#post dime store magic

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

IT'S NEVER OVER - PROLOGUE (sept. 2005)

summary: if anyone asked sid, he wouldn't say that he liked pittsburgh more after meeting nat. no, that would be absurd.

warnings: short and sweet! (none)

a/n: hi, hello! am i posting this without having finished it? yes. i don't know how long it's going to be but i'm slowly chipping away at it and i'm pretty excited about it. it might even be my favourite series thing i've done so far, and weirdly my first one? i've had the entire thing outlined for months but i've been too busy to even think about posting it, so...here you go! i can't promise posts for this will be regular because the chapters are so long, but i'll try my best to keep you posted! hope you enjoy (a series mastrlist will be out soon too so you can get the gist of where i'm at in the entire process) xo

sneak peak | pinterest board

(It started with music, but Nat didn’t know that.) 

It was a total accident, a random encounter that Sidney couldn’t possibly have predicted – one that, without exaggerating, changed his life to an extent. On a whim, he’d decided to go into that coffee shop he’d walked past everyday for the past three weeks, and it was also on a whim he actually made it to the counter to order an uncharacteristic coffee – he was newly eighteen, being pulled in all sorts of sports-diet directions, the confinement of which kind of irked him, so to him, buying that coffee was a subtle rebellion.

It was also a complete accident that he’d wandered off to the right after taking his coffee from the counter, instead of left, or forwards, or even backwards.

Sidney wasn’t one to believe in fate or destiny: he believed those terms were too magical – they alluded to some other worldly forces coming into play, and he liked to stick to facts. Coincidences. Accidents. Nevertheless, he did find it almost inexplicable, the way that his life hurtled into a completely different route after a mere forty minutes inside a coffee shop that he’d just spontaneously decided to make a trip of. He couldn’t quite get his head around it all.

To him, it was a coincidence that he’d walked past her table. A coincidence that she happened to be blaring the only song he’d been able to listen to for the last four days. He’d barely made it three steps past her before he froze. 

She was wearing those over-the-ear headphones, the ones with orange sponges from the 80s, plugged into the iPod that had come out a few years back. He recognised it because everyone that had one in his high school before he left never shut up about it. Sidney admittedly did own one at the time, but he never really felt the need to show it off  – it was much easier than lugging around a cassette or CD player with songs burnt in.

The song still had him halting in his tracks and turning around, his body much further ahead than his brain because he had to steady his mug of coffee; his sharp actions had the liquid almost sloshing over the edge, but he managed to catch it just in time.

He wouldn’t have done either of those things: stop and turn, if it had been any other song he’d heard. He was just so taken aback by it – the exact, precise song. 

The girl at the table didn’t pay him a single dime of attention when he froze, despite the fact that his hip was practically nudging her table. She wasn’t even looking in his direction, her eyes gazing out of the window on her right, skipping over empty faces as people walked past. It was clear she was supposed to be doing work of some sorts: there were textbooks, novels, and flashcards scattered across the entire table, a pencil case half emptied with pens strewn all over. She had a pen clutched in the fist she was resting her chin on, not caring for the study cards at all – entirely enamoured by the view. 

Sidney followed her eyes. There wasn’t much to look at, just a street, and her chair was directly facing the side of a retail store, clothes and mannequins displayed in the window. 

In hindsight, Sidney didn’t really know what compelled him to do what he did next.

He couldn’t tell if she was bored and just looking out, not paying attention to the music flowing into her ears, or if she was just so absorbed in what she was hearing that she couldn’t physically bring herself to think about her work – that she’d tuned out the outside world entirely.

What caught his attention the most was the crease between her brows. It drew him to look straight at her; an alluring combination of chestnut hair and pale eyes – though not too pale that they made him uneasy. She was also probably the only person in the establishment that was around his age.

She had impeccable music taste, if he did say so himself.

Yet, he couldn’t shake the inkling that this girl was wholly feeling the brilliance and soul-crushing heartache of Jeff Buckley’s genius – and he found himself hoping she was.

That was why he cleared his throat and took a small step to the other side of the table. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, noting that the cafe was pretty busy, so he knew he could at least try to get away with what he was about to do.

He made sure to tilt his head up, because the hat covering his face would be nothing short of slightly suspicious in a public setting, and it wasn’t until he purposefully knocked into the chair that she flicked her eyes to look at him.

He held his breath, a moment when all they did was look at each other, until the crease in her brows disappeared and she reached to pause her music on her iPod, slowly sliding her earphones off so they rested around her neck. 

“Hi.” 

His assumptions had been correct. She was around his age – her voice was deeper than he’d originally anticipated – and when he found himself slightly closer than before, he was able to make out that she was studying for her SATs. 

It was September.

“Hi.” He replied, forcing a smile that he hoped would convey the apology he felt for intruding on her personal time and in her personal space. Her clutter was all over the table, and he knew that if she was hopefully as kind to strangers as he hoped she’d to be, that it would be somewhat of a hassle to shove some of it away, “I’m really sorry, but there aren’t any other tables free. Would I be able to–”

“Oh, sure.” She interrupted, immediately going to reach to sweep a space clear for him over the other side of the table. Sidney watched with a mildly amused gaze; she didn’t seem to care for the way her flashcards seemed to mix themselves up, or the way her textbooks snapped shut and she lost her page.

She flashed him a welcoming, slightly embarrassed smile as she piled the books on top of each other, and before Sidney knew it, he was sitting in the chair opposite, accidentally knocking their knees together in the process, and sipping from his coffee mug. He fought to maintain the thankful smile on his face, despite the utterly bitter taste of the coffee that seemed to fester on his tongue.

No wonder he’d never tried coffee before, it tasted like dirt.

The girl broke a small chunk of a muffin off, a smile breaking out on her face as she fought a small laugh.

Sidney blushed, “I’m not a big coffee-fan.” He reasoned, shrugging.

“I can tell.” She pressed her lips together momentarily, looking down at the plate before turning her attention back to him. Sidney felt stunned at the colour of her eyes. He’d never seen grey eyes before, but hers seemed to balance more on the green side – only when the sun struck the side of her face, they turned a watery, clear blue. There was also a tinge of brown thrown in there.

What was that called? Heterochromia?

He felt his mouth dry, and before he could stop himself, he was taking another sip of his coffee, this time managing to control the urge to wince, “Thanks for letting me sit here.”

She shrugged, gathering the flashcards and lining them up, “It’s no problem. Sorry for the mess.”

He let his eyes wander over the books once more, the green ‘SATs’ letters jumping out at him, “You got an important date?”

The girl swallowed, not entirely understanding what he meant. That crease formed between her brows again, and she opened her mouth to question him, but Sidney beat her to it, a finger pointing at her stack of books. 

She sighed, “Not entirely, they’re at the end of the school year, but one of my teachers gave us an assignment to get some study material done early.” 

Sidney couldn’t say he understood her stress – it was something displayed across the planes of her face; evident when she looked rather tiredly at the stack of books, and hesitated at the flashcards, before throwing them to the side. She folded her arms across the table, then switched so that her hands were interlocked in front of her.

She looked as though she didn’t quite know what to do with herself, and Sidney couldn’t tell if it was because of the presence of a stranger, or if she was already feeling some sort of academic guilt for throwing her attention away from her studies for a couple of minutes.

He saw her jaw clench, and at that observation, the thought that maybe he was paying a little bit too much attention to her crossed his mind, so he turned his focus to the cup of coffee. He was beginning to feel its effects; his knee was shaking softly under the table and he could feel an influx of energy spark at his fingertips. Or maybe it wasn’t the coffee at all.

He hadn’t thought about hockey for five minutes.

He saw her turn her face towards him out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up, “What about you? Are you in school, or…?” She trailed off, her eyes skimming over the logo that had flashed itself from the safe and unzipped confines of his hoodie. 

He felt his heart quicken at having been caught, worried that perhaps she’d shout out who he was – if she knew – across the entire cafe. He remained optimistic; she didn’t seem the type.

He cleared his throat, “Not anymore.” For some reason he hesitated. He could play off the logo as merchandise – he could be someone other than Sidney Crosby, the New Rookie of the Pens – or he could be honest. When he looked back at her, there was a challenge in her eyes, and Sidney knew then that she already knew who he was. “I just got drafted to the Pens for my first NHL season.”

She sighed, “Can I tell you something?” 

Sidney furrowed his brows, his mouth tilting down in a smile. He was new to the whole ‘local celebrity’ deal, but this by far, is probably one of the least impressed reactions he’d ever had. She clearly knew he wasn’t in school, but had still taken the kind courtesy to ask him the question, despite the futility of it.

He nodded. 

“I only know one Pens player.” Then she pointed to something out of the window, “That banner has been staring at me every week for the past three months.”

Sidney huffed a laugh, thinking she was joking, but followed her finger anyway. He was immediately faced with a street corner, tens of people walking past each other – he could even make out their voices if he concentrated hard enough, and it took a while to figure out what exactly she was pointing at, until his eyes settled on a billboard at least a block down.

He’d been told that for press reasons, the Pens had come up with the idea of a way of promoting him as a player, and a ‘person of Pittsburgh’, by plastering some action shots of him – still staged – around the city. He’d neglected to look up lately, fearing that if he did, he’d be faced with some images of himself, but he hadn’t escaped that entirely.

The billboard was small, and he wasn’t the only player on there, either, but he saw it nonetheless. 

When he spun back around to look at her once more, the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “There’s two other players, not just me.”

She shrugged, “I was talking about Sergei Gonchar.”

Sidney felt the blush colour from his chest to his cheeks as he slowly put his hands over his face, consumed by humiliation. He felt himself smile into his hands when he heard the girl huff a snicker. He’d had quite a few people as of late kissing up to his ego, and apart from his teammates, she was the first one to really deliver a considerable blow – and he was thankful for that; that at least someone still had the ability to look past who he was and tease him like he was a normal person. He was aware of the irony that lay there.

He gathered himself, unabashedly removing his hands and displaying the creeping blush for her to see, and sticking his hand between them, “Sidney Crosby, rookie center for the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

She rolled her eyes, not commenting on the state of his cheeks, her smile fading slightly but still remaining, “I was joking, I know who you are.” She took his hand in hers, gripping it tightly, “Nat Brooks. Student.”

Sidney swallowed, his blush remaining for other reasons, and pulled his hand away, flexing it under the table, “Is Nat short for anything?”

“Natalia.”

“‘S very pretty.” He mumbled, and she smiled sweetly.

“Sidney’s very pretty, too. It suits you.”

Something clenched in his chest.

[bardic-tales]

So, now I'm curious though, when Sephiroth asks Bianca about her 'guilty pleasures,' it really got me thinking. What are they?

🦖

Hi, Prehistoric. I see you're become active on Tumblr again as well. I hope everything is going good on your end, now. I still have my OG Jurassic Park OCs living free in my head. Since '93, actually. Maybe, I'll eventually introduce them.

I'm glad that you enjoyed my WIP. It means a lot to me.

Bianca has a few guilty pleasures. She likes to collect the feathers that Sephiroth leaves behind when he manifests his wings, imbuing them with her own magic to make them stay instead of fading away.

Then, she loves to read those cheap dime store romance novels. Before she was transported back into Feudal Japan by Sesshomaru, she was a romance novelist, so she still has a love for that.

She also likes looking at old pictures of Sephiroth from his SOLDIER days. However, she would never tell him. She would rather die than to let him know that. His ego is big enough post Nibelheim Incident.

But the nature of the bond their share is that they can hear each other's thoughts, feel each other pain and emotions. So, he knows. He just likes to toy with her, which is what he was doing in that scene.

[audiofictionuk]

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[libertys-lovers]

That does it! Explain your selfship tags, because I wanna know if there's a story behind 'em. Please and thank you!

ANAJWNWK- Ya got it boss! 😎👍

All of my self-ship tags are like that because I ADORE the fandom ship-names that are lil puns based on the characters involved… but I don’t think that’s the part I needed to explain lol. You’re right though, most of my self-ship names/tags have a bit of a lore behind them! I’ll try to make this post not the longest thing in the universe, but I am warning you… there’s gonna be a lot.

(I, uh… idk if it was a specific tag that made you curious. I’m just gonna go over all my individual Romantic F/O tags; but if it was one of the poly-tags that you were curious about, or if it wasn’t even a Romantic F/O that peaked your interest, then lemme know!)

