[Elennare]

A door in the back of the cave opens, and a very sleepy and confused elf staggers out. "What are you all doing in my living room?!?"

 

For real though, "chaos cave" pretty much describes my life. Especially lately. I don't know if I'll successfully complete this side quest, but I absolutely love the energy of this. Also, @titsworth this is the second challenge in a row where you've perfectly described what's going on in my life. If you end up 3/3, I think I'm going to need to have a chat about how you're accomplishing this spying. ?

[AverageFish]

On 9/5/2024 at 7:47 AM, Artemis Prime said:

Have been lucky enough to avoid injury, but definitely feeling tight a lot lately. And think to myself "Self, stretching would probably feel really good." And then proceed to not stretch.

I've also been working on decreasing my mindless screen time. I

Ditto.

Also struggling with sleep.

And procrastination.

I am my own villain.....

[ElectricTrailRunner]

Just remember self care is important and even though you messed up yesterdays sleep doesn't mean you can't get a good nights sleep tonight (I often repeat this to myself)

 

 

 

[ElectricTrailRunner]

They put in the work but I'm extremely happy that 8 out of the 11 girls I had on my rec league softball team made it to the Travel teams.

 

I also learned I had a reputation as a coach that  I'm happy with, "I'm fair easy going and preach defense" so guess who is the new fielding coach for the developmental travel team. Also holy shit, if these girls stay together and continue to put in the work, I don't think they are going to stay on the developmental team for all to long.   

[Artemis Prime]

On 9/5/2024 at 8:47 AM, Artemis Prime said:

I think I am going to combine these two things, with the goal of increasing my stretching and decreasing my evening phone time. On nights when I feel too tired to do anything and just want to flop on the couch with my phone, I must instead do my stretching routine. That should set me up for a good night's sleep much better than incessantly bouncing between 3 sites to see if anyone has posted anything new.

Thanks to the West Marches campaign, I've done pretty good at reducing evening screen time, but stretching has not been happening. Planning to make that more of a focus this week.

[Cassandra Persister]

On 9/4/2024 at 11:13 AM, titsworth said:

Also, how are you all feeling about the RP intro posts and "bonus quests"? Are they fun? Is it amplifying the experience? Is it getting in the way or making you feel too constricted in your goals? 

As you check in, I'd love some feedback on how I can help you set yourselves up for the best success each challenge   

I haven't been in the Forums for a while and I love this! Makes it so much fun. thank you.

[Heidi]

On 9/16/2024 at 2:43 PM, Artemis Prime said:

Thanks to the West Marches campaign, I've done pretty good at reducing evening screen time,

Thanks to the West Marches campaign, I've increased the amount of stairs-climbing that I've done, and have now added in squats, which I depserately needed, apparently.

Also, one of the parties I'm not on has been doing cool things like reducing screen time and being more mindful of water, which has helped me do the same even while not explicitly tracking it for the quests.

I have to say that halfway into this challenge, it's the best challenge I've had in years.

[Ranger Hal]

36 minutes ago, Heidi said:

Thanks to the West Marches campaign, I've increased the amount of stairs-climbing that I've done, and have now added in squats, which I depserately needed, apparently.

Also, one of the parties I'm not on has been doing cool things like reducing screen time and being more mindful of water, which has helped me do the same even while not explicitly tracking it for the quests.

I have to say that halfway into this challenge, it's the best challenge I've had in years.

I agree, this challenge has been pretty awesome and it's not over yet! I'm excited for what's still to come!

[Elennare]

I think I have figured out the root of my self-sabotage. I just want some time to myself and to relax. Because I'm so busy, and also stressed out (because apparently I am just not going to get a break, and every time something changes that seems like it should makes things better it never works out), I keep finding myself in the position of having to choose between exercising, (attempting to) relax, or sleep. If I'm lucky, I get to pick two, but usually it's only one.

 

I have no idea how to fix this. But at least I know what's going on, I guess?

[Everstorm]

Maybe pick one or two exercises and just do 5 minutes to maintain your habit and destress a little, then relax?

[ElectricTrailRunner]

Any attempt at me relaxing that has me sitting down ends up just being a nap, I don't even think I made it through the whole Deadpool Wolverine movie without falling asleep in the theater. 

 

I know I have to go to bed at a certain time so that I can get up and work out which knocks two out of the three out, however relaxing is an entirely different story. 

[Heidi]

Hurricane Helene might still be out to sea in the Gulf of Mexico, but we’re having tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm cells all the way to Virginia.

I think this storm might surprise a lot of people in its sheer size.

I hope all the Florida (and Georgia!) nerds are staying safe — storm surge of up to 20 feet at Cat4 is no joke.

 

[Heidi]

On 9/23/2024 at 1:54 AM, Elennare said:

I think I have figured out the root of my self-sabotage. I just want some time to myself and to relax. Because I'm so busy, and also stressed out (because apparently I am just not going to get a break, and every time something changes that seems like it should makes things better it never works out), I keep finding myself in the position of having to choose between exercising, (attempting to) relax, or sleep. If I'm lucky, I get to pick two, but usually it's only one.

 

I have no idea how to fix this. But at least I know what's going on, I guess?

I have lived in this not-enough-time-to-go-around space, and it's rough.

For me, identifying the situation was a powerful first step. 

