we weren't quick enough to get any original photos, but these guys are SOOO gorgeous. I love their eye markings too! They're so cool and alien looking, and their feathers are so pretty in the sunlight!
I love pikas, they're soooo cute! But recently we were privileged enough to see a BABY!! (at least, we suspect xD) He was hiding under some rocks and just futzing about by the side of the road while the bigger ones ran around, "eek"-ing and gathering hay and stuff. His fur was glittery from flecs of mica! :'D
OK, so this one we're not sure about. we *think* it's a pocket gopher? but this guy was SOOO silly looking! his little snout is so wide and broad, like a shovel. if you happen to know what it is, let me know at boredomarchive@pm.me!
this guy was SOOOO cool to see!! He was really riling up all the pikas, because i think he was looking for a snack. they were squeaking like nuts for the next 20 minutes after he ran through xD
Picture credit for all the original pics/photos goes to my boyfriend, because while i LOVE my dumbphone its photos leave a lot to be desired xD
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june 10, 2025
sorry for missing last week, it's been a little busy!
because of that, this week's interesting find is something i saw IRL and not online! i was at a park with some friends and we saw a crayfish! SO COOL!!
so i recommend hanging out at a park for a few hours and watching some fish eat some bugs. it's pretty cool.
the other day, i found myself thinking about those fairy figurines you see in lots of gift shops.
i had two questions: 1) who is making these, and why are striped socks such a thing?
2) who is buying these? i would have thought sweet old ladies, but so many of them are edgy or sexy?? i was struggling to understand the target demographic.
it seems manufacturing companies go to these fantasy artists and license their work for figurines, t-shirts, blankets, etc. honestly it sounds like a dream gig.
yet after all this, question 2 remained unanswered. who are these things *for*? i know there's usually a pretty big like unboxing/collecting community on youtube, so it's the first place i checked. disappointingly, there were only one or two videos of people showing off their collection, certinaly not enough to get a good sample size. (although it did make it clear that people seem to collect *within* a certain aesthetic--one video i saw was mostly really cute fairies playing and relaxing, with 1 sort of gothy girl in the mix)
then i found this video. i googled Vampyre Cosmetics hoping any user reviews would provide a look into the demographic.
so... fascinating. what a rabbit hole. the owner gives her side of the story here in a tiktok. seems like a rough situation for everyone involved. but i was still searching for an answer to question number 2.
as i aimlessly browsed the different online shops selling fairy statues, trying to think of which lead to follow next, i saw a figurine that made me say "oh that's sick as fuuuuck". And then it happened again. and then i looked down and realized that my favorite t-shirt, which i am currently wearing as i write this, is available for sale on their website.
I am the target demographic. i would for sure have a million of these if they weren't so expensive and breakable. and with that in mind i need to get the fuck off this website before i spend 200$ on t-shirts and hot dragon ladies.
(if you collect these kinds of things, I'd love to see your collection! you reach me at boredomarchive@pm.me)
march 13, 2025
I've been trying slowly to untangle myself from tech in my life as the enshittification crisis continues, and a big shadow looming over me is google. i can't get rid of my google suite!! my production spreadsheets and scripts!! my maximum number accounts they'll let me make with my phone number each with maxed out google drive storage!!
well i finally got off my brain ass and checked out Apache OpenOffice. it works great! and they have an active support forum in case you encounter any issues. i've migrated over all my production documents from google drive to apache now! (but i'm going to keep all my storage maxed out, i hope googles' servers burn under the weight of my 800 variations of "EP001_seqB_ROUGH_v04.mp4"s).
it's honestly really helped my productivity to be able to update my animation completion tracker without opening the internet and facing the temptation of distraction! so if you're like me and were stuck between the rock of google and the hard place of microsoft office, i really recommend OpenOffice!
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feb 28, 2025
i've been on a bit of a crafting binge lately, and just wanted to shoutout this program i LOVE for creating custom machine embroidery designs:
INKSCAPE!! it's a free vector-based graphics program that's compatible with windows, mac, and linux!
it's also great for vector-based graphics! overall incredible program, i've used it to make logos and stuff too.
but what i mostly use it for is embroidery!! there's an extension called "ink/stitch" that allows you to convert your vector files into embroidery files!!
i created this design to try and fix some holes in my jeans--didn't work too well but at least it looks cool!
it's the program i use to make patches and embroidery designs! if you're interested in making a batch of patches or making your clothes look extra cool i recommend playing around with this!! a lot of public libraries or maker spaces have embroidery machines you can use, so you can make your design in inkscape and take the file to the machine and boom!! make some cool shit!
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feb 13, 2025
Joanns is bankrupt again, and closing so many stores--and i'm SOOOO sad about it!! I think every time a brick and mortar store closes, even if it's a big company, we still lose something. Now an entire population of hobbyists is going to have to buy products for their art online, taking away the ability to touch and feel material out of the equation. Taking away the ability to speak to a human about a passion project, or their experience. Taking away the ability to address concerns with a real life person and not a virtual chatbot or telephone menu. I'm pissed and think it's a huge loss.
However!!! Not all is doom and gloom in craft land. I just found out about: CRAFT REUSE STORES!!
There's one near me, and I think it's fucking awesome. Need just 1 hook and eye instead of a pack of 100? You can get that there! Want to use acrylic yarn someone else already bought instead of buying a new skein and generating more plastic waste? You can get it there! The one near me also has bolts of fabric, as well as pre-cut and pre-measured pieces and scraps from other peoples' projects. Even electronics, stuff for scrapbooking, used notebooks--they're SUCH a cool resource, and someone has taken the time to put together a comprehensive list, at this website here:
They're obviously very limited and will not be able to replace Joanns, but if you're planning a big project and have the time it might be worth it to seek out one of these! They won't necessarily have exactly what you need, but personally I get a little extra enjoyment from that forced creative problem solving!
november 8, 2024
this week we have a guest interesting thing! this topic was suggested by my boyfriend!
we were looking at a koi pond earlier this week and wondering, how do they get so big? he knows a lot about fish and noticed they have sucky bottom feeder mouths, and that they're almost always in ponds with other fish like minnows. so it begged the question: do they get that big on algae alone? or do they eat their fellow pond inhabitants?
i was looking it up and found 2 things:
this website that lists fish koi will/won't eat and gives each a risk level--idk why but i found this incredibly silly, like it's a warning to fish that are googling if koi will eat them or not
i also realized though i was missing a piece of information: are the things that live in the ponds minnows, or baby koi? or some other kind of fish! talking to my bf about it he thought they must be baby koi because what else would they be? but baby koi look really bright and distinctive, and these looked like any old minnows.
so that begs the question: where do minnows come from? are they stocked as a food source in these ponds for the koi fish?
it seems like the most likely culprit of minnows appearing unexpectedly is flood/rainwater washing them in or people dumping fish into ponds.
me
so my official scientific conclusion is that the koi fish probably don't really eat the minnows, which are not baby koi, because they're probably very well fed. and that the minnows are there intentionally to keep mosquito and algae under control in the pond.
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october 8, 2024
i also made this little interactive clickaround adventure in wix last week as a proof of concept for a friend; it was meant to just be a few pages with examples of how to hide clues but i found a series of stock images and got a bit carried away xD
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