Tag Archives: friend

Silence

Posted on by Jinxie G

Within words

Within gestures

Within expressions

It says nothing

…

Without words

Without gestures

Without expressions

It says everything

…

Between the lines

All silence portrays

Words left unsaid

…

A picture

An action

A reaction

…

Hidden beneath

Unruly waters

Into the deep abyss

…

Unspoken

Unbidden

Forbidden

…

Silence is a beacon

Shedding its light

Onto the path of truth

…

But you mistake silence

For weakness

For falsehoods

For untrustworthiness

…

And with your mistake

You sink

Into oblivion

…

© 2011 NL Gervasio

Beyond Hell

Posted on by Jinxie G

Okay, I was all emotional and shit over the weekend, and stressed the fuck out beyond belief, so I thought this post was going to end up all whiny and everything, but the weekend from Hell ended on a high note (no, stoners, I don’t do that), so aside from the migraine attempting to carve its way out of my brain right now, I feel pretty fucking good. That’s also aside from the only a few hours of sleep I got Sunday night/Monday morning and I hit the gym for the first time in THREE YEARS Monday afternoon. Ouch!

Sorry to disappoint you, Unca T. No need for popcorn or tissues.

In the last week or so, my cousin Skywise and I had a discussion about an old wives’ tale/myth/whatthefuckever where when your hand itches, money is supposed to be coming to you. And I’ve been told that if one hand itches, that’s true, but if the other hand itches, money leaves you. I call bullshit. All of my life, whenever my hand (either/or) has itched, money comes to me within a day or two. It doesn’t matter which hand it is. It’s weird, I know, but then it’s me and I’m weird. The kicker of it is that the money always comes to me when I absolutely need it the most, and to preserve what little sanity I have left, I presume.

Sunday night, just before midnight, I sold the item below . . .

"Wind"

. . . for $300.00. I know, I about fell over too. The wonderful person also purchased a bracelet along with it. Earlier in the evening, I’d sold a necklace, and within the 10 minutes after selling the ink wash, another person bought a bracelet. Not to mention the custom order I just received . . .

Oh hey, by the way, I do custom orders – colors/stones, sizes, etc. – for necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. I’ll post some pics in the Jewelry & More section soon!

Anyway, HOLY CRAP! Can we keep this ball rolling, please? I could use a little more than a break/breather. I’ve been drowning for months and a reprieve isn’t looking like it’ll happen anytime soon. I have at least a few more months of this waiting game shit.

There is another ink wash listed . . .

Click on the image

Also? Soon I’ll be adding t-shirts to the above-linked section. Some will be Umi quotes. *snorts* C’mon! How can I NOT put that shit on a shirt and sell it? Honestly. She’s fucking hysterical. And just so you know – and she already knows this – when she dies, I’m totally publishing a book titled Conversations with Umi. Yep, you bet your ass I am! The world must experience my mother and I intend to immortalize her. HA!

Spam Comment of the Week VI

Posted on by Jinxie G

This week’s spam comment is brought to you by . . . oh wait, I don’t have sponsors and these fuckers aren’t paying me either, so never mind.

However, someone decided to comment on Crazy Meatballs . . . again. I’m seriously considering closing comments on that post, but then I’d miss out on shit like the following:

[name censored for advertising content]

When you buy Facebook followers you will be capable to improve the guests on your admirer web page, to your website and that will surely give you a wonderful opportunity to increase your revenue. Social media can be really effective device for the company if you use it accurately. Some of the most popular venues for company currently are MySpace, Connected-in, Twitter and of program, Facebook. The most essential network currently is FB since it is the most visited a single.

Um, wait, stop. You had me after five words . . . I can BUY Facebook followers? OMG! I could get SO MANY minions doing that! I need to do a fundraiser.

*runs away to make signs and banners for fundraiser*

Worst Wednesday

Posted on by Jinxie G

Oh, where to begin with this one . . .

A lot of you wondered just what in the hell happened last Wednesday to upset me so. A few of you figured it out without my telling you. Some of you I talked to on the phone, some in messages. And others got to see my face at the time it happened. It wasn’t pretty. It didn’t help that I’d been awake for 25 hours upon hearing the news, and that just amplified my reaction.

Let’s begin—for the newer readers—with my various health issues. I have autoimmune hepatitis (a rare liver disorder), fibromyalgia, and lupus (skin disorder). I also have two compressed discs in the lower lumbar region causing a pinched nerve that shoots pain down my left leg on a daily basis. What this means is that I am in pain nearly every single day. I’ve recently had a series of cortisone shots. They didn’t work. If you’ve ever had cortisone shots, you’ll understand the impact of my situation. If you haven’t, you have no idea what I’m talking about. In order to get the cortisone shots, you kinda need to be in a great deal of pain, and you can only get three in a year. For you to understand the level of pain I am in, I’ll tell you that I have an extremely high pain tolerance and if the average person felt the pain I feel on a daily basis, they’d very likely commit suicide or overdose on pain killers, which don’t work on nerve pain, by the way, so I’m not on any pain killers. So yeah, I’m stuck with the pain.

