#for 30 minutes segments at least lol

[quinton-reviews]

Hi Quinton!! I have been a HUGE fan of your stuff since a friend sent me the Tobuscus Fallen Titans (I used to watch him back in high school and was like "huh, wonder what happened to him after those allegations") and I gotta say, it is REALLY FUNNY every time my fiancé and I watch the iCarly videos again, because when you cover Gibby's stunt double breaking his ribs, you cut to a clip of The Official Podcast. I used to play D&D with one of the main dudes from the podcast, so when he talks during that clip I do a goddamn double take literally every time.

Anyways, I remember an original Patreon stretch goal being a Fallen Titans on Homestuck! I was really big into Homestuck in my early 20s, and was wondering if that's still on the table at some point? If not that's fine, I understand plans change! I just love Fallen Titans lol, the Fred episode and the Neil Cicierega unFallen Titans are some of my favorite videos of yours!

That's a real funny story!

So here's the rundown on the Homestuck video. When I first started making long videos, they were actually inspired by the relationship I had with other YouTubers at the time. I used to watch, like, H3H3 and Filthy Frank, etc; and I'd always see people obsessed with the versions of creators from the past. Like, "Oh 2015 H3 was the best" and "Oh 2012 Frank was peak." So I had this idea that it would be crazy if H3 posted, like, a video he spent a decade on and you got a new video with 2015 H3 10 years on. (I don't watch H3 anymore ironically)

So the original idea for the "long video" format was that it would be cool if, throughout a long, analysis/review/recap video, you kept noticing someone get older. Maybe my months, maybe by years. That's why I always like to get a haircut when I start one of these videos. If you scrub through and you see my hair get longer and messier as it goes on I think that adds something magical you can't fake.

So... My pitch to the Homestuck video was that it would be funny to work on it just once per year. To record one segment, say "That's it for 12 months", and then come back around to it. And when I was making the iCarly and Victorious videos I actually recorded a few minutes of the video! I think it was two segments in total. But then I had a bunch of personal stuff happen and my work drive has been much lower, so any "back burner" video hasn't gotten much attention since then.

Now that the iCarly mini-series is done with, I want to focus on some short one-off videos I can make before April. But once that's done with, I would REALLY love to start work on a few more long-term projects which will take months or years to finish. I think returning to work on the Homestuck video, to at least get the first 20-30 minutes done, would be a great idea this summer.

Now, if you want to know my pitch for that video, here it is. The video is not a recap of the creative history of the franchise. I do not get into drama, community hell, lawsuits, or other YouTubers. My idea is this: you always hear about Homestuck as an outsider but you never hear about the actual content. Most franchises on Earth I know something about, even and especially if I've never been interested in them. I can tell you a bunch of facts about wrestling and MLP and the Fast and the Furious simply through cultural osmosis and having friends who are into those things.

I can't tell you the plot of Homestuck, who the characters are, what the themes are, nothing. I've known a lot of people who were into Homestuck but nothing about the series!

So I thought it would thus be funny to make a video about a bunch of people who know nothing about the series starting from the beginning and giving their reactions, even if it's been years since it all started. I call this part of the video the "Homestuck Book Club." So the next step is me picking out the members (who all have to have no history with it) and making sort of a podcast setup. We'd then read and record every six months or so, IDK.

This is why the video has been stuck in production hell! Everyone who wants to work on it and messages me about it already knows the franchise. I don't want spoilers, I don't want people writing for the video who get it already. I want to capture the "what the fuck is this" energy of three dudes just getting in the middle of it.

Also, I think that I really like the theme of the video capturing our lives as they go by, capturing us aging and changing. If you came back from the future and told me this video comes out in five years, I'd say great. If you told me it comes out in ten years, I'd say awesome. Until then, the latest edit will always be on Patreon, even if you have to dig a little.

#homestuck #quinton reviews #long videos

[bi-files]

I hope none of you never have the scare I just had. Two days ago I decided that as a little treat I would go to bed really early at 7:45pm and read fanfic until bed. Unfortunately for me, that day I also decided to have terrible insomnia and was unable to go to bed until 6:30 am. In this blurry sleepy haze I read an Author's note to the gist of "Wow according to ao3 I've written a million words :)". For context, I have been snooping around a specific ao3 tag I had never read for legit 10 hrs and reading almost every single story I came across. I had been particularly enjoying this very long AU by the author which has multiple segments with each part being around 80,000 words and another couple short AUs which I had also read. I freeze in dread as ice crawls up my spine. A quick internet search reveals that 1 mil words is 2000 pgs. Had had I just read 2000 pages and not realized it? I had always been a quick read but surely not?.. I mean right? Had I been so sucked in by the writing I hadn't noticed? (There was a time in a middle school where I read for +4 hrs and didn't even notice but it's been a significant amount of time since then). Surely not?

RIGHT!?

Continue this existential crisis for at least 10 minutes...

Eventually realize the author meant 1 mil total on ao3 and not the series. Think ah well! I haven't read 2000 pages yet, so it's okay to keep reading and continue on my merry way of kudosing and occasionally commenting (usually a comment every chapter kind of person but at this point I was motoring because the plot was simply too good). I could easily check to see how much I read, but I will not because I simply do NOT want to know lol.

#ao3

[dream-beyond-the-dawn]

Coffee and meetings (Aph Russia omo)

This was requested by anon so...here ya go. If you're reading this, I hope you like it. I'm not proud of it because it's definitely not my best work. Truth be told I haven't really been in the Hetalia fandom since I was like 14 lol almost 10 years ago. But I tried lol.

Meeting after meeting after meeting. That's all Ivan had done ever since the time he woke up that morning. He took another sip of what had to be at least his third coffee that morning while glancing at his watch from the break room. He still had 15 minutes to finish his coffee.

He relaxed back in his office chair. He probably could be spending his break doing something more productive- considering he was about to attend a meeting lead by the notorious talker- Alfred Jones. But all he wanted to do now was sip on his coffee in the break room with no one there to bother him.

At least it was his last meeting of the day. And it was only an ally meeting so that meant less people.

Ivan finished his cup of coffee, deciding he should probably go to the bathroom before the meeting started. They were notorious for lasting anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple hours. He didn't usually even have anything to say. Ivan preferred to listen and not speak up much. That and he knew a lot of people found him intimidating, something that didn't bother him.

He turned the corner to the bathrooms only to see they were both cautioned off. Then he remembered someone mentioning in passing that the building was being partly remodeled. He was pretty familiar with this place by now and he knew that they only had one bathroom.

Maybe drinking three cups of coffee wasn't a good idea. But he shrugged it off and headed to the meeting anyway. He'd never particularly had a small bladder anyway so he would be fine.

He sat by himself on the very end, far from anyone. He wasn't sure what the meeting was about but he didn't really care.

"We have a lot of ground to cover today." Alfred started out, sounding as enthusiastic as ever. "We're going to be discussing national security. Does anyone want to start?"

Ivan tuned out most of what was being said. Ludwig started the conversation which wasn't exactly shocking.

So far all the meeting has consisted of was a projector playing a video of what each country was doing in an attempt to lower crime. Some of them admittedly weren't bad ideas but there was something distracting him.

The coffee that he drank was starting to fill his bladder. It wasn't bad yet but if the meeting lasted as long as predicted then a potential problem was in the making. And only 30 minutes had passed too.

Ivan leaned back in his chair and tried to get comfortable while each person took turns on their speech after their segment of the slideshow ended. He knew his turn was coming up which made him nervous. Public speaking had never been his thing. It wasn't necessary that he was shy- he just didn't particularly enjoy any attention drawn to himself.

Which is why he had to be even more careful with anyone catching on to his predicament.

"Ivan what about you?"

He stiffened. What were they even talking about? He was so focused on his bladder that he wasn't paying a bit of attention to what anyone was even saying.

"Forgive me, I am just a bit jet lagged, da. I'll sit this one out." He said it with a smile but knew it came off as forced.

There were times when everyone being various levels of scared of him paid off. This was one of them.

He got a few somewhat annoyed glances from the others who likely didn't want to speak up either but he didn't care. The sooner this was over the better.

Something he'd learned how to do throughout all the years of having to attend meetings, he had learned to tune them almost out by distracting himself.

Sometimes he would tell himself stories and sometimes he would reminisce on the past.

Right now he was finding it hard to do anything other than think about how badly he needed to use the bathroom.

He glanced at the clock. The meeting hadn't even made it past two hours. He was glad his sister, Katyusha wasn't there. She definitely would have noticed and likely said something. His other sister- well he didn't want to talk about her.

Another hour passed and Ivan was now starting to sweat. He was so focused on anything other than his bladder that he didn't notice Feliciano address him out of concern.

"Are you okay? You don't look too good."

Shit. Now they were all paying attention to him. They all knew. They had to.

The stress of his situation made a single drop escape Ivan, who was trying not to panic. He let this go on for too long.

"Are you okay dude? You look like you're about to puke." Alfred paused the slideshow that was playing. "do you need to step outside?"

Ivan stood up, barely managing to keep a relaxed posture and exited the room without word. He was too desperate to worry about how embarrassed he would definitely be about that later.

When he turned down the hall away from the room, he stopped and grabbed himself, crossing his legs. He bit the inside of his cheek so hard it started to bleed. 'I can do this.'

After being hunched over for a few seconds he was finally able to gain some control. His bladder throbbed in pain, begging for release.

Ivan tried to make it to the exit building- if he could just go outside he could-

"Dammit!" He was hit by a wave of desperation so strong that even holding himself wasn't doing anything to help him hold it back all that did was make him realize how wet his pants were.

Ivan took one more agonizing step towards the door and that was the breaking point. He stared down in shame as his light colored pants turned dark as they became saturated with piss.

The feeling of relief was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He couldn't hold back the small sounds of pleasure he made.

It took about three entire minutes before he was done. Now be was left with cooling wet pants. Ivan took his coat off and wrapped it around his waist which made it hard to see what had just happened.

He looked up when he heard the sound of a door shutting followed by footsteps. He quickly hid behind a door to one of the other rooms so no one would see him.

"Where did Ivan go?" Arthur asked sounding impassive.

"He didn't look like he felt good. I bet he went home." Alfred responded back.

So they must've been leaving together. That meant he would either have to sneak out after them or wait until everyone else left.

"He's not supposed to be doing that."

"Did you wanna be the one to stop him? C'mon the dude is nuts sometimes. I don't want him to beat me with his magical pipe of pain."

That was all he heard before they left. By now his pants were extremely uncomfortable but he noticed a small clothing store across the street. It would certainly beat driving back to his hotel with wet pants.

He waited a few minutes before leaving the building and heading straight for the clothing store. He wasn't sure where everyone else was but he didn't want to stick around and find out.

