Why Iowa?

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment

I honestly don’t know if I ever discussed the how and why of ending up in Iowa City. At least not on the blog. It’s a question I get often from the locals when they find out I’m from Georgia, so I’ve grown quite accustomed to answering it.

It starts, as many stories do, with a girl. Well, two of them, I suppose. When I chose to start taking my own path in life early in my transition, one of the first real breaks from my old life was a trip to Kansas City to meet my bestie for KC Pride. There were many things I enjoyed about that visit, and the idea of returning home, while necessary, was torture.

So once the initial wave of sorrow and tears had passed, I found a resolve to change things. I applied for many jobs, mostly in Kansas City, but a few in Iowa as well, as it was closer to my girlfriend at the time. I had a job in KC lined up within two to three weeks and at the one month mark I was returning to do a final in-person interview and look at apartments.

And thus I ended up moving to Kansas City just shy of three years ago. Hard to believe it’s been that long, honestly.

During my time there I was making regular trips to Coralville, a city right outside Iowa City, to see my girlfriend. I became slightly familiar with the area and was struck by how much more openly queer the city is. Pride and Trans flags everywhere, and a very walkable and small scale urban environment.

About two months later I was doing well at that job in KC, but frustrated with my schedule and the restrictions it imposed as well as the pay structure, when I got a call from a potential employer in Iowa City. Seemed like a decent job for a much more respectable employer, plus my girlfriend was just getting an apartment there, seemed like a good move to make.

I honestly never thought much about Iowa as a state. I literally had no opinion originally, and the impressions I’d had from my road trips were wind turbines, vast fields of corn, and a city full of Pride. Oh, and those horrific Hurky statues all over the area.

Living here has actually endeared it to me further. It’s a very progressive little bubble in a state that’s unfortunately a touch conservative. Plenty of natural areas. Easy access to actually dark skies for photography stuff, and northerly enough for me to see northern lights when I put in the effort. Combined with the relative freedom to just take a weekend trip to a wide variety of interesting places like the Maquoketa Caves.

Plus my bestie eventually moved her to be with her nesting partner, so most of my chosen family is here.

While I readily admit I may not be here forever, I quite like it. The people, the local culture, the photography opportunities, and a decent job. The only thing I can see that would likely draw me away right now would be educational opportunities. I’m uncertain if the University of Iowa is the right choice for my graduate work. But that’s not a right now problem, and I’ve rambled on long enough.

Y’all take care!

Shameless Plug

~ Rachel Wolf ~ 1 Comment

Took the time to update my Blaugust post template today, and figured I’d write a little plug I can share in the places I share things. Usually discord.

We’re just shy of seven years since my first post. While I certainly don’t post consistently or regularly anymore,I always participate in Blaugust and credit my blog with quite a lot. I was originally made aware of the event by Justin Olivetti, the author of BioBreak. I was ready for some change so I dived into the event headfirst and kept going daily for a couple of years.

While I eventually backed away from daily posting, I would continue writing journal entries regularly in many different places, including drafts on this blog. While I was always prone to self-dialogue, it has become a habit to do so with writing. I actually consider that a blessing. I find it interesting to go back and reread what my past selves wrote, though I do so rarely. In many ways those posts feel like they were written by someone else in an alternate universe.

It also kickstarted my return to higher education and helped me begin that process. One of my original entry requirements was a 500 word essay and since that was my minimum goal for a blog post and I was posting daily, that was an easy goal. There are a few changes one makes for an academic paper, but I find my natural writing style works well as a starting point. This would help again later when I took advantage of an opportunity to write and present an economics research paper both locally and at a regional conference. And that degree is a goal I’m still pursuing through several life changes.

So I feel I’ve gained much from writing, and I owe the initial momentum to Blaugust. I would encourage others to take a shot at it themselves.

So y’all take care and give it a thought, if not a try!

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.

Unbreaking the Habit

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment
A gorgeous archway leading to a cavern entrance at a local state park. Featuring my bestie.

