Fulfil - Your Destiny

The scientific bent of my mind and the feminist in me, kind of doesn’t believe in destiny. It’s that thought of having full control over your life, that everything that follows is because of what came before. That it’s all cause and effect and nothing is preordained.

And yet somewhere in my mind is a niggling doubt too. There is that little idea that props up off and on saying not everything is in my control, some things are best left up to fate, that some things happen only if they are meant to be. That the thought of complete control is a fallacy, an illusion.

There is this idea that we are puppets in the hand of a puppet master. The master pulls strings and we dance to its music. We believe we are in control, that we are dancing of our own accord but this isn’t true, it’s a beautiful lie that makes going through life easier.

Now those are the two sides in my head. Which one is real, which one false? Neither one seems to win the battle ever. The cup just seems to keep switching sides.



Right now I’m wondering why the dogs came into our lives? We had so much back then going against having a dog, and here we are with six. We definitely didn’t think each dog through. Each one was just a gut thing, we just knew, and the next thing we knew the dog was family.

It feels like this thing they call destiny, it must have been meant to be. I must have been meant to be in their lives and they were meant to be in mine. But is that all their lives are about? Do they have a purpose to their life?

If’ve you’ve read W. Bruce Cameron’s A Dog’s Purpose then you know what I mean, if not you should check out the book. It’s a must read for all animal lovers.



Anyway, the book is about a dog who is born repeatedly so he can fulfil his purpose in life, one stage at a time. So, do my dogs have a purpose? What is their calling?

One thing I do see in the dogs though for all this questioning. They don’t care. If they have a destiny or purpose they don’t seem too bothered about it. They don’t seem to be living or planning for it. If there is any destiny or purpose they are interested in, it is now.



Like Elu’s current purpose is to see if she can put my jacket to more creative use then my wearing it and Max is constantly looking at me wondering if he is destined for food anytime soon. :D

It seems to me like they don’t care much for the BIG questions and are happy just living in the moment. It’s as if they are constantly fulfilling their destiny, living it one moment at a time. ;)

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Entertain - In All Ways and Forms

When I first started to think of ‘E’ the word in my head was Energy and there is no doubt some of my boys here have unlimited amounts of it. But a weekend of thought and perspective changed.

I choose the word Entertain because this lesson is not just about being entertainment but also being entertained.



If you are a animal person who has spent time watching dogs or cats you know that these guys are extremely entertaining. With no warning the rascal will do something to make you smile or guffaw in laughter.

But they don’t just make me laugh, every time I burst out laughing it seems the dog is laughing along with me too. It’s almost like they know the joke is on them and they find that funny too.

https://youtu.be/92DGByVwjyg

Laughing at yourself seems more difficult even than making someone laugh. But this doesn’t seem to be a pontiff issue for dogs at all.

Then there’s the being entertained aspect. Somehow the dogs keep themsleves occupied and happy. In Elu’s case it’s at the cost of many leaves and shoes but boy is she happy.



I need to learn the various aspects of this word from the dogs. Make my writing more entertaining, be more entertaining, be more entertained no matter what it’s about, and above all learn to laugh at myself.

After all, if I can tell a fine joke, I should be a fine joke too!

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The Changing Face of Women in Video Games

Heroine from Mirror's Edge

Guest Post by Christina Thompson

Princess Peach. Ms. Pacman. Zelda. They’re perhaps some of the most popular classic female video game characters, yet they’re all inherently flawed and display some of the biggest problems the video game industry has seen since its inception. Many video games have been accused of being overtly sexist, and we can see this not just in the way they seem to be oversexualized in their design, but in the narratives surrounding these characters as well. Of course, it doesn’t help that developers seem to be focusing on the outward appearances of their characters and oversexualizing them, with Dead or Alive even boasting of enhanced physics for the breasts of their characters. But often, even when we have a character who seems to be much less offensive at first glance, there are still problems with the way they have been designed.

