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troop-scoop · 4 years ago

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Mistakes & Regrets XIV

Summary: When a trip to your Dad’s hometown of Hawkins goes wrong, you end up in the year 1983, and have to learn how to cope with being stuck in the past.

Pairing: Steve Harrington / Future!Reader (like, a really slow burn)

Warnings: Swearing,

• • •

The car was mostly quiet while you drove, except for the low 80’s hair bands playing over the radio that you didn’t care to change. Whenever you sat in this car you got a bit sad. But it was a kind of bittersweet sadness. SInce you learned to drive here in Hawkins.

Dad always promised that he’d teach you as soon as you turned sixteen, that he’d take you to get your permit, and be your emotional support when you took the driving test.

Pa always said that he’d help you buy a Volkswagen. A kind of generational thing to him. His dad owned a Beetle as a broke kid in Connecticut, he owned the exact same year and model as you currently did. Except yours was preowned, and you knew with how he was raised, he bought it new.

“We should have a tape.”

It caught you off guard a little, being off on your own train of thought to remember the eighth grader who was in the seat next to you.

Turning your head to briefly look at Will, you looked back at the road. “What?”

“Well I mean, you, Jonathan and me have all been hanging out together a lot when you’re not hanging out with Steve, we should have a cassette we play whenever we’re hanging out together.”

Sometimes it was hard to remember that Will was your dad. They were technically the same person, and yet, they were different. Your dad and you were as close as could be, a lot of people seemed to be closer to their moms growing up. But considering you didn’t have one you attached yourself to your dad. But Will was just a kid, who went through something terrible that was traumatizing, and it was hard to connect the two together. But you did realize that your little brother looked a lot like your dad when he was younger. The only difference being their eyes. With Will having hazel eyes and Danny having dark brown eyes. So, you often found yourself treating Will like you would Daniel.

Will’s suggestion reminded you of the fact that you and Pa had made a playlist on Spotify for the trip to Hawkins. It had been a good idea, and you got suggestions from both your dad and Daniel, but now, it just made you remorseful.

“Nevermind, it’s a bad idea-”

“What? No! It’s a good idea!” You rushed, looking back and forth from the road and back at Will. seeing the arcade sign in the distance. “Just make sure you put some Queen on there.” You added with an awkward smile, seeing Will’s face light up a bit.

Pulling into the parking lot you found a spot by the door, seeing Mike, Dustin and Lucas all walking up to the bike rack right outside, and waving as a greeting to the two of you.

“Okay, what are the rules?” You asked turning to Will as he reached down to the floorboard and pulled out your bag, handing it to you.

“If we get separated, don’t walk or bike home, just ask to use the phone and call mom, and if anything happens to find you.”

You nodded, taking the bag from him, taking the keys out of the ignition. “Sweet, let’s go.” Opening the door of the driver’s side you got out of the car.

Having grown up when places like arcades and movie rental places started going out of business, you never got to go to them. The first time you’d gone to the arcade with the boys, you stuck to Pac-Man, always being able to go on your chromebook at school and play it on the google browser.

You had the high score on Pac-Man since March of that year, and when they got Tetris in late June, after it came out, you quickly took the high score of that game as well. Having had it on your phone since sixth grade, you knew how to play. Not even Dustin or Lucas could beat your scores.

Giving the three other boys a smile you went inside, seeing Keith behind the counter, you walked over. “Hey, can you sneak me a drink?”

Arcades didn’t technically sell food or drinks, they weren’t going to because of the games, and children being irresponsible. But Keith would sometimes hide a few sodas in a minifridge to sell them to the older kids and teens.

“Two dollars.” He told you, leaning down to grab one from the minifridge while you pulled out a two dollar bill, briefly seeing the portrait of Thomas Jefferson while you exchanged it for the beverage. “Tell Robin that our section leader wants her to change seats-”

“Sorry, I don’t speak ‘band geek,’ bye.” You told him, opening the can of sprite while you made your way over to the Pac-Man machine, placing the can on the slanted control board, letting it lean on your abdomen to prevent it from falling on the ground.

You played your game for what felt like a good thirty minutes, the map changing every time you beat it until you eventually died one too many times.

Taking a sip from the aluminum can you sighed a bit hearing Will and his friend clamoring on the other side of the isle, at ‘Dragon’s Lair.’ before their voices fell silent, meaning that whoever had gone up to play it, died. But that was only for a second before you heard the faint cursing of Dustin.

Smiling to yourself you pulled out a quarter from your back pocket, inserting it into the machine.

Placing the drink down, you heard the unexpected sound of sliding, which made you panic, because you knew that the drink was about to fall.

You acted quick, but the boy to your right acted quicker. He caught the can and looked up at you, he looked almost terrified that you seemed to notice his presence.

He looked oddly familiar, he was a boy, with medium brown hair that was at an odd length, and he seemed disheveled.

“Heh,” he laughed nervously, holding the can out to you. “Here you go.” He said. Taking the drink from him you saw how quickly he practically ran off. He couldn’t have been much younger than you. Maybe a year or two, if that.

“Okay. . . that was weird.” You told yourself before the string of “No, no, no, no,” Came from behind you. Turning around you saw Dustin turning to Dig-Dug

“Who’s Madmax?” Dustin demanded of Keith, while you walked the meter or so over to the group. You wanted to say something related to Madmax: Fury Road, but you knew better at this point.

Over a year spent in a time period where no one understood the references you made, you learned to usually not make the jokes or sarcastic references.

“Better than you.” Keith responded, with a shrug. Both you and Dustin held up your middle finger to the highschool senior.

Usually you were the mediator between him and the kids, and often times you wondered if that’s how it felt to be either one of your fathers who tried to stop you and your brother fighting with each other, or how Uncle Jonathan felt trying to get you and your youngest cousin, who was your age, to stop fighting whenever you all got together.

“Is it you?” Will asked, holding up a hand and pointing at Keith.

He scoffed and shook his head. “You know I despise Dig Dug.”

“Then who is it?”

You watched them converse with the older male while you held your soda, taking a small sip.

“Yeah, spill it, Keith!” Dustin told him.

“You want information, then I need something in return.” Keith looked from Dustin to Mike, and you knew what he trying to get.

“Gross, Keith.” You told him, grimacing.

“No, no, no! No way! You’re not getting a date with her!”

“Mike, come on. Just get him the date.” Lucas reasoned while you glared at him.

“Guys, she has a boyfriend.” You reminded them.

Mike nodded and pointed back at you. “That, and I’m not prostituting my sister!” Dustin and Lucas began to bicker with Mike while you and Keith began your own bickering.

Sure, you were a lot like Will in many ways, but you were also a lot like your Pa in many others. Always being the one to try and prove someone else wrong, or just bickering for the fun of it.

“You’re friends with Robin, Jonathan, Nancy and Harrington, yet you hang out with toddlers?” He tried to insult, while he took a cheeto from his bag.

“Different hairstyles exist, Keith, you don’t have to try and copy Steve’s from last year.” You told him with a fake smile.

“Toddlers,” He said again, gesturing to the boys who were still bickering.

You smiled a bit and pointed to your own two front teeth. “Cheeto dust.” You told him, before pointing at him.

Keith turned his attention back to Mike, Lucas and Dustin while you turned yours to Will upon feeling his shoulder brush against your arm while he moved past you.

“Will, you okay?” It was a simple question, that would probably have a simple answer, with a complicated background to it. A complicated lie he wouldn’t ever say was one. But you blinked and suddenly everyone but Will was gone.

“Do you see the-” He turned back around and his eyes landed on you, confused and worried. You looked at the front windows and saw the white particles that at first looked like snow, until a second longer and they reminded you of the Upside Down.

The lights went out and you looked to the Pac-Man machine to your left, seeing the screen was on, but something big was covering most of it. The lights flickered on the machines, and the sound of electricity struggling to stay on had you stuck in one position. Which was your legs tensed and your hand clutching onto your soda while you stared at the screen, finally placing what it all was.

There was a loud bang, which made you drop your drink and grab onto Will’s arm, pulling him back only to realize it was just the door that had swung open.

“You see it too?”

You nodded before taking small steps towards the door, keeping Will behind you while you walked outside. The sign still turned, but in the distance you could see clouds, which you didn’t remember from being in the Upside Down. It had always been too dark to see any sort of sky.

The lightning was red and while you stared at the sky, you felt an uneasy feeling come that you hadn’t felt in a long time. The same chills that were sent down your spine the year before having you practically paralyzed in fear.

You couldn’t quite put it into words, but it felt like all of those stories where you look into a certain spot in the woods that’s so dark you don’t know what’s there, but know there’s something, that you’re not just crazy, and it felt malevolent. Like it wanted to hurt people, but specifically, you.

You felt someone grab your sleeve, and looking down, everything was normal again, with Mike and WIll right by your side. Will still looked scared, but Mike seemed confused and worried. “Y/n, you okay?”

You nodded a bit “Yeah, I’m fine.” You told him, taking one last look at the sky.

• • •

The woman hummed a gentle tune while writing something down in her notebook, a college textbook in front of her.

“Y/n, don’t stalk me, just have a conversation.” She told you, turning her head to look up at you, her eyes the same as your own while she gestured to the seat across from her.

You glanced over to the seat before sighing and walking over, taking a seat on the uncomfortable wooden chair.

“You came here for a reason, what’s going on?” You shrugged a bit, crossing your arms on the table and leaning down to rest your chin on your forearm. “Sweetheart,” She reached out, a gentle hand on your exposed bicep, your pajamas consisting of a muscle shirt and ballet shorts. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me?”

You knew what you wanted to ask her, but you were nervous. “Did you know? That’d I end up like this? That’d I be like you?”

Her face softened a bit and she shook her head, eyes downcast while she placed her pen down, giving you all of her attention.

“No,” She answered. “I didn’t. I only knew when you were born. I felt it. And I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve this.”

Looking at the textbook in front of you both, you examined the picture that was upside down for you, seeing the diagram of the human skeleton.

Getting up from her seat she came over next to you. “You carry a burden, and so many people will try to use you as a weapon, because you have abilities that could destroy entire nations. People want to manipulate you.”

“You’ve told me.” You reminded her. “I saw the Upside Down.”

Her face fell as she kneeled down next to you. “You got back in?”

“No. One moment I was safe, in the arcade, and the next, I was there. And there was a storm in the distance. The lightning was red, and I was frozen, in fear. It wanted to hurt me, I could feel it, it wanted me dead. Anne, I don’t what to do-”

“Miss L/n!”

Your eyes snapped open, and you quickly wiped your nose of any blood looking up to see the entire class staring at you, while the principal stood by the door, and Mr. Haul pointed to the book “Before Mr. Olson takes you, can you tell me what the main message of Animal Farm is?”

You gave a nervous chuckle. “Communism, bad?” It got a few laughs out of the class, while Mr. Haul scowled at you before jerking his head to the side to let you follow the principal out.

In a rush you shoved your things into your bag and got up, going over to Mr. Olson. This happened once or twice every few months.

The older man led you out of the class and down the hall, while you struggled to get your walkman out of your bag. Looking up you saw Steve coming out of the restroom, sunglasses on. “Jesus,” You shook your head a bit as you and the principal came closer to crossing paths with Steve.

“Only blind people and assholes wear sunglasses inside, Steven.” You mumbled when you passed him.

“Funny,” He mumbled back, hiding a grin from you while he walked back to his class, and you smiled as well when Mr. Olsen opened the front doors, where you saw Hopper waiting by his car.

“Have a good afternoon, Miss L/n.” He told you as you left the building, with you returning the sentiments.

When you were in the car, it was mostly quiet between the two of you. The music that came from the foam headphones drowning out the killing silence. You needed it. In the past year, silence always felt like it was trying to kill you. Lately everything felt like a death trap, and you felt like you were going crazy.

“You gained a pound.” Owens informed when he walked in the room, where you sat, Hopper was to the left of the medical seat, while the stool Owens usually sat at was to your left. “That’s good news.” He added, placing the clipboard on the table.

You hummed a bit. You were slowly but surely getting back to the weight you should be at, from a month of being starved and dehydrated from the Upside Down. It fluctuated for a long time, being so one moment you were on the right track and the next, you were under the original weight you had been at when ending up in Hawkins.

“How has your medication been working out?”

“It’s been fine.” You stopped taking them six months ago, and currently had a small box of plastic pill bottles that you used for noise when you forgot batteries for your walkman.

“That’s good.” Owens commented. “Are you doing anything for Halloween? I know Will is going trick or treating.”

“Probably just gonna be home watching Halloween and handing out candy.” You shrugged a bit, feeling uncomfortable under the eyes of the nurse, Hopper and Owens.

“No parties?”

“And get ‘sheet faced?’” You quoted the party invitation Nancy had showed you when she tried to convince you and Jonathan to go. “No thanks.”

Owens chuckled a bit, and Hopper put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. Looking up at the Chief, he gave a tight lipped smile, showing he was just as uncomfortable as you were.

“Okay, let’s talk about this episode you and Will said you had.”

You nodded a bit, knowing that all Owens would do was come up with a stupid excuse as to why you and Will had the same experience that you both nervously talked about on the car ride back to his home.

“I. . . I took Will to the arcade so he could spend time with his friends, and so I could a game or two. His friends and I got into an argument with someone who worked there, and then I felt Will move past me. . . One second we were in the arcade, and then everyone was gone, then we were. . . back in the Upside Down.” You told him.

“Okay, what happened next?”

“The door. . . it was flung open, and we walked outside. I kept Will behind me, and when there was a storm brewing. And it was straight out of a comic book, the clouds were dark, and then there was red lightning, I felt. . . I felt. . .”

“What did you feel?”

“Like I was in danger. Like there was something staring back at me. Something evil, that has no. . . human emotions. It’s like when you’re a kid, you just watched a scary movie like Paranormal Activity or something, and you feel like there’s something in your room when you’re trying to sleep. You feel like something’s there with you. It wanted me dead.”

“The evil?”

You nodded and looked up at him, feeling the parts taped your head shift a little under the tape. “Yeah. It wasn’t like it wanted everyone dead though. It wanted me dead.”

• • •

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radiofreeyurick · 3 years ago

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Thus The Man Continues to Fall

By Nick Yurick

20 years after the tragedy that shaped a generation now haunted by final days of the War that was spurred by it, and newly bereft of so many previously held sentiments, causes, or beliefs that felt so vital and true on that day, for many, all that remains is The Falling Man

Any adolescent on the verge of social awareness has to feel it coming. Though some may only be students of history out of obligation at that age, rather than genuine interest or concern, the patterns and shifts begin to take on palpable rhythms of causes and effects, ebbs and flows, and calms preceding storms. The moment when the News becomes a Documentary, replete with imagined underscoring, slow motion, and a dramatic voiceover. The moment when Life becomes History.

At 14 years of age I was already an aspiring multihyphenate. actor, artist, musician, perhaps educator, and on that day, and at this moment it seems, a journalist. Thus it remains a fitting coincidence that for me, Life became History when I was in second period school newspaper class. Much as my grandparents and parents had told me over the years of their “where were you” moments in experiencing the Bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, mine took place as I struggled to upload photos of the first day of school from an already outdated late ‘90s digital camera. It is perhaps for this reason that, though my life and work since have spanned multiple fields and environments, from stage to screen to the classroom, it is still through the mind of a journalist that I revisit this day every year. Be it with my continued work as a student journalist in the years immediately following or later as one of millions of social media pundits in the years to come, I have felt compelled to revisit the facts of why and how every year. But as the History we’ve lived the past 20 years continues to make those answers more and more evasive, my fascination, and that of many others, has shifted to the actions of a different, and more functional, camera a thousand miles away. The camera held by a Pulitzer Prize winning Associated Press photographer named Richard Drew as he captured The Falling Man.

It is here that I must humble myself a bit, being well aware that the undying fascination with the image of this lone inverted figure has only increased in recent years. In a sardonic act of self-awareness I could just as well title this essay, “This 9/11, if You Read One Unqualified Take on ‘The Falling Man,’ Make it THIS one.” Day to day I am but one of millions who fight for stage and screen time, clicks, words, and any vague measure of digital real estate before taking a break to get back to my woodworking hobby. Thus I only ask that you read on with the knowledge that the History being lived by a 34 year old armchair philosopher as he chain smokes at his Chromebook is as real as the History being lived by the septuagenarian widower in the Oval Office. As it relates to The Falling Man though, for myself and many like me, today The Falling Man is all that remains of that day.

