There’s some gin in the kitchen infused with sloe berries. It tastes like cough medicine. Quite nice actually.
I adore gin, and I’m even learning to like Old Tom gin. I still haven’t figured out what to do with sloe gin, though.
In tall glass, squeeze half a lemon into two shots of sloe gin and fill with club soda. It’s called a Sloe gin fizz and it takes like a SweetTart.
I beg your pardon tastes like a what?
And if you’ve neither? I don’t like tonic water, and gin isn’t my fave spirit but if i need a drink it’s acceptable. Anything else masks the taste, but carbonated water would do.
Soda water is carbonated water enhanced with some type of sodium. You could use just sparkling water if you prefer a zero-sodium alternative. You wouldn’t want to use tonic water so good thing you don’t like it.
SweetTarts (candy that tastes both sweet and tart):
See when you said sweet tart i thou- you know what nevermind XD
I’m not sure we have soda water. Just carbonated, tonic and lemonade.
Drank gin once some time ago. Only a small glass and not even full. Gave me such a headache the next morning. XD
How much of a glass? You’re not meant to fill the entire glass you know, unless it’s a shot glass lol.
I wanna try absinthe or something insanely strong.
I thought absinthe was a strange, mysterious drink until I learned that I had had something extremely similar while in France: pastis (Pernod and Ricard are the most popular, I think). A little pastis and some water over ice on a hot day is wonderful!
As for gin: you have to know that there are many different kinds of gin. The most common and popular one is the London dry gin (your typical juniper-punch-to-the-face). I like it in cocktails but not so much straight. (As if I enjoy anything straight. Ahem.)
I far prefer either a cucumber-flavored gin (Hendrick’s is the most common one in the US) or a botanical gin (yes, they contain juniper but the more forward flavors come from a mix of flavorings like citrus, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, and many others). Oh, and if you’re drinking more than 60 ml at a time, you are well on the road to regret! 🙂
Over the last few years I have discovered the joy of gin and tonics, but I have also learned that the “tonic water” that you buy is absolutely and thoroughly disgusting. Tonic syrups are becoming more popular in the US; these are basically just a sugar syrup with quinine and various botanical flavorings. This is a nice overview (and I see several brands I still need to try! Jack Rudy’s is my go-to, but 18.21 is amazing).
Oh, and for the record, soda water = carbonated water = club soda = seltzer. It’s just water injected with carbon dioxide
at high pressure. Some commercial brands of club soda do add a slight amount of salt for flavor.
I will now stop being a pedantic ass and go back to enjoying my booze quietly.
A drifter since his
teens, Jimmy Dorsett has no home and no hope. What he does have is a
duffel bag, a lot of stories, and a junker car. Then one cold desert
night he picks up a hitchhiker and ends up with something more: a letter
from a dying man to the son he hasn’t seen in years.
On a quest
to deliver the letter, Jimmy travels to Rattlesnake, a small town
nestled in the foothills of the California Sierras. The centerpiece of
the town is the Rattlesnake Inn, where the bartender is handsome former
cowboy Shane Little. Sparks fly, and when Jimmy’s car gives up the
ghost, Shane gets him a job as handyman at the inn.
Both within
the community of Rattlesnake and in Shane’s arms, Jimmy finds an
unaccustomed peace. But it can’t be a lasting thing. The open road
continues to call, and surely Shane—a strong, proud man with a painful
past and a difficult present—deserves better than a lying vagabond who
can’t stay put for long.
Rating: 5 out of 5!
Wow, what a great book.
Both Jimmy and Shane are broken people, each in their own way. Seeing
them interact and how the broken pieces fit together is wonderful to
read.
I’ve been trying to put my finger on why I enjoyed this book and Kim Fielding’s “Bones”
books, and I think (aside from the great main characters and dialogue),
she creates a wonderful sense of place. The story isn’t taking place in
a vacuum, and the secondary characters are interesting and have lives
“off-screen.” I’ve read a few too many books where every single
character introduced has a specific role to play in the plot. It’s OK to
just have someone in the background who doesn’t, you know, actually do
anything other than aid in the setting!
It’s always a good sign
when I get wrapped up enough in the characters and the story that when
the end of the book comes I’m crying and wanting more. That was
definitely the case with Rattlesnake!
