So frequently I see people bring up the expense of certain cards in Flesh and Blood. Many times I have seen people make the statement that the cost is prohibitive to newer or younger players. The arguments that you don't need certain Legendary cards versus you do need them to be competitive go back and forth. There is some validity in both views, but as an old school Magic player I want to reflect for a moment on what the Magic scene was like when I started. While the games are very different, the cost trajectory early on for both games is very similar.
I started in August of 1994 at the age of 13. My brother, who had recently turned 15, had gone to California for some science camp and when he returned he showed me this new game he learned called Magic the Gathering. My eyes lit up at the beautiful artwork, the array of colors, and the collectability of it - Deep down, I had always been a collector by nature from Star Wars toys to comics, so Magic was my new addiction. A brief history of Magic for those that don't know, Alpha and Beta were long gone by August 1994, Unlimited was in the past, Arabian Nights and Antiquities had come and gone, and Legends came out a month before I started and was sold out everywhere. There were not online retailers at this time that you could readily search the internet to find some - if your LGS didn't have any, it was gone. The Dark came out a week after I learned the game, and Revised was well into it's release cycle. In fact, LGS stores didn't really exist at this point, not in my area, not like they do today. In fact, most places you went to buy Magic were comic book stores or hobby stores. Finding singles was next to impossible, you basically bought cards from other players, so values were all over the place. I remember meeting a couple that was already getting out of the game and buying packs of Arabian Nights from them for $10 a pop. If you Wiki Arabian Nights, they claim by the release of the Dark pack prices were as high as $5, but good luck finding any - in my area, you wanted them, it was $10. Anyways, here's where it compares to FandB. Below in 1994/1995 were the going rates of top cards (yes, so cheap compared to today prices). There was no Standard/Type 2, Vintage/Type 1 was the ONLY version of Magic. So while you didn't "need" the below cards, you were at a competitive disadvantage without them:

• Black Lotus: $250-$350 UNL
• Moxes: $100-$125 UNL (Sapphire was the most expensive)
• Time Twister: $75-$125 UNL
• Ancestral Recall: $100-$150
• Time Walk: $150-$200
• Library of Alexandria: $100-$150
• Guardian Beast: $75-$100
• Ali from Cairo: $80-$100
• Dual Lands: $10 Revised
• Mishra's Workshop: $30-$50
• Juzam Djinn: $20
• Moat: $50
• Nether Void: $50
• Abyss: $50
• Tabernacle: $10
• Mana Drain: $25
• Bazaar of Baghdad: $10

Anyways, I could keep going, but you get the idea. Interesting to see cards today people think are top cards were less desirably. Bazaar and Tabernacle were considered meh back then, and Juzam Djinn was initially passed over for Guardian Best (protect your moxes) and Ali from Cairo (protect your life). M's Workshop was restricted, and most artifacts back then outside moxes and lotus were also meh. Now looking at these prices, you could say that these are relatively cheap compared to FandB, but that's not accounting for inflation. For comparison, booster packs are now about 300% higher cost than back then. So if you apply that modifier to singles, Black Lotus was $750-$100, Moxes were $300+ a pop, etc. People for FandB complain about spending $250+ to buy Fyendal's Tunic, but that's a single purchase, versus to get a set of Moxes (translated for Inflation) would run you $1,500. To get a full set of Power 9 back then would cost you $1,000+ (or $3,000+ with inflation factored in). That's just 9 cards of a 60 card deck, compared to the average FandB competitive deck running as low as $300 and as high as $1,000 for the entire deck. Did you NEED the Power 9 to compete back then? No, in fact many people would win local tournaments that didn't have any of the 9. Did they give you a competitive advantage? 100% yes, and that's why I consistently finished in the top 3. How did I acquire a set of the 9 between the ages of 13-15? Back then, my LGS awarded store credit depending on where you placed in th tourney, and they would actually let you carry the balance. So I saved up credits until I could buy my first mox, and so on and so on. I only bought 3 of my 9 with my actual money that I saved from allowances and selling my comics - a beat up Time Twister for $50, a beta mox pearl for $100, and a LP Black Lotus for $200. Keep in mind also, when I was playing Magic back then, these were hefty purchases considering the game was only 2-3 years old. No one knew that Magic would be the juggernut it is today, and we all knew the cash value on these could crash at any moment. Numerous TCGs sprang up in the 90's, none of them survived. Magic had no guarantee of success either, and in the early 2000's fatigue set in and the game began to die off. Sadly I sold all of my stuff back then for about $7,000 - Today it would easily sell for over $300K. Buying/investing in FandB at this point is a much safer and more stable market than Magic was. Consistent sales and interest in the game and places to sell of cards exist, so dropping $250 for a Tunic, other than the price tag, is a fairly safe purchase.
My point is TCGs are not cheap to play IF you want to play at competitive levels. Is FandB expensive to start playing competitively? IMO, no, in fact it's cheaper to start playing FandB competitively than it was for me to start playing Magic back in the 90's....and I was only a kid then! My advice for those starting out - Don't look at the price tags on the most expensive cards. Pick a hero you like and learn how that hero plays. Pick up the low cost cards that make the deck work first. Slowly add the more expensive pieces along the way. Learn to walk before you run. You don't need to buy a Tunic day 1, just like you didn't need to buy a Black Lotus day 1. Both are great cards, but until you learn the mechanics of the game both cards did little in the hands of an amateur that didn't fully understand the uses and value.

