LJ Idol Presents:

 The poll closes Thursday night, and it's really close. So if you've been holding off making your voice heard, now is definitely the time to do it!!
therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1173701.html

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Funny coworker story. Well "funny"... 

Of course there is one who irritates me now. Because that's how it works.  :) 

This morning she was talking about all of the problems with the country, and how she loves her son "unconditionally" but she just has a problem with him being gay.  She was also angry that one of his friends called her "cis-gender", which she said with an over the top shocked voice that obviously expected everyone within earshot to ALSO be amazed that "the kids" were using words like that. 

But those weren't the things that *really* shook me.  Those things I'm used to from her. 

No, it was later in the day when she was talking about how bad music was these days, and talked about how when she was young that she loved all kinds of music. For instance she LOVED when Mick Jagger and Run DMC recorded "Walk This Way"... sort of puts the rest of her opinions in context...

 I kept meaning to post a Green Room, but honestly right now I'm not really sure what to say to people. 

I've been posting a lot more of my thoughts on my Facebook, but it's mostly been about politics and I'm not even going to pretend that I don't know that there are some pretty "diverse" opinions on the subject here, the same way there are everywhere.  :)  So I really haven't wanted to wade into that here. 

I will say though that up until Friday night, even though I've been posting things pretty frequently, I hadn't had a single person unfriend me. Sure, maybe they "hid" me months ago. I don't do that with my feed... but I completely get why someone else would. I *might* need to do it at some point because one of my friend's husband tags her in *every single thing* he posts. Some of it is political (very right wing) and some is what he ate... the joke with his daughter (who I also know) is that he tags her when he goes to the bathroom.  It's become a running joke but it does mean there are a LOT of posts from someone that I *didn't* friend and I've never met. 

I say "until Friday night" because that's when my brother unfriended me. It wasn't over a political post, but he thought it was... and he was getting tired of the posts I was making. (One of his comments was that I should "concentrate on my life/career and I'd be more happy"... I should point out that he was CLEARLY drinking heavily, alone in his apartment, on a Friday night. Whereas I was sitting on the couch next to my wife. But that might be petty to point out. :D) 

The post?  "I wonder which rapist is going to win the fight tonight? The old rapist or the young rapist?" 

Which was a reference to the Mike Tyson - Jake Paul "fight" and about how both of them have multiple accusations against them, Tyson actually went to jail for it. (and *still* has more accusations since he got out) Which was an angle that I haven't seen a lot of people talking about in terms of the excitement leading up to what turned out to be (from people I've seen reacting to it after the fact) more of a marketing stunt than an actual boxing match. 

Clearly my brother thought at least one of these rapists I was referring to was a political figure that he admires. (I did point out In the comments to that post about how, being a Steelers fan, I *completely* understand. I ended up having a rapist on my favorite team, as one of the main figures/leaders and had to come to some sort of peace with the idea of if I could still root for the team, and had to decide - for myself - that it was bigger than one guy. So I "get" how you might try to separate those two thoughts into separate categories.) 

All of this got me thinking about what I found out about my brother from my Dad and Step Mom back in the '90s vs what I found out by hanging out with him for the first time as an adult about a decade ago. 

(For those who don't know, I moved away from Ohio as a pre-teen, pre-internet days and pretty much lost touch for the entire side of the family) 
My stepmom actually called me in the mid-90s to let me know that my brother had been discharged from the military because he threw a party, and someone underage showed up to the party, got drunk, fell off the balcony and died. There was an investigation and my brother was being kicked out of the Air Force as a result. 

Which seemed weird, even at the time. But saying "Your brother was responsible for some kid dying" is a lot to wrap your brain around. I felt sorry for him, but again, we weren't close so there was never really a time to talk to him about it. He had other people he would go to to talk about serious stuff. 

It wasn't until we were able to hang out a decade ago that the subject came up and he looked really confused. He literally didn't know what I was talking about.  When I explained, he got a disgusted looked on his face and told me, no, he was discharged because his commanding officer found out he was gay during Don't Ask, Don't Tell. 

My Dad and Step Mom would have rather me think that my brother had been responsible for a kid dying than the reality of him being gay. Think about that for a moment. Let it sink in. 

It's pretty much when I realized how grateful I was that I *had* moved away and wasn't close to that side of the family.  That sort of "love" and "acceptance" was what helped lead him to the point where he's sitting alone on a Friday night, drinking heavily, and defending the people THEY love, because he IS close with them,and he DOES want them to love him... I can't quite understand it. But I do know it makes me sad to think about. 

Anyway... how is YOUR week been going?  

I'm bad at these transitions.  So here's this week's poll: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1173701.html

The new prompt is up  therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1173190.html

and last week's results:  therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1172882.html

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How have YOU been? 

