Tag: general

Posted in Art, bookit, general, writing

July Goals

Posted on by sokorra

Its that time of the month again where I go over my goals sheet from the start of the month, see if I accomplished anything I set out to do, and start to make a new goal sheet for the next month.  I’m posting some of them here to basically feel more accountable for them since other people know of them.

THis month didn’t go so well as I ended up not doing ANY of my goals.  So many of July’s goals will be roll overs as I try once again to accomplish them.

Assisting me this month as far as writing is Camp Nano, which I talked about last night so hopefully I will actually achieve the 50,000 word goal for the month.  This should also help me with my goal to catch up with the drabble prompts from a challenge I am doing.  I also hope to finish alot of various fics.

And now t hat recap of last night’s post is over, I also am rolling over some health goals.  I want to reduce my sugar intake (less pop, resist the temptation that is 99 cent cake slices) and also start doing pilates regularly to perhaps ease some of my back pain and help me be healthier.  Maybe start using my phone health app a bit more regularly to track my meals to see what exactly I am eating.  (A good bet is not enough of the right stuff, too much of the yummy but not good stuff)

I also plan on continuing to try daily drawing goals, and to take classes on Lynda to assit me in bringing back my motiavation and actual follow through with graphic design.  I feel like my artistic muscles are atrophying.

I also hope to update a few of my websites that I run, try and get them spruced up.  Partispate more in my creative online communities, and read a few more books.  I’m at the halfway mark for my goal I think (either 25 or 26, I need to check my record), but I need to keep up with the reading because not only is it a relaxing activity for me and helps me keep my stress levels within dealable boundries but also because I’m determined to reach that goal this year.

I’ve got Hunger Games queued up next (among the other 5 books I’m in the process of reading). I’ve already read it, so I’m not sure if I’m going to review it, but I might make some Hunger Game themed posts as I read through the series.  One you might see this month is a post on my changing thoughts about Gale Hawthorne.

And maybe I’ll start posting that rewatch series of Gilmore Girls since the new season is approaching.  (I’m excited yet afraid…)

 

 

Posted in Politics, rant

Why I hate the term ‘Millennial’

Posted on by sokorra

I’ve started to hate the term “Millennial.”  It is so often used to disparage those it puts in the group (and it depends on who you talk to who exactly is included).  More often than not I read articles about how millennials are disconnected, selfish, have a poor work ethic, are poor parents and poor spouses,  and want everything for nothing and want to live off our parents like parasites.

Ok, I haven’t seen anyone use the word parasite but the intention goes in that direction.  Rarely do I come across a message about generations that is positive about Millenials.  The only one that comes readily to mind is an article I read once about how Millenials, due to growing up with computers, are able to multitask more efficiently, thus making it look like they are doing less work then they are actually doing.  I wish I could find that article again to link, but I think it was based on a Mike Rowe comment, although I can’t confirm that.

Millennials, also known as Gen Y,  range in age depending on what article you are reading.  In general it appears the generation includes those born between 1980 and 2000.  Which, if you think about it, is quite a big group.  The oldest members of the generation are around 36 years old, the youngest are 16-17 years old.  Some websites include more years, making it range from early forties to early teens.  So there is a wide arrange of life steps in there.  Teenagers, by virtue of their age and inexperience in life still have a lot to learn about living as adults.

Now, this is not to say that there aren’t people within this age group who fit the criteria, but it largely seems to be a media assumption that the whole generation is like that.  And on the other side of the coin, there are many who also use the term to lament all the troubles that are put on Millennials.  While I agree with some (especially in regards to economics) some are in my opinion just reactionary to being called Lazy all the time.

After all, you get told often enough that you aren’t worth anything, that you are just lazy and aren’t contributing to society you are going to start to believe it and feel like what’s the point.

So maybe we should stop saying how horrible Millenials are, and start trying to point them in directions in which they can become a larger part of the decision-making, and being in control of their own futures.  For now its in the hands of the baby boomers who seem to believe we are just TV-addicted people living in our parents homes out of nothing better to do.

