Happy World Frog Day! 🐸

I hate to make this a commercialised holiday, but you may be interested to know that I sell some frog-related merch on RedBubble, including the poster shown above, stickers, and other fun stuff like an awesome froggy shower curtain! I have one at home, and it’s excellent. Profits go towards supporting your local frog scientist.

Starting to feel the solitude of a house that is always full of people

The irony istg

i think one of the biggest steps we, as a society, will be able to take towards sustainability (of, like... everything) is to eliminate the concept of manufactured obsolescence. For big stuff like houses and buildings, but also smaller stuff, especially electronics of all kinds.

And this got a bit long, but the TL;DR (too long; didn't read) is: capitalism is evil and gonna destroy the entire planet unless we abolish it as soon as possible.

There's no real reason why any kind of computer/tablet/phone/etc. can't last more than like 3 years max. It should be highly illegal for companies to push updates onto our electronics that purposely slow them down, or to stop support of "old" operating systems that aren't even 5 years old yet, in favor of getting a new phone with a new operating system for no reason other than to sell people a new phone.

Same goes for storage, kinda. I have an SD card that's about as big as a SIM card and can store 250GB of data. There's no reason why my phones internal storage is only 25GB, except to push "cloud storage" onto people for companies to secretely mine that data to push more advertising onto us. And why is it always ads, anyway? Like, at least offer me a service, but they're not doing that.

And not just phones, but literally everything. There's no reason why a fridge or an oven or an automatic feeder or ANY kind of smart device should need a wifi connection to just do the one thing it's supposed to do. None. These things worked just fine in the part when we didn't have any internet of things type bullshit, there's no reason to make these things worse except to squeeze more money out of people. (I am aware that "smart things" can be incredibly helpful for disabled people to live an independent life. However, in those cases as well, there's no reason why "no internet" should be a fatal point of failure, and there's no reason why something like a thermostat needs to have an internet connection to recieve voice commands. I mean it needs to know like... 3 or 4 words: an activating phrase, "higher", "lower", and numbers. It cannot be complicated enough to require regular updates via internet.)

and non-electronics as well.

Just take clothes.

So many clothes are made out of "polyesther" or "polyacryl" or something else with the word "poly-" at the start, which usually just means "plastic". And I'm sure there are some uses for plastic clothes like if someone has complicated allergies to a bunch of natural fibers, but there's no reason to have more than 80% of all clothes available on the market be either pure plastic or half plastic. 1) it's absolutely atrocious for the environment, because these clothes leech microplastics into waters like no tomorrow while only lasting like 5 years at best 2) they're just terrible quality-wise. I used to wear a plastic jacket in winter, and i would either sweat to death with it closed without even exhausting myself, or freeze like hell with it open. Neither of which are ideal. Then i got a cotton sweater to wear in winter and i didn't sweat, but i wasn't cold either. I was comfortably warm without getting sweaty, because the sweater let my skin breathe. Plastic can't do that. 3) Vegans can yell about this one all they want, but "vegan leather" is also just plastic. there's no such thing as "vegan leather", but ACTUAL leather may harm an animal (though with as much beef that's sold all over the world, there's no way there's a shortage of cow leather), but it's only gonna "harm" ONE animal. Not every single animal on earth due to byproducts of the manufacturing process and the fact that it never fucking goes away. And real leather is so durable. Like, sure, you kill one animal and get its skin for leather (but also its meat for food and everything else, i don't even know how much), if you care for the thing you made from its skin, you're set for literal generations, because it doesn't break after like 5 years. And if that thing does eventually break, you can still break it up and use the leather for new, smaller, things. And once those things break, too, to the point where the leather can't be reused, you can throw it away, knowing that it will decompose soon, instead of sticking around forever.

And I'm sure there's plenty more things, but it all ends up leading back to money and capitalism. Capitalism tells companies to get money. More money. More money. Get absolutely obscene amounts of money.

and of course the first question that regular people always ask is "but why?" But here's the thing: the "why" isn't important in capitalism. There's no reason behind the hoarding of wealth, because the hoarding of wealth is the reason.

and remember the saying "When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money"?

Yeah, capitalism doesn't care about the fact that you're cutting down the last tree, killing the last fish, and poisoning the last stream. As long as you're making money, the damage you're doing is irrelevant. There's no cost too great for making money, as long as that cost isn't money.

Okay so I’ve just taken an edible and I’m grumpy so it’s time for a rant about drug use and Canadian politics.

So I’ve started seeing this terrible not-good very bad advertisement a lot lately, which means I’m likely not the only one:

I cropped part of his face out because I felt like it. Every time I see this stupid fucking ad I hate Pierre Poilievre and his stupid face even more. Unfortunately now it looks like he’s spying on me like a nosy neighbour from behind his fence (honestly, though, that feels kinda tonally appropriate.)

But wait! If you click on the ad, it gets worse!

It’s horrible, fear-mongering misinformation.

“woke policies” lmao fuck you, Pierre Poilievre.

Literally any political entity that uses “woke” in a derogatory manner is giving off Major Red Flags and should not be taken seriously.

