#ADHD sale 2023

[lemniscate-graphics]

10" UNSC Infinity stealth decal for @writerforfandoms!

[bengaly]

one million adopts

i have many designs i've posted for early claims on patreon that i have not posted outside patreon. Theres 8-9 I'm organising rn from 2024-2023 and I know I'll find more if I dig further but I'll try focusing on those for now. So ADHD allows me I'll be posting some adopts for claims in the following days/weeks. what to expect: - 2 princessy themed sphinxes - 2 chicken dragon themed sphinxes - 2 sea slug themed dragons - a very red smok - a half dragon satyr that was going to be an oc but idk now? maybe Heres a Visual Image whose link may not work eventually since discord do be doing that now https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme.....a945423641&; I'll be selling those as small 24h auctions or flat sales. If you're on patreon (patreon.com/xuu) you can make an offer through the site before then, if not please wait for the public posts otherwise that'll be too much for me to manange. First ones will be the chicken sphinxes 👍 I think I'll try posting those on toyhou.se too so heres a link to my profile in case you wanna keep an eye on it https://toyhou.se/Xuu

[maaarine]

Bibliography: articles posted on this blog in 2024

Posted in January

Men Just Don’t Trust Women – And It’s A Huge Problem (Damon Young, Huffington Post, Mar 16 2015)

Amsterdam sex workers protest against plan to move red light district (The Guardian, Oct 19 2023)

They were Israel’s ‘eyes on the border’ - but their Hamas warnings went unheard (Alice Cuddy, BBC News, Jan 15 2024)

The Heteronormativity Theory of Low Sexual Desire in Women Partnered with Men (Sari M. van Anders, Debby Herbenick, Lori A. Brotto, Emily A. Harris, and Sara B. Chadwick, Aug 23 2021)

A new global gender divide is emerging (John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times, Jan 26 2024)

The secret of OnlyFans: It’s much more than porn (Marta Biino and Madeline Berg, Business Insider, Jan 18 2024)

—

Posted in February

Half of Spanish men feel discriminated against amid feminism backlash (James Badcock, The Telegraph, Jan 16 2024)

Parisians vote in favour of tripling parking costs for SUVs (Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, Feb 04 2024)

Ireland kickstarts vote on constitution’s wording about women and family (Rory Carroll, The Guardian, Jan 25 2024)

Divorce rates plummet to lowest level in 50 years ‘due to cost-of-living crisis’ (Kieran Kelly, LBC, Feb 22 2024)

—

Posted in March

‘There are some really extreme views’: young people face onslaught of misogyny online (Clea Skopeliti, The Guardian, March 01 2024)

Johnson: Why men interrupt (The Economist, Jul 10 2014)

France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic Versailles vote (Kim Willsher, The Guardian, March 04 2024)

‘My self-worth plummeted every month’: the hidden disorder that can ruin women’s lives (Chloe Aslett, The Guardian, Oct 16 2023)

The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same (Kyle Chayka, The Guardian, Jan 16 2024)

DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest (Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, March 18 2024)

Finland is world’s happiest country for 7th year while US drops out of top 20 (France 24, March 20 2024)

Swedish pharmacy bans sale of anti-ageing skincare to children (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, March 20 2024)

Women are being diagnosed with ADHD at unprecedented rates. Here’s why. (Kaelyn Lynch, National Geographic, Jan 16 2024)

5 Takeaways From an Investigation Into Hysterectomies in India’s Sugar Industry (Megha Rajagopalan, The New York Times, March 24 2024)

English Just ‘Badly Pronounced French’, Paris Academic Says (Tom Barfield, Barron’s, March 09 2024)

—

Posted in April

Why are women more prone to long Covid? (David Cox, The Guardian, June 13 2021)

French Revolution: Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In Paris (Carlton Reid, Forbes, April 06 2024)

Long Covid may be the body trying to fight off other viruses (Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph, April 08 2024)

The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex (Peggy Orenstein, The New York Times, April 12 2024)

Sydney knifeman who targeted women ‘was desperate for a girlfriend’ (Andrea Hamblin, The Telegraph, April 15 2024)

Revealed: Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began (Jason Burke, The Guardian, April 17 2024)

‘I was only a child’: Greenlandic women tell of trauma of forced contraception (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, March 29 2024)

Hormones and their Interaction with the Pain Experience (Katy Vincent and Irene Tracey, 2008)

—

Posted in May

Study suggests injury risk varies in menstrual cycle (Katie Gornall, BBC News, May 01 2024)

‘Urination equality’: Amsterdam women win fight for more public toilets (Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian, April 29 2024)

You can want things you don’t like and like things you don’t want (Shayla Love, Psyche, May 07 2024)

‘A new abyss’: Gaza and the hundred years’ war on Palestine (Rashid Khalidi, The Guardian, April 11 2024)

The important link between eating disorders and past trauma (Giulia Suro, Psyche, May 14 2024)

Hostile Intelligence: Reflections from a Visit to the West Bank (David Graeber, 2015)

—

Posted in June

AfD: How Germany’s far right won over young voters (Hans Pfeifer, Deutsche Welle, June 10 2024)

—

Posted in July

Coloniser le sud du Liban ? Un fantasme d'Israéliens messianiques à prendre au sérieux (Ha'Aretz via Courrier International, 3 juillet 2024)

Tampons found to contain concerning levels of arsenic and lead in world first study (Vishwam Sankaran, The Independent, July 10 2024)

South Korea politician blames women for rising male suicides (Jean Mackenzie, BBC, July 9 2024)

“Violence against women a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales, police say (Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, July 23 2024)

—

Posted in August

Menopause was a French invention at a time of revolution (Alison M Downham Moore, Psyche, July 30 2024)

