Tag: crosspost

Accidental week off.

Or nearly a week, anyway.  Six days.  I completely forgot to blog at the weekend… and managed to carry on forgetting all week until today.  Whoops!  So I’ll extend my blogging an extra week, I think.  Or maybe I’ll keep going until the end of July.  I’ll aim for that.  And beyond, of course, but hopefully every day until then.

So, what have I been up to this week?  Not a lot, really.  Much the same as I have for the last few months.  That’s mostly involved not going out a lot.  I don’t actually remember the last time when I managed to leave the house by myself, either.  Not counting letting the cat in and out, and putting the rubbish out – somehow that doesn’t seem to count as Going Out in my wonky brain, even though if I want to go somewhere further than the end of the garden path I haven’t made it past the flat door.  Make sense of that!

I had to go out today, and will again tomorrow, as I have an appointment with my psychiatrist in the morning.  Mum has been brilliant about coming over and helping me get out / taking me places.  Today was an appointment at the Jobcentre to talk to them about work and things now that I’ve been moved onto the new ESA benefit.  In my case, that was pretty much going over the fact that, what with not being so well, I can’t do full time work, but I can continue with the (part time) Permitted Work scheme.  So that’s OK.  What was less OK was the panic attack part of the proceedings, but it wasn’t a major one and I think I’ve remembered everything alright.  If not, I can ask Adam-the-support-worker who was there with me.  Mum had just dropped me off there, as Adam knows the ropes for this kind of appointment.  But she will be coming in to the appointment tomorrow, as per usual.  Her perspective is useful, but she can also remind me of anything I forget to mention as well.  Two heads are better than one, and all that stuff.

And on that note, I’d better go and make my list of things I have to remember for tomorrow.  Oh, and wipe my phone ready for taking it back to the shop for repairs.  Poor wee thing.  (No phone?  How will I cope?! Noooooo! etc)  Good night!

Coding Fun

I can’t remember if I’ve written about this before – probably not, considering how infrequently I’ve actually been blogging!

But anyway.  Coding for fun!  Some time last summer (I think) I discovered CodeAcademy and I’ve been playing around on there ever since.  At the moment I’m going through their revised / new Javascript course, even though I’ve already done the original one.  Because I’m a geek and it’s fun.  I’m also working through the “Code Year” track, and I’m planning to do the PHP and Ruby ones after that.

Codeacademy profile
A bit of my profile.

It’s good for keeping my brain in gear. :-)

Mind you, I haven’t done much over, again, the last six months due to wonky-brain issues – more on that another time.  I’ve just started up again this week, though.  Unfortunately, where I picked up was right at the end of the original JS track, and I’d done something weird with my code.  Oops!  I haven’t tracked the bug down yet, but I’ll go back to it later on.  Doing the easier exercises on the new track should help me get my head back into the right place for that.

Stuck already!

Or, How To Be Extra-Specially Rubbish at Blogging, by Lou.

Oh dear.

So, it’s all of day two of this challenge thingy, and already I’m kind of stuck for what to write about.  So I’m writing about not being able to decide what to write about, mainly so that I’ll have something posted today at all!  Also, in the hope that if I keep typing, my fingers will come up with something that my brain has stalled over.  Or something like that.

Actually, I think it worked.  Because it’s not so much that I can’t think of anything to blog about, as that I have several things, but can’t decide which to start with.  So instead, I’m going to ramble about WordPress plugins.  Fascinating, hmm?  Specifically, it’s the plugin that autoposts to Plurk that’s giving me trouble – yesterday it did a weird triple post with the temporary page preview address in it instead of the address for the published post.  When I had a look on WP.org, I discovered that the plugin hasn’t been updated for ages, so that’s likely the issue there.  There are some new ones that should do the trick instead, so I’m going to install one of those instead.  Although since those also post to Twitter and FB (which I’m currently using the Jetpack module to do), I think I’ll swap over for those as well.  Assuming the new plugin works the way I want it to and all that.  /ramble.

In other news, I really want to go to the Nine Worlds con.  Really really really really really.  That would, of course, involve me Leaving The House and Going To London, and hard stuff like that.  Not to mention paying for the ticket and hotel, so.  We’ll see.  But I wanna!

Mid-month Blogathon Challenge

I’m sure I’ve said this umpteen times, but I really do want to get back into blogging more regularly.  So, I’ve decided to set myself a blogathon / blopomo challenge: posting every day for a month from today, June 15th.

I don’t think I’m going to have a theme, though if I do start to get stuck I might try the alphabet meme thing.  That worked pretty well for me before.  It’s probably going to be general rambling and catching up on what’s going on in my life, though.  Exciting stuff!  Or, you know, not.

