Little things that cheer you up.

[Substance242]

So, I've set myself a long-term resolution to go up "my" mountain here at least as many times each year as I am years old. It's nothing major, I can be there in less than one hour walking, but it's still some 500 meters climb and 4 km shortest route one way, so in 2018 I've done that 101 times, yay! :-) (I am 45, but I said, "at least") Different weathers, currently snow, some harmless encounters with wild boars and deer, no bear this year, peace, silence, thoughts, air... I like it. So, today January 1st I was there for the first time... again, counter is reset, damn it! ;-) (Btw, in 2009 I've done 242x, but that was a bit mental already, not going to happen anytime soon while I am working person.)

[eversonpoe]

went yesterday and got another beautiful tattoo by my artist allie sider.

this is the feather from the game Celeste, which is one of the most beautiful games i have ever played. i wanted to start the new year with a mark of progress for myself. 2018 was full of change, trials, & tribulations. i changed jobs (twice) for the first time since i was 18, i almost lost myself and a huge part of my life, and i got diagnosed with bipolar 2 and started taking medication which has been life-changing in an amazingly positive way. so i wanted this symbol to remind me to take the time to breathe, to believe in myself, and to keep going. sounds corny but it means a lot to me. plus today is my birthday so happy birthday to me!

[elevenism]

So I'm a big fan of author/public speaker/prison reform advocate/youtuber Shaun Attwood.

I REALLY wanted a copy of his new book, but it's not, ahem, "online" (if you know what I mean,) and I've hit a point where we kind of can't spend any more money on me unless it's for treatment and Drs visits and shit.

So I found like a Shaun Attwood Facebook Author page. I didn't know if he actually ran it, but I tried sending a message, explaining my situation, and that his ideas about suffering-as-growth/path to enlightenment, in his last book, were really moving to me.

I asked him if he might FRONT me an e-book: as in, I would pay him back. I never expected a response.

But he DID respond, and asked me for my PHYSICAL address.
At the very least, I think he's gonna mail me a physical copy of the book I asked about.

And then I'm thinking, if he packs it himself, wouldn't he autograph it?

And what if he sends me other books, too?

Either way, this is fucking awesome.

[klyrish]

After 20 long years, I'm getting finally getting rid of prescription glasses in about 7 hours thanks to LASIK. I'm anxious as fuck but I know it'll be absolutely worth it in the long run. In some weird kind of confirmation of this being the right idea, I've had to clean my glasses seven times already this morning. I've only been up an hour and a half AND THEY ARE STILL SMUDGED SOMEHOW. So, SO sick of these things.

[Edo]

After 20 long years, I'm getting finally getting rid of prescription glasses in about 7 hours thanks to LASIK. I'm anxious as fuck but I know it'll be absolutely worth it in the long run. In some weird kind of confirmation of this being the right idea, I've had to clean my glasses seven times already this morning. I've only been up an hour and a half AND THEY ARE STILL SMUDGED SOMEHOW. So, SO sick of these things.

Good choice! I did LASIK about a year ago and I'm very satisfied. The procedure was completely painless. One thing though: don't be worried, if for a few months after surgery, it will be more tiresome to read or look at computer screen. I was very worried when this happened to me, but then my eyes adapted and now I have absolutely no problem to read up closely again.

[klyrish]

Good choice! I did LASIK about a year ago and I'm very satisfied. The procedure was completely painless. One thing though: don't be worried, if for a few months after surgery, it will be more tiresome to read or look at computer screen. I was very worried when this happened to me, but then my eyes adapted and now I have absolutely no problem to read up closely again.

Thank you and glad to hear from another person happy with their choice! Everyone I've spoken to has been so thrilled with the results and I have to say that I am as well. It's incredible and still is sinking in that I'm seeing things WITHOUT glasses on. I had my 1-day post-op this morning and sadly, I have to keep the bandage lenses on until Tuesday. During the procedure, I guess I was squeezing my left eye and it caused some vessels to rupture and then in the right eye some of the cells that get all stirred up after the cuts are made are floating around. My primary eye doctor said he could probably remove the bandages today but would rather wait until I see the surgeon again on Tuesday morning. So for now, I'm stuck with cloudy contacts in my eyes giving everything a foggy/hazy filter but still...I CAN SEE.

[Edo]

Thank you and glad to hear from another person happy with their choice! Everyone I've spoken to has been so thrilled with the results and I have to say that I am as well. It's incredible and still is sinking in that I'm seeing things WITHOUT glasses on. I had my 1-day post-op this morning and sadly, I have to keep the bandage lenses on until Tuesday. During the procedure, I guess I was squeezing my left eye and it caused some vessels to rupture and then in the right eye some of the cells that get all stirred up after the cuts are made are floating around. My primary eye doctor said he could probably remove the bandages today but would rather wait until I see the surgeon again on Tuesday morning. So for now, I'm stuck with cloudy contacts in my eyes giving everything a foggy/hazy filter but still...I CAN SEE.

