#I got to see at least 10 different types of fruit doves!!!!

[cacturne]

The ladies love fighting over me for my nectar cup

[purplesurveys]

1274

Department One: Apparel And Jewelry

What are you wearing today?  Just a white duster dress. Very loungewear-y, hahaha. I didn’t feel like wearing shorts today.

What does your favorite shirt look like?  At the moment I’m obsessed with my Vante shirt. It’s fanmade but it was made tastefully; the designs aren’t too loud and I love the cute little shoutouts and tributes to his past paintings, so it had been a ridiculously easy decision for me to want to buy it.

What kind of underwear do you prefer wearing?  Eh I don’t really have a preference as long as I don’t find them uncomfy.

What are your favorite kind of jeans?  I’m definitely still stuck in my mom jeans phase. Idk man, I just love how they match nearly all kinds of tops.

What do the last pair of shoes you wore look like?  They were adidas sneakers. Not a big fan of chunky shoes but it’s an Ivy Park and it was on a big discount HAHAHA so I didn’t hesitate to get them.

How many shoes do you own?  A little more than 10. I love shoes and wanna collect them someday...just not today, hahaha.

How much jewelry do you own?  Not too big on jewelry; most, if not all the ones I wear are just borrowed from my mom since we share the same style anyway.

Do you own any real diamonds or other expensive jewelry?  Yeah, the ones I would borrow from my mom are pretty pricey.

Has anyone ever gave you jewelry as a present?  Yes, I received rings and necklaces from my ex. One of my aunts also gave me a necklace when I turned 7.

Do you like diamonds or gemstones better?  I just stick with diamonds...which is...also a gemstone too, if I’m not mistaken.

Silver or gold?  Silver.

Department Two: Electronics

Do you have a DVD player in your car?  Not in mine, but we do have one in the family car. I used to watch movies on there often but after one grueling road trip where my motion sickness acted up, I haven’t wanted to use it since.

If you have one, what does your camera/camcorder look like?  I just use the camera in my phone but back in the day I used to have a DSLR; that was when I thought I wanted to take up photography, heh. It was a Nikon D3100.

How much did it cost?  I’m not sure since my dad gave it to me as a present, but a quick search told me it would’ve cost him around P20,000 which issssss wow more expensive than I thought.

What kind of cellphone do you have?  I have an iPhone 8 with an LCD screen that’s deteriorating by the day HAHA. I really need to get a new phone.

How often do you send texts?  I text just for work purposes now, so it really depends on how busy my accounts are. Some days would require me to send out more texts than usual.

Do you have your own computer or does your family share?  I have my own laptop. My workplace also provided me with what’s supposed to be my work laptop, but they had it sent to me when I was already a couple of months into my job and all my needed files and programs were already in my personal laptop. Since I was too lazy to start everything all over again, I’ve never actually used the work laptop haha.

How many computers are in your house?  We have three laptops in total - my siblings and I each have our own. Kind of a necessity these days.

Do you still have a VCR?  I don’t think so.

How many DVDs do you own?  We probably have around 30-50 but most of them are movies from like the 2000s that we just haven’t thrown out. Personally, I have about five DVDs of old films like Gone with the Wind, Rebel Without A Cause, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, etc, and recently I’ve been buying BTS merch so DVDs are part of that mix too.

Does your car have a GPS?  No. I use Waze on my phone instead.

What kind of iPod/MP3 player do you have? Haven’t used an iPod in like a literal decade. I use Spotify for my music.

How many songs are on it?  Spotify doesn’t work that way since it’s technically a database of songs.

What size is your TV?  Never bothered to ask/check.

How many TVs are in your house?  Four. Living room, dining room, master bedroom, my brother’s room.

What video game systems do you have?  We have a PS3 and PS4. 

What about handhelds?  Switch. I believe my sister also still has her DSi stored somewhere.

How many video games do you have?  Probably somewhere around 50-60. My dad and brother are content with repeating their games lol.

