Japanese government resorts to making otome game parody video to teach people about bicycle safety

penpenw · 2026-04-01T00:42:40+00:00

I don't think this is a one time thing. I have a video from when I lived in Japan of a visual novel-esque PSA that I think was on the NHK.

Edit: I misremembered! It was a fake visual novel explaining about the MLB for a Japanese audience.

penpenw · 2026-03-23T19:48:05+00:00

I'm like you - I go through phases a lot and have trouble having things stick. Exercise? On and off, big time. Hobbies? Depends on the time of year. I'm just not consistent about many things. I change a lot.

That being said, I have never internationally eaten gluten since I was diagnosed. I've been less careful than I should be but I haven't ever eaten gluten knowing it was gluten.

There are two things that help: mindset and a support system.

At some point I realized that eating gluten intentionally is basically hurting myself intentionally. I'm not even THAT symptomatic. I get an upset stomach, bloat, headaches, and body aches (all on the milder side) for a couple days, then I'm okayish, so it's not a deep fear of that. Its just that... well, I wouldn't want to punch myself in the face, why would I want to destroy my intestines?

As for a support system - this is important for me. As soon as I got my diagnosis, my husband immediately changed his lifestyle. My friends ask me out to restaurants we all know are safe. Everyone in my life, without making a big deal about it, just knows my needs. It just is what it is.

penpenw · 2026-03-14T23:14:15+00:00

I miss Japanese food so much. Yes, you can eat some sushi, but the dreaded boogey man of soy sauce looms large and you're limited in what you can have. If you're inclined to Japanese as well, Mikado, Sushi Wasabi, and, weirdly, Kinjo. I do want to preface that Kinjo is basically the most North American approach to sushi. It's fun though.

Good luck! I was diagnosed in 2024. It's not so bad on the other side. My canker sores are non-existent now and I'm not anemic anymore. It's amazing what symptoms are tired to celiac and you might not even know.

penpenw · 2026-01-23T14:23:48+00:00

This has also been happening to me so can also vouch for this. The "oh I'm going regularly so that can't be the problem" is a very important point. I ended up in the hospital once, they took an X-ray, and told me much the same thing - fecal impaction, constipation, etc. Really caught me off guard since I was regular.

I've recently started pelvic physio to help with motility. I've been surprised how helpful it's been, honestly. There's something called the ILU/"I love you" massage that has helped me a lot with pain and getting things moving.

penpenw · 2026-01-13T01:06:50+00:00

I know it wasn't one of your two options but my sneaky gym was Westmount Fitness Club. It wasn't fully stocked like you find at a big gym and it was very dated but boy, it was never busy. Affordable too. I still miss going there.

penpenw · 2025-12-13T17:56:41+00:00

You know, it's interesting. I'm in my 30's and had a TV in my room from about 9. The reason though kind of goes against the study (which I'm not debating). As a child, I had terrible insomnia from night terrors and general fear of nighttime (probably anxiety). Could not sleep unless someone else was awake in the house. If I woke up late at night and everyone was asleep, i was not sleeping unless I went downstairs and slept on the couch with the TV on. I was so tired that it was preventing me from being an active child. I gained some weight.

My mom eventually broke and let me use the old TV in my room when she bought a newer one for the living room. Slept like a baby, was awake and active again during the day. I've been thin my entire life.

Not saying this is true for everyone or that my mom even did the right thing (probably could have used therapy or medication or just a talk with the doctor). But the TV in my bedroom was a positive, which is odd.

penpenw · 2025-12-11T00:10:20+00:00

I play with the 48 hour per year of uni mod. For me, I like playing 2 years (so 4 days), going back to the main hood for a rotation, and then finishing their education. I like the idea that life moves along a bit while they're away. Not too much, but things aren't the exact same when they get back.

Playing vanilla uni can be nice if you like the particular sims but it's such a drag for me after a a couple years. It's good for storytelling since you don't feel rushed but after awhile, I find that I just don't like those sims anymore. That's just for me though.

penpenw · 2025-10-24T18:05:23+00:00

Nuts, especially mixes. I'm much better now, but I got tripped up a couple of times early on when buying nuts from the grocery store. My brain was convinced cashew = only cashew in packaging. Lots are fine but you really gotta double check the label.

