Off until New Year

Welp…here we are! The winter solstice is today, Christmas isn’t far off and everybody is (or seems to be) REALLY DANG TIRED!!!
I know I am… I’m rubbish at mornings at the best of times, and between pandemic stress, work anxiety and wintry weather kicking my hibernation instinct, I’ve been finding it difficult to roll out of bed before 11am
After today, I’ll be off until the New Year — no LinkedIn or WordPress or work, just chilling with books, food and my Switch. The break should be good for my ability to think of stuff to post here and on LinkedIn, and ability to focus on networking/finding work generally — it should also hopefully give me a bit of a better idea regarding whether my focus issues over the past few months are down to stress/burnout, or whether there’s a wee dram of ADHD in my neurodivergence cocktail, rather than my brain being Neat Autism On The Rocks — or both!

And if you’re looking for something fun to watch, try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7v_TdLviUE It’s a gloriously faithful adaptation by indie outfit Snowgum Films of the Terry Pratchett short story ‘Troll Bridge’, wherein octogenarian barbarian hero Cohen goes to fight a bridge troll but they end up reminiscing about the fast-fading old days — the credits song also acts as a sequel, so don’t skip it (it’s a hoot!)! #discworld#terrypratchett#gnuterrypratchett#trollbridge

And if, in 2022, you find yourself in need of an eagle-eyed, hyperfocused proofreader or line editor to give your writing a grammatical wash-and-brush-up, or an #actuallyautistic sensitivity reader to make sure your manuscript is up to snuff on its portrayal of autism, drop me a line! #writing#linkedin#work#networking#proofreading#proofreader#proofreadingservices#autism#autismacceptance#sensitivity

Small random infodump

Apparently, authenticity is a good way to attract potential leads on LinkedIn and elsewhere, so here’s an authentic autistic infodump/ramble about one of my particular interests! Imagine the following being spoken at high speed, with much happy hand-flailing, one or two pauses for breath, difficulty remembering about volume control and possibly just a little frothing at the mouth:

My absolute favourite TV chefs ever are the Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers.
Two blokes who look like the biggest, hairiest badass bikers you could ever meet, who are actually total cinnamon rolls whose distinctive Thing is travelling around various bits of the world to be super enthusiastic about the local cuisine while cooking ridiculously yummy dishes.
They talk good sense about food, they’re always super respectful of the people, ingredients and cultures they encounter, and their banter/repartee/goofing around is always really fun to watch!
They’re been friends for years and years, and their genuine affection for each other comes through really strongly and just makes their shows even more enjoyable because you know it’s completely sincere — not a shred of toxic masculinity in sight!
These guys beat Bake Off for sheer wholesomeness, which is pretty dang hard to do!
I can definitely identify with some of the stuff they’ve struggled with over the years, especially re: weight/dieting (though their Hairy Dieters cookbooks help with that! Soooo good!), and Dave Myers’ experience of being a young carer for a parent with MS, which just makes watching them all the more interesting
Their range of cookbooks is really good and you should buy them! I’m working from some of them for Christmas dinner, actually — the chicken parmigiana recipe from ‘Chicken & Egg’ and pigs in blankets and dates in blankets based on a recipe in ‘Hairy Bikers’ 12 Days of Christmas’ — though dad’s doing lemon and bacon stuffing based on an old family recipe, and he swears by the River Cottage method for doing sprouts (melt butter in a large saucepan, sauté a large amount of garlic in it over a medium heat, add the sprouts, stir well so they’re coated with butter, then put the lid on the saucepan and leave for precisely 8 minutes).
And their TV programs are awesome for if you need a bit of the warm fuzzies — available on iPlayer at the moment are ‘Home For Christmas’ (first broadcast 2017): https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b09j4knj/the-hairy-bikers-home-for-christmas, their recent series ‘Hairy Bikers Go North’ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m000zypn/the-hairy-bikers-go-north) and a handful of episodes from their ‘Comfort Food’ series (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b08htzwq/the-hairy-bikers-comfort-food)
Happy watching!

And, as ever, if you have need of a proofreader/line editor with a knack for hyperfocus and an eagle eye for dodgy grammar, or sensitivity reading for autism, drop me a line! 😀
#editing#freelance#work#help#autism#actuallyautistic#proofreading#proofreadingservices#editor#editorial#editorialservices#sensitivityreading#inclusionreading#food#chefs#wholesome

Neurodivergence metaphor

Recently I’ve been using hardware (the physical components) and firmware (software that’s directly etched into the hardware) as metaphors for how essential my autism is to me, but after a natter with my dad (an experienced UNIX sysadmin) yesterday, I found an even better metaphor — autism is the kernel of my operating system!

“But what is a kernel?” I hear you cry.

A kernel is the program at the core of an operating system, to which all other parts of the OS are answerable. The kernel is always on and facilitates the interactions of hardware and software.
And if you delete the kernel, the operating system is irretrievably borked.

So, yes, my brain is effectively running Linux in a world that runs Windows!

Holiday Treat – Cheesecake Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies — Amateur Connoisseur

There is absolutely about this treat that I don’t like. Cheesecake, check. Red Velvet, check. Cookie, check. All of these are going to be fabulous on a dessert buffet for the holidays. I can’t wait to try them this year as well. Ingredients: Filling: One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature 1/3 cup granulated […]

Holiday Treat – Cheesecake Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies — Amateur Connoisseur