muladhara | (no subject)

So one thing I have been doing for the past week and a half is writing an offline diary. I'm just putting what happened in my day in it, and how I feel, and leaving it at that. I actually like writing a diary (which is why I liked LJ and like DW), but I've fallen off the wagon, so to speak, with regard to writing an offline one. I used to only write in them when I was angry or upset or crushing on someone or likewise, so it's kind of refreshing to be like, "well, nowt major happened, but that's okay!"

I'm actually surprised with myself that I've managed to keep it going, but I have! I've almost used up the notebook I was using (A5, 100 sheets), and most of that's just been from recent use.

This is part of the reason I have so many notebooks. Because I've written diaries since I was...approximately 11? and I assumed I would be prolific at it my entire life (because my mum was - I have Quite The Stack of her past diaries) Except that when I was younger, I didn't expect crippling depression or the internet to take these things away from me.

But if I keep writing at this pace, maybe I'll use up some of those older notebooks and so on (of which there is also Quite The Stack, especially if you include the ones that were mum's that are still unused). My next one at the moment is similar size to the one I'm using, so I don't overwhelm myself. (I rarely use A4 size books, and the one thick book I used lasted me five years and I was sick of it by the time I got to nearly the end).

I am actually kind of excited about this, as weird as that sounds.

~

I looked up herbal teas online, and now I have fallen down a rabbit hole, and am considering buying a tea strainer for if I ever get any loose leaf tea. I do drink them occasionally, but want a different variety than what the local supermarkets can provide for me (which, if you're mostly shopping in Lidl, as I am, isn't a whole lot).

I also learnt Rooibos isn't a type of tea like black or green tea, which is good news, as I wanted to try it. (My sister in law occasionally drinks it, and she likes black tea, so I assumed it was similar). I don't like black tea in the slightest, and wasn't taken with green tea when I tried it, and I have no idea how I feel about Rooibos, but it's worth a try!

Maybe I should do what my friend Liam does, and make a tea review when I try a new one? He has an entire twitter (and it's only for black tea), but I'd probably put them here because I know what I'm like. And I don't need another twitter account.

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Wait you have a Lidl?????

Yeah, they're pretty common in Britain. The one in town that I use has been there about fourteen or so years now (I can't believe it's so long but it is).

I had NO idea! (Seriously, I feel like my mind is blown.) So you can get some german candy brands and stuff?

Kind of - a lot of the snacks/sweets are what I'd think of generally European. I don't know if there's anything specifically German apart from the Ritter bars and Haribo. There is some German food available (like Bratwurst, for example, and there's probably way more stuff if I look properly).

They tend to do themed food weeks here, like the week before last was Greek week, but I've noticed when it's German week, there's never a lot of sweet options, which there is with other themes (except for Asia - that seems very savoury focused, too).

Thank you, that is interesting!
Ritter bars & Haribo are good quality, so I am glad you can get them if you want to. Storck Riesen (Storck is the company, Riesen the name of the confectionery) are also recommendable, it's soft caramel chocolate inside a dark chocolate coating. Imho German sweets tend to be mainly about freshly baked goods (e.g. Berliner doughnuts, marble cakes, or waffles,) which are less famous than the good old Würste. Perhaps that's why there aren't as many options.

Even at the height of my LiveJournal days, I kept a paper diary. I use composition notebooks for mine. At the time I was writing most in it, I was working (unhappily) as a computer support technician. So my entries were a lot of whining about my job and introspection as to what I wanted to do about it.

But I also wrote a lot about writing. I had wanted to be a novelist when I was a kid, so was interested in stories and how they worked. This was around the time that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was airing, and the

nocturne_alley game was happening. I filled pages and pages up with dissection of their story lines.

I still pull out my paper journal from time to time, mostly when I can't sleep because my brain is running overtime. But these days most of my journaling happens in Dreamwidth. About a year ago I tried starting an Actions & Feelings journal, where you write about what you did that day and how it made you feel, but I lost interest after maybe six weeks. Maybe it's time to start again.

I don't think it's weird to be excited about this. Journaling can be quite helpful so it makes sense to have some excitement. Plus, if you're like me, you feel a sense of accomplishment as the pages fill. I hope you continue to enjoy the process!

Rooibos is much sweeter than regular tea, almost creamy.

If you don't like black or green tea, but want something with caffeine, you might like yellow or white tea, which are less bitter than black tea, or mate (which is also not 'real tea'), which tastes a bit like green tea but not as grassy.

We get the speciality Haribo as well, which is nice. I picked up some Easter ones the other day when I was in there. I didn't know until we'd had the Lidl a few years that Haribo even did special sweets/candy depending on the time of year.

Man, I used to eat Riesen all the time when I was younger! They were everywhere, but now you don't see them so much (possibly something to do with import costs, maybe). I did look and see if there were any in store, but alas no :( I know I have seen them somewhere recently, but I don't know where.

Oh same - I only tailed off in 2009/10. I've got sporadic diary entries after that, up till now, but nothing like as much as I used to (until now).

Oh, interesting! I've got green Rooibos with peach and cherry - I wanted to try it for ages (peaches and cherries are two of my favourite fruits), but not knowing about the Rooibos put me off.

I'm not fussed about the caffeine element, which is why I don't mind herbal teas. But I might give yellow or white a go at some point in the future.

I loved Riesen, though we didn't have them very often. But the taste was so rich and chocolatey! The only downside was that they were so sticky I sometimes felt like they were pulling the fillings right out of my teeth XD

I love Rooibos! There was a vanilla-flavoured rooibos tea at my former workplace that, against my usual habits, I took without sugar because I liked the taste so much and it had just enough sweetness on its own.