#2018 forth of july greeting

[orionredstarr]

SPARRABETH SEA FOAM -- 4th OF JULY CELEBRATION!

Happy July 4th to Sparrabeth Team!!!  

To all my friends and followers here on Tumblr!!

from ORS

[pixieminutes]

Love | CB

genre: angst, fluff

members: bang chan x reader, kim seungmin, seo changbin, lee felix

warnings: verbal criticism, pregnant!reader, labour

Monday 3rd October, 2016

“mum, dad, this is y/n.”

“hello y/n!” chan’s mum, jessica, smiled, pulling you into a hug, “we’ve heard so much about you!”

“careful, you’re going to overwhelm her,” chan’s dad laughed, “i’m jack. it’s lovely to meet you, y/n.”

“and they are hannah and lucas,” chan said, pointing to his little sister and brother.

“hey!” lucas exclaimed.

“hello,” hannah greeted you.

you smiled, looking up to chan as he winked at you.

“y/n, i hope your hungry, we tend to cook a lot,” jack chuckled.

lucas got up, following his dad into the kitchen, “i mean, we’re not complaining.”

chan chuckled, “sorry if you get overwhelmed. they can be a bit wild.”

you smiled, shaking your head, “no, no. i like it.”

Saturday 30th December, 2017

“mum, dad, this is chan.”

“nice to meet you,” chan smiled, bowing slightly as he shook both their hands.

“yes,” your mum nodded, “y/d/n, can i speak to you for a second? in the kitchen?”

you sighed, watching as they walked into the kitchen together, closing the door behind them, “they could at least try and hide it.”

chan shook his head, running a hand through your hair, “it’s alright. we’ll just do this, and then leave, okay? and we’ll watch disney movies and eat chocolate.”

you chuckled, wrapping your arms around your boyfriend’s thin waist, “that sounds nice.”

Friday 14th December, 2018

“ah! y/n! there you are!” your friend, mina, laughed, “finally!”

“sorry i was picking out my clothes. living with nine men isn’t great for fashion advice,” you laughed.

she laughed nervously, “you still live with them? y/n. are you still dating chan?”

your breath hitched in your throat at the slight judgement in her voice. it hurt. it stung so, so much.

“yeah,” you nodded, “yeah i am.”

“y/n,” she pouted, “it’s not good for you. and what about the whole marriage and baby thing? you’ve always wanted that.”

“chan wants it too!” you exclaimed, trying not to get angry, playing it off with a laugh, “anyway, speaking of the whole marriage and baby thing. how are you?”

mina smiled, pulling her latest sonogram out of her bag, giving you time to blink away your tears before pretending to care, once again, about someone’s baby. it was stupid anyway, you couldn’t see anything on there, it was just a black and white blob.

“y/n! mina!” your other friend, julie, exclaimed, walking in the restaurant. you could practically see her diamond engagement ring sparkling from here.

god this was gonna be a long night.

Saturday 15th December, 2018

“i’m home!” you exclaimed, taking off your shoes and rubbing your feet slightly, the impromptu walk along the river last night and the walk home had not been considered when you picked out heels for yesterday evening.

“hello!” seungmin exclaimed, “no one else replied so i thought i should!”

“thank you!” you called, laughing as you walked into your’s and chan’s bedroom.

chan was sat there with his headphones on, back to you. you sighed, eyes filling with tears as you slowly shut the door behind you.

“oh, you’re home,” chan smiled, quickly stopping what he was doing and taking his headphones off before turning round to face you, “w-why are you crying?! y/n?”

he quickly stood up, scooping you into his arms and kissing your head as you buried your face in his chest.

“i hate them, chan, i hate them!” you cried, “why is it so bad?! i don’t understand!”

chan’s heart ached, he knew exactly what you were talking about and he understood your pain.

“it’s okay,” chan soothed, rocking you back and forth as he buried his face in the top of your head, “for everyone who doesn’t like us, there’s someone who does okay? and speaking of...”

he let you go, taking your hand and bringing you over to his laptop where he brought up a page of notes from that days meeting.

“australia,” you read.

he nodded, “australia. we’re going to australia. we’re gonna tour, but my family have said that you can stay with them.”

fresh tears poured from your eyes as you wrapped your arms around chan, burying your face in his neck, “thank you.”

“why are you thanking me?” he chuckled, the slight laugh turning into a sigh, “here, come on, stop crying.”

he lifted your head out, wiping your tears away with his thumb, “i love you.”

you smiled, “i love you too.”

“well, that’s good,” he laughed as you hugged him again.

Tuesday 19th February, 2019

“wow that’s a lot of food,” you laughed, watching as jessica and jack brought in bags and bags of food from their shopping trip.

“nine teenage boys is a lot to feed,” jessica shrugged.

“and us! we need feeding as well!” lucas exclaimed.

“yes, yes, but your going to your friend’s tonight,” jessica nodded, “this is for chris’s band.”

“why don’t you just stay here? then you can eat barbecue and spend more time with chan,” you said, unpacking the bags.

“and be seen on camera? no thanks,” hannah said as you laughed, “that’s chris’s job, not mine.”

“and hannah’s going to her friends so i’m going to mine,” lucas said, sat on the floor with berry.

you nodded, “fair enough.”

“do you have any siblings, y/n?” jack asked.

“mmm, but i never see them,” you sighed.

“ha, snap,” lucas said as jessica flicked his head, making you all laugh.

the weigt on your heart hurt, almost snapping. how could everything surrounding chan be the best aspects of your life, and all you could give him was nothing but negativity?

Monday 1st April, 2019

“finally,” you chuckled as chan walked into your shared bedroom, pulling his shirt off and climbing into bed, wriggling around until he was comfortable.

“what?” chan asked, his eyes already closed.

“i thought you were never coming to bed,” you hummed, playing with his blonde hair as his head stayed buried in your chest, “you may as well room with changbin now.”

chan sighed, pulling his head away and looking up at you, “why would i do that when we could just live in our house?”

you laughed, “dream on, bang, i’ve still got debt to pay off.”

chan smiled, tucking some of your hair behind your ear, “i’ve bought us a house, y/n. now go to sleep so you wake up in the morning, think this was a dream and i can surprise you with it.”

“what?” you asked, “christopher bang, do not fall asleep on me.”

chan smiled, “you sound like my mum.”

“i’m serious!” you exclaimed, before realising about the others living in your cramped apartment and lowering your volume, “chan. explain.”

“i’ve bought us a house,” chan said, “so that we can do the marriage and baby thing that all your friends are doing. i love you y/n. now go to sleep.”

your eyes filled with tears as you looked at how sincere your boyfriend looked.

“your serious aren’t you?”

“deadly,” he hummed, before closing his eyes, “sleep.”

you smiled, moving closer to him and pressing a kiss to his bare chest before closing your eyes and slowly drifting away into sleep.

Tuesday 2nd April, 2019

“felix, has chan said anything about a house? or have you managed to see anything about a house?” you asked, having managed to sneak out of your bedroom and into the kitchen without waking up your boyfriend.

“hmm? for us?”

“no, no. for– for us, me and chan,” you explained.

“oh, no,” felix shrugged, “why? did he tell you yesterday?”

“yeah, just before bed,” you said, “do you think—“

“it was an april fools joke? yes, it was april fools.”

“it was april fools?!” you exclaimed, “oh jesus christ, i am so stupid! felix, why am i like this?!”

“good morning angel,” chan smiled, kissing your head and taking your hand, “let’s go.”

“where? chan we’re both in pyjamas,” you said, furrowing your eyebrows.

chan took his car keys from off the side and slid his feet into some shoes, “come on. i’m waiting.”

felix looked at his elder friend in confusion before turning to face you, “you know, i don’t think that was an april fools joke.”

Monday 1st July, 2019

“god these promotions felt so long. i don’t even know why,” chan groaned, circling his head as you rubbed his bare shoulders.

“hmm, maybe it’s cause you know you get to come home to a nice house, and not a cramped dorm with eight other men,” you laughed.

he nodded, “you’re right. and this tour is bitter sweet. i mean i’m so excited but at the same time, it’s so long to be without you.”

“i’ll be alright chan, i swear. it’s not even that long!” you smiled, “just promise to buy me a souvenir.”

“i’ll buy you one in every country i go,” chan said, kissing your hand gently.

you sighed, kissing his shoulder, “i’ll miss you, prince.”

“i’ll miss you more, angel,” he chuckled, turning round and bringing you onto his lap, “we should make the most of this time, though.”

you giggled, “hmm, should we?”

chan smiled as you began kissing him, moaning slightly.

“i love you,” he whispered.

you smiled slightly, leaning your forehead against his, “i love you too.”

Saturday 27th July, 2019

“mum, i have something to tell you,” you said, kicking at the stones under your feet, “it’s why i called you here.”

“well what is it?” she asked, her voice gentle, “are you alright?”

“i’m pregnant.”

your teeth couldn’t help but bite your bottom lip gently, a small smile trying hard not to break out on your face. this was the first person you’d told, and just saying the words out loud made butterflies fly in your stomach.

she was still, silent. she stopped walking and turned to face you, taking your hands

“i- i see,” she stuttered, “y/n you know we’re always happy to have you back home with us—“

“no,” you said, moving away from her, your face dropping to a frown. god, you should have known, “no! no! mum, you’ve got this all wrong! this is a good thing for me and chan and- and i thought you’d be happy too!”

“well, sweetie, chan’s not the best for—“

“no! mum don’t even finish that sentence!” you exclaimed, your mum looking round consciously at the people staring, “he’s the best thing in my life, mum, and i– i don’t know why people can’t see that! i don’t get it! what’s so wrong about him? he’s taken care of me, he’s taken me in, he’s bought me a house? he’s given me his child? he’s the best person i’ve ever known, mum! and i just– i love him so much.”

she sighed, shaking her head, “i’m sorry darling, but i just don’t.”

Sunday 28th July, 2019

“jessica!” you smiled, wiping your laptop camera, “can you see me?”

“ah, i can!” she smiled, “so what is it? i’m alone, by the way, no pesky kids or husband in the room.”

you laughed, “is there a pesky dog?”

she looked around, “oh, yeah, berry! say hi to y/n!”

berry came on camera and you smiled, admiring the beautiful dog.

“ah, no, no, okay, tell me, what is it?” jessica said, placing berry on her lap.

“okay, well...” you stopped, taking a deep breath.

what if this ended like your mum? what if chan reacted like your mum as well? what if you ended up totally alone? just you and this baby. oh god, you couldn’t do this alone!

“hey, hey, you okay?” jessica asked, “you look panicked.”

you looked to jessica’s kind eyes and you paused. how could you ever think she’d be like your mum?

“i’m pregnant,” you said quickly, “but this is top secret! you can’t tell chan!”

jessica’s jaw dropped as she started squealing, “y/n! oh y/n, my girl! my daughter! oh, i couldn’t be happier!”

you laughed, wiping away your tears. so this is what true family felt like.

Sunday 4th August, 2019

“y/n? y/n?!”

“chan!” you exclaimed, running down the stairs and into your boyfriend’s arms.

“god how can i miss you so much in eight days?!” he cried, spinning you round.

“it’s crazy what you do to me,” you laughed.

“you alright?” he asked, “you’re laughing weirdly.”

“chan,” you giggled, tears welling in your eyes as you thought of everything you’ve been through, “i’m pregnant.”

chan’s eyebrows raised as his face broke into a huge smile, scooping you up into a hug, “oh my god! you make me the happiest person alive! y/n, thank you! thank you! god, i love you so much.”

Wednesday October 3rd, 2012

“what’s your name?”

“chris,” the boy said suspiciously, “if you want a korean name though, it’s chan.”

“hi chan,” you smiled, “i’m y/n.”

“how old are you?” he asked, “and... who are you?”

you laughed, “i’m 14 and i’m y/n, like i said. i just, i keep seeing you around so i can’t help but think it’s fate.”

chan looked at you, his head tilted to the side, “that’s a strange reason. but it’s interesting. where have you seen me before?”

Wednesday April 1st, 2020

“ah! chan! chan!”

“huh?”

“chan! the baby’s coming!”

chan furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the date on his computer, april 1st, that wasn’t the due date.

“very funny, y/n,” he said, “happy april fools.”

2012

“just around,” you shrugged, “happy birthday by the way.”

“how did you know it’s my birthday?” chan asked, “wow it really must be fate!”

you laughed, “idiot. you’re wearing a badge.”

chan blushed, “oh.”

2020

“chan! ah!”

“stop playing, y/n,” chan called, rolling his eyes as he went back to his work.

“chan! please!” you shouted, the pain in your abdomin becoming too much to bare as you gripped on tightly to the sheets.

chan sighed, “i get it, happy april fools, y/n, i understand.”

“i’m 100% serious you absolute idiot! now come here before a smash your computer!”

oh, that didn’t sound like you.

“angel? you alright?” chan asked, running upstairs to your shared bedroom where you were sat on the bed, gripping the sheets till they were basically ripped, taking deep breaths to get through the pain.

“do i look alright?!” you exclaimed, before looking at your fiancé with teary eyes, “chan. the baby’s coming.”

2012

“well, what are you doing for your birthday?” you asked.

chan shrugged, “nothing really, i don’t really like birthdays.”

“you don’t like birthdays?!” you exclaimed.

chan shook his head, “is that so wrong?”

“think about how much pain your mum went through to bring you into this world however many years ago today!”

“15.”

“and this is how you repay her?!” you exclaimed, “come on, let’s at least go and get some food. i’ve got about ₩500. tteokbokki?”

2020

“god, chan, this is terrible,” you sighed, “i’m in constant fear.”

chan chuckled, “it’s okay, it’s gonna be over soon.”

“soon,” you scoffed, “bets on this lasting for more than a day.”

“really? you think so?” chan asked.

“chan, this is your child,” you sighed, “it’s probably already inherited a stubborn gene.”

chan rolled his eyes, “i can’t believe you.”

“can we at least eat before getting checked in?”

chan sighed, looking at you in disbelief.

“what?” you asked, “chan, i’m nine months pregnant, i’m hungry.”

“what do you want to eat?”

you hummed before seeing a small shop on the side of the road, “tteokbokki!”

2012

“wah, this is some of the best tteokbokki i’ve ever had!” you exclaimed.

“really?” chan smiled, “oh, your face.”

“huh?”

“you’ve got sauce all over you,” chan laughed, handing you a tissue, “here.”

