The Break Room

[ShaiNeko]

Hello everyone, welcome to the break room.

This is a tough time for all of us. We want to give everyone a place to come when they need a few moments away from the news. We want to give you a thread to share some ways to practice self care. We've got a few simple rules.

1. Leave the virus talk in the HWYD thread. Sometimes you need to vent and discuss, sometimes you need to watch a livestream of a hummingbird nest.

2. People de-stress in different ways and that is perfectly fine. If your preferred way is something that might be a sensitive thing for others (for example a zombie makeup tutorial is awesome but not everyone's cup of tea), consider using a spoiler.

3. Cursing is allowed.

4. We are a community. Be kind to one another.

The world wide situation will be changing, so we may update the rules if needed. Staff will be collecting links and posting them below.

[ShaiNeko]

Live streams:

Kitten Academy
Explore.org for a variety of live streams.
Cornell Labs Barred Owlnest
Emus!

Bird feeders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNYDhlAYmgg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIqUka8BOS8



General entertainment:
Myrin has gaming and other suggestions if you need something to watch.
Mathcat has suggestions for when you need a break.
Baumgartner Restoration cleans, restores, and conserves artwork. Watching someone clean varnish off a 100+ year old painting is oddly satisfying.
Thaliel like Shining Star and says the music is addictive.
Interested in watching a DnD campaign? How about The Unexpectables?
Check on these videos on Japanese history and mythology.
We've got cake decorating.
Want to cook, or maybe just watch someone cooking? Binging with Babish.
Need to read? Fanfiction.net and AO3 can help with that.
PK has many interesting and awesome suggestions.
Interested in Facebook karaoke? MistyoC has invitations.
IceRiver has gaming content suggestions.
Stuffs from Raneth.
ASMR? We've got a playlist with talking and a playlist with no talking.
Watch miniatures being created.
Comic suggestion from Mathcat.
Check out salt's suggestions for bullet journals, watercolors and stationary stuff.
A variety of options from Wynterborne.
One month free on Scribd, no credit card required.

[ShaiNeko]

Tutorials:

Mathcat has some links if you are interested in origami.
Looking to pick some drawing skills? lolacharm suggests the exercises on Drawabox.
More papercrafts! VilaWolf likes the paper toys on Ravensblight.

Podcasts:

Mathcat suggest Levar Burton Reads and Hidden Almanac.
VilaWolf suggests The Myths and Legends Podcast, Geekshow Podcast, and Desert Oracle Radio.
HobbitFeet suggests The Adventure Zone.

[CinnaminDraconna]

Live Stream: Kitten Academy
Kitten fosterers in CT, USA.. they work with the Danbury Animal Shelter and have a 'no sads' policy (they don't post about or tell sad stories).

Currently streaming 1 mom cat with 4 kittens who are almost ready to be adopted, 1 mom cat and 3 kittens who are 6 weeks old, 1 mom cat whose single kitten has already been adopted.. and they have 7 resident cats, some of which are foster 'fails'.

Since the oldest kittens will be going to their new homes soon, they'll probably be getting another mom cat soon.

[NyxNoire]

EDIT - LOL Cin ninjaed me, it's the same place

Sharing my favourite place to destress - Kitten Academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MeEoa0Ep0I

They also have a website where you can find info as well as a ton of great photos - https://kitten.academy/

It's a livestream from a wonderful couple who foster cats for a shelter. They specialize in fostering a pregnant momcat, help her through her pregnancy and birth, and then raise her kittens together with her until they're old enough to be adopted. They have two rooms in their home that are devoted to these foster cats, so they usually have two families at the same time. And they have cameras in both rooms which show the cats 24/7.

Current families:
Tinker and her Tinkerers
Calico Mom: Tinker
Tortie girl: Dabble
Tuxie boy: Putter
Ginger boy: Trifle
White boy with orange spots: Monkey

Bell and her Whistles
Tuxie Mon: Bell
White floof girl with black spots: Foghorn
Tuxie girl with symmetrical face markings: Klaxon
Tuxie girl with asymmetrical face markings: Beep

Fun and unusual fact - Bell is actually also Tinker's mom! They were rescued from the same home.

