vik_thor: (barcode)
 The Week 3 Vote / Poll is now open, for LJ Idol / Wheel of Chaos.

I am not currently in the vote, since I lost the Week 1 Vote, but one of the random Twists that Gary has this season, is to bring everyone back who has been eliminated / lost the votes...

I am playing the home game (i.e. linking my entries in the WheelHouse (greenroom) posts, rather than the actual Prompt post, where Gary pulls the entries for the Polls from...

This vote is not open to just people participating in LJ Idol. You do not need a Dreamwidth account, as you can use an OpenID to log in and vote and comment.

I am going to be posting a link to this post around.



Also, Defy the MAGAt / Fakes 'news' blabberers, who are Russian mouthpieces.


Go see the Superman (2025) movie.
The #rethuglican blabbers want it to bomb (I don't think it will)
I am going to try to see it tomorrow or sometime next week...
vik_thor: (barcode)
 Here is the link to the WheelHouse post of LJ Idol where I post my homegame entry for Wk3.

I am only homegaming currently, since I lost the vote 1st week, currently we are WK3...

Those who are actually competing currently are linking their posts in the PROPMPT post, 

I will try to link the Poll and Results posts, either here, or in separate entries, so I can find them easily in the future...

I tried to figure out how long I lasted in previous seasons when starting this one, and really couldn't any more... Since I no longer go to the Original Livejournal.com website, since it is now RUSSIAN!!!

being knocked out in the FIRST vote was new to me, but I am sticking around a lot longer than I have in previous years, doing home gaming, commenting, voting, etc.
vik_thor: (happyblue)
I don't remember exactly where I came across this article by Guardians of Democracy,
https://guardiansofdemocracynet.blogspot.com/2025/06/crockett-exposes-hypocrisy-behind.html
both should lead to the same place
I read it, and what really struck me was the quote below: 
Conservatives wasted no time lashing out. The New York Post accused Crockett of regularly using “incendiary rhetoric,” while random X users called her “jealous” of Melania. Fox News aired a breathless segment with a MAGA congressman who proclaimed he would never dare question Melania and urged Americans to ignore Crockett’s comments.   
 
And yet MAGAts / Rethuglicans dare question every single thing, about every one who doesn't agree with them. 
I urge everyone (worldwide, not just USA) to ignore whichever Rethuglican said this. (unfortunatley the BlogSpot post I link to didn't mention his name. I will probably try to find out who, from somewhere other than FakesNews.) I do have a GroundNews subscription I don't use enough...
https://ground.news/article/crockett-is-jealous-maga-followers-slam-jasmine-crockett-as-evil-after-texas-rep-mocks-melania-trumps-modeling-credentials?utm_source=headline-link&utm_medium=share https://atlantablackstar.com/2025/06/27/jasmine-crockett-questions-melania-trumps-prestigious-einstein-visa/
 
I would like to say to ignore all MAGAts / Rethuglicans,  but unfortunately, that is what got us into this situation. They started out as the RayGun / Reagan era Trickle-Down economics CULT. 