#omorashi #omorashi fanfiction #hetalia omorashi #anime omorashi #male omorashi

[wrestlezon]

aew dynamite 9/21/22 liveblog containment zone

not doin a full liveblog play by play cuz im startin to write this like 1.5 hours in but ya know. also its after-the-fact subjective-opinion-review style

jericho vs claudio:

we started like 30-40 minutes late and my friends and i decided we didn't reeealllly need to watch it... theres not really anything for us to grab hold on here... if something truly insane and radical happens we could always just go back and check it out. i will say that there was a cool counter-move jericho did when claudio tried to do some jump-off-the-corner with him. as i was saying "so long as jericho doesn't win this" i clicked ahead right to jericho doing a low blow and winning it lmaoooo. daniel garcia looking so fucking miserable made up for it tho. he wishes jericho wasnt winning sooooo bad. same

swerve in our glory vs the acclaimed:

i wasnt super excited for this match because i knew it couldnt live up to the ppv one (which, yes, is a completely unfair conclusion to have, but more reasonable than expecting them to put out 2 insane banger matches in a row). i think all the hubbub of how aew should've changed their plans last minute and have the acclaimed to win at the ppv is weird and lame, and i don't like that it feels like this rematch feels like theyre kowtowing to that sentiment as a result. there could have been more interesting narratives there maybe!!! whatever, im not going to get mad about hypothetical better setups. the point is, i dont like the idea of an immediate rematch for a perceived course correction. i did i believe that if they were gonna give the acclaimed the tag belts theyd do it at grand slam because its in their home turf of new york and that makes sense. but the sheer scale of the hubbub makes it hard for me to stick to that >:/ its not like i even seek out annoying internet opinions on wrestling!! i actively avoid it!!!!!!! and yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANYWAY... the actual match was cool and fine. cant get any more specific on how or why cuz my standards are still uncalibrated from their ppv match. that was soooo good. im an acclaimed fan so im glad they got the tag belts!! my favorite thing about this is that now i am guaranteed "more acclaimed matches" because they gotta do title defenses. i hope best friends dont fight them for a while so i can fool myself into believing they could win it off them. pwease mr khan throw me, specifically, a goddamn bone. if the two of them fight on the first defense i'll look like this:

;_;

backstage promo bit with ftr (and the gunn club):

the gunn club are heelin' it up and being obnoxious. i dont really follow ftr so i dunno what theyre up to at any given moment. if anything, this segment informs me that theyre gonna do gunn club vs ftr right away. my friends are absolutely pining for an acclaimed vs gunn club match just for the gunn club -> the firm -> mjf connection. utterly waiting for that max vs max encounter

yuta (and mjf) promo bit:

glad to see mjf on tv again. hes good at what he does!!! however i feel bad for yuta because micwork has neeeever been yuta's strong point and having him go up against mjf in a verbal back and forth is... a little bit cruel LMAO. on the flipside i do think its cool theyre having yuta and mjf here like this though. yuta is a big deal now! he never wouldve had a segment with mjf like this before! good for him. i do feel bad about him being put in a fight you can't win tho lol. good on him for beating up mjf in the end.

pac vs orange cassidy:

pac vs orange cassidy at... revolution? 2020? ruled, its one of my favorites. this match... was ok. also unfair to compare a ppv to a regular tv ep but still. it was weirdly slow in the middle. i didn't figure that orange would win the gold-- at least not the all-atlantic title. hes not really an international sort of guy, i dont think? there were good bits in it tho, i like orange's cheeky smile when pac stopped himself from going in the ring and later on orange's bit waiting for pac to jump off the corner. lmao he kept on pointing at his fist or his legs like hey come on. fall for my obvious trick please. :)c despite that though i felt the aloof:serious ratio was different in this match and i wonder if it was a one-off thing or something hes gonna do more going forward. much 2 look out for another thing i liked was afterwards bryce being like what the hell and pac being like ah yeah i got him with my elbow and then bryce picks up orange's limp arm and was like is that so????? look at him. hes fucking dead

toni storm vs athena vs britt baker vs serena deeb:

did i miss something. why are they having another 4 way womens match for the belt. i can't even enjoy this because britt baker is here and i live in fear of britt baker womans champ every day. i'd HOPE they wouldnt do toni storm dirty like that but i never know with the women's division!!! we caught up to the live feed by skipping the beginning of the match and i started writing this post because i was getting unnecessarily stressed out by The Fear. the submission hold back and forth trade with toni storm and serena deeb was cool though, bits like that def justify the tension of the four way free for all. i also liked athena's godmode look. white contacts are just too cool! i dont know saraya because i dont follow wwe(?) but she got a real big pop. im always excited for good gets for the women's division, especially since like... half of the whole division is out on injury (statlander...!!! 😭) WAIT I FORGOT MY AUDIBLE "UGHHH" AT THE HAYTER THING THAT IS AN IMPORTANT THING TO ADD. AUGHHH!!

moxley vs danielson for the aew world title:

mjf being highlighted in the background and watching the match from afar was funny. then they kept on cutting the camera to him? and it quickly became not funny. seriously, i was sick of it like by the third time and they did it like FIFTEEN times. i was holding out for it to build up to some sort of bit or scheme at the end but uh it didnt so my interim groan solidified into an actual groan. anyway all the mjf mugging distracted me from the match and i didnt see anything particularly standout about it i dont think? im kinda ehhh on the world title scene right now because i think theyre still in damage control mode post-punk so (shrug) ehh. im just waiting for this current angle to develop. whats that wacky mjf dude gonna end up doing

#livezon #this took too long to type out. i hate being verbose #hashtag never again maybe. ok time to catch up on the rest of my dashboard

[stressedlawsecretary]

Today's Focus

11.16.23 - Sunny and warmer than average so I picked a cute little red & black outfit for the season. Ft my boy cat Merlin. Skirt is thrifted; shirt is from high school but they work together better than I thought they might. This is good because I have to fix the shirt I normally wear with this skirt.

Work - I have the press release that came in yesterday that I didn't read, and I've got the last 50 pages of that redacting to do but other than that I have nothing except what is asked of me in the moment - so mainly mailings if they're needed lol. Took & passed my keyboarding exam for my promotion but I knew that wasn't going to be hard, because I strive to be my mother in this regard, who is exceptional at typing.

My mother can type at about 100 wpm; I've been striving to do that and can do about 75 wpm on average. I needed 30-35 wpm to pass lmfao.

Background Noise - I start the day with 89 on the Watch Later. Let's see what I can get through today.

Yesterday I only did like four (4) videos on YouTube but I also got like 7-ish hours off my DVR, including two (2) full hours of Jeopardy and an episode of 60 Minutes. Honestly I can probably do more on days I'm in the office if the local news is going to keep doing this shlocky segment for their new anchor at 5:30 each day.

Study - Okay well. We're pivoting a little to the things I got into yesterday, but I'm supposed to be doing book reading, so the goals look something like this:

At least three (3) feral horse articles

At least three (3) Moms for Liberty articles

At least three (3) chapters of both books I've started: The 100 Kilo Case and A Short History of Paper Money and Banking

Aside from all the DVR stuff, I did manage to read about half a dozen (6-7) articles each for the feral horse and the Moms for Liberty deep dives. I also briefly looked at the murders of both Michelle Le and Polly Klass.

Extras - Okay so we get to take a small break today because I've rearranged my chore schedule a little bit and I got everything up to this point completed. So it's doing the third wall of the bedroom (I burn candles and smoke bowls in my bedroom the walls get filthy) and the catbox. Garbages got done already (with a minor exception) so aside from putting the clam chowder on to cook (dinner is easy too) I should have plenty of time.

Let's see if the spark of creativity hits today.

#studyblr #my study stuff #today's focus #talking #selfie

[irenic-raccoon]

Yall wanna see my The Young Ones creepypasta? Of course you do here u go. This is a joke btw. I'm not a good writer but I wanted to write something funny. The Narrator is unreliable. Or not. U decide lol. I just tried to write this fic with somewhat similar humor to that of The Young Ones.

____________________________

Neil.Exe

I wanted to share this story as I am now in my Late 40s early 30s and this memory still sends a chill down my spine... Ow, my back.

It was the 80s and I was a British youngster. Don't worry, I recovered. I'm now a proud American. USA!!! Before my recovery, I'd watch alot of Television. This was before TV went extinct. No seriously. Some coder made a digital meteor and wiped all technology into extinction. Why did he even do that what's wrong with him??

I'd watch BBC and they had this show called "The Young Ones". It was this very nonsensical sitcom with slapstick and toilet humor. It wasn't even a cartoon this was all live action. What kinda drugs were they on??? Errmmmm 😂. My pops really liked it though because was a stupid alcoholic who'd laugh at paint drying. I prefer watching the grass grow but to each their own I guess. He'd record the episodes and save them on VHS. We burned them all one day because it was cold and he drunk us out of home. He gambled our house for bitcoin. Yes, Bitcoin existed in the 80s shut up this is my story.

One of the VHS tapes wasn't burnt though. My father mentioned something like how "it's haunted" and he "bought it from some strange man with a black cloak and glowing orb"... Even though HE recorded the episodes himself!?!? I got bored of living on the streets and bought a house with the money I had in my bank account. R.i.p Mom and Dad, they ate eachother alive while being homeless. If only there was something I could have done to help 💔. Still had that one recording of "The Young Ones". I got bored of watching the grass grow in the green room that costed 3 thousand dollars, so I decided to give it a watch. The VHS tape had writing on it. "DON'T PLAY THIS TAPE!!! IT'S CURSED AND YOU WILL DIE!!! ESPECIALLY YOU JOHN YOU BASTARD!!!!". Typical dad, always such a drunk comedian!! 😊

It started off normal. This was the last episode of the series. The main characters die in a bus crash at the end. At least thats how I remembered it before I watched this recording. The tall one, Neil, was being insulted by everyone while in the back yard, talking about summer break. Strange, since they looked too old for highschool, but that's also typical in media so I brushed that thought aside. Neil was usually the punching bag because he was a dirty hippie. In the original episode he tuned into the Hulk. Well, it was a daydream segment. The usual nonsensical shit. But in this one when they got a close up on his face before his Hulk transformation, the screen got really glitchy. Nothing out of the norm since it was a VHS. Except for the fact that his eyes got all black and he started crying blood. I thought it was just the VHS acting up so I turned the TV off and on again. It played the episode back from the beginning and it was just a black screen for 10 minutes this time.

I just sat there watching the black screen, since that was my 2nd favorite activity behind watching grass grow. I was having the time of my life. After that, it just showed Neil in the back yard, the same place before the tape started acting up. It was nighttime for whatever reason and he just stood there, looking at me... What the hell was he looking at? He needs to get a hobby! What did I do to him?! I looked at the screen a little closer since the screen was so dark. Bad directing on their part. Three bloody bodies laid there behind him. I don't remember the episode being this dark but also this show was all over the place and I was probably just high and imagining things again. It's a serious problem. I'm just like my father.

I had to go take a shit so I stood up and went to the restroom. Couldn't shit on the couch again. The stain was still there and it smelt bad. When I came back, Neil was gone and it was just the bodies. Boooring! I took the VHS tape out and threw it away.

None of this has to do with the creepy thing I mentioned in the beginning, just got off topic. I ran out of Adderall. Anyways, I was outside looking directly at the sun since that was my 3rd favorite activity. When I was out there, I saw a guy walk by wearing a Nirvana t-shirt. Nirvana didn't even exist by then. What the fuck. But bitcoin did. Don't question me!