Misogyny to be treated as extremism by UK government (Helen Catt and Charlotte Rose, BBC, Aug 18 2024)

—

Posted in September

What Is Synaptic Pruning? (Jacquelyn Cafasso, Healthline, Sep 18 2018)

‘Frightening’ Taliban law bans women from speaking in public (Annie Kelly and Zahra Joya, The Guardian, Aug 26 2024)

Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’ (Ariana Baio, The Independent, Sep 03 2024)

‘Not our tradition’: calls in Sweden to ban fathers walking brides down the aisle (Miranda Bryant, The Guardian, Aug 31 2024)

Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway (Ammu Kannampilly, Reuters, Sep 14 2024)

[ashen-crest]

a stats report on the rk ashwick books (as of April 2023)

some folks responded positively to the idea of seeing data on how my books have done (for indie author research and benchmark purposes), so here you go!

I'll put everything under the cut:

📚 What do I write?

Cozy fantasy romance under the pen name R.K. Ashwick.

📚 Why do I write?

Because I love it. I have a full-time job that isn't related to writing, so I write in my spare time. I should also note that I do not have dependents, am not a caregiver, and I do have anxiety and ADHD. I am not certain that I want to be a full-time writer, given the financial instability and the joy it could take away from writing. However, I want my books to be and perform the best they can, so I try to be professional about my product and methods.

(To me, this is all important context to be up-front about. Finances, family size, and health all have a huge impact on an author's goals and strategies.)

📚 How many books do I have out?

The Stray Spirit: released August 2022. First in a planned trilogy.

A Rival Most Vial: released March 2023. First in a planned trilogy.

📚 Online Visibility

Here's what I have going on:

Paid:

Website (requires $ for hosting)

BookFunnel for newsletter promos, sales promos, and ARC distribution (site requires $ to join)

Unpaid:

Newsletter (currently managing on free version of Mailerlite, since I'm under 1000 followers)

Facebook page (not consistently maintained, mostly for SEO)

Instagram, posting 5x/wk

TikTok, posting 5k/wk

Tumblr- hi!

using things like LibraryThing, GoodReads forums, Reddit, and FB pages to find more ARC readers

I was doing Amazon ads, but recently nixed them, as I didn't feel they were really getting me anything. I'll likely return to them once I have more books out.

A Note on Follower Count: I have, like 10 FB followers, 400-ish Insta followers, 1500 TikTok folders, and almost 1600 Tumblr followers. I've been on Tumblr the longest and TikTok second longest. TikTok had the fastest growth, Insta the slowest. However, general advice is that engagement rate is more important than follower count. I'll be real, I'm not doing that hot on that front. I'll consistently get around 20 likes on Insta posts and TikTok often caps my video views at around 200 or 300. The videos that do the best on TT often aren't the ones related to my books. Fun times.

A Note on Newsletter Stats: I have a pretty consistent open rate of 25-30%, which I think is okay. I'd like for it to be closer to 40%. (It's also hard to actually track open rates, so that number isn't entirely reliable.)

A Note on ARC Reader Stats: I got 100 readers for TSS and almost 200 for ARMV. This resulted in a ballpark count of 20 reviews for TSS and 30 reviews for ARMV around release time.

📚 Other Marketing Strategies

What you see above under Visibility is my ongoing work. I also do more limited-run strategies, like:

occasional free book giveaways on social media

pre-order gifts for my book

I sent out around 20 pre-order gift envelopes for TSS and 45 for ARMV. I operate the pre-order gifts at a loss, but I really enjoy doing it, so I'm okay with it. I also have lots of leftover stickers and bookmarks that I can bundle with giveaways.

📚 Distribution

I distribute wide through:

Amazon: both ebook and paperback

IngramSpark: paperback only

Draft2Digital: ebook only

📚 Orders & Royalties

So, what did all this work and shennanery get me?

From July 2022-April 2023 (10 months):

Books Sold: 575

Total Royalties, paid and unpaid: $1543.49 ($2.68 per book)

📚 Is that good or bad?

I have no idea!! And I think in the end, it all depends on your goals.

If my goal was to make a living: welp, it's def not enough.

If my goal was to break even: between website set up, DBA set up, cover cost, editing cost, illustrator cost: nah. I'd have to make about $4,000 more to safely say I've broken even.

If my goal was to get strangers, and not just family and friends, to read my books: oh hey, I did that!!

I hope this information helps you set a goal, so you're not mentally wandering around like I am.

📚 Other Notes

A big factor in having a financially successful indie book is fitting genre conventions in your chosen subgenre, or 'writing to market.' I will say that A Rival Most Vial is more written to market than The Stray Spirit is. The Stray Spirit sort of straddles cozy, historical, and academic fantasy without actually leaning in to any of those things, so it's a little harder to market.

I also spent a lot on cover, editing, and illustration. That makes it harder to be a financially viable business, but it's what I wanted to do to have a strong finished product. I am lucky in that my full-time job can cover these expenses.

I'm not very good at social media. I've never had anything go viral on any of the sites.

The most rewarding part of all this is seeing how people react to the book: reviews, videos where they're almost crying over the book, podcast invitations, and [something a bit bigger than I'll announce in the summer.] At the end of the day, if I have a small group of buyers who are vocal in engaging with my books, that's far more rewarding than a large group of buyers who don't engage.

📚 Parting Thoughts

I'm happy to talk about any and all aspects of my self-publishing experience. If you have more questions or want more details, feel free to reply, send an ask, or DM me!

[jade-everstone]

Art Goals for 2024

This post is a mirror of a post on my website (here)

It’s a few days into the new year. While the feelings of uncertainty from 2023 still lingers, I set myself a handful of goals going forward to give myself some sense of direction, 8 in fact, though I’ll mostly be focusing on my art-related goals here.