Like a small mole that appears on the side of your neck one day... It's grown over the years. It's been checked out a few times: 
1) Faith Healers pray over you, and say your CURED!!! Now GIVE THEM ALL your money for the privilege of them deigning to look at you. (Prosperity type ministries)
2) some gentleman puts a bit of concealer on it, says it is nothing, and mentions to you in offhand fashion: Never trust any women. I can get you some specially made concealer that contains the Blood of JESUS CHRIST! It will cure ANYTHING!
3) You finally get to see a real Medical Doctor, who asks what in the world you have been putting on it? The Mole now covers about half the back of your neck, the texture of it is a bit different from the rest of your skin, but you don't shave in that area, so no real issues. The doctor takes a small biopsy of it, and tells you to come back in the morning for results.
4) The next morning when you arrive, the reception desk is empty, with an arrow pointing to your doctor's office. You hear your doctor talking to someone (whose voice sounds odd) you tap on the doorway, your doctor sees you, smiles, and says, Mr RoFKenJr. barged in this morning. I'm sorry, he seems to have scared away everyone else in the office. I've given him a referral, and he was just leaving. Your Dr. glares at the other person in the room, (presumably this RoFKenJr.) who snatches a piece of paper from the Dr, and barges past you, rudely bumping into your shoulder, and slamming the door on his way out.
5) Doctor: Sorry about him, he is a bit delusional. Your case is much more serious. The skin on your neck is cancerous, but does not seem to have actually metastasized through your body yet. (Surprisingly for how large it is...)He directs you to the examination table, asking you to lay down on your front so that he can see the portion of your neck affected, and you can face away from the wall, towards the room door, while he dons some magnifying goggles. We may have to do some surgery within the next few days, It is large enough, that we may have to do skin grafts, but the tech has improved, and I think we will be able to leave minimal scarring on both your neck, and the donation site (probably outer part of your upper legs.)
6) The doctor shows you some items. 
The first is what looks like a small wood dowel, with a small needle at the end. he opened an alcohol towelette, and pinched the needle through. I'm going to gently poke your neck in a few places, let me know what you feel. You felt several pressure areas, but no painful pricks, and said so. you had seen him wiping the needle through the alcohol after each pressure poke. OK. I'm going to poke some of your normal skin, let me know if you feel any difference there.
7) you: Ow. not painful there actually but could definitely feel it more than the previous.
Dr.: OK. Let me try a couple more just to verify you have feeling all the way around.
You: OK. Ow, same. Ow same.

Dr.:OK, I'm going to have to think about this a bit. You can go ahead and sit up.
8) As you are sitting up, Mr. RoFKenJr. bursts in the door, yelling: Cancer isn't REAL! Doctors are FAKE!!! I will save everyone with our BLOOD!!!
vik_thor: (barcode)
 The last 3 years, I have been going out behind our house, to some school property, and watch the Fireworks at the Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Center, which is a little over 1 mile, walking distance from us. Since we are on a 'bluff' of sorts, above the Missouri River (above the flood plain), We can also see the St Charles fireworks display, 
I don't know for sure where all the other official ones we can see are, but since most of St. Charles County to our northwest (north of the MO 370) is floodplain between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and the far side of the Mississippi river is Calhoun County, Illinois, between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and I can usually see several waaay out on the horizon...

Not to mention all the illegal personal ones...
(one on the Mall Access road / parking lot and one on the parking lot of the school, just to the west... and I think this year, we had some on MoBottom road by the cell tower...)

22:30 CDT, and all the official ones are done... still hearing tons of fireworks...
And I wonder how many people are going to be injured this year by bleeeping stupid men shooting guns up into the air...

Anyway, I did not go out back this year for the 4th. my knees and hips have been very achey the past few days.
My feet had been a bit swollen, so I made an appt with doctor last TH, and he took me off one of my BP medicines. I had bloodwork done yesterday, (Need to make sure my cardiologist gets access to them.)
Need to double check when my next appt with Cardiologist is...
I have had a few very dizzy / lightheaded episodes... (Current BP 118 / 80)
vik_thor: (Default)
Personified DEATH.
I like the DC / Vertigo version, the 'goth' girl who greets us when we enter the world (though most of us do not remember that meeting), and once more when you are leaving this life. Some beings meet her a few more times while they are alive. She does not tell anyone what is next, and your last meeting with her is the sound of wings, fluttering. She has stated that she was one of the first entities of The Endless, and she has said she will be around when this universe ends. She will put the chairs up on the tables, turn out the lights, and finally see what is next...
 
Discworld:

I NEED to read Sir Terry Pratchett's take on Death. He has a few books centered on Death, I think, and appears in others.I KNOW Sir Terry was a great author, I have read several of the Discworld books, but not the Death ones.
 
Incarnations of Immortality, by Piers Anthony

I think it is about time for me to reread of this series.

