#it's just very important to know your limitations as well so you don't exclude anything

[breitzbachbea]

I again have so much admiration for historians who specialized and are experts in their field, because I know I will never be able to narrow anything down that much but dabble in all history. Which will result in not being an expert on anything, but it's still great to be a historian and knowing where to go to ask those who're deeply knowledgeable about it.

[cherryberg]

Your top 3 musicals ever gogogo gogo ogo go

HEEEEELPPPPP HEEEEEEEEEEEEELPPPPPPP aough .... ardate please you have to understand that i Have to understand that my taste in musicals are very limited now. when you were a musical girlie in 2016, you leave that shit behind for a few hundred years and now have to rebuild all of that again from scratch with a new appreciation so...

this went longer than expected so the list goes Marvin Trilogy, Fun Home, School of Rock. more under the cut smiles

Marvin Trilogy

In Trousers, Falsettos [March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland]

Fav Songs, excluding obvious fan-favourites: Can't Sleep, How Marvin Eats His Breakfast, My Father's a Homo/Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist, Round Tables Square Tables, etc

i don't know many, but man. i like a good sung-through musical. means i can listen to the whole soundtrack from start to finish and have cohesively consumed a whole narrative. and tbh? falsettos, but even in trousers too, don't really have Bad songs. i've listened to the falsettos 2016 revival and in trousers 1979 original cast soundtracks dozens of times (both separately and together). which, i mean. compared to the other musicals i have here, i haven't even listened to their whole soundtracks (which. to be fair i did see those live). and yeah you have the really good songs that Everyone likes. the Thrill of First Loves and the Whizzer Going Downs and what have you, but you listen to the tracks a second time, or maybe watch the proshot again, and you get the smaller less-appreciated songs in your head. not included in the fav songs list because that thing's long, but i love A Breakfast Over Sugar. i get Set Those Sails and A Marriage Proposal and Miracle of Judaism stuck in my head. and its great! not to mention just how good and how important the story is .. i could go on but aough ..... long

Fun Home

Fav Songs: Edges of the World, Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue, Telephone Wire, currently being annoying about Raincoat of Love

PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES WALL. PUNCHES

yeah man. saw this one for school. still have the ticket actually. but Because i did it for school, i have so much analysis and thoughts up here, it's maybe too long and specific. and also for like. a specific production that no one on tumblr would've watched. i would give anything to see that production again though. it wouldn't be the same as seeing it live, Especially during certain moments, but goodness gracious, man. the set design, the lighting, and that revolving stage? absolutely everything to me... so well integrated. just... mwah

School of Rock

Fav Songs: Stick It to the Man, Act 2 Scene 8: Dewey's Bedroom. You're in the Band .. mehbeh

Um... I don't really.. have a third that I can think of that's on par. But, it's School of Rock. It's awesome. my sibling had a track record of not liking musicals when they had to come and see it with me (when i still went out to watch musicals aough ...), but I think this was the first one they really liked - enough for me to get them a key ring of the show! (they cried during If Only You Would Listen too :]) It was a wonderful performance, and the kids were so good and coordinated too! They let us take pictures of the ending song ... which i just took a video of, so i still have that. I watched School of Rock during my ... hardcore theatre kid era though so.. i've got a few cringe worthy memories of it .. but yeah is good :]

I did see Moulin Rouge once as well, despite never having seen the movie, and that was very good as well. Though I'm not much for jukebox musicals (can't deny that Moulin Rouge tracks can be freakin' awesome though) and I think I was too busy ogling heehee

but yeah .. that's all :]

[laurarolla]

Lost Planet is finished but not entirely uploaded yet, will be by tomorrow probably. Time for thoughts on it!

Overall, it was a nice, short campaign that had just enough variety for the length except the final stage but I'll get to that in a bit. Most levels took about 30 to 45 minutes and there were 11 missions. The game feels a bit awkward to play in terms of reticle speed and general weapon precision and lethality, and the tutorial really doesn't teach you all the important information, although thankfully each time you get in a new VS (the game's mechs), you get a control popup that tells you what it can do, excluding the VTX-40A since it plays exactly like the VTX-140 (that kinda round mech in the playlist picture). The grapple is awkward as it doesn't grab anything but walls, so you get launched straight up after grappling and have to land on the platform you want to land on, even if you want to grapple to a platform below you. The story is alright, with shades of Gundam, Dune, and Tekkaman Blade here and there, and I also have to wonder if some of the game's elements started as some kind of Bionic Commando project way, WAY early on and just had a few bits left over after completely changing to a mech piloting shooter.

The game's difficulty is my biggest complaint. I'm sure that on Hard mode it's probably more of an actual challenge, but the amount of times it felt like there was some tiny thing the game did to increase the difficulty were a bit hard to ignore. Taking away weapons and thermal energy between gameplay sections, throwing a few one hit kill hazards at you from unexpected places, and a couple missions where you have to win a fight with the limited health bar of your VS and die instantly if its defeated. None of these situations really hurt the game overall with one exception: the final level. In that stage, you are in control of the L-P-9999 aerial combat VS, starting with a max load of 9999 thermal energy and equipped with sword arms and a vulcan cannon that is really only good for shooting down missiles in the final battle. You have to get used to a new control scheme, quickly reach the final boss area (because your thermal energy clock is ticking), and then figure out, mostly through trial and error, how to actually fight the final boss. It took me quite a few tries to beat him and it didn't feel as much like I'd learned how to use the machine as it did that I finally learned when the safe windows to attack were. I got him with very little health left in no small part because I was fighting with the controls, which don't feel quite like anything I've ever used in a mech piloting game before, of which I have played many. I guess what I'm saying is that if you want a cool mecha air combat sword fight, go pick up Zone of the Enders The 2nd Runner: MARS on steam instead. That game's full of those exact experiences.

I'm glad I played through Lost Planet, as it feels like something that other creators have managed to perfect perhaps by learning some lessons about what felt awkward in this game. I do also own Lost Planet 3, so that might come up later on, but unfortunately Lost Planet 2 as well as the definitive edition of Lost Planet 1 are both trapped in Games for Windows Live purgatory for who knows how long.

To end on a particularly positive note, I like all the mechanical and creature design in this game. The mechs almost all immediately communicate their gimmick or general usefulness, and the Akrid are neat enemies to fight with great designs.

[thebibliosphere]

So I'm currently unemployed because I got fired for taking too much sick leave (it was legally sketchy blah blah blah but in the end I just can't work and take care of myself and investigate my mystery health problems at the same time). So I've been spending more time writing!

I really admire your writing and loved Hunger Pangs. I'm looking forward to the poly elements developing and I'm wondering if you have any advice for writing about poly. I've made one of my projects a snarky take on "write what you know" ... Apparently what I know is southern gothic meets Pacific northwest gothic, chronic illness pandemic surrealism, and falling back-asswards into threesomes.

I know this is a very open-ended question and I don't expect an answer, I'm just curious about it if you have the energy. As a writer, trying to write honestly / realistically about polyamory/enm, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what's different about portraying monogamy or nonmonogamy in books, romance or erotica or otherwise.

I'm trying to read examples but it's hard to find examples that fit the niche I'm looking at. Excuse me if this question is nonsense, it's the cluster headaches.

I'm sorry to hear you've been dealing with all that and solidarity on the cluster headaches. But I'm glad you're finding an outlet through writing! And I hope you're happy with an open-ended ramble in response because oh boy, there's a lot I could talk about and I could probably do a better job of answering this sort of thing with more specific questions, but let's see where we end up.

There's definitely a big difference between writing polyamory/ENM (ethical non-monogamy) and what people often expect from monogamous love stories.

Just even from a purely sales and marketing standpoint, the moment you write anything polyamorous (or even just straight up LGBTQIA+ without the ENM) you're going to get considered closer to being erotica/obscene than hetero romances. It's an unfair bias, but it's one that exists in our society. But also the Amazon algorithm and their shitty, shitty human censors. Especially the ones that work the weekends. (Talking to you, Carlos 🖕.)

So not only do you start out hyper-aware that you're writing something that is highly stigmatized or fetishized (at least I'm hyper-aware) but that you are also writing for a niche market that is starving for positive content because the content that exists is either limited, not what they want, or is problematic in some fashion i.e. highly stigmatized or fetishy. And even then, the wants, desires, and expectations of the community you're writing for are complex and wildly varied and hard to fit into an easy formula.

When writing monogamous love stories, there is a set expectation that’s really hard to fuck up once you know it. X person meets Y. Attraction happens, followed by some sort of minor conflict/resolution. Other plot may happen. A greater catalyst involving personal growth for both parties (hopefully) happens. Follow the equation to its ultimate resolution and achieve Happily Ever After. 

But writing ENM is... a lot more difficult, if only because of the pure scope of possibilities. You could try to follow the same equation and shove three (or more) people into it, but it rarely works well. Usually because if you’re doing it right, you won’t have enough room in a single character arc to allow for enough growth, and if ENM requires anything in abundance, it’s room to grow.