Congratulations on having done this! Wish you a very speedy recovery

[klyrish]

The visitor we had this morning as captured by our Ring Pro (just the first 15 seconds or so).
https://ring.com/share/6645586894069137148

[Halo Infinity]

Oh sleep. How I still sometimes take you for granted. I really got to stop doing that. I know. I say that now, but really though.

Even hobbies seem to be far more enjoyable when I just sleep on them and return to them afterwards, even if I wasn't from catching up with lost sleep. A clear mind is a happy mind, indeed.

[dedevoce]

The drainage in our new house was slow during the flooding here lately so my roommate and I dumped a bunch of Draino into the tub. A couple of hours later the Draino bubbles had come up through a vent pipe in the yard and for a while looked like a giant pulsating vagina.

A bit after that the bubble pile was big enough that I convinced her to make a bubble snow man out of it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsIS1aggKjE/

It was only after when she smelled her hands that we realized that these were actually shit bubbles. She washed her hands over a dozen times before bed but couldn't get it off .

[ickyvicky]

Had my first ever Etsy sale. The person commented how much she loves my ceramic sculpture and how it makes it her smile every time she looks at it on her desk.

[elevenism]

Had my first ever Etsy sale. The person commented how much she loves my ceramic sculpture and how it makes it her smile every time she looks at it on her desk.

Sculpture that you made? I wanna see it!

[ickyvicky]

Sculpture that you made? I wanna see it!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/6041900...d_out_detail=1

[elevenism]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/6041900...d_out_detail=1

oh yeah those are badass!

[Halo Infinity]

Beating rain/snow/storms to the punch when returning the great indoors.

[kel]

i made jiffy pop last night for the first time. i love popcorn but hate it in the microwave. it was great. paired with a horror movie rental, absolutely perfect.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

The visitor we had this morning as captured by our Ring Pro (just the first 15 seconds or so).
https://ring.com/share/6645586894069137148

My favorite thing in my neighborhood, being so close to the edge of town, is a big pond down the road. All kinds of wildlife just stroll their way through and drive my dog nuts on our walks, heh. Around the corner from there is a home that has a bunch of horses on their land, so in the spring/summer he gets to see horses and is just completely amazed, hahah.

I remember the night Bad Witch dropped, like 20 minutes after I'd just seen Hereditary, I took him out and started listening to "Shit Mirror" for the first time. He just paused dead in his tracks staring at something in the trees. I looked over at the tree line along the creek, and there were just two beady glowing yellow eyes looking at us from the dark. Turned out it was a deer that had wandered its way to my complex's parking lot - which happens all the time but the creepy timing could've been better, heh. Seeing the wildlife is definitely something I'll miss if I move to a more "metropolitan" area in the coming year.

[klyrish]

My favorite thing in my neighborhood, being so close to the edge of town, is a big pond down the road. All kinds of wildlife just stroll their way through and drive my dog nuts on our walks, heh. Around the corner from there is a home that has a bunch of horses on their land, so in the spring/summer he gets to see horses and is just completely amazed, hahah.

I remember the night Bad Witch dropped, like 20 minutes after I'd just seen Hereditary, I took him out and started listening to "Shit Mirror" for the first time. He just paused dead in his tracks staring at something in the trees. I looked over at the tree line along the creek, and there were just two beady glowing yellow eyes looking at us from the dark. Turned out it was a deer that had wandered its way to my complex's parking lot - which happens all the time but the creepy timing could've been better, heh. Seeing the wildlife is definitely something I'll miss if I move to a more "metropolitan" area in the coming year.

Depending on where you are, you might still see some! We're in the thick of Denver (there's an extremely busy street directly behind our house--the backyard runs along it) and this guy has been around for at least 2 years. We've seen hawks and coyotes as well.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

Depending on where you are, you might still see some! We're in the thick of Denver (there's an extremely busy street directly behind our house--the backyard runs along it) and this guy has been around for at least 2 years. We've seen hawks and coyotes as well.

What a coincidence! Depending on what I can find in terms of affordable housing, that's right in the middle of the area I'd like to move to. :P It won't be for a few months yet, but if I can afford to make it out there by the time my lease here is up (in July), I'm probably gonna go for it. It's absolutely beautiful there.

[klyrish]

What a coincidence! Depending on what I can find in terms of affordable housing, that's right in the middle of the area I'd like to move to. :P It won't be for a few months yet, but if I can afford to make it out there by the time my lease here is up (in July), I'm probably gonna go for it. It's absolutely beautiful there.

Nice. I love it here but it's definitely changed a lot in the 9 years I've been here. It's so packed, so busy, and traffic is horrendous. Cost of living has skyrocketed as well but I guess it does provide a bit of a cushion/safety net/bubble since so many people want to be here and pretty much everything is booming in town. Makes me feel better about the next crash/recession whenever it hits. Rent is insane...I hope you can find something reasonable along with a well-paying job.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

Nice. I love it here but it's definitely changed a lot in the 9 years I've been here. It's so packed, so busy, and traffic is horrendous. Cost of living has skyrocketed as well but I guess it does provide a bit of a cushion/safety net/bubble since so many people want to be here and pretty much everything is booming in town. Makes me feel better about the next crash/recession whenever it hits. Rent is insane...I hope you can find something reasonable along with a well-paying job.

