#good day rva

[sethdrawsgood]

Upside down Opossum

From my “opossum of the day” daily drawing series

[satanfemme]

good morning. my emotions are still high after last night, but todays also my last day at my current job. I'm going to try to make it a good day despite everything.

some requests:

sign the VCU workers' letter to the VCU president asking for the students' right to protest and students' free speech to be better protected (you do not have to be a worker or live in virginia to sign)

donate to the rva bail fund

reach out to VCU, and the VCU president, directly to tell them that tear gassing, pepper spraying, beating, and arresting peaceful students on school grounds is unacceptable. (I can't share this contact info directly, but their email addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts are not hard to find.)

and of course, continue donating in support of gaza and palestinians. donate to their gofundmes directly, donate to PCRF, UNRWA, esims for gaza, operation olive branch, etc. you have these lists of organizations and fundraisers already, donate there.

[n0th1ng-stays]

I voted! Got a cool RVA Votes sticker too. I'll post a picture of my I voted mural once I find a good picture frame for it. I have so many I voted stickers.

I walked to my polling location. I knew the ballot ahead of time, but there were people handing out sample ballots just in case.

There was a steady stream of people in line. There were plenty of booths, so the line kept moving. There was even a table for people filling out provisional ballots. If there are any issues with your registration, you can vote in person the same day with a provisional hand-written ballot.

I've done my part and made my voice heard. I hope you do the same or you already have. It's my right to vote. Don't make it feel like a luxury.

Now I'm going to enjoy my Starbucks because I have a long day of work and it's going to be a long night.

[richmondflyingsquirrels]

can’t fix the potholes but can fix a piece of sidewalk in the fan lmao

they filled in the gun hole can’t have shit in richmond

[woftd]

Things like this review on #globalmoneyworld of our project BlackLiq x @Ohbliv - “What Will It Take” mean everything. The coverage has been so inspiring, from Croatia’s #blackouthiphop to these unique words from Brazil’s #roadiemusicmag and this nod from #rhythmanddrilltv and #digiindie We’ve even gotten “Good” in rotation on radio stations and now “Rhyme” is startling to move on shows like #culturewildstation & #djschame with #ickycrates Since our exclusive launch on #manbitesdogrecords bandcamp with limited edition physicals we have sold out of the project on vinyl in a bit more than a day, and we’re getting closer to running out of tapes and CD’s every day! Thank you! #BlackLiq #Ohbliv #ManBitesDog #HipHop #Rare #cassettes #vinyls #tapes #artifacts #discogs #LimitedEdition #RVA #NoW #WOFTD https://www.instagram.com/p/CmiMS96DKBs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gentillerascal]

Chapter 4 - Gonna do things we never did

Notes:

Hello, sorry for not posting, matriculation exams! I finally finished the chapter, so enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I bless the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had - Africa, Toto (Toto IV, 1982)

“Dear Matias,”

“I wonder who do happen to be, because if my memory serves me right, I reckon you may be one of my distant relatives I haven’t heard of. Therefore, I may help you with grace if you shall meet me this week. That's how we may learn to get to know each other.”

“Best regards, rva. Punainen."

“Dear rva. Punainen,”

“I hope this message finds you well. I do believe I may see you this weekend. If possible, may I join your scientific research on bracelets and consider merging our groups together? If you accept the request, I may pay a visit.”

“Best regards, M.”

…

Snowflakes slowly descend from the sky. They surround a young teenage boy and plant into his long, curly hair. The wind plays with it, blowing it into his messy face. It clings the cloth around his thin, achy body. He looks down at his shirt which splits into many pieces barely hanging onto him, along with thin pants that are shredded down at his knees. His boots too, are now soaked with water.

The heavy snow holds the boy back. It is a good chance just to give up, fall to your knees, drop into the snow and allow the warmth to lull you into eternal sleep, the teenager cries to himself. Yet, his feet dig and plough through the snow. The deep spruce forest grows thicker around the grim scenery. No life, no movement. Just snow makes the whole place grainy and barely brings any light into the place. Speaking of light, the grey sky doesn’t show any alternation between night and day.

Just as the hope was the last thing to beg for, an open area starts to span behind the forest. By the large castle of an arena and some buildings, a large beige school building with old-fashioned windows. Over the road that has one vehicle hovering across it, more red-bricked buildings with concrete walls grow behind it. Especially one tower-like building is quite tall, towering over the natural garden with a fountain frozen in time.

The boy crosses the road and goes down the road. The trees shake off the snow in a strong gust of wind. The yellow glowing streak cokes out from a building at the end of the row. The door swings open in a flash. A middle-aged man, holding onto his heavy, decorated hat, looks at the boy.

“My God… Come in immediately!”

…

Jesperi flashes his eyes open. Virgil, who is spread wide open, snores a bit. The glowing crimson numbers on a dial show it's almost 6 o'clock. Jesperi rolls himself into a tight tube of his fleece thrown on him. He wraps himself into a big yarn ball and shivers. That memory was supposed to be erased from his head many years ago!

