Q And Journal Blag

I hope you don’t mind that Im only answering this part of your question, but it was a lot to reflect on and unpack.

I think the best way I can describe it is like…. You know how when you do a puzzle, and most people start with the border and work their way inwards?

I think that most people are just the border of a puzzle.

I can look at a crowd and kind of guess whose finished picture is a landscape, or a bunch of balloons, or a classical painting. The colours and shapes give an impression that makes everybody a tiny bit different.

But then like… a LOT of people are puzzles of, say, a field of white flowers. And I can only see the border, so I have to think of like… which borders have more flowers or more grass, more grass or more sky, etc, and whatever is in the middle isn’t even put together yet.

But if someone’s border has, say, something fluorescent yellow in the top left- that makes them easier to differentiate from all the other field-of-white-flowers puzzles. I can remember that. And then later if the bottom half of the puzzle is covered, I can still see the big spot of neon yellow at the top, and remember that no other field-of-white-flowers have that.

And then like…. The more I see them, or the more unique features the have like tattoos or scars or birthmarks or whatever, unique proportions or deformities or injuries or gaits- the more pieces are filled in. So I can retain more parts of the picture in my head

So now instead of just being another border of a puzzle of a field of white flowers, YOU are a windmill in a field of white flowers, or a castle in á valley of white flowers, or a mix of white and red flowers.

And if I see someone often enough for long enough, I get so many pieces in their ten-thousand-piece puzzle that even with a few gaps, I still know exactly who they are, and can still pick them out of a crowd. Because I’ve filled in enough of the picture to know what it is

Like

Like. These aren’t literal. I can SEE your whole face in front of me. I could draw your portrait while I looked at you.

But until I’ve been in consistent contact with you over several years, the first two sketches are how you exist in my head

And from what I’ve heard from other people with face blindness, it’s not even the same for everyone

The current research holds that it’s due to an atypical Fusiform Gyrus, which is a little structure in the back of the brain that, in “normal” folks, lights up specifically in response to human faces.

So. Basically. Face Blindness is what we call it when folks do not have the additional, specifically face-detecting hardware in their brain, and have to rely on the Object-Recognition hardware.

You know me now as Story, but some of you might remember me better as Vampireapologist or Mallaidh-Anne.

I want to thank you all sincerely for the kindness you have shown me, for many years, and especially in this last month. My campaign is 35% funded, more than 1/3, all thanks to you! More than just your donations, I am overwhelmed by your words of support since its launch.

If you haven't seen my prior posts on the topic: I am thrilled to have accepted an offer to attend University College Dublin’s School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore this autumn (2025).

Although I graduated at the top of my class in my undergraduate degree, and I happily earned a small scholarship through community service work in 2022, I cannot afford the cost of attendance on my own. I am therefore turning to my community for support.

I do not ask lightly, and it is only after many months of encouragement and insistence of friends and family that I am taking this step. I have dedicated the last eight years of my life to the study, preservation, interpretation, and presentation of natural resources and cultural heritage.

It's my ambition to continue and expand my work, in service to ecological conservation and community involvement, focused on the intrinsic link between cultural and natural heritage.

Read More about my education, financial need, and service goals below, or go directly to the GoFundMe page for more information!.

- Trump signs unpopular order banning TikTok for being Chinese

- Democrats support the ban because people are supporting a ceasefire on TikTok

- Netanyahu sides with Trump despite Biden’s ass kissing and collaborates with him to delay ceasefire talks

- Dems lose in a landslide because of their deeply unpopular positions

- Trump takes credit for the ceasefire and for TikTok getting unbanned