There is alot to be said about mind over matter, and these continuing articles about our laziness, being disconnected, not having worthwhile relationships etc basically are telling Millenials there is nothing good about a fairly large group of people.  A group that one day will be the generation holding the power positions.  Maybe trying to understand how they might work differently than older generations, might react differently to different situations might improve the poor opinion that the older media (and occasionally millenials themselves) have of the a generation that includes 20 years worth of people.

So in summary:  Stop generalizing the generation.  Stop looking at how horrible you think they are, Media, and start thinking about the possible good in them.

Of course, being devils advocate and making clickbait articles makes you the money, doesn’t it?

Posted in American History, history

Mother’s Day

Posted on by sokorra

Happy belated Mother’s day to all the readers who are mothers.

I was trying to figure out something to write about today other than perhaps my evolving theories around Tony Stark’s mental state (which don’t sound so much as theory as rambles, so I threw that one out) and went to look at “This Day in history.”

On this day in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first national Mother’s Day.  So its only been a holiday for 82 years.  Some states had such a holiday for a couple of years, but Wilson made it into a national celebration, declaring it mother’s day every second sunday in May.

Another interesting note about the day is that one of the leading supporters of making a National day for people to celebrate their mothers, Anna Jarvis, eventually hated the holiday, feeling it had been removed from the initial idea of individuals using the day to celebrate their mother’s sacrifices into a day celebrating all mothers and commercialism.  I’m not sure how different celebrating all mothers is different then everyone celebrating their own mothers, but I do get why she might have felt it had become overly commercialized.

 

It seems to me that most holidays have lost their meanings in the rush of cards, candy and gifts.  Religious holidays like Christmas and Easter have almost completely separate secular ideology.  Some holidays like Veteran’s Day and Memorial day have just become picnic occasions and less about honoring our armed forces and their sacrifices.And it does seem like there are new holidays popping up to be an occasion to purchase a gift or a card for someone you care for.

Not that I mind the gifts or cards, but sometimes I think remembering the reason the holiday was put in place would be a good idea too.

Posted in general

Happy Easter

Posted on by sokorra

While I know my readers no doubt have a variety of reasons for liking (or not liking) the holiday, for me this holiday has two meanings.

There is the religious one.  I am a Christian, and this holiday celebrates the idea that Christ died for our sins.  To me this holiday is more significant religiously then Christmas.  I attended Church this morning which was uplifting.

There is also the commercial holiday which is fun and enjoyable.  I love chocolate and its always fun to watch little kids riffle through their easter baskets seeing what treats or toys are waiting for them.   This year I got my niece a bunch of scribble eggs, plastic eggs she could draw on.  She seemed quite happy to doodle away, carrying the egg wherever she went for awhile.

Its also a day of togetherness.  So I wish all of you a happy Easter for whatever reasons you celebrate it.  If you don’t, I hope you had a great day as well.

EDIT:  I thought I posted this yesterday, but apparently I only saved it to my drafts.  So pretend it was yesterday when you read this.

Posted in general

National “Love Your Pet” Day

Posted on by sokorra

I don’t really think loving your pet deserves its own day, but according to the google search on what national/international days/month this is, JAnuary 20th came up as  Love your Pet day.

So I’ll talk about my Pet.  Who I’ve shown before.

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This is Max.  Max is a four year old cat.  We believe he is partially Maine Coon because he seems to have quite a few of their characteristics.  He’s a very friendly cat, likes to hang around humans, particularly ones who are a little older and will let him cuddle without trying to make him play with them as the younger set do.

He likes to sleep next to computer uses, putting his paws around their arms (as you can see above) as if to keep them from leaving.  He also sucks his thumb at times and purrs realllly loudly.

We got Max after another family found he didn’t quite fit in with their other animals who weren’t so fond of Max.  We agreed to take in what we told was a kitten.  Max was about six months old at the time, and we had assumptions.

Max was a big kitty.  He looked like a fully grown cat at six months so we had to get new things, because all of the litter pans and stuff were for small kittens. Now he’s about 12 lbs, so he’s still a hefty cat.  He could probably sit on my sister’s cat and we’d never know.  He’s still really friendly, and cries when he doesn’t hear human voices or see us.  We end up leaving the TV on when we are away just to keep him company.