I have slowly continued to work on photography stuff off and on. While I still struggle in some regards, I feel like I’m slowly building a better understanding and skill there. I don’t take as many photos as I used to, or at least don’t keep nearly as many, but I do take time to seek out natural areas to play around. I also often invite my bestie and her wife to tag along.

This was actually one of my personal favorites.

I had quite a lot of fun snapping shots on this trip. I ended up with a lot more viable pictures than I expected. I spent a lot of time dabbling with my exposure settings to try and get the light balance bearable, if not ideal. I was extremely worried that the lower light levels would create a lot of noise, as that’s been an issue for me.

Everybody seems to like this one.

It was actually the first time in quite a while that I’d packed my photography stuff and went out to take pictures. I’ve had a few quick trips here and there when I took a trip to Georgia back in May.

A random snapping turtle chilling on a gravel road.

I actually reached out to a local camera club a while back, but they never got back to me so I kept doing my own thing. My patience for groups that don’t have it together is pretty limited.

Some photogenic thistle at a local park.

I still haven’t managed to do some night sky photography. I’d absolutely love to redo my logo with an image I photographed myself. I’ve been complaining about the current one for a couple of years, at least.

If nothing else, I enjoy my little photography adventures, even if they yield little to share.

Y’all take care. Keep doing whatever creative thing drives you!

Clearing the Dust Away

~ Rachel Wolf ~ 2 Comments

Now, I have been meaning to check in on Blaugust at some point, as I knew it was about that time, but Naithin of Time to Loot fame gave me a polite poke and I figured I’d start trying to shake the dust off a little.

Things are going to be a little interesting for me this year. The last week of August I officially begin classes again, this time at the University of Iowa. An allegedly respectable institution. It would have been last year just after Blaugust that I began the application process, actually. Political misgivings aside, it’ll be nice to make forward progress on that particular goal.

For that reason, among others, I’m setting my goal a little lower this year. I’ll consider gold to be acceptable, if I can manage it. Between changes to my routine at work that makes writing more difficult and the fact that my opening semester includes Calc 2 and 1st semester Japanese; it feels like a volley of surface to air rockets just waiting to fire. Still, I remain confident in my ability to succeed.

In addition to aiming for gold rather than rainbow, I think I’ll intend to write things a little shorter. As much as I enjoyed my daily posts of 500+ words that I used to make, I don’t have the long hours of free time at work to write and edit that I used to have. I figure a few short paragraphs like this should provide enough time and space to communicate an idea and build a habit without straining my attention.

So, with that in mind, I did choose to sign up for Blaugust 2025 this evening. It is a welcome and necessary change that reminds me of why I started to begin with.

Y’all take care. Onwards and upwards.

Blaugust Victory Lap

~ Rachel Wolf ~ 1 Comment

So the final scores for Blaugust are in. It’s quite refreshing to see such an active crowd this year, even if I did just mind my own business. Overall the event had a 97.4% participation rate, which is exceptional! Plus 67 brand new blogs! It is definitely an event which is fulfilling its purpose.

As for myself, It’s been an extremely busy month for me. I was worried that with moving myself, looking after my bestie during surgery, and helping her move as well, that my performance would be somewhat lackluster. Still, I managed to pull off 29 of 31 posts, which was 93.5% of my stated goal. A total success in my opinion.

I certainly don’t mind taking a gold this year. I missed the last two days because I was either on the road or exhausted and there’s nothing wrong with that. All things in life must have balance and I still did much better thana last year. I only did this well because I doubled down and double posted last week to try and make up for my lost week. A remarkable effort worth celebrating.

As evidenced by this post, I also intend to continue, though I’m not exactly planning to post daily. I will post if and when I feel like doing so. This might be daily, but is likely to fall apart on the weekends when I’m busier, so I’m not exactly going to expect this from myself.

And on that note, I think I’m going to leave it there. Y’all take care, and I hope you had a great time! 💖

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.

