#they had to get some money and opted for street performances lol

[margueritedaisies]

If ya throw money at him he'll do a synchronized jig. Now I wanna draw him in that Stanczyk pose. He pretty much male Pomni here

the april Fool

[desiraypark]

When the Sun Sleeps in Canto Bight [8]

Previous Entire Series CHAPTER PLAYERS Kylo Ren, Leader of the Knights of Ren Ruby Girard Solo, The Beautiful Singer and Wife of Kylo Ren CHAPTER CONTENT Fluff and romance quickly turns to angst and annoyance. Mild sexism TW. Also, Kylo may have a newfound breast-related kink lol

Kylo and Ruby have been married for just over a year. They live in a stunning four-bedroom home in the vibrant heart of Canto Bight. Word Count: 1,780

Before Kylo stepped inside, the scent of Ruby’s cooking hit him in the nose and the sounds of jazz hit his ears. He walked inside and closed the door behind him, excited to see what was waiting. Ruby was in the dining room putting down plates of a pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans on the table with glasses of ginger ale. He leaned in the archway. “You tryin’ to get me to stay home tonight?” he asked. Ruby shrugged and walked to him.

“Maybe,” she said. She gave him a kiss on the lips, and they took their seats. Kylo went straight for his pork chop. “How was your day?” he asked. 

“We recorded four songs today. I provided vocals for all of them. It was so much fun, baby.” Kylo nodded and took a sip of his ginger ale. “We’re going to introduce one of them at the Galaxy.” “That’s great, Babydoll.” Ruby knew that Kylo wasn’t going to detail his day with her, but she always asked anyway. “And what about you? How was your day?” He shrugged a shoulder. “It was alright. Usual shit.” She nodded and let the clink of their silverware fill the silence. Then, she dabbed her mouth with a napkin and smiled. 

“I did a little shopping before I came home.” Kylo met her smile with his own. “Oh, yeah?” Kylo always encouraged her to spend his money up. And she did occasionally, only to buy stupid shit like appliances and cookware. For once, he wanted her to shimmy down their steps in a fur or some diamond rings. He always had to be the one to get those things for her, but he didn’t mind it. And neither did she, for that matter. It’s not that she didn’t like looking nice--quite the opposite--but why get a three-hundred credit coat, when you could get one nice coat, a waffle iron, and a nice radio from the Nears catalog for just over a hundred credits?! “What’d you get?” he asked. Ruby got up and disappeared into the kitchen. Then, she returned with a little bag and placed it in front of  him. She beamed as she rested her hip against the dining table. “What is this, a pair of measuring spoons or somethin’?” he asked, moving the wrapping paper around.  “Just open it, Kylo,” Ruby said with an eye roll. Kylo pulled out the smallest pair of shoes he’d ever seen in his life. Both shoes fit in just want one of his hands. He looked up at Ruby, then down at her belly. It protruded only a little. Then, he put the shoes down, pivoted to face her and pulled her down to his lap. Ruby giggled on her way down. “This ain’t no joke, is it?” he asked--eyes almost pleading. Ruby took his face in her hands. “No, it ain’t no joke.” He looked at the shoes and picked them up by the openings with his middle and index finger. “I’ll be damned.” He looked up at her again. 

“I’m gonna be somebody’s Pop?”

Ruby laughed and nodded. “Yes, Kylo. You’re about to be somebody’s Pop.” She pushed her forehead against his, and he held her jaw, pulling her in for a kiss.  “I’m losin’ my fuckin’ mind,” he said. Finally, he let out the heartiest laugh that ever fell upon Ruby’s ears. He pulled her close and kissed her once more, passing ever ounce of passion he had to her. And she received every bit of it.  “Bedroom,” she mumbled.  Kylo pushed the chair back and carried her through the dining room, and into the living room. He placed her on the couch. “I ain’t waitin’ that long.”  They tore at each other’s clothes until they were both naked.

_____________________

LATER

Eventually, Kylo and Ruby finished up their cold dinner and bathed together. She ironed some fresh clothes for him--just a pair of pants and a shirt. Then, he’d leave her for a night of overseeing business at The Garden Lounge. “You sure you don’t wanna come, Babydoll?” He stepped into his warm pants. “I’m sure, Sweetie. I’m a little tired now,” she said, running the hot metal against his shirt. “Gosh, honey,” Ruby said, her mind having drifted away. “Everything is gonna happen so fast. I still haven’t talked to Finn and Poe. I’m not going to be able to perform for months.” “Months?” Kylo asked. He sat on the bed beside his jacket, undershirt, and socks. He grabbed the latter and slipped them over his feet. “Yeah. When I start to show, and then for a little while after the baby is born...”

She lifted Kylo’s shirt and looked it over.  Kylo grabbed his undershirt and pulled it over his head. “You’re still gonna work after the baby’s born?” Ruby looked around the shirt at him. “Well, yeah, honey. Work doesn’t have to stop because we have a child.” She walked over to him and handed him the shirt.

“I just assumed that...”

She went to unplug the iron. “Assumed what?”  She put the iron on her dresser and closed the ironing board.  “I assumed you’d want to slow down on that life when we started havin’ kids,” he said, working on his shirt’s bottom button.  “I don’t know why you made that assumption...” Ruby carried the ironing board out of the room and to their linen closet. Kylo drew in a deep breath, and released it.  “I just think it’s better for a child if their mama is present. Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked. Ruby walked back toward the bedroom--her footsteps heavier than they were when she left. She stood in the doorway. “What makes you think I won’t be present? Both my parents worked and both of them were present, too.” Kylo buttoned the last button on his shirt. 

