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Nellasaur ([personal profile] therizinosaur) wrote2020-04-16 11:05 pm
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Quarantine I've-Done List

So hey, hi there. I hope you're doing okay right now, but I'm sure not. The COVID-19 pandemic has been kicking my mental health's ass. One of the things I'm struggling with the most is persistent intrusive thoughts about how I don't "deserve" this "time off"-- as if I'm taking a vacation and not basically self-furloughed from my job to protect the health of my fiancee-- because I'm not getting "enough" done.

There are a lot of reasons that this kind of negative self-talk is totally off-base and I could spend a ton time tackling how capitalism has Fucked Me Up Big Time. Sometimes, that's the most helpful way to combat thinking like this.

But sometimes, the most helpful way to shut down that nasty voice in my head is by showing it everything I'm finishing even while my brain is convinced I'm doing nothing. So what follows is a list of all the creative things and projects that I have been able to finish in spite of my depression during my COVID quarantine. I'll try to keep it up date!

So, since March 23rd, when I officially stopped going into work, I've:

Baking and cooking
→ made a ton of meals at home, including trying a few recipes I've never made before;
→ baked a lovely cornbread to go with some of those meals;
→ baked chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter chip chocolate cookies;

Chocolate chip cookies sitting on a 3-tiered stack of baking racks, on top of a black stove. Chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips sitting on a baking rack, on top of a black stove.

→ baked my own birthday cake;

Pet Stuff
→ got some hamster tubes and accessories and built my ackie monitor an 'observation station' to increase his living space and give him some enrichment;

A tunnel made of brightly colored plastic tubes leads from inside a lizard's cage to a clear and green enclosed disc standing on top of the cage. A brown and yellow lizard can be seen entering the disc.

→ spent several days looking up tutorials on how to build a DIY wooden reptile enclosure, and then sourcing the materials and hardware I'll need to make it;
→ found an online beginner's CAD website and spent some time figuring out how to use it so I could build a properly scaled 3D blueprint for a custom reptile enclosure I need to build;

An animated image of a 3D blueprint of an animal cage with various features in purple, green, yellow, and pale blue; the image it being turned to show multiple views of the cage.

→ filmed, edited, and posted the following videos to my animal YouTube channel;





→ transplanted this giant pothos from a vacant reptile vivarium to the big bioactive viv the skinks are in;

In a white bin partially full of dirty water, there are several loops of vine with some leaves and a tangle of long, trailing roots.


Crafting and art
→ added eyes onto these partially-finished needlefelt sculptures and started adding their red and black Wayfinder markings;

Seven small off-white sculptures of various animals arranged in a semi-circle on a black work surface. Needles and a spool of thread, a container of beads, a tiny pair of scissors, and large needlefelting needles are arranged around them.

→ drawn this man's face a lot of times;

A page of very rough sketches of a bearded man with shoulder length hair and wearing a futuristic eyepiece.

→ did a mini (literally) photography project featuring the Lego version of that man above that I call "Devero among the flowers";

A Lego figurine with a puzzled expression in blue clothes, posed near some small blue flowers. A Lego figurine with a relaxed expression in a red and white jacket, posed next to a single small white flower. A Lego figurine with an exasperated expression in a black and red suit clothes, posed against a tree and surrounded by tiny pink flowers. A Lego figurine with a puzzled expression in blue clothes, posed under a purple flower with other purple flowers visible in the background. A Lego figure with a smirk wearing a black and purple suit, posed next to a single yellow buttercup. A Lego figure with a smirk wearing a black and purple suit, posed among small, purple, trumpet-shaped flowers. A Lego figure with a smirk wearing a black and purple suit, posed with a single purple flower in clear focus hanging over it. A Lego figure with a smirk wearing a black and purple suit, posed near some pale purple flowers as if it is walking past and looking at them. A Lego figurine with a puzzled expression in blue clothes, posed directly next to a yellow dandelion flower.
A Lego figurine of a soldier in a blue uniform with an oversized silver helmet among dark green foliage, next to a tall spike of purple flowers.

→ figured out how to download fonts so I could add fonts to use in CSP;
→ came up with "lore" for my Wayfinders creatures;
→ designed, formatted, printed, and cut out lore cards to go with the Wayfinders;

Four cards arranged in two rows of two on a black field with information printed on them. A black crafting surface with a number of items on it: business cards and other small cards with printing on them, two small felt scultures, blue and purple ribbons, mylar bags, etc.


Other
→ recorded myself reading the first 18 chapters of The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson;
→ put almost 200 comments into this epic RP thread, including this incredible fight scene between two quantum supercomputers and four incredibly stubborn and determined humans (CN for severe physical injury, emotional abuse, and mind control/manipulation; I'm [personal profile] subcircuits and [personal profile] textelepathy);

→ repaired the broken lid latch on our washing machine!
A chubby, dark-hair woman crouches in front of a washing machine with the front panel removed. One hand is inside the machine.


Not bad, huh? Can't argue with that list, can you, brain??? Yeah, that's right, why don't you sit down and shut up for a while and let me focus on taking care of myself and my loved ones while this pandemic is going on?