Stellakin

A friend of mine has something almost exactly like that; he sees cats where there are none. Perfectly mentally sound man, par that. Very clever. Happy. But he sees imaginary cats. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Haha. Hi there! I'm Stella. Looks to me like you have some great goals in place; I'm sure you'll love it here. Hope to see you around the forums (and perhaps in this four week challenge). Also, love the sound of your tattoo! For years I've wanted a tattoo on my foot (well, specifically the underside of my foot) but I'm awful with pain. Where abouts is yours? Can't wait to see you around! Your average neighbourhood dork-next-door, Stella ♥

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about your fish! I used to work as an aquarist in a marine biology centre, working with all sorts of ocean fish; and despite that, I've always loved the humble betta. They just such feisty little personalities! Not to mention how handsome they are!

You've got this challenge down. Followed to shout you on throughout your challenge! You have some amazing goals in place. Oh! And congratulations on the promotion! Your shield-sister, Stella

Strawberries. I've never liked them; as a chocoholic, in comparison with all the sweet things I like to snack on, they genuinely seemed rather sour. But after a few weeks of eating cleaner, they suddenly were sweet. It was as if something had clicked in my mind. I remember just thinking "aaah, I get it now" - I couldn't get why everybody thought they were so sweet. Turns out, my tastebuds were a bit sugar-overloaded, haha!

Hi there! I realize how basic this question is and don't worry, I know that nobody here is a doctor so I'm not going to look for medical opinions or take anything as fact! I know when to and when not to push myself; after all, I've had this a long while now. The low down; I have a health issue that means I've lost a lot of weight, find myself stuck in bed up to 18 hours a day and dizzy and fatigued. I do have a few hours or, if I'm lucky, a day, in which I feel energized again. It can vary. There is treatment and surgery on the table so I'm waiting for that; once that happens I ought to be back to my old surfing, adventuring self in a matter of weeks! I can't wait to be out surfing again, to begin archery again; and to try a few new things, namely; rock-climbing, free-running, bodyweight exercises (and working on my upper body strength in general), etc. I want to be able to do a pull up. I want to be able to scale a wall, I want to kick a punchbag and look like a bad*ss doing it. That's a month, possibly two - possibly three away. Right now, I can manage a six hour hike on a really good day... or a five minute walk and some really basic stretching on a bad one before I crawl back into bed again. Running, on a good or bad one, can easily leave me, well, zombified. Its a case of hit-and-miss, I guess. So... Caaaan anybody help me think of some really simple, light exercises I can do in the meantime? I realize that I can hardly do any specific training in my state but if anybody knows? I tagged the assassins because I feel that my eventual goals fall in line with them (and boy, I can't wait to join the ranks ), and the druids because yoga is something I can manage without feeling too dizzy, especially the moves that are close to the ground - I'm naturally very flexible (the kind to put my legs over my shoulders and walk on my hands) but I don't know many actual yoga moves or anything; I've never taken a class. Essentially; I've lost a lot of weight having been ill, and despite always being skinny, I've lost any-and-all muscle that I did have. I want to work on that and if there is anything at all that I can do now, in the last stretches of my sickness, I'd like to! Can anybody give me any pointers? Even just certain stretches, some yoga moves, whether they're super basic - or not, because on a good day, I can manage a bit more. Before anyone panics about suggesting something that could set me off and is sat there in doubt of mentioning an exercise; I pinky, pinky promise to consult my doctor/cardiologist first. So don't think - just write it down. Can't hurt, amiright? Thank you, Stella ♥ TL;DR: Super simple stretches, moves or exercises, preferably ones that are, er, close to the ground.

I don't know about you guys but this challenge has me feeling like

Sounds good! If you do decide to go ahead, let me know. If I give it a go too I'll be sure to check in. I think I'll try and figure it out over the next month and see where I stand by November

Ooh, glad I found this thread! I love to read and write and am constantly working on some literary project or another. My desk is full of notebooks full of random abandoned chapters, scattered fragments of dialogue and plotlines I never quite completed before having one of those "eureka" moments and jumping onto something else. Admittedly, some do get further than others, haha... Oh, and @PhysicsObeysMe that reminds me - I did try NaNoWriMo once but didn't stick to it; maybe I ought to try that again!

(Really hits home for me)

Hello there! Those sound like great, realistic goals to me; both short-term and long-time. Wish you the best of luck and going to follow to keep up on your awesome progress!

Hahaha! Got to admit, does make a pretty nice centrepiece Plus its always a conversation starter when people come over now!

Haha, wishing you the best! Let us know how it does go! And ah, the harp, actually!