“But you went to work with your mom,” he said. “You were always with her. At least, that’s what you told me. You can’t take a kid to a saloon.”

He reached down and grabbed the shiny black shoes that sat inches away from his feet.  “Well, neither one of us can. But somehow you’ve decided that I’d be the only one taking our child anywhere...” Ruby said. She walked into the room and stopped to face him. “Besides, we have friends and family. I mean, Leia and Han are both dying to get their hands on some grandchildren. My parents, too...” “Leia and Han are dying to fix their fucking mistakes with grandchildren,” Kylo corrected.  Ruby shook her head and marched to her dresser. 

“Either way, Kylo. I’m not about to give up my career.” She began to wrap the cord of the iron. “And it sounds like you’re expecting me to be the only one taking care of our children, and that’s not gonna happen, either.” Kylo looked over his shoulder at her, then back down as he stuffed his foot into his shoe. Ruby continued. “We’re both gonna do the feeding, the changing, the burping--all of that shit.” “I didn’t say I wouldn’t do any of that.” He examined a small scuff mark on the toe of his shoe. “You implied it, though. You said it’s good for a child when their mama is present,” Ruby responded. She grabbed the rubber band she kept specifically for the iron cord and tied it around the bunched strands. 

“I can’t take a child into a saloon. What about you? You work in a saloon. It’s good when a child’s daddy is present, too. But you didn’t say shit about yourself.” She slammed the iron down on the dresser.

Kylo sighed, stood up, and ran his fingers through his hair. “We’ll talk about this later.” “There’s nothing else to talk about,” Ruby said. She carried the iron out of the bedroom. “Enjoy the fucking lounge.”

“Hey, look!” Kylo shouted from the room. “We can fuckin’ talk about this later but don’t start fuckin’ cursin’ at me like I’m some fuckin’ asshole in the street or somethin’.” Ruby flew back into the bedroom. 

“Shut up, Kylo.” She yanked her drawer open and pulled out her silk headscarf. “You curse at me all the fuckin’ time, and now you want to talk about language?”  She slammed the drawer closed and started tying the scarf around her head. “I just fuckin’ curse. I don’t curse at you. So, calm those fuckin’ milk-filled tits of yours down,” Kylo shot back.  Ruby tightened her scarf and glared at Kylo in the mirror. Her face softened and she laughed. Kylo shook his head, and started laughing, too.  “That’s why you were squeezing them so hard, to see if milk would start coming out?!” Ruby asked. Kylo started walking toward her.  “I couldn’t help myself, Doll...” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.  “That’s weird, Baby,” she said. “I just wanted to see what would happen,” he mumbled into her neck. Then, he ran a circle around her belly with his right hand. Ruby stared at their reflections. “I don’t want my kid to be fucked up like me,” he whispered.  “You’re not fucked up, Kylo,” she said. “And look, Sweetie...” Ruby turned her head to look up at Kylo. He looked down at her. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but can you go easy on your mom, please? She’s really trying to make things right with you.” Kylo averted her gaze and opted to look at their reflection. He added his second hand to her belly, then caught a glimpse of his scar. His eyes quickly fell down to Ruby’s belly; the silk nightgown she was wearing. He noticed the glow. She looked so radiant in his arms. He planted another kiss on her neck. “Get some rest, Babydoll...”  He removed his hands, kissed her cheek, and grabbed his jacket. Then, he walked out of the bedroom, leaving Ruby to look upon her glowing reflection. Glowing, but suddenly singular. Kylo’s scent and the remnants of his touch quickly dissipated from her senses... ____________________ “Hey, Sheev. It’s Kylo...” Kylo held the phone to his ear as Vic sat on the other side of the desk, smoking a cigar. Kuruk sat on the sofa, doing the same.  “Your offer is still on the table, right?” Kylo asked, the handset of his Western Electric suddenly feeling warm to his ear. “Good. I’d like to meet with you to discuss some details...” He rolled his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad that you’re glad. But I want to come right out and mention the thing that’s suddenly got my interest. I hear you’ve got dealings with a few of the big recording companies. Any truth to that?” ____________________ TAG LIST @aloneandsleepless​ @tsarinastorm​ If you’d like to be tagged, leave a comment here, or on my official tag request post!

[thegoods]

