Coffee With The Princess!
One Week!

**Giggles!**

As I sit here and relax after being turned down by the Red Cross for blood donations and just debating on lunch, I thought I would type up a journal for y'all. Recently, I have had the pleasure of chatting with so many of y'all out there. Thank you for being so groovy if you are one of those great people who I was blessed to speak with over the past couple of weeks or even a month. This includes the people I have conversed with on Tapestries, a furry RP muck ... yes, there are still those around, and/or The List (f-list.net) It's always a pleasure.

Recently, I got to talk to a really groovy guy named  cursereaper who is a pretty damned good artist and writer too, making me feel so much better being more of a writer these days than an artist. He had encouraged me to keep on writing and at least posting my stories to him if no one else would read them. Like I said to him, I'm going to keep on writing since I love doing it so much, but it's hard to do these days without the artwork to go along with it ... and even then, you get told by someone that they only look at the artwork. While harsh, it's the truth! I watch those who favorite stuff right out of the gun and I can usually tell who's read the story or just looked at the chick with the bare boobs. While I get it, it can be disheartening. The ones I love to get are the fans who have all of the consonants in their names and seem to lack any creativity ... now, one guy will notice that I just took a shot at him and that's fine. "You aren't the only one, honey!" is what I would tell him. This commenter was really nasty with me and even went as far as demanding that I allow him to "steal" artwork of mine. I was floored! But, I doubt many of you would be surprised by the arrogance. Hell, I had one guy steal, put my name on the author's notes and then later I was told by another source that the reason it probably got ignored for so long by the mods is that this guy used my name and just assumed that I gave this guy permission. Guys, if y'all wonder why when I go to a page and see nothing but favorites ... and with a name that's gggfffcccxxx ... they often go to the banned list. Now, I have gotten a bit better. They get once chance to allow me to take a pull off of my coffee and perhaps my formerly agile brain gets distracted by ... BOOBYS!

Mm? Oh yeah, right! **Ahem!**

Anyways, you get the idea. But this was not meant to be a complaint journal, something fun. So let's get to it!

 cursereaper caught me this morning as I was working on a story called "One Week!" It revolves around the Mighty PlastiCat and Ricochet KaBOOM! with an ongoing fight happening as Cait, transformed into the PlastiCar, drives them back from a fight and Taffy sits up front and sulks. You might remember this piece of work, done by the magnificent  kecomaster with the original rough drawing done by yours truly:



(Sorry to those on FurAffinity! I couldn't find it!)

Anyways, over the past few weeks now, I have been listening to a lot of music that's made me think of my Kaitlynn from way back. Stuff like Huey Lewis and the News, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and ZZ Top. Even the Transformers, which was one of the very few cartoons that she liked! Kait listened to a wide range of music, so this probably comes as no surprise to people who have read my journals or heard my stories. One song that was not available before her passing was "One Week!" which was often played back when I was drinking and crying my eyes and heart out. Gawd, I missed her so much! These days, there's an understanding that we will meet again, especially after she visited me in the hospital as a ghost ... I kid you not! She kept an eye on me while I was there. One of the nurses, I believe, had said that she had seen someone who wasn't supposed to be there ... since we were allowed to have one visitor period, she knew something was wrong since all of my nurses had met the Bearded Lantern, the gentleman he is! Nevertheless, this has given me some comfort over the past two years now.

With my brain clearing, I'm remembering far more than I thought possible these days. Kait and I only had one dust-up as my Uncle Buck called them. One night, we had a terrible fight to which I only remember that Kait struck me with the palm of her hand. She actually knocked my wide load butt down the stairs of her parent's house on St. Simons Island and I swear I hit every step on the way down! I remember looking at the ceiling and thinking, "Hey! That should be redone!" when Kait came down the stairs, crying like I had never seen her before ... and would never see again! She just held me for hours, crying and swearing, "Gawd! I thought I killed you! Nononono!" I kept own trying to tell her I was ok, but she would have none of that! I stayed there that night and insisted that I call Mom and Pop to let them know I was staying over ... she knew damned well how they were. Mom didn't answer, but Pop ... I could hear his smile and nod through the phone.

Think for a moment of some of your fights with the person that's really close to you. I'm not talking about the little things, but the seriously staggering stuff that no longer makes sense now, but at that moment, it was "The Armageddon Fight!" as Chris Titus calls it. Ok ... ?

Well, in the story's set-up, the girlfriends have had their first fight where Taffy is badly hurt and yet Cait seems intent in keeping the madness going. Taffy's so mad that she's not really listening and yet so hurt that her heart is breaking. Now, many of you know about the mental like, "The Bond!", that the two have ... it's a constant between "Destiny's Daughters!" and "Stretching Things!" stories. They know what the other is thinking and feeling. Kait and I had that after this fight ... a sense of what was happening to the other. Best story I can tell is the class between girlfriends years ago. This was the first girlfriend I had who I worked with. She was whining about me not giving her a second chance. I told her that I was done with her and found someone far better. Kait had pulled up in her Firebird Transam, the 1977 or 1978 model with the 454 block runner engine and turbo inducer. "I love this car more than life!" Kait was quoted in saying ... and yet she let me drive it once when she was too drunk to drive, That's a story for another day! Anyways, Kait pulls up and the ex-girlfriend (who's name will not be spoken again, not even as more than as an "Ex-Girlfriend!") and asks me how's things going. The girl was brazen enough to feel slighted by Kait's attention and asked me who this was ... the point was, "Who's this girl who managed to enchant you like I used to?" ... and I introduced them. Both regarded each other and the parking lot turned cooler than a frozen Hell! Kait made the mention of having me come by her parents's house at Cannon's Point and the ex-girlfriend asked, "What are you two going to do?" Kait looked at her with that frosty glance before leaning in and giving me the most passionate kiss ever! A few of my friends at work saw this and were laughing at the ex-girlfriend as she went inside and the Boss had to send her home. Wow, right? Well, with that understanding for the ElastiCats, they will argue and disagree, but fight against the other? Not a chance! Neither did Kait or myself I'm proud to say!

That's all I'm going to give away about the story, though this is one of the many that I promised to write years ago and just did not find the time or inspiration to tell y'all.

Oopse! Just got the all-call! I have to cut this short, but thanks for reading this far!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
The Quicker Fucker Upper!

**Giggles!**

Before anyone starts laughing too much or even reaching for the block button, please understand there's a good story behind this. Let me explain ... also understand that "m writing this up without notes and other details that might help explain things, but as a group, we are still learning about this story as it unfolds:

Saturday Night's Tabletop Gathering was the start right after the finishing up of the "Wrath of the Righteous!" with the Left Fielder's game that he's been working on for a while now called "The Iconics!" Basically, this one starts right off with the Iconic characters of our game, Hans Icelander, the cleric of Thor, Kyros Vec, the dark master of magic and technology, Gilford Bazzel, master thief and all-around trouble maker, the Mighty Caitlynn Wildfire, and the gentle adventurer and partner to the barbarian, Israfel Vincent, meeting to deal with a request from Iona Ferox Dharc, mistress of magic and daring, who apparently got in over her head with solving a mystery plaguing Cheliax. An unknown cult is highly suspected to be stealing people for some nefarious reason. The only clue so far is the appearance of an alchemical shop in the town of Amamore (SP?) near Westcrown. No one else responded to the request for aid and Iona traveled there to find out more about what was happening. She got a good start, but it seems that she was taken hostage by agents or aggressors of an unknown origin, but the potentially reasonable assumption is by the cultists.

Ok, you with me so far? Good! Let's continue.

The Iconics's children were asked to go into action, along with some allies for protection. Led for the moment by a teamwork leadership of Princess Kyra Vec and Jason Icelander, the motley crew assembled and then traveled to the town to pick up the pieces of the investigation, saving the Captain of the Hellknights, who was their contact and earning some of his respect. Given a place to stay, they traveled to Amamore to try and find out more information. First, it was checking out the Twilight Inn and then speaking with both the Baron Albert Sonarnus and then the Police Chief, who made me think of my NPC, Inspector Macready from several adventures. Talking to the Police Cheif, he allowed us to see her possessions that were left behind at the inn. A magical tome that had pages ripped out was very curious and interesting. The Baron had given us the authority to investigate and to talk and question people, within reason, we started searching the last place that Iona was seen in, which got us an amulet, worn by Iona, but I thought it was interesting that it was not found by the guards, but hidden in a floorboard as if she knew she might get captured. The last known place was the remains of the alchemical shop that had appeared within the town a few weeks or perhaps a few months before people got sick and then went missing. So, we went to search that place. Only to get jumped by thugs or possibly cultists.

Now, here's where the phase coined by the Dark Druid comes in. The Bearded Lantern, running Jason Icelander, one of our magic-users, used a spell called Force Missile, which did some serious damage! "It's the Quicker Fucker Upper!" she squealed, bringing the game to a halt for a few minutes! Usually we get a good line for the night and this night had this one. Awesome stuff. We ended the night at the alchemical shop with just under a thousand experience points. "It's going to be a while before you guys gain enough for 2nd level," the Dungeon Master, also known as the Left Fielder, said. "I didn't want people advancing too fast and getting too powerful, but to have to work harder at the development." He also explained that magic items were going to be sparse and limited as well. "I want this to be more from the characters's abilities instead," he added.

Admittedly a different sort of game to be sure, but that's ok. The gang's reception of the game was very heartening and a nice transition from "Wrath of the Righteous!' with such powerful characters. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Healing The World Wound For Wrath Of The Righteous!

**Giggles!**

Oh wow! It's been a serious sojourn since the start of Wrath of the Righteous's start back in 2016, I believe, when the Bearded Lantern picked up the mantel of Dungeon Master once more and plotted our course through the various books to defeat the legions of the terribly wicked and great evil that had plagued the world of Golarion for so long. At least as far as I have understood it. When we finished on Saturday night, he took his last drag off of the cigar and just smiled. No words were needed. The plan had come together and we were victorious. That's really all that mattered.

Most of the fights that night were actually with the characters dealing with the dungeon crawling through the various labyrinths and fighting the various monsters. Before anyone asks, the Bearded Lantern had not only seven players, but the Left Fielder and I were playing two characters and Mr. Scott and the Dark Druid, father and daughter, were playing their characters plus a pet each. Plus, the Bearded Lantern had his legendary "Cleric of Thor!" which I have always said is happily allowed in any game I run. So, the math is seven players, two extra characters, and two pets, adding up to twelve characters. And then they were Mythic, which adds a whole level to the entire campaign as many of you can at least guess and might even know. Big Jay was not there on Saturday Night, having other commitments to handle, but the rest of us were good with that. The rule of the tabletop game was "Life comes first!", meaning you have to work hard to play hard. Many of the gang has boyfriends or girlfriends to deal with, wives or husbands in a few cases. That can cause problems that we don't wish for people to bring to the table.

The fight with the Storm King was perhaps the best in my opinion with Caitlynn Wildfire, the powerhouse Changeling (not Pathfinders's version by any stretch of the imagination!) being at Colossal height and being able to wreak havoc across the board, much at the delight of the rest of the group. These were Mythic Monsters in their own right, making fighting them a tremendous nightmare since they could and would force rerolls when needed, helping themselves and hurting us. Annoying, but that's part of the insane fun! We had Mr. Scott's wizard providing the battlefield magics, the Left Fielder's "God of Rock!" providing the soundtrack and bonuses that was needed to help us succeed, and then us heavy hitters like the Bearded Lantern's Hans Icelander, the Bionic Forearm's dynamic "Master of Shapes!", and the Security Officer's own "Judge Dredd!", something that has been explained to me a few times, but I don't think I truly understood. Outside the Bearded Lantern, the Left Fielder, and myself, most everyone was a new character that we picked up along the way ... translation, when we came back to book five last year, people were added to the tabletop group, four new players, and two of our normal cast of people changing out characters. Not something new in my opinion.

We managed to preform the magical rites needed to seal the World Wound with all of the components needed, allowing the session to close. Before any of you ask, I gave only one name of the monsters that had to be fought by the heroes because there are so many people who would like to play this game, which is also available as a computer game. A good friend of mine and a famous artist these days, Mabo, who's on both Deviant Art and FurAffinity as well as someone who has their own patreon too, is working his massive self through the game. If you have not met this gentle giant of a man, you are in for a treat. I have not myself, but I have seen pictures of him! Wow! And I feel so cheated at being around five feet tall myself on a good day.

