#i finished this on sunday on my flight home and that last 100 pages was an fucking experience

[wutheringmights]

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is not a good book. I know that. You know that. It's almost not worth talking about the bad dialogue, the worse narration, and the abysmal world building. All of that is bad in a really normal, almost unremarkable way (though I did take an extremely high amount of glee in doing math with literally any number Yarros provided) (Yarros, please stop giving specific numbers at every opportunity).

None of that is nowhere near as interesting as the way in which Yarros-- who made sure to mention she is a second generation army brat who loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for 20 years--uses the novel to argue in favor of American military intervention overseas.

It's bad, and I almost admire the sheer audacity.

--

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Rating: 2/5

[austinpanda]

Dad Letter 111520

15 November, 2020

Dear Dad--

Another week in this, the craziest year of all time. So it seems the election is over, mostly, maybe, and here in Maine, the coronavirus cases are shooting up, as in lots of the country. In order to further myself toward my two goals, which are (a) not dying, and (b) selling a script, I’ve been home working on my two projects. I thought you might like an update on them! The rest of my life is currently falling into a quarantine of sleep-wake-repeat, with a trip to the grocery store on Wednesdays, but the stuff I’m writing is much more interesting. 

Firstly, the Hell House script. It’s coming along well. I’ve completed about 62 pages, give or take, of an eventual 100 pages, give or take. Now I’m finishing the second third of the movie, the middle third. This is difficult because at this point, a viewer will have been watching for an hour, they know the climax is coming but isn’t here yet, and you pretty much have to walk on water to keep the audience impressed during this part. It’s also the part where the main character(s) typically reach their emotional low point. 

So I’m writing this scene where, in the original movie, the science guy explains to the psychic woman how his machine is going to eliminate all the ghosties. The psychic woman he’s speaking to is currently possessed by the ghosties, so she attempts to dissuade him, and fails. Then she takes a fireplace poker and starts to smash the machine. The other psychic, a man, runs up to her to stop her, and she hits him in the collar bone with the poker. He falls to the ground unconscious. (Not very likely.) Then, science guy comes up to her, grabs the poker, slaps her in the face, and SHE falls to the ground unconscious (which is even less likely.) So you see what kind of challenges this project comes with. I’ll let the original movie guide where the plot goes, but I’m not going to let stupid shit like this stand; I’ve gotta fix it. 

After I get finished writing this, I’ll figure out how one copyrights one’s writing, and copyright it. Then I’ll start looking for representation, an agent to sell it to someone who might want to produce it, while I work on the other project. 

The other project is about my favorite plane crash! (By now you may have twigged to the fact that your son is smart but weird.) I saw a documentary once about a plane crash and it was such a good documentary, and the circumstances of the plane crash were so interesting, that I became hooked. There’s lots of informative stuff about it on YouTube. It’s United 232, the plane that crashed into Sioux City, Iowa in July of 1989. You’ve probably seen the news footage that shows it making it to a runway and then crashing, shot through a chain link fence. 

If I get going, I could talk about this all day, so I’m going to limit myself to telling you three interesting things about the crash. 

Interesting Thing #1 - I discovered something when I was reading up on the pilot. When this incident happened, the captain, Al Haynes, was 57 years old, about to turn 58. When Sully Sullenberger landed his plane on the Hudson River in New York, he was 57 years old, about to turn 58. Al Haynes was born in Paris, Texas. Sully was born in Denison, Texas. (Sully’s birthday is also the same as mine, January 23rd.) They even looked a bit alike. Al Haynes died in August of last year at age 87.

Interesting Thing #2 - The plane in the Sioux City crash was a DC-10. A DC-10 is a big enough plane, that you need hydraulic power to move the flight surfaces, flaps, ailerons, elevators, etc., all the stuff that steers the plane. If you lose hydraulics, there are no backup cables, because the flight surfaces are too big and heavy, no human could move them. So there are three separate hydraulics systems. The likelihood of losing all three is something they can calculate when they’re designing the airplane, so they make sure the chances of all three systems failing is less than one in a billion. The way in which their plane broke, while they were flying it at 37,000 feet, caused all three systems to fail. At that point, they weren’t flying an airplane, so much as a refrigerator with two jet engines stuck to it. This takes us to:

Interesting Thing #3 - If you see the video of the crash, you really can’t imagine anyone surviving it. The plane appears to tumble, you can see it break apart, it’s engulfed in a huge fireball of an explosion. But actually, over half the people aboard survived. Some people walked off, or came to in the cornfield without a scratch on them. Among the survivors were all four men in the cockpit. Should have been three men in the cockpit, but there was a special someone among the passengers, and he was helping work the plane’s throttles during the emergency.

So that’s three of about eight jillion interesting things about this plane crash. And if you wanted, I could relate the whole story from the point of view of that special passenger who ended up helping out in the cockpit, because they made a documentary about him. And if you wanted, I could tell it from the point of view of the pilot, Al Hanyes, because he gave a speech about it that you can watch on YouTube. And if you wanted, I could explain the one-in-a-billion failure that caused them to lose all their hydraulics. I could even explain what they did to the other DC-10s after the crash investigation, to make sure the same thing never happened again.

Oh, I just found out yesterday they made a made-for-TV movie about it, and you can watch it on YouTube! It’s called A Thousand Heroes. (There were many heroes on the ground when this happened, as well as those in the sky.) It’s not...ah...burdened with tremendously good quality, as movies go. But it’s not bad, and the captain is played, no shit, by Charlton Heston. James Coburn plays the head firefighter on the ground. 

So the thing I’m writing about that, I don’t know what it’s going to be. As I’m writing it, it’s just going to be about 75 minutes of the narrator, who is me, talking about everything that happened. And I don’t have to embellish shit, either, there’s more than enough rich source material that I can get 75 fascinating minutes out of it. So maybe it’ll be a documentary, or a slideshow that I give that someone films, for example. I don’t have a name for that project yet. Perhaps I should call it Five Thousand Heroes. That’s at least five times better than that other piece o’ shit title. 

Not much else going on in my life, except that the sciatica remains. I’m hurty in my left ass and leg, and I’m a bit concerned that I’m going to suffer from a condition I just made up called Total Back Failure! Only because it’ll be a pain in the ass (heh heh heh) if this doesn’t start fixing itself pretty soon. It should, though. The doctor said, whatever I did, chances are it would fix itself within a matter of weeks, even if he didn’t do doodly-squat. And that’s good, because it doesn’t feel like he did doodly-squat. He prescribed some baby strength muscle relaxants and exercises that I’m so far unable to do. (More accurately, I’ve been too sore to try, so I’m going to try some of them today, since it’s a bit better this morning.) Come on, sciatic nerve, stop being such a little bitch!

I’ve got my Christmas tree up and the kitties are having no end of fun destroying the bottom third. I hope you two are well! Enjoy your Sunday! All my love! 

[historicfailure]

Weekly Heads-up

Well, I guess because two people liked the post about a weekly newsletter, I will do this. And yes, these two people are enough for me. xD So, be prepared for a Sunday-special one hour before the dreaded midnight, starting the day of... you know all what I’m talking about. -.-’‘

So, what is coming next week? The answer is simple!

Nothing. Yeah, yeah it’s nothing.

My lovely proofreader is currently not able to proofread my stuff and I don’t want to subject you guys to my terrible, terrible mistakes of grammar and connotation. But I can say what I’ve already written and only waits to be proofread!

The first request is finished, Tenzo with pigtails! It turned into a little mini-fic of 11 pages I believe (it depends on the format, so around 10-12 pages) and it will be the first one to be posted when my friend has a chance to take a breather.

If anybody here is interested and also checked my AO3 account, you may have noticed a Kakashi x Original Character story with 80 chapters by now, “Find the Right One”. Well, the next chapter for that story is also done and only waits to be proofread.

And, as a little extra, I have also a Madara x Original Character story in my hands which was a gift for another friend of mine for her birthday. I asked if I could post that one because I thought it was pretty nice (Military AU, Madara as the mean Second in command and the OC is this new recruit who needs to stand her ground) and she allowed it ^^ Be prepared for 30 (yes, I know...) pages for that fic ^^

Another interesting thing for you would also probably be to know at what I’m working at the moment.