Lastly, they have a foster cat named Brook, who had one daughter who was adopted weeks ago. Brook has an adopter though, who will pick her up soon.

They also have seven cats of their own which we see on the livestream every now and then

I've been watching for years so feel free to ask me any questions about them.

[ShaiNeko]

Explore.org has so many livestreams. Want kittens? How about puppies? Or maybe a hummingbird nest.

[Myrin]

Did you know there's a Bob Ross channel on Twitch? Very relaxing, beautiful results, and aimed primarily towards teaching you to do the same.

I watch a lot of gaming stream and videos. On Twitch I particularly love KatFTWynn, kimmykims, PatrckStatic, and GarukuBluemoon - though fair warning, Gar in particular plays a lot of violent games. I've also sorta started streaming myself, but only have two videos and they're not great. Stumpt are a fantastic crew, and most of their stuff can also be found on their team and individual YouTube channels. (each word is a separate link there)

Over on YouTube, my hands-down favorite is True Masters & Morons, a pair of brothers who play lots of games and make lore videos. PlayFrame are amazing and chill, and their married streams are the absolute best. The Jeff And David Show's posting is sporadic, but worth it. And of course there's the big names like JackSepticEye, Markiplier, and The Game/Film Theory channels and livestreams.

Stepping away from gaming, Royalty Soaps is lots of fun and very creative. Most of Katie's videos are about the soaps she'll be selling the following month, but she gives tips for making your own soap throughout, and also occasionally tests kits for various crafts. Abitfrank does some amazing animated commentary videos about the creepy side of childhood favorites. Sci Show does a great job of breaking all sorts of science down to easily-digestible pieces (though fair warning, they're doing a LOT of disease coverage both current and historical right now), and they have more targeted channels that cover specifically space and mental health. Minute Earth and Minute Physics also make quick and interesting science videos. And Tiny Kitchen makes amazing dollhouse-sized dishes with dollhouse-sized equipment!

Enjoy!


*edit for link done wrong

[Mathcat]

General Entertainment:

https://www.youtube.com/KnikkerbaanNL (also at https://www.youtube.com/c/jellesmarbleruns if the other link doesn't work) - Weirdly addictive marble sports channel (and I say this despite not being a sports fan). I went from being skeptical to cheering on the O'Rangers in one video. Marble teams, marble spectators (and occasional spectator interference), and a dedicated commentator who brings everything to life. I suggest starting with the Marble League 2019 Opening Ceremony video to get a feel for how Jelle et. al. make marble racing feel like an actual sport, complete with spectators. New videos weekly. Harmless fun.

https://www.youtube.com/user/andymation - Flipbooks by a stop-motion animator (with the occasional surprise at the end). The early short films are a little strange, but the flipbook videos are harmless fun. Even if you don't have any interest in making your own flipbooks, it's fun to watch the process.

https://www.youtube.com/user/kevinparry - Another stop-motion animator. I highly recommend his "50 Ways" series if you need a laugh, where he films himself performing fifty different ways to sit/walk/get into a pool/fall/stand/etc.

https://www.youtube.com/user/kludge1977 - Geeky crafts (NOT to be tried at home). Peter Brown uses power tools to make a strange and wonderful assortment of objects, often involving resin. My favorite is still the crayon bud vase. He doesn't take himself too seriously and has no problem leaving his mistakes in the video. If you're a Mythbusters fan, he turned a copy of Every Tool's a Hammer into a hammer, made a pen out of the leftovers and presented the result to Adam Savage. (I can also recommend Tested, with the caveat that I've only watched a handful of videos, and all of those have been Adam Savage videos.)

https://www.instagram.com/andreaanimates/ - Incredible stop-motion animation with felt. Yes, felt. Be sure to watch the kitchen videos. 100% harmless fun.

https://www.youtube.com/user/henders007 - Tim shares the result of decades of toy collecting. Be aware that while this channel is 99.99% harmless fun, there is the very occasional jolt from an object that hasn't aged well and really shouldn't have been included

Spoiler

(the one that immediately comes to mind is the racist caricature mug in the It's a Mugs Game, Tim video)

.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCajXei ... 5-gXI-aG8Q - Great Big Story is a Youtube channel with short videos on a variety of fascinating topics - just about everything you can think of and many things you probably haven't. They cover a little bit of everything, so some videos might not be things you want to watch right now - check video descriptions (but don't let that put you off the channel).

https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile and https://www.youtube.com/user/standupmaths - Two geeky math channels that make math fun. What I've watched has been harmless fun, though I haven't watched all of the videos.

http://thekidshouldseethis.com/ - Don't let the name fool you! Adults will find a lot to enjoy here as well. The site is an assortment of videos on a variety of topics, from science to art.