Riding a Pale Horse is the first one, about Death (1983)

Bearing an Hourglass is Time
(1984)
With a Tangled Skein is Fate
 (1985)
Wielding a Red Sword is War
 (1986)
Being a Green Mother: Nature / Gaia (1987)
 
There is a bit of a ... tone shift, I think is a good way to describe it, with the last 3.
For Love of Evil is Satan.
(1988)
And Eternity: Good / God. (1990)
 
And finally:
Under a Velvet Cloak : Nox (2009)
 
I've read the first 7, several times actually, did not find out about the final one until a few years ago. I have read several reviews on the final one, and they all mention it is an even more of a tone shift. and very sexual themes...
The world he created in Incarnations is interesting, but I don't know if I would want to live in it...

In this world, Death has to visit those people whose soul is so balanced between Good and Evil, that it will not rise to Heaven nor descend into Hell. They cannot actually die until he visits them and removes their soul from their body.

At one point, he refuses to take a soul tha is in balance, and basically goes on strike.
NOBODY can die until he takes that soul and sends it on it's way. (I don't remember details, but I think it ends up being a baby...)
I think Anthony describes someone burnt to a 'crisp' in a plane accident, with a large shard of glass through their lungs, Since they can't die, they are feeling all the agony you would expect.

If it is any consolation, he does eventually restart his job, people die and are finally out of their agaony.
vik_thor: (DataMatrix)
 I do enjoy LJ Idol. I have never viewed myself as being more than a slightly above average writer. Maybe get a A- essay / post on a VERY good day. C- to B is where I would put most of my writing.

But, it is fun, and it is a community. I recognize may of the competitors from previous years.

AND I am wanting to be more creative / expressive. (yes, I know I have said that before...) probably many times...

2025 LJ Idol Week 1 Poll

That is the poll for Week 1.
I got 8 votes, next lowest got ten.

The previous year had more drama associated with it. (See my reply to the 2025 Week 1 Results post, as I like to the July 2024 posts.
vik_thor: (Default)
 Wordle was good.

CONNECTIONS, bleagh

Puzzle #743
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟦🟨🟦
🟦🟦🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟦🟨
🟦🟨🟦🟨
Skill 65/99
Uniqueness 1 in a Million
 
I am giving myself 3 points, because I guessed the ACTUAL CATEGORY, I just could not figure out the exact ones they had in the category...
 
BELL 🔵 bottoms, Similar to FLARE🟨 jeans, I think.
OLD MAN 🔵pants (aka Hi Rise pants) are the style that sit between waist and Diaphragm..  often showing several inches of the wearers socks.
SKINNY 🟨 jeans, ones that are almost skin tight, or ones you wear when you are on the low side of your weight range...
 
So what are MOM jeans and BOYFRIEND jeans?
 
(Other categories I thought it might be...)
People...
MOM, BOYFRIEND, OLD MAN, BELL
 
I have heard of *OLD MAN and the sea*, and a *FAREWELL to arms.*
I am going to have to see what the other 2 Hemingway titles are...
SUN? no idea off hand... BELL, from *Bell, Book and Candle*?
 

vik_thor: (Pen)
 The Saint Louis Pen Show is this coming weekend.
27-29 June 2025, with Thursday 26 June being dealer day.
I will be volunteering during most of the show. (Need to find out if I can use my 8 hours of Volunteer Time work gives us for it... Or I may just save that for later, and use vacation time for Friday. I have been with CBS Outdoor / OUTFRONT Media long enough (It will be 18 years this year.) I usually struggle to take all my PTO. We can carry 1 week over into the following year, which I have done for the past few years, 

I've had fun with stationery type stuff since grade school.
My Dad was with the Illinois State Police. He was in the US Navy during the Vietnam Era, but his ship was in the Mediterranean. When he got out, he joined the state police.
He was first stationed in Vermillion County, Illinois, along the East border of IL. Just east of Champaign County IL.
I do have fond memories of that time in my life. We lived there during most of the early 1970s.
In the summer between 4th and 5th grades, we moved to Union County, Cobden IL to be exact...

