Humans don't think - they EMOTE

Humans are ruled by Emotion, and maybe, once in a while, sometimes bother to think. 

Exhibit A: Social Media

Yes, I said it this way first. A friend, who still has a Facebook account helped me create the image.

I've pointed out before that humans don't think for shit.  (Actually, my entire blogging career is pretty much about that, so I've close to a thousand examples where I point that out.)

I kept trying to walk away, and not care, but I fucking care, and there's so much stupid in the world, I just need to shout at it.

Perhaps it is time to move on?

Borusa: You have access to the greatest source of knowledge in the universe.

The Doctor (Tom Baker): Well, I do talk to myself sometimes.

Source

I saw a LOT of Fourth Doctor episodes as a kid. I suspect it affected my thinking for the better.

Sometimes I listen to myself. If I am the chaos element that appears only in time of need, perhaps - like G+ - my time has run its course. That is, this manifestation was what *I* needed, as well as you. Perhaps it is time for me to change, to let this account close, and find new ways to express myself. Perhaps it is time I channeled my voice more directly into the meat world. That my time here has helped me hone my methodology of expression and refine my own values. If all goes well, you will see me, but recognize me only in your heart :)

REMEMBER:

You have value.

Use your damn brain.

Find your voice

I will always be part of you.

I love you.

(model unknown)

L L A G L

So, one day I write "ttyl" to this guy I've known for a while now, and he replies "llagl".  So I'm googling it, and apparently it's Welsh for "slack."

So, I ask him "LLAGL?"

He says "Live Long And 'Prosper' *cough* *cough* "

Uh-huh.

So, I think, he's got a weird sense of humor, and...  ah. I think I got it, but I ask him, to be sure.  Yep, I got it.

So, if you see "LLAGL," it could mean

Live Long And Get Laid

So, now you know, and now it's on a blog post, and maybe - just maybe - the crawlers will pick it up, and if you see "llagl" somewhere, you'll get the joke, too.

Not reaching my audience anymore and it sucks

...and to the surprise of no one, my blog Stats have tanked since the demise of G+.  Sigh.  The entire fucking point of linking this blog to G+ was to have a nice, easy way to reach people and let them know the blog existed, posts were going live, and content was flowing.

Thanks a lot Google management team. You suck.

About Icarus: Fierce Demands

I really appreciate your fearless and fierce demand the world get better. 

- Ellen Joyce, on Icarus

MeWe without Me

The first time I heard of MeWe was reference (with link) to a letter by one of the owners/founders defending James Wood and his whiny "First Amendment says you can't hold me accountable for being an asshole" whine about his "liberal" agent firing Wood for being an asshole.

That set off so many red flags, I ran out of red crayons. The whole thing reeked of pandering to shitty elements of American society too stupid to understand the Constitution, too selfish to distinguish freedom from tyranny with consequences for personal responsibility, and nakedly courting those elements.

Then I read their marketing material and product offerings. It was all too slick. Everything about it reminded me of people I know whose lips say they want to make the world a better place (and often they do), but every enchanting amd dazzling speech always ends up with "and it will make me a lot of money." Always. Read the fine print, and buried in there are the buzzwords, a bit of dog whistling to both the far right and far left, and promises, promises, promises how people running a private corporation - offering you a licensed service, on their  terms, which can be changed on a whim, promising they respect your privacy, if only you'll join their service which is going to make them rich.

Waaaaaay too slick. Waaaaay too willing to pander to anyone for a buck.

That was my first and second look at MeWe. Word up is that I'm not wrong.

Doesn't mean other people can't benefit using the service. Again, reading the material, it looks pretty solid, especially for a few bucks a year. (What I hear is the free service is full of holes, but $30/year ain't bad, IIRC.) Just means I'm not excited about it.

Why I am generous

Thankfully, I've never actually been homeless, but I have had times where I had to live with someone else, when I would much rather have had my own home. I learned to share, because it could be me.

