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Posted (edited)

I think Minnesota is the only team the Saints need to worry about in their conference BK. I think they can handle Philly, and Atlanta. The AFC has been shakey all year as well.

Edited by Ammanas
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Ammanas said:

I think Minnesota is the only team the Saints need to worry about in their conference BK. I think they can handle Philly, and Atlanta. The AFC has been shakey all year as well.

I’m extremly nervous about that game just because it’s home field for them AND where the Bowl will be played at so Vikings will be HUNGRY for it. We have to be smart. If we get that win then yeah I think we will stop either Falcons or Eagles(esp if Wentz is still out). Just hoping that both Steelers and Pats are knocked out by Titans and Jaguars.

ugh I just want that 2nd Bowl win before its to late with Sean and Drew teamup.

Edited by Briar King
Posted

I got some fantastic news today!! But it requires a bit of backstory before it will make sense.

So the week before Thanksgiving, I had to stay in the hospital for a few days to treat an infected wound in my leg. (I think I posted about that on the Shard back while it was happening or shortly after.) While I was in the hospital, the doctors ran some other tests: They measured my fasting blood sugar, found it was higher than normal, and then did a test called an A1C, which measures your average blood sugar levels for the past 3 months. My A1C came back with a result of 7.0. A1C results of 7 and above are considered diabetic because it means your blood sugar has been consistently higher than is healthy. So I had to start testing my blood sugar twice a day and changing my diet to include less sugar and fewer simple carbs (breads/pastries, potatoes, sugary desserts, sodas, etc).

All that happened at the end of November/start of December 2017. Since then I've made a major effort to eat better: avoiding things that will raise my blood sugar and replacing them with vegetables, lean meats, fish, and snacks that are less carby and more fat/protein like cheese, nuts, olives, Slim Jims, and so on. Today I had a follow-up appointment with my primary doctor to check how I was doing, and they tested my A1C again. This time the result came back a 6.0! For reference, an A1C of 5.5 is considered normal and non-diabetic. So I am very pleased about having made that much progress in only about 5 weeks. :D I've also lost about 9 pounds (~4.1 kg for all y'all metric users) since my last visit to the doctor, also 5 weeks ago. I haven't been able to lose any notable amount of weight for... wow, at least 8 years (since I started high school), so to drop that much just by changing my eating habits is very rewarding. My doctor said she thinks I'll probably have made myself non-diabetic when I see her again in 3 months, and I think she's right. ^_^

Posted
5 minutes ago, Sunbird said:

My doctor said she thinks I'll probably have made myself non-diabetic when I see her again in 3 months, and I think she's right. ^_^

Congrats!! That must have been pretty scary I'm glad everything worked out.

Posted
3 minutes ago, MonsterMetroid said:

Congrats!! That must have been pretty scary I'm glad everything worked out.

Thanks! Being in the hospital for the infection was pretty scary, but I actually found the diabetes diagnosis much less worrisome. My family tree has a loooooong history of diabetes, so I already knew a lot about how it works and how to manage it since so many of my relatives have it. Even if I hadn't made such good progress by now, I'd much rather live with diabetes than plenty of other medical conditions, including certain other non-life-threatening ones.

Posted
22 minutes ago, Sunbird said:

Thanks! Being in the hospital for the infection was pretty scary, but I actually found the diabetes diagnosis much less worrisome. My family tree has a loooooong history of diabetes, so I already knew a lot about how it works and how to manage it since so many of my relatives have it. Even if I hadn't made such good progress by now, I'd much rather live with diabetes than plenty of other medical conditions, including certain other non-life-threatening ones.

Thats really amazing that you could drop into near non-diabetic numbers in just a few weeks. Im happy for you. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Del-light-full said:

https://www.cbr.com/kitty-pryde-solo-movie-fox/?utm_source=CBR-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=CBR-FB-P&view=list

I hope this happens because JEWISH FEMALE SUPERHERO ON THE BIG SCREEN!

Unless they erase her Jewishness like they did with Scarlet Witch and then I'll be angry. 

And it might not happen anyway. 

But eeeeeeeeeeee. 