Kasperi once again, pushes the door forward and pushes his body through the open gap that blows wind. Minutes later, Pelle's groans start again, as he coughs his phlegm, seemingly, and rolls around the bed with his heavy frame. Loud creaking interrupts Virgil’s sweet dreams, as that man perks up and mumbles.

“Uh, what’s wrong, Pelle?” Virgil groans loudly.

“Make me some breakfast. And for Selena too,” Pelle nasally commands his nephew.

Virgil rolls out of his bed and walks up to the rancid kitchen. Yesterday’s dishes are still stinking. Virgil clatters with the dishes, thuds growing more threatening and louder. Jesperi rushes over to his friend and tries to pull him from that spot at the sink.

“Hey, let me help you, let me help you,” Jesperi begs.

Air sucks in between Virgil’s clenched teeth. He slams his fist and sighs lengthily. He leans at the counter and then proceeds to brush the dried streaks all over the plates. Jesperi rubs the washed dishes with a quick, circular motion and sets them in a structure in the cabinet above the sink. Virgil walks up to the fridge and shuffles the overstacked fridge. Pizza? Spring rolls from last year? Pelle wades over the fridge and breathes down onto Virgil’s bare neck.

“Go make me another one while one is on the way, okay?” Pelle guffaws.

“Dude, don’t go creeping around me!” Virgil groans.

“And make me and Selena some coffee!”

Pelle digs his fingers into his bottom and gives a good scratch as he returns to his room and blares the loud and nerve-wracking videotapes again. Selena sighs and groans in a tired, long whine as Pelle hisses back at her to pipe down. The oven announces in a shrieking beep, as Virgil pushes in the clunky and slightly bent baking tray.

“Alright, two pizzas are in the oven. Now I have to open the windows as Pelle still has not managed the air conditioner,” Virgil sneers and chuckles a bit.

“I can tell. Not even lifting his finger,” Jesperi shakes his head.

“Weaponized incompetence. Can’t believe Aunt Selena has married that larva. He doesn’t even know how to use an oven properly and always manages to burn his egg because that moron always cranks up the gas stove up to eleven, or more like, nine.”

“What can you expect from some babyish, leech-like larva?”

The boys erupt into boisterous laughter. A few thunderous slams shake the frames on the wall as Jaakoppi walks out, looking frail from time and his career wearing him out.

“Ugh, doesn’t even work, I cannot call my dear friend Kara, I thought we had a date yesterday,” he hisses.

The silence between the people in the house settles back in, aside from the bedroom’s television droning in monotonous buzz. Virgil flicks his phone open and scrolls with quick manoeuvring on the tiny keypad. Virgil just nods and looks up at the morning sun greeting the tiny forest valley. His calm face suddenly pinches up. His eyebrows furrow and his eyes squint at the object. He grits his teeth and puffs his tail up as he grabs a spatula for the pizza and throws it at the open window.

“PERKELE!!” Virgil screams at the top of his lungs.

It is that rapscallion in a black vest. Saku freezes, hiding his cell phone in his bag and sprints. The black spot dashes across the dry, tall grassy field, jumps into the bushes and attempts to merge into the green spot.

“I CAN STILL SEE YOUR ASSCRACK PEEKING OUT FROM THESE BUSHES, UH-UH!!” Virgil continues to bombard his rage at Saku, “PASKIAINEN!!”

At that moment, Jesperi bursts into a brief chuckle, seeing a spatula jammed between the windowsill and the open window. It was still enough to send Saku into a quick adrenaline rush, combined with Virgil’s growling at him. Virgil stays still until he flickers his eyes for a brief moment. Realizing Pelle was now standing still and staring blankly at his nephew and the spatula being stuck at the window Virgil's blush spread all over his face. He picks out the spatula from the aged dust all over it. Jesperi still holds his laughter muffled behind his arm warmer.

Soon, the knife splits the pizza into three, almost even sections. Virgil places the plate with no sound in front of Jesperi. The moment he bites into the perfectly warm piece, the silky tomato sauce with a slight tinge of chilli warming the top of his mouth. Creamy cheese melts inside his mouth into tinier, stimulating molecules that contrast with tiny, stark and robust salami dotted all over the piece. Jesperi’s hand subconsciously crawls to the second piece beneath his greedy paw.

“Mh… Godlike…” Jesperi moans.

And the ogre soon too, crawls out of his little dark cave. He pulls the plank pizza onto two plates and starts to chew on his favourite soggy brand. Even a firm shake doesn’t properly stick it up. Jesperi gags, seeing Pelle shredding a massive piece like an animal, and then rubbing the tomato blood all over his already stanky shirt.

“Will you make us more?” Pelle laughs.

“I dunno, maybe,” Virgil rolls his eyes.

Pelle swears to himself and locks himself in his cave again. The door flicks open as Kasperi brings in his venison from this hunting session onto the table. A few stacks of blocky aluminium boxes with bright stickers stamped a bit afoot from the edges. A long pack of juice that doesn’t seem to be motivated to stand up. A metallic can of condensed milk and some plastic, clunky boxes.