Its weird how a little thing such as that can make a world of difference, but I get you. I've been following the Nerd Fitness emails and website for a long time and I remember reading a few articles on how you can arrange your space to put certain priorities first; since then, I try to put my musical instrument right smack-bang in the middle of the room, between the door and my gaming setup; that way, I ended up playing even just a minute or so on it each time I walked in! Having a comfy space to study will totally make the difference

Or, well, you know; nerdy fitness club. So I'm Stella and I'm still recently new; completing my first four week challenge now. Sounds pretty awesome that you have such a strong link to special operations within your family! I'm sorry that you weren't allowed to pursue the path you wanted to due to something medical; but its great to see your "level up to Jason Bourne" plan! And not just because I'm an organization freak who loves myself a good spreadsheet, ha. There are a few guilds here as you probably know but your goals seem to fit at least partially into most of them, so feel free to pop your head in to any of the guild threads whenever you'd like. I hope to see you around the forum! Stella

Just kidding! Its lovely here, promise! Hello there! I'm Stella, just your average dork-next-door. Congratulations on the conference! Even the most outgoing of us can find things like that intimidating; I won't lie, they sometimes shake me up at my own job; so good job! You have some good, solid goals - I'm sure you'll do great; and that you'll find a whole bunch of us nerds to help you along the way! Anywho, happy to meet'cha! Hope to see you around the forums! Your shield-sister, Stella

Sleepy therefore today's post will be pretty short; Had tons of energy Had a great day Barely sat down all day for once - and bloody well proud of it! Karaoke in the car like a queen Annoyed driver Got downgraded to the back seat And a cardiology appointment tomorrow so wish me luck!

It just looks so... organized!

Sounds like I ought to try and do that periodically too! Haha

Ah, thank you! I do sometimes have a habit of giving myself an exact routine/regime and then sticking to it ruthlessly, even if it doesn't really work well for me. Need to remember that the challenges are here to help me, not restrict me; so I'll give it a go and see what works out best.

I have crazy long hair and boy, do I know the pain. The upkeep in general; ie. washing it, drying it (groaning at the mere thought of how long it takes to blow or air dry) and styling it can be such a pain; but that sleep one is a tough one. I have a few styles at my arsenal that I can use to keep my hair up (and thus out of my face) at night; I try to switch them around just because mine is quite long and thick, so it avoids pulling on certain points constantly. Not sure how well these will work for your hair-length/type but I'll just throw a bunch out there; * Tie my hair in a topknot, and then bobby pin it into a flat bun from there * A dutch plait (in my experience, tends not to get pulled loose in my sleep either - score!) * Plait into two or three french plaits and then to avoid rolling onto those in the night, twist each against the nape of your neck and bobby pin them into place - again, you can bobby pin it quite flat against your head, so hopefully it wont feel too tight * A halo braid; that's the kind of do I'll rock if I'm going out - and know I won't be home in a state well enough to sort my hair again before bed, haha! I think a bunch of these would work or shorter hair if you use bobby pins too. Best of luck!

Good question! For me, I try to hold out on a game or book I'd love and use that as a little reward; almost akin to how when you complete a quest in Skyrim you might get a unique weapon? Another thing that works (if you've just been paid, or your wallet will allow it) is a massage once in a while; that's a good way to finish off a particularly great 4wc! Going to go ahead and second @Rosie's Riveter on the bubble bath idea! If you want something even more special you could even get some nice bath bombs ready; I get some from Lush as a treat sometimes; you could have one a week (assuming you successfully completed each week ) totalling under £10

I-am-totally-about-to-get-carried-away-and-go-off-topic-and-nerd-out-on-yall-so-just-hold-on-tight Current mood = (yes that is moog) So today was one of those days in which I both had energy, for once and where I had plenty of great things to do. My new gaming mouse got here (my other one is great; bulky thing, has a bunch of buttons to map alternate functions to which works great for my skyrim survival mods, etc); but I play a lot of other games on PC that I felt I could really do with less additional functions and more lightweight precision for. And sooooo... welcome to my (wo)man-cave... And I randomly came across a bunch of comic books that I got last year from various conventions and never glanced at again! I was actually looking for my sheet music... which I failed to find... but nevermind that. Currently snuggled up with the first few episodes of Loki; Agent of Asgard, in my fluffy pink winter socks. So lovely. Oh, and a few of the parts I've compiled together for my cosplay arrived today; Got a few I'm working on or have completed so won't spoil too much, but it's looking good so far! On a separate note, I've put my very first challenge up and my goals are nice and small; ones that I can do given my heart condition. Which reminds me - I have two appointments tomorrow, and a bunch scheduled in the next two weeks so hopefully by the end of this challenge I should be at least partially through my treatment - perhaps my next, or the one after that, will even see my in a good enough state to go out jogging again, or surfing! Conclusion: Managed to be out and about for hours today Feeling positive about recovery and treatment Came home to tons of nerd treasures This:

Yup! Feel free to chat away to your heart's content; whether it's to share your ideas about your challenge, to get to know one another, to talk about your day - or even just to "talk nerdy" Cant wait for the challenge to start!