#Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Hours

[daisylovestickles]

Story Time With Daisy

Recently, I had a session with the wonderful @yourgigglebugmaya and @sptfrtkl

I think Maya is going to be posting her own story so I will share my experiences.

I picked up Maya on Friday morning and we headed to Boston for the weekend. We stayed in a hotel (with creaky ass elevators) and Jeff took us to dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door. Afterwards, we walked around the little shopping center, seeing what we could find. Maya and I went to bed somewhat early (but not without me giving her some cuddly tickles) so we could prepare for our day-long session with Jeff the next day.

Saturday morning, we woke up and grabbed coffee and breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts before heading to Jeff's house around 11:30 am. We sat down and talked with him about what our expectations and boundaries were, as well as the plan for the day. We started with being restrained and blindfolded in the famous Blue Brat along with my feet being wrapped in stocks and toe ties. A lot of the details will be in videos but holy hell. All I can say is Jeff is a mean and experienced ler. Looking back at all the footage, I'm surprised I didn't safe word. Jeff and Maya (who was also such an amazing ler) tickled me for an hour and then we took a break.

A little while later, Jeff sat Maya and I down blindfolded on a bench he had in his room, locked one of our feet in a stock, handcuffed one of our hands together, and the other one of our hands to the back of the bench (if you can't visualize it, there will be content soon). Jeff really used the element of surprise to tickle us with different tools, catching us off guard multiple times. I think we may have been tickled for over an hour? Honestly we all lost track and that was Jeff's first time trying something like that, so we were all just going with the flow.

After that session, we took a longer break, watching The Hitman's Bodyguard and ate pizza, letting our stomachs settle before going back upstairs, both Maya and I having the opportunity to be restrained on Jeff's bed. I was blindfolded and tied facing upwards and tickled for an hour, with Jeff and Maya focusing on my worst spots. Once again, after watching all the footage, I was surprised I didn't safeword with what they were doing to me.

In total, we were at Jeff's house for about 12 hours. He was such a good host and made us feel so safe. Looking forward to our next session together!

[incorrectbatfam]

EDIT: no I'm not gonna ask them, I want it to be a surprise

[gwydpolls]

Lost Foods

Suggestions from Reader's vs the previous winner.

NOTE: I feel the need to clarify some things about what constitutes a lost/discontinued food for the purposes of this poll.

I have never heard of some things in this series of polls and I'm taking people's word that they are lost foods. Some things from other countries or regions people suggested to me were things I'd never heard of. (Shout out to Aussie pollywaffles from the first poll. They sounded amazing and i feel for your loss though I'd literally never heard of them until they were suggested). Some things are possibly no longer available in the region or country where the suggester lives (Kavli, apparently).

I am assured by and endless barrage of commercials that Dunkin Donuts exists. I haven't seen one in person in a couplish decades. People tell me Ikea exists. I haven't seen one since the early '90's.

If it's something someone loves that used to be commonly available in their country or region that they can't get without crossing a border, international shipping expenses, traveling more than fivish hours, or a time machine, I'm calling it fair game.

I'd rather be inclusive than exclusive with these polls in general.

I am not counting things like that one particular special sauce that one food truck used to have that went out of business or things that people bake/cook at home if they have a reasonable amount of money, skill, and time, but most people would by in a bakery.

Note 2: I am getting some questions about the sherbet pops. The sherbet pop category represents things like Flintstones and Scooby Doo versions that no longer exist. I have no idea if the frozen sherbet push up pop type in general still exists where an individual person might exist or even where I exist.

I would have clarified in poll 1, if I had been more aware of sherbet pops in general except as something my mom liked now and then when i was small. I knew people were upset the version from their childhood was missing, but not the complexity of sherbet push up pop history.

Apologies, to anyone I distressed yesterday.

[braveclementine]

A. . . Family?

Warnings: 18+readersonly

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OCs, which consist of Penny Fury, Elizabeth Nelson, Elijah Chan, Katya Venice, Violetta Moscow, Lan Le, Josh, Trang Tien, Ahni Jallow, Mai Ito, and Ghaida Kashual as well as other OCs that will come up throughout the story.

Penny was extremely sore the next morning, and also exhausted even though she had gotten almost nine hours of sleep. She found that it was hard to walk once getting out of bed, and spent more than half an hour stumbling around the bedroom to get into the shower and then get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast.

Once she was downstairs, she found that it was mostly all girls in the kitchen. Elizabeth and Wanda looked as bad as Penny felt. Elizabeth wasn't cooking like she usually did, slumped over at the kitchen table, half-asleep. Wanda looked pretty much the same, dozing over her coffee cup.

"Is it always like this?" Penny asked, groaning at the roughness of her voice.

Sif didn't look anywhere near as bad as they did, handing Penny a cup of coffee with heavy cream and sugar in it. "Pepper said this was yours."

"Yep." Penny said gratefully, sipping at the drink.

"And no." Katya smirked. "It's only like this for you, Wanda, and Elizabeth."

"Where are the guys?" Penny asked, looking around.

"Their lazy asses are still in bed." Elizabeth grumbled, propping her chin on her arms to look up at Penny. "They're lucky there is no training today."

"Lazy what?" Steve asked sharply, leading basically all of the men into the room.

Elizabeth just groaned, hiding under her arms again.

"Breakfast is almost ready." Pepper said. "And I ordered in from Dunkin' Donuts just for you Elizabeth."

Elizabeth raised her thumb upwards, but didn't move.

As breakfast continued, everyone settled in calmly. Penny was a bit surprised by how normal everything seemed after last night. But then she remembered it was really only different for her.

"Why don't you just heal yourself?" Violetta asked and Penny looked up, wondering who she was talking to. She wasn't aware that there was a superhero that could heal themselves.

Well, maybe Bruce, but why would he have to heal himself.

Elizabeth pouted at Elijah. "He said I couldn't."

Elijah smirked and finished off his breakfast.

"You can heal yourself?" Penny asked in surprise.

"Like in Percy Jackson." Elizabeth smiled for the first time that morning. "Can use the water to heal myself. But," She grumbled under her breath so only Penny and Wanda could hear her, "Someone's deciding to be a dick."

"I can read lips sweetheart." Elijah said, getting up from the table. "And you know why you're being punished. Deal with it."

Elizabeth lost her enthusiasm for her breakfast after that.

"So. . . what did you do?" Violetta asked eagerly, always the gossip. But Penny was glad for her inquisitiveness since it meant she would get to hear what Elizabeth did.

Elizabeth sighed and mumbled, "I didn't use my safe word last night and he's reminding me why I should have used it."

Bucky choked on his water. "WHEN DID YOU NEED TO SAFE WORD?"

Penny was shocked at his anger.

"I swear Elizabeth," Bucky continued angrily. "If it was with me I'm going to be so pissed-"

"It wasn't." Elizabeth interrupted him, blushing furiously. "It wasn't during any of you. It was a pause between you and Hogun. Elijah thinks I pushed my limit by not ending with you. It's stupid, I was fine."

"I don't understand." Penny mumbled to Tony, who had come in at some point.

"Hmm?" Tony asked, looking tired. "Oh. Safe words. You're supposed to use them to stop if you're too overwhelmed or if you're in pain or uncomfortable, etc. Elijah knows Elizabeth's tolerance levels. If he feels that she pushed them to much last night, especially since he was gracious enough to allow her to participate, he'll punish her."

Penny wasn't really sure that it made sense to her. Elizabeth did seem to be in a lot of pain and Bucky was looking more upset than before. Steve looked like he wanted to say something, but even Penny who didn't know Elizabeth well could tell she was on the verge of tears and he stayed silent.

After a while, the dishes were cleared and everyone had condensed in the living room. Bruce finally joined the rest of them, carrying up vials with a golden coloured liquid in them, handing them out to each of the girls.

"What is this?" Penny asked.

"It'll cease any soreness you feel in your muscles." Bruce explained.

Elizabeth was being a brat, glaring sullenly as Bruce passed her over. Clearly he was in on it as well.

"Don't worry about her." Katya snickered into Penny's ear. "She does this literally every time. It's nothing new."

