Does This Avatar Make Me Look Fat?

    Whenever I get a new "toy," I just like to play around with it as much as possible.  Such is true with my new iPhone.  Sure, I am already familiar with most of the apps due to my MacBook.  Many are similar, not exactly the same.  I also know about many of the secondary functions, due to the phone my mother gets to use because of her government association.  However, I'm still getting used to the wonderful world of mobile apps.  One of the delays is the bad data coverage on my plan.  I mean, 3G isn't that useful for quick downloading, if I can get anything at all.  Therefore, I mostly have to use my home's wifi to download and work with anything beyond the typical call.  That's alright with me, as I'm just learning the basics.  So far, I have only installed Facebook and Messenger.  I find it strange that they are combined on the regular site, but I expect that is because of the additional features the dedicated app has. One of those features is avatar stickers.  On the app, one can create a virtual version of themselves and use those avatars as the basis of a sticker one can use in comments and other post functions.  I can't be sure if that feature had migrated to the main site before is downloaded the app or not, but I definitely noticed the feature on the site soon after I installed the app.  Now, I was already familiar with Apple's version of this, the Memoji.  I even previewed that image in a previous post.  The process was similar, but there were major differences.  The Memoji only has the top portion of the body visible, so nothing below the thorax can be seen.  Also, the body type is slightly more cartoonish.  In some graphics, the bare arms are so thin, they remind me of Kermit the Frog's arms whenever he would wave them around inn an hysterical manner.  On the plus side, clothing options could be in a wide range of colors.  Also, one could adapt them with features outside of the regular building process using the Markup app.  I put a white "UK" on the shirt I was wearing in mine.  Facebook's avatar is full-body, so the legs and feet matter.  They can't always be seen, but they are there.  The avatar has a much wider range of clothing.  However, each style is only available in one color scheme.  If it can be changed, I haven't found a way to do it yet.  Facebook even provides a 'closet' to store extra clothing styles.  Although, I received an update notification saying that my base style may have been discontinued, or something.  I still have it locked away, I think.  Some of these styles are for sale, which seems a little odd to me.  At least there is a wider range of poses/stickers than Apple has.  Here is my avatar.

Full disclosure, I'm not as buff as depicted.  Theoretically, I could one day get this swole, if I had intensive training and a strict diet within three to six months.  I do believe I have mesomorph metabolism.  Too bad I didn't discover that until I was almost thirty, when the best years to gain mass were just behind me. I just don't have the time in my schedule to work out enough.  The hair is about right.  I could've added some highlights, but they just didn't look right.  I have since added a different pair of glasses that look better on me.  I do look a bit thick, though, around the middle, which might be a little heavier than I actually am.  Of course, many men would say about the same things.  I am trying not to overdo the look, although I have added this as my profile pic, but with a darker background.  Apart from all of this avatar creation, the only other app I have added is SongPop Classic.  Actually, I just had it transfer from my MacBook account, so it is double installed.  I haven't played on my phone yet, due to the data coverage, but I am looking for other apps and games that I could include.  I don't want to add any other games that I currently have on Facebook, but I am not limiting myself on that if I so choose.  I had lists of helpful apps to download to my phone from over the years, but I don't think I kept every one of them.   Any suggestions would be appreciated.  

