My dragon egg thing died, so I adopted this one instead. She's CUTE. Also, she won't die, even if nobody but me ever visits her. On the other hand, she is lonely and would like more friends to visit her, so if you have a click to spare, that'd be cool. :)

*ETA: Now I have three. Wendarine is an air element Western Dragon, Keflar is a fire Furdragon, and Alamira is a water Eastern Dragon. Please give them love with clicks 'cause it makes 'em grow faster. :D

I found more stuff. This one's titled Adult Pleasant Events Schedule. There are 176 items on the list and I have included them ALL; even the ones I don't agree with or think are ridiculous. This is nabbed from the Emotion Regulation unit of DBT, but I have them early.

Soaking in the bathtub.
Planning my career.
Getting out of (paying on) debt.
Collecting things (coins, shells, etc)
Going on vacation
Thinking how it will be when I finish school
Recycling old items
Going on a date
Relxaxing
Going to a movie in the middle of the week
Jogging, walking
Thinking I have done a full day's work
Listening to music
Recalling past parties
Buying household gadgets
Lying in the sun
Planning a career change
Laughing
Thinking about past trips
Listening to others
Reading magazines or newspapers
Hobbies (stamp collecting, model building, etc)
Spending an evening with good friends
Planning a day's activities
Meeting new people
Remembering beautiful scenery
Saving money
Gambling
Going home from work
Eating
Practicing karate, judo, yoga
Thinking about retirement
Repairing things around the house
Working on my car (bicycle)
Remembering the words and deeds of loving people
Wearing sexy clothes
Having quiet evenings
Taking care of my plants
Buying, selling stock
Going swimming
Doodling
Exercising
Collecting old things
Going to a party
Thinking about buying things
Playing golf
Playing soccer
Flying kites
Having discussions with friends
Having family get-togethers
Riding a motorbike
Sex
Running track
Going camping
Singing around the house
Arranging flowers
Practicing religion (going to church, group praying, etc)
Losing weight
Going to the beach
Thinking I'm an OK person
A day with nothing to do
Having class reunions
Going skating
Going sailboating
Travelling abroad or locally
Painting
Doing something spontaneously
Doing needlepoint, crewel (embroidery), etc
Sleeping
Driving
Entertaining
Going to clubs (garden, Parents without Partners etc)
Thinking about getting married
Going hunting
Singing with groups
Flirting
Playing musical instruments
Doing arts and crafts
Making a gift for someone
Buying records
Watching boxing, wrestling
Planning parties
Cooking
Going hiking
Writing books (poems, articles)
Sewing
Buying clothes
Going out to dinner
Working
Discussing books
Sightseeing
Gardening
Going to the beauty parlour
Early morning coffee and newspaper
Playing tennis
Kissing
Watching my children (play)
Thinking I hav e a lot more going for me than most people
Going to plays and concerts
Daydreaming
Planning to go to school
Thinking about sex
Going for a drive
Listening to a stereo
Refinishing furniture
Watching TV
Making lists of tasks
Going bike riding
Walks in the woods (or at the waterfront)
Buying gifts
Travelling to national parks
Completing a task
Collecting shells
Going to a spectator sport (auto racing, horse racing)
Eating gooey, fattening foods
Teaching
Photography
Going fishing
Thinking about pleasant events
Staying on a diet
Playing with animals
Flying a plane
Reading fiction
Acting
Being alone
Writing diary entries or letters
Cleaning
Reading non-fiction
Taking children places
Dancing
Going on a picnic
Thinking "I did that pretty well" after doing something
Meditating
Playing volleyball
Having lunch with a friend
Going to the mountains
Thinking about having a family
Thoughts about happy moments in my childhood
Splurging
Playing cards
Solving riddles mentally
Having a political discussion
Playing softball
Seeing and/or showing photos or slides
Playing guitar
Knitting
Doing crossword puzzles
Shooting pool
Dressing up and looking nice
Reflecting on how I've improved
Buying things for myself (perfume, golf balls, etc)
Talking on the phone
Going to museums
Thinking religious thoughts
Lighting candles
Listening to the radio
Getting a massage
Saying "I love you"
Thinking about my good qualities
Buying books
Taking a sauna or a steam bath
Going skiing
White-water canoeing
Going bowling
Doing woodworking
Fantasizing about the future
Taking ballet, tap dancing
Debating
Sitting in a sidewalk cafe
Having an aquarium
Erotica (sex books, movies)
Going horseback riding
Thinking about becoming active in the community
Doing something new
Making jigsaw puzzles
Thinking I'm a person who can cope


