Showing posts with label Nerd Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nerd Church. Show all posts

Sunday 23 January 2022

Nerd Church - Simply the Best? It's More Complicated Than That


Simply the Best? It's More Complicated Than That



One of the many things that makes me tired in this beautiful trash-fire of a world is that some people think that everything - everything - has to be a superlative.

What's a superlative? Well there's a couple of meanings to the word, but I'm talking about this one:


'In grammar, the superlative form of an adjective or adverb is the form that indicates that something has more of a quality than anything else in a group. For example, ' biggest' is the superlative form of 'big'.'

- COBUILD Collins English Dictionary Online 


And the world? The world isn't actually comprised solely of superlatives and extremes.



Good Lord, she's gonna talk about nuance on the Internet! Someone stop her!

(Note: don't stop me. 😜😎) 


Sunday 16 January 2022

Sunday 9 January 2022

Nerd Church - I'm Resisting the Onslaught of January Hustle Culture

 


'I'm Resisting the Onslaught of January Hustle Culture' with a fancy glittery background



It's that time of year again - the time when everyone and their great-aunt Lucy is trying to get you to buy into the ideals of work and productivity.

January is a webscape of blogposts which promise to increase your productivity by 1000%! or earn 50 times more by adopting THIS winning attitude! 

Vlogs of new fitness regimes/money-making schemes, which seem more like shaming lectures than helpful tips.

Humble-brag tweets about how 'few' followers/views/monies someone got last year, and how they're gonna do so much better in 2022 - and you can too if you enrol in this course!

...And under-pinning it all this vibe of having to do more! more! MORE! or else you only have yourself to blame for your unenviable position in life/work/Western society/whatever.

Wednesday 15 December 2021

Month In Review(s) - November 2021

 

OK, this post is a bit later than I intended, but December's hectic at the best of times, so... let's just do this -


November - Tachwedd


November's over, and here I am standing in December wondering how we got to the end of 2021, when it feels like it never really got started in the first place.

This year's felt like the hangover after 2020, and never really moved past that. 

Or is that just me? How has your 2021 been, dearest nerdlets?


Sunday 28 November 2021

Nerd Church - Dunkirk Spirit

 

'Dunkirk Spirit' with an artsy ocean-waves background


I don't know whether this counts as creative non-fiction, or a short story, or what - but it was something that I kind of needed to write, y'know? Anyhow, here it is:

Sunday 21 November 2021

Nerd Church - I Want The Books To Be OK

 


'I Want the Books To Be OK' with a background of books on shelves >



When I'm tired, my brain sometimes throws out  random phrases. 

Straight-forward things like, 'I'm so tired,' and 'I wanna be a kitty-cat' (because, well, why wouldn't you?)


Amongst these understandable statements, sometimes it throws out weird ones.

The other day it threw out a new one that I'm still trying to figure out.



Out of nowhere, the thought popped into my head: I want the books to be OK.

And I stopped short. 

And I thought... what the hell does that mean?

I want the books to be OK.

Sunday 14 November 2021

Nerd Church - War Is Failure

 

(Warning: this post discusses war, violence, and the Holocaust)


'War Is Failure' with poppies against a white background



Since it's Remembrance Sunday here in the UK, I think it's time we all admitted something: war is failure.

Yes, even the conflicts we 'win.'

Yes, even the conflicts that people had to get involved in.

Yes, even World War 2.

Sunday 7 November 2021

Nerd Church - No Time For A COP Out, There Is No Planet B

 

By now, you've probably heard of COP 26 - the global climate summit taking place in Glasgow.

(And if you haven't, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why your usual news source hasn't told you about it.)

COP26 started on 31st October, and will end on 12th November.

The general vibes (and I may be wrong about this, so please bare that in mind,) are that most of the headline agreements happened in the 1st week, with the world leaders present, with the details and logistics being hashed out by the civil servants, etc., in the 2nd.



'No Time For A COP Out, There Is No Planet B' next to a globe


Wednesday 3 November 2021

Month in Review(s) - October 2021

(Warning: this post discusses grief, bereavement, Covid 19, mental health, and general existential crises.)



'October - Hydref' with a pumpkin background



October was not the easiest month I've ever had - but then, it was far from the hardest, so that's a plus point.

