Barely There (Feeling Vague Freedom)

Welllllll, I'm still alive...surprisingly. And I haven't been online in ages since like.....I was on RL television, where I participated in an interview for a local news station's morning nonprofit spotlight. Oh, did I mention that I was on TEEVEE?! And that I had gone to Harrisburg and helped with a presentation that the ENTIRE Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Committee thinger people actually enjoyed?! A lot has happened since I had to leave college.

Yes, college. I was asked to go home and stay there for a while.....because I spent too much time on Second Life and now I'm paying for it with half a year's worth of agony with Mom and Dad. Time well spent, to be honest, because they have the BOOZE! And free laundry and food and heat and water and sewage and garbage.....

I had just turned 21 this past Halloween/Samhain, and I was supposed to move into MY OWN APARTMENT then, but that stupid freak snowstorm happened and the resulting damage cut out the power to my apartment building. And with no power, they couldn't really process me. I could've moved in the next day, but there were availability issues with the muscular assistance.

Buuut, I was able to enjoy Ghost Adventures lately. Zak, Aaron and Nick....ZOMG, not just cute but also BADASS! (Honeyyyy......significant-other-of-mine.....It's appreciation of their good looks and personality. You don't have to worry about us.) Because of them, I really do want to take up paranormal investigating, which means I need a digital recorder, a still camera, an EMF detector, and a video camera.....but Mom and Dad won't get them for me so I can do this stuff. They're too scared of real life ghost activity (Dad especially), plus Mom's too Catholic for this. I mean, I know that the Church believes in this, that they acknowledge that it's real. But I want to help others know that this is real, that they can start believing too. Plus, why else would I be born on Halloween 21 years ago? LOL! :3

So, tomorrow (from the date of this post), I'm moving and I'm bringing my computer with me, as well as my own TEEVEE and furniture.....and LAMPS! Gawsh, I'm getting my own place! I'm so excited! I can't get online just yet--there's gonna be a small delay there because I can't afford Interwebz just yet. Social Security is being an ASS, especially what with my job and all.

Yes, this past September, I was hired at a specific (anonymous) retail store; those who are friends with me on my RL Facebook account know who I work for. I'm in Customer Service and oftentimes, I help people out on the sales floor. Only problem is that this job has me hating the weekends now: since so many people are off during the weekends, they just have to come on Saturday and Sunday and BLOCK my pathways without much regard. It's a pain in the ass, and with so many people shopping there at once, it gets very overwhelming and nerve-wracking. I wind up being antisocial during those days because of the size of the crowds practicing one of my pet peeves ("Get OUT of the WAY, motherfucker, before I ram this fucking cart into you! I'm working here and just because you're looking at something doesn't mean you have to stand in the MIDDLE of the main trackway with the damn cart blocking the next aisle!" Yeah, I can't shout that but it feels good to get that off my chest.) and my getting behind on put-backs. You know, those items that people initially wanted to buy but decide not to while at the registers because it's too much or too expensive or impractical? Yeah, I put those back--plus ALL of the items that people don't bother to put back where they got it FROM! Most of these lazy folks are kids, but thanks to Dad's way of teaching me respect towards others, he has me putting items back where they belong, with their brothers and sisters also for sale. So, I know these kids haven't been programmed to act the same way but it doesn't hurt to teach them this behavior: "Put it back where you found it." Just saying this to your kids will help me not go overly OCD because they will help contribute to society by not leaving things around. It's like keeping your house clean: the cleaning chemicals go there, and the food goes in the pantry and the toys go into the toybox..... This is a necessary skill that they will use sooner or later, unless you don't care about them living in a pig sty of a place of their own. So, in comparison of practice and behavior, I'm actually a much better person than them. (Yay, narcissism! FOLLOW ME, DAMMIT!)

