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mtairyartgarage-blog · 4 years ago

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Countdown To The First Ever Family Pride Picnic and Arts Festival In Mt Airy

The event is ON! Saturday, June 23, 11 am – 5 pm, Lovett Library Park, 6945 Germantown Ave., 19119. Admission is free. The festival is alcohol and smoke-free.

In celebration of Philadelphia’s 30th Anniversary of Pride, the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, Philadelphia Family Pride, and the Mt. Airy Art Garage are partnering to hold the first ever Philly Family Pride Picnic & Arts Festival.

The event will be held at the newly renovated Lovett Library Park in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia on Sat. June 23 with a rain date of Sat. June 30, 2018. The event will run from 11 am – 5 pm at 6945 Germantown Avenue. Admission is free and open to all ages, families, and community members.

Slated to attend the picnic are Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Director of the Office of LGBT Affairs Amber Hikes, members of Philadelphia City Council, and a host of well-known personalities to join us in the festivities.

There will be family-friendly entertainment including jugglers, face painters and craft tables. Music brought to you by Anna Crusis Choir. Drumming brought to you (bring your drums!) by Jan Jeffries and Music Over Matter (MOM). There will be resource tables from a variety of organizations and nonprofits that provide services and support to LGBTQ parents and youth including William Way Center, The Mayor’s Office, ACLU of PA, PFLAG, FSP Against Bullying, HRC, Sisterspace, Action Wellness, LGBT Elder Initiative, and of course Philly Family Pride and the Mt. Airy Art Garage.

The Arts Festival portion will feature unique, one-of-a-kind work by local artists including handmade leather goods and buckles, fine art, photography, handmade soaps, handblown glass, delightful bird houses for your garden, woodwork, and more. Artists include:

Angelique Benrahou, Denise Benrahou, Bob Bruhin, Karen Bruhin, Katherine Cheetham, Gretel DeRuiter, Roz Dutton, Tina Grello, Itzik Lorant, Jennifer Lynne, Arleen Olshan, Patricia Smith, Soaps by Alana, and Nicki Toizer.

And, of course, what would the day be without entertainment by Anna Crusis Women’s Choir and the drums of Jan Jeffries and Music Over Movement (MOM)! Plus Island Spot and 2StreetSammies will have their food trucks there to make the day perfect!

“Bring your questions, talk to your peers, support local artists, and just come on out for an incredible day,” said event organizer Linda Slodki from Mt. Airy Art Garage.

“You won’t want to miss this Family Pride event in Mt. Airy celebrating the diverse, beautiful, and extraordinary LGBTQ families and artists here in Philadelphia. This will be a day for celebration, for arts and creativity, for information gathering, and just plain fun. Hope to see you there!” added Philadelphia Family Pride Executive Director Stephanie Haynes.

Mt. Airy Art Garage (MAAG) connects and supports multidisciplined artists and art lovers in Northwest Philadelphia by using creativity to build a thriving, safer community. As a force for change, MAAG continues to build local and city-wide partnerships to bring art and creativity to people who currently have little or no access to them.

Philadelphia Family Pride’s (PFP) mission is to build community for LGBTQ+ parents, prospective parents, grandparents and our kids of all ages – including adults, youth, kids, toddlers and infants. We support our families in the greater Philadelphia region through advocacy, education and family-centered events.

The Office of LGBT Affairs works to foster equal working and living conditions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people and to advocate for LGBTQ issues in all areas of City government. Created in 2008 by mayoral executive order, the Office of LGBT Affairs became a permanent part of the City’s charter in 2015. The office aims to:

· Develop City policy regarding civil rights issues affecting LGBTQ people.

· Help enact policies and programs to meet the City’s diversity and equality goals.

· Coordinate among City departments, agencies, and offices to improve LGBTQ access to services, and to promote equality and safety for LGBTQ people.

· Support the growth and development of the City’s LGBTQ communities and serve as liaison between the area’s LGBTQ communities and the City.

· Provide education about the needs of the LGBTQ community.

#2018

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awkwardbluefish · 5 years ago

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Cake to the Hood

A/n - Happy Birthday Jason Todd!

Warning: Swearing

—

“Okay, what the hell was that for?” Jason demands, voice going from electronic to his familiar Gothamnite drawl as fingers catch on the latch and pull the hood off. He had just cleaned it yesterday damnit, a whole damn hour getting rid of boot marks and muck off the surface and then dickface throws a fuckin’ cake at it! He was so dead once Jason wiped the white frosting off it.

Dick merely cackles, falling through Jason’s window like a bloody pretzel and crashing into Jason’s ankles. He’s tempted to stomp on his head but then he’d have to clean his boots too and he isn’t about to force more labour onto himself even if it was technically Dick’s fault.

Only when he manages to stop laughing like a hyena and slapping cream carpeted floor like a seal, does Dick finally answer. The bastard. “Guess!” He chirps, rolling onto his back so he can successfully pull off the domino still attached to his cheek bones.

Jason sends him a scowl, dropping the cake ridden hood at his brothers face and lips twitching down further when the bastard merely catches it. Dick sends him a grin, hugging the helmet to his chest like some form of a teddy bear, smearing frothy icing on biceps. The fucker was way too cheerful for a black eye and a bruising cheek. Vaguely he wonders if he could get away with giving the bastard matching panda eyes. Now that would be good payback.

He’s done many things to deserve revenge, but a cake being thrown at him? That was just plain weird. He’s broken bones, teased the younger brats mercilessly. He’s also ate all of Dick’s cereal out of pure spite yesterday. Even the lucky charms. Jason hates lucky charms. He doesn’t think Dick knows that just yet though. “Payback for eating your freakishly large cereal collection.”

Dick goes eerily still and Jason is most probably going to die, again, but it was worth it for his reaction. Slowly Dick stretches to a stand, no longer hugging the hood and appearing to hold it as a potentially flying projectile instead. Ocean blue eyes glare into forest green and Jason genuinely feels a stab of fear flow through his veins.

“Your lucky today is special. Really lucky.” If this is how Nightwing becomes a villain Jason wants credit.

He blinks as Dick does a 180 with a shake of his head and is suddenly grinning, tossing him back his hood. He’ll need to vacuum later; the sprinkles have gotten everywhere. He huffs, snatches the oiled rag hanging by the window. It was a handy place to keep it, surprisingly.

“So ya throw a perfectly edible cake at my helmet that I could’ve eaten? Ya fuckin’ serious right now? Could’ve just told me to take it off, at least I’d actually get ta fuckin’ eat it then.” Jason grumbles, scrubbing at the frosting stuck in the little nooks of the scratches and the camouflaged kinks on the side. “What’s so special that you had to throw a fuckin’ cake at me in three in the morning’ anyway? Jesus bigwing.”

With as much of the cake scraped off as possible, he decides chucking the oil ridden rag at the idiot in front of him is the next best action. Again, infuriatingly, Dick catches it with a small grin that was slightly bemused. What wasn’t Jason getting now?

“Really?” Dick asks, looking fondly exasperated. Gross. Jason gives him a look and Dickface looks absolutely delighted. Jason’s too late to abort the mission. “Oh my god, you’re just like Babybird!” He exclaims, squealing and flapping his arms up and down. Jason blinks.

“And how am I like that caffeine addict exactly?” Jason demands, gently laying his hood on the coffee table beside his couch. It’s the top floor. No one would see.

“Timmy always forgets his birthdays.” Dick teases and Jason blinks. That’s not what he was expecting.

“It is not my birthday.” Jason states simply.

Dick shakes his head, biting his bottom lip with his teeth to supress the obnoxious grin. “It’s definitely your birthday.”

“Give me a calendar.” Jason demands, he’s tired and he smells like cake and smoke. He needs a shower. He just needs to prove the fucker wrong and he can finally go get some well needed asleep.

Dick happily complies, messing with his gauntlet. A second later and a blue holographic screen lights up the tiny apartment. Hadn’t they switched the lights on? Considering they were still two centimetres from the open window pumping chemical fumes into his tiny safehouse, Jason would take that as a no.

“It’s not and I will prove it to you,” Jason mumbles, eyeing the screen. He blinks. “Oh. Never mind. Happy Birthday to me.”

A wheeze of air escapes his older brothers’ lips, stomach tensing with strain before bubbles of laughter tears through the air. Jason’s stomach coils with warmth before ice carves its way through his veins. With a flick, the lights are on. Dick and Jason hadn’t moved though, someone was in his house. Fuck he was getting rusty. A warm palm cups the back of his neck, puffs of air brushing against a brown jacket as warm laughter and chatter arises from behind them. He resists rolling his eyes, instead hip bumping the laughing form away to turn and greet his guests. A head is quickly dug its way between his shoulder blades as Dick absolutely fails to get himself together.

Damian is sitting on the back of the lime green couch, a frown on his lips but the furrowed brow crinkled in amusement gives him away. Stephanie is cackling, her shoulders shaking in mirth, white pearly teeth stained orange with the cheezles between her lips. Barbara’s emerald eyes catch on his forest green ones, a smile pulling at glossed lips while pulling a striped plastic bag onto her lap. Cass makes the first move though, gracefully leveling herself to her feet from the crisscrossed form on the carpet, a warm arm wrapping around his waist as another pushes their older brother away. Soft lips press against his cheek, completely ignoring the stubble lingering there from yesterdays’ shave. Jason rakes his hand through the charcoal hair, belly rumbling with a chuckle or two as she leans into the touch.

“Did the stakeout mess with your head that much?” Tim asks and Jason scowls at the boy nestled on his beanbag, Alfred’s cotton stitched blanket woven over bony shoulders. How hadn’t he heard the babybird? Beanbags are far from quiet after all. If anyone asks, he blames the non-existent cake crammed in his ears.