Before we start, let’s get some things straight. People use drugs. It happens. Learn to be normal about it if you aren’t already. People are sometimes addicted to drugs. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Usually it’s some variety of “I am struggling with something in my life and have found that using this substance helps with that.” It can be related to mental health, like so many of my family members who turned to alcohol or cigarettes or cocaine and amphetamines to manage their depression, anxiety, adhd, ptsd, or sensory issues. A lot of the time it’s to deal with chronic pain. It can also be a way to cope with shitty life circumstances. Chronic issues like these don’t just go away, so expecting people to just magically become drug-free without addressing and solving the root causes is not feasible as a one-size-fits-all solution. And, realistically, some people will never be drug-free. Some people will always need prescription amphetamines and prescription opioids and there’s nothing wrong with that (I have ADHD! I take prescription amphetamines every day! In fact, I take multiple medications that are technically controlled substances for various chronic issues!) People who use drugs are still human and deserve compassion. People who are addicted to drugs are still human and deserve compassion. You are not superior to people who use drugs.

So in case you weren’t aware, British Columbia (like a lot of places) is having an overdose crisis. People are dying from toxic drugs; it’s now the leading cause of death in the province for people aged 10-59. That’s a McFucking problem that we’ve gotta do something about! And we’re trying, but Pierre Poilievre doesn’t like that.

So let’s get to this garbage fire of a political ad. Sigh.

Justin Trudeau did not personally decriminalize crack, heroin, and cocaine. Justin Trudeau allowed the provincial government of British Columbia to decriminalize the possession of small amounts (<2.5g) of drugs for personal use, so that addicts just trying to exist would not have their drugs seized or face criminal charges or jail time. Justin Trudeau allowed the provincial government of British Columbia to treat drug addiction and the toxic drug crisis as the public health problem that it very clearly is. This is an evidence-based policy currently only meant to be valid from January 31 2023 to January 31 2026 as a temporary harm reduction measure during a time of crisis. It remains illegal to possess or use in school zones, playgrounds, pools, skate parks, airports, certain private properties (like shopping malls) and in every other province in Canada. Selling drugs is still illegal. These “woke policies,” AKA “trying to save goddamn lives while treating addicts like people and not punishing people who are already struggling” is really not that fucking radical when it comes down to it. It’s merely a step in the right direction but more needs to be done. What we need even more is a safe supply of drugs. And universal basic income.

Anyway.

“blah blah blah crime” so like drug-related crimes rates actually aren’t going up? And when it comes to crimes associated with substance abuse, the one with the highest statistical rate of violent crime is actually alcohol.

These are all things easily fact checked in mere moments, but Conservatives don’t want you to do that. But “Common Sense Conservatives,” huh? The facts don’t actually matter as long as people feel afraid of drug crime, and people afraid of crime and wokeness will vote against their own best interests. Never take political ads at face value. Always fact check.

Also reminder that if you are going to use drugs, don’t use alone if you can, get your drugs tested for safety (the edible is hitting since I first wrote get them tested then get them tasted) and I highly suggest everyone consider getting a naloxone kit or learning how to use one because you might be able to help save someone’s life.

Treat addicts like people. Don’t vote Conservative. Like, for fuck’s sake just let the drugs win the war on drugs already. I’m joining the war on drugs on the side of the drugs.

I’m tired of being the voice of reason. It’s exhausting. I’m gonna take an angry nap.

Hello! I love your artwork and am inspired by you. I wanna ask how you make your prints and stuff!

I’ve always wanted to run a shop, but I’m afraid of the whole copyright stuff since studios like Larian forbid selling fan art for profit. However I always wanna try it out because I CRAVE merch too.

Do you have any advice for people starting out? Much love! 💕

Thank you!!! I'm really flattered that people are inspired by my art! I'm really small so it means a lot to me!!! uou I genuinely wing a lot of stuff I do but I research stuff for fun so I'll spill what I got and what I've been through lmao. For prints I recently went back to making my own! I use an Epson ET-8550. It's a nice printer and a single bottle of ink will last a good while and costs only $18. Any nice inkjet photo paper (eg. RedRiver paper is very good but can be pricey) will do! Tho I'm personally still on a quest for a balance between quality and cost effective photo paper qwq On the other hand, Catprint is popular for outsourcing, and prob a better choice if you don't wanna buy a $600+ printer. Only downside with them is their colors are mid if you're used to the bright colors of self-printing due to Catprint using laser printers instead of inkjet, but they're not terrible! I used them for a while for bigger quantities. In terms of copyright, it's a huge gray area. There are many other, better explanations online on how artists can get away with selling fanart that my brain is too small to provide lmao. In layman's terms it's like...free advertising for franchises. They won't explode you for making a few hundo on art you made of their video game characters that they made millions on. But take that with a grain of salt I'm very small and confused myself :'D For starting online shops, I like Bigcartel! Etsy charges a bunch of fees from what I've heard, but they do a lot of the advertising for you if I remember right. Running your own shop requires advertising yourself which I still don't like doing so I just stick to Artist Alley at cons for the majority of my activity lmao. Oh and Pirateship is fantastic for cheap shipping rates! Anyways sorry for going off I have circus brain uhhh hope this helped!! I feel u on that craving merch itch tho. A lot of stuff I make are mostly byproducts of things I really want for myself salkdhdkl cries in like 50 Astarion pieces

Top Gun merchandise poll

So, recently something new happened to me. I get asks about all sorts of things, including requests for me to signal boost x post or cause, etc. This person asked me to signal boost a post for their etsy shop, because they have just added Top Gun merchandise, but they're brand new to the fandom and unsure of how to break in.