"Bucky-"

"Well yeah, he's going to be upset." The Russian girl shrugged her shoulders, flipping her hair over to the other side. "Elizabeth could've gotten hurt on his watch. It's not a feeling any of them would like. That's why safe words are important. Elizabeth. . . well she has unusual opinions, you'll see the more you get to know her. She never safe words, even if she should."

"Why?" Penny was curious now. She hadn't felt the need to red word last night, but she also knew that she hadn't been pushed anywhere close to the way Elizabeth or even Wanda had last night.

"Not my opinion to tell." Kat shrugged her shoulders once more.

"I was thinking since we had the day off, we could do something." Pietro said happily.

"Hmm," Tony hummed, "Like what?"

"We could go to a museum." Bucky said cheerfully. Steve nodded and the others looked interested.

"Why would I go to a museum when I can stare at two fossils in the living room?" Elizabeth grumbled, staring at Steve.

Natasha snorted her water up her nose while Wanda also choked for air, missing the banana she was eating. Katya, Violetta, and Pepper all laughed out loud while Trang giggled quietly. Tony, Pietro, and Sam also joined in on the loud laughter while the others chuckled.

Penny however, stared at the girl in shock.

"Do you have a death wish?" Clint hissed at Elizabeth.

Steve stood up, striding over and flung Elizabeth over his shoulder. "Elijah I'm borrowing her for a moment."

"Be my guest." Elijah said lazily. "Maybe you'll tame that brat behavior of hers."

Bucky followed after Steve, and Penny just shook her head. That girl was definitely in trouble.

⏱👨‍🦱 𝕡ⓞѶ 匚𝐇ᗩŇᵍ乇 ⏲🦉

"Why are you being such a brat?" Steve asked softly as he sat down on the bed, dropping Elizabeth gently into Bucky's arms. He wasn't actually going to punish her for her comment- not today anyways. But he knew that the brattier she got, the more upset she was about something. Especially when she was like this.

Elizabeth curled into Bucky. "Don't feel good."

"You brought that upon yourself." Bucky said, a bit to harshly for Steve's liking. Steve raised a cautious hand to his brunette soulmate and continued to speak to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?"

"I miss home." She mumbled.

Steve had never thought he would hear her say that.

"Oh doll." Bucky mumbled, immediately softening.

"When you talk about the museum, I remembered there was a really nice one mom used to take me too." She continued, closing her eyes and didn't look at either of them. "I have a lot of good memories of that place. I wish I could show the rest of you. I want to go there together. As one huge family."

Steve smiled softly, yet sadly. Elizabeth could never step foot in Ohio, not with her mother on the loose and all of HYDRA looking for her.

"One day." Bucky promised.

Elizabeth said nothing more, having relaxed in his arms, fallen asleep. Steve looked up at Bucky.

Elijah suddenly entered the room. "She finally admit it?"

"You knew?" Steve asked.

Elijah shrugged, "I could guess. Everything recently has been reminding her of home. She was talking about the zoo she went to every summer while she was recovering from the poisoning in Sri Lanka."

"Why'd she admit it to us?" Steve asked, running a hand down her back.

"Because she thinks- no, she knows that you two are the only ones who could possibly understand." Elijah said softly. "We can all go home, but she can't. And neither can the two of you. Not really."

"You want to take her back up to your guys' room, now that she's asleep?" Steve asked softly.

"Nah," Elijah shook his head. "Lan, Josh, and Mai are going bowling and need a fourth. Besides, I trust her with you guys. I don't think you two realize how much she trusts you too."

Steve felt pleased with that.

Elijah turned and went to leave but Bucky called after him, "Hey!" Elijah turned, raising an eyebrow. "Why won't she safe word? Is she afraid it'll hurt my feelings? Because of the soldier? That somehow if she safe words with me she'll think I think she's afraid of me hurting her?"

Elijah shook his head. He hesitated, looking like he wasn't going to answer and then said, "She doesn't safe word because she only wants to please. You guys haven't been with her as long as I have. Sometimes. . . she gets to submissive. To the point where she doesn't care about herself because she's providing others with pleasure. She was fine after you and Steve were done with her James. But she should have stopped after you two."

"How can we get her out of that?" Bucky asked desperately.

Elijah smiled a little sadly. "You know this James. You can't."

But, Bucky vowed, he could.

😊💕 ℙＯѶ ＣħαᑎｇẸ 🍒🤞

"Bowling?" Penny asked, staring at Katya, Trang, and Ghaida. "Where are we going bowling?"

"There's a small, almost decrepit lane a couple of blocks from here." Trang answered. "We go bowling there every Saturday when we can. With Elizabeth, Violetta, and Ahni all taking naps, we need another player."

"What about Mai?" Penny asked.

"She's turned traitor, she's playing on the boys team." Katya said with fake disgust. "Come on Penny!"

"Alright, alright." Penny grinned. "Fine. But I'm not very good."

"Yeah." Trang laughed, "Neither are we."

🦇🦺 ŤⒾⓜᗴ 𝕤𝐤𝐢𝐏 🎱🐺

"You're better than you said she was going to be!" Lan pouted at Katya, pointing a finger at Penny. They had finished the game 428- 418. A pretty close score, but the girls had scraped it through. Even with Lan cheating by turning into a hawk to fly the bowling ball down to the lane on his last turn.

"You deserve to lose with that cheating you did." Katya scoffed, ruffling his hair. The two of them argued and pulled ahead of the rest of the group, almost wrestling with each other.

Penny ended up walking next to Elijah. "How is Elizabeth?"

"She's okay." Elijah answered, looking over at Penny. "Tired of course. She's dealing with some emotional stuff that she covers up because she doesn't want to seem weak."

"We all deal with emotional things though." Penny answered. "I wish she would confide in me."

"She doesn't trust easily." Elijah answered.

This threw Penny for a loop. Elizabeth had seemed so open to her on her first day here. But perhaps it was just a façade.

"Don't get me wrong." Elijah said quickly. "Elizabeth is friendly with everyone and considers everyone she meets and gets along with a friend, but true trust is very limited. She trusts me, her friends, the super soldiers, possibly Loki, and definitely Fury. Other than that, there's not many she trusts."

"Not even Tony or Stephen?" Penny asked in shock.

"Like I said, she likes them. Hell, I might even go as far to say that she loves them. She has a huge heart. But trust? That's different." Elijah said.

Love?

"Doesn't that bother you?" Penny asked softly. "The idea that she loves others than you?"

"Does it bother you?" Elijah asked, looking at her. "That she loves your soulmates? Love has different connotations, does it not? For instance, I love this team. But I don't love Lan or Tony or Steve the way that I love Elizabeth or Katya or Trang."

Penny frowned again.

"Then again," Elijah answered, "You haven't been here long. You'll see. It won't just be your soulmates that you love deeply."

Penny just nodded and then tried asking again, "But. . . Elizabeth is your only soulmate?"

"Yes."

"So then. . . when she teases other men or sleeps with them outside of the orgies. . . how can that not bother you?"

Elijah smiled. "I get it. It's hard to wrap your head around. But trust me, there will be a time when you find yourself sleeping with someone who is not your soulmate, and outside of the orgies too. You think it's only once every month that we sleep outside of our bonds? Tonight when Lan, Tony, and Mai all go on their mission, I'll bet $10 Katya is laying up with Rhodey or Sam. We're a family, a weird one I guess, but a family. You'll see."

"Why don't you join?" Penny asked when she got the courage. "Why do you only watch?"

"Why?" Elijah asked as they entered Stark tower, a glint in his dark eyes. He smirked as the others broke off from them and they stepped into the elevator alone. "Do you want me to join?"

Penny's breath hitched as he cupped her cheek with his hand. It was warm and rough. "I saw you eyeing my cock last night." Elijah's voice whispered. "And oh how I would love to feel your lips around my cock."

Penny's mind was swirling now.

The elevator dinged and Elijah stepped back as the doors opened. He was smirking again and in his normal, care free voice, he said, "We'll definitely beat you guys at bowling next time."

