It's TV Time

      Let's talk about TV but first, it's been a while since I posted a photo of myself for accountability. I've spent a lot of time bashing how I look lately and how I'm not where I'm at, but that doesn't mean that I've failed at body management. I still have a goal and look in mind and I will get there, but I just wanted to keep you up to date on just what I look like, so here is a crappy out of focus picture that I took last Monday.

 

     You can see I've maintained rather well despite my rumblings. You can also see that color fading in my beard, it's not gone yet, and I'm still having dry skin issues, but this is the first week I've gone without any swelling reaction, so that's a plus. I'm pretty sure I'm on the back end of all this now, I just have to get my skin healthy again.

     Ok, I meant to talk to you about two shows I watched last week, but forgot. The first is The Queen's Gambit. It's on Netflix, and it is outstanding. It stars Anna Taylor Joy as a young chess prodigy that has some addiction problems and her drive to be the best chess player in the world stirs those addictions into some very costly behavior. It's a limited series, so this is the only season. I binged it all in a day and loved every minute of it.

     The second show is on Amazon Prime and is called Truth Seekers. It comes from the minds of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I love anything they are a part of especially if they are part of the creative team behind it. Nick plays a cable repairman that moonlights as a paranormal investigator. It has that BBC big budget (which is rather a low budget) vibe to it, and kind of feels like a spin off of Doctor Who. It's really smart and funny, and is also a short series that you can watch in a day. I'm not sure if it's been picked up for a second season, but they leave it open for one with the way it ended. If you like sci fi quirkiness, you will love this show.

     Those were the two I wanted to tell you about last week. Last night I watched a documentary on Disney +. It premiered Friday, and it's about Taylor Swift's latest album. As you may know, I am a Swifty and love Taylor, but my appreciation for her grew astronomically from watching this film. It's called Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions. It is her, Aaron Dessner of The National, and Jack Antonoff of Fun and Bleachers. They were co writers on this album with Taylor, and they all recorded their parts either at their own personal studios, or as in Taylor's case, from her home. They never played the album together, and this project was the first time they actually got together in person to play through the album. In between each song, either all of them or sometimes just two of them at a time, talk about the upcoming song and the inspiration behind each song, and the stories of writing it. If you haven't heard the album Folklore yet, it is a bit of a departure from Taylor's past albums. She took a chance and wrote with indie artists that she always wanted to write with and what came from it may be the most personal album she has ever written, even though there is an underlying story within it of 3 people in a sorted love triangle. 

     Even if you aren't a fan of Taylor and are just a fan of music, watch this documentary. It really goes inside the song writing experience and then there is them playing each song live in the studio together. Watching that even inspired me to pick up the guilele, which in turn got me to pick up the ukulele, so I could learn one of the songs, which brings us to Favorite Song of the Week.

     While watching the movie, one song stood out to me. I've listened to the album several times, but I didn't notice this one as much as when I watched it. The guitar part is fingerpicking and is really smooth, and I though it would translate over to ukulele since they were playing it so far down on the neck. Turns out I was right, and after several hours of frustration and interruptions I got to a point where I felt pretty good about the direction I was going with it. I've never been great at fingerpicking so this was an ambitious endeavor. I figured out the pattern and gave it a try with the chords that I found for it, and that's where the frustration comes in. Even though it's the same pattern over and over again, doing that while changing chords and doing it all at the right time is difficult. I finally gave up and started with the basics. Get the chords down while strumming and then tackle the hard stuff. Once the chord progressions was down, and I know longer had to look at the tab, and could do it from memory, it was time to work on the fingerpicking. I gave it the full on try, and failed miserably, so I shortened the pattern and only played half of it through with the song for a few times. Once I felt comfortable with that it was back to the full pattern. I had to stop after a few hours because my finger tips are bruised and my hands were hurting. That's the cost of not playing for a very long time. I need to get my hand and finger strength built back up. By the time that happened I was playing along with the song, fingerpicking and making the chord changes with only minimal mistakes, which could have been from the fatigue in my hands and fingers. It's going to take a lot of practice still, but I will get it. Anyway it's time for me to tell you what the song is so, for my Favorite Song of the Week, this is Taylor Swift with her song "Invisible String".

