#YARN BOWL SNAIL?????

[thetragicallynerdy]

[ID: five images of a realistic ceramic snail sculpture whose shell is a yarn bowl. The snail is brown and the yarn bowl shell is blue and copper with a white inside, and a swirly curved cutout for the yarn. The photos are taken outside on mossy rocks, giving it a natural feel. Each photo is taken from a different angle, and three show it with different coloured yarn balls in the shell bowl. End ID.]

Yarn Snail!

Colors on the body didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but overall very pleased. One antenna broke off before its last kiln journey, but will be glued back on.

[iknityounot]

I made this yarn bowl at one of those "paint your own ceramics" places! It was a birthday gift from my older sister ❤️

The loop cutout to hold yarn looked like a fish hook to me, so I made the whole thing a fish bowl! I painted some of my old betta fish on it, as well as one of the snails I had

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Bug Audio Links🐛🦋🪲

in order! for ease of Tumblr use and viewing/listening

1) Poppy & Howdy

Rainbow Mop Bug next to the "Live Interview Segment" on the Media page

- Howdy delivers yarn to Poppy's house, and tries to sell her a yarn spinner

2) Sally & Poppy

Beetle at the very top of the Exhibition Page, hiding in the right sidebar

- Poppy and Sally talk about the details of a cake Poppy is making for one of Sally's performances

3) Howdy & Sally

Snail at the top of page 4 in the Guestbook

- Howdy sells Sally some groceries, and some... not groceries

4) Barnaby & Frank

Beetle next to the image slideshow on the Welcome Home page

- Barnaby interrupts Frank's gardening session and pesters him with puns

5) Barnaby & Eddie

Butterfly next to Eddie's catchphrase on the Transcripts page

- Eddie clumsily delivers a package/letters to Wally, but gets interrupted by Barnaby chasing him down

6) Julie & Frank

Butterfly on the Merchandise page next to the "Currently Unknown Records" section

- Julie and Frank chat about beetles bothering his tomatoes

7) Eddie & Julie

Worm on "zip"s signature in the Guestbook

- Eddie and Julie play "business", and a phone call comes in for Wally

8) Eddie & Frank

Beetle on the base of Eddie's Bio

- Frank removes a beetle from Eddie's post office

9) Frank & Poppy

Beetle next to the directory links on the Neighborhood page

- Frank and Poppy talk recipes while they bake

10) Julie & Sally

Mantis in the bottom right corner of the About Us page

- Julie derails a script reading with Sally

11) Julie & Barnaby

Spider hanging from the top of the Stickers page

- Julie tells a joke, and Barnaby laments how terrible it is

12) Howdy & Barnaby

Caterpillar in the top right corner of the News page

- Howdy updates Barnaby on his latest family gossip

13) Howdy & Eddie

Beetle on top of the Guestbook (signing) page

- Eddie fumbles his way through delivering goods to Howdy, and ends up with another on his hands

14) Barnaby & Home

Cockroach on the "woxyve" page

- Barnaby regales Home with the day's events

extra thoughts:

it seems like there is some sort of chronological order to these - beyond the obvious numbering. all of these clips seem to come from the same day, as clips such as 14 and 5 reference events from other clips. but they aren't numbered in timeline order - or at least some of them aren't, i think! considering that in 5, Eddie references the bowling balls he delivered in 13.

but 14 seems to accurately be the last one, as Barnaby mentions pretty much all of his own clips & ends it with expressing concern for Wally, who was likely acting off the whole day - not just in clip 14 (seeing as he was completely silent/still and staring at a single point, not looking at his friends. which seems uncharacteristic)

my final thought is a question: are these clips from the past? or from the present, like Wally's "record" audio files?

[cypric-rat-hyperfixation]

Some rat art prompts

Why not?

Not that you need to tag me, but I would love to see what you guys do with these ideas 👉👈

Rat violently stabbing an apple with a scalpel or toothpick

Three trans lesbian rats cuddling

Plain white rat painting a pride flag on its own fur

Cold nakey rat being offered a jacket by a caring rat with fur

Rat sailing in a Tupperware bowl

Rats sitting in a boat with fishpoles and peas biting their lines. Pea fishing

Hurting and emotionally shattered rat being accepted and consoled by a compassionate friend

Group of rats playing dnd together

Rat wearing a punk bracelet like a belt

Vision-impaired rat with its guide bug<3

Rats playing video games

Nelson the cheester

Plato's Symposium but it's rats

Mama reunited with her kitten that was lost

Medieval blacksmith rat secretly gay lovers with the medieval baker rat next door

Rat tucking/binding for the first time and just being so fucking euphoric

Rat ADHDing all over the room

Rat stimming by popcorning around

An inventor rat inventing a machine that opens the bag of yogies the normal way so that the human will never know they were stolen! c:<

Rat being gendered correctly and being all euphoric

Bulky, heavyset, battle-scarred artisan rat taking on a teeny little bright-eyed mouse apprentice

Swarm of rats killing cops

Intersex pride rat

Cold nakey rat shivering and cuddling closely into a grinning harley rat

Rat stimming by woogling the noodle

PMD-style rat team in a dungeon

Flirty, self-confident rat embarrassing the shit out of a flattered bashful rat

Stimmy hands!!!! Happy hands rat!!!!!!!

Neil x Giant Rat That Makes All Of The Rules

Club scene featuring a rat bar, stripper rats dancing, a DJ rat manning an Alexa, and rats switching pieces of differently colored glass in front of flickering flashlights for the lighting

Lab escapees living happily out in the city together

Rat who loves another rat supporting them even though their feelings are not returned

Outer space excursion!

ALIEN RATS???

Rats doing TikToks

Nakey rat carefully applying sunscreen to itself

Rat stimming by wiggling the whiskers

Wounded mama rat trying to provide for her babies

Rat making little clothes out of yarn

Trauma survivor rat going about life

Rat struggling to injure a zombie rat it loved when it was alive

Vengeance

Fat rat showing love and care to its own body! Stretch marks if nakey

Cthulhu rat

Lochness Ratster

Rat collecting shells beside the sea

Rat collecting snail shells and pebbles beside the lake/river

Physically disabled rat with prosthetics made from found things like toothpicks, paper clips, watch parts, screws, scraps of rubber, necklace chains, etc

Rat collecting nuts, bolts, and tools from a hardware store

Rat finding something stimmy and going ham!

Dragon rat and its hoard

A nerd rat's extensive collection of dice

Fiery rat yelling "YEEEEEHAW!!!" while clinging to the back of an enraged lion

Rat snuggying a little keychain plushie

Cave paintings of rats

Rats riding saddled corvids

Vines but as rats

Heavily tattooed nakey rat

Rat dancing around on a slab of clay to make a r t

Rat sailing in a makeshift boat, collecting pieces of glass, driftwood, and seaweed in the water

Proud mama rat cheering on her kitten as it wins a race

Terrified but charismatic rat trying to talk its way out of being eaten by a mildly amused predator

Rat that has shaved itself nakey except for a dyed tuft on top

DRAG RACE RATS

Cold, distant, emotionally-closed-off-due-to-emotional-damage rat opening up to a compassionate new friend

No thoughts head empty

Cyborg rat

Cocky group of well-groomed harley fancy rats shunning the "commoner" wild rats outside the window begging for food

Rat getting so happy and stimmy and boggling uncontrollably, perhaps while a friend looks on and laughs lovingly

Nakey rat with HELLA freckles

Scenes from religious texts but using rats

Rat shyly asking another rat if it can be lovers with that rat's lover, too

Ur rat looks gnc af😳

Meme rats (e.g. Neil, GRTMAOTR) doing a meet-and-greet like celebrities

Rat drug deal. The drug is that honey they're addicted to

Swarm of rats killing nazis and conservatives and other fascists, racists, bigots, and alt-righters

Famous artists as rats making their famous works but as rats (e.g. rat Da Vinky making rat Mona Lisa)

Rats skydiving and parasailing and shit using empty plastic bags

Rats playing dnd using those teeny tiny little dice in their lil rat hands

Biblically accuRATe angel

Vintage robot rat with cogs n' shit

[bubblesandpages]

🌈🐻🍓

for the crafting ask meme!

🌈 Do you have certain colours you gravitate towards when creating?

DO I? Probably this blue and pink. If you could take on colors as an identity these would be mine. Also tumblr stop killing the quality of my photos!

I use a lot of whites and creams as a base and tend to blow through those at a significantly faster rate than my other colors. Lots of pastels, which leave my darker jewel tones by the wayside 😞 *whispers* jewel tones I still love yoooou

🐻 What is the cutest thing you have ever created?

That's hard to say. I really love this ice cream snail from furlscrochet. The fact I've held on to him this long speaks volumes since I give most of what I make away.

Also love the things I added to the pattern, like the pink icing, and pistachio scoop in the middle. I feel like the colors worked out really well with him (his name's Scoops by the way, he has a sister called Cereal, on account of her looking like a bowl of Lucky Charms, who now lives with a second cousin).

I also think this turtle girl pattern from ludaorlova_toys is super cute! Definitely one pf my mum's favorites, I don't seem to have any photos of my version so you get one of the originals instead!

🍓 Do you have a dream project? What would you craft if you had infinite time and money?

I originally started crocheting in the first half of 2018 when we'd just made the move to Macedonia. I was really bored, we were in a tiny town of sixteen thousand people at best, I'd read everything I'd managed to bring with me, and we didn't have all that much wifi. My mum had been crocheting for the last couple of years, and scrolling her pinterest feed I'd see so many cute things that I thought were adorable, that she wasn't too gung ho about making (her speciality is blankets).

So out of sheer boredom, and a great deal of angry stubbornness at my current situation, I managed to push out one very lopsided, very drunk looking bee. It wasn't great, but it was the first step in crocheting the ideas I had in my head. From there I just kept making, when we visited Turkey I discovered Alize's Diva line of yarn – which I love and adore and credit with at least 40% of the success of the final product.

I think it was about two years from when I started that I felt confident enough to try and make my own patterns, and that's when I started working on my dream projects. All the corchet projects I've previously posted have been original designs or dream projects. Right now I'm working on my Yako pattern from Hanako-kun, and I have a half made lavender colored flutter pony that I am absolutely in love with <3

I have a few others in mind, I'd already planned a series of Technoblade inspired projects before the news had come out. I'm still going to do them, it just might take longer than originally planned.

Anyways thank you so much for the ask 😊

[almondharry]

you look so good: four

you look so good — [10.1k]

She should’ve stayed at the library.

She should’ve gone home.

She should’ve gone to a coffee shop.

“Well, don’t just stand there.” His eyes did not part from the novel cracked open in front of him. His nose wiggled when he found a particular line amusing. An awkward beat passed and Genevieve was at a loss of words. “Have you become a statue? Do I need to unfreeze you?”

She should’ve gone anywhere, but here.

Part Four: The Markov Theorem

The Markov Theorem

November 3, 2016

“You’re staring.” Genevieve noticed without looking up. A pen pressed tightly to paper, runny swirls of leaky blue ink stained the page.

Her neck was stiff, like age old wood, bent like an archer’s bow. The only time she blinked was to copy a specific formula needed from her textbook—situated strategically to her right. Her iced coffee had condensation lined around the plastic to-go cup, the beads came together to pool in a ring on the library table. She was running late and skipped on grabbing a napkin. It was full to the brim, not a sip had been taken. Time slipped through her fingers like playground sand. The answers were due at the beginning of her next lab, t minus twenty minutes. The clicking of calculator keys was the loudest sound in the room, apart from the coughing radiator.

He looked on in slight terror, but mostly amusement, at the rate her pen skimmed over her notepad. He found it a bit odd that she preferred to use grid lined paper than regular. He remembers her starting at the top left corner of the page, he had turned around for a minute to plug the thick cord of his laptop charger into an outlet, and when he turned back she was already past the middle.

Futile attempts were made to decode the numbers and letters scribbled in her path. The page resembled a bowl of alphabet soup, letters and numbers swimming together. He gave up all too soon when he felt the beginnings of a headache. The only thing he took away is that she looped her two’s.

Her penmanship captured an urgency. The once pin straight numbers became more and more italicized, as if they sprinted to chase a bus that slowly drove away. His line of sight started from the tip of her pen to the escaped wiry strands of hair from her ponytail, and lastly, to the hold her teeth had on her bottom lip. A skittish frenzy bounced in her eyes behind the square frames. An impression of a mad scientist, he thought. They rest on the apple of her cheeks and slide down the bridge of her nose at a sloth’s pace.

“Crazy,” he said after observing her for another second. He shook his head, a ghost of a smile quirked at the end of his lips. “Absolutely insane.”

“A bit looney,” she hummed. Her lips pursed and they both knew it was a poor effort to hide a grin.

“Little obsessive.”

“Quite dull.”

“Completely mad.”

“Oh, most definitely mad,” Genevieve settled. Her pen paused its dance and her hand reached to push her frames up to finally look across. He was already staring at her, his grin widened to a size that can span out acres worth of empty land.

It was something they did, a harmless game of bickering adjectives that goes back and forth between them like an intense ping pong match. It was a childish way of name calling and poking fun. Their legs were a comfortably tangled mess, hidden by the smooth wooden desk, but his knee would knock against her shin every once in a while.

Genevieve sighed, “Now, are we done discussing your outstanding qualities or—”

“—Remarkably clumsy,” He added on abruptly. Genevieve knew he preferred to get the last word in.

She paused. “—Oh, you’ve still got a few then.”

“No,” he laughed through his nose, the corner of his lips twitched like he knew something she didn’t. His eyes squinted and gleamed like a reflection does in a fresh puddle after rain.

“Then?”

“There’s…” Genevieve heard blinds being tampered with across the room, soon something is sliding against a metal rod. A flash of yellow is thrown at them like a bucket of splattered paint. His pupils slowly dilated to accommodate the sudden change of lighting, and Genevive decided then that she would want to see that happen once more. Tiny dust particles floated up and waltzed together as their skin warms. His index finger gestures towards his face. “You’ve… nevermind.”

He dismissed with a quick wave when her brows curled inwards in soft curves.

Genevieve gave him a look, wary and doubting.

Their table was pressed up against a wall. It had a bookshelf that once was seeded at ground level, but now has branched out and up the ceiling, only stopping once the plaster slopes into a curved, dome-like ceiling.

He busied himself by trailing the tips of his digits over worn out spines. Genevieve watched his lips part to gently mouth words. He silently recited a title of interest to himself under his breath. His pointer finger curled into a pirate’s hook and attaches itself to pull a hardcover from its slumber.

He kept a list of unread books he planned to read, she pondered if this one would make it.

There was a way—a careful cradle, a light touch— that came so easily to him when he held a book between his fingers. It was as natural as sunlight and brought a distinct warmth to her bones. He regarded every page with a keen consideration, a dip sat between his brows from his concentrated frown. But it was after some flipping that the pad of his finger hovered over a particular sentence. Genevieve wondered if the same arrangement of words were to be on her skin, would he touch her with the same tenderness.

That’s when something shifted for Genevieve, a twig snaps. The air, once crisp, goes stale and dormant. The tip of her tongue stung and she tasted copper behind her clenched teeth.