I initially read (and reviewed) this book in June, 2016. I
just finished listening to K.C. Kelly’s performance of this audiobook.
Kelly’s voice is perfect for the story, adding a comfy Western twang to the
narration and providing suitable accents for the characters. His
performance is remarkable because he pays attention to how the
dialogue is delivered, as well as differences in cadence and intonation.
Jimmy’s simple “Sure.” (in context, “go ahead, I don’t mind”) has a
rising intonation that matches how you would imagine the character would
naturally speak. I’m probably describing this poorly, but it is safe to
say that I enjoyed Kelly’s performance very much, and he made a great
book even better!
There are a lot of things in this world to complain about (and heavens know I do that enough elsewhere) but I want to mention a small thing that is killing me: I adore the book I’m reading now (In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish). It’s a sweet romance between two likeable characters in a cozy small-town setting. The only thing bothering me is that it is written in the first person, present tense and it’s killing me! As I read the grammar stickler in me keeps looking back and thinking I’m seeing inconsistencies in tense. That is really disruptive.
It looks like the series continues from here and I look forward to seeing more, but if the writing style doesn’t change I’m afraid I’ll have to bail.
So we’re supposed to use a terrible system just because the rest of the world suffers from it? *scoffs* Please.
People are 70% water (iirc), Celsius is based on water. Be water my friend.
Though this misleading. Celsius is common in the UK, Fahrenheit still is often used.
As an engineer in the US, I weep every day that we haven’t adapted the metric system. Don’t tell me about thousandths of an inch in your mold design – tell me in something sensible like millimeters!
Infected: Prey, Bloodlines, Life After Death, Freefall, Shift, Lesser Evils, Undertow, Epitaph, by Andrea Speed
How do you review an eight-book series? Normally I’m not sure I’d even attempt it, but given that I would rate every book in the series 5 out of 5, I think that this merits mentioning. I have reviewed the first three (and a half) books in the series here and here. I am so pleased to say that the series continues from there to be a wonderful read.
To recap from an earlier review:
In the 1960’s a virus was loosed that killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. A vaccine was created, but the vaccine had…side effects. For those “infected” with the virus, five days out of every month they transform into a feral feline – cougar, lion, leopard, panther, or tiger. This is not a neat transformation, either: it can take an hour or more, and is excruciatingly painful as all of the bones break, the body is re-formed, and mass is redistributed. The bigger the feline, the greater the toll it takes on the body, so while there are many cougars, tigers have a diminishingly short lifespan.
Roan McKichan is an oddity. Where almost all other infecteds caught the virus later in life, he was born with the virus and somehow lived when all other virus children usually die shortly after birth. A former cop and now a private detective, he is coming to an understanding with the lion inside him and becoming something the world has never seen before.
While these books are technically mysteries (or at the very least private detective cases), those are peripheral to what really matters. Each book is comprised of two novellas, typically one following chronologically after the other. Each novella has 2-3 cases of varying degrees of interest and involvement. The important thing here though is the characters and how they live their lives.
Roan is the star of the show, and is truly a larger-than-life character. The overarching story is of him coming to terms with his lion, and the damage done to himself as he calls on the lion to do what he believes is right. He can be cranky, misanthropic, sarcastic, and funny as hell. At the same time, though, we see him dealing with deep depression and wondering if the fight to just keep living is even worth it. He’s complex, complicated, and fascinating.
Roan alone would be the basis of a couple of good books. However, Speed has created a setting with a lot of possibilities, and populated it with a remarkable cast of characters. After Roan, Holden is the next biggest player. He’s a former whore with no illusions about the world or himself. Amoral is just a start, and he is not above a little vigilantism on the side when called for. At the same time he has a vulnerability that he hides from everyone except a sometimes-boyfriend who slows chips his way into Holden’s heart.
Other characters are incredibly entertaining, like the Seattle Falcons, a minor-league hockey team who befriends Roan: Handsome, closeted team captain Scott, the paradoxically gentle enforcer Grey, and the manic goalie Tank. They make a weird addition for Roan’s little family and yet it all fits together somehow. Add in oddballs like Fiona, Roan’s receptionist who is also a part-time dominatrix, and Dee, Roan’s ex-boyfriend and EMT who spends far too much time putting Roan back together, and you’ve got quite a collection.
