At the start of April, Bel posted about some games he was regularly playing, and it inspired me to try something similar. Except, I’m not playing a bunch of games, lately. I’m nerding out over different things, though, so I figured in line with my goals now being called “Nerding Goals” instead of “Gaming Goals”, that this wrap-up of the month would be best to be named similarly.

These wrap ups may or may not cover things that are in my goals for the month. Sometimes, things just hit me differently during the month for whatever reason, and I’d still like to talk about them, but it’s not enough for a full-blown post itself.

Currently Nerding: April 2020

Star Wars: Clone Wars

One of my goals for this month was to try and finish season four of Clone Wars, which I’ve done, and have started working my way into season five. The end of season four blew my mind, and got me so pumped up! I know it’s been out for “forever” at this point, but I’ve never watched it until now, and I appreciate that folks are shying away from spoilers for me. I’m looking forward to what season five brings, though I’m a bit sad knowing that I’m getting close to the end.

Stargate

[SPOILERS IN FAN TRAILER] I wrote about how I finished up Stargate season nine (which was also part of my goals list), but I have also made it all the way through Stargate Atlantis season two, and into season three. I’ve hit a point in my chronology where things will start to get a little wonky (e.g.: After I finish SGA 3.4, I jump back to SG-1 for 10.3-10.12, then back to SGA, then…), so I’m going to have to think about what I want to tackle for my goals for next month in regards to Stargate, soon.

Soap Packing Videos

I couldn’t tell you why I’ve been nerding out about this, but it’s so relaxing to me. They’re sort of vlog-like, but they also show off neat products, and are a behind-the-scenes sort of look at soapers and what they do for taking care of their customers. I’m especially loving Missouri River Soaps for her packing videos, and I’m looking for more soap channels that do the same.

Nail Polish!

I’m trying to get better about doing my nails weekly to help them grow and keep them strong, but I’ve been holding off because I just hate what nail polish remover (even the acetone-free one) does to them. So I’ve been working my way through Simply Nailogical’s videos on YouTube, and have found a few about growing out nails and keeping them healthy. So now I’m waiting for a few nail supplies to come in (peel-off base coat means no nail polish remover!) so I can start taking better care of my nails and cuticles.

I also have dermatillomania, and the biggest thing I do is pick at my cuticles and skin on my fingers until I am bleeding. I’ve noticed when I wear nail polish I do this much less frequently, so I’m also aching to get back to wearing polish because my skin is pretty intense looking with all the stress thanks to the current world situation. I’m also lusting over some Holo Taco products right now, but will have to wait until my next paycheck to think about picking them up.

This is post 22/31 for Blapril. You can find out more and sign up at Belghast’s original post. You can view those participating on Twitter via the Twitter list I put together. Nogamara of Battlestance has put together an RSS feed of all Blapril participants.

It is Developer/Creator Appreciation Week for Blapril. On Bel’s Blapril announcement post, he defines this week as follows.

One of the things that has happened over the years with Blaugust is that it enveloped some of the better ideas from other events and combined them as part of the single month long celebration. Years ago Scarybooster started this idea of devoting a week to the sharing our love of the Developers and Studios behind the games that we play. Last year this morphed a bit to also include a celebration of the various content creators that we enjoy as well, so I am officially tweaking the name of the week a bit as a result to serve both purposes. Essentially it is a time to gush unabashedly about the things that you love.

I find myself, as of late, not playing very many games (though I’m getting back into the swing of it), so I’ve not much to say for appreciation than things I have said before. So I decided to focus on shouting out some of the content creators I’ve been enjoying as of late instead. This post is going to be focused primarily on soap making YouTube channels I’ve been loving (as I partially sate my appetite to get into cold-process soap making myself). So here we go, in no particular order!

Royalty Soaps

When I first thought about how I wanted to take up soap making as a hobby sometime last year, I searched for some videos on YouTube, and Royalty Soaps was the first one I stumbled upon. I’ve even mentioned her channel before as one I like to put on when I’m having a not so great day. Not only is she knowledgeable (she’s been doing this for a long while, and it’s been her job for a long while), she’s upbeat, and makes it a point to share her mistakes and thought process. I love purchasing Katie’s soaps, but I do find them to be on the bigger side for my taste. So I always cut the bars in half when I use them.

Ophelia’s Soapery

A totally different way of shooting and even soaping (she uses the heat transfer method for creating her cold process soap), Ophelia also has some pretty amazing designs, and I love watching them be made. While I like listening to Katie talk during her videos, it’s also nice to watch Ophelia do what she does while I listen to my own things. I’ve yet to purchase any of Ophelia’s soaps, but I love her bar sizing, and hope to pick up some soon.

GypsyFae Creations

GypsyFae’s videos are more like Royalty Soap videos. She talks about what she’s doing, and shares what’s going on in her life. She makes smaller batches and more varied soap products, which is fun to watch. I especially love her soap cupcake videos. I just love the idea of a cupcake made of soap, and it’s something I would like to try out myself, one day.

Missouri River Soap

I’ve only just started watching MO River Soaps recently, but I love how she also just goes with the flow and changes things as necessary. I also like hearing about her life, and her inspirations for the soaps she’s making. I also very much enjoy her pack and chat videos. I would never have thought I’d enjoy watching videos of soaps, candle melts, bath bombs, and bath scrubs being packed, but indeed I do.

Tree Marie Soapworks

Tree Marie Soapworks is one of the channels I look to for technique ideas. While I am nowhere near implementing nearly any of them, they’re fascinating to watch, and it’s nice to have a full post to go with her videos of recipes and written technique.

This is post 13/31 for Blapril. You can find out more and sign up at Belghast’s original post. You can view those participating on Twitter via the Twitter list I put together. Nogamara of Battlestance has put together an RSS feed of all Blapril participants.