We've been dealing with some of the last admin of my nan's estate, and every time I feel like I've come to terms with her being gone, it's like another gut-punch.

Because I hadn't seen her in-person for so long due to Covid, sometimes it kind of still feels like I'm just waiting for the pandemic to be over, to be able to visit her.

Accepting that I'll never be able to hug her again, after waiting over a year to be able to do so is... difficult.


Sunday 24 October 2021

Nerd Church - Embracing the Minimum And Learning To NOT Go The Extra Mile




I don’t half-a** things.

It’s not in my make-up. When I do something – work, writing, whatever – I put my everything into everything.

And that’s good. I like to think it shows in what I do.





Embracing the Minimum And Learning To NOT Go The Extra Mile



But as part of my on-going attempts to learn that over-working is an unhealthy coping mechanism...

...and that I need to, y’know, not work myself to exhaustion, I’ve been trying to figure out what it means to put my all into things without all the negatives.

And I’ve realised something – I can do the minimum (or, at least, not the maximum,) without half-a**ing it.


Sunday 17 October 2021

Nerd Church - There's So Much Noise




The world is full of noise, right now.

We manage to make a lot of noise which is only partly literally audible.

But the world is full of noise, all the same.





'There's So Much Noise' with a silhouette sitting in front of a static-filled screen





I guess it always was.

It's just that we gave each other (metaphorical) megaphones and made it a shouting contest.

And then we beamed those megaphones into your homes, your businesses, the palms of your hands, 24 hours a day.


Sunday 10 October 2021

Nerd Church - Why Doesn't the Brahms Doll In 'The Boy' (2016) Freak Me Out?!


(Warning: this post references domestic violence, and discusses elements of horror movies)



'Why Doesn't the Brahms Doll In 'The Boy' (2016) Freak Me Out?!' written in red spooky writing with a black background


* = commission link


The Boy (2016)* is a horror film -


not to be confused with any other films called ‘The Boy’ or ‘Boy’, including, because the world is like this sometimes, The Boy (2015)

- about Greta (played by Lauren Cohan)  – an American chick who escapes her abusive ex by literally fleeing the continent, and taking a job as a nanny in the UK.




Only, when she’s introduced to Brahms, her charge while Mr and Mrs Heelshire -

(that name screams ‘I don’t know what to name these characters, call them something posh,’ doesn’t it?)

- head off on holidays, she’s more than a little weirded-out.




Because the kid she’s supposed to take of? The Boy, Brahms? – Is a porcelain doll.

Cue odd goings on, all alone with Brahms in a secluded mansion, with no mobile phone service and no Internet.


Sunday 3 October 2021

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: No, I Don't Have A Writing Routine

 

There's a lot of writing advice out there. Like, a lot.

So much so in certain online spaces that sometimes you wonder if anyone's not writing about writing.

But then, I'm writing a blogpost for a sub-series called 'The Writer Diaries' so I'm clearly standing in a glass house and holding a rock, about to lob it over my head. 😅


'The Writer Diaries: No, I Don't Have A Writing Routine' written, scribble-style, on a crumpled paper background



A lot of the writing advice I've seen around on the *waves hands* general interwebs lately has been about writing routines.

Which wouldn't be a problem - writing routines help a lot of people. 

Except more than a few of them have given me the general impression of 'OMG if you don't have a writing routine then you're writer-ing wrong!'

And? Honestly? F**k that.

So weird.

Sunday 26 September 2021

Nerd Church - Of Tigers And Men: 'A Killing In Tiger Bay' and The Cardiff Five


Warning: this post discusses a murder case, and related themes such as blood and violence. 

It also discusses racism, institutional racism, miscarriages of justice, wrongful conviction, borderline torture, and police corruption. 

There are brief references to sex work and drugs.






The name Lynette White is one that’s known all over Wales.

Because of what happened to her, and what happened to five innocent men after her death.

Sadly her life is often brushed over, eclipsed by the crimes of the police officers who were supposed to investigate her murder – police officers who couldn’t even manage to spell ‘Lynette’ correctly when they told the press her name.





'Of Tigers And Men: 'A Killing In Tiger Bay' and The Cardiff Five' against a grey stone background







Lynette White, a 20 year old White woman who had been working as a sex worker in the docklands area of Cardiff, was found dead on 14th February 1988.