One of the things we cleared up because I got understandably teased by friends of mine online about Caitlynn loosing her head to a vorpal blade, I believe a long sword. I mainly came onto the back porch of the Bearded lantern's place and was telling him about the incident. This had happened one day last week during a brief chat on The List (f-list.net) where one guy was just freaking out about it. I kept on saying that things are more than ok with her being back into the game. Barring all of the magics of restoration, healing, and even reincarnation, we had enough characters who were at this level bordering on the realm of gods themselves. But I had also pointed out that being allowed to use the BESM d20 core book to create the basic template for both Caitlynn Wildfire and Israfel Vincent, both had been paying for ranks in regeneration and reincarnation that would allow the restoration within time. I told the Bearded Lantern that I thought it was just funny how that after all this time, this was the first time this had happened and I finally got to use that power! That was when the Bearded Lantern mentioned that the strike was not a true roll of 20, but with keen, the critical number for such a damaging strike had been lowered. Now, I was surprised, but I understood that such mistakes could easily happen. The Bionic Forearm, one of our "Keepers of the Rules!" with comments and the ability to look things up super fast from the Left Fielder, had said that it would be a sever and not a decapitation. The Bearded Lantern just shrugged and smiled at me. I got another boon for my birthday!

Still, that is the risk when you play games like this, gang. Your character is going to either be defeated or you could die. It's part of the challenge of the game. I can tell you that I went through several characters back when I first started, first with Dungeons and Dragons and then with Villains and Vigilantes, where defeat was part of the descriptions of my heroics. But you also had to have the class in being a good player to the rest of the group as well as to the Dungeon Master or Game Master or whatever the game calls the judge and storyteller. It can be hard. "The Walk of Shame!" Many of us, and yes, myself, have had to do this in some of our earlier games. This is where your character has been killed and the party is unable to bring the character back, due to the inability to leave the field of battle, lack of supplies, or ... if you were me, the cleric of the party and was taken out. I would like to say that I wasn't upset, but I was! I had a bunch of hard-nosed and often very cruel Dungeon Masters who ran the games for their amusement and little of anything else. Not the story, not to have fun to share for all, but their own enjoyment. Ask any tabletop gamer and they can tell you at least one or even two people they know like that, Mine back when I was growing up were also kids, pre-teenagers or teenagers who were of fragile egos and great pride. Rough to say the least. That is why I often make sure that the party has some sort of ability or supply of healing and even resurrection as needed in the games I run. Risk is often low in my games, but I like to think the fun can be endless.

So, what's next? That, y'all, is coming up next weekend with the story of the Iconics as the Left Fielder calls it. Characters run by the Bearded Lantern, the Bionic Forearm, the Security Officer, and myself are playing our usual character's kids stepping up for the next generation of heroes and heroines. The other players are teaming up with an iconic and picking up heroics, tips, and even working together for their survival. Now, the Left Fielder has demanded certain expectations on stats to make the character more of the more normal heroes and heroines, which is fine by me. All I have ever asked for is clear expectations from the Dungeon Master so we can get the show on the road. And as I understand it, he's done just that. Though I heard the sigh from the Bearded Lantern ... he's going to be helping out some of the newer players to make their characters. That's also fine. I still maintain the rule that a person is responsible for their characters and you should have the character up to date when 6 PM Call is heard and the Dungeon Master steps up.

Whew! That makes officially two games we have finished after all these years of doing games, investing the time and effort, and managing to forge their stories and legacies. We'll see how this works next weekend.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Finally Hitting 20th Level!

**Giggles!**

Sorry to those of y'all who have been curious to what's been going on with the Saturday Night Tabletop Gaming Group, but it's been an insane week for me. Well, more for the Firm, but not me personally outside of being run all over the place to help these poor guys and gals out. As of last Saturday Night, the Bearded Lantern lit his victory cigar to celebrate two things: chopping off Cait's head with a vorpal long sword and having the group make it to 20th level in Wrath of the Righteous! This is the same campaign that is a computer game for various systems I believe ... I'm probably wrong and it's just for the computer, but if I had something like that, I would want to market it all over the place.

We started this back in 2016 I believe ... once again, I'm going with my memory and I was allowed to use Caitlynn Wildfire and Israfel Vincent in their BESM d20/Pathfinder stats, only allowing them to get from the mystic part of the adventure the basic stuff. That was fine by me. Now that I have sat down and read more of the Mystic Adventures book, I think I might have cheapened myself by not taking full advantage of the entire thing, but that's a worry for another day. Because of this, both of the characters are very powerful, but probably more on par with the BESM d20 system. The Bearded Lantern and the rest of the players have been very gracious to allow me to see this through as it was started out.

Now, the Bearded Lantern can be a tough Dungeon Master, but he's fair. Years ago, as some of y'all might know from the 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons game, Cait got ahold of Hellbringer, her vorpal battle axe that a gold dragon allowed her to have through a wish. He's regretted this ever since. With Hellbringer, Cait has turned the tide on many fights, including one epic one against a big bad boss who was also a Mystic creature, if memory serves. Cait confirmed the hit and the damage was so high that a fortitude save was impossible, so boom! Down the boss went. Cait ended up getting hers this past weekend, which surprised the hell out of me! A very odd sensation, but one I had prepared for. Cait had enough ranks in her ability to reincarnate to come back at the end of combat on her own. The Bearded Lantern said that he had planned to do the resurrection himself since he was playing the noble Hans Icelander, Cleric of Thor. I told him that I had this and that this ability was getting used for the first time in over seven years.

Nevertheless, the gang has done really well and I do hope they are having as much fun as I am! I love being a player, especially when the game is fun and the Dungeon Master is not screwing the party. It can happen, though sometimes when we think we are being jerked around, it's not intensional. But there are those rare times that it is. Just for the Dungeon Master's amusement. The one Dungeon Master who's always made it clear that his mission was to kill characters is the Bionic Forearm, though the Bearded Lantern will take the win, but neither makes it permanent. "Where's the fun in that?"

Game On! BE Happy!

Coffee With The Princess!
What's Up With The Fake Studios?!

**Giggles!**

Good morning again, y'all! With change in the weather, I'm feeling that bouncy feeling that I used to get back in the day when I was still reasonably new to the Internet. It would be about 1998 where I would join Tapestries as my first muck and then would move on to all of the anime inspired ones. During that time, I was able to do and post a lot of my own artwork, especially since I had more time and energy back then than I do these days. Also, almost thirty years younger too ... and all of my toes. ❤️

Most of y'all who have been following me on either Deviant Art or FurAffinity, the only two websites that I stay current on any more, inflation is my passion along with awesome artwork too. To keep it simple, check out some of my galleries around 2007-2010 and you will see a lot more of my own work than commissioned work. Enjoy! ❤️

Now, what kills me is I have been getting these studios like one Deviant Art user who noted me sometime after I posted Taffy The Impossible Girl comic pages that I did for fun. Some of it was that a lot of people who watch me and then show up on The List (f-list.net) don't know a lot about my characters, so I thought this would be a good thing to post ... and it's fun for me, making me feel a bit creative these days. Personally I'm more of a writer these days than an artist, but I'm perhaps one of the least productive artists out there these days and I keep on getting these Fake Studios sending me notes about joining their website or team or whatever it is. And like the rest, the recent one got banned from my page. But what killed me is ... this user had been here for 15 years and there was NOTHING on his page. Now, I'm slow, but St. Mary on a pogo stick! ❤️

I'm reasonably sure that most of these people are just trying to steal people's information since the notes are all about the same format and with the same style of grammar. What makes me laugh, as it should with the rest of y'all, is they never read the author's notes, something that I feel confident in saying that 90% of the people who surf the pages on both sites don't do ... and I'm guilty of doing that sometimes too. But, if they did, they would see that usually at least in the title I put the artist's who did the work for me name in the title and damned well in the author's notes. A good clue in this is the speed that I can get favorites too. I watched about four people favorite the stuff within the first minute of posting, so I have to wonder if they even bothered to even read or enjoy the page. Especially with me reusing posted images that were done. ❤️

I'm sorry, y'all, but this tickles me ...

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Demon Eyes!

**Giggles!**

Good Morning, Y'All! BE Happy!

This past Wednesday, I had another procedure where the doctor shoots medicine into my eyes to correct the swelling of the retina to aid in the healing of my body and help get me back to better health due to diabetes that had been out of control for a good many years since October 2nd, 2020. Just for people who might not understand how this could happen, let me explain. As I understand it, diabetes causes the blood cells not able to carry as much oxygen to the needed areas of the body which is further from the heart with greater difficulty. Those areas start to slowly die, which is why you often hear people who suffer from diabetes being at greater risk of loosing toes and feet, like I did, or worse. Because the eyes are far from the heart, they can have this happen to them in the form of swelling of the retina. This happens when the arterial system tries to compensate with the dying of the cells by making new veins, which causes the swelling and that distorts the retina. Think of the eye like a movie theater ... the retina is the big screen, the lens is the movie projector, and life is the movie. Got it? Ok, then ... the light and images are projected through the lens as life happens and is transmitted to the audience or the brain, depending on your thought process. If the retina is distorted by the swelling, the screen is warped and no adjustments by glasses or the projector helps. That's where the medicine comes in.

Now, to explain the journal's title better, the doctor accidentally bruised both of my eyes, leaving them a bit pooled with blood and making them red. This is the worst that it's been since I started at the top of the year with this shots, but to be fair, I've had a few cases of this when I used to box as a little kid and then in college. I was never really good at it since I don't like hurting people, but I do know how. You can also blame Kait for polishing my experiences with what best hurts a guy, especially with Robo-Grip Pliers from Craftsman. Doc could not apologize enough for doing this again, but I just laughed at the time. In the morning, I got the surprise of my life ... and they have looked a bit redder each time. It's just too funny! ❤️

I'm in pretty good spirits this morning as I take a pull off of my coffee, the Blackbeard's Delight, which is a dark roast from Black Rifle Coffee ... mm! I need to get them to sponsor a podcast, but I doubt I would have time. ❤️

Speaking of medical experiences, many of y'all who had kept up with me back in the 2010 or there about might remember me filleting my finger with the breaking of one of those insane fishbowls. Well, I have done it again! This time I got injured at the Bearded Lantern's Garage on Saturday night. I went out to check on the cats and accidentally tripped over a weighted umbrella stand-base. The top of the holder caught the middle of my shin and cut into the flesh, even through a pair of jeans! Wow! Now, I didn't think anything about it ... and no, I was not drinking any alcohol. Just water. I didn't notice until yesterday afternoon when I was sitting down and finally relaxing after all of the stress from the weekend. Hurricane Ian, making sure things were locked down at the Firm, and even worrying about friends and just trying to keep calm by having fun on the weekend ... oh yes and apartment shenanigans once again. Anyways, it's a good sized gash, but I got this. With the amputation of the four smaller toes and a portion of my left foot, this has left me with a groovy first aid kit and plenty of supplies to go along with that. ❤️

Hey! Keep the people in Florida in your prayers and thoughts, y'all. Some of those areas were hit hard by Hurricane Ian here in the United States. We here in Savannah got a lot of wind, maybe a bit of rain, but little of anything else. Ian slammed into Charleston, South Carolina hard too after gaining a second wind, so to speak, and did some damage up there as well. Being in the corner pocket of the South, Savannah got a pretty good position along with the barrier islands to help soften some of those potential problems. Back when Hurricane Matthew and then later Irma, Savannah got hit ... Matthew slammed us harder than Irma and both of those, like Ian, I stayed for to keep an eye on things. Much to the amusement of the staff.

Mm ... with a refresh of my coffee, things are starting to get groovy here at the Firm this morning. This month marks the unofficial reaching of twenty two years with these fine folks. So much has changed and yet they have helped me get through so much. The passing of both of my parents, that was a major thing outside of the amputation. Then there's been all of the things in-between: helping me get financially stable time and time again and being some of the best people I could have ever wished for. Having the weekends off is something that a lot of professionals that I have had the pleasure and honor of knowing enjoy as well as myself. This has allowed me to return to tabletop gaming and even with the formation of the Saturday Night Tabletop Game Group's formation. They have been around since the 1970s, but they really started coming into their own as I started recording their exploits through journal entries and just speaking about them.

So, I suppose this is the wrap for this journal entry for now. Gang, make sure to BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Family Matters!

