Basic Instructions

A week or so ago I started reading a web-comic called "Basic Instructions". Three times a week Scott Meyer uploads a comic with the premise of teaching you how to do something. The title is always "how to" something, such as "How to Sway Someone to Your Political Opinion". Nine times out of ten the title seems like something you might actually want to know. Then comes four panels "teaching" you how to do whatever the title says. The instructions are often believable enough, but the characters portraying the instructions do so in a way you wouldn't expect. The instructions for the above title were, "When faced with disagreement, lay out your position as clearly as possible." See? Sounds like good advice. But one of the guys in the comic is trying to explain why having the murderer in a cop show be the bad guy is offensive and biased. Here, I'll show you an example:

That picture turned out a lot smaller than I thought it would, so for my vision impaired friends click [here] to go to that comic's page.

Scott employs a really neat way of drawing his comics, using all real people for his models (called rotoscoping). He takes pictures of his friends in the poses needed and then traces over them using Photoshop and Illustrator. Since each pose and costume requires a real person to pose for it, you'll see the same poses used different ways throughout the comic. His wife has written a blog post about the process [here].

I've really enjoyed them so far, and I still have a few years of archives to go through. Hopefully you'll enjoy them as well!

How I Shop

I don't like shopping. Not just clothes shopping, but any kind of shopping. If at all possible I like to order things online instead of visiting a brick and mortar store. This has been to my advantage since I've been ill and thus stuck at home all day.

When I do have to visit a "real" store it is usually for one of 4 reasons:

1. Groceries. It's pretty difficult around here to shop for groceries online. We also lack any kind of ice cream delivery service, depressingly.
2. I need new clothes. Some clothes I'm able to buy online, but often times new work clothes have to be bought at a physical store to make sure they are flattering.
3. We need something that can't be found online, that would cost too much to ship, or is cheaper to buy in person. Usually before this happens we do whatever comparison shopping we can online first.
4. There's a deadline. Sometimes we just can't wait for something to be shipped, and can't afford overnight or second day delivery. In these cases we have no choice but to go searching through brick and mortar stores hoping we can find it that way.

Getting into Swagbucks has actually made my online shopping habit worse. Instead of going to Target and buying my sister's wedding gift off of her registry, I was able to buy the exact same thing on Amazon using the gift cards I've earned. If only I could buy *everything* on Amazon.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation.

Why I Love My Hometown

There is only one reason why I love my home town, and that is because some of my best friends live here. When we do finally move somewhere cooler that is likely the only thing I will miss. Perhaps I can convince them to move with us?

Hurricane Season also has it's perks. The really bad ones (Category 3 and up) and no fun, but the tropical storms and low category ones can be nice and exciting. Not everyone gets to meet Jim Cantore.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation.

Why I Hate My Hometown

There are many reasons why I hate my hometown. The first and most obviously isn't limited to just Panama City, but the whole region. It's too freakin' hot. Not only is it hot, but it is also humid. Summer lasts pretty much from March till November. During this time if you cannot leave your air conditioned house even to check the mail without breaking into a sweat. It's horrible.

The second reason is it's proximity to Panama City Beach. Spring Breakers and college kids off for summer flock here like their lives depend on it. The whole city panders to them, so if you're *not* into the party scene there's not much for you to do. There are certain main streets you cannot go down after dark without the risk of some skank flashing you. I don't know how many times Girls Gone Wild has gotten in trouble for filming underage girls here. One more reason it's horrible.

And if you're not dealing with drunk college kids, it's illiterate rednecks. These people sure do love the Confederate Navy Flag for some reason. SMH.

One day we will finish school and be able to move somewhere that doesn't have these problems. I do know that everywhere has it's own problems, but some of them are more bearable than others.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation. Image from [here].

The Story of My Most Serious Injury

I've had two very serious injuries. One of them happened when I was a child and I don't even remember it. The other happened in high school or just after and I remember it clearly. The first one still causes me trouble today, while the second does not.