And this post is huge so I’m going to put the rest under a cut :)

There's also a common refrain in certain online polyam/ENM circles that triads and throuples are overrepresented in media and they may be right to some extent. Personally, I believe the issue isn't that triads and throuples are overrepresented, but that there is such minuscule positive rep of ethical non-monogamy in general, that the few tiny instances we have of triads in media make it seem like it's "everywhere" when in actuality, it's still quite rare and the media we do have often veers into Unicorn Hunter fetish porn. Which is its own problematic thing. And just to be clear, I’m not including this part to dissuade you from writing "falling back-asswards into threesomes." If anything, I need more of it and would hook it directly into my brain if I could. I'm just throwing it out there into the void in the hope that someone will take the thought and run with it, lol.

I’d love to see more polyfidelitous rep in fiction, just as much as I’d like to see more relationship anarchy too. More diversity in fiction is always good.

Another thing that differs in writing ENM romance vs conventional monogamy is the feeling like you need to justify yourself. There's a lot of pressure to be as healthy and non-problematic as possible because you are being held to a higher standard of criticism. Both from people from without the ENM communities, and from the people within. Granted, some people don't give a shit and just want to read some fantastic porn (valid) but there are those who will cheerfully read Fifty Shades of Bullshit and call it "spicy" and "romantic," then turn around and call the most tooth-rottingly-sweet-fluff about a queer platonic polycule heresy. That's just the way the world works.

(Pro-tip for author life in general: never read your own reviews; that way madness lies. I glimpsed one the other day that tagged Hunger Pangs as “ethical cheating” and just about had an aneurism.)

And while that feeling of needing to justify yourself comes from a valid place of being excluded from the table of socially accepted norms, it can also be to the detriment of both the story and the subject matter at hand. I've seen some authors bend so far over backward to avoid being problematic in their portrayal of ENM, they end up being problematic for entirely different reasons. Usually because they give such a skewed, rose-tinted perspective of how things work, it ends up coming off as well... a bit culty and obnoxious tbh.

“Look how enlightened we are, freed from the trappings of monogamy and jealousy! We’re all so honest and perfect and happy!”

Yeah, uhu, sure Jan. Except here’s the thing, not all jealousy is bad. How you act on it can be, but jealousy itself is an important tool in the junk drawer that is the range of human emotion. It can clue us in to when we’re feeling sad or neglected, which in turn means we should figure out why we’re feeling those things. Sometimes it’s because brains are just like that and anxiety is a thing. Other times it’s because our needs are actually being neglected and we are in an unhealthy situation we need to remedy. You gotta put the work in to figure it out. Which is the same as any style of relationship, whether it’s mono, polyam or whatever flavor of ENM you subscribe to* And sometimes you just gotta be messy, because that’s how humans are. Being afraid to show that mess makes it a dishonest portrayal, and it also robs you of some great cannon fodder for character development.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to my current pet peeve in how certain writers take monogamous ideals and apply them to ENM, sometimes without even realizing it. The “Find the Right Person and Settle Down” trope.

Often, in this case, ENM or polyamory is treated as a phase. Something you mature out of with age or until you meet “The One(tm).” This is, of course, an attempt to follow the mono style formula expected in most romances. And while it might appeal to many readers, it’s uh, actually quite insulting. 

To give an example, I am currently seeing this a lot in the Witcher fandom. 

Fanon Netflix!Jaskier is everyone's favorite ethical slut until he meets Geralt then woops, wouldn’t you know, he just needed to find The One(tm). Suddenly, all his other sexual and romantic exploits or attractions mean nothing to him. Let's watch as he throws away a core aspect of his personality in favor of a man. 

Yeah... that sure showed those societal norms... 

If I were being generous, I’d say it’s a poor attempt at showing New Relationship Euphoria and how wrapped up people can become in new relationships. But honestly, it’s monogamous bias eking its way in to validate how special and unique the relationship is. Because sometimes people really can’t think of any other way to show how important and valid a relationship is without defining it in terms of exclusivity. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of how ENM works for a lot of people and invalidates a lot of loving, serious and long-term relationships.

This is not to say that some polyam/poly-leaning people can't be happy in monogamous relationships! I am! (I consider myself ambiamorous. I'm happy with either monogamy or polyamory, it really just depends on the relationship(s) I’m in.) But I also don't regard my relationship with a mono partner as "settling down" or "growing up." It's just a choice I made to be with a person I love, and it's a valid one. Just like choosing to never close yourself off to multiple relationships is valid. And I wish more people realized that, or rather, I wish the people writing these things knew that :P

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough. I hope this collection of incoherent thoughts actually makes some sense and might be useful. 

----

*A good resource book that doesn't pull any punches in this regard is Polysecure by Jessica Fern. It's a wonderfully insightful read that explores the messier side of consensual non-monogamy, especially with how it can be affected by trauma or inter-relationship conflicts. But it also shows how to take better steps toward healthy, ethical non-monogamy (a far better job than More Than Two**) and conflict resolution, making it a valuable resource both for someone who is a part of this relationship style***, but also for writers on the outside looking in who might have a very simple or misguided idea of what conflict within polyam/ENM relationships might look like, vs traditional monogamous ones.

** The author of More Than Two has been accused of multiple accounts of abuse within the polyamorous community, with many of his coauthors having spoken out about the gaslighting and emotional and psychological damage they experienced while in a relationship with him. A lot of their stories are documented here: https://www.itrippedonthepolystair.com/ (warning: it is not light material and deals with issues of abuse, gaslighting, and a whole other plethora of Yikes.) While some people still find More Than Two helpful reading, there are now, thankfully, much, much better resources out there.

*** Some people consider polyam/ENM to be part of their identity or orientation, while others view it as a relationship style.It largely depends on the individual. 

[letteredlettered]

Hello! This is a broad question so it's fine you don't feel like answering. Do you ever get tired of fandom and its culture? I feel like sometimes there's nothing but discourse and arguments and just... it can be quite draining. Just wondered I'd ask you since you've been in a number of fandoms for a long time! I'm sure you've seen it all. Thank you for your time!!!

I think the last time I got tired of fandom was over 12 years ago. At that time, two things were true: 1) I was having some personal problems that meant I didn’t have a job, didn’t feel good about it, and didn’t have a lot of friends that could talk about things I wanted to talk about. 2) Fandom felt a lot more centered; it was easy to build communities and become a part of them. As a result, at that time, fandom was my main support network. Therefore, when certain aspects of fandom became unpleasant, I felt I had very few places to turn to. I eventually got a job, a lot more stable relationships, and several types of community. Fandom also dispersed onto many platforms, making it very hard to rely on fandom for social interaction. I still do get annoyed by some things in fandom, but when that happens, it’s very easy to dip into another corner of fandom that isn’t toxic or to walk away completely.

I will say that having participated in fandom for a long time has also given me a different perspective. Conversations about social justice--racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism--as well as conversations about porn--what gets written, with which characters, what age and sex those characters are, how they’re treated, how this porn is posted and consumed--are conversations that have cycled through fandom since long before I was in it. I’ve learned a lot from these conversations, but after participating in them for years and listening to them for even longer, there’s not much more I can learn from random people on the internet. The same is true for issues with less of a social justice vibe--feedback culture, ship wars, fest etiquette, anonymous behavior, etc--I’ve seen it all before, and while I think these can be worthwhile conversations, I no longer feel a strong urge to participate all the time. Generally I feel like arguing on the internet has a smaller value for someone like me than listening, having compassion, modifying my behavior when necessary, and doing what I can irl and with my friends.

I have more to say about fandom cliques.

The other aspect of fandom that can grow wearisome, besides the cyclical debates, is the cliquish nature of fandom communities, and the way typical group behavior is exacerbated by the very fact of being online. Who is popular, who they like, what they say, who likes whom, who did what to whom, how everyone reacted to it--all of this can feel super important online in a way it doesn’t to me irl. I’d like to pretend I’m very classy and stay above all this, but that would be a lie. I have often wanted, in my fandom life, to be someone who has hordes of fandom friends, who leaves comments on everything they read, someone who recs with abandon, someone who runs fests, someone who replies to everyone and makes new people feel welcome and develops starter kits and makes memes everyone loves and invents all the fanon everyone uses etc etc.

Alas, my own social reticence prevents me from being that fan. I have tremendous problems with routine or anything that needs to be done regularly. This includes but is not limited to communicating with friends or people that interest me or people whose work I like. Basically, all the people who love me are people who are willing to keep reaching out to me even when I don’t always respond. I try to warn people about this and communicate clearly that it’s something I really struggle with, but it is not conducive to making friends.

Additionally, I have found that I struggle to feel a part of communities--partly because maintaining your status in a community means regularly being a part of it, but partly I have trouble identifying with most people. Fannish people share more of my interests than most people in the world, but even among fans, I often feel left out and excluded, an extra thumb on a hand that does beautiful things without me. These social difficulties isolate me, but they do have the benefit of insulating me. The one time I was almost in the middle of a fight about who wanted to be my fandom friend, I had the fortune to be so far out of the loop that I didn’t really know what the fuck was going on.