Department Three: Home

What kind of shampoo do you use?  It’s a Dove variant but I’m just blanking out on the specific name/what it does.

Soap or shower gel?  Shower gel.

What does your comforter look like?  It’s pretty colorful and has geometric shapes and lines.

Does it match your pillows?  Yep, they come in a set.

What size is your bed?  Twin.

Do you or your parents like to decorate the house with various things or is it plain?  My mom puts considerable effort in decorating the house but it’s nothing overboard that it feels tacky. There’s enough decor in enough spaces.

Does the furniture in your house match?  Sure. I imagine my mom would be very irritated if she felt something was uncoordinated at home.

What does your couch look like?  It’s a gray L-shaped couch. Gabie broke a portion of the couch’s springs when it had only spent its like first two weeks at home but surprisingly my mom has not noticed it yet; probably because she barely sits on that side.

How many does your dining room/kitchen table seat?  It has six chairs, though since we’re five one of the chairs is almost always unoccupied.

Do you have any fancy china?  No, my mom isn’t the type to collect those.

Do you have outside furniture?  Yeah we have a table and chairs up on the rooftop, if they count.

What do your curtains look like?  My siblings and I have pull-down blinds. The other rooms have these pulled-back gold curtains that’s accompanied by white sheers.

Department Four: Grocery

What kind of bread do you get?  Sliced white bread, always. Sometimes my mom will pick up pan de sal, but she gets those from a certain bakery and no longer the grocery.

What is your favorite kind of cake?  CHEEEEEEEEEESECAAAAAAAKE.

Do you get a lot of sweets from the grocery store?  Eh, nah. Not a big fan of sweets.

What kind of soda is your favorite?  Don’t like soda.

Do you drink juice? What kind?  I can take it or leave it. I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

What is your favorite chewing gum?  Doesn’t matter to me. The flavors last for only like a minute anyway.

Do you usually get candy from the check-out aisle?  Nah. Those are far more accessible so who knows who could’ve touched or tampered with them. Plus, I mentioned I don’t like sweets.

What is your favorite soup?  Miso or cream of mushroom.

Have you ever had soup when you were sick?  No. I don’t enjoy hot beverages/liquids very much so I doubt I would feel comfort from soup when I’m sick.

What are your favorite canned vegetables?  Not sure if it’s a cultural difference thing but canned vegetables kind of sound gross and I don’t think I’ve encountered those (I actually had to look it up lol). My parents always buy fruits and veggies as is.

What do you eat for breakfast?  Fried rice is a constant but my mom switches up the set of viands every time. Some of the meals she serves would be hotdogs, eggs (either scrambled, omelette, fried, or sunny-side up), corned beef, dried fish, hashbrowns, luncheon meat, tapa, and Vienna sausages. Poptarts or toaster strudels?  Poptarts. I’ve never had toaster strudel and I’m honestly not sure what that is.

What salad dressing do you prefer?  Spicy mayo.

Ketchup, mayonnaise, or mustard?  MAYONNAISE. I can live without the other two.

What kind of cookie do you like best?  I only ever eat chocolate chip.

What kind of snacks do you get at the grocery store?  Salted egg chips or Pringles. Not a big fan of snacks either. This survey is making me realize I’m way more into full meals than anything else.

Do you get the meat from the deli?  Er, we don’t have delis here. Too fancy a concept lmao. If we have them, they are most likely in those extremely upscale, boujee neighborhoods.

What is your favorite frozen dinner?  I mean my dad buys frozen meat, fish, etc, but the frozen dinner sets that I see in American culture, which I’m guessing is what’s being referred to in this question, are not common here.

Do you prefer frozen dinners to actual cooking?  I honestly can’t imagine how it’s filling, but then again I’ve never tried it. Personally, food made from scratch is still the best.

What is your favorite kind of pasta?  Fettuccine.

Do you eat meat? And if not, do you eat vegetarian meat?  Yes, I eat meat. I get vegan options if they’re accessible and affordable, but those choices are hard to come by here.