Penny slumped against the elevator doors as they closed, trying to breathe and wondered what Elizabeth would make of this.

🚛⏰ 𝕋𝕀ｍＥ ᔕҜＩⓟ 🚜💞

"About time." Elizabeth yawned sleepily, before sipping her rootbeer. "I've been trying to get him to join in for ages. I always felt a little bad that it was just me. I mean, sure, if I went on missions he might pull Katya or Trang or Ghaida in for a little thing, but he won't join in the orgies. Maybe you can draw him in!"

"Maybe." Penny said hesitantly. "I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of it."

"His words?"

"No. I mean, I participate in the orgy and all of that. I just keep getting confused about this concept of loving the ones who aren't our soulmates." Penny shrugged.

"What?" Elizabeth scoffed, "You don't love your dad? Mom? Siblings? There's different kinds of love."

"Elijah said you loved Tony and Stephen." Penny blurted before she could stop herself.

Elizabeth blushed a little. "Well. . . maybe. I don't know." She looked away. "It's like a taboo, isn't it? Everything we do here, sharing soulmates after we've found them. . . I mean if the world found out that it's greatest superheroes were breaking the unspoken soulmate rules there would be an uproar. But. . . I can't be the only one that loves more than my soulmate. Because if I was, they wouldn't risk everything. We always risk things for the people we love. We risk this because we love each other to much to be without each other. It's special. It's different. It's ours."

Elizabeth spoke so passionately that Penny could see the picture she was painting. It wasn't hard to.

"You missed bowling." Penny said, deciding to change the conversation.

"Aw fuck." Elizabeth cursed, falling back on the bed, nearly knocking over her soda. "I forgot today was Saturday. Don't tell me those idiot boys won?"

"Nah, we won by like ten points I think." Penny said.

"Thank God." Elizabeth replied dramatically, sitting back up and finishing her soda off. "Anyways, c'mon, let's go downstairs and find a bunch of people to play cards with."

Penny smiled, letting her lead her along.

Yes, maybe she did love more than she should.

[pbandjesse]

I am so wildly against doing anything right now. I have been saying I was going to write my post for over an hour. Instead I have just been watching trailers on TikTok for cartoons. And cuddling with sweetp. And today was great I'm just exhausted like physically. Brain still good but body does not want to go anywhere. Or do anything.

I slept okay last night. Having the noise from the fan helps a lot. And I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly. When my alarm went off I was a little woozy but I was okay. James had packed me a little lunch and I got dressed and I felt okay. My hair was still a little damp in the back which was surprising but it was fine. I got ready and asked James to switch the cup they had put my breakfast soda in. Because I did not want the black cup today. And I gave them a big hug and then we walked downstairs together and we smooched before they biked off.

They had gotten me a bagel from Dunkin' donuts and it was fine but the cream cheese was a little sour tasting. And I didn't love it but I appreciate it the food regardless. And while I was about 5 minutes late I did get the camp just about on time.

I went up to the art building first and changed my shoes and put my socks on. Not in that order. And then I were down to the office to meet everyone. We had a little meeting before we would head off for the day. Just kind of checking in about some of the kids and the plan and the schedule. And then we went over to the Erie to get all of our materials. I made a stop over at the art building to get my wagon because I did not want to carry things. And then, because Celia is a gem, she pull the wagon down to the Glen so I can go to the lodge to check in with our group and see how everyone was doing. She was very anxious about the program today because she had never let it and that is absolutely understandable so she wanted to go set things up that was totally fine with me. I didn't really feel like I needed to said anything out so I wasn't that pressed about it.

Groups all had to pack up the cabins and a few of them went over to my building and got a few more of my stuffed animals I had left outside. I only had like two kids approach me later and be like I did not get one I'm sad about it and I was like I'm really sorry there's no left! And I told them to go find the kids that have taken more than one because I'm sure at least two of them did. It's fine. Everyone was pretty happy and seems like they were all in a great mood. I sat on a picnic table on the side of the field and waited for the groups to be ready to go.

Once all the kids were collecting on the field and everyone was back to their groups We had it off. And my kids were very confident that they knew where they were going so I let them go out of me. And nobody fell or died so it was fine. We got to the table and I introduced water quality testing and while we were starting like 15 minutes later than originally planned it honestly worked out for the better. We handed out all the instruction papers so they could look over them while I walk down to the pond to fill up our water to test. The pond war or the Glen is so dark it's crazy. So while the pH and the dissolved oxygen and the nitrates are all fine, The turbidity is terrible. Like you can't see through this water at all. The plan was that anybody who had a instruction paper would test for that thing and that worked out pretty well. So we did two of each test and we had papers to document all of it and then once we were finished those we did the trividity with the tube and we found that Wally good level of turbanity is 65 cm and a bad is under 35. We had 14 cm. Very very bad. The water was almost black. But those were all tests we needed to do and so then we talked about rules for looking for macrovertebrates and invertebrates and I told them to look out for anything interesting and then sent them off.

While they were doing that I grabbed a couple of the kids that had not done the water testing and I had them try to test the temperature of the soil and the pH. Our pH level was inconclusive but our ground temperature was good. While they were doing that I walked over to the pond to kind of supervise a child that had gone over there and we were near Celia's table. And she called out to my kid and asked why she was wandering over and I was like oh silly oh we're looking for a macros and she was like what we're not doing that. And I was like yeah you are It's in the packet and she kept telling me that we weren't and that was a different program and I'm like very confused at this point so I went back to the table and I looked through the whole packet and there was a section on identifying organisms. Like yeah didn't use the word macro invertebrates but that's essentially what we were doing. And I thought it would be good to use science terms so we talked about vertebrates and vertebrates that covers everything. So then I was really stressed out that I was teaching the wrong thing. And thankfully later I would talk to in the office and they were like no you're right. But then Celia later again would come to me and say that I was wrong and I am still very confused why she thinks that. I think because there is a different lesson we do that is called macroinvertebrates that she was confused but I don't know it was really weird situation and kind of threw me off.

My kids are really good though and we found a frog and a whole bunch of centipedes. And we even found another nude and this time I was able to hold it and that was really exciting for me. We have found a whole bunch of snail eggs too which was pretty cool. I'm only mostly sure they were snail eggs because they look like the ones that my snails used to lay in the tank but I'm not like 100% on that. Still think it was very cool.

We finished up and my kids wanted to see the horses again and we had like 15 minutes So we went up to the bathrooms and then wandered over to the horses where the kids get yelled at by Chloe because they ran ahead of me and jumped on the fence but then when she saw that I was with them and I apologized for them and she was like oh that's chill and then she told us all of the horses names and I appreciated that because I do not know all of their names without their name tags on.

We would leave the horses and said goodbye. Because I had to send them to archery. They were really great kids and I'm glad I got to hang out with them.

I would work for my other group to come up to the ground elements because I had two more I had to run. And it went okay. The first one screamed at each other a lot again and we had one child who had a little bit of a meltdown but it was fine. And then they asked to do the team wall and I hate the teen Wolf because no one ever listens to my instructions and they all just start climbing on it and I was like whatever it's only 5 minutes and they were able to get one person up and over and then they dropped child thankfully them time was up and they were off to their next activity. I did have a lovely conversation with one of the parent chaperones though during this time and she runs a grant-based summer camp in the city and they go through locations and I was like oh my god you should do it here and so I put her in contact with Heather and gave her an email and hopefully that works out cuz that would be really neat. And it was just a really nice moment talking about the stuff that we're updating and trying to do better all the time.

My last group had to be a little truncated because they came a little late and then they wanted us to get them down to lunch earlier so we only did whale watcher but they were my best time and the least amount of yelling out of both days. And what the final time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds, They had the best time I've seen in a while from a group of 10 or more.

But very quickly after that it was time for them to go so we said goodbye and I walked them to the office. I had a nice conversation with the teacher about food allergies. And then I left them while I went to the office to check in.

I ended up having a really nice conversation with alexian Heather about the meeting I'm supposed to have a creative alliance. It was supposed to be tomorrow open now it's been rescheduled for Tuesday. Which is fine but I am hoping that we can kind of develop some stem stuff with them with camp and maybe some of my workshops and just see if we can make some kind of partnership as well. And I just think that it's really exciting that I am trusted to handle that kind of thing.

