#also if I were 13 we’d have a major problem because I’ve had this blog for like 6 years

[the-real-list-of-ominous-threats]

I’ll cause you to accidentally make a typo on a post where you mention bad writing causing people to accuse you of being 13

[lorei-writes]

People I’d Like to Know Better

Aww, I got tagged by @datenoriko . Let’s do this!

Birthday: March 13 ( it’s somewhat awkward sometimes, because I never know what to answer whenever somebody asks me for my age if it’s before my birthday - the most accurate answer would be my actual age, but the more useful one would be to round it up. Either way, I’m almost 20).

Zodiac: Pisces! (And I can’t swim and have been terrified of water since forever).

Last song I listened to: Take This Lonely Heart - Nothing But Thieves

Hobbies:

Okay, stay with me there. Disclaimer: I do not do all of that stuff all at once. I do not know why it is that, but my hobbies have always followed fixated pattern: find something you like and do nothing else in your free time. I do not want to brag here, I’m just really passionate about those things! + I’m babbling way too much.

Math - I absolutely adore math, especially logarithms and trigonometry. There’s nothing more satisfying that finding a solution to a problem, even if it’s “using a cannon to kill a mosquito”, as my tutor says. That being said, I usually studied on my own (the majority of my classmates at high school just oftentimes needed more time than I did. I did have a private tutor - it is a really common thing in my country - but I usually had the general idea of the concept before the class and we’d just solve the tasks I didn’t know how to tackle). Because math is just like that! It makes sense! I feel safe doing math - if I can see enough examples, then I’ll probably be able to come up with a pattern and the solution. However, there’s a single problem with math ^^”” I had a very bad posture and could sit studying well... 6 hours at school + 3-5 at home (+private tutorial depending on the day)?^^””” It wasn’t all math, but it certainly did increase the amount of time I’ve spent like that... A couple of years of that and you know how I injured my spine ^^”” It was really bad, hehe, I could hardly write ^^” The first physician I’ve seen also didn’t diagnose it right, so I had to take a year off to somehow figure it out ^^””

Writing - I LOVE WRITING. I think I’ve started doing it when I was 11? Although it’s probably hardly noticeable, since I had never written stories in English before, haha. I usually write fantasy, because the word building aspect of it is just so enjoyable. Other than that... I am this unfortunate kind of writer that can’t lie ^^” I always have to research everything, otherwise it doesn’t feel right at all! I most probably always am overly optimistic in regards to economic stuff, but yeah, overall I tried to read up. Recently I’ve been EXTRA excited by how different English is when compared to Polish! I hope one day I’ll be able to convey the same raw emotion in both of them. And that I develop muscle memory, so that I don’t make so many typos!

O, and there’s some actual I-have-looked-it-up-stuff in my stories (spoilers): Had it happened in the future, part 2 - I know a person who has lost an eye in a very similar way, Dragon’s Treasure - technically, those are the symptoms of a poisonous hemlock... Poisoning. Gash, it sounds so stupid. Either way, it doesn’t grow in Japan (but it does in China, India, almost the entire Europe), so I put up the “it was exported” hypothesis. Either way, the funny thing in the story is that we still don’t have an antidote for it, so Torakikumaru was literally saved by the fact that he wasn’t hungry after stuffing himself with candy - yes, the konpeito he shared with Nobunaga. The boy just didn’t ingest enough of the plant for it to be lethal. Together? That’s how untreated hypothyroidism looks. I hope to write more stuff including some small details like that ^^” O, yeah, I was also really happy with how the Judgement day turned out! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve referenced the Exodus there ^^” Well, more precisely, Exodus 34:14, per verse. Though I’d say that that what happened before is also kinda important - the golden calf and so on.

Yes, I’ve been on one shots rampage since I’ve started this blog. 

SEWING - I’m self taught seamstress! I make mostly backpack and cute bags, but I can sew some simple clothes just as well ^^ Recently I’ve been doing some easy fixes and mending, but I hope to make a flat lined skirt in near future. Now that I finally have my hand back, I want to WORK. I also do embroidery. 

Crocheting & Loom Knitting - I’m not the best at either of this, but it’s soo calming. I oftentimes crochet when watching something - I actually can do this and still read the subtitles, so I can watch anime!

Languages - it’s low-key embarrassing, but I can only speak Polish and English ^^” I know some very basic French and Japanese as well, but yeah, I hope to learn more about those. Preferably, I’d like to understand written and spoken Japanese without much trouble. Though I like to just listen how others speak about languages just in general - what are the grammar rules, etc. It’s so fascinating!

Biology - I kinda cheated on biology (well, and chemistry) with math, but I still do love it. I especially like reading about the engineering of human body - how it evolved, what are the flaws in the “design”, how it all works. And for some reason, I like the long words. Just the long words. And since I like to know what they mean, people at school assumed that I was smarter than I was - like, nope, dear, I just read about random stuff and get VERY excited when there’s just a single tiny tineey chance I can infodump somebody.

Drawing - I used to draw portraits before my spine injury ^^” I was kinda decent at it, but yeah, well... Spine. Couldn’t hold the pencil. I’ve lost most of my skill now, but I’m slowly coming back  to it. I love coloring things with alcohol markers. They blend just so beautiful. I also paint with acrylic paints aaand want to learn more about watercolors! 

History - Eh, kinda random, but I watch a lot of stuff about how the daily lives of people in the past were - how did they do the laundry, how was the soap made, how did women deal with their periods, how did the underwear look, etc. I’ve read an amazing book on women in Medieval times! 