What is your favorite fruit?  Avocado is really the only one I’ll give a pass to. Everything else tastes horrible.

What about vegetable?  Broccoli, bell peppers, green beans.

Department Five: Health And Beauty

What kind of makeup do you normally use?  None. If I absolutely have to put on makeup, I will begrudgingly put on foundation, maybe some eyeliner, and lip gloss. And they will all most likely be borrowed from my sister.

Do you wear more makeup on special events?  Not necessarily.

What is your favorite makeup brand?  I wouldn’t be the right person to ask because I would just say none of them.

Do you use any acne products?  Mmm no, I just splash water on my face, really. I actually got into a conversation about skincare with my co-workers yesterday and besides the usual shocked experessions I get when people find out I don’t use products, they recommended I at least get moisturizer and sunscreen. Idk, let’s see but historically it’s been hard to convince me to invest in skincare haha.

What kind of perfume do you use?  I have one of Beyoncé’s perfumes, Heat Rush. I don’t actually know if that’s still in production but it’s been my staple for like a decade or so now.

Have you ever been on a diet?  No. I never really had to be on one.

What products do you use in your hair?  Shampoo and conditioner.

How often do you brush your hair?  Only when I have to leave the house or have an important virtual work meeting.

What do you take when you have an upset stomach?  Nothing. The toilet usually solves that for me lol.

Do you take any prescription medicine? Nope.

Department Six: Movies, Music, And Books

What is your favorite movie of all time?  It’s been Two for the Road for a solid nine years and it doesn’t look like anything’s on its way to dethroning it anytime soon.

What genre of movie do like best?  Drama. The more realistic it is, the better.

What was the last movie you watched?  It’s a Korean film called Be With You. I liked it and I cried waterfalls, but the ending was so rushed it was kind of disappointing.

What was the last movie you purchased?  I don’t buy movies. If I wanted to see a film I’ll check if Netflix has it, then if they don’t I just try to scour one of those illegal movie streaming sites that always happen to have thousands of pornographic ads hahaha.

What is your all time favorite band? Paramore. Do you still buy CDs?  Only from artists I’m an extremely huge fan of. Right now that would be BTS, so I’m catching up on all the albums they’ve released in the last eight years.

What was the last CD you bought?  I got the Butter album set, if that counts. If it doesn’t, the last full-length album I purchased was Dark & Wild.

What was the last song you listened to?  I think it was Permission To Dance.

What is your favorite book?  I haven’t found it yet.

Do you even like reading?  I used to love it a lot more, to the point that back in grade school I was known as always having a book in my hand. I just don’t know where that passion went.

How often do you read?  Nearly never. I mean...I do read fanfics, I guess; but I won’t count those.

Department Seven: Sports And Fitness

Do you own a bike/scooter/skateboard/etc.?  We do have a bike at home, but that doesn’t mean I know how to ride it. We don’t have the other two.

How old were you when you learned to ride a bike w/o training wheels?  I still don’t know how to last on a bike without training wheels heheh.

Have you ever been camping?  Nah.

How often do you work out?  Nope but at work my boss just started another fitness challenge, so I’ll probably have to get back on working out soon just because I would want to accomplish the challenge.

Are you in good shape?  Sure, I think so. I’m not like fit fit because I neveeer exercise haha, but I also don’t make it a point to constantly eat unhealthy foods or have an unhealthy lifestyle to the point that it affects my body.

Do you go to a gym?  I do not. I thought of getting a membership at the start of the year but I’m glad I didn’t push through with it because all the gyms are still closed anyway.

Have you ever been fishing?  No. Idk if it’s my kind of pastime or not.

Have you ever been on a boat?  Yeah. My country has like 7000 islands so I was bound to get on a boat at some point in my life haha.

Can you play golf?  Never seemed interesting to me so no. Even on Wii Sports I barely picked golf.