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/defunctland - This one comes with some content warnings. The Defunctland channel consists of three main series - Defunctland, DefunctTV, and a six-part special on Jim Henson. DefunctTV is an examination of various children's shows - all good fun, even if you weren't in the right age bracket to watch the shows when they originally aired. The six-part Henson special is what brought me to the channel. Fun, but be aware that the last episode deals with

Spoiler

the end of Jim Henson's life and the memorial service.

Defunctland is a 3-season (so far) history of various defunct amusement parks and amusement park rides. I suggest starting with Season 3 or Season 2, not Season 1, as the series takes a while to find its footing. At its best, there's a good balance between being funny and being respectful of the material. This one is recommended with some caveats, especially since I haven't watched most of Season 1 or listened to any of the podcasts.
Content warnings:

Spoiler

mentions of death, especially in the Action Park (a fatally unsafe amusement park) and America Sings videos. If you do watch America Sings, take the warning shown in the video seriously! For once, the host isn't making a joke. Also occasional racist content in the historical footage (always called out by the host).

Podcast

Levar Burton Reads - LeVar Burton reads his favorite short stories. This is not for the Reading Rainbow age bracket, but anyone who grew up with Reading Rainbow might want to check this out. Content warnings appear before each story, plus there's some language.

http://www.hiddenalmanac.com/ - This fantasy podcast is still one of my favorites. News, saint's days, and gardening tips from a world that isn't quite ours, with the occasional foray into multi-part stories. If you're an Ursula Vernon fan, keep an eye out for references to other stories/artwork she's done. It's presented as an in-universe radio show, complete with in-universe sponsors. Frequently strange, frequently inspiring, frequently funny. This wrapped up last year, but the archives are still available online and the whole show can be downloaded. Do not start with the last couple of months of episodes, as they are plot-heavy and wrap up six years of story. Either start at the beginning or pick a few interesting-sounding episodes from the first couple of years (or both). If you start at the beginning, give it a few episodes to find its footing (they're only 3-4 minutes each).
Minor content warnings:

Spoiler

Minor drug references, frequent alcohol references whenever Pastor Drom is around, some off-color humor (perpetrated by Pastor Drom), occasionally gets a little dark, final storyline is a tear-jerker after mid-August 2019.

Ursula Vernon, the writer, talks a little bit about the inspiration for The Hidden Almanac here.

(I also have a ton of fantasy/science fiction short story podcasts, but I'll save those for another post.)

Origami!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV7sbaffuNo - How to make an origami dodecahedron. This one is probably on the easier side for large modular (multi-piece) origami projects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIVIegS ... NKuqZWQkB3 - A multi-part series on hexaflexagons, with part 5 going into detail on how to make them. Vi Hart also has a website.

http://www.origami-instructions.com/index.html - Step-by-step instructions for a variety of origami, from the easy to the more complex.

https://origamiusa.org/diagrams/free - An assortment of free diagrams from OrigamiUSA.

https://en.origami-club.com/ - Lots of origami on a site geared toward children. All diagrams are made to fit on a single sheet of paper, which means that steps occasionally get left out.

De-Stressing

https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php - An impressive array of white noise machines for all of your noise-blocking needs. Far more than just the standard ocean/waterfall sounds! I use Sleeping Dragon when the anxiety gets too bad.

https://www.youtube.com/myNoiseDotNet - YouTube channel for the above.

[lolacharm]

If you'd like to take up a new hobby, mainly drawing, I've learned a lot from drawabox.com. All you need is a pen and paper to start learning some drawing fundamentals

[Reima]

I've recently found a channel on Youtube
It's a channel about art restoration
There's several videos where you can listen and watch as this person fixes and cleans old paintings, it's really quite satisfying
Here's one of those videos for anyone curious