-Trajectories and Arrival Points

In analyzing any historical event, we are drawn to examine it in terms of the trajectory it puts us on and arrival point it leads us to. These consequences often take the forms of calls to action, causes to be taken up, or revelations about American society of the day. In any case, they tell us why the world we fell asleep in that evening, or that many didn’t live to, was different from the world in which we had awakened that morning. Pearl Harbor placed us on the trajectory of entering World War II, drawing the United States and its Allies into a global conflict of unprecedented scale and accelerating the end of the Great Depression, with the arrival point of the Nation’s emergence as a global leader and the establishment of “The American Dream” in the form of a higher standard of living than was previously accessible to many. The Assassination of John F. Kennedy placed us on the trajectory of increased escalation in Vietnam, leading to a new era of social unrest and mistrust in our institutions. Simultaneously the inspiration to carry forth what was considered the late President’s unfinished work, gave birth to heightened social activism and significant leaps forward in Civil Rights and Women’s Rights. This was largely seen through to the arrival points of our withdrawal from Vietnam, the Resignation of Nixon, and the dawn of “Morning in America” with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Although every single historical event echoes eternally, in American Society we are accustomed to some feeling of victory or at least reprieve, as if the demons that emerged from these national tragedies have been temporarily vanquished in our day to day lives while we lick our collective finger to gingerly turn the page on the next chapter.

-The Curtain

It is, at this very moment, 12:26 PM on September the 7, 2021. It occurs to me that to write with such perceived urgency about another September Tuesday a score of years prior will hopefully become as passe and bland as any of the seemingly newfound conspiracies on Kennedy’s Assassination have now become. Yet I continue to do so, because as of now, the aforementioned page has yet to turn. In the previously mentioned epochs, though there were plenty who still saw through the folly of the “American Dream” and the falsehood of “Morning in America,” even an equitable specter to those has yet to emerge. The Election of Barack Obama seemed a fitting placeholder in 2008, but the quick return to the frustrations of petty political gridlock coupled with the now pyrrhic victory we found in the final defeat of Osama bin Laden, made immediately clear that this generation would be visited by no such specter. This absence may on the surface seem a failure on the part of the current proverbial page turners to do so, but is also a result of our increasingly short attention spans having already written so many of the remaining pages that there is no consensus on Which page we may now turn to, but only the widespread certainty that we can’t. Because one thing we have so much more of than those preceding generations, be it the Boomers post Pearl Harbor or the X-ers post Kennedy, is an inescapable curiosity about what may be written on them and more importantly a will to read it. Or in stronger terms, this generation now carries the burden of knowing that which may be on those pages could prove our only salvation, as none other has made itself apparent. Thus if historical events can be seen in terms of a curtain being pulled back and then drawn again while the stage is reset, now the curtain has gone up in flames.

This so-called Curtain can come in the form of where we as a society now place our faith, or more specifically, what entity we trust to lead us to the aforementioned arrival point. With most national tragedies our instinct is to place our trust in our leaders, imploring them to step up when our faith in our own security has crumbled. Alhough with 9/11 we became quickly aware that we lacked an FDR to guide us through the darkness through Fireside Chats, we still entertained the notion that we were to have some faith in the very idea of Leadership itself, however personally distasteful or incompetent we found that Leader to be. By 2004 however, the leadership of George W. Bush had not only failed to bring us a perceptible victory in our immediate cause in Afghanistan, but had begun an entirely new sideshow in Iraq the previous year. This was the beginning of what has fittingly been referred to as “The Forever War,” where battles are not simply initiated by belligerents and ended by victors, but fought on eternally, perverting the traditional goal of final victory as we previously knew it. And if there is an end, it will likely be celebrated by none, if any, who were present when it began. This Forever War began to be seen as such during the Presidency of Barack Obama. While a controversial election in 2000 had already lead many of my generation to view the failed leadership of his predecessor Bush as a clerical error of sorts, we also blamed the misfortune of Our Generation’s Moment having taken place before we had come of age to elect Our Generation’s President. And yet the Page remained unturned. The aforementioned killing of Osama bin Laden did little to quell the Forever War, and domestically we were afforded mere scraps in the form of slightly more accessible healthcare for the few capable of navigating a bureaucratic system now more inconsistent and Byzantine than ever. Meanwhile societal issues such as racial equity and LGBT+ rights only achieved progress as a result of the larger culture elevating them to the status of the baseline right thing to do, but only when it saw fit. All of that being the case, 2016 arrived with an all too ideal stage set for the rise of Donald Trump, or more fittingly the fall of Leadership and the sheer laughibility that it ever represented a concept worthy of a generation’s trust. Even with Trump’s replacement by Joe Biden after the bitterly contested 2020 election, the ensuing Insurrection of January 6, 2021 cemented the new reality: there is now no such thing as Leadership, but only who You choose to believe.

Thus the Man continues to Fall…

-The Meaning of We

Two months prior to this writing, our nation celebrated the 245th year of its independence with the usual bombast we’ve become accustomed to. However each year for many the “bombs bursting in air” referred to in song seem to ring more and more hollow, as does the song itself. The hollowness of these verses seems a far cry from the days of ubiquitous flag waving and the shared sense of national pride we experienced twenty years ago. An outside force having done our country such grievous harm, we were called upon to show that world that We, the victims, truly represented the way of right and justice, while They, the aggressors, were but barbarous heathens, lashing out against the world’s brightest beacon of Freedom. We sought to show that our National identity embodied the supreme ideal of the civilized and just world we should aspire to, and that our way of life, the American Way, was anathema to the ways of those who employed violence and terror as a means to achieve their interests. This has long been what we’ve been taught to believe of our Nation, especially when such destruction has been brought to our shores, as if to say, “We are not like them, We would never do this. We are America, and to be American is to be on the side of Good.” Alas, as the Curtain’s smoldering remnants now hang in tatters, through the lazily wafting smoke we have seen America’s failings writ large in the ashes. Not only those we would previously chalk up to “a different time,” or “another generation,” but those being carried out as we speak. Thus Patriotism, as a concept defined by a faith in the unfailing virtue of one’s country, has experienced a superficial rebirth in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, only to be followed by a slow death in the years since.

It is here that we must revisit those previously mentioned pages in our History which we failed to turn, those unread or forgotten chapters that may not have fit into the collective identity that we wished to cultivate. For the History we once read was often presented to us as in a sanitized narrative, compiled as a companion piece to the definition of Patriotism we were compelled to accept. The heroic vision we once held of America during World War II, as saviors from unprecedented evils on either side of the globe, has now been graffitied over in these pages with stories of her persecution and internment of Japanese-Americans, an injustice not even acknowledged for nearly fifty years after. On other pages, the names of millions of European Jews who were turned away from our shores early in the war, many to their deaths, are now scrawled hastily in desperation, as though hoping that someone, in some distant year, may someday bear witness and validate their humanity as our country, and even one of our most venerated Leaders personally, failed to in their lifetimes. Even still, the pages following the war, heralding the establishment of the American Dream, now contain detailed revelations of redlining, “white flight,” and the practices that excluded People of Color from being included in the idyllic America we were thought to have achieved during this period.

Indeed this alternate chapter continues through the 1960s and to this day, where the America that was thought to have humbly shown remorse and emerged as a global leader in Civil Rights, redressing the atrocities of Slavery and Jim Crow, is seen to have done so with the upmost reluctance. This America instead sought to bolster its image by now phasing out more blatant forms of discrimination in favor of practices more pervasive and insidious. Wage discrimation served to keep People of Color impoverished and desperate, effectively prohibiting them from moving to areas with better access to education and opportunities. With limited access to education, cycles of generational poverty continued this trend. In the face of poverty, those suffering were often forced to turn to the drug trade or other forms of criminal enterprise as a means of achieving even a glimmer of the prosperity that was supposed to define this chapter in American History or even to sustain the very lives of themselves and their families. And when “Morning in America” dawned in the 1980s, also did the rise of the “War on Drugs,” which further criminalized and demonized the only means of income that many already living in poverty had at their disposal. Meanwhile the introduction of crack cocaine to the inner cities provided a more abundant and addictive product to target, leading to harsher prison sentences for those peddling the substance and more debilitated addicts left in its wake.

But America watched as First Lady Nancy Reagan appeared on television's most popular sitcom of the day, Diff’rent Strokes. In the Very Special episode, Mrs. Reagan’s obliviously grandmotherly voice comforted the precocious and diminutive young protagonist Arnold, an African-American child of the same poverty the American Dream shunned, now in the care of a wealthy white benefactor (and played by Gary Coleman who himself later symbolized an exploitative and predatory entertainment industry), along along with millions of other wayward youths at risk of falling victim to the ongoing drug epidemic, ironically fueled and enabled by the same America that created it. Arnold, and any of those watching could always, “Just Say No.” As though it were a choice. As though any of it were ever a choice. As though choice wouldn’t soon prove to be as illusory as the American Dream was to so many others who experienced naught but cold dark nights during “Morning in America.” As though the concept of choice wouldn’t also be blamed for the plight of LGBTQ+ Americans whose lives were destroyed by the AIDS epidemic that was stigmatized and swept under the rug by this same administration during this period.

In the past twenty years, these undercurrents that eroded the notion of Patriotism in the fifty years prior now flow freely on the surface. Though these preceding chapters, ones that told of these racial, economic, and cultural struggles, were written on scraps of hotel paper or the backs of envelopes by those who lived them, now these stories grab headlines. Headlines that reveal now more than ever the long held role of the police in maintaining these systems of oppression, as well as the consistent biases ingrained in them against the communities they were sworn to protect. Though the Patriotism that flared so brightly after 9/11 was accompanied by an increased reverence toward law enforcement officers, many having lost their lives in those towers, the ensuing decades revealed their institution’s role in excluding so many from the justice and civility our Patriotic ideal was supposed to stand for, instead embroiling them in lives lived in terror from the violence the country was supposed to stand against. So now the iconic waving flag of stars and stripes turns on its side, as the stars fade and the stripes turn to the vertical walls of the doomed Twin Towers, split by one helpless, inverted figure.

Thus the Man continues to Fall…

-Truth, War, and the War on Truth

Last night as I readied myself for bed, I opened the News app on my iPhone one last time before turning in. Though my at times masochistic addiction to the news cycle had been in a remission of sorts after the emotional burnout of a pandemic filled year, it has experienced a brief relapse of late. I sometimes view it as a quest for positivity, a search for hope, and some indication, any indication, that things are getting better, but more often it’s simply to make sure I haven’t missed the last bad thing to have happened. Indeed such an addiction is far more possible now as the news is more accessible than ever. I’ve often thought that my generation’s predilection for ‘90s nostalgia wasn’t a mere longing for our childhood or for a pre-9/11 America, but a wish to return to a time when escaping the often horrific barrage of news stories was as simple as tossing a newspaper into the recycling bin or switching off the TV. But with more and more of our very existence taking place online, the news has become inextricably intertwined with it to the point that to disconnect would risk severing our ties with our work, our activities and our socialization. Perhaps too this nostalgia is linked to a time when the news by and large represented the truth, or at least the basic facts of the day. Though valid criticisms of media biases have long existed, widespread disdain for factual storytelling is at an all time high and consensus on any voice, even one voice, we can trust is nonexistent. My generation will likely be the last to even remember a reliably comforting presence like Peter Jennings reporting the events of 9/11, or our parents’ memories or Walter Cronkite tearfully informed us of the killing of Kennedy, or the multitude of trusted local radio announcers tasked with delivering the tragic news that broke on December 7, 1941. Much like the idea of Leadership, loss of faith in The Truth is another backdrop against which the Man continues to Fall…

What struck me though about the news story that appeared on the smudged touch screen of my iPhone yesterday evening was its similarity to one that may have appeared next to a coffee stained newspaper on our kitchen table any morning before I departed for 4th grade in 1996. Further, I tell you this was never where and when anyone who had lived through the past twenty-five years would still expect to see the headline: “Taliban Whip Women Protesting Interim Government.” This is what losing a War looks like.

It is for good reason that the Second World War has been referred to as “America’s Last Good War,” and that the War in Vietnam led to an all around loss of faith in war itself as an instrument of foreign policy and a means of progressing our causes. And with America’s participation in War taking on the form of quick and focused operations, isolated police actions, and distantly coordinated air strikes since then, the large scale mobilization against Afghanistan in the Fall of 2001 (rumored at the time to be leading to Congress’s first formal Declaration of War since 1941) cheered by vengeance seeking Patriots, perhaps now to be the Last Patriots, was equally as necessary and noble in beginning what was sure to become known as “America’s First Good War of the 21st Century?” For when, albeit not for ten years, American forces finally decimated Al Qaeda and killed Osama bin Laden, did America not cheer and celebrate throughout her streets, no doubt inspiring many a tear to trickle down the withered cheeks of those who recalled witnessing such on VJ Day in their much younger years, now assured safety in their homeland? For surely a further ten years mired in the unforgiving deserts and treacherous hillsides of the region, as thousands more of our soldiers shed their blood upon the land and return dismembered, traumatized, or not at all, surely that gained our country some unheralded boon to our interests, any strategic advantage, or the meanest notion of progress in the lives of our citizens or more importantly the people whose country we occupied for two decades? Why then, does America’s last plane departing from Kabul Airport nearly a score of years after the first of hers rained bombs not so far from it, instead truly feel like the final Fall of our long dying faith in War itself?

Because when I read a headline from Afghanistan last night, in high definition through the tired eyes of a young man feeling far older than he had earned any right to, and it remained (even after 20 years of frantically advancing and retreating soldiers, deafening blasts from bombs and improvised explosives, and so much more sanguine blood streaming from wounded flesh of all the colors of the world) so dissimilar from one that would have flashed onto a comparatively fuzzy television screen to meet the cheery eyes of an enthusiastically Patriotic Cub Scout, proud of the Leader his parents would take part in reelecting later that year (though, ironically, this Leader would himself have his own part to play in our collective loss of faith in Leadership), well...I simply could feel no other way. This is what losing a war looks like…

...and thus the Man continues to Fall.

And while our country losing its faith in War should be welcomed as a sign of progress and our collective evolution toward the civilization that was to serve as a cornerstone of our now-fallen Patriotism, it can only be truly welcomed when it is replaced instead by a renewed and sincere faith in Peace! And perhaps in global affairs, in a nominal and superficial sense, Peace is gaining some believers, though I can’t confidently believe all hold this faith sincerely as much as out of a cynically held tool of self-preservation until the war profiteers who pull their strings find new markets for their wares. But America’s faith in Violence is now stronger than ever. Carried out now by citizens on our streets rather than soldiers across the world, by police in squad cars rather than infantry in tanks, and now, perhaps imperceptibly, by viruses in our lungs spreading freely through uncovered orifi, violence is embraced by America as a whole in ways that make any notion that anyone this violent nation killed halfway across the world made us safer these last twenty years. In that same period, a new record for the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history has been set, first by a disturbed and alienated college student in Virginia, then by a would-be terrorist with a history of hate crimes at an LGBT+ nightclub in Orlando, and finally by his immediate usurper of this horrific distinction who just the following year rained bullets down from a modified assault rifle upon concertgoers in Las Vegas while perched far above them in his hotel room. Expanding our scope to the top five shootings, the other two on the list took place during just this past decade, the first carried out upon children by a mentally ill youth at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, and the other at a church in Texas, by a resentful and misogynistic former spouse of one of the parishioners, a uniquely American demon consumed with wanting. In each instance the tired argument, dating back to the pre-9/11 massacre at Columbine and beyond, was made, that our government’s comparatively lax laws on gun ownership were to blame, but after the killings at Sandy Hook in 2012 changed nothing in that regard, that argument has felt increasingly futile. After all, when a country does fails to restrict such instruments of death after they’re used to murder 27 children, it doesn’t really want to. And to blame the mere presence of guns sidesteps the truth at the root of these shootings: modern America breeds killers, and more effective ones than ever.

But while Americans react to the violence perpetrated by mass shootings with condemnation and abhorrence, the violence carried out by an increasingly militarized police force breeds division and itself, violent rhetoric as the calls to find more peaceful solutions to making our streets safer are met with calls for more violence and diversions of blame to the victims themselves. This rash of violence was once countered with the statement that, “police brutality in America isn’t getting worse, it’s just getting filmed,” once again ignoring the forgotten chapters in our History in which we have now read that policing in America has played a part in targeting and criminalizing People of Color since its near inception. And as indeed everything is being filmed now, it permeates our culture to the point that it now builds upon itself influencing our every interaction, becoming a key talking point in the hate speech that now passes for political discourse. The result being the undeniable fact that the Fall of our Faith in War has not given way to the Rise of our Faith in Peace. Not in any meaningful way across the globe, and within our own borders it has shifted to a Rise in Faith in War upon Ourselves. And meanwhile…

...the Man continues to Fall…

-Tilling the Earth to Grow Softer Ground

...but where will he land?