Technical improvement isn’t a major focus this year (I mean, I just did 4+ years of that lol). I think it’s time to focus on more external factors of art, like gaining some stability, pouring more focus into doing it part-time while maintaining the personal side. As well as strengthening skills not directly related to illustration. It’s something that’s fell to the wayside until senior year of college, and now that I’m out of school I think at least for this year I can let these factors overtake direct art improvement.

-

Finish PC-Mania!

My short webseries! This was launched as part of my senior thesis, but has had multiple hiccups in terms of production. This year I want to smooth out those bumps & be able to wrap it up by the end of this year. The reason I say by the end of this year? My drafts are roughly 40 pages, and even with my other plans for this year I’ll have more time on my hands to focus on comics. So I’m pretty confident I can wrap it up regardless of how it happens.

-

Launch Support Streams related to my art

This one was inevitable. Even if it’s a goal of part time vs. full time, I want to be able to do art as a career. Meaning I have to have some form of income to be able to continue doing it comfortably. This one will need time to sort-out though since there are hurtles; Notably my overall lack of reach, as well as inflation times.

Lack of reach is likely due to struggling with consistent posting (even reposts & WIPs slip by me), not wanting to completely bend my practices to algorithms, and migrating between platforms. So that one may be harder to sort-out while keeping it fair to my self & my limits. Inflation is tricky. Art is a luxury afterall, and when the cost of living has skyrocketed across the board I don’t blame people for choosing food and rent over art. I’m likely going to keep it to one-time payments & tip jars indefinitely since I don’t want to launch subscriptions in a time where people looking to cancel them to make ends meet. Plus, with my issues with consistent posting, I’m not in a position to be doing subscription-based works & would also like to better sort out my boundaries before even considering (ie: I don’t want anything that could potentially lead to people feeling entitled to my attention).

I still want to try pushing for commissions & freelance, even with a lack of success over the past few years. Though I also want to look more into online shops & tabling since last year, all of the money I made from art was from IRL sales. So it’s a matter finding those events that are original-art & zine friendly (I’m uninterested in monetizing fanart beyond commissions. Fanart to me = Personal art & I’d like to keep it that way). As well as researching more into online shops as a means to get things out there outside of the convention space.

-

Better-establish OC Lore & Worlds

This one is likely gonna be harder than it sounds. Because on one hand I am excited about these project, but I’ve always struggled with getting ideas-to-paper. While I don’t want to claim much since I don’t have an official diagnosis as of writing, I’m very sure I have ADHD meaning getting down schedules, and getting projects done before I jump to another interest has been a long-term struggle. It’s part of what hampered PC-Mania & reach, and hampers my ability to put more info about the projects I’m working on & are excited about (hell last year, I think I ended up drawing Io way more than art for said projects…).

I don’t know if there’s any “ADHD-friendly guides to maintaining projects before you forget them” out there (I’d argue most project guides & tips I’ve seen don’t consider it), so I’m pretty sure I’m on my own in this department. Currently I’m thinking about leveraging my website for this since it’s meant to be a work archive as is, and even if progress is inconsistent it’ll at least give me a central hub to link back to.

If you are curious, the main one I want to establish is Doverhill! It’s where a PC-Mania takes place for reference, and it’s set in modern times in the fictional town of Doverhill MA. Perfectly normal, except for the occasional paranormal encounter. The main cast that has to deal with them are a group of friends & neighbors who live in an apartment complex together. Story-wise it’s an episodic comedy about the sheer absurdity that is life. Even if it’s not a hard world-building project, it deserves a central hub to link back to.

The other one I’m debating on is Fang and Iron, a dark-sci-fantasy world building project about demon-hunting androids. But I think it needs more time in the oven, and I don’t plan on making it a main focus for a long time.

-

Learn Blender for making assets & Blocking

I’ve thought about the other skills I’d like to strengthen & learn for future projects, notably writing skills, drawing mecha, desktop publishing software, and 3D. But I picked learning 3D, since I feel like this one will have a ton of versatility in terms of making references for myself. If you’re wondering using 3D assets for references is extremely common, especially within the world of comics where you need to re-draw backgrounds and props. So having knowledge on how to block out scenes in blender will help massively in the long run, especially when my schedule starts filling up again.

(now I just need to finish that donut)

-

Shorter Comic Project?

I’m considering this one optional, but if I can squeeze in another smaller 8-16pg comic or zine along the lines of 9:15 Slushie I’d like to. I have an Idea I want to do for it (an idea that existed before 9:15 slushie did!) so the next step is carving out time to make it happen

Those are my main art goals of 2024. For the other 3 main resolutions of mine, I’ll list a short summary of those instead:

Get a job alongside art (I’ll need it. Bills be upon me + even with help from family members, I’d like to transition into being self-sustaining & be able to front the costs for my supplies & projects going forward)

Get my Drivers License (Also needed, especially if I want to continue tabling & other hobbies, and for getting to whatever job I end up at)

Get better at IIDX (and by extension BMS) so I can say I suck at normal 7’s vs normal 4’s lol (my only “hobby” goal of this year. I’ve wanted to get into IIDX for a long time too, so since I’m planning on getting my license & income anyways, I’ll see if I can squeeze this one in)

[2inthepink2]

my (v late!) 2022 recap ❤️‍🩹

So stoked to see what gay sh!t I end up drawing in 2023! <33

shop | patreon | spicy twt | instagram

If you followed me through the year you know it wasn’t my easiest, but I’m still so happy and proud with the art I created 💗 I had my first table at a show, a local store starting selling my stuff, had an insanely successful first auction, and I hit 300 sales on etsy! :o

