#E-bike library

[kiranherbert]

Reimagining Bike Share for the Suburbs

[raiiny-bay]

opened blender just to look at them

[fightforthesoulofthecities]

Join Black Folks on Bikes for Environmental Justice

Join Black Folks on Bikes for Environmental Justice At Strategy and Soul The Strategy Center is excited to be one of eight organizations in the South-Central LA Power Up coalition working with the California Air Resources Board, LA Dept of Transportation, and LA Clean Tech Incubator to host a library of 250 E-Bikes that will be free for South LA residents for the first 6 months of the…

[luveline]

Hey Jade!!! I was just wondering if you could do a soulmate au with Spencer please? Maybe something along the lines of those cheesy ones like the first words are tattooed on or they have the same tattoo idk, whatever you u feel like 😊

—Spencer meets his soulmate. You’re as lovely as he’s always pictured. fem, 1.3k

Someone will love me one day.

Spencer must think it a thousand times. When he has to put his mom in the sanitarium and he feels more alone than he ever has in his life, he knows one day someone will love him anyways. When he gets called ugly, too skinny, nerd, dork, and a handful of words that are even worse, he knows one day someone will say the opposite. He won’t be alone forever.

He was two when they appeared, dark black cursive words tucked against his pulse. Spencer felt ugly nearly every day of his life, wrong and weird, but the words on his wrist have never changed, ‘You’re so handsome I can’t believe it’s you.’

One day someone’s gonna look at him and see handsome.

Today, he feels pretty good. He’s back home in Washington, D.C., the grocery store he loves is open again after a long reconstruction, and they had a bunch of fruit from South America that he’s never tried before. He carries a white plastic bag full of fruit, bread and cheese back to his apartment, each step in the sunshine, the kiss of it warming his cheeks. A busker plays music near the mouth of the subway station. Nobody has yet to scowl at him for being in the way.

He’s wondering what he forgot when he sees you. You’re smiling, the sun on your face and arms, which are strangely full. Books slide against your chest, but besides a little huff and a shift of your elbow, you don’t seem to notice the slim paperback working its way through the crowd in your arms. It drops down onto the sidewalk but you keep walking. You must be in a hurry.

Spencer darts forward to your dropped book, thumb under the title. Charlotte’s Web by E. B White. The spine is flaking and soft from use.

He should call out for you. You’re already getting too far away.

Spencer crosses the road and dives deeper into the city with you. Washington, D.C. isn’t without grandeur —it’s the capital of the USA— and so he finds himself surrounded by potted trees and stretches of well tended grass. School’s broken for the day, children weaving around on bikes and scooters or holding hands with their parents taking up altogether too much space. He loses you in the crowd.

Spencer stops in defeat.

Maybe if he puts the book back in your path you’ll see it on the way back.

He’s not sure why he doesn’t. Spencer keeps your book and starts to walk home. This isn’t how he’d usually get there, but he can manoeuvre around the park.

He keeps an eye out for you. Ridiculously, he’d thought about giving the book back to you and making you smile. He hasn’t talked to anyone who wasn’t a cashier in two days.

“Hi.”

Spencer looks down. “Hi,” he says, spooked by the little girl in front of him.

“Is that for the library?”

He shakes his head regretfully. “No, I– I found it. I’m trying to give it back.”

“Okie dokie. I never read that one before.”

“I’m sorry, it’s not my book to give away… Where’s your mom?”

The little girl points at a mom and a younger child playing on the grass near a circle of benches. There’s a huge dark cabinet with its doors skewed open in the middle, and when he squints he realises it’s full of books. “Oh, is that the library?” he asks.

“Yes!” the little girl insists.

“Okay, well, here’s what we’ll do,” he says, looking desperately for you, disappointed when he can’t see a sign of your nice blue shirt or your sunny smile, “let me go see if I can find the lady who dropped this book, and if she says it’s okay, I’ll keep it for you to have. But you can’t run off from your mom again. Deal?”

The girl grins, thick hair shiny in the sun. “Deal!” she says, running in a burst toward her mother, who startles when she realises she’d left in the first place.

Spencer creeps toward the library. He can’t leave the book here now, he’s promised he’ll try to find you.

You come around the back of the library cabinet with a smile. Free Library, the sign says. Take one if you want, leave one if you can.