She doesn’t know how to define this variable. It’s part mixture of guilt and shame that pricks her spine. Her brain feels like a ball of yarn, tangled. She tried to unravel the string in hopes to understand where this is coming from. How could she reach such an irrational conclusion? She looked across the table one last time, to remind herself that the statistical probability remains zero.

She pressed her lips together and stood up from her seat, it’s wooden legs screech against the floor. “I’ve got to go.”

She tucked her notebook, pen, and calculator in her bag. She almost lost the grip on the calculator slider. Her hands, shifty and restless, trembled from wound up nerves. The strap of her bag sunk into her shoulder. She hadn’t taken more than three steps away from the table before another set of wooden legs sounded.

“Wait,” he called out.

Genevieve glanced to her wrist, the second hand slowly crawling towards the twelfth digit.

“Yeah?” She turned around, eyes still on her wrist watch, an inquisitive pinch between brows.“Gotta be quick or else I’ll be late”

“You’re…” His strides made up for the lost distance. She was hyper aware of the heat his body brings forth. “Come here.”

It was a gravitational pull, she neared him like waves hit the shore. With half a step, she is the closest to him she will ever get. Genevieve inhaled a strong scent of pine needles. It mixed with lingering whiskey and mouthwash. She takes whatever she can with him.

“Hold still,” he instructed tentatively.

Her head angled up, a strain knotted at the back of her neck. But all sense of unease evaporates when he raised his hand and cupped her jaw. A careful cradle, a light touch.

Genevieve doesn’t move—she can’t move. Her arms and legs were dead weight. The neurons attached to her face where his skin meets hers are flamed. Everything was in overdrive, her heightened awareness only furthered this torture. She watched his gaze zeroed in on her parted lips. A focused and determined stare locked on to the bottom half of her profile.

His thumb, previously settled on her cheek, teetered towards the corner of her mouth. The tension was like pulling both ends of an elastic band. The rubber stretched at a snail’s pace. The tension grew, the band thinned.

Tiny ridges in the skin of his thumb were felt as he pressed it down on her bottom lip. He gradually dragged it from one corner to the center, each second felt like an hour. Her lip wobbled with the pressure.

“There,” he said easily.

The elastic snapped.

He removed his hand from her. The pad of his thumb is coloured a deep blue like he had given his fingerprint for a passport. Genevieve’s eyes widened and her fingers immediately touch her mouth, trying to press the feeling there forever. Her lip, caged behind teeth, tasted bitter like a potent chemical—residual ink. “All good.”

Good. Good. Good.

He stepped back and her lungs take in a breath through her nose. It was much easier to breathe when he stood in his respective bubble and didn’t steal her oxygen. Or sanity.

The reality was, if he asked for either, she would present it on a golden platter.

***

November 8, 2019

The fourth floor of the library was something else really. In the corner, a girl sobbed as she clutched the grade of her failed midterm. Another girl stared off into space for more than twenty minutes, going through an existential crisis of some sorts. A boy opened his textbook to do a question then shut it promptly two minutes later, only to open his laptop to change his major. It was a help centre for math related inquiries. Computers lined in two neat rows and a couple circular tables were occupied with graduate students tutoring students with appointments and the occasional walk-ins.

A student slowly dragged their feet on the carpet walking towards the front desk. Their eyes glazed over in a zombie like fashion; the coffee mug in hand and eye bags were this season’s hottest look.

“Hi.” Genevieve smiled. “What can I do for you?”

The first year girl wore a hoodie a size too big for her. “I need to book a study room for my group. Is there any available?”

“One minute.” Genevieve spun, the wheels on the chair pulled towards the administrative computer. Trained fingers typed their login and password, before a scheduled calendar popped up. “How many people are you looking for? And would you like a tutor with you?”

The girl mentally counted the people in her head. “I think there are four of us, and a tutor won’t be needed.”

Genevieve scrolled through the previous bookings with her mouse. Different colours blocked out specific periods until a vacancy popped up. “The next open slot is in fifteen minutes. Floor twelve, room nine. It’s available for two hours, how does that sound?”

“Perfect, that will be just fine.”

For a second, the sound of keyboard typing filled the hole in the conversation. “Can I get a student ID number?”

The girl presented her university issued card. Genevieve copied the numbers before finishing the booking. “That’s it, you’re good to go.”

The girl mumbled her thanks and dragged her feet towards the elevator.

Between the diner and her lectures, Genevieve had found herself at the library more often than she’d like to admit. This eventually lead her to pick up a part time position as the front desk help.

People would either come up to schedule bookings for study groups, tutors, or a computer. Professors of the mathematical science’s department held their office hours in certain rooms, so maintaining a strict schedule was key to avoid overlap. Dr. Bida, a professor she had done research with during her first year, always smiled brightly and waved whenever he passed by. The pay was great, the tasks were minimal, and it gave her the opportunity to do her course readings when it was particularly dead.

“Zayn, what the fuck are you talking about?” The faint voice travelled from a distance away. Genevieve’s ears perk up from the familiarity. “I’m completely lost.”

“Okay, how about one way ANOVA? You must have done that by now at this point of the semester.” Genevieve knew it compared the means between groups and determines whether any of those means are statistically significantly different from each other. Specifically, it tested the null hypothesis: where µ is the group mean and k is the number of groups. “Does that ring any bells?”

“Maybe, I don’t know?”

“Please tell me you know what the acronym stands for at least.”

“Nope. Nothing. I’m blank.”

“Really?”

“I’m dead serious.” Angie’s words held no comic relief. “When I told you I needed help with this course, I really meant it.”

“And you tell me this a day before your assignment is due.”

“Sorry! I got the dates mixed up, honest mistake.” Angie’s voice squeaked as she neared the end of her sentence. The voices became clearer and clearer as they stepped from behind the wall. “Why did you ask to meet here anyway? We could’ve done this at yours.”

“No we need—” Zayn didn’t get to finish his train of thought. His words cut abruptly like a slice of sponge cake under a steak knife. “—Gen? Is that you?”

Genevieve’s neck snapped up at the mention of her name, her eyes owlish. She was guilty of listening in on their back and forth, but wasn’t sure if their friendship had reached a point where she could freely insert herself into the conversation, so she had kept her head down to her books.

“Gen! I didn’t know you worked here!” Angie exclaimed marching over to the desk, Zayn in tow. Genevieve smiled, a genuine one, not the one she had in her back pocket for the sake of customer service. “Holy shit, this must be a great job!”

“You’ll find me here more than anywhere.” Angie played with the free pens and sticky notepads that advertised the university’s logo. She almost tipped over the brochures about managing mental health with a full course load. “What brings you guys here?”

Zayn hissed in pain. “Don’t ask—” but it was too late.

The back of Angie’s palm hit her forehead.

“A horrendous tragedy,” she moaned with her eyes shut. Faux grief made her lips tremble. Though sadness transformed her face, a bitter scowl soon tugged at the end of her lips. “You know apparently I have a thirty percent assignment due tomorrow? Like a whole thirty percent. And I found out yesterday.”

“Ouch,” Genevieve sympathized.

“It’s your fault for not going to the lectures and sleeping in.”

“Zayn, who’s side are you on?” Angie challenged. He dodged her attempts at giving him a twisting pinch to the ribs. “Anyway, Z here has taken the course before so he’s being a sweetheart and lending his brain. Well, whatever is left of it anyway.”

“Angie, I’m helping you. If you don’t tone down your quips, I might as well put in the wrong answers on purpose and poof! That thirty percent of your grade will amount to a zero.”

Angie narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t try me.”

“Do you see what I have to deal with?” Angie faced Genevieve and motioned a limp hand towards Zayn. She resembled a bored weatherman with a greenscreen behind.

“Ignore her, Gen. Can we get a computer?”

“‘Course,” Genevieve laughed. “Do you need a tutor with you?”

“That would be a dream,” Angie added as she pulled her hair into a ponytail with the band wrapped around her wrist. “The more the merrier, you know! There’s strength in numbers.”

Zayn leaned his weight on the slab of counter in front of them and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s only an assignment, you’re not going off to war.”

“With the amount of torture I am enduring, I might as well.”

Zayn and Angie’s conversation went back and forth like a tennis match. Genevieve’s fingers robotically put in her login and password because the monitor had gone to sleep. Genevieve examined the calendar that popped up on her screen momentarily, her lips puckered in concentration. “You’re good for a computer, but I’m afraid the next tutor isn’t available for four hours.”

“Shit.” Angie rubbed her temple to ease her climbing stress.

It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for a lack of availability between tutors and students. Genevieve scanned the page in front of her once more to find any possible way to squeeze them in. Usually when an appointment was a no show, it was possible. But when the screen showed no cancelations, there was not much to do. “What course is it anyway?”

“It’s an intro course to stats.”

“Oh, I might know a few things about it here and there.” Genevieve clicked the x on her window and met Angie’s pleading gaze. The desperation in her eyes disappeared with her next words. “I’m here to help if you need it!”

“Yeah? Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I had to take it first year, it was very straightforward.”

“Speak for yourself, I went to one lecture and felt like the prof had taken a baseball bat to my face.”

“I’m guessing you need the computer for the SPSS software?” Genevieve recalled they had one assignment in that course. The tricky software was already installed on campus computers, but cost a fortune if purchased individually. It made sense as to why they didn’t do it on their laptops.

Zayn piped up. “Yeah, there’s like a tonne of raw data to analyze. It’s gonna take a while.”

Genevieve nodded, already clearing her station. “Ah, well, I’m not doing much right now, I can take a look.”

“You’re an absolute angel, godsend!” Angie would’ve jumped over the desk to crush her in a hug if Genevieve hadn’t rolled back her chair to step around the table. She turned a small sign towards the middle of the desk. Ring bell for help.

Genevieve brushed off her thanks. “Oh I’m far from, just doing what I can. It’s no problem, really.”

Genevieve was making sure that her textbooks were shut and put away along with her expensive calculator when Angie started again. “This is what we need in our life! More selflessness! Everyone is so greedy now days, don’t you think? So noble of you. In fact, I’m gonna write your name down for the nobel prize for math!”

“That’s not how it works, Angie, but sure knock yourself out.” Zayn chewed his gum so slowly that his jaw flexed with each bite. “I think it’s not even called that. Right, Gen?”

“It’s called the Field's medal. It’s like the nobel prize, but it’s awarded every four years.”

“To-may-to, to-mah-to. Same thing.” Angie shrugged and threw an arm over Genevieve’s shoulder when she was close enough.

Genevieve lead the duo to the assigned computer, their row was thankfully empty. The room was shared with two other students seated further away; with their headphones on, they seemed oblivious to the world. Angie logged into her account and Zayn took it from there. He sandwiched himself between Angie on his left and Genevieve on the right.

The chairs in the lab weren’t as comfy as the one Genevieve was previously seated on. Without a cushion, it was just hard blue plastic which made your behind sore.

Zayn double clicked the software icon. His screen filled with horizontal and vertical cells similar to excel. He split the screen, on one side there was SPSS and on the other there were instructions. He copy pasted the raw data assigned by the professor, numbers in the squares from A1 to G93 rolled in like a lottery machine.

“Okay let's sort this out,” he sighed under his breath. It was the most redundant part of the assignment. The variables needed to correspond correctly or else your analysis would not be fruitful.

Genevieve frowned, confusion pressed her brows together. People had different ways of doing things, and of course, there is no harm in that. But the more she observed Zayn’s cursor, she realized his approach was inefficient and clumsy. “Are you doing it manually?”

“Isn’t this the only way?”

“Nope, I can just plug in a few formulas to set the parameters and the software will pick up how we want it organized.”

“You’re kidding,” Zayn deadpanned. He turned to Genevieve with his mouth parted and eyes popped. “Last time, I hand sifted through pages and pages of data.”

“All 900 points?” Zayn nodded enthusiastically at Genevieve’s raised brow. “That must have taken hours. Here, let me show you.”

It went on like that. Zayn mainly lead the direction; Genevieve added in her two cents and supervised. Angie was busy picking her peeling gel nailpolish. There was a solid fifteen minutes where she put in effort, but her clicks ended up deleting two rows. Then a mutual agreement was reached that Angie fingers would remain far away from the mouse or keyboard. She was free to voice her concerns from a distance.

Genevieve sneaked a few glances at the front desk, but there was no one in dire need of help.

“Fucking hell,” Angie seethed in a hushed whisper. The way she jumped off her seat suggested someone lit a round of firecrackers under her chair. She darted to grab her bag and hold it in front of her face. Behind her disguise, her face twitched with fear and she slouched to make herself smaller. “What on God’s green Earth is she doing here?”

“Who?” Zayn said without peeling his eyes from the screen, used to her dramatics. Angie scampered underneath the empty space of their desk. It was remarkable how quickly she could get her body to fold into a fetal position. From her cramped place on the floor, Angie still had Zayn and Genevieve’s view.

“Don’t look now, but it’s Rebecca by the front.” As if it was a staged cue, their necks snapped towards the red head exiting off the elevator, in sync. She carried a binder with papers and a textbook topped it off. Rebecca had a phone pressed to the side of her ear as she spoke into the receiver. Angie’s advice was lost in thin air which resulted in her face contorting into a snarl. “I said don’t look, great, you’ve both made it painfully obvious now. Wonderful.”

“Who’s Rebecca?” Genevieve whispered as low she could.

“Angie’s ex.” Zayn informed.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Zayn finally noticed Angie’s ridiculous hiding spot and a look of second hand embarrassment flushed his cheeks. “Get out from behind there, Angie, you look like a loon.”

“Is she gone?” Angie inquired.

“No.”

“Then I’m not coming out.”

“Great.” Zayn had learned how to pick and choose his battles with Angie. This was a time to let her be.

Genevieve felt like she had heard the thirty second trailer of the topic. It was difficult to string the beginning, middle, and end of the saga that seemed to be Angie’s relationship. “What happened between you guys?”

“She broke my heart, smashed it and then threw a party like nothing else happened. I caught her in bed with a first year and she said they were cuddling. Cuddling! Can you believe that?” Angie scoffed. She had taken a bite out of a chewy bar that she swiped from her bag. The plastic crinkled loudly in her fist. “I’d rather be left at the altar, it would’ve been less painful. The smugness of the first year didn’t help matters, went around campus gloating. Menace.”

“She fucked Angie over real bad. She had commitment issues and shit.”

“She didn’t fuck me over, Zayn. I’m plenty fine, can’t you see? I’m lovely, I’m—”

“—Hiding pathetically under a desk?”

“—great. Splendid, even. Perfectly intact.”

Zayn eyes were like a bowling ball going full speed down an empty ally. The mouse double clicked under his index finger as his attention diverted back to the task at hand. “Save your breath, you’re sounding more and more like Harry.”

“Why are you comparing me to him, have you gone mad? He was ten times worse than me.”

“I’m saying both of you are like kicked puppies. Moping and basking in your misery every second of the day. So what you lost someone, people come and go! That’s life!”

Angie scoffed again. Her competitive streak was bold and prominent and very visible. “Give me some credit, I’m much better at coping than Harry. He’s a complete mess, makes me look like an angel.”

“What do you mean?” Genevieve prompted, leaning forward. She chewed on the corner of her mouth. The skin was soon to be raw and agitated.

“When we first met Harry, he was a wreck. He doesn’t talk about it much but we assume he went through a nasty breakup of some sorts.”

