Let’s Blog Award

Preamble

My darling Moonlings! I wanted to get back into the blogging mindset by doing the Let’s Blog Award. I’ve been so focused on academic writing that I though I’d take up Megan from A Geeky Gal on her invitation. Blogging awards and tags are a great way to support each other by creating a blogging chain (choo choo!).

As this is the kind of award that basically invites all kinds of bloggers to get involved, I will leave this as an open invitation. I love reading these so I hope to see some more! I would love to see Lee from Lee’s Hall of Information and / or Meagan from Quibbles and Scribbles. Only if they want to though!

The Rules

• You need to mention the creator of the award, who is Renee from Renee’s Corner
• Don’t forget to shout out the blogger who nominated you, which in my case was an invitation from A Geeky Gal.
• Copy and paste the rules.
• Answer the 10 questions sent by the nominator.
• Write your 10 questions for the nominees.
• Answer your own questions.
• Nominate as many bloggers you want for this award and notify them that they got nominated.
• Keep the thumbnail as the thumbnail of this post. According to Megan: “Apologies, the image is just too pixelated now!” So I recreated it as best I could.
• Tag the post #Let’s Blog Award.

Megan‘s Questions

Are you a minimalist or a maximalist? 

This feels like a trap! Hahaha. No, I am definitely not a maximalist for sure. I want my life to be simple, and I do ‘clear outs’ every quarter / 3 months or so. However I’m not really a minimalist either. I am not the owner of my own home and I live with my in-laws. Some day I hope to have my own house and it is my intention to have the least amount of clutter as possible. I do have a lot of Squishes though, and I’ll never declutter them!

(L-R) Joey the Snowman, Mooncake the Squish and Cam the Penguin.

What is your favorite song right now? 

Well according to my Spotify rewind it’s “Rain On Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. However I’ve been listening to “The Hunting,” by Joel Nielson, which is from the Black Mesa Soundtrack on repeat. I loved the fan remake of Half Life 1. I recommend it if you are a gamer, it’s so well made and the soundtrack alone is worth playing it for.

• 

  Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande

• 

  Black Mesa Soundtrack “Xen.”

What is something you miss? 

I’m going to go with how the question is phrased as something and not someone. This year has really rocked the foundations of how we experience our holidays and family gatherings. I must say I really miss being able to gather with people to celebrate.

Remember being able to go to pubs?!

What did you wear today? 

My new favourite Lucy and Yak cargo pants, a The Doors t-shirt and a oversized blue hoody that I got in the men’s section. I like to be really comfy. I’ve worked from home for years. So a lot of my clothing is comfortable. I’m not sponsored by Lucy and Yak or anything, I just genuinely love their clothes.

Lucy & Yak.

Do you have a word or phrase that you may be known for? 

Yes, I say “no worries” to everything! Even when there are some worries man… some worries.

This is a screenshot from the TV show “Community.”

What is one way you like to practice self care? 

Reading, in my bed, in pajamas, with a cuppa tae. While I have many enjoyable hobbies, for me there are none more so than reading. It completely distracts me from what’s going on around me. I don’t stress about projects that are due. Or that I’m worried about my weight. Or worrying about my family members. There is just me and the charaters. I’m re-reading a favourite again this week. Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart.” Le’Boo recently got me the African Trilogy and I’ve never read them all so I’m excited.

Chinua Achebe’s “African Trilogy.”

What is one highlight of your week? 

That’s actually a really good question and my answer is probably going to sound insane. I love of a Friday, planning the work I need to do the following week. Catching up on anything I might have missed and ticking off what I accomplished. It’s a satisfyingly feeling, and I love a good list. I do a ‘brain dump‘ of all my tasks and spread them throughout the week so I don’t overwhelm myself.

What is something that holds you back? 

The fear of failure. I’ve been to therapy about it. Most people’s greatest fear is death. Mine is that I will die feeling like I’m a failure. I work myself into a tizzy sometimes overworking myself. Then I can’t let something be ‘done’ because I’m also a perfectionist. So even though something might be complete and be perfectly adequate, that’s not enough for me. This also sometimes stops me working because I feel like I might never do it justice anyway so why bother? Wow that turned into a bit of a diatribe about myself I apologise!

One small thing that makes you happy? 

He may be a smol bean but he has a big heart. The one. The only. Baby green squish.

My little bestie.

Something you’re looking forward to this year? 

This year as in 2020 or 2021? I’ll go with the grammatically correct answer. I am looking forward to hopefully getting funding I’ve applied for (fingers crossed), I’m looking forward to spending a quiet and safe Christmas with my family. Finally I’m looking forward to getting an old school Markiplier t-shirt in the mail that’s due any day now from Redbubble! He’s my favourite YouTuber.

From Redbubble

My Questions for my Nominees

What video game story is your absolute favourite?

I wrote this question but I am struggling to pick. I love the Half Life story but I can’t say it’s my favourite because we don’t have a damn ending! So if I am going to choose. It has to be the story arc from the original Blood game. I never played the whole one myself. When I was sick back in 2016 I literally sat behind my brother (like we were kids) and watched him play it, and it was wild. Shout out to my brother having my back when I had my mental breakdown.

Blood

Are you a believer in the paranormal and/ or the supernatural?

Yes. I won’t say anymore on this. If you want me to let me know in the comments down below!

When did you realise you were a creator?

I think I was very young, like 4 or 5. I loved reading and I couldn’t wait for the day I got to write my own book. Someday. Someday.

Do you have a ‘normal’ sleep schedule? Like a routine?

