Get On My TinyLetter, STAT!

How's it going creepers and gumdrops? It has been a while, since publishing another blog on OMG, Anna! What's Going On?!

Those of you, who have been with me on this journey for the last 6 1/2 years, already know that the so-called "struggle has been real." 

From the time of joining the original Xanga 7 years ago to Blogster to It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns to Blogger, I still continue to blog. However, I have been blogging a lot less since 2017. 

Job hunting, submitting my short stories to publishers, finding dentists and clinics that accept my insurance for oral extractions, x-rays, etc. Helping to take care of my mother occupies most of my time offline.

As some already know, being a caregiver is a lot of time and work. My mother may not be a vegetable, but she is high maintenance. 

Imagine dealing with a bullheaded and defiant teenager, who acts like a know-it-all with bad health. Yeah, my mother's like that except she is in her late 50's.
 
Despite all the setbacks, I've been updating It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns and previously published blogs on it every so many days, weeks, and months. Therefore, I have not forsaken any of you or my content. In fact, I just changed the background scenery on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. So, check it out!

Why I am telling you all this?

Well, even though I may be unable to publish blogs on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns and OMG, Anna! What's Going On?! (which is on Blogger) 2-3 days a week, I DO update and share previously published blogs every so often and occasionally publish new blogs on both sites.
 
Webs.com has so many glitches. This is especially when it comes to sending and receiving notifications and comments. Their engineers still have yet to repair my Guestbook page.

Meanwhile, Facebook and other social media sites keep destroying the algorithms for entertainers, bloggers, authors, and content creators like yours truly. Therefore, sending newsletters is the best solution.

It has been repeatedly said, that entertainers, bloggers, authors, and content creators should have our own newsletters. 

Why should we have our own newsletter(s)?

Because we have our own content AND contact lists of subscribers. With a newsletter, we have a greater chance of our subscribers seeing our content rather than social media sites like Facebook changing their algorithms to hide our status updates and content on their sites.

For all those, who may have never had a chance to read and comment on past and present blogs, you have a better opportunity of doing so, now. 

If you have friends or know some adults 18 years old or older, that love learning about interesting foreign folklores, writing, music, animation, reading Psychological Horror, Crime, and Psychological Thrillers, etc, etc. send them my way! 

Get on my TinyLetter newsletter, STAT!

I promise not to spam you a gajillion times a day. If I do, you can always blame it on a malfunction.

Anyway, as I continue to work out some other kinks online, stay tuned!

What A Roller Coaster 2018 Has Been!

How's it going my gumdrops? Or should I call you "creepers" on OMG, Anna! What's Going On?! instead?

Let me know what you think sounds better. Gumdrops or creepers?

Yes, I know it has been another month, since last publishing a blog on here and on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns.

What a roller coaster 2018 has been for a number of us! Since the start of this year, it has been extremely chaotic. There's no telling how unpredictable the end of the year will be. I can most definitely say that without a doubt.

I cannot help reiterating how stressful this year has been, especially for me both on and offline. 2018 has been a year of backburning projects, relocations, family funerals, repairs, etc. Luckily, some progress has been made towards the end of this year. 

Speaking of relocations, it was recently announced that Google Plus is planned to shut down 8/31/19. Considering the fact that their head moderators act trollish and condescending, and that their social media site is mostly a ghost town, good bye and good riddance to Google Plus!

Because Google Plus' moderators blocked, blacklisted, banned me and my blogs, as well as THREATENED to have my entire Google account suspended, 2 YEARS IN A ROW, they are THE MAIN REASON why I stopped blogging for most of 2018. The crooked moderators controlling Google Plus intentionally killed my blog traffic and page views.

More time was spent throughout 2018 searching for a better social media site than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, etc. I had no such luck finding a better social media site, until 2 weeks ago.

All my friends, subscribers, visitors, etc. can now find me on the social media site, MeWe.
  
PR Newswire: Full Page "Dear Facebook" Letter In The New York Times From MeWe, The Competitor Mark Zuckerberg Refuses To Name

Imagine if Facebook and Google Plus were combined into 1 social media site, had more security with user friendly interfaces, less toxicity, and less division. THAT  is MeWe. 

Those who are sick of all the other social media sites with their bullshit political propaganda, agendas, division, spam ads, etc. and want to belong to a more interest based social media site with like-minded people, you may want to join MeWe. Recently, I created my own group page on MeWe for OMG, Anna! What's Going On?!

Aside from relocating from Google Plus to MeWe, I managed to submit 3 of my short stories to be reviewed at Writer's Relief, towards the end of last week.

