#threads of life

[authorkarajorgensen]

10 Books to Add to Your TBR 2024 Edition Part 1

Most years I put out a list of books I greatly enjoyed from the first half of the year some time in June. This year, I decided to do it early because, besides needing a blog for this week, I have read a lot of good books lately, so I’m thinking of making this something I do more than twice a year (and often forget to do in December). The books listed below are not in any order of favoritism, but…

[ourthreadsoflife]

Trust

                                                                T     T                                                               S          R                                                                    U                                                           …The Core…

At various levels, in various forms, our world is built on Trust, individual and mutual. We cannot function without Trust. We are calm and content with its assured presence. We are a hopeless chaotic wreck in its absence.

Even a “rudimentary ability” like walking (an ability many of us take for granted) is gained through trust. A toddler sees the world around it, where people are moving about effortlessly. It wants to imitate them and move about but it doesn’t know how. Slowly after multiple falls, it learns to walk. The toddler doesn’t understand what it has accomplished, but it has learnt to trust its legs and hands to move about, to learn more about the world it is so curious about. On the other hand its innocent eagerness unintentionally is blowing the roof off of its parents’ anxiety. Who until now only had to worry about poop and food, now have to watch every move the baby makes. Until after few years have passed by and through continued assurances, the parents learn to trust the kid to be safe within the confines of their home. Then as the kid grows, they are again are worried until their kid is accompanied with a “sensible kid” they learn or grow to trust. It goes on and on, while the effect of trust is constant. This is how trust functions, when it is action based, and when the outcome is binary. The equation is enhanced when emotions are involved, when the outcome is no longer binary. The realm of friendship, love, business, society, government, economy, community... And we muddle trust’s essence. Pacifying ourselves that our expectation(s) (which is our core grounding) are unrealistic, we teach ourselves to accept mediocrity. We learn to compromise, underestimating the repercussions.

In any relationship, blood bond or otherwise, trust is the only fabric that can hold a healthy relationship together. Anything else apart from Trust is a telltale of an unhealthy relationship. When trust is broken, the fabric tears and we either use the loose threads to bind us to the relationship, stitching up the relationship with hope (mostly false), coz we have invested time into the relationship, we don’t want another reality where this relationship doesn’t exist, we are scared of that reality, as we have to reinvest and start from scratch. We know, we should cut our losses, and start a new, but we don’t… as it is the scariest and the hardest thing to do. We generally choose the easy option, we choose false hope, and we choose the relationship. We only choose the latter when we learn to value ourselves more than the relationship. This holds true for one to one or one to many relationship(s) and even true for our relationship with ourselves.

“By the standards of the rest of the world, we overtrust. So far it has worked very well for us.” – CHARLIE MUNGER

We have moved to set the standard of trust so low that honesty and success are mutually exclusive. Results plaster over the means. Loss of lives are collateral damage. Hunger is attributed to poverty and poverty to laziness. Simply because equal opportunity is a pipe dream, which even when delivered might not yield equal outcome (But we failed to acknowledge or realize, no is asking for equal outcome).

Trust is built over time, through unadulterated, unwavering, unconditional, Actions. Not words, but actions. It is silent, and continuous. It is reassuring. It is calming. It is humane.

It is nothing like the world we live in today.

Maybe that is why we try to build our own little worlds. Carve out a safe space where we can trust ourselves first, to regain the required reassurance to trust others.

It is hard to walk in a world filled with landmines. It might be plausible to dust oneself and start a new, but to piece oneself back again and again… that requires a rare fabric. It doesn’t have to be so. All we need to do is change our standards for Trust. It starts with us.

So, where will you set your standard for Trust? Do you know where you have set standard for Trust as of now? Will you value yourself or a relationship without trust? Hope you will not compromise on your standards of Trust. Love, Friendship, Community, Company, Economy, Country, All run on Trust.

Respect is the next milestone after trust. Our choice to compromise on Trust only rusts every aspect of our lives. Rots set in with no cure, till we raise our standards for Trust and never compromise.

