Blackrose321

Aww thank you, you guys are the best! I did manage to pick myself up enough to go out to dinner and buy some books. And then we went to the Ren Faire (again) the following day. =)

Today is my birthday. All I can seem to think about are the tremendous losses I've endured over the last 5 years. I was sitting in our spare room, surrounded by unpacked boxes, when something caught my eye - the last gift my little brother ever gave me, a Cozmo Robot. I'm charging it but I'm not sure what to do with it other than sit and cry.

I think he's always been trash. His 22 year old is just as ugly of a person as he is. Look up "braeden sorbo racist". He's an arrogant little weirdo who went on Tiktok to ask why "everything has to be about race" while specifically posting a video that makes race the central theme. He's a typical rich white boy who thinks he's special. KKKevin just got away with being a bigot because he was famous at a time when he had fewer public avenues for showing off his racism. Now people are so full of themselves that, given enough time, they'll out themselves on social media. KKKevin started this shit at least back in 2014, he didn't even need the MAGAt movement: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2014/08/21/hercules-eye-raising-rant-ferguson/77348262/

KKKevin clearly thinks of black people as a monolith that he can speak for. I worked with an older black lady at the library. One day a group of young black teens walked by and I guess she heard one of them use the n-word because she snapped back damn hard. Told them in no uncertain terms that she didn't want to hear it and if they repeated it, they'd be kicked out. But I guess that means she isn't black now? Because KKKevin gets to decide what it means to be black...? This is a guy who clearly can't stand black people. He's got a very limited and hateful view of blackness so you also know he does his best to surround himself with only white people. If he ever interacted with anyone who isn't white, they'd correct his bullshit immediately and he can't have that.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness."

They never think very far ahead, do they? This should have been pretty obvious... It reminds me of two different times they attacked libraries and "succeeded" - in one case, they were up in arms about a singular LGBTQ+ display so they pushed to defund the library, obviously "borrowing" from the left without reading the actual details of what "defunding" meant. They succeeded and then a month later, the library announced that it would be closing permanently because it couldn't operate without funding. R's turned up bawling their little eyes out saying they didn't know that would happen... Just the kind of people you turn to for their opinion on economic policy. The second was when they successfully pushed a ban on books that were too "vulgar". They clearly meant to push a fascist agenda because fascists never even contemplate whether policies will or should apply to them...sure enough, a pro-freedom leftist immediately submitted a complaint about the Bible because it's just full of filth and violence. It got yanked, just like everything else, no special treatment there. They operate on such a basic, emotional level, it's like watching monkeys flinging poop at the zoo.

I didn't realize you guys cared about veterans, didn't Trump pay his way out altogether?

What do you mean by "no one debates policy, at least not anymore"? Trump has only run in two elections, and at the beginning, before he rose to the top, yes, people did still at least attempt to discuss policy. He has definitely tried his best to dumb politics down to his level but he's hardly been around for decades. Let's not be so accepting of nonsense just because it worked for a few years. Kamala still has the option to, at least within her own campaign and future handling of Trump, turn that around. The right will predictably ignore it, but the right isn't going to vote left for anything. Remember, these are the same people who fell for anti-vax rhetoric; they are already lost causes. They gladly sacrificed their "loved ones" just to back a snake oil salesman so setting your expectations and behavior based on them is a bad idea. The fact still remains that Trump wanted Biden in the race, which means he felt he was an even/easy match. Why would he be worried about Kamala? I think he's worried for the reasons I already provided. If she doesn't rise to his bait and she sticks to her talking points with some snark added in, he'll make himself look stupid. Stupid people will always vote for stupid people but he's a narcissist and he hates being laughed at.

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what was going on there... lol

Isn't it obvious? He can't debate policy, he didn't win by debating policy, he won by appealing to certain demographics (some mixture of rural, christian, and racist) that wouldn't know any better. Ranting about immigrants to get bigots riled up is not a policy. Remember, the majority of Americans - 70%+ - can't read above a middle school level. Math scores are poor. Critical thinking skills are poor. He wasn't chosen by intellectuals for a reason. His constituents aren't educated enough to understand policy, and they aren't hardworking enough to learn. It's also why experts and education are under attack - that's not an accident. Joe was an "easy" target because they're both old as dirt, they were banking on him making mistakes. In Trump's case though, you expect him to look and sound stupid because he always looks and sounds stupid so they never hold him accountable. There's no difference between one senior moment and the next. It's what the bulk of his base likes because, again, they aren't the people who are reading books, learning languages, enjoying or creating art, having open conversations, etc. They live very small, basic lives. They're throwing back brewskis after another shift at the factory, bitching about "woke" politics while their overlords underpay and overwork them. They drank the corporate koolaid. They blame the wrong people for their miserable lives because it feels good, these people enjoy pretending to be oppressed when they're only oppressed by their own stupidity. Now that Joe is out, Trump's major tactic - name-calling - has to be retooled. And Kamala is less likely to fall for it than Biden, because she's younger and therefore sharper. Now Trump is the only old fart in the race. Not a great position to be in when you have no debate skills. He's already embarrassing himself, he can't get through a single speech or interview without throwing a tantrum or rambling incoherently. His own sheeple fall asleep mid-babble. He puts on a big act but make no mistake, the walls are closing in and he knows it. Not that anything will ever happen to him but he's a narcissist and narcs hate being laughed at. He knows he isn't savvy enough to navigate the lies he's told and the crimes he's committed when they're put right in front of him. The NABJ interview was just a taste of what's to come.

