About me

My name is Sam. I am in my late 20s/early 30s. Neurodivergent af, mentally ill, chronically ill. Queer and transgender. My pronouns are it/its. I got it all going on baby. I have lived in the same moderate sized town all my life, but I don't mind it. This town always has a lot going on, and provides me with plenty of opportunities to be involved with my community.

I was inspired to make a neocities by other online friends who are doing the same! While my IRL communities are very special to me, as someone who is ill often, it can be hard to get out of the house. Unfortunately this lead to more and more scrolling. I've grown sensitive to the constasnt infighting I see on social media and wish to break away. I want this to be a little place where I can spread joy. I want to meet new people and learning new things. I want to be able to share my knowledge with others too. As I grow older, working with others and teaching others has become increasingly more important to me.

My interests tend to fluctuate a lot! There are things that come and go, there are things that are constant, and there are interests that grace my life for a short while, only to never come back ever again. There are some basic themes I keep with though, and these generally include:

• Fiber arts; I mostly knit and crochet these day. I have also tried cross stitch and yarn spinning in the past. I am interested in learning to weave. While not exactly a fiber art, I also have very basic sewing (both machine and hand) and quilting skills, but don't do them that often because of space limitations
• Backyard gardening and farming. Growing up, my mom always kept a beautiful flower garden. Arthritis made gardening difficult for her, so I have taken over. While not as big, I am still proud of my work every year. I am always learning. I focus slightly more on vegtable growing, but also like to keep plenty of flowers both for looks and for the polinators. I mostly do container gardening. This makes it so I don't have to weed as often, and I don't have to worry as much about how I am spacing my plants.
• Since a kid I always daydreamed of having a big farm, but living in the city means I have to settle some places. I keep my own small flock of chickens that provide me with eggs and compansionship. I am also interested/have dabled in the past in several other homesteading like activities such as soap making, canning and preserving, and making herbal infusions. I am also interested in fiber producing animals and got to volunteer my time at an alapaca farm many moons ago. I am always happy to talk about and share information on these topics.
• Reading; I am mostly a nonfiction reader, but I have also been reading a lot of manga lately. I spent a lot of time reading in the winter, but I love to read outside in my garden when the weather is nice. I used to do a lot more creative writing when I was a high schooler and early college, and I wish to get back into that. I am mostly interested in getting more into writing prose poetry, fanfic, or journaling TTRPGs.
• Virtual pets have always been a big one for me. My mom got me and my two friends tamagotchi v2 for birthday favors one year, and I have been hooked ever since. I have at least half a dozen different tamagotchi, digivises, and giga pets. I go through phases of which ones I run, if I am running any at all. While they are fun to have, sometimes they are hard to care for when you are a busy working person! Besides tamagotchi and digimon, I am also interested in Neopets and Furby. I still actively play Neopets and collect Furbies accross all releases. I have also dabbled with customizing furbies in the past.
• Fashion dolls and similar toys, mostly Monster High. I am currently collecting the third generation, but I was around and very involved during the first generation. I also have a couple Rainbow High and Lol Omg dolls. Back in the day I used to also collect a lot of My Little Pony from g1 through g4, but haven't been involved since mid g4. I occassionally customize dolls, but I don't do repaints. I prefer to rtyle hair/clothing or even reroots and sewing new clothes.
• Video gaming, really I don't play games as much as I would like to these days, but I still consider it an interest of mine. I still lug my 3DS with me everywhere (homebrewed, of course, Wich is something you totally should learn how to do). I will eventually have some shrines for my favorite characters and maybe some game reviews in my blog
• A newer interest for me has been Lego. I never actually played with them as a kid, or if I did, I have no memory of it. I currently enjoy the Creator 3 in 1 sets the most, as I enjoy building, take apart, sorting, and rebuilding several times. There are so many great rebuild instructions for most of the creator kits that can be found around the web as well!
• Another new adventure for me is watercolor paitning. I have always done crafts, but not exactly art. One day when browsing the new books at my library, a beginner's book on watercolor painting caught my eye. This have been a fun way for me to start to explore and learn about art! I mostly paint for relaxation purposes, but I have also been picking up books to help me better understand art as well.

Also friendly reminder to support your local libraries! Your library very likely offers way more services than you think!

I am a huge library fan. Even though I don't live in a big town, my library still have plenty of resources avaiable to me. Outside of the obvious books and access to ebooks/audio books, I also have access to:

• Renting DVDs and CDs, old and new (This was how I got most of my music on my mp3 player as a teen!).
• Puzzle rental and puzzling competitions. This is super popular at my library. It is exciting to see how many people my age are there for the puzzle competitons!
• I am able to rent books from anywhere in my state. In situations where it is a new book and my library doesn't have it yet, I have been able to request the book to be ordered.
• They will help you digitize old media like bringing over family VHS onto a DVD or or scanning photos so you can have digital back ups as well.
• A seed library providing free seeds to backyard farmers/gardeners. The library also hosts several events teaching about gardening and seed saving, along with of course having plenty of gardening books. I have volunteered my time helping sort bulk seeds and everyone involved is so kind!
• Have tons of free events for people of all ages! Going to the craft events is my favorite.
• Mine doesn't (yet), but I have had people tell me their library rents out video games and board games. Or even have 3D printers.
• However, my library just added a Library of Things. They have to rent craft, game, and, DIY tools that might be something someone only needs for a day or a small project, so that you don't have to waste the money or space to get your own. Some of the items they have for rent include: sewing machines, several Cricut craft machines, several types of binoculars and cameras, games like Cornhole and giant Jenga, moiture meters and a radon detector, a Ukulele, Nintendo Switch consoles, and much much more. This is new to my library, and huge to me! I am so excited about the opportunity to focus again on borrowing and renting over ownership. There are so many things in my life that I have only needed once or twice, but unfortunately had to buy simply because I didn't know anyone to borrow that item from. A goal for me it to use this service as often as needed. I will be exploring new hobbies and crafts because of it, and I have been telling every single person I know about it.

Libraries are a great way to get involved with your community and to socialize. I have been invited to many additional events and clubs while attending library events. Libraries are free. They are a third space. But they will only continue to stay that way if we support them. Frequently use your library, pester everyone you know to get a card, vote to renew millages, attend events, join and donate to your libraries Friends program if you can.