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Posted On: Apr 19, 2026

Hi everyone (my 0 viewers). there's a lot to cover, so I'm gonna take it 1 topic at a time.

Reducing Plastic Use

I have come to HATE plastic ALOT recently. I've learned about the horrible effects plastic brings to the world, so I have made it my goal to reduce my plastic use as much as possible. If you haven't seen already, I made a full list of all changes that would need to happen for my plastic use to be close to nothing. I am still far from being perfect with following every guideline that I made, but I think that when I move out I can get much closer to that level of perfection, being that I will have so much freedom. I have also tried to explain to my family why plastic use is so bad, but I don't think they care unfortunately. My brother even said he would use more plastic so that my efforts would have no net effect on the world. ): (He was joking but like dude)

Laundry

FELLAS. I think I've found the best way to do laundry, it's so fun. Basically, there's something called a ranger roll, and It makes it really easy to grab your clothes really easily. The following image provides a pretty good guide, but for the first step I usually fold the bottom few inches behind the shirt instead of making the shirt inside-out, and I also put my folded underwear on top so It gets added to the shirt bundle.

Also, for my pants I've just been folding them in half then folding them in thirds, because that's what fits the best on my shelf.

Cooking and Baking

Man, Cooking and baking is so fun. Just the other day I made some homemade peanut butter, it took 2.5 hours because I had to shell every single peanut, bake them for 15 mins at 350 degrees F, let them cool for 5 minutes, wrap them in a washcloth and abuse them to get the skins off, pour them into a bowl, then pour them into the food processor while blowing really hard to blow the skins away, then put them on puree mode for 5 mins, deattaching any peanuts from the sides every minute, then scoop it into a glass jar. It was really fun though, I enjoyed every second. I also really like making bread, It's very easy, and It's Cheaper and better tasting then anything you can buy at a regular grocery store. For cooking, I need to get more recipes in my brain, but it's still really fun. I can't wait to move out then prep all my own meals, It's gonna be so good.

Linux

I HATE WINDOWS SO MUCH. I mainly use linux anyway, but I still needed to use windows for my architecture software, and FL studio. I ALSO had to use windows for art, because I couldn't get my Huion tablet to work on linux. I'm happy to say that I sold my Huion and got an XP PEN Deco 01 V3, And it works perfect with linux. I also quit that horrible school, but that's the next topic. The only thing I still use windows for is FL studio, it's really good i'm sorry. I did move almost every file off of windows that didn't need to be there though, so I'm pretty happy about that. (:

School

I HATE BRIGHTON COLLEGE. It is seriously the worst experience I have ever had at school. ever since I started, I could tell that the teachers were not the most informed about the subjects that they teach, but It just got more and more prevelant as I went on through the program. For almost every assignment I had to do outside research for how to do an assignment, because the lectures were just so useless. The teachers also ALWAYS started class at least 5 minutes late, They repeated themselves for almost everything they said, like "so next we will talk about THIS, THIS okay?" and it was so annoying I swear. They all also had really thick accents, making it even harder to follow along. ANOTHER THING is that they sometimes just DIDN'T clearly list off the criteria for assignments, then gave me a failing grade, when I had NO WAY OF KNOWING how to get 100%. It is insane that this school is even allowed to exist. So on the 13th I filed a formal complaint, highlihting all the things wrong with the school, asking for most, if not all my money back (but I said it in a professional way.) There was some back and forth, forms signed, phone calls, etc, but on the 15th they said that they would complete the review and provide a response within 15 days. So this has been a waste of time, but at least it might not be a waste of money I guess... I have been working at the grocery store during my time at Brighton College, and I've made around $4,500 since November, so that also puts a dent in the money lost. It was like $13,714 for that 7.5 month program, which is also really high. I'm hoping for like $12,000 back lol

