Author: dezbee2008

33-year-old math enthusiast, Pokemon fan, Eurovision fan, Bingo player, anti-MLM watcher, meme consumer, YTP watcher, stans news reporters when no one else wants to, inconsistent in real life, a complete human mess, and professional social media lurker

Eurovision (and other music) Roundup Saturday 2022.10.22

A short one, but we have an idea of how many countries will compete (and how long the shows will be in May)

Cyprus picks their artist

Andrew Lambrou was chosen by Cyprus’ TV station CyBC to represent the country in Liverpool next year. He is the second artist to be selected to compete in Liverpool after Israel chose Noa Kirel over the summer. Lambrou is Greek-Cypriot-Aussie and competed in Australia’s national selection in 2022.

37 Countries will be in Liverpool

The European Broadcasting Union released the list of 37 countries that will be competing in Liverpool, with Cyprus and Israel among them. However, as mentioned last week, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia dropped out (although Bulgaria tried to walk back). This is the lowest number of participants since 2014. Although Kazakhstan is eyeing a debut so we might or might not see them in Liverpool, who knows.

Junior Eurovision 2014 Rewatch

Tonight, I’m rewatching one of my favorite editions of JESC, and it’s the 2014 edition in Malta. 16 countries competed, up 4 from the previous two years. Italy debuted and won the contest, with Bulgaria (who hosted the next contest) in second. The hosting venue is pretty much a continuation of the shipyard aesthetic that Copenhagen undertook some months earlier. This will be a fun one, so I can’t wait to watch it again

Totallympics Open Song Contest Update

The voting period will end on October 28, but I have already made my decision to secure my country’s entry. I don’t know if my teammate voted yet, but I’m sure he’s working on it. Anyway, that’s pretty much the only update I have this week

Favorite Tracks of the Week

As always, we end it with some of my favorite tracks of the week

  • Gromee feat Lukas Meijer — Light Me Up
  • Ronela Hajati — Sekret
  • Jeremie Makiese — Miss You
  • Alvan & Ahez — Fulenn
  • Now United — All Night Long
  • Taylor Swift — Lavender Haze
  • Waka Flocka Flame feat Roscoe Dash & Wale — No Hands
  • Sam Smith & Kim Petras — Unholy
  • Rhea Raj — Outside

Writing Prompt Wednesday #6

Cassie, a reporter in Washington state, got a call to compete in her state’s selection to find an act to represent them in the nationwide contest. Her song is halfway done and the submission deadline is set in one week. After she filed her final live shot of the day, she went home to finish her song.

Her song is a mid-tempo pop song with 4 verses, a chorus, two bridges, a hook, and an outro. Her producer George, who frequently works with her in day-to-day reporting, helps produce the song. Within a 3-hour session, they manage to get a rough draft. Still, Cassie isn’t totally satisfied.

Cassie: Okay, I’m listening to how the song sounds on the beat, and I don’t think the hook fits well enough.

George: You mean, like…

Cassie: It’s off the beat. It sounded like a 1, 2, 3 when it’s supposed to be a 1, 2.

George: Can you sing it out?

Cassie: I’ll try.

(Cassie sings it out, and it confirms her suspicions)

Cassie: Yeah, I figure.

George: Okay, we can shorten it.

(They shorten the song a bit. Then they played it out. Cassie sang while George puts on a timer and played the beat. The song still needed to be shaved by 5 seconds as it is over the limit of 3 minutes)

Cassie: How long is it?

George: 3 minutes and 5 seconds.

Cassie: Aww, man. Do we have to take off another 5 seconds? I don’t know where to cut.

George: I mean, we can shorten the intro.

Cassie: Why? The intro is perfect.

George: It may be perfect, but I think it’s a little too long.

Cassie: Actually, my attention is on the bridge before the chorus. I feel like it’s a little too long.

George: Well (looking at the lyrics) I think we can shorten the bridges a bit. Do you still want to do 4 lines, or 2?