Before I would start working on those lesson plans though we all want to go and get sandwiches because the catering company always brings enough for us to have some too. So after I went up to the art building to change my shoes again we all walk over. Well me and Elizabeth walked, Sarah and Dachelle ran/raced across the field and it was very silly. But we got over there and we were able to get sandwiches and we stood in the kitchen and joked and made fun of each other and were very silly and was a good time. They were trying to balance on one leg for longer than the other one and just being real goofy. It was just fun. I was feeling really good.

So I was heading back up to the office to start working on those lesson plans and talking to Heather and then at 1:30 I would go back to the lodge to help clean up all the tables because the kids were gone. They were just leaving as I was coming in and the catering was cleaning up and so I started folding up chairs to go against the wall so that when we were ready for the cards we could just move the cart to where the chair pile was instead of walking two chairs at a time over to the cart because I knew that would make me very tired. And honestly we were crazy efficient. We seriously got that entire room of 12 tables and 100 chairs packed cleaned and put away in like 20 minutes. Probably less. Was very proud of us.

Once we were done that and Celia and Nick were just finishing the general sweep I let everyone know that I was going to go work on my lesson plans because I did not want to lose steam and then just do nothing. So I walked up there and worked on that for the next hour or so.

I came up with 11 and as I was leaving Heather thought of two more that I could add but I have all of it written down with images and materials and they're all steam based so they have science and art mixed together and I think that I have done a good job of figuring these out because these would not just be for this possible collaboration but also as outreaches. Because in like December or January and parts of February we don't really offer programming because it's too cold at camp to do things outside. So having stuff we can bring to people that still touches on the same things I think is really awesome. And I'm really hoping that me and Sarah and possibly Nick can develop this a little bit more.

After I finish that around 3:15 we checked in about field trips next week and then I would drive up to ground elements to pack that up so I could go home. Celia had also called me because she forgot her sweatshirt on the field and so I would go grab that for her so it would not get damp overnight and I packed everything away but it was a struggle for sure. I was not having a good time. I hate moving the ground element stuff because it's all heavy. But I got it away and then I went home.

It was not a terrible drive. I had a yogurt with me and I drank that and have a snack and I got home a couple minutes after 4:00. I made great time. James didn't even know I had left work yet so they texted me and said that they would be me home and I was like haha I'm already at the house.

I would take a shower and got in a sweatshirt and I have basically just been in bed since that. Sweet pea and me have been hanging out. James made me a quesadilla. I have no guilt for this. I've been enjoying watching videos and doing nothing. I have been so busy and I really needed to just be a potato for a while.

James recorded their podcast and then had a short D&D game that they jumped on and they're in the shower now. And soon they will come out and I will go brush my teeth and then we will go to sleep.

I wasn't originally supposed to go to work tomorrow because of the meeting with creative alliance but because they rescheduled I am still going to go in and I have some stuff to work on for Native American field trips and some materials to work on fixing and I'm hoping to just go in the art building and put a long video on and just work and not be distracted by things. Hopefully this works out the way that I am imagining it will.

I hope all of you have a wonderful night tonight and you take care of yourselves. I hope tomorrow is a beautiful day and I love you very much. Good night everybody. Until next time

[lonelypond]

Jacket

NicoMaki, Love Live, 1.7K, 1/1

Summary: Nozomi Tojo has caught the Goncharov; Yazawa Nico meets Nishikino Maki. Also, shenanigans.

Jacket

Northwestern University Theatre Arts major Yazawa Nico had been up all night, finishing a paper. On Restoration Drama. She intended to never spend another second thinking about Restoration Drama so the only reason she was half paying attention to Radio, TV, and Film major Nozomi Tojo, was that Tojo was talking about something else. Or maybe Nico was nodding off and dreaming that Nozomi had suddenly become a Scorcese fan. At least it wasn’t Tarantino. Thank the gods it wasn’t Tarantino. The nodding off stopped when Nozomi shoved a printout at Nico.

“Memorize that.”

“No.”

“I need you, Nico.”

“Everyone needs Nico. I am not reading your latest porn fantasy.” Nico shoved back but Nozomi held the paper firmly in front of her audience.

“It’s a legitimate project, Nico-chi.” Nozomi’s smile was too wide, her eye contact too skittish.

Nico leaned forward, “Legit, like for independent project credit.”

Nozomi leaned forward, turquoise eyes mischievous, “Legit like will look good on Nico’s resume when I walk away with the Clocktower Laurels at the next Goncharov Film Festival.”

“Goncharov? Is that Russian.”

Nozomi started to sparkle like a magical girl about to spin into a transformation, “You don’t know Goncharov?”

“Goncharov, Chechov, if Nico has to do plays, at least make it American.”

“Nah, you want English farces, Nico. Your face was made for farce.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Nozomi shrugged, “Goncharov is a crowd sourced Martin Scorcese mafia film.”

“Some of those words make sense.”

“People on the internet made up a thing and it went viral.”

“So it’s stupid.” Nico was back to only half listening, debating if she should wake up fully and eat breakfast.

“No, it’s genius. And it’s got this great plot and Cybill Shephard was cast in one of the leads and…”

Nico understood now. “The blonde. You want an excuse to talk to the blonde. That dancer you’ve been stalking.”

“I haven’t been stalking her.”

Nico glanced around the room. Yep, blonde head, by the window, looking out at the Lakefill. “This is why we’re at Norris, not the dorm cafeteria, where Nico has a paid up meal plan.”

“I’ll buy you coffee and a donut.”

Nico sat, arms crossed.

“What?”

“Go buy Nico coffee and a donut. Now.”

“Read the script.”

“Maybe.”

Nozomi stood, shimmied into a better fit with her dress, then strolled by the blonde to get to the Dunkin Donuts. Nico saw the blonde follow Nozomi’s path, sighed, and began to read the page in front of her. It was a dream sequence, two women mirroring each other, a gunshot, a woken, shaken protagonist. Quick and atmospheric. Nico conceded, to herself, that it was actually a pretty solid scene. No dialogue. Not much of Nico’s time.

“I’m so sorry. I’m just so so clumsy. I didn’t mean…did I ruin your sweater…” Nozomi’s voice boomed out.

Nico groaned. No coffee. Maybe she could rescue the donut. Nico grabbed her bag, hopped to her feet, and went to interrupt the meet cute conspiracy that was happening with her breakfast.

“My friend’s an idiot.” Nico announced, strolling up, “and this was the only way she could think of to meet you.”

Long eyelashes blinked over puzzled blue eyes.

Nico grabbed the donut bag from Nozomi and dropped the printout in front of the blonde. “Nico looks forward to working with you.”

And Nico headed for her dorm.

###

Nico’s phone went off an hour later. She was half asleep but too curious to ignore.

Nz: ( ͡~ ‿ ͡°) Eli’s in.

N: 乁(◣̪◢)ㄏ

Nz: (✿ヘ‿ヘ)

Nz: And we have a composer.

Nico didn’t know many music majors, how did Nozomi?

N: Composer?

Nz; yeah, she must have seen the call to collab I posted in the Beehive or the theatre building or somewhere.

N: Collab?

Nz: On the Goncharov short.

N: SOmeone actually messaged you?

Nz; You may not Tumblr, Nico-chi, but actual creatives love it.

N: Nico is creative.

Nz: Nico needs attention. Tumblr hates it.

N: Eyes are automatically drawn to Nico. Nico’s TWIG game is flawless.

Nz: Some of us prefer a more anonymous experience.

N: So what’s this weirdo’s deal?

Nz: She’s into noir and horror scores.

N: ( ͡⎚﹏ ͡⎚) Sounds cheerful.

Nz: We’re meeting her tonight, after her recital.

N: We?

Nz º·(˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º

N: ᕙ(ᓀ‸ᓂ)ง Oh no, Nico is busy.

Nz: Are you going to make me go alone?