You stop in your path when you see him. You smile again, you’re prettier for it, lovely with the sun on half your face, your slight squint. You open your mouth to speak.

Spencer beats you to it. “Hi, I’ve been trying to catch up to you,” he says, raising your copy of Charlotte’s Web to his chest. “You dropped one of your books.”

You take a half step back.

Spencer grimaces. “I promised a little girl I’d ask if she can have it, I’m so sorry. I get stuck and I don’t know how to say no.”

Your eyes flash down to your hands. “You’re so handsome,” you say, and Spencer’s heart stops dead in his chest, your lips shaping each word without measure and somehow the prettiest anyone’s ever looked as they move, “I can’t believe it’s you.”

His shoulders sag with a deep breath.

You raise your arm to show him the contrasting font laid against your pulse. Hi, I’ve been trying to catch up to you.

Spencer shows you his. You’re so handsome, I can’t believe it’s you.

“It’s you,” he says.

You press your hand to your mouth. “I was walking too fast, right? When I was a kid I thought if I made everybody chase me that eventually somebody would have to say it, but then it stuck, and I rush everywhere I go.” Your voice turns breathless. “But you’re the person who was supposed to catch up to me.”

He smiles softly. “I think so.”

“And I just told you you’re handsome. I’m sorry, I bet that was embarrassing to… carry around, all this time.”

“It’s the best gift anyone’s ever given me,” he says honestly.

“I didn’t think you’d be so pretty,” you explain.

“I knew you would be.”

You hold your hand out. He’s about to tell you he doesn’t shake but he finds he really wants to, and you’re not shaking his hand anyways, you’re holding it, looking at the cursive on his arm with a disbelief he echoes in his own smile. You rub the tip of your thumb over the word handsome.

“Do you like books?” he asks.

You nod distractedly. “I love them,” you murmur, looking up.

His entire arm is alive with tingles.

“Do you read much?” you ask.

Every word you trade with one another has this shy longing he’s never felt, like you’re desperate to know about one another but worried you aren’t allowed to ask. Spencer’s about to tell you all about it, how he’s always reading, how books have been with him through everything, but there’s a tug on his shirt that stops him.

“Hi,” the little girl says.

Spencer laughs. “Hi.”

“What did she say?” the little girl whispers.

Spencer looks to you for guidance.

“Of course you can have it. It’s an amazing book,” you say.

“Thank you!” she says, holding out her hands.

Spencer doesn’t mind handing it over. If she didn’t ask him for it earlier, he might’ve never had the courage to look for you. He could’ve left the book in the cabinet and turned around, but he didn’t. And now he’s met you.

You step into his side. “Did you– do you want to get coffee?” You peer down at the bag now slipped from his elbow down to his wrist. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Do you want to have a picnic with me?” he asks.

You nod for so long he has to laugh. “I’d love to,” you say, offering your open hand.

Spencer threads your fingers together. That one day he always dreamed of seems a lot closer than it did before.

[randomwriteronline]

miscellaneous Krakua in the order of mata nui thoughts. all of the stupid variety

A) Krakua is one of the smaller members since most of the guys here are titan sets so hes used to being picked up like a suitcase or for a piggy back ride. this was initially so he would not wander off or get lost or make them waste time, but then they just kept doing that out of habit. he loves it, actually, so when hes around other beings who are his size or worse smaller and so cant just grab him like an apple to drag him around he gets a lil sad about it

B) hes the only person who knows where Jerbraz is at all times. everybody else has learned to sense him or figure his position via hyper awareness of their space but Krakua can just fuckin. hear him. he will run at full speed and jump at him so Jerbraz has to catch him every single time they meet just to blow his cover. theyre having fun :)

C) typical order of mata nui exercise to improve your minds abilities: meditate uninterrupted for two hours while directly next to Krakuas noise tests. this includes fending him off (still meditating) when he tries to move his noise tests onto you specifically

D) the aforementioned noise tests are, in theory, a good exercise of Krakuas sonic powers by applying them to his staff and figuring out how they can affect the target through it. they consist, in practice, of Krakua smacking his staff against the closest surface available while applying a different more insane soundfont each time. he can do this for hours. he will do this for hours.