I then went on to see what I could do about how to manage spending my time and energy resources as if they were financial resources, and that was an effective way in to begin the long process of reworking.

Solidarity.

[Heidi]

Nerdz roll call!

Sound off if you're one of the 42 million people in the United States under a tropical storm (or even hurricane!) warning.

I'm only under a current flash-flood warning, and am doing every druid-witch-philosopher-librarian spell I can think of for safety, and I'd like to know how many of us to include. ❤️ 

 

 

But that's not going to stop me from trying.  

 

[Everstorm]

I think my area largely gets a pass on this one, except for possible tornados from the far outer bands.

[Artemis Prime]

Calling all scribblers and scrawlers! Inktober starts next week. I'm not much for drawing, but I've been having so much fun with the West Marches writing quest this week (thanks @Sovalis and @DarK_RaideR!) that I think I will be using them as writing prompts. (Will it be all limericks? Maybe not, but yes, quite possibly it will be all limericks.) Are people interested in forming an Inktober Adventuring Party over in the PvP section?

[Ranger Hal]

2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

Calling all scribblers and scrawlers! Inktober starts next week. I'm not much for drawing, but I've been having so much fun with the West Marches writing quest this week (thanks @Sovalis and @DarK_RaideR!) that I think I will be using them as writing prompts. (Will it be all limericks? Maybe not, but yes, quite possibly it will be all limericks.) Are people interested in forming an Inktober Adventuring Party over in the PvP section?

Ohh, yeah, I want to draw things!

[Everstorm]

I will probably draw rather than write, but I'm down for Inktober ?

[Heidi]

3 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

Calling all scribblers and scrawlers! Inktober starts next week. I'm not much for drawing, but I've been having so much fun with the West Marches writing quest this week (thanks @Sovalis and @DarK_RaideR!) that I think I will be using them as writing prompts. (Will it be all limericks? Maybe not, but yes, quite possibly it will be all limericks.) Are people interested in forming an Inktober Adventuring Party over in the PvP section?

I have two things I need to be working on: A novel and the readings/writings for my doctoral Qualifying exam. Obviously the second takes precedence over the first, and I’m not certain that I would want to post the writings of either anywhere at this point — what’s the format for the challenge for those of us who are long form (ie, not limerick) writers? Word count for the day?

[Sovalis]

I think I’d be in for Inktober. I am not sure I can commit to anything really amazing (or even every day) but it would be nice to be part of a group doing things. 

[Ranger Hal]

Hey all, I'm looking for songs that would be fun to sing/memorize, in particular, ones that sound good acapella so I can just randomly sing them at home or in the car without needing musical instruments, soundtracks, etc.

 

Here are a few that I like (spoiler because they take up a lot of space):

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[TimovieMan]

11 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

Hey all, I'm looking for songs that would be fun to sing/memorize, in particular, ones that sound good acapella so I can just randomly sing them at home or in the car without needing musical instruments, soundtracks, etc.

Hard to answer for me. I already know those first two by heart... ?

Well, mostly at least.

 

Have you considered actual a capella songs? Like The Flying Pickets' "Only You" or The Housemartins' "Caravan of Love" or anything by Pentatonix?

[Artemis Prime]

22 hours ago, Everstorm said:

I will probably draw rather than write, but I'm down for Inktober ?

Drawing is the original intention, I'm going off script because I do what I want!

 

20 hours ago, Heidi said:

I have two things I need to be working on: A novel and the readings/writings for my doctoral Qualifying exam. Obviously the second takes precedence over the first, and I’m not certain that I would want to post the writings of either anywhere at this point — what’s the format for the challenge for those of us who are long form (ie, not limerick) writers? Word count for the day?

So the original Inktober challenge is to get people drawing in ink every day for a month. The point is just have fun doing quick sketches and building the habit. You are free to do the full marathon (post daily) half marathon (post every other day) or 5k (post weekly). But it's really just a fun challenge to push people to take a little time every day for something creative. So modify the rules to whatever makes sense to you. The prompts themselves don't lend themselves well to a longform project, which is why most writers I know who try to play along just do drabbles. I would say that's probably the best use for the prompts, especially if you're committed to doctorate work, to just take 5-15 minutes at a time to have fun with some creative writing. But if you want to play along with your longform fiction, I'd say ignore the prompts, set yourself a small goal (either time or word count, whichever you prefer) and then just report back in the thread whether you're meeting your goal, if you're having fun doing it, and if it's getting easier. 

The main goal of Intokber is to encourage a regular creative habit while keeping it light and fun and also see how regular practice, even when done lightly and with a fun attitude, leads to improvement over time.

[Artemis Prime]

20 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I am not sure I can commit to anything really amazing (or even every day)

Every day is absolutely not necessary. And the really amazing thing is that a bunch of cool nerds are going to have fun being creative with ink for a month. Nothing else needed.

[Everstorm]

1 hour ago, Artemis Prime said:

Every day is absolutely not necessary. And the really amazing thing is that a bunch of cool nerds are going to have fun being creative with ink for a month. Nothing else needed.

 

And tbh, since a lot of the prompts are related, you can sometimes get away with a single drawing to cover several prompts.  This year's prompts include hike, trek, and roam, for example.  Or you could group several together like backpack, boots, and camp for a single scene.