So, I know it's been a while. Between coronavirus(COVID-19) and any number of other things - faucets not working, bank account getting closed, being furloughed, etc. - I've been exceedingly busy. The problem, however, that I've noticed is the issue of people in general complaining and protesting about the Stay-at-Home orders.
So what is the Stay-at-Home order and what is it preventing you from doing? The Stay-at-Home Order is meant for the general public's safety. Yes, it does infringe a bit on our right to assembly as described in the Bill of Rights, however, we have various ways of meeting up with each other and it doesn't state that you must stay at home. In fact, just glimpsing over and highlighting the order isn't going to do it justice. There are a lot of things that one can argue infringes on our way of life, but is our way of life so important we cannot take a step back to say "Maybe it would be better for everyone if I only go out for the necessary things?"
I mentioned that I was furloughed. This was a choice I made after discussing with both my husband (who was put to working from home) and my supervisor the drawbacks and benefits, and after having had to work one day with a mask on. For my safety, and that of those who would be working near me, I felt the benefits of being furloughed would be better than having to keep going to work and possibly having to hunt down new things for me to do. There is only so much one can do in a practically empty building that everyone knows won't be back at full capacity for at least 2 months and has been empty for the last month and a half. Is it weird? Yes, but overall this is better.
Times have changed and we look like we all belong in gangs so long as everyone is following the rules of wearing masks. We don't keep to just one person to go shopping at a time, but that doesn't mean we're going shopping daily either. In fact, we try to keep to only one shopper at a time, but I can't ever seem to find anything to buy when I'm hungry and I can't be sure that what I do end up buying, whether hungry or not, will be eaten. Because our income is less do to everything that is going on, I can't be sure that we'll have the money for bills. It's a possibility that we won't and that worries me constantly. Because of this, yes, I want to get out more, especially on the nice days. I hate that we have to worry about getting sick because people don't take common-sense measures such as washing your hands regularly, staying home when sick, etc, and that people who are healthy or at least feel healthy, are being penalized.
I live in a county of Illinois that hasn't had a large number of positive cases. In fact, less than 10% of tests have turned out positive, but that doesn't mean I don't understand some of the issues that revolve in not staying at home. First, there are tourists. We're coming up on the summer months which for the midwest means two things. One, the high chance of going elsewhere (this also occurs in the winter, as in just before and during the first stirrings of COVID-19 making the news as a major issue.) Two, and this is really the more important for most of the midwest, this tourist season is usually relied on to bring in outside money to help the economy. We have festivals and fairs that bring family and friends from around the country. You can see on the news and hear on the radio about the graduating classes not getting to celebrate, but for several craftsmen who rely on fairs and festivals to make money and spread the word of their wares, this will cause issues. The restaurants and small eateries who have not been able to adapt to the changes being forced through will lose even more revenue as they lose those extra sales from tourists and travelers.
There are so many other things that are seriously affected in the midwest that other areas aren't aware of unless they've lived in the midwest that it'd be funny if it weren't for the fact that it's a matter of life or death for a number of people. Am I happy about being unable to go watch a movie in theaters or realizing that the pool won't be opened for the summer? No. This doesn't mean, however, that I won't find ways around the cabin fever that is determined to set in. There are numerous other ways to keep busy without having to go out other than my yard or a walk around the area - both of which are allowed even in the Stay-at-Home orders. In fact, the only thing that Stay-at-Home orders are telling people to not do are gather in groups over a certain number (which could be argued violates our first amendment right to assembly,) to work in jobs that are not considered essential (but this does allow for the exception of working at home,) and going out when unnecessary to stores and various other places that would allow for large groups to gather. The things people are not realizing: THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS!!!
In fact, one of the largest of the exceptions is to perform social distancing which means to keep at least six feet away from each other when out in public. There are suggestions made to keep to only one person in the household to go shopping. It is people not using common sense that keeps causing issues. I stay home as much as possible since I've been furloughed, but I have to go to the laundromat since we don't have a washer or dryer, though I likely could just hang dry the washed clothes when I get them home; there are other reasons to get out and about, including ways to prevent cabin fever. Don't worry. When I'm out, I double-check the signs the stores have placed around and I wear my mask to keep others safe, not that I have the symptoms of COVID-19. I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car, but we've done that for years. My husband did once work at a gas station so he has those stories of knowing drivers who used the restroom, didn't wash their hands, and then filled their tanks. For our own safety, we keep it to use there and at the laundromat if absolutely needed because our laundromat does not regularly provide hand soap in their restroom.
Why have I ranted about this? Because politicians and stores have given in in some places to popular demand about not wearing masks, in part thanks to threats of violence. Remember, a place of commerce has the right to refuse service so long as they do so for a reason that is not illegal - basically, certain discriminations. This means they have the right to refuse service because you chose to endanger their employees by not wearing a mask. Just as many have signs that say "NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE," I have seen signs that require masks on customers that intend to enter the store. This is a perfectly reasonable addition and most stores have on those same signs that this requirement will eventually be lifted.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Hibernation to Deal
So if you haven't heard, then you must have been hibernating. Covid-19. Coronavirus. Pandemic. It's sad, but we have a global crisis that is affecting people right now instead of trying to prevent the long-range effects of other global problems. In a year when we look back at this, we'll likely be surprised at just how little we were prepared and how many cases there were before people realized that just a little common sense could have prevented some of them. Not all of them, but those who are healthy to begin with and with all the issues with salmonella and the Ebola virus, you'd think people would have gotten the hint to take better personal hygiene measures. I know there are people who likely think it wastes their time to wash their hands after using the restroom before returning to work or that because their pet is an indoor pet they don't need to wash their hands before eating, but guess what. The circumstances DON'T MATTER! It's just common sense to wash your hands after working in the garden, taking out the trash, using the restroom, or playing with your pets. If you regularly deal with folks who are more susceptible to illness, you should be even more conscientious about it.
But that's not what I wanted to talk about in this post. We've learned more about the virus, though not as much as we maybe think we should have learned. No, what I wanted to talk about was ways to stave off boredom if you have to stay at home 24/7. I'm sure you can think of some, but you'll likely get on the family's nerves if you're someone who needs social interaction. To that, all I can say is that the internet is your friend. It may not be skin to skin or in the type of interaction you feel you need, but as little as 20 years ago, this wouldn't have been possible. In fact, I know that the introverts would be beyond ready to strangle the extrovert by the end of the first day - try being grounded with your more extroverted siblings. Trust me if I wasn't wearing myself out trying to fit in with the extroverts, I was trying not to physically attack them, partly because I knew I'd lose! For many introverts, this is a dream come true. Forced isolation with limited outside interaction. For some, it's a way to recharge the social batteries without stepping on anyone's feelings of rejection.
So, catch up on shows that you've been putting off. Read books or fanfiction that interests you. Write those stories or poems or songs that keep running through your head. Get back to the gaming that you were forced to stop because you had to work. Stop putting off those DIY projects that you keep putting off because you're too tired. Clean up your garden. I could probably keep listing things off. If you have Mistplay, Coin Pop, or another app that earns you money by playing other games, take advantage of them while you might be stuck at home. Put together some new music videos or parodies. You'll get some views just because it's something different. Use up the items you've been freezing but forgetting to thaw.
But as I mentioned, I'm sure you're already finding these things out for yourself. Dusting off the board games and pulling out cards to play some Solitaire, Crazy Eights, Monopoly, etc. I hope you aren't forgetting to keep an eye out for others who might need some encouragement through these times. I'm not really talking to those who were hardcore gamers before this happened since most of them were likely aware of how to keep themselves occupied even if they happen to be extroverts; the same is true of the bookworms and authors out there. So remember in these times there are plenty of ways to reach out if you need to. Also, try to keep yourself safe and healthy!
But that's not what I wanted to talk about in this post. We've learned more about the virus, though not as much as we maybe think we should have learned. No, what I wanted to talk about was ways to stave off boredom if you have to stay at home 24/7. I'm sure you can think of some, but you'll likely get on the family's nerves if you're someone who needs social interaction. To that, all I can say is that the internet is your friend. It may not be skin to skin or in the type of interaction you feel you need, but as little as 20 years ago, this wouldn't have been possible. In fact, I know that the introverts would be beyond ready to strangle the extrovert by the end of the first day - try being grounded with your more extroverted siblings. Trust me if I wasn't wearing myself out trying to fit in with the extroverts, I was trying not to physically attack them, partly because I knew I'd lose! For many introverts, this is a dream come true. Forced isolation with limited outside interaction. For some, it's a way to recharge the social batteries without stepping on anyone's feelings of rejection.
So, catch up on shows that you've been putting off. Read books or fanfiction that interests you. Write those stories or poems or songs that keep running through your head. Get back to the gaming that you were forced to stop because you had to work. Stop putting off those DIY projects that you keep putting off because you're too tired. Clean up your garden. I could probably keep listing things off. If you have Mistplay, Coin Pop, or another app that earns you money by playing other games, take advantage of them while you might be stuck at home. Put together some new music videos or parodies. You'll get some views just because it's something different. Use up the items you've been freezing but forgetting to thaw.
But as I mentioned, I'm sure you're already finding these things out for yourself. Dusting off the board games and pulling out cards to play some Solitaire, Crazy Eights, Monopoly, etc. I hope you aren't forgetting to keep an eye out for others who might need some encouragement through these times. I'm not really talking to those who were hardcore gamers before this happened since most of them were likely aware of how to keep themselves occupied even if they happen to be extroverts; the same is true of the bookworms and authors out there. So remember in these times there are plenty of ways to reach out if you need to. Also, try to keep yourself safe and healthy!
Sunday, February 9, 2020
3D Printing
I know, I had meant for this to be a post about the Descendants trilogy from Disney, but like I mentioned last weekend, my husband got a new toy - 3D printer. It's actually pretty neat and eventually, I'll do a post using his permission to post pics of some of the completed pieces and possibly of the printer in work and the different stages of work that have gone in to what's been printed - mostly figurines. We plan to paint them as well, so there's that.
Trust me, if you get a 3D printer it won't be easy going. You'll have to figure out what you can do based on the dimensions of your printer and if your printer works on the metric system or not. You'll have to figure out how to set things to print for various set-ups. Supports are needed for parts that "hang" such as archery bows or claws. We've tried making a set of dice three or four times now, and only just figured out the supports and other bits that go into it - all my husband's doing, of course. Before you even get to this point you have to decide either resin or filament. We went with resin so if you decide to use a filament printer, what I'm about to mention likely won't matter much.
When it comes to resin printers, you have to decide on the base resin. There are a rather large number of colors and durabilities to them. We've decided to use a rather durable gray for most things with a slightly more durable transparent blue for dice at the very minimum. Then we had to find everything necessary for a curing station set-up. I won't get too much into that. Suffice to say, it was neither cheap nor easy to find everything we needed and we started at Walmart and finished with orders on Amazon.
After we finally got the bulk of things figured out in regards to the actual printing, we looked into painting them. We haven't started on that yet, but we went to Michaels yesterday to get some base supplies that will be used. We researched and found that most apparently used an airbrush. Neither my husband nor I wish to use one. We've decided to hand paint. So we bought some spray paint primer and finish for before and after painting the figurines and a 36 count box of Craftsman paints and a small box of hair paintbrushes (at the moment I can't remember what type of hair they were) to get us started. We will likely get most of our supplies there.
If you do decide to get into 3D printing, be aware to start with a large figure. Work your way down to learn the system and its idiosyncrasies. We got advice from a co-worker who went through 3 bottles of resin because he started with the smaller figurines. We only went through 2 and started by printing a tarrasque. Our printer can't put it at its full size for the D&D mat, but we already printed off a figure and it's pretty decent. Having figured out what our printer can handle, we've decided on some back-up ideas for the figures that we are likely to need for our campaigns. Hopefully next weekend we'll have actually started to paint the figurines we've printed off!
Trust me, if you get a 3D printer it won't be easy going. You'll have to figure out what you can do based on the dimensions of your printer and if your printer works on the metric system or not. You'll have to figure out how to set things to print for various set-ups. Supports are needed for parts that "hang" such as archery bows or claws. We've tried making a set of dice three or four times now, and only just figured out the supports and other bits that go into it - all my husband's doing, of course. Before you even get to this point you have to decide either resin or filament. We went with resin so if you decide to use a filament printer, what I'm about to mention likely won't matter much.
When it comes to resin printers, you have to decide on the base resin. There are a rather large number of colors and durabilities to them. We've decided to use a rather durable gray for most things with a slightly more durable transparent blue for dice at the very minimum. Then we had to find everything necessary for a curing station set-up. I won't get too much into that. Suffice to say, it was neither cheap nor easy to find everything we needed and we started at Walmart and finished with orders on Amazon.
After we finally got the bulk of things figured out in regards to the actual printing, we looked into painting them. We haven't started on that yet, but we went to Michaels yesterday to get some base supplies that will be used. We researched and found that most apparently used an airbrush. Neither my husband nor I wish to use one. We've decided to hand paint. So we bought some spray paint primer and finish for before and after painting the figurines and a 36 count box of Craftsman paints and a small box of hair paintbrushes (at the moment I can't remember what type of hair they were) to get us started. We will likely get most of our supplies there.
If you do decide to get into 3D printing, be aware to start with a large figure. Work your way down to learn the system and its idiosyncrasies. We got advice from a co-worker who went through 3 bottles of resin because he started with the smaller figurines. We only went through 2 and started by printing a tarrasque. Our printer can't put it at its full size for the D&D mat, but we already printed off a figure and it's pretty decent. Having figured out what our printer can handle, we've decided on some back-up ideas for the figures that we are likely to need for our campaigns. Hopefully next weekend we'll have actually started to paint the figurines we've printed off!