E) a non comprehensive list of noises Krakua has bonked into existence in the bionicle universe through noise tests:

Half Life 2 crowbar sound effect

Spirit bod static

Killing Machines from MNOG

Earth-shattering dad sneeze

Disgustingly wet cough

Wilhelm scream

Down Under (instrumental) by Men at Work

At least three quarters of Nero's Day At Disneyland's discography

Saxophone solo

Train honk

Truck honk

Car honk

Bike honk

Clown honk

Cucaracha honk

Sea elephant honk

Hydrogen bomb explosion

Rubber ducky

An entire audio library worth of slapstick sound effects

Several positively insane conversations between the various order members via the magic of TF2 fanvideo-style audio splicing and rearranging, currently following a vaguely coherent plot as he got too carried away and started making lore for this on-the-fly youtube poop hes been smacking on the side of a wall otherwise motionless for about four hours now

Mashup of every single polka cover medley by Matoran Universe Weird Al Yankovich

Micheal Jackson vocalizations

Yodeling

[identitty-dickruption]

small things you can do to make my life easier (a list by a bitter cripple)

use footpaths mindfully. don’t zigzag across the path. don’t pause in the middle of the path to check your phone. step to the side of the path if you see someone coming who might have more trouble moving + needs more space

oh cool you like using those rentable e-bikes and scooters? that’s fun! don’t fucking park them in the middle of walkways. DEFINITELY don’t park them ON THE CURB CUT

push your chairs in. we all love the library but it’s only accessible for everyone if I don’t have to worry about navigating around chairs and the like

when you use the word “accessible” be CLEAR about what you mean. are there automatic doors? is there an easily identifiable ramp? what is the lighting situation? what’s the toilet situation? if there’s food involved, what should people with allergies expect?

I’m serious do not fucking lie about accessibility

normalise taking breaks. it feels shit to be the person who is always begging for the break to actually be taken. do not participate in the “we don’t need breaks!” culture

don’t ask invasive questions. don’t stare. treat me like a human person

other cripples feel free to add

[lily-fics-11]

Je Vous Aime (Robin Buckley, Stranger Things)

Je Vous Aime//Robin Buckley, Stranger Things

I haven't written about my pookie Robin in so long so I had to fix that

You say goodbye to Robin after school and put on your headphones. You walk out to the bike rack together every day. Before you play the music on your Walkman you hear Robin whisper “Je vous aime.”

“What does that mean?” you question, wondering why she was speaking to you in what you think is French. She knows you don’t speak it, that you have always taken Spanish. 

Robin’s freckled cheeks flush instantaneously. “I thought you were listening to music.”

“Not yet. Was that French? What does ‘je voo em’ mean?” You interrogate her, trying to get to the bottom of this strange interaction.

She breaks eye contact to stare down at her converse. “It means… see you later. So uh, see you later, I gotta go.” She doesn't even look back at you before leaving on her bike, she just takes off.

Robin always looks at you, her stone blue eyes staring deeply into yours. The only time she doesn’t is when she lies. “I can stay late, my parents won’t mind. I finished that essay too, so I can hang out tonight. Steve is probably running late, I can stay for another few minutes.”

Back home you pour over your homework without making much progress. 

Why would Robin say something to you that she knew you couldn’t understand?

When she didn’t think you could hear her? 

Why the hell would she lie about it? 

Did you upset her? 

Is she sad? Mad? 

Clearly you had done something wrong. Robin is far from confrontational and avoids problems until they go away. Even though conflict between you two is rare, you are tired of her dealing with it this way. She isn’t going to just let things go this time, it’s not fair to either of you. 

You check the time and the library closes in a half hour. If you ride your bike fast enough you will have enough time to get there and find a French dictionary to borrow. 

Upon arriving at the library you are tired, sweating, and red in the face from racing there against the clock. You ask the librarian where to find what you need, quickly locate, and check it out.

You can’t wait until you get home to figure this out, so you sit in the grass outside the library and start searching through the book.

The first word was definitely “je”. Flipping through the dictionary you find out that it means “I”. I what? I want you to leave me alone?

“Voo” came after “je”. Unfortunately, you discover that “voo” itself is not, in fact, a word. It isn’t spelled the way it sounds, so you move on to words that have “vo” at the beginning. The word that sticks out is “vous”, for which the English translation is “you”. 

There is the ABBA song called Voulez-Vous, which is “do you want”, if you aren’t mistaken. You must be on the right track then. “I” and “you”. I hate you?