So having reviewed the earlier books, why do I feel like I need to write more about the series? I think more than anything reading the series as a whole is an incredibly satisfying experience. You spend a lot of time with these people and you start to know them well – how they tick, why they act like they do. You want to know what is happening in their lives, and what will happen next. Speed’s writing is at its best here, keeping up a driving pace that still gives the reader time to consider the character’s thoughts and emotions. It has been a long time since I became as invested in a set of books like this, and I hope you take the time to check them out as well!
Also posted on Tumblr at: http://ift.tt/2jIMHpC
In the wake of several near-cataclysmic events, humanity created the Cure, a DNA-altering antidote to death by disease and old age. But all cures come with side effects: a small percentage of the population develops a wide range of powers, some of which are lethal to others, and some which are lethal to the wielder.
These people are called the Estranged, hunted and shunned, safe only on the Island of Exile. It is here that Kaeva and Eddie meet-and where they set a prophecy in motion, quite possibly sealing their own demise, and even the end of Exile.
Rating: 5 out of 5!
Breaker brings us two flawed, fascinating main characters, but it also brings an amazing world as well. It’s a futuristic dystopia where all is well if you are well-off and “natural”, that is, receiving only the good aspects of the Cure. For the Estranged, those to whom the Cure has given a frightening array of powers, controllable and not, life is much harder. If lucky, they live on the outskirts of society, fighting for meager crumbs. Those not so lucky just…disappear. Perhaps they are whisked off by the military or the government for research, no one knows. But to be Estranged is to be outcast, unwanted.
In all of this, a small, hidden haven has arisen: Exile, an island off the coast of the United States. Perhaps the government knows of it, perhaps they don’t, but it is well-hidden and well-fortified, and populated by Estranged who have fled for its sanctuary.
It is on Exile where we meet Kaeva, a Breaker – a man whose uncontrolled outbursts can send massive jolts of electricity through anything (and anyone) near him when his emotions get the best of him. His Estrangement has made him a loner, bitter and hopeless, fearful of getting close to anyone.
We also meet Eddie, a “richie” with an affluent upbringing whose abilities as a Scanner (he can hear the awful thoughts of those committing terrible acts, but only as they commit them) he has tried to hide all of his life. When discovered he runs, eventually reaching Exile. Eddie is an amazing character. He is naive about the hardscrabble life of the Estranged, yet well-versed in the interplay of adult society, in public and in private.
The book brings Kaeva and Eddie together and the sparks fly, pun intended. Once the setting and characters are established the story is straightforward, but the atmosphere of the story makes it quite an enjoyable journey (and one that had me sniffling through happy tears as well). I can easily imagine Kaeva’s isolated little house by the ocean, spartan but homey, the sun warm and the wind blowing. The rest of Exile comes to life for the reader similarly.
Two questions that I ask myself when I finish a book: “Do I want to spend more time with these people? Do I want to learn more about this place?” In the case of Breaker the answer on both counts is an unqualified Yes! I look forward to more from Wyre and Henley and the fascinating world of Exile.
Can anyone with experience of pest control please tell me how to stop these getting into my front room?
The slime isn’t easy to see.
What is it? The answer from me is “no.” I cannot. My method of killing bugs that get into my apartment is to freeze them out. Just like people, the bugs seem unable to withstand the temperature of my apartment. xD
That is a slug. I got it out but it’s not the first to have got in. Seems to be one at a time.
I know you can make a trap for slugs with beer (a shallow dish/pan filled with beer attracts them, then they fall in and drown). That only deals with them once they are in the house, though.
*squeezes you like crazy* Thaaaaaank yoooouuuuu very, very much! You are way too kind to me and I do not even know what I did to get this sweet post. ❤️
This is so cute until you realize he’s not actually gripping that branch, he’s just hovering there with his demonic powers of levitation.
This fluffy beauty does not need branches when it is so at peace with himself. 😉
Look at them. Cold eyes of a killer. He’s that cold it’s been snowing around him
3 parts Copper Fiddle hot gin (locally crafted gin steeped with a Serrano pepper)
1 part Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
Bittercube Orange Bitters
Shake fin and vermouth with ice cubes for 12 seconds*, then strain into martini glass. Add a few drops of orange bitters. Garnish as desired, but I’m too damn lazy to screw with garnishes.