Genevieve didn’t have experience with what hot flashes felt like, but she was sure this was it. The room was suddenly a couple degrees colder, but her skin was flaming hot. The warmth was most intense over her face, neck and chest. The tips of her fingers felt like she held onto ice cubes for a moment too long.

Genevieve ran her tongue over the dry cracks in her bottom lip. “Oh.”

Angie bit off another piece of her bar, a few crumbs falling from her mouth. If Genevieve was in a decent state of mind, the mind numbing hours of training videos would’ve reminded her to enforce the no food policy in the building. Instead, her tongue sat heavy in her mouth.

“He sulked for at least a year before getting over whoever it was, he won’t give us a name. I tried prying it out of him when he was sloshed, but he’s a stubborn little knob.”

The steady percussion of Genevieve’s heart raised in tempo. A dagger twisted in her gut which explained the sharp pain in her abdomen. The four walls of the room took gradual steps towards her. The space became limited, suffocating, and the oxygen was being slowly sucked away.

“But the difference between you and Harry is that he got over it! Whereas you, on the other hand, can’t get past the first stage of grief.”

“Stop talking, you sound more and more like my therapist. And I’m not paying you, so don’t get any ideas.” Angie narrowed her eyes at Zayn, then peered up at Genevieve with a sorry gaze. “If I got a dime for everytime Zayn psychoanalyzed me, I’d pay off my tuition and get a fancy bungalow in The Bahamas. Maybe even a minifridge. He thinks he’s the next Freud, don’t you?”

Zayn laughed. “Do you see what you’re doing? Deflecting the actual problem.”

“Oh come off it! Less talking and more doing my assignment, chop, chop! It won’t finish itself, you know?”

“While I’m here slaving away, would you like to tack on any more insults, Your Highness?”

“Now that you mention it….”

Gen exhaled in hopes to loosen the winding nerves in her shoulders and chest. Her eyes focused on the digital clock at the bottom right hand corner of the monitor. “You guys good with this? I’m gonna run to the loo then head home since my shift ends in five.”

“Thanks so much for doing this, Gen. Absolute lifesaver,” Angie dropped her teasing in a second. A soft smile spoke of her gratitude with great conviction.

“No worries, text me if you need any more help.” Genevieve stood up from her chair. The sudden movement made her head dizzy. Her legs were as stable as jelly.

“Hope that won’t be necessary, but go ahead and feed your number just in case, you know? Zayn isn’t the brightest bulb at times.”

“I’m not the brightest bulb? Are you listening to yourself? You haven’t touched the keyboard once!” Zayn snapped his eyes over to Genevive as she handed back Angie’s phone. An exasperated rage glossed his features. His hair pointed a million different directions from the countless times he ran his fingers through it. “Gen, get out while you can or else you won’t get another chance.”

“You guys are too much,” Genevieve chuckled shaking her head. “I’ll see you around.”

Genevieve’s bladder wasn’t the reason behind her brisk steps towards the toilets. She needed to splash her face with ice cold water to balance out her temperature. It was overwhelming, to say the least. All the information thrown at her needed time to come down to a simmer, currently, it was bubbling at an all time high and slipping over the edge.

Her fingers pressed to the polymer of the salmon coloured sink. The skin under her nails turned paper white from the pressure of her weight. Her breaths were laboured, so she shut her eyes tightly and steadied all the possibilities her mind was running to.

A flush sounds loudly. The high pitched noise dwindles when the tank is refilling. A lock turned and out comes the click click click of tall heels.

“Genny? Is that you?”

“Hannah?” Migraine Morton wore a tight leather skirt that did wonders for her legs, which of course were covered in fake tan. She waved her manicured hands under the sink, the sensors blinked a blue light and water rushed out of the tap. “How are you?”

“It’s been forever, you’ve changed so much! And look at those cheekbones, you look straight off the runway.” She ripped paper towels from the dispenser. The colour becoming a dark brown as it soaked the water off of her. “It’s the Keto Diet, isn’t it? It’s been working for so many of my girlfriends, but I can’t get even keep five pounds off. Anyway, how’s everything?”

The way she tilted her head assumed that they were lifelong friends who spoke everyday. That wasn’t the case whatsoever. The most Hannah knew about Genevieve was from a boy that once connected them. They probably qualified as acquaintances rather than friends on facebook. But Hannah had a knack for befriending anything with a living pulse—fucking too, if you listened to the gossip on campus.

“Yeah, it’s been going well! Lectures, the diner, bouncing back everywhere.”

“It’s… it’s good to keep yourself busy, you know.” Hannah’s tone transformed into that of a sympathetic one. It probably came from a good place. But when her brows crumpled together, Genevieve wanted the ground to swallow her whole.“I know how hard it must be after...”

“I’m actually doing alright.” Genevieve smiled, an on command customer service grin.

“It’s just when I heard, I thought you would be absolutely devastated! I mean, who wouldn’t be right?” Hannah twirled a stupid blond lock of hair around her pointer finger. “Both of you were always joined at the hip”

“People learn to let go. It’s only natural.”

Hannah’s face morphed into one thought provoking one, as if Genevieve’s words were a part of some philosophical theory.

“You know what? You’re absolutely right!” By her face, you would assume that clouds had parted and a beam of light shone down. This revelation was probably the first and last of the century for her. “Do you remember Amanda Wang? From first year sociology? How we were inseparable? Well she literally disappeared off the Earth and I haven’t heard from her. Just between us though, she was a bit of a pretentious bitch.” Hannah smacked her glossy lips. The shine seemed sticky and too bubblegum. “Of course, there’s no comparison to be made between our situation, you knew him for years.”

“Yeah,” Genevieve answered weakly.

“Shit I’m sorry!” Her eyes widened as she registered what she said, palms coming up in defence. Her brain had a tendency to lag a couple steps behind. It was always a few seconds too late. “I’m not making things any better. That probably sounded really daft.”

“It’s all good.”

Hannah threw away her used paper towel. She hiked her purse in the crook of her elbow. “Keep hanging in there girlie, it gets better!”

“Don’t I know it!”

She reached forward and squeezed her shoulder. “Oh, Genny! You’re still the jokester as ever! I’ve got to run off to my next lecture, but it was nice seeing you! Don’t be a stranger, we should meet up again! Text me!”

“See you, Hannah!” Genevieve grinned, fake and compulsory.

She wiggled her fingers, like a main character of some cheesy 2000’s movie, and clicked off.

Genevieve’s palms held her face as she tried her utmost best to not scream from frustration. There was one thing clear as day, she had to get away from the library. All the Harry talk, all the Hannah talk, was only depleting the count of her brain cells. She needed them to finish her untouched module. There were fifty questions. At one glance, she knew they would suck her soul.

Genevieve grabbed her coat and bag from her desk. The person who was assigned the next shift was signing on the computer to punch in their hours. She waved a quick goodbye and pressed the button to the elevator.

Her car returned from the shop. After a hefty oil change and the addition of four winter tires, it was safe to drive. Her seats were frozen so she turned on her engine and blasted the heat. In turn, the radio automatically switched on to the station set as the number one setting.

Liam: —That was Strangers you just heard by The Bell. I’ve been listening to them quite a bit, they’re bound to play stadiums soon, you can take my word. Now it is time for my personal favourite segment of the show. Usually it’s you guys listening in, but I’d thought we better switch it up! This is Listen Liam! Where you tell me what’s going on in your life and maybe I can offer an ear. You’re on the air.

Caller: Liam! I am in a bit of a pickle.

Liam: I’m all ears, go on!

Caller: I think my friend has a drinking problem. She went so overboard last night that she started chewing her bare foot thinking it was a piece of meat! She’s vegan! How is that even possible?!

Liam: [Laughs] Now, that has got to be the funniest thing I’ve heard all week. We all have a friend that’s like that. I’ve got Niall. Blonde, loud, talks a lot. You heard of him?

Caller: I think he was in one of my lectures.

Liam: Great! As soon as I think something is going iffy with one of my friends I just compare them to Niall. If they’re worse than him, I’m rushing to the closest rehab. If not, all is well!

Caller: That actually puts so much into perspective. Thanks Liam!

Liam: Always here for help! Thank you for your call. Our next song is very fitting, Here is Drunk in Love by the Legend herself.

Genevieve didn’t know she was in the parking lot of Liam’s radio station until she put her gear in park. If she couldn’t get peace in the library, the next resort was the couch generously offered to her on numerous occasions. Liam was only found here at wee hours in the night since he did night radio. Today was one of those odd days his show was on during the day—the same time she needed a place to study. It all seemed destined.

The architecture building was all points and sharp edges. The drop in quality design amplified as soon as she hit the basement. No longer was there fancy glass and shiny mirrors. The tiles on the floors were unevenly aligned and she didn’t want to analyze the yellow mold dripping down the side of one wall. She passed a custodian’s quarters, and in the corner was a door with a makeshift sign announcing the station’s territory.

Liam leaned against the wall beside the shut door. One of his foot was over the other. His phone glued to the side of his face. “Yes, yeah that apartment is no longer available.”

His eyes snapped up at the sound of her shoes against the floor. He grinned. Genevieve gave an excited wave as she walked further down the hallway and his eyes brightened.

“No, unfortunately,” he continued to mumble into the receiver.

When she got close enough, she could hear an angry accent blaring through his phone. Liam rolled his eyes and spoke into the receiver once more. “I’m sorry, there’s not much I can do.”

He pointed towards the door beside him, motioning to go inside. His phone call was probably going to take him a minute to sort out. Hopefully, he had queued up a couple songs to avoid a dead line.

Genevieve walked into the humble space, the door shut gently behind her by Liam.

There were two parts to the room. On the right side was a booth, the cramped size meant it was most likely used as a supply closet. All the equipment was squished in there. A computer sat on an ikea table and a foldable picnic chair did little to compliment it. It was a mess of wires and stray headphones lay lifelessly.

Adjacent to it was the second half of the room. A worn out rug was cut up on the floor to fit the small space. Then there was the infamous pissed on couch. The quality implied it was from the goodwill down the block. It’s ancient floral pattern proved it was previously owned by someone in their 60’s. On one end of the couch, a head of dark chestnut hair rested against the arm.

She should’ve stayed at the library.

She should’ve gone home.

She should’ve gone to a coffee shop.

Now looking at the sight in front of her, the possibilities were endless.

When Genevieve was twelve, she was sure she had lived through the worst day of her life. It was in Mrs. Webster’s afternoon math class. She hadn’t been keeping up with doing her homework. And Mrs. Webster picked on her to answer a simple multiplication question scratched on the board. She blurted out the first number that came to mind— two.

The whole class hollered with laugher and she sunk down in her assigned chair with red cheeks. Sixty-eight multiplied by nine was never, ever, two. If only she had made an educated guess and gave a number that wasn’t a single digit, she wouldn’t have seemed like a complete loser.

That night she went home and reviewed the chart of times table and made sure it was burned in the back of her eyelids.

The multiplication table, the public humiliation, and the sight in front of her was ingrained deeply in a part of her brain she would never voluntarily revisit.

“Well, don’t just stand there.” His eyes did not part from the novel cracked open in front of him. His nose wiggled when he found a particular line amusing. An awkward beat passed and Genevieve was at a loss of words. “Have you become a statue? Do I need to unfreeze you?”

He laid horizontally on the couch. The length of his legs —spread out across the cushions— shrunk the size of the furniture, making it seem smaller than it actually was. He propped his head on a folded arm, a makeshift pillow.

“You’re here.” Their disagreement from before was still a fresh wound. The alcohol aided her bravery last time, but now without its push, Genevieve wondered if he took those words to heart. She didn’t know where they stood. “Yet again.”

“I am.” He closed the book after folding a dog ear at the top right hand corner. His neck craned to look towards where she stood. “Hello to you, too.”

Genevieve clutched the strap of her bag. She noticed there was no resentment in his voice. “How… what are you doing here?”

“Liza’s show just finished up, I’m usually here for it. The million dollar question is, what made you decide to grace us with your presence on this fine Tuesday?”

She blinked quickly as panic flushed up her neck. She had to be tactical about her response. Admitting to needing a study space was the cheese at the end of a mouse trap. She didn’t want to trap herself in a room with Harry for God knows how long. Her day had gone through enough loops and twists and Genevieve wanted to get off the rollercoaster. She had to get out of here. “I came to drop off something for Liam, but I’ll get going.”

Genevieve turned around to grip the doorknob, but before she could twist it, Harry spoke up. “What is it?”

“Hm?” She asked looking over her shoulder. He sat upright, the book of his interest was now face down on his lap. He wore a simple black shirt, a red flannel was unbuttoned over it.

“The thing you were here to drop off.”

“Yeah, oh, I um, already gave it to him.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question.”

“It was a...” she mulled through an imaginary list of objects to fit this scenario.

When she took a minute too long, a knowing smile quirked his lips. “Lying isn’t a good look on you.”

She scoffed. “I’m not lying, Harry.”

“Yes you are and it’s written all over your face.” He pointed it out like a simple observation as if saying the sky is blue, birds fly, and Genevieve lies. “You do that thing when one part of your mouth is higher than the other and you avoid eye contact.”

The swinging door almost knocked her out from the sudden force. She dodged it just in time. It was a hair’s length distance away from breaking her nose. Her eyes widened in shock. Harry mouthed karma.

“Shit, Gen.” Liam stumbled in. “Why are you standing so close to the door? You alright?”

“Was actually leaving.”

Liam’s brows creased. “Rubbish, you just got here. You’re definitely staying for longer. I was thinking of popping to that pretzel shop right beside to get myself something to chew on. Which one do you want?”

“I’m good.”

“You sure?”

���Yeah.”

Liam looked over Genevieve’s shoulder. “Harry?”

“Anything, as long as it’s not super sweet.”

“You got it.” Liam nodded and gave a gleaming smile his way. “And you—” Liam turned to Genevieve with a pointed finger, it didn’t hold much authority “—Better not be gone until I’ve come back or else I’ll be very cross. I mean it, don’t even think about it.”

Genevieve huffed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “What am I even supposed to do here in the meantime? Queue up songs for you? I’ll play the Highschool Musical soundtrack for your listeners and soon there won’t be any left.”

“I’ve already got that taken care of. Don’t you have a mountain worth of coursework? Get a start on that.”

Genevieve felt like she was reaching into a magician's black hat and pulling out a rabbit. But in her case there were no furry animals, only poorly threaded excuses. “I… I don’t have my calculator or any pens or—”

Liam shuffled into the booth. His back curved as he bent over the desk. A cylinder container was situated at the corner beside the workplace lamp. It was sparsely filled with a couple highlighters, paperclips, and a single pen.

He plucked the utensil quickly before handing it to Genevieve. “Here, use this. I think I may have my finance calculator in my bag. It should have the same functions.”

The pace of everything slows down as the cheap plastic rolled between her thumb and forefinger. It was a classic blue BIC pen, the type offices bought in bulk to save money.

There is a reason why Genevieve only used black inked pens. Every time she saw blue on paper, she felt his thumb on her lip. It was too distracting, like a herd of bees buzzing collectively around her in threatening circles. Multiple stingers pierced nostalgia deep into her arms, legs, shoulders, lips. Her skin broke and red painful bumps erupted. Her chest tightened and her throat clamped shut.