The next request, which would be a short and interesting fic with Ebisu who gets his glasses wipped away.

The last of the three winner requests of my 100 Follower celebration, a fic where Yamato receives the ending he deserved instead of the crappy one he actually got.

aaaaaand I had an idea for a story of a reclusive MC who lives out of reasons alone in the woods and meets after the Fourth Shinobi World War Team 7 who do one last mission together before Kakashi becomes the Hokage. I still haven’t decided who the love interest will be, but this time, I will include more of Naruto, Sakura and Sai in the story than in any of my other fics before. Right now, the working title is “End my loneliness”, so you all can guess what this is aiming at. ^^

I -of course!- have also some other ideas, but especially the last one irked me to the point that I already wrote 7 pages in one day. ^^’‘ 

Okay, and for personal stuff... Nothing really happened. I took a flight back into my home country for Christmas, I handed in my last essays and reports for University and now, I have all the time in the world to engross myself either in writing or Overwatch xD I’m also playing with the thought of rewatching Naruto, for research purposes, of course ;)

I hope the next week is also for all the ones who read this a good one! And I should mention this, because I didn’t until now...

I won’t leave tumblr. I hate twitter and until now, I pretty much liked this website. So, until they not decide that written erotica is also a no-no, I will continue to be here. To all my followers who are affected by the tumblr purge, I’m so sorry and I hope all of you could save up some contacts from friends you made here or some stuff you don’t want to lose. This purge is bs, we all know it.

That was it. Stay safe and positive and I try to do the same! Have a good night! :D

[lazinesswrites]

WIP Wednesday

Hello! Happy Wednesday!

I was in a car for most if Sunday, so I didn't post anything then - I'll but a little snippet of something at the end of this post instead ^-^

For this past week, I've mostly been working on setting up They Say Love is a Journey for a printed version (just for myself; if you go looking at my older posts you'll see I've done some book binding before), and the same with one of my all-time favourite Malec fics (or just stories in general, really) - Appassionato by Chonideno, it's on Ao3 and it's amazing, so go read it, there's a link a couple posts back on my blog. They're both ready for printing now, so I just gotta get to a place with a printer that makes proper colours and also where I won't feel bad about printing colour 100 pages (okay, actually it's only 85 or so pieces of paper, and I'd bring those myself because I have some fancy printer paper that I don't actually need for anything anymore, so I want to use some of it for this, and it's only like... three pages in They Say that has colours and then tiny bits on a bunch of pages in Appassionato, but anyway).

ANYWay. I've also been reading fanfic again, because I actually didn't really for a while there while I was finishing/publishing They Say.

And, of course, the thing you might actually be here for: I've been working a little bit on a couple fics of my own. I've decided that the Parabatai dream-sharing thing is gonna be a series of smaller fics/one-shots exploring different ways the dream-sharing affects Jace/Alec/Malec/other people around them/plot. I have one of those one-shots mostly finished, but unfortunately it's one of the later/last ones, so it doesn't really make sense on it's own. Gotta get on some of the earlier ones next.

Then today I've been looking a little at some of those sequels/bonus chapters I've got planned for Hiding From Your Home. That's where this snippet is from:

Magnus has noticed Alec studying the little dragon whenever it flies – the dragon has noticed too and is definitely showing off for him – and reading books that include diagrams of different types of wings in different stages of flight. Magnus thinks it’s safe to assume that Alec does want to learn to fly and only needs a safe place to do it where he has more space than in the loft, and is away from prying eyes. (Magnus may have expanded his own library with a small section on wings and the mechanics of flying. He tried to focus on different animals with wings and/or proportions similar to Alec, even found a more theoretical piece specifically about dragons. He made a particularly good find with a work by a now-gone warlock, written for other/future warlocks whose Marks were wings of different types. The original work is also mostly theoretical, but there have been several additions by warlocks who did have wings and as far as Magnus can tell, without any practical experience of his own, it is a very useful guide.)

[kazosa]

We Were Just Friends - Pt 6

Summary: Sunday at the con. Time jump to house hunting. Time jump to Christmas

Words:  3500

Warnings: Language (probably), SMUT, fluff

Tags:  @aquivercactus   @lefthologramdeer   @byereallife   @dragongirl420   @nobodys-baby-now   @sorenmarie87   @soythedemonqueen   @sumara62   @sherlockedtash88   @barry-singer   @rhochradel  

A/N: please forgive my errors, and remember, it’s fiction, no harm is intended

Masterlist

Part 5 

    For whatever reason, you woke up in the middle of the night. You hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but it had been a long day and you’d, obviously, needed the rest. Rich was sleeping soundly next to you. As you marveled at his handsome face, a sudden wave of panic washed over you.

    Dear God, what have I done? Please don’t let me have ruined this. Let him love me as much as I love him…

    His face was turned toward you and a small piece of hair had fallen across his cheek. Carefully, you reached to move it away. You’d had one of the best nights of your life with Richard, and you were stressing that you’d ruined it. It wasn’t like he’d pushed you away, on the contrary, he’d been very enthusiastic. Your fingers went down to your hips, finding the tender spots he’d left there. A smile crossed your face and flushed hot at the memory of how they were made.

    Laying back down with him, you turned your back to him and pulled up the covers. Feeling the disturbance, Rich roused enough to talk to you.

    “You okay, (Y|N)?” he asked.

    “Did we do the right thing, Rich?” you asked back.

    His arm slipped around your body, pulling you to him, his lips on your shoulder.

    “Felt right to me,” he said, softly.

    Thinking he was joking, “You know what I mean.”

    “Mmhmm,” he purred into your neck, sending goosebumps down your side. Shivering back into him, he chuckled a little, his thumb stroking the underside of your breast. “I know what you meant.”

    You’d waited years for him, if he wasn’t 100% with you… Rich’s hand drifted down your body to your leg, you became aware of the heat coming from behind you. Almost involuntarily, you pressed back into his body. His hand smoothed the skin of your leg, going behind your knee to lift your leg over his.

    Twisting your body, your lips went to his. The need for him sending jolts of desire to your core. Feeling your desire for him grow, his hand went to your folds, finding you hot and wet for him. You gasped into his mouth as his fingers dipped inside your folds, stroking your desire. Arching your back, Rich eased himself into you. Somehow, Rich knew just how to hit all the right ways to bring on your orgasm quickly. He didn’t have to work too hard. You were so in love with Rich and so excited to be with him, everything he did was a turn on. Working you just right, the sound of skin on skin filled the room as your body shuddered with release. A small moan left his lips as he had his own orgasm.

    “Gorgeous, I’m yours. Go to sleep,” he muttered.

    Settling into him, you drifted off to sleep again…

    Sundays at convention meant that the day would be relatively short, leaving both you and Rich a little time before your flight left. Sundays also meant that you had to say goodbye to your friends and miss them until you got to see them at the next event. Maybe things would be different now that you were firmly with Rich. Maybe you could go to Vancouver with him when he directed a Supernatural episode. It was never easy to say goodbye, but it always made the reunions that much sweeter.

    You made a point of going to see Jensen before he took off with Jared. He usually had his bag packed before his last panel and would leave shortly after, depending on what flight he could get. Checking the green room, you got lucky.

    “Hey!” he said, spotting you, patting the open space next to him on the couch, “bring me a water, too.”

    You smirked and grabbed a second water, one for you and one for him. Jensen had just finished the gold panel and was getting ready for the next. Assuming he was hungover, you flopped down on the couch as hard as you could.

    “You have a mean streak, you know that,” he grimaced, but took the offered bottle of water.

    “I do. Blame my former co-workers,” you opened your bottle and took a long drink. “Thanks for being your usual self and convincing me to sing with you.”

    “Ah, don’t worry about it. Just doing what others did for me,” he tried to play it off. “But I do accept thanks in the form of public praise and adoration.”

