'The Walking Dead'

"Every sacrifice we make needs to be for the greater good. The second it isn't, the second we lose sight of that, it's all over." ~ Dawn Lerner, The Walking Dead, Season 5: Slabtown

Good morning; afternoon; and evening friends and fans! Namaste. I've been watching 'The Walking Dead' for a hot minute on Netflix and I'm currently up to season eight. As I'm watching the show, if there were ever a zombie apocalypse outbreak but not limited to what we've seen on shows such as The Walking Dead; Black Summer; Z Nation; Reality Z; and any other zombie apocalypse shows that are out there. There's things I've noticed throughout each season such as health issues/complications and survival skills. I'll get to that in a moment with things that came to mind in recent weeks and I do want to point them out if in the event there is a zombie apocalypse in my lifetime that no one had thought of [in my lifetime, I honestly don't mean to frighten people but it's a reality, truth be told]. I hope people will have their aha moment once they go through all the thoughts of every zombie movie you've ever seen. There may be spoiler alerts (although I cannot promise you anything, 😉 😉) throughout this blog at random for those who haven't kept up with every and all episodes of The Walking Dead. (Spoiler alert! 👉🏾) There was this one character, Dale Horvath played by Jeffrey DeMunn, I liked the fact he'd seen right through Shane Walsh's [played by Jon Bernthal] bullshit before anyone else did and it sucked Dale was killed off these show. There will always be that person who will see right through your bullshit whether you want to admit to the truth or not [🤷🏾‍♀️] and there had been moments when a character would point out whatever it is to the point you're just like, "True shit but they have a valid point though" or you'd be like "Dude, come on already, you know it's so freaking true and obvious!" I'm just saying and for those who have watched The Walking Dead would know what I'm talking about. One of my favorite characters had been killed off in the first episode of season seven by Negan and I nearly stopped watching the show as a result of Glenn getting killed off. Don't get me wrong, I've had several favorite characters on the show but I'm not going to get into all that. Unfortunately, Glenn Rhee [played by Steven Yeun] and Abraham Ford [played by Michael Cudlitz] both had their heads smashed in by Negan while everyone from Rick Grimes crew, especially Maggie, Glenn's wife on the show all watched helplessly as Glenn and Abraham had their heads smashed in with Lucille or Lucy (Negan's bat). The upside is it's best to learn new skills such as a form of martial arts and if you're familiar with the movie, 'Enough' starring Jennifer Lopez, there's a scene in the movie where Jennifer Lopez learns self-defense, it's called Krav Maga. I've always wanted to learn mixed martial arts and I've always told myself that if I ever have a daughter, I'm going to put my daughter in a mixed martial arts at age three. My favorite part in 'Enough' is when Jennifer Lopez learns self-defense and the final fight scene. That's the one promise I'm going to keep until I have a change of heart when it comes down to motherhood is to have my daughter take up mixed martial arts from an early age. Best to find a place that offers Krav Maga and Tactical & Operational Shooting. It'll come in handy early on in the zombie apocalypse in a shit hits the fan scenario. I may at a later time write about SHTF and will look into different programs involving self-defense. Your best bet is to do your own research.

"I have no problem with responsible gun owners who own weapons for self-protection, hunting, or just sport. The ones who believe they have a constitutional right to 100- round magazines to fight off I don't know what - a zombie apocalypse? - try to shut down dialogue with threats and other macho posing because of their flawed beliefs." ~ Kurt Eichenwald

I feel [personally] the people who will survive a zombie apocalypse or shit hits the fan scenario are those who are healthy and mobile enough to survive such event. If you've been training for any length of time, it's a plus and it's best to learn survival skills now to prepare for an apocalypse/shit hits the fan scenario beyond what we watch on television or on Netflix. At the time of this blog, I still yet have to learn these survival skills that can benefit both myself and my son, Stephan both short and long term. If I could get my son in the Boys Scout here in New York, it'll be fantastic because he'd have the necessary survival skills and although, I'm not crazy about boys having knowledge of self-defense because I feel that they can use martial arts for all of the wrong reasons that would unfortunately be used in domestic violence. Yet, I fully support women of all ages to have knowledge in all forms of martial arts because you'll never know what the future will hold for us as women and especially if you end up with an asshole who is very abusive on so many levels. I pray that if I have a change of heart regarding having a daughter that I'd be financially established enough to put her in a mixed martial arts program and as well as the Girls Scouts. Boys, as I've mentioned before, I'm not worried about them because I feel they can hold their own or unless if your sons and nephews have a developmental disability such as autism and/or Down Syndrome than I feel it's a different scenario than those without developmental disability. It's from my honest perspective, although I still favor girls learning self-defense more so than boys.