———

🕶💥Dramatics💥🕶 - Karamatsu and Freedom are both dramatic people. That’s… that’s it really. 🕶 is Kara’s emoji because he wears sunglasses. 💥 is Freedom’s emoji because it looks like one of those effects you’d add in comic books, and she’s a comic artist so- | 💉🖋Blueprints🖋💉 - So, the reason Dr. Flug and Inkwell started working more together was because Inkwell could turn Flug’s blueprints into physical models, which helped him flesh out his inventions. It also works well because, like, Blueprints are sciency things and they use ink, so it fits both their motifs anyway. 💉 references this one shot I adore of Flug, where he’s holding this syringe full of nasty green stuff and is just looking sinister. 🖋 is there because pens have ink and certain pens need inkwells.

🏜📰One Shot📰🏜 - So, Sniper is…. a sniper, and Journalist has a writing-centric job. So the name’s kinda like, idk, a pun. One Shot here means both “shooting once and being successful” and “the style of writing”. We’ve got 🏜 for Sniper because he’s from the outback, and 📰 for Journalist because, ya know, the news! | 📋📰Secretary Dept.📰📋- Both Miss Pauling and Journalist have secretary-esq jobs. AKA: They write reports all the time. The emojis link to their respective forms of writing. | 🐸📱Songwriter📱🐸 - Lúcio makes music, and Dime was an author/social media influencer. So, songwriter was a word that perfectly fit the both of them! 🐸 represents Lúcio’s frog aesthetic, and 📱 references Dime being an influencer.

🔩🍀Successful Operation🍀🔩 - Stein’s known for his biological/physical experiments, and Lucky’s whole thing is that she’s like a good-luck charm to Death Weapon Meister Academy. So the name’s kinda means, like, “hey, the surgery went well! how lucky!”. The 🔩 represents the literal screw in Stein’s head, and the 🍀 represents Lucky’s luck. | 👊💡Transformative Love💡👊 - So, Goku and Fluores’s shticks both revolve HEAVILY around transformations. Goku has his 50 gazillion different forms, and Fluores can hop between a human and alien form. And tbh Transformative Love just had a nice ring to it. 👊 references Goku’s violent tendencies, and 💡 represents Fluores’s name-source (fluorescent), which in itself references her moth-like alien form.

(This next paragraph is all about the Cookie Run self-ships. To save time, I’ll just tell you now that all their emojis reference their flavors. The only exception is Licorice’s emoji, ☠️; that’s just a ref to his aesthetic.)

🍾🍇Viola Rosa🍇🍾 - Viola Rosa is literally just a brand of wine I saw at the store one day. Sparkling’s based of champagne and Faux Berry’s themed after berries! Seemed fair enough. | 🧀🍇True Crime Novella🍇🧀 - Roguefort is a HUGE wanted criminal, and Faux Berry is an author! So why not combine those themes by referencing mystery novels, but except clarify that they’re REAL. The novella part of the name just sounded fancy; the distinction in what book it is has no real meaning. | ☠️🍇Dark Arts Scribe🍇☠️ - Licorice does dark magic! And like I said earlier, Faux Berry is an author! The name’s just another cute way to fuse their jobs. | 🍰🍇A Dog’s Tale🍇🍰 - Red Velvet controls an army that’s made up of essentially dogs, so the base for the ship name is A Dog’s *Tail. But I replaced tail with tale because, once again, Faux’s job. | 🌸🍇Tricolor Tea🍇🌸 - So, if you look at Cherry Blossom and Faux Berry’s color palettes, the pink from Cherry Blossom would stick out & the blue/purple/pink from Faux would stick out. Those three colors can be associated with the duo then, & as a cute bonus they both have pink, so the other colors they have can kinda be tied together! The tea’s just a reference to the fact Cherry Blossom likes tea.

🔥🌿Traveling Circus Rose🌿🔥 - Rengoku is the Flame Hashira, and The Wisteria Wanderer is a vigilante that themed herself after the flowers that demons are weak to. The Circus Rose is a flower that looks a lot like fire, so it references both Rengoku’s fire aesthetic and W.W’s plant aesthetic! The traveling part is because they both have to travel for their jobs. 🔥 represents Rengoku’s fire and 🌿 represents the hanging nature of the wisteria tree. | 🐦💭Head in the Clouds💭🐦 - Hawks can fly, and Daydream’s whole aesthetic is dreamlike. Therefore, the phrase “head in the clouds” can be both literal and metaphorical! Like, you can literally have your head in those clouds because you’re flying, or your head is just in those clouds because you’re spacing out. 🐦 represents Hawks’s bird aesthetic, and 💭 is a thought-bubble for Daydream, cause ya know, she essentially daydreams for her quirk! | 🌌🎧Artificial Nature🎧🌌 - This one references their contrasting aesthetics and values! Dororo has a more traditional aesthetic & loves the outdoors and nature. Miss Machina has a futuristic(ish) aesthetic, and loves technology and human progress. The name’s like, idk, the written counterpart to those phone towers that look like trees; it just combines their two vibes. 🌌 represents Dororo, because he’s an alien! 🎧 is there because Machina had headphones in her design when I made the tag, but now it’s just there as a standard nod to tech.

🎹🕊Angel’s Choir🕊🎹 - 2-D is the lead singer of the band, and Lily does backing vocals! 2-D has the voice of an angel, and Lily’s whole aesthetic is vaguely-inspired by angels (even to the point that 2-D thought she was a guardian angel for a bit). And, ya know, they sing together, so it’s like a choir! 🎹 is there because 2-D can play the keyboard, and �� is there to reference Lily’s angelcore aesthetic. | 📚🌺Assisted Romanticide🌺📚 - Okay, so Gary and Libby each have a self-defined purpose of existing to assist the ones they care about, including each other. Romanticide is a word for death that is, in some way, caused by romance; THIS is here because Gary and Libby have had to protect each other many many times. 📚 references Gary’s love for comic books, and 🌺 references those vacation button-ups that dads are known to wear (Libby’s shtick is that she’s a dimensional tourist, if that helps to add context). | 💎👻Graveyard Stones👻💎 - Henry is a Rock-Type trainer for GO Rocket, and Liberty is a Hex Maniac (AKA: she trains Ghost and Psychic types). So the name combines both of their type preferences by referencing all the rocks you can find at burial sites. 💎 is a gemstone for Henry; I would’ve given him a 🪨, but that didn’t show up on PC for me. 👻 is for Liberty, because ghost. | 🛋💽FOCUS.EXE Has Crashed💽🛋 - Sasha and Libs both have technological aesthetics linked to them, which explains the techno-blabble in the name. The reason that it’s FOCUS.EXE specifically crashing is because, well, you tend to lose your focus when you’re brainrotting over your lover! 🛋 is for Sasha; it was meant to vaguely reference his weird grudge against lamps, but the emoji honestly just fits his vibe. ���� represents Libs, since she has the more heavily-used computer aesthetic

I’ll explain 🏩Lavender Lovers🏩 too since I’m about to use it. This is my catch-all tag for when I talk about a TON of F/Os. So, like, my signature color is purple, and lavender is a shade of purple. So my lovers being titled as lovers of a color that’d surely make them think of me is very wholesome. It’s also a reference to the Lavender Lands, which in my self-ship lore is the big cross-over dimension that everyone gets to mingle in. The emoji is 🏩, which I think is a Love Hotel, but might be a Love Hospital instead? That emoji’s just there because there’s a lotta lovers living in the same place (the crossover dimension has this huge mansion we all get to chill in; it’s the biggest roommate trope known to man lmao).

[lonita]

Blast from the past, pre-2008

These are various bits and pieces from various websites of mine over the years - thoughts, quotations, random crap. I had been including them with my B roll posts, but I think I'll just do a dump and leave it at that. Enjoy!

CURIO CITY: A town dedicated entirely to the joy that is browsing through, and shopping in, dollar stores, bargain shops, and junk emporiums.

BOUNDARY: Borders that you push from the inside out.

I should probably go commit a neatness, but it sounds too much like work.

Side: What the back and front use to keep away from each other.

"The Pope called; he made a nice little joke about taking the dogma for a walk." - Monty Python

I'll tell almost anyone almost anything, but I do it on my dime, in my own time. I don't care how intimately I know a group of people, I do not take kindly to someone else airing my personal business openly, however innocuous it might seem to them.

I love it when people do that indignant and frustrated "are you blind" thing. I can always respond with, "Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

The fittest are those who survive on the least.

HRML: Considering the extensive use of emoticons, and other visual cues utilised in the expression of one's thoughts in media where text is the only method of talking, I think we need to consider the implementation of HRML: Hypertext Remarkup Language, used solely and specifically for anything involving inter-human communications.

Things that the universe should make available, in ready supply, in quantities sufficient to meet demand at any time: light bulbs, milk, toilet paper, batteries, little magic pixies that will clean the messes you don't want to clean, the messes you can't see, and the messes you just can't be bothered with.

The biggest problem with cell phones is that now anyone can get a hold of you anytime, anywhere - even when you're sitting in a public toilet.

Every once in a while I wake up in the middle of the night with this creepy, sad feeling that something's amiss or that my fortune fountain has run dry. It's nothing, really. It's just waking up without enough sleep, into a dark place, when one was expecting to wake into the light fully rested. A little tea, a little TV too maybe, a little talk.

The only veggies I won't eat are: eggplant, sweet potato, Brussel sprout, avocado, and any sort of melon. Everything else is pretty much fair game.

TANDEMONIUM: When you cause a ruckus with someone else.

I like Pop Will Eat Itself, poppies, Pop Tarts, popcorn, pop (Coke), and pop-up books.

Every person needs something which will make them stand out, unless they're lucky enough to be "found", which is rare. Some people, you see, keep their jewels well-hidden, out of sight, and it is the rare soul who will stop to take a look, investigate, and stay.

Here's a typical expressive expletive from my birthplace that you're not too likely to hear elsewhere: I don't give a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.

One of the great philosophical questions of modern times, posed by They Might Be Giants in the song Particle Man, is: When he's under water does he get wet, or does the water get him instead?

"Whatever your heart clings to, that is your god." - Unknown

"No Christian martyr works it harder!" - Joan of Arc, Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical

"Space can contain everything, but space does not entertain the thought that it can contain everything." - Nirvana Sutra

"For in the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

"Animals are nature's way of keeping meat fresh until you eat it." - Den

In my world, Elvis is not the king of rock'n'roll. He's not even prince, duke, prime minister, mayor, or town drunk.

When I was a young child, and not understanding the working of technology, I used to think that if I turned off the radio in the middle of a song that the same song would start up from where I left it, when I turned the radio back on again, regardless of how much time had passed.

If you rearrange the letters of the word shelf, you get flesh. Which gives a whole new spin to the expression shelf space; but perhaps only to those of us who need to be taken to the puzzle factory in a rubber truck.

Mithraism had a baptism-like ceremony which involved the man crouching in a pit while a bull was slaughtered on boards above his head.

There is no future in time travel.

If I could meet a man that sounded not entirely unlike some unholy combination of Joe Strummer, Ian McCulloch, Derek Jacobi, Christopher Eccleston, and Patrick Stewart … well, I actually have very little idea what I'd do, but it sure would be wonderful listening to the poor bugger talk. Some people have voices that just resonate, voices that hum.

Sometimes I think that there's some things one has to do when one is young, or it becomes impossible to even dream that they will ever happen.

We understand when the sky is grey or red, why it is so. But, on the blue days … how is it the sky goes from its sharp cerulean, to Wedgewood, to what it is now - the pale edges of faded denim; a blue that's almost forgotten its blueness, but hasn't quite.

What's the most precious thing you have? Time, right? So why is it we will gladly give up hours and hours of time, of our lives, of our selves, but we all turn a bit funny in the gills when it comes to borrowing money, or lending it? Is it because we see money as a symbol of time, more precious than the time itself?

I believe that any person who claims atheism and says they hate God (or the idea of god), is no atheist at all. Hatred of a thing is not the negation of that thing; hatred is actually a pretty powerful emotion that gives something power.

I love it when people do that indignant and frustrated "are you blind" thing. I can always respond with, "Why yes, as a matter of fact I am."

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus

I love navel oranges. Let me rephrase that in more easily understood and precise terms: I love navel oranges. There is no better or tastier fruit on earth, though seedless green grapes could give the navel orange a run for its fruity money. I could eat the damned things by the pound, and have (not like the time when I was young and unconsciously ate two litres of lime sherbet whilst watching Dr. Who).

