Nerd Church - National Mourning Is Not The Same As Private Mourning

A reporter approaches someone laying flowers outside Buckingham Palace...

"...I'm just devastated!" they howl. There are genuine tears on this random person's face.

The reporter says something about the whole country feeling the loss deeply, being in mourning, grieving, everyone's lives being touched by the late Queen - really laying it on thick - and... nah.

Just, no.

The Queen died.

That's not a happy thing. And my thoughts are with her family and those who knew and loved her.

They lost someone they loved, so yeah, I feel for them.

But I am not mourning. Not personally, as an individual.

I saw her once, when I was a kid, and strangely pro-Royal (but then, I was like nine or ten, and she was an actual Queen,) - I was one of those kids they bus in to line the route and wave flags as she passes in her car, y'know?

Yes, they actually bus local kids in for that - I got selected and everything, check me out! Lol. 

And we got Welsh flags as well as British ones, because dragons rock.

Month In Review(s) - August 2022

(Warning: this post briefly discusses mental health problems)

August was... OK, I guess.

And for me, this year, OK is freaking fantastic!

So, it was still too hot, but it was cooler than July which -

 - yes, please, thankyou, more of the lack of heat melting my brain, if at all possible, thanks!

I do not function in the heat. At all.

Frighteningly, we now have an official drought in much of Wales. 

If you don't know Wales and our verdant, fertile, valleys all that well, you might wonder why that's frightening.

Basically - you know the stereotypes that the rest of the world has about it always raining in London? Yeah? Well, I would consider London to be quite a dry place.

And we have drought.

(And now London possibly wants our water - but if I start getting into the long and exploitative history of water politics between Wales and England, we will be here all day.)

Climate change is real, and it is here.

Nerd Church - Constantly Consuming Content

 

'We've got mountains of content
Some better, some worse
If none of it's of interest to you, you'd be the first'

- Bo Burnham, Welcome to the Internet

There's a lot of content out there, a lot of media, a lot of art, a lot of whatever you wanna call it.

There's a lot of it.

My TBR is over 900 books, and I've given up ever taming it. 

My web bookmarks and favourites can only be described as chaotic. 

My Netflix, Disney+, Sky box, and YouTube are overflowing with things I want to watch, only to get distracted by something else on the home page and end up watching that instead.

There are so many excellent people whose work and art I wanna see on blogs, socials, whatever...

Month in Review(s) - July 2022

July wasn't as awful as June.

Which is a heckava low bar, but one that's worth having!

My energy levels still weren't at their tippity-toppest after having Covid, and then the heatwave came.

Dear Lord, the heatwave came.

I am one grumpy bear in the heat - like, I get so pi**ed off, at pretty much everyone and everything - and we had record-breaking temperatures here in the UK. Again.

It was relentless, and climate change is both real and horrendous. London was on fire. I don't mean that metaphorically.

Nerd Church - We're All Just Muddling Through

 This is a weird one... I regret nothing. I regret everything.

We're all just muddling through.

We don't know, do we, how things are supposed to go, how we're supposed to be, what we're supposed to be?

Do you think we're supposed to know?

It would be nice if someone did, I guess - if someone seemed to have a clue how to steer this whirling, swirling, careening force of nature that is humanity heading slow-quick to...

...wherever it is that we're heading.

I hope it's somewhere nice. But that would be something of a surprise, given our current circumstances.

Does anyone ever have a plan go to plan?

I'm not sure I ever have.

No matter how well-constructed, all my plans seem to burn to ashes, blow away on the wind, or whatever other metaphor you want to use.

Not that I'm complaining. - I'm not sure I have any grounds for complaining. I'm not sure I don't, either.

We're all just muddling through.

The entire freaking human race crawling through the future in uncertainty.

And it's ugly.

And it's beautiful.

And it's oh-so messy.

We're all hot messes. 

Each and every one of us. 

