Daddy Daughter Days: Thai'd Up

 My parent's anniversary is finally here.... Its amazing to think they got married 30+ years ago, wound up with 4 cats, then ME! But what will the family be doing to celebrate? Go out for Thai food of course!!! I'll most likely get some McDonalds or something on the way home cuz I'm like...the pickiest eater on the planet. Hell I'm VERY MUCH convinced that I may have food neophobia. BUT!!!!! I may try a small appetizer cuz well, like my dad said "At least try SOMETHING" so why not. 

In other news, which has left me very devastated... The popular PBS Kids show, Arthur, will be ending its run in 2022 after 25 years on air. Arthur was commonly known as PBS Kids' longest running cartoon show. I grew up on PBS Kids for a good 13 years of my childhood (cuz we didn't have cable or good internet access at our old house) up until we moved where I have a better access to the internet. Now....there could be 3 good reasons as to why the show is ending.

1) The Mr. Ratburn Controversy from 2019.

For context, a couple of years ago, Arthur released an episode where the well known teacher, Mr. Ratburn, would be getting married. Only to find out that at the wedding, he would be marrying someone of the same sex. This sparked a TON of backlash from the conservative ❄s out there, with Alabama flat out REFUSING to air the episode cuz well....its Alabama, what do you expect? So this reason may be likely? Though I'm not so sure...

2) Making room for new shows. 

PBS has been airing a lot of new shows. most of then not really being all that good these days, then again I'm just someone in my late teens judging a channel I haven't watched since I was 13. But sometimes I will watch PBS either out of boredom or for nostalgia. But this reason is possibly the most likely as the executives over at the network are like "Ah screw it, let's just replace it with some other show." 

3) Mark Brown's Own Decision.

This one is also probably the most likely, but depending on whether or not Mark Brown, the creator of Arthur, was involved with anything moneywise from the show (which there is a good chance he was) he would have continued with the show, if he wasn't getting any extra money from like PBS or other networks that ran Arthur. There's a chance he has decided to call it quits. (Well....he kind of already did, as of Winter 2022) This along with the second theory are most likely could be why Arthur will be closing the curtains once and for all. 

It truly is 

Father? Do you have anything to comment on this tragic news?

Well, there's always Arthur, All Grown Up:

There's always a chance the characters, themselves, will come up with some new shows...

Daddy Daughter Days: What AREN'T Q-Tips Used For?

 So my dad went to and ENT (As noted previously) and well....he was given a heads up that you apparently SHOULD NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE use Q-Tips to clean your ears.... So my dad asked the doctor "Well what are they used for then?" and the doctor replies "To remove makeup." Soo, an incoming dad joke with a little bit of sarcasm jumps in with "Fine, I'll just start wearing makeup." Soooo I guess I can't use Q-Tips anymore.... Which is odd cuz I use those fuzzy toothpicks all throughout the day. Doctors these days....y'know?

Seriously, what am I supposed to do every time my inner ear itches? Take time off from work and shell out a $45 co-pay to have this guy's assistant turn the "Ear-i-gator" fire hose on me? What's hilarious, is that my primary care doctor sent me to the E.N.T. because there was "so much wax that she couldn't see my ear drum!"  The E.NT. doctor took one look and said there was no wax at all.  Doctors, these days... y'know?

In other news, due to recent peer pressure on TikTok, I download the infamous "Talking Angela 2" game. For those who have been living under a rock, this game is part of a franchise of a game called "Talking Tom" where you have a grey kitten that will repeat anything you say.... yes.... anything.... Since then it has spawned a string of other games, a web series, toys, and whatever merchandise you're willing to shell money out for. 

The game I've been playing in particular, as mentioned above is "My Talking Angela 2" which was available on the Amazon App store (as are all of the other talking Tom games.) The game is pretty simple, you get your own cat (obviously named Angela) and you do the basic feed, clean, bathe, and rinse and repeat. However, you can also do fun mini games like baking, and performing concerts. There is however, one teensy problem for some people in this world.... one word, microtransactions. This is where the moneybags come in for Angela and all of her talking friends, yes, you can get a ton of free things like money, gems, and activity tokens. BUT! There is another alternative to getting the mentioned items, it requires a back account or credit card, and that sweet sweet dough.... This is sadly a common thing with apps like this, you get a good amount of free items but the app will fall to its knees and beg for your wallet. I'm currently getting all of my items for free as these transactions are all but optional. 

