I did okay on midterms (I think), bombed a paper that I had not known was due bc it was in the syllabus in the wrong place (…), and got three different vaccines - because I both needed them and wanted to try a piece of internet advice about the covid booster for folks with dysautonomia and possible MCAS.

I took a cetirizine, a Zantac, and a Dramamine an hour before getting the covid booster, another antihistamine at bedtime, and one in the morning the next day. Effect: the day after the shots I was a little tired but not more than a normal day for me, my neck was a bit stiff but not to the point of having a headache, and my arm was sore but could be touched easily and worn long sleeves on. The day after that? I was _completely fine_. So if you have reason to suspect that the covid booster is worse for you than it is for others, feel free to treat yourself like you’re allergic to it.

In other news, my inner teenaged!Heidi is chuffed because guess who has two thumbs and their first gray hair? Yeah, this fully-grown-up adult! I made it, y’all! I made it to damn near 45 and haven’t even wound up in a mental hospital yet! Woot woot!

Plants are happy, most of my people are doing as well as they can be, all political things considered. I, uh. I have been stressed out and not on here much, so if you had a big thing happen and I didn’t comment on the post I probably missed it, and feel free to drop me a link to it in my DMs or whatnot.

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In other news: links! The big good news first:

https://neurosciencenews.com/vagus-nerve-stimulation-ptsd-28818/

Summary: A pioneering clinical study found that pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with traditional therapy eliminated PTSD diagnoses in all participants up to six months post-treatment. The trial combined prolonged exposure therapy with brief bursts of VNS via an implanted device, enhancing neuroplasticity and sustaining remission.

This is going to take a while to get replicated but should move faster than studying the MDMA method of doing basically the same stuff.

YouTube links behind the cut: ( Read more... )

For my Gifted / Intellectual / Creative Black folks, a community: https://www.ourwildminds.com/about from their About page

Why Black Gifted Adults Specifically?

Being a gifted or twice-exceptional member of one or more of these groups can be inherently challenging as it flies in the face of expectations placed on many of these social groups. To exhibit intellectual giftedness as a Black woman, for example, is to elicit confusion, derision, disbelief, amusement, suspicion, pathologization, and even rapt fascination — all of them dehumanizing and disorienting.

I learned of this community from this talk on giftedness here, via the AuDHD Flourishing podcast.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/amazon-kindle-download-feature/ - If you need to use a USB to move stuff on or off your Kindle, do it in the next few days? They are enshittifying the service and dropping that feature.

https://cbsky.app/profile/swizzard.pizza/post/3littag5dl22i - if you need a weird crossover that might make you giggle.

https://www.tumblr.com/toothsalad/775242139675377664/free-bulk-covid-tests please order 300 Covid tests and give them out to poor folks? The US stockpile is getting kinda … possibly shitcanned? But reports vary on whether the regime is caving to public pressure.

https://www.theroot.com/a-list-of-companies-that-continue-to-support-dei-1851755249 Unlike the parent company for the cowards who own Humble Bundle, some places have realized that Diversity Equity and Inclusion are strengths and not dangerous vulnerabilities the way bigots like to listen to their feelings about.

Let’s all give up on the practical world and install hidden book case doors? On second thought, these are like $1k, nevermind.

Hatshepsut’s brother’s tomb was found!

Cut for YouTube link: ( Read more... )

It has been a minute since I’ve posted some links. Let’s do that. All of these links mention political fuckery that is ongoing, so if the context of what you can do about these political coercions doesn’t make it stress-neutral for your mental health, then maybe skip those links.

Weekly small tasks to prevent book censorship.

Open source alternatives to a lot of softwares and platforms, in case you’re thinking of switching off the folks who are scraping your data to feed to AI and sell to anyone who’ll pay for it.

How to freeze your credit score in case a historically massive amount of US financial data is stolen by people who have no security clearance. Just, for instance.

Other simple ways to fight back against the rising tides of authoritarianism. The most recent newsletter contains this call to action as an example: ( Read more... )

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And finally: - I put the “omen” in “women” - cross stitch pattern. This made me giggle, so it gets shared, too.

Snowflake Challenge #4

Since this is the start of a new year, this challenge will be e to set your own goals! Of course we can all make large or ambitious goals, remember that small and/or short goals are also good!