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Time Gets Away
Okay, so between my last post and this one, time has gotten away from me. I am sorry. It wasn't done on purpose, I promise. I know a new year has started and we're already on the first weekend of February, but honestly, I just allowed things to get away from me. There were a rather large number of holiday parties and we had car issues and our home furnace go out within only a couple of days of each other with the following weekend culminating in our oven's bottom coils no longer heating up. The stove portion works just fine though.
Now, my husband has gotten a 3-D printer and as I type this he is delving into the rabbit hole of 3D printing designs so he can hopefully figure things out so we might actually cosplay at the 2020 Gateway Comic-Con. What would we go as? I haven't a clue so far, and we have so many other things to take care of that it's not exactly a priority at the moment.
Seeing as this is the first post of February 2020 (the first post of 2020, period) I guess I ought to give out the month's plan. Obviously, this is the February 2nd post. For next Sunday I hope to get a post about the Descendants trilogy and its musical numbers. I know, it may not seem a big deal, but I have my thoughts on the musical numbers within that trilogy and the release of those pieces that I've been wanting to give. Since my husband isn't into them at the moment (he doesn't even know what they are!) I figured this was the best option for getting my thoughts on them out there and perhaps getting some feedback about them! Anyway, after that maybe I can do a Valentine's-based post since Valentine's Day is on a Friday? Then for the last post of the year - the first Charmed episode rewatching (hopefully and finally!)
At least that's my hope for this month. I cannot guarantee anything since there are innumerable other things that are going on and taking me away from my writing, but I promise I'm trying! So until next week hopefully you had fun over the holidays and aren't swamped with things going wrong!
Now, my husband has gotten a 3-D printer and as I type this he is delving into the rabbit hole of 3D printing designs so he can hopefully figure things out so we might actually cosplay at the 2020 Gateway Comic-Con. What would we go as? I haven't a clue so far, and we have so many other things to take care of that it's not exactly a priority at the moment.
Seeing as this is the first post of February 2020 (the first post of 2020, period) I guess I ought to give out the month's plan. Obviously, this is the February 2nd post. For next Sunday I hope to get a post about the Descendants trilogy and its musical numbers. I know, it may not seem a big deal, but I have my thoughts on the musical numbers within that trilogy and the release of those pieces that I've been wanting to give. Since my husband isn't into them at the moment (he doesn't even know what they are!) I figured this was the best option for getting my thoughts on them out there and perhaps getting some feedback about them! Anyway, after that maybe I can do a Valentine's-based post since Valentine's Day is on a Friday? Then for the last post of the year - the first Charmed episode rewatching (hopefully and finally!)
At least that's my hope for this month. I cannot guarantee anything since there are innumerable other things that are going on and taking me away from my writing, but I promise I'm trying! So until next week hopefully you had fun over the holidays and aren't swamped with things going wrong!
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Movie Thoughts to Fanfiction
I'm actually having a hard time deciding what to type about for this post. At first, I thought I would do something about tropes in film since this is the season we see a lot of repeat tropes. It's Christmas so how do we present the meaning of the season? Though I have to admit Disney+'s Noelle is definitely an exception that I look forward to watching multiple times. I'll hopefully get a review about this one done by the end of this month...
But I wasn't sure how to start it or even where to focus. Then I realized, I also wanted to get a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline figured out, but that's going to be so time-consuming, I don't know how long it would take, especially since the timeline will be determined in part by which ones are considered a part of it and which ones are just extras - Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk - because there are so many remakes that putting them in one timeline will give us plot holes no matter which version to use, and then there are the television series like Agent Carter, Agents of Shield, Daredevil (which also has a movie...), and Jessica Jones. Of course, there are more, but figuring out which ones get included and which ones are for a different universe version of the series. There are a large number of versions of DC's iconic characters on par with the X-Men part of the MCU, though by no means is X-Men the only one in Marvel to have been recreated both on the big and small screens.
Then I got some more ideas for fanfiction crossovers. I got reminded of several other things I need to do to be able to write them, too. First off, what if Wolverine was on the ship in the Riddick Trilogy? Wolverine, a man as deadly as Riddick and with better healing ability and easier access to weapons, would definitely have some issues with the group and with Caroline Fry most importantly. There would need to be some back story and he'd probably be able to either hear or smell the creatures living there. I think he'd be practically on par with Riddick with a few advantages, mainly the fact that he wouldn't be as badly affected by the light, while still being able to defend himself and hear what was going on around him. After escaping the planet, when they get picked up what if he found some of the other mutants in that floating personal museum. Then there's how he'd react to the rest of what would occur there. Then when dealing with the Necromongers, how would his mutant abilities change what we know to have happened?
Then I thought of if St. Trinian's was a sister school to St. Brutus' and if Harry had ended up being sent there after being expelled either before the second year or after the fourth year. I'm a bit more enamored with it being after fourth. Meeting the girls at the start of the first movie and setting up a system with them that allows him to keep using and learning magic without them realizing it. After all, it was accidental magic that blew up his aunt. This could also give Sirius Black a safe place to stay. He might reveal himself during the second movie of St. Trinian's, but it could definitely mean a lot of different things. One thing I could totally see Harry doing is making it so St. Trinian's doesn't have to worry about closing down...I think I'll go to work on this a bit more now.
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Ever-Changing Black Friday
Alright, it's another Sunday and I almost forgot to get this one typed up. I got severely distracted. We got Disney+ just before Thanksgiving and then a new TV with Roku on Thursday night at the start of all the Black Friday deals. We stop by Walmart to pick up ingredients needed to brine a turkey for this weekend (yesterday's lunch) and there are still Black Friday deals available. A few were for things we could seriously use (more mixing bowls and other kitchen gadgets...) so there was no way we were passing them up. Then it was the second season in Illinois for deer hunters, and of course, my husband just had to tag out. I get up this morning and almost forgot that I hadn't sat down to type a post yet.
Since I mentioned that we took advantage of some Black Friday deals, I have to admit that if it weren't for the TV, we'd have likely not gone at all. We needed a TV with working sound so we weren't running everything through a computer. This means I can now watch movies while my husband is on his gaming. The biggest problem I have with it is that it started at 6pm on Thursday evening instead of midnight. I get it. Times have been changing and they'll keep on changing.
For one thing, introverts and anti-social people can actually have a voice that is heard now thanks to chatrooms and forums. This is a good thing. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and when MySpace used to be a thing, help those who are less willing or likely to speak up and be heard to have a voice when a question is asked. Facebook even has a recommendation system for people wanting to know about a great place to eat or to go shop that's not necessarily mainstream (like Walmart, Target, etc.). Small businesses are better able to reach more of their customers than just those who live in their advertising zone thanks to being able to follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This also allows them to get out the word about deals - including Black Friday - to those who are likely to want to know them.
For those who really hate getting out in the crowds, there's also Cyber Monday, a way for online shoppers to also reap the benefits of the start of the holiday shopping craze! I will be utterly and completely honest here, I don't do a lot of online shopping. I do some, but I prefer to go to brick and mortar stores and be able to see it in person. It helps me determine dimensions and if I truly want something. If I'm not willing to go to a store to get it, do I really want to spend the money for it? This is especially true of clothing, food, and furniture. Most of the rest, I'm more willing to shop online - especially in regards to books - but will still be more likely to shop in a brick and mortar than online store.
With the changes made, while I'm not a fan of cutting Thanksgiving short just to get some Christmas shopping done, I will admit that I believe the stores have learned from the past. There was no crowd waiting to enter the store. There weren't a lot of people fighting over the last one or two of something in the first few minutes of the sales being opened up. There were lines for the big items that would have possibly caused people to have issues shopping. In fact, the large items were a barcode on a sheet of paper. When you were done with your shopping you could drive to the designated pick up location and they would load it in your vehicle, making certain to mark it off your receipt- if you had a paper one - and the paper with the barcode. We paid for our TV using the store's app since I had gift cards on it. They couldn't really mark it off of that.
Basically, while I'm not a fan of the deals beginning on the night of Thanksgiving, promoting people leaving their families to hunt down the best deals available, I have to admit, the stores are getting smarter about ensuring their customers' safety. Yes, people are idiots and there are likely to eventually be stampedes for things again when something comes out that is as big as the Cabbage Patch dolls, Tickle-Me-Elmo, or Harry Potter, but that can happen at any time of year. I mean, we all see the TV portrayals of long lines waiting for the release of items or for the store or ticket booths to open for things that are hugely beloved. After all, we love to get great deals and a great deal for something that is really wanted by someone? They'll stampede for that, or wait outside in line for months to ensure they get it. It's what is making counterfeiters so much money. We've been all about having the latest and greatest that we'll spend for it and risk a lot for a great deal. Hell, I had to remind my husband to wait until Black Friday to get a TV because he found one on sale this past summer for $170. It was a smart TV, but only about 42in, if I remember correctly. I reminded him about Black Friday and how electronics are almost always on sale then. He finds a 50in smart TV with Roku for $150 and it gave me enough time to earn $55 in gift cards through Ibotta, Shopkick, Drop, FetchRewards, and ReceiptPal - none of which I've been really hardcore about using since downloading.
The tradition of Black Friday is changing - evolving with the times and what we want and like as people. Isn't that what traditions are supposed to do? Honor the past while still evolving and changing with the times and new things that are added? I mean, I'm an American, and that's what America did. We changed our culture to fit with the ideals that not every person is the same. Yes, we have our problems and we have things that we need to change to be more accepting, but we are hugely a commerce-based country, and Black Friday, one could say is a holiday that brings out the best and the worst traits of every person on the globe.
Since I mentioned that we took advantage of some Black Friday deals, I have to admit that if it weren't for the TV, we'd have likely not gone at all. We needed a TV with working sound so we weren't running everything through a computer. This means I can now watch movies while my husband is on his gaming. The biggest problem I have with it is that it started at 6pm on Thursday evening instead of midnight. I get it. Times have been changing and they'll keep on changing.
For one thing, introverts and anti-social people can actually have a voice that is heard now thanks to chatrooms and forums. This is a good thing. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and when MySpace used to be a thing, help those who are less willing or likely to speak up and be heard to have a voice when a question is asked. Facebook even has a recommendation system for people wanting to know about a great place to eat or to go shop that's not necessarily mainstream (like Walmart, Target, etc.). Small businesses are better able to reach more of their customers than just those who live in their advertising zone thanks to being able to follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This also allows them to get out the word about deals - including Black Friday - to those who are likely to want to know them.
For those who really hate getting out in the crowds, there's also Cyber Monday, a way for online shoppers to also reap the benefits of the start of the holiday shopping craze! I will be utterly and completely honest here, I don't do a lot of online shopping. I do some, but I prefer to go to brick and mortar stores and be able to see it in person. It helps me determine dimensions and if I truly want something. If I'm not willing to go to a store to get it, do I really want to spend the money for it? This is especially true of clothing, food, and furniture. Most of the rest, I'm more willing to shop online - especially in regards to books - but will still be more likely to shop in a brick and mortar than online store.
With the changes made, while I'm not a fan of cutting Thanksgiving short just to get some Christmas shopping done, I will admit that I believe the stores have learned from the past. There was no crowd waiting to enter the store. There weren't a lot of people fighting over the last one or two of something in the first few minutes of the sales being opened up. There were lines for the big items that would have possibly caused people to have issues shopping. In fact, the large items were a barcode on a sheet of paper. When you were done with your shopping you could drive to the designated pick up location and they would load it in your vehicle, making certain to mark it off your receipt- if you had a paper one - and the paper with the barcode. We paid for our TV using the store's app since I had gift cards on it. They couldn't really mark it off of that.
Basically, while I'm not a fan of the deals beginning on the night of Thanksgiving, promoting people leaving their families to hunt down the best deals available, I have to admit, the stores are getting smarter about ensuring their customers' safety. Yes, people are idiots and there are likely to eventually be stampedes for things again when something comes out that is as big as the Cabbage Patch dolls, Tickle-Me-Elmo, or Harry Potter, but that can happen at any time of year. I mean, we all see the TV portrayals of long lines waiting for the release of items or for the store or ticket booths to open for things that are hugely beloved. After all, we love to get great deals and a great deal for something that is really wanted by someone? They'll stampede for that, or wait outside in line for months to ensure they get it. It's what is making counterfeiters so much money. We've been all about having the latest and greatest that we'll spend for it and risk a lot for a great deal. Hell, I had to remind my husband to wait until Black Friday to get a TV because he found one on sale this past summer for $170. It was a smart TV, but only about 42in, if I remember correctly. I reminded him about Black Friday and how electronics are almost always on sale then. He finds a 50in smart TV with Roku for $150 and it gave me enough time to earn $55 in gift cards through Ibotta, Shopkick, Drop, FetchRewards, and ReceiptPal - none of which I've been really hardcore about using since downloading.
The tradition of Black Friday is changing - evolving with the times and what we want and like as people. Isn't that what traditions are supposed to do? Honor the past while still evolving and changing with the times and new things that are added? I mean, I'm an American, and that's what America did. We changed our culture to fit with the ideals that not every person is the same. Yes, we have our problems and we have things that we need to change to be more accepting, but we are hugely a commerce-based country, and Black Friday, one could say is a holiday that brings out the best and the worst traits of every person on the globe.
