National Cheese Lovers Day!

Mood:

This holiday was a little while ago. I love cheese!Great there's a day to celebrate it! I don't particularly like the really smelly/strong kind. I'm still doing my cheese journey. Slacking a bit on it lately, but that's ok. I want to try many different kinds of cheese from all over the world. (It's kind of like visiting those countries.) Ones I can tolerate, at least. I've had a couple of different cheddars, Colby, Gouda, mozzarella, and a couple of others during this 'journey'. I think I started it actually a year ago. I wanted to try a different one every month. However, since I'm the only one eating them, and most don't come in small portions, some take me longer than a month. I tried the mozzarella from Costco, and that was enough for an army.Had to throw some of it out. I was eating it for almost 2 months, though. I want to try a lot of the cheese there, and they're imported from all over the world, but they come in huge packages. The mozzarella seemed to be the smallest amount. Some types of cheese I only see there. Kind of sad. There are still a lot at our local international market. I can peruse those for a while.

There's a weird theory that keeps popping up in various ace 'spaces' online. It honestly sounds bigoted and feels wrong to me.It's the theory that aces and the rest of the LGBTQ+ community are really nature's population control. This makes people sound like they're not human. They also bring up that maybe that's the case for animals that seem gay or ace. There are many issues with this.

With the animal one, they may actually be more fluid than people realize. In certain situations and environments, they can 'change' and reproduce. I just read an article recently about a species of beetle where the males will have sex with beer bottles most of their lives. At some point, this changes and they have sex with females, then they go back to the bottles. Not sure what the females do in the meantime.Maybe it's only when the females are 'in heat'. Things aren't necessarily static for animals.

All humans, unless they're infertile, have the ability to have babies. This is regardless of sexual or gender orientation. I'm living proof that trans people can have kids.Looking at it another way, I came from 2 women 'naturally'. This boggles many straight cis people's minds. (Particularly conservatives.) My existence breaks their fragile idea of it. I don't know why many people seem to think that if someone tells you they're trans, or gay, or ace they assume that the person is sterile. That's what they imply when this stuff comes up. Seems like an odd thing for aces to say.Although, I don't know if those people were just 'allies'.

There are many ways gay and ace people can have kids without even doing it the 'natural' way. So many more options than there used to be, which is awesome!There seemed to be some elitist ace responses to it, too. There are a few factions of ace elitists. All of them seem to look down on sexual people as a whole. Some especially look down on straight people. This isn't cool to me. It's hating on most of the world. These are family members, friends, neighbors, etc. Many of whom have the potential to be strong allies. It's like them attacking everyone in the LGBTQ+. Don't turn it around. Be better than that.

Anyways, one of those elitist aces, responded to my first post on facebook about it. She said that straight people are continuously popping out babies. They have unexpected and unwanted pregnancies. Apparently, according to her, gay and ace people don't have unexpected pregnancies. They plan each one, if they have them only using those methods I mentioned. And, it's rare. It still reduces the population. So, much wrong with this!I mentioned that there are infertile straight people. They might just continually have miscarriages. (Which is heartbreaking.) They might not want kids. Some have health issues where it could be fatal if they do get pregnant. Many plan it out. They're not just popping them out like crazy. (Also, implies they're just baby-making machines.) Many gay and ace people have unexpected pregnancies. I don't think it's rare for LGBTQ+ people to have kids. Many of the older members that I know have had kids the 'natural' way. Some have more than one kid. They still have functioning reproductive organs. Unless trans people (and others) decide to have certain surgeries before actually having kids. That's a different matter. (And, even then, there are ways to have biological kids. Like, banking their sperm or eggs beforehand, and using a surrogate.) Many, just like straight people, might not want kids. Many do, though.