"We fear death so profoundly, not because it means the end of our body, but because it means the end of our consciousness - better to be a spirit in Heaven than a zombie on Earth." ~ Alison Gopnik

For those with health issues and as well as dietary needs such as those who are vegans. I'm not going to disagree with those who are vegans by choice or born into a family of vegans but we need to eat to survive. If you're asthmatic, a diabetic or someone with cancer and I'm sure you'd survive at least a year but not so much for those who are asthmatic because how will you manage your asthma once when you run out of your asthma medication? What's worse is when there's no electricity to run your nebulizer machine and you're in complete screw city if you run out of your asthma medication. Another thing are those who are visually impaired (whether blind from birth or at some point in life such as an illness or cataracts), I feel they wouldn't survive a zombie apocalypse whatsoever without slowing you and your crew down. Another thing is you never see any elderly people on any zombie shows and that's another thing I've also noticed on The Walking Dead. It's mostly the young; middle aged people; and healthy on zombie shows. You never see any blind people in zombie shows such as The Walking Dead or people with asthma and people who have Cerebral Palsy or anyone in a wheelchair, whether if you're paralyzed either from the neck or waist down or from birth. Plus, you have people who are diabetic and you never hear about folks who are diabetic on any zombie apocalypse show. If there are any diabetics in any post zombie apocalypse show, what if they go into a diabetic shock as a result of their sugar going down as zombies are closing in on them? There's not much anyone can do without having to leave them there without risking their own safety. I hope you see where I'm getting at, I'm talking about those who have legit seen the show, every episode of The Walking Dead up until now. You never see anyone who is blind; asthmatic; down syndrome; autistic (I don't mean having an actor or actress portraying someone with autism because to me it doesn't feel genuine whatsoever but consider this, portraying an autistic person on a show needs to be around someone who is autistic and spend hours and hours doing research for the part on the show, such as The Good Doctor. I feel it's best to hire someone with autism and they can do just do a good of a job as someone who isn't autistic. I believe in authenticity and realness of the acting, as well as singing because that's what makes things real and genuine. I also believe in giving people a benefit of a doubt but of course I know it often gets people into trouble because it's gotten me in trouble in the past and I'm a bit cautious now as a result of it. Another dilemma is in the case of Maggie and Lori who became pregnant on the show and it's an awkward situation. There's another infant on the show, one thing that got me for sure is if everyone is in the middle of nowhere, how in the world are they going to find diapers and clothing for the baby [🤔]? 🤨 Best to find someone who can make children's clothing and it's going to take a village to teach that child to potty train. However, I know it's just a television show for crying out loud! For those who have watched every episode and kept up from season one up until now as we speak, I'm surprised I haven't heard any of these being brought up in conversation. Yes, I understand that The Walking Dead became boring after a while because everyone kept running from the zombies and Shane was an asshole early on in the series before he was killed off the show.

"You can't negotiate with a zombie. They have only one impulse - that's to eat us or our brains." ~ Stephen Graham Jones

There may be some spoiler alerts for those who haven't been keeping up with every single episode of The Walking Dead and don't worry, I'll wait for you to be all caught up with every episode of The Walking Dead. At the time of this blog, I'm up to season nine and episode fourteen (episode titled: Scars) with three episodes left of season nine of the show. One thing I've learned towards the end of season six of 'The Walking Dead' is you have to consider what could go right and what could go wrong because when they encountered Negan and his goons, no matter where they turned, they came across Negan and his crew at each place they've turned to escape Negan to get Maggie some medical help. Meaning, Negan and his crew created roadblocks preventing Rick from heading to the Hilltop in season six of the show. However, Rick Grimes hadn't thought things through each time they came across Negan's crew at each roadblock as they were attempting to leave before being dragged out of their vehicle. In season seven, episode eleven where Eugene Says "I'm Negan" and it made me wonder if he was just going along by saying he's Negan in order to survive or if he genuinely did this in order to survive without being murdered by Negan. Throughout each season they've come across each group of people such as The Governor [played by David Morrissey] than Negan [played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan] and now Alpha [played by Samantha Morton]. Keep in mind I'm only on season nine of The Walking Dead on Netflix and have made mental notes of what to do and what not to do; be prepared of what could go right and what could go wrong such as Negan making his debut sixth-season finale of The Walking Dead. Here's a New York Times article titled: 'The Walking Dead' Season 6 Finale: Negan Arrives, and Then...? I personally haven't come up with a game plan if I ever found myself in a situation similar to groups such as the Saviors, which is Negan's crew. Perhaps I'm overreacting as I normally do but I like to be prepared just in case if I were in this scenario. Zombies are attracted to loud noises and I feel like this blog will tie in with emergency preparedness/SHTF. It's best to learn sign language if in the event you cross paths with someone who is deaf.

Blessed be,

Jennifer