CATS - everything cats. Literally. From cat related goods, to actual products for cats - litterboxes, cat litter, anything. I like researching cat behaviorism. That’s probably good tho, because I have three lovely little cat ladies ^^

Otome games - I write only for ikesen, but I’m playing ikevam too. I played ikerev, but gash, the game crushes all the time! :C Other than that, I’ve finished Masamune’s route in SLBP and it was enjoyable - it is only that the colour scheme of the interface makes my eyes burn. I do not mean to say that it is ugly or bad, it just hurts me - not in metaphorical sense, it really, literally tires me out and makes the experience unpleasant. I know it’s weird.

Last movie I watched: Oh. Em. The thing is, I do not know ^^” I plan to watch some Ghibli movies on Netflix, but haven’t got around to it just yet ^^” I don’t remember when was the last time I’ve watched a film other than that - I just can’t focus for long enough. Or I get too excited. Long story short - you don’t want to watch a movie with me. You really don’t.

Dream job: Teacher! I would want to teach math. I’ve seen far too many bright minds go dull because the parents couldn’t afford the private tutor and that is just sooo wrong. However, it means getting stuck in a dead end job and becoming the private tutor after the school - teachers are gravely underpaid in my country and frankly, I don’t know if I will be able to afford to become one. 

Meaning behind URL: None. I just like Masamune & keep here all my stuff and the stuff I like. It makes me happy ^^

Tags: @missjudge-me, @fairstival, @nad-zeta , @metroidgirl0234 ! Hope you guys don’t mind ^^” If you don’t like the tag game, feel free to ignore it.

[masked-disciple]

I decided to do hellamella77's Plurality Questionnaire; woooo.

Been meaning to for a while, and in the tags because why not. (This isn't under my main plural / alterhuman blog, shadowfae, because I'm on hiatus.) Under the cut, also mirrored to our website, which mirrors this to DreamWidth as well.

1. What kind of system are you? (Describe this in any way you like. No need to use -genic or popular terms if you don't want to)

Soulbonding! It’s simple, I maladaptive daydream like there’s no tomorrow, and when those characters stop just answering questions and notice that I exist and also that I have a body they can use, then they’re soulbonds. It’s the usual test of self-awareness.

2. How many of you are there?

Currently, five.

3. How long have you known about your plurality?

I’ve been the host of a plural system on and off for pretty well as long as I can remember. How long have I been referring to it that way? Since I was about fifteen.

4. What kind of spaces/communities do you/did you hang out in? (Both plural-relevant and non-plural-relevant spaces are valid answers, past and present)

Largely, various fandom communities and the alterhuman spaces. I try not to enter plural spaces due to sysmeds (not because I’m scared, but because I have better shit to do than listen to them), but I still exist.

5. Had you heard of DID/OSDD/DDNOS before you became plural/discovered your plurality?

Yes, and never really thought it to be our problem. It’s still not, owing to the lack of dissociation.

6. Do you have a wonderland/innerworld? If so, what do you call it, and what are some things that you and your system members do there?

The headspace, and it’s a lot larger than I normally access since I’m very frontstuck. We have a treehouse, and outside of it is a forest, and beyond that is the Temple and the cliffs and the sea and the mountains.

7. What do you call your system members?

Their names, or occasionally ‘hey asshole’. But as a group, systemmates typically, or soulbonds if I’m getting nitpicky about it.

8. If you're plural but don't use the word "system" to describe you&, what word do you use?

We say system, and our title is the Skyrose Garden.

9. What are some of the best things about being plural?

Built-in support group!

10. What are some of the not-so-great things about being plural? (Any answer is valid- nothing is too minor or too major to be an answer to this question.)

Plurality is so stigmatized we’d rather never talk about it with anyone who isn’t already in the community. Sorry, we refuse to be your introduction to plurality.

11. Do you have a spiritual or psychological view of your plurality?

Spiritual, although honestly we don’t really care how it happens, it just Does.

12. Do you ever experience "switching" or "possession" or any sort of change in who controls the body? If so, what do you call it, how easy/difficult is it, and what is it like? Were you always able to do this, or did you have to learn how over time?

Switching, and I / Luteia am very frontstuck so properly giving up the front is near impossible. Being co-con is fine, though, and rather easy.

13. How do you and your system mates relate to each other? (Are you friends, family, romantically involved, caretakers, etc.)

Largely family, and largely by blood – while Dohko and I aren’t related to the other three, Goni is Al’s and South’s blood father. We operate as a family, alongside our partner system.

14. Have you come out to anybody in real life/in a singlet space about your plurality? How did it go?

Offline, fuck no. In singlet spaces, sometimes, but we need to be in a position of power to do so. I’d rather not get driven out of spaces I enjoyed existing in.

15. What kinds of forms and appearances do your system members take on?

I’m a cross between a chipmunk and a fox. Goni, Al, and South are mermen of a sort. Dohko is a dragon.

16. What are you and your system members interested in?

Eating fish, playing Minecraft, tarot readings, and a bunch of other stuff.

17. What is your life like in the meatworld?

University student and novelist, primarily.

18. What are your music tastes? Movies? Favorite colors? Animals? List any other favorites as well!

We will eat so much salmon. So very much salmon.

19. Does your system have a host/original? If so, what do you call them? Explain what role they play in your system.

Me, I’m the host, and you should call me Luteia. My job is to be the system admin, for both the pun and literally. I have the most powers in-headspace, I control largely what goes on. I also control how the headspace works and what powers everyone else can have in it. Occasionally the others can use my powers, but they’ve learned that since they’re so volatile, it’s typically a bad idea.