Anyways, the result of my personality is such that I mostly tend to look at fandom on the outside. I get pretty sad about this from time to time, but the times I have gotten deep into fandom have not gone particularly well for me. Either I’ve felt that feeling of exclusion I’ve mentioned before, or I noticed that others were being excluded--ie, I was for some reason included in The Popular Clique. This makes me intensely uncomfortable, and I’ve extricated myself in situations where I’ve felt that way. Unfortunately, fandom spaces that allow for cliques are also the places where you really get to know people and build community. As such, I really don’t make fandom friends easily. The few I do have are pretty much lifelong friends that I share a lot with besides fandom. My best friend is from fandom. My girlfriend is from fandom. Most of the friends I go to when I need to talk irl are from fandom. My original novel-writing partner is from fandom. These are the people I tend to talk to when I need to talk about fandom, though it can feel very lonely when I have a new fandom and no friends fall into it with me.

This is a long answer to say--fandom is exhausting if you’re really participating to the hilt, but given that I really mostly just write fics and answer asks, most of the time it’s chill. When I get deep into something I might join a discord or do a twitter, but I burn out of that pretty fast--though I sometimes do make friends that I keep forever after.

[outrunningthedark]

Hi! I have cerebral palsy too and I just wanted to say I agree with everything you’re saying. Discussion of invisible disabilities, chronic illnesses, and neurodivergency is so important but within the uptick of those conversations, physical disabled people are being left behind in a very strange and uncomfortable way. I am constantly on the fence about talking about my cp on social media for fear of not being believed, being ignored, or just being excluded all together. I love that disabled people are finally being heard, but very specific groups are being left out, and that’s really not okay

Hello, love! Thank you for sharing your feelings with me. :) Thank you, also, for understanding where I'm coming from! It's a very...awkward topic of conversation because we don't want to sound like we're invalidating anybody else's experience. Sometimes you just want to scream "What about the rest of us?!" - We technically fall under the category of "neurodivergent", yet venture into that tag and it's as if the only disabilities which people are willing to recognize are ADHD and autism.  - People with chronic illness/chronic pain or another form of "invisible disability" absolutely despise having to prove that they are allowed to call themselves disabled, meanwhile when you have CP it's like "Imagine a stranger seeing YOU and not your disability? Sounds fake, but okay." - There's this EXTREMELY misguided assumption that having a visible disability gives us an advantage because we're "more easily believed". Ummm...no? I wasn't *allowed* to get an MRI on my spine for 10 years and by then it was similar to that of an elderly woman's (my doctor's actual words). I was twenty years old. (: It took 18 years for a doctor to figure out my bladder function required surgical intervention, even though my pediatrician knew I struggled with emptying my bladder "on command" and I'd been to the ER multiple times to deal with infection. Never mind that I had to find the "right doctor" who would prescribe me overactive bladder medication rather than assume it wouldn't change anything. I have terrible circulation (in summer my skin gets hot and itchy, in winter it turns bluish purple and hurts) and my doctors throughout the year are like "Well, this is to be expected when you have CP..." Okay and??? I shouldn't be taking Benadryl routinely when I'm itchy and adding an extra layer or two to combat the cold is NOT helping. I think a big thing that gets lost when comparing chronic illness/pain versus our situation is that...we don't really have treatment options? I see all these posts about taking several medications everyday just to function and, uh, we don't have that choice. We go to PT/OT (and once insurance cuts us off, we're fucked), we get Botox injections for our spasticity, we only get surgery when it's absolutely necessary... the most we (usually) get prescribed is a low-dose muscle relaxer. Doctors are not signing off on opioids or other pain-management options because we're supposed to be used to it, we're supposed to learn how to work around it, use it to our advantage. (Can't get TOO much Botox in your tightest muscles because it may actually backfire! Your body won't know how to function with limbs that are "too loose" after years of forcing yourself to push through the pain.) And then there's the way those of us who have been (negatively) impacted by our disability from the start get erased from the conversation. It seems to always revolve around people whose disability got worse as they aged, even if they didn't know what the problem was. Feeling like something isn't right and not having a name for it is frustrating as hell and I've been there (didn't know what dystonia was until my late teens, for instance - no wonder my head and neck tilts to the left, lmao), but when you have CP, your limitations as a child are what you deal with as an teenager, and then as an adult. We have the added bonus of aging just like the able-bodied. The older I get, the more easily exhausted I am, hence the power chair versus pushing myself or asking someone else to do it because I know it's not good for their back. We don't have a "pre" and "post" disability timeline. We've always been this.

[threadsketchier]

sorry, but i don't really stay up to date with media or anything. I'm a star wars fan and i'm pretty excited for the new movie! in that meme you reblogged with the same reaction for fans/non-fans... i don't quite get it. Did the company do something bad? do other people just think it's not gonna be good? sorry for all the questions but i just wanted to stay informed xoxo

It’s a reference to the fact that a significant number of fans are dreading TLJ based upon their disappointment in the wake of TFA - and honestly, it’s not just limited to the major, outstanding offense of the OT characters’ arcs and achievements being backpedaled and undone.  There have been other strange and upsetting things concerning Disney’s marketing and stewardship of the franchise, rumored plot choices, etc. that have marginalized characters like Finn and Rose in favor of Emo Band-Aid, or excluded Lando despite the longest running film time in the saga’s history and a plot that could have easily accommodated him, etc. etc.

I’m no cranky old gatekeeper looking to ruin everyone else’s genuine good time, and many of my dash peeps have explained this in much better fashion; I also prefer not to air my personal opinions too often to minimize Drama™ but given that we’re literally on the threshold of the film’s release, I’m a human being with feelings and I’m going to voice some of them if I feel like it.

I sincerely started out enjoying TFA and I do love the new characters.  Just given where the new trilogy has gone, though, I would have preferred a different storyline or total separation between the old and new gang.  As my fellow dash peeps have said countless times, there was absolutely no necessity - other than to follow today’s current depressing “everything must be awful to be interesting” trend - to craft a tale completely obliterating the happy ending of the original trilogy and the sensible character arcs of Han, Leia, and Luke:

Han Solo: selfish nerd with a deeply buried heart of gold who’d obviously seen and been through a lot of shit who needed the right people and encouragement to listen to his conscience again and stop being afraid to commit himself to both a good cause and a wider set of friends.  Goes from “Better her than me!” to “[The temperature’s dropping too rapidly.] Yeah, and my friend’s out in it - I’ll see you in hell!” to “I’m sorry” to “When he comes back, I won’t get in the way.”  His arc is about finding companionship, belonging, and emotional openness.  He’s found a home and a family with these beautiful ragtag misfits.

Leia Organa: a fervently duty-bound young woman forged by trauma and pressed upon by staggering responsibilities into an icy diamond; she is hard and unyielding and unstoppable, and very emotionally repressed.  She has lost so much and can’t afford to lose more.  Yet a fluffy farmboy and a scruffy nerf herder worm their way into her heart.  Goes from “We have no time for our sorrows,” and “[Well, Your Highness, I guess this is it.] That’s right.” to “I love you” to “…Hold me.”  Her arc is also about emotional openness and embracing the hope and then reality that she can find love and gain a new family in spite of the destruction of her homeworld and the seemingly impossible war she helped lead.

Luke Skywalker: idealistic (yet pragmatic, in some ways) softboy who infectiously inspires everybody he comes in contact with to find the good within themselves, and has both a normal, down-to-earth bedrock upbringing and the strong personal moral compass to keep doing what he feels is right.  Goes from “I guess I’m going nowhere” to “Take care of yourself, Han; I guess that’s what you’re best at” to “[I feel like I can take on the whole Empire myself!] I know what you mean.” to “I’m looking for a great warrior” to “You want the impossible” to “They’re my friends, I’ve gotta help them” to “You’ll find I’m full of surprises” to “Ben…why didn’t you tell me” to “I warn you not to underestimate my powers” to “I can’t kill my own father” to “I’ve accepted that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father…Come with me” to “Soon I’ll be dead, and you with me” to “I feel the good in you, the conflict” to “NEVER!!!” to “You’ve failed, Your Highness - I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”  He needed his dreams shattered to get a proper grasp on how to prevail in his circumstances - and the important part here is that he was already shattered in this trilogy, and put himself back together - but despite this, he kept on believing.  He chose to see the humanity in his father and defy the Emperor, the ultimate representation of the Dark Side, by a moral rather than physical victory.  He transcended the intentions of his teachers and became a Jedi in the truest sense by disputing his mentors and refusing to relinquish his devotion to his friends and an undeserving father.  Although he lost said father, he had the satisfaction of saving and freeing his soul and finding reconciliation with him, along with gaining a twin sister and a whole lot of new friends in comparison to his former, lonelier moisture farming life, and was equipped to carry on the knowledge of the Jedi with his own experiences to renew their doctrines.

In the new trilogy:

Han is implied to be a restless ne’er-do-well who could never escape the impulse to take off and not be around for his family, rather than being grateful and satisfied to finally have a stable life and a loving wife and friends who deeply cared for him.  He’s also painted as much more of an outright idiot and useless as a smuggler rather than a clever guy who just often finds himself in shitty situations

Leia is not allowed to hold on to anything in her life.  She must not only bear witness to even more planets being ruthlessly and callously destroyed, her own child grows up to commit patricide and it’s heavily implied that his genocidal tantrums are her and Han’s fault for being neglectful parents, as though being a woman with a demanding career automatically makes it impossible for her to raise a child properly, and never mind the fact that less-than-perfect-parenting from two people who still clearly loved their son is the flimsiest excuse for anyone to commit any level of murder

Luke is also not allowed to pass on his knowledge and bear any fruit for his hard-won labors.  His efforts to restore the Jedi go up in a flaming ruin, pointlessly bringing about a second shattering into his life for the express purpose of turning him into a grieving and bitter shadow of his former hopeful self who now abandons his found family rather than cleaving to them for support and encouragement as he always did before

The new films transform the OT into an ultimately hollow story in where there is no happy ending and nothing is learned and taken to heart.  The characters are doomed to suffer forever and not grow logically from their experiences.  This happens while we’re meant to get accustomed to the new team and watch them struggle to clean up the mess that apparently the older characters couldn’t fix after all.  It fosters a sense of nihilism - no one will ever get it right, and each new generation will just keep wading through another war and another war while making the same mistakes their elders did.