NUKEROMANCER: Someone whose entire concept of meal preparation is confined to the "defrost", "power", and "cook" buttons.

"I never make mistakes. I make predictions which immediately turn out to be wrong." - Murray Walker

Abundance: agile bread.

There are times you become something, evolve into something, not because it's how you want to be or how you're truly meant to be, but because you're driven there out of necessity.

Zentrance: One day I'll come up with a clever definition for this word. For now, all I can say is that I like the sound of it.

What song do you want played at your funeral? Well, this would involve people going against my "end" wishes. But, assuming they do that, I'd prefer Always Look On The Bright Side of Life, Fearless (Pink Floyd), or perhaps, the Ode to Joy. I am a soppy sentimentalist.

There's nothing worse than getting gassed by someone else's perfumery of choice - especially when it's so thick you can taste it.

"A moral compass can only point you in the right direction; it can't make you go there." - Gil Grissom, CSI

I'm very, very particular about the sort of pens I like to write with. I'm very fond of very fine-tipped rollerball pens - the blacker and thinner the better, and they must have black ink. I think high school was what finally turned me off of blue ink - I almost hate it, and find it grating on the eyes. Black seems more definite, and it's sure as hell easier to read. I wonder how it is blue became the "accepted" colour.

The impossible is sometimes the unwise, but I am not afraid of attempting the unwise. I have done it before, and I'm certain I'll do it again.

"I exist as I am, that is enough." - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Someone, I can't recall who at the moment, once said that diplomacy was the art of letting other people have your way.

Freak out now. Apologise later.

Pocket change of heart shaped box lunch time of the seasons in the sun always shines on TV dinner hour of power trip report card games without frontiers…

o/~ I need your fingers to straighten my flesh / I hope your fingers are kind o/~ - James, Walking the Ghost

MAULTITUDE: Roman hands and Russian fingers, people who just can't keep their hands off you, groups of people engaging in orgiastic behaviour, perhaps could apply to flocks of hookers.

The only thing worse than some raving, reactionary, political asswipe, is a drunk, raving, reactionary, political asswipe.

The young may have more infectious energy, fire, or immediate heat, but age brings warmth, knowledge, and a more sustained heat that feeds a more enduring sense of passion, and a better ability to understand and accept the vagaries of humans and human existence.

My imaginary friend when I was little was called Charlie Brokentoaster. He was not a toaster.

Last week, I couldn't find my wallet. It had about $30 in it. When I realised it was gone, I tried to work myself up into being upset about it, but it wasn't coming off. Then I realised something, that I was trying to work myself into an upset because I thought that's how I was supposed to feel about losing it. I wasn't upset about it being gone at all, so I ditched the mood immediately. The wallet turned up not long after.

I'm not sure what I thought it was before, but I was surprised the day I found out that the vagina was a tube. I was young. What can I say?

Tiberius "My dear, you look like a Greek tragedy." Agripina "And you look like a Roman farce." - I, Claudius

"Don't try to lay no boogie woogie on the king of rock'n'roll." - Long John Baldry

Beware the many evils of man; that amongst these evils exists the following: overreaction, retaliation, ignorance, reactionaryism, accusation, jingoism, moral superiority, hypocrisy, propaganda, misinformation, groundless speculation, knee-jerkness, jerkiness, finger-pointing, blame-laying, narrow-mindedness, fuckheadedness, internalisation, gun-toting lunacy, anal retentiveness, blindness, non-thinking, non-analysation, selfishness, wilful self-torture, arrogance, lies, baseless specialisation, self-indulgence, bait-laying, tension aggravation, revenge, tabloidism, bigotry festering, narrow perspective, extremism, fanaticism

Most of life's problems can be solved by at least one of the following: ale, whores, cookies, Aqua Net, fire

FYI: Talking louder does not make you sound smarter. However, it will get you the one thing you're really after: attention.

There's nothing wrong with being humbled sometimes.

My most terrifying childhood memory is being on the elevator alone when the power in the building went out. I refused, for years afterwards, to be the first person on, or the last person off, the elevator.

Education is a society's responsibility. If it takes no trouble to ensure a knowledge base and teaching systems for its people, then it has no one but itself to blame when those people fail to be able to contribute.

How many olives do you have to eat in one sitting before it turns from a snack into an unhealthy obsession?

When my grandfather died, I was present when they put him in the body bag. They put him in face down so the last thing visible of him, was his bare butt. I thought that was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. The last thing that man showed to the world was his ass. It was too poetically appropriate for words.

Two things of which one should constantly remind oneself, and which have nowt to do with each other: Some prices are worth paying. and Consider the source.

I have no problem with charities or charity. In fact, I consider it my responsibility not to refuse people in need. However, I do have a problem with charitable groups who call me, and keep calling me, despite my having told them, repeatedly, that I cannot afford the extravagantly costly "perks" they're offering in order to get my money.

Whatever your heart clings to, that is your god.

Rah rah + Amen = Rahmen

The human emotional system is like a pot luck stew - you never know what the hell the next spoonful is going to bring you.

When does pizza officially become "leftover"? Personally, I feel it's not technically leftover until it's at least a day old. But what about, say, twelve hours after purchase and original consumption? Is it leftover then?

"Nothing in life has any business being perfect." - Henry, The Lion in Winter, 2003

"I'll miss the sea, but a person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." Duke Leto Atreides, Dune, 1984

My friend Max once bought a can of pop with something called "pant acid" in it. Yeah, I'm still wondering too.

If there's no rest for the wicked, I must be one evil bastard.

I remember, years ago, hearing some story that said we are, now, breathing in the same air that men like Julius Caesar, Socrates, and Jesus, exhaled. One of my first thoughts at the time was, "I bet that's not all we're breathing in of theirs."

Why is it, do you suppose, that those responsible for the programming arrangements on television, assume that everyone must have enough of a life that they don't care what's there in the way of weekend programming? As the years roll by, the programming on weekends gets worse and worse. Some of us don't have lives, you know. On behalf of those of us without lives, I demand higher quality programming for weekend viewing!

Eat well; drink with good cheer; be appreciative of your gifts; give well if you can; be sincere in your wishes.

Have you ever noticed that ruination and urination are a wee (no pun intended) too much alike in spelling?

You stock up on things, like toilet paper and light bulbs, yet you always manage to run out of your stockpile at the moment when you're least able to go and replenish it. Yet another fine example of the true perversity of the universe.

I was just thinking back on how much, as kids, my friends and I liked to play school. Which is really amusing given how much we hated actually going to the real thing half the time.

If a passing spaceship pulled over and offered you a ride, under what circumstance (if any) would you accept? If I needed a lift, I'd go. If I felt adventurous, I'd go. If I was at all curious, I'd go. I guess it wouldn't take much to get me to go, since I'm most of the above most of the time.

I don't have nightmares, but I do have unpleasant dreams. I loathe them, truth be told, I'd rather have the nightmares. With my unpleasant dreams they usually lave me in some sort of bizarre mood, detached, unhappy, deflated, flattened, ill at ease, unsettled, paranoid and unsure of myself and others. They are always creepy, deflating, or grotesque. I'd rather have the nightmares.

People spend far too much time looking for A Fulfilling Career that will meet all of their financial, creative, and personal needs. It'd be nice, but that sort of thing happens very rarely. I don't need it, anyhow. I want a job. I don't need my work world to fulfil me, I need "me" to fulfil me; I need me to fulfil my life. Of course I don't want a job I hate; but one I can tolerate, that pays the bills, and allows for personal time, would be sufficient.

"To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I actually like cleaning windows.

"It is just an illusion we have here on earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever." - Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse Five

There's only one way to find a needle in a haystack - the same way you find one you've just dropped on a shag rug - walk through it barefoot.

If my soul were forced to survive on chicken soup alone, it'd starve.

There's not too much that I require of a morning outside of a cup of tea, except that people not yammer at me. It's part of why I find most radio morning shows so ghastly and intolerable, because all they do is yammer, yammer, yammer.

Visists: The extreme reluctance, and sometimes resistance, one feels when one realises that it's time to go visit people you really don't want to visit.

Say it with flowers. Send her a triffid.

"Speak in extremes - it will save you time." - Jason

I used to be offended at my mother's husband for keeping my existence a secret from his parents, and for seemingly forcing her to also do so. But then one day I realised that she chose to allow him to do that, and my offense moved.

Carrots are good for your eyes - but it hurts when you push 'em in.

I stole a pack of gum when I was about eight, but felt so guilty about it afterwards that I left the pack on the windowsill outside the store.

It doesn't matter what you're made of; it matters what you make of yourself.

"To think is to forget differences, generalise, make abstractions." - Jorge Luis Borges

Harrod's in London has a really tacky shrine to Dodi and Diana near the Egyptian Escalator. What was worse, however, were the tourists who stood there taking photos of it.

30 seconds at a microphone addressing the people of the world. What do you say? Life's too short to spend so much time being petty over things that, in the grand scheme of things, matter not one whit.

Remember a few years back when John Glen went up in space again? Why wasn't everyone dressed in ape suits when he came back down again?

Secrets: Those things best kept to onself, and that no longer exist when you share them with another.

Sometimes there are things in places you never expect them to be. Sometimes there are things in places you knew you'd always find them. Sometimes all it takes to begin something, is a beginning.

Movies I've seen with Peter O'Toole in them: King Ralph (1991), Last Emperor, The (1987), Club Paradise (1986), Pygmalion (1983), Svengali (1983), My Favorite Year (1982), Masada (1981), Man of La Mancha (1972), Murphy's War (1971), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Lion in Winter, The (1968), Casino Royale (1967), What's New, Pussycat (1965), Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

"The untold want by life and land ne'er granted. Now, voyager sail thou forth to seek and find." - Walt Whitman

In the winter, when it's frigid here, and I'm hating it, I like to check the temperatures in places like Yellowknife and the Berring Strait. I don't feel so bad about the cold after that.

DISREMEMBERED: When you've mentally misplaced something that you actually do know.

There's three sides to every story: Your side, my side, and the truth.

The Exorcist was the last movie my grandfather ever took my grandmother to see. Immediately afterwards, he made her give away the brand new set of green glasses she'd just bought.

Ever notice how weatherpeople discuss the risk of weather, as if we had some choice in the matter, as if one could spin the wheel and get no weather at all?

"I am more important than my problems." - Jose Ferrer

Tragedy tries so hard to harden us - but the real trick is not letting it do so.

When I was a small child (and an adult), I always wanted a rubber duckie. I never got one. So, now, as an adult, people give me duckies as gifts. Still, no one's given me a proper yellow squeaky one as yet.

I didn't learn how to tie my own shoes until I was into grade one.

I understand the whole concept of wind chill, more or less, but I think that after a certain point giving it a numerical value is beyond useless. Once it goes -20C or lower, you're pretty much in "way too fucking cold for humans" territory.

I find that as I get older, I am far less resolute about certain things than I was in my adamant youth. Some things have charms they never had before, enjoyment is less judgemental in its scope, and I have embraced the ability and desire to do things I wouldn't normally do, simply because they're there to be done, or because someone else wants to do them. There is enjoyment to be had in just about everything, even things you never used to find the charm in.

Des phoques par-ci, des phoques par-là, les phoques partout!

"What else could ugliness ever come out of, if not beauty?" - Tom Kirkwood, Night Heat

I figure the perfect curry dish to honour Tim Curry, would be curried frankenfurters.

Riesling Splese sounds more like a dysfunction than a wine.

"Speak in extremes; it will save you time." - Jason

Finannigans: Financial trickery, con-games, corporate wheeling and dealing

Well some say life will beat you down Break your heart, steal your crown So I've started out for God knows where I guess I'll know when I get there - Learning to Fly Tom Petty

In my world, Elvis is not the king of rock'n'roll; he's not even prince, duke, prime minister, mayor, or town drunk.

I said that I wanted to make a cake with the Yin-Yang on the top, and call it my Zen Ice-Cream Koan cake. People said there was a special hell reserved just for folks like me.

You never seem to get enough sleep the nights before you have to be doing something that requires all your undivided, fully slept attention.

AUCTION: To allow everyone to fight over buying your stuff.

MEANDERTHAL: An annoying individual moving slowly and aimlessly in front of another individual who is in a bit of a hurry.

