Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? This is your yearly reminder that Dad is getting old. His birthday is tomorrow (July 18th)! If you have his number, you know what to do. Otherwise, leave your birthday love here or on my social media pages and I will pass them on! The plan thus far is dinner from Sunday Morning Catfish. Fried porkchop, catfish nuggets, shrimp. Mmm! You already know Dad’s the bestest. So, happy (early) birthday, old man! Love you!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay, I guess. We had a nice little BBQ with the Minion, his wifey, the family, and the new neighbors across the street on Saturday. Other than that, things keep going wrong for Dad and I’m dealing with government bullsheet surrounding my benefits. Because of that, I forgot July is Disability Pride Month. I’m not feeling very pride-y. Every time I finally feel like my benefits are settled and I’m coasting along, the government decides to “improve” something that screws everything up. And it doesn’t help that I have to fight for everything I need. I’m dreading the upcoming election. If Cheeto gets in and that Project 2025 gains traction, everyone is going to be screwed except maybe super rich white folks. So, even though I’m not a fan, fingers crossed for Biden and the status quo! But I’m starting to ramble. This is your yearly reminder that Disability Pride Month exists. Disabled people are worthy of all the same things “able” people are. We are not burdens or drains on society or dirty little secrets. We are human beings. And, according to WHO, approximately 1 in 6 people are significantly disabled and that number is rising. Yay for fun facts!
Anyway, I decided to share an explanation of the Disability Pride flag. I might have done this before, but I’m too lazy to check my previous post.
Ann Magill’s original idea contained bold colors and a zigzag design, but after complaints from individuals with sensory issues (the design triggered migraines and created a strobing effect when scrolling), she revamped the idea with straight lines and muted colors that were grouped differently to avoid the negative effects. Here are some of the meanings behind the flag:
Black: The black background symbolizes the mourning of disabled people who have been victimized by ableism or lost to disability-fueled violence, abuse/negligence, and death.
Diagonal stripes: The stripes cut through the darkness (i.e., barriers).
Multi-colored: The disability pride flag includes all six standard international flag colors to indicate that the disability is a global thing.
Green: Sensory disabilities (blindness, deafness, lack of smell, lack of taste, etc.).
Blue: Psychiatric disabilities (anxiety, depression, etc.).
White: Invisible disabilities and/or undiagnosed conditions.
Gold: Cognitive and intellectual disabilities. Neurodivergence.
Red: Physical disabilities.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this first Wednesday of July? I’m annoyed as feck for two reasons. One I won’t talk about yet, because it’s an ongoing thing and I don’t want anyone involved to stumble upon a rant about it. Yet. The other thing is Medicaid bullshit, but it’s late (after 10pm because we also had visitors), so I’m not even going to write the rant I was planning. I’ve spent far too much time on the phone the last few days because no one knows anything. Tomorrow (today), will be another wasted day. So, I’m going to go eat and spend the next hour or so watching TV.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone this lovely Wednesday? I’m completely lost on what to blog about, so instead of forcing something again, I’m going to go do other things. I’m currently looking for a grill mat or hearth rug or something to keep the ashes from the smoker off the porch rug. Dad built a stand for the Kamado Joe and is cleaning up the back yard (not that we have a yard, it’s all deck and pond and gardens). So, I’ll be back next week with a book review. In the meantime, have a picture of the smoker on it’s new stand!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? I feel like I’ve been complaining a lot this year, which means I have been. I’m sorry. It just seems like one of those years where everything goes wrong. The government is annoying. Stuff isn’t getting done in a timely manner. The weather is insane. It’s June. We’re not supposed to be having flash flood warnings every day. We’re supposed to be staring triple digits in the face and wondering what the people complaining about the heat are going to do when summer gets here. The ground is saturated and the lakes are full. The rain can stop now. But we have been extremely lucky so far. I won’t say how because that will jinx it, but yes. Very lucky in general. So, I’m going to try to stop complaining and ramble about good things. I’ve finished reading 17 books this year, so I thought I would share some of the better ones with you.
1. White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton. I was a little skeptical at first because my minion recommended it and he’s weird. But it’s gay urban fantasy with a tentacle monster, so I had to see for myself. I know what you’re thinking. “I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going!” Alas, no. But! It’s a fun read and I just bought the other two books in the series.
2. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I read this one for one of those Kindle challenges. It was honestly kind of a weird read. A lot of the prose was lyrical and beautiful, but much of it was stark and blunt. It was kind of jarring, but I liked it. It fit the story.
3. Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens. It’s fun and fluffy. I don’t remember much beyond that. It was super enjoyable while I was reading it, though.
What books have you enjoyed this year? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or questions or comments here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things are still not sorted out here because the government is so very slow, so I’m not in a good mood, but I don’t want to rant. Instead, I’m going to ramble about one of the mindless games I play. Namely, Hero Wars. Ever since I started playing it, I’ve noticed a major increase in my reading productivity. I’ve been finishing reading the review books up to two weeks early (like next week’s book, I finished on the 13th instead of the 25th like planned) and not because they’re fabulous books as you know. It’s weird and sounds like a lie, but hear me out…
Hero Wars is one of those games where there’s like 50 things to do every day on top of the actual game and leveling up characters. A lot of these things are done with the auto setting permanently engaged, so you’re forced to stare at a bunch of characters battle for two minutes without actually doing anything. You can also turn on auto on the regular parts of the game which is useful when you’re just trying to collect items to level up your characters and are therefore playing the same level over and over again. It honestly gets boring, but I enjoy it nonetheless.
When I was about to give up one day because I had to read, I decided to just let the fight play out while I read. Then, after a few paragraphs, I went back to the game, set up the next battle, then read for a few more minutes. And I just kept flipping back and forth between the two which meant I never had enough time to get bored with either. I limit myself to only doing this with books I’m going to review, because doing two “for fun” things at once just seems like cheating. But it’s weirdly effective. I don’t dread my daily reading anymore. I can read as much as I want, then get a thirty second break to do something fun when I start to get bored with the book. It’s like a tiny serotonin bomb that makes the next few paragraphs or pages feel less like a chore (even when I really enjoy a book, reading can be difficult to focus on). So weird.
I’m starting to wonder what else I could apply this to. Maybe writing. I’ve only tried it while blogging a couple of times. It’s not quite the same. With the blog, I’m usually feeling pressured to get it done since I’ve waited until the last minute, so tiny serotonin bombs don’t really help. But perhaps with regular writing, it would be more helpful. I think I’ll try it.
What are some weird things that help you become more productive in certain areas? Are they limited to specific things, like helping with reading or writing? As always, feel free to share your comments or thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Not a lot going on here. Just stupid government crap regarding my benefits. I can’t entirely blame the government for all my stress this time, because everything up until today was something else entirely and the people involved already know I’m not happy about how everything went down. Let’s just say stuff hasn’t been getting done in a timely manner. But today (Tuesday), I’ve spent far too much time trying to justify needing another hour of care every day. And I get it. The government doesn’t want to give just anyone benefits. They’re like giant companies that way. “You want healthcare and to be able to afford rent and food??? Damn commies.” But also, look at me. It’s pretty freaking obvious that I need care. I promise I’m not just a mooch. If they’d let me earn more than $1900 and change a month without screeching about taking my Medicaid away, I’d even try to be a productive member of society. But no. They don’t allow you to get to a stable place before they rip away the benefits that keep you alive. Just stay poor. Ugh. But that’s a different rant. Let’s get back on track.
I’m on a program called CLASS. They offer various services, but I only use the healthcare assistance service where they pay (actually Medicaid pays) for someone to take care of me. When I first got on the program at 18 after a ten year waitlist (yeah, no one even remembered signing up when we got the letter saying I was cripple enough for them), they only paid for outside help to come in. Eventually, they started paying family members, so Dad gets paid to take care of me. With all the prices on the rise and the fact that home healthcare works hadn’t gotten a raise in a ridiculous amount of time (because, you know, the Texas government), Dad requested an extra hour a day (no, he doesn’t get paid 24-hours a day because apparently the government thinks cripples are robots who just power down and require no assistance for far too many hours a day/night… as if normal human beings don’t have to pee or worse during sleep time, so cripples certainly don’t). But he’s up to 14 hours a day and the government is balking at a 15th hour. They’re forcing us to justify the request instead of just looking at my file and seeing my diagnosis (an incurable disorder that gets worse over time) and the fact that I have never asked for anything I don’t need and realizing that yeah, she needs help. It doesn’t help that they don’t reach out to me directly. There’s a middleperson. Things get lost in translation.
Anyway, it’s almost 8:00 and I’m getting hungry, so I’m going to stop ranting. But anyone who says cripples don’t work for their benefits and just get handouts have never had to deal with the government (state or federal). Fighting for shit I need is an entire job in itself. They should be paying me, but then they’d probably kick me off everything anyway. Blargh.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I have nothing new to report and it’s a little late and I need to go finish making the grocery order, so I’m cheating this week and leaving you with a poem. It’s national poetry month, so let’s pretend that’s why. Don’t worry. Next week is book review time, plus I ended up with another book to review for the 1st. So, there are at least two weeks of actual posts ahead!