Don't give me that look., Angie. 

Overall, this game is a really good play, well...minus the constant ads and the deadly microtransactions. Highly recommend it as well as the first Angela game where you can raise her from a baby to I guess teenager? That shall be all on MY end. I'll let my dad speak now <3

Not much more to add. We're going for Thai food on Friday in honor of my wedding anniversary.  (Aw, come on, Mariel. At least try something!)

Daddy Daughter Days: Malls and Medicine Hauls

 Woohoo!  Another day of shopping! Every teen's dream! Seriously though, my mom, grandma, and I are off to the mall today to mainly shop for clothes (and get our beloved soft pretzels) but I'm in it to see if the Animal Crossing Build a Bear plushies have made their way to our store. I'm uh....also there to get some new clothes too. Sadly, my dad isn't so lucky as he's been having some ear issues, turns out as he put it when he told my mom this morning via Email "Apparently I have quite a bit of wax in my right ear.." .... Takes me back to the ear tube days..... 

Also, she gave me a new prescription for something that there is no generic equivalent!!! I just found that out when the drugstore sent me a notification that my Rx is ready.  Wow, screw that!

I have an appointment at the E.N.T. doctor at 4:00 today, so let's see how that goes.

In other news I've just started watching "Sheriff Callie's Wild West." on our trusty cartoon site "Kimcartoon" and I'll say its actually a good show!!! The art style gives me "PetPet Park" vibes 

The songs are decently tolerable for a kids show! Which is really impressive as I've seen FAR WORSE kids shows that rely on slapstick and toilet humor. *cough* Fanboy and Chum Chum. 

Either way its gonna be a good Wednesday....for...me at least.

UPDATE: The E.N.T. doctor insists there is no wax that is blocking his view of my ear drum.  Scolded me for ever having used Q-Tips to clean my ears.  $45 pretty much down the drain, but he did order some steroid/antibiotic eardrops to attack the swelling, pain and possible infection.  What a day.

SAVERS UPDATE!!!!!

 Mother and I stopped at Savers on our way back from the neurologist (who was a tad bit bitchy today for some reason...) and we scored some good finds! My mom got a new shirt and purse, while I scored some plushies. 

(the first being this Santa Bub)

Now my mom and I are HUGE Lil Bub fans. We've known about this little "alien cat" since 2019 during the kitty litter promotion, both of us were really heartbroken when we found out Bub had passed away in December of that year, a week after my birthday no less. I had gotten a larger Bub plush for my birthday at the time too, so good thing we got that one when I did. So today when looking through the plush section, I was checking out those little grab bags where you get a bunch of random plushies? I've had good luck with them when I find something for my AATC beanie babies collection (27 and counting) and as soon as I saw the "tush tag" that read "Lil Bub" on it, I quickly snatched the bag right off the shelf before anyone else could.... I also just checked Ebay at the time of typing this and found NO LISTINGS for this plush....

Next up, Sheriff Callie!

When I was younger (I'd say somewhere between the ages of 7-9 maybe) Disney had a MASSIVE upgrade with their popular "Playhouse Disney" block by rebranding it to "Disney Jr." and with that, they brought some pretty amazing content with it! Sadly I've grown up without cable most of my childhood (but was still able to watch cable networks sometimes) so I wouldn't watch a lot of Disney Jr. that often. So back on topic, a few of the shows released were: Sophia the First (kind of meh), Doc MCStuffins (I was hooked on this show when it came out!!!!), Jake and the Neverland Pirates (some of my friends liked this show but I didn't watch it) and about 2 or so years after the rebrand, Sheriff Callie's Wild West released, I was 10 going on 11 when it came out and kind of moved on from the Disney Junior phase. I had heard about this show through the grapevine around the time of its release and was THE show for preschoolers (along with Doc MCStuffins) back at my old homeschool group. The show is actually pretty good, the theme song is really catchy! (got it stuck in my head the past few days) and the CGI looks great for its time and has aged well. So while I was with my mom looking at clothes, I just so happened to spot a Callie plush up front and I just HAD to have it! I'm gonna watch the show via Kimcartoon soon but I just COULDN'T resist this adorable plush. So here she is in plush quarantine. speaking of which....