Ever rode on a golf cart?  Yeah, in resorts where we had to ride them to be taken to our room.

Would you ever go hunting?  That’s an easy no.

What is your favorite sport?  Pro wrestling or table tennis.

Ever played on a sports team?  No, my school didn’t have a table tennis varsity.

Department Eight: Toys

What was your favorite toy as a child?  Cash registers because I liked the buttons. Also Play-Doh sets that had those contraptions that would squirt out the clay in various shapes.

Do you still play with toys?  Well, no.

Do you collect any toys?  I don’t, but I’m not opposed to start buying Funko Pop figurines of people or characters I’m interested in.

Did you ever have building blocks?  Sure, but I was never creative enough for them.

Did you play with dolls?  No.

Barbies or Bratz? Which were better?  BRATZZZZZZ

What is your favorite board game?  Scrabble.

Do you like to do arts and crafts?  Hell no.

Do you think that kids now have it better than when you were young? For sure, but isn’t that kind of the goal?

[heartshaaker]

[seungmin] i was hoping i could get lost in your paradise

pairing: seungmin/[y/n] (imagine)

genre: fluff, modern, student!seungmin

prompt: you knew your class trip to japan would be memorable, especially during one afternoon with seungmin in the city.

note: this is what happens when i’m soft at 2am. also, in this story, seungmin’s an american high school student fyi. this is my first imagine ever, so i hope you enjoy it. ((also your texts are italicized i’m too lazy to deal w formatting))

“ugh, I wish I was more motivated to practice Duolingo,” you muttered, squinting at the subtitles on the tv screen. you were trying to change the tv channels, a japanese-to-english translation app open on your phone in one hand and the small, flat tv remote in the other.

you were chosen as one of 30 students to travel to japan as a school-sponsored trip. it was a thrilling time; not only were you eager to experience a different culture, but you would be joined by several of your closest friends. the application was tedious, but you knew as soon as you saw the gorgeous country from the plane that everything was worth it.

it was a warm april afternoon in kyoto; the golden sunlight peeled through the sheer curtains of your room and scattered across your bed. the sun was about to set after a long day of activities, which includes a trip - that had a very early start - to the Golden Temple.

the supervisors announced it was free time and established your boundaries, but you headed straight to your room for a nap and some snacks you had picked up in the hotel lobby.

you awoke to an empty room and quick text from your best friend (and roommate) telling you about their whereabouts.

just as you think you’ve found the difference between the sports channels and the tv dramas, your translation was disrupted from a text, and reading the name makde your heart flip.

Minnie: hey, what’s up?

“Minnie” was what seungmin wrote as a contact for himself. seungmin was a very good friend, maybe one of the best. the two of you shared many mutual friends, classes, and interests so the two of you naturally gravitated together.

but seungmin often occupied your thoughts; his passion for music and photography, his semi-fluency in sarcasm, his oddly doting nature, not to mention the cute smiles he offered you occasionally - one could classify it as a crush. but you were just friends, at least that’s the vibe you got him.

(that is if you ignore the multiple occurrences of the pair of you getting abandoned by the same group of friends and resulted in getting dinner of some sort together.)

you didn’t bother to hide your smile as you put down the slender remote and wrote a reply:                                                          

                  ⇒ trying to figure out this tv. you?

Minnie: ⇒ hiding from jisung, so nothing new

                  ⇒ and why are you hiding from jisung?

Minnie: ⇒ he’ll try dragging me down to the buffet

                  ⇒ but the buffet is amazing !!

Minnie: ⇒ yeah but you get tired of it after going down 5 times in 2 days

                  ⇒ you complain too much :P                   ⇒ tell jisung my room # and i’ll join him lol

Minnie: ⇒ tell him yourself

you just chuckled. seungmin and jisung were an interesting combination; they looked like opposites, but they were more similar than one would think. not to mention seungmin is the reason jisung hasn’t killed himself trying to do something silly.

Minnie: ⇒ have you eaten yet?