Why is drinking American beer like making love in a canoe? Because they're both fucking close to water. (favourite Monty Python joke)

The enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

I am sick to death of everything being acronymised. Are people that lazy that they can't say a whole fucking word? It's only a few more letters! Are you lot afraid your lives will end before you get the second syllable out?

I was remembering the old five and dimes, as my grandmother would call them, and the sort of lunch counters one found in department stores before they all over-incorporated corporations. All this incorporation removes any sort of charm. But that's a story for another day. The thing I most remember from those places, are the rows of pre-made sandwiches, and the bowls of vari-coloured Jello, all topped with whipped cream (the Jello, not the sandwiches). Out of all the things I could remember, it's that, the dishes of Jello.

"Man is a giddy thing and this is my conclusion." - William Shakespeare

I cannot explain the film Brazil except in this fashion: When it first came out, a group of friends and I went to see it. After it was over we all got up to leave when the house lights came on, all of us except Carlos. Carlos was still sitting there, staring at the screen, with his mouth hanging open, agape, gobsmacked. He didn't even hear us when we called him.

I, quite frankly, have no idea how it is that some people seem to find it much easier to use bad spelling/grammar than proper spelling/grammar, even when it comes to text messages. I cringe when I find myself using a txtism.

I once purchased a copy of Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet for a friend, not knowing she already had it. I got stuck with it. I still have it. It's still in the paper wrapper the store put it in. That was over 15 years ago.

Ferment: Yield to the state in which something becomes a better grade of being, like going from potato to vodka. Sugars, baby, it's all in the sugars.

I didn't learn how to tie my own shoes until I was well into grade one.

If I'd known it was going to be this hard to quit smoking, I'd have chosen to do something far less painful, confusing, and tough … like learn calculus.

My mother owns one of those very tiny breed of poodles - a steak probably weighs more than this dog does. Someone I know said that because the dog was so tiny it was no better than a barking cat toy.

I used to have a bad habit of misplacing my beverages. I would make cups of tea and forget them all the time. I'd find them hours after, all over the apartment; in the bedroom, bathroom, dining area, and wonder how the hell they got there, because I sure as hell didn't remember going near the places I'd find them.

Never summon what you can't banish.

Social security: The mistaken impression that society is going to take care of its own.

"Where I had learned the idea of absence, I was beginning to learn the idea of trace. There is always something left behind. That is the essential paradox. Even abandonment gives us memory." - Robert Kroetsch

Is a vulgar Parisian obseine?

DAYTRITUS: Little bits of thoughts and impressions and happenings that occur throughout one's day; particularly applicable when one is writing them down in an online journal, for example, and not a single one feels like it justifies having a whole post to itself, but a whole bunch together make up a nice little post in sum.

"I am human, so nothing human is strange to me." - Publius Terentius Afer

FORSOCKEN: Like forsaken, only with a higher natural fibre content.

Life does not have meaning because you fill it up; life has meaning because it fills you up.

Skyscraping: I wonder if that would leave a cirrus wound?

The only veggies I won't eat are: eggplant, sweet potato, brussel sprout, avocado, and any sort of melon. Everything else is pretty much fair game.

Changing, as a person, often involves admitting that you were wrong. Lots of people are too proud to admit that they were wrong. That is why some people never change.

The wind's blowing around outside. Rain winds by the sounds of it. They sound cooler, deeper, wetter. The leaves of trees rustle differently.

Someone asked recently what the oddest things I've ever eaten are. The list includes octopus, squid, alligator, pigeon, frog legs, pine tree seeds, homemade Jamaican rum, and RIT dye powder. The rum could have stripped the paint off the side of a barn at a hundred paces, and the RIT dye was something I did when I was five years old. I thought it was jello powder. The pigeon, by the way, was very tasty as I recall. No, it's not those grey and white buggers that invade the inner city.

As I grew up, anything that couldn't be seen, anything that was invisible or out of the range of human vision, was - according to my grandfather - skybluepink.

I'm a girl who really knows where her towel is.

Demanding rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!

There are three sides to it - one like ice cream, another like the ocean, and the last is like an autumn day of crisply coloured leaves. These things work in concert, rather than being contrary to each other. They serve to fill a palette with rich flavour; tang and sweet at the same time. Tang and sweet and fresh and mellowed.

AU FRIGO: What some French people hear when you say "Off we go". True story. My mother had a friend who thought this.

I'm so poor I can't even pay attention.

"You're a gentleman and a scholar, and I'm not much better myself." One of those random things my grandfather used to say that rang very much of Oscar Wilde or Groucho Marx, but was neither.

It took me years to figure out a way to reason the phrase "a month of Sundays".

My grandmother was a little surprised, to say the least, when I explained to her that the nice song they were playing in the background of that Swiffer commercial (Whip It by Devo) was about masturbation.

Despite the fact that space is nothing, it's the very thing that connects us all to each other.

There's nothing quite like the neverending surprise of the start of Brain Damage/Eclipse, when one is listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

People always ask you what you do for fun as if fun things are supposed to somehow be completely separate from everything else you do. As if work, home, friends, family, and play, are not meant to intermingle. I find that sad, the lengths to which some folks go to compartmentalise their existence.

I like verbal communication. I like hearing voices - not just the ones in my head.

Possibly the most insightful thing anyone's ever said about me, was that I was very good at talking about myself without saying anything. It's true.

Friday, the day of sharp excitement at the weekend and rest to come; Saturday, the day of hobbies and shopping and touring around; and Sunday, the day of somnolence and soporifics.

I'll say one thing for myself. When drunk, I may be embarrassing, but I'm not mean, loud, or vicious.

I can please only one person a day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either.

I very much dislike people who try to make me stressed and reactionary simply because they are.

Every day a person should have: an infusion of hope and optimism, a little surprise, a little variety, a little activity, to feel safe, contentment, peace, stability, a little healthy chaos, relief from that which hurts them, imaginative play, relaxation, pampering, a good meal, something that makes them feel alive and human, gentleness and kindness, appreciation, affection, a little creativity, something that keeps the brain active, some attention, a little inspiration, something emotionally stimulating, something (hopefully non-tragic) that reminds you not to take things for granted, something to make them smile, hug, a good night's sleep, a little love

Raisin: A grape that's seen better days.

"Collecting is a primal phenomenon of study: the student collects knowledge." - Walter Benjamin

Schrödinger's Cat: That's only half the story.

People who say things like "Is it hot enough for you?" need to have something large and incongruous rammed in a place where the sun does not normally shine.

"The absence of love is the worst suffering there is." - Unknown

Brown is not attractive when it's paper bag brown, and nothing in a person's home should ever be that colour, except paper bags.

Axl Rose and Gwen Stefani sing like they're gagging on their own tongues

I wear glasses, and have done so since I was two years old. I have no issue with this. It's simply a matter of course. Other people have more of an issue with it than I do. I refuse, therefore, to be made to feel badly for something that is a matter of existence, by people who can't handle or accept the tiniest imperfection in others.

Conversations are best when one person isn't left to hold the bag, bounce the ball, and cart the hors, all by themselves.

Ever wonder why the hell we have to return our seats to the upright position? I'd rather die laying down, thanks.

I really dislike people who don't take the hint of monosyllabic responses. Normally, this would indicate to anyone paying attention that, a) their audience doesn't want to hear about it, b) their audience doesn't want to hear about it "right now", or c) their audience really doesn't give a fuck, and is becoming quickly frustrated at being repeatedly and continually forced to listen to endless ramblings that will - should the speaker not stop soon - cause the audience to utter a very vociferous and emphatic "Would you please shut the fuck up?"

"Your generosity is only exceeded by your good looks." - my grandfather

Definition of the Commercialisation of Zen: Getting something for no-thing.

There's little that's more satisfying than a good sneeze.

Eating the North American restaurant concept of a fair portion size, makes me feel like something that's being fatted up to be taken out for slaughter. My friends, small portions don't mean you're getting ripped off.

Preference is a choice one makes via investigation: "I have tried many things, and prefer this one over that one." Preference is only a priori when categorical decisions are made without investigation, without evidence, without thought.

Fair shake: If you expect it, then you should also give it, and everyone is deserving of it.

CUCUMBERSOME: A very large salad.

I've always found a way to keep myself harboured and sheltered from the very things that I probably most need. And some of those things are frightening, unsettling, things that jam into my gullet and gut and waggle their fingers and scare me to death.

I can curse in at least ten languages other than English, though my talents there are by no means scant. Amongst the more exotic of these languages are: Finnish, Hungarian, and Italian. My best cursing is done in French, however.

Given that I'm an atheist, and in good conscience couldn't swear on the Bible if called as a witness at a trial, on what would I swear? The OED? The Tao Te Ching? A box of Trivial Pursuit cards? A first edition Shakespeare folio?

Please to be remembering that this household's theme song is "I Do The Rock" by Tim Curry.

What more could you ask for in life than a companion who lets you finish your sentences.

"I occasionally spoke in these creative meetings of the 'tragedy' of my time, and the 'moral cowardice' of my generation. There has been no great bomb since that last one dropped on Japan, but there has been a steady erosion of what is natural. As my art school mentor Gustav Metzger says, "nature has been replaced by 'environment'. We no longer know the true values of natural life and art. We are slowly destroying ourselves in an 'autodestructive' society." - Pete Towsnhend, from the introductory notes to Lifehouse

BUREAUCRAZY: Because that's what the government does to you.

Deserve: respect, affection, attention, love, hugs, not to have my time wasted, honesty, truth, communication, sharing

I think my favourite translation of an actual line from a Hong Kong martial arts film would have to be; "I am damned unsatisfied to be killed in this way!"

Zen state: When you can have both tea and no tea at the same time.

What did you first do for money?: Chores. Didn't we all? I once tried telephone sales as a teen, and I'm of the opinion that doing telephone sales is more traumatising than something that's usually incredibly traumatising.

There's too much 'white noise' in the lives of most people, so all these little things get drowned out. Plus, some have simply forgotten how to appreciate smallness, in a society so hung up on the grandiose.

I'll say one thing for myself; when drunk I may be embarrassing, but I'm not mean, loud, or vicious.

DISREMEMBER: I didn't forget. I just failed to remember.

Every once in a while I get the feeling that various musicians can see right through me.

Conversations are best when one person isn't left to hold the bag, bounce the ball, and cart the horse, all by themselves.

Ratification: It does not happen with real rats, and I should not say it does during a documented pubic meeting.

I wonder if Charles Mingus ever thought of the fact that his last name sounds more like genitalia than a name?

What I like to say when I either have nothing to say or don't want to respond: Lovely weather we're having. Beautiful plumage.

MALLEGE: The sort of educational "institution" that is more focused on making money than teaching, that one finds on stray street corners and in strip malls. Usually, out of cheap, fast, and reliable, one gets to pick two. In the case of the mallege, you get one - and it's not cheap or reliable.

I'm trying to work out ways of incorporating the immortal words of Marlon Brando into my everyday, or almost everyday, speech: "A one-way ticket to palookaville."

A godist is any person espousing a Christian faith, or believing in any form of a Christian deity. Any person who believes in God.

Lonnie: If you call me that, I'll unseam you from nave to chops with a blunt butter knife.

There are rare times when lies serve, but not when you leave someone in an ignorance that fails to serve them.

You always pay a price for profound gifts. They don't come free or cheaply.

When you are first getting ill the feelings of illness sometimes come and go, and can often be staved off with a good nap. The crapteau, the plateau of crappy, is that point at which you realise you need another nap because you can't fight the illness off any longer.

There are some things I just can't bear to throw away or get rid of in any fashion - like music, or books, and especially personal writing. Throwing

Nothing is so close to breaking, as when it refuses to bend.

I have discovered the one true catalyst for insanity: A radio station that plays nothing but Christmas music twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the entire month of December.

How come we never saw this on Polka Dot Door: o/~ This is the time we always say, "Get ready, get set, for Judgement Day: o/~

Disagreement with an opinion does not make someone an enemy.

Victorian Housewife Syndrome: Unfortunate condition in which a person feels that their efforts go completely unnoticed and unsung, or even deliberately ignored; also a condition in which people feel completely left out of a loop that they had a large hand in starting.

"There's no god, no rules, and no judgements except for those you accept or create for yourself." - Unknown

For me, I think one of the worst feelings in the world is knowing you've done something wrong, and knowing, too, that you will not be allowed to make amends for it.

