My dad watched The Good Doctor and saw the scene where Shaun’s mental images were cutting out on him because of the buzzing light breaking his concentration and how much trouble he had getting speech out, and he asked me “is that what’s happening to you when the phone rings, the ice cream trucks go by or car alarms go off?”
Because I’ll yell something like “shut up!” at those things when I’m hyperfocused on something that requires my full concentration and attention. I yell because I’m pissed at the interruption and then I’m in pain because some of those noises hurt my ears.
I looked at my dad and said, “Yeah, that’s what happens, and it’s worse if I can’t tell the person to stop the noise. It happens in your room if you have the TV too loud when we’re trying to talk, and it’s why I talk so loud in your room. I need to hear myself speak or the words other people say on TV get caught up in my echolalia.” (Yes, he knows what echolalia is.)
Because if there’s a commercial for makeup blasting, for example, I might say to my dad “Hey, dad, mom wants to know if you want full skin coverage because easy, breezy, beautiful Covergirl.”
He gets confused and thinks I’m being silly with him, and we end up getting in a yelling fight over a simple little thing.
I can get the words out if I yell over the TV, “DAD, MOM WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU WANT ANYTHING SPECIFIC BECAUSE WE’RE GOING GROCERY SHOPPING!”
He gets mad at me for yelling so loud, and we end up getting in a yelling fight over that, too.
I have NEVER been able to explain that to him, but The Good Doctor did.
Dad said he’ll try to work on turning his TV down when I come in his room. I doubt he’ll stick to it for more than a couple days, but it’s a start and I’ll keep reminding him.
P.S. The phone rang twice while I was typing this, you can imagine the swearing that ensued!
the studious reader: reads in coffe shops and at the library, drinks lots of lattes, takes the best pictures, lives for the aesthetic, blankets and cozy outfits and candles are a priority no matter the place and time of year or day, probably a literature student or in a social sciences field, tabs, comes up with the weirdest and most detailed theories
the chaotic reader: reads four books at once, regularly forgets characters’ names, crazy reading habits, reads mostly late at night or for unhealthy stretches of time, eats snacks or bites nails while reading, had an intense reading phase around the year 2014 and feels very nostalgic about that, passionate and outspoken
the summer reader: reads outside, wears sunglasses and sits directly on the ground to read, plays with sand or grass while reading, gets bored if the story is stalling or running in circles but otherwise gets easily lost in a book, likes a sweet drink or a nice cup of tea, unapologetically reads bad chick lits, plot over prose, tropes are friends
the addicted reader: reads on the bus in bed on a chair in class at work in the bath whilst walking, would read in their sleep, wears headphones to impede social interactions, owns the largest and most eclectic collection of books, refuses to think about the library of alexandria, picky and generally hard to please, likes to keep their favorite copies freakishly clean
fuck minimalism. if you dont have trinkets and knickknacks on every surface you’re not doing it right.
the point of this post is not about junk or collectables!!!! its about the 7 bottles i own for no reason other than i think they look neat!!! its about the glass i found on the beach and pocketed because its pretty!! hell is an endless white expanse with a single white chair and white table with a single succulent on it!!!!!
Magpies are very intelligent birds, as evidenced by the fact that one clearly has a blog.
My favorite lifehack is I’m never too polite to take leftovers from any event. “Please take leftovers,” the hostess says, and everyone diffidently murmurs something about the size of their fridge, but I am already sweeping an entire basket of bagels into my tote bag. I gather there may be some unspoken rule of upperclass etiquette that stands in people’s way but listen. Break free of your chains
pro tip: tell people that ur “committed to reducing food waste“ and not only will they not judge u, but you will be seen as conforming to upperclass etiquette
#i could write an essay about how the perceived class of those accepting free food directly correlates with other’s reactions #discovering the term ‘food waste’ suddenly turns people from scroungers to planet savers #and it’s all the damn same thing #if you take free food because you need it you’re seen as a scrounger #if you take it to reduce food waste you’re a god damn hero