How did I get onto family moves from stationery?
oh yeah, when we were in Oakwood, Vermillion County, I remember using some of his extra paperwork.
I remember in Cobden, I would prefer the Green Ink pens. Bic I think.

(forgot to hit entere this morning)
vik_thor: (Asgard)
 (EEK. and even shorter time to get this hammered out than I wa thinking... About 90 minutes...)
So, most of us prefer QUALITY of QUANTITY when we can only have one...

With my last name being Rose, I used to get asked fairly regularly if I was related to Pete Rose. 

I had always said, "Not that I know of." because I really didn't know or care.
I've never been a big baseball fan. I will sometimes go to a St Louis Cardinals game with work. But I can very much take or leave the game, and don't watch it on TV...

Banana Ball on the other hand (an offshoot of Baseball) is quite fun! I would love to go see it in person, and while I have not watched a full game yet, I have watched significant portions of several games.. It has been described as "Harlem Globetrotters, in baseball form, but not scripted." There are several rule differences between the two games. One of the biggest is, the players HAVE
 FUN!
There are currently 4 teams in the league, expanding to 6 next year.

But back to Pete Rose (
Peter Edward Rose Sr 1941-2024), it turns out I am related to him, distantly. Using the WikiTree information, we are 19C1R (19th cousins once removed.) One of my sets of 19th Great-Grandparents, are his 18th GGPs.) They lived in the late 1300s, and I have no idea without examining the research how high quality that information is.
One of the fun things about WikiTree, is that they also provide a Connection Finder. It looks at the siblings and spouses of the various relations that have been entered.
I am 22° away from Pete Rose.
WikiTree Connections chartAnd I am not connected to him through my Dad's side. but through my Mom's family. Not counting Pete Rose and myself, the only other 2 with Surname of Rose are his father and grandfather.)
The connection between us is 2 brothers who lived in the 1600s.  William and John Thorne. 

I very much enjoy WikiTree! It is a true community with various modes and means of interaction.
When it started, (before I joined) you were able to upload a GEDCOM file to WikiTree. The translation of the GEDCOM files to the WikiTree format was not good. And some of the people who uploaded their GEDCOMs don' seem to have stuck around to stay in the community.
They dropped off their family, and ran...

(sort of a Dad Joke, a low quality one.)
vik_thor: (Asgard)
 What have I been up to lately? Since Mr. Trump won the USA presidential election?
We've been getting by.

Seph has been doing mostly courior work, and we are a 2 Volt household. :)

I'm not sure if I mentioned here that my work (OUTFONT Media) moved their office back to the City of Saint Louis (Had been in City of Berkeley MO for past 50ish years or so.)

I am planning on doing the new round of LJ Idol again. hopefully I last longer than 2 rounds this time (and 1 Home Game round...)

I was voted off after the 2nd round last year. (easy enough to go through to see my entries last year.)

And sorry I did not reply to most of the comments last year...)
vik_thor: (satyr)
 we shall try.

Hard to believe that this year is the 19th year of  LJ Idol...
vik_thor: (Asgard)
@jik@federate.social
@taur10@friendica.opensocial.space
(þ = thorn = th)
OOF.

(þis was originally written as reply on Mastodon. didn't feel like breaking it into seperate entries to þread it...)

I worked þe election yesterday. Workers get to polling locations @ 05:00 CST (for set up), polls opened @ 06:00, and closed at 19:00. þen breaking þe equipment down, back into þe transport cages, þen location managers took þe Ballot Boxes to þe designated drop-off location for þe Board of Elections.
I did not look at anything last night after I got home. Just relaxed for awhile, unwound and went to bed about 23:15 (which is actually a bit early for me lately... but with þe early day... )

Disclaimer: I have worked þe polls as a nominal Republican since 2020. NO, I am NOT MAGAt / Trumpist / TeaParty / Dominionist Reþuglican etc. In Missouri, to be poll-worker, you have to declare as Democrat or Republican. (NonPartisan is not allowed as poll-worker, þough some jobs in þe Board of Elections are NonPartisian). þe area @Taur10 and I live in is fairly Democratic, and for 2020, I was afraid that þe orange guy's supporters would get in as poll-workers, and disrupt as much as they could. If anyone asks, I say I am more of a PreReagan (PreRaygun) republican, Back to þe Eisenhower Republican philosophy. Have been Poll Manager for þe past 3 elections. (Municipal, Primary, and þe one yesterday.)
Depending on how þe Dominionist Reþuglicans act over þe next time period, I have NO IDEA if I will work any future elections, or even if þey would let me.

