#Time with friends

[flickeringflame216]

also lest I do naught but grumble, blessings roll call! share blessings or news or prayer requests in the tags :)

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #316

Today's letter might be a bit short; my focus is scattered all over the place, and my legs are screaming at me from a long walk in the woods today. I don't have any profound thought to share or anything insightful to write about today, because it is late and my brain is the consistency of soup.

…And it's not even some kind of soup with a thick consistency, either - like a bisque or a chowder. No, this is more like a thin soup with sad, scraggly little noodles, and maybe a small piece of carrot floating around aimlessly.

Still, I had fun today, even if I'm tired now. 😁

I got up early today to pick up my friend, BB, from a car shop; she had to leave hers there to get it inspected and all that. But M needed his car for an appointment today, so I couldn't go on my own because she wanted hangouts afterwards. So M and I both went, and we picked her up, and M dropped BB and I off at her house for hangouts and then he went home.

BB and I did all sorts of fun stuff together!! She showed me some of the music from Final Fantasy 14, and then we watched some kitboga on YouTube (the guy who scams scammers), and then… I gathered up a bunch of their bottles and cans.

In my world, bottles and cans can be recycled. Where I live, one can get money for this if you use special recycling places. You insert the cans or bottles into a special machine, one by one, and in the end, you get a receipt that you can redeem for money - 5 cents per can or bottle turned in this way.

For reference, 100 cents makes up a dollar. It takes about 4 dollars to purchase one gallon of milk. It takes about 3 dollars to purchase a carton of 12 chicken eggs. I don't know how much gil these things cost in your world, or what the economics are that influence the price of these things in your world, though, so I can't say how many gil a dollar is worth. Sorry about that.

Normally, we of my house just put our cans and bottles into the recycling bin at home and some folks take it away, and we do not get any money for it. But at my job, they want to host some kind of potluck, and the people setting it up are accepting the receipts from those special machines to pay for the potluck. BB and her husband N go through a lot of bottles and cans, so with their help, I gathered up everything they have, and managed to fill up a giant trash bag about halfway! I should get at least a couple dollars for it, and then I'll give it to the folks organizing the potluck!

I helped to clean up N's study a little, too, in the process! And from there, BB's car's inspection was done, so M returned, and we drove BB to the place where her car was so she could pick it up. And then M and I went home, and we got some candy for tomorrow on the way. It feels good to be able to help my friends! And I even got a nice picture of the sky on the way home, too...

After I got home, I finally got around to cooking some rice in the leftover juices from those chicken leg quarters I made before. I know that it's been sitting in my fridge for a while now, but chicken juices tend to be pretty stable, especially if they're put into the jar hot and the fat rises to the surface and solidifies to prevent bacterial growth. It still won't keep forever, but still, it's usually good for about a week or two, as long as it doesn't smell weird.

But then, I forgot that tonight, J and I were supposed to do a night walk in our nearby nature trails with a group of hikers! So I put the rice in and set it to cook in the chicken juices (I added a little water to it, to make up for the volume taken up by the fat), and then we left the house pretty much right after that; I asked M to unplug the rice cooker when it beeped, so that the rice wouldn't get dried out and weird; that's what happens if you let it sit in the "keep warm" setting for too long.

The walk was done at night; it was dark. I couldn't get a whole lot of pictures, but I did get a couple…

...I feel really lucky to have been able to snag these, even with my silly little cellphone camera!

The walk was two hours long, though. And the people we walked with were nice enough, but... my body hasn't engaged in lengthy activity for some time now, so even though we got back at like 8:30pm and it is now 12:30am, my legs are still kinda yelling at me, haha...

The rice was ready by the time I got back! By J's request, I had put the steamer basket in there, too; he had cut up some carrots and broccoli ahead of time and left it in the fridge inside the steamer basket. The veggies were maybe a little over-steamed, but they were still good. I put it in a bowl with the rice and the leftover salmon and mushrooms; it was very good!

...Want some...?

I had intended to go to bed sooner than this, but like I said, my focus was scattered everywhere. But, as a happy result of my lack of focus, I got to have a very heartwarming conversation with one of my readers today, and I hope it leads to a nice friendship! We seem to have similar views on a variety of things, and she has told me a little about herself and her world, and I was really impressed by the upbeat attitude she maintains despite the various challenges she faces; I'm sure I could learn a lot by interacting with her, and I feel really lucky that she reached out!