[ahotknife]

i will never stop being 6 years old and lonely. i will never stop being 11 years old and lonely. i will never stop being 19 years old and lonely. i will never stop

[confessionsofanangrymetalhead]

I knew I needed to go to this as soon as I heard that Shadows Fall, who had regrouped in 2021 after an indefinite hiatus that lasted seven years and saw drummer Jason Bittner join Flotsam and Jetsam and eventually Overkill, and lead guitar GOD Jonathan Donais join Anthrax, intended on performing their 2004 CLASSIC, The War Within in its entirety. That was fucking huge news! But for those of you who might be clueless, let’s discuss why! The Importance of The War Within The War Within, the band’s fourth album and third with vocalist Brian Fair, is the most important album in the band’s entire catalog. It was released on the heels of their previous album, 2002’s The Art of Balance, which went on to sell over 100,000 copies in a time when album sales were steadily declining. You bet your ass I was one of those 100,000 people who actually bought the fucking record! I even saw Shadows Fall live for the first time a year later during an Ozzfest off-date. Having come from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene that was largely based in the Northeast and spawned bands such as Aftershock and Overcast – those two bands being the roots of Shadows Fall and especially Killswitch Engage – alongside All That Remains (Phil Labonte was actually the vocalist on Shadows Fall’s 1997 debut, Somber Eyes to The Sky), God Forbid (more on that band later!), Mastodon and Lamb of God, the sound was largely a mix of Hardcore breakdowns and Metallic intensity. Unfortunately, this became Metalcore. But Shadows Fall were different. Via Brain Fair’s roots in Overcast, especially after he joined Shadows Fall for their second album, 2000’s Of One Blood, the hardcore influence could be heard. But thanks to those riffs that scream Iron Maiden AND Morbid Angel, along with Jon Donais’ Randy Rhoads meets Zakk Wylde lead guitar style, they were far more Metal than Hardcore. By the time The War Within was released, the press at large had been calling them the next Metallica for two years, thanks to The Art of Balance. With TWW, the guitars were even stronger than on the last album, the drums were harder hitting, the production was clearer, and the song writing was even stronger. The album had debuted at #28 on the Billboard charts. I was a first day buyer, taking to bus to Sam Goody right after I finished with class for the day. It’d earned them sales of almost 400,000 copies – a FIRST for Century Media Records! – their first main stage slot on the next year’s Ozzfest (the last time I saw them live), and eventually, a major label deal with Atlantic Records. I still remember driving from Staten Island to Starland Ballroom to see Mastodon in May of 2005. I was on Rt 9, driving over the water, WSOU (more on them momentarily) on the radio, when the DJ announced that The War Within had sold 200,000 copies. The was incredible to hear; it meant a lot to the fans, I’m sure, and it meant a lot to the underground Metal scene, especially with Lamb of God releasing their major label debut nine months prior, and Mastodon very close to signing their own major label deal. The Show The show, I’m pretty sure was organized by WSOU, the top college station in terms of playing underground Heavy Metal for DECADES. My first exposure to WSOU in the early months of 1997 happened by mistake. I was looking for another station when I came across this one station that happened to be blasting Death Metal, the likes of which my 7th grade, dumbass self had never heard before and I’d assumed that this had to be the station. It wasn’t, but I clearly still listened up until they were forced to change their format right at the beginning of 2002. They eventually were able to revert back to their prior format; but they had to fight hard to make it happen. It’s been my first show at Starland since I saw Zakk Sabbath in 2017. And before that, the last time I’d been there was most likely the 2008 Summer Slaughter tour, with such a shitty lineup that I totally forgot that it was the last time I saw The Black Dahlia Murder! But I spent a good thre...

[tenth-sentence]

The six hijacker threads were mixed in, until the tangle began; they were merging with the throng, concealing their nature and purpose.

