tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312150852024-03-13T13:55:52.104-05:00Sev's ViewOne woman's view of the world.Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.comBlogger660125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-31824708587364793392023-08-13T16:07:00.001-05:002023-08-13T16:07:14.699-05:00The Pussification of Two Generation of Kids<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbqNl95KccyOGM3sSZMEPu3SH_0J6GJF9SUozeakjCujTIajTt1-AGni8fROvk-q14VbuSSm9HJ2oSvMQxzHEs3Qzfzg37MqjYDmDPV9-J8Ncj8s03uKwWyt5if3JnV2FFOGBu7IcJLqm28u2BYEt_cZPXb4rDcWYB_ZRoANgUwUdRd3sb56SG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbqNl95KccyOGM3sSZMEPu3SH_0J6GJF9SUozeakjCujTIajTt1-AGni8fROvk-q14VbuSSm9HJ2oSvMQxzHEs3Qzfzg37MqjYDmDPV9-J8Ncj8s03uKwWyt5if3JnV2FFOGBu7IcJLqm28u2BYEt_cZPXb4rDcWYB_ZRoANgUwUdRd3sb56SG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Recently, my daughter-in-law and I were talking about parks and playgrounds lacking... things to play on. Gone are the Merry-go-Round, the Jungle Gym, and most importantly, the Monkey Bars.</p><p>I know. You're sitting there with that<i> is that chick insane?</i> look on your face right now. But trust me. I gave this all of about five seconds of thought.</p><p>You can think Dave Matthews for this epiphany. I've been on a kick this weekend and was listening to his Proudest Monkey song off his Crash album. It's always been one of my favorite tracks to listen to because of the rhythm guitar and the declinations of tone and structure. If you don't know it, it's extremely relaxing... until you listen to the lyrics. Really listen to them. I'd know the chorus forever, but this time, for whatever reason I dove into the lyrics and realized what a depressing song it is. Almost as depressing as his Pay For What You Get from his Under the Table and Dreaming CD.</p><p>Anyhoodles, as I sat at my desk contemplating country vs city life, I realized that, as a society we have become so risk averse that we are actually afraid of actually enjoying or getting benefit from anything. In fact, we started with our kids first.</p><p>When my kids went to the park and on their school playgrounds, they had those three pieces of equipment, including seesaws. Think about that for a moment. </p><p>I don't know about you guys, but some of the merriest moments in my childhood, and the childhoods of my children were on old park swings, slides and monkey bars. I can almost see why we got rid of the old metal slides. Hot as hell, but then the hot ass plastic ones aren't much better, are they?</p><p>Now, look at your average Millennial and Zoomer. Ain't no upper body strength there to threaten you is there? The fat little blubber balls can barely stand up much less lift a game controller. Am I right? I mean, they're either deathly thin from not being able to eat anything so that mommy could post about how put upon she was by the food allergies that all wound up being made up except for the nut allergies, which we can all blame on the CDCs along with COVAIDS. </p><p>I'm sure that, as a parent, that makes you feel so much better for not allowing kids to go outside and, wait for it, just be kids.</p><p>When my kids were growing up, my house was where everyone came to play out in our backyard, climb in trees, swing, sand box, basketball goal and tons of games to play in the rec room (made out of our old garage).</p><p>We also had video game consoles and a computer. I watched over them, baked snacks and proctored their homework before they got to play. I was, in fact, parenting them because their own parents were uninterested in the job. Some were busy with big families like my own. Some were busy with both parents working to keep them in our definitely blue collar, refinery row housing development that was quickly becoming a barrio. Some were fatherless, a couple were motherless. My home was a safe place for them to hang after school. I was mean and scared the socks of any bully chasing them after school.</p><p>You know how I know it was good? My kids ALWAYS talk about that when they're all together. </p><p>I was there for tae kwon do. Yes, I actually sent my children out to fight other children in their dojang. They played baseball, football, basketball, and still would go to play at the local park with their friends. They ran around screaming, eating snow cones and JUST BEING KIDS.</p><p>I was part of the PTA and I volunteered at their elementary schools. I did that because I didn't get to do it in the beginning, so I embraced being a stay at home mom when I got the chance. No, I didn't get it, I took the damned thing for my own.</p><p>I don't remember parents of my generation because such fucking pussies, but it's where it began. We were going to be so much better than our Boomer parents, weren't we. And we were almost there. It was the ones that came after my kids that frankly make me want to slap a bitch.</p><p>I'll tell you a story to illustrate. When my youngest daughter was playing softball in elementary school, I made cupcakes for her birthday because she had a game that evening. One of her little friends took one and her mother ripped it out of her hands and threw it at the trashcan telling her she couldn't have all that sugar.</p><p>Yeah, you know that cunt had my sights on her face. All the little girls talked about that little girl and how mean her mom was. And it wasn't just them, the other parents talked about it. I was coach that year and kept a very close on her. Her home life had to be hell is all I can, but since I never saw any signs of physical injury, there was precious little I could do. I just fucked up things in other ways. Because I'm a bitch. You can think it and know that it's a universal truth.</p><p>I noted that the elementary school my daughters went to took out their playground equipment and I no longer saw the kids outside playing. I saw it at the Intermediate schools and the Middle School... sometimes. You know you're going to see it during football season at the High School. How else can you boost your parents' egos?</p><p>These items disappeared from our local parks when they were all remodeled and updated. Because someone might fall and hurt themselves. Gods forbid you learn a lesson as a child, right?</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-6346046196425045362023-07-09T10:03:00.000-05:002023-07-09T10:03:01.409-05:00Hardest Morning of My Life<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uPrQ2oDnPQy10lcosvJGamVoH7vYmnF4EDboc8wvDPB6U0pqy5fSIVyLuv5ahKZt1D9qGQxeOyU5d1tVbFLxwJD-Gj0VvAZUkswaAeiEKfih0W4SAm_9_FJO_qrvhfWFX-5s0h6WMUW6kFgTB0RHquyZJcjjWYTigzDOCYI9BQY9zPeC7qjP/s960/11863356_731721553620784_3398688790293152318_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uPrQ2oDnPQy10lcosvJGamVoH7vYmnF4EDboc8wvDPB6U0pqy5fSIVyLuv5ahKZt1D9qGQxeOyU5d1tVbFLxwJD-Gj0VvAZUkswaAeiEKfih0W4SAm_9_FJO_qrvhfWFX-5s0h6WMUW6kFgTB0RHquyZJcjjWYTigzDOCYI9BQY9zPeC7qjP/s320/11863356_731721553620784_3398688790293152318_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I woke up at four this morning with Apollo dry heaving and having a lot of difficulty breathing. He'd been off his feed, but he was a Husky. We just had to find out what he had decided he <i>would </i>eat now. Right? Right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We got Apollo nine years ago. He was adopted from our local Humane Society shelter and he was so sick He was eating like a maniac and still losing weight. After a month he was finally diagnosed with Sarcoptic Mange. However, he had heartworms and we had to treat the mange first so it was three months of smelly Sulphur baths every five days.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We got through that, he gained weight and finally began to accept his place in a new pack. At first it was him, Sam, Zeus and Schaub, my son's Beagle. He was the last of them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I have often said that Apollo, because he was a wild dog when captured, was never going to be the typical family dog. He'd been running around a local park for nearly five years when his illness finally allowed him to be caught and ultimately treated.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">He sailed through everything like a Boss, but it left him with extreme anxiety of going to the vet. I would wait for some pet thing with vaccinations offered just so I could get him his shots. We were a couple of years overdue for Rabies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This morning I woke up to him dry heaving. His heavy breathing started last night. He was getting more anxious as his breathing got worse. We made the decision to take him to the ER vet when he wouldn't even drink water.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">They were going to do an exam while we went over paperwork, but we had only had a chance to look at the paper when they called us back and said there was nothing they could do. The vet had found the mass in his chest. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We both cried like babies. My husband said goodbye and went to settle the bill and make the cremation arrangements while I stayed with him and begged him to let to go and play with Sam, Schaub and Zeus. Run through the trees chasing rabbits ad squirrels, go be with his pack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">He was never the dog that would stay by your side, head on your knee as you sat doing anything, like Sam and Zeus had been. But, he loved us in his own neurotic way. Whenever I left the house he would become almost manic. I can't tell you how many times I'd be at the store or an appointment and have a neighbor call to tell my my mutt was running up and down the street looking for me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I'd get home and he would be waiting by the garage door for me. whining and nosing me as we made our way inside. When he finally got too old to hop the fence and we put up coyote rollers, he would stress pee and poop everywhere to show his displeasure at being left alone with the cats. He was always happy to see us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The fact that he preferred sleeping next to my desk or bed was a telling fact.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">In the past few years he became close to my husband. He really doesn't like men, and I think that may come from having lived in a park where most males would have felt compelled to catch the beautiful white dog. To the end he had a problem with small children, not wanting them to touch him. He was never mean, but he would nip if they pulled, as if teaching one of his own pups the boundaries.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">He loved us. We love him still. We love all of our boon companions. We were so lucky to get him. So lucky we got to have him in our lives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We made the decision, years back, we would have no more animals than the ones we currently had. Back then it was Zeus, Apollo, and our three demon cats. We're not down to just the cats.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We're gathering up all of the blankets, beds, toys, dishes, etc. Everywhere we move a new blob of Apollo Hair flies up at us. We just dusted and vacuumed. You'd never be able to tell. I'll be honest, a day will come when I will miss that as well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">It was when I was picking up the water bowls off the floor of the kitchen that it really caught me how much has now changed. No more leaning over to put something in the microwave because the dog's bowl is in the way. No more constant Swiffering of the floor because of muddy puppy feet. No more groaning because he'd peed on his bed in protest of me walking outside to get the mail.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We never realize how much we're going to miss someone we loved with all of our hearts and complained about constantly until they're no longer there. It's wrenching.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Goodbye, Apollo. You will be missed. Thank you for letting us love you.</div><br /><p></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-48710604969183824252023-05-13T10:18:00.005-05:002023-05-13T10:18:58.930-05:00Me Me Me Is Not Just A Warm Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMqlZgUnIPgF8TGJDVB0bbTilPK1smZXRrGmD9S3Rgkk8L21MH43ztu6dGdUYhkMbHEoYv8vkAm1-RFRrpfgxWQrCB31nBS1QIrv6mcmswMdNXT4qjHlOeWOoLzMJpRKUwmJmJV4b9RzjUtV9_9zgi9pp7B8ya6f4pN07APuTILWCBhWtnQ/s2000/134390_shutterstock_634141013_hero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1077" data-original-width="2000" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMqlZgUnIPgF8TGJDVB0bbTilPK1smZXRrGmD9S3Rgkk8L21MH43ztu6dGdUYhkMbHEoYv8vkAm1-RFRrpfgxWQrCB31nBS1QIrv6mcmswMdNXT4qjHlOeWOoLzMJpRKUwmJmJV4b9RzjUtV9_9zgi9pp7B8ya6f4pN07APuTILWCBhWtnQ/w506-h256/134390_shutterstock_634141013_hero.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> Eric D July, on Critical Drinker's podcast recently opined that all of these screechers are basically just boring and they take over and hijack things in an attempt to get notice. Because notice is the social currency they have been conditioned to crave.<br /><br />But I dug deeper. Because it's what I do. I must have been born with a shovel in my hand. Perhaps I should be more appreciative of my egg donor, but, on second thought, no.</p><p>They take over and hijack things to try to make you accept them.</p><p>They have no interest in comic books or gaming. They have no ability to accept good story telling. Name one Marxist who could tell a good story. I'll wait.</p><p>For me, my notice of this was brought forth in gaming. This was in the years I wasn't even gaming at all. I'd stopped playing WoW and my poor Steam account was begging me to play Borderlands2. "Come on, Sev. Doncha wanna see and hear Claptrap again?" God help me, I did, but I was too busy writing books.</p><p>Then, while I was cruising around the Breitbart News site, I happened upon an article by Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulis. It was about gaming journos accepting sexual and monetary favors for good reviews for video games. No lie. Just ask Zoey Quinn about it. In between murdering men she lures into her honey trap. She was sleeping with no less than seven men, plus her own boyfriend, for good reviews for her crappy depression game.<br /><br />Then in steps Anita Sarkesian and she's all about the grift. She has spent the past ten years trying to reclaim her fifteen minutes to try to get more money out of an industry that never needed or wanted her in it. She doesn't even game! But, she needed to crowd fund tens of thousands of dollars for a Discord server. Let that sink in for a moment. I have a Discord server. People I game with have Discord servers. Teenagers have Discord Servers. It ain't hard or expensive, Anita. Shoulda looked that one up, Cupcake.</p><p>Neither one of those chicks are gamers. They wanted to invade an industry to make people they wanted to like them accept them into their group. That didn't happen. They were exposed for the lying harpies they are.<br /><br />Take the movie industry. They flocked to Disney and Netflix and have ruined them in their made desire to be loved and accepted by people who are actually repulsed by them. No sane person, in the whole history or man, thinks Cleopatra was black. Why? Because we were taught history by people who didn't use Howard Zinn history books.</p><p>Millennials have a self-destructive need for altruism, which is possibly the most selfish thing I've ever seen. Most importantly, they do it against their own self-interest. Because they've been taught they should be martyrs. No, that they MUST be martyrs on the altar of Wokism. </p><p>Gen Z are different, and yet not. They appear to be able to peek behind the curtain and see the crap for what it is, but still want to fit in among their peers. I have hope for Gen Z and hold none for Millennials.</p><p>For decades, as I watched my kids and their cohort grow up, I said we would have to throw away, almost completely, one generation. I wasn't sure until 2008 it would be Millennials, but then it became horribly obvious it would be. I'm still watching Gen Z.</p><p>They have been taught, through the "Self-Esteem" syllabus, that they are greatest, the bestest EVAR because... Just because. They didn't have to do anything to earn it and then they started handing out Participation Trophies because they were able to show up.</p><p>When they began growing into their little minds they expected everything to be like Little League. They expected straight As for merely showing up at school. No effort needed, you're breathing, brother, here's your accolades. Doubt me? How many schools around you have graduation ceremonies from Kindergarten or have eliminated valedictorians?<br /><br />They went to college being told and believing that mere attendance would get them a degree. Knowledge? Just parrot back what Marxist teacher says and you'll get there. They were hired into jobs by Marxist psych majors who needed to pay off college loans to come in and parrot Marxist ideologies and work to tear down the systems that paid their way. They didn't have to actually work, they just needed to make sure their inserted their crap politics into everything and they would be loved and lauded throughout the world.</p><p>Then the venture capital ran out. Suddenly, the journos and influencers were no longer protected from scrutiny and lo and behold the babies began to cry. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! They had been told that if they towed the party line (my use is more accurate than the usual use of the word toed in this instance) they would be loved by all, accepted by all no matter how they debased themselves publicly. No amount of cope will get your original reproductive organs or sex organs back. Hasta la vista sexual pleasure.<br /><br />Whack off and carve out your genitals. Do it in full public view! You don't need a psych eval to see if you truly need it, this is all for The Cause. The Cause is never fully understood, but asking for an explanation gets you kicked off the plantation and no one wants that, right?</p><p>Self-Immolate for The Cause. Accept utter and complete degradation of your body and your mind for The Cause.<br /><br />You'll be famous.</p><p><br /></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-77702324571367332662023-05-06T11:46:00.000-05:002023-05-06T11:46:21.206-05:00Celestial Sisters Gifts AKA My New Mothership<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1kjGiMlR4gkKVLL7DqSaf7TOt2-pDHjL-fVour3W4EE8E6OQl9gjtvNOZBk4GWqOT7Z5i0jQWCO7BD5soBSAnA6ciF1Vz_NeEYvu67qjVtrXj9eku9DGpbcTtlWGb-U29ZACN1aMrAAlnJQ-6PbPuAru0qCKY8IVJCKrr8R2LLGw2STsROg/s2048/345447279_761015018889287_5356164463094937190_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1kjGiMlR4gkKVLL7DqSaf7TOt2-pDHjL-fVour3W4EE8E6OQl9gjtvNOZBk4GWqOT7Z5i0jQWCO7BD5soBSAnA6ciF1Vz_NeEYvu67qjVtrXj9eku9DGpbcTtlWGb-U29ZACN1aMrAAlnJQ-6PbPuAru0qCKY8IVJCKrr8R2LLGw2STsROg/s320/345447279_761015018889287_5356164463094937190_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This morning I made my way into Celestial Sisters Gifts and I was delighted. Our helpful clerk was Adam and he was helpful and very informed. I was impressed.</p><p>I don't make my way through our town down the main drag anymore. Traffic is too much and full of stupid drivers who think the middle turning lane is their own personal lane of transport.