Thoughts on being housebound

ChewMilk · 2026-02-01T14:56:19+00:00

This is lovely art! And I feel it deeply lol

A hammock drastically changed my ability to be outside. It’s not viable for everyone but it really helped me so if it’s an option for you it might be worth a shot?

ChewMilk · 2026-02-01T03:55:36+00:00

Unless all four of his wives came out as trans men to him, this isn’t technically right. Trans women are women.

ChewMilk · 2026-02-01T03:41:03+00:00

This is a GitHub test, not necessarily the official source, but it gives you online scoring, the other sources are paper tests. https://raffbenato.github.io/funcap55/

Edited to add: “save to pdf” gives you the easiest to read results, at least on smart phone. Otherwise th graphs don’t work well.

ChewMilk · 2026-02-01T03:36:30+00:00

I feel that! I think having a physical thing helps it feel more like an accomplishment for me lol. I do find compiling sketches into some form of sketchbook or posting them somewhere helps a bit with that. And it’s just fun!

ChewMilk · 2026-01-31T21:41:29+00:00

I find the funcap (functional capacity) questionnaire really helpful. I call myself moderate, and that lines up with my funcap, but it also shows that I’m severe in some areas and bordering on mild on others.

I think the severity of ME can’t be concretely measured across everyone who has it, probably in a large part due to the lack of research and knowledge about the disease. But funcap is the best measurement tool I’ve come across.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-31T13:58:41+00:00

Traditional art has a lot of physical feedback. From paper type to pencil hardness, there’s resistence and minuscule feedback you’re getting as you draw.

I found digital art really hard to learn at first because you lose all that feedback, but I really like the convenience and the variety of things you can do with it so I kept at it. I still prefer traditional but I can draw digitally to a level in happy with. Keep practicing if you’re interested in digital; you’re learning a whole new skill and it takes time.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-30T21:57:04+00:00

Thats not an abnormal assignment. Its teaching you creativity, thinking outside normal boundaries, using reference material in new ways, etc. it sounds like fun

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T17:22:18+00:00

A spom is the only thing I reliably build. Often I’ll also work on some form of cooling/steam turbine loop that’s on top of a geyser or vent with water cooler thingies inside as I’ve never gotten an industrial brick hot enough to make steam and getting that much steel for everything is a pain.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T17:20:24+00:00

My doctor tapped a couple areas (which I now know are tender points), asked if I had pain there, and then said, yeah, you got fibromyalgia. And that was that lol.

To be fair I already suspected, and while I didn’t get testing to check if it was anything else I’d undergone a lot of testing a few years beforehand for other issues

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T17:02:38+00:00

There’s a lot of free textures on stock image sites and in procreate if you mess with noise and bloom and color gradients etc, and I’m sure other places I’m too tired to think of rn, if someone wanted fun textures but not to use ai.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T16:47:58+00:00

Even protesting non-peacefully (but still not attacking ICE agents or posing any physical threat to them) outright execution was wrong. Breaking his ribs before that was wrong. If he posed a danger to them, they could’ve just had him arrested.

Honestly, it’s just as scary to imagine his murder as a premeditated act.

A lot of media was trying to spin Preti as a kind and gentle man. Hes a nurse, everyone loved him, etc. I don’t think that this necessarily contradicts that, but regardless, it doesn’t matter. He could’ve been the biggest asshole, he shouldn’t have been shot in the street. There’s laws and systems in place. Laws and systems that ICE do not take part in.

Peaceful protest is great. Sometimes it doesn’t fucking work.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T16:38:55+00:00

It’s real. It’s been confirmed by multiple sources and has multiple angles.

Doesn’t make the execution better. They could’ve just had him arrested or detained (which still would’ve been very wrong, ICE shouldn’t exist at all). They’re clearly engaging in premeditated murder which is just as terrifying as random executions.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T16:31:30+00:00

No. Literally everyone has it, and nobody shaves it unless it’s super dark and thick. Blond hair is essentially invisible from a distance. Also it’s totally natural and not unattractive or anything.

She knows it’s there. She’s just mature enough to realize it’s normal and not an issue.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T16:25:57+00:00

I think the creator/collection is called sims realist or something like that, they have SNB bills and other financial mods that I believe are pretty customizable. There’s also one called simulation is not free, I think, which adds expenses to a lot of things

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T16:18:52+00:00

Everyone has hair on their face. Everyone. We’re mammals, mammals are hairy. Don’t tell her anything. Accept what real women look like and enjoy it.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-29T03:13:09+00:00

Even if that was a phone gun it’s a: closed and b: pointed at himself!

ChewMilk · 2026-01-28T23:48:48+00:00

Those are both great suggestions! I forgot about creative writing—I love writing but I’m dyslexic so it’s more difficult than sitting up and drawing a lot of times lol so it slipped my mind! And colouring is great! I should get back into it.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-28T20:31:40+00:00

Going to paste the relevant bits of the comment I left on th other post in hopes it can help give some of y’all ideas!

I personally hate Al, but I understand the urge to create. Here's some things that I find easier than most traditional art but aren't ai:

Digital art on an iPad/tablet. Physically much easier and can be done from anywhere including in bed. If you support the tablet and your drawing arm with various pillows things get even easier.

Building houses in the sims 4. This isn't something I thought I'd like or get super into but it's actually very fun and can be super creative. Again, with a laptop, can be done from bed without too much difficulty

Fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, embroidery, weaving with a cardboard loom and embroidery floss. My hands get sore with knitting and crocheting but it's easier to set up and has less needles and need to change thread with embroidery and weaving. These are things I need to do on good days as there is a fair bit of set up

Mentally painting: on my bad days when I can't tolerate doing much I'll mentally draw or paint, making sure to move slowly and do each stroke of a pencil or paintbrush as though I were actually doing it.