I hurt, people. A lot. It means I can’t do a lot of things, and when I do do certain things—like a con weekend—it takes me three to five days to recover from it. For me, the experience is worth the recovery time. Why? Because I get to meet some of the nicest people! I can’t really participate in sports anymore, which kinda sucks because I miss playing softball and volleyball. I miss going to the gym. I miss doing a helluva lot of things.

I applied for Social Security Disability two years ago, and I should have done it the year before that, but I didn’t because I was in a really bad not-able-to-think place. That’s what happens when your fiancé walks out on you, thereby causing me to lose nearly everything I’d worked for over a 25-year period of working.

Most of you know I’ve been fighting for disability for the past two years. Last Wednesday, I was denied for the fourth time and this was the reason for my little breakdown. For those of you who picked up on it right away and knew what was happening, thank you. That meant I didn’t have to explain it a bah-jillion times. It’s fucking ridiculous. I know there are people frauding the system and all it means is that the people who truly need it can’t get it. That pisses me off to no end.

So, my next step is to appeal it again. I’m also looking into hiring a new attorney. I have no idea how this will turn out. None.

Everything was riding on that approval: Umi’s supplemental insurance so she can get proper healthcare and not die on me; me fixing my credit that the ex obliterated three years ago; new tires for my truck before summer hits so I don’t blow one or more with this wonderful fucking Arizona heat; finishing my damn Bachelor’s degree . . . everything. And that’s not even all of it.

I’ve had a few people tell me to find a sugar daddy, which I think is just hysterical. I’m not looking for Prince Charming to come riding in on his white horse and save me. I’ll fix all of this my damn self, but if I can’t get the disability, it’ll take a lot longer than I’d planned. Some people probably think I’m just being lazy. I’d like them to walk for a day in my shoes and deal with the extreme pain that pain killers can’t kill, and take care of Umi and my handicapped dog. This shit isn’t easy, folks, and I sure as fuck didn’t think I’d be in this position at this age. I’m too young for this shit. I have no intentions of milking the system. I don’t want to be on disability for the rest of my life. It’s not my goal. I just need a little help right now, while I’m hurting, and I’ve needed that help for the past few years. If I get denied again, you can bet your ass that my congressmen and the President of the United States will be getting a letter from me.

Until then, I’m going to keep writing, keep making the jewelry and get my Esty site going, and doing whatever the hell else I can do to get myself to the point where I don’t need their fucking help. Which, of course, is likely when they’ll approve me.

That’s really all I can do. But I’m completely open to suggestions. By all means, there’s a comment box below. Have at it.

But honestly, I’ve been trying to build a few things for the past year, and a lot of it just got put on hold. That’s a major kick in the teeth. But you remember what I said about Life a while back, right? Yeah, that bitch will throw everything at you just to see what you’ll do with it. She’s taken me for quite the ride these past few years, but I’ll tell you this: I’m not ready to lie down and die for the bitch just yet, regardless of the amount of pain I’m in or the diseases that plague my body. She’s taken out a few rungs during my progress, but I keep climbing that fucking ladder through the difficulties of deaths and denials and pain and the fatigue I experience every goddamn day. I keep going because some of those difficult things can be taken care of right away. Some only hold me back a little, like the brain fog. But the impossible . . . well, that takes a little longer to work through. Nothing is impossible, in my opinion, and part of what I’m facing could be considered impossible.

I intend to prove the impossible wrong.

And how in the fuck did this turn into a strong post? Well, I’m back to my old self, the person that those of you who have only known me for a few years have never had the opportunity to meet. This is how quickly I bounce back now. In truth, I was fine on Thursday and already thinking of solutions.

It’s real nice to meet you. =)

I Care…

Posted on by Jinxie G

Throwing a little truth at y’all . . . because apparently people need to be reminded now and then.

And I really have no idea what prompted this one. Guess recent events sparked it. *shrugs*

When a friend is upset about whatever in the world they’re upset about, I don’t ask questions other than “are you okay?” and “what can I do?” And if that friend isn’t ready to talk, I’ll patiently wait for the time when they are ready. That’s what friends do. They LISTEN.

