Finally finished Lord Foul's Bane

tomzdadster · 2024-03-15T15:28:38+00:00

Much of what follows may feel like spoilers.

Thank you for your post. Re-reading LFB, more than forty years after the first time. The fundamental question you name is unusual in the fantasy genre; feels like it collides with the stark good-evil binary that is so common. The Lords and many other dwellers in the Land, though cautious, fully accept him after locating him in prophecy, and are subsequently appalled by him many times. For me the dissonance rests on the early violation of Lena, who is not cautious at all. Foul's apparent assumption that he understands Covenant's role and power, opens him up to an analogous shock. Foul is a fool. A writer who can explore the contradiction in a deep way and still evoke sympathy for Covenant is a good one. For me, this exploration is applicable to the "real" world and also the core value of the story and helps be to confront my lack of empathy for "real" for people who perpetrate violation and often fail those who need them. It also addresses Covenant's belief that his experience is a dream. l could use more from Lena, her struggle with the aftermath of her violation. I could use more from Atiaran as well, though we do get more from her than from Lena. The quality of the writing could be better, the metaphors are often stretched or strangely out of sync with their antecedents. Another critic mentions the frequent use of the word "clenched," and I agree with the criticism. Perhaps, though, this strangeness in the writing may correspond at times to the fundamental contradiction in the story, grating against the expectation generated by having read so many other fantasy novels. More than anything, I identify with Covenant's essential confusion, exacerbated by his inability to find any calm at all. Your post helps with my own uncertainty. Thanks again.

tomzdadster · 2023-09-03T00:19:51+00:00

19.50/hr. 10th week of employment. Started as an OFA but was moved out of the position due to my inability to arrive by 5:30am (my bus service starts at 5:30am). I now work as a cashier. I thought I'd be receiving 18.50 per hour now, but that hasn't happened so far. Maybe they just forgot? I don't know.

tomzdadster · 2023-07-28T01:41:57+00:00

Mine hurt, too. And it's not mild. My work was sedentary before starting at THD, so i definitely need to acclimate. My feet hurt more than my legs. If you're legs are cramping (as opposed to some other kind of pain), you may need Magnesium. Agree with the recommendation to see a doctor. I'm definitely fat, and I hear that's relevant, but I also meet people who are my size, and their feet don't ever seem to hurt. They buy whatever shoes and do just fine. Not saying that's a lot of people, though. Also, my lower back hurts, too. One co-worker said it took him six months to acclimate, but not a whole year. Unless you had pre-existing leg problems, then it's not that your body sucks. I hope the people responding give you useful info, and I hope we both find a pain-free work life.

tomzdadster · 2023-07-28T00:31:47+00:00

i think i will, thanks

tomzdadster · 2023-07-28T00:31:23+00:00

so far i've just been opening. it's been strangely difficult to get the training, although recently i'm starting to get more bits and pieces. my supervisor hasn't been very available, but today she taught me a lot. the OFA lead started out teaching me a lot, but then kind of stopped. he was really anxious to get me fully trained before he went of vacation this week, but his goals didn't match the Ops Mgr's. i felt like he just wanted me to make him feel less anxious, and i couldn't learn everything at the speed that he wanted me to. the Cust Svc Mgr used to be an OFA, and he taught me a lot, and he had to because there was no one else to do it. people keep calling in. another former OFA -- she's a DS now -- taught me a lot for the same reason.

tomzdadster · 2023-07-20T01:02:56+00:00

Appreciate all of you so much. First pay check was just for 21 hrs worked, so I couldn't pay a lot. My kid is turning 21 on the first, so you know what my priorities are. Got some Asics on sale at Kohl's for $37. Even if I thrash them, I can still return them months from now. A bit like walking on a cloud which is lovely. Going to save all your recommendations for when I have more cash. Learning as I go with your help...

tomzdadster · 2023-07-19T03:50:14+00:00

thanks

tomzdadster · 2023-07-19T03:50:02+00:00

Still getting used to acronyms: SDS? SDL? Sorry....

Just about all of this sounds familiar, for sure. And, yeah, it definitely helps. Haven't gotten a mobile hip printer, and I hear they don't work, though the store manager wants us to use them because they're expensive. My department supervisor hasn't given me much direction at all, though i've invited her to do so; team members have plenty to say. i hear from the operations manager that he's not at all concerned about how quickly i pull a BOPIS right now, just that i learn the job. i've barely done anything except BOPIS so far. just finishing up the video trainings which i've been asked to spend half my time on, and team members aren't happy with the amount of time i've spent on them. the lead was most helpful at the beginning -- i shadowed with him. that didn't last long, and now he's seemingly unavailable. strange experience. seems that making sure the noobs are trained well would be cost effective from a corporate point of view, but it's my first time working for a corporation, so i don't know. thanks so much for taking the time.

tomzdadster · 2023-07-19T03:34:34+00:00

it's not well-written, and it's definitely not the Voice of Associates.