I am hesitant anytime someone asks me to signal boost anything, and if it's a charity thing I always try to do my due diligence to make sure it's legit before I post, because I assume at least most of my followers trust me, and I would feel terrible if I led them astray. I have reposted fandom creators selling things before; I frequently signal boost artists with open commissions, for example. (And usually not because they ask, but because I want the artists and patrons to find each other, and I respect the hustle.) But I've never signal boosted merchandise before. Not even my own. I have a Redbubble store; did you know that? No, because it's not something I advertise much, a) because you don't follow me to look at ads, and b) because I've only got like three designs in there and I really only sell one of them, almost exclusively as a sticker. I made like $16 on commission last year lol.

Long story short (too late), I decided there's not really any harm in sharing people's merchandise, but I don't want this to become an ad factory, and I want to give everyone a fair shot. So. I am going to do one of these things:

I will have a week-long period during which anyone with Top Gun-related merchandise can submit links to their stuff, and at the end I will post a masterlist.

I will start a side blog specifically for the purpose of sharing people's Top Gun-related merchandise. It will not, at least initially, have as large a reach as I do, but that way it will be completely opt in on both sides.

Both these things.

For all these things, I am considering merchandise not only as physical objects you can buy from online shops, but also any fanwork commission-type things people want advertised. If it is Top Gun-related and involves money exchanged for goods and services, it counts.

And as for which option I choose: I am letting you decide! Please vote for your choice below.

Thank you for your assistance.

Bark: Day 2

Bark: v. 1. utter (a command or question) abruptly or aggressively. 

U.S. call out in order to sell or advertise something. 

Present. The would-be Warrior of Light is a dumb little sprout that got lucky, your honor. That is all.

FFXIVWrite 2023 Masterlist

---

There was something disorienting about walking down Sapphire Avenue midday. Perhaps it was the shadowless daylight, merciless and searing. Or the assault on the senses by all manner of spice, perfume and freshly-fried snack hanging thick in the air. The worst of it though had to be the sound. Hawkers, Coliseum barkers, merchants, street food vendors and howling urchin children running through the streets like a whitewater current. 

Napha looked around wide-eyed. She was determined to be about it, find the mender she sought and get on with her day, but her previous handful of trips to the Jewel of the Desert did little to keep her from looking quite so green. 

"So it's you!" Napha's eye flashed just a bit wider, but seeing none staring, she let the voice slip back into the cacophony around her. "Ifrit's Bane, right?"

Napha searched the street with her eyes once more, either for the source of the voice, or her ultimate destination, whichever she could suss out first. 

"Down here! I said down here, ma'am!" 

Clutching her leather armor against herself a though she was in nothing but her skivvies, Napha peered down to see a wide felt hat bearing a striking yellow feather. 

"Eh?" It was all she could muster, her voice lost somewhere in her throat - or boots. 

"Dural Tharal of The Mythril Eye, and you are the warrior they've taken to calling Ifrit's Bane, aren't you?" 

Napha knitted her eyebrows as she strained to hear over the din. "No, thank you, I--" 

He waved his hands in wide sweeps before him. "Ma'am I am a reporter. From The Mythril Eye." 

She nodded. "So you are." The reporter's expression showed her manner did little to clear the vacant look from her face. He pulled out a paper tablet and made to take notes. 

"They say you struck down the mighty primal Ifrit, is it true? Is it true you were able to approach this fell creature without becoming tempered, as they say?" 

"Oh." It was the kind of remark that comes with being corrected. It took a moment for the wheels to turn, but it churned out nothing. "Somehow I managed." 

"Fascinating! Some say it is a blessing of the gods - your natural resistance. Still others believe it is a trick of your armor. Is that it there?" The eager man shoved a squat finger upward toward the disused gear in her arms. 

"Oh... unfortunately, it is. It's in terrible shape. Not a special thing about it, I'm afraid. The cheapest I could buy." 

"Egads! The Primal Slayer running about wearing cast-offs and popoto sacks... Will certainly be interesting to see how Sunsilk Tapestries can turn that couture." He scribbled hurriedly onto his tablet. She was beginning to sweat more in the breezeless corridor with every stroke of his quill. 

"N-now, I mean no disrespect to the leatherw--" A tremor in her voice, she began to sink lower to better hear the Lalafell, but then thought better of it. "They're still fine leather goods, I assure. I-… I have to go." Napha eyed the thoroughfare for an escape, but he continued to pepper her with questions, and somehow over the deafening noise of the city, it's all she could hear. 

"There's been talk the Immortal Flames are seeking to recruit you to their ranks." He leaned around her to catch her glance again. "Have you given it thought? Word is you previously served as Gridanian envoy – have the Twin Adders already heard your pledge, then?" 