THE FRENCH QUARTER

I can literally drink anywhere except for church. *In my finest nawlins accent* “I’m home bebb-beh” Lol The trip I took to New Orleans, Louisiana was everything I knew I needed. From my first plane ride, the bomb ass Airbnb, the company, the street art, the hospitality and Jesus the food-- I felt so alive! Yes I lost my airplane virginity to New Orleans and I’ll keep going back for more! I loved every bit of the flight experience. The take off startled me but I fell in love with the clouds. Flying makes me feel so appreciative and blessed. Oh and those biscoff cookies were bomb! A few hours and a layover later Me & 2 good friends were ready for all that NOLA had to offer us.  All thanks to our “planner committee” we hit up all the local spots to make sure we got the full taste of the Bayou. My favorite, my diet breaker... MORROWS! Y’all a huge shout out to Larry Morrow. He knew what the fuck was up with this one! The attention to detail, the menu, the customer service, the location, and when I tell you EVERY staff member was attractive! (blew my mind) Our modern, minimalistic loft was right above his restaurant and every morning we were awaken by his staff prepping for the day while simultaneously blasting Anita Baker (which was no bother to us) it was our Vacation alarm clock. #morrowofthestory is... WHEN you visit NOLA Morrows is a MUST STOP. Ask any celebrity! Oh and order the strawberry mimosa(S) and the chicken Alfredo good lord! Next stop... Cafe Du Monde for BENGINETS. There’s literally like 4 things on the Menu: Water, Tea, Chalk coffee (best coffee I’ve ever had) and Benginets. Relatively cheap for Nola but it’s always packed night or day! For good reason, yet another well worth it diet breaker. Another honorable mention is Willie Mae's Scotch House-- make sure you get the mac and cheese and yams. Depending on when you go, there can be a line outside of the small restaurant and the wait can be up to 2 hours! The 3 of us opted to take an uber everywhere and split the costs however. Of course depending on where you decide to store your luggage that may or may not be necessary but ubers were relative cheap as well even late night trips to bourbon street. THAT LITERALLY NEVER SLEEPS. Heads up! — LADIES DO NOT WEAR HEELS, Hell some sandals should be off limits too. Bourbon street is NOT the place for heels or uncomfortable shoes. Between the police horse shit, the for sure vomit, potential piss and spilled.. I mean wasted alcohol lol your shoes just won’t make it and neither will you. However if you wanna be a baby giraffe who am I to stop ya? I literally wore Vans the entire trip and had the time of my life. We spent every night of our 4 day trip on Bourbon street and each night was better that the night before. Thousands of people from all walks of life happily bonding over alcohol just warmed my heart. Did I mention we went during decadence? Which is basically pride for men only. We had no idea it was the same weekend we went but it was so much fun. The drags, the harnesses, the energy, the butt naked confidence again warmed my heart. All the clubs on Bourbon St were diverse and played top 40. Oh and before I forget— when you’ve had too many hurricanes from Fat Tuesday or one too many Grenades (trust me you will) the ultimate 3 am un-fuck yourself pre-hangover cure is Willie’s Chicken-- Also found on Bourbon Street. We didn’t take the trolley like we planned because we were so busy getting day drunk in our Airbnb that we always missed the pickups but we heard good things about it lol. We did make it to the French Market which is full of vendors selling clothes, trinkets, food, ALCOHOL, touristy things, you name it. Make sure you bring cash money though— a lot of the vendors don’t accept debit/credit. Do yourself a favor and get roasted street corn and a pina colada from Organic Banana to wash it down because who drinks water in NOLA!?! Did I mention that there are full blown liquor stores inside of WALMART? Besides shopping you can literally just walk around, mingle with the locals, and sight see for the free. Just about every corner is photo worthy. The Street performers are mad talented so make sure you tip them! I'm sure I’m leaving things out but no matter what I say it won’t do New Orleans any justice. It’s a place you have to visit and experience for yourself. There was not one place I went that I felt uncomfortable or stuck out like a sore thumb. When I tell you Nola’s vibe is so welcoming I mean it. You’re only doing yourself a disservice by not adding it to your vacation bucket list. I bet you can’t go just once.

[kitwilsonsass]

Since I’ve been putting it off due to lingering sicky feels, etc.

Here’s the far too long and far too unedited and written at 4am vacation rundown NO ONE ASKED FOR! (huzzah!)

So, yeah. I arrived at the new Amtrak station in the city which is a major upgrade from the trailer park reject of station the old one was. Way roomier. Could use a coffee stand or something but yeah. Improvement. Had to go underground under the tracks and back up to get to the very cold surface, it must suck in the winter.

About an hour, hour and a half into the trip I quickly realized that a.) all I wanted to do was sleep, and b.) that my throat was burning. I assumed this was due to the absurdly cold, non-stop dry ass air conditioning, but no. This bitch got sick for her entire trip. On the plus side I had the seats to myself for the majority of the trip, but still. I barely watched any CR or anything because I was miserable the entire time. Ya don’t wanna be miserable for 10+ hours on a train.

Got to Boston, to @conniecorleone‘s frightening apartment stairs. My bag was way too heavy and she troopered through taking it up them for me without dying. So if you ever need a tank in battle, call Rachel.

Hung out a little. Ordered some Five Guys. Watched a couple episodes of the first season of American Horror Story. I get the appeal but also never needed to see Dermot Mulroney’s ass.

Rach was busy with work stuff a lot early in the week, not helped by some dumbass school shooting threat the week before and kept apologizing while still going above and beyond as a hostess while I just felt guilty for getting snot on her sheets.

Day two I colored a bit. I can do a wicked water gradient with erasable colored pencils, for the record. Hung out. Relaxed. Used a lot of Zicam and Advil. Then we were on way to The Middle East for her conehead space boyfriend.

We waited like, an hour? In the chilly mist outside? The show started like AN HOUR LATE after that. The venue was nice but man, the mood was getting close to dead at points, especially since, again, FUCKIN SICK. But Planet Booty came on and while, a little on the bordering too raunchy side, put on a fucking amazing live show. Dylan has an absurd amount of energy that should be bottled and sold, but if it were it might result in the orgypocalypse. I saw a youtube comment that said he’s ‘very touchy lol’ and truer words never spoken. That man will grind on you and sing directly in your earlobe with his tongue if you are front row and happily, I was not. Yet somehow I still ended up with his sweat on my sweater sleeve thanks to someone being a dumbass and high fiving him after their set and not being able to handle the consequences. Ahem.

THEN TWRP TOOK LIKE ANOTHER GODDAMN HALF HOUR???

But I FORGIVE THEM because they were GREAT and played Daft Punk’s Celebrate in honor of motherfuckin Canadian Thanksgiving so... fine... I guess. My only complaint is they didn’t do The Perfect Product even though I get that’s probably a weird thing to do live. Also minimal keytar and Sung almost decapitated himself but you know... it happens. They DID do Tactile Sensation though which is a fucking jam. And Atomic Karate, ofc. And Meouch broke his fucking bass string which is like? Fucking hardcore? He came down like a foot away from us at one point. It was dope. They’re amazing live and have no right to be for dudes in ridiculous robot costumes playing synth in the year 2018 and rolling around stage on a hoverboard. Sadly I brought minimal memory cardage this year and didn’t get a lot of good video of them.