“Gen, Gen? You alright?” Liam squeezed her forearm and Genevieve woke from her trance.

“Hm?”

“You became really pale.”

She cleared her throat to delay her response. “Um… I—can’t. I don’t use blue pens. It’s just…” She knew she sounded delirious. Though her left hand was fisted, the slight tremor was not well hidden.

Liam’s inquisitive look wasn’t judgemental or contemptuous and for that she was thankful.

What differentiated Liam from others is that he understood without needing to know the details. He didn’t ask questions because he knew if Genevieve wanted to share, she would at her own time. Most often times, her lips were the zig zag teeth of zippers—tightly fastened—but he remained on the sidelines, patient. With one look he appraised her and knew this stemmed deep.

“I’ve got another,” Harry interrupted, making Genevieve’s neck turn towards him. She forgot for a moment that he was in the room. He waved a pencil in the air. The pink eraser on the end was salmon coloured and the tip was a bit rounded. It wasn’t a pen, but it would have to do.

“That settles it,” Liam concluded with a clap. “You’re staying.” There was no room to rebuttal. He grabbed his wallet and cell phone and pulled the door open. Liam was gone, only leaving a gust of wind in his departure.

Genevieve rubbed her palm over her face.

“I don’t bite, you know?” His tone was steady. “Being in a room with me isn’t as dreadful as you’re making it out to be.”

“Oh, it’s worse,” Genevieve mumbled under her breath, but it was drowned out by Harry’s backpack hitting the floor. The spot on the couch beside him was now vacant.

“We need to set boundaries.” It’s ironic for her to say this as she walked over to empty space he set aside for her.

The only other place left to sit was the floor, she didn’t need to add back problems to her list of already growing concerns. This list had Harry’s name at the very top in red ink; underlined, and multiple exclamation marks surrounded it. If it was anytime to acknowledge it, this was it, when he was an arms length away on the opposite side of the couch.

“What do you mean?”

“Like we need some parameters. Some sort of rules to abide by if you’re just gonna end up popping up everywhere.”

He laughed, eyes screwed shut and head thrown back like Genevieve was on stage behind a microphone at stand up night. It took a minute for his chuckles to dwindle down. Harry’s brows almost met his hairline when Genevieve’s face remained stoic. “Oh wait… you’re serious.”

“I’ll go first.” Genevieve distracted herself by pulling out her notebook and flipping to the last page she worked on. She picked up the pencil he dropped beside his thigh. It was easier to get her thoughts in order when she didn’t make eye contact with him.“We can’t let anyone know about how we know each other. I haven’t… haven’t told Liam, Meena or Niall about any of it and I'd like to keep it that way.”

“It’s not something to hide.”

“For me, it is.” Genevieve breathed out a sigh. Her back hit the cushion and she folded her legs underneath herself. “And from what I’m hearing from Angie and Zayn, they don’t know much either.”

“It just never came up so I didn’t bother.” Harry shrugged cracking the novel open to his marked page. “Alright, I'll give you that, only if you agree not to be so...”

His sentence was a loose piece of thread, floating freely. He purposefully let it dangle between them.

“Go on.” Genevieve tilted her head. “Finish your sentence.”

His face contorted as he tried to find the right word. A tongue poked the inside of his cheek.

“...Tense.”

Genevieve threw the pencil at Harry. The gesture is so natural that it startled her. It bounced off the side of his forehead with a clunk. His fingers rushed to apply pressure on the sore spot. His pink lips pouted.

“Jesus, woman,” he groaned. He pretended as if Genevieve had chucked it at full force, when in reality it was a lousy throw, she had noodle arms. “I gave you that to use, not to assault me with.”

“I’m not tense.” Her jaw hung open in disbelief.

“Then it shouldn’t be a chore to agree to it.” Harry countered.

Genevieve rolled her eyes. “It shouldn’t.”

The radio switched tracks, Liam’s queued up a song sounded softly in the silence. An acoustic guitar strummed in the background as Genevieve started a problem and Harry went back to his book.

He spread out his legs in front of him, his back moulded against the couch in a way that would leave him to complain about an ache in a couple of hours. Genevieve refrained from pointing it out.

Two songs finished and a pre-recorded ad played. The brief thirty seconds advertised the fundraiser a student group put together to raise funds for Angie Wu’s family. The next song started, an upbeat tempo and rhythm.

“Never thought I'd see the day you’d say no to pretzels.”

She didn’t realize she was nodding with the music until she stopped and turned her head towards him. She raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Those were your favourite.”

“Yeah, I’m just not hungry.”

“You were so crazy about them. I took one bag from the pantry and you bit my head off. How was I supposed to know it was yours?”

Genevieve’s eyes flickered down towards the cover in his hand. “Never thought I’d see you read something by Toni Morrison.”

“It was on the list.”

“You still have it? I thought it was lost.”

“I do, the bloody thing never ends. Just when you think you’ve gone through a big chunk, you flip the page and there’s more.” He peered over the top of the book at her. “I’ve went to the library enough times, they know my name without checking my card.”

Genevieve dotted an equal sign and then a row of numbers. She collected like terms and simplified the problem. “I tried looking for it everywhere in the flat. Spent two weeks.”

“Should’ve checked the car.” His voice was low, almost lost in with the music, but she heard it. A sad smile played on the ends of his lips as he flipped the page.

Genevieve noticed his adam’s apple rise and fall. There is a distant look in his eyes that she had never seen before. Harry’s lashes fluttered quickly, to blink away the memories playing in his mind. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Most of them are confusing as shit, don’t make sense. Feels like reading in circles, but so far I’ve liked four of them.”

“Yeah? How many have you gone through?”

Harry’s forehead scrunched in thought as he mentally counts the different titles, using his digits to keep track if needed. His lips—puckered in concentration— were red and bitten, yet appear feather soft.

“Not many, maybe nine?” His ring and middle finger scratched at his hairline, light bounced off the metal bands wrapped around his digits. His posture softened as a blush rose up his neck. “‘I'm a slow reader,” he admitted, his tone timid and bashful.

Genevieve’s eyes rolled involuntarily, a breathy laugh danced through her lips. “Oh, I know.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Means that you take two years to read a take out menu, always have.”

“It’s called browsing the options and specials.”

“Yet you order the same every time? Do explain.” Playful offence is threaded between them. It was starting to resemble the easy conversations they once shared over a cereal breakfast, lazy Sundays, in passing here and there. The smallest things they had taken for granted became a bitter recollection.

His throat grumbled in defeat. “Be nice.”

There were days where Genevieve wanted to put a halt to whatever distance they had carved from each other. Harry felt oceans away, but it would be cruel to put all the burden on him. Genevieve wasn’t standing there with warm welcoming arms either, she was rather stone cold.

They were dropped beads of a broken necklace, scattered on a tiled floor. The thread that joined them had snapped. There had been occurrences where Genevieve’s thumb hovered over his contact name, the number so old that she wasn’t sure if it still worked. She almost sent him a text, left a voicemail. She missed her friend, that wasn’t in question, but she couldn’t bring herself to go through with it. He was to blame.

But there they were. Harry was still Harry. And Genevieve was Genny. Sure, his shoulders were slightly broader, his hair a bit shorter, and his posture more crooked. It was also okay that they weren’t the same. There was an awkward space that separated them, one that didn’t exist before because Harry would have had his arm thrown over her shoulders and her head would comfortably align with his chest.

“Is it—” Genevieve gulped loudly, hesitant as nerves circled her belly like sharks do the ocean. She twisted her sleeves in her palm before starting once more. She didn’t know if her request was intrusive or disrespectful in any way. She hoped it wasn’t. “Is it okay if I maybe take a look at it?”

Harry had found the list, so it belonged to him. Much like how Genevieve protected some photographs and a lighter with her life. It would be reasonable if his answer wasn’t what she was pulling for. He had ownership and the right to say no.

A pause followed, it made her sure that she was twisting knobs on locked doors. Harry’s face remained impassive. Had she not said it loud enough? Her limbs felt heavy and heat began to crawl up Genevieve’s face as she realized rejection wasn’t a reality far away, but it was rather staring her in the face.

Genevieve deflated when he nodded eagerly.

“‘Course, yeah. I’ll bring it around sometime.”

The door swung open and Liam came in clutching far too much than he could balance. A bag hung from between his chest and chin, there were three more in his hand. The paper wrinkled loudly as he moved. He shut the door behind him with the heel of his foot.

Genevieve shot a confused look at his small buffet.

“They just increased the student discount for these! Can you believe?”

***

November 15, 2019

Genevieve was a match burning at both ends. Sometimes it would be too much of a chore to step in the shower or brush her teeth. The smallest tasks that once would come so naturally now demanded significant energy. Sure, she could blame it to her course load, and juggling jobs at Flo’s and the student help desk. But she knew self care was pushed to the back burner way before any of that started—three years ago precisely.

Today, she opened the shared document on her computer.

A long needle injected into her spine; the pinch was sharp. Stress shot through every nerve ending when the cursor scrolled down the screen.

Group assignments did more harm than good, if only professors understood that. The assignment was to be done between four random people in her course. The groups were preselected and Genevieve didn’t know a single face. The dropbox to hand in the report closed at midnight. Currently, the fifteen page report only came up to three pages.

She tried to get hold of her remaining group members, but the group chat was only a string of messages from her end. The shower she planned to take was now an unaffordable luxury. She cracked her knuckles and began pulling the dead weight of three people.

Her phone buzzed, disrupting the quiet in her flat. She was so caught up in editing the null hypothesis she didn’t check the caller ID and answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Genevieve?”

“Mum, hi,” Genevieve breathed out and the rush of air created static on the line.

“Are you in the middle of something? You sound busy.”

Genevieve skimmed over a research paper she wanted to reference. Her mouse copy pasted the citation. “Just doing an assignment last minute. I could throw up from the stress.”

“Baby, you need to take it easier, that is no way to live, no matter what deadline you’re under,” she scolded with gentle concern. Like always, it went through Genevieve’s ear and came out the other. “Anyway, I called because Sarah—the nice lady down the street—has started a donation drive for Syrian Refugees. I’m giving her your old clothes, is that alright?”

“The ones in boxes up in the attic?”

“Yes, if you need them I can—”

“No, give them away. I can’t remember the last time I wore them, it’s better they get some use out of them.” Genevieve selected two lines on the document. The words highlighted a sky blue, then she hit backspace.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Plus, it would clear up some space up there anyway.”

“Don’t go too intense with your cleaning, you get a bit kooky.” Genevieve giggled and pressed the phone between her shoulder and cheek. She continued her work on the laptop.

“There’s no harm in having a clean, tidy space!” Label makers and organizing bins got Margaret White more excited than any man. Spring cleaning happened quarterly at their residence. The attic was full of abandoned scrapbooks, VCR cassettes, old furniture, and her broken bicycle that had a neon pink basket. “While I was up there, I did find something.”

Genevieve smiled. “Did you cry to my elementary school pictures? Again?”

“Oh hush!” Genevieve pictured her crossed brows. Waterworks were in ample supply when taking a trip down memory lane with her mother, it was like forgetting to shut the water tap off. Genevieve found it amusing to poke fun at her for. “You still have a box of his stuff. Do you want me to get rid of it?”

The pause was deafening. The clicking of Genevieve’s fingers on the keyboard came to a definite halt. Her laptop screen became muddled as it went out of focus. She felt the back of her eyes sting as she recalled the specific box. She smelled August.

“Gen?”

“No, no, don’t do that.” Genevieve clutched the receiver with a sudden desperation. There was apparent sniffling on her end of the line. Genevieve cleared her throat and tried to disguise it as a cough. “Mum I just...”

“I can post it to you. There are a lot of pictures.”

“Can you, please?” Genevieve choked back a sob.

“Of course.”

Genevieve clamped her eyes shut and breathed deep through her nostrils. She assumed she owed her mother an explanation for the sudden onslaught of emotions. “I’m not crazy, it’s just this course, this assignment, is really putting a stress on me.”

“I know, Darling,” she said, but didn’t sound convinced in the slightest.

Genevieve swallowed sour bile. “It’s not… it’s not because of him, I swear.”

“Didn’t think it was.”

“Really?” Genevieve’s word squeaked.

“Genevieve, baby,” her mother began. Margaret pursed her lips and it built a bustling silence. Words were tricky in sensitive situations like these. If not cherry picked with care and caution, they can ruin relationships—even of blood—with a snap. “He left, he was a great boy, but he left. And a part of me tells me you’re not coping.”

“I am. I promise I am.”

Genevieve covered the mouthpiece on her to muffle any whimpers. She rolled her lips tightly.

Margaret sighed. “I just worry about you, is all.”

“No reason to be, I’m doing much better.”

Blue sky. Birds fly. Genevieve lies.

“Alright.” There was shuffling on the other side of the line. “I’ll ring you another time. Take care of yourself, please.”

“Will do, love you.”

“Love you, too.”

When the call ended, Genevieve bowed her head in shame. Her phone clattered on her wooden desk, then laid dead. The squares aligned in even rows on her keyboard were black. The font of each letter was simple, and the colour of winter. The U,G,S,A,T keys were dotted with small puddles of tears.

***

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[psychospeak-blog]

Won’t Go Slowly // 43

A/N: SURPRISE1

One // Two  // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen// Twenty // Twenty One // Twenty Two // Twenty Three // Twenty Four// Twenty Five // Twenty Six // Twenty Seven // Twenty Eight // Twenty Nine // Thirty // Thirty One // Thirty Two // Thirty Three // Thirty Four// Thirty Five // Thirty Six // Thirty Seven // Thirty Eight // Thirty Nine // Forty // Forty One // Forty Two

You weren't entirely sure why Danielle insisted on coming to pick you up to take you to the baby shower.  It was at your mom's house, and you knew her and your sister had been over there setting things up, so it didn't really make sense for her to drive back half an hour to pick you up.  It wasn't like it was a surprise or anything.

Yet, here you were, sitting in the passenger seat of her car, wearing the blue floral maxi wrap dress you'd bought especially for today. When your phone beeped, you pulled it out of your bag.

Tyler: 🐶🐶

You: ???

Tyler: 😂😂

You shook your head, putting your phone back in your bag.

"What's wrong?" Danielle asked.

"Nothing," you said, "Tyler's texting me dog emojis."

She frowned but kept her eyes on the road.  "Do you think he's bummed out he's not coming?"

"To the baby shower?" You asked.  "It's just gonna be a bunch of girls, I don't really think he'd enjoy it."

"He probably would enjoy that," she said.

"Yeah, you're right," you smiled, " I don't know, I guess he'd come if he was home. He'd probably come to anything if there was gonna be food there." Now that you thought about it, you realized that he kind of had been asking a suspicious amount of questions lately, like when your baby shower started, and you wondered briefly if he felt left out.

"And you," Danielle said, flashing you a quick smile as you pulled up at your mom's house, to see several balloons with paw prints on them by the front door.

"Did Tyler try to ruin the theme?" You asked.

"Yes," she sounded exasperated as you both got out of the car, "he's such an asshole sometimes. I don't know why you love him so much."

"Why'd you tell him?" You asked, "I thought you said you weren't going to.  