"Oh, I don't know much about that." She used the relative advantage of her height to fix her gaze upon some distant point. Truth was she did know quite a lot about that. "The Grand Companies fight wars, don't they?" The very prospect terrified her. "To put it politely, I think my talents are best used elsewhere." She meant she was still awaiting her welcome letter from the Carpenters' Guild. 

"Too good for the mighty Immortal Flames! Dear, that's nearly unfit for print! Such a post is an honor, you realize!" 

"I suppose it is," she said, absent-mindedly. Her eye caught a familiar face- the mender she'd been seeking. "I must be going...." She strode away through the throngs of shoppers to the mender's booth and reached for her coin purse. "Seven hells!" Amid all the barking and bustle, it seemed she'd crossed paths with a cutpurse. 

To some, she was Ifrit's Bane, the Primal Slayer. 

To others, still just another tourist. 

Adventures on grocery shopping on the start of labor day weekend (i.e. you fool, what have you done)

1) lady with smol child watches me smell then turn the baggie of hatch chiles around, eyeing it suspiciously. Smol child asks her what i'm doing. She pauses and then says 'i...don't know.' About this time i find the pepper that was minutes away from turning into terrible sludgy goo and extricate it, setting it gently to the side. Even that amount of motion was too much, and it sort of....melts. Smol child makes a wonderful noise of delighted disgust. Asks if their veggies at home do that. Lady says 'no, baby, that's what frozen veggies are for.'

2) there's sweet corn advertised right next to the chiles. I pick up an ear and smell it, again suspiciously. (I have been burned before, california. Your version of 'roadside fresh' and mine are very different.) Lady comes up next to me, starts picking up ears and ripping the dangliest tassels and husks off before bagging the ears. I look at the top of one, nope, set it back. Repeat. Find a good one. Lady has by this point stopped entirely and is watching me. "Well now what are you doing, then?" I point out the rejected corn has a tassel that looks icky, and the other one didn't feel heavy enough, and this one has nice goldenbrown tassel and feels heavy and is a nice green, and since i plan on cooking it, i peel back a bit of the husk to point out the nice fat kernels and squish one. Then i pick up the rejected one and peel it back a bit and the tip is bare and the visible kernels look dry. Lady's partner has come up behind her and says "you found another corn nut, huh?" She flicks him in the arm and says "no, i do not do...corn wizardry. I didn't even know corn wizardry was a thing. Thank you for the help, by the way."

3) someone says 'on wisconsin' behind me while i was talking about the corn and it is only later that i realize i am indeed wearing my ancient bucky badger tank top which would only be parseable as bucky if you knew what he was beforehand. I cannot see anyone around wearing obviously wisconsin or midwesty clothing. Did Chip astrally project just to fuck with me? i would not put it past him.

4) the human versions of the love children of abbot and costello / waldorf and statler are in the frozen food section (a madhouse because there are several sales ongoing) bickering while in search of bone in skin on chicken breasts, because you can't fry skinless chicken, what's the point? There is no point, that's the point. Maybe it's over there. Excuse me sir- sorry, miss- salmon candy, now there's a helluvathing. Is it good? Hm. Ah i don't think the boys'll go for that though. Is it like teriyaki? (I reply that it's not not like teriyaki but it's more like a nugget of smoked salmon that rolled into your pancake syrup.) Oh the boys'll go for salmon bacon no sweat. For sure. Why's the cold case so dark? Oh, they've shut for the night. Yeah yeah we should have come earlier maybe someone- oh here's the man, let's ask him. (No, they didn't sell well enough, they don't carry them anymore.) Oh that's the story we got at costco, too. I guess people just don't know what to do with themselves anymore. (The market down in (next city down the freeway) ought to have it. Maybe that safeway store too.) Naw, we're not going down there tonight, we'll just have to live with it. Well, there's drumsticks with skin on - ah, that's the fancy nice stuff, no sense in throwing that in a deep fryer...

4b) after this i encountered them again by the eggs, where the shorter of the two jokingly asked the woman with two kids and a very full cart if he could take the two packs of frozen breakfast links off their hands, and when she gave him the most 'i can't have heard that right' face the taller guy wheeled the cart around, clapped his hand on his buddy's shoulder, and said heartily "yeah that joke didn't land well at costco either!" before moving on towards the bakery department.

5) i inadvertently box out this poor guy around like three corners and one and a half aisles because i am not used to this layout and i can"t find the fucking laundry detergent and once i realize it is the same guy been behind me for way too long i dodge to the side and say "oh, i'm so sorry, i keep zigging in front of you." He laughs and says "no problem, basketball is a hard habit to break!" About 30 seconds later he appears abruptly behind a stand display thing, goes 'oop- oh, see, i got you this time!"

6) cluster of teenagers are standing in front of the big fall sale display. "Why is everything fall gotta be pumpkin spice. It's like turning into basic bitch season." His two friends snap with similar language "because it's fucking delicious, BRYAN." (Presumably) Bryan does the full body teenage eyeroll and says "okay, whatever can we just go find the fu...(eyeroll finished, he ends up locking eyes with me)...dge..." Having decided to lean in to the bizarreness of this trip, apparently, i say "i'm pretty fuckin' sure it's in the fuckin' bakery aisle." Cue cackling pandemonium. I add "the count chocula cereals are actually over in bakery, though, i passed them earlier."