Okay that's all I had to write. Time to go gamble away the child support I just received OH FUCK OH SHIT HELP ME NEIL IS IN MY FUCKING HOUSE SOMEONE CALL THE COPS IM TOO BUSY TYPING TO CALL 911 FUCK OW MY ORGANS!!! HES EATING MY FUCKING ORGANS AND IM STILL TYPING!!!!! THIS IS PURE TORTURE!!!!!!! I DONT SEE THE LIGHT I ONLY SMELL LENTILS AAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!

Neil.exe is coming...

Hahaha I said "coming."

The And

#why did I waste my time writing this omg this is so stupid #ngl kinda fun tho #hope this got a laugh out of some of u #the young ones #tyo #neil pye #rick pratt #vyvyan basterd #mike the cool person #rik mayall #ade edmondson #if Rik Mayall read this would he be proud or confused

[struckbyelectriclove]

merula proceeds to come every single rainy day because she a) knows it annoys kat so much and b) she gets her all to herself

#for 30 minutes segments at least lol #kat and whoever’s guarding with her switch off every half hour #this is... so self indulgent i’m sorry fjdjdkdk #getting saved by a buff lifeguard.... the dream..... #for me the dream is to be the buff lifeguard but regardless #sorry it’s sketchy i have 20 minutes before my shift #lifeguard au #hphm au #hphm #hogwarts mystery #ekaterina solokov #merula snyde #merukat #merula x mc #merula snyde x mc #my ocs #doodles #comic

[incarnateirony]

after jared has now confirmed on that podcast that the last scene of the show will just be sam + dean, i hope everyone can stop speculating about cas being there. he is not. (that of course doesnt mean hes not in the ep at all)

For those who WANT to actually listen, you can see it here (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jared-padalecki-returns/id1256754097)

While I intend to talk on this statement left by the Nonnie there's a few other things to talk about. For those specifically interested in THIS QUOTE, it’s part “Ten” in my notes.

Before I go on, lemme say, I keep saying Misha *isn’t* in the final *shot.* I can also say *ten thousand times* that “the final shot” is NOT THE SAME THING AS THE “FINAL SCENE.” I don’t know how many times I have to beat this into people’s heads. The “Final scene” may not even BE the final shot because for all you know, the last final scene is something like around scene 50 and the last 10 shots are some Swan Song montage with a dialogue. Scenes are also composed of *multiple shots* on the regular, and *very rarely* shot in order. So actually, it depends on what you even consider a ~scene~ but a shot and a scene are not the same thing. No matter how many times people choose to misunderstand this, this will continue to be true. 

As it is, the board already going up to 47 was high. Not unheard of, but high. I absolutely do not think anybody should be surprised if that’s actually closer to the last 5 minutes of the episode and the next 10+ shots are literal full blown montage. Because once again, and I can not emphasize this enough, they are not teleporting to a bridge at the end of the fucking show. I repeat, they are not, in the last 20-40 seconds, teleporting to a bridge at the end of the fucking show. And they weren’t on that location any other day. 

But I also know this fandom takes anything that’s in shorthand and blows it up into the worst case extremization, so I’m actually going to address this and even tag @curioussubjects and @winchestersingerautorepair and point out that Jared talks about “the last time Sam and Dean see each other” -- so enjoy that. See you on the other side, brother.

Okay so first, as a general note related to everything, that particular podcast is a mess. There is literally 17 minutes of nothing related to Jared at the start. It's a mix of sadness about how he knew a relative was dying, sadness, people's sad facebook messages which I get, losing someone is sad--but then a bunch of nonsense about ads and swag and sponsors. Like to anyone preparing to actually listen, you can skip to about 17 minutes in.

One: Confirmed they started quarantining (J2 at least) on Aug 2. 14 days gave them a few days before filming. But they refused to break quarantine even to walk the dogs to not reset the quarantine period. (This is one of the first things they talk about after the barrage of ads and other things)

Two: Jared has some great insight on how and why to let a dog go. He jumped it a little sooner than I would I think, but he talks about knowing when they're in pain or suffering. He gave assistance to her bad hips and other things through late life but saw when the spark left her and she wanted to go. Someone will probably try to problematize this but as someone that witnessed someone refusing to put down their dog while she spent half of her day having seizures and shitting herself, huffing, being terrified and unable to move, that was impressive. (This starts somewhere around 22 and goes to about 31:30, it's about a ten minute segment.)

Three: after this they actually go into the show, it also lets us know that the podcast is *recorded early on in filming*. It's talking about the first few days he left for filming. This wasn't just-now recorded. This is a few weeks old, like most Inside of You podcasts are.

Four: Jared ignores social media a lot, he confirms.

Five: He goes on having to talk about saying goodbye to a 15 year friend, never having gone more than 5 months without playing Sam, the process of being in the moment. It boils down to staying distanced from social media and your phone to be in the internet, which can actually add to feeling alone. (This may not be true for everyone, but I can definitely see why it feels so for Jared--he admits it's somewhat escapism.) Rosenbaum debates what counts as connection, but Rosenbaum also doesn't deal with a bajillion shitty comments from all his fandom lanes. He uses the podcast as an example, which is entirely different than Jared talking about ignoring twitter or instagram.

(Commercial break at 39 for a counseling/therapy service, runs to about 41 then one for a toothbrush rofl goes to about 43:15, so basically a 4 minute commercial break)

Six: Jared talks about his clinical anxiety impact on the final shooting and everything and why it was so important to have his dog with him during quarantine. He started terrified about it but got 4-5 days in and realized it was great. The wife and kids even considered going with him but he said it was okay and declined. After 45 he goes on complimenting his wife and the work she does at home.

Seven: He goes back to March 12 being the last day of filming back before covid and everyone had to run home on Friday the 13th of March LOL. So Supernatural got cursed on Friday the 13th. Rolling back to everything Gen has to do with the kids and the routine, goes back to talking about her. Talks about being the New Toy from dad being home so much. But then back to August first day of shot as an outdoor shoot. How early it was. So 21pt1 was an outdoor shoot. They continue to go on and on about how hard having kids is, if rewarding, until after 50 minutes. This converts into a conversation with his psychiatrist about his kids, his mom's birthday during social distancing, and all kinds of other commentary. Difference of psychologist vs psychiatrist. Loves sugar cuz he couldn't have it as a kid, etc.

Eight: This bit carries them all the way out past the hour mark. Just before the hour is where the "pain" section from the promo comes from. It turns into mortality and fear of death. Turns into stuff like natural childbirth. So from an hour to 1:03:00 it goes on, then it turns into another ad break that goes to about 1:07:15

Nine: How emotional the ending is, reading the script every day, remembering places start after the 1:07:15 commercial end. First week they shot up the old highway for example. Jared saying goodbye to locations he knows. Very bittersweet. There are no pickup shots because of covid.

Ten: The final scheduled moment, what you're talking about, and Jared tried very very VERY difficultly. (1:08:30 or so) -- he struggles and says "The last time Sam and Dean see each other is the last time Jared and Jensen see each other, if that makes any sense." He refused to say what the last scene was. It will be the last filming camera moments together. Which unto itself uh, hi, yes, welcome to every speculation I ever had, see you on the other side brother. Because it's the last time they see each other.

Eleven: After a bit about being emotional, they talk about Jared’s arrest, the trolling about orange jumpsuits from the crew, and asking what happened. Jared doesn’t even entirely know what happened, says it’s not an excuse, but the cliff’s notes are he was filming in Van, then he flew to Austin, he had a double date with Gen and two friends, he went to his friend’s bar (we alllll know Stereotype), they split some wine, a cocktail, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept, bachelorette parties and show fans bought him drinks, he doesn’t know what even happened, he thinks he was blacked out, got pulled down by his hair and thought he was in a fight. He hasn’t had a drink since, he was like absolutely fucking nope. He literally wonders if he was drugged in the drinks he took from other people, but either way, he’s completely stopped drinking. It goes into them settling and actually the people thinking he was drugged, which is why the legal followthrough was light.  This goes out to almost 1:20:00.

Twelve: Around then he goes on about Walker’s pickup period, how and when shooting normally works, and it’s all kinda in the air because of Walker, shortseasons because of covid etc. 

Final question blast:

Supernatural movie?: Jared hopes so

Channel chuck norris?: Make Walker his own, has nothing to do with Chuck’s walker even if he grew up watching it in texas, new character, new story, new era.

Paranormal experiences of his own?: He has seen some things, experienced some things he can’t explain, but as far as specifically, “definitively no but possibly yes.”

Talked with Chuck Norris at all?: Not talked to him directly, their “people” have talked, had to give his blessing though because Chuck Norris co-owned the rights. Part of the EP group and ownership.

If you had a chance, what superhero would you play: He’s heard Nighthawk from fans, he kinda sits there quietly thinking and has a hard time. Screentested for the Superman McG movie in 2004 but didn’t get it.

The car wasn’t in either of their contracts. Jared actually goes on that despite images Jared’s actually the car guy more than Jensen. It wasn’t in either of their contracts but they kinda just knew it was gonna happen. He goes on about his favorite cars, his car books and parts books since he was a kid, etc.

-----------

Following through on this, I HAVE to keep saying. 47/A47 is, I would bet 5 dollars on it right here and anyone that wants to bet against it can leave a comment in the notes so I know who owes who money, Sam and Dean having their final talk already post major resolutions with a few more ends to tie up, saying their pre-goodbyes, and shot 60 is Sam and Dean’s final shot of going separate ways, with Sam on one side and Dean on the other. 

[mumblesplash]

my parents are convinced adhd is just "can't sit still disorder" and that it's not a real thing that needs any help. they think of autism in the same way except that it's more like "socially inept genius disorder". so rip me, i guess i'm going to end up being undiagnosed adhd/asd mid-stem degree like you lol.

hmm have you ever seen dr russell barkley’s ‘30 essential ideas about adhd’ lecture? whole thing’s on youtube for free (in 5-10 minute segments too) and pretty soundly convinced me i should at least get tested. 

you know better than i possibly could whether your parents would be willing to listen, but if you think they are he gets across well and quickly that it’s more than just Fidget Disease and he’s got a buncha fancy credentials to boot so it might be worth a shot to show them what he has to say.

whatever the case i do wish you the best, and if it helps - as hard as it was, i got through my whole degree *before* getting diagnosed, even with no healthy coping skills and no idea what my problem was. 

it’s not impossible, and if you can set yourself up with a good support system early on and learn to work with the way your mind functions instead of against it you’ll already be leagues ahead of where i was. you’re not doomed to fail, but more importantly you’re not doomed to misery.

(apologies if this comes across as patronizing, this *is* me talking to my past self a bit. i’ve known since middle school that i’m prone to self sabotage, but i’ve only recently realized how much angst i could have avoided if i’d seen my honest mistakes as evidence i needed to proceed differently next time instead of seeing them as proof i was a bad person)

#splashasks

[captaincatwoodson]

3 Events in 3 States: 2014 race reports

State No.1: PA (beginning May) UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon. PR'd again for this race with a finishing time of 2:29:09 (11:22 ave. min/mi), training was heavy in the cross training department with more weight lifting added to my regiment.

