The Introverted Detective

Let's talk about sensory overload, when everything is too loud and only you are bothered by it. Fun? No, but the world is not getting any quieter for you. And most of the time we don't say anything about it. Today I'm diving into the science of it, why it happens, and what we can do about it.  Courtesy of Deviant Art by GhostlyStatic Like I said, we often don't say anything about it. The office conversations might be traveling down your hall, the music down the hall might override your focus music, and you might hear multiple conversations simultaneously. Oh, and you might even turn off your focus music to lower the stimulus you hear.  The truth is the world doesn't lower the volume because we are overwhelmed by loud sounds all at once. It doesn't lower the volume for introverts, either. We simply adjust and cope the best we can. Introverts may even be some of the population dealing with sensory overload. I know I do every time I go to my evening job. So much co...

 I'm getting people on Twitter (X) and Instagram who are advertising services. I have even purchased some services from these people. What we need to talk about is when people get pushy and how we deal with it.  Courtesy of yoursalesmaven.com While some people understand you aren't just the money they make, others just want a sale - and they want it right now! In my DMs, a good half of the salespeople who reach out are these pushy salespeople. I give credit to those who have not tried to shove me into a sale. Those people might get my money later on (for real, they might).  Online and in-person are two different problems, though. You see, I can stop responding to pushy people rather easily in my DMs. I can even block pushy salespeople in my DMs. In-person interaction is not as easy to deal with. We'll talk about general advice and what to do when someone is standing in front of you.  We'll also talk about why pushy sales practices don't work. I have elaborated as to...

 DNF stands for Do Not Finish. Today we're looking at what everyone says about not finishing the books you pick up and why people don't finish books.  As I clean up my overstuffed bookshelves I openly DNF books. As I do the read-it-or-unhaul-it challenge I've learned to DNF what I don't like. Today we're discussing what makes someone DNF a book and the pros and cons of doing so. Please note we're talking about leisure reading and not school/work project books.  Sadly, you can't DNF a book for a school or work project. The best way to suffer through a book you hate is to read the cliff notes first and then skim it. It is easy to find most cliff notes for school book reports because most schools use almost the same novels. It just depends on what is actually online and what isn't.  When You Should DNF  Sometimes you aren't sure whether you should give up or not. Is the book going to get better later? Am I just overreacting? Does the plot pick up the pa...

 When you think about yellow wallpaper do you think about female hysteria cures? Now you will. Today I'm reviewing a short suspense story about a woman dealing with depression. Her "cure" was to do nothing at all at home. Let's dive in.  Courtesy of enwallpaper.com The basic, overall plot is this; a woman dealing with postpartum depression is given the "cure" of staying home and doing nothing, only to start losing her mind and seeing the wallpaper come to life. It is so much more than that, but there are your cliff notes. If you want more context see the video below. If you don't care about historical context (but you really should), go straight to my review.  The Review Five out of five. It is literally fifteen pages and one page of introduction in my copy. It's a pamphlet of a story published in 1892 when the "rest cure" was common. The author went through the rest cure, decided she'd had enough, then gave it up. She wrote this and se...

 I am a book dragon. I need to go through my bookshelves and make some hard decisions. I have picked up books and don't know if they are my vibe. I've gotten books that are not on my bucket list, only to not read them. Let's talk about great ways to clean your bookshelves as I go through the lengthy process of cleaning mine.  Courtesy of pinterest.dk Fellow book dragons, we need to take a hard look at our shelves every few years (or months if you are constantly buying or picking up books). It'll be tough, but you'll make it. Here are a few ways to do this.  I'll talk about three main ways I go through my stash of books, then go into what I found on other methods. Some are reading challenges. Ready? How I Do It The first attempts at cleaning out your shelf can be little by little, like doing the read-it-or-unhaul-it challenge. Put your books on an Excel sheet or list (numbered), pick a number using a random generator (or state a number at random yourself), and th...