Apparently today is the 14th anniversary of me signing up for wordpress! I'll admit I don’t post on here as often as I could or should. I often struggle with coming up with something other people might consider interesting. I feel as though I should be posting something thoughtful or interesting or funny, but then I think that's all subjective and are people really all that interested in what I have to say?

Are you more of a night or morning person? My gut instinct is to say I'm more of a night person, I can quite happily stay up to the small hours of the morning and sleep until late morning or early afternoon, but if you were to ask me to wake up at four or five in the morning to travel somewhere, or go to work, I could probably do it (very begrudgingly).

I am currently learning to design games in Unreal Engine (UE) 5.6, and it has been an interesting challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. I'm a couple of months in, and I figured it's about time to share some of the challenges I have faced while studying something I have wanted to do for a long time. My first—and possibly my biggest — challenge was my own brain.

I was initially diagnosed with Depression in 2012. I had been struggling with it on and off for a while at that point, and it was the right time to seek help for it. I started medication not long after. I had been struggling with feelings of being suicidal and having no self-esteem or self, and didn't see much point to being around.

I learned recently, on LinkedIn of all places, that this week (6th-12 October) is Dyspraxia Awareness Week, and as someone with Dyspraxia, I feel it's only right that I celebrate it. What is Dyspraxia? Dypraxia, also known as Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), is a neurodevelopmental condition that can affect a person's coordination and balance, as well as their ability to tie their shoelaces, complete tasks that require dexterity, such as holding small objects and writing with a pen or pencil.

What's your favorite time of day? I'm not sure what it is about the middle of the night that I find so appealing, but I find it to be the best time of the "day". Maybe it's my ADHD or Autism brain, but I always find the time between midnight and four or five AM to be peaceful and quiet in a way that seems to dissipate the stress I feel during "normal" operating hours.

Where did your name come from? According to a quick Google search of the "etymology of the name Duncan" the name originates from the Scottish Gaelic name Donnchadh, which is derived from the Gaelic words "donn" (brown or dark) and "cath" (warrior) and it dates back to the 4th century. Other sources suggest it could mean "Dark Skinned Warrior" So if I've got this right, I'm supposed to be some sort of dark/brown warrior.

What is autistic masking?In short, Masking is the conscious or unconscious efforts made by autistic people to hide or suppress their autistic traits and behaviours in order to fit in with Neurotypical (non-autistic) people. There are many ways that autistic people masks and the majority of them require a lot of physical and mental energy to maintain and drain autistic people very quickly.

Earlier this year I challenged myself to make more content for my YouTube channel, Beardo Bloggins. I decided to do this in the form of Daily Vlogs (Video Blogs), partly because they seemed easy to do, film different clips from the day and stitch them together and partly because I wanted to get more confident at appearing on camera. Now I'm closing in on 150 days of vlogging, and there are a few things I've learnt in that time.

I did a lot of listening to audiobooks in 2024, especially while out and about on things like my daily walk that I do, but even just around the house or doom scrolling through social media, so I wanted to go through some of the books I listened to last year and which ones I enjoyed the most, these aren't in any particular order; they're just the ones I enjoyed listening to!

Twitch is the world

YouTube video by Beardo Bloggins

YouTube video by Beardo Bloggins

Excellent condition hardly used! This Once Human "Scarweaver" vinyl record is a limited edition release on blue see-through vinyl, making it a visually striking addition to any heavy metal music colle...

YouTube video by Beardo Bloggins