Endorsement and other stuff
Presidential Endorsement 2020
This was probably the easiest political decision I've ever made; so easy, in fact, that I made it way back in January. In this year's Presidential election, my unconditional support, and my vote, goes 100% to Joe Biden. I am not going to bother explaining my reasons. For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't understand, no explanation is possible. And after the hell we've lived through in America these past four years, and in 2020 in particular, if you lived through it, too, and still can't understand why I would choose Joe Biden over Donald Trump, then I feel very, very sorry for you.
You disagree? That's fine. DO IT ON YOUR OWN DAMN JOURNAL. I've had enough right-wing bullshit this past year to last a dozen lifetimes; I'm not going to put up with it here. If I want to read lies, propaganda, and batshit insane conspiracy theories, I'll visit Infowars or Breitbart or Fox "News". I won't have it on my dA account. I don't comment on your pages, kindly return the favor and don't pollute mine.
Bet this'll cost me a few watchers. So be it. Better to lose a few watchers and stand for what I believe in rather than keep them all and keep silent. My honor demands it. 
Coronal Mask Rejection
Good fucking grief, just wear a mask, it's not an infringement on your supposed freedoms you fucking morons! You see that sign in the store window? The one that says "No shirt, no shoes, no service"? Well guess what, this is the same damn thing. Government mandate or business decision, the store is Private Property, and if you don't like their policies, you are free to shop somewhere else. In any case this isn't about your supposed "freedom", it's about public health, and your right to be a selfish prick stops where my health, and everybody else's, begins. Masks stem the spread of the virus. The data on this is very clear. I will not discuss this any further. 
Meanwhile, back in my local neighborhood...
The coronavirus has, surprisingly, had very little impact on my day-to-day life. True, it did wreak my vacation plans - I typically run off to Arizona and the West twice per year - but aside from that, disruption has been minimal. Early on, some of the stores I frequent were closing an hour or two early, but now there's not even that, just one gas station that used to be open 24/7 but now closes at 10:00 PM. My area lost one restaurant; much to my amazement, a new one opened nearby and they seem to be doing pretty well. Hey, more power to them. 
I had a couple of medical appointments by phone, and an eye doctor appointment that was postponed by a month (to last Thursday, actually; new glasses are on order ), but that's not really much of an issue. The city bus was, until earlier this month, waiving fare collection for the driver's safety but that's now over. Going to miss that. 
I wear a mask whenever I visit any of the local businesses (see how easy that is?) but aside from that, my life is no different than it was a year ago, although I do seem to be spending less money than I used to. No idea why, though. 
Oh, and now all of the area's fast food places deliver. Yep, Big Macs are now just a phone call away. So much for my diet. 
Eclipse
It blows. 
Oh, no holiday Core giveaway this Christmas. I really wanted to start doing it again but since Eclipse Core has no real value over a non-Core account yet still costs $50.00 for a one year subscription, well, haha, NO. I might change my mind if dA were to add some significant improvements to Eclipse Core between now and December but the odds on that happening are about the same as the coronavirus just going away on it's own, which is not going to happen.
Music to scare your parents
"Hagal", by Wardruna:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQA7RQEo-ss&ab_channel=Bedivere
"Suurin", by Kati Ran:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQWmryiIcxY&ab_channel=KatiR%C3%A1n
These sure would've freaked out mine; they'd think I'd gone pagan or something. 
That's all for now
Meant to write a new journal entry long before this but just never got around to it. Not sure if anyone actually reads journals anymore but whatever, I needed to write this one. Hopefully it won't take me another two years to write the next one. 
Eivor Palsdottir
Recently I've been spending a lot of time on YouTube, listening to Celtic-style music. Found a lot of good stuff, too, by a lot of talented artists, and all of it is a cut above the mindless drivel of modern "Pop" music.
But I digress. A couple of days ago I got it into my head to check out some Nordic-style music as well; like so many others, I've long had an interest in Nordic mythology and Viking culture, so seeking out music by Nordic artists or at least with Nordic themes seemed like the logical thing to do. Heh, I hit the jackpot; rousing battle epics, songs capturing the feel of mythological places such as Jötunheimr and Asgard, odes to romance, warriors, and the old gods... It's been quite an experience. And then, I discovered Eivør Pálsdóttir.Eivør hails from the Faroe Islands, about halfway between Norway and Iceland. Her style encompasses many musical genres, including rock, folk, and European classical. I could go on and write more details about her career, but here, it's the voice that matters, and oh my stars, what an amazing voice she has, so distinct and with such power, such passion. Utterly spellbinding, no matter what genre she's working with. You have to listen to her sing to know what I mean, and why she stirs something deep in my soul.
I don't normally use my journal for promotional purposes but then again, I've rarely been this deeply moved, by music or anything else. So, for this amazingly talented, magical lady, I'll make an exception. More people need to know about her, and hear her. Eivør is, in all honesty, the finest singer I've ever had the privilege of hearing.
And now, time to share a few of her videos.
Í Tokuni Sung in her native language (Faroese)
Salt Also sung in Faroese. As one commenter said, "It makes me feel like I'm watching a living ancient goddess sing her message..."
Undo Your Mind Sung in English. Darker and heavier than the first two.
Tròdlabùndin Sung in Faroese. This is the first Eivor song that I ever heard, and the one that got me hooked. Nothing fancy, just a woman and a drum. Nothing else is needed. I can almost hear the Aesir calling me...
