Miller August 2025 Monthly Update
- JM Miller
- Sep 10
- 22 min read

[[Intro-Business Updates]]
As usual, time has been too quick for the amount that we need to get done, let alone WANT to do, and the amount of recovery time we require. With winter around the corner, we are starting to slow way down. The cold locks us up both in physical pain and in dissociation, which tends to take a lot of time being in it and energy to get out of it.
But we have been as busy as we could on our ‘free’ days! We cleaned the whole apartment and got rid of three bags of trash on one of our days off, so really trying to get ready for winter by cleaning and prepping.
I have started with a format this month, and we will see how it goes. I hope that some structure will provide mental stability and reassurance to not put this task off every month. We tend to do a lot and forget it quickly after completion. So I have started a journal for us to keep track of the accomplishments we had for the day, which will help lessen the stress of needing to remember and give me reference. With struggles of feeling the ‘joy’ and ‘pride’ of accomplishing tasks, the positives of many experiences and tasks are overshadowed by the overhanging “to-do” list that hangs over our heads. Once done, we are already working on the next thing.
Yes, we understand this stems from the childhood belief that you have no worth unless you produce. Also, the overwhelming focus on our long list and the incapability of being able to do everything at once. Never pausing to think, “Wow, I did a good job on this” and allowing myself to feel the enjoyment of a job well done. The pressure was on. That was time wasted in survival mode. But the automatic ‘programming’ will get stronger during the winter when we dissociate and go into autopilot mode. So the balance of work, play, and rest will be a big focus this winter. And part of that rest comes from the satisfaction that we did NOT waste the day, even if we needed it to be a potato day for recovery.
We have been doing a lot of business building in August, such as setting up and preparing for three new workshops! Two of them will be hosted by John, going over his Paper Ribcage art in September and October. I will be hosting a Scrap Tape ATC workshop in September!
Head over to WGAS and see what classes are available!


[[Events- Past and Upcoming (swaps and paper day)]]
Big Big Big!! The TRE (or The Resource Exchange) is having an Art Show September 11th from 6 pm–9 pm! You’ll have to purchase tickets to get in and see the art, with a chance to bid for various art pieces. Every year the TRE wants to put on an Art Show to share about what they do and give an opportunity for their clients and supporters to share their talents. The TRE helps underprivileged and disabled locals in a few counties with resources, such as getting in-home care through Medicaid. They are the reason we have the minimal funds to cover our rent, utilities, and a little for food and necessities to keep us going. I get paid for my caregiving job through a provider that works through the TRE, who then connects with Medicaid to get everything covered. So this has been HUGE in just our basic needs being covered. (Generally, government isn’t great about keeping plans running without glitches and then not giving any back pay or restitution for their costly errors).
But yeah! That’s tomorrow. I meant to send this out earlier, but I hit a depression period for three days, mostly just sleeping or sitting and staring. So that has put me back a bit too.
Next blog I'll add in the photos of our artwork (and some other artworks) that were submitted!
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In August we were at both the Art Swap and there for Paper Day, providing some ATC goodness for the public for free~ We have both been becoming more comfortable creating out in public to where we have both been making quite a few. So keep an eye out for some new cards in the trade binder!
For the month of September, we will be at the Art Swap on September 13th from 1 pm–4 pm at the Sand Creek PPLD Library.
In October, on the 18th, we will be at the Monument Library for the following Art Swap with WGAS. Same time, from 1 pm–4 pm.
The next Paper Day at WGAS that we will be at will be the one in October on the 25th.
[[ATCs – Trade Boards/Groups/Newest Cards]]
The Trade Board at WGAS was temporarily down for a few weeks in August while the store expanded. It should be back up soon with new kits. I do not know if the kits I brought for August were put up. Right now, we do not have a vehicle, so I cannot bring any kits for September at this time. We are going to be extremely busy and may have to bring them on the 22nd, while we still have access to the vehicle we will be borrowing.
Our Crafty Card Collective group met at the Concrete Couch and managed to pick a day that was so lovely! The sun was a little hot for 30 minutes, but the shade from the trees, fresh air, and blue sky made having crafting time outside so pleasant. We had three new visitors join our group who seemed to have a lot of fun creating Scrap Tape cards—the same cards we will be making during my workshop on the 22nd. They helped me figure out some issues that may pop up during the workshop that I could iron out prior.