Lebron James - The easy joke here is that you are somebody who doesn’t really know anything about basketball and just picked the guy you recognised from Space Jam or adverts, but the truth runs a little bit deeper than that. If Lebron James is your favourite player you don’t even like basketball, you like arguing online. The sad truth is, you desperately crave the facade of friendship that comes with the tribalism inherent to picking a side in a popular argument. You exist only to say Lebron is better than Jordan or Curry or Dwyane Wade or whoever it is you and your gang are arguing about that week. Any game of basketball that doesn’t have Lebron in it is completely worthless to you unless it can be used as evidence about a player that Lebron played with/against. Any game with Lebron in it is a nightmare, because you know if he plays badly MJ fans will make fun of you on Twitter, and to you that’s all that matters.
Steph Curry - To be a Curry fan means that, intrinsically, you are spoiled. Your hands are soft and unworked, your mummy still pays for your groceries and you have a manservant to wipe your ass when you’ve finished shitting. You were raised on state-funded winning and excuses for failure. You would never survive even a day in the wild, you shrink from adversity like a child fleeing the hand of an abusive father and you speak like a ten-year old. You have no place in the dirtier arguments of the NBA, you consider yourself above them. Steph and his superteam have coddled you, made you feeble with his asterisk rings. The thought of supporting a REAL player, somebody you have to FIGHT for scares you too much. You are, and forever will be, bitchmade.
Kawhi Leonard - You will never understand why the rest of us are so jealous of you. Kawhi has his rings, he has his fan love and he has an excuse to retire early and not embarrass you with the sight of having to watch him average 7 points a game for the Grizzlies at the age of 36. You support a basketball player who isn’t. Kawhi is now little more than a myth, a legend of the rings of yesteryear that echoes throughout the barren planes of San Antonio and Toronto. All you, as his trusted liege can do is keep the flame alive for as long as you can. The winds may howl and call him a pussy for his load management but as long as you shelter the flame, and Kawhi keeps conveniently getting injured when the Clippers need him, you will be safe. They will always remember the Philly shot. That’s all you need.
Joel Embiid - He can’t keep getting away with this, right? I mean, you put in WORK to get him that MVP, more work than he did, and this is how he repays you? You remember a time when you laughed at the fans of ringless players. AI, Melo, Lillard, Chris Paul, Harden until he saw the light, all bums. Embiid would get you a ring, he was designed to get you a ring, he had to get you a ring. You deserve a ring. You sat through the rebuild, all those injury problems, Ben fucking Simmons, all because you were promised a ring. And every year you would say ‘we lost because of this thing that isn’t Embiid’s fault, we’ll be back next year!’. And for a while, the public believed you. They bought your tales and your lies. Not anymore. They know the truth now, and they hate him for it. Deep down, you do too.
Kevin Durant - How many times will KD ‘seek a new challenge’ or ‘make the move right for him’ before you come to terms with what he is? He’s a nasty ring chaser, and that’s okay. Everyone would respect you more if you just admitted it. You can cope all you want and justify all his moves by claiming ‘toxic environment!’ or ‘the front office hated him!’ but even you don’t believe that, you just say it to save face. The worst part is, you haven’t heard the worst of it yet. KD has gone remarkably unscrutinized by NBA media as a whole, but when people start to question whether the most remarkable unicorn the NBA had seen since Wemby should have more than two state-funded rings, you might have some explaining to do. Maybe he should have stayed loyal to Oakland. Not OKC though, fuck that place.
James Harden - I want you to find a coin right now and flip it, catch it in your hand and turn it over. Take note of what side it lands on and keep flipping it until it lands on the other side. If you can flip this coin 56 times and have it land on the same side every time, congratulations! You have matched the statistical probability of the 2018 Rockets missing 27 consecutive threes. What this exercise should show you is that God is real and for whatever reason, he hates James Harden. Spare your soul and support a real player instead.
Giannis Antetokounmpo - Nobody has ever enjoyed a Giannis performance without already being a fan of Giannis in the first place. He is perhaps the most consistently boring superstar to watch. He never takes threes unless they’re wide open, he has never had a super interesting or acrobatic dunk, he loves free throws and he makes about 14 barely contested layups per game. He has no dribbling bag and his defence relies on simply being large. He is a boring player, and you know this, because that’s why you like him. Your idea of ‘good basketball’ is simply the person who can score the most points with the highest efficiency. You live and die by the box score because you genuinely think that’s the objective way of saying who had the best game. You could be sat in front of an Excel spreadsheet instead of a Bucks game and have essentially the same amount of fun, because your brain has been programmed to release dopamine whenever it sees three numbers over 10 next to each other. You are boring, we all think you’re dull, and when the rest of us are discussing real basketball we don’t want you anywhere near us because your idea of humour is just saying the jokes that Giannis said again. An Allen Iverson comp would kill you on the spot.
Russell Westbrook - It would be easy to make a joke about how much you miss 2017 and how you pretended it still is to try and stop the pain from setting in, but to be honest I honestly think you do still genuinely believe it to be 2017. For you, time hasn’t progressed at all. You’ve been known to play Despacito and Ed Sheeran when you get the aux and you can’t stop talking about how excited you are for Infinity War to come out. And yes, you do still somehow believe Russell Westbrook is a good player. Despite all your friends and family pleading with you to move on and showing you Youtube videos of that time he hit the side of the backboard, you firmly believe that Russ is still cooking on the Thunder. I can promise you, it doesn’t get better. Wake up now before we lose you forever.
Nikola Jokic. You are a 35 year old white guy with a beard and glasses who would, if asked to, happily pay to get advanced basketball statistics. Your life is filled with words like ‘True Shooting’ and ‘Player Impact Estimate’ that the rest of us couldn’t give a single shit about. You are who KD was talking about when he said people watch basketball through a graph. If I showed you a powerpoint saying that Mike Conley is the piece missing from the Suns to make them chip favourites you would believe me as long as I added in enough bar graphs. You have a poster of Ernie on your wall. You have never discussed basketball without double checking a fact on your phone. When you go to a bar in a city you don’t know you make a big deal about ordering local beers, and if the guy next to you didn’t hear you order it you order it again but louder. You have strong opinions on pirating that nobody agrees with. You are probably a centrist. You have no idea how much I pity you.
Luka Doncic - There are two types of Luka fans, the hollow, soulless Mavs fan who physically cannot talk about his team without saying the phrase ‘We just need to get Luka some help’, and the 16 year old jerker who’s brain instinctively goes ‘Luka Doncic is Devin Booker father’ the second they see his name. Both are equally hard to talk to, but at least the Mavs fan has an excuse for their suicidal demeanour. The jerker is barely even a human at this point, a bag of flesh that surrounds an endless stream of catchphrases and recycled memes. Luka Doncic is Devin Booker father. If you laughed at that for the second time, seek therapy or employment.
Jayson Tatum - Bro I am NOT GAY, I promise but IF I was, IF bro, IF I was then of course I would have sweaty man sex with Jayson Tatum, he’s just cute bro it’s not gay to say that bro it isn’t I swear. What? Tatum’s game isn’t good enough to justify the lengths I’ll go to defend him? He’s not really all that and I only love him so much because I think he’s sexually attractive. Nah bro you’re crazy for that one I won’t lie, just because Tatum’s lips are soft like pillows and I like the way his ass jiggles and I wish the NBA would let him play without a shirt on doesn’t make me gay bro you’re crazy for that one.
Zion Williamson - The Great Zion Debate revolves around a single word; ‘if’. IF Zion was to play regularly, he’d probably be top 3 bigs in the league, but guess what? He doesn’t, so he isn't. That should be a very simple thing to understand, but Zion fans love nothing more than to drag everyone into a world full of hypotheticals and make-believe, where anything is possible except Zion’s shitty conditioning being his own fault. Eventually you’ll be spat out of their portal wearing nothing but a lobster bib and a Jose Alvarado jersey, fully believing that it’s AD’s fault that Zion loves food more than he loves his own mother. After all, you can’t say he plays bad if he simply never plays.
Damian Lillard - Oh fuck you’re so cool man, you’re so cool because the player you support is so loyal man, that just makes you so much cooler than everyone else man. Ignore all the times you’ve screamed for him to be traded because the Trail Blazers are a complete poverty franchise, that doesn’t matter because Dame is so loyal and cool man, Dame time baby let’s go! Let’s fucking go! Who cares that the current state of the NBA would be exactly the same if Dame was never drafted and spent his entire life delivering DnD equipment to Portland’s extensive collective of people who couldn’t care less about basketball, he’s so clutch! Ignore all the red flags and hope the Lakers come through with a trade request. You’ll need post-season success more than you think in the years to come.
Chris Paul - When Chris Paul retires without a ring, which is a near guarantee unless Phoenix fix their shit or he begs Denver to take his dog ass for a season, what will you do? You probably gave up on your hopes of a ring around the same time Harden fans did, but man 2021 gave you hope didn’t it? Just for a second you felt what it was like to support a real player, a real man. Not the banana boat enthusiast who choked leads like they were Bart Simpson, but a player who could maybe win something someday. It must have been nice while it lasted. Then, reality set in. To be honest, I don’t really know who I’m talking to with this one. Chris Paul surely doesn’t have any fans left. He barely even has his own family on his side. Ah well, you’ll always have Lob City. And Kim K.
Jimmy Butler - It’s always someone else’s fault isn’t it. Ever since Jimmy realised he could just blame KAT for all the T’wolves failings you’ve carried on that legacy for as long as you can remember. Maybe if Bam plays better against Denver your beloved Jordan surrogate won’t have to be directly outscored by UDFA’s every night. It’s okay though, Jimmy has ‘fundamentals’. You love fundamentals don’t you, they’re that thing you use when you don’t have any actual arguments to say why Jimmy’s better than the perennial MVP candidate you’ve set him up against for no reason. You can whine and cope and say ‘he makes his teammates better’ but if that were true, wouldn’t he have achieved something in Chicago, or with that very promising Minnesota roster? Surely it must be someone else’s fault. Maybe it’s the leagues for hiring referees. Or maybe it’s KAT’s fault again. Who knows.
Kyrie Irving - Kyrie fans are the rare breed of basketball fan that actually play basketball, the problem is that they think they’re him with the handles and the ankle breakers and the and-ones, but in reality they are complete fucking garbage. I will never choose you to play pickup with unless you are the last option and I will never pass you the ball because I don’t want to watch you bounce it off your own thigh for 20 minutes. And dude, can you please stop talking about the Zionist New World Order or whatever the fuck you saw on Twitter last night? I fucking doubt the guy with the MAGA Pepe pfp has links deep in the US government, so forgive me for not believing that they put aphrodisiacs in the tap water so that we spend all our money on babies, just help me guard their sharpshooter or fuck off. And wear some deodorant fucking hell.
Devin Booker - You know, if a player needs All-Star candidates at every other position on the court just to progress to the Conference Finals, chances are that player isn’t very good. This thought does not register in the mind of the Booker fan, who genuinely believes that KD, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton isn’t enough help. Your greed knows no bounds and will swallow you whole one day, yet in your lust for power you fail to turn inwards. Where was Booker vs the Mavs that one time? Why did he only score 12 points vs the Nuggets this year? Is he stupid? Does he not know he can play well in big games? No, no, clearly the Suns just need to trade Cam Payne and Ayton for Sabonis or AD or some other top 5 big, surely that’s where the problem lies right? Wait, what do you mean salary cap?
Ja Morant - Oh man I feel bad for you. You’re probably a guy who just enjoys basketball as a spectacle, who doesn’t particularly care about winning or losing as long as you get to watch the most entertaining players in the league pull off the most ridiculously flashy plays. Isn’t that what we all want, deep down? Maybe you were raised on a healthy diet of Vince Carter or D Rose, maybe you just think a guy who can jump over another guy for a bucket is neat, whatever the answer is you’re trapped with this fucking idiot who can’t keep himself out of trouble. Now the team you touted as the most exciting in the league is the most hated in the league, and through no fault of your own you look like a fucking idiot. Worse still, the sheen has come off the Grizzlies young core and now people actually expect them to start winning, probably without Ja. Consider suing Instagram before Adam Silver demands Ja be burned at the stake for his transgressions against his fellow players.
Trae Young - Yes, we all remember that New York series. Yes, we all thought Ice Trae was hot shit at the time. But guess what? That was 2 years ago and Trae has shown no signs of progressions since. Still a liability on defence, still a massive ball hog and still ugly as fuck. Just face the facts and admit that without these rivalries you create, be it with New York or Luka or whoever, Trae would be the most forgettable player in the league. Three point specialists are a dime a dozen in the post-Steph era, and there’s nothing to really separate your fave from Dame or Paul George or De’Aaron Fox or any other number of downtown dwellers. Also like dude, come on, he’s so ugly. Have some self respect.

