January 20, 2025

Nerds Be Nerding

I have no idea how to write this blog without it sounding as though I am working for Disney or Ravensburger. It just can’t be done. Just know, I have not been paid to write this. I mean… who would even pay for my shitty opinion anyway? Especially a family focused entertainment conglomerate? I curse like a sailor and I’m one of those sad millennials who “won’t grow up.”

That said…

In this rotting hellscape that’s hellbent on destroying any peace and security I have, in search of solace I have Lorcana. It is this Disney trading card game (TCG) that is similar to Magic the Gathering (with hints of Pokemon undertones) but with a Disney/family fun spin. Both games, by the way I am thoroughly obsessed with and have been since I was in my pre-teens.

Already I am a huge Disney Gay. The BF and I (pre-covid) literally went a weekend per month using our annual passes. Once they did away with those (and after Charlie passed) we got ourselves Magic Keys. So, I am invested in the Cult of Disney.

Once they announced this TCG in 2022 I became a D23 member so that I could hop on down to the convention to buy the promo cards, ignorant to the reality that tickets to the event need to be purchased in advance. So, I never got the promos. Even buying them on the secondary market will, WILL bankrupt you, considering that the first free promo they just handed out to anyone and everyone is going for $950. Charlie even looked into buying me the set from ebay for christmas but when he saw the prices… He decided against it.

So, I sat impatiently for a year, eagerly awaiting this game. I read or watched whatever I could find about them just to satiate my nerdy appetite. I needed them. At one point I saved a copy of every “sneak peek” into my phone gallery so I could just look at them while I waited. The colorful cards and art alone brought me this immense joy that I still cannot explain.

After release, I became bound and determined to actually compete in organized play. I wanted to be apart of something from the beginning and help support it to success. Although, Disney really doesn’t need me. It’s name alone will just print cash. It’s wild. I suggest going to a D23 convention once and you will see.

Yesterday, after having my ass handed to me at the Set Championship, a couple things occurred to me. One, I am a poor sport and my bad attitude has bothered some people in league. I don’t know if it has pushed others to no longer participate or not, but my mind has made itself up that it has. Two, I’m a terrible player. That or I just build shitty decks. Either way, I’m crap against these seasoned players.

So, how do I get better against them if I’m a cunt who, when I lose, look/act like an infant? I have to eat shit and hope that my bad attitude hasn’t ruined any good will from these guys. They are clearly the best and I’m nowhere near their level of skill.

Last night I had this mental crisis where I genuinely wanted to take my life. It was this coupled with a lot of other unrelated issues, however it was in the vein of me “being a burden” and “I’d be better off dead.”

Since I promised my husband that I would keep living… I talked myself off of my metaphorical ledge and said the only way to fix this is to be humble and ask for help. Recognize my flaws and faults, apologize and hope someone is gracious enough to train me.

Luckily, the hot viking daddy agreed to help me. Proving, again, he is truly one of the sweetest dudes around. (Especially when you see how he is raising his son.)

In the face of all this terrible uncertainty, I will hold tight to the things that bring me joy and try to make myself a better person. Today is always a good time to start. Hopefully, I can make myself a competitive player at the same time. Or, at the very least, a gracious loser.

January 16, 2025

Missing Peace

My husband was entirely too considerate. He would see/sense the frustration on my face while I was helping him and would always apologize. Nothing specific, just for being a “burden.” Hearing it would break my heart, because it wasn’t the helping him with (literally) everything, it was the impending loss of him that frustrated me. I equated watching/caring for him like dragging a sharp blade slowly across my skin. The image doesn’t encapsulate everything I wanted. It just brings to mind the torture of it all, and the unknown survival.

What I knew then, that I am very, very well aware of now, is that I dreaded his absence. Just thinking of him not being around caused me so much panic that I would begin to hyperventilate.

The last two days I have missed him terribly. We are entering a very scary time. My rock and the one who knew what to say to make me feel better, is gone. I’m left to handle my emotions alone, however chaotic and confusing they will inevitably be. There are those around me who will and do help. They are just not to the level my husband achieved. Maybe it is because he had 21 years to perfect his process.

In the beginning, he didn’t know how to handle me. I am a live wire. It takes a certain level of finesse to comprehend why I do the things I do or why I feel a particular way. In those early days he sure as shit knew how to push my buttons. Ones he would deliberately press to listen to the cacophony of noises that would erupt from me. He watched my explosion with glee until it would inevitably take a dark turn and he’d have to deal with the repercussions of having done it. Only through his “practice” did he learn.

