Ok, so apparently, I went from a coked-out horse named Betsy to something slower than a slug! What can I say, I refuse to beat myself up for life hitting me hard, and causing way too long of a stall on my blog? Okay, truthfully, I’ve been beating myself up a little, but not for not getting my act together. This blog is meant to be a fun hobby (even if touching on hard subjects). So, I have come to realize that I may not be consistent, but I will keep going. Although, I will let you know that I have pre-written some great posts, I just needed to get some specific ones out first, especially since I talked about them in my last blog, like mummies and hunting killers! 

I will say that following the trend of my last blog, there have been a few crazy things going on that have kept me busy. One, just as life isn’t chaotic enough, we decided to launch a new business which required me creating a website, bank accounts, and professional documents, etc. 

I mentioned in my last blog that I’ve been having fun trying some silly new things, but I didn’t explain why, other than Covid of course! A few years ago, I went to a volunteer event by a professional organization I am part of to listen to a new speaker. I try to attend these to be inspired, force myself to do the dreaded networking, and try to “be out there more”. It’s too easy as an introvert to shy away from these types of situations to the point that we are completely hidden from any opportunities or development that could occur.

Anyhoo, I went to this one because it sounded a little unique for this organization. The topic was simply “Play: Why adults stop playing, and why we should re-learn to play”. I thought this would be interesting, especially since this group tends to be mostly corporate managers, accountants, lawyers etc., so not the type of people you think of being fun and silly in their off-time. 

I’ve always professed to being a big kid at heart, so I was curious to see what I could learn. I have always been able to go into toy stores and giggle my butt off while wanting to buy random objects. I think it helps that many of my friends don’t have kids, so maybe we’ve decided to remain kids ourselves? I mean, you should see our game and Lego collections!

I don’t think I learned anything earth-shattering from the speaker, but they did mention how easy it is for us to get caught up in our busy lives, work, kids, volunteer committees, etc., and when we do have down time, we tend to crash in front of TVs. I know I am a TV and movie junkie. I have used them as escapism for my entire life. I’m also a nerd, so all of the comic movies and TV shows are a "must" for me. The speaker didn’t say anything was wrong with that, but it doesn’t truly stimulate our brain in the way “play” does. They talked about the benefits of play, other than just zoning out of our “real lives”. There have been studies that have proven that doing fun things helps us relax and become rejuvenated, and some can even help improve the problem-solving parts of our brains (now wouldn’t that help many of us at work!). Various types of play and trying new things can improve the connections in our brains. It also can increase our abilities to trust, be empathetic towards others, increase compassion, and even intimacy. 

For me the kicker was remembering that this is also a good way to become more “present”. I have so many anxiety issues that I will analyze what happened that day or think about potential discussions or issues that will occur in the next few days, until I become frozen. I can go down deep rabbit holes and forget to enjoy the here and now.

The other thing they discussed was that most adults lose the ability to be silly. To let go, laugh, or to try new things even though we know we will be crap at it but to just try, have fun, and laugh at ourselves. As we age, we have fought to get taken seriously in our work, our relationships, etc., that we lose the playfulness sides from our youth. 

I know for me, growing up in a very traditional German household, that being silly wasn’t encouraged. We did play games, but they tended to be more traditional board or card games. If we got “too out of hand”, we were told to stop being so dumb or silly. Sadly, this has caused me to have anxieties in casual situations. Opportunities come up to try something new, but because it’s in front of others, I find I always make an excuse to not try, despite wanting to, because I don’t want to “appear silly or stupid”. Ugh, how many things have I missed out on trying because of my hang-ups. Sigh, thanks mom & dad! 

So, over the past few years, I’ve tried to recognize situations I would want to shy away from, and force myself to say yes. I’ve tried to learn to laugh at myself more and try new things. 

I’ve been using the term “play” but what does that really mean? It can be anything you do that you can have fun with that’s not your normal routine. It’s dressing up more than normal to go out for the night, wearing a fancy hat, trying new restaurants, games, etc., or going out without a destination in mind. You could drive somewhere you’ve never been, just to see what’s there. It can be as simple as doing a jigsaw puzzle (I enjoy these with friends over a good bottle of vino, or two). Buy a cheap canvas, some paints and brushes, just to see what happens. You don’t need to create art to share with the world or put on your walls, but create just to have fun. Maybe try finger painting! Get messy! 

So, with the chaos of the world that has happened with Covid, we’ve all been stuck a lot at home (or I hope you have been). So, instead of mourning the loss of seeing friends, bands, travelling, etc., we decided to see what things we’ve had in our house that we’ve “always wanted to do, but never had time for”.