2020

“ah sh—“

“what?”

“i got sauce on my t-shirt,” you laughed, looking at your stained t-shirt, stretched over your nine-month baby bump.

chan laughed, taking a tissue and wiping it slightly, handing it over to you to do the rest.

2012

“we should go,” chan said, “i’ve got to get to jyp.”

“jyp? why?” you asked.

“i’m a trainee,” he smiled.

your eyes widened, “really?! wow you must be so talented!”

chan blushed, “well– i don’t—“

2020

you held your breath, pain spreading all over your body once again.

“breath, baby,” chan sighed, “want to hold my hand?”

you started taking deep breaths, gripping onto chan’s hand.

“we should go,” he said, “ready?”

you shook your head, “chan, i don’t– i don’t think i can do this.”

chan sighed, “y/n. look how far we’ve come together. i promise you, you can do this.”

2012

“i mean you had to get in to jyp first of all, and your still there now,” you said, “big respect.”

chan smiled, “thanks, but i really don’t think i’m great.”

“stop that!”

“i’m serious!” he laughed, but the laugh wasn’t humorous, “my friends are about to debut and i just... don’t get to debut with them. that must mean something.”

“that means you’re not ready yet,” you shrugged, “that doesn’t mean you’re not good, that just means that there are better people on their way. it’s fate, chan.”

Thursday 2nd April, 2020

“congratulations! it’s a little boy!” the doctor exclaimed, another nurse coming and taking the baby from his arms, going and taking him to be washed.

“y/n, you did it! god, you did it! i’m so proud of you,” chan smiled, kissing your head, “we have our baby!”

your eyes filled with tears as they brought him back over, a little bit of paper attatched to his ankle with the date, his length and his weight.

“would you like to hold him?” the nurse asked, holding the baby out to you.

you nodded, taking the small baby into your arms and holding him close. he immediately wriggled, becoming comfortable with his whole body buried against yours.

your smile was undeniable. this, out of all the moments of your entire life, was by far the happiest. and you had chan by your side as well.

chan kissed your head, “you’ve worked hard, y/n. i love you.”

Sunday 25th March, 2018

“y/n!” chan exclaimed, running off stage and running into your arms.

“you did it! you debuted!” you laughed, holding your boyfriend tightly, “god you’ve debuted, i’m so proud of you.”

chan smiled, the tears in his eyes undeniable.

every moment for the past seven years lead up to this, and you were by his side for so long, he couldn’t have been more thankful.

“you’ve worked hard, chan,” you smiled, kissing his head, “i love you.”

[kylielynn29]

I arrived to Teen Challenge Kansas City Girls Home June 28, 2018 in a transportation vehicle from a mental health hospital in Wichita Kansas. Upon arrival I was greeted by two girls and one of the pastors after getting out of the car the two girls introduced themselves and linked arms with me to ensure I didn’t try to run away. When entering the facility immediately a strip search was done, and all of my belongings were searched through, I was told the director of Teen Challenge would speak to me a few days after arrival and when I met her I was polite and was trying to be nice and she said “I know everything about you and I know we won’t get a long” that’s how my introduction to Teen Challenge Kansas City Girls Home began and it only got worse from there. During my time there I felt nothing but ridicule and judgment from certain staff members, and it was quite obvious who played favorites and that I was not and never would come close to being one of them. During my time there I was served MULTIPLE unfair punishments and was forced to admit these false allegations in order to not make my punishment more severe, during one part in my program I was put on what they call “Daniel Diet” for almost a month just because I wouldn’t admit something I did not do, another girl on the same discipline and I were literally so hungry we ate walnuts that fell from the trees outside while we wrote from the Bible until our hands cramped, and on another occasion the director of the program blamed me for another thing that happened with a different girl there and gave me a discipline that was completely unfair, and when I tried to explain that wasn’t me she gave me another discipline on top of that when finding out who the girl was that really did it the girl got no punishments for what happened, and the director even gave her a hug. Oh and another thing they thought I was FAKING being depressed and trying to harm myself and said i was doing it for attention, and said I was just a manipulative girl that lies about everything. While being there I switched counselors 4 times and felt forced to come forth with things I was not ready to talk about, this included what I had to tell my legal guardians at the time in family sessions. Upon many other things that happen at Teen Challenge, I was furious not only at Teen Challenge but at my family for sending me there, and I hated God and anything and everything to do with Christianity. When I left Teen Challenge in November of 2019 I was filled with hurt, anger, and fear but I hid it all behind a mask that I was happy and ready to be home. Not even a week after being home I spiraled out of control I started self harming, talking to boys way to old for a 16 year old girl, drinking and smoking weed. I was hospitalized 3 times within the span of around 4 months of me being home for attempted suicide and self harm. I didn’t want to be alive anymore, I self destructed in any possible way I could. I lost myself completely and I felt numb. Today is July 10, 2020 and I have not self harmed or attempted suicide in a year. I’m at peace and I’m regaining relationships and my faith. Teen Challenge DID NOT do that. I did that I picked myself up and worked my ass off and healed on my own. No rehab facility did that. I did that. And I’m pretty damn proud of myself too.

[putschki1969]

Japan ~ Summer 2018 #2 🎌🚅

Quick introduction: Hello my lovlies!! As most of you might already know, I went to Japan this summer. It was a rather spontaneous decision based on the fact that both Hikaru and Wakana had announced their solo lives. At that point I was suffering from a serious case of Kalafina withdrawal so I felt like I had no choice but to go. I just needed to see them. Also, it was my 30th birthday so I thought I would treat myself. You only turn 30 once, right? On a side note, the timing finally gave me the opportunity to do something I had wanted to do for a few years now. Climb Mount Fuji. o(〃＾▽＾〃)o So yeah, that’s the backstory of my trip. I stayed in Japan from July 30 till August 14 and pretty much my entire trip was dedicated to Kalafina Pilgrimage. Let me tell you this, it was by far the best summer vacation of my life, worth each and every penny! And believe me, there were a LOT of pennies involved XD

Notes: Once again this is coming pretty late but not as late as my previous travel report so that’s a good thing. It took some time to gather my thoughts and put them all into words. This report will be a bit different from the last one since I thought it would be nice to include some travel tips here and there. I guess you could see this as some sort of travel guide/Kala-guide. Many of my followers have never been to Japan so I guess some general info would be useful to make things easier for you if you ever decide to travel to Japan.

Please note that this is Part 2 of my report. It is dedicated to my time in Toyama. Part 1 can be found HERE!

Without further ado, let’s get to it 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Aug 4 (Sat) ~ Toyama Trip

I decided I would dedicate that entire day to a Toyama trip. I made the mistake of not reserving a seat in advance for the shinkansen. I usually always do that but for some reason I didn’t think the train to Toyama would be that frequented. Turns out I was wrong (at least when it comes to the fast bullet train - the Kagayaki). When I got to Ueno that morning I was planning to take one of the earlier trains but it was already completely booked out. Later on I found out that Aug 4/5 was the Toyama Matsuri weekend so it's really no surprise that all the shinkansen seats had already been reserved. I ended up getting a ticket for the 10:14 Kagayaki which meant I would arrive in Toyama around noon (a little later than planned but oh well, there was nothing that could be done about it). It was my first time taking the Hokuriku Shinkansen so I splurged a little on a fancy ekiben °˖✧◝(⁰��⁰)◜✧˖° For those of you who don’t know, ekibens are bento boxes sold at train stations. You can eat them on a long shinkansen ride. There are so many different types to choose from. But I’d personally recommend the one I got. The E7 Bento Box. Like many others, the Hokuriku shinkansen has a very distinctive look so of course, it also has its very own bento box XD And boy, is it a cute box! Perfect to keep as a souvenir. And the good thing about it, there’s mostly stuff in it that I actually eat (I am a VERY picky eater!). The special Ueno Coca Cola bottle is also cute as hell btw!

The ride to Toyama takes a little over two hours I think. I arrived around noon (maybe at 12:30 or something). Shortly before I arrived I realised that I had forgotten my USB cable. I brought my charging battery but it was useless to me without a USB cable At that point I had already used my phone quite extensively and my battery was at around 60%. I was already starting to panic a little because I had all these plans for Toyama but they required me to use google maps, without google maps to rely on, I wouldn’t be able to find ANY of the places I wanted to visit. When I arrived I was greeted by a gorgeous little street festival, right outside of Toyama Station there were lots of people gathering around a handful of dance groups. It was quite pretty and spectacular. But at that point I was already scared to use my phone for anything except google maps so I didn’t take any pictures. *sobs* Such a shame. First I made my way to the Nanakosi shop that sells those pastries Hikaru mentioned in the 10th Anniversary Film. It’s located inside the Sōgawa Ferio Grand Plaza which is about a 20 min walk away from Toyama Station. Usually 20 min is nothing for me and I always try to explore new areas on foot but man, it was hell to go there. It was really hot that day and my battery was dropping faster than expected in the heat. Google maps was constantly crashing on me and it didn’t seem to work properly. I kept going the wrong way (please note that I have no sense of direction whatsoever). So yeah, I was a mess. Frantically I was trying to find a shop that sold USB cables but for some reason I had a really hard time finding one. Usually they sell those in conbinis but I couldn’t even find one of those. Plus, I was scared to venture too far away from my route since I thought I might get lost. Thank God I eventually managed to find a 100 yen shop. They have everything, including USB cables. After that I was able to relax and focus on my Hikaru pilgrimage.

So yeah, like I said, I was walking towards Ferio Grand Plaza. On my way there I passed Toyama Castle. It’s a nice little castle with a small garden but nothing to write home about. When I arrived at Grand Plaza I was greeted by yet another festival. A nice little wind ensemble was playing popular songs such as “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid, it was quite epic. They were all wearing uniforms, it was some sort of commemorative event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Toyama police department band or something .

Grand Plaza is a really nice gathering place that’s protected by a glass ceiling but it’s still outdoors. It’s a wide open space and often used as venue for events like the one mentioned above. While enjoying the concert I bought myself one of those infamous Nanakosi pastries.

I got the one with custard because I am not a fan of the standard bean filling. I’ll be real with you, it wasn’t all that great (sorry, Pika-chan T_T). I think it might be more enjoyable in winter but during a hot summer day it was just too much (and that’s coming from someone who can usually eat a lot of sweet stuff). There was just too much filling. It was a struggle to finish it. Afterwards I walked around the Ferio Grand Plaza area a bit to find the Doutor Coffee shop that Hikaru had worked at in her student days. It’s very close to the Nanakosi shop so everyone should be able to find it quickly. It’s the Toyama Sōgawa shop in case any of you want to check it out ( 〒930-0083 Toyama-ken, Toyama-shi, Sōgawa, 3 Chome−5−４ アキオビル 1F).

My next stop was the Yamaha Music Center which was also mentioned in the 10th Anniversary Film. It’s only a 10-minute walk from Grand Plaza (although I took a lot longer because google maps was messing with me again or maybe I was just too stupid to follow the directions, I don’t know). At any rate, the center is a little hidden away in the backstreets of Toyama so it wasn’t exactly easy to find. Of course the heat made everything seem a lot worse XD. Here’s the address for those of you who want to go there one day => 富山音楽センター 〒930-0049 富山県富山市豊川町５-６

Then it was time to head north, to Kansui Park. You simply follow the river for about 30 minutes and then you are there, it felt really nice to walk along the riverside, the trees were providing some shade, there was a nice breeze so close to the water and you could listen to the cicadas singing. Oh boy, I underestimated how loud they could actually get. I had never heard them before because I always travel to Japan in the winter time.

Kansui Park is absolutely gorgeous! This is where Kalafina performed during the Stardust Illusion Festival. I summarised Hikaru’s blog post from that day. She talks about how that was one of the most special lives for her so of course I had to go and see where it took place. Hikaru also mentioned the infamous Kansui Park Starbucks which is known for its lovely terrace views. And really, it DID have some nice views. I took a little break there and tried to cool down with a cold drink. Afterwards I headed to Aubade Hall, the venue of Hikaru’s dreams. She has mentioned in a couple of blog posts that ever since she was little she always wanted to perform there. And Kalafina did end up performing there twice. Once back in 2015 for their fotw tour and then last year for their 9+ONE tour. It’s about 10 minutes away from Kansui park, pretty close to Toyama Station actually. Here’s the address => Aubade Hall (Toyama City Art and Culture Hall), 9-28 Ushijimacho, Toyama, Toyama Prefecture 930-0858, Japan

Then I wanted to have some dinner and I thought about going to the Izakaya that Kalafina always go to when they are in Toyama. It’s called Soratobu Usagi which pretty much means Flying Bunny XD. You can even check out their signatures at the bar. It’s quite cool. BUT I decided against it since they only have seafood and I don’t really eat seafood. So I slowly headed back to the station and ordered some gyoza (because I always crave gyoza XD) at a random restaurant. I finally got to relax after walking around in the heat (I didn’t really walk that much but it felt like I had run a marathon due to the humidity). While watching the sunset I ate my yummy giant gyoza and then I took the train back to Tokyo.

❗ Some tips ❗ 

Always bring your charging battery AND a USB cable

Conbinis and 100 yen stores have everything in case you are ever in need of a random product

Always reserve your shinkansen seat tickets in advance. It’s best to reserve them at least a day ahead if you are planning to travel during communiting hours or during the weekend.

Prepare an itinerary so you don’t waste your time going back and forth between locations. I started with the lower part of Toyama and visited all the places in that area. Then my plan was to head north where another bunch of places were located. Do your research before you travel and life will become so much easier. You can lose track of all the places you wanna visit if you don’t have an itinerary and then you might end up having regrets because you didn’t get to see everything you wanted to see. I mean, you don’t have to strictly stick to your plan but just see it as a sort of guideline.

When you are taking the shinkansen splurge on an ekiben. Yes, I know they are totally overpriced but really, they are pertty delicious most of the time and it’s just part of the shinkansen experience.

Aug 5 (Sun) ~ Lazy Shopping Day

I didn’t actually do much on that day. After all I wanted it to be a relaxing holiday and not just one exhausting trip after the other. Plus, the heat really took a toll on me so I felt like I needed some downtime. So yeah, I just did some shopping (mostly window shopping) and eating. I walked around Tokyo Station and happened across an IENA store. Guess what I found there? Yup, Hikaru’s blouse, right in front of me. In my previous post I mentioned that I originally wasn’t planning to buy it since it was just way too expensive. But after climbing Mount Fuji and after celebrating my 30th birthday I just felt like I deserved a treat. I realise I have said the same thing about my nail salon appointment but oh well, you only live once. So yup, that’s the story of how I ended up buying the blouse even though I was initially not intending to.