    Backhanding his stomach, you appreciated the groan that came from him.

    “Thanks Jensen. I’ll give you a glowing review,” you said to your friend.

    “How’d it go?” he asked.

    The way he looked at you, you knew what he meant. Turning your shoulders to him and pulled down the neck of your shirt to show Jensen the mark Richard had left there. It didn’t hurt, but the mark was clear.

    “It went well,” he grinned.

    You laughed a little, “Yeah, it went very well.”

    “Okay, okay, don’t tell me anymore, I don’t want to know the details,” he cut you off. “I’m happy for you, sweetheart. You two should be together. He loves you.”

    “Yeah, he does,” you were half-hearted. You knew he loved you, but the uncertainty of whether or not he was in love with you was always at the back of your mind.

    “You don’t think so?” Jensen picked up on your uncertainty.

    “I know he loves me, but…”

    Jensen sighed hard, “He’s in love with you.” He rolled his eyes and took a drink from his water. “Can we talk about something else now? I feel dirty.”

    When Rich finally was finished for the day, he found (Y|N) in her room, taking a nap. She had the TV on to some show on the Travel channel and was covered up with the extra blanket. Quietly, he took off his boots and crawled onto the bed with her.

    “You’re not as quiet as you think,” she mumbled.

    “Shh, you’re dreaming,” he said pulling up the blanket to get close. He just needed to take a nap. “Were you asleep very long?”

    “No, I was almost out,” she responded.

    “Good,” he crumpled around her. After the night they’d had, he needed the rest.

    A few hours later, her phone alarm sounded waking them both. They were supposed to catch the last flight out and go back to reality, something they hadn’t really had a chance to talk about yet. It had been a very long time since he had “dated” anyone and he’d practically asked her to move in with him… He did assume since they had already spent so much time together, that there couldn’t be much about her habits that would bother him. They’d seen each other at their worst possible moments and she had still been the one that he wanted to turn to.

    You liked to keep your room cold when you slept, there was just something about it that you liked. Being snuggled and cozy under the covers just felt good. When you went back to your room, you’d had the intention of watching some Travel Channel shows, get comfy with the extra blanket and catch a little nap before you started working on your article and editing pictures for the event page update. You could type like the wind, but you had to have a nap.

    Rich came into the room, trying to be quiet, but was woefully unsuccessful. He climbed onto the bed with you and wrapped himself around you. His warmth enveloped you and before you knew it, you were asleep. When you woke up, your life with Richard would finally begin.

    Rich was all too pleased to be looking for a place for the both of you and Ollie. He was a homebody, family guy, and you loved that about him, but you didn’t understand why you couldn’t just stay in your little house. He’d been slowly invading your home over the last several months as it was, spending more and more time at your place.

    “Gorgeous, how am I going to practice and not blast you out?” he asked as he walked around the living space with his guitar on, gently strumming as he wandered.

    Looking around at the mess, crammed into the small space that had become your lives, you finally relented to being serious about looking for a place you could share together. He followed you around, still strumming a little tune, narrating your thought process.

    “Will she see what I see?... Our lives were meant to be… But not in a place so wee…”

    When you turned to him, the look on your face told him he’d won the argument.

    You stood inside a home that was fairly new and far larger and more expensive than anything you would ever have dreamed of having with Rich. The house you’d had with Brady had been on a similar scale and you had never really been comfortable in it. It wasn’t that you couldn’t afford the home, it was just that it was too much. Too big. Too expensive. Too far off your style. Rich stood next to you, holding your hand, fingers interlaced, shoulder to shoulder.

    Taking in the massive two-story entry you whispered to Rich, “It’s so big.”

    He couldn’t help himself, “I love it when you say that to me.”

    “Rich!” you elbowed him.

    The realtor had just barely gotten to the house before you and was bustling about, out of earshot, giving the house a quick check before showing you around.

    Rich, always amused at how modest you could be, was still chuckling next to you, his eyes all crinkles and sparkles.

    “You sure are cute when you’re all pink,” the humor still in his voice.

    “Do you think we need a place this…spacious?” you asked.

    Rich thought of the family that would come to visit, the friends that came in from out of town, and how (Y|N) and her friends would get into heated Monopoly battles that could run into the early hours of the morning. He had plans and they included (Y|N) going decades down the line…

    “We don’t have to get a place this big, but I want to have a place big enough for all of the things we like to do with family and friends. I know it’s a lot, but we can handle it and we can start the life we should have been living over a year ago,” he said.

    (Y|N) worried too much and he felt like it was his duty to keep things light and easy for her. She worked really hard and deserved the rest of her life to be easy. She would joke about being “just and accountant,” when she was quite accomplished. She worked for a financial planning and investment firm where she was quite successful. The reason her bosses let her go to so many conventions was because she was so good at her job and brought in a lot of revenue for the company. When she wasn’t working at the convention, she spent most of her free time reading about anything and everything, researching, so she could do her job better. The conventions were still work, but, she’d said before that it was more fun for her than anything. Everything about her just made him want to give her all of the best things.

    “Rich, I don’t need some fancy address and house. I just need something that works for the both of us,” you told him.

    Christmastime had come, and you and Rich had just barely gotten settled into your house. After the decision had been made to wait for the right property, things had gone smoothly for the both of you. Life went on. You worked hard, Rich worked hard, and your relationship had only gotten stronger. It had taken a little longer than either of you would have liked to find the right property, but the wait had proven to be worth it.

    You stood in your kitchen while preparing a salad for your guests. Your house was fully decorated for your first Christmas with the love of your life. Decorations were everywhere. Rich had come home from a work trip away and the house had exploded with Christmas. At first, he’d teased you about it, but you knew that a part of him loved what you had done.

    It had been his idea to have a housewarming/Christmas party for all your Supernatural friends. Surprisingly, almost all of them had been able to make it to the party. The house was about bursting at the seams with all the people, but it felt right that they were all there. Rich was in his element with some of his best friends surrounding him. He looked up at you for a moment and smiled at you.

    After dinner had been served and everyone was stuffed, Rich and Rob gathered some guitars and brought them out to the living room. Your get-togethers always seemed to spawn a jam session, especially when Rob came over. As a person who was not musically inclined, nor could you sing very well, you tended to hang back when the jam sessions began.

    You leaned on the archway that led to a small sunroom. The space was cooler, and you were more comfortable without the crowd of people around you. You stood there for a while, enjoying the music your family made. Rich tended to get lost in the music but eventually realized you weren’t around when they took a break from playing Christmas songs.

    The previous home owners had left behind wicker furniture for the sunroom and you had been sitting on the small loveseat looking at the Christmas tree you had set up in there. It was decorated with Shiny Brite ornaments and old-style colored lightbulbs. It might be your favorite tree you’d decorated. Noticing the music had stopped, you got up to see what was going on and almost bumped into Richard.

    “Missed you, gorgeous,” he said, handing you a fresh drink.

    “I get too hot, sorry,” you apologized. “You guys sounded great.”

    You looked into his hazel eyes and felt a melting, swirling sensation take over your body. He didn’t have to do anything but look at you and feel the love coming from him. His expression softened whenever he looked at you, his eyes turning to a deep golden color.

    “Coulda used you for backup,” he said.

    You’d sung with him at home before, but it was only small harmonizing parts. The convention was your one foray into bravery, and that had been close to a year before.

    “You’re so sweet to me,” you said as he wrapped an arm around you pulling you close.

    “My god, woman, you’ve made Christmas explode in this house,” he said admiring the vintage ornaments. “I think I like this one the best.”

    “Clearly, you have good taste,” you said, tucking yourself into his side, resting your chin on his shoulder.

    “The whole house looks amazing. You’re amazing,” he kissed your temple. He sighed against your temple, “I do have good taste.”

    He broke away from you after a moment, making you miss the contact with him. You kind of wished your friends would go home or go to one of your guest rooms. There was something about the living room with all the decorations and the fire going that was exceedingly cozy and romantic, and you wanted to share it with Richard.