I don't know about you, but my favourite one was "Flying a plane". Because there's something we can all just go out and do, right?! ;)

Some of my friends have expressed interest in some of the skills lists I've been given, so I typed up the stuff on my crisis survival skills pages. ACCEPTS, IMPROVE and SELF-SOOTHE.

Distress Tolerance: Crisis Survival Strategies: ( ACCEPTS )

SELF-SOOTHE ( with the FIVE SENSES )

Improve the moment: ( IMPROVE )


My top (constructive) choices:
Internet games such as Gaia's zOMG! and Kingdom of Loathing. Making things- beading; card-making; drawing; writing; colouring. Sudoku. Watching people on Skype, or listening to others. Mucking/teasing/joking about with friends. Taking photographs. Reading.

Comments screened, give me a heads up if you want it unscreened. Comments and speculations are welcome, feel free to answer any/all of the messages, whether you think you know who they're to/for, or not. No guarantee I'll let you in on the secret, but you never know.

( Twenty things about twenty people... )

- Put your music player on random.
- Post the first line from the first 54 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
- Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
- Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly.

These were taken from the entire collection of songs on Lappie (which includes all work CDs etc).

( ...54 lines about 54 songs )

Comments screened for now.

Thought I could do with a self esteem boost. Or maybe I just wanted to give you all a laugh at the thought of envying something about me. :P


We all have things about our friends that make us slightly envious.

Not in a bad way, but in a 'Wow! I wish I had that person's hair/eyes/money/relationship/toenails/whatever.'

So tell me what about me makes you envy me. . . then post this in your LJ and see what makes me envious of you.
(Comments are screened and anonymous comments will be set on if I can work out how.)

Right. My list of stuff I can do if I'm not doing well/am urgy.

1- Imagine a safe place.
2- Value the pain and/or create meaning
3- Find positives in the situation
4- Listen to relaxation music
5- Go for a walk or exercise where I am
6- Have a hot bath & stay in until the water is tepid
7- Focus on the moment
8- Take a blanket to the park and sit there for the afternoon
9- Cheerlead myself
10- Take photos
11- Watch Caz on webcam
12- Go to the gym
13- Write letters
14- Do some physical art, be physically creative
15- Do some computer art, be creative with photos or digital manipulation
16- Do some writing
17- Work on Safety Distract or 10 Squared
18- Play the portable organ
19- Chat to friends about silly things
20- Talk about what's going on
21- Grounding
22- Count to ten
23- Do puzzles/sudoku
24- Count colours on something
25- Watch a comedy
26- Play with Kimba
27- Watch the Uncle Tobys Porridge ad ("tha's no' how ye ma'k porridge") on youtube
28- Play games online
29- Practice mindfulness
30- Sing along with favourite songs

If strategies aren't working, follow steps 4 - 6 on the management plan.


Feel free to add anything else that works for you that may work for me, or even better, if you're talking to me on a chat program and I'm not doing well, tell me to begger off and do activity (and then just choose a random number).

I'm starting a new project and I'd like some help if anybody doesn't mind.

A friend of mine is going through a tough time with some issues right now and was looking for a movie that didn't include a few topics. While trying to remember whether certain movies did or did not hit on the themes, it occured to me that it would be really handy if there was a site that actually focused on that. I didn't find one bar the section on IMDB that does something similar, so I thought I'd start my own.

The basic premise is that I want to compile a database of safe distraction media - movies, music and books - that are suitable for tough times, and a little note with relevant triggers in them so people can reference the database to check whether a particular movie/book/piece of music or musical artist is safe for them at the time. At this stage I've not done up a layout or anything like that, but I am trying to at least give myself a list of stuff to watch/rate etc. So...