I’m amazed at all of the fun things that we have recently done, nights of laughing, getting way too enthralled in what is a kid’s “toy/game”, and what new things we have discovered. I’ve taken some amazing photos and will share some collages as I write about the various activities we’ve enjoyed. I know this is adding to the previous teasers I mentioned in my last blog, but I wanted to give everyone some food for thought before I jumped right in with the “projects”. 

If you feel you haven’t played or had fun in a long time, start small, but try something new, or something old that you used to enjoy but have “stopped having time for” and make time, start things up again or buy a puzzle! 

TV/Movies: Talking about fun, I’ve enjoyed watching the eye-candy that is the last season of Lucifer and Wynonna Earp. I have also been delving into all of the episodes of Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act”. He’s amazing at explaining things, while using examples to really get the listener to understand.  The show can be heartbreaking, and will often make you frustrated and angry, but it’s better to have this knowledge than put your head in the sand. 

Reading: I am re-reading “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. I read this way too long ago, and felt it was time to re-read and laugh. It’s brilliant. I need to carry my towel with me, especially with what’s happening to our world.

Podcasts: I will admit, I’ve been so busy doing fun projects that I haven’t really listened to my podcasts recently! Time to get back to some of my podcasts!

Music: Maybe because I’ve been enjoying some more light-hearted fun, I’ve been listening to a lot of Erasure, and my eternal love, David Bowie. 

I will finally show the mummy creation in my next blog!

In my last blog, I said I was reading the news hourly. These days I have to admit that I have been avoiding a lot of social media, and news. I am following, but it’s devastating. I am happy to see people rallying for human equality that doesn’t exist. I’m surprised that this hasn’t happened sooner.  

Anyway, I am not trying to make light of the situations currently happening in the world, but as I have already stated, you can get those views and opinions from millions of other sources. I will generally try to stay away from politics. This blog is meant for my mental and physical improvement and growth, and I hope to inspire, entertain, or at least amuse those who choose to follow me. 

Okay, so the reason why this blog is soooo late in coming out. Well, let me explain my blog title, and then it will all make sense. 

Have you ever felt you were on a wild horse that seems to have huffed a bunch of cocaine, along with slugging back few bottles of whiskey, and decided to chase all the moose, deer, or jackalopes it can see, or thinks it sees in its hallucinogenic state. And as much as you yelled, “Whoa there Betsy!!! Slow down…or at least stay in one direction!!!”? No, hmm I think most of you have. I can’t be the only one. So I will assume you know what I’m relating to. And why do people always call made up horses (or cows) “Betsy”????

Sad, super-stoned, and drunken Betsy!

Ok, so let me explain why I was feeling this way. Like many people I’ve talked to, we have been enjoying, or at least taking advantage of, the extra time while we are either not working, or working from home etc. and/or maintaining our social distancing/isolation protocols. I’ve heard many people tell me they are happy to be plowing through their “Covid to-do lists” (some more grudgingly than others!). They are taking care of all of those projects, repairs, crafts, etc. that they have been putting off due the chaos of our normal lives. Or simply procrastinated on all these years, and suddenly you have no excuses to procrastinate anymore. I have read so many of my friends social media posts proudly showing off their new crafts, paintings, backyards, decks, fish ponds (I love koi!), etc.

This is all fantastic! They are keeping busy, learning things, practicing and improving our homes and lives. Sadly, compared to the proactive / motivated slug I wrote about last time, I was suddenly feeling like I was on this crazy, coked-out horse barrelling across the lands without direction. It’s totally my fault, I looked around me and I had 6 books started (it’s normal for me to have a couple of books at once that have different themes), I was doing daily Spanish lesson on Duolingo, had a painting partially started, some short stories in early draft mode, my hand drumming lessons sitting beside my Djembe, and my full electric drum kit dusted off, and my next lessons prepped. Also, while previously cleaning my office/art room (AKA my temporary station for my work from home office), I found some old craft kits that I had never tried. So of course, I asked our friend who’s spending Covid with us, if she would like to try my “Make a Mummy“ educational craft kit with me. It’s an “Amazing Mummies Art & History Kit” from the Educational Design Company, done by Caleb Crowell. It’s for ages 10 and up, so we thought we would get this done in a day or two. Let’s just say that we had craft supplies everywhere as we did it up full on! AND THEN … my first subscription box from the company “Hunt a Killer” subscription arrived, and we had it torn open, with extreme enthusiasm, all over the kitchen table discussing the best way to organize our files, and the soon to be “murder board”. Are you exhausted and maybe a bit stressed reading that, because I am just writing about it. 