     Next week I may have some pictures for you. I'm doing a photoshoot with that woman I told you about last week. It's going to be fun. I'm ready for it. Mostly because it's a chance to be creative and get behind the camera again, but also because I get out of the house for a few hours, which hasn't happened for some time. She has an ambitious schedule and ideas for one evening, but we will get as much done as we can and I'll share a few of the best shots with you next week. Til next week peace in and goodnight.

Will It Ever Change

      I didn't write last week, cause there really wasn't anything to write about. The days seem to blend into one another lately. I wake up, I deal with my mom who no longer has any idea who I am or where she is, then I go to sleep. Yes, I knew that was the choice I was making when I decided to take care of her full-time. What I didn't expect was to be so isolated due to a pandemic. I knew people would disappear, that's what has happened throughout my entire life. 

     Earlier this week, or last week, however you want to look at it, I saw an Instastory from someone I follow. I've met them once when I did a photoshoot with them. You might remember this shot, which I loved and had been wanting to get for some time.

     Anyway, she was posting a rant about her life and where she was right now, and I related to it, so I reached out to her as a friend to let her know that if she ever just wanted to talk to hit me up. The really good part is that we are planning a photoshoot again. One of her issues was people always wanting something from her. If it's a photographer they want money, or other things. I just want to do something creative again, so we are going to collaborate on this shoot, and possibly many more to come. We are planning the shoot for two weeks from now. That way I can let the person that sometimes picks up my mom some time to make arrangements so that they can be here for the time I need for the shoot. We are working on location and time now, but we have to figure it all out before next week, so I can give that person a weeks notice. I don't want them being caught off guard like I always am. Don't worry, I'm not turning this into a rant on how nobody gives me advanced notice of anything. Just pointing out facts of my life.

      Over the next few days I'll be working out with the camera to get in photo shape. By working out, I mean going around and taking pictures to get used to manually capturing photos again. You may remember that I like to be in total control of what I capture in the lens from the stand point of shutter speed, aperture, focal length. Yes, that makes thing much harder, but that also means that the images I capture are exactly what I want.

     I'm also expecting a lot of input from her as well. I want this shoot to be as much hers as mine, since the majority of picture will be hers for her portfolio. I'll be sharing my favorites here of course, but  her favorites will be for her own site and viewers.

     Latest update on my face. Yeah, that's a weird way to put it. My eyes began swelling up again last night, but I caught it early and minimized it. My skin is insanely dry to the point that my whole face is scaly and peeling. It has a constant burning feeling to it and it hurts. Today I'm pushing through the pain and forgoing moisturizer, just to see if my skin will work harder to heal itself. I've tried everything else, so why not give my own natural healing powers a chance to do their thing. I'm still not completely sure why it's still doing this, but I am narrowing down the possibilities, and I'm still convinced that it all stems from that beard dye that I used. I think that it weakened my skin to the point where anything will agitate it, hence the reason why I'm giving my own body a chance to do it's thing. 

      I've been looking into new organic and safe dyes, and found one that is a plant based henna dye. I'm not going to try them until all the color is out of my beard. That way if something happens I know it's the new dye, and not questioning whether it's the old stuff still doing it's thing. I got two colors. I went with a natural black, since I was surprised at how much I liked having a black beard. I also went with indigo, which based on what they say on their site, I should end up with a bluish colored beard. It's not the purple I want, but It will be fun to have an odd colored beard. From what they say, the lighter you start out, the more blue it will look. Since I'll be going from grey, it should be a nice shade of blue. The more I use it, the darker to black it will get, so I'll have to spread out how often I color it, if it all works out. The natural black, should turn it to a deep brown color and only get darker as I use it. Although the idea for the pictures I wanted to get need the black beard, I think I'm going to go with the indigo first, so I can enjoy a little color in my life. Maybe I'll come up with some other makeup for a character that should have a blue beard. Regardless of that, it's going to be maybe a month before I can do it. I still have quite a bit of brown left from that crappy dye.

     Time for Favorite Song of the Week. This week I came across The Crow on TV, and did what I naturally do. I watched it. I love that movie and that soundtrack. One of the best songs on it is from one of my favorite all time bands, so I wanted to share my joy with you of watching that movie and reliving all those feelings of the 90's. Here is Nine Inch Nails with "Dead Souls".