We have been quite busy creating. I have been in and out of the ‘en masse’ mindset with this next batch of almost 200 cards. They are awaiting their next steps and will probably be handed out in a few months when they are completed. I am still finishing up cutting a few more of the Scrap Tape strips, which should give me another 50 cards. John usually works on a card at a time. We are very, VERY different when it comes to making art, and it shows.
[[Community Group – Christian Craft Fellowship]]
Our group is a go! We have completed the class and background checks to host a Christian Crafting Group with our church, The Road at Chapel Hills! We will be going over some difficult topics and crafting to process, communicate, or express yourself using the Bible as a guide and reference. The Bible has been our guide through some gut-wrenching situations in life that had left us suicidal and with severe life-long health conditions. Through therapy for years, we have seen the parallel lessons and methods in the Bible and through current therapy modalities to make leaps and bounds in our recovery ourselves. So we hope to use art as a medium in blending this Faith Through Creativity.
Our first meet will be September 20th from 10:30 am–12:30 pm at 21C Library for the time being. We are hoping to move it into a home large enough or a room at the church. That way, we may be able to start incorporating drinks and snacks.
All materials will be provided. If you can cut, glue, and scribble with a writing tool, then you have ALL the skills you need to be creative.
This group is open to the community; however, we request that you sign up through the church to join. We would like to stay in contact to give updates and keep track of participants to help us direct the group where it needs to go to accommodate those who attend.
We are extremely excited for this group and hope to really dig into some unique findings and messages that have helped us keep our lives moving forward and up!
The sign up can be found [[here]]
From The Road at Chapel Hills website (.org) > Ministries > Community Groups > Us!

[[Newest Art]]
We have made things! Other than the ATCs shown prior, we have made quite a few other items. John has completed an art piece that was a gift for someone…we expected to have completed about two years ago.
…we aren’t fast.
And since we haven’t given it to the recipient yet, I can only give you a tiny peek at it. It turned out far better than we expected. Both of us had a huge part in creating this.
John created the cut files, picked the colors, laser cut the papers, organized the pieces, and assembled the artwork. I handmade the papers, creating over 122 pieces put together to create large sheets for John to cut into. Together, this beautiful artwork was born!
Full photos of it soon to follow after the gift is delivered.
This has also encouraged me to keep making more recycled paper pulp for John’s future projects—but on a smaller scale. I can prepare colored pulp, dry it, and store it for when he is ready. With it dry, he can also see what the finished color of the pulp will look like.
Here is what I’m working on when I’m talking about this paper pulp. By drying it in the oven, I can ‘clean’ it and prevent mold for better storage. I have a cupcake pan specifically for paper pulp to make these paper pucks. They then get stored in a cleaned cat litter container.
I am recycling clean spam mail, leftover scrapbook papers, construction paper, yellow pages (and the like), egg cartons, and more with a high fiber count for these—trying to utilize as much as I can from what comes through our home.
With John and me having been in the medical field—John as a medic—we are extremely careful about the cleanliness of the items we use. It also helps that John understands chemistry and a lot of the chemical makeup of materials, so we are able to sanitize or clean just about anything.
Some plastics can be cleaned multiple times. However, there does come a point when that plastic is breaking down (with the potential to seep into consumables), causing more problems by it being there than by throwing it away. So it’s not like we don’t throw items away—we just try to utilize them as much as we can. If you want to know more, either look it up or ask John. There will be a lot of topics where HE knows the science breakdown of it, and I just generally understand the gist. You may have to get used to me responding with “ask John” when it comes to the hard sciences, military stuff, history, and such. We have some backgrounds in knowledge that just don’t overlap.
Which is the 5% difference between John and I. We are quite alike more than different, if you can believe it!
Anyways… Oh! I suppose I could mention that I did make two more Junk Journals. One will be an example for the Christian Craft Fellowship class, and one was for Halloween.
Because I wanted to actually try and get something done before a specific season—and I have been attempting this for over eight years now. I still have a resin book cover I made six years ago that I have been wanting to turn into a book and show off in October… only to lose it before the month begins and find it months after October ends. This has occurred Every. Single. Year. FOR SIX YEARS! Crazy. And this time I have had it displayed in our main room for quite a few months with the HOPES of having the right timing!
