Dragon Tamers - A room for those of us with anxiety / depression / etc

[Arabella Periscope]

I have discovered what the brass tentacle is for.  The right hand is for the cup of tea, the left is for the crumpet, and the tentacle is for the book.  Mystery solved!

[Camellia Wingnut]

My Dear,
Where can I order a tentacle? I should like one with a lace mitt.
C.W.
P.S. I believe I can claim to have pioneered envelope-phobia, probably before you were born. Our ancestors had scroll-phobia, and before that clay tablet-phobia. Killing the messenger is also a long tradition.
As for relations with a whole pile of paper, e.g. a thesis, words fail me!

[CorneliaCarton]

I want both bunnies!

[MWBailey]

Fun, fun, fun. Had my and Dad's b'day lunch* today with Mom and Dad at Taste of Texas (local big-time,  big-price steakhouse), steaks, huge salad, we all split a GIGANTIC slice of key lime cheesecake. Now I'm feeling all sunburny from blood sugar and my legs are crampy and restless. Will I ever learn? Probably not...




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*my b'day is later this month, but we celebrated both today.

[Alexis Voltaire]

Happy early birthday MWBailey *offers a large tray of imaginary confectioneries. The holographic images flicker slightly as the tray is set down.*

Here. They taste real, but there's quite literally nothing in them, so you can eat as many as you like.

*Alexis looks carefully at the bunnies, but shrugs and goes about to quietly refill various glasses and a few water and food dishes for the dogs and cats.*

Oh, and for the bunnies... *produces a basket of fresh greens and a few carrots.* They're adorable, and I'm reasonably sure neither one is a zygon. (Though they wouldn't be unwelcome, so long as they don't irritate or imitate the other guests.)

[Camellia Wingnut]

N.B.
Since there are wolves outside the Dragon Tamers Room, perhaps the rabbits have come in to cure their own anxiety and depression and be safe, just like the rest of us.
C.W.

[walking stick]

There are at least two werewolves in here, plus other shape changers, vampires, eldritch beings etc. There is a general truce but do be courteous about where you sit, it is impolite to put a bunny under a werewolf's nose.

[Capitan Diavolo]

This reminds me of a very tasty pasta dish my former mother-in-law was used to prepare: "Pappardelle al sugo di lepre" 

Better not going to translate, lol....   

[Camellia Wingnut]

My Dear Capitan,
Leper? I do hope not.
C.W.
P.S. Oh. I see. "First catch your hare. . ."

[Capitan Diavolo]

  Camelia...

[CorneliaCarton]

Choked with the cold. I feel horrible....

[frances]

Here Cornelia, the two bunnies are free for you now.  And here is a carrot for them to nibble.  Don't you just love the way their noses twitch.

[MWBailey]

*twitches* haircut? Noooooo...

[Ada Thorold]

Although it has been a few years since I would have been a full time resident of this place, I hope no one minds if I come in for a few moments of calm.....

The new arrival scoops up one of the bunnies from where it had been knawing on a table leg and settles down in a large chair with the rabbit on her lap. She cwtches up in a soft blanket and starts to feed the rabbit dandelions.

~A~

[Arabella Periscope]

Now that is a chair.  Do try some of the French Toast. 

*Shadowy figures come and go from dimly lit niches.  A soft snore is heard; possibly from the deerhound in front of the fire -- or is it a were -- ?  But no, we do not inquire.  A tall lady places two beaten copper pots on the table.  They steam invitingly.  She bends over a sleeping form on the enormous feather chaise in a nearby alcove; either Capitan Diavolo or the Lady Lara is beneath the Swiss duvet, but must not be roused, even for food.  She retreats to her own niche, drawing the portiere with a whisper of brass rings.*

[Flightless Phoenix]

I'm feeling rather anxious tonight. I've got a presentation to give on the 10th and I promised myself it would be written by yesterday so I could have lots of time to rehearse, but I've been so busy (last minute job application to fill in and my boyfriend's birthday) that I'm just sitting down to write it as we speak! I'm sure I can get it finished tomorrow though...Also I got an email today to say my abstract has been accepted for a colloquium at uni. I knew it probably would be as I'm supposed to speak this year, but getting the actual date is making me panic a fair bit. Every time I think i'm getting my head together and I'm able to cope with the PhD again, I have another day like this...