She just smiled and shrugged, which meant that there had to be a reason that she couldn't tell you just yet. You didn't have time to try and figure it out, however, because then the front door opened and your sister practically ran out to hug you.

"Hey mom," you said, looking over Nicole's shoulder to where your mom was making her way down the porch, and then you smiled,adding "Grandma."

"Hi sweetie," she said, coming over to hug you, "I love that dress."

"Thanks," you said.

"You look like you're about to pop," Nicole added, "Or explode."

"Thanks, Nic," you said sarcastically, running your hand over your belly.  

"Is he moving lots?" your mom asked.

"A ton," you said, letting her rest her hand there for a moment before she told you to come inside and see everything and everyone.

You were already excited enough about having a puppy baby shower, but your breath was straight-up taken away when you walked inside, really trying to greet everyone who was there: some of your cousins and aunts, Tyler's mom and sisters, a few of your other friends and some of the girls you worked with, but really your mind was pretty much preoccupied with the whole set-up and decor.  There were blue and balloons and garland across the front of the table, a chalkboard calendar for guests to place bets when they thought the baby would arrive,  a little sign that said "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails. That's what little boys are made of.", a bowl filled with yarn for people to guess the size of your belly, and a couple of books, "If I were a Puppy" and "Puppy Makes Mischief" with pens so people could write messages to the baby.  Your hand went to your face, even as you took in the 'Pup-peroni Pizza Bites' and the 'paw-sta' salad alongside snack foods and lemonade, and desserts like doughnuts with little decorative flags that said things like 'woof', dog sugar cookies, bone shaped rice Krispy treats covered with blue chocolate, and cupcakes topped with coconut and an oreo along with brown m&m's so they looked like paws.  

"Oh my god, you guys, it's amazing," you said, going to hug your mom and sister and best friend because it was clear they worked very hard on this, and you were already crying, for what you felt would be the first but not only time today.  

"Did you see this?" Danielle asked, and she pointed to framed pictures on the coffee table, which were clearly Marshall, Cash, and Gerry but the pictures were tinted to be various shades of blue.

"Is that why you had to tell Tyler the theme?" You smiled.

"Yes," she said, "and I'm never telling him anything that is meant to be a surprise ever again."

"He told you?" Nicole asked, sounded slightly outraged.  

"No, he didn't tell me, I didn't know what the hell he was talking about," you said, "I was still surprised and this is awesome." You also really, really wanted a paw print cupcake, but you were preoccupied by the pictures of the dogs.  "Poor Cash."

"What's wrong with Cash?" Jackie asked.  

"He has dog depression," you said, slowly heading over to the food table because your Mom kept slowly gesturing towards it like you were the person who was supposed to start off the eating.  "Tyler didn't tell you?"

Luckily, it seemed to be getting better.  But you still had sent a package down to them with yet another new pool toy for Cash, some salmon treats because you didn't know much about depression in canines but you figured the omega-3's had to be good for brain health, and some chews because you knew he loved food, and figured it couldn't be a bad thing for him to spend awhile enjoying a treat, along with just a package of peanut butter treats for the dogs to share.

"I thought Gerry was the one having issues," she said.

"He is, too," you said, "more like acting out though."

"Is Cash okay?"

"Yeah, he's better," you said, "I mailed a package last week so it should be there soon, but I put a t-shirt I'd worn in there so it smells like me.  Tyler pulled the sheets of our bed from when I was there and Cash has been sleeping in them because he likes that it smells like me.  I mean, his bed.  I mean, we were watching movies in there together.  All of us."

Oh god.

You kind of just smiled and made your way over to the food table, where your sister kind of grabbed on your arm, leaning into you once you were out of earshot of everyone.  "What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know," you whispered back, "I didn't want his mom to know we slept together." Even though, she'd kind of already knew you'd shared a bed thanks to Tyler blabbing.  But that was way, way before the sex.

"What's the big deal unless you slept-slept together?" She asked, and then she took a look at your face and gasped, whispering harshly, "you had slept with Tyler!"

'Shhh...shhh..." you said.

"What? When?" Nicole continued to ask.

"Can we not....can we not do this now?" You asked. "It's my baby shower."

"You slept with your...with you baby daddy!" She said, and you gave her a pleading look, "Fine, but we're talking about this.  Don't think I'll forget."

You were still trying to come down from this, and focus on celebrating the baby, when there when the doorbell rang and there were murmurs about who it would be since everyone was already there.

"Y/N!" Your mom called, "There's something here for you from Tyler!"

Oh god.

The next thing you knew there was a man, walking through your baby shower, carrying a platter which your mom was now instructing him to place down on the coffee table, which you could now see was stacked with grilled cheeses, with a little cup of mustard in the middle.

"Oh my god," Danielle said, punctuating each word.  

"You didn't know about this?" You asked, and she shook her head so you looked to your sister and your mom, who shook their heads as well.

"He asked me for the address but wouldn't tell me why," Jackie said. "I thought he was sending a gift or something."

"He kept asking me what kind of food there was at a baby shower," Danielle said.

And then you'd had to explain to everyone the significance of grilled cheese and mustard, and then you remembered realizing just what you were craving at Tyler's house after you'd gotten your very first ultrasound and you were crying again.

The grilled cheese did kind of calm you down though, and Cassidy took a picture of you eating it to send to Tyler, the plate resting on your ample belly.

The third time you cried was when your mom gave you a gift, everyone gathered around watching with these bingo sheets in their laps in which each box corresponded to a potential baby gift.  She'd given you a onesie which said I heart Mom and another one that said Mommy's Sunshine,  with sunshine written to look like a sunrise, and it struck you that you really were going to be someone's mom. You could barely get through opening the second gift she gave you, an activity gym that looked like a little teepee,  with all kinds of dangling fish and bears and owl toys.

There were plenty of puppy related gifts, of course, outfits and blankets, and hooded towels and shoes, along with a bib that said "It Was Me.  I Let the Dogs Out." Tyler's mom had gotten you a mobile with different grey and blue knit puppy dogs; she was worried you may have already had one, but you reassured her you didn't, and it would work perfectly in the baby's room.  His sisters gave you a cute little wooden puppy pull toy, these darling socks that looked like bears and had rattles in them, and some sleepers that had puppies on them.  

Thankfully, you were laughing and smiling more when you opened your sister's gift, onesies that said "If You Think I'm Cute, You Should See My Auntie," and "Auntie's #MCM", along with bath toys that included a boat and fish.  Danielle gave you the fish shaped activity mat for outdoors as you suspected, but she also gave you a onesie that said, "Love Makes a Family," and then you were crying once again and all you could do was hug her because it couldn't be more true.

You excused yourself to go to the washroom yet, mostly because you needed a moment to collect yourself because you didn't want to be bawling like a baby throughout your entire baby shower.  When you came out, you heard the unmistakable sound of Tyler's voice on speaker, and followed it to find Cassidy at the food table her phone extended as if she was showing off the table and decorations.  "Oh, 'Puppy Makes Mischief', I didn't know they'd written a book about Gerry", you heard him say.  Cassidy turned the phone to face you once she'd noticed you, and you smiled.

"Hi," you said.  He was sitting on the floor of what looked like an arena, foam rolling, the phone propped up on something to create an extremely unflattering angle.

"Hi," he smiled, "you look really pretty."

And you were pretty sure that he, as well as both of his sisters could see just how badly you were blushing, judging by the way he laughed.  "What are you doing?" You asked.

"I'm about to play a baby shower game," he said, and now you noticed Candace with the yarn in her hand, and Cassidy turned the phone back to her.  "More," he said, "More, a little more."

She kept lengthening the yarn each time, until it was literally reaching the floor.  

"More," he said again.

"Tyler!" The three of you said at once, and he laughed, and then all of you were laughing when you could literally fit all three of you in the length of yarn.

"'K, I gotta go, love you guys!"

After that, you opened more gifts, baby shampoos and body washes, diapers, and memorabilia things like a baby book and a blanket where you could take a picture of the baby each month to see how he grew.

You left feeling very, very loved.

And very much ready for him to get here.

**

You were starting to feel stir crazy.

You'd been so, so tired and sore, but determined to try and push through the last few weeks of work before he got here.  But your body kind of decided for you that you were done.

You'd slipped, the other day, on the stairs at work.  The baby was fine, you were fine (other than a nice bruise on your ass), but you weren't going to take any chances, and just decided that your body was done with work.

It had been nice, the first few hours, doing nothing other than catching up on Netflix, but you quickly realized that everyone you knew worked, so you were pretty bored between the hours of 9 and 5.

You really, really tried to sleep, thinking that you should get at much rest now as possible, but you were so uncomfortable, and you couldn't stop thinking about all the things you could be doing.

So when Tyler Facetimed you that evening, you were really in a bit of a mess: you had a pot of chicken chilli on the stove, you were trying to layer lasagna while also wworking on some healthy energy ball things.  

And you also had a load of laundry in.  

"Question," Tyler said, as soon as his face appeared on your screen, "if a package arrives that is addressed to your dog, are you legally allowed to open it, or is that fraud?"

You laughed, "I'm pretty sure you can open it."

"'K," he said, and he flipped the camera so you could see now the box you'd sent, sitting on the floor, and all three dogs were sniffing it, likely smelling the treats inside.  "Watch your noses," he prompted, slicing through the tape on the box to open it, after which it became a battle to see who could get their head in the box first.

"Gerry! That's not for you, that's for Cash, can't you read?" Tyler said when he made off with the pool toy, and Marshall backed up and barked.  "That's right, listen to your elders."

He spoke in a soft tone to Cash, ripping open the bag of chews, and giving one to him, and you saw the flash of a tail wag before he jumped up on the couch with it.  "Do you like that?" Tyler asked him, continuing to pull items out of the box, holding up your shirt when he got to it. "What's this?"

"My shirt."

"Yeah, I can see that," he rolled his eyes at you.  "And it's my shirt, actually. Did you just mail it to me to return it? Because I think you've got a lot more of my stuff."

"No," you laughed, "I thought he'd like it because it smelled like me."

"Oh, so that's what smells weird."

"It does not smell weird," you said, watching as Tyler tossed the shirt across to land on Cash's head, who shook it off, clearly preoccupied with his treat.

"I'm sure he'll like it, he likes weird smelling stuff," Tyler said, laying down on the couch so his head was on the meat of Cash's hind leg, his hair flopping in his face. "Whatcha doing?"

"Cooking," you said, "And washing the baby's clothes?"

"Washing the baby's clothes?" He asked, "What, did he come and you didn't tell me?"

"No," you laughed, panning the camera down to your belly.  "Still pregnant."

"Why are you washing his clothes then if they're not dirty?"

"Because you're supposed to pre-wash them, their skin is really sensitive"

"Oh. What are you cooking?" He asked, smirking after you told him.  "You must be really hungry."

"I'm trying to make stuff to freeze so I have meals for after the baby's here," you said, "Oh yeah, can I put some stuff in the freezer at your house? I don't think I'll have enough room here for all I want to make."

"Sure," Tyler said, an uptick in his voice at the end like he was a little unsure about this whole process.  And then the timer went off and your eyes darted around as you tried to remember what the time correlated to. "Shouldn't you do something?"  

"Yeah, I just can't remember what I'm supposed to do," you stood back up, looking in the pot on the stove, and then at your recipe.

"What do you mean you can't remember?"

"My brain's weird," you said, "it's like a sieve  i can't keep track of anything."

"How's your ass?"

"My ass is fine," you said.

"Are you icing it?"

"It's just a bruise, Tyler."

"Yeah, ice helps bruises," he said, "or did you forget that too?"

"No, I did not forget that," you said, pulling the pot off the stove, and double checking the oven wasn't on, going back to sit down at your kitchen table with a sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just tired all of a sudden," you said, thinking you may have bit off more than you could chew.  

"Then just relax."

"Yeah," you said, resting your head in your hand, "I just have to make something for dinner for tonight and I have to clean up the kitchen."

"Order something," Tyler said, "and the mess will still be there tomorrow.  Or the day after."

"Yeah," you said, "I just wanted to get this done tonight."

"People'll probably bring you food," he said, "And DoorDash exists. You're not gonna starve."

"I just want to have some of my own recipes in the freezer."

'Yeah, but maybe you should just focus on making one thing at a time." He was probably right.

"What am I supposed to do all day if I'm not cooking?"

"Umm...rest?" Tyler asked.  

"I am resting," you said.

"Yeah, I heard my mom found you in her pool."

"She did not find me in her pool, she told me I could come over whenever I wanted."

"Isn't there snow on the ground?"

"Sometimes," you said, to which Tyler gave you a weird look.  "It helps, it's the only place i don't feel pregnant."

"Is it that bad?" Tyler asked, his voice soft.

"It's not bad," you clarified, "It's normal, I'm just ready for him to be out."

You got up, going to lay down on the couch now, running your hand over your face.

"You sure you're alright?" Tyler asked.

"Mhmm, my body just couldn't keep up with my ambition."

"Well, don't be so ambitious."

"I'm trying to stay busy," you said, 'otherwise I'm just going to be sitting around here all day."

"Can't you like, go out?"

"By myself?"

"With your mommy friends?"

"I have my prenatal yoga every Wednesday, so I'll do that in a couple days, that'll be nice."

"Today's Friday, babe, that's more than a couple days."

"Really? It's only been two days since my last class?"

"Yes," Tyler laughed, and you sighed again.  "Hey, if you to call and talk to Cash all day so you have someone to hang out with, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Thanks," you said.

The next several days were much of the same, and you were basically just counting down the days to your next yoga class.  You'd cleaned your house several times, cooked a few things, and you'd also found yourself reorganizing Tyler's spice cabinet when you went over to put some things in his freezer.

You'd gone out with some of the other mamas-to-be before the class, and then you'd taken the suggestion to pick up sushi,  because you really deserved it.  Once you got home, you kicked off your boots and set your bag down, walking through the living room towards your kitchen with your dinner in hand.

"Hi," Tyler said, smiling up at you from where he was seated on the couch, scrolling through is phone.

You looked at him, and then back at the front door as if trying to see if you'd walked through some type of time warp.  "What.." you asked, the bag of food lightly slipping through your fingers so you bent down to set it on the floor.  "What are you doing here?"

Now he set his phone down.  "I had a couple of days off, and you sounded kind of down or lonely the last couple of times we've talked, so I'd figured I'd come see you."

Now you smiled wide, walking towards him, getting on the couch on either side of him, just putting your hands on his shoulders and smiling down at him.  You wanted to hug him, you wanted to kiss him, but you also just couldn't stop looking at him, smiling and looking like your reaction was everything he had hoped for.

"I also figured I could give you your birthday gift in person," Tyler said, his hands going to your hips.

"I don't need a gift. You're enough."

"Yeah?" He asked softly.

"Yeah," you responded softly, kissing him on the forehead and then the lips.

"How long are you here for?" You asked, sliding out of his lap now to sit next to him, leaning against him, and his arm came around you.

"Two nights," he said, "I fly out the morning the day after tomorrow."

You smiled, snuggling against him even further, resting your head against his chest and his arm moved around you, his fingers playing in your hair.

"You want me to rub your feet or your back or something?"

"No," you said, smiling against his chest, your hand coming up to join your fingers with his.  "Just like this."