It sounds a liiiiiiiiiitle too much like reality for a story that’s supposed to be a space fairy tale.  If I want to be depressed, I’ll read the news.  If I want to be happy, I’ll go watch a star war.  Except oops, now I really can’t.

I’m well aware that plenty of folks don’t see it this way at all, and yes, duh, my response is biased.  Like I said, if you love the new movies, more power to you; it’s still a (mostly) free world.  But you asked, so I answered.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

Hundreds of Omahans tell us what they don't like about Omaha

New Post has been published on http://funnythingshere.xyz/hundreds-of-omahans-tell-us-what-they-dont-like-about-omaha/

Hundreds of Omahans tell us what they don't like about Omaha

To see the full-ish list of responses, click here.

Note: Yes, yes, this is a little negative, but we’re not purely haters. We’ve also asked Omahans what they LOVE about Omaha. See what they said here.

Nothing’s perfect.

(That’s not entirely true. Perfection was attained. Just once — with Radiohead’s “Let Down,” a track on their 1997 album, “OK Computer.” The song stands as the pinnacle of civilization.)

But people — people — are most certainly not perfect. In fact, imperfection might be the defining characteristic of that hairy bipedal creature we call you and me. We’re a disaster! It’s kind of our thing.

The towns and cities we call home reflect this imperfection, each burg a hot mess holding thousands or millions of smaller hot messes — the small hot messes pairing up to make more small hot messes, compounding the heat and messiness of the overall picture.

All of this is to say that I’m sorry you’re about to read a column that throws a few bad vibes the way of Omaha and Omahans. But neither the city nor the citizens are perfect.

Here’s the thing: To hate a thing about a thing does not mean you hate the whole thing. Just a part of the thing.

You can love your city (or your spouse, your friends, your job) but still have problems with it. Plus, one of the great joys of being alive is complaining about things. It’s why we’re all here!

Overall, I received nearly 500 responses to the question, via email, Twitter and Survey Monkey. The bulk of the responses were anonymous, but many respondents attached their names to their pet peeves.

The responses, though specific to Omaha, would no doubt reflect the pet peeves of similarly sized cities: traffic, commute times, bad drivers.

The overwhelming majority of pet peeves were, no surprise here, related to Omaha drivers (too fast, too slow, don’t know how to merge). Or matters related to driving (road conditions, lack of public transportation options). Other responses ranged from the general (west Omaha) to the specific (the traffic light on 78th Street and Military Avenue!). From the trivial (no In-N-Out Burger!) to the serious (entrenched racial segregation) — “pet peeve” is a woefully inadequate label for serious concerns, and I’m sorry about that.

Some responders took umbrage with the negative premise of this question (fair), and some said what they hate the most about Omaha is me (super fair). I have tried to give them a voice, as well. I’ve broken up the responses into a range of categories.

Here, then, are your most prevalent pet peeves about Omaha.

+4 

Traffic backs up on eastbound Interstate 80 in Omaha.

CHRIS MACHIAN/THE WORLD-HERALD

Pet peeve: bad drivers

Of the near-500 responses, the most popular pet peeve by far was Omaha’s bad drivers. In fact, the vast majority of complaints were related to driving period. (Omahans, like most humans, are most unhappy in their cars.)

This critique of Omaha drivers is backed up by data. Quote Wizard, an insurance comparison shopping tool, named Omaha drivers the worst of any of the 75 most populous cities in the U.S. Their rankings were determined by the number of accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs and citations like running a red light or using a cellphone while driving.

Reader responses:

(Note: The categories offer just a sampling of the responses received. Longer submissions have been edited for length and clarity. A more comprehensive list of responses, excluding those that were racist or mentioned people by name, are collected at the end of the article.)

No matter how much the “zipper merge” is touted, I see motorists try to block those trying to merge going eastbound past 72nd Street on my daily commute (Maple, Blondo, Cass). Those who pile up in the left lane block those trying to get in the left turn lane and back up traffic unnecessarily. Many more cars could get through a light if they would simply allow gentle merges.

— Terri Falin, 50, Omaha

There seems to be an attitude of righteousness on our streets. To the point it endangers others. How do we get to the place where we are kinder, gentler drivers as a city? Morning traffic reports are incomprehensible with all the careless driving.

— Sara Kelley, 56, Omaha

You want to know what grinds my gears the most about Omaha? Irrationally slow drivers. You know the sort: They drive 38 mph when it’s sunny and 85 degrees outside, on roads with a 45-mph speed limit. They merge onto West Dodge at 47 mph, noticeably increasing congestion. Newsflash folks: If the speed limit is 55, you should be traveling 55 when you reach the end of the on-ramp.

— Pete B., Omaha, 29

The horrific drivers. I’ve lived in New York City and tourist towns that see millions of new drivers on the roads during peak season. And I’ve never been more scared being on the road than I am in Omaha!

— Meghan Russo, Omaha

Why does everyone here inch up past the line on every red light and then, when it finally does turn green, have to sit there for a minute like they are confused as to what they should be doing? Then we come to the “left-lane parkers.” These are the folks who immediately get all the way over on the freeway and drive about 4 mph under the speed limit and then get upset when you pass on the right.

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+4 

Pet peeve: just anything related to driving

The driving grievances continued with complaints about road conditions, construction delays, potholes, traffic, traffic lights, lack of public transportation and people being unwilling to walk or bike. (A story about our road conditions made it into the New York Times last year.)

Outside of bad drivers, this flavor of gripe was the most common.

Responses:

The average person’s unwillingness to walk more than one block to get anywhere and the constant complaining about the lack of parking downtown, in Blackstone, in Benson, near the arena after they put — gasp! — buildings on Lot B. There is an abundance of parking everywhere if you would just figure out how to repeatedly put one foot in front of the other for a stretch of three to four blocks. I know you can do it!

— Danny O’Byrne, 30, lived in Omaha his first 25 years and now lives in Pittsburgh

Our obsession with parking or our cars, or driving, or the lack of parking. Call it what you want, but I hate that the majority of Omahans are scared of public transportation, biking or, God forbid, walking more than two blocks from where they parked their car to have dinner at the restaurant they are about to go to.

— Colin Dorwart, 29, Omaha

Lack of or limited bike/pedestrian trails. Des Moines and Lincoln have amazing trails on which you can get almost anywhere in the town with very limited street riding. Omaha’s trails are very broken up and require a lot of on-street riding as even areas with sidewalks are nearly impossible to ride. They’re either too narrow, often obstructed by trees or other debris, or are in disrepair and likely to cause a wreck. Given the poor driving our city has, I don’t dare ride on most streets.

— Ashley Harris, 32, Omaha

Hate is too strong of a word, but do you know what really grinds my gears? The excessive stop lights in certain parts of town that are not needed due to traffic usage. And the lights in the Old Market that stop the ebb and flow of traffic because their timing is completely off. Go a block, stop, red light, go a block, stop, red light. It’s like they purposely create congestion, and then we wonder about emissions that are creating air pollution.

— Ron Garvais, Omaha

The only answer should be the lack of public transit. It doesn’t feel like a big city because everything is NOT within reach without insane amounts of planning. Uber’s great, but so are light rails and buses.

— Nathan Jacobsen

Read more about Omaha streetcar developments:

+4 

The Omaha Civic Auditorium is demolished in 2016.

MEGAN FARMER/THE WORLD-HERALD

Pet peeve: structural and/or cultural concerns

Some of the issues raised in this category are far too complicated and serious to address in the article before you. Readers brought up crime, racial segregation, economic development, job creation and several other important topics. If you want to stay in the know about such matters, my much-smarter colleagues do an excellent job of covering and explaining these things on Omaha.com each and every day.

Responses:

In spite of Omaha’s low-key charms, the city lacks a central progressive intent. I see it in the resistance to the streetcar proposal. The list of projects torpedoed because of lack of vision or expense goes on and on. The Union Pacific headquarters building razed, leaving behind a grass-covered hole in our downtown core for a decade. The Civic Auditorium knocked down with no plan to build something new where it stood. Crossroads Mall, a derelict eyesore lacking a plan for its rejuvenation. Young people witness this developmental gridlock and wince. Then they go looking elsewhere for brighter lights and a hipper scene.

There are no mountains, oceans or sandy beaches here. Omaha must create its own sense of style. Panache! To do it requires determination, creativity and expense … an investment. In my opinion, Nebraskans’ sensible and unadorned inferiority complex of “we can’t do that” holds us back. We can do it. We must do it!

