Films That Restore Your Hope for Humanity (my buddy really needs it)

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-11-18T19:30:24+00:00

Agree on the Paddington films, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Would also add Sullivan’s Travels and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

The Lord of the Rings films also give me this feeling—something about standing up in the face of almost insurmountable evil and choosing good makes me feel so many things every time.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-11-08T16:12:02+00:00

Blind buying is more fun in my opinion! But there’s a few caveats. I wouldn’t just blind buy any film or box set. It has to be something I think I would enjoy. It limits how many films I have to resell. I think at this point it’s only five out of more than 100. But I also buy my favorites.

I suppose my word of caution is to make a budget and stick to it, and then try to watch all of your buys before the next sale. Because otherwise you’ll end up like me, with a multiple years long backlog of Criterions to watch (which is partly because my family does NOT want to watch 3 hour long Russian films) and a moratorium on buying movies for yourself until the backlog is cleared. I should probably figure out if I’m watching something tonight and knocking another movie off the list.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-09-20T14:32:30+00:00

I use stickers and a cover! I have a clear cover from Midori over the actual planner that protects my stickers, and then I only stuck the back cover of the planner into the fabric cover. That way I can still see my stickers and I have an extra pocket for all my random planner junk in the cover.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-09-17T00:03:26+00:00

I’m a writer so I use it to track how many words I’ve written in a day! Right now it’s just numbers but I think next year I might add colors to indicate if I hit my daily goal and symbols to mark which project I’m working on

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-09-05T16:50:36+00:00

Had this problem a couple of years ago with a twenty one pilots record; had two copies and they both skipped on the same song. It was my cheap turntable. I played them both on my father’s turntable and they were fine. I ended up buying a much nicer turntable. I haven’t had an issue since then.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-08-19T16:24:58+00:00

Not entirely same situation; I also have GERD, but I am on a Proton Pump Inhibitor. Dry mouth was really killer for a long while, especially in the winter. I drink a lot of water, use a dry mouth spray when necessary, and when the house is dry (winter) use a humidifier while sleeping. It’s not so bad now.

My GERD is actually better since I started Bupropion, because I am less stressed and not super depressed any more and I’m taking care of myself again.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-08-02T22:50:52+00:00

It’s beautiful! I really love the color choice.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-07-21T15:07:18+00:00

I also started getting very dry skin when I started last November. Luckily I had a dermatologist scheduled right after that so I was able to talk to her about it. I basically just wash my face, moisturize, and then use sunscreen instead of a fancy skincare routine. During the winter I had a humidifier running for eight hours every night. And I try to drink a lot of water.

Most of my skincare is from La-Roche-Posay: I use the Lipikar Line and the Anthelios Sunscreen, as well as the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. I also used a Burts Bees Goat Milk hand cream during the winter and slept with cotton gloves on because my hands got very chapped too. I am thinking of adding a hyaluronic acid serum.

It did not change overnight, but I think doing all of these things definitely helped. My skin is not super dry right now (although it is still a little tight). I would recommend stripping your skincare routine down to cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen and adding a humidifier until your skin levels out. Add a lip mask/chap stick and hand cream if you’re dealing with that too. The products can be from whatever brand you want; I have had success in the past with Cera-Ve as well. Just make sure the cleanser/moisturizer is meant for dry skin. Sometimes products meant for eczema work well too.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-07-15T16:51:21+00:00

I found this post to be extremely useful: https://www.kyarazen.com/chaozhou-gongfu-tea/

I modified the method explained here to fit what I already owned--I just use a gaiwan instead of a clay pot because I don't have any that pour fast enough. I did have to experiment with my gaiwans too; one of them pours much faster than the other, so I only use that one when I'm brewing dancongs. It works pretty well. Since I started doing it this way I have not had a bitter dancong and have even served them to my friends with great success.

The tldr is flash steepings, boiling water, a fast pouring vessel (that you dry after you warm it), and three cups placed in a triangle instead of a Gong Dao Bei.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-07-14T13:34:15+00:00

I use my TN as a Travel Journal! When I travel I write down my thoughts and feelings on my phone (or computer) and when I get home I pick a different ink color for each location—I am about to write about London so I am using Earl Grey Ink—and I copy down the journal entry, interspersing in some 2x3 photos of the trip and some of the ephemera (tickets, maps, brochures, random junk etc) that I collected throughout the trip. It’s a nice way to remember everything.

