#this has been brought to you by fool’s post-class playlist

[foolofatook001]

Frozen Pines is a very Lonely song

[k1ckback]

Constance and Ocean Headcanon’s

Author’s Note: Sorry I stopped posting the daily head-canons and blurbs, I got in a car wreck on Friday, with my mom and everything’s kinda been a blur since,  Not that I stopped thinking about rtc for a second of these past few days. Specifically these two.

Sorry Jane, I’ll write more about you soon. 

- OKAY FIRST OF ALL THESE GIRLS HAVE BEEN BEST FRIENDS SINCE ELEMENTARY. On the first day Constance brought cupcakes for the class, and Ocean of course was the first to offer to pass them out.  -They quickly became bff’s.  - Not the healthiest relationship, but as they start to grow it evens out a bit. (Sometimes all it takes is a punch to the boob)  It has good bones I promise  - Regardless, they grow up with each other. Very “Hey! I’m the only one who can speak over her.” Energy. Ocean would not hesitate to annihilate anyone who tried to make a fool out of Constance. Whether it be excitedly telling a teacher or correcting them herself, it got more and more passive aggressive as the two grew.  - In a way Constance became the only person who could tolerate Ocean’s attitude and personality. She was always there to help when Ocean fell, whether it be pushing herself too hard or needing a place to stay, Constance was always by her side.  - Ocean tries her hardest to tolerate her living situation, but Constance’s door is always open. There have been quite a few times Ocean’s shown up at her doorstep. The Blackwood’s have never had anything other than open arms for her.  - Both of Constance’s parents are insanely good cooks, they usually pack Constance’s lunch for school, but since middle school have packed an extra one for Ocean.  - Ocean also has her own drawer in Constance’s dresser.  -Ocean might be the worlds best tutor, as much as she’d never outright say it, she simplifies stuff a lot in her head, and so explaining it is pretty easy.  -Lots of study sessions with snacks, a surprisingly quiet and calm learning style  - Constance is definitely a fandom girlie, (I’m glad we all agreed on that) and you know what came out in 2008? I think you know. Constance adores the original Twilight. They watch it whenever she’s had a bad day. Ocean refuses to admit she likes it, but she still critiques the plot and characters decisions the entire time it’s on.  - You can’t tell me Constance doesn’t have a giant tote bag she carries her stuff in. (Which is quite a lot) She also carries Ocean’s inhaler because the two of them are usually together.  - They have tons of codewords for things, they started using them in middle school but they still default to them when they need the other to figure something out quickly. They use them when they text, and the rest of the choir absolutely despises it  - Constance was actually the one who got Ocean into the choir in the first place after she joined, Ocean excelled at it, and it really helped her take her mind off of everything outside of the choir room for a little bit. It helped her cope.  - It might be cheesy but Constance spent a lot of her life with Ocean taking the lead on things, and while that still proved to be the case, she got to see her actually enjoy something she was doing. Not to mention it was the first time that she got to be right there with her when she did it, not in the audience cheering her on. 

Mini Playlist that reminds me of the two of them 

- To Love A Boy By Maya Hawke - Ribs By Lorde - If I’m Being Honest By Dodie - I Like Giants By Kimya Dawson 

(I have no clue how this is gonna be received but i’m planning to post more about that oc I’d posted, soon maybe even some self indulgent oc x canon stuff,)

[ticklikeabomb]

The Medusas - Part 2

Pairing : Mayans MC x Plus Size Reader ; Ezekiel ‘EZ’ Reyes x Plus Size Reader (platonic)

Warnings : Language, Angst 

Word Count : 2.3k

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor the universe where they were created and interact in. This series/fiction is only for entertainment purposes.