— Kevin Arthur Penrod, 59, Omahan and Dundee homeowner

Read more:

That sidewalk-less sprawl continues in the exurbs while new and rehabbed low- and middle-income housing in the city center lacks investment.

— Barbara Soderlin, Omaha, and a former World-Herald reporter

— August Krzycki, 30, a former Omahan who recently moved to Salt Lake City

Omaha will always be home … It’s nostalgic. It’s where my family is. The things I truly hate about Omaha amount to the same things that I hate about America. Omaha is America. It’s sprawly wastelands of suburbia, a morbidly overbuilt automobile slum, dismembered and gutted inner cities, and new urban infill categorized by the same boxy, modernist-contemporary crap that developers are slapping up in every city (most likely replacing something irreplaceable that was torn down for a parking lot decades ago … or last year). Because it’s all we have the wherewithal to do, or expect.

— Aaron J. Detter, 34, an urban and regional planner who grew up in Omaha and now lives in Decorah, Iowa

Want to read the best and most essential Omaha.com content? Sign up for our Subscriber Plus digital plan. 

+4 

Motorists travel slowly east on Pacific Street near S. 156th Street as snow falls in Omaha.

BRENDAN SULLIVAN/THE WORLD-HERALD

Pet peeve: the weather

In particular the winter but also the wind.

Responses:

I hate the winter weather. Grew up here and didn’t mind it until I met and got married to a Florida girl.

— Jim Bosanek

Winter. The rest is great!

— Becky Spadea

Really, just January. And I guess February.

— TJ McDougal

Pet peeve: west Omaha

A bit of west Omaha trash talk.

There’s nothing to do in West Omaha. All of the good restaurants, nightlife and events are east of 90th.

Pet peeve: People who complain about west Omaha

And a bit of trash talk about people who trash-talk west Omaha.

The people who complain about west Omaha, then turn around and say that they never go to west Omaha.

— Tony Warner

Pet peeve: taxes

A lot of people voiced their displeasure at taxes. Just taxes in general. Property taxes, wheel taxes.

Pet peeve: not enough to do

Many were disappointed with Omaha for its lack of an In-N-Out Burger. Others wish Omaha were closer to mountains, lakes, oceans and amusement parks. Some want a Waffle House, others a professional sports team.

Responses:

It’s boring. No mountains. No ocean. Winters suck.

— Matthew McKenna, Omaha

The lack of an In-N-Out Burger.

— Clint Meyers, Omaha

How do we not have an In-N-Out Burger?

— Bill Fleck, Omaha

Too few Tex-Mex choices, no Whataburger, no Church’s Chicken. No place to get fried okra. It’s a misplaced Texan’s nightmare.

— Phillip J. Hubbell, Omaha

+4 

An overcast sky above Memorial Stadium shortly before kickoff.

THE WORLD-HERALD

Pet peeve: Husker fandom

(Personal interjection: I took pleasure in this.)

Responses:

In many ways, the city is a wonderful place, but a bit too conservative and narrow-minded. Exhibit A: superiority complex regarding Huskers that is no way grounded in reality.

— Kris Halbersleben, Omaha

Anytime anyone yells ‘GO BIG RED!’ in the middle of any public place such as the grocery store, concerts, etc.

— Anonymous

How much people get into Husker Football. It’s good to support your team, but it is a little over the top.

— Anonymous

The Huskers. I hate the small-town syndrome Omahans have. You see news once in a while of famous people who, at some point in their lives spent a summer or went to school in Omaha, and now make headlines in our local newspaper. The Huskers. People slowing down on the interstate just to see an accident or someone who’s been pulled over.

— Anonymous

Pet peeve: this question

Not everyone was thrilled about my solicitation of negativity.

Responses:

I know your question has good intentions, but right now what I most dislike about Omaha is the idea of asking people to name what they hate most about Omaha. Omaha has enough detractors. It’s a smaller midwestern city which people around the country (typically from larger cities) love to make fun of. You know the jokes so there’s no point repeating them here. … The more I’ve seen of the U.S. and the world, the more I love Omaha. The biggest reason? The people.

— Joel Alperson, 60, Omaha

I don’t hate Omaha. But I do hate it when people from Omaha say, “There’s nothing to do in Omaha!”

That is so not true — if you just look around! This weekend, my husband and I went to a show at Omaha Community Playhouse on Friday night, did a charity bike ride on Saturday night and went to Zorinsky Pool with our granddaughters on Sunday. We are so fortunate in Omaha to have Broadway plays, national music artists, minor-league baseball, all in our city, along with so many movie theaters, festivals of all kinds and charity events, along with so many great restaurants to choose from. There is always something to do, if you do some research!

— Janet L. Klostermann, 57, Omaha

Pet peeve: me

Responses:

Writers who try too hard to find what’s wrong about our wonderful community.

— Anonymous

Micah, you are by far the biggest waste of space in the paper. Between your lists of “what to do this summer,” which includes things like “stream stuff” and garbage like this, I think you have pushed me over the edge.

— Anonymous

Pet peeve: pancakes

One anonymous response to “what do you hate about Omaha” was just “pancakes.” No further context was provided. (Editor’s note: To the person who sent this, please contact me if you’d like to discuss this more.)

* * *

Full-ish list of responses

Here’s the full-ish list of responses we received on Twitter or via our Survey Monkey poll, minus a few offensive or personal comments. There were also limits to how many responses we received in our anonymous polls. So if your comment got cut off, apologies.

Another thing: The responses we received do not reflect the opinion of The World-Herald. Particularly the responses that trash The World-Herald. Thank you.

Want to read the best and most essential Omaha.com content? Sign up for our Subscriber Plus digital plan. 

Omaha pet peeves

» No White Castle.

» The arrogance about Council Bluffs. CB is a great community — yes there are bad areas just like Omaha, but CB has proven to be progressive and has shown to be an excellent city. (Google thought so.) Most of the haters have not been to CB — and have not seen the progression.

» Finding a parking spot in the Old Market on a Saturday. I actually found a spot once that was within a block of where I wanted to go. I felt like I won the lottery!

» The drivers. They have no idea how to keep a consistent speed on the road. Every time there is some sort of minor inconvenience, they have to come to a complete standstill (i.e. wrecks, a slight drizzling of rain, etc.)

» It is so insanely frustrating that Omaha doesn’t seem to care about the common good. It is selfish and doesn’t want to invest (time, energy, $$) in things that won’t directly benefit it. For example, the streetcar. The studies are clear: Economic development would soar following its construction. Let’s get into the 21st century people!

» Slow drivers in the left lane on the interstates

» Cornhuskers

» Property tax

» The only newspaper in the city has the constant need to nonstop report on one football team instead of covering more interesting or important sports stories.

» Being so close to Iowa that we can smell it if the wind ever blows from the east. Thankfully, it blows from the west most of the time.

» Multiple cars running red lights in the turning lanes.

» The lack of things to do

» Concrete roads … horrible

» Lack of mass transit options that navigate the entire city.

» The condition of the roads and having to pay so much for parking downtown.

» The litter that is casually tossed from neighbors, children and adults. I cannot believe that people just throw out trash from their cars, litter in their yards and streets. Hang on to it and dispose of it properly.

» Potholes …. potholes ….. and the potholes

» Sprawl

» The westbound traffic on Dodge … it seems that they need to expand for the growing community. Oh, and can I also mention the quality of the roads in Omaha.

» Lack of diversity and the redlining of neighborhoods based on ethnicity.

» The weather.

» Infrastructure

» Development. It seems like nothing is seen through to either completion or brought to the point of self-sustainability. There have been way too many big real estate and utility projects that have been stopped or called complete just shy of being actually effective implementations. It works fine if you’re a small town, or a city with stable growth, but Omaha is a vibrant and growing hub. We need to complete what we start, and not pull back at the halfway point.

» How The World-Herald has turned into a liberal mouthpiece

» Drivers who are inattentive due to cellphone use. Not a day goes by that I don’t see a driver sitting still at a green light, or running a red light, due to staring at a cellphone screen. They also drift over the lane lines, and their speed is erratic. I would like to see Nebraska make cellphone use while driving a primary offense with a significant fine.

» Those who self-hate about Omaha and make it obvious that they haven’t ventured outside of the city much. “We have the worst traffic, drivers and potholes.” Seen worse traffic in Chicago, worse drivers in LA. “There’s nothing to do here.” Really? Because I lived in Manhattan, Kansas, for five years. Now that’s nothing to do.

» There’s a distinct lack of adequate transportation. You essentially need a car to get around the city in a reasonable timeframe. I don’t know if streetcars are the answer, but something definitely has to change.

» Drivers.

» Omaha’s lack of public transportation and its urban sprawl

» The lack of city interconnectedness. The fact that people are afraid of the vibrant north Omaha neighborhoods. The fact that you get odd looks if you don’t wear red on gameday.

» The roads. Potholes everywhere. Construction everywhere. And it takes so long to go from the north end of town to the south end of town because there is no large street such as Dodge, only the interstate which is often times out of the way.

» No Portillo’s. No White Castle. No Jack in the Box.

» The interchange if you are getting onto I-80 from West Center Road! Then everyone going south on I-680 exiting to I-L-Q Streets has to cross lanes, and it’s crazy!

