Something pleasantly pleasant for me

[gwyn]

One of the things about this awful neck/shoulder thing is that I'm having to do a lot of my morning routine stuff on my phone while I try to sit somewhere my head can rest against something, unlike my desktop computer seating. There's really only one place in my house where my neck and head and shoulders are supported; the curse of being tall is that everything hits me just under my scapulas. So I'm trying to read and respond to emails, check the websites I read first thing, etc. on my phone and that often includes Dreamwidth.

I had to get a new style because my old one was unreadable on mobile; I don't necessarily love the new one but I also was not in the mood for my normal preference for bright colors or pretty pastels and went with a gray and dusky purple theme, but I'm having trouble getting used to reading white text on dark. I have never liked that much, there's not enough contrast, and I'm going blind. (Did I mention that here? I don't think I ever did. Ugh, that's another whole awful story that I don't have spoons for.) It's also pretty much impossible to make an entry on the phone; the type is so utterly minuscule that I can't use it until I can get enough stamina to power through on my laptop or desktop. I wish DW was a bit easier.

Yuletide is definitely a mixed bag this year. Gift receiving-wise, it was fantastic, with two stories in a fandom I've asked for for years and a Madness treat as well, but gift giving-wise, it's been pretty soul crushing. The recip said she'd come back with a comment and just left a placeholder thanks, but hasn't been back, and there've been almost no comments, just people clicking the "meh" button, even though this was one of those longtime Yuletide stalwart fandoms. I was happy with what I wrote and thought it turned out quite well, considering that I was in excruciating pain while writing and editing it. But I may be one of the few who thought it was decent.

I haven't read more than one story, myself, for a variety of reasons, but most especially because I've been working. My author wanted to know if I could get her manuscript back to her around the beginning of the month, so I've just been toiling over that instead of scrolling through the archive. Someday! Eventually!

Comments

[ratcreature]

I hope you'll find a non-painful computer setup, and that whatever your eye trouble is progresses as slowly as possible and/or has fixes. Bodies suck.

[gwyn]

Thanks--yeah, you are definitely a person who knows about eye trouble, so I appreciate it.

[minim_calibre]

Would my elderly iPad mini help? It's not the fastest, but I believe it still holds a decent charge, is fairly light, and it's just sitting around on my dresser these days going to waste. Might work better than the phone. (If you're interested, I can bring it down next time I'm over.)

[gwyn]

Oh, I can use my iPad too, but it's mostly just the entries that are the problem--it doesn't scale at all so you get two point type on the entry form. Old tech, man.

And it's probably safer on the phone because last night I was reading DW on my iPad, which was on my little pillow stand on my chest, and moved in a way that toppled it off the stand and it hit me in the mouth so now I have a gaping wound on my lower lip. Thank god I had my invisalign retainers in or I'd have had a broken tooth. I swear this neck thing is going to kill me.

[ratcreature]

Have you tried switching to the "beta" version of the DW post entry page? I've been using that for ages, and I don't get tiny type in the form and can enlarge. I get type like when commenting in forms on DW. It's not perfect for posting with a phone, but it works.

Otherwise if you do have an adapted notepad phone app that works well for you, adding the extra step of doing c&p into the DW post field might be worth it.

[sperrywink]

I have trouble with white letters on dark background too.

Good luck finding a good way to manage. And man, I don't know what to say about going blind except all the hugs.

If you are in the market for a new phone, my brother got one that unfolds so that the screen is twice the size. He finds it a lot easier to read and interact with the larger screen.

[gwyn]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm trying to just make it through to the other side at this point...

[batwrangler]

{{hugs}}

[musesfool]

*hugs*

[mackiemesser]

I hate all the "optimized for mobile!!!" pushes that have wrecked a bunch of non-mobile website functionality but when you're trying to read a non-optimized site it can be a huge pain. Does adjusting the accessibility settings on your phone change anything? Or maybe the settings in whatever mobile browser you're using?
(Someday I will get over the tech support reflex. Today is not that day.)

[gwyn]

I wish it was something I could adjust, but it's just the entry form side of things--it doesn't scale when you try to make an entry on the DW web side. It's definitely frustrating, but i just got this phone last year so I'm not going to be changing anything at this point. I just have to power through.

[mackiemesser]

Well, shoot. It's always something, isn't it?