Please, feel free to add any events below! Check out the Visitor's Guide for more things to do around town!
Looking to meet up with people? Check out Meetup St. Louis.
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Be sure to continue scrolling past the Weekly Events for Trivia Nights, Live Music, Sporting Events, Local Comedy, and more!
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• Blues on the Block at National Blues Museum
  • Every Saturday until August 5th
  • Come on down to the corner of Washington Ave. and 6th Street from 4 to 7 PM. Bring your lawn chair!
• Brentwood Summer Beats
  • June 9, 2023
  • Join others for an evening of music in Brentwood Park!
• Cardinals HOF Presents Flashback Fridays
  • June 9, 2023
  • Visit the Cardinals Museum for a candid interview in Sportsman’s Park Theater with 2006 Cardinals World Champion Gary Bennett on Friday, June 9th at 4:00pm.
• Cardinals HOF Presents Saturday Signings
  • June 10, 2023
  • Saturday, June 10th is Saturday Signings with 2006 Cardinals World Champion Gary Bennett from 10am-12pm in the Cardinals Museum!
• Central West End Cocktail Party
  • June 10, 2023
  • Mark your calendars for the 7th Annual Central West End Cocktail Party on Saturday June 10, 2023, from 5-10 PM! Enjoy live entertainment, a cocktail competition, and food and drinks available for purchase from CWE bars and restaurants. Grab your friends and family for a fun-filled evening, featuring live music, street performers, fire dancers, roller skaters and more!
• Cherokee Pop Shop
  • June 10, 2023
  • Join others at the Rita Ford Community Center, where talented artisans will gather to showcase their handmade goods, art, fashion, jewelry and more. This is a perfect opportunity to discover new artists, support local businesses, and connect with the vibrant community of St. Louis. With live music, food & drink trucks, the Cherokee Pop Shop is a must-visit event for anyone who loves creativity, community, and shopping.
• Chess at the Brewery
  • Every Wednesday
  • Local meetup group of chess players that meet at breweries on Wednesday nights. They rotate locations each week.
  • See their Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/chessatthebrewery/) for the location this week.
• Chihuly in the Missouri Botanical Garden
  • Running until October 15, 2023
  • The work of world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly is coming to the Missouri Botanical Garden in a stunning exhibition uniting art and nature. With thousands of pieces of blown glass forms in 20 dramatic installations throughout the Garden’s grounds, Chihuly in the Garden 2023 presents these artworks on a grand scale
• Circus Flora presents "Undercover"
  • June 1 - 25, 2023
  • This summer, Circus Flora enters the daring world of espionage! With nods to beloved spy stories throughout the years, Undercover introduces the world’s top double agent who faces an archvillain obsessed with world domination. Our spy has plenty of helpful allies – but the villain has a team, too. Will good overcome bad . . . and how? Aerialists, acrobats, contortionists, and comedians will craft this thrilling story, which will captivate your whole family!
• City Social on Washington Avenue
  • June 9, 2023
  • City Social, downtown St. Louis’ ultimate summer block party, returns on June 9 from 4 to 9 p.m.
  • Free and open to all, the event will take place on Washington Avenue between Tucker Boulevard and 14th Street. This is your chance to kick back, relax and enjoy live music with family, friends, neighbors and coworkers.
• Family Night with Fredbird
  • Wednesdays
  • Join others at Cardinals Nation Restaurant & Bar for Family Night with Fredbird on select Wednesday evenings this off-season! Bring your family down for games, prizes, and meet Fredbird from 6:30-7:30pm.
• Ferguson Farmers’ Market
  • Every Saturday
  • Enjoy live music and special events in a festive family atmosphere, and discover a wide variety of edible delights, including homemade jelly, farm fresh eggs, honey, spices, and meats. You’ll also find an ever-changing array of gift and specialty vendors, selling everything from cut flowers and bedding plants to hand-painted artwork and small-batch soaps.
  • If it’s homemade, handmade or fresh and tasty, you can buy it at the Ferguson Farmers’ Market.
• Golf the Galleries at The Sheldon
  • June 9, 2023
  • Join others for the 6th season of this playable, artist-designed, nine-hole mini golf installation, designed to be inclusive, family friendly and accessible. All proceeds from Golf the Galleries support The Sheldon’s visual arts programming, offering opportunities for local and national artists to share their work with the St. Louis community through free gallery exhibitions and educational programs.
• Juneteeth Celebration in the Delmar Loop
  • June 10, 2023
  • Expect live art demonstrations, including a community mural painting; animated performances from the Red and Black Brass Band, DJ KP and more; bounce houses, face painting and other activities for the whole family.
• Karaoke Wednesdays at HandleBar
  • Every Wednesday
  • Browse the catalog and find your favorite songs to sing! Songbookslive.com/stlredcarpet
• Karaoke Wednesdays at Mack's Bar & Grill
  • Every Wednesday
• Lafayette Square Summer Concert Series
  • June 3, 2023
  • As part of Lafayette Square’s free summer concert series, Power Play Band will perform in Lafayette Park on June 3. Spanning genres such as jazz, classic rock, R&B, swing, Latin and pop, Power Play does it all! Gather friends and family, pack food and beverages, and don’t miss this lively event.
• Landmarks Downtown Walking Tours
  • Every Saturday
  • Landmarks Downtown St. Louis Walking Tours: History, Culture, Architecture, and Exercise: What could be better on a Saturday morning?
• Open Mic Night at Schlafly Bottleworks (Maplewood)
  • Every Wednesday
  • Join others every Wednesday evening and showcase your talents with our Open Mic Night! Open sign up begins at 6:30PM with music starting at 7:00PM. They welcome original material, covers and spoken word! Grab a beer, then play and listen every Wednesday! There are no cover charges and no drink minimums to attend.
• Picnic in your Park at the Arch
  • June 11, 2023
  • Join others at the third annual Picnic in Your Park. Picnic in Your Park raises awareness and critical funds for their mission of park conservation, preservation, education and community programs.
• Rockin' the Riverfront at the Arch
  • Every Friday & Saturday
  • Gateway Arch Park Foundation presents a new series, Rockin' the Riverfront, to bring fun, summer-long, family-friendly entertainment along the St. Louis’ Riverfront to enhance your trip down to the Arch, riverboats and surrounding parks!
• Sensory-Friendly Family Night at the Missouri Botanical Garden
  • June 5, 2023
  • Explore, discover and experience the beauty of the Missouri Botanical Garden at this family-friendly event, which allows children and adults with sensory-processing needs to experience the attraction in a secure environment.
  • Attendees will be able to participate in hands-on activities, play in the Children’s Garden and explore the indoor Brookings Exploration Center, which features a calming corner.
  • Musical guest Low Rent District will perform during the event, and Different Dynamics will join for interactive music activities.
• Shakespeare in the Park: Twelfth Night
  • May 31 - June 25, 2023
  • Often regarded as William Shakespeare’s greatest comedy, Twelfth Night is bursting with romance, music and high times.
  • Shakespeare in the Park is free to attend; no reservations are required. Just show up with your blankets, chairs and picnics and find a spot on the lawn. Shakespeare Glen opens at 6:30. Food by Steve’s Hot Dogs is available for purchase, and drinks by STL Barkeep.
• Soccer Pre-Match Street Party at Schlafly Tap Room
  • June 10, 2023
  • Join others before every City SC home match for a Street Party with the St. Louligans Soccer Supporters Group. They will block off the street next to the Tap Room (now known as Louligan Street) so fans can enjoy good beer, great food, music and fun before they march over to the stadium together.
• Soulard Farmer's Market
  • Wednesdays - Saturdays
  • Soulard Farmers Market is located at 730 Carroll Street in St. Louis, Missouri, a half mile north of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. The market is open Wednesday through Saturday, year round. They feature locally grown and shipped in goods, including: produce, meats, cheeses, spices, gourmet kettle corn, flowers, baked goods, and general merchandise. There are also several different eateries that have many food options, which allows customers the convenience to grab a quick bite to eat and a drink while shopping.
• St. Louis Soap Box Derby
  • June 11, 2023
  • The All-American Soap Box Derby is a youth racing program, which has run nationally since 1934. Hosted by the St. Louis Jaycees, the regional St. Louis race has been held each June on The Hill for more than 15 years.
• Summer Beer & Food Pairing at the Biergarten
  • June 9, 2023
  • This beer and food pairing at the Anheuser-Busch Biergarten will get you ready for summer.
  • The meal begins with pineapple-chicken kebabs paired with Beach Bum, a combination of Kona Big Wave Golden Ale and Mango Cart, and a summer solstice salad accompanied by Stella Artois Solstice Lager. The entrée will be Spanish paella paired with Cutwater Lime Margarita, followed by a dreamsicle float for dessert and a NÜTRL Orange Hard Seltzer to wash it down.
• Sunrise Yoga at Kiener Plaza
  • Every Tuesday
  • Awaken your body and bask in the morning sunlight! This gentle yoga practice is designed to energize and align your body and mind through movement and breath. Bring your own mat/towel and water bottle.
• Thursday Nights at the Museum
  • Every Thursday
  • Kick off your weekend at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park! Each Thursday Night at the Museum will be the most fun, engaging, uplifting, thought-provoking, perspective-shaping night of your week. And there are drinks.
  • Join others starting at 5:30pm for happy hour and pop-up activities, such as brief tours, games, and performances. The main stage comes to life at 6:30pm, light appetizers and drinks are available for purchase until 7:00pm, and the Museum’s exhibits are open until 8:00pm for you to explore!
• Tower Grove Farmer's Market
  • Every Tuesday & Saturday
  • Join others every Saturday of the 2023 Tower Grove Farmers Market Season. They'll have over 100 vendors with local produce, meat, flowers, eggs, honey, prepared foods, art, jewelry, live music, and so much more.
• Twangfest at Off Broadway
  • June 7 - 10, 2023
  • Twangfest, a nonprofit grassroots music festival presented by Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., returns to St. Louis from June 7 to 10.
  • Held at Off Broadway, Twangfest will feature the best in live Americana, country, folk, pop, rock and soul. This year’s lineup includes Black Joe Lewis, James McMurtry, Nadine, The Waco Brothers and more.
• Whitaker Music Festival
  • Every Wednesday until August 2nd
  • The Missouri Botanical Garden is an idyllic place to listen to live music. On Wednesday evenings throughout the summer, the garden hosts free, open-air concerts as part of the annual Whitaker Music Festival.