» Feeble attempts at news stories like this one.

» Omaha is a very nice place to be as a city, but the “We’re just as a good as Kansas City, even though some people don’t think so” gets kind of old.

» Rubbernecking drivers on the interstate and freeway. They slow traffic down for no reason.

» Creighton.

» Drivers who stop on I-80 interstate to merge left into a slow lane. They now have stopped another lane of traffic for no reason since they’re not in an exit-only lane and interchanges are still 10 miles away.

» One-way streets.

» I hate how some intersections work at night. Specifically between 108th and 114th on Center. The two lights, one on-ramp, one off-ramp, are very dangerous. Luckily, I haven’t been involved in an accident here, but I’ve seen the craziest things happen at night. I strongly believe it’s because of the function of the light system.

» People running yellow lights and tailgating. I mean, you can get everywhere in town within 20 minutes. Do you really need to ride my bumper to get there in 18?

» Lack of nightlife activity: clubbing, late-night restaurant, etc.

» Traffic lights timed such that left-turn pockets do not clear. Many drivers become terribly impatient and become especially aggressive in turning left on yellow and even red. The aggressiveness is contagious, resulting in more accidents. I’ve lived in Omaha for 26 years, and driving in this city is pretty unpleasant much of the time.

» Taxes on those 65 and older. Between the lack of any meaningful sales or property exemptions for seniors, I had no idea that the cheaper housing here would be totally offset by higher taxes. I’d hoped to retire here but now plan on running back to Colorado, where you’re not taxed to death.

» The roads in this town are in horrible shape.

» Red-light runners and an entire state that doesn’t know how to merge properly!

» Taxes! Property, wheel, restaurant, personal property (the last one is not Omaha-specific, but it all adds up).

» Drivers who hate bikes, pedestrians, strollers, you know … anyone not in a car.

» Outrageous taxes (property and otherwise), and poor street conditions that have not improved since we raised the wheel tax in Omaha. As much as I love Nebraska, when I retire in about five to 10 years, I will be looking at lower-taxed areas of the country. I won’t be able to afford living here at that point.

» Weather.

» Creighton.

» Stopping at way too many red lights.

» I hate Omaha’s Dodge-Street-to-Douglas Street “shoo fly” at 30th Street by Turner Park where eastbound traffic must negotiate a tight “S’”curve as it departs Dodge Street for Douglas Street. What were the city planners thinking? It might have been “forward-thinking” when half the downtown workforce rode a bus or streetcar, but the time has come to straighten out that awful mess.

» Rush-hour traffic.

» The traffic is terrible. And the crumbling infrastructure just adds to the misery.

» Road construction

» If you weren’t born here and a part of the “Omaha” network, you can only do and achieve so much.

» Street address setup and street direction.

» The lack of courtesy for other motorists and especially motorcyclists on the road. There are quite a few people in Omaha that drive their cars inconsiderately. They speed constantly, cut people off, tailgate and flip you off because you’re driving/riding like you’re supposed to, etc.

» THE BAD ROADS WE DRIVE ON

» The drivers

» Winters. No mountains. No beach.

» 60th Street between Center and Pacific. It’s been a construction zone for the last 15 years. Or at least it seems that way.

» All the two-lanes that merge into one-lane in west Omaha.

» How crappy OWH is in suggestions like this.

» Limited public open-water swim venues.

» The weather, the slow drivers in the fast lane, the location relative to mountains or beaches

» Omaha World-Herald

» People’s lack of driving knowledge and etiquette. The downward spiral of the public’s respect for one another.

» Taxes.

» This is a dumb idea.

» It’s not a pedestrian-friendly town! It’s horrible if you need to walk anywhere.

» Taxes!

» There are no mountains or beaches. And to the contrary, traffic is nothing compared to other major cities. So when folks here complain about traffic, I want to remind them that it could be way worse. Gain a little perspective.

» People seem to be stuck in the 1940s. Still feels like there are a lot of ultra-conservative, racist, misogynistic people. The old guard seems to think Nebraska should not change to keep up with the times.

» The drivers. Seriously, people driving in Omaha simply don’t know how to drive.

» No Triple A-level hockey.

» Downtown is not the center of the metro. Suburban sprawl west is out of control.

» Unmerited self-importance.

» I hate Huskers fans.

» Property tax and high vehicle tax yet the city always operates in a profit.

» Jayskers.

» Its segregation and lack of transportation to connect all parts of the city.

» Endless construction on major roads.

» Restaurant tax, wheel tax and rude drivers.

» The bus system (or lack thereof), limited access to mental health services for those without resources, and not a lot of outdoor recreational opportunities in the winter.

» Drivers who don’t understand the rules of a four-way stop. They sit and wait for someone to wave to signal who should go first. They each wave, then start into the intersection, then stop, then more hand signals, then finally they get through the intersection.

» That so many historical buildings were torn down.

» Poor interstate access to most of the city.

» My street. It is a disgrace. When I moved here three years ago from out of state, I had no idea there were roads that are not maintained by the city. I live in a “nice” neighborhood near Westside High School and can barely ride a bike on my street due to the potholes and severe disrepair. The existing approach to street maintenance is an embarrassment.

» Lack of good public transportation to jobs in west Omaha. I’ve lived in other cities and caught a train or a bus to work. Here you need a car to get to work if you want a good-paying job. Omaha is a good example of economic discrimination.

» Zero viable mass transit. Zero interest in paying an extra 5 cents in taxes for things like education, infrastructure or social programs. The constant destruction of downtown buildings because people refuse to walk more than 40 feet to a restaurant, bar or entertainment venue. The constant annexation of suburbs when we can’t maintain our current roads and sewage. The horrendous drivers. The decades-long exercise of citizens turning a blind eye to the de facto segregation and generational poverty in north and South Omaha.

» Limited biking options to downtown from the northwest side of the city.

» There is an obvious racial divide that continues between north, South and west Omaha. The ward-like division is still apparent to this day because of redlining policies that were established almost a hundred years ago.

» That streets and avenues both run the same direction. In most cities, one runs north and south, and the other east and west.

» Politics.

» My biggest pet peeve about this city has got to be people’s inability to merge! I don’t know who is teaching driver’s ed in Omaha, but they are doing it all wrong. Folks, it’s really easy. Accelerate to the speed of traffic, time your merge. And merge. Drivers in the merging lane: Do not slam on your breaks to let someone in or you are going to end up getting rear-ended by the person behind you. PLEASE OMAHA … STOP SLOWING DOWN TO MERGE TO GET ON THE INTERSTATE!

» I hate that we don’t have a professional sports team. Gimme some NBA action!

» Property taxes.

» The continual destruction of historical architecture in lieu of repurposing.

» Bad public transportation. No glass recycling pickup. No bike lanes.

» I hate that for Omaha drivers, merging cars are viewed not as part of driving in a busy town, but as rage-inducing line-cutters. I hate that there is no light too red to run in Omaha, and that pedestrians are treated as losers of some Darwinian lottery, instead of as fellow citizens. I love this question.

» Humidity.

» Despite the extra wheel tax, our streets are awful!

» No ocean.

» Potholes

» Lack of bikeways or safe methods of pedestrian travel

» The potholes. The lack of progress on any sort of social issue, like Medicaid expansion, breastfeeding rights for mothers and teen mothers, etc. The homeless problem (and not the people themselves but the lack of resources to address the homeless problem). The trash/recycling debate. The sex-trafficking problem. The racism. The lack of any good cable providers. A lot of these are admittedly first-world problems. And none of this is to say that I hate Omaha. Omaha is full of wonderful, kind, innovative people, and I love being born and raised here, and now raising my own family here. For all the bad, there’s far more good.

» Omaha always has to be dragged kicking and screaming into current times. For example, attitudes towards people of color, LGBTQ+ community, religious minorities and other marginalized groups. Omaha wants to be white upper-middle class, and they put a lot of money into keeping it that way. We lag on infrastructure (the mythical streetcar, very little bus service, sewers that need work, trash, roads), redevelopment, sterile live/work/play attempts like Midtown Crossing or hideously white gentrification projects, only the bare minimum of community engagement.

» That there is a disconnect from midtown/downtown and west Omaha. It’s as if the two sides are against each other.

» Potholes only being fixed temporarily or not at all.

» Nonstop … year-round … incessant … neverending coverage of UNL football.

» Red light-runners.

» Lack of downtown “fast casual” eateries.

» That the city and developers keep tearing down old buildings. It started with Jobbers Canyon and has continued since.

» There is zero cultural innovation here. Lots of micro-neighborhoods that are all basically the same, but nothing developed to the point of being a destination within the city in order to keep people here.

» The lack of diversity, small-town thinking, no major league teams, cliques, not pedestrian-friendly, no mass transit

» It’s too difficult to get anywhere on the bus system.

» The vicious cycle of having the worst drivers with the worst street layout and the worst timing of the lights. Dodge and I-80 don’t hold up to the volume of traffic during rush hours. They’re barely OK during normal parts of the day.

» The stigma against north Omaha.

» Interstate driving in and around Omaha. Omaha-area drivers don’t seem to understand that the left lane is for PASSING, not for strolling along just under the speed limit, clogging up traffic.

» Inconsiderate drivers that won’t throw a break to anyone trying to change lanes or merge.

