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Hope y'all are doing well. Here is a particularly geeky update!
1. I had a really good trip home. It was wonderful to see my Mom and my Dad and stepmom. My Mom and I watched tons of movies together and talked a lot, which was great, and it was awesome to see her cats again. Especially her cat Hobbes, who we rescued years ago when he was stuck in the engine of someone's pickup truck. My Dad and my stepmom and I had a great time catching up as well, and Dad and I saw Super 8, which might be the first Abrams film I didn't end up disappointed by in some way. I'm really glad I got to take the trip.
2. Since I've been home I've been playing lots of fun video games. I won't mention what they are here yet because I'm going to put a lot of them in my next game review column (which I should finish sometime this week). But I will say that the day after I played one of them and said to myself "I definitely have to put this one in the game review column", I saw that PAX 10 had selected it as one of the best 10 indie games EVER, which made me feel proud in a very, very nerdy way.
3. Speaking of games, I'm taking advantage of the WoW "free to play for the first 20 levels" trial, because my mom thought it'd be awesome if played with her guild. Which is really amusing to me because 1. I'm the video game geek in the family and I've never played WoW 2. My mom is super high-level and plays all the damn time. Anyway, that sound be fun. I'm also playing Eternal Sonata now on our new PS3, AND have read a ton (mostly comics) in the last week. It's been a fun week, basically.
1. I had a really good trip home. It was wonderful to see my Mom and my Dad and stepmom. My Mom and I watched tons of movies together and talked a lot, which was great, and it was awesome to see her cats again. Especially her cat Hobbes, who we rescued years ago when he was stuck in the engine of someone's pickup truck. My Dad and my stepmom and I had a great time catching up as well, and Dad and I saw Super 8, which might be the first Abrams film I didn't end up disappointed by in some way. I'm really glad I got to take the trip.
2. Since I've been home I've been playing lots of fun video games. I won't mention what they are here yet because I'm going to put a lot of them in my next game review column (which I should finish sometime this week). But I will say that the day after I played one of them and said to myself "I definitely have to put this one in the game review column", I saw that PAX 10 had selected it as one of the best 10 indie games EVER, which made me feel proud in a very, very nerdy way.
3. Speaking of games, I'm taking advantage of the WoW "free to play for the first 20 levels" trial, because my mom thought it'd be awesome if played with her guild. Which is really amusing to me because 1. I'm the video game geek in the family and I've never played WoW 2. My mom is super high-level and plays all the damn time. Anyway, that sound be fun. I'm also playing Eternal Sonata now on our new PS3, AND have read a ton (mostly comics) in the last week. It's been a fun week, basically.
Well tomorrow I leave to go home to Virginia for a week! I'm so excited! I haven't seen my mom in years and I haven't seen my dad and stepmom in far too long. Plus I'll get to hang out with some old friends and go to my favorite places in my hometown.
Hope y'all have a good week!
ETA: In good news, it looks like I might be able to be a part of several paid studies in the coming months and also get paid to work at Chicago Pride (hopefully). It's not a full-time job, which in the end is what I'd really like best, but getting some extra money in for the household will be great. Plus at least one of the studies may help solve the mystery of the pain I've been experiencing on and off for six months now.
Hope y'all have a good week!
ETA: In good news, it looks like I might be able to be a part of several paid studies in the coming months and also get paid to work at Chicago Pride (hopefully). It's not a full-time job, which in the end is what I'd really like best, but getting some extra money in for the household will be great. Plus at least one of the studies may help solve the mystery of the pain I've been experiencing on and off for six months now.
Hello again!
1. Lately we've got a lot of new stuff around the house. We're working on building ourselves a new computer that we can use primarily as a gaming machine, so parts have been slowly coming in. This is great as the computer we have now really shouldn't be used for much more than surfing the web. Can't wait to play a game when we get the new computer set up and see how beautiful it looks!
We also picked up a new TV and it's friggin' gorgeous. Danny ordered an iPad for us. I also needed a new phone as my old one was falling apart. I use Virgin Mobile (which I'm very happy with, I only pay $25 a month for everything I could use minute-wise and unlimited data/texting), which unfortunately means that any phone that could be reasonably called "cheap" tends to be pretty useless. Since it wastes more money having to replace a phone relatively often, we went ahead and picked up an Android phone for me. My first smartphone! I just got it today and have been playing around with it obsessively. I love it!
2. Speaking of which if any of you are Android users and have app recommendations, please share them! I find the Marketplace somewhat overwhelming. I joined the Android group already, of course! So far I have:
1. Lately we've got a lot of new stuff around the house. We're working on building ourselves a new computer that we can use primarily as a gaming machine, so parts have been slowly coming in. This is great as the computer we have now really shouldn't be used for much more than surfing the web. Can't wait to play a game when we get the new computer set up and see how beautiful it looks!
We also picked up a new TV and it's friggin' gorgeous. Danny ordered an iPad for us. I also needed a new phone as my old one was falling apart. I use Virgin Mobile (which I'm very happy with, I only pay $25 a month for everything I could use minute-wise and unlimited data/texting), which unfortunately means that any phone that could be reasonably called "cheap" tends to be pretty useless. Since it wastes more money having to replace a phone relatively often, we went ahead and picked up an Android phone for me. My first smartphone! I just got it today and have been playing around with it obsessively. I love it!