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Sporting Events This Week	Attractions Around the Area	Comedy This Week
St. Louis Cardinals schedule	Anheuser-Busch Brewery	Funny Bone Comedy Club
St. Louis Blues schedule	City Museum	Helium Comedy Club
St. Louis City SC schedule	Gateway Arch	The Improv Shop
St. Louis Battlehawks schedule	Missouri History Museum
St. Louis Billikens schedule	National Blues Museum
Gateway Grizzlies schedule	St. Louis Aquarium
Gateway Motorsports Park	St. Louis Art Museum
St. Louis Ambush schedule	St. Louis Science Center
	St. Louis Zoo

​

Trivia Nights
Location	Date/Time	More Information
Anheuser-Busch Biergarten	Tuesdays 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm	Trivia Details
Bar K	Tuesdays at 7:00 pm
City Foundry	Thursdays 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Joey B's on the Hill	Mondays 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm	Trivia Details
Nick's Pub	Mondays
Felix's Pizza Pub	Tuesdays at 8:00 pm	Trivia Details
Schlafly Brewpubs (Any Location)	Tuesdays 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Trivia Details
Rockwell Beer Co	Tuesdays	Trivia Details (Reservations required)
The Mack	Tuesdays at 8:00 pm	Trivia Details
The Pat Connolly Tavern	Wednesdays at 7:00 pm
The Post	Wednesdays 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm	Trivia Details
Pieces Board Game Bar & Cafe	Wednesdays	Trivia Details
HandleBar	Thursdays at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Trivia Details
Steve's Hot Dogs	Tuesdays 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Trivia Details

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Live Music This Week
Music Venues	Live Music Around Town
Blueberry Hill Duck Room	1860 Saloon
Chesterfield Amphitheater	BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups
Delmar Hall	Broadway Oyster Bar
Enterprise Center	City Foundry
The Fabulous Fox Theatre	Gallery Pub
The Factory	Game 6 Honky Tonk
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre	Gaslight Lounge
Off Broadway	The Heavy Anchor
Old Rock House	Jazz St. Louis
The Pageant	Joe's Cafe
Red Flag	The Lot on the Landing
The Sheldon	McGurk's
St. Louis Music Park	SoFar St. Louis Secret performances around town
St. Louis Symphony Concert Calendar	Venice Cafe
Stifel Theatre	Yaquis on Cherokee

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Recurring Outdoor Activities
Big Muddy Adventures – STL Riverfront Adventure	Big Muddy Adventures was established in 2002. They are the first professional outfitteguiding company providing access to the wild wonders of the Middle Mississippi and Lower Missouri Rivers.
Gateway Arch Events	There are a variety of things to do along the Mississippi River.
Hidden Valley Ski Resort	Ziplining, scenic chairlift rides, and hiking trails opened during the summer. Skiing, snowboarding during the winter.

Ok so I used to work in a grocery store as a cashier and as anyone who has worked in a place that sells alcohol you Know that checking IDs is a must. So during my shift had a few people buying beer and other types of alcohol one person turned out to be a under cover bars agent ( for anyone who doesn’t know bars is a program that makes sure the employees are check IDs if you fail to do so you get a red card that is bad if you pass you get a green card.) I got a green card because I am a bit anal about always checking IDs with in reason I am going to check elderly people I might do it as a joke to make them laugh.
Anyway one of my last customers comes with his beer he was young like maybe 25. and when I ask for his ID he gets all pissy with me (now I am a female at the time 38 I am 39 now ) so this guy is arguing with me about showing me his ID he finally gives it to and as he says you I am old enough to be your father! I look at him dead in his eyes as giving his ID say I am 38 years old you might be old enough for your beer but you are no where near old enough to my dad. He quickly pays leaves with out saying anything.