“Don’t be mean to the birthday boy!” Dick butts in, expertly dodging around Cass’ frame to snap on a party hat on Jason’s head. At least it isn’t black, he decides as the neon green seems to glow in the dim lighting. Tim rolls his eyes, lips pulling up with that rare small smile of his. Jason doesn’t smile back, but it’s a close thing.

“Yeah,” Jason puffs out his chest with a smirk, “don’t mess with the birthday boy.”

Cassandra squeezes his waist as Damian groans and rolls his eyes. The boy lets gravity take him, falling forward onto the cushions below, limbs bouncing with the impact. Robins, dramatic little birds. Jason would know. Stephanie snickers, stuffing one more sugar coated junk into her mouth before full on prancing the one metre to poke and prod at the boy.

“I hate you.” Tim decides, no heat behind his words. Jason detangles himself from Cass hug, placing a chaste kiss to her forehead before striding over to plonk himself onto the boy, grinning with his teeth at the distressed noise the boy manages to squeak out in a gasping breath. Jason merely smirks as fingers dig into his jacket, palms pushing against back muscles. They both now if Tim really didn’t want to be sat on, he wouldn’t be.

Ding.

Dick pauses messing about with placing plastic cups and parcels on the coffee table, straitening up with a grin. Jason watches bemused, wiggling to get comfortable on Tim’s stomach as Dick yanks the door open, basically throwing Duke inside. Alfred and Bruce stride in much more gracefully, a small smile on both of their lips.

“Happy birthday, Master Jason.” Alfred says, two bulging plastic bags placed gently by Barbara’s feet near the coffee table. Jason ducks, smiling to himself at the mans fond expression. Alfred simply smiles at the top of his head and Jason feels no guilt wiggling forcefully down onto the laughing boy underneath him. It was his birthday and yet these shits were taking the micky out of him. The bastards, Jason thinks fondly. A cool hand pats his cheek and Jason stops his withering, pausing to grin at his grandfather and to accept the kiss to his hairline.

Bruce pats Alfred’s shoulder in passing, raising a brow at Tim’s undignified squawk as Jason digs an elbow to his side. He doesn’t say anything though, a smile teasing at his lips. Jason hears Bruce’s knees crack before seeing the older man kneeling. A hand brushes through his locks, blunt nails scratching at his scalp.

“Happy birthday, chum.” Bruce murmurs and his voice is so soft, so fond that Jason doesn’t really know what to do. When all else fails diversion is the next best step. He is not dealing with mushy feelings right now.

“Look, all of this is nice and all but if anyone throws a perfectly edible cake at me again, I will become a cannibal so I can eat something.”

#tim drake #dick grayson #dc #jason todd #damian wayne #batfamily #bruce wayne #cassandra cain #duke thomas #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #alfred pennyworth #my writing #mine

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tshepiso-reads-books · 5 years ago

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Tell Me More, Tell Me More | Summer Days & Summer Nights Edited by Stephanie Perkins

It's almost impossible not to have mixed feelings about an anthology. Especially one as diverse as Summer Days and Summer Nights [Goodreads] edited by Stephanie Perkins. While I adored some of the stories in this collection most of them were fairly middle of the road.

Head Scales Tongue Tail - Leigh Bardugo

Stars 🌟🌟🌟

There was nothing I found particularly exciting about this story. The summer romance was cute enough, and the atmosphere, especially in the very beginning, was well done. But, I couldn’t help but be a little bit bored by the story. The magical realism was too subtle to be attention grabbing and the characters were slightly bland.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

End of Love - Nina Lacour

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This one was cute. The most memorable thing about it was the cast of characters in the story. Their dialogue was funny and their friendship felt natural. I didn’t have any strong feelings towards the main couple, but they were cute.

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Last Stand at the Cinegore - Libba Bray

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This one is one of my favorites and was super fun. This was hilarious. the dialogue was sharp and I was laughing out loud a lot. I really liked the plot of this one cause it wasn’t just a straight up romance but a campy horror story as well. The nods to classic horror movies were fun and the characters were gems.

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Sick Pleasure - Francesca Lia Block

Stars 🌟

I did not like this story. At all. All the characters felt so distant. I wasn’t into the romance. It didn’t feel based on the characters' personalities or chemistry. The main character would proclaim her undying love for the love interest, and all I felt was confusion. Also the fact that all the characters were only address by the initials was out of place and grating

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In Ninety Minutes Turn North - Stephanie Perkins -

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was an unexpected delight. I adored the first story in this world seen My True Love Gave To Me and I didn’t think Perkins would continue the story in a sequel. I was already attached to these characters and I found this story super sweet. North and Marigold are still super adorable.

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Souvenirs - Tim Federle

Stars 🌟🌟🌟

This one was okay. I liked the narrator and there were a few good moments sprinkled throughout. The emotions felt real in this one and I liked the ending.

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Inertia - Veronica Roth

Stars 🌟🌟

I didn’t hate this story, but I did find it bland. I didn’t connect with the characters cause their personalities didn’t really jump off the page. The writing was also too plain for my liking. I did like the concept of Last Visitation, but I wish the ending wasn’t as happily ever after it was.

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Love is the Last Resort - Jon Skovron

Stars 🌟🌟🌟

This story is a bit of a mixed bag. I loved the overblown melodrama of the story, but there was a bit of a tonal consistency issue. Skovron should have leaned into the over the top narrative style a large section of the story was in. The dialogue occasionally slipped into regular speech which was jarring. The main couple could have had their romance developed more because I didn’t feel their connection, especially compared to the side pairings of this story.

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Good Luck and Farewell - Brandy Colbert

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

There’s this indescribable atmosphere to Colbert’s writing that filled my soul with so much joy. Despite this story being really short Colbert managed make characters and a world that felt real and lived in. The romance between Pierre and Rashida made me actively swoon and I loved these guy’s romance a lot.

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Brand New Attraction - Cassandra Clare

Stars 🌟🌟½

I’m not fond of Clare’s writing style. I think the characters were a bit bland and the romance too rushed to really be attracted to. But, I did like the paranormal setting. I think the spooky carnival was a nice break from the contemporary setting of the majority of the short stories.

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A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong - Jennifer E. Smith

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This made me feel a lot of gooey feelings. Griffin and his love interest are fantastic characters. I cared about them and their story almost instantly. She was such a genuinely kind person and I love seeing that in main characters. And the romance was excellent. Also 700 bonus points for cute kids.

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The Map of Tiny Things - Lev Grossman

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This story is definitely one of my favorites. Not only does it have one of my favorite tropes of all time: time loops (done really well!), Lev Grossman is also a really good writer. I really liked the narrator of this story. The tone of the story is conversational making it super easy to get wrapped up in Mark’s thoughts. I legit laughed out loud at certain lines. The ending did feel a bit too cheesy, but overall it was a good time.

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Aggregate Rating

🌟🌟🌟.46

#Summer Days and Summer Nights #YA #Contemporary #YA Contemporary #Reading #Books #Review #Book Review

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cheeto-anaconda · 6 years ago

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So I’m not sure if anyone cares that much about what I post on this blog, but I just wanted to make a lil announcement about a tiny change I’ve decided to do:

When I first started this blog about a year ago it was exclusively for The Good Place. Since then it’s branched out to include other shows influenced by Mike Schur, like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. When One Day at a Time S3 is released on Netflix in February I’m going to start posting about it on this blog too. While ODAAT is not associated with Mike Schur, this season will guest star Melissa Fumero and Stephanie Beatriz, so I’d probably be posting here about their characters anyway. Plus in my head I’ve always associated TGP, B99 and ODAAT with each other as my Feel Good Comedy Trio, so it’ll be nice to talk about them all on the same blog as they each air at the same time.

If you want to avoid spoilers, block the tag #odaat spoilers. I’ll be using this tag until the end of February and will switch to just #odaat starting in March.

So with this addition in mind, this blog has officially gone from a Good Place blog to a Mike Schur Sitcom blog to just a plain old Delightful Sitcom blog! The Good Place will still probably be the central focus and I’ll probably always keep my current url, but yeah. It’s a thing.

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bluboothalassophile · 6 years ago

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Stories of the Batfamily + extended family/friend's attempts to get jason and raven together to the point that they have maybe? Group chats , monthly meetups or get togethers to devise plans of attack (matchmaking) without targeted people knowing to the point it turns into a batfamily bonding experience 👪✨ Although its clear that jason and raven are naturally going to be together on their own time when they are ready, i wanna see other methods the batfamily has used before jayrae happened

Hello,

This is sounding like fun antics, to which I should build on… I like the way you think. Expect more of the Batfamily shenanigans to ensue!

Keeping the Peace…

Bruce valiantly tried to stay OUT of meddling in hischildren’s lives. TRIED being the operative word here. There were waymore of them than him, and his wife did not help matters. Selina was easily thebiggest instigator of shenanigans in his house and had been since they werekids. So, aside from being out numbered and out gunned, he was trying harder atbeing a parent and not a meddler. Again, easier said than done.

No matter, Bruce was in a board meeting, with the heads hisnewest acquisition, Jetsons Aviation, which was currently the leadingcompletely earth-based company leading in space exploration. George Jetson andhis daughter Judy, with their lead engineer, Dominique Blake, sat there as theyfinished the contract signing. George was a rather plain, lean, redheaded man;his daughter, Judy had platinum blonde hair and looked about Tim’s age, andDominique Blake was a vivacious redhead. All three were sitting in apprehensionas the contract was handed to him to sign.

“Father!” a voice shouted, and Damian burst into the room. “Idemand that you help us!”

Cass, Tim and Stephanie all peaked around the corner andBruce sighed as he leaned in his seat.

“I told you he was in a meeting!” Tim hissed.

“I tried to stop the gremlin!” Stephanie snapped.

Cass beamed at him and Bruce smiled slightly at his daughteras Damian took up his line of sight. Damian puffed up his chest, put his handson his hips; everything about that just screamed Talia al Ghul as Damian glaredchallengingly at him.

