A to Z Blogging Challenge: Y is for You

A to Z Blogging Challenge:

Y is for You

by

Illsa Gorrey

 

Hey, you!

Yeah, you!

You know, you're okay in our book.

We all get these messages that we're not good-looking enough to be someone important.

Maybe you're kinda socially awkward. I totally am.

Maybe you have a physical illness that holds you back. I have fibromyalgia.

Maybe you have a mental illness. I do.

You're probably not a glamorous fashion model or video vixen or body builder or movie star type. I'm sure not.

But like Joe shows us in his video, the most commonplace things and the most commonplace people are works of art, and they have a story to tell.

Your story is worth telling, Common Person.

And it may be a lot more interesting than the story of Glamorous Person.

One of the alternate meanings of "glamour" is enchantment or spell. A "glamor" is something unreal.

I may like writing about magic, but I prefer dealing with people who are real, imperfect, quirky, and most of all, kind hearted.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a good day.

Joe's video follows the jump.

 

Peace.

Illsa

 

Cross-Posted to:

Crazy Town in Looney Land

KHEL 666

Undead in the Netherworld

A to Z Blogging Challenge: N is for Nazareth

A to Z Blogging Challenge

N is for Nazareth

by

Illsa Gorrey

 

Nazareth is a hard rock band which formed in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1968. They are probably best known for their songs "Hair of the Dog" and "Love Hurts." They have a much more extensive catalog than just these two songs, and it's worth checking out their deep cuts.

 

The original members were Dan McCafferty on vocals, Manny Charlton on guitar, Pete Agnew on bass, and Darrell Sweet on drums.

 

Manny Charlton left the band in 1990. Darrell Sweet died from a heart attack in 1999 at the age of 51, while the band was on tour.

 

The current lineup consists of Dan McCafferty on vocals, Jimmy Murrison on guitar, Pete Agnew on bass, and Pete's son Lee on drums.

 

The quality on the following video isn't bad. It's a 2007 show in Minsk.

 

~Illsa~

A to Z Blogging Challenge: M is for Music and Mental Illness

A to Z Blogging Challenge: 

M is for Music and Mental Illness

by

Illsa Gorrey

Hello, everybody. This is going to get kind of ranty, so before I start, I'll just say this. Anyone who reads the Undead in the Netherworld blog consistently knows that we utilize music a fair bit on our posts. You will also notice that a lot of the soundtrack music is hard rock and metal. That's because our stories are more metal than everybody's! ;-)

Winky face so nobody gets all butt hurt and bent out of shape. 

KHEL 666 is our Multimedia blog, so we feature a lot of music there. A lot of that is hard rock and metal too.

We sometimes use music to drive a point home or to illustrate what we're feeling on Crazy Town in Looney Land (one of our Dropout Loser Quitter Blogs that didn't finish the A-Z Challenge.)

We might feature music occasionally on Poetry of the Netherworld. Because music is, after all, poetry in an instrumental setting.

This entry is going to be cross-posted over all of those blogs. Lazy? Whatever. We have other projects and problems. Sometimes we get lazy.

So before I start the rant, here is a playlist of relaxing music. This is the kind of music we listen to while editing, trying to meditate, or just because. We're eclectic here.

"You sound angry, Illsa. So you're not going to whip out the Death Metal on our asses?"

Nope. Not today.

Everyone involved with this series of blogs has a mental illness of one variety or another. Most of the participants have bipolar disorder. We met culling through mental health sites and found each other. Not all of our team members participate in the blogs very often. We have kind of a core group who are frequent participants. You'll see a lot of Tempest, a fair bit of me and Lily. Opal has been fairly active this month as well. Cie Cheesemeister is generally in the background, editing or creating her photoshop images. She doesn't directly post very often these days.

We are all broken people. We are not your happy go lucky chasing dreams and love types. That ship done sailed long ago, that train done left town. We are older, we have been abused, we realize that dreams don't tend to come true for people like us. We're waiting to die, we're just trying to make it more interesting while we wait.

