SIGH. Oh, Etsy...

You've made some awkward, questionable, and, at times, even downright BAD (i.e. malicious) decisions in the past.

But today's happy little accident just leaves me scratching my head and, well... wondering about you.

To-wit, for those of you who don't fancy clicking the link: Today, Etsy added a new "feature." What is this feature, and why is it so bad, you might ask?

It's an active cursor. In the Search bar.

On every. Single. Page. Even in shops AND on the Search results pages themselves.

This "improvement" has made it impossible to navigate the site naturally - if you want to use your keyboard to navigate, you constantly have to click on the side of the page to remove the active cursor, before you can do anything. It also ensures that, whenever you go to a previous page, you get relocated to the TOP of the page, instead of wherever you'd been before. Naturally, this "intuitive and helpful" change gets awfully annoying after the first three or so pages.

Oh, and did I mention that the active cursor appears on every page? Even in your shop? Yeah. Is Etsy trying to direct people OUT of our shops now?

Sigh.

This can only end in tears. And lost revenue.

Crap move, Etsy. Crap move...

These Dreams #1

Usually, I don't remember much about my dreams. When I do, there's usually some lesson or message in there for me. Time was, I didn't pay much attention, even when I probably should have - nowadays, I try to pay more heed to them.

Like this morning.

See, I dreamed that sis and I had moved in with mom. But we weren't living in the house she currently lives in - rather, we were living in the house we'd lived in before that one. And the two of us were staying in my old bedroom.

Unlike past dreams involving that house, though, this time the room was crumbling and falling apart. Only instead of the deteriorating walls and ceiling exposing wiring, the outer walls, or the environment outside... they exposed a much bigger, more beautiful house.

I still have to ponder over this dream a bit to figure out the message within, but it did leave me feeling peaceful and hopeful.

Because It Needs To Be Said

I believe that love can change the world. If more people loved their fellow man... if it replaced the destructive mindsets of hatred, anger, selfishness, and greed... maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place.

There will, of course, always be people who cannot seem to function if they're not making others miserable. There will always be users, abusers, haters, manipulators, warmongers and naysayers... that is an inescapable fact of human existence. But just imagine what life would be like if we stopped empowering them with more and more negativity, and started empowering each other with something much more uplifting and powerful - love.

Why love?

Because where hatred oppresses, love uplifts.
Where anger and greed destroy, love creates.
What selfishness abandons, love defends.
Where sadness exhausts, love empowers.
Where fear causes us to falter, love gives us the courage to press on.

It may sound corny and overdone, but it's true. Haven't you ever noticed that when you love something, when it makes you happy, you have more energy and get more accomplished? How things seem to come so easily? And how when you're sad, or angry... you feel drained and get very little done, and everything just seems impossibly difficult? Yes? No? Look back at your life, at the times when you were happiest, and the times when you were at your lowest. Remember how you felt during those times, compare them. Think about your mindset now, and how you feel.

Think about how you want to feel.

You want to be happy, right? You want to feel like you could move mountains. Like you could change the world and make it a better place. Right?

Then love. Love, and be loved. Give it freely, and see how it returns to you. See how it builds you up even as you use it to build up others.

Not sure where to start? Ask, and ye shall receive...

I love you. Even if I don't know you, I love you. Even if I know you, but don't like you, I love you. Even if you hate me, I love you. I love you with all of my heart and soul, with every fiber of my being.

I love you because you are worth it. No matter what anyone else might say, no matter what you might have been led to believe, you are worth it and you deserve it.

I love you, and I believe in you. I believe that you can change your life for the better. I believe that you can change the world for the better.

I love you.

Now go out, and pass it on, because the world needs it.

You Know It's A Slow Week When...

...you're complaining about ice cream. But, hey, I think it's a valid complaint...

So. It's that time of the month, if you know what I mean. I'm craving chocolate something fierce, y'know? So I take some of my hard-earned commission money, and go to Hy-Vee to buy myself a chocolate bar and some ice cream.

I picked out a brand called Skondra's, the flavor being Super Fudge Brownie. The flavor text (lol lame pun) says "Rich chocolate ice cream swirled with fudge ribbons and chunky brownie bites." Sounds delicious, yeah? I sure thought so.

Until I got home and took a big, chocolatey-bite... only for my c: to turn into a :c I tried a few more bites, to see if it was just a bad first impression... but my :c just turned into an even bigger :C because... good grief... it's terrible. It's so bad that it's terribad.

This is not "rich" ice cream by any stretch of the imagination. It tastes like how I imagine ice cream would taste if the cream was changed to watered-down skim milk. And the brownie bites? Have the taste, texture, and chewiness of stale chocolate chips. Ugh. Even the fudge swirls taste... off.