When a friend is in need of my help, I don’t ask “why?” but rather “when?” and “where?” and I will drop whatever I am doing to rush to that friend’s side. I will be their shoulder to cry on, their voice of reason, their bent ear, and their angel, if needed. I will not be their savior; however, I will lend a hand in helping them to their feet once again. Whatever it takes and whatever I am able to do to get them moving forward. Friends who won’t do that for you are friends not worth having.

I speak the truth when it needs to be spoken because my friends deserve no less, and I would expect no less of them. I don’t buy into the philosophy “what you don’t know can’t hurt you.” If someone is doing something that will hurt me upon my knowledge of it, I want to know. Yes, it will hurt, but it would hurt me more to find out who knew the information and didn’t tell me. Just sayin’. Life is pain, people. Put on your big girl panties and deal with it. There is no protection because it all comes back to you one way or another. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather hurt a little now than a lot later.

I do, however, pay close attention to “you reap what you sow,” and believe that it’s not so much Karma, though I like to call it that, but rather the circle of life. Everything comes back around full circle, whether good or bad.

I don’t take my friendships lightly. If I consider you a friend, that should mean something to you because I’m rather picky about those I call friends. If I’ve divulged any deeply personal information about myself to you, shown you that “other” face that belongs to my well-hidden twin, congratulations, you’re in the inner circle. With that comes great responsibility, and if you hurt me, you will be cast out forever. I don’t give people second chances anymore. I’ve been burned too many times and my heart has been shredded enough in this life.

So if you don’t like the fact that I Care, you’ll just have to get used to it because I do fucking Care.

And if that’s still an issue for you? *points* There’s the door. You can’t be my friend without me caring about you.

Anyway, as much as I hate the holiday, Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my friends and family. I love you guys more than you know!

Focus

Posted on by Jinxie G

I know I’m not alone when I say that last week was just a fucking shitty week any way you look at it. And if you’ve been following my Twitter timeline, you know two-thirds of the reason my week was so shitty—two sprained feet, lots of pain. There was another reason, but I can’t remember it. Oh hey, my memory! That’s always in play, or the fact that it’s severely lacking these days. I’ll remember what it was in about three days. =) What you don’t know about is the funk I sank into, like many others did. It must be the alignment of the planets or something, but whatever it was, it’s still kind of affecting me and I’m pretty much done with it at this point.

Sometimes I choose to share that shit with you (the funk or depressing shit), sometimes I don’t. What can I say? I’m a Gemini. I have two faces, and you rarely get to see the other one. That “other” one holds all of my vulnerabilities—my emotions (the bad ones), my weaknesses, my pain, my naiveté—that I obviously don’t want the world seeing because who the hell wants to read that shit? Am I right? Of course I am . . . try not to read a good portion of my blog if this is your first visit, especially the My Life in Hell posts. That was a really bad time.

I know exactly what I need to do to get things done around here, to follow my 30-something-long To Do list that never seems to shrink. I need to Focus. Focus is good. It is our friend. It helps us achieve great things, like book deals and such.

Things tend to look bad before they get better, and that’s just it with last week—it looked bad, but in all reality, it’s wasn’t as bad as the past few years, so better is just around the corner. Right? I’m not just telling you this; I’m listening to myself when I say it. I’ve been to Hell enough in my lifetime, and the past three years were a valuable lesson learned, but the next three (because things come in three in my family—good and bad) should be fucking peachy (that’s not sarcasm). I’m guessing the deaths will start again at that point. That’s not a negative outlook; it’s a realistic one. That’s how it works in my world. I’m also a worst-case scenario type of person, in that I imagine the absolute worst about everything, most likely so I’m not disappointed when it actually does happen, which it never does. See? Silver lining.

But last week, even though I talked to people online, I felt very, very alone in the world. I know I’m not alone because I have a lot of friends, so it’s a stupid unjustifiable feeling, and I tell myself that. But sometimes, you just can’t help feeling that way.

And I know some of you understand that.

I don’t feel that way now, which is good, but the pain is still there, distracting me, keeping me from getting done all the shit that needs to be fucking finished already. Y’know, like the vampire books, and the werewolf books, and the demon books, and all the short stories and novellas I’ve started. And let’s not forget that if I don’t get the next Kick-Ass Girls Club novel written soon, fans will begin stalking me! Sounds pretty fucking overwhelming, doesn’t it? It fucking IS . . . but I do try to focus on one project at a time, which annoys the hell out of me because I’m used to working on two or three books at once.

So I can tell you I’m going to Focus to get these things done, but it likely won’t happen. One of my greatest hindrances is distraction (Bejeweled Blitz is only a minor distraction). It’s mainly due to the pain I’m in every day because I can’t concentrate on much when I’m in pain. Pain has been more distracting for me than any man I’ve ever encountered, and that’s saying a lot because I’ve actually completed NOVELS while with distracting men. Now I struggle with an edit of one of my novels. And let’s just not even talk about new story ideas I don’t have the time to write . . . .