                     ⇒ nope, just some chips

Minnie: ⇒ you can’t live off chips forever ⇒ wanna go look for something to eat?

your heartbeat sped up at the offer, your smile widening as you typed out a message:

                    ⇒  sure, meet you downstairs in 10?

Minnie: ⇒ sounds good

                   ⇒ it’s a date lol

while you felt a pang of regret at your last text, it was overshadowed by your excitement as you nearly fell off your bed trying to grab your shoes.

                                                   ✾✾✾

seungmin has helped you with your homework on numerous occasions. you shared inside jokes. the two of you had sat next to each other in several classes, hell, you sat next to each other on the bus ride today.

so why were you so nervous?

you tapped the railing of the elevator as you rode down, fumbling with the belt loop of your jeans. you had gotten dinner dozens of times with seungmin - tonight was nothing special. (minus the fact that the two of you would be roaming around the streets in one of the busiest cities halfway across the world.)

as the elevator reached the lobby and the doors slid open, seungmin was easily identifiable by the patches on his green bomber jacket. he was pressed against the front desk, drumming his fingers along the marble of the desk.

as you made your way over to him, he smiled at your presence. “[y/n], glad you’re here. i asked some of the employees for their suggestions of the best local delicacies,” he exclaimed, reaching into his jean pocket and pulling out multiple colourful flyers. “there’s a couple.”

you chuckled at the boy’s eagerness. “let’s go and see what we like. don’t forget about street food,” you replied as the two of you left the hotel lobby. the air was warm and exciting outside, buzzing with adventure.  “lead the way,” you said, giving a bow for comedic effect.

but rather than looking for food, the two of you got distracted by the bustling street lights. the pair of you cheered on talented street performers, took pictures of some of the pretty scenery amongst the crowds - including him taking what felt like hundreds of you -, and tried your hands at a few claw machines in store lobbies (you were able to win seungmin an eevee).

you wandered all over the city, but felt no fear with seungmin by your side, guiding you into another bright moment. all evening it felt like the two of you against the world, full of hand-holding (“to navigate through the crowds” he explained in low-populated areas) and laughter. eventually, it was getting darker by the time you told seungmin you were hungry.

he hung his head in embarrassment, “sorry, [y/n]. that’s what we were supposed to be doing all along,” you patted his arm in consolation. “hey, there’s still time before we have to head back.”  

as seungmin shifted through his flyers, you smelt something amazing nearby. as you glanced around to locate the smell, you noticed a street full of food vendors across the road. without hesitation, you grabbed seungmin’s hand and pulled him towards the vendors. your nose led you to a stand where a woman was stirring noodles mixed with various vegetables.

as you fumbled to pull out your phone and open the translator app, seungmin lightly took your arm and pulled you behind his body. then, to your complete shock, he started talking in japanese. you were lost in translation, only picking up a few basic phrases, but seungmin was chirpy and spoke with a smile.

“it’s yakisoba, does that sound okay?” he asked, whipping around to receive your approval. you suddenly felt flustered by the simple question. seungmin was gazing at you with wide, patient eyes, and you - wait a minute, he just asked you a question. you gave him a shy nod. If he replied with a grin and turned around to confirm your order, leaving you frozen in confusion.

“since when could you speak fluent japanese?” you interrogated seungmin on your walk home. you two were pushing the brink of curfew as you rounded the corner of a building; it was dark and the roads weren’t at all familiar, so you held onto the sleeve of seungmin's jacket and hoped he knew where he was going.

“since i was like, 10. and it’s only conversational,” he corrected you, prompting you to pout at his response. “well, are you secretly adept in any other languages, besides japanese and korean?” seungmin hummed aloud in thought before chuckling. “i don’t think so.”

“i just wish you told me sooner, it could’ve saved me a very awkward conversation.”

“why, what happened?”

“i was trying to ask for some candy, but they thought i was asking for rain. one of the ladies said in english that they can’t control the weather.”