Cassie: Two lines is fine. It just gets to the point faster, I feel.

George: I’m trying to get the beat format correct on this. I mean, we got all week to do this anyway.

Cassie: It’s a good thing I have the week off next week.

George: Yeah, I think we have a lot of time on our hands on this project. This will be good.

Cassie: I know.

(George and Cassie work on fine-tuning the song, and with the help of another producer, who is friends with George, they were able to complete the song, record a demo, and sent it to the TV station responsible for fielding entries)

To be continued…

Anti-MLM Mondays: Tragedy and Death

Welcome back to another anti-MLM post. This week, we’ll be reacting to MLM posts about using tragedy and death to shill for products. Yes, that’s right. If using brainwashing tactics, emotional manipulation, and dangling the lifestyle over the heads isn’t enough, they will also use the tragedy of tragedies and the saddest of deaths to promote the product. Sometimes, they’ll promote the company as a whole.

When you think about the point where there should be a bottom… there isn’t one. I don’t think my trying to explain it would do justice, so I’m putting together 10 Reddit posts that encompass this “activity”. My reactions are in each caption.

1. The way this fits is just no

Latest Herbalife cringe marketing *ukraine energy bomb* from antiMLM
A Reddit post from March 22, 2022, titled “Latest Herbalife cringe marketing *ukraine energy bomb*”. We have an Herbalife “shop owner”, I guess, that is capitalizing on the war between Russia and Ukraine by selling this drink that is supposedly in support of Ukraine. The “donate a portion” trope is just so that they feel good about donating in the first place, almost like a performative activism type of thing

2. September 11th nails????

9/11 sale from antiMLM
A Reddit post from September 12, 2019, called “9/11 sale”. A Color Street Hun used the (at the time) 18th anniversary of the September 11th attacks by selling a nail set special to “honor” the lives lost that day. Basically using the anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history to make a quick buck

3. No, we are not doing the military like this

Posh is offering a special for 4th of July, a discount to military families. Military wives would be excellent mlm victims due to the cultish camaraderie. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from July 3, 2019, titled “Posh is offering a special for 4th of July, a discount to military families. Military wives would be excellent mlm victims due to the cultish camaraderie.”. Perfectly Posh is a skincare MLM company, out of many skincare MLM companies. This post promotes their discounted starter kits as thanks to the military for serving the country.

4. Essential oils as an answer to breathing? Really?

Doterra huns are using George Floyd’s death to sell their crappy oils and it’s disgusting from antiMLM
A Reddit post from June 8, 2020, titled “Doterra huns are using George Floyd’s death to sell their crappy oils and it’s disgusting”. This really made me angry. Imagine using the death of a black man at the hands (or knees) of a white cop to sell essential oils that don’t make two cents. They don’t just use tragic anniversaries to make a quick buck. They also use the biggest news stories to promote their products, especially if that story ends in someone’s death

5. Got hit by Hurricane Ian? Monat can help /s

β€œMy mom’s house was affected by Hurricane Ian. A perfect time to plug Monat!” from antiMLM
A Reddit post from October 2, 2022, titled “My mom’s house was affected by Hurricane Ian. A perfect time to plug Monat!”. My state got hit by Hurricane Ian late last month, and while people lost everything in that storm, a top earner’s mom is more concerned about getting her hair done with very little hot water than basically surviving. The top earner in question is part of the 10 Million Dollar Commission club (per the comments) and still has to sell like crazy because of how the system is set up.