þe polling place I have worked as Poll-Manager is fairly new. (Previous location was a firehouse / ambulance station.) Most people have started going to þe County Library 1mile west of þe firehouse. þe polling place I've worked is a community center (former grade school, built 1939) 1Mile souþ. St Louis county now does not specify which polling place you have to vote at. Since it is computerized, we can pull up whatever þe ballot for your specific precinct is, as long as you are REGISTERED... Our biggest issue was people who had moved from þe City of Saint Louis, to þe County of Saint Louis. (2 different political entities since 1876. and þose of us who are not originally from here, don't always realize. )

As of right now, I have not really looked at results much, oþer than it sounds like the Dominionist Reþuglicans have got þeir wish for þeocracy by any means!!!
vik_thor: (rassi)
Randy Seaver does a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post every week. His blog for this one is: Geneamusings

I have thought about doing it every once in awhile, and since I am planning on keeping up with this DreamWidth journal, I might as well do it here. :)

This week's is about how many Wills you can find for grandparents and great-grandparents SURNAMES in the FamilySearch Full Text Search.

Mom's Side:
LOWERY: 9128
    My Grandpa Paul Norman Lowery, Sr. , Great Grandpa Green Lewis Lowery
COOPER: 89,437
    Dora B. Cooper, my GGrandma
MOORE: 210,899
    My Grandma, Mary Ann Moore, her father William Gardner Moore
VINSON: 5885
    Nellie Belle Vinson, GGrandma.
    
    
Dad's Side:
ROSE: 134,506
    Thomas Benjamin Rose, (Grandpa Rose), William Henry Rose (great-grandfather)    
GIBBS: 19,145
    Grace Florence Gibbs, (Great-Grandma)    
WISLEY: 394
WISELY: 1498 (another 'common' spelling)
    Ethel Lois Wisley, (Grandma Rose), Victor Earl Wisley (Great-Grandpa)
SNEED: 3598
    Ruby Sneed (Great-Grandma)
    
    
And while we're at it (and I've been doing a bit of research on her line)
My StepMom's line:
SEABAUGH: 29
FULBRIGHT: 297
GROSSHEIDER: 1
MUELLER: 6382


Let's throw Seph's in, while I'm at it...
HARRISON: 137,856
ROCKOW: 19
D'Addeo: 0 (Addeo: 2)
VERRE: 92

LAURRI: 0
PROVENZANO: 22
DOWLING: 3253
MAHONEY: 7709


Just a few to go through!
The Italian on Seph's side gives slim results though.
As well as the German (Rockow, and my StepMom's family) I wonder if it would read as ß in Großheider correctly? Or Müller?
I will have to try those other options.
But it does look like most of the Seabaughs were in the correct county, So I will definitely need to dig into those.
vik_thor: Puma, artwork (happy puma)
I sorta wish I had been able to go to London for the Relay.FM 10th anniversary show. (but at least it looks like the recording has been posted, so I will get to listen to it.)

Missouri's Primary election is 06 August 12024. I am working as Poll Manager again. I am actually working as the republican manager. (no, I am NOT registered as R with the state, nor the state R party. It is just that to work in the polls in MO, you have to declare a party affiliation. I've never registered as / with either major party (even though I am much more of a Democrat than the modern RETHUGLICAN / MAGAT party. The County of Saint Louis is fairly Democrat, so I work as Republican to keep the trumpists / MAGATs from trying to keep people from voting. I don't know if I will continue working as a Poll Manager gong forward... It has been a bit stressful. Regular poll worker, I don't mind, but being in charge of the polling place... no thanks... But on the other hand, I do NOT want the RETHUGLICANs to be the poll managers. (If anyone ever says anything, I will say I am more of an Eisenhower Republican, rather than the modern Trumpist cult member...) Basically, if someone is registered to vote, I want them to be able to vote...

