Neon’s A Doll A Day… Again (2020)

[neon_jellyfish]

Ahhhh!! I keep flailing with how cute these two are. I would love to play with them for ever LOL.

They really are cute, so much cuter than on promo pics (and those were insanely cute)! They're so cute that you just walk into their trap willingly, because it's more than worth it!

No surprise that they're evil twins luring you in to their dark netherworld. Resist! Resist!

I”m with Davidd, they look sweet and innocent, but that’s just baiting the hook.

The funny part is, I didn't even intend for the photo to turn out like that, I just wanted to take a pic of cute sisters together, but when I uploaded it, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I've seen something like that before... If you ask me, that makes them even better than if they were just a pair of cute dolls

Nah, no need to resist, I'm comfy in dark netherworld, playing with adorable dolls.

Ah, they are adorable, and their pastel colours are pure eyecandy! It's a good thing they aren't around, I would be weak and would give in to them easily too - which, considering home office and the resulting fact that I should often be working when I'm at home, would eventually result in uncomfortable talks with my boss...

Haha, I can imagine that!


Day 263

Corona update - we're having extreme increase in new covid cases, and we might be the world #1 with new cases per 100 thousand people. And we don't really understand why. Yay! Still, vast majority of people have very light symptoms, and we still have very low death rates.

The government is panicking and wasting a lot of money, but not really solving anything. They've been doing this since the beginning, and their preferences are still rising, I don't get us. We're a stupid nation.

Anyhoo...

Aaarrr, they be talkin' like pirates!



Merry Talk Like A Pirate Day, mateys!

[werepuppy]

Arrrgh, what a likely looking crew!

I do love how she's just chilling in a tea-cup. It looks fantastic!

[Lejays17]

So cute, and wonderfully “evil twin” too.

Just so delightful.

[Lejays17]

A mermaids gotta do what she’s gotta do to keep her tail.

Is she a member of the pirate crew, or just a lucky tea cup catch by the others?

[Alliecat]

Your twins are cute, & they do look somewhat ethereal there, floating against the dark background....
Yaarrr teacup crew be quite lovely!

[Elfy]

Great and surprising find for the two pirates. I get the impression that they're in a Wonderland type place, where else would you see a mermaid relaxing in a tea cup?

[davidd]

Ahoy! I be likin' th' looks o' that schooner o' grog! Pour me a pint o' the same!

Wait... highest per capita cases in Europe? Or the world? But I was looking at Czech stats just a couple of weeks ago, and was pleased to see that you had nearly the lowest per capita rate in Europe!

The same is happening here in my state. Two weeks ago the new daily cases were averaging just below 400. The past two days, new daily cases are at 1100, with a positivity rate among those tested approaching 13%. The vast majority of new cases are in the two counties that have had the strictest mask requirements and the longest shut-downs.

None of the new cases have been in the county in which I live. Zero. Fingers XX'd it stays that way.

Hospitalizations and deaths are not increasing. Deaths are actually decreasing in the States. But many leaders are using the case numbers as an excuse to consider further restrictions, mandates, and shut-downs. And of course they trumpet the same story they have since the beginning: increasing deaths will follow the increasing case counts! Hasn't happened yet, but they keep saying it, and people keep succumbing to the fear.

It appears the "ex-perts" there are saying the same thing as "ex-perts" here: stay shut down or the virus will spread.

Or in other words, end your lives to save your lives.

It's sounding like a lose-lose situation, isn't it?

Anyway... stay safe! And don't get arrested!

[neon_jellyfish]

I typed a long-ass reply to Collecting Realisations thread and obviously spent today's supply of energy on it, I'm suddenly very tired and kind of numb, and I can't quite think clearly. So I'm afraid that the story about a pirate, a ghost pirate and a mermaid is currently missing, though there was one in my head last evening.

As for the covd situation, these past two weeks have been crazy and nobody knows why, we're just having a sudden influx of new cases, between 2000 - 3000 new cases per day, when there's 10.69 mil of us. Though our media may have panicked when reporting about us having the highest increase of new cases in the whole world. Still very low death rates, so I more or less think we're fine. We're re-introducing some restrictions, but a total shut-down of everything doesn't seem to be the plan for now. Schools are closing one after another, but they're doing it of their own accord, not because of the government orders. The beginning of the school year (sept 1) seems to have propelled the spreading of the virus, though we don't have many infected children. I don't really know anymore, it's a mess. I'm not afraid of the virus myself, and I found ways to have fun with masks, so I don't really pay it much attention anymore, the chaotic approach of our government stresses me out more than the virus itself.

I think the biggest problem is that Czechs aren't too good at this social distancing thing, and when the restrictions were lifted in the summer, most people took it as a sign they don't have to be so careful anymore. We as a nation keep acting painfully stupid during this whole kerfuffle. I never really liked us, and now I like us even less.

And I just wore myself down even more. Nice job, me.


Day Who Even Cares At This Point?



This precious bookbinding thing here isn't in fact a book - it's a magazine! From 1976. Sadly, this magazine no longer exists. It was a monthly magazine, and for the lack of a better word, I'll say a hobby magazine. But while it was aimed at hobbyists, it had depth and high standards of publications meant for professionals. It taught real craft, not a home-made DIY projects in makeshift conditions, it was meant for people who were really serious about their hobbies and wanted to do stuff on as professional level as possible. It covered wide range of topics, not only all sorts of crafts, but also science (math, astronomy, etc) and technology. I only have this one. 

It has great tutorials for a few most common types of hand-binding, some leather binding (which I cannot do, I'm neither trained nor equipped to work with leather, but I also don't feel the need to, paper and cloth are enough for my personal needs) and a short summary of history of bookbinding. Concise and accurate. It also has many photos, as it was made for self-taught people who didn't have a tutor to show them stuff. Great for a beginner!