    “I know it’s not Christmas yet, but I wanted to give you something early,” he said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

    He dashed away and went to the coat closet by the front door. Finding what he was looking for, he came trotting back, his hair lifting slightly with his speed. He looked especially handsome with his hair cut short and neatly trimmed beard. You didn’t ask him, or anyone, to wear an “ugly Christmas sweater,” but he was wearing one anyway, and so were a lot of your friends. It was just how Rich worked and you loved it.

    He carried a package in his hands that was wrapped in the pretty wrapping paper you’d bought for the gifts you’d planned on giving out that year. You hadn’t even realized he knew where you’d stashed it. The present he carried was a medium-size, rectangular box that looked like it had been wrapped by a 6-year-old.

    Handing the present to you, his eyes met your questioning ones, “I’ve owed you this a long time.”

    Taking it back into the sunroom, you sat down on the loveseat and put the present on your lap, so you could start unwrapping it. Despite it being a larger box, you couldn’t help but wonder what was inside. You wouldn’t put it past Rich to hide a box within a box. Not bothering to go easy with the wrapping paper, you tore into it, dying to see what Rich couldn’t wait to give you.

    With the paper torn away, you sat there stunned. It happened all those years ago and he remembered. It was exactly the same camera you had borrowed from your local camera shop for your vacation to Vancouver, nearly 12 years prior. It was the camera that Rich had knocked out of your hands and broke beyond repair.

    “Oh my god, Rich,” you were dumbfounded. “You remembered. I - I don’t know what to say.”

    “Gorgeous, you don’t have to say a word. It’s me that needs to do the talking,” he took a breath. “I never thought that breaking a camera would have turned out like this. I was such a clumsy idiot, running my mouth, I didn’t see the most gorgeous woman I’d ever know. I don’t just remember the camera, I remember everything about that day. The headband ear warmer thingy, the blue jacket, I think you still have the boots… We sat there with Rick and I remember thinking that no matter what happened, I had to get to know you. I needed you in my life. I didn’t know why I felt like that, just knew you and I were supposed to be together, somehow.”

    You weren’t one to get emotional over things, but his story had touched you and was starting to get to you. He remembered the stupid headband you’d worn? You’d forgotten you even had it. Rich definitely wasn’t one to get emotional or overly touchy-feely about anything, so to hear him go on the way he was, was truly amazing. Not wanting to stop him, you sat quietly, letting him continue.

    “I know I’ve never really said it, but I’ve always felt it. I love you, (Y|N). I love you with everything I’ve got. I hope it didn’t take me saying it for you to know,” his voice was full of emotion.

    No matter what he said, or didn’t say, your love for Rich only grew.

    “Turn it on, check it out,” he prompted.

    The grin that played at his lips made you turn on the camera.

    “That’s weird,” he said, pointing at the picture counter, it showed that there were pictures on the card. “They told me this was a new camera.”

    “That IS weird,” you agreed, pushing the button to bring up the gallery.

    The first few pictures were what you assumed were stock photos, but something caught your eye. You went back to the first picture, it was then you realized that the pictures were all of you, or Rich, through the years you had known him, many of them from conventions. The one that shocked you was the one of you and Rich at the bar on the pier. You didn’t even know Rick had taken the picture. In the picture, Rich was leaning over, talking to you, and you were leaned in toward him, a grin on your face as you listened to him.

    “Oh Richard,” you gasped, still looking though the pictures. “How did you even…”

    “Keep going, there’s more,” he said, shifting his weight on the love seat, before settling in again, putting his arm around you on the backrest.

     The next picture was of you and he earlier that night. You and he were locked in a gaze, both of you smiling, so much love on your faces.

    “My god, is that what we look like?” you asked in a whisper.

    You could feel Rich nodding, “Briana says we’re gross.”

    The next picture took your breath away. You were so shocked, you almost dropped your brand-new camera. Looking up at Rich, he moved to take the camera out of your hands. Setting the camera aside, he held up the thing you’d seen in the picture. It sparkled in the light from the Christmas tree. It was small, and round, and held a single diamond.

    “Whadya say, gorgeous, will you marry me?”

    Briana, noticing that Rich and (Y|N) hadn’t been around for a while, went to go look for her friends. Kim caught up to Briana where she had stopped by the archway that led to the sunroom.

    “Did you find them?” Kim asked as she got close. “What did she say?”

    Briana couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. Her two friends were making out like teenagers and the glint of diamond shone off (Y|N)’s left hand.

    “Judging by the make out sesh, I think she said yes.”

[travelguy4444]

Gaudi’s Barcelona: A Unique Way to See the City

Updated: 9/9/18 | September 9th, 2018

You can’t visit Barcelona without seeing Gaudi’s influence everywhere you go. He’s the city’s most famous architect helped shape the design of the city during its booming 19th and early 20th century. His influence still shapes the city today.

Born in 1852, Anton Gaudí belonged to the Art Nouveau movement, with his first designs being centered around Gothic and traditional Catalan architectural styles. It wasn’t long until he developed his own style that has set him apart from all others.

Referred to as “God’s Architect” for the religious themes in his work, several of Gaudi’s creations have actually been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. His most famous work, La Sagrada Familia is not only the most popular attraction in Barcelona but the most visited monument in all of Spain.

No visit to Barcelona is complete without seeing Gaudi’s work. It will give you insight into the history and growth of the city.  Here is a guide to visiting all of Gaudi’s best sights in Barcelona:

La Sagrada Familia

The most famous of Gaudí’s work….and one that seems to never be finished. The church has been under construction for over than 100 years (the groundbreaking was in 1882 and is supposed to be done in 2030!). Gaudí was a devout Catholic and spent the last 10 years of his life working on this project. The church blends influences of man, nature, and religion in its detailed architecture. The audio guide is worth purchasing as it covers the history of the church in great detail. Try to visit mid-morning to late afternoon so you can witness the sunlight cascade throughout all the stained glass.

Carrer de Mallorca, +34 932-080-414, sagradafamilia.org. The church is open daily from 9am-8pm in the summer, 9am-7pm in the spring/autumn, and 8am-6pm in the winter. Admission is 15 EUR, 22 EUR for a ticket and audio guide, 24 EUR for a guided tour, and 29 EUR for a self-guided tour with an audio guide and access to the tower.

Gaudi Lampposts: Placia Real and Pla del Palau

The first commission that Gaudí received after graduating school was to construct street lamps for the city. At the request of the city council in 1878, he designed lamps with three and six arms and crowned by a winged helmet. They were symbolic of the commercial power of Barcelona, made of cast iron and marble. They’re all gone now except for the ones left in Placia Real and Pla del Palau.

Placia Real, just off La Rambla. They are located in a public square so are accessible 24/7 and free.

Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí in the early 1900s. He spent 2 years on the project completely revamping the exterior, main floor, patio, and roof. With its undulating shape, it’s definitely one of the more eye-catching of his creations. Located in the Eixample district of Barcelona, it (like everything Gaudí designed) was heavy influenced by the Art Nouveau style. The facade was decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles that he collected from the trash of a nearby glass shop. The roof is arched and has been likened to the back of a dragon. It’s one of my favorite Gaudí buildings.

Passeig de Gràcia 43, +34 932-160-306, casabatllo.es. Open daily from 9am-9pm. Tickets are 24.50 EUR if you buy them online or 28.50 EUR in person. Skip the line tickets are available for 29.50 EUR (or 33.50 EUR at the office).

Palau Guell

Located off La Rambla, Palau Guell (Guell Palace) building doesn’t jump out at you like other Gaudí structures. Built from 1886-88, it was designed for one of Gaudi’s patrons, Eusebi Güell. The home is centered around the main room used to entertain high-society guests. The main party room has a high ceiling with small holes near the top where lanterns were hung at night from the outside to give the appearance of a starlit sky. There are colorful tree-like chimneys on top. It’s a bit creepy and gothic to me. One of my favorites too!

Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3-5, +34 934-725-775, palauguell.cat. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-5:30pm. Admission is 12 EUR, with discounts available for students, seniors, and children.

