I only heard of Bloguary halfway through the month and never did write an entry to participate. Sorry to anyone who is disappointed by that, I have so many painful regrets myself! Maybe next year I’ll get it together. Maybe I’ll try to use the prompts throughout the year and practice until then. I hardly updated my blog at all, nor my other social media accounts, but here are brief descriptions of what I’ve been spending time on instead:
Mental health- it’s not going great! I haven’t harmed myself but am quite obsessed with the idea lately (it’s something I struggled with a long time and had many hospitalizations, etc). I lost my access to treatment in November, after about 2.5 years being consistent seeing a nurse prescriber for anxiety pills and talking to a therapist on the phone every other week. Too bad, I’ve been feeling awful latley. I’m trying my best to care for myself and will write more about this another time in more detail with a trigger warning. The changes to USA “pandemic era benefits” had allowed me to stay in mental health treatment for a long time, but that was clawed back eventually, of course. I’m sure I’m not the only one being denied care all of a sudden, I thought that millions had been uplifted by these policies. It would be great to hear from anyone similarly dropped by their healthcare and suffering again as well. It is such a bad vibe, and it really makes me hate America more than I can describe.
Downton Abbey- I know this TV show was popular like 10 years ago but I only started watching it after the end of the latest season of The Gilded Age. I binged the entire series in a few weeks (minus the films that came later, I’ve heard they are kind of weak and also I feel like I’ve had enough of these characters). It was great and enjoyable in many ways but overall kind of corny and way too soft on the “upstairs” characters. I loved when Edith bailed out of getting an olden-times abortion! My own beloved child was a scandal and disgrace to my family (I was urged to abort my fetus in the year 2000), so I really connect to those kinds of motherhood stories. I liked the seasons when Tom was more intensely socialist. Lady Mary is the worst character, and the Countess Violet Grantham was an MVP
Quilting- I finished a quilt! It was my first time trying the quilting technique called “Quilt As You Go” or QAYG as it was introduced to me on YouTube. I wish I had never heard of any other quilting methods, this one is so perfect and genius for beginner quilters with limited apartment space! Instead of piecing together many blocks to make a big quilt, with a big backing fabric and a large batting inside- each block of the quilt is fully quilted and bound on it’s own, then finally pieced together into the full sized finished project. Sorry I can’t explain much better, if you’re a quilter unfamiliar with this style I’d highly recommend looking into it. I used leftever scraps from my last few infrequent quilting projects. Quilting isn’t a craft I practice often but sometimes I get in the mood to sew instead of the kniting and other fiber arts that command most of my artistic attention. I wish it came out cuter with more consideration towards how I placed the different colored blocks but it was my first time trying the method. I was more worried about completing the quilt and using up fabric scraps, than how the final project would look. It came out great though and I’ve been glad to have an extra blanket on my bed during this chilly month!
Korean Cafe- I went there twice so far this month, and I’m sure I’ll be back soon. It’s called Tous Les Jours and if you have one anywhere within a reasonable travel distance I strongly suggest you go there to try it. I love to eat their Kimchi Croquette and something called a Cranberry Cheese Bun (a very soft bread with a light cream cheese filling also containing sweet and tart cranberries). It’s near a Korean grocery store where I like to buy loose tea and instant miso soup, so my trips are generally for the dual purpose of shopping at the market and then afterward walking to the cafe for some lounging time. Playing Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch or working on a knitting project, scrolling the phone, it’s a great environment to chill and have a treat. At the cafe I got the Lemon Citron hot tea for the first time and it was great! My daughter came along on one of my visits, she likes to get a certain Asian grape soda, Rice Donuts, and the Curry Croquette.
Knitting- I have hardly knit at all, just a row here and there on small cowl project I started more than a year ago! Ever since I recovered from elbow tendonitis in 2022 I am so careful not to go hard in activities that might hurt my arm again. Sometimes I miss knitting for hours, but I know that’s exactly how I injured myself. Working the long edge rows of a shawl, or gripping some tiny needles to make socks, I miss that kind of project a lot, but it really hurts me physically. So I just enjoy my few minutes on an easy knit and try to think positively about other things I can do. For example I used crochet to make a USB cable to look like a vine
Animal Crossing New Horizons- I feel like I’ve pretty much “beat the game” for a 2nd time. I still play it and find plenty to do though! I got every facility built and even the hospital expansion on the archipelago where I have interior-designed more than 50 critters vacation homes. I got the reward “Miles for Miles” having completing 3000 tasks since I began this game in June. Recently I made an area of my island called I call “Ballet Beach”. The sandy ocean shore IRL isn’t the best place to have a dance class in satin pointe shoes but in my fantastically cute videogame it’s fine and adorable. There are three ballet barres (the item is called “safety railing”) and plenty of ballet slippers. I put some lockers and an excersize ball near the area with a chair for the teacher and a donation box to pay them too. The ballet music is “K.K Étude” through a record player because that’s the technology used in my childhood when I first took ballet. Cassette tapes existed abundantly by then, but I think it was easier for the older teachers to control and replay songs on vinyl. So that’s what inspired my choice. There are so many music players in Animal Crossing I really considered them al!
I hope to update again soon and thank you for reading
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