All so scared of other people seeing how messy we truly are. It would be funny, if it weren't so sad-sweet-sad.

We're all just muddling through.

Doing our best to put one foot in front of the other.

And hopefully that'll be enough.

...If anyone ever figures out what 'enough' is meant to be.

I'm blaming this one on the universe 😅

Whatcha think?

Talk to me! 😅💬

You can follow me on Twitter @CeeDoraReads, on Pinterest, and on Dora Reads @ BlogLovin. For more ways to support me, check out the Support Me page

Previous Nerd Church Posts:

• Nerd Church - Some Reminders To Myself (And Maybe You, Too)

• Nerd Church - The Devil Wears Double-Standards

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Nerd Church - Some Reminders To Myself (And Maybe You, Too)

 

It's been a rough week, mental-health-wise.

So I figured I needed to remind myself of a few things - and hopefully some of them will be helpful reminders to you, too.

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of mental health, medical, or psychological professional. I'm a chick with a blog.

Month In Review(s) - June 2022

 

(Warning: this post discusses Covid 19, grief, mental health problems, and panic attacks)

June was horrible.

I'm not going to sugar-coat it - June sucked.

For those who don't know, at the very end of May I caught Covid after going to a My Chemical Romance concert (they do rock, though #JustSaying) - and it took me most of June to feel even half-way to human again.

I had ten full days of feeling like absolute hell - and the time since has been spent recovering.

Do NOT listen to people who call this mild.

The only way I'd refer to it as 'mild' is if you mean 'I didn't end up in hospital' - which, thank God that I'm triple-vaxxed because honestly, I'm not sure I would've stayed out of hospital otherwise.

If by 'mild' you mean 'like a cold,' or 'feeling a bit off,' or 'not feeling good but being semi-able to function,' then NO.

No, it is NOT mild.

Wear your masks. 

Wash your hands. 

Keep up social distancing where possible.

Month in Review(s) - May 2022

(Warning: this post discusses Covid, migraines, and mental health problems)

 

I know it's late-ish June. I got Covid.

...And I didn't want to just not do a post for May, because it was bugging me 😅

May 2022... *hysterical laughter*

OK, May 2022 was a bit of a rollercoaster for me.

Like, there was some really good stuff, some really bad stuff, and some stuff I point-blank don't know how to categorise.

Life/Blogging Update - Covid Recovery

(Yes, this post discusses Covid)

No, this is not my cat - it's a stock photo from Pixabay. Yes, I wish I could pet this kitty 😅

Covid really sucks, by the way.

Like, it really sucks.

So, I obviously want to get back to blogging straight away. But even walking up the stairs is still an exhausting activity, so I'm going to have to try easing myself into things.

(...which, is not easy for me. I really want to spend circa 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, being productive right now, and I can't. Argh!)

My regular posts won't be back in June - it's just not practical *sigh* - but I do have dates in July when you can expect my series-posts back on your screens:

Life/Blogging Update - Covid

(Warning: this post obviously discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19)

Hi everyone,

I tested positive.

I went to an outside concert for the first time in 2 years, was really careful, am triple vaxxed, and still got Covid.

So, my brain is currently smoosh, and I really hope this missive contains a modicum of sense (...I turn into a Victorian dictionary when I'm tired - sorry.)

My usual posts will be suspended for the time being, until I can think clearly enough to figure out a strategum for said missives.

(...I honestly have no clue where that came from, sorry again.)

Once I know what in the name of your great-aunt Doris (...seriously, I have no clue,) I'm doing, I will let everyone know - I promise.

See you soon.

Nerd Church - Self-Care Wins From A Weird Week

 

I'm settling down to write this with some caution...

Because if the last few days have been anything to go by, the moment I really get into things, really get some momentum going... drama happens.

Month in Review(s) - April 2022

 

April was rough, mental health-wise.

I'm OK - just having to adapt and take care.

...It's kind of worse when there's no real reason or trigger because there's nothing you can blame, y'know?