» The amount of time it takes to get through the intersection at 72nd and Dodge.

» Strip malls as far as the eye can see.

» People.

» Lack of public transportation — we need a streetcar and better bus routes!

» The fact the Nebraskans drive in the left lane! The left lane is the passing lane, not the chill lane. If there is a line of cars behind you, move into the slower lane on the right. Driving in the left passing lane makes it dangerous for the other cars that need to pass, forcing them to pass in the slower lane and causing accidents. This is why we have so many traffic deaths in the state. STAY OUT OF THE LEFT LANE UNLESS YOU ARE PASSING EVERYONE!

» The roads. Duh.

» Potholes.

» It’s narrow-sighted. They tear down historic and cool things to put up new crap.

» I’m originally from the west coast, where the traffic is truly terrible, but everyone gets along with it. I hate that people in Omaha drive like they are still on the farm. The roadways are always busy. Give people some space and slow down!

» I hate how disconnected our city feels. As a downtowner, anything west of 72nd is basically western Nebraska.

» The worst drivers in the world!

» Westward sprawl and the necessity to drive everywhere.

» People who try to beat the red lights and put everyone around them in danger.

» This is probably going to be a common one, but I hate the potholes and horrible streets. I’m fearful of my car disappearing into one of the cracks or holes and I’ll never be heard from again!

» I hate that I miss Omaha so much. After college I wanted nothing more than to leave Omaha and never turn back. Now I find myself dreaming of the opportunity to come home.

» Left-lane slow pokes.

» The seemingly constant wind.

» I dislike that Omaha still remains very segregated by race.

» The College World Series. I love baseball, but man alive, living in the area during the series is awful. Our streets aren’t built to hold that much traffic, and CWS fans tend to love to drink to excess. It’s a bad combo.

» The roadways are not designed for 1 million people in the metropolitan area. It takes forever to go from west Omaha to downtown and vice versa.

» The roads.

» Creighton basketball fans.

» Nobody in this town seems to know how to drive. Not zipper-merging. Slamming on the brakes to get in and expecting everyone else to stop and let you in on the interstate. Slowing down for the curves on I-80 causing backups. Constantly brake-checking even when no one is on your butt. Speeding up to block the person who is going faster than you from getting in front of you. Sitting at stop lights for five minutes. So many things.

» I lived in Omaha for approximately 50 years and, for the most part, thought it was a pretty decent city. However, there were a few things, I wouldn’t say I hate but I certainly disliked with a passion! One … the weather in the winter, of which, no one can do anything about.

» Going out on a date and one of the first questions my Omaha date almost always asks is, “What high school did you attend?” Not everyone grew up in Omaha.

» Paying for parking on Saturdays.

» Drivers who don’t understand that the left lane is for passing. Blinkers work better when activated, and stop signs aren’t optional.

» For how spread out the city is, there is no metro train or subway.

» I hate the bad streets. I licensed my old, old car because I don’t want to damage my newer one. I really hate that people stay in the passing lane and drive like they are leading a Sunday afternoon parade … slowly down the highway.

» The roads

» Summer weather

» Residential segregation.

» Ugly suburban sprawl!

» People running red lights.

» Condition of sidewalks in poor areas (Ames Street for example) are substandard. Sidewalks look great in richer portions of west Omaha.

» West Omaha.

» Winter.

» We do not have a true amusement park.

» Inconsiderate drivers paying attention to their phone as opposed to the road. Not really an Omaha problem, but it’s aggravating and dangerous.

» Potholes.

» The condition of the streets. It’s embarrassing for a first-class city like this to have roads in the condition they are.

» Nebraska Nice is not always Nebraska Necessary. Drivers at intersections who for some entitled reason think they can cede you the right of way with a haughty hand swipe, oblivious to the fact that there are more lanes and more vehicles around, and it’s the law to yield the right of way. Or the guy who holds the door for you at Starbucks. The moment he sees you, like at the end of the parking lot. Then he shimmies his head to hurry you because of his tremendous effort.

» The drivers.

» The slow drivers.

» Needs a facelift around the outskirts of the Old Market. People who drive 5 mph under the speed limit.

» Potholes.

» The ridiculous number of potholes throughout the city. In addition, the large amount of flat-out stupid drivers who run lights, don’t use turn signals or just don’t use common sense in general.

» Micah Mertes and the tone and subject of this “fun” thing.

» Micah.

» The cliquishness. If you are an outsider, for any reason or no reason, you will become very aware.

» The only thing I hate about Omaha is POTHOLES.

» THE ROADS.

» Traffic.

» The World-Herald and their shift from quality journalism to hokie attempts like whatever you call this. Instead of being positive and bringing people together, the attempt to be more divisive to get readers is ridiculous.

» The terrible streets conditions.

» The taxes. This state (and Omaha) are out of control with taxing people.

» I dislike the fact that Omaha has a second-class mass transit system. Would like to see a light rail or streetcar operation.

» Nebraska fans.

» That it is surrounded by the rest of Nebraska.

» Creighton.

» Short yellow lights and the frequent red light runners.

» People driving with cellphones in their faces. And just plain dumb drivers.

» Not enough shopping, no pro team.

» Lack of through-streets, with frontage roads for business access.

» Property taxes are outrageous.

» The Omaha World-Herald.

» This might sound kind of dumb, but I used to live in the desert, so I’m sensitive about things that can start a giant wildfire. I really hate how many people flick their nasty cigarette butts out of their car windows and into the street. It’s disgusting and disrespectful to whoever’s lawn they land in. But I guess smoking is a kind of self-disrespect, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised?

» People don’t know how to merge!

» The city is complicated and inefficient without the daily use of a car. No rail and/or trolley system. Limited bike lanes. Lack of safe, accessible outdoor walking/exercise trails. City struggles with dog-friendliness. I moved to Dallas, Texas, two years ago and live downtown in the city center. I have gone days without touching my car. I can safely walk or ride my bike to trails for exercise. I am able to take the rail to excellent shopping venues, bars, concerts, sporting events, restaurants, movies, medical offices, grocery stores, you name it! I wish Omaha offered something similar.

» The winters.

» Bad driving.

» Near Westroads Mall when you come off of Regency Parkway to merge onto Dodge eastbound, there are two lanes that merge into one. The signs are very clear that the left lane ends and cars are to merge into the right lane. However, the left lane always stacks up with cars and people get really aggressive about cutting the right lane cars off. Either people don’t understand how the merge works or they’re just jerks. I think it’s a mix of each.

» I hate this question. There is no point except to increase negativity and complaining.

» Writers who try too hard to find what’s wrong about our wonderful community.

» The raging October to April wind that forces you to question your motives for ever leaving the house.

» Traffic when there’s a minimum sign of rain.

» Commute downtown.

» A bit conservative.

» People are very rude here and think they live in this thriving city. Omaha tries to be this big, progressive city, but it’s small and backward.

» Winter weather gets old after a while. Being stuck inside can be boring. See me in Florida for retirement.

» Omaha drivers.

» Having a newspaper whose writer would choose to draw out the negative about Omaha instead of being positive and asking what you love most about Omaha.

» The crime.

» Constant construction. City is racially segregated. OPS schools need improvement. Lack of reliable and widely available public transportation. Most of all, I really hate how they put the new baseball field right next to the downtown arena. Parking is horrendous.

» Sometimes boring.

» Lack of medical cannabis and a relative dearth of outdoor opportunities for activities like hiking.

» Our public transportation system is really non-existent. I feel the lack of a good system further segregated our already segregated city.

» Transportation, too many cars. I’d like to see streetcars and a light rail system.

» Roads.

» Omaha has the rudest and most dangerous drivers … they like to tailgate and run red lights.

» There needs to be a singular source for unemployed people and employers. Whether it’s through the chamber or an alternative source, employers and unemployed people should be able to connect easier. Having a database of recently displaced employees, career-transitioning employees, new-to-the-workforce employees, etc., would be a benefit for all.

» Inner-city life, inner-city pressure. The concrete world is starting to get ya. The city is alive, the city is expanding. Living in the city can be demanding. (Editor’s note: This respondent just put in the full lyrics for the Flight of the Conchords song “Inner City Pressure.”)

» Idiot drivers. Too many people running red lights, tailgating, weaving between traffic lanes, driving slow in the left lane, changing lanes without looking to make sure no one is in the space they are trying to move into, cutting people off and generally acting like they’re special and do not have to follow the rules of the road. There are way too many of them in Omaha for its population.

» For me it’s a tie between Omaha lacking any major landforms (large body of water to swim in, or anything besides the plains), or the fact that the city still isn’t relevant enough for a majority of the population outside of the Midwest to know that we’re not all farmers.

» The traffic seems to get worse every year and how about the texters who enjoy the road, but don’t pay attention to it.

» Everyone is from here.

» The drivers. Those who tailgate, don’t let vehicles merge (when a driver can clearly slow down or get over for a merging vehicle), failing to yield, running yellow/red lights, speeding through neighborhoods, an overall lack of courtesy. I could go on and on.

» Dodge Street … 72nd to 90th … why is it so slow?!