I'm struggling to pick up the pieces after what happened. I know he was "just a dog" but he was my third loss since 2019, the first two being immediate family members. It's left me wondering what the point is when everything feels like it's actively slipping away from me. I feel deflated and my career status isn't helping. I tried to explain my feelings to my friend but she's dismissive. She tells me to "quit and get another job" as if I can just go down to the job store and pick one up. I feel frozen because I've always worked to improve my circumstances, I've always put in the time and effort, but after 12 years of this post-graduation, something clearly isn't working...so now I'm afraid to make another misstep that'll cost me even more time...

I had to put one of my dogs to sleep yesterday. It was so sudden. I don't know what to do with myself. He was only 10.

I can't tell if I'm overreacting to something that commonly happens to everyone or if I'm really experiencing this more than average, whatever the average even is. After years of isolation, I'm trying to be more social, so when I go to the gym, I talk with people. Yesterday, the conversation went something like this: Anne: *shows picture* This is my daughter. Look at her curly hair! Me: Aww, so cute! I wish my hair was a little more interesting— Beth: No, you don't. Me: —mine just falls flat. My mother-in-law tried to curl my hair once... By this point, both women had already turned to their phones and begun to ignore me. I was literally just talking to myself, so I stopped. I mentioned my husband later, and they were all like, "Oh my God, you have a husband? We didn't know that!" You didn't know because when one or two people insist on being the center of attention, everyone else gets left out... It happens at work, too. I'm a PM, so I try to hop in. I should be able to hop in, but sometimes it's just impossible. People talk over me, and I feel stupid. It used to happen at the library all the time. It was a 100% woman-run library, so cliques formed, and I, as per usual, got left out. I was targeted for three years, and one of their favorite pastimes was pretending I didn't exist. My mother-in-law is similar. When she does ask about me, she moves on quickly as if she's checked off a task, or she uses what I've just said to talk about herself. We somehow started talking about jaw pain—I think I wasn't feeling well—because my jaw has been in horrible condition for a long time now, at least since 2020. I clench all the time, even during the day. It's a long story... Anyway, she uses my pain to launch into a story about how she has jaw pain too. And I'm like, "Lady, I literally have a 24/7/365 disorder that my insurance won't cover. Your brand new, as-of-this-conversation problem doesn't compare to four years of being in so much pain you burst into tears." I'm invisible... Maybe I should just go back to keeping to myself.

I used to have terrible phone anxiety, and I still had it when I began working as a librarian. I worked more hours on reference than any of the other librarians because they were catty assholes so I had to get over that pretty fast. It was painful...I feel for you...

Omg seriously? Which thread is that? I took a brief look but wasn't sure which it might be.

Do you have any thoughts on the Catholic church being a pedo ring? What are your thoughts on Trump admitting to walking into changing rooms full of naked kids? I just want to get a fuller idea of how hard you're fighting for the kids before we continue forward.

I want a fucking raise. I wasn't offered that high of an hourly rate to begin with, the fee for my services has just been raised by 22.22%, I haven't gotten a single penny more since 2022, and these people are driving me up a goddamn wall.

Wait, is that real? I don't use Twatter and I try to pretend Muskrat doesn't exist. lol

Trump's nickname for Kamala seems to be "Lyin' Kamala Harris". I think he's losing his touch.

What weirdos. Did you know that the peace symbol is also offensive to them? Had no idea until my MiL was horrified at the idea of buying a mug with the "upside down broken cross" on it. I was like... I'm pretty sure that's the symbol for peace and it has its own history but sure, add that to the list of things you've stolen...

Those are the saddest sympathy chuckles I've ever heard. Yeah, I think that's the difference between being part of a political party and not a cult. The right has gotten so loony they'll be waiting for Trump to rise up like Christ after he kicks it. Watching them act like kooks has made me feel incredibly secure in my atheism though so that's been great.

Yeah, I'm sure that was a typo. Can you report the listing? Not that I expect anyone to do anything but that shit is infuriating.

On that note, my MiL, who considers herself a totally devout christian despite all of the major sins she's committed, also had snark for Jill Biden because she speaks out in support of her husband. How damn fast do you think she'd flip her shit if I started swatting my husband, her son, and refused to support his career choices?

Which really just goes to show how terrible MAGAts are - anyone voting for Trump after everything that's happened is a truly awful person. Criticize Bill if you want, I don't worship politicians so I don't care, but don't forget that your god-chosen christian president fucked at least one hooker while his THIRD wife was pregnant with his son. Can you imagine the amount of bullying that kid probably got in school? He's rich as fuck but so is everyone else he hangs out around, his money makes no difference - having your daddy's whoring around plastered all over the internet while you're in high school must have really helped his social life and self-esteem. And it definitely helped Trump's marriage, how many times has Melania been recorded swatting his hand away? For the kids! Save our kids!