N: what about the blonde

Nico scrolled back through the messages to double check the name. Eli. Nozomi had just met Eli that morning and while Nozomi handled all situations with charm and confidence, the older sister in Nico just couldn’t imagine sitting at home while Nozomi went out to meet some horror movie obsessed music nerd.

N: What time?

###

“Did you forget a mask, Nico?” Nozomi pointed to the sign.

“For the protection of the community, please wear a mask during the recital.”

“What is this, a hospital?”

Nozomi smirked and put on her mask, leaving Nico to grab one of the N95s left for the audience. It took several minutes to arrange her twin tails over the head bands.

“Nico spent some time on Tumblr, on this Goncharov.”

“Ooohh, research. What’dya think?”

“You want Nico to play Sofia, right? The one in the suit.”

“Yes.”

“Nico doesn’t do suits.” Nico’s eyes pinched up in a judgey frown, “And it’s a dream sequence, wouldn’t pajamas be better?”

“But the audience shouldn’t know its a dream until the gunshot wakes Katya up.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Northwestern’s newest performance space, Galvin Hall, was about a quarter full, a hundred heads, one third students, the rest local music lovers and professorial looking people. Nico slid into a seat at the edge of the front row.

“What’s Nico listening to?”

Nozomi shoved the program at Nico. Nishikino Maki, original compositions inspired by Salvador Dali and Erik Satie.

“Dali’s the melting clocks guy, right?”

Nozomi nodded, doing a quick search on her phone.

“Is the other guy an artist too?”

Nozomi shook her head, “Composer. Lots of stuff for single piano, not so famous, but…”

“But…”

“Famous people paid attention to him.” Nozomi glanced toward the stage, “Interesting choice.”

There was a ripple of a reaction and a tall redheaded woman in an exquisitely tailored tuxedo walked out off the wings, striding piano-ward, acknowledging the audience with a brief nod.

“Suit.” Nozomi hissed in Nico’s ear.

Nico hummed, watching the composer slide onto the bench, fingers gracefully arched, waiting to fall into the keys. She’d never been to a piano recital before.

###

Nico didn’t know if all pianists were that compelling or just this Nishikino Maki, but Nico’s interest was hyped. The physicality and grace of the playing amazed her, her dance experience giving her some insight into how much effort Maki was putting into creating this music. The music itself was tightly woven emotion, wrapping itself around Nico, soaking in under the skin, leaving Nico jittery with friction she didn’t quite understand. After the final note, Nozomi, seemingly not affected, grabbed her coat and barrelled to the stage, a befuddled Nico in her wake.

Nico didn’t hear the quick exchange between Nozomi and Maki, but suddenly they were all three speed walking toward the back of the stage, through an exit door, and outside, where it was colder than Nico had expected. Were they going for a smoke? Why had she left her coat inside?

Maki took her mask off, her expression neutral, although Nico couldn’t stop staring at the loveliness revealed. Nozomi kept talking. Nico could feel shivers about to start, so she clapped her hands together to get blood moving. At the sudden sound, Maki JUMPED, as if someone in a mask with a chainsaw had jumped out.

Nico giggled as Maki scowled at her.

“Aren’t you the horror movie fan?”

“I score them, they don’t surprise me, I’ve seen the script and the dailies.”

Nico shrugged, sounded dull. “That takes the fun out.”

Maki’s eyebrows lowered, “Fun is successfully cracking a stalking scene so people look over their own shoulders.”

“That’s not really fun for Nico either.”

Nozomi’s lips were twitching like she was holding in a comment, her eyes merry.

Maki had a hair curl twisting between fingers, staring at the sliver of a moon.

Nico was never one for silence, especially not silence and cold. “Nico was impressed. If your movie scoring is like your playing, the emotions will definitely come through to the audience.”

“Which is why it’s a shame, and I think Nico-chi will agree with me,” Nozomi glanced to Nico, who was too busy shivering to respond, “to only record 47 seconds of the dream. I’d like to expand the script.”

“So these would be scenes adjacent to the script proper.” Maki’s amethyst eyes caught the streetlamp’s glow.

“Yes, the intro or outro to all the Katya/Sofia scenes. Or the scenes where one might be thinking about the other.”

“My schedule’s packed, but I could make some time.” Maki said.

Maki then turned to glare at Nico, who had advanced to hopping from one foot to the other, “Here, you’re distracting me.” Maki took off her tuxedo jacket, dropping it around Nico’s shoulder, a musky rose and sandalwood scented warmth surrounding Nico, who hastily shoved her arms into the sleeves.

“Nico could make time.”

Nozomi stepped back, whistling. “That’s a good look for you, Nico-chi.”

“Everything is a good look for Nico.” Nico glanced down, wondering what the actual effect was, the tuxedo jacket over her pink knit sweater dress. She pulled out her phone, holding it high and talking a quick selfie.

“What’s your tag?”

“Huh?”

“TWIG tag, stalker nerd.”

“Maki.”

Nico tilted her head, staring at Maki, not playing games.

“My account’s locked. Not for strangers.”

“Well, now you know Nico. Not a stranger.”

“Don’t tag me.”

“Okay…” Nico glanced to Nozomi. Who shrugged.

“It’s Nishikinoir.” Maki glanced back over her shoulder, speaking to Nozomi. “I have to find my parents. Text me.”

Nico started to shrug out of the jacket, but Maki stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, “I’ll get it next time.” And then Maki sprinted off back to the building, a barely audible, “looks good” in her wake. There was a pause in the conversation until the sound of her footsteps faded.

“Suits.” Nozomi drawled, shooting the cuffs of her peacoat.

Nico glanced down at her winking selfie, tailored black smooth over pink crunchy texture. “Yeah.”

A/N: Participating in the @sapphicfest, 8 weeks of prompts, started with "borrowed jacket." Goncharov has been amusing and inspiring me on Tumblr so I thought it might be fun to imagine what Muse would do with it. Thanks to @ryqoshay for many Guncharov and suit chats.

[3monthsineurope]

February 14 and 15, 2023

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tuesday was a very long day! Iris and I woke up early for our last safari of the trip. We were on the safari vehicle by 5, with most of the group (the older ladies didn’t join us). We saw a gorgeous sunrise over the game reserve and saw African deer, zebra, wildebeest, warthogs (and got my favorite safari video of them coming out of their den!), and wild dogs. It was a great was to end our South African safari at the Mabula Game Lodge!

After the safari, we had one last breakfast at the lodge. Iris and I finished up packing, and the whole tour loaded up on our bus. We took photos with some of our favorite tour mates, and Belinda, and then made the drive into Johannesburg. It was about a two hour drive, where I napped and relaxed before our long flights. Most of the group was continuing the tour to Victoria Falls, so we dropped them off at their hotel for the night. We said goodbye to our tour friends, and Belinda took the rest of us to the airport. Belinda was a phenomenal tour guide—we were lucky to have her!

Belinda got us all to security, then Iris and I went to find a lounge to relax in, while waiting for our flight. We were given chocolate roses and the lounge was decorated for Valentine’s Day, which was fun! Our first flight was Johannesburg to Paris, which was just over 11 hours. Iris and I tried to sleep, since our flight was from 8pm in South Africa, until 6am in Paris. We were served two meals over the course of the flight.

We had a three hour layover in Paris, where Iris and I had to go through security again, and hung out in a lounge until our next flight. Our next flight was from Paris to New York City, which was just over 8 hours. We arrived in NYC around 11am, September 15. We were served another meal, while Iris and I tried to nap and relax. When we landed, I got a text saying Nicole had had her baby the day before, Cassandra! It was great news—mom and baby were healthy!

Iris and I went through customs in NYC (JFK), and spent our five hour layover in our terminal, tired, and a bit crazy from all the traveling! There wasn’t a lounge in this terminal, which was a bummer. We got Dunkin Donuts coffee and were super ready to get home. A man hit on me! Which was crazy, because I felt very disheveled after traveling for so long. Our last fight was to Seattle, which was about six and a half hours. We landed in Seattle around 7:30. Ingvar picked Iris and I up—it was so great to see him! We drove up to Bellingham, dropped off Iris at her place, and made it home around 11. Ingvar had roses and goodies for me waiting, since I was gone for my birthday and Valentine’s Day! It was great to be home, after about 40 hours of traveling. South Africa was a great trip! :]

[sohannabarberaesque]

Postcards from Snagglepuss

Meanwhile, back at the Mall of America ...