                                                       ✾✾✾

you and seungmin made it back in time for the final headcount for the day. even though it was the curfew, no one made a rush to their original rooms. this - and the fact that your friend still wasn’t in your room - allowed you to invite seungmin in to eat dinner with you.

you tried your best to suppress a giggle as he dove onto your bed, happily sighing in between the soft pillows. “hey, if you won’t eat this, i will,” you teased, handing him a styrofoam container of yakisoba. from the first bite, you fell in love with the dish, ignoring all manners as you dug into the food. “this is easily the best thing i’ve ever eaten.”

“this is really good, but you’re also just picky.”

“i like to call it a sophisticated palate.”

“sure. like that time you ate like 1/4 of your meal one time at that new chicken place?”

“....chicken shouldn’t be mixed with fruit.”

seungmin burst out laughing at your weak rebuttal. your heart skipped a beat at his laughter, like brightness filling up your darkened room. slowly but surely, the mood had settled down; you were finishing your meals, it was growing late and the only prevalent sound was the laugh track from the lowered tv.

“i had a lot of fun today,” seungmin stated, breaking the silence and standing up to remove your garbage. “good - that eevee wasn’t easy to win,” you teased, your eyes following his dark figure as he crossed the room to the garbage. “yeah, yeah. but i meant with you. i always have a good time with you, [y/n].” seungmin admitted as he returned.

you smiled fondly at his words, not even attempting to mask your joy. seungmin enjoyed being with you; even if the weather was bad or they were caught in a strange conflict, you can’t recall ever finding regret in his eyes.

and he stood at the edge of the bed, staring at you with a complicated focus. “what?” you asked softly, as he leaned over the bed and pressed his hands gently into the mattress. “you have something on your mouth,” he mumbled.

before you could respond, seungmin swiftly crawled onto your bed and sweetly kissed your lips. it was soft but steady, like he knew what he was doing (well of course, he’s seungmin)...almost eagerly. you responded timidly, afraid like he would break away if you replied to his actions. but he didn’t. if anything, he got closer.

after a few moments, you pulled away to speak, but your heart was pounding so hard you couldn’t collect your thoughts. “are you -” seungmin began but your mouth was thinking further ahead than your brain. “i like you. i’ve liked you for so long now, and i’ve been waiting for that for so long, so i really hope you meant that.” you blurted.

seungmin chuckled at your rambling and sat back on his feet, taking your hand in his. they were warm. just like seungmin, always warm and comforting, allowing some of your panic to melt away.

“i like you too, a lot. so much, it’s crazy [y/n]. my heart was beating so hard today, i was afraid it might burst.” seungmin replied, beaming at you. his thumb was smoothing the back of your hand, the gesture making you feel giddy inside. “you’re too cute,” you murmured, focusing your gaze at your clasping hands. “not as cute as you. god, come here,” he exclaimed with a mischievous grin, leaning into kiss you again.

[dansnaturepictures]

24/10/2022-Lakeside and home post 1 of 2: The flora, fauna and fungi 

I enjoyed seeing Greylag Geese noisily fly past the window as I worked today, including one of the biggest groups I’ve ever seen fly past which I managed a photo of which I tweeted on Dans_Pictures tonight, I’m normally too slow to get a photo of them when they fly past so this was nice. A wildly evocative sighting, and I think I even heard some as I was waking up a little prior to getting up this morning which was nice. I was thrilled to see three Blue Tits flitting around the garden today like luminous balls of feather. I took the first three pictures in this photoset of a lovely Woodpigeon that stayed on the roof visible from my room for a long time and a Magpie which looked lovely and high key in the sun against a lovely blue sky on a day that had a lot of great bits of sunshine. 