(Since I haven’t seen anywhere you can find these results without being a members of a closed group, I’ll pass them on here.)
As posted to http://ift.tt/2jWH4Vs
Hall of Fame All-Time Favorite M/M Author Amy Lane
Previous winners: 2015 Mary Calmes 2014 Josh Lanyon
Hall of Fame All-Time Favorite M/M Romance Captive Prince: Volume Two by C.S. Pacat
Previous winners: 2015 Bear, Otter, and the Kid 2014 Stars & Stripes
Hall of Fame All-Time Favorite M/M Series A Matter of Time by Mary Calmes
Previous winners: 2015 The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon 2014 Cut & Run by Abigail Roux
All-Time Favorite M/M Author 1 T.J. Klune 2 Rhys Ford 3 Santino Hassell
All-Time Favorite M/M Romance 1 The Lightning-Struck Heart by T.J. Klune 2 Wolfsong by T.J. Klune 3 Try by Ella Frank
All-Time Favorite M/M Series 1 THIRDS series by Charlie Cochet 2 Captive Prince series by C.S. Pacat 3 PsyCop series by Jordan Castillo Price
Best Action/Suspense/Adventure 1 Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet 2 Part & Parcel by Abigail Roux 3 Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer
Best Anthology 1 THIRDS Beyond the Books Volume 1 by Charlie Cochet 2 It Was Always You by Cardeno C, Ella Frank, Riley Hart, Lane Hayes, Christina Lee, Felice Stevens, N.R. Walker 3 Magic & Mayhem: Fiction and Essays Celebrating LGBTQA Romance
by Nicole Kimberling, Amanda Jean, Samantha Derr, Josh Lanyon, Ginn
Hale, Megan Derr, Alex Powell, Karelia Stetz-Waters, Dev Bentham, E.J.
Russell, Austin Chant & Tracy Timmons-Gray
Best Athletes/Coaches 1 Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy 2 Breakaway by Avon Gale 3 Tackling The Tight End by Tara Lain
Best Audiobook Narrator 1 Greg Tremblay for Dirty Heart 2 Michael Lesley for The Lightning-Struck Heart 3 Gomez Pugh for Spook Squad
Best BDSM 1 A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles 2 Dom of Ages by K.C. Wells 3 Endings and Beginnings by K.C. Wells & Parker Williams
Best Blue Collar 1 Wolfsong by T.J. Klune 2 Shifting Gears by Riley Hart 3 Fast Connection by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell
Best Book of the Year 1 Wolfsong by T.J. Klune 2 Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat 3 Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet
Best Coming of Age 1 Adulting 101 by Lisa Henry 2 Trailer Trash by Marie Sexton 3 Noah by Cara Dee
Best Contemporary/Mainstream 1 The Weight of It All by N.R. Walker 2 Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy 3 Broken by Nicola Haken
Best Cover Art 1
Broken by Nicola Haken Cover Art by Reese Dante 2
What Remains by Garrett Leigh Cover Art by G.D. Leigh 3
Wolfsong by T.J. Klune Cover Art by Reese Dante
Best Dark Theme 1 Broken by Nicola Haken 2 Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish 3 His Favorite Color Is Blood: Coffin Nails MC by K.A. Merikan
Best Debut Book 1 Tal Bauer for Enemies of the State 2 Cat Sebastian for The Soldier’s Scoundrel 3 Dal Maclean for Bitter Legacy
Best Enemies to Lovers 1 The Queen & the Homo Jock King by T.J. Klune 2 A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles 3 Empty Net by Avon Gale
Best Established Couples 1 Dex & Sloane…..Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet 2 Griffin & Whyborne…..Fallow by Jordan L. Hawk 3 Cole & Jae…..Dirty Heart by Rhys Ford
Best Family Drama 1 Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish 2 Fast Connection by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell 3 A Second Harvest by Eli Easton
Best Fantasy (high fantasy or urban fantasy) 1 Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat 2 Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr 3 Fallow by Jordan L. Hawk
Best Free Story 1 The Visit by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell 2 Overtime by Avon Gale 3 Prelude to Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala
Best Friends to Lovers 1 Wolfsong by T.J. Klune 2 Catch a Tiger by the Tail by Charlie Cochet 3 The Weight of It All by N.R. Walker
Best Historical 1 A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles 2 A Gentleman’s Position by K.J. Charles 3 Murmuration by T.J. Klune
