The Weekly Update: 6/18/17

 
 

So… the acupuncture did not go well. It hurt (not terrible, but like getting blood drawn), and I spent the entire appointment, plus the whole rest of the day, freaking out because needles. Maybe acupuncture just isn’t for me period, but I also didn’t like the practitioner. I felt like she didn’t listen to me, and she didn’t take my fear seriously at all; she just started stabbing needles all over my body, including places I didn’t ever want to have a needle, and then didn’t even bother to ask if I was ok or if any of them were still hurting, and I found out later that there are smaller needles that can be used, she just doesn’t like to use those. Also, I think one of the needle spots almost got infected.

But it turns out renovations are finally starting at the place I’m moving to, so I’m gonna have a lot on my plate soon and am just gonna wait until I’ve moved to try something else.

In the meantime, I might splurge on a few movie rentals or take advantage of some free trials. I’ve also spent the week rereading a favorite series of mine. And I may have found a good schedule/method for posting and commenting, even though I still won’t be able to be quite as active as before. My stats have already been suffering, but I’d rather blog some than not at all.

You know what I’ve been thinking though? What do people without arms do? Or people who can’t use their arms? Or people who shake too much? Do they just not get to use computers? Because, okay, I haven’t done a ton of research since that would require using my arms a lot, but so far, I’ve yet to find any software that can control everything on the computer, including Internet browsers, with speech. (On a related note, does anyone know of any tablets that would let me flip the pages of an ebook with speech recognition?)

Anyway, I will once again probably not be commenting back on Sunday Posts this week. I’m going to try and focus my efforts on commenting back for other posts. But all comments are still appreciated 🙂


Blog/Bookish Updates:

Nothin’.

Books I Received for Review:

Trans Liberty Riot Brigade by L.M. Pierce
The Demon King and the Boy Who Hardly Knew Anything by Pat Ellis
Deadgirl: Goneward by B.C. Johnson

Trans Liberty and Goneward were from the authors. The Demon King was from Story Cartel and was a bit of an impulse click, but sometimes those turn out to be the best books since they’re the ones that just call to you, you know? I guess we’ll see!

Books I Finished:

Steal the Light by Lexi Blake
Steal the Day by Lexi Blake
Steal the Moon by Lexi Blake
Steal the Sun by Lexi Blake
Steal the Night by Lexi Blake

Remember how I said in my discussion the other week that I was saving a reread of my favorite series for when I was feeling down? Well I decided it was time. I’m also gonna repost my reviews (well, updated reviews) at some point since, the first time I posted them, I had like one follower lol.

Song of the Week:

Nothing this week.

Laugh of the Week:

Nothing this week.

In Case You Missed It:

– I reviewed Wraith Hunter by Clara Coulson, another book in a great UF series with action-packed plots & lovable characters.
– I introduced you all to my supernatural sims and their shenanigans.
– I reviewed The Lightning-Struck Heart by TJ Klune, a hilarious, absurd, sweet M/M high fantasy.

The Sunday Post Link-Up:

Once again, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer 🙂

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Have you found any good books, music, or videos lately?
What's been going on in your lives? I feel like I'm missing out on things since I didn't make the rounds last week either.

 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

44 thoughts on “The Weekly Update: 6/18/17

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  1. Greg

    That’s a major drag about the acupuncture, but it sounds like your practitioner sucked? I bet you’d have a much better experience somewhere else- but yeah after that I can see not wanting to try it again, even if you weren’t so busy. That’s too bad though b/c I imagine the right person might have been able to help? IDK, I’ve never had acupuncture. It’s like chiropractic- I’ve always wondered does that stuff really work lol?

    Sounds like a good time to binge some shows. 🙂

    Deadgirl Goneward looks good. How are things in Simland?

    1. Kristen Burns

      I agree completely. It is a shame because it might’ve been better and maybe actually helped with someone else, but I don’t see myself ever trying that again. But it’s made me more exhausted and given me headaches all week, so it definitely did something -_-

      I’ve hardly used the computer and haven’t played Sims for a week or two because of my arms :-/ But I at least have some books to look forward to!