6. Dad died. Here’s my business

[TW: Death of a parent] Monat Rep’s father is buried on the same day as an event. Not only does she go to the event, she uses his death to advertise her business. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from April 30, 2022, titled “[TW: Death of a parent] Monat Rep’s father is buried on the same day as an event. Not only does she go to the event, she uses his death to advertise her business.” Staying with Monat, a rep had to bury her father and her upline praised her because she still showed up for the business. I mean, if that is not cult-like behavior. The OP confirmed that the hun did in fact put a celebratory post at the bottom of the first photo. All of this is just awful. She can’t even say goodbye to her dad without wOrKiNg ThE bIz

7. Imagine having a sale on the anniversary of your friend’s death (or heavenly birthday)

Having a sale for the anniversary of your friends death 😬 from antiMLM
A Reddit post from January 8, 2022, titled “Having a sale for the anniversary of your friends death 😬”. Using someone’s death to sell products doesn’t have to happen on the day of the event or even a few days after. Sometimes, huns use the anniversaries of personal tragedies to make a quick buck, like this hun here. I was confused about this post at first, as the title suggests the friend in question died and it’s the anniversary of that event, but the original FB post mentions “heavenly birthday”, which suggests that it’s the friend’s birthday, but they are not here to celebrate it. Either way, this is just shallow and predatory.

8. I’m sure she needs those after a fire

Influencer uses her friend’s devastating house-fire to pitch sales for MLM (in the name of β€œdonating”). from antiMLM
A Reddit post from February 8, 2022, titled “Influencer uses her friend’s devastating house-fire to pitch sales for MLM (in the name of β€œdonating”).” In this two-pic post (you’ll have to click on it since WordPress won’t show images embedded from Reddit if it’s 2 or more pictures), a Beauty Counter uses her friend’s house fire to field “donations” aka discounting her sales and taking a self-imposed pay cut to send proceeds to her friend’s family. And I will ask this… why not just donate directly? If you truly cared about her and the situation, you wouldn’t stoop so low to take advantage of this, but we’re talking to an MLM hun, so this message is moot to her

9. This makes Travis Scott look like a saint, and that’s a practically low bar to not cross

MLM Hun tries to cash in on the Travis Scott concert disaster. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from November 7, 2021, titled “MLM Hun tries to cash in on the Travis Scott concert disaster.” 10 people died during the tragedy at Astroworld and this hun is coping with her ruined experience by asking people to buy her DoTerra essential oils (although she said it’s for the victims). A classic “woe is me” situation. 10 families have to bury their loved ones because of this, and all this lady cares about is herself, so this promotion she put out tracks. Also, she’s defending Travis Scott, another walking red flag

10. No length of time is too soon for a sale

For the lady who wants to coordinate her stick on nail polish with her favorite nautical disaster. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from April 17, 2020, titled “For the lady who wants to coordinate her stick on nail polish with her favorite nautical disaster.” The Titanic, despite being built to last especially back then, sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. Even though it happened over a century ago and people have drowned as a result, this Color Street hun used this tragedy to make a sale for her nail sticker collection. Tragedy aside, some people in the comments have clowned the hun for not having any blue nails on sale. I mean, dull colors and a nautical tragedy, this MLM sale checks out

These are the 10 posts I wanted to react to that fit the theme. I think each post showcased here has different scenarios going on, but they all come to the same conclusion — taking advantage of tragedy, personal or not, to promote their business, or to have some special that “honors” but completely misses the mark

WordPress Adventures #8: Controversies Galore

A short week on WordPress for me, so let’s get going

And if you missed previous episodes, click here

My Posts From This Week

I only did 4 posts this week. The first is the recap of last week’s episode which you can find here

I also dived into the “free” stuff MLM companies love to use to entice people to join, but they came with a lot of costs… literally and figuratively.

I switched up Writing Prompt Wednesday is react to some famous quotes. I don’t think anyone has done that before, so I might do another one next week. Next week, I might have a different title than Writing Prompt Wednesday, so stay tuned

Finally, we got a lot to get to for Eurovision and other similar contests

My ‘Actual’ Adventures

This week, I was busy with work, so I didn’t get to do the things I wanted to do. However… I watched some sports, especially the MLB postseason games. I also watched the final January 6th hearings before the midterms and man, did we get some tea out of that. I also found out that a favorite journalist of mine got into some major trouble in Thailand, and I am disappointed in her. And her cameraman. Don’t film active crime scenes, y’all.