Best Humorous 1 The Queen & the Homo Jock King by T.J. Klune 2 The Weight of It All by N.R. Walker 3 Adulting 101 by Lisa Henry
Best Hurt/Comfort 1 Broken by Nicola Haken 2 Strong Signal by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell 3 Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish
Best Kink/Fetish 1 A Seditious Affair by K.J. Charles 2 Endings and Beginnings by K.C. Wells & Parker Williams 3 Lord of a Thousand Steps by Tara Lain
Best Law Enforcement (Cops/Private Investigators) 1 Tied Up in Knots by Mary Calmes 2 Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet 3 Hexbreaker by Jordan L. Hawk
Best Main Character 1 Dex…..Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet 2 Laurent…..Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat 3 Ox…..Wolfsong by T.J. Klune
Best Medical/Rescue Worker Professionals (Doctors/Nurses/EMT/Veterinarian/Fireman/Search & Rescue) 1 What Remains by Garrett Leigh 2 Winter Wonderland by Heidi Cullinan 3 Shatter by Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliott
Best Military/Intelligence Officer/Spies (Soldier/Armed Forces/Intelligence Officer/Spy/Assassin/Mercenary) 1 Part & Parcel by Abigail Roux 2 Strong Signal by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell 3 Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer
Best Mystery/Whodunit 1 Dirty Heart by Rhys Ford 2 The Mermaid Murders by Josh Lanyon 3 Fish Out of Water by Amy Lane
Best Out For You 1 (tie) Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish 1 (tie) Sunset Park by Santino Hassell 2 A Second Harvest by Eli Easton 3 Tart and Sweet by Amy Lane
Best Paranormal 1 Wolfsong by T.J. Klune 2 Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet 3 Hexbreaker by Jordan L. Hawk
Best
Performance/Visual Arts (Musicians/Dancers/Actors/Artist – any medium
including tattoo artist/photographer/graphic designer) 1 Absinthe of Malice by Rhys Ford 2 Strong Signal by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell 3 The Spencer Cohen series by N.R. Walker
Best Polyamorous (M/M/M…) 1 Absolution by Sloane Kennedy 2 Werewolves of Chernobyl by K.A. Merikan & L.A. Witt 3 Vengeance by Sloane Kennedy
Best Sci-Fi/Futuristic/Post-Apocalyptic/Steampunk 1 Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits by Lyn Gala 2 Fight the Tide Keira Andrews 3 (tie) Withered + Sere by T.J. Klune 3 (tie) Clockwork Heart by Heidi Cullinan
Best Sex Industry (Rent Boy/Escort/Adult Model/Porn Actor) 1 Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh 2 The Heart As He Hears It by A.M. Arthur 3 Home by Cara Dee
Best Short Story (under 15K words or under 50 pages) 1 Red Dirt Christmas by N.R. Walker 2 Wood by Jordan Castillo Price 3 The Visit by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell
Best Slave/Dub Con/Kidnapped 1 Just a Bit Ruthless by Alessandra Hazard 2 Debt by K.C. Wells 3 Staged by Kim Fielding
Best Virgins 1 How to Walk Like a Man by Eli Easton 2 Sunset Park by Santino Hassell 3 Fast Connection by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell
Best White Collar 1 First and First by Santino Hassell 2 Broken by Nicola Haken 3 The Secrets in My Scowl by A.E. Via
#1 request this week? Super happy gay YA with HEAs. So here are some books with little to no angst (other than typical teen/romantic) or violence/SA/bullying, or death, that do have a whole lot of kissing (and maybe more, esp in the NAs) and some general merriment. (Full disclosure: I wrote two of them. I’m not doing that modesty thing where I don’t include them.)
Also, currently reading and adoring A&B by JC Lillis – delightfully fun and fluffy, musician-themed, bi MC, lesbian LI, and if you’ve read and loved How to Repair a Mechanical Heart, you will love how much Abandon is in this book <3
I’m not going to be a dick and link to it, but I read an opinion piece by an m/m romance author that has left me feeling pretty conflicted. The gist of it is, “Those poor heterosexual romance writers! They don’t get to mine the depths of homophobia, self-hatred, closeted living, and confused gender roles that m/m romance writers do! We have so much more wonderful angst from which to draw, and it generates automatic conflict that makes books in this genre easy to write.”