I ask this question because I have the worst sleep schedule in the absolute universe. I am an night owl, but I also get sleepy during the day. I have a chronic illness so I often think that contributes to my need for at least 10 hours sleep but never in a row. Like 4 – 6 hours in the night. Then 3 in the day. I’m curious because I’ve always had a poor relationship with sleep.

Do you believe in the power of decluttering?

Another thing I’m curious about. I mention above that I lean more minimalist than maximalist, and also my parents recently cleared out their attic and heck. I don’t ever want to amass that amount of stuff! No shade to my folks they were storing a lot of my stuff in the attic for my future house, but other stuff… There was a suitcase filled with ropes at one point.

What unpopular opinion do you hold?

Or at least think you do. For me it’s about cancelling people and not giving people second chances. Then also the opposite, why are some people allowed to continue their bad behaviour. They somehow still get and keep fans / work. When they should really be working on themselves and then come back once they’ve shown growth. A really good example of this is Robert Downey Jnr. He was an alcoholic and movie directors / producers wouldn’t hire him because he wasn’t reliable as a result of his illness. He went to rehab, turned his life around and is arguable one of the most lauded actors of his time.

I, am Iron Man.

If you had to listen to the same 1 album everyday for 10 years which one would you pick? (You will be able to listen to others after).

This is a really tough one for me to choose. I guess for me it would be Biosphere’s “Substrata,” because I already listen to it at least one a week when I’m writing / working.

Biosphere – “Substrata.”

What is the last thing you binged watched?

This can mean anywhere. On Netflix, YouTube, Twitch. My latest binge was “Half-Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware.” This was a web series that took place on Twitch originally. A group of friends play Half Life in Gary’s Mod, and hilarity ensues. Wayne, the guy who played Gordon, cut it up for YouTube. When I tell you I laughed…

Have you ever made a Vision Board? Psychical or virtual?

I am a fan of vision boards or notebooks to keep all my goals in mind. I made one a few years back and I’m hoping that I will be able to tick off all my visions someday.

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Do you realise that you are good enough?

I am good enough, and so are you friend.

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The mess that 2020 has been, let’s be real…

Preamble

My dear Moonlings, I am exhausted. Normally this time of year there is excitement in the air. It’s a holiday season for many, with the years end looming. We normally have the feeling of renewal, and we want to set our goals for the new year.

This time last year I was preparing to shave my head, buying Christmas presents and excited for 2020, the final year of a decade. I was planning on finishing my Ph.D. by starting my data collection in February. Which is laughable now. I was going to get a new job, hopefully in the field I wanted to work in. Finally I was going to get back to writing my novel.

Vogue Parody: 73 Questions

At the start of 2020 I wrote a number of blog posts, made some YouTube videos and then I disappeared. Not only as a result of the pandemic, but in hopes that if I did I could still get my Ph.D. finished. I have finally come to terms with being a year overdue for my Ph.D. It took me longer to collect data, which was in fairness was mainly a result of the lockdown.

I actually realised this week that without writing on Thinking Moon for all of you, my mental health was suffering. I am one of those people that needs a creative outlet. The thoughts, feelings and opinions in my head need to be expelled. Otherwise they fester, and then I have a head full of unhealthy ponderings.

Revisiting My 2020

In January 2020, I wrote about my goals for the year. I thought it would be fun to revisit the goals, and see how I did, despite how tough this year has been on all of us. This is for fun, I’m not being hard on myself. Too much has happened this year to be critical of ourselves for not

1. Sustainability goals 2020! I still have them, don’t worry! I will do a review of the latter half of 2019 too.

So that post is here and I am telling you now it was a disaster. I still think sustainably and I never just make a purchase without thinking ethically. After March though, I completely forgot about the whole thing. So there was not point making a half or full year update. I’ve been eating meat all the time. Did ok with the books, and got the safety razor. I stopped by Jeffree Star Cosmetics because I finally realised what a horrible person he is. My recycling has been better. I didn’t get to plant a tree because we’re not allowed outside.

I will not be hard on myself for missing out on a lot of these goals. We have all had a horrific year. I will be posting a video at the end of the year, not for goals for the coming year, but what I am grateful for this year. I urge you all to do the same.

2. What I will count as wins for 2020? There will also be a list of my wins / what I was grateful for in 2019.

I will actually be posting a YouTube video about this. In the meantime here is my most recent video. I have gotten back to posting there too. Just simple, low key video’s to get the ideas out of my head. This is something I think has affected my mental health, because I wasn’t being creative.

3. I have a list of experience I want to try in 2020. These are a bit scary but worth it. Starting with number 1: SHAVING MY HEAD!

I am laughing reading this. I could barely WORK this year no mind get other experiences. I have nothing else to say other than I learned how to make scones, grew my hair and missed my family.

4. List of books I want to read this year. I have 60 on my good reads but there are 12 (1 for each month) that I want to read.

I didn’t make it to 60 or read all the books on my list of 12 but I did read 33 so far. Might get a couple of more in before the end of the year. Not stressing about it though. I read 6 out of 12 off my list, and they were all enjoyable. I’ll be making a YouTube video about this too. Reading was an escape for me when I had the energy to do so. I’m not sure having a reading goal, is actually helping me read more. I might not set a goal for 2020 or like set it really low like at 10.

5. Everyday goals. Batch cooking, yoga and cleaning.

This year I was home a lot more so I had to cook all the time, or . I did do a lot of baking and clearing out though in fairness this year. Baking always calms me down. It’s focusing on a short term goal with a gain at the end. I don’t even really like desert, but Le’Boo loves sweet things. So he has gladly offered to eat many of my creations.

So what did you accomplish this year, despite all the barriers? Let me know in the comments, I want to hear some good news. Big or small, about what you managed to do against all odds.

Copyright © 2020 Thinkingmoon.com – All rights reserved