A/N : This part should have been posted only after I wrote Part 3 but I had amazing news the past two days, so I decided to post the next part tonight  :) 

You sat at your usual favorite spot waiting for EZ to arrive. “What can I get you cariño?”, asked the waitress. “I’ll just get a glass of water for now, please.” “That is a good choice considering the weather today. Got to stay hydrated”, she said to which you chuckled and agreed. She brought you the glass and a plate of fresh fruits. You were about to protest since you didn’t order it but she shushed you. “Boss’s orders”, she commented and pointed at the counter. You followed her gaze and saw Martha lift her own glass. You walk up to her and thanked her with a kiss on the cheek. When Marisol couldn’t take care of you, Martha would be the one doing so. She walked out of the counter and sat beside you. “Waiting for EZ?”, she asked. “Yeah, he should be here any second”, you said while checking your watch. When you didn’t hear any comment from Martha you looked up, analyzing her expression. “What?”, you broke the silence. She shook her head, “Nothing, just wondering why you’re keeping your feelings from him.” “I…I’m not…We’re just friends and you know that.” She hummed and gave you the famous ‘you think you’re fooling me’ look.

“Plus, he has a girlfriend”, you blabbered quickly. Her eyes softened and a sad smile crossed her lips. “Don’t look at me like that. I knew what to expect from the beginning. I don’t want any pity, it will pass…eventually”, you tried to convince yourself more than her. “I only want the best for you, we all do”, she simply stated. You nodded in acknowledgement and saw her leave the booth, going back to work. Lost in the book you were reading, you finally decided to check your watch and realized an hour had passed. You texted EZ, asking where he was but received no reply.  Worried you made your way down the street to the Carniceria Reyes. You saw Felipe and Angel behind the counter and smiled at his words. “You want a sandwich, then you got to know how to do it by yourself from scratch”, exclaimed Felipe. Angel’s whining was what made you laugh out loud. Both of them looked at you, not having realized someone entered the shop.

“Hey Princesa, how are you?”, joyfully exclaimed Angel while reaching out to you and engulfing you in a side hug. “I’m good Pollito. You?”, you said and laughed some more looking at his contorted face from the pet name. “I was before you called me ‘small chicken”, feigning he was hurt. His serious features faded hearing you laughing. They all loved your contagious laugh, an explosion of happiness filling the room. You closed the gap and gave him a kiss on the cheek, whispering “I know deep down you like it.” “Yeah, yeah”, he mouthed under his breath, starting his sandwich. You greeted Felipe and Marisol who joined the entry once hearing your voice. “I was wondering if you’d know where EZ is. We were supposed to meet an hour ago but he’s not responding to my texts and I’m worried something happened”, you say and notice their faces and posture change at your words.

Angel was looking at the bread in front of him while Felipe glanced at Marisol. “I’m sorry Y/N, we didn’t know he had something planned with you otherwise...” “I lend him the truck. He said he had to go to Emily’s. I wouldn’t if I knew he already had a compromise somewhere else”, explained Felipe. “Ohh”, you exclaimed, everything making more sense. He was with her. Everyone in the room felt unease and you cut your visit short. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to rat on him. I was just wondering why he missed it but it’s ok, it’s fine. I’m gonna go.” Marisol reached for your fingers and squeezed it. You tried to fight the emotion submerging you. “Have a nice evening and sorry again. Enjoy your sandwich Angel”, you said before leaving, the fresh air cooling your burning face off.

EZ arrived an hour later home, a huge smile plastered at his face. Once he entered the living room, he saw his parents and brother looking at him firmly. EZ recognized disappointment in his mother’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”, he asked confused. “Think brother. Didn’t you forget about something, someone?”, commented Angel annoyed. Thinking about his day, EZ didn’t seem to understand his brother’s words. “Weren’t you supposed to meet Y/N three hours ago?” He closed his eyes firmly, cursing under his breath. “Shit I totally forgot I planned something with her. I got so caught up on Emily and then my phone died.” Angel stood up, shaking his head and left the room not in the mood for any of it. He already knew what would happen. You would forgive him because that’s just how you are, their parents wouldn’t even give him some sort of speech and everything would go back as normal. “I’m gonna call her right now”, exclaimed EZ.

