josie

Dunno. Hockey's his life, he's young still, maybe it's a sort of "I need to conquer this" thing? It's part of the article- his wife was a hockey player too- shattered her leg and came back the next year, even though she did so "against what she conceded was sounder judgement". They felt that had an idea of the triggers now, she was pregnant with kid 3, they have a plan in place in case of this happening again and he's not more worried about CTE than he always has been. Scandella's quoted as saying if anything was off, they'd keep him from going out on a shift. KO is now involved in mental health orgs/charities, as well. So, kind of the par for the course "you really shouldn't keep doing this, but you're going to, aren't you" sort of things you get with pro athletes (and really any athlete).

I've been waiting for this story to come out. Dark's alluded to it a few times when talking about how part of last year's locker room was having big issues (we heard about it last Spring), but obviously, it's pretty sensitive/painful information you don't just start sharing. Long story cut super short for those of you who can't see the article- Remember when Okposo was dealing with a terrifying brain injury and all the reports were super vague? He was in the ICU and very close to killing himself, at one point asking to be put into a coma so he could just sleep. Part physical and part psychological- he was in horrible shape. He's doing much better now but the man went through hell- unable to speak, etc. I believe it was triggered by a concussion, complicated by a nagging neck injury. He's a really solid guy who went through unimaginable hell- the article talks with his wife quite a lot as well, which really nails down how harrowing it was. I'm hoping the KO we were hoping for is here now, and I'm hoping his detractors settle down a bit.

I never ate Bugles. But Turk did.

Work is going so awfully today that we broke out the vodka hours ago

I'm sure they've got some awesome creative folks in there. The differing voices might just be losing out to the majority/leaders' ideas. It's a step forward either way, utilizing a 'fresh' style guide across multiple platforms (3D versions of the text, animations, etc). Budget makes a lot of design decisions. I'd like to think they have a huge budget but... I'm nascent in the world of multimedia design anyways. I'll try again in a few years when my skills are a little stronger (i'm currently in the process of unwittingly become a print/collateral designer in addition to web dev... it's a stressful time at work haha). For now, I can critique and think of alternatives, but I'm not in the room- I'm sure there's reasons for the direction, even if I don't dig it. I think they can do better, but end of day, I'm an armchair quarterback in this one.

Every time I see it I can see and smell the room full of dudes excitedly shouting over each other with words like "dynamic" and "really pops" being bandied about like dollar bills in one of those cash grab machines.

They gave me haldol for nausea after a surgery. It did nothing, and all I could do was associate it with my schizophrenic grandmother. Zofran was the only thing that kept me from painting my dad's car. Oxy makes me so nauseated- it's my last ditch resort if I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with a migraine or kidney stone and need to make it to a doctor/home. They offered me dilaudid for my kidney stone. It shifted right after I got checked in and before they traiged me and the pain lessened from a 10 to a 5, so I turned it down once they got me to a bed. They were SO much nicer to me when I turned down the drug- guess they assumed I was drug seeking. I'm terrified of any of that stuff. Never have used more than a couple out of the giant bottles prescribed. Seen it ruin far too many lives around me. I always say I prefer the pain, but man, sometimes that pain is REAL. I assume a call with no Voicemail was spam and never follow up. Text me if it's quick, email me if it's detailed, voicemail me if you're a doctor's office. You want to commission me? Message me or email me because I'm not messing with it otherwise.

haha ayup. I admit I don't entirely hate it, but I wouldn't say I like it, either. I said it before but it's like a jockier version of the Chipotle cups. That frenetic, run-on sentence feel. I don't find it easy to read- especially that example. Some of them are easier to read than others- this one was like a really busy comic book page where you have to look a few times to follow the panels in the correct order. The "you" and "Direction" on the right side of coach but that's it were like... sorta widow'd from the main section. urgh. In the video there's some nods to illustration/sketching... but it's suuuuuper filter-y and then they throw int "texture" to make it look busy... Maybe if they went more the direction of those Labatt Blue commercials with those sections... but then they'd have to hire/outsource actual animators and it's much cheaper/quicker to use an aftereffects plug-in. But hey, they ain't payin' me the big bucks- I wasn't good enough to get more than a phone interview.

Dark shaved his beard. This is a complaint.

