Danni the Purple Penguin

The Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025. I’m in it 😊 (I had hoped to post this at the time, but my ME decided that wasn’t allowed. I’m only about 4 months late 😛) The cool thing I did in the last post? I filmed an intro for a game for the Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025. I’m really happy I was able to do so, after being invited to last year but not being well enough. The Access-Ability…

Happy 2025! Things have happened since my last post, and though I have several drafts from the past year, I’ve not been able to finish them. So list it is. They’re mostly in chronological order. I’m hoping to expand on some of them later with photos, but trying to do those posts is partially why it’s been over a year since the last one. This blog is mostly for my future reference anyway 😊 As…

I've blogged: 10 Years...

Since the last time I stood and walked (3 steps). Still no idea why on the 18th May 2014 I had no POTS symptoms, but I’m very grateful for the memory. I’ve been unable to do either since then. 10 years ago, standing in my room. Please ignore the mess – we weren’t expecting to take photos that day! Most of the time I don’t mind not being able to walk. I always found it painful, even from…

I was planning to blog on Sunday, which was ME Awareness Day, but instead because I have ME I slept through it instead. To be honest I’m not entirely sure I would have said anyway – I’ve already said what it’s like to live with Severe ME, and that we need more physiological research. The recent NICE guidelines are a massive improvement over the old ones, but now we need doctors and hospitals to…

I've blogged: Dysautonomia Sucks

A rant, then an update. It’s becoming more obvious to me that dysautonomia (dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system) is causing the worst of my symptoms right now. Which is a problem, as that’s things like heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, digestion, urinating, and everything else the body does without thinking about them. POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) is one form of…

New Blog Post: Entertainment Goals for 2024

I like watching, reading, and playing things. Now I’m finally coming out of the November smol relapse (to contrast with the Covid big relapse) I’m actually able to plan what I want to achieve when it comes to entertainment. All of these are very health dependent, but hopefully I’ll manage some of them. Reading Reading 15 books I mentioned in my general goals list, before I realised it was…

I've blogged: Goals for 2024

New year, new goals. Normally this is where I’d review my previous ones, but after having a really bad relapse in 2022 I don’t even remember if I set any last year. Not a big problem though 😊 I’ve got quite a few for this year, though as always they’re very much health dependent, and I’m not expecting to manage them all. I have some for games, but they’ll be in a separate post as this is already…

I've blogged: Happy New Year!

It’s 2024. My new penguin calendar says so. My tablet says so. Izzy says so. It does not feel like 2024, but the evidence shows that it is the case. I hope you all have a wonderful year, in whatever form that takes. I had a good Christmas overall. I was well enough for Christmas dinner, including my birthday roast potatoes (I asked for them as a birthday present and was willing to wait 6 months…

New blog post: Things being bedbound makes easier

Not being able to get out of bed sucks. You miss out on so many cool, interesting or even mundane things, you need to rely on other people, and there’s so much you can’t do. Very occasionally, however, there’s an upside. Some of these are pretty universal, others might be more specific to me. Surviving Whamageddon. The one that gave me the idea for this list. It’s easy to not accidentally hear…

Blog post: I'm Still Alive!

Warning: Grumpiness Ahead Long time no blog. Short version is I got Covid June 2022, and though the vaccines kept me out of hospital (just – breathing with O2 levels of 88% was not fun) it caused a relapse I’m still going through. I have a draft of a proper update blog post as lots of things have happened, but brain fog is preventing me from completing it. I’ve gone from mostly bedbound to…

For ME Awareness Week, I've written a blog post about the choices I make living with ME.

It’s ME Awareness Week, and so here’s a post about what it’s currently like for me to live with ME. I have pretty severe ME, being almost completely house and bedbound, but have been lucky enough to improve over the last few years. This means I now have choices. Each day, I attempt to figure out several things. How much energy do I have? How am I doing with light, noise, smells, movement and…

Spending most of my time in a fuzzy state has meant no blogging and a lot less being on social media. I’ll often have Twitch or YouTube on but communication is hard. Some things have happened since May though and I’m putting what I can remember here for future Danni. The biggest was my 35th birthday in June. As Izzy and I were both fully vaccinated, social distancing and masking was still in…

Second Covid-19 Vaccine Get

This is my second version of this post, as just over a week ago I wrote one saying I wasn’t feeling too bad after getting the second vaccine. I just needed fact check something with Izzy, so went to sleep thinking I’d post it after I woke up. And I felt awful. I’m still not great but I’m hoping it’ll ease off soon. I got my second jab on Tuesday 4th May, and getting it was fine. Same person as…

Most years I try and set some goals for the year, and review last year’s goals to see how they went. These were last year’s goals: Have at least 2 baths or showers – Nope. Didn’t happen. Had none. The Event meant I didn’t go into a care home and Izzy was far too overwhelmed to try and give me a shower.Use a toilet or commode – Also a nope. Requires too much organisation for during The Event.Go…

Happy New Year? I’m hoping this year is better for you all. Izzy is back at work, but Sammie is off college, starting remote learning on Wednesday. My friend Sophie is still ventilated in intensive care, but not as bad as at her worst. I wish there was more I could do than pray. Like for most people, last year did not go as we expected or hoped. There were some very bad parts, but it wasn’t a…

I hope you all had the best Christmas/holiday season you could under the circumstances. We had an okay time, decided to spread it out over a few days with presents on Christmas Day and roast pork on the 28th. I loved all my presents, though I still need to sort some out for those who didn’t have wishlists I could pick from. Sammie came over on Christmas Eve, and after donning full PPE we finally…

I Blogged: WTF is going on?

So I’m still here. This is mostly good. Still haven’t left my bedroom, but have gotten out of bed (to make a sheet change easier) so that’s something.

My brother Martin came over in August to help sort the kitchen out, as Izzy was too overwhelmed to do it. He did an excellent job, and we wore masks when in the same room and stuff. As it went well he was meant to be coming back to help more,…