Afterwards, despite *someone* almost passing out, we hung out in the merch lines and did NOT accidentally cut ahead this time. I got a free signed poster because it was my birthday vacation ayyyyy and bought a couple EPs and the Together Through Time album. Then hopped over the PB’s line and got two hugs from Dylan who hung out and talked to/hugged/got selfies with every single person who got into line there and just? Good dude. Pure dude. Awful stache but... thumbs up human being. I got their Naked album and we headed out back to the apartment and some delivered Dominos (which was the only good Dominos I’ve ever had in my life.)

Day three I accidentally slept until like 4pm. Literally what else did we do that day? I cannot remember for the life of me. We might have went to Dunkin at like 9pm and she showed me a weird omnipotent plastic ear hanging on an electric wire? Was that this day? I have no fucking idea. Her Netflix and supply of Puffs tissues were my best friends this trip okay.

Day four she went to class and I relaxed and intended to walk to the mall. Unfortunately, my sick bleh hit and I didn’t feel up to going until about ten minutes before she got back. So we ended up heading over there together. I made her try Baja Blast, as is customary in my nation, and got her to try some green matte lipstick. Success. I was highkey hoping they would have a Build-A-Bear in the joint but they didn’t. They did have a Newbury though, that had the six-inch Roadhog pop which I’ve had a hard time finding locally, so I said fuck it and bought it.

That night was MST3k live! The theater was old as dirt. The kind of old as dirt where the flooring is bowing in. They had real strict rules on cameras and shit, which I get for the sake of spoilers but c’mon.... c’mon. Their merch sucked unfortunately though, so I didn’t waste any money on anything (for some reason they had 2017 tour stuff? It’s... not 2017?). The show itself was good, though I was wondering before it started how sick they must get of doing the same movie in different towns almost every other night. Pretty quickly realized oh, yeah, a lot of this show was likely pre-riffed. They did pull a kid from the stage at one point so he could guest riff off a script from Joel, which I’m thinking was a clever little insert fraction of the riff they did live between segments. I could be wrong, but on that front, it felt a little cheap. But it was still fun to see the boys and the bots live and have jokes cracked about not being able to afford the villains for the tour. And The Brain itself was........ I don’t know what I was expecting but..... it sure was.... something. The novelty was worth it and I will still gladly marry Crow T. Robot.

We went across the street to a little pub stop that was I think called Rock Bottom after that and got some much needed late night food. For some reason my brain was like “man, I could go for chicken fried steak right now” and don’t you know IT WAS ON THE FUCKIN MENU? WITH GARLIC CHEDDER MASHED POTATOES? Boston, much like with wings, does not know what country gravy is, but it was still everything I fucking wanted and did not expect to find, so A+. Also I was wearing a dress with shorts underneath it and stuck to the goddamn stool. Such is life.

Day five was rainy and miserable. I tagged along to university with Rach and it sucked, honestly. Being on a campus makes me feel awkward and the whole still being sick thing didn’t help. I ended up taking a walk way around the block to a Starbucks and getting the worst fucking frap I’ve ever paid too much money for. Went back around. Sat in the library. Felt even shittier. Started googling food places. Yard House wasn’t far but I didn’t want to deal with crossing a lot of traffic, especially if the rain started back up (it did, with a vengeance). So I ended up back around the block at some Olive Garden-esque fake Italian place with not an Italian in sight called Bertucci’s for some bland chicken-less fettuchini alfredo (because, as I’d reasoned with myself, I had chicken three times the day before). It was dimly lit, I had a booth to myself, and the water had the sweet skullet and braided beard combo I had liveblogged. People kept complimenting my tattoo. It was nice and no one seemed overly bothered that I was clearly killing time until I spent probably way too long in the restroom after trying to look alive. I tipped the dude ten bucks and left in the pouring rain with my umbrella.

From her school we took the world’s longest Uber to Parts Fucking Unknown in awful traffic and rain to find a Double Tree where @freakishlytallaustralian‘s parents were staying for a hot minute during their brief little US tour on their way to Europe. I’ve never met Mandi in person, but I’ve now met her parents who say she’s gotten to know a good bloke. She looks exactly like her mom. They were sweet. Anxious but sweet. And I am a freak who doesn’t talk and was sick trying to seem presentable at the bare minimum capacity.

Back ~home~ we ordered some JP Licks ice cream (BROWNIE BROWNIE BATTER!!! BROWNIE. BROWNIE. BATTER.), I watched CR and some stupid videos on the internet with her. Got some sleep. Sort of. Barely.

Despite Matt Mercer nearly succeeding at lulling me to sleep and eating my dreams, it didn’t happen, and I could not get comfortable for the life of me. The “coughing every five seconds in bed” started this night and was not having mercy. So I opted out of another day of hanging around campus to try and get some more rest. It didn’t really work, but I did eventually get a solid three hours or so, so it was something.

As the day progressed it was onward to the Science Museum to meet Ron the T-Rex. There was a wedding happening. How appropriate, for Bravier funko pops to have come along on the day of a blessed union. Coincidence? I think not. A turtle kept falling off a branch when he was trying to nap. There was some space stuff. It wasn’t great. But I got a little stuffed dinosaur and that’s Important.