My resolution this year is that I’m going to play more. The goal is to do or say one goofy or silly or flirty or ridiculous thing every day. Play is good for the brain and helps our nervous system experience safety.

If I make a hexi-puff every day as well, that would be cool and go a long way towards making a blanket that I want to make for the Washington house. Link that doesn’t want to hyperlink: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-beekeepers-quilt

https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3labvxce57a2r

Rahaeli/ synecdochic has an 11-point bluesky thread that you should read. Even if you’re a straight white Christian male, you should know what is coming for your friends and allies and how to help guard against it.

“Right. Here's your to-do list for the next two months to put you in the best possible position to survive what's coming:

1. Renew your passport (or apply for a passport) this week even if it is not expiring in the next four years. Renewing early will give you the maximum 10-year validity period.”

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/we-re-told-to-eat-a-rainbow-of-fruit-and-vegetables-here-s-what-each-colour-does-in-our-body - “Eat The Rainbow” as dietary advice is helpful, but what does it mean for your health?

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/15/24271148/fcc-data-cap-impact-consumers-inquiry - the FCC is still taking comments from the public on data caps and how they affect people’s internet usage.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/even-a-single-bacterial-cell-can-sense-the-seasons-changing-20241011/ - it’s not even cold yet and my joints are complaining because Winter Is Coming (🐺). They know.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-world-of-electrostatic-ecology-20240930/ - Bees and insects have a whole sense that we’ve never imagined.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/hand-exercises-for-arthritis - Hand and wrist exercises to ease arthritis pain and stiffness. I’m starting to need these.

https://youtu.be/vXTGARuNqNQ?si=kPmTip22_NkYbQZs - Studio Ghibli lofi on YouTube

Oh! Also tomorrow is International Hang A Nazi Day! Do your part for history, folks!

https://youtu.be/gaOwKqIptRw?si=e4vMcaMv0qDIFc4v - Jammidodger on YouTube spreading some positive trans vibes

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/rfk-bear-19619347.php - “RFK Jr. Admits In Bizarre Video That He Dumped Dead Bear Cub Carcass In New York’s Central Park.”

He staged the dead cub to make it look like it was killed by a bicycle, instead of having been hit by a car. He was planning on eating it, but had to catch a flight! He admits this. Out loud with his own actual face. The story just gets wilder the whole ride! I just … !

Y’all. Y’all! I have not had cause to use the phrase OMGWTFBBQ much less to have said it out loud twice while Ghost was reading me that. No wonder this guy got brainworms!

(Okay, I lied, two links, this one to help you bypass the paywall for that one. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-bypass-a-paywall-to-read-an-article-for-free)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/165UOTOGHvxjCEdpVv6hDWJI4W8WE2-3lh_xyziq6UnQ/edit Plus Size Elegant Gothic & Lolita Fashion Taobao Guide Google Doc

https://www.gofundme.com/f/dees-gender-confirmation-surgery-fund A friend is getting her GCS soon, if you’ve got spare dollars this week.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/07/03/g-s1-7988/hiv-prevention-drug-clinical-trial HIV prevention drug has a clinical trial that _absolutely stopped_ HIV transmission. Yay for pre-exposure-prophylaxis!

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-pathway-found-in-the-brain-could-help-spell-the-end-of-migraines New nerve pathway discovered in the brain for targeting in migraine research.

https://accounts.smccd.edu/bellr/LazinessDoesNotExist.pdf Laziness Does Not Exist, an essay in PDF format by social psychologist Devon Price

I’m dumping some links bc my brain is too full.

https://techknitting.blogspot.com/2009/04/crossing-stitches-one-way-to-avoid-hole.html I found a cool knitting blog that no longer updates, but is full of ways to ie. stop the hole at the side of a sock heel.

https://www.airnow.gov/announcements/ How is the air quality where you are, fellow Americans?

https://flameandsong.dreamwidth.org/821361.html If you or someone you know are going off of any form of cannabis, especially with prolonged use, there’s stuff you should know, like that your brain can habituate to cannabinoids, and so it can suck to come off of them.

https://www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/how-to-stimulate-and-support-your-endocannabinoid-system A vitamin supplement blog about stimulating the endocannabinoid system.