I’ll be generous and assume that it was not their intention, but I have to say that that sentiment makes me feel, as a gay man, pretty damn exploited. I won’t ignore the fundamental facts there – GLBTQA life can be pretty damn complicated, with a host of issues that heterosexuals never have to even think about. Maybe it’s just the underlying gleeful attitude I read into it. I don’t really have any solution there, but it just really bugged me.
Breaker by Kelly Wyre and A.F. Henley, Book One of the Exile series, will only be the special preorder price of $5.94 until 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time tonight January 10, 2017!
In the wake of several near-cataclysmic events, humanity created the Cure, a DNA-altering antidote to death by disease and old age. But all cures come with side effects: a small percentage of the population develops a wide range of powers, some of which are lethal to others, and some which are lethal to the wielder.
These people are called the Estranged, hunted and shunned, safe only on the Island of Exile. It is here that Kaeva and Eddie meet—and where they set a prophecy in motion, quite possibly sealing their own demise, and even the end of Exile.
Pairing: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy – Bisexual/Gay Word count: 95,000 Price: $6.99 $5.94 Content: Contains some explicit content and includes thoughts and discussions of past and potential suicide.
FINALLY OUT AND AVAILABLE! ??? At least over here.
My pre-order just hit my inbox and I can’t wait to get into it 🙂
In December, 2014, I was the Hotel Liaison for Midwest FurFest. This is a furry convention that (at the time) had 4,500 attendees. It was my fifth and final year in that position, which is arguably one of the more important roles with a convention, because they make sure that the venue provides all space, equipment, catering, etc. at the right place at the right time. Needless to say, it was a pretty high-stress position going in.
At around 2 AM on Saturday night, something unthinkable happened: someone broke a container containing some kind of chemical in a stairwell, releasing chlorine gas over a large area. The hotel was quickly evacuated, which meant that we now had around 3,000 people standing outside in December in Chicago. We were able to move people into the convention center across the street, and then we had to wait for two hours until the all-clear was given. 19 people were taken to the hospital by ambulance. As the main point of contact between the hotel and the convention, this was quite possibly the most stressful night of my life.
I’m proud to say that we pulled through and kept everyone safe and warm. Amazingly, the show went on and our attendees were complimentary about how quickly we recovered from a potentially devastating event. For myself: I grabbed a fitful few hours of sleep, and then came discussions of what to do in the immediate future, as well as what the insurance and legal ramifications might be (I was a member of the Board of Directors as well). I wrote and distributed the press release about the incident for the convention and handled social media communications too. And when all of this was done, I went back to our hotel room and had an emotional breakdown.
After the convention, I made it clear that I was stepping back from a leadership role for the sake of my metal health. After a few months I realized I had fallen into nasty pit of depression and anxiety, although my dear husband did everything he could to support me. I finally gave in and discussed things with my doctor, who was incredibly understanding and worked with me on a couple of approaches, including a course of Prozac and Wellbutrin that has worked well for me.
Skip ahead two years later. Midwest FurFest 2016, in December of last year. Things were going great, I had a low-stress role helping out the Guests of Honor. On Friday night, though, I woke up certain that I was hearing fire alarms. My heart was racing, and my brain was in pure fight-or-flight mode. All I could do was lay there and try to figure out what was wrong with me. Eventually after an hour+ of misery I fell back asleep.
On Saturday night the same thing happened, and I figured out what was going on: I was having an anxiety attack. I was fortunate that my husband was there to hold me and remind me that everything was going to be OK. This calmed me down much faster and I was able to get some much-needed sleep.
So what have we learned here? I thought that the whole thing was behind me, but now I know that’s not the case. PTSD is a true thing, and it will mess with your mind something fierce. The worst part? Fear of another anxiety attack. It feeds itself if you’re not careful. I will be discussing this more with my doctor, but I thought it was important to write this down to let people know that no, not everyone is perfect, and we may even share some similar problems. I’m going to get help for this. I may never be completely in the clear, but I will have coping mechanisms, and I will consider that a win.
my mom has a friend who has a failed program-service dog and he’s literally my favorite creature
He’s a really smart lab, he learned all the commands, but he just has an affinity for doing them whenever he wants
So this lady’s dog literally turns on-off lights, opens doors, opens the fridge, etc… at his own wishes.