She had been brutally and viciously murdered.

An eye-witness had seen a White man, covered in blood, leaving the flat where Lynette’s body was found on the night she was killed.

She thought he was injured, so had asked if he was alright or if he needed help. He told her he was fine, had just hurt his hand, and said someone was coming to pick him up, so she left it there.

After Lynette was found, the eye-witness told the police what she’d seen, and described the man.




This was almost certainly Jeffrey Gafoor – Lynette’s murderer.

Modern DNA evidence proves that his blood was present at the murder scene, it was through a partial match on the DNA database that police eventually tracked him down.

Jeffrey Gafoor plead guilty to the murder of Lynette White in 2003.




...But the police arrested five men for the murder of Lynette White in November 1988, with the trial starting in 1989.

The Cardiff Five were put on trial for the murder of Lynette White, and the Cardiff Three were wrongfully convicted of her murder.

It was one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the UK has ever seen.


Sunday 19 September 2021

Nerd Church - Climbing A Mountain To My Grandparents' Grave

 

(Warning: this post deals with themes of death, grief, and graveyards)



Climbing A Mountain To My Grandparents' Grave



I climb a mountain to my grandparents' grave.

We park the car down the street, and walk past rows of houses to the cemetery.

We enter through a gate and a set of stone steps made over a hundred years ago for people with feet as small as mine.


Sunday 12 September 2021

Nerd Church - Bad Luck vs Catastrophizing


Warning: this post discusses: Anxiety, intrusive thoughts, cognitive distortions, catastrophizing, knives, spiders, video game deaths, and brief references to mouse killing and car crashes


Disclaimer time:
I am not any type of mental health, psychological, scientific, or medical professional. 

I am someone with a blog and personal experience of mental health problems.





'Bad Luck vs Catastrophizing' against a sparkly background

Wednesday 8 September 2021

Month in Review(s) - August 2021

 

August was a month where I had multiple migraines, so that sucks.

But it also was NOT meltingly hot (unlike the first days of September...) so I'll take that! 😅

I know some people were complaining that the skies were dull and not as sunshiney as August normally is, but honestly, if the temperature stays down then I don't care!

(Me + Heat = Angry Bear! Lol.)



August - Awst


Sunday 5 September 2021

Nerd Church - The Long Reach of History, 20 Years After 9/11


Warning: this post contains discussions of terrorism, war, murder, and related themes.


The Long Reach of History,  20 Years After 9/11


dividing line

Note:

I have done my best with this post to be respectful to all lives lost and affected. Please do the same in any replies/comments you may leave, either here or on social media.

I've also spoken about historical events and truths that we in the West would rather not hear about - but it's important that we do. History does not stop being true simply because we refuse to look at it.


(Related Post: Nerd Church - I Watched Jojo Rabbit: Part 2, Facing History)


I've tried not to speak out of turn, and instead have stuck to the information I feel I have correctly understood. 

Much of these events are points of historical debate, and these are my interpretations based on the evidence available to me at time of writing.

If any information is incorrect, I welcome corrections from unbiased sources.

dividing line

Next Saturday is September the 11th, 2021.

20 years ago, on September the 11th, 2001, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Another crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane came down in a field in Pennsylvania.

I was a kid, and I watched the pictures coming from the US on TV - both understanding and not understanding what I was watching.

Sunday 29 August 2021

Nerd Church - Reasons I Didn't Review Your Book

 


Yes, I'm a book blogger. Yes, I write reviews.

And yes, somehow I lucked out and reviews are some of my highest-traffic content, despite the fact that I write way fewer of them than I intend to.



Open book against a blurred greenery background. Title imposed over the top reads 'Reasons I Didn't Review Your Book'



But I don't review everything I read. Far from it.

There are people who do that - and that's amazing, I admire you so much.

But I can't.

I just can't.



I don't have the energy or the time. And I'm trying not to do the work-myself-into-an-early-grave thing. With varied results.

And whether or not I'll be reviewing your book (metaphorical author who may or may not exist,) will be based on a bunch of factors - because you know that I don't have just one reason for absolutely anything.



(Warning: this post references the affects of Depression/Anxiety)