“This should be just enough when we leave,” Virgil nods.

“Alright, do we have other things as well?” Kasperi grabs his piece of breakfast.

“’Bout this… I do have matches, extra clothes, and blankets and toothbrushes and other hygiene shit…”

Kasperi chews on the chilled pizza and smugly grins. Jesperi blows off the warm steam away from his face and sips on coffee as he nods a little. He leans over at the list at the furthest corner of the table and studies it. Just the same stuff on the list.

…

Virgil tramples on the pedal a few times before the engine coughs up. The vehicle pulls over the light ground and floats away.

As the engine trails across the distinguishable path between the trees. Kasperi keeps staring at Jesperi’s face, studying tiny, almost unnoticeable features and blemishes.

“Where did ya get that scar from?” Kasperi glares at Jesperi.

Jesperi brushes that spot on the right side of his lips. He has a bit of a permanent scowl on that side of his mouth that tilts down a bit and looks a bit tucked. As he brushes his fingers, he can feel her steel cold fingers brushing against his cheek and mouth, leaving a massive gash on his face.

“It happened many years ago,” Jesperi replies, “Not like I remember that day.”

“What day? Is it something that happened after I left the orphanage?”

“Indeed.”

“Well… Wanna tell me what happened?”

“Nah, I don’t have any memory of that day.”

Jesperi bites his lip and snickers with an uncertain expression between neutral and happy. His brother looks at him again and drives his gauntlet’s finger across the sliced spot. Jesperi freezes and glares down at Kasperi, giving him a quick, sharp look along locking his fingers around the chilly gauntlet.

“Don’t touch my face!” Jesperi hisses.

“Whoa, whoa, chill…,” Kasperi smirks, “It’s just this scar could have been left by a gauntlet, ya know?”

“I know… I know…,” Jesperi keeps his almost-masked scowl beneath his straight face.

…

At last, Virgil stops by the ocean of tall, dry grass. Small waves of wind scatter across the endless fields, occasionally interrupted by the short rows of trees. Virgil dives into the deep plants first. Kasperi hops in too, shaking the entire section of bristly grass. Jesperi hops in and chases his friends a bit, following through a deep portion of the grass.

Their weight pins down the plants, slowly growing a long path across the small ocean in the field. In the middle of a field, stiff, rusty field crawlers gently shake as the wind tries to knock them over. Their persistent needle legs stick in the dry soil. Some parts of their engines stick out like disembodied ribs or innards.

In front of them, a wooden house grows taller among the tall grass, weighted with all electronic devices around equivalently on each worn-out wall. One plank swings down from the overhang. Virgil scratches the surface of the keyhole with the fat and dark key until he finally slides the key inside in one, clean go. He pulls the door forward.

The house is a time travel back in time. Every movement coming from items scattered around died out a long time ago. A long, delicate lace tablecloth lays over the empty table. The books sit still behind the glassy windows of rows of shelves in the other room. The dented sofa has dozens of wrinkles pinched out. Someone, something, or the time itself has chewed at the edges of an intricate carpet from the foreign lands.

“Alright,” Kasperi spreads all over the sofa, “Break time.”

“Break time schmeak time, get your tuchis up, we have some cleaning to do,” Virgil replies.

“Aww come on, we’re like…,” Kasperi turns to Virgil, “Spending a day here… at a maximum!”

Still, Virgil doesn’t change the empty and slightly furrowed look on his face. In a second, Kasperi flies out of the sofa and lands on the dusty, dirty carpet. He groans for a moment before he gets up and drapes his limp body on a leathery armchair.

“Anyhow…” Virgil turns to Jesperi.

After a moment the young man looks up to his new friend.

“Shall we… cook something?” Jesperi smiles back.

“A bit later, okay? I am thinking of cleaning up the kitchen and making us some pancakes. You and your idiotic, but equally charming brother shall do the sweeping.”

Jesperi blinks his eyes rapidly, choking on holding his laughter back. He turns around and tries to sweep up the broom out of nowhere. Alas, just like looking for his broom to zip around the district, there is nothing broom-like to be found. The moment Jesperi gets a hold of a long broom, he rushes back inside the living room. He sweeps up the clouds of dustballs and feeds them to the dustpan. Kasperi, who is deep inside the inner world of his cell phone, is enamoured by the eerie blue light like a foolish moth.

“Hey, will you help me a bit at least?” Jesperi growls.

“How ‘bout ya do it yourself. Not like you are some hienohelma.” Kasperi finally mumbles.

Jesperi swipes the broom against Kasperi’s smug face. Like thousands of tiny whips slashing Kasperi’s suddenly aghast face, he props up and stares into the infinite realm of the souls before his eyes that he could have been sent to.

“Holy shit, Jessi!” Kasperi shakes, “Is this how hard you can hit!?”

“That’s just a demonstration, little bitch. I had been enough in fights with my rivals, and you don’t want to be another one.”

Jesperi continues feeding the squeaky dustpan. Virgil tears the long cardboard piece of the flour box, eyeing the squabble between two ruffians. He growls a few profanities under his nose and glides into the kitchen with no sound. Kasperi stands up, his nose almost blowing air into Jesperi’s twitchy ear, looking for the next thing to either drop or shift.