She didn't respond to my post, and no one commented further in that thread. One person liked my response. I also know that person is ace and has a kid she adores. I'm assuming since no one commented after me, that people realized how damaging and weird a theory it was. I hope so. It's also funny when I try to debate things, and it most of the time ends with my response. I think people get nervous around others who have things like knowledge, experience, bring up common sense, and facts on the subject. At least, online anyways. Oh, and especially when that person's a woman. Heaven forbid a woman knows what she's talking about...When I debate, I actually want the other side to 'challenge' me. (Not in a mean way, but actually have a polite and civil back and forth.) It can be fun. Sometimes it does change my view. Not entirely to their side, but enough to see why they feel the way they do. Sometimes I actually learn new things through it. When there's no one to challenge what I say during it, it kind of feels one-sided and like the air was sucked out of a balloon. There's not much substance. On the other hand, I like educating people, and telling them what's dangerously on the verge of being bigoted. So, there is something with this sort of 'discussion', if no one responds after me.

I also changed my facebook 'about me' section. I made it so people who aren't friends or friends of friends, can't see it. So, once I accept someone's friend request they can see it. I decided to say more about who I actually am. Not just what I'm into. I mentioned I'm aro ace, my platonic attraction, that I'm a Jew, author of 2 novels (and mentioned them), when I was diagnosed with colitis, what I studied at WSU, and then what I'm into. I'm debating whether I should have a short bio...The one that would go on the main profile page. (Near the pronunciation of the person's name.) And, if I should allow people I don't know to see it.

Went to last Wednesday's support group meeting. Someone who's relatively new asked how I was. I mentioned my pain with colitis stuff. I thought it would be a short thing. She kept going on and on about diet, and what she thought would be best for me. Felt like I was on a runaway train with no way to get off.She said I should be open and listen to what others suggest. Nope, the only people I should listen to are the medical team that deals with my case, myself, and maybe (a big maybe) people who have gone through something similar. People who are giving advice on something like that, who aren't a part of that community, don't have much of a say in the matter. I even told her that diet won't cure it, and has nothing to do with the disease itself. It's not going to care what you eat. It'll just continue doing what it has been doing. Meds (and sometimes surgery) are pretty much the only things that can slow it down and possibly get it into remission.

I posted about this on that facebook IBD closed group I recently joined, and got a lot of responses. It's apparently a big thing in the community about people giving them unsolicited health and diet advice.Most seemed really bitter about it. Some haven't encountered it much, and said things like maybe they just wanted to show you that they cared. One person's response seemed weird and hard to read. They were giving advice on how ingesting aluminum and other metals would help, and probably will cure it. It was bizarre.They probably didn't actually have IBD. I'm not sure if that would work, but it sounds dangerous. Nobody liked it, and they seemed to ignore them. I find a lot of the posts in that group interesting. Some are really sad, some are supportive/motivational, some share success stories, some ask for medication/treatment advice, ask about symptoms, some on diet, some about trigger foods, surprisingly a lot on using medicinal marijuana, some are scary, etc.

One of the scary ones was about a woman who was stuck in a hospital. She couldn't walk, the doctor wouldn't give her pain killers, they wouldn't help with her dehydration, wouldn't call her gastro, the nurse never answered her calls to do things like go to the bathroom, and other things. She was really worried. People responded with all sorts of interesting, and seemingly very useful, advice. She stopped responding entirely.No posts in other threads. With the last one, she was debating on how to switch to another hospital. She was in a lot of pain. I really hope she got help, that the people looking after her now know more about IBD, and they're generally treating her better. Some of the posts I can relate to. There was even one about colon scarring and pain. Another was about pain after being supposedly in remission. With looking at some of them, it feels like I'm not alone in what I'm dealing with. That can be a good thing, and I'm glad I joined. Probably should join another one to get more of a mix. Although, this one's very active and has a ton of members.

Lately, I've been trying to be better about staying away from certain foods. Also, staying away from raw and unpeeled (if it has a peel) fruit and vegetables. It's also been a bit difficult, because I don't have much of an appetite anyways.Dinner's pretty much my only 'big meal' of the day. I've been skipping snacks, too. My breakfast lately has consisted of just a little Honey Nut Cheerios with a splash of milk, and some water. The cereal has been about half a serving. Not much. Lunch has been a little more unpredictable. Today I had some rice with dehydrated onions, Greek feta dressing, and some meatballs. Again, with the water. I just realized, I haven't had much fruit and vegetables...Had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. A slice of cake for dessert. (Which I made a few days ago. It's like a cinnamon sponge cake.) The pasta thing had quite a bit of vegetables. Still, looking at the whole day, I probably haven't had enough. Maybe I'll try to peel an apple and bake it in the microwave for my late snack? Maybe add a little cinnamon?