Her house looks like its baby-proofed, with kid safe locks on everything and stuff, but really she just has a dog that’s learned all the mobility service dog commands but has a mind of his own.
I seem to have been tagged in the “11 Things About Yourself” meme by @rebelsheart. I haven’t done one of these in a decade, so hey – what the hell.
RULES: Tell your followers 11 random facts about yourself, and tag 11 people in return! Tag backs are allowed, but you mustn’t repeat any of the facts you mentioned previously! The facts can be absolutely anything! Whatever springs to mind! Let’s get started!
When I was in grad school, I was lead singer for a Genesis/Yes cover band for three weeks. Never did play any gigs, but it was fun. Alas my Peter Gabriel/Jon Anderson impressions have gone to hell over the years.
I have only ever dated two men. I am still good friends with my first boyfriend and I married the second one. We have been together for 18 years now.
During my undergraduate years at Tulane and Clemson I was very active with the student radio stations, starting with rock, then jazz, then classical, then settling into a folk/Celtic show for three years.
Gin is my spirit of choice, and I enjoy it in all forms – neat, cocktails, however. For the last two years my husband has given me a gin Advent calendar with 24 samples of gins from around the world each year. It’s wonderful!
I’ve been a part of the furry fandom for 20 years, starting out on Usenet in alt.lifestyle.furry.
I’m a chemical engineer by schooling, however since I’ve graduated I’ve been an Internet tech support specialist, organic bench chemist, analytical chemist, chemical process engineer, coatings R&D engineer, pharmaceutical validation engineer, and these days I am a pharmaceutical R&D engineer developing valves and containers.
I enjoy cooking very much, and I am told that I am pretty good at it. I lean to French and Italian cuisine, but if you give me a recipe and ingredients, I’ll give pretty much anything a shot!
I have been to 40 furry conventions. I was on staff/presenting programming for all but three of these. I’ve been to seven different furry cons (Duckon, Midwest FurFest, Anthrocon, Mephit Furmeet, Furry Connection North, Fur Squared, and Further Confusion).
I have had bouts with depression and anxiety all my life, but it wasn’t until 2015 that I confronted it and did something about it. I am now taking Prozac and Wellbutrin, and I am much better off for it.
In early 2016, my husband and I took part in a 4-month medically-supervised weight loss plan. I lost 60 pounds, he lost close to 100 pounds. Now the trick is keeping the weight off!
With my husband, I help organize the Furry Convention Leadership Roundtable (FCLR), an informal international mailing list/discussion group/annual meeting for furry convention runners. We are pleased to count among our members conventions from the US, Canada, UK, Sweden, Germany, Ukraine, Australia, and Brazil.
I really don’t like tagging anyone because I don’t want someone to feel like they must post something. Instead, please feel free to grab this meme and post your version of it! Or don’t, and that’s OK too!
Stand. Stand up. Stand up for yourself. Stand up for your friends. Stand up for your neighbors. Stand up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. When you get knocked down, stand up. The old aphorism is it doesn’t matter how many times we fall, as long as we get back up and keep striving after. And it’s true. But the thing we don’t always remember is, no one said you have to do it alone.…
(text continues) It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to ask for a hand when you’ve
fallen. And when someone has fallen and needs a hand-up, don’t be afraid
to reach out and help them. When we help someone else stand up, we’re
helping ourselves.
Stand together. Stand beside your friends, neighbors, and the people
who feel alone. Stand together against the cynicism and greed and hate
which we all have to face from time to time. Stand together. Lean on
each other if you have to, but the most important thing is to stand up
together. We’re stronger together.
Because when the forces of bigotry, fear, greed, and ignorance gather
together and try to overwhelm us with hopelessness and despair, our
only defense is to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and say, “We will not be
divided. We will not retreat. We will not give in. This is where we make
our stand. Together.”
Representation is important because it allows people to see characters like themselves as heroes.
It also allows people to see characters unlike themselves as sympathetic and relatable.
Stories teach us how to be human.
This is also why bad representation that demonizes already stigmatized groups is so dangerous; it reinforces the belief that those groups are not human.