He called you but got no response. On your side, you just got off the shower, washing the day off when you grabbed your phone. You wanted to click on your favorite chill playlist when you saw the notifications on your phone. Several calls and texts, all from EZ. He profoundly apologized for having missed the meeting, promising that he would make it up to you. You shook your head before replying, “It’s ok but next time a head’s up that you won’t make it would be great!” He kept apologizing again and told you he would wait for you the next day after class. You only replied that you were tired and that you would talk more the next day. The following day went by like all the others: wake up, shower, breakfast, boring class after the others. When you exited, you heard a male voice call for you. You knew the sound of the voice by heart and smiled nonetheless your inner anger from the previous day.

He gave you a side hug and a kiss on your forehead, apologizing once more. “I told you it was forgiven now stop”, you whined in his embrace. He let out a chuckle and smiled brightly. He opened the truck’s door for you before taking place behind the wheel. “What’s the plan?”, you turned to him. “That’s a surprise”, he chuckled and drove out of the parking lot. He drove you on top of the hill, the breathtaking view of the city in display. “Wow”, you whispered in awe. He smiled and exclaimed, “I knew you would love it.” You spend the rest of the day with him, laughing, snaking, catching up. “I got accepted into Stanford”, he said and smiled when he saw your shocked expression transform into pride. You squeezed his bicep and manifested your happiness, “I’m so proud of you Ezekiel, you deserve it. You worked your ass off for this.”

After a while you decided to head back home. Dropping you off, you reached out to EZ and hugged him, congratulating him once more before getting out of the car. You didn’t see or heard from him the following weeks. Either he was busy which you understand since he had to start planning his moving to Stanford or he was busy spending time with Emily. On your side, you decided to spend your free time at the club or at Coco’s where Angel who would sometimes tag along.

“How’s your brother?”, you asked Angel once. He shook his head, unaware of his brother’s whereabouts. “I guess he’s fine. He spends most of his time with his girl now.” “Yeah, I noticed”, you scoffed. The annoyance that crossed your features wasn’t missed by the two men. They sensed that EZ’s relationship was affecting you even if you refused to admit it. Everyone at the club noticed the tension on your body. When your father confronted you about it, you lied telling him it was because of the exams. Truth to be told, you were jealous and you felt stupid about it. You only wanted his happiness but you knew that Emily had a bad influence on him. Besides the obvious jealousy, you were scared to lose your best friend, to grow apart and become strangers. Losing him was one of your biggest fear.

You made your way to the Carniceria in order to grab some meat for the club’s party tonight. You greeted Felipe and made small talk before your conversation was crashed by EZ’s voice coming from the back. “Yo Pop, do you have another apron some-…Oh hi Y/N”, his question cut short when he saw you. You nodded at him before turning to Felipe who excused himself. “I’ll leave you 5.” A strange silence filled the shop and you tried to break it the best you could. “How are you?”, you asked him. “I’m good and you?” “Fine” “Look I’m sorry I haven’t reached out so much, it’s just a lot going on lately”, he justified himself. You shook you head, “Don’t worry, you don’t need to apologize. I get it. Moving out and all can do that.” He cracked his neck before scratching it. “Yeah about that, I’m going to take a gap year.” You frowned in confusion. “What?” He stepped closer, his hands now on his pockets. “I talked with Em and she only has a year left. We’re planning on moving together and attend the same college, so in the meantime I’ll work here with Pop and earn some money, waiting until she graduates.” You were stunned, not believing what you were hearing.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”, you turned to him. “Are you telling me that you’re fucking declining Stanford, put a hold on your future just for some girl?” He shook his head, starting to get irritated. “I’m not declining just postponing and why are you acting like this? She’s not just some girl.” “She’s toxic! You may not see it now because you love her but she is.” You saw his body tense and his eyes narrowing but you couldn’t stop yourself. “I’m not saying this to hurt you. I’m trying to protect you by opening your eyes before it’s too late. She will destroy you.”

“Y/N stop. Emily was right, she immediately saw it and told me. I didn’t want to believe it at first. I know you like me more than friends but I would never think you would go so far as trash talk the woman I love”, he exclaimed. You clenched your jaw, no need to back off from the affirmation. “It wasn’t on her to tell you that. If I didn’t, it was because I had my reasons.” He scoffed, “So you’re not denying it.” “No. I do love you but telling you doesn’t change anything and that’s not the issue here. The issue is you waiting for her, just like that”, you admitted.  

