Nerd Church - Covid 19: Years From Now, How Will We Explain?

(Warning: as you can probably tell, this post is about Coronavirus/Covid 19. 

It also references: anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theories, general 2020-ness, mental health problems, Trump, discrimination, ableism, systemic racism, and other systemic discrimination)

"My grandparents lived through the First World War and the Spanish Flu and all that," my mam said, "it's weird - they never talked about it much."

"Well," I said, "imagine explaining 2020, and the pandemic, to someone who's not even born yet. How could you even begin to make them understand?"

If a child asked, decades from now, 'what happened in 2020 and 2021? How did so many people die of Covid?' - what would you answer?

Where would we start? With the fires and the floods and World War Three trending at the beginning of 2020? 

Or would we just jump straight into the Lockdowns, the social distancing, masks, Covid testing, the race for a vaccine...?

Month In Review(s) - February 2021

 

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19 and mental health problems)

We are two months into 2021. Just two months.

I have nearly lost my Nan twice so far in 2021.

Covid (which she had in January) has been so damaging to her health... it's awful. 

If you're one of the people who thinks it's not that bad, or it's a hoax, or it somehow doesn't apply to you, then you can fuck off.

And yes, it kills me to write swear words without *s, but I'm leaving it in.

Nerd Church - The Serpent and Herman Knippenberg

 

(Warning: this post discusses the details of a real-life crime, as such it contains details of murder, drugging, and a serial killer)

This week, I finished watching the eight-part BBC series The Serpent.

Starring Jenna Coleman, Billy Howle, and Tahar Rahim, The Serpent is a drama based on the real story of a serial killer preying on tourists in a variety of countries along the Asian hippie-trail during the 1970s.

It's an excellent series, even though it’s not exactly easy viewing.

This blogpost is gonna have a few SPOILERS for The Serpent series, OK? 

SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS!!!!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Nerd Church - Popular Vs Pretentious: I Read Martin Scorsese's Essay So You Don't Have To

 

Why are popular films, and popular media in general, somehow seen as unworthy?

Who decides what counts as Art anyways? 

Cos being asked to locate the grand-high judge of all things artsy films would not have me running to call Martin Scorsese (...who would totally take my call, because let's face it, I'm awesome and stubborn as a mule persistent.)

In a pretentious burst of overly-descriptive prose, Martin Scorsese's essay in Harper's Magazine was published this week to the irritation of many fans of superhero blockbusters and popular films.

Why? 

Well, Scorsese previously ran his mouth about Marvel movies in 2019, and it seems that even in this current piece about the artsy Italian director Federico Fellini, he couldn't resist some entitled barbs at films that people actually like watching.

It's titled, 'Il Maestro: Federico Fellini and the lost magic of cinema' because... why not? I guess?

Month in Review(s) - January 2021

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19)

On a personal level, January sucked. Bad.

My beautiful Nan got Covid, and combined with her other health problems, despite the fact that she had very few symptoms, we nearly lost her. 

There are very few things more distressing than watching someone you love slowly fade away via video link.

Honestly? If you're STILL not taking Coronavirus seriously, you can fuck the hell off.

And, dearest nerdlets, you know how upset I have to be to swear without censoring myself. 

I really wanna delete a few letters and add *s, but I'm not gonna, cos despite the fact that I'm a nice well-brought-up Welsh girl, that's how annoyed I am, and how much you suck if you're one of the selfish people who still isn't taking precautions.

Nerd Church - The Only Valentine I Ever Got

 

The only Valentine I've ever actually received was when I was five or six years old.

It was on the back of half a birthday card, which I still oh-so-clearly remember the flowers on, and I believe was written in red pencil. 

It was definitely some form of pencil - maybe my brain just made up the red part, I dunno.

Nerd Church - Depression Is...

(Warning: as you can probably tell, this post is about Depression. It also includes brief references to ableism, suicidal thoughts, suicidality, and passive suicidality.)

Disclaimer time!

I am not a mental health or medical professional.

I am someone with personal experience of Depression and Anxiety, and this post is based on my own experiences only. 