If anyone knows of any good distractiony/escapism books, music or films, I'd love to hear them so I can add them to my list. :) I don't need to know the relevant triggers, just the film/book/movie itself. Thank you!

Yes, shameless vote promotion. It's my LJ and I'll be shameless if I wanna. :P

So, anyway, I did the LJ survivor type thing again with ljgames_au, but this time, I'm in the final three. In order to win, I need to garner the most votes off LJ people by Tuesday. If you all voted for me, I'm sure I'd have a better chance. *looks adorable*

And actually, I'll pay you back by like, posting a real entry after this one. Maybe. ;)

So, yes. Please go vote at http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=1200092&mode=enter and remember, you're voting for dawni. :D Because, really, you adore me. :D And feel free to tell all your other LJ friends to vote for me, too. I'll let you. :D

I know very little about some of the people on my friends list. Some people I know relatively well. I read your journals, or we have something else in common and we chat occasionally. Some of you I hardly know at all. Some of you I don't know at all because I didn't friend you back (yet?). Perhaps you haven't been around for long, perhaps you lurk, for whatever reason. But you friended me and I thank you for your interest in my words.

But here's a thought: why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: 'Ah, there's so and so...'

I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. Yes, even you people who I know really well. Then post this in your own journal and see what gems of knowledge appear.

Heck, even people who secretly read occasionally and aren't on the friends list; go ahead and comment.

I'm stealing the poll idea from my Kylie (kylie1403).

If you want a Christmas card from me, fill in the poll so I have your address. :P The "anything else" spot is for if you particularly would like or not like a certain type of card (Australian, cutesy, religious overtones, etc). If you just want a "hi, how are ya" card, because you don't celebrate Christmas or something, that goes there too. :P

Also, I state right now that there is absolutely no guarantee any of these cards will make it on time. :P


Poll #1085041 Christmas Cards
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None

Name

Address

Anything else

*runs around screaming*

( It's paid off! )

Not a huge win, but yay! And double extra yay because I, obviously, got the avatar. :D

Are you a book lover? A TV freak? A movie aficionado? Put your mind to the test, and list some of your favorite fictional characters - one for each letter of the alphabet.

( A-Z )


1. Spell out your LJ screen name.
2. Open your music library and sort by title.
3. Match the letters in your screen name with songs beginning with that letter.
4. Tag one other person.

( By Singer/Band )

( By song title, but on random )

I should do a real update sometime soon; if nothing else I have more icons to post as the week's icontests are now over and a new round has begun. Or, y'know, I could just wait another week. We'll see. Anyway, I won first place in one of the contests (dog_icons), so yay me! :D

Also, I updated my profile, finally. It's all prettiful with blue, now.

Some of these have been sitting around waiting to go up for weeks and weeks.

01-36: NCIS
37-51: NCIS, text-only
52-56: Thank God You're Here episode 1 icons
57-58: Star Trek icontest (opening credits)
59-60: OC icons made by request, open to all

( Icons hiding under cut! )

Take any and all that you like but please remember:

01. Please comment! Tell me what you do/don't like about the icons, what you'd like to see (if anything).
02. Go ahead and nab, but upload to your own server/space and please credit to searchingstars.
03. Blanks are not bases.
04. See my sidebar for brush, texture and etc credits.

NCIS & TGYH icon text quoted from show episodes: 05, 07, 11, 12, 15, 19, 27, 34, 37-51, 53-56.
NCIS, Star Trek & TGYH caps are entirely my own. The OC cap was part of the original icon request, so I don't know whose it is/was.

Step 1: Put your mp3 player on 'shuffle'
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play
Step 3: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!!!


( Go on, have a guess. Please? )

I made two versions of my Icon/Sigtag sets - one for my house suit/element, and one for the one that fits me better. Hopefully this weekend I'll have time to make up a swords/air and wands/fire set of tags and icons, as well, 'cause that'd be fun.

I used photographs I took of my Animals Divine deck of Tarot cards -- the 8 of Pentacles, and the 10 of Cups.

( Hiding behind the cut... )