The Tale of the Talentless

This journal is not about you. It is about me. It is mine. These words are typed by my fingers, in tandem with the words being uttered by my mouth, though slightly cleaned up, as I am more than moderately prone to obscenities.

Hey. It's my journal. I can be as rude as I want. For the uninitiated, however, and as an introduction, I shall attempt to be polite. It won't last, so don't get used to it and then pretend to be offended later when I drop an f-bomb on your ass. Deal, or leave.

1. Pictures of cats. I have plenty of them, and I love them dearly.
   
2. Pictures of quilts. I make a lot of quilts, some for donation, some for charity raffle, some just for me. I enjoy it. All such posts will be marked, and there are filters as well.
   
3. Pictures of sewing machines. I restore and collect vintage and antique sewing machines.
   
4. Pictures of home-built furniture. Finish carpentry is how I got into restoring sewing machines, and I enjoy it.
   
5. Fish stories and pictures. I like fishing. A lot. I go fishing. A lot. Sometimes alone, sometimes with my fishing buddies. And sometimes I come home with fish.
   
6. Rants. I am well known among my small circle of friends as an expert at the fine art of ranting. I have, at different points in time, generated rants around subjects suggested by others, just for the fun of doing it. If you want to read ranting about paper clips, cheddar cheese, or the practice of mounting a roll of toilet paper with the paper coming over the top, this is the place for you.
   
7. Sarcasm and silliness in general. Hey. It happens sometimes. Piss off.
   
8. Lj-cuts. I don't know if you are or not, but I am on dial-up. (Hurray for the 'sticks.) While I appreciate pictures behind cuts, there will quite frequently be very long text posts as well. Some people don't want to read a near-novelisation. I am a published author; sometimes I forget and post to my journal in the same manner. Cuts will typically have some hint as to what's behind it, so you're not surprised by eighteen pictures of quilt blocks when you were expecting a dissertation on Bird Flu.
   
9. Scientific or logical dissertations on any number of topics. My post-graduate work was, contrary to the popular belief, in chaos theory. I enjoy looking at the overall spread of things from a purely chaos point of view, and - where applicable - contrast it back through history. This includes things like popular religion, emergence of viral infection, population density, and farming. Do not be alarmed...read and enjoy, or skip to the next bout of blather.

1. Condemnations over someone else's personal decisions. I don't have the right to make up someone else's mind, and neither do you.
   
2. Outright attacks. No flaming. Disagreement is fine. Flaming is not. Nor may you attack another commenter simply because you disagree with some of their personal beliefs. Be nice, or be banned - period.
   
3. Political Correctness. I am sick to fucking death about all the bullshit political correctness crap. If you're capable of doing a job, do the job, regardless of gender, preference, or anything else. If you aren't, don't expect me to empower you over it.
   
4. Begging. Yes, I am an explosives engineer. No, I will not blow up your school, workplace, ex, or in-laws. I am not adverse to helping a friend. There is a vast difference between "helping" and "supporting". I am unmarried and childless precisely for that reason: what I earn, is mine, not some phantom nonexistent husband, wife, or sprogling.
   
5. Long lists of Previous Personal Woes. I will note here that certain aspects of my childhood sucked. So, I'm sure, did aspects of yours. This isn't the place for them. While I may hint at them occasionally - this is, after all, my journal - this is not the place for long, drawn-out whingeing about it. If you're that desperately curious, there is always email or instant messenger.
   
6. Content Edited For The Safety Of Your Children. It is not my job to babysit, nurture, mollycoddle, or cover your child's eyes in politically correct cotton wadding. If you are a parent, then it is - don't faint - YOUR JOB to look after your Young Brood. Not mine, not the government, not anyone else's. If you can't keep track of your children, don't bring 'em into my Village. We held a quorum, and you and your sprogs can get right out.

1. You have the right to disagree with me. In fact, I welcome it. If the world revolved around what worked for me, it would be a very, very fucked-up place.
   
2. You have the right to agree with me. If I say something you like, that's fine. If you would like to add it to your memories, or link to it, this is fine. Please ask first, and/or credit me. If I have anything I don't want you to replicate, I will state quite clearly please do not reproduce for any use.
   
3. You are not required to like or dislike me in order to read this journal. There is nothing written anywhere that says you have to particularly like me. There is nothing written anywhere that says you have to particularly dislike me, either. Ambivalency is fine; you may find some times you want to adopt me at one line, then disown me after reading the next. And that's fine. I assure you the feeling is mutual.
   
4. You accept that I will not worship your every word. Not gonna happen. Sometimes I'll agree with you. Sometimes I won't. That's called real life, and it intrudes all over the place.
   
5. You will NOT bring whingeing from a separate community or journal into my personal space. Every community I own has an information page with instructions on How To Reach A Moderator. My journal is not a place for you to come sniveling because you broke the rules and got yourself banned, nor is it a place to come yell at me because of something someone else did that you find icky. I do not have, neither do I want, children; plastering pictures of your toothless sprogs in previous entries of my journal and threatening that I will find them cute OR ELSE!!!! will only get you laughed at, and while I take no joy in trolling, I do know plenty of people who do.