Thursday, 25 July, I stopped at LabCorp to get blood drawn for my Dr. appointment on 1 August. Got the results through MyChart, and about as expected, the cholesterol/lipid #s are a bit high...  not outrageously so.
I am currently on a blood thinner, and 2 blood pressure medications, so I can no longer donate blood. These medications were started after I had an atrial fibrilation earlier this year. I am actually feeling better than before I started taking them (which is pretty much the point, isn't it? :)   )
I've got a home blood pressure machine (actually have had it for well over a year at this point) but only started taking my BP regularly this year. (The times I took it before, I actually thought it wasn't working right, because it was reading 175/101 type readings, and "I don't have high blood pressure, so the machine must not be working right." When I would get my blood pressure at the doctors office, or when I was giving blood, they were not getting readings that high. They would get readings that were a bit elevated, on the high side of normal. Some people have higher blood pressure at Doctor's office, because they are nervous. I think I tend to have lower when official people take it...

I got my https://www.mephitfurmeet.org/ MFM 2024 registration paid, so I will be going down there over Labor Day weekend. Driving my Bolt EUV, so won't be part of the caravan.

vik_thor: (Pen)
Without You

My first thought is the song "With or Without you" by U2
but going with what seems to be a theme of my (all TWO entries) so far, I gotta pull family or genealogy in somwhow...


Unfortunately, I'm an only child, and was never all that close with my parents. My main "Without You" is my Mom. She died in April 2021, actually just a short time after she had been moved up to St. Louis Metro, to be closer to me. She had Parkinson's Disease, and had moved into an assisted living facility down in Marion, IL, after having lived on her own after her divorce from Dad when I was still in High School. Her Parkinson's had advanced enough that they called me, saying that she needed to be in the next level up (which they did not have) a full nursing home. At this point, I talked to her, and she agreed, and we decided that moving her up here, closer to me, was a good idea. So, I made the arrangements.

About a week before she was scheduled to move up here, she fell and broke her hip. So her move was in an ambulance from the Marion Hospital (when she was discharged) to the nursing home I had chosen for her. It was actually within walking distance from where Seph and I were living at the time, which was a plus. But it was during COVID lockdowns, which was a minus. My main interaction with her for a bit when she was in new place, was through the window of her room... 
She never really recovered from the stress of the broken hip and the move.

She had preplanned and prepaid for what she wanted done when she died. She wanted to be cremated, and her ashes scattered in specific locations. Half have been scattered (mostly) where she wanted. She had specified one cemetery where much of her family is. I I scattered some at another cemetery where many of the Lowery / Moore ancestors are. (and even some at the location of her childhood home.) 

The other half of her ashes, she wanted scattered in Myrtle Beach SC. That I have not accomplished yet. Part of it is, I can't do the final good-bye, and be fully without her...
 

vik_thor: (Pen)
SANKOFA

Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana. The literal translation of the word and the symbol is it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”

The word is derived from the words:

  • SAN  (return)
  • KO  (go)
  • FA (look, seek and take)
from: https://www.berea.edu/centers/carter-g-woodson-center-for-interracial-education/the-power-of-sankofa

I have been into genealogy for awhile (off and on over the years.) I even started to try to start doing this as a GeneaBlog last year. 
In a mostly ON mood right now.

I have traced my family back 4 generations with confidence (Great-Great Grandparents) mostly born in the mid 1800s. and so far they have been in the southern Illinois / Indiana, and central Tennessee area (some outliers in Kentucky). I have found 1 who (definitely) participated in the US Civil War. Most of this generation were too young or old for Civil War service. (Though war of 1812 has some.)
The previous generation is a lot more sparse in knowledge and documentation, which considering the ones I have some documentation are early 1800s (and one couple 1790s). I will have to do trips to TN for some of them, and hope they have the documents. (FamilySearch.com lists when various counties started keeping various records.)