(Bit of a diary post from here on heheh feel free to scroll by! just want to get it out there!) At the start of the year, I had big plans. I took on my annual round of commissions, and then right after I accepted a plethora of them, I was hit with a ton of medical issues and was diagnosed w a chronic illness T-T Immediately I fell behind due to this. I had to learn to navigate my ADHD on top of never knowing if i’d be in pain that whole day (for a while, it was every day). The days fell through my fingertips, and with that came a huge amount of guilt and burnout. I’m so happy to say that my health is looking up (for the most part), and that my burnout seems to finally be subsiding. I’ve learned not to take on so much at once, and I’m still working on being kind to myself. I seriously cannot thank my supporters enough. Whether you support me through patreon, my shop, commissions, social media, kind words, or just by being a friend, you have kept me going. And I mean that whole heartedly. 🤍 I will no longer be taking a huge amount of commissions at once, and will be moving to a monthly commission drop where I only take 1-3. I feel this will be better for everyone! 🫶🏻 I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store for me and my art career. 🤍

[jules-hoard-of-stuff]

Want some little guys?

I got some little guys called Pocketopi for sale to help me start my small business, Sheep Stitch Witchery!

These little fellows are easy to hold, to stim with, and they end up attracted to your pockets via things like lint, coins, or old receipts! They're good little buddies for anxiety, autistic and adhd stimming, a little stress buddy to squeeze, or a desk toy.

I even made one based off of the autism creature!

But the capturing process is difficult, and it could take YEARS to raise one properly...

Or, you could just put down a small fee, and you'll receive a unique little guy in the mail, nothing to it!

I'm making more batches as we speak! Most of these will NOT be repeated unless requested several times, so as batches come out, they'll each be unique little guys!

Please check them out, it would really make my day. I make other stuff too!

[obsessivedilettante]

March 2023 round up

I have officially joined the air fryer cult. I got an air fryer on sale a few months ago and only just got around to setting it up. So far I have made many permutations of chicken and potatoes (it’s a dual basket). I’m looking forward to summer and the farmer’s market and filling my $15 bag of veg to test out my air frying skills in a more healthy manner that goes beyond chicken nuggets and tater tots.

Second concert of the year: Dreamcatcher! I was having a “Jonah day” as friends of Anne Shirley would understand, and didn’t really want to go despite these amazing women being one of my favorite girl groups. But I had paid for the Meet & Greet so doggone it I was going to go, even if I arrived a few minutes before showtime and stood in the back. I actually really enjoyed myself, despite my bone-deep exhaustion. The only negative aspect was the last half-hour when some rando decided I was the most fascinating person and insisted we be friends. I paid $$$ to see these gorgeous, talented women, not talk to his drunk ass. I actually had to be rude and blunt to get him to back off! This is why I don’t go anywhere. Sigh.

Had a coffee date with a friend! It sounds insignificant but being in your 30’s, introverted, working at home, and still being pandemic cautious, well… it’s a big deal. We want to try and get together about once a month. Probably every couple of months because we’re honest about our homebody ways.

Media I am enjoying and/or have consumed:

The Way Home. Okay. So. Backstory: as established, I work from home. I don’t often have afternoon meetings, so I’ll go relax in the living room with my laptop and my mum will come out to take her afternoon nap in front of the TV. We have somehow landed on the Murder Channel (aka Hallmark Movies and Mysteries) as the ideal afternoon watch as it’s playing Psych and Drop Dead Diva reruns. So I get my ADHD-needed background noise and my mum gets to “watch” her shows while she inevitably naps. Anyway. I kept seeing ads for this show and each week as they ran the ad for the upcoming episode, I was like, “…what IS this show? A time-traveling pond????” So of course I had to watch it, forgetting that it’s a Hallmark show. So there’s more family drama than time-travel shenanigans, and people making tearful and terrible life choices, but doggone it, if Hallmark gives me more sci-fi, I will probably watch it (plus they hardly resolved anything so guess who has to watch season 2 now to find out what happened to Jacob!).

The Company You Keep. As a Milo Ventimiglia ho (fellow millennials who grew up with Rory Gilmore will understand) and a kdrama fan, I was curious about this adaption. So far, I’m super enjoying it. I love how many main women characters there are, all with their own agency. I wonder if that’s a kdrama influence. I also am enjoying all the Leverage-lite cons.

Shazam 2. I used to use my Alamo Drafthouse season pass at least once a week before the pandemic. I didn’t cancel it during lockdown because I wanted to support the theater and I knew eventually I’d go back. I’ve gone a handful of times in the past year. Not enough to get my money’s worth, but enough that I felt like I was at least using the membership. But this was my first in-theater movie of the year! I don’t care for DC’s dark movies, but I am a sucker for the goofier ones. Especially when it hammers home the point (again) that family are the people you choose to be with.