20. Do any system members have notable relationships outside of the system? Explain them!

We have a partner system, literally all of five of us are in relationships with others in that system. I also have my own life, although the others don’t have too many friends outside our two systems. It’s slow going but we’ll get there.

21. If you haven't been plural for your entire life/haven't known about your plurality until later in life: what was life like before plurality compared to life now?

Quiet. It’s a lot louder with five of us in here, and I very much appreciate it.

22. If you chose to become plural: why? What has changed since then?

I didn’t really choose to be plural, but I could have stopped it if I wanted to, I fully embraced it instead. It’s done wonders for mood control and being able to handle things well, because there’s five of us and if any of us get overwhelmed, someone else can cover for them.

23. Is there anything you'd like to say to the plural community at large?

Some parts of the community will always need to be medicalized. Some other parts will always need to be as far away from the medical fields as possible. Both of these are fine and okay and we can deal with that, so long as we make it clear the difference between “this is a medical-focused space” and “if you’re not medical-focused you are in fact horrible, actually”. There’s nothing wrong with needing spaces for specific parts of the plural experience. Just don’t shit on everyone else while you’re doing it.

24. Is there anything you'd like to say to any singlets reading this post?

Stop treating the DSM-V like it’s a fucking D&D monster manual. We’re not scary because we exist, any of us.

[thoughtsthatstray]

The Night Before Thanksgiving Part 7

2019

I woke up this morning with a lyric in my head. I couldn’t place it to start with. One of those things that pisses you off because it is on the tip of your tongue but it won’t come to you.  I fixed some coffee, turned the computer on and called on my old friend, Goo-gle, she’s still French and typed it in trying to knock that nugget loose from the back of my mind. 

Not placing a lyric from one of my favorite songs. I need to be slapped. 

The last few years, I’ve read through the previous entries, this year I simply copied and pasted, then put the images back in, so that everything is complete. I don’t want to read it. If there isn’t a storm hovering, that could easily cause one. It might storm anyway. I’m not even sure why I’m even typing this. Maybe a ritual. Forcing myself to spit something out. Nothing of any worth that is for sure. 

Yeah those days are gone forever. That is for sure. At least, well hopefully, I’ll get to search for a Ron Green article (it appears this will be his final one, which simply sucks). Just another thing that will be gone forever.

Previous installments below

2013

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/27/13

The night before Thanksgiving used to be one of my favorite nights of the year. Back in my hometown, it was a night when friends would gather at one of the few watering holes where said friends could share some adult beverages.

We’d usually start off at one place with dinner and beers. Note there was an s on the end of the word beer, but then we’d cross the street to a new place that had karaoke, more BEER, and more old friends. Well, truth be told a few old enemies would pop in here and there.

We’d share some memories, stretch some truths, tell some lies, and it was fun seeing old friends. Of course it was fun seeing old flames too. We’d have a ball, signing each other up for the previously mentioned karaoke and trying to find the most fucked up song or funniest song for them to sing. Oh how I wish it were modern day where every cell phone had a video, because watching an ole ball coach singing “Funky Cold Medina” or “Brickhouse” as his long hair swayed and his hairy little nubby feet attempted a bit of a drunken dance. Oh I’d pay good money to have footage of that, but of course if that were modern day, seeing a coach/teacher slightly intoxicated on youtube or some other form of social media would be grounds for his dismissal which is bullshit, since he was simply an adult having some fun with other adults. Like I said I would pay good money (if I had good money) to see that footage once again.

You’d see faces pop in of people you hadn’t seen since high school, or hadn’t seen in quite some time You’d see a bombshell walk through the door and you are like well I could always see some cuteness in that awkward teen from years ago. Of course at the end of the night you’d have the same two or three guys trying to sneak out on a bar bill. At times you’d have a group of them trying to bribe someone into trying to get on top of the bull in the corral. Yes, an actual bull in an actual corral out in front of the steakhouse. He wasn’t there long, but he was there.

An ex would walk up and whisper in your ear, “I’ve got something to show you”, and you simply respond what’s that? While she says come out here and you walk to the back side of the building and she takes your hand and slides it down her pants and you feel her freshly shaved pussy, which was definitely new. You make plans for Black Friday to spend the day fucking like you used to.

As I said, you hear some old stories, that 55 yard touchdown was up to about 63. You argue about beating a rival 43-34 when some former teammate is swearing on his Momma that it was 43-30. You simply say, look, I know what it was. That is my pin # and has been ever since. You flag down another teammate and he confirms that it was 43-34, and then he gives the other guy a hard time for forgetting it.

At this point you are 15-20 beers into the night and you know you could very well drink another dozen or so if the bar wasn’t closing. You crawl into a minivan which was basically a shuttle service. You drop the old ball coach off at his miniature mansion and tell him to cut his hair. He flips the group off with that stumpy middle finger and then he waves.

You come home, crawl into bed and think about the night. You think about the memories, you think about that freshly shaved pussy.

Oh I sure miss those days.

2014

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/26/2014

It’s still one of the things I miss about my hometown. I don’t miss much, but I miss my friends, the old haunts, the stories that stretch the truth from time to time.  Someone bringing up a time at party and someone trying to deny it ever happened.   As I said in the original post it was a time for friends to see friends. That is/was one of the beauties about a small town. A part of it you didn’t really respect or understand completely when you were there.

I no longer have ties to my home town other than a few friends, with my parents being gone, and having moved away quite some time ago. A small part of me regrets leaving, but the majority of me is glad that I did.

Memories don’t die, but they sure can fade away.