  2. chucklesthescot

    I think it is a good idea to re-post older reviews when your following has increased, which is why I started my Retro Reviews. They are also easy to copy and paste onto the blog again when time is short some weeks!

  3. Annemieke

    It sucks the accupuncture felt like that. There are other ways though if you don’t want needles or don’t want to try another one out. There is also electropuncture that is with very tiny electric currents. No needles required and you don’t feel anything. It is a bit boring to be honest as you sit there, haha.

  4. Jackie

    Eek! Your acupuncture story makes me cringe. I’m sorry it was an awful experience =|

    My friend’s dad didn’t have arms, so he did everything with his feet, including tying his shoes. My friend also learned how to tie her shoes with fer feet. So, I imagine if he wanted to use a computer, he’d just use his tootsies. And maybe speech recognition software to type up e-mails.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks. I actually have been putting my phone on the floor and using my feet to flip the pages to read ebooks. But still, it’s sad that we have the technology of speech recognition, but apparently no one cares enough to make it truly functional enough for the people who need it.

  5. Evelina

    Hey there. Too sad to see the acu didn’t work 🙁 yes, a lot can depend on the person you’re dealing with. That’s true with any kind of practice. Doesn’t sound like the most caring person 🙁 yeah, maybe that kind of procedure is just not for you.
    Have you heard of accupressure? It’s basically the same, but… NO NEEDLES! Instead, you apply pressure to very specific points. Might be worth looking into..?
    Yes, you should definitely blog some than not blog at all. I didn’t see your link on the Kimba Sunday post though? I just came here myself xD maybe I missed it…
    Also, you know how I flip the page of my kindle when I’m outside in the winter? With my nose 😀 so that’s a thing. Maybe not very convenient, but you don’t really need to use your hands that way. Have you tried? I’ve learned that from a friend who always answers her phone with her nose 😀 cause we have like.. really cold winters. And sometimes taking off the gloves takes a while and just generally sucks xD so I thought that was a brilliant idea on her part.
    Anyway. Hang in there!!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks. It’s too bad I ended up with this particular practitioner. I know there are other types of things out there, like acupressure, I just figured acupuncture would be the most effective. But I will see if I can find something else to try after the move.

      I haven’t been linking up because that’s just more arm use, and I haven’t been commenting back much, so it just seems better not to link right now. Lol what I’ve been doing is sitting on the couch and putting my phone/Kindle on the floor and using my foot to flip the pages.

      1. Evelina

        Oh man, that IS tough! I wouldn’t even see it if the book was so far away. Do try using your nose 🙂 like put it on the table and prop it up with a pillow, and then use your nose to turn the page. Trust me, I’ve done this before (while brushing teeth mostly xD) and it is so much better 🙂

        1. Kristen Burns

          I’ll stick to my feet. I just have to make the font bigger on days when my contacts are acting up lol. But brushing your teeth only takes a couple minutes?? Those must be some good books if you can’t put them down, haha.

          1. Evelina

            Oh, contacts! I see 😀 I don’t wear glasses (I maybe should, but they give me headaches). So I can’t…. possibly see anything that’s on the ground 😀 I mean in terms of reading. Contacts make a lot more sense, cause I was wondering how you were doing that 😀

            1. Kristen Burns

              Well I imagine people with good vision could probably read their phone from the floor. I just have bad vision and need contacts or I probably couldn’t even see how many fingers someone standing right in front of me was holding up lol.