I have discovered that I really hate certain words. Don't give me the "they're just words" schpiel. Let me call you a cuntbag and tell you "it's just a word." But think for a minute what your immediate reaction to being called a cuntbag is. Yeah, words have power. It's one of the reasons why bullying is so destructive. So let's put the "they're just words" bit to rest right now.

"Lazy" is a word that I hate.

I used to apply it to myself, anytime I was lying around so inert that I could barely get up to do anything. "Get up you lazy, stupid bitch! Get up!" 

I was experiencing severe depression. I knew I was sad and miserable and had "no reason to be." I should have been able to "just get up." Or so I was told.

"Loser" is a word that I hate.

Many people are unable to become successful in life. There is too much onus placed on being some sort of superstar. Not being able to achieve a certain measure of success does not make a person a loser. I think there are plenty of really talented people who never become successful or famous.

"Quitter" is another word that I don't like.

People quit things for a variety of reasons. Maybe they give up too soon, but branding them with a label is never good. Many people have enough negative labels applied to them. Perhaps more like negative millstones. I know that all the negative terms that come to mind for myself weigh heavy on me.

Our M of the day is Music and Mental Illness and an admonition to put yourself in someone else's shoes before you apply a label to them.

Peace.

A Little Something For Illsa

I really try to avoid mean spirited humor. But sometimes someone disappoints you (or horrifies you) so much that something's gotta give. Parts of this post are really mean and kinda juvenile. So if you'd prefer to avoid that, ya know where to find the exit!

This one goes out to my chum, Illsa Gorrey. Sorry for the disappointing discoveries you made regarding your hero, Illy. Hopefully this rude little post will give you some further humorous perspective!

P.S. I was bummed by the awful truth too. But your hilarious rant split my sides laughing, Girl!

Back in the daze, things weren't looking too bad for these lads.

You can't deny when something has earned the title of "Classic."

Like a fine wine, some things just got better with time. Cheers, Bill! You Da Man!

On the other hand, there are some things that are, sadly, just awful by nature. Sometimes it takes a sip or two, but the vile attributes will find their way to the surface.

Like a fine bum wine, some things are just plain nasty to begin with and get worse the longer they're allowed to hang around. According to my great friend Illsa Gorrey, the pretty label came off this one fairly quickly when research revealed what his personality was like. That mug shot didn't help either. Not only would I kick that out of my bed if I found it in there, I'd probably call the exterminator!

Illy used to have a huge crush on this guy, but the more she found out about him, the more it was like drinking...

According to the Bumwine page on this heinous concoction:

"Known as "liquid crack," for its reputation for wreaking more mental havoc than the cheapest tequila.  Something in this syrupy hooch seems to have a synapse-blasting effect not unlike low-grade cocaine.

Everyone who drinks this feels great at first, and claims, "It's not bad at all, I like it."  But, you really do not want to mess around with this one, because they all sing a different tune a few minutes later.  And by tune, I mean the psychotic ramblings of a raging naked bum."

Judging by the guy's track record in the field of romance, this is the effect that he has on women.

That's arite, I'll just thank him for giving the Geek Multiverse the likes of Kyle Reese and Dwayne Hicks, and then I'll take my leave swiftly. Having my synapses blasted by syrupy hooch (or sleazy, coke-addled propositions) is not my idea of a good time.

You know what they say. You can put lipstick on a pig, and it's still a pig. In this case, the Deities put a pretty mask on a warthog. Then that mask came off and...holy shit! Not such a pretty picture after all.

Yeah, I wonder why they do it too! The Universe is just an asshole like that sometimes.

Introducing Illsa

Hey sickos, Illsa Gorrey here. With a name like that, perhaps it's predictable that I'll be playing death metal tonight. But I also like other kinds of music, including really mellow new age stuff, so you never know what you may get when I take the helm!