Photography – Pictures for the Road

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment

I figured since I just got done going through and exporting some of my raw images, including some personal favorite, I would go ahead and share them here.

My bestie was given a beautiful bouquet, and she chose to hang the flowers up to dry. I don’t exactly love the picture, but I still found it to be quite nice in a sentimental way. This is one of the images where I applied just a touch of post editing. Just a little bit of darkening in the corners to make it feel less blocky.

I have not idea what manner of little bug this was. In hindsight, this wasn’t a great angle, but it’s one of the best angles I have. What I love most about this one is that it was one of the first times I managed to really pull off the depth of field effect to focus on the subject. I learned a lot just from this one photo.

Not a lot to say here, really. I just thought it was a pretty little sunrise over the prairie. I’ve taken this shot so many times, but something about the framing, lines, and colors of this one stand out to me.

This is the Black Angel. Something of a local landmark and curiosity here in Iowa City. There’s actually several local legends about what happens if you touch the statue or kiss underneath it, and none of them are positive. I actually really dislike this shot, and have attempted it several times. This is my least disliked one so far.

Another shot from my favorite park here in town. I mostly like this one for the mottled light and the leading line to the bridge in the distance. The leading lines work well for me personally, and it gives me a sense of movement into a better future.

This was one of my most recent pictures, taken yesterday. I think I was a little heavy handed with the post editing, but I can go back and change that. My goal was to just try and get this solitary clover flower to pop out using depth of field. While not perfect, I was satisfied with the outcome.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it is I see and want out of photography, and it’s basically this: to share the little moments of beauty I find in life with others.

Y’all take care!

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.

Something New – Skull and Bones

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment

I took advantage of the free trial offer by Ubisoft to spend a little time with the game Skull and Bones. One of my favorite bits of Lost Ark was its nautical segment and this looked similar. And the trial was free, so why not?

I couldn’t tell in the time I played how much game there actually was there. It didn’t give me any sense of scale. What I *did* enjoy was the flavor of the thing. Being able to captain the ship over the shoulder was fun, though not practical, but it did help deepen the sense that I am my character and not my ship. Something that a lot of these games tend to struggle with.

It didn’t do a great job of explaining things or directing me at times. I don’t mind as much with the latter, but running out of cannonballs and having to go to the internet to figure out where to get more was a little frustrating. I figured out where to craft more, but didn’t have the resources and didn’t feel like I had the means to obtain them peacefully.

I also found that character creation options were really limited, though I did appreciate that a lot of the clothing could be obtained with standard in-game currency. They had cash shop clothing too, but I didn’t feel forced into it. I was able to put together a very captainy looking outfit with a minimum of effort. I just wish they had more options such as hairstyles.

I did have fun tinkering with ship customization options, though they were limited. I had a very bold look with black and yellow sails, but I don’t have access to my images at the time of writing.

It was also a bit frustrating that the free trial was only available via Ubisoft Connect. While I understand that choice, having to constantly bounce between distribution platforms is really frustrating and makes me disinclined to purchase.

Still, it was decent enough that I’ve considered whether or not I would purchase the full game. When I played it was on sale on Steam for around $20, and I think I’d be willing to pay that. I certainly wouldn’t pay more than that, though. It may surprise me, but what I played of it seemed very shallow.

Overall, I’m still on the fence after a few hours. I had fun. I enjoyed the time I did spend, but I just don’t do much gaming these days. It’s hard to justify paying for another game that’ll just sit in the library.

Y’all take care. Get your peglegs, and check your shanties.  💖

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.

Creator Acknowledgement

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment

I used to do a post like this mostly to give a nod to all the podcasts I listen to. As my life has changed significantly, I’ve slowly gotten away from the podcast habit. My commute to work is close to five minutes, not long enough to really consume long form media, and I just enjoy the peaceful stimulus of nature on my morning walks.

There are still some creators I do keep loose track of, but they are few. Largely YouTubers, and even those are spotty. It actually has occurred to me while writing this just how few there are for me to list. I just… don’t consume as much media as I used to.