“Damian,” Bruce sighed. “George Jetson, this is my son, Damian,Damian I am in an important meeting.” Bruce saw the bemused look on George’sface.

“This is more important,” Damian stated in a huff.

“Then it will wait, until after I’ve finished my meeting andI take you and your siblings to lunch to discuss this important topic,” Brucecountered.

Damian opened his mouth to protest.

“Bye dad!” Cass smiled as she grabbed the neck of Damian’s shirtand dragged him after her. Bruce sighed as he turned back to the trio who werelooking ready to burst into laughter. Signing the document they finished thediscussion of the merger, and Bruce asked Lucius to d an audit of the companybefore standing and assuring George that he would be back and would like totalk more about the funding needed for the company.

Bruce was bemused to be greeted by Tim, Tammy, Stephanie,Cass and Damian. Damian was scowling at having been dismissed, Tim had his handentwined with Tammy’s while Cass and Stephanie were both having a vibrant conversationabout… waffles?

“What was so important Damian?” Bruce asked as he and his kidsstarted down the street.

“I must insist we buy the Kiss Cam at the Play Offs game!” Damianstated.

“What?”

“He’s been on this since yesterday, sir,” Tammy said.

“And why do we need to buy the KissCam?” Bruce asked drylyas his son walked beside him.

“Jason is being an imbecile, I saw him with that Rose woman.It is not allowed,” Damian huffed. Bruce sighed then.

Jason was a complicated matter still, but it was mostlyamusing when Damian saw Jason with Rose. Which had happened after the weddingwhen Jason had crossed paths with Ravager. Bruce still remember cringing as thetwo toppled off WE Tower, and Jason kissed Rose until last moment when he escapedthe death fall, Rose a step behind him the entire time. That night Bruce andthe family had kind of gotten a front row seat without distractions or interferencewhat Rose and Jason were really like. And it had landed in one of Jason’s safehouses. Bruce remembered because he had come by the next morning mainly to makesure Jason was alive, only to find a naked, pissed off Rose chained to theheater as Jason ducked out the window to escape Rose’s wrath.

“Jason is free to do as he pleases,” Bruce reminded hischild.

“I told him that,” Tim piped up.

“The gremlin thinks we need to save Jason from Rose,” Stephaniegiggled.

“JayRae,” Cass chimed up. “Hot dogs,” Cass pointed at astreet vendor. Bruce pulled out his wallet and handed her the bills as shedragged Tim, Tammy and Stephanie after her for hot dogs.

“Jason is a moron,” Damian huffed sourly.

“Jason is also an adult free to make his own decisions,”Bruce reminded his son.

“Bad ones.”

“Damian,” Bruce sighed.

“You are concerned for our well being as your children, andas you are our father, even if Jason is a colossal imbecile. He can no longerbe trusted to make decisions about his love life,” Damian stated.

Okay, those were valid points, but the same could be saidabout Tim or Cass or Duke, and Bruce didn’t interfere with their lives. And hehad seen what meddling did with Barbara and Dick, so he didn’t see how thiscould even end well. However, Damian was persistent, and Jason was no doubt awareof Damian’s incessant pushing for him to get together with Raven, so Brucecould honestly see no harm in amusing Damian. Jason and Raven would sort it out.And it’d be a moment of peace.

“Fine.” Bruce submitted to keep a moment of peace. Hischildren were weird regarding Jason and Raven. But who was he to judge, so longas they weren’t at each other’s throats he’d let them set Jason up with Raven.Honestly, this was the most civil Tim and Damian had been since Damian’s arrival.

Internally Bruce pleaded for Raven and Jason’s forgivenessfor throwing them under the bus.

“You see reason, good.” Damian huffed.

Bruce saw peace. Not reason. But for now he would allow his sonthe delusion that he was in on these antics to keep the peace in his house. Solong as Selina didn’t get in the antics he couldn’t see the harm.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason sat up when he felt the hairs on the back of his neckstand up. He didn’t like that feeling, something was up…

“Jay get your paranoid ass down here! I need a shower andLian needs food!” Roy shouted.

“I’m coming! Calm your tits!” Jason shouted back as he stoodand jogged down the steps of his ware house to where Lian was fighting Roy tonot get in her high chair for the mushy greens.

“You take her, I have to be at the site in twenty,” Roy huffedshoving Lian at him before running off.

“You clearly annoyed your daddy, good girl, for that wegonna have peaches for lunch!” Jason smiled as Lian squealed in delight. Kidwas kind of growing on him.

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #one #bruce wayne #damian wayne #tim drake #tammy fox #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #george jetson #judy jetson #jayrose #roy harper #jason todd #lian harper #hopes for a bastard #hopes for a bastard universe

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davidmann95 · 6 years ago

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This week's comics? Specifically, new Tom King Batman/Green Lantern?

Hoo boy, this week was a hefty one. Tackling your requests at the top, and no spoilers this week:

The Green Lantern #2: It’s surprising how non-action-driven this has been for the first couple issues - it really is space cop stuff first and foremost, in this case an interrogation. I see what Morrison meant in interviews when he said people would take Hal’s voice as odd in this, and I hope he’ll follow though when he said the core of his take’ll be a little clearer soon, but even so I’m liking him well enough as the traditional straight-take superhero anchor to the 2000ADness of it all. The Oa spread on page 7 is absolutely jaw-dropping, and the guest villain of the issue explaining his name is the best thing in superhero comics this week, and possibly this year.

Batman #60: I’ll admit the last 5-6 issues or so haven’t been tremendously doing it for me, but it certainly looks like it’s about to pick back up. And good lord, Jorge Fornes had better be getting any assignments he pleases.

Justice League #13: Grisly at it gets, the best word I can think of for this issue is a romp. It’s total old-school superhero adventure and villainous monologuing, just minus the hero part of that. Honestly, I’m almost worried about these Legion of Doom one-shots’ role in terms of the integrity of the run as a whole *as a Justice League run*, because it’s this side that feels so much more vibrant and fleshed-out. Granted Snyder and Tynion get full ownership of the villains involved so there’s more room to play, but I almost feel like this team would rather just be doing a Legion of Doom book period, because this is where the whole thing sings, great as the regular League stuff in here always is too.

Adventures of the Super Sons #5: I rag on Tomasi, but he’s not a bad writer, he’s a writer with specialties. And Super Sons is hitting all of those specialties, and I love it.

Shazam! #1: I checked this VERY tentatively on a recommendation and from how great the premise sounded, and unbelievably, it’s good. Not the next big thing by any means, but great superhero stuff that takes a modern bent on the material but maintains the warmth and wonder that defines Marvel at his best. It reads for all the world like a writer doing a very deliberate course-correction from how horrifically Geoff Johns fucked up the character top to bottom…except it’s actually Geoff Johns, essentially pulling a 180 on his own reboot? Whatever, Johns somehow rules (though there’s one or two lines in the backup that feel like notable Johnsisms), Dale Eaglesham rules, Mayo Naito rules on the backup, and this book, on the whole, rules.

Archie Meets Batman ‘66 #5: Feel like it’s lost some steam, but on the whole it remains a delight regardless.

Border Town #4: Everyone should still be reading this.

DIE #1: Kieron Gillen is a writer whose craft I can always respect, but usually it isn’t until reread that I truly get a kick out of his work. Don’t know what the difference is here - Stephanie Hans, the premise, the tone, the small core cast - but this seems to be the one that’s gonna grab me right off the bat.

The Wicked + The Divine #40: On the other end of the Gillen spectrum, I’ve been lost here for awhile, so I appreciate this issue essentially reestablishing the fundamentals of what’s up as we head into the finale.

West Coast Avengers #5: Digging this! Quietly one of Marvel’s upper-tier titles at the moment. Still wanna grab Thompson’s Hawkeye run someday.

Marvel Knights #3: Fine. Exactly good enough for me to stick around for 3 more issues, knowing Cates is coming back for the end.

Shatterstar #3: I’m not convinced this shouldn’t have just been a one-shot about him as a landlord, but it’s still fun and it’s easily got me for the two remaining issues.

Killmonger #1: Top-tier shit by two creators I already loved but still underestimated. Hill has a remarkable talent for switching up his style with each project, and Ferreyra is going to be The Next Big Thing.

The Merry X-Men Holiday Special: Initially more miss than hit for me, but the ratio improves over the course of the book. However, while I was glad to see Hanukkah represented a fair deal, I can’t help but wish they called it the X-Men X-Mas Special.

Venom #9: Issa ittle-bittle Venom pupper! Otherwise solid but mainly left me more looking forward to the immediate future than getting much from what we had here (even if it laid the foundation here for what makes said future worth looking forward to).

The Best Defense: The Immortal Hulk #1: Rules. It’s Ewing Hulk (or really in this case Ewing Banner, the first story where he’s truly taken center stage other than kind of #2, making it in my opinion fairly indispensable to Immortal Hulk thematically if not plotwise), of course it rules.

The Best Defense: Namor #1: Also rules! I knew Zdarsky more than had the chops for heavier material, but this still came as a surprise that excites me for his Invaders, and Carlos Magno was a name I don’t believe I’ve seen before but quite liked. Kind of dislike though that each of these is a #1 when the recurring sequence and checklist in the back really does give this an implicit reading order; it’d definitely confuse readers who didn’t go in already knowing how this was gonna be structured.

The Immortal Hulk #10: Still the best comic on the stands, though there’s an ad placement at the end I really feel detracts from the big moment. And someone asked about the title, and I’m pretty sure it’s the mythic reference rather than an SCP one, even if I could imagine Ewing having seen that at some point.

Martian Manhunter #1: Absolutely brilliant on every level, more than carrying me through a startling premise I’m not at all geared to accept by default. Keep an eye on this one, I can’t imagine it not being one of DC’s most acclaimed books for the entirety of its run, and J’onn’s definitive story pretty much by default.

The Unexpected #7: Sharply picks up as it screams into the finale, but it’s still in every way a pale shadow of what it should have been.