[werepuppy]

Ooh that sounds like a great magazine to be able to read. It does look delightful with that cover. And she looks so proud of it.

[davidd]

The Knights who say Knih?  

Thank you for the additional coronavirus in Eastern Europe info. Very glad you're not "afraid."

And your previous statements about having fun with masks has helped change my attitude. I usually wear my "cowboy bandana" when I need a mask, and imagine I'm riding with Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall gang. Or I pair it with my long-billed fishing cap and pretend I'm meeting up with Ernest Hemingway for a fishing trip.

[Alliecat]

I guess we have to do the best we can with making all of it tolerable.... I'm not much into making fashion statements with masks, but I will likely eventually get around to painting vampire teeth on the one dark-material one I have. Sorry to hear things are getting squirrelly again there, neon, but, I think yours is far from the only nation that's being 'painfully stupid'. Seems to be a worldwide thing, that once restrictions were eased, tons of people went out and packed into places without being careful, and now why are we surprised? School started last week here; I haven't heard much about how it's going other than that maybe there are colds going around already. I wonder if I'd like a "cowboy bandana" style better than a mask. Hmm...

Anyway, the magazine looks like a nice souvenir to have from ... a more sophisticated era...?

[Lejays17]

That's a great magazine, sounds very interesting indeed if it's aimed at the "serious" hobbyist.

[Elfy]

I love the dolls hanging about the place with these publications.

[neon_jellyfish]

Ooh that sounds like a great magazine to be able to read. It does look delightful with that cover. And she looks so proud of it.

It was, although I only really read this one, plus some I've seen second-hand but didn't buy because I wasn't interested in the topic or they had missing pages.

The Knights who say Knih?  

Thank you for the additional coronavirus in Eastern Europe info. Very glad you're not "afraid."

And your previous statements about having fun with masks has helped change my attitude. I usually wear my "cowboy bandana" when I need a mask, and imagine I'm riding with Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall gang. Or I pair it with my long-billed fishing cap and pretend I'm meeting up with Ernest Hemingway for a fishing trip.

Neither 'k' nor 'h' are silent, though, you have to pronounce all of it.

That's one of the advantages of being mentally 11, you have fun. My latest 'mask cosplay' favorite is Kuchisake-onna.

I guess we have to do the best we can with making all of it tolerable....  I'm not much into making fashion statements with masks, but I will likely eventually get around to painting vampire teeth on the one dark-material one I have.  Sorry to hear things are getting squirrelly again there, neon, but, I think yours is far from the only nation that's being 'painfully stupid'.  Seems to be a worldwide thing, that once restrictions were eased, tons of people went out and packed into places without being careful, and now why are we surprised?  School started last week here; I haven't heard much about how it's going other than that maybe there are colds going around already.  I wonder if I'd like a "cowboy bandana" style better than a mask.  Hmm...

Anyway, the magazine looks like a nice souvenir to have from ... a more sophisticated era...?  

I'm devoid of fashion sense (I do like pretty clothing, but I don't have what people usually call taste, and seasonal trends seem downright ridiculous to me most of the time), so I can't put together a nice outfit, and if I wanted to make a fashion statement, I'd want for the whole outfit to be involved in that, so no fashion statements from me. But I do like sewing masks and then play-pretend all sorts of silly stuff when I'm wearing them.

'Painfully stupid' seems to be a hot trend across the globe, doesn't it?

I'm afraid 70s weren't sophisticated at all... All of the communism was the worst, but 50s and 70s were the two most hellish decades, when the regime was at its peak cruel. They were decades of intense 'normalization' - awful process that I don't want to get into because a) it's sad and b) I have a migraine and don't want to make it worse, but basically, it was elimination of anything that differed from what the Party set as a standard even just a little bit, through all accessible means from psychological manipulation, brainwashing through media, to actual physical elimination. Everybody was put into their place, and those who dared to stick out were dealt with accordingly.

However, it did, as an inadvertent side effect, lead to some good things (which in no way, shape or form make up for the evil caused by the monstrous process). Not all 'bad apples' were considered a threat to national safety, not everyone had to be downright eliminated (usually by being sent to mines without much protective gear and being slowly worked to death), sometimes, when people had 'dangerous' opinions but not much energy to cause noise, it was enough to put them somewhere where they couldn't ex°press those opinions, but otherwise they were allowed to live. For example, some writers couldn't publish any works, but they could translate or do editing work, which lead to amazing quality of language in books of the era. Fields that were focused on technology or craft didn't really provide much opportunity for political statements, so a lot of brilliant people were shoved there, so that they can be useful without inspiring anyone to commit treasons against the people and the regime by thinking for themselves or some such nonsense. Children's literature and TV production (aside from having brainwashing programs, of course) also provided this sort of 'safe space'.

And so some fields got a huge boost in brainpower, because regime was focused on silencing people who didn't need to be downright killed. This magazine was one of those things that benefited from this weird effect.

Similarly, kids in our family weren't allowed to go to college (that side of family was 'problematic', they weren't members of the Party, and used to run private businesses - like a pub, how imperialistic), but my mom and my uncle were allowed to study a technical major. Luckily, that was what they wanted.

That's a great magazine, sounds very interesting indeed if it's aimed at the "serious" hobbyist.

I wish it was still around.

I love the dolls hanging about the place with these publications.

I'm having fun with this, I think I'll do dolls and books more often.


Day 265

Sick shelfie, because migraine.

[werepuppy]

Strike a pose!

Yeah, legit what came into my head: these are clearly models showing off the latest fashions.