Turns out that “to hate” is “détester”, and not the word she said. That’s a relief, but you are still desperate for an answer. But “em” isn’t even a word and neither is “im”. 

You don’t actually know how vowels are pronounced in French. How they are pronounced in English is different from Spanish, so French is probably the same way. Pronunciation basics is naturally the next section you look at. You discover that different vowel combinations were definitely the right direction to go in. “Ai” could kind of sound like the “e” in “em”. So “aim” or “aime” is probably the right word.

You can’t believe your eyes when you read the translation of “aime”. 

Love?

Love.

I love you? Your friendship with Robin could certainly be categorized as very close, but not in an “I love you” way. 

You would never say it to her, that’s for sure. 

Not because you don’t love her, but because you don’t love her like a friend. 

You are in love with Robin. 

You would without a doubt say it back if she were to say it directly to you, even if you meant it in a different way. 

Why wouldn’t she just say it? Is she worried you don’t feel the same way? Now that you are actually thinking about it you do have a tendency to distance yourself at times, and avoid physical affection when it comes to Robin. In your defense you only do it to avoid letting yourself live an impossible fantasy. 

Robin Buckley is a girl. 

Robin Buckley doesn’t love you the way that you love her. 

However, to anyone with a single notion of your same sex attraction, your feelings for Robin would be crystal clear, like her pretty blue eyes. Your eyes can find her in the most crowded room and from just about any distance. And once you spot her? You can’t bear to look away. Why would you pass up an opportunity to admire such a physically and mentally appealing girl?

You would drop just about anything for Robin. If she calls, you are there. Family dinner, studying, the best book or movie, doesn’t matter. Robin is always a top priority. As long as you are in a good place to give her your best you will absolutely give it to her. 

You wear her favorite color whenever you can, you seek it out when you go shopping. If she mentions a book or movie you completely engross yourself in it until you can discuss it with her at great length. You even spend extra time studying Spanish so that you can carry conversations with her. Robin is extraordinary, she speaks English, French, Spanish, and Italian. 

There is no obvious reason why she would do this, and you have no intention of waiting for an answer to this unshakeable question. 

You shove the book into the woven basket on your bike and take off at a steady pace in the direction of Robin’s house. You don’t want to look like a mess when you get there. You can feel frustration building up inside you. Why does she have to be so avoidant, why can’t she just say what she is feeling? 

You knock on the door and Robin is the one to answer it. She looks excited to see you until she realizes how upset you are. 

“Is everything ok? Is something wrong? Did I do something?” Robin panics and then groans “fuck, I did do something, didn’t I,” when your expression doesn’t soften. 

“Well yeah, you kind of did,” you sigh with a twinge of guilt, realizing how much you are stressing her out.

Robin starts fidgeting with the chunky silver rings on her fingers. “I’m not always the best at, you know, the social cues, so I’m so sorry to ask this because it makes me feel like a jerk, but what did I do?”

Robin Buckley really can’t read a room, can she. Remembering this only creates more remorse for acting on your emotions instead of taking your time to find the best approach. 

“What you said after school today,” you explain. “‘Je vous aime’.”

“I hate to ask another stupid question,” Robin says while making deep eye contact before looking away and asking "but what’s wrong with ‘see you later’?”

“Robin, have you forgotten how well I know you? I can tell when you are lying. I went to the library and found a French dictionary, so I know what you actually said. ‘I love you’? Why wouldn’t you just say it? We are friends, aren’t we? Have I made you uncomfortable or upset? I’m sorry if I have made you feel that way. But if I did, why wouldn’t you come to me about it? You deserve to feel heard.”

“We are friends.” Robin mumbles. 

You run a hand through your hair in exasperation. “Then what the hell is going on?”

“I just didn’t want to make things weird.” She bites her chapped lips. 

“Rob, we are friends, I want you to feel safe to talk to me. I would never judge you.” 

Robin sits down on the ground like she is trying to get away from you, without actually going anywhere. “That’s the thing. You wouldn’t judge a friend who says I love you. But you might not feel the same way when someone means it as more than friendly. Especially when you are both girls. It’s not fair of me to lie to you and I really should be honest so you can just kick me out of your life for being the weird girl that’s in love with her friend. So je vous aime, I love you. Like in love with you. And you never have to speak to me again if you don’t….”