I'm also a big tipper. Not because I'm wealthy, but because I know that even small compliments - small kindnesses - can go a long way.

If you want to be an asshole, at least own up to it

Unlike, for example, religious bigots or racists dog, I don't need an excuse to be an asshole.

I'm a big girl. If I want to be an asshole, I just will, and I will own it.

I won't try to congratulate and excuse my bad behavior by telling myself I'm magically full of specialness - or even, say, Ambien - that means I'm somehow not an asshole - and thus immune to consequences - for acting like one.

(source)

Empathy: because it could be me

A man on the street asked for a dollar.

"I got to get home," I thought, and rushed past him.

"I have a home to go to," I thought.

I went back and gave him what little cash I had.

Empathy transcends dogma, theology, ideology. Having empathy means being human.

Image Source: 

What To Say — And NOT Say — To A Homeless Person

How important is a fast reply to text messages?

My retort to this blog posting. And I'll be frank, this came out of a fight I just had with a friend who got pissy that someone hadn't responded to every single text for 12 hours.  Okay, it was just a handful, but 12 hours later, the reply came back, failed to address every single text, and it had been twelve  hours, because "No one waits 12 hours to reply to text!"  Um, yeah, for example, *I* do. Except with friends that I know have serious damage - and get pissy - about not getting fast replies. 

So, the linked post, ...

On the one hand, amusing. On the other hand, I'm not going to be a slave to the gadget in my pocket. I'm not going to sacrifice my life for async experiences, where huge chunks of time are wasted waiting for a response. If it's important, CALL ME. At least, then I have a full bandwidth conversation, in real-time, instead of splitting my focus with having to type at 1/8 the speed I can talk constantly interrupting whatever is going on around me, for example playdate with my niece or nephew at the park.

That means, if it takes me days, or never, to reply to your text message, that I'm not a fan of text messages, and it has nothing to do with how much I care about you. Text messages are convenient for async leave-me-a-message-and-I-will-reply.

Text messages are not "real-time," in any sense of the phrase. Text messages are time wasters on a scale that Faceborg can't hope to compete.

So, "what it actually means"? Not a damn thing, unless you want to measure servitude to a gadget, or servitude to people who can't be bothered to call you, or drive to meet you somewhere.

(source)

My ego just 'splodey head

Okay, hang on, hang on.

I - ME - just got used as a selling point for a G+ Community.

Now, in fairness, Micha Crispinder does run a cool G+ Community, so if you have half a brain, and your head is outside your ass, give it a looksie.

Oh, I think I need a lie down before my ego goes me all 'splodey head :-)

Fiction Friday - I want to be a blue-haired mutant

I want blue hair. I mean, as like a natural mutation. Plus, I want superpowers. Flight would be totally awesome, especially if I could achieve orbit, and float around in space without a spacesuit. I'd totally buzz the space station. That would be so fucking awesome.

Space flight and blue hair. That's what I want for Christmas.

(Model Riae)

(and yes, I've wished for Riae's blue hair before)

And me, being me, where spontaneous off-the-cuff ideas, that start life as simple fun-and-cheeky G+ posts, take on a life of their own...

Alcippe Filipina Kopecky

Background and Origin: When other little girls played with dolls and dreamed of being married someday, “Aly” dreamed of going into space. Her toys were rocket ships and flying drones. Her wall posters were astronauts and space shuttle schematics.

She studied science, and got her PhD at age 26. She was accepted to the national space agency, and in line to fly into space as a science specialist. Someone dug up one of her high school blog posts, where she expressed Views. The controversy wasn’t going to get her kicked out of the program, but she was going to miss this mission flight. This mission had her experiments on board.

Despondent, angry and very drunk, she locked herself in the lab. No one knows what happened in there, because she doesn't remember, and someone destroyed the security camera recordings. The next morning, a half million dollars of experiments were ruined, and the world had a new nova.

