October Writing Challenge

   During the end of August of this year, I gave myself a challenge of completing one blog post a week. Every Wednesday in September was set to be “Workflow Wednesdays,” where I utilize the Pomodoro productivity method to complete writing challenges on my twitch stream. It was a move to get me to start writing and posting in my blog more often.

  It was successful up to a certain point. I had completed one blog post a week for the first two weeks. The third week, I had other important tasks that needed to be completed within a certain time, so that is what I tackled for that week.

   The fourth week, I had run into some intense personal emergencies that kept me from streaming on the last Wednesday of September, causing me to miss out on what would have been my third and last blog post for that month.

   Nonetheless, I am still going to keep to my weekly challenge of completing one post every Wednesday. I had initially planned on completing four posts in the month of September. Extenuating circumstances made it challenging to complete, but I am adamant on taking on the challenge again this month.

   So here we go again. For the month of October, I am making a goal (like last month) of completing one blog post a week. I am doing my best not to pressure myself too much. If I have no idea on what to write about, then I’ll let it go for that week.

   I am hopeful and excited to take on this challenge again and perhaps it will be an ongoing one for the rest of the 2023 calendar year. Productivity streams have been really helpful on accomplishing this goal and providing a space and the vibes to co-work with others has been very enjoyable as well. I’ve been having a lot of fun selecting relaxing background music and ASMR sounds to work to. I hope more and more people can join the co-working fun on stream, so we can all accomplish what we need to get done together as a community! OctoDer, let's do this!

"Productivity" Wreaks of Colonial and Patriarchal Values

  Last week was the first time I tried out the Pomodoro Productivity method and I think I can call it a success. I was able to complete an entire blog post, so I gave myself a challenge of completing one blog post every week for the rest of September. Since we’ve been utilizing Wednesday streams for productivity, what better way to get some posts done? This got me thinking about a separate issue. Productivity and how it correlates to our sense of accomplishment and how that could affect one’s mental health.

  How many times can you remember someone asking about how much you “got done” or if you “used your time wisely?” How often have you felt the pang of guilt for not being productive enough? Not getting enough done? And who is the be all end all judge of all this?

  Personally, the concept of productivity or lack thereof have always felt like colonial and patriarchal values. A high level of productivity leads to a high level of output. Who are we being productive for? And why is there always a high level of guilt and shame attached with the lack of productivity? The fucked up patriarchal society has us trained well.

  Brandilyn Tebo's post on How colonization gave rise to the productivity myth explores exactly that. How a high level of productivity is praised as it is a masculine and patriarchal value.

  The way I see it, we never chose to be born. Yet, we are expected to keep ourselves alive. “Earn your keep,” is the phrase. But again, to earn your keep, I respond with ”I never chose to be born. I never chose this life.“ So why is it now my responsibility to struggle to stay alive?

  A couple years ago I had fallen ill with Covid. This was well before the vaccines were available to the public. The long Covid symptoms that followed were endless. As a result of undiagnosed neurodivergence in childhood, I had always had difficulties with focus my entire life, but have always been able to manage without medication. After being sick, the depression, physical and neurological issues that followed were endless and I find that I’m still battling them to this day. Unlike before, I wasn’t able to “force” myself to concentrate. Getting even the most simplest of tasks done still feels impossible.

   These recent personal struggles with my own productivity have me questioning the entire ideology of productivity itself all together. Not being diagnosed as neurodivergent at a young age, made for several challenges and struggles in my youth. I never understood why it took me triple the time to study for a test as my peers to receive the same grade. Being able to focus was always a major challenge and I often had difficulties with studying and homework. Many family members who would try to help me focus would chalk it up to “laziness” or a lack of work ethic and this has haunted me throughout my entire life. I often find myself extremely self-conscious and doing everything I can to not be seen as “lazy” or someone who has no work ethic. I always questioned why certain things seemed so effortless for some, yet so unbearably difficult for me.

   This is even worse as a woman, because all too often we are looked at as baby producers. “You don’t want kids?” Some ask this almost as if it an audacious choice. How dare I, as a woman decide to neglect my sole purpose?! The topic of reproducing and my thoughts on the matter is an entirely separate post. Yes, she’s got a lot to say on that.

  If we are not productive. If we don’t “produce,” we are seen as lazy, a loser, not “giving back” to a society we never chose to be a part of, but now are stuck within it. Can’t a bitch just live?