You had sat down next to Robin while she was talking and now you cut her off. “You are so oblivious, and to be quite honest, I'm offended.”

“Fuck!” Robin groans before covering her face with her hands. “I know you probably think it’s gross, and you hate me, and…”

You pull her hands away from her face. They had been covering her sad puppy dog expression. “Shhhhhh Robin,” you try to soothe her before putting an arm around her shoulders. “It’s not gross. It’s the opposite of gross. You are like gold, you know. Precious, but dense. I’ve always been in love with you. I try not to make it obvious but I still feel like it is.”

“Y-you?” She stutters, her voice sounding afraid, though her eyes are starry and filled with wonder. “In love with me?”

“Je vous aime, Robin.”

[snapthistiger]

exercise 06122024

bike ride to the gym

8 x 10 incline sit ups

3 x 10 pec machine

3 x 10 lat raise

3 x 10 low row

30 minutes on the step mill

3 x 10 cable row

3 x 10 cable press

bike ride to my Mom's, the library, Kroger, then home

the gym workers received Hershey kisses and York mints

no work today. felt good to sleep to 530a instead of waking at 330a

my Mom was sleeping so didn't visit with her. i did talk to my sister for awhile. yesterday evening, i drafted my Mom's obituary so we don't have to worry about all the details when the time comes. my sisters will review and provide edits

picked up 2 more books for my Mom from the library. biography of Paul Newman and an Amish mystery

mowed behind the fence after lunch

top left = e bike outside Kroger

middle and bottom = my Mom's flowers

hope you have a peaceful afternoon and evening..

[alwaysalreadyangry]

genuinely one of the most insane weeks of my life. started on sunday with my first visit with parents post-heart attack (everyone is fine), bit worrying but fine. monday, find out about boxes of library stock found dumped in the middle of a forest. monday night, husband phones from hospital because he’s fallen off his bike and got various injuries. tuesday… i haven’t slept and am a zombie. wednesday, go to see kafka read in a church by tobias menzies. thursday morning, go to a&e with husband to see if his intense nausea etc is a concussion (it isn’t, probably food poisoning). thursday afternoon, job interview. thursday afternoon continued, running crafting session for children with very little prep. thursday evening, staying late to close the library. friday, get phone call to say i have got the job (yay!) and then i work all day, come home, husband still has food poisoning, we cancel weekend plans, i am exhausted and don’t know what to do with myself.

[theblob1958]

tumblr in the rollerball (1975) universe

����thismachinekillscorps

i can't believe people still watch rollerball . if you watch the games unfollow me right now. disgusted at you people

🛼johnny-e

you are so lame. let people enjoy things. i bet you think the corporate wars were bad too lmfao

🙈thismachinekillscorps

OF COURSE THE CORPORATE WARS ARE BAD WHAT DO YOU MEAN

(400 notes)

🧡dallas-orange

at the stadium rn i think i see the top of jonathan e's hat omg

(3 notes)

🏇daddyjohnathan

i wish the johnathan broadcast last night had more clips of him shirtless GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT ENERGY CORP

(57 notes)

🤹rollerballer69

i hope my favorite player doesn't get killed tonight 🙏 blue stay strong on that bike!!!

(0 notes)

⬛mooniebaby-deactivated20180503

do you guys think they ever....

🌖johnathan-e-remade

if you post like this they're going to terminate your account. the corporate daddies do NOT like us talking about their athlete's sloppy make out session

⬛mooniebaby-deactivated20180503

THE CORPORATION CAN SUCK MY DICK JUST HOW MOON PIE LOVES SUCKING JOHNATHAN E'S MONSTER COCK THEY CANT SILENCE ME

🧑‍🤝‍🧑rollerballing

oh my god corporate got him

(25,000 notes)

🌞ladyskater

i wish we had a woman's league then maybe i'd be interested in watching sweaty people roll around in a circle for two hours

(501 notes)

🧶energydyke

remember libraries

(1 note)

[wrecklesswriterswrath]

Welcome to my Studyblr!

My name is Kathryn (she/her), and I created this blog to help me organize my many, many hobbies, and see my own progress!

A little bit about me:

I am 19 years old, and I live in the USA.