From there we hit up the same movie theater we went to the year before and saw Bad Times At The El Royale. Do recommend. Chris Hemsworth as a Charles Manson was not something I ever thought I’d see, and I still don’t understand it, but it rather predictably works for me, so we’ll leave it at that. Good movie, good performances, good pacing and editing that could have easily not been. See it, it’s fun. Not perfect, but fun.

It was COLD AS BALLS after the movie and neither of us brought jackets or sweaters, so the walk to the train station and back ~home~ was a chilly one. We stopped in, got some warmth, and headed down the road past her old place to a bar. If we didn’t appreciate TWRP and PB enough already, the band she had to pay cover for us to get in for just to pick up food were about 8 upper middle aged men playing every instrument in the book. Afropunk, they said. No, we said. Offkey, we said. This place was dark as shit and loud as shit but you know what? They KNEW WHAT REAL, HOT CHICKEN WINGS WERE and for that, I am appreciative dammit.

Went back, got some more Dominos, and was finally introduced to John Mulaney’s (or two of) comedy specials. He’s genius and I *understand* it now, tumblr. I get it. We ate way too much and did my laundry.

The week had come and gone way too soon and I felt robbed of my good time by how shitty I felt. Hopping on the train the next day (after a godawful uber ride) was just as depressing as the time before. And even though I didn’t feel as miserable as the trip there, and once again had a window seat to myself, I found myself curled up against my hoodie crying trying to fall asleep again knowing I was already headed back home.

Once the initial depression passed, the trip wasn’t bad. The iced latte was good. The Albany stop not as confusing the second time around. The WiFi kept me company. Eventually my aunt texted me asking if I wanted to hit up Stevie T’s on the way home because they were 24hr and neither of us had eaten all night. It was a plan. Get off, get food, come home, faceplant on my own big comfy bed, vow to deal with my dad’s drama in the morning and call it a night.

Then *that* happened. Yeah. Last year? Every stop, regardless of time of night, they made announcements. They came by, checked the marker above your seat, and if you were due off at the next stop told you it was coming up, would help with luggage if needed, and directed you to the correct door to exit the train. This year? Nothing. They decided to stop making announcements right before the Rochester stop, and no one came by in our car to tell us where to get off. Stopped, myself and the other person due off at that stop, a late-teens girl, went to the door at the front of our car where every other stop had gotten off before us. We assumed since no one said differently, and no attendants were around, that must be it. We were idiots. Because by the time we realized hey, they’re not going to open this door and we should go to the far other end of the train, it was already moving again en route to Buffalo.

We found ourselves in the dining booths by the cafe car while the staff made vague remarks and the conductor acted like it wasn’t his problem. My aunt on the phone talked to the Rochester station, we tried to claim I didn’t even have a reservation until about two other people looked up my ticket. They said it was up to the conductor to get us a cab home, he laughed at us, claimed to know nothing about any of that, and asked if were were going to buy the bus tickets the other girl was looking up. The bus for 3am, in downtown Buffalo, nowhere near the station. When we got off the staff at the Depew station was a lot more sympathetic, and said since nothing else was being offered he would put us on the next train back home, but since it was a Sunday morning there was no train to Rochester until roughly 7:45am. It was about 1:30 at this point. I felt awful for encouraging the other girl not to pay for two ubers and a bus ticket with the only alternative being offered to sit alone in an empty, unstaffed station in the middle of the night for hours. And between the situation, being tired and still sick, and dealing with my aunt calling hotels only to get put on hold and lose the room she was trying to reserve - I put my bags in a corner, found the restroom, and had a panic attack. I don’t know why, but those tend to be stupid like that. It’s not even like I was scared, or confused, or that worried myself. I started out very ‘whatever, I’ll just get a room or stay in the station, I’m pissed but whatever’. But something about the constant calls and texts and my battery nearing 0 had me stressed and I was crying like a bitch. I just wanted to fucking sleep, and I knew that wouldn’t happen in a train station with nothing but some benches, a restroom, and a vending machine.

Rach suggested an alternative I felt guilty about taking but ended up going for: Get to her parents house just outside Buffalo, get their spare key, and sleep on their couch while they’re out of town with their blessing. So I called an Uber, and the first one passed me by, with the gps fucking up and saying I should be picked up ON THE TRAIN TRACKS. The second guy was smart enough to come to the cab pickup out front and was really cool. He said he was just thankful I wasn’t a fucked up drunk college party kid and the first all night. He didn’t comment on how I probably definitely looked like I’d just been broken up with in the world’s worst romcom. It was over 20 bucks and I tipped him the max. Found my way inside, set up the couch, and continued my momentarily on hold panic until I eventually passed out. My Aunt came to pick me up in the morning, I got carsick, we had mediocre diner breakfast and what’s after that isn’t news worth talking about. Isn’t it bad enough the tail end of the trip took up like a third of this post?

All in all... it felt like a disaster. I’m not gonna lie. In weird ways the stars aligned that TWRP would end up on Conan the night of their show and have to reschedule to the day I came to town, but I paid for it with otherwise bad timing and my body deciding against me having a good time. Fun was had, don’t get me wrong. The good was good and any chance to get away from... this, is appreciated, but it just seemed like everything went awry. 

Mucho thanks to @conniecorleone again, for letting me crash on the futon and be my usual bland self, even blander while ill, and also buying me expensive cold syrup and a-many ubers.

We’ll see if Massachusetts and I ever cross paths again.

[invinciblebutterfly3]

Barcelona is a beautiful but huge city and you simply won’t be able to see everything in two days. Two days can only be a teaser of what this amazing city has to offer, but if you only have two days to spare in Barcelona, here are some of the highlights of the city, which will make you fall in love with it. This is the same exact itinerary we followed, so I hope it helps.