A VALEDICTION OF WEEPING.
by John Donne
LET me pour forth
My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here,
For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,
And by this mintage they are something worth.
For thus they be
Pregnant of thee ;
Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more ;
When a tear falls, that thou fall’st which it bore ;
So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore.
On a round ball
A workman, that hath copies by, can lay
An Europe, Afric, and an Asia,
And quickly make that, which was nothing, all.
So doth each tear,
Which thee doth wear,
A globe, yea world, by that impression grow,
Till thy tears mix’d with mine do overflow
This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so.
O ! more than moon,
Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere ;
Weep me not dead, in thine arms, but forbear
To teach the sea, what it may do too soon ;
Let not the wind
Example find
To do me more harm than it purposeth :
Since thou and I sigh one another’s breath,
Whoe’er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other’s death.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are usual. I have nothing writerly or readerly to ramble about. I know it’s national poetry month, but I’m just not into that this year. Anyway, I feel like I’ve mentioned dozens of times that I play mindless games to avoid productivity, but I never told you what they are, so I’ll ramble about those today. I’m up to five of them because I started two new-to-me ones about a month ago. I play them all through Facebook, so if I ever get locked out or the book of faces dies, I’ll lose all my progress and never play them again. All of them have options to spend real money for in game stuff, but I’ve never spent a dime on them and never will. If you’re a miser like me, you can definitely play these without paying. Here they are!
1. June’s Journey. It’s a hidden objects game. I’ve been playing it since it first came out. It’s still being updated and new events happen just about weekly. I go through phases where I play it a lot then for a few weeks I’ll just log in to collect the daily freebies. As long as you budget your in-game coins/diamonds/whatever, there aren’t really any places where you have to stop and wait to build those things up in order to move forward. So, I enjoy it.
2. Gardenscapes – New Acres. I actually played the Gardenscape games that existed before Facebook Games was a thing. So, when this came out, I started playing it. This one is a match 3 game. It’s still being updated a couple of times a month. I mostly play for the side quests now and log in to collect the daily stuff when nothing interests me. But I do enjoy the whole renovation aspect.
3. Homescapes. This is basically the same as Gardenscapes, but instead of renovating gardens, you get to renovate houses. I’m easily entertained.
4. Cooking City. I’ve only been playing this one about a month. It’s just a restaurant sim. You cook food and serve customers. I enjoy that type of game, but I don’t recommend this particular one. I’ve already hit a couple of spots where I couldn’t move forward for about a week because I didn’t have the right boosters. I don’t particularly mind the waiting, but it seems like it’s going to be a regular occurrence since I’m not going to pay for it. It also has the option to watch a ton of ads to get freebies, but no one has time for that. I’ll probably drop this one if it doesn’t get better.
5. Hero Wars. This is the other new-to-me game and I’m kind of obsessed. I don’t even know why. I just keep leveling up my characters. I’ve hit the point in the actual game where I can’t move forward until I get stronger, but there’s so much other stuff to keep me occupied that it doesn’t actually feel like I’m waiting for anything. I will burn myself out on this one, but I’ll enjoy it until then.
What stupid games do you play either to avoid productivity or as a reward for getting things done? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or questions or whatever here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are fine. Mardi got groomed yesterday, so she’s a new pupper. That’s about all the interesting stuff going on right now. Anyway, I thought I would continue in the same vein as last week by sharing 5 more women authors. The only difference is that I am acquainted with these people. So, shameless friend/mentor promotion!
1. Nancy Holder. She doesn’t really need an introduction. Aside from being an amazing human being and writer, she’s an awesome mentor.
2. J.R. Dawson. Another wonderful human being and fabulous writer. She also encourages my love of demons with a twist. And my love of villains in general. And there’s the fact that we torture each other with FMA memes. I think I’ll keep her.
3. Renee S. DeCamillis. A fellow Capricorn and lover of sharp pointy things. She writes horror as well! This is a picture of her upcoming book. You should follow her for more information about it.
4. Theodora Goss. Another mentor and awesome writer. Along with some of my favorite novels, she also writes beautiful poetry.
5. R.M. Romero. A lovely person and wonderful writer. On top of gorgeous stories, her book covers are always entrancing.
Feel free to share your lovely lady authors here or on my social media pages! I’ll be back next week with the monthly book review.