Doomsday Clock #8: Well, it’s certainly still fascinating. At the 2/3rds mark Superman finally takes his place as the advertised co-lead, and while it’s probably the least technically ambitious issue so far (on that note, for a series as meticulous as this tries to be, it’s very noticeable and distracting that Superman switches between the plain red cape and having the yellow s-shield on the back), it’s probably the most thematically interesting and true to the described premise of the whole thing, showing Superman at his best trying and failing to function in a DCU that’s had its narrative underpinnings usurped by Watchmen. This is definitely on the better end of Johns’ treatment of him, with the whole issue anchored by a genuinely wonderful scene between him and the other major hero taking point for this specific installment,* and that’s what makes it work when everything goes to hell.

* It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why Johns picked the character he did here, even if ‘long time’ in this case means ‘actively thought about it for literally seconds’: (rot13.com) ur'f gur Ahpyrne Zna. Trqqvg? Nyfb, juvyr fbzr crbcyr unir ernq vg gung jnl, V qba'g guvax gur vqrn ng gur raq vf fhccbfrq gb or gung Sverfgbez vf Znaunggna, whfg gung gur raretl fcvxr orsber gur gryrcbegngvba ng gur raq orybatrq gb uvz engure guna Ebaavr. Nyfb, Puevfg V ubcr gurl qba'g ernyyl chg gur WFN onpx nf choyvp urebrf cerqngvat Fhcrezna naq gur erfg ol qrpnqrf. Jbefg ynetr-fpnyr ergpba QP rire chyyrq, yrffravat yvgrenyyl rirel punenpgre vaibyirq.

#Green Lantern #Justice League #Shazam #Doomsday Clock #Captain Marvel #DC Comics #Marvel #Week's Comics #Opinion

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manuscripts-dontburn · 6 years ago

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Legendary

Author: Stephanie Garber

First published: 2018

Pages: 432

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 3 days

Tella is a much more sympathetic heroine than Scarlett from the first book, but I still liked the first book better somehow. The more I read Legendary the more I realized how flimsy and unsatisfying the world building was, until it all became a complete colourful haze. Instead of setting more rules and explaining what has only been hinted before, we get more hints but hardly anything that would become solid. Second thing which rubbed me the wrong way as the fact that Tella has a dillema - and we are constantly reminded of it and it is repeatedly explained on every second page. Unfortunatelly, not compelling enough.

The Paying Guests

Author: Sarah Waters

First published: 2014

Pages: 599

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 22 days

In theory this should have been a winner. The period setting, the use of language, the love story, the murder..... but somehow it all comes to naught. It takes about 200 pages for the things to be set in motion and another 100 for the conflict to appear. By sheer determination I ploughed through, but instead of a pleasant read this book soon became a tiring chore. I wonder whether I should check out more Sarah Waters now, because I could not go through another book this long and unexciting.

Devdas

Author: Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

First published: 1917

Pages: 128

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 1 day

Written by very young (and very drunk) author, who hated the book so much he wanted it to be destroyed, this is possibly the most referrenced literary work in India. It is really short and minimalistic in its execution, but dealing with heavy topics of alcoholism, and toxic relationships.

Cti otce svého, ale miluj ženu svou (Honour thy father, but love thy wife)

Author: Antonín Polách

First published: 2010

Pages: 368

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 2 days

Czech historical fiction set in 16th century, this is an OK book that excites little passion. I read it mostly because it is centered on real people and real places - including the castle I yearly work at as a tourist guide. The word for this is: lukewarm.

The World of Ice and Fire

Author: G.R.R. Martin

First published: 2014

Pages: 336

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 17 days

A stunning publication that gives more insight into the world of Martin´s series (that I doubt will ever be finished). I enjoyed it mostly because it explains many interesting references to the lore of Westeros, that intrigued in the original books. My only complaint would be - too easily one gets lost in all the battles and names and royal bastards.

Life after Life

Author: Kate Atkinson

First published: 2013

Pages: 408

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 8 days

A fabulous story that truly tugged on my heart strings, mostly because the main character is so relatable to me. The idea of re-birth is intriguing and I always felt flutters of dread whenever any danger threatened, because in this book, death is not a posibility, but a certainty. You just never know when it comes. Only the very ending felt a bit anticlimactic.

Angélique, le chemin de Versailles

Author: Anne Golon

First published: 1957

Pages: 447

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 9 days

Yeah..... this is like my own personal Tessa Dare thing. I just enjoy it.

To Kill a Mocking Bird

Author: Harper Lee

First published: 1960

Pages: 376

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 6 days

I don´t think I have much to add to millions of other reviews out there. Just really good and touching.

My Plain Jane

Author: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

First published: 2018

Pages: 464

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 3 days

I refuse any deep discussions about this book. It was simply fun. Perhaps slower at some parts, but overal nothing but fluffy enjoyment.

Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova

Author:Laurel Snyder, Julie Morstad

First published: 2015

Pages: 52

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 20 minutes

A children´s book about one of the greatest artists of ballet ever. The text was a bit too simplistic and I though perhaps more could have been woven into the pages, but the illustrations themselves are just pure delight and deserve the full rating.

#booklr #wrap up #August 2018

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the-design-life · 3 years ago

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#schumacher schumacherfabric

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audreycritter · 7 years ago

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Could you do a fic where all the bat kids get turned into little kids somehow? Pleaseeee?

Hey! I don’t usually do de-aging fics, but it’s Christmas! Merry Christmas, haha.

Babies, Babies, Babies

When Selina Kyle left the Manor, it had been quiet. The second she opened the door, however, a cacophony of shrieking, crying, and hysterical giggling all met her ears— there was a blur of movement near her knees and a roar from just out of sight:

“SHUT THE DOOR!”

Her reflexes weren’t honed for nothing, and the door clicked shut just in time to catch a careening tiny body with a smack. She blinked down at the stunned toddler, shared expressions of mutual shock with him, and then looked up with the question frozen on her face just as the kid began to howl.

Another door, the one into the private wing from the foyer, slammed open and Bruce pulled himself to a short stop with an expression of relief.

“Good, you caught him.”

Selina’s mouth was still forming a perfect o when she stared at Bruce, down at the sobbing kid, and then back up at Bruce.

Bruce, who had another toddler tossed over one shoulder (laughing) and another toddler tucked under the opposite arm (yelling and— biting?).

“What…”

The sobbing baby flopped himself over flat on his back and wailed so loudly that Selina winced.

“I had them under control a minute ago,” Bruce said, earnestly. Maybe a little manic? There was definitely a bit of something crazed in his eye. “Then all hell broke loose.”

“I…” Selina felt dumb.

“Damian, stop biting.” Bruce flipped the toddler gnawing on his hand up and around, to keep his mouth away from anything.

“Damian…”

“Can you pick up Jason? Quick, he’s got the lock almost—”

Selina turned. The sobbing toddler from the floor was indeed standing and making quick progress with the bolt lock that had auto-engaged when she’d shut the door. She picked him up, ignoring his screech of protest.

“What.” She perched him on her hip while he wriggled and reached for the door knob.

“He’s been trying to escape ever since I stopped reading,” Bruce said, like this explained anything. He looked over his shoulder at the door he’d come through. “It’s too quiet. I need to find the others.”

“You stopped reading,” Selina echoed, taking an experimental step away from the front door. It felt like she was in some sort of suspended reality, separate from the world she’d woken up in twelve hours ago.

“The others kept wandering off,” Bruce answered. “Alfred can only find one baby gate. Not that it slowed any of them down.”

“I feel…like…I’m missing something,” Selina said faintly, following Bruce and his armfuls of toddler. The laughing one clambered onto his shoulders and hugged Bruce’s head.

“Duck,” Bruce said, and the baby did, as they walked through a doorway.

“A big something.”

Bruce glanced back and raised an eyebrow at her, which wasn’t easy for him to do because a tiny hand was smooshing half his forehead with a fierce grip.

“You didn’t get my messages?”

“…no?”

Selina had left her phone upstairs, charging on a dresser. She liked the freedom of not being tied to a device. She thought he would have noticed the phone.

“Well,” Bruce said. “Cass, no, you can’t—”

He lunged, the toddler on his head shrieking with glee at the sudden movement. He caught a tiny girl by her wrist and lifted her in one swift motion. She now dangled over his arm, alongside Damian, while Bruce pried a knife from her grip.

“Give me that before you stab a baby,” Selina demanded, taking it from him just as he got it free, his wrist bent back at an uncomfortable looking angle to keep it from Damian’s grabbing hands.

“They’re toddlers,” Bruce said.

“I noticed,” Selina answered, putting the knife up on a nearby shelf. “Why?”

“Magic, why the hell else?” Bruce said wearily. “I hate magic.”

The curly-haired baby in her arms— Jason— had stopped struggling and was now sagging limply with his head on her shoulder, sucking his two middle fingers. A tiny sigh escaped him. Selina didn’t really like kids, usually, not in the doting maternal way some people were drawn to them, but he was warm and his other little fist had a handful of her shirt.

“Yeah, this is the worst,” she said dryly. “How long?”

“Midnight,” Bruce said bitterly. “It’s always fu—midnight. It’s traditional.”

The word dripped with icy disdain.

“That’s not too bad,” Selina shrugged. Jason’s eyes were closing.

“Yeah, because you got the sleepy one,” Bruce said. Then his eyes widened and he looked around the room. “Where’s Tim?”

The den had been converted into some sort of central station. A lopsided gate hung from one doorframe on the other side, a pile of books and a box of cars sat on a rug and there was a tray of crackers on the coffee table.

“Wait,” Selina searched the room from where she stood, hunting for another body in motion. “Bruce, how many babies are here, exactly?”

He wasn’t listening. He was counting silently, his mouth forming the shape of the words, as he checked his own arms and hers.

One, two, three, four…four…

“And Duke. We’re missing Tim and Duke.”