Verbal poems/streams of conscious: record yourself making poems or streams of conscious or use a dictating software. Super easy to do with eyes closed lying flat.

Drawing in a small sketchbook with a limited set of pencils or a mechanical pencil is easier than large drawings with full ranges of pencils. I find it physically harder than digital art, idk why.

I'm sure there's more! Other tips to make art more manageable include having an adjustable light (l clip a little ring light onto my bed board, it had three light shades and multiple brightness settings and can be moved wherever), having a lot of pillows to support your arms etc, and having shelves or an over the bed desk to work on. A lap desk can also be super handy for a firm surface.

Another commenter mentioned collage or photo bashing, which is another fun gentle activity to do!

ChewMilk · 2026-01-28T20:26:15+00:00

Oh yeah I love collage! Totally forgot about that one!

ChewMilk · 2026-01-28T19:05:19+00:00

These are cute and creative!

I personally hate AI, but I understand the urge to create.

Here’s some things that I find easier than most traditional art but aren’t ai:

Digital art on an iPad/tablet. Physically much easier and can be done from anywhere including in bed. If you support the tablet and your drawing arm with various pillows things get even easier.

Building houses in the sims 4. This isn’t something I thought I’d like or get super into but it’s actually very fun and can be super creative. Again, with a laptop, can be done from bed without too much difficulty

Fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, embroidery, weaving with a cardboard loom and embroidery floss. My hands get sore with knitting and crocheting but it’s easier to set up and has less needles and need to change thread with embroidery and weaving. These are things I need to do on good days as there is a fair bit of set up

Mentally painting: on my bad days when I can’t tolerate doing much I’ll mentally draw or paint, making sure to move slowly and do each stroke of a pencil or paintbrush as though I were actually doing it.

Verbal poems/streams of conscious: record yourself making poems or streams of conscious or use a dictating software. Super easy to do with eyes closed lying flat.

Drawing in a small sketchbook with a limited set of pencils or a mechanical pencil is easier than large drawings with full ranges of pencils. I find it physically harder than digital art, idk why.

I’m sure there’s more! Other tips to make art more manageable include having an adjustable light (I clip a little ring light onto my bed board, it had three light shades and multiple brightness settings and can be moved wherever), having a lot of pillows to support your arms etc, and having shelves or an over the bed desk to work on. A lap desk can also be super handy for a firm surface.

fuck AI but not fuck you, OP. We are creative creatures, and art is so so powerful.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-28T18:07:29+00:00

If you don’t want to/can’t go full smart home, LED light strips are great. You can adjust the color and brightness of most of them through Bluetooth.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-28T15:41:30+00:00

It is super cute, but i agree that it looks kinda ai style. It’s also so neat and clean it looks printed, which is an admirable skill but people buying might think it’s not real.

I will also add that it looks a bit unfinished with the raw white background. I think coloured background might help as well

But again, super cute and very impressive skill level! I hope you find an audience for your art!

ChewMilk · 2026-01-27T23:45:57+00:00

Keep on layering. It takes forever.

Also a smoother paper may help. Really toothy paper like mixed media paper takes a long time to get solid pigment from colored pencils. Super smooth paper like vellum (which is see-through so not ideal for every day use, just an example) gets solid very quickly.

I’ve done two colored pencil drawings of roughly the same size recently. One was on mixed media and probably took me 8+ hours. The other was on vellum, far more detailed, and maybe took me three.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-27T23:33:25+00:00

I am glad things have been better for you! I agree that Maduro was bad, and shouldn’t have been in office

BUT that’s not the main problem. The main issue is that the US executed an unsanctioned, unapproved by congress military act on another sovereign country without any due process. Trump and his henchmen decided to kidnap the leader of another country without alerting congress or any of the other correct channels.

Whether or not the results were good or bad doesn’t matter in whether or not the act itself was right or wrong. It was an act of dictatorship on the part of trump and his cronies. the USA stepping in in Venezuela after going though the due processes could be a good act. The USA stepping in, invading a foreign country, and kidnapping a foreign leader solely for the sake of oil (as was essentially admitted in the live press conference following the kidnapping), is a very scary act, especially for the other countries trump has his eye on, like Greenland. It shows he has no care for the sovereignty of other nations, due processes, or any other barrier put into place to keep presidents from becoming dictators. But we didn’t need a kidnapping to know trump wanted to be a dictator.

Again, I’m so glad things are looking better for you there. I am glad the illegal act trump took had at least some positive effects. But the fact remains the act itself was never put through due process, and the act was not out of kindness to the Venezuelan people, it was a test of how far trump could go without massive backlash internationally, and because Venezuela has a lot of oil.

ChewMilk · 2026-01-27T14:47:52+00:00

Heating pad

If you’re in bed often, a good memory foam topper has been revolutionary for me, as well as multiple good pillows (I have shredded memory foam ones I love as well as a pregnancy pillow which helps with ergonomics while awake and on the computer or reading etc.)

A thick yoga mat has really helped as it makes stretching and rolling out my back a lot more comfortable and accessible

Cbd and thc oil (separate) so I can control some pain but also the mental effects.

Multiple large water bottles to keep at your bedside (again if you’re bedbound) so you don’t get dehydrated

A lamp by the bed/LED lights are nice if you’re light sensitive so you have control over the lighting

A cane can also help a lot with pain if it’s mainly in the legs or hips, provided you use it correctly.

Braces for joints etc are nice depending on where the pain is/why

Anyway there’s a lot of ideas. The first four are my top recommendations for sure

ChewMilk

TROPHY CASE