I am studying Secondary English Education (7-12), and also getting a Luther's Teaching Diploma, allowing me to teach in Christian schools.

I am an avid learner!

Some hobbies of mine:

Writing! I've been working on my novel, Ghostly, for roughly 6 years now. I'm on my 7th draft, and have written over half a million words just in relation to this novel!

Language Learning! English is my first language, but I studied basic Spanish in high school. I am also now self-studying French! Bienvenue sur mon blog!

Fitness! I'm a fairly sedentary girl, yet I'll be taking on the None to Run 12 week program with one of my close friends! I'm so excited to learn to run, as it was something I really enjoyed in elementary and middle school. I also have an E-Bike that I love riding when the weather is nice!

Drawing! I love to create drawings, especially based on my novel characters. Who knows! Maybe I'll post some.

Studying! As a university student, I love to coop up in the library and just absorb into all of my class materials!

Theatre! See why I needed the blog? I have a lot of hobbies! I've been in roughly 20 shows since middle school, and this next season, I have four shows! I'm so excited to take you from audition to show!

I hope you stick around and we get to be good friends. Enjoy my many adventures, and I hope you create some for yourself! Follow for inspiration, a buddy system, or just a friend on here!

Toodles!

[kiranherbert]

E-Bikes Meet Equity in Upstate New York

[weirdbooksifoundatwork]

First day working at a Library since pre-Covid is on the books! Today I was given orientation and met all my co-workers, who seem like a genial bunch. I won’t be doing much processing of materials in circulation, like at my old University job. I’m mostly doing odd jobs around the office, helping out whichever departments need a couple man-hours of unskilled labor to tackle some backlog or other.

Today, on top of signing my I-9, taking the tour, getting my nametag, and many other things besides, I worked for a few hours with the Programming department packing cute little cardboard packages full of trifold brochures about, and tiny vials of, Turmeric for the Spice of the Month Club; I laminated and cut out a deck of cards in preparation for an Alice in Wonderland themed children’s event coming up; and I helped our digital media librarian unpack 132 DVDs, and attach two stickers to each case. Which brings me to my first Weird Not Book in over 4 years:

This bizarre DVD case with really ugly, obvious AI art and no production company or human accreditation. I thought perhaps it had been ordered by mistake but I didn’t say anything because a) the digital media director was on his lunch break and b) I didn’t want to make waves on my first day. The lack of any other information (and the description on the back not passing the AI smell test, IMO) makes me wonder whether the movie itself might be AI.

Sure is a different set of concerns to think about than when I last worked in a library! Not sure I’m a fan!

Anyway, I’m gonna be working there 3 days a week moving forward, and I’m pretty excited! Also: I’m purchasing an E-Bike tomorrow to make the commute easier and reduce the amount of car trips I take in town.

[female-malice]

The future is literally bicycles, e-bikes, golf carts, scooters, community vans, trains, buses, horses, donkeys.

For every 25 households, there should be one public building that everyone uses and maintains together. It should have a library, clinic, computer lab, arcade, garage, kitchen, plant nursery, and indoor basketball court.

You can do all kinds of things at an indoor basketball court. There's basketball, volleyball, yoga, pilates class, dance class. But you can also set up a projector and have a movie night. Or community theater. Or you can have an open mic. The neighborhood metal band could play there. You can set up a haunted house. Or a mini carnival. You can have STEM fairs and art fairs and swap meets. You can use an indoor basketball court for literally everything.

[starburstjuno]

SUMMER LOVIN' | E. MUNSON

a rom-com style au set in the summer of 1986...

!! COMING SOON TO WATTPAD !!

eddie munson, finally graduated after two consecutive senior years and one summer of summer school, is anxiously avoiding adulthood with "one last summer in hawkins".

misty henderson, freshly graduated and on her way to university with a full ride, leaves chicago to go spend the summer with her brother and mom in the small town they'd moved to following the divorce.

-- CHAPTER ONE SNEAK PEAK BELOW THE CUT --

"...and the rock and roll music, infecting our children's minds!" Was the last thing she heard before she turned the knob. It took a while to find another working station, only for that to be classical sounding music. With another huff, Misty turns the radio off and only half paying attention, she reaches over to her glove box to fix for the tapes she kept in there. Splitting her attention between driving and searching, she wasn't able to find anything that struck her mood before she realized she was getting into town. She actually had to pay attention now, and figure out where her mom and brother lived.

