#BannedBooksWeek: Nerd Church - F**k It, Let's Talk Censorship (Ft. Thirteen Reasons Why)

Warning: this post discusses suicide, suicidal thoughts, mental health problems, sexual harassment, and censorship.

Links may also discuss these topics.




(Did you notice I self-censored in the title of this post? I can't bring myself to swear without *'s because in a traditional Welsh household, the only one allowed to swear is your mam. Lol.)

Via Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is back! (23-29 Sept 2018)

And, darling nerdlets, I'm here once again to ask all the goddamn awkward questions!

Cos that's kinda what this week is about!

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: 7 Radical Ways To Defeat Writer's Block

Staring at the blank page (...or screen...) we've all been there.

You need to write the thing - but the thing just doesn't seem to want to be written.

You have the Dreaded Writer's Block.

But Writer's Block ain't welcome around here!

I don't put up with Writer's Block (that pushy little so-and-so) - and neither should you!

Nerd Church - Creativity Takes Time (...And That's A Good Thing)

Practice makes perfect. Well... it doesn't. But it makes it better than it was when you started!

Unfortunately, when it comes to creative stuff - the process is slow.

Some people, somewhere, are the lucky one in a billion who can create a masterpiece with no practice or preamble. (Lucky so-and-sos.)

Month in Review(s) - August 2018

August... August can shut the f**k up.

Sorry if that was a little aggressive! But my Nanny is back in hospital again and... this time scares me even more than the last two times.

Which isn't August's fault, y'know, as a month.

But it isn't anyone else's fault either.

And sometimes it helps to have something to anthropomorphise your fear and anger at - y'know, aside from Parkinson's Disease itself.

Nerd Church - Work/Life/Blog/Whatever-Balance Is Hard! (Especially When You Have Cats)

Do you ever feel like there's just too much sh** going on?

Like, you got your work or school stuff, then you got your life/personal stuff, then you might have some other stuff to do with hobbies or passion projects or... welp, blogging!

Nerd Church - The Slow Process of Learning To Stop Straight-Passing

It's been about two years since I came out as Sexually Fluid.

And I'm so much happier in myself.

The process of letting myself 'act Queer,' though?

That's still very much on-going.

So since it's my coming out anniversary, and also Pride Cymru weekend - and I'm Welsh and Queer - I figured I'd talk about it a li'l bit.

Nerd Church - Exam Results Advice (That's Also Pretty Good Advice For Life)

You want some advice for getting your exam results that also applies to many, many, other sections of life? Of course you do!

(Well, you do now. #JustGoWithIt. #EnjoyTheRide.)

Nerd Church - How Do We Decide When To Forgive?

Whether you're director James Gunn, YouTuber Jeffree Star, politician Boris Johnson, or the Archdruid of the Gorsedd*, you've made mistakes in your past (or present.)

Lord knows I've made plenty of mistakes in my life. And I'm guessing you have too, dearest nerdlets.

We're human, after all.



*What, you guys don't have an Archdruid?!?! Welp, Welsh people do. 😅

But how do we decide when someone is worthy of our forgiveness?

How do we decide who is forgiven and who isn't? Do we have double-standards?

Nerd Church - Poor Towns and Ponderings

Look, the place I live in isn't rich.

Some people may call it poor. Some people may even call it a dive.

But it's OK. It's a lot less rough than a lot of the other places around.

The town my grandparents live in is a dive, with the best will in the world, I can't deny that.

Month in Review(s) - July 2018

Where did July go?!

Like... I know sometimes time goes quick, but really?!

I think it's the heat.

I spent most of the month slouching around the house, trying to cool down, and being a generally not-nice person to be around.

Me + heat = grump monster! Lol.

Nerd Church - Meta Nerd Church

(Meta = about, or self-referential/self-aware.)




I've written over 150 Nerd Church posts since I started this series in February 2015.

Yes. That's how long ago I started Nerd Church.