“Isn’t there a blonde one?” Selina ducked to look under a table, hand holding Jason so he didn’t topple out of her arms. He whined in protest.

“Stephanie? I called her. She’s fine. She laughed until soda came out her nose and hung up on me when I asked for help, but she’s fine. She’s not mine.”

“All of these are yours,” Selina said flatly. “All of them.”

“Yes,” Bruce said, sounding irritated and distracted. “All of them are mine, can you please help me find—”

“Bruce, this is so many babies. This is too many babies.”

“They aren’t usually babies,” he retorted. “Tim! Duke! I don’t know why I’m yelling, they aren’t going to answer.”

“B!” came a faint cry.

“Or that,” he said.

“How did you get so many.”

“Watch them,” he said, and dumped all three toddlers onto the couch, where they tumbled over each other with a mix of giggles and cries. Before Selina could protest, he was gone.

The three he’d left didn’t stay put for long. They rolled off the couch and scattered in three separate directions and Selina made an ineffectual noise of frustration.

She tried to catch one— Dick, she deduced—and he slipped right out of her usually excellent grasp. Clearly, chasing toddlers while holding another wasn’t going to work very well.

“I’m going to put you down,” she said gently to Jason, uncurling his fingers from her sleeve. He didn’t sound happy, and slumped over on the couch with a dazed and grumpy scowl.

She spun to see Damian scaling the bookshelves for the knife she’d set out of reach; she plucked him off and nearly dropped him when he bit her wrist. Cassandra was looking quietly at a book, albeit upside down, so Selina left her where she was and looked around for Dick.

“Dick?”

A high peal of laughter rang from overhead. She glanced up.

Bruce chose that moment to re-enter the room, his arms full again of babies, this time two toddlers happily munching some sort of cookie or bread.

“False alarm,” he said. “They were with Alf—”

He stopped abruptly and looked up just as Dick hurled himself from a ceiling beam with an ungodly squeal of delight. Selina didn’t know how Bruce managed to get Tim from one side to the other, squished up against Duke, so fast, but he did just in time to catch the flying body with his newly-free arm.

Selina started breathing again.

Bruce’s shock was plain on his face, but he was letting Dick swing from his extended arm like it was nothing.

“Where’s Jason?” Bruce asked, sudden and urgent and…scared?

Selina whirled, Damian gnawing on his own hand in her arms. The couch was empty.

“He was just here,” Selina said. “Uh, I’ll go…here, take him.”

Bruce looked like he could handle holding four, so she shoved Damian at him and took off down the hall. The front door was still wide open and she sprinted into the slanted sunset light.

Only ten feet down the lane, Jason was stumbling along as fast as his short legs would go. She overtook him with a couple long, running strides and scooped him up.

“He runs every time he’s upset,” Bruce said, when she went back into the room. He spoke without looking up from where he was building a tower for his tiny, captive audience of five. Selina set Jason down at the end of the semi-circle.

“I noticed,” she said dryly. She tried to take a block, slick with saliva, from Damian’s mouth and he hissed angrily.

“Let him keep it,” Bruce said, and she willingly gave up the fight. “It’s non-toxic and he’s teething.”

“Where is Alfred, anyway?” she asked, sitting cross-legged and making sure she was between the toddlers and the door.

“Gloating,” Bruce said bitterly. There was a pause. “Making dinner. No.” His hand shot out lightning fast and stopped Dick’s tiny fist. “It’s Duke’s turn.”

Duke leaned forward and toppled the tower with a quiet, gleeful grin. Bruce began stacking the blocks again. Selina intercepted Cass trying to roll away from the group with her hands over her eyes.

“I see you,” she said.

She got a bright smile in reply and she didn’t miss the lopsided smirk on Bruce’s face either.

Somehow, in a blur, they survived dinner and corralled all the kids back in the den. Selina found herself sitting on an armchair with Tim on her lap. He was swiping through pictures of birds on Bruce’s phone. When Bruce started reading a book, Damian was still chewing on a block; Tim slipped off her lap and climbed onto the couch with the others.

Before the last page, they were all asleep or close to it.

“This isn’t too bad,” Selina ventured, teasing gently.

“Hm?” Bruce asked, blinking fiercely. The book was falling from his hand and he looked nearly asleep himself, buried under a tangle of drowsy toddlers.

“I’m going to be sad when it’s midnight, I think. Maybe we should have one, together.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Bruce said and Selina took that as her cue to actually listen to him for once— he didn’t look unhappy in the least and she realized that a man who had collected six children might take her joke very seriously indeed.

“Should we move them, do you think? So there isn’t murder when they go back?”

“Let ‘em try,” Bruce grumbled. “I’ll be right here.”

Selina turned the light out.

She also double checked the gate, and the door locks, and if she maybe parked herself with a book as a night watchman across from Alfred with his tea, well, Alfred wasn’t going to tell.

Probably not, anyway.

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yegarts · 7 years ago

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#YEGCanvas returns for a third art-venturous year

Pretty Please, needlepoint by Allison Tunis (100 Ave between 103 & 104 Streets)

Edmonton – #YEG’s favourite interactive, transitory public art exhibition returns to the city’s streets and LRT tracks for a third inventive year. #YEGCanvas, featuring 45 new artworks by 43 Edmonton artists will brighten billboards and posters from November 2017 until April 2018. The initiative is presented through a partnership between the Edmonton Arts Council and Pattison Outdoor Advertising.

#YEGCanvas; a citywide billboard and LRT station-based art exhibition, features art spanning a diversity of genres and disciplines including digital media, ceramics, photography, watercolour, acrylic, drawing, and fibre art. Artworks were chosen from more than 500 submissions by 179 artists. Over the next six months, the artworks will be displayed on 10 billboards, located throughout the city, and on 15 LRT station posters along the Capital and Metro Lines. The art will be rotated every two months. Edmontonians are invited to explore the exhibition using the online tour map: http://arcg.is/2ivDeDb.

Chromeleon by Jared Robinson (80 Street & Argyll Road)

Including this edition, 135 artworks by 107 Edmonton artists have been exhibited since 2015. The exhibition not only delights the eyes and senses, but also provides a valuable and relevant opportunity for artists to explore public art practice as well as exposing their work to a wider audience.

Edmonton mosaic artist Karen Klassen participated in the 2016-2017 exhibition. “Public art calls can be daunting,” says Klassen. “#YEGCanvas gives all artists an entry level experience and introduction into this process, and gives the inexperienced artists confidence and validation. It puts all artists, on any level, on an even playing field because anyone can apply. Participation had a huge effect on my career. It was not only fantastic exposure, it boosted my confidence level, and I am now collaborating on a percent for art project in an Edmonton park!” Klassen is working with Edmonton mosaicist Erin Pankratz to create a mosaic art wall for Dermott Park on the south side.

Plight of Platalea by Meghan Wise (116 Street & 107 Avenue)

"I'm so pleased to be able to partner with the EAC once again for this important campaign," says Brian de Ruiter, Vice President Prairie Region, Pattison Outdoor Advertising. “Last year brought such an amazing array of artists to the forefront; I can't wait to see this year's artwork displayed on a large scale, and it's an honour to be able to support local artists and give them a public platform."

The interactive #YEGCanvas map will be updated to reflect new artworks and art locations every eight weeks. Information about the artists will be shared on the YEGArts Blog throughout the exhibition. The public is encouraged to share images of the artworks on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #YEGCanvas.

Left - loneliness by Zohreh Valiary Eskandary (Kingsway LRT Station) Right - Joy by Kaylyn Hardstaff (NAIT LRT Station)

A celebration with the artists will take place on November 20, 2017 from 5:30-7:30 pm at Mile Zero Dance’s Spazio Performativo space (10816 95 Street). A new set of the limited edition #YEGCanvas trading cards will be available at the celebration and other EAC events.

kakike amiskwaciy- waskahikan: forever and always beaver hills house by Keely O’Dell (156 Street & Stony Plain Road)

#YEGCANVAS Artists & Artworks Billboards (artworks marked with * are in the first iteration of 10 billboards)

Kasie Campbell Bonne Femme The Visit

Stacey Cann Tally

Mitchell Chalifoux Outfitter

Alyson Davies Spring Harvest

Daniel Evans Growth/Decay

Brad Fehr Thrown into Audience with Thunder

Paul Freeman Double Yolk

Natalie Jachyra presence

Serena Kaba Shopping Cart 1*

Alex Lam A Touch of Sienna *

Marilyn Langevin Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women*

Tianna LeBlanc The UFOs Are Coming!

Juan Lopezdabdoub Lounging on the Grass After Manet

Oksana Maszczak Transitory*

Keely O’Dell kakike amiskwaciy- waskahikan: forever and always beaver hills house*

Joy Olagoke Nest

Dean Olesky A Neighborhood 1

Nathan Panousis The Webs We Weave

Chad Raymond Cusp

Elsa Robinson Breaking Out

Jared Robinson Chromeleon*

Rick Rogers Interdependence

David Scott Keep Out*

Stephanie Simpson Mini Mountain

Kelsey Stephenson Teal

Vivian Trinh Family Portrait

Allison Tunis Pretty Please*

Kapil Vachhar Into the Meadows*

Meghan Wise Plight of Platalea*

Left - Rooted Man by Noemi de Bruijn (Health Sciences LRT Station) Right - Manmer Crossing the Alps by Catherine Dubois (Stadium LRT Station)

LRT Posters (artworks will appear in different locations throughout the entire exhibition)

Jordan Blackburn It’s Mine

Noemi de Bruijn Rooted Man

Catherine Dubois Manmer Crossing the Alps

Gerri Harden Up and Away

Kaylyn Hardstaff Joy

Andrew Kozak Icarus

Angela Marino Humans as Beast

Emma Resener Sighting

Dryden Roesch Staircases & Ladders

Miriam Rudolph Collective Effort

Vanessa Ryl Seeds in the Springtime

Rudy Smith You Are Here

Serena Tang Sweet Meat

Zohreh Valiary Eskandary loneliness

Meghan Wise Raising the Spector of Alarm

#yegarts #yegpublicart #yegcanvas #yegtransit #pattisonoutdoor #karenklassen #yegdt #edmontonartscouncil #publicart #billboardart #LRTPoster

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brokenmusicboxwolfe · 7 years ago

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I saw:

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad- This was an animated film made during a period Disney was making features by combining shorter individual stories. In this case the first story takes the book The Wind in the Willows as it’s source. The second uses The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which you can probably guess is why I’m watching it this time of year.

