Once Upon a Time ...

 *Edited - PS and pictures added. 

... I was in a family situation where I wasn't allowed a voice -  to the degree that I almost lost my voice entirely. 

In fact, I nearly stopped talking, became almost a selective mute, because not only was it not allowed, but it did no good to use it anyway - it only made things worse.

In fact, that is why I started blogging in 2005 (though this was not my original blog) - as a sort of flare to the outside world, like a message in a bottle, as a way to preserve my voice until I could use it again someday, if I could ever find a way out of that shithole.

Today, I have a wonderful husband and a selective group of friends and family members that I trust completely. 😊

But I had to claw tooth and nail to get here, too.  

So I'll be damned if after essentially chewing my own leg off to get out of THAT toxic trap,  I'll now let anyone - especially someone not in the above group - waltz in and try take my voice for free, under false pretenses, and without my permission.

And then when I politely question it, I'm guilt tripped with belittling things that would never be said to a man, after  previously showering me with transparent, OTT encouragement?

I don't think so. 

You like my voice and want to use it?  

Fine - but you gotta pay extra for that voice, that's not what I signed up for- especially since this hasn't been handled honestly. 

And yet that still would never mean you own my voice or me. 

Nobody "owns" me OR my voice -  but me. 

Now - I don't want to fight anyone over it, I don't want any trouble - I'll just walk away - and Lord knows I can, just like that, without even blinking.  

Don't ever imagine you've got me over a barrel. 

Because if I was able to chew my own leg off to get out of the aforementioned trap, how much easier is this flimsy Velcro? 😂

Perhaps one could imagine that I lost income and thus had no choice but to put up with it - and perhaps I will lose income - but it's worth it to me.

It won't be comfortable, but I'll survive - this isn't a zombie apocalypse  😂

And even if it were, I do not have to survive  alongside anyone I don't know well and already have proven to me that I can't trust them.  

As far as that goes, I'd prefer to have to deal just with zombies - at least they're honest about being cannibals 😂

Thus, let this be a new adage - "He who seeks to screw others over to save a few extra bucks/make himself look good, may instead find himself screwed." 😉

All of this reminds me of a conversation recently I had with the above referenced that I'm alluding to, where I rebutted the concept of Social Darwinism, stating that there is no such thing, the same "survival of the fittest" rules do not apply to socioeconomics. 

Animals are just trying to survive. 

With humans, not only are we not all starting at the same starting place in this race, with the same opportunities, but the worst of our species will surreptitiously sabotage the best representatives of our species unnecessarily - not because survival is at stake, but over a few extra bucks - and because they know they couldn't win against the best of the species otherwise, they're not good enough.

Case in point - Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

Nancy Kerrigan was the best and Tonya knew it - so she hired a couple of guys to knee cap her so that she could win instead.

Did Tonya do it because it was necessary for her survival?

No - Tonya did it over a gold medal and jealousy, she knew she wasn't good enough otherwise.

If her plot hadn't been discovered and Tonya had won because of it, would that make her the fittest of the species?

Certainly not. 

This behavior, in turn, does end up affecting survival - not just the  livelihood and life of one best representative that could've benefitted the species, but several - even at the expense of our own species and our own resources.

Ever seen the phenomenon where bunch of predators and prey share a water hole in Africa during a drought?

It only happens in certain ecosystems, true, during severe drought.

Is it because they're displaying altruism?

No.

It's because despite lack of higher-level reasoning, animals instinctively know better than to hoard and deplete all their resources and wipe out entire species of both their competitors and their prey, because doing so will eventually result in not just loss of their species, but their own survival.

We humans, on the other hand, are too selfish, short-sighted, and stupid to get that.

Once again, like Ripley said in Aliens, "I don't know which species is worse.  At least you don't see the Aliens screwing each other over for a Goddamn percentage."

But I digress, back to my point ...

 I did NOT "volunteer" record my voice as "internal AI test sample," I especially did NOT give my permission to use it on an actual product versus actual voice actors, and I was NOT compensated for doing so.

I am a transcriptionist, not a voice actor. 

Thus, this had better be the first and last usage of my voice without proper consent and compensation  -  are we clear?

I'm like Katie Couric in the 90s, bitches 😂

I'll giggle with you all day long, but don't think that means I'm not paying attention - I'll call you out with a"Wait, hold up ... did you just?" so fast, heads will spin  😂

_____________________

PS - Speaking of the type of worst-representative humans that deplete their own resources and eff over their own teammates for their own glory (resulting in that person ending up alone, doing all the work now themselves) - I took a look around the old blog world tonight, particularly at the blog of former fellow blogger from the UK.

We were never friends, per se, but we had mutual friends.  We were on opposite political sides, which at one time, didn't make a difference - there was a time when being a conservative versus a liberal simply meant whether you liked big or small government.

We weren't at each others throats over it, back in the day, but  you could definitely see socioeconomic and political changes building with the advent of lawless social media, and in fact, I issued several warnings on my old blog about what was happening to our society with social media and reality TV - and now, we elected a president based on so-called Reality TV, which so isn't reality.

Anyway, I actually forgot all about him, but was reminded of this blogger because he is the poster child of the "worst representative of our species," cheating/sabotaging/falsely accusing others because he wasn't talented enough on his own merit.

You know, the sort of person who not only has an irrational fear of anyone not like himself politically, but worse, would sell his mother for 15 minutes of fame on social media, in the hopes of becoming an influencer or getting a book deal, including throwing even those on his own political side under the bus.