*sigh*

Of course, I wrote all of this before something else happened over the weekend. No, I won’t be discussing it . . . ever.

*sigh again*

Back to work. I have two writing contests to enter this month. Why? Just because I can.

And I just hope and pray that I can Focus long enough to get them finished.

But honestly, how am I supposed to take over the world if I can’t Focus?

Spam Comment of the Week III

Posted on by Jinxie G

I know, I haven’t done one of these in a few weeks. That’s what happens when I travel a lot. C’mon, you guys should know by now that my blog goes pretty much dark for at least a week or two when I’m traveling. I’ll try to remedy that in the future, but for now, that’s just the way things have to be.

This week’s spam comment comes from Missi:

“This is what we need – an iignsht to make everyone think”

Really, Missi? Red Velvet Cupcakes are an insight to make you think? Well, my friend Deni will be so thrilled that her cake recipe has such an effect. Who the fuck knew? *runs out for red velvet cake ingredients*

SOPA / PIPA

Posted on by Jinxie G

I know I don’t normally go all political on y’all, mainly because I just don’t like talking about shit unless I study it, but these two bills have pissed me the hell off and I’ve been bitching about this shit for a couple of years at least, to deaf ears (see ACTA).

If you’re the type of person who shrugs and thinks, “Ah, someone else will take care of it. I don’t have to do shit,” or “It has nothing to do with me,” then GET THE FUCK OFF MY SOCIAL MEDIA because it has EVERYTHING to do with you if you’re reading this blog post or using ANY social networking site at all like Twitter or Facebook, or, y’know, you’ve shared a music file or two. How would you react if one morning you couldn’t access those sites anymore and never again? Exactly.

Yes, I know that’s the extreme end of what could happen and SOPA and PIPA’s supporters think we’re all being overly dramatic, but pay attention for a moment, if you will…

Last Wednesday, several websites participated in an internet blackout, including myself and most sites I’m associated with, such as Running Ink Press, LLC and Forever Nocturne. I signed the petitions, slapped a “censored” ribbon across both my Twitter and Facebook avatars, emailed Senators and Representatives, and I even wrote to President Barack Obama because I want my voice heard. I want Congress to know that I do NOT support these bills as they’re currently written. That’s how this country works, right? The people voice their opinions to their Senators and Representatives, and those guys are supposed to listen to us, not the lobbyists forking out insane amounts of money to get their legislation passed. Isn’t that called bribery? What. The. Fuck. Happened to this country? The fat cats sitting on Capitol Hill should have term limits, in my opinion, but that’s a whole other post altogether.

If you’re an American citizen, educate yourself and don’t sit back and let the hundreds of thousands of others do your work for you. Let your voice be heard, for Christ’s sake.

And yes, I’ve read the bills. Here, you can too: SOPA - PIPA.

To give you an advantage on the obscure language of the SOPA bill, here’s a link to Chris Heald’s breakdown of SOPA. And let’s not forget the article from Mashable’s Editor-in-Chief, SOPA Will Take Us Back to the Dark Ages. Both articles are well written and informative.

SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act – H. R. 3261. While its main focus is not to prevent online piracy but to penalize anyone associated to piracy, and that includes you if you have a link on your site that leads to another site either known for piracy or linking to a site known for piracy, its obscure language is daunting, and if you don’t understand legalese like I do, it can be damned confusing. Hence, the reason I’ve given you the two links above. They explain it better than I ever could.

PIPA is the Protect Intellectual Property Act. Obviously, it’s meant to protect the things we make, such as movies, music, books, etc. The language in this bill is just as confusing as SOPA.

One bill was introduced by the Senate (SOPA), while the other was introduced by the House of Representatives (PIPA). The two bills are kind of like siblings, in a sense, as they are worded similarly and looking at similar issues—protecting intellectual property from piracy.

Now, supporters of these bills include the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the US Chamber of Commerce, as well as some top level publishing houses. Makes sense, right? Of course it does because as long as piracy exists, these industries are losing money. Hey, I’m an author, so I totally get that. I don’t take issue with the reasoning behind these industries wanting to protect themselves. And while I’m protesting these bills, I’m not pro-piracy as they’re all claiming anybody who protests these bills are. What I am is pro-freedom of speech, damn it, and if these bills go through with their vague language, our freedoms could be in jeopardy.