Sunday, December 1, 2019
NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 5/5
So here's the final post for this year's NaNoWriMo. The big question is did I win? The answer - No. I finished with 15,145 words and that's it. While most of that was for my Assassination Classroom and Yu-Gi-Oh crossover, I also did a small bit of work on my Percy Weasley of Harry Potter is Skull de Mort of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! crossover and one of my Gundam Wing and Harry Potter crossovers. While I didn't succeed in reaching 50k, it doesn't mean I'll stop working on my stories. Between my fanfiction and original works I likely have close to 200 stories being worked on with more ideas niggling into my brain on a regular basis. Now if I could just get one to the point I would feel comfortable trying to get it published...
Anyway, I won't explain why I kept getting side-tracked from my writing this year as it would probably just feel like excuses, so instead congratulations to everyone who got some words written down this past month! If you reached the 50K goal, extra congrats are definitely in order for you! For those who tried but didn't reach the 50k goal, better luck next time. At least you got something written, right? Maybe set a lesser goal for the camps? The first camp is usually in April. It's also National Poetry Month, so if you're a poet, maybe you can focus on them?
Anyway, I won't explain why I kept getting side-tracked from my writing this year as it would probably just feel like excuses, so instead congratulations to everyone who got some words written down this past month! If you reached the 50K goal, extra congrats are definitely in order for you! For those who tried but didn't reach the 50k goal, better luck next time. At least you got something written, right? Maybe set a lesser goal for the camps? The first camp is usually in April. It's also National Poetry Month, so if you're a poet, maybe you can focus on them?
Sunday, November 24, 2019
NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 4/5
So when typing this I'm at 14,303 words out of the 50K goal. I haven't utilized a single one of the virtual write-ins on YouTube, but will likely do so this week at some point. For those who've managed to reach the 50K, congratulations. For those that haven't yet, keep trying. I once filled an entire notebook - 5 subject - in only a few hours.
When a person gets struck with the inspiration they need for a story, the words can and will flow beyond anything one might realize. I can't tell you the number of partial works I have because I get struck with inspiration for a short period of time then have it die out. With all the computer issues I've had in the past, I'm surprised I'm still working on them and on this blog. It doesn't mean I'm not trying to keep going with my blog. I do have several ideas for blogs and there are blogs that I didn't take the time to put together back when they would have been relevant.
There may be a lot of words left for me to write to "win" NaNoWriMo, but that's not how I win. The goal is typically a 50K word story that one has to go back and edit. My personal goal is to write. If I manage to write anything at all, I've won. So I'm still working through the dinner for my crossover which is definitely taking its own life. Why do they make you think it's going to make a zig but then have you write three zags instead?
So good luck and keep writing for those of us who are still not at the 50K goal and for those who have reached it? Please refer to the first paragraph.
When a person gets struck with the inspiration they need for a story, the words can and will flow beyond anything one might realize. I can't tell you the number of partial works I have because I get struck with inspiration for a short period of time then have it die out. With all the computer issues I've had in the past, I'm surprised I'm still working on them and on this blog. It doesn't mean I'm not trying to keep going with my blog. I do have several ideas for blogs and there are blogs that I didn't take the time to put together back when they would have been relevant.
There may be a lot of words left for me to write to "win" NaNoWriMo, but that's not how I win. The goal is typically a 50K word story that one has to go back and edit. My personal goal is to write. If I manage to write anything at all, I've won. So I'm still working through the dinner for my crossover which is definitely taking its own life. Why do they make you think it's going to make a zig but then have you write three zags instead?
So good luck and keep writing for those of us who are still not at the 50K goal and for those who have reached it? Please refer to the first paragraph.
Sunday, November 17, 2019
NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 3/5
At the time I started typing this I had 9337 words, not including the words in this blog post. Part of this has been me trying to find out what shows are on Disney+ for a post I had started and will likely turn into a four-part blog with links to one hundred reviews, but that would be a future post, most assuredly. In my Assassination Classroom Yu-Gi-Oh crossover, I have gotten them to the restaurant and they were last discussing the condiments that Karma brought. Joey was assuring Tristan that the condiments wouldn't actually hurt any of them. I know male pregnancy has occurred in the past of when this fic takes place, but it isn't common and they keep it a secret just like they do about Korosensei. I have a feeling though that this could bring forth a large number of secrets during the dinner. After all, the children don't have to keep a filter on their mouths at family dinners which is what this is despite two outsiders joining and Joey was one of the pregnant males. Like I said though, this doesn't focus on that time period nor is male pregnancy a common thing. He was not pregnant because he went through a gender transformation either. The lore behind why he was able to get pregnant will likely be explained, possibly in bits and pieces, but it will be explained in the fic. All I'm going to put about it is that it's unique to only a few of the Yu-Gi-Oh males. No one else is able to so far as anyone knows and if there are others, they aren't going to come forth in this fic. I also don't plan to keep this fic going with sequels and a huge number of chapters.
So if I manage to finish this and get it posted maybe I can return to some of my past works. I do have another where male pregnancy is possible and Harry ends up with a miscarriage, but there is so much more to it than that and male pregnancy is something that I personally am unlikely to make the main point of my stories. The miscarriage alerts Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey aware of Harry being abused/tortured depending on how a person looks at things. Personally, I feel Umbridge's treatment of Harry and the other students is torture, but that's not what this post is supposed to be about. This supposed to be about my current WIP(work in progress) and how I'm doing in NaNo working on said WIP. So, just a small heads up, I still don't have a title for the thing. I have it labeled as YGO AC under my works on the new NaNoWriMo website. There's a really good chance I'll finish the story but still need an appropriate title and yes I do want to continue working on Caged and A New Time, but I've had computer issues that lost parts of each work and trying to figure out where those particular stories were going has been a little harder. Caged will be much harder because the inspiration for that was a dream and the dream that started has already been recorded into the story, while A New Time was my take on a crossover between Harry Potter and D. Grayman.
I also plan to eventually get back to my original works especially those set in Rock Falls though the Eerie Estates setting could be fun to delve into again... For those who are on track or ahead in their writing, congrats on keeping up or completing the goal early. For those like me who are still struggling along and eking out a few words here and there, just keep plugging along. If it weren't for blog posts and various posts and other writings, I wouldn't have even hit 5K, but words are words and who knows what will be needed for that story when you're done with the editing and revision!
So if I manage to finish this and get it posted maybe I can return to some of my past works. I do have another where male pregnancy is possible and Harry ends up with a miscarriage, but there is so much more to it than that and male pregnancy is something that I personally am unlikely to make the main point of my stories. The miscarriage alerts Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey aware of Harry being abused/tortured depending on how a person looks at things. Personally, I feel Umbridge's treatment of Harry and the other students is torture, but that's not what this post is supposed to be about. This supposed to be about my current WIP(work in progress) and how I'm doing in NaNo working on said WIP. So, just a small heads up, I still don't have a title for the thing. I have it labeled as YGO AC under my works on the new NaNoWriMo website. There's a really good chance I'll finish the story but still need an appropriate title and yes I do want to continue working on Caged and A New Time, but I've had computer issues that lost parts of each work and trying to figure out where those particular stories were going has been a little harder. Caged will be much harder because the inspiration for that was a dream and the dream that started has already been recorded into the story, while A New Time was my take on a crossover between Harry Potter and D. Grayman.
I also plan to eventually get back to my original works especially those set in Rock Falls though the Eerie Estates setting could be fun to delve into again... For those who are on track or ahead in their writing, congrats on keeping up or completing the goal early. For those like me who are still struggling along and eking out a few words here and there, just keep plugging along. If it weren't for blog posts and various posts and other writings, I wouldn't have even hit 5K, but words are words and who knows what will be needed for that story when you're done with the editing and revision!
Streaming Sites
This past week a new streaming service that people have been anxiously waiting for finally became available. Unlike so many others, I was excited but I wasn't about to spend money on something that I might not get to fully enjoy, after all, Disney+ only advertised Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and National Geographic even if there were articles that indicated there would be a bundle deal that included Hulu and ESPN. My husband was more than agreeable to this. So we canceled the WWE and Hulu subscriptions we had and we'll very likely be getting Disney+ before the end of the month. Once that happens, my writing will definitely take a major nosedive since I've heard the series So Weird is fully available on it.
I've searched online to find the series to buy on DVD, but never did, not even on the official movie site! I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars, nor do I care for Star Trek before anyone starts to try to call me a Trekkie. I may be a geek/nerd, but that doesn't mean I have to be typical or stereotypical about it! We also own a number of movies - not just Marvel, Disney, or Pixar, but independent films and Paramount Pictures, but a lot of Disney. It doesn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that I have everything that will be on Disney+ as evidenced by the knowledge that one of my absolutely favorite television shows is available on it while I've been unable to get it. I have managed to get Dark Angel and most of Leverage of DVD (still need season 5...)
While Disney is no longer on Netflix, it doesn't mean there aren't shows on Netflix that I won't be watching. They have exclusive content just as Hulu does that are, in my honest opinion, worth spending time watching. They also have shows that aren't on Hulu and don't forget that streaming is only one part of Netflix. Originally, Netflix didn't stream. It was basically just an online Blockbuster (for those who don't understand, Blockbuster was actually a brick and mortar movie rental. It started with VHS tapes at least when I was a child before DVDs and the internet. It wasn't just a local movie rental either. I'm sure a quick Google search can help you find out more, but suffice to say, good luck finding one anymore. They died before several small-town movie rental businesses did.) When Netflix first started they would mail the DVDs and charge your card for the length of time you kept it. I don't remember all of the particulars, but it added streaming as an alternative, but it doesn't and never had their full library available for streaming. Nowadays, you can no longer rent since they rely solely on streaming services and that consumers are more likely to watch their shows and movies online using their internet services.
I'm so thankful we have DVDs that we can watch because weather happens as does just general other reasons for power outages or internet blank-outs. Life happens, so it's nice to have back-up plans. Whether or not things will go great for Disney+ will depend on their competitors and what they do with the vast amount of content at their fingertips. They have to compete with Netflix which has constantly changes content and there are rumors that they may team up with Nickelodeon. If they got Nickelodeon and say Funimation to bundle up with them, Disney+ would definitely have some competition. Americans are aware of anime, mostly thanks to Toonami, but Sailor Moon, DBZ(DragonBall Z), and so many others made kids of the late nineties and early 2000s (so born in late '80s to early '90s) search for more. It started a wave of other culture awareness that also made us aware of more to the world than what we learned about in our little worlds.
Anyway, Disney may have access to Marvel which means a wealth of characters as well as multiple possible storylines and that's just from the well-known Marvel characters. They have their old Disney shows, many of which left fans wishing for more - looking at Gargoyles and So Weird among others. Some shows need to be redone to set them up to what we are yelling about today, but to do so will definitely offend some. They won't want anything to change what they loved. It's like the outcry when every single superhero movie or series has ever been made and books to movies: people will compare and contrast and find one version better than the others. Those who grew up with the original will always prefer it. They'll find problems in how things are portrayed. Things that have been changed or left out which changed some of the dynamics while pulling forth dynamics that maybe weren't as apparent in the original (this sentence is mainly targeting Harry Potter which is rife with missing depth and more obvious depictions of certain foreshadowed futures, but it's not the only nor is it the first offender, just the easiest to explain because very few don't have any idea what Harry Potter is about even if they've never read the books or seen the movies.) Others will find problems with the original shows either because of the effects or because they willfully ignore the time period its set in or they see the stereotypes and take offense (not that they shouldn't in some cases, but look at when the show/movie was made before arguing its validity and the setting!) I mean something set in the 80s or as old as set in the early 1800s would treat certain types of people severely differently than we do now or how they may have been treated in years before A.D. It doesn't mean the thoughts of how they were treated would have been different.
There is a movie set in a time period that is very much a decent representation of the time period and place it's set in - Mary Poppins. No, I'm not talking about Jane, Mary, Michael, Mr. Banks or even the servants, chimney sweeps, or birdwoman (though they all can help my case) I'm talking about Mrs. Banks, the children's mother. There's a scene talking about their plans on a day Mary Poppins is supposed to be off. She said she had to attend a rally and she wore a political-based sash. Mrs. Banks was a fighter for women's rights. For the time period and place it is set in, it makes sense that at least one of the several women in the show would be fighting women's rights. And this was a Disney movie. Thank you, Disney, for giving a mother who was willing to try to make things better for her daughter, even if she didn't spend much time with said daughter.
Netflix, however, tends to really delve into the darker things and nostalgia that plagues our generations with shows like Stranger Things, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, among several other shows. There are several classics and reality shows available through Hulu, though. That's not to forget about other streaming services - YouTube, Amazon Prime, Funimation, PlutoTV and Crunchyroll just to name a few. Wherever you find the shows you enjoy, keep an eye for things that change such as the variety of content on others. If you have a to watch/rewatch/finish watching list like I do, you may find it growing with all the original content that appears on different streaming sites and spin-offs and crossover episodes for whatever you may be watching not to mention reboots and movies...wow, Buffy, Charmed, Doctor Who, Bleach, Supernatural, CSI, JAG, etc. have really made things hard for me to truly catch up on things for story ideas I might have or blog posts...
I've searched online to find the series to buy on DVD, but never did, not even on the official movie site! I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars, nor do I care for Star Trek before anyone starts to try to call me a Trekkie. I may be a geek/nerd, but that doesn't mean I have to be typical or stereotypical about it! We also own a number of movies - not just Marvel, Disney, or Pixar, but independent films and Paramount Pictures, but a lot of Disney. It doesn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that I have everything that will be on Disney+ as evidenced by the knowledge that one of my absolutely favorite television shows is available on it while I've been unable to get it. I have managed to get Dark Angel and most of Leverage of DVD (still need season 5...)