In embarking on all of my writings, in contrast to the manner in which our country begins so many of its wars, I never do so without some intention of finding some source of hope or comfort, some path forward to progress, or, when setting out with the most optimistic of outlooks, perhaps a solution to the issues explored. While there was little to be had as I drafted the first few segments, it also became all the more necessary in the face of revisiting so much of the despair, confusion, and upheaval my fellow Americans and I have experienced these last twenty years as well as much of what those who came before did the decades examined prior. Thus it is fitting that while the preceding passages of this article were written in multiple sessions on my porch this week while the searing summer sun begins to give way to the first chilly autumn winds, I conclude this piece sitting on my bed as the first minutes of September the 11th, 2021 tick by. While many of the recent writings about Richard Drew’s iconic photograph have sought to confirm, or at investigate clues as to, the identity of its subject. In writing this piece I was reminded of so much of the American lives currently being lived now takes place in a culture where many are emboldened by the absence of names or faces. Thus to the notion that one would seek to identify this blurry, tragic figure, I retort: in a society where to be nameless and faceless can mean to be validated or even in some way seem enviable, what meaning could this man’s name and face possibly hold were it revealed to the masses? Instead it is perhaps better he continue his descent in anonymity and transubstantiate in our collective consciousness, and perhaps enjoy the comparative bliss felt only when one’s form shifts to that of a generational metaphor.

But as a now belabored metaphor, surely worn and windburned by his descent through my accountings of over a half-century’s worth of America’s broken promises, cheapened values, and hidden hatreds that were really in plain sight, he certainly deserves a softer place to land than the mattress that now serves as my roost, upon which I try to write one up for him. And from it I am reminded as well of the faiths that fell from our very homes, many of which we held our most steadfast trust. Our generation having now experienced the twin economic upheavals of the 2008 financial crisis and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, faith in our dreams has fallen. And when the fall of this faith was begun by the shortsightedness and bad advice of those who first told us to believe in our dreams, we have to believe our dreams were always meant to decline. Thus many of us have embraced decline, with rates of depression, addiction, and other mental illness climbing in recent years. This is but one factor in the fall of our faith in the preceding generations, but this is in no way a textbook shifting of blame to our parents and grandparents, for they too have never lived in a world like this either. Instead, having spent so many of their younger years in a state of Not Knowing (while we ironically know nothing but this feeling) the brief length of time they spent in a state of Knowing, having been taught so well History’s patterns, shifts, palpable rhythms of causes and effects, ebbs and flows, and calms preceding storms that they weathered in the America they thought they knew, became their addiction as well, their perceived wisdom now the opiate of their uncertainty. For me personally, my late father was the one who taught me the most about the components, currents, and forces that moved History and how they had been maintained. Thus after his passing in early 2016, the loss was made all the more crushing upon the election of Donald Trump later that year, now that he, who for so much of my life could always point back to an equivalent trajectory America had placed upon and determine some possible arrival point, was no longer with us. But even having asked him so many times in my youth, “so what does this mean now, dad?” I recall now how many more times in the final decade of his life, he could answer with little more than, “I don’t know Nick.”

So perhaps I am also one of many for whom their faith in Wisdom has fallen as well. And since with the passing on of Wisdom our society traditionally passes on its culture, so with it has our Culture fallen as well. By now means in such a way that I would dare complain there has been a decline in the quality of our art, music, and films, but the notion of a shared culture of unassailable timeless classes has fallen. This may be for the best however, as the very subjective nature of art itself implies that any attempt to establish the undeniable supremacy of any work of art in such a way that spans generations, cultures, or life experiences serves to deny the validity of so many diverse tastes, sensibilities, and traditions as well as that of a work’s relevance when its purpose was only to encapsulate the cultural moment it was created in. So perhaps we should embrace the fact that our cultural landmarks are now determined more by individuals for themselves, and consist of niche classics, flavor of the day pop hits, and even tuneful inside jokes distributed across the vastness of the internet by among the varied enclaves of those who appreciate them. And even as part of a generation of young people who feel old, though many who had the luxury of experienced their brief stint in the state of Knowing will argue I haven’t earned that feeling, I remain a dedicated fan of the legendary musician Bruce Springsteen, it is perhaps fitting that his hopeful 2002 album “The Rising” would resonate far less in defining the musical outlook of the post-9/11 era than a 2003 release by his fellow New Jerseyans in the lesser-known punk band Thursday, titled “War All The Time.” Still with cultural moments all the more fleeting and tastes increasingly specific, one might say that each is now as obscure as the other, in contrast to the attention paid upon their initial release. The truth of course may be determined by which generation one comes from.

However this softer landing surface upon which our Man is to Land can only be created through generational cooperation, so let us finally unite in the experience of Not Knowing as we reluctantly celebrate the death of Wisdom, and perhaps even briefly entertain some illusion that the ground may yield when he reaches it, but bear each other through the realization we can instead only soften it by creating new institutions and redefining old ideas.

For the failing of Leadership need not truly be failure if we instead build our Leaders from the ground up. Rather than following those who present themselves on a bully pulpit as such, follow those who present themselves in the places we already needed them to be and allowed us to find them there. That is to say, on our own streets in the neighborhoods we live in, serving the communities in which they have built their lives while helping others to build theirs. Find them in our own offices and factories, working side by side while gaining an understanding of the labor and dedication that truly builds a nation, a dedication they wouldn’t dare exploit. And task these leaders with creating ideologies of which they themselves will someday no longer be irrelevant symbols, as ideologies must now be based not upon whom among these privileged few we choose to vote into power, but upon which of the many more helpless we choose to heal of their suffering.

Further I implore you not to mourn the death of our faith in Patriotism if our New Patriots can now redefine their love for their country as no longer being a love for the vague and faceless notions of Freedom or exclusionary definitions of “We” that were allowed to make that Freedom a luxury so few were truly afforded. And when harsh economic forces and the predatory and cynical motivations of those who were allowed to write the chapters upon which the Old Patriotism was written seek to restrict that Freedom even further, let us redistribute it to the no longer huddled masses so they may no longer thirst for it. For the New Patriotism will be based in understanding that to love one’s country means to love every human being who resides within it, no matter their origin or status. This Patriotism understands that America need not merely be the name of a long dead sailor, given by white men to stolen land that once bore so many varied, beautiful, and sacred names for the vast and diverse locales that comprise it, but that America by definition is collection of the hopes, dreams, fears, and needs of three-hundred thirty or more million souls upon whose very existence building a fair and equitable society depends.

And if our faith in War is to truly fail and give way to sincere dedication to faith in Peace. Let the only faith in War that remains be faith in the War upon War, and the destruction of our faith in violence of all kinds. And let the War upon War be a war upon ignorance and selfishness, and allow a generation whose defining tragedy’s only arrival point was a larger and more prolonged tragedy breathe easier, with hope that the virus that destroyed their dreams, and took vast numbers of the preceding generations who once comforted them with their experience in the state of Knowing, will no longer dominate their futures. And if this love that defines the New Patriotism can be the motivating factor in facing our challenges with genuine concern and care for the well being and prosperity of all three-hundred thirty or more million souls for whom the freedom to lives of health and safety, joy and fulfillment, will now be by this new definition their birthright.

At last, when this War upon War has ended, not with a dubious arrival point, but on a glorious and eternal new trajectory, let us harken back to the ways the ends of Wars were written of in scripture, for to bend the sword into plowshares now takes on a greater and renewed urgency, as the need to till the Earth is essential in the necessary task of growing softer ground upon which someday, somehow...

...this Man will Land.

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arcticdementor · 4 years ago

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On September 18, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87. At once, this country was filled with the sound of progressives weeping and gnashing their teeth.

From what I could gather, none of them knew Ginsburg personally. Most likely, none of them paid her much notice until 2016, when it dawned on the Democrats that Donald Trump might be able to replace the most pro-choice justice in American history with a pro-life conservative. That would potentially signal the death of Roe v. Wade. In 2017, when Ginsburg’s health continued to decline, lefties began offering to give up their own vital fluids to sustain her until the Democrats took back the White House. An editor at The Washington Post penned a column memorably titled, “Dear Ruth Bader Ginsburg: If you need anything—blood, organs—take mine.”

…

Seeing progressives in a manic-depressive state over Justice Ginsburg’s death, I remembered watching my middle school classmates going to pieces when Michael Jackson died in 2009. None of them listened to his music, but the phony mourning made them feel like they were part of something. How little has changed.

In his new book, Live Not By Lies, Rod Dreher warns us that the Hitlers and Stalins of our age will not wear funny mustaches and slick uniforms as they did in the 20th century. “The totalitarian temptation presents itself with a twenty-first century face,” he writes. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is that face. It’s the face of grown women screaming in anger and disbelief into the cameras of their iPhones over the death of their fallen hero. It’s the face of grown men who tweet about collapsing on the floor, sobbing, on hearing the news of Ginsburg’s death.

So long as Millennials remain dominant in American politics, this will remain the prevailing mode of discourse. My generation was abandoned by our parents and our teachers. We were never given a moral education for fear of stunting our “individuality.” We were never taught to reason. We were never taught to control our emotional or carnal impulses.

That’s why there isn’t one real “individual” in America under forty. We all became slaves to peer pressure, and to our own base appetites. That’s the great danger of this moment in American history. We are being ruled by children—children who can’t tell right from wrong, and who lack all self-control. Like all children, our new ruling class won’t hesitate to punish any deviation from their the latest infatuation with ostracism, abuse, and perhaps even violence.

The new totalitarians are overgrown children, which is why the new totalitarianism will be defined by these three characteristics: emotivism, hedonism, and conformism. It will look less like Nineteen Eighty-Four and more like Lord of the Flies.

…

Live Not By Lies is at its very best when describing our “pre-totalitarian culture.” Many right-wingers, for instance, would almost entirely dismiss the role that Big Business will play in enabling the new generation of fascists. They’re locked in a Cold War mentality, which sees communism and capitalism as antithetical. In fact, we’re developing a unique economic system—“woke capitalism”—which serves as the very engine of that coming revolution.

Virtually every major corporation has bowed to the successive demands of the pro-choice lobby, the LGBT movement, and lately Black Lives Matter. Amazon will refuse to sell books that conflict with progressive orthodoxies. Google will modify search results to promote “diversity.” Twitter bans users who “misgender” people suffering from gender dysphoria. Bank of America has vowed to no longer do business with gun manufacturers. PayPal defunds users they consider far-right.

The rise of woke capitalism, Mr. Dreher writes, is accompanied by the rise of surveillance capitalism. American consumers have actually paid corporations to place the mechanisms of the surveillance state in our homes. Take “smart speakers,” like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. These devices record every conversation within earshot.

For now, that data is being used to help Silicon Valley more effectively micromarket their products to consumers. Yet what if the government were to seize that information and use it to implement a Chinese-style Social Credit System? Or what if those corporations were to ban any customers from using their products? So many of my generation would be lost without Google search, Google Pay, their Gmail account, their Chromebook laptop…

…

Following the publication of The Benedict Option, Mr. Dreher was accused of being a “retreatist,” even a “defeatist.” Why? Because, as he says in In Live Not By Lies, Mr. Dreher believes that “The culture war is largely over—and we lost.” That seems to be the central thesis of his work. He made the assertion early in The Benedict Option but didn’t spend much time defending it. The first half of Live Not By Lies is devoted to proving that thesis; the second half, to surviving the coming anti-Christian, totalitarian regime.

Now, one might argue that Christians are just one election away from reclaiming total control over this country’s political, religious, economic, and cultural institutions. So far, nobody has tried—probably because they can’t. After reading Live Not By Lies, there can be no shadow of a doubt that Mr. Dreher is right. He isn’t a pessimist, but a realist.

…

All of that notwithstanding, Live Not By Lies is indispensable for any Christian hoping not only to survive the fall of the Empire but to see a new Christendom emerge from its ruins. Those who are optimistic about the future of liberal-democratic capitalism will be thoroughly disillusioned—and they’ll thank Mr. Dreher for it.

Having realized that things are, in fact, much worse than they seem, they must then read The Benedict Option with fresh eyes. They must prepare for total war against modernity. Modern Man, in all his infantile fury, is surely gearing up for total war against us Christians. Those who don’t heed Mr. Dreher’s warnings and study his writings will not survive the coming Dark Age.

#crisis magazine #michael warren davis #book review #live not by lies #rod dreher

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chaotic-yeet · 5 years ago

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every single fucking one yobi

Hey Strawberry, you asked for this

Do you ever doubt anyone else's existence other than your own: Not really no

On a scale of 1-5 how afraid of the dark are you: 5+ I have nyctophobia so it's extremely bad for me

The person you would never want to meet: Does knowing them and no longer speaking count? An old friend of mine, I hope I never see her again

What is your favorite word: I'm actually not sure, I have a few ones I like to say because I pronounce them wrong, but I don't think I have a favorite

If you were a type of tree, what kind would you be: Maybe a birch tree? They're my favorite kind in minecraft sooo

When you looked in the mirror this morning, what did you first think: "Damn I need to wash my face more"

What shirt are you wearing:. A Mammoth one! It's dark gray, has a bear on the back and front chest area, and has blue, pink, and purple fade on it (the bi flag!)

What do you label yourself as: a fuckin bastard or dumbass thats what

Bright room or dark room: I have sensitive eyes so a dark room, but with either soft light or nightlight, I hate complete darkness

What were you doing at midnight last night: Talking to @the-strawzish-clownfish , while being on call with @psychotic-roach he had fallen asleep

Favorite age you've been so far: 13 probably, which sounds weird, but my mental health got better that year (it didn't stay that way but eh)

Who told you they loved you last: @psychotic-roach !! And I love you too (once you read this :D)

Your worst enemy: Myself and an old friend I mentioned in like, question 3

What's your current desktop picture: On my main laptop it's a Marble Hornets fanart (that I adore) and on my Chromebook it's some space doodles in the bi colors

Do you like someone: Fuck yes I do, @psychotic-roach you're fucking great and deserve the world

The last song you listened to: Deku Palace remix! I'm a huge EDM/ Trap fan, combine it with Zelda music and I'm hooked!

You can press a button to make one specific person explode, who would you pick: Old friend from before

Who would you really just love to punch in the face: Many, many people

If anyone could be your slave for the day, who would it be and what would they do: Well probably a close friend of mine, and I'd have him play smash with me and make pancakes with me (basically beg him to hang out even though it's quarantine so we can have fun again)

What's your best physical attribute: Probably my hair, it's dyed purple and used to be shaved

If you were the opposite sex for a day, what would you look like and what would you do: I'd probably look the same just taller and less curves, and I'd probably jerk off or go on some 3am walk because fuck it I can

Do you have a secret talent: I don't think so, I have a shitty memory, but not when it comes to naming ninjago episodes, @the-strawzish-clownfish can verify

What is one unique thing you're afraid of: Touching Rays, any kind, especially the ones at aquariums that come up to the tank wall that you can pet

You can only have one kind of sandwich, every ingredient is at your disposal: Well call me white, but my usual, white bread turkey and shredded cheese. That's it. I'm super lame.

You just found $100 how are you gonna spend it: Save it, I always save hundreds without hesitation

You just got a free plane ticket to go anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately: Uh, probably Georgia to see some family

Basically an Angel says I'll give you lost of booze forever be specific: Uh, fuck I dunno I don't drink, Fuckin' Crown Royal for shits and giggles why not

An island in which you can make your own rules, what's the first: Stay on your own turf unless someone allows you to come in, unless it's emergency (and I know this rule will cause problems, it's a guideline at best)

What is your favorite expletive: Tie between Bullshit and Fuck, I absolutely love those two

Your house is on fire (but everyone is okay) what one object do you grab: Well, in my current room right now? My phone, I'll still have contact with people I love and have my art (the only thing I care about in here) with me too

You can erase any horrible experience from your past: Main one, I won't actually say allowed but Roach you know what it is, but one I can put on here, Probably some embarrassing thing I did, most like everyone else

You got kicked out of your country, where would you live: GERMANY! I love the German language and I'd absolutely love to go to Germany and live with it!

Death is a good dude and says you can choose who to bring back: My cat who died a few years ago, he was an awesome cat that didn't deserved to die at 6 years old

What was your last dream about: I have super long dreams, like so much goes on in them it's like a story, too long to type out, @psychotic-roach knows it. Long story short, Pirates and apartments under water

Are you a good (insert whatever): Am I a good, fuck I dunno let's do artists because it's easy. I think I do decent enough

Have you ever been admitted to the hospital: No, only when I was a newborn in the nicu because I wasn't latching right

Have you ever built a snowman: Nope, but my friend did and I watched. His snowman was tiny and got stepped on, my friend shed a few tears

What is the color or your socks: Not wearing any right now, but usually gray

What type of music do you like: EDM AND TRAP BABYYY IF IT'S LOUD I LOVE IT

Do you prefer sunrise or sunset: Sunset definitely, I burn easy so having the nice night air slowly come over with the stars is nice for me

Favorite milkshake flavor: Chocolate!