Think about China, Iran, and Egypt. China censors the World Wide Web and has a special task force that even removed comments, etc. from its internet about our blackout protest. Wouldn’t want another Beijing happening, right? After the Iran protests in 2009, YouTube could no longer be accessed in that country because people uploaded videos of what was really happening directly from their phones. And Egypt literally vanished from cyberspace entirely during their protests last year so protesters couldn’t organize like they were via Facebook and Twitter. That means the Egyptian government shut down the internet in Egypt ENTIRELY! Do you want our government to have that kind of power? Or to even give them the possibility to have it? SOPA/PIPA would be only the beginning of such power, and THAT, my friends, is why the internet corporations and American citizens stood up and screamed on Wednesday.

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg summed up the situation perfectly by saying, “The authors of the legislation don’t seem to really understand how the internet works.”

Clearly if they did, these bills either wouldn’t be on the table, or they’d be written with a better focus then what they are now. OR, they just think we’re all idiots and would let this shit slip on by, which is what happens most of the time because not enough people are paying attention. These are the asshats we voted into office, people. This is what they do.

My main point here is this: read these bills and any following them, educate yourself, and stand up for what you believe in and let your voice be heard. Hell, I may be wrong about a few things in this post, and by all means, correct me if I am, but I’m not some stupid bitch who claims to always be correct. One of the ways to become a better human being is to gain the ability to admit when you’re wrong, and believe me, this gal ain’t perfect by a mile.

But I am educated, and I do read this shit, and I have no issue whatsoever speaking my mind, as most of you know!

By the way, on Friday, Chris Dodd, CEO of the MPAA, warned of a backlash against President Obama over the anti-piracy bill. Now who’s being juvenile? Um, yeah. Good job there, Mr. Dodd.

Here is the press release for Fight for the Future’s January 20th email I received, which can also be viewed below as well as a few of the other emails I got today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow.  We just won.

From the Associated Press:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was postponing a test vote set for Tuesday “in light of recent events.”

So, in other words, because of all of us.  Absolutely amazing.

Demand Progress has been fighting this legislation for more than a year — having grown from nothing to overone million members during that period.

Even the Motion Picture Association’s Chris Dodd is awed by what just happened.  Here’s what he said yesterday:

“This is altogether a new effect,” Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing “an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically” in the last four decades, he added.

Thanks so much for your work on this.  Will you consider a donation to Demand Progress so we can keep up the fight the next time the Internet comes under attack?

You’re amazing.

-Demand Progress

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone!

A big hurrah to you!!!!! We’ve won for now — SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today — the votes we’ve been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.

The largest online protest in history has fundamentally changed the game.  You were heard. 

On January 18th, 13 million of us took the time to tell Congress to protect free speech rights on the internet. Hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, people all around the world saw what we did on Wednesday.  See the amazing numbers here and tell everyone what you did.

This was unprecedented. Your activism may have changed the way people fight for the public interest and basic rights forever.

The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled.  “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd told the New York Times. ‘[PIPA and SOPA were] considered by many to be a slam dunk.’”

“’This is altogether a new effect,’ Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing ‘an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically’ in the last four decades, he added.”  

Tweet with us, shout on the internet with us, let’s celebrate: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up  - #PIPA and #SOPA are tabled 4 now. #13millionapplause

We’re indebted to everyone who helped in the beginning of this movement — you, and all the sites that went out on a limb to protest in November — Boing Boing and Mozilla Foundation (and thank you Tumblr, 4chan)! And the grassroots groups — Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, CDT, and many more.

#SOPA and #PIPA will likely return in some form.  But when they do, we’ll be ready.  Can you make a donation to Fight for the Future, to help us keep this fire going? 

We changed the game this fall, and we’re not gonna stop.  $8, $20, every little bit helps.

13 million strong,

Tiffiniy, Holmes, Joshua, Phil, CJ, Donny, Douglas, Nicholas, Dean, David S. and Moore… Fight for the Future!

P.S.  China’s internet censorship system reminds us why the fight for democratic principles is so important:

In the New Yorker:  ”Fittingly, perhaps, the discussion has unfolded on Weibo, the Twitter-like micro-blogging site that has a team of censors on staff to trim posts with sensitive political content. That is the arrangement that opponents of the bill have suggested would be required of American sites if they are compelled to police their users’ content for copyright violations. On Weibo, joking about SOPA’s similarities to Chinese censorship was sensitive enough that some posts on the subject were almost certainly deleted (though it can be hard to know)….

After Chinese Web users got over the strangeness of hearing Americans debate the merits of screening the Web for objectionable content, they marvelled at the American response. Commentator Liu Qingyan wrote:

‘We should learn something from the way these American Internet companies protested against SOPA and PIPA. A free and democratic society depends on every one of us caring about politics and fighting for our rights. We will not achieve it by avoiding talk about politics.’”

#######

(press release is here: https://fightfortheftr.wordpress.com/press-releases/)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 20, 2012

Fight for the Future, which ran the largest organizing sites for the recent SOPA protests (sopastrike.com and americancensorship.org), applauds the announcement that the Senate and House have postponed action on the proposed web censorship bills.