**Giggles!**

Good morning, y'all! I do hope this session of my journal ramblings finds you safe and well. Please, keep all of those who are and were in the path of Hurricane Ian in your thoughts and prayers. Help if you can, please as well. Here in Savannah, we seemed to have avoided the bank shot as I used to call it in pool when I used to do some slight hustling back in my days at Cumberland College and then later at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) Being in a corner pocket of the United States, we are also protected by barrier islands that keeps the stronger storms away from our mainland, but islands like Tybee Island can take a tremendous beating. The Firm will be open this morning for the short four hours that I'm asked to attend, but I would have been here even if the place was closed. Y'all might remember in the past when I dealt with Hurricanes Matthew and Irma years ago, I stayed nearby or even at the Firm for hours, even chasing away fools who dared to think to plunger the stronghold. One pair of stupids showed up in a "Fast and Furious!" little lawnmower car and was about to do a scoping when they saw me. They quickly left, but not before I got their tag number and turned it into the police. So, I've been here since 4:30 am just keeping an eye on things. The Firm has become a second home for me over these past twenty plus years now and there's not a whole lot I wouldn't do for them as long as it's honorable and legal. That's what you will do for family ...

Speaking of family, this is the thrust of the journal this morning. Yesterday would have been Pop's 85th birthday. And I should have expected that the phone call from my Big Sister was going to be rough. As many of y'all know, she is a heavy drinker, pot-smoker, and in questionable health. Recently she had admitted to me that she had fallen a couple of times and actually blacked out, but the doctors cannot find anything wrong with her. The most frightening thing is that she recently traveled from Gulf Port, Mississippi to Brunswick, Georgia by herself to see her daughter and her kids (that makes them my Big Sister's grandkids.) I was not happy about this and, with a phone call to her husband, he told me that he was less than thrilled about this. I'm not sure why she went alone, but that's not my affair since it sounded like she may have told him to stay home. Nevertheless, she made the trip ... a good 7 hours or so, but I think she took longer, taking a few pitstops and breaks as needed. I've driven further in one day, but I'm not sure I could these days. At the top of this year, I went to Nashville, Tennessee from Savannah and back within 24 hours. Looking back on it, it was almost as insane as what she did. But I also hadn't had a few strokes earlier and possibly something else the month before.

"So, honey," I managed to say to my Big Sister's husband when he popped into the phone call from yesterday. "I just got some crazy-assed woman calling me who sounds like she's lit. Do you have any ideas who she might be?"

There was some laughter and he simply said, "Yep ... she's not there yet, but she's working on it. Hang on to your BC, honey. You'll need them."

That really got all three of us laughing, but it didn't last. If you don't know, my Big Sister has mood swings that would frighten Freddy Kruger and make Jason Voorhies cringe. She usually starts drinking and smoking pot when she cannot deal with the aches and pains that life has tossed her ... and believe me, she's been through the wringer so many times that even a Flattening Fetish Fan would be asking her to stop. She's always been like this, but has gotten worse as the years have gone on. Pop used to say back in the 1970s when we were living in the 9th Street house at East Beach, he would go in there and find her passed out in her bed with pill bottles by the corner of her bed. Once he had to run her into Brunswick, the mainland from St. Simons Island to get her stomach pumped. He sent her to boarding schools and even had her put away a few times for the crap that she did ... during her times of running away and stealing the family car too. Those were the times where she got into so much trouble. Most of the stories I don't know about, but when she's like this, she will use me like a priestess and confess. I suppose in a way I am ... but each time, it tears more of my soul out. I would help her if I can, but I know from my own experiences, you have to want to grab the lifeline. She's not there yet ... I think she's still punishing herself after all these years, truth be told. I have said this a few times to her husband and he's told me that he had always suspected it. So, we just keep an eye on her.

Yesterday's call was not just to check up on me here in Savannah due to Hurricane Ian, but because it was Pop's birthday as I said before. She was lamenting his passing, especially since she spent so much time with him at the end. I was told a few times not to try and make it out there since I had to work to make the money to pay the bills. But I found out more why through the phone call. Pop was NOT happy with her spending time with him. He really just wanted to die. Mom was gone and had been for four years and he was pretty much working on destroying himself. I never really suspected, but I should of ... curse me for not seeing it sooner. But, my Big Sister took all of that on herself. So, after dealing with Popzilla's fearsome rages, still loud and hot during his chemo-treatments, but throughout the last few weeks he was still here in this mortal coil, she stayed and kept him company. He was angry at first with her wasting her time, but she stood firm and proved that daughters can be feared too. That's a fifty yard-line I wouldn't have wanted to be on!

During one day during some lucidity, Pop told her his secrets that I don't think even Mom knew. Before Pop met Mom, he had been really close with a young lady and got her pregnant according to his tale. He wanted to marry her and they were indeed engaged, but she broke it off, saying that she did not wish to marry a soldier. Heartbroken, he walked away. Now, remember, his own biological father had done this to Pop and the man he would call "Father!" turned out to be a good man who helped raise him as best as he and his mom could. When Pop would fall in love with Mom, his Uncle, who had been there after Pop's father committed suicide due to cancer ... and Pop found him in the root cellar, had said that it was Pop's Mom who found the body, not Pop. Pop told my Big Sister the truth later and I had heard the story from Pop back when I was a teenager. If memory serves, he had hinted at the earlier engagement and the girl walking away from him, but I had pushed it aside since it was mentioned through a long torrent of him just talking over Domino's pizza and a trip to the book store to pick up some Dungeons and Dragons books. But, it would seem that she and I have a brother out there that we may never know. She told me as much as she could about the possibly identity, but only a first name ... I just listened, mostly stunned. Thinking about it as I sip my morning Black Rifle Coffee and await to see who shows up this morning for work, all of the clues were there. I just was too floored and I really didn't wish to get my Big Sister riled up even more. She was upset to have Pop gone all over again. It seems like this was more of her self-abuse that she's infamous for. I cannot fight her demons for her, but I can just be here for her as much as I can handle ... but, in the end, they are her demons.

Family is really important to me, especially these days. I know a good deal about Mom's side of the family, but Pop's family history was a tight secret. And Pop was NOT a talker. Now, I know about my own biological family, but I have rejected them because for the simple reason that they put me up for adoption. I was born a premie baby and putting me up for adoption was the only way the family could afford the medical costs. Mom, Pop, and my Big Sister were all the family I needed. It was the best of times and the worst of times, but they were and are my family. I made sure I told all of them this bold statement of personal truth. I made Mom cry and Pop swell with pride.

My Big Sister laughed yesterday, saying, "We are a seriously fucked up group of people."

"We are family, honey." That's what I told her.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
A Most Curious Thing ...

This morning, I got three favorites of a rather lewd piece of artwork that is only on my page at FurAffinity and possibly the commissioned artist. Now, the reason for that is that about the same time that I had gotten this piece, Deviant Art took down the artwork that  milkybody and the story that I had done a while back because of an unsavory picture or some such other problem. But, it's their house and their rules. I might not like the ruling and I was given the chance to argue the point, but I decided that after it being up for several years, why complain about it. So, that's why most of y'all on Deviant Art only might not know about it.

But, anyways ... this person favorited this other piece and when I went to check out their page, the favorites were not listed on their page. Nothing was put on the page at all. Now, I know that I have gotten in an argument with several people who have pages and put little thought into doing anything for the page. Like an avatar, some sort of pictures, or even some writings. Most of these people come across to me wanting place to store their porn ... that's what I think often enough. That's fine, but here's me thought: with the plague of NFTs and other are thieves out there, this is why they get blocked in my case.

I will agree that it might not be fair to the people who do just that and don't steal, but I'm sorry, gang ... after watching so many pieces of mine taken and a few sold, watching friends like the before mentioned artist and  kecomaster stolen and then reposted all over the internet. Though the funny thing is, I'm not sure who's more stolen of the pictures that Keco's done for me: Ricochet KaBoom!, the PlastiCat, or the Princess.

I know a few of y'all will probably chime in and tell me that I'm being unfair to the user who favorited work this morning, did not show them on the favorites list ... nothing at all on the page as a friendly reminder ... and who I blocked too. That's fine. I know that you can go to my FurAffinity page and steal all the artwork you want. That's on you. I post things there because I love what I used to do which was draw some works of questionable talent and I do love to write, but I also love to help out artists when I can by commissioning pieces. Oh sure, I could keep them all to myself, especially when some average between $80-$120 and some being as much as $600! So, what I'm saying is this: think about the people you watch. Do you respect them as much as yourself? Think on that. Theft is wrong period.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
In With A Loud Laugh!

**Giggles!**

As many of y'all know, September is my birthday month, which I try my best to celebrate all month long, even though my birthdate is the 10th ... which interestingly enough is a Saturday this year! I've had a few birthdays where the day has fallen on a Saturday and those were extra special since Saturday was Cartoon Day for me. This was a time before the Cartoon Network started and all of the television stations fought to get the kids to tune in to shape their minds for toys and cereals and anything else that they decided to put out there. They had a few cartoons with morals and ideas for fun outside of the TV set, which were sort of fun. I got laughed at by a few friends when I would try the latest Superfriends projects, which turned out ok ... and yet, my friends just laughed and shock their heads. That was ok. I was always the odd bird, but we were still friends. Still, I was always a loyal watcher of these shows, thoroughly enjoying them.

Those Saturdays were a lot of fun too since there was cartoons in the morning and then the birthday party in the afternoon. My folks were really generous with the parties, often doing something different each time we had one, but the Saturday ones were extra special. Back in 1977, we had the first "Grilling and Thrilling!" as Pop coined it with a new grill that was constructed outback and thoroughly stocked with burgers and hotdogs. Many people showed up including the neighbors who also brought food along too. We kids played all sorts of games, racing around the front and side yards that were watched by my grandfather, Major, and my mother respectfully. Later, as people started drifting off, I got to enjoy some of the gifts inside the new room, the garage that was converted into the family room. I even got to watch some Star Trek: The Original Series obviously and some Six Million Dollar Man too!

The next one on a Saturday was 1983 around the height of the fun of Dungeons and Dragons, which was also the Saturday morning with the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, the only TV show that had the awesome Tiamat the Dragon and wicked Venger for such challenges that still make me shiver in delight. Peter Cullen, who's done a lot of voices for cartoons over the years, did the voice for the wicked villain, Venger, which just had me captivated. He also did the voice for Rahmood (this is the spelling I have always used for the name) in the second season's episode, "City at the Edge of Midnight!" The show was especially groovy for me since it brought the fantastic realm of sword and sorcery to life for me.

As the years went on, I still celebrated my birthday month with zeal, but it got harder with the workload of trying to put myself through college for a second time at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design), often working at least two, sometimes three jobs a week. The running joke with the SCAD Group was, "If she stops talking, she will sleep!" Heck, if memories serves, that was what happened at one party they threw for me: pizza, cartoons, and a nap.

With the return to health again, I have rediscovered the love I had for the weekends and the downtime to enjoy myself. Many of y'all out there might find this hard to fathom, but it can be hard to relax when you are so focused on your work life that you forget how to live. Imagine if you will this: you get up, eat breakfast in the car, rush from one job to the next, lucky to grab a lunch while in the car again, and then you rush to the third job where you work through much of the evening if not the whole night. There were classes where I fell asleep in or right before, often sleeping in my running car to the amusement of other students. I actually had a few guys and girls tell me that I needed to get more loans so I could work less. I tried. Nowadays, my SCAD loan was bigger than what I owe for Shadowdancer, the black 2020 Jeep! Still, I have managed to pay most of it off with all that hard work, allowing me as well as to have a comfortable life. I'm blessed!

Having spoken to the wise and wonderful Bearded Lantern, he and I are going to throw the "Grilling and Thrilling!" birthday party for me this year! Ten or so thick steaks grilled out with other foods I'm sure ... and I can forget the diet that day! The Bearded Lantern is stepping up this weekend to return us to "Wrath of the Righteous!" and we start book six! Wow! This will mark the second closure of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths, which we have been talking about closing out more often these days. Even with just the first edition of the role-playing game, we have plenty of adventure paths and modules to go through. Well, we will give it our best shot!

I'm thoroughly looking forward to also having four days off starting this evening around 5 pm when I get off from work and can go home and decompress. Last night I tried being online, but I was so worn out that I knew if I didn't go to sleep soon, I would be a mess today. Now, thoroughly recharged and waiting at my desk for the call ... I'm ready for action!

So, here's to some happy memories and stories for later!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Turning The Page!

**Giggles!**

Mm ... It seems that I'm up early once again, though this has been happening a bit more than I would like to happen these days. I know yesterday that I got about ten hours or so of sleep, but I did have a few rough nights of sleep during last week and over the start of the weekend too. I blame myself since I have been doing a bit of oddball stuff when it comes to my health. Breakfast is usually my heaviest meal and I don't have anything for dinner most of the time, but of late I have been enjoying my Cups of Noodles from Nissin, something that had always been a rare treat, but generally if I have two cups of those and a package of Jack Link's bacon jerky, I can go through much of the day without food, though sometimes for lunch I will eat a can of tuna.