More specifically, the Huntington Bank Rotunda, practically in mid-mall, gateway to Nickelodeon Universe even, and for a surprise appearance on short notice besides!

VERY SHORT NOTICE, come to think of it! As in some Mall of America executive in charge of the amusements at the Rotunda offering us some time as an "icebreaker" of sort after the Labour Day holiday, attracting more than likely otherwise ennui-driven housewives satisfied(?) that their Kinderleh have gone back to school, and more than likely welcomed such after the risk of being driven to near-insanity over the summer by the mere presence of the kids, complicated by all manner of constraints, legal and otherwise, hindering the parents' requesting the kids' absence from the house after breakfast and not returning until the supper hour.

"And you probably wonder what sort of excuses the parents must have had for their kids to memorise, in case police and suchlike were to start asking questions about their being out and about like that," Huckleberry Hound remarked as our party congregated at a Dunkin' near said Rotunda for coffee and donuts close to showtime.

"Let alone," added yours truly, "the likelihood of police finding holes in such patsies when the parents feared that the police or the welfare officers might 'start asking questions' about their being out in certain venues unaccompanied ... or even the gross unlikelihood of the kids coming home for dinner, only to sense a Loud and Chaotic Police Raid at the residence, it later emerging that the parents were looking for child pornography and feared that the kids could 'nark' on them!"

"How worse could it get?" was how Square Bear observed the summertime scenario/dilemma.

But to the show ... and what an amusing little entrance Huck and I gave, tap-dancing to LeRoy Anderson's "The Dance of the Spanish Onion" even! Followed by a few remarks in the gist of thanks for continued and continuing appreciation for our kind all this time, in its turn welcoming the ursine delegation on stage in forms of the Hair Bear Bunch, Emmy Lou and Jenny Lee even!

And what lively exchanges and banter were bound to ensue, especially when you had Hair Bear relating some fascinating little anecdotes about the mating season road trip, the sunrise diving sessions between the orgy and the breakfast! Heavens to the Ten Thousand Lakes of Minnesota Association, come to think of it!!

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @stuffaboutminnesota @railguner34 @multi-fandom-girl-451 @indigo-corvus @i-chew-on-pushpins @funtasticworld @iheartgod175 @theweekenddigest @archive-archives @screamingtoosoftly @hanna-barbera-blog @thebigdingle @hanna-barberians @themineralyoucrave @hanna-barbera-land @thylordshipofbutts @warnerbros-blog1 @zodiacfan32 @groovybribri @passionateclown @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu @stuffaboutminneapolis @warnerbrosent-blog

[holidaytorment]

the items on my recent work trip to phoenix that i will be claiming reimbursement for, ranked & reviewed:

two donuts and an iced tea at the donut place across the street from the hotel. the platonic ideal of a donut to me is that they should taste good and you should be able to eat two of them in the morning and be able to go about the rest of your day no problem. dunkin donuts are not this because they do not taste good, and the donuts from artisanal donut places are not this because you eat half of one and need to go down for a nap, and these seem to be the only options around where i live. by contrast, these donuts were light and fluffy, and i was able to maintain attention through boring work meetings without wanting to take a nap for reasons associated with the donuts. the iced tea, flavor-wise, was nothing special (clearly just made from ordinary tea bags) but was strong, which also an unfortunate rarity. in total, like $7, great deal.

hotel stay at the sheraton downtown. got a room with two double beds instead of one king, which is whatever. the comforter was not a comforter, but instead some manner of fitted sheet wrapped around a plastic blanket? it was unclear to me at any point why this was, but was especially unclear when the blanket became unfitted from the sheet, waking me up at 4am while i tried to piece together what happened. also, i dislike the new trend of putting full size toiletries in bathrooms now, i want to steal tiny lotions man, c'mon. food provided for meeting was pretty good and varied (no boxed lunches!). stay overall was okay, but not $700 for two nights okay.

parking at the central parking garage at logan airport. turns out that the central garage at 10am on wednesdays can be full! my car was "valeted" which in practice means they parked it at the next open spot and then the parking attendant gave me my key and told me where it was. also the parking attendant did not have the correct location for my car. $123 but considering that the other option was public transit there an after-midnight uber back i think i'm okay with paying this. the sumner tunnel being closed after 11pm did not affect the placing of this on the list. this whole parking experience was stressful for reasons i will go into later.

the items on my recent work trip to phoenix that are already paid for but i need to include on my reimbursement for record keeping purposes, ranked & reviewed:

flight from boston to phoenix. six hours in the air is a long ass time. they only provided snacks once (the impression i got was that they didn't have many tp give out??), and it was just a packet of two biscoff cookies. read some of a book about coding, wrote some notes about a coding project i'm working on in my spare time, listened to the religion disasters episode of the shutdown fullcast (see below). i do not know how i managed to handle flights this long in the past before i had an adderall prescription. i had a flight from new york to phoenix late last year where my dose wore off midway through and i was unable to take my afternoon pill, and i quickly started feeling like i would do something that would land me on a watchlist or get tackled by an air marshall.

flight from phoenix to boston. somehow i think the flight was only four hours and change (not sure how. jet stream?) but we spent an additional hour and a half at the gate in phoenix while they fixed a computer issue. finished reading "the pigeon tunnel" by john le carre and read some more of a couple of coding books. pulled up to the gate at midnight which is too late to get food pretty much anywhere. i think overall my time on this plane was shorter than the flight out but it was so much worse.

the items on my recent work trip to phoenix that i will not be claiming reimbursement for, ranked & reviewed:

three donuts and an iced tea at the donut place across the street from the hotel. the donuts mentioned above were so good that i went back the next day even though breakfast was being provided. ordered and paid for two donuts and they gave me three instead. $7, and winner of DEAL OF THE TRIP. can't reimburse because a meal was provided.

two tacos, rice, and refried beans from a taco place across from the phoenix suns' arena. good food, not too heavy and didn't make me more tired than i already was. got to peoplewatch the bad bunny fans go to the concert, always neat. i think $15? can't reimburse because i paid cash and forgot to get a receipt like a dope.

two sazeracs from the hotel bar. love a sazerac. was ordering off-menu but checked with the bartender on if they had the stuff to make one and he said yes (even had the absinthe). i feel like hotel bars generally make good, if expensive, drinks. enjoyed these with coworkers and two people who i would with but wouldn't classify as coworkers for reasons i will not get into (mainly we don't work for the same company). $15 or so each, i think. can't reimburse because alcohol

two house margaritas at the taco place mentioned above. for some reason i am a sucker for a cocktail that you get from a tap. good enough, had a bit of a carbonated taste to it but overall enjoyed. stronger than the drinks that i bought at a recent work outing to a local sports bar. $13 each, which is a lot, but it's next to an arena so i'll give it to them. can't reimburse because alcohol.

glass of (i think) sauvignon blanc at the hotel bar. did not drink this myself, but bought for a coworker i really appreciate. don't remember how much, but probably $12-15. can't reimburse because alcohol.

taxi ride to the airport from the hotel. the best thing i can say is that we got there in plenty of time. we managed to do that by blowing through two red lights. very cool! $25. can't reimburse because i did not get a receipt and paid cash because the driver could not find his credit card reader thing.

vibes and other miscellaneous that i interacted with on my recent work trip to phoenix that are ineligible for reimbursement by virtue of the fact that they are vibes, ranked & reviewed:

the most recent live episode of the shutdown fullcast (the internet's only college football podcast), which is a combination book release party for jason kirk's book ("hell is a world without you") and a religion disasters episode. fantastic. tremendous. i must have looked crazy to the person sitting next to me trying not to laugh out loud on the flight out. also includes at least one excerpt from the book which was amazing (i believe there were two excerpts but i can't recall at the moment if the second fully-casted read was in the book, but this was very good too), as was the fact that the entire pre-order proceeds ($56,000) went to the trevor project. The whole thing shifted "hell is..." up to next on my reading list once i finished...

the pigeon tunnel, by john le carre. le carre's my favorite author so it shouldn't be a surprise that i enjoyed what would probably be best described as his abridged memoirs. while initially disappointed that it's not a full telling of his life, i do somewhat respect the idea that the life-stories of the assets he ran aren't really his to tell, and that cover remains cover even to the dead (nevermind the fact that most spy stuff is dull). certainly, "a perfect spy" is a more complete biography than we'll receive otherwise. it's not his best work and certainly no tinker, tailor or smiley's people but i'm not sure anything he'd written in the past 15 or so years would be.

the idea of flying six hours one-way to go to a two-day in-person meeting. it was nice to see people i hadn't seen in person for months or years, but i'm not sure that phoenix was the best destination for it. flying out on the day before the meeting instead of the day of (as originally planned) turned out to be a saving grace, and probably would've meant either no real sleep or sleep during the meeting. would've preferred it in DC as originally planned.