She had the address, and a scribbled down list of vague instructions Dustin had attempted to give her over the phone before she'd started the drive here. She drove around, eyes peeled, until she saw the library in the center of town. Finally, Dustin's instructions could be of some use. She tried to follow the simple 'take a left and then right and then left and then straight and then right and then straight and then left and then straight and then up the hill and then right and then up the driveway and you're there!' instructions that Dustin had given her.

Eventually, all the houses were starting to look the same, all the streets identical, but she felt like she was doing something right as she saw a small hill ahead. She went up the hill, spotted a road off to the right, and then-all too thankfully-saw a driveway on the right that went up the slope of another small hill. The house was familiar from pictures and vague descriptions, and Dustin's bike dumped next to the front door confirmed it. She pulled her jeep up into the driveway, next to her mom's rather beat up old station wagon that she somehow still had. Misty was honestly a little impressed the thing was still running.

She only bothered grabbed tote bags with her essentials before heading to the front door, knocking and ringing the bell for good measure. After a few moments, and a bit of muffled scrambling the larger front door was pulled open-leaving the old looking screen door as the only thing between Misty and a rather frazzled looking Dustin. He stood there for a moment, she could almost see the gears turning.

"Misty!" Dustin all but pushed the door off its hinges, pushing the flimsy screen door out of the way and wrapping his arms excitedly around his sister.

--------

This fic will be posted to my wattpad account, starting within the next few weeks. Below is the Spofity code for the playlist that I am listening to while writing the fic, if you'd like a sneak peak of the vibes. I hope you enjoyed this teaser, and will be reading when the chapters are posted!

[enfyswanders]

Cardiff, Wales: July 19-26, 2024

"I have no idea what I'm going to do in Cardiff" was a regular refrain as I fretted while planning my trip, and apart from pre-booking a Doctor Who tour, I decided to simply wing it when I got there, and that worked out really well.

I flew from Dublin to London Heathrow, then took the Tube to Paddington Station for the train to Cardiff, where I took this crappy through-the-train-window pic of the Paddington Bear bench, mainly so I could show my mom, since we read those books together when I was a kid and my grandma made me a Paddington Bear plushie.

I got settled at my hotel in Cardiff and took it easy the rest of the day, and the next day I decided to do some easy walks for sightseeing and visited Cardiff Market, a fabulous, two-story indoor market full of shops and food stalls. I bought a couple of Welsh Cakes almost immediately and that was a very, very good decision.

For the uninitiated, a Welsh Cake is basically a flattened scone cooked on a griddle and dusted with granulated sugar. At this shop, they sold them warm off the griddle, with the option to be served sandwiched with filling like lemon curd, Biscoff cookie spread, Nutella, or jam. I was instantly hooked and ended up getting Welsh Cakes for breakfast most of the mornings I was in Cardiff. It helped that they were less than a pound apiece, so it made for a very cheap breakfast (it only took two before I felt full).

Also, this shop in Cardiff Market is run by an American and I giggled at the name:

Another find on my first day was the Queer Emporium, a shop/coffee bar/cocktail bar where I felt right at home. I made it a point to stop there every day to buy a drink and fill up my "Gay Card." And one evening when I was wandering around, I stumbled upon a queer crafting night there and joined in to chat and do some cross-stitch with a small group of fellow neurodivergent queers, and that was a welcome bit of socialization during a trip that was sometimes a bit lonely.

I really enjoyed shopping downtown and bought probably more stuff than I should have. There are tons of arcades (covered but open-air alleyways full of quirky and interesting shops and cafes), a beautiful library, and some cool-looking museums (most of which I failed to visit due to not feeling well my last day in town).

The day after my downtown exploration, I decided to visit Cardiff Bay, which includes Roald Dahl Plass, named for the author, a Ferris wheel (and yes, reader, I took a ride on it), a building that looks a lot like the Smithsonian Castle in DC, an historic Norwegian church-turned-cafe-and-craft-boutique, a phenomenal ice cream shop with some serious innuendo in its signage, and a very peaceful wetlands reserve with a wide bike and walking path and lots of birds.