[thelifeoflorna]

~4/2/2023~ Had quite a slow morning snuggling at home with my Bella and got distracted playing Sims for longer than I would have liked but hey ho! My brothership finally asked about my ADHD assessment (I told him about it on the morning of the appointment) - told him the outcome of the assessment and his response wasn’t exactly helpful - he seemed to take from it that I was exactly like him and questioned whether I was autistic (or ASD as he put it), oh and he’s read about PoTS recently and found out it sorts itself out in a few years so I shouldn’t worry too much :/ - swiftly decided I needed to leave that conversation. Got the bus to Brighton for a walk along the seafront - started reading a new book I ordered - Recovery Is My Revenge by Carolyn Spring - really liking it and finding it powerful so far. After seafront walk, went to Starbucks to write therapy journal, but an issue with my fountain pen stalled me a bit :/ Decided to order a new one, but then saw Paperchase had a fountain pen that looked cool and was fairly cheap - so headed over to Churchill Square to look for it - discovered that a lot of the Paperchase stores are closing - sad times :( Did find the fountain pen, which was reduced in the sale, but when I got home discovered it doesn’t take the usual coloured cartridges I have - ended up having a big sort out of my stationery in the evening as discovered I now have 3 different fountain pens that all take 3 slightly different cartridges that almost look the same! Had a list of things I needed to do, but other than pencil case sorting, I ended up distracted by reading about titanic survivors again… 🦄 #instadaily #instablog #update #mentalhealth #dissociativeidentitydisorder #cptsd #actuallyautistic #traumarecovery #edrecovery #anxiety #chronicillness #disability #pots #potsie #dysautonomia #positivevibes #recovery #jellycats #actuallyautistic #ehlersdanlossyndrome #fox #tumbletuftfox #jellycatobsessed #foxyloxy #jellycatsofinstagram #foxlove #woodlandanimals #jellycatcollection https://www.instagram.com/p/CoRp1_mK7SQfTyAVVO1BF7sXYu9dNoR4WkFG8s0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lemniscate-graphics]

Apparently tumblr ate my FUCKING post, so. Take two!

Opening six $20 flat rate sticker slots! That's twenty bucks for any sticker, up to 12×12" or 30×30cm. No limit on number of colors or complexity, a bitch needs to make some extra money for a good balance board to do my stupid ADHD exercises for my stupid monkey brain, so that I can keep my stupid job and the accompanying health, dental and vision benefits!

Since Tumblr ate the post, two slots have already been claimed after I talked about the post that never was on discord, which leaves four slots! Below are some examples of my work, all stickers are hand-cut, which allows for finer details and makes them all unique!

Stickers only, we had an incident awhile back and my silkscreen emulsion got left out my some idiot (me) and exposed to light, which cured it in the bottle, so until I get some new emulsion, my printing capacity is zilch.

Any fandom, or none at all! You can hmu in DMs or by the email listed in my pinned post, and we can work something out!

UPDATE: 3/6 slots taken! Three slots left!

[pipsqueakparker]

just some rambles & reflection on the past almost-year of my life

last year there was a friday 13th in october and it was the night one of my friends released a book. so we drove about 30-40 minutes south to a city to celebrate her book launch, except as we were trying to find the right place to be i got a phone call.

it was my nephew. not my 'real' nephew, if we're assuming 'real' has to mean 'blood'. i was still getting to know this kid, they're the kid my roommate used to basically raise. (she was a live in nanny, but the mother sucked major fucking ass so the only person raising those kids in any decent manner was my roommate.) she calls them her nephew, (or nibling, the more accurate one, but no one understands 'nibling' and we live an in an area where all of the educating we have to do to exist is exhausting enough, so we don't often choose this battle). but you all understand, so i'll say nibling. she calls them her nibling, so they are my nibling by association. and unbeknownst to me, this kid... clung. now, they were 10 when i met them, and at that point in time they were my roommate's shadow. (their sister was the one that clung to me when they were young). but at this point, they're 17 and they're also non-binary and queer and confused and i don't get anxiety from phone calls so when they need to talk they call me. so we're standing in the middle of some city ive never been to in vermont, and my phone is ringing, and it's my nibling.

and i know it's not good, because it's almost 9 pm and when i answer, they're crying. and it takes a few tries, but i finally gather that their mother kicked them out and they're walking in the middle of the woods, and we're forty minutes away from them but they need us so we book it. i send apologies to my friends that were waiting to see me for a little mfa crew celebration, but family emergency. (they all understand, because my mfa family is full of amazing people.)

we're on the interstate going as fast as legally allowed, and maybe even a little faster than that. i tell my nibling we're on our way, we're pretty far, but we're on our way. they say their friend is calling them, so i let them go answer. and at that point, my roommate's phone is ringing, her friend is calling, and she answers because her friends lives 10 minutes away from us. 'are you home?' but no, the friend is not at home... she's actually driving out near our nibling's house. we give her the recap, she finds our nibling and drives them over to our apartment. the new one that we just moved into, where our landlords are reasonable human beings that won't threaten to evict us because we have a family member over for more than two days at a time.

that was friday october 13 2023 - and today is friday september 13 2024. a month away from our new adult child's gotcha day. from the anniversary of officially forming this weird little family unit that we have. and it's been really difficult, because we are all traumatized individuals - and some of our traumas are really similar, some of us have the same abusers, and throughout this entire year we've been hit with bombshell after bombshell of just how fucking horrific my nibling's womb donor truly is. and it has been hard to figure out how to live with and around each other, figure out the dynamics and come to terms with the truth behind the lies we were all told.

but next month will make a year, and so today we saw a sick ass friday 13th tattoo flash sale and decided we'd all go as some kind of redemption trip. have a good friday 13th! okay well, about that... turns out, that was a sketch-fest, so we drove all the way out (back to that exact same city where i got the call nearly a year ago) just to turn back around because i have gotten tattoos in really sketchy studios but i drew the line at someone's studio apartment. so we go to chipotle instead, 'cause we're finally near chipotle. and the nibling is pissed, fuming, on top of the trauma they have the adhd that makes it so very hard to regulate their emotions and they. hate. change. and chipotle was weird. but it was delicious. and we were all laughing by the time we left, then went to spirit halloween. then walked all the way around hobby lobby trying to find a place to piss just to find out the bathrooms were actually right next to the front door, and then some middle-aged WASPy woman stared me down as i waited for everyone to come back out so we could leave the store. i was spotted as the queer atheist i am and she was trying to get the building to burn me, i swear. those were her vibes.

anyway. it wasn't a perfect day, and there were still disappointments, and i still kind of feel like tearing my skin off because i'm just overwhelmed, but none of that ruined the day the way it once would have. and even the nibling ended the day with a smile and a 'love you' before bed, and it's just moments like this that i like to reflect on how far we've come. my therapist says i need to acknowledge myself more, so i'll acknowledge that one day not too long ago, i would've let the whole day be ruined the moment i felt uncomfortable because i needed to shower. but instead of giving in, today i just kept pushing and as it turns out, the good does outweigh the bad.