  6. kris @ lemon-notes

    I KNEW YOUR ACUPUNCTURE LADY WAS JUST BEING A JERK AND GIVING YOU BIGGER NEEDLES THAN WERE AVAILABLE. Pfft, what a lump of bitter and mean human. I’m so sorry that ultimately your acupuncture experience comes down to a cranky person who really should just change their career. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across *shitty* nurses (which is already bad), and not because they’re unintelligent or they just don’t care, they just REALLY hate their jobs. Like, dude, no one’s stopping you from at least trying to seek out a new career. Don’t take your life decisions out on the patients, that’s just not fair. I promise, THEY don’t want to be there more than you do. I’ll just come do your acupuncture myself. Yes, this is fine. Don’t worry 😛
    I’m not ENTIRELY sure of page flipping from verbal command, but what I do know is that Apple products have been the most accessible and easy to use in my brother’s case. However, he DOES still have arms, so I think if he needed to flip a page it would be set to a certain touch or something on his phone! However, totally worth looking into. Also, you can set the speaking speed to super duper fast which is always fun! 😉
    I think you should splurge and watch a bunch of things. This sounds like a good self-care activity to me that also still involves story-telling. Pushing Daisies is free (if you haven’t watched it already), and IT’S SO CUTE OMG. I got it as a recommendation from a fellow blogger and it won’t consume your WHOLE life because there’s only two seasons (or if it does it’ll only consume it for a few days!). It’s absolutely so fracken cute so if you don’t know what to watch, maybe that??
    These are seriously my favorite posts of yours usually (well, aside from the sims post of course :D)

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks. And I never understand people who work with people but then treat them so badly. Like, weren’t you ever a student with a shitty teacher? Weren’t you ever a patient with a shitty nurse? Did you enjoy it? So why are you treating people like that?

      Anyway, the problem is I would rather read books than watch things. I’ve found some ways to read that require less arm use, but I can’t read in bed 🙁 so I figure now is a good time to splurge on the few movies I do want to see since it would give my arms rest. And maybe I will give Pushing Daisies a try! Thanks for the rec 🙂

  7. Let's Get Beyond Tolerance

    Oh wow, that’s awful about the acupuncturist. I would complain about her to be honest. She should have been way more concerned about your fear and how you were doing/feeling.

    I’m glad you got some reading in though! I’m afraid I don’t know anything about e-book pages turning with voice recognition.

    -Lauren

  8. Karen

    I’m sorry about the acupuncture experience. I’ve never seen large needles. Both my pets and I have had it done and it’s always super tiny/flexible needles. Not every treatment is for every person though so you just need to find the right method and practitioner. I went through a lot of that when I had severe back pain.

    I have B.J. Johnson’s first book on my Kindle and I started it but never got back to it. oops lol

    For What It’s Worth

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks. I didn’t actually look at the needles, I just know what she said. But I don’t think I’ll be trying acupuncture again. Crossing my fingers I’ll find something else that will help.

      Lol well I look forward to seeing your thoughts if you ever do get around to it!

  9. Barb (boxermommyreads)

    Sorry it didn’t work out. But hey, you’re braver than me because I wouldn’t even TRY acupuncture. It’s good that you had a series to fall back on that you enjoyed so much. I did quite a bit of work outside today and am hoping I can cram in some reading time tonight before Fear the Walking Dead comes on (I don’t even really like it that much). Bet you are really excited for your move!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yeah I promised myself I would be brave and make it through at least one appointment. Honestly I just want to get this damn move over with already. I keep postponing everything because I don’t want to overload myself, and then the move keeps getting postponed! Hope you enjoyed your reading time 🙂

  10. Lola

    Oh that sounds bad, I don’t think acupuncture is for me either, but I still had hoped it would help for you. I hate getting my blood drawn and if you describe this as similar, but then many times over, yeah that sounds bad. And that’s too bad about the bad practitioner who didn’t listen to you. I once had my blood drawn and had a very nice nurse who noticed I was nervous and started talking to me and it really helped. It really help if they take you seriously and listen to you.

    That’s too bad about your stats, I also noticed that on my own blog that since the start of this year when I started blogging less my stats have gone down. Now I just try and not look at them and do as much as I can. I am glad to hear you found a good method for posting and commenting.

    Those impulse clicks or buys can sometimes turn out to be the best type of books. i hope it’s a good one. And yay for re-reading a favorite series. I am looking forward to read your new reviews for them. Have a great week!

    1. Kristen Burns

      It does make a big difference when people actually listen to you and take your fear seriously.

      It does suck about the stats, but like I said, I’d rather be blogging some with lower stats than not blogging at all!

      Sometimes impulse clicks are the best, but now I have to make sure not to get my hopes up too much or I’ll end up disappointed for that reason lol. Thanks, you too!