I think I might sit down with the bunnies and stroke the very soft fur between their ears until I feel better. I've brought some dried dandelion treats (I know a bunny that goes mad for them).

[Arabella Periscope]

Happily for the anxious, time flows differently here, bunnies give off radiant heat and know nothing of deadlines, and the tea stimulates creative thought!

[Flightless Phoenix]

What a wonderful suggestion. I think I'll brew a pot of my favourite loose leaf tea; Grandma's Garden by Char Wallah.

(description here: http://www.charwallah.com/shop/Our+Teas/Fruit+Teas/No64+Grandma%27s+Garden+Tea+%28Strawberry%29/1-11-44.htm)

[Arabella Periscope]

In the short story 'Green Tea' Le Fanu says that all students and writers write 'on' something.  Green tea has too much caffeine, apparently.  Your tea looks delicious and inspiring without being hallucinogenic!

[delCano]

G'day,
I was wondering if it is a common thing for people to feel suicidal every time they don't sleep well. I happens to me and I don't know how to break myself for having a black day after every wrong night. Since this often triggers another bad night, it usually means several horrible days one after the other. The chain may be broken for any random reason, but I would love it if there were some consistent way of rebounding.

[Camellia Wingnut]

A drapery of (faux) fox furs slides over the arm of a plump sofa in a particularly dim inglenook, as the occupant becomes alert to distress in her vicinity.
Although more familiar herself with the embrace of sleep, than with insomnia, she holds strong views on the matter, having read a book called "Winston Churchill's Afternoon Nap." http://www.amazon.com/Winston-Churchills-Afternoon-Jeremy-Campbell/dp/0671657178
As with most opinions, hers are based upon an imperfect recollection and personal bias; however, the book discussed cycles of sleep, and the nadir of the 24 hours which occurs around 3 or 4 a.m. Birth, death, suicide, agonies of doubt, are prone to overwhelm the wakeful at this time. If you, dear sufferer, have fallen in to a pattern which causes your wakefulness to expose you to the dread of this hour, the effects will indeed follow you all day. The book describes various experiments, and might suggest a way for you to change your nocturnal cycle to avoid this mood attack.
Forgive her if ignorance of your circumstances has caused her to overlook some monstrous problem which could account for the insomnia without recourse to obscure books.
Meanwhile, a nook with a fur-lined hammock and a steaming bowl of your favourite beverage might help. Perhaps a visit from one of our more drowsy Golden Retrievers.
Kindest Regards,
C.W.

[frances]

Somnolent retrievers are indeed sleep-inducing.  However late-night cups of hot chocolate, caffeine-laden fare or spicy foods work against this warm furry doggy influence.  As does watching the moving box in the corner.

When I wake in the wee small hours I eat a bowl of plain cereal with cold milk and that seems to work the trick.  That, together with a lavender-perfumed room and a warm cosy sleeping place help one to relax.  A walk prior to bed-time is also thought to be effective - maybe take the retriever out with you for a late-night saunter.  I have even been known to take a bunny-rabbit out for a walk in my arms before retiring.

Sleep comes if you do the same things every day before going to bed.  This is a signal to the brain that it is wind-down time.  If you break the habit then it does take a while to get back into the habit all over again.

[CorneliaCarton]

Tip for life: don't drink cider, then coffee, then cider again. I learned this the hard way...

[Camellia Wingnut]

My Dears,
Ought we to equip our nooks with rose-patterned chamber pots?
Self-emptying, of course.
Hmmmm.
Never Mind.
C.W.
P.S. Or, in the true spirit of Steampunk:

[Madasasteamfish]

My Dears,
Ought we to equip our nooks with rose-patterned chamber pots?
Self-emptying, of course.
Hmmmm.
Never Mind.
C.W.
P.S. Or, in the true spirit of Steampunk:

If we are going to provide 'vomitoria' (I am aware that I am misusing the term) for the residents members, might I request that I be provided with the more "traditional" 'porcelain throne' (I'm a great believer in the tradition, and in particular 'hugging the porcelain').