Woodpigeon was a bird I saw well at Lakeside on my lunch time walk too getting a smashing view of one in trees near the bowl. Nearby were two Collared Doves cosied up in a pine made a great sight and just before I got an excellent view of a bright Green Woodpecker darting into the trees. A powerful moment with a bird I love and I had another seeing the lone Great Crested Grebe well on Concorde lake. I believe this could even be one of the young ones or a young one it has quite lighter plumage. Blackbird was another I got a special view of in vegetation by the bowl at Lakeside, with Chiffchaff and Chaffinch heard on the walk. I took the ninth picture in this photoset of a Carrion Crow looking stunning against the bright blue sky. This was the area beside beach lake where I saw one in moody conditions on Friday night it might have been the same one and the conditions could not be more different, even if there was a brief shower on the walk.

I got smashing views of both Common Darter and Migrant Hawker especially along the northern path for the latter on another great far reaching Lakeside lunch time walk, some great dragonfly moments. 

It was something of a mushroom walk with loads seen in the southern fenced off area which looked beautiful. I also saw at least one between the lakes. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of one in the fenced off area and tenth of one between the lakes. Ragwort which I took the eighth picture in this photoset of, fresh looking daisy, white clover and a straggling meadow crane’s-bill in the meadow by the woods were great flowers to see at Lakeside today. With a mustard type flower I believe in the sixth picture in this photoset returning alongside lots of yarrow including lots of flowering from one plant of it which I’ve not often seen before, chamomile and cornflower as well as red deadnettle and yellow groundsel mixing well which was pretty and I took a photo of and cleavers as the fifth picture I took today in this photoset shows across the road and dandelion, dock and daisy on the green out the front were key flowers on the way to Lakeside. Pretty purple osteospermum and others have made a come back on the balcony which is is interesting and I liked seeing fuchsia in the garden and at Lakeside today. Rose hips out the front which the fourth picture in this photoset shows and other fruit at Lakeside were nice sights today too. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: Two of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe and Green Woodpecker, Coot, Greylag Goose, Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Starling, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Common Darter and Migrant Hawker. Birds solely heard: Chiffchaff and Chaffinch.

Part 2 of today’s posts is here: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/699022324424376320/24102022-lakeside-and-home-post-2-of-2-the

[canaryatlaw]