Absolutely wonderful.
Eivør's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCjKO6…
Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eivø…
#music #musicvideo #nordic #video #Eivor
(Please be respectful when commenting.)
Anyway, I'll be giving away 4-5 Core memberships between now and Christmas. Same deal as the last several years; I wander the site, I look at profiles, galleries, etc., and pick a few lucky recipients. Don't ask me how I choose who to give to; frankly, I'm not entirely certain of that myself. I just know them when I see them. I'd love to give out more than five but $50.00 is a lot of money for what little Core actually gives you. If the dA staff would see fit to add a handful of interesting and useful new features to Core I might be inclined to buy more than 4-5 memberships but I don't see that happening, ever. In any case I ask for little in return; a smile and a "thank you" are more than sufficient... although llama badges are always appreciated, too. Okay, I guess that covers everything. Happy holidays!
Overdue journal update
I'm writing this entry partially to get the previous journal off of my page, but mostly because I'm bored. 
Live from Bisbee, it's the Darwin Awards!
Just the qualifying round; nobody died. Anyway, there is a very good pizza restaurant in Bisbee, Arizona, known as the "Screaming Banshee" which former deviant Hfdoll and I visited back on March 11th during my most recent trip to the state. The restaurant has outdoor seating, where a lot of the locals were feasting on pizza and beer... mostly beer. Light traffic rolled by on the nearby street, and anytime a car or a motorcycle drove past us, the crowd would applaud. Beats me why; guess that a
Eventually a skateboarder came whizzing down the hill (Bisbee is mostly hills) and the applause began again. The idiot responded by showing off, throwing his arms wide and tilting his head back, like Leonardo DiCaprio's "I'm the king of the world" scene in that overrated Titanic movie. The applause grew louder, and at that point he hit a rock, flew off the skateboard, and crashed head-first into the tailfin of one of the reveler's cars. Ouch. He lay sprawled on the pavement for around three minutes before anyone realized that this wasn't part of the act and summoned an ambulance, which arrived fifteen minutes later and carted him off to a hospital. No idea what happened to him after that. The show being over at that point, the revelers returned to their pizza and beer. At least they had the good taste not to applaud any more traffic. The moral of the story? When using a skateboard, one should PAY ATTENTION TO THE FUCKING ROAD and not show off for applauding drunks.
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Comic-Con 2017 and beyond
I'm going.
The fun begins in a little over two months. No idea what's going to be happening this year but I always manage to have a good time, and I don't expect this year to be any different. I have a new camera this year, too, so you can expect a lot of photos from the grand event, photos of cosplayers, exhibits, merchandise, possibly a celebrity or two, and of most of the meals I eat. I love food pics. After the Con I'll be visiting Arizona yet again, where I will complain about the late July heat while Hfdoll and I dream up new and interesting (and mostly legal) ways of entertaining ourselves. Arizona is generally almost as much fun as the Con, plus it's a hell of a lot quieter and less crowded. Normally I go there the week before the Con but some of the activities we've been looking into suggested that me arriving in AZ after this year's Con would make more sense, so that's what I'm doing. I'll let you know what we're up to after we've done it. Microsoft Edge sucks
Seriously, it does. Quite often when I click on a link, be it here on dA or elsewhere, it won't go to the linked page unless I click the "Open in new tab" option, which is annoying. Refreshing the page clears it up, but the fact that it happens at all is still annoying. Worse still is that "Block third-party cookies" option, which doesn't work for shit. I know this because I get cookies from Instagram even though I'm not on Instagram; there was an Instagram photo on a news story I read but I wasn't on the actual site. Some other sites dump a bunch of cookies on me when I close Edge, which of course lets them in. I never had these problems with Internet Explorer. And please, don't tell me to switch to Firefox or Chrome; I don't like the former and the latter tracks what you're doing. Hopefully AdBlock or some other online pest control company will come out with something called "CookieBlock" in the near future, but I won't hold my breath.
That's all, folks!
That's it for now, although I might create a new poll if inspiration strikes me.
Yep, it's that festering time of year again. Sullen retail workers, psychotic shoppers, a pest with a kettle and a bell, blizzards, traffic jams, Deniers screaming that a half-inch of snow in winter PROVES that global warming is a "leftist liberal commie pinko homo lie", and some of the most irritating music ever written. "Merry Christmas" my ass. On the bright side, my brother takes the entire clan to Cheesecake Factory for the family's annual Christmas Eve pig-out, so the holiday season isn't a complete waste. More importantly, at least to you guys, it's also the time of year when I give away a few year-long
Same drill as always; pornographers, pedos, drama queens, trolls, homophobes, and the like are not eligible, but everyone else is. Mostly I'll be doing renewals of memberships I gave last year, plus a couple of new ones. I'd love to give out more but $50.00 is a lot of money for what little Core actually gives you; if the dA staff would see fit to add a handful of interesting and useful new features to Core I'd be inclined to buy more than 4-5 memberships but I don't see that happening, ever. Fifty bucks for what you get isn't very cost effective, unfortunately, which is why I downgraded the name of this annual event from "semi-great" to "marginal". Nonetheless I'll be giving away a few memberships over the next few weeks anyway, because despite the price I'm determined to make at least a few people smile.
What do I want in return? Not much, really. A smile and a "thank you" are more than sufficient... although llama badges are always appreciated, too. Whining at me won't increase your odds of getting a Core from me, so don't do it.
HAPPY HOLIDAZE!!!