Sorry, folks. I migrained out today. (Headache seems to be fading now.) So how about an open thread? And a VIDEO SHOWDOWN? Vote for your favorite below!
VOTE! Unlike the real elections last week, there is no wrong choice here, and the results will not cause you to curl up in a fetal position on your bed for a week!
[socialpoll id=”2401686″]
Also,
Love at first sight = love is about ownership.
Heh, seems nobody picked dares pick sunset over kitties!
I’d like to share how I’ve been. I’ve had a really annoying year because one of my 2 jobs has me working for someone who openly supports Trump and quite a few of the students I teach parrot the things their Trump-supporting parents tell them. It uses up so much of my mental/emotional and when a kid says “Hillary has more scandals than Trump” I can’t let that go unchallenged.
I’ve also had some personal, say, quarter life crisis. Now that I’ve come to realize the world is a lot more… unstable than I had imagined, I’m trying to figure out who I am exactly and what it is that I’m looking for in relationships.
I also had to take a break from this blog, it was becoming overwhelming, although I would still skim the articles when I was bored. But it’s nice to be back! I’m also been working on making my own blog (bought a domain name! http://www.vgstoryreviews.com is mine! :D) where I can host my video reviews and make blog posts like: ‘Why Time Travel is such a prevalent theme in video games’ or ‘what video games can teach us about the human condition’
Oh yeah, and I have a Gravatar now. Or at least I set one. How long does it usually take to show up?
@Visceria @Scildfreja
Add that to the pile of “thinks that are supposed to be romantic but are actually hella creepy/sexist/abusive”
@Viscaria
Ugh. I personally haven’t had any stalkers/mopers, but women in my immediate vicinity have. My ex had some dude from her dorm get hung up on her for a while. He kept sending her weed in the mail, thinking it would eventually change her mind about him.
My wife had a creepy dude harass her for years, in a sort of low level way. They had hooked up a few times a year or so before I met her, and it turned out he had used a fake name and was married. Otter found out when the wife called her to yell on the phone. After that, the wife tried to contact Otter through facebook several times, hoping she would tell more details about the affair. The guy kept sending creepy messages at the same time. She blocked them both, but the guy made a number of sock accounts so he could keep sending her a message on her birthday every years. This went on for five or six years. Then his wife messaged Otter again to ask if she could help out in the divorce proceedings. Again, Otter blocked them. Now it seems like they’ve finally got the message.
It’s rigged. Nobody would’ve voted for the beach alone.
So I got up at 3pm, meh. Hash (especially the crappy stuff I got) isn’t always enough to make me sleep, and after nearly two months without insomnia my body is like “yeah look nah, you’ve had your sleep, let’s start screwing your whole schedule over again”.
I’m actually considering moving to America because legal and easily accessible weed. Does that outweigh the incoming fascist regime ? I don’t know. But I got a good opportunity to go and steal yer jerbs : translations. In France, being fluent in English only brings you so far, there’s a lot of competition (and they’re a bunch of wankers whom I want nothing to do with), but being fluent in French while in the US ? Might work a lot better.
I dunno. Plus we got out own fascistoid here, closer than ever to becoming the first woman president of this country… the main difference with Trump is that she’s actually competent. Probably scarier too.
@John
Trump is very anti-marijuana so those of us in legal states are a little worried about that but not sure what he could do since it’s already federally illegal.
As for jerbs, you might be able to find some work in localization, translation, or phone support. I used my extremely poor, barely passable French to get a phone support job that I otherwise was not the best candidate for, but that company has since stopped directly hiring for foreign language skills and now only offers temp positions for that kind of work (entry level, at least–it’s still possible to get hired, just a lot more difficult). Localization at that company was always direct hire, but harder to get.
@Moocow
I am really glad you’ve been around! I always ultimately end up having to take a break from all things involving internet interaction since I tend to do everything I do obsessively. 🙁
@Sinkable John
Ça m’a pas aidée. Your mileage may vary. Your French is likely much better than mine, especially since mine is really rusty. But I’d venture to say that while there may be a lot more competition in France, it’s also important to remember that Americans often don’t think they should have to translate anything. There are some global companies that do some localization, of course. And a few companies who work with Québecois. I interact with Québecois in MMOs from time-to-time, and they often tell me I say funny French things.
Marine Le Pen, though, would surely be another bright moment for enlightenment!
With regards to big cats:
@John
Vraiment, ce n’est pas la cas.
Maybe try BC; in Vacncouver it’s not actually legal but it’s very hard to get in trouble for it, and you can duck down to Washington state to actually buy some. You’re probably more likely to be able to monetize your French skills in Canada too.