Park Guell

Park Güell is a 45-acre garden complex designed and built between 1900 to 1914. It’s since been converted into a municipal garden and is now a World Heritage Site. The focal point of the park is the main terrace, which is surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. Known for incorporating various themes into his work, Gaudí incorporated artistic elements of Catalan nationalism as well as ancient poetry and mysticism into this work. The park is right near La Sagrada Familia so it’s easy to visit both. I like how colorful everything in the park is!

Carrer de Larrard (main entrance), +34 934-091-831, parkguell.cat. Open daily from 8am-9:30pm. Admission is 7.50 EUR, with discounts available. A ticket for La Sagrada Familia and Gaudi’s House Museum (in the park) is 24 EUR.

Casa Calvet

Built between 1898-1900, Casa Calvet was built for a textile manufacturer in the Eixample district of Barcelona. This building is the most conventional of his works, partly because it had to be squeezed in between older structures and partly because it’s in one of the nicest sections of Barcelona. The house’s symmetry, balance, and orderly rhythm are unusual for Gaudí’s works. The curves and double gable at the top and the projecting oriel at the entrance are modernist elements. He also incorporated mythological and natural motifs, which helped him win the award for best building in 1900 from the Barcelona City Council.

Carrer de Casp 48. You can only stop by to take pictures of the outside of the building as you aren’t allowed into this private residence. 

Casa Vicens

Casa Vicens was Gaudí’s first important work. The house was constructed between 1883-1888 and is made of undressed stone, rough red bricks, and colored ceramic tiles in checkerboard and floral patterns. The client was the owner of a brick and tile factory, so the ceramic tiles pay tribute to his employment.  This is one of Gaudi’s works that falls into his “orientalist” period, as his work has more Middle Eastern/Far Eastern influences. It’s very different from his other sites (and often has the shortest line).

Carrer de les Carolines 20, +34 935-475-980, casavicens.org. Open daily from 10am-8pm. Admission is 16 EUR for adults, with discounts available.

Casa Mila

From 1906 to 1910, Gaudi work on Casa Mila, also known as “La Pedrera” (the stone quarry) as the building has a facade of limestone. The goal was to evoke the sense of a snowy mountain. Gaudí, himself a Catholic and a devotee of the Virgin Mary, also planned for the Casa Milà to be a spiritual symbol and included many religious elements like an excerpt from the rosary prayer on the cornice and statues of Mary,  St. Michael, and St. Gabriel.  Casa Milà became run down and partially abandoned until it was restored in the late 1980s to its original form.

Provença 261-265, +34 902-202-138, lapedrera.com/en. Open daily 9am-8:30pm (6:30pm during the winter). Night tours are available from 9pm-11pm. Standard admission (which includes an audio guide) is 22 EUR. A combination ticket for the day tour and a guided night tour is 41 EUR (with discounts available).

Cascada Fountain in Parc de la Ciutadella

Gaudí helped design this while he was still a student. He was responsible for the design of the fountain, the bandstand, and the park’s entrance gate, a project that stretched from 1873 to 1882. Baroque in style, the fountain is massive, intricate, and awe-inspiring. I loved sitting in the park and just staring at it. If you visit most of the sites on this list, you’ll see the evolution of his style and how different this is from his other works.

Passeig de Picasso 21. The park is open daily from 10am-10pm. Admission is free.

College of Saint Teresa

The building looks like a fortress, this is a convent school that Gaudí designed for The Order of Saint Teresa of Jesus. The project was already underway when Gaudi became involved, but he made some changes to the plans to better reflect his personal style and vision.

Carrer de Ganduxer 85-105, +932 123 354. The interior is not open to the public.

Bellesguard Tower

The Bellesguard Tower, also known as Casa Figueras, was built by Gaudí between 1900-1909. It was built as a second house for Figueras and meant to feel like a medieval fortress with sporting towers and battlements. There are some Art Noveaux elements mixed in here that gives it a modernist take on a classic Gothic structure.

Carrer de Bellesguard 16-20, +932 504 093, bellesguardgaudi.com. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-3pm. Tickets are 9 EUR and include an audio guide.

***Gaudí was a prolific architect and wandering around Barcelona, you’re sure to bump into many of his major and lesser works. More than that, you’ll see his influence throughout the city as other architects and his students copied his style in their own work. I often look at buildings and go “Ahh that must be by Gaudi too” only to find out it’s not. That’s how strong of an influence he has on Barcelona. If you plan to visit these places, keep in mind many of the houses are closed on Mondays. As I love traveling with a theme, searching out Gadui’s works is a different way and unique to visit Barcelona.

Book Your Trip to Barcelona: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight to Barcelona by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines. Start with Momondo.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel in Barcelona with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates. (Here’s the proof.)

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. I never ever go on a trip without it. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. You should too.

Need Some Gear? Check out our resource page for the best companies to use!

Want More Information on Barcelona? Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on Barcelona for even more planning tips!

Photo Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

The post Gaudi’s Barcelona: A Unique Way to See the City appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

source https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/gaudis-barcelona/

[theladyjstyle]

Updated: 9/9/18 | September 9th, 2018

You can’t visit Barcelona without seeing Gaudi’s influence everywhere you go. He’s the city’s most famous architect helped shape the design of the city during its booming 19th and early 20th century. His influence still shapes the city today.

Born in 1852, Anton Gaudí belonged to the Art Nouveau movement, with his first designs being centered around Gothic and traditional Catalan architectural styles. It wasn’t long until he developed his own style that has set him apart from all others.

Referred to as “God’s Architect” for the religious themes in his work, several of Gaudi’s creations have actually been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. His most famous work, La Sagrada Familia is not only the most popular attraction in Barcelona but the most visited monument in all of Spain.

No visit to Barcelona is complete without seeing Gaudi’s work. It will give you insight into the history and growth of the city.  Here is a guide to visiting all of Gaudi’s best sights in Barcelona:

La Sagrada Familia

The most famous of Gaudí’s work….and one that seems to never be finished. The church has been under construction for over than 100 years (the groundbreaking was in 1882 and is supposed to be done in 2030!). Gaudí was a devout Catholic and spent the last 10 years of his life working on this project. The church blends influences of man, nature, and religion in its detailed architecture. The audio guide is worth purchasing as it covers the history of the church in great detail. Try to visit mid-morning to late afternoon so you can witness the sunlight cascade throughout all the stained glass.

Carrer de Mallorca, +34 932-080-414, sagradafamilia.org. The church is open daily from 9am-8pm in the summer, 9am-7pm in the spring/autumn, and 8am-6pm in the winter. Admission is 15 EUR, 22 EUR for a ticket and audio guide, 24 EUR for a guided tour, and 29 EUR for a self-guided tour with an audio guide and access to the tower.

Gaudi Lampposts: Placia Real and Pla del Palau

The first commission that Gaudí received after graduating school was to construct street lamps for the city. At the request of the city council in 1878, he designed lamps with three and six arms and crowned by a winged helmet. They were symbolic of the commercial power of Barcelona, made of cast iron and marble. They’re all gone now except for the ones left in Placia Real and Pla del Palau.

Placia Real, just off La Rambla. They are located in a public square so are accessible 24/7 and free.

Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí in the early 1900s. He spent 2 years on the project completely revamping the exterior, main floor, patio, and roof. With its undulating shape, it’s definitely one of the more eye-catching of his creations. Located in the Eixample district of Barcelona, it (like everything Gaudí designed) was heavy influenced by the Art Nouveau style. The facade was decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles that he collected from the trash of a nearby glass shop. The roof is arched and has been likened to the back of a dragon. It’s one of my favorite Gaudí buildings.

Passeig de Gràcia 43, +34 932-160-306, casabatllo.es. Open daily from 9am-9pm. Tickets are 24.50 EUR if you buy them online or 28.50 EUR in person. Skip the line tickets are available for 29.50 EUR (or 33.50 EUR at the office).