Princess Peach

 

The examples above are some of the most obvious. Princess Peach serves as nothing more than a Damsel in Distress – a trope we’ve all seen and become familiar with, even outside the realm of video games. Ms. Pacman follows the Ms. Male Character trope, which is “The female version of an already established or default male character”. Ms. Pacman is obviously a female version of Pacman, and sadly, she’d never be able to stand on her own two legs. Zelda, for all intents and purposes, just like Princess Peach: a damsel in distress awaiting the rescue of Link.

Ellie from Last of Us

 

Of course, there are other less obvious examples, such as Ellie of The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite’s Elizabeth, who, despite their obvious superiority crumble to pieces in the hands of male protagonists. As the years go by and more attention is drawn to the fact that we don’t have enough strong female characters in our video games, developers have struggled to do their part. But have we actually progressed? As the face of the prominent gamer changes, so do the games that are being developed. Mobile gaming and casual gaming are now taking top priority in most developers’ books, with Betfair reporting a whopping 500% increase in revenues from mobile devices. We’re now opening the doors for many independent developers who can afford to create the quick casual game for mobile phones, and this provides more opportunities to subvert the established trend of female video game characters that fall short of the spotlight.

Unfortunately, developers don’t seem to be taking advantage. An article on the Washington Post about a 12-year old girl struggling to find characters in her apps that looked like her reveals that the gender gap is still there, and that the platform is still in need of more positive female protagonists and supporting characters.

Zelda

 

But all hope is not lost. In many of the later Legend of Zelda games, Zelda began to play a more prominent role and was shown to be more than capable of taking care of herself. Even the Final Fantasy series, a series that had predominantly male protagonists and supporting characters, had three games with a female lead. Lara Croft of the popular Tomb Raider series even saw a reboot that fleshed her character out and made her much less about her iconic looks and more about the adventures she embarked on. Sure, we’re a long way from achieving complete gender equality in video games, but thanks to efforts like #1ReasonWhy, we’re drawing more attention to the problem, and compelling game developers to start representing women in video games in much better light.

 

About the Writer

Christina Thompson was born in the Golden Age of console gaming, and she's been an avid gamer since the days of the SNES. When not writing about the evolution of the industry, she can be found scouring development blogs and forums, and hopes to someday publish her own JRPG.

Photo Credits: Mirror's Edge, Princess Peach, Ellie, Zelda

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Dedication - Keep At It Until You Are Satisfied

Of all my dogs when I think of the word dedication I think of Senti. Sentmeter is a daschund who came into our lives 6 years ago. Before he arrived if anyone had told me I’d have a daschund someday, I’d have laughed and said ‘a sausage dog, no way!’.

Life though tends have the last laugh and so Senti made his entry. When we brought him home I was sceptical but in no time I was bowled over. And all I can says these many years later is “I love sausages even more now.' :D



Back to the topic… Senti has this one quirky quirk. This one habit I’ve tried so much to correct but I’ve been unable to. He has this obsession to lick and once he starts licking, he just doesn’t stop.

He will lick the same spot again and again and again and… You get the drift. He’ll go on until it feels like your skin is getting thinner in that one spot. Like you don’t need to wash that part for a while, it’s been cleaned so well.

https://youtu.be/wM1gkI2nE2c

After years of training and testing I have found only two ways of stopping the Senti Lick OCD. Squeal, jump up and run away, or wait patiently until Senti feels satisfied with the job he has done and stops licking.

His licking and my droning about it may sound silly, but there is nothing silly about Senti’s dedicated licking.

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Celebrate - Thats What Life’s For

Our morning routine comprises of getting up, finishing absolutions, waking up fully in the process, getting geared up and heading out for walks.

With 2 big, 2 medium and 2 small dogs, this means at least 3-4 rounds of walks. Over a little more than a year now the morning walks have almost become a ritual, it’s our morning puja. But today we broke pattern and suddenly decided after our absolutions that there would be no walk.