I've been looking over the events as they've been coming in and I just keep thinking one thing. That it's time to mourn the Diamond Box. I keep seeing new players ask which Diamond Boxes they should spent their gems on, and the answer is increasingly "they are bad deals".
So I'm mostly going to focus on gated events, because that's typically where I spent my gems. I will mention item cards though.
There are 8 gated events in the next patch. Of those 8, 5 of them have heavy gates placed on Map 3 and Map 3 doesn't award a Diamond Box. So before I get into that too much, I want to mention that I started playing in Oct 2020. Here is the first event I spent gems on.
Dates: 2020-11-12 to 2020-11-16 Type: Clear Skies Diamond Box: One of Steamboat Willie Mickey (35%), Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey (15%), Holiday Pluto (15%), Rose Gold Minnie (15%), Rainbow Mickey (15%), or Vacation Goofy (5%)
Map 4 Requirements (Map 4 Awarded the DIamond Box) : Min Level 1: Vacation Goofy, Rainbow Mickey, Rose Gold Minnie Min Level 2: Holiday Pluto, Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey Min Level 3: Steamboat Willie Mickey
So I'll just note that a new player buying this box has a 35% chance to win access to Map 4 and a second Diamond Box.
Another long event later in the month
Dates: 2020-11-25 to 2020-11-30 Type: Villain (Moff Gideon) Diamond Box : One of Cara Dune (45%), The Mandalorian (30%), Death Trooper (20%), or The Child (5%)
Map 3 Requirements (Map 3 Awarded The Diamond Box) - Min Level 1: The Mandalorian, The Child, Cara Dune, Death Trooper
Huh, look at that. A new player buying a Diamond Box had a 100% chance to get past the gate and get Moff Gideon!!
So those were some of the events that were around when I started. And people were complaining then that the gates were too hard. Oh sweet summer children.
Anyways, back to modern times.
Opposites Clear Event Diamond Box - Fix-It-Felix (15%), Calhoun (15%), Te Ka (15%), Te Fiti (10%), Rose (10%), Prince Ali (10%), Disguised Jasmine (10%), Wade (10%), Ember (5%)
First Gate (Diamond Chest, No Emoji) - Min Level 1 - Wade Min Level 2 - Disguised Jamine/Prince Ali Min Level 3 - Calhoun/Fix-It-Felix
Second Gate (Actually Gives A Diamond Box Now) - Min Level 1 - Ember Min Level 2 - Jack/Rose/Pixel Ralph
Isn't that special? Not only is gate 3 heavily gated and awarding nothing of note, but Gate 4 is heavily gated with mostly characters that are NOT in the Diamond Box. So my title elludes to the general difficulty with getting Diamond Boxes, the mismatch of Diamond Boxes to their events and the amount of Diamond Boxes you need to buy to gain access.
I can't pass this event. I don't have any of those Map 4 people. If I did I might be willing to charge Ali or Jasmine for it. But to gamble for a 15% chance to get Rose or Ember just feels like a bad time.
Electrical Parade Photo Hunt Diamond Box - Figment (20%), Abominable Snowman (20%), Prison Dog (15%), Mister Toad (15%), EP Minnie (10%), EP Eliott (10%), EP Chesire Cat (10%)
First Gate (Diamond Chest, No Emoji) - Min Level 1 - EP Minnie, EP Chesire Cat Min Level 2 - Hitchhiker Ghost Phineas Min Level 3 - Prison Dog
Second Gate (Actually Gives A Diamond Box Now) - Min Level 1 - EP Chesire Cat, EP Eliott, EP Tink Min Level 2 - Sketch Figment
The wrong Figment is in the Diamond Box, Abominable Snowman and Mr. Toad don't help for this event and EP Tink isn't in the Diamond Box. This box is insane. I'm happy that I'll personally nab a Diamond Box here, but if you don't already have these emojis you're in for a bad time. I might actually use gems on one or two of these boxes IF I can max my Series II by then. I won't buy this box with the Abominable Snowman in it. Prison Dog makes me awfully uneasy though. At least Mr. Toad would be new for me.
Favorites Photo Hunt Diamond Box - Maleficent (20%), Belle (20%), Rose Gold Minnie (15%), Caballero Donald (15%), Briar Rose (10%), Madam Pigota (10%), Pearl Daisy (10%)
First Gate (Diamond Chest, No Emoji) - Min Level 1 - Pearl Daisy, Iolite Fairy Godmother Min Level 2 - Garnet Minnie, Amethyst Ursula, Briar Rose Min Level 3 - Caballero Donald
Second Gate (Actually Gives A Diamond Box Now) - Min Level 1 - Pearl Daisy, Iolite Fairy Godmother Min Level 2 - Fashion Minnie, Madam Pigota, Spring Flute Mickey Min Level 3 - Bookworm Belle, Wedding Ariel, Pink Dress Cinderella
First off, the Iolite Fairy Godmother isn't in the Diamond Box but is the easiest way to get through most of this event. Second, Bookworm Belle, Wedding Ariel and Pink Dress Cinderella are ALSO not in this event. Third, neither are Garnet Minnie or Amethyst Ursula. If you don't already have these emojis you're going to need to get lucky with Pearl Daisy or you're not getting a Diamond Box from this event.
Personally I can probably do this event. I got Amethyst Ursula from the recent Mermaid event and got lucky enough to level her up with the Quest Pass. So that's Map 3. Map 4 I'm hoping the July 4th giveaway will level my Fashion Minnie or Madam Pigota. If not I can hit Wedding Ariel with a single charge to get her to 3. And for the final map I'm just hoping I can blitz through the token quest hard enough to get Platinum Donald by the 5th Map. I'm also hoping I can max that Series II box (running theme here) so I don't pull Belle.
Goofy Summer Clear Diamond Box - Max (20%), Sea Creature Goofy (15%), Powerline (15%), Vacation Goofy (15%), Captain Goofy (15%), Roxeanne (10%), PJ (10%)
First Gate (Diamond Chest, No Emoji) - Min Level 1 - PJ Min Level 2 - Santa Goofy Min Level 3 - Powerline, Vacation Goofy, Captain Goofy
Second Gate (Actually Gives A Diamond Box Now) - Min Level 1 - Roxeanne Min Level 2 - Platinum Mickey, Santa Goofy, Pancake Goofy Min Level 3 - Sea Creature Goofy
Let's just all marvel for a moment at the utter INSANITY of that first gate. A 10% chance for PJ, a QP exclusive that's not in the Diamond Box and then a bunch of exclusive level 3s. All to get a DIAMOND CHEST (not an emoji). I can't do Map 3 at all unless I feed Vacation Goofy TWO charges. I actually might if I have Platnum Donald by then, because it would mean I could go all the way and snag Garnet Minnie (and possibly Santa Goofy). But just WHY?? I understand these prizes are great and they want to make it hard to finish the maps.... but why is the first Diamond Box so heavily gated behind TWO crazy gates in each of these events?
Winnie The Pooh One Day Clear Diamond Box - Honey Cake (25%), Honey Bee (25%), Flower Piglet (25), Bunny Tigger (25%)
First Gate (Diamond Chest, No Emoji) - Min Level 1 - Baby Chick Eeyore Min Level 2 - Flower Piglet, Bunny Tigger, Honey Bee Pooh
Second Gate (Actually Gives A Diamond Box Now) - Min Level 1 - Honey Cake Pooh Min Level 3 - Flower Piglet, Bunny Tigger, Honey Bee Pooh
This is actually a pretty solid DIamond Box to buy in a vacuum, but because Eeyore isn't in there you can't get past Map 3 with a single Diamond Box purchase. And even if you did you'd still have the second gate to contend with.
I might end up grabbing this box if I have spare gems, but we'll see. My Honey Bee Pooh is 2.5 and my Flower Piglet is 2. So if I buy 2 boxes and don't get Bunny Tigger in either, I can finish the event. We'll see how many gems I have at this point. Most likely I'll just miss out on this event.
So there we go. Five events where the Diamond Boxes don't help you get a Diamond Box because the Diamond Box is poorly matched to the event, the requirements are high and the first Diamond Box is double gated. I could really understand making the final map have high requirements, especially with the caliber of prizes they are offering. But new players just can't make progress anymore. And the Item Card Diamond Boxes are getting more and more mismatched as well.
If you want to know what to buy, the best advice I can tell you these days is "Quest Pass". These esclusives keeping coming back and back and back as requirements. If I had bought every Quest Pass I'd have no trouble with rhe Favorites Photo Hunt (Ursula would be level 3), the Goofy event would be a joke (Santa Goofy + Platinum Donald) and the Rainbow Superstar event (which I didn't discuss here will be easy with Platinum Nemo).
The Diamond Box is dead.

Race Information

• Name: Harryman Triathlon
• Distance: OLY-ish
• Location: Hudson Valley, NY
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/pros/1409805

Goals

Goal	Description
A	Knock off the rust
B	Win

Training

Oof. Honestly I've been all over the place this year. On top of trying to be a part time pro, I also have a full time job and an 11 month old. And since tri is still a glorified hobby for me, I'm 100% committed to making him and my family #1 and not letting training get in the way of play time, afternoon walks, dinnertime, bedtime stories.. so to say I've been training about the same volume as an MOP age grouper may be generous.
Still, somehow, I seem to be getting faster. Either just a decade of consistent work stubbornly not letting go or I'm just willing myself through it. My biggest blocker to being really good at this sport is my swim. On my best day I used to be about 1 hour in a full IM, which would basically lose me most races. I think I'm down to 56ish now and I've still got some time to improve, which may allow me to hold on to the back of the back pack. And I think I can bike run through enough people to not embarrass myself, lol.
That's basically why I did this race. To test if I could swim hard through a full event and not spit out the back of a strong AG field. As the top AGers in tri are commonly as good as the back pros in the water.