You kept trying to convince him that he was doing a bad decision but he didn’t want to listen. “I’m old enough to make my own choices. I choose to wait for her. She didn’t impose it or herself compared to others.” “What is that supposed to mean?”, you asked, your blood boiling. “You know damn well what I mean. Our friendship was imposed to us because we were children, I didn’t choose it and then it was too late. I… I have a future planned out and I’m not sure anymore if I want you and that energy in it”, the words vomiting from his mouth. It’s only when the room got silent, that he acknowledged the nonsense he just told you. He regretted saying it the second it left his mouth and even more when he saw the sadness and hurt taking over your features.

“You’re willing to risk our friendship for her? Well what I thought was a friendship”, you whispered. “Y/N, I didn’t –“, he tried to take it back but it was too late.  “As you wish”, you whispered still in shock before leaving the store. He took a deep breath and turned around, cleaning his tears with the back of his hand when he saw his parents gaze switch from him to the ground. Not taking it anymore, he reached the door and ran against Angel who was making his way inside. “Watch out! Pendejo”, cursed the older brother cleaning the soda of his shirt. “YO where you going?”, he shouted after EZ who disappeared around the corner.

Bishop was exiting the Templo when he saw you on couch, your blank gaze fixed on the opposed wall. “Everything alright querida?”, he asked concerned, taking a seat next to you. You didn’t hear him at first but turned your head when you felt a small pressure on your arm. You came across 4 worried Mayans, their eyes on you. You shook your head slightly, trying to chase away your thoughts. “Yeah”, you replied with a fake smile that didn’t go unnoticed to the men. Bishop’s eyes crossed his brothers in acknowledgment and stood up, giving you his hand. “Let’s head home.” Once home, your father reached out to you in a hug and asked once more what was wrong. “It’s nothing. EZ and I just had a fight it’s all. It will be fixed soon”, you said naively. “Do you want me to kick his ass?”, he said to which you shook your head and disengaged from his hug. “Don’t worry.” “I will always worry about you princesa. You’re my daughter and I love you”, he confessed. You knew he did but hearing him say it out loud was so rare that you plunged once more in his arms, silent tears sliding don your face. Quickly turning around and hiding your state from him, you told him you would change clothes and prepare dinner.

*gifs, credit to the owners*

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[fe-th-trash]

uh...hi

so like I’ve never done this before, but I desperately needed a creative outlet while doing my final papers and between playing FE:TH and listening to my playlist instead of studying, I got hit with an idea that’s been plaguing me for days, so please enjoy this likely awful first attempt at this if you’re reading this I’m sorry thank you! WC: 1600ish

CW: Pre & Post Time-Skip, Azure Moon potential spoilers, lil angst, lil cuteness

The sights and sounds of the training room were of the few things that time hadn’t run away with. It’d been five years, five long, painful, years with the Imperial Army wreaking havoc on any land beneath its feet. Countless civilian and soldier lives had been lost and for what? All in the hopes of--

“Oof!” You manage, a strike while you were taking in your surroundings sending you to the floor. “Ugh. I yield.” “You’re distracted.” Felix concludes fairly easily, looking down at you, “That was a terrible hit. I was testing you, you failed.” “Okay, okay. I get it. Maybe a little. I’m sorry.” You sigh, rising and dusting yourself off. “I just...Being here again...I didn’t think it was going to feel this strange.” 

He forces air out of his nose audibly, shaking his head, “If you’re dwelling hard enough to let me land a hit like that, you’re going to get yourself killed on the battlefield. Reminisce all you want, some of us are here to prepare for what’s to come. Get yourself together. If you die...I’ll be annoyed.” He remarks, rolling his eyes as he turns, heading towards a training dummy that would undoubtedly be more of a fight than you were. If nothing else had remained, this was still the same Felix, that much is certain