While Disney is no longer on Netflix, it doesn't mean there aren't shows on Netflix that I won't be watching. They have exclusive content just as Hulu does that are, in my honest opinion, worth spending time watching. They also have shows that aren't on Hulu and don't forget that streaming is only one part of Netflix. Originally, Netflix didn't stream. It was basically just an online Blockbuster (for those who don't understand, Blockbuster was actually a brick and mortar movie rental. It started with VHS tapes at least when I was a child before DVDs and the internet. It wasn't just a local movie rental either. I'm sure a quick Google search can help you find out more, but suffice to say, good luck finding one anymore. They died before several small-town movie rental businesses did.) When Netflix first started they would mail the DVDs and charge your card for the length of time you kept it. I don't remember all of the particulars, but it added streaming as an alternative, but it doesn't and never had their full library available for streaming. Nowadays, you can no longer rent since they rely solely on streaming services and that consumers are more likely to watch their shows and movies online using their internet services.
I'm so thankful we have DVDs that we can watch because weather happens as does just general other reasons for power outages or internet blank-outs. Life happens, so it's nice to have back-up plans. Whether or not things will go great for Disney+ will depend on their competitors and what they do with the vast amount of content at their fingertips. They have to compete with Netflix which has constantly changes content and there are rumors that they may team up with Nickelodeon. If they got Nickelodeon and say Funimation to bundle up with them, Disney+ would definitely have some competition. Americans are aware of anime, mostly thanks to Toonami, but Sailor Moon, DBZ(DragonBall Z), and so many others made kids of the late nineties and early 2000s (so born in late '80s to early '90s) search for more. It started a wave of other culture awareness that also made us aware of more to the world than what we learned about in our little worlds.
Anyway, Disney may have access to Marvel which means a wealth of characters as well as multiple possible storylines and that's just from the well-known Marvel characters. They have their old Disney shows, many of which left fans wishing for more - looking at Gargoyles and So Weird among others. Some shows need to be redone to set them up to what we are yelling about today, but to do so will definitely offend some. They won't want anything to change what they loved. It's like the outcry when every single superhero movie or series has ever been made and books to movies: people will compare and contrast and find one version better than the others. Those who grew up with the original will always prefer it. They'll find problems in how things are portrayed. Things that have been changed or left out which changed some of the dynamics while pulling forth dynamics that maybe weren't as apparent in the original (this sentence is mainly targeting Harry Potter which is rife with missing depth and more obvious depictions of certain foreshadowed futures, but it's not the only nor is it the first offender, just the easiest to explain because very few don't have any idea what Harry Potter is about even if they've never read the books or seen the movies.) Others will find problems with the original shows either because of the effects or because they willfully ignore the time period its set in or they see the stereotypes and take offense (not that they shouldn't in some cases, but look at when the show/movie was made before arguing its validity and the setting!) I mean something set in the 80s or as old as set in the early 1800s would treat certain types of people severely differently than we do now or how they may have been treated in years before A.D. It doesn't mean the thoughts of how they were treated would have been different.
There is a movie set in a time period that is very much a decent representation of the time period and place it's set in - Mary Poppins. No, I'm not talking about Jane, Mary, Michael, Mr. Banks or even the servants, chimney sweeps, or birdwoman (though they all can help my case) I'm talking about Mrs. Banks, the children's mother. There's a scene talking about their plans on a day Mary Poppins is supposed to be off. She said she had to attend a rally and she wore a political-based sash. Mrs. Banks was a fighter for women's rights. For the time period and place it is set in, it makes sense that at least one of the several women in the show would be fighting women's rights. And this was a Disney movie. Thank you, Disney, for giving a mother who was willing to try to make things better for her daughter, even if she didn't spend much time with said daughter.
Netflix, however, tends to really delve into the darker things and nostalgia that plagues our generations with shows like Stranger Things, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, among several other shows. There are several classics and reality shows available through Hulu, though. That's not to forget about other streaming services - YouTube, Amazon Prime, Funimation, PlutoTV and Crunchyroll just to name a few. Wherever you find the shows you enjoy, keep an eye for things that change such as the variety of content on others. If you have a to watch/rewatch/finish watching list like I do, you may find it growing with all the original content that appears on different streaming sites and spin-offs and crossover episodes for whatever you may be watching not to mention reboots and movies...wow, Buffy, Charmed, Doctor Who, Bleach, Supernatural, CSI, JAG, etc. have really made things hard for me to truly catch up on things for story ideas I might have or blog posts...
Sunday, November 10, 2019
NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 2/5
So now that there's a whole 'nother week under our writer's belts, I've got to admit I haven't done much. At the time I'm typing this, I've only reached 5436 words. Saturday, Nov 9 was supposed "Double Donation Day" but I didn't even realize until rather late in the day (just before typing the majority of this post!) Still, it doesn't mean I won't attempt to get my word count up there and reach that 50K word goal. Thankfully I have the first chapter of my story - my fanfiction - written, though editing is likely to change it in some ways. It may add words, remove them or alter in other ways. I've had to rework an entire chapter before and currently, I have several stories that are requiring me to remember various things. Maybe one day I'll remember how the train ride chapter of my Winding Circle Harry Potter crossover and figure out how the circle alters the final confrontation and how the changes they've already made are going to affect the future.
For those who are still attempting to get to that lofty goal - good luck; keep writing! For those who've reached it - congratulations!
For those who are still attempting to get to that lofty goal - good luck; keep writing! For those who've reached it - congratulations!
Sunday, November 3, 2019
NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 1/5
NaNoWriMo has begun again and other than a large number of fanfictions that I want to finish as well as a large number of originals that I want to either start/restart or finish I don't know what I want to work on. Most likely I will be working on fanfics which I've got three that I think I'll be working on.
The first is a crossover I've been working on for quite some time. Harry Potter instead of being taken into the Dursley household was put up for adoption through an orphanage the police ended up putting him in. He was adopted by a foreign couple who would later divorce and separate him from his sister. He would find friends and go through a lot of weird stuff before being found once again by the British Wizarding World. His friends would not let him go alone when he gets told about how he's expected to be someone who is said to have been targeted by a serial killer and been the killer's only survivor. With Seto Kaiba funding the trip, wizarding Britain is definitely going to get a wake-up call as they keep trying to say that Katsuya Jonouchi is Harry Potter and that despite having never met the boy or talked to him, they know everything about him. Obviously, this one is a Harry Potter and Yu-Gi-Oh crossover.
The second is a Harry Potter Gundam Wing crossover I started recently. This one is set at the end of fourth year when the students get off the train and instead of going straight home, Harry and many other muggleborn and raised are taken to a government building to be registered in accordance with a new law that was introduced to help locate families that have been separated. I haven't yet decided exactly what gets discovered but I do know that a paternal family member for Harry is found. I don't know if it'll be a sibling, cousin, or even his own father, I'm still trying to figure that out. Hell, it might be both a sibling and his father, after all, he can't be sure what he saw in the graveyard, can he?
Finally, on the fanfic scene, I have the idea for a crossover between Assassination Classroom and Yu-Gi-Oh. It's set after all the students have finished school and are well established in their careers and for some families. After having been told that they had to find a new school for the Kaiba and Moto children, Joey goes to check out a school meeting an old classmate as the teacher for the children placed in the most problematic class - Nagisa. In my mind, there is a lot more going on and the issue is the secrets that Tristan and Joey are keeping puts the friends from both sets against each other. Other than that I don't know how long I'll make this story or if it'll be a one-shot capture of that specific instance.
I'm likely to work on other stories as well. Some are likely to be original pieces, but there will also be other fanfics included. After all, these are only three fanfics and I can guarantee that I have a minimum of twenty that have been started either on a computer or on paper and I'm constantly finding more ideas for fanfics.
As for my progress for NaNoWriMo, I've managed 3861 words in the first two full days. Hope you guys are getting some writing done!
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Halloween Trunk-or-Treat
This summer there was a huge debate that started and continued into the school year and made it onto the news: should the date of Halloween be changed?
Why would anyone even suggest changing the date of a holiday that children can look at and not ask what day it falls on? I remember when I was a child in one place I lived, there were two nights for trick-or-treating and being scared (my fave part!) When we moved to a different state it became only one night, which was disappointing, but not because of the smaller amount of candy! After all, I have four siblings! The debate, however, was to try to convince the government to change Halloween from the 31st of October to the last Saturday in October. While I can sort of understand why parents would want to have Halloween be on the weekend, meaning Friday or Saturday, there is a fairly new event that is Halloween-oriented and typically scheduled for either Friday or Saturday - Trunk-or-Treat.
Trunk-or-Treat is an event that allows children to go to a place where groups, businesses, and other people set up vehicles for trick-or-treating. The first time I heard about one was about five or six years ago when a local church hosted one. The next year, there were two - one at the church and one put on by the local high school. Since then, it has become a yearly event that has actually grown in size from one block to apparently three this year. It's a bit safer as well than going to different areas to trick-or-treat, but my husband and I plan to be ready for possible costumed candy-hunters. Of course, the candy will be something we like, but I love Halloween for the scares, not sweets, though those are pretty good.
Trunk-or-Treat has made there be fewer trick-or-treaters going door to door in those towns that have them and I've heard fewer reports of Halloween hijinx in the towns that have them. While some still celebrate in the traditional way of door-to-door trick-or-treating, it feels like Trunk-or-Treats and decorating the home without expectation of Halloween visitors. It allows for Halloween to remain on its traditional date, but still have parties surrounding the day. For those who've already celebrated, hope your Halloween was safe and scary, for those who've yet to celebrate - have a happy Halloween.
At work I've been seeing signs that say "It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween" and I couldn't help creating the following parody:
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Everywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten autumn once again
With candy corn and pumpkins aglow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Skeletons in every yard
But the scariest sight to see is the children that will be
At your own front door.A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
To help disguise Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the quest of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for the night to end.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Everywhere you go;
There's a ghost in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The pale kind that doesn't mind the boo.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween;
Soon the screams will start,
And the thing that will make them true is the scare that you do
No matter your costume!
Why would anyone even suggest changing the date of a holiday that children can look at and not ask what day it falls on? I remember when I was a child in one place I lived, there were two nights for trick-or-treating and being scared (my fave part!) When we moved to a different state it became only one night, which was disappointing, but not because of the smaller amount of candy! After all, I have four siblings! The debate, however, was to try to convince the government to change Halloween from the 31st of October to the last Saturday in October. While I can sort of understand why parents would want to have Halloween be on the weekend, meaning Friday or Saturday, there is a fairly new event that is Halloween-oriented and typically scheduled for either Friday or Saturday - Trunk-or-Treat.
Trunk-or-Treat is an event that allows children to go to a place where groups, businesses, and other people set up vehicles for trick-or-treating. The first time I heard about one was about five or six years ago when a local church hosted one. The next year, there were two - one at the church and one put on by the local high school. Since then, it has become a yearly event that has actually grown in size from one block to apparently three this year. It's a bit safer as well than going to different areas to trick-or-treat, but my husband and I plan to be ready for possible costumed candy-hunters. Of course, the candy will be something we like, but I love Halloween for the scares, not sweets, though those are pretty good.
Trunk-or-Treat has made there be fewer trick-or-treaters going door to door in those towns that have them and I've heard fewer reports of Halloween hijinx in the towns that have them. While some still celebrate in the traditional way of door-to-door trick-or-treating, it feels like Trunk-or-Treats and decorating the home without expectation of Halloween visitors. It allows for Halloween to remain on its traditional date, but still have parties surrounding the day. For those who've already celebrated, hope your Halloween was safe and scary, for those who've yet to celebrate - have a happy Halloween.
At work I've been seeing signs that say "It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween" and I couldn't help creating the following parody:
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Everywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten autumn once again
With candy corn and pumpkins aglow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Skeletons in every yard
But the scariest sight to see is the children that will be
At your own front door.A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
To help disguise Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the quest of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for the night to end.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Everywhere you go;
There's a ghost in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The pale kind that doesn't mind the boo.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween;
Soon the screams will start,
And the thing that will make them true is the scare that you do
No matter your costume!
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Apolo-Update
I know, I'm horrible! I truly did mean to keep on top of these only to fall seriously behind and NaNoWriMo begins in less than a month! I ended up getting too busy in real life (RL) and forgot to make certain to have my posts typed up and prepared/scheduled to publish on Sundays. But I am going to get back to it. This month is October. I know, it's rather obvious and I missed the first week's posting, but, hopefully, this makes up for that.
First off, this is the month of frights and scares. My favorite holiday exists on the final day of the month, and not because of the candy! Halloween has a lot of great memories but also has become almost disappointing. When I do my Halloween post this year, I'm going to write about two things that I've seen a rather large number of posts arguing either for or against - changing the Halloween date and Trunk-or-Treat's. This will hopefully be posted on the 27th. My hope for next week is to finally get that first episode of my rewatching of Charmed posted. No matter what though, I'm still here and I'm still trying!
Next month I'll be focusing on NaNoWriMo. When I glanced at my past posts and saw that my last one was for Camp in July, I realized that I never updated on what I was doing. Well, I did a small amount of work, but I didn't keep track of it nor did I win, sadly. It does not mean I've given up though.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
July Camp Nano
So, tomorrow starts 2019's Camp NaNoWriMo and, yes, I plan to participate. For each week of July I will post an update on how I'm doing on my project and, perhaps, I'll even give tidbits of the story or ask for help with things that are giving me trouble. By no means am I demanding for aid, but maybe you'll be having the same issue. If I posted previously about an issue I was having and have managed to find a fix, I pan to put that in a post with the updates as well.