As a reminder to myself in case I’m in need of inspiration, I’m going to try to write about

  • What I’ve been up to over the last few months
  • Mental health stuff (which kind of ties in with the above, tbh)
  • My favourite niece, Miss RA
  • Merlin McPurrlin (cat spam, here we come)
  • Knittin’ and Spinnin’
  • What I’ve been fangirling over
  • And my forays into learning to be a bit of a girly girl.  Sometimes.

Alrighty, first post accomplished!  I have some partners in ‘thoning crime, gathered via my Plurk flist. So, hi Che Rex, Char (also on deviantart), dangerouslycrafty and captainstardust.  Feel free to prod me if I forget to post!

Ergonomically Speaking

For nearly 18 months now, my left shoulder has been “ouchy”.  By which I mean, there are stabbity pains in the joint, the muscles down my upper arm have gradually got more and more tense, and putting my arm back to put on a coat or whatever sometimes just didn’t really work.  In summary: ow.

But hooray, I’ve finally worked my way up the waiting list and a couple of weeks ago I saw the physiotherapist at the hospital for my first appt.  And guess what?  My posture is completely borked, and my back is as tight as an exceedingly tight thing, which has caused and/or exacerbated inflammation of my shoulder ligaments(? tendons? I forget).  Then blah blah tl:dr subsequent tensing of the arm muscles and it’s all been a whole catch-22.

So, I’ve got exercises to do, which I think are definitely helping, but the one thing that she said also needed to be sorted out asap was my computer desk ergonomics.  I spend an awful lot of time sitting here, and I have known it needed sorting out: there was a shelf for the monitors which put them too high even if I had my chair up as far as possible, which in its turn meant that my short little legs were dangling in the air.  Plus, I was smooshed up against the wall on my left side and, it turns out, had my mouse too far over to the right!  Whoops.

I have actually been looking for a new desk for a while now, but can’t really afford one just yet.  However, my brother came up with a couple of excellent ideas: Mum is redecorating his old bedroom, complete with new furniture which meant that his old desk was going spare.  So I’ll be getting that once we can get it over here.  And then he asked if I could detach the monitor shelf.  That hadn’t even occurred to me.  Yes, I could.  So I did.  Then I moved the printer (which was on the right of the desk), pulled the desk away from the wall, and put the printer in the resulting space there instead.

New desk set-up
New desk set-up

It’s not the perfect solution: there’s a middle shelf bracket that means I can’t put the monitors right to the back of the main desk, but since the keyboard is on a pull-out tray, I’m still a good distance back.

I’m left with less workspace for now, but only until I get the second desk.  And I’ve been able to put my chair back down to a me-sized height.  This means that I’m finally, for the first time in years (!) sitting properly at my desk.  So much better!

I think it also helps that a bloke I know is doing a course in sports massage at the college, and I get to be one of his guinea pigs.  Doing the physio exercises unsurprisingly stretched things in my back that’d been determinedly tense for ages, so it was fab having that ironed back out again.  I have two more sessions with him to go, too.  :-)

Christmas Time, Mistletoe and Other-Things-of-Varying-Toxicity

That time of year (ie. the end of it) has crept upon me somewhat unawares yet again.  Insert “where has the time gone?!” shock and confusion here.  However, I am sort of, kind of, mostly ready for Christmas.  I think.  I do have some wrapping to do still, but I’m aiming to be all done by dinner time.  If I am, I’ll be well ahead of myself based on the last few years1.  Hooray!  Or in a shout out to Rebecca, yippee!

As for the Mistletoe etc part of the subject line… well, that was mainly me being unable to resist mangling a song lyric.  No mistletoe or mistletoe-related-seasonal-activities for me, I’m afraid.  How v disappointing ;-)  And toxic things… well, many intoxicating things are still right out due to my meds.  But happily some are fine, so I shall be having Crabbies’ with my Christmas dinner tomorrow.  I think it’s going to go rather well.

Anyhow, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year [or insert seasonal festival of choice, etc] one and all! I might try some blogging new year’s resolutions (eg. blog more / at all), but I haven’t decided yet.  I really would like to get back into the swing of writing again.  But til then, TTFN!

1 Started this post earlier today, obviously, and am now pleased to report that I have finished the wrapping:

On: Manic Depression « squeegee182

An excellent post on what not to say to people with manic depression / bipolar:

On: Manic Depression « squeegee182.

I think I can count myself pretty lucky that it’s been a long time since I’ve had any of these things said to me.  It makes me realise how awesome my friends and family are, and how much their (your!) efforts to understand really help me.  Thank you all! ♥♥♥

Friday Five: 1st June 2012

Flowers!

