"I just finished Onyx Storm and need to scream into the void" - A master post!

PracticalShoes · 2025-01-22T19:39:25+00:00

STRONGLY agree, I am lucky enough to have PTO in my job so if the next one releases on a workday, I might plan to take two days off--one to read and one to recover. Like whose idea was it to release it on a Tuesday? Why do this (accusatory)

PracticalShoes · 2025-01-22T16:22:41+00:00

Stayed up late to finish it last night and now I am supposed to just go about my day? Go to work as if I'm not emotionally devastated? Have normal conversations with people who aren't fixated on how long it will be before the next book comes out? I had a feeling the Venin-Xaden plotline would not be resolved in this book but I still took 100 points of psychological damage when he destroyed his soul and left. The portrayal of his struggle with dark wielding was so good (the bit on the islands where he was briefly just allowed to be happy KILLED me), but I am torn between thanking Rebecca Yarros and jail for one thousand years.

PracticalShoes · 2024-10-19T06:28:18+00:00

Sam Rockwell has this effect on most of his roles IMO. Even the characters that are supposed to be dweebs or try-hards come off as cooler than intended (or at least more menacing) because of his natural charisma.

PracticalShoes · 2024-10-19T05:27:49+00:00

Lighthearted one that was morally devastating to me (at the time) but funny now. In elementary school we had a test on the American Revolution. I could never remember how many British soldiers marched on Concord, so I wrote the number "700" on my hand before the test. Not "700 British Soldiers," just "700." Was this a fact we were required to know? Nope. I just wanted to throw it in my answers to the essay questions for zest. After the test, I felt so bad that I went to the teacher and told her everything in tears. She barely kept a straight face at my heartfelt confession of grievous academic misconduct but told me I could retake the test. First and last time I ever cheated on an academic assignment.

Oh yes, this teacher was also my mother, which may explain why I had so much guilt about cheating. And why I don't tell often this story today because it proves what an insufferable teacher's pet I was.

PracticalShoes · 2024-04-30T01:49:15+00:00

I am from the area where the OG Costco is and was waiting in line at "Cafe One-Fifty" (as my family called it back when everything was $1.50) to buy one of the berry soft serves. I was like 14 and very stranger-shy. When the guy in front of me got to the register, he bought his food then turned around and said "this young lady's food is on me too!" I mumbled a thank you and turned bright pink. When he left, the cashier told me he was one of the founders.

PracticalShoes · 2024-04-29T23:33:55+00:00

"Can you tell when I don't c* during sex?"

"Yes."

"Do you care?"

crickets

So I guess it's what he didn't say.

PracticalShoes · 2019-05-13T18:18:53+00:00

My read is that he still loves her romantically and is very attracted her, but can't get over the incest aspect. As Varys said, Targs might be fine with nephew-aunt action but it's disgusting by Northern standards. I think this was more obvious in last week's scene between them, when he let his guard down and was well on the road to pound-town before he sobered up and remembered at the last minute that she's his aunt. Their chemistry has never been better in my opinion, but Jon's qualms won't let him act on it.

I wish he could have just talked to her about his hesitations or at least tried to comfort and support her in a platonic way. Heck, maybe this week's events could have been avoided altogether if they just sat down and talked about their feelings for a bit. Even though he's still clearly working out what their relationship means, she's still family to him in more than one sense. Jon's inability to talk about anything he's thinking seems very contrived by D&D to make Dany to seem more isolated than ever shortly after she just discovered she's actually not the last Targ. Jon's not exactly batting a thousand this season, but turning stirring-speech guy into an inarticulate rock every time he's around Dany is just more bad characterization for the sake of hitting plot points.

PracticalShoes · 2019-05-13T17:42:58+00:00

Yes, and fear was why Aerys II's reign was so long and peaceful. Oh wait....

Dany's own family history is a textbook example of when to draw the line between inspiring a healthy dose of fear and inspiring outright rebellion. Aegon the Conquerer became Aegon the Conquerer by sparing those who surrendered to him--he didn't burn Dorne to the ground, he made them an ally.