I don't think I want this ice cream any more. I should have just gone ahead and bought Breyer's. Or Blue Bunny. Heck, even Edy's would be an improvement over Skondra's. I think the store brand might even be better...

I wonder if you can return ice cream *sniff*

The moral of the story? Never buy Skondra's ice cream. If it's a choice between Skondra's and store brand... go with the store brand, because Skondra's is crap.

A Most Unusual Occurrence

About half an hour ago, while sis and I were arting, we heard the sound of a stack of dishes toppling over. It was a very, very distinctive clattering sound, and we both hurried to investigate.

...only to find that none of the dishes were out of place, and nothing else had moved that would have made that kind of noise.

I am thoroughly unsettled now.

Random Bouts Of Eugh...

Ever have one of those days? The ones where you wake up feeling less-than-optimal, and just kind of slowly deteriorate throughout the day?

Yeah. It's been one of those here. Only replace "less-than-optimal" with "like you swallowed a whole package of golf balls."

And the best part? I've been working on my bedroom all day while feeling like this. And I'm still not done. I think I may just give up for the night, and finish up sometime tomorrow.

Weather.com Drops the Ball

I don't know why, but ever since Weather.com updated their site to its newest version, they've been really inaccurate when it comes to reporting our weather. Before, they used to be spot-on with the current weather, but now... not so much.

For example? Right now, it's darkly overcast, pouring rain, and thundering. Weather.com's report? Says it's "partly cloudy" and that "locations nearby are reporting thunderstorms."

Ahah... no.

I used to rely on you, Weather.com. And then you just had to go and drop the ball...

Wild Weather

I just stepped outside, and whoa, that is one wicked-looking storm front bearing down on us. Pitch-dark, scud clouds, a very visible shelf on the leading edge... it's all making me quite nervous. Here's hoping it will pass with no ill effects and be over soon...

The Mysterious Case Of the Baby Food Bomber

Well, okay, so no actual bombs have been involved (so far, anyway.) But someone has been leaving mysterious bundles of baby food at peoples' doorsteps around my apartment complex. Boxes of baby cereal, jars of baby food... they even left a baby stroller at one of the mailbox banks.

We don't know who it is, or why they're doing it. Due to the risk of... ulterior motives, the police have been telling people to throw the mystery food away - no one wants a rash of sick or dead kids on their hands, after all.

Which leads me to this... An open letter directed to the person responsible.

"Dear Sir or Madame;

People tend to be very suspicious nowadays, especially when it comes to things that would affect their children.

Therefore, if you are trying to be a Good Samaritan... You really would be better served by simply knocking on our doors to offer your assistance. By remaining anonymous, you are only inspiring people to throw away the food you're trying to give them, which is a waste of your money and your effort, don't you think?

So, really... please, just knock next time."

I really hope that they find out who's doing this, and that no ill comes from it. Sure, the person might be trying to help, but if they are, the way they're going about it is completely wrong....

Future? What's That?

Le sigh. Sometimes, worrying about the future can be vexing.

For example, my sister and I are planning to move out of this apartment soon. Where are we moving to? We're not sure yet, but we're going to talk to mom about maybe staying at her house for a while, until we get together enough money to make our move. In the meantime, we could pitch in for food, keep the house clean, look after the animals, do laundry and yard work, etc... to make up for taking up space in her house.

Maybe I could also surprise her by getting fresh gravel for her driveway. Or sturdier fencing for her horse pastures. Or both.

Once we're out there, and things are stabilized, I'm also going to look into doing something I've wanted to do for a long time - starting a housekeeping business. Since most of the people in my old hometown are senior citizens, maybe I could get a few who would want me to come around once a week to do some cleaning and light yard work. I would start off light, naturally, with 5-10 customers, and work up to taking care of more once I had my own place. Sure, it would be the equivalent to a full-time job, but... it would be the equivalent to a full-time job, and I would be the boss. And who wouldn't want that, right?

But I'll think more seriously on those things once I go to cross that bridge. They're still nebulous and tentative now, and I'm a bit leery of making concrete plans just yet...

Slow Day

It's been one of those days, you know? Where nothing really happens and I don't feel particularly inspired to write much, if anything. But I'm going to work a little something up, anyway.

The most eventful thing that's happened today was helping to give my nephew a bath. Yeah, he's a two-person job - the kid hates baths about as much as a cat, so someone has to hold him while the other person washes him. Fun way to spend half an hour on an otherwise-boring summer afternoon, eh?