Hello and welcome back. This is Issue 18 of “a bit of bird words” and man it’s cold. I’m fully convinced they turn off the building heat during the day and I just become a popsicle at the exact same time every day. I imagine you’re in the same position, so stay warm.

What did I do this month?

I think I had high hopes for how this year would start, but to be honest, it was a pretty slow one! I did sit down and finish Sonic Rush during the month; it’s a pretty entertaining game and I love Blaze the Cat, but the character writing is so paper-thin. I think I’m also just getting old, because the game is really fast and it’s hard for me to keep up.

I had other plans for the month, but…then I found DodecaDragons. This is an incremental game where you start out mining gold. You’ll get yourself a dragon, and maybe some platinum, oh and perhaps some holy polyhedrons and pasta…the less I say, the better.

This game ruined me for two weeks. It was all I could think about. Every other hobby and routine was absolutely decimated by my need to get the next upgrade. I emerged 199 hours (and 2 seconds) later victorious. I loved it and I can and will never play another game like it.

I didn’t do too much reading this month, just spent a little more time working through some Langston Hughes poetry. I was recommended The Black Company by a work colleague so I’ll continue that at some point; the start’s quite slow, but I see the vision.

What else?

I’ve been wondering what burnout looks like, and whether I should be evaluated for it. It’s so tricky when I get ideas like these because my first reaction is to always dismiss myself. But I’m the only one who can really, fully advocate for myself; I should be my own best cheerleader. I hang onto this belief for dear life sometimes, because it goes very strongly against how I usually feel about myself, but I do think it’s essential. I have to stand up for myself and speak for myself. (Even when I appreciate that others help.)

Oh, we saw a new bird species this month! We did a few bird surveys out in the cold (and in the snow once, oh my) and encountered three long-tailed tits. Very cute birds.

I’m also going to shout out Nikon here real briefly because I bought a spare power cable for 10kr (like $1.50 now) at a secondhand shop and it perfectly powered the battery charger for my Nikon. My DSLR lives once more, and I’m excited to take pictures with a real camera again.

My recommendation to you: listen to yourself. Maybe you already do this and take your own thoughts seriously, but if you don’t, support yourself this time.

See you next month.