[livingcorner]

16 Creative Uses for Used Coffee Grounds@|how to use old coffee grounds in the garden@|https://post.healthline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/uses-used-coffee-grounds-thumb.jpg@|21

Coffee is a popular beverage consumed all over the world.

People usually discard the grounds left behind after it’s brewed, but after reading this article, you may reconsider throwing them out.

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Coffee grounds have many practical uses around the home and garden and can even help spruce up your beauty routine.

If you don’t make a lot of coffee at home, most coffee shops have an abundance of coffee grounds that they are willing to give away.

Below are 16 creative uses for used coffee grounds.

1. Fertilize Your Garden

Most soil does not contain the essential nutrients needed for optimal plant growth.

Also, as plants grow, they absorb nutrients from the soil, ultimately leaving it depleted.

Thus, most gardens need to be fertilized to ensure that plants have the nourishment they need to survive.

Coffee grounds contain several key minerals for plant growth — nitrogen, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and chromium (1).

They may also help absorb heavy metals that can contaminate soil (2, 3).

What’s more, coffee grounds help attract worms, which are great for your garden.

To use coffee grounds as fertilizer, simply sprinkle them onto the soil surrounding your plants.

Summary Coffee grounds make great fertilizer because they contain several key nutrients required for plant growth. They can also help attract worms and decrease the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil.

2. Compost It for Later

If you do not have an immediate need for fertilizer, you can compost your coffee grounds for later use.

Composting is a natural process that turns organic items such as food scraps and yard debris into a dark, rich material called compost or humus.

Adding compost to your yard or garden can help the soil hold onto more nutrients and water, thereby improving the health of your plants.

One study found that compost made with coffee grounds and kitchen waste was richer in nutrients than compost made with waste alone (4).

Another study compared four batches of compost containing 0, 10, 20 and 40% coffee grounds.

The batch containing 40% coffee grounds produced the fewest greenhouse gas emissions and best quality compost (5).

Other items to compost include grass clippings, leaves, bark, shredded newspaper, brush, herbs, egg shells, stale bread and fruit and vegetable trimmings.

You should avoid composting meat and fish scraps, dairy products, diseased plants, grease and oils.

Summary Adding compost to your garden can significantly improve the health of your plants. Coffee grounds can help increase nutrient levels and decrease the greenhouse gas emissions of your compost.

3. Repel Insects and Pests

Certain compounds found in coffee, such caffeine and diterpenes, can be highly toxic to insects (6, 7).

Because of this, you can use coffee grounds to repel bugs.

They are effective at deterring mosquitos, fruit flies and beetles, and they may help keep other pests away too (8, 9).

To use coffee grounds as an insect and pest repellent, simply set out bowls of grounds or sprinkle them around outdoor seating areas.

You can also keep pests out of your garden by scattering coffee grounds around your plants. They help create a barrier that slugs and snails do not like to crawl over.

Summary Coffee grounds contain compounds that are toxic to many insects. You can use your coffee grounds to repel mosquitos, fruit flies, beetles and other pests.

4. Remove Fleas from Your Pet

Fleas are a common problem in household pets, and treating them can be costly and time-consuming (10).

There are several flea-removal products on the market, but many contain harsh chemicals and can produce unwanted side effects.

Luckily, fleas don’t seem to like coffee, and you may want to consider coffee grounds as a natural treatment.

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Simply rub the grounds throughout your pet’s fur after shampooing. Then rinse them off and allow your pet to dry as usual.

Some say doing this may also add smoothness and shine to your pet’s coat, but there is little to no research to support either of these claims.

However, coffee grounds may be less effective than a prescription product, so if your pet has fleas and this treatment does not work, you may want to contact a vet to discuss alternative options.

Also, coffee grounds should only be used externally. They can be toxic to dogs if consumed.

Summary Like other insects, fleas do not like coffee. Bathing your pet in used coffee grounds may help keep fleas at bay.

5. Neutralize Odors

Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, which helps eliminate a foul-smelling sulfur gas from the air when it’s combined with carbon (11).

In other words, coffee grounds can help absorb and eliminate odors.

You can place a bowl of coffee grounds in your fridge or freezer to neutralize odors from spoiled or fragrant foods.

You can also fill old socks or pantyhose with coffee grounds and tie them off to make portable air fresheners.

Place these in your shoes, gym bag, bedroom drawers, under your car seat or anywhere else that may need some deodorizing.

You can even keep coffee grounds by the sink and use them to scrub your hands after chopping garlic or onions. The grounds will help remove the smell from your hands.

Summary Coffee grounds can help absorb and eliminate odors from your refrigerator, gym bag or smelly shoes. Using them as a hand scrub can also help remove lingering smells from onion or garlic.

6. Use It as a Natural Cleaning Scrub

Coffee grounds are abrasive and can help remove buildup on hard-to-clean surfaces. They may even help sanitize due to their antibacterial and antiviral properties (8).

If you like to avoid cleaning with chemicals, used coffee grounds might be worth a try.

Use them to scour your sink, polish your cookware or clean your grill.

Just be careful not to use them on any kind of porous material, as they can cause brown stains.

Summary Coffee grounds can be used as an abrasive cleaner. They can help sanitize and remove buildup from sinks, cookware, grills and other surfaces around the house.

7. Scour Your Pots and Pans

The coarse texture of coffee grounds makes them ideal for scrubbing hard-to-clean kitchen utensils.

You can use them to scrape your dishes clean and remove caked-on food from pots and pans. Simply sprinkle the grounds directly onto your pots and pans and scrub as usual. Make sure to rinse thoroughly afterward.

Summary You can use coffee grounds to scour your pots and pans. Their abrasive texture helps scrape away caked-on food.

8. Exfoliate Your Skin

The coarse particles in coffee grounds work as an exfoliating agent to help remove dirt and dead cells from the skin.

Simply mix coffee grounds with a little bit of water or coconut oil and scrub them with your hands directly onto your face and body.

Coffee grounds can also be mixed with a small amount of honey and used as an exfoliating lip scrub.

What’s more, the caffeine in coffee grounds has potent antioxidant properties that can help protect the skin from sun damage.

It can also increase blood flow, which aids in overall skin health (12).

Summary Coffee grounds can be repurposed into an exfoliating scrub for your face and body. They help remove dirt and dead skin cells and promote overall skin health.

9. Reduce the Appearance of Cellulite

Cellulite is a condition that gives the skin a dimpled, lumpy appearance. It affects 80–90% of adult women (13).

It occurs when fat deposits push through the connective tissue under your skin and is commonly seen in the buttocks and thighs.

When caffeine such as that in coffee grounds is applied topically, it may help break down this fat and increase blood flow to the area, thus decreasing the appearance of cellulite (12).

Simply mix grounds with water or coconut oil and scrub for 10 minutes twice weekly on any areas affected by cellulite.

Summary Coffee grounds may help reduce the appearance of cellulite by breaking down fat deposits and increasing blood flow to the affected area.

10. Use It as a Natural Dye

If you’ve ever spilled coffee on a white shirt, you know that it can leave a stain.

By rewetting used coffee grounds, you can create an inexpensive and all-natural dye that can be used to color cotton, rayon, cellophane, linen and paper (14).

This is an easy way to give fabrics and paper a vintage look or disguise existing stains on your clothing and towels.

Coffee grounds can even be used to dye Easter eggs or deepen the color of dark hair.

Commercial food and hair dyes can contain hundreds of chemicals, many of which may cause cancer (15, 16, 17).

Used coffee grounds make a great non-toxic alternative to traditional dyes.

If you’ve dyed a piece of fabric or yarn that will be worn or used for sewing or knitting, make sure to wash it in cold water with a very mild laundry detergent before using it.

Summary Used coffee grounds are a great natural alternative to harsh chemical dyes. Simply rewet them and use them to dye paper or fabric or darken brunette hair.

11. Clean Your Fireplace

Cleaning ashes from a wood-burning fireplace can be an incredibly messy task.

By scattering used coffee grounds over the ashes, you can weigh them down and prevent smoke clouds from forming.

This not only makes the ashes easier to remove, but it also keeps dust from escaping and traveling to other parts of the room.

Summary Use coffee grounds to weigh down the ashes in your fireplace before cleaning. This makes for easier ash removal and less mess.

12. Tenderize Meat

Meat contains muscle fibers and proteins that can give it a tough consistency.

Tenderizing meat helps break them down, resulting in a softer texture.

Salt, enzymes and acids are three natural types of meat tenderizers. Coffee contains natural acids and enzymes, making it especially effective at tenderizing meat.

The acidic nature of coffee can also help enhance the flavor of meat.

Simply add used coffee grounds to your favorite dry-rub recipe and apply the rub to the meat two hours before cooking.

The grounds will get cooked onto the meat and form a dark, crispy crust.

Alternatively, you can rebrew used grounds to make coffee, allow it to cool and use it to marinade meat in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before cooking.

Summary Coffee grounds contain natural acids and enzymes that help tenderize meat and enhance its flavor.

13. Stimulate Hair Growth and Strip Buildup

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Shampoos and styling products often leave residue behind that can dull and weigh down your hair.

Exfoliating your scalp with coffee grounds can help remove buildup and dead skin cells.

What’s more, several test-tube studies have found that caffeine, such as that in used coffee grounds, stimulates human hair growth (18, 19, 20).

Similarly, human and animal studies have found that applying caffeine to the skin increases blood flow and accelerates hair growth (12).

Before you shampoo, simply grab a handful of coffee grounds and massage them into your scalp and hair for a few minutes. Then wash and rinse as you normally would.

Do this one to two times per week, or as needed.

Summary Exfoliating your scalp with used coffee grounds can help remove dead skin cells and product buildup and may even speed up hair growth.

14. Repair Scratched Furniture

If you own wooden furniture, you’ve probably noticed it can be easily scuffed and scratched.

Various products can help minimize the appearance of scratches, but before you run to the store, you might want to give coffee grounds a try.

First, make a thick paste with used coffee grounds and water.

Then rub the paste into the scratch using a cotton swab, allow it to sit for 5–10 minutes and then wipe with a cotton rag.

This should help buff out the scratch and conceal it by dying the exposed wood a dark-brown color.

Continue to dab coffee into the scratch using a cotton swab until the desired color is achieved, waiting a few hours between applications.

Summary You can use coffee grounds to buff out scratches on wooden furniture and darken them to match your existing finish.

15. Grow Mushrooms

Mushrooms only thrive in specific conditions and are notoriously difficult to grow.

For starters, they do not grow in ordinary garden soil, as they require a substrate, or underlying substance or layer.

Used coffee grounds make a great substrate because they are packed full of nutrients that mushrooms like to grow on (21).

What’s more, they have already been sterilized during the brewing process, which would otherwise be an extra step in the growing process.

How to Grow Mushrooms in Used Coffee Grounds

Collect about 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) of grounds and moisten them using a spray bottle.

Add a little over 1 pound (500 grams) of mushroom spore and sawdust mixture and mix well. You can look for this product at your local gardening store.

Place resulting mixture into a filter patch grow bag, large freezer bag or bucket and fill until approximately one-half to two-thirds full.

Cut four air holes, about 5 mm in size, into the sides of your container above the grounds. If you are using an open container, cover it with cellophane and poke with a few more small air holes.

Lightly spray the grounds with water once daily or as needed to keep them moist.

In about two to four weeks when you start to see dense white areas with little budding mushrooms, move the container to an area with lighter and fresher air.

When the mushrooms become plump and their caps turn upward, you can harvest them.

You can use this method to grow just about any kind of mushroom, but shiitake and oyster varieties seem to be the easiest.

Summary When combined with adequate moisture, coffee grounds seem to be an ideal growing environment for mushrooms.

16. Treat Under-Eye Circles

The skin surrounding the eyes is extremely delicate and contains very little fat tissue. Because of this, it’s one of the first places you might see signs of aging (22).

Many things can contribute to the development of dark circles and puffiness under the eyes, including fragile blood vessels, poor circulation and inadequate skin quality (23).

Coffee grounds seem to be a promising solution due to their high antioxidant and caffeine contents.

Studies show that skin care products containing antioxidants and caffeine can help prevent the appearance of aging and reduce under-eye circles (23, 24).

In particular, caffeine has anti-inflammatory properties and stimulates blood circulation around the eyes, which can help reduce the appearance of dark circles and swelling (12, 25).

The antioxidants in coffee can also help fight free radicals, which contribute to skin aging (26).

Simply add water or coconut oil to your coffee grounds to form a paste. Apply the mixture under your eyes and let it sit for about 10 minutes before rinsing. Repeat this process daily or as needed.

Summary Coffee grounds contain caffeine and antioxidants. When applied to the skin, they can help prevent aging and reduce the appearance of dark under-eye circles and puffiness.

Are Coffee Grounds Safe to Consume?

Drinking coffee has been linked to a number of health benefits, including a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke and some types of cancer (27, 28, 29, 30).

While it may seem safe to assume that consuming coffee grounds may yield similar benefits, many doctors caution against it.

Coffee beans contain compounds called cafestol and kahweol, which can increase blood cholesterol. These compounds are typically removed by paper filters when coffee is brewed but remain in the grounds.

One study looked at the effects of consuming about 0.25 ounces (7 grams) of coffee grounds per day. After three weeks, the blood cholesterol of participants increased by an average of 26 points (31).

Some recipes for baked goods, meat rubs and sauces call for coffee grounds. Using coffee grounds this way is probably fine as long as you don’t consume them often.

Summary Coffee grounds contain compounds that can raise blood cholesterol. Consuming small amounts on occasion is fine for most people, but they may be problematic if consumed in excess.

The Bottom Line

Most people discard the grounds left behind after brewing coffee. However, there are many great ways to reuse them.

The caffeine and antioxidants in coffee grounds may help combat cellulite, under-eye circles and other signs of aging skin.

Coffee grounds are also packed with nutrients that can nourish plants and deter pests in your garden.

Furthermore, their abrasiveness makes them a great cleaning scrub around the house.

Next time you brew yourself a cup of coffee, consider repurposing the grounds using one of the ideas in this article.

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source https://livingcorner.com.au/16-creative-uses-for-used-coffee-groundshow-to-use-old-coffee-grounds-in-the-gardenhttps-post-healthline-com-wp-content-uploads-2020-09-uses-used-coffee-grounds-thumb-jpg21/

[betsybugaboo]

I’m bored, so here’s the names of my cats in Neko Atsume. I have my explanations below the cut if you want.

Jonathan: His little profile picture is of him with the Plastic Bag on his head, because Dio cut off his head. Also, you’ll notice that he and Johnny-cat are palette swaps.

Joseph: He looks a lot like Jonathan-cat, and he love playing with the Ball of Yarn. His little memento also looks like a scarf!! 

Jotaro: His palette and coloring is sort of a darker version of Joseph-cat and Jonathan-cat’s stripes, which fits his 2 edgy 4 you attitude. The pic is of him looking in a fish bowl because he’s a marine biologist. His personality is also spot on.

Josuke: His coloring sort of looks like a pompadour hanging over his face and his tail has the same striping pattern as Joseph. He’s sitting on the Marble Pad because it’s green, which reminds me of money.

Giorno: He’s ‘blond’, with the same stripes as Jonathan. The stripes on his head also sort of look like his buns. His profile pic is him sitting on the Royal Bed because of the ending of Vento Aureo where all the capos are kissing his hand.