  So what would you be doing if you didn’t feel forced to pander to the patriarchy and be productive? I’d love everyday to be peaceful. I’d love to relax. You may view it as lazy, but if I told you my entire life story, I promise you would agree and say it is deserved. And even if it wasn’t, is it your call to make?

Workflow Wednesdays: Testing out the Pomodoro Method

 

   Testing out the Pomodoro productivity method for the first time today. A big thanks to my friend, CorpseCreator77 who told me about this productivity hack. I needed something to help me focus on things that I've been wanting to get done for a while, but have been having a challenging time with starting.

  The Pomodoro method is where one focuses on a task for 25 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of break or rest. Each 25 minute increment is known as a Pomodoro. Currently, I am utilizing this method for the first time on stream as I am typing out this post.

  A little background into me and why I decided to try out this method. Admittedly, I have been having some serious focus issues as of recently (more on that in the next paragraph); and being neurodivergent, this has been a challenge for most of my life as well. Growing up, I never understood why it would take me triple the amount of time to study for an exam to get the same grade as my peers. It was frustrating to say the least, yet being the "good lil Asian," I still worked very hard to maintain good grades throughout my schooling career.

  Another more recent reason why keeping focused has been so challenging for me is because I had gotten Covid twice. The first time was in late 2020 before any vaccines were available to the public. Recovering from that was truly a battle. 

  Since having covid twice and also suffering from long covid. I’ve noticed a severe lapse in my attention span and ability to focus. There was a slew, a laundry list of long covid symptoms. Severe exhaustion, lethargy, depression, lack of focus, sudden joint swelling, bouts of nausea, body aches to just name a few.

  Currently, I am in my first 25 minute increment. It feels like a lot longer than I initially imagined. I am only five minutes into it and already feel like I’ve written quite a bit. 

  My hopes with this is to challenge myself to start focusing on the things I want to do. One of which is to start posting on this blog more consistently. Sure a blog in 2023 may not being the wisest decision. Who even reads blogs anymore, let along frequents one? But I've been feeling like I need to do something with my Journalism degree.

  I feel so out of practice and would really like to start writing again. I'm not saying I'm an amazing writer, but it's something I truly used to enjoy and I would like to get back into it again to at the very least, feel like I'm using my Journalism degree for something. I don't want to feel like I'm in massive amounts of student debt for no reason.   

  I started with writing for the blog first in hopes that the creative freedom would also get my juices flowing to begin writing out outlines for Youtube. A project that I've been wanting to start for a number of years, but found many reasons (excuses) to put it off. 

  Since 2008, friends and family have been encouraging me to start a Youtube channel. At that time, I had just landed my first "big" makeup job with a global brand. I felt there was no way I could juggle having a full time job and a Youtube channel simultaneously. 

 Knowing what I now know about Youtube (which isn't much), I was right. There was no way I would have been able to dedicate the time and energy required to have a successful Youtube channel while also working a very tiring full time job. One or the other would have suffered. But who knows, 2008 was very different time. Perhaps I wouldn't have needed to put in as much work into the channel as I would now? I don't know.

  Sometimes I ask myself if the "market is too saturated?" Everyone does everything on Youtube. Anything that I'd want to do has already been done. But I try to tell myself, these are all excuses that play like a broken record in my head. Discouraging myself from starting the channel. Something that I've always wanted to do since 2008, but never felt "ready" or "good enough." Imposter syndrome is real in this one. 

  Into my third Pomodoro increment. I've found that each 25 minute increment does feel longer than I thought. So far, I'm happy to report that I was indeed able to be productive and focus on this post. I am in the currently in the editing stage. The first Pomodoro, I just word vomited. The second and third, I edited everything I had written and added a bit more. 

  Currently in the fourth Pomodoro increment and I am in the stage of editing and finishing up the post. I am very pleasantly surprised at the outcome as it also had me revise my work a few times more than I normally would. So this method not only effectively had me successfully focus, but also had me be more thorough in my work with editing and revising more than I usually would.

  For the rest of September, I'd like to make use of the remaining Wednesdays of the month as "Workflow Wednesdays" on stream. It seems to keep me accountable in completing the task I set fourth for myself.  Perhaps sometimes (or even every time) utilizing the Pomodoro Productivity method, since it was so successful. 