[jayanthitbrc]

Global Medical Foods Market Analysis 2024 – Estimated Market Size And Key Drivers

The Medical Foods by The Business Research Company provides market overview across 60+ geographies in the seven regions - Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa, encompassing 27 major global industries. The report presents a comprehensive analysis over a ten-year historic period (2010-2021) and extends its insights into a ten-year forecast period (2023-2033).

Learn More On The Medical Foods Market: https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/medical-foods-global-market-report

According to The Business Research Company’s Medical Foods, The medical foods market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $21.35 billion in 2023 to $23.07 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.0%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to increased prevalence of chronic diseases, advances in medical and nutritional science, growing aging population, rise awareness of the role of nutrition in managing health conditions, regulatory support for medical foods.

The medical foods market size is expected to see strong growth in the next few years. It will grow to $31.23 billion in 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to growing focus on preventive healthcare, increasing demand for personalized nutrition, expansion of applications in metabolic disorders, advances in nutrigenomics and personalized medicine, rising consumer interest in functional foods. Major trends in the forecast period include development of condition-specific medical food formulations, collaboration between food and pharmaceutical industries, expansion of distribution channels, including e-commerce, integration of digital technologies for personalized nutrition, emphasis on clean-label and natural ingredients in medical foods.

The increase in the geriatric population is significantly contributing to the growth of the medical foods market. At the molecular and cellular level, aging is caused by the accumulation of a range of biomolecular damage throughout time. This results in a gradual loss of functional capacity, as well as an increased risk of disease and eventually, death. These changes are not linear or continuous, and they have been only distantly related to a person's chronological age. As people get old, their dependency on certain nutritional foods increases especially medical foods to manage their health from chronic and age-related diseases. For instance, in October 2022, according to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), a Switzerland-based agency responsible for international public health, one in six people is expected to be 60 or older by the year 2030, in the entire world. By 2050, there will be 2.1 billion people worldwide who are 60 years old or older. Therefore, the increase in the geriatric population is expected to propel the growth of the medical foods market.

Get A Free Sample Of The Report (Includes Graphs And Tables): https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/sample.aspx?id=6353&type=smp

The medical foods market covered in this report is segmented –

1) By Type: Pills, Powder, Other Types 2) By Application: Alzheimers Disease, Diabetic Neuropathy, Nutritional Deficiency, ADHD, Other Applications 3) By Sales Channel : Retail Sales, Online Sales, Institutional Sales

Major companies operating in the medical foods market are developing innovative products such as foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) to meet larger customer bases, more sales, and increase revenue. Foods for special medical purposes (FSMP) are a category of specially formulated food products intended for individuals with specific medical conditions, disorders, or diseases. For instance, in July 2022, Nestle, a Switzerland-based food company, launched Si Yi Su, a food for special medical purposes for individuals dealing with tumor-related conditions. The unique feature of Su Yi Su is its formulation, which includes arginine, fish oil omega-3, nucleotides, and other essential nutritional components. This combination is specifically designed to target inflammation and bolster the compromised immunity of patients.

The medical foods market report table of contents includes:

Executive Summary

Market Characteristics

Market Trends And Strategies

Impact Of COVID-19

Market Size And Growth

Segmentation

Regional And Country Analysis . . .

Competitive Landscape And Company Profiles

Key Mergers And Acquisitions

Future Outlook and Potential Analysis

Contact Us: The Business Research Company Europe: +44 207 1930 708 Asia: +91 88972 63534 Americas: +1 315 623 0293 Email: info@tbrc.info

Follow Us On: LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/company/the-business-research-company Twitter: https://twitter.com/tbrc_info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBusinessResearchCompany YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC24_fI0rV8cR5DxlCpgmyFQ Blog: https://blog.tbrc.info/ Healthcare Blog: https://healthcareresearchreports.com/ Global Market Model: https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/global-market-model

[shinxistudio]

2023 in Review

2023 was a very tiring year, to put it mildly. I know everyone has been having a rough time, not just me. There's so much going on to be angry or upset about.

I want to at least try to focus on the positives and my own development that's happened over the course of this year. This post will likely be super long and rambling, so I'll put it under a cut here.

If you don't want to read it all (valid), I want you to know that we can make 2024 a better year together. Things will be better. We will make them better.

As far as my own personal growth, I've done quite a few things that I was always nervous to do or felt weren't possible.

I'm still anxious now that AI is even more of a problem than NFTs and standard art theft, but I want to share my art! I hate that I have to sacrifice quality by watermarking and making everything into JPGs, but it's the only way I'll feel safe enough to still share my art. I'm also anxious about getting chewed up by social media in general and ruining my mental health by feeling like I have to be Always Posting.

1.) I've started posting my art again publicly, on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and here on Tumblr. I've started streaming on Twitch again, too.

I've tried to maintain an art blog or something similar multiple times before either getting too protective of my work or giving up. I don't want to give up again.

I've also started interacting with other artists more. I want to make more art friends! It just sucks that trying to reach out and comment often on Instagram takes so much of my energy.

2.) I've opened my own online shop on Etsy.