...I wonder if I should make more effort to reach out more often. I'm generally afraid of making the first move when it comes to that sort of thing, though - even with people I know well. I feel like this attitude is rather limiting; maybe I'll talk about figuring out how to change it with my therapist on Tuesday...

Well anyway. My soup brain is getting the better of me. So I'm gonna stop writing now and go to bed.

I love you. Please stay safe out there so you can read tomorrow's letter, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[amalthea9]

Spend today with my friends from work making flower crowns, wearing elf ears, and making spell jar earrings! It was a much needed time with friends because lately I had been feeling like I was a burden. But how silly I was to think so, because it was clear today that I was loved and wanted. 💖💖💖

Here's us three together, (left to right) Drue, me, Nataleigh

Photo of me Nataleigh took🧚‍♀️

Me in my crown and my outfit!😁

The spell jar candles I made and the herbs I used! Mugwort, Agrimoni, White Willow Bark, with some black salt from Drue. Blessed by Styles' Ocean Breeze incense.💜

There was a cicada freshly out of their shell on Nataleigh's apartment door frame! I told her how this is a blessing of transition! 💖😁

We watched The Last Unicorn and did some Tarot!

Lots of positive readings from all of our decks about self love, friendship, and healing! And my mermaid deck chose Love and Trust 💖💖💖

@ariel-seagull-wings @angelixgutz @ailendolin @professorlehnsherr-almashy

[ebon-blu]

Had a much-needed night out with friends, and I still have the hangover to prove it.

[iloveyoumoss]

8/6/23

Today my friend taught me how to make dumplings! It was so fun and relaxing, and they are SO delicious. We had some for lunch, and now I’m eating them for dinner while I write this. Going to freeze the rest for later. These are pork dumplings with a lot of ginger, cabbage, garlic, scallions, an egg, and plenty of soy sauce, sesame oil, and my friend added a few dollops of oyster sauce. Oh, and salt and some dashi. She likes the Shanghai style wrappers because they are thinner. I can’t wait to make more with her in the future! I have to head to lab in a few minutes, but it is about to thunderstorm here. Hopefully the rain doesn’t get too bad.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Knowledge Revenge.

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LESBIANS: 2x08 - “Killing is a Cycle”

[dashintrash]

He is THE King (and the father)

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[mewmewdoppio]

He's trying okay.

[nymphoutofwater]

And why? Cultural norms? Personal schedule? “Cause I’m always late to everything”?

Bonus points: Region and/or ethnicity?

[liquidstar]

If my mom sees a significant amount of blood she gets lightheaded, and has fainted on some occasions. Once it happened when we were kids, I wasn't there to witness it but I heard the story from my dad. Basically my brothers, around 7 or 8 at the time, were playing outside while my mom was making their lunch, and she accidentally cut her finger. It wasn't anything serious, but it drew a fair bit of blood and she passed out. My dad saw this and rushed over, but he didn't really know what to do so he just sort of started slapping her to wake her up (not recommended, but he had no idea and panicked)

At that exact moment my brothers both came in from playing, and all they saw was our mom unconscious on the floor and our dad slapping her. So, like, without even saying a word to each other they both just INSTANTLY start whaling on him, like, full blown attack mode to defend our mom. Which obviously didn't help the situation, but she did wake up and everything was fine.

Now our dad says that he's actually really glad they attacked him over what they thought was going on, because it means he raised good boys. And I still think that's true, they're very good boys.

[noelledeltarune]

EVERY SINGLE DAY there are MILLIONS of characters in their late 20s who get falsely accused of being father figures to teenagers when in reality the description of "weird older cousin" or "step-sibling that moved out before you were born" is 1000000x more apt

[official-lucifers-child]

still thinking about the brainrot that fast fashion has caused in people, like i made this pair of pants that are black and white with a cool flowery design, and an acquaintance saw them and said "wow i'd pay like 20 dollars for you to make me a pair" and i could barely think with how utterly horrified i was at that; i told them that 20 dollars wouldn't even cover the materials, let alone the hours of work that went into cutting, sewing, ironing, hemming, altering, etc. they just had this look on their face when i told them that, when i said i wouldn't make them a pair for even 100 dollars because that was still way too low of an amount, a look that said "you're crazy for thinking that those cost 100 dollars" and maybe i am crazy but holy shit, 20 dollars for a pair of handmade, durable, lined pants fitted specifically to your measurements? 20 dollars for upwards of 60 hours of work? 20 dollars for several yards of high-quality fabric, thread, and buttons? 20 dollars???

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

bumblebees first day out of sublevel 50