So, I did a forced slow down, somewhat. I came to grips that my goal of getting back to daily drum practicing, dog walking, painting, etc., won’t always happen and that I needed to decide what I was going to focus my time on. I still had to walk the new puppy, and my emo husky who has learned so well that she can make me cry with her sad eye expressions. So I only have so much time, and depending on the days, so much energy, both brain and body. I envy some of the projects I’ve seen people doing. But, I have to keep reminding myself that I have to go day by day, and that I’m still healing, and may never be the superwoman I used to be. Ugh, gulp, that’s still never going to be easy to state.

So I’m proud to say we have already figured out what the murder weapon was, while successfully ruling out one suspect in our murder investigation. Our files are organized, and although our murder board is blank, we have the red yarn ready to use when the third package shows up. 

I am also happy to say that we have properly re-mummified our great ancestor Am-hotep. He is newly wrapped, blessed, and has a new sarcophagus. But I have decided that the silly chaos from this craft will be in my next blog. It originally was my goal for this blog, but when I realized how insane I had made things around me, I had to pause, and realize that maybe this is what I was supposed to write about this time instead. 

So enjoy your crafts, your home improvements, and do all the things that make you happy, but just try not doing them all at the same time!

TV/Movies:  Well, I did manage to take some forced downtime to stop and let my brain shut down. I have almost finished watching the latest season of “The Crown,” and I enjoyed the second season of “Altered Carbon”. The only movie I have watched recently was “Victoria and Abdul,” and it was fantastic. Judy Dench as Queen Victoria was wonderful. It’s a semi-true story and a beautiful break from our mundane lives. I highly recommend it. 

Reading: I had to hold off reading “Little Brother” by Cory Doctorow until I finished a few others. I’ve been addicted to a fun series by Stephanie Hudson. I discovered one of her books as a free e-pub on bookbub. I will fully admit, I’m addicted to paranormal romance books, especially with vampires. I went through 5 of her books in the “Transfusion Saga” since my last blog. I then realized that there were lots of other books in a series on characters from the Afterlife Saga that came before this series, so I guess I have some fluffy reading for the near future.  
 Podcasts: I still managed to listen to many of the Risk! podcasts. I started listening to them on the nights while I was making dinner. 

Music: We always have music on in this house, lately it seems that Tool and Puscifer have been playing almost non-stop. And, that’s easy to do as we have Sonos speakers all over the house and they simply keep playing on repeat. I still throw on Pink, or my constant love, David Bowie, when I want some happier dance music. 

As always, please leave me a message / comment. Or feel free to email at drunkenraccoon@icloud.com. 

I know many people read this when I post via social media, but please subscribe to this blog, and invite friends who you think may enjoy this. It forces me to keep current, and keep active! 

Thanks for your support.

It’s beyond obvious right now that the world is a madhouse. We are all trying to cope with the Covid virus in the best way we know. We are also trying to adjust to how much life, and the world, has changed so quickly.  

I always read the daily news, but now it seems like I am reading it hourly,  and every important breaking news notification comes to my iPhone. 

I didn’t mention Covid in my previous post as I didn’t want to go down a rabbit hole saying the same thing that every podcast, news article, email, etc., were already stating. I don’t want to give advice on how we can all get through this thing, or give you tips and trick on how to make your own house cleaner, that’s just not me (okay, please just use a vinegar and water mix rather than bleach, it works, trust me). 

In fact, this whole thing has been sending me on a crazy emotional rollercoaster. During this time of isolation, or social distancing, especially for those of us that are working from home, or sadly have been laid off from their jobs, many of us now have time to do the things we never had time for before. Many people now have time to read the books they have had sitting on their shelves, or do those crafts we’ve wanted to do for years. And yes, the coincidence is that I started this blog at this time. Although, I will admit truthfully that I had been planning this for over a year, but this gave me the kick in the butt I needed. I am sorry that you are currently getting so many requests to follow your many friends on their new blog journeys. But, do it anyway, we all need to have listeners to the crap we have wanted to spew to the world. 

For me, the issues I am still suffering from during my post-accident recovery is that I never know day to day, and sometimes hour to hour, how my energy levels will be, or worse, if I will have my brain “kick in” at all to think of things to say, or type. I’m very fortunate to be one of those that still have my job, so I am working from home, attempting to seem productive, while finding that I prefer to play with my new chocolate lab puppy (Freyja), or play some dumb time-sucking dragon-merging game on my iPad! 