Jolyne: Only her ears (and the tip of her tail) have colors, which sort of looks like her buns. The ball she is playing with is the Temari Ball, a traditional Japanese toy that’s made by wrapping cloth into a ball which also looks like string, too. (She also likes the shell tunnels and the Stump House, which make it look like she’s turning into a snail or a tree).

Johnny: His personality is definitely on point. He’s taking a nap under the Wild-Thing Teaser in his profile picture because it looks like a rose and there’s this interesting rose motif in the chapter covers during the Civil War arc. (He also likes the Cowboy Hat, but I can’t get pictures of him wearing it).

Jo2uke: He has different colored eyes, which fits with his being a fusion. He’s looking at the fish bowl because it’s like the ocean. His memento is a little mirror, which fits with him trying to find out who he is.

Tuxedo Mask: His cat pattern is named Tuxedo, what more can I say? Also, his profile pic is him standing on the Cat Metropolis, like he’s going to give a melodramatic speech.

Sailor Moon: Naturally, there has to be a Sailor Moon if there’s a Tuxedo Mask. Her name was originally Princess, and her personality fits. She’s sitting in the pink bucket in the little picture on her profile because she has pink as one of her color motifs.

Steven Universe: His color pattern looks sort of pinkish, and his personality fits, too. He’s also in a pink bucket because of his color motif.

K-2SO: He looks like he’s at least a little asshole-ish.

Bar of Soap: I don’t know, the coloring and palette made me think of soap. They also have the Tiny Toothbrush as their memento.

Monkey D. Luffy: His personality is Reckless and he’s a pirate-type cat. His memento is definitely Nami’s map of the world.

Cow: Their pattern and coloring made me think of cows and they really love the Cow Tunnel (and the Cowboy Hat). 

(The rest of the cats have their normal default names)

[michaeljtraylor]

HUGE Fall Succulent & Cactus Shopping Spree! [PART 1]

Hello hello, hello you guys and welcome back to my youtube channel You can see them outside of a house, which can only mean one thing writing. What do you think that means? We are up to something. We’re up to something. We are about to embark on an adventure to a cactus slash Succulent show that is very hard to say actually without spitting everywhere So I feel highly accomplished right now. In any case it’s gonna be amazing. This is held two times a year I did a video on it once before I will link to it somewhere in the upper corners It was amazing and I have a sinking suspicion That this season is also going to be amazing. Are you excited Ryan? Yes Alrighty so just like last time this event is held by the cactus and succulent society of San Jose it was founded in the 1960s for the sole purpose of educating newbies as well as experienced pros on how to propagate Maintain and allow their little succulent and cacti fellows to flourish by the way.

That’s the one cacti That’s not prickly and oh that one’s made of yarn. So We’re off to a gentle and wonderful start What we’re looking at now is the show portion of their event. They have two sides a side where the members can bring out their a-game and show off their unique little displays It’s just really fun Cuz a lot of times people get really playful with it and they’ll match their little succulent or cacti with a really fun or unique pot which I think is so underrated You know, I feel like plant pottery should also Be given its time in the limelight because a lot of people put a lot of effort into the pottery.

But anyways They have a show portion and then on the other side they have A site that’s all for sale word local nurseries or local vendors? Show off what they’ve got growing on Every year this event happens in the spring and in the fall the spring usually is a lot more crowded and has a bit more variety which Makes sense because of course the plants typically grow a little bit happier in the spring For the show portion you are able to vote for your favorite plants. That’s kind of why you see on the table these green rectangular slabs of papyrus Cuz you stick down with a little red dot which plant Earth’s which cactus or succulent you vote for Fun side note. I have this plate of my own and I tried to make a little bonsai version of it It’s a very cute attempt.

I Don’t know all those spiky little succulents kind of remind me of like the plant version of crazy eyes I was kind of keeping my distance I thought this was a funny little picture though because it kind of looks like a Human or like some sort of like a little freaky-deaky little face and here we have some neon green play-doh looking plant, which is very thrilling especially if you like play-doh It kind of makes me wonder if they have a Socrates or an Aristotle looking plant complete that building block buddy Anyways back to the plants I’m not exactly sure what they do for the winners of this event Simply because I have never submitted a piece before let alone won A title before but I think even if it’s just the sheer Bragging rights that one season hold up.

Never mind this guy looks like he’s got dreamy little fingernails poking out all over himself Oh Anyways, but as I was saying even if it’s just the bragging rights you Know I think that should suffice and up here It looks like we got a handful of booties those lithops always kind of remind me of like little tushies with flowers coming out You know, I don’t know I guess to each their own It’s so fun to see all the different items that show up for this event But it is also kind of interesting cuz after you’ve been around the block a couple times You realize there are some repeat offenders who keep bringing the same plant every single show and they keep on Winning.

Well, actually I don’t know if they keep winning but they keep getting a ton of the little red dots which in essence is a total win But it’s also kind of freaky because some of the plants never seem to grow they never seem to change But they’re there every single year. It’s a little bit Mystifying if you ask me, you know it makes me want to like pick it up and poke it a little bit just to kind of double check to make sure it’s Really Rooney and not like plastic.

You know, I’m not trying to stare at a Barbie all day long I want the green fleshy stuff But not like an alien because they can stay. I’m not trying to single-handedly Bring down the human race because of a circulating characters show But I do also think that corkscrew little plant needs to go on top of the control head I’m pretty sure that would be like the world’s best solution over there Seems like a stroke of oh my god, I’d take it back this one. Oh, That was way too fingernail like for me. Oh Jesus, I Am so sorry for those of you who are wearing headphones during that traumatizing event Let’s all just take a deep breath and forget about that freaky little cactus I would love to see what a tree like that would look like on a Larger scale to the point where you could like kind of like crawl between those little crevices cuz it is just such a unique trunky structure Come on. Now. It’s like little spider crab legs could put it crawling up on out of that pot Oh, it’s kind of like a stingray. Don’t you think? Safely will say I’ve never seen it playing like that before That’s the one fun thing about the show portion is that you do get to see Sure, maybe some common ones but hey, whoa a blue cactus like that’s exactly what I mean You’re gonna find all these other fun little Gizmos that you would have previously probably not seen had you not gone to the show.

It’s very Enticing Neck, I need some lotion. Do you see all that peeling? Mm-hmm. It’s winter you can tell winter is coming. Oh That’s why you gotta use that apricot seed oil, you know, just really let it soak into the skin In the upper right hand corner we have the rare foot cactus if you think Rab and one of those pokey cacti is Painful wait until you try to grab that rare foot cactus Cuz I promise you it’s gonna come to kickin at you. I Thought this pale pistachio green Succulent was pretty fun kind of like little puffed up worms sticking up towards the sky When I was looking at this one, I kind of thought it should be on display at one of those like body exhibits You know how they have like the plasticized body parts and reminded me of something that you would find in one of those display cases I love to seen all the different type of Chrysalis that they had on display here particularly that Sunset II colored one.

It kind of looks like it’s a jade plant, but I’ve just never seen one like that before So if you know if that’s a jade plant or not, please let me know. I Just can’t get over how fun most if not all of these little succulents and cacti are Kinda makes me wish some of these were for sale But at the same point, I guess it’s fun just to kind of admire from afar Looks like over here we have some more Lola thoughts which are always extremely fun And these kind of look like freaky deaky little baby toes if baby toes were multicolored and succulents Looks like we might have a winner Ryan is placing his sticker down With a bit of a struggle, but you know what they say if it doesn’t come off your finger perhaps it’s meant to linger Good job, Ryan.

He got it Oh My goodness gracious. Is it just me or does this one look like a Frankenstein type of plant that’s like sewn together at the seams Maybe I need to go back to the optometrist. I don’t know but that one kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies However that tall bark and leafy fella behind is catching my eye with those dainty little leaves and that funky funky looking trunk You probably know by now that I am NOT the biggest fan of prickly cacti, however that round green one has an interesting little Spherical shaped gizmo coming out the center. It’s pretty captivating Captivating get it. Cuz first of all is the correct way to save a second oil cap cap goes on top like a hat. I Got you Oh My goodness gracious that plant literally looks like swollen grapes with the googly eyes of a snail Where do these things come from? I? Think next year further fall show they should have just a haunted house full of all these – Ricky Dicky looking plants just because I mean, why should we always go with the typical clown scares? Huh? Why not some of these plants? throw people for a looper – Let’s meet somebody brought a bowl of cotton balls to the show Seriously though, I would go to a plant haunted house.

I mean who the heck would it? Oh my god, green house haunted green house. This is a genius guys stroke of genius. We’re listening to Or maybe just a stroke send help Is this Funky little fellow. It doesn’t even look like a plant. It’s a straight-up old piece, darling truly impressive That GE jaggies slender plant is pretty darn funky. I have not seen one like that before What disc How exciting more cotton balls, oh the moon well it’s quicker to get there than I thought didn’t Find it totally Random but slightly still relevant note have any of you tried to pull apart Cotton before I swear like thought of it even just kind of makes my teeth kind of like a wiggle around a little bit Anyways, here is an overview of the shopping side of this event it is Always so fun.

You never really know what you’re gonna find in the shopping section of this event Just because it’s such a gamble but I do kind of find More rare hard to find or impossible to find cacti and succulents The price range is pretty comparable to the standard nursery perhaps slightly elevated But then again is just so hard to say because so many of these items you literally Won’t find anywhere else It’s kind of like How do you compare something like that? well, let you really just can’t so what I usually do is I skip the plants that I see regularly at nurseries and I go For the ones that I don’t see very often Seems pretty fail-proof For the sake of time and your sanity I have decided this year to divide the video up into two parts. That way you can have Two videos that are like around 115 minutes instead of one meka video that’s gonna take you like an entire day to get through But also this year I really wanted to show more of the show portion of this event And so in the next video, I’ll show you all the goodies that we picked up in this shop inside So if you’re interested in seeing what I added to my plenty collection Then please stay tuned because it will be following this video in a couple days.

So Hit that subscribe button and the little bill icon and you will not miss out Unless of course you ignore the notifications in which case you will miss out even though you subscribed and hit the bell icon But just don’t do that Just avoid that issue and to it in Arrey DJ’s, we are departing from the show. Heading on home now I have to film at this angle so that you don’t see the backseat where all the plants are if you want to see what We picked up in the show make sure to click the subscribe button and the little bell icon because guess what is coming in a part too so that this video Isn’t like 30 plus minutes long .

As found on Youtube

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[nicholerestrada]

HUGE Fall Succulent & Cactus Shopping Spree! [PART 1]

Hello hello, hello you guys and welcome back to my youtube channel You can see them outside of a house, which can only mean one thing writing. What do you think that means? We are up to something. We’re up to something. We are about to embark on an adventure to a cactus slash Succulent show that is very hard to say actually without spitting everywhere So I feel highly accomplished right now. In any case it’s gonna be amazing. This is held two times a year I did a video on it once before I will link to it somewhere in the upper corners It was amazing and I have a sinking suspicion That this season is also going to be amazing. Are you excited Ryan? Yes Alrighty so just like last time this event is held by the cactus and succulent society of San Jose it was founded in the 1960s for the sole purpose of educating newbies as well as experienced pros on how to propagate Maintain and allow their little succulent and cacti fellows to flourish by the way.

That’s the one cacti That’s not prickly and oh that one’s made of yarn. So We’re off to a gentle and wonderful start What we’re looking at now is the show portion of their event. They have two sides a side where the members can bring out their a-game and show off their unique little displays It’s just really fun Cuz a lot of times people get really playful with it and they’ll match their little succulent or cacti with a really fun or unique pot which I think is so underrated You know, I feel like plant pottery should also Be given its time in the limelight because a lot of people put a lot of effort into the pottery.

But anyways They have a show portion and then on the other side they have A site that’s all for sale word local nurseries or local vendors? Show off what they’ve got growing on Every year this event happens in the spring and in the fall the spring usually is a lot more crowded and has a bit more variety which Makes sense because of course the plants typically grow a little bit happier in the spring For the show portion you are able to vote for your favorite plants. That’s kind of why you see on the table these green rectangular slabs of papyrus Cuz you stick down with a little red dot which plant Earth’s which cactus or succulent you vote for Fun side note. I have this plate of my own and I tried to make a little bonsai version of it It’s a very cute attempt.

I Don’t know all those spiky little succulents kind of remind me of like the plant version of crazy eyes I was kind of keeping my distance I thought this was a funny little picture though because it kind of looks like a Human or like some sort of like a little freaky-deaky little face and here we have some neon green play-doh looking plant, which is very thrilling especially if you like play-doh It kind of makes me wonder if they have a Socrates or an Aristotle looking plant complete that building block buddy Anyways back to the plants I’m not exactly sure what they do for the winners of this event Simply because I have never submitted a piece before let alone won A title before but I think even if it’s just the sheer Bragging rights that one season hold up.

Never mind this guy looks like he’s got dreamy little fingernails poking out all over himself Oh Anyways, but as I was saying even if it’s just the bragging rights you Know I think that should suffice and up here It looks like we got a handful of booties those lithops always kind of remind me of like little tushies with flowers coming out You know, I don’t know I guess to each their own It’s so fun to see all the different items that show up for this event But it is also kind of interesting cuz after you’ve been around the block a couple times You realize there are some repeat offenders who keep bringing the same plant every single show and they keep on Winning.

Well, actually I don’t know if they keep winning but they keep getting a ton of the little red dots which in essence is a total win But it’s also kind of freaky because some of the plants never seem to grow they never seem to change But they’re there every single year. It’s a little bit Mystifying if you ask me, you know it makes me want to like pick it up and poke it a little bit just to kind of double check to make sure it’s Really Rooney and not like plastic.

You know, I’m not trying to stare at a Barbie all day long I want the green fleshy stuff But not like an alien because they can stay. I’m not trying to single-handedly Bring down the human race because of a circulating characters show But I do also think that corkscrew little plant needs to go on top of the control head I’m pretty sure that would be like the world’s best solution over there Seems like a stroke of oh my god, I’d take it back this one. Oh, That was way too fingernail like for me. Oh Jesus, I Am so sorry for those of you who are wearing headphones during that traumatizing event Let’s all just take a deep breath and forget about that freaky little cactus I would love to see what a tree like that would look like on a Larger scale to the point where you could like kind of like crawl between those little crevices cuz it is just such a unique trunky structure Come on. Now. It’s like little spider crab legs could put it crawling up on out of that pot Oh, it’s kind of like a stingray. Don’t you think? Safely will say I’ve never seen it playing like that before That’s the one fun thing about the show portion is that you do get to see Sure, maybe some common ones but hey, whoa a blue cactus like that’s exactly what I mean You’re gonna find all these other fun little Gizmos that you would have previously probably not seen had you not gone to the show.

It’s very Enticing Neck, I need some lotion. Do you see all that peeling? Mm-hmm. It’s winter you can tell winter is coming. Oh That’s why you gotta use that apricot seed oil, you know, just really let it soak into the skin In the upper right hand corner we have the rare foot cactus if you think Rab and one of those pokey cacti is Painful wait until you try to grab that rare foot cactus Cuz I promise you it’s gonna come to kickin at you. I Thought this pale pistachio green Succulent was pretty fun kind of like little puffed up worms sticking up towards the sky When I was looking at this one, I kind of thought it should be on display at one of those like body exhibits You know how they have like the plasticized body parts and reminded me of something that you would find in one of those display cases I love to seen all the different type of Chrysalis that they had on display here particularly that Sunset II colored one.