He’s seriously one of the most cuddly cats I’ve ever met.  He is actually sitting next to me as I type, one paw on the laptop, purring away, sucking on his paw.

 

Posted in fanfiction, general, writing

Writing deadines

Posted on by sokorra

I decided to try posting from my phone as I won’t always be with my laptop.   This app is new to me so I’m not sure how to access my drafts to give you the next part of my fandom starter kit series.   But I will talk about writing.no

Writing is my hobby right now but part of me wishes I could do it as more then a hobby.   To write professionally.   However that would mean being about to put out more then one book per decade.  I have many ideas but sadly not many get past the preproduction stage.

One of my goals this year is to stop procrastinating and get some stories done,  both in my original collection and in my Fanfiction group.   If I ever want to make it to being a credible author I must be able to finish something and not leave people in a lurch 12 chapters in.

One of my tasks this week will be taking an inventory of my works,  both in progress and completed.   Then making a list of stories that need finished.   Probably in order of how complete it is.

And I also need to find beta readers who can keep on me about deadlines.

So hopefully when next January comes around I can claim I finished a lot.

 

20160115_220312
Unless Max decides I can not.
Posted in film

Star Wars

Posted on by sokorra

I grew up with Star Trek, so I will admit I tend to go to that first, but I love Star Wars and since the movie recently came out (I have not seen it), I felt like writing a post about Star Wars.

I first saw Star Wars in sixth grade.  IT was the tail end of Return of the Jedi  and I thought that as Luke cut off the parts of the Robot dude that he was turning into the Robot dude.  Obviously, some things need context.

So eventually I got the movies out on VHS.  At that time Phantom Menace was just released, so I got that too.  And I decided to watch in order, which meant PM first.  Which, of course made a few things about the Original Trilogy not surprise me the way the original viewers were.  I also think watching this way made it so the Prequel trilogy didn’t bother me as much as some of my friends who were introduced to Star Wars long before TPM came out.

I love all six movies, although Revenge of the Sith is the only one I only watched once.  There were a few things that bothered me about the disconnect between the Prequels and what they tell you in the Original Trilogy.  My favorite characters were Han and Obi-wan, followed by Mara Jade & Leia.

Star Wars as a mostly awesome extended universe in book form.  I am kind of disappointed not more of it was incorporated into what I have heard so far of The Force Awakens.

 

 

Posted in general, history

This Day in History

Posted on by sokorra
linux-161107_640
This is supposed to be for Linux’ birthday, but I like penguins so there. Source: Pixabay

Today was my birthday, and I was interested in finding out what actually was happening in the world the day I was born.  So a quick google brought me to the New York Times website which apparently has summery pages on various days of the past.

Things that happened the day I was born

  • Reagan made Americans disappointed when he decided to bring sanctions against Libya. Needless to say, many of our Allies and Libya’s allies were not happy either.
  • Reagan wanted to sell government loans to private collectors to make government smaller. To be honest I’m not sure how this works in making government smaller other then saving paper.
  • An antiviral substance called Interferon seems to work against the Common cold.  WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS?!?  I looked it up and all I got was that later betaseron was developed from it and that is used to treat MS. Wait, a more specific google search turned up a 1985 paper detailing a study using the substance.  Basically it can reduce the cold, but it causes more blood in your mucus and doesn’t seem to keep others from getting it from you.
  • Gorbachev introduces a unemployment program because modernizing Russia’s economy means a temporary increase in unemployment.
  • A group of Jewish slave laborers win a settlement against German munitions factories that used their labor.
  • Unemployment was down to 6.8, the lowest in 5 years in the United States. (Current unemployment is 5.5, so we are doing much better now)
  • Kodak stops selling their answer to Polaroid after loosing a case.  Although I couldn’t find out if January 9th was the day they stopped producing it or the day they were taken to trial.

And I found a video with the top 40 songs for January 9th.  Oddly enoguh I only knew about 3 of the songs.  But at least I knew the #1 song the day I was born.  Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls.

 

Posted in Art, bookit, general, history, writing

Resolutions & Goals

Posted on by sokorra
new-years-day-1054594_640
Source: Pixabay

Every New Years, a popular tradition is to make a set of resolutions for the coming year. And its almost a tradition to fail at keeping them too.