That's exactly what's taking so long, heh. The best chance I'm gonna have between then and now is to keep my ears and eyes open and save every dollar I can, because I'm not gonna make a move without being prepared, but I also don't want to find a good place without a job lined up, or a good job in a place I can't afford to live right away. Things are gonna have to come together in just such a way. But now that NIN is taking some "down time" I can actually stand to put a little money away!

(Until they inevitably announce some big expensive tour/album I won't be able to resist throwing my money at again, which I'll have zero qualms with)

[allegro]

Depending on where you are, you might still see some! We're in the thick of Denver (there's an extremely busy street directly behind our house--the backyard runs along it) and this guy has been around for at least 2 years. We've seen hawks and coyotes as well.

I'd LOVE to see a red fox, and it's my DREAM to see a BALD EAGLE!!!

We are in the North Shore of Chicago (2 miles from Lake Michigan) and we have coyote, white tail deer, hawks, owls, rabbits, skunks, chipmunks, raccoons, opossum, ducks, and we're not exactly in the woods, LOL.

I've lived here over 20 years and EVERY time deer are in my front yard eating from my bird feeders or are on the road somewhere ... I stop and marvel at them. EVERY time. I have TONS of pictures.

They DRAIN my bird feeders, though; they have a way of sticking their tongues into my feeders and can empty out about 5 pounds of bird seed in 30 minutes, LOL.

Note that I had to move this feeder because hawks started preying on it like a prey buffet. I put 2 of the feeders under the cover of 3 giant Norway spruces, and 2 others under the cover of a giant crab apple.

[eversonpoe]

i made jiffy pop last night for the first time. i love popcorn but hate it in the microwave. it was great. paired with a horror movie rental, absolutely perfect.

jiffy pop's not bad but i find it a bit overly salty.

i don't love microwave popcorn and i find stovetop popcorn too oily, so i prefer using an air popper. it's lighter and fluffier (and has a tendency to leave very few unpopped kernels) and i put some earth balance, salt, & sugar on it for my own homemade kettle corn. absolutely delicious. and air poppers are like...$20 at bed bath & beyond.

[allegro]

It’s funny, we LOVE popcorn and we’ve done all kinds of them; air, micro, the whirly electric kind, the whirly stovetop kind, you name it.

But I finally ONLY do the kind my Mother made for us while growing up, which used to be the ONLY kind besides Jiffy Pop:

(I do mine in a medium All Clad pot, he’s using a bigger one)

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

Dispensary coupons for 50% off my entire order that will last until my next trip to Colorado.

Which is also when I'll be seeing the Welcome To Night Vale live show for the second time. CAN'T WAIT!

[eversonpoe]

wrote and recorded a new song yesterday that's (hopefully) going to be the opening track of the (neil gaiman's) sandman-inspired EP/album my friend mac & i are doing. in only a few hours i laid down everything (bass, drums, guitars) including the most intricate solo i've ever come up with. it took a ton of takes to get it right but i'm really happy with it and especially impressed with my fingers, particularly since i've barely played guitar lately.

[theimage13]

Son defies moronic fucktard conspiracy theory parents; gets vaccinated when he turns 18

This warms my heart. It's so comforting to see that people raised by unfit and uneducated people can still grow up to be intelligent people.

[Halo Infinity]

This might as well be my "Lurk more." post. (At least to myself.)

I never thought I'd say this, but I surprised myself when I realized that the unrelaxing and overall exhausting aspects of Internet forums and social media has finally caught up with me. Unplugging in general, or any interval of time, has sometimes been a tremendous blessing in disguise as it sometimes helped me clear my mind, especially with all the curve balls real life has thrown at me.

On the other hand, I can certainly still lurk like it's nobody's business though. Albeit, not a unique trait, but that's what I've been doing more and more. Lurker mode can actually cheer me up and has. A clearer mind can certainly still be a happier mind, not to mention peaceful.

[MrLobster]

Decided that I re-collect some comics of a local artist I had as a youth... which is to say the McFarlane Marvel works. The trade glossy stuff doesn't quite look as nice as the original single issues to me, so I'm going the single issue route. Hulk, Amazing Spider-man, Spider-man...

[elevenism]

My brother's daughter (who I no longer see NEARLY as much as i would like to, and not as much as I used to, largely because of the RA,) turns seven tomorrow. She asked for money for her birthday and wound up with a couple hundred.

They are celebrating today. So when my brother and sister in law asked where she wanted to go to spend the money, she said she wanted to go to the pharmacy "to get medicine so uncle Tyler won't be sick anymore."

this may well be the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life. It cheered my up, but it also brought tears to my eyes .