I competed in the the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, in Pennsylvania, in May as well as the Rock Hall Triathlon, in Maryland, later that month and the Decker's Creek Trail Half Marathon, in West Virginia, in June.

State No.2: MD (early June) Rock Hall Sprint Triathlon.

Sprint triathlon consists of a 750 meter swim (0.5 mile), a 20k bike ride (12.4 miles), and a 5km run (3.1 miles). This was my first triathlon ever (I’ve done plenty of biathlons and multi sport events but nothing like this)! I dove into training, very confident in my biking and running fitness/endurance but I hadn’t done any swimming (pool or open water) in years so knew I would have my work cut out for me.

To help tackle the swim part, I got a swim coach. Good news: I was ahead of the game than most people. My form was spot on (guess I remembered something from swim and dive team all those years ago). Basically I just needed to get use to being in water again then work on my breathing for competitive, open water swimming. No big deal, right?? I had swim lessons 1-2x a week and followed this training schedule as best I could, customizing it to my daily schedule.

Weekday Training: Mon = biking, Wed= running, Fri = swimming, Tue & Thu = weight lifting, yoga and stretching

Weekend Training: alternated b/w swimming then biking, biking then running, swimming then running

Race Day Recap - Swim Segment: I didn't have a wetsuit but luckily I didn't need one as the water turned out to be really warm. I wore my bike shorts and a quick dry, compression-like fit, no sleeve shirt plus my swim cap and goggles (which fogged almost immediately and were useless after that).

The Chesapeake Bay was our open water arena, up to this point all of my swimming took place in a pool (trained over the winter) and I attempted to make up for this by for swimming longer amounts of time and going further than the race distance to help build up my endurance. Nothing can really prepare you for open water swimming, other than actually swimming in the open water though. The temperatures are different & vary greatly plus the current can really exhaust you if you’re not use to swimming with a current.

In training it looked like I was trying to run/bike in the water, and apparently I don’t use my arms as one would expect a swimmer to do but rather I’d use my legs much more heavily. I also predominately used the back stroke while training as my goggles kept fogging up. Another big difference between pool and open water is pools are clear and have that nice line at the bottom to see where you're going, and you are usually in a lane so you have bumpers to keep you on track. Open water doesn't have that advantage lol.

At one point it was just me and I hadn’t even made to the first buoy, a kayaker rowed over to me to try and help me maintain direction, but foggy goggles and back stroking in open water makes for difficulties maintaining course. I pretty much swam in the least efficient way possible: little spirals looping round and round trying to head toward the buoys. For a TRI, each sport has a time limit in which you must complete as well as a time limit for the whole race. I wasn't going to make it in time for the swim so I ended up accepting a lift back to shore. You're allowed to continue on to the other segments of the race if this happens but your time chip is removed to keep things fair.

Race Day Recap - Bike Segment: as soon as I hit land, I was golden. I ran to the transition area, dried my feet, put socks/shoes on, grabbed my helmet and put that on as I walked outta the transition area. I had to borrow a bike since I was unable to bring my own This of course goes against the "don't try new stuff on race day" or "do on race day what you do in training" lol. I did test ride the bike the day before the race to at least familiarize myself with riding with drop bars (I ride with flat bars) and the shifting mechanics (I have the trigger shifters). All in all, while I generally dislike the type of bike I had to ride, I did really well and fortunately the course was relatively flat meaning I didn't need to shift often.

Race Day Recap - Run Segment: just like I had to walk the bike out then hop on and I ride, I had to dismont a bit before the transition area, run the bike to my spot then take off to do the run! I didn't to do much from bike to run since I don't use clipless pedals/shoes but I did grab some water on the way out. The running was pretty chill, again relatively flat with a couple rolling hills. I kept a pretty even pace till the end when I kicked it up and just flew through the finish line.

Training Time Trial: finished all segments in ~2 hours with the swim in 30 min, bike (15 miles) in an hour and run (5km) in 30-32 min.

Race Day Times: finished everything in less than 2 hours but did not complete the swimming; I did about 10 min of swimming before I was scooped up, I finished the bike (14.53 miles) in 53 minutes and finished the 5k in 31 minutes - absolutely crushing the last couple hundred yards. I mean I was running so fast and so hard, the Race MC did a double take and made a funny comment on how fast I was going. My times are rough estimates since I didn't have my time chip and I’m not sure how long my transitions in between in segment were.

My goal going in was to finish and to be at or under 2 hours. My goal moving forward is to improve my swimming game, really build up that endurance and improve my aerobic and anaerobic training.

State No.3: WV (a week later, June) Decker's Creek Trail Half Marathon, half number 6, first trail race

This was a great race to end the summer with, primarily a trail course (couple paved spots), gradual downhill grade, and I finished strong with my best half marathon PR yet. I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:15:03, (10:19 ave. min/mile).

Training for this was different than what I had done for the Pittsburgh Half (a road run). Instead of a lot of hills with the focus on the incline, I worked on controlling my pace and form running down hill. I also needed to run on actual trails and get use to that vs. the paved road I am accustomed to.

Fortunately, Pittsburgh has a number of trails pretty accessible for training. 1-2x a week I'd run 3-6 miles on trails and 4-10 miles in a cemetery lol. I've found cemeteries are great place for race training due to its variety of hill training, little to no car traffic, and mixture of grass and pavement course. On days I couldn't get outside, I'd hit the treadmill to get some speed work and general mileage in. I up'd the weights in my weight training and focused on compound movements such as with the bench press, dead lift, bent rows and squats. I attempted some Olympic lifting as well, using dumbbells or kettle-bells to keep good form.

#runnin #runner #half marathon #trail running #triathlon #triathlete #biking #swimming

[purplesurveys]

1052

surveys by lets-make-surveys

1 - Who was the last person to knock on your door? Were they there to see you? Nina usually knocks briefly in the evening to let me know it’s time for dinner. Other than my ex in the past, I don’t let anyone stay in my room for long. Knocking and peeking into my room is enough.

2 - Have you left the house yet today? If not, do you have plans to leave the house later on? No, as it’s only 10 in the morning and I don’t really have a reason to be out somewhere this early. I might go out to buy presents for more relatives, but that’s only if I feel productive enough today. We’ll see.

3 - What’s your favourite brand of chocolate? What type of chocolate bar from that brand is your favourite? The older I get the more I feel like gagging from the idea of chocolate bars lol; they’re all just so sweet. These days my top three would be Hershey’s cookies and cream bar, Whittaker’s chocolate peanut butter bar, and Twix bars. I also love Reese’s, but they aren’t bars.

4 - Have you ever met someone in person who you first met on the internet? Do you have plans to do that anytime soon? Yes, I’ve done this before and I’ve recounted the stories on here multiple times. As for the second question, yeah I technically do? I’ve only met my workmates online so far, so I’m constantly looking forward to the opportunity to finally meet them all in real life.

5 - What was the last thing you used a blender for? I’ve never used a blender. We don’t even own a blender.

6 - Have you ever got into an argument with a stranger on social media? Do you remember what it was about? Yeah, but I don’t even remember what it was about anymore...I do know it was this year, and the person deleted the comment that I replied to not long after.

7 - When was the last time you cracked your joints? Is that something you do often? Now that you reminded me, I just did. I do it at least once a day, whenever my fingers start to feel tight and tense.

8 - What time is it right now? If you weren’t doing a survey, what else would you be doing right now? It is 1:52 PM. I’d be heading to the mall to buy more presents, but I don’t feel like getting out of bed yet. I’d also do embroidery, but my online orders are taking a while to arrive :( My online shopping app says I'll be getting them by Jan 3rd, but the shipping tracker says it’s already being shipped from China to here so I’m looking forward to receiving it this week. I hope that’s the case; otherwise it’ll miss the point of being my hobby this Christmas break.

9 - If you had ten minutes to run around an empty supermarket and fill your trolley for free, what’s the first aisle you’d go for? The fancy meat/fish section. Then I’d go to the condiments/spice section, then frozen food, then chips.

10 - Aside from Tumblr, what websites do you visit the most and why? YouTube, because I find videos a soothing distraction; Twitter to keep me updated on local and international news; Reddit for quirky posts; and Wikipedia so I can continue learning trivia I’ll never have to use but want to gain anyway.

11 - Has COVID had any impact on your Christmas plans this year? What’s going to change or be different to normal? My dad is home for Christmas this year, which is one silver lining from Covid. But my relatives living abroad who usually fly back to the Philippines for the holidays obviously won’t be able to this year, so we’re not gonna have a packed family reunion like we normally do. Everything else is the same, but I think the biggest thing about this whole thing is that I can barely feel Christmas coming this year. I think it’s going to feel like such a plain Friday this week; and that makes me a little sad.

12 - What’s your favourite flavour of cake? Are you any good at making that kind of cake? My favorite flavor is chocolate, but my favorite kind of cake (which I enjoy a lot more than general chocolate cake) is cheesecake. I cannot make either, nor can I bake at all.

13 - Do you prefer sweet or sour candy? Sweet. I hate any sour foods with a passion lol especially sour candy; it is my absolute least favorite taste. I don’t find anything enjoyable or fulfilling about it.

14 - What colour is your favourite fruit? Is this a fruit you eat often? Already made my feelings for fruit clear on this blog, haha.

15 - Is your favourite restaurant an independent place or a chain? What is it that you love about it so much? It’s a chain, like most popular restaurants here. Independent places are a little hard to come by, to be honest. They make the best katsu I’ve ever had; and I also like that despite being a chain restaurant, the ambience is still quite sophisticated and date-friendly so I always feel like I’m treating myself whenever I eat there.

16 - Are you genuinely a fan of Starbucks or do you think it’s all hype? I personally enjoy everything about Starbucks. I like their coffees, their Frappes, the ambience in their coffee shops, their playlists, and their line-up of mugs and tumblers. I’ve always felt right at home in their shops and out of all the cafés I’ve been to, it’s always their baristas that have been the nicest.

17 - Do you own a Christmas jumper? What design/pattern does it have on it? No, I don’t.

18 - What’s your favourite fit/style of jeans? I was obsessed with mom jeans throughout 2020.

19 - What was the last non-essential item you spent money on? Overpriced coffee and a sandwich.

20 - Are you currently under any COVID-related restrictions where you live? Are people generally following the rules? Public places are super strict with requiring everyone to wear a face shield and face mask; before entering any establishment, people’s temperatures are taken and everyone’s also required to take a contact tracing form. Anyone under the age of 21 still isn’t allowed to go out for the most part, though I think there are some exceptions now because I see kids younger than me already going on out-of-town trips again. Some places that are big on tourism like Sagada, Batanes, and Baguio are still closed off from the public; those that have since reopened, like Boracay, follow strict protocol and everyone going there is required to undergo a swab test. Everyday Filipinos follow the rules; it’s the politicians and police force who don’t, which feels disgusting to say.

