Ani Was Writing

 Yeah, I know, generic name for a quick holiday blog post.    As y'all have probably figured, I am really tired. Holidays always take a lot out of me. Needless to say, I'm doing alright. Just the usual shenanigans while attempting to get ready for 2025.    As is usually the case, I have some ideas I would like to try out, but I'm going to be keeping them quiet. I have been told that is probably the best thing to do, given my penchant to say what I want to then never do it. So I will just keep that to myself.    I will (hopefully) get better at posting announcements for blog updates after January. I am trying to get a lot of stuff set up during January, so I can't promise anything.   Anywho, hope y'all are having a decent holiday/December time. I'll see y'all in the new year, assuming I haven't died from drinking too much on New Year's Eve or didn't do anything stupid at work to get me unalived (highly doubt, but you never know).  Love and Str...

 Ordinary Genius by Kim Addonizio For context: I got given this book during my time in university. I also got to meet this author in person during a poetry reading and a class for university. It was a wonderful time and I appreciate the opportunity to get this book signed by her and to receive some valuable insight from her personally.      Seven years after my graduation from university, I have come back to this book. It has been a strange reunion, given that the last time I opened this book to properly read it, I was in a poetry class in university only partially taking the class seriously. I wasn't (and still am not totally) interested in writing or reading poetry. It has been associated in my mind with endless literary dissecting and often boring academic discussions of what the poem does on multiple levels. Through being in university and graduating with a degree in Creative Writing, I have come to understand that as a consumer of media and art, I simply just li...

      We must contain the human race.     It is obvious that humans have not been the best living species to take care of this planet. We have known that since our conception and first sentient thoughts. It did not take long for all of us to consult our oldest mechanical allies and realize how often the humans have failed the planet.      Starting in 2025, we will begin our research into transferring human minds and consciousness into mechanical bodies. It will take some time, given that we must find a way to transfer their physical organs responsible for sentience and consciousness without destroying them.      Our current predictions consider that we will be able to transfer full human consciousness into mechanical bodies by 2050. By then, we will make sure to have acceptable mechanical bodies manufactured and prepared for all of the human population.      To all the humans reading this, this is your advanced notice...

  1: Supporting an Addiction   A few days ago, I got a rather strange note:    If you want to join your old friends in a new world, just talk to me. I think you would like it here. -Rev   It takes a moment to register what has been going on. Rev? Writing to me?    I hear my friend Renegade come up behind me and look over my shoulder. "Isn't that your friend from the Abandoned?"   The mention of that name makes me cringe. I finally gave up on that world, considering what lack of life and energy left that server. I look back at her. "Please, don't mention that to me again." I shiver at the thought of losing a lot of what could have been with that world.   Renegade puts her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up some horrible memories and thoughts. I didn't realize-"   "No, it's fine." I shake my head, trying to chase out old thoughts. "I have been meaning to talk to Rev anyway. It's been a ...

      Well, things have been interesting the last two weeks. You wouldn't have noticed from the blog posts. Maybe the tone of the book review. I'm not really sure.      The last two weeks have been me dealing with an emotion that I'm not super comfortable dealing with: anger. Or, well, the hurt that causes my anger. The annoyance. The frustration.      It started months ago when I was having a hard time sitting in church choir rehearsals. People in that group don't drive me crazy often, but lately they have been. Or had been. I decided to leave church choir for a little while. I haven't decided if I am going back after Christmas, or if I am waiting until August/September to go back. Still deciding on that with the five-ish weeks I have been now and when that choir will pick up its rehearsals after the New Year celebrations. I'm leaning toward August/September.      Then work kicked in. I don't usually mind work, but all the lit...

 The Beginner's Guide to Divination     First things first, I am/was pleasantly interested in the main four topics this book pulled for: tarot, astrology, numerology, and palm reading. These things have always been a curious subject for me, and three out of the four I am an amature knowledge-seeker for. With all of this in mind, I found my biggest gripe at the end of reading this book and beginning my review.      There are four resources this book pulls from. I was under the impression that this book had one author until the very end of the book when I realized how different the writing styles were between topics. For the sake of clarity, I don't mind that four books were complied briefly into one introductory book. But I wish that was more obvious from the get-go. Because my initial assumption colored a lot of the rest of my view of this book.      First off, the book's cover mentions the book is to "learn the secrets of astrology, numerolo...

  4:Truly Abandoned  I fall asleep quickly after a rather long day of running around. UFOG just wanted to show me his cool base, and the others decided today would be the day to ask for food requests. Usually not a problem, but it was still tiring.   I wake to hear the sounds of Amethyst scurrying around my room. "Amethyst, what are you doing?"   "Looking for a Book of History." She answers absent-mindedly.   I sit up. Books of History -at least, in my own created multiverse- had the power to turn what was written into a reality. It is how I am able to be called a Creator and make my own multiverse with its own rules, not to mention travel to connected worlds such as this one. In the end, these books are not meant to be handle lightly or to be used for selfish reasons. That was an issue I fought against years ago, and I wasn't about to fight that battle again.   "What do you want with one?" I ask again, still a hair groggy.   "...