2. Speaking of which if any of you are Android users and have app recommendations, please share them! I find the Marketplace somewhat overwhelming. I joined the Android group already, of course! So far I have:
3. I found a couple of interesting looking job postings that I'm qualified for last week and applied, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed there. Am also working on finding some local shops that I could work at at least part time while I look for something more permanent.
4. Life is pretty good otherwise, as usual. Sometime over the summer I'm taking a trip back home to Virginia, which will be wonderful. I haven't been home in almost four years and haven't seen my Mom in person during all that time. My Dad has visited a couple of times, which has always been fantastic. I miss home (I made the wallpaper on my phone an image of the Blue Ridge Mountains) and I'm excited to spend some time there again.
5. Though obviously this is my home too. Y'all know what I mean.
Wow, I haven't updated in nearly a month. Well, here goes!
1. Part of the missing updates has been because we've been having even MORE computer problems. Our computer shut down AGAIN (it did in January too), giving us the same blue screen errors for no explicable reason. Luckily we had a warranty with Best Buy. They got it back to us the other day. On top of that, with some of the extra money coming in we're spending a chunk of it on putting together a really good computer ourselves. We're getting parts coming in slowly and it'll be exciting to have a good gaming computer.
2. Things have been pretty good. Danny's dad visited this weekend and we went to see Thor (fun movie), and Danny gets to work from home today which is nice. Unfortunately for me, on Thursday he's heading back home to do some family stuff, so I'll be spending the weekend alone. I imagine it'll be fun the first night and then I'll feel kind of lonely.
3. Job searching still sucks. Today I find the first actually promising and interesting looking job I've found in weeks and weeks. I mean, I've still been applying for things but none of them seemed like they'd be anything I'd enjoy at all and instead would just be ways to make money. To be fair, I'm not a career-ambitious person so in the end any job would be mostly just a way to bring in money for me, but I'd at least like to enjoy myself somewhat. Hopefully something comes through with that because I am miserable about my unemployment.
4. This is a very boring update. I apologize.
1. Part of the missing updates has been because we've been having even MORE computer problems. Our computer shut down AGAIN (it did in January too), giving us the same blue screen errors for no explicable reason. Luckily we had a warranty with Best Buy. They got it back to us the other day. On top of that, with some of the extra money coming in we're spending a chunk of it on putting together a really good computer ourselves. We're getting parts coming in slowly and it'll be exciting to have a good gaming computer.
2. Things have been pretty good. Danny's dad visited this weekend and we went to see Thor (fun movie), and Danny gets to work from home today which is nice. Unfortunately for me, on Thursday he's heading back home to do some family stuff, so I'll be spending the weekend alone. I imagine it'll be fun the first night and then I'll feel kind of lonely.
3. Job searching still sucks. Today I find the first actually promising and interesting looking job I've found in weeks and weeks. I mean, I've still been applying for things but none of them seemed like they'd be anything I'd enjoy at all and instead would just be ways to make money. To be fair, I'm not a career-ambitious person so in the end any job would be mostly just a way to bring in money for me, but I'd at least like to enjoy myself somewhat. Hopefully something comes through with that because I am miserable about my unemployment.
4. This is a very boring update. I apologize.
I'm selling prints! I could use some extra cash (in that I have none) so I thought I'd sell these. They're the last prints I have so it's a one time offer! They're also all signed.
Prints are $20 each, shipping included, and you can pay by PayPal (or check if you want). They're all high quality and 11 X 8.5. I also promise super-fast shipping! Obviously they don't come with the watermark, that's just from the scan software I used. Here's what I'm selling:
Print 1:
Print 2 SOLD OUT
Print 3 SOLD OUT
I'm also selling the second SuicideGirls magazine. This copy looks brand new! I'm selling it for $20.
It's all first come, first serve. Comment here or PM me if you'd like to buy one!
Prints are $20 each, shipping included, and you can pay by PayPal (or check if you want). They're all high quality and 11 X 8.5. I also promise super-fast shipping! Obviously they don't come with the watermark, that's just from the scan software I used. Here's what I'm selling:
Print 1:
Print 2 SOLD OUT
Print 3 SOLD OUT
I'm also selling the second SuicideGirls magazine. This copy looks brand new! I'm selling it for $20.
It's all first come, first serve. Comment here or PM me if you'd like to buy one!
Situations in Which the "Both Sides Are Right" is Always Bullshit:
Those of you who know me know I have pretty strong opinions politically and that I lean pretty heavily to the left. I still try to be understanding of different perspectives. Which means there are many beliefs for which this is my basic opinion:
However, there are beliefs to me that will always be wrong, and they do not allow for any kind of compromise in my mind. In debates about many issues you tend to hear a lot of people try and diffuse any drama by saying "but both sides are kind of right" or "but both sides are kind of wrong". Here are the areas where I think there is really no gray area.
