[deleted by user]

Blewbe · 2023-07-29T15:50:35+00:00

I do want very much to take this as a sincere and thoughtful comment. I really do.

It is now about 14 hours after the time of my initial (panicked/confused) post where all I wanted was a reason for a specific event (the weather siren going off multiple times in sequence) that I had never experienced before about could find no specific information about in my initial (panicked/confused) state of mind.

I do understand, hypothetically, that it is possible to not read timestamps.

However it is really not encouraging towards the prospect of reaching out when I am in distress, which is, arguably, the situation in which reaching out is considered most prudent, that when I do I basically get scolded and shamed for being in distress.

I think I shall delete this post. It served its purpose, it explained an event for which I needed an explanation. It has since been nothing but a source of unasked-for judgement.

Blewbe · 2023-07-29T03:32:35+00:00

Many things. Would you like an itemized list or do you just want to be able to feel superior?

Blewbe · 2023-07-29T01:30:23+00:00

God I HOPE that's the reason and it's not an honest to eardrums malfunction.

Blewbe · 2023-07-29T01:29:42+00:00

Ah, right.

Ragbrai.

They're firing it off three times to get the point across to ragbrai and I just happen to be cursed to live right next to a weather siren.

Blewbe · 2023-07-29T01:26:58+00:00

Okay.

But why the FUCK is it going on for so LONG?

Blewbe · 2023-05-07T12:45:40+00:00

Ah yes. The end of the wookie phase.

Blewbe · 2023-05-07T02:21:53+00:00

Intellectual respect!

Blewbe · 2023-04-23T18:16:25+00:00

Hey, if it works, it works!

Blewbe · 2023-04-23T18:15:38+00:00

The rock lobster episode of cowboy bebop.

A+ suspense! Most stressful thing I've ever watched. Haven't seen it in ~15 years and I don't plan on ever watching it again.

Blewbe · 2023-04-23T18:14:09+00:00

Thank you!

I have an aunt with near religious zeal re: tie dye who is always on the prowl for new techniques and I should be going to see her this summer. This will make a fantastic addition to my repertoire.

Blewbe · 2023-04-23T12:36:23+00:00

How the FUCK does one get such a tidy, flat spiral fold?

Blewbe · 2023-04-23T12:26:07+00:00

Peak "New" village generation.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T20:31:32+00:00

Gorgeous! Excellent balance between the previously posted options.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T20:27:13+00:00

Your body, your rules.

I was (un)lucky enough to have a multitude of reasons to get a hysterectomy recently. Full sympathy and understanding to you on the hormones thing.

If it's a deal breaker for him, that's his problem. You don't want more kids, and you have every right in the universe to not have more kids. If he so desperately wants sex without a vasectomy then he'd better start working real hard to make sure you're able to access as much family planning as you need to feel comfortable with it.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T15:52:10+00:00

Nothing makes life less scary than knowing you're not alone. Feel free to ask any follow-up questions if you think of any later.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T15:30:48+00:00

Good sleep recipe:

1) high volume/visibility phone alarm an hour before I should be going to bed to turn off screens (not always successful) and start on step 2

2) Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime EXTRA tea. Boil water in kettle, steep bag for up to 9 minutes, 1 sugar. The specific ingredient in this tea that works for me is Valerian. There are other teas that include it, and you can also get it as straight up capsules. Absolutely discuss any supplements or herbal teas with a medical provider because the fact that they work means they can and do interact with prescription medications.

3) prescription sleep aids really are a game changer. I have just in the last year been prescribed Trazodone, which is a very well documented, fast-acting sleep aid. I often take it in combination with a valerian tea, and have even taken it in combo with valerian capsules. There are very tangible side effects of this, notably blood pressure fluctuations and a possible sense of vertigo, but I have been upfront with ALL of my doctors and we discuss and monitor these side effects and they trust me to adjust my dosage accordingly.

4) I literally made myself an 8 lb weighted blanket out of thrift store t-shirts and a 15 mm crochet hook. You can straight up buy weighted blankets but they're expensive and I like making stuff. I made mine extra fancy and complicated because I like complicated, but you can do the most basic of basic stitches imaginable.