Mr. Toad is...well, he’s a toad but he’s also an impulsive aristocrat that indulges his ever changing obsessions without regard for good sense or even persinal safety. He becomes taken with motor cars at a time you couldn’t pop into a local car dealership, which considering his money had been cut off by his well meaning friends wouldn’t have matter anyway. He quickly gets accused of stealing a car, which he refutes by claiming he traded his estate for it. It sounds disasterous either way you look at it, and it is because he ends up in jail while a gang of weasels take over his home. Though since if they use the deed to Toad Hall they prove Toad innocent and their ringleader of purgery this should be easy to take care of. A jail break won’t be enough to sort this out, but I’ll just have to tale their word for it stealing the deed back because it seems to me....

Shut up Stephanie! Just go with it....

The last time I saw this I had not read The Wind in the Willows. We had a set of children’s classics filling a bookcase when I was little, but these were in editions in plain single colored covers, only the title written on them, and not a single illustration within or hint of what the books were about. The slate grey book never drew me to it. But then about 8 years ago we spent months taking care of a sick relative, a luddite with no tv, internet, radio we could use...but a nice selection of classic children’s novels (trust me, after reading her copy if Gone with the Wind and wanting to punch someone I stuck to the kiddie pool). What do you know, Wind in the Willows was a great book! Of course, this being a half hour Disney cartoon this isn’t proper adaptation. Never mind though, it’s fun as it is!

As for the second story, a school teacher moves to a small town where he takes a fancy to the local pretty rich girl, rich being key to his attraction. She sees this as a chance to make her actual boyfriend, the community tough guy/practical joker, jealous. Think the cheerleader stirring her football star boyfriend by pretending to take an interest in the geekiest boy in the class. It works. At a part the boyfriend sets out to scare the teacher with a spooky story of a ghostly headless horseman in the woods that has to be crossed to get home after the shindig. Jumping as every shadow already the teacher soon find himself face to, um....well, not face that’s for sure!...with a horseman armed with a sword bit no head! Yikes!

I find it funny I actually enjoy it despite the fact there are a good few things that bug me. I’m not big on Bing Crosby, so the fact he narrates and sings the frequent songs in this section isn’t a selling point for me. Having the jock mock Ichabod’s looks is one thing, but when the song does it too it seeks like the makers endorse the insults. Considering the “funny” treatment of a fat girl wallflower’s interaction with the jock they have no trouble with finding unconventional looks amusing. But still I like it.

The characters aren’t good guys or quite bad guys. Well, some are worse than others. Ichabod’s greedy side wasn’t as nasty as Katrina using him or Brom scaring him silly. His greed was powerless, though he was oblivious to it. Actually, as a child I was always worried that, never mind what they said people thought about Ichabod’s fate, that Brom had actually murdered him and gotten away with it! I guess I always down deep thought someone was a bad guy! LOL

Anyway, while it takes liberties with the original story, it’s actually one of the more faithful adaptation of it. The section with the Headless Horseman attack has always delighted my inner monster kid. Cloud hands closing around the moon, crickets seeming to call out Icabod’s name, a false scare of galloping cattails, and then the horseman swoops in all billowing cape and flame eyes jack o’lantern thrown right at the audience.... Do I like it because if it’s intrinsic quality or because of a childhood affection embedded deep in me? What does it matter why as long as I enjoy it!

#movies #the adventures of ichabod and mr. toad #disney #animation

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tolifelechaim · 8 years ago

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#5WomenArtists --the illustrative list!

I recently saw an article in the Huffington Post talking about art museums around the country trying to showcase women’s art. Additionally the challenge “Can you name #5WomenArtists?” made me think.

I thought “Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe.....and.....well crap”

But then I realized, WAIT I know ALL of these fantastic female illustrators and digital artists. But I didn’t think there names were “legitimate” answers to the #5WomenArtist questions, because they aren’t “fine artists” that get featured in the Met.

SUCH NONSENSE.

Illustration is art. Digital Art is art. Tattoos are art. Comics are art.

Additionally, Huffington Post compiled a list of 101 Female Artists to know about. Which is great. But when I browsed the list, I didn’t connect with a lot of the work. It was a bit too abstract or avant garde for me. I love artwork with figure drawing, illustration, women’s faces, watercolors, beauty, humor, and color.

So I thought I’d compile some of my favorite female artists. Not necessarily the artists my liberal arts professors would laud, but people who create BEAUTIFUL work, that inspires me everyday to keep working.

Trina Schart Hyman--Illustrator

Trina Schart Hyman is the best. Simply the best. I first fell in love with her artwork on the Patrica C Wrede Enchanted Chronicles book covers (pictures above). She has illustrated countless picture books too. My favorite is The Fortune-Teller, with St. George and the Dragon as a close second. Also Bearskin (a multi-racial fairy tale!) Go find her work at your local library. it’s worth it. Her line sensitivity... the organic and fluid postures of her figures....her attention to background details....it’s all tip-top.

K.Y. Craft (Kinuko Craft) --Illustrator (http://www.kycraft.com/)

I first fell in love with K.Y. Craft from her book Cupid and Psyche. As I got older, I started recognizing her style everywhere. Her work is incredibly delicate and detailed. You’ve seen her work on the covers of The Cry of the Icemark, Wildwood Dancing, and her various illustrated fairy tales. The detail and beauty simply astound me. How can someone focus to put that many fine details into one piece?

Lora Zombie --Pop/Grunge Art/ Illustrator --(http://lorazombie.com/2017/ )

Lora Zombie does a delightful mix of pop art and illustration. Many of her images feature animals (especially pandas) wearing hats, children with guns or blue hair, blue birds and text. Her work flow is relatively fast, and she just lets the pigment go where the water goes. The above picture is my favorite of her works.

Carol Carter --Watercolor (http://www.carol-carter.com/)

This entry actually breaks my rule, because I did have a college professor show us Carol Carter’s work. But I knew about her before that, so I’m putting her on the list. Her control of the blend between pigment and water is amazing. Her subjects include figure, plants, and animals. Her colors are always beautifully saturated.

Lois H -- Digital Art (http://loish.deviantart.com/)

If you don’t know loish then you don’t visit Deviant Art. Her work includes both beautiful creative landscapes like the one above, and illustrations of women. The use of lighting in her work is always breathtaking. She always creates different face shapes in her women. Long faces, short faces, big eyes, small eyes. It’s not just the traditional “beautiful women” art.

Charlie Bowater--Digital Art (http://charlie-bowater.deviantart.com/)

Charlie Bowater creates beautiful illustrations. Her figures, textures, proportions, perspectives are always on point. She brings her characters and scenes to life. Given how much I love her, I feel like I’m not writing enough about her work....I guess when I think of Charlie Bowater’s work, I think it’s synonymous with “beauty.” And that alone should make you go look through her whole entire gallery.

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law-- Watercolor/ Illustration (http://www.shadowscapes.com/)

I first fell in love with Stephanie Pui-Mun Law’s art when she illustrated the covers for Catherine Asaro’s The Lost Continent series (The Misted Cliffs’ cover is seen above). Her very delicate water color textures are distinctive to her, and feel especially magical.

Alice X. Zhang --Digital Art (http://alicexz.deviantart.com/)

You might recognize Alice Zhang’s name from her official Dr. Who and Sherlock fan art. The art was so fabulous that the BBC commissioned her to do more. She uses saturated colors, beautiful textures and brushes to create a distinct style of work. While creatively using textures and color, she still manages to capture amazing likenesses of the actors she draws.

Danielle Corsetto --Comics! / Illustration (http://www.girlswithslingshots.com/)

Danielle Corsetto wrote the first webcomic that I read, and Girls with Slingshots will always have a soft spot in my heart. Danielle is currently making new comics on her Patreon and posts her figure drawings on instagram. Her work captures so many different unique faces and figures. Every character is a distinct, recognizable individual. And her comic is hilarious.

Erica Moen --Comics/Illustration (http://www.erikamoen.com/)

Erica Moen currently writes the comic Oh Joy Sex Toy, an often smutty educational/review site for all things sex and reproduction. I’ve learned A TON from reading her weekly comics. I love her commitment to showcasing a huge variety of skin tones, body types, genders, and abilities. Additionally, her figures feel like they’re always moving. Her work quite often features nudity and sex. Google away from your mothers.

Ryan Ashley --Tattoo art (https://ryan-ashley-malarkey.format.com/)

Ryan Ashley specialized in “fine line black and grey” tattoos. I first encountered her on the show Ink Master (which she won!) The way her designs merge geometric patterns, jewels, and hair/feathers/leaves/flowers is beautiful. The precision of her values and lines is hard to achieve on paper, much less on human skin.

Teresa Sharpe --Tattoo art/ Illustration (http://teresasharpeart.com/)

I first encountered Teresa’s art on the show Best Ink (which she won). Her fine art is amazing (as seen on her website and Instagram). But her tattoos feature beautiful colors, amazing lines and textures. She fits her images to the human body and beautifully blends the elements that the client asks for.

Anna Dittmann --Digital Art (http://escume.deviantart.com/)

Anna Dittmann’s work often blends botanicals or feathers with women’s faces. She merges the two beautifully. I live for it.

Elena Berezina -- Digital Illustrator (http://sharandula.deviantart.com/)

There are just many images I could have posted. Elena Berezina is working on a book called Silence is Golden, though it looks like it will be in Russian. She creates both really smooth blends and glorious texture. She also does very expressive cartoons of all her characters.