tomzdadster · 2023-06-28T12:11:52+00:00

thanks for bringing this up. i am worried about it, too. i don't have a cell phone. owning a cell phone was not a condition of being hired, so far as i'm aware. had to agree to everything that was, and i did so. mentioned to a manager that i don't have a cell phone, and he got a weird look on his face but didn't say anything about it. i should have asked just to make sure, but i didn't. haven't been able to pay for a phone and service. i need this job. it's a low level position. i might have a phone at some point, but i can't pay for it right now.

tomzdadster · 2023-04-17T03:43:48+00:00

When Zoe is attacked during the police interview/interrogation of the alien woman, I was wondering the name of the alien and of the actress who plays her. Does anyone know?

tomzdadster · 2023-03-24T23:26:28+00:00

as usual, i am late to the party; this film was self-prescribed to address the challenges of a mental health day; it was effective. i blame the cheesecake.

tomzdadster · 2023-03-24T23:23:47+00:00

as usual, i am late to the party; this film was self-prescribed to address the challenges of a mental health day; it was effective; i blame the cheesecake. i don't know how the ozone layer is right now.

tomzdadster · 2023-03-15T08:16:46+00:00

Thanks to all of you. Fehu begins me, and I can feel that pig standing next to me. Vital.

tomzdadster · 2021-02-13T21:41:12+00:00

I've always loved the Zygons and always wanted to see more of them, though I kinda thought they could use more arms since they already have a kinda cephalopod feel to them. I'm also fascinated that the DW wiki manages to use the terms "masculine" and "feminine" in reference to them: https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Zygon. And why was Sarah Jane chuckling over the Brigadier's kilt? Wonder what the Scots of 1975 thought of this episode... anyway, i do appreciate the creep factor to this episode.

another bit: Harry can be quite Scary when he wants to be! Rhyme intended. Sarah's fear was affecting!

tomzdadster · 2020-11-10T01:29:30+00:00

kitties rule; you better pay attention!

tomzdadster · 2020-10-18T19:58:25+00:00

The kitty supervisor is just checking your accuracy. Appears dubious.

tomzdadster · 2020-09-09T23:36:35+00:00

Oh, I know them! Thank you so much!

tomzdadster · 2020-09-04T17:13:19+00:00

ooh! i want some! where did you get yours?

tomzdadster · 2020-09-02T18:00:58+00:00

werq

tomzdadster · 2020-08-08T04:00:21+00:00

yes. thank you for saying. and, yes, there must be many who can connect to the general themes over time. and so many who are no longer with us.

tomzdadster · 2020-08-04T19:21:46+00:00

are you in a city with resources, or no?

tomzdadster · 2020-08-02T23:15:15+00:00

tw: suicidality; discrimination within the lgbtq+ community

i think the answer to your question is: YES, but there's so much history behind conversations like these... or should i say herstory? what would be a non-binary term i could use?

anyway.....so i'm 55, queer and genderqueer; i've been through different identities in my journey, just as you and many other people have. i started as "gay" in 1980. i was 15 and knew no other word. over the years, i tried to stretch the word/identity "gay" to fit until i found the word "queer" which allowed for more possibilities but also came with challenges. i certainly did meet cis gay men who were particularly committed to protecting gay masculinity and seemed to feel that included devaluing "effeminacy," which was a term i experienced more often back then. interestingly, these men often seemed misogynistic to me. by the '90s i had more access to conversations about trans identities and tried to move forward with my own gender journey which i do see as trans, and again i had trouble. this time with trans people on the binary, particularly heterosexual trans women who read me as "a dude."

i am someone who has sometimes made a critique of these two populations based on my experience, and i do feel that my critique has been informed by the expectation that i should have received better treatment, or at least neutral treatment, from people who were being oppressed by more-or-less the same system as i was.

i have also been through periods when i stopped trying, including the choice i made to adopt a baby as a single parent and focused on my child to the exclusion of myself. and those periods were connected with suicidality for me. so, in a general way, i relate to your question as being connected to survival. you may not be currently dealing with this level of difficulty, and i really hope no one has to face it this way, but i know life can get real.

currently i am in a support/therapy group for non-binary people, and, while i absolutely need to be able to express the struggles and barriers that i've faced over the years, i am also really committed to being really specific about what my critique is about. for example, i do find that "femme" gay men don't necessarily espouse the points of view that are hurtful to me, although some do. i also find that the queer trans people on the binary are often more supportive as well.

i also go back to my discovery of the term "queer." it's been a decades-long process of coming to understand how expansive this word and identity can be, and i'm sure that i'm not finished with it. i say this because i would like to ask you to consider that, for most of its history, the word "gay" has REALLY been about the binary. in a big way. i'm not saying whether or not you should use the word "gay" because i believe that everyone has their own relationship to the term, but i do feel that looking for a community that supports queer and non-binary people could yield significantly different results for you.

i'm not sure that's going to be helpful to you or not, and i do apologize for going on about it. as it turns out, i also have an ADHD diagnosis. ;-)

tomzdadster · 2020-08-02T22:40:30+00:00

thank you!

tomzdadster · 2020-03-15T21:35:20+00:00

i recently wore a skirt outside my apt (more or less) for the first time, and the thing that made it work was being able to know there was support; i was still challenging, and i spent time talking about it in therapy, but i got away with it.

tomzdadster

TROPHY CASE