Laundry is just such a time-suck, and I'm of the opinion that garbage should take itself out.

It's said that if your nose is itchy it means you're going to kiss a fool. My right ear and my left cheek are itchy; what do you suppose that'd get me in the kiss commodities market?

Once in a while I come across things I'd got for a specific purpose that never ended up getting used for that purpose. Most of the time this means nothing. But every once in a while I find something that touches a nerve, twigs my nostalgia, or aches. Today it was a Chinese parasol that I'd purchased a few months ago, which made me think of the reason I'd bought it. Now it will be decoration, something to help brighten my home. I don't think it'll ever be used for the original intention.

Don't speak for me when you can't even let me finish a sentence.

I remember once someone bitching about this film, saying it was far too simplistic, that the philosophy was too easy, etc. And I'm thinking, uh, they're teenagers, were you expecting Kierkegard or something?

I figure the perfect curry dish to honour Tim Curry would be curried frankenfurters.

Hey poor, you don't have to be poor anymore - unless you're dealing with Revenue Canada who are not entirely unlike waiting for cold molasses to roll uphill in January.

THC: Tim Hortons Campaign: grabbing overly thin women off the street and stuffing them with timbits until they explode.

If there's a better, or more versatile, alcohol on this planet, I sure as hell don't know what it is.

Brown is not attractive when it's paper bag brown, and nothing in a person's home should ever be that colour, except paper bags.

I used to be one of those people who took everything very personally. This caused me no end of trauma. This kept happening until the day I realised that if someone treats me poorly or without respect, in any fashion, it said a lot more about them than it said about me.

Do you have any idea what it's like for the eminently impatient to be patient with the most difficult item they face, themselves?

Sometimes the tools, trappings, and talent, mean nothing; sometimes the desire is all there is, and all there should be.

What makes a person a poet is not words, it is vision, perception, relation with the world around the person.

Don't hold back - release the frolic within!

"Nothing unreal exists." - Spock, Star Trek: IV

Despite how much you might dislike bullshit, every once in a while you have to let people lie to you without comment, so that they have the opportunity to preserve their dignity.

"Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say." - Maggie Kuhn

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I don't know, I wasn't there.

It's at this point in your cleaning that you think, "Why didn't I leave it all alone?" or, "Why can't I be Mary Poppins?" or, "I wish I could hire someone to clean it for me." or, "Never again."

I've been trying to recall how and when I first learned about sex, and I can't. I remember the cartoon 'My Mom's Having A Baby', and some booklet about the menstrual cycle. But I really can't figure out how and when I learned the naming and usage and connection of parts. I know I wasn't 'sat down and had a talk with'. That's something my grandparents would never have done, and am I ever thankful for that. My grandmother still thinks virgins shouldn't use tampons.

I like a nice hat, or a silly one. Hat-wearing is a dying art, methinks. The fedora, the bowler, they're going the way of the dodo bird, and that's a truly saddening event.

"The living are just the dead on holiday." - Unknown

Guys, trust me on this one: If you're starting to experience the wonder of the receding hairline, just take it all off. In most cases, you'll be doing yourself a favour.

I have discovered that there is a truly unfortunate thing about this time of year, autumn and thence unto winter. The temperature has a very bad habit of becoming non-warm. This bothers me. I am trying to discover what to do about it. I'm still waiting to be able to afford that temperature controlled bio dome I've been talking about. But that's another problem altogether: the unfortunateness (Unfortunateness? Bless the diversatility of the Englitch language.) of non-having of money.

A friend of the family, when I was a young lass, used to say "Up your giggy with a wire brush" an awful lot. It was not an expression of warm friendliness. It occurs to me, decades later, that I'm not sure if she meant the front or the back - though I am positive she meant the lower functioning portion of the human body. (What a weird expression.)

"The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?" Arabian proverb

Some things are momentary, and some feel forever. Both can be delicious, or excruciating.

"It's like spring at MASH; if you can't find it, and you can't feel it, you just go ahead and make it." - Sydney, MASH

Did you know that the plural of cul de sac is culs de sac, not cul de sacs? Sometimes English boggles my noodle, but, this expression isn't English.

The second worst thing you can say about someone, is that they're a poor sport. The worst thing you can say is that they're a liar or hypocrite.

Teasles: I really enjoy a good cup of tea. It's unfortunate that I'm mostly incapable of making one, and must suffice with my substandard hack version of a cup of tea.

Shoebox: A repository of memories.

I think that it's in small acts that humans really prove themselves and give credibility to what we term as humanity.

"Real life is overrated. It's just a lot of odd smells and disappointments." - Ben Calder, Chasing Liberty

Most of the time, the grandest gestures come in the smallest packages.

TEASED: What you feel like after you drink a much anticipated, needed, or waited for cup of tea that invariably turns out to taste like boot mud.

A goddess of disturbed tranquillity.

Sometimes finding solace or simpatico in another is all human existence adds up to, all that it brings to anyone. That is not a bad thing, to find solace, understanding, someone with whom you can be at ease because you know they understand your fears, desires, and detritus, and they accept it all.

If you want fairness, be fair. If you want equality, treat others equally.

Do you think that 'meaning' is something you discover, something you create, something imposed by others, or something else? It's all those things. All those things create meaning - how you see a thing, how others see a thing, how that thing might see itself. All of it combines to give a significance or a sense to a thing.

In the past, people have found my website by searching for: stuff eggs into tomatoes, overweight naked men, lady bitch, tickle my feet, lemonade lady, her uvula, migraines caused by lungs, worms in the nipple, free flesh flicks, testicles, christcore, naked Disney characters, diamond ring seahorse, cats lesbian sex, net feet, ate worms in chocolate, oestrogen vasodilation migraine, chick vices, dildo log, lesbian letters, freak dick, free masturbation films, turn offs earwax, slinky limerick, animals sexy sides, free fuck flicks, free naked animal sex, tender testicles

Free is good. I especially like when you buy something, and they give you another thing with it. The freeness may be illusory, but it feels free, so I accept it as such. Sometimes, though, I wonder how certain things end up together in "free offer" pairings. Like the free long distance phone card I got in my box of frozen fish.

I prefer crossing my toes to crossing my fingers. That way, I can still type.

(Content warning: Gross) One day I got this chocolate bar from the grocery store, one of the family sized ones. I opened it, ate some, relished it (of course), then looked at what was left in the wrapper only to see little, green worms.

What do you do when vending machines steal your money? I make a face at them, possibly give them the finger, and then resign my money to coin-slot perdition

STINK FISH POT! One wonders whose job it was to contrive the colourful array of expletives employed by Frank Burns on MASH. One should, of course, pronounce this expletive string as if it were all one word.

You have to, for the greater part, solve your own problems. You have to take the step, cross the bridge, open the door, let in the light. No one else is going to do this for you. You have to be your own saviour. It makes you stronger in the end. Another thing that makes you stronger, is owning yourself - good and bad; taking responsibility for your actions, admitting your faults, embracing all sides of yourself.

Thinking not just forwards or backwards, it's to the left, around corners, backward, upsidedown, inside out.

I still can't remember which is near-sighted and which is far-sighted.

I lament the fact that I never got to see AC/DC, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and The Who.

Breathing is good. I'm going to make a habit of it.

I am convinced that my sometimes stellar ability at, and appreciation of, sarcasm was first seeded by my grandfather.

FANTASTY: When you can't be certain if what's causing the butterflies in your stomach is thoughts of your current paramour, or the fact you haven't eaten since breakfast.

The odd thing, is that when "perfect for you" comes around the corner and trips you up of a morning, it is never what you thought it would be, yet … it is exactly as it should be.

The world of worry is packed enough without borrowing more than you should rightly borrow to stuff it with.

If it can wait til morning, don't wake me up.

Even when it isn't cold, the wind, when howling through loose windows, always sounds cold. It reminds me of what desolation might feel like - like the sound of the loon's call. Sometimes it's somewhat nice, because it reminds me that I'm tucked up inside in a snug place, with tea, and snacks, and television to keep me company. Sometimes it makes for a lonely feeling, but not today.

What is the square root of all evil?

The impossible is sometimes the unwise; but I am not afraid of attempting the unwise. I have done it before, and I'm certain I'll do it again. Sometimes that's the only way to get the juice out of life.

"Say it with flowers. Send her a triffid." - Unknown

Bad things about people are like conspiracies; if that's all you look for, that's all you're going to find.

I will not lie about my age. Own your age - make them take you as you are.

After I saw the Disney film Blackbeard's Ghost I wouldn't walk straight up to my bed if the lights in my room were out. I'd get to about a foot away from it then jump the rest of the way. That little problem lasted for a few years. And people say Disney films are harmless.

My Aunt Marie used to say that a person needs 17 hugs a day to survive. I'm not so sure she was in any way wrong.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to believe that pulpectomy was the removal of pulp from your orange juice, thus rendering it fit for human consumption? Sadly, it is not, nor does it have anything to do with oranges at all.

My passport states that it is the property of the government of Canada. This is fine, but if that's the case, why the hell did I have to pay for it?

I should remember much more frequently than I do, that there are some things in life you will never find, get, or have, unless you go out into the world and expose yourself to the means by which you will find, get, or have whatever it is you need.

Anarchart: Just do it.

I used to think, when I was younger, that if I wasn't the best at something, then my life was not complete. I learned, years later, that I was not a genius or a prodigy, and would never be either. I learned, after that, to be satisfied with both those facts, and at that point I learned to be satisfied with the one thing no one else but I could do - and that's being myself, and not comparing myself in that ugly manner of only against the measure of others.

Every time I hear or use the expression "nudist colony" I keep thinking of things like ant farms, or those seahorses you can grow yourself - like a Chia nudist - you just pour out the seeds, add water, and presto! Instant naked people! It's a product whose time has come.

I didn't forget; I just failed to remember.

If you're going to do something, do it right the first time. If you're going to do something badly, do it badly enough that the badness becomes art.

Icky: sugar in tea, diet pop, dogs that lick your face, wet slimy things in the sink when you do the dishes

I live alone, and am not one to leave the drawers in my dresser open after removing an item from it. So, when I come home and not only find that the drawer is open, but also find that my rubber-duckie festooned boxer shorts are right on top, I begin to wonder what might be going on around here when I exit my domicile. (Domicile always struck me as a word that only people in correctional facilities would use, or perhaps someone who's been hospitalised for reasons mentally medical in nature.)

"The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?" - Arab proverb

I hate socks. Actually, I'm not crazy about anything on my feet when I'm sitting around the house. I have no problem walking across concrete parking lots in my bare feet (this seemed to surprise one of my friends); and I can pick things up with my toes (but lots of people can do that).

I know more compounds and colourful uses of the word "fuck" than you do. To wit: fuckwit, fuckchop, fuckmunch, fuckup, fucker, fuckerdoodle, fucknut, motherfucker, fuck me, get fucked, go fuck yourself

I've always had a problem with critiquing something without sounding like I'm being a critic. There is, of course, a difference between being critical and critique - it's just not a skill of difference I've mastered, but I am getting better.

There may be a lot of positions in the government, but no matter what way you look at it, you're still getting fucked.

There are many definitions for the word try. When someone suggests you try something that can dissociate into a number of life-threatening solvents, they don't necessarily mean that you try it internally.

Burning rituals are common things when it comes to cleansing. Perhaps it's something we can all consider for ourselves. Pick something, something that is important for you to rid yourself of, a problem that needs solving, write it on a bit of paper, and burn the paper. It's important to let things go. Some things, after all, just aren't worth holding on to.

I hate chain letters. I hate someone telling me that my fate, my future, my fortune, will be determined by making a wish, reading a prayer, and sending the letter onwards to a set number of people within a set number of minutes or days. Why are we so suckered in by this sort of thing?

The shadows are as important as the light.

Pastorised: Ordination

Am I the only person who remembers lyrics to the song o/~ Push, push in the bush o/~? If I'm not, I certainly can't be the only person who wishes they'd forgotten them.

Flatware sets should contain twice as many forks as everything else in the set. The universality of the fork shortage requires it.

I was just thinking back on how much, as kids, my friends and I liked to play school - which is really amusing given how much we hated actually going to the real thing half the time.

Don't strip people of their dignity ever; either your own, or someone else's.

"I really have a secret satisfaction in being considered rather mad." - W. Heath Robinson

Don't come looking for me because you can't find something "better". I am no one's afterthought.