This was our last stop of our 3 Week Trip to Europe, before heading back to PARIS and head back home.

One way you can cover a lot of ground is to go on a city bus tour. During our visit we decide to toughen up and walk it out, because we wanted to get to know the whole city, but I would highly recommend taking a tour if you are short in time and are not looking to walk over 7 miles a day. The city tour bus has three routes (Red, Blue and Green), which have tons of stops all around the city. You can hop on and off anytime during the day.

Night 1

We actually arrived to Barcelona by train from Nice, France at night. So because of the short amount of time we had when we arrived, I didn’t add this day into the itinerary. But we did go out to enjoy a nice dinner by La Sagrada Familia. We had some delicious Tapas and Paella, both definitely recommended for during your visit. On our way back to the hotel, we stoped by a local market to purchase some snacks and things to cook.

Day 1

We were staying at an Airbnb, so on our first day we prepared a nice breakfast with the food we had purchased the night before. We didn’t take much time and started our tour.

Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia. Wow! What a beautiful place. This is one of Barcelona’s classic sights, probably the most famous landmark in all of Catalonia. We didn’t go inside because the lines were super long, but you can simply enjoy the uniqueness and detail from the outside. It is still unfinished and it is said to be done around 2026. But despite it being unfinished, it is one of the most impressive and awe inspiring buildings you’ll ever see.

A few blocks from there, we passed by Casa Mila, known as La Pedrera. This is a super unique, artistic and heritage building. It is known for the fact that it looks like waves from the ocean.

Not far from there, at Paseo de Gracia we saw Casa Battlo, which has a eye catching vibrant design with colorful mosaic made from brown ceramic tiles. It also has bon-like adornments surrounding the windows. It was just breathtaking.

We continued our walk and passed by Plaza Catalunya. We then reached La Rambla, the long stretch of walkway through the heart of Barcelona, where you can go shopping, enjoy a meal, drink a glass of sangria, and watch the street performers.

We walked some more until reaching Port Vell, where you can also find Maremagnum, a shopping and dining complex that comes alive at night with bars and clubs. It sits out into the water at the end of a wavy wooden pier. We came here and enjoyed some delicious cappuccino and donuts.

It was starting to get dark, so we started heading towards Plaza Espana and Monjuic. Where we were able to enjoy the amazing Magic Fountain of Montjuic show that sits right across from the Museum. You have to definitely visit here. Possibly one of my favorite things to do here. The fountain show is at 7:30pm. You can then go up a bit more and enjoy some amazing views. After that, we headed back to our hotel and prepared a cooked dinner since we were extremely tired from our walk. This was the longest we had walked during our whole 3 WEEK TRIP.

However, if you opted for transportation from place to place, like we should have, then you can go out to dinner and maybe even go out on the town. Barcelona’s night life is one of its charms.

Day 2

After such a long day the previous day, we decided to sleep in a little on our second day and also had a cooked breakfast in our hotel. If you didn’t get to do everything from Day 1, you can add some to this day and start earlier.

After breakfast, we decided to take the local bus to Park Guell. It is a little far, but it is definitely worth the effort to get there. They actually have two areas, one that requires you to purchase a ticket (Monumental zone) and one that is a Free Access area. We decided to only stroll this second option, which was beautiful. Park Guell is full of stunning gardens and amazing architecture also by Gaudi. Once you get there, wonder through the gardens and take your time looking at all the sculptures and mosaic throughout the park.

We spent quite some time here. This place was actually one of the highlights of our trip. So take some time and make the effort to get up there. You won’t regret it. You can enjoy the free views of the gardens, or pay to get in and look at the cool works inside. 

From there, we took a taxi to our next stop, which was the Parque Del Laberinto de Horta. The entrance was free, however make sure you do some research before heading there. I believe it depends on the season. Unfortunately, during the time we visited this location, the labyrinth was closed, but we were able to enjoy it from the top. Again, make sure to do some research. The had it closed specifically for the weekend that we were visiting. The are has some amazing views for great pictures.

After here, we took a train back to the closest stop near our hotel, which was La Sagrada Familia, and decide to enjoy a nice dinner around the area.

We had an early train the next day to Paris, where we were taking our flight back home, so we decided to call it a night and prepare. 

Watch this video so that you can see more on our trip to Barcelona.

Things to know about your visit to Barcelona:

Tip # 1: Visit during slow season. We were able to enjoy a lot because we didn’t have to wait in long lines to go into these places. We visited in November, which was a bit colder than expected, but I hear that late September/October, or late March/April are great times to visit as well, less traffic and good weather. Also, keep in mind that things may cost you more when you go during summer time.

Tip # 2: Do not squeeze too many things in. If you have the time or want to be an over achiever like us, great. Do it! But if you are going during peak season, or won’t be purchasing any tours, then try to schedule your time for transportation. Also, leave some space for spontaneous things.

Tip # 3: Prepare some snacks and water for when you are out. Try to purchase them at markets near your hotel. This will save you tons because it will help you avoid buying something to eat in every corner. Do enjoy the local food, of course. We tried to always get a hotel that included breakfast, and prepared something for lunch, so that all we had to really sit down for was dinner. We were able to save money and time this way. We also waited to ask the locals what they recommended for us to eat, instead of looking for restaurants online.

Tip # 4: Look for a place to stay that is close to the train station (if you are going from city to city), or local metro for easier transportation and less walking. Get familiar with the map of the area you’ll be staying in and places you’ll be visiting. Get familiar with the metro routes.

