A Cartoonish Life

It looks like I have some new friends on here! Welcome! Nice to meet you, and thanks for adding me!

I can't believe I didn't include anything about the passing of Steve Jobs in my post yesterday, so I'll say what I have to say about it here.

He changed the world, man. He changed the way we work and play. He changed the way we interact and communicate with each other. He even had a hand in revolutionizing the entertainment industry (he was a co-founder of Pixar). He made what was seemingly impossible, the sort of stuff we dreamed about for the future in "The Jetsons" or Back to the Future 2, possible. And I realize I may be typing this on a craptacular PC while saving up for a much-coveted Mac that I'll be purchasing as a birthday present for myself in December, but the fact that I even have a home computer wouldn't be possible if it weren't for Steve Jobs.

Best Jobs quote?: “Bill Gates‘d be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger.”

I'm back online! Room painting is near completion! I still have some touching-up to do, and another coat to even things out, but it's looking really nice in here.

Other than that, nothing really new to report. I'm having a bitch of a time going through my emails and deviantArt messages.

I suppose it wouldn't be today if I didn't make some sort of entry about what I was doing ten years ago when everything happened. I think I've made an entry about it. As a matter of fact, I think I've also made an entry about what it felt like to be there a few years after the attack, too. So I'm not going to beat a dead horse and just rehash what I already posted.

Ten years later, and I figure I should post my feelings about how I feel now about it all.




I am disgusted with our country. I really am. And let me tell you why. Every day I drive down my road to work, I have to pass by that Kortech place that I assume rents out caterpillars and other heavy machinery, but you wouldn't really know it with all the anti-Obama/anti-Democratic party rhetoric they feel the need to put on their advertising marquee. I can't stand that. It's not just because I particularly feel insulted and offended by it being that I'm a Democrat myself. It's because it's so hate-filled and it's not what we need to be doing as a country. It separates us even more than we already are. Whatever happened to "united as one"? Whatever happened to "one nation (under God) indivisible"?

In the last four or five years alone, we've had dealt with some major economic problems here in America, and everyone just wants to point the finger at President Obama. Everyone wants to blame the president for all of their problems. Jobs, the weather, banks, credit, healthcare, blah blah blah. Before Barrack Obama was elected into office, everyone was blaming George W. Bush for everything that had gone to pot with the country. And while I may have my own personal opinions about President Bush (he had a decent first term given he was the one in charge when a major national crisis happened, but his advisers failed him in his second term, and let's not forget how he handled Hurricane Katrina), he had everyone blaming him for all of the problems that happened in his wake. This is why I would never want to be President of the United States; it's just a position of major responsibility that I would never want to have just for people to eventually hate me and blame me for everything under the sun.

It's easy to point the finger and play the blame game out of sheer anger and frustration. No one wants to sit down and actually think about what causes what. The economy took a hit because of the domino effect that 9/11 had on us, and the country has never fully recovered. President Obama occasionally gets on TV for State of the Union addresses and says that the recovery process WILL NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT. You have to WORK for it, and nobody wants to seem to do that. We Americans have grown rather entitled and just want things handed to us on a silver platter for nothing. We want to bitch and moan and point the finger and wallow in their own self-pity, and complain, complain, complain.

And I'm tired of hearing people whine and complain about everything under the sun. I try not to complain about things that are within my control, and I think more people need to take my stance. You think the job situation is terrible? Do something about it. Work on your resumé. Go take a college class or a workshop to learn something to make yourself an asset. Learn to navigate the Internet so you can do your job searching there. You think the economy is terrible? Do something about it. Don't waste your money. Make sacrifices. Don't go to Starbucks every day. Wear your winter coat from last year. Clip coupons to make ends meet. You may have to tighten your belt and live within your means, but you can do something about it. We did something about it during the 30s in the Great Depression. It took a while, and we had to go through a World War in the process, but we came out ahead. WE'VE DONE IT BEFORE. WE CAN DO IT AGAIN. What was it John F. Kennedy said?..."Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

I think the United States of America has been on a pity and shame spiral since the events of September 11, 2011 happened. And I think we need to break this cycle and get out of it. It's terrible what happened, and people who actually lost someone in the World Trade Center or at the Pentagon or on any of those planes are the only ones who are truly allowed to grieve. But as for the rest of us? We can have our moment of silence, then it's time to move on. We can't wallow in the shadows of the past forever.