7) i am in the rice aisle. There is a multitude of rice. There is no goddamn wild rice. There is 'countrywild' rice which contains no actual wild rice and wild rice mixes, all of which contain herbs not of my choosing and a buttload of salt and brown rice for fuck knows why and one of which contains fucking quinoa, for fuck's sake. This is a travesty and i am wounded beyond measure.

7b) someone laughs behind me, says "oh i'm sorry i don't mean to make fun ì just was not expecting a soliloquy in the rice and ethnic foods aisle."

7c) ...i have apparently said all that out loud, with my actual voice. Great. That's great. I retreat out of the rice aisle and text my mom to whine about the rice.

7d) fucking quinoa. Quinoa. WHY. WHY.

8) hours later after coming home and unpacking groceries and writing up this post i am still cranky about the lack of wild rice because i have perfect fucking asparagus and bay scallops and sweet corn and hatch chiles and i could be making a perfect fucking dinner but i am missing the fucking rice and yes okay i have calrose but it is not the same.

So i was thinking about something last night i thought i’d share it with you.

I know we all the v disappointed in taylor rn but maybe this all happened for a reason. Just think about it this man has been terrible for the past ten years and he’s still out their selling out concerts and playing music unbothered and his fans ignore what he say and still play his music and even defend him. Maybe this is god’s plan to expose him on a much wider scale now. Maybe this whole thing happened so we can finally cancel him! Once and for all. Despite Taylor being the tool of the advertising campaign. She is now tainted and we won’t be able to look at her the same way but if we all get out of this situation defeating that rat and exposing him then that would be the best scenario for everyone especially the groups of people who are hurt by his actions.

So please don’t stop talking about this. Speak up. It’s not for Taylor at this point. I hope my point was clear.

oh i like this. karma! i like your way of thinking, i really do. unfortunately, i am a pessimist and while it's 100% true that a lot of people are learning about matty's shitty antics now, i don't know if this will affect either of them that much. taylor is at an unprecedented height of success and - as we see even on tumblr - there are so many swifties who will defend her no matter what. so many swifties are ok with all of this. as for him, i think it's the same thing; i don't think the general public has ever loved him, but his fans definitely know about all of this and simply don't care (or they think it's just satire or his persona or whatever) 🤷‍♀️ i would LOVE for him to be permanently cancelled though

War of Y Ep 7 Stray Thoughts

Here we go with another show I have mixed feelings for. Consistently bothered by this show using established actor pairs to tell me that each pair is living through hell together and are potentially toxic.

Oh, and we're starting with car violence. My favorite.

Why is sound always terrible? Someday we'll enjoy the sound in a Thai BL, but today is not that day.

Toon's chain necklace is too much for me. It's been multiple episodes and I am not getting over it.

I don't like that Bew calls Toon "Mom" the time.

I appreciate the reminder that a lot of the talent is in college when they film these shows and work on all these advertisements. Bew is exhausted and needs to rest. It reminds me of Ohm Pawat being hospitalized from exhaustion last month.

Ah, Kitty looks familiar because Perth was in Love Mechanics and Why R U?

I don't like Pla intentionally wearing out Bew with his suggestions and demands. His collapse was inevitable.

Even though I don't particularly like all this manager squabbling, I am having fun seeing Dome really deliver in this role.

And now Gus is smoking.

I hadn't considered much how much resentment might exist from people competing for these acting roles. It's something you just know about from how many people audition all the time.

I hate seeing ankle injuries. It's part of why I don't watch sports as often anymore. Seeing the high motion capture slow mo is unsettling.

Gung and Korn are doing a great job with their faces as Gus and Bew respectively. I keep trying to read into their expressions.

Seeing Gus tensing up is making me think about Jake T. Austin before he left the Fosters. He was also clearly dealing with the fallout of a lot of not-great things happening to him in entertainment.

You know, at the point at which someone is carrying a flask, I feel like we've crossed quite a few lines on alcohol usage.

I also think changing the song on his own was super unprofessional of this producer.

It's kinda wild seeing people speculate about how Bew and Gus are over as they both read the tweets in a post-coital lounge.

Honestly, the flask is just so embarrassing for me.

I hate all this fighting. Does Cheewin want us to stop enjoying BL?

Why would Toon even pass along food from the fans to the talent? Food poisoning would be the most obvious concern.

Ah, of course. I'm disgusted on multiple levels that Toon would put shrimp in brownies. First, you hurt someone. Second, you ruined a brownie.

Man, this is fucked. Gus could have died. This breakup is totally appropriate, but also confirming that everyone was in on manipulating Bew's feelings is just so gross.

Still, I'm loving the performances. Everyone is really selling the drama.

Crumbs and carrots, this preview!! How the hell are we getting three more episodes out of this scenario???

Anxiety is such a frustrating phenomenon to endure.

For me, it's notably a feeling of stress and overwhelm, which contaminates other stuff around it. I often tie it to general tiredness or difficulty with task switching or chronic pain, because those things make it harder to deal with, but they are separate phenomena.

... and I think my brain just recently got 'reset' somehow, because I've been struggling with this for a while, and now I'm not.