This was me during the entire trip.👇

The rest of the day was spent in all kinds of shopping malls in Shibuya/Shinjuku. I am actually quite proud that I didn’t buy anything else. But on this trip I really wanted to focus on Kalafina so I didn’t feel the need to spend money on random clothes or accessories. But I always enjoy just looking at stuff. We don’t have any of these malls here in Vienna (at least not in those huge dimensions) so it’s a cool experience to check everything out. To wrap up the day, I had some yummy dinner and then I headed back to the hotel to pack for my upcoming trip to Fukuoka.

[pope-francis-quotes]

31st July >> (@zenitenglish) Pope Francis Welcomes and talks with 70,000 Altar Servers to St. Peter’s Square for the 12th International Pilgrimage of Altar Boys and Girls. (Jim Fair @zenitenglish) Pope Francis tends to draw a positive reaction from young people and the July 31, 2018, crowd in St. Peter’s Square was no exception. It was a joyful and sometimes noisy group of some 70,000 youth age 13-23, visiting from 19 nations. They came to Rome for the 12th International Pilgrimage of Altar Boys and Girls, running from July 28 – August 4. The event is sponsored by Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium (C.I.M.). C.I.M. is an international association for altar boys and girls C.I.M. that unites diocesan and national referents for this pastoral task in the Roman-Catholic Church. The most important activity of C.I.M. is the organization of the international pilgrimage of altar boys and girls that takes place every four or five years in Rome. In such occasions, there is the possibility to meet altar boys and girls coming from all over the world. Pope Francis welcomed the young people and said he admired them for coming despite the hot weather (it was in the 90s F). “I am happy to see you in such great numbers here in Saint Peter’s Square, adorned with your colorful banners,” the Holy Father said. “Thank you very much for giving me the emblems of your pilgrimage! “I am a pilgrim with you. You have come from many countries throughout the world, yet all of us are united by our faith in Jesus Christ. We are journeying together with him who is our peace. I thank your President, Bishop Nemet, for his kind greeting on your behalf. And now, I give the word to you, for a moment of conversation.” The Pope then had a question-answer session with the altar servers, responding to questions submitted in different languages from different countries. Following is the Vatican-Provided Translation of the Q/A Session: From Luxembourg Saint-Père, en tant que servants d’autel et aussi comme croyants, nous nous donnons la paix par le signe de la paix durant la Sainte Messe. Comment pouvons-nous contribuer à faire sortir cette paix également hors des murs de nos églises et être des bâtisseurs de paix dans nos familles, dans nos pays et dans le monde? Holy Father Thank you! You put it very well: peace and Holy Mass go together. Just before the sign of peace, we ask the Lord to grant peace and unity to the Church community. Peace is his gift; it transforms us, so that, as members of Jesus’ body, we can share in his sentiments, think as he thinks, and love as he loves. At the end of Mass, we are sent forth with the words: “Go in peace��. Concrete commitment to peace is proof of the fact that we are truly Christ’s disciples. Making peace begins with little things. For example, at home after a quarrel, do I go off by myself and act hurt, or do I make an effort to go back and reach out? Am I willing to ask myself in every situation: “What would Jesus do in my place?” If we can do this, if we really put it into practice, we will bring Christ’s peace to our everyday lives. Then we will be peacemakers and channels of God’s peace. From Portugal Santo Padre, somos acólitos. Servimos o Senhor junto do altar e contemplamo-Lo na Eucaristia. Como poderemos viver a contemplação espiritual a exemplo de Maria e o serviço prático a exemplo de Marta, procurando reconhecer concretamente, na nossa vida, aquilo que Jesus quer de nós? Holy Father In a real way, as altar servers, you share in the experience of Martha and Mary. It would be wonderful if, alongside your service to the liturgy, you could become more involved in the life of your parish and also spend some time in silence in the Lord’s presence. In this interplay of action and contemplation, we come to realize God’s plan for us. We see the talents and interests God has given us and how best to develop them. Even more importantly, we place ourselves humbly before God, just as we are, with our good qualities and our limitations, and ask him how we can best serve him and our neighbor. Don’t be afraid to ask for a word of helpful advice when you are wondering how to serve God and all those people throughout the world who need our help. Remember: the more you give yourself to others, the more you will get back in personal fulfillment and true happiness! From Antigua and Barbuda Holy Father, as altar servers it makes us sad to see how few of our own age group come to Mass or take part in the life of our parishes. In some countries, for a variety of reasons, the Church is rapidly losing many young people. How can we, and our communities, reach out to these people and bring them back to Christ and to the family of the Church? Holy Father Even now, as young people, you can be apostles, capable of drawing others to Jesus. This will happen if you are full of enthusiasm for him, if you have encountered him if you have come to know him personally, and been yourselves “won over” by him. So here is what I would I say. Try to know and love the Lord Jesus more and more, encountering him in prayer, at Mass, in the reading of the Gospel, in the faces of the lowly and the poor. Try also to be friends, with no strings attached, to all those around you, so that a ray of Jesus’ light can shine on them through your own heart in love with him. There is no need for lots of words; more important are your actions, your closeness, your desire to serve. Young people – and everyone else for that matter – need friends who can give a good example, who are ready to act without expecting anything in return. In this way, you will also help others to see how beautiful is the community of believers because the Lord dwells in its midst. And to see how beautiful it is to be part of the family of the Church. From Germany Heiliger Vater, viele Menschen sagen, sie brauchen Gott, Religion und Kirche nicht in ihrem Leben. Warum sollte man sich gerade für den katholischen Glauben entscheiden, was ist das wichtigste dabei? Und warum ist der Glaube für Sie so wichtig? Holy Father Faith is essential; it gives me life. I would say that faith is like the air we breathe. We don’t think, with every breath we take, how necessary air is, but when it isn’t there, or it isn’t clean, we realize right away how important it is! Faith helps us to grasp the meaning of life: that there is Someone who loves us infinitely and that Someone is God. We can recognize God as our Creator and our Saviour; we can love God and accept that our life is his gift. God wants to enter into a living relationship with us. He wants to build relationships, and we are called to do the same. A person cannot believe in God and then think that he or she is an only child! All of us are children of God. We are called to make up God’s family, the Church, the community of brothers and sisters in Christ. As Saint Paul says (Eph 2:19), we are “members of the household of God”. And in this family of the Church, the Lord nourishes his sons and daughters with his word and with his sacraments. From Serbia Szentatya, a mi ministránsi szolgálatunk szép, nagyon szeretjük. Szolgálni akarjuk az Urat és felebarátunkat. De jót tenni nem mindig könnyű, nem vagyunk még szentek. Hogyan fordíthatnánk át szolgálatunkat a mindennapi életben a szeretet konkrét tetteire az életszentség felé vezető úton? Holy Father Yes, it does take effort to keep doing good and to become saints… I see that you servers are committed to taking this path. The Lord Jesus gave us a simple plan for advancing in the way of holiness: the commandment of love of God and of neighbor. Let us make an effort to deepen our friendship with God, to be grateful for his love and to want to serve him in all things. In this way, we cannot help but share the gift of his love with others. To make the commandment of love all the more concrete, Jesus gave us the works of mercy. They are demanding yet within the reach of all. We have only to start asking ourselves: “What can I do today to meet the needs of my neighbor?” It makes no difference whether it is a friend or a stranger, a countryman or a foreigner. Believe me, by doing this, you can become real saints, men, and woman who transform the world by living the love of Christ. Thank you for this conversation! [01194-EN.01] [Original text: Plurilingual] © Libreria Editrice Vatican 31st July 2018 18:55EDUCATION AND YOUTH

[chapterc]

Message to her (1/1/2022) Idk if your friendship with J extended the once that came from us… (july 2018) Organically, I was skeptical only because I was friends with eh squirrels and one of the guys would share how he liked you, and (feb 2019) when you opened up to be about your break up with the guy you were at the time shocked me.. 1 being, none of our homies knew who you were besides the girl our boy liked, but also because you were the girl our boy liked and kissed, but now I have the information that you had a bf. Our friendship at the time grew, because you said i seemed like someone you could talk to, and we spoke other even to the point where we were hanging out one on one. The part that triggered my insecurities, was suddenly it became you and J… and you stopped talking to me all together. Then my emotional self would show, and you avoided me all together… ironically, those episodes came out because of you.. because john would complain that I’d get drunk and act some type of way, but it was because he would be so avoidant i thought there was an outside party contributing to it… I got more emotional when people would approach me asking about you two because of how sudden you two got close, and how physically close you two would be… to the greeting kiss on the Cheek which triggered PTSD of a previous fight we had gotten about public displays and what it said about me and him since me and john are not very pda… I think it really got to me when more than 1 person would ask and when I would confront j he’d get upset and start defending you, and would interrupt me (which triggered me because a lot of our fights was because of how drunk I’d get and how interruptive I’d be… which apparently upset many of our peers). To finally courage up what bothered me, then to hear him defending you, and to do exactly what he bitched about me doing that embarrassed him. One night I finally called him out… I told him I know how you feel, but i just want to vent to let you know how it looks and makes me feel because i already know in your eyes my feelings are wrong. I was just bothered that my physical boundaries were being crossed, and in the progression of you and j becoming closer and us from being very close to just hanging out i felt a shift where it felt like you were deliberately being snarky, or mean to me. There were pushes, saying I’m in your way when I wasn’t even interacting with you, or the constant put downs that felt directed towards me… I had to tell j that I know you meant it playfully but it still hurt me, and that instead of showing how i really felt, I would walk away to shake it off because i didnt want to cry or make something of it… to protect Your feelings because “I was over thinking it” those low Jabs of “why you taking my best away…” when I simply wanted to go home, and was okay with him staying.. or the I haven’t seen him in soo long and your fight to keep him when you equally haven’t seen me.. and claim you care about me… it’s the acting like you potentially mean more to him then his girlfriend.

I will not lie… I HATE that he says you saved our relationship.. because he did all these things hoping i would leave and break up with him… knowing I had done nothing wrong… he wanted an out because he knew that you made me insecure but you had to have a say for us to stay together… when I wish he just wanted that…

Also… that day for Jeff’s funeral, and we were at Lex’s… You fucking triggered the biggest thing we be working on.. COMMUNICATION… you saying “OH he didn’t tell you…” and me going back and forth with j and him telling me you planned it… and neither of you telling me… sure…thanks for driving me to your house.. but the sole fact that you acted like it was j’s idea and for neither of yall to tell me or include me in that planning just made me feel like I was just part of the plan so you and J could be together… Like a simple “hey do you wanna come with us home, and J can get you here later” would have avoided ALL those emotions i felt of me thinking you and J made a plan to see each other. I know youre intentions were in the right place, but considering j is your ‘best” you’d think you know where our triggers linger. Unfortunately you have continued to be one longer than intended… and probably because of how you were introduced into my life and how you pursued our friendship to the development and intensity of the once you developed with j seemingly after us and how the relationship was perceived by others was brought to my attention…

* the day I did acid… i went from bad trip to FML THIS IS A HORRIBLE TRIP… because this was roughly around the time when you and j started to pass my physical touch boundaries with my person. You’d be surprised that something similar happened in our early relationship with ended one of my close friendships.

I cannot stand it when you find things that you and j like and you have the nerve to say… Nooo.. you dont like this… (another way that I’ve felt like you were pushing me away where i acted like it didnt bother me and I’d have to just walk away..).

You know when you were actually trying to be my friend before, you were never disrespectful or mean for that matter towards me… I’m sorry if i brought up those moments where i felt like our friendship was more in a condescending way… (friend friend, not my intent to be rude) I bring it up because I cherish those moments.. I recognize that memory as a marker of how i was able to let you in…

I truly am afraid to be truthful to mainly you because i dont want to effect you and j relationship, but also I don’t want to feel like I am in competition with you for j when he is constantly bringing you up and things that you like… i feel like that friend hes telling about his crush.. and it crushes me to see he is buying things to publicly display you two relationship where sometimes it feels like hes ashamed of ours…

I’m sure its not intentional but I’m the type that reads into things and this is the biggest trigger for sure

[hanleykayla]

September 23, 2018

This week, I found joy and happiness in the simple moments and held onto them - and it felt good. On a night when the power went out, instead of retreating to my room where I could read under a rechargeable lamp with minimal clothes on to escape the darkness and the heat, I asked Oppong if I could help him make dinner. In the complete dark, we threw a flashlight back in forth while he attempted to make toast in a panini-maker and I tried to fry eggs, both ending up burning something. We were unsuccessful - and eventually ate when the lights came on! - but it was fun and better than being alone. I also had the opportunity to celebrate my birthday here. I celebrated it in a fast food restaurant with store bought cake and sparkling grape juice, two Italian men I just met the day before (the new volunteers), and a three-year old boy named Nana who shared his birthdate with me. Oppong stood up in the middle of Pizza Inn and gave a speech about how important Nana and I are, and we concluded the speech Nana and I cutting the cake to serve. Looking at the pictures and videos, it looks more like we were getting married than celebrating our birthdays…

But, to say that it will be a day that I will never forget is an understatement. (Especially because my “host family” took me to an arcade and go-karting afterwards, and I didn’t even know that was a thing here!)

Last week, I talked about how I was feeling somewhat purpose-less in my work. I have been reflecting on this feeling for the past week (and for many weeks before bringing it up) and what I have discovered is that on top of the lack of fulfillment I was receiving with my work, I also feeling a lack of myself. For the past three weeks, ever since I woke up one Sunday morning and just felt “off,” I haven’t felt like myself. I assume the worst in everyone, giving to others has started to feel like a burden, and I am not approaching each day with excitement to experience new things. All of this leads to not seeing myself when I look in the mirror. The last part could be in result of me buying a set of new clothes for this adventure that I would most likely never wear back home, or it could be because I don’t feel as in control nor healthy as I used to, but who knows. I was well aware that I would have to give up some of me - my needs and wants - for my time here (re: the selfless post from July), but I was not anticipating giving up all of me.