Favorite Posts From the Week

Normally, I would end with some of my favorite posts, but because I haven’t gotten the chance to read other blog posts, I will leave this blank. I hope to have this feature back next week

Eurovision (and other music) Roundup Saturday 2022.10.15

Yeah, it’s heating up, and we got another rundown to get to.

Junior Eurovision 2013 Rewatch

I’m watching Junior Eurovision 2013 to start the second half of rewatching every edition in the lead-up to the 20th edition in December. This one also has 12 countries competing, joining 2012 and 2020 for probably the shortest contest ever, so this should be fun

TOISC Update

I’m also starting to rate the other 40 songs competing in this online contest that I’m taking part in. The voting ends next Saturday, so I’m taking the weekend to give points to my favorites to send to the forum member hosting the contest.

Montenegro, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina noped tf out

We’ve reached the deadline to withdraw without paying the fee (the EBU sets a deadline to a date in mid-October for countries to withdraw from Eurovision without paying a penalty. Think of this as a “last chance” call), and within a span of hours, three countries noped out of next year’s contest. Montenegro and North Macedonia because of costs, and Bulgaria because the TV station isn’t interested anymore (they’re still salty about last year when they sent a band fronted by someone with a warrant to Turin. Did they think no one would notice?). Although, North Macedonia had wanted to withdraw anyway because of how their 2022 representative Andrea acted during the opening ceremony. Bosnia & Herzegovina hadn’t participated in several years, so this is a continuation

Eurovision in Concert 2023

My favorite pre-contest party is back for another year and they are now selling tickets for the April 15 show. I, however, am looking forward to watching it online. This is my favorite pre-contest party because usually it attracts about 75% of participants and a few guests to Amsterdam

JESC Stage Design

Earlier this week, Armenia’s TV station released the design for the stage and it’s… beautiful. It fits with the spinning top theme that they have going on. The center stage is a large spinning circle and a standing space. But for those who watched Eurovision 2022, you would know this… no sun of death

Serbia chooses JESC 2022 Singer

Serbia is sending 12-year-old Katarina SaviΔ‡ to Yerevan, and we have the song title (β€œSvet bez granica” or “World Without Borders”). We’re still waiting for the song, but it will be out soon, so stay tuned. She was chosen internally by Serbia’s RTS after an open call. I’ll be reviewing this song as well as the others when the time comes

Favorite Tracks of the Week

I didn’t get to listen to a lot of tracks, but for the ones I did listen to, here’s the very short list:

  • Ronela Hajati — Sekret
  • FLO — Cardboard Box

Writing Prompt Wednesday #5

NEW: You can listen to this blog post here

I decided to switch it up for this week’s writing prompt and react to a bunch of quotes. I was searching for something to write about for a writing prompt and after thinking about writing another story, I decided against it. I’ve done two scripts, a poem, and something written by an AI bot, but this week, it’s 5 quotes and how I feel about them

By the way, the quotes are from Hubspot

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. -Walt Disney

Yes, we like action. We love people talking the talk and walking the walk. But you can’t get a blueprint for starting things unless you voice it out.

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. -Benjamin Franklin

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I learn to do things these days. I get that some are more visual learners, but if you ask me, unless I can get involved in it, my brain would not process it

Whoever is happy will make others happy too. -Anne Frank

I would subscribe to it 100% if MLM huns didn’t drill that “if you hang around with 5 millionaires you’ll be the 6th” nonsense. At least it’s the vibe I’m getting

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. -Dr. Seuss

I will subscribe to this quote only because people who don’t have brains have tried to cancel Dr. Seuss. I like the rhyming tho

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” –Abraham Lincoln

Oh, yeah, there are some notable people that we can apply this too.