Like. Same dietary habits, same caffeine intake, same medications, same work hours & work duties. Same (or slightly worse) terrifying US political landscape. Same (or slightly worse - there's a spike in cases where I live) pandemic news. Same financial situation.

I am trying to think of big things in my life that could possibly be related to this, and there are a couple, and I 100% am serious about this despite the silliness of how this sounds.

I think ExU Calamity was a big part of it. It occupied a large portion of my brain space for a while. (Hyperfixations can do that.) It was extremely good from a storytelling standpoint. You care about the characters and their families and the world they inhabit; you watch the actors themselves fully immersing themselves in that world, laughing and crying and reacting to the story they're shaping together; you watch the DM at times also clearly having moments of being caught up in it.

The whole premise was that this story would end in tragedy, and it did. I thought it would end badly. It didn't. The ending of the finale was among the least bad of the possible endings available to the cast, given how Episode 3 ended, and the machinations of the infernalists and K'nauthi that had been going on for a long while before Episode 1 starts.

The ending was a triumph, because it could have been so much worse.

There was a bit when I was just processing ExU: Calamity, and re-watching particular sections, and enjoying fannish discussions about plot and character and world building and the most excellent cast who brought it all to life.

I think... It matters a lot that the Ring of Brass got their tragic ending, and not the bad ending that I was expecting.

I think that I, and a lot of people, often feel that we (& the world at large) are trapped in an endless spiral of terrible politics, climate change and its devastating consequences, a hopefully not terminal case of late-stage capitalism, and other incredibly unfortunate world states.

I think that a lot of the best endings have been taken off the table. Not for you personally, or for myself personally, but for humankind. For mortaldom.

I think that a lot of people have been working to make the world better. Behind the scenes. Doing the research and writing the papers, yes, but also fostering communities and debugging code and offering alternatives to people who don't realize they have more options than they think.

There's a lot of suffering in this world that doesn't need to be, that should not be, that we didn't choose and are still somewhat complicit in, because the only way to escape society's ills entirely is to opt out and become a hermit or a shut-in. Which is not fixing the problem, merely avoiding it.

There are going to be a lot of people these next few hundred years who do vital things and do not live to see the hopeful times that will come after. Who will not be remembered. Whose work matters, matters as clearly as a diamond is made of carbon, matters as much to this world as the last desperate stand of the Ring of Brass matters to Exandria.

Maybe it's silly. I don't know that I will remain this way, anxiety-free, for long. But I choose to believe that I've got a little more time to remain myself before the anxiety returns.

And I've got a little steel necklace, still in the gift box from when it was given to me. There must be brass rings available at hardware stores or Ren faire stalls or Etsy shops. Maybe Critical Role would be willing to sell them. It wouldn't be a particularly good advertising tool for them, any more than lilac blossoms on the 25th of May are a way to sell Terry Pratchett books.

Anyway. I admit this is silly. But I know I'm going to be at San Diego Comic Con this year, and I think I'm going to carry a brass ring on a chain around my neck.

Oh please stop trying to pretend they look anything other than happy. They both look happy, and he's usually nervous at events but she was more nervous this time. He said something to lighten her nerves and then kissed her. Jeez have none of you ever been in a relationship before? that you don't know what a couple in love looks like? And please this boy was only private about a GF before bc he didn't have a serious one before. Average happy couple wearing matching designer suits. Soren again?

Hi! I never claimed that they don't look happy together (I think). I hope they are happy as I have said in the past. Otherwise, it must be really terrible times for them if not. I just give my personal opinion here about things they post for the public. The video just looked a bit 'awkward', I don't understand why the official account has to put that video online, it didn't add any value, the second video where they just pose seemed enough to me. The attire, again they can and do whatever they want. I'm not saying it's ugly. I just get a Beckham vibe, which is explainable because 'everyone' tries to imitate them in some way atm. Could I be wrong? 100%, but this is just me commenting on things I see (which I think I can and am allowed to do). I think it should be allowed to also speak about the things that ‘bother’ me (us), especially when you know that in the past (and in almost all his interviews) he placed so much value on not sharing his ‘avocado toast’. Again people can change, but it still bothers me personally that he mainly does other things than what he says... for her, for fame, for his persona...?! I don't know. He may and can do what he wants of course. But it’s not wrong to take a critical look at the things that are posted from time to time.

Again, that's just my personal opinion. People may have a different opinion about it and do not have to agree with me, that is totally fine.

And if I may add. What else should we talk about? 😅 This is literally the only thing he shows us. Either he is selling something (It is almost Christmas. Watch him re-promote his About Vintage watches without adding 'advertisement' 🫣🤐😂) or it is his relationship... I am genuinely open to more photoshoots and new projects. 🙏🏻

I Forgot About This Website

   A long time ago. In a faraway galaxy. In another dimension. I was a believer in the nightly news. Of course, I had the luxury of growing up in a time where integrity was more important than ratings.

   I'm sure there are quality presenters today, (like Lester Holt), but I don't think people like Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, or David Brinkley, (quality nightly newscasters from the past), would do well in today's toxic atmosphere.

   If you don't know by now, local and network broadcasting channels, with the help of cable, satellite, internet, cellphone, and streaming companies, have figured out how to specifically feature commercials and newscasts for your interests.