21 - What did you last leave the room you’re in to do? A package arrived for me so I had to pay for it. It was the phone case I ordered for my cousin.

22 - Have you ever read any self-help books? Did you find them useful? No. I don’t really believe in that genre, so I never felt pulled to buy a book.

23 - What’s your favourite programme on the Food Network (if you watch it)? If you don’t get that channel, what’s your favourite food/cookery show in general? All things Gordon Ramsay, man. MasterChef, Hell’s Kitchen, and Kitchen Nightmares are all *chef’s kiss* The Great British Bake Off is also great and something I like watching when I want to wind down :)

24 - Do you still watch cartoons? From time to time.

25 - Who do you know with the most number of siblings? Would you ever want to live in a huge family? My grandpa was one of nine siblings, if I’m not mistaken. I’m not sure if I know a bigger set than that. Unless my family was filthy rich, I would not want to have such a big immediate family.

26 - Are you a fan of garlic bread? Sure. I tend to ask for others’ too, heh.

27 - Do you own any personalised clothing? What’s the reason for getting it? No, not a fan. Two years ago we had a huge family reunion on my dad’s side and we had to wear these cheesy shirts that said “[Last Name] Reunion” with some cheesy motto at the bottom. My parents hated it, which made me feel better about my own feelings about the shirt lol.

28 - Is anyone else in the same room as you right now? What is that person up to? No, it’s just me here.

29 - What colours are you wearing right now? Does your wardrobe contain a lot of those colours? White, maroon, and scarlet. I have a lot of white and maroon; not so much of scarlet as I find the color too bold.

30 - Do you like adding condiments to your food? If so, what are some of your favourites? Yes. My food always needs to have soup, condiments, or sauces; otherwise I tend to feel the dish is too dry. I like mayonnaise, banana ketchup, hot sauce, and lechon sauce.

--

1 - What have you been up to so far today? Is that a typical thing for you to do on this particular day of the week? I’ve taken a couple of surveys and started binge-watching segments of my newest Korean reality show discovery, 2 Days 1 Night. The breakout actor from Start-Up and the newest love of my life HAHAHA is a cast member on the current season of 2D1N so I’ve been all over the show today. It’s hilarious; I can hardly believe I’m only discovering the show this late.

2 - Did you get a decent night’s sleep last night? How many hour’s sleep do you consider a decent amount? It was around five hours, which isn’t a lot to me. I usually sleep 7-9 hours these days, but I might wreck my body clock during the holiday break because I want to keep being awake and do the things I haven’t been able to do because of work.

3 - What is one silly thing that really gets on your nerves? Seeing pickles in a burger.

4 - Who was the last person you saw who wasn’t family? What did you guys end up doing together? The friendly Starbucks barista from yesterday; her name was Princess. We didn’t do anything lol, she just took my order and was super friendly about it, and she also gave me the Starbucks planner that I chose to redeem.

5 - Do you prefer hot or cold drinks overall? Cold. I avoid hot drinks now haha. Ever since I had that incident with the takoyaki, I’ve been too scared to let any hot food or drink touch my mouth.

6 - Do you own a decent set of waterproofs? If so, what do you use them for the most? If not, do you think that would be something you’d find useful? I don’t know what this is referring to, and I’m too lazy to Google right now. I’ve only ever known this word as an adjective, whoops.

7 - Do you have any plans for the rest of the day? Take more surveys, and maybe have another cup of coffee. I’ll also have to get started on a daily report I submit for work every weekday morning so that my load will be lighter tomorrow. Our office is technically on shutdown until January 4th, but some clients require a daily report every day and I’ll have to shoulder that with another co-associate. It sucks, but at least it’s the only thing I’ll have to do for the next two weeks.

8 - How often do you get your hair cut? When hairdressers were closed due to COVID, did you try cutting it yourself at home? I only go to the salon once a year, and I already did it this 2020 when I chopped off my hair and got bangs. Yeah, whenever my bangs start to get too long I either ask my mom to trim them or I do so myself.

9 - What did you wear the last time you left the house? Is that different to what you’re wearing at the moment? I walked Cooper half an hour ago and I just stayed in the same clothes I’ve been in all day, which was a tank top underneath an oversized hoodie and a pair of shorts.

10 - Would you rather have a relaxing beach holiday or a more active holiday in the mountains? The beach would be perfect right now, but I think my answer changes every time this is asked and I’m pretty sure I picked mountains the last time HAHAHA. I just realized being in the mountains would give me the same cooped-up feeling I’ve been having from staying at home for such a long time, and it might not be the best and healthiest trip for me...the beach definitely sounds more freeing and therapeutic.

11 - Do you know how to tie a tie? Nah, never learned. I’ve never been good at tying anything up, period.

12 - How old were you when you first had a sleepover at someone’s house? Did you miss home? I was 15 or 16; I’m not entirely sure anymore. Not at all, I was so excited to have been allowed to go to my first sleepover.

13 - How often do you spend time with your extended family? Under normal circumstances, we’d visit my grandma and cousins on my mom’s side once every few months or so. It was pretty regular since they’re just a stone’s throw away. But obviously we’ve since had to drastically cut our get-togethers back, and I’ve only seen them around three times since the beginning of the year. My dad’s family lives pretty far south, so I only get to see them once or twice a year even in pre-Covid days; not much of a difference there.

14 - When you get up in the morning, do you have a set routine? No. I just wake up feeling dread and have no choice but to wait for the weight in my chest to subside.

15 - Do you remember the last time you cried? Were they sad or happy tears? Yesterday in my car, in the mall parking lot. Sad tears.

16 - What do you have planned once you finish this survey? Look for another one. I misseddddd taking surveys and I plan on taking a crap ton of them this Christmas break. I may also be called for dinner, so there’s that.

17 - What was the last thing you cooked? Did you cook from scratch or just heat something up? I dunno if it counts as cooking, but I just made the DIY ramen kit that I received as a Christmas gift from the branch I was originally an intern at. Everything was already prepared in the kit and all I needed to do was boil water for the noodles and prepare the broth. Turned out surprisingly good.

18 - Are you a fan of hot chocolate? Do you like it plain or do you prefer to add things like whipped cream or marshmallows? I love hot chocolate and will order it sometimes, but given my aforementioned fear of hot beverages I always wait for it to considerably cool down hahaha. I like my hot chocolate plain.

19 - What caused your last injury? Cooper’s nails.

20 - How many tattoos and piercings do you have? Do any of them have an interesting story behind them? Just a piercing on each of my earlobes. No interesting stories...yet.

21 - What kind of flowers do you like the best? When was the last time someone bought those for you? I like peonies, though I’m not sure if my ex ever gave me a bouquet that included those.

22 - What’s the smallest thing you’ve ended a relationship over? I’ve only been with one person and I dated her twice, but I was never the one who ended the relationship either time so can’t really answer this.

23 - Would you rather order a starter (appetiser) or a dessert? Or would you be able to manage a full three courses? Three-course meal, pls. I’ve only experienced it once, when my parents treated me to dinner during my cruise gift for my 18th birthday; it was great and every dish was made amazingly well.

24 - How do you get most of your news, if you pay attention to it at all? I catch the evening news every weeknight because we keep the telvision turned on during dinner. I also get to read articles on social media.

25 - Have you or a member of your family been diagnosed with COVID yet? None that I know of, thankfully. It’s always been someone that a relative knows, but so far none of us have gotten it.

26 - Are you a vegetarian? If so, what persuaded you to stop eating meat? If not, is it something you’d ever consider? No. I have been considering it for years, but I truthfully don’t know if I could give up meat.

27 - Do you prefer rice or pasta? Rice.

28 - Is anything you’re wearing a gift? Who bought it for you? No.

29 - What’s the dominant colour in the room you’re in at the moment? I guess white, since my walls are white and that’s the first thing you see when entering my room.

30 - Did you do laundry yet today? If not, do you need to do any before you go to bed? Not my chore to do, but it was already done a few days ago.

#survey #surveys #multiple surveysss

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, August 19, 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles, podcasts, videos and infographics I came across since the late July report, although some may be older than that.

Please note I am taking the next week off, starting tomorrow (Aug. 19), so I might be a little slow in replying to any comments. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

USPS has become the focus of investigations due to reported mail slowdowns. Some small businesses who rely on USPS to deliver are suffering. “The longer the policy has been in effect, the worse the backlog gets.” As of today (August 18), the postmaster says they will rollback the changes until after the election in November. This is a rapidly-moving story in part due to the push for voting by mail, and should concern anyone who ships to US customers using regular mail (as opposed to couriers). Meanwhile, they plan to temporarily raise commercial rates during the holiday shopping season, but retail rates will not change. 

Ecommerce sales are still up year over year. "Before Covid-19 hit the US in March, e-commerce made up roughly 12% of retail sales in the country. That figure grew as states issued shelter-in-place orders that shut stores and kept shoppers at home, creating tailwinds for a company like Amazon. But even as states have begun to reopen, e-commerce has remained elevated, according to Bank of America data."..."The Economist used Google search traffic for hints of how lifestyles are changing and found users are still searching terms related to cooking, crafts, and exercise above pre-pandemic rates. There has been a noticeable spike in interest around such products as gardening supplies, baking flour, and Crocs." The UK is still seeing a good increase despite the ease in reduction in lockdown restrictions. The growth is slowing a bit in the US, though. 

Half of US small businesses fail in the first year (and other stats on small business). 

It’s been second quarter report season, covering company performance from April to June 2020.  Here are results for major companies involved in ecommerce in some way (comparisons are year-over-year):

Amazon US: sales up 40%

eBay: sales up 26%

Etsy: sales up $146% [click the link to read my summary]

Facebook: revenue up 11%

Google: revenue down 2%

PayPal: revenue up 22%

Pinterest: revenue up 4%; active users up 39%

Shopify: revenue up 97%

Walmart [2nd quarter ran May to July]: ecommerce sales up 97%, same-store sales up 9.3%

ETSY NEWS 

Admin are now posting a monthly update thread, in case you fear you have missed anything. This is how they chose to announce that non-seller accounts can no longer post in the forum. Since those account owners can still read the forum, that doesn’t mean you can call out your customers now. 

Sadly, there wasn’t much media coverage of Etsy’s nearly-annual billing screw up, but this one did get some attention. 

Etsy continues to get good media coverage for masks, including masks for your dolls. They also apparently got a decent slice of Google ranking for various pandemic-related searches in May [scroll down to the “Protection and Prevention” section]. 

However, Etsy is getting some bad press (along with Amazon), for allowing QAnon merchandise, because “the FBI has warned of the movement's potential to incite domestic terrorism.” Etsy replied to a request for comment saying that “that product listings associated with certain movements are allowed as long as they don't violate the company's seller or prohibited items policies, which ban items that promote hate or that could incite violence. The company said it is continually reviewing items on the site and could remove items in the future if they're found to violate Etsy's policies.”

More search trends on Etsy, this time kids’ items. I love how they think tie-dye was a ‘90s thing and not a ‘60-70s thing LOL. “a 318% increase in searches for kids tie-dye items...71% increase in searches for dinosaur wall art or decor*, and a 37% increase in searches for school of fish items….we’ve seen kid-friendly crafts spike in popularity, with searches for DIY kits for kids up 336%.”