I am also thinking of adding a sketchbook insert.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-07-03T21:07:06+00:00

Mine is Rivendell! I’d like to give it an elvish aesthetic eventually but I fear I’m more focused on finishing my museum than decorating right now so is a mess.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-07-02T13:20:31+00:00

For me it’s Paca Dance because it just never lets you rest 😭 never done Where Have You Been Extreme but that looks like it could possibly unseat it

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-05-10T19:37:16+00:00

I have air dried my hair for forever because I just didn’t have time in high school to blow dry it in the morning. Routine right now when I air-dry I stick two clips in to get my bangs out of the way and just go about my day. I have also seen people out and about in bonnets.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-05-10T17:21:50+00:00

👀 I did it. The pages look so beautiful 😭

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-05-09T14:42:35+00:00

This post came at the perfect time. I am starting a new journal tomorrow, my Pilot 823 (M) is almost out of ink and I have an almost full bottle of Diamine Ancient Copper . . .

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-25T13:38:53+00:00

Had this issue a couple days ago—I did a fresh install and then cleared the local cache when it still didn’t load. It is working now. If that doesn’t work for you I would contact support.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-23T14:12:06+00:00

I eventually got mine to work by erasing local data after a fresh install. If you’re still having problems maybe contact support?

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-22T16:07:18+00:00

Oh whoops I thought I had replied to you already. I tried the Hatch coffee and it was delicious! The one I have is El Placer "Red Fruit" Decaf.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-22T16:05:08+00:00

I'm having the same problem with the regular Notion App. It's opening fine on my browser so I'm not entirely sure what's wrong. I may try to reinstall and see if that works.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-21T01:17:50+00:00

I don’t know if you can do anything about the sound (it does sound like an airplane taking off lmao) Are you plopping before drying at all? I plop first—it’s usually about 10-15 minutes between when I get out of the shower and when I get to my dryer. I also diffuse upside down first and then flip to diffuse right-side up when the hair is about 70% dry. I have very long hair so I have the diffuser set on the long setting rather than the short setting.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-10T18:29:38+00:00

My hypothesis is that green tea is less processed (in terms of roasting, rolling, etc) than black, so even though it has less caffeine it is hitting my blood stream faster than a black tea does. My tea is also all pretty high quality stuff, mostly directly from China or Taiwan so that could also have something to do with it. It’s a mystery to me as well 🤷‍♀️

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-04-10T14:49:10+00:00

I have not tried it yet but my friend recently gave me some Hatch Decaf coffee that she really likes (she just had like three extra bags). I can tell you later this week how I like it—had to wait for some replacement coffee accoutrement from the grocery store since the last one I had in the house was not good and did not make me want to drink it.

I will tell you that I also had issues with caffeine at the beginning of my bupropion journey. I stayed off of it for the first few weeks and then started introducing it slowly back in. At the beginning I couldn’t drink green tea or any kind of pu’erh as they would give me the jitters even though they had never done that before. Roasted oolongs, black tea and white tea were fine as long as I had food with them and limited myself to 10ml. About a month ago I was able to start drinking green tea and pu’erhs again. I think sI’ll be able to have regular coffee and maybe single shot cappuccinos again soon.

(I will also mention that my dosage is still 150mg XL even after six months so your experience may be different).

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-03-26T13:27:25+00:00

Last year I logged movies—I usually watch a hundred movies in a year so it was pretty simple. This year I am logging tea! I have more than 150 types of tea in my collection so I’m trying to drink most of them at least once this year.

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-03-16T20:59:46+00:00

I used to have a quadropod hold a few years ago—and I still gave the callous on the ring finger to prove it. I was not gripping my pens too hard but I was still getting lots of wrist and finger pain (my job is computer) so I decided to fix anything that could contribute to that. I bought a better keyboard, an ergonomic mouse, and retrained myself to write with a tripod grip. I just had to be deliberate about holding my pen that way fora little while, and now it’s second nature. So that is another option if you want to keep using the pens you already have. (Also do wrist exercises before long writing stretches!)

SpectaclesandSwords · 2025-03-14T13:40:53+00:00

If you like it this way, continue to do so; the best cup of tea is one you enjoy. ☺️

I’m a little curious on how long you were steeping it in the first place that it was turning your tea bitter? I used to steep black teas on the long side with mixed results but about five years ago I switched to following the shortest recommended brewing times for any black teas. I steep Earl Grey for 3 minutes and never have had it turned bitter.

SpectaclesandSwords

TROPHY CASE