What football team do you support: American football? None. German Bundesliga teams? Stuttgart. We were assigned teams in my German class and that was mine! Stuttgart all the way!!

Do you have any scars: Yes, many. They range from self harm, to actual cat scratches, to me falling, and many more

What do you want to be when you graduate: No idea!

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Weight, I have bad self esteem so it's never enough

Are you reliable: Honestly, no. I have bad memory and I will forget if someone needs something

If you could ask your future self a question what would it be: How's Roach doing, and what's Oregon like?

Do you hold grudges: depends, mostly no, but sometimes yes

If you could breed two animals together and defy the laws of nature, what two would you breed: Uh good question, probably Cat and Opossum, really just to see what would happen

Most unusual conversation: Mental health stuff with my parents and therapist, more awkward than anything

Are you a good liar: Not really no depending on the person

How long could you go without talking: Well in quarantine all day, regular days though, maybe an hour at best, I absolutely love my friends, just only certain ones

What has been your worst haircut/ style: Back when it was longer than my shoulders and I wore it down. Except I never took care of it so it looked like shit.

Have you ever baked your own cake: Yes every birthday I make mine! I even had my friends help me with my most recent one!

Can you do any accent other than your own: maybe a southern one but no not really

What do you like on your toast: Nutella or cinnamon and sugar. I know, terrible for you

What is the last thing you drew a picture of: Uh me and @psychotic-roach and our pets but I'm self conscious about my art so I just didn't really show it to anyone (sorry Roach, I'm just super shy about my art!)

What would be your dream car: Me and my family had a running joke that I liked Tesla's, so probably a Tesla

Do you sing in the shower: No but I want to, I just don't like people hearing me sing

Do you believe in aliens: I believe we're not alone in the universe, weather it be new life billions of miles away or way advanced life a few galaxies away

Do you often read your horoscope: No, but astrology is fun to fuck with sometimes

What is your favorite letter of the alphabet: probably E or something, it's soothing in a weird way

Dinosaurs or dragons: DRAGONS DRAGONS I LOVE DRAGONS I'M A HUGE HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON NERD!!!

What do you think about babies: They're sweet sometimes, I'm honestly afraid of holding one or having to take care of one though

Freebie! Ask anything you can think of: I can't really think of anything so I guess just @psychotic-roach I love you!! @the-strawzish-clownfish thank you for these painful asks, they were fun :)

#strawberry ask

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windschildfanfictionwriter · 6 years ago

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Nice Things

A/N: I think I mentioned this one a while back. Here is the one shot that developed from another story I’m working on. I will post it on Fanfiction as soon as I wrestle the answers from this Chromebooks framework on just HOW to do that. But for now I thought you guys would like this.

-----

Lavender was probably one of the most boring conversationalists Ron had ever met. She was vapid and gave no thought to the questions he asked trying to keep things going.

Here was the thing though.

Lavender was nice.

It was like a breath of fresh air. They would be doing homework together and she’d glance over, reading one of his answers and… ‘Oh, I like the way you worded that, Ron.’ They would be walking around the lake and she’d turn and blush and go ‘I never get tired of catching your eye. Have you ever seen a moonflower? That’s what it reminds me of, the petals.’ When she traced his chest with her hand she always smiled. When they ate together she never seemed to even notice what he put on his plate or how much he ate.

She said whatever came to mind and nothing that came to mind was ever bad about him and that was… It was a relief. He felt normal around her, like just being himself was good enough.

Best of all, when Ron gave compliments, she cared. She beamed and interlaced their fingers. She smiled shyly and tugged him along. She was sweet and talkative and wanted to be around him and said nice things about him and to him.

It made him realize no one else ever said anything nice to him. Outside of Harry who was determined to increase his confidence for Quidditch. Oh, he realized their teasing was in jest. He knew the small things they sniped at him for were just that. Small things. He knew the comments had no ill intent.

But they never stopped.

He couldn’t remember the last nice thing someone had said to him was. He wracked his brain and tried and tried and tried, but… there was nothing.

“You know,” Lavender said thoughtfully, using a little too much tongue to lick her lollipop. “Your hands have been pretty cold lately.”

“Oh,” Ron said, pulling away apologetically. “Sorry.”

Lavender shook her head, smiling. She picked up a pair of blue gloves from the shelf at the shop they were looking through in Hogesmeade before going over to the register and buying them.

“You don’t have to do that!” Ron tried to stop her, his ears turning red, but she was already walking back. Lavender grabbed his hand, spreading his much larger, longer fingers against her dainty digits.

“You know, I’ve had a crush on you since we were in the DA together last year,” she admitted.

“Really?”

“You were always so excited when you got a spell right. It was infectious. You’ve just got this grin that lights up the whole room and when you laugh? Everyone stops for a second and it just… melts the tension in the room.”

Ron didn’t know what to say or how to react.

Lavender didn’t seem to mind. She pulled the blue gloves on his hands. They had a heating charm in them. His fingers instantly becoming toasty.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t just mean for the gloves.

------------------

Of course, Lavender craved more than her boyfriend’s attention, she craved social attention. She thrived on it. Her personality going overboard when others were around.

Won Won was solely for Hermione’s ears and Ron wasn’t sure whether to be amused or horrified. She purposefully snogged him in a relentless almost desperate fashion when they were in public and it was becoming rather humiliating.

He definitely liked the physical contact.

It was just that he’d really rather do it somewhere less on display and… less. She tended to let her hand wander and that made him feel very uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure how to bring it up with her though. Every time he had the conversation in his head, the words came out too harsh and mean. He never wanted to be harsh or mean to Lavender.

Worse.

He’d officially run out of every topic he could think of and if they talked about what type of clothes she planned to buy on her winter holiday one more time, he might throw himself off the astronomy tower.

He missed Hermione.

Discussing the mechanics of a Charm. Arguing about what the best approach for house elf freedom was. Going over politics and the Ministry’s moves, what was You-Know-Whose influence and what was simply bad policy. Explaining historical facts from the wizarding cultures view versus muggle. Talking transfiguration methods and knit picking at what the other cares about.

He felt as if he hadn’t had an intelligent conversation in ages. Not that Lavender wasn’t smart. She just had different priorities and that was fine. Lavender wanted to work for her Aunt’s Fashion Magazine in the French wizarding community. She spoke the language fluently and seemed pretty talented when it came to magical sewing and design.

Ron had never been able to choose his own clothes before. He’d simply accepted whatever left over, hand me down, second hand items came his way and tried not to cringe too much about it so it left discussions… lacking. Unfortunately the more Ron tried to hint that they didn’t have much in common and that they were quickly running short, the harder Lavender clung. She avoided the conversation like the plague and it all left him feeling sick with guilt.

He’d hoped she felt the same way.

She didn’t.

Any time he tried to say anything now, her lips were covering his. She was desperate for this not to happen and Ron felt sickened at the idea of doing it. So he started avoiding her.

That did not sit well with the House of Gryffindor.

The house of chivalry and courage.

Hermione was smug and Harry was weary and Ron didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. He was drawing a blank. There was a giant empty slot where the guide to ‘How to Break up With a Nice Girl Without Hurting Her Feelings,’ should have been.

“You’re a right shitbag, Weasley,” Seamus told him one morning.

And what could Ron say to that?

He felt like a shitbag.

All those nice things Lavender had to say about him didn’t feel right anymore. They felt undeserved and Ron found himself looking in the mirror wondering if there was anything at all good about him. If only one person had good things to say and Ron was hurting that one person then what did that make him?

Why could he never do anything right?

-------------------

Ah, well, there was nothing like being poisoned and nearly dying to make everyone forgive you for being a douchebag. He supposed. So he was surprised and not surprised when Lavender showed up again on his last night in the hospital wing.

She came in looking at the ground, her lips pressed together and hair in a disarray. Ron stayed still, tense and expectant, but when Lavender looked up she smiled at him. A small thing that was too sad for such a pretty face and Ron told her that.

Her smile became more genuine.

She sighed. The noise whipping out with exasperation, though Ron didn’t think it was directed at him. She sat on the bed, directly on his legs to be more precise before reaching forward and lightly flicking him on the nose.

“We made a right mess of this, didn’t we?”

We.

Ron felt warm inside. Unused to not being blamed for everything.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, sincere.

Tears flooded her eyes, but she waved it away.

“Mother tells me I overdo things,” she admitted. “I refuse to recognize when something doesn’t fit and keep trying to shove the triangle into the circle hole because I want the triangle to fit into everything.”

She shrugged, looking up at the ceiling rather than him.

“So, I’m sorry too, I know you were trying to do it nicely and I just…”

Another sigh.

“It’s okay,” Ron was quick to assure you. “You really are amazing though. You’re going to go really far, literally, France is like a whole ‘nother world.”

He knew it was cheesy, but she laughed anyways before turning somber.

“I’m sorry people have been so nasty to you,” Lavender told the ceiling. “I was a coward and I didn’t want to admit to anyone that you had been trying to break up with me. I’ve never actually been broken up with before, you know, usually I’m the one who makes the decision.”

“Sorry,” Ron mumbled again, more for a lack of anything else to say.

Lavender laughed. It was loud and she snorted as she tried to stifle it.

“But Ron,” she finally looked at him, dark brown eyes practically glittering with mirth. “I have never seen or read anywhere, in the history of fashion magazines or romance novels someone worse at breaking up with someone. That’s the honest truth.”

Ron blushed, feeling his face and ears turning hot.

“I don’t exactly have a well of experience to pull from,” he mumbled.

Lavender’s mirth turned fond.

“Well, I’m glad I could be your first,” she kissed him then. A short, sweet kiss that was much more reminiscent of their time alone than out in public. Then she adjusted his shirt, smoothing it out for much longer than was needed. “I know you can’t help it, but when you’re all handsome and grown up and have that Auror job I know you’ll get… invest in bright blue scarves and shirts, like the gloves I got you. They bring out your eyes in the best way. Winter fashion is where you thrive. Not Fall. And for all that is good in this world, Ronald Weasley, do not let Hermoine Granger choose your clothes.”

Ron blinked.

“Why would…?”

She kissed him one last time, a bit deeper, to shut him up. His lips turned amused against her, a chuckle falling out between them. She was warm against him. Her forehead tapping against his lightly as she pulled away. Her fingers ran through his hair, her eyes fixated on it in a way he couldn’t name exactly.

“Ron?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t let them tell you that your feelings aren’t important. Okay? Don’t tell yourself that they aren’t important.”

She pulled herself away, detaching her body from his legs. He hadn’t even noticed when they’d gone numb. Ron felt himself flay a bit. He didn’t want to let her leave like that. With it being so one sided.

“You’re…” Ron swallowed, Lavender paused at the hospital door, not turning around. “I’m really glad that you were my first girlfriend and I think, if we’d had a few more things in common, that it might have turned into something more. I really mean it. You are so much more than just a pretty face.”

Because he knew she worried about that and they both knew people talked about her like that around the school. As if she wouldn’t amount to anything but some over glorified house wife and that was wrong.

“You don’t need to have perfect O.W.L.S or slave away at homework or sports to make something of yourself. Its hogwash. You’re brilliant. Wickedly brilliant. Schools just… school measures paperwork and only sees a tiny part of who a person is. It doesn’t measure how you do at life or with people or how much potential you have. You’re gonna do great.”

Her hand clenched against the door frame. She didn’t turn back to face him, but he saw her nod. Quick and sharp, her whole frame seeming to waver on the spot, and then her spine straightened and she wiped at her eyes with her sleeves and before Ron could say anything else, she marched out of the room altogether.

He sat back against the frame of the hospital bed, feeling lighter than he has in a good long time. Keeping the nice things she’d said close to his heart and repeating them as he fell asleep. If he kept them close enough, long enough, maybe they might give him the courage to ignore the small things that cluttered his heart like barbed wire.

Lavender Brown might not be his soul mate or such, but she’d taught him a lot. She would always hold a special place in his heart because of that. Harry and Hermione… he didn’t think either of them would understand. Ron wasn’t the best at explaining things and neither of them were the best at listening when he stumbled over his words and meanings.

It would be just a nice thing between Lavender and him.

And that was fine.

#ron weasley #ron weasley defense squad #fanfiction #lavender brown

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homosuccs-blog · 7 years ago

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heyeyeyey oh look its a mary sue eddsword oc

no im joking i love him,,

okay well anyway here’s some dA info:

yOO aNOTHER REFF HUNNS sorry this took so long >:( i had a little breakdown today because the school decided to fucking block discord on chromebooks >:(((( okay im done ranting anyway; info!! first of all- wHISKEY IS AN OC U BAKAS no i dont ship him with any ew chars because drama will start or smth, also he's Tom's adoptive 'mom'. Whiskey is trans, mtf. biologically male tho, pff, he's girly anyway, know how i said Edd was a Sprite? here you go. vwv im probably gonna redraw tom's ref though cause jesus it's so bad??? fasgf lmao anyway basic info; DETAILS: Name: Edd Gourdon. Height: 4'6" Relatives: N/A Age: 20/21 Current Situation: Edd is more of a magics character, he isn't one to fight much, like a mage in a way. more of healing/forcefields/etc etc. he's like,, really small lmao, his actual Sprite form is the small lil' Edd you see in the middle oofy. Edd is a sprite,[a being who can tell the difference between a mortal and a Nightmare], yet with Tord, he can't tell a thing about him. He has a theory, but doesn't fully know, due to the rank of Tord himself. Edd casually wears a hoodie with a heart on it, i'll make his other design later. His wings are not connected to his back, magic holds them in place. also edd likes sum1 :^O *anime moa-gasp.* u dont have to read this, it was in the tord ref lmao; Some Nightmare backstories/facts: Nightmares are formed when a person's fear, hatred, sadness and guilt overwhelm them. Nightmares are attracted to negative feelings, and when they sense one shred of doubts, they cling onto you and follow your every movement and try to convince you about something bad. At some point, they give in and they are consumed by the darkness, and the loop goes on. Nightmares can disguise themselves as others to trick them, or trigger a flashback or memory to possibly get them to start to regret something or get mad or sad. Also, Nightmares are pretty fucking creepy. I suck at drawing creepy stuff, but i'mma try my best to make ya'll shit yer pants. djasf i cant thinkkk rnnnn shit for people who didnt read it there lol the little gold rings around Edd's arms/ears/legs are what keep his magic rushing through his body, like a magical force basically if he looses them he dies but shrugs :) anyway, info about wHIsKEY; DETAILS: Name: Whiskey, aka "momma" or "mom". Height: 5'6" Relatives:Tom[Thomas],Enn.R, etc. Age:25 Current Situation: Caretaker of Thomas Redge, watcher of Edd and Matt. He usually follows along with the crew, unless with his boyfriend. He has no specified species, Paradise-colored hair, silver hoop earring, pure hot pink eyes, sweater. He's tall, lanky, etc. A pretty nice gay- guy. guy. He's partly Swedish, but more English than Swedish. but uh, yeah i don got much to say pfft ask questions please !! if needed!! also, Tim will be in this. and maybe Pay- idk okay ask questions if i didnt go over anything important :^) ily all and gnight EDIT: the only reason why this is in the 'oc' folder is because whiskey is an oc, edd isnt

#ewau #nmau #nm!au #nightmare!au #nightmare au #tordnmau #eddnmau #whiskey #whiskeynmau #eddsworld

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mandimormon-blog · 7 years ago

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Why You Should Stop Doing Laundry Today

Is it just me or do you see a title similar to this one everywhere? ‘Why You Should Stop Using Your (insert product here)”, “You’ll Never Want To Eat At (insert restaurant here) Again”, “After Reading This, You’ll Never Want To (insert activity here) Again.”.

We all know laundry totally sucks. It always sucks. I find laundry is one of my personal Top 16 Worst Household Chores ever list. I loathe laundry so much that I usually don’t even sort it. (Take that dark and light colors. I really showed you!)

The bending over is just like the icing on top of the cake of cruelty. Usually, I grab out it out of the water by large armfuls, as much as I can possibly get at once to reduce the number of times I’m bobbing and weaving from the washer to the front-load dryer. Apparently, I’ve got a rhythm and that’s when the danger set it. I feel like that’s a life lesson that applies to more than just laundry. Sometimes we get too comfortable and relaxed and that’s when we ruin it. We’re humbled. We’re knocked down and in this situation, it was the dryer. I had about my third armful of clothing and I noticed I probably had one more as I grabbed this armful out, like a boomerang, as I tossed it into the dryer. This time my left finger with my wedding band and engagement ring caught the top of the dryer on my execution, and I almost tore my finger off.

