justcreate | Member Posts

I'm hoping this will be a fun, low key way for me to do little things that are good for me, and maybe help me think a little more about doing things that are good for me.

So far today, I made Belgian waffles with sweet bean paste and butter topping, and a large cup of tea; crossing off two squares on my board.

Self-care bingo! (Progress under the cut)

Eat something delicious and/or healthy. 20260310 Belgian waffles	Take a minute and focus on your breath.	Make yourself a cup of tea / hot cocoa / coffee. 20260310 Tea	Call or text or IM a friend.	Read a favorite story.
Take a short walk.	Watch an inspiring TED talk.	Take any vitamins or medications you need to.	Spend 10-15 minutes writing about something you value.	Learn something new!
Do something you're good at! Write a drabble or bake brownies or get your outfit just right.	Make a list of things that excite you.	Get enough sleep! Nap if you need to.	Make a list of five things you like about yourself.	Find a noise generator you like.
Get up and stretch! Do some light exercise if you're up to it.	Give yourself a hand or head massage!	Take a warm bath or shower – especially if you have favorite bath/shower scents handy.	Google images of your favorite animal.	Read a new or favorite poem!
Perform a random act of kindness.	Watch a favorite episode or movie.	Journal about what you've learned and how you've improved from a recent failure.	Make a list of five things you've accomplished this week - no matter how small.	Take a 5-minute break!

From an.owomoyela.net and the prompt list 'Little actions for self-care'.

Current Mood: full
Current Location: Home - Study Desk
Current Music: Nature sounds

purplethebunny

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Music: "Counting Stars" - One Republic

olivermoss

Watch on YouTube

thatzeta

Since getting sick during my PTO I have felt an aggressive lack of energy when it comes to chatting. In fact, I sometimes don't even check Discord for a day or two and still have unread direct messages from last week. I just can't find the strength to interact with people right now. No idea what triggered it either. I just know I'm socially exhausted. Maybe ADHD burnout?

Current Mood: sad
Current Location: at home in bed
Current Music: Silence

queen_ypolita

Last week, there was an announcement that the office heating and cooling system was being temperamental, that it needed a new part, and the new part was expected to arrive by Thursday this week. The way it was phrased, it sounded like the problem was excess warmth, not cold.

Coming in this morning, there was this wave of chill air the moment you opened a door into our office space. I was wearing a relatively warm jumper as an extra layer in the morning in order to be warm on the way, not intending to wear it in the office at all, but in the end it stayed on well into the afternoon. The heating is off or on a lower setting at the weekend, and had apparently failed to come on at all this morning. Monday mornings are often cooler anyway until the heating gets properly underway, but this was really colder than usual.

So it sounds like arctic layers are not needed for tomorrow, but it's probably best to be ready for all scenarios: that it's cold, that it's OK, or that it's warm.

springsodas

The good news is that I did manage to finish some gift art well ahead of schedule for an event my TMNT server is doing. (It's basically a Secret Santa but with Valentine's Day.) The bad news? It's already March 9th and the date for my Twitch debut is the 21st, which is less than two weeks away.

Between now and then, most of what I'm doing is about making graphics/promos for my socials as well as getting my Twitch all set up. The graphics are the "easy" part because it is just a matter of sitting down and drawing what I need to draw and posting it in a timely manner. As for the Twitch stuff, weeeeeeell, let's just say anytime I go into the options for my account, I feel like I'm staring at a big airplane cockpit. I need to ask my other streamer friends about what their settings are like to make sure things run smoothly.

I will admit I am nervous about the whole thing. I'm not expecting a whole lot of people to show up for it or my regularly scheduled streams (the current game plan is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings), but I keep worrying about things like potential technical difficulties and randos showing up in my chat and being weird. The schedule also means I need to appropriately block out my time during the week so that I have time to get things set up for my streams while still giving myself time to do non-streaming things that are fun for me; never mind the problem that I live with four other people and despite having negotiated a reasonable time block, I usually can't go a single gaming session with friends without being scolded at least once for being too loud. (Even though half the time I can VERY MUCH overhear my brothers gaming with their friends and never give them shit about it, even when it's late at night.)

I really do want to do this, though. I always have more fun when I'm sharing my antics with friends and it'll actually give me something to do during the week. And hey, what's life without a little risk? You might not discover something you enjoy if you don't.