Mental health problems are intensely personal and therefore have a range of complex, varied, and valid experiences.

If you need help - PLEASE seek help. Getting in touch with a doctor or other help is scary, but so totally worth it - YOU are worth it. Please take care.

If you're in the UK or ROI, you can talk to The Samaritans about anything at any time. Check out their contact details here.

If you're not in the UK or ROI, you can check out this list of international suicide helplines.

Nerd Church - A Simple Sleep Game To Help You Get A Good Night's Snooze

(Warning: this post references Coronavirus/Covid 19. It also talks about sleep problems a lot, but you probably guessed that.)

I go through periods of having trouble sleeping through one thing and another, and with Covid Lockdowns very much in place, it wouldn't surprise me if other people are also having trouble dropping off.

(Ironically my main sleep problem right now has four paws, a tail, and wants to play at 3 in the morning.)

So, while there may be a variety of factors that might stop you from getting to sleep, and any number of things to help you actually fall asleep, I thought I'd let you in on my simple trick for nodding off.

Nerd Church - What's Behind the Covid Arts and Crafts Boom?

(Warning: this post discusses mental health problems, especially Depression and Anxiety, and the Covid 19/Coronavirus pandemic)

I've always been an artsy, craftsy, sort of person.

I'm one of these people who can never name their hobbies when asked, but actually has somehow accumulated so many hobbies that she can't physically fit them all in to her timetable.

(Part of the solution to that is to make some of your hobbies into your employment, but that brings its own challenges.)

And most of those hobbies are creative in some way.

So yeah, I'm a big fan of the arts and crafts!

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: 4 Random Realisations About Writing

There's a couple of random things about writing that I've realised lately while working on my Work-In-Progress (WIP.)

I dunno whether this is me becoming more self-aware of my patchwork writing process - 

(I write in snippets and then attempt to stick them together... with varying results) 

- or whether everyone knows/has realised these things and I'm just now catching up (let me know!), but I figure'd I'd blog about them anywho! 😅

Nerd Church - Dear 2021...

(Warning: this post talks about Covid 19/Coronavirus, and the political situation in the US)

Dear 2021,

You've had a rocky start, but that's OK.

You inherited a global pandemic and a facist US president - and it's gonna take a while for you to fix that, we know. 

I blame 2016, that year was a bad influence on everyone. The years after struggled to bring hope. 

Then when 2020 came along... well, I guess you know about that already.

Month in Review(s) - November 2020

 

(Warning: this post discusses mental health problems, Covid 19/Coronavirus, and Transphobia)

November saw some rays of sunshine breaking through the end of 2020.

Biden won.

Hope of a Covid vaccine became more real.

As for me, well, I've had some ups-and-downs.

News of local people dying of and/or being ill with Covid. A firebreak Lockdown. The continued anti-Welsh sentiment in the press...

And then there's the Amazon Associate issue *sigh* 

I can't go into it, because I've appealed the decision, but after some problems in November, I lost my UK Associateship in the first few days of December. That's all I can really say for now. 

But it had me super stressy for a bit 😣 still kinda stressy now tbh.

Damn Anxiety always blows this kind of sh** out of proportion.

Update, 8th December:

Please DO NOT use my links to purchase from Amazon UK - my Associate account for the UK was unfairly closed, and Amazon UK will no longer pay me for any purchases made with them.

I will slowly be removing the UK links from 1000+ posts, but it's gonna take a while.

Nerd Church - Covid 19: Have A Safe and Happy Christmas

 

(Warning: As you can probably tell from the title, this post is about Covid 19/Coronavirus)

Christmas in 2020 is gonna be weird. I think we all know that.

I think, if those of us who celebrate go into it trying to make the best of things, it's gonna be better than complaining about the things we can't do.

(Although, a notable exception is the British tradition of enjoying a good moan about everything - but the key to that is you have to really enjoy it. Otherwise it doesn't count 😉)

At the same time, if you're not feeling it this year - if you're sad, or angry, or any combination of things - then that's OK too.

You feel how you feel, and feeling guilty that you don't feel how you 'should' at Christmas is only gonna make you feel worse.