  

Ferrero Rocher Dark Bar

 

 
  Growing up in Bangladesh, every time a family member would travel abroad, they would always bring back "foreign chocolates" back as gifts. The usual suspects? After Eights, Toblerone or in the later years Ferrero Rocher.

 Recently, Ferrero Rocher released chocolate bar versions of their famous round chocolate treats. Milk and dark chocolate versions are available and of course being the dark chocolate and hazelnut fiend that I am, had to try it out. 

 Before I go any further into constructive critiques of the packaging, I should say that I finished the entire bar in one sitting...TWICE. Yes, bought it twice and finished it all in one go...both times and am on my third one now. 

 The combination of the hazelnut and dark chocolate is perfection. I usually prefer around 72% cacao dark chocolate. The Ferrero Rocher Dark bar is 55%. Perhaps it is the lower percentage of cacao (making it less intense) making it all too easy to finish an entire bar all at once or perhaps it's the somewhat hollow nature of the bar? It almost has a shell-like quality for the moussey dark chocolate hazelnut filling inside the chocolate bar.  

 

 

 

 

 Back to the topic of packaging. To be honest, there really isn't anything wrong with the packaging. This is more of a me thing. A V thing...This is definitely an OCD gripe because the chocolate itself is delicious. 

 As pictured above, the chocolate is packaged in a pretty gold packaging with the Ferrero logo printed on it. The red arrows point to the are where one is supposed to rip the foil package to open it. 

 Perhaps I feel a bit spoiled from Japanese and Korean snacks, but the opening felt a bit sloppy. It just ripped open and it was not a clean and seamless rip, by any means. It's more of a wobbly, don't know what's going on opening and it does skim over a portion of the chocolate the point that once you do get it open, hazelnut and chocolate pieces fall out everywhere. I'm on my third bar at this point and this has weirdly gotten under my skin every time. 

 Nevertheless. I feel like that's a bit of an obsessive compulsive gripe that has nothing to do with the freshness, quality and most importantly taste of the chocolate itself.

 I am so glad that we found this gem! Try your best not to eat an entire bar! It's very difficult not to! Cheers!

 

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Tea, Dessert and a Stationery Haul

  At this point, it would be safe to assume that I am indeed a dark chocolate fiend. Today's simple tea time dessert is a toaster "Belgian" waffle with melted dark chocolate. Another perfect paring with cream black tea.

   The chocolate is the Ghiradeli 72% Dark choocolate bar. I like to use about two squares. One for each waffle. I break up the squares by hand into pieces, small enough to fit within each square of the waffles. 

I can't stress enough, the importance of taking time for yourself. Self-care, whatever that may look like to you. For me, it's enjoying a bit of late afternoon or evening tea with a savoury snack or dessert or both. Today, it was a great pre-cursor to going through my JetPens haul.

One could call it a mini-haul, but at $37, it doesn't feel quite mini. I miss the days of the JetPens $25 free shipping, but as a frequent customer and huge fan of the site, I have to say that I support their growth. If that means a ten dollar price increase for free shipping, I'm willing to pay it.

And that's one thing I can say with certainty. It's that I absolutely love Jet Pens. Every single item I've purchased from them have always been of the best quality. Always packaged and shipped neatly. The little JetPens comic is also a cute added bonus that I always save and paste in my journals. 

This most recent haul shipped very quickly, In less than a couple business days. I ordered them on a Friday and received them on Monday! An unexpected and happy surprise, as I wasn't expecting them to arrive as quickly as they did. And of course, everything was packaged perfectly.

I got what one could call a "cute little haul." An array of stamps, stamp pads and pens. 

Let's start with the pens. I had seen so many craft and journaling Youtubers use these Sakura Micron Pigma ESDK Japan Version (dark blue body with gold metal clip). I highly recommend...nay, strongly suggest that you ALWAYS purchase the Japanese versions of pens, if there is an option. Trust me on this one. 

 

I love the way these write, I took a chance on the fine one and am very happy with its performance. Interestingly, the 04 is thicker than the 005, which is different than the original Sakura Pigma Micron 05 0.45mm (as pictured) So far, I love the ESDK version the best and I believe it is newer.