2 of the 3 short stories I submitted for writer reviews were short stories I wrote 12-13 years ago. Even though my work is unpublished, some short stories have been bound to my Creative Writing Chapbook.

Over the last 2 weeks to 5 months, revisions for 6 of the short stories I have written over the last 6-12 years have been made. You're probably thinking to yourselves, "Anna, 6-12 years is a very long time. Why has it taken you so long?"

Battling my own health scare before, during, and after graduating from Carthage College really set me back. Throughout most of my 20's, I was severely ill.

Before my grandfather died in 2004, it was the beginning of what would later become a severe health scare, 2 years later. The first portion of 2006 was when I was the sickest in life.

In 2006, I was supposed to study abroad in Japan the last semester of my college senior year. It never came to fruition.

After my grandfather's death in 2004, my immediate family went through economic hardships. Less than 2 years later, my great-grandmother died. She died the month before my college graduation in 2006.

All the while, the first 6 months of 2006, I was severely ill. By the end of that same year, just when I was recovering from my own health scare, my mother had a severe medical emergency; She suddenly had a seizure.

It took not only a few years for her to be granted disability, but also years for me to be well enough to job hunt again.

Those, who have been my friends and subscribers for the last 5 years on Xanga, Blogster, Horror-Punks, and on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns already know, that I haven't helped my uncle with his company again, since 2013. However, that was due to my uncle appeasing his lying, gold digging, shrew. She micromanaged and purposely sabotaged his company, while plotting to replace ME with her FRIEND'S daughter. Therefore, you can do the math on that catastrophic division.

After my uncle ousted me from his company to appease his shrew, I've had more time to focus on my own content. In other words, I had more time to be the webmaster and blogger on my own website. This cannot be said regarding 2018.

The first part of 2018 was spent finding an oral surgeon, who was willing to accept my insurance for my wisdom tooth to be extracted. It wasn't extracted until 2 weeks before my birthday, 6 months ago.

Meanwhile, the constant interruptions mostly dealing with my mother's neediness, hypochondria combined with actual health problems that she has, doctor's appointments, home repairs, remodeling, and chores occupied most of 2018. I just managed to squeeze in time to revise my short stories for writer's submissions.

As of last Thursday, I feel like I was finally able to accomplish a long overdue goal. Now, I must wait at least 2 more weeks for reviews on 3 of the short stories I submitted. Knowing that I was able to accomplish at least 1 goal for 2018 makes me feel a little better about myself.

Hopefully, the reviews for my short stories are positive. Right now, I could really use some positive news. Like I said earlier, this year has been a roller coaster. 2018 has been so stressful, that I am only 36 and have been forced to recently take blood pressure medication.

If it is possible, I want to publish another blog on my website, It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns explaining about the short stories I submitted to Writer's Relief for reviews.

So, what are your thoughts?

In the following links below, don't forget to find me on MeWe and let me know what you think! Thank you and I look forward to seeing you there!

mewe.com/i/annah614

mewe.com/join/omg_anna_whats_going_on

Got Any Questions For It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 5th Anniversary?

How's it going my gumdrops? On September 23rd, it will be 5 years since the time of building my website, It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns. If it is possible, I would love to have another Q&A blog. 

It is tradition to celebrate It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' Anniversary by me annually publishing and sharing Q&A blogs.

Normally, I allow 1-3 questions per friend, subscriber, and visitor. My answers are usually very long because of the complex questions that are asked. 

With that being the case, here are 2 Q&A's I previously copied and pasted to my other Blogger page.

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns: Q&A #1

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns: Q&A #2

Here are the rest of the Q&A blogs from my official website.

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns' 2nd Birthday [Q&A EDITION] 

It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns 3rd Anniversary: Q&A

It's Not All Gumdrops And Unicorns Q+A 2017 [Part 1]

It's Not All Gumdrops And Unicorns Q+A 2017 [Part 2]

You have 1 week to ask questions, that will be published and shared for the upcoming Q&A. 

The questions typically asked are entertainment based regarding movies, musics, shows, writing, etc. I try to be as apolitical as possible. In other words, I refuse to alienate viewers with politically divisive questions and answers.

Once again, it has been a while, since I last published any blogs not only on OMG, Anna! What's Going On?!, but also on It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns.  

Over the last 5 years or so, I have dealt with more than my share of struggles. 2018 has surely been a year of deaths, health issues, hiatuses, and mostly repairs both on and offline. 

