Count Trashula's posts

Looks just like a Christmas card. Precious :)

Because parents always know what's best.

Sadly, I think the age of forums in general--including sites like these--pretty much ended a long time ago. New avatar sites have been popping up here and there over the past few years, only to die out quickly or never really get off the ground.

There's not enough money going around among the usual demographic of these sites to keep them running, and every similar site tends to attract the same handful of users (who are increasingly outgrowing them/not having time for them). They always seem to end in either a lack of funding/resources to keep them maintained, staffing/ethics issues behind the scenes, or a combination thereof. Even the bigger, older ones run into the same problems. Some just hang on longer than others, but most people joining avi sites nowadays aren't holding their breath for it to last.

Some try to take a more modern approach, implementing social media elements or a different type of format altogether, but the whole avatar site concept doesn't mesh as well with current social media styles. You either end up losing out on the social aspect or the avatar aspect, or both.

That's not to say I wouldn't be curious if a new site popped up. I'd join if I liked the art style and it didn't look too dead, but I wouldn't have the highest of hopes.

For avatar sites to make a comeback, I think you'd first have to find a way to popularize forums again. Maybe people will eventually just get tired of the brief, fast-paced style of social media interactions and want a return to longer-lasting discussions with less instant gratification... who knows? Then of course you'd also have to figure out who your target audience is and how to draw them in, and how to keep such a site staffed, running, and paid for. Who it's aimed at would make a pretty big difference in what you'd do to get (and keep) their attention. The people who've been using these sites since they were new tend to have different sensibilities and expectations from the people who are growing up with more current social media.

Ehh. I feel like I've been slowly crawling my way through limbo for years now, one step forward and two steps back, always waiting on somebody to do their job/fulfill their end of the deal, so on and so forth... and this year has been no different. I was really hoping for better.

Been in a lot of pain, so still haven't been able to work, so money is tighter than ever, so there are a lot of things we couldn't do or fix. Supposed to get on a new medication, but my doctors don't seem to know how to communicate with each other or with me, and I've been waiting for weeks--and now that it's that stupid Xmas/New Year's "holiday block", I'll probably be waiting another week still just to find out what my next step is. Meanwhile, my symptoms just keep getting worse.

On the bright side, Medicaid was recently expanded, so at least now I can have some sort of coverage for at least some of the myriad things I have to constantly deal with. Not the aforementioned necessary and life-saving medication, of course... but most of the other things, including things I couldn't get financial assistance for before, so maybe next year I can finally get some new contacts or even go to the dentist.

I also lost some of the weight I'd been hoping but previously unable to lose. Even if it was only due to being sick, I guess I'll take it. Still have 10-20 lbs to go and am far from being "in shape", but one step at a time. If I ever finally get on new meds and they work, I'd like to start getting some exercise again.

Haven't done hardly anything in terms of hobbies or work around the house. Just haven't felt good enough to tackle it. But I am hopeful for next year and have plenty of projects waiting for me to begin.

We cooked a whole Thanksgiving dinner this year, even so it was just me and my housemate and our cats. It was a pain in the ass, and our oven broke immediately afterward so we haven't been able to use it ever since and can't afford to fix it... but the food turned out great and was definitely worth the suffering. :^) It was my first time trying "real" cranberry sauce (though I still like the canned jelly kind ngl).

Also got some trick-or-treaters for Halloween, which was nice, since we only got one last year and none the year before that. Depending on what everyone's schedule and budget is looking like by next year, I would really like to invite a couple of our friends/family and have a small party. Everyone we know lives hundreds of miles away, so it's a long shot, but if I'm well enough and able to start working again, it's on my "maybe" list. Same goes for Christmas, if we can manage it. I'd love to do both, but I'd take either one.

I guess my main goal is just to keep crawling along and see some kind of progress, hopefully more than I saw this year.

@macsen191: When I get really tired, sometimes watching stuff just makes it worse! ;v;

Managed to get to sleep about an hour earlier than I did yesterday, which is still too late but I guess it's something. Unfortunately, got woken up about 3 hours later by a phone call and struggled to get back to sleep after that. Then ended up waking up super late again. -_- I can't win.

Wow, everybody is tired up in here. :'^)

Tired and overwhelmed, as usual, but clinging to life. How goes it?

@ahi: Well, I ended up not being able to sleep again, finally got to sleep even later than the day before, but instead of sleeping late, I woke up after about 5 hours. It was my usual wake-up time by then anyway, so I guess it'll have to do. ;u;

I still have a lot of stuff to tackle that I've been putting off, but I'll get to it... slowly...

@ahi: ty, I have been kinda overwhelmed lately ;u;

Well, I eventually had dinner, did all my usual pre-bedtime chores, and chatted with a friend online... and ended up staying awake not just until bedtime, but much later than usual. I just stopped being sleepy and it didn't want to come back even though I had barely gotten any sleep that day. -_- Because it always happens like that for some reason. Then I slept for 8 hours, which is kinda rare for me. Woke up late, had to rush downstairs still half asleep to feed the cats... Haven't done much else today except go back to the store for stuff I couldn't get yesterday. Let's hope the sleep schedule gets at least somewhat back on track eventually.

I disappeared for a while again; same old same old: health issues, doctor's appointments, stress, phone calls... bleh. But at last, I return again.

Today I had to get up extra early for an appointment, but we run on a night/evening shift schedule in this house, and I learned long ago that "JuSt Go To BeD eArLy" will not work. So I did the only thing I could do: napped for about two hours before hitting the road. The appointment took a while, then I had to head to the store, then came home and had stuff to do around the house. Wasn't allowed to eat or drink for several hours prior to the appointment, so by the time I got home I felt like butts. Headache, hungry, thirsty, worn out... Got some water and took some Tylenol and napped for a couple more hours.

Got up feeling slightly better and was finally ready to eat something. But of course, before I could do that, I had to bring in the grocery delivery, and while I was doing that, the cat ran outside and hid under the car. Brought her smelly ass back in the house, unloaded the groceries, made myself a hot pocket and a cup of coffee.

One obnoxiously hard-to-peel orange later, I feel much less like I'm on the verge of death, but good lord am I sleepy. I'll move around some and wake up for a bit, then settle back down and find myself fighting the urge to nod off at my desk. Partly because I haven't slept much, partly because it's warm in the house (and very chilly outside), partly because I've been sitting around with nothing to do all night ever since dealing with the groceries and stuff earlier. My housemate has had a very bad migraine and been in bed all day, my online friends aren't around, even the cats are asleep now. Too tired to do housework (despite there being plenty of it), but it's too late in the evening to nap and i don't want to risk messing up my sleep even further.

So I sit here listening to youtube and sipping water to try to keep myself awake while I wonder if it's worth doing so. What do y'all do to un-bore yourselves when you don't have the energy to get up? Asking for a friend. :U

I wish I could vote for all of them!

@Lithium:

@Ruby: Damn, that sounds really difficult. My phone/social anxiety used to be a lot worse; I've had a few experiences in the past where I would just clam up and had to get a friend to help me with a phone call or transaction. It was rare for me, though. I feel for you! Nowadays I just procrastinate on making calls and wonder why in the so-called digital age still nobody uses e-mail. -_- I've got a "one to two per day" limit on phone calls and large tasks. More than that is just too draining for me.

and ty lol I had just enough ohms from the contests to snag the event support items (and a Roy) and i am loving them