The dogs paced up and down as is their routine wondering why we weren’t getting with the programme. It was time to wear socks and shoes, hitch the pants up, gather collar and lease but we weren’t moving in that direction at all.

Slowly they started to settle back down and quiet reigned again in our home. But that was only until we got up again. We got up to start chores. We were headed up to the store room to pull some stuff out of storage, but that’s not what the dogs thought I think, for we had six bodies pushing us up the stairs saying 'me too, me too, I want to come too.'



It’s amazing to watch sleeping dogs suddenly get all animated. It could be something as simple or silly as heading up to the terrace but to them it’s all an adventure. It’s something to get all excited about.

It’s like they seem to be celebrating everything!

Update - It rained here this evening. We got our first showers of the year and we celebrated with a little jig in the rain followed by hot chocolate and pakodas. I haven't make pakodas in a long time but this time I impulsively did. :)

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Befriend - More Curious Less Cautious

I’m not friendless and can proudly claim to have friends, quite a few of them actually, both across the country and the world. Yet I know I’m not someone who makes friends easily.

I am wary of people, an introvert by nature, I take time to warm up to people. Not that any of this is bad, but add the internet to this equation and it all multiplies.

Yesterday’s post brought comments and quite a few of them. My first reaction when I saw them was joy and happiness, shortly followed by a mild panic attack and fear of getting to know strangers.



My reaction took me by surprise and I sat back to reflect as I watched the dogs. Each of my dogs is different, where one is an extreme extrovert, another is the opposite and a total introvert.

But despite their natures they always seem to want to make friends. Bring a new person home and curiosity sets in as they try to get to know the person. Elu and Max tend to be the first to make friends, while the rest slowly follow.

Thinking about it, it seems making friends is the done thing. It doesn’t matter if it takes time. Taking time is fine, going slow at it is ok too, but befriending people is the end goal. And that must be achieved.



It is something I’ve seen the dogs do repeatedly, even with people who are scared of them, like my sister-in-law. They win them over, slowly and surely. :D

The Art of Befriending, now that’s something I must learn and achieve. And the A to Z Challenge is going to help me with just that. :)

P.S. - My stomach seems to be doing much better now and fever's gone down. :) Which is great but looks like a looong weekly menu ahead filled with bland food. :(

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Appreciate - Everything, Even The Little Things

This morning as I lay in bed contemplating what to write for the first post of the challenge, which app to review, I realised I didn’t really want to do a series of app reviews for the A to Z Challenge.

But if not apps, what would I write about? Mulling over this thought I opened my eyes and this was the sight that greeted me.



That’s when it hit me. My life mostly revolves around the dogs and there can be no better topic to talk about. I’ve had the dogs in my life for 6 years now. Not all 6 maybe, we started out with one but in six years the numbers have added up.

Over the years I have learned a lot from them. It’s not just me training them, they do it too! :D So, this Challenge is a series of lessons from the dogs.

Keeping the dogs happy is easy, it doesn’t take much. They don’t look at things as big or small. Everything is equal, every thing is celebrated and enjoyed to the fullest. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a game of ball or a hearty rub down.



And when they are happy they show it, without restraint. Some of my most enjoyable moments are when my dogs are happy. Watching them run about in glee, lick, jump, roll and wag that tail so fast it’s invisible, makes my day.

I’d do anything to see that again and again and when I think about it the surprising thing is that it doesn’t take much. It could be something as little as me sitting down at an odd time to rub and play with set them that will set them off in peals of glee.

I want to / need to learn that from them. Learn to appreciate every single moment, every little thing, every gesture, everything… It would make me a very happy me! :)

I must start by appreciating them, no? Well, I’m off for some doggie TLC. :)

P.S. - My stomach has taken a turn for the worse today leading to a lot of toilet time, fever and painful joints. Please excuse any errors I’ve made. :)

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