Mindless Humor

Everybody wish my mom happy 59th birthday in the comments!!! 🥳🎉
We went to Speer's steakhouse for dinner last night. I got the chicken and loaded whipped potatoes. We all agreed it is still not better than Casbah, but it was pretty good. She really wanted to go to Casbah, but I didn't want her to go to the same place I went to for my birthday, and neither do I want to make Casbah a habit. I like my chicken without any extra salt.
They gave her complimentary chocolate mousse, which was the best chocolate mousse I've ever had. I've only had it about three times in my entire life, so I guess that's not saying much. I've also never seen a restaurant where your to-go bag gets its own little "coat rack"; I thought that was kind of cool. The flowers at the tables were real, and the pillows on the chair looked like basketballs...or as my mom explained them, "pumpkins". Man, I really wish I could share this with more than just my parents...they had "Wagyu tasting" (which we didn't do because we're not rich LOL) and all kinds of steak; I know of some people who would have really enjoyed this experience.
Anyway, this post isn't about me, it's about her...we're very lucky to still have her around after last year. Something I didn't share publicly was that she had been fighting triple negative breast cancer. Next Tuesday is the one-year anniversary since her surgery, and she is doing well now.

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1 day ago (edited) |[YT] | 10

Mindless Humor

I took a trip to the Strip District with some friends in Pittsburgh today! Here are some photos:
1&2: The "Tom Cruise" seat at DeLuca's Diner. Boy, I know someone who would have enjoyed that, for all the Tom Cruise movies they've watched. This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. (See video here: www.instagram.com/p/DeLF5zpFEIj/?img_index=1)
3: The chicken sandwich I ordered for lunch at DeLuca's Diner. They were playing "Cruel Summer" when I ate it.
4: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop. It was my second time there. It's almost right across from Strip District Meats...ah, memories...
5: The "Long Cat" I bought at Grandpa Joe's. It as too unique to pass up. (See video here: www.youtube.com/shorts/fgw5lG...)
6: Long cat and his candy haul. I think I'll name him Silky after the candy. Video coming on trying that viral TikTok candy for the first time coming soon!
7: Stamoolis Brothers Co. Greek Italian and Middle Eastern Food. It's a wonderful store, you should check it out! Everything there is super fresh, and the people who run it are really nice.
8: Some string puppets I saw which resembled stuffed animals but moved like marionettes. (See video here: www.youtube.com/shorts/9spsft...)
9: A pretty tea set. Had I looked more closely, (I didn't notice at the time,) I would have seen that some of the tea sets had cats on them. I wish I'd gotten a better photo. You can just see their ears on the mugs.
10: We concluded the day with ice cream at the mall. Since I was broke by the end of the trip, (LOL) instead of getting more viral fruit ice cream or the frozen fruit desserts everyone's been raving about, I stuck with plain vanilla...for today. I will get a video of that at some point. Hey, I'm a very vanilla person, so it suits me...but I'm vanilla in a good way. :))
On an extra note, we also visited Half Price Books. For nostalgia's sake, I bought a couple of discounted Beverly Cleary books for my collection (they were earlier editions) and also the third book in the "Legend" series by Marie Lu. (Champion.) I also bought the Phantom Toll Booth, since it's a classic, and surprisingly, I've never read it.

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2 weeks ago (edited) |[YT] | 12

Mindless Humor

Meet Vance, my latest original character from my upcoming comic, "Vancey Pants", a story about a hedgehog who falls in love with a cat. I have already made three animations with Vance's first design, (Option 1), but I've realized that since Vance is not supposed to embody a person of color as a character (in my mind), making him this shade of brown wasn't going to work. I was trying to stick with realism at first, since I thought hedgehogs were brown, but it was only after I animated him that I realized most hedgehogs are actually a lighter color. With Option 1, It's also harder to see the line definition in the animations, since everything is so dark. Therefore, I'd like your opinion on which design to use...option one, two, or three??? Personally, I like two best.