Cut off because of politics. It's a very individual matter. Friends/acquaintances- I can cut those off fairly easily, though I endeavor not to until it's reached an unreasonable point- I sometimes find value in seeing "the other side". But family... thats tougher, right? My uncle is, by all societal measures, a great man. He is a millionaire. He is a nuclear physicist. He travels around the world. He owns an old 1920s mansion, but drives old beat up cars/wears drab clothing because he doesn't like flash. His SO is of another race. His home is studded with curiosities and treasures from a myriad of cultures from every continent. He is worldly, he is well read, he is handy/can fix anything. He is, without a doubt, one of the most close minded, racist, conservative, Rush Limbaugh spewing, hatred-driven people I know. His sons (my age) are estranged, one is an addict, the other missing. "Didn't pull themselves up by their bootstraps- fu*k 'em" is his stance. He wasn't always this way- the last decade or so has really turned him. But he is my uncle- I've known him since birth. I see him at holidays. I listen to his travel stories, and accept his gifts. My mother (fiercely liberal) and he maintain a relationship where she takes care of all of his stateside affairs when he's abroad. He responds to this by insulting her repeatedly for her views, telling her "you'll grow up eventually, all smart people become conservatives when they get older, you'll stop being a doormat someday" (she's 3 years his junior). He will sit in front of me and bring up LGBT issues and summarily bash them, use slurs, etc, then look me in the eyes and go "You're an art kid, know any of those tranny freaks sneaking into the wrong bathroom? Hope you don't become some attention craving lesbian!" I haven't completely cut him out of my life. But I do avoid the man. I haven't gone to TN to visit my family there- I know what they think of women, of liberal mindsets, and folk. I have enough crap bombarding me from every angle in my life that I don't think adding the anxiety of trying to have a good relationship with these people is worth it. I don't see it being realistic to try to be some saintlike listener, forgiving and forgetting each transgression in the name of Family. Like my listening to his bile and gently offering counterpoints only to be steamrolled is going to somehow make the world a better place or strengthen our bond? No- instead it fills me with reactionary anger, which then spills out and only serves to deepen the void between us, as people and ideologically. Sparing contact- for politeness- seems the correct road sometimes. In most cases in my life like this, it's almost more bullying than anything resembling a political debate. He enjoys making people feel small, and his state-backed red rhetoric has become his favorite weapon. The platitudes of love and family cannot solve that which is real- and that is a lack of respect which could ideally span ideological rifts. Fu*k love solves all- to have love you have to participate.

Our cat would do that. Then, when given the fresh stuff, he'd gorge on it and then barf it everywhere. Now the little tender tummy'd trundlebutt gets wet food once a day in addition to his ever present crunchies... and he has two litter boxes now, in an apartment which barely fits dark and I... spoiled rotten. But the snugs and general adorableness are worth it, I guess.

One of my good friends just moved from Corvallis, OR to Logan, UT and this is his biggest complaint. Weak, sh!tty pilsners. His friends and family are sending him beer care packages now. Hopefully I'll get to see him this weekend and we can all b!tch about Mormon drinking sensibilities. Especially since it'll be Sunday and hte state will practically shut down. God I am SO ready to get out of here- my brain is just fluffy useless static today. I hit so many freelance goals in the last 10 days and I pretty much burned out all my fuel. Here's hoping we make our super tight layover in Detroit tomorrow.

I can't stop watching this stupid video It gives me such joy

Yeah, here's an article about it. Warning, pic is of some mighty skinny horses. 2 of them are part Freisian, which is a big breed. https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/two-arrested-three-horses-removed-in-victor-animal-cruelty-case/1409786802

Managed to raise $400 for my old horse rescue on one of those Facebook fundraiser things. I'm matching up to $400, so that's 800 for the rescue! I didn't think it would go so well- It still has a week left. Thinking I might try to raise it for $200 more to make an even 1k. The rescue just got inundated- 1 kill pen rescue, 3 seriously underweight/neglected seizures from a farm in Victor, an expensively sick rescue, and a full roster besides that. Really touched how many people reached out on ye olde facebooks.

We have a mandatory company party at the bosses' home. I've heard you can leave early but we're supposed to be there till 1-5.... I mean, I like most of my coworkers, I like free food and beer... but I really am stressing about getting home and working on my freelance glut. Dark wants to go to Southern Tier to see our friend's band play tonight, and I do too, but it looks like it's going to turn into an overnight thing. Too bad I can't work in the car haha

Oh just my inability to say no to work. I've been trying. I've been giving work to friends who need clients. But I'm still just ruining my quality of life for the sake of not letting others down/making money. It's like my grandma being a hoarder because of the Depression, saving everything because she "might need it someday"...but I'm that way with freelance. My current pile is: A 6-10 hour project, 5 multimedia ready images with an annoying client, and 35 portraits by next Thursday. All of this is ASAP rush work. The portraits- I've been doing about 10-12 a week, which hasn't been easy... Throw in 8-11 hours of my other two jobs every day and woo... I'm going to earn my vacation next month. Each of these takes 30-45 minutes. If any of y'all are looking to support the Democrats this voting season, check out flippable.org, and you'll see my art floating around. Lord help me, I can't even drink coffee to get through it all....