This year I’ve decided I’m not making resolutions.  I’m making goals.  While its not really all that different, when you say “Goal” that puts less stress on meeting it while still being a motivator.  It also allows you to be more flexible.  If a goal needs altered, it feels less like a failure.

My goals for 2016 are as follows.

  • Write on this blog every day.
  • Write on 750words every day.  For those who don’t know, 750 words is a website that is dedicated to keeping people writing by setting a daily goal of 750 words.  You go on there and you get points for keeping up with your writing.  It also gives you statistics on the mood of what you wrote, how many pauses and breaks you took (basically any break in typing over 3 minutes) and various other data.  Its a good tool if you have trouble getting yourself writing.  Its also a good place for brainstorming because it saves all your entries for the month, so you can go back and see what you wrote when you just sat down and wrote for 30 minutes or so.
  • Revitalize my graphic design portfolio.  Revitalize my love for graphic design.  Start an Etsy store and start earning income for what I went to college for.
  • Get a new day job.  My current job gives me too much stress for not enough money to pay all my bills.
  • Read 52 books. My friends and I have a yearly project where we try to read at least 50 books in a year.  I decided to make it 52 this year as there are 52 weeks in the year.  As I have only once made it to 50, we shall see if this was a good idea or not.  The basic premise is that I will read books available in (e)print  (ie Fanfiction doesn’t really count, sadly) on their own (so book on short stories is one book, you can’t count it by story).  Also it needs to be primarily reading, so math text books don’t count either.

    It will effect this blog as I will do a review/end notes for each book I read this year.  I will also keep a page listing all my books for the year along with links to their review/commentary post.  This will be tagged/categorized as bookit  (Does anyone else remember that program?  I hope it still exists.)

  • Read a book on each president so I know one thing about each of them other then they were President at some point.  So far I’ve only done Washington, and of course I know all the presidents Post Reagan.  I might make this a running post of mine.  Perhaps that is tomorrow’s Post topic – What I learned about Washington.
  • Draw each day.
  • Finish an original novel.  Also finish a couple of my fandom related projects.  Get my WIP list down to under 10 (its at 30+ right now)
  • Learn to drive.

 

I don’t know how many of these goals I will manage to achieve, but I felt that writing them all down on a post might give me more motivation to keep it.  After all, I told everyone I would do it, didn’t I?

So here’s me keeping at least one of my goals for the day.  Now to just do my 750 words writing and start reading Jane, Stewardess of the Air Lines  by Ruth Wheeler which is an old novel.  The copyright inside my copy reads 1934.

Posted in food, general, history, Uncategorized

Ancestry & Tradition

Posted on by sokorra

As an American it is difficult to find oneself connected to any particular tradition.  I know some of my friends who have parents or grandparents who are recent immigrants have a stronger connection to their past then I do.  My family has been here for awhile.  And there are so many groups of people mixed in there its hard to really connect to any of them.

My last name is German. However, the most recent member of my family to not live in the US was actually Greek, so does that make me more German or Greek?  And do I actually have any traditions or family recipes that come from those links?

My family also contains people from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England (yep, we have the UK down. Definitely Anglo), Poland, and apparently a French Jew although I never had that one particularly explained.

I suppose when I think about it, I identify as “American” first  (for that is what I am) and if I have to go into something connecting my family history I go for German-Irish.   There is alot of Irish in my family, but that is not unusual for someone living in the US.  And like I said, my last name is German.

The tradition my family has of eating pork and sauerkraut for New Years is believed to be a German tradition, so I suppose there is that.  Although apparently in the US it seems to be more of a Pennsylvanian tradition then one held country wide.

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Sausage, Sauerkraut, and Potatoes. Source: pixabay

Sometimes I feel odd, not having that connection any tradition or what feels like culture.  I know that there are probably many things I do that are uniquely American in nature, and someone from another country might observe that as my ‘culture’.  But sometimes I just feel like I should be more knowledgeable about the places my family came from.

Although I once read on a website that my family comes from a part of Germany that keeps switching hands with the Danes so…maybe I’m Danish too.