(Please don't look at those first posts... it's not good! 😅)

Nerd Church - Self-Care Is Vitally Important In Hot Weather

...of course, Self-Care is vitally important generally, but you get what I mean.





If you're in the middle of a heatwave like we are in the UK, then your Self-Care game needs to be sharp.

Nerd Church - What the London Mayor and the Goblin King Both Know About Trump’s Power

Thank you, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, for being an example of the good and the strong in this country.

Image Courtesy of Katy Blackwood via Wikimedia Commons

Thank you for dismissing Trump as the little boy that he is.

Thank you for showing such dignity in such difficult circumstances.

Thank you for standing strong in the face of bigotry.

Nerd Church - Don't Get Distracted By Shiny Balls

(Warning: this post contains details of the persecution of LGBTQ+ people, and references to the war in Syria, and the novichok poisoning incidents.)

Russia. At the moment there are balls flying everywhere.

And the media seems to have largely forgotten that Russia* has repeatedly had their names entered in the Naughty Book.**

Because they've really been doing a lot of sh** lately.

And we can't forget about that just because your team are kicking a ball around.





*By which I mean the Russian government and regime, not normal Russian citizens/people.

**Did you guys have a 'Naughty Book' and a 'Good Book' in infants/primary school? 😅 There was no bigger threat than having your name put in the Naughty Book! It had a frowny face on the cover and everything!

Nerd Church - Spread a Little Love

You wanna change the world my nerdlets?



It seems like it needs some changing at the moment.

Between Trump's Muslim ban (yes, it is a Muslim ban, quit fooling yourselves) and all the other sh** going on right now, it can seem like there's no hope.

But that's not true - there's always hope.

Spread love... get it? 😄

So how can you change the world, right now?


Welp, you can spread the love.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well it is. And it isn't.

When everything's dragging you down, when the world is full of ill-feeling, spreading love and positivity can be the hardest thing of all.

Nerd Church - A Short Intro to Parkinson's Disease and Parkinsonism

Parkinson's Disease is horrible.

This degenerative neurological condition has no cure, and its affects are often devastating.

That's not to say that people with Parkinson's can't manage it - especially in the early stages. But it's not something to take lightly.

People associate Parkinson's with tremors - and yes, that's a key symptom, but it's so much more.

Nerd Church - Embrace Procrastination (Ft. #Science)

I'm procrastinating right now.

There are about five different things that I need to do at the moment. And I'm not doing any of them.

Instead of sorting out various work stuff, or writing the Friday Fics Fix post that I (hopefully) posted last Friday, I'm writing this.

Nerd Church - What's the Purpose of Purpose?

Apologies in advance for the existential crises that I may very well spark with this post.

I think I'm on like my fifth or sixth quarter-life crisis, so... yeah.

If you're someone who gets freaked out by existential 'what am I doing with my life?' stuff, consider this your warning!

I've never really wondered about what my life's purpose is - my life's purpose is books.

I've never doubted that I'm on this planet to read and write.

I don't doubt it any more than we doubt as a species that we're on this planet to breathe, eat, and sleep.

Month In Review(s) - May 2018

May. May was hectic.


Some good stuff happened. Some not-good stuff happened.

Such is life I suppose!

Nerd Church - Light in the Dark

This week, between the sh** Germaine Greer said*, and the cr*p Tommy Robinson pulled**, it might've seemed like the whole world had had a moment of extreme bigotry.

(...and I realise those are only two examples. I could've come up with a ton more, but it's too dispiriting, honestly, so I've stuck to these two.)

But there are people in this world who are willing to point out just how jerky Greer and Robinson are (and no, I have absolutely no problem putting the two in the same sentence.)

*Link CW: rape, victim blaming

**Video in link may auto-play.

Link CW: EDL, general bigotry, Islamophobia, references to child sexual abuse case.

Background info: Tommy Robinson is a right-wing extremist and founded a hate group (the English Defence League.)