I also don't think miralax is working anymore.I usually have it with my late snack along with a probiotic. Lately, that and the tea the miralax is mixed in is all I've had for that snack. I skipped a couple of nights to see how different it would be. It's not really. I almost feel like I'm flaring again, only with the constipation this time. This scares me a bit. I've read that some people do start flaring after their colonoscopy. It's like the stress they put on their bodies beforehand and the anesthetic, switched it 'on'. If I am, I hope it's not affecting the areas that were already damaged. That would be like a double punch.I'll see my gastro next month and see what she has to say. Hopefully she'll at least prescribe pain meds.

Gintama has been amazing!I'll be posting spoilers in this section, so if you're watching it and haven't gotten to the most current episode, you might want to skip this. They all went to Kagura and Kamui's home planet. I like that we might get more of a background on them. They basically overthrew the new shogun. His army deserted him, and he's been taken hostage by Gintoki and the others. Their main objective, at the moment, is to save Takasugi. Umibozu, who's Kagura and Kamui's father, met up with the people keeping Takasugi safe until the others arrive. Kamui's the leader of that group, but is missing. Umibozu is only there to find and kill him. Yet, he's helping Kamui's group? And, the 2^nd in command is ok with this? Although, he hates Kamui himself. There was a tradition amongst the Yato (their alien race) where the son eventually has to kill his father. That tradition was abolished, because their population was dwindling. Kamui still wants to fulfill it. So, they've had this 'spat' for a while. They're 2 of the most powerful characters. After Gintoki and the others meet up with that group, they plan to fight Utsuro. Who apparently was, Shouyo, their teacher from the past. They thought he was beheaded. He was, but somehow came back to life, and went back to being called Utsuro. Shouyo was kind and caring towards them, but Utsuro is the exact opposite. They say he's over 500 years old. I think he's been trying to find ways to kill himself, while at the same time trying to dominate planets/the space 'government'. He came from a planet that people have mined to power most of what they use in their universe. So, it's a very valuable resource. The story keeps getting more and more interesting. They still have thrown in several of the usual gags and humor, which is nice. One of them was Elizabeth fell out of their 'outfit'. They always wear a bird-like outfit. They write on signs to communicate. (So, you never hear their voice.) They've only really shown their hairy legs. Nobody knows what gender they are, or what they really look like. They fell out of the suit, yet still didn't show us what they look like...I like how the creator seems to mess with gender and people's views on it. One of the reasons why I love this show. Also, he messes with the ideas of sexuality.

Watched the Gintama: Aizome Kaori-hen or Love Incense Arc OVA. It was hilarious.Each character was falling for several other characters. At one point, Gintoki ended up saying he didn't care what age a woman was. (Although, he usually ended up with elderly women.) He did get together with Kondo towards the end. So, it wasn't just hetero pairings. It was about incense that once you inhale the smoke, you fall in love with the first person you see. It was in Yoshiwara, which is known to be a town of prostitutes. The person behind it wanted everyone to love each other. She felt she couldn't be with the one she loved, but other people could be. She wanted them to praise her, too. Once a big stash of that heart-shaped incense caught fire, the smoke filled the entire town. Later, they burned a big pile of broken heart-shaped incense. Apparently, it would counteract the effects. Afterwards, Gintoki seemed almost like those elitist sex-repulsed aces I referred to earlier. He didn't want anything to do with sex or even imagine it. He saw Tsukuyo's dress and freaked out. Saying she needed to cover up. He had a problem with her cleavage. Normally, he's very perverted.

Been watching elDLIVE, too. I'm not sure I like the anime version as much. The cut scenes are strange. It's got Chuuta from the waist down walking past in his school uniform. Seems awkward at times. They've also been using bright stripes in the background for some scenes. The manga isn't like that. One good thing is the voice actress for Drew is the same one that does Kagura from Gintama, and Happy from Fairy Tail. She's awesome! Almost as good as the voice actor who voices Gintoki. Maybe they'll get better as it progresses. I still get to see the stuff from the manga come to life. I probably should read more of the manga. Haven't for a while.