Swim

The Bad: Got absolutely SMOKED by a group of 2 guys that finished while I was still making the last turn. Like, crazy how much they beat me by. Quite discouraging given my goals today!
The Good: I'm still gonna call this a success, and the best part of the day believe it or not. I honestly didn't feel great, but at the end of the day I was the fastest swimmer in the top 20ish of the overall field which I don't think has ever happened before. And I found out after the race that the group of 2 were recent D1 swimmers, so I felt a little better about myself.

Bike

Welp, this is why you knock the rust off!
The bad: My shoe fell off during a flying mount so I had to get off the bike for 30 seconds to go get it. I took two wrong turns on the course because I simply missed a couple signs that were perfectly well placed. No excuses there, just was in a zone and was an idiot. And apparently my handling isn't as good as I thought because on a long downhill I hit about 55mph and got too scared and had to ride the brakes for a few minutes. I'll blame having a baby for that one I guess.
The good: Had an all new fit that I had just finished tweaking the night before, so I had no idea how it would feel. All new front end, high risk with zero testing, and happy to say I loved it. Comfy and fast. And through it all, still had the fastest bike split of the day.

Run

Oh man, another mess.
The Bad: I usually get through an IM with no bathroom stops... so TWO in an OLY while wearing a one piece tri suit, yikes. Still haven't figured this out. It wasn't on-course nutrition, as I woke up with my stomach bothering me. I hoped it would just sort itself out, but nope. An early port-o-potty in the first mile wasn't enough. I tried to just deny it but halfway I ran by one by about 30 yds before I admitted I wouldn't make it back to the start and ran back in desperation. And even after that, any time I pushed it past a hard jog I felt like I was putting myself at a high risk of regretting being there. I basically had to coast in the last 5k.
The Good: No one caught me somehow! It was a super hilly course, so that seemed to slow everyone down enough to give me the breathing room I needed to hang on. I had one of the faster runs of the day still, but honestly not where I need it to be this year. Hoping this was just an anomaly.

Overall

Despite everything, I won the race by about 5 minutes. So I felt good about that, In years past, that many mistakes would have cost me even a shot at a podium. So it's a good sign that I still have hope not to embarrass myself against some pros this year. TBD.
This is exactly why I did this race, to work out the kinks and see where I stand vs. last year. Both missions very accomplished.. although there were so many kinks I'm gonna do a couple more before Maine 70.3 for the REST of the rust.

Next

Escape the Cape in Cape May, NJ is this weekend. Going to be a very interesting test because I had the best bike/run in the field last year and still missed the podium, lol. It's a challenging ocean swim which REALLY challenged me. I'm hoping I've improved a lot since then. I know my bike has but it'll be the first 1:1 swim comparison I've had. NJ State Triathlon will be another next month, and there's always a strong field there with at least a couple other pros, so really looking forward to that test!
As a 39 year old rookie "part time pro" with a job and a baby, I'd consider not last in a pro IM field to be a worthy accomplishment, but I'm still going to cling to my MOP goal. My training volume says it's a ridiculous goal, but my stubbornness says maybe...
Made with a new race report generator created by herumph.

Looking to get $250 for iPad and $350 for Nintendo Switch Bundle. Do not want to part out the switch. Pics Below.
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Switch Bundle
Nintendo Switch w/ all accessories that come out the box
128GB Micro SD Card
Pro Controller
Wii Sport
Mario Odyssey
Mario Golf
Mario Bros Deluxe U
Luigi Mansion 3
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Nintendo Switch
https://imgur.com/a/EjVdawd
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iPad 9th Generation
https://imgur.com/a/fvvxnUJ

pals, friends, writers, designers, stickerers, mailers, all of YOU: thank you so much for this beautiful spring mail! i'm sorry that i'm gonna speed through this but please know that i treasure each card i get, i look at all of its details and whistle appreciatively at the artistry and choices that you put into you mail. it continues to be awesome!!! to be a part of this community.
u/wabisabi_sf - thank you for the loupaper earth day postcard, such bright happy colors
u/Lethbridge-Totty - thank you for the spring time flowers meta mail, so pretty
u/caknuck - thank you for the washi meta mail, many sparkling tapes, i loved it!
u/KoreWrites - thank you for the we moved colorful postcard, i hope you're enjoying the settling in and creating a home <3
u/jane_q - thank you for the most amazing smutty novel cover, it took my breath away, i adore it and slapped it on the wall of my home office - this postcard collection must be fantastic, it's a set right?
u/xxturtlepantsxx - thank you for the corning museum of glass postcard, i can just imagine the wonders you saw
u/blue-wanderer-quartz - thank you for the amazing tiny flower postcard with haiku! about grapes i think!
u/HexagonalRainbow - thank you for the spring cat in flowers postcard, looove the glittery silver stickers (your stickers seem to always be in line with my taste!)
u/comingtogetyoubabs - thank you for the RAoC anniversary postcard with cute the brazil yellow truck stamp - heart eyes!
u/shipping_addict - thank you for the NYC postcard with some nice books mentioned
u/retrorabbit79 - thank you for the bunny hug card! i used it as a bookmark for awhile, so cute
u/likeablelobster - thank you for the washi moles meta exchange card! and for giving me some of my own washi. ahhhh. it's really just ingenious the way the moles have human items in use at their own scale in their homes, like the wristwatch face used as a wall clock. the most clever washi i've ever seen for sure
u/PinkPengin - thank you for the random kindness friday, which i actually received on a friday. i need to integrate kindness friday into my life. i really like it. thank you so much for this idea that makes the world a better place.
u/-random_ness- - thank you for the hedgeHUG card, now i know that a group of them is called a prickle !! :O
u/DianaPenPal - lovely intriguing image of a leafy plant that reminds me both of the night sky and the deep ocean
u/RideThatBridge - omg i forgot i claimed this for Reading is Fun week, so cute, the library card envelope and notecard, thank youuuu
u/not_napoleon - national postcard week - thank you - your door photography is really really cool, i like how you included the background info about the doors’ art features
u/hato_mailing - national postcard week - thank you - did you design this ? it’s really charming!
u/mumbagoespainting - thank you for the meta exchange size card, WOW, this is not only beautiful (i stared at the watercolors for quite awhile, felt like i was in a museum) but it was very clever how you took on the "size" prompt and made three cards in one of different sizes. i'm really grateful and admire your creativity!
u/KeenEvergreen, u/PinkPenguin, u/todayisfab, u/sebisrude x2 - thank you for the for meet up postcards! hope you all had so much fun carding and getting to know each other more! lol, this group and the meet up group below both wrote about the snacks they were snackin' on
u/littlemermaidxx, u/ninajyang, u/wabisabi_sf, u/shadesoflanternhill, u/luxsloth - thank you for the for the meetup postcard! hope you all had so much fun carding and getting to know each other more!

I thought this would be a good place to ask this question:
I happen to have AmEx platinum, business platinum, and "Blue Cash Preferred" card which has become my default card for personal purchases. Is there some place that has a simplified view of the trade offs between the cards?
I started writing this post and then decided to surf a little and found that AmEx has 18 different cards. The question started because I saw yet another AmEx card being advertised.
This AmEx page has the ability to compare cards and features. So... rather than ask the question, I'll just post what I've found so far.
It seems for me, for general purchases, I should use the platinum card assuming I can redeem the points at better than 1 cpp and I want to go through the extra work needed to redeem the points.