Yeah, he was trying to do the Thin Blue Line flag (lone police officer), but the blue line is usually the first long bar directly under the stars. Probably started with the blue, did the red, went, "oh... " and well, that's what the pic is of. I have to design them a lot for one of my clients- I've made that mistake before myself. I'm yucked out that he decided the TBL was the way to go with a bunch of kindergarteners, but... "I am the law and order candidate" he said.... *barfs* I have actually seen people taking this silly pic seriously, and like.. there's way more important sh!t to take seriously- get your heads out of your a$$ and focus. But then, we've been yelling that at the Dems for years now... should be their damn motto!

God bless Johnny C's. I have yet to have a sub there that wasn't magnificent. Big portions, too.

Here's one for you: 1. Ok ok, a real joke. What do you call it when an arrogant politician convicted of wrongdoing goes downstairs? A condescending con descending.

I never used Tinder. It had just started existing around the time I started dating Carter, but it was still 90% a hookup app (like Grindr is for gay men) and I'm just not a one-night stand sort of chick. Now I know a pretty good number of folks who are married due to a Tinder match. Something about knowing there's dudes out there actively swiping me off as too ugly/boring/unworthy just decimates the tiny amount of self love I do have (I mean, I know it has always happened in real life but something about it being part of an app makes it worse). Whole thing squicks me out, but I guess I get it- gamifying the hard part. You know it's serious when a Tinder couple agrees to delete the app off their phones haha If I were single I still don't think I'd try it. I doubt it'd work for someone like me- I wouldn't know how to present myself. I'd just hope getting involved in lots of stuff I find interesting brings about some interesting acquaintances. "If I were that girl I would have only been interested in those that left. Those that stayed were far too desperate and sure as hell don't value their time enough." -This is my thought too- cracks me up knowing my friend. He's legit 1%er from Jamaica, has a super cool job, funny dude, and his dating history includes long term relationships with heiresses n sh!t

Well, if you look at his personal timeline it is backwards- especially since each post has so much attention, the algorithm views it as important and keeps it stand-alone. But if you come across one of the posts regularly and click it, they unfold in correct order above and below. There's also bots that can "unroll" it and put it in a paragraph format. If you posted backwards, it would be backwards. It may be a hellhole that makes my blood feel carbonated and sickly while destroying what tiny shred of respect I had left for mankind, but I have gotten most of my work/jobs/luck through that site. But if twitter is just too much for you guys, here (my friend is quoted at the end): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/style/tinder-dating-scam-union-square.html

Wellp, that's completely normal with character limits, I'm afraid. I swear, half my feed is threads anymore. I do it with my art sometimes. Pops it back up/gets it relevant again over a single repost.

A friend of mine from RIT went viral yesterday and was mentioned (he declined to give his name) in a NY Times article... Long story short, he met up with a girl from Tinder and found himself with about 200 other dudes she'd promised to meet up with, where she then held an impromptu live dating competition. He left immediately, because why the hell would you stay? He has also coined (well, maybe it existed before but i love it) the term "Fallopian Fortitude". What a b!tch. Read about his adventure at: Good lord man, how? I swear, if I ever find myself single again, I'm just giving up on dating entirely.

This weekend I shirked my freelance duty and read instead. I needed it. I've been burning the candle at all ends and the middle for months now. Finished a book about women on ships in the age of sail- covered both wives/prostitutes legally on board and the women who disguised themselves as men and went to sea as British tars. One black woman made it something like 14 years before she was found out, way back in the late 1700s. Really fascinating stuff. Dark and I both read The Hooligans of Kandahar- a first person account series of anecdotes of a tour in Afghanistan around 2013. I highly recommend it. Funny, dark, thoughtful, honest. I'm starting the Ghost Ship of Brooklyn next- about the HMS Jersey. In the American Revolution, a bit less than 4500 men died in battle. Well, on the prison ships alone, approx. 11,500 died. Average of 8 a day on the Jersey alone. The holds were said to be so disgusting and the air so putrid a candle couldn't even be lit. So naturally, I have to read everything I can about it, since it's truly horrifying. Many years later, after they burned and sunk the thing, workers in the harbor renovating the docks kept coming across tons of bones sticking out of the shore, and eventually only a few years back, the ship's remains herself.