</p><p>I wanted to go in mainly to get white sage smudge sticks for the house... it IS spring. But... you know me... I wanted to see what stones they had. My love of mystic crystals in a joke in the family, but I have them squirreled away everywhere in my house. I'm horribly bad about charging them when they are depleted. I'm making a concerted effort to do better this year and it's somewhat of a success.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgoIC1f3h1PbdaGCp47vOgx-MZwkEjEO22Pwz9OJ82STNKwZROsnS4CdYWOio14JycwWta0bmIzpyzVy4OvJ81J1Mwzb3OTkVCquKdxVdCjwKsLe2SPmAqh4b4E8RYiFFSQWJpSy2QhZorEiocwD6lAbyXn1ZdA6LcQ4t3GQAiHo_lrJUJA/s960/345051792_154960037333016_2767413729044924162_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgoIC1f3h1PbdaGCp47vOgx-MZwkEjEO22Pwz9OJ82STNKwZROsnS4CdYWOio14JycwWta0bmIzpyzVy4OvJ81J1Mwzb3OTkVCquKdxVdCjwKsLe2SPmAqh4b4E8RYiFFSQWJpSy2QhZorEiocwD6lAbyXn1ZdA6LcQ4t3GQAiHo_lrJUJA/s320/345051792_154960037333016_2767413729044924162_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt_TdtqL21VeB3WoGFq2IM92l_Nip8aRToIqf_ObFgdjcQXiGgEIOzDgFXNGxxOlJJAKdrLeQNYELBH0LNz8-ynaPgYNAgrPzW8I0-4DtUfwRolzmcLShxP3BuJ9ZuXgqtWyodyjGTRmi0rbNCzgL7dy9oCPcmh7yWv77H5rDIE-x_BpYiQ/s2048/345278946_944479570307863_2608753014378189263_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt_TdtqL21VeB3WoGFq2IM92l_Nip8aRToIqf_ObFgdjcQXiGgEIOzDgFXNGxxOlJJAKdrLeQNYELBH0LNz8-ynaPgYNAgrPzW8I0-4DtUfwRolzmcLShxP3BuJ9ZuXgqtWyodyjGTRmi0rbNCzgL7dy9oCPcmh7yWv77H5rDIE-x_BpYiQ/s320/345278946_944479570307863_2608753014378189263_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2mACra0H1A3DyNLO0NVRr-_ueONoTesGLjIcowlfoArnimIumO0aezamo6hFUG2ewRkCfJdOArP8DN1Sq5rB48WfS_S6B1qENDCyUsbGfCoMBtDl0LDEwJqbzz0u2dc2AA2ZXGrHqoN3tADrYyjVqkvXzpyftD8dgVzTpwnXzEGvhbt7BA/s2048/345291468_551902187074920_2216234904097186972_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2mACra0H1A3DyNLO0NVRr-_ueONoTesGLjIcowlfoArnimIumO0aezamo6hFUG2ewRkCfJdOArP8DN1Sq5rB48WfS_S6B1qENDCyUsbGfCoMBtDl0LDEwJqbzz0u2dc2AA2ZXGrHqoN3tADrYyjVqkvXzpyftD8dgVzTpwnXzEGvhbt7BA/s320/345291468_551902187074920_2216234904097186972_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>They had everything for someone interested in the mystic arts could possibly want. I was impressed by their assortment of rune stones and tarot cards, as well as their books. You could work up from avid beginner to jaded expert with their books.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZy0S2HNNivwowzTeeXGA9OP6UbsBccx_JT0IDBqyP9rWfJOlsQbSSkMPa6BRb27IJ04ZGvajhU1AyJlMBXhnhC0LV0ihz5I0L9Ulocq_6WiXVgpzhqHLcmh9gT0ktjcQannQ5hez6smaSJjNO2yjZZW-ZgETQXaHK0CvMMKVknjRzSPwfw/s2048/345453461_3152653285027660_78347496655465231_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZy0S2HNNivwowzTeeXGA9OP6UbsBccx_JT0IDBqyP9rWfJOlsQbSSkMPa6BRb27IJ04ZGvajhU1AyJlMBXhnhC0LV0ihz5I0L9Ulocq_6WiXVgpzhqHLcmh9gT0ktjcQannQ5hez6smaSJjNO2yjZZW-ZgETQXaHK0CvMMKVknjRzSPwfw/s320/345453461_3152653285027660_78347496655465231_n.jpg" width="240" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkIkp65Cr20IMsBqkkeTcnotYfQgd4M9idKVfMl9rAyJpnUaE8RhOAur7JpvGa1GhKdZ-6kgggdU0hENOwJ629i_e0ZzSngMS1kavcJdpxTeNuPBhBopkVC4w19wugavFTgEfHROi9SB4PPns4K_tZ_Khs93yXn08OFDHZe3tzJ-hQzpMGg/s2048/345336786_3115830402047725_5822345923939136415_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkIkp65Cr20IMsBqkkeTcnotYfQgd4M9idKVfMl9rAyJpnUaE8RhOAur7JpvGa1GhKdZ-6kgggdU0hENOwJ629i_e0ZzSngMS1kavcJdpxTeNuPBhBopkVC4w19wugavFTgEfHROi9SB4PPns4K_tZ_Khs93yXn08OFDHZe3tzJ-hQzpMGg/s320/345336786_3115830402047725_5822345923939136415_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></div><br /><br /><p>They had a really good stock of components you would need for any tincture or decoction you might want to make. They had mortars and pestles, incense, and candles. They had vials and bottles for potions, well, tinctures and decoctions... potions is such an antiquated but cherished word.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvy_h5hQP7H01w9UbzjoQt-I7tddTN4c6ZBKK3CcMUjNYbQuQfbsTUlRarejE-jK0w1z7hKqwJFEgREm-TDcfSvMNWYef6Rf-EJ3nljzc-f9ZT5KpGn-AUokBfKUZDWXKaB7L3zphlLcgIaVBwjZF8iXCjDINeA-zId8M8DF6GyMgcEWl6qA/s2048/345423558_925873675130550_3277727933857727099_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvy_h5hQP7H01w9UbzjoQt-I7tddTN4c6ZBKK3CcMUjNYbQuQfbsTUlRarejE-jK0w1z7hKqwJFEgREm-TDcfSvMNWYef6Rf-EJ3nljzc-f9ZT5KpGn-AUokBfKUZDWXKaB7L3zphlLcgIaVBwjZF8iXCjDINeA-zId8M8DF6GyMgcEWl6qA/s320/345423558_925873675130550_3277727933857727099_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Koyk7Ee5j7Z7mYAU8w7Oj1NsgAzxFNdLfZXRMiF0E6Cra5wlJU-k3LcgrvEil89kyhbcN6z-r0-XCm040WzFSnAvQURkEng8W7h7EPl7ZvqrSQXA40k4FShgIt2RI5WhtetuyKwXxU_SAKFFDljh1j9RqHhVse1BZmPYOeUzBiAohFotJQ/s2048/345439518_1440231333459575_2503322325840828660_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Koyk7Ee5j7Z7mYAU8w7Oj1NsgAzxFNdLfZXRMiF0E6Cra5wlJU-k3LcgrvEil89kyhbcN6z-r0-XCm040WzFSnAvQURkEng8W7h7EPl7ZvqrSQXA40k4FShgIt2RI5WhtetuyKwXxU_SAKFFDljh1j9RqHhVse1BZmPYOeUzBiAohFotJQ/s320/345439518_1440231333459575_2503322325840828660_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0GmLO_C0bt9z2LxiFkdCYbZ6Ba7I3fsnOnZEMuFurORAxkg_MBxkjiafDVQb14EP-gCtUcx-d9zja8mFIpPvsFvGr3wqLNyGGuF-QWp9hWCi3OlZajanLmdUqVR6ABZQWrROJAUWPoUnBd_sFc4LT4oT8-D3vVsgPeR51FV0nN2WzaAUHQ/s2048/345324304_612071097508895_4780597899591196497_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0GmLO_C0bt9z2LxiFkdCYbZ6Ba7I3fsnOnZEMuFurORAxkg_MBxkjiafDVQb14EP-gCtUcx-d9zja8mFIpPvsFvGr3wqLNyGGuF-QWp9hWCi3OlZajanLmdUqVR6ABZQWrROJAUWPoUnBd_sFc4LT4oT8-D3vVsgPeR51FV0nN2WzaAUHQ/s320/345324304_612071097508895_4780597899591196497_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>Adam was opening as we drove up minutes before 10, when they open, and welcomed us in. He made some tea for my husband who has the man flu (allergies). He doesn't really get all of this, but he's interested and indulges me.</p><p>They have so much in the shop and they do readings, although I didn't check into how they book those, but I will put the address and a link to their FB page so all of you can look and see.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKVqTNnWvnbAj9MNhajELTILimaEcGIeSDNSghBchPs3ft87O2KMSSo2tv64gA16l_j0etqjT98u0DzxfHtpbD8hulUVFgtGCAuaaYcDnvVTgeFA0yWUMFECHMEp6N44wBCcUYDalusOOnUJq6fk_RzMdVmFgW8y-tK0W_Q_q7VCqSYKD6w/s2048/345305208_2161681777363445_6319997269015139501_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKVqTNnWvnbAj9MNhajELTILimaEcGIeSDNSghBchPs3ft87O2KMSSo2tv64gA16l_j0etqjT98u0DzxfHtpbD8hulUVFgtGCAuaaYcDnvVTgeFA0yWUMFECHMEp6N44wBCcUYDalusOOnUJq6fk_RzMdVmFgW8y-tK0W_Q_q7VCqSYKD6w/s320/345305208_2161681777363445_6319997269015139501_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Yes, I bought a huge coffee mug. I was compelled.<div><br /></div><div>If you're in the area, go in and take a look. Buy a jasper or amethyst.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/celestialsistersgifts" target="_blank">Celestial Sisters Gifts</a><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px; text-align: center;">102 Jim Dr. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px; text-align: center;">Hewitt, TX 76643</span></div><div><span style="background-color: #242526; color: #e4e6eb; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px;">(254) 300-4051</span></div>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-7004988978382949342023-03-26T09:43:00.003-05:002023-03-26T09:44:15.972-05:00Evolution of Writing<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9T_N6fOx7XPynw2iKnr-mya09e0j9mM3YQ6jCd1M1-fI8qH5tSFWwiToJNaWGkl2LQPbRjDny6PoNp7jwQ_5VqKi7Nff_naRPaAp3F5CQm1GaF7465-z36ZH2v6AstXexBdIz1k6sdStmiStiyw5zXd2TC3LqeS6w-Wc2uEey9vpncbOhPg/s495/proofing-marks1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="495" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9T_N6fOx7XPynw2iKnr-mya09e0j9mM3YQ6jCd1M1-fI8qH5tSFWwiToJNaWGkl2LQPbRjDny6PoNp7jwQ_5VqKi7Nff_naRPaAp3F5CQm1GaF7465-z36ZH2v6AstXexBdIz1k6sdStmiStiyw5zXd2TC3LqeS6w-Wc2uEey9vpncbOhPg/s320/proofing-marks1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />This morning, while I was tidying up my desk in preparation of getting to work on the body of my new manuscript, I opened a drawer and found two reams of printer paper, and two toner cartridges for my laser printer that sits on a shelf, languishing with disuse.<p></p><p>You see, in the past, from the very beginning of my writing, I would print out each draft, mark it up with a red pen, then sit back at my desk and make corrections. It was a very long process and uncomfortable. I stopped printing things out year before last. My editors, the intrepid and eagle-eyed Stephanie and Mariko, now get digital copies where they can mark things up in the file and send back to me and I quickly make changed by reading the notes and not the whole thing all over again.</p><p>By the time my book is thrown up on the shelves of e-book retailers everywhere, I've read my book about 5-6 times all the way through. I know loads of people who don't read books twice. </p><p>It made me stop and think about how greatly my process has changed across the board when it comes to writing and all of the collateral issues.</p><p>I have a file on a terabyte archive drive that holds nothing but story ideas. I back it up weekly. I am buying still another to store things like pictures, videos and such. I don't hoard files, but I do have a ton of programs cluttering up crap on my main operating drive. </p><p>Last year I put out exactly one book, and it was one I'd been working on the previous year and was more or less ready to go. It was the last of my Paladin stories for a while. </p><p>And then for a year there was nothing. I was busy being bored, playing PC games and then last fall I became ill and required surgery. Things looked really well for about two weeks and then the rug was pulled out from under me and things got worse. I got a virus and secondary bacterial infection that was not treated properly and made things ever worse.</p><p>Really worse.</p><p>One afternoon, while watching two of my grandchildren, I woke up on the floor of my kitchen with no idea how I got there. The kids, thank God, were blissfully unaware. I couldn't get up to open the garage door or the front door. I called my daughter-in-law, who works for the local constabulary, and evidently asked her to come get the kids, telling her to open to garage door with the opener in my husband's truck.</p><p>I woke up, again, on my couch with a mask over my face and people barking questions at me. My daughter-in-law thought my blood sugar had gone low. Nobody was listening to me explain. Finally, a woman EMT came in and calmly asked me questions and I told her of my problems. They tried to sit me up and again, I was passing out. Someone got my sensor reader for my glucose monitor (my cybernetic implant) and discovered, yes, her blood sugar is perfect. Let's roll!</p><p>The first thing they did, before I even got into a room was take my blood and very quickly they discovered what I'd been telling them, I'm bleeding out, you idiots. As you can probably tell, I do not have a good opinion of the medical personnel in my area. Coming from the Houston Medical Center as I do, my small town medical professionals are seen as splinters from the bottom of the barrel. </p><p>I received two units of blood, told to take iron and another medication. I had surgery scheduled for two weeks down the road, I should be fine! Wrong. My surgeon won't touch me until my blood volume is my own and richly fortified with iron bonded to my hemoglobin. I will have it in the summer when I can easily take the time to recover with no lifting children and constantly scooping up toys to be put back into place.</p><p>During the time immediately following that, I quit playing games as I just could not sit at my desk long enough to log in much less play at all. I lay in my bed and chatting with friend in texts and discord. With everything on my PC in my office, I was watching TV and re-reading books and discovering new ones.</p><p>I began ideating. I began making notes and then outlines and re-reading the books that mattered in my Shifter series and I decided to end a story arc that started at the very first Cat Shifter book. I managed to get two outlines for the last two books in the arc, the beginnings of a new series are, and then an idea to close out an open plot from before. I made sure I made notes on everything. My poor oxygen starved brain was working overtime.</p><p>It was hard to bring together a plot line that spanned eleven books. I was entering into Nalini Singh territory and it was terrifying. I love her books, and plot and series arcs. </p><p>I had started the last book in the arc, and then got hit with the idea for another one. I quickly wrote that one in like a week. While that one was with Stephanie and Mariko, I was finishing up the last in the arc, which I fully fleshed out while editing the previous book.</p><p>It was murder to write because it was an end, and secondly, it not a happy ending. We like happy endings, we accept happy for now endings. This one ends on a happy note, but it's clouded by the reality that Pran was correct, it was Zero Sum (title of the first book in the Shifter series) because no matter what choice he made everyone would lose by his decision, there were no winners. So, after stopping and starting and taking forever to write the last chapter, I took a tone of slim hope. I think we all needed it. </p><p>I'm happy to be now doing all of the editing on my tablet. No more printing forever, putting it in a binder and then sitting there marking things up, no more sitting at my desk for house rewriting and fixing run on sentences. Now, I can easily sit in my recliner and not be sore and have swollen legs from sitting far too long.</p><p>I'm feeling so much better than I did just a month ago. I still tire very quickly, but everyday I'm making strides. I feel like that is our purpose. We strive, we get through, we carry on, we improve.</p><p>I hope you all think that I have improved since the first Demonworld book (please God, yes) those books were horrible. I leave them up as a lesson to myself. I've learned so much since then. </p><p>Most of all, thanks to everyone who buys and reads my books. You don't have to, but you do and it really makes me strive to be better, to write books worthy of your money. You could easily spend it elsewhere, but you chose to grab one of my books. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.</p><p><br /></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-59262550901589351962023-01-12T12:36:00.004-06:002023-01-12T12:36:45.749-06:00Here We Go Again aka WHY?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxXmeRofGMZB3NCbF6o1eIo-Basgbk9uQYPiHwQUJRV5zpYz2uYiQEgNrjEfJPXae-t9wzhP7ZbToH-C9a3R3V-26ayZ4gaHGEmyI1ds-Lu4QRkQzadQvfpq1XniKgxM4jP0l9K413Hd4b98SjHhLV9Aa0U7LCKnPO3B5eSRNLPARdwWJfA/s1280/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxXmeRofGMZB3NCbF6o1eIo-Basgbk9uQYPiHwQUJRV5zpYz2uYiQEgNrjEfJPXae-t9wzhP7ZbToH-C9a3R3V-26ayZ4gaHGEmyI1ds-Lu4QRkQzadQvfpq1XniKgxM4jP0l9K413Hd4b98SjHhLV9Aa0U7LCKnPO3B5eSRNLPARdwWJfA/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>So, Patch 6.3 came out this week. I jumped in with both feet, so excited to see where the story is going now that <b>SPOILER ALERT</b> we're done with the Ascians.</p><p>I was happily gamboling about Garlemald and the brakes were stamped upon by Yoshi P once again MAKING ME PLAY A CLASS I DONT WANT TO PLAY AT ALL by making me play as Zero, the new Mystery Box in the game.</p><p>Yeah, I would like to get to know her and braid her hair and talk about boys during a slumber party with Y'shtola and everything, but, and I have to stress this, I HAVE NO DESIRE WHATSOEVER to play a Reaper. Ever. Period. Full stop.</p><p>The only semi-melee characters I play are ranged and built on the same platform, DNC and MCH. I love Dancer and Machinist so much. I know the lore of the Reaper and yeah, it's rich but... I don't want to play one. Same as I have no desire to play Blue Mage or Red Mage for that matter. I don't want to play Summoner or Sage either.</p><p>Koji, tell Yoshi P, PLEEZE, some of us have no desire to do the up close kill. I don't like to be a tank, so I don't play one. I'm not the one to lead a dungeon or poke a monster in the ass like a Dragoon. <Insert JoCat ESTINIEN! scream here></p><p>So, once again, I am stuck in the Main Scenario quests and cannot progress because Yoshi P is forcing me to play a Job I don't like, don't want to play and don't care enough about to learn to even get through the freakin instance.</p><p>DON'T KNOW. DON'T CARE.</p><p>Please, Koji, tell him to stop this shit.</p><p>Please, dear God, for the love of Science, just stop.</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-18445348664354142562022-11-23T06:17:00.000-06:002022-11-23T06:17:27.798-06:00Congratulations Final Fantasy XIV! Be Very Proud<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwYEJEFiQ64A_xTFLrykPYkSkioB3qg0OPIXBMUT7PkvykT8CdJ9fmMl6w736hfLpc3ilrJzgYorKlCmcjeIZiax8ZHN3GXPYoaVI7FB2mj1AaZw9Q19XkeOtOJHCRguiSHQAtDDiOpYhS_E2eqY1gzmt7nksfslNV1MsRseXt3e2-G3-Pw/s1920/final-fantasy-xiv-shadowbringers_2019-03-23_004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwYEJEFiQ64A_xTFLrykPYkSkioB3qg0OPIXBMUT7PkvykT8CdJ9fmMl6w736hfLpc3ilrJzgYorKlCmcjeIZiax8ZHN3GXPYoaVI7FB2mj1AaZw9Q19XkeOtOJHCRguiSHQAtDDiOpYhS_E2eqY1gzmt7nksfslNV1MsRseXt3e2-G3-Pw/s320/final-fantasy-xiv-shadowbringers_2019-03-23_004.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p><p>Last night in some game award thing (totally don't do award shows) Final Fantasy XIV won the Best Community award. Watch <a href="https://youtu.be/_S-vRRMtFiA" target="_blank">this video</a> to see Yoshi's acceptance. </p><p>Kudos. They deserve it. I've held, since my first hour in Eorzea, that the game had the nicest people playing any game I'd ever witnessed. Most players (because there's always some motherfucker trying to ice skate uphill according to Blade) have been very helpful, even at the top levels.</p><p>You know my complaints about their job/role system. To me, they are still seriously wrong, but, I have hopes that someday soon, Sages will have to start at level one and really learn how to heal.</p><p>Yoshi appears to be a very humble man who lives in his head. A lot. If you're familiar with any sort of non-verbal communication you can spot it a mile away just by looking at his eyes while he talks. </p><p>FFXIV is the ONLY game I've witnessed that has regular info dumps for their players, and they also EXPLAIN why they do certain things. They know that face rolling retards aren't the only ones playing. Yes, Wizards of EQ, we could have used that back in the day.</p><p>Their Lodestone site has a wealth of information and they really do encourage you to explore their world by pointing in the general direction and pointing out that you only really know information if you find it yourself. You can be told, but you never really know that you know it. I really like that, despite my current grumbling about crafting.</p><p>I've run into so many people who just started their Eorzean adventure who want to be led by the hand through the game. The better to blame your decisions on the influence on someone else that is so popular in today's society. </p><p>By design, the game forces you to do things on your own (job quests) and in others they force you to play with others (duties). There is something for everyone. You can have the best gear and still be a casual player. You can be the top Machinist in top tier raiding content and still look like you need a hair cut and a sandwich. It runs the gamut.