I'm glad I don't have to work today. I don't think I could put up with some bleeding heart customer asking me, "How will you remember what happened today? What will you be doing?" I'll tell you what. I'll be doing some cleaning around the house. Then later on today, my boyfriend and I will get together so he can have his birthday present and we may go get him a celebratory birthday dinner and drink. Yep, you heard that right. I'm going to work and have fun today. I don't want to have to dwell on the past. It's time to move on. I don't want to sound callous and cold and insensitive about it, but seriously? It's time to move on. "This, too, shall pass."

So a few weeks ago, my brother's girlfriend moved in with our family. We had to do a massive (and seriously overdue) cleaning-out of the basement and around the house. I ended up consolidating a lot of my own junk. We kept talking about doing a yard sale, but you never really bring much money in with those things, so we pitched a lot of it.

But yeah, Jessica's living with us. The main reason being that her parents are ripping her off money-wise. I'm not going to get into the details here, but long story short, they were pulling a fast one on her. We're not charging her rent or anything, and she really isn't all that much of a burden around here, but the way Mom goes on and on about it...

Oh well. We'll see how long this lasts. I don't mind her staying here for a while. She and I like a lot of the same things and we get along well. I think Mom makes a big deal over nothing, really.

*tangent* Not much was done for Labor Day. I had a day off, and I tried in vain to re-figure my wiring setup for my TV and my DVD/VCR and my Blu-Ray players with my adapter because I'd like to be able to record stuff (like "Regular Show")....and now I have no way of watching my DVDs or tapes because I got utterly confused in the process. Kevin gave it his best shot, and he got confused as well. It would help matters immensely if I had a more modern TV with a normal setup in the back. Kevin says he has a spare newer TV from when he was still living with his dad just sitting in his closet. I told him he doesn't have to just let me have that and I would just make do with this till I can get a new one. So we came to an agreement. He said he'll let me use that TV so I can be able to watch DVDs until I get a new one. (And TVs will be going on sale in a couple of months anyway when we get closer to Christmas.)

In an ironic twist, the "Rage Against the TV" of "Regular Show" aired yesterday after I was having my TV problems.

*tangent* I still don't like my job. What else is new? Trying to keep up with my work blog and doing my best at writing that book. I've fallen into a rut. Working on my art is taking up a lot of my time. I made a vow that I'm going to go the next 30 days trying to get at least something drawn. And South Shore Arts will soon be starting up another round of classes so I can brush up on my skills, so I have to keep my eye open for that.

*tangent* I could cry. Alton Brown just tweeted that they wrapped up the last episode of "Good Eats." But he's moving on to new projects, and as long as we have the Cooking Channel, "Good Eats" will live on. As long as I have my books and DVDs, I'll be good.

*tangent* On the flip side, "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" will be starting up on the hotly anticipated season 2 next week! And JG Quintel just announced that season 3 of "Regular Show" will be airing in a couple of weeks as well. (WOW, that was fast.)



(Anyone want to help me turn THAT into an LJ icon? I'll love you long time if you do.)

*tangent* Mom goes in to see the doctor for her test results next week. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

*tangent* Now is the time of year where I have to start thinking about what the hell I'm going to do for Halloween.

*tangent* I'm going to get started re-painting my bedroom walls next week. I'd LOVE to be able to do a big mural all over them like Rapunzel did in Tangled, but no. If I were going to be living here forever, I wouldn't have a problem with that. But I aim to be out of here by next summer, so I'm just going with a nice neutral. Mom says I should get one gallon because "that should take care of the whole room," but I call bullshit on that. One gallon was NOT enough last time we tried painting in here. For crying out loud, one wall in this room is still unfinished!

And that's it on my end. Later, dudes.

This is B-roll footage of the X-Flight animation that Six Flags lent out to ThemeParkReview.com. This includes the first car point-of-view of the ride. (I love watching first car point-of-view videos of other rollercoasters on YouTube because I may never get to experience actually going on those rides.)



Still really excited over this!

"God sent Hurricane Irene."

Hurricane Irene and the recent East coast earthquake were directed at America's politicians, according to a statement from Michele Bachmann.

The Minnesota congresswoman and presidential candidate told an audience gathered at a Shriner's temple in Sarasota, Fla., Sunday that God was trying to communicate a message about fiscal responsibility via the two recent natural disasters. From the St. Petersburg Times:

"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."

Bachmann's comments immediately stoked a firestorm of media attention. In a follow-up statement, Bachmann's campaign said Monday the candidate's observations were merely a joke, according to Talking Points Memo.