Happy Pride!
Even as Pride events have begun and many people are able to celebrate their joy alone and with others, there is a storm cloud that has been looming over trans people this past year. Many states in America and countries around the world have proposed and passed legislation to ban access to life saving healthcare for trans people, and especially trans youth, preventing them from transitioning and living their lives. Other efforts have sought to force trans people into dangerous situations with regard to using public bathrooms, barred trans athletes from participating in sports, prohibited educators from using people’s chosen name or pronouns, and more, affecting nearly every facet of life. Part of the rhetoric that is underpinning these attacks by right wing actors is the belief that trans people are a new phenomenon, a new age fad that is overtaking people (and especially young people). This premise is built on misinformation and a lack of knowledge of our history, and specifically queer history.
People throughout history, from recorded history and history passed down by oral traditions, have spoken about what we would now consider to be trans history. We want to highlight their stories and to show anyone interested that trans people are not a new fad or a social contagion, but rather an identity dating back to the earliest recorded history.
Trans people have always existed and will continue to exist, and we should celebrate that fact even in the face of great oppression and dire conditions.
Trans history is a new field, and one that has become highly political. Those who may be considered trans or gender non-conforming have often been erased by cisgender historians in the past and even the present. The premise is that, since “transgender” is a new word, introduced in the 20th century, the identity is also new and cannot be placed on those who did not understand it. This creates a paradox, however, and results in erasure, as nobody before the 20th century can be trans. This has also been the case for others in the LGBTQ+ community. Examples of this can be seen with the hashtag and meme “really good friends” when describing historical people who were very likely gay.
Here we want to encourage a broader and more encompassing definition to allow stories to be told and to show the beautiful lives and history of people often erased from acknowledgement. Susan Stryker in Transgender History has established a different standard than being based on identity alone. She states that trans history is to “refer to people who move away from the gender they were assigned at birth”. We would like to encourage anyone who has a story to tell, based on this standard, to share the history of anyone who would be considered trans, identified as trans or trans adjacent, or people who, as Judith Butler has described, performed as a different gender than was expected of them, to share here. Some flairs have already agreed to share history, but this can be open to anyone who posts a good faith attempt.
Let us celebrate all of those who came before us, and tell their stories so that they can bring joy to others now. To shed a light on those who were often forgotten, and to dispel the misinformation that trans people are a new phenomenon.
And, don’t forget:
Trans rights are human rights!

I feel like crying today. Men and women out there, Mental Health is really important. In a country where we of 1.4B+ , value for life is taken for granted by oneself and by others.
Please please please please please please please please if you don't feel normal or you don't feel your mental abilities at par with others, I request you to please get yourself checked and diagnosed. There is absolutely no harm in it. After you've diagnosed what exactly you suffer from, the journey ahead is only going to improve.
I just don't know what to write. I have a racing mind, racing at terific speeds, one which I can't control. I always forget things, I am always labelled lazy, good-for-nothing. I don't do it deliberately. I just can't control my mind. My dad always suggests me : "Live in the moment", "Live in the moment", "Don't daydream" ....
Even in school during team selection, I would be the last person to be selected by either of the captains. I was never good at any sport, neither academics. As my mom dad would call it "Abhi tak tuje dakkha maar maar ke yaha tak pauchaya hai, kuch kaam ka nahi nikla tu, timepass bekaar". I am sorry yaar honestly.... I try, but I always can't keep my mind at one place, my mind always keeps bouncing from one thing to another.... I keep getting bored of any new stuff. I don't play any mobile games too if that's what you are wondering.
All day, I just open my laptop and my hands automatically type reddit in one tab, linkedin in another, youtube in another. Full day I keep bouncing between them. I cannot keep my focus at one thing for more that 2 minutes, I've noticed that, and more the thing is important, more I will not do it. Its not that its due to the addiction of social media, or screens, from childhood I've been like this.
I deep-dived as to why this happens, turns out I may be having ADHD. I saw a video which I cried while watching. Till now I wasn't able to articulate how I felt, but there is a ted talk where she exactly describes her story, what goes on inside a ADHD mind, and I was really awestruck to the similarities.... It was like : "yeh toh meri story from 1st eye perspective bata rahi hai" ....
I've always felt this way, always distracted by every little thing. Getting to study has been a heavy major task. I still study at the last moment, pull an all nighter before exam, where my friends have finished their syllabus and rote-learnt the whole damn book the 2 days earlier and have got tight sleep also. I have notice a loit of little nuances where I am not able to perform, and its a cakewalk for everyone else.
I was only yesterday years old when I realized that what is happening with me is not normal. I just can't control my mind yaar, its like having a very powerfull horse where you don't know who has the leash / control. I cried yesterday thinking of the fact that my whole education life got lost because there was no one to really tell me that there is a problem with me. All I thought was everyone was like me, they were better in controlling in themselves. But I don't think so yaar. My small brother got 95 in 10th boards, I on the other hand had got 78. Same happened in 12th. I am at fault bhai, I know, but if there were someone with me who could've realized that I have a problem, fixed it, maybe I could've done a bit better. Its like failing at being normal.
I am not complaining/ comparing : but my friends on the other hand have girlfriends, go to movies, gaav bhi jaate hai waha ka kaam karne, shaadi meh bhi jaate hai, ghumte-firte bhi hai, fir bhi muj seh humesha aage rehte hai.
I here on the other hand, don't do any of the above, not that I am complaining or want to do.... But still even so much effort, am not able to achieve what they achieve. For a long period of time, I used to think there's a problem with my will power, I am being lazy.... But sacchi meh yaar I can't remember stuff properly.
I was always the child with great potential. All my teachers from all my standards used to say this in every openhouse. (Even in the video, she says the same thing). I couldn't make anything of myself. My parents did their best, they don't know about mental health, they think its a whim of the mind to be lazy. Not their problem, its our society that's responsible. Their dharma was to educate me finely, my dharma was to make them happy by gaining good marks. I still sometimes feel astonished that my small brother did it, I couldn't do it.
I request you all to look around you, if you find someone jo extremely mehnati ho, fir bhi life meh aage nahi badh raha hai, uske saath baitho, baat karo, tumhara bhi bhala karega uparwala. Please, don't let them waste their lives as I did mine. It might be Adhd, general anxiety, depression, kuch bhi hosakta hai, please baat karo.
Khud ka bhi khayal rakho. I don't know how to say to my parents that I want to get diagnosed for ADHD. Pehle toh maarenge, fir bolenge kuch kaam ka nahi, fir bolenge paisa waste karneka naya tareeka, aisa sab kuch nahi hota, khayali pulao math pakao kaam karo.
Kabhi kabhi sochta hu literally toda aur dam lagaya hota, ya pehle malum pad gaya hota toh meh shaayad mom dad ko khush kar pata.
Video Link for adhd (I am honest, keep a handkerchief with you, I literally cried) : https://youtu.be/JiwZQNYlGQI

This is a follow up to my previous post.
The NDP campaign wasn't horrible. Danielle is reduced to a very small majority. If this was any other province with multiple parties this would likely have been a minority government. But because it was two it's a very tiny majority government. But it was also a missed opportunity. They didn't win in an election they could have won.
If you take a look at the polls there was a moment in the second week where the NDP led. That in my opinion is where things derailed.
Successful Campaigns are actually very formulaic:
Incumbent have it easy. They are the default choice because that's who people voted in last time and you really don't have to demonstrate what a government under you looks like peope see it. Incumbents can generally follow two paths:

1. Promote all the good things they've done and how the challenger poses a risk to the good they've done. Think Trudeau Bus Ad or Morning Again in America.
   
2. Things are bad but they could get way worse if you elect the opponent. The UCP used this strategy and Liberals used it against Harper in 2004.
   

Challengers have it harder:

1. Convince people that we need change
2. Convince people that change must be now and you're the change we need.

The problem for most challenger campaigns is that they make a great case for why we need change they often forget to tell people why they should be the that change.
That's where the NDP failed. The NDP campaign successfully convinced people that we need change in Alberta. But they failed to convince people that the change should be them and now.
Comparable campaign
Imagine it's the day after the election. The incumbent party is plagued by scandal and infighting. You're the challenger and you're running against the tide of jurisdiction ideology. The incumbent won re-election but is significantly weakened.
If this sounds like I'm talking about the NDP campaign it would be safe bet but I'm actually talking about Harper after 2004. He faced many of the same challenges as the NDP did. The only difference was he came from the right and the NDP from the left.

