Nerd Church - The Anxious Girl's Guide To Pandem-onium

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid-19 (but hopefully in a non-stressy way!) and Anxiety/mental health problems)


Wherever you are in the world, your life is probably being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic right now - if you're in Europe, then it definitely is.

I'm Anxious af right now - and I know other people are too.

So, I think we could all do with some practical self-care advice.

(Even if you don't have mental health problems, you still need to take care of your mental health!)

Nerd Church - The Benefits Of (Sometimes) Switching Off

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid-19, although it's v. brief, I promise!)

Turn off the apps and tabs you aren't using, log out of social media, and let the noise just... stop for a while.

Hooman beans aren't meant for screens - not 24 hours a day, anyways.

I'm not saying 'turn off the evils of technology and become one with the universe' or whatever the latest anti-tech line is.

(Side note: these lines always seem to be spouted online. #JustSaying.)




Technology is a tool. An exceptionally useful one for so many people.

But you don't hammer nails all day, every day, do you? (Wait... do you?)

Even the most fervent lumberjack has to put down the axe every now and then. (Axe... chainsaw... I don't know wtf they're using - ask them!)

Month in Review(s) - February 2020

February... I mean, on a personal level, February wasn't too bad.

I had a few colds (and yes, they were colds,) and some bad depression days, but nothing too much.

Although *gestures vaguely at the state of the world* I realise that more than a few squares have been crossed off on our apocalypse bingo cards.

But we've been crossing those things off since 2016, so it's probably not that surprising.

And a reminder, my dearest darling nerdlets: where there's life there's hope, and where there's hope, there's life.

Nerd Church - #InternationalWomensDay: 'My Feminism Will Be Intersectional, Or It Will Be B*llsh**'

'MY FEMINISM WILL BE INTERSECTIONAL OR IT WILL BE B*LLSH**'

Have you heard those words? Maybe seen them on a placard or a pin badge, or on your socials?

Maybe you have, maybe you haven't.

They are the words of Flavia Dzodan, as written in her delightfully sweary 2011 essay of the same name*

(I actually don't mind reading swear words, I just can't bring myself to reproduce them without *s - my mother might find out. 😅)

*CW: racism, rape, violence against women, White Feminism™

Nerd Church - St. David's Day Special! Let's Talk Robert Downey Jr as Dolittle!

Robert Downey Jr's performance as Dolittle is amazing. And he does it with a Welsh accent.

...I think it's fair to say, though, that the accent has had a mixed response.

And since today is St. David's day - and I never lose a chance to talk about Wales and being Welsh - what better time to discuss it?!

Nerd Church - Hanau (& a Brief Note on the Flooding)

(Warning: this post discusses terrorism, murder, bigotry, etc. throughout, and flooding briefly at the end.)



I didn't want to write this post.

Sometimes it feels like I'm always writing about senseless acts of violence committed by lost souls and festering hatred.

But those 9 people (10 if you count the attacker's mother, which we should) in Hanau lost their lives.

They lost their lives to a White supremacist, far-right extremist, and terrorist, all wrapped up in the shell of one hate-filled man.

One hate-filled man took those lives.

Nerd Church - 7 Amazing Queer Songs To Bring You Joy and Brighten Your Weekend

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

I think we could all do with a little oomph and some good tunes, right?

These tracks are both awesomely awesome, and Queer af.

The world wears down on Queer folks - and sometimes it's good to just surround ourselves with the creations of our LGBTQ+ siblings.

But then, the world's weary atm whether you're Queer or not, so I hope all of you enjoy this little pick me up! 😀


Here we go then:

Nerd Church - The Truth?

Caution: This is one of those existential crises type posts with more questions than answers! Enjoy! 😅



What is the truth?

How can we tell what the truth is, in this supposedly 'post-truth,' 'alternative facts,' world?

Does the truth even matter any more?

Let's break this down, dearest nerdlets.

Month in Review(s) - January 2020

January 2020. The first month of a new decade.

...A little worrying that World War Three was trending on Twitter within a day or two of the New Year.

Trending globally. Off and on. For quite a while.

Anyway, in better news, if you're reading this it means you've survived.

And that's worth celebrating, ok? That's an achievement in itself.

Nerd Church - Brexit: How We Got Here

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has officially left the European Union, albeit in a transition period.

And no, the sky didn't fall in at 11pm GMT on 31st Jan, when we left the EU.

But we did start a period of time that, if we're lucky, will just be highly unpleasant and economically difficult.

I hope we're lucky, but that doesn't seem like the most realistic outcome.

Made with imgflip.com

It's difficult to explain, to an international audience (hi! I love you!) exactly why the UK made such a foolish, pain-inducing decision in 2016.

(To those from the US: you made a worse decision, with the Trumpkin. So hopefully you understand how embarrassing this is.)

...But I'ma try.

(Please note - this is my opinion, ok? I'm not an expert or a politician or anything like that!)

Nerd Church - Auschwitz: 75 Years Later

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Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

(Warning: this post discusses the Holocaust and genocide throughout. Links may include details and/or images of the Holocaust and genocide.)