Life has gotten simpler, though I still deal with some minor health issues like the constant need to monitor my diabetes by measuring my glucose levels and keep up with my maintenance meds. None of them are really expensive with the health insurance I have, though that can be a big expense of an increase every year or so. As I have said before, I don't bait, date, or mate these days. After Kaitlynn's passing, I have pretty much given up on love, though I still believe in it. A lot of the people I have met have been trying ... both sexes seem to be more concerned of finding a person who can meet their financial needs and person desires than true love. Mm ... true love, I have to wonder if many even know what that is like, but that's a topic for other times. Work is pretty simple too. Most of my duties and responsibilities are simple. I do a lot of driving, which means I get to listen to my iPhone's iTunes and I stay away from Talk Radio these days because I have lost interest in keeping up with the madness of the political state. Culture mystifies me and I just don't get it. I have been accused of being out of date, which is more than fine and far ... I just don't care as much as I probably should. For me, life is simple these days. I do what I do, everyone else does what they do. If you need my help, ask. Beware if you want my opinion because you will get what I call an old school version. However, if you are my friend, that's all I need to know. Anything else is up to you to offer. Unless you seem to be not doing well, I will stay out of your business.

This past weekend, the Saturday Night Tabletop Group managed to get dragged through the last part of the Council of Thieves, which has been a sojourn and a half. It is the first Pathfinder Adventure Path I have had the pleasure and honor to get the group through as Dungeon Master and it might be the only Adventure Path we have managed to get through.
For about two-thirds of the group, it is a learning of the Pathfinder's system of doing things, especially for me. I really think that my health sliding into Hell back from 2018 on through 2020 really caused me to forget what was important to me, including friendships and responsibilities. But also how to run a game, especially with on the average of seven people per session. So, for me, it's going to be a relearning experience to which I have gotten yelled at by a few of the people there and have had to refocus my tolerance of others. I think this is the lesson of life: patience and tolerance of those around you. While take care of yourself, be mindful that you are not the center of life, but from you flows the power of love and understanding. What I think I bring to the game and the group is my creativity, but also my renewed vigor of life and happiness. I try to be the voice of reason and understanding, a sounding board to people, and a good judge when needed.

With the completion of this adventure path, six books of a wild-assed story that sometimes made no sense to me and any one else for that matter, but it means that we get to return to Wrath of the Righteous! This has been something I have looked forward to returning to for a few years now. Not only do I, as a player, get to return to Israfel Vincent and Caitlynn Wildfire, but they also get to be unleashed and be at tremendous strength of their adventuring and superheroine states, something that I had been slowly cultivating through various role-playing online and at the tabletop games when able. It's something that I have rediscovered that I missed in both arena of fun and creativity, but I'm tickled to have rediscovered this.

My nephew, the Naval Firefighter, had commented a while back that he had always enjoyed the Villains and Vigilantes (2nd Edition) games that I had run with him and his friends over the years and then the ability to sometimes join our group. He has been keeping up with some of my journals over the years, especially the infamous one about "Hard Headed Halflings!" which because he knew the gang and could easily feel like he was there. "You could see your writing and story-telling is not just an art form, but something to be proud of," he had said once. "I have watched how happy telling these stories make you and how well you pull the audience into each moment of the story to make them feel as if they are right there." Quite the compliment.

I have said many times before and I still say this a lot ... I would have loved being in show-business back when I was younger and not being able to be was a disappointment, but with the stage of the Saturday Night Tabletop Group, I can do that. When I'm there, I can take the roles of the NPCs and have a lot of fun with them. Some are just beings to be defeated either through "Swords and Sorcery!" or "Heroics and Good Deeds!" Going from being a Dungeon Master to a Good Player is going to take a bit of adjustment, but it is something that I'm sure I will love again. Sitting back and watching others weave the story, interacting with the other players to further the goals of the group and forge the story, and having fun. Which is what this is all about.

Someone asked me the other night "Why put so much time into this sort of thing?" At the time, my thought was that I have worked so hard to get where I am now. I got me a solid job with good friends and I like to think I'm respected and trusted enough to be quite the asset. Undoubtedly, I can say that I'm a loyal supporter of the Firm and have proven it time and time again, especially after almost twenty-two years now. Most of the time, I work ... usually and consistently forty hours plus. The plus is the extra time I put into it, not for pay, but to allow myself the ability to make the day smoother for those around me and myself. So, when I finally get home and change roles and costumes from hard-working to harder-playing modes, I'm serious about being the best me possible. So, with that thought in mind, I do NOT fool around, though I try to be mindful of my surroundings and the people who are around and nearby. I do what I can and I do my best to do it well. Every day. It's not easy, it's often not as good as it should be, but I live, learn, and move on. That's about all anyone can do in life.

Back when Mom was about to pass, I came home to Bonifay, Florida, which was half way between my Big Sister's home in Gulf Port, Mississippi and my place here in Savannah, Georgia, where my folks had retired to, not just in tears and emotional stress, but it was a dam that finally had broken. Pop let me sit with Mom as she was out of it, high as hell and unconscious to deal with all of the pain she was in. I watched a woman who I loved, respected, and feared dying. I knew there was so much what I wanted to say and the realization that I wouldn't get to, but ... I just sat there and dealt with it in silence. Often, I went out to the dock that Pop had built when they arrived in Bonifay and just sat. Pop came out there with a glass of Gentleman Jack and a can of Coke with his own vodka and just say with me. I didn't drink, but we had a serious heart-to-heart. Pop wasn't that sort of man who opened his heart to people, especially loved ones. He just wasn't that sort of fellow. He had to grow up really fast from what I have managed to piece together over the years. His father ran out on him and his mother remarried to a good man, who became a father to him. Years later when he was about seventeen, he came downstairs into the root cellar and discovered that his father had ended his life with his own service revolver. He was dying of cancer and did not wish to be a burden to the ones he loved. Pop had said the same thing about himself and I had often said that about myself as well, though my friends had been concerned that I was on that path a few years ago. But, he stood there with me on the dock or sat there next to me and we just talked ...

"Honey, one of the things I can tell you is simply that all you can do is the best you can with life," he quietly said. "Be the best you that you can be, allow others to be who they are, and do what you can to make life around you better."

It's something that came back to me when my head started to clear after the operation on my left foot while laying in the hospital. It's something that I think about a lot and it is what keeps me going and enduring what I feel needs to be done.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Happy Vinyl Day!

**Giggles!**

If you are like me and grew up through the 1970s and 1980s, you probably had a prized stereo system either in your room or your studio some place in your folk's place. I was very fortunate to have a groovy one in both places: one in the bedroom where I hung out after school and did my homework and other projects and the one down in the long room running from one end of the house to the other, known as the Game Room or the "Kid's Dungeon!" as Pop called it since it was where ,most of my friends and I hung out when not in the swimming pool. I was fortunate, thanks to my Big Sister in having quite the access to vinyl records all from the 1950s, which a lot of it was Mom's, and then my Big Sister's heavy metal, Beatles, KISS, and AC/DC. Now, I collected things from the 1980s like many of ZZ Top's albums like Eliminator and Afterburner, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Petty, the Doors ... that was a gift from my Big Sister, and many more. I also had several crates of 45s, thanks to my friendship with a few DJs that Mom and Pop knew or ones I made friends through just being me. Most of what I like is classic 1970s and 1980s music, though I often wonder if too much of it changed to something a bit less palatable for my taste. I have tried and found some Rap and Hip-Hop stuff, which I have a hard time seeing the difference in, but I also like the smoother sounds of Rhythm and Blues music like what you would find in New Orleans on Bourbon Street at 2 am.

But if you like something else, then more power to you, honey. People should love what they love and allow themselves to be who they are without such petty concerns. To me, music is what gives life a soundtrack, a rhythm to things that makes one feel alive. Walkmans were created in the early 1980s and I always kept one in my bag when I went to school. Since I was a good kid, most of my teachers would allow me to put the device up so we could all learn and I only listened to my music outside or when walking to and from classes. One of the coaches used to allow me to have mine on at gym class, usually the weight training and volleyball classes when I was just sitting and cooling off or running laps or even working out.

I will always have a passion for good old fashioned vinyl albums. It stems back from the days of riding around St. Simons Island before I got my driver's license on my bike with my long and thick legs cranking me along with the tunes on the walkman to keep me thrilled. On those trips, I was often hitting the various comic book sections of the convenience stores and the music shop for albums. Back then, I was slowly learning how to draw fairly well and I wanted to be an album cover artist or even a book/novel cover artist, though Mom encouraged me to be a writer like she was. Pop was happy with all of my manias and passions for learning, so he just kicked back and tried to subtly guide me with a few things and even encouraging me to hang out while he did his own projects like his vegetable garden and working on the Rebel ... well, that was before my Big Sister stole that. Pop said that he gave it to her, but I wonder. Nevertheless, it was listening to music and being a kid.

Now, most of y'all know my passion for role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons or Villains and Vigilantes from those days too. AC/DC, Metallica, Aerosmith, Ozzy, and Black Sabbath were some of the selections I either listened to or was exposed to through friends. But it was often on vinyl which had a smoother and intenser sound than most of the music today. At least for my nostalgia-laden mind that is how I remember it. Lava lamps and beanbag chairs with some Dungeons and Dragons or Villains and Vigilantes. Being a teenager.

Now, I have to be fair to the MP3 or MP4 stuff of the digital age. I have much of my music converted over to digital and all stored on either the remains of my CD collection ... I used to have over a thousand discs before I had roommates ... all stored on iTunes. That is good enough for me these days. When I drive for the Firm, I can plug into that and listen to my music while enjoying life. I find myself driving out to Tybee Island, very much like Israfel Vincent, and just sitting there, listening to my music on my Kofire headphones before heading back home. But I could not imagine my life without music.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Help Me Out Here, Y'All!

**Giggles!**

Most of y'all, the loyal fans and friends, who read my journals know how I do things when it comes to picking a topic to chat about. There's not a whole lot that I will not entertain, though politics is one I often shy away from, especially these days with me being so turned off by both sides of the aisle. This one is not going to touch on politics, but education. So, pick up your favorite beverage and follow along, please ...

Ages ago, about thirty years ago, I had thought I wanted to be a teacher, possibly a biology or chemistry teacher, but I wanted to teach. So, I got into college at Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky and went from there. It took me about five years to graduate, something that my Pop had a hard time understanding and actually got angry enough to travel up to Kentucky to "discuss" this with the head of the department. At this time, I had moved through the physical sciences towards English and History, but I also had a minor in Theater and Drama, so acting was a strong possibility. Pop was not happy with me and even after he left, he always felt like the college had "wasted the family's money." My Big Sister often teased me about saying, "College is supposed to teach you how to think and problem-solve, not basket-weaving classes, honey!" I often shushed her, telling her that a gal like her who didn't have her high school diploma shouldn't be speaking. Honestly, neither should I, but I was young, arrogant, and full of myself. I actually heard Pop one evening tell Mom that he thought I was "A bag of hot air!" but almost immediately, he took the comment back. I'm not sure that he saw me, but I suspect that might have been the case. I love my father and wisely decided to let it go and not say anything. I was told by my Big Sister that he was upset, even to the last few weeks of his life about this ... this is one of the things I wish I could have fixed between us. Still, I know where he was coming from and I have faith that he understands now.

But, once I graduated, the education really began. I discovered quickly how little I knew and how unforgiving life could be. I worked for two to three years as a barely paid substitute teacher, making less than $25 a day. To get more, you had to first work for two weeks for the same teacher before you got that. I was the one they always called to come in and "Play warden!" as my Pop said jokingly, but it was essentially what I was. This was right there at the slow upswing of the 1990s, leaving the 1980s, which was here I was still fresh from high school, and political correctness was on the upswing. To a gal like me, none of this stuff they were pushing made sense to me, but I tried to work within the system. For what I did for each day, I don't think I even rated the $25, but they had to legally pay me something. Most all of the kids did NOT want to be there, could not care less, and yet ... there was always that glimmer of hope or possible connection if you looked for it. I like to think I was a fairly popular teacher since I talked to the students, treated them like adults, and only asked for them to respect each other and me "if they felt I was worthy of such respect." Most had no problem with that. But, some of the teachers did and it got me into trouble. Mostly with a principal coming in and asking me to step outside, usually during a "planning period", which was where a teacher takes a class allowed time slot or period as I knew them as to decompress. That was usually where the principal would inform me of a complaint. I always just accepted it as how things worked, but I often just dismissed it as sour grapes from teachers who had been there too long. A good many of them were ones I remember as a former student and they were pretty good with me. It was the ones who didn't know me who had the biggest problem with me. Oh well.