“We sent the MPAA back to the drawing board,” said Fight for the Future Co-founder Holmes Wilson, “But any law that lets the copyright lobby block our websites, censor our search results, or cut off our Paypal accounts–without even going through a judge–will be soundly defeated.”

“This was the largest online protest in history,” said Fight for the Future Co-founder Tiffiniy Cheng, “The MPAA was trying to quietly force this bill through Congress, but when internet users started paying attention, real democracy happened.  This is a watershed moment in the fight against lobbyists’ influence on politics.”

“The MPAA could have proposed a law to address copyright infringement,” said Holmes Wilson, “Instead, they proposed giving rightsholders veto power over online innovation and free expression.  At that point, it was just a matter of getting the public involved.”

A timeline of the SOPA protests: http://sopastrike.com/timeline

Statistics from the January 18 protest: http://sopastrike.com/numbers

Statistics from the November 16 protest: http://americancensorship.org/infographic2.html

http://fightforthefuture.org

Happy New Year, 2012!

Posted on by Jinxie G

Bitch, you better be good to me!!!

You know I don’t normally do the New Year’s resolution thing . . . or I make a joke of it . . . but I’m kinda doing one this time just so I can put out there all the shit I have to accomplish this next year for my own damn good.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my New Year’s resolutions, not in any particular order. Start thinking of yours because I’m going to ask you what they are at the end of this.

1) Quit smoking by my 43rd birthday.

This is imperative because if I don’t do it, I’ll die at age 53. Yes, I know when I’m going to die. Haven’t we covered this already? I come from a very psychic family, people. And it’s true, most psychics won’t tell you when you’re going to die, but I’m weird and am one of likely a few people in the world who can handle the information without freaking the fuck out. I only pray that once I quit, I NEVER pick up a cigarette again. If I can accomplish that, I’ll live to the ripe old age of 79. Obviously, I’m hoping for the latter, because 10 years just isn’t enough fucking time for all the shit I have to do!

2) Quit drinking soda altogether.

I can do this. I’ve quit drinking it before, but obviously not altogether. The issue is that I freakin’ LOVE the taste of Pepsi, damn it. Why must you be so bad for my waistline?! And my waistline is right where it all goes. *sigh* Which brings us to my next resolution…

3) Join a gym.

I know everyone and their fucking mother adds this to their resolutions list, but I actually mean it. I miss the gym and haven’t had the ability to go over the last couple of years. And I know I’m insane for saying this, but I miss the elliptical. It actually helped my lower back and hip. Perhaps not to the point where I can ever work a 9 to 5 job again, but certainly at least giving me a better quality of life than lying around the fucking house because I can’t move.

4) Get my damn passport!

I don’t know yet why this is important for 2012, but I’m spending the money on this because it’s long overdue. I have places I want to go, and even if I don’t get to those places in 2012, I just might in 2013 because let’s face it, folks, the world isn’t fucking ending on 12-21-2012. I hate to tell you this, but I know the world won’t end in my lifetime. Just sayin’.

5) Take Umi someplace special.

Just because she fucking deserves it after taking care of me for most of my life, and well, because she’s my mom.

6) Start working on my “Payback is a Bitch and Bitch, I am” plan.

Sorry, this is classified information. But I promise you’ll be told after the fact!

7) Change my diet altogether.

It’s not like I eat junk food or fast food, but I could add healthier things to our diet, since y’know, I’m the damn chef in this house. And if Victoria (executive chef extraordinaire and now my dietitian) ever sends me her massive missive of recipes, I’ll get right on that!

8) Create a freakin’ work schedule!

Between RIP and ZSC and my own personal writing (which suffers the most), I’m being pulled in multiple directions and don’t even have time to beta read or critique for my own RIP partner, let alone others, which is so not cool with me! And how am I supposed to get my name out there if I can’t work on my own writing? It can’t happen, people. You need books to read from me! And I need to get the next Kick-Ass Girls Club book written before some of you start stalking me! LOL

9) Move Umi, Moon, and myself into a HOUSE.

I’m so done with apartment living. I’ll consider making the move back east after that.

10) Moonbug…

Speaking of Moon, she and I need to start walking farther. It’ll be better for both of us, but mostly it’s good for her to work those back legs.

11) Stop drinking coffee.

Wait! I know this sounds absolutely INSANE, but I need to kick the caffeine habit as well. This will be the very last thing I give up, simply for the fact that I will likely be in the mood to kill people after quitting smoking and drinking soda. However, in the instance the Zombiepocalypse happens, all bets are off!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And…. *drum roll* ….What are your New Year’s resolutions, dear readers? C’mon, don’t be afraid to comment. *points to note* See? I’m a comment whore.  I WANT you to comment, damn it.

