the size of the bag as ‘upgraded pockets’. I think as an average-sized woman it’s actually a good bit bigger than that, and to me more in the realm of ‘small backpack’. It fits nicely on my back, it certainly doesn’t look tiny, just a good size, and it doesn’t stick out to much. I really like that when I swing it round to the front it’s nicely horizontal and I can get at the pockets easily, but when it’s on my back it’s a little more vertical and feels very ‘out of the way’.

I like the little key leash thing in the small pocket. I didn’t think I would bother with something like this but after trying it out, actually it’s really handy. It’s a good length so that you can actually unlock a door while it’s still attached to your bag. And I like being able to literally drop the key once I’m finished using it and let it just dangle there, get in the house and then sort everything out. I spend less time stood outside fiddling with my key.

The main compartment and the ‘secret’ back compartment are both quite padded so I feel alright putting my phone or my Kindle in there. In general I like to keep some Chapstick, a hankie, a box of Tictacs and my swiss army knife in the front compartment. When I add my keys to the key leash I don’t need to think about which sub-pocket they’re going in, because they’re already attached to the leash so I can just shove them in. I might also put my Airpods in this compartment. The main compartment I try to keep empty-ish so I end up bringing something small back it will fit straight in there, but otherwise I do tend to keep a little packable tote bag in there. So I can walk to the shop with just my sling bag, but once I’ve bought some things I have the tote bag to carry stuff back. That feels quite useful to me. If I’m going somewhere where I feel I might be sitting or waiting around, I might put my Kindle and my glasses in this compartment. If I was going out for the day, I might put my water bottle in here so that I won’t get dehydrated and give myself a headache, although if I do this I won’t have much room for anything else in there. I keep the back pocket empty but that’s where I’d put my phone if I didn’t want it in my pocket.

I also bought a Heroclip at the same time and attached this to one of the loops on the side of the bag. I’m not entirely convinced that the Heroclip does anything that a normal carabiner wouldn’t do but it’s a fun novelty I suppose and it does look nice. I’ve got the blue and silver Heroclip and my bag is the grey and orange one, and the colours kind of remind me of the video game Portal. I like having the clip there though as I think it’s a neater way to hang the bag up compared to letting it dangle from the long strap. It also comes in handy because I wear a baseball cap a lot when I’m out and when I’m indoors I think it’s a bit impolite to wear it, and I can just clip it there, it’s no bother and I know I’m not going to lose it. It’s also fun to show the clip to people, they are impressed when you show off the hooky thing.

I liked this bag enough that I also bought another, bigger, sling bag from Tomtoc that I use for work. I might write about that some other time.

#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 your dude wander around the screen, and they auto-attack the hordes of monsters that head towards you. As time goes on you find new weapons and abilities, you level up and upgrade these, and your auto-attacks get sillier and sillier and more and more monsters turn up until you have no idea what’s going on. If you survive for 30 minutes then Death turns up and insta-kills you like the yeti on SkiFree, it’s hilarious.

There’s tons and tons to unlock and the game has this weird sense of humour. I’m also obsessed with the music from Stage 2. Not sure how much longer I’ll play it because I suppose it does get a little bit repetitive after a while but those 20-odd hours absoutely flew by (I was actually a bit shocked when I looked up how long I’d played it) and it’s super cheap so absolutely recommended

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

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 experiences and oddly didn’t find an awful lot, and the stuff I did find seemed to be from people who had terrible experiences.

For me, it’s been fine. I wanted to share this because I want the perspective for myself but also if anyone else is looking for information like I was, maybe this could help.

I’ve been feeling quite anxious and depressed for about 18 months to 2 years, and I tried (and still do) a load of things to try and help like journalling, yoga videos on YouTube, going for walks, meditating, making sure I get enough sleep, and doing relaxing stuff like reading, colouring, puzzle books, listening to podcasts, having a bath etc. All of this helps me cope I think, but I didn’t really seem to be getting better. The worst part - outwardly speaking - was feeling teary all the time to the point where I would start crying in the car park at work and not be able to stop and, well, no-one can work like that.

So my GP gave me a month’s prescription for 50mg of Sertraline and I’m now three weeks in. My GP told me that I could feel worse before I feel better as the tablets take time to properly take effect, and that common side effects are getting headaches and feeling nauseous, although these tend to go away after a couple of days.

You can take these tablets at any time of day but you’re supposed to try and be consistent, so I thought I’d aim for 7:30 each morning, where I’d have less chance of forgetting.

I had a week off work when I started taking them (not part of the plan, just when my time off happened to be) which is lucky as I don’t think I got any headaches but I did get… let’s say… stomach problems two hours after taking the first tablet, and this lasted the rest of the morning. I had the same… issue… the next morning although not quite so bad, and I think things got back to normal steadily after that. It’s hard to gauge in a way as the anxiety can mess with my stomach anyway but it seemed to be back to the way things usually are after that third day.

I think I did feel a little nauseous for about a week but nothing major. It mostly seemed like I had a bit of an aversion to the smell and taste of coffee (I usually have 2 cups a day), so I found myself drinking less coffee, which was probably a good thing because I also found that drinking a cup sent my energy levels skyrocketing that first week!

I had a little bit of a dry mouth but nothing too annoying, if anything it probably prompted me to drink more without having to think about it. I also think I felt a little less hungry this week maybe, but again I could probably benefit from eating better so I don’t think this was a bad thing for me.

But wow, they say that it’s supposed to take several weeks to take effect so I think this was a combination of a week off work plus placebo effect, but I felt better from that first day! I felt like I had energy to get things done. I was on top of housework. I needed to get my hair cut and making the appointment was fine, and I didn’t stress about leaving the house to get there on time. And I managed a little small talk while I was there.

I spent my time off doing relaxing things and for the first time in ages I actually felt that I benefitted from them. I finished that week off feeling like I actually did have a week off work, something that I hadn’t felt in months and months.

Week two and week three have been tougher as I’ve been back at work. All of the side effects seem to have disappeared at this stage, and coffee’s effects seem to have returned to normal. I feel as though I have more energy though, so I’ve cut down to just one cup a day now because why not.

I do feel as though I can think a little more optomistically now though, I’m not bursting into tears over small things, and not feeling as though everything has gone terribly wrong all the time. I still feel stress at work, I still get to Friday evening and feel wiped out and ready for my weekend, and I did have one morning where I had a few tears in the car before work but I recovered before I headed in so even that was a big improvement. This feels like ‘normal’ levels of stress to me?

I know these things can take four to six weeks to really start taking effect. I’m sure a lot of my experience here has been down to having a nice week off and probably some placebo effect but honestly, I’m glad I started on the tablets. I don’t think I’d be feeling awywhere like I do know if I hadn’t. I think I’d still be ‘muddling through’ but still living under that cloud. I am pretty hopeful that this might actually be the way forward.