More than anything I want him here with me. I miss him terribly. I finally comprehend why people leave this mortal coil after losing the ones they love. They’re chasing the belief that they will see them again. That it will be instantaneous. That the person you crave more than air will be waiting on the other side, hand open to welcome you there. Unfortunately, it’s all fantasy. A human mind trying to rationalize a very spiritual event.

January 15, 2025

“A thousand people I could be for you and you hate the fucking lot…”

I’m in one of those moods where I would love to write something deeply emotional and profound. What that would look like I have no clue. Truly there is and are no original thoughts anymore. Especially coming from me. I only ever seem to regurgitate thoughts from the greats, just not as dazzling.

My self flagellation isn’t very attractive, but I’m also in a headspace where I want to push everyone away. It happens whenever I get a whiff of perceived slights. This has been occurring with more frequency lately. I imagine it is due to my depression over charlie’s passing. My threshold of resilience has significantly lowered. I just don’t have the energy to persevere. So, I fall to my tired tropes of isolation. Only in it do I find solace. Well, that or I realize how ridiculous I’m acting and I can emerge mildly humbled.

I’ve decided that I want to shrink my social circle. I just don’t have the capacity to maintain relationships. My heart aches every day in very subtle ways. Only today did it occur to me. Without my husband I just feel hollow. I feel lost. Apathetic. Indifferent.

I’ve just realized that I don’t really mean anything to anyone, other than what I can give them. Then I just feel like all I do is disappoint them with what I can.

January 13, 2025

An Experience Either Way…

Sometimes (like most people I’m sure) I hate myself. Honestly, it’s a revolving door of things I dislike but today it is “what past trauma has done to me.” When I was younger I used to be a very giving person. My parents taught me to give more than I received. What we did not anticipate is that people are selfish users. It’s funny now that we all learned a valuable lesson at different stages of our lives. Yet we responded the same way. We over-corrected and thus became suspicious of everyone.

My solo cruise is coming up at the end of this month and I grow ever more uneasy. It’s terrifying just thinking of traveling “internationally” alone. So many scenarios run through my head… Primarily around getting kidnapped. (Not like I’m that easy to snatch…) Other ones include getting lost or left behind by the cruise line. From these fears I’m starting to panic and think of people I could take with me as a safety net. I’m already paying for the second person anyway… I might as well. What stops me is that the WHOLE POINT is to do something by myself. Which I’ve never done before.

I can’t take my BF because he has to work and is saving his vacation time for our cruise in July. I don’t want to take my brother because I am so weirdly co-dependent that it would make things worse. Plus, sometimes I get the feeling that my BF thinks that I’m going to run off with him and leave him behind. (That’s his own childhood trauma talking though.) So, neither is a viable option.

One of the leading contenders (in my head) is this young guy I have coined as “black jack,” because he’s 21 years old. (I’m super clever, right?) His real name is Ryan but I have 2 others in my circle and so saving “seconds” from having to explain which one I’m referring to, I gave him a cutesy little name.

I have mentioned it to him in passing but… I started to get paranoid that this youngun was just befriending me to use me for this trip. Granted… I brought it up to him… and he hasn’t given me any cause to think that at all. It’s just my own intense past trauma.

In addition, I didn’t want my BF to think that I was replacing him or using this trip as a way of getting closer to Blackjack. That’s not even in the orbit of the sphere of possibility. I’m not like that. I can control my feelings from getting attached or fall for someone. What I don’t have the power to do is keep someone else from feeling a certain way. If I took him, would he “fall for me?” I don’t want to hurt someone and he’s so young that I absolutely would. That is, if they’re real emotions and not tied to what I can offer him: “stability.”

Past experience has made me so jaded. I’m leery of people who are just being my friend to get something from me. My husband and I were suckers… We had a roommate use us to pay for his fucking rent and cell phone. We did it because we thought he was our friend but he peaced the fuck out and didn’t bother to tell us he was done until we had wasted buckets of money.

This fear and my own fear of being alone have made me so paranoid and uneasy. This whole trip is meant to be fun, yet here I sit dreading the entire experience. (Watch… I’ll just sit in my room the whole time.)