...and it really doesn't help that the pollen this year is exceptionally, brutally, high, so my hayfever is extra-present this year.

Kind of hard to focus on your mental health when the pollen is making you feel like a zombie, lol.

(Oh, and hayfever is linked to climate change. #TrueStory.)

Nerd Church - The Need To Read

 

'I feel the need... the need to read!'

- Anonymous bookish meme, based on a Top Gun reference

I'm a mood-reader.

I read every single day.

...I need to.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Write Your Obvious

You're the only one of you.

( *Starts mentally singing ME! by Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie: 'I'm the only one of me! Baby, that's the fun of me!...'* Lol.)

Hooman-bean-brains are one of the most complex things in the known universe (I know, right? We're special!) and yours is just that: yours.

No-one else's brain will ever work in exactly the same way as yours does.

We may come to the same conclusions or think along the same lines as someone else - but at the end of the day our brains are ours alone: entirely unique.

Month In Review(s) - March 2022

Warning: this post briefly discusses various aspects of the world's clusterf**k, including but not limited to: Ukraine, systemic Transphobia, and Covid 19. 

It also breifly discusses poor mental health, and chronic illness (migraines.)

March was... turbulent.

Which I know isn't exactly unusual atm, but still...

Nerd Church - Just. Pause.

Warning: this post discusses mental health problems and symptoms

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of medical, mental health, scientific, etc., professional - I'm a chick with a blog and some personal experience, m'k? M'k.

Are you ever watching a TV show or a movie, or reading a book, and just...

...have to...

...pause...?

Month In Review(s) - February 2022

(Warning: this post discusses war, the threat of nuclear disaster, injured cats, and blood)

February.

2022.

February. 2022.

February 2022.

...I live in Europe. Edges of, here in the UK, but still Europe.

Y'know, that continent Putin nearly turned into a nuclear wasteland last week? 

And no, I'm not over-reacting, Zaporizhzhia is way bigger than Chernobyl, and radiation from the  Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the reason Welsh farmers had restrictions on selling livestock until 2012.

So... *gestures at Putin in a non-polite manner*

You can donate to the Disaster Emergency Committee's Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal here.

Nerd Church - The Dark Side of Carbon Offsetting

 

Carbon offsetting is sadly not the get-out-of-eco-jail-free card that some people think it is.

Whether you're a frequent flyer looking to make up for the environmental sins of your trips around the world, a heavy-polluting fossil-fuel-based corporation, or just someone who gets their Etsy packages delivered, you've probably heard of carbon offsetting.

But, so that we're all on the same page: what is carbon offsetting?

Well there's no concrete definition - everyone has their own ideas of what 'counts' as carbon offsetting and what doesn't - but I can give you the basics.

Carbon offsetting, as far as I understand it, is where someone - sometimes an individual, but more commonly a business or organisation - attempts to counteract their carbon footprint by supporting environmental projects.

This support often comes in the form of... (paying to make the problem go away) ...investing.

This might be an investment in a green energy scheme, such as a wind farm or tidal energy project...

Nerd Church - We Don't Make Good Decisions When We're Tired, OK?

'Three in the morning is never the time to try and sort out your life.'

- Matt Haig, Reasons To Stay Alive

Most of us have been there - it's a ridiculous time in the night, you're utterly shattered, and you're still trying to get things done.

You inevitably make a mistake -

because you should be sleeping 

- and you decide that your entire life is a sh**-show, and you need to leave everything you know behind and move to the mountains and breed chinchillas or something equally random.

(...Unless that's a long-held ambition of yours, in which case don't let me stop ya!)

Month In Review(s) - January 2022

 

January was the perfect example of pandemic time

- it simultaneously lasted five minutes and three thousand years.

(Not that my experience of time as a concept ever manages to be one speed, but this is especially marked.)

So, this is 2022.

...I feel like it's best not to tempt fate by saying any more than that 😅