With a shitload of items packed, including my own microwave, toaster oven, bakeware, set of sharp knives, etc..... (YAY! I can bake my own goodies!) I am typing here while praying for Social Security to improve their standards. They're like, "Oh, since she's living with her parents and they're not using her money on her, along with her having a job that may or may not be over $500 a month, let's just slash her share in half. That way, they can be motivated to do something with her money!" Ye, government! For every dollar I earn, they cut $0.50 out from my share of the tax money. This must be amended, what with the $1,999.99 limit in net worth (like amount in the bank plus assets) and all. Maybe the legislators could stop padding their own paychecks and start increasing the limit for Social Security to $2,500 US. Not that I will join the Occupy movement.

I actually have concerns about that movement: this movement shouldn't be all "anti-capitalism," which is what the communists and anarchists all want, but rather, an opposition to the current principles of the country's capitalists and government. Yeah, the Man may be strapped for cash but COME ON! The members of the middle class (of which I'm a member of--duh!) are the ones who provide the money for their paychecks. But the wealthy members of society (or perhaps anti-society?) are the ones who provide for their campaigns....why? Probably to safeguard their money, leisure activities and business practices..... But there's a reason why they should be taxed more: they can afford to pay for the mudslinging campaigns (which, for some reason, resembles political mud wrestling....WOOHOO REDNECKS!) as well as the higher taxes.... Because they're RICH!

However, this "anti-capitalism" cry for help is a double-edged sword: there are those who work hard and get what they earn....and then there are those who want to get what they haven't earned due to some (non)sense of entitlement. That's why competition is healthy, so that we can do our best so that we can get what we deserve; but the lazy asses who like to sue for dumb-butt reasons want to get by on a hard-working man's salary by doing as little as possible. That's why communism is actually really unfair, because if two people work in a factory in a communist country and one works to do double the minimum amount of work, while the other one just barely does the minimum, the two will still get the same amount of pay, no matter what. That's what promotes laziness: equal treatment. I know, it sounds back-asswards, but it's true. Don't we all want to do our best? Don't we all want to feel that we achieved something? That's why capitalism is good for us, but only in the hands of those who are not misguided pigs of war and oil who crave more power and popularity. That means YOU, Republican fuckheads in office; you're just scared of how society has changed that you are blaming Obama for what Bush did! The members of the LGBTQI community are people, and therefore, are humans! It's not a sin to love someone regardless of their gender, now is it? Jeez, lighten up a bit and then everyone will be happier.

Anyways, time for a more positive ending: this past spring saw the release of the third installment of NutcaseNightmare's :the game: series......titled Reimagine :the game:!!!! It is featured on Newgrounds and totally lots of fun; certainly different from the past two versions, what with all of the problem solving skills needed to "beat" each level. And if you pay attention to the end credits.....OMGOMGOMG! I'm listed as one of the BETA TESTERS! Yay me! xD thank goodness for friendships, lolololol! I just need to jack his keys and unlock the rest so that I can get the other medals and things like that. :3 LOL! My "official" review hasn't been posted yet but I can tell that my score for it will be 9000+/10 stars.

Anyways, that's all I can reveal for now. More to come when I finally obtain my own Interwebz and get caught up on EVERYTHING in Second Life....Did I tell you that Mom and Dad want me to outright ragequit SL, which is why they deprive me of this.....basic need? Nope? I didn't? Okay, just making sure, because I don't wanna repeat myself.... LOL!

Updates--New Twitter, Second Life and Life in Repeat

Sorry for those who just noticed that I changed my blog settings as well as my profile settings. I might as well start reviewing things (critiquing certain items such as flash and browser games, as well as many Internet sites and the likes) and because I might be tweeting my blog posts, I decided to continue to use my online alias of Eden Pyrithea rather than my real life name because I like the anonymity and the protection it provides me. That being said, let's move on to the meat of this post.

