We have to talk about this weird thing. Or rather, I have to talk about it because it’s still bugging me. I get why the Dems have used it as a pejorative for Trump and Vance, but they are more creepy (and infuriating) than weird. At least the weird that was tossed at me consistently throughout my life.
Being Taiwanese in a white-ass suburb of Minnesota in the 80s? Weird.
Being a woman at all in the early 90s? Weird.
Being a woman who did not like ‘womanly’ things in the 90s? VERY weird.
Being bisexual in the early 90s? Weird.
Getting a tattoo in the early 90s? Weird.
Those were all when I was in my early twenties. Add to that not wanting to have children (BIG WEIRD) and not wanting to get married (also weird), then also not wanting to be in a monogamous long-term relationship.
Even the one area in which I’m in a ‘positive’ minority (money), I would be considered weird if anyone knew. I just don’t talk about it, and no one knows that my family has money.
When Harris and Walz started calling Trump and Vance weird, I was into it because it made the latter so unhappy and angry. It really bugged them because they, like most Republicans, like to trumpet loudly about how normal (and manly manly) they are, unlike the effete limosuine liberals from San Francisco who sip their lattes with their pinkies up and drink their milkshakes through a straw.
Granted, it’s hard to do that to Walz because he’s about as Midwestern dad as they come. I saw a clip about how his brother, whom he hasn’t spoken to in decades, ominously said, “Oh the stories I could tell about this guy. He’s not what he seems.” The deep dark secret turned out to be that no one wanted to sit next to him when they were kids in the car on a long ride because he got carsick and would throw up. When he was prodded on it, he said that was it. He added, “I don’t know why pyeople think there’s anything deeper.” Because you were pushing it hard that there were some deep dark secrets, dude!
Thats’ the biggest negative they could find about Walz? That he threw up as a kid in the car? Oh, and the manufactured outrage over him drinking his milkshake through a straw.
I can’t even. I mean, what?
Calling them weird and staying on that beat is a smart move. So I get why they’re doing it.
I just don’t like it.
I’ve been a weirdo all my life. I have been called or some more polite variant. In addition to the ones I’ve mentioned, there’s also the fact that I’m a FromSoft fan and a weapons fan. Let me hastily explain about the latter–Taiji weapons. Not just weapons in general for bloodthirtsty reasons.
I only talk about the former with like-minded fans. I don’t talk about the latter at all because I don’t like them for the reasons that most people like them. It’s a vibe thing for me–not a weapons thing. Like, the weapons are a conduit to my feelings. I have talked before about my relationships with the weapons–and they’re like romantic relations. Not in that I feel sexual about my weapons because I do not. But because there is an emotional tie to them that is similar.
For example. The sword was the first weapon I touched, and it was love at first sight. Once I actually had a sword in my hand, I mean. I resisted it for over a year. I was so anti-weapon in the beginning, it makes me laugh ruefully when I remmber it. I was there for the combat, yes, but I was not there for the weapons. Why? Because to me, they represented violence–and I was not violent. At that time, I was a pacifist. I only wanted to learn to defend myself beacuse while I had attitude, I did not have anything to back it up.
I wore black (still do), sunglasses, and strode rather than walked .I have broad shoulders and a thick body. I can be intimidating as fuck–especially given that I have tattoos. I have learned not to smile as I walk to add another layer of protection. But I knew that it wsa just a facade. If someone actually attacked me, I had nothing to back it. That’s why I wanted to take a martial art. Not karate, though–nor taekwondo. i wanted an internal martial art because I was not interested in being hard.
It was between taiji and aikido. Ultimately, I chose taiji because aikido has no offensive attacks. It’s all about defense, and while I wanted to focus on that, I did want some ability to fight back.
I fell in love with the sword and like any new relationship, I had that NRE. I wanted to do it all the time, and I pushed my teacher to teach the Sword Form to me as quickly as possible. I learned it in a very short amount of time, and I wanted to do nothing else with my time. After I was done, I taught myself the left side in record time as well. Even though the sword is no longer my favorite weapon, it has a very special place in my heart as my first love.
It was a dramatically different with the saber, which was the next weapon I learned. To be frank, I hated it. My mistake was that I was expecting it to be like the sword, and it wasn’t. It felt wrong in my hand, and I could not wrap my brain around the fact that it was just…so different. I put it down for a few years, then picked it back up again with a new attitude. Once I realized that it wasn’t at all like the sword, I was fine. I learned to appreciate the saber, even though I did not love it. I still don’t love it, but I have a fondness for it.
When I read different forums about weapons, it’s usually a bunch of dudes who are waaaay into them. And it’s not in the way that I’m into them. So I don’t hang out in those forums.
I would like to find people who love the weapons the way I love the weapons. I can’t find that forum, though. Which is another reason I feel like I’m a freak. More on this tomorrow as I have plenty to say.