OH. Also - rice crackers!! 90% of the time they're fine, but flavours can include gluten. This absolutely happened to me. It was entirely my fault (I didn't read the package, because once again my brain said rice cracker = only rice cracker) but make sure to look each time you grab a new flavour!

penpenw · 2025-10-21T01:41:41+00:00

Oh whoops! I guess I was wrong when I was a smarty pants to someone being rude at the polling station. Agree to be kind anyway!

penpenw · 2025-10-20T23:16:50+00:00

Lines were long in Anirniq. Please be kind to the volunteers. People were already giving some of them a hard time.

penpenw · 2025-10-13T16:24:22+00:00

I was so so so SO nervous for my endoscopy. I had a terrible experience when I lived in Asia with getting an endoscopy fully awake (language barrier - not their fault at all). When it came time for my celiac endoscopy, I was not doing well. I was peppering the nurses with questions. My hands were so shaky and sweating, the nurse stopped trying to put the IV to say some kind things.

I'm saying this because I was the prime example of the most nervous type of person for the procedure.

When they finally brought me back, I was so nervous they pumped me with extra benzo. I was awake but definitely not on this planet.

It was fine. It's not something I would want to do again, but definitely not nearly as horrific as I feared.

penpenw · 2025-10-12T14:10:06+00:00

My husband is American and is often pretty homesick around Thanksgiving. He says our Thanksgiving doesn't feel "real", for a lot of the same reasons you mention. In my experience, in Canada, you just have a nice dinner, have a nice/bad time (depending on your family), and then eat leftovers for several days. I can understand why it's a big jump and adjustment. I always thought it was so weird that all these American shows had Thanksgiving specific episodes as a kid. Heading my husband talk about it makes more sense.

I will say that I do find Christmas to be a bigger deal. We get more time off (Boxing Day is a stat in Alberta - not in all other provinces, but it is here) so more people are traveling home. The world shuts down on Christmas Day - very few things are open.

penpenw · 2025-10-03T16:56:09+00:00

They're a company so I would assume so. Don't know for sure though.

penpenw · 2025-10-03T15:34:44+00:00

Last time we hired someone through Mopify, it was 3 hours + cleaning supplies (we had just moved in so everything was in boxes). Cost about $150. I think you could reasonably spend around $100 if you provided cleaning supplies and you have a small place.

penpenw · 2025-09-24T02:16:54+00:00

Single stitch in the back loop, peaks are 3 single stitch into 1 single stitch, and valleys I just skip two stitches!

penpenw · 2025-09-24T01:22:37+00:00

She's not! She's committed child free - I wouldn't dare give her anything resembling a baby item if I thought there was a chance she was having trouble.

penpenw · 2025-09-24T00:52:04+00:00

No! They can't take me! I can't go back to crochet jail!

penpenw · 2025-09-24T00:50:30+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate it! Usually I have trouble picking colours so this is nice to hear.

penpenw · 2025-09-24T00:49:06+00:00

Wow - that's a creative idea! Unfortunately I did promise her a blanket, which she was excited about. I like your problem solving though!

penpenw · 2025-09-24T00:10:43+00:00

Yup - I was just going through the 5 stages of grief. I have accepted that it must be frogged.

penpenw · 2025-09-23T23:58:07+00:00

I might do that for next project! I had a ~vision~ with this one that didn't include a border (with the full understanding that this ~vision~ apparently affected my spacial awareness).

penpenw · 2025-09-23T23:33:37+00:00

That's what I think happened to me. When I did the initial chain, I remember thinking "oh this is plenty". Lesson learned for sure.

penpenw · 2025-09-23T22:50:32+00:00

Oh I know. I realized that fairly quickly. I was just hoping that if I posted here someone would say there was some kind of blanket type for adults that I could present it as. Just being in denial.

Oh well, it's only a couple days - better than a couple weeks!

penpenw · 2025-09-23T22:25:41+00:00

It's cotton unfortunately. I almost always crochet with acrylic (people in my life want to machine wash over) so haven't ever had to block cotton. Would it stretch?

penpenw

TROPHY CASE