#prog blog

[pretending-to-be-fit]

Are you still out there?

If you end up seeing this post, hey hi hello!

This is a PSA, since I've now been in eating disorder treatment for almost 9 months. Turns out the "recovery" I thought I was pursuing, some of which is documented on this "progress blog," wasn't actually what recovery looks like.

I'm leaving this blog up for my own posterity, but if you happen to come across it and start to compare our bodies, or you admire my behaviors as "disciplined", or if you feel like you're chasing a version of yourself you can't ever seem to reach: please use this opportunity to take a breath.

There was so much distress behind these pictures (and the 12 years before them, and the three years after). For me, getting actual help has been key.

If you think maybe there's even a slight chance you're struggling with your relationship with food and your body, seek support. Look into providers who practice intuitive eating and Health At Every Size (HAES). Connect with a therapist and/or dietitian with HAES and IE training. Read Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison. Watch Dr. Jeffery DeSarbo's YouTube series on the neurobiology of eating disorders. Check out NEDA for information and resources. Join support groups IRL or online. Please please please be kind to you.

Believe yourself if you think there's any possibility you need help. As one client in my residential treatment put it, "Healthy people don't spend time wondering if they're sick enough."

Feel your feels and eat your meals y'all!

[gunbustaaa]

hiiiii here are a couple rough around the edges genesis sketches from last month including 2 peters and 1 (one) phil !

[avantgardemetallover]

Maynard James Keenan sketch :)

[voltagebone]

“In the Wake of Poseidon Tribute” (August 2021)

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I drew this back then in honor of my favorite King Crimson album

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[mugbearerscorner]

"That ain't workin'~ That's the way you do it!"

Coping with fridge issues IRL by posting my take on those two iconic characters from Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" music video!

[phantomtomes]

🤘🏻 My favorite genre is musical nonfiction. What about you?? 🤘🏻

[azimsteppe]

[astupidlittleguitar]

JR Flood

excerpts from "time machines" from neilpeart.net

[lessssclaaaayyyypool]

THERES ANOTHER SPIDER ON MY AMP HELPPP WHYY IS HE HEREEEE GET OUT YOU FREAKO IM JUST TRYING TO PLAY THE SEVENNN LIKE LEAVE ME ALONE YOU FUCKER GODMSISHSJSKA

ITS REALLY NOT THAT HARD TO NOT GO NEAR MY BASS LIKE HONESTLY DUDE HONESTLY

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FOR NO REASON LIKE DO THEY WANT TO KILL US?? LIKE THEYRE LIKE INFESTING EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME ALL AT ONCE AND I HATE EVERY SECOND OF IT😭😭

im gonna cry @lerrlalondee Ler please help

[micks-music-blog]

Jethro Tull - Aqualung [Aqualung, 1971]

[justatorontoguy]

Yes

[catatonicsymphony]

scenario ⸝⸝ it's somewhere around the time range 2023 - 2024, it's decently recent, and the member of a band named bastardane has arrived to the party. the drummer, castor hetfield, james’ hetfield’s son! he saw his bandmates on tumblr and decided to try it.

headcanons/identity ⸝⸝ castor is bisexual questioning, he's kinda in the closeted phase where he's not sure yet, he’s also just cisgender, but he's fine with the usage of any pronouns, she/her, they/them, and he/him.

[honkycat-reviews]

Def Leppard- Pyromania

listened on CD from 1983

summary: picture this. a young punk rock lady has reached the end of her collegiate rope and all she seems to be enjoying is fun prog rock. as if from the cosmos, def leppard descended into her listening habits like a merciful angel. i love def leppard!! they are so so fun and talented?! call me basic but i absolutely adore this album. got hysteria and am on the cd hunt for high n' dry!

background: this album is a slight departure from the more heavy-metal attitude the band had with their earlier releases (high n' dry). this is when they introduced the absolute icon Phil Collen on the guitar!!! i think his noise is integral to the commercial pop-leaning success of this album, simply because his licks are so good that you sing the guitar part (which i've only experienced with eddie van halen, randy rhodes, and george harrison).

read below for tracklist & review!

tracklist

rock! rock! (till you drop): this is the most fun way to open this album. epic thirty second opening with a killer guitar lick and iconic vocals?! i'm a lesbian, so the rock and roll male obsession with "rocking" hot chicks isn't entirely lost on me, so i honestly have just chosen to find it funny. like sure. women are fabulous. mutual understanding. in my opinion a little bit of an underrated banger.