@Belladonna
Moi non plus.
@Dali
😀 Combien de francophones y a-t-il ici?
@Moocow
I’ve had a similar problem with students telling me their frankly kind of dumb opinions about how Trump is so great and at times either me or one of my coworkers will point out how their arguments are weak but sometimes I feel as stuck as you do
j’suis pas francophone mais je me débrouille.
Sinkable John est français, par contre.
je sais seulement un p’tit peu d’français :s
Voir la course de chiens. Le chien court vite. Courir, chien, courir!
…
I can read children’s books in French.
@Jack
lol. Considering that Le Petit Prince is arguably the best children’s book ever written in any language, that’s not a bad start! 😉
I’m also extremely fond of Le Petit Nicolas books.
Being French/English bilingual opens up a lot of opportunities in Canada, particularly – but by no means exclusively – in Quebec. I don’t know about the immigration requirements, though. And you’d have to deal with a different accent, but that probably shouldn’t be a problem for you at all unless under that incredibly nice and thoughtful exterior you’re secretly a snob (doubtful).
@sparkalipoo
Good on your for pointing it out. It’s a delicate situation to be in…
I should also point out, parents are not the sole source of their ill-informed and naive opinions. I know for a fact some of these kids are learning their hate online.
@Belladona
Thanks! I’m like that too, when I come upon a new hobby I get pretty obsessive. I love that the internet exists, makes it easy to learn skills quickly.
I wanted to go into French Immersion when I was in elementary school. My mother said nope, nuh-uh, not happening. Her only reason was…I might call her names in French and she wouldn’t know what I was saying..
@moocow,
Let us know when you start posting stuff on your blog! I has it bookmarked in anticipation XD
@everyone,
I have a compromise for the vote here, which also relates to some comments above: A FRENCH KITTEN AT THE BEACH. You are welcome.
@Jesalin
Oh holy Jesus Mary Joseph. That’s not earning my vote for parent of the year award. OTOH I had my own failings in that respect. When my daughter was around 8 months old, I decided I should start speaking French to her. She was preverbal, but she gave me this look like “What in the world is wrong with you?” And I gave up.
@Mish
Awesome minou video! I kept trying to figure out if I recognized the beach, but all I came up with was, well, it’s not Nice, since it has sand.
@Belladonna
I could add several things more to that..but this isn’t a therapy group. Let’s just say that I’d hate her, except that A) I don’t believe she’s worth the energy that wold entail and B) I believe that real hate implies the existence (past or present) of love, and I have none for her.
OT:
I was sleeping soundly and then Didi jumped the bed and suddenly my toes were sinking into soft kittyfur and I startled awake. And now I can’t sleep. Boo.
@Jesalin
I really get angry when I hear about queer/trans folk who don’t have family support.What the fuck is the matter with people? But it sounds like your mom must have been a real shitbag even outside of that. I’m really sorry for whatever you’ve been through, and I really hope you have found your real family!
Also, just in case you actually did want to share anything, I’d be happy to listen.
@Belladonna
I have my partner (of 14 years this past Sept), it’s her support that keeps me going, and her family is pretty good too.
As far as my mother goes, it’s complicated in it’s own way and I’ve already summed up my feelings towards her. In her ‘defense’ (for lack of me thinking of a more suitable term), she was abused by her parents, physically, mentally and emotionally. I do have respect for her, she managed to break the cycle…mostly. She never physically abused me, nor was she mentally abusive. Emotionally…well, it depends on your definition of abuse, but in all honesty, I doubt it was intentional. I grew up in an emotional black hole. I had no emotional support, nor did I ever get any kind of affection. To explain why I doubt it was intentional..she never had any emotional support and she was scared witless (as she told me after I moved out) that showing me affection would make other people think she was sexually abusing me. That’s a very brief overview without getting into specific incidents.
She does support my transition, in a rather loose sense of the word. (ETA: On the other paw, that’s now. I kept quiet about it when I was younger due to said emotional void).She’s not antagonistic and she does try to remember to use the right pronouns (although she frequently forgets). On the other hand she hasn’t bothered to educate herself either, so she’s pretty clueless as to the issues I have to deal with.
More OT:
Today’s tabletop RPG is gonna be fun with only couple of hours of sleep under my belt.
Then again, right now my character is tipsy and headed to battle without her weapons (but at least armored, since she’s a paladin and her chainmail is a part of her noble’s outfit), so I guess I’m in a right mindset for that kind of action.
I shall report more once the game is over.