3 weeks ago |[YT] | 9

Mindless Humor

What is a “rule” in the Orthodox Church?
While many are repelled when they hear the word “rule” because the first thing they think of is legalism, laws, and codes of conduct, in Orthodoxy, a “rule” can also mean a specific set of daily prayers that are said at home outside of church services…a.k.a., a routine in prayer. Instead of saying a prayer here and there every day and figuring out when and where to pray on our own, this ensures that we have a grounded set of prayers that we say instead of being scattered. This is why it is called a “prayer rule”, or, when shortened, “rule”. It is not plural, as in man-made “rules of the world”. This is why we say “rule”, (singular), as a person can only have one prayer rule, and there are no other “rules” in that sense. Not everyone has a prayer rule, as it is a personal choice and not a requirement, though it is highly recommended to strengthen one’s spiritual life. It is open to anyone, not only monastics, though it shares many parallels with the monastic mindset. Many view such a “discipline” as something that is not appropriate for a layperson. This is why we use discernment in whether or not we should have a rule, as we only take it on if we feel we are called to do it. Having a prayer rule is a giant blessing, but it must be done under the counsel of a spiritual father or confessor. This is why a prayer rule is often assigned to a person by his guidance, to help them decide which direction they should take in their spiritual practices.
A prayer rule can consist of any type of prayer: Morning Prayer or Small Compline, a daily Akathist or Psalm, doing a particular number of Jesus Prayers or prostrations every day, or something as simple as crossing yourself when you wake up and before you go to sleep. It can also be person-specific: a task; not necessarily a written prayer. For example: a certain way of preparing to receive the Eucharist the following day, like abstaining from television, gaming, or gorging yourself on desserts past a scheduled time the evening before. (Per Se, 10 p.m.) This is because the new Liturgical day begins after Vespers on Saturday, and we are supposed to treat each Sunday as if it were a mini-Pascha, since it is the day of Christ’s Resurrection. (This is why during Vigil, we switch from saying, “Let us complete our evening prayer unto the Lord” to “Let us complete our morning prayer unto the Lord”.
As stated previously, a rule can vary, according to what someone is able to do, (physically, mentally, or spiritually,) which is similar to how we treat ourselves when we fast. Once someone has taken on the responsibility of saying such prayers or applying these other principles to aspects of their lives, they should treat it seriously. If one can no longer manage a rule, it can be adjusted, changed, or removed to their current needs, by the blessing of their spiritual father. While one can choose to ignore their spiritual father’s guidelines if he does not give his blessing and tells them they should continue their current rule without changing it, for me, it would not sit well with my conscience. I would feel awful if I fell short, and leading a prayer rule by one’s own direction is not recommended. The bond between spiritual father and child is considered binding at a different spiritual level than a regular parishioner going to their parish priest for general advice or confession. Just as the goal of having a prayer rule is to enhance our faith, the goal of practicing a sacred obedience to a spiritual father is to eliminate self-will and grow in our humility. Directly disregarding a prayer rule can be listed under the confessable sin of “negligence in prayer”. This can affect one’s soul negatively and compromise one’s preparation for church, which is spiritually damaging. However, if on certain days I receive a blessing from my family or my spiritual father where exemptions are made to my prayer rule, (just as exemptions are sometimes made for fasting,) I can participate in my activities without feeling the burden of disobedience on my mind. We should not feel obligated to be too strict about it though. Sometimes, there are days when we forget to do our rule, or we are overtired and struggle to complete it, occasionally failing. It is here that we are not accountable. It is only wrong if we intentionally dismiss it. It’s true that even I have dismissed my prayer rule and called it unimportant in the past because I wanted to put my secular desires before my prayers, but that is because I fell into other distractions and let my life get off track. Here, I was at fault, but no one is flawless, and that is not something you can hold against a person. Everyone is tempted, and no one is perfect.