Also, the holiday trends guide is out. “With the holidays approaching, and most shopping happening online, more shoppers will be looking for your help to make the season feel special.” The report is lengthy, covering Halloween to New Year’s, and most listing categories, while pointing out the possible pandemic changes to the usual trends. There is also an accompanying podcast with transcript. 

Speaking of the holiday season, here are Etsy’s tips for shops. Note that it is a bit late, as businesses need to have their holiday items posted no later than July if they want to be eligible for most fall media coverage. Almost every point refers to an Etsy tool or feature, some of them costing you money, so use this as a very broad guideline & be careful to read between the lines. 

They are still rolling out Etsy Payments to more countries: Morocco & Israel are the most recent. Note that Etsy Payments is not yet compulsory in these new countries. 

Etsy Ads once again has graphs. Do you find them useful? (I haven’t run ads at all this year, so I can’t check.)

Sendle is the latest shipping company to have a label integration with Etsy shops. 

Etsy asked US sellers to lobby their reps for more support for small business and other initiatives in the pandemic aid package.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google has stated that content on tabs is indexed and contributes to ranking as if it were on the page instead, but yet another test demonstrates that tabs may limit you. 

Due to the pandemic, Google has delayed finalizing mobile-first indexing until March 2021. (They originally announced it would be finished this September.) That means you have more time to update your website’s mobile version, ideally with responsive design. 

Site speed does matter to SEO, and Google is now asking some searchers how fast certain sites loaded for them. 

User comments on your products, blog posts and website can help you improve your SEO. The article suggests ways of getting that feedback, and ways to use it. [I’ve even had buyers give me new keywords to describe my items, in their messages and reviews.]

Getting links back to your site is important to SEO, but don’t annoy people while doing it. [sort of humour & sort of a rant, but does give some useful background on why backlinks matter.] Internal links also matter. 

There are some special tricks for food/recipe SEO, including structured data and even a WordPress plugin. 

Another WordPress plugin: submit any new or updated pages to Bing to be automatically re/indexed.

Do your keyword research before setting up your website’s sections and sub-sections, as they should serve the buyer experience, not your perception of it. Same with choosing which pages link to each other. 

SEOs are still trying to work out what happened with recent Google algorithm changes. Search Engine Journal claims that the May update was at least in part about demoting sites that had out-of-date or inaccurate information, so they suggest getting rid of the bad content on your site, or at least updating it. “Content pruning” has some advocates, but I wouldn’t worry about investing tons of time in this unless you have tons of time to spend. Just get rid of the blog posts that were wildly wrong, and the out-of-date filler. If you have a lot of sold out products, redirect those to relevant active pages. 

Meanwhile, a “glitch” on August 10 led people to think there was a massive Google algorithm update happening, but it all got fixed in less than a day. 

If you are behind on Google search news, here is a 7 minute video [with time stamped subtopics & resources links listed below], direct from Google. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

It’s tough to get started in social media if you don’t know the terminology, so here’s a list of the basic definitions you can consult if you get lost when reading.  

Don’t know how to blog? There are formulas you can use; here are eight options, nicely laid out, with downloadable templates. Don’t forget to figure out what your audience wants to read. And make sure you avoid these common blogging mistakes. 

If you have an email list but do not know how to take advantage of all the bells & whistles the companies (MailChimp, Constant Contact etc.) offer you, here are 4 ways to segment your lists. You can then send different offers or newsletters to different segments. 

You can optimize your social posts for people with visual impairments; excellent tips here. 

By the time you read this, the TikTok mess will likely have changed again, but here is an article on Trump’s order to prohibit US companies from doing business with TikTok owner ByteDance if the platform is not sold by September 15. 

Instagram has released its TikTok challenger, Reels, in more countries. 

Instagram is now offering a fundraising option, although it is a slow launch with some beta testing in the US, UK & Ireland to start. 

Here are step-by-step instructions on setting up your “Shop on Instagram.”

Pinterest says that searches around self-care & wellness have spiked during the pandemic lockdowns. “Pinterest has recently seen the highest searches ever around mental wellness ideas including meditation (+44%), gratitude (+60%) and positivity (+42%) that jumped from February to May….Pinterest says that searches for ‘starting a new business’ are up 35% on average, as are searches for ‘future life goals’ (2x), ‘life bucket list’ (+65%), ‘family goals future’ (+30%) and ‘future house goals’ (+78%).” There were also some searches clearly about spending more time at home: “Productive morning routine (up 6x), Exercise routine at home (up 12x), Self care night routine (up 7x)”

LinkedIn has a new algorithm; here’s how to make it work for you. [Many of these tips also apply to social media in general.]

Spotify is now doing “video podcasts”. Apparently a lot of their podcasters already did a video version of the Spotify podcasts, but had to publish it elsewhere up until now. 

Twitter now admits it is considering offering subscriptions to shore up its revenue numbers. “Shares of Twitter rose 4% in early trading Thursday following the earnings results....Twitter's growth plans are under close scrutiny as many advertisers pull back due to the pandemic. On Thursday, Twitter reported second-quarter ad revenues of $562 million, a 23% decrease compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has also been hit by advertisers participating in an ad boycott of social media, linked to the nationwide racial justice protests.” Also, the recent hack is not helping them. 

That said, it is still possible to market using Twitter, and here are some of the basics. 

YouTube is no longer sending email updates when a channel you follow posts new content. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Ad spend has increased again as lockdowns end, in some cases beating last year by a decent margin. 

The Buy on Google program is ending its commission fees. Participants will also be able to integrate their PayPal and/or Shopify payment options. As often is the case, they are starting with the US first, but plan on rolling it out to more countries in the future. There are more details here, and a review here (with some of the drawbacks). 

Google Product Ads are now showing the item’s “material” on the listing card (before you click). If you are doing your own feed for your website, you may have the ability to add the attributes needed for the details to show up.  

If you find Google Ads too expensive, consider buying search ads on Bing. 

eBay is experimenting with showing ads mixed in with unpaid listings; placement would depend on the same algorithm. 

Here’s a new guide to Facebook Ads [videos & text]

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

Bing has launched a new version of Webmaster Tools. 

There are ways to reduce the amount of traffic that Google Analytics designates as “direct traffic”; here are 15 of them. 

Currently in closed beta testing, the Google Search Console now has an “Insights” function, just like Google Analytics. I’ve found the GA one useful for telling me things I don’t always look at, so crossing my fingers that they release this to everyone soon. 

 ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Shopify helped many businesses stay open during pandemic lockdowns, giving it the boost to start competing with the likes of Amazon in ecommerce. “Shopify merchants that had previously or entirely relied on brick-and-mortar sales would later report they were able revive nearly 95% of that revenue online.”

eBay started rolling out its Managed Payments system to more sellers worldwide on July 20th. Things seem to be going slowly, with some confusion. 

But eBay is also having a 25th anniversary party for sellers on September 25th; don’t forget to register. 

Walmart is still delaying its new subscription model to challenge Amazon Prime, Walmart+. 

Amazon in the UK has launched a “Face mask store” part of the website. I haven’t seen this on other versions of Amazon. They’ve also increased some fees for some UK sellers, based on the new UK digital tax. And they are launching a site & presence in Sweden. 

The Competition Bureau of Canada has launched an investigation of Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers. “The bureau is asking any person or business that has conducted sales via Amazon.ca to contact them if they have any insights into the issues it is investigating.“

Amazon Prime Day has been postponed to later dates this year, starting with India on August 6-7. The remaining countries will apparently be announced soon. 

If you use WooCommerce, here are a bunch of free plugins, with brief descriptions. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Buyers do not all make purchase decisions the same way; Google uses its massive collection of data and some new studies to provide some examples. “Worldwide, search interest for “best” has far outpaced search interest for “cheap.”

It’s cheaper to keep repeat buyers than it is to find new ones; here are 16 ways to do that. One of my favourites is ““proactively providing information on how to avoid problems or get more out of your product” creates a 32% average lift to repurchase or recommend.”

It seems that researchers can never produce enough marketing guides on Gen Z and millennials. 

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour) 

I see a lot of new sellers, and some older sellers, confused about the idea of a business plan. HubSpot not only explains them, but also provides a downloadable template. 

If you are thinking of changing careers, or just want to add skills to better run your current business, Google has many different courses, some of which they offer for free. 

There are ways you can increase your productivity without (usually) working more hours. “A study published by John Pencavel of Standford University found that how much employees get done takes a sharp drop after 50 hours of work in a week, and even more drastically after 55 hours. The study found that employees working 70 hours per week actually produce nothing more in those extra 15 hours...taking a power nap in the middle of the day can help you process new information and even learn new skills.”

#SEO #seo tips #etsy #contentmarketing #ecommerce #smallbiz #ecommercetips #social media

[quinnmorgendorffer]

So the oldest show I see you talk about is usually The Facts of Life but usually you don't go much further than 80s and 90s. I am very curious to know if you have favorites from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s (not including TFOL obviously)? And explanations why! Hopefully something to keep your brain occupied during quarantine.

Ha, I was about to point out that TFOL was technically started in 1979 haha and thank you for the question

When I got this ask, the first thing that came to mind was The Twilight Zone. I’ll save my rant about that and some other shows under the cut.

Tbh, I haven’t gotten into a lot of classics pre-1980/1979-ish. I’ve had I Love Lucy in “My Stuff” on Hulu for, like, years now, but I haven’t sat down and watched the whole thing. I definitely watched multiple episodes back when it was on Nick at Nite. If it was on Nick and Nite in the 90s or in some other form of syndication, I’ve seen at least a few episodes. Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan’s Island, Andy Griffith, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, etc. 

A lot of older shows that I want to watch just aren’t available anywhere, or they weren’t available when I last looked. One that springs to mind immediately is Maude. It isn’t available anywhere past paying about $20 for the first season on Amazon prime which…I’m not really able to do atm. I know that features a younger Bea Arthur and touches on some controversial issues including gay rights and abortion and so many progressive causes I’d love to see. I think I’m more interested in that than the show it spun off of, All in the Family. 

Other shows I’ve had difficulty finding but want to watch:

Diff’rent Strokes (at least for the backdoor pilot of TFOL lol but it’s only on Hulu with the Starz add-on, which I don’t have)

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

Kate & Allie (1980s but I have to complain about how it’s fucking nOWHERE AND I JUST WANNA WATCH JANE CURTIN)

Anyways, for shows that first came to mind at this ask:

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: Since I grew up with baby boomer parents, this was right up their alley back when they were kids, particularly my mom, since she was around 7 when the show started. We owned some episodes, if not the whole thing, on DVD when I was little and I loved it. My grandmother would tell us “Fractured Fairy Tales” a la one of the segments. I excitedly saw the movie back when it came out. I truly just enjoy the show, even if its “just” meant for kids. It’s fun and sweet and I obviously love good, dumb puns.

