Arcade Hero: Abobo Interview

Arcade Hero plays old video arcade games, with commentary, fun facts and interviews with the characters.  Episode 1 was really funny, so I was happy to join the crew for episode 2!  Here's a clip from the interview with Abobo, written and performed by Pharaoh Freels and Nancy Cartonio.  1:56, in case you were wondering....

Why I'm Super Neutral About The Super Natural

I was raised in an environment where supernatural was normal.  We had monthly moon rituals, daily talks with our spirit guides, and crystal talismans as needed.  Tarot readings, natal charts and love spells were a part of my family.

Spells are like prayers, only we set them on fire.

I've had 3 encounters with ghosts.

1. Two Children:  I was 11.  I woke up in the middle of the night because someone was pinching me- I mean, pulling the skin from my ribcage and it hurt!  I thought it was my sister, but she was snoring.... then I heard giggles.  I looked on the floor next to my bed, and I saw the tops of their heads.  A little girl and a little boy, like 2 or 3 years old, sitting on the floor against my bed, whispering to each other.  Well, I was scared!  I pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep.  Then I dreamed about those kids.  I saw them with their mother in a Spanish speaking country, but did not learn anything about their demise or their reason for visiting me.  My mother conjectured that they were just passing through, or perhaps connected to me from another life.  But we'll never know!

2. Celicia: My mom's best friend died when I was 14.  A few days later, my sister and I were in our room playing cards, when suddenly the radio dial started changing the station!  Then there was tapping on the wall, right next to us!  Of course, we were all like wtf!  A couple minutes later, our mom came into the room and said, "Celicia says she's sorry, she didn't mean to scare you!"

3. Larry Carter: One of my high school besties was killed by a drunk driver my sophomore year, and he ghosted me twice.  The first time was before I even found out he had died.  I woke up in the middle of the night because someone was sitting on my bed.  The heat and the weight of the bed sinking down by my knees was indisputable, but when I opened my eyes I saw nothing.  When I tried to go back to sleep, I felt a hand wiping my hair out of my face.  I wasn't scared this time, but I didn't know who it was!  Until I got the call the next morning, then it made sense.  My second visit from Larry was the night of his funeral.  As I was trying to go to sleep, he swooped in and yelled, "Hey, Nance!" playfully into my ear, and then he was gone.

This would be enough for some people to say they believe in ghosts with 100% certainty, but I hesitate to commit to that belief.  "Ghosts are real" as a rule can't be proved.  Did I experience those encounters?  Yes!  But like Jodie Foster said at the end of Contact, I'm a scientist, so I wouldn't believe me, either!

I'm smart enough to know this shit's crazy.....

If you're not willing to abandon beliefs you learned growing up, they could prevent you from understanding and accepting what is actually true.  

To be open-minded and fair, you have to be willing to accept that you don't already know.  

To do that, you have to detach yourself emotionally from your family's beliefs and traditions, and that is incredibly difficult. 

In conclusion: 

Knowing and believing are not the same thing.

Knowing leads to medical miracles and technology.... 

Believing leads to racism and suicide bombers.... 

One is good for all, the other is only good for separatist assholes. 

You can't have a super knowledgable head without a super neutral heart.

 And don't cast spells near a smoke detector.  Seriously.

Crazy Crafts: Fake Cake

little round box

joint compound

CD holder

I smeared joint compound all over that little round box like I was frosting a cake.  After it dried, I painted it white. 

I had little game pieces that looked like sprinkles, and a candle, and a piece of  basket weaving for piping- and painted yellow, it looks like frosting!

  

The cake stand is made from the CD holder, upside down and mod-podged with tissue paper, and a medallion type incense holder as a stand.

Everyone Knew Her As Nancy, But Nancy Didn't Know What That Meant

Just like you, I was born into a family of strangers, that I did not choose, without my permission.  All I knew was, I was Nancy, because that's what everyone called me growing up.  I overheard that I was a smart girl, that I was left-handed, that I was a Pisces.  I overheard that my family was Italian, that my family was poor, that we were witches.  

Just like any other kid, I grew up not knowing what the word "normal" meant to the people outside of my house.  I got to sample other families' normals when I went to my friend's houses.  The compare/contrast to my own family helped me to understand the identity that was assigned to me, along with my innateness.  

Just like you, I have lived as if each decade were a different lifetime, including marriages and careers and kids.

Here's where I'm different:

 I went to a LCSW for counseling.  I took it seriously.   I did the work.  Actual assignments.  I learned more than I ever thought possible.  I spent 5 years in therapy, and of course, being the skeptical, challenging little shit that I have always been, I had to study behavioral psychology, to make sure the counselor knew what she was talking about.

Here's where I'm unique: 

I discovered my talent for explaining things to people in a way that helps them really get it.  I wish I could give an example but I cannot, for I am the keeper of secrets.  But I have helped many, many people.  I am incapable of judging anyone for not knowing what to do, because I was basically retarded until a few years ago.  Add to that a complete understanding of the rigged world we live in, which adds sympathy because that shit is not your fault.  And if that doesn't make me easy to talk to, my hella lameness does. 

 And that was rigged, not rigid, although it is that, too.  And did I mention I use a fake English accent a lot (although I was told it's brilliant by a real Englishman).

For the record, my teaching style is "teach a man to fish" if you catch my drift.  I fish for no one.

Here's the irony:  

When you're right all the time, nobody wants to hang out with you.

It's cool, I get it.  I tell you the truth, it hurts your feelings, you don't visit for awhile.  But you'll come back, because I was right, and soon you'll be wondering how I knew!  Boomerang!

Baby Boomers: The Generation Too Defiant To Bridge The Gap

My Nana described dating in the early 1940's.

Guys already knew they weren't getting any until their wedding night, so taking a girl out was like a test.  If he still wanted to fuck her after the date, you were courting.  If not, you "had a swell time" and moved on.

That is chivalry, albeit in the context of the world being run by men and the home being run by women.

People nowadays think "chivalry" refers to "opening doors and paying for dates, because they'll be rewarded with sex". 

Clearly, it all boils down to the biological sexual needs of men, and how they act upon them.  

Do you take what you need, or do you earn it?

The word is knightly.  Defender of royalty must not be savage, like animals- which is the opposite of civilized.  It's about the ability to be trusted and reasoned with.  For fuck's sake, what have we been teaching our boys for the last several hundred years?

Knights Are Gay, Be A Rapist

Similarly, feminism is misinterpreted by today's women.  They think it means they can have all the sexual freedom they want, win every fight, be the boss of things without having to know or do half the shit the guy has to do, as long as they look good (or put out).

Because studying doesn't pay off the way sleeping around does!

FYI, the biological needs of women are not sexual.  If a female claims she needs sex like a guy needs it, she is lying and needs therapy.  She probably hates herself even more than her kids do.  But I digress.

Feminism is about women being equal to men with regard to the scope of opportunity in education and occupation.  That's all.  It's supposed to be about fairness, in the instance that a man and a woman are of equal intelligence and motivation.  So obviously more relevant in the 1940's than now.

That "sexual revolution" that happened in the swingin' 60's gave feminism a bad name.  And that name was Proud Slut.