Will it be done?
We shall see.
But I did make two (that aren’t done) and have no picture of. One might be a gift… but we shall see. I’m afraid of ruining it, so it may depend on the end result. I don’t think they are entirely crafty, so I want to make it to where they just have to put their choice pictures in it.
I hope to share the pictures of these next month when they need to be more complete and shown off anyway.
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Another item that is kind of an ‘art’ item but also… not. I guess it does count more as a ‘craft.’ I had this idea last month (or the month before) of going through a lot of our cardboard to make something for Sherlock. I managed to get back one of my Bo (staffs) from my parents and wanted to turn it into the internal structure for a cat scratch tower—laser cutting circle shapes that go around the staff and stack up to…I think it’s about eight feet. We may need to find something to either hold it up that can withstand her impact or have something to wedge the stick solidly in place. I’m so excited to keep going with this.
All that is needed is the base structure, cutouts to incorporate and cover that structure, an item to hold this all well in place… and then I can assemble! Oh, I will be putting skewers in the circles to keep them from spinning when she climbs it.
John wants to practice making some videos, so we may try and record this build for you to see what it looks like! And hopefully some videos of Sherlock enjoying it too.
[[Our Health and Struggles]]
August had quite a few hot days! And I think some odd really cold days too. Colorado has some very bipolar weather that kinda hurts us.
No, literally.
Our health hasn’t been great, but we are managing as always. I have been on a new medication and trying it for four weeks to see how well it works. It is supposed to help my sleep, improve my focus a bit, and something else… oh, and help ease my depression!! Found out I have treatment-resistant depression, meaning I have tried seven different medications that have done nothing to help—or caused more problems than they solved. So I have two last options to try if this one doesn’t work out.
There have been some moments of stress that kick up, like the Gov’t with Food Stamps suddenly bombarding us with six messages through our portal stating that they overpaid us and we suddenly owe them $300!! We luckily can dispute it because the card is with a third party that keeps track of all transactions using the card.
But issues like this have caused us so much unnecessary stress.
Oh, and then finding out that the paperwork we are to send in to renew John’s caregiving plan still hasn’t been reviewed. His two caseworkers, one from the caregiving provider company and one through TRE that connects with Medicaid, have not sent anything back since we submitted everything back in February. Which could cut John’s care—and my paycheck. The only thing keeping us afloat with our bare minimum needs.
Depression kicks up when the weather gets cold, so if it gets triggered, that could take us out for a day or two. Which is not bad since it used to take us out for weeks! And before each other, months! But we can still feel it affect us and our time.
Randomly during the month, I threw my back out? Drawing?
I was hunched over for maybe at most 15 minutes drawing on recycled paperboard when it felt like something ‘poked’ one of my vertebrae out of alignment. I collapsed in my chair and had to have John carry me to bed where I just lay there until I could withstand the pain.
So for about three days I could barely walk, needing John to hold me while I adjusted to accepting pain in my lower back and legs to support myself.
This happens.
To both of us, quite often actually.
Which is why we are quite adept at dealing with these severe shifts, and people tend not to believe us when we say we are disabled. But rest assured—
We are not lying, and we gain no clout from stating this.
Clout would mean gaining attention, reputation, and money.
We don’t like attention, as it kicks up warning triggers to hide. Reputation would involve being around people for it to mean anything, and, well, we have trouble accepting a $5 donation from a friend to support an art group we were leading.
Yeah, clout chasing is just not us.
But we WILL be sharing our story as is. Because it’s as crazy and as weird as we would never expect.
I don’t think I want to get too much into the health concerns for last month. Just that a lot hits us, and we typically need days, not hours, to recover more often than not.
Doesn’t matter if someone says “It’ll just be a quick 10-minute talk” or a “short walk to the office” or “blah blah blah”… due to our alarm system pre-programmed for danger as a child and kept there for decades… we understand they shouldn’t be a lot of work to the normal person, but almost everything around us has a flag that could be good, questionable, vary depending on various factors, or be dangerous without a doubt. Not that there may be something, but in anticipation of something happening again.