I've only made one sale so far this year, and it still means the world to me. I've always wanted to have my art on shirts and prints. The designs I've started off with are some basic ones, and I want to push to have even more detailed and cooler stuff. It's scary trying to sell my art as merchandise, but I want people to have stuff that they'll be excited to have and wear. I've ordered one of my own designs that I was the most excited for and I love it. I love being able to wear something I made.

I wish I had the space to do all the prints and things myself. I'd love to be even more involved in the process than using print-on-demand, but then that also requires me to have more time for order maintenance and less time for art and myself.

3.) I've opened commissions on VGen.

My friend was kind enough to give me a verification code, and I've opened a few offerings. I still need to advertise and push my stuff, but I feel a lot more confident in my art than I have in the past. I've tried to offer commissions before but always felt my art wasn't good enough. It didn't help that people rarely wanted my art, either.

4.) I'm cracking the code of my own brain.

I always have issues sticking to habits and being productive. (I'm almost certain I have ADHD, but trying to even get to see a doctor for an official diagnosis is something I haven't had time or money to pursue.) This year I created a scoreboard to try and gamify things that I need to do. It really helped me get through this year, all the way to about October when it became too much to maintain. This past month I've revamped it to make it more fun and easier for me to keep up with. I'm super happy with it so far, and I hope I can manage this one all the way through 2024.

5.) I'm taking my health more seriously.

I've been aiming to exercise at least 3 times a week, go for walks, or do anything to keep me moving. This has definitely helped my mental health and it's something I want to continue this year. I walked 1200 miles as a personal challenge! This year I'm aiming for 1500! I want to aim even higher, but I don't want to pick something so outrageous I burn out or don't bother finishing it. My rule is always that I can raise my goal but never lower it.

My friend got me into Conqueror Challenges, and big shiny medals have been a motivator for monkey brain.

I feel like I wrote this all mostly positively with a negative spin. That wasn't my intention, but I'm also being real about where I am and where I want to go in my life. I'm still learning and figuring out what I really want. I just know that I want art to become a much bigger part of my life again, and I want to be healthy so that I have that much longer to create even more art. I have so much planned and so much more that I want to make or media I want to try.

I was also able to lose some weight and I think that's made a difference, too. I don't feel as brain-fogged or as tired. I need to focus on sleeping more, though.

6.) A small thing, but I'm taking good care of my plants.

I love having plants so much, but they usually don't last very long. I had to get rid of my plants when we first adopted my cat, but I've made space for them that will keep him safe and out of them.

A coworker gifted me a plant for my birthday at the beginning of 2023, and it's still going strong. It's gotten huge since then. Looking at it honestly makes me so proud. One of my dreams is to one day have a green house or sunroom filled with different plants, and a garden to grow our own fruits and vegetables. It would make me so happy if this guy could be the first in its permanent home there.

7.) I've been doing better mentally and with handling my emotions.

I've always been highly emotional to the point that I couldn't control them. I'm still working on it, but I'm getting better at not letting my emotions lead my actions and taking time to think things through. Journaling has helped a lot, and I'd like to start meditating regularly to see if that helps, too. My girlfriend has been so patient and helpful with this since we've been together, especially in this past year. I'm incredibly lucky to have her. 😭 💚

I want to be hopeful for 2024. I want to put out more artwork and have more fun that I can share with others to make this year nicer for us all, if only a little.

If you read this far, please just know that I'm proud of you for making it through this year. Whether you were able to do things that you wanted to do or not, you survived and I'm happy you're still here.

I hope you have a much better year in 2024, with more love and kindness, more fun, more good food, and more rest. 💜

[davestone13-blog]

Underdiagnosed and Undertreated, Young Black Males With ADHD Get Left Behind

Claire SibonneyNovember 9, 2023 Republished with Permission: The Roosevelt Island Daily News As a kid, Wesley Jackson Wade should have been set up to succeed. His father was a novelist and corporate sales director and his mother was a special education teacher. But Wade said he struggled through school even though he was an exceptional writer and communicator. He played the class clown when he…

[cocotangaje]

22 July 2023

Kita mulai dari apa yang terlihat secara fisik dulu ya.

Meja gue berantakan banget. Notes buku gue dimana-mana. Novel dan non-fiksi saling timpang tindih. Belakangan gue abis namatin pulang dan satu bab pertama pergi. Terus screening sekilas The 48 Laws of Power karena kalo baca non-fiksituh gue perlu screening dan tau dulu secara keseluruhan, baru baca pelan-pelan. Itupun gak semua, cuma yang gue rasa perlu gue tau dan baca aja. Sisanya enggak.

Gue udah mulai aktif review film di Medium beberapa waktu lalu. Kemarin udah namatin 1 series sama 2 film juga, belum sempet nulisin reviewnya. Mau ditambah review novel sama buku juga, abis itu di posting di linkedin. Biar kalo gue interview kerja ditanya kesibukan sehari-hari, gue bisa jawab gue aktif baca, nonton, dan nulis artikel sama review setiap hari. Poin plus untuk skill content writing yang menunjang karir sosmed specialist yang lagi gue tuju.

Hari ini graduation bootcamp juga. Jam set 10 nanti. Sambil nunggu, gue nulis tumblr dulu. Lumayan buang waktu dengan tinggalin jejak. Selama perjalanan bootcamp kemarin gue jalanin dengan biasa-biasa aja. Ada kalanya ambis, ada kalanya mager. Tengah-tengah. Kayak semangat gue yang sangat fluktuatif tiap harinya. Kalo lagi semangat banget, dalam 1 pertemuan bootcamp gue bisa menangin 2 quiz dari total 3 quiz sepanjang sesi. Kalo lagi mager, tugas gue skip, absen cuma ngisi aja, atau hadir tapi gue mute dan guenya scroll tiktok atau sambil ngelakuin hal lain yang lebih menarik minat gue.