» West Omaha, winters

» Look, having lived on both coasts and places in between the past 30 years, since I moved to Omaha six years ago, I have never seen worse drivers. I’ve seen more horrific accidents, people running red lights, not stopping at stop signs, etc., in the short amount of time I’ve lived here than in the entire time I’ve lived elsewhere.

» Distance from cool geographical features (mountains, canyons, oceans, etc.)

» That Omaha thinks it’s superior to the rest of the state.

» Potholes and left lane-hangers on the Dodge Expressway!

» Parking (availability and affordability) downtown and in Benson/Blackstone.

» Cass County drivers that drive in the left lane of Highway 75 and block traffic or cause people to pass them on the right.

» Drivers! Everyone here is either a speed demon in their lifted pickups and Mustangs or drives 10 under and clogs up the passing lane.

» People not knowing how to drive.

» Property taxes, housing, traffic.

» The interesting stuff is in Midtown, Benson, Dundee and the Old Market. There’s not as much actual good stuff out in my part of the city. Think strip malls.

» The weather is brutal with limited outdoor activities.

» Inattentive drivers.

» I don’t like when people from Omaha commit themselves to believe only Omaha-based companies are the best for what services they provide and to always go with the “local” firm.

» Road conditions.

» Drivers. They merge 10 miles before a turn like the turn is in 10 ft.

» The fact that every time you meet someone also from Omaha, the first question is always, “What high school did you go to?”

» The wheel tax is really out of line for a city this size.

» I hate the auto-centric culture of Omaha. Everyone complains about parking. The greatest fear is having to walk more than half a block to anything. The one-way streets downtown are ridiculously wide and make being a pedestrian a terrible experience. Yielding to pedestrians is the law but not the practice here.

» It doesn’t seem safe anymore.

» The traffic.

» Bandwagon haters. Such as anti-fireworks people.

» Drivers rarely use turn signals.

» Small-mindedness. Gossips.

» Lack of free entertainment

» We only have two seasons: winter and construction.

» People turning left on Dodge.

» I hate that so many Omahans passionately believe that driving is the only way to get around. They complain about being stuck in traffic. They complain about the condition of the roads. They complain about not having anywhere to park. They complain about how other people drive. Then stop driving! Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy Omaha — festive events, drinks on the patio, playing outside with friends and family — and you’re stuck in your car. Break out of your routine.

» Driving. The roads are almost always under construction. It’s also so much slower trying to get places during peak driving times. Even 10 years ago, the interstate and streets seemed quicker. I more or less stopped using the interstate because of aggressive drivers. I was recently rear-ended. The dude blamed me and chewed me out in front of my son while acting super-aggressive. I got the feeling he wanted me to throw a punch so he could go MMA on me.

» Its location. Sandwiched between Nebraska and Iowa isn’t a good place to be. Omaha is a nice town, but a lack of scenery within five hours is rough. It could be worse though. Places like western Kansas or the Texas panhandle don’t even have hills or very many trees.

» The maintenance of streets and parks in west Omaha. How can we pay so much in taxes and have this high of property valuations in the western part of the city and have this bad of streets?

» I hate the self-regard people have for themselves as humble, hard-working Nebraskans.

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And there’s more!

Click here to see the responses to my original Twitter inquiry.

Source: https://www.omaha.com/living/hundreds-of-omahans-tell-us-what-they-don-t-like/article_d79ff662-e5c4-5762-b366-fea421556019.html

[ririthedevil]

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer!! I asked this because I am a Jewish student and I have real concerns about the institutionalised anti semitism in the Labour party in recent years. A lot of people say that labour isnt racist because they don't acknowledge anti semitism as racism and i feel that is part of the problem. I am against everything the torries stand for and ideology wise i would probably be more labour, but the anti semitism really worries me. And of course theres a..

No need to say thank you! I always enjoy looking at different view points, especially as a minority myself who knows parties are a really difficult thing to handle. I hope you don’t mind that I’m going to copy and paste your others asks below as I know they continue from one another as you said! So to my followers who are following this conversation, this next paragraph in italics continues from this particular anon ask, and was asked by the anon separately due to the ask box word count limitation! 

…difference between the criticism of israel and anti semitism; one is a political stance and one is just pure racism, but a lot of anti israel criticism stems from deep rooted anti semitism. And while i agree that a few anti semites dont define the party, i still worry about how often these things tend to happen in it. As a whole, the Jewish community is quite liberal; the more religious groups might be more conservative but that a different thing, which is why it is so hard today for us. So since I personally don’t have day to day contact with people outside my community i wanted to ask what other people thought. Because, if we take the us, trump has been admittedly more vulgar, but he is being crucified for being islamophobic while labour leaders seem to keep getting away with anti semitism (in no way am I defending trump - he is a biggot that never shouldve been elected). One last thing - i feel that people think that because labour are not generally racist against skin colour people dont take the anti semitic claims seriously. Sorry for the long messages x By the way if you mind me asking, were abouts in the UK are you from? 

Firstly, I agree that anti Israel sentiments can be due to deeply rooted anti-semitism - just as often stereotypes can be intrinsically rooted in racist ideals. But I feel we also have to understand that, as you said, while a lot of these criticisms come from discriminative backgrounds, there is also some criticisms that are not just politically based, but humanity based. I feel Corbyn in this instance (I am excluding Livingstone because he is an all out anti-Semitic in my book) has the well-being of Palestinians well and truly within his mind - but ofc I cannot prove that. He counter acts Israel not because of the Jewish community, but because of the atrocities taking place under their watch (with help from others of course). I know I keep trying to defend myself with the ‘but I don’t know what he really means’, but that’s because I truly don’t. I don’t know the inner workings of his mind - and he doesn’t help himself by not being more specific in order for us to understand. I also feel like I’m putting words in his mouth so forgive me for that, but this is what I think is the case (I could be completely wrong). 

I think I understand what you mean in terms of the liberal but religiously conservative ideals. I guess for me as an Indian girl I think my community is more conservative in all aspects (except the generation which I am a part of). I would argue however with your argument about Trump, that his attacks have been much more individualistic based (on his personality and what he says) rather than Republicans (as of late) while I feel the anti-Semitism is more on the Labour party as a whole. I also feel Trump has been much more engaged with such discrimination within his policy making (i.e. the Travel Ban) while Labour have not done anything to insight such anti-Semitism within their policy - not to say the institution is not flawed. I think attacking an individual compared to an institution are very different things - and I don’t believe in this ‘one person to represent the many’ sometimes because we’re all just so bloody different surely that would be difficult? I mean that’s the point of having other people behind a leader - to also steer them and give them different view points. I also put in bold one thing you said, and I hope other people who see this also can give their two cents that way you get more views! It is worrying like you said it happens really often, but I do think as well there is a rhetoric of anti-Israel rather than the Jewish community in Labour’s current state, but of course you may view that different from your position which is completely fair! But I guess that is also a worrying case as well! 

In concerns with your second to last point on skin colour being seen as racist but anti semitism not being taken seriously, I shouted in my house ‘helllll yeahhhhhhhh’ because you are so right! Discrimination is only thought of within two spades of the mainstream thought - sexism and racism. We know however, there is much more to this, religion, disability, sexuality, age etc. The list goes on - and while I feel sexuality is taken more seriously these days, I feel like religion still isn’t. Yes islamophobia is a hot topic (rightly so), but there are other religions too which face discrimination. 

I actually asked my Jewish friend this question in a different way, as she is British and voted within this election. She practices Judaism almost to a T - she has such a huge love for her religion (she is a very active member of the Jewish society at my University). I know for a fact she voted Labour, and I asked why (like u asked me anon) the anti-Semitism behind the party and it’s history did not effect her vote and she said this:

Oh! Well I chose it because I always have! They still have a lot of the things I want in a leadership […] I believe in him [Corbyn] tbh. May is just going to allow more hate into this country with the way she is […] I think Jeremy is an individual against his whole party. Remember he was was in such a low point last year, where everyone was basically conspiring against him? It made me remember that parties are meant to be one entity but they really aren’t - there are so many individuals a part of that one party - like a community. But they are all individuals who have slightly different values but i guess with Corbyn he had some ideas really different to the rest of them for them to collapse so much […] Thing is yes he doesn’t speak for me as a Jewish girl, but he does speak for me as a student living in a country which is gonna get into some deep stuff soon, and I know as a student about to graduate he will speak for me. That’s why I voted him. 

I think she makes a really good point - basically saying we are all different people within one person. We all have different identities - like I’m a brown, Indian girl who is the child of two expelled migrants. But I am also a really British student who loves geography and wants to work in media. My friend just happens to take into concern one half of herself more than the other with this vote - she’s voting for her future. I also think the party’s Jewish members would not stand for this if the party was so intrinsically encased with anti-Semitism - or would definitely call it out at least. It is like you said, worrying that it is happening so much and I just hope those Jewish members if they get their seats are strong enough to call those attitudes out of the party. I don’t know - maybe I just sound really in denial to you and I’m sorry for that! 

Sorry that went off topic slightly but I felt her view point was just as important as mine. 

And regarding your last question, I won’t say where I’m currently based in the UK but I did my postal vote in regards to my ‘home’ borough in London. Also sorry if I’m not making sense! It’s 1:30am rn and I’m sooooo tired but I’ll make sure to look at this properly when I wake up and make sure I have answered all your questions!! Also don’t apologise for the long questions!