   I know, you are going to tell me, "Jim, doesn't that happen everyday on my phone already?"

   Yes, but what I'm trying to tell you is that the data collected about you allows your local TV station to specifically send you a certain type of advertisement during a commercial break which your next door neighbor might not be interested in so he will see a different ad.

   Here comes the problem. If you are the type to watch Fox News all the time you will only see conservative political commercials promoting Republican views. Never seeing what the Democratic side might be saying on an issue. Which might change your mind on that issue or a candidate. Further polarizing us against one another as a nation.

   Since news outlets need viewers or clicks, depending on where you get your news, to sell their advertising space they have also used this information to decide what news to broadcast.

   I'm tired of all the negative click bait headlines, stories of doom and gloom, religious or political influenced stories, and cultists propaganda trying to influence on how I think.

   So, I woke up today thinking about these things and all of a sudden, a thought pops up inside my head. "When did I stop going to the website Good News Network?"

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Inspiring

This is, I Love The Positivity and I Am Not A Paid Spoke Person

Jim Hauenstein

And

“Popular culture is a place where pity is called compassion, flattery is called love, propaganda is called knowledge, tension is called peace, gossip is called news, and auto-tune is called singing.” - Criss Jami -

That is my story and I am sticking to it! Like what you are reading? Sign up as a Follower or Leave a Comment  I would love to hear from you Thanks for reading  Be kind to everyone  I'll be seeing you

https://2buckhowie.blogspot.com/

Once Upon a Time Long Forgotten

This is just a post saying this account is....nearly inactive. I had an idea for it when I started (it was suppose to be for the stories I write), but it has since died. It also was where I would keep all of my reviews of books I read and other tidbits of information I find interesting for anything a writer or author might like to know.

I don't know if I'll keep this blog any more since it has lost its purpose. Unless I want to keep it to backup my stories, but I wouldn't share said stories....maybe.

It's not like anyone would read them. You need a fanbase and viewers to actually have someone say anything about your story or writing. And this blog doesn't not have it.

But then again, I'm terrible at "selling myself" or advertising things to others.

As you can see I am rather verbose and go off on tangents all the time. Just look at this post. >A<

So...this is just a notice that this blog probably won't have much on it and might be deleted in the future.

TIL about The Industry and Silicon Valley

Oh no, not The Industry™.

The Californian Ideology is unrealistic

The Californian Ideology oversimplified is the belief that computers will improve society. It also promotes the idea that most qualified people creating new forms of technology for profit are the people that will benefit the most.

An example of the Californian Ideology doing a terrible job is the ‘Free Basics’ program by Facebook. The program allowed for phone users in India to have access to websites chosen by Facebook. The choices of website access were deeply influenced by Western perspectives of what Indian users would need, making the entire program useless. This is called, “corporate (and Western) ignorance”!

Click to see the article here!

2. The Department of Homeland Security isn’t protecting you online

Censorship is a controversial topic, especially within the context of technology. It was found that an agency from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the United States plans to fight against false information online. The agency hopes to influence the actions of social media platforms when it comes to disinformation. It also aims to protect “democratic institutions” from misinformation online, listing the financial institution as democratic. Is it democratic? The answer is… drumroll please… no! This alone raises questions about the motivations behind DHS’ censorship. Questions like, “What’s the real end goal here?” or “Are you just censoring things that will harm the image of your government?”.

Learn more about this here.

3. Burning Man is for the rich (of course it is).

As if the image didn't make it obvious enough...

Although I heard “Burning Man” somewhat frequently, I never understood its origins or its impact on the world. In lecture, Burning Man was described as a “temporary de-commodifying space”, a place for community and the rejection of capitalist values. It’s no surprise that the festival attracted rich white males as their main audience and its entire goal was undermined by its types of attendees. For example, while regular people would camp out at the festival with their necessities, the rich would bring far more than they needed and took up way more space than they had to. Ironic how this festival turned to glorify capitalism, but things usually turn out this way. ://

Say a biiiiig thank you to Madison Trusolino, my prof, for her slides and lecture and for this point!

4. Social media platforms don’t care about you or your information (keep in mind what words I chose to put in bold)

Jumpscare, my bad!

Most of the blame goes to users for not reading the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policies of the apps they sign up for. The blame should actually go to the corporations that intentionally mislead their users with corporate jargon and unclear descriptions of their use of user data. As users get to use Facebook at no cost, it’s only reasonable that Facebook sells their user data to their advertisers (sarcasm)! In fact, 90% of Facebook’s revenue comes from doing just that. This is going on my list of reasons to never trust big corporations and billionaires.

Thank you again, Madison Trusolino :D!

5. Silicon Valley has an international influence?

Is that a rainbow bridge in the center or am I imagining things...

Sometimes I forget the global influence of the United States. There are copies of Silicon Valley in countries like the Philippines, Israel, and Wales, because of its prosperity as a center of tech and creation. Surprisingly, even with the support of the government and academic institutions, these regions are unsuccessful in replicating the growth of Silicon Valley. For example, several governments and investors helped startups in Latin America, but their ventures failed. The saddest part is that Silicon Valley can never be replicated, no matter how hard any country tries. What Silicon Valley is today was caused by the history of the region and other social circumstances.