Gue cepet banget nangkep, sayangnya, bosennya juga cepet. Seperti kebanyakan ADHD pada umumnya lah. Kalo aja gue konsisten banget di satu hal, gue yakin banget gue bisa jadi master dalam hal itu lebih cepat daripada oranglain dengan garis start yang sama. Sayangnya gue selalu berpikir ketika gue udah mulai menguasai suatu hal, gue mulai merasa hal itu gak menarik lagi bagi gue. Sesuatu tampak sangat menarik kalo itu asing dan ada diluar ranah kemampuan gue. Kalo udah familiar dan nggak ada yang bisa gue eksplor lagi, atau lingkup eksplornya dikit-dikit gitu yang nanggung bikin pegel, gue biasanya langsung males dan cari hal lain.

Tapi sebagaimana kuliah, bootcamp ini setidaknya gue selesaikan dengan nilai rata-rata. Dibilang jelek juga enggak, bagus juga enggak. Karena ya itu, ada bolong-bolong di waktu gue males. Tapi sekalinya gue attend kelas, gue aktif luar biasa nyampe gak ngasih kesempatan yang lain buat aktif karena kelas didominasi sama gue. Otak sombong gue berpikir, kasian aja sih oranglain kalo gue terlalu rajin dan ambis, mereka  bisa gak dapet tempat dan gue kemungkinan akan dibenci sama banyak orang.

Gue masih nyaman menyamar jadi domba disaat gue tau gue sebenernya punya potensi untuk jadi predator.

Tapi belakangan ini gue tertarik sih untuk mempertajam taring gue dan memperluas teritorial nyaman gue. Makanya gue mulai menabung, olahraga, istirahat, baca buku, dan nulis lagi. Gue akan mempertahankan sisi pura-pura domba ini di beberapa sisi, tapi gue juga mulai memperbanyak porsi waktu dimana gue mengasah taring gue sendiri. Waktu gue mulai sedikit, papap udah mulai makin tua dan sakit. Kalo power dia melemah dan di keluarga gak ada pengganti power potensial (setidaknya dari segi kontrol diri dan pemikiran), teritorial keluarga gue bisa terancam. Papap kompetitor bisnisnya banyak. Lengah dikit, yang bahaya bisa satu keluarga.

Tentu gak cuma dari isi kepala dan kontrol diri aja, gue juga perlu ningkatin dari sisi spiritual gue. Manusia bukan satu-satunya entitas yang hidup di alam semesta seluas ini. Gue perlu campur tangan Tuhan untuk menambah kekuatan gue.

Gila gak tuh, bahasanya berasa superhero banget wkkw. Tapi somehow seru, menyemangati diri dengan cara ginituh. Gue berasa punya kendali dan tau hal yang gue mau dan langkah yang gue tuju. Keinginan hidup dan bertahan gue meningkat.

[misfiredmonologue]

sex shop dispatch #1

catty #1 (2023); drawn in MS Paint on a cash reigister desktop pc in a gay sex shop in berlin

"Wouldn't it be nice if I got Aids at work?" "You would need to contract HIV first I guess...", I said, leaning against the cash register to relive some tension in my back from standing for five hours. My coworker nodded and didn't look away from the posters he was pinning to the wall behind us. "Just imagine I stood here and someone customer came up and jizzed onto my leg, were I had a little open wound. Oops! It would be classified as a work accident, obviously. So convenient!" His gaze wandered to the front door, from where the sunlight didn't reach the belly of the sex shop. "And you'd leave it untreated?" I asked He laughed and slapped another adhesive strip onto the poster loudly. "Of course, I wouldn't do anything! I would want to get AIDS as fast as possible and try to contract COVID. Well and then...", he smiled, almost candidly, "...bye bye! I'd be 10ft under so fast."

I didn’t know what to say and I didn’t need to, as the Ibiza party vibes vol 5 playlist relentlessly kept droning on in the background.

(…)

Sitting hunched over outside in the shadow of a small shroud in the backyard of my apartment complex I was waiting for the adhd pill I had borrowed from Z to kick in. But this time I found it harder to determine if it did. Maybe I finally got the dose right, since I had carefully scooped about half of the white powder from the gelatin capsule. Compared to Cookie Mueller’s collected stories, which I was currently reading, everything I did seemed boring and my anxieties about life paled in comparison to her detailed accounts of careless travels, near death experiences and childbirth. I closed the book and carried my cat on a leash, on whose sitting-outside-in-a-bush-session I had patiently waited on, back inside. Having worked in the sex shop for three days in a row before this meant nothing memorable had happened, except that I had found enjoyment in drawing semi-nude bodies with cat heads in paint on the cash registers windows pc, trying not to get caught. R asks me if I would exhibit them and I protest, no. I had asked a collector of very mediocre gay art who came in to buy some jockstraps on sale if he could see a market for digital drawings of anthropomorphized cats. He quickly shrugged it off, laughing while putting as much distance between himself and me in a polite British manner. So if there was any further use for them, that didn’t involve extracting income from the affluent cis gay bubble with questionable taste, it was to become cover art for these dispatches I was determined to write. Something to revive my blog with (hi there!). But I wasn’t ready to get fired over making as much of them as possible on company time. After all, I’m not a painter nor particularly passionate about the outcomes of my capitalism-coping-method.

The most exciting thing that happened day was probably selling butt plugs to a very anxious looking guy in his thirties who was planning to get pegged by his girlfriend and seemed quite stressed by the prospect of it. I wish him all the best and hope he remembers to not use silicon based lube.