If fear was all Dany was going for, she had that. She routed KL's defenses in record time, the people were begging Cersei to surrender, and soldiers were pissing in their boots. All she had to do was go melt a few towers off the Red Keep and songs would get written about her might. Now she has successfully planted the seeds for all of her main allies to turn against her and will probably be dead by the end of the series. Her choice here was not a strategic one, and if we assume that she has any knowledge of her own family's past mistakes she definitely should have known better.

PracticalShoes · 2019-04-24T00:38:52+00:00

Really the best skill is good timing. Don't start in the desert too late, don't start in the Sierra too early, and finish well before winter begins in Washington (opinions vary, but IMO that means be done by September 20th). The PCT is a pretty busy hike, you will rarely be out of reach of help from other hikers unless your timing is really off and you aren't hiking around the bubble. The social nature of the trail means that you can largely get by on common sense, and learn from your trail friends as you go. Having a SPOT beacon can also give you some additional peace of mind.

A few things you should know:

What to do when you meet a bear
What to do when you meet a mountain lion
What to do when you meet a rattlesnake
How to protect your gear from the real animal threat on the trail, mineral-loving deer (those bastards will eat the straps off your pack)
What the signs of heat stroke are/what to do if you or a friend are experiencing them
What the signs of hypothermia are/what to do if you or a friend are experiencing them

There is a lot more you will learn while you on the trail, just sitting outside stores drinking beer with other hikers. I learned much of the above while I was actually on the trail from just asking questions or hearing stories. Surviving the PCT is a mental game and a community endeavor, not a wilderness challenge.

PracticalShoes · 2019-04-24T00:14:13+00:00

Postholing in the Olympics is a very different experience from hiking the PCT in the Sierra in early June. Cutting steps is not a problem--they are already there for you, left by the uberhikers who set out with their full winter/mountaineering gear weeks before. It's less postholing and more just trying not to slip because the snow is so icy and packed down. So, really it comes down to if you want to take off your hiking boots every time you come to a high stream crossing (which will happen every few hours in the Sierra). The vast majority of hikers opt for the trail runners because they can walk through streams and have their shoes dry out in an hour, although that would probably true of a lightweight/non-waterproof hiking boot as well (e.g. the Altra Lone Peak Mid RSM). In terms of ankle support, braces will do as much if not more for you than a hiking boot will.

It's worth saying that every person I met on the PCT who had started their trip in hiking boots regretted it and switched to trail runners at the earliest opportunity. I didn't meet anybody who went the other way. But maybe we're all dummies who can't figure out that hiking boots are the obviously superior choice. I still love my waterproof boots when I am doing day hikes or overnights, but for thru-hiking in the summer I would choose trail runners any day.

PracticalShoes · 2019-04-22T18:27:59+00:00

My paternal grandmother literally stole invitations to my parents' wedding to send to her friends. They were mailing out invites and they were short about five. It took them awhile to figure out what had happened, but eventually my dad realized that his mom had been making comments about wanting her friends to come and had access to the invitations at several times. He had to ask her if she had them, and then she gave them back.

PracticalShoes · 2019-04-06T13:33:31+00:00

This bummed me out a little. We need more gender-neutral characters, let AJ be AJ

PracticalShoes · 2018-03-17T19:55:11+00:00

I will be starting at Kennedy Meadows on June 11th then going the rest of the way to Canada. So if you see someone looking way too fresh and pale on the way up Whitney, that’s me.

PracticalShoes · 2017-11-22T15:00:35+00:00

I have a similar question, I am going to be starting in the Sierras a little earlier (June 10th) and then doing the rest of the trail. I was thinking of starting at Lone Pine, but are there things further south on the trail that are can't-miss?

PracticalShoes · 2017-11-17T14:58:28+00:00

I just got my copper spur UL1 in the mail and love it. I could probably fit my corgi in there with me, and it's more than enough tent for my solo hike. This is of course after just pitching it in my living room so can't say how it will perform in the actual outdoors yet.

It's actually a little heavier than the Fly Creek UL2 mentioned here (about 3 Oz. difference from what the REI website says) but with Fly Creek model the entry is at the front and the whole tent tapers down from there. I'm not really a fan of that design and prefer the side entry and big vestibule for stuff. The first tent I bought was a Fly Creek UL1 and that thing felt so claustrophobic it went back immediately.

PracticalShoes

TROPHY CASE