good ol' T-Bone (pardon my mom's arm in the shot)

Spotted this lil fella in the back of the store with the grab bags and other plushies. I always wanted a T-Bone plush as a kid but only managed to get Cleo and Clifford (still have them.) So I picked him up and didn't notice until I showed him to my mom that there were a couple stains on the back of his head, they're very small and nothing a little cleaning can't fix. WRONG! We couldn't get them off, but I don't care, but I feel bad for grossing my mom out when she saw him ^^; So he and Callie are in plush quarantine for the next 3 days. 

Plush quarantine is a new rule my mom recently enacted around the start of Covid last year. Where any plush that's not in a grab bag MUST sit out someplace in the house UNTOUCHED for 3 days. In this case, our duo are spending the next few days by my desk before going to my plush dungeon shortly after. Thus ending a fun day at the thrift store. 

Daddy Daughter Days: Neuro Time!

 I have an appointment with my neurologist today, mostly to check on some new meds I'm on from the endoscopy amongst other stuff. For those who don't know, I have epilepsy, a neurological seizure disorder. I'm very open about it online and with my friends since frankly, I feel like epilepsy just isn't talked about enough... at least from what I've seen. Or maybe it IS talked about a lot and I'm just not paying attention. 

My initial diagnosis will be a topic for discussion at a later date, but other than that, after my appointment today, my mom and I will be stopping at "Savers" thrift store (a personal favorite of mine) since its right by the office. 

In other news, my design for Melissa was approved today so that's something to look forward to! 

I buy my clothes almost exclusively at Savers!

 

Daddy Daughter Days: Working Working Working

I'm finishing up some animatics of my Scott Pilgrim AU character and her girlfriend. I'm a small bit pleased with the results but it seriously could have been better. I've also got my work shift this evening so I should be getting a little extra cash. I've also gotten back into the swing of things in my island on Animal Crossing. I recently had the kangaroo villager, Carrie, move in. She's probably one of my favorite kangaroos in the game alongside Mathilda. 

I'll be going to the mall on Wednesday, which will give me a good chance to see if the Isabelle and Tom Nook Build a Bear plushies are available in the area.

In other news, my LGBT+ support group meeting is coming up on Thursday so I'm pretty hyped about that :D 

Update: Not gonna be able to go to work tonight. 

Daddy Daughter Days: Pizza and Making Plans

 So I was thinking next Sunday could be a DOLLAR STORE MOVIE NIGHT!!!! The plot is pretty much the same as last time, my dad and I spend 10 each on snacks and other food for movie night (the movie in question being Scott Pilgrim VS The World) My mom and I are looking for some better Dollar Tree locations since the one by our house is pretty small and one of the locations dad and I went to didn't have frozen food. There's a location by one of the local malls I wanna go to that day. So I might check that one out, if that one's a fail, we could always stop at the one by our house or by my grandma's (where I went last time. (plus, this would be a good excuse for me to get my hands on those delicious dollar store cheese sticks from last time.) 

In other news, today me and dad have decided to relax today after a hectic weekend of endoscopies, medications up the wazoo, and so on. The two of us had recently gotten into Beastars, a Netflix anime that came out last year. Think of it as Zootopia but MUCH darker... 

I'm personally not too big on Beastars but I will watch it on occasion with my dad. Still a pretty good show, highly recommend it if you're a furry or are getting into the fandom! Anyways here's my dad. 

Yeah, I caught the first season of Beastars last year. Mariel says she turned me on to it, but I think it might have been a Saberspark YouTube video.

I'm not big on Anime, so some of the story telling is weird to me. But I am very impressed with the visuals and the voice-acting of the English dub. I grew up with the stilted "Speed Racer" vocal dubs!  Whoever is voicing Legoshi sounds like Steven Wright!

The graphic quality of the (I'm assuming) motion-capture is pretty cool, too. None of that creepy/crappy Polar Express "Uncanny Valley" look.

The old man and I just got back from our local ice cream stand, we got ourselves some chocolate milkshakes as we had both been dying for them lately, so why not kill some time in the evening to get ourselves a little something....right?