november

[seventhe]

Instead of NaNoWriMo -- a concept I love and a project I fully support and would love to do, but, at this point in time imagining me writing 500K words in a month is the planet's best punchline ever -- I'm just ("just") going to try to focus on generating more content. tl;dr: post more things.

I'm trying this week to focus on limiting stimulation. Of course ideal case would be that this saves me tons of energy and results in a gigantic organizational / cleaning fit in my home along with completion of a bunch of hobby-projects (I want that scarf) but my somewhat lowered expectations are more willing to take it a week at a time and see what happens.

Fibromyalgia isn't a disease you can think of in the short-term, see: you can have a "good day" within fibro for no traceable reason at all, and likewise "bad days" can be triggered by the price of butterfly wings in China, which means you have to do a lot of scientific method to see what helps or hurts your own personal interpretation of the condition.

In other news, I'm tired and I want to go home.

Comments

[auronlu]

I always have the most massive admiration for you taking that position and refusing to submit to the bastard (I call it Arthur because I was diagnosed with JRA long before I was diagnosed with fibro).

That stimulation post was an eye-opener to me, despite having dealt with this crap for decades. I have gotten more and more hermity as i get older, and I assumed the social anxiety was a separate beast -- didn't know they might be connected.

I think we've both used video games for thumb sucking.

In the past two years, as sitting and button mashing became something I have to take in small doses or risk neck/back hell, I've gotten into audio plays. They let your imagination have full wing, and they do the job of pulling yourself out of your head and into immersive escapism, but you don't have to react to eye slapping explosions, flashing bright/dark contrast, fast visual effects and things flying at you, yet you can still have excitement. And it's easier to pause.

This only works because I'm very fond of voice acting, and I dunno if it would work for anyone else, but it's a thought..

[seventhe]

The stimulation thing was an eye-opener for me too! - I kind of knew it happened but hadn't really figured out so well. I can't say it has been long enough for me to say, but so far I think I'm dealing a lot better with work by limiting as much overstimulation as I can.

That actually really makes sense about video games -- there are days I am too tired to play a game and that has always just seemed ridiculous to me. But in the context of interaction (and, also, the pain - sad when even sitting on a couch is too much, but it's true) it does make perfect sense. How can I be too tired to play a game? Well, it isn't "tired".

There are a lot of vocal type things I haven't gotten into, but I am really intrigued by that! Plays and podcasts are something I'll need to look into. Any sites you recommend?

[auronlu]

Unfortunately my audio drama addiction is (a) not free and (b) in a niche fandom. Classic Doctor Who actors have been performing in radio plays with vastly better scriptwriting than TV, since they're not having to cater to TV execs or mainstream tastes. It's the equivalent of having 15 new seasons of Star Trek: TNG or TOS with all the original actors and Uhura and Troi getting as much substantial scriptwriting as Dax and Spock. There's a bunch of free audios such as No Place Like Home, but the freebies tend to be minimal-cast rather than full-drama performances, and most Big Finish audios need to be paid for. (At least the first fifty Main Range are only $3 apiece, and starting around Marian Conspiracy they become awesome). Big Finish Audio has also been producing new seasons for a lot of cult series — Dark Shadows, Blake's 7, The Prisoner, The (Steed & Ms. Peel) Avengers, etc.

One of those old actors, Sophie Aldred, has just started a free SF comedy series, Strangers in Space, but it's a very odd Star Trek parody that's trying a little too hard.

I may be the last person on the planet who hasn't been listening to Welcome to Night Vale, although that doesn't seem very relaxing.

Alas, having been sucked into the black hole that is Big Finish, I have not ventured farther afield.