     Have a great week, Oh and don't forget to read The Patchwork Knight on Medium. It is up on the site for free, and I really want people to read it. Peace in and goodnight.

A New Day Is Upon Us

       It's definitely been a week. Stress eating but in moderation has gotten me through it, and with the big announcement yesterday I decided to break ranks and celebrate with a bunch of carbs. It was good, but reminded me that that satisfaction I used to get from them, just isn't there anymore. Don't really miss them at all.

       Let's talk about the fact that dogs are going to be back in the White House. The Biden's have two dogs, both german shepards. Champ has been in the White House before, back when the Biden's were the second family.

     Thats Champ down at the bottom of the picture. In the upper left is Major. There is something very special about Major.

     Major will be the first rescue dog to ever reside in the White House. As you know, I love rescue dogs, both of my pitties are rescues and I will only get rescues for the rest of my life. I'm hoping that Major will shine a light on rescues and the need for people to adopt. It's time to put breeders out of business, there are millions of fantastic animals sitting in shelters right now that need homes. If you want a certain breed, take the time and look around you will find that breed in a shelter near you, or you can talk to your local shelter and they can reach out to other shelters to find what you are looking for. Shelters will often do trades with other shelters to help place pets that are more likely to get homes in certain areas. Morty was a trade from a shelter across the state. They were having trouble placing him in a home and sent him across state to my local shelter where I found him. Morty has had a happy home for nearly three years now. This is the part were I implore you with every ounce of my being to adopt and not shop. If you are looking for a pet, any pet, check your local shelters. Like I said, if they don't have it, they might be able to point you in the right direction for you to adapt exactly what you are looking for.

     One of the most powerful images I saw yesterday while roaming around social media was of Kamala Harris walking with the shadow of Ruby Bridges. If you don't know who she is, she was the first girl to desegregate an elementary school in Louisiana. That was in November of 1960.  That may seem like a long time ago, but it's only a generation away. It shows the progress of this nation, but the lack of speed of it as well.

     We must do better as a nation and a people to be more accepting of everyone. The election may be over, but the fight has just begun. I am committed to making change that benefits everyone and not just a select few. The underlying story of this nation is how people of color stepped up and made change happen. Black women came out in massive numbers to lean the election the way it went. Navajo nation voted overwhelmingly for change at a clip of 97%, yet their women are kidnapped, raped, and murdered at high levels and not justice is sought for them. The vast majority of native women's murders and crimes go unsolved and uninvestigated. That needs to change. They are the indigenous people of this nation, and deserve much more than they have gotten. This link will tell you more about their plight and how you can help. https://mmiwusa.org

     I have one more website for you. This origination was created by Stacey Abrams after her unfair election loss. She devoted her time and effort to make sure that no one in Georgia would suffer that injustice again, and it appears, that it had a massive hand in Georgia's latest election. If you have friends and family in Georgia, there is a runoff election in January for the two remaining senate seats. Send them this link so that they are ready to vote in those elections. https://fairfight.com Every vote should count from eery eligible voter no matter their political affiliation.

     Ok, I'm done with the political stuff. I do have an update on the allergic reaction. I'm still having some problems. Last Sunday I said it was feeling great, and it was, but Monday I had a horrible relapse. I woke up Monday morning with a stinging around my eyes, as the day progressed it got worse and my face swelled. It took a couple of days for the swelling to go away, but I'm left with very dry skin and a constant itching. This was me on Monday evening.

     You can see how puffy my face is and how my left eye is closing up a bit. That wasn't the peak of it either. it got worse by the time I went to sleep, which was very difficult to do. I'm looking forward to when this is completely healed and done. I won't be able to get the pictures I wanted, because I can't put any thing on my face that might irritate it. I will be searching out alternatives to dying my beard, but I won't try any until I'm absolutely certain that I won't have a reaction. This will go away, but this is the beginning of week three with irritation and itching. In the meantime, I will come up with some other ideas that won't require me to dye my beard for the photos. I may have to create my own character look, which will be kind of fun. For now it will just be in the planning stages with no trial, until my skin is back to normal. I may have to do some drawings. This will be a great excuse for me to break out the pad and pencils.