Palau Guell

Located off La Rambla, Palau Guell (Guell Palace) building doesn’t jump out at you like other Gaudí structures. Built from 1886-88, it was designed for one of Gaudi’s patrons, Eusebi Güell. The home is centered around the main room used to entertain high-society guests. The main party room has a high ceiling with small holes near the top where lanterns were hung at night from the outside to give the appearance of a starlit sky. There are colorful tree-like chimneys on top. It’s a bit creepy and gothic to me. One of my favorites too!

Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3-5, +34 934-725-775, palauguell.cat. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-5:30pm. Admission is 12 EUR, with discounts available for students, seniors, and children.

Park Guell

Park Güell is a 45-acre garden complex designed and built between 1900 to 1914. It’s since been converted into a municipal garden and is now a World Heritage Site. The focal point of the park is the main terrace, which is surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. Known for incorporating various themes into his work, Gaudí incorporated artistic elements of Catalan nationalism as well as ancient poetry and mysticism into this work. The park is right near La Sagrada Familia so it’s easy to visit both. I like how colorful everything in the park is!

Carrer de Larrard (main entrance), +34 934-091-831, parkguell.cat. Open daily from 8am-9:30pm. Admission is 7.50 EUR, with discounts available. A ticket for La Sagrada Familia and Gaudi’s House Museum (in the park) is 24 EUR.

Casa Calvet

Built between 1898-1900, Casa Calvet was built for a textile manufacturer in the Eixample district of Barcelona. This building is the most conventional of his works, partly because it had to be squeezed in between older structures and partly because it’s in one of the nicest sections of Barcelona. The house’s symmetry, balance, and orderly rhythm are unusual for Gaudí’s works. The curves and double gable at the top and the projecting oriel at the entrance are modernist elements. He also incorporated mythological and natural motifs, which helped him win the award for best building in 1900 from the Barcelona City Council.

Carrer de Casp 48. You can only stop by to take pictures of the outside of the building as you aren’t allowed into this private residence. 

Casa Vicens

Casa Vicens was Gaudí’s first important work. The house was constructed between 1883-1888 and is made of undressed stone, rough red bricks, and colored ceramic tiles in checkerboard and floral patterns. The client was the owner of a brick and tile factory, so the ceramic tiles pay tribute to his employment.  This is one of Gaudi’s works that falls into his “orientalist” period, as his work has more Middle Eastern/Far Eastern influences. It’s very different from his other sites (and often has the shortest line).

Carrer de les Carolines 20, +34 935-475-980, casavicens.org. Open daily from 10am-8pm. Admission is 16 EUR for adults, with discounts available.

Casa Mila

From 1906 to 1910, Gaudi work on Casa Mila, also known as “La Pedrera” (the stone quarry) as the building has a facade of limestone. The goal was to evoke the sense of a snowy mountain. Gaudí, himself a Catholic and a devotee of the Virgin Mary, also planned for the Casa Milà to be a spiritual symbol and included many religious elements like an excerpt from the rosary prayer on the cornice and statues of Mary,  St. Michael, and St. Gabriel.  Casa Milà became run down and partially abandoned until it was restored in the late 1980s to its original form.

Provença 261-265, +34 902-202-138, lapedrera.com/en. Open daily 9am-8:30pm (6:30pm during the winter). Night tours are available from 9pm-11pm. Standard admission (which includes an audio guide) is 22 EUR. A combination ticket for the day tour and a guided night tour is 41 EUR (with discounts available).

Cascada Fountain in Parc de la Ciutadella

Gaudí helped design this while he was still a student. He was responsible for the design of the fountain, the bandstand, and the park’s entrance gate, a project that stretched from 1873 to 1882. Baroque in style, the fountain is massive, intricate, and awe-inspiring. I loved sitting in the park and just staring at it. If you visit most of the sites on this list, you’ll see the evolution of his style and how different this is from his other works.

Passeig de Picasso 21. The park is open daily from 10am-10pm. Admission is free.

College of Saint Teresa

The building looks like a fortress, this is a convent school that Gaudí designed for The Order of Saint Teresa of Jesus. The project was already underway when Gaudi became involved, but he made some changes to the plans to better reflect his personal style and vision.

Carrer de Ganduxer 85-105, +932 123 354. The interior is not open to the public.

Bellesguard Tower

The Bellesguard Tower, also known as Casa Figueras, was built by Gaudí between 1900-1909. It was built as a second house for Figueras and meant to feel like a medieval fortress with sporting towers and battlements. There are some Art Noveaux elements mixed in here that gives it a modernist take on a classic Gothic structure.

Carrer de Bellesguard 16-20, +932 504 093, bellesguardgaudi.com. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10am-3pm. Tickets are 9 EUR and include an audio guide.

***Gaudí was a prolific architect and wandering around Barcelona, you’re sure to bump into many of his major and lesser works. More than that, you’ll see his influence throughout the city as other architects and his students copied his style in their own work. I often look at buildings and go “Ahh that must be by Gaudi too” only to find out it’s not. That’s how strong of an influence he has on Barcelona. If you plan to visit these places, keep in mind many of the houses are closed on Mondays. As I love traveling with a theme, searching out Gadui’s works is a different way and unique to visit Barcelona.

Book Your Trip to Barcelona: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight to Barcelona by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines. Start with Momondo.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel in Barcelona with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates. (Here’s the proof.)

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. I never ever go on a trip without it. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. You should too.

Need Some Gear? Check out our resource page for the best companies to use!

Want More Information on Barcelona? Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on Barcelona for even more planning tips!

Photo Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

The post Gaudi’s Barcelona: A Unique Way to See the City appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Gaudi’s Barcelona: A Unique Way to See the City https://ift.tt/2CNqrpw

[twistednuns]

June 2018

Travelling makes me happy. Makes me feel like a more interesting person, makes my life feel much richer. I'm thankful for every opportunity I get to see the world. My time in Bali was fantastic. I carried around four books all the time and yet I only managed to read about 100 pages. There was just so much to do and see.

The word Geräuschkulisse

Roasting peaches on top of halloumi slices with a dash of honey and apple cider vinegar. Mmmh.

"Whether it’s meditation, reading, or trekking through Timbuktu, you must find something that gives you a happiness that is not contingent on others." One or two people about the importance of being alone.

Shopping at the market early on Saturday morning. The charming dude who sold me strawberries, mangoes and an avocado. Empty aisles at the drugstore. Carrying everything home in my huge trekking backpack, almost losing balance on the bike.

The rust-coloured &otherstories dress with tortoise shell buttons. Such a dream, alas, too small. Had to send it back. Sigh.

Going to Im Grünen Festival near the Austrian border with Markus. Stopping at Chiemsee for a swim. The band Leoniden covering the old Sugababes song Overload (got stuck in my head immediately). Realising that it keeps getting harder for me to be in bad company. The more I like myself the less I like others.

Veganz Choc Bar Coconut. Even more addictive than the dm bio coconut bars and the Rapunzel ones. Delicious.

Spending an evening with Franzi at the new rooftop beergarden. It's on top of a parking garage near Stachus!

Alessandro's HAND!SPA hand cream which comes in a little yellow macaron box and smells like lemon buttermilk.

I finally caved in and bought a SodaStream Crystal. Bye bye, bottled water and plastic waste! EDIT: I also got a high speed blender. Hello, nicecream!

Getting to know my new neighbour Silvie.

Making pink and yellow slime with the sixth-graders.

Learning about how brazil nuts grow. They're huddled against each other in a big shell! Weird. I never knew.

Reading Linnéas Jahrbuch, an old Swedish children's book favourite of mine. I love Lena Anderson's illustrations.

Thoughts about the monstera hype.

A small girl said goodbye to her friend one morning on the subway: "Dann noch ein schönes Leben!"

Such a busy Saturday. Getting all my affairs in order in the morning, writing long to-do-lists. Going grocery shopping, buying plants at Ries. Visiting Sabine, working on our song for the choir. Getting a message from Manu: his parents have a sales booth at the Africa festival in Munich and he doesn't wanna go alone. Going home, baking a cake, hurrying to the subway, meeting up with him and his mum. She got us in for free and I had such a nice evening there. Eating, drinking, walking around, talking to the parents, some friends, buying a ring, chili oil and lemon/orange pepper. Discussing art with his dad. Joking around with his mum. I felt very comfortable in that warm and familial atmosphere. Also, everyone kept thinking we were a couple. Mh.