 

 What I know as the "original" Pigma Micron has existed as long as I can remember. The first time I ever came across one in real life was when I was around six years old in my artist aunt's bedroom. After that discovery, getting a chance to write and draw with it, my life was changed forever. Props to my aunt for being chill me messing with her art supplies. Don't do that, kids. Anyways, back to the point. If I'm saying these newer versions are better after all these years of a classic favourite, they better good and they are. 

The white pen is a Uni-ball Signo 1.0mm. Purchased in anticipation of using it in the new black page, dot grid bullet journal on the way (transit in the post). More on that in a later post. It seems to look best once you overwrite on it a couple times. A couple layers to achieve full opacity. Still seems great for an all black page, novelty journal. Stay tuned for a future post on that. 

 

The teardrop stamp pads are VersaMagic in the shades Turquoise Gem, Aspen Mist and Midnight Black.

The C.Ching roller stamp is a has dates and a separate section with cute phrases and symbols. A handy tool for dating journal entries and labeling various things. 

 

The clear BGM stamp will come in useful for decorative and practical purposes. Love a good two in one multi purpose item. One of the two uses being a a very useful checklist and the other a square frame with a section for labeling and dates. The decorative washi tape esque prints will be cute as a little embellishment bits stamped on edges or corners of calendars and such.  

Sweet Treats: Dark Chocolate Cookie Sandwich

 

Homemade Milanos? Surely I can come up with a better name than that for something so delicious and yet so simple. Just melt any type of dark chocolate and sandwich two pieces of Nilla wafers together and voila, you have the perfect dessert and tea time snack (details and instructions down below).

  These bite-sized dark chocolate cookie sandwiches are a harmonious accompaniment to cream black tea. Although, one could very well argue that cream black is a great accompaniment to nearly everything and is a wonderful daily tea, both hot or iced. 

  I love taking a snack break during craft sessions and the sweet treats were a great reward in between journaling sessions. 

 DARK CHOCOLATE COOKE SANDWICH RECIPE 

tips and tricks:

It's pretty self explanatory and I always encourage customizations. Make it however you'd like it. I prefer 70% plus dark chocolate. I've tried both microwaving the chocolate to melt it, popped it in the oven for a few minuets at 375 Farenheit and  held it over boiling water on the stove. I'm sure there are even more methods, whatever works best for you. I recommend placing some on a plate. Place the chocolate in the middle of the plate to create a pool once it's melted.  

Quick tip for getting the chocolate on the Nilla Wafer. Drag the waifer on the plate with the pool of melted chocolate from the outside of the pool in and drop the wafer in the middle, maximixing the amount of chocolate by doing so. I usually make about seven to nine at a time for myself. Depending on how bad I have the munchies, I'll eat half or all of them at once.

 Place in the refridgerator for 15-20 minutes or until the chocolate is completely firm. It can be served as a side to ice cream or cake or alone with tea. I absolutely loved it with cream black tea. Dare I say it's what fueling me currently as I type. 

A deliciuosly decadent, yet simply dessert and a must try. Post some pics of your version of this treat and how you like to enjoy them! 

Throw me a follow on IG and tag your pics #vipervox with your versions of the sweet treat!

Sooo What Happened was...

A continuation to the breakfast adventure:

 

Soooo, what had happened was: On our drive to Bode's we called them a couple times and there was no answer on ther other end. It was well past the time they opened. Perhaps they were busy, we thought. On the way, the streets of downtown Plymouth were blocked off for various summer events. When we finally reached Bode's, there was a whiteboard sign placed outside that read closed until July 11th. We were so crushed. Nothing online and not even a message on the answering machine to let us know. We could've saved so much gas in a time when it's the highest it has ever been.

Immediately, I started looking up the menu for Northisde Grill, as my dude was freaking out. Understandably so, we were famished. I tried to defuse the situation the best I could. Unfortunately, by the time we picked what we wanted from their menu and called them, they said they were not taking any to go orders. Second crushing blow in a row!

Luckily, he somehow managed to find corned beef hash on the menu of a place, literally two minutes away from where we live. They were very generous, including three eggs with the corned beef hash breakfast. The poaches were much more firm than I would have liked, so I didn't get my "gel-yolk" consistency that I love so much. It's the perfect texture for spreadability on toast or an English muffin, which are quite nice from this place. While not exactly like our favourite breakfast spots, it's convenient and does the job.