Ben Grimm (The Thing) is Jewish too heh.

But the fantastic four movies sucked :D 

Oh and I always found it amusing cos he's kinda like a Golem himself isn't he.

Posted
10 hours ago, Del-light-full said:

I hope this happens because JEWISH FEMALE SUPERHERO ON THE BIG SCREEN!

Unless they erase her Jewishness like they did with Scarlet Witch and then I'll be angry.

How should they indicate that Scarlet Witch or Kitty is Jewish without being too "in the face" with it? Most heroes in movies don't really do anything that would say that they are or are not Jewish, at least for me. 

Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, Darkness_ said:

Ben Grimm (The Thing) is Jewish too heh.

But the fantastic four movies sucked :D 

Oh and I always found it amusing cos he's kinda like a Golem himself isn't he.

I think that's the point. 

1 hour ago, Mestiv said:

How should they indicate that Scarlet Witch or Kitty is Jewish without being too "in the face" with it? Most heroes in movies don't really do anything that would say that they are or are not Jewish, at least for me. 

Honestly I'd be happy with a Star of David necklace and a one liner about like Jewish food or something. As long as it's there. 

 

Edit: but also, I mean, this is Kitty https://goo.gl/images/d9LHKq

its so much a part of her. They could do it Kamala Kahn style, not tacked on but an integral part of who she is. 

Edited by Del-light-full
Posted

I found a cool bird on Sunday--a small falcon called a Merlin. She (I think it's a female--hard to tell with this species) was sitting on top of a telephone pole having dinner when I found her. None of these photos show any blood, but I've separated them into two groups: photos where the prey is visible and photos where it isn't. (@Mestiv Please let me know if any of the images I've posted go too far.)

@Kestrel Maybe you know how to tell male and female Merlins apart better than I do?

Merlin WITHOUT prey visible (2 photos):

Spoiler

IMG_6658_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.b1a5985f23b16e5aeaefc18a6a5eff7a.jpg

IMG_6662_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.20566292fa9760230108d7aaa6e2db76.jpg

Merlin WITH prey visible, but no blood (2 photos):

Spoiler

IMG_6669_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.d051854a5b0df1722e367ed03774fc59.jpg

The bird she's caught is a House Sparrow, a species that was introduced to North America from Europe and is now very common.

IMG_6675_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.be2105eaf3efc58ed3c39d16f2630ec5.jpg

 

Posted

They did a fairly good job of pointing out that Magneto is Jewish... Although it was pretty much the whole plot of the movie Xmen: First Class. 

Kind of sick of this tribalism crap from everyone these days though. I really really really hope to hell that we contact aliens soon so we can drop all the these pointing out of differences and unify together as the human race we are. 

Posted
4 hours ago, AngelEy3 said:

They did a fairly good job of pointing out that Magneto is Jewish... Although it was pretty much the whole plot of the movie Xmen: First Class. 

Kind of sick of this tribalism crap from everyone these days though. I really really really hope to hell that we contact aliens soon so we can drop all the these pointing out of differences and unify together as the human race we are. 

Differences don't have to be divisive. If we were all the same we may as well be robots. Having an identity isn't 'tribalism crap'. Treating people like rust because they're different from you is crap, being different is not. I'll thank you for not erasing who I am in your quest for robot unity. 

Another relevant article about Kitty and her Jewishness: https://comicsverse.com/kitty-pryde-jewish-erasure/

Posted

On that subject, I've seen plenty of religions and cultures portrayed in fiction without it consuming the story. It's just that said fiction isn't always the most popular or mainstream.

Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, A Budgie said:

On that subject, I've seen plenty of religions and cultures portrayed in fiction without it consuming the story. It's just that said fiction isn't always the most popular or mainstream.

Don't we read fantasy because we want to be consumed by another culture? Imagine taking Vorinism out of Roshar. Characters don't have to be white or American for the story to be good. 

What fiction are you talking about, I could use some recommendations. :)

Edited by Del-light-full
Posted
22 minutes ago, Del-light-full said:

Don't we read fantasy because we want to be consumed by another culture? Imagine taking Vorinism out of Roshar. Characters don't have to be white or American for the story to be good. 