Also, two of my favorite Rocky Horror callbacks reference it. One of the most famous and classic callbacks is the Rocky Horror Roll Call: “Janet!” “Dr. Scott!” “JANET!” “BRAD!” “Rocky!” “BULLWINKLE!!!!”

One of them isn’t as common, I’m guessing because you have to know Rocky and Bullwinkle past the name to get it. “I grow veary of this vorld! When do we return to Transylvania, HUH?” “AFTER WE CAPTURE MOOSE AND SQUIRREL!” 

And a theater back in Kansas did a fringe festival production of Rocky Horror mixed with Rocky and Bullwinkle called, of course, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Picture Show. It was hilarious.

Laugh-In: Did anyone else have a bit of a TV schedule memorized for when you were sick, or was that just me? Lol back in elementary school, this would play on one channel and I’d normally watch an episode of it and then normally, like, Hamtaro after that lol I have specific memories of both of them ;alsdjk. It’s obviously best known for launching careers of many comedians, including Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin. And, of course, the time Nixon appeared on it to say “Sock it to me!” The 30 Rock parodies of it cracked me up.

I just found out that at least one season is on Amazon Prime which makes me very happy. 

The Twilight Zone: For someone who loves sitcoms and pretty much refuses to watch any prestige TV dramas, I really fucking love TWZ. One of my weirder life/pop culture goals is to see every episode in every incarnation, the first one having the most episodes and seasons (5 seasons, over 150 episodes) starting back in 1959. It’s particularly a weird one for me because I can be a bit easily spooked—like, I can’t do true crime whatsoever, it freaks me tf out and when I read through cases of things like that I have to watch something lighthearted or else I won’t be able to sleep lol. TWZ is easier for me, though. I also grew up with a lot of this on DVD due to, again, my baby boomer parents growing up with it.

I’ve seen an episode of the 2002/2003 reboot, the remake of one of the best (and most famous) episodes, “The Eye of the Beholder”, and I watched the first two episodes of Jordan Peele’s reboot, but haven’t finished the season. Ultimately, while I enjoyed his first episode, which I found very original, and his retake on the classic "there’s a gremlin on the wing of the plane!” episode, I find that doing an hour long show is just not a smart move when it comes to TWZ. For a bit of fun trivia, TWZ was originally cancelled after its third season, but CBS brought it back to replace two half hour shows mid-season, meaning the show had to be an hour long for s4, when it was originally only half an hour. S4, last I checked, isn’t even available on Netflix and seems to only be on Hulu. It was pretty much considered a failure to everyone and when you look at lists of the best twilight zone episodes, most people either ignore s4 or will throw one in while basically saying “well, we SHOULD include at least ONE…” 

TWZ really showed how much you can fit into half an hour, and a lot of the episodes feel so much longer—in a good way, of course. While back then there were less commercials so the shows could be slightly longer (25 minutes according to Wikipedia compared to 22-23 minutes nowadays), it still managed to pull you in and hold your attention and not overstay its welcome. I find that the hour long versions of the show make it harder to stay engaged and the pacing really has to slow down to fill in the space. 

However, I do enjoy how each incarnation has used sci-fi/fantasy to approach fears and prejudices of the time. I know the 2002 reboot redid “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” which, back in the original ‘59 series, was about fear of communists and the like, and made it about fear of terrorists and Islamaphobia. Jordan Peele’s obviously tackled a lot of racism and I know the third episode, without having seen it, was about police brutality against black people. The show definitely has the potential to tackle heavy subjects in a great way, I just think its a show meant to be half an hour.

And another side rant, TWZ >>>> Black Mirror. I’ve read through the summaries of every Black Mirror episode and have seen a couple, including the perfection of “San Junipero”. Besides that episode, I really don’t like the show? TWZ managed to be original and have varying endings and had messages besides “technology bad”. It’s why I can like “San Junipero” for being so unlike the other episodes. I’ve enjoyed some of the twists I’ve read, but a lot of it just rings hollow compared to TWZ for me.

So, that’s about it for classic shows I could call favorites, though, tbh, TWZ is probably the first I’d say is a favorite of these or any pre-1980s show.

In general, since the 90s shows defined my childhood, I’ve been enjoying watching those during this pandemic for nostalgia and comfort. I’m cycling through two shows I’ve watched all of before (3rd Rock from the Sun and Cybill) as well as one I’ve possibly seen all the episodes of but only through syndication and never straight through (The Nanny). But depending on how long we’re here, maybe I’ll get a chance to watch some of these older classics on my list!

#alex talks tv #thanks for asking!!! #brastrangled #bite me in the ask

[fynneyseas]

hey so....... i have a lot of the symptoms of adhd, but because i have good grades generally, my parents wont help me find help for it. im not sure what to do about that?

Oh my god, Anon, if you’re out there, I am SO sorry, you sent this three weeks ago, and I kept on forgetting about it like I was caught in some kind of ADHD hell-loop

I really don’t know if the answer will get back to you, but here goes!

Okay, so things like medication and therapy are FANTASTIC, but they’re only individual tools in the toolbox of treatment. Maybe later on in life, you can seek these out on your own, but not having access to them does not mean there is no hope. Here are some other tools that have helped me throughout the years:

Engage with your support system.Do not underestimate the difference a group of people working together can make. It sounds like your parents aren’t up for this, but you can also reach out to your teachers and friends for some extra accountability help. A lot of the adults won’t be able to offer you academic accommodations without an official diagnosis, but they can still help you with things like making schedules and checking in on you about project progress before the deadline gets too close. Try not to load everything onto one person though. It’s not fair for anyone involved, including you, and it just does not go well. Especially for friends, make sure that they feel loved and acknowledged and listened to. 

Phone alarmsSet multiple alarms on your phone to check your planner or bullet journal or what have you. Do you know how many times I would write assignments down, see in my planner that I had an assignment, look up from my planner, and promptly forget about that assignment? So many times.

Explore different productivity programsPlanners might not be for you. I tried using conventional planners for like a decade to no effect. I’d always forget about something, or just not write in them, and it was just a waste of paper and money. Now I have a configuration where I use the iCloud calendar sync with my phone and computer (Google calendar really upped their game recently too, but I didn’t like the format back in 2013 lol), a journal, and the app @habitica . Habitica literally changed my life, and is the ONLY thing that unfailingly helps me get my life back in order when I’ve let it get unruly. It’s free! One of my daily tasks on habitica is to check my calendar and my to-do list. there are a bunch of productivity tools out there, do some exploring!

Make a scheduleIt’s the actual worst thing but regimented schedules help me so much. Now that I’m not in high school, and I don’t have most of my day already planned out for me, it can be so easy to just....not do anything. What I do now is base my day around pomodoro time blocks. I like time blocking because there are breaks built in, and distinct end goals that are already set, so I don’t have to devote the brain space to figuring out at what point I’m going to stop. If I’m feeling really anxious, I shorten the blocks as needed. 20/10s are also good! When I’m in a Real Bad way, I’ll start the work segments at 5 minutes and work up from there.

Schedule breaks and rest timeDo it or burn out. It can be scary to allow yourself to rest, especially when it feels like there is so much to be done and so little time to do it in. However, I promise that allowing yourself to recouperate will help you be more productive in the long run. People with ADHD tend to burn out easier than those who don’t, thems are just the breaks. Pick a bed time, and stop working an hour and a half before whatever time you pick. Give yourself a day of the weekend.

Isolate tasksAlso the worst. Close everything that isn’t directly involved with the task at hand until the task is done. If you can’t focus or can’t start, you just have to be there and stare for 25 minutes. Usually, I end up starting the tasks out of like, boredom. Starting is the hardest part most of the time!

Divide and conquerDesignate things as work or free spaces. I use different browsers entirely for school/work and for everything else. My sister also does this, but she just uses different chrome accounts. Don’t work on your bed, that’s for sleeping! I have a hard time doing my work at home, so whenever possible, I work at the library. Splitting things up can help reduce distractions because you’re only allowing yourself to do certain things in certain contexts. Like how it can be easier to not swear around small children because there’s a Rule that you should not use swear words around small children. 

Deep breathing techniquesIt’s hokey but it’s one of the oldest tools in my toolbox. Target that reptile brain. I really like the in-four hold-seven out-eight one. The hokiest method, the one my mom taught me when I was a literal toddler, is christianity-based, but it’s my oldest and most effective technique: imagine the light and love of god coming down from above, entering through the base of your neck and forming a ball. That ball rolls up and down your spine in time with your breathing, spreading peace throughout your body as it goes. Tbh the magical light ball going up and down gives it a kinetic bent, which I think is where a lot of the efficacy lies.

Fidgetoh my god, just embrace it. Go to stimtastic, get a tangle or a chew. Buy that fidget spinner and/or cube. twiddle your thumbs. draw in your notebook. you are #valid

ExerciseRigorously for at least 30 minutes a day. I did karate in high school and was terrible at it, but it was a good way to center my thoughts on one task and punch out extra energy. like angry yoga. I do dance classes now! I know it’s cool and hip to be annoyed at exercise suggestions, but consistent exercise is what helps me divert my excess energy into something constructive, and it might help you too. If you aren’t used to exercising, start with something low-impact like walking around your neighborhood.

Let yourself fail. A lot of this has to come from you and your personal drive. It’s hard to hold yourself accountable, and it’s okay to not be perfect at it. You are allowed to struggle and learn and grow. Just keep going, you probably won’t die. 

TL;DR:

Engage with your support system.

Set multiple phone alarms to remind you to check for tasks

Explore different productivity programs

Make a schedule

Schedule breaks and rest time

Isolate tasks

Designate work spaces and play spaces, and stick to that division

Deep breathing techniques

Fidget

Exercise

Let yourself fail

Check out @habitica

Not in the main list, but also check out How to ADHD

#ADHD #ADHD blogging #long post #mental illness blogging #I'm so so so sorry I made you wait so long good luck #Anonymous #fynneyspeaks

[nuxoki]

1Hello, I wanted to start a small segment to my writing tumblr. I haven’t been using tumblr a lot, but I thought this should be the best place for me to do this. I’m in the process of losing 20 pounds before March 1st, 2019. I really, really want to complete this goal and have a nice toned body by that time. Since last week, I’ve been doing workouts combined with 15 minutes (sometimes 30) of jump rope right after and on this tumblr I want to make a kind of diary to reflect on each workout.

