Notices by Chris Limb (catmachine@mastodon.social)

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@BethanyBlack Oh I didn't see that! Must have gone to spam. I don't use it enough to subscribe to Adobe CC (hence need for reinstallation).

Just reinstalled the copy of Adobe CS6 I bought 11 years ago. The serial number verification service no longer exists so it will stop working in a week.

FFS, when I spend THAT MUCH on something I expect it to last!

@BethanyBlack Good lord.

@BethanyBlack It always makes me think of Out Of Body Experiences (OOB) as well which sends my mind off down the idea of setting an Out Of Body automatic reply.

Plazebo (n.): small roofed garden structure that gives the illusion of providing shelter through the power of suggestion.

@BethanyBlack It's alway worth me reminding myself that 99.99% of the time people aren't thinking of me anyway and have their own motivations.

@BethanyBlack Ha! Yes - and I need to stop with the "What did I do?" self questioning.

Slightly disappointing when people I was mutual with on Twitter don't follow me back when I follow them on another platform.

But fair enough! I guess I was being annoying over there but they were too polite to unfollow.

@BethanyBlack Thank you. (Admittedly a lot of this is my own overthinking and worrying - most other people are probably too busy with their own stuff to be judging me!)

Sometimes it feels as if human interaction is a Goldilocks thing - I'm either being not expressive enough or being far too expressive.

However, perhaps I'm being precisely as expressive as this person called me is supposed to be and that's just right.

@BethanyBlack Yes. It felt as if there was a hidden "Look just make an effort!" message.

@BethanyBlack Yes, true. I do need to question my assumptions.

I was reacting more to memories of "Emotional Intelligence" courses I've come across or been on in the past, the goal of which seemed to me to be "Try to be less autistic!"

I've never been comfortable with the term "emotional intelligence" as it implies un-intelligence on the part of #ActuallyAutistic people like me who feel emotions too strongly and find them overwhelming.

Implies we're somehow less human.
I feel a lot of emotion very easily. It's hard to control so I over the years I have become very practiced at doing so. Acting to minimise potential negative emotional impact on people.

I don't think that makes me unintelligent! Or any less human.

@BethanyBlack I have a similar problem with using "I think" when in actual fact I *know*.

I have trained myself out of writing "it felt like" and "it seemed like" in fiction so I know I can change my ways when it comes to words.

@BethanyBlack It's definitely a bad habit I've got into that I've been trying to break myself of recently.

Oddly I NEVER use it when whatsapping with siblings so maybe it is a confidence thing.

When I was a kid my dad was a continuity announcer at the BBC. "This is BBC1" etc.

Occasionally* he took me & my sister to work when my mum was also busy.

The continuity studio was next door to the weather forecast studio (up on the top floor of TVC Wood Lane) so I got to see the _actual_ weather symbols which were made of the magnetised rubber you used to get in the 70s.

Still quite a clear memory of their odd weight...

*maybe once or twice but you know what childhood memories are like

@BethanyBlack Thanks, yes I only realised you meant them after posting as I'd I'd got confused by the threading!

@BethanyBlack Thank you! Yes I suspect their "forgetting" is not wanting to abandon their previous mental model of me.

Today is (National) Coming Out Day. Remember that coming out - revealing a truth about yourself - isn't something you do only once. You have to do it with everyone you meet.

Sometimes you have to *remind* people which always strikes me as weird. Were they just not paying attention the first time?

Full disclosure: I have to come out as autistic and non-binary. The latter is the tricky one as I don't have a piece of paper to prove it.