Anti-MLM Mondays: Free in Name Only

Photo by Mike B on Pexels.com
NEW: You can listen to this blog post here

Happy Monday. This is another anti-MLM post, so if you’re looking for previous posts pertaining to the aspects of the Multi Level Marketing business model, I have an entire category dedicated to my main passion for this blog.

This week I’m looking forward to writing about it because this one, I believe, is one of the main components of the so-called MLM lifestyle aesthetic, and that is the free stuff they always promote to get people to join their companies. They always talk about having time freedom and financial freedom and the freedom to work from anywhere, but in this post, we’re gonna explore those free trips and free cars that were always promoted as perks on joining an MLM

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Getting free trips and free company cars from your job sounds amazing on paper. You work hard enough to plan your vacations accordingly and if you have a company car, they either reimburse or pay entirely for gas and other maintenance. At least, that’s how MLM companies promote it. The truth is, though, there are a lot of catches. I wish I was exaggerating. We’ll be diving into the free car programs that some MLM companies promote as well as the free trips, and both come with some pricey catches

Free Cars

I want to start with the free cars because it’s basically a more tangible component of the so-called MLM lifestyle that is portrayed on social media. I want to give three examples of these “free car” offers that are anything but. First, though, I found an article from Talented Ladies Club that did an article on those free cars and used Arbonne and FM World as case studies, if you will. Travelling Jezebel also went through the Arbonne Mercedes-Benz program and also went into Monat’s Cadillac program. Time Magazine even did one on Mary Kay’s Pink Cadillac program.

The general consensus on these free cars is that some of them require their cars to be of certain luxury quality, meaning they rather take Mercedes-Benz or Cadillac. Arbonne (white), Monat (also white), and Mary Kay (bluish-pink) require their cars to be a certain color and the decals to be in certain places (Arbonne requires their decals to be on the driver and passenger sides as well as the back). Monat requires their new Cadillacs to be less than 5 years of age at the time of signing.

All of them require that after you hit a certain rank (ex. Regional and National Vice President ranks in Arbonne, Market Mentor rank in Monat) you lease the car in your name and you must maintain the sales that got you there each month if you want to keep getting the bonuses. If you fail to make those ranks, they will usually rescind the rest of the bonuses which puts you on the hook for the whole payment, although Monat may give you two grace months. Even then, you shouldn’t count on them. The sales quotas are usually in the 10,000s mark for group volume, which is impossible to maintain monthly in these companies

MLM companies never put the bonuses on the entire monthly payments and it was done on purpose. It’s to keep you in and pressure you to make those sales so you can receive those bonuses. For example, Monat gives their Market Mentors a $500 bonus towards their Cadillacs, which usually covers half to a third of the monthly payment.

Besides Arbonne, Monat, and Mary Kay, other companies that have some sort of a free car program include Thrive/Le-Vel, FM World, Pruvit, and Nerium

What is the true cost of the "free" MLM car? Genuinely asking, as I suspect there is more to it than what these ladies lead others to believe on social media. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from November 26, 2019, titled “What is the true cost of the “free” MLM car? Genuinely asking, as I suspect there is more to it than what these ladies lead others to believe on social media.” This hun claims that the car she had “earned” wasn’t the ultimate goal, but upon reading the lines, I feel like getting the car was her goal. She’s just hiding it behind her team
So it’s not a free car after all from antiMLM
A Reddit post from January 24, 2021, titled “So it’s not a free car after all”. This is a huge yikes, because while she admits that Monat covers her car payment, it’s still not enough for the whole thing, but she claims that is a good thing. Poor thing has to know that she has to maintain her sales in order for Monat to keep sending her a bonus
It’s not a free car when you have to maintain 12k in volume every month. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from September 30, 2019, titled “It’s not a free car when you have to maintain 12k in volume every month.” This could also be a r/thathappened post, but this Mary Kay hun thinks her free pink Cadillac is a flex on a Chick-Fil-A worker. Even if this story was true, I would bet the Chick-Fil-A doesn’t have a car that is tied to some company ‘bonus’ and it’s probably not a luxury brand like Cadillac
Arbonne’s little army of "entrepreneurs" and their "free" white Benz from antiMLM
A Reddit post from March 30, 2022, titled “Arbonne’s little army of “entrepreneurs” and their “free” white Benz”. This is another part of the free car perk, the car celebration days where a hun or a group of huns pose with their free cars after hitting certain ranks. Some will hold a celebration before they reach the rank without a guarantee of whether or not they even reach the rank. This is a way to promote as part of the lifestyle but also a way to keep you in and make the necessary sales
Ketones hun Tiktoks about not getting her luxury vehicle. from antiMLM
A Reddit post from November 22, 2021, titled “Ketones hun Tiktoks about not getting her luxury vehicle.” This is a 7-picture gallery that you will have to click on since it wouldn’t show up here, but I can give you a preview. It’s about a Pruvit hun who thought she was leasing her free car but couldn’t get it because her bank turned her down… for any luxury car, she claims. She claims she doesn’t really need it as her family couldn’t get a house either. The last three pictures are people leaving comments that I don’t think she would like, but they contain some truth