Kasperi’s veiny hand swipes down the dust all over the short bookshelf. Jesperi slowly turns his head, his face morphing into a scrunched shape at his eyebrows and his nose. Kasperi backs down, about to scream or just giggle spontaneously.

“Se oli vain vitsi, se oli vain vitsi…” Kasperi whispers.

Before Kasperi evacuates himself, Virgil barricades the escape route, shoves a duster into Kasperi’s fist and turns him around.

“Guess I have no other route,” Kasperi sighs.

The pan lightly sizzles in the kitchen. At times, Kasperi sweeps the dust into Jesperi’s face or even whacks his cranium and lets the dust rain all over Jesperi’s face. The younger brother grumbles, pushing his elder brother away.

“You haven’t changed at all,” the younger man speaks out.

“Thanks for the compliment,” Jesperi replies with a fake tone.

Jesperi sweeps up the dust, as the broom thrashes up a small cardboard box. A wobbly frame of a box spills out stocky, sketchy characters. Jesperi leans in, picking up a few characters. The edges of the thick, brown paper threaten to eat away the joyous grin on the character. Virgil too, leans closer, smiling.

“I used to create these figures and little furniture out of cardboard boxes with my father when I was a small boy. I still treasure these things,” Virgil sighs.

“That sounds sweet,” Jesperi smiles empathetically, “Would you like to tell me a story?”

“Well, you already know it, but I can give a more broad picture.”

Virgil kneels, and wiggles three cardboard characters into the open spot between both men.

“A long time ago, there were three brothers. The eldest one, the golden child chased good money. The second one didn’t chase after anything and had a decent, non-problematic rock ‘n’ roll career full of genuine joy that crumbled away with his disease. The scapegoat third child always drank away his short-lived sorrows for long-lived ones. The eldest had a son, whom he dearly loved. The second son had an electric guitar, and he always spent polishing and caring for it. And the third one had nothing. So, the eldest worked himself to the point of having his final sleep in the hospital bed. The third son took over the child of his brother and raised him, leaning on his nephew’s and his remaining older brother’s shoulders. For a long time, the son was inspired to take on the steps of his late father and dreamt of a machine that would allow him to fly anywhere he could.”

“What are you doing?” a voice from nearby barges in.

“Oh,” a slight frown creeps on Virgil’s lips, “Just telling stories about our past.”

“May I join in?”

“Provided you cleaned up the shelves,” Virgil tuts, “Otherwise I will make you clean up the stove as well, I will be making some pancakes after hard work and to feed our sad little souls.”

“Yeah, no thanks, cleaning up the stove ain't fun. Anyways, let's get started!” the young man sits on the floor.

He takes out a wobbly figure of a little boy and starts to pretend he is walking around.

“This is the boy, living in a close-knit orphanage, living with even closer brothers. They feel safe and cuddly, aside from a few nastyass bullies. The teachers would see him as a sweet boy, as sweet as any toy that can be passed on from one family to another, as it turns out, the sweet boy is also a nastyass.”

Jesperi and Kasperi both erupt into laughter as Kasperi ends up falling over his legs over his head.

“WAH-! Whoa, so… the boy had a small family and had a young family. One family was cold, the other one was creepily privy. Each change always happens from boy getting adventurous.”

“And by ‘adventurous’ you mean trouble-seeking?” Jesperi leans in.

“Iho umpeen,” Kasperi pushes his older brother away, “And all of these adventures end up in him living with a famed musician, making him the cousin of Virgil.”

Jesperi rolls his eyes, grabs another figure and taps it on the laminated floor with engraved wooden print on it. Jesperi clears his throat.

“Well, this boy was the middle son. He had the biggest heart, and he had been always close to his brother. A decent life, decent grades, and even living in an orphanage didn't take away the joy of having a big, built family that moved on. One day, on a long trip to meet someone he had waited for years, everything… goes… awry…” Jesperi starts to freeze.

His mind rapidly buffers. Should he share what had happened in the past? Should he really entrust with these flashes of his own past that practically screwed his life over?

“Yo, ya good?” Kasperi snickers.

“I am alright… Just a… small misstep. Which caused that boy to wander towards the South and end up here. Not that it was in my plans. For years he was living safely in his comfort zone of soft textiles, giving them a new life and patching up the torn clothes and just… sticking to the comfort of peace, yet challenging times.”

Virgil smugly chuckles, holding up a hefty, glistening, and black pan with flat plateaus engraved on it.

“It’s alright, bud. Nothing like a pancake can fix this pain,” the older guy laughs.

The pan starts to slowly sizzle and tiny sparks of oil pop around. Virgil swirls the creamy batter all over the hot pan in a swift circular motion, filling up every inch of the pan. Virgil jams the flipper under the pancake but pierces through it, accidentally lumping it.

“Ugh, great,” the eldest male scoffs, “Well, as what the proverb says, the first pancake always comes in a lump.”