2015

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/25/2015

I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, I’d call it just not in the mood to reminisce. With that said, I’ll give it a shot, since this become some annual ritual. I do know I’ll be tracking down the Ron Green(former Charlotte Observer columnist) annual Thanksgiving article tomorrow.

Earlier tonight on the back deck while grilling some burgers I thought of some old friends, some old times. That  made me remember that I have really neglected my YD&B side blog, but that happens.

Thoughts drift back 18-20-22 years. Thoughts drift to better times, happier times. Maybe it was being more carefree, not fully understanding responsibilities. Then it reminded me of a quote from a book I read this year year. “This is Where I Leave You” by Jonathan Tropper, it was made into a movie which was decent, but the book was better as books often are.  I know I shared the quote, but here it is again.

“It’s just hard to see people from your past when your present is so cataclysmically fucked.”

The last time I saw most of my old friends was the summer of 2014 at the funeral of one their father’s. While I sit here typing this, half thankful that I’m not there at the moment, I know it would be like that July night. Wouldn’t miss a beat and it would be like old times. Telling stories, sharing memories, laughing till you are about to choke on a beer. So I’m torn. Part of me wishes I was there instead of typing this, but another part is glad that I’m not.  The dreadfully sad part of it is that is one a handful of times that I’ve actually enjoyed myself.  Past > Present, with the future yet to be in the equation. Really sucks.

It really sucks knowing that the next time I’ll likely see most of them will be at another funeral. But that is how the cookie crumbles at times.  

2016

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/23/2016

This is the 4th time I’ve sat here on Thanksgiving Eve slapping these keys trying to make sense. 2013, 2014, and 2015 can be found below.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to go back to my home town and hang out with some old friends, but I had to pass. I didn’t trust my car to drive the 30-35 minutes to Statesville to ride the rest of the way with another friend. I don’t trust it to go much further than the short trips that I generally take. It has two issues on it’s to-fix-list. One was quoted out at about 1k(and hopefully will be addressed shortly) the other yet to be determined. I’ve already thrown about 400 at that particular problem and that didn’t fix it. It’s frustrating. But, to be brutally honest, I could have had a 2017 whatever with 17 miles sitting in the drive way and I can’t promise that I would have gone. Well, maybe I wouldn’t be in the same mindset if the 2017 whatever was sitting outside.

This is where I could easily insert that Jonathan Tropper quote. Maybe it should just be my mantra, but it fits. If I didn’t mention it last year, I would quote it again, but if you read this whole jumbled cluster of letters you’ll see it, or you can click here.

It would have been nice to see them. In this little snippet from last year, I also wrote about the last time I saw them. I could quote that again since that hasn’t changed either. But it would have been nice to sit around with a cold beer or four and catch up, and spend some time with them.

Maybe I’ll wake up one day soon and shake myself out of this funk. I’m picturing a 75lb puppy coming out of a river and drying himself off. Maybe that would work.

I guess when I finish this I’ll sit down and read back through the previous 3 entries and I wish I could say I feel like I’m in a better place, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc, but that would be spitting lies.  

I think at one point I made a post about being thankful for having an imagination but in the end, it might be negative thing. Hard to tell.

The night before Thanksgiving used to be a part of the Holiday festivities. Now it’s just a Wednesday.

2017

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/22/2017

I’m sitting here typing this, mostly forcing myself to get something down, and It will be shorter than the others. I just have a haunted feeling engulfing my mind after reading through the previous 4 installments. Sitting back with last year’s installment knowing had I made that journey I would have had at least one more night with a good friend who took his life over the summer. That is hard to reconcile. I’m not thinking that the one night would have changed anything. There were a number of other friends at the get together, but selfishly it would have been a night where stories would have been shared. Memories rekindled and shared. …..A moment that is gone, that never was…. kinda reminds me of the Springsteen line:

Again,hard to reconcile and process.

Oh and those Jonathan Tropper quotes still ring true:

2018

thoughtsthatstray: Written  11/21/18

Sitting here beating on this keyboard. Trying to add something to this collection of whatever you call it. It’s hard for my mind not to drift to friends and family that have been lost and that are no longer with us.

I still have some regret about not taking that trip in 2016. Maybe it would have made a difference in the events that happened the following June 1st, but I doubt it. I’m sure we would have told some stories, some lies and stretched the truth like it was an old Stretch Armstrong toy. That is par for the course. The 138 yards rushing against a rival football team stretches to 171. The 51-8 ass beating of the 5th ranked team in the state will stay 51-8 since that is stamped deep in the brain.

I’ll wake up, fix some coffee and locate the annual article of retired Columnist of the Charlotte Observer Ron Green Sr. It’s a bit of a tradition. I’ll try to remember to come back and link it here. Not that anyone will read it.

I still pay to see some of that Karaoke action mentioned in a previous installment. It was better suited for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, than “Star Search” at least all of that is stamped on the brain too.

The Springsteen line still hits home:

I guess it always will.  

I’ll definitely have to fall asleep to a mindless sitcom tonight. Might have to have some Kenny Powers action.

[boozedancing]

G-LO: 2019 marks year 12 for Philly Beer Week (which lasts 10 days, as opposed to the standard 7 day week. New math perhaps?). Our first Philly Beer Week outing, which was way back in 2010, sure doesn’t feel all that long ago. Seriously, where does the time go?

LimpD: I’ve stopped trying to track the time. But, I agree. It sure seems to fly by. I’m just happy that our schedules allowed for us to attend this year’s Opening Tap. Before going in to the event, I was wondering what pageantry and majesty would accompany the Hammer Of Glory (HOG). More importantly, I was really curious to find out what special brew they’d be pouring for THE Opening Tap.