And, I truly believe that I could sacrifice all of that if I was finding some fulfillment at work. If I could find joy and purpose in my day to day work, two things that would fill up some sense of self, then the “selfless” lifestyle I have to adapt to here would be worth it; Seeing my self in my work would be compensation or a trade-off for not seeing myself in the mirror for three more months. But, unfortunately, right now, that is just not happening.

I knew I received my confirmation that I was no longer myself when I was with my friend Elizabeth the other day. I haven’t introduced you to Elizabeth yet because she won’t let me take her picture and she does not like attention, but I met her during my first day of work when I walked to Kasoa to find something to eat. I ended up at Elizabeth’s stand looking to buy an ear of corn. Our interaction was limited, a simple “Hi…Hello…How are you” in Twi. However, her corn was a safe food to eat and her kindness was a safe place to be, so I developed a sense of loyalty towards her to be my go-to lunch on the days I was in the office. Over the weeks, Elizabeth started to yell “My friend!” or “My sister!” when I would approach her and our greetings went from smiles to hugs. There were days when Elizabeth, with her (incredibly!) broken English would introduce me to her family members and friends, and there were days when she would tell me she had not eaten over the weekend and I would buy meals for her instead of myself. 

Even though our conversations were surface level, with my limited Twi and her limited English, Elizabeth became one of the people I looked forward to seeing most in my days. She treated me like a human, like someone who belonged, and not just a walking resource.

The day I knew something was up with me started with myself walking past Elizabeth’s stand, where her sister was sitting. Upon seeing me, her sister jumped up, started shouting, and tried to get my attention. Now, I have grown pretty accustomed to people yelling and jumping at me, so I did what I have taught myself to do, and I ignored her. This led to the women chasing me down throughout the market of Kasoa until she reached me and could bring me back. [Enter a mental picture of an elderly woman with a large bowl of watermelons on her head, screaming, running after a white girl who is clearly uninterested in anyone around her…probably not the best way I would want to represent myself…] 

When we got back to the family stand, Elizabeth was there waiting and was stunned to say the least when she saw her sister and I walking up together. While I don’t know what she said to her sister once we arrived, I am sure it was something along the lines of “Were you guys hanging out together? Why wasn’t I invited?” because of the confused expression and aggressive hand gestures, but also because we really are all the same - a fear of loneliness, the desire to be included, and a sense of jealousy exists in all of us regardless of the continent.

Once the “My sister!” and the hug concluded, Elizabeth said “Home, home!” and grabbed my hand to lead me back behind the market buildings. To give you a sense of what walking through these communities is like, on the ground, we walk over small streams that flowed between shacks, streams of human sewage, all types of trash, and a mysterious green slime, and at eye-level, I continue to be a walking conversation piece as people yell “Obroni!” and children run up to touch my skin or pull my hair. Elizabeth seemed to pay no mind to the latter and continued to drag me past goats, chickens, and stray dogs (that you all know I desperately want to pet!). When we arrived at our destination, Elizabeth proudly used a broom to sweep loose dirt off of her solid mud entrance way, and opened her arms to say, “My home.” In that moment, I could have felt the immense joy and sense of community that I had been anticipating by coming here, but I have to shamefully admit that in my head, I thought, “Okay, cool, thanks.”

Okay?! Cool?! Thanks?! This woman left her stand during the morning rush, walked her frail body and shoeless feet all the way back to her home, which she then showed incredible respect for, welcomed me in to a very personal space, and I thought, “Okay, cool, thanks.” If you would have told the Kayla who was in tears when she was told that she could not leave for Africa on the day originally planned, the Kayla that was so sure of this journey as being her ~dream come true~, that she was going to form a relationship with a woman and eventually be welcomed in to her home without a sense of embarrassment but with a sense of pride, she would have thought, “Heck yes! Get me on that plane! Let’s do this!” But, present Kayla thought, “Okay, cool, thanks…let me get to the mall where I can sit with my coffee in the air conditioning.” It was not until I left the uncovered mattress Elizabeth uses as a couch and as a bed, and arrived to that air-conditioned utopia, that I realized how much my heart has been broken here; Shame and disappointment washed over me, and in all of my dramatics, I honestly said out loud, “Who are you?” 

So, here is the summary: on the surface, this interaction was still a positive one and I put on my best self. While I was thinking, “Okay, cool, thanks,” you better believe that I said “medaase pa [thank you so much], ehh nyamin shra wo [may god bless you]” and gave everyone in the household gracious hugs, whether they called me obroni or pulled my hair or asked me for money/marriage or what. I made sure Elizabeth received the respect and kindness she had given me because I knew how special I had to be her and how blessed I was with the opportunity to be. 

However, you guys know what was going on on the inside. And, what I have learned through prayer, conversations, reflection, and honestly some podcasts is that who we are is so much more important than what we do. Motives matter. And, if I stayed here, if I continued to live here for three more months, it would only be for the purpose to say that I did it. I would only stay here to prove to myself that I could live in Africa for six months, and that it could be something to put on the resume. And, here’s the thing - I could! I have adapted to the lifestyle, the heat, the chores, the washing-my-hair-only-once-a-week, so if I really had to, I could stay and accomplish this. But, what I actually be doing anything?

At work, I am seeing a lack of progress or impact as, on top of other things I have mentioned, I spent a full day copying the written records of all CHF’s past volunteers into a spreadsheet to use for sending mass fundraising emails (as instructed!), only to learn that this spreadsheet already exists on one employee’s laptop, he just didn’t mention it to anyone. 

While the task will still be completed, it seems as if CHF may have some foundational things to workout themselves when preparing to support and host long-term volunteers. Most volunteers only stay for about 4-6 weeks, and in that time, they are able to accomplish short-term projects and advance CHF’s mission - which is great! But, CHF has only had one other volunteer who stayed for as long as I committed. In the 10 years they have been active, there has only been one! So, I don’t blame them or hold any anger for the lack of fulfillment I have been feeling as I approach my 10th week here. I just wish I knew this information before I committed. My expectations and the reality of what can offered did not line up, and that is okay.

With all of this in mind, my stubborn self was still not ready to quit. I wanted to respect my commitment and test my strength by staying here until December. But… then, I thought of Charlotte, my two year old niece, and what I would say to her if she was in this situation. Would I give her the advice of “Prove to others that you can do this! Think about the resume!,” or would I want to say, “Nothing is worth losing yourself over. You are too important.”? I think if we begin to all talk to ourselves the way we would talk to a child, we would see some real changes.

So, feeling empty in both the personal and professional aspect of my life, I have decided to end my time in Ghana early. I know that I would not produce the best outcomes for myself or for CHF if I stayed here because I lost my internal motivation to give, and it is almost impossible to get to the right place if you have the wrong motives. I will be staying here until the beginning of October so I can represent CHF at a conference this coming weekend and I can provide the proper closure to the projects I have been working on.

Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong. We all have the right to self-diagnose, “I am handling this wrong,” and I think part of the reason why we don’t take that as direction to move on, and rather hold on to something so tight, is because we fear something so great won’t happen twice. We can’t leave relationships, salaries, or comfort, because what if they never happen again? What if this is the best it is going to get? 

By walking away, I am going to refuse to believe that I can only have one dream of mine be accomplished, that coming to Africa - something I have been wanting to do since the second grade - is the prime of my life and now I have to go back home to a mundane lifestyle. As cliche as it is (hence the intentionally-placed-rainbow picture above ☺), when one chapter ends, another begins, and who is to say that it cannot be as great or even greater as the one before? I turned 25 yesterday, and I feel more this age than any other year before. I have a sense of confidence, independence, and self-assurance that I have never had before and I CANNOT WAIT to see where this takes me. 24 was hard(!), but I can’t blame the past for the things that went wrong if I am also not willing to be thankful for the times that went right. I have said it before, and I will say it again: good and bad things happen simultaneously, so while its a disappointment that this journey is ending early, I can’t wait to discover the possibilities I am going to have when I go home.

I will continue to post for two more weeks, and if you read this whole post, please go treat yourself a glass of wine or something that I am so desperately missing on my behalf!!

[melodylsimpson]

I Met Stacie Orrico!

I MET STACIE ORRICO.

Anyone who knew me in childhood and talked music with me (or didn't ha ha) knows how absolutely OBSESSED I was with Stacie Orrico growing up.

It began the night of her performance at the Rockefeller Center Tree Lightning. 2003? I don't know what it was about that night but I immediately went onto her official website, as the performance was still going on, to find out everything that I possibly could about her. She was (and remains) so talented. Her voice spoke to my core and I was Obsessed.

That night, I joined the official forum/message board on her website & that was my introduction to fandom. That was my 1st real fandom. (I LOVED HP but I hadn't fully immersed myself in the online fandom.) My screenname was poeticmelody or melody13190, I think? One of those variations. I was on that message board every single day, all day when I wasn't in school (and later on, even when I was). I ate, breathed, and slept her music and that message board. If you remember message boards, there's a place where you could click to see who the top posters were. I lived at number 2.

At one point, I even formed & co-ran a Stacie Orrico street team (with Isabel if I'm remembering her name correctly, from Boston) through the message board. It was a thing.

I cannot stress enough how much a part of my daily life the Stacie Orrico community was for me. It was a safe place to love what I love (starting with Stacie but going beyond that), which is hard to find when you love all the "wrong" things as a young Black girl, let me tell you. So I can't separate the two - Stacie's music and the message board - I can't distinguish which meant more to me and I don't want or even need to.

Stacie Orrico's music was and always will be so special to me. You know how there are just certain artists that you just gravitate towards and you just never let go of and are rooting for them, always? She's that artist for me.

She became my soundtrack (well, I switched back and forth between her and the OBC RENT soundtrack) when brainstorming and writing in my room. The day I met her, I was arriving at a cafe to revise my first story that I'm contracted for (that I can't talk about yet). You can't tell me running into her wasn't a full circle moment, an affirmation because it was. It was so pure and so validating and so amazing.

I remember years ago she had a meet and greet in NYC one day at a Coldstone or something and my dad took me but reader, guess what?! We went to the wrong location and missed the entire event. I was crushed. When we got to the right location, they informed me that she was leaving and I shoved my CD their way and begged for them to head after her to get it signed for me. Bless them.

Fast forward to the day I met her (Sunday, July 22, 2018)... I was meeting a friend at a cafe to write but I decided I'd get there one hour early to get a prime outlet spot. I also decided, which I have no business doing since I'm supposed to be saving my money for an apartment, to take a ride share there instead of the bus. If I hadn't made both of these decisions, none of this would have happened!

They say never meet your "heroes" & all that jazz but meeting Stacie was everything & more. Because it wasn't even about HER per say, it was about her music & what it & the community created under her umbrella meant for me. The cherry on top was that she was so genuinely kind and lovely and real.

I gushed to her and confessed my deep obsession. We talked for a bit and when she left, I couldn't believe it... I still can't believe it, really. I have never felt more star struck and more at home in the presence of an artist than I did today. I quickly held back tears from coming during my fangirl tell all but oh my goodness, I was shaken to my core and could barely string words together for a moment.

After I said, "Oh my God" a few times, I even said, "There's so much to say to you, I don't even know what to say." She was so gracious and took the time with me to get it all out. I can't thank her enough.

As for a music update, she's working on new music (not Christian) and is excited to collaborate with other women in the industry and oh my God, I am so excited for the day when all of this comes together and releases!

I've met a lot of people in the industry but sometimes only one really means everything. This was the one.

Thank you, Stacie!

[scavengersholocron]

Fresh this week from the Star Wars website, they have given us a glimpse of what to expect from the new Star Wars novel: Thrawn: Alliances.  The book is being released on July 24th, 2018 and will give us a look at the first meeting between Grand Admiral Thrawn and General Anakin Skywalker.  We first heard about this interaction in the original Thrawn book and if you were like me, you were interested in the story that lay hidden there and hoped that Timothy Zahn would take advantage of the hype and tell us more about it in the future.  Well, it appears the future is here and from the excerpt below, it appears that we will definitely be getting a glimpse into that past.

I’m excited to read the story and see what is in store for the fans.  If I were to take an educated guess, like many of the Star Wars novels, I think this story will be jumping back and forth from the present day to the past.  I’m sure that they will be perfectly woven, with past events giving us an insight into the current events taking place in the story.

From the summary proved about the book (seen below) I had a feeling that we would get some backstory on the original meeting of the two masters:

“Ominous words under any circumstances, but all the more so when uttered by Emperor Palpatine. On Batuu, at the edges of the Unknown Regions, a threat to the Empire is taking root—its existence little more than a glimmer, its consequences as yet unknowable. But it is troubling enough to the Imperial leader to warrant investigation by his most powerful agents: ruthless enforcer Lord Darth Vader and brilliant strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn. Fierce rivals for the emperor’s favor, and outspoken adversaries on Imperial affairs—including the Death Star project—the formidable pair seem unlikely partners for such a crucial mission. But the Emperor knows it’s not the first time Vader and Thrawn have joined forces. And there’s more behind his royal command than either man suspects.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic, and Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo, officer of the Chiss Ascendancy, crossed paths for the first time. One on a desperate personal quest, the other with motives unknown . . . and undisclosed. But facing a gauntlet of dangers on a far-flung world, they forged an uneasy alliance—neither remotely aware of what their futures held in store.

Now, thrust together once more, they find themselves bound again for the planet where they once fought side by side. There they will be doubly challenged—by a test of their allegiance to the Empire . . . and an enemy that threatens even their combined might.”

I personally cannot wait to see what the two have in store for us readers.  Both Thrawn and Darth Vader fighting to be Emperor Palpatine’s right-hand man.  Master of the Force vs Master of the Mind.  Honestly, if you think about it, both Darth Vader and Thrawn combined are essentially Emperor Palpatine himself!

After reading the exerpt below I am now more excited that before about getting my hands on this book come July 24th!

Pulled directly from the release by StarWars.com:

Taking a final look at the nav display, Anakin pointed the Actis toward the horizon and poured power to the drive—

Abruptly, R2-D2 trilled a warning. “What is it?” Anakin said, frowning as he checked his rear display.

And felt the back of his neck tingle. There was a ship back there, the size of a medium freighter but of unknown configuration.

Settling into orbit right beside his hyperdrive ring.

“Unknown ship, this is General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic,” he called. “Identify yourself and state your purpose.”

Nothing. Maybe they didn’t communicate on any of the Repub­lic’s standard frequencies.

Or, more likely this far out, didn’t speak Galactic Basic.