Virgil swirls the batter again, allowing it to stick to the pan and lightens up with a healthy amount of freckly texture on the food. In a minute, the flipper finally scoops beneath the pan and flips the pancake over, revealing the golden surface of a planet with tiny porous craters all over it.

Kasperi drools over the smell that takes over his five, possibly six senses. He scoops up a torn piece of the thin, crispy at at-the-edge pancake and feeds himself with one thin piece. Jesperi gently slices each tiny piece, generously gaps it onto maple sauce and takes time to grind the pancake into an even paste in his mouth and gather as much taste as possible.

“Is it good?”Virgil asks.

“Mhm, this is one hell of a dinner. At least not some dog food that fills up two-thirds of our pantry,” Kasperi nods.

Virgil chuckles, not really touching the limp pancake on his floral-embroidered plate. Jesperi leans over to the gramophone, looking at the shiny, smooth vinyl disc placed on it.

“Just drop the needle,” Virgil ushers.

Jesperi gently nestles the needle on the vinyl. In a second, the peaceful music starts the relaxing parade with drums. Jesperi sits on a couch, slowly nods to the beat and closes his eyes. The beat gains a more synthetic side to it and calmly prances inside the small apartment. Virgil too, starts to sway his body along the relaxing lyrics.

Only Kasperi stares at his older friends. Soon, Virgil begins to twirl his body around the kitchen. His rhythm turns stronger as the intensity of the powerful, unique beat grows stronger. Jesperi mouths a few words along the song, but then he stops, jumping into Virgil’s charade.

Friends dance around the tight spot, exchanging their turns in making their moves or shuffles. Jesperi runs up to Kasperi and pulls him out of the couch with no counter-force. The elder brother spins his sibling around the room. Soon, Kasperi starts to fall under the spell of the energetic and joyous beat that is hard to break.

“Ya know, I never imagined I still can dance,” Kasperi smirks.

“It’s all about the practice,” Jesperi replies.

Virgil runs to the living room and pulls the couch from the wall. Jesperi pushes it from the tiny gap and Kasperi decides to drag it with Virgil. The biggest guy kicks the sofa against the wall, he conquers the place with his strong, powerful presence. Sometimes, Jesperi joins in, sometimes Kasperi slowly waves his hands at his hips to try to at least to pretend he is dancing.

“It’s raining!” Virgil laughs out loud.

He runs outside, diving into the tall grass. Jesperi hops in, and Kasperi follows the dented trail on the ground.

Jesperi laughs as the rain washes him. He spins, and attempts to get his see-through shirt soaking wet and heavy from the water. Virgil just stands and stares up at the grey sky, lit up by the evening sun. Kasperi runs up, throwing cartwheels on the slippery mud, and bursts into laughter once his hand gives into the slush of mud, water, gravel and dead hay.

“This is the greatest day,” Jesperi thinks to himself.

…

Soon, after a long bath, Jesperi drops himself on a mattress. Even if it is rough, at least it is cool and will soon exchange the warmth Jesperi will soak it with. Kasperi’s cell phone beeps a few times, Virgil just stares at the ceiling window, which is rippling from the showers pounding on it.

“I am tired. And that’s okay. I think we did so much work today,” Virgil talks to Jesperi.

“Yeah,” Jesperi smiles, resting his head on Virgil’s shoulder, “I am glad we ha spent time together. This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“What about you, Kasperi?” Virgil leans over, “Maybe we should get some rest?”

Kasperi smacks the phone shut and lays down one mattress away from Virgil.

“I am not that tired. I could dance around like a drunken fool and run around like an idiot under the chilly rain,” Kasperi groans.

“So you enjoyed that,” Jesperi shakes his head, still retaining his smile.

Notes:

"Perkele!!" - "Damn it!!", also a reference to the Finnish video where a man scares the bear away "Paskiainen" - Bastard in Finnish Field crawler - Vehicles that have four or more legs connected to a wooden/metallic platform. Used as a way to guard the fields and travel quickly on them Hienohelma - "Dandy" "Se oli vain vitsi!" - "It was just a joke!" "The first pancake always comes in a lump." - A Russian proverb meaning that first try isn't always successful, "third time's the charm"

[feelgoodrva]

Ladies Night: A Galentine's Day Event

Two like minded, woman owned platforms are coming together to bring you a special night highlighting women in the name of SELF LOVE and SELF CARE!