Have you ever had something you enjoy doing, yet you find yourself procrastinating, and have no idea why? It becomes a horrible cycle and we beat ourselves up as it continues. Well, that’s been me. And then my daily energy/brain state, on top of everything else, has made my life insanely erratic, or in truth, manic. It hasn’t been fun for me, or for the people around me, as I am sure many of you are experiencing the same thing.

I found myself telling someone the other day that I have the motivation of a slug. But then, I realized that the statement was truly an insult to slugs. I mean, they need major motivation just to move a tiny distance. I would just give up, but those darn slugs fight every day to keep moving, and slime-ing along. So really, maybe they should be my motivational animal, to fight every day to be motivated like the slug! Screw that motivational “hang in there” cat poster. It should be a slug with the statement to fight hard every day to keep moving forward! Or, to take a pseudo-reference from a certain animated fish movie, our mantras should be “Just keep squishing, just keep squishing…”.

Wow, okay, um not where I planned to go with this for this blog. But, if you choose to stay with me on journey, I do have a list of fun items to chat about. Like the crazy four days I spent on a small boat in a remote part of Indonesia as this virus was taking over the world. See… that’s your motivation to keep connecting with this drunken raccoon, with a slug for a motivational animal!? 

TV/Movies:  So, for the other part I like to mention, I have been binge-watching various shows, with my lack of motivation, to sit at my drum kit (that story will definitely be in a blog post soon), or of course to write the next blog! So my recommendations are to watch Schitts Creek (it has amazing Canadian actors, and it takes until the 3rd episode to grip you). I also just finished season 7 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in two evenings, so funny! Oh, and I’m still not convinced it deserves the hype it’s gotten, but I watched the latest season of “Stranger Things," simply because it’s such a unique show compared to the boring formulaic shows out there. I would love to be a TV and movie critic, but this is not the place, so I’m only giving my basic views.

Reading: I just picked up the multi-award winning book “Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow (yes, I love to support my Canadian content). 

Podcasts: I am still addicted to “Risk”, and am a proud monthly Patreon member. I highly recommend you check it out as long as you are open to rather adult content. My goal is to submit at least three potential stories to them. Sadly, my goal was to do this by January 2020, which I have not done, but … I won’t give up, I will embrace my inner slug and persevere. 

I have recently been introduced to the podcast, and now TV show, “Lore” which is fantastic! The TV series is very good, but I wish they brought back the main podcast speaker for the commentary, which was dropped on the second season, as I love learning the extra details.

Music: Hmmmm, I can’t stop listening to Eddie Spaghetti, who is the singer for the SuperSuckers, on his solo albums . He has an old-school country vibe, with a slight rock-n-roll feel, singing about prison, booze, drugs, and women. Yet, somehow to me he seems light-hearted and gives me an up-beat sing-a-long vibe. Last time I saw him, I said that his solo albums were my “go-to’s” as my happy sunshine music when I am riding my motorcycle. He seemed confused, but thankful?!

On an interesting note, one thing I never imagined with this blog, is making a doodle with a “to-do” note for the next day that says, “paint a slug drawing”??!! Yes, I know I could have easily uploaded a free clip-art image on the computer, but of course I had to make things more complex, and found myself late one night painting a slug for hours trying to perfect the slug slime!

P.S.: I really need to learn how to doodle simple things to upload, as I spent hours enjoying the meditation of painting a slug, but then trying to scan it became a disaster in seeing every flaw in the paper and my paint, etc., such a long waste of time. I will need to find people to chat with about better methods for things like this! I know blogs are better with pics so please be patient with me! 

I’ve enjoyed trying so many things just for fun and knowledge, but I have never had that “aha!” moment that I hoped would happen. I’ve tried a variety of things, such as woodworking, welding, fly fishing, stained glass, acrylic painting, and writing of course! I’ve also tried many athletic things, such as rowing, weight lifting, fencing, Kendo, hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and so many others.

One thing that I have learned is that I am an adrenaline junky, and that my goal is to try all things humanly possible. I’ve jumped out of a plane, hot-air ballooned, and I still love white-water rafting, snowboarding, rollercoasters, and travelling the world. I’ve done all of these things while trying as many new foods, and seeing as many new things, as possible. This is definitely a theme I’ll continue to write about in my future posts. 