Doesn't this just sum up the search for companionship: "Looking for a custom fit in an off-the-rack world." Hawkeye, M*A*S*H

Calling someone by the wrong name is not the worst faux pas you can commit - but it is when you keep calling your son's fiance by the name of his first wife.

Every person should have at least one vice.

Man got his sense of impropriety with nudity from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, or so the story goes if you ascribe to that sort of thing. This God person thought man was beautiful in his naked form. It baffles me still how some consider the naked form so dirty. If this God person thought the naked form was just dandy thanks, and you ascribe to his teachings, then your fear of the flesh is your fault.

I would like to climb a tree again, run through sprinklers, splash in puddles, pile up leaves only to mess them by jumping in and running through them. I would like to be as unbound now, as I was when I was little, before life started making other plans for me.

"I just don't want to come to the end of my life and have to say, 'I want things to be different, but I chickened out when I had the chance.'" - Grace, Something to Talk About

Quite by accident some years back I discovered that if I ate sausage or hot dogs the day of a Formula One race, Michael Schumacher would not finish, or would at least lose. I ate a lot of sausage that year.

I don't hold grudges, I hold discomforts. I don't like the thought of spending years of my life deliberately cultivating and nurturing an unhealthy dislike for another human soul, but there are times that a fracture occurs between two people, one that can never be truly or totally healed. And there you have it - the discomfort zone.

May you always be as vivid as your hallucinations.

I can't brain today - I have the dumb.

I think we're all prone to wanting to be what we aren't, simply because we get so used to being what we are that we lose sight of its value.

"You're rather odd and I'm okay with that." - can't remember

I've heard that durians are so smelly that they are banned from being carried on public transportation in some parts of the world. My wonder has always been, "If something smells that badly, how did people manage to find out it was edible, and more to the point, why did they want to?"

Ability does not equal necessity or right.

Participassion: Because it takes two who are into it in order to truly tango.

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US$500.00 US$460.00 (8% off)

Starting March 2021, Shein gift cards can no longer be redeemed outside the purchase region. In other words, a gift card bought in the US only works on the US site.

How to get a Shein gift card

Shein gift cards can be purchased on the official site of Shein. Unfortunately, you can’t get them at third-party retailers like Walmart and Amazon because SHEIN doesn’t sell gift cards in other stores. You can only buy them online at shein.com and get them in the digital format as E-Gift Cards.

If you’re on the lookout for a free gift card, we hate to say it but you can hardly get it for free. You might notice some giveaways saying you can win a free gift card, but those are also phishing sites that trick you into doing surveys and give nothing in return.

However, if you shop in Shein constantly, there’re many ways you can slash your cost, and pretty soon you’d have enough savings for a gift card.

How to save like a pro in Shein

Free things are usually too good to be true. But if you’re a Shein regular, you can almost certainly save big on every order.

1. Grab the latest promo codes with Coupert

It’s not news that Shein offers coupons to every customer. But the promo codes are constantly updating on the website, which makes it hard to tell if the code in the banner is the most rewarding one. If you’re looking for the best deal but sick of searching for codes, you should definitely give Coupert a try.

Coupert is a powerful browser extension that helps you find and verify promo codes automatically and get cashback on every order. And the most important thing is, it’s 100% free and legit.

To get all the Shein promo codes, first add Coupert to your browser.

The convenience doesn’t stop there. With the Shein Gift Card Redeem Code, you can easily apply your gift card balance during the checkout process. Just enter the code, and watch as your total amount due decreases, giving you the freedom to shop guilt-free. It’s a seamless and hassle-free experience that adds an extra layer of joy to your shopping spree.

Now, you might be wondering how long this incredible opportunity will last. Well, we’ve got good news for you. The Shein Gift Card Generator is here to stay, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. In fact, we’re already gearing up for an exciting year ahead with the Shein Gift Card Generator 2023. Get ready for even more chances to win and redeem gift cards, allowing you to stay ahead of the fashion game without worrying about your budget.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to unlock a world of fashion possibilities with the Shein Gift Card Generator. Whether you’re looking for a wardrobe refresh or searching for the perfect gift for a fashion-forward friend, this generator is your key to stylish success. Don’t miss out on the chance to win a gift card or generate your own — start exploring the world of Shein today!

[sheincodegenerator-2024]

Shein Code Generator ∑GET Now Free NO Human Verification 2024

Shein Gift Card Code Generator 2024 No Survey Without Any Verification.New.updated Shein Gift Cards Generator 2023 Free Shein No Human Verification.Introducing the Shein Gift Card Generator: Your Ticket to Fashionable Shopping!Are you a fashion enthusiast who loves browsing through the latest trends on Shein? Do you often wish you had a little extra to splurge on that perfect dress or those must-have accessories? Well, we have just the solution for you! Introducing the Shein Gift Card Generator, your ultimate tool for unlocking a world of stylish possibilities.

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But wait, there’s more! We’re not just offering you the chance to win a gift card — we’re also giving away Shein gift cards for free! That’s right, you heard it correctly. With our Shein Gift Card Giveaway, you have the opportunity to score a gift card without spending a dime. Imagine the excitement of receiving a generous gift card that allows you to revamp your wardrobe without breaking the bank. It’s a dream come true for any fashion lover!

Now, you might be wondering how all of this is possible. Well, it’s all thanks to the Shein Free Gift Card Generator. This powerful tool is designed to generate unique gift card codes that can be used on the Shein website. Simply enter a few details and let the generator work its magic. Within seconds, you’ll be presented with a valid Shein gift card code that can be redeemed for your shopping pleasure.

Whether you’re an avid bargain hunter, or just new to this platform, you might have heard of the Shein gift card. And if you’re wondering how to get hold of one, you’re in the right place. This post covers everything you want to know about Shein gift cards: what it is, how to get one, plus some saving tips to help you score the best deals on Shein.

Table of contents

What is a Shein gift card

How to get a Shein gift card

How to save like a pro in Shein

Is the $800 Shein gift card real?

Does Shein take Visa gift cards?

Are there any Shein gift card generators?

Get latest Shein coupon with Coupert

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What is a Shein gift card

Simply put, Shein gift card is real money, just like gift cards in Amazon and Walmart, except that it can only be used on Shein. Once redeemed, you can use it on virtually every item in Shein.

Shein gift cards above US$200 come with a 5% discount or more. Currently the highest value of Shein gift cards is US$1,350.

Gift Card Value Actual Price

US$80.00 US$80.00

US$100.00 US$100.00

US$200.00 US$190.00 (5% off)

US$300.00 US$285.00 (5% off)

US$500.00 US$460.00 (8% off)

Starting March 2021, Shein gift cards can no longer be redeemed outside the purchase region. In other words, a gift card bought in the US only works on the US site.

How to get a Shein gift card

Shein gift cards can be purchased on the official site of Shein. Unfortunately, you can’t get them at third-party retailers like Walmart and Amazon because SHEIN doesn’t sell gift cards in other stores. You can only buy them online at shein.com and get them in the digital format as E-Gift Cards.

If you’re on the lookout for a free gift card, we hate to say it but you can hardly get it for free. You might notice some giveaways saying you can win a free gift card, but those are also phishing sites that trick you into doing surveys and give nothing in return.

However, if you shop in Shein constantly, there’re many ways you can slash your cost, and pretty soon you’d have enough savings for a gift card.

How to save like a pro in Shein

Free things are usually too good to be true. But if you’re a Shein regular, you can almost certainly save big on every order.

1. Grab the latest promo codes with Coupert

It’s not news that Shein offers coupons to every customer. But the promo codes are constantly updating on the website, which makes it hard to tell if the code in the banner is the most rewarding one. If you’re looking for the best deal but sick of searching for codes, you should definitely give Coupert a try.

Coupert is a powerful browser extension that helps you find and verify promo codes automatically and get cashback on every order. And the most important thing is, it’s 100% free and legit.

To get all the Shein promo codes, first add Coupert to your browser.

The convenience doesn’t stop there. With the Shein Gift Card Redeem Code, you can easily apply your gift card balance during the checkout process. Just enter the code, and watch as your total amount due decreases, giving you the freedom to shop guilt-free. It’s a seamless and hassle-free experience that adds an extra layer of joy to your shopping spree.

Now, you might be wondering how long this incredible opportunity will last. Well, we’ve got good news for you. The Shein Gift Card Generator is here to stay, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. In fact, we’re already gearing up for an exciting year ahead with the Shein Gift Card Generator 2023. Get ready for even more chances to win and redeem gift cards, allowing you to stay ahead of the fashion game without worrying about your budget.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to unlock a world of fashion possibilities with the Shein Gift Card Generator. Whether you’re looking for a wardrobe refresh or searching for the perfect gift for a fashion-forward friend, this generator is your key to stylish success. Don’t miss out on the chance to win a gift card or generate your own — start exploring the world of Shein today!

[skydinzeal]

⭐👺Winter nights at the Foundry, NYC. Place had no roof, no cap on time either. It changed & they banned me out of jealousy. I was a spiritual machine, smithing silver to quartz, everything. Spent my last dime on my Art for 20 years! 🔭🌠💜👽 They tried to copy me and the place nearly melted down. My guides might not protect me but they always fuck up those who try to hold me back. Have photos from working during Hurricane Sandy, the storm within is the only one to heed friends. 🌟 ☝️Skydin has a group of Artists for monthly exhibitions and incredible products from silver, to clothing, to paintings and more to FILL an empty store front to the brim!!👁️ Portraits Painted in ANY artist style, da Vinci 2 today! Rebuild America, have me create for you! We shouldn't be in wars that are the exploitation of human souls! 😇°`•Play ▶️🎵SOUND in this post•`° 🔥⚡👽🌟🦋👑🌷 I hand-make talismans, paintings/sculptures for you or your loved ones!🌷All of my creations are made of 100s of ancient, powerful symbols! I've tested and taught Spiritual practices via my classes at NYCs Edgar Cayce Center for 10 years. 🌷🔥🌟💥⚡☀️✨ I have been trying to rebuild all my jewelry & art that was stolen when I was assaulted & robbed (10 times past few years) I am looking for a quality SPIRITUAL STORE or ART GALLERY to TRULY help with sales/marketing their work & mine! I am a rare, tireless entertainer, salesperson and psychic. I have huge internet reach and can work day and night continuously! I don't even need to eat. I have got by on hard work & skill alone, not cheating & it shows! If you would like to make a connection happen contact me. If it works out I will pay you! 🌟 A very modest GoFundMe here! Please spread the word! https://gofund.me/82ac1c5b Thank you!🌟💜🗽💜🦌 . . . . #abstractart #SPIRITUAL #art #artisan #spiritualfashion #spirituality #consciousness #handmade #ascension #sacredgeometry #Metaphysics #contemporaryart #metaphysicalart #visionaryart #healingart #pleiadian #alienart #paranormalart #psychicart #Newageart #occultart #futuristicfashion #spiritualartist #starvingartist #magical #portraitpainter #portraitartist #fineart #oilpaintings #Spiritualhealing http://dlvr.it/SxwkX9

[fels-fantasy-hoard]

Ok so I’ve been thinking of making a post about this for a long time but when it comes to rules and ttrpgs, I equate it with hard and soft world building.

Hard world building makes the setting very grounded and creates clear in universe rules like how magic works and gravity. Strictly abiding by rules in a ttrpg gives very clear guides and cause and effect for the players to follow, like hard world building.

Soft world building creates a sense of mystery and wonder in which anything is possible and everything you know about the setting can change on a dime. Loosely abiding by the rules and putting narrative moments first creates a similar loosey goosy feeling to soft world building.

Neither is inherently better than the other but everyone is going to have their preferences and - going into a group - it should be made clear which category the game is going to fall under: hard rules or soft rules. That way people who prefer hard rules won’t accidentally find themself in a game they won’t enjoy. As with any other aspects of the game like how much is going to be combat or rp.

Now let me say I am a rules lawyer. I know dnd 5e rules like the back of my hand. I’ve been in groups that stick to the rules and groups that don’t. I’ve been the player speaking up when a rule is in question and I’ve been the player holding my tongue when the dm makes a call I don’t agree with. I said my case, I told them what the rules were, and I accepted that the DM wanted to make a different call because I understood that in that group, the story came first and our dm is a story teller choosing to sacrifice the rules for the sake of the narrative. That doesn’t make them a tyrant. It just might make you incompatible with their play style - which is no one’s fault and has a very easy solution.