For my nerdy readers (probably most of you?), Cardiff Bay is also home to Torchwood Tower (so small - and surrounded by a family fun faire - I missed it my first visit and had to go back to see it again after my Doctor Who tour guide pointed it out) and Ianto's Shrine, which is still being curated ten years after "Torchwood" was canceled.

As I mentioned, I also did the Doctor Who tour, which was fun, and we had a really great and indulgent guide who showed us dozens of shooting locations from all the modern seasons of Doctor Who, right up through the Ncuti Gatwa episodes. Since most of the stuff we saw wasn't exactly scenic (mostly alleys and fronts of office buildings and shops), I didn't really take any photos, apart from one in St. John the Baptist Church, where keen observers will find a tiny Cyberman has replaced one of the knights up above the rear chapel altar.

While in Cardiff I had another Adventure In Trying To Do Laundry, and in this episode, I took a bus to a not-great part of town where the laundromat was very good and the person running it was very kind and I met a nice couple from Seattle but most importantly, it had the most bonkers vending machine of hot-water-based potables I've ever seen.

And while I was there, the vending machine was not operational because the electricity costs were too high at the time. (Many places in the UK have different electricity rates for different times of day and days of the week.) Not that I was tempted by the possibility of herbal tea that may have tasted like tomato soup.

The true highlight of Cardiff, however, was the Cardiff Castle tour, specifically the residence, but honestly the whole thing was an absolute delight, and it was my favorite castle to explore of all the castles I visited during my trip.

I didn't take a ton of photos, both to adhere to my five-photos-a-day rule and because I knew my photography equipment - er, phone - and skill were not up to the task of capturing some of the more magnificent sights (which is why I bought a book in the gift shop instead).

But. Let me tell you about this place. It is WILD. There's been a castle on that site for 2000 years, since the Roman occupation of Britain, so it has a really rich history and some absolutely bananas decor.

First off, when you buy your admission, there's a military history museum, which is actually pretty darned interesting even if you have no interest in military history. For one thing, there's a person demonstrating various swords and other edged weaponry from various historical periods. For another, there's this absolutely jaw-dropping, enormous sculpture? Relief? Mural? Thing? depicting the Roman rule era. It runs the entire length of a super-long hallway, and arcs around a corner as well. Absolutely astonishing. It was created in the 1980s, so it's not exactly historic in and of itself, but it's still an incredible sight to behold.

But the military history museum has nothing on the residence tour, which costs a few extra pounds but is well worth the expense. Our guide was a fabulous nonbinary person who I vibed with instantly and turned out to be a fan of my band, The Misbehavin' Maidens, which is rad enough to make the tour worth it, but holy shit this house. This HOUSE.

It was built in the Victorian era by the Scottish Marquis who owned it at the time, and he was incredibly wealthy thanks to the coal industry, so practically every surface in this mansion is covered in 22-karat gold. Here's the one photo I took that turned out decently, of the zodiac ceiling in the winter smoking room:

And that's not even the most opulent room in the place. Check out the Arab Room if you want to see something truly astonishing.

The funniest part of the tour was seeing the Marquis' bedroom and learning that he converted to Catholicism at age 21 to marry his wife, and kinda turned being Catholic into his whole personality, to the point where his bedroom has a wardrobe designed to look like a confession booth, and there are angel faces looking down at you from the ceiling, positioned so that no matter where you are in the room, at least one of them is staring at you at all times.

Every room had gorgeous art on the walls and ceiling, including a very detailed mural in the nursery featuring tons of storybook characters and storytellers.

As if that weren't enough to make for a fantastic day, then I got to run around in and among the ramparts, and as we know from my time spent in York, I love running around castle walls. It may be a new obsession of mine.

Another fun place in Cardiff Castle was inside the walls, where they created a bomb shelter in WWII and have up period-appropriate signs and play bits of radio from the time interspersed with the sounds of bombs dropping and air raid sirens. It's haunting and intense. I do question the choice of playing the song "We'll Meet Again," though. Someone on staff loves Doctor Strangelove!

I did break my five-photos-a-day rule the day before I left Cardiff to capture the Animal Wall of Cardiff Castle, though, and I have no regrets. Here are my faves, but you can see them all here.

Overall, Cardiff was definitely a highlight of my trip and I had no trouble filling my time there with activities, even though I didn't have much of a plan before I went.

Though I kinda wish I'd stopped to have a drink at this place (fonts matter, people!):