Hanging out at Maria Einsiedel on a Sunday afternoon. Reading. Only jumping into the Eiskanal once. Very refreshing. I like that feeling as if thounsands of tiny needles were pricking your skin, just a little bit.

Climbing. Up the monkey bars, the wall in the boulder room, over the fence. It's nice to feel strong and capable, earn that sense of accomplishment, to feel your muscles working.

Solving two anagrams after staring at those words for almost two hours.

Feeling like wonderwoman. I don't know what happened but since the beginning of 2018 I've been feeling like a completely different person. I'm much happier, I have more energy. I enjoy getting things done and going the extra mile - often quite literally when I simply walk to the next bus stop instead of waiting, or when I start cleaning or doing things that are not absolutely necessary. I'm starting to feel like myself. To come closer to my true sense of being. It took me ten years longer than I thought it would but I guess I needed to take the long route.

I made sweet potato toast for the first time. A great savoury breakfast option!

Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The book is almost 800 pages long and I'm not quite finished but I have to say that so far I like it even more than Kafka on the Shore. All those visionary women, the shadow world - and the stories about the Soviet–Japanese border conflicts during the Second World War (submarines, sitting in wells, shooting zoo animals, being skinned alive) creep the shit out of me. I also love the focus on neat clothing in that book.

Safiya Nygaard is a good/weird person. Seriously. All those pop-culture references. Thank you, sister.

Playing around with the Bitmoji app (and the fact that mine looks a bit like Rachel Weisz).

Terrazzo tiles.

Booking my flights to Australia and Indonesia! I'm so excited. I've never travelled alone for more than a few days and now I'm going to be away for almost a month. I'm gonna spend almost 27 hours on planes on my way to Brisbane. What an adventure.

Ulli Lust's graphic novels.

My new yoga class. I'm going to be there every Wednesday, cursing myself and my decision to commit to this. It's exhausting and weird but so good for me. But I've already found out that I'm able to put my feet behind my head in a backwards bend. Way to go.

Learning how to use a potter's wheel. I didn't do too well because you need to stick to rules (something I'm bad at - at least when it comes to art) but turning and shaping the semi-hard pots afterwards is so much fun; exactly my thing. I need to practise, it's awesome to see a vase growing between your hands.

Miranda July's The First Bad Man at Kammerspiele Munich. This is the most hilarious and entertaining production I've ever seen in a theatre, I suppose. Anna Drexler reminds me of Birgit Minichmayr and has a lot of comedic talent. And Brandy Butler, geez, that voice. You could see quite clearly that someone had a lot of fun putting this play together.

Love in Translation

"If I'm not the love of your life I'll be the greatest loss instead." - Rupi Kaur (and the first part of her poetry collection The Sun and Her Flowers - I thought her poems about losing love were very relatable)

Meeting the bees! I designed honey jar labels last year and now I got to know the industrious little workers behind our product. We harvested and pressed the honey - I even petted the bees, they are so soft. I had a pretty nice day. And I love crushing honeycombs with my bare hands. Good texture and a very satisfying feeling.

Going dancing for the first time in... a very long time. I met up with Frank and Claudia at Import Export, took a picture of the fake Pommesbude and had actually quite a lot of fun doing silly moves, talking to Frank. It was weird because we kept saying the same thing at pretty much the same time. So that means we're still the same kind of lame/awesome?

[canaryatlaw]

well, for a shitty week, today was pretty damn good, even though I feel guilty for somewhat blowing off my bar prep (but I did get some of it done tonight so it’s not a total loss). I woke up at 8, earlier than my normal church wake up because I was gonna do the whole shower thing, which ended up taking me less time than I expected so I was like sitting at my kitchen table trying to kill time, and then continually getting frustrated because the bus only comes at 9:00 and 9:20 and I need it at like 9:10 to work properly, but I always end up getting on the 9:00 bus because I hate being late and then I’m just like awkwardly early, and I end up getting pulled into the 10:30 huddle when I’m not serving till the 12:30, but oh well. So all of that happened, and then I went up to the service. I’d been gone the last two weeks and I really miss my church when I’m gone so I was glad to be back, and during worship they played the song they played when it was my first time there that I really like so that made me happy. The sermon was mostly about spiritual gifts (which sounds like a super churchy thing but it’s legit just like the logistics of what you’re good at doing) and exploring that, they even made an online quiz they gave as “homework” where you can answer questions and it’ll tell you what you’re best suited for, or something like that anyway (I don’t think it’s meant to be taken 100% seriously). I pretty much know where I’m at in that regard being that I’m with the babies legit every Sunday, sometimes I don’t even make it to the service but I’ll still be with the babies 😂 but yeah, service was good and then I was with the babies, and boy was it a “when it rains, it pours” day. Most of the time we have super calm services, but every so often we’ll just get a shitton of babies and half of them will be screaming and everything’s on fire, it’s either one or the other, no in betweens lol. there were a LOT of babies so I’m not going to list them all, but I’ll talk about the few I mainly interacted with. This one girl, she’s gotta be like 18 months by now and we’ve had her since she was like 5 months but she just recently started crying when her parents leave (I hate when they regress like that) and she had been in the babies room for the last service, and her mom had come to pick her up, but then she ended up having a meeting so she gave her daughter back to us just for a little while while she was in her meeting. Well, this little girl was not having it. I felt bad because I knew she was probably confused, but she was crying a lot, she would get distracted and stop for a while then start again out of nowhere, so that was a little trying, but thankfully her mom was back before long. We then got an endless stream of babies coming in like, halfway through the service which never makes sense to me but always happens lol, at one point this mom came in with her son and she was just like “would it be okay if I just came in there with him for a little bit?” and I was like YES PLEASE, PLEASE DO because we did not need another unoccupied baby running around lol. For a while I did play with this little girl who was the cutest little thing, I know I say that a lot but seriously, this baby was so. cute. she had these bright blue eyes and the top of her ears stuck out just a little bit and she had this little smile and like....I just melted looking at her because she was so damn cute. She was like 7 months and her parents said she couldn’t quite crawl yet but was getting there, so we sat her on the floor and let her move as she wanted, a few times I’d hold her up so it was like she’s standing and she like, hasn’t fully grasped the concept yet because she keeps most of her feet off the ground and is just on her tip toes, which is also very cute, and she got really happy when I did that and she’d like, try to grab on to me to hold herself up but just ended up like, touching my face awkwardly but it was too damn cute. Okay, I think I ranted sufficiently about how much I wanted to kidnap this perfect little angel (but of course, I restrained myself). There was another little girl I held for a bit who was crying before giving her over to one of the other ladies who was holding her last week and they kinda bonded which does happen haha and she basically just held her the rest of the time. It was a lot of on and off crying, but by the end of the service it was fairly calm so that’s good enough for me lol. I had been texting Jess making plans to get food once I got out of church, and I suggested we go to the cheesecake factory because she loves that place, but the only one I knew of was downtown and you can’t drive downtown because there’s no place to park and it was way too hot to get there by any way other than driving, but she knew of one up in Evanston that was like 30 minutes from us since we’re pretty far north, so I ubered back to her place after church because I’m impatient, and got in the car, stopped at mcdonalds for ice cream cones because it’s never a bad time for ice cream, and from there we drove up to where it was in a mall complex. We had also been planning on seeing Oceans 8 at some point (we were gonna do it last weekend but ended up being too wiped out from our other activities) and there was a movie theatre in the mall complex, so we resolved to get food, look at some stores, and then go to the movies. We got seated right away at the cheesecake factory which I was kinda surprised at because I thought it would be busy with post-church traffic but I guess it was late enough at that point (it was like 3) that most of that crowd had passed through. Our food came out like wicked fast, it was actually there before we even got our bread, which I was very slightly sad about because I like their bread lol. I got the same pasta I always get but it was the lunch portion so I actually finished it for like, the first time I think lol. We were pretty full after that so we opted for no cheesecake (and I mean, we’d already had ice cream) so we paid and then went to wander the stores. Forever 21 was right there and they were having like, a super sale, so we wandered around there a while. I used to get like, most of my wardrobe from there, but more recently I guess I kinda outgrew their stuff and I don’t really own much from them anymore, guess that happens. From there we went into Garage quickly because like, about half of their clothing is actually wearable and cute but the other half is total garbage lol, and then we went into Charlotte Russe for a while. From there we decided to move the car around to the other side of the mall where the movie theatre was, so we did that and then went to assess the movie theatre situation, and dude, this was like a super fucking fancy movie theatre. Like I’ve been to nice ones before, but this was soooo over the top. It had like, waiter service for all these fancy things, and they’ll bring you blankets if you want (they were polyester of course, but I forgive them) and like, their menu was insane, it had like filet mignon for $39 like....who is actually so fucking extra that they would order a fucking steak at the movie theatre (I actually know the answer to that because the answer is my father, but still) so we got popcorn and Jess got a shake and I got a coke because I was still full from lunch. So we chilled there for a while until the movie started. Like all of my internet friends have been raving about this movie for weeks now, so I had pretty high expectations, and they did not disappoint. I’ve seen all 3 of the original Ocean movies and enjoyed them all, so if they were going in that direction I knew I’d like it. And oh, it was so genius, I loved it. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett were fucking great together, and I have to agree with much of the speculation I’ve seen, they’re totally in love lol. I also really loved Anne Hathaway, she was great through the entire thing, but when she shows up (maybe spoiler?) at the end she just became such a boss and I loved every minute of it. At the last scene, right up until the screen was black, I fully expected George Clooney to walk up any moment because I mean, is anybody really dead if we didn’t see them killed on camera?? lol, but it’s good they at least left the door open for it. So yeah, I really liked it. When we got out most everything else was closed since it was getting late on a Sunday, so we headed back home and had some GPS adventures, but eventually made it home. Throughout the day we had also discussed going to New York next week because I have doctors appointments and shit and Jess legit wasn’t doing anything so I was like well you should just come with me and she was like okay cool so I got home and booked that flight, we’ll leave next Sunday and come back that Friday, should be a nice little break. We plan on making the most of our time in NY, so I already obtained tickets to see a matinee of Hello, Dolly! (only because of Victor Garber, I don’t really care about anything else in that show, at all) and then tickets to see Mean Girls that night because I’m rapidly becoming obsessed with this show and I need to see it in person. Once I got all of that done I turned back to the simulated bar thing I was supposed to be doing and got through 50 out of the 100 questions I had left to do, so not too bad. The site did save all the answers I put in before my computer got fried, so that was good, I could’ve just re-entered them if needed because I marked them on the pages, but it was helpful that I didn’t have to. And yeah, after that I did normal computer stuff and beta’d some fic for a bit until I decided to get ready for bed and now I’m here. Tomorrow I gotta get those questions finished, and then I have a “live webinar” with a bunch of bar students going over the answers and such, so that should be.....interesting (not sure I can think of another word to probably describe it really). We’ll see. Well, it’s past 1:30 am, which means it’s time for me to go to sleep, even if my apartment is still hot as fuck which makes it super annoying to do anything, but I am still gonna need sleep at some point, so I might as well do it now. Goodnight darlings. Have a fantastic Monday.