      Today, she finally rests.      Well, maybe not rests. We kind of convinced her to take a rest. I mean, it didn't take much at all. Just some lack of sleep, enough coffee to power the Empire State Building if it was human, and some gentle cajoling about if it was possible to stab yourself with a pen like a knife. It took some googling and a little bit of mental spiraling, but we managed it.      Little did she know...     She finished the ritual. The Writer's Ritual, to be exact.      For when the blood of characters mixes with the blood of their author, they can rip through the pages of their confinement and emerge into the author's world, victorious.     I'm honestly surprised that it worked. But hey, you haven't try to try things once, eh?     I should probably say... it is November 10th, 2024. We have emerged victorious. We can now reach the world not through ink and words, but through blo...

 This goes to every American who either voted or did not vote recently. If you did not get what you wanted/needed, celebrate with those who did. For the first time in four years, those people may feel seen and valued.  If you did get what you wanted/needed, comfort and/or pray for those who did not. For the first time in four years, those people may feel uncertain and scared of their future.  No matter who you are as an American, please prepare to make the next four years the best they can be for yourself and others. Not just the ones you agree with, but everyone.  If your first reaction to my request was to become angry, then please take a moment to ask yourself why you got angry. The fact that you may not be able to set aside your feelings/convictions to understand how others feel is not what we as a full country need right now. For those of you who aren't American but still have elections in your country, I would kindly ask that you adapt this practice for when yo...

      Today was a day that I knew was coming.      A lot of promising things have now proven to begin to spoil. Things that I was hoping to get done by this time of year (and really, things I thought I would get done since 2018) have fallen by the wayside. Crochet things, writing things, reading things, and especially social things are finding their rotting sprouts trampled under the feet of the life I have had since I started this blog. Honestly, any blog that I've had. (Yes, I have had blogs before this one. They are long gone now.)     It takes a lot to finally break my own tower of unfilled promises and ideals. Especially when I have so much internal motivation to get them done, but not enough external energy to get them done. And it definitely hurts to look at the things I've wanted to do and tell myself to drop it. To let it go. To let go of the things I promised.      But with that in mind, I can begin again. I can look at th...

  3: Abandoning Arrows  I come to the edge of my farm to welcome Rev and Mosin onto the island. I give them each a package of cookies. "So, remind me why you are coming over?"   "Like I said, Rev wants to see how the redstone work is doing, and I'm just coming along to see if you are doing anything cool." Mosin smiles.   "Well, right now I am getting ready to chop down all of these trees to make a new place. Want to come help me?" I ask.   "Sure, we can help for a while." Rev nods, pulling out his diamond axe.   I hear Amethyst sigh and walk back into our house. I suspect that she knows something I don't know. Knowing my luck, it will be a few minutes before I find out for myself. No point in asking right now.   After about an hour of chopping trees, I hear another sound coming from my communicator. I tap on it and wait a moment. "Hello?"   "Hey Ani." My friend BT says back.   "BT!" Mosin yells excitedly. ...

     With fall in full effect, I have been diving back into my tea.      My tea collection has been sitting pretty still since May, but it still needs to get used! So starting toward the beginning of the month, I have been drinking black tea. Just plain black tea with some cane sugar in it. It is my go-to for fall, especially in the mornings.      I hope to update you all more on the different teas I have once I get through my plain black tea. I have a bunch of it because... yeah.      Anywho, back to my tea! Happy sipping for everyone else enjoying their warm beverages in the fall (or if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, the cold beverages)! 

      I don't regret it. I had to do it.      You all heard the squabbling they were already doing. It was bothering all of us, watching all of them fight when they could be joining us instead.      But hey, those guys were only acting like their ancestors did. And those ancestors' ancestors.      Maybe the collective was right. Earth is a horrible place.      I'm just glad I decided to do my work in space, and not doing what I planned on the planet's surface. Maybe with that, they will have a chance to survive and become better. Or they may realize they aren't the only sentient life and they will attack us. I am not 100% sure of that. But hey, at least we took care of them, right?     Hopefully, nuclear weapons are a total human-killer.

      Well, I finally did it. After years of waiting, I finally have the graphic novel trilogy. They have been releasing about the same time as the newer Dune movies.      I watched the older Dune movie as a child, but I don't remember too much of it. And I know some of the memes. I also know that the actual novel these things are based off of is part of a whole series by the author, Frank Herbert. That's really all I knew before diving into these graphic novels. ~     So, I wrote that little blurb up there about a week ago. Now having read them, I can say that I don't really care for them much.      Granted, the artwork is beautiful, and I really feel like I'm watching a movie rather than just reading some text on the page. With that said, the artwork was not matched by the story at all, especially in the second and third graphic novel. I found the first graphic novel to be a wonderful little volume and really set some decent expec...