G-LO: I hear THAT! We’ve been to three of these events over the years, and they definitely put on quite the show when The HOG shows up. Given that the venue (2300 Arena) was a stone’s throw away from 2 Street, using the Mummers made perfect sense. That was quite the entrance! I’m not a huge fan of the Mummers and String Bands, but I gotta admit, this was a pitch perfect pairing. And did I not call it when the MC announced that their next number would be one that everyone knows?

LimpD: Yeah, yeah; you’re the great prognosticator. Quite the shocker that they played “Fly Eagles, Fly“. While I am in agreement with my feelings towards the Mummers, the production quality was all there. And, who doesn’t love watching that keg tapped! Do we know anything about what was in that special keg?

G-LO: Just call me Nostradrunkus! And here’s my next prediction: we’ll be drinking at The Murder Table again very soon.

I wasn’t shocked by “Fly, Eagles, Fly”. That song pairs well with a really big room full of Philly Beer Weekers. Lots of locals, drinking lots of local Craft Beer in the heart of Mummer’s Country. It was a no-brainer and a much better choice than “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers“.

With regards to what they were tapping onstage, here’s what the organizers have to say about Duveldelphia:

In the spirit of Philadelphia and the collaborating nature our breweries take part in, Opening Tap will be the first opportunity to taste the 9th Annual European Collaboration Beer, Duveldelphia.  This 6.8% hoppy blonde was brewed in Belgium by raffle winners from La Cabra Brewing based out of Berwyn, PA alongside the 148 year-old family-owned brewery, Duvel Moortgat. This collaboration blends Duvel’s mastery of fermentation and La Cabra’s American-style hopping! Idaho 7 and Citra hops provide a fruity bouquet balanced with a dry body.

I really enjoyed the pomp and circumstance leading up to the tapping of this special keg, but we didn’t get a first sip of this beer until after 7:30PM. By that point, we had already tried at least a dozen beers, so to be honest, I can’t say all that much about the actual taste and whether I really enjoyed it. I remember it smelling a lot like a Belgian Wit and/or Farmhouse Ale, two styles that I usually enjoy, but I don’t recall what effect the hops had on this collaboration brew. That’s the only real problem with events like this (mind you, it’s a good problem to have!); unless you let me try the super special stuff when my palate is relatively fresh, I’m not gonna have much to say about it. I mean, it’s not like there was a shortage of unique and delicious beer on hand for the masses!

LimpD: I knew it was a Belgian and, unfortunately, I knew it wasn’t a wheelhouse beer for me. Also, it seemed to me like more than half of the craft brewers had their own version of a Farmhouse Ale. So, I can certainly see why this one might have gotten lost in the shuffle. Maybe next year, they should make more of a standout in terms of style, or encourage the brewers to produce something different (a style competition perhaps?).

The venue was interesting and a bit off of the beaten path. I liked the mix of inside & outside space (although, they could have used a cigar bar!). And, the little canteen with roast pork & roast beef sliders (yes, even with the provolone) was a nice touch. What did you think of the venue?

G-LO: I have no issue with all of those funky Belgian beer styles. They’re fun and so unusual when they’re made well. It just gets tough to tell one from the other when you have so many of them in a row. But I guess you could say that about any of the tastings that we’ve attended over the years.

Agreed on the venue. And yum to the Roast Pork and Provolone! I had no idea that 2300 Arena existed before our invite to this event. I’m guessing it was an old warehouse. I really liked the layout and the size of the place. Worked well in terms of spacing, as it never felt crowded. My only real complaint was with the lighting and the sound, i.e. I couldn’t get a decent shot when we were at the individual brewer’s tables, and it was really tough to hear what the brewery reps were saying once the music really kicked into gear.

I really like how they set up the bar area to the right of the main entrance, and the outside space in the back was a nice touch too. Even though that outside space was under I-95, it was surprisingly quiet. I thought for sure that all we’d hear out there was the roar of the cars as they zoomed past overhead, but that most definitely was not the case.

Going back to the beers, there sure were some funky beers on tap! Passionfruit popped up in many a brew. Some worked really well, and some didn’t, but overall, there was mucho variety on offer. Did any beer in particular tickle your fancy?

LimpD: Ahhhhhh, the beer! I sought out some Stout and found a good one from Workhorse Brewing (and they hauled it to the event in the best vehicle ever!) and the Parabola from Firestone Walker (13% ABV; YOWZA, what a kick!). Along the way, I grabbed the Original from Jack’s Hard Cider (fantastic!), a Salt & Sea from Flying Fish (strawberry, lime and sea salt that somehow worked really well) and an Imperial Session IPA that was a collaboration brew from Urban Village and U Sciences. This one left me with two thoughts…

(1) How is this beer both an Imperial and a Session? Me thinks there was some wordplay going on here!

(2) Where was an official degree in beer brewing when we were going to school? I know a lot of people have “majored” in beer while at school, but to get an actual degree in it? That’s something entirely different!

You seemed to check out a wide variety of styles. Were there any beers that really surprised you?

G-LO: Totally with you on the Workhorse Brewing truck! That was super cool (both figuratively, and literally, because the big refrigeration unit on the top meant that the cargo area was keeping those kegs quite chilly)! And their beer was pretty tasty too.

I believe we tried a lot of the same beers in most cases. That Flying Fish one with the strawberries, lime, and sea salt was surprisingly good (we really need to pay the brewery, which is essentially on our backyard, a visit!), as was the dubiously named Imperial Session IPA from Urban Village and U Sciences. And as far as pursuing a brewing science education goes, when we were going to University (as the rest of the world would say), there wasn’t much in the way of variety with regards to drink, so I guess we missed our opportunity to be one of the innovators of the Craft Brew Universe. We could have beat Crazy Calagione to the punch! I guess hindsight really is 20/20 (he says while reaching for his readers to finish up this email!).