Life comes at you fast when you’re adulting. With that being said we took a much needed break to regroup and really think about what’s next for FEEL GOOD RVA. While on the search for inspiration, new RVA based brand Rooted Connections reached out to us about a collab! Two like minded, woman owned platforms are coming together to bring you a special night highlighting women in the name of SELF…

[kkbarksdale]

Day 7- Magen’s Bay Wedding

Friday, May 5th, 2023

Today was finally the day for our destination wedding at Magen’s Bay. We woke up as early as we did every day, around 5-6am, and spent some momemts together soaking in the sunrise. I wrote Cody a “Holy Shit We’re Getting Married Today” card and we laid in bed and reminised on our relationship. It was such a quiet, intimate, much needed moment of peace for Cody and I after our stressful night before. We had our morning coffee together and just basked in the calm before the storm. I eventually really had to get up because I needed at least 2 hours for hair and make up, starting at 7am. The house was also starting to wake, as everyone had some tasks to complete to get the day moving along. I eventually started doing my make up look at Corky hung out with me, which I really enjoyed. Looking back on our wedding morning, I really wished I had asked for all the girls to get ready with me. It would have made me feel more excited and less sad/stressed. Corky watched me continuously mess up on my eyeliner lol. I had taken a professional make up lesson in October 2022 from an RVA make-up artist. I continued practicing my bridal look all year. I actually got really really good at make up! My downfall to my bridal look was my eyeshadow. I wasn’t sure what combination to use but luckily my look was fairly natural and beachy at the same time. My mom arrived solo at some point, around 8am. This wasn’t what I planned, and looking back, it was really hard for me to accept that many of the things I planned did not get executed like I wanted or asked them to be. I wish I would have anticipated this better and would have been less irritated and rolled with the punches of change better. I had planned for my mom, dad, and brother Jacob to ride with me to the beach in my Jeep with all of the coolers of beer. The beer ended up going with the party bus, and my mom wasn’t comfortable driving so Austin ended up driving my mom and I to the beach. Not what I planned, but it worked out. Anyways, my mom got her hair curled by Corky and I was up next for mine. She killed my bridal hair. I went for a low updo with a french braid. She added lots of tendrils around my face and hanging from my bun. Corky and I had a trial run a few weeks before, so knew what I wanted and was able to execute this look very quickly. She did a great job! At this point, it was around 9am, maybe a little later. Another riff in the day, was the taxis. The taxi service was great, actually amazing! However, they showed up really early. The Barksdale crew messed up the taxi situation, from my understanding. They insisted on the taxi picking them up at 9am, which put them showing up the earliest to the beach. Cody and I planned meticulously, and the villa party bus was supposed to arrive first to pay the wedding fees, $250 for the wedding, and $5 per guest. What happened, was the Barskdale crew taxi arrived first, paid all of their fees and then it confused the Magen’s Bay Authority people. We may have actually ended up over paying the beach because it wasn’t clear how many people tp pay for since the first group already paid for themselves. The 9am taxi time also messed up our taxi driver, as he arrived really early. He was supposed to come at 9:30am. What happened was that not everyone was ready. Cody and had been ready and got a lot of pictures with people at this point. Once I was ready, I asked for some pictures with the girls. SInce the taxi was early, they were in a rush to load up and head to the beach. I didn’t end up getting any “getting ready” pictures with the girls and was pretty torn up about it. However I had to suck it up because they had already left and there was nothing I could do. From this point onward, I felt pretty relieved. Any and all control I had was out of my hands, and whatever happened didn’t matter anymore. I finally felt somewhat relaxed because it finally was soaking in that all the details were mudane, and I was just getting to marry my best friend regardless. I just wish I had realized this sooner.

I was so very relieved that Austin offered to drive my mom and I to the wedding. I would have been stressed and it would have left me starting to cry. The drive to the wedding was peaceful. When we arrived, there was a long line to get into Magen’s Bay. It wasn’t moving either. Looking back, it was like this because of our taxis. The villa bus was trying to pay the fees, and they were super confused from the earlier taxi. Austin ended up driving up and skipping the line. We made a security guard mad in the process, but he got out and talked to the guy and told him we had the bride in the car. They weren’t happy, but they let us through. When we parked, Austin went and grabbed all of the girls to take a picture with me. That was really sweet and I appreciated that, as he listened to me. Island Mike, our wedding coordiantor Lisa and the photographer all came to greet me. I’m going to write a separate blog post on my expereince with them! They were all very kind and helpful. They tried to help me tie up loose ends and prepare me for the next few moments. My parents and I were in position to start walking down the aisle. They told me how much they loved Cody and how happy they were to be seeing us get married. I unfortuantely tuned out their exact words a bit because I was on the brink of really crying. It all happened very quickly, and next thing you know, we were walking down to the alter. There was a slight delay between the coordinator telling us to start walking, and everyone being confused on whether or not to stand. I ended up halting my parents and I at the end of the aisle, mainly because Cody hadn’t turned around yet and if we kept walking, we would have been right up there. The officiant finally told everyone to stand, and had Cody turn around and we descended down the aisle. I hugged both of my parents, and dropped them off at their seats, and then joined Cody at the alter. I was expecting to be very emotional, and I was but I was not crying profusely like I expected. I was just happy and blissful. The ceremony started and our officiant was so awesome. The ceremony was short and sweet, and was nautical themed. Cody and I read our own vows, and I was blown away by Cody’s. We actually got to decide which one of us would go first, and we rock paper scissored who would go. I won obviously, so Cody went first. He did such a good job and really spoke from his heart. I don’t remember his entire vows, but one part that really stood out was him telling me that he hated to leave me in the morning and looked forward to coming home to me after work. It made me really cry when he said that because I knew it was so true. I felt it every day. I then read my vows, and the ceremony was concluded! We had our sweet first kiss, and everything felt so natural and smooth. One more thing that did not go as planned- I wanted a beach ball exit from the alter, and that did not happen. That ended up ebing okay though, because we did a beach ball grand exit in our bathing suits later which ended up being a lot of fun. Our ceremony was only 10 minutes, but one con from the entire ceremony and day really was how damn HOT it was in the Caribbean sun. The short time during our ceremony, Cody and I both got burnt and we were ridiculously sweaty. We haven’t gotten our professional pictures back just yet but everyone was complaining, and wore sunglasses in all of the pictures. I guess as long as Cody and I get good portraits, I will be happy. Cody and I broke off to take some pictures by the palm trees, and some by the water. We had many pictures taken with our guests too. After all of this, we changed into our bathing suits and it was time for our beach ball grand exit. It was really fun actually! I only got pelted in the face once with a ball lol. Time went by so quickly, and before you knew it the photographer, videographer, steel pan player, and coordinator were on their way out. I remember sitting around enjoying the last few minutes of the steel pan player and Aunt Sharon declared in front of everyone “I’m just going to come out and say it, this is the best wedding I’ve ever been to!”. Cody and I were so tickled to hold that title, and she had some guts to say that in front of multiple married couples in the family. It was finally time for our reception beach day! Cody and I made some rounds chatting with our guests. I remember sitting on the beach having a long conversation with my friend Mika. I don’t have many specific memories from this moment in time, but I know I finally felt relaxed and was having a bit of fun. Everyone else seemed to be having a fun time too, so all was well. 