Free Trips

Free trips work the same way as free cars. Although there are a lot of catches to it, the way it works is like those school fundraisers where students have to give away cookies in order to possibly win some prizes. In MLMs, huns usually have to sell a certain amount of products in hope of earning these trips that are supposedly paid for by the companies.

Just like the free cars, though, the huns are on the short end of the stick on these trips. Though I wasn’t able to find an article on MLM trips, these next few Reddit posts will paint a picture of what they actually are

So what’s the catch with the free trips? from antiMLM
A Reddit post from June 21, 2021, titled “So what’s the catch with the free trips”. This post was asking for the catches (aka hotel and airfare) that come with the free trips. That is a legit question and I think it’ll be answered in the next few examples
How do "free trips" paid for by MLMs work? I don’t understand how it’s financially viable for the company so what am I missing? from antiMLM
A Reddit post from December 30, 2021, titled “How do “free trips” paid for by MLMs work? I don’t understand how it’s financially viable for the company so what am I missing?”. The perfect answer that came out of it was the first comment I saw while scrolling through. It said in part, “The Mary Kay hun I know recently bragged incessantly about her β€œfree” trip to Cabo or Cancun or something at some generic hotel, but later it came out that she had to pay international airfare, pay for her (inland) hotel where she shared a room with 5 other women (two of them shared a sleeper sofa), paid for all her food and drinks, paid for new clothes for the trip, was required to make a certain number of a certain type of posts to social media each day, spent all day in workshops and meetings getting more brainwashed and purchasing more product, and had to pay taxes on the trip, on a price that MK claimed it cost (which I’m sure was inflated). The part that was free? Admission to the workshop/convention itself. Everything else, she paid.”
Cousin keeps posting about these "free" trips from antiMLM
A Reddit post from June 5, 2021, titled “Cousin keeps posting about these “free” trips”. The OP posted a screenshot of her cousin’s FB post in which she bragged about her company Thrive paying for everything
MLM "Free Trip" Cancelled Because of Hurricane – Huns Are More "Woe Is Me" Than Anything Else from antiMLM
A Reddit post from September 19, 2022, titled “MLM “Free Trip” Cancelled Because of Hurricane – Huns Are More “Woe Is Me” Than Anything Else”. This is another part of the free trips MLM love to promote. Sure, they will promote the most luxurious locations, but they also specifically plan these trips at the possible worst time. This post in question is about Arbonne’s September trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in the middle of hurricane season. Hurricane Fiona severely damaged the country and Puerto Rico and Arbonne didn’t cancel the trip until their huns got to the airport.
You didn’t earn it other wise you’d go. Who’d miss out on a β€œfree” trip? from antiMLM
A Reddit post from September 13, 2022, titled “You didn’t earn it otherwise you’d go. Who’d miss out on a β€œfree” trip?” I think this highlights the downside of these free trips. This Melaleuca hun missed out on a trip that she had qualified for because she couldn’t afford the extra costs (read: airfare, itinerary, hotel, etc). However, she sees it as no big deal