When I was in pre-k or kindergarten I fell off the monkey bars. My mother was told that I had bruised the bone on my ankle by the emergency room doctor. They didn't take an x-ray. They didn't put it in a cast. They just said to keep it elevated for a few weeks and alternate hot and cold packs. It took me much longer to heal than it should have.

My freshman year in high school I joined the marching band. A little while into the school year I started to have a lot of pain in my ankle. When I went to see a podiatrist I found out that I had not bruised the bone after all, but actually broke it. Since it wasn't in a cast or anything it didn't heal properly and will probably always cause me some problems. I ended up getting tendinitis while in the marching band, and cannot run long distances without the risk of getting it again. I had to wear special insoles for a while but don't anymore. As long as I don't take up any sports that require the use of my feet I should be fine.

The second injury is why I put the picture of the chicken soup in this blog post. One summer day either right before my senior year or right after I made some chicken soup and then sat down at the table to eat it. I've always like my soup hot so it was boiling when I took it off the stove. Apparently when I put it down on the table it was slightly off the edge so the whole thing spilled on my thigh.

Thankfully my older sister was home taking a shower at the time. She heard me scream, ran out of the bathroom, and dragged me into the shower. After cooling down the burn a little bit she put toothpaste on the burn, then a washcloth, then an ice pack. I don't remember if she called Mom or if she was already on her way home, but mom came home shortly after that and took me to the emergency room. The doctor said that I was really lucky Felicia responded the way I did, as otherwise I could have needed a skin graft. I had a really bad, ugly scar on the majority of my thigh for many years but it's almost gone now. I can only see it if I look for it and other people probably can't tell at all.

Even though the memory of the burn is still vivid in my mind I still like my soup boiling hot. The difference is now I always make sure it's on the table properly.

Why am I telling you this? Check out [this post] for explanation. Image from [here].

Need some inspiration?

I recently came across this post by Darren Barefoot which includes 55 blog topic ideas. I've decided to start using some of those ideas, and everyone else is welcome to do it as well. I was going to do one every day (or every other day, or whenever I have time) but I realized you can't really write about all of them because some are contradictory. So I'm just going to start at the top and write about the ones I feel like. I think some of them are going to be very interesting.

Do drugs *really* make everything better?

As many of you probably know, I suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). In fact, I think I've probably mentioned it on here before. What you may not know is that I suffer from a much worse case than many of my other cysters. While many women can live a fairly normal life, and may not even know they have it until dealing with infertility, I cannot.

For the past 3 months or so I've been dealing with a particularly bad episode. My hormones are all out of wack and I am in constant pain. There's really not much they can do other than give me pain medication and put me back on HBC. The HBC can take up to 3 months to work, if it works at all. I may need to switch to a new brand after 3 months (it has been 2 with this one). So, I just stay drugged up 24/7. And if I miss a dose or take it too late the consequences are quite dire. Quite a bit of the time Josh has to bring it to me in bed as I'm in too much pain to get it myself.

Lately it has actually been getting worse. Even after taking one pill I am still in a large amount of pain. The other day I actually passed out for a few seconds (or minutes? I'm not sure I was passed out lol) from the pain. So I have to get even *more* drugged up.

What is the point of me writing all this? Well I am not myself when I am drugged up. I obviously can't drive, so I've been holed up in the house. I haven't been able to work, either. I haven't officially quit not have I been fired but at this point I'm not holding out hope that my job will still be there when I get better. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I have also become even more antisocial than normal. I don't want to talk to anybody or see anybody in person because I'm not myself and that embarrasses me. My sister's wedding is coming up (and associated parties) and I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that. I'm supposed to be in the darn thing and she's going to have these pictures for the rest of her life. I don't want to ruin them.

Basically my point is if you see me acting like a fool and talking funny, it's not my fault. If you see me crying in pain, give me a hug. I could use one.

Teal is the color for PCOS (and Ovarian Cancer) support. The image above is from [here], where you can buy PCOS support ribbons, postcards, pillows, and other paraphernalia. This one is my favorite and I would love to have it if it's wasn't for that whole not working thing.