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u/kristenbouchard

r/AutismInWomen r/Adelaide r/ObsidianMD r/AustralianSpiders r/AskAnAmerican r/writingadvice r/Entomology
▲ 5 r/AskAnAmerican

Is it common/expected/normal for family members to attend Masters graduation?

And if in your experience it varies by field or college or prestige etc, I'd love to know!

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u/kristenbouchard — 2 days ago
▲ 214 r/ObsidianMD

Mini Vault Showcase

I posted my dashboard a few weeks ago and people were curious about my vault, so here's a Dashboard/Bookshelf/Film Index showcase! Each page is explained below.

I use the Anuppuccin theme with the Style Settings plugin, plus a metric shit ton of CSS customisations. I cannot stress enough just how much I have customised with CSS!! If you wanna know how I did something the answer is probably CSS.

Dashboard

  • this is a regular note with the title hidden using CSS
  • today's date is generated with an inline Dataview (plugin) query
  • zoology/media etc buttons are made with the Buttons plugin
  • daily habit tracker using Dataviewjs query of today's daily note
  • embedded Bases for Books/TV/classes
  • CSS customised Callout used to create a column effect

Music Control panel

  • this is the Spotify Control plugin, customised with CSS

Bookshelf

  • this is a Base, set to cards view, with the image property set to a property containing a link to a cover image in each book's note

Book Note

  • this is just a regular note
  • tags are coloured using the Colored Tags plugin
  • Properties are placed the sidebar using the core plugin Properties View, with CSS to only make it visible on hover

Films

  • this is a Base, set to cards view, with the image property set to a property containing a link to a gif in each film's note
  • there's nothing particularly special about this page, I just find it very satisfying to look at, and haven't really seen people use gifs in bases like this before!

Calendar

  • Calendar (Plugin) customised with CSS
  • the wavy line below the calendar panel is also CSS

A lot of this is actually pretty straightforward, only heavily prettified with CSS.

I am happy to explain how I achieved this, but I will not be sharing my vault or work outright. It was made by me, for me.

Please do not feed my work into any AI.

If you wanna customise your vault like this I recommend exploring these options:

  • Obsidian documentation (useful for Bases)
  • Plugin documentation (useful for Dataview)
  • Developer tools (this is exactly how I figured out all of my CSS customisations)
  • Reddit
  • Google
  • your own human curiosity
  • fuck around and find out!
u/kristenbouchard — 1 month ago
▲ 2 r/writingadvice

Which tense to use in dual timeline narrative going between present day and the preceding years?

I'm writing litfic following a few characters over a period of a few years. It has a dual timeline, following the events of a particular day in the present, as well as the years leading up to it.

I'd been writing it all in present tense and hadn't thought much about it until I revisited Taylor Jenkins Reid's Atmosphere for reference (it has the same structure) and realised TJR uses past for past and present for present.

I'm sure this is mostly just a matter of preference, but in this structure, what do you recommend doing with tenses? What do you prefer as a reader? Past tense for past events and present tense for present? Or all one tense — past or present?

reddit.com
u/kristenbouchard — 1 month ago
▲ 4 r/writingadvice

Making the external world tangible and consequential in literary fiction?

I'm writing a character-driven story set in the present day, but I'm worried that it's feeling too... small? insular? limited?

It follows the relationships between 2-3 characters over a number of years, and though there's plenty of internal stuff happening, I worry that everything is happening in too much of a vacuum.

Any advice on broadening the world in literary/non-genre fiction like this?

And, similarly, how to incorporate current affairs without it feeling too shoehorned?

I hope this makes sense!

reddit.com
u/kristenbouchard — 1 month ago
▲ 1.2k r/ObsidianMD

my dashboard!

Dashboard showcase, with an explainer image for plugin etc info!

This is the anuppuccin theme, with zillions of custom css snippets, and a handful of plugins.

I posted a vault showcase earlier this year but i've changed it soooo much since then so thought I'd share again! Only my dashboard for now, but might share more at some point

Before anyone asks, I'm more than happy to explain or help you replicate anything i've done here, but i'm not going to be sharing it outright! It's mine, made for me.

u/kristenbouchard — 2 months ago
▲ 1 r/ObsidianMD

Dynamically reference today's daily note with Meta Bind?

I'm using meta bind to make toggle checklists for my daily note frontmatter habit tracking, and was planning to put today's list on my dashboard.

Can I dynamically bind it to today's daily note somehow?

This is what i'm using so far

INPUT[toggle:2026.07.05#Reading]
reddit.com
u/kristenbouchard — 2 months ago
▲ 15 r/Adelaide

What were australian kids birthday parties like back in the 60s-80s?

Was talking with some fellow zillenials about how much the scale and trends of kids parties have changed since we were little (social media has made people so crazy lol), and it made me wonder what the average australian kids birthday party was like in the 60s-80s!

close family and friends? minimal planning? printed/handwritten invites? simple snacks? cake and presents? did parents hang around? organised games or parents getting trashed and leaving their kids to their own devices?

If you're old and wise enough to have been around way back then (jk), what are your memories/experiences? how did you celebrate you or your friends or your kids birthdays?

reddit.com
u/kristenbouchard — 2 months ago
▲ 18 r/AustralianSpiders

Found a redback in my room. How worried should I be?

I have a mini tabletop ironing board that I've been keeping set up on the floor at the end of my bed (small desk, so use floor as workspace for sewing stuff) but I just went to flip it upside down to stop my cat from using it as a scratching board during the night and found this guy.

How concerned should I be right now? I've moved the whole board way outta my room, but now I'm worried that there could be more... Is this a where-theres-smoke-theres-a-lot-of-redbacks type situation and I should evacuate my cat from the room for tonight or what?

Please advise!!

u/kristenbouchard — 2 months ago
▲ 62 r/AutismInWomen

Does anyone else struggle to figure out what they want in reality vs what they want in theory?

I want to want a relationship, but in reality i don't actually want one. I'm a romantic and i love love, and i love the idea of falling in love and the idea of being in a relationship, but in reality? i'm probably aromantic/asexual and don't really want that at all. I want to want to go out socialising more, or to travel the world, etc etc etc, and yet... I don't really want those things.

I spent a lot of my 20s coming to terms with the fact that a lot of my expectations of life were based on what i wanted in theory rather than in practice. But as I'm approaching 30 I'm realising that I'm now struggling trying to figure out what I do want.

I guess this is as much a mini vent as it is a genuine question but. It's something that's kinda been haunting me for a while. I worry that there's nothing I want in life and I'll never really feel fulfilled or content. Idk.

Can anyone relate? any advice?

reddit.com
u/kristenbouchard — 3 months ago
▲ 10 r/AustralianSpiders

Spiders from this month's camera roll in need of IDs! 📍 Adelaide, SA

thanks in advance, guys! love and appreciate this sub so much!

u/kristenbouchard — 3 months ago
▲ 13 r/Entomology

What's this beetle? 📍 South Australia

Hadn't come across a beetle like this before! Any ideas what it is? carrion beetle? dung beetle?? Found it on an outside wall of a borderline rural house

u/kristenbouchard — 3 months ago