1. Gay rights. If you think being queer is wrong, YOU'RE wrong. Full stop, no compromise.
2. Women's rights. Again, if you think women shouldn't have equal rights, you're wrong. Full stop, no compromise. This includes bullshit victim-blaming when it comes to issues like harassment and sexual assault.
3. The right to choose. This is where I hear the most people try and find a common ground, but that's difficult to me. If we're defining people as either pro-choice or pro-life (or anti-choice) to me the latter side is always wrong. Let me say first that there is a difference between being personally pro life and being actively pro-life. I've heard people say they are personally pro-life because they themselves are not comfortable with the idea of abortion or would never get one, but they still think it should be legal. In that case, fair enough. I think that if that's your opinion you shouldn't have to insert it into every debate about the issue, because the "I think it should be legal but I would never EVER have one" can be a very shaming thing for women who have had or would have abortions to hear, but IMHO if you still think it should be legal you are still pro-choice. Which means I have no beef with you.
However, if you are actively pro-life, that means you want abortion to be illegal or severely restricted. And I'm sorry, but for me there is no middle ground there. If a person actively wants to restrict my rights to bodily autonomy? Wrong. Full stop. No compromise. I can't find some kind of happy medium when a person is telling me they think I should act as a walking incubator.
4. Programs that aid poor and disenfranchised people. I'm happy to debate where the money for these programs could come from and I respect a variety of opinions in that regard. But I have run across a few people that believe that people who are poor should never receive help and should just somehow find magical boostraps to lift themselves out of poverty. Most of these people have read too much Ayn Rand. Can you guess what I'm going to say here?
There are a few other things that fit into this Always Wrong category to me, but that's what I can think of off the top of my head right now.
Those of you who know me know I have pretty strong opinions politically and that I lean pretty heavily to the left. I still try to be understanding of different perspectives. Which means there are many beliefs for which this is my basic opinion:
However, there are beliefs to me that will always be wrong, and they do not allow for any kind of compromise in my mind. In debates about many issues you tend to hear a lot of people try and diffuse any drama by saying "but both sides are kind of right" or "but both sides are kind of wrong". Here are the areas where I think there is really no gray area.
1. Gay rights. If you think being queer is wrong, YOU'RE wrong. Full stop, no compromise.
2. Women's rights. Again, if you think women shouldn't have equal rights, you're wrong. Full stop, no compromise. This includes bullshit victim-blaming when it comes to issues like harassment and sexual assault.
3. The right to choose. This is where I hear the most people try and find a common ground, but that's difficult to me. If we're defining people as either pro-choice or pro-life (or anti-choice) to me the latter side is always wrong. Let me say first that there is a difference between being personally pro life and being actively pro-life. I've heard people say they are personally pro-life because they themselves are not comfortable with the idea of abortion or would never get one, but they still think it should be legal. In that case, fair enough. I think that if that's your opinion you shouldn't have to insert it into every debate about the issue, because the "I think it should be legal but I would never EVER have one" can be a very shaming thing for women who have had or would have abortions to hear, but IMHO if you still think it should be legal you are still pro-choice. Which means I have no beef with you.
However, if you are actively pro-life, that means you want abortion to be illegal or severely restricted. And I'm sorry, but for me there is no middle ground there. If a person actively wants to restrict my rights to bodily autonomy? Wrong. Full stop. No compromise. I can't find some kind of happy medium when a person is telling me they think I should act as a walking incubator.
4. Programs that aid poor and disenfranchised people. I'm happy to debate where the money for these programs could come from and I respect a variety of opinions in that regard. But I have run across a few people that believe that people who are poor should never receive help and should just somehow find magical boostraps to lift themselves out of poverty. Most of these people have read too much Ayn Rand. Can you guess what I'm going to say here?
There are a few other things that fit into this Always Wrong category to me, but that's what I can think of off the top of my head right now.
Hanna was pretty awesome, and I definitely recommend it. Saoirse Ronan is a great young actress and of course Cate Blanchett is always fantastic (though whether it was deliberate or not her Southern accent was kind of painful), plus the cinematography is interesting and different. Oh, and the girl who plays Hanna's British friend is hilarious.
Life is good, but there's not much exciting to write about going on. Not that I'm complaining.
My current obsessions are reading Machine of Death and watching My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic. Yup, that's right. Don't you judge me. It's it's a fun show.
Life is good, but there's not much exciting to write about going on. Not that I'm complaining.
My current obsessions are reading Machine of Death and watching My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic. Yup, that's right. Don't you judge me. It's it's a fun show.
Daniel and I are seeing Hanna for free tonight thanks to SG! I'm really excited as it looks like a really good film.
In other news, I had a dream last night that I was a hitman. I was ordered to kill Gwen Stefani because she had "gone mad with power". She was making laws that everyone had to call her Queen Gwen and dye their hair platinum blond.
I have the weirdest dreams.
In other news, I had a dream last night that I was a hitman. I was ordered to kill Gwen Stefani because she had "gone mad with power". She was making laws that everyone had to call her Queen Gwen and dye their hair platinum blond.
I have the weirdest dreams.