Life--I'm back at college, sophomore year, friends with Dexter Manning on my real life Facebook (aka FACEFUCK!) account. Re: Dexter Manning thing--EEEEEP! Unfortunately, my parents are still being pricks about my having a Second Life and so I had to leave my computer behind at home when I moved out here to Collegeland. And I mean the entire computer: tower, monitor, mouse, keyboard, everything--except the headphones and microphones and flash drive. Which means that I can't check in on what I missed over the summer due to the anti-Second Life crackdown my parents are enforcing for "my benefit." And that caused me to miss out on Insilico and Siden Darkest Urban Roleplay action, as well as +DV8+ and Black Maria sales, Bloodlines vampire clan news, Midnight Mania, seasonal grid-wide shopping hunts, my friends and SL family's activities, and the (almost) prime reason why I must get on, which is to get a head start on launching my multi-platform fashion-and-entertainment production company known as Liquid Renegade. I will tell you now--THE NAME IS MINE, DON'T FUCKING TAKE IT OR I'M SUING YOUR ASS(ES)! But I already got started on building it, with a logo of my own design and a CafePress merchandise shop set up! Here's the link....

Also, I've managed to create a very active social life with thanks to the Humans Vs Zombies Game. I met a bunch of great people, several of whom I helped out, and several of whom helped me out. What sucks is that the zombies lost (with me among them) but at least I was able to get started on making many friendships, make a friendship develop further into a special sort of relationship with a particular Harless employee/student, and get involved with Nerf club! ^_^

Second Life is once again absent from my life due to my parents disagreeing with me having one and, as a result, disallowed me from having my computer in my room. So I'm missing major events that'll screw over my character because I was not able to participate in it due to lack of grid access. Which really sucks. At least I was able to get an emergency story arc together briefly off the top of my head, where it has my character Eden being captured and held captive by the gang she fled from being a member of. Somehow she was released and was taken to the roleplaying city's medlab to heal her wounds, many of which are quite serious; imagine being tortured by having a drug cocktail that consists of heroin AND crack cocaine injected into you! Now she's addicted, starving, and in hiding to not be caught again. But I'm looking for volunteers for people to take on the roles of those very gangsters.....I'll have to come up with a sign up roster thing for it....... Also, it's a shame to hear that the Emerald Viewer is no longer an accepted third-party viewer for logging in to Second Life..... What's worse is that Linden Labs (the people who run SL) has also recently bought Avatars United and is currently shutting it down as well as redoing a shitload of things. They already redid the official Second Life Viewer by putting out version 2.0 and here's my take: smooth foreign program that makes no sense to me. I mean it RUNS GREAT! That's pretty much it because I could hardly get used to the new layout. The n00bs would be able to get into it, but since I'm pre-2.0, I'd rather stick to the old one. So I have to try out either the other third party viewers such as Phoenix or Emergence, or I could get used to the awesome pretty smoothness of v2.0.

New Twitter--Apparently LL isn't the only one forcing it's products and users through a makeover: Twitter is going for the new layout and new ways to access yours and your fellow tweeps' status updates as well as "simplifying" the whole thing. Yes, I have everything there in front of me--retweets, followers, following, expansion pane for details, tabs for mentions and retweets, etc. The bad news would be the fact that with the wider set-up, there's less background to see, and I really want people to see my background! :( Also, on the new twitter, when you're on your home page, the F5 key will no longer work. It's a shame because I have to now use my browser's refresh button or press the "x number of new tweets" banner that shows up. PLUS, lots of it is built on Flash being up to date and awesomes, not like the out-dated shitty computer I was using earlier yesterday during work-study. But all of the graphics elements were present on there, on the shitty computer, which is AMAZING! With the old twitter, certain graphical elements would not load or it would take too fucking long to load that I have to either refresh or deal with it. But I think I am warming up to the New Twitter, despite it's small flaws.