Tip # 5: It is also recommended that you contact your Bank before leaving, to let them know that you will be making purchases in a different country so that they don’t block your card. Also, ask if they charge you for using your card, if they have any fees, to see if its more convenient to only use cash. You should still carry a certain amount in cash.

Tip # 6: Try to purchase your tickets early, and when I say early, I really mean early. We bought our plane tickets almost a year ahead of time, and the train tickets (trains from city to city, not the local trains) we purchased months in advanced. Same with the place you’ll be staying and any tours that you will be doing. Trust me, this will help you save A LOT. We all know that the prices go up as you get closer to the time of the trip. There are also tickets in each place that allow you to skip the lines at most of the museums.

Tip # 7: The TripAdvisor app was a big help before and during our trip. In finding where to stay, where to eat, and even the places to visit. Also, we purchased a lot of the things we needed for our trip, like our Travel Power Adapter, through Amazon.

Tip # 8: Lastly, be aware of pickpockets, or people asking you to sign anything, to look at something. Keep your bags tight while walking or taking the train or escalators.

We were definitely over achievers. lol! We packed a lot into our 2 days in Barcelona because we wanted to get to see as much as possible. But do prepare to walk a lot.

Some other places we didn’t get to visit, which we will on our next trip, were the Cathedral de Barcelona, Barrio Gotic, Barcelona’s Nou Camp, Tibidado, plus other museums and the beach. If you’d like to see some of those instead, then you can swap some of the things I included.

In conclusion, I wasn’t expecting to love Barcelona as much as I did. Barcelona is a special place in its own right. From its winding back streets, delicious food, and gorgeous architecture, there is very little not to love.

Well, I hope that this itinerary and tips for Barcelona help you during your next visit. And if you do follow it, or take any tips from here, please write me. I want to know how it went for you. Don’t forget to read my Europe trip post to read more about my whole trip and the other places we visited in Europe. Who knows, maybe you follow our same 3 week route.

So, get ready for lots of walking, amazing architecture, beautiful views and lots of food! Enjoy!

Here are the recommended Itineraries for my trip:

3 Day Trip to Paris France – Tips and What to do

2 Day Trip to Venice – Tips and What to do

2 Day Trip to Rome – Tips and What to do

1 Day Trip to Naples – Tips and What to do

1 Day Trip to Amalfi Coast – Tips and What to do

2 Day Trip to Florence – Tips and What to do

1 Day Trip to Pisa – Tips and What to do

1 Day Trip to Cinque Terre – Tips and What to do

1 Day Trip to Nice, France – Tips and What to do

2 Day Trip to Barcelona – Tips and What to do

How to spend 2 Days in Barcelona – Tips and What to do Barcelona is a beautiful but huge city and you simply won’t be able to see everything in two days.

[swissforextrading]