Current Mood: nervous

dragonjournal

All Stories are 100 words. I did it!

( Undere here )

olivermoss

* D&D has licensed it's Forgotten Realms world setting (the setting with Baldur's Gate in it) for a romantasy book by C L Polk coming out in June.

That looks interesting. I haven't read any C L Polk.

ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy and chilly with gusts of wind.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

In the water jug greenhouses, a few shady wildflowers are sprouting. :D

EDIT 3/9/26 -- My gold curly willow cuttings have arrived! \o/ I have put two in water and one in a pot.

EDIT 3/9/26 -- I took cuttings from the older serviceberry tree and a shellbark hickory sapling to put in the willow cups.

EDIT 3/9/26 -- I cracked open some peach pits. It was a lot easier than I expected. I found a natural hollow in the concrete step, where I balanced a peach pit on its edge. A seam goes along the sides. I put a flathead screwdriver point into the seam and tapped the handle with a hammer. Most of the peach pits popped apart neatly, releasing the seed. A couple chipped in fragments. I think I got several viable seeds, which I put in a baggie of damp sand. I also bagged up some leftover persimmon seeds. Then I put the baggies in the refrigerator for cold stratification to see if they'll sprout.

EDIT 3/9/26 -- I tried using an ax to hack away at one of the saplings in the driveway. I certainly made more progress than I did with the saw. It's slow going, but I might be able to beaver it down eventually. The question is whether I'll have the time and energy for that, with all the other spring yardening to do.

EDIT 3/9/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 3/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 3/9/26 -- I transplanted a few more snowdrops from the parking lot to the apricot tree.

I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

lb_lee

Rogan: 550+ books in the spreadsheet. ( Read more... )

Current Mood: exhausted
Crossposts: https://lb-lee.insanejournal.com/20858.html

ysabetwordsmith

dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "Apologies." Leave prompts, get ficlets!

Current Mood: busy

hermenoodle

A sad thing I realize while looking at a particular artist's sketchdumps online is that I miss sketching and not feeling judged by my little perfectionist in my brain. Because that little perfectionist didn't judge; it didn't really care much about the presentation.

It was merely a dump to not be seen as serious. Yet sketchdumps do have an allure to them in how an artist just merely practices and sets some sketch aside, not as if it were nothing, but that it is done and could be elaborated on later with another iteration. Somehow, I let the perfectionist inside mess with stopping those iterations when I should have let it loose to not make me halt that engine.

However, as many old folks like to say: the buck stops here. I wanna sketch more of my favorite artists just to study them and still put my own spin, combination, and imagination on their work because the way they imagine things inspire me so much in what I want to express from my stories and faith.

Some of my favorite artists, just to name some (if not all) them:

Janet McKenzie

Thomas Blackshear II

Edward Knippers

Father John Giuliani

Rose Datoc Doll

Michelangelo

Arina Tanemura

William Holman Hunt

Edward Burne-Jones

Edmonia Lewis

Riyoko Ikeda

Current Mood: surprised

vriddy

For my Karaoke Iko people out there, the Let's Go Karaoke movie live-action is available on the Japanese Film Festival website until June 3rd (JST)! Hopefully for your region, too.

If you're not familiar, I can also warmly recommend the 5 episode anime that's on Crunchyroll, if you have access.

I haven't read the manga or its sequel yet but I'm sure they're great fun too ;)

It's been super interesting to watch the movie after the anime and see the tweaks in the adaptation!! I think it all worked really well and I enjoyed it a lot. If you've also watched both (or any!!!!) you should talk to me actually :D

Current Mood: excited

jlumen

1. Do you know of any other words for snow? What's your favourite and why?

- Yuki, it's Japanese for snow. I think of the two, suprisingly I'd pick English, "Snow!" sounds fun and wonderful likely because it reminds me of the child-like joy I have whenever I get to enjoy snow.

2. What's your ideal temperature range for winter? 25-45 Farenheit please. You can keep the 25 to the night time.

3. Favourite winter activity? What about it makes it your favourite?

4. What are three things you can't do without when winter arrives?

My handmade hats
Hot water (breaking out all the hot beverages I could drink year round when I lived in Oakland.
My one puffy coat, for when it is inevitable 19F one morning or night and I've got to go out.