alright, well today was fine. I had my late alarm set for 1 again but ended up waking up a little after noon, got in the shower and finished getting ready, I wasn’t going anywhere so it wasn’t very much effort. Made a dutch baby pancake for breakfast and ate that while I dove into my bar stuff. There weren’t any lectures on the schedule for today (probably because there were 3 yesterday) so it was basically a bunch of different types of practice questions around different subjects, and some practice essays (which I hate). I spent a little while making an instacart order because I don’t have the time or energy to actually go grocery shopping, but was running out of things like eggs and milk and my main snacks and fruit, and I wanted to make an actual meal, and I ended up on a recipe that was called a garlic cheddar chicken bake (though the amount of garlic in it was debatable) so I ordered what I needed to make that then went back to studying. I finished everything up for the day a little after 6, then started making the meal for dinner. It was more or less the broccoli, chicken and cheese rice dish I’ve made except without the broccoli and cooked in a different manner. But basically you just cut up uncooked chicken and put it in a baking dish with uncooked rice, then add a bunch of cheese and then chicken broth, and add some salt and garlic powder. I kinda laughed that garlic was in the name when they only used a 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, not even really garlic in the recipe, so I went ahead and doubled it to 1/2 teaspoon, which still felt like too little, but oh well. Then it bakes for like 45 minutes, and then you add more cheese and breadcrumbs to the top and put it back in for another like 10 minutes. I was actually fairly pleased with how it turned out, I was concerned it was going to be another situation where I’m trying to force chicken down my throat and basically seeing if I cover chicken in enough cheese it will actually be somewhat appetizing, but that seemed to be pretty successful. While eating I was trying to get a jump on practice questions for tomorrow, so I did a bunch of their practice question sets, which just means it pushes up the work I had after that for tomorrow but I’m still technically behind so I’m trying to focus on doing as much as I can. There’s been a few social events at church coming up that I could go to (and I mean, I’m an extrovert, so of course I want to go) but I’m trying to really focus on getting this done and doing it right. Once I finished doing most of that I moved over to the couch with the intention of watching some netflix, but first wanted to watch the youtube video of Barrett Willbert Weed singing “I’d Rather Be Me” from Mean Girls the musical on Jimmy Fallon, which I’ve watched like 30 points at this time but I can’t help it I love it, except when I opened youtube sitting right there in my recommended videos was the bootleg of the show that’s been floating around for a while, since youtube keeps removing it. It was called like “2 hours and 20 minutes of definitely not mean girls the musical” so I clicked on it to see if it was actually still up, and it was, so I tried to get it up on the youtube app on my tv but when I clicked on it there it said it had been taken down by a copyright claim, but it was still working on my laptop so I was very careful not to reload the page or anything that could compromise the feed I had. So I watched it on my laptop and I mean, holy crap, it was so good. I LOVED it. one would think now that I’ve watched it I wouldn’t feel the need to see it live, but on the contrary it just made me want to see it live that much more because there was so much magic going on on that stage that I definitely need to see it live. They did lift a LOT of dialogue directly from the movie (which I knew because I could quote the entire damn movie to you) and was definitely the most accurate movie to musical translation I’ve seen, likely because Tina Fey wrote the book, so very little was changed. I really liked using Damien and Janis as the narrators, that worked really well. And god, I fucking adore Janis. I knew I would love her just from what I’ve seen of Barrett so far but like, I was not prepared for how much I would connect with her. And like, seeing I’d Rather Be Me sung in the context of the show and what Janis is doing when she sings it was like, so powerful to me because she’s standing before this group of girls who has always treated her as an outsider and boldly declaring that she doesn’t care what you think of her, she likes the person she is and that’s not going to change. Like, damn girl, that’s some powerful shit. I could keep going on about it because there were a lot of great parts (I LOVED the portrayal of Karen, she was fucking hilarious) but I think you get the idea. I’m definitely going to make it happen to see it in July or August, depending when I’m in NY and what I’m doing during that time (i.e. bar studying or moving or who knows what else). After that finished I watched two episodes of 30 Rock because I wanted to see more of Tina Fey, which is always entertaining, and then I decided to start getting ready for bed, and here I am. Overall not bad. Got PT at 1:30 pm tomorrow and then I’m free to do plenty of bar stuff. I’m still unsure about moving and job stuff. It would be a lot easier if OPG was a concrete option right now, but it’s very much not, and that makes things much more difficult when I’m weighing my realistic options. Like if they are hiring entry level, I know I’m a shoo-in for the job, but they haven’t said a word (publicly, at least) about lifting their hiring freeze, despite what many office members told me last week. Sigh. And I’m just really concerned at this point that if I decide to stay in Illinois I’m gonna be really fucked over for the bar and the chances I’ll flunk it would be even higher, and then what? I’d be even more fucked over. Sigh, I don’t know, Part of my mind is already resigned to going back to New York because that feels like the most likely option at this point, but the rest of my mind doesn’t know. I’ve been going through the good things about going back though- bagels, my sister, good pizza, my nephew, getting to see friends on a regular basis, beach days, and much more, but as good as all of those are there are also a lot of negatives that come with it. If I do end up going there alone, I’m very concerned that I’m gonna be expected to just move back in with my parents and stay there on a permanent basis, even when I’ve told them a million times I’m not doing that, that living in that house is bad for my mental health and I wasn't going to do that to myself again, but I know how my parents work and they’ll say that they will do it, just stay here for now, then when I’m there they’ll just be like well why can't you just stay here?? and I’ll pretty much lose my mind. Plus one person apartment hunting on LI isn’t exactly my first choice. Sigh, I’m ranting, I know. Just more stuff for me to contemplate. But right now my eyes would like to be closed so I am going to oblige them and go to bed. Goodnight my dears. Have a lovely Thursday.