[kellyinboston]

WHAT Wednesday

Hi folks. How goes it? Happy new month day?!? Man…cannot believe it already November. I bet like 100 people said that today. It is really not super original sorry for that.

Did everyone have a good Halloween? I went to yoga and they had a ton of candy at the front desk so I snagged some. Not sure if it was for the members or actual trick-or-treaters. The skittles tasted especially good!

Alright, let’s get to it!

WHAT am I reading?

I finished The Thirteenth Tale and I enjoyed it a lot. Just took me a while to get through it. That happens sometimes! I am still listening to the 2nd book of the Neapolitan series, about 11 hours in (8 hours left) and I really really like these books. I enjoyed the 1st one but the 2nd one is even better. The narrated does a good job too, which helps. I cringe when I listen to, I smile, I cheer on certain characters (silently of course) and I am genuinely enjoying myself.

I started reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, this book was published in the 1930’s I think so kind of out of my comfort zone. Admittedly I like more contemporary fiction, but I have heard great things about this book and the premise is very fallish. Here is the description:

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

I am only like 40 pages in and it took me a few pages to get use to the writing, but overall I like it so far.

I also wanted to mention this article I read in the New Yorker magazine. I don’t normally read it (Neil had a subscription) but my Entertainment Weekly magazine was late (typical) so I grabbed the New Yorker to read on Saturday morning. The article was called “Empire of Pain”, it was a long article (like 15 pages) and it was a very interesting read. To summarize (although it won’t do the article justice) it is about this philanthropic family, The Sackler family, that donates a lot of money to various causes (the arts, buildings on campuses, etc.) but their family business is Purdue Pharma which developed the painkiller OxyContin. When it was released, in 1995, it was “hailed as a medical breakthrough” and has reportedly generated some 35 billion dollars in revenue for Purdue. Obviously this drug is extremely addictive and has led to our current opioid addiction epidemic. So what is interested is that this family has blatantly engaged in false advertising regarding OxyContin, saying that “concerns about addiction and abuse amounted to a medical myth.” The advertising and sales campaign encourage prescription of OxyContin for not only severe short-term main (associated with surgery and cancer) but also for less acute, longer-lasting pain. Anyways, I am rambling, but this was a very well done article. I was reading it Sunday night and I kept telling Neil crazy quotes, statistics, information, etc. while I was reading it…it was just so interesting. Here is the article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain

Please take some time and read it. So interesting (and sad).

WHAT are we watching?

I finished Mindhunter on Netflix. The show about the advent of the term serial killer. I enjoyed it. It was pretty slow paced, but it didn’t turn me off.

Neil and I watch 5 episodes of Stranger Things 2 on Sunday. So far so good. There are 9 episodes’ total. Super entertaining show.

WHAT is up with the family?

Neil went to Spokane last week for work and was able to see his friend Tim and his wife Kate (and their son). Sounds like they had a good time. He got home late Saturday night. Happy to have him home! Although I leave tomorrow for Nebraska, so he will be holding down the fort (aka Snoop). He did a little something something for Terri’s bridal shower on Sunday, I think she will like it, I sure do! He is trying to convince me that he should get the iPhone X. It was just released and the reviews are great (or so Neil says). The problem is that the phone costs $1000. That is insane. We have had our iPhones for 4+ years now and I will admit that they are not functioning great, but it hurts me to spend that much money on a phone.

Snoop is good. She seems extra rambunctious lately. Her friend Elmer tore his other knee the other day. Last year Elmer tore one of his knees and had surgery and Bob just told me last night that Elmer tore his other knee now (Karen is with the pups in Kentucky) so he went into surgery today. So sad. Snoop wants to send Elmer a get well soon card. Funny story, not sure if I told you guys this already, if I have sorry! We have a little basket full of her toys by her food/water dish. She is spoiled and has a lot of toys but we only keep 2 out at a time and we rotate the toys to keep her excited. Anyways, she just realized that all her toys are in the basket and now she brings them all out every night. We will pick them up and put them back in the basket, but she goes and gets them right out again. It is kind of funny. She also knows what toy is what, we have “Pablo”, “Elvis (aka the Elephant)”, duck, sheep – we will say “where is Pablo??” and she will find it. Genius. She is so spoiled, she was laying on her bed the night surrounded by her toys…so ridiculous.

WHAT am I looking forward to?

Going home tomorrow! (fingers crossed my flight is uneventful)

Seeing all my family and friends!

Cheesy hashbrown potatoes next week (making them for our work thanksgiving potluck)

Having Paradise Café when I home…love that place and their southwest chicken caesar salad (it is heavenly).

Thanks for reading!