Now, for my project. At first I was planning to just focus on my KHR fanfics (I know I have at least two crossovers with HP started and ideas for a good many more) but my husband and I have been watching a number of documentaries about WWII and that got me thinking - if literally anything had gone slightly differently in Hitler's life, perhaps he'd have never even gone into politics which would have lead to a vastly different era for what WWII ended up being. Then I realized I'll need to do some major research for this bit of historical fiction. So, I plan to work on both, though I likely will focus on a very particular KHR/HP crossover.
This crossover is set after Deathly Hallows and at some point after the Arcobeleno curse has been lifted. I only got as far in the manga as the start of the game to lift the curse, but I wanted to make it that period because while there are innumerable Harry is Skull stories and a few others where Skull is someone from the wizarding world, I got to thinking - what if Percy, the black sheep of the Weasley family, were a cloud? Furthermore what if he became Skull? So, I will focus on this story because it s an intriguing concept. For those who plan to also participate, good luck. For those who don't, enjoy the influx of reading material that will hopefully come out if not during then after July ends!
Now, for my project. At first I was planning to just focus on my KHR fanfics (I know I have at least two crossovers with HP started and ideas for a good many more) but my husband and I have been watching a number of documentaries about WWII and that got me thinking - if literally anything had gone slightly differently in Hitler's life, perhaps he'd have never even gone into politics which would have lead to a vastly different era for what WWII ended up being. Then I realized I'll need to do some major research for this bit of historical fiction. So, I plan to work on both, though I likely will focus on a very particular KHR/HP crossover.
This crossover is set after Deathly Hallows and at some point after the Arcobeleno curse has been lifted. I only got as far in the manga as the start of the game to lift the curse, but I wanted to make it that period because while there are innumerable Harry is Skull stories and a few others where Skull is someone from the wizarding world, I got to thinking - what if Percy, the black sheep of the Weasley family, were a cloud? Furthermore what if he became Skull? So, I will focus on this story because it s an intriguing concept. For those who plan to also participate, good luck. For those who don't, enjoy the influx of reading material that will hopefully come out if not during then after July ends!
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Summer of Wizards
This was supposed to be a post in regards to summer, but Wizards Unite! came out Thursday night and instead of concentrating on my posts, I played. I just want to say that the release of this game would have been great if the weather had worked with the players. Instead of having gorgeous summer weather to go for walks in, we've had rainstorms or it's been so hot and there's little cover where I currently am so it makes going for long walks more dangerous.
It is a fun game though, and I must admit it's more engaging than Pokemon GO. There's more to the game than just collecting. In fact, there are three building types to go to and only one allows for fighting. The other two allow for growing plants and drawing things to you as well as a quick collection based on either a spell you cast or a plant chosen by you. I haven't played it much due to the disappointing weather and the need to do so much around the house. Just a disappointing thing about warmer weather and the season known as summer!
Anyway, as far as summer goes, I hope everyone manages to enjoy it and not get sunburned.
**Notes: I am still working through the first episode of the original version of Charmed. As soon as I've finished it, I'll post it. As such, I feel I should also admit that next week's post will only be the Camp Nano related article.
This was supposed to be posted on June 23, sorry for the long wait.
Monday, June 10, 2019
Father's Day 2019
In a week it will be Father's Day. I think for all of us who haven't had a steady fatherly presence it's a rather annoying thing, but then so is Mother's Day for those who never had a steady maternal presence. I know that there are bad dads and great ones, good ones and horrible ones. It's the ones that are unable to be there for their kids that I feel for. It's the kids who aren't aware of what a parent's support or disdain can mean for them that have it worse in my opinion than even those who have absolutely horrible parents. It's not that I'm trying to demean those who wish to celebrate for their parents, but rather that some of us never celebrated it, don't have kids to celebrate with and yet are expected to with our significant others.
Celebrating our fathers isn't as easy for most unlike celebrating their mothers. My husband's family tends to go out to eat or grill at home. Shopping for fathers may seem straightforward, but it isn't. We see ads for grilling items and tools being on sale for Father's Day. Not all fathers are going to want things to grill with or new tools. I know there are some who would prefer the entire series of an older television series (MASH and JAG are a couple of examples) or a movie they don't own. They wouldn't mind being taken out to eat instead of grilling their own meal, but I didn't grow up with my father handily available or my dad. I always hated hearing about father's day activities or gifts (and still do) because I don't have my own father to celebrate with. For those that do, enjoy it while you can.
*Note this was supposed to be posted yesterday. I could have sworn I even had it scheduled, but when I went to start on next week's post, it hadn't yet. Thankfully, it's only a day late!
Celebrating our fathers isn't as easy for most unlike celebrating their mothers. My husband's family tends to go out to eat or grill at home. Shopping for fathers may seem straightforward, but it isn't. We see ads for grilling items and tools being on sale for Father's Day. Not all fathers are going to want things to grill with or new tools. I know there are some who would prefer the entire series of an older television series (MASH and JAG are a couple of examples) or a movie they don't own. They wouldn't mind being taken out to eat instead of grilling their own meal, but I didn't grow up with my father handily available or my dad. I always hated hearing about father's day activities or gifts (and still do) because I don't have my own father to celebrate with. For those that do, enjoy it while you can.
*Note this was supposed to be posted yesterday. I could have sworn I even had it scheduled, but when I went to start on next week's post, it hadn't yet. Thankfully, it's only a day late!
Sunday, June 2, 2019
June 2019
Alright, let's see if I can get this done and keep to my self-imposed schedule. It's been five years since I started this blog and sometimes I manage really well while others I seriously seem to distance myself from it. This recurring habit is not done on purpose, I swear, but I have a hard time breaking it. So first, here's the plan without the final titles:
June 2 - the plan for June
June 9 - something related to Father's Day
June 16 - the first episode of the original Charmed for rewatching and finding things that aid in proving that Piper is the strongest of the three
June 23 - Something regarding the summer solstice
June 30 - Typically July is a Camp Nano month so I'll dedicate this to my plans for the work that I'll be working on for the month as well as the July blog plans. If for whatever reason there is no Camp Nano for July, I'll probably do episode two of the original Charmed.
Now that I've outlined the month's blogs for this post I want to explain why I've put in a possibility of two episodes being done. Netflix currently hosts the new Charmed. Watching it, I find so long as I've distanced myself from the original, it works. After the rewatching, I might do a comparing of shows series in which I'll watch the new series and remark on things that can displace avid original Charmed fans because face it, when they rebooted it they made changes to the world of Charmed, but they also threw in some Easter eggs that give you nods to the original series as well. Many of these may be more visual than they are auditory, but some you have to see and read not just catch a glimpse of and when I do the comparison series I plan to include all of them. I might manage to miss some of them, but I hope to find just as many as any other fan might have. Of course, I always would be happy for folks to comment on any that I may have missed, but more about all that if I actually get around to that series.
I do plan to get back to my Hero Creation series in D&D and my cookbook recipe weekly reviews based on the cookbooks I have currently, but there are a lot of things that I'm trying to do both with my writing and in other areas of my life. So first, I need to get through and be typing up a post on a weekly basis for this blog! If you have things you want to hear my thoughts on, let me know. I'll gladly try to get some of them done. Be safe during the summer months, though and have fun!
June 2 - the plan for June
June 9 - something related to Father's Day
June 16 - the first episode of the original Charmed for rewatching and finding things that aid in proving that Piper is the strongest of the three
June 23 - Something regarding the summer solstice
June 30 - Typically July is a Camp Nano month so I'll dedicate this to my plans for the work that I'll be working on for the month as well as the July blog plans. If for whatever reason there is no Camp Nano for July, I'll probably do episode two of the original Charmed.
Now that I've outlined the month's blogs for this post I want to explain why I've put in a possibility of two episodes being done. Netflix currently hosts the new Charmed. Watching it, I find so long as I've distanced myself from the original, it works. After the rewatching, I might do a comparing of shows series in which I'll watch the new series and remark on things that can displace avid original Charmed fans because face it, when they rebooted it they made changes to the world of Charmed, but they also threw in some Easter eggs that give you nods to the original series as well. Many of these may be more visual than they are auditory, but some you have to see and read not just catch a glimpse of and when I do the comparison series I plan to include all of them. I might manage to miss some of them, but I hope to find just as many as any other fan might have. Of course, I always would be happy for folks to comment on any that I may have missed, but more about all that if I actually get around to that series.
I do plan to get back to my Hero Creation series in D&D and my cookbook recipe weekly reviews based on the cookbooks I have currently, but there are a lot of things that I'm trying to do both with my writing and in other areas of my life. So first, I need to get through and be typing up a post on a weekly basis for this blog! If you have things you want to hear my thoughts on, let me know. I'll gladly try to get some of them done. Be safe during the summer months, though and have fun!
Monday, April 29, 2019
Paddy's Day 2019
Happy St. Paddy's Day! Okay, so I could have sworn I had this one started and scheduled - obviously, this should have been the March 17th post - but as I was looking through my blogs and realized I never got around to putting this in post, only did so in my mind. Stupid composing of posts in my head while working or driving or otherwise unable to get to a computer! Anyway, this will be it for this post, I think it was the only one I had definitely planned and remarked about writing. My next post will likely be for May. I'm not sure if I'll be posting on the 5th for sure, but I will definitely be trying. Until then, Hope you've had a wonderfully green Mar 17th and a very Happy Easter since I missed that holiday as well!
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Mardi Gras to Lent
This past week is one full of things for Christians, be they Protestant or Catholic or Orthodox. First was Mardi Gras, then Ash Wednesday which set off Lent. For those who are unaware, this is the start of a forty (40) day fast. Luckily for most of us, it's not a true fast. We still get to eat meals and drink when we want, but there are some stipulations, partly dependent on your beliefs and partly how you were raised. Someone who is already a vegetarian doesn't need to worry about the refusal of meat, at the minimum, on Fridays. But I do these events a disservice by equating them to minor traditions that can be easily followed and understood.
Giving things up for those forty days is what I was taught to do. I don't though. I've never been a fan of having to give up the few things that I call my own. I freely admit that I don't follow lent nor celebrate Mardi Gras or Ash Wednesday. The reason why I like this time of year and feel a need to type about it is the huge abundance of fish fries that crop up for the time that Lent covers. I hated fish as a kid. Thankfully, I've changed in that respect to an extent. I'm more willing to have fish though I'm not a large fan of fried fish. In fact, there are a few dishes that I've been making more regularly at home...and I just realized I went on a tangent so I'm going to finish this post here.
**This was the original post for March 10, 2019.
Giving things up for those forty days is what I was taught to do. I don't though. I've never been a fan of having to give up the few things that I call my own. I freely admit that I don't follow lent nor celebrate Mardi Gras or Ash Wednesday. The reason why I like this time of year and feel a need to type about it is the huge abundance of fish fries that crop up for the time that Lent covers. I hated fish as a kid. Thankfully, I've changed in that respect to an extent. I'm more willing to have fish though I'm not a large fan of fried fish. In fact, there are a few dishes that I've been making more regularly at home...and I just realized I went on a tangent so I'm going to finish this post here.
**This was the original post for March 10, 2019.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Charmed: A Revisiting of the First Version - the Preface/Disclaimer
Recently, I started to rewatch Charmed. One of the things that I remember thinking about the first time was that it seemed Piper was never truly appreciated and in the final seasons it seemed as though some of the information from earlier seasons were forgotten including Prue's existence. I think the thing that is most annoying is that when it comes right down to it, Piper seemed to always be underappreciated. In the first episode, it's established that Piper is the middle child - the peacemaker. Trust me, being a middle child isn't easy or fun. Not only are you held to the standards set forth by the eldest, but you also get blamed for everything since the youngest wouldn't possibly do anything like it. Just trying to keep out of the spotlight for negativity means you stay out of the spotlight for positive things as well. You get punished without getting to tell your story and you never get the things you really want. They end up going to one of the others. Sorry, I might be a little bitter about being a middle child myself...
Anyway, personally, I think of Piper Halliwell to be the strongest of Charmed Ones. It's not just because I'm a middle child myself and wish to see middle children receive more recognition. From this point on, I must warn you of the major possibility of spoilers as I work through each season, episode by episode(It's going to take some time, I know!), to give proof of Piper's power. Within each episode, I'm definitely going to ramble about various things. This is my warning before I get started on my revisiting of Charmed - I won't stay strictly on Piper's power levels underrepresentation. I will comment and research about topics and guest stars. Perhaps one of my favorite actors/actresses is a guest/extra or even someone who has made it even bigger now than they were during Charmed's run.
Hopefully, I can shed light on why I feel that Piper is the most powerful witch in the known Charmed verse, before the comics and disregarding any books or outside articles. If any are included, the information regarding what outside sources were used will be included. I might include quotes given and I may even attempt to find other information or background info in regards to things that I type in regards to the individual episodes. Maybe eventually I will be able to convince myself to watch the new version of the series, or it might increase my aversion to it.
Anyway, personally, I think of Piper Halliwell to be the strongest of Charmed Ones. It's not just because I'm a middle child myself and wish to see middle children receive more recognition. From this point on, I must warn you of the major possibility of spoilers as I work through each season, episode by episode(It's going to take some time, I know!), to give proof of Piper's power. Within each episode, I'm definitely going to ramble about various things. This is my warning before I get started on my revisiting of Charmed - I won't stay strictly on Piper's power levels underrepresentation. I will comment and research about topics and guest stars. Perhaps one of my favorite actors/actresses is a guest/extra or even someone who has made it even bigger now than they were during Charmed's run.