"Incarnations of Immortality: And Eternity" - Piers Anthony

[poligraf]

Wikipedia : Jules Pierre van Biesbroeck

Clotho ~ pastel on paper ~ Jules-Pierre van Biesbroeck (Belgian painter, 1873-1965)

[backtoaugust-ts]

I have realized that the perfect form of media must have a delicate balance between absolutely heart wrenching pure emotional devastation and the most ridiculous nonsense you have ever seen in your whole life

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[aslyran]

Visions

[valereth2]

Update on the copy of Threads of Life by Shadows Fall that has the War Within disc in it: I took it back to the store. They figured they just put the wrong disc in it by mistake. They had a copy of War Within but they had sold it earlier that week. Tried to track down whoever Bought War Within. Spent a few days doing that. He never called them.back though. So they searched around at other stores and found a copy at the Half Price Books in Frisco. They had it shipped here for me. I picked it up on Saturday. They included a $5 gift card with it, and I  Used that to get one more album that I owned back in high school: Awake by Godsmack

[cubbihue]

Wait timmy isnt allowed in the human world, is hazels wish gonna cause him trouble?

Hrmm! Who’s to say? Timmy’s certainly displeased to hear about her discovering such a loophole!

Or maybe he’s just annoyed. I would be too if I discovered there was more work for me once I got back to my office.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[boringwomanwithabook]

Omg! I will never get over the bodysuit!

You will my friend, everything fades someday

[spocks-kaathyra]

experimenting w making little trek dolls for the STLV craft swap :))

[tenth-sentence]

Clotho, the youngest, was the spinner of the threads; it was always her task to fetch the substance.

"Incarnations of Immortality: For Love of Evil" - Piers Anthony

[avephelis]

RISE TWITTER QNA! no major news or announcements, but here's a list of new information and confirmations:

S3 could be brought back as a retro show in the future, but it probably wouldn't happen anytime soon (focus is on mutant mayhem at the moment)

it was never decided whether capril would be friends or girlfriends (due to rise's focus on platonic relationships)

council of heads! they're in power, but a lot of influential yokai (like big mama) aren't easily controlled, and "game the system"

despite not having his dual katana, supposedly f!leo DOES still have mystic powers

ron corcillo would love to see a spin-off focused on the caseys (if rise were ever continued), and likes the potential of a raph + casey vigilante duo

the turtles got their names after splinter's love for renaissance art

big mama's henchman WAS planned to be the missing sister, and rather than venus de milo, she would've been named after a female artist (possibly frida kahlo)

for halloween: raph dressed up as a kitten, mikey as a lion, leo as a rockstar, and donnie as j. robert oppenheimer

the mystic weapons stolen from draxum acted as a conduit to help the boys unlock their innate mystic powers with a "little boost"

they didn't realise mayhem's potential as a character/force until too late, but it could've been fun to do some stories of him being an operative (a la perry the platypus)

there weren't any planned stories for side villains (aside from the foot's cupcake shop), most focus was on the turtles

not much on casey jr's backstory, just that cass and the turtles were fighting the krang and leo raised him as a warrior. casey jr only has brief memories of cass from when he was very young, and was mostly raised by leo

there were definitely six baby turtles (two sisters)! and the turtles were gonna split up to rescue the one with big mama and the one in "the dimension", but they never planned much of it out

there's most likely a time gap between the rescuing leo and the ending scene of the movie, as "after a fight like that, [everyone] would definitely crash and need some recovery time"

there would've been more big mama in future episodes, and stinkbomb was planned to return

since the turtles became known to the public at the end of the movie, they'd have to fight to retain their reputation. this and their reception to criticism/backlash would've become a major arc.

on brother rankings: mikey is definitely raph's favourite, and they all look up to raph

the stronger someone's ninpo is, the greater the drain on their energy is (as seen with f!mikey and karai)

there wouldn't be much threat on villains going after casey jr's future intel, because most of it would've been rendered obsolete

nickelodeon would never give up the rights to rise, but they could license it to a partner company (such as IDW for a comic!)