Anakin pursed his lips, running through his list of trade languages. He knew Huttese and Jawa Trade Language fairly well, but Batuu was a long way from Hutt influence. Meese Caulf? He was a bit far out for that, but it was the best he had. “Unidentified ship, this is General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic,” he said, working hard to wrap his mouth around the Meese Caulf words and hoping he was getting the grammatical structure right. “You are intruding on Re­public equipment and interfering with a Republic mission. I order you to pull back and identify yourself.”

“I greet you,” a calm voice came back in the same language. “Did you give your name as General Skywalker?”

“I did,” Anakin said, frowning. “Why, have you heard of me?”

“No, not at all,” the other said. “I was merely surprised. Let me as­sure you I mean no harm to you or your equipment. I merely wished a closer look at this interesting device.”

“Glad to hear it,” Anakin said. “You’ve had your look. Pull back as ordered.”

There was a pause. Then, at a leisurely pace, the ship drifted away from the ring. “May I ask what brings a Republic envoy to this part of space?” the intruder asked.

“May I ask what business it is of yours?” Anakin countered. It wasn’t very polite, but he wasn’t feeling in a particularly polite mood. Every minute he was stuck out here making sure this prowler be­haved himself was a minute he couldn’t spend looking for Padmé. “You can be on your way at any time.”

“On my way?”

“To continue your travels,” Anakin said. “To go wherever you were going before you stopped to look at my hyperdrive ring.”

Another silence. The alien ship, to Anakin’s annoyance, had halted its sideways drift and was now pacing the hyperdrive ring at a dis­tance of a hundred meters. Still far too close for comfort. “Yes, I could continue on my way,” the intruder said. “But it might be more useful for me to assist you in your quest.”

R2-D2 gave a puzzled twitter. “I already told you I was on a Re­public mission,” Anakin said. “It’s not a quest.”

“Yes, I recall your words,” the intruder assured him. “But I find it hard to believe that a Republic at war would send a lone man in a lone fighter craft on a mission. I find it more likely that you travel on a personal quest.”

“I’m on a mission,” Anakin ground out. This was starting to be really irritating. “Directly ordered here by Supreme Chancellor Pal­patine himself.” Not that Palpatine even knew Anakin was here, of course, let alone sanctioning the mission. But if the stranger had heard of the Clone Wars he’d surely heard of Palpatine, and dropping the chancellor’s name might add some weight to his side of the con­versation. “And I don’t have time for this.”

“Agreed,” the other said. “Perhaps it would be best if I were to sim­ply show you the location of the ship you seek.”

Anakin’s hands tightened on the yoke. “Explain,” he said quietly.

“I know where the Nubian ship landed,” the intruder said. “I know the pilot is missing.”

Anakin ground his teeth. “So you intercepted a private transmis­sion?”

“I have my own sources of information,” the intruder said, his voice still calm. “Like you, I seek information, on that and other mat­ters. Also like you I’m alone, without the resources to successfully investigate. Perhaps in alliance with a Republic general we may find the answers both of us seek.”

“Interesting offer,” Anakin said. And now, finally, he was close enough. Taking a deep breath, he stretched out to the Force.

The intruder wasn’t human, though of course Anakin had already guessed that. He was near-human, though, like many other species in the Republic.

But the texture of his mind was unlike anything Anakin had ever touched before. It was neat and well ordered, the patterns of thought flowing smoothly and precisely in ways not unlike those of scientists or mathematicians. But the content of that flow, and the muted emo­tions accompanying it, were completely opaque. It was like a neat and precise array of unfamiliar numbers.

“So what answers are you looking for?”

“I wish to more fully understand this conflict in which you’re em­broiled,” the intruder said. “I wish answers of right and wrong, of order and chaos, of strength and weakness, of purpose and reaction.” There was a slight pause; and when the voice came back there was a new formality to it. “You asked my identity. I am now prepared to give it. I am Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo, officer of the Expan­sionary Defense Fleet, servant of the Chiss Ascendancy. On behalf of my people, I ask your assistance in learning of this war before it sweeps its disaster over our own worlds.”

“Fine,” Anakin said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll make preparations at once,” Mitth’raw’nuruodo said. “One additional thought. Chiss names are difficult for many species to properly pronounce. I suggest you address me by my core name: Thrawn.”

“That’s all right, Mitth’raw’nuruodo,” Anakin said. Did this being go out of his way to be annoying and condescending? “I think I can handle it.”

“Mitth’raw’nuruodo,” the alien said.

“That’s what I said,” Anakin said. “Mitth’raw’nuruodo.”

“It’s pronounced Mitth’raw’nuruodo.”

“Yes. Mitth’raw’nuruodo.”

“Mitth’raw’nuruodo.”

Anakin clenched his teeth. He could hear a slight difference be­tween his pronunciation and the alien’s. But he couldn’t figure out how to correct his version. “Fine,” he growled. “Thrawn.”

“Thank you,” Mitth’raw’nuruodo—Thrawn—said. “It will make things easier. My shuttle is prepared. Let us depart.”

Thrawn: Alliances Excerpt Released Fresh this week from the Star Wars website, they have given us a glimpse of what to expect from the new Star Wars novel: 

[daleisgreat]

2019-20 TV Season Recap

Previous TV Season Recaps - (2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19) JULY 2, 2020 UPDATED WITH RANKINGS FOR WATCHMEN AND FINAL SEASONS OF GAME OF THRONES CLICK HERE TO JUMP RIGHT TO THEM Greetings, and welcome to my yearly TV season breakdown of all the shows I followed that were released during the past school year. For newer readers, please take a peek at previous TV recaps above that go as far back to the 2013-14 season. I usually try and watch a couple more shows during the summer and will update the top of this entry with an addendum link to new shows I kept up with during the summer. I will keep up my tradition of beginning with some animation shows….

South Park - This is a slight improvement from last year’s season, and it continues South Park’s return to form of episodic storylines. There were a couple dud episodes sprinkled in, but I was a fan of most of the ten shows this season. Standouts were cable TV installers fighting the war on streaming services, criticizing the Chinese government’s censorship to the point of getting South Park banned in China and an awesome season finale that sees Randy’s pot farm in despair when pot is outlawed during Christmas season so he turns to growing cocaine and gets everyone, including Santa and Jesus, hooked on it. Grade: B Simpsons - Last few years I have stuck to watching a few episodes a year of The Simpsons and Family Guy to at least have that constant association with those long lasting shows. Usually it is only the season premiere, finale and the Christmas episode of each show. The Simpsons I will also watch its annual Treehouse of Horror special, but something about this season kept me coming back to it where I watched nearly half of their episodes this season. They had their first ever Thanksgiving of Horror special which I was surprised with the amount of gore that got in. With this being the first full season of the show where it officially fell under the Disney ownership umbrella, there are now constant Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel references throughout, but likely due to the nature of the show it was not that intrusive to put up with. I really dug an episode with the Flanders coming to terms on reconciling with Maude’s death in a ‘special’ episode. Other fun episodes were the return of Sideshow Bob for the Christmas special and a touching season finale centering around Santa’s Little Helper, complete with a flashback to a clip of the very first Simpsons episode in 1989. Grade: B+

The Conners - Loving how most of the cast is settling into their roles by this point. I was thrilled to see the family regain ownership and reopen ‘The Lunchbox.’ Loved episodes that centered on that homey diner in the original. Sara Gilbert and John Goodman continue to carry the show on their backs. Seeing Dan’s dilemma of coming to terms with accepting the passing of Roseanne and committing to Louise was a chase that was worth following all season and had a gratifying payoff. I loved the ups and downs of Darlene and Ben’s relationship this season, and Ben has easily won me over as a regular on the show and I hope he is there to stay. Harris on the other hand…not so much. I would love to see more of DJ and his family in the mix, and it is disheartening to see he seems like such an afterthought of the show. Seeing Becky’s newfound motherhood troubles were a bit much to keep up with but it had its moments. One nagging issue I have with the series that has now been back for three seasons is that they never addressed what happened to Jackie's kid yet from the original run which is kind of ridiculous. Not even in a passing ‘Fred has custody now on the other side of the country’ sort of way. I was hoping to see Fred make a surprise return for an episode or something to address that, but will have to keep my fingers crossed for season four. Loved most of this season minus the Harris-centered episodes, and a couple of plotlines and barbs that felt like overkill. Grade: B+ Arrow – It was bittersweet to see the final episode of Arrow this past January. It was the last show I kept up with in the DC line of CW shows since I dropped the other couple midseason last year because it became too much to keep up with. Oliver had a fond farewell as the entire season built up that Olly would be riding off into the sunset this season. This season saw the continued use of jumping back and forth between current and future timelines where Oliver’s two children, Mia & William are all grown up and doing their own vigilante justice. I watched the entire five part Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover special between all the DC-CW shows. I will not attempt to explain it because my brain will explode in doing so, but it has a major impact dealing with Oliver’s fate and it all comes full circle in the finale with a heartfelt memorial for Oliver in front of a lot of familiar faces that were delightful to see again. The memorial saw an absolutely killer speech from Diggle that had my emotions running wild.

Arrow has consistently remained my favorite DC show on the CW. It had a touch more edge than the other shows which eventually morphed into a carefree, watered down formula I could not tolerate anymore. It sounds like there will be a new spinoff show with Mia and William starting next season, but I think but this seems like the perfect jumping off point from the ever-growing lineup of DC shows. There were times I felt like I needed a guide to keep up with all the time travelling plot threads, but the recaps helped keep me in check, and this was a great way to wrap up my favorite show of the CW-DC ‘Arrow-verse.’ Grade: A The Witcher – I heard a lot of positive buzz going into this Netflix original series, and being only eight episodes did not seem like too much of a commitment so I dove right in. The videogames this series is based on have been in my backlog forever so I cannot say how they compare, but I was won over by the two main characters of Geralt and Yennefer. Jaskier the bard was also the perfect companion to provide brief moments of levity. Henry Cavill has a tremendous presence as Geralt, and comes off as one powerful badass not to mess with. My favorite episode is where Geralt competes against a couple other factions going up a mountain to hunt a dragon that has many fun twists and turns. It would not be a medieval fantasy show without a big awesome setpiece war of a finale, and Witcher also delivers on that front. Only nitpick I have is sometimes the lore can be a bit dense to keep up with, but at only eight episodes that does not prevent it from being an easy recommendation. Grade: A-

Castlevania – The third season of the Netflix original show based on the hit videogame series is easily my favorite season of the three. There are several separate story arcs transpiring throughout the season, and most of them I was able to get into with the exception of Alucard's odd arc where mysterious loners seek his guidance who oddly turn on him for not revealing all his secrets after only a week under his tutelage. The rest of the cast had vastly more intriguing storylines. Trevor and Sypha are an adorably deadly couple that find themselves helping out a village filled with all kinds of dark secrets. Forgemaster Hector is wrapped up in a pickle of a situation as a prisoner of vampires who want global conquest. Forgemaster Isaac had an arc that I got into where he also is on his own quest for taking over the world. Something about the way it was written this season especially made it pop for me with each episode having one or two standout sessions of conversing. That boat captain especially, I want him to come back after his enticing conversations with Isaac! The last two episodes packed a really mean punch and compensate for the lack of action for the rest of the season. Sure as hell hope to see a fourth season soon enough! Grade: A Star Trek: Picard - During the early weeks of the global pandemic we are now in, a lot of streaming services offered extended free trials. I took advantage of that for CBS All Access, which is the exclusive home of Picard. Despite being nearly 20 years older since we last saw him as Picard, Sir Patrick Stewart remains masterful in the role. Now that it has been about a month since I wrapped it up, I am kind of 50/50 on the first season of Picard. There were some characters that I did not care for, but the show ultimately came together for a semi-decent season. Loved the expected old faces that returned for rushes of nostalgia I was totally into, and am glad only a few older faces returned to save room for future cameos. Took a while to get use to watching Star Trek in a serialized format with story arcs lasting the whole season, but I liked the crew Picard assembled by the end of the season, and although the season arc spiraled into a bit of a mess by the season finale that I additionally will refrain from attempting to explain, a big part of me is feeling like the cast was starting to organically gel by the last episode which leads me hoping for a better dynamic in season two. Grade: B-

Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 1 & 2) – That CBS All Access trial wound up getting extended further into two months for me so I once again took advantage of that to plow through the first two seasons of the newest core Star Trek show, Discovery. The first season was a bit of a chore to get through. After an explosive two episode season opener setting up the protagonist Michael Burnham, the show gradually got less interesting as they mixed in plot tropes I despise like time travelling and alternate dimensions that play a major role in the first season. I will give props to a guilty pleasure time loop episode I was all in for however that can easily be watched in its own without taking in the rest of the serialized plot. I was not that into Rainn Wilson before, but his recurring role here as con-man Harry Mudd was my unlikely favorite character of the first season. My main gripe about the first season is it is all about Michael, with the rest of the crew primarily relegated to B and C plot affairs while most other past Star Trek shows shined the spotlight on the entire crew. The second season is a step up with some noticeable improvements. I liked the introduction of their versions of Captain Pike and Spock on here that drastically helped the rest of the cast to step up. Seeing Spock & Michael’s sibling rivalry and their past revealed as the season went on was an arc that I was able to invest in. Discovery did a little bit of fleshing out of some parts of the rest of the crew, but it could have done better where instead a lot more emphasis was placed on Michael's character making silly Jennifer Garner-esque reactionary faces. She does a mean vulcan eyebrow though, ditto with Spock! Special effects are in a league of their own, no idea how they have the budget for it with nearly every episode having a ton of spectacular action scenes. TNG nut in me would prefer Discovery to dial back the action a notch or two, but supposedly the new Pike spinoff show, Strange New Worlds, will do that next year. Season 1 Grade: C- Season 2 Grade: B- ====================================== UPDATE – July 2, 2020 ====================================== A couple weeks after I posted this originally I did one of them free one week trials for HBO Max to crank out two more shows I have been meaning to get to for quite some time so here are my thoughts on them….