Of course, a painful stinging sensation sat in immediately and it felt equivalent to stubbing my toe, on a steel door, swinging toward me. Screaming at the top of my lungs, using a one hand toss to get the rest of the clothes thrown into the dryer with my right hand, and slamming the dryer door. Screw the lint trap, it’s not getting cleaned out, not this time. I started the clothes before whining around about it, because that’s what we moms do. You and I both know if I let those clothes sit they would’ve smelled awful and that would have meant more water-waste plus more dangerous household chores that I was not mentally prepared to do, whatsoever.

Per the normal “fear-inducing articles”, here’s the best advice you’ll hear all day. Friends, stop using your dryer now. Use a clothesline. Take our your wedding rings. Practice safety while accomplishing those household chores. Better safe than sorry. Share this message so your friends don’t make the same mistake I made.

We do addictions in our house. As I type, I glance to my left and see my son is hopping back and forth between two iPads, on the floor. One is near the footstool my feet are on, and the other against the wall on the charger. Both are actively playing a different show. Remi, is on a laptop, watching Trolls, and I am typing on my laptop, while simultaneously texting my husband, who seems to be a tad under the weather, laying in bed upstairs, in the same house. My oldest daughter is texting, cleaning her room, and has YouTube going on her Chromebook. This is the example of the perfect modern-day family.

Sure, we won’t have cable, satellite, or a television downstairs in our home, but we certainly use electronics. Just the other day while I was doing a little painting at the office, my son choose to watch Dish Network, while we were there. I asked him if he knew what “Team Titans Go” was and sure enough, he did.

Confused, he asked me, “What is this? An ad?” speaking about the commercial. My children don’t even know what a commercial is! But they’re fluent in YouTube Channels, Netflix, and fixing the WiFi. Things have taken a shift since my earlier years. Did I explain Jude’s fascination earlier this year over a vending machine?

Jude had never purchased anything from a vending or pop machine. We were waiting on the girls to finish up a practice for dance clinic and were rotating ourselves, back and forth, in the bar-seating in the high school cafeteria. He complained he was thirsty. So, I dug a dollar out of the bottom of my canvas tote, and handed it to him. He said, “What?”

I said, “Let’s get a drink.” I stood in front of the water and lemonade machine, reminiscing about Fruitopia, and asked him which flavor of water or lemonade he’d prefer. “What is this?”, he asked inquisitively. I covered my mouth with my hand, “Ohhhh, my goodness, Jude! You’ve never used a vending machine, have you?” Sure enough, never. He thought it was amazing how we could put money in and pick something by pressing a magic button and with a loud buzz and boom, it appeared, chilled, and ready to drink. He thought the Berry Lemonade was the best thing ever and he marveled over the vending machine mechanics.

This same “shock and awe” goes for the older generation, as well. We celebrated my dad’s birthday on Sunday, after he had a busy weekend full of auctions. My sister had the opportunity to attend his auction that morning, and from across the room, yet again, she was texting me a few photos to update his Facebook page with, which by the way, he can use Facebook very fluently. I made a few comments so naturally, he wanted to see the photos, I handed my iPhone over and as he scrolled through them, he went to the last photo I had sent my sister before those, which was me, wishing her a “Happy Birthday” through text using the Snap Chat giant-mouth-lips-eyes-filter+voice-changer. I just love how it conveys a completely mundane message with such pizazz! Of course, any message I’ve seen with this glorious filter I’ve laughed uncontrollably over.

My dad says when he gets to that on the text, “I see this lady all over Facebook!” Confused, I grabbed the phone from him, and laughed out loud for awhile. “Dad, that’s me. But that’s a SnapChat Filter.”, incredibly curious as to who on his Newsfeed is posting this. I love technology. I do.

Wouldn’t it be grand to have him auctioneer with that filter? I’m pretty sure it could go viral, without a doubt.

I also love 6th graders. Why you may ask? So, sure I elaborated on a kick-booty party based around Coachella about a month ago? Well, the girls were making a big deal out of the fact my sister is coming home this month, to live, and how she is “so cool”. I couldn’t wait to tell my sister about the adoration these kids had for her and because of that good attitude, I was blessed. They then added how most of the kids Reis’s age think I’m way young.

“Well, Girls, technically, I am young. I had Reis at age 19 which makes me one of the youngest Sixth Grade parents, for sure.”

Her friend blurted out, “No, no, no.. they think you're like 20.” 20, Tumblr. 20, Facebook. 20. Twenty Years Old. They may not be able to do Math or maybe it was an exaggeration but I will take it. Life is good.

I have to put a halt to the Electronicpalooza, here and now, wish me luck!

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ang-900 · 1 year ago

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Source

It feels like I haven't drawn Sunstreaker in a while.

I apologize for the quality here, I'm not really proud of it. The computer I usually draw on decided to have an aneurysm (R.I.P. my WIP), and I am now using a Chromebook (ew) to draw. Ibis Paint X isn't bad, but on a Chromebook, everything feels immensely off. I wish I experimented with the brushes and pressure sensitivity more. I don't like how Sunstreaker turned out in this. He reminds me how my old art on a phone would look like. 😭

Below is a time lapse of the progress. I spent too much time on the line art, so you'll see me fixing Sunstreaker a bit - I may or may not have ignored the stabilizer, whoops. Originally I was going to draw his G1 form, but I decided for IDW instead. Then there'll be random lines here and there. That's me experimenting with different brushes (as I should've been) and the pressure sensitivity (finally). I'm new to ibis Paint.🥲

Where it looks like I'm doing nothing, that's me correcting minor colouring mistakes.

I hope to get the usual computer back. I miss drawing on an actual computer. (˚ㄥ_˚)

I realize I should've also made Sunstreaker and Bob's boxes larger.

#Sunstreaker #Bob #Bob the Insecticon #Some Sideswipe #Bumblebee's shoulder #Moonracer's head #Arcee's head #The barest sliver of Hot Rod #And who's in the other box? That's a mystery #Transformers IDW1 #Transformers IDW 2005 #TF IDW 2005 #TF IDW1 #Transformers #Maccadam #My art #I diss Chromebook #Personal Chromebook Dark Age

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chara-killer-bear · 8 years ago

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ALL U TRASH BEAN

1. What is you middle//full name?

Alias: Sally Janches

Real Middle Name: Jane Deveza

2. How old are you?

15 turning 16 in 4 days

3. What is your birthday?

January 27, 2001

4. What is your zodiac sign?

Aquarius uvu

Chinese zodiac would be the snake~

5. What is your favorite color?

Redish-pink or a really dark shade of blue

6. What’s your lucky number?

4 or 8 or 16

7. Do you have any pets?

A cat named Peter and a few goldfish that are floating about in the tank atm :”)

8. Where are you from?

Santa Clara, California

9. How tall are you?

4′9″ to 4′11″ sadly :”)

10. What shoe size are you?

flats it’s a 3 or 3 ½ and with sneaker it’s a 5 or a 6–

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

More than 25 that’s for sure–

12. What was your last dream about?

Last dream was something revolving around some fantasy plot– I forgot what most of it was- but the only thing I remember was that I was tryna exit the dream or something and this wizard is all like “in order to escape you need to forget” and I’m like “lmao let’s get this over with”

13. What talents do you have?

- Whistle

- Went through the suffering process of drawing

- Be a meme

14. Are you psychic in any way?

For some reason through dreams–

Y’know in all honesty I remember there was this particular vision I had in the middle of 6th grade and still traumatizes me to this day but you’d probs have to bug me a bit before I actually tell ya

15. Favorite song?

- Jenny by Studio Killers

- Say You Like Me by We the Kings

- Pretend by Bad Suns

- Rather Be by Clean Bandit

- Dead Hearts by Stars

16. Favorite movie?

- Coraline :”)

17. Who would be your ideal partner?

@static–things

18. Do you want children?

Only the future will tell–

19. Do you want a church wedding?

Not sure–

20. Are you religious?

Just a bit– But not one of those hardcore religious people– Just a lil–

21. Have you ever been to the hospital?

A few times– Although mostly because I was a small child and I kept getting sick a lot–

I remember we had to perform surgery on me when I was a toddler because there was something wrong with the gums on my teeth

I was really close to going to the hospital when I was around 8-10 because I was struck with a really high fever and my body was close to dying, until my mom force fed me to eat a whole bunch of healthy foods, I threw up many times, and the next day I was fine. According to my mom, I was in that bad of a condition probably because my grandma kept starving me from food when my fever began.

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?

Got scot-free though

23. Have you ever met any celebrities?

I would say the Prince of India, since my uncle’s sister is married to him and I was at their wedding– I was probably around 7-8 at the time though

24. Baths or showers?

Showers :”)

25. What color socks are you wearing?

Pink

26. Have you ever been famous?

Nah– I’m just your average nerd who just needs Internet to live :”)

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?

Nah–

28. What type of music do you like?

I really don’t have a particular type of music I like–

Well, except Christmas songs– If they count–

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?

Nope.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?

0-1

31. What position do you usually sleep in?

I think it’s called fetal position???

32. How big is your house?

1 room

1 living room

1 kitchen

1 creepy ass hallway

1 bathroom

33. What do you typically have for breakfast?

Mostly I don’t even eat breakfast, but when I do it’s just mostly things I can cook fast, like pizza or ramen–

34. Have you ever fired a gun?

Sadly nah :”)

35. Have you ever tried archery?

:”)

36. Favorite clean word?

Oh my goodness–

Oh golly goodness

37. Favorite swear word?

F U CKITY FUCKERTONS

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?

1 week :”)

39. Do you have any scars?

Yeah– burn scars; one each on my arms and one on my ankles–

I’m pretty sure I have a scar on the back of my neck–

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

I don’t know- do I?

41. Are you a good liar?

I’m not even sure anymore–

42. Are you a good judge of character?

Maybe??? I’m not sure???

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?

Sorrey eye onley spek Engliph

44. Do you have a strong accent?

Meh– Not really–

45. What is your favorite accent?

ENGLISH ACCENT OR MAYBE SCOTTISH

46. What is your personality type?

ENFP

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?

Honestly this coat I have lying around that’s around $40–

I probably have another article of clothing that’s much more expensive than that but I can’t name any atm–

48. Can you curl your tongue?

T A C O T O N G U E

49. Are you an innie or an outie?

Innie

50. Left or right handed?

Ambidextrous!

51. Are you scared of spiders?

Nah– I find them interesting~

52. Favorite food?

SPAM M A S U B I

53. Favorite foreign food?

PALABOK

54. Are you a clean or messy person?

If I were a clean person I would know where tf my Kindle is now :”)

55. Most used phrased?

- jfc

- G OLLY GOODNESS

- FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

- Hello darkness my old friend-

56. Most used word?

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

57. How long does it take for you to get ready?

A good 30 minutes of me actually getting ready :”)

58. Do you have much of an ego?

At some level, but not egoistic

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?

Bite :”)

But whenever I’m working on something mostly I just suc

60. Do you talk to yourself?

H eh, well according to @static–things apparently I do–

61. Do you sing to yourself?

Every day :”)

62. Are you a good singer?

Nah

63. Biggest Fear?

h EI G H T S

64. Are you a gossip?

Not sure–

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?

I guess There Will Be Blood? There’s probably a more dramatic movie I watched but the first thing that popped up when it comes to drama is There Will Be Blood

66. Do you like long or short hair?

Meh–

Both?

67. Can you name all 50 states of America?

1- California

2- Texas

3- New York

4- Oregon

5- Washington

6- Idaho

7- Wisconsin

8- Utah

9- Colorado

10- New Mexico

11- Oklahoma

12- North Dakota

13- South Dakota

14- Kansas

15- Arkansas

16- Maryland

17- Massachusetts

18- Nevada

19- West Virginia

20- Vermont

21- Pennsylvania

22- Montana

23- Tennessee

24- Wyoming

25- Michigan

26- New Jersey

27- New Hampshire

28- Ohio

29- Hawaii

30- Alaska

31- Florida

32- Louisiana

33- Illinois

34- Nebraska

35- Missouri

36- North Carolina

37- South Carolina

38- Iowa

39- Kentucky

40- Indiana

41- Alabama

42- Georgia

43- Virginia

44- Connecticut

45- Delaware

46- Rhode Island

47- Maine

48- Minnesota

Aaaaaaaaand I’ll end it there

68. Favorite school subject?

HISTORY AND ENGLISH

69. Extrovert or Introvert?

I’d like to say both–

70. Have you ever been scuba diving?

Nope :”)

71. What makes you nervous?

Many things:

- anxiety

- the ever-so impending fear of people leaving me, people hating me, etc.

72. Are you scared of the dark?

Nope–

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?

Sometimes–

Mostly just to be an ass lmao

74. Are you ticklish?

Yep :”)

75. Have you ever started a rumor?

… h eh

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?

Nah– I’d panic if that happened though

77. Have you ever drank underage?

Nope–

78. Have you ever done drugs?

Hell nope–

79. Who was your first real crush?

First real crush would either be this guy named Aaron or another guy named Lam

80. How many piercings do you have?

2- considering they’re ear piercings

81. Can you roll your Rs?“

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrojo

82. How fast can you type?

Last time I checked it was around 72.9 WPM

Lemme check again

87.9 WPM

83. How fast can you run?

Faster than the chaser that’s for sure–

84. What color is your hair?

Dark brown

85. What color is your eyes?

Brown

86. What are you allergic to?

Well one thing for sure is hot dogs–

I swear, redirecting to 21, my fever started because of this hot dog I ate at Target-

So in summary of chain of events, first I ate a hot dog at Target with my grandma back when my hot dog allergy wasn’t as bad as it is now- and before my grandma drove me to her workplace(because back in the day my dad was no where to be seen, my mom had to work, and since I had no where else to go to after school, that’s when my grandma stepped up and decided to take me to her workplace every after school despite her boss telling her she can’t)

After my grandma drove me from all the way to Rosemead to LA where her workplace is at, I felt like dizzy and sick for some unknown reason at the time but thought it would pass. There was this room that was dedicated for my use only in my grandma’s work because no one used it, and it had a huge couch. So I pretty much crashed on that couch, waited for the dizziness to pass, and slept.

Next thing you know it, I woke up and in an instant I threw up both on the couch and on the carpet floor(which would explain why a few days after they got rid of the couch and the stain on the carpet remained forever as this black blotch among the original red hue of the surrounding carpet. They were bound to get rid of that couch anyways; my grandma always told me that it used to be owned from the past establishment it was before it was an eye clinic- which was a morgue. So basically not only did I sleep on a couch that was sat on doctors sucking the blood out of dead people, but it could possibly be soaked with dead people’s blood.)

Right after that happened, I kept hurling in the bathroom, and when it came to the time where my grandma had to leave the clinic, my grandma gave me a bucket for me to throw up in case I do- and pretty much the following night I felt like shit- couldn’t breathe most of the time, felt hot everywhere, absent from school for at least a week or so because I felt that horrible, and almost had to go to the hospital, but ironically felt better when I threw up after my mom force fed me food.

87. Do you keep a journal?

Not anymore– Unless notes on iPad and Chromebook count–

88. What do your parents do?

Secret~

89. Do you like your age?

16 MY FAVORITE NUMBER

90. What makes you angry?

- If someone hurts any one of my loved ones

- Bigotry

91. Do you like your own name?

Meh- Could change it to Sally

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?

Not really–

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?

Maybe girl~ It’s not like I really care that much though, girl or boy or nonbinary, I’ll still love them the same

94. What are you strengths?

BE A M E M E

95. What are your weaknesses?

Not sure–

Depends from person to person I guess–

96. How did you get your name?

Honestly my mom thought I was going to be born a Capricorn, and since she had way too many bad experiences with Capricorns, she thought it would be a good idea to name me a name that sounded “spunky”, which is a trait she kinda disliked. However jokes on her, I was born late, thus I turned out to be an Aquarius, and now I turned out to be a smartass.

97. Were your ancestors royalty?

Don’t recall so–

98. Color of your room?

White/Beige

99. Color of your bedspread?

Can’t say for certain– I would say either white or patterned–

100. Make up your own question

Favorite type of milk?

Strawberry milk~

#Mun speaks

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cheetahleopard · 8 years ago

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Tagged

I was tagged by @frenchibi (THANK YOU)

I tag anyone who wants to do it plus @fragile-euphoria @rumblecoot @milanesa-kardiaca @meadowofstars @eevaeon @ a thousand of my friends I am too tired to tag I’m sorry do as many or as few as you’d like

Favorite Place: My basement

Relationship Status: Single(and aro af)

Favorite Colour: Blue/Black

Pets: None D= But Julie (dad’s gf) has a cat named Tika

Last song I listened to: Owari no Seraph opening

Favorite TV show: Haikyuu!!