"Obviously she was saying it in jest," spokeswoman Alice Stewart told TPM in a statement.

Stewart did not immediately respond Monday to The Ticket's request for comment.

A clip circulated Monday of Bachmann's comments shows the lawmaker clearly smiling and nearly laughing as she delivers a similar message about "God's wrath" during that speech.

Bachmann is an evangelical Lutheran who has long stressed her personal relationship with God in public forums. She previously revealed that while serving as a state senator, she asked God for guidance "and just through prayer I knew that I was to introduce the marriage amendment in Minnesota" that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. She also has said that God gave her and her husband visions of marrying one another prior to their first meeting, and that God called her to run for Congress.

For some, Bachmann's comment this weekend immediately brought to mind televangelist Pat Robertson, who infamously claimed Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for legalized abortion.

********

For crying out loud, I can't stand this woman. She makes Sarah Palin look sane.

For the record....if she had actually studied in her school science classes (it's easy to blame God when you flat-out didn't pay attention to your Geology classes in school), here's how hurricanes are formed.

( Ahhhhh, today is a fine day for science! )

Hurricane Irene is set to hit soon, so anyone who reads my blog that lives on the east coast (especially jadore_histoire and wonkylibrarian), be careful. I'm thinking of you guys.

So Kevin and I went to Six Flags Great America yesterday. And if you haven't been there yet this summer, you might want to go soon. First of all, they're running the American Eagle backwards until September 17th in honor of the coaster's 35th anniversary (30th or 35th, something like that. Or it may be the park's. I can't remember.).

SECOND of all, they're shutting down the Iron Wolf September 5th and getting rid of it. Which you know what that means. POTENTIAL NEW ROLLERCOASTER!!! *squeeee!* In all seriousness, though, Six Flags Great America needs a new rollercoaster reeeeeally badly. That Dark Knight coaster really wasn't worth the hype, and the Little Dipper is just a transplant kids' rollercoaster from when Kiddieland was shut down. The last big rollercoaster SFGA got was Superman: The Ride.

My suggestions for the rides? They really need to get some groundskeepers on the job and do a better job of upkeeping the ride atmospheres. They could get rid of quite a bit of the plants by the Demon AND repaint the rocks AND get rid of all the gum people like to stick on the "stalactites." (That was just gross.) They could also try to spruce up the queuing area around there because it looks kind of run-down. Also, they REALLY need to think about revamping the queuing area around Batman: The Ride because all of the Tim Burton-style Batman stuff just makes it look outdated. Just re-theme it after the Nolan-verse Batman films (ESPECIALLY since The Dark Knight Returns will probably be out by next summer).

As for a replacement coaster for Iron Wolf? I would die if they got a rollercoaster that was on the same playing field with the X2 out at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Or the new Green Lantern coaster, which looks INSANE:



( As for the rest of the trip? Wellll.... )

Other than that, it was a fun day. My feet are sore today, and I don't have much of a voice left, but it was a fun day.

Mom had an appointment with the new doctor she's been seeing for her....ahem, "multiple sclerosis." I put it in quotes like that because according to this doctor, she may not even have multiple sclerosis AT ALL. Mom said he took a look at her records, looked dumbfounded, and asked her who exactly diagnosed her with MS. This new doctor says she may just have suffered from a series of mini-strokes and not MS, and mini-strokes are treatable.

.............IT MAY NOT BE M.S.

Twenty years of being treated for it, suffering from it physically and emotionally and financially. And not just Mom. ALL OF US. That shit trickles down and affects those you love. Dad, Gramma Julie, and me and Hunter. Hunter could've had a somewhat normal childhood with a somewhat active mother because of their mistake. I wouldn't have had so many problems with her because of their mistake. She's Gramma Julie's daughter. And Dad's had to put up with so much. Just.............GOD, how can you make an accident like that?!

So yeah. When those tests come in, she and Dad will be looking for a lawyer to sue the pants off that doctor who gave her the MS diagnosis.

The new doctor told her that mini-strokes are treatable, which means she'll have to cut down on the coffee and quit smoking. (Which made me smirk on the inside. WHAT HAVE I BEEN TELLING HER FOR YEARS?!) And she'll have to go to therapy for a little while, and she'll have to just get out and not be pent up inside the house long-suffering. He's not going to treat her for depression and give her a bunch of drugs to numb the pain and NOT actively treat it (YAAAAY).

So. You know what this means? I won't have to feel so bad when I go away to art school!!!!! I won't have to stay around and be forced to help take care of her anymore!!!!