Hopefully, I can shed light on why I feel that Piper is the most powerful witch in the known Charmed verse, before the comics and disregarding any books or outside articles. If any are included, the information regarding what outside sources were used will be included. I might include quotes given and I may even attempt to find other information or background info in regards to things that I type in regards to the individual episodes. Maybe eventually I will be able to convince myself to watch the new version of the series, or it might increase my aversion to it.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
March '19 Plans
The month of March has just began and let me type you, it's been a wet February! So, for the first post of March, I want to lay out my post plans. Obviously first is this one explaining what I plan to type. For the next post I want to get into info regarding Mardi Gras, Lent, and Ash Wednesday. Next up for what is probably the absolute greenest day of the year - and a day the Hulk would not really be out of place! - St. Patrick's Day. The week after that will hopefully be a general spring based post and last will be the first post of a very long-running series of posts regarding the Charmed series. Hopefully I can keep to these plans, but as recorded right here in my blog, it's a huge work in progress. Well, I'll type you all later, though this feels really short...
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Valentine's and a New Year?
So, yeah, I kind of got side-tracked between bad weather, housework, and close-out sales (great deal at Payless shoe store in a nearby city) and managed not to type up any posts. So here is that promised post about Valentine's and the Chinese New Year.
Valentine's is considered a couple's holiday. For me, that means my husband cooks dinner and if I'm lucky he gives me flowers or a trinket or some kind of candy. I usually get him some kind of treat (usually a couple of packs/boxes of one of his favorite candies) and this year I was only treated to dinner in. Am I upset? Sometimes, but last year we took a trip to a town about an hour away to avoid anyone we knew for the whole weekend and then took the scenic route back. This year, we happen to be a bit cash-strapped. Overall, I'm just happy he cooked and served me rather than us having left-overs and/or me having to get my own dinner, so for me, it was a really good Valentine's.
On top of that, some games will provide special things for the holidays. In fact, Gloria Victus introduced heart-shaped ammo and catapults to their game which can be found on Steam. (Eventually, I hope to write a review on this game!) Both Merge Dragons and Clash Royale gave special extras and releases for the Chinese New Year - a day that for many Americans is just another excuse to get drunk, at least those that don't actually follow or celebrate the Chinese New Year. Also, just a little side note for you when looking at the Chinese Zodiac - the new year begins in February. If you were born in January look at the previous year's Zodiac sign and if you were born in February, look up when the new year began before figuring out what your Zodiac sign is. So enjoy this Year of the Pig and hopefully, I'll get my March plans out this weekend!
Valentine's is considered a couple's holiday. For me, that means my husband cooks dinner and if I'm lucky he gives me flowers or a trinket or some kind of candy. I usually get him some kind of treat (usually a couple of packs/boxes of one of his favorite candies) and this year I was only treated to dinner in. Am I upset? Sometimes, but last year we took a trip to a town about an hour away to avoid anyone we knew for the whole weekend and then took the scenic route back. This year, we happen to be a bit cash-strapped. Overall, I'm just happy he cooked and served me rather than us having left-overs and/or me having to get my own dinner, so for me, it was a really good Valentine's.
On top of that, some games will provide special things for the holidays. In fact, Gloria Victus introduced heart-shaped ammo and catapults to their game which can be found on Steam. (Eventually, I hope to write a review on this game!) Both Merge Dragons and Clash Royale gave special extras and releases for the Chinese New Year - a day that for many Americans is just another excuse to get drunk, at least those that don't actually follow or celebrate the Chinese New Year. Also, just a little side note for you when looking at the Chinese Zodiac - the new year begins in February. If you were born in January look at the previous year's Zodiac sign and if you were born in February, look up when the new year began before figuring out what your Zodiac sign is. So enjoy this Year of the Pig and hopefully, I'll get my March plans out this weekend!
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Feb Plans
So, this should have been actually typed and posted on the third, but I let other things get in the way - my February posting plans. Since February has a couple of decent and popular holidays, at least in The United States. Those two holidays happen to be the Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day. At first, I was planning on writing an article regarding both of these, but with me being all writing this after my original plan to type it up I have decided to change my plans. Instead, I'll attempt an article regarding both holidays for the 24th. The article won't be an in-depth explanation of either holiday but will give some information and my own thoughts regarding both holidays.
For the tenth's article, I think I'll remain without a post. It's not because I want to, but if I try to play catch-up I could fall further behind. It's only about two weeks into the second month of the year and I'd rather get into a steady habit with the occasional missed post than have a large number of missed posts because I tried to keep to a schedule that I just couldn't seem to. Hopefully, despite my personal issues and what occurs in real life, I'll be able to type up something for this Sunday. Until then, who knows what else will come to mind. After all, there is any number of things that occur in the month of February including the flooding of every form of media to celebrate Black History Month.
For the tenth's article, I think I'll remain without a post. It's not because I want to, but if I try to play catch-up I could fall further behind. It's only about two weeks into the second month of the year and I'd rather get into a steady habit with the occasional missed post than have a large number of missed posts because I tried to keep to a schedule that I just couldn't seem to. Hopefully, despite my personal issues and what occurs in real life, I'll be able to type up something for this Sunday. Until then, who knows what else will come to mind. After all, there is any number of things that occur in the month of February including the flooding of every form of media to celebrate Black History Month.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Resolutions Too Soon
It's not even been a full month since the new year started and I've heard radio commercials that basically have declared that you likely won't reach your resolutions for the year. I find this annoying and disheartening. When a person makes a New Year's Resolution, they make a promise - if only to themself - that by the end of the year the will be successful in what their goals are. That means that that person has at least 365 days to meet that goal.
I've never been successful with mine, but that's because I don't like to set goals. I don't like to be held to a standard I may not be able to keep. I don't need to lose weight and while I would love to be gung-ho about certain things, I have a husband to think about as well as myself. I would not be able to just disappear to unknown locations or take time to just ignore things going on around me. There aren't enough ways to remind people about their resolutions that to me feel as though they aren't trying to perform a complete overhaul or basically intrude in a stranger's life.
I just wish every once in a while that instead of reminding how hard meeting our resolution is or that we've forgotten it or told we've failed already, someone or something would remind us we still have the time or that it's not too late to meet our resolutions or at least make some headway. Is that too much to ask?
**This should have been the post for this past Sunday, but at least I've posted it!
I've never been successful with mine, but that's because I don't like to set goals. I don't like to be held to a standard I may not be able to keep. I don't need to lose weight and while I would love to be gung-ho about certain things, I have a husband to think about as well as myself. I would not be able to just disappear to unknown locations or take time to just ignore things going on around me. There aren't enough ways to remind people about their resolutions that to me feel as though they aren't trying to perform a complete overhaul or basically intrude in a stranger's life.
I just wish every once in a while that instead of reminding how hard meeting our resolution is or that we've forgotten it or told we've failed already, someone or something would remind us we still have the time or that it's not too late to meet our resolutions or at least make some headway. Is that too much to ask?
**This should have been the post for this past Sunday, but at least I've posted it!
Friday, February 1, 2019
Prejudice in Reverse?
In a world that has been increasingly made aware of the continuous prejudices in the world, I can't help but wonder why it seems like the issues are striving to go to the opposite extreme.
Don't get me wrong, prejudice in all forms exists. Racism, ageism, sizism, gender discrimination, etc. permeate all realms of our lives. Hell, I grew up attending mostly white schools. My mother upon hearing I had signed up for the military had a few "words of wisdom" to impart. Basically, what those words were showed that though she had denied being so when I was growing up, she was racist. She told me to be careful, especially of the black guys. I had a black male friend and I couldn't help wondering how she really felt about several of my friends - most of whom were males and some were not white. She moved us because she didn't want us to be influenced by her parents who were according to her, chauvinistic. While my grandfather may have had problems with my mother doing things that were seen as male, I remember him and my grandmother encouraging us to do as we wanted even if those dreams weren't what they thought we should do.
Recently, I read a story about a woman who has had to put down books written by guys telling a story from a female point of view because they'll have a woman walking alone at night, but there is no thought about her own safety or how she might be attacked on her way home. As a young-ish female, I have to admit that I have had walks where those thoughts do come into play. However, it's not a regular occurrence. In fact, it's really only a thought that I have every once in a small while unless I go somewhere I don't know very well. This, however, got me to wondering if guys who read books from a male point of view see the same disparities that women notice.
See, I've read numerous stories and I can't always tell the gender of the author based on what I'm reading because even if it is typical of a gender according to society, it does not mean it's unrealistic. Typically females will ask for directions according to general society, however, MythBusters did happen to bust it, and I can further confirm that not all females will ask for help. It just fits the mold we've tried to condemn ourselves to constantly.
Beyond that, we think of WW2 as a prime example of racism when the Jewish religion is not a race, but religion or faith. Being Jewish is the same as being Muslim, Catholic, or Wiccan - not defined by how one looks but by personal beliefs. But prejudice doesn't just get perpetrated by the perceived majorities. Women are considered a minority even though they make up just over half of the population. In South America, blacks made the majority but racism is considered to be perpetrated solely by the white people who were in control. There are still problems with whites and males thinking they are better than everyone else and who wish to keep control as a white patriarchal society, but the so-called minorities are fighting back and have been since the very beginning. We usually refer to teenage rebellion, but isn't that exactly what we need? The feelings of oppression that make us refuse to bow down to someone else's idea of whom we should be? These are things that have caused change to all of a sudden take over the news.
Legalized same-sex marriage, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and so much more are the results of people refusing to be told that they are wrong, that they're feelings are incorrect. In fact, these people countered societal norms, which is good. The problem is that there are people who are trying to beat the past into our faces as problems that need to be removed from existence. We, women, get all upset over men who think they know what we go through or deal with and yet we do the same to them. We get yelled at for "cultural appropriation" and get told we can no longer use certain words because they are offensive. Then we use them because that's what we've grown into a habit of doing or that's how we were taught, we get penalized for not immediately conforming to avoiding using things that others find offensive.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be aware of what we've done or said, but that doesn't mean we should remove all traces of what our past is. In fact, that could cause more issues because we have forgotten what was done. In doing that, we open ourselves to repeating the mistakes of the past in a manner that could actually be worse.
This brings us to what I started with. Are there things that readers have noticed that immediately aided in helping them to identify something about the author? Something other than what we get told about?
**This was started to be posted on the 20th of January. I apologize for the long wait but I was deterred by other things. I will also have last week's original posting and hopefully this week's by the end of the day Sunday.
Don't get me wrong, prejudice in all forms exists. Racism, ageism, sizism, gender discrimination, etc. permeate all realms of our lives. Hell, I grew up attending mostly white schools. My mother upon hearing I had signed up for the military had a few "words of wisdom" to impart. Basically, what those words were showed that though she had denied being so when I was growing up, she was racist. She told me to be careful, especially of the black guys. I had a black male friend and I couldn't help wondering how she really felt about several of my friends - most of whom were males and some were not white. She moved us because she didn't want us to be influenced by her parents who were according to her, chauvinistic. While my grandfather may have had problems with my mother doing things that were seen as male, I remember him and my grandmother encouraging us to do as we wanted even if those dreams weren't what they thought we should do.
Recently, I read a story about a woman who has had to put down books written by guys telling a story from a female point of view because they'll have a woman walking alone at night, but there is no thought about her own safety or how she might be attacked on her way home. As a young-ish female, I have to admit that I have had walks where those thoughts do come into play. However, it's not a regular occurrence. In fact, it's really only a thought that I have every once in a small while unless I go somewhere I don't know very well. This, however, got me to wondering if guys who read books from a male point of view see the same disparities that women notice.
See, I've read numerous stories and I can't always tell the gender of the author based on what I'm reading because even if it is typical of a gender according to society, it does not mean it's unrealistic. Typically females will ask for directions according to general society, however, MythBusters did happen to bust it, and I can further confirm that not all females will ask for help. It just fits the mold we've tried to condemn ourselves to constantly.
Beyond that, we think of WW2 as a prime example of racism when the Jewish religion is not a race, but religion or faith. Being Jewish is the same as being Muslim, Catholic, or Wiccan - not defined by how one looks but by personal beliefs. But prejudice doesn't just get perpetrated by the perceived majorities. Women are considered a minority even though they make up just over half of the population. In South America, blacks made the majority but racism is considered to be perpetrated solely by the white people who were in control. There are still problems with whites and males thinking they are better than everyone else and who wish to keep control as a white patriarchal society, but the so-called minorities are fighting back and have been since the very beginning. We usually refer to teenage rebellion, but isn't that exactly what we need? The feelings of oppression that make us refuse to bow down to someone else's idea of whom we should be? These are things that have caused change to all of a sudden take over the news.
Legalized same-sex marriage, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and so much more are the results of people refusing to be told that they are wrong, that they're feelings are incorrect. In fact, these people countered societal norms, which is good. The problem is that there are people who are trying to beat the past into our faces as problems that need to be removed from existence. We, women, get all upset over men who think they know what we go through or deal with and yet we do the same to them. We get yelled at for "cultural appropriation" and get told we can no longer use certain words because they are offensive. Then we use them because that's what we've grown into a habit of doing or that's how we were taught, we get penalized for not immediately conforming to avoiding using things that others find offensive.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be aware of what we've done or said, but that doesn't mean we should remove all traces of what our past is. In fact, that could cause more issues because we have forgotten what was done. In doing that, we open ourselves to repeating the mistakes of the past in a manner that could actually be worse.
This brings us to what I started with. Are there things that readers have noticed that immediately aided in helping them to identify something about the author? Something other than what we get told about?