     Last but not least, it's time for Favorite Song of the Week. Just a couple of days ago, Miley Cyrus released a new song from her up coming album. This is a mashup of her first single from the album and a classic rock song. When I first heard Midnight Sky, I held this Stevie Nicks vibe. I even sent it to a friend and said that I could hear Stevie in it, not her, but the whole feel of it. Miley must have had the same thought when she wrote the song, because this mashup is with Stevie and the song Edge of Seventeen. It's clear when you hear it, that it heavily influenced Miley's song. Here is Miley featuring Stevie Nicks in "Edge of Midnight".

     It's a great song with a whole 70's rock vibe. I'm going to go listen to it again and relax while all of yesterdays carbs settle in. Tomorrow begins a new and the fight begins anew. Not just with health, but for a better living for all. Lift up voices that are normally silenced. Peace in and goodnight.

It's All For Free

      It's been a long week. A lot of ups and downs and self reflection. I had hoped to have some photos for you, but alas, I feel prey to an allergic reaction to the beard dye that I used. I did manage to get some test photos done, of the makeup. No full body shots, so I can share a couple of those with you. The day after taking those photos and doing the make up my face began burning and itching. It was worse under my beard which developed blisters like a really bad sunburn. Mind you, I took the allergy test that Just For Men recommended, what I didn't know is, that since the mid 2000's they have had an increase in people suffering allergic reactions to their product. The allergy test is to take the product and put a coin size amount on your inner elbow, wait 48 hours and if there is no reaction, you are good to go. I did that and had no reaction what so ever, not even a tiny itch. When I looked into what was going on, I found that people that have used this product haven't had reactions until days later, like me. It was 4 days after using the product that I began having the problem. It was difficult to sleep for several days, and I had to not only wash my beard and face a lot, but I had to use hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the chemical that causes the problem. Yeah, It appears to be one chemical in the formula that they use to bond color to the hair follicle. It causes an irritation that is not only painful but rather annoying. My face is finally feeling a bit normal now, but it is peeling like a spent hours in the sun. The beard itches, which is maddening, but that is the new skin underneath healing. Needless to say, I threw out that dye. If I want to try and maintain this look I will have to go another route, because in my research to find out what was going on, it said that this will happen with each application. I'm currently searching out alternative and safer products, but I may just go back to gray, which was really the plan from the beginning, I just liked the look so much. Anyway, here are those test photos.

     I'll have to put off the photos, until my face is full healed. I've only been putting moisturizer on it for now, and that's all I want on it, til my skin is back to normal.

     Before I get into that self reflection part, I did want to share with you my choice for best Halloween costume. It's a family photo from Neil Patrick Harris, and they all dressed like characters from my favorite movie, and they absolutely nailed it. Their son looks exactly like Charlie from the movie, it is uncanny.

      Ok, now to that self reflection. I've been talking to someone this week and they wanted to read my stories, so I gave them the link to The Patchwork Knight. They could only get to chapter 7 before the paywall kicked in on Medium. I went to find the friends link to give them and it wasn't there. That got me to thinking though. The story never got the readership that I had hoped for, and it hasn't made any money for about a year. Part of that was lack of interest and the other was Medium not promoting my stories that were published before they started a new format, so the chapters that were up early on were basically blacklisted because they wouldn't allow them to go up for review. With all that in mind I went in and took down the paywall for the whole story. I could go back in later and monetize them and have them all go to review, but I'll let it sit for a while. This means now is your chance to read the entire edited version of the story with no worries of a special link or having to pay to see it. Here is the link for you to get started at Chapter 1 The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 1) I only ask one thing from yo gif you read it, and that is to give me your honest opinion about it. I personally think it is my greatest accomplishment, and I honestly don't know if I'll have another one. My creativity has somewhat dried up, and with the state of the world, who knows how much time we all have left. I just want people to read my story and enjoy it.

     I'm just going to leave that story and the NPH family photo as my Favorite Things of the Week, and hope you have a great week. Don't forget that Tuesday is the last day of the election and if you haven't voted, please be safe and get out there and vote. I truly fear for this nation. Peace in and goodnight.