I think the difference in mindset is whether or not the group is playing a role playing game tm or if they are using the rpg as a tool in collaborative story telling. If you walk into a department store looking to buy apples, the department store isn’t oppressing you when they tell you they don’t sell apples.

If you join a new group and discover they are playing it loosey goosey with the rules and you don’t like that then I suggest you talk to the gm after the session and learn if they are using soft rules or homebrew rules and to explain what those rules are. If you aren’t happy with how the gm is running this game and aren’t willing to compromise then leave the group and find another. It’s really that simple.

I briefly mentioned this in one of my last posts but I really dislike the way "the rules lawyer" is vilified in lots of RPG related memes and stories. Like oh no, this person actually knows the rules of the game, what a horrible person.

Okay I know it's deeper than that: usually those stories revolve around the idea that the GM made a ruling that actually contradicts the rules as written and The Rules Lawyer called it out and then got punished for it because actually the first rule is that the rules are the purview of the GM and you can't actually count on the rules as written in the game that the group is actually playing because at any time the GM can decide to deviate from those rules and like... I'm going to side with the person who assumed they were playing Dungeons & Dragons and not a version of the game that only exists in the GM's mind.

I mean sure house rules and homebrew are a thing but I'm of the opinion that those things also rely on the group being informed about them so they can also make informed rules decisions.

[otherwoofsarch]

@viikingwitch​ asked: ‘ you did a bad thing for a good reason. ’ @ paige

     Paige’s hands are wrapped around the hot cup of tea as she stared down into the dark liquid. “I know.” she says after a moment. “And I would DO IT AGAIN. I just - I’ve never killed anyone before.” Her mind flashed back to Leah O’Donnell, trying to kill her - nearly killing Lucas; trying to take Savannah away - and Paige casting the suffocation spell over and over again until the half-demon was dead. It was the only way out and - Paige didn’t regret it. 

    “Should I regret that I had to kill her?” Paige asked after a moment. Maybe Freya wasn’t the right person to ask, but at the same time she wouldn’t sugarcoat anything. “Because I don’t. Not only did she try to use Savannah, and ruined our lives- but six months before all THIS… she killed my mother.” 

    Would Ruth be disappointed in Paige? Not just for killing someone; but she got kicked out of the Coven; the coven was the only reason her mother decided to have a child - Paige was born to lead the coven and now - NOW - Paige rubbed at her eyes, trying to remove any trace of water. “Savannah is safe and that’s all that matters.”

[sdktrs12]

What are some of ur fav au brio FICS?

Heya anon!

I posted a list of AU's awhile back that you can find here!

Here are just a few that I've really enjoyed reading -

A Moment In Time With You by Strawmari 

rated m | multi chapter 36k+ | au - childhood friends

Bitten by mamey2422 

rated m | one shot 4k+ | au - supernatural/vampire

but baby, that's what makes us good in bed by fortunehasgivenup 

rated e | one shot 12k+ | au - blind date

King of the world by Anijade 

rated m | multi chapter 29k+ | au - mythology/fantasy

the more things change by vuccijl 

rated m | multi chapter 61k+ | au - friends with benefits

Milkshakes by brokensatellites 

rated g | multi chapter 6k+ | au - pre canon

Filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake by s_t_c_s 

rated e | multi chapter 25k+ | au - private investigator

waiting for someone who needs me by s_t_c_s 

rated e | one shot 9k+ | au - genie

What a sight to see by s_t_c_s 

rated e | one shot 4k+ | au - supernatural/vampire

traveling through space and time by mydearmoon 

rated t | multi chapter 8k+ | au - high school

disparate youth by heretowinbitch 

rated t | multi chapter 14k+ | au - high school

burn down everything we've begun by heretowinbitch 

rated t | one shot 7k+ | au - grifter

Sex on the Beach by fanzel12 

rated e | multi chapter 4k+ | au - vacation/strangers

Viva Voce by zetuslapetus 

rated m | multi chapter 9k+ | au - vegas

Pack Your Bags, We're Going Home by dancingsynapses 

not rated | one shot 4k+ | au - handmaid's tale

Dime Bags and Pretty Ladies by IFeelLikeGlitter 

rated m | multi chapter 4k+ | au - college

M/W/F by IFeelLikeGlitter 

rated m | multi chapter 9k+ | au - college

The Pony Palace by EnsignDisaster 

rated e | multi chapter 27k+ | au - strip club

in the crystalline knowledge of you by Goldfish90 

rated m | multi chapter 98k+ | au - supernatural/witches/werewolves

All The Way Up by sleepylotus 

rated e | multi chapter 14k+ | au - canon divergence

In Your Hands by riosnecktattoo 

rated e | multi chapter 15k+ | au - park meet cute

Blueberry Pancakes by FairytalePrincess 

rated m | multi chapter 22k+ | au - pre canon

bad habits (but i'm needin you right now) series by thepeachemoji 

rated e | one shot - series 9k+ | au - bartender

Make Our Way to the Stars Tonight by femalegothic 

rated e | one shot 12k+ | au - college

tangerine series by nomind 

rated e | multi chapter - series 16k+ | au - grocery store manager

waves of you by daydreamstew 

rated e | one shot 3k+ | au - younger established relationship

Scream by Hereliesbethboland 

rated e | multi chapter 35k+ | au - halloween

All My Sorrows Soon Forgotten by Hereliesbethboland 

rated m | multi chapter 19k+ | au - canon divergence/amnesia

Pre Season by wakeupflawless 

rated m | multi chapter 38k+ | au - college/soccer

better than a harmony by convolutedConcussion 

rated m | multi chapter 38k+ | au - canon divergence/park meet cute

Set My Body Free by jesbakescookies 

rated m | multi chapter 12k+ | au - escort

i will take the sun in my mouth by dragontortuga 

rated e | multi chapter 5k+ | au - neighbors

A Shock of Blue by mintletters16 

rated m | multi chapter 15k+ | au - pre canon

I Would Know You Anywhere... series by Sunshinebunnie 

rated m | multi chapter - series 42k+ | au - bar

The Woman You Come Home To by lillahbee 

rated m | multi chapter 9k+ | au - pre canon

Under and Out series by aumontalc 

rated m | multi chapter - series 70k+ | au - high school

cause all we have to do is hit rewind by ojoszarcos504 

rated t | one shot 2k+ | au - country club

Both Sides of the Law by JoeyLee 

rated m | multi chapter 179k+ | au - law school

livin' like we're renegades by orphan_account 

not rated | multi chapter 9k+ | au - high school

A Special Kind of Business by CaptainCabinets 

rated e | multi chapter 57k+ | au - high school

what the water gave me by entitled 

rated m | multi chapter 6k+ | au - magic/merpeople

Curveball by hollowayharris 

rated e | one shot 4k+ | au - baseball

All I wanna do is run by amazonstar 

rated t | multi chapter 4k+ | au - high school

i was told not to love him by TheSocialRisksOfAgriculture 

rated t | multi chapter 9k+ | au - soulmates

Surprise by thing_a_ma_gig 

rated t | multi chapter 2k+ | au - soulmates

Art series by Thefandomsaretakingovermylife 

rated t | one shot - series 13k+ | au - soulmates

the wedding date by civillove 

rated e | multi chapter 28k+ | au - escort

Mug Half Full by civillove 

rated m | one shot 10k+ | au - coffee shop

Thanks for stopping by to chat and Happy Reading! 💕

[dimespin]

How do spells work normally? I remember Dime writing a spell and it exploded causing her hair to stick up. But I don't exactly get how writing a spell made that happen?

[this post is about a work of fiction]

Under ideal circumstances a spell does whatever it was written to do - you can think of it like making a firework and then lighting the fuse - if you did it right, you get a roman candle, if you did it wrong, it either does nothing or explodes in your face

How spellwriting works in practice: let's say you, a spellwriter, have been hired to repair the rust damage on a car. Let's say you've never written a spell for this specific job before (although most spellwriter's jobs are more about maintaining their archive rather than writing something new every time, but anyway)

So, you research what the final product should look like, what is different about rusted out metal vs fresh new metal, and review your notes about how magic has handled these metals in the past, as well as any other feature of the spell (how has magic dealt with creating paint? How has magic dealt with creating things that are blue?)

Maybe you talk to some colleagues about their experiences with this kind of job, maybe try to convince them to give you some hints about what kind of language they used (even among friendly colleagues spellwriters keep a lot of secrets)

So now with all the information gathered you write the spell. This part is a little bit like coding, but the way language behaves in the context of magic is more like legal precedent - things mean whatever the last usage made the word mean, even if that meaning makes no fucking sense, and sometimes words live on in spellwriting which died among the speakers of that language. So using language bordering on word salad, the spellwriter writes out exactly what they want magic to do and how they want it to be done.

And to do your future self a kindness, you make notes about your thought process throughout this writing job, making notes about the intentions of each line, what you are basing these ideas on, where you've used these phrases before, etc., just in case magic's understanding of the spell changes in the future and you need to update or rewrite some or all of this.

So now you've got a lot of pieces of paper dense with writing. Now what? Well now it's time to activate it. Different spellwriters have different methods of doing this, but something with magic-readable language on it is a bit like kindling, you just need to introduce it to a magic spark and it'll go up in flames.

Some spellwriters breathe on the paper, others have tools with a tiny bit of magic in it, others have a separate activation spell that will react to being firmly pressed, tapped or clapped by the hands of someone with a significant amount of magic in their skin, either way, you put your papers in the correct context (the rusted car in this case) and get the magic flames started, and stand back.

Spells don't either just succeed in doing what they were written to do or fail to activate, there's many ways they can fail. If magic starts following the instructions but runs into a snag, it will attempt to interpret the instructions, or find it's own path to the next step that it does understand, and that can lead to getting some truly bizarre results and side effects that may not even be related to the intended effect at all.

Regardless of what happened, a true professional writes down the results and stores it with the spellbook's other notes, so changes in magic's understanding of words can be tracked and predicted.

But let's say it just did it's job as intended. Hooray! The car is shiny and new. You get paid by the client. You bind the spell into a book with periodic random blank pages to make it harder for it to activate on its own without supervision and store this book in your archives for future use or research. The end.

[vegivag]

My childhood home

-Mia Crov 10/21/22

its october 21st 2022

its raining

and im crying

i remember when i would go outside and watch the rain drops make circles in the pool as they crashed against the surface

sun tanning on the deck

picking raspberries off the bush

wandering through the shop

it smells like home in there

the smell of damp wood and car oil

the green bean trellis my dad kept by the compost bins

my pet salamander is buried under the carrot beds

the baseball post id swing at for hours even though i knew id never play sports like my siblings

the pomegranate tree i magically planted

sitting under the grape vines singing

sitting in the apricot tree eating apricots

swinging from the cherry tree

but never eating cherries cause dad never sprayed for bugs and i wasnt gonna eat worms

the tree behind the shed being my spot

to sit and watch the sunset fade into stars

the glass table that sits out on the patio

i think ive had just about every birthday cake on that table

i remember when dad painted the steps blue grey

and when he chopped down thw dogwood tree

thw front yard

watching dad pry uo dandelions frim the groynd

walking on the sliver of cement that borders the grass pretending i was a gymnast on a balance beam

just like my sister

around the house in the front are the flowers me and dad planted

they’re from a fundraiser i did in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade

the driveway on the right

under the deck

i remember when my sister made me back into it

that was my first time ever driving

one year me and my brother blew up a watermelon using fireworks down there

that same year during the winter me and dad built a snow kingdom

the bed of red rocks in the front were tunnels

and the driveway to the right was a house made of snow

the snow didnt melt till april the next year

dad used to pick me up from the bus stop in hus truck

nelly a striped red and white ford f150 from the 90s

that truck was home when i didnt want to be in the house

“go grab a dime from the truck”

mom screamed at me during a yard sale

i ran and tripped over my own flip flop and scraped my whole leg

dad carried me to the bathtub where i sat crying as cool water washed away the blood

one time my brother picked me up in the truck

and we went to 7-eleven

the slurpee i got was probably bigger than my head

the downstairs

very creepy

but not when my siblings were with me

my brother watching his beta fish fight on the coffee table

my sister playing sims infront of that big old box tv

my other sister spinning around on the phone in that chair she stole from a church