75 years ago tomorrow (27th January) Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet forces.

Nerd Church - Royalty and Racism

(Warning: as you can probably tell from the title, this blogpost discusses racism throughout)


I don't give a damn, one way or t'other, about the Royal family.

I mean that. I don't wish them any harm, but if they all abdicated tomorrow that would be fine by me.

As a good little Welsh girl, I both reject monarchy from a Socialist standpoint, and because I still don't forgive them for the conquest of my country, and the slaughter of our own Royals.

(...I know it was centuries ago - Welsh people can hold a grudge, ok? And the oppression by the English never really let up)

Mark Jones/Wikimedia Commons

They can do what they like as far as I'm concerned - be royal, don't be royal, work at Tesco's, have your own business, whatever!

...so long as they don't cost us any more than they do now, I really don't care.

Good luck to 'em, even. They need to do what they can to be happy. And it looks like Harry and Meghan are gonna do just that.

Nerd Church - The Iran Plane Crash

(Warning: this post discusses plane crashes, missile attacks, war, and media racial bias)


A plane falls. And 176 people are lost.

These people are caught in the crossfire of a situation far beyond their control.

Iran has blood on its hands. The USA has blood on its hands.

To absolve either of guilt here would be reckless and inaccurate - neither are completely guilty, but neither are completely innocent.

When a country decides it can be judge, jury, and executioner to a foreign official on 3rd party soil, they cannot avoid the repercussions.

When a country decides it needs revenge, and acts on that, killing innocent people in the process, they cannot avoid the repercussions.

Month in Review(s) - December 2019

December has Christmas! Christmas is awesome! Therefore December is awesome! 😀

...I'm good at logic! (Lol.)

In all seriousness, December wasn't an easy one for me - but was far from the worst one I've ever had (as in, no-one died.)

So, despite the various colds I had (I'm a revolving door of viruses, dearest nerdlets!) and some upsetting problems with my grandfather's grave, December was good.

I love Christmas, ok? Christmas is amazing. 😊

Nerd Church - My New Year's Resolution

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Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

Hey dearest nerdlets! I hope that 2020 is treating you well so far! 

(...or at least hasn't been too sh** already. ...I'm pragmatic.)

Update, 2021 - this statement did not age well



So, I figured I'd talk a little about my New Year's Resolutions... 

...Well. Sort of.

See, to me, NY resolutions have always been a little *waves hands* ...vague.

Like, I don't even know what I'm doing next week, let alone committing 12 months to something, y'know?

So, they're more like an idea. Maybe a goal, or an intention, or whatever.

Nerd Church - Our Roaring 20s

It's nearly that time again - when one year becomes another and we have the chance to make a fresh start

(...symbolically, if nothing else.)

But this year? This year marks the change of the decade, as well as the change of the year.

Yup, it's So Long and Farewell to the 2010s, and roll on the Roaring 20's.

(I'm now singing Panic! in my head, and I have no regrets.)

Were the 2010s that bad...?

Probably.

Especially 2016 onwards.

There's no sugar-coating it, some bad sh** has happened in this decade, especially the latter half - it feels like the world is colder, crueller, place than it was before.

Nerd Church - My Favourite Time of the Year (...Despite Everything)

(Warning: this post discusses bereavement, & other bad stuff that's happened to me at Christmas)


This week has been... difficult.

That's the polite way of describing it, anyway.



I don't want to go into the detail because I'm just gonna get really upset again -

- but basically, there's a serious and significant - though thankfully fixable, although in the long-term rather than the short-term - problem with my grandfather's grave.

So, yeah. That's what I've been dealing with in the week before Christmas.

I guess it could be worse - last year, in the week before Christmas, we buried him.

A few years before that, my other grandfather died on Christmas Eve, followed by his wife, my grandmother, four days later.

Nerd Church - Hope, Politics, and the Zombie Apocalypse

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(Please do not make UK purchases with my Amazon links)

Something important happened on Thursday, dearest nerdlets!

What..? The UK election..?

Yeah, that happened too.

We now know which brand of f**ked we, as a country, are stuck with *sighs*



What I'm talking about, though, is yours truly watching a truly bizarre, but amazing, film, called Anna and the Apocalypse.

Have you ever thought, 'wouldn't High School Muscial be better if it was combined with Shaun of the Dead... and it was in Scotland... at Christmas...?'

No? Well apparently someone did!

No, really. That is what this film is.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Dealing With Self-Doubt

If you've been around my blog at all in the past (love you!) then you probably know that I struggle with...

...Well, that list could take a while, but for the purposes of this post, I struggle with self-doubt.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

So it's probably not that much of a surprise that I also have doubts when it comes to what I'm writing.

(Even blogposts - this is like my 6th attempt at writing this week's Nerd Church, and about the 3rd possible topic I came up with)

Month In Review(s) - November 2019

November was... it was ok.

I spent most of the month with a revolving-door of colds and viruses, so business as usual I guess! 😅