  11. Aleen @ Lampshade Reader

    I’m so sorry to hear this. My father in law did acupuncture for a while and it did work for him. My husband thought it was a waste of time when he, himself tried it.

    Love the covers of the Lexi Blake books. 🙂

    Hope you have a better week! *sending virtual hugs*

    1. Kristen Burns

      I do think acupuncture might work, it’s just that I had a practitioner who didn’t listen, and now I’m too scared to try again. They’re great books! Thank you <3

  12. Laurie @ Bark's Book Nonsense

    Bummer about the acupuncture. It sounds like you need a more empathetic practitioner Though I’ve never tried it, so, for all I know, they could all be like that. I do know that I had given on visiting a chiropractor after visiting one that only wanted all of my $ and always made me feel worse when I left (or couldn’t afford 3 co-pays in a week!). Once I visited his office feeling fine, left feeling nauseous and sore. I never went back after that. I did find a good one who is about healing and helping and only showing up when necessary. I hope you’re able to find something/someone to help you manage the pain.

    As for followings and keeping up with postings? Just do what you can do. I wing it nearly 99% of the time. Some weeks are better than others but usually I’m lucky if I post a few things and can keep up with the few comments I get. I try to do a little visiting at least a few days a week but it’s tough squeezing everything in.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yeah, it’s too bad I ended up with that practitioner. Sorry about that chiropractor experience you had! That’s always the problem though, isn’t it? There are some good medical practitioners out there, it’s just that you have to find them.

  13. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

    Boo stabby needle person and your poor acupuncture experience. At least you know it may not be the right method for you. Don’t know until you try these things. I hope you managed to get away without any lasting side effects, that would just make the whole experience worse.

    Yay for your new place finally getting some renovations going. Fingers crossed you’ll get to move in soon because I know you’ve had plenty of problems with your current place. It will cause a bunch of chaos when you can eventually move but it should be worth it, right?

    Sorry to hear your stats are suffering through less commenting. I know it makes sense because commenting to others obviously gets folks to stop by but it still sucks. I agree that some blogging is better than nothing, though.

    I hope you have a good week, and if you find out what folks without arms do I will be very interested.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thank you <3 But actually it is having lasting side effects because I'm still more exhausted than usual and I had headaches for a while -_-

      Yeah the moving will be tough, but I guess we will find out if it's better or worse once I'm settled in. I've definitely had my fair share of issues with this apartment.

  14. Dragonfly @ Our Familiarium

    Oh sorry to hear acupuncture didn’t help. 🙁 a crappy practitioner definitely just made it worse!! Try to take a break and [I know it’s hard!] not to worry about the stats too much. You’ll bounce back in no time 🙂 in Me Before You they mentioned that online support groups for quadriplegics comment a lot about computer software so maybe you can browse some of those support groups for ideas.

    1. Kristen Burns

      The crappy practitioner definitely made it worse -_- Oh yeah, thanks, that is a good idea for where I can look and see if they mention any software 🙂

  15. Wattle

    😮 I thought acupuncture was meant to be painless! Your practitioner sounds awful 🙁 gosh, I’m sorry you had such a crap experience. You’d think there’d be voice recognition stuff out there for things like that, but I only came up with concepts and nothing solid. Hmmm. I guess ‘they’ assume most would use audiobooks if they can’t read on a device properly (which is lame).

    I hope you’re better soon, or at the very least can find a treatment that gives you some relief <3

  16. Victoria Grace Howell

    Aw I’m sorry about the bad acupuncture experience. :/ I haven’t done it before, but I can see how the practitioner can make a huge difference. Onto movie picks … I just watched Summer Wars and it’s such a good movie! I highly recommend it!

  17. Danya @ Fine Print

    I’m sorry to hear your acupuncture experience was so sucky! There’s nothing worse than a health professional who doesn’t listen to your concerns, in my opinion. As for voice-activated accessible tablet options, the only one I really know about is the android kindle app, which you can use to flip pages by saying “back” or “next.” There’s a good demo video on YouTube, I’ll DM you the link!