The kind of guy who wants other more famous bloggers to comment,  then takes potshots at them in his posts without using their name to provoke them, even falsely accuse them or edits what he said that provoked them as if he didn't say it and they're crazy -  even if they're on the same political side - to gain attention for himself and sabotage his competition.

And if they commented in their own defense, he doesn't publish it and lies about what they said to make himself the victim - particularly if the blogger is female. 

Worse, he developed a close friendship with a particularly unhinged fellow liberal, who he used like a dog to not just attack others, but stalk and harass and threaten them in their personal lives - then sat back and kept his nose clean, blaming her psychopathic behavior on her being a liberal (until people caught onto this too, after criminal charges were filed on her).

He used to always do this on Thursdays, in particular - we use to call it "Throw-Under-the-Bus Thursday" drama-making for attention for the rest of the weekend.

Why?

Jealousy - because he knows he's not good enough to survive/become famous on his own talent or merit alone and is incapable of true debate, so he cheats/sabotages those that are - AND -  because he's trying to prove how all liberals are evil, and justifies his own evil is justified because he imagines he's "at war" with us 😆

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.

My point being, he's a total Tonya Harding, or to continue with the Aliens analogy, he's a Burke  - he's the worst of the worst of our species. 

Truth be told, there are unqualified, untalented, and unhinged Tonya Hardings like this all around us, every day (cough, cough, Donald Trump) - and unfortunately, most of the time, in our society, Tonya Hardings will win (especially if they've gained enough wealth and power). 😔

And sometimes, like in this example -  they don't.

Because for said blogger, this behavior did NOT result in fame, fortune, or a book deal for him in the long run - because not only was he not talented enough from the get-go, but he cried wolf one too many times, over the years, so everyone finally caught on and left.  It took about 10 years, but they did.  Every now and then, he'll entertain a new commenter, but they usually end up dropping off too, unless they're just clearly very stupid.

He is now almost completely alone with no commenters other than  his other IDs he uses to talk to himself, trying to make it look like he still gets commenters and attention lol.  

Some of us never blogged for attention or commenters anyway 😊

Oh, yeah, I forgot - sometimes his little psycho dog comments still, too, but she's changed her moniker and giving herself new identities, because people started to catch onto that, too - but you can still tell who she is by her style of writing, plus she mimics other knows bloggers.  

They're still a team -  not out of friendship, but because they both know where "all the bodies are buried," so to speak 😆

Now - I know that said blogger still reads my blog, because I can see who visits and who has me in a reader - and I have noted there's always a particularly laughable reaction post to something more personal I've written without using my name - and he did not disappoint after this post, which I began by alluding to an abusive ex 😉

Several years ago, he started going from making one post on a subject, to several numbered items within one post  (several times a day) - so if you commented, it showed up in the sidebar for who commented where, and he made it appear as if you were supporting everything he said in the full post, though you weren't, you were only referring to one item. 

(This of course was the final straw for many people, completing the mass exodus from his blog).

Anyway, his latest post includes an item supposedly from an article he recently read (that he didn't cite or give a link to), which gave the  top reasons people left relationships - indifference, neglect,  unfaithfulness and violence.

Though gender was not mentioned -  and both genders could give these reasons to why they left relationships - his presumption was that only women  must've given these answers.

Worse, , he was upset because there was no mention of what caused the presumed male partners to become indifferent, neglectful, unfaithful, and violent towards women.

I didn't take the bait and comment, I haven't in several years - but being that I'm not in a good place today, I'll react here .... 

Oh, OH, I know this one! 

Is it "Things Abusive Misogynists Say for 100!"

The only reason that men would ever become selfish, neglectful, unfaithful, and violent in relationships MUST be the fault of the woman, right? 

She didn't take care of her man properly, do as she was told, and shut up, right?

So of course he HAD to be selfish, cheat on her, and whack her upside the head several times,  it's HER fault, right? 

Wrong.

See, this is why you're alone after all these years. asshole - not because the problem is women in general - or even what we, your former fellow female bloggers and friends though (which was that maybe you just chose the wrong type of women).

No, all of use realized over time that the problem is YOU  -  you're a tremendous gaping, black hole of asshole, sucking everyone into his web of selfish drama - a thoroughly narcissistic douchebag, incapable of empathy, ethics, or taking responsibility for your own actions.

But hey, sorry about the loss of attention and the lack of a book deal, in the end - at least you still have your blog and your several IDs to talk to? 

Hope all the drama and hell you put all your fellow bloggers through/sucked them into was worth it!

But I digress -  after this post, I promise, back to my usual - not letting any of this nonsense ruin my New Year or steal my joy!. 

(Gotta say, though - these last two vent posts felt super good  :)

If I don't post for a bit due to otherwise being extremely busy, as of late - Happy New Year to the best representatives of our species! 😀

The worst representatives of our species may lie, cheat, and steal everything else, but never let them steal your joy and make you as bitter as themselves! 😊

And remember, if the worst of our species feels the need to stoop that low to win things that never should've been competitions in the first place, let them - it will be a hollow, lonely victory for them, in the end, not to mention unnecessary and exhausting.

You may not be rich, famous, or powerful, but you'll be marinated by/and will marinate others in love, with only true friends and true loved ones at your side, who you know would have your back even if there were a zombie apocalypse - while they die off alone, like dinosaurs 😊