Another link to the source here!

Thank you for reading and I hope you learned something too!

Here's a list of stuff wrong with his apartment that nobody's ever adressed. You said if they do the work and their son helps a little that John remillard will be mad at them and Stan says it comes back here and it gets all over stuff and it goes on him that's true and same with the roof it didn't look like one of the two and he knows it's not them so that's how you can do that Andrew the guys unbelievably gross. So we have an idea what to do certain people fix it John remillard fights them other people fix other things John remillard fights them Dan fixed something John rebelord fights him and gets kicked in gets kicked out John remillard this weakening Terry she's been fighting over the apartment so come on. Imbecile smart enough to think that they're holding him off he's going after his own people and figure it out the hard way it's not really true Jason was down here bja all sorts of people. It's a good idea to do small jobs and get tested out no he tested out today and saw John reward bothering the s*** out of him

-so there's more going on than you think and there's a few people who don't understand the math and it's terrible and we're going after but make long story short we have work to do and the things to go over right now as a matter of time if you have the day to do things I will catching up with something they're hiring people and building and making things and it is helping we have a lot of people who need to hiring factories to build tons of stuff we already have a huge manufacturer area. You several decisions today for having several products and we want to make sure the right thing I'm going to talk about taking over the country and his situation I'm going to fix it to work we need to do work

Right now there's a lot of stuff happening. A lot of people don't understand the position is fine they're asking tons of stuff while they're getting their ass beat in. You should have dies with the max a little bit because we can see that they're completely unreasonable jackasses half of them the other half comes out and ask for while ee take the bodies way to be incinerated. So not really sure handle them sometimes or you're morons he says it's really simple absolutely Force and that's what we're going to do I'm here in town we need it now we're running around in their underwear are saying they would s*** saying they will play with s***. People are resting them and there's a bunch of them and we need the intel. I'm going to advertise more shortly but we're kind of getting up to speed evacuation however is speeding up right now worship more ships are going to come down, mostly one mile but it does push Muc down it's about one foot each time. And we're figuring out these clones are messing with us all the time and we have to go after them harder we need more troops. Ours are surviving they're just trying to send more here. There's not a whole bunch of news right now there will be shortly and probably an hour or two

Thor Freya

I sold a ton of boats and we will sell a lot more but removing a whole bunch of muck out all over the world and it is working it really needs to be done corky is at the river it's the Mississippi and the Missouri and Trump tried to get in there and he couldn't so he's up River and is grabbing it he says he's looking for stuff and our son says you should be I mean my husband that's what I told you to do you dumb f*** f****** moron. You think I'm like oh go there and just find s*** like I'm a f****** retard like you idiots for real it's motivator that's why I said it s*** you're stupid. So it's going there and he's going up the river and my husband says I'm sure he is. But for real Trump has dug out probably 10 miles long by about half mile wide and that's probably what's needed and he's looking for stuff of course and that's a lot but it's only four foot down and it's 8 ft of Mark it says how can I see through the mock it says what am I doing I said I heard it was 8 for the mark he's a cylinder so he started doing the cylinder test it says I'm not even seeing anything that's because you have much under it it's like clay so he says okay as soon as I'm pretty sure the cylinder will show it on the test. So he says don't get snippy with me I'm saying f*** you I can get snippy with you you're not my people you're the enemy I can fire off one missile you're all gone instead I said you could go in there and clean s*** out don't you want to know if there's something there Mr penis... So he looks around and says don't call me penis so I can't help you you look like one so he goes ahead and starts taking the the core sample and it corrected what it was the whole time and he pulls it up and it's muck it's like 12 ft deep almost all the way across it's about 13 ft deep in the middle so it's pulling it all out and he's scanning and it's using all sorts of stuff and he says there's nothing but junk there so thanks for reporting it I don't want you to report to me I want you shut your f****** mouth. So he starts yelling and says who the hell is supposed to be watching me Garth Myers okay sweetie I don't have to watch you okay go off get in trouble get out of my face and stop running around town naked tell your people to stop running around town naked they're just getting arrested and s*** head. So he started laughing and you got a horn he said stop running around naked you're just getting arrested when you people idiots and you told them the procedure so theier going up the river. She said wait a minute you're going up the river make sure you have a paddle inside laughing said whose joke is that so all sudden they start getting mad and said the weekend out of here. So they're going up the river here the Peace River. It's the Peace River not the Peace train in my my husband said I don't give a s*** so they started laughing. There's enough poop here to kill people 5 million times over and these clothes are huge Indians so they're getting to fight some stuff that's not major cuz I can't stand it either that's going on right now answer relief and the river will start flowing faster and it's going to push into the harbor the mouth of the harbor is a big pile of it it's a big pile of s*** and he said it's really easy to get over there and probably more dense and so a bunch of going over there now they might be out there tonight and we'll see what the max do we can be watching them see what they're doing so finally but all over the world this is happening everywhere they're digging this Mark out stockpiling it and protecting it and using bug spray is a giant giant effort you would not believe how much crap they've taken out of there

Hera

Good

Olympus