jewelry lore

people always ask me this and I never know how to respond without info-dumping. so I end up mumbling something about individuation and differentiation of the self, which sounds a lot smarter than it actually is. or, I say "just listen to Ringfinger by NIN and you'll understand". if someone asks about the black and gold, I just say that they were my high school colors. which is true, and high school was fine, but I'm not nostalgic for it or anything. 

The people were the best part of high school. XC/Track was also nice. Band, well, I love the clarinet but band kinda sucked. I had some good teachers. other than that, meh. High school is a prison designed to keep you out of the Responsible Adults' (TM) hair. It sucks and no one actually wants to be there. It's better than middle school though. 

I don't think women get questions about their rings very much, but men do for some reason...¿un doble estándar? 

so here is the jewelry lore. 

part a, rings:

1. Oura Ring (left index finger): Oura actually sucks, but it represents my commitment to mastering both fitness and technology. Tech is one of my biggest passions in life. I want to learn and understand the computer from the ground up, no black boxes, including why Oura sucks so much. 

2. Gold ring (left pinky finger): Represents a VN character I like. he wears a gold ring, but it's attached to this hand-plate thing. I don't know of a real-world analogous version of that and I think it would be really uncomfortable to wear, so I just have a normal golden ring. 

3. Black and gold ring (right middle finger): see above. This character is very dedicated to fitness and exists in a fairly high-tech world, so it's kind of doubling the Oura, but in a more fantastical manner. This character is also far more confident and outgoing than yours truly, reminding me to fight back against my natural introversion and reticence in order to connect with others

4. Red ring (right pinky): represents love, romance, beauty, passion, imagination. first off, it's part of 2 rings, with a complementary ring for a woman to wear, but I'm single, so obviously it represents my desire to find and be with "my person". plus, in my fantasy world, I live next to a rose garden. the flowers bloom at night. it also represents someone's favorite color -- she loves deep red -- but whether or not that someone exists within your subjective perception of reality is something that you'll have to conclude for yourself. I mean, by definition, right. 

part b, apple watch ultra: 

Represents the hybrid tech + fitness thing. I'll never be an out-of-shape nerd. Lifting and running until the day that I die, whenever that is. But I'll also never be a Garmin bro. I used to wear Garmin before Apple started making watches, but holy crap Garmins are ugly. I prefer simping for the Cupertino corpo. 

part c, wristbands (I do not wear all of these at the same time): 

1. Owl City wristband: love, romance, imagination, wishing for a better world. 

2. Bead wristband: the character mentioned in points (2) and (3) wears x2 of these bead wristbands in the second VN he's featured in. I'm not going to wear two though. kinda impractical. 

3. Evanescence wristband: I am the Undead Cheese fake mall goth. Not really, but in spirit. Therefore I rep Evanescence. Sadness, longing, cheesy love stories (I know that Amy Lee said that Anywhere was like a "bad ren faire date" and makes her cringe now but I don't care; I love it.) 

4. Emilie Autumn "Asylum Inmate" wristband: Must wear with caution. This one gets the most uncomfortable tone when questioned. "We are all mad here" sort of vibes. Plus, the Asylum book is really good, and has plenty of references to her music. The song Shalott is in my reddit bio. Literary references because I love literature, and of course I love the song and music in general. Creating it, listening to it, everything. 

5. Cherry Hill wristbands (x3: Blue, green, red): Represents my love for theme parks and water parks. When I'm at a water park, I never want to leave. When it's summer, I never want it to end. I wish I could wear water park wristbands forever, but the ones they give you get gross and are designed to not last, so I wear the rubber wristbands instead for approximate permanence. The color choices are pure aesthetic and I just grab the ones that feel the most matching to whatever I'm wearing. I can pretend that I've never left the water park and am about to go down a slide. 

6. Pokemon Ghost Type wristbands: Gastly, Haunter, Gengar = These have been my favorite Pokemon ever since I was 5 or 6. Represents darkness, wishing for friendship, wishing that childhood would never end. 

7. Genshin Impact wristband: Super nerdy. I wear this to represent a love for fantasy worlds: games, books, anime, other cartoons. I wish to game a lot more and this wristband reminds me that it's okay to prioritize things that aren't just immediately productive. Especially because they make you more productive in the long run, so technically this wristband also represents my commitment to art, writing, and code (especially graphics and game dev). Immersing yourself in fantasy worlds boosts creativity for your own skills and projects, after all, and what could be wrong with that? 

8. St. George Marathon wristband: I don't wear this one as often because the metal is a little bit poky (it wasn't quite configured properly). But this was my first (and second) marathon, it's a beautiful course, and I am 100% going to rep it.