Coping Strategies

 It's a little late for Thanksgiving, I guess, though I have finally finished the leftovers. (Note to self: if you live alone, and you have to get out the gigantic bowl you've never used before, it might be a good time to take a look at how many servings a recipe makes and possibly cut it down a bit.) I do still have most of the bottle of Jack Daniels that I bought for the tofu roast -- it only needed two tablespoons and it turns out that whiskey is a taste I haven't yet acquired. But give it a few more months and maybe I'll change my mind.

Anyhow, here is a smattering of things that have helped me get through this year. And, to be honest, the last four years. Fingers crossed we've hit the low point and everything improves from this point onward.

• The Murderbot series by Martha Wells. Just the right amount of snark and sincerity and trying to cope while doing your job the best way you can. I have the audiobooks (read by Kevin R. Free) and I've listened to them so many times that if they had been on physical media, I would have had to buy a new copy.
  
  
• Non-work Discord and Slack -- all of my writing groups have Discord or Slack channels. It's great because I can chat with my friends when they're available.
  
  
• This Tumblr blog: https://hedgehog-moss.tumblr.com/
  Run by a young woman (I can say that now that I've tipped past 50) in rural France who has a lovely dog and a naughty llama. This is one of those soothing blogs that I can read right before I go to bed and not be worried about getting too angry to sleep.
  
  
• NaNoWriMo -- They redid their website a couple of years ago and I can't figure it out, but the National Novel Writing Month organization has led to me finding a great group of people, both in my area and farther away.

It's an incomplete list, but it's a start. Feel free to add your items in the comments!

Goofy Legs Returns!

How can that possibly be comfortable?

The little dog looks angry about the paparazzi