</p><p>I am incredibly lucky in that, in the Free Company (guild) I belong to, we have several Mentors. Asra and Valtiel especially are two of the most helpful people I've run into in the game. They will stop what they are doing to help you through a problem (and get you killed when they drag you to a zone 40 levels above your own) then listen to you bitch, whine and moan when you just aren't seeing what they see. They are climbing the Savage Ladder and they will still help anyone who asks.</p><p>I like the mentor system in the game, even though a few assholes slip through because they want that crown and sword like a journalist with their Twatter blue check, but they've been few and far between.</p><p>Congrats to everyone on the FFSIV team! You all have created something quite special in this universe.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zrpsSLMLKM9vhpLMUZEO-QCQMh0IMpGcjYwPiM5syYp7OD-Y_a4R4AFyLyRy9lZYmSSTQhydXMsQDUs_Fgb9oV5ANzGjD57CRpPo7MSXhmrJAps5KT_VTLArkmG4TndkJe1MxOZnF4N1ADvInNYJwvS7WrBRkPK5dB5Tp5NzuvHjCGJmlg/s2000/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Endwalker@2000x1270-min.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="2000" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zrpsSLMLKM9vhpLMUZEO-QCQMh0IMpGcjYwPiM5syYp7OD-Y_a4R4AFyLyRy9lZYmSSTQhydXMsQDUs_Fgb9oV5ANzGjD57CRpPo7MSXhmrJAps5KT_VTLArkmG4TndkJe1MxOZnF4N1ADvInNYJwvS7WrBRkPK5dB5Tp5NzuvHjCGJmlg/s320/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Endwalker@2000x1270-min.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-49894490482990075452022-10-06T07:15:00.008-05:002022-10-06T07:19:14.602-05:00Yikes!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbGg4D48a5a-UQcfsUm0jQqZgjYMSXVYDeh33a1CfgHvVDvVnYAm9E1dkwOlyPjypVgnYPAE_2PO5de-UsYVWEqVUaz5xC26u4WIWVAkrPg-Xagp6QAFl77NBa8jhF44is8yqsMIm9ViTKVE9NG7NA3nNxEGIhdFe_EuTVn4pXIfhOddLng/s1600/know-your-role-grunge-vintage-stamp-isolated-white-background-know-your-role-sign-know-your-role-stamp-122379673.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1600" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbGg4D48a5a-UQcfsUm0jQqZgjYMSXVYDeh33a1CfgHvVDvVnYAm9E1dkwOlyPjypVgnYPAE_2PO5de-UsYVWEqVUaz5xC26u4WIWVAkrPg-Xagp6QAFl77NBa8jhF44is8yqsMIm9ViTKVE9NG7NA3nNxEGIhdFe_EuTVn4pXIfhOddLng/s320/know-your-role-grunge-vintage-stamp-isolated-white-background-know-your-role-sign-know-your-role-stamp-122379673.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Yesterday I was leveling my MCH in FFXIV and did my last Roulette, an Alliance Raid. The RNG (which ain't so random or I wouldn't be in Dead Ends for all of my 90s every single day) chose The Dark World. It's a fun raid and to me, at least, very easy.</p><p>I was disastrously wrong, but it helped me to tease out my ponderings on the problem with FFXIV and trust me, that ain't no typo. The game is nearly perfect with the exception of nobody knowing their goddamn role in the game.</p><p>The biggest problem with MMO gamers is that they want to solo everything. People don't play MMOs to play with other people. Have you BEEN in an XBox lobby? They play to get uber shit and then show it off while standing around whatever socialization place is currently the rage in that game to have everyone oooh and aaaah over them. THAT is why they play. Or to be the top of some idiot list some moron posted trying to make themselves look like god while they touch themselves. Yeah, I'm lookin' at you.</p><p>In an FFXIV Alliance Raid, you have three groups of eight people, One tank, two healers, and five DPS. Last night, I was DPS. We had two white mages as our healers. OMFG, with a warrior tank it was like hitting the trifecta at the track, amiright? </p><p>And then we began. It quickly became very apparent that, with the exception of the tank and myself, nobody knew WTF they were doing and weren't reading group or raid chat to find out. We had two white mages to heal our eight man party but they were too busy using their one damage spell (sorry fuckers, Aero ain't doing shit) that they let the tank and then three DPS died, then they both died. I just kept shooting at shit.</p><p>The raid leader stopped everything and chewed our healers out. They never said a word, but they were healing after that. Know your fucking role moron. You're a healer so heal. You wanna blast shit, then suffer through being a thaumaturge, bleed MP out of your eyes for no return, then become a black mage. Get your shit outta my way.</p><p>At level sixty, you should not have to be told what your role in a group is. Ever. If you do it proves you're the type of fucking retard who hangs around the Limsa aetheryte in some stupid glamor praying for the ooohs and aaaahs to validate your pathetic existence. God you're stupid.<br /><br />I know a mentor in the game. Cool. collected, and knows their shit. When grouped, I tend to follow them so I know where to stand. They're mentors for a reason. They play every class, have been in all of the dungeons and raids and they are ready to help anyone who asks for it. I love them. (No, they don't have pronouns to the best of my knowledge, I am using language as it is intended to be used because I know language. Go dye your hair blue.)<br /><br />Anyhoodles, and I'm sure you're not getting that I'm still mad about this, but I am. Ask yourself why I would be mad. It's a game, man. Shake it off.<br /><br />I play games to clear my mind, work through problems and ideas for my writing. Discord helps me a lot. You folks in discord have no idea how you've helped. Especially you, El. Little idea generators.<br /><br />I am not a mentor for a reason... several reasons. I don't like to tank, and I don't like holding hands. I won't kiss either. This is not a relationship.<br /><br />If you are level sixty in a game with ninety levels and you don't know WTF you're supposed to be doing with your toon in a raid or dungeon, then dude, it's a you problem. <br /><br />Yesterday, before the stupid raid thing, I had a roulette (daily in every other game) in Stone Vigil Hard, which I am not getting every single freakin' day for some reason, along with Dead Ends. The tank, a Dark Knight, is watching the cut scene before entering the dungeon and so I know, "new Tank". My husband was doing this with his own DK for a couple of weeks, leveling them up. Then I notice the WHM who is our healer (four man dungeon) is also watching the cut scene and my stomach drops, but I'm hopeful they know their fucking role by level fifty. God I was wrong.<br /><br />The tank was careful and shy, you could tell they were brand spanking new. No confidence at all. The healer kept running ahead, agroing everything and getting killed. Fuck, we couldn't get the tank to approach the mobs, but the healer was willing to kill us all.<br /><br />The other DPS dropped out after the second wipe on our way to the first boss. We got a new one, so I started giving out hints as to what we should do. Until we got to the first boss and it was clear I was going to have to give instructions. I was kind, you know, the instructions any impatient tank is going to give when it's obvious they're the only one who knows Midgardsomr. What to do at what stage, where to stand and for the love of GAWD, keep the GD tank healed.<br /><br />It worked and we got out. I didn't get one single commendation, but I gave one to the tank because they'd done it with someone else leading them (which is totally not the job of the DPS, trust me on this). I have to thank my mentor pal, because I used their gentle nudges in the right direction tactic to help us get through. Encouraged the tank to take smaller groupings, bullied the healer into actually healing, and blasting groups of mobs with machine gun tactics. I think the other DPS we picked up was a Dragoon. God, I love dragoons. As Corvwen says, "Just stand behind it and poke it in the ass". <br /><br />Her Titan Carbuncle stands in my face while I'm shooting and I'm shooting IT in the ass. Stupid giant pets.<br /><br />So, here is my challenge to you, Gentle Reader, get out there and play. Research your job/class. Know the role you fill in any grouping and play that. Learn when you can color outside the lines and when you can't. As a healer, I'm always overjoyed to get a Warrior or Gunbreaker. It means I will get to cast (usually an AOE) and do a little damage to get us through quicker, but also to exercise those fingers pressing one and two on my keyboard instead of trying to remember which bar is CTRL and which is ALT. I kid. I always know. Except for that one time I hit Peleton instead of Devilment. Complete accident anybody could have made. It was the Fifth Circle and you appreciated it, so STFU. You made it to your cube in time.<br /><br />Have fun with the game. I know! What freakin' idiot would do that. Having fun playing a game? Madness. But fun isn't fun when it's at the expense, literally, of someone else.</p><p>The past few weekends a few of us have gotten together and done Mount Runs. We make sure everyone in the party has the mount before we move one. I think one day it took nearly all day as the mount just was not dropping, but we had fun doing it... together. Since we were doing it unsynched for the low level stuff, we could plow through pretty quickly and... try out things that were unsafe regularly. It was fun and educational and we all got new mounts. Thanks Ymir. Love ya, but I won't cuddle. Lines I will not cross.<br /><br />Go play!</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-436842277833918222022-09-08T10:48:00.005-05:002022-09-08T10:57:01.742-05:00Playing the Game and Respecting Other Classes/Jobs<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0usxL0DGCOTifvOPyV1UlrB5sF1eWHMtiFmNvuJTmi8HtFTTjsxE6P-zUQf6hdUTEb0n_Fzc6RTOhOwjJ-AXUqKiETDs0Q9caIX6G6y2bLCFMzM_5igYAbpYL8BH-m2-SA3yOfzW780nXvPbaFJ6BDzd2eNBhqXo1Wiec4GxP4O-327uqw/s576/viera.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0usxL0DGCOTifvOPyV1UlrB5sF1eWHMtiFmNvuJTmi8HtFTTjsxE6P-zUQf6hdUTEb0n_Fzc6RTOhOwjJ-AXUqKiETDs0Q9caIX6G6y2bLCFMzM_5igYAbpYL8BH-m2-SA3yOfzW780nXvPbaFJ6BDzd2eNBhqXo1Wiec4GxP4O-327uqw/s320/viera.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">As anyone in my FFXIV Free Company can tell you, I don't like being told how to play my toon. You don't pay my sub is a saying because it's true.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I've been playing my WHM since day one when I created my Conjurer. Conjurer turns into White Mage (WHM) at level 30. That's my job. I've spent the most time on her, done all of the MSQ through 6.1 with her (the rest was on my DNC because of her gear score). I play two classes of healer, White Mage and Astrologian.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As you can probably guess, I love healing. I've done it through many games. I dual boxed a caster and healer in EQ and WoW, Severine Wolfe and Stumpy Jeaux, and Severine and Muirneen, respectively. Not only am I damned good healer, I play a caster at the same damned time.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">So, forgive me, if even eight months into the game, I don't particularly like a stupid, mitigationless tank telling me how to keep your sorry wall to wall pulling ass healed, complaining I'm spamming Medica II and never using Benediction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">WTF retard? Benediction is on a 180s timer on my GCD and I used it twice before you got us all killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm sure if I had concentrated solely on healing you, chewing through my very considerable mana pool, you would have bitched I wasn't doing any DPS.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both of my healers are well geared and still working on it, trying to hit 600 and they are close. I stick piety on everything I can so I can regen mana faster as well as heal better. Compare and contrast.</div><br />White Mage Severine<br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0vWQcTD3ZG-xYZhcKvMaU51HKPbKBM4_nTdGzZ7PElp2adoI3-Upb5i1raF7mrTiDPgY3FZOWbx4jj_4jC-SfJq-RHJrT3C6SaJ6CqENPOrkw1f5jSj_K8DwuwzP0pJDgWdjmTZUanM8CO_0HOGp20geEEuO3i4HfvCmrKlb5UP5pw9Wcg/s1185/WHM%20Sev.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1185" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0vWQcTD3ZG-xYZhcKvMaU51HKPbKBM4_nTdGzZ7PElp2adoI3-Upb5i1raF7mrTiDPgY3FZOWbx4jj_4jC-SfJq-RHJrT3C6SaJ6CqENPOrkw1f5jSj_K8DwuwzP0pJDgWdjmTZUanM8CO_0HOGp20geEEuO3i4HfvCmrKlb5UP5pw9Wcg/s320/WHM%20Sev.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Her base piety is 1296, and not all materia slots are filled yet. Just got new gear and haven't taken the time to get that sorted. I only use Piety and Quicktongue... more mana faster and faster spell execution. The sign of a competent healer.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />My magic potency is 2440 as is my Healing Magic Potency. I really need to work on that. I'd like for it to be better. Which is why I'm grinding dungeons for better gear. Aglaia was kind to my Dancer. So I'm at one piece a week in Abyssos now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Compare and Contrast Astrologian Severine<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiU507jtmQkXaGMKVDxD26xwSjWDmSshrW5dFiTotpAd8mLKayxZtqDHc_E2MoPl4sc5wATVIuSchKuAYZSfbLYHgHKMn93xFuaGnH5U1A0Z3ZRLESh5fN4tLDE2Fxga5bbEar4CJFgDxiTizEs_QG3hBp9k0pIyHthFoucRanxFvlGBeq8w/s1120/AST%20Sev%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1120" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiU507jtmQkXaGMKVDxD26xwSjWDmSshrW5dFiTotpAd8mLKayxZtqDHc_E2MoPl4sc5wATVIuSchKuAYZSfbLYHgHKMn93xFuaGnH5U1A0Z3ZRLESh5fN4tLDE2Fxga5bbEar4CJFgDxiTizEs_QG3hBp9k0pIyHthFoucRanxFvlGBeq8w/s320/AST%20Sev%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because she doesn't have the WHM pants, and she seriously needs to update materia, her Piety is 1061 but look at her Attack and and Healing Magic Potency. Not far below the much better geared WHM at 2417. She heals far better in Full Parties and Raids than does her WHM better. I rarely have to hit Lucid Dreaming with her unless I've had to be rezzed back.<br /><br />Both of my healers regen MP like crazy and I love them for it. It's rare I have to pop a potion.<br /><br />I will honestly say, while FFXIV is one the best communities I've yet seen in an MMO, it has it's share of assholes. They're always tanks, entitled and have never sullied their hands with any class other than tank. Hulk Smash, and it doesn't matter which sex they are. I've experienced it with both, mangina and shenis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They don't know how to heal, never actually even tried it, just see the name of the spell floating down their screen telling them they are being healed. They have no idea that it's not the off tank or the DPS that are just under their name when/if they died or forget to keep agro. No, the healer's name is second on the list always. Hell, until the last patch, 6.2, we got agro for casting a heal over time (HOT) regen to help while they got control.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have to say, I have been incredibly spoiled by the tanks in my Free Company (FC). Our leader and top tank are on the top tiers of Warriors in the game. I love them. They are teaching me where to put myself. Basically, unless it's a tank buster, I am joined at their hip to get through mechanics. Even for a tank buster, I'm close by and ready with a Benediction or Essential Dignity and whatever else everyone else needs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">On my WHM I get manafree heals and group heals. I also get the awesome Temperence which comes with an awesome graphic. White, electric wings? Sing me up! Plus, Liturgy of the Bell, our Lily System thing that supposed to do something I never see actually happen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">On my AST, I get all sorts of group and raid heals, and Earthly Star... when it wants to work, independent of which ever card I draw or when I draw... It's not based on what I've cast for however long to build up lilies like the WHM and Earthly Star is now on a 60s timer. So is the awesome Collective Unconscious... best HOT dome in the game IMHO. Ever better than the WHM Asylum, with a smaller radius.<br /><br />Get under my dome or you will remain unhealed!<br /><br />I didn't even try to tell the gormless twit Dark Knight trying to tell me what I should be casting and when. I don't know his class, and fully willing to admit it outright. So I merely recommended we do smaller pulls at this juncture in a particular dungeon since he obviously didn't understand the small bit of mitigation he had pulling ten or twelve very heavy hitting MOBs. Then my partner from my FC agreed and said we were in no hurry.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We were summarily kicked from the instance by the pouty, angry toddler playing way above his understanding of the game. The real kicker? The dude is a MENTOR.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Drink that in.<br /><br />If I'm having a hard time healing in a dungeon, my FC tanks will either slow down or ask me what the problem is. They want to get through it without a heavy repair bill just like anyone else. I've never felt the need to give them a verbal atomic wedgie or force me to call them an idiot when they don't get a clue from my initial suggestion. We talk it out, laugh and move along.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I know that there are times Kyrian has probably been screaming at his screen... "WHY ARE YOU PLANTED?" Because I'm yelling it at myself. My husband, on the other end of the house is yelling it at me. But, he's always suggested what I should do, shown me how to do it. I'm slow, but I am improving. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Also, FFXIV is the first MMO where I've healed where I'm also expected to do damage while the shit for brains tank is over-pulling. My husband is just learning to tank. He announces he's a new tank in every instance and he goes slowly, and methodically, because unlike me, he doesn't do a ton of roulettes or help a lot of others out when he's on call because he can't commit the time. Recently, he's opened up a ton more dungeons on all levels and he's learning on his Ninja, trying to get through the MSQ. When I can. I heal for him. Everyone in our FC is great about grouping up to help people trying to get through content and most importantly, to teach.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Our FC co-leader, Mei, plays a WHM and AST and I pick her brain whenever I get the chance. She's a busy woman, so I try to keep from bugging her. We're both trying to gear up for what's coming in 6.3. She has been great in answering my questions about drawing cards and getting god damned Blood Lily to bloom so I can set down my Liturgy of the Bell.<br /><br />If I don't know, I ask. If what I've been doing has been working, I presume that IT'S WORKING WELL.<br /><br />I don't tell my husband how to play his Dark Knight, his Gunbreaker or his Paladin. He just tells me to move in a dungeon. He has tried to play casters and just doesn't like it. We all have our druthers, don't we? I don't tell any DPS class how to play it. I may wonder something, but I ask them later or a person in my FC who plays that class what was going on, so I understand it better.<br /><br />I also love how people will tell my DNC who to dance with. If I know one of the DPS I'll dance with them... if I don't I flip a coin in a full group or raid. In a light party, I don't have too much of a choice. With that said, I have been asked, in some RAIDS, by a tank, to dance with them.<br /><br />Dancing with another person in your group doesn't mean you're waltzing around the platform. No, it links my buffs and heals with them so they can do a little more, and it boosts me as well. Devilment and Tilana are so very nice with a partner. The Batman Bandaid of Curing Waltz... sometimes it gets you through.