[alyambersailbadkitty]

Day .5 - Chopsticks Aren't For Eating With

We hope this will be the most brutal day we have on this trip - it was a real doozy.

The only outgoing flight from Denver to St. Marten was scheduled for 11:59 on Friday, December 8. This same evening, a snow storm came to Colorado after a week of 70 degree days - of course!

Eric (Amber's husband) agreed to take Aly and Amber to the airport, which was super thoughtful. Rye (Eric & Amber's eight month old Irish setter) paid Eric back by vomiting all over Eric's shoulder while he was driving - so sweet!!

As soon as we arrived to the airport, we knew our flight was already delayed. We were scheduled to fly to Ft. Lauderdale and then to St. Marten. Thankfully, we had a five hour layover in Ft. Lauderdale, so we weren't super worried about missing our connecting flight, but we were definitely getting tired. The airport was super chilly, so we decided to go find some hot tea. Most of the food places were closed, so we had to settle for Dunkin Donuts. They only had caffeinated green tea, so Aly decided to add a tiny bit to her cup of hot water to warm up.

Before boarding the plane, Aly made one last trip to the bathroom - which is actually the worst because she hates public potties more than anything in the whole wide world including the grocery store. She walked by a garbage can to throw away her remaining hot water and splashed one tiny drop of water on a complete stranger's face. And he was SOOO mad. But he was laying by the garbage!! What did he expect?! Aly apologized profusely several times, but the grumpy man was real upset.

At 1:30am, we boarded our plane and were pleasantly surprised that the aircraft appeared to be fairly new. Maybe this won't be so bad after all? Just kidding!

Amber sat in the window seat, so Aly was in the middle. A giant (and I mean giant) man sat next to Aly and immediately squished her. Our plan was to put our airpods in our ears and try to sleep. But the giant man had other plans.

As if things couldn't get much more uncomfortable - guess where the grumpy man with one drop of hot water on his face sat? RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! He was in charge of helping people get out of the plane in case of an emergency - Aly was definitely going to pass away if he was in charge of her life.

The giant man next to Aly fell asleep in a matter of seconds and snored like a giant buzz saw, with his mouth all the way open for four hours straight.

So besides the fact that airplane seats are not in any way, shape or form made to be comfortable (god forbid people might want to sleep on an overnight flight), the snoring giant was blasting louder than any podcast could ever hope to be. We got close to zero sleep on that leg of the trip.

Finally, we started to descend into Ft. Lauderdale around 7am. The giant man was still fast asleep spreading his morning breath in all directions and seemed super refreshed and ready to go when the flight attendant woke him up - must be nice.

We found a place to eat some breakfast and began walking to our next gate. We boarded the plane and met Spirit Airlines first officer, Pilot Dan. He immediately gave Amber a sticker that read, "work hard, do good, have fun." That's some real great advice, people. You should follow it.

We spent most of the time just trying to sleep and watched an episode of the Great British Baking Show. What a great show that is. It was biscuit week in case you're wondering. It still wasn't easy trying to catch some shut eye. Why are airplanes so uncomfortable? Is it some kind of sick joke from the airline industry?

The gorgeous views of the Caribbean helped alleviate the exhaustion, and we landed at the St. Marten airport. Staff at the airport were playing music and passing out waters to all of the new tourists - Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" was all anyone could hear while waiting for customs.

After customs, we met Tony, our cab driver. He tried to trick us by telling us we'd have to present our passport as we crossed into the French side of the country. And we totally fell for it. Tony got a big laugh out of the dumb Americans!

Finally, we arrived to our boat - her name is Bad Kitty! We got a tour of the accommodations and met the rest of the passengers:

Kathy: boat captain, sailing expert, loves to read

Brian: Kathy's son, also loves to read

Dick: loves Belize and very knowledgeable about sealife

Jan: Amber's mom, the ultimate #1 boss, highly developed leadership skills

Dennis: Amber's dad, easy going and calm

During our tour, Jan showed us our home away from home - a cabin under the main deck with a full size bed to share. And the tiniest, cutest bathroom you've ever seen where the shower, the toilet and the sink all share the same footprint.

Then, we entered "Jan's Potty Course" where we learned we can't flush toilet paper down the toilet and chopsticks are used to break up any big poos. I'm sorry what?!?! I have to chop up my shit with Asian utensils?? Also, we were told we can only shower for 30 seconds at a time to save water.

This is going to get super exciting!

That night, Dennis and Jan took the girls out for dinner in Marigot. We went to really cool little restaurant where we each got to try Guavaberry rum - the local spirit. If I'm being honest, it tasted a lot like someone guzzled a bottle of rubbing alcohol down my throat. But Jan loved it and ordered herself a whole glass - what a champ she is!!

[hankyboosworld]

Quarrel

Ava: (knocks on Hanky’s door): Hey, how much do I owe you for drinks last night? Oh geez, what’s the problem, Hanky?

Hanky: (under covers) I spent my whole paycheck at the bar last night, buying rounds for everyone. I was so drunk, I argued with his dad for two hours about babe ruth.

Ava: Who’s dad?

Hanky: I don’t remember. 

Ava: Wow.. sounds like a crazy night. I am going to get breakfast, do you wanna come with?

Hanky: Yea, my stomach is growling, I’m so hungover. Where are you going?

Ava: A diner?

Hanky: No! I got food poisoning from spoiled ham steaks last time I went to a diner.

Ava: Dunkin Donuts?

Hanky: Hell no! Starbucks has better chai tea.

Ava: If you’re gonna be like this the whole time I’m not going. I’ll just make breakfast.

Ava: (In the kitchen, cutting onions for an omelet while Hanky watches): These onions are burning my eyes! We should have just gone out to eat. Last time I listen to you. 

Hanky: Yea okay. Hey, what should I get my mom for christmas?

Ava: What a random change of subject. I don’t know, I’ve never even met your mom. Didn’t you say she plays golf a ton? Get her some golf clubs.

Hanky: No you imbecile. You never listen. Didn’t I just tell you I spent all my money at the bar last night? Golf clubs are like thousands of dollars.

Ava: Hanky, why are you being so hostile? I’m making an omelet for you as we speak. 

Hanky: Sorry, the hangover is making me cranky. Any other ideas for my mom’s Christmas present?

Ava: Maybe a gift certificate for a golf range?Hanky: ugh.. IT’S TOO COLD TO GO GOLFING NOW!

[vodka-redbull-daily]

October 31st, 2023 (Part 1)

*Graphic Sexual Content*

This morning, I met up with J--. He wanted to meet up yesterday, but I wasn't sure how long he was going to stay and I didn't want to have his appointment run in with F----'s.  The thing about F---- is he wants to pay $350. I like that a lot. That's so much better than F----'s 250 and everyone else around here’s 200.  I don't know why the people in B----- are so much  stingier than the people in A-----.