It was good to see some Cider on offer. I tried the Dry Hopped Jack’s Hard Cider. That was really really nice, and made for a nice change of pace after all that beer.

I can’t say that any beer really jumped out at me. As you said to the woman serving up those yummy roast beef and roast pork sliders, “picking a favorite beer is a lot like picking a favorite child”. They all have their pluses and minuses, but we love them all nonetheless. The fact that I can’t pick an absolute winner of the night says a lot about the amount of quality Craft Beer that’s out there. How’s that for a diplomatic and noncommittal answer?

If I had to complain about anything, it would be this…

Who came up with the idea to have open mic karaoke after the Opening Tap? All I know is that we went outside after the keg tapping to explore a bit more, watched some hatchet throwing, and chatted with a couple attendees about the grossness that is the word “moist”. After 10 or 15 minutes of outside fun, we went back in to experience someone’s god-awful, ear drum puncturing rendition of an Adele song. To say that it was painful would be an understatement, and to add insult to injury, something had to have gone wrong with the stage lights because as we were walking towards it, they got really bright and nearly blinded me thanks to them being pointed right at my face. Not fun, Limpd! Not fun at all! I’m just glad that this happened towards the end of our visit.

All in all, I’d say it was a funtastic and brewtastic night. The weather was perfect. The beer was diverse and satisfying. And all in attendance were well behaved and in VERY good spirits.

Any final thoughts before we wrap up this blog post and put a bow on it?

LimpD: I’m in total agreement about the Karaoke portion of the evening. Did you know that Karaoke means empty orchestra? After some of that singing, I could certainly see why the band would want to empty out. Some voices are only suited for the shower!

Musical stylings aside, the venue, food and weather were all that (and a bag of chips!), while the Craft Beer offerings were inspired and abundant. I’m not sure what more we could have asked for in an event. I’m already looking forward to next year!

G-LO: Re: the meaning of Karaoke, in the words of of the late, great Johnny Carson, ” I did not know that!”. Hopefully the powers that be at Philly Loves Beer will nix the Karaoke from next year’s event. My ears would thank them endlessly!

The countdown to Opening Tap 2020 starts NOW…

__________________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to the fine folks at Philly Loves Beer for their hospitality at this brewtastic event!

Our review of #PhillyBeerWeek 2019's Opening Tap at @2300Arena. Cheers to @phillylovesbeer for the hospitality! G-LO: 2019 marks year 12 for Philly Beer Week (which lasts 10 days, as opposed to the standard 7 day week.

[hrjerry-me-blog]

How to Successfully Meet the Three Biggest Marketing Challenges

I like to think I’m a pretty good marketer of my professional services.

After all, I’ve been at it for 34 years, read hundreds of marketing books, thousands of articles and studied with the very best marketing gurus.  

But marketing is still challenging for me and the majority of independent professionals. If it weren’t, we’d all have more clients than we could serve, they’d be paying us high fees, and we’d never having to worry where our next clients would come from.

And we wouldn’t need the thousands of marketing coaches and consultants like me offering services of all kinds to help you attract more clients.

So, why is marketing so challenging?

There are many marketing challenges, however, if you look at marketing closely, there are actually only three big challenges that give us the most trouble.

Learn how to meet those challenges and your marketing will become more successful, easier, and fun.

Here are those three marketing challenges:

Challenge #1. Clearly communicating the value of what you are offering. Someone will not buy your services if they don’t see the real value to them. Your message can’t be vague or confusing; it must be clear and beneficial.

One way to zero in on the value of your service is to define the top three attributes your service possesses. One or two is not enough; five or six tends to dilute your message.

So, for instance, a sales training company might want to emphasize that their training is guaranteed to increase sales, improve sales confidence quickly, and can be delivered virtually in 45-minute online modules.

That’s easy to understand and obviously beneficial. That kind of clear and valuable message is likely to generate attention, interest, and response.

Seems simple, but not so easy to do. In my experience with thousands of independent professionals, their messages tend to be vague, not specific, and weak in terms of value.

And if that value is not clear, prospects won’t respond.

Taking the time to work on your message, fine-tune it, and test it until it gets a favorable response is one of the most important things you can possibly do in your business.

To succeed at this task you must get inside the heads of your ideal clients and ask what they want the most, what problems they struggle with frequently, what isn’t working for them, and what could make their jobs easier and more productive.

Jaynie L. Smith of Smart Advantage consulting says that 90% of companies don’t really know what their clients value the most. No wonder marketing messages are so bad.

You can improve your marketing messages by reading and research (ask Google), sending questionnaires to your clients (Survey Monkey), or conducting a virtual focus group (via Zoom Video). Ultimately, you want to find out their biggest challenges and what they value the most.  

When you have that marketing intelligence, it will be a lot easier to come up with powerful marketing messages.

This is challenging because it takes time and deep thinking. But if you realize its importance, you’ll invest your energies to come up with a powerful message that makes your service attractive, interesting, and compelling to your ideal clients.

Challenge # 2. Making your business visible with repeated impressions of your message over time. It can take several impressions before someone responds to your marketing message.

Just today, I noticed a message that one of my first level connections had sent to me on LinkedIn. When I checked the message, I noticed that he had sent me a total of 13 messages over a one-year period.

The messages were actually very good. They had the right tone and great calls-to-action. It’s just that I don’t pay a lot of attention to my LinkedIn messages and had completely missed the first 12!