A year later, she still works for the space agency. Technically, her new contract is five years of indentured servitude. She doesn't care. She'll do any repair, or any experiment, or even just clean the toilets - just as long as they keep letting her live in the space station.

Combat Tactics: She is not a fighter; she flies away from violent people. In a pinch, she is not averse to hitting someone with a wrench or puncturing a spacesuit with a screwdriver.

Personality Traits: She loves space and astronomy and will talk for hours about it. She has a good heart, but can be immature and sometimes chooses her words poorly.

She can be a bit OCD about completing tasks she feels responsibility for, and has gotten in trouble more than once for not letting go of something reassigned to someone else.

She loves nothing more than being in space, and can get bit weird whenever there is any discussion of her returning to Earth for any reason (she can't reach orbit under her own power, and worries no one would fly her back into space).

Appearance: 5’8”, blue hair, pale skin, lots of tattoos.

Powers: She can survive indefinitely in outer space, and fly. She is a science genius and a talented aerospace engineer.

Notes: Model Riae. Character by I. A. Riley, March, 2018.

Document Copyright (C) 2018 by Icarus Anne Riley. All rights reserved. Portions Copyright others; no attempt is made to infringe upon their rights.

Alcippe Filipina Kopecky - Aberrant

Strength  [2] (Might ••• [5])
Dexterity •• [3] (Athletics ••• [5], Pilot • [3], Stealth • [3])
Stamina ••/• [2] (+1) (Endurance ••• [7], Resistance ••• [7])
Perception •••••/••• [5] (+3) (Awareness ••• [8], Investigation • [6], Navigation ••• [8])
Intelligence •••••/• [5] (+1)  (Academics ••• [8], Computer •• [7], Engineering •• [7], Linguistics •• [7], Science •••• [9])
Wits •••• [4] (Arts • [5])
Appearance •••• [4] (Style • [5])
Manipulation ••• [3] (Diplomacy • [4], Subterfuge • [4])
Charisma ••• [3] (Command •• [5], Instruction • [4])

Quantum ••
Quantum Pool 24
Willpower ••••• ••
Taint ••
Combined Soak - Bashing 3, Lethal 2
Health levels - Bruised, Hurt, Injured, Wounded (cannot sprint), Maimed (movement halved), Crippled (can only move one meter per turn), Incapacitated, Dead

Backgrounds
Backing •••
Contacts •••
Influence •••
Mentor ••
Resources •••

Abilities
Flight •
Hyper-Flight •
Mega-Stamina • (Adaptability)
Mega-Intelligence • (Eidetic Memory, Science Prodigy)
Mega-Perception ••• (Electromagnetic Vision, Quantum Attunement)

Boilerplate

Sourcebooks Aberrant RPG (White Wolf Publishing, 1999), Aberrant Player's Guide (White Wolf Publishing, 2000).
Random backstory generator - http://www.pbegames.com/lifepath/ .
Random name generator - http://www.behindthename.com/random/ .
Random job generator - http://writingexercises.co.uk/random-job-generator.php .
Random personality trait generator - http://writingexercises.co.uk/random-character-traits-generator.php .
Random height/weight generator - http://tower.newcenturycomputers.net/hwcalc.html .

Values in red indicate the number of Mega dice to roll. These are separated out, because a single Mega for that comes up 7, 8, or 9 counts as two successes, and a roll of 10 (“0”) counts as three successes. So the dice need to be rolled separately, therefore they are noted separately.
She is built on 30 nova points.
+6 Attributes
+12 Abilities
+5 Backgrounds

Happy Easter!

So, here is a picture of me at Indiana Comic Con this weekend. The Con just wrapped up, sorry I missed you there.

Figured I'd get in one last cosplay before the baby bump really starts to show. I was also trying to pitch my idea for a new "mild-manned coffee barista gets wrapped in alien skin suit and gains superpowers kind of like 'guyver bio booster' only sexier."