Werewolf, That's Neither Here Nor There Wolf

    It's almost Halloween, and this means that it is time for decorations.  I know that I reuse many of the same things year after year at my store.  Many people do the same.  However, I have been noticing some trends.  I have seen plenty of scarecrows, pumpkins, skeletons, ghosts, zombies, witches, vampires, and various other monsters of note.  Plenty of animals too, ranging from cats to giant spiders, with teeny bats in between.  There is one monster/animal trope that is missing, werewolves/wolfmen.  Over the years, I have only seen two or three werewolf representations, and no wolves whatsoever.  For goodness sakes, I've seen more representations of Frankenstein's monster than I have of werewolves.  I've even seen a dragon skeleton that was later repurposed for Christmas by donning a Santa hat!  Now, I get that both werewolves and wolfmen are hard to present, as it is the transformation part that is both the best to enjoy but the hardest to duplicate.  Yet, this year, I've seen an inflatable vulture roosting on a tombstone that can move its head from left to right and maybe even flap its wings.  There's even a tiny light at the tip of its beak.  Surely there is someway to make something that would have a lupine creature seem to move.  Now, I get that there are actual wolves in some parts of the country, or at least coyotes.  (They are really everywhere now.). So, some people might not want to have a similar type of decoration that could attract the real thing.  The wolfman could be a bridge for such people, but I think I've only ever seen one small figurine or banner with one in the past two decades.  Werewolves should not be ignored for Halloween decor like this.  On a similar point, a werewolf-based game I like is coming back with a new edition. Unfortunately, the current holder of the intellectual property (IP) has decided that the new edition will not be a direct continuation of the older editions.  Instead, it will use many of the same themes and terms, but it will almost be an entirely new game.  Now, there were parts of the old game that were problematic, mostly on a cultural level.  Many of those parts needed to be changed.  However, many fans, me included, feel that the IP could have been salvaged without having to start over from scratch.  Some of the changes that were just announced a few weeks ago don't even make sense.  While some fans are optimistic and whole-heartily accept these changes, there is a strong undercurrent of distrust about how changed the new edition will be.  These fans have already said that they will stay with previous editions, instead of working with the new.  For my part, I am still undecided.  Within an hour or two of the latest announcement, I was able to work out many of the changes into the story of older editions that would make sense while still keeping the old game alive.  If I could do something like that without having access to almost thirty years of products, then a development team (the second one hired, if not third) with almost two years of lead time could do the same.  I will probably get the first book when it comes out in the next year or so, but I don't know how much more of the new line I will get.  The weird thing though is I don't really like werewolf movies/shows or books that much.  I just like the folklore and legends part.  Especially the ones with other animals.

Midnight Blue

     Last week, I finally broke down and got my first ever smartphone.  Yes, I have finally joined the twenty-first century fully.  Okay, so smartphones haven't been around all that time, but long enough to become ubiquitous.   As I have mentioned previously, the university that I am technically taking graduate school courses online (just not this current semester) is transitioning to multi-factor identification to access sensitive sites.  This would involve getting a message on a second device, like a smartphone, before being allowed further access.  While online graduate students don't have to follow this protocol, yet, my mother was getting extremely anxious about it.  Too much if you ask me.  She almost forced me to be one immediately after I told her about the situation, even though we really couldn't afford it.  Still, we started researching the possibilities.  Because I already have a MacBook, I would have an easier time to connect everything if I got an iPhone.  Apple connectivity and all.  Well, Apple debuts new models this time of year, with the previous models usually getting discounted.  My mother wasn't satisfied with some plans she was finding, although I kept telling her that the plan she was most enthusiastic about wasn't as good as it looked.  Last week, she all but forced me to look for myself at this one location of a supplier, because she liked the response she got there compared to another location.  As soon as she started the conversation, I knew she would be going all ahead with this that day if at all possible.  Well, the employee, who had just transferred to that location, suggested that the store was having problems getting the older models in, and that they were going to have even more problems with getting and using the new model, as it was using technology that they weren't really equipped for.  However, that location had accidentally gotten in an iPhone 13 that was originally tagged for a different outlet.  My mother all but forced me to get it, since she was so afraid I would be in trouble with the university without it.  This was only supposed to be a research visit.  However, once I realized that the phone would be in the color I would most want (Midnight Blue, 😉), I felt that it was destiny that I would get a new phone that day.  The next fifteen minutes or more would be dealt with choosing the best plan and setting it up.  After some awkwardness in getting things squared away, including me forgetting a few ID numbers along the way, the SIM card was installed, and I walked out with my new phone in its box.  Because I already have a MacBook, I didn't need another charger.  My current one will work for both, or I can just link my phone to my laptop and charge while using it.  The phone was so old that it had barely 14% charge when I started it up.  I waited until it was fully charged before completing the setup.  I don't know why, but I was having a problem synching up my Apple account with my new phone.  I basically had to come up with a new password to get things settled.  Once that was done, I tried to download an app, just for a test and not the one I would need for school. I couldn't get it to download, as the business I went through to get the phone didn't seem to have a great data service at the store.  I had to wait until I got home, and the following morning, to try it out.  Somehow, my router wasn't able to connect with my computer that morning.  The internet wasn't out, as I still had cable and that was coming over the same line now.  I had to unplug the router, wait, and plug it back in for it to restart. After that, I keyed my phone to use the very strong signal from it, and the download proceeded perfectly.  Now, I have Facebook on my phone, but I haven't used it yet as I don't have the phone connected to my primary account yet. Yeah, I now have to connect the phone to each of my online accounts where necessary.  Big hassle there, especially when I forget where I put the new phone number.  I'm not a big phone guy after all.  Of course, there are some benefits.  Since I have purchased a new Apple device, I have free trials to various Apple services just begging to begin.  This includes the free Apple News newsletter that mysteriously stopped a few months ago for no reason that had been around for a few years.  The one downside so far is that I don't have a strong enough wifi signal at work to use my device fully.  At home, I'll be forced to use the router for all of the extra features and apps.  At least the phone portion seems to be working the way it should, but that is the one feature of my new phone that I might be using the least.