First Fandom: Harry Potter

Hobbies: Um writing mainly

Books I’m currently Reading: The Golem and The Djinni

Favorite book: Ummm *sweats nervously* *dies*

Name: Amber/Avien/Avian

Nickname: Asshole, Saltshaker, Babe, Sweetheart (All my friends have nailed me)

Gender: agenderflux

Sign: Aquarius

Height: 5′ 6″ ish

Sexual Orientation: Aro/Ace

Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw

Favourite colour: see above XD

Favourite animal: Um.....Yes

Time right now: 3:55 pm

Average hours of sleep: Ideally 7-8, currently 3-5

Cat or dog person: Cat but I love both

Favourite fictional character from Harry Potter: Luna

Number of blankets you sleep with: 3-5 (I nest)

Favourite singer or band: Ummmm not really sure

Dream trip: Being QPPs with every character in an HQ!! universe that I go to

Dream job: Psychopathology

When was this blog created: A few months over a year ago

When did your blog reach its peak: Still climbing hopefully

What made you decide to make a tumblr: My fandoms

5 things you’ll find in my bag: Notebooks (at least 3)

Chromebook

Pencils

Books

Headphones+mp3

(see also this post)

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom: An enormous bookshelf A shrine A bed Alarms Giant painting on my wall

5 things I’ve always wanted to do in life: Publish a novel Go to college Own a house with a private library and a wifi signal Play in marching band Skydive

5 things that make me happy:

Playing in band (Bb Clarinet) Getting feedback for my writing and exchanging ideas with people Haikyuu!! My warm, patient and understanding holy cow family My online friends 5 things I’m currently into: Haikyuu!! (and the wonderful people I’ve met through it) My original stories (which I cannot wait to work on more) Reading Psychology Biochem

5 things on my to-do list: *cringes* my homework My series Baby Flour Many multichaps Start commissions =D

5 things people may not know about me: I am slightly autistic My birthday is today (January 30th) I have no allergies I don’t judge anything It took me three months for me to figure out my cousin and childhood friend are dating even as it was explicitly said to me

Rules: Put your music on “Shuffle” List the first 10 songs Tag 10 people

1: Rise Again- Nightcore 2: Good To Be Alive- Andy Grammer (XD I just love the beat) 3:Tendou’s Song- Haikyuu!! (I have downloaded this so many times) 4: Tu ne mentends pas- Indila 5: You’re so Vain (Carly Simon) 6: Lurk- The Neighborhood 7: XO - Kelsey Ballerini 8: Ghost town/Tag you’re it (Switching Vocals)- Nightcore 9: United States Mashup 2009- DJ Earworm 10: Dibs- Kelsea Ballerini

A - Age: 14 ToDAY B - Biggest fear: not sure C - Current time: 4:20 (this is taking a while XD I love it) D - Drink you last had: Water E - Every day starts with: Alarm after alarm then hw at 4 am F - Favorite song: ummmmmm G - Ghosts, are they real: Yes H - Hometown: Englewood I - In love with: Haikyuu!! And writing J - Jealous of: not sure K - Killed someone: No but I could L - Last time you cried: Panic attack last night M - Middle name: Hanson(after my grandmother) N - Number of siblings: 2(younger sister, I guess plus 3 not-quite-step-brothers) O - One wish: Stop using religion as an excuse for hate crimes P - Person you last called/texted: I’m in a sype group chat Q - Questions you’re always asked: Um Don’t want to list these b/c just annoyance R - Reasons to smile: Fanfiction and fanart exists. Hot chocolate, tea and fluffy blankets. Music, Art, Books, Stories. Stars & the sky. Brilliant people are making brilliant things every day. A small act of kindness from you to a stranger can make all the difference. S - Song last played: Hercules and the Hydra T - Time you woke up: 4 am U - Underwear color: dark blue V- Vacation destination: None really W - Worst habit: Not sure X - X-rays you’ve had: lots for my teeth, mri scans Y - Your favorite food: lasagna or steak I guess Z - Zodiac sign: Aquarius

1. What can’t you sleep without? My phone. Literally I use it as an alarm clock XD And pillows and familiar scents 2. What are your favorite kind of socks? I like the feeling of being comfortable in thigh-highs 3. What’s your favorite snack/meal/drink? Ummmm Yes 4. What’s your favorite kind of weather? I guess slight rain but dim sun 5. What do you like to listen to/do to relax and feel better when you’re upset? I love familiar songs + being alone 6. What’s your favorite store to shop at? Bookstores =D 7. What color do you wear the most? Black probably 8. What’s your favorite (video/board/social/party) game to play? I want to play Mystic Messenger I guess? 9. Any guilty pleasures? Fanfics (GIVE ME ALL THE TROPES) 10. If you could go anywhere (in real life or in fiction), where would it be? HAIKYUU!!VERSE

#personal #About me #tagged

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skiasurveys · 5 years ago

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429

Does anyone know your bank pin number other than you? Who? no one.

Have you ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend who was depressed? Yes

Would you be able to climb out your bedroom window to sneak out? yes but i live on my own, i dont need to sneak out lmao.

What would you do if you found out the last person you called was pregnant/got someone pregnant? i would freak out bc my mom is 52 lmao

Can you taste the difference between brand name food and store brand food? honestly not rly. sometimes i find store brand is better than the big brands

Would you be embarrassed to buy pads/tampons/condoms? Which one more? No. Im an adult.

Are your parents gullible? nope.

Do you still own a VCR? yeah i have a tv my boyfriend and i bought that is a VHS and DVD thing

About how much money have you spent on food in the past two weeks? a couple hundred, since i went grocery shopping.

If you were looking for a new pair of shoes where would you go? Online tbh

How much was the last pair of shoes you bought? 80$ but i got them on sale for 50

What color is the computer/laptop you’re on? Did you buy it yourself? Its like a dark grey and no my bf bought it for me.

Do you have a second home? i guess my moms house

Would you be surprised if you saw the last person you texted smoking? Yes

Does the smell of cigarettes, weed and beer repulse you? i hate the smell of beer and cigs but weed isnt too bad unless youre in the room and its in ur face lmao but I hate cigarette smell

Was the last person you kissed younger or older than you? older

Do you think people have any misconceptions about you? yeah

Have you ever purchased Girl Scout cookies? yes

Do you like waffles? yeah sure

Do you watch birthing videos on a day-to-day basis? uhhhh no lmao

Do you find piercings/tattoos attractive? kinda.

Would you talk to someone you don’t know on the internet? i have so many friends who are internet friends

How often do you drink Monster? sometimes but it causes me anxiety

Have you ever made totally pointless videos with your friends? yes my entire youtube channel

Do you like to buy those Warped Tour compilations? no

Do you like sitting on the inside or outside of a restaurant booth? tbh outside is nice sometimes but i dont mind inside. it depends on the weather

Do you own a nightgown? no

Have you ever made a house out of a giant cardboard box? lol no

Have you ever made a tent out of sheets in your bedroom? no

Do your grandparents know how to operate a cell phone? yes

Have you ever had sex or something like it? Yes.

Have you ever read a George Orwell book? nope

Have you ever worn fishnets? yeah i used too a lot but now i dont as much. i wouldnt mind wearing them again.

How many piercings and tattoos do you have? 0

Is someone in your family affected by Asperger’s? No

In a hotel do you always nose through all the drawers and cupboards? no haha

Would you rather go out to eat or be eaten out? uhhh those are two different things...

Do you always wear your seat belt? yes

Have you ever liked someone much older than you? yeah always

Have you ever been in a play? Yeah back in Highschool

Do you have any secrets that nobody knows about? yeah

Is there ice cream in your freezer? yes ^-^

Have you ever started to laugh but played it off as a cough successfully? uh idk haha

Have you ever liked the lyrics of a band but hated the music? yeah especiallyif the lyrics are good and deep but the sound is off.

Does your bathroom have a window? no

Do you go somewhere to get your eyebrows done? yes

When you were younger did you read the A Series Of Unfortunate Events books? nah

Who was the last band you saw live? there was a lot of them

Do you believe prayer really works? yeah sure

Are you a fan of the band Gym Class Heroes? who

Frosted flakes or frosted mini wheats? frosted flakes

Have you been on a date in the park? yes

Ever dated someone you were best friends with first? no

Are there any diseases/health problems that run in your family? yes

Do you have asthma? Yeah

. Are tongue piercings slutty? hahaa nooo

Is there anybody you think is hot over the age of 40? sure

Last person to take off your pants, besides you? guess connor

Might you enjoy hanging out in the woods for day or two? sure

Have you ever written something on a bathroom stall? Nah

Least favorite alcoholic drink? i dont care for jack but i like other whiskey

Have you ever kissed someone named Paul or Luke? nope

How did you meet the last male you texted? okcupid

Have you ever had an embarrassing email address? yep i aint repeating it hahahah

Do you put shampoo in your left or right hand? left

Do you have a bull ring through your nose? no

Do you and your dad get along? yeah but he died lol

Can you see your purse right now? yes

Are you wearing any perfume? none

Are there products in your hair? not rly

When you get colds, do you use nasal spray to help get your nose unstuffy? sometimes

Do you actually like sneezing? what

Have you taken a shower yet today? yes.

Do you have one best friend who is always there for you? yes jennifer

Do you wear skirts a lot? i used to but so much anymore.

Do you wear sweatpants a lot? sometimes. but not out

How many pairs of jeans do you think you have? I have like 3-4 but i only wear 2 of them haha

Do you like hoodies? YESS

Big ones or the form fitting kind? i like big ones

Do you wear polo shirts a lot? none

Did you ever actually have a rubber duck? maybhe lol

Are you one of those people who claim to live with no regrets? no, i usually regret a lot

Do you love your computer? yes but i need a new one. the one i am on rn is a chromebook but i want an actual laptop that can download drivers etc. Chrome book is nice though, Ill def use for college!

Do you drink coffee? hardly never. sometimes, but im not much of a coffee drinker.

Do you basically like all of your clothes? pretty much. Theres only a few that I dont wear as much but are meant for more a professional setting.

Do you shop mostly with your parents, your friends, or by yourself? myself but sometimes if my mom is going out i will go out with her.

#surveys #survey #questions

0 notes

josephlrushing · 5 years ago

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Sheltering in Place During a Pandemic – How We’ve Made It Work

Due to the global pandemic, those of us who have been unexpectedly thrust into working from home have had to figure out how to get our work done while sheltering in place. We wanted to share some of the things that have helped us stay productive and more-or-less content since we began physically distancing ourselves from our loved ones and friends who live outside of our homes.

This post is long, so grab a snack and let’s dive in.

Greg

Satechi Desk Mat

Now that I must sit at my kitchen Island to get work done (since I no longer have a desk), my setup for actual work needed to be as clean as possible, and the $34.99 Satechi Desk Mat has been a delight to use. Made of leather, it doubles as a wrist rest and a mouse pad for me, and it works perfectly with the next product on my list.

Satechi Type C Multi-Port Adapter 4k

The $89.99 Satechi USB-C Hub is another saving grace for me. I have a 15-Inch MacBook, but even with its large screen, its not enough for the various windows that I must have open in order to initiate cases at work. The Satechi hub not only gives me the USB ports that my MacBook Pro lacks, but there’s a nifty HDMI port that allows me to connect to an external monitor (provided by my office), so I can use as a secondary window. This is a NEXT-LEVEL hub that doesn’t need to sit flush with your MacBook which is a huge deal, especially if you have a case on your MacBook for protection.

Logitech MX Master 3

I’ll be brutally honest here, I’ve taken Logitech for granted for far too long. I’ve reviewed their products over the years, and there’s no more fitting time to use their products than when you’re working from home. I’m a fan of the $99.99 MX Master Mouse; it has a variety of different customizable buttons that are great for doing things like typing this article or quickly switching through windows, tables, and tabs in Excel for my full-time job. What’s more, it works on virtually any surface and has an incredible battery life so that even when I forget to charge it (which I have for a few weeks now), it manages to keep on ticking.

Drinkmate

Quite possibly the biggest most important thing on my list is the $99.95 Drinkmate. Allowing me to keep hydrated all while offering a change from traditional water, the Drinkmate has the ability to carbonate virtually anything from tap water to soda, from bourbon (trust me, I’ve tried) to wine. Like many people, I’ve grown fond of seltzer waters; with the shelves being bare in the stores this is a great soda water replacement both cost-wise and for the environment.

NVIDIA Shield TV

Yes, I know I should be working while working from home, but there are plenty of shows that I’ve been binging in the midst of getting work done including Tiger King along with everyone else. With thousands of apps on the $149.99 NVIDIA Shield TV, thanks to its Android integration, you can connect to Youtube, Netflix, Hulu … you name it and watch your favorite things on your “lunch breaks”.

Zoom

Zoom is the one brand that I wish I’d bought stocks in two years ago when I had the opportunity. For the past two years, my podcast friends and I have used Zoom to record all of our “remote” episodes, and now its outpaced Skype and FaceTime as the best way of communicating for me with my friends and co-workers. Virtual Happy hour anyone? Zoom’s free accounts only provide you with 40 minutes of time to use in groups larger than 10, but with the $14.99 per month account you can get unlimited time, and it’s a great way to stay connected with co-workers, boost morale, and make you feel like you’re still in the workplace (or social hour) from home. Zoom is free to join; benefits to the free and paid accounts can be compared here

PILLR by UpperCase

This is the laptop stand to best all laptop stands; the $69.99 PILLR is a product I started out using to get my podcast setup situated, and has now become the main player in my working-from-home setup. The PILLR allows you to adjust your viewing angle on your coffee table, desk, or kitchen island; with it, I can type at a reasonable angle and not worry about it moving thanks to the built-in grips on the base of the stand.

Anker’s EuFy Security Doorbell Camera

Social distancing doesn’t stop with just your friends and family, but with the packages that get delivered to you as well. With the $159.99 Eufy Security Doorbell, regardless if you live in a home, apartment, or have proper wiring for either, the Doorbell cam can notify you when that Amazon package gets delivered so you never have to actually interest with the person dropping it off.

Tidal

Tidal is a great way to stream your music and I’ve been a longtime fan of theirs. With Hi-Fi audio content, you and your family can listen to music from your favorite artists. If you have children, TIDAL has made kid-friendly playlists that will help keep them engaged, thanks to the playlists like Disney Hits, Kidz Bop Essentials, and even Reggae for Kids. What’s more, until April 15th you can get FOUR months of Tidal for only $4 using this link. Tidal is free to use, but the ad-free experience starts at $9.99.

Pocket Casts

When I’m not jamming to some tunes, I’m listening to just about any and every podcast that you could imagine (including my own, which you can check out here. Pocket Casts gives you suggestions on shows to listen to, and they even have playlists that you can follow from popular people who use the app. From True Crime to Sports to News, Entertainment, and even COVID-19 updates, Pocket Casts is a great way of hearing your favorite personalities. Pocket Casts is free, paying for a subscription brings perks.

Dark Noise

For those times when you don’t want to be bothered or distracted by loud music or talking voices, Dark Noise ($3.99) is a fantastic way to create “white noise” in the background while working. Even if you’re not at the beach, there’s a sound for that. There are soundscapes consisting of thunderstorms, rain, cars going by, hairdryers, a desk fan, and even of a cat purring — if you enjoy cats but don’t have one of your own.

Freeletics

With gyms everywhere closed, I still have to find a way to get a workout in even though summer body 2020 isn’t in full effect right now. Freeletics is a great pocket trainer app that walks you through the paces of staying healthy, getting healthy, or maintaining your health even when you’re stuck indoors. I’ve been using it for the past two weeks to direct me through bodyweight workouts such as pushups, sit-ups, and various other exercises that won’t bother the neighbors below. Freeletics is free to use, but if you opt for the in-app purchase of the premium tier, you can even get a nutrition trainer that will tell you what and what not to eat.

Carly

Not all of us are as fancy as Greg! For example, my “laptop stand” is two books stacked together — I’ve finally found a use for the 4-Hour Body and The Joy of Running! But honestly, no one’s office is throwing its doors open tomorrow. People at my workplace have been told repeatedly not to expect any communication on when the office will reopen before Memorial Day and even then, it’s going to be a gradual staggered reopening with a lot of flexibility for people in risky groups and people with kids. It’s also very likely this is going to happen in short bursts over and over until a vaccine is found; basically, we’re going to all have to live with the idea that school might abruptly close for a month, or offices might go to work from home for 6 weeks. So what started as a “let’s see how the next 2 weeks go,” has turned into an ongoing issue. Many of us will need to upgrade our home offices to deal with this new reality, and while we might not have wanted to invest money in our ‘work from home’ setup that 3 weeks ago, we’re are realizing more and more that we will need to for the future.