August 28th 2018:

Today, I haven’t eaten yet. All I’ve had this morning was some vegan almond milk yogurt, two small packs of dried mangoes, and a vegan jerky strip. After writing this out, I will go and cook some spaghetti with veggies and tofu. I’m vegan btw lol. 

pros of my workout today:

I completed the 15 minutes of jump rope as well as two ab workouts on youtube. Since i wasn’t feeling up to any arm workouts online, i just did some with my 15lb dumbbell. Some bicep curls, triceps, push ups with the dumbbell, etc. 

cons of my workout today:

I felt very weak and had no energy to complete my workout to the best of my ability, but that’s probably because I’m working out later in the day and I haven’t eaten much. I prefer working out the minute i wake up or at least right after classes, because you’ll burn more on an empty stomach, but today i had an interview after class, so i got home around 5pm. but at least i pushed in a workout and did the jump rope, so i’m proud of myself.

my measurements (As of August 21st, 2018):

height: 5′8 / 176cm

weight: 137.3 lbs / 67.2 kg

bust: 33inch / 83cm

chest: 29 inch / 73 cm

hips: 34 inch / 86cm

waist: 28inch / 71cm

midway: 30.5 inch / 77cm

thighs: 21.5 inch / 53cm

calves: 14 inch / 35cm

upper arm: 12 inch / 30cm

forearm: 10 inch / 25cm

#weight #lose weight #pil suk diet #diet #vegan #vegan fitness #fitness #fitness diary #workout diary

[wintersilhouette-blog1]

Day 26 - Event: Aoyama Omotesando X Christmas Event (Evening Show)

Two days in a row to meet my oshis…

I can’t believe that this day came. I mean, last year I celebrated Christmas by doing nothing in particular. I’m glad this year I did something at least that is memorable.

Anyway, I got the ticket to go to this newly established unit, Aoyama Omotesando X. This unit has 30 men from Oscar Promotion, an entertainment unit, and they will challenge themselves in broad range of work, from singing, dancing, modeling, even variety show! I’ve watched two of their Line Live, and I can see how interesting each and every members are. Some of them are well known actors from tokusatsu series, TV series, movie actors, or in 2.5D musicals, but some of them are still new, or recently debuted, or they worked at different fields that are relatively unknown by fans.

The event started from members coming from the back of the room singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in Japanese, wearing white shirts, or hoodies, or jumpers. Anyway, they introduced themselves, starting from Team A, O, and X. The leader is Kuriyama Wataru, and the vice-leader is Shiono Akihisa, both of them served as the MC.

Highlights from the introduction: 1. Nishime Shun is the mood-maker of the group. 2. Uno Yuuya is the gorilla of the group. 3. Sadamoto Fuuma is the bishoujo of the group. 4. Iwata Tomoki is the one who has an annoying face. 5. Sadamoto Fuuma did a dajare (pun). 6. Nakamura Kaito is the fresh-guy from the group, but there was one member who was pretty young and claimed that he’s fresh (I think it was a member from Team X but I can’t remember who he is), then it (almost) became a war between those two. 7. Tanaka Joshua can’t speak English (which is a surprise for me even though he’s half-American…?) 8. Osada Sean introduced himself as the foreigner (gaijin) of the group.

Then it came to the game corner. If they lose they need to do a batsu game (punishment game). First game was between Team A and Team X. The task is that they were given two minutes to borrow an item from the audience, but there are special conditions. The fastest team to finish (and get it right) gets the point. So the specification of the items were lottery (everyone got different specifications), and the special conditions was: First round: Only from people who has the same birth month. Second round: Only from people who has the same blood type. Third round: Only from the people who likes the same animal as the AOX member.

Highlights of this corner: 1. It should be Team X who won, but because of Fuuma re-checking the item he borrowed from the audience, which is blue item (I think it was an IC card case from Seigaku vs Rikkai) and from someone who’s blood type is A, the MCs said Fuuma is an honest person (yasashii hito), so Team A got the point. 2. Onuma Shota (Team A) had to find someone who has orange coloured item from AB blood type audience (AB blood type is rare, right?!) so he was the last to finish his item hunt. Then because of the incident I mentioned on last point, Team A won this round. 3. Uno Yuuya screamed “Is there anyone who’s favorite animal is gorilla?” He’s a lovely dork, isn’t he? 4. Team X has to do the batsu game (1-2, Team A wins), and there was an electric pen, so it will give an electric shock. When one of Team X’s members got shocked, the pen fell to Fuuma’s direction, making Fuuma so terrified, and Team A members were like, “How dare you to hurt Fuuma?!” Then during the shocking self time (Yuuya tried that pen and got shocked by it also LOL), basically Team A members were protecting Fuuma. Conclusion: Fuuma protection squad is born. Second game was the gesture game. So each team, consisting of five people each, was given a situation, and they have to act it out and freeze. More similar and/or same poses, higher points the team got. The battle was between Team A and Team O. This game was made in two rounds for each respective teams.

Highlights of the game: 1. Uno Yuuya and one of the Team A members (Can’t recall the member) went for the same pose, and they kind of declared that they are the new combi. After that, Yuuya hugged that guy, continued by sexily seducing him which made the crowd screamed. Then he imitated the scream with fangirling body movements (I love Yuuya. He’s an ultimate dork). 2. Team O also has a combi, but they didn’t do anything special in particular. 3. This game is won by Team O, which they were really happy because they said that in the afternoon show, Team A hasn’t lost a single game. So, all Team A members must drink nigai ocha (I might translate this as bitter tea, although it sounds awkward). 4. One of Team A members said that Fuuma shouldn’t drink the tea (take it as “poor Fuuma, I don’t want him to get hurt…”) so one of the other Team A members should drink two cups, which of course, that targeted member refused (I can’t remember who’s the target member sorry…). 5. Due to solidarity, Nakada Hiroki, who served as the MC for this corner, drank the tea as well. 6. Uno Yuuya said that he loves drinking nigai ocha, because it’s good for health purposes. 7. Basically everyone in Team A drank the tea and the reaction was priceless. Some fell down, some screamed, Fuuma’s reaction was really calm compared to his teammates and I saw how he suffered from drinking that tea (poor Fuuma…). The only member who has no reaction, obviously, Uno Yuuya. Next time, please give him one bottle of nigai ocha to drink. After this segment ends, it changed to Team X’s talk show, and they were wearing suits which are the same as the pamphlets. The highlight from this segment is Iwata Tomoki who can’t shut up talking about his annoying face (urusai kao) and he was into it (and proud of his annoying face as well LOL). I think he mentioned about him being surprised when he woke up and looked at the mirror, he got rid of it because his face was surprisingly annoying. 

Yes, I get it, Tomoki. Your face is annoying, just like you said. After the talk show, Team A members came out wearing suits, and they have to to love confession. The audience who got their number called are free to choose the 30 members of AOX to do one of the five scenes given. The ones who did it was Nishime Shun, Iijima Hiroki, and Nakada Hiroki. I kind of zonked out for this segment, because I’m not a big fan of love confessions that make girls go crazy. Still, it was really funny to see this segment.

Then, present time! Three audiences are eligible to choose one member, and they can choose to have a cheki with them (polaroid photo), kabedon (basically getting cornered on the wall), or the member said “daisuki dayo” to them. Two of the girls let the members choose it for them (Iijima Hiroki and Nakada Hiroki), and one other girl chose for cheki with Kuriyama Wataru. The funny thing about the kabedon is one of the members brought a board, written “kabe” (壁) which means wall, and hold it behind the girl who will get kabedon from the member she chose. Another hilarious thing was the member who hold the board got asked, “How does it feel to hold (or to be…?) the wall?” Man, it was funny to see this segment. After the present segment was over, the members asked us to sing Jingle Bells, and they went around the audience. I called my oshis’ names but they didn’t recognize me. But when I called Sean and said hi to him, he was surprised. Maybe he didn’t expect that one of the audience will speak to him in English…? But, I’m happy that he responded to me.

Lastly, the members gave us one more present, which is plastic balls that has their sign on it. I didn’t get one, but I’m pretty fine with it. I’m happy that I can see them at least on stage. For this event, we have miokuri, so we can do a high touch with all members of the unit. I repeat, all members. I felt sorry for most of the members, which I can’t seem to remember their names (and how they arrange their hair, some of them looked really similar so I can’t differentiate from one another).

My miokuri highlights: 1. Iwata Tomoki was really happy that I knew his name. I said, “Tomoki-kun, kyou wa arigatou gozaimasu!” (Translation: Tomoki-kun, thanks for today!) Then he replied, “Arigatou gozaimasu! Iwata Tomoki desu! (Translation: Thank you! I’m Iwata Tomoki!) I think he’s trying to emphasize himself so the audience who came can remember his name. 2. For most of the members, due to super fast miokuri (and the staffs were pressuring the audiences intensely) I just said arigatou gozimasu or Merry Christmas in broken katakana, which made most of the members surprised that I’m actually a foreigner (which my face looks like a Japanese and I tend to get mistaken to be Japanese as well). I am so sorry, guys… Please forgive my broken katakana Japanese… 3. I spoke English to Sean and he was really happy. I said, “Sean, Merry Christmas!” and he responded “Thank you! Merry Christmas to you too!” I am more than happy that I can interact in English actually. 4. Few days before the Christmas event, me and my two friends were talking about Fuuma, and said that we want to see Fuuma’s shocked or stuttered reaction. So, after talking to my other friends, I decided to say Merry Christmas in English to him. His reaction? He was surprised, I noticed that. His face reaction wasn’t that utterly suprised though, but he can respond thank you in English in split seconds, and his pronunciation was good as well! I really appreciate him for responding in English to me! To be honest, I would like to say do your best in learning English, but again because of the miokuri was too fast, I can’t. Fuuma, I look forward to talk with you again. If possible, in English! 5. I was really sad during Seigaku Team Party because Yuuya couldn’t participate in the miokuri, and I’ve prepared a line for him already! But I was really excited to meet him, and I said, “Yuuya-niichan~!” And his response was really really cute, oh my goodness I love Uno Yuuya so much. He was really happy, then he started jumping and high touching me again and again, which made me responded the same as well. Then he waved at me and said bye-bye. Remembering this made me soooooooooooo embarrassed, because I really want to meet Yuuya and talk to him. He looks really really friendly and nice, also lovable. Uno Yuuya, I’m so grateful to meet and interact with you, even though it was short, but thank you! I hope we can meet again and talk more >< 6. The miokuri ended with Nakada Hiroki. Meeting him gave me a shock, because I saw him on Tsukisute Rabbits Kingdom, and I admired his dancing and stage presence. Seeing him face to face made me melt, and I love his smile. His dimples are so cute oh my goodness. 7. Yuuya’s dimples are also cute. I love guys with dimples. 8. I found it funny that the miokuri started with someone with an annoying face (Iwata Tomoki) and ended with someone with a really charming face (Nakada Hiroki). This is my report for the Christmas event. To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot, but I kind of felt hard to know at least the names of the members. I did expect that they will have a name tag attached to make it easier for the audience to recognize who is who (when they were wearing white shirt, not suits), but at least I still can enjoy the event! Some last highlights from this event: 1. Moriya Shun (Team O) has a really funny face. You just can’t help it but to laugh at his face. 2. One of the members showed his six-packed abs in front of the audience during introduction. 3. Iijima Hiroki’s goods (I don’t know which one) was sold out. After thoughts: I do enjoy this event, and I laughed a lot, especially Yuuya. Man, he’s awesome on stage, and I love his interaction with fans. Fuuma was really cute, his teammates kept protecting him throughout the event, which I can relate that he’s a lovable member (Fuuma is lovely). Most Team A members were really talkative and noisy, and I do wish to see more members being talkative. I enjoyed how non-Team A members, such as Moriya Shun and Nakamura Kaito being talkative on stage. I do expect for more exciting events coming from this unit!