Watchmen - The 2009 film is extraordinarily polarizing among anyone I talk to. I have a love/hate/love relationship with it myself. The HBO TV series from several months ago appears to be the same from the first few people I spoke with about it too after finishing it earlier this week. It is set in the present in 2019, some 34 years after the events of the graphic novel. I was hooked by the end of the first episode which had an impactful viewing experience due to the similarities of how the police are portrayed in Watchmen to the recent real life events/riots/protests in recent weeks. Nearly every episode had an interesting hook that spiraled into another arc that had its own callback and references to the original story and how the present world in the show was still enduring the rippling effects from the conclusion of the original saga. The second half of the season has a different dynamic to it once certain revelations are made of key characters and other characters are introduced. Seeing each episode’s dose of Ozymandias’ journey from the past 34 years had me scratching my head where it was going until his arc came full circle and it all pleasantly came together. A couple little twists and turns did not sit well with me in how the finale played out, but for the most part I was absolutely invested in the series throughout and hopes the show gets picked up for a second season which is currently in doubt because the season one showrunner feels the first season put an overall conclusion to Watchmen all together. Grade: A-

Game of Thrones - I finally got around to watching the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones. I somehow managed to escape spoilers all this time too. Was in no rush to see it due to noticeable step down in quality from the seventh season based on how rushed it felt and how it crammed two seasons of content into one. Unfortunately the same can be said here for the last season. The thing is though the first half of season eight is extremely good. Episode one is all about reuniting the characters and setting up for the battle of all battles against the undead army that has been building since the very beginning of the show. I loved how the second episode gave nearly every character a moment of their own to take in their presumable last evening before the fight ahead as they basked in each other’s fellowship and drink. Then the battle itself was a huge undertaking for a TV show to pull off a battle scene of that magnitude for over an hour, even with a premium HBO budget. There are parts where I can nitpick and see where they tried little camera tricks and implemented other special effects tomfoolery to give the false illusion they were on par with the AAA budget cinematic battles of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but by and large that battle with the Whitewalkers is an impressive feat of television filmmaking that I will never forget. Loved every chapter of that third episode. If you have fallen off of Game of Thrones after season seven, then do yourself a favor and at least watch episodes two and three of the final season. Now if the series would have ended after that big battle that would have been ideal, but there was still one Queen Cersei to deal with…. …and the final three episodes of the season eight dealt with the rest of the kingdoms building up for one last battle to take over the Red Keep and remove Cersei from the throne. The final three episodes feel overwhelmingly rushed and should have had their own expanded season, and that is saying something because those episodes are all longer than average episodes and around the length of a movie each. While the first half of the final season has key characters meet their demise in a blaze of glory, the final episodes have anticlimactic finales for fan favorite characters and it felt like the writers were trying to make the best of the worst situation for trying to wrap up the show. There are a couple fleeting moments I enjoyed for certain characters having a gratifying conclusion to their stories, but I could not shake this gut-wrenching feeling throughout the final two episodes that the wheels were quickly flying off the rails. For what it is worth, I did like Bran and Jon Snow’s final destinations and scenes for how they were shot and am now relieved I have now got this show out of the way. I avoided reading recaps and spoilers, but had a feeling this was not going to be a good season due to a general lack of reaction and enthusiasm for the final season as it was transpiring, minus a little optimism for the aforementioned midseason battle. The series finale came and went without much of an online reaction to my surprise and in the succeeding months little murmurs of ‘meh’ was what I picked up on in the general sense of how it wrapped up when asking around….and I am essentially on board with that after seeing it myself. Now with that out of the way…should I read the books? Grade: C Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap 2017-18 TV Season Recap 2018-19 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Baseball: A Ken Burns series Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections Cobra Kai – Seasons 1-2 Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 | Season 2 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld Final Season Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7 Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

[couplesbeyondborders]

Léa + Marc

Léa Country: France Marc Country: USA

The interview takes place in Lyon, in July 2018, where Léa was living but at the end of the summer she was going to move to Paris. Marc was here for a couple of weeks to be with her before going back to Boston, where he was living. At the end of the article, you will find the latest news that I’ve got from them.

Here’s their story:

“We met by chance in June 2012, in a bar, on a Saturday night. I was living in Montréal at the time and was on vacation in Boston with some friends. Following that first encounter, we exchanged contact info and became friends on Facebook, but then there was no communication between us for the next 9 months. That was until February 2013, when he reached out to me. I was still living in Montréal and he was still in Boston,” says Léa.

To start a dialogue, Marc found a way to speak about a band that was playing in Paris. “Basically, my question to her was ‘Do you know if it's a good venue to see a band?’ She assured me that it was, so I ended up buying two tickets to see the band, although I never actually went to see the show. I’ve kept the tickets ever since because that conversation about the venue was like the true start of our relationship.”

Most of their relationship was back and forth between Boston and Montréal until 2015, when Marc was laid-off from his job and decided to move up to Montreal for a year, where Léa was living. After more than two years of living apart, they felt lucky to finally get the opportunity to live together. But unfortunately for them, it was only temporary because neither of them pictured themselves in Montréal for the long term. So when their lease was up towards the end of 2016, Léa moved back to France to be closer to her family, and Marc went back to Boston.

“So although we’ve been together for more than five years now, the majority of our relationship has been long distance. The past year and a half has probably been the most challenging part though, because now instead of being just a five hour car ride apart, we’re a seven hour expensive flight apart, and so we can’t see each other as much as we used to”, sums up Léa. Marc would like to move to France to be with Léa, but one of the big challenges for him has been finding a company willing to sponsor him to work. Another challenge he foresees once he finally is hired, is that even after more than five years being with Léa, he still knows very little French. “I feel like the only way I’m going to learn it is by living there. For our entire relationship we’ve only communicated with each other in English because my French is so basic. It’s a bit sad that after all of this time with her that I still can’t even hold a conversation in French. That becomes most obvious when I visit her in Lyon and attempt to speak in French to her parents, because they know very little English and I’m not able to fall back on my English to express myself. It’s during those visits that it becomes really clear just how bad my French really is.”

Speaking of Léa’s relatives, Marc ends up telling me about his experience with the French way of saying hello. “Léa’s family had a gathering a couple of weeks ago and her cousin’s young boy came to greet us with a kiss, as you always do in France. However, I thought it was always two kisses, one on each cheek, but apparently that’s not always the case, because when I went to give the second kiss, he had already started to move on to the next person, so I was ‘left hanging’ as we say in America. It was definitely a little awkward, but also pretty funny.”

The American greetings were also a bit awkward for Lea at times as well. Especially when meeting Marc’s close friends, because they typically greet each other by hugging. To Léa though, this seems a bit too intimate, especially when she was meeting them for the first time and didn’t really know them. While they are speaking of their respective friendships, Léa explains how it was a bit uncomfortable for Marc to see her debate issues with her friend, because to him it seemed like they were being really harsh towards each other. Marc adds, “In America, when we disagree with friends, I feel like we don’t get quite so animated and passionate about it. We tend to “candy coat’ things, as we say. We soften the argument; and try to disagree in a polite way. Lea and her friend, on the other hand, weren’t worried about being soft or polite. To me, it was really intense, and was almost like their friendship was going to end right then and there.”

But interestingly, when arguing with each other about something in public “Léa tends to be calm and steady, whereas I’m the one that tends to get animated” says Marc. He continues, “Americans are certainly known for being a bit loud and boisterous in public settings, and although I don't think I'm a stereotypical American in that way, I guess there’s a tiny part of me that isn’t too concerned about being that way at times. She, on the other hand, is always very respectful of everyone around her and much more concerned about disturbing them. Over time though, she’s definitely rubbed off on me and made me more conscious about that as well.”

And for Léa, one of the things she really enjoys about Marc is this optimism. “I think Americans, in general, tend to have a more optimistic outlook than the French and see the future in a in a more positive way. Although being with Marc hasn’t necessarily turned me into a complete optimist, I can say it’s helped me see things in a different way and be a little less pessimistic than I used to be”, she says.

One way in which they are both quite similar though, is that they both like to eat a healthy, plant-based diet. They do sometimes still make exceptions when they’re traveling or when they visit each other in their respective countries. “Every time she comes to visit, she wants to get the Oreo cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I think it might be her favorite American food”, says Marc.

As for him, although he hates to admit it, he loves snails, “During their Christmas celebration there seems to be an endless supply of escargots, and they always kept bringing me more. The other little weird thing is that Léa doesn't like cheese. She's a French person that doesn't like cheese and I'm an American who likes snails. Go figure!” jokes Marc.

With regards to the future, they say that they’d love to raise their kids bilingually in France, and teach them not only the importance of healthy eating, but also how what we choose to eat has a big impact on both the environment/climate, as well as on the well-being of animals around the world. And Marc’s hoping he might get the opportunity to teach them a little about some distinctly American sports like baseball and football as well.

Here the latest news from Léa:

“Since the summer of 2018, I moved to Paris to start a new job and Marc and I continued to keep our relationship going by visiting each other every few months. We typically didn’t stay in our respective cities (Paris and Boston) but tried to venture out and explore new places we hadn’t seen yet- Croatia, Iceland, Greece, the American Pacific Northwest, and Chamonix to name a few. We finally made the leap and got married at the end of the Summer of 2019 and Marc is moving to Paris in July. It’s been a long journey since 2013 with many ups, and some downs, but we stuck together through it all and are excited to start the next chapter of our life finally reunited in Paris!”

[heathergoffrier]

9 Hacks To Prevent Hot Car Deaths And Avoid Leaving Your Infant Behind

Worried about leaving your baby in a hot vehicle? Hear Heather's story and get her 9 keys to help prevent hot car deaths. Includes a printable checklist!

"Hey, how have you been?" My stylist's innocent greeting jolted me to stop. My mind quickly ran through what I'd been up to the past two months since I'd seen her... Last time I saw her I was pregnant... I had the baby... THE BABY'S IN THE CAR. "Oh my word." I said, starting to freak out. "What?" She asked, and she could tell something was really wrong. "I left the baby in the car!" I replied, mortified, and turned and ran out the door. As I ran up the street, my thoughts spun between replaying how this had even happened, to questioning if my baby would be ok, to wondering whether someone would have already broken in the window and called the police.

How I Ended Up Leaving My New Baby In The Car

It was January and my husband had been deployed since October. Our baby #3 had been born in late November via c-section. My mom stayed with my throughout the delivery and recovery since Adam was overseas. I was exhausted from deployment, not to mention recovery from surgery. I felt a bit like I was drinking from a firehose when parenting three on my own. This trip to the salon was my first time getting out for a haircut and some down-time out of the house. I loaded up the little Miss and headed to my appointment.

Parking Issues

The salon was in Little Italy, a section of San Diego's downtown, so finding parking was like finding water in the Sahara desert. I circled the block a few times as the time for my appointment ticked closer. After seeing exactly zero available spaces, I started to get frustrated. I figured I needed to try a parking lot, but the only one available was charging $15. $15 for an hour, seriously?! I'd rather choke down the glucose test drink than pay that much, but as I was about to be late for my appointment, I decided to go for it. The ONLY spot in the parking lot was between a flower bed and a glass truck with angled metal sides. I had to back my ginormous SUV into the spot, which made it so I couldn't open my door. (something like the glass truck pic below) With the baby sleeping soundly in the back, I had forgotten her in my endless trips around the block, my precarious (expensive) parking, and my hurry to get to my haircut. I climbed across the passenger seat, out the side door, and hustled off to my appointment a block away. RELATED: 7 NEW MOM HACKS FOR FLYING WITH AN INFANT

Don't forget me!

9 Hacks To Prevent Hot Car Deaths And Avoid Leaving Your Infant Behind (Like I Did)

Today reports that, as of July 16th, "In 2019 there have been 21 child hot car deaths so far." It was hard to even get myself to write this post, because honestly it's kind of embarrassing. What kind of parent would leave their newborn in the car? But let me tell you, it's easier than you think to make this mistake. We are all at risk and we have to take steps to prevent tragedy. Here are 9 tips to help you remember your child EVERY time you leave your vehicle. Plus, I made them into a handy checklist you can download here: SEND ME THE CHECKLIST 1- Look In The Backseat EVERY Time You Leave Your Vehicle It's one extra step that could save a life. Just check your back seat every time to be sure no little ones are back there. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calls it "Park, Look, Lock." We have to retrain ourselves with that new habit, but the effort will be worth it. 2- Count Your Children Repeatedly To Avoid Leaving One In a Hot Car With three children, it feels like a lot of little lives to keep track of. When I get out of the car, I now make it a point to think through where each child is. For example: "#1 is with Dad, #2 is with me, #3 is with me." Making a habit of this helps me double check myself every time. And honestly I've gotten lax on this so writing this is a good reminder for me. 3- Prevent Hot Car Deaths By Over-Communicating The biggest risk was never when I had all three of my kids in my charge. It was once someone else was watching one or two of the kids while I had the others. One frequent and tragic storyline I hear when a child is left in the car is that the parent didn't realize the child was with them. With day-care drop offs, school runs, and busy lives, it's easy to miscommunicate. Make sure you know who is with you and that your other caregiver knows who is with them.

4- Use An App Or Reminder Device Honestly I haven't found anything great but there are a few concepts on the market. Most ideas I've seen were either in development, are no longer available, or have significant use issues. Here's a list of what seems to be the best car seat alarms available now. If you know of any other good technology available I'd love to hear about it! You can post in the comments or shoot me an email here. Also, it looks like some car companies have made a pact to develop reminder technologies for new cars. While it seems to me that they should have done this years ago, I'm glad to see them moving that direction. 5- Put Something You Need In The Backseat I've heard one trick to preventing hot car deaths is to take off a shoe and set it in the backseat. I like the idea but it needs troubleshooting. What if it's pouring down rain (like it does 9 months out of the year here in the Pacific Northwest)? And it's a safety issue to drive without your shoes on. So hmmm. To solve that problem, try putting something else you need immediately in the back, whether it be your phone, your backpack or purse, or anything you can think of.

Put something- anything- you need into the backseat as a reminder to check for an extra passenger. 6- Put A Stuffed Animal In The Passenger Seat I just learned of this trick and I love it. I think I'll need to use two stuffies because I have two who can't get out of their carseats. However, hot car deaths have happened even with children as old as 13. In fact, HealthyChildren.org reports that: "Heat stroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths in children under 15." RELATED: THE TWO SIMPLE HACKS THAT WILL ENTERTAIN KIDS IN THE CAR FOR HOURS 7- Prevent Hot Car Deaths By Reminding Each Other As your partner, a care giver or a friend to remind you to check your backset. This is especially helpful for certain trips when you're passing baby back and forth or you're not used to having them on this particular errand. It never hurts to get a reminder from someone you trust. 8- Ask Childcare Workers To Check In If you utilize childcare outside your home, ask them to call you immediately anytime your child does not show up as scheduled. This can prevent a loving, well-meaning parent from accidentally leaving the child in a car after first forgetting to drop them off at daycare or preschool.