OWC Travel USB-C Dock

I’m using this $54.99 OWC Travel USB-C Dock, it’s been an absolute lifesaver for me.

Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Touch TV Keyboard

I’m using the USB port on the OWC Travel USB-Dock to power a Logitech external keyboard I found in the closet. I’ve never been so excited to see a Logitech logo in my life, as a full-size keyboard makes work much easier. You can find these on Amazon for under $27.

Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse

I’m also using this $15 Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse — it’s a simple little guy but it does the job well, and it works without a mousepad. This isn’t the exact mouse I have, but the similar version I’m using was on clearance at Best Buy so…

TCL True Wireless In-Ear Headphones and V-Moda Crossfade Wireless Headphones

I spend most of my workday on the phone, and since I didn’t work from home much before this I never bought a dedicated Bluetooth headset. However, I’ve been jumping between these $79.99 TCL True Wireless In-Ear Headphones I picked up at CES …

… and a pair of V-Moda Crossfades to make being on the phone far easier.

Samsung Chromebook 3 & Chrome OS

I also have to give a shoutout to Chrome OS, as I doubt I’d make it through homeschooling with my sanity intact if my child didn’t have a Chromebook to use. I’d also like to thank Verizon FiOS for their free Samsung Chromebook 3 promotion two years ago, as past-me was utterly brilliant for hanging on to the free Chromebook, “just in case”. You can pick up a similar one for around $225.

Nintendo Switch

From a parent standpoint, the $299 Nintendo Switch is the greatest invention in the world. It’s got plenty of kid-friendly games for my elementary school-age son, and the games are familiar enough that I can help easily (and also maybe play when he’s asleep-hey, links awakening is fun for adults too!)

You Are Your Own Gym, Jungle Gym XT Straps, and an Everlast Punching Bag

Finally, since working out is the only way to stay sane, I’ve been following methods listed In the ~$15 book, You Are Your Own Gym as well as making good use of my Jungle Gym XT straps and a very hefty Everlast Punching Bag for days when I’m sick of staring at the walls. The $99 Jungle Gym XT Straps appear to be sold out right now, and an Everlast punching bag like mine is around $170.

Tejas

Excellent choices by Carly and Greg, but personally, during this time I’ve appreciated more than ever the little things on the periphery that have made this experience manageable.

Jabra Elite 75t Earphones

First of all, for my job, I do a lot of phone conferences and video calls using WebEx as an example. Being in a household with little kids and my wife who also works this is definitely not something I can use speakers and a mic for. Instead, I’ve relied heavily on the excellent $179.99 Jabra Elite 75t earphones. They’re comfortable enough to wear for hours, sound great and their mics are excellent at picking up my voice in meetings. Most importantly there’s plenty of juice on tap and dropping them in the case between meetings, a natural thing, means almost endless longevity. I would be a wreck without them.

Google Stadia

youtube

To keep your sanity, you need to entertain yourself and make sure you have some downtime. “All work and no play…” as the saying goes. I’ve grown especially in love with Google Stadia during this time for some very simple reasons. Most importantly that I can play it on basically any device in the house from any of the TVs (they each have Chromecast Ultras) to my desktop, my laptop, or even my phone. When you are all crammed into the house for weeks it is increasingly difficult to not end up conflicting on device usage. This gives me the freedom of being able to play whenever I want no matter where other people are. Secondly, the fact it’s instant and again available on any device means you can have quick gaming sessions during lunch or waiting for a meeting to start (theoretically of course). You can try Google Stadia for free; after that, it’s $9.99/month.

Google Pixel 4XL

Finally, I would say my most important device throughout this and even well before has been my phone, the excellent Google Pixel 4XL. In the recent group review on this site, there were different opinions and that’s totally fine, no device should ever be all things to everyone as that would be a boring place to live. But my Pixel 4 XL has been rock solid throughout, and I’ve been getting easily 24hrs+ of battery life (probably because I’m on wifi the whole time in the house). It’s handled work duties perfectly and I’ve used the WebEx client on it many times to attend a meeting while also multitasking on other work items directly on the device. I’ve never had a crash, reboot, or a single second of instability and that means a lot in this already unstable situation we are all dealing with. It just does its job day in and day out. I’m not saying a modern iPhone or Galaxy device can’t do the same, they totally can, but for me, the Pixel 4XL has really stepped it up and I couldn’t be happier that it’s my phone during this time. Also if you do decide to jump on the train the Pixel 4 phones can be had for all-time low prices right now — starting at just $499 for the Pixel 4 and $599 for the Pixel 4 XL!

Judie

I don’t think it even matters if you’re used to working from home or not; I’ve found that trying to get anything done right now — much less staying focused on a single task— has been a huge challenge. When I’m in my office, which for reference, is detached from the main part of our house and connected to the back porch, I usually work on a 27″ iMac. But through a series of unfortunate events that ended up being a gift in their own way, for the first month that we were in self-isolation, Kev and I had our two youngest granddaughters (6 & 7) staying with us. Very quickly, Kev and I had to figure out a new system so that I would be in the main part of the house with the grands while getting my work done; Kev would split the new homeschooling duties with me before leaving for work at his studio.

I thought that once the girls were able to go home with their parents, things would simplify and I’d be able to catch up on all I had fallen behind on, but I’ve found that it’s been a real struggle to stay focused and present. I suspect that a lot of people are dealing with that right now. So if that’s you as well, you’re not alone! <3

Lenovo Yoga C940 Laptop

Rather than moving my iMac to our dining room table, where I would wind up working most days, I used the Lenovo Yoga C940. This 14″ laptop had proven itself time and time again over the past four months to be excellent for travel, but I also found it did very well as my main computer. The model I have is equipped with an Intel i7 1.3GHz processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. I can also use the C940 as a tablet, and when needed, it was great for the grands’ regular Zoom calls with their teachers and classmates. I can’t say enough good about this laptop. Prices for the Yoga C940 start at $1439.99

Withings Thermo

In early March, our part of Texas was at the tail-end of a really bad flu season — one that had already shut a neighboring town’s schools down for a week in mid-February. We were also in the midst of early spring allergies, so every sniffle, sore throat, or body ache was suspect as we better understood the severity of the pandemic. A few days into our granddaughters’ stay with us, right about the time that I found out that I might have been exposed on the trip to NYC I had just returned from days earlier, the girls started running low-grade fevers. Using the $99.95 Withings Thermo, I was able to quickly check the girl’s foreheads at different points of the day to check their temperatures. It may seem like a little thing, but the Thermo and the Withings Health Mate app gave me peace of mind in the early days of our self-isolation.

Sparkel Carbonator

A few days into self-quarantine, I realized how grateful I was for the $99 Sparkel water carbonation system that I’d reviewed late last year. Kev and I had already replaced buying store-bought carbonated water with the Sparkel system, and a refill box of 90 carbonation sachets had arrived just before we started isolating, so we were set. It’s the little things, but having a ready source of cold carbonated water has helped keep me in good spirits. We ordered two extra Sparkel bottles so we could keep cold water bottles in the refrigerator ready for carbonation or flavoring at a moment’s notice; the system is working out well, and we are staying hydrated with our favorite fizzy waters. As we enter our 8th week of sheltering at home, I’ve just ordered another box of 90 carbonation sachets so we don’t take a chance of running out. Getting our carbonated water this was is much easier to deal with than trying to buy unwieldy carbonated waters by the case during our weekly curbside grocery pick-up.

Air Speaker by Quirky

The $249 Air Speaker by Quirky is a clever portable system that can be configured as a single more powerful 24-watt stereo speaker, or it can be pulled apart into five smaller speakers that stay perfectly in sync. I set an Air Speaker up in the girls’ bedroom so that they could listen to music at night as they fell asleep. The speakers have a wireless range of up to 75′, so you can string them out around your home and back patio to create a synchronized multi-speaker system, or you can set them up in a single room to create a surround sound effect; you can also keep them together as a single stereo unit, which is what I wound up doing for the girls. Music played on the speaker soothed them to sleep, which in turn meant that Kev and I could sleep without too many disturbances in the middle of the night.

QWIN Plus Kit

I don’t know about you, but my stress levels have been through the roof since we’ve been in lockdown. Drinking a bottle of wine each night to knock myself out and (hopefully) stop my mind from racing long enough to sleep simply isn’t a viable or desirable option. Enter the $89.99 QWIN Plus Kit which arrived a few weeks ago; it has been a lifesaver. The pod flavors are delicious, and there is something very calming about the act of taking a puff from this vaporizer. The Plus Kit includes the QWIN Module, four 100mg flavored CBDi Capsules (shortcake, island, brisk, and arabica), and one 200mg CBDRx Supergreen capsule as well as a microUSB wireless charger; you supply the microUSB charging cable. The capsules are designed so that you can puff from them multiple times a day without ill effect, and I’m not even going to pretend to understand why doing so relaxes me and calms my mind, but it does. Worth it. I’ll be ordering refills when these are out.

Sirius XM App on Android and iOs

Not leaving the house but once a week means not being in the car much, and that means I haven’t been listening to my favorite Sirius stations as often. With the app, I can keep up with the news on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, and others, listen to my favorite music stations, and yes, listen to Howard Stern as well as access his past interviews and musical guests’ performances — including video. I didn’t use this streaming app option that much before the pandemic (in fact, I had forgotten to download the app to my current Android phone), but now it’s a daily go-to.

AUKEY USB Outlet with Night Light Plug

I quickly realized that the girls would sleep better with a nightlight, and I just happened to have recently received the $19.99 AUKEY USB Outlet with Night Light Plug before we went into lockdown. The Aukey Night Light covers both sockets of a conventional double outlet, drawing power from one of them; in return, you get 300 Joules of surge-protection in four AC sockets and two Type-A USB outlets. The top of the night light also serves as a handy phone holder. This worked out very well in the girls’ bedroom because it also gave them a place to charge the devices they were using to complete their schoolwork each day.

Austere VII Series 8-Port Power Strip

Right now is not the time to stress about whether a storm might take out my television or computer, and that’s why I am thankful for the Austere VII Series 8-Port Power Strip; Dan reviewed the 6-port power strip recently, and you can read that review here. I didn’t realize until a meeting with Austere at CES this year that the word ‘Joules’ doesn’t just refer to how powerful or protective a surge protector might be, Joules also refers to a finite protective layer of energy that gets tapped every time there are shocks or surges in your electrical system. In other words, it had somehow never sunk in for me that the three APC backup batteries with 1000 Joule surge protectors that Kev and I had purchased to protect various sets of home electronics over 10 years ago (!!) were all well past their prime. Derp.

The Austere VII Series power strips have 4,000 Joules, and Austere offers a Component Guarantee which promises that “if a VII Series Austere Power Strip is responsible for any damage to a plugged-in device, Austere will replace that device regardless of its value for 7-years.” Blue LEDs on the power strip let you know exactly when the Joules have been depleted; the blue protection shield on the power strip will simply stop glowing. At $179.99 for the 6-port power strip and $199.99 for the 8-port power strip, both power strips also include a 45W USB-C PD port, two USB Type-C ports, and Two-USB-A ports. While the Austere VII Series is likely more expensive than any non-backup-battery-containing surge protector you’ve ever purchased, it makes a case for that purchase with its better than average look, solid build, the Component Guarantee, the 4,000 long-lasting Joules, and the power strip’s advanced EMI/RFI filtration which “cleans noise and artifacts that can travel through power lines and keeps them from impacting your devices.” It’s a worthy update for your home entertainment system at the very least, especially if you can’t remember when the last time you replaced that particular surge protector was.

LG V60 ThinQ with Dual Screen Case

While I liked the idea behind LG’s use of Dual Screen cases on their V50 ThinQ and the LG G8X ThinQ models, it wasn’t until the 5G LG V50ThinQ that I really fell in love with the phone that went into that Dual Screen case. On its own, the LG V60 ThinQ is a gorgeous navy and gold Android device that features a 6.8″ OLED FHD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Octa-core processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB user memory, a long-lasting 5,000mAh battery, triple rear cameras (including ultra-wide-angle), and many of the other bells and whistles you’d expect in a 2020 flagship with the exception of a faster refresh rate — the V60 ThinQ is 60Hz only rather than a smoother 90 or 120Hz. Will you even notice it? Maybe, maybe not. The one thing that sets it apart from the other 2020 flagships isn’t just the Dual Screen case, it’s the actual size of the phone — it’s huge. While a phone this big (and thick, with the Dual Screen case involved) might get on my nerves if I were traveling or out and about, I have largely been stuck at home, so the size of the phone has not been an issue. When I put the V60 ThinQ into the Dual Screen case, I get two brilliant 6.8″ OLED FHD displays that play well together while I obsessively consume pandemic news, try to relax while playing word games, or while I am being productive. You can get the LG V60ThinQ and the Dual Screen Case for about $900; the phone alone is about $100 less.

DdroppStudio Cloth Masks

Since I haven’t sewn in years and I don’t own a sewing machine (something I would like to rectify), it was important to me to find someone who was making and delivering cloth masks for when Kev and I had to go out in public to pick up groceries or hit the post office. While researching what makes cloth masks most effective, I came across a link mentioning ddroppStudio on Etsy. Each ddroppStudio cloth mask is made with three protective layers that offer around 90% filtration; they come in medium and large sizes, and they have an adjustable aluminum nose wire for a snug but comfortable fit. The masks are not hard to breathe through, and they stay on with loops that go around your ears rather than the back of your head and neck; their fabrics are fashionable for both men and women. DdroppStudio masks start at $38. Cleaning these reusable masks is a simple matter of handwashing and air-drying; since you should do that every time you wear it in public, it’s a good idea to get a couple of these when you order. I have a feeling that conscientious people will be wearing cloth masks at least until the end of this year if not longer, whether or not local orders tell us to do so. It makes sense to find some masks that look good, wear well and will do a good job of protecting us as we start to integrate back into social situations. I am sure that there are other excellent cloth masks available from Etsy makers, but I can personally vouch for the quality and decent shipping times at ddroppStudio.

Dan

My situation is a bit different. Synagogues and churches are built around communal connection, and the rapid move to take our entire congregation’s operations online was no small feat. My leadership and I kept the synagogue open as long as we could but, even before our Governor issued his “stay at home” decree, we knew we would eventually have to make this change. By the time I did ask for a vote to shut down the building, we had some of the infrastructure built. We moved all leadership communication to Slack and upgraded our Zoom account so it could handle the expected increase in traffic once we went online. That expectation has been proven correct and, in any given thirty day period since this began, our community has spent well over 250,000 minutes together via Zoom.

Getting myself, not to mention my key staff members, up to speed with regard to hardware was the next challenge. Thankfully, my years with Gear Diary left me in good stead. In fact, most of my staff members are currently using one or more Gear Diary review items that I pulled out of the closet. Over the weeks I have found certain devices to be particularly useful to me. Here are just a few examples.

BenQ 27” QHD Designer Monitor

I usually have a 27” iMac at my office and a 13” MacBook Pro connected to an external monitor in my home office. The day I left my office, I brought the iMac home. It is connected to the $499 BenQ PD2710QC 27” QHD Designer Monitor I reviewed in 2017. The combination of the two gives me a huge amount of screen-estate and had made trying to do ten things at once a bit easier. This also leaves my laptop free to use if it is a nice day and I want some fresh air. They sit atop my Varidesk ProDesk 60 Electric sit-stand desk. Considering how much time I am spending at my desk, having the ability to do some work standing had been a huge help.

Pursuit Ergonomic Chair by UPLIFT Desk

And considering that I am at my desk for hours on end, I’m grateful to have the $329 Pursuit Ergonomic Chair by UPLIFT Desk. It is comfortable, adjustable and supportive. And when I don’t want to sit but am too tired to stand, the $149 UPLIFT Motion Stool is a great in-between choice.

Logi StreamCam

Having a decent quality video is important when you are trying to teach or lead services via Zoom. The new $169.99 Logi StreamCam has been great. It offers high resolution and has countless settings that can be customized to your liking.

I’m also using the $499 Logitech ConferenceCam. It is not only a great camera and speaker for streaming but, thanks to its built-in Bluetooth, as the weather improves I’ll be able to take it outside and, once connected to my iPad or iPhone, hold meetings outdoors.

MXL APS Podcasting Bundle

I had the good fortune to be able to choose from a number of microphones I had reviewed over the years. Some went to my colleagues, but I kept the $295 MXL APS Podcasting Bundle, which has been my go-to most of the time. It includes MXL’S BCD-1 Live Broadcast Microphone, MXL’S USB Mic Mate Pro microphone adapter, and an MXL’S BCD Stand which is a convenient way to position my microphone in an optimal manner.