The one ancestor I am viewing as my main brick wall right now is my Paternal Great-Great-grandpa (Benjamin F. Rose). The only document I have of him is his marriage license to GGrandma Tabitha Green. It gives his parents, age, and where he was born, (between 21 and 23, born in White County IL). I have found his parents in marriage records for White County, married in 1854, I have not found any of them in census records. (The one that would have been the most likely, the
1890 Census, was destroyed...)
There has been some conflation with another Benjamin Franklin Rose in some online records, who lived and died in Effingham IL.

Husband, I've not gotten as far back, and have gotten to Italian and German ancestors at the Great-Great-grandparents level. So that will but a kink in tracking them down (Though I do follow a GeaneaBlog that talks about italian research quite a bit...)





 
vik_thor: (DataMatrix)
 Prompt: Someone who will love you in all your damaged glory

ooof.


A lot of the time, I do have trouble believing that I am loved. To be fair, I am a bit aromantic. I know something should be romantic, and I can forta fake it sometimes (or that is how it feels.)

Early Gen X, born late 1967, only child.
During a lot of the mid 1980s-2000, I really was not expecting to actually be alive now, or for the world itself to be around (well, technically, Western Civilization, the current 'peak' of humanity's evolution. and YES, I know there is a TON of baggage associated with that phrasing. Who knows, we may unpack some of that together over the coming weeks...)

The main reason I was a bit nihilistic was the world at the time. 
I grew up in Illinois as far as I can remember. Not the Chicago metro (though I do have maternal relatives who live up there.) but small, rural towns. Oakwood, Vermillion County, Illinois. East of Champaign/Urbana, fairly close to the Indiana border. (East Central Illinois)
In the summer between 5th and 6th grade, we moved to Union County, Illinois. This is almost as far south as you can go in Illinois, There is one tier of counties south of Union, and they are small/oddly shaped due to the Ohio River joining the Mississippi.
We did have family close by, which we did not in Oakwood. Mom's family is from the Johnson / Williamson county border area. Part of the farm she grew up on was taken by Lake of Egypt in the early 1960s. Dad's family is from Hamilton / Wayne / White counties.
Maternal ancestors have a deep history in Johnson County IL, from what I've traced. I've found most of them in the 1880 Census.
Paternally, I have not had that much luck. There has also been a lot of divorces in that ancestral line...

But, we were talking about my lack of connection, and the fact that I am frankly totally surprised (when I think about it) that I have a husband, and the 20th anniversary of our Civil Union is this Sunday (07 July 2024). O.O We went to the 2004 AnthroCon in Boston, and took a side trip up to Bennington VT, to get a Civil Union, since that was the most we could do at the time. (We were actually living in Phoenix AZ at the time.)

Going back to the mid 1980s... I was a gay kid, in the midst of the AIDS crisis. (I had acknowledged to myself sometime in high school...) I didn't really feel a connection to any of the Christian Churches, and did basically come out of the broom closet as a NeoPagan early in my college career. 

What is LOVE?
I don't know. I don't know if I have ever felt the BIG OVERWHELMING LOVE that is 'supposed' to be the standard version of love.
I do know I have a strong affection for family and pets.A bit stronger than what I feel for good friends.
I assume my husband feels at least the same for me, since we've been together for so long.

But Love?
Don't know

vik_thor: (satyr)
 Has been a bit busier than usual.

today (30 June) last day of Pride month 2024
went down to the St Louis Pride festival (Work has a low level sponsorship of it, so we got a few passes for the VIP tent. I got one.)
got a bit of face glitter painting.
Was stuck on W side of the parade for >1 hour
Seph and I did grocery shopping since we didn't yesterday.


vik_thor: (Pen)
 And I think I shall try it once again.

I should look through and see what my longest lasting one has been.

Basically, I'm the cannon fodder for something like this, to help the better writers not get knocked out early... :)


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Vik-Thor

July 2025

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