Anime North 2016

(Captain America)

There is no way to capture any Anime North weekend in one blog post. But I'll try.

This was the first con I'd ever attended as a panelist and it went better than I ever could have dreamed. My other three fellow panelists were all brilliant and erudite. My panel audience was full of fantastic stories and successes. My venue was huge and not even a little intimidating. Not at all. Nope.

(I want to say Sansa Stark. Forgive me. I only just watched season 1.)

The heat was intense and the sun was brutal. I heard stories of heatstroke and shuddered at the sight of skin-tight pleather, fur, armour, and full-face helmets. Cosplayers are warriors who daily battle the elements and their own fatigue in pursuit of their art.

(Auditore Assassin)

One of the most amusing things that happened to me this weekend was me and my hotel-room-mates' reaction to Saturday. After being at the con since 10AM, we all headed back to the room at about 5PM. We somewhat intended to return for the masquerade, but we ended up ordering pizza, playing cards, and then going to bed. We had just as much fun chilling out with con pals as we would have back at the con. Such is the life of introverts.

All around fantastically fun weekend. Special thanks to the AN staff who are a hard-working bunch of folks, to my fellow panelists (especially Abbadon who picked us up our badges), and to everyone who made my con special.

Captain Motivation!

ADHD has a hard time with procrastination and this is a relatively well known fact. What isn't as well know is why this challenge occurs. Recent research has suggested a factor might be our reward systems. This is a neurophysical term that basically means motivation. Dopamine is a neurochemical that allows the brain (ADHD or not) to sustain motivation.

The ADHD brain produces lower levels of dopamine ordinarily, however it has no trouble working on something fun, because the enjoyment is producing dopamine which allows us to focus. But take away that enjoyment, and the dopamine it produces, and it becomes significantly harder to sustain focus, sometimes to the point of a physical impossibility.

I was faced with a challenge of dopamine production this week. I am working on an extremely boring task and was flagging in attention and motivation. To make matters worse the task was also extremely mentally taxing. When my brain works harder, it requires more dopamine to function, which means the small amount of dopamine I had was being used up faster.

I had been working on the task for several days when one day I saw that Canadian Netflix had added Captain America: Winter Soldier. Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of my top fandoms and I hadn't been able to see the film when it was in theatres, so I was very excited. Due to issues of morality and technological incompetence, I do not stream or pirate media of any kind.

So I decided Captain America would be my reward for finishing my task. The prospect of being able to watch this movie provided me with the dopamine I needed to finish the task in increased mental comfort. I finished in 3 days.

What do you use to leverage your motivation?

The Art of the Geek Ninja

Here's the deal: not everyone cares about the things we love. They won't be counting down the hours until the next Star Wars movie, they don't cover their bodies, their homes, their cars, and their lives with references, and they won't necessarily want to hear about the book you were reading last night. Even if it was really good, and... No. Some people, incredible as it may seem, just don't care about that stuff.

It's sad for them, but take heart! You have recourse! You can begin your training in the stealth arts of the geek. No murder required!

The art of the geek ninja sometimes requires patience. Laying in wait for the perfect outfit that you can wear to work but more importantly is actually a perfect feminine version of your latest cosplay.

It sometimes requires bravery. That oil painting might look abstract to the casual observer, but you know it's actually an exploding time machine, painted by a mad-man.

And sometimes it requires just the right moment...

When I was married, my now husband and I knew we wanted to make the wedding our own, wanted it to reflect who we truly are. And who we truly are is a couple of geeks. The shirt I made for him to wear is part of a cosplay, my dress was a medieval pattern, he cut the cake with a lightsaber, there was a Pokemon reference in our vows, but my favourite stealth geek part of our wedding was the most subtle of all.

As our guests assembled in the church, a musically-inclined cousin played the piano. We'd given him a stately, slow piece that sounded perfect for entering a church for a wedding. Or, you know, entering a temple devoted to time in order to go back and save your kingdom from the darkness you can only fight as a child.

Every piece of music was from a game both of us had played. At the reception our gaming friends ran up to us, demanding to know where they’d heard those pieces before. And I'm certain all the non-gamers had no clue what they had been hearing.

Now, go forth, and spread your love of all things geek upon the world. But do it... Stealthily.

The Lesson of Deadpool

Chanimaille Deadpool.

The entity known as Deadpool (real name: Ryan Reynolds) has something the world can learn from. So sit down, and let me tell you a thing.

Be you. Forget the rest.

Deadpool: in theatres Feb. 12th 2016 (Rated R)

Introduction or Nice to Meet You

Hello and welcome to my blog! Since this is day one I'll start off by giving you a rough (repeat: rough) idea of who I am and what this blog will consist of.

My name is Colleen, and I am training to be a coach, specializing in ADHD. I have ADHD myself, as well as anxiety. I am a giant geek who is unabashedly passionate and enthusiastic about all my fandoms. I also co-own a small chainmaille jewelry and armour business with my husband.

This blog is going to be about a wide variety of things. Topics such as coaching, mental health/illness, ADHD, geek/fandom, writing, and life in general are all likely to pop up. I'll also be writing posts about life or ADHD challenges I've overcome and the solutions I came up with, in case they might help anyone else.

A project that will also appear here are the geek meditations I’m planning. I'll go into detail about those when the first one goes live. For now, picture your favourite movie/book/show/game/comic combined with a meditation into one epic ball of self-care, geeky madness. That's what you have to look forward to.

Please shoot me an email at greendoorlifecoaching@gmail.com if there's a specific fandom you'd like to see a meditation themed on. I'll always be looking for ideas.

Additionally, if you've got a comment on anything I post, content you'd like to see me discuss in the future, or just feel the need to tell me what you had for breakfast this morning (good for you for eating breakfast, by the way), email, comment, leave me a tweet or post on Facebook.


My website is pretty cool.