In all, the cars and the trips are not free. Their MLM companies might chip in, but they will not give the entire bonus by design. The free stuff all comes with too many rules and none of them are in favor of the huns. However, they don’t see it, which is great for MLM companies. As long as more reps join in without heeding warnings, the free cars and the free trips would continue as long as the MLM companies are active

WordPress Adventures #7: Catching Up Is Hard To Do

NEW: You can listen to this blog post here

This is the 7th episode and I got a lot to get through, so here we go

My posts from the past week

As always, we start with the previous episode, so if you missed my adventures between blogging and preparing for Hurricane Ian, you can read it here

This week’s anti-MLM post focuses on high school mean girls who somehow turn into hunbots, or who got manipulated into joining MLMs and you would think there’s a correlation.

I didn’t have time to come up with a prompt this week, so I pulled up one that I did some time ago and added it here

For Friday’s post, it was a last-minute decision to write about how people have more vitrol over things we cannot control than the things we can

And we finish the week with some Eurovision news, and y’all, we got content

My ‘Actual’ Adventures

Considering it was my first whole week since Ian hit my state, I decided to check back on things that I had to postpone, and while I had a few hiccups along the way, it was all smooth sailing on this side. However, I mentioned yesterday that I am participating in an online song contest on a sports forum and we are among the 41 countries that are taking part, so I’ll probably be busy ranking the other songs and giving points to my top 12 favorites this upcoming Saturday if needed.

In other news, my mail-in ballot for the upcoming midterms came in and I quickly filled it out and sent it back. My sister and mom also voted. If you haven’t voted yet, please check with your state’s voter registration office before the deadline. This election is too great to ignore and democracy is at stake. That’s all I can say about it. Take it what you will

My Favorite Posts From The Past Week

I’m bringing this section back after postponing it from last week, so check out these posts from my fellow WPers

Where in the World: Northern America Part 6 from Trina

Would You Pass On A Message From A Frog? from Renard Moreau

I Really Do Not Give A Damn About Blogtober from Renard Moreau

What Do You Value Most About Blogging? from Renard Moreau

6 Relaxing Ways to Enjoy Some Me-Time from Olivia Lucie Blake

Where in the World: Haiti from Trina

How To Conduct Behavioural Experiments: A Self-Help CBT Skill from parkysmentalhealthtips

News Cycle from gregfallis

Cowboy Dinner Topped With Breadsticks from In Diane’s Kitchen

Eating Things I Hate For A Day from Pooja G

Nine Attitudes To Have When Practicing Mindfulness For Wellbeing: By Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn from parkysmentalhealthtips

Funny Introvert Memes from Pooja G

Eurovision (and other music) Roundup Saturday 2022.10.08

NEW: You can listen to this blog post here

It’s Saturday, so it’s time for an update

Malta selects Gaia Gambuzza for Junior Eurovision

16 kids took part in the Maltese national final for Junior Eurovision, but in the end, it was Gaia Gambuzza who will fly the flag to Yerevan with “Diamonds in the Skies”. I’ll be reviewing this and other songs in the coming weeks

Spain chooses 11-year-old Carlos Higes

Over in Spain, they are sending Carlos Higes to the contest with the song and music video possibly coming within the next month. He has competed on La Voz Kids and Idol Kids, and even auditioned with Armenia’s 2019 JESC entry “Colors of Your Dream” so I think he’s a contender

Ukraine ahead of Albania in the national final schedule?