as previously mentioned, the 2nd sister would've been trapped in "another dimension" and venus/frida would have to be won over by "helping her see that she had been brainwashed [by big mama] as a child" (and redeemed)

given more time, the show would've fleshed out: the hamato story, the hidden city's origins (krang spaceship that crashed into the crying titan being the source of the ooze, its fuel being what gave the yokai mystic powers), and would've used the rat king (who ron corcillo would've liked to be a powerful yokai with rat-like abilities and some form of mind control, who could've threatened the council of heads for power in the hidden city)

as far as we know, the turtles (aside from leo's spanish) only speak english (and even their english is sometimes a bit off)

rise probably wouldn't have ever "gone dark", but after the turtles were publicly known and full-time heroes, it might've had more of an extended plotline

the turtle's casual clothes somewhat reflect their music tastes (r&b for raph, glam rock for leo, techno (and 80s) for donnie and boy band for mikey)

future heights: mikey grew a bit and then shrunk under mystic strain, leo was at least 6ft, donnie a little taller than leo, and raph at least 6'6

mikey's powers could get pretty intense, which could've resulted in some multiverse episodes (ron corcillo would be most inclined to do a 12 crossover, but any could work). while leo portals short distances, mikey's cross space and time (with great effort)

given more time, how the turtles met april would've been fleshed out

in terms of how they take after splinter: donnie and leo have a lot of his cockiness, raph his courage and sense of duty, and mikey senses him missing his family (which is part of the reason of why he tries to hold everyone together)

given more time they would've done more with the transfer of leadership from raph to leo (and originally the plan was to draw that out over S3, rather than the abrupt S2 ending). they would've been co-leaders for a while, and at times mikey or donnie would lead (they aren't really a group with just one leader archetype)

there were plans for april to have more time with the specific turtles other than donnie (like how the gumbus was focused on her mikey and leo)

the cast's mystic abilities would've increased over time, and splinter has a lot of power that hasn't been revealed (as he spent a lot of time in the hidden city in his past)

venus/frida would've been very disciplined and so serious that's she's funny, and the dimension sister would've been "a little kooky"

there weren't really any plans on how the turtles would look in cloaked human forms, just that they'd resemble lou jitsu and may be inspired by their VAs

mikey is the only brother who can fully pull all his limbs and head into his shell (being a box turtle)

any usagi appearances would be a rights matter, and depend on collaboration

on timelines: april is 16 at the start of the series and 18 in the movie, but exactly how much time passes isn't confirmed

ron corcillo would've liked to do more donnie + raph episodes, like one where despite how donnie considers himself smarter, raph ends up beating him in common sense and emotional intelligence

f!leo didn't go with casey jr to the past due to being mortally wounded in his bleeding side

given more time there would've been more flashback episodes with the turtles at various ages

though he'd never admit it, hueso has a close relationship with leo

in early S3 there would've been an episode of setting up the new lair

mystic warrior f!mikey is pretty old (maybe in his 70s), and is strong enough to use basically any mystic power, but at great cost to him physically

no major plans with bishop, but once the turtles became more well-known he could be a bit of a thorn in their sides (like j. jonah jameson to spiderman)

there might've been some redemption from big mama, but also some relapses into her "villainous ways"

given a full season, karai would've been alive for longer, and would've trained the boys for a number of episodes

confirmation that some of early s1 aired in the wrong order (which the writers weren't happy about)

in rise, there's always an unpredictability as to how sentient a mutant will turn out to be

raph probably wouldn't be super uptight about swearing, provided the boys weren't offending anyone

there weren't any plans for romantic relationships (and DEFINITELY never an april-turtles love interest), but if they had ever tried something eventually it would've been with the same species

there were no specific plans for alopex, rita, or rennet, but anything's a possibility

in terms of the 1000 years ago krang/mystic timeline, the spaceship crashed first (possibly spawning the yokai), and other krang followed it, drawing in the invasion

that seems to be about it but if there's any more i'll do a reblog with additions