So if I'm not doing that shitty architecture course, what am I doing? WELL selkirk college has an amazing Digital Fabrication and design 2 year progam, and just yesterday I went to see the year end showcase, and IT IS SO GOOD. Everyone there is so talented. It was also showcasing the work of the Digital Art students, which were also insanely good. I do kind of already have a self-made curriculum for getting better at art (Drawing on the right Side Of The Brain>Perspective Made Easy>Color by Betty Edwards>Constructive Anatomy), but depending on the value I would get from doing that digital art program, I may do that a bit later in life If I feel so inclined. BUT THE MAIN PROGRAM for me is the Digital Fabrication And Design diploma. IT will open up MANY different career paths, and it also seems REALLY fun. I also got to meet the people who run the program, and they seem really nice, AND really smart. I'm going to apply today, I CANT WAIT

J*b

So as mentioned, right now I'm working at the local grocery store, both at the Deli and as a cashier. I might ask for more hours though, seeing as I've got roughly 4 months until I'm starting REAL school. As for my career, I just wanna choose something where I can be creative. I wanna make or design stuff, or both. That would be such an amazing career. It could be Architecture, product design, Something useful for sustainability, something like that. I've heard of several people who have gotten hired to work at SPEARHEAD, which is a really cool company that designs multi million dollar timber homes, so that could be cool. I still need to narrow down what I really want to do though.

Stay calm and griddy on. (:

Hi, April 23 Xavier here with a pro tip: Archive everything that you can. Thoughts, notes, Journals, books, lists, recipes, and anything else. That is part of you. That is your mind on paper. And that is really cool. If you never keep anything from your past, then that past version of you is lost forever.

Posted On: March 4, 2026

Ok so like, I have no idea if Architecture design is right for me, it may just be that the private college I'm doing is not the highest of quality, but I'm finding it very difficult to focus, especially because the teacher has a very heavy accent, and you can tell she doesn't really know what she's talking about. I still really need to try as hard as I can, because Architecture design does pay quite well, so if I can get really good at it, I will likely be able to buy a house in the near future, which is my main goal. I already have enough money for a down payment, but I still need to save up more so I have enough money for any extra fees, furniture, fixes that need to get done to the house, etc. I'll most likely just buy a 2 bedroom Condo because they're waaay cheaper, and maybe rent out the other bedroom so I'm not paying as much for the mortgage payments.

I've been trying to get better with not spending as much money (I'm using cashew which is amazing), but one thing I would really like to buy for my new home is the Casio PX-870BK, It just looks like such a nice piano, AND it has a really nice stand. currently I'm using a piano stand that's supposed to be used on a stage for someone standing up, so It has nowhere to put sheet music and the feet of the stand are really in the way when I'm sitting at my piano bench. Also it has no cover, so the keys of my piano can get kind of dusty.

Whatever my future holds for me, as long as I buy a house and have my own space, I will be really happy. It's gonna be so fun planning, buying, and cooking my own meals, Furnishing my house however I want, Going on walks and doing anything I want anytime, like DUUUDE it's AMAZING IM SO EXCITED.

Posted On: Jan 16, 2026

Hi everyone, happy new year!!!

I have been trying really hard to keep consistant with my routine (drawing, piano, mind training, chores, and school, all at specific times throughout the day) and to keep track of it, I have been using proton Calender, which has been great, but if you don't care about your privacy then google calender would work too. It has always been a struggle to get past a few days in a row where I'm fully following my schedule, but I recently got a small physical calender and a green and red marker, so If I complete the day and I decide that I was productive, then I get a green checkmark, and If not, I get a red X. It has helped quite a bit, so I'm happy.

With drawing, I have sold my old Huion tablet, and gotten a screenless XP pen tablet, because it's cheaper, better, and good for your posture. I have also switched from Clip Studio Paint to Krita, and it is SO MUCH better. It might be my favorite software ever. I watched a course on youtube about the basics of krita, and now I have a decent understanding of it. I'm still sometimes drawing traditionally, but usually just for Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain excercises.

For piano, I feel like the only times I'm actually progressing in learning a song is when I'm in a piano lesson with my teacher, so I need to get better at reading sheet music on my own. Every time I sit down at my piano I'm just playing the parts of songs that I already know over and over again, so I need a better strategy.

I might actually be starting to enjoy AutoCAD a bit, it isn't as confusing and frustrating now that I understand how to use most of the main features. I might have actually chosen a good career path going into using AutoCAD for architecture. (:

Posted On: Dec 11, 2025

Hi everyone, hope you're doing good.

