#katkollection

@katkollection 

I’ve got my messages restricted to folks I follow on my non-personal blogs simply because I was struggling to keep up. I miss the days when I could write and post and then spend hours chatting with people and then write some more, when I could be more social online as well as a content creator, but for now it’s about trying to find some kind of balance that doesn’t best suit everyone (myself included), and it’s definitely the social aspect that takes a hit.

(It’s not always easy to explain that chronic hand pain, or anything else that impacts typing, is a communication disability in an online world–and things like speech to text to create content relies on abilities I don’t always have, like clear speech, non-complex-word-use and a safe space to talk aloud. I never see anyone talk about things like speech-to-text in a world where I am not comfortable having people overhear what it is I want to write! Or even things like not being able to listen to music while I work via speech to text, even though I need music to concentrate like I need to stim to focus on TV or films.)

I also don’t follow a lot of people from scrolling reasons–my hands can’t cope with too-cluttered a dashboard. I generally find content to reblog by remembering someone I haven’t reblogged from in a while, going to their blog and queuing things. So if I’m sparodic in remembering that there’s so many folks with great content that belongs here, like so many posts on your @katkollection blog, that’s why! I’m more than happy to reblog awesome posts when I remember that they exist, and you’re doing a fabulous job of demonstrating and comparing a variety of squishies and putties/slimes. It’s a great resource for US-based folks, especially since so many of your finds come from offline stores–which are so important to discuss, especially for teenagers and younger adults who may not be able to easily purchase online without parental support or involvement. It’s not something I can easily cover myself, being Aussie, so I appreciate being able to reblog it from you and others!

Finding the right squishy can be a challenge for me with the scents, and I don’t find them to be as durable as other toys: I get a little heartbroken when they start to yellow or tear. I love having them, though, just because they’re so low-impact on my hands, the colour variations are amazing and they look so good arranged in a basket or on display. My shelf is right outside my bedroom door, so I can (and do) just grab a handful of squishies and mush them every time I walk past. Display-worthy and stimmy–how can you not love it?

I think my favourites are still the red apples: they’re soft, not too small but still portable, red, simple, and even when scented they don’t leave the scent on my hands. My favourite to look at, though, is the blue galactic-style peach squishy. It’s just so bright and kind of cheerful.