we all wanted that chair

but my brother eventually got it

i remember when dad snuck me away to go get my first haircut

we went to the greatclips across from the grocery store

i had shoulder length hair and bangs

mom wasnt happy

but i was

it was my first year of middle school

and my last year with my parents still together

this was still when i was in my childhood bedroom

the walls a pale almost sickly

purple

the stains on the carpet from the previous 12 years

i could hear everything in this house

the walls were thick

but not thick enough

parents argue

way too loud

crying behind my door

gripping the carpet as hard as i could

i never made a sound when i cried

i never wanted them to hear

sliding down the bathroom wall choking back sobs

bloodstains on my carpet

and razor blades hidden up in my closet

6th grade didnt end so nicely

7th grade

went by much faster

i learned mom and dad were getting a divorce

my older siblings probably had a bet on how long it took before it happened

7th grade i shaved the underside of my hair

mom wasnt happy

7th grade my brother moved out and my oldest sister moved in

and then everything shut down

covid hit

and i was going back and forth between my parents houses

well

my childhood home and my dada studio apartment

i never stayed more than 5 hours there mom wouldn’t allow it

i finshed 7th grade over a laptop screen

sunmer was no better

dad got a house and i packed up one box of stuff and took it over

my new room was already set up

i had a tv

and not a box tv

a real one

a thin flatscreen tv

dad never slept in his room

he slept in the office

on the floor with a throw pillow and a thin blanket to keep him warm

i dont think dad will ever break this habit

growing up

i watched my dad sleep in the living room under the tv

watching mash, jeopardy, and random crime shows

some nights i slept on the couch instead of my bed to warch rhe crine shows i wasn’t allowed to watch

mom didnt like them

dads junk drawer in the kitchen is still the same

i refuse to let anyone tamper with it

dad and i moved from the house back into an apartment

two bedroom this time

its nice there but i miss having a yard

reality never really set in until i saw thw forsale sign in the front yard

ive lived here for 15 years

and though these hallways carry my most traumatic memories they bring me a sense of comfort

im saying goodbye to this house in the ways that i need too

i have to

[waffliesinyoface]

List of controversial changes in Unofficial Skyrim patch that I’ve found:

-Fortify Restoration Potion Loop Fix: you have to go out of your way to do this, and it's appropriately broken. The only way to obtain certain effects which can’t be spawned in via console. Personally, I use it to give myself a “FMA Philosopher’s Stone” style ring, because magic is chronically underpowered and being able to continuously attack is kind of important. (Swords can attack without stamina, and can power attack with only a single point. Magical attacks are weaker and can’t do either.) Also use it to give myself a ridiculously powerful dagger, because if I’m undetected and stab someone in the neck, they should instantly die. (I also sometimes make punchin’ gloves, but that’s beside the point. That’s just funny.)

-Marked for Death Fix: Most (combat) shouts kind of suck. Without a guide, it’ll generally take you hours upon hours of exploration to get a certain shout to level three, and sometimes it’s not worth it. Marked for Death, normally, is one of the few good ones. Patch “fixes” it so it only drains armor the intended amount... which amounts to “against really high level enemies, they’re approximately 9% weaker for a minute.” Cool. That’s worthwhile. I’ll just go back to using level one elemental fury, thanks.

-Elemental Fury Fix: Elemental Fury is classified as an enchantment mechanically, because that’s how they make the wind graphic show up. It doesn’t work with enchanted weapons because otherwise the enchantment graphics would glitch. If you dual-wield, however, it’ll let you do it if your left hand weapon is unenchanted. Unofficial Patch fixes this because “you shouldnt be able to use it with enchanted weapons period”. Admittedly, this is minor, but it’s still dumb. It’s not actually an enchantment, it’s just mechanically one for the graphics!!

-Follower Training Fix: Instead of being able to get free training from followers by taking the money back, the money is instead instantly destroyed. Because that’s more reasonable than “this character is my friend so he taught me for free”? Somehow??

-Caravan Merchant Chests Fix: can no longer clip out of bounds to access khajit caravan stores for free. I... personally don’t give a shit about this, because money rapidly becomes mostly meaningless and I haven’t clipped into the ground to grab the chest since my first playthrough in 2011. 

-Salmon Roe Price Fix: Makes potions made with salmon roe cost less money. I didn’t know this was even a thing? I knew the ingredient existed because of an old post about how you can get it if you use Unrelenting Force on salmon. Most arguments against it are along the lines of “it’s a rare and pain-in-the-ass ingredient to get, it being expensive makes complete sense, you jackasses”

-Necromage Perk Fix: level 70 conjuration perk which makes your spells more effective on the undead. Changed so it no longer effects the player when they’re a vampire. That’s not an exploit, that’s emergent gameplay, why are you changing it??

-Soul Trap Leveling Fix: stops you from using Soul Trap on a corpse to powerlevel conjuration. One of the few changes where I look at it and go “yeah, okay, fair”, but at the same time, conjuration is very annoying to level up early on and experimenting on corpses with dark magic is very in-character for a wizard, so... why.

-Azura’s Star Fix: this one I actually agree with, but there is some debate? Basically it makes it so black soul gems only capture human souls. I actually don’t get why some people dislike it. Bandit camps are a dime a dozen. Random Guard patrols are a dime a dozen. I already occasionally waste grand soul gems, I don’t want to waste black ones too.

[sasslightertm]

So, if anyone is interested, here are a couple of blog posts detailing all the really shady behind-the-scenes stuff the cast and writers of the Charmed reboot pulled before the series’ first season even aired:

Exposing the fake feminism and multiple proofs of the Charmed reboot people dissing the original cast

Will the real Latinas please stand up? – false Latina representation in the Charmed reboot

Not to mention there was Sarah Jeffery starting drama in late 2020 over Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs responding to a fan commenting in their Instagram Q&A video that Netflix had taken the original Charmed series off its roster while leaving the 2018 reboot, and media outlets who picked up the story further painting Rose and Holly as jealous petty bitches when the original actresses responded to Sarah Jeffery’s accusations on social media...

When Sarah Jeffery was not mentioned by name in the original video, nor was she tagged, and at zero point in the original video with Holly and Rose did they mention the cast, only stating that the situation sucked and the reboot itself sucks (though that was all Rose). A fan deliberately sent the Instagram video to Sarah Jeffery knowing that she would start shit with Holly and Rose on social media.

Sources:

the original Instagram video in question

Charmed Actress Sarah Jeffery Calls Rose McGowan, Holly Marie Combs 'Pathetic' for Slamming CW Reboot

Trouble’s Brewing Among the ‘Charmed’ Witches as Original Cast Continues Feuding With Reboot Stars

‘Charmed’s Rose McGowan Keeps Tussle With the Reboot’s Sarah Jeffery Alive

Furthermore, for all the promises from then-showrunners Jennie Urman & Jessica O’Toole and producer Brad Siberling that the first season would delve into Latin witchcraft and the Veras’ Puerto Rican heritage, only a handful of episodes did so in a lip service manner: 

season 1, episode 9 “Jingle Hell” has Maggie struggling to keep her mom’s Christmas traditions going

another season 1 episode has the sisters using a spell derived from Santeria, an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century

after finding out that she and Macy have the same father, Maggie struggles with suddenly being part-Black and all the scholarship opportunities this opens up for her, as she’s identified as Puerto Rican-American her whole life and doesn’t feel attached to the Black community

Galvin’s and Macy’s subplot deals heavily with Yoruba, a West African polytheist religion

Another episode draws on a Hollywood interpretation of vodoun that isn’t actually vodoun for Macy to cast a spell to help her with her demonic side

As noted elsewhere, the reboot still features the Celtic symbol the triquetra to represent the Power of Three and the Veras’ bond as the Charmed Ones, as well as Marisol having a Book of Shadows and a mention of Melinda Warren in the same B.O.S.: Books of Shadows are only found in the Wiccan form of witchcraft. Most of the spells are also in Latin, there’s again the mention of personal gain (which as in the previous series seems to draw from the concept of the Threefold Law), and the reboot’s background lore draws heavily on Greek mythology and Western/Northern European folklore and magic, when it’s not coming up with its own lore (despite having a Latin witch on-staff during the first season, and none of the white showrunners/writers seemed to show much respect for him and his beliefs). One scene in season two has the owner of a botanica (who later has a will-they-won’t-they relationship with Mel) criticizing Mel for thinking the botanica owner is a “dime-store Wiccan”... when a botanica is a store that specializes in and primarily caters to practitioners of Yoruba and Santeria.

The writers also didn’t come up with a clear answer to the sisters’ parentage until ten episodes into a 22-episode season; when the season was still being filmed and episode five was in pre-production, the cast and writers still had no definite clue who the girls’ father was and were working under the impression that Maggie, Macy, and Mel would each have different fathers. 

The change of showrunners in the second season really doesn’t help matters, as the sisters are primarily separated from each other for plot reasons for most of the season, and the majority of character and plot focus goes toward Harry Greenwood (their Whitelighter) and Abigael Jameson-Caine, two white English characters. The third season, while introducing a trans woman cousin for the Veras, also continues to heavily focus on Abigael (with Abigael getting an unnecessary redemption arc) and Harry (who seeks to regain his mortality) instead of the three titular Charmed Ones who are supposed to be this show’s protagonists--and are witches of color.

Given all the shit that was going on behind-the-scenes, the way her character was treated by the writers, and her two co-stars starting fueds with the original cast on social media whenever given the opportunity, I personally really don’t blame Madeline Mantock for seeing the writing on the wall, getting fed up, and leaving the show as soon as she had the chance. Good for her. (I also can’t help noticing that she was the only one of her co-stars that didn’t get involved in feuding with Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Shannen Doherty back in 2018.)

[addierose444]

What’s in My Backpack

In this post, I’ll “unpack” everything that I carry on a typical school day. For starters, I don’t actually use a backpack and instead use a tote bag. The specific bag is the Patagonia Headway Tote which unfortunately has been discontinued. I started using this bag for school during my senior year of high school after trying both a messenger bag and a traditional backpack. When I first started college, I assumed that I’d need to revert back to using an actual backpack and did so for a little bit. What I love about using a tote bag is that it gives me really easy access to my things and has a more practical shape with less wasted space. The main downside is carrying all of the weight on one shoulder. The small size (20 liters) has its advantages and disadvantages. This post overlaps a bit with my posts about the technology I use in college and on my college essentials. Note that the links included in this post are to the latest version of the products I own. 

Starting from the back of the main compartment, I carry my laptop and tablet in dedicated slightly padded sleeves. My current laptop is the 14-inch Dell Latitude 5421 which I purchased through the Smith College Computer Store a week ago. My tablet is the 6th generation iPad (2018) along with the first-generation Apple Pencil. For more about how I use these devices for my classes this semester, click here. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I also carry a half-inch binder with the most recent papers for signals and systems (EGR 320). To check out all of my current classes, click here. 

Next, are my headphones (Bose QC 35IIs), polarized sunglasses (SunCloud Loveseat), insulated metal water bottle (Studio Oh! Boho Llama Duo), and pencil pouch. While my Bose headphones aren’t cheap, they are well worth the price as they have Bluetooth, top-notch active noise canceling, and superior comfort. I use them daily to listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos. Both my headphones and sunglasses are protected in dedicated hard cases. My pencil pouch is from Garnet Hill and I’ve had it since at least middle school! Inside I carry pens, pencils, Wite-Out, scissors, a pencil sharpener, and a mini stapler. I also carry a set of mechanical colored pencils as they come in handy in both of my engineering classes. 

In the front organizational pockets of the main compartment, I keep my graphing calculator (TI-84 Plus CE), an extra black pen, an extra mechanical pencil, my multi-tool (Gerber Dime), hand cream (Weleda Skin Food), tissues, and menstrual products. The final item that may be loose on top of my other things in the main compartment is an extra layer such as my lightweight Smith sweatshirt. To find your own Smith merch, click here. 

On the outside of the bag is a large front pocket that holds my phone (Google Pixel 3a), mouse (Logitech M320), wallet (Mywalit Magic), and hand sanitizer. In my wallet, I have my student ID (Smith OneCard), driver’s license, insurance card, some cash, debit cards, and credit cards. To read more about banking in college, click here. I also carry a punch card to GoBerry which is the frozen yogurt place downtown. To read more about the food scene in Northampton, click here. Finally, I keep my various keys in the coin pocket of my wallet.