<br /><br />I've yet to have anyone tell me which of my weaponskills I should use, when or how. Ever. I've merely been asked to partner with someone and I was good with it. It's why I fled to my DNC for 6.2 because I was tired of having people who had no idea how to heal tell me HOW TO HEAL. <br /><br />Do I tell you which weapon to use? I may suggest tank stance (only one time and I just called out to my husband) or when to provoke, do I? Even when I'm getting gnawed on because I cast regen? No. I don't play a tank. I don't know what you have, what you can do and frankly, I'm too busy paying attention to health bars to see which skills you're using or how much damage you're doing. I sure as hell notice when you're using your mitigation skills.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">If you are a learning tank, I have no problem with you taking it slow. I don't go into a dungeon unless I have the time. And here is the thing, I'm learning the dungeon and mechanics right along with you. Suddenly, I'm looking at it from new eyes and learning new things. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Imagine that.</div>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-18940280803037151942022-07-26T14:12:00.001-05:002022-07-26T14:12:32.054-05:00Don't Bitch If You're the Problem<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6M6-IBWDgnzqNWwwu198TftOCqt4uEfWFBsmfT5Nso62r4PTskv7pkjkk4qAhNCKLAXnwEuk1KshH3pu4WagTiQvpzQYEHF9-9ffTuHkcBsZMrG9272vDD9V5ekeg8UpF4sxAHtf9n5UrUhPOzWK5gVT9S__WMjwiYGCiVAPSy77-tpujAQ/s1920/d4397e028faf2f94a55e3bceafef8fb8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="1920" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6M6-IBWDgnzqNWwwu198TftOCqt4uEfWFBsmfT5Nso62r4PTskv7pkjkk4qAhNCKLAXnwEuk1KshH3pu4WagTiQvpzQYEHF9-9ffTuHkcBsZMrG9272vDD9V5ekeg8UpF4sxAHtf9n5UrUhPOzWK5gVT9S__WMjwiYGCiVAPSy77-tpujAQ/w523-h243/d4397e028faf2f94a55e3bceafef8fb8.jpg" width="523" /></a></div><br />Final Fantasy XIV is not the first MMO to try to balance groups and such. They are just the first ones who made it a condition of doing what you need to do and learn to work with other classes. It's one of the best ideas I've yet seen in the instancing system in any game. That's when everyone is level and gear synched, making all things equal. You can do them unsynched, but you don't get the kudos and goodies that you do when you play by Square Enix's rules.<p></p><p>Surprisingly, I have no problem with that on any level.</p><p>Typically, you're going to be in a four man "Light Party". You have a tank (damage dealer, damage taker), a healer (keeps the tank and everyone else alive), and two DPS (damager per second). They are the ones who keep up a steady input of damage on the MOB (mobile object) or MOBs without taking agro away from the tank and hopefully not requiring a ton of attention from the healer in a big fight. Tank and healer are always the top two on the MOB Hate list. Tank because they're hitting the monster and Healer because they're keeping the Tank alive. DPS are supposed to slip and slide in and out of that list to keep things equal.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-CGtuTyEY4lIHk0emliAt2W4SZl5qYQH8siAGrAwrfExCEf3uVYX6PDmbJHemlRrUGMTv2Chdzl6Ag92LZsMQvLRURK_sgHam7yuHj0JaYxUVtlt-BMcTxYbMGOiW5nLt07-FxnY8MT64LolnOl8DM2fE_JwWQTH4fPP21ysTD5EkzI7iQ/s2000/FFXIV_media_tour2019_06_ninja.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-CGtuTyEY4lIHk0emliAt2W4SZl5qYQH8siAGrAwrfExCEf3uVYX6PDmbJHemlRrUGMTv2Chdzl6Ag92LZsMQvLRURK_sgHam7yuHj0JaYxUVtlt-BMcTxYbMGOiW5nLt07-FxnY8MT64LolnOl8DM2fE_JwWQTH4fPP21ysTD5EkzI7iQ/s320/FFXIV_media_tour2019_06_ninja.png" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Here's the thing and I noticed this right out of the bucket when I was of a level to do instances, or Duties. Being a healer, I never waited for a group. If my husband was on his ninja or whatever they are called at low levels, we got in almost before we hit the join button. DPS screams about waiting for duties, but here's something that tells me they don't play tanks or healers, most of the times we're held up because DPS don't check in and join the Duty and you have to cycle in and out until you can get a full group together. Without fail, it's DPS holding up the whole train.</p><p>They bitch about wait times. Then they don't bother to join up when we have enough DPS to get things going.</p><p>In a Full Party it's One Tank, Two Healers, and four DPS. In a Raid it's two Tanks, two Healers and four DPS. In an Alliance Raid it's three Full parties and you're designated by the letter of your group, A, B, or C.</p><p>You will spend more time waiting for picky DPS to join up than you will finding a Tank or Healer.</p><p>But they bitch and whine. They bitch and whine when it's their fault.</p><p>I have one high level DPS at this moment. I may level up another if I find a fun class. My Dancer is awesome and in a Full Party the other night, I out damaged the tank AND out healed the healers. Because I was dancing with the tank and it was beautiful. I've had to wait for duties with her, but not for very long. I have more fun with my dancer than I ever have with my two healers.</p><p>My husband plays a Ninja and he has fun with it. We both have Red Mages, but at this point in the game, we're just trying to get through the Main Scenario Quests so we can relax into the game and just worry about working up to Savage and Bat Shit Insane Dungeons.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LHGJWF6P3wOUwLkh9MnKXHhfr-kKUmBarGe9fy0I6FfUecMJTc-mWX0Vta3PnpKEtNf7BbNaRtrpld057acGiooHpjX0aSb3XuACe_39Cu1SU0UlQtb-3N0xD8w_aQ4C0N_9CgSODgd0MYJtl2xyYspf_VKJShKaHgFKsb6Q18Weln_a6Q/s1360/7561c5ba6f5cc181cc762de4230e19a7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="950" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LHGJWF6P3wOUwLkh9MnKXHhfr-kKUmBarGe9fy0I6FfUecMJTc-mWX0Vta3PnpKEtNf7BbNaRtrpld057acGiooHpjX0aSb3XuACe_39Cu1SU0UlQtb-3N0xD8w_aQ4C0N_9CgSODgd0MYJtl2xyYspf_VKJShKaHgFKsb6Q18Weln_a6Q/s320/7561c5ba6f5cc181cc762de4230e19a7.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I can't tell you how many times I've sat around just cycling through players as we try to get enough DPS to fucking check in. It's ALWAYS DPS. The slot that fills up fastest? Healers. Always.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">So, if you're playing FFXIV, please just pay attention.</div>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-34274396036713091372022-07-24T11:24:00.003-05:002022-07-24T11:24:37.488-05:00The Myth That Women WANT to Work Outside the Home<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSvLH-QtulxkF8zP3p7rHxDfC5G31s7fOTsECLHArExSphdGI4vn357rYwoEnpBaG0qu5cPOTqUysE2gj8wyVe4tZL5hEKYG1KgfmhTXiIC3G7JTMcbuq59CBbgjE7atBYCKp7lllQAzj21cuQ-jPqihodE6Dbm-XgDSwSPoU8KHb41K9pyA/s1000/The-Super-Mom-Myth-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1000" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSvLH-QtulxkF8zP3p7rHxDfC5G31s7fOTsECLHArExSphdGI4vn357rYwoEnpBaG0qu5cPOTqUysE2gj8wyVe4tZL5hEKYG1KgfmhTXiIC3G7JTMcbuq59CBbgjE7atBYCKp7lllQAzj21cuQ-jPqihodE6Dbm-XgDSwSPoU8KHb41K9pyA/s320/The-Super-Mom-Myth-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I wrote an article this past winter about <a href="https://sevsview.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-trad-wife-myth.html" target="_blank">Traditional Wives</a>. That one heralds the emotions behind our decision for me to stay home. This post is about the political reasons. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Because I'm a bitch. I've yet to be called a cunt by anyone whose opinion is give a damn about, so take that into account as you read.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the 70s, Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan marched about shouting for women's freedom from the drudgery of being a housewife. Millions of women went into the workforce and politicians in state and federal legislatures fapped to all of the new tax dollars they could spend. They fapped hard and often. It was orgasmic to them. Trust me on this. there is a reason they deride traditional women. Less tax dollars means less money to give to people for votes or use of the US dollar.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the mid-80s, when I began spawning demons, there was a great myth of the Super Mom, who could work 60 hours a week and still take care of her home, children and husband. She put her kids in the middle, and then whined about having to take time to get them to doctor's appointments, sick days, and stuff like that. They complained about taking care of their kids.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As a result, most marriages failed utterly and completely because she was so busy taking care of her, she forgot her helpmate, her husband. Don't even begin to try to tell me that I'm wrong about this. I lived it. I watched marriages break apart left and right and my own did as well. They all had different reasons, and no one had clean hands completely, but it showed a trend that continued until now.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Every single woman I've worked with, even the degreed professionals, have decried their ability earn their income and still take care of the kids and watch them grow. Day Care and babysitters were doing that. As a result we wound up with Millennials and Gen Z. It's what has been called, in the psychological world as the Day Care Syndrome. They would have to cry and scream for attention from uncaring "care takers" and figured this was the way in life. Parents felt guilty for leaving their children to be raised by perfect strangers they didn't discipline them and voila! Antifa and BLM retards.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">They were taught in government indoctrination centers, AKA public schools, that only white people were bad, white men in particular, and therefore your worth in society was based on a stock of oppression and victimhood. It's why everyone is a victim. They believe being a victim gives them virtue.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">No. It just makes you a pathetic victim. I've had a ton of shit happen to me. I am no one's victim. Have I been victimized? Yeah. Is that the ONLY thing about me that is any good? No. I've overcome that shit and forgotten most of it. Why? Because I've got a life to live and it's way too short to think about that shit all fucking day long.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There are two women, in particular, who come to mind when I think about professional women. They are both doctors that I've worked for. They both had nannies, were divorced, remarried and knew, to the moment, what their kids were doing. The Nanny or au pair were doing all the work, but they were proud they knew their schedules. They really had no idea whatsoever, what their kids were truly doing. Anyone who talked to the care takers knew. I cannot imagine missing my child's crawling, first solid foods, first steps. I can, really, because I have with all but my last child. It's why I care for my grandkids. I heard horror stories from my kids about babysitters and day care centers.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Politicians want women to work so they can collect the income taxes to give to their cronies. When you do the math, and I've done it over and over, when you take in all of the costs of working, against what you bring home in salary, you really <b>CAN'T </b>afford to work.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">When we began saving up and working on our credit score to buy a house, we retrenched like a freakin' starving lordling in Regency London. They kids still laugh about constantly eating Hamburger Helper and Top Ramen. When we had all four at home I was working. When the boys went off to the Marines, I went back to work. We budgeted and lived on our household budget spreadsheet. We tracked bills, always looking for ways to cut back on utilities. We rented a house, and the thought of owing money to a bank for our mortgage froze me in my tracks. I'm too Scottish for that shit.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">My husband took all of this on. He just showed me houses and it took two years for us to agree on one. We bought one across the street from his parents' house. He was not thrilled, I was. I loved his parents. He did all of the money stuff and I bought insurance. Yeah, big help there. Because on the day before signing, the insurance agent tried to double the premium. My husband called me at work. I called our own insurance company about homeowners and we got a better deal, because we already had car insurance with them. This was before the huge bundling push. We got even better rates then. We use the quarterly offers we get in the mail to go over our premium price.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I went to the signing and signed where I needed to and we were officially home owners. You know what's funny? Even though we were paying more than we had in rent, we had more money than ever before. More disposable income to fix things in a house that had sat empty for years while the owners dithered on selling it.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We based the payment of the mortgage each month on my salary alone. I was making good money. Even when I changed jobs working less hours for less money, and still got tons of overtime and commissions, we had no problem. It was a horrible place to work. After our youngest got married and moved out, I quit and began writing books that were trapped in my head. We were still able to afford everything we wanted and needed. Even with less income. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">How? Our taxes went down considerably without my income. I wasn't driving as often. No clothes going to the cleaners, no eating out for lunch. So many things stack up when you work outside your home. You have to buy work clothes, they have to be laundered, cleaned, whatever. Time is your most precious commodity, and you never, ever have any.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">My laundry stays caught up. I rarely have more than four loads a week, and usually just three. My grocery bill is high right now and our gas costs are low, thank God, because we rarely drive to do more than go to the grocery store. We still budget like we're flat broke, but we are making it. Even though we're stuck with eating lots of chicken as the price of beef is astronomical. I wanted to get two pounds of ground beef to make Nasi Goreng and the cost was more than buying a steak. No lie.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If women pulled out of the workforce, if they chose to, yes, your family would have to retrench. It's not a dirty word. You'll have to eat things that are not top shelf, stop eating out so much, and stay at home more often. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Hollywood fan shaming, our entertainment budget is limited to a Prime Membership and two Final Fantasy XIV account. No other streaming because we don't watch TV and there is nothing out there I even look forward to seeing. I might think about a Daily Wire membership because they are making good movies.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">You CAN do it, you just don't want to. You want to stay home and not pay a price for it. You pay, but in the end, your reward is beyond description. Trust me, when you have grandkids, you see and so do your kids.</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-56130162433178945822022-07-16T14:55:00.005-05:002022-07-16T22:26:52.778-05:00Getting to The End of Game in Endwalker<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9M1YBZh1ALFggSSPQNACAPP26E9P-YGTlpUWAGahQizTbUFrLT7gBC3og4m5LiX090OFYbKXtxQ4rePygMuRssqRJYt6_LuCsyNnoGFE9a8akq8gxbgi4ohpxcpvSPA8_X0YPQ0wwAhG27dif8Au9w7c8eEOgQvez_mFMDprWR28RtR9B0A/s2000/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Endwalker@2000x1270-min.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="2000" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9M1YBZh1ALFggSSPQNACAPP26E9P-YGTlpUWAGahQizTbUFrLT7gBC3og4m5LiX090OFYbKXtxQ4rePygMuRssqRJYt6_LuCsyNnoGFE9a8akq8gxbgi4ohpxcpvSPA8_X0YPQ0wwAhG27dif8Au9w7c8eEOgQvez_mFMDprWR28RtR9B0A/s320/Final-Fantasy-XIV-Endwalker@2000x1270-min.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>I began playing Final Fantasy XIV on January 23, 2022. I was bored and an MMO of any flavor that was fun to play according to anyone I talked to sounded right up my alley. It took me DAYS to get the game installed and credentialed because... Steam sucks and Square Enix isn't user friendly. They make great games, suck at implementing decent customer support. Video games... I'm used to this shit. I endured Sony for how long?<br /><br />Anyway, I started playing with my husband and it's not an easy game to learn, even if you've played MMOs before. And if you're a console gamer? Well, it's better than Waiting Rooms on any given platform.<br /><br />I found the people to be incredibly helpful and genuinely happy to help. I got into a guild recommended by a friend who had raided with us in WoW a bazillion years ago and has since moved on to some stupid Star Wars game. The guild, or Free Company, is small and mostly not chatty, unless you're doing things together. Get us into voice chat and no one shuts their mouths. It's fantastic. I love it.<br /><br />I'm almost at max level on the White Mage I play, my main in any other game. She started out as a conjurer and then at level 30 became a White Mage, no real path there. She's a pure healer. Demand she do damage in a dungeon and you'll see tanks drop faster than a hooker on Nickel Night until they get the idea and pay the repair bills. <br /><br />I probably would be 90 already if I refuse to game like I used to, to the exclusion of everything else. I can easily take a week off. I get stuck on things for days at a time. And now we will get into the things I hate about the game... besides crafting which is beyond retarded and horrifically expensive. The price for food and potions in the game cannot be understood until you try to make your own. Then it makes sense.<br /><br />The first thing that needs to be explained is that you have several types of quests but the ones you should concentrate on are the Main Scenario Quests. Yes, with the exception of your class and job quests, to the exclusion of everything else. Trust me, you will not hurt in the XP department at all. <br /><br />Remember, the only rule I have about playing a game is pick a class, and learn that class to the utmost level, so you know your spells and skill almost reflexively. THEN play alts and learn something new. And we get into my biggest pet peeve about the game. TOO MANY CLASSES GOING ON.</p><p>The first time I was offered to learn another class, which I would play on the toon I was already leveling, was at level 50 when I was offered a level 30 Astrologian (healer, which I was already playing as a White Mage), Samurai, Dark Night, Red Mage and something else, I can't remember, but it may have been Blue Mage or Dark Mage.<br /><br />It's very hard to learn a game inside and out so that you're halfway decent at it. In that regard I love the Daily Roulette Duties to level these jobs (yes, that's what they call them). However, I've yet to meet precious few people who are expert at their class because they're playing too many others. Right now my White Mage is doing all of the MSQ. She's 87 and just started into Endwalker Content with my level 83 Dancer doing all of the side quests while also doing daily duties to level along. My Astrologian is 62 and takes her turn on days where I choose to phone a dungeon in and just hit regen and heal, or my Red Mage who I've just begun to enjoy. However, I would love to drop all of that and just concentrate on my White Mage. I want to know her ins and outs and everything about her healing power and frankly, I'm never given the chance to do so. So I'm almost face rolling any given encounter because I just need to keep the tank alive so we all live through it. All while being yelled at to also do damage. Yeah. Not cool. I'm a pure healer motherfucker, STFU and punch something.<br /><br />It gets confusing because of the gear you haul around in your armory, that you're almost constantly having to clear out because of running dungeons and trying hard to keep track of who is wearing what. I actually hate it very much. I've accidentally sold so much gear I have been keeping for a lower level job. It seriously pisses me off.<br /><br />Now, we will get into my biggest gripe about the game and one that I think the developers should seriously think about going ahead.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShqex985BpGtC5CJZExl-n6hW_A3SIvzNk1rf_IMvVLlI-SOoyLmgB4O70gfsBY85Y_qtxauE9N07hkuL5ybZXbstXiQPRnHhc_jZ4gS0mxoDSpTcQ4LNYnik9DNh0DHXrUEHPvkMKx0pe3-_OvDvoyGu4L9xqoTRNIhkM9eDN9AlxJnHKg/s1370/28985fbfe597ab796c7ba0e58e4b738b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShqex985BpGtC5CJZExl-n6hW_A3SIvzNk1rf_IMvVLlI-SOoyLmgB4O70gfsBY85Y_qtxauE9N07hkuL5ybZXbstXiQPRnHhc_jZ4gS0mxoDSpTcQ4LNYnik9DNh0DHXrUEHPvkMKx0pe3-_OvDvoyGu4L9xqoTRNIhkM9eDN9AlxJnHKg/s320/28985fbfe597ab796c7ba0e58e4b738b.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><p>Letting the player play as one of the other hero NPCs in the game. I came upon this POS, worst idea ever in Shadowbringers when I was required, to advance in the Main Scenario Quest, or MSQ, to play as Thancred, a known rogue and in this instance, a Gun Breaker, to be honest, an awesome class that I love almost as much as Warriors. Here's the thing, I don't play melee classes for a reason. I really RILLY suck at it and in this game it's the Tanks that lead every single dungeon encounter.<br /><br />I managed to get through that duty, as the encounters are called, and prayed I'd not have to do this again. I was warned I would, but what do they know? They've only ever played the game longer and better than I. Upstarts!<br /><br />And then I got to the end of the Shadowbringers content and have to play as Estinien... another fucking melee class known as a Dragoon.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwh-U3SKFVUZDsQfWdLWMzXnGariJWO00JFDYv8P_XhUpddylg_ilMI9yFSV8QfCaXBnCQhHxpCPuXbWWU0Q-6xH_LwHieqvGgUEKu9IBNpRZx9XyiiL3wspwfl-lT4KqYvTHwb65weKZaRg7jfbffauSR2PKUHQuW09zLiHfdLz9q1f_Jw/s720/0c5ae23f-bfbf-49e8-a0d4-2c9e9e42d2f6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwh-U3SKFVUZDsQfWdLWMzXnGariJWO00JFDYv8P_XhUpddylg_ilMI9yFSV8QfCaXBnCQhHxpCPuXbWWU0Q-6xH_LwHieqvGgUEKu9IBNpRZx9XyiiL3wspwfl-lT4KqYvTHwb65weKZaRg7jfbffauSR2PKUHQuW09zLiHfdLz9q1f_Jw/s320/0c5ae23f-bfbf-49e8-a0d4-2c9e9e42d2f6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Looks cool, right? Must be so much fun to play. Not so much. It took me about 13-15 tries to get it and only because I let my husband sit at my desk and do it for me because he knows melee. At that point he was yelling because... You get to play the max level for the expansion, which was 80, and you only get a few of their abilities to fight with, none of which are adequately explained unless you're like me and haunt the wiki and watch videos about dungeon mechanics.<br /><br />I STILL wasn't done with this shit. No, the final fight just before Endwalker content begins you have to play as no less that four other NPCs and use their classes and handful of talents. It's why I began clothing my Red Mage, I got to play Alisae and I want to play a pure caster. Stupid me, she's not a pure caster, she's a battle mage.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELUEmvSxNR_gdEf6_XBrAHKzy7lRwrsZyLU6hvLFe7di0WDg4anDbqiUEhhV-GFMBEw5gboedLc8B2LQCmuaOGLaenLNUrNk4N_oLGz0njkJxXqOxAtlhVsOtPp9B--luxv0vB2yV2hEIeJT30QIToP86Y2PO-V5HHr0EuND3ERbSG9LuWw/s1100/6dc21888070e77499b1c5a9e2ea8ce7f.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELUEmvSxNR_gdEf6_XBrAHKzy7lRwrsZyLU6hvLFe7di0WDg4anDbqiUEhhV-GFMBEw5gboedLc8B2LQCmuaOGLaenLNUrNk4N_oLGz0njkJxXqOxAtlhVsOtPp9B--luxv0vB2yV2hEIeJT30QIToP86Y2PO-V5HHr0EuND3ERbSG9LuWw/s320/6dc21888070e77499b1c5a9e2ea8ce7f.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><br /><p>Alisaie and Alphinaud Leveilleur, Elezen twins are like my little brother and sister. I adore them. However, I don't want to play them and have like 4 of their abilities and an itty bity heal and no control over familiars or pets.</p><p>I will state this firmly. I don't like playing classes I've already decided not to play for the very good reason that I suck at them. Please take heed Square Enix, it's super pissing me off. I'm once again stuck because I can't figure out how to play Thancred as a sneaky thief just to I can advance one more rung in this game. <br /><br />Now, on to the good stuff. Dungeons. Who doesn't love dungeon crawling? I live for it. I love that you can't really grind by killing stuff other than what's in your quests log. Too many games spent camping an area for XP is what made me quit playing altogether, but if I can't get to 90 through MSQ then screw your stupid game forcing me to do things I already chose NOT to do.<br /><br />The dungeon mechanics ramp up as you level and right now, after being dragged through Tower of Zot on regular, all I can say is I never want to do Hard, Extreme, or Bat Shit Insane. When you are constantly AOEing the players, giving casters no safe ground to cast, you are almost demanding a wipe. They do offer the opportunity to go through the dungeons after level 60 with the NPC cohort of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn to help you learn mechanics. Even then, at the Tower of Zot, I think I spied Alisaie just shrug and die. It's why I watch a ton of videos and go through with the Trusted Companions, just to learn where to stand. </p><p>At the level I am now, when I do random dailies, I've gotten to know the lower level dungeons so well now, I may let my Paladin out. He's fantastic! A Hrothgar Paladin. Too bad the armor models suck for the race, which is only male right now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0_4HVp0neDzd9prJ3y9Zs-AF5nFqAauB_TqWJT8IrL9fXTa7UIJ0OAUUNYXl3NTyTg8J9MeZZ6Rr9WTe9LKOBZ69So8TyPD_spqqJH9687wQh8qTKsmHcQ3OaIEHnot0lq2IiPfpCHMmdLF1kxXDQ9-fqoCvpER8Wen3o9S390HvABWTBQ/s970/BVFH9GohZXeJCUfJK6QZa9-970-80.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="970" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh0_4HVp0neDzd9prJ3y9Zs-AF5nFqAauB_TqWJT8IrL9fXTa7UIJ0OAUUNYXl3NTyTg8J9MeZZ6Rr9WTe9LKOBZ69So8TyPD_spqqJH9687wQh8qTKsmHcQ3OaIEHnot0lq2IiPfpCHMmdLF1kxXDQ9-fqoCvpER8Wen3o9S390HvABWTBQ/s320/BVFH9GohZXeJCUfJK6QZa9-970-80.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I griped about the crafting and it's a legit bit of grief. You spend so much time and money on it, just like in any other MMO, but the horror of this is that so much of what you do is absolutely dependent on other professions. Gatherers like Botanists or Miners is really easy, and there are no limits to how many you can practice. However, there are clothes and tools for EACH ONE. And again, I mention this, only so much armory space.</p><p>I would love to take up cooking just so I could afford to eat instead of waiting for a serious dungeon run. Potions? OMFG just send in an arm and leg to whomever made it. </p><p>I don't complain because I'm not taking the time, energy, or gil (Eorzean money) to even look into it. Screw that, it's easier to head to any market and grab something off the board. Plus, it's way too easy to earn money in the game. Unless you're an armor whore, then you deserve to go broke and if you're into all the glamoring and<br />dying... get a fucking Barbie already.<br /><br />There are too many other things to do in the game. They have events pretty often, which change from year to year (Hello, Blizzard, I'm looking at you). Also, there are several dungeons that I'm going to suggest we do as a guild just to stop and take a look instead of just plowing through mobs to get to the end. There is a Library from Heavensward that I desperately want to go through slowly, read stuff and just observe. Same thing with several cities I've not bothered to really tour, just going where I needed to go to get the content done.<br /><br />Now, here's the real reason I love the game so much. Those of you who have known me a long time, and I've been MMO gaming for over 20 years, I love the story. It was hard to get immersed in EQ because it was all over the place. WoW had so much history and lore and you were almost forced to explore that for achievements in game to learn the history of the lands you were living in, and fighting for. If there is any more compelling story than that of Arthas Menithil and Sylvanus I've yet to see it. Until now.<br /><br />These stories in each Main Scenario has made me cry. I wept buckets when I thought the Sultana had been killed. I worried when my cohort were split apart and it was just me and Alphie fighting on with little Tataru helping us as she could. I wanted to die when Papalimo sacrificed himself so that Eorzea would be safe. Knowing he'd gone into the fight always knowing what the outcome would be.<br /><br />And the biggest baddie, the man I hated through two expansions, Emet-Selch. So torn by his story and hating what he was willing to do to avoid dealing with reality. Then I killed him, knowing he was the last of his kind and his parting words...</p><blockquote><p><i>Remember... Remember us... Remember that we lived.</i></p></blockquote><p>I broke down at my desk and wept like a baby. In those few words, I suddenly saw what drove him to the horrors he had perpetrated on so many. He didn't want to be forgotten, his people to be forgotten. You can understand, but forgiveness? Nah, the crimes are too many and too horrible. However, he's not the last, there are two more but they are no longer whole or save. When he gives up on the next to last one, about to be killed by your hand, and he just turns his back and does that off hand wave of his hand... I actually giggled just before we offed the guy. I will never like him, but there is a grudging respect given for his purity of vision. However, you guys know me, I can never forgive the inability to accept reality, and in the end, that's what really got him.</p><p>So, here I am, The Warrior of Light... which always makes me laugh, but I watched my boys play Final Fantasy often enough to respect the title, and I'm having the time of my life. I spent the afternoon yesterday with a guild mate, Amber Payne, who had me laughing so hard when we got to a duty where we couldn't click out of the cut scenes. It was three chicks and one guy, the healer, and he didn't say a word as we spent the interminable time cracking wise about the male Scions and how none of us would kick Gaius van Belsar out of bed as long as he was out of his Garlean armor. Then we all swooned over Thancred and Estinien (too pouty for my taste, but a fellow Elezen). I waxed poetic about Urianger's build once he was out of those robes. Holy shit, Elezen hotness. The poor lone man in the group just kept laughing at us and left the group with a jaunty, "Thank you, ladies". It was probably some kid who was embarrassed to his toenails.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8SJVEvZg_4c7eCwA77JGSYW20p3bRdHkIr5WV9nih_qMg5aczN-KjkEsmWRaWKFnU_GJ0JsaKoOM7_4g6n2vCRhYN5n8jsEHIg3NN8KP5M7RHLjYoF4NI7kK9cZibpWzmdbwFnIHcNHdjBXaVsOVh7eZJOzAiHPIp57MKIqRcp4hoo5vNA/s960/pIFHApdBGVg9UxbjQRq6l1QEdE.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="960" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK8SJVEvZg_4c7eCwA77JGSYW20p3bRdHkIr5WV9nih_qMg5aczN-KjkEsmWRaWKFnU_GJ0JsaKoOM7_4g6n2vCRhYN5n8jsEHIg3NN8KP5M7RHLjYoF4NI7kK9cZibpWzmdbwFnIHcNHdjBXaVsOVh7eZJOzAiHPIp57MKIqRcp4hoo5vNA/s320/pIFHApdBGVg9UxbjQRq6l1QEdE.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I love the game and how immersive the story line is. Just stop making me play a class I don't want to play with none of the good shit they get to do. If I want to play a Rogue/Ninja/Shinobi, I'll roll one up, Same goes for Gunbreaker.<br /><br />Look up the game if you're not playing. Be sure to go through the classes, how they start, how they branch and all of that. I just jumped in thinking it couldn't hold my interest long, but it did and I lucked into having chosen a pure caster class Conjurer. I like playing a caster. Even my Pally in WoW was a healadin, who was the lone player standing when we took Arthas down finally. Bubble up baby!<br /><br />I play on the Malboro server, same name as always, Severine Wolfe. Come join us for fun. I'll be all to happy to heal up and bandaid your booboos. See you in game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWy7Nk5m9uihXBHh_AfYkMTzOraK1UyzcmElD_PdZnQsHsLvQI2utZSdsxqo8TFhNOjQ89FzORNic-bNBMqUW1oM7yO3R8mcOLV4QNj-XedqI2pLPd8LsfW-aGcg9vWMlJwSgikp8AWKsQjQ5XaCKQG2Ulp3My9Xkw4Ro13NrdPrFcO7exng/s493/Hot%20Tubbing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="493" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWy7Nk5m9uihXBHh_AfYkMTzOraK1UyzcmElD_PdZnQsHsLvQI2utZSdsxqo8TFhNOjQ89FzORNic-bNBMqUW1oM7yO3R8mcOLV4QNj-XedqI2pLPd8LsfW-aGcg9vWMlJwSgikp8AWKsQjQ5XaCKQG2Ulp3My9Xkw4Ro13NrdPrFcO7exng/s320/Hot%20Tubbing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><br />Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-53523453208435221792022-06-27T09:36:00.000-05:002022-06-27T09:36:39.455-05:00In Passing<p> Two weeks ago, my father in law collapsed and had just enough power to call 911, not remembering our quick dial number on his land line phone. He never had a cell phone.</p><p><a href="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/wacotrib/name/willem-richter-obituary?id=35277426" target="_blank">Two weeks ago this coming Wednesday, he died</a>. It had given all of his grandchildren and most great-grandchildren, to say goodbye as we sat vigil in his hospice room.</p><p>A week ago tomorrow, we buried him. It was family only and just a short reading of some things he'd written. A lot of tears were shed.</p><p>My husband, a man I love beyond the bounds of reason, was hit very hard by his father's death. They had the kind of relationship that should be the standard for a father and son. The spoke at least one a day, most often more, even when they were disagreeing with on another. They were very close and enjoyed their weekly trips to the grocery store as doing something together as well as their social outlet. The Saturday following his death was miserable for my husband. </p><p>That's going to last awhile. At least until we get back in the habit of grocery shopping together again. It's been five years, so it's not going to be anytime soon.</p><p>The happiest part was going through old photos for the video that played during the visitation at the funeral home. Friends and almost the entire neighborhood came by to say their goodbyes. It was bittersweet because my husband and his sister had so much emotion behind the moment recorded on film, that we digitized almost five years ago. Our nephew found some of the best. He was very close to his grandfather. </p><p>The one thing almost every single person who had known them said was "He's with his sweetheart", meaning my mother in law who died five years ago.</p><p>Now, I will get with the honesty most expect from me. My father in law and I did not get along. I was a woman who didn't bend to his will and I never would. Not because he was Pater Familias, but because I thought he was wrong. It started when we announced our engagement and he cursed in Dutch and walked out of the room, but it continued throughout the twenty-two years of our marriage.</p><p>I found him to be very wrongminded and didn't mind at all saying I thought so. My mother in law rarely gainsaid him, just to keep the peace. He would refuse to speak to her for weeks if she did so. I continually needled him if he tried that shit with me. I wasn't going to say I was wrong when I knew I was right. I wouldn't let him think he was right when he was so clearly wrong.</p><p>When my mother in law died, he ignored all of her wishes for how she wanted her funeral, wanting cremation, etc., and did what he wanted. My resentment, over the years, grew to be almost a living thing when I was around him. I loved my mother in law so much.</p><p>His using my husband as a punching bag, emotionally, once his wife was dead, threw that resentment into heights not yet experienced by a human being without a murder or serious bodily injury being done.</p><p>Why? Why had I put up with it when I had never had any caution in opposing him before?</p><p>Because he was my husband's father and my husband's problem to deal with. Also, the man had dementia. Both of his kids worked hard to get it under control and they did the best they could. Being the way he was had a lot to do with a disease that is not treatable, not curable. It is just endured.</p><p>IMHO my husband and his sister are saints for the work they have done for the past five years in caring for their father. They both stepped up and got conservatorship over him to care for his finances and health. My husband set up bill paying and would go over the reports from his portfolio folks to guide that as well. Both of them... BOTH OF THEM... worked tirelessly to make sure their dad got the best care he would allow without a physical fight, including infusion treatments. Neither had any idea how greatly I admire them for their labor of love.<br /><br />As much as I resented the way the man treated me and sometimes my husband, I loved him because he raised two people who I love very much and I find to be two of the greatest people I know and love. I loved the way he would always say goodbye to me when talking on the phone to my husband. He always had something to say when we were separating groceries after their shopping trips. <br /><br />Ever since he retired he wanted to get a pet. My mother in law always said no, and I supported her even though we had a houseful of rescued animals. After she died, he wanted it, but knew he could barely take care of himself much less another living thing. He wanted our dog Apollo to come to him, be the typical dog, but Apollo was always skittish like he is around anyone who isn't us. But my cat, Gimli, loved to strop his ankles and get petted by him. He was always trying to get my husband's Norwegian Forest cat to come to him, but hell, she doesn't even do that for us. We're staff, not companions.<br /><br />My daughter in law would stop by his house often, when she came over, so she could visit and he always enjoyed the kids. Lord, how that man melted around a baby. My grandchildren adored him as well.</p><p>I am sad because I know my husband is mourning the passing of his father. I'm mourning the passing of his father. It shows we both respected the man, for different reasons. I don't have the memories my husband and his sister have. I didn't experience his paternal love, but I got an offshoot of that. I hurt because my husband hurts. I need to be there when it all hits him. So far, for both of us, it's at different times, for different reasons.</p><p>We went to the grocery store yesterday, together, for the first time in almost five years. I took him to a different store. It helped both of us and we spoke of their trips together and how much my husband valued that time with his father. I'm glad they had that.</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-31814393341492250722022-05-05T07:07:00.001-05:002022-05-05T07:07:21.538-05:00The Axiom<p> I have had a rule, most of my adult life. If you do the wrong thing, odds are you were either too stupid and/or too lazy to do the right thing.</p><p>This axiom has proved true on all occasions the opportunity has been called forward to be judged. Also, I hold myself to this standard every single time I screw up, and yes, it happens more often than I like.</p><p>My husband is not stupid, but he's lazy. Same with my kids, so I got to observe this phenomenon on an almost hourly basis over the past 36 years. Trust me, I have a shit tonne of data to back up my hypothesis. More than the climate screamers, that's for sure.</p><p>My husband thrives in filth and clutter. This is after telling me, when he moved in with me, that he's a neat freak. No, his mother was a neat freak, he's an unobservant slob. He has so slobbed up his shop area in the garage because he simply cannot be arsed to clean up stuff. He just throws it down, wherever, and moves on to what he wants to do, rather than what must be done. Who cares how you find a wrench in the lawn? It eventually gets found, right? Or the TV remote. You can find both with the mower, why are you getting so pissed?</p><p>My oldest son and my youngest daughter are the laziest people I've ever seen in my life... and I used to work with the indigent. Yes, Virginia, most poor people are too lazy to work. I wish I didn't have to get up in the morning and earn a living, too. They will go to the most dire of extremes to get out of something as simple as picking up a wet towel. They are, in a word, disgusting.</p><p>It's when the excuse time comes about that you see how true my axiom is. Now, if anyone would just shrug and say, "I was too lazy to <insert ignored chore here>." I could be okay with that. It's honest. What drives me nuts is the excuses and extremes lazy people go to instead of just doing what they should.</p><p>If you have enough brain power and energy to make that shit up, you have the power and energy to perform the action needed to correct your error. Shut up and pick up the damned towel.<br /><br />Let me demonstrate further, because I had to live with his, so should you. In our kitchen is a trash can. You understand, things you can no longer you, that are refuse can be placed in there, and eventually a larger bin and picked up, at least weekly by your local municipality to be put into a landfill, compacted and covered with dirt and sold to a housing developer or golf course developer.<br /><br />If you are in a forward thinking town or city, you also have a well functioning recycle program. You can recycle a shit tonne of things. We have two huge garbage bins, and one huge recycle bin. We need another recycle bin because we recycle everything our Recycle Coach (available on Android and iOS) that tells us what your Refuse Company recycles. Paper and aluminum are the ONLY items we humans can currently economically recycle. Glass and plastics, no. Just ask why you can't recycle your plastic grocery bags any longer. China.<br /><br />We also compost. We compost a lot. I have a sign on my kitchen compost bin, no cooked food, no meat, no dairy (except egg shells). I also have a small bin to put things in that is eventually emptied into the huge recycle bin... when there is room. Yet, I find most things on the kitchen counter and dining table rather than put into the trash bin, literally just two feet away, or the recycle bin, just open the garage door and toss it in.<br /></p><p>I mean, he opens that door often enough to go out and smoke, what's the issue? No, by all means, the cleaning fairies will pick it up and take care of it for them. Right? RIGHT?<br /><br />Nope. Because every clean horizontal surface MUST be junked up. Someone comes and cleans it up so they eat at the table, right? Nah, I'll just eat at my desk if it's junked up. Oh, look, my desk is full of trash... I'll open the tail gate on my trunk and eat dinner there, looking out on how I Bumpassed up my own damned yard and will only clean it up when the city complains. It doesn't help that his bestie and neighbor thinks the exact same way.</p><p>"Cut my grass? I don't have a ticket from the Code Enforcement Officer yet."</p><p>"Why the hell should I do anything on bulk Trash day, it all erodes outside anyway?"</p><p>"Call the mower repair shop, I need to take the blade in again. But hey! I found the socket set I was looking for."</p><p>It doesn't help when you have pets, either. Don't ask. We have a dog and four cats, two of which are ours, and cleaning up after the cats alone (the cats who do not belong to me, BTW) is a full time job.<br /></p><p>Evidently, cleaning up after them comprises of "throw a paper towel over the mess, the cleaning faeries will clean it up". I want a pair for fucking wings and I want to glow.</p><p>I don't forget to get my driver's license renewed for two years. I don't forget I have to pay tickets off or go to defensive driving for a ticket. I make messes, I clean them up. If I make something I have to tend, I tend to it. I don't forget about it, and yet brag about it to everyone I know, so they know I did something. <br /><br />I don't get pets or have children I shuffle off to others to care for and raise because it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I just don't want to get up and take care of them.</p><p>I don't continually promised to do anything but bake bread and then assiduously avoid doing it. Because I know the hassle of doing so is worse than just doing the damned job.</p><p>I'm too stupid to think of decent excuses and too lazy to clean up a bigger mess.</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-25232188386371573622022-04-30T10:38:00.003-05:002022-04-30T10:38:20.546-05:00The Trad Wife Myth<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuTPvzoCrXzTsULV7wuLeIUTnquqrJwHns65TXrCDo2dK-Au2xJEdmMwcUH2lcHTWFx73PunxNoDHMq7-r0MzH8T57UXYQV0K5QHZCq7-XuNxg15HjvOWmP5rGcH97ewhdCC1jl2QKTIjtmkgi7Rsx4cX3jg6yNFCRvubj9l0ov-KHk43V4w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="499" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuTPvzoCrXzTsULV7wuLeIUTnquqrJwHns65TXrCDo2dK-Au2xJEdmMwcUH2lcHTWFx73PunxNoDHMq7-r0MzH8T57UXYQV0K5QHZCq7-XuNxg15HjvOWmP5rGcH97ewhdCC1jl2QKTIjtmkgi7Rsx4cX3jg6yNFCRvubj9l0ov-KHk43V4w" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I have to say I have been more than a little amused by the reaction to the role of the traditional wife in society. It's hilarious when I compare what the Leftist see as traditional compared to reality.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I am what most on the Left would consider a traditional wife. I quit working for other people and stayed home to write books. My husband and I have been married over twenty years. Most of them I worked. We both take care of the house, but I cook and do the laundry almost exclusively. He pitches in as he can if I am sick or injured because I am the clumsiest woman on earth. Yes, I broke and dislocated two ribs playing with my dog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I cook, I bake, I garden. I take care of him because he takes care of me. It is a mutual agreement between the two of us. He works very hard, for long hours and he has a hot meal when he gets home and clean clothes to gad about in. I have the assurance that we won't be starving and threadbare because he's too stupid and/or lazy to make sure we can pay our mortgage.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We take care of each other. I worked for years and always felt that I wasn't taking care of things at home. He wanted me to stay home, as his mother had. She earned money doing alterations and being a seamstress. Her sewing was gifted. I inherited her sewing machine which I have no idea how to use. I'd like to get to know and am seriously thinking of enrolling in a sewing class this summer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">He takes care of the cars, the lawn, and home maintenance. My husband is not stupid, but his mind is that of a man... what if I just did this? It's backfired spectacularly more times than it hasn't. It's funny, I laugh at him just as hard as he does when I managed to mangle myself by simply getting out of bed. Honestly, I think he wants to put me in bubble wrap and leave the medical bills behind. I love it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">He also does the stuff in the garden that I want to do, only after he fails with his stupid ideas. I let him, make fun, nag, and then we do it the way it should be done. Evidently, growing up on a farm and tending the garden most of my life gives me no special knowledge of how to care for plants, but he watched YouTube video so he knows shit. Yes, that's what I put up with. This is how my greenhouse wound up under three shade trees. Yes, plants need shade.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">What can I say, some do. He is moving said greenhouse as his special lesson this Spring. It's good for him to learn that things in his head can be wrong. I know, he's had a TON of examples, but he's Dutch, so...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Does this mean he doesn't realize what I do? Yeah, until he has to do it for himself, then suddenly my being a Tetris master makes sense after doing the dishes. He has new respect for how I do the laundry and we never have wrinkled clothes with my ever touching an iron.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Because of the state of my joints, he has to sweep and mop, which is why I got a ton of new Bissell products this Spring. I love them all. Trust me, once you use a steam mop, you will never do it any other way. The CrossWave has been a life saver as we have a Husky and four cats, only two of which are ours. Yes, my man buys me any appliance I want.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">We bought a new oven four years ago. It was a Whirlpool, which I was not thrilled about because they do not honor their extended warranties. It broke down and sure enough, four years is more than long enough for you to own any large, expensive appliance. Sure. Fine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Appliance guy, show me ANYTHING but Whirlpool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The Man went shopping online, comparing and contrasting and found an oven with a proofing feature, which we need in our air conditioning. We had crazily thought about installing a proofing drawer until this function appeared before our bedazzled eyes. My man wants home made bread, hot out of the oven slathered with butter and honey, that's what the hell he gets. Along with the chocolate chip cookies he and the kids love. It's the one time they will visit. One post on social media that I'm cooking and they're here like a shot with the one living out of town demanding I FedEx them overnight immediately.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I take care of him because I love him. He takes care of me because he loves me. Does this mean we never disagree? See my comments on the greenhouse and gardening for a reality check on that. We do, but it is not the end of us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I want him to be happy, he wants me to be happy. OMFG! We're not adversaries ready to rip one another in public and court. How can I call myself a woman?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Easily, because I'm doing what I want to do. I want to take care of my family. I watch two of my grandchildren so they are not put into infant and toddler warehouses, known as day care. Another is watched by his maternal grandmother. Because we love our grandkids. We love our families and want them to be happy and healthy. Hell, my grandkids gave me COVAIDS just before Christmas. None of got to spend it together. My husband was around all of us at one time or another and he's the ONLY one who didn't get it. He got to deliver the presents to houses.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My grandkids then gave me RSV or <span style="background-color: white; color: #434756; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left;">Respiratory syncytial</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #434756; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left;"> Virus, which was so much worse than COVAIDS had been. It took me about six weeks to recover from that. While watching them and coughing constantly.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #434756; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #434756; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left;">I love watching them, knowing they are with someone who loves them, knows them, and actually cares for them. I think that the three grandchildren who are watched by loving grandmothers are much happier for it. My daughter who lives away from us wished she could stay home with her son until COVAIDS closed her offices and she had to work from home. Suddenly her son's pre-school was her favorite place and she mourned the closing down of the city she lives in. She loved working from home with a feral three, then four year old running around wild. Everybody did because no day cares were open. She had a baby in the Time of COVID. She's still working from home and she loves and hates the baby going to day care. She missed the time with her kids, but she loves that she can concentrate on her work.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #434756;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">I remember that. Feeling conflicted because you work hard so you can provide for your kids and families. Because I love my kids, I wanted them to be happy, and finding out they weren't for much of their childhood was a blow.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #434756;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #434756;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">When you love someone you want them to be happy. You will do things to make them happy, because it makes YOU happy. Not things that harm or degrade you. Never accept someone who's happiness can only be purchased with your misery.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #434756;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #434756;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">That is the very foundation of being a traditional wife. There is joy, for most women, to be found in caring for their families. Ask those around you who are willing to go against the NOW Party line. Liberation is realizing you can do what's best for you. Plus, if you don't work, Momma Gubmint don't get tax dollahs to give billions to Ukraine of Pakistani Gender Role studies.</span></span></div><br /><p></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-45244063021304285022022-04-21T07:19:00.001-05:002022-04-21T07:22:34.616-05:00When the Money Maker Stops Skaking<p></p><p><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"> I have been watching, with
attention rapt, the goings on in Orlando Florida and Disney in Particular. I
have to say, the entertainment value alone is well worth watching mainstream
media.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">With Disney's ham-fisted
reaction to their woke employees, people they have hired and put into positions
of power, provoked the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, to act in the best
interest of the people, not even voters yet, of his state.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I know. In this world of
political expediency and Cultural Marxism, how is this possible that one man
can stand against the Disney Juggernaut?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Well, Virginia, when The House
of Mouse decided to not even bother reading what their employees were so up in
arms about and went on a media diatribe against DeSantis, then stoically
proclaimed they would not be a political football, well, I think the video Bob
Cheapak posted as an apology to said Woke employees, you could see the gun
pointed at his head. He was sweating like a Canadian in the Florida sunshine in
September.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">So many were saying that
DeSantis could do nothing. I knew they were wrong. How would I know, you ask?
Well, because I've seen it done in my own locality with a major university.
Baylor University, that Bastion of Southern Baptistry and wholesomeness, right.
Kinda like Disneyland or Walt Disney World in Orlando. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Baylor once had a choke hold on
anything happening in Waco, along with the Lacy family. They controlled which
businesses could come to Waco, which hotels were built to host their alumni
during football and basketball season and which restaurants we could eat at. No
lie. When I moved here twenty-five years ago the only big name restaurants we
had were Olive Garden and Red Lobster out at Richmond Mall.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Now we have a veritable
embarrassment of restaurants be their chain or local eateries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">I'd been here a few years and
lived through the City of Waco, with severe pressure applied by Baylor when a
Caterpillar shop was being built in our industrial district. It's a grant to
the city which was to host industry and business to being jobs and opportunity
to our fair city. Nothing had happened there but a Sherwin Williams plant. Why?
Because Sherwin Williams will never be bigger than Baylor. Are you beginning to
sense a theme?<br />
<br />
It broke completely when they applied pressure to Caterpillar, and they took
all of the installed tooling in the shop and went home. Baylor had not foreseen
that eventuality. Caterpillar let that campus sit idle, paying the taxes and
keeping up the brush, but otherwise they did nothing. Then something wonderful
happened, well, a lot of wonderful things happened.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">We woke up one day and the
tooling was being reinstalled and not only that, Caterpillar was putting in a
distribution center not half a mile away from the plant. What caused this
miracle?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">A tornado hit the ancient
industrial center in Waco taking out a Coca-Cola bottling plant. Coke quickly
purchased an Industrial park plot of land and built a new bottling plant and
Baylor could only suck it. The area exploded and Waco took out so many of the
speed bumps that Baylor had put in place to make sure no one was bigger than
them in this county and business exploded. We got a huge Walmart distro center
and miracle of miracles; We got a major Amazon distro center that is months
from opening with an Amazon store on site as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Since Baylor lost its choke
hold on the county, we have had businesses building all over the damned place.
We even sailed through the pandemic retard response with almost no casualties.
We have a governor that is a lot like DeSantis, but who likes suing the Federal
Government more than making public addresses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Yesterday's news that a Special
Assembly of the Florida Legislature who convened only to vote on repealing the
Reedy Creek Act put into place in the 60s to keep Disney in the blighted area
of Orlando. It's unprecedented and kind of scary in a Company Town kind of way.
DeSantis was right, Disney could have built their own nuclear reactor to
provide their own power needs and the State of Florida would have been
powerless to even regulate the thing. Disney was, in point of fact, much like
Indian Reservations in that they were autonomous.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Scary when you consider the
freaks running the place now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Orlando, it might hurt for a
few years, but you will come through it and have way more to show for it that
Disney's Freak Show hanging around your neck like a lode stone. What are they
going to do? Move? WDW is twice the size of Manhattan... right. It's laughable
and if they do someone else will move in. But I seriously doubt you need to
worry about that. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">You need to keep in mind that
the freaks are a fraction of a percentage of the population and Disney only
want the elite at their parks. Fine. Plan change, we go to Universal instead
because my grandkids like Harry Potter and Nintendo way more than they do The
Mouse. My money spends there better anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Now, for the bad news, Disney
ain't the only theme park in the USA. Texas has tons of them and not one has a
Mouse on it. Stay closer to home and see more, spend less, but when you want to
do the Big Show, go to Universal. We can still support the "Cast
Members" that were called employees once closures hit, by contributing to
their food centers and job centers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">It will hurt at first, all
major change does, but you will come out stronger and better for it while
Disney, much like Baylor, tries to keep impressing the idiots who sent into the
heights of choke hold insanity. Death Throes. Baylor was brought to heel, but
they keep trying and keep getting slapped back by locals who have long and
resentful memories.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Master’s Degree required to
shelve books that pays six bucks and hour. God, I will never forget the palate
cleanser that interview was.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-33304913065196530402021-12-04T12:50:00.000-06:002021-12-04T12:50:23.867-06:00The Deadliest Sin<p> We are told, in Christianity, that there are Seven Deadly Sins or Capital Vices, if my catechism is recalled correctly. They are, as follows:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><ol><ol><li><b>Lust</b></li><li><b>Gluttony</b></li><li><b>Greed</b></li><li><b>Sloth</b></li><li><b>Wrath</b></li><li><b>Envy</b></li><li><b>Pride</b></li></ol></ol></ol>I have, naturally, opinions on each one, but I have always considered Envy to be the most deadly. <p></p><p>Why? I'm glad you asked. Because the world's most deadly ideology is fully constructed of it.</p><p>Which one is it? Why, socialism, of course.</p><p>Socialism is nothing more than codified envy. You want what other people have so you concoct a reason and way to take it from them without being judged for envy and then theft. See? Best of all possible worlds, right?</p><p>And then you let Socialists into your institutions of education and government and you get... today's society.</p><p>I am now going to illustrate my point by pointing out one single account on Tik Tok where you can see Envy in all its glory. It's a Twatter Account called <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok" target="_blank">Libs of Tik Tok</a>. </p><p>It is glorious in its display of the sheer stupidity and wanton avarice of people who consider themselves progressive. A quick scroll down the timeline and you can quickly see, Lefties be crazy.</p><p>Women more so than the beta males simping for them hoping to get laid or pegged.</p><p>The worst of them all are women who hate men who are happy... at all... for any reason. I have to admit, I've seen plenty of Chris Pratt hate on every social media site, but Tik Tok is <span>THE WORST. Hands down, the very worst. They can't decide if they love or hate Elon Musk. Bill Gates is now hated by people who championed him as the savior of the world just three months ago.<br /><br />They envy their happiness, their wealth, their achievements, their relationships, their children, their very existence.<br /><br />There was one chick having a major hate strewn meltdown because Chris Pratt was overwhelmed by how his wife looked at him. She looked at him like... and I know this is a weird thought these days... with love. The Tik Tok idiot hated Chris Pratt, for whatever reason, but most likely because she's been told by her 'friends' that she should hate him. She doesn't even know why she should hate him, she just does. She hates that he's happy, that his wife loves him, that he has kids and loves them and... provides for them.</span></p><p><span>Not only that, she hates that he's successful in his field and that people love him.</span></p><p><span>She wants that love and adoration for herself. She wants his popularity, riches and life for herself because he's undeserving and she wants it. It should be hers so she hates him for having what she lacks.</span></p><p>And this is the entire Millennial Generation. It's why they embrace things like carbon foot prints and don't recognize that when only taxation can save the world, they, too, will be taxed to death... because no one could be more greedy than they are, right?<br /><br />In one of my first posts, years ago, titled <a href="https://sevsview.blogspot.com/2010/04/moral-foundation-of-capitalism.html" target="_blank">The Moral Foundation of Capitalism</a>, I stated the difference between greed and capitalism. Greed is wanting something for nothing. Capitalism is a fair exchange of goods and service for a price determined by market value. Greedy people want to get something without having to risk anything for put forth any effort. Capitalism shows you work hard, and if your goods or services are desired by the market you will be successful and grow.<br /><br />Socialism is built on envy. Envy of the producers who make things, or provide services that are necessary. Envy of those who are happy. Envy of those who are loved and who can love others, especially themselves.</p><p>In their world, there is nobody worse than Hitler, unless it's Donald Trump. However, I don't use Hitler as my benchmark. He was a piker compared to Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, or Pol Pot. Hitler was a base racist, but compared to the other three, he was a rank amateur. He, too, was a socialist, but he was not completely blind to the dangers that comes from just killing everyone who doesn't think exactly just like you do. No, the Soviets and Communists were all over that. Mao alone killed more than Hitler and Stalin combined. Pol Pot gave it the old college try, but he just couldn't cut the mustard. Because there was none. There is a wonderful post about it <a href="https://u.osu.edu/mclc/2018/02/08/who-killed-more-hitler-stalin-or-mao/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br />Why is this? One thing is that Boomers cheapened life with Roe v Wade. Once you say murdering children is your moral duty there is no lower level in hell to sink into. Abortion on demand, the proliferation of drugs, sex and rock and roll and you have a toxic stew of hatred and envy. </p><p>But, that wasn't quiet enough. </p><p>So you begin "othering" people, breaking them into smaller and smaller groups so they can't cohesively bring an attack upon the ruling elite. You do this by pointing out that they have things you don't, that they "stole" it from others, so it's your moral duty, something virtuous, to take it from them for your own because only you can responsibly handle having whatever that is. Only you can wield it with the virtuous purity the Left demands as it spirals tighter and tighter.</p><p>They go to college and are told that women should not dress to attract the male gaze. If men don't like them the way they are, then they should be lesbians. Chicks before Dicks is the outcry on all college campuses. That's why they leave all cute and cheery and come home for Thanksgiving looking like Hilary Clinton. I've seen it myself. They come back fat, piercings all over, tattoos and blur or pink hair cut by someone with a Ginsu.</p><p>It's where they learn that envy is a virtue, according to their feminist studies teachers that only got the job because someone they went to college with knew they needed a job and voila! Soft Science courses become mandatory.<br /><br />They are inculcated into envy with stories of how they are not getting what they are owed by whatever group is out of favor that hour. They are gently nudged to seeing they don't need no man. They don't need no kids. That will happen after their glorious future is achieved and their college loans are paid off... by working at fast food job because gender studies degrees get you nothing but blue hair, a catalog from Lane Bryant and a huge chip on your shoulder. </p><p>Because they are owed!</p><p>They are stupid and lazy and want someone to take care of them their entire existence while they live a life of sexual hedonism, drug addiction and... whoa, who else just thought of Brave New World? Where's my Soma?</p><p>Boomers have managed to streamline their failures down to their grandchildren. Xers were way too laid back to buy their gas because they were a bunch of hippy losers. But Millennials? They eat that shit like candy. Why the fuck do you think bell bottoms made a comeback? </p><p>However, I do not blame Boomers for all of the ills in the world, just for having used Progressive ideals to promote and promulgate them. Don't believe me? Look at pictures of Jay Carney's apartment in New York. Psst, he was Obama's mouthpiece.</p><p>So we have an entire generation of young people who went to college and got useless degrees they can't get a decent paying jobs with. They grow bitter and more bitter because they can't get married, have a family, buy a home or even a flippin' car. They can't imagine a life without someone providing their cell phone and internet access. I promise you, kicking those chicks out of the nest is a near impossible job.</p><p>Gen Xers for the most part, went to college, but many did not. They got trade jobs, or went into the military to pay for their education. Back then college was way more affordable with less useless mandatory classes that only exist because someone's college roommate needed a job. We also didn't have so much admin back then.<br /><br />I have far too many friends who paid for their child's education, just to have them either drop out, or not be able to get a degree with a liberal arts degree, unless it's to work in HR for some corporation.</p><p>So Millennials envy. They envy they Gen Z kids who are going to trade schools and are getting higher paid job than the Millennial assistant manager at KFC pay grade. Many are going to college and are majoring in hard sciences.<br /><br />There is a huge gulf between wanting what someone else has, and wanting to take it from them so they can't have it and you can.<br /><br />I would like to have a new car. However, I am too cheap to finance a new car that is purchased for way more than it will ever be worth and loses half its value the moment I buy it. I prefer to pay cash and Presbyterian them down to almost net/net pricing. I can like my daughter-in-law's new car without wanting to take it from her so I have it. No. One of these days my husband will come to me with the sad news he can no longer keep my Rodeo going and I will have to face buying another vehicle. Don't let him know, but I already have it picked out. I'll begin squirreling away the cash for it after the holidays and be prepared to pay for it when the day of doom comes for me. I love my Rodeo.</p><p>I can see friends with kids who love them and not envy them that. My kids love me, we're just not in each other's pockets about it. I can jewelry on another woman and not want to take it from her. I will find out where she got it and buy my own.</p><p>Oh, I get it now!</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-12477721980247513102021-05-24T08:54:00.004-05:002021-05-24T08:54:43.344-05:00Observations and Comparisons<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Observations and Comparisons<br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZvxrve-YNsC7xLBpBbR2pV_orK7lr50dpDHvyngd6ntwm8hXORH673W-XOfhMHG44-zrLvxwA3c95n7CZM6dneuzLzoVvvcizSzZYIYDIzmAkHQTyiAU2HYoaPjWSb3b1Ga_/s612/kindle-fire-vs-galaxy-tab-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZvxrve-YNsC7xLBpBbR2pV_orK7lr50dpDHvyngd6ntwm8hXORH673W-XOfhMHG44-zrLvxwA3c95n7CZM6dneuzLzoVvvcizSzZYIYDIzmAkHQTyiAU2HYoaPjWSb3b1Ga_/s320/kindle-fire-vs-galaxy-tab-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Now that I've had a couple of days to work out the kinks, I feel I'm ready to make my observations on the Kindle Fire vs the Android Tablet public, after going through my swear word vocabulary in private.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">I've been using a Kindle since the second generation machines were launched and I found I wanted to get in on that whole "carry your library with you" fad. I've never looked back and continually upgraded. My current version is a Kindle Fire 10 (always buy a protective case, always) and I recently purchased a Gateway 10.1 tablet since they both use flavors of Android. (I don't get it, but they make the machine, I can always turn it to Linux if I so choose.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">The Kindle Fire is proprietary to Amazon so it's flavor of Android is extremely limited. I use it as a book reader and shopping device. It's fast for that and I have many choices as to how I see my library and how I shop with one click or one swipe. Since I've used this for years in this manner I know it and can probably do it in my sleep.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">The Gateway Tablet is just as thin as the Amazon 10, also uses a USB-C charging cable. I'm running a test later to see if I can load up my Calibre library to the Android Kindle app. I've not been able to do so on the Fire, and it pisses me off because I get selected free books from my favorite authors through book funnel and I can no longer load them up on my Fire. I should be able to do so on my Gateway.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">The Kindle apps display the same, offer every but synching with the same book on other devices. On my Fire I can synch up with my husband's Fire, but I cannot synch my Gateway with my Fire.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Now, the Gateway Android is slow as molasses in February. It's so fucking slow you can easily eat a meal waiting for your start up to load. This is very aggravating. My Fire is indecently fast. As fast as my PC if I'm being honest and my PC is obscenely fast. But, the Fire is also proprietary to Amazon products, which are built in, whereas the Gateway must use an App from the Google Play store to function as my ebook reader. Also, if you like to listen to the audiobook as you read, as I do at times, you have to load up Audible as well. I've yet to try this out, but I will later.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">I had to order an SD card for my Gateway as I have for my Fire because I like to store my books for easy retrieval. I got another 246G card, all things being equal. I will see if the books load faster after being stored there along with my audiobooks. I also use this to store videos and songs for my grandson on his Kindle Fire 8 with a child safe protective covering. Trust me, this is the best way to get babies and toddlers down for a nap. As they grow, you can find age appropriate apps for them to learn with. About 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon are more than enough for you to get things done without a child constantly needing your attention to prevent death.</p><p dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 1em 0px 0px;">Now, the most important issue... Pricing. The Kindle Fire 10 retails for $189. I bought the Gateway from their retailer, Volde*Mart, for $79 and that included shipping. The Kindle and Audible Apps were free. However, as I mentioned, it's slow. I haven't fooled around with Android enough to maximize performance by ripping out spyware and snoopy programing. That will come. I hate slow machines. Right now, my grandson's Fire 8 is far faster.</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-8456931499883346382021-05-15T09:09:00.002-05:002021-05-15T09:09:49.914-05:00Diary of A Happy Housewife<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDs2Nsq4nGmHCGIxo7xNLdvt6asJgUJ1kdx-VHRgMBrE-RQe8IBB_ssh80vDa7I4y6Siv-lOwJPyO6zqTonQKUFJkbo99g_8Sby0apGxVgV1_vfiqCSkyN4EjQ0b9Gi4ZVwk_A/s900/happy-housewife-in-kitchen-1960s-uk-the-advertising-archives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="868" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDs2Nsq4nGmHCGIxo7xNLdvt6asJgUJ1kdx-VHRgMBrE-RQe8IBB_ssh80vDa7I4y6Siv-lOwJPyO6zqTonQKUFJkbo99g_8Sby0apGxVgV1_vfiqCSkyN4EjQ0b9Gi4ZVwk_A/s320/happy-housewife-in-kitchen-1960s-uk-the-advertising-archives.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> After our youngest daughter got married and left home, my husband and I talked ad agreed I could leave my job. It wasn't that I hated my job. The work was stupid easy and I was at the top of heap as far as production went. In typical fashion I had automated many of the tasks that bored me to tears and left me plenty of time for day dreaming. As long as my numbers stayed high, my supervisor did not care one whit. I was still doing my job and the job of several others. All for the privilege of getting some socialization.</p><p>I loved my department and most of my co-workers. But not everyone. The place was basically an air-conditioned sweat shop that hired workfare denizens and kept track of their hours and laid them off when they hit the limit they needed to work for three more years of welfare. I found it hilarious to see the first timers getting their first paycheck. FICA, she do take a bite. They were paying their own way and never realized it. I was taken to task the first time I pointed that out. I had a contentious relationship with HR and the head exec over the location because... I was never wrong and they were never right when it came to truth and coercion of the ignorant.</p><p>I went to eat lunch one day and one of the welfare denizens came into the break room, ran outside and got a suitable shirt for work from someone out in a car, came back in and, instead of stepping the seven feet to the restroom, she took her shirt off right there and put the new one on, all the while bitching about her supervisor who was making her wear scratchy clothes to work.</p><p>I got up, throwing my uneaten lunch in the trash, marched to my desk and immediately put in my notice to my supervisor, who was at lunch and just got back to working.</p><p>When my supervisor came back I told her I could no longer stand the environment and had already decided to leave, just not when. Then I told her what went on in the breakroom. She begged me to stay, but she couldn't offer me more money and frankly, I was losing my soul working with people whose only concern was baby daddy paternity suits through the State and how many hours they had left until they would be let go.</p><p>My department had lost a lot of people. Many leaving for the same reasons I was. I felt for my supervisor as I truly liked and respected her. She was going through some shit with her husband having cancer, but I could not stay. I gave her three weeks notice and didn't train anyone on my work before I left. Two other women put in their notice shortly after I did. I didn't care. I was about to do what I love.</p><p>I love taking care of my home, despite the mess it is most days. I love taking care of my husband, my children and grandchildren. I have a husband who wanted me at home to handle all of the things that he is too busy and scatterbrained to pay attention to. I have time to cook meals I want to, which is pretty rare these days. My husband is working harder than ever meaning many evenings I'm just fixing a sandwich or getting take out.</p><p>I run errands, pay bills, do laundry and do all of the shopping for a household of two people and 6 pets needs to stay a going concern. I also watch two of my grandchildren, school runs, toddler tantrums, you know, every day fucking life.</p><p>I love it.</p><p>I didn't get much of a chance to do this when my kids were little until my youngest was born. I've reveled in this.</p><p>I am not subjugated or a slave to my husband. He still does much around the house as it's gotten harder and harder for me to do certain tasks doe to some weird medical issues in my legs and feet. He takes care of me and I give him a haven, a soft place to land when he gets done dealing with his job, which has gotten nightmarish in the past year. We're currently looking at him retiring from his company, paying off the house early and he will look for another job that isn't killing him. You could let him loose in Home Depot and he will enthusiastically sell hammers or whatever strikes his fancy that day.</p><p>My husband takes VERY good care of me. He doesn't bitch about my weekly pedicures that I get just to have an hour to myself where no one expects me to do more than lift my foot out of the bath. He lets me buy all the books I want, and is very encouraging of my writing. I keep him happy and he makes sure I have what I need to be happy whether it's peace and quiet when the kids aren't here or enough yarn to make another baby blanket. He loves making me happy. I love him so I want to make him happy right back. Neither one of us is using the other.</p><p>So, that makes me think of the bleary-eyed screechers who say that being a housewife makes me a slave to my husband, endlessly abused and terrorized by my husband. It's a laughable idea to think that either of us lords it over the other. My husband is a nice guy. So much nicer than I am. It's the reason I put him on the phone when we have to deal with service issues. I cannot tell you the number of times we have gotten extras or had our bills reduced by him just being him.</p><p>Many people think I walk all over him, because I have a forceful personality. It's sort of like the Immovable Mover meeting the Irresistible Force. My forcefulness meets his Dutch Thick Skull. When we do argue, it's glorious, short-lived and usually ends in laughter. We never go to bed, and we're both great at taking our space when we're being too emotional. Usually him. He's such a huge brain and then he reacts to most things with anger or fear.</p><p>Are there men out there who would be a bully to their wife? Fuck, yes, there are or Lifetime would have no channel line up. But, for the most part, most couple see it as working together for happiness of themselves and their children. My husband I work together, in different areas, to make sure we're happy and hopefully, that our children and grandchildren are happy. Today, when he gets home from dealing with car issues, we will continue our work out back, making the gardens safer for our grandchildren and more aesthetically pleasing as well as a haven for butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and dragonflies. See? True ecology.</p><p>I'm happy because I'm not a victim of my husband's toxic masculinity. Lord God Almighty, I love that masculinity or I would not have married him. He's not henpecked because he's just that stubborn. Do we have bad days. Yes, we do, but they are few and far between twenty plus years in because we have learned to pull our load together, rather than fighting the yoke we both accepted when we wed. </p><p>My husband and our family make me very happy. It's not a constant thing. We all have times we get butt hurt or angry. That's family. That's life. If you don't get that, perhaps screeching about misogyny and living with a 50's ideal of women isn't your biggest problem.</p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-39907295975337502092021-01-07T18:30:00.001-06:002021-01-07T18:30:18.419-06:00Crime and Punishment - Current Day<p> I've watched this election with no small amount of glee. Why? Because, I've spent nearly thirty years dragging people to this point because they didn't want to see, don't want to see. They are like toddlers, placing their hands over their eyes when they get in trouble, because if they can't see you, you can't see them. Trust me, it is their go to move, literally and metaphorically.<br /><br />So, I wake up today to a bunch of idiot Lefties screaming for punishment of anyone who ever supported Trump ever in their lives for any reason whatsoever.</p><p>They obviously have never, ever read history or even attended Shakespeare in the Park. When the Senate assassinated Julius Caesar, they exposed how firmly they were entrenched in their establishment so that three years later Augustus became the Roman Emperor of an empire that lasted centuries longer than the Roman Republic. I'm a huge fan of history. I read about it all the time. It's fascinating to see us make the same mistakes our ancestors did while learning no new lessons from it. Absolutely fascinating. Like a toddler that keeps grabbing the cat's tail, regardless of having been clawed and bitten. They simply don't want to learn that lesson because they want to touch the cat, without following instructions from those who know cats on how to touch them.<br /><br />And now, Pelosi has already drawn up Articles of Impeachment against Trump and is trying to strong arm the traitor Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment against a man who will be leaving the office in thirteen days.</p><p>Way to use all your political capital in one go, Nance. Yeah, shoot that wad while you can. Because, and I mean this with all due caution, it will come back to bite you on your ass and you will have ground left to go to. How do I know this? No, I'm not Miss Cleo, nor can I divine the future from looking at chicken entrails. No, I read history. This has never ended well for your ilk and it won't end well for you because... listen carefully... Human Beings don't like being told they are something they are not, they don't like re-education camps, forced concentration camps, lack of free speech and oh, yeah, they don't like you. You don't human well, so I get that you don't get this. It's okay. We're all pretty avid to see Mjollnir pried from your crone like grasp before you're carted off to... insignificance. See, most people don't demand punishment because we don't like what you said or who you voted for. However, Nance, and I will call you Nance whether you like it or not, most Americans, right now, at this very moment, would do much worse that what will happen to you eventually. Because I cannot imagine that for someone of your perceived, self-proclaimed importance, being shunted to the background, holding no power whatsoever, is pretty much Karma cunt punting you across the Universe. I've heard tell that she's kind of keen on that idea. I don't know for sure, but you know, lunch talk...</p><p>And trust me, this is not about Democrats or Republicans. No, they are one and the same in the eyes of most Americans now. Thanks for getting a point across that I've been screaming for a long time. I'm pretty hoarse, so, really... Thanks. You can thank your Supreme Court for it, your Federal Courts for it. Trust me, they will make you pay for what they're about to go through. Trust me on this. You and Robespierre? You guys will have neighboring levels of hell. It's a nice neighborhood, you'll know all your neighbors. It's so nice to have friends in the afterlife.</p><p>You, Chuck Schumer and Kamal Toe Harris have already got Country Club memberships, prepaid, I hear.</p><p>You, and ever other idiot with you who thought you could get away with this had best pick up a history books, several of them, in fact, all written before Howard Zinn started re-writing history, perhaps pick up Thaddeus Russell's A Renegade History of the United States. Pssst, Spoiler Alert, you didn't win the Civil War and no, you can't have your slaves back.</p><p>So, while you and AOC are scouting out areas for Concentration Camps, remember what became of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and best of all Idi Amin. You're in good company.<br /></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-57704901244512615392020-12-22T08:54:00.003-06:002020-12-22T08:54:56.463-06:00Why I'm Not Pissed About Cyberpunk 2077<p> So, I bought Cyberpunk 2077 on opening day and eagerly awaited the download and installation on my PC, the way the game was meant to be played. I've had to put down some settings, but all in all, the game was playable, until I got into the tutorial and my toon got stuck in a crouch and then in the gaming architecture. I tried everything to get her out and just could not get it done, so I finally submitted a bug report and yesterday's hotfix got her free. Too bad I don't have time to play until after Christmas.<br /><br />I've been beta testing games for nearly 20 years. Before that I was testing operating systems and programs, the archaic word for apps. So, I am used to bugs and non-optimal operating conditions.</p><p>Which is why I'm not the Twat on Twatter crying about how the game doesn't work on my base PS4. It was never meant to be played on your stupid console, retard. CD Projekt Red should have never caved to console gamers demands it be made for them, too. Learn to code, motherfucking pantywaists. You want to play games, play on a PC. Yeah, it's expensive, but it quickly separated the wheat from the chaff, and trust me, stupid, you're chaff and it shows.</p><p>CDPR made a lot of mistakes with the release of this game, trust me, I'm not happy happy joy joy about it. This is the company that brought us The Witcher, so for me, I expected at least playable. That is not what I got, that is not what many people got, even with optimal gaming rigs.<br /><br />Also, for the PC the controls are a bit of a mess. The ability to remap your key bindings is frustrating, but it's all just rewiring your brain a bit and adapting. If you can't get by without mashing the same set of keys, then you should not be gaming. This is why console gamers are such babies. Yeah, I said it.</p><p>My son is playing on a PS4 Pro and having problems, but he's powering through them because he's a Marine and a PC Gamer so he's no whining, mewling momma's boy, crying because it's not everything he'd dreamed it would be. He grew up in a gaming household and knows to be patient, no matter how badly you want it to work right. Neither of us are demanding our money back. Neither is my husband but I expect that to change next week when he goes on vacation for two weeks and actually has time to play.</p><p>The guys went Nomad, while I went Street Kid. I may try Corpo after I'm done with that story line. I'm having fun. My son is having fun. Everyone I know playing on PC is having fun. Of course, I had friends who were testing it and I was forewarned. Why? Because I pay attention.</p><p>I don't expect any game to be perfect right out of the chute. That's a stupid tack to take. I expect problems, and I also expect them to be fixed when they are discovered in the wild. So far, mine have been, but then again, I'm still not through the tutorial. Time, holidays, you do the math.</p><p>CDPR is offering refunds to any who ask for it, their stock has tanked and people are calling for blood. Why? It's a fucking game, retard. If you gagged your way through Last of Us2, then STFU, you can easily handle this. Butch up soy boi.</p><p>CDPR should have delayed the game, again, until after the New Year. Let the Console Kiddies play their news games on their PS5 and XBox, then come to Cyberpunk. All things considered, it would not have been a bad idea, but they had already taken knocks for the previous delays and the game had been in the works for 10 years already. Development actually began about 4 years ago. For PC. Than all the wankers with a hand on their controlled and the other one holding their wounded dick cried because it wasn't going to be on console. Fuck you. Play a real game. You are button mashers, or as we like to call them in PC gaming, face rollers, praying something fires off and actually works. No finesse, not knowledge of the game whatsoever, but a shit tonne of whining.</p><p>I'm more pissed that I had to wait until now to get my character unstuck, and there is no last save. I'm pissed off that once again I have to listen to a bunch of grown ass retards whine about a fucking game that means nothing to them once they are done with it. They never played the pen and pencil game, they had never heard about it before 2 years ago and have absolutely no respect for the history. The called the creator of Cyberpunk a white supremacist. Dude, he's black. Fucktard.</p><p>I'm pissed off that I won't have any time to play until after Christmas dinner on Christmas Day and I swear to all that is holy in this universe that next Christmas I'm going away and have my food served to me by nubile cabana boys in tight muscle shirts and short shorts. Mmmm, Packages.<br /></p>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-31744347786785581122020-08-06T19:17:00.004-05:002020-08-06T19:17:58.136-05:00Human Sunbeam<div>This evening I dropped into a live chat from a YouTube channel that I watch often. I would watch more but Ethan never shuts the fuck up. He can talk. Jesus, can he talk. But you know what? I adore him.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAffdBIycD6z2CpAXAgPyImG61cVgxhgDzdxwHbbCxYikyJSXLzLu9idVAV_jLmsnibXQ_y1LgsxXbK0dOugVXJUmZIj8uY6FB_0uBOKPMTq6O79TEjevHZFBO3vdfygwjHN-H/s1284/Uncle+Ethan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="1284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAffdBIycD6z2CpAXAgPyImG61cVgxhgDzdxwHbbCxYikyJSXLzLu9idVAV_jLmsnibXQ_y1LgsxXbK0dOugVXJUmZIj8uY6FB_0uBOKPMTq6O79TEjevHZFBO3vdfygwjHN-H/s640/Uncle+Ethan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div>I've known Ethan since we were both drawing for Marvel Comics back in the mid-90s. Neither one of us was well known. He went on to fame while I lived a pretty normal life and wrote books. I hadn't spoken to him in the early Naughties, and I had a new last name, but did let on who he had known me as, and it was like those years never existed. I've never been on his show, because I cannot think of a reason that I should be and he's never asked. He asks people to appear to try to promote their self-published, crowd-funded comic books. He's encouraged me to do graphic novels of my Urban Fantasy series about Urban Paladins, but I'm too busy channeling my creative energy into words and paragraphs and stories.</div><div><br /></div><div>I do alright.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been happy to see him show me some comics it's been a delight for me to buy. It feels like ordering the Phalanx event in X-Men. I look forward to Jon Malin's Graveyard Shift. Antonia Brice's Brand got to me and I'll admit, my heart rated sped up to the degree that I almost, kinda, in a way thought I was going to have to take a nitroglycerin. And Richard Meyer's books, Jawbreakers and Iron Sights are utterly enjoyable books and completely different, one from the other. You don't even realize that it's the same writer. Richard and Ethan are raking in money on their books. They are the standard by which all comic campaigns are compared. The men have people throwing their money at them because they want comics without SJW bullshit being shoved down their throats. It's amazing with the amount of money non-soy infused individuals makes at real jobs and is ready to be laid down on comic books that cost $25 for one book, but come with perks but only come out once to twice a year.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have not bought a comic book from my comic book store since Tom King's Elmer Fudd vs Batman book, recommended by Meyers in a video. I will pick up fill in back issues for my collection, but I will not buy the new shit that they are calling comic books and at any other time would be How To Books for Psychosis.<br /><br />Ethan's All Caps Comics is really earning with the comic books and soon, the toys and possibly a Cyberfrog video game. I'm first in line to buy the merch. My grandson loves Salamandroid. Like the meme says, Take My Money!<br /><br />In a blog today, some blue haired harpy called Ethan a depraved individual. I don't know his personal like in that way. I can say, I've never seen depraved tendencies in him, but, you know, people can hide things. However, it's still none of my damned business. He doesn't harm me and I've never seen him harm another. So, in my book, and in what I know of him, my call is he is actually a very decent, high principled man.<br /><br />When work was scarce, he offered many fellow artists work for his comic book campaigns. He gave them money when the people in their own industry weren't giving them crap and didn't care about how they were feeding their families. It's how he got Dan Fraga on board.<br /><br />So, Yeah, E, you're a human sunbeam. I get it. You make me happy, make me laugh when I listen to you while I'm working. This is a long way from the alt.net boards we used to communicated on or the AOL private rooms. I cannot wait for the next thing.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-82120330805048126752020-07-18T19:51:00.002-05:002020-07-18T19:52:30.725-05:00High School Required Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I was in high school, like everyone else, I was forced to read books and plays that I, then, considered utterly useless to my life in any way, shape or form. I was already reading serious shit like Atlas Shrugged outside class and learning far more from that than any drivel the Charles Dickens could ever teach me about being a gentleman in Victorian England. Dear God, we're trying to prevent teens from committing suicide and you make them read that crap? Shame on you for ever thinking that Great Expectation was anything decent to read. It's not.</div>
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Most books I read under protest, pouting and giving very strident points in classes where we had to discuss the plots and characters. I was never led in the directions my teachers hoped and could be a mite disruptive in my debates. It was finally agreed upon, by all and sundry, at the end of my sophomore year, that I would be allowed to choose what I would read for a grade from an alternate list. One, which I was happy to find out, were also the books I was having to read for my college English lit courses that I was taking concurrently. They thought they were so smart.</div>
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However, in my junior year, the reading list was American Lit, of which I had no interest. However, I chose to read the books. I read utter crap like Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, and then... I got to the good shit. George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. 1984, Animal Farm and Brave New World. I'd already read Atlas Shrugged by this time and I found my confirmation bias against Statism fed mightily by these books. It stood me in good stead.<br />
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Granted, I'd read Alas, Babylon, Malevil, and other dystopian stories earlier, but those books stayed with me. Bless the Beasts and Children fed my Libertarian heart. </div>
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I stubbornly refused to read any poetry and only grudgingly memorizes Thanatopsis to pass Junior English. Back then I hated William Shakespeare and all he stood for. I learned to love him in my 20s because of Start Trek: TNG and Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V.</div>
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But those books of my junior year shaped most of my thinking that was set for the rest of my life.</div>
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My children never had to read them. But they sure as fuck read the Dickens' crap, along with the nihilistic whining of Hemingway, Steinbeck and Fitzgerald. And you seriously wonder why they are all shitting themselves and burning buildings down thinking Momma Gubmint is just waiting to take care of them so they won't ever have to be responsible for anything in their lives?</div>
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Now, I am going to piss so many so called literati here and admit, I absolutely hated Catcher in the Rye. It was nothing but the self-indulgent whining of a disturbed, immature mind that imparted absolutely nothing. If that formed your life and thinking, seek therapy. Same goes for anything written in the the 20th century in America.</div>
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However, I absolutely loved To Kill a Mockingbird. Granted, I'd seen the movie first, but reading the book furthered my understanding of the book and the lesson endured. Again, I fed my confirmation Bias that was innate, as far as I can tell. I've always had a visceral reaction to racism.</div>
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When we stopped teaching the lessons in the books that I learned to love, we stopped teaching valuable lessons to our teens and having meaningful conversations over those topics over non-existent family dinners. I think I was the only person of my acquaintance who insisted on sit down dinners and a discussion of the day. Now it's nearly a miracle if parents ever speak to their children out loud. I guess I was pretty awful not caring enough to allow them to slip away so once they went away I would be utterly shocked how they came back to me.</div>
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No, my only reaction to my daughter coming out to me as a Liberal Democrat was, "Yeah, honey, we knew." I mean, they do make themselves pretty obvious. I love her and she is allowed to be what works for her. Just don't shove it down my throat. I return that courtesy.<br />
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If you get a chance, and you have not read the books I've listed here, even the ones I hated, I suggest taking the time to do so. You can compare and contrast and then look out on the world and do the same thing I do every single day. <br />
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Look out upon the world, point, smile and say, "Ha! Saw that coming!"</div>
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Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-89281687404712671072020-06-28T17:49:00.002-05:002020-06-28T17:50:04.833-05:00Reading Slow & Loving It<div>We've had an eventful week. My husband was sidelined thanks to exposure to the Beer Bug at work, we still haven't gotten the test results back. I've learned he will not survive retirement. I've got fifteen years to plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last Tuesday, <a href="https://elizabethhunterwrites.com/books/dawn-caravan/" target="_blank">Elizabeth Hunter's</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Caravan-Elemental-Legacy-Novels-ebook/dp/B088T6D5Y7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?dchild=1&keywords=dawn+caravan&qid=1589911133&sr=8-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=elizabethhunt-20&linkId=bb86c0d284f29399dc6baf40f76c2d1c&language=en_US" target="_blank">Dawn Caravan</a> came out and I've been trying to read it ever since. Today I dedicated my grandson's nap time to finishing it up. I've been reading in fits and starts and found myself seriously ruminating in way I haven't since I read all of Jane Austen's novels. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>What does it all mean?</div><div><br /></div><div>If you don't know Elizabeth Hunter's unbelievable Elemental universe, you've missed out. Hurry up and read the books. If you see spoilers now, you only have yourself to blame.</div><div><br /></div><div>This book was pivotal. Ben and Tenzin have been dancing together dangerously for years. I can't help but feeling she groomed him in a creeper sort of way, but then I had an epiphany that she had grown to like him as a child and that kept up until adulthood. She had fun training him in swords, knowing who his adoptive uncle was, he would need the protection. However, as Ben grew into adulthood, into himself, she began dragging him along on her adventures because he was a fun companion. Then, before Puerto Rico, she saw him as a man she admired. I had to think back on those stories, and I saw it very clearly. In the years he was in college and after, when he wanted to steal art to get it back to the rightful owner, she planned on his turning, no matter what he said about never wanting it.</div><div><br /></div><div>When shit went sideways in Shanghai, she begged her father to turn him, knowing he would hate her for it. And he did. What he did to her when he woke was true hate fucking, and then he wanted nothing to do with her. In this new book, we take up two years after that night and we see that Ben has gotten control of his hunger and his power as tightly as he's lived his entire human life. But inside he's raging, he's angry. And it's all pointed at Tenzin. She knew he didn't want to be turned and she did it anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn't help that he goes home to LA and his family and they are overjoyed. To a man they all tell him they are happy Tenzin saved his life. Not one of them, not even Beatrice, can understand, fully, his anger.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is where Elizabeth Hunter's talent shines like a beacon. Ben waffles worse than en Eggo in your toaster. He loves Tenzin. He hates Tenzin. He can't wait to see her. He can't stand the sight of her. He and you never know where he's going to stand. I kept thinking to myself, why the hell isn't he talking to Anne in Ireland, who helped Brigid when she was turned against her will?</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Brigid was the one to talk him down from the rafters so many times. When he demands to know if she would change her husband, knowing he didn't want it, she tells him, without a pause that yes, she would, even if she had to do it herself, killing their love. (In Miss Hunter's universe siring is literally a parental ontaking and there is no romance involved.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Brigis and Ben's human friend, Chloe, both tell him that they and his entire family cannot imagine living in a world where he isn't present. It helps, but Ben's anger can't get past his making. It causes serious problems.</div><div><br /></div><div>It comes to a head when Ben and Tenzin are betrayed and he thinks she is dead. At that moment he realizes there is no boundary he is unwilling to cross to get her back, for her to be present in his world. It finally connects inside his head and his emotions. He knows there will be bad days. Tenzin is having them, too, after making a promise to Chloe to work on herself with Resolutions. They both decide that the parts of them they've closed off will have to be worked at, but not right that moment. It's a very... human... decision.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the end of the book I was so happy to have them together and that they were able to think their way through another mess. The only sadness I held onto was the fact that Beatrice is still angry with Tenzin, but grateful to her at the same time. It's a very tight rope for Bea to walk, but she manages it. Tenzin is her husband's oldest and dearest friend, and the mate to her adopted son. She hates Tenzin for disregarding Ben's wishes, but she's much more grateful that Ben is still with them and she cannot square the circle.<br /><br />This is an excellent book and the intrigue and mystery are wonderful. I'll be honest, for a few minutes I could almost imagine myself in a gypsy caravan.<br /></div>Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31215085.post-77687231125761023362020-05-09T09:39:00.000-05:002020-05-09T09:39:17.801-05:00Control<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've spend the past nearly five months observing the people on this planet. There are truly two types of people. Control Freaks and those who realize they're not in control and really don't care, they just want to live their lives, pay their mortgage and try to get promoted or buy that special dress for their daughter for her Prom. Freaks, right?<br />
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I think this cannot be more clearly illustrated that in St. Louis, MO where they had a snitch hot line where neighbors could snitch on other neighbors for breaking curfew or social distancing rules. This was brought about by Control Freaks who want order above all, but it all stems from a need to mind everyone's business but their own. See your closes mental health professional for a further information if you don't get that.<br />
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My God, wouldn't Angela Merkel just love this Stasi bullshit? She could cry about her Stasi father and how much he would have loved it. However... there was a... what should I call it? A hitch. Yes, I'll call it a hitch in the Final Solution in not doing what Dear Leader has told you to do. Missouri, God bless their Show Me Hearts, have a Sunshine Law. According to the Sun:<br />
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sunshine Law applies to all records of
a public body, regardless of what form they are kept in, and allows the
public to access documentation, unless it's covered by an exception
that closes it, keeping details private.</span></blockquote>
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So, all of these people who called in because they saw a couple holding hands in the park, or a guy walking his dog without a mask on were suddenly unmasked themselves and oh the wailing the gnashing of teeth.<br /><br />It wasn't just being slung about at the local grocery store, shouted across six feet of separation, no, it was posted everywhere people who were bored at home had access to it.<br />
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Oh, please God, don't let my neighbors or employer know that I'm a tattling baby who just can't control my need to control everyone around me. Drink that in for a moment. People who cannot control themselves wanting to control everyone else.<br /><br />I think that the moment schools reopen the entire student body should demand Sunshine Laws for school and teacher snitches. You would be amazed at how many people suddenly find their own navel worthy of a gaze or two.<br /><br />So, you're a control freak. How much control do you feel like you have? You control you and that's it. You don't and can't control anyone else. Stop trying because it brings everyone around you grief when you try.<br />
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Thanks for playing the game. The simulation will continue until you learn.<br />
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Severinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11233387767990711188noreply@blogger.com0