Point in fact, if someone in the church tells you they must “do their rule” instead of doing something you asked of them, it does not mean they are obsessed with “rule following" or "dogmatic legalism” and don’t care about you or the church…it can mean the exact opposite, and they ARE only trying to put their relationships second in their life, right after God and His church. If the saints say that our responsibility is to follow Christ, then that is exactly what we are choosing to do by keeping a rule, just as we choose to keep a fast…by following our faith, heart, and conscience, all within the church and the faith. That is something I will NEVER be willing to sacrifice or give up. We should not let reasoning control our faith, but rather put our prayers before our work-life and busy schedule, and trust that God will sort things out in time. While we we should not feel guilty about skipping church to go to work, we should make a decent effort to have an equal balance between both.
If you’re not an Orthodox Christian and don’t understand what I just wrote, I’m still glad you read this, so thank you for taking the time. I know this post may or may not be reaching a broader audience than my usual targeted genre. I’m not trying to be preachy; I just wanted to share this in hope that it would be helpful to someone. The reason I wrote this is because I lost a person I cared about very deeply and loved due to what I felt was a misinterpretation of my words. This person called my rule “made-up nonsense that had nothing to do with the faith”, and above all, “legalistic”. His words hurt me more than his actions, because I thought that since he was also Orthodox, we would not quarrel over such things. Yet, I still can’t be upset with him, because he was fairly new to the faith, and I was not explaining myself clearly. I know that if he had been aware of what I was talking about, he would have never said what he did, because he also loves the faith, and would never ask me to put it aside. All I wanted was for him to realize that the word “rule” in the church does not mean the same as it would to many various people, and why it is important to me.
In conclusion, I learned that just because someone is Orthodox does not mean they will instantly understand everything about the Orthodox faith, including myself. Sometimes, it can take a lifetime. People cannot always accept everything about it, like the concept of having a spiritual father, because they want to handle matters on their own without having someone advise them on what to do. They find some things “anti-ethical” by looking at precepts logically, and examine it with their head instead of their heart, but Orthodoxy is supposed to be embraced as a whole. If we overthink it, we may start picking it apart in certain areas, and analyzing it in ways we shouldn’t. We may have free will to do as we wish, but where would the world be without someone to guide us, especially in our faith? If we go to a priest for advice but don’t hear the answer we desire, do we still do what we want, which may end up having consequences, or do we listen to him? If he says to refrain from Communion, do we receive anyway? Consider this as a parallel to fasting: if we are given a fast to abide by, do we proceed to deliberately eat meat without a blessing? This is truly a thought to be considered, because without the guidance of a spiritual father, or at the very least a priest, it can be easy to stray. Therefore, I wanted to help others by writing this post, in case they are ever faced with the same issue that I went through, so that they do not also fall victim to such an unfortunate misunderstanding. Who am I to think my words could ever matter to someone…if they won’t listen to a priest, or to writings of the saints because they do not want to learn, they definitely won’t listen to me…unless their hearts are opened, and they are ready to hear. I hope that those who are Orthodox are always willing to discover new things about the faith, but sometimes, we must be fed the pearls of wisdom slowly…one teaspoon-full at a time, until the tea in our spiritual mug is finally sweetened.
Listed below are some informative pages from a book called, “Toolkit for Spiritual Growth” by Fr. Evan Armatas, and a couple of links that explain what a prayer rule is, and importance of having a spiritual father to guide you in it. They explain more than I ever could, and the book is a very good read, which I highly recommend. www.youtube.com/shorts/67ss81...
www.orthodoxprayer.org/Prayer%20Rule.html
www.theeasternchurch.com/saints/orthodox-prayer-ru…
stmichaeltx.org/orthodox-101/prayer-spiritual-life…
catalog.obitel-minsk.com/blog/2019/08/voluntary-ob…
orthodoxcityhermit.com/2017/03/16/what-is-the-role…

