A few changes

 

The comment section is going to be testing some new options. I want your honest (really I do) opinion on them. If they work, they stay. If they don’t, my bit bucket isn’t quite full. Also any recommendations you’d like to make. I can’t promise they’ll happen but I’ll see what I can do.

I can’t test from here so I’d appreciate you looking for me.

From my tablet this looks BAAAAAAD. If you don’t see a graphic, it’s because I removed it and hopefully I’ll find a way to make the  tablet experience a little less shitty.

Yes, it really happened

I got a nastygram from Facebook saying a comment I posted was removed for “inciting violence” and if it happened again, I’d get banned.

The post? “Off with his head”…Alice in Wonderland quote (almost). Ok, I admit this could have looked like it except for the graphic that was asking for a caption. Sort of like this:

Except the head was definitely someone else (who was male) and not near as nice as this, sitting on a half-sheet cake. And it actually looked like the head might not really be cake itself. So the most obvious comment was “Off with his head”. I mean, really, do you want the next pictures, of something that was meant to be a tribute, to be those slicing into the head?

And if the head was styrofoam or other non-cake material, it would have to be removed anyway in order to cut the cake.

So FB clutched its pearls, had the vapors and reprimanded me in no uncertain terms.

For about 15 minutes, after which I got an apology and an “oh, we mis-understood, your comment has been returned”. You have to wonder about the discussion that turned that around.

“You morons did what? It’s a fucking CAKE and how do you eat a cake without cutting it? Not to mention that you didn’t recognize a quote from one of the most famous kid’s books in existence. A CAKE”

Or, at least I hope it went that way.

 

 

And So it Goes

The town where I was born and raised is dying. It’s changed, some for the better, a lot for the worse but I hate to see the things that say it won’t be around for a lot longer. It may even be gone before I am.

It no longer has a grocery store. Down to a single convenience store but no full service grocery. It’s become a food desert. And I have a hard time wrapping my head around that.

Growing up we had at least 3 groceries. One full service, 2 niche and then local produce and meats. A&P, Golden Dawn, Schoeffel’s. A&P left, Kroger’s built a whole new supermarket building but that didn’t last. The building is now the city hall and historical society.

Golden Dawn shut down with the death of the owner. Schoeffel’s last until Covid. Then the last; locally owned and operated. Now the last is gone.

I hear that a food co-op has been established but they are never full service and usually only operate a couple days a week.

The school I attended has closed. New one has been built quite some way out of town. They’re still talking about what to do with the buildings; overflow classrooms maybe but nobody has any real ideas.

I guess I should have expected it when properties started being bought up by the local funeral home owners. Just a sign of things to come.

It is Risen

The original “who we are” post was taken mostly from this Mystical Bestiary, with a lot of adds, asides and interjections from me. I’ll not try to replicate all those but will just give you the basic premise and a link to the original which, by the way, doesn’t stop with harpies but where you can find your favorite mythological entity. (additions in RED are comments from me)

Harpy

Appearance
Harpies, contrary to popular belief, are not a single-gender species. There aren’t only female harpies, but there are harpies of the male gender as well. Harpies look basically like human/bird hybrids, with a human face, feathers for hair, bird-like eyes, bird talon-like hands (while still shaped like a human hand), bird talons for feet, feathers on most of their bodies, bird tails sprouting from their lower backs, and bird wings sprouting from their shoulderblades. Their feathers, eyes, and talon skin differ in color between individuals.

Behavior
Harpies tend to be wary of strangers wandering into their territories, but if one wishes to make friends with them, set out a picnic and/or buffet to satisfy their hunger, or give them a new recipe so that they can make it themselves. They are very friendly once one gets to know them, and love food and cooking. Just don’t ask to compare recipes unless you want your ear talked off. Like most other races, harpies mate for life, and the female usually lays one egg at a time, though multiple births are not uncommon. Babies usually hatch after about 9 months, but are still about as helpless as newborn humans. The offspring will usually stay with their parents until they are old enough to leave the nest. (for ‘parents’, read DAD, mom is the bread-stealer)

Powers

Flight: Harpies, due to their wings, are able to fly through the air.

Enhanced agility: Harpies are able to go from one movement to another effortlessly, allowing them to effectively dodge attacks, swing from things, do backflips, and numerous other athletic, gymnastic, and martial implements with little to no effort. (they are not, however, eligible for the Olympic Games. Isn’t that ironic?)

Enhanced balance: Harpies have an extremely well-developed sense of balance, the positioning of limbs in space, center of balance, and the physical condition to use these facts.

Enhanced lung capacity: Harpies have tremendous lung capacity and are able to use oxygen much more efficiently than others while staying active.

Enhanced reflexes: Harpies have a drastically enhanced reaction speed, allowing them to dodge magical attacks, catch falling objects, and react instantaneously to what would take others more time to react.

Aerial adaptation: Harpies are adapted to living in high altitudes, allowing them to use the oxygen more efficiently, combat wind friction, and immunity to vertigo and fear of heights.

Contaminant immunity: Harpies are able to neutralize all existing detrimental contaminants in their bodies.

Sonic scream: Harpies are able to emit highly enhanced destructive and deafening screams of high amplitude. (Not to be confused with the current “Karen” scream)

Air manipulation: Harpies are able to shape and manipulate air.

Avian communication: Harpies, just like merfolk with aquatic creatures, are able to communicate telepathically with birds.

For this, and more, see the Mystical Bestiary

Hello Again!

Here we go again. MCS to the max and my head is getting lumpy from beating it on the desk.

So, please forgive the mess and understand if I throw a few (or more) words you might not want your kids to see.

We lost a lot of stuff I worked pretty hard on and I hadn’t kept copies so this is going to be a brand new start.

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