9- Be Extra Diligent At The End Of The Workweek Interestingly, Thursdays and Fridays saw the most deaths from 1998-2018. So as we parents are getting tired toward the weekend, it's time to take extra precautions like the ones mentioned above.

What Happened When I Got Back To My Car

After I checked into my appointment, I sat in the lobby waiting for my stylist. My horrible blunder dawned on me when she showed up and asked how I'd been. It was about 60 degrees, so thankfully it was a cooler Southern California day. As I raced up the street, I saw that no one was near my car or looking in the windows. That was a small relief, but I still wasn't close enough to tell if my baby was awake and crying. Upon reaching my car and opening up the door, I found my little princess sleeping away peacefully in a car that wasn't overly warm. Thank you Lord! I breathed multiple prayers of thanks and took a lot of deep breaths to calm my pounding heart. I couldn't help thinking of what could have been as I secured her in the frame stroller and wheeled her back to my concerned stylist. I explained everything and she was very reassuring that it could happen to anyone. I still felt horrible, but overall I was so grateful that everything turned out ok. I've wanted to write this article for a long time because I really hope to help prevent anything from happening to your precious little ones. It's hard to accept, but it really can happen to anyone. PLEASE be careful and implement a plan to keep your children safe! TO HELP PREVENT A TRAGEDY IN YOUR FAMILY, GRAB THIS FREE CHECKLIST "9 KEYS TO PREVENTING HOT CAR DEATHS" TODAY!

SEND ME THE CHECKLIST Read the full article

[musicoccurred]

Aimee Mann

Who: Aimee Mann Where: Lyric Theater When: January 22, 2018

Either you're a music person or you're not. Truly there is no in-between. Having said that, let me qualify it for a moment. When I say 'music person' I mean you are moved by music, it speaks to you and you cannot imagine your life without it. You seek out new artists, go to shows, buy music and find like-minded friends and have passionate discussions about the merits of album 4 vs album 5 by an artist. I can't tell you how many times I've sent a text message with "listen to this" along with a Spotify or YouTube link attached. I love getting those messages as well. My passion for music has taken me all across the country and introduced me to wonderful new friends.

I've loved music for as long as I can remember but it wasn't until I was a teenager that music ripped me apart or put me back together again depending on the situation. You may be asking, what does any of this have to do with Aimee Mann? Read on!

Like most people over a certain age my first exposure to Aimee Mann was with her former band, Til Tuesday. If you don't recall the name, they had a big hit in 1985 or so with "Voices Carry" which was a heavy song for a 10-year old kid but I was enamored by her singing and the content as it hit close to home. Honestly I don't recall much of their other music and the band only lasted a couple more years before dissolving.

Fast forward many years and I kept seeing her around, she provided several songs for the Magnolia soundtrack, and released several solo albums.

In 2017 she released Mental Illness to critical acclaim. I listened the day it came out and was absolutely floored. All of my music friends were texting back and forth about the brilliance of her writing and performance on the record. She subsequently appeared on one of my favorite podcasts so evidently Aimee Mann was now a part of my life.

Not too long ago she announced a show at the fabulous Lyric Theater here in Birmingham and there was no doubt I'd be in attendance. MO alum and fellow music dork Bryan Green was able to snag front-row tickets for us. Now, there's a certain level of responsibility with front-row tickets, you need to know the material. So I did a deep-dive into all of her work and it spoke to me. Her music, while diverse, trends toward carefully crafted songs that run a little sad, dark and quiet. Perfect for headphones and an open heart.

At first I wasn't so sure if Birmingham was an Aimee Mann kind of town, particularly on a Monday night. Nevertheless a nice crowd came out and was very supportive of both Aimee and her opener Jonathan Coulton. Speaking of Jonathan, I had never heard of him but he was quite the entertainer, equal parts comedian and excellent singer-song writer. He and Aimee collaborated on several projects as well as their performances this particular evening.

Aimee came out just after 9 and with her three bandmates (four counting Jonathan) greeted us and went right into a deep cut, "4th of July" from her debut solo record. Mental Illness was well-represented with 6 tracks being played including the excruciatingly beautiful "You Never Loved Me."

For me, "Roller Coasters" and "Goose Snow Cone" were particularly special. She closed with "Voices Carry" which wasn’t on the playlist so the question is, did she audible it in or is it a given? Regardless, I hear the song occasionally on XM radio but for some reason hearing it live evoked incredibly powerful emotions. I'm not sure if it was the content or hearing a song from so long ago.

To say I was moved by Aimee's show is an understatement, I am still riding the wave several days later and now consider myself a super-fan. Go see her if she's playing in your neck of the woods and by all means check out her work.

Setlist:

4th of July Little Bombs Patient Zero The Moth Labrador Humpty Dumpty Roller Coasters You Never Loved Me Goose Snow Cone Good For Me Save Me Motions Borrowing Time Long Shot One Wise Up Voices Carry

-JS

[mycarlos2019]

Going to Guatemala. Part I

As recently as three years ago, it would never have occurred to me that I would come to love a small country in Central America known as Guatemala. It’s a love affair that began with watching travel videos on youtube.com and culminated with a ten day visit in January of 2018, followed by a three week visit in February of 2019. The youtube videos in question were made by a trio of young people called The Budgeteers and, to a lesser extent, by a man named Andy Graham who has his own website called hobotraveler.com. Prior to watching these videos, I suppose I must have just lumped all Latin American countries into one homogeneous mass of poverty, corruption and CIA meddling. Watching The Budgeteers hitchhike their way from Baja, California to the San Blas Islands, just off the coast of Panama, I realized that every Central American country is actually a little different. My original idea for 2018 had been to do what many Canadians do in the bleak winter months of January and February, to spend a week to ten days in Cuba. But the more I looked into Cuba, the more it seemed to me to be a country which is presented to tourists as a kind of Caribbean idyll, when in fact the truth is far from what you see on the surface. Guatemala, on the other hand, appeared to be a country where people are simply living their lives and don’t care all that much about tourists unless they happen to live in Antigua, one of the touristy towns around Lake Atitlan or Chichicastenango. In the rest of the country, people seemed to making a living from farming or by owning their own store. There are, in fact, so many tiendas in Guatemala that it is hard to imagine finding a place where there isn’t one. The point is that most Guatemalans don’t go out of their way to please tourists and they certainly don’t alter their behaviour to present a pleasing picture to the outside world.

The other vlogger who caught my attention, Andy Graham, did so because he has a number of videos of himself standing in front of Lake Atitlan saying, “Panajachel, Guatemala. I’m here. You’re not. Why not?” Mr. Graham’s shtick is that he has lived in 181 countries all over the world and can tell you how to live the same lifestyle he does, if you so wish. I won’t go into it any further than that, but suffice it to say that his assertions about Panajachel and Lake Atitlan being desirable places to head for if you wanted to live abroad were enough to make me open the Google maps Street View feature and start looking around. What I saw astonished me. Far from being a dreary, downtrodden backwater, Panajachel seemed to be bursting with life and colour. Souvenir shops selling multi-coloured clothing competed for room with open air restaurants and bars. Bright red Tuk-tuks, motorcycles and minivans somehow managed to share the narrow street with tourists and Guatemalan women selling their wares. A solid kilometer of interesting things to see, do and just be fascinated by. I decided that I had to go to Guatemala at least once in my life, if for no other reason than just to walk down Santander Street.

             The view out the window at Pearson Airport the day I left.

I began planning my first visit in earnest when I realized that a return plane ticket on Air Mexico would only cost in the neighbourhood of $450. That would include a one day layover in Mexico City, but I was fine with that. Why not look around there too for a day? I managed to find a hostel that was only a 20 minute walk from Terminal 1 at Benito Juarez Airport. The only potential hiccup was that Air Mexico flights from Toronto land at Terminal 3 and, while there is a free Sky Train to Terminal 1, I had read that you need to show your boarding pass to get on it. I, of course, had a boarding pass, but it didn’t carry with it any express need to go to the other terminal. It turned out not to matter. Despite the fact that the security guard at entrance to the Sky Train boarding area was overtly hostile, as soon as I showed her my defunct boarding pass, she let me go through. Seriously, what do these people think? That gringos who just happen to live in Mexico hang around in the airport all day with nothing better to do than ride the monorail back and forth from one terminal to the other? In any case, I made it to Terminal 1 and managed to find my way to the far western end of it, where the footpath to my hostel began.

I had looked it up on Google Maps, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it could be done, by which I mean getting across the very large and very busy, multi-lane highway that essentially cuts off the airport from the adjacent neighbourhood. The Circuito Interior is a 42 kilometer long, six to eight lane freeway that forms a giant loop through the central neighbourhoods of the city. Fortunately, my hunch proved to be correct. There is a footpath, which leads to an overpass (i.e. footbridge), which deposits you on the other side of the freeway at the foot of the street, Norte 33, which, in turn, leads to the hostel. The service road, beside the Circuito is lined with airport hotels, fast food joints, car rental agencies and all the other sort of shops one typically associates with airports. In behind it, however, is a solidly working class, blue collar neighbourhood. This is where old VW beetles go to die. I saw three or four of them, at least, just in the short walk to the hostel, not actual working cars, mind you, just burned out shells of cars that had long ago been parked on the street and forgotten about. Clearly, the intention was to fix them up but it was an intention that, for whatever reason, was never followed through on. So there they sit, the unrealized dreams of anonymous Mexicans.

                                  An old Beetle in Barrio Moctezuma.

Nevertheless, this is a neighbourhood that is full of life. Tiendas, restaurants and food stands line the streets. A large sports complex, complete with a soccer pitch and three basketball courts has been plunked down right in the middle of it. Around the walls of this complex are more street food stalls, fruit stands, miniature shrines where you can make an offering to the Virgin Mary (presumably to help your team win the soccer match).

If you should decide one day to stay at Punto DF, what follows is a short description of how to get from the footbridge to the hostel. Heading north, it is tempting to think you should stay on Norte 33 until you get to 166 Calle Oriente, and the cut over to the hostel, but it is much more interesting to hang a left on Calle Oriente 182 and walk over to Norte 25. This is where, to my mind the neighbourhood comes alive. Norte 25 is an absolutely unpretentious and, at the same time, lovely grand avenue with a line of small trees down the middle. A paint store sits next to the local stationary shop. Sidewalk eateries or comedors tell you that this is a place where people actually live and, to quote Van Morrison, have their being. Calle Norte 25 appears to come to a halt at Moctezuma and Fortino Serrano Parks (two parks side by side that are in effect one park), but it actually continues along the southwestern edge of these parks and resumes again on the northwestern side of Fortino Serrano. You could, of course, just walk through the park to get to the point where it starts again. From the corner of Calle Oriente 168 and Calle Norte 25, it is only one block further to Calle Oriente 166, the street Punto DF is on. Cocina Don Pepe has an orange awning. Turn left there. A large colourful mural will let you know you have found the right place.

My plane was two hours late, but it was still only about eleven in the morning when I rang the doorbell and was greeted by a very nice young man (I think his name might have been Francisco) who didn’t mind at all that I was checking in so soon. Of course, all I wanted to do was put my knapsack in one of their lockers and head downtown to see a bit of the city. Francisco gave me a map of the subway and confirmed that the cost was indeed five pesos. (It’s now six pesos, but that’s still less than fifty cents Canadian.) The Metro station nearest to Punto DF is R. Flores Magnon. It’s one of the more utilitarian stations in the system and is named after an anarchist who helped spark the Mexican Revolution. To get to it, you simply continue up Norte 25, navigating your way around the sports stadium and Mercado Moctezuma. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can cut through a pedestrian pathway that is actually part of the market. It’s just to the right of the low lying, yellow building that says Mercado de Moctezuma.

Moctezuma, as you probably know, was the ruler of the Aztecs at the time of first contact and he died on July the 1st, 1520 from being hit on the head with a rock thrown by a member of the Aztec uprising, because he was thought to be behaving in a way that was too conciliatory to the Spanish. They had, after all, massacred a large number of men, women and children in the great temple just ten days earlier. Another version of events claims that Moctezuma’s dead body–along with that of another Aztec king, Itzquauhtzin–was simply cast out of the palace once it became clear that he did not actually have the ability to stop the Aztec uprising.

At the far end of the laneway, you will emerge on Calle Oriente, just a short bit to the left of where Calle Norte 25 continues. Here there are more cafes, tiendas, stores to buy school uniforms, stationary shops, sidewalk food vendors, beauty shops and tortillerias lining both sides of the street as it leads up to the Metro. If you’ve never been on the Metro before, brace yourself. It isn’t even remotely close to the being like a ride on the TTC or whatever type of public transit you may have experienced in the States, Canada or even Europe. R. Flores Magnon, however, is a fairly mild introduction, in that it’s not very crowded. Just find your way up the stairs, buy a ticket at the booth, feed it into the turnstile, make sure the train is going in the direction you want and you are good to go, so to speak. One of the first things you will notice is that the cars are old. They were built by Bombardier, or at least some of them were, back in the late sixties and early seventies. Bombardier is the Canadian company that keeps getting its contracts cancelled by Toronto’s public transit system, due to its inability to deliver vehicles on time and to spec, but in this case, they seem to have done alright since these forty-year-old cars are still running. The next thing you might notice if you take the Metro at any time of day that is even close to rush hour is that these cars fill up fast. Mexico City’s population, if you take into account the whole metropolitan area, is 21 million, and a lot of those people use the Metro to get around. Nevertheless, it is relatively easy to negotiate and I was able to make my way to the station I wanted, San Juan de Letran, without too much difficulty.

My plan had been to land myself somewhere central and just sort of wander around, but I quickly realized how easy it would be to get lost in a city where no-one speks the same language as you.  Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas is a large, bustling, multi-lane avenue, lined with shops of all kinds, and it also leads up to the Palacio de Belles Artes. You can probably figure out for yourself that this means Palace of Fine Artes.