!Mediengruppe Bitnik: The Art of the Hack

!Mediengruppe Bitnik’s Carmen Weisskopf and Domagoj Smoljo at swissnex San Francisco for “Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures, Lol” in 2017. !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Swiss artists based in Berlin, could be described as post-internet artists. The duo, Carmen Weisskopf and Domagoj Smoljo, and their accomplices, Adnan Hadzi and Daniel Ryser, create work that often occupies legal gray areas of the digital world, tying threads through loopholes of privacy and security. We were pleased to sit down with them to connect the dots between art and hacker culture, and what data means for how we define trust and intimacy. The swissnex Gallery is currently showing the group’s  “Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures, Lol,” an immersive sound and space design that draws on actual chat scripts from 51 San Francisco-based chatbots created for adultery website Ashley Madison. Guests enter into an environment bathed in pink light and carpet, the colors of the site, and are beckoned by 51 masked avatars whose expressions are as blank as the white backgrounds behind them. The sound of their pick up lines swirls around the room: “Are you online?” “Care for a chat?” They’ll be joining swissnex SF again, remotely, for the “Bot Like Me” symposium on May 20. Hacking the Opera Eryk Salvaggio (ES): How did you get started? Carmen Weisskopf (CW): We’ve been working in and on the internet for more than 10 years. Our main interest is working with the contemporary, especially the way current technology is changing society. Certain themes are being redefined: truth, identity, cultural production. We’ve done a lot of work online. We like to leave the dedicated “art space” and introduce art into fields where art usually isn’t. Of course, we work in galleries and museums, but we try to ask interesting questions. We’ll ask where the field is, not where the arts are. Domagoj Smoljo (DS): We met at art school in Zurich, started art in 2001 after the dot com crash. Networks were still an interesting new channel for reaching people who weren’t in the same place as you. We found that “hacking” could inform our artistic practices, taking the term from internet culture and trying to use the same kinds of methods and strategies in the cultural field. We looked at society as a system, as an input and an output that we could tweak. One of the first tests was placing bugs (audio transmitters) inside the Zurich Opera House. We  retransmitted live shows for three months into a gallery space, with a telephone machine rebroadcasting (ie, “robo-calling”) the stolen feed to people at home. People would receive a call over a landline, and then there was a live connection to the performance. The Inside/Outside is Collapsing   !Mediengruppe Bitnik’s wireless camera interception devices on a dérive through San Francisco in 2014. CW: We came to swissnex in 2014, and we did surveillance dérives. We learned about these wireless cameras that worked through WiFi and weren’t encrypted. So we invited people to come on dérives – a term from the Situationists, which they meant to be something like “getting lost in your own city.” Our environment can become so familiar that we move through it without thinking. They were trying to get submerged into the subconscious of the city, and we wanted to get submerged into this layer of surveillance cameras. So we built a device that recieved images from those feeds.   DS: You would stand on the street, but see inside the buildings. Inside and out was totally collapsed. CW: In Chinatown, we would see cameras positioned at the doorways of some of the semi-legal Mahjong parlors. On one of the walks, someone from a Chinese family joined us and told us all sorts of things about how the parlors worked – it opened a conversation about a hidden aspect of the city. DS: It’s like someone producing live television that nobody knows how to watch, 24/7, a media layer over the city. ES: “Desperate Times” seems to have a bit of that as well. All of the bots in this show have a home address in San Francisco, even if they turn out to be banks or falafel shops. It’s something similar to that “media layer,” like an Augmented Reality of fantasy superimposed on the city.  CW: Right. After “Random Darknet Shopper” we were interested in these non-human entities. I think half of internet traffic now is non-human, which makes you think, who is this network for? When it started, there was so much hope for the internet – people connecting, Utopian visions. That passed, and now it’s a place for machines. So we came out of Random Darknet Shopper with these ideas. ES: For readers who don’t know, Random Darknet Shopper was quite literally a bot that would buy random things on the darknet, a secondary web where privacy protections are much stricter, and so there’s a huge underground network where anyone can buy things, such as knock-off designer handbags or heroin. Your bot ended up buying ecstasy and a fake LaCoste T-shirt, which were put on display. CW: And after that, we came across this Ashley Madison website for adultery. The motto was “Life is short, have an affair.” They were hacked in 2015, and the whole backend was dumped on the internet along with user data and the CEO’s emails. But what interested us most was the revelation that they were unable to attract women to the site. They had about 32 million male users and virtually no women, so they started operating with female chatbots. For every exchange you had, you’d pay money. We tried it. For $100, you didn’t get to chat a lot! It was an example of a company being an early adopter for a certain kind of AI. These bots weren’t at all clever, they were crudely done… DS: We didn’t know that in the beginning. CW: We didn’t, but it was an early attempt to kind of push AI and profit from it. A Choreography Written in Code DS: We were interested in what this means for relationships. Does it matter? Can you have real feelings for something non-human? We were interested on two levels: how do you build this system? It was like an art piece, playing a game of is-it-real-or-not. The second was the conceptual approach: how did they engage a user? A bot shows up near you when you log in, sends a message when you log out. Another bot would appear to get you back to the site. This is all written out like a play. It’s a choreography written in code. CW: The bots were not at all clever, they had basic sentences, but the choreography was clever. There was a “motherbot” script which would produce “angels,” which is what the bots were called. They would appear around you and disappear again. They had addresses, names, an age, the minimum amount of data required to show an identity online. This system didn’t work because of any intelligence on the bot’s side. It was because they had built this system around dating, which is probably one of the best areas to do it, because people are quite patient and forgiving. If you change the topic or something, it’s just a game, it’s a flirtation. The bots wouldn’t have worked on a business website where people asked questions, you wouldn’t get away with it. ES: Dating sites are working as a projection anyway. Even with humans – we hope it’s a human, anyway – you’re still bringing a kind of imaginary to a blank canvas, maybe a photo and some personal details. You inevitably invent a story for that person before you even meet. DS: Exactly, and that’s why we say the experience, for users, was real! It’s not a fake experience. CW: That’s what we mean by the categories changing. What is real or true in an environment like that? We need to think of these categories differently. Just because an experience is virtual doesn’t mean it’s not real, or doesn’t affect you. It can depress you or make you happy just the same. It’s important to give that life to these bots. In San Francisco there were 270 bots, we now have the 51 closest to Pier 17 in this space as a means of giving them a body within the city. Do you want to connect? DS: A lot of our work is about communication. I liked that Ashley Madison was a communication platform, but that you were unable to communicate. You were unable to speak to any women, but you were also unable to speak about your experience to anyone. It wasn’t something they could speak about with their wife – CW: “I’ve just spent hundreds of dollars on a dating site trying to cheat on you…” DS: “…and they were bots!” You couldn’t say that to your friends, you’d feel kind of stupid. You end up very alone. This is a space where things fall apart, and shows us the mechanics of it. ES: What do you think is on the horizon? How do we prepare for it? CW: People are realizing that apps change our environment, for example, a taxi app changes how we interact with a city. I think the enthusiasm is slowly starting to give way to a more realistic view. It’s not enough to have Uber, you have to think about the people being moved by it. What are the consequences? Do we want people to be moved that way? These questions are a good start. It’s a negotiation, we’re asking more from our technology. We don’t just want a taxi app, we want a good taxi app. But we have to define what “good” means. We’ve been looking at the Internet of Things, all these devices connecting to the internet now. It doesn’t seem like an entirely good idea! But our children will probably be living in a world that’s even more connected than we are today. We’ve normalized things, too, because you can’t opt out anymore. We grew up in a world where there was a “being offline.” Those spaces are becoming rarer. ES: What do you think art can reveal that a corporation or a policy think-tank can’t, or wouldn’t? CW: Art can create reflective spaces to ask questions that aren’t part of the corporate world or even the “user sphere.” There’s never a total outside, but art allows us to step back and look at the mechanics. What are the ethics we should develop? In the case of Ashley Madison, we ask what intimacy is, if it can be created in this very crude relationship? Will people become more sensitive to it? It’s human, to create intimacy with devices and give them agency. “What’s my computer doing?” We need spaces where we can think about that relationship. But then as artists, we don’t have solutions. DS: In a way we’re lucky – we get to leave the answers for someone else.     Share https://nextrends.swissnexsanfrancisco.org/mediengruppe-bitnik-the-art-of-the-hack/ (Source of the original content)