Like the guyver, the "chest plates" open up, revealing powerful "reflex cannons," which blow shit up, and cause a lot of collateral damage. As you might imagine, use of the cannons is extremely exhausting, so she does it rarely.

The "ears" on top are extrasensory antenna, giving her different cool abilities, but mostly enhanced hearing and "danger sense."

The hair is mine. I had the dumb idea to lighten it.  It was a dumb idea, because I know better - as I discovered that time I tried "to go green," even "gentle" chemicals rip up my scalp. If you look closely, you might see bits of the white scalp healing lotion the doctor gave me the last time I was this stupid. (Clortrimizole, or something. I can't find it right now.)

Pitching my idea, I got lots of, ahem, "interest," but I don't think anyone will actually offer any money.

Ah, well. At least I had fun.

(Image source)

Leafy Green Stuff

You know what would taste really good right now?  Brussels sprouts!

- Things I Can't Believe I Actually Said

(image from AllRecipes.com)
(they have a recipe, too, that I'm going to try someday)

Thinking ahead to my tombstone

I want my tombstone to read "She left the world a better place than she found it."

First Lady of the United States Obama was a real class act.

Musical Monday - Losing My Religion - Lacuna Coil

Like "Rise of the Titans," bitch!  I know, that's a totally silly opening, but you don't read this blog on a regular basis expecting anything but whatever the fuck I'm thinking at the moment.

In the dreams where I don't have wings, I dream of being a titan, striding the Earth, like a great benevolent tyrant.

Meanwhile, "Losing My Religion" is like an iconic song, right?  I ran across Lacuna Coil a while ago, because they seem to be in the same YouTube mixes as Amaranthe and Arch Enemy.

Meanmeanwhile, turns out I covered this song before, but I didn't realize (at the time), that Lacuna Coil had an official vid.  Whatever. That previous post was about the vid games featured in the fan splice-up vid, and this post is about the official Lacuna Coil vid.  Blah, blah, blah.  :-)

Musical Monday - Shatter Me - Lindsey Stirling ft Lzzy Hale

So, I finally broke down and bought the Lindsey Stirling album "Shatter Me," because it turns out it has the title song (vid below) and two others that I really like - "Roundtable Rival" and "Master of Tides."  I'll let you know if I fall in love with any of the other songs on the album.

Plus, as I've mentioned before (and before that), the whole "classical strings plus hard rock" is totally my thing.

Oh, and as I've mentioned before, I've got that whole grrl crush thing on Lzzy Hale.  Go figure, since - wait for it - as I've mentioned before, I'm not actually into women :-)

Right. So, there you go. Musical Monday.  Because, music is a fucking beautiful art form.

(image source)

Coolezt Dad, Evar Awerd

Dear Steven Gilbert,

While I am totally nominating you 
for "Coolezt Dad, Evar!" award,

What were you thinking?

Have you read my shit??

Well, to be fair to both of us,
I have done a lot of good writing,
even some great writing, on occasion.

I am very proud of my body of work.

dissenting opinions

It's not the dissenting opinions 

that depress me. 

It's the sheer passion fervently embracing blind common-sense defying vapid stupidity that makes me sick.

Darth Vader, Asshole, Part 2

As I said last week, I've always considered Darth Vader to be kind of an asshole and special snowflake bully.  But, you know, Vader does has style oozing out his helmeted ears, so no surprise some people come up with some really amazing cosplay.

Now that's style.  

I could totally game this character.

(model unknown)

People fascinate me.

You know, whatever else I think, I give her props for working hard to develop that costume.  I'm also betting (and hoping), she and her boyfriend had major monkey sex that night.  She totally earned it.

(model unknown)

Model Sithvixen

As Sithvixen points out, "Guys love boob armor."

Okay, so you're little girl is adapting an iconic major badass into a costume. I can dig that. Girls need badass role models. I still prefer Wonder Woman to Vader, but the kid rocks it, and I applaud her.

(model unknown)

Blow it. I love body paint. This is cool.

(Model unknown)