This is a LONG process to unravel. We are starting to learn how strong certain events as a child can grow deep roots that control everything from beliefs, actions, words, and more. And nothing just stops—it takes cycles of trying and trying and trying again.
Oh, I created a worksheet to keep track of my sleep while on the new meds… and let’s just say I can very much see my sleep is terrible. I don’t sleep more than four hours normally. And if I do get eight hours of sleep, it’ll be spread between two to three different times of the day when I had to nap. So far, that’s about the same for the three weeks I’ve already recorded.
So that would make sense why there were a few days I just couldn’t process anything.
It also doesn’t help that I have about 10–15 items that disturb my sleep. Most are things that I cannot control (i.e., the distress from hair touching my skin, the feel of hot breath on my face, the physical pain of my muscles cramping up, the sudden thirst, the sudden inability to breathe when it’s cold, the sudden stab of Sherlock’s claw… etc.). Many of these I cannot do anything about. The cold part is the sudden drop in temperature that occurs every night from about 3 am–4 am. The door could be nicely open with the hot air all night… just to suddenly drop 10 degrees during this time period, shaking me awake and unable to breathe.
I still can’t tell the difference between cold air, heartburn, and blood clots in my lungs, so it just hits the panic button a little.
[[Recommendations]]
Ok, let’s get into some fun stuff. During the month, we came across some fascinating topics that pushed us into so many new directions or delved us deeper into topics we were already interested in. Somehow, the home button on YouTube is finally giving us recommendations of GOOD to GREAT content that match our interests a little more often. So we have picked up quite a few more content creators.
However, I want to start off with a topic we discovered through Minecraft that is still heavily impacting me now. Not the game Minecraft, but the building platform that Minecraft provides. We came across this professional architect who decided to take on the challenge of building Kowloon City, or the Walled City, in Hong Kong, China. Once known as the most populated city in the world, it was built from a former military outpost. It then turned into a giant almost ‘hive,’ where you would have access to anything and everything you would need—being able to go from one side of the city to the other without ever touching the ground. There were so many intricate paths that the residents said you couldn’t rely on drawn maps and you’d do best creating an internal mental map. Since the place was constantly changing, anything written or drawn could be wrong shortly after.
We both knew of the city and that it was very fascinating. But that interest kinda died right there after the sentence ended. I just found out that my mother was from Kowloon, but on the outside of this walled city when it existed. Because she was so young, I don’t think she has any memories of anything tied to it.
But once we watched this video about the build of the city (the thumbnail was just so impressive!), we had to know more.
The Worst City on Earth, Built in Minecraft by Sluda Builds
You can just watch the first few seconds and the last few seconds to get a grasp on the vastness, density, and complex intricacies this city had. This really opened up a lot of fascinating questions about the patterns of human behavior when very specific criteria are met—like how they decided to build and the design/structures they used. There was even a strict rule that the center could not be built higher than one building height because of their understanding of the need for sunlight and fresh air. Even if every other area of the walled city was filled, this one section was left open. You can learn so much just from the shell of the buildings recreated here in Minecraft.
So then we had to find more videos. We wanted to see more of the inside of the city.
Except there weren’t many. It was in an era where getting a recording device was possible, but it wasn’t very common and would be generally pointless for how dark it was down there.
We came across this video of someone recording their visit as an architecture student. It wasn’t able to show many details, and unfortunately did not reveal much of the internal structure of the buildings.
Exploring Kowloon Walled City in an Afternoon – Vlog (1991) by Suenn Ho – Johny Bobbles Archives
You’ll notice that even during the middle of the day, it is extremely dark, only lit in very select locations.
This next video goes over a little more of the history of its beginnings, growth, and demise. We were quite impressed it managed to survive for 30 years! It’s a 27-minute video, so grab a meal or a snack and enjoy this tale of human progression!
Places – Lost in Time: The Walled City of Kowloon by Ruairidh MacVeigh
Does that give a better background on this crazy place? This next video goes more into it. We found this one after a different video by the Salvation Army. It was dripping with propaganda and unfortunately seemed so fake and pushy. This one by South China Morning Post actually had less propaganda and focused more on what was, and on the recognition of it.