 

#HorrorHound – Behind the Scenes: Part Four

Posted on by Jinxie G

Okay, the HorrorHound section is over, so technically, this is just me babbling about what happened the following week. Let’s see if I can remember it all, now that it’s after Christmas and this happened before Thanksgiving.

I last left you with My “son,” my wonderful trip to Maryland, and then back home to Arizona.

My “son”

Though I have never given birth to a child, I have many children. I have been a foster mother to a teenage girl, and kind of a mom to some of her friends. I’d attempted to give my nieces some semblance of a normal life outside of their home. I have been the mother figure for several of the Native American kids I used to work with when I was a Life Skills Coach/Mentor. But there is one person in particular, whom I’ve known since he was in middle school, and he was a part of the Writer’s Club I sponsored at the school. I love him as though he were my own for reasons only a parent could comprehend, and I’ve told him on many occasions that if I’d ever had a son, I would have wanted my son to be just like him. And this is why I call him my “son.” Online, I call him Pasha, and yes, he’s the one who had throat cancer a while back.

Pasha is on the ASU Quidditch team. Yes, there are actually Quidditch teams at universities across the United States and in other countries, and they run with a broom between their legs and the snitch is an actual person. It’s hysterical. Anyway, while I was in Cincinnati, Pasha was in New York for the Quidditch World Cup. I know, I know, it really does sound insane, and if Quidditch is real, where in the fuck is Hogwarts, damn it, and why didn’t I get a letter?! I don’t wear the talisman of the sacred three for just decoration, people. So, ASU came in 19th out of 92, or something like that. I’ve yet to have a chance to watch a Quidditch match or practice, so I’ll have to remedy that next season, but I just wanted to point it all out to you because I think it’s cool as hell and this is my “son” we’re talking about, so I have to gush. Oh, and his entire next semester is taking place on a cruise ship as he travels around the world, or at least South America. :D I’m so proud.

Maryland

After stuffing the backseat with Lora, Juliette, and ALL of Juliette’s clothes, thereby burying the both of them, we spent the 9-ish-hour trek driving to Baltimore, or at least to a place very near Baltimore. Paul drove, and I got the front passenger seat because I get car sick on long rides in the backseat. I wish I could claim it’s just an excuse, but no, it’s unfortunately very true. When that happens, I’m useless for at least two days.

Paul decided, at the beginning of our drive, to play a game. I’d never played this game before, so I was intrigued. The idea was to name a movie that started with the last letter of the movie previously named. I don’t think I need to explain it other than that, and for a majority of the ride, it was just Paul and me playing.

We played this game ALL THE WAY to Lora’s house. I’m not kidding. Near the end, it was damn difficult to think of movie titles.

Tuesday morning, I woke up to the most beautiful sight when I looked out of Lora’s front window.

And I saw an even more beautiful sight when I walked out the back door…

That’s Lora’s backyard and how fucking gorgeous is that? Look, it’s FALL! We don’t have this where I live, unless you drive up to the mountains.

Juliette and I spent the week at Lora’s, working, shopping, working, going out to dinner, working……..do you sense a theme here? Yeah, Juliette worked my ass off. :p I can’t even tell you how many survival bracelets I made, but I ran out of black paracord. Actually, I made one of each brigade color in one of four sizes, so….32. I wrote posts for ZSC. I fixed some bios on the ZSC site. I got some ghostwriting done. And Juliette got the inventory sorted and into new plastic bins. All in all, I/we got quite a bit of work done before watching The Walking Dead, The Talking Dead, and Terra Nova.

The dinner out was at Outback, which I haven’t had in a long damn time, but holy hell, was that sangria awesome! So much so that I had two! And all three of us were so hungry we devoured the appetizer, the bread, and everything on our plates.

Lora and Juliette bought me these AWESOME shoes!!! They truly appreciate my shoe whore addiction.

Thank you, ladies. Sincerely.

I also made spaghetti for them one night. :) It turned out pretty good.

During my week in Baltimore-ish, it rained, then it dropped to below freezing after the storms left, and then it rained again. One day, it was 65 degrees. WTF? Isn’t this November in Maryland? Why is it Arizona weather? Regardless, I loved it! Part of me wished it had snowed while I was there. Part of me was thankful it didn’t because I certainly didn’t have the shoes for THAT.

Home

I left Baltimore at 4am on a train to Boston, since that’s where my flight was leaving from. We’d cancelled our ZSC trip to Boston, but it would cost too much to change the flight, so we opted for the train ticket instead. Actually, I’d never been on a train before, so I was kind of excited.