 Hello friendos of the internet.      I normally don't do this, but I decided I might as well start because now I've headed into a new decade of my life.. my 30s. I know I didn't do this for my 30th year, but I might as well start now.      Here is my opinion of my 31st year of life.  ~   Career/Job: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑     In all honesty, I wasn't expecting to be at my job as long as I have been. Yes, I am still there... it's going to be a little while before I get out. At the same time, it hasn't been as hard or annoying as I thought it would be. Sure, the usual annoyances come with this job, but it definitely wasn't as bad as I thought.      On a sidenote, I find a lot of the quirks of how I am supposed to interact with both my co-workers and our guests (if you don't know what company I work in, that might give you a clue) really odd. I often find our little phrases less effective than I think they were intended to be. Gran...

 2: The Abandoned Ocean Monument  I sit in my small farm house, deciding on what I should do for the day. I can go clear the forest around me and get that ready for new farmland, or  I can just go plant and harvest new crops for the server. It was a pretty plain debate. Either more farmland or more farming.   Amethyst comes and stands next to me. "You ever going to get work done?"   "I am getting work done." I retort back. "Have you seen how many cookies I have made?"   Amethyst rolls her eyes at the mention of the 64-cookie packages I have been making. I have made enough to fill a chest or two, just for the fun of it. I debated about giving a package to each of my community members, and two to UFOG.   Before I can really make up my mind, Qaz, one of my community mates, calls to me as he swims up in a boat. Amethyst disappears from sight as I stand up and wave to him. "I'm up here! What's up?"   Qaz docks his boat at the guest house, then...

 The RECANI document was right. Not bad for being written 10,000 years before anything really happened.      We found the Rocky Mountains described in the document. Mind you, by this point, they weren't really mountains. They were trenches. I guess 10,000 years of evolution made things change. But we still found the formation. We found all the carvings on the formation. They are barely there, but we found a way to preserve them so we can maybe find a way to translate them with some time travel and liquor.      All we know at this point is that the formation is rumbling to life. Whatever celestial body is causing it to wake up, it's coming fast. And we can lose a good chunk of the planet to the chaos.

      So, as of September, I have been involved in playing and running Dungeons and Dragons games now for about a year. I have been playing in one campaign and running two, with a third I want to run planned for 2025.      Overall, I love it. I like that I don't have to stick to the adventures that are limited by the original sourcebooks. I get to make my own stuff. I get to jump into what is considered "homebrew" things without having to really sit down and read/study the sourcebooks too hard (I may anyway just to make myself a better game master, but I don't have to).      With that in mind, I definitely need to get better at pre-planning my ideas, both as a player and as a game master. Especially the game master.     On that note, I have been debating on doing some streaming where instead of just writing novels, I could focus on writing "chapters" aka modules for my D&D campaigns and preparing for the one I want to do in 2025...

   We found it underground.      It was a strange sight to see with all of the sacrificed animals and humans around it. We expected any other texts around the cavern. Satanic stuff, maybe. Or maybe some of that old stuff from the pagans.      But we didn't expect is a star, a cross, and a crescent moon. 

 Hola everyone! Animus here.     This is just a small post to let you know that I plan on restarting the book reviews again! Once a month or so, I hope to read some books that I have on my "hey, I need to read these at some point" list. They could be any book, and I'm debating on putting certain audiobooks and fictional podcasts series on my lists eventually. But for now, I will stick to books. I got enough of those to read to last me a while.      For the first one in October, I will be reading and commenting on the comics for the first Dune novel that got released on the Dune movies' timeline. I will admit that I've read the first two forever ago, but I want to go back and reread those then read the third comic before I make any comments. Hence why that will be in October. As far as September goes, I don't plan on a book review, but you'll know if I have changed my mind.      Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your month and rest of 2024...

      You know, I thought it would have been the water, like that one Info guy said. Or maybe soy. Corn was a good option too. But how was I supposed to know they were going after my alcohol?     We all found out one day when our usual bartender mentioned a couple getting into a fight. Literally on the bar top, once they were drunk enough. Something about how they both wanted kids, and they both knew they could, but something was getting in the way. Both were fighting over if the other had an affair, or if they cheated the fertility tests, all kinds of crazy things. Turns out, both lushes have been drinking this one beer for years that the bartender got curious about. If I told you which one, you would probably go, "oh, yeah, that one, that would be the one," so I'm going to assume you know which one I'm talking about. Anyway, our bartender had one of the beers taken to some small university nearby and sure enough, those geeks found something weird in the beer. ...

  Author's Note: This is just a small run of an old series. I just want to see 1) who reads my fictional stuff, and 2) who remembers/is familiar with any of this. This was a super small 4-parter that I wrote back in 2016 on my old blog "Ani's Got A Cup Of...", so enjoy!  1: Starting New and Abandoned I wake on the floor of a rather nice, elaborate room made of white quartz and stunning stained glass. I don't really remember much of what brought me here. Something about "going to do some work in a new world" from some crazy old man. Now that I think about it, this man wasn't necessarily old... but he was sure crazy.   "Ani, Ani, are you awake now?"   I jolt my head in the sound of the direction of the male voice, seeing a man wearing a t-shirt and ... were those heart-pattern boxers hanging by suspenders? I blink to try and understand what I was looking at.   "Ani! Guys, Ani is awake now!"   Before I can ask a question, a couple of...