At some point, Daniel had approached me and said that him and my family would be leaving the beach. The girls needed to leave and have a nap. This was a transitional point and the party was starting to ramp up. Before they left, we gathered everyone and had our thank you speech for everyone. This was the speech that we had to ditch the night before. My parents, brother and sister in law, and the girls left. We then proceeded to have a beer circle and play Thunder! After that, we realized that the beer cooler was empty and it was a perfect time to head over to the beach bar!

At the beach bar, I was greeted with a round of cheers which was so sweet. Jumping ahead of myself for a moment, Bobby went to buy me a shot and the bartender actually bought it for me. I thought that was pretty cool. The time at the bar was so much fun and a memorable moment of our wedding day for sure. This was when we all took very candid phone pictures. All groups got together to snap some pictures. Cody and I took our favorite picture of the trip here! We all enjoyed some drinks and mingled. This was exactly why we chose Magen’s Bay to host our wedding, because of the cool bar. Eventually we all decided to head back to the Shed to start preparing to leave. We jumped in the water a little bit more and before you knew it, it was time to head home. Looking back, the whole day went by so fast. We were always worried that the 4:30 taxi pick up time was too late, but we ended up needing it because we were all having so much fun. Honestly, it might have even came early but I didn’t even know. The entire day and trip in general was such a whirlwind. I’ve really enjoyed putting all my thoughts and feelings from the trip down into this diary/blog, but it made me realize how fast it all went by. When I was in the moment, time went by slow and we soaked in every second. 

The ride back was quite fun! We ended up dropping Holly, Carson, and Hunter off at their place for free. I remember Black Lauren being very nervous about the winding roads. We were all mildly blackout and having a blast on the ride back. When we got home, we all immediately jumped in the pool. I took a couple shots with our shot queen Corky. I didn’t even realize how much I had drank but I was hammered at this point. We ordered pizzas for dinner. Cody and I had a black out first dance since we missed it the night before lol. I have it on video and it is quite ridiculous. We are sunburnt and so drunk lol. Lauren and Bobby were the only ones that made it that evening. Lauren napped while we got drunk in the pool and made it to go out to dinner and watch live music. At some point, te Barksdale crew came over but they left because there wasn’t much going on. We all had plans to go out that night! Apparently Cody was the only one who could rally. All of the girls passed out. Black Lauren and Stevie passed out around 6, me and Corky followed around 7. Apparently Cody kept trying to get us all to rally, but it wasn’t happening. He said he kept coming to check on me in bed but I wouldn’t get up. He eventually gave up at 10pm and made he take off my bathing suit and go to bed. & that concluded our wedding day! It ended up working out perfectly and it was amazing for everyone. It was such a special day, full of love, and important for me- not much stress. Cody and I love to read each other our vows. That was my favorite part of the day, and something I had been looking forward to for a long time. We are still riding the high from this incredible day. 

[wrongpublishing]

BOOK REVIEW: TIM MCGREGOR'S WASPS IN THE ICE CREAM

by Elizabeth Broadbent, Staff Writer.

Since moving to A Real City (holla, RVA!), our local bookstore has a decent horror section: yes, we have the legendary Libbie Barnes & Noble. Our family hit it up Saturday, when I snagged Tim McGregor’s Wasps in the Ice Cream, one of the newest from Raw Dog Screaming Press. I havea long TBR stack of ARCs. There was guilt. BUT BOOKS!