My main problem with education at this point was that the kids were not being taught how to think and problem solve, but what to think and feel. I often was concerned about how religion or at least a good moral compass was established and hopefully strengthened seemed to be fading away, but that was what I hoped the parents were doing. Well, after attending a few PTA meetings on my own, I saw that this was not the case. Parents and teachers were represented, but the kids? Nope. I always thought this to be fascinating and had said so as a student back in the day and then now as a teacher I mentioned it at a meeting. I might as well walked into my church Mom loved so much and did a Madonna video.

If you need me to explain this, well ... google it, honey!

It went over as you would expect: a fart in a diving helmet or a turd in a punch bowl. After about a minute's worth of sour expressions and wonderment from the assembled people, no one even entertained the idea, so I hung around for about an hour or so and then the meeting ended, thank goodness. No one wished to chat with me, though later I was told some of the parents and teachers thought I had raised a point that none of them had the guts to mention. The fact they were saying this after the meeting and away from the rest of their peers gave me the only validation.

There were a few other incidents that made me turned off by education as a whole. Not the idea of teaching, but that one was a theme: the lack of concern. Granted, most of the time, you would be bored and that was when I often got creative, but ... I was told by a teacher that I was "wasting my time!" That was also before stomping off. But, it was often more routine and nothing happened. From time to time, however, there would be "incidents" like "The Superman Indicent!" which was a giant of a kid who wore a Superman t-shirt busted a spring because he got teased about wearing the shirt and he decided that he had enough and about injured a gal and a couple of teachers. There was also the one with a kid snapping in class and jamming a pencil in a teacher's eye that got a lot of chatter for a long time, but after the smoke cleared, the teacher was allowed to come back with an apology and nothing more than a reinstatement and continuation of his tenure, plus backpay for the year or so he was not a teacher.

It would be Special Education that would be the endearing charm that I learned about doing and then one that would break my heart and cause me to finally leave education. Most of y'all know about the kid who passed while I was supposed to be watching him. He just went limp, he never did much but smile from his wheelchair and flap his hands. I turned away for a bit and ... he was gone. That's the one that pushed me out, but this one which I'm about to tell you made me cringe. It was classified as a Special Education class, but it was more of a place to put problem kids to keep them from dropping out altogether and still keep them somewhat active at school. It was a place out by of all places the cemetery and water treatment plant, which was surprisingly lovely land, but kind of sadly ironic as one teacher pointed out. These kids were the ones who had "behavioral problems", a history of causing problems out having issues that didn't quite quantify, but were concerns. I kid you not! This was how it was explained to me by the supervising teacher who was one of the coaches I respected back when I was a student. Anyways, this kid was having a rough day and after taking attendance which was a joke ... "Just highlight their names on the sheet and turn it in." That's what I was told. Each day was a new list too, most of the kids were usually gone from this class within a couple of weeks, but would more than likely return. This kid was obviously depressed as most of them were, so I was asked to take them outside and allow them to do whatever. "Just keep an eye on them." So, there we sat in the sunshine. This kid made a joke about this being a waste of time and we started talking. I suggested to him that to think about the problems he was having and try to come up with a simple solution or even a couple of thoughts on how to fix things and go from there. "If they are still sound when you get home, try doing them." And none of these were harmful to him or anyone else. These were just thoughts on how he thought he could improve things for himself. I nodded and he was satisfied.

Later I was told by another teacher that "Helping him solve his problems was not the thing to do! You are just supposed to sit there and be there for the kids." I was aghast! Now, keep in mind, this was before the political correctness was entrenched like it is today and things are so radically different than what I remember. I tried working with what I had and I was told that I was not the solution or even a possible understanding of the situation, but a problem.

I believe within a few months or so, I had made up my mind to get out. And that's where I am today. At a better job with professional and caring people who respect each other and treat one another as part of a team and not as enemies, problems, or defunct parts. What started this was me chatting with one of the ladies who's friend was told that "Once you have kids, you will change the way you look at them as a teacher." I would imagine so, though I only have an inkling since I helped raise my Big Sister's kids, being one of their constant and accepting adults in their lives. My Big Sister and my folks did their best, but as the kids told me later, "You treated us as adults and shot straight with us."

Mm ... perhaps that's my problem is that I cared too much. Nevertheless, what I'm asking help for is for y'all, if you wish, to let me know the good, the bad, and the in-between with Education where you are. While I'm here in the United States, I'm curious to learn and expand my understanding. All I ask is be respectful to each other and to me, please.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
The Journey Continues!

**Giggles!**

Over the weekend, the Saturday Night Tabletop Game Group finished up the arduous book five of "The Council of Thieves!" and I have slowly started reading the next book to prepare for the conclusion of this adventure path. There were a lot of the smaller maps that I had to copy and blow up nice and big so these old eyes could read better while I'm trying to juggle the gang there. Some have worked long hours during the day and others, like myself, have been taking it easy since we woke up, but all are fairly tired by the time we get started. The group has been really gracious towards me as the Dungeon Master while I work to relearn the details of Pathfinder and be a better judge to what happens in the game. The group various from as little as five players to a maximum of ten, which is fine either way. I do find myself reverting to my days of being a teacher to herd them about and keep them focused, but that's the job as any Game Master of the tabletop games will tell you.

Personally, I have had such a blast getting back into the routine of telling the story and keeping things moving. We have enough of the people who know all of the ins and outs of the system and it allows mw to have "teachable moments" of learning more of the details of the game and even looking up the smaller details of the rules. Now, there have been times where I had to make a hard judgement call, but I usually do that only to get the group back on track or keep the peace. We have a few high-powered personalities there and when they get aroused and annoyed, that's when I have to step in and bring some order.

Now, I'm known as "The Marshmallow Dungeon Master!" mainly because I don't screw the players as a general rule and usually they can count on having at least one helpful NPC who can be a blessing for the game. Sometimes it's one of my cast of characters, like Tana Kayla the Gunslinger-Sorceress for this current one or Israfel Vincent, who maybe more of a background character for this adventure known as "The Mummy's Mask!", but sometimes I get inspired like with Eros Lionheart, the blind knight of West Crown, who has provided safe haven and information for "The Unlucky Eight!"

While this has been my mainstay in having fun between weeks of work here at the Firm, I have been also getting back to role-playing online, which can be hit or miss. A lot of time, someone recognizes my characters that I'm logging in as, some are tickled into action because of the pornographic art, others are enchanted by how I treat them, which used to mystify me, but I think I understand it better these days. Most are painfully shy and want to role-play, but often get turned off for whatever the reason. Some don't deserve that sort of treatment, but somehow it happens. Some are clingy because they need or want the attention. While I have been there back in my earlier years of online gaming, I can also understand how the clash happens. To be fair, I have no easy solution to how to handle the situation, but the best advice I can suggest is get around the place, watch how people do things, and hopefully you will find people to hang out with.

The best example I can point out is Tapestries, a place I cut my teeth on and have been there for twenty-plus years as Caitlynn Wildfire, the super heroine known as the Mighty PlastiCat. These days though I'm often more around as Israfel Vincent, also known as Taffy by her friends and family. Go to the Plaza where it is a public place and usually with something going on. Not much role-playing, but chatting with others who are just around to kill time. I did a lot of it back at the bottom of 2020 while healing up from my surgery and got to know and reaffirm some friendships with people who I remember back in the day. Some where also healing too, some waiting for help from doctors, others were people who were between shifts, and then there were just people dealing with going to and from work or anything that they needed to get done, though some were dealing with COVID too. It was fun and I got to make some new friends.

But, you need to remember to have friends, you need to be a friend. Friends are going to get on your nerves from time to time. They are going to do things that make you wonder what the hell is going on or they are going to need a favor or two. Some like I have had have raided the refrigerator and drinking the last beer, finishing off the last of the Jack Daniels ... this happened back in the 1990s more than naught ... or they might just need a sounding board to vent about. However, as a friend, you need to be worthy of that friendship and trust. Let them know when they have overstepped and they will do the same for you. These minor things are called life and if you can handle them with grace, you might inspire that within your friends and they in turn will be good friends to others in their worlds.

"The office of a friend is to stand with you when you are wrong for everyone will stand with you when you are right." Samuel Clements also known as Mark Twain.

One of the reasons I have mentioned this is over the past few weeks, I had attracted some of the real problems in players. One of them called himself something highly suggestive ... and before you ask, I will not name and shame him. A nice guy, but shy and vacuous in the fact that he did not know how to talk to people. Online you have a sort of secret identity, which allows you to be whatever you want to be and this kid was full tilt unfiltered. This being an encounter on The List (f-list.net) as I call it and ... well, immature, sexually unhinged, and unsavory behavior can be abound. Over a few meets, this guy made me feel very uncomfortable to where I was questioning his age. He told me that he was in his thirties and, while I could see the potability, his credibility was lost on me. And because of the moderators coming down HARD on the underaged players being around, I decided to ask him to leave me be and not to contact me again. I also decided to ban him from my account there.

Now, this is why I do not role-play on other sites, so please don't ask. I do NOT trust Discord for the reason of the countless people who have mentioned that they have ben hacked and the fact that there doesn't sound like there is any moderating of these places. I don't role-play through notes because it is pointless. Most of the time, I will post something worth reading and then I will get something that is lackluster. Or worse, someone that repeats what I post ... yes, I have had players try to copy my style of prose and details or worse we end up doing the same scene over and over again. I dislike the chat system of Deviant Art's insta-notes because it is hit or miss if it works. Sorry, Deviant Art, no thank you.

Look, if you want to find me, I'm not hard to find. If you cannot log into Tapestries, I can be found at The List (f-list.net) most of my downtime these days. I do enjoy role-playing and telling my stories ... if you have been following me for any length of time and especially today if you have read this far, you know and understand better than most. I try to always be gracious, gentle, humble, and supportive in chatting with people, whether they are commenting on reposted artworks or in my status updates or journals. It's because of people like you that not only am I around, but that I seem to have built up some fame and fortune. For that, you will always have my thanks.

Speaking of thanks, over the past few weeks, perhaps even a few months, I have been rotating through characters more and going through the two slightly different characters like Israfel Vincent, the meta-human, or Ricochet Kaboom! the tigress and Caitlynn Wildfire, the Changeling, or the Mighty PlastiCat. This past weekend, I got to hang out in The List's public room or channel known as the Inflation Room, a place I always think of more like a night club or just a hang out like I had back when I was a teenager called Citylights back in the 1980s. You go to places like this that have adults keeping an eye on things, there is often a cover charge, and then you can get things like pizza and soda or play pool or video game or even pinball. If you feel groovy, you can get out there and dance, which is something I loved doing when I was that age. Anyways, I got to meet and listen to people who knew something of the character I was running at the moment, the Mighty PlastiCat. And it was fun! I even had one fan come by and ask for an autograph ... a role-playing bit, but it really made me smile.

Part of why I keep on talking about my past is to keep my brain active, but to also remember the good and bad times, though the later is slowly becoming more of nostalgia than painful memories, something that you will discover as you go through life. At least I hope.

So, remember as you go through life, it is better to be respectful and kind to others than to be the reverse. People will gravitate towards you and want to be around you more if you show them your inner light. If you don't think you have one, you might want to find out why and change that. One my my thoughts of my life these days has been Michael Jackson's song, "The Man In The Mirror!" If you want to change, take a look in the mirror and change what is there first. Get your own house in order. It takes a lot of work, trust me when I say I know that to be so true. I have wrecked my life many times and yet through the wreckage, I have managed to stand up again and continue on. If this helps, remember what my Uncle Buck taught me, "It's not about the fall, but how you get back up that defines you best!"

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same!

**Giggles!**

It's so sad that it's funny, but it's the same topic that I'm going to talk about this morning as I enjoy some Black Rifle Coffee's Blackbeard's Delight and wait for some breakfast sandwiches from Rocky's Deli over in Sandfly, a groovy district near the office. Many of you can tune out if you wish and maybe I'll be back later to post artwork and write some stories. This is going to be probably the same old and tired journal entry that I do every so often because people don't read or understand. Those who do understand are nodding their heads, but those who don't ... well, this is here that I can once again point to it and go, "Did you read that, honey? If you did, it should be pretty clear." Still, anyone want to start a betting pool of how many users I'm going to have to ban because they want to be pains inn the butt?

Here we go!