When using my laptop I’ve found the Blue Yeti X Professional USB Microphone to be the best choice. Both microphones work amazingly well and have allowed me to get good audio regardless of whether I am speaking, reading, or singing.

PromptSmart App for iPhone and iPad

I’ve started videotaping my weekly Shabbat Message. At first, I would use the StreamCam or ConferenceCam to record but, inevitably, it would capture me looking at the text of my message rather than the camera. My solution was to purchase the $19.99 PromptSmart app for iPhone and iPad. It is not only a voice-activated teleprompter that “understands” my text and advances the text as I speak. In addition, it places the text at the upper half of the iPad so I can read the text while looking at and recording from the device’s selfie camera. It works well and, each week, I’m getting better at using it. That said… I have a long way to go and have a renewed sense of respect for broadcasters.

Audioengine Wireless Speakers

I also rely on music to keep me calm. My Audioengine speakers do the trick. I have their $269 A2+ Wireless Speakers on my desk and their $499 A5+ speakers on stands on the other side of the room. Both are connected to Apple AirPort Expresses so I can have all four speakers playing music via AirPlay. In the den, where I also work sometimes, I have the Audioengine HD6. The powerful powered bookshelf speakers are able to fill the house with sound and come in handy when I’m on the treadmill.

Headphones

On the headphone front, I’m finding that different devices serve me best at different times. When I’m out for a socially distanced walk with my dog, the Jabra 75t True Wireless Earbuds seem to work best. They are also so small that they don’t get in the way of my face masks. When I’m home and just want to escape for a bit, the Master & Dynamic MW07 PLUS headphones do the trick. Thanks to their onboard active noise cancellation, these earphones let me get lost in the music. And when I’m on the computer but want headphones for music and calls, the Plantronics Voyager 8200 UC and Master & Dynamic MW65 Over-the-Ear headphones do the trick. Both have excellent ANC and both sound fantastic. For the most part, I use the 8200 UC for work and the MW65 for relaxation but both do a great job in almost and situation.

Google Nest WiFi

With both Raina and me working from home, it is more important than ever that we have solid WiFi and the ability to keep all our devices charged. The WiFi issue is nicely addressed by the Google Nest WiFi I reviewed last fall. It is an amazing mesh wireless system that has the benefit of bringing Google Assistant to whichever room becomes the home of the Nest WiFi Point. Yup, in addition to increasing the coverage of the Nest WiFi from Google, the second wireless point is also a speaker with Google Assistant. Another great option would be Eero. That’s the system I had until I received the nest WiFi and its also terrific. Judie bought her eero system and swears by it; Perry thinks it’s great, too; you can read his review here.

Charging Stations

Finally, Raina and I are both relying more heavily than ever on our phones, tablets, and headphones. Each device needs to be kept charged lest it become a paperweight and our productivity plummet. We can’t afford for that to happen. Thankfully there are a growing number of sophisticated device chargers that not only top off our phones wirelessly but also charge other devices simultaneously. Mophie offers a few interesting ones. There’s the Dual Wireless Charging Pad, and there is the mophie 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Base.

As good as those are, however, it is the updated Nomad Base Station that sits by my bed. It wirelessly charges my phone, my Apple Watch, and it has two additional charging ports- one USB-C and the other USB-A for additional charging options. It can also wirelessly charge AirPods with a wireless charging case but I don’t have one of those. I shared details of the charging base some weeks ago and will be finishing up a full review soon.

In the living room, we have the amazing Air Omni 6-in-1 Charging Solution from Pitaka. This charging base will wirelessly charge your phone and AirPods with a wireless charging case and an Apple Watch. In addition, the back section of the Air Omni has a charging area that can charge a device with either a USB-C or a Lightning connector. And as if that weren’t enough, the Air Omni also has a USB-C port and a USB-A port so you can charge two MORE devices. Finally, it has a small, lighted drawer so you can stow a few small items. There’s so much tech packed into this amazing charging base; you can back it on Kickstarter.

Each piece of kit makes working remotely a bit easier. And while I’m looking forward to eventually being back in the office and able to see people face-to-face, for now this is the best that it gets. And I am so grateful to Judie, Gear Diary, and all of the amazing companies we work with for making it possible for me to take a congregation of 800 families online and, in the process, offer even more programming than ever despite the challenges of our times.

Travis

Even though I have been teaching from home, my gear has stayed very simple. I have a Dell laptop that I run most of my assignments and work meetings over Google Meet.

My oldest son bought his own HP Chromebook almost two years ago but rarely used it. It has now become his lifeline to his school work. My youngest works at the desktop with two monitors. My wife uses a work-issued laptop also. There are often mornings where we are all sitting silently in the den on our devices trying to get everything finished. I am fully ready to go back to teaching everyone else’s kids and not just my two!

Xbox One

The other saving device in our house is the Xbox One. While it is usually the cause of arguments, it is also a portal for both of my sons to get to talk (yell) and communicate with some of their friends.

Wayne

Google Nest Hub Max

I have the $229 Google Nest Hub Max sitting on my desk next to my computer. During the day, I watch TV with my YouTube TV subscription ($49/yr) which I control with my voice (“Hey Google, play xxx on YouTube TV”). In the last few weeks, I’ve used it to keep up-to-date with the stock market. When I have a conference call, I mute the audio and continue watching the video. I also play music from my YouTube music stations. The sound isn’t super high quality, but it’s good enough to help me pass the time in the office. On occasion, I’ll also use Chromecast to send movies to the screen. The volume is easy to quickly mute since Google added the ability to use quick gestures with the Nest Hub Max.

Dropbox

Technically I don’t think this qualifies as gear. However, Dropbox is essential to my workflow throughout the day. I’ve created a folder solely to sync common files between my three home office computers. Typically I use this to synchronize images or screenshots of things that I’m working on – either for reports or social media posts. But I also use it to sync files between my various computers. This is a very handy tool and allows me to not worry about where I left a particular file since everything is accessible across all my computers. Dropbox business plans start at $15/month with discounted prices for yearly plans. Google Drive or Microsoft One Drive would likely work just as well if you have access to them.

Anker Wireless PowerWave Charger

I use this $18 Anker Wireless PowerWave Charger to keep my iPhone 11 Pro Max charged up. I find it tough sometimes to find the “sweet spot” with Qi chargers, but this upright charger makes it so that I get a positive charging connection nearly every time.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max Smart Battery Case

I live in a rural area, and I find it helpful to relax mid-day with a walk. On occasion, my walks extend to 5+ miles, which makes it handy to use the $129 Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max Smart Battery Case so I can continue taking calls while out exercising. What I like the most is how easy it is to insert (and remove ) the phone. Simply pull the top portion back and your phone can be easily removed.

The case supports wireless charging, but I generally charge via cable overnight and leave it on my shelf until I’m ready to walk. The grippy case helps prevent drops which is another thing I like. It’s not the cheapest battery case you’ll find, but it’s well built and does the job.

Perry

While I have some additional time at home, besides spending more time with my wife and two kids and teaching my 5-year-old daughter how to ride a 2 wheel bike (proud dad moment!), I’ve taken up a few hobbies.

Fender Malibu Player Guitar

I’ve always wanted to play the guitar, and our friends at Fender hooked me up with a Fender Malibu Player Guitar to try out, as well as their brand new Fullerton Strat Ukulele. The $429 Malibu Player is a gorgeous small-bodied guitar with a built-in electronic Fishman pre-amp and tuner. It’s a great guitar for beginners such as myself and I’ve been enjoying learning on it.

Fender Fullerton Strat Ukelele

The Fullerton Strat Ukulele is a $199 ukulele that’s designed to look like the classic Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. The Fullerton also has built-in electronics and tuner as well.

I’ve also spent a few weeks learning to play with the Fender Play app, and I’ve seen a lot of growth in such a short amount of time. I went from not knowing anything about playing to playing simple riffs, strumming chords, and switching between chords, albeit slowly. Fender has even put together a New Player Guide that helps budding guitarists navigate their new hobby with everything from gear buying guides to tips and tricks.

Challenger Bread Pan

If you’re like me and the thousands of other people turning to bread baking with your extra time, there’s no better way to bake your homemade loaves than the $299 Challenger Bread Pan. It was designed by home bakers, for home bakers to be the first highly designed home bread baking pan on the market.

The cast-iron enclosure traps steam, which helps the crust of your bread retain moisture and not cook too quickly, allowing your bread to expand more. The shallow base makes it easy to load your bread into the pan and the handles were ergonomically designed to help you remove the lid easily mid-bake.

HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR Headset

If you’re looking to escape your quarantine environment but don’t want to risk infection, check out the $899 HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR Headset. The Vive Cosmos Elite provides a fully immersive experience thanks to the high-quality headset and accurate tracking of your head and the controllers in your hands.

I’ve had a blast playing first-person shooter games like Half-Life: Alyx as well as action/sports games that get your body moving and your blood pumping. Even my 5-year-old daughter loves slashing at fruit in the classic Fruit Ninja VR.

Kingston Nucleum USB-C Hub

If we’re talking about actual work (boring), our friends at Kingston hooked me up with some great home office upgrades that have helped make my WFH experience better. The $49.99 Kingston Nucleum USB-C Hub allows me to connect an external monitor, keyboard, and wireless mouse to my laptop with the use of just one port, the USB-C. It’s a great way to reduce clutter and make transitioning between travel and desk work simple.

HyperX Alloy Origins Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

The HyperX Alloy Origins mechanical gaming keyboard is a joy to type on. It has RGB LED lights that are gorgeous to look at, while the typing experience feels accurate and high end.

HyperX Pulsefire Dart Wireless Gaming Mouse

The HyperX Pulsefire Dart wireless gaming mouse has three different DPI settings, comfortable leather-like grips, LED-lit accents, and is compatible with wireless Qi charging. Installation of both keyboard and mouse was seamless and I was up and running in minutes.

Joel

These are the things that I use every day when I work from home. Much of it changes depending on what’s going on, but this is what I have had since the start of the ‘work from home’ phase of the virus. I always work from home, so my life hasn’t changed much except for not being able to go to the gym and church like I usually do.

My Work-Supplied Gear Includes:

Dell Precision 7250 Laptop

The Dell Precision 7520 is big, thick, and heavy without being too heavy; it works well enough to get my job done.

Dell 3GMVT TB16 Thunderbolt 3 Dock with 240W Adapter

It’s not fancy but it gets the job done. If you have a Thunderbolt capable Dell, get the ~$200 Dell 3GMVT TB16 Thunderbolt 3 Dock with 240W Adapter; you won’t regret it.

HP 27″ FreeSync Monitor

Being in System Administration requires you to have many windows open at once, and the monitor on my work laptop just isn’t enough to handle my day-to-day so I picked up the HP 27″ FreeSync Monitor. It’s 1080p and has enough real estate to take care of things like Slack, Service Now, and other websites I need to have open to get the job done.

iPhone 11

The iPhone 11 is my work-provided cellphone. On it, I run Slack, Pager Duty, e-mail, and everything I need when I am out and about or at home for work.

My Personal Gear Includes

Microsoft Surface Pro 6

One thing I like to do when I am not in a call is have something playing in the background or some other computer besides my work laptop beside me so I can look up things and take care of non-work related things when I take breaks from my normal systems work. My Surface Pro 6 is my favorite device for this. It’s pretty much beside me always when I am working.

Not on the list, but something I always use with my Surface, is the keyboard … which should COME with the Surface Pro! Are you listening Microsoft?

Microsoft Surface Pen

If I need to sketch something or take notes in a call that I don’t care about where they are stored then the $100 Surface Pen comes out. I think it’s essential if you buy a Surface Pro, and the pen is a big pro for buying a Surface Pro in the first place.

Microsoft Surface Mouse

The $79.99 Microsoft Surface Arc mouse is nice, but I prefer just the plain old $36 Surface Mouse. It’s small enough that it travels nicely, and I always use it over the trackpad on the keyboard.

Avantree AH6B Bluetooth Headphones

A few weeks ago, my normal Logitech H600 headset died. I needed something in a pinch, so I ordered the $89.99 Avantree AH6B Bluetooth Headphones quickly as I spend a lot of time in Zoom calls. This headset works great for that, and it sounds good too!

Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920

I always hate using the built-in camera on any laptop. It just makes for horrible viewing angles and is just not as good as an external cam like the $79.99 Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920. I love that it has a cover that I usually keep down if I don’t feel like being on cam.

Kaweco Sport Classic Fountain Pen

I got the $34 Kaweco Sport Classic Fountain Pen in a Bespoke box, and I love writing with it! When I want something to write with to record things I don’t want on the web, this is what I use.

Moleskine Notebook

I’ve been a long time lover of Moleskine notebooks; I always have 2-3 of these hanging around my desk.

Galanz Mini Fridge

On a long call? Getting drowsy? This is why I have the $169 Galenz Mini Fridge. I keep mine fully stocked with cold beverages and the occasional snack.

IKEA Bekant Sit/Stand Desk

The $499 IKEA Bekant Sit/Stand Desk is my main desk, and while I rarely use the stand functionality, I do like to be able to work while standing from time to time.

IKEA Galant Black Storage Cabinet

Every office needs storage, and the $199 IKEA Galant Black Storage Cabinet is mine. I keep my camera gear and extra 3D printing supplies in here.

IKEA Linnmon/Alex Desk

I use the $119.99 IKEA Linnmon/Alex Desk as a side desk told hole extra computers and other junk (I really need to rearrange things in here!)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ with 5G

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is my personal phone, and I love using it; it’s pretty much always with me.

LG TONE Style Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Headset

The $99.99 LG TONE Style Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Headset is perfect for podcasts, YouTube, and movies. These are what I usually use these for especially if I don’t want the whole house to ALSO listen! Works ok for calls but don’t usually get too many of those.

Logitech M557 Bluetooth Mouse

I’m a trackpad hater so my work laptop always has to have a mouse. I say go Bluetooth so you can avoid having to keep track of dongles since all of my computers have Bluetooth …you can’t go wrong with this mouse. It’s travel-sized which is what I prefer anyway.

Michael

Both my wife and I work in essential businesses, so we have had to adapt to strategies that enable us to work from home when possible but also be on-site each day. In order to be ready for any potential self-quarantine, my approach has been to have everything with me at all times when I leave the facility.

Above is a pile of my ‘essential stuff’

Mask – we get a new one every morning. Masks had become part of standard PPE throughout the facility even prior to the state order.

Safety Glasses and Fog-Be-Gone – the first thing everyone does wearing a mask with glasses is to fog them up!

Earbuds with 3.5mm jack – these are the AKG earbuds that came with my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (the 10+ comes with USB-C earbuds). I am on conference calls frequently and have found that having something that plugs directly into my laptop works best – and these have great sound and microphone clarity.

HP Elitebook 840 – this is my work laptop, fully loaded up but still fairly portable. Drives my dual monitor setup at my desk, but the screen is good enough to use anywhere in the facility or at home.

iPad Pro 10.5

I have been using this iPad since release in 2017, to the point where I just had to replace the Smart Keyboard cover. It is my personal workhorse that I carry everywhere – email, social media, and web browsing, working on shared documents, keeping notes that bridge between work and home, and so much more. And when I get home it is great for music and games!

Samsung Galaxy Note 10+

For nearly nine months the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ has been my primary work phone. It does everything for me, but the S-Pen is the big differentiator, as I can be anywhere and quickly take notes, annotate pictures, and so on. The battery life is incredible, which is invaluable when you need to be in a part of the facility with poor signal without access to a charger for hours on end. This is an incredibly expensive flagship phone, but I have never had a regret.

Samsung Galaxy Buds

The $149 Samsung Galaxy Buds pair easily with either iOS or Android devices, but with a Samsung phone, you get more features – none of which I really care about. These are more comfortable than typical earbuds, and allow me to just keep them in my ears during the day so I can talk to people working from home about data, measurements or experiments while involved with other activities. My usage of these has jumped incredibly over the pandemic, as they allow me to be much more flexible and responsive.

Other critical items

Logitech M570 Trackball Mouse

Great for every surface at home or work, the $49.99 Logitech M570 Trackball Mouse is easy on the wrist once you get used to using the trackball. I am not a fan of laptop trackpads other than Apple, so when I can use this highly capable mouse I am much happier and more productive.

Osprey Axis Backpack

I bought the Osprey Axis Backpack for hiking in the Grand Canyon, and it quickly became my everyday bag. It’s light, tough, and spacious; everything fits and is easily accessible.

•••••

You’ve seen the gear that’s helping us stay productive and sane while we hunker down for the pandemic; what is working for you?

from Joseph Rushing https://geardiary.com/2020/05/03/sheltering-in-place-during-a-pandemic-how-weve-made-it-work/

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