It kind of looks like it’s a jade plant, but I’ve just never seen one like that before So if you know if that’s a jade plant or not, please let me know. I Just can’t get over how fun most if not all of these little succulents and cacti are Kinda makes me wish some of these were for sale But at the same point, I guess it’s fun just to kind of admire from afar Looks like over here we have some more Lola thoughts which are always extremely fun And these kind of look like freaky deaky little baby toes if baby toes were multicolored and succulents Looks like we might have a winner Ryan is placing his sticker down With a bit of a struggle, but you know what they say if it doesn’t come off your finger perhaps it’s meant to linger Good job, Ryan.

He got it Oh My goodness gracious. Is it just me or does this one look like a Frankenstein type of plant that’s like sewn together at the seams Maybe I need to go back to the optometrist. I don’t know but that one kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies However that tall bark and leafy fella behind is catching my eye with those dainty little leaves and that funky funky looking trunk You probably know by now that I am NOT the biggest fan of prickly cacti, however that round green one has an interesting little Spherical shaped gizmo coming out the center. It’s pretty captivating Captivating get it. Cuz first of all is the correct way to save a second oil cap cap goes on top like a hat. I Got you Oh My goodness gracious that plant literally looks like swollen grapes with the googly eyes of a snail Where do these things come from? I? Think next year further fall show they should have just a haunted house full of all these – Ricky Dicky looking plants just because I mean, why should we always go with the typical clown scares? Huh? Why not some of these plants? throw people for a looper – Let’s meet somebody brought a bowl of cotton balls to the show Seriously though, I would go to a plant haunted house.

I mean who the heck would it? Oh my god, green house haunted green house. This is a genius guys stroke of genius. We’re listening to Or maybe just a stroke send help Is this Funky little fellow. It doesn’t even look like a plant. It’s a straight-up old piece, darling truly impressive That GE jaggies slender plant is pretty darn funky. I have not seen one like that before What disc How exciting more cotton balls, oh the moon well it’s quicker to get there than I thought didn’t Find it totally Random but slightly still relevant note have any of you tried to pull apart Cotton before I swear like thought of it even just kind of makes my teeth kind of like a wiggle around a little bit Anyways, here is an overview of the shopping side of this event it is Always so fun.

You never really know what you’re gonna find in the shopping section of this event Just because it’s such a gamble but I do kind of find More rare hard to find or impossible to find cacti and succulents The price range is pretty comparable to the standard nursery perhaps slightly elevated But then again is just so hard to say because so many of these items you literally Won’t find anywhere else It’s kind of like How do you compare something like that? well, let you really just can’t so what I usually do is I skip the plants that I see regularly at nurseries and I go For the ones that I don’t see very often Seems pretty fail-proof For the sake of time and your sanity I have decided this year to divide the video up into two parts. That way you can have Two videos that are like around 115 minutes instead of one meka video that’s gonna take you like an entire day to get through But also this year I really wanted to show more of the show portion of this event And so in the next video, I’ll show you all the goodies that we picked up in this shop inside So if you’re interested in seeing what I added to my plenty collection Then please stay tuned because it will be following this video in a couple days.

So Hit that subscribe button and the little bill icon and you will not miss out Unless of course you ignore the notifications in which case you will miss out even though you subscribed and hit the bell icon But just don’t do that Just avoid that issue and to it in Arrey DJ’s, we are departing from the show. Heading on home now I have to film at this angle so that you don’t see the backseat where all the plants are if you want to see what We picked up in the show make sure to click the subscribe button and the little bell icon because guess what is coming in a part too so that this video Isn’t like 30 plus minutes long .

As found on Youtube

The post HUGE Fall Succulent & Cactus Shopping Spree! [PART 1] appeared first on Pro Shopping Service.

Source: https://proshoppingservice.com/huge-fall-succulent-cactus-shopping-spree-part-1/

from Garko Media https://garkomedia1.wordpress.com/2019/01/01/huge-fall-succulent-cactus-shopping-spree-part-1/

[slinkyslugs]

I return from my winter dormancy 🫨

Enjoying the middle of the day sunshine and slight warmth! We started our King Oyster mushroom logs at the beginning of Feb, so check back in like 8 months...

Also another mushroom goblet, with a cute lil snail at the bottom. I'm also working on a snail yarn bowl that I'll try to post when it's done!

[garkomedia1]

HUGE Fall Succulent & Cactus Shopping Spree! [PART 1]

Hello hello, hello you guys and welcome back to my youtube channel You can see them outside of a house, which can only mean one thing writing. What do you think that means? We are up to something. We’re up to something. We are about to embark on an adventure to a cactus slash Succulent show that is very hard to say actually without spitting everywhere So I feel highly accomplished right now. In any case it’s gonna be amazing. This is held two times a year I did a video on it once before I will link to it somewhere in the upper corners It was amazing and I have a sinking suspicion That this season is also going to be amazing. Are you excited Ryan? Yes Alrighty so just like last time this event is held by the cactus and succulent society of San Jose it was founded in the 1960s for the sole purpose of educating newbies as well as experienced pros on how to propagate Maintain and allow their little succulent and cacti fellows to flourish by the way.

That’s the one cacti That’s not prickly and oh that one’s made of yarn. So We’re off to a gentle and wonderful start What we’re looking at now is the show portion of their event. They have two sides a side where the members can bring out their a-game and show off their unique little displays It’s just really fun Cuz a lot of times people get really playful with it and they’ll match their little succulent or cacti with a really fun or unique pot which I think is so underrated You know, I feel like plant pottery should also Be given its time in the limelight because a lot of people put a lot of effort into the pottery.

But anyways They have a show portion and then on the other side they have A site that’s all for sale word local nurseries or local vendors? Show off what they’ve got growing on Every year this event happens in the spring and in the fall the spring usually is a lot more crowded and has a bit more variety which Makes sense because of course the plants typically grow a little bit happier in the spring For the show portion you are able to vote for your favorite plants. That’s kind of why you see on the table these green rectangular slabs of papyrus Cuz you stick down with a little red dot which plant Earth’s which cactus or succulent you vote for Fun side note. I have this plate of my own and I tried to make a little bonsai version of it It’s a very cute attempt.

I Don’t know all those spiky little succulents kind of remind me of like the plant version of crazy eyes I was kind of keeping my distance I thought this was a funny little picture though because it kind of looks like a Human or like some sort of like a little freaky-deaky little face and here we have some neon green play-doh looking plant, which is very thrilling especially if you like play-doh It kind of makes me wonder if they have a Socrates or an Aristotle looking plant complete that building block buddy Anyways back to the plants I’m not exactly sure what they do for the winners of this event Simply because I have never submitted a piece before let alone won A title before but I think even if it’s just the sheer Bragging rights that one season hold up.

Never mind this guy looks like he’s got dreamy little fingernails poking out all over himself Oh Anyways, but as I was saying even if it’s just the bragging rights you Know I think that should suffice and up here It looks like we got a handful of booties those lithops always kind of remind me of like little tushies with flowers coming out You know, I don’t know I guess to each their own It’s so fun to see all the different items that show up for this event But it is also kind of interesting cuz after you’ve been around the block a couple times You realize there are some repeat offenders who keep bringing the same plant every single show and they keep on Winning.

Well, actually I don’t know if they keep winning but they keep getting a ton of the little red dots which in essence is a total win But it’s also kind of freaky because some of the plants never seem to grow they never seem to change But they’re there every single year. It’s a little bit Mystifying if you ask me, you know it makes me want to like pick it up and poke it a little bit just to kind of double check to make sure it’s Really Rooney and not like plastic.

You know, I’m not trying to stare at a Barbie all day long I want the green fleshy stuff But not like an alien because they can stay. I’m not trying to single-handedly Bring down the human race because of a circulating characters show But I do also think that corkscrew little plant needs to go on top of the control head I’m pretty sure that would be like the world’s best solution over there Seems like a stroke of oh my god, I’d take it back this one. Oh, That was way too fingernail like for me. Oh Jesus, I Am so sorry for those of you who are wearing headphones during that traumatizing event Let’s all just take a deep breath and forget about that freaky little cactus I would love to see what a tree like that would look like on a Larger scale to the point where you could like kind of like crawl between those little crevices cuz it is just such a unique trunky structure Come on. Now. It’s like little spider crab legs could put it crawling up on out of that pot Oh, it’s kind of like a stingray. Don’t you think? Safely will say I’ve never seen it playing like that before That’s the one fun thing about the show portion is that you do get to see Sure, maybe some common ones but hey, whoa a blue cactus like that’s exactly what I mean You’re gonna find all these other fun little Gizmos that you would have previously probably not seen had you not gone to the show.

It’s very Enticing Neck, I need some lotion. Do you see all that peeling? Mm-hmm. It’s winter you can tell winter is coming. Oh That’s why you gotta use that apricot seed oil, you know, just really let it soak into the skin In the upper right hand corner we have the rare foot cactus if you think Rab and one of those pokey cacti is Painful wait until you try to grab that rare foot cactus Cuz I promise you it’s gonna come to kickin at you. I Thought this pale pistachio green Succulent was pretty fun kind of like little puffed up worms sticking up towards the sky When I was looking at this one, I kind of thought it should be on display at one of those like body exhibits You know how they have like the plasticized body parts and reminded me of something that you would find in one of those display cases I love to seen all the different type of Chrysalis that they had on display here particularly that Sunset II colored one.

It kind of looks like it’s a jade plant, but I’ve just never seen one like that before So if you know if that’s a jade plant or not, please let me know. I Just can’t get over how fun most if not all of these little succulents and cacti are Kinda makes me wish some of these were for sale But at the same point, I guess it’s fun just to kind of admire from afar Looks like over here we have some more Lola thoughts which are always extremely fun And these kind of look like freaky deaky little baby toes if baby toes were multicolored and succulents Looks like we might have a winner Ryan is placing his sticker down With a bit of a struggle, but you know what they say if it doesn’t come off your finger perhaps it’s meant to linger Good job, Ryan.

He got it Oh My goodness gracious. Is it just me or does this one look like a Frankenstein type of plant that’s like sewn together at the seams Maybe I need to go back to the optometrist. I don’t know but that one kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies However that tall bark and leafy fella behind is catching my eye with those dainty little leaves and that funky funky looking trunk You probably know by now that I am NOT the biggest fan of prickly cacti, however that round green one has an interesting little Spherical shaped gizmo coming out the center. It’s pretty captivating Captivating get it. Cuz first of all is the correct way to save a second oil cap cap goes on top like a hat. I Got you Oh My goodness gracious that plant literally looks like swollen grapes with the googly eyes of a snail Where do these things come from? I? Think next year further fall show they should have just a haunted house full of all these – Ricky Dicky looking plants just because I mean, why should we always go with the typical clown scares? Huh? Why not some of these plants? throw people for a looper – Let’s meet somebody brought a bowl of cotton balls to the show Seriously though, I would go to a plant haunted house.

I mean who the heck would it? Oh my god, green house haunted green house. This is a genius guys stroke of genius. We’re listening to Or maybe just a stroke send help Is this Funky little fellow. It doesn’t even look like a plant. It’s a straight-up old piece, darling truly impressive That GE jaggies slender plant is pretty darn funky. I have not seen one like that before What disc How exciting more cotton balls, oh the moon well it’s quicker to get there than I thought didn’t Find it totally Random but slightly still relevant note have any of you tried to pull apart Cotton before I swear like thought of it even just kind of makes my teeth kind of like a wiggle around a little bit Anyways, here is an overview of the shopping side of this event it is Always so fun.

You never really know what you’re gonna find in the shopping section of this event Just because it’s such a gamble but I do kind of find More rare hard to find or impossible to find cacti and succulents The price range is pretty comparable to the standard nursery perhaps slightly elevated But then again is just so hard to say because so many of these items you literally Won’t find anywhere else It’s kind of like How do you compare something like that? well, let you really just can’t so what I usually do is I skip the plants that I see regularly at nurseries and I go For the ones that I don’t see very often Seems pretty fail-proof For the sake of time and your sanity I have decided this year to divide the video up into two parts. That way you can have Two videos that are like around 115 minutes instead of one meka video that’s gonna take you like an entire day to get through But also this year I really wanted to show more of the show portion of this event And so in the next video, I’ll show you all the goodies that we picked up in this shop inside So if you’re interested in seeing what I added to my plenty collection Then please stay tuned because it will be following this video in a couple days.

So Hit that subscribe button and the little bill icon and you will not miss out Unless of course you ignore the notifications in which case you will miss out even though you subscribed and hit the bell icon But just don’t do that Just avoid that issue and to it in Arrey DJ’s, we are departing from the show. Heading on home now I have to film at this angle so that you don’t see the backseat where all the plants are if you want to see what We picked up in the show make sure to click the subscribe button and the little bell icon because guess what is coming in a part too so that this video Isn’t like 30 plus minutes long .

As found on Youtube

The post HUGE Fall Succulent & Cactus Shopping Spree! [PART 1] appeared first on Pro Shopping Service.

from RSSUnify feed https://proshoppingservice.com/huge-fall-succulent-cactus-shopping-spree-part-1/

[heartfelthobbies-blog]

#Day3 #MarchMeetTheMaker2018 #HowYouStarted My parents signed and dated my first drawing, "A Sleeping Snail", when I was 18 months old. I went through a brief Picasso period, yet horses have been a favorite subject to draw throughout my life. By age 7, I was mass producing and selling yarn and pipecleaner cats at my bowling league between games. I had a miniature traveling store front, and I charged 75 cents a piece. I learned how easily you can saturate your market. I attribute my early creativity and entrepreneurship to my extremely supportive family, who always made knowledge and art accessable to me, as well as being unschooled, and being surrounded by an exciting and diverse homechooling community. #marchmeetthemaker2018 #marchmeetthemakerday3 #homechooling #unschooling #artistsofinstagram #olddrawings (at Syracuse, New York)

[raintrunkle]

snow, yarn, and folktale!

Yarn: I wish I had more interests at the moment, I am in a bit of a more down state lately but my hobbies that I have kept throughout the years have been painting/drawing, writing, reading, photography, writing, stone collecting and people watching. Folktale: I wasn't sure if this meant stories that happened to me or fairytales that remind me of my childhood. So I will go with both. I spent weekends at my grandmother's sometimes and during the rainy season she would take me to a ravine/park near her apartment building and I would take a giant salad bowl and collect snails in it with lettuce leaves. We would later return them to their original homes after much observation. Fairytales I will always remember in my childhood are from The Jim Henson's Storyteller dvd collection? I loved Sapsorrow and her three beautiful dresses. Snow: this is a question I ask myself a lot, all throughout the year, as if it is my job to decide in which weather do I fit best. I think after much thought, I like the inbetween seasons most. Fall and Spring, I feel most like myself, with the strong sense of changing in the air.

[cat-appreciator]

Amazing!!! I love him!!!!

Yarn Snail!

Colors on the body didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but overall very pleased. One antenna broke off before its last kiln journey, but will be glued back on.