**This was started to be posted on the 20th of January. I apologize for the long wait but I was deterred by other things. I will also have last week's original posting and hopefully this week's by the end of the day Sunday.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
2019 Plans for the Year
I keep trying to write so I might post only to get caught up in other issues. It's a new year, however, and I may have missed the first Sunday of the year, but I swear, I will post at least once a week starting with this one. There are a few times I plan to have multiple posts, such as during the months of April, July (or June, I can't remember which is the 2nd Camp NaNoWriMo,) and November are among times when I plan to post for a specific event as well as other weekly posts.
I don't have a complete plan for the posts for each month, and I'm only just typing this one so I have a way to hold myself accountable. I'm really bad about keeping to schedules and that has become a major point of contention in my household. I can't bring myself to do any major cleaning chores while others are around. A product, I'm certain, of the way I was raised and constantly left to finish my own things despite helping others. Between that and my own issues of needing things to be organized, there are a lot of small things that get done, but that I can't explain what gets done. So it seems as though I don't do anything. I'd love to vent more, but I don't think it would be fair to either him or me. I'm biased toward myself and can't give justice to what he deals with or how his mind and body work. The same is true of him in regards to myself. Neither of us truly understands what the other is going through, feeling, or putting up with.
Sometimes I think I need to talk to someone who is removed from the situation, but then I realize, I'd probably lie to them even worse than I do to myself. I would almost certainly feel the resentment I feel everytime he decides to throw things in my face. If I tell him something, he'll just use it to try to make me feel small. It succeeds and sends me further in a downward spiral, but I can't tell him that because it makes him feel as though it's his fault, and it's not. I have issues. I know this. I do my best, but it never seems to be good enough. I can't seem to make him understand I'm not him. I won't put out several hundred applications and resumes for other jobs because I know I'm not well qualified for anything even with the experience in the workforce I have. I don't have a degree.
That's off what this post is to be about though. This is supposed to be a schedule for if not the full year at least the rest of this month in regards to a posting schedule. Since there are only two more Sundays to the month, I'd much rather keep them open seeing as I'm still not certain what I'm going to post. I do plan to write and leave a post despite not having a set plan, yet.
I don't have a complete plan for the posts for each month, and I'm only just typing this one so I have a way to hold myself accountable. I'm really bad about keeping to schedules and that has become a major point of contention in my household. I can't bring myself to do any major cleaning chores while others are around. A product, I'm certain, of the way I was raised and constantly left to finish my own things despite helping others. Between that and my own issues of needing things to be organized, there are a lot of small things that get done, but that I can't explain what gets done. So it seems as though I don't do anything. I'd love to vent more, but I don't think it would be fair to either him or me. I'm biased toward myself and can't give justice to what he deals with or how his mind and body work. The same is true of him in regards to myself. Neither of us truly understands what the other is going through, feeling, or putting up with.
Sometimes I think I need to talk to someone who is removed from the situation, but then I realize, I'd probably lie to them even worse than I do to myself. I would almost certainly feel the resentment I feel everytime he decides to throw things in my face. If I tell him something, he'll just use it to try to make me feel small. It succeeds and sends me further in a downward spiral, but I can't tell him that because it makes him feel as though it's his fault, and it's not. I have issues. I know this. I do my best, but it never seems to be good enough. I can't seem to make him understand I'm not him. I won't put out several hundred applications and resumes for other jobs because I know I'm not well qualified for anything even with the experience in the workforce I have. I don't have a degree.
That's off what this post is to be about though. This is supposed to be a schedule for if not the full year at least the rest of this month in regards to a posting schedule. Since there are only two more Sundays to the month, I'd much rather keep them open seeing as I'm still not certain what I'm going to post. I do plan to write and leave a post despite not having a set plan, yet.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Sports Anime??
This week I started watching Kuroko no Basuke(Korosuke's Basketball or KnB.) For a sports anime, it's actually fairly realistic. Yes, there are some thing's that may seem as though they can't occur in reality, and for their ages, they are highly unlikely; however, the truth is that for the amount of the series I've seen so far, it's very likely. No, there aren't going to be auras that are visible around the players or to discern the path of the basketball and which player caused the change, but yes there are people out there who, if they practice enough, can shoot from anywhere on the court. They could pull off agility-based moves if they play the sport in their every spare moment and as for the passing that Kuroko manages...I wish I'd seen this show when I was much younger, but I don't think it was even in manga form yet when I was a kid. If I had seen it, however, I can tell you I'd have tried to be more like Kuroko rather than trying make myself seen.
Of course there are a few things that are unrealistic at least for games in America, but we who watch animes are already aware that there are many differences between our school sports competitions and theirs. Hell, there are innumerable differences between Japan's culture and America's, but that doesn't stop us from trying to emulate things we see that are rather awesome. Perhaps, in the very far future, some of the things we see portrayed will be put to successful use by children?
Of course there are a few things that are unrealistic at least for games in America, but we who watch animes are already aware that there are many differences between our school sports competitions and theirs. Hell, there are innumerable differences between Japan's culture and America's, but that doesn't stop us from trying to emulate things we see that are rather awesome. Perhaps, in the very far future, some of the things we see portrayed will be put to successful use by children?
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Pokemon GO Disappointment
I've been playing Pokemon GO since about one week after its release. There have been things that seemed disappointing or were, in fact, disappointing (the lack of being able to get gold in a particular badge - Ace Trainor - being removed but the badge is still in the list...), but overall, most of my complaints are taken with a grain of salt. The game is available but incomplete. It was still incomplete when it was released. Because of all this, I've been a fairly relaxed player and avoided airing my complaints for the most part. I think a few may have snuck through in some previous posts.
Why am I disappointed with this game now and blogging about it? I'm one of those who remembers when the show and original games came to the States. I kept trying to play an uninterrupted game and remember playing the TCG (Trading Card Game) with my younger brother. Now being in a family that was borderline poverty, we didn't get the newest systems when they came out or the most up-to-date popular games/movies/toys/etc. We did, however, have friends who sometimes did and loaned them to us. Here's the thing. Pokemon has now seven "generations" (gen) or sets of pokemon and corresponding games. I won't list them in their individual sets, but Red, Yellow, and Blue were the first gen and are the original 151 (Mew and Mewtwo are included in this.) As more games came out, more pokemon were discovered. I was hoping Pokemon GO would be similar, but with seventh gen, the games introduced not just new pokemon, but also alternate, such as an elongated exeggutor and an ice vulpix, they have apparently decided to release a few of these in Pokemon GO.
This wouldn't be so bad, I mean we're constantly wanting access to being able to catch more and more pokemon, but only three gens are available in the game. Players were waiting impatiently for legendaries to be added, but they understood that legendaries have to be handled differently from regular or even regional pokemon. They were introduced but with a few still not available or with further rarity than the other legendaries. Mew can only be caught by performing the special request quest line (I don't feel like looking the name of it up right now) while Mewtwo is by invite to an EX raid only. Another reason why I'm upset by this decision? In game trading and player against player battling are unavailable. What this means is that unless you travel all over the world or were lucky enough to get a 10k (10 kilometer) egg in the early days that hatched a regional pokemon, the collection part of the game (which just so happens to be the bulk of it) is almost pointless to keep on with.
Like I said, for the most part I take my criticisms with a grain of salt, but this just really annoyed both myself and my husband. They added from the most recent gen while there are three other gens that we have yet to see in the game. It's upsetting because we happen to want to play through the gens as we did the original games, not skip from one gen to a different one. We got over the staggered release of third gen mostly because they did release the full gen before moving on. They also sort of themed the start of gen 3's release. The first Hoenn pokemon were released in October during Halloween season. They focused on ghost and dark pokemon with only the ghost pokemon of third gen being released. A few weeks to months later and after adding the weather feature, gen 3 was fully in the game. This Alolan addition from gen 7 is disappointing. It should have waited to be added until they reached seventh gen despite them not being new pokemon, but rather alternates.
Have some thoughts? Leave a comment! Weigh in on whether you think it was too early for the alternates to be released in Pokemon GO.
Why am I disappointed with this game now and blogging about it? I'm one of those who remembers when the show and original games came to the States. I kept trying to play an uninterrupted game and remember playing the TCG (Trading Card Game) with my younger brother. Now being in a family that was borderline poverty, we didn't get the newest systems when they came out or the most up-to-date popular games/movies/toys/etc. We did, however, have friends who sometimes did and loaned them to us. Here's the thing. Pokemon has now seven "generations" (gen) or sets of pokemon and corresponding games. I won't list them in their individual sets, but Red, Yellow, and Blue were the first gen and are the original 151 (Mew and Mewtwo are included in this.) As more games came out, more pokemon were discovered. I was hoping Pokemon GO would be similar, but with seventh gen, the games introduced not just new pokemon, but also alternate, such as an elongated exeggutor and an ice vulpix, they have apparently decided to release a few of these in Pokemon GO.
This wouldn't be so bad, I mean we're constantly wanting access to being able to catch more and more pokemon, but only three gens are available in the game. Players were waiting impatiently for legendaries to be added, but they understood that legendaries have to be handled differently from regular or even regional pokemon. They were introduced but with a few still not available or with further rarity than the other legendaries. Mew can only be caught by performing the special request quest line (I don't feel like looking the name of it up right now) while Mewtwo is by invite to an EX raid only. Another reason why I'm upset by this decision? In game trading and player against player battling are unavailable. What this means is that unless you travel all over the world or were lucky enough to get a 10k (10 kilometer) egg in the early days that hatched a regional pokemon, the collection part of the game (which just so happens to be the bulk of it) is almost pointless to keep on with.
Like I said, for the most part I take my criticisms with a grain of salt, but this just really annoyed both myself and my husband. They added from the most recent gen while there are three other gens that we have yet to see in the game. It's upsetting because we happen to want to play through the gens as we did the original games, not skip from one gen to a different one. We got over the staggered release of third gen mostly because they did release the full gen before moving on. They also sort of themed the start of gen 3's release. The first Hoenn pokemon were released in October during Halloween season. They focused on ghost and dark pokemon with only the ghost pokemon of third gen being released. A few weeks to months later and after adding the weather feature, gen 3 was fully in the game. This Alolan addition from gen 7 is disappointing. It should have waited to be added until they reached seventh gen despite them not being new pokemon, but rather alternates.
Have some thoughts? Leave a comment! Weigh in on whether you think it was too early for the alternates to be released in Pokemon GO.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Competition Vs Inclusion
So the last couple of weeks have been crazy busy - we moved and I managed to get an abscessed tooth. Not fun. Then on Tuesday, I hear about a school in New Jersey changing their sports policy to allow basically any student who wants on a team to be on said team. I need to admit here and now, before putting down the rest of my thoughts, that I don't know anything more than a few very vague details. Apparently, a student got so upset at not making the team, their parents complained to get them on causing the school to change its policy. Again, I do not know the specifics. I could have any number of things wrong with the story I heard.
As for what I wanted to say about this "more inclusive" policy, I am in two minds about it. On one hand, I am glad that kids who are serious about a sport but perhaps aren't as talented as others get to join their sports team, however, I am also upset at the even less realistic competitive environment this school seems to be promoting. To explain what I mean: When these same students attempt to get a job, will this make them think they should be hired despite possibly not being qualified because they were allowed to join a competitive team in high school but did not necessarily have the talent to back up the position received. On the other hand, those who have focused and truly want to go on to become professionals in said sport may not get the chance because of the lack of ability to show how good they truly are to scouts for both college teams/scholarships and the professional teams.
What it comes down to is it could be good depending on how this new policy is implemented. If, for example, they have a tiered system where all those who try-out automatically make a team but the team made is dependant on skill and talent. Those who are dedicated and constantly practice make the higher competitive teams and those who thought they were able to get by without putting in the effort would be on the least competitive team. Thinking about it, it would be similar to that of how most bands and academic teams function. Those who are willing to put in the time and effort, get to be in the most wanted positions, but those who aren't willing to work hard to keep that position could end up basically being an equipment manager or last chance alternate.
If, however, they just let them join with no extra plan to ensure that those who are dedicated to what happens to be their passion can both pursue and be recognized for it, then it could truly be a detriment for everyone in that school. Of course, I don't know what is involved in the actual plans for this particular school's new policy, but there will be those who are not willing to even give it a chance. Because of this, there could be a lot of good from the policy that gets diminished. At the same time, there are going to be those who can see no problems with the new policy. The issue with that would be no making the policy better by looking at the problems and finding a way to fix them.
Again, I don't know specifics with this, but these were my thoughts based on the small amount of information I had regarding them.
I'm posting this a day late mostly because of the move and then Mother's Day (which I hope all mothers had a wonderfully relaxing day!) Also, my computer still hasn't been put back together after the move, so I had to borrow my husband's.
As for what I wanted to say about this "more inclusive" policy, I am in two minds about it. On one hand, I am glad that kids who are serious about a sport but perhaps aren't as talented as others get to join their sports team, however, I am also upset at the even less realistic competitive environment this school seems to be promoting. To explain what I mean: When these same students attempt to get a job, will this make them think they should be hired despite possibly not being qualified because they were allowed to join a competitive team in high school but did not necessarily have the talent to back up the position received. On the other hand, those who have focused and truly want to go on to become professionals in said sport may not get the chance because of the lack of ability to show how good they truly are to scouts for both college teams/scholarships and the professional teams.
What it comes down to is it could be good depending on how this new policy is implemented. If, for example, they have a tiered system where all those who try-out automatically make a team but the team made is dependant on skill and talent. Those who are dedicated and constantly practice make the higher competitive teams and those who thought they were able to get by without putting in the effort would be on the least competitive team. Thinking about it, it would be similar to that of how most bands and academic teams function. Those who are willing to put in the time and effort, get to be in the most wanted positions, but those who aren't willing to work hard to keep that position could end up basically being an equipment manager or last chance alternate.