I actually kind of liked J-- at first. instead of coming over and just going straight up to the bedroom, he actually wanted to take me out for breakfast. It was the first thing I remembered to offer  the guy  a drink of water, because that's what you do in Texas. I don't know if you do that here, but I offered him water. after like two sips of the glass, he talked about how much he want a coffee.  so, for pretty much the first time this entire vacation, I actually went out.

we climbed into his car, a fancy Mercedes-Benz, and drove the like 2 minutes to the nearest duncan. he was telling me all about how there's hardly any Starbucks up in this area, how most people prefer Dunkin' Donuts since it was established here, how the weather in the leaves change, how the girls here aren't good enough to have sex with him. the bouncing back and forth between  topics is always a little bit jarring, but I'm getting better about it. at least he was nice to the trans person in the window. I don't know if I could expect that from the  A----- men.

we got coffee and a little bit of breakfast, they went back to the house. we were talking and laughing and I was doing my best act I could normally sociable person instead of the Social hermit I like to be. we talked about work, talked about Texas, talked about skating and hockey. mostly just sitting out in his car. for a minute, I thought he was going to be one of those guys that just wanted to talk and didn't actually want to fuck. but of course not.

soon enough, we were back in the house. he was sitting there rubbing my thigh rubbing my back. I was expected as much, but it would be nice that if for once I could actually go do something sugar babyish. mostly, I just feel like a hooker. sure, I got breakfast out of it this time.  Beyond that, it's pretty clear that most of these people just want to get a quick fuck in. We made out on the couch for a little bit. He did a lot of kissing my neck, reaching up under my shirt to play with my boobs, saying weird gross things that men say as if they're sexy. then, out of nowhere, he stuck his fucking tongue in my ear. like what the hell? absolutely disgusting! why would anybody like that? I like it wasn't a brief little tongue flick, he full on tried to deep throat my ear with his tongue. absolutely horrible and I still get chills thinking about it.

it wasn't very long before we finally went upstairs. the mandatory blowjob for way too long happened  before he finally put on a condom and stuck it in me.  I don't know what happened. I don't know if it's cuz I miss him. I don't know if it's because I'm having kind of a shitty vacation. I don't know. all I know is that I started out really liking J--, kind of thinking this could be somebody I could see more than once, then it suddenly hating him and wanting him to leave. I wanted him to leave so bad, but he was another one of those guys that just wants to lay there and cuddle, then fuck again for hours. he brought six condoms. he also  brought Lube, which is nice, but it was at the point where i just really wanted him to leave.  I don't know if it was cuz I had just woken up and really wasn't feeling it or what.

he said he really really wanted to do anal with me, but I was just so much pain from yesterday that I kept having to tell him no. what bothers me about guys who are that demanding and want to have that much sex is a lot of times are not actually that good at it.  they always have an air of selfishness, a ‘you owe me this because I'm paying you’ attitude.  the worst part about J-- was how he fingered. he was so bad at it. he would take his fingernail and scratch. He was legitimately scratching at my clit. and after how rough F---- was with me yesterday, it hurt so bad. I feel like somebody who's that old should have enough experience to know that that's not good.  it's pretty hard to imagine anybody enjoying that.

It got to the point where we were cuddling again  and I was making these big shows of yawning, telling him that I was too tired from all that great sex. I mean, I was tired. Since he wanted to meet so fucking early in the morning  and F----- had ruined the sheets from yesterday, I had to get up at like 6:00 a.m. to get the house ready. to make it look presentable. to make it look like I'm a professional. well, not a professional. guys actually hate it when you act like you're a professional. one of the things I see the most often is “ I don't do transactional”.  basically, they want to live in this fantasy that you want it just as badly as they do. if that was the case, you wouldn't have come with a wad of cash in your pocket.

I was yawning and telling him I need to go to sleep. he kept trying to say that he can still stay,  talking about how we could go get in the shower to wake me up a little bit. the shower here doesn't heat up much Beyond lukewarm and my Texas Blood just can't handle that. but mostly, I wanted him to leave. every time he spoke I felt this annoyance building up in my chest. every time you touch me I wanted to push him away. I was just sick of him. I wanted to go back to sleep, wanted to cuddle up underneath the blankets alone. Eventually, he did leave  and I was finally able to go back to sleep. I had another appointment that night, somebody I actually kind of enjoyed talking to over text and was way more looking forward to.

[spinobsessed]

Airports

I just saw a post abt how airports are a nightmare for this one person so I was inspired to make one myself, esp since I’m going on one next week

I love traveling so much, the process is so fun. First is packing my clothes and making outfits, next is trying to get through the next days knowing what fun awaits you. Then you try to sleep bc you have to wake up a few hours later and you’ll need the energy. Then you get to wake up in the middle of the night and gather your things, then you get to go in a TAXI. I love taxis and the midnight sky while listening to music. Then you get there and you get to go on little train things, shuttles, run to catch a bus or smth, and then TSA. I like the hustle and bustle of trying to take things off and put them on quickly. Then we go to our gate and find breakfast, which is usually Dunkin’ Donuts or Auntie Annie’s. Last time tho the line for Dunkin’ Donuts was so long I wouldn’t have boarded the plane in time so I went hungry for an extra 2 hours lol. Then we get on the plane and I always have the window seat, there are 3 seats and 3 ppl in my family so we usually sit together. I watch us take off and take a video to send my friends, it’s so exciting. Then I try not to think abt how cramped the airplane lowkey is. Then we get to our destination and we get to check in, adjust to the weather, collect our suitcases, and then go to our hotel and settle in. Then it’s time to have fun at the pool or smth

[naomi-in-japan]

5月２５–２７日 | Traveling to Tokyo

It has been almost four years since my last trip to Japan! Needless to say, it felt pretty surreal flying back. Travel days are always my most dreaded days when it comes to trips, especially with the combined flight time being over 17 hours!! We left Orlando around 7 AM and arrived in Tokyo around 2 AM EST.

•••

Canada Experience 🇨🇦🍁

On our way to Tokyo, we had a connecting flight from Toronto, my first time in Canada (even though it was just the airport). It definitely solidified my curiosity about visiting the country in the future. There is so much to explore in Canada (it’s a big country!!). Perhaps I’ll have to make a travel blog/vlog for Canada in the future 👀

On the topic of Canada—While we were in the Toronto airport, I had a couple of culture shocks. Firstly, one of my classmates found and bought ketchup-flavored Lays Potato Chips!! I did not even know a flavor like that existed. Of course, you would think that the way we Americans consume ketchup, we would have that as a flavor, but I guess not. You can watch my travel vlog to see our reactions to the chips! We also tried Tim Horton’s, which, to my uncultured American knowledge, is Canada’s version of Dunkin’ Donuts.

Narita Airport ✈️🧳

We landed in Tokyo around 3 PM JST (about 2 AM EST) and proceeded to navigate through customs and to the airport hotel. I was able to utilize my Japanese in the process of getting through to the Tobu Hotel. It shocked me how willing other Japanese people were to converse in Japanese. I have previously heard from other foreigners that, regardless of one’s Japanese abilities, Japanese people would often speak to the person in English.

Tobu Hotel 🏨✈️

We stayed at Narita Tobu Airport Hotel the night before our program began.

After settling into the airport hotel, there was suddenly lots of shaking. It was then we quickly realized that an earthquake was occurring. It was pretty surreal to experience my first earthquake the first day I was in Japan.

The airport hotel was very foreigner friendly (particularly for English speakers), with English-speaking staff, ATM converters, free shuttles to and from the airport, and western-style meals at their breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet. Unfortunately, since we only stayed the night, we couldn’t fully utilize their amenities, but I definitely will return the next time I fly into Japan.

Arrival to Ryokan 🏨🎍

We met up with our group in the morning at Narita Airport and headed over to the Ryokan we will be staying in Tokyo. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. The one we will be staying at specifically is for tourists. It was a personal culture shock to go from a Western-styled hotel such as the Narita Airport Tobu Hotel to the Ryokan we are in now. The sleeping accommodations are traditional futons on tatami mats, and the firmness of it took a moment to adjust to personally. The Ryokan also has an onsen that I have yet to try, but once I do, I surely will write about it.

•••

With that, I was officially settled in Tokyo, starting my month-long adventure in Japan as well as my student blogging journey.