Normally, I publish and share blogs 2-3 days a week. Last Thanksgiving, my great uncle died of cancer and my mother had another medical emergency the day after Christmas. 

During late January 2018, a distant cousin's heart stopped. She was briefly put on life support. Then, she died a few days later. 

In addition, I spent months searching for an oral surgeon who would take my insurance. The oral extraction for my wisdom tooth wasn't done until literally 2 weeks before my birthday. 

Speaking of my birthday (which is in mid-June), this last birthday felt more like a Sixteen Candles type of birthday except I turned 36 rather than 16. Now that I think about it, both of those birthdays sucked. 

While doing yard work in the sweltering heat and on my birthday of ALL days this year, I lost my claddagh ring. 

Most of this year has been spent dealing with problems offline. That's not including having to deal with problems online. Since last year, the engineers at Webs have been unable to repair all of our websites' glitches. 

We still cannot send out e-mail blasts to our subscribers. That has to be the worst problem I have had, since the beginning of this year, regarding Webs. Luckily, Webs' engineers did modify our URLs by adding "https" to make our websites more secure. 

However, none of this changes the fact, that Webs continues to have problems. Because I have spent YEARS managing my website, It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns on Webs, I continue to keep it live. 

Meanwhile, the asshole moderators at Google Plus made sharing my blogs harder by constantly blocking, banning, and blacklisting my content by marking it as spam. 

Is it not bad enough that Facebook keeps changing their algorithms, making it harder for everyone to communicate with each other? 

I refuse to go back to using Twitter. That social media site is a bigger sewer overrun with smear campaigns, cyber wars, negativity bias, and political division than Facebook. 

Regardless of what popular social media platforms I'm on, they are sickening to use. This is especially when the social media sites are user UNFRIENDLY,  as I share my online content into the void of mostly indifferent people. 

Today I almost didn't publish and share this blog, which should say something. You may be wondering, "Anna, are you burnt out?"

In a way, I think it is a combination of being burnt out from both on and offline problems, as well as being stuck in a rut without anything or anyone to help me.

The moderators at Google Plus have actually exacerbated my preexisting problems. It is amazing how a last resort social media site like Google Plus wants to treat their most loyal users like we're all a bunch of criminals.

Because of the all the preceding issues, that I have continuously been struggling with this year, I have continued to backburn working on my website and blogs. 

Even though this has probably been the worst year that I have had within the last 12 years on and offline, I have been more productive by contacting book publishers, literary agents, etc. 

Despite everything I have said, do you have any questions for me? I look forward to hearing back from you. 

Thank you my gumdrops! Don't forget to like, subscribe, share, +1 on Google Plus, and leave your feedback in the comments section below!

Song Saturday: Danzig's Cantspeak

How's it going lurkers? Hopefully all is well on your ends. This past week was a little better than the last 3 weeks. However, it wasn't fantastic. I'm still being more reclusive on and offline. Just the other day, I began brainstorming a list to publish in a new blog. It's something I plan on sharing here.

Luckily, I have been in a more "zen" mood before the start of this week. I didn't have a chance to listen to any more Enya. Although, listening to Tool's albums Undertow, Aenima, and Lateralus put me more at ease.

Before I forget, if you're in the mood to listen to bands fronted by Maynard James Keenan check out the link below:

Song Saturday: Maynard James Keenan (2014)

To be honest, I am more of A Perfect Cicle fan than I am of Tool. Regardless, listening to Tool put me at ease. This was partly because I was checking out something, that a Xangan friend and subscriber shared on her Facebook wall. Talk about '90s nostalgia.

Honestly, I don't care what people say. The '80s and '90s had much better music than these last 10 years. Every music genre was heard on local radio stations and everything in music wasn't about pushing a political agenda.

During the mid-90's, I liked listening to Green Day. That was until they suddenly became a self-righteous, politically divisive, sellout, Pop-Punk band in 2004.

Speaking of '90s music and radio stations, I always hated that radio stations contributed to making bands 1-Hit Wonders. Take Danzig, for example.

Within the last 2 decades, the man has released 9 albums YET all the Rock stations only want to play is "Mother!" Like seriously? C'mon! As much as I liked listening to "Mother," it's NOT  the only Danzig song in existence.

It was not until I started hosting my own radio show during college, that more local listeners began hearing other Danzig songs like "Wicked Pussycat" and "Angel Blake" from Glenn Dazig's 2002 album, I Luciferi. Both MTV and Fuse TV use to air Danzig's music videos. This cannot be said about local Rock stations here in WI.