Since yesterday morning, I've spent 4.5 hours taking notes for my AutoCAD fundementals course, so I just needed a break. after I'm done writing this, I'll continue to write notes and review everything, because I'm almost done. The diploma is structured like you completely finish one course, move on to the next, finish that one, and so on. I personally enjoy that way, I feel less overwhelmed than I did in high school. For the fundamentals course, the final exam is this friday, so I just wanna make sure I succeed.

With any free time that I do have, I've been using it to get better at using FL studio, and playing piano. I would say I'm decent at piano, but I'm still just getting started with FL studio. I've been following along with Synthet's official FL studio guide, which has been very helpful. I also have a few other FL studio guides from youtube that I saved, so hopefully those will help aswell. I have also made a deal with myself, where If I make 100 songs that I like, I can buy the FL Key 37, So that'll be a good motivator, then after that It'll be evenm easier to make music.

I also got each of my family members 2 christmas gifts, which is always kinda difficult, because you have to make sure that each gift is something that they'll enjoy, and sometimes it can be difficult to determine what exactly that might be. anyways, have a good Christmas Ho!

Posted On: Nov 22, 2025

Are we deadass right now? we couldn't get through 1 more month without 1 more persong getting added to the "horrible person" list?

If you didn't know already, alot of information has come to light about the popular Undertale speedrunner Shayy, and long story short, they groomed 20 KIDS, sexual harrasment, sexual assault, all that horrible stuff. I just find it so insane how not even 10 DAYS AGO, I was saying how insane it was how many people got cancelled this year for doing a variety of horrible things. NOW SHAYY. like how hard is it to just be a normal person? anyway, merry christmas!

Posted On: Nov 16, 2025

My plan to eliminate google (from my life) is getting closer and closer to being complete. I have downloaded all my favorite music so I can listen to it anywhere, and I also downloaded all my playlists just to have them as an archive. I also switched to using Proton mail and Proton Calender, Which is amazing by the way. I also did a google takeout on all my google photos and put that on my NAS, then deleted all the photos on google and turned off backup. I'm also now using Obsidian to take notes. Now the only thing I really need my google account for is when people email me on there, but I set it up so it forwards the email to my proton mail, so I can respond through that. I also still need my account for when I want to add new songs to my music playlists, which I would then download.

My college course for architectual design starts tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited for that. I will need to do the course on windows, because you need to use a bunch of Autodesk programs, but It'll be fine. In the future when I get a job in this field, they'll probably have me use that same software, or some other programs that require windows, so there isn't really any escaping it. It's probably not inherently bad to have my Work OS be different from my main OS anyway, becuase I heard that it psychologically makes you switch into work mode if you have them be seperate, so It'll be good.

So anyways, I started ding my own laundry a while ago, and it is insane how much BETTER IT IS. in the past when my mom was doing the laundry, I would sometimes put some clothes in the laundry bin, and I wouldn't see them for two weeks sometimes. Obviously this isn't my mom's fault because she can't constantly be doing laundry, but it was kind of like shipping something without a tracking number, just completely in the dark to where it might be. Now that I switched to doing my own laundry, I always know exactly where all my clothes are, and I can go from a full dirty laundry basket to Clean, hung up clothes in just a few hours, so I can just do that every Sunday! I know this is a very simple thing that everyone does, but it's so nice to have full control over my laundry. I can also sort my hung up clothes any way that I want, so I have It organized as follows:

Hoodies ^ , Shirts ^ , Pants ^ , Extra hangers ^

Also, I can't wait to move out. I love my family, but I really want to plan, shop, and cook my meals. I find it so fun, I already have a full meal plan I made on a spreadsheet, So I'm just waiting to use it. Cooking is so fun like omg, especially making homemade pasta, cutting up and preparing chicken, making pasta salad, I love doing all of it, and you get meals at the end of it too so It's basically the best thing ever.

Anyway Have a great day, and uhh remember to drink alot of water throughout the day!