Over the past couple of days, I have been getting a few new accounts or people who have been asking about my passion for role-playing. That's fine! It's one of my favorite topics. But, it usually comes down to where they want to role-play that turns me off super fast. Usually, they wish to do it through notes on Deviant Art or FurAffinity, but I ask them not to ... mainly because when I'm in a mood to write, I can be super detailed since I'm used to being the Dungeon Master or Game Master, the role of storytelling, which means I set the stage for the session or performance ads I often love to think of them. When they ask where, I often gesture to The List (f-list.net) which is a great place to make friends or chat with people. Tapestries is an older muck that's still around and highly active which is another one of my favorites to hang out at. Both of these places were super-great for me to hang out and be on when I needed some support on my healing. I have been on Tapestries since the late part of 1998 and I even remember the Tavern, which has become a taboo subject with some of the wizards. The List I have been on since 2016 when I good friend of mine introduced me to the place and encouraged me to sign up. I'm not sure about Tapestries, but it is super-easy to sign up for the List and get on. People are very nice and are willing to try and help. Heck, I've done some set ups in the past, but even I would need a refresher course ... I also keep on forgetting how to roll the dice for the system.

Now, having said that, I refuse to deal with Discord. I don't care if you have your own server and, if you do, groovy. I just don't trust it. To be fair, I've heard a lot of good and a lot of bad, but the bottom line is there's a trust issue with me. Just because you have a place on Discord, doesn't mean it's a great place to role-play. It probably is, but like all things, effort needs to be put into it. Most of the people who pop in had just asked me out of the blue if I would like to role-play have often put together a user page with a name that has such an indecipherable name that makes me reach for a BC since I cannot drink and with stuff they like. I know nothing about them, but I can suspect that they have looked at all of the pornographic artwork and thought, "She looks like fun!" But here's another point I want to make which is highly important: GRAMMAR and SPELLING! I was taught by my mother and drilled extensively into the art of writing back in the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s by my mother who hoped I would pick up the mantel of writer for our family and go for broke. My mother was a historical romance writer, what they used to call "Porn for the bored house-wife!" and it was hit or miss with people as is things like role-play too. She wrote over twenty books within thirty years and was given many awards for writing, even the Times Best Seller's List and Waldon Books Lists too. So, I expect some effort into the writing.

But, when I'm in the mood for role-playing, it could be more of just me sitting around a place and just chatting. That means that you are welcome to chat with me and even ask. That's great. Just use some common sense. Yes, yes ... common sense is not that common any more. Well, it needs to be said, just like most of this journal entry. I use my time online to relax and unwind. Or even in mornings like today, just to get my brain fired pop and working as the dreamscape of my sleep fades away. So, my time is special to me. Allow me some creativity and some respect, please.

Mm ... I'm going to wrap it up here and allow the people who have read this before to laugh and respond, but also if you made it this far and decide to ask for a session or discussion with me, remember these things:

Grammar and Spelling, Please. Do your best, but also be warned. It's a turn-off when I have to spend time editing to understand you.

Discussion of a Scene will get a flat out "No!" Too many people will discuss a scene and then log out. I'm done with that.

Don't ask me about joining your Discord page or doing notes or any form of insta-chat outside of the two places I have mentioned. Bottom line is I'm not interested. You can blame others for this.

I hope this clears things up, but I seriously doubt it. I used to be a teacher, so I'm used to repeating myself over and over and over again. This will happen a lot more times before I die, so it's something I just accept. But, also remember this, my friends, everyone has been released from my ban-list. If I ban you again, it will be because of you. Sorry to be like this, but this has been my experience.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Happy 7-11 Day!

**Giggles!**

If you have been following me for a while now, you know about my strange love for convenience stores, especially the 7-11s they had on down near the house in Lexington Park, Maryland and St. Simons Island, Georgia. They were places of fun for a kid like me! Comics, candy, and games! It would be into the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s that the one near the village or the airport had some of the best games. Asteroids, Star Castle, Vanguard, and even Street Fighter and Ye Are Kung-fu! But they also kept at least one, possibly two pinball games in there. Star Trek and KISS were the two I remember from my childhood and then later all sorts came and went. My mother was always horrified by my spending habits when I was growing up, but Pop kept telling her that I would learn as I got bills and such. "Let her be a kid, honey," Pop said one day over coffee as I went running off to play, giving my folks their much needed peace and quiet.

Pop often would go to the one in Lexington Park, Maryland to get cigarettes and beer, often taking me along in the AMC Rebel, when it was still this metallic gray and before it was painted this horrible punk-yellow! Gross! My Big Sister would smack me in the back of the head and say something like, "It's sunflower yellow!" And I would stick out my tongue at her because Pop would be lurking behind her, ready for a "Lesson in Parenting! - Special Move: Attitude Reboot!" A sharp smack to the back of her head or something the humming of the thumb connecting with an ear often did the trick which also would start a firestorm of noise to which Mom would clear the house. "No yelling in the house!" she would scream back and my Big Sister and I would watch Pop say, "Yes, ma'am!" quietly and then scowl at us. I was smart enough to move, but my Big Sister was not. Like to guess what happened? Nevertheless, we would go outside for we had this HUGE backyard, a few acres or so with the vacant lot behind the clubhouse ... well, it was a girl's little playhouse, but I liked it well enough. My Big Sister often went in there to burn one, stinking it up and making me go inside and whine about it. Pop would send my Big Sister to her room down in the basement near the hot water heater and the laundry room. She told me years later that she would sneak boys in and smoke pot ... and I've gotten to the point of laughing about it now, but back when, gawd! Hell no. Though, as I said before, it was a fun time to be alive!

If we were kicked out of the house, Pop used that time to do a run to the convenience store or to the exchange on base for smokes and supplies, meaning cigarettes, beer, and booze. My Big Sister tried to get me to smoke, but I hated it right off, saying no thank you. It would be years later and on stage that I would light up a cigarette in a stage play about the roaring twenties, dressed as a flapper. Funny according to Mom, but that's ok. But the runs were times to ride with the top down on the Rebel and just be groovy. Pop was often happiest when he was driving and I was told by his ground crew, especially Ace, the mechanic, that Pop loved to fly. The closest I got to flying as a little kid was sitting in the cockpit with my special helmet I was given by the commanding officer of the base. While I have long since lost the helmet, I still remember that fondly.

Later in my life I would work at a few of these stores, one that was a convenience store and then the other which was the liquor store. Mom used to make the joke that either I needed to be on some street corner, pimping my wears out ... and Pop gave her a scowl which he told me later that Mom was just upset that I had not lived up to my potential, but later she would make the running joke comment about me being more of an ATF jockey or agent. I got the feeling that she was being a bit mean, so I told her that I could go down to the end of the strip mall there around the corner and get a gun. "There's one there that looks like Dirty Harry's big gun. I'll go to the backyard and shoot beer cans and liquor bottles as my part in doing the recycle thing. Maybe after that, I might go and get some more beer and booze too." Pop sat there, glancing over at my Mom who was ghost white and horrified. She got up and stomped off. Pop just said, "Wow!" I had never talked back to Mom before, often swallowing my anger and it was almost immediately that I felt ashamed and guilty. Pop just patted me on the head and said that he would handle it later when she cooled off. But, Mom was frosty for the rest of the visit. It would be a few months before we would speak again and I got the "You don't call anymore!" speech which told me she was ok. Mom never liked me working at the store, but my Big Sister pointed out since Mom got married at 18, she had never worked outside of the summer job at Tasty Freeze on St. Simons Island, the place where Mom met Pop while he was stationed at Glynn Co, the base out on the edge of Brunswick. "She'll never have an idea what it's like to punch a clock, honey," my Big Sister said, probably before she took a long drag off of her pot or took a shot of booze since we were on the phone and it was another notorious 3 am Phone Call. Dear God ...

Still, I find myself remembering the times as good times. Comics, candy, games, and so many good memories too. It all comes back to me when I step through the doors of most convenience stores.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Expanding Horizons!

**Giggles!**

For about half a year, I have been slowly cogitating ideas for the little universe I have been working on equally slow over the past couple of decades now. It started with the painful start and stop of ideas that all of us creative people go through. This started with the original story of Memory Awake, which is what my art studio was named for back in the early 1990s. The story was about a couple of guys discovering a strange sleeping girl in a magical box formerly belonging to an escape artist from the early 1900s who disappeared on stage and never returned. The guys discovered the strange girl who could only speak one word, "Gentle!" which usually provoked a beat-down of epic proportions. It made for a good story, but not something to really long-lasting.

So, I started again with one of my favorite topics: superheroes. Project: Armageddon was done during my last few years of college and was a good start with model sheets, but ended up flopping, mainly because of my breakdown and depression that hit around the upswing of the project. But the idea stayed strong.

For about three years, drinking and depression took over and I started slowly drawing again, breaking way from anime hard and moving towards furry works, which was where I created the PlastiCat, who started out as the size changing Kaitlynn Wildfire. She would get dropped into one of the pools at the Spring of 1000 Cursed Pools in China, without cheating I'm trying to remember, as part of a Ranma 1/2 story. To keep Ranma from freaking out all the time, especially since the pattern of cold water being the running joke, Kaitlynn was given a temporary cure that ended up working with her powers and she discovered that she could change from a mostly human appearance to a feline.

It was fun for a while being on NeoTokyo, but would change again with the moving from the anime mucks, due to some problems with people that I created with my intractability when it came to changing my character or just because I was a bitter bitch, I would move mostly to Tapestries Muck, a place that I still hang out at since it is the most accepting place that I have run into in a while. It probably didn't help with the passing of my best friend, Ase, who died due to sickle cell anemia in 1999. During this stint of depression and such, I met the original Israfel who was an angel to me ... she reminded me of the person I was back before I screwed up my life. She was such a positive influence like Kaitlynn was that I would, with her permission, incorporate Israfel to my list of characters over the years. She would eventually move on, something that if you are on-line long enough, you will run into this, but it's also life ... people come and go. It's how you let them shape your life is what's important.

Most of y'all who have read up to this point know how this story changes from mostly role-playing on either tabletop games or on-line with the meeting of  kecomaster who saw some of the older arts and encouraged me to return to creating. The Princess, as she's known now, was an idea and one of my longer and stronger characters, but had been kicked off to the side. I thought to go ahead and make the account of BalloonPrincess on both Deviant Art in 2005 and a few years later on FurAffinity. And that's where I stand now. I have the three girls, who are the aspects of my mercurial moods and prominent personality: Israfel Vincent, the core of my being these days as I was back when I was growing up in the late 1970s and through the 1980s, Caitlynn Wildfire, the powerful sense of courage, adventure, and loyalty, and Princess Loonia Infinity, the lazy side of me who also puts up with no garbage, but also gets the other two into so much trouble. This trinity has been the start for the two stories that I have running inside my head these days: Destiny's Daughters , the story originally influenced completely by tabletop gaming and anime, and Stretching Things, the furry side of the story with some differences. Both are supposed to fantastical and I'm still after all of these years am having blast working out the details.

At the top of this year, I spoke about Expanding Horizons, the nightclub that Israfel Vincent, called Taffy by her friends and family, decided to open up. Using some of the fortune from adventuring, Israfel bought up a serious portion of the industrial park of Crossroads, the city that the copper top works on protecting. This includes BLUN Avionics, originally a company who started out in the 1920s making rubber and plastics while also building stuff for zeppelins and other avionics innovations. Later they would grow really powerful during the World Wars, especially World War II, with the help of the building bases in Crossroads, Hunter Army Air Force and Aquatica. They also ventured into helping NASA in the 1960s and 1970s, but the exploration of space really damaged the company's financial foundation and that would lead to their bankruptcy. Israfel had always grown up around the assembly bay and foundry, being completely fascinated by the place. The structure was unbelievably sound and solid, thanks to American Steel and also then the addition and/or replacement of using titanium in many of the structures, including the assemble bay that was destroyed in an epic explosion and then fire back in the 1940s and rebuilt within a year. Having been inspired by her folks to help the city over the years, Israfel bought the lands and the property in one of the largest buy-outs of the history of the city, which the copper top made all of the details known for the public. The companies on the various lands of the industrial park were included in discussions of buying the lands and with the promise of cheeper upkeep, lower property taxes, and increased savings for the companies. This made her an overnight success, not that she needed the public's support, but Israfel thought this would be a grand idea. The Crossroads Ports were still run by the government, naturally, but the copper top was included in any and all decisions. The only consideration that she asked for in all of this was allowing the former BLUN Avionics Company to be left entirely alone for her use. With all of the advantages that the companies around the property getting one monumental deal, how could they say no.

And this is where the story begins.