Reviewing--Oh! And I started to share my opinion with the world by writing reviews on various things, such as Flash and browser games. Let's get this straight: flash games and browser games are not as popular as the video games stuff such as Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, PS3, etc, but they are probably second-most popular in that not everyone (are you paying attention? NOT EVERYONE) has a video game console like the ones I listed here. I, in fact, am one of those who have to live without her Halo gamertag and connecting on Xbox Live and the likes. So, I turned to flash games. YIPPEE! Especially since, recently, I have reviewed a couple of Nutcasenightmare's games in such detail. And since I tend to be very good at that sort of writing, I'll take it up on the side! (Here's a link to my reviews on Newgrounds! Most recent one submitted is on the top.)

So, summary: I'm alive sans Second Life + Xbox/Halo + much of my sanity....but I found new things to enjoy. Plus, I'm gonna be a critic--so watch out! Or else I'll slam your creations and you'll end up losing money! >:F Later, luvvaz!

(Oh, did I mention that I'm no longer co-owner of the Pour House? It was a mutual heated agreement loaded with drama. Either way, I left that dump. It can sink or swim for all I care. But I've got MY niche: roleplaying in Siden and in Insilico! *grits teeth* I just have ideas that I can't fucking get out of my head without roleplaying! At least I'm constructing my Insilico roleplay character's past in book form--no you may not read it.)

A Look at the Children of the Media

"Today's television child is attuned to up-to-the-minute "adult" news-inflation, rioting, war, taxes, crime, bathing beauties-and is bewildered when he enters the nineteenth-century environment that still characterizes the education establishment where information is scarce but ordered and structured by fragmented, classified patterns, subjects and schedules . . . Today's child is growing up absurd, because he lives in two worlds, and neither of them inclines him to grow up. Growing up-that is our new work, and it is total. Mere instruction will not suffice."


This passage can relate to the world today in many ways, even though it was composed at least half a decade or so earlier. As technology advances with more and more people connecting to the Internet and the world wide web, children and teens alike are becoming attached to technological advances, and are "hooked" on the very "latest trends" that are "in". For example, with cell phones, social networking sites, and Twitter, teens and children are ahead of the news crews that report breaking news and developing stories, many of these being related to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This has become problematic to teachers in schools and parents and other figures in authority as these minors are always "rudely" paying more attention to their text messages, Twitter updates, and MySpace and Facebook pages online, rather than spending quality time with their family and friends. This looks to the adult figure that the child/teen in question is more interested in their phones and Internet friends and such.

In addition to the advances in technology comes the advances in alternate methods to accessing information "legally and properly." Contemporary issues include downloading music illegally and witnessing violent and disturbing events online through sites such as YouTube and online pornography sites. The anonymity that comes with the Internet allows children who are as young as 10 to even access sites that only allows access to people of a certain age due to the nature of the content that is being displayed. And illegal file-sharing is a major concern for the music industry. Years ago, people were fine with creating your own recordings of popular songs and radio shows and the likes. But now, the RIAA is suing people left and right just because they wanted their own copy of a particular song that they just didn't want to purchase. Many artists are clinging to their copyrights like security blankets so as to earn more money on "fairer" terms of agreements. They are getting paid for their songs being heard by people in contrast to what work they actually did.

These issues came with the advancement in technology because somebody somewhere has found a way to fulfill a certain task, such as creating your own copy of a cd or dvd and committing crimes of identity theft through even more invisible means of criminal acts. And "mere instruction will not suffice" because the children of our time will not listen: they have seen movies, television shows, pictures, music videos, etc, where crimes have been glorified into this Hollywood-designed world of "coolness" and "fun." They won't listen to us because they're listening to their iPods and the likes. And they have been exposed to so much explicit information that the media is outnumbering the parents, siblings, teachers, relatives, pastors, rabbis, imams, mentors and other "adults" through sheer frequency of advertisements alone. With the numbers out there, stark in the open space where logic resides, it easy to see who is louder and who is pretty much giving up on talking to walls that listen to audible rock music and say "Whatever" to everything someone says.