Pet Peeves Part 2

I know its silly, but my grammatical wool is rubbed the wrong way whenever someone uses "X pride" where X=their, race, gender, sexuality, or lifestyle.

I'm gonna use "Male Pride" as an example, because I happen to be male and of the many things I am, being male is one of the least offensive.

I realize that pride is used as the opposite of shame to say "I'm not ashamed to be a male, I'm proud of it." However, I always think that whenever I'm proud of something, its because its an achievement. I'm proud to be self supporting. I'm proud to have beaten Ruby Weapon in FF7. I'm proud that "LLama Logic" is a known form of logic on the GiantITP forums. I'm proud that I can make the Kessel run in less that 12 Parsecs. I'm proud to live in a pineapple under the sea. These are all accomplishments. They are things that have been achieved through time and effort.

I didn't achieve maleness. I didn't even get to pick the "X" or "Y" chromosome. I just popped out male. No work or time went into being a male, it just kinda happened. The same can be said for race as well as gender and most people agree that sexuality and lifestyle are not choices, either.

Some will make the conclusion that by stating that I'm bothered by the phrase "Male Pride" that I'm ashamed to be a male, or perhaps even worse, a self hating male. This isn't the case. I'm very happy with my maleness. Being able to aim when I pee is a small thrill that I never take for granted. I'm just not proud of it. Instead of a "Proud to be a male" t-shirt, I'd much rather have a "Happy to be a male" t-shirt.

And yes, if you know me better, you may place just about any descriptor in the place of male, except for lazy. While I am lazy, I'm not terribly thrilled by it.

Reunited!!

That is The Fairyland Story. When I was a kid, mom and I stayed at a hotel that had this game and the Willow arcade game. The Willow Arcade game is shocking hard, so I played a lot of Fairyland Story. I loved it and almost beat it. However, I never made it back to that hotel and the name of the game was lost in obscurity over the years. Much like a summer romance, I thought we'd never meet again, but...but....DESTINY INTERVENED!!

Yesterday I purchased Taito Arcade Classics 2 on a whim and one of the 35 games listed was "The Fairyland Story." Turns out I suck at it now, but I'm working on getting better again. GLEE!!

Happy Easter!!

bad timing

I'm sure its coincidence, but still rather awkward timing that the day I finally drop below 238 pounds (my wall, apparently) is the day that the button pops off on the pants I was wearing.

Christmas morning

My mom is quite sneaky, but it all works out in the end.

As you may know, the newest game system I have is the PS2. Sure I'd love a newer console, but who has the money? Well, lots of people, but not me.

Christmas morning I woke up and headed out to see a bunch of presents under the tree. I started tearing into the first box and found..... a pair of socks! Ummmm....okay? The second box also had a pair of socks in them. The third and fourth box had the same. At this point, mom admitted that she had bought me a 6 pack of socks, but thought this would be a more fun way to present them, rather than simply giving me a six pack of wooly foot protection. The next box was a pair of socks, but also contained a Wii nunchuk?!?

I looked up at mom with a confused look and she acted shock with a "OH NO! How did that get in there?" She then pointed to a large present behind the tree and goes "Oh look! I wonder what that could be." Excitedly, I scurried over to it and opened it, optimistic but curious. The large box was .....Wii Play?!?!

I looked to mom, very confused now. I look around for something else, a present I might have missed or some explanation. Mom looked really confused too. "Were you expecting something else?" she asked.

"Ummmm....well, you know....with the controller and the game....I was kinda expecting a Wii."

Mom shook her head. "Nope. That's all you get for Christmas."

I just kinda stood there looking stunned. Mom smiled and asked if I wanted my Birthday present early. When I nodded she scurried off and came back with a large wrapped box. Upon unwrapping it, I found a Wii!!!

That was a very strange, but very happy Christmas morning.

Appreciate a Dragon Day

January 16th is annual Appreciate a Dragon Day. I'm not sure how this day started, but it is a fun day to celebrate. Since I don't know many dragons, I do want to say "Hi" and send appreciations to a kobold that I know. They are kinda draconic. Hiya Chunklets!!

OWWW!!

Exercise painful! Tummy hurts. Arms hurt. Legs will probably hurt soon.

Wow. I'm out of shape. I can't believe 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, and 2:00 minutes of jumping jacks would do that to me. I know it will be a long process to be back to being fit. I worked really hard to become this flabby mess.