I realise that that's something of a paradox - make the best of things and look on the bright-side, but also accept it if you feel cruddy and don't put too much pressure on yourself - but I'm a walking contradiction kinda gal 😅

Nerd Church - Working From Home More? It's Time To Set Some Work/Life Boundaries

(Warning: I briefly discuss mental health problems in this post - it's not graphic, and is written about in the context of self-care and healthy work/life boundaries)

A lot more people are working, at least in part, from home this year - on account of 2020 and all the Lockdowns and everything 2020-ish.

I've actually worked from home for several years, and it's got a ton of advantages - but you also have to be careful to set work/life boundaries -

- especially if, like me, part or all of your income is coming from things which were once solely hobbies - it tends to blur the lines.

Disclaimer: This is the bit where I remind you that I'm not any type of mental health or medical professional.

Neither am I some kind of life or productivity coach (that would be scary!)

I only have first-hand experience of Depression/Anxiety, and using self-care to support myself - and hopefully my experiences can help other people.

Nerd Church - How 2020 Is Actually An Apocalyptic Rock Opera. No, Really.

 

(Warning: This post discusses various elements of 2020, including but not limited to - Covid 19/Coronavirus, the US presidential elections, racism and police brutality.)

 ***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.

Whew! It's been a year, right? 

And it's not over yet (though hopefully our supply of Bad News has dwindled sufficiently.)

Over the course of this year, two of my (many - when I love something, I love it!) favourite albums of all time have kind of become my soundtrack to whatever the f**k has been going with 2020.

Some people think we're living in a simulation, but I have a new take: dearest nerdlets, we're in a rock opera!

Month in Review(s) - October 2020

 

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, and mental health problems)

Well... October was pretty much the same as the rest of 2020 - there were a couple of nice things in there, but overall it sucked.

(I'm still standing though! #ThePositiveSide!)

My local Lockdown became a Welsh national Lockdown, and the anti-Welsh sentiments in some parts of the media and the Interwebs were irritatingly loud. 

*Takes deep breaths* *Resists urge to rant*

(If you want to see me ranting for a whole blogpost against an ignorant RT from the Trumpkin, you can read that here.)

Nerd Church - Remembering Why We Remember

 

(Warning: this post discusses war, loss of life, and pandemics/ Coronavirus/Covid 19)

In the UK, it's traditional to mark Remembrance Sunday - the Sunday that's nearest the 11th November - and also Remembrance Day, otherwise known as Armistice Day.

This has been tradition since just after the First World War, when literally everyone knew someone who had passed away in service. (World War One was basically 4 years of non-stop slaughter on all sides.)

So, for the last century almost every town and parish in this fair(ish) land has had memorial services for the country's war dead on these days.

Nerd Church - 5 Things That've Kept Me Going In 2020 (So Far)

 

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, Lockdowns, and Depression/Anxiety)

Since I'm once again in Lockdown, and now it's not just local but national for Wales, I figured I'd have a vague ramble about some of things that've been keeping me going through the weirdness that is 2020.

Nerd Church - Hate Crimes Are Bad, Right?

(Warning: this post discusses hate crime and bigotry, including racism and Transphobia.)

Last week (ending yesterday) was National Hate Crime Awareness Week in the UK.

Which means that there's been a lot of very productive hashtags -

(no, I'm not being sarcastic - it's possible for hashtags to change the world, and you know it,) 

- and shows of support from various institutions. 

And it's largely been a very nice, if sometimes luke-warm, effort by said institutions to show solidarity with marginalised groups. Which is good, obviously.

Or... at least I thought it was obvious. 

Because I thought it was obvious that hate crimes are, y'know, bad.

But apparently that isn't obvious to everyone.

Because someone, somewhere, dearest nerdlets, will always find a way to be a jerk. 

Never more so than on social media.

Month in Review(s) - September 2020

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, Transphobia and JKR, and mental health)

September was weird. I think that goes for much of 2020, but September felt especially 2020-ish.

In August, Wales was down to a very small number of Coronavirus cases. We had it in control. 

By the end of September, over half of our population was in Lockdown, and remain in Lockdown. That includes yours truly.