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2 months ago (edited) |[YT] | 29

Mindless Humor

If you are Orthodox Christian, would you agree that having a spiritual father is a common/normal practice?

2 months ago |[YT] | 14

Mindless Humor

Today, in the Orthodox Church, we celebrate the Feast of Dormition. (Assumption) This is the day when we bring flowers and herbs to be blessed at the end of the service. Pictured here is a basket of basil which we shared with everyone, and a yellow zinnea.
We went to a monastery for church this morning, and the nuns gave us a very special blessing to take home. I won't say what it was, but we were very grateful to have it. I was invited to help ring the bells, and I also got to stand up and introduce myself and my family at lunch, because the abbess asked everyone there to say a bit about themselves so that all the visiting guests knew each other. I told them of my love for writing stories and wanting to share Orthodoxy with the world, not only through my YouTube channel, but through setting an example for others by just being in church and by spreading God's Word through my writing. I should have added that I dabbled in animation, but I left that part out because in all honesty, I was shaking like a leaf, LOL. I still think I did a pretty good job though. Public speaking is something I have to work on, and I've got to start somewhere.
I've always loved feast days involving flowers, like Pascha, Christmas, and today. Flowers are a very special part of Dormition for me, and one of the things I used to get really excited over. A normal flower, you can get anywhere. But a BLESSED flower from CHURCH...now THAT'S special. It's just like you can get water anywhere, but holy water is different story. I've never gotten to give one of these blessed flowers to someone I love. I wanted to in the worst way last year, but he wouldn't take it from me. It really hurt my feelings, but I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to be upset. I don't think he knew just how important it was to me, but he kept rejecting it over and over again, telling me no. Yet, I lived with it, and kept the flower I was going to give to him, right alongside mine, allowing it to dry out. I can only hope someday I get to give a feast day flower to someone, whether it be pink, red, or yellow, not only to represent a token of my love for him, but to represent the Theotokos.
I would also like to share the YouTube channel and Instagram of the photographer who was visiting the monastery today. He has recently been interviewing the nuns, sharing stories of how they found Orthodoxy and eventually joined the sisterhood. Through social media, he wants to share a look into the monastic life with any young girls who may be interested in becoming a nun someday, or who don't know they have a calling yet, but might find it, eventually, if they want to. While it's not my calling now, I've made a deal with myself that if I'm not married by age 50, I'll at least think about it.
Anyway, Blessed Feast!!! I hope you all had a wonderful day. Stay tuned for next Saturday's post! It's also an Orthodox post, and it's gonna be a long one. (Lots of videos dropping that day too.) As an extra note, thank you for giving my last post 100 likes! Boy, you guys REALLY like cats. It's wonderful to see Princess Powderpuff, Billy, and Spot get so much love.💜
youtube.com/@MyTransfiguredLife/videos
www.instagram.com/mytransfiguredlife/

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2 months ago (edited) |[YT] | 12

Mindless Humor

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAT DAY!!!!! Let's honor our cats and treat them like the kings and queens they are by saying something special about them in the comments!😉😺💜
Here is another drawing of Billy the Tabby Cat and Princess Powderpuff to celebrate my feline OCs! There's also a speedpaint for this which I will link: www.youtube.com/shorts/2vw_yt...
Here are some photos of Spot too, and another linked video of him...we couldn't have International Cat Day without that!!! www.youtube.com/shorts/Al7JAS...
There's also a photo of Jack...I mean, Jake, for old time's sake. He contributed to my channel too. I miss him almost as much as I miss Naida. But I'll honor my channel's dogs on August 26th, so for now, here's my most popular Jake video: www.youtube.com/shorts/Dve0Wb...
The last cat in the mix is the latest edition to my out-of-home kitty collection, Willow. She is one of the sweet kitties down at the farm where I've been volunteering this year to help kids with autism do therapy horseback riding. Here's the video connected with those screenshots: www.youtube.com/shorts/fEvHps...

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2 months ago (edited) |[YT] | 119

Mindless Humor

If you don't like ice cream...shame on you!!! It's such a *wonderful* summer treat to enjoy! (I'm just kidding, if you don't like it, that's fine.) Anyway, here's some lovely art of Princess Powderpuff and Billy eating ice cream together on a summer date in the park. I meant to post this last night, but didn't have the time to finish it until around 1 a.m. today, as I was out the entire day yesterday. I didn't add shading to this one, as I wanted the colors to pop a bit more. It took me about an hour and a half. Anyway, what's your favorite ice cream flavor? Maybe I'll feature it next time my OCs have some! Mine is Billy's...mint chip!

2 months ago (edited) |[YT] | 14

Mindless Humor

THANK YOU FOR 25K SUBSCRIBERS!!!
We're a quarter of the way to a silver YouTube Play Button!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Here is a special drawing of Jax and Ribbit, except they are replaced by my OCs, Billy the Tabby Cat and Princess Powderpuff! I suppose this is what they would look like if they were Digital Circus characters.
Check out the speedpaint I made to see how I created the drawing. It took me an hour to make. (There's a short and a long-form video.) www.youtube.com/shorts/I0-1pM...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TTB0...
Thank you all for being part of such a wonderful fandom! This was truly a one-of-a-kind show, and I hope it stays alive from the works of artists like me who continue to create new original AI-free art to commemorate or give a nod to the characters! 💜🎪🐰🐸

2 months ago (edited) |[YT] | 20

Mindless Humor

I'm making a TADC-themed speedpaint for 25k subs...should I use only the soundtrack from the Jax and Ribbit scene, (everyone was saying it was so beautiful, and I was wondering if it should be appreciated for ONLY the music) or should I use the full audio (music and voice actors included) from the scene with Jax and Ribbit's conversation? ("Your secret's safe with me.")

2 months ago |[YT] | 7