A friend of mine from long ago has been a great proponent of this direction and it also seems to be gathering some traction on The List, also known as f-list.net ... and while the place does not appear on the room list, it is completely under my control for the time being. Another friend of mine asked if it would become a room that people could come and go from and I said that I doubted it. While I have had a blast in the Inflation Room on the List and the Plaza on Tapestries, they are public places, which sometimes attracts people who want to be problems or some who just want to hang out and enjoy the fellowship. The problem people are the main reason for me to be keeping this place inside my head. Now, I still love going to these public places on both of these sites since they generally are fun and a great place to be mellow and just enjoy some downtime, which is what I need these days. Both places are often the best places to find me when you are checking out either site, especially on Friday afternoon through Sunday evening, though I do break for sleep and the Saturday Night Tabletop Group's assembly.

Another friend of mine,  kurama-chan has recently finished up the last commissions for me for a good while, which deal with a few expansions or inflations, depending on how you want to look at it, at the place, Expanding Horizons. I have not posted the newest ones yet, though if you go to the top of the galleries of both Deviant Art and FurAffinity belonging to the BalloonPrincess, you will find the current ones that kicked this all off for me over the past three years or so.

More stories are hopefully coming for those who care. Many just want artwork, which is fine, but makes me less and less eager to post anything written ... and there are a few aggressive fans who have been whining about me not posting these stories so they can read the stories. These few and far between have really been the main reason I have been sitting on such ideas up to this morning of Friday, July 9th, 2022. For the normal fans, artists, and writers, I ask that you have patience with me as I also deal with the crazies. Some of y'all know that I recently cleared my ban list on Deviant Art to test things out. I'm not sure that I'm going to do this for FurAffinity as of yet. One nut job, who went around the ban of his first account will find that I banned him again. While I have yet to get the moderators in on this fool, I have been encouraged to "Name and Shame" him. I had done so a while back and it has done not one damned thing, obviously in seen by him being pest by asking the same damned questions that got him banned from my page. I mainly post this part for people who are NOT going to read it, but a lot of you are laughing and nodding your heads. For you, I will continue. If you get banned from here on out, you earned it. Go ahead and get on your page and say that I'm ... well, whatever you want to say. That's fine. Knock yourselves out. That's the freedom of speech. Just be warned that you will only be showing your asses in such actions.

Whew! Having said all of that again, let me close with this last bit. Thank you for reading up through this far at least. Most don't read. Yes, yes ... some of you do and to y'all, thank you very much. I'm more of a writer these days than I am an artist. My skills have pretty much deteriorated, but with the slow restoration of my sight again, hopefully I will return to drawing. Requests and commissions? Never. I have plenty of my own work to do. Plus, save your money for other things.

Make sure to have a great weekend, y'all!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Happy Birthday, America!

**Giggles!**

There's a tingle in the air for me this morning to be up around 1:30 am and going full out for the last hour. It's probably the youthful exuberance that I feel for one of my favorite holidays, The Fourth of July! I don't just think of this as a holiday for people who live within the borders of the United States, but also to all freedom loving and liberty appreciating people around the world. What it means for me these days, especially being much older and seasoned on my life's grill, is that I'm allowed the right to carry on my affairs as I see it, provided that they do NOT take away any of those same rights from another. Such rights are not just a gift from the Constitution, but from God too. Having said that they also come with a pretty strong burden of responsibility, something that a lot of people have gotten away from of late, but that's not my affair. I just hope that people will be good to each other and respect other people and their rights too.

Here's to hoping and willing all who wish to celebrate with me the love of freedom, liberty, and justice for all!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Old Work, New Story!

**Giggles!**

A few friends and probably some fans too are perhaps laughing at this morning's post to which has been a few weeks in coming, mainly due to distractions, work, and fatigue due to cutting back on food to a bit tighter level. Anyone with diabetes are probably nodding their heads at this, but for me, it's a serious matter more so these days then back in 2010 or so. I try to eat less, but smarter. I try not to buy junk food, but that's hard too, especially having grown up with such delicious snacks for so many years. While I generally don't eat or drink junk, from time to time, I allow myself to step off the diet and have a treat. But, as Pop used to say, "Everything in moderation, honey." Still, there are some mornings where I'm slower to get started or even really here at the Firm. But, life is a blast!

This morning's post is the old personal rough I did back in 2010, I think, and ended up enlarging it, which I was able to do since I scanned it in at 600 dpi as I often do my works. It's been one that I have been thinking about returning to, along with a few ideas that some of y'all might remember from back in 2018 before I really started getting sick. Sit On My Face was done during one afternoon of watching TV and having fun doing roughs that I inked up, something I prefer to do with submissions to either Deviant Art or FurAffinity. The image also has no fanfare of me chattering about the image, but it does have a new story that has not been posted, something that I tinkered with off and on. While it's a "To BE Continued!" story, it's one that I have to work sparingly on since some of the material in there will be of a mature nature. I got started on the next part originally, but it's kind of spicy.

Enjoy!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Never Though This Would Happen ...

**Giggles!**

I know this is perhaps the most useless status update I have ever posted, but seriously ... for y'all out there favoriting my stuff and commissions, could you at least take five minutes to create an avatar, please? I have recently filled up my block list with so many what looks like bot-spots on Deviant Art and probably a good many of FurAffinity that I'm just floored. I could do a clean, but I feel like that's almost as wasted as the blocking, especially since I'm sure people are just picking user names out of a hat or just taking a drink or a deep pull off of your choice of drink or drug and just hitting the keyboard with constants. It would be nice to see people at least being somewhat creative in their sites.

Also, if you are noting me with "Hi!" and that's it, don't expect a response. You need to give me more than that. And also, be nice. I just got one earlier that was ... well, not nice. He was also one of those bot-spots I mentioned. I did not report him, I did not ban him, I just ignored him. If you are looking at my art, I have to assume that you are either a kid who's folks don't monitor his internet usage or you are at least eighteen. Either way, you should be ashamed, especially if you log in and spend your time annoying people, me in particularly. I like to think of myself as a nice gal, uninterested in any relationships these days, though being friends is ok ... at least until the other person makes it not ok. If I have to fill in that blank ... well ...

It's funny that I have to write one of these sort of "bitch notes" every year, probably twice or three times a year. People who think they have the right to be annoying, a pain in the ass, and to throw their right to be heard all over the place. You have that right, true enough, but when it takes away the rights of another person not to have to listen to you ... as in taking away their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, well, you should understand that people like me have the right to walk away.

For those of y'all who have made it this far and are shaking your heads, sorry to have wasted your time with this sort of garbage. Some of you know I have been around since 1998 and I have been on Deviant Art since 2005 and on FurAffinity since 2007. There are a few other places I'm on, but I have forgotten them. Both of the before mentioned places ... and Twitter ... I like well enough to post there and only there, y'know?

BE Nice! BE Happy Too!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Stomping On The Accelerator Of Life!

**Giggles!**

A few friends have confided in me over the past year or so that they worried dearly about me. One gal-pal was worried I had a "Death Wish!" something that kept her from getting too close to me and moving on with her life. She couldn't apologize enough for leaving me when I needed help the most, but I told her simply that at the time, I didn't know it. I also told her that the Bearded Lantern had said something back two years ago as of June. We had a tabletop game planned and no one showed up due to the bad weather, but it was he and I. I often suspect that this was planned, but with the rain being as bad as it was perhaps it was something more divine, something else. Looking back on that night, I have to admit that it was because someone dared to reach out nd got his hand slapped aside for his troubles. Yes, I feel ashamed ... and still do. That is why I promised him while I was in the hospital that I would honor this second chance and make amends for a lot of things I did back when I was sick. It started with me getting better and taking care of myself, which was hard enough, but I also ended up digging myself into a hole financially, which I'm finding out tat I'm still doing so, even though I'm standing on better foundation. The Bearded Lantern and I haven't spoken much about that night, but he knows that I feel terrible about it. He's a good lad. He pushed that aside and moved on, just like so many of his generation. Just like Pop would have. When my former girlfriend and gal-pal said that she was sorry for leaving, but she also explained why she couldn't watch me destroy myself, I just waved that off. Her's was a tragic tale and not one for me to share, but know that I understood. She and I haver parted and she's with someone else. I told her that if she's mistreated and I find out about it ... and she laughed. "You are back to yourself again."

"Maybe, honey," I replied with a crooked and charming smile. "But be warned, I'm stomping on the accelerator of life. Who ever that dares will learn. That I promise you."

She hugged me and left. She sometimes texts me to make sure I'm ok or just to make her laugh. Gawd, I love her laugh! There was so much to love about her ... and I tossed her aside. More shame on me. I watched her leave and I have to wonder ... but I don't same her for leaving me. I was what I call my Big Sister: "A burning, sliding, and exploding train wreck!"

Pot, meet kettle, honey!

Still, I'm in the fight for reclaiming my left, but not just life, but a complete restoration of body, mind, and spirit. I know that I will continue to age, duh ... but it's not just physical body, but the mental body if that makes sense. I want to get myself back into shape, strengthen my mind, and renew my spirit. To that end, I have been doing a few things: praying and meditation, dieting and forcing myself to try and get some exercise, and doing a lot of reading. I have gone to a local book store to to look at what's there and been ordering stuff off of Amazon. The bookstore puts their "security markers" on the pages of the book, so it ruins the book. Boo! But I get it. While I'm not a fan of the place, it's a good place to look. I even saw a cute brunette too.

After leaving the book store on a lunch break, I stopped off to get some gas ... this was yesterday ... and I saw this on one of the fuel pumps:

"If you are afraid to live, then you are already dead."

Mm ... very powerful indeed. It's been sticking in my head and rattling around through all of the other things I have cogitating up inside: ideas, character concepts, stuff for the tabletop group, and my birthday's "Grilling and Thrilling!" on September 10th! That last one we hadn't done in a couple of years and I decided, after talking to the Bearded Lantern, that it would be a great idea to return to that. My friends are one of my most treasured possessions that I guard and protect jealously! You don't have to do much to be a friend of mine. There's always room in my heart for more.

Just remember my message:

"Keep an eye on those around you and check the situation out if they seem off to you. But also, tale care of yourself so that you can help others."

With all can do that, the world will be filled with much more laughter!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Sticking To Your Principles!

This is going to be one of the hardest journals I have written yet, but I'm going to put my thoughts down now as I have time and the peace to think about them. On May 24th of this year, there was another school shooting where people died, kids and adults alike. Gawd, these are the heart wrenching times that make me wish like anyone else would, "I would take this back. I would change this if I could. Restore the lives lost." Unfortunately, there isn't that sort of remedy to be done. Life is not that simple, not that idyllic no matter how much you wish it.

During this week, not many of my friends talked about it, but I did catch some understandable grief because of my beliefs from a few people who are hurt and angry. We all are. Lashing out, making someone pay or feel worse than you feel, that's human nature. Often done without thinking, done when someone doesn't see things as clearly as the original person does. When that happens, conflict happens, feelings are hurt, and friendships can be tested. I have been there so many times. Most of y'all out there know how I feel about protecting EVERYONE'S rights. My basic political statement is "If the actions of one person or the law takes away the rights of another, then it's inherently wrong." This goes along with my constitutional rights, especially the second amendment which allows a person to bare arms. In the spirit of that, I became a lifelong member of the NRA with a one-time donation back in 2015 in the memory of my Pop who proudly served his country back in the 1960s and 1970s. Because of this fun fact about me, I got told off by several people, many of them who I have always thought of as friends. To me, saying someone is a friend is a special thing as well. "You are my friend. That is all I need to know." That gives a person a lot of understanding when it comes to both the good times and the bad.

Mm ... and they are upset as I have said before. "Ignorant and stupid," are several words have been used to describe me. I got called a "bitch" and a few choice words like "White Trash!", "Fucking Redneck!" , and even one that really made me cringe "White Privileged Christian Shit!" Oh yes ... that one was repeated by several people at one place where a friend of mine and I were chatting. I didn't know someone was listening and I believed my gal-pal said that we were probably YouTubed. So be it. That happened earlier this week.

I try to keep in mind that people are upset and they often say things they don't mean. Many have been taught that they should get up into someone's face, be forceful, and not to back down from their principles. Well, I'm going to show hopefully some consistency. I will stick to my principles. You out there should stick to your own. But, remember two simple things:

1 - You have the right to say whatever you want. There is the understood thought of taking responsibility in what you say and do.

2 - I have the right not to listen. Instead of picking a fight, either physically or verbally, I will probably walk away at some point of the discussion.

However, if you are a friend, know that it's going to be hard to loose my friendship. For the stubbornness I show in my support of the constitution, the rights of ALL people, and making sure that justice and freedom are for all of God's children as well as the creatures abound, I will not give up easily on a friend. Over the years I have had friends of mine get killed in shootings, die in drug deals gone wrong ... which always made me cringe, drinking and driving either doing the drinking or being killed by the drunk driver, and so many other things that haunt me. I cry for every last one of them as I do for the ones I don't know. But, I have to stay strong to continue on for what is demanded of me. That means to go along with my work with my health, diabetes, and financial health too. That might make me one of those privileged people spoken about. I leave that for others to decide. I know who I am. That's more than enough for me.