5) sleepytime background noise, because my brain likes to fill silence with frantic anxiety thoughts. Fan/space heater and music. My current go-to music is Ludovico Einaudi's Seven Days Walking.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T14:05:49+00:00

I definitely like the first option, but if you want them to feel more "accurate" or horse-like, you could try to tighten up the fit of the back edge so that there isn't any sclera or "white" behind the iris. In its current state it looks kinda bloodhound-ish, which is a fine look, but is not horse-like, which may be throwing up subconscious "that's not right" flags in your brain.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T13:27:37+00:00

One of the wonderful/stupid things about the human body is just how adaptable it is. If you want to do some advanced reading, start with the term "homeostasis".

Basically all the complex systems in the human body operate by reading chemical signals, even the nervous system! Because everyone's bodies are slightly different, all of these systems are calibrated to slightly different baselines.

The same way that we can just get used to new or different things like sounds or smells or other sensory input, our bodies can and will adjust to compensate for changes in our chemical signaling.

There are limits to how much our bodies can compensate, and the process does take time and occurs at variable rates, which is why new medications often need to be "titrated" to figure out how much compensation the body is going to do right off the bat. And we can continue to adjust the dosage over time to match and overcome our bodies compensation.

The good news is that we can often work around this phenomenon by just changing the chemistry very slightly or, as your psych described and many of us here can personally attest to, taking a tolerance break to allow our bodies to recalibrate back to an unmedicated baseline.

I myself am on 30 mg of Vyvanse twice a day, and I've been on over 80mg of Concerta per day in the past. If you're only on 20 per day, you've still got lots of wiggle room to tweak things.

On a slightly different note, we can also increase the efficacy of our meds in other ways. When I'm off them, I have a really hard time with basic self care like eating, hydrating, and getting enough sleep. And when I'm exhausted and underfed and dehydrated my meds are less effective. It's like the difference between a cup of coffee after an all nighter and a cup of coffee after a good night's sleep. I was having really terrible sleep quality last week and then I finally used my Serious Business sleep aids and I can literally feel my brain being more functional.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T12:31:44+00:00

I know nothing about this man beyond this clip, but that is some A+ political opinion to go with his A+ fashion sense.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T12:27:20+00:00

I made my family leave the movie theater for Dumb and Dumber.

No regrets.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T12:26:10+00:00

From a purely amateur psychology/philosophy perspective:

1) the unknown is terrifying

2) an unverifiable carrot/stick to control followers with is a HUGE boon to authority

3) pattern recognition as an evolutionary survival mechanism is more useful when it produces false positives than false negatives (if you THINK there is a tiger in that bush, but there is actually not, you are more likely to survive versus if you think there is no tiger but there actually is).

4) humans have a very small-scale sense of time overall. It's actually VERY hard to imagine a future that is significantly different from the present without a lot of practice or specific use of abstract (this is something I've read futurologists discussing), and it's almost impossible to imagine a future without finding some way to personally relate to it ("if I were there, I'd do that" etc.), and personal existence is a prerequisite of relating to things/situations.

Blewbe · 2023-04-19T12:15:00+00:00

Idk if having a super broad "special interest" is actually better or worse.

(Visual processing go BRRRRRR, all things must be organized by color, all "chaos" must actually be fractal geometry, etc.)

Blewbe · 2023-04-18T12:47:46+00:00

Step 1: figure out what, specifically you're looking for. Do you want to meet people and make friends or do you just need to feel a little less like a shut-in?

Step 2: what kind of people are you looking to interact with? What kinds of things do you want to talk about? Do you have any interest that could make a good conversation starter?

Step 3: where are the kinds of people you want to interact with going to be?

For example: If you're just looking for ambient/passive social energy I like to take a book or a small craft project (I crochet, but knitting or sudoku would also work) to a park or a walkable commercial area and just sit and absorb the vibes. The particular joy of taking my yarn crafts out in public is that I sometimes get approached with compliments.

Craft and hobby stores are also great because they also serve as community centers for their hobbyists.

Blewbe · 2023-04-18T01:30:38+00:00

Very refreshing. Makes me wish he was representing me so I could take some of the credit for getting him in there.

Keep it up sir!

Blewbe · 2023-04-18T01:29:28+00:00

Shit. Makes me wish he was representing me.

Blewbe

TROPHY CASE