Posted On: Nov 13, 2025

Hi everyone, my name is xavier. I currently live in a tiny town in Canada, and I'm currently doing College online (Nov 2025- July 2026) for Architectual design with CAD software. I'm following this specific career path because I have always really enjoyed making 3D models and 3d printing them. By the way for the past 3 years I've been running a 3D printing business, mainly selling items locally through the Saturday market, or custom orders to people who found out I do 3D printing throuh word of mouth. I've also gotten 68 sales through an online Etsy store (not active right now so I can focus on college), but I might keep it down for good because I heard somewhere that Etsy allowed some bad things to be sold on their website, So I think it's cancelled or something.

Speaking of cancellation, isn't it insane how many people have gotten cancelled this year? like I know it's good that people found out if someone was being a horrible person, or a company being really shady, but It's so weird to me how it was ALL in 2025. I don't really use the news or look at social media (except Youtube sometimes), so I miss alot of unimportant events that are going on, but EVEN THEN, it still feels like I've seen at least 10 people and 3 companies get cancelled this year alone.

So anyway, onto this blog's main topic, which is setting up everything, including this website. In the past few months, I've been switching everything I use to be either free, open source, or just good software. I started using fedora KDE linux mid-September, and I never looked back. the ONLY times I boot into Windows now is for stuff that I just can't use on Linux, like FL Studio, Clip Studio Paint, the CAD software I'll be using for my college course that starts soon, or some itch.io games. I also recently got Fedora Gnome working on my Microsoft Surface laptop, with the touchscreen working and everything! My dad also had a QNAP NAS lying around, so I set that up too, now I have a place to backup and archive anything I want! I also found out about yt-dlp, which allows me to download any youtube video or song, so I downloaded all my music playlists, and setup VLC so I can easily play any of my playlists in a few clicks! I ALSO setup my music to auto-sync with my phone, so anytime I download music on my PC, It's on my phone too! I just find it so cool that I can actually HAVE my music just as files on my computer!!

With making websites, my ONLY other experience with making one is many years ago, when I had a Technology class, and we got to design our own websites in a website hosting platform called Replit. I WOULD attach a link to my really old website, but unfortunately I don't think the website ever stayed online, and my School account was deleted after I graduated, so I'm pretty sure it's gone forever. After that course, I never really thought about making a website again, up until a few days ago, when I found a Youtube video made by "Green hoodie cat" (I think that was their name) about how boring it is that in today's day and age, we only really visit the same few websites, and that's it. They then introduced this really cool web hosting site called neocities, and the exciting world of the Indie-web! after watching that video and seeing how fun it looked, I decided to make my account here, and start creating this website! At first I didn't really know what I was doing, so I looked around the neocities website and I found the interactive tutorial they made with my GOAT Penelope the cat, and within 15 minutes I had made a simple HTML site! At that point I had a rough vision for what I wanted my website to look like, so I tried looking up how to do CSS, but I couldn't really find any easy to use cheat sheets or guides, so I (please forgive me for this) unfortunately used AI to tell me how to do the CSS, and what each property meant. While doing it that way is alot better than just copy pasting your code into and out of an AI chatbot, I still feel like it should be a LAST RESORT, because I honestly just straight up hate AI. After adding some more stuff to the website, I wanted to add a dropdown for this blog, but I obviously have no idea how to do that, so THIS TIME I ended up just looking at someone else's website code for their dropdown menu, and I "borrowed" it to use for my own website. I don't know what the general rule of thumb is on crediting people on here, but since I'm not a terrible person, they're credited at the bottom of this page. (go check out their website, it's really cool!)

Most recently, I also added dropdown menus to my Fav media page, and added a guestbook (go check it out!) This is honestly the most fun I've had in a while, as I've been stuck in the youtube dopamine loop for a little while now, just trying to break out of it any way that I can, whether it be taking up a new hobby like Piano or drawing, or using youtube blockers like Unhook which block my recommended feed, both of which have only been partially succesful, but startung THIS has helped waaaayyyy more!!!! I am having an absolute blast making my own personal website, so I plan to keep adding to it for as long as I can! If you read this whole thing, then thank you so much! I hope you have a great day :) .

P.S, I just saw that valve announcement video about their new controller, PC, and VR headset, and it's all so cool! I should really start a wishlist for some of this stuff, I know I don't need it but it's so amazing.