He understood the value of repeat impressions over time and had developed a system within LinkedIn that had enabled him to send a unique, personalized message every month for a year. Pretty impressive.

If he had only sent one or two messages, the chances are good that I wouldn’t have seen them.

Again, my experience with the majority of self-employed professionals is that their marketing visibility is, at best, random and inconsistent, and at worst, non-existent.

As you may know, I’ve sent out an email newsletter to my list pretty much every week for 21 years. That’s visibility. It’s really quite simple, but not so easy.

If you want to be effective at your marketing, you must identify marketing strategies that enable you to get your message in front of your prospective clients consistently.

And again, this is challenging. What is the best marketing activity for you, your personality and talents? How can you fit something into your schedule and do it consistently, not for a few weeks but for years?

The question is not just what marketing strategies to use. Networking, speaking, blogging, email newsletters, webinars, social media, and direct outreach can all work.

The more important question is what strategies will work the best for you and how exactly you can implement those strategies without spinning your wheels.

You’re looking for proven, step-by-step instructions so you can evaluate if a strategy is right for you and something you can fit into your schedule on a regular basis. Remember, sporadic implementation is a waste of time.

Implementing visibility strategies takes commitment and persistence. Is growing and succeeding in your business important enough for you to make that kind of effort?  If it is, you’ll succeed at finding the best strategy for you.

The final challenge may be the most important of all to overcome.

Challenge #3. Maintaining the right marketing attitude and mindset over time, despite setbacks. If you can’t maintain The 3 R’s of success – responsibility, resourcefulness, and resilience, your marketing will never achieve the results you want.

These 3Rs are absolutely essential.  

Responsibility is the stance that the buck stops with you. You are the only one who will find a way to attract clients and you won’t give up until you find that way. You won’t make excuses or blame circumstances, but instead will be accountable for making results happen.

Resourcefulness is the skill to utilize your talents, and abilities to quickly find smart ways to overcome difficulties and find solutions. And to be resourceful, you can’t be full of doubts and fears of failure or rejection. A responsible person commits to finding a way; a resourceful person tries every way possible until they discover the best way.

Resilience may be the most powerful trait of all. It’s what enables you to bounce back from adversity, setbacks, and even failures. And if you’re working to attract great clients, you’ll inevitably experience all of those many times. People who are not resilient don’t even try, let alone succeed.

All of these essential qualities are in short supply. But if you work to grow those qualities persistently, over time, they will help you succeed with the first two challenging things in marketing – messaging and visibility.

Despite these three marketing challenges – messaging, visibility, and mindset – there is good news.

Improving your skills or abilities – even a little – in any of these three challenge areas will increase your marketing effectiveness.

There is no perfect way of tackling all three challenges and you can’t do it in big leaps that get you there overnight. But you can work on all three slowly, with persistence, making small gains every week.

When you improve your messages, you’ll start to see a better response in communicating to your prospects. Marketing then becomes like a game that starts with the question, “How can I communicate my value more clearly and powerfully?”

When you increase your visibility, you’ll also notice a better response because to some degree, marketing is a numbers game. Your question might be, “How can I get my message in front of more of the right people this month?”

And when you enhance your responsibility, resourcefulness, and resilience, you’ll find that playing the game becomes easier and more fun. The 3Rs are the fuel that enables you to persist with the first two challenges.

Where do you start?

You start by admitting where you are now and then committing to a purpose (your WHY for being in business in the first place), a goal (a specific thing you want to achieve), and to taking action (the actual steps you’ll implement to get there).

Yes, marketing is challenging. But meeting those challenges is absolutely worth it.

Cheers, Robert

Action Plan Marketing helps self-employed people attract more clients through action-oriented marketing strategies that get you in front of prospective clients. Get our free report on how you can attract more of your ideal clients at this link: http://actionplan.club/free-stuff.

[thoughtsthatstray]

The Night Before Thanksgiving, aka Wednesday Part 5

2017

I’m sitting here typing this, mostly forcing myself to get something down, and It will be shorter than the others. I just have a haunted feeling engulfing my mind after reading through the previous 4 installments. Sitting back with last year’s installment knowing had I made that journey I would have had at least one more night with a good friend who took his life over the summer. That is hard to reconcile. I’m not thinking that the one night would have changed anything. There were a number of other friends at the get together, but selfishly it would have been a night where stories would have been shared. Memories rekindled and shared. .....A moment that is gone, that never was.... kinda reminds me of the Springsteen line:

 Again,hard to reconcile and process. 

Oh and those Jonathan Tropper quotes still ring true:

Below the “keep reading” are the previous installments. 

2013

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/27/13

The night before Thanksgiving used to be one of my favorite nights of the year. Back in my hometown, it was a night when friends would gather at one of the few watering holes where said friends could share some adult beverages.

We’d usually start off at one place with dinner and beers. Note there was an s on the end of the word beer, but then we’d cross the street to a new place that had karaoke, more BEER, and more old friends. Well, truth be told a few old enemies would pop in here and there.

We’d share some memories, stretch some truths, tell some lies, and it was fun seeing old friends. Of course it was fun seeing old flames too. We’d have a ball, signing each other up for the previously mentioned karaoke and trying to find the most fucked up song or funniest song for them to sing. Oh how I wish it were modern day where every cell phone had a video, because watching an ole ball coach singing “Funky Cold Medina” or “Brickhouse” as his long hair swayed and his hairy little nubby feet attempted a bit of a drunken dance. Oh I’d pay good money to have footage of that, but of course if that were modern day, seeing a coach/teacher slightly intoxicated on youtube or some other form of social media would be grounds for his dismissal which is bullshit, since he was simply an adult having some fun with other adults. Like I said I would pay good money (if I had good money) to see that footage once again.