I know, now y’all think I’m sheltered or something, don’t you? LOL

I had a 7-hour train-ride to Boston, a 3-hour wait at the Boston airport before my flight left (thank God for Starbucks), which was heading to Atlanta. Don’t ask.

When I first scheduled these damn flights, they were non-stop from Phoenix to Dayton, and from Boston to Phoenix. I don’t think the fucking airline should be allowed to change that on a person.

My flight arrived late, so we left Boston about 45 minutes late. Landed in Atlanta late–another goddamn mile-long between concourses airport–and I took the tram this time, the moving walkways, and practically ran to my gate (which I really can’t do) to discover they were already boarding. I barely made it, and I’d like to thank all the jackasses on the previous flight for listening to the captain and allowing those of us who had connecting flights to deplane first (not). This is why I fucking hate people. Most of you don’t think about anyone but yourselves. Not you, dear blog reader. I mean that “you” in general–as in the general population. This is why I love apocalyptic stories, especially those movies that show the apocalypse actually happening.

I’ll let your imagination fly from there.

I boarded the plane and the plane finally taxied out to the runway. You know how when you’re sitting there before take-off, waiting your turn, and you hear and feel the engines basically shut down and start back up? Yeah, so the captain and his crew do that…and suddenly the a/c isn’t working anymore. He gets on the com to inform us that there’s a problem and we have to go back to the gate so maintenance can take a look because he doesn’t want to take any chances. I’m so more than cool with that because I really don’t feel like being in a plane crash. Captain takes us back to the gate, and then proceeds to explain to us, after he’s walked around the plane–I saw him outside my window–what exactly is going on. And I mean EXACTLY. At this point, we’ve been sitting at the gate for about an hour. I’ve still got my hoodie on, which my neighbor helped me pull off because a 6ft. Amazon sitting in a tiny coach seat on a plane isn’t going to have the room to do such a thing. El Capitan comes back on the com, explaining why we couldn’t take off–there was a valve that stayed open and apparently, if it had stayed closed, we’d have been able to take off, but since it stayed open, we couldn’t. Hey, I had to suffer through the much longer version of that, so be thankful I gave you the summary. Anyway, Captain Jack (or whatever his name was) explains–as we’re all wiping sweat from our brows–that the problem would affect the a/c so it wasn’t working…

Now, I have very little patience for stupidity and being talked to like I’m a child. I don’t need things explained to me in detail. I don’t give a fuck that there are approximately 250-some-odd other people on the plane. Perhaps they need it explained in detail. Or perhaps Captain Whats-his-name is a newbie at this, which does NOT instill my confidence whatsoever in him flying me to Phoenix. Regardless, me, being the smartass I am and having been traveling since 3am and it’s now 8:30pm–yes, that’s right, as my plane was now an hour late from departing–I decide to answer the pilot without thinking about it and completely forgetting I’m kind of half deaf because my ear buds are in my ears.

PILOT: “So the air-conditioning is out…”

ME *very loudly*: “No shit.”

BACK HALF OF THE PLANE: *raucous laughter*

ME: “As if sweating wasn’t a clue.”

PEOPLE SURROUNDING ME: *laughing harder*

Older guy in front of me says something hysterical, along the lines of my sarcasm, but I can’t remember what it was.

PILOT: “But we’re about finished here…and once they’re done…well…we should be on our way.”

ME: “Is he new at this?”

NEIGHBOR: *laughing* “Seriously.”

PILOT SAYS SOMETHING ELSE IDIOTIC.

ME: “Are you fucking kidding me? Are we children?”

NEIGHBORS LAUGH AND COMMENT.

ME: “I’m sorry. I’m tired and just want to go home. I’ve been traveling since 3am.”

GUY IN FRONT OF ME: *turns around and waves his hand while laughing* “Don’t worry about it.”

PILOT: “And we’re ready to depart again.”

ME: “Thank the gods.”

PEOPLE SURROUNDING ME: *raucous laughter*

I’ll not bore you with the rest of my remarks, but know that as we took off, I wanted to shout something along the lines of “And we’re airborne! Duh!” and when we landed, I really wanted to yell out something to the passengers on the plane along the lines of “Welcome to the desert. Earlier in our flight, you’ve already experienced the weather. Enjoy!”

*sigh*

And so, my darling cousin Skywise had to pick me up–an hour late–and I finally made it home, whereupon I sat and told Umi the ENTIRE day.

Yeah.

***Note: I’ll try to get a recipe post up this week, but my phone isn’t working right now–which is where all the pictures for said recipe are–and I can’t get it to talk to my laptop, so it may have to wait a week. This is also the reason I can’t add some of the other pictures I took during my travels. Oh well.