  1. What is your favourite flower?
    Poppies. And lilies, but they tend to make me sneeze.
  2. Do you buy or send other people flowers for special occasions?
    Yes, usually Mum.
  3. Have you ever picked flowers from your own garden (or wild flowers, if you don’t have a garden) to give to someone else?
    Not for a long time, but I did pick some daffs from the garden once when I lived at the parents’ place.
  4. If flowers could talk (think Alice In Wonderland), which flower would you most like to converse with?
    Triffids! From a safe distance, of course.
  5. Have you ever used edible flowers in cooking, or eaten one?
    I’ve had lavender chocolate, and didn’t really like it, but I’d like to try lavender and honey ice cream, and I think you can eat some kinds of pansy in salads?

Time to Talk

I’ve made a pledge on the Time to Change website:

“I pledge to help end mental health prejudice.  I will talk about my own experiences with bipolar disorder and anxiety to help break down stigma.”

The project is not only for people with a mental health condition – it’s for friends, family, professionals, and anyone interested in the issues, really.  So check it out!

Busy busy busy

I’ve been running around doing all-sorts this week.  I’ve been at C House a few times, at the library (hi Henry!), at the gym (!!!), to KnitJam, and I’ve had a visitor this weekend – my friend Charlotte.  Whew!  And now I’m starting all over again.

I’m going to the gym with the bro and also sometimes with my upstairs neighbour.  It’s definitely a good plan to have gym buddies.  We’re planning to go to pilates, too.  Should be fun!

In knitting news, I’ve finished my first project for 2011: the Snapdragon Tam for my sister-in-law:

Snapdragon TamSnapdragon Tam

Pattern: Snapdragon Tam by Ysolda Teague [Ravlink]
Yarn: Elle Family Favourites DK in Gold.
Needles: 4mm metal circulars.

I am pleased with it, and it was fun to knit, too :-)

FOs in 2010, Part 1

As I didn’t post all that much last month in the end, I thought I’d do a round up of last year’s finished projects now, before it gets too out of date.  Some of these I’ve mentioned before, but I wanted to get some better pictures of one or two anyway.  So, in order of finishing:

Continue reading “FOs in 2010, Part 1”

Reading Challenges

As I’ve mentioned before, I read a lot.  I always thought there wasn’t much point in me doing a reading challenge like the 52 books in a year one, since I habitually read much more than a book a week anyway.  However, on the Goodreads site, I came across the Seasonal Reading Challenge group, which posts a long list of tasks to be achieved over a season (defined as a three month period).  So I signed up.  Because while I read a lot, I only really read within a couple of genres (Sci fi / Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / SFR, and Historical Romance – I like my escapism, see!).  I used to read mystery / spy / thriller novels more when I was younger, but I moved away from them when I got more into reading sci-fi.  Anyway, as I think I also mentioned in a previous post, doing that challenge didn’t widen my reading as much as I’d hoped / planned.  It probably would have done if I didn’t have such a long list of books I already want to read.

So, last year I did the 144-books-in-a-year challenge instead.  And… I failed!!  I only read around 110 books.  Some of them were pretty doorstep-y, but still.  I spose that’s what happens when you only have one pair of hands – I can’t read and knit or spin at the same time, unless I’m listening to an audiobook.  Which I don’t do very often.

This year, the challenge group (this is also on Goodreads, by the way) has changed its parameters so that you can set your own goals to some extent.  I thought I’d be realistic and go for 100 books this time around.  That averages out to 8 1/3 books per month, and I’ve already read nine so far this year.  So that’s a good start.  If I find I’m reading more every month, there are points during the year where you can move your challenge goalposts, so I can increase to 150 if I want.  But I’m not going to particularly try for that, I’ll just see how I do.

Friday 5 for 26th November

Friday 5 for November 26: Holiday Music

  1. What’s your favorite holiday album?
    Either my two-disc set of Handel’s Messiah, or any album of carols. Puts me properly in the festive mood.
  2. What song’s lyrics, title, or theme best expresses the positive aspects of your general mood at this time of year?
    “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day”. It just makes me feel Christmassy.
  3. What song’s lyrics, title, or theme best expresses the not-so-positive aspects of your general mood at this time of year?
    Hmm, I don’t know.
  4. What’s your favorite song about a non-December holiday?
    More a season than a holiday, though I associate it with May Day: Summer is a Cumin In
  5. What holiday song makes you want to cover your ears and flee?
    Any cheesy Christmas song that I hear over and over and over… there used to be several, but now that I don’t work in a shop and have to hear them on loop all day long, I’m more tolerant of them all ;-)

No(t much) Snow

We’ve had a little bit of snow today, but it hasn’t really settled.  Which is good, because it meant that the rails and roads were OK for getting back from the Skunk Anansie gig at Brixton Academy last night.  That was fantastic, by the way, and if I can find the words I’ll try to write up some kind of review.

Today, I’ve finally been working on the photo album for this site again.  So, as an experiment, let’s try displaying a gallery from it on this post…

Continue reading “No(t much) Snow”