1. Canadians were generally more Liberal and comfortable with liberal policies
2. Harper was saddled with the legacy of George Bush and neo evangelical social conservatism
3. Harper was saddled with his own support for Iraq war and anti - same sex marriage policies

The 2004 and 2006 case studies for anyone looking to unseat the Tories from the left in Alberta. So what can be learned from it.
Define or be defined
This is where I think the NDP campaign went wrong.
The entire campaign was digging up dirt on Danielle. They focused so much on attacking Danielel they failed to define people what an NDP government would look like.
But it inevitably overshadowed any other message the NDP has especially about what an NDP government looked like.
This opened the door to the UCP defining what an NDP government would look like. Their solution was effectively to scare Albertans into thinking the NDP was a genuine threat to the province.
Nothing represents this better than the Danielle Smith Weather Vane sign. It was great initially as it softened the support for the UCP. In the first week we saw a shift towards the NDP in the election. But in the second week replace it with a positive message like this is what we'd do in healthcare, third week education, fourth week cost of living.
Keep it as simple and easy to understand messages. For example healthcare:

1. Picture of a torn up healthcare cards and the large phrase healthcare should not look like this
2. Side this what the NDP would do on healthcare: replace cards with one on your Alberta driver licence or Alberta ID, new money for healthcare, hire more doctors and nurses, etc.

One of the impacts of defining yourself is that it negates the impact of your opponents attacks. Good example look at Harper in 2004 and 2006:

1. In 2004 he ran a campaign which tried to convince people the Liberals were corrupt and you saw halfway through he pulled ahead but he forgot to tell people who he was and what he stood for.

Liberals in turn defined him as being a threat to our civil liberties, with a hidden agenda which included send troops into Iraq.

1. 2006 Harper ran a policy a day campaign. Focused entirely on demonstrating what an CPC government would do. This allowed Harper to define himself before the Liberals had a chance to define him.

Liberals still ran attacks again which failed miserably and the Liberals had to even pull one.
Another example was Obama 2008. He denied himself early as a post racial candidate which protected him when his pastors sermons came out and the picture of him Kenya came out.
The pastor sermons could have doomed his campaign but because he had already defined himself early he successfully distanced himself in his race speech. A speech most people never watched but narrative of a post racial candidate existed it was already set so just saying he gave a speech on race wa enough to give him credibility on it.
Don't run away from yourself
One of the moments that made me cringe was seeing Rachel Notley in Blue next to Danielle Smith in blue in the debate. The visual was effectively hey we're the same. Which isn't the message you want send when you are saying Danielle is crazy.
You are the NDP deal with the fact it comes with some bagge. Being the UCP also comes with baggage.
Baggage can be overcome look at your cousins in BC. In 2017 they had the baggage of NDP govrement of the 90s and now are effectively a stable governing party.
Better option would have been to stick to a message which defines your government in light of your ideology. In other words play up the positives of your brand don't run away from it.
Running away from your brand actually gives credit to the incumbents attacks. It paints a picture of a group of people with a hidden agenda who cannot be trusted.
Again I point to Harper in 2006. He didn't run his campaign like he was a Liberal. Instead his policy announcements were from the right but not threating:

1. GST cut
2. Child Daycare tax credit
3. Transit tax credit
4. Fitness tax credit
5. TFSAs
6. Child sports tax credit

Find the equivalent from the left. Albertans want positive change too. They want something done about cost of living, state of healthcare or education. Some ideas to play up:

1. Regulating auto insurance rates and electricity rates
2. Building schools or hospitals
3. Improving transit
4. Deal with impacts of climate change
5. Fund public services

Two major oversights in this campaign here. The back drop to this campaign was literally massive forest fires. Which could be balme on climate change and were made worse by UCP cuts.
The other one as the spike in auto insurance and energy prices in Alberta. This campaign ad writes itself:

1. When UCP came to power Alberta had lower auto insurance rates than BC. While British Columbians have seen their cost for auto insurance fall albertans have seen year over year increases while insurance companies deny our claims.
   
2. Under a new NDP government we will bring back auto insurance regulation and ensure that Albertans are protected and pay their fair share.
   

This great message:

1. Everyone knows BC has an NDP government and if their rates are falling the NDP can take credit for it
   
2. It offers a genuine plan which Albertans are requesting.
   

Don't expect people to find your policies
Because they will not.
Most voters want your vision and policies to be given to them. They want them communicated to them in a way that is simple and easy to understand.
The idea is that they will go to your website to find the policies is ludicrous. You need to put those front and centre.
Best idea take the signs you saw on the street. Fine week one focus on attacking Smith. But week 2, 3 and 4 turn them into a policy a week idea;
For example week 2: picture of torn healthcare cards message healthcare shouldn't look like this and list of the things you'd do in healthcare like tying healthcare cards to driebes licence and Alberta IDs
Week three could be education week four could be cost of living. Etc.
Positive messages do work
Think back to most campaigns where a challenger took on an incumbent. The ones where you are successful you tend to have a message of hope and forward looking:

1. Masters of our own house - Quebec Liberals 1960
2. Choose forward - Liberals 2019
3. Stand up for Canada - Conservatives 2006
4. Hope. Change. - Obama 2008

I find it so frustrating when people try to dismiss people's lack of romantic experience by bringing up the "make friends" card. They say that if you're whining about never being romantically loved, whilst also having platonic friends then you're just whining about not being able to have sex which just means you need to grow up and control your horniness or just get a sex doll. They think that romance is meaningless (whilst also being married and having kids and blah blah blah) - hypocrisy - why don't they divorce their wives and put their kids up for adoption if all means so little to them? I mean, wouldn't they be able to spend more money on the all-saving therapy that they love to prescribe us so much?)
But it doesn't make sense (if you didn't think so already). People invest much less into platonic friendships than romantic relationships. No one commits to platonic friendships in the same way as romantic relationships. No one buys a house with their friends. No one sleeps with their friends , or shares bedrooms with their friends. There is no platonic equivalent to marriage. No one adopts kids with their friends. No one shares bank accounts with their friends.
Friendship also isn't exclusive. If a friend is nice to you, they're nice to others too - even people who aren't their friends, people are nice and friendly to strangers all the time, it doesn't mean anything.
And especially as an adult, no one has time for friends. After spending several grueling months going to meetup.com events and going to hobby groups after work and going to nightclubs, I've finally found a group of friends. But these friends are people who I at the very most meet up with once a week, but usually once every other week, sometimes once a month.
And when we hang out, they'll drop me in an instant as soon as another woman gives them an inch of attention. If we go to a nightclub and a girl hits on them, poof, he's gone for the entire night dancing with her, making out with her, and taking her to his place. My existence is comepletely forgotten.
Why in the world would I value my friendships when others see as such low value? The value of it clearly pales in comparison to the value of a romantic relationship.
And maybe some would find it egotistical to care about such things but if you don't have the self awareness to realize it yet, but *shocker* humans are egotistical. Humans want to be happy. Humans want attention. Humans want to be loved. Humans want to be admired. Humans want to be special and unique, we don't want to just be hollow NPCs wandering around the world aimlessly.
That's what I am and that's what a lot of people here feel like, but if there was one person in the world who behaved towards us in a way that was special and unique to us, behaved towards us in a way that wasn't reserved for anyone else - exclusive to us, then we'd feels like MCs. We'd be main characters in the eyes of the one who loved us. And I can't imagine that feeling anything less than amazing.
But no, at the moment I'm barely an NPC in everyone else's mind. People are friendly to me, but then they turn around and are just as friendly to strangers, sometimes even friendlier. People may hang out with me, but they'll hang out with others at the same time. They'll never hang out with me alone. They'll never speak to me alone, unless they're waiting for something else and just using me to pass the time. I'm just a side quest - no - I'm an NPC they interact with whilst they wait for the next level of the side quest to load. I'm always the one who has to make plans to hang out. Which usually get rejected with a "too busy" most of the time.
Even when I manage to go on dates, I'm the one giving out all the affection, and compliments, and planning the date, and escalating things physically, whilst she just mindlessly recieves it. And then ghosts me at the end of the date for reasons I'm not privy to. But usually the date never happens because they're apparently always "busy". They're not busy. They're too busy for me. I have no value in their eyes.
How the fuck is something like that supposed to make me happy?
But like with most normie takes on loneliness, it's just a simple way of belittling us. It's gaslighting. It's schadenfreude, nothing more. They don't mean well, they're not ignorant, they're purposefully lying to hurt us, because that's what the superior do to the inferior.
If you see a wall street banker kicking a homeless man and telling them to "get a job", it isn't because they mean well, it's because they're bored and are searching for a high. In the same way, if you see a normie with a girlfriend calling a lonely man an inc** and telling them to "stop whining like a little bitch", it isn't because they mean well, it's because they're bored and are searching for a high.