photograph: i feel so basic loving this track so much but there's a reason this song did so well commercially. i think it's because this song emphasizes the vocals the most out of any song on the album; other tracks on the album are aiming to showcase all the instruments on a more equal spectral field. this one is much more sing-along-with-joe which works because the lyrics are easy, memorable, and fun. i need joe's syncopated singing "I! NEED! ONLY! YOUR!" injected straight into my veins.

stagefright: this is my favorite song on the album!? this is so underrated?! if i love a song, i am able to get a pretty clear imaginative movie going whenever i listen to it; and this one is CRYSTAL CLEAR. HELL YEAH!!!!! do i have any clue what he's saying? barely. but i'm rocking right there with him.

too late for love: i can appreciate a good ballad and this one is that. a good. ballad. nothing crazy but i'm not going to hate on a ballad. musical diversity! the lyrics on the verses are unique and interesting.

die hard the hunter: this is the final boss music i didn't ask for, and don't really listen to often, but once i get into the groove of this longer piece i can really enjoy it.

foolin': i saw somewhere on here somebody hating on foolin' and it made me oddly protective over the song for a bit. i think i just really like how it's mixed and the background vocals work really well with the lead vocals. is the chorus the most life-changing thing on the planet? no, but those prechoruses are bangers.

rock of the ages: for a while listening to this album, i kinda wrote this song off since it's one of their more popular ones (my innate need to be quirky and different) but the more and more i listened to it and learned the lyrics, i am officially a convert. this is fun as hell!

comin' under fire: we're back on the power ballad train and i think this is the fastest tempo ballad so i'm more of a fan. when i put this cd in my player i want to be doing a quick little dance and making this most of my curly mullet. i wanna dance. so i usually go "this one is really good" and then skip it... (sorry...) guitar is epic!!

action! not words: yeah sure. they're saying "shock me". suuuuure. i've grown an appreciation for this one.

billy's got a gun: now THIS is the power ballad i've been WAITING FOR!!! never skipping this one. the bgv on "can you feel it in the air?" are reason to listen by themself. they clearly had fun constructing this song and all the different parts working together. major banger.

[anxietyde1ty]

you walk through the door.

you’re tired. you’re aching. you’ve just spent an hour driving through rain so immeasurably dense you could cut through a drop with a knife.

you’re working full time. you’ve got your final for your summer biology course coming up at the end of the week, and your internship project screaming its name at you from half a week away.

the house is sweltering. you’re splitting rent with a 40 year old married man from uganda who you had to teach how to cook steak because you asked him how he’d cook the sirloin strips he left on the counter, and he said, “i’ll figure it out. a pot maybe?”

you’re cramming in notes about polypeptides and phosphate groups. blasting a band called fucking *destiny potato* while you look in the mirror and wonder what the hell a ‘gender’ even is and why it matters so much to you. maybe it’s because that blonde bowl-cut kid called you ‘oyster boy’.

what does one do?

well.

start a blog, of course!

hello everyone, from gentleladies to extraterrestrial men to nonbinary creatures from the deep and divine. welcome to the abyss of my thoughts! my name is, well, something i’ve thought about. but for the sake of convenience, you can just call me ‘Xi’ (pronounced sigh with a z) while I figure it the hell out.

I will talk about anything. Like, pretty much anything. From the twisting enigma that is gender identity, to my interpreted metrics of mollusks and crustaceans and other lovely sea life, to my day-to-day ails and to the surprisingly hopeful sentiments I hold within, I’ll be sure to fill this place out.

Instead of letting my musings rot cutely on the shelves of my private discord server, I figured I’d take up the idea of putting them out there. It’s all thanks to a friend of mine (thanks Vi), who has spurred me on to confidence. An additional thanks to my lovely… friend? Confidant? Savant? Saint? Creature? Ka’nyiah— the bottle of sunshine on my hip, and the sweet cork on my lips.

Shall we see where this journey goes?

Indulge me. If you may. If you dare! If you wish.

I don’t know this is the part where I say something prophetic. But feel free to ask me anything!!!! I may also post my music here too??? I dunno. Bye!

[chakramftw]

I'm probably the only person in the OSC who knows what an Emerson, Lake and Palmer is