During 1995, I used to stay up until midnight to see the music video for "Cantspeak" on MTV. Until this very day, "Cantspeak" is STILL my favorite song from Danzig. The music video was directed by Fred Stuhr. Stuhr is mostly known for directing Tool's music videos. 

Supposedly, when Fred Stuhr was in the process of shooting Danzig's music video for "Cantspeak," Stuhr"wanted to create a sense of someone being trapped, someone who can't speak. He's not alive or dead. He's just an ideal, a soul, an existence floating in and out of this time, this reality."

Anyway, here is Danzig's "Cantspeak" for today's Song Saturday.

Danzig "Cantspeak" Danzig 4 (1995)

Song Saturday: Maynard James Keenan Block

How's it going lurkers? I can't speak for everyone else, but this past week has been very rough for some of us, especially for yours truly.

On Thursday at 3 AM-ish, I was in the middle of blogging on Horror-Punks.com, when my mother had a seizure. I had to postpone blogging over there for a while, until my mother was feeling better. These last 2-3 days, I barely got any sleep.

If you want to learn more about what I have endured this past week, you're always welcome to read my latest Horror-Punks blog.

On another note, it is Song Saturday. This week, there songs in this block from Maynard James Keenan's bands, Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. 

Last Saturday, I watched AXS TV for most of A Perfect Circle's concert. I would've watched the entire concert but it ran against Bleach and Naruto Shippuden. 

Too bad AXS TV didn't premiere A Perfect Circle's concert earlier in the evening rather than premiering Judas Priest and Lamb of God's concerts before them. 

I suppose I didn't miss very much with A Perfect Circle's performance. Maynard mostly hid himself in the dark.

I don't understand the purpose of Maynard James Keenan fronting 3 bands (Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer), owning a winery and making wine, being an album producer, and actor but at the same time, he is ALWAYS hiding his face.

It is understandable that the man wants his fans to respect him for his talents. However, Maynard is involved in numerous professions, which require him to constantly be "in the publicly eye."

Also, Maynard James Keenan always hated the Hollywood lifestyle and the way fans worship Rock musicians yet he has a home in the Hollywood Hills AND his sycophants believe he's like a god. 

All the while, some find Maynard to be self-righteous.

Maynard may not be as self-righteous as David Draiman from Disturbed, for example. Although, he can sometimes be a self-righteous hypocrite. I believe Maynard secretly hates himself because he is the embodiment of some of the qualities that he hates in others. It's like a reflection in the mirror.

Speaking of Maynard James Keenan's house in the Hollywood Hills, I read earlier this past week, that he is selling it.

Metal Insider: Maynard James Keenan’s house is for sale, is insane

Being an individualist by NOT  conforming to the latest trends, not wanting to be someone's idol god, being reclusive, and having to endure stalkers not only resonate with me, but are also problems that can be empathized by yours truly. Nevertheless, public appearances come with being an entertainer.

Some of my old college friends are both male and female Maynard James Keenan sycophants for fans.

Meanwhile, some of them are like his personal zealots because they consider him to be a god for his "deep philosophies" about life, religion, and society through his lyrics. They worship the ground this man walks on.

Interesting enough, while reading hardDriveRadio's Dirt page, I learned that Maynard does NOT  write Tool's songs. As he sits idle, the band writes the lyrics for Tool's songs. Therefore, this would definitely explains WHY the band always has so many side projects and delays.

Personally, I never put Maynard James Keenan on a pedestal and claimed his as my God like a zealot. 

Like I already said, even though I enjoy some of Tool's and mostly A Perfect Circle's songs, and respect the singer for his talents, Maynard James Keenan is somewhat self-righteous and has the tendency to contradict himself. Oh, I can only imagine the sycophants and zealots reeling over what I just said.

I like A Perfect Circle much better than Tool because A Perfect Circle has a different sound compared to them. I don't particularly care to listen to Puscifer except for their song, "Revolution 22:20," which is featured on the 2003 Underworld Soundtrack. "Revolution 22:20" has a dark yet seductive sound to it.

Today I am sharing some of my favorite songs from Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. 

Tool's "Parabol" is a separate song from "Parabola," which makes it actually 2 Tool songs.

1) Tool "AEnema" AEnema (1996)

 

2) Tool "Parabol" Lateralus (2001)

3) Tool "Parabola" Lateralus (2001)

 

4) A Perfect Circle "Magdalena" Mer de Noms (2000)

 

5) A Perfect Circle "Blue" Thirteenth Step (2003)

6) Puscifer "Rev 22:20" Underworld Soundtrack (2003); Don't Shoot The Messenger E.P. (2007)