You’d see faces pop in of people you hadn’t seen since high school, or hadn’t seen in quite some time You’d see a bombshell walk through the door and you are like well I could always see some cuteness in that awkward teen from years ago. Of course at the end of the night you’d have the same two or three guys trying to sneak out on a bar bill. At times you’d have a group of them trying to bribe someone into trying to get on top of the bull in the corral. Yes, an actual bull in an actual corral out in front of the steakhouse. He wasn’t there long, but he was there.

An ex would walk up and whisper in your ear, “I’ve got something to show you”, and you simply respond what’s that? While she says come out here and you walk to the back side of the building and she takes your hand and slides it down her pants and you feel her freshly shaved pussy, which was definitely new. You make plans for Black Friday to spend the day fucking like you used to.

As I said, you hear some old stories, that 55 yard touchdown was up to about 63. You argue about beating a rival 43-34 when some former teammate is swearing on his Momma that it was 43-30. You simply say, look, I know what it was. That is my pin # and has been ever since. You flag down another teammate and he confirms that it was 43-34, and then he gives the other guy a hard time for forgetting it.

At this point you are 15-20 beers into the night and you know you could very well drink another dozen or so if the bar wasn’t closing. You crawl into a minivan which was basically a shuttle service. You drop the old ball coach off at his miniature mansion and tell him to cut his hair. He flips the group off with that stumpy middle finger and then he waves.

You come home, crawl into bed and think about the night. You think about the memories, you think about that freshly shaved pussy.

Oh I sure miss those days.

2014

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/26/2014

It’s still one of the things I miss about my hometown. I don’t miss much, but I miss my friends, the old haunts, the stories that stretch the truth from time to time.  Someone bringing up a time at party and someone trying to deny it ever happened.   As I said in the original post it was a time for friends to see friends. That is/was one of the beauties about a small town. A part of it you didn’t really respect or understand completely when you were there.

I no longer have ties to my home town other than a few friends, with my parents being gone, and having moved away quite some time ago. A small part of me regrets leaving, but the majority of me is glad that I did.

Memories don’t die, but they sure can fade away.

2015

thoughtsthatstray: Written 11/25/2015

I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, I’d call it just not in the mood to reminisce. With that said, I’ll give it a shot, since this become some annual ritual. I do know I’ll be tracking down the Ron Green(former Charlotte Observer columnist) annual Thanksgiving article tomorrow.

Earlier tonight on the back deck while grilling some burgers I thought of some old friends, some old times. That  made me remember that I have really neglected my YD&B side blog, but that happens.

Thoughts drift back 18-20-22 years. Thoughts drift to better times, happier times. Maybe it was being more carefree, not fully understanding responsibilities. Then it reminded me of a quote from a book I read this year year. “This is Where I Leave You” by Jonathan Tropper, it was made into a movie which was decent, but the book was better as books often are.  I know I shared the quote, but here it is again.

“It’s just hard to see people from your past when your present is so cataclysmically fucked.”

The last time I saw most of my old friends was the summer of 2014 at the funeral of one their father’s. While I sit here typing this, half thankful that I’m not there at the moment, I know it would be like that July night. Wouldn’t miss a beat and it would be like old times. Telling stories, sharing memories, laughing till you are about to choke on a beer. So I’m torn. Part of me wishes I was there instead of typing this, but another part is glad that I’m not.  The dreadfully sad part of it is that is one a handful of times that I’ve actually enjoyed myself.  Past > Present, with the future yet to be in the equation. Really sucks.

It really sucks knowing that the next time I’ll likely see most of them will be at another funeral. But that is how the cookie crumbles at times.  

2016

Thoughtsofstray: Written 11/23/2016

This is the 4th time I’ve sat here on Thanksgiving Eve slapping these keys trying to make sense. 2013, 2014, and 2015 can be found below.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to go back to my home town and hang out with some old friends, but I had to pass. I didn’t trust my car to drive the 30-35 minutes to Statesville to ride the rest of the way with another friend. I don’t trust it to go much further than the short trips that I generally take. It has two issues on it’s to-fix-list. One was quoted out at about 1k(and hopefully will be addressed shortly) the other yet to be determined. I’ve already thrown about 400 at that particular problem and that didn’t fix it. It’s frustrating. But, to be brutally honest, I could have had a 2017 whatever with 17 miles sitting in the drive way and I can’t promise that I would have gone. Well, maybe I wouldn’t be in the same mindset if the 2017 whatever was sitting outside.

This is where I could easily insert that Jonathan Tropper quote. Maybe it should just be my mantra, but it fits. If I didn’t mention it last year, I would quote it again, but if you read this whole jumbled cluster of letters you’ll see it, or you can click here.

It would have been nice to see them. In this little snippet from last year, I also wrote about the last time I saw them. I could quote that again since that hasn’t changed either. But it would have been nice to sit around with a cold beer or four and catch up, and spend some time with them.

Maybe I’ll wake up one day soon and shake myself out of this funk. I’m picturing a 75lb puppy coming out of a river and drying himself off. Maybe that would work.

I guess when I finish this I’ll sit down and read back through the previous 3 entries and I wish I could say I feel like I’m in a better place, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc, but that would be spitting lies.  

I think at one point I made a post about being thankful for having an imagination but in the end, it might be negative thing. Hard to tell.

The night before Thanksgiving used to be a part of the Holiday festivities. Now it’s just a Wednesday.