5. Do you have favourite winter holiday activities?
Living in the deep South, I honestly just prefer getting lots of time outdoors. Either my backyard, a bike ride, taking my son to the playground at it not being hot as Hades. Sometimes it feels ironic, summer is when I want to stay inside but winter has always been my favorite season in the South. In fact this was the first year I got sick of winter weather. Which maybe means I appreciate the cold temperatures more than the snow and ice. Snow is fun but I've got adulting to do and so I could do with less of the fluffy stuff. Maybe I would feel differently if I lived in a place where life didn't come to a complete standstill at the threat of snow.

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Home
Current Music: silence

kay_brooke

Seven books read in February, no DNFs.

Previous books posts:
Books 1-7 (January)

( 8. The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hildebrand - 3.5 stars )

( 9. Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen - 2 stars - slight spoilers )

( 10. Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse - 2.5 stars )

( 11. The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson - 3.5 stars )

( 12. Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane - 4 stars )

( 13. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King - 4.5 stars )

( 14. The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull - 2.5 stars )

ysabetwordsmith

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Space Exploration
Moment of Silence: Country Joe McDonald
Poem: "Confident Guesswork and Improvisation"
Poem: "Nuff Respect"
Esbat
Science
Safety
Humor
Birdfeeding
Today's Adventures
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Civilization
Photos: Savanna
Photos: House Yard
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 3-6-36: Meta
Wildlife
Poem: "The Express Bus to Crazy-ass Death Land"
Read "ICE Out" by Charles de Lint
Nature
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Read "Find a Way Forward"
Safety
Birdfeeding
Good News

Linguistics has 32 comments. Philosophical Questions: Pregnancy has 40 comments. Safety has 53 comments. Wildlife has 40 comments. Food has 67 comments.

Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I still have at least one more poem to write.

March Meta Matters Challenge banner

marchmetamatterschallenge is running this month. See my tracking post and the first check-in post.

"The Struggle Against Overwhelming Odds" is now complete. Gideon and Raymond get some unexpected help in the fight.

The weather has been warmish here, though it rained much of the week. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a female cardinal, and a fox squirrel. A skein of geese flew overhead, honking quite loudly. Red-winged blackbirds have been singing overhead. I've heard a killdeer and a mourning dove calling, but didn't see them. Honeybees are out and swarming the flowers. Currently blooming: crocuses, snowdrops, winter aconite, miniature irises.

Current Mood: busy

ysabetwordsmith

NASA shares photos of an extraordinary event witnessed by astronauts on the space station

While most people witness only the familiar crack of thunder and flash of lightning from storms on Earth, brilliantly-colorful electric fireworks detonate much higher, in the thin air up to 55 miles overhead, easily seen from the ISS.

These brief spectacles – blue jets, red sprites, violet halos, ultraviolet rings – are collectively known as transient luminous events, or TLEs.

For decades, they eluded systematic study, appearing only in pilots’ anecdotes and the occasional lucky photograph.

The International Space Station (ISS) has changed that by offering an unobstructed seat above the storms, where specialized cameras and sensors capture every fleeting spark.

Current Mood: busy

duskpeterson

ONLINE E-BOOK (html, epub, mobi, pdf, and xhtml)

Free at my website.

Blood Vow (The Three Lands). He has taken a blood vow to the Jackal God to bring freedom to his land by killing Koretia's greatest enemy. But what will he do when the enemy becomes his friend?

New installment:

Side story | Heir. Secrets can destroy. Secrets can also heal.

New omnibus:

Blood Vow: Novel and Side Stories.

BLOG FICTION

Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.

New installments:

Stadium.

Entrance to the Emorian palace.

Behavior in the palace.

Entrance protocol.

( News & upcoming fiction )

My fiction announcements are also available by e-mail and feeds.

ysabetwordsmith

Singer and songwriter Country Joe McDonald has passed away. Among other accomplishments, he is famous for the "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die-Rag" at Woodstock, on record, and elsewhere.

Carry on the Work:

Guitar -- how to articles from wikiHow

Hippie Culture

How to Be a Singer Songwriter: 15 Steps (with Pictures)

Music Occupations -- how to articles from wikiHow

Musical Instruments -- how to articles from wikiHow

Singing -- how to articles from wikiHow

Social Activism -- how to articles from wikiHow

Songwriting -- how to articles from wikiHow