                                      Palacio de Belles Artes

It’s an absolutely awesome building that I wished I had time to explore further, but I didn’t, so I satisfied myself with sitting in the park beside it, Almeda Central. It’s a large park, with water fountains, trees and places to sit. At the eastern end is the palacio. On the northern side is Teatro Hildago and the National Stamp Museum, while on the western end, there is an art museum with a mural by Diego Rivera. I dare say you could spend three or four days just exploring the different buildings around this park but I didn’t have much more than an hour to just sit and contemplate my surroundings. It can be a bit of a shock to the system to get on a plane in a city where the snow is a foot deep and seven hours later find oneself surrounded by trees and water fountains in a space where people are just hanging out and enjoying the warm weather.

                                               Almeda Central

I can’t say that I thought much more about it than that. Mexico City seemed a little on the inscrutable side, hard to understand and/or grasp the spirit of and I wasn’t going to have enough time to more than scratch the surface. I decided to fulfill my goal of seeking out a fish taco place I had read about on the internet.

El Pescadito is a chain of restaurants in Mexico City that only sells fish tacos. The one I was headed for is quite close the park, just one block south on Luis Moya and half a block to the right on Avenita Independencia. I really had no idea how to order because my Spanish was very limited at that point in time, but I somehow managed to muddled through and obtain a shrimp taco, a fish taco and a beer. The process, just in case you ever find yourself inside one of these places, is you order from the cook and sit down. Then someone brings the food to your table at which point you can take your tacos to the salsa table, where there are about ten different choices. Unlike most chains, you pay when you’re done. I sat looking out the window and watched a man using some kind of clay to remake the sidewalk curb, by hand. Basically, he made a cast from wood planks, poured the clay into it and then smoothed out the top with a trowel. I had the impression that he was some kind of private contractor, not a city employee, and I enjoyed watching him work while I ate my fish and shrimp tacos. Soon enough it was time to leave and begin making my way back to the hostel.

I was about to acquire a whole new appreciation for the term packed in like sardines. The trains on the Mexico City Metro become so full of people at rush hour that you find yourself pressed in on all sides and virtually unable to move. And just when you think that not one more person can press his way inside, someone manages to do just that by letting the doors close on him repeatedly until he is literally squeezed through the doorway. I began to grow concerned that I would not be able to get off at my station without bowling over several people first. Fortunately, after wracking my brain to find the Spanish version of “excuse me”, I came up with “permiso”, and that worked. People actually shifted to one side long enough for me to edge my way through them and get out the door and onto the platform of R. Flores Magnon Station.

It was later than I had thought and Barrio Moctezuma was already dark. I was a little nervous because I had read a TripAdvisor posting about my hostel which said that the poster wasn’t sure it was a safe neighbourhood to be walking alone through at night. Those feelings quickly dissipated as I realized there were still plenty of people dining in restaurants, going to the tiendas and just hanging out with friends on the street corners. Some houses had LED Christmas lights on them, giving the whole neighbour a soft glow.

                                    Barrio Moctemzuma at night.

I saw a brightly lit store called, appropriately enough, La Luz 1. It had a bottle of beer on its sign, so I reasoned that they probably sold beer and decided to pick up a few to drink on the hostel patio. After stepping inside and giving the place a quick scan, I found that the owner was stationed behind a cage of half-inch, white bars. There was a fridge to my right with beer in it, but when I tried to open the door, I found that it was locked. The man behind the counter came out, unlocked it for me and went back inside his cage. I took three Coronas to the counter with no idea what they would cost. When he told me the price, in Spanish, I found that I couldn’t understand him and gave him my notebook to write the price on, but he had a better idea. He produced a calculator and showed me the price on that. I left feeling quite pleased with myself for having successfully navigated my first purchase in a Mexican store, not including, of course, my meal at La Pescadito. That didn’t count because in that restaurant the prices are posted on the wall in large letters and numbers. In the store, I had to ask “Cuanta Cuesta” and try to understand the answer.

Back inside the hostel, I found Francisco still on duty and I asked, needlessly, if it was okay to drink beer on the patio. Many hostels in Latin America have beer for sale right on the premises, but I didn’t know that then, and in any case, Punto DF does not. He told me that of course it was okay, so I made my way out the back door and sat in the open air with nothing on my back but a short sleeved cotton, enjoying my beers and listening to the sounds of the barrio; the occasional car engine revving, a dog bark here and there and, of course, the far away sound of airplanes taking off and landing. Cognizant of the fact that I would need to leave the hostel at 7:00 AM if I was to be at the airport three hours before my flight, I stowed my knapsack in one of the lockers, crawled into the cubbyhole which contained my bed, pulled the curtain closed, got undressed and quickly fell asleep.

            Approaching Benito Juarez Airport early the next morning.

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To purchase Going to Guatemala as an instant download PDF, click here.

To visit Lost City Press, click here.

To continue to Part II, click here.

[pope-francis-quotes]

29th July >> (@zenitenglish) Pope Francis Sends Greeting to Christian Life Community 2018 World Assembly Marks Group’s 50th anniversary Pope Francis on July 29, 2018, sent a message of greetings to the President of the Christian Life Community Executive Council (Christian Life Community – CVX-CLC), Mauricio López Oropeza, and to all the participants in the XVII World Assembly held in Buenos Aires from July 22-31, 2018, on the theme “CLC, a gift for the Church and for the world”, in the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Association: Here is the Holy Father’s Message, Provided by the Vatican: To Mr. Mauricio López Oropeza President of the World Christian Life Community Dear brother, I have received your thoughtful letter letting me know about the forthcoming celebration of your 2018 World Assembly, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of your journeying as Christian Life Community. For this reason, you want to pray and reflect together so that the Lord may grant you a greater depth in the living out of your charism, and thus, by delving deeper into the received charism, you may continue to be a gift for the Church and for the world. Note, the recognition of the gift and the grace that the Lord has given you over these years shall lead you, firstly, into a humble act of thanksgiving, because Jesus has looked at you beyond your qualities and virtues. At the same time, this entails a call to responsibility, to leave yourselves behind and go forth to encounter others, to nourish them with the only bread capable of satisfying the human heart: the love of Christ. That the “gnostic illusion” may not confuse you. At the center of your Ignatian spirituality is this desire to be contemplatives in action. Contemplation and action, the two dimensions together: because we can only enter the heart of God through the wounds of Christ, and we know that Christ is wounded in the hungry, the uneducated, the discarded, the old, the sick, the imprisoned, in all the vulnerable human flesh. To be guided by a Christian way of life, with a strong spiritual life and working for the Kingdom, means letting oneself be shaped by the love of Jesus, having his same sentiments (see Phil 2: 5), asking oneself continuously: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ? (see Sp. Ex. 53). I thank you for your dedication and love for the Church and our brethren, and I encourage you to continue making Christ present in your surroundings, giving apostolic meaning to all your occupations. And, please, do not stop praying for me. May Jesus bless you and may the Holy Virgin take care of you. © Libreria Editrice Vatican 29th July 2018 19:14FRANCIS

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As Harry and Meghan Arrive, Canadians Wonder if They Should Dump the Queen

The celebrity couple abandons their royal duties and moves to Vancouver Island. For Canadians, that rekindles an old debate: Why is a British monarch still their head of state?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s move to Canada has reopened a debate about the role of the British monarchy in Canadian affairs, Stéphanie Fillion writes.

By Stéphanie Fillion | March 05, 2020 | Foreign Policy

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are making Canada their home—but support for the monarchy is looking shaky.

When Justin Trudeau first met Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom after he took office as prime minister of Canada, she greeted him by saying, “Nice to see you again … but under different circumstances.” That’s because Trudeau had already met the British monarch as a one-year-old infant, when his father, Pierre Trudeau, also served as prime minister of Canada. For both men, the queen was no mere visiting dignitary, but their official head of state—to whom they had been required, by Canadian law, to swear an oath of loyalty.

“I, Justin P.J. Trudeau, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors. So help me God,” the prime minister dutifully recited in November 2015 when he first took office, and again when he was reelected last year.

Canada, although it has been fully independent in all other ways since 1982, remains a constitutional monarchy with a British royal as the official head of state. When Elizabeth is not in her Canadian realm, her place in Canada’s political pecking order is taken by Julie Payette, the British governor general in Ottawa. Though the queen’s powers are mostly symbolic, her face is on Canada’s coins, Canadian citizens are officially subjects of the queen, and the loyalty oath to Elizabeth has to be sworn not just by prime ministers, but by every immigrant wanting to become a Canadian citizen.

The majority of Canadians don’t mind this state of affairs, a vestige of their pre-1982 history as a dominion of the British Empire. The royals are still popular, and Trudeau has kept a good relationship with them—not least because they offer great photo-ops.

So when Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, abdicated their royal roles and announced they’d live in Canada, they weren’t moving to an entirely foreign country, but one over which Prince Harry’s grandmother—technically, at least—still rules. Ironically, however, Prince Harry’s abandonment of his royal duties has rekindled an old debate over whether Canada, too, should liberate itself from genuflection before the British throne and finally become a republic.

The first wrinkle in Canadian-British royal relations was over who should pay for the duke and duchess of Sussex’s security detail. In the past, their frequent visits (Meghan lived in Toronto prior to their marriage) came at a substantial cost to the queen’s Canadian subjects. Now that the Sussexes are staying longer—they have rented a sprawling mansion on Vancouver Island—that bill looked set to rise to more than CA$10 million a year, about $7.5 million, which Canadians just didn’t want to pay. In January, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation launched a petition opposing public subsidies for the couple, quickly gathering 80,000 names. On Feb. 27, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which had provided the couple’s security in the past, announced it would stop footing the bill in the coming weeks.

Quebec, the French-speaking province with a long history of separatism, has been a particular hotbed of republicanism. In October 2018, lawmakers for Québec Solidaire, a separatist, left-leaning party in the provincial legislature, refused to give the required oath to the queen in public, arguing that elected representatives genuflecting before a monarch was an undemocratic relic. Since they couldn’t legally take office as legislators if they refused the oath, the lawmakers decided to do it behind closed doors. “Ideally, we wouldn’t have had to swear an oath to the queen,” said Sol Zanetti, a member of the party in the National Assembly of Quebec. “But if we don’t, we cannot exercise our democratic mandate.”Lawmakers refused to give the oath in public, arguing that elected representatives genuflecting before a monarch was an undemocratic relic.

Québec Solidaire has now put forth a bill that would abolish the oath to the queen in the provincial legislature. Three permanent residents in the process of becoming citizens have also challenged the constitutionality of the oath as a requirement for naturalization. But Canada’s Supreme Court upheld the practice. “The oath is secular and is not an oath to the Queen in her personal capacity but to our form of government of which the Queen is a symbol,” the court decision read.

With its French heritage and unique brand of politics, Quebec does not completely reflect how the rest of the country feels. The queen is still relatively popular, and the majority of Canadians oppose abolishing the monarchy. But even at the national level, the anti-monarchists are pressing forward. Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the left-of-center New Democratic Party, which is currently the fourth-largest faction in the federal Parliament, has also called for abolishing the monarchy. “I’m a republican,” Singh said in a television interview in 2018. “It sounds a bit awkward saying that given the other connotation in the [United] States, but I believe that we should be a [republic]. I don’t see the relevance of [the monarchy], and I don’t think that most Canadians do.”

Singh’s push for a republic came after an even bigger controversy over the monarchy’s cost to Canadian taxpayers—in this case, the British governor general’s lavish expenses and pension. Figures from the past few years show taxpayers pay around 62 million Canadian dollars a year, close to $50 million, on the monarchy, mainly for the office of the governor general and the queen’s official representative in each province. Defenders of the monarchy point out that the total bill per capita is only around CA$1.68—the equivalent of about one cup of Canada’s beloved Tim Horton’s coffee a year.

Tom Freda, the national director of Citizens for a Canadian Republic, has campaigned against the monarchy for years, and he hopes the other provinces will soon reach Quebec’s level of discontent. The group wants Canada to replace the queen—and her representative, the governor general—with a president as the ceremonial head of state, similar to other parliamentary systems such as Germany’s. Canada would follow in the footsteps of other former British colonies that have abolished the monarchy and become parliamentary republics, including Mauritius in 1992 and Fiji in 1987. Australians voted in a 1999 referendum to retain the queen as their monarch.

But even if the debate over the monarchy has lately reignited, there seems to be little urgency to fix what most Canadians don’t feel is broken. “I feel like there’s a general consensus among politicians that abolishing [the monarchy] is an inevitability,” Freda said. “However, nobody is making it a priority.”Even if the debate over the monarchy has reignited, there seems to be little urgency to fix what most Canadians don’t feel is broken.

What’s more, even if Canadians agreed that the monarchy should be dropped, it would require a lengthy process of rewriting Canada’s constitution. The political will to tackle these onerous requirements seems to be missing, said Paul Heinbecker, a former diplomat and speechwriter in the premier’s office under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. “Even in Quebec, people do not care enough to invest the political effort to disrupt the status quo,” Heinbecker said. “To drop the monarchy would require the unanimous consent of the House and Senate in Ottawa, and all 10 provincial assemblies. If dropping the monarchy could be done readily, it would likely have been done by now.”

Many politicians also fear that any broad debate over constitutional changes could take Canada down a slippery slope, forcing the government to also discuss power-sharing with Quebec and the indigenous First Nations, two everlasting political struggles in Canada.

For some, it’s now or never. As the 93-year-old queen will pass the throne to her son Prince Charles—or her grandson Prince William—in the foreseeable future, the transition offers an opportunity to make the break, Heinbecker argued. Canadians should therefore make haste and “dispense with the monarchy before we are locked in again for the reign of Charles,” Heinbecker said. Public opinion seems to bear him out: While the queen enjoys an 81 percent approval rating, 53 percent of Canadians say formal ties with the British monarchy should end with her reign, according to an Ipsos poll conducted in January.

In the end, Prince Harry and Meghan’s move to Canada might even have the effect of reconnecting Canadians with the monarchy. Because the Sussexes are perceived as a “relaxed, multicultural young couple,” said Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, a Canadian commentator on royal affairs, they are “able to connect with segments of society not traditionally known for their monarchist sympathies.”

Trudeau has also made it clear that he won’t press the issue. “There might come a time where a prime minister decides it’s a really important thing to crack open the constitution and rewrite it,” he said in 2018, “I don’t think I’m going to be that prime minister.” So if he is reelected the next time Canadians go to the polls, Trudeau will likely swear his oath to a foreign monarch yet again.

Stéphanie Fillion is a New York-based reporter specializing in politics and foreign affairs.