Please don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved many of the things I have done, even though I no longer do them. I loved fencing, but after a decade, my body hated it. I also knew early on that I wasn’t dedicated enough to training to go farther in the sport. I was still fortunate to be able to train and do bouts with Olympic fencers. Sadly, my heart just wasn’t in it enough to push myself and practice enough as was required. It really comes down to practice. I assume that when you find something you love, practicing becomes enjoyable, rather than a chore. I enjoyed the many things I have done, but I have never found myself craving the practice required for anything I’ve tried. 

I still dabble in painting, mostly gifts for unwilling friends and family. I obviously enjoy writing, but my “grand novel” is still not done after writing it off and on for the past 10 years. I also know I want to weld again, although I have no idea what I want to accomplish with it. It’s one thing that keeps coming back to me to learn.

But … I always wonder, what am I missing, what haven’t I tried? Shouldn’t everyone find their true passions if they are willing to try? I can at least say that I have put in a huge effort with the long list of things that I’ve done, tried, and practiced.

So maybe for me, my passion is simply trying things, saying that I have at least done many things that life has to offer. On a side note, I can say that my shoe collection has a gorgeous custom wood shoe rack that I made myself, and I have a large funky candelabra that I also made in my first metal working course.

So, currently, I am learning how to do Viking Weave (basically wire knitting), watching a fabulous TV series called “The Magicians,” and reading the second book by the fabulously famous Bloggess, Jenny Lawson, called “Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things”.

So, how do you find your passions? Do you continuously strive to find what fulfills you? Or, do you recognize what you have been postponing? What have you always wanted to try, but due to fear, embarrassment, or life’s simple blasé, has been holding you back? Maybe start small, but I highly recommend that each and every one of you live a life without regrets. Live life knowing that you have tried the things that you have always wanted to try! Try to figure out what is holding you back. What have you wanted to try but just haven’t done it? Then ponder, why haven’t you? There may be very practical reasons why you haven’t, but if there isn’t, then set a plan to at least try to accomplish it in the near future.

My final insight for today is to just keep trying things. By reading my blog, I hope you will learn about the many things I continue to try. I may fail, or may just have it as a thing I can check off my “tried” list. But I hope that no matter what, that maybe one of them will give you some inspiration in your own life. Go out and try things, whether you do it once, fail, or succeed, it doesn’t matter, just don’t regret not trying something.

Coincidently, due to many delays, I am writing this shortly into 2020 after spending New Year’s Eve, and the next few days, with a horrible flu as my friends “rang in the new year” together while I was sick in bed.

So yup, I’m starting with a pessimistic attitude, but I’m only setting realistic expectations for my readers.

So, where to start, you have the section about me, and why I’m writing this, so what’s next?

I mostly want to share my many loves in life, ones that I have already experienced, and the many experiences that are to come. I hope to bring you along this journey with me. The blog today is about light-hearted TV-viewing, and what I’m reading. Keeping it simple!

So to start, I enjoyed finishing the last season of “Once Upon a Time” on Netflix, because fairy tales and lightness are all I could handle while being sick. Also, a bit about me, I live down the street from “Storybrooke” so how could I not watch the show! It was a great show for anyone wanting a light-hearted, fluffy program (which is sadly now finished).

I also binged the 3-part “Dracula” series on Netflix. I am a massive vampire fan, for movies, books, or anything about vampires. The show was a bold rendition to do. Some parts are right out of the Bram Stoker book, others are based on ideas from the book, and then they added a whole new modern take on it. I liked some of the homages to the book, like the flies. But to me, only wolves can be referred to as the “children of the night” (trying to not do a spoiler).

I’ve also “officially” returned to work full-time. If you are interested, on my About page I have mentioned that I have been off work for 2.5 years due to a terrible car accident. Since last summer, I officially started a gradual return to work that has been a very slow and painful process. I can’t believe how hard it’s been, on my body and brain. It has been exhausting. But I have also had lots of support around me, to remind me to be gentle on myself. So, of course, I had to launch a blog for my first time, during this challenging timeframe! I am a sucker for punishment. The time just felt right. Although, this also explains my need for watching more fluffy shows!

So to prep for my new goals for the year, this blog, along with some submissions to a storytelling podcast (more on that in a future post), I have enjoyed reading the book “Talk Like Ted” by Carmine Gallo. It’s fantastic and invigorating while at the same time causing me inner anxiety as I ponder if I could ever speak like these people. I’m a writer, but saying things out loud, memorizing things to say out loud, I’m not so sure! But, at least I’m doing my research!

Well, I’m going to stop here. I hope you are willing to continue to come along on my journey! I’ll write to you on my next wine night of inspiration!