Ukraine is holding its national final Vidbir on December 17, 2022, at a metro station (a TBD spot for now). Of course, you’re wondering why I titled the heading that way. That’s because Albania usually holds its national final around Christmas time, and unless another country decides to hold a national final in December, Albania ends up choosing the first song of the new contest. However, 2023 won’t be the first year this has happened. I will have to warn you, though… some Eurovision fans will make their “Top 1” videos (honestly, why do they do this). Look for those in December when Ukraine chooses their entry

Junior Eurovision 2012 Rewatch

This week, I’ll be watching Junior Eurovision 2012, which marks the halfway point in my quest to watch each edition in existence. This is also tied for the shortest rewatch with just 12 countries competing. I don’t quite remember exactly what happened before the contest, but I do remember that it was at its low, so this should be fun

I’m taking part in an online international song contest

I did mention in an earlier blog post that there are online song contests out there and that I take part in one of them. Well, a few weeks ago, I said yes to taking part in an online song contest on a sports forum called Totallympics, and I am one of two players representing the United States. We have chosen our song for the open contest (we run two contests a year — annual and open). If you want to follow along, I will leave the link here and I will also post the US entry for the contest here. We’ll be competing with former American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, with Battlefield

The Eurovision 2023 Host City is…

Liverpool. They made the announcement last night their time (around 2pm my time) and while I was Team Glasgow through and through, Liverpool delivered a better campaign, and their twinning with Odesa, Ukraine, probably sealed the deal to host the contest on May 9-13, 2023, so congrats, Liverpool.

Favorite Tracks of the Week

Alright, let’s close this episode with my favorite tracks of the week, Eurovision or not

  • Kenny Mason and JID –Dance Now
  • Flo — Cardboard Box
  • Jordin Sparks — Battlefield
  • Sam Smith & Kim Petras — Unholy
  • Chingy — Right Thurr
  • Rosa Linn — Snap
  • Rema — Calm Down
  • Rhea Raj — Outside
  • Tayc — N’y pense plus

Why is this true?

NEW: You can listen to my blog post here

So I found this tweet on October 5 and I feel like that speaks to my existence.

A tweet from ADHD Jesse reads “My phone has this great feature that reminds you when it’s time to wind down so you can get to ned on time, and I’ve developed a great nightly ritual of dismissing it without giving it a second though. It’s as effective as my first alarm in the morning, which is to say, not.” I quoted his tweet and asked, “Wait, why is this true?”

I might or might not have ADHD, but I can tell you that I am on a spectrum. I felt different than other kids in school, so I think we know where we are going with this. Anyway, I ended up following ADHD Jesse because his tweets speak to me in a way that IRL people can’t. Just today, I made my own observation based on my experiences in life

A tweet I made this morning reads “I’m the type of person that can switch from work to play real quick but takes forever to switch from play to work. And I also know people who take a major issue with that”

Yeah, this is more of my experiences in school and at work. I can switch from work to play real quick because I want to take that break to recharge, but then when it comes to switching back, it takes me a little longer because my brain doesn’t compute it as quickly as others can, and I have dealt with people (teachers, other students) who take a major issue with this minor problem.

Speaking of, why do people love to take something minor and make it major? They have to know people don’t give a shit about said non-issue, but they will go out of their way to make people care. For example, Joe Biden. Yes, the man is almost 80. My grandmother is 80. Yes, I get that we need younger faces leading the Democratic Party. That is not lost on me. But come on, I’ve seen Joe in action. He’s as fit as he is, but no, he’s 80 so he can’t think straight. So what? I’m 33 and can’t think straight most days either, so why is this an issue? I can understand that if there is a situation where critical thinking is required, then yeah, I can see that argument.

I feel like using someone’s age, intelligence, and judgment against them in a situation where it’s not needed is an ad hominem attack and it does nothing but make the judgmental person feel good about themselves.

All I’m saying is this… if a person wants to disparage someone else because of how slowly they get back to the grind after a rather short break, then they can exit stage left. That behavior says more about them than it does about the person they’re angry at. And yes, it’s a chemical imbalance, not incompetence.

I might do a blog post about these flexes which are really red flags because some people need to be checked

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