What fiction are you talking about, I could use some recommendations. :)

Hm.
I'd compile you a list of diverse fiction I've enjoyed, but I have to go to bed now (it's getting rather late). I could send you a list of books another time, however, if you'd like.

Posted
Just now, A Budgie said:

Hm.
I'd compile you a list of diverse fiction I've enjoyed, but I have to go to bed now (it's getting rather late). I could send you a list of books another time, however, if you'd like.

If its not too much work, Id like that. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the cremlings bite!

Posted
10 hours ago, Sunbird said:

I found a cool bird on Sunday--a small falcon called a Merlin. She (I think it's a female--hard to tell with this species) was sitting on top of a telephone pole having dinner when I found her. None of these photos show any blood, but I've separated them into two groups: photos where the prey is visible and photos where it isn't. (@Mestiv Please let me know if any of the images I've posted go too far.)

@Kestrel Maybe you know how to tell male and female Merlins apart better than I do?

Merlin WITHOUT prey visible (2 photos):

  Reveal hidden contents

IMG_6658_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.b1a5985f23b16e5aeaefc18a6a5eff7a.jpg

IMG_6662_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.20566292fa9760230108d7aaa6e2db76.jpg

Merlin WITH prey visible, but no blood (2 photos):

  Hide contents

IMG_6669_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.d051854a5b0df1722e367ed03774fc59.jpg

The bird she's caught is a House Sparrow, a species that was introduced to North America from Europe and is now very common.

IMG_6675_Merlin_Crop.thumb.jpg.be2105eaf3efc58ed3c39d16f2630ec5.jpg

 

What a cutie! Honestly, I don't work with Merlins as they aren't common in Texas, but a quick google image search and I think its a female? but they're close to identical. It could also be a young bird, or passage, which would have a different plumage color than an adult. I really don't know, though.

Posted (edited)

A little while back I created a simple in character storytelling/rp & drinking game for D&D and played it with a couple of groups I run. (I don't drink, but characters in the world do and I've found the game can lead to some fun roleplaying.) In universe it uses a set of stones with dwarvish runic letters carved onto a flat side, but in practice I just used numbers or a set of very simple cards.

Some of my players made a proper set and gave them to me as a Christmas present 0_o.

Spoiler

dwarven_storytelling_and_drinking_game_stones.thumb.jpg.9903289360efb3c152e1cae0f7ecf30b.jpg

 

Edited by Claincy
Posted

Some moar bird photos from last week :D

Brown Creeper and Red-tailed Hawk (2 photos):

Spoiler

This Brown Creeper didn't want to hold still, but he didn't seem to mind my proximity either. Cute little guy!

IMG_6697_Brown_Creeper_Crop_(C).thumb.jpg.73e221fc1fd62e515b69800daae6c0b2.jpg

Red-tailed Hawk soaring waaaaaay high:

IMG_6710_Red-tailed_Hawk_Crop_(C).thumb.jpg.13528e885709f1fe972f1527c39c3b5c.jpg

Particularly photogenic ducks at the park (2 photos):

Spoiler

Male Mallard:

IMG_6713_Mallard_(M)_Crop_(C).thumb.jpg.43d5089962bd7f8280cd79b64b2c4596.jpg

Domestic duck mid-quack: "AFLAC!"

IMG_6744_Mallard_Crop_(C).thumb.jpg.45dbdbf72c3b82cc6c4cf35884d80855.jpg

Cooper's Hawk (2 photos):

Spoiler

I took this photo standing almost directly underneath the hawk. Almost directly underneath because I was SO not interested in getting pooped on if he suddenly needed a bathroom break. :lol:

5a5c63c2b00a9_IMG_6774CoopersCrop(C).thumb.jpg.d7e4e1f24274c5d779cf97f062319944.jpg

Back view of the same Cooper's Hawk:

5a5c63c5d5533_IMG_6776CoopersCrop(C).thumb.jpg.edc1723655205a58b32fa6d3c2e9d414.jpg

 

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