I think that what Salvation has done, or kind of turned into… has made some older videos, with their intentions pure, come across as representations of irony. Or maybe the method of editing just hit too many red flags. Either way, this is a much better video.
Remembering Hong Kong’s ‘City of Darkness’ by South China Morning Post
And then another video. Like I said, we really got into this topic. We will be watching more of these as they pop up.
This video goes more into the structure and build of the place, the living pulse of the people within, and what they needed the place to become. Very fascinating through the lens of human development, adaptation, architecture, culture, language, and more.
The Densest City In The World Had a Strange Secret… by DamiLee
John and I are both getting more into architecture. We hope one day to build our own home or take an existing house and make the adjustments we want, need, or just like.
Not just because of those things, but also because of the impact of those ideas. Some require a specific location to bring benefits. For example: you may want a room with lots of sunshine and large windows, but probably don’t want to make that room the library. Or the layout of walls could cause more stress and strain to maneuver through the house—when simply cutting open a door would provide better airflow, sound access, physical accessibility, and more. The impact of a home can greatly support or tear down your mental psyche, causing mental, emotional, and even physical pain.
Also, with one of my large projects involving building a proper mental hospital, I want to keep in mind the build and structure so that it enhances recovery rather than feels like a prison for (probably) things that were done to you. Yes. It felt that way every time I was in one.
Even the materials make an impact. The colors. The locations. The ratio of this and that!
So much goes into understanding the levels of architecture that we enjoy watching videos we can connect to.
This next video also overlapped with another YouTuber we watch in the Netherlands, this time talking about Amsterdam. It brings to light some similarities to Kowloon City. There is that inherent necessity for nature and openness. It also observes the impact of certain structures on human behavior and what it started to do to their society.
Very interesting to watch, and only 16 minutes.
How Amsterdam Built A Dystopia by Hoog
This next one is also about building, but more about stages and sets for movies. It goes into the background creation and filming of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events during the overlap shift toward digital filmmaking.
They built their sets in a large warehouse—but only ONE large warehouse for all their scenes!! This was impressive human ingenuity, showing off so many skills and talents.
We are both very interested in creating props and arranging scenes for shows/skits/movies, as well as the tricks and techniques that go into filming it all.
If we had a healthy childhood, I may have gone this route in my career. Ah well, it’s still a lot of fun to watch and try out now!
They built an entire world inside a studio by Frame Voyager
Ok, moving on to slightly different topics.
Earlier in the month, we came across a YouTuber who was going over the different accents of America… not realizing that we potentially have THOUSANDS of accents here in the U.S. He (@More Adam Couser) himself has an accent that could fit in the U.S. Can you guess where?
British Guy Reacts to "7 SOUTHERN ACCENTS IN THE US YOU WONT UNDERSTAND"
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BRITISH GUY Reacts to "American Accents Ranked EASIEST to HARDEST to Understand"
John and I were actually able to understand most, if not all, of these to some extent. We’ve encountered quite a few people with accents from those areas. It’s just fascinating to learn where these accents came from, what influenced them, and how close you can live to another area that has a very different accent!
Highly recommend watching his videos—or the person he references, Olly Richards (@storylearning on YouTube).
Moving onto the next topic, which is MUSIC!
Again… another subject we are diving into and studying. Both of us are working on understanding music and how to build our own. John is very sensitive to music and its mathematical organization. We both plan to create our own music but using different methods.
So we are coming across more music videos.
This one follows a guy who is really good at editing sounds into songs. Very succinct and to the point, with his videos being musical themselves to get the lesson across. These are quite short videos that I highly recommend watching!!
the vocal effect that changed the course of music by Synthet
Are you ready for MORE!?
We had very low energy this month, so we had to stay in bed and not move to recover quite a bit. Oh, and there was a point where I put my back out so I couldn’t walk for a while. Stuff like that tends to take a few days here and there.
Have you ever had or looked at a Magic Eye book, poster, or whatever? Well, we came across this video that went into the history of it, the creation of it, how it works, and where you can get the program to create your own!
A lot of fun nostalgia. John isn’t able to see anything, while I have a lot of difficulty but can eventually see something. Not everyone is able to process this and see the hidden image!