Oh, and before you ask ... there's no laughter in this journal entry. Just tears. But with them comes the hope that things will get better. I have faith in that and in the others around me. All I ask for y'all to do out there is to be those people who need help, no matter what the situation is. Help them first. Discussions of right and wrong views can be done much later.

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Living The Dream!

**Giggles!**

Good morning, y'all! You know my overall message these days: BE Happy! Now I get it. I used to hate Mondays back when I did the minimum wage stuff, wishing I had a better job, but also knowing that I had much to learn. Oh yes, I damned sure knew that. While I worked much of my teenage live and through to today, I always worked hard on every job I had, no matter how bad it was. And, believe me when I say, I had some bad ones. Various jobs for whatever people would pay me throughout until I got into college plus I started the time-clock jobs by the age of 15, thanks to a work permit I got. Each of these jobs I sweated, I often regretted, and a few times wonder what was I thinking ... but, once I said I would do it, I stuck to it. Even with one of Mom's friends who used the friendship with my Mom to keep me working at it. She hung on my shoulder as I worked and told me how I should be doing it. I finished out one day and stuck to my guns when I told her that I would quit when it got too hot and this was August in the South, so it got really hot. The lady and I got into a dust up when I said that I was done for the day and also got really mad, calling my Mom and complaining bitterly. I had smartly said to Mom when I took this job that I knew what her friend thought of "The Hired Help!" because all of the kids talked and many of my friends had worked for her. Well, my mother told this lady that it was my job and to hash it out with me and keep her out of this. The lady did not listen, but also liked to me and told me that Mom had said that I should stay and work. Pop, who thought something was wrong, showed up and bailed me out by saying he knew what happened here. "I'll deal with your mother, honey," he said and looked at the lady and told her that she should be ashamed. The lady and Mom were no longer friends. But I was proud that I stuck to my word and my guns. Doing the right thing is not always the easy thing to do, but it damned sure makes you feel great doing it. :Love:

I know many of y'all out there have jobs you don't like. To y'all, you have my sympathies. If you can, you need to leave the terrible jobs and find ones that you can do and hopefully love. I also know that circumstances might make such things impossible. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and went back for the ride! The liquor store is one good example. If you have not worked one, especially one that was attached to a convenience store, you have not lived until you have seen that side of life. Drunks, druggies, punk and thugs, illegals ... yes, I said it! ... and every form of riff-raff including the hookers, pimps, wimps, church-goers, do-gooders, the Hard Leaners of Politics, all shapes and flavors, and the rest of the customers. You also have to deal with the ones with guns and/or knives, the thieves trying to sell stolen stuff, and even drunks ... yes, they deserve to be mentioned twice. But, the worst I had to deal with was the wife of the owner of the place who was a cross between Mad Madam Mim, Curella DeVille, and any of the Kardashians after taking drugs. Doctor Doom would have taken a pass on this place and Lex Luther would have never thought to come to this place. But I stuck with it until a couple of customers had a knife fight. I finished me shift and left. The boss understood. The Wicked Bitch of the South damned sure didn't. I said after three years of this madness, there's not enough liquor in the store to make me want to stay.

But, I have one of the best jobs to have now ... and after twenty years and then some change, you would agree. My job is usually just me doing what I can to keep the staff happy. Pop used to call me the Chief of the Boat when it came to keeping the Firm afloat. "There always needs to be a great support team to help the pilots to do their job and I'm sure that goes for just about any job out there," he said a few years before he passed. I have kept this in mind since he's been gone for almost seven years now and, especially with Mom gone for eleven as well, I have kept her wisdom too. While Pop always understood, Mom had a harder time. She only had one part-time job at the Tasty Freeze burger place on St. Simons Island which changed names to Diary Queen a while back and is about to change again to Frosty's Griddle and Shake. She never had to live paycheck to paycheck as my Big Sister said a few times, often in annoyance, since both of us did so more times than we'd would have loved to. But, Mom worked smart and not hard. That's why she was a great writer! These days, I'm just happy to be here and loving life and living the dream. :Love:

Now, speaking of dreams, I had an interesting one. Somehow in the dream it starts off at the carwash we used to use back in the day before COVID because they used to do full and great service. I was there talking to a few of the guys before ... some reason, I huffed up and blew a good and strong breeze before taking off and riding the winds like I was bodysurfing, I remember thinking that. And for a while there, I'm just flying around, enjoying things, and just being me. Now, I kept thinking that I needed to keep this real ... not sure why, mind, but what the hell, right? So I'm just enjoying things when I become really popular and well-known as the High Flying Gal! For some x=crazy reason, I'm asked to run for President, which I turned down since I just wanted to be happy. When asked, I stayed to say something ... and that's when Kaitlynn, my dear Kaitlynn, popped up and smiled. "Once you give up the innocence of the moment, you will never fly again, honey," Kait told me. I said that not only would I not run for office, but I would give up my powers for her. "Just a few minutes of time together," I begged. "Please." She smiled and said, "I will always be here with you." And the is when I woke up, eyes wet with tears ... :Love:

**Sniffles!**
Excuse me for a moment ...

I have tried writing this journal a few times this morning, y'all. Between my tears and my trying to stay focused on getting things done, especially with the big announcement the Big Boss made before heading out for a business trip. This I cannot say at the moment, but it was a great surprise and I got to say how proud I was to be here as an employee. He laughed and hugged me back. "Honey, we have always enjoyed having you here and, as long as you can do the job, it's yours." I nodded with a smile. This is a man who will damned sure keep his word!

If that's not enough to make Monday fun for me, I'm not sure what will. But it's not even 10 am as I write this! And yes, y'all, I get to work around 5:30 am and hit the ground running every morning. :Love:

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
May The Fourth BE With Me Today!

**Giggles!**

I know a lot of the Star Wars fans love this day as it celebrates the day as marking the month back in 1977 when the original and still the best of the Star Wars movies was released. Released on May 25th, 1977, I waited with baited breath as this movie was thoroughly teased and tormented me for a month or so by my friends and especially my Big Sister, but I don't think I saw it until June when it came to Brunswick, Georgia at the Lucas Theater nears SEARS where Pop worked. He got us some of the best seats in the house, thanks to "Employee Day!" at the movies or something like that, I think. And even today, being in my mid fifties, I still get a thrill over the lights going down and the movie starting ...

But this was also when people behaved at the movies too! They didn't text each other, snap pictures of themselves watching the movie, or worse, try to record it like I had seen in a couple of movies where people actually had a blanket over a camera and was actually filming the movie as it was played on screen. And this was also before you could only see movies like this in the movie theater too, unless they were old enough and good enough to be picked up by either HBO or Cinemax. Back when you only had four TV networks, though Ted Turner was out there pitching for a fifth.

For me today at least, it's an extra special day since I go in and get my eyes fixed. Here's what's happened as best as I understand it. Think of your eyeball as a movie projector and your eye being the movie house. The light from the outside is like the power source,if you will allow me a bit of flexibility here, and strikes the lens with the world showing off the reel of wonderment that life makes. The image is sent to the back of my eye, onto the wall or screen known as my retina which translates the image into impulses to the brain. Along with the microphones for my ears being the pick up for the sound, I have the best seat in town for the story of my life!

Wonderful, right?

Well, what's happened to mine is the retinas have been slowly getting less and less blood flow to keep them healthy, so the brain has been instructing them to build more blood vessels to keep them working, but what this has done is caused swelling along the surface of the retina, distorting the image. Now, this process takes time to cause problems, but I have let this go for too long as well. The people at Georgia Eye Institute think that since a lot of the swelling picked up recently that things can be fixed, but that means I need to get some shots in my eyes. Not straight in, mind ... like some horror movie. No. A robot arm will do this injection after they numb up my eyes and add some medicine to keep me from blinking. The shots are actually faster than you can say, "One!" And just so you can have a little Star Wars trivia that I learned when I was little, saying one for a movie takes 35 still shots of the camera for you to say that. Neat, eh?

Anyways, that's how I'm celebrating my May today ... so May it BE with you in whatever you are doing! :Love:

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
May The Fourth BE With Me Today!

**Giggles!**

I know a lot of the Star Wars fans love this day as it celebrates the day as marking the month back in 1977 when the original and still the best of the Star Wars movies was released. Released on May 25th, 1977, I waited with baited breath as this movie was thoroughly teased and tormented me for a month or so by my friends and especially my Big Sister, but I don't think I saw it until June when it came to Brunswick, Georgia at the Lucas Theater nears SEARS where Pop worked. He got us some of the best seats in the house, thanks to "Employee Day!" at the movies or something like that, I think. And even today, being in my mid fifties, I still get a thrill over the lights going down and the movie starting ...

But this was also when people behaved at the movies too! They didn't text each other, snap pictures of themselves watching the movie, or worse, try to record it like I had seen in a couple of movies where people actually had a blanket over a camera and was actually filming the movie as it was played on screen. And this was also before you could only see movies like this in the movie theater too, unless they were old enough and good enough to be picked up by either HBO or Cinemax. Back when you only had four TV networks, though Ted Turner was out there pitching for a fifth.

For me today at least, it's an extra special day since I go in and get my eyes fixed. Here's what's happened as best as I understand it. Think of your eyeball as a movie projector and your eye being the movie house. The light from the outside is like the power source,if you will allow me a bit of flexibility here, and strikes the lens with the world showing off the reel of wonderment that life makes. The image is sent to the back of my eye, onto the wall or screen known as my retina which translates the image into impulses to the brain. Along with the microphones for my ears being the pick up for the sound, I have the best seat in town for the story of my life!

Wonderful, right?

Well, what's happened to mine is the retinas have been slowly getting less and less blood flow to keep them healthy, so the brain has been instructing them to build more blood vessels to keep them working, but what this has done is caused swelling along the surface of the retina, distorting the image. Now, this process takes time to cause problems, but I have let this go for too long as well. The people at Georgia Eye Institute think that since a lot of the swelling picked up recently that things can be fixed, but that means I need to get some shots in my eyes. Not straight in, mind ... like some horror movie. No. A robot arm will do this injection after they numb up my eyes and add some medicine to keep me from blinking. The shots are actually faster than you can say, "One!" And just so you can have a little Star Wars trivia that I learned when I was little, saying one for a movie takes 35 still shots of the camera for you to say that. Neat, eh?

Anyways, that's how I'm celebrating my May today ... so May it BE with you in whatever you are doing! :Love:

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia

Coffee With The Princess!
Superhero Day!

**Giggles!**

While I'm enjoying my sausage egg and cheese McMuffin this morning, along with a package of bacon jerky and a cup of Black Rifle Coffee, I thought I would mention that today is Superhero Day! I hear this earlier on my favorite morning show, John Boy and Billy's Big Show and thought it would make a great journal entry while I'm waiting on people to need me this morning. I'm feeling very well this morning and even charged up to tackle most any task ... for the moment. Let me take another pull of my coffee. There! That helps.

I have spoken about how the diabetes has made me insane with paranoia with keeping up with the various numbs of what the meals allow me to take in and deal with while hopefully getting my weight down. Now, I'm not doing this for vanity, but for the fact that back in October of last year, Doc warned me that the numbers dealing with my liver were edging high and troubling, so he got me to knock off 40 carbs per day off of my diet. At the time, I wasn't happy about it, but slowly, I'm getting into the swing of things,. The lat two months are a bit easier, but the paranoia has given rise to guilt too. As I told a friend of mine, it's like having the Hulk chained up inside of my stomach by the machinations of manacles manufactured mightily morons who made the adamantium system keeping him subdued. All it takes is for something to make me hungry ... and, you get the idea.

While superheroes is a passion for me, thanks to reading Marvel and DC comics as well as some independent like Charleston Comics, I still say my favorite superheroes are my folks:

https://sta.sh/02g7ahbv9d1c

This is an old picture of Mom and Pop together as Pop is sworn in for some sort of ceremony that I'm not entirely sure what it was sorry to say. Pop retired at a young age as a Lieutenant Commander and a pilot for the Navy while Mom was just getting started with her career as a Historical Romance writer. I had been adopted back in the early 1970s, but honestly I only remember these two and my Big Sister, who is still amazingly alive, are and always will be my only family. My real folks? Not sure and don't care. Both of these people are superheroes in my book for they dealt with the real problems of life, marriage, drug use and alcoholism, finances, and later cancer. Real foes that need to be defeated.

I'm very lucky to have been adopted by this fine family!

BE Happy!

Love and Kisses,
Loonia