If, however, they just let them join with no extra plan to ensure that those who are dedicated to what happens to be their passion can both pursue and be recognized for it, then it could truly be a detriment for everyone in that school. Of course, I don't know what is involved in the actual plans for this particular school's new policy, but there will be those who are not willing to even give it a chance. Because of this, there could be a lot of good from the policy that gets diminished. At the same time, there are going to be those who can see no problems with the new policy. The issue with that would be no making the policy better by looking at the problems and finding a way to fix them.
Again, I don't know specifics with this, but these were my thoughts based on the small amount of information I had regarding them.
I'm posting this a day late mostly because of the move and then Mother's Day (which I hope all mothers had a wonderfully relaxing day!) Also, my computer still hasn't been put back together after the move, so I had to borrow my husband's.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Next Top Model: America v. Australia
I’ll admit it – I’m not a huge fan of fashion or modeling. I never truly poured over magazines envying what I saw and trying to find ways to make myself look like the women I saw in them. I looked through catalogs and found items I wanted - toe socks, crackling nail polish, that cute swimsuit, etc. I didn’t care about what brands were high class (probably because a lot of what I wore was secondhand, either hand-me-downs or bought at thrift stores and yard sales.) I didn’t care about who took the photographs or what the models’ names were. I only paid enough attention to the picture to see if the items were something I wanted or if the guys were hot…but what girl interested in guys doesn’t? I probably made mental comments about the women too, but I was always trying not to really look at the people unless they looked similar to me. It wasn’t often. It didn’t help that I felt like I was underweight (I know, it shocked people when I said I thought I needed to gain weight and didn’t care what I ate.) I never saw what the big deal of modeling was.
Now that I’m older, I understand better the draw that modeling has. It seems to be a validation of a person’s gorgeousness. But beyond that, I’ve always known being a subject for photographers is not easy. I’ve always gotten lucky with my pictures. Hell, I got most photogenic in a local pageant with my mother as the photographer against girls who used professional photographers for theirs. It’s not easy. I never saw the point of make-up and spending so much time and money on something that, to me, didn’t matter. Of course, I was a huge tomboy and spent a lot of time outside being a very active and messy girl. The said draw of modeling and an increased interest in reality competition shows (i.e. Survivor, The Fear Factor, Dancing with the Stars, etc.) gave rise to a new show – America’s Next Top Model.
A quick search on IMDB for “next top model” showed that a large number of countries had picked up on the success of America’s Next Top Model and did their own version. Australia’s Next Top Model and America’s Next Top Model were both available on Hulu. I’ve recently decided to watch Australia’s Next Top Model. Almost immediately there were differences I could notice between what I was watching/listening to and what I could remember from America’s Next Top Model. One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed in the first two seasons compared to the majority of America’s Next Top Model’s early seasons, Australia’s Next Top Model has shown a marked interest in being healthy, not skinny. What I can remember of the early seasons of America’s Next Top Model was a preference for skinny as opposed to plus size models so long as the skinny wasn’t sickly looking. That’s not to say that there weren’t plus sized models competing. It’s just that it was more obvious in America’s Next Top Model that bigger girls at the beginning of the show were going to have a harder time making it in the modeling world even with the aid of Tyra Banks and her ever-changing judging panel.
That brings me to the next point – the judging panel. In America’s Next Top Model, the girls are judged by Tyra, a few regular judges for that season and a guest judge until it makes it to the final two. For Australia’s Next Top Model, the judging panel is made of a few regular judges each season and a guest judge. I actually was glad that Tyra was available throughout the season to mentor the girls, help them through their challenges (both professional and personal!) and was the one to dispense advice and let them know who made it through each week as well as who was eliminated. After all, she was the host of America’s Next Top Model. She stood in front of the applicants with only their photos and looked at the girls in their eyes as she let them know where they needed to improve. In Australia’s Next Top Model, the host didn’t necessarily mentor the girls she would later be giving the final critiques to. Also, the host held a binder with small poster-sized photos versus the more portfolio-sized photos used in America’s Next Top Model. For all the viewers knew, with how often the host would look at the binder, she had a script sitting opposite as to what she was to say for each girl. Mind you, I haven’t yet watched all the available episodes of Australia’s Next Top Model, but there’ve been two hosts so far and both have had some kind of binder or clipboard to hold the photos in.
Something else I’ve noticed is that age is a huge factor in the modeling industry. Once the young women (and later men America’s Next Top Model) reach a certain age, they tend to be less marketable in a wide range of markets because a younger crowd do not wish to be buying things that are marketed by someone that reminds them of their parents - or worse their grandparents! However, the few seasons I’ve watched of Australia’s Next Top Model, I don’t remember a single girl over the age of 21 competing, however, 26 has been considered among the oldest on America’s Next Top Model. While Australia’s Next Top Model has girls as young as 16, if I remember the seasons of America’s Next Top Model, the youngest was 18. I could be wrong though. Perhaps I’ll go through and re-watch all the seasons I can of each version of Next Top Model and do episode reviews. I’m already planning on doing so eventually for Charmed and a few other series…
One of the best things about America’s Next Top Model is the challenges done each week before the event the contestants get judged on. Typically they have something to do with each other. The challenge winner may still end up getting eliminated – unless the prize happens to be immunity. Australia’s Next Top Model is the same. The best thing about these competitions is that even if the girls don’t win the big competition, there is a huge possibility that they’ve won or been chosen as a friend by a winner of one of the challenges. The prizes for these smaller competitions within the huge one could be anything from a shopping spree to free clothes to a photo shoot to guest appearances in movies, television shows, and even music videos. These prizes can and will help the contestants with their modeling careers, or acting if that’s what they change their minds to.
One of the most annoying things I’ve found in most reality shows is in the parts regarding their lives within the house. While America’s Next Top Model rarely even referenced it except for during the times that they addressed someone breaking the rules or lying to the judges, possibly even telling the judges some of the thoughts of another contestant due to a want to win by any means possible, Australia’s Next Top Model did tend to address the behavior that occurred in the house. They addressed fitness, rule-breaking, healthy and smart habits (admonishing girls for stupid stunts before shoots –blueberries anyone?), bullying and even a few more subtle admonishments about sabotaging the other girls.
Overall, I think I preferred Australia’s Next Top Model over America’s Next Top Model, but I tend to try to skip through the drama based scenes, no matter what else may be occurring during the scene. I love seeing the behind the scenes on the photoshoots and even hearing the critiques and tips for not only the models in the competition but also the aspiring models likely watching the show.
Sunday, February 4, 2018
New Year, Late Beginnings
I know, it's been a really long time since I posted. I'm not explaining myself this time. There is really no excuse for the extreme wait, and I'm even worse with my posted fanfictions and various other pieces of work. In fact, with this to be a new year, it's giving me a new chance. After all, isn't there something to learn from every previous experience one has ever had?
So, with these thoughts and knowing I'm typing this in the second month of the year, I am once again determined to attempt to keep up with a weekly blog. Some weeks may have more than one post, most will be lucky to have just the one, but the point is not to determine if I failed to post. No, the point is to keep my determination and attempt a post each week, even if they are typed up early and get a scheduled post time. I have other goals as well, which brings me in all seriousness, to what has been irritating me lately.
New Year's Resolutions. These are the goals a person sets for themselves at the end of the year to do by the end of the next year. Typically they involve losing weight, saving money, or working out more. The problem is that people tend to think they need to be met immediately. They don't. No, when you set a resolution, it's a goal to be met by the end of the year. It's going to be hard to get started, but that shouldn't stop a person from continuing their attempts. It's like this, you can't lose weight overnight without it being a surgery, but at the same time, you aren't going to give up trying to lose that weight just because you failed at one diet, no if you are truly determined, anyway.
With resolutions, I've heard so many reports of people claiming "Oh, I've failed my resolution. Guess I should just give up now." This, however, should not be our thought processes. We need to figure out ways to inspire the changes we thought we wanted in ourselves. I rarely commit to my resolutions more because I'm not as determined to meet most of these more society-based resolutions than because I've failed. Yeah, I blamed society. I won't take it back either. Society tends to claim that what being healthy is means to lose weight or meet some sort of scientifically set standard. While these are probably true, most of the time, it's become an increasing issue that has lead to various people believing, mistakenly, that they are not skinny enough or that something is wrong with them.
A few coworkers claimed to wish to stop using certain curse words, but as soon as they used one, they didn't think of way to avoid it or try to make a new habit, they just claimed they had immediately failed. It's the instant gratification we've become accustomed to with online shopping that has allowed us to expect instant results.
With that said, I just want to remind everyone: Just because you don't manage to keep to your resolutions immediately, it doesn't mean you've failed. Attempt to meet it again with a new strategy put into place. A new diet or penalty for cheating could do wonders for making a person follow through with their goals, but remember, too, the goal needs to be something the person feels strongly for, not something others think would be a good goal for them.
So, with these thoughts and knowing I'm typing this in the second month of the year, I am once again determined to attempt to keep up with a weekly blog. Some weeks may have more than one post, most will be lucky to have just the one, but the point is not to determine if I failed to post. No, the point is to keep my determination and attempt a post each week, even if they are typed up early and get a scheduled post time. I have other goals as well, which brings me in all seriousness, to what has been irritating me lately.
New Year's Resolutions. These are the goals a person sets for themselves at the end of the year to do by the end of the next year. Typically they involve losing weight, saving money, or working out more. The problem is that people tend to think they need to be met immediately. They don't. No, when you set a resolution, it's a goal to be met by the end of the year. It's going to be hard to get started, but that shouldn't stop a person from continuing their attempts. It's like this, you can't lose weight overnight without it being a surgery, but at the same time, you aren't going to give up trying to lose that weight just because you failed at one diet, no if you are truly determined, anyway.
With resolutions, I've heard so many reports of people claiming "Oh, I've failed my resolution. Guess I should just give up now." This, however, should not be our thought processes. We need to figure out ways to inspire the changes we thought we wanted in ourselves. I rarely commit to my resolutions more because I'm not as determined to meet most of these more society-based resolutions than because I've failed. Yeah, I blamed society. I won't take it back either. Society tends to claim that what being healthy is means to lose weight or meet some sort of scientifically set standard. While these are probably true, most of the time, it's become an increasing issue that has lead to various people believing, mistakenly, that they are not skinny enough or that something is wrong with them.
A few coworkers claimed to wish to stop using certain curse words, but as soon as they used one, they didn't think of way to avoid it or try to make a new habit, they just claimed they had immediately failed. It's the instant gratification we've become accustomed to with online shopping that has allowed us to expect instant results.
With that said, I just want to remind everyone: Just because you don't manage to keep to your resolutions immediately, it doesn't mean you've failed. Attempt to meet it again with a new strategy put into place. A new diet or penalty for cheating could do wonders for making a person follow through with their goals, but remember, too, the goal needs to be something the person feels strongly for, not something others think would be a good goal for them.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Sports and Games and Writing
First, let's just all admit it's been a long and tiring year. To be completely honest, I'm typing this as I listen to an anime I decided to finally try to watch: Haikyu! after having gone out with my husband to watch Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. While watching this I started to compare volleyball and basketball. They almost mirror each other in a strange way. This is going to severely simplify things.
See volleyball has six players per team on the court at any time. There's an out of bounds area, but the biggest thing to remember is to keep the ball in the air - to hit it across the net in the center of the court. For basketball, there are five players on the court and an out of bounds area, but that's about it for the similarities other than taller people tend to have a better time playing the sports or at least they tend to get more recognition. Instead of keeping the ball in the air and from hitting the ground, a player has to dribble the ball. This means it has to keep hitting the ground. The only time to have the ball in the air is to either pass or shoot for a basket. Basketball keeps track of points during a specified amount of time. Volleyball takes its time to reach the points to win a game. So as I said - they mirror each other oddly.
The other reason I started to type this particular post? The new Jumanji movie got me thinking. I think I want to write a story with a similar concept, but more like really throwing the stereotypes on their heads. We've seen instances where guys and girls switch bodies and people either age or get de-aged, we've seen general change-ups in stereotypes: mostly the exact opposite. Some examples would include the jock whose actually a brain, the "ugly duckling", and my personal favorite (note the sarcasm in this bit) the gamer girl. Obviously, there are a lot more, but for this story, it would be a take on the gamer girl.
Well, that's it for this year's rants. Hopefully next year I'll be better at my weekly aimed posts. Have a Happy New Year for 2018, everyone!
See volleyball has six players per team on the court at any time. There's an out of bounds area, but the biggest thing to remember is to keep the ball in the air - to hit it across the net in the center of the court. For basketball, there are five players on the court and an out of bounds area, but that's about it for the similarities other than taller people tend to have a better time playing the sports or at least they tend to get more recognition. Instead of keeping the ball in the air and from hitting the ground, a player has to dribble the ball. This means it has to keep hitting the ground. The only time to have the ball in the air is to either pass or shoot for a basket. Basketball keeps track of points during a specified amount of time. Volleyball takes its time to reach the points to win a game. So as I said - they mirror each other oddly.
The other reason I started to type this particular post? The new Jumanji movie got me thinking. I think I want to write a story with a similar concept, but more like really throwing the stereotypes on their heads. We've seen instances where guys and girls switch bodies and people either age or get de-aged, we've seen general change-ups in stereotypes: mostly the exact opposite. Some examples would include the jock whose actually a brain, the "ugly duckling", and my personal favorite (note the sarcasm in this bit) the gamer girl. Obviously, there are a lot more, but for this story, it would be a take on the gamer girl.
Well, that's it for this year's rants. Hopefully next year I'll be better at my weekly aimed posts. Have a Happy New Year for 2018, everyone!
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