Honestly my big mention is Brent from Goobertown Hobbies. When I began dabbling in miniature painting his video was one of the first ones I watched, and I’ve liked and appreciated his very chill and relaxed vibe. He’s not a very active YouTuber, but I did listen to the podcast he’s on pretty regularly as well. It’s just a good chill time.

I tend to also like Karl Jobst‘s videos, but more as a guilty pleasure. I enjoy watching speed runners for similar reasons, just seeing the technical workings of various games and how they break is interesting. I have no particular attachment to the subject matter, I just enjoy it the same way I enjoy any weird technical breakdown.

There’s a number of other photography-related creators I watch when I’m in the mood or have a particular subject I’m curious about. There are many, but the only one that stands out is Simon d’Entremont.

And, as a final note, what list would be complete without at least mentioning Pratchett, hmm? Just cause the bigger went and died several years ago doesn’t mean he isn’t still a major contender. A surprising amount of my reading time goes to him. I would like to have at least met the man once, but we cannot always get what we want.

Y’all take care! 💖

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.

Anime – Trigun Stampede

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment

I suppose we could call this a sort of remake of Trigun, an anime from 1998. The original was extremely well regarded. I watched it myself when the remake Trigun Stampede was released in 2023.

I quite liked the original. It wasn’t perfect, and definitely showed its age a bit. I mean, it was 25 years old, so that’s fair. It was good enough to hold my interest for 26 episodes straight. In my opinion, it’s main flaws were just the writing style at the time, and are very much highlighted by the remake.

Trigun Stampede was extremely well executed, I felt. It took the outdated monster of the week style villains found in the original series and instead made them into actual fleshed out characters with more going on. Many of them just felt like flashy but generic cardboard bounty hunters, while the newer versions feel more human and interesting.

I also feel like the storytelling, overall, is much better in the remake. That is, the pacing is more accessible. The original series spends a lot of time showing the setting and characters doing things that have little bearing on the actual plot, while Stampede jumps right into the story parts. A more western form of storytelling, I suppose. A lot of the deep story stuff in the original was meant to be a late twist, but felt very discordant with the tone used for the rest of the series.

I actually find that taken as a whole I like the remake more. Its only failing is that it just doesn’t have the time for meaningful character development. Vash is just Vash. Accurate, perhaps, but we do see him change and explore himself much more in the original.

I was honestly concerned that it would be more nostalgia than anything, as remakes and such are very fashionable, but this one was more than that. In a way it feels very connected with the events of the original.

Similar to that, I’m about to write a week ago about another remake I watched this past week that feels similarly well executed.

Y’all take care, and enjoy yourselves a good show. 💖

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.

Observation of Trans-Related Surgeries

~ Rachel Wolf ~ Leave a comment

So I’ve been off this whole week looking after my bestie post-surgery. She had facial feminization surgery. Her partner definitely had the more intense days right after, I’ve actually been doing more general assistance and helping with tasks related to her moving to a new home.

The list of what all was done is quite extensive. A brow lift. Some bone reduction around the brow and nose. A wedge of bone removed in the jaw. Some fat relocation for lips, and I believe cheek implants?

On the whole, the facial surgery doesn’t seem too bad. By the one week mark she was completely self sufficient. The real intensity seemed to be the first four or five days. That isn’t to say it’s completely healed, but certainly not as intense as I would have expected.

As of when I left at the week and a half mark, there was still some soreness and slight swelling, and stitches around her hairline, but most of the bruising was gone. Most of her facial movement has returned as well.

I wasn’t really considering this surgery myself, but I still find it interesting to collect these experiences. Especially since I know my pain tolerance and hers are similar. It’s a good indicator of what I personally could expect to experience.

Hey, it’s Blaugust time! The goal is to simply promote and stimulate the blogging community by encouraging people of all skill levels and backgrounds to post. The official post can be found here and it’s never too late to start.