So, I gave up social media and texting (my phone in general except for emails, video+audio, finance stuff, and calls) for Lent.

So far I’ve messed up on the texting thing once when I had to respond to my brother about something, but except for that I have been good. Only about 27 days to go!

I’ve looked at WhatsApp and my texts to make sure anyone who didn’t know hadn’t messaged me…but alas, of course, they hadn’t, HAHA!

I was using my phone as a security blanket at times when I should have just been facing the uncomfortable situations around me and it got to be too much. I was checking my phone constantly and using it for everythinggg.

I chose to give this up a week or so before Lent but I went to my favorite bar on Mardi Gras and some grumpy, drunk old man was loudly making fun of me and this middle-aged lady sitting next to me about being on our phones…she told him off but I just sat there wondering why people have to be assholes–and bathing in the irony of the fact that I was set to give up my phone in a few hours and he had no idea. *I still think people are assholes…

I’m legit dying tho. It’s super isolating and lonely not being able to reach out to people. I miss Instagram the most, by FAR! I find myself wanting to send people memes so bad 😛 I don’t miss Facebook at all, oddly, although I did realize all of my news was coming from there. Not like, I was reading news from people’s likes or my timeline, but I follow all of my favorite news outlets on there so without that platform I’m not reading any news. I have since fixed that by shifting completely to BBC and radio news shows/podcasts. Also, watching TV without Twitter/IMDb is certainly overrated, tbh…

That said, I have been sleeping better (it’s definitely affected my dreams!) and have been more productive at work. I have been better about getting exercise and grooming too. Not that I wasn’t doing that stuff before but I am more focused and have more energy to dedicate to those things now. I’ve also taught myself some new skills in my free time too: logo making on Adobe Illustrator as well as creating and enabling “canned messages” and filters in Gmail. Worked on more Adobe stuff too. I’ve been reading more as well. I definitely hope to keep my phone usage to a minimum after all this.

I keep forgetting and eating meat on Fridays so I guess it’s all kind of pointless anyway, haha >_<

I’m going to a concert on Friday and that’s probably going to be the most challenging. I will take some pictures to share on IG at Easter.

As is tradition, here are my picks (first and second) for all of the categories in tonights OSCARS! What are your picks?

BEST PICTURE

• Call Me by Your Name
• Darkest Hour
• Dunkirk
• Get Out
• Lady Bird (1)
• Phantom Thread
• The Post
• Shape of Water (2)
• Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Timothee Chalamet (2)
• Daniel Day-Lewis (1)
• Daniel Kaluuya
• Gary Oldman
• Denzel Washington

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Sally Hawkins
• Frances McDormand
• Margot Robbie (1)
• Saorise Ronan (2)
• Meryl Streep

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Willem Dafoe (1)
• Woody Harrelson
• Richard Jenkins
• Christoper Plummer
• Sam Rockwell (2)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Mary J. Blige (1)
• Allison Janney (2)
• Lesley Manville
• Laurie Metcalf
• Octavia Spencer

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• The Boss Baby
• The Breadwinner
• Coco (1)
• Ferdinand (2)
• Loving Vincent

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Blade Runner 2049 (2)
• Darkest Hour
• Dunkirk
• Mudbound
• The Shape of Water (1)

COSTUME DESIGN

• Beauty and the Beast
• Darkest Hour
• Phantom Thread (1)
• The Shape of Water
• Victoria & Abdul (2)

DIRECTING

• Dunkirk
• Get Out
• Lady Bird (1)
• Phantom Thread
• The Shape of Water (2)

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

• Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
• Faces Places (2)
• Icarus (1)
• Lost Men in Aleppo
• Strong Island

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

• Edith+Eddie
• Heaven Is a Traffic Jame on the 405
• Heroin(e) (1)
• Knife Skills
• Traffic Stop (2)

FILM EDITING

• Baby Driver (1)
• Dunkirk
• I, Tonya
• The Shape of Water (2)
• Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• A Fantastic Woman (1)
• The Insult
• Loveless
• On Body and Soul (2)
• The Square

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

• Darkest Hour (2)
• Victoria & Abdul (1)
• Wonder

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

• Dunkirk
• Phantom Thread (2)
• The Shape of Water (1)
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

• Mighty River
• Mystery of Love
• Remember Me (2)
• Stand Up For Something
• This is Me (1)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Beauty and the Beast
• Blade Runner 2049
• Darkest Hour (2)
• Dunkirk
• The Shape of Water (1)

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• Dear Basketball
• Garden Party (1)
• Lou
• Negative Space (2)
• Revolting Rhymes

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• DeKalb Elementary (2)
• The Eleven O’Clock
• My Nephew Emmett (1)
• The Silent Child
• Watu Wote/All of Us

SOUND EDITING

• Baby Driver (1)
• Blade Runner 2049
• Dunkirk (2)
• The Shape of Water
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi

SOUND MIXING

• Baby Driver
• Blade Runner 2049
• Dunkirk (1)
• The Shape of Water (2)
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Blade Runner 2049 (2)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Kong: Skull Island
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• War for the Planet of the Apes (1)

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

• Call Me by Your Name (1)
• The Disaster Artist
• Logan
• Molly’s Game
• Mudbound (2)

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

• The Big Sick
• Get Out
• Lady Bird (1)
• The Shape of Water (2)
• Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri