#they still have that incredible effect on me 11 years later
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The Top 7 Best News of Last Week - August 8, 2022
🐶 - The story of a dog which was stolen 5 years ago and was found this week made me tear up :')
1. Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
Coral cover has bounced back across two thirds of the Great Barrier Reef.
The northern and central sections of the reef have the highest levels of coral cover recorded in 36 years of monitoring by the Australian Institute of Marine Science. While the reef has suffered negative effects from mass coral bleaching events in 2020 and again this summer, they weren't anywhere near as deadly for coral as the ones in 2016 and 2017.
The reef has also benefited from a few years without being battered by cyclones.
2. Emerald green hummingbird, feared to be extinct, has been spotted in Colombia
After years of attempts to find one of the world’s 10 most wanted bird species, the Santa Marta sabrewing has been unexpectedly rediscovered deep in the mountains of Colombia.
The tiny hummingbird had only been officially spotted twice: once when it was discovered in 1946 and again in 2010 when it landed serendipitously in a researcher’s mist net. Since then, it has been presumed by many to be extinct. “It’s so incredible to see photos and video of the Santa Marta sabrewing,” said John Mittermeier, director of threatened species outreach at the American Bird Conservancy, in a press release. “It’s like seeing a phantom.”
3. For 1st time since war began, Ukrainian grain ship leaves Odesa, bound for Lebanon
The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, carrying Ukrainian grain, leaves the port in Odesa, Ukraine, on Monday.
More ships are expected to leave from Ukraine's ports through the safe corridors. At Odesa, 16 more vessels, all blocked since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, were waiting their turn, with others to follow, Ukrainian authorities said.
4. Mother, daughter both pilot Southwest flight: 'It's been a dream come true'
Flying the friendly skies could not have been more touching for Southwest Airlines passengers en route from Denver, Colorado, to St. Louis, Missouri, last Saturday.
Their pilots were Captain Holly Petitt and her daughter First Officer Keely Petitt, a mother-daughter duo in what the company calls a first for its flights.
How nice for them! I can't help but smile :)
5. Iguanas reproducing on Galapagos island, more than a century after disappearing
Iguanas populated the island in vast numbers when Charles Darwin visited in the 1830s. Scientists believe the iguana disappeared from the island in the early 20th century, but now A land iguana is reproducing naturally following its reintroduction there.
In 2019, the Galapagos National Park authority reintroduced more than 3,000 iguanas from a nearby island to restore the natural ecosystem of Santiago, which lies at the centre of the Pacific archipelago.
6. Baytown family stunned their stolen dog 'Sheba' was found 5 years later
A Baytown family is stunned after receiving a message that their dog who was stolen five years ago was found more than 600 miles away. The Malmstrom family still can't get over the video that recently arrived on their phones.
"We were all crying," Stephanie Malmstrom recalled. "Me and my girls were just boohooing."
My dogs are my life and if they went missing that would be awful, so happy for this family!
7. Senate approves bill to aid vets exposed to toxic burn pits
A bill enhancing health care and disability benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits won final approval in the Senate on Tuesday, ending a brief stalemate over the measure that had infuriated advocates and inspired some to camp outside the Capitol.
The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 86-11. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Biden described the legislation as the biggest expansion of benefits for service-connected health issues in 30 years and the largest single bill ever to address exposure to burn pits.
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Why You Should Watch White Christmas (the 2011 Kdrama): A Manifesto
Yesterday I was watching White Christmas (specifically episodes 4 and 5) for the fourth time. I watched it for the first time like five years ago and all my feelings are still there and still potent so today I am here to tell you that you should watch it too.
THE BASICS:
Seven kids at an elite private high school over winter break. They stayed there because they all received mysterious black letters, accusing them of vague, nonspecific crimes and claiming that on New Year's Day someone will die. When they find out that ALL of them received this letter, they decide one of them must have been the one to send it--and they set out to discover who it was. In the meantime, a giant blizzard shuts down all the roads, and telephone and internet connections go down as well, leaving the school isolated and all on campus trapped there together.
things develop from there.
THE CHARACTERS:
Park Moo-yul: A Good Boy. His grades are constantly second highest in the school; he's obsessed with studying and wants to someday come in first. Sort of a leader type, he tries to organize the investigative efforts (and later, keep things from falling apart--except, much as he'd like to believe it, he's not immune to the Lord of the Flies effect lols). For the first couple episodes, he's sort of the main/POV character, but by the end it's more of an ensemble cast show. In the episodes I just watched, there are multiple scenes with him staring down a gun and waiting to get shot. Some ppl think he's boring but I love a guy with a hero complex.
Choi Chi-hoon: The Genius. The first place to Park Moo-yul's second. People call him unemotional and heartless; it turns out later he does have difficulty feeling emotions due to a neurological issue. Loves science, interested in the black letters as a puzzle but for a while pretends not to be. The least likely to go Lord of the Flies but his Very Logical plans are often actually very risky.
Yoon Eun-sung: The Only Girl. (except for that one other woman who shows up later but she's not one of the seven so we're not counting her.) Used to be the most popular girl in school and also Park Moo-yul's girlfriend but then she Changed (aka she developed depression). Sarcastic and possibly suicidal. Everyone is OBSESSED with her (well, four, arguably five characters are obsessed with her, but this show only has a total of 11 characters so that's really too many).
Also, she's played by Esom, so if you like Esom, you should watch White Christmas.
Lee Jae-kyu: Why are you here???? For the first few episodes, that's a genuine question; he doesn't have an apparent connection to the others in the group, and it's a mystery why the black letter sender would have any grudges against him. It turns out later he has some secret issues. He's a bit of a snake in the grass. I won't go into it.
Yang Kang-mo: He wants to be a reporter someday! His nickname is Cameraman Yang, and he's always carrying a camera around. He's deaf, and partly as a result, gets bullied a lot. He is the favorite character of the friend I was watching this show with yesterday. Also there's a whole episode of him getting chased around with baseball bats, look forward to it.
Jo Young-jae: A bully, a coward and a messed up kid. A line he says in the show is, "Yes, I'm used to people hating me. To the extent that I'm scared when people don't hate me. But you made me hate myself!" A line someone else says to him is, "You're not a bad person. You're weak. If everyone knew how weak you were, they wouldn't hate you." To watch Jo Young-jae have multiple mental breakdowns, watch White Christmas, I promise it is very fun.
Also, he's played by Kim Young-kwang, so if you like Kim Young-kwang, you should watch White Christmas.
Yoon Su: His nickname is Angel. In general, it requires incredible academic acumen to go to Susin High; Yoon Su got in bc his parents donated money to the school. He's a loner and does not want to be here; his ambition in life is to be a musician, and he loves playing the guitar. He has some mental health issues and takes (unspecified) recreational drugs. He also has a giant grudge. Against who? Stay tuned to find out.
Also he's played by Lee Soo-hyuk, so if you like Lee Soo-hyuk, you should watch White Christmas.
Kang Mi-reu: THIS BOY IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE. Remember how I said seven kids got letters, seven kids stayed at the school? Meet kid number eight. Kang Mi-reu didn't get a letter and he didn't get permission to stay on campus either; technically he's on probation and on his way to being expelled. He sneakily stayed on campus to investigate who framed him for exploding a statue, the reason for his expulsion. He can go through air vents and has a great theme song. He wants to solve his problems with violence. Actually he once beat Choi Chi-hoon at academics but got pissed off at always losing to him and gave up on being a perfect student. We all love Kang Mi-reu.
Also he's played by Kim Woo-bin so if you like Kim Woo-bin, you should watch White Christmas.
Yoon Jong-il: The teacher who stayed on campus to supervise. Wow, I'm sure with a responsible adult around, there will be no chaos or violence breaking out on campus.
Kim Yo-han: He's not even affiliated with the school. He got in a car accident near it and then got stuck here due to the storm. He keeps getting concussions/broken bones/deadly fevers. Also, he's a psychiatrist, and finds all the weird shit going on at the school rather intriguing.
IS IT SHIPPY?
I mean, is there any actual romance? No.
Do we see slow burn friendships develop from suspicion to deep trust and affection over the course of the show? Also no.
Do I think some of these people should make out? Yeah.
A few ships I have specifically:
-Choi Chi-hoon/Park Moo-yul: Obvious rival ship, overemotional dude/kind of cold dude, leader type/genius type. There is also some hurt/comfort towards the end that I really can't describe without spoilers but the mix of resentment and trust is immense.
-Kang Mi-reu/Park Moo-yul: This is my just for fun ship. Good boy/bad boy vibes. Also Kang Mi-reu seems to actually listen to Park Moo-yul when for the most part he won't listen to anyone. Also he snuck into Park Moo-yul's bedroom once while he was sleeping and teased him about the fact that he and all the others got black letters and won't the sender be so offended he dares to sleep instead of sitting up paranoid all night. I just think they're cute.
-Yang Kang-mo/Jo Young-jae: Yes this is a bully/victim ship which is not usually my thing, but I love both of them and also Young-jae is so pathetic and Kang-mo honestly scares him at multiple points. Meanwhile Kang-mo is kind of tired and fed up with him but at this point has sort of a weird connection with him regardless. They know each other.
-Yoon Eun-sung/Jo Young-jae: Young-jae is my favorite of the dudes who's obsessed with Eun-sung, and the most toxic of them as well. She used to be perfect and he had a resentful crush on her for that; now she's kind of messed up but still aloof and superior, and he still wants and hates her at the same time. And she knows, and teases him about it, and he acts nonchalant but you can tell it grinds at him. The best m/f dynamic of the show.
I have a bunch of other ships.... explaining them involves spoilers so I'll just list a few: Kang Mi-reu/Yoon Su, Yang Kang-mo/Yoon Eun-sung/Park Moo-yul, Lee Jae-kyu/Choi Chi-hoon, Lee Jae-kyu/Jo Young-jae.
BUT, PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY... THE VIBES!!!
I love the characters of White Christmas but I mostly rewatch it so much bc 1) the pacing is on point and 2) it's so cinematically satisfying.
In terms of plot and pacing--Everything moves fast. Each episode is very distinct from the others, the plot consistently moving forward at a breakneck pace. Each episode I would say gets a little faster and wilder (with the exception of episode 3, perhaps, which moves a little slow--but then episode 4 goes completely unhinged, so it's a fair exchange). There is shit going on and they are going to cram a whole show's worth of content into 8 episodes and you are going to eat it.
In terms of production: Visually stark. Lots of glass and snow and shadows everywhere. Fun shots. A great soundtrack. For one thing, Wake Up by Arcade Fire recurs a lot and the vibes are immense and very teenage angst and "what the fuck am I supposed to do".
Anyways here's some shots I think convey the vibe:
ANYWAY.
Watch White Christmas! And if you do, or if you've already watched it, please talk to me about it! I am currently in the White Christmas feelings, as I often am this time of year.
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hey im sorry if this is a weird ask, but like i was about 11 when i found a roblox rp server ran by you, now long discontinued but in that server i met my first ever internet friend roleplaying. we were friends on skype until eventually they made me move to discord. being on discord lead me to meet other people, and after a long time and joining a couple communities, i met my girlfriend, and a few years later, right now i'm moving into a new house and we're going to be moved in together. none of that would be a thing if i never made a discord account to talk to my friend that i met on your roblox server. so like. thank you. i still follow what you do to this day out of a sort of respect and the knowledge i would be entirely different without that domino effect. i mightve left a youtube comment or some kind about this before? but to my knowledge ive never really told you about this. idk how to end this but like. thank you.
thank you so, so much for the kind words! they made my day today and left me with a huge grin on my face that refuses to go away
i've been told many times about how the roblox rp game, the epic crossover (aka TEC) has affected people. i've been told it's affected people in a good way, and in a bad way. in my experience, it's been a mixed bag-- i've gotten a lot of harassment when i ran the discord server for TEC. it even got dragged to twitter, years later when i talked about my experiences running it publicly, and how i was chased out of my own discord because i got pissed off that nobody said anything to the mods when someone dropped their suicide letter in a vent channel, spearheaded by someone i'd like to keep anonymous (but will call them A for sake of simplicity). there was a callout post that got deleted based off of those events. person A allegedly has/had DID, giving me anxiety around people with DID for a few years. years later after those events, based off of what i was told, allegedly A was faking it. i don't know how true this is, but if this was the case it would make sense. they used their alters in the server in order to shame me and gang up on me, or at least that's how it felt. other admins on the discord and in the roblox game itself have told me that helping me run it all was also immensely stressful, even after i left, and i feel an incredible amount of guilt surround it.
however, those same friends told me a lot of good. they've met their best friends, partners, and realized who they were because of what i made. in a sense, i found out who i was because of TEC. sometimes, though, i doubt that the positive impacts outweigh the negatives. i get really worried about how my actions impact others. and being told this, it really means a lot. i'm really happy i've been able to have that kind of impact on you, even if we don't know each other. it feels nice to bring something positive into somebody's life.
roundabout way of saying: thank you. i'm hanging this on my mental fridge forever
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Hello, I absolutely adore that last piece of yours. The one from Andromeda. My question is - what are your favourite aspects of the game. I played the demo version (first ten hours) and I have mixed feelings about it. So I would like to know what kept you hooked on it if that's alright?
Thank you! You've just asked me the one question I have spent the last like 5 years thinking about. So, well...[cracks knuckles].
As much as I hate saying it, I feel like the first 10 hours are a poor representation of the game, depending on how quickly you progress through the main story. For better or worse, Andromeda's first act frontloads you with a lot of side quests, and I think a lot of the ways it presents its setting and ideas in that time can leave someone apprehensive about how it grapples with its themes later on. If you're willing after reading this, I'd grab it on sale for super cheap or borrow it from a friend/the library and give it at least until finishing the mission to rescue the Moshae on Voeld. (This is around the 15-20 hr mark.) Loyalty missions begin to trigger after that and you really start getting into the thick of it. Though I think they're worth doing as you progress (you are rewarded for it in the final mission), anything that's not in the main quest and companion tabs of the journal can pretty much be ignored without consequence and completed post-game.
Despite all the online shit, it was love at first sight for me. I played at launch and got close to finishing before the first major patch came out. A lot of what probably kept me in my first playthrough was that the idea I had for my Ryder fit really well into what the game gave me, so I was deeply invested in my PC. I think that can really influence one's enjoyment of an RPG.
Ryder is not Shepard, and Ryder's canonical backstory as a 22 year-old nepotism baby who, from what we can tell, had a fairly cushy life growing up on the Citadel until fairly recently is kind of essential for the story to work. I joked in a caption that ME:A is a YA dystopia, but I'm also completely serious about that. It still has a lot of the core cosmic horror themes of the original trilogy, but with a much more scrappy, unexperienced, underdog flavor that you get with a younger protagonist. I liked this in contrast to Shepard being highly and unquestionably competent and having already experienced significant trauma before the story starts via their origin or psych profile. It almost forces you to create an entirely different perspective on Mass Effect's universe as a whole.
Beyond that, it really hit on things I felt were missing from the original trilogy, and especially in comparison to ME1, it's an incredibly compelling introduction to a new trilogy. (I believe it is a disservice to compare ME:A to the original trilogy as a whole, and have come to these opinions by almost exclusively comparing it to 1.)
I really enjoyed the roleplay system. I think the casual/professional/logical/emotional wheel and the impulse actions were a good move away from the paragon/renegade thing. It allowed for choices to not get locked into the appearance of being "good" and "bad" or a kind of set personality type. I like that Ryder gets a psychological profile and relationship bios that are updated as you progress.
I'm a huge fan of all the characters. They carry this game. I think their flaws are interesting and add depth to what's appealing about them. I think the voice performances are just fantastic across the board. I really loved how the NPCs interact with each other and that they have distinct and active relationships outside of Ryder, which is something we didn't really get for the Normandy crew until 3. I love that the Tempest is a small scouting vessel with a crew of 11 all sharing *one toilet*. It's a MIRACLE they are not actively trying to kill each other! Especially when you consider the Normandy was so big it had a whole staff you just straight up didn't really get to know, and Shepard's squadmates were sometimes actually trying to kill each other-- And they at least had three toilets!!
The male characters were written with a vulnerable emotional depth we rarely get to see, especially in video games, and especially in the Mass Effect universe. Hearing them openly talk about their emotions without deflection, and sometimes even gawking at the idea of deflection, was really refreshing. Its easy to get caught up in Alec's whole thing, but the themes of masculinity and fatherhood in other characters' stories (Drack, Vetra, Gil, Jaal, and Liam particularly) offers some nice balance and reflection to that narrative to the point I believe they are intentional supplements/foils to what Alec's got going on.
This game is PACKED with ambient dialogue and text, and it makes the world feel so alive. The message boards, emails, and data pads you find throughout are so good. The ones on the Tempest and New Tuchanka in particular are my favorites, but even the text you can pull up from the forward stations have some delightful little bits. It's unfortunate that ambient dialogue/banter can get cut off by the slightest thing, and the only workaround is to just stop dead in your tracks the second you hear someone talking, but I love listening to the dialogue. It's crazy to me how much made the cut to be recorded and put in the final product despite the known time crunch issues of the game's production.
I've always favored Bioware's map design over of a lot of open-world games, and this one isn't any different. Though I wish they were more fleshed out, there's a solid attempt at introducing different mechanics for different areas of the game to switch things up. I lament the loss of controlling squadmate powers, but the combat is still fun and I enjoy the fluidity of the class system for mechanical and narrative purposes. I really enjoy Remnant sudoku.
For all the flack Andromeda caught about bad animation, it has some of my favorite bits of animation in an AAA video game. For every awkward animation there is a wonderfully charming and well-done one. I wish I could get into specifics without spoilers, but there's a list of ones that get me every time. I've also always considered these cosmetic flaws to be a feature I enjoy in games. So what Ryder runs kind of weird up and down stairs? Geralt Witcher3 can't walk stairs very well either, yet that somehow never came up when people would compare the two.
Your mileage could greatly vary when it comes to the main story. Upon several replays (through the whole series), really getting into the codices, and reading the novels, I think they were setting up a lot of really cool things that expanded on the ideas of the first three. Cosmic horror, creationism, the integration of organic life and artificial intelligence, regulation vs deregulation, autonomy and self-governance, resilience against entropy and destruction. However, I can see how it could come off as half-baked, thoughtless, even irresponsible. It's not perfect. It's clearly rushed in places and unfinished. I don't really have a counter-argument to this as it does also deal with sensitive topics- specifically colonialism and genocide- where people's tolerance can vary significantly. While Ryder can be fairly principled about the problems you encounter, and can often speak out or refuse to be complicit, not everything is handled delicately. Sometimes you will say "Man, I wish I could do this other thing instead of the options I'm given." or "Oof, that could have been written A Bit Better." It struggles to balance the shoot-em-up gameplay with the Moral Questions. I take it as the necessary, but flawed, result of not hand-holding and spelling everything out for an M-rated open-world RPG that can only offer so many variables, but not everyone feels that way, nor do they have to.
With all that said, this is just one of those games I keep coming back to and finding something new to love about it or a detail that illuminates something in an entirely new way. I think it's a shame that as far as we know, subsequent sequels have been cancelled. Much like ME1, the ending left me ready for more.
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Ohhhhh my god I feel you on this whole bc shot thing. I've been on it for a little over two years because I'm trans and getting my period was so bad for my emotional wellbeing I had to do something. I didn't wand an IUD, and I forget to take my medication a lot so the pill wasn't ideal. I was told by two different obgyns that they wouldn't consider removing the uterus becsuse at the time I was only 21 and ""What if you chsnge your mind!!!"" 🙄🙄🙄🙄 so I really dint have a whole lot of options.
On one hand I like not having to worry about the whole thing for 10/11 weeks at a time but on the other hand I also really like not having feeble bones! I've been taking calcium supplements but the pills are huge and I worry it isn't covering the issue entirely. I don't get enough calcium to begin with becsuse I can't drink milk and stuff, so I worry that it's a bandage on a knife wound so to speak.
Last time I was at the clinic for my shot I raised the issue again and the doctor there was like "wait you're literally trans and have no plans for children why the hell don't we just get rid of it????" And I'm just sitting there like why the fuck did the last two people I see not give me this option!?
Anyways I need to discuss the idea more with her but oh oh to get this fucking thing out of me....oh to dream....
Sorry rambling in your asks but this sucks and I sure hope we both get the cool fun and fresh resolution :)
oh my god anon, i feel you. i've been on it for...almost 5 years now? I think around August 2019 is when I started it finally. It was unfortunately the only option we could find for me. I actually can't have any bc that has actual estrogen in it because of my high blood pressure and the family history of blood clots. And like, at first it was fine and dandy! I was okay with it because after 7 weeks of a heavy cycle I was so exhausted and just ready for it to be over. And it's been gone! pretty regularly for the last several years.
Sometimes if I'm incredibly stressed it will sneak up on me but it's like, leagues better than it was. Max 3 days and barely anything at all. So, very manageable for someone who y'know. had it much worse (to the point it would cause my iron to drop significantly all the time).
I hate obgyns who refuse to do things because "you might regret it later on" like, no actually I think I'll regret having this thing inside my body I don't intend to use and having to stay on the shot for the rest of my life. I'm in a same-sex relationship, I don't ever intend to physically carry a child, I just want the thing gone lmao. I've told obgyns that in the past and yet they still insisted on telling me that I might "regret" it.
So, my surgeon did mention that viactiv is a good supplement, which is apparently a chocolate calcium chew haha. My biggest concern is that I have osteoarthritis and being over 30 now, my bone density doesn't come back as fast as it does for someone in their 20s. My doctor is also concerned about it too. I mean like also the weight gain is terrible too, like holy shit it's been the worst (strong ass bc, strong ass side effects I GUESS)
THOUGH APPARENTLY there is a bone density therapy that they can do which will help with keeping your bones strong. I didn't know about it and no one ever thought to mention it to me when they started talking about my bone density lmao. Normal Calcium supplements make me extremely nauseous and I can't take them, so I just stopped lmao.
And I think from there, that's when I sort of decided I wanted to look into getting rid of my uterus for good. Like, I don't plan to have kids, I don't need it. Why should I continue this shot, why should I keep putting myself through this.
Also, idk if you've experienced it, or if its just because I been on it for so long or if it's something else entirely, but in place of the period I just get cramps :) really bad ones :) it's great and what I've always wanted from bc haha.
honestly that's a good doctor, why haven't they suggested it sooner? Literally the surgeon I'm seeing is, ironically, the first obgyn I saw when I switched insurances and go to where I go now, and from the beginning she was like "you're in a monogamous same-sex relationship whenever you want the surgery we can just take care of that" and idk I wasn't in the right place then, I think, to consider it.
yeah it's a long process from my understanding, we're building a case right now, as my surgeon called it, gonna have some imaging stuff done, a few more tests and then we'll set the date and just. remove it. thankfully, no early menopause for me (ironically the One Thing i was most worried about?? I don't know, I've got so much going on, I didn't want to even consider dealing with menopause bc guess what the treatment for that is-- the same damn shot I'm trying to escape lmao)
ANON!!! I wish the best for both of us!!! Let me know how things go!! (if you're comfortable!!)
#menstruation tw#anon asks#anon you never gotta apologize for rambling in my asks pls know that im always here to talk <3#i am dealing with the same thing you are it seems (the hell shot)#weight tw
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2022 retrospection to come later, tonight we complain about tonight.
- I’m in one of those situations where I’m mildly annoyed that no one invited me for any sort of New Year’s event, which is almost certainly because they either know I had surgery, or know I hate crowds, or both, so I would have turned down any invitations anyways (and thus certainly didn’t take the initiative myself to invite anyone else to hang out) but that’s not the point, is it now. Maybe part of it is that I’m also being forced to reflect on the fact that my previous New Years in Taipei were both spent with my ex when we were friends, ugh. I am going to remedy all of this by taking my cranky ass for a walk soon, possibly involving a treat from 7-11, followed by coming home and getting very snuggly in bed and going to sleep at a reasonable hour.
- I also can’t be too upset today because I finally hassled my Australian bank into refunding a fraudulent transaction from April that I only noticed this month because I rarely use or check the account (yeah, technically my fault), but listen to this- I also contacted the vendor to bolster my evidence after the bank investigation initially ruled that I’d been aware of the transaction and I needed to escalate the dispute, and the vendor said they’d been contacted by the card issuer and forced to reimburse the funds back in April! It was also a purchase made in-person in the US, while I have been firmly situated in Taiwan and in possession of the card in question this whole time. The case manager for my dispute mentioned nothing of this aspect, and only reiterated that the bank was still ruling this my fault and giving a one-time refund. Something seems fishy here.
- I spent today doing all the homework I’ve been ignoring for the past two weeks. Oh, my brain. I’m worried going back to class is gonna put me back on the fast train to headache-land too. I’m only doing this for the residency permit at this point. Theoretically if I took one more semester (which I’d have to find a new school for, because mine is ending my level after this) I could finally get that student work permit I thought I could get at 6 months in, and health insurance too. However, I generally do not even have the energy to go back outside after getting home from class, much less work a part-time job. It would be much more effective to just get a proper job, which would also give me residency and health insurance (and a start on accumulating points for permanent residency application). I know I can do this, I just have to first convince myself I want to do it, which is a whole other can of worms.
- On a positive note, my recovery is going incredibly well, so well in fact that I have to suspect my appeal at the angry ghost temple actually had something to do with it, and thus I should make haste and fulfill my end of the bargain, which partly involves sacrificing my long and luxurious rattail braid, chockers with many years of accumulated spiritual power I was saving for precisely this kind of thing, cause that’s clearly irresistible to spirits, right. (I really am attached to it, pun not intended- it has to be a meaningful sacrifice after all.) Perhaps a bit of ritual would be a fitting way to round off a year already quite full of casting off old fears, and other unexpected things.
#tbh i do not know what i'm supposed to do with it after#leave it at the temple? throw it in the sea? bury it on a mountaintop?#wear it as a necklace?#suggestions please
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1 Year
Today marks the anniversary of being Diagnosed with Diabetes. I had been feeling shitty for quite some time beforehand and in retrospective, the signs were all symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes.
Theres no weaselling out of responsibility, taking the easy way out of blaming genetics or unfortunate circumstances, the diabetes was a devil of my own making. A result of imcredibly destructive and unhealthy lifestyle choices over a prolonged time.
I still remember the day My gp's asistant called and insisted on a fast appointment. It was a bit unusual, I just thought it would be another "be aware of the future impact of your choices" pep talknfro my doc. It wasnt, he flatout, no mercy smacked the diagnosis into my face. An incredibly harsh, yet effective wakeup call. Instantly Inwent home, poured all tge coke in my fridge into the toilet (bottles were opened and prepared withnfreshly squeezed lime juice, the closed ones i had i donated to a coworker) and gave away all overly unhealthy food items i had in my possession.
Called and made a Diabetologist appointment the next morning. hbpa 11 % Hardcore bad. I was enrolled in a course for Type 2 Diabetics, I had to attend once a week over a few months. I learned the basics and got taught a few tricks and was told that for starters, just switching out things for healthy alternatives is fine, change needs to come slow, carefully. I was probably the only one who 100% religiously followed the courses lessons and brought weekly blood sugar measurement values in.
What was the most incredibly hard to pull off change was carbs. You dont realize how carb heavy your diet is until you look to change it. I tried to keep my pure carb content at 100g daily, maximum!!! That led me to stick with a very heavy protein and low fiber diet. Naturally that took only a short time till that caused a whole row od side issues i still struggle with now (to a much lesser degree, but still).
This april things hit a dead stop and over a period of 1 month I hit the lows and highs of digestive problems too grtesque, horrifying and panful to publically disclose. It was at times so bad it drove me to a place too dark too describe. But witg perseverance, help from my friends, physicians and even coworkers I made it through that time aswell.
I stll occasionally struggle with issues and have a bad say now and again, often to the detriment of my mental state. But thats also something I am now seeing someone about.
One year later from the startbof everything, I sit in my favorite cafe and reflect. It was an insanely eventful and difficult year. A year defined by willpower, change, endurance, struggle, pain but also by health, new perspective and positivity. All in all, I think its been a rather positive change altogether. I lost more than 60 kg over this year and my hbpa is now 4.8% (really excellent for a diabetic) and even my blood pressure has stabilized by alot.
I thank my friends, family, coworkers, therapists and all physicians who stood by me during this difficult time. I sincerely could not have done it wthout all of you. As I sit here in my cafe, I lift my triple espresso (no milk foam) and have a cup for all of you and hope for a better future and more positive change in the coming times.
So take it from me: always have enough fiber in your diet and use healthy alternatives wherever possible (wholegrain pasta instead of white flour)
#my journey#skunk furry#health#inspiration#thank you#thankful#diabetes#lifestyle#diet changes#willpower#bright future#balanced diet#cafe#espresso
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2022 Writing Evaluation
ah well well well thank u to my dear friends @calumsash,@igarbagecannoteven and @burstingsunrise for tagging me! very intruiged to see what this year's one's gonna reveal.
numbers of stories posted on ao3: 11! therefore a bit more than 2021.
word count for this year: that's a bit tricky bc ao3 counts my unfinished fic into this year as a whole so imma have to calculate a bit... 88 k for the independent fics and 14 chapters which are abt... 50 k for Days in the sun. Ergo 138,000 words! Estimated.
fandoms i wrote for: 5SOS!
pairings: cake! but i do have some muke in the making. (somewhere in the far future.)
story with the most kudos/bookmarks/comments: (leaving dits aside) to my own surprise, the right shade of blue really seemed to resonate with a lot of people (shoutout to luke's makeup you really have power apparently), perfect fit has the most comments and of lovers and friends got bookmarked the most (it has the most hits from these three as well so it figures i guess)
work i'm most proud of: hmmmm. of lovers and friends is one of my angstier works and the one where i think i really conveyed what luke goes through quite well. a different story is perfect fit though. i love that one bc it's so simple and light but so effective. but also shoutout to molly's bday fic the hues of me and you bc i wanted to write that fic for so long and i do like how it turned out despite it being quite different from what i normally write
work i'm least proud of (and why): there's no work i'm not moderately proud of bc i rarely finish fics and only finish them when i really do like them if that makes sense? my biggest problem is still my writing style bc i'm not yet sure i like it. which is probably any writer's problem but especially with english being not my native language i just KNOW i lack a certain... confidence in what i write bc i know it could be better, and could have more flow, and be more natural than it is. i write fics with three translators open, looking up every third word trying to find the one that not only makes sense but also gives it... the right vibe. that's something that bothers me with any fic. this is also a problem with days in the sun bc i post it as i write, and i just know that if i waited to finish it and edited it as a whole and only then posted it i might have done some things differently, but on the other hand, i also know it wouldve never seen the light of day, so... you win some, you lose some.
share or describe a favourite review you received: oh my god okay right yeah. there've been several to be clear but i'll keep it short so. once upon a time team @4thbrighteststar read of lovers and friends (actually, more on that later) and i wasn't thinking abt it too much after it was posted but then. one day i got a message from team, and lo and behold. it was a song. a song that fit the fic. i was SCREAMING on the inside. absolutely screeching. TEAM WROTE THAT SONG AND THEN SENT IT TO ME ALL CASUAL LIKE THATS NOT INCREDIBLE. burned into my brain for all eternity. i could talk abt it much more but this is already getting so long so ILY TEAM THANK U ONCE MORE ILY
a time when writing was really, really hard: can i just say 2022? /hj no but in all honesty... i had a REALLY hard time last year. i had much less time than the year before, and when i did have time, i rarely could get myself to actually sit down and write. and on top of that there is of course not much engagement with my fics anyway so at times i was very discouraged, almost to the point that i wanted to stop writing... so, yeah. i try not to pressure myself as much this year, but we'll see, i guess.
a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: actually, a lot of my fics are products of 'i'm just the writer i don't control what happens'. one funnier case though is probably football player luke in the hues of me and you. i never thought to make luke a football player bc it sounds so cliché but... as you can see it happened! and i think that's okay. i think i wrote him well enough.
a favourite excerpt of your writing: there's the hardest questions of them all, ah yes. fine. i'll actually try this time. AH yes okay yk what i got one:
i put more humor than usual into only on thursdays and i really like its lighthearted vibe <3 this isn't necessary my favourite scene but i also can't remember anything i wrote ever so it'll do lol
12. how did you grow as a writer this year? did i? i have no idea. i think i'm getting more confident in my writing with every fic i write, which is good. i've been more determined to work on my fics in terms of editing them after finishing, which i've been lousy with.
13. how do you hope to grow next year? hm... i hope i'll grow more confident. i hope i'll become more satisfied with my work.
14. who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc.)?
@burstingsunrise it would be ridiculous not to mention molly although i technically don't even talk to her about my writing that explicitely. i do however constantly ask her dumb questions and always get a more or less serious answer, i can always come to her for advice or throwing around any and all ideas i ever get. she's also been a real cheerleader to me whenever i'm insecure abt my writing again which i really, really appreciate. on top of the usual amount of appreciation obviously
i also have to mention @the-girl-who-cried-wolf bc she's inspired me lots of times, be it with her moodboards and blog/aesthetic, her own writing or something else. also my biggest cheerleader, love u emma.
dearest team @4thbrighteststar for her support on of lovers and friends. the fic would've never been as good as it is without her.
lastly i have to mention @sophelkopter (/ @sophelkopter on ao3) bc i simply wouldn't have kept going with dits without their comments. eternal gratitude.
15. anything from your real life show up in your writing this year? oh yeah! for sure.
16. any new wisdom you can share with other writers? just keep writing. and write EVERYTHING DOWN. that's all i got but also the most important two rules
17. any projects you're looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year? i finally want to write MUKE and i want to write ballet cake and i'd love to write the stranger things au. most importantly, however: i will finish days in the sun this year. soon. no idea how soon, but soon, and just thinking about it makes me want to cry lol
18. tag some writers whose answers you'd like to read: hm not sure who might've not done it already so this is pure guessing but i'd like to read something from @carouselstars and @the-girl-who-cried-wolf and then anyone else who would like to do this!
#this was a lot! but it was nice to do#i feel like this probably comes across a little too negative at times but i am grateful for the last year and what it brought#um....#aria.talks#?#writer things
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Ooooh Austen talk!! I basically want to know ALL your opinions but that is very vague, haha, so okay - how has watching/reading them all so close together affected your opinion of the adaptations? Are there any patterns or choices you've noticed that make some adaptations work and not others?
Sarah! All the Austen talk. You know how I love it. I did not realize how long I was going to make this, so the second question is under the cut.
1. How has watching/reading them all so close together affected your opinion of the adaptations?
In the case of Emma as well as Sense and Sensibility (and I'll be curious to see if this happens when I watch all three versions of Persuasion together) watching them in quick succession basically creates a microscope effect where the differences that go beyond aesthetic and into interpretation pop. You see those distinctions all the more clearly when watched closely together.
For exmple, the nature of the relationship between Emma and Knightley is vastly different from one interpretation to the next. In the Kate Beckinsale-Emma, Knightley and Emma have this very antagonistic combative relationship. They don't spar as much as fight and yell. Knightley delivers almost all his lines yelling, actually. I told @best-laid-plaids that it was Knightley as Rochester. Whereas GP-Emma and Knightley manage to strike this tone of "friends from college slept together once, and 10-years later they still sometimes imagine the other peron naked", if that makes any sense. In the 2009 version, their relationship feels very lived in; like they really have known one another their entire lives. And in 2020 it is pretty clear from the start that they are very attracted to one another, but maybe don't know what to do with that.
(JLM's little point before he waves is so cute, my goodness.)
This microscope effect also calls to attention those details that remain from one version to the next as well as those that are altered. In the 19996 Kate Beckinsale version, as Knightley holds his niece, he says to Emma something like "I once held you this way." Again, when Knightley proposes, they bring it up. Emma says something like "do you like me as well now as when I was a child?" Now...is a version of that in the book? Yes. Is it an odd choice to keep in a 90s film adaptation? Also yes. It's noticeably the only Emma adaptation that is this explicit about the age difference. When you pair that with the Rochesterification of Knightley (™ @best-laid-plaids) and the highly combative relationship between Emma and Knightley, it's hard not to infer that between Andrew Davies' script and Diarmuid Lawerence's direction, they wanted to depict a more aggressive relationship where part of the attraction for Emma and Knightley was the large age difference. Other adaptations gloss over the ickiness of the age difference - this one embraces it.
There's a YouTube compilation of all four proposal scenes, and I think watching them one right after the other you see this even more clearly.
That all brings me to your second question.
2. Are there any patterns or choices you've noticed that make some adaptations work and not others?
Yes, absolutely, and I think it really comes down to this question: what have the screenwriter/director decided are problems with the source texts and how have they decided to go about resolving them?
Okay, so bear with me here, but it reminds me of the live action Disney Beauty and the Beast movie that came out several years ago. It was like the writers/directors of that movie consumed every clickbaity "This is why Beauty and the Beast is the WORST Disney movie" video they could find, and wrote a live action script that specifically addressed every one of the concerns. Lindsay Ellis has an incredible video breaking this down. Oh! according to the animated version, the prince was turned into the beast as an 11-year old. "DON'T WORRY! WE FIXED THAT!" Okay...cool. We were fine, though? That movie is obsessed with fixing problems that aren't problems.
I think when you watch so many Austen adaptations, the nature of the 'problems' adaptations are trying to fix become quite apparent.
Are the Austen heroines too passive and beholden to the whims of the men in their lives? Don't worry! We'll fix that by showing they are actually active and cuttingly witty (Fanny Price in both 1999 and 2007, Anne Elliot in 2022). Also, we'll make it clear the heroine doesn't hold very much affection for her sucky family (Emma in 2020, Anne in 2022, Fanny in 1999/2007). Are the male heroes seemingly lackluster? No problem. Just have them physically threaten the rake character (Colonel Brandon in 2008), chop firewood and ride angrily (Edmund in 2008), be more overtly jealous to show they have FEELINGS (Knightley in 2020), etc. etc. etc. Are you worried the audience isn't going to understand why a hero/heroine pursued one person and then quickly pursued another? Might I suggest giving a very long subplot to a side character to further explain their POV (Frank Churchill in 2009), or maybe make it clear the hero/heroine had no interest actually (Wentworth in 2022), or imply that the current suitor is better b/c they will help fix a deficiency in our hero/heroine's character (Colonel Brandon will 'tame' Marinne according to 2008, Knightley is the only one who can handle Emma in KB-1996, Fanny was the perfect woman all along and Edmund actually loved her the whole time in 1999/2007 but also she's a little prettier now)?
Look. I don't really know if there's a way to make a completely faithful Austen adaptation. Her books end quite abruptly, everything is wrapped up quickly with little explanation, and they often include a series of flash forwards that can be quite jarring. She also introduces side characters that can easily lift out but also communicate vital information and all of that exposition has to be accounted for somehow. It's very tricky! In order to bring all of that to a visual medium you have to make choices and decisions, and sometimes that means adding things and sometimes that means deleting things. You're worried that the audience won't understand the heroine's motives? Sure! Take Austen's prose and use that as the heroine's thoughts/intentions (Fanny in 1999, GP-Emma in 1996, Emma in 2009, Anne in 2022). I might not agree with the choices of what is attributed to a character's thoughts each and every time, but I understand the mechanism. It's more with extratextual inclusions (Anne and Frederick have a very long DTR talk in 2022, for example) where I question whether these writers/directors are solving problems or unintentionally creating new ones.
You know what happens when you make Fanny Price super active and verbally willing to spar with anyone? Her outright rejection of Henry Crawford makes little sense and her stalwart love for Edmund makes even less. What happens when you have Wentworth and Anne analyze where their relationship went wrong? You suck all dramatic tension from their relationship. What happens when you spend a lot of time psychoanalyzing Frank Churchill and drawing out his man pain? You're elliding Austen's point that wealthy men who are well connected act impulsively simply because they can and rarely think of the consequences.
#much like jane austen...I bring my text post to a sudden and rapid end#lavellenchanted#this is mostly nonsense sarah!#maybe something in there resonates?#austen adaptations
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Billy Idol talks upcoming pre-Super Bowl show, recent Hoover Dam performance, working on a new album
LOS ANGELES
Billy Idol normally takes advantage of riding his motorcycle on the open road knowing there’s hardly any traffic because millions are usually glued to watching the Super Bowl.
But this year, Idol’s bike won’t be leaving his garage on game day. Instead, the legendary British rocker will be strolling on stage to headline a pre-game concert in Las Vegas ahead of the big game on Feb. 11 just outside Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL’s two best teams face off.
Idol, 68, is expected to perform some of his biggest hits including “Dancing with Myself” “Mony Mony” and “Rebel Yell” during a 35-minute set on two different stages at On Location's Club 67 and Touchdown Club in front of nearly 9,000 anticipated guests. It’s the second time the singer has taken part in a pre-Super Bowl show after he rocked out with Miley Cyrus three years ago outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
In a recent interview, Idol exclusively chatted with The Associated Press about his Super Bowl halftime aspirations, the inspiration behind his Hoover Dam show, if he would ever consider doing Broadway and looking to soon release his first studio album in a decade.
Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: What will be your mentality heading into your show hours before the Super Bowl?
IDOL: It’s about adding excitement to the event. You’re pumping people up. That’s a fun feeling. You can tell the people are excited, what’s going to happen and you’re entertaining them in those moments before it really happens.
AP: Would you ever want to perform during Super Bowl halftime?
IDOL: That would be incredible. But I don’t know. It would be fantastic, but I cannot imagine me being asked to do it. It would be great. I’d love to do it. It would be amazing if it involved some other artists or a combination of people. That would be great. It would be one of the craziest things in the world to play. Everybody in the country watches it. Playing the pregame for me is good. Pumping people up before it and getting them ready is kind of a fun thought.
AP: You celebrated the 40th anniversary of your album “Rebel Yell” and had a five-night residency in Las Vegas last year. How does it feel to have your music still resonating today?
IDOL: When we were starting out, I couldn’t have imagined the effect of (our) music. We were living one day at a time. The songs were for that time period. They were just for that moment. You weren’t thinking about any long-term effects. You’re just thinking right now. But the songs have legs. It’s like “Wow, people have really embraced this crazy idea I had years ago.” They’re still enjoying it, and I am too. Who would have thought that 40 years later? I’m still pinching myself.
AP: You released a couple EPs and recently rereleased “Rebel Yell.” Will you drop any new music soon?
IDOL: We have a new album coming out in October this year. We’re still carrying on and enlarging what my music is about. I enjoy doing it. Me and (guitarist) Steve (Stevens) are still finding ways to excite ourselves. We’re not out there going through the motions. We’re actually out there taking prisoners. That’s how we feel.
AP: How far along are you in the process?
IDOL: We’ve got most of it recorded with just some finishing touches. We’re doing a cover. We’re thinking about videos and all the promotional things that go along with it. There’s a lot of stuff we’re going to be thinking about this year. But. .... playing at the Super Bowl, that’s pretty fantastic.
AP: You have a built-in fanbase. With your new album, have you taken a different approach musically with your upcoming project compared to past works?
IDOL: Not really. We’re bouncing off our last album “Kings & Queens of the Underground.” We did that in England and had strings on it. With this, we tried to make a lot more of an up-tempo album. There are nine songs and six of them are up-tempo. Three of them are kind of slower. It’s more of a youthful sounding record. I think it’ll allow our audience to have a lot of fun.
AP: What inspired you to perform at Hoover Dam?
IDOL: It was something like I would see in movies when I was a child. There was an Alfred Hitchcock movie (“Saboteur”) that referenced Hoover Dam. There was another film “711 Ocean Drive” that ended on the Hoover Dam. You know, it had a shootout. For someone like me, growing up in England, I saw this iconic place in movies then I got to play in front of it. Hoover Dam was right behind me with my logo on it, which was insane.
AP: Are there any other locations like Hoover Dam where you would like to perform?
IDOL: Mount Rushmore. I couldn’t have ever imagined Hoover Dam, so now the world is my oyster. There’s the incredible Crazy Horse statue that’s carved out in the Black Hills. We can play anywhere. Nothing can stop us.
AP: Have you ever thought about doing Broadway?
IDOL: Of course, we have. We haven’t quite worked out our direction. We’ve had several different ideas we’ve sort of fielded. Nothing has come to fruition yet. As you can see, they’re doing Prince’s “Purple Rain” on Broadway, so it’s not out of the question that we would do one. It’s just been sort of trying to work out how to do it. That’s what’s fun about having a catalog. It does resonate with a lot of people and there are possibilities like that in the future.
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and on the twelth day of reviewmas I, Fausto, give to thee:
one of 12 instances of elder abuse
11 yawns
my 10 remaining brain cells after this shitty movie jfc
9 instances this show reminded me of a better show
an 80s cult movie
7 lgbt main characters in an incredibly queer manga like holy shit
6 ye olde government agents
5/5 stars best movie of the decade easily. might be the best movie of all time
4 scantily clad teenaged girls (fbi open up! meme)
the 3rd time i read the same book about lawns maybe?
2 high school animes
and a ninja book
…from a guy who still thinks about the naruto series in the year 2024
corrective measures
part way through this movie the person i was watching it with asked “is this a remake of cool hand luke but with super powers?” and the very next line out of the evil warden was “what we have here is fucking failure to fucking communicate”
um, other than that it wasn’t very good. probably the best performance was done by the people doing the fake news segments. the special effects were good and cheesy, but it was very…. post production. like a lot of the actors you could tell were just told to go “blargh!” and then fake fight and their super powers were going to be edited in later and like they weren’t told what said super powers would be.
i suppose there was a bit of commentary about power and corruption… but only in the corporate promotional world. there’s also a wee bit of commentary of prison reform, but only in the neo liberal approved “people with misdemeanors shouldn’t be locked up alongside murderers” kind of way. and a wee bit of commentary on how cops are probably psychologically fucked up, but the only one that gets explored is the asian lady cop, not the white guys.
also, the black lady taking over as the warden doesn’t feel right. i mean the entire premise of a black woman working very hard to become a prison warden doesn’t feel right. i mean i’m pretty sure it’s racist but i’m not really sure why? maybe it’s just a hollow version of the asian cop lady thing where the hard ass cop who is a piece of shit is neither white nor a man, so clearly these people aren’t as bad as if they were white men, so the audience will think they’re a good guy. like i think we’re supposed to think that the prison won’t be torturing the inmates anymore because a black woman is in charge. and like, kamala harris is the proof that having a black woman in charge doesn’t end the need for prison abolition.
it’s one of the 12 movies bruce willis did in 2022, only to retire from film making in 2023 due to dementia. honestly, it shows. i truly wonder why he was acting these last few years. i mean, i checked his wikipedia page to remember what medical condition he was retiring from and it states that in 2021 for one of the films he was in his role was reduced and his lines abreviated and filming had to be done in one day. and yet for some reason, the poor guy was in 12 movies throughout 2022 and as of retiring in 2023 there are still 11 films that he was in that haven’t come out yet. methinks the family did a wee bit of elder abuse.
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Hey listen, I’ve NEVER been one to keep up on a blog. Or a journal. Or any type of writing. But here we are, embarking on yet another weight loss journey. So I’m going to write about it. Keep myself held accountable, if you will. My mama suggested it and I think it could help. Backstory? Sure. Thanks for asking. Haha.
I’ve been overweight most of my life. Definitely all of my adult life. I was thin and healthy once. I was 16. Went to the gym twice a day. Fit into a size 11. Trust me, with my bone structure…that’s a very small size. I wore the BEST prom dress. I was healthy. Then BAM, at 17, I decided to take an antibiotic to help clear a TINY bit of acne. 3 weeks later I was in the hospital. Then diagnosed with Intracranial Hypertension as a side effect of the antibiotic. Unreal. To be honest I’m still in shock. I’m almost 30. Anyway, this rocked my world. More pills and side effects than I care to go into. Landed myself in the ICU for a little while. So much crap, really. Too much to go into and it gets boring and redundant anyway. Flash forward 23 SUCCESSFUL spinal taps and like 150 pounds. I’ve gotten married, made two incredible humans, and moved across the country multiple times. We moved to California to save my life with medical marijuana. It truly did save my life. It lowers the spinal fluid that took my vision and hearing. Did I mention I was blind, deaf, and bed-ridden in Texas? No? Missed that. Sorry. Anyway. California changed my life. Then we moved to Colorado about 4 years ago. Since then my weight has just been getting higher in number. I was put on medications for Bipolar Disorder. Thank you, Jesus. Because it helps immensely. But WOW the amount of weight it made me gain is unbelievable. So here we are. Day one of a new way of eating. Small…I mean…tiny portions. Nutrisystem actually. If you’ve never heard of it, look it up because I’m not really going to explain everything about it. But the basic idea is that eating LESS will help you lose weight. If I’m being totally honest with this blog, I’ve considered weight loss surgery. This is my last effort before seriously considering bigger, more unsafe things to lose weight. I figure I can’t die eating less food. I CAN die having weight loss surgery. I CAN from weight loss drug side effects too. So Nutrisystem it is. For now. Soon I will teach my body to eat less and I can meal plan on my own. But at this point, I’ve already tried this on my own. And it’s literally too hard. That may seem ridiculous but my body is overweight and so tired and quite sick. From EDS to the IH, I suffer massive amounts of pain that medical marijuana can’t even touch. I KNOW I can help some of that pain by losing weight. Here we go. Time to lose some of this and feel better. I’ll write everyday, or at least TRY to. Today I ate. And that’s good enough. I’m not going to eat butterfingers and Rice Krispies tonight before bed like normal. And that’s good enough too. These changes are HUGE and I can’t wait to see what the scale says about it all at the end of the week! Today I ate a Turkey sausage and egg English muffin, meatball “hot pocket”, four cheese manicotti, and chocolate cheesecake. All of that sounds so good reading it. It really wasn’t that good. But it tastes better than like dying from being overweight. So. There’s that. Here’s some pictures from junior prom. That perfect dress I spoke of. I actually had gained 15 pounds like RIGHT before prom. But look. I was healthy once. Imagine that. Here’s me today. Not healthy. Still wearing pink. Haha.
#weight loss#nutrisystem#ih#EDS#birth#starting over#love#bipolar#california#Texas#colorado#medical maryjane#medical marijuana#blind#deaf#bedridden#overweight#health#sickness
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9/11
I may not have been even a year of age when it struck, but in my heart it stings, it burns my mind although I never saw it. That was the dreaded September day when everyone was equally terrified, equally devastated, equally shocked, and yet years later not all equally choose to remember the day. But it’s not only the day you’re supposed to remember, it’s the innocent lives that were lost, the brave souls risking themselves for the sake of others, the members of these innocents families who never knew what was to come, who never their entire world would completely fall in a single moment. The day those buildings crumbled, the day those planes were deliberately crashed into them, it’s incredible sad but the truth is it happened. The unfortunate reality is that there is nothing that can be said or done that can change what happened or who is gone. But what we can do is never forget what happened, we can remember and honor the heroes rushing into the rubble for the lives of others, the people who where lost to the collapsing flames. They deserve to be remembered, their families deserve to have their pain remembered and prayed for. You know it is said that everything happens for a reason and God always has a plan, I believe that as horrific, painful, and tragic that day was, its purpose now is to be a permanent reminder to us all what exactly the soldiers who risk their lives every day and night fight for. They fight for the people of America both living and not, that they may have peace in their lifetimes so that the ones above can see the people they love still free. It’s this part of history, this one moment where thousands of strangers joined together to cry, pray, and comfort each other, strangers who became brothers and sisters saving lives and risking their own. It’s these parts of history that makes me proud to be American, because only in America can an attack as terrible as this occur and because of the impact it still leaves 21 years later that young people like me can still feel the effects of all those strangers lives and know that for those horrendous moments all that mattered was keeping each other safe, so that a stranger could join in your pain.
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The Las Vegas Takeover: Teofimo Lopez Returns in Junior Welterweight Main Event Against Pedro Campa August 13
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Published: July 12, 2022
Lopez-Campa and Xander Zayas-Elias Espadas junior middleweight co-feature will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
U.S. Olympians Troy Isley and Duke Ragan are scheduled to appear on the ESPN+-streamed undercard
LAS VEGAS (July 11, 2022) — Teofimo Lopez took over the lightweight division. Now campaigning at junior welterweight, it is time for Operation: Take Back.
Lopez, the former lightweight champion, will face Mexican veteran Pedro “Roca” Campa in the 10-round main event Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Resorts World Event Center at Resorts World Las Vegas. In the eight-round junior middleweight co-feature, rising Puerto Rican star Xander Zayas steps up in class against Elias “Latin Kid” Espadas.
Lopez-Campa and Zayas-Espadas will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Top Rank, tickets starting at $40 go on sale Wednesday, July 13 at 12 p.m. PT and can be purchased at ETix.com.
“Teofimo Lopez has a clean bill of health and is ready to make noise at 140 pounds. It all starts with a difficult test in Pedro Campa,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Xander Zayas is a special young talent, and I expect him to put on another sensational performance. Top Rank looks forward to another fantastic night of boxing at Resorts World Las Vegas.”
Lopez (16-1, 12 KOs), a Brooklyn native who now resides in Las Vegas, makes his 2022 debut following a whirlwind past few years that saw him graduate from prospect to lightweight king. He became a viral sensation with a first-round, one-punch knockout over Mason Menard in December 2018. One year later, he captured the IBF world title with a second-round destruction over Richard Commey. Lopez became the unified and lineal lightweight champion in October 2020 with a unanimous decision over pound-for-pound legend Vasiliy “Loma” Lomachenko. Lopez’s lightweight reign came to a shocking end last November when George Kambosos Jr. climbed off the canvas to earn a split decision in what many experts called the Upset of the Year. Now at junior welterweight and fully recovered from assorted injuries, Lopez is set to conquer a second weight class.
“I’m thankful to be back August 13. I’ve been looking forward to this since my last fight,” Lopez said. “I’ve had a lot of complications, but we’re looking towards the future and are on to bigger and better things. I’m here to take over the 140-pound division just like I did at 135. Like always, I’m going to bring excitement to the sport of boxing. The Takeover is still in full effect. You don’t want to miss it.”
Campa (34-1-1, 23 KOs), fighting out of Hermosillo, Mexico, is unbeaten in eight fights since the lone loss on his ledger. He is conducting an eight-week camp in Southern California under the watchful eye of a new head trainer, Manny Robles, who led Oscar Valdez and Andy Ruiz (among many others) to world championship glory. Campa is coming off a third-round knockout over Carlos Sanchez Valadez, who entered the bout 22-0.
“I am excited and thankful to Top Rank and Teofimo Lopez for this opportunity. He is a tremendous fighter,” Campa said. “I am coming to Resorts World Las Vegas ready to implement everything I have learned with my incredible trainer, Manny Robles. We’ve been in Southern California working hard and preparing for the best version of Teofimo Lopez. I believe I can be a force at 140 pounds, and it’s up to me to show that on August 13.”
Zayas (13-0, 9 KOs), the 19-year-old phenom from San Juan, bolstered his status as one of boxing’s top prospects after going 6-0 in 2021. He knocked out durable veterans Larry Fryers and Dan Karpency and went the six-round distance against New Mexico native Jose Luis Sanchez. Zayas made his 2022 debut in March, going eight rounds for the first time with a shutout over Quincy LaVallais. His scheduled June 11 return was scrapped after he contracted a non-COVID-related viral infection. Zayas is healthy and primed to fight Espadas (22-4, 15 KOs), a native of Yucatan, Mexico, who has never been knocked out. He has not lost since a close 2018 decision to Olympic bronze medalist Yamaguchi Falcao.
Zayas said, “I can't wait to get back in the ring after what happened in June. That is all in the past, and I am 100 percent recovered. I want to thank all the fans for the support. That meant a lot and motivated me even more to train harder. On August 13, there will be a lot of fireworks between Puerto Rico and Mexico. You can count on that!"
In undercard action, streaming live on ESPN+:
Las Vegas-born junior lightweight contender Andres “Savage” Cortes (17-0, 10 KOs) steps up in an eight-round tilt against Abraham Montoya (20-3-1, 14 KOs). Cortes has won three straight fights by stoppage, including last August’s first-round blitzing of former world title challenger Genesis Servania. Montoya is coming off a razor-thin majority decision loss to top prospect Gabriel Flores Jr.
Featherweight U.S. Olympic silver medalist Duke Ragan (6-0, 1 KO), from Cincinnati, Ohio, returns in a six-rounder against fellow unbeaten D’Angelo Fuentes (7-0, 4 KOs).
Middleweight Troy Isley (6-0, 4 KOs), Ragan’s Olympic teammate from the Tokyo Games, will see action in a six-rounder against Victor Toney (6-1-1, 5 KOs). Isley knocked out Donte Stubbs in the sixth round in his last outing.
Lightweight prospect Charlie Sheehy (3-0, 3 KOs) makes his second pro appearance at Resorts World Las Vegas in a four-rounder, while Puerto Rican junior welterweight standout Omar Rosario (7-0, 2 KOs) will fight in a six-rounder.
In a featherweight battle scheduled for eight rounds, veteran contender Jose Enrique Vivas (21-2, 11 KOs) will take on Edy Valencia (19-7-6, 7 KOs).
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Eight months later and we're still going strong. Breastfeeding by exclusively pumping has become more rewarding and we've been incredibly thankful for the antibodies as we navigate the pandemic with a baby who can't wear a mask or get vaccinated from covid. There have been tough times -- teething times, sleepless nights, separation anxiety, going back to work...it's been tiring. I still get anxious and sad, but it's no longer related to postpartum issues. It's normal me now.
I love being a mother. I love my son and I love my family.
It is amazing how different right now is compared to our lives around 2 months and even 6 months. Life has grown, we are more comfortable as parents. Our boy is learning things and living life in gentleness.
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We're now at 9 months.
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My son is about to turn 1 year old and we are pregnant again...well I think. Im still exclusively pumping, but we are supplementing formula as needed. I'll be done in a few weeks and I'm very much so ready for the break.
As for the pregnancy, we have taken multiple pregnany tests, but the results keep getting lighter even though it's been a week after my first missed period. The first one was very strong. Made me think we were having twins by superstition! Since then, I've taken the tests later in the day so it could just be the urine is more diluted. This latest one was especially light but I had also just peed an hour prior so there wasn't much time to allow everything to be concentrated...or so I hope. I'm worried about an ectopic pregnancy. I'm worried we've miscarried...and we don't have an appointment until mid-May (4 weeks from now). I'm going to buy another pregnancy test tonight and retake it tomorrow morning, first thing. Hopefully the line is strong again and we're okay. I'll take solace in a stronger line for four weeks...especially if I start to feel side effects.
I'm also wondering since the nausea died down that we've definitely lost the baby. Maybe that was just implantation nausea like befire. I'm also not taking progesterone like I did last time so am I even able to nurture a baby in my womb without it? I don't know...
I feel like I'm overexerting myself since I'm now taking care of an 11 month old crawler who is attempting to walk. So am I just hurting the pregnancy?
I love being pregnant, but I hate the worry. I'm so tired of infertility...I don't want to go through that process again. I don't want to miscarry...I don't want an ectopic pregnancy. I just want a healthy pregnancy and I want to be able to accept assurance from God that everything will be safe.
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Honestly same man I get where your coming from, I only follow like a few people in this fandom. I enjoy the characters and everything and I make art about it cause its fun but the people are really weird most of the time.
Yeah, it's really sad too. Because there are some people too who seem so cool but then it's like Oop Surprise they ship Incest!! or something y'know?? and I just. I know for a fact they're not gonna budge by anyone else telling them to stop.
god i am so tired. if i seem aggressively angry it's because i am - i was one of those kids who was groomed into so much awful shit and suffered way more than i fuckin had to because of those types of freaks. so to say i hold a grudge is putting it Very lightly.
#idk man im so tired#nd elaboration on my whole ordeal with it: i was barely fucking 11 when i got into the fandom during like idk its peak or whatever.#there was so much less like. activism? against proshippers/pedos/etc too which was fuckin. awful. anyway.#i was stuck in that echo chamber for 5 fucking years. five. years. and i had to get out of it myself. because thats the mindset they get#all ohh ur just a hater!! xd and theyll plug their ears and ignore you. that's exactly how i was. and I only escaped because of#a few very close and good friends i still have today who were wonderful and patient and we basically grew together as people#bc of a fallout with the old group i used to hang with over some drama or smth. if that hadn't happened i might have never met my friends.#i fucking shudder to think about what ifs regarding that...#but yeah i have an incredibly strong stance on this . it still fucks with me today. a little over a decade later#fiction does absolutely effect reality. it effects people and then they hurt other people. and the cycle will continue#for god knows how long. i like to think maybe someday it'll end or st least become much less prominent...#my heart aches for all the people out there who have or are or will suffer at the hands of these people.#especially because a lot of them are adults who should fucking know better and they target kids who dont. i hate it so much.
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