On Sunday, my husband’s birthday, global warming gifted us with a day of daffodils and blooming Bradford pears. The fam hiked two miles—the farthest I’ve walked since receiving iron infusions for severe anemia. Anemia leaves you exhausted. I was proud. I was tired.

I promise, I’ll get to the book.

Afterward, I decided to soak in my heart-shaped enormo-tub, a trashy upper-middle-class indulgence I shouldn’t enjoy so much. This tub is surrounded by more than twenty candles, mostly tea lights in seashells, because I am a decadent bitch (I swear I’m not as basic as this sounds). I’d just finished one ARC, and I wanted a break from screens, so I snagged Wasps in the Ice Cream. This was supposed to be... shortish. Maybe half an hour, pre-nap.

Cue the 1980s. 

Mark’s outgrown his childhood besties: Kombat Kevin, perpetually stuck in his “let’s throw some fireworks at each other for fun” phase, and Eric, always a little slow on the uptake. On a summer-doldrum night, Mark notices the mysterious Farrow sisters in the grocery store. You know them: the creepy homeschooled girls shut up in a run-down gothic mansion. Once, their family owned most of town, and they lost everything but their snobbery. Their reclusiveness has fueled rampant rumors. They’re weird; they’re shunned; they shun everyone. Mark’s dumbass friends play a stupid prank on them, and despite his reluctance, he joins in���and feels horrible. 

As penance, he tries to befriend the middle sister, George. Her attitude at first—well, “standoffish” is polite. But slowly, they become friends, and...

My tea lights began to burn out. Usually, I scramble to light more. 

I noticed the candles only in retrospect.

I kept reading.

Time passed. I refreshed my hot water—once? Twice?—book in hand. Tea lights continued winking out. Eventually, I turned the last page; I was weeping; and my sunlit bathroom had turned to candlelight. Somewhere downstairs, someone was yelling about birthday cake. This sounds overdramatic. It’s true. 

When this book launched, I saw it everywhere, liked the cover, and thought, huh, maybe I ought to read that. Maybe you should have read this yesterday. The pacing’s taut. The characters are vivid. I ached not only for big plot points, but small ones, too: a visit to Gramma’s house left me crying. I believed in Mark. His struggle to fit in two worlds was real; all those little details of high school rang true. Those details made Wasps in the Ice Cream devastatingly authentic, but they pained me: a good pain, because they were genuine; a wincing pain, because I remembered them too well. 

I also remembered those small-town summer doldrums, that nothing-to-do, the desperation for anything to happen. I remember that yearning to leave. I could have slipped into their skins: into Mark’s desperate desire to fit in; into George’s painful isolation; even into Kevin’s appetite for destruction. Don’t you remember those stars stuck to your ceiling, the ones that never glowed? 

Maybe that’s why I loved this book so much: despite its touches of the supernatural, it’s a true story. In my favorite Steinbeck novel, Sweet Thursday (no one reads Steinbeck anymore), Doc says, “A thing isn't necessarily a lie even if it didn't necessarily happen.” I believe it. I believe it all.

Yes, the prose is great. Yes, the plotting is remarkable. Yes, it’s a great book.

But I believe it. A book you can believe in is a precious thing. Why, out of all of Stephen King’s novels, does Pet Semetary slam us hardest? Because it’s the truest (I’ll die on that hill).

We return to our mirrors. We examine our own sins and look for our redemption. We want a good story, yes—but in the end, we’re all Narcissus, and we seek our own reflections. Wasps in the Ice Cream holds up a mirror. Tim McGregor has handed us something special, and massive kudos to Raw Dog Screaming Press for pubbing this one. Pick it up. You won’t regret it.

& follow the author:

Twitter: @ TimMcGregor1 

[xyeahmanx]

Before it hits 12 🇺🇸

[gooddayrva]

BLUSH FACE // "LOVE FOR A GHOST" // OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

[sethdrawsgood]

Mynah bird illustration inspired by Aldous Huxley’s “The Island.” Drawn on iPad using procreate

[year2020-al]

🧘🏻✔️

[death-and-taxescomic]

Death and Taxes no. 10

Death meets Damien

[woftd]

Things like this review on @globalmoneyworld of our project BlackLiq x @Ohbliv - “What Will It Take” mean everything. The coverage has been so inspiring, from Croatia’s @blackouthiphop to these unique words from Brazil’s @roadiemusicmag and these nods from @rhythmanddrilltv and @digiindie We’ve even gotten “Good” in rotation on radio stations and now “Rhyme” is startling to move on shows like @culturewildstation & @djschame and @ickycrates ! Since our exclusive launch on @manbitesdogrecords bandcamp with limited edition physicals we have sold out of the project on vinyl in a bit more than a day, and we’re getting closer to running out of tapes and CD’s every day! All I can say is thank you…..and to keep spreading word! #ThankYou #HipHop #BlackLiq #Ohbliv #manbitesdogrecords #good #rhyme #thelove #respect #RVA #NoW #WOFTD (at Thank You) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmiJjWVrytb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[dravensnight]

11.05.17 🦇🍂 @in-fear-of-rot