Claire Hummel--Digital Art (http://shoomlah.deviantart.com/)

I first encountered Claire Hummel’s art first in her Historically accurate Disney Princesses series. Above is one of her Hamilton fan art pieces. Her art features precise lining, immaculate costume detailing, and great design.

Jan Brett-- Illustration (http://www.janbrett.com/index.html)

Fritz the Beautiful Pony, The Hat, The Mitten, Beauty and the Beast, go borrow them all from your local library. Jan Brett does beautiful detailing in the frames around her pictures. And she adds great life and humor into animal’s faces while keeping their proportions realistic.

Susan Jeffers --Illustration (http://susanjeffersart.com/BioFrameset.html)

Susan Jeffers’ beautiful illustrations are also a staple of my childhood. Look at the lines in those plants! She uses color lines to create value, texture, movement, and dimension.

Diane Goode --Illustration (http://www.dianegoode.com/works.htm)

I live for this woman’s illustrations of Charles Perrault's Cinderella. Literally my favorite book as a child. I (as a 7 year old) made sculptures in homage to dress above. She has these sassy little expressions, FABULOUS hair and clothing, and limited color palettes.

Patricia Polacco --Author and Illustrator (http://www.patriciapolacco.com/#books)

Author of Just Plain Fancy, Thunder Cake, and so many more. Polacco’s illustrations capture the sweetness of human’s relationships. She draws a diversity of people: old, young, black, white, and many more. Her stories are always sweet.

Judy Schachner --Author and Illustrator (http://www.judithbyronschachner.com/books/)

Judy Schacherner’s Skippyjon Jones series of book is delightfully weird. Her illustrations use colorful chalk pastel, and her book uses a bizarre blend of Spanish and rhyming. The kitten Skippyjon Jones is always getting in trouble, being sent to his room, imagining he’s a Chihuahua, and dreaming up wild adventures with his band of imaginary dog friends. It’s as trippy as it sounds. Her latest book, Dewey Bob, is about a raccoon. The illustration are a really cool mix of collage and pastel.

AND OF COURSE

Mary Cassatt (Classic Impressionism)

Mary Cassatt rejected doing portraits of nicely dressed women on dark backgrounds. She focused on scenes from life, particular on mothers and children. She used bright colors, expressive brush strokes, and was interested in light.

Note: Most of these female artists are white women. At least two have publicly queer identities, and at least two are non-white. Since this list is for Women’s History Month, I wanted to acknowledge that this list doesn’t meet standards for intersectional feminism. If you want to add on more diverse female artists, feel free.

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kchatjjigae · 5 years ago

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Korea trip, day five! At this point, I can’t believe these travelers have already been in South Korea for almost a week, and I can’t believe we’re also at week five of this series! In this episode, the lingering effects of Steve still direct our day and we hike up, up, up, towards a “cool temple”, catch the others members up on Gamcheon, find the truth of Biff vs. Beef, get the first glimpses of a bad moon on the rise, meet some meerkats, and then check off a significant Kdrama moment. Oh, and have our first run-in with the Korean police. Yep, it’s another jam-packed day!

Travelers on the go, go, go! When we came to Korea, we had some ideas of what we wanted to do but chose primarily to keep things loose enough so we’d be comfortable to do things on the fly. This day, (day five for those of you who weren’t paying attention) we did a little of both. A breakfast of triangle kimbap and coffee/banana milk/ and tea kicked off the day and our strategy session. As on the previous day, we’d shown such delight in the lanterns hanging in the temples, Steve suggested that we may want to check out a big temple right in central Busan which uses thousands of lanterns and he figured should be mostly decorated by then. This time we all took a look at my wildly inaccurate tourist maps and determined where we thought it would be. (I’m not incredibly clear on this point, I may have just been the only one looking while they used such things as Naver Maps and Google to figure out what he’d been talking about. From there we debated on whether it was smart to go to Gamcheon Cultural Village (though I’d already been, I didn’t mind going again and figured, after what had happened the other day splitting up probably wasn’t the best choice if we wanted to do any touring together), stopping at the shopping area I told them about by the university first and then come back and do Biff Square? Or to do the opposite?

We decided to wing it and go forth.

The storm has moved off, the sun was out, and I was no longer bone cold. Bring on the tourism! But not before a quick stop to get SaraG cash (unsuccessful as, unfortunately, note to you future travelers, only ATMs specified for foreigners will work for…foreigners.)

We also needed to get the other girls hooked up with travel cards, so off to the convenience store where, the same manager was there, hovering happily as SaraG, Alix and Leila sorted through all the handsome young men options. Guys. Remember when I couldn’t buy one and ended up with a plain black card? Totally worked for each and every one of them. BOOOOO! I mean… I’m very happy for them and their choices.

I felt like an old pro as I led my friends to the bus stop where we caught the same bus I’d used before, but this time we sat in the back like a bunch of Kdrama badasses.

Alix was firmly in control of our direction, and it wasn’t too long that she directed her ducklings to hop off the bus. We were in downtown Busan, her with her Naver app, Leila and I attempting Google Maps again, and SaraG wandering around with us with a willing “let’s get this going” attitude. (Future note, SaraG has absolutely no sense of direction, it’s adorable. She makes up with a magical ability to know almost to the minute what time it is at all times without the use of a watch.)

Where we were in use of differing directional maps, there were some conflicting ideas of how to get to the temple, and as we climbed up and up and up stairs (so many stairs), some of us despaired we were headed in the wrong direction where some of us were “You’re going to question my directional abilities? I’m mother flipping Alix and let us not forget you’d be wandering around the Busan subway hub still if it weren’t for me.”

Good point. Continue to tell us which stairs to climb, leader.

We seemed to be marching further and further into a residential territory, with no real directions on the street to what was supposed to be some sort of large scale temple. Suddenly? A lady with a full-on ahjumma visor came around the corner, saw us, smiled, asked if we were looking for the temple, and gave us directions.

For anyone keeping score as to what was right, Naver or Google, I’d have to say both were in this case. Naver/Alix took us more on a trail that deposited us along the side of it, where Google/Leila and I had directions to the bottom of it. We were all right! Let’s rejoice and be friends.

As we got closer and closer to the building or series of buildings, I was amazed. This thing was HUGE. Steve was right, it was almost completely ready for the lantern festival and was covered entirely in lanterns of various colors and styles. As we arrived, several of us instantly pealed off to the bathroom while I listened to the drum practices that were going on while we were there. The atmosphere was set.

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Its Sunday, which means I'm catching up on posting Korea videos needed for the weekly post. We are gonna have a couple. Brace yourself. This is #samgwangsatemple #samgwangsa #lanternfestival

A post shared by Stephanie (@kchatjjigae) on Jul 14, 2019 at 8:15pm PDT

From these buildings, we followed up the road (and more stairs) and found the central portion of the temples. From there, we scattered and investigated the nooks and crannies of the property, which just seemed to keep going further and further, higher and higher.

Past the buildings, there was a trail with wooden bridges, Buddhist music playing softly on loudspeakers and, you guessed it, more lanterns! The views from this height were pretty amazing, looking out over Busan, with the backdrop of these classic buildings.

What we didn’t expect to find was a set of outside exercise equipment which, as good kdrama fans, we were honor bound to try out. At the top of the hill, we reconvened and sat there taking it all in a while eating some of the trail mix Alix was smart enough to carry and kind enough to share.

It was decision time though. Where would we go? Gamcheon or Biff? Would we be able to find Steve’s restaurant? If we did would that be creepy? “We promise you, Steve, we’re not stalking you, we just find you adorable and want to know if you’d like to come home with us.”

Why were we so concerned about what and when? It was all part of the bigger plan. In Haeundae, there is the Rainbow Bridge, which is supposed to do a light show and we were determined to see it in all its glory, full night time with fried chicken and beer. Everything other schedule was built keeping the end goal in mind. Booze, a beach, and a colored bridge?

So we decided on Gamcheon, thinking to go the furthest out and work our way backward towards Haeundae. So me, again heady with the knowledge that I’d been there before and could totally get us all back there, wowing everyone with my Korean directional prowess, insisted on being lead.

Not a great plan. Sorry, ladies.

Turns out there was a bus stop right at the temple, so we hopped on and headed back to the city center. Which is where it got a little wonky. Turns out I got us off on the wrong stop (ugh, thanks, Google) and said, that’s cool, we’ll just hoof it from here, it’s not far. Turns out, that was a little wrong, or, not so much wrong as Google couldn’t quite figure out where I was, and I couldn’t figure out if I were heading us in the wrong direction or not. Frankly, I was super stressed about it. Sometimes it’s not easy being the leader, knowing everyone is waiting on you, knowing you’re just burning time.

Anyway, I did Google Maps again, worked with Alix and found out we were actually right by a subway station which would take us most of the way there, then we could pick up that little bus I had previously ridden. All good except we couldn’t find the correct subway entrance number.

Actually. Side note. The Korean Subway system is pretty amazing. It gives each entrance a number so you can tell your friends exactly which door to meet you at, or GPS can tell you precisely what door to enter or exit to get to your destination. At each entry to the subway cars (as they have doors that open and close so 1) it can be temperature controlled and 2) you don’t have any people vs. train incidents.) the floor before each door is labeled with a number as well so when you finally break down and use Naver Maps, it will tell you which door will be the best for you to wait at in order to get off and be closest to your destination. There are, as seen in Kdramas, underground shopping areas (with the swankier stops getting swankier shops) bathrooms galore, and also as seen on Kdramas, ahjummas, and halmonies selling produce or kimbap rolls.