How 1990s Magic Eye 3D Images Were Made by LGR
Guys… do you remember D.A.R.E.? Well, it was actually kind of a fond memory for me. Only because I got to do a skit/dance with my class and feel like I was a part of something bigger. Also, we got some free stuff, which I always liked. But there was so much more about this than we knew back then. There were also the memories of growing up and seeing the opposite effects it started having on the kids around me. The sarcasm and mockery of it pushed more to try drugs than avoid them.
It was way worse than that. You gotta read/watch it if you had any experience with D.A.R.E.
D.A.R.E. | The REAL Reason Cops Taught You About Drugs by CHUPPL
Random science ideas put into action and recorded are some of our favorites! This guy decided to test which font of the letter “I” has the best structural support. It sounds so odd at first—until you think about the common I-beams you see today and their shape.
The shape matters!!
And he goes into the science of it all to prove it.
Again, highly HIGHLY recommend this. These are the videos we love to find.
Which Font Makes the Best ⌶-Beam? by Atomic Frontier
Lastly, these two are recommended only by me and only to those who like horror (more thriller) games. There are a few genres of games I love, especially the ideas and variations of games (like Platform 8, Observation Duty, etc.) that are inspired by different games. I also like seeing a little into the creator’s mind—the artistic choices, the story, the impacts, the scares, and more. Scary can range from a sudden rabbit popping out when you didn’t expect it to finding an item in the game that reveals a dark secret, turning everything you knew about the game upside down. It’s not the quality of the visuals that make a great game.
Or as someone once said: “It’s not the tool or platform that makes it great. It’s the creator that made it great.”
So I enjoy seeing various games in the horror category.
But not all.
Oh no.
Quick background?
I hate horror. Things that scare me. And trust me, a LOT scares me. It wasn’t until Markiplier hit a milestone in his life when he realized that screaming and yelling wasn’t great and really began toning that down. Also, the repeating of the same thing 50 times in a few minutes was grating back then. That was when I could stand watching him.
Because of his personality (and later the relatability of ADHD), I was able to watch him play some horror games—mostly of the 8-bit pixel variety. This was also when I got RPG Maker and went looking for ideas to make a game with.
Some of the great classics include Mad Father, House, Grief Can Break You, DERE EVIL.exe, Don’t Escape, FAITH, Pony Island, and more.
For me, this is delving deeper into understanding mental health. It isn’t pretty. It isn’t all fun. But some of these game creators seem to really understand the feel and experience of the mental health struggles people go through DAILY! As someone who can’t verbally communicate a lot of what I am experiencing, I use these games to understand what they are going for, the impact they had, and even the responses of those playing (the YouTuber I watch, and sometimes the responses of chat watching live). It helps me relate and understand how to relate.
I have been watching Insym, another horror game YouTuber, playing a lot of games lately. We think he is autistic, based on how we relate to him and bits of information he has shared over the many videos and streams we’ve watched. He’s much better at finding good games, and he plays NONSTOP! He posts at least 2 videos every day of different games. This gives me wide access to games I can pick and choose from that match what I want to focus on.
⚠️ Warning: language, recommend 18+. Not that he usually says crude things, but sometimes the games themselves require it to set up a scenario properly. And he sometimes gets surprised/scared and “jump-swears.” lol
This next game is adorable, hilarious, and still very serious with a deep story. I really love the characters, color choices, and the art/animation style they chose. At least skim through to see the cuteness of it!
This Game is Completely Insane - Awesome Horror Game by Awesome Developer - The Upturned Full Game by Insym
He doesn’t JUST play horror games. For example, Dave the Diver was a REALLY good one. I guess the horror side was the possibility of gigantic creatures living in the deep. He also played Waterpark Simulator, which is the furthest thing from horror—very bright, colorful, and only in daylight. Would recommend looking through his videos.
We found him through his video of the game R.E.P.O., which we love!
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And that’s all, folks!
That’s what I’ve got for August’s blog update.
Sorry it took so long. This was a long one, and hopefully the next one will be easier to put up now that I’ve decided on a format. This itself took me about 4hrs to write and an hour to edit. A lot of work that Interferes with OTHER work I need to do.
Until then, thanks for keeping up with us, and see you in the next (hopefully on-time) update!

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