Some Brief Notes about BookNotes

     This Friday, October 7, will mark the twenty-second anniversary of the opening of my book store, BookNotes.  It has been a very long ride, but I feel that it will soon be ending.  To be honest, my store should have closed a long time ago.  It just the past few years, I've had to rearrange bookcases to hide the fact that many of shelves would be empty because we can't afford to keep a wide selection of stock anymore.  Admittedly, I never could get as wide or deep a selection as I would've liked.  Sure, there have been a few great highlights, but the store just never could get a big enough break.  I've been trying to keep the place open mostly as a means so that I could be doing something, almost anything, while trying to get some plan together.  After the 2003 flood took out my old home, my store was just about the only thing that was giving me a sense of consistency.  I've brought up many of the problems that I have faced over the years on this very blog, so I feel that I don't need to bring the details back up.  However, I would like to talk about some of the things I still like about my store.  I love making out the various displays and decorations.  Every season and holiday, I change the decor with subtle differences from year to year, even when using just about the same things.  Every two weeks, I switch out the books in the displays.  I choose a different theme each time, with a different theme for the books on the tops of the bookcases. I love creating the 'Upcoming Releases' board that highlights some of the notable books coming out each month. Like the displays, I choose an appropriate theme, or one I just feel like using if I can't come up with an original one.  I used to use a regularly updated list that I would print out from an old distributor of ours.  They no longer allow non-customers access to the list, so I now have to go over the current major distributor's catalog, which we have only been getting online the last few months due to our lower ordering lately.  I then have to check out each book's on sale date online to make sure that the book is still coming out that month.  I connect each listing with the book's cover, in color and design, somehow.  Another thing I do is create a logo for the store's sign that customers see when they come in.  Every few weeks, I create something new, similar to what Google sometimes does with their logo.  Of course, I was doing my thing without knowing about what Google did.  For the last four years, I've even recorded myself making these logos and posting them on YouTube and Facebook.  The thing I've liked the most, though, was choosing books for the store.  I have poured over each and every catalog our three major distributors have used over the years, as well as online only listings, to choose merchandise for the store.  Sometimes, I would make a mistake, choosing a book that I would later have to return.  Other times, I would wind up taking the book for myself, because it was just too good not to keep. Now, I still look for new books, but I now longer get to order anywhere near what I used to.  This last order I made was mostly made up of books chosen at the last moment to reach a minimum order.  I miss those days where I could do what I liked.  With luck, I should last out the year.  Maybe a bit more, but I do feel that the last note will soon be played for the store.