In the more significant station hubs, you can find foreign ATMs, the place is loaded with adverts including those ones you see online put up by fan clubs wishing their favorite idols happy birthdays. During the longer connections, you know, where you mainly are just traveling underground to get from one subway train to another thinking, how far did we just walk? There are those flat escalators you see in airports. As a reward for choosing not to take them, you’re given the cartoon journey of a man or woman who is getting healthy, slowly getting smaller as you walk. By the end of the treck, you see them at their healthiest and are told how many calories you’ve burned by choosing to walk.

The train itself has pregnancy seats marked in pink, they have constant commercials running, and the subway train is all yackety yack, giving directions in multiple languages. The trains and stops are all clearly labeled, not only with what station you’re at or approaching, but it will tell you the next station in either direction. So handy — especially when you get on and quickly realize you’re heading in the wrong direction.

A downside to the subway station? The signage to get from one place to another (get off one train and have to go find your connecting train) is not always the clearest. It will tell you to go one way, then the next sign will say to swap back to your original route.

End Subway tangent.

So we’re back on the street in Busan trying to figure out, on this series of intersections and large roads just where our subway entrance was. Somewhere. I noticed some young police officers wandering around on the street before they went into the local police officer and my ears pricked up. A local police station? Putting on those big girl panties, emboldened by my stress of leading everyone astray, I was all, “Don’t worry ladies, I have this,” and waltzed into the police station.

Where a shocked a small contingent of police officers with the “Oh no, she’s going to want us to speak in English” look on their collective faces. They spoke no English, I spoke no Korean. All I had was a destination, directions on a cell phone, and the determination to find this subway stop. Unfortunately? No go. We couldn’t really get around our language barrier, though for some reason, this didn’t stress me out any more than I already was. I climbed out of the station, went to go find my friends, looked up, and there was the giant subway number.

Like, right next to the police station.

Moving on and moving underground, we managed to get to our stop fairly uneventfully, ready for the next leg, which to me meant catching the next bus, to my friends, who I think were a little leery of my directional skills were more, “or we could just walk up here a ways fortified by this street fish bread we found.” “Are you certain? The bus stop is right here,” says me. Buuuut instead we marched. Higher and higher, the road in some points almost vertical. We’d have to be those people who stopped to catch our breath, thankful for my Nature’s Republic Chanyeol blotting compact. I felt especially terrible for Miss Leila, who was doing this with a terrible head cold, so bad that she had her own adventure….the Korean pharmacy. And then another Korean pharmacy when the first one refused to sell her the cold medicine she needed. (Not malicious, just a miscommunication.) Finally, though, thankfully, we arrived.

WAIT!

Gah, this post is like verbal vomit. But I just remembered something super important now that we’re back in Gamcheon! Remember, on my last post where I kept pointing out how my shoes were wet and sandy and promised there was a reason for my banality? GUYS. I woke up to slightly damp shoes, walked outside, and….no squeak! They were (almost) silent. Or as silent as regular non-squeaking shoes were. At that point to the best of our knowledge, getting the insert wet was the key to stopping the squeak! We were all very excited as now I would stop embarrassing myself and them as we walked everywhere.

As we did walk everywhere.

Back to the squeakless story! So we, hot, tired, and a little cranky, finished hiking Busan and were ready to experience Gamcheon as a team. I picked up more of the postcards that I’d purchased the first time around as they were so pretty, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to give out the first set as souvenirs as I’d anticipated and settled into our next order of business. LUNCH.

We found a tiny little cafe up one of the alleyways and popped in. I got a delicious Katsu, but I think also at our table was some ramen, some kimbap, and some pork. All the food was so yummy and super cheap. (I think my whole tray was 7000 won.) As we sat there, recovering, eating, and blotting, we watched out of the window as a group of school kids, mostly schoolgirls, all dressed in hanboks, made the one boy pose with them for saeguk kdrama selfies. You know the pose, the heroine leaning against a wall, the hero looming above, his arm pressed into the wall above her head. They were all having a blast, and so were we watching them.

Nourishment level achieved, we went out to enjoy Gamcheon. Checking out the little artist shops, taking pictures, stopping off at the little senior tea house (this is where we found the black bamboo salt that got me in trouble with security). Just as I had thought, this is one of those places where you can go multiple times and continue to see different things and have different experiences. This one was through the eyes of my friends, as I really wanted them to like the place as much as I did. Was I successful? Who knows? I like to think so, as it’s a really special place.

But it was time to go. We decided to skip the University shopping district and go immediately to Biff Square. Luckily, the tiny Gamcheon bus was ready to take us on our way.

Turns out, Biff Square? Is the same location as the Busan International Film Festival! It was pretty cool to see. There were tons of shops and food stalls. We wandered, popping in and out of stores. Not so much Kpop but there was a butt-ton of KBeauty, and I think we all took home a portion of it. (We purchased it, the shoplifting didn’t come until later.)

It was there where we saw it. The Animal Cafe.

On the list for several people in our Kconvoy, was visiting one of the animal cafes which are prevalent in Korea. (We actually have a cat cafe here in Denver, but only on vacation would you be willing to pay actual money to have coffee with a cat.) These animal cafes have regular cats or dogs but can also be more exotic with raccoons, owls, basically if you name the animal, and they probably have a cafe for it. This one? Meerkats. While I had been on the fence of going to one, the idea of seeing a meerkat up close had me tagging along.

We paid our money, squeeing over the tiny little herd of meerkats racing around a large enclosed pen. My only other previous meerkat experience had been Meerkat Manor on PBS. (Did anyone else ever watch that?) There was also another room which had cats and two HUGE raccoons. But meerkats first. With your entrance fee, you get a can of soda or tea (the cafe portion) and all the animal interaction you can take. The worker offered to let SaraG and Leila in to see the meerkats and, no dummies, they jumped at the chance, sitting in the pen while meerkats raced around them. I was let in a little while later and, no lie, it was an awesome experience. They are the cutest little creatures, and we got to pet and held them, feeding them little bits of lettuce while squeeing over their tiny little chattering voices. In the holding pen, it was us with another couple (obviously on a date, it was super cute) and when the manager walked back in from break saw us all, and chided the employees, before coming in to give all the women lap blankets. He said it was so we could hold the meerkats, but I didn’t notice him giving one to the guy that was in there. Hrm.

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Last one for the day, day 5 if the korean memories. We went to an animal cafe, this one? Surprise new friends!

A post shared by Stephanie (@kchatjjigae) on Jul 14, 2019 at 8:31pm PDT

While one is never actually done looking at meerkats, we decided to keep moving and go into the room with the cats and the raccoons. With a regretful pat to our new chewy friends, we climbed out of the enclosure and (after Purexing our hands) grabbed our sodas and went into the cat room. First off, the raccoons were huge. I come from New Hampshire, raccoon country. You could almost count me as an expert on these rascals that always want to get into your garbage or break into your back porches (in pursuit of more garbage), so when I tell you these things were big, they were big. Big in stature, but also clearly just fat. They bumbled around, asking for treats, asking to be petted and scratched.

There were also at least 5 maybe 8 cats of a particular Korean breed, and this is where I got skeeved out a little bit. Either these cats were SUPER chill, or these cats were on something. I’d actually heard of that before in these places. There were a couple of cats that moved around, but for the most part, they just lay there, most of them sleeping no matter how much they were patted. Just as I know raccoons? I also know cats. This is not the natural behavior of cats, and it made me feel really, really bad. I hope I’m just overthinking it, but after that, I was pretty much done and was ready to go meet Alix (who had opted to go find a coffee shop.) Luckily the other ladies were prepared to go, too.

With a wave and a coo to the meerkats, we put our shoes back on (we took them off and swapped them for house shoes) we were on our way to find Alix. At this point, the sun was starting to sink, and it was time to break out Operation Chicken and Beer.

But not before some street food! I’m not certain why I didn’t take pictures here! Shame on me! And for everyone else as I have access to everyone’s photos and no one took any of what we ate here! It’s almost as if we all decided if it’s not hoteok, we don’t care. I tried a fishball thing, decided I didn’t like it, offloaded it to SaraG and ended up with a pornato. Noms.

Thanks, Steve, you were right, we really did enjoy ‘Beef Square’!

On a mission though, we take the next train to the beach where we thought we’d be able to see the Rainbow Bridge. We walked on tired feet, down and down and down, not finding beach and not finding fried chicken. Luckily, much further than we thought, we realized not only were we close, but the fried chicken was within our grasp! Dropping SaraG and Alix off to wait for our order to cook, Leila and I hit the convenience store for the second most crucial ingredient, beer.

I love Korean convenience stores. Look what I found!

Also, the soju was like 1700 won. Amazing. I stocked up.

Goodies in hand, we walked to the beach where a bridge sprawled out in front of us… abridge we hoped would be the Rainbow Bridge. The beach was relatively empty as, just as our luck, the weather turned to a light drizzle. You know what though? We didn’t care. We were there for an experience, and we were not going to leave until we had it! We sat on the stone stairs eating fried chicken, pickled radish cubes, and drinking beer. (I was drinking Coke Zero and soju as beer is gross.)

Then suddenly it happened! The bridge not only lit up but it did a solid five minute light show! Pretty cool, man.

Experience completed, we bagged up our garbage (pack in, pack out, folks) actually finding one of Korea’s only outside public garbage cans. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but there are no garbage cans in Korea. None. You have a piece of garbage, I hope you have a pocket because that thing is going to be with you for a while. Gloria, who’s Seoul foodie food tour we booked that night when we got back to the Airbnb, actually laughed when we asked, and actually told us about the pocket of her purse that’s just for the day’s garbage.

On the hike back to the subway station, we passed one of their newer subway stops which have tv monitors built in. The news that evening? The breaking Seungri, Burning Sun, hidden video fun chat news. Yeah, our stay was about to get WEIRD.

That’s a story for another post though.

KOREAN ADVENTURE DAY FOUR: Stairs, and Meerkats, and police…oh my! Korea trip, day five! At this point, I can't believe these travelers have already been in South Korea for almost a week, and I can't believe we're also at week five of this series!

#Korea

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