My new botanical & bird illustration & mental health workshops are now live-29 Aug & 4 Sep.Learn to draw plants or birds & how creative activity alters brain biochemistry to alleviate anxiety & lift mood. Incl 10% off beautiful materials & infinite access to zoom recording: workshops.emmamitchell.uk

Super music nerd moment: Finding an album of "Bach: Solo Works for Marimba" ... It opens with Well-tempered Clavier & moves into parts of the Bach cello suites... The arrangements are intense & amazing.

My little set of calligraphy shinies has arrived. I opened the order & ooo'd & aah'd. Alas, I did not make my study goal today, so I have to wait until I finish this course before I get to play in earnest. Ah well.

Some great deals on workshop recordings about mental health & strategies to help you on bad days.

Emma Mitchell@silverpebble2.bsky.social · 2d ago

On Weds eve I'll be relaunching my botanical & bird illustration & mental health workshops & my small museums/collecting for mental health classes on zoom The first dates will be next month & will have limited spaces. If you'd like to buy workshop recordings my site's here: workshops.emmamitchell.uk

A new find-the-tiny-silver-owl photo for you. It’s also worth zooming in for the silver cast I’ve made of a tiny feather, acorn, oak leaf & larch cone, a miniscule piece of coral, a pyritised ammonite & to see the design on the Victorian brooch I’m going to convert into a pendant…

Achieved today (so I remember & don't beat myself up completely): Filled car's gas tank Grabbed baked goodies Picked blueberries for 3hrs (5.6lbs!) Hung out with cat sitting cats Did 1.5hrs of studying Fed cats Battled Seafair traffic Picked up partner, went to dinner Dropped ballot in box

Man, big pivot with no warning to my morning plans today threw my whole day off by 3ish hours. I'm finally home (left around 830a, returned ~745p), & feeling so out of sorts that I don't know what to do. I hate how easy it is to throw everything off, but so difficult to repair/adjust. 😞

Aaaauuuuugggghhhh. Be careful what I wish for! New therapist: great fit! Ah shit, she's already calling me out!!! 😭

Leelu would like to remind you to vote if you haven't done so yet.

New PT success!!! My new luck with finding providers who Solve Shit is holding! Thank deities! Now have weekly appointments scheduled, without missing a ton of work, and some homework to do. I will be sore tomorrow, for sure. Feeling like there's a path forward, finally!

Have discovered a new trickle down effect with partner's Medicare & I am entirely pissed off, yet again. It seems utterly ridiculous that the most reasonable pathway to getting him necessary care is to literally move out of the country & not come back. And yet. Here we are. This fucking place.

Shoulder went out again. I have an appointment with a new PT later today, I may see if they have any tips/ideas on how to stabilize this mess. Sigh.

Pretended functionality today. All was mostly back where it needed to be. Sore all day, shoulder still loose so having to be extra careful with positions & support. Tomorrow I have a PT appointment for something entirely different, but I may just see what they say is most critical to address. 🫠

If you're looking for some good narrative games with a bonus to support a great organization, check out this Humble Bundle!

Old DeuTaranomy 🧶⚒️@kindofstrange.com · last wk.

Just a few days left to get some amazing games AND support the work we're doing over here @takethis.org ! Would love any and all support getting the word out, please! 💚 www.humblebundle.com/games/narrat...?

Ok, body, can we stop with the random disassembly? I do actually need to work, but cursing from pain at a front desk is not recommended. Stupid subluxations! (Left shoulder & scapula this round, plus a pissy left ankle from sleeping. Somehow.)

Watching the SAVE act sneak through the House & then watching them pass a $1.15 trillion military bill when Republicans used to scream like stuck pigs about a *yearly* budget approaching a single trillion? Really makes me wish the Republicans would instantaneously compost.

*clutches fake pearls* Who could have predicted?! Zero guidelines, zero even basic "I, Robot" rules for this plagiarism theft code and then... What, it was supposed to automagically not go wickering into the distance? C'mon, how far into your own navel do you have to be to claim this naivety???

Al Jazeera English@aljazeera.com · 2w ago

‘Unprecedented’: OpenAI says AI models autonomously hacked another company https://aje.news/efnn1t

If this guy had actually gone to Wharton, he might actually understand how absolutely useless his ideas are... But it's clear he bought that degree. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...

Trump says he will impose tariffs on generic drugs starting in August 2028

If implemented, tariffs on generic drugs would be set at 100 percent and rise to 200 percent a year later.

politico.com

Shane is going through a serious emergency situation & needs some help to get through it. Short version: massive water damage to their apartment forced them into a hotel w/out their mobility aids & only a mini fridge for food storage. If you can spare a little to help, throw them a card if you can.

Shane💀Blackheart (they/them)@shaneblackheart.com · 2w ago

I need help. I cannot accept more than $80 a month in help or I will lose some of my only income, so I am hoping people can donate Amazon gift cards, Door Dash gift cards, Walmart gift cards. My email is SLaegel@gmail.com, so if you can spare momey for a gift card, I need it badly.

One tangible square tonight. No studying, but maybe tomorrow will be better.

@karidru.bsky.social I keep having this ridiculous (only given the laughably little spare time I have) idea to try out calligraphy again... I know you're mostly fountain pen geekery, but I feel like maybe there's some crossover? Any tips for good beginner pen/nibs for ink-dipped?

Pretty awful day at work. Totally losing my patience with the b.s. at one clinic I cover. Trying to find some ways of resetting my patience/cope. I wish the world didn't feel also Oh So Much. Tips? Reciprocal virtual blanket forts?

This could have been me as a teenager after my dad died. Please share around, if you don't have the funds to help. 🫂

Georgina Kiersten @ingloriousgigi.bsky.social · 2w ago

My kiddo Faith was a straight A student until her granddad (the only father she knew) died after a long battle with dementia. Now, the legal system is punishing her for having a mental break in the worst time of her life. Please donate or share: tinyurl.com/246c9bbm

Partner: "Well, the rich sure do like the nobility." Me: "They sure like eugenics & money, so it makes sense they'd like nobility."

I was reminded of this lovely piece of whimsy today, so I'm sharing. Wintergatan's Marble Machine: m.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU...

Wintergatan - Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)

YouTube video by Wintergatan

m.youtube.com

This eve at 8.30 I'll be launching a set of 4 new hr-long pre-recorded video w'shops on neuroscience-backed ways to improve mental health that I use a LOT Each vid will cost just £10 I had a breakdown last yr so signing up to one of my videos would be a 👍 way to support me workshops.emmamitchell.uk

Colourful botanical dopamine for you today: research shows that if you pause on my photos & look at the floral detail your brain will shift away from fight or flight & into rest & relaxation mode & if you find my 📷s beautiful your 🧠 will release dopamine, lifting mood & motivation #neuroscience 🌿

Every so often, my brain will try to tell me that I need more hobbies. I am fairly sure that this is just weird American culture soup seeping into my mind. Because: I work full time; full time college; reading; learning French; small loom weaving; cheerleading people w/their life events...

Still processing my therapist's deadpan delivery of the gut-punching line, "So you've been making choices since you were two and a half."

I had a plan to go to a fiber/craft arts social & weave a little 4 inch pin loom square. Got thrown for a loop by a paperwork snafu & decided not to push my social spoons too far. But! I did weave a little square! It's been months, it was quite nice, I will try to remember I can do that more often.