***

Btw - I saw the comment. If people want to post their Home Game entry in the comments of a poll, they are welcome to do so. I just don't want to confuse anyone by having them in the *actual poll* post itself.

 I have a lot to update everyone from the past couple of weeks. Yet, I don't really know what is happening one day to the next in some ways. So by the time I tell you, things may change again! :)

So right now I'm going to stick to telling you some sad truths, that will not be changing. 
Every week there is a poll, and when that poll closes, it means the results have come in. And that's never a fun thing. 

As has been the case all mini season long so far, the two entries with the fewest votes get a "strike" against them.  In this case, one of those spots had a tie. Which means more than two people are getting strikes. 

They are
banana_galaxy 
hwango 
itismeangied 
and swirlsofpurple 

It was the first strike for two of them. The second strike for one. And unfortunately, it was the final strike for 

itismeangied  who has been eliminated. I know someone has to be eliminated, but especially given how much I enjoyed this week's entry, it's just really rough to say goodbye. 

This has been a really weird time to be introduced to the world of Idol. I hope you had fun, and that we will continue to see your work in the "Home Game" (which isn't really an organized thing this mini season, but is just where people continue to write and post their links so people can keep reading their work)

Thank you so much for coming out this season and sharing your talent with us!

 For those asking - I'm doing OK.  I still don't have my sense of smell back. But hey, it could be a LOT worse!  (one nostril has a little, the other is completely out of commission) 

Work is work. We did get a little bit of "good" news in that one of the tasks I've been wanting to move to another department is being moved to another department. It's another of my goals checked off - and yet I still have that "what does it mean for us?" question since it came with a "we don't have a Data Team in our circuit" from the new company. Does that mean MORE will be moved from us? What does that end up meaning for my team? For ME? 

1/3 of the way through the 90 day "probation period" and there are still more questions than answers. 

How are YOU doing? 

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The new prompt is up: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1124567.html
I did originally have it coming earlier this mini season, but I pushed back to when there were no longer minors competing.  :) 

The results from last week are also in   therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1124164.html  - and all signs are pointing to the next few weeks things getting REALLY serious with potential eliminations.... I hope everyone is at least having fun while they are still here! 

I feel like I say this every week, but this week's results came down to a single vote.

The vote for who received immunity.

Congratulations to static_abyss !

Unfortunately, that means we are still saying goodbye to three favorites in this competition. At this point, I could be talking about anyone.

Our newest Jury members are:

kehlen
kimschlotwrites 
and, because of the immunity, song_of_thea 

Congratulations to all three of you on an amazing run.  Thank you for coming out this mini season, and for being our newest members of the Jury, helping to determine how the rest of our time together is going to play out. 

The poll is open for one more day - https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1041730.html

If previous trends are to be believed, most of the votes are going to be coming in between now and then.

So I hope you are reading, commenting and voting for your favorites! Because someone else WILL BE, and they might not agree with you.

***

People may have noticed that I have not yet announced myself as a candidate for President of the United States. I know there's some speculation that I will do so in a Green Room. Perhaps this one.

But, it will not be today. Or any day.

Every single person in the country will soon be declaring that they are running to become President. Which is why I have decided *not* to run, this time.

With everyone running, it will be a tie, with everyone getting 1 vote each. I will be the one breaking that tie, and deciding who gets to be the next nominee for both major political parties.

This use of power will help in my ultimate goal to be named Supreme Ruler for life. Or perhaps bringing back the title of "Ra" and become God and Emperor of the United States. Me have mercy on you all.

The fire alarm testing was over by the time I got in. That's the good. The bad is that I got in later than I was planning. So it's still overtime, just not as much. But hey, it's still more than I would have otherwise.

That's how I'm trying to look at it - unlike how I'm looking at the topic thread. The entries are due TONIGHT and it's still pretty empty. https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1040564.html

So hopefully people are hard at work at it. Speaking of - I need to get back to work on my own stuff here! :)

The State of the Idol Union is strong and full of hope.

Hope for me that is. Maybe not so much for the rest of you.

Those remaining in the competition have a deadline: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1040564.html

Those not in the competition get to laugh at those in the competition and be thankful that they do not have a deadline.

***

How is the state of YOUR Union today?

Full of blessed freedom or do you need to build a wall to keep the rest of the day out?

 Congratulations to our Top 19! 

Which means we are only a few steps away from our Top 15... and our Top 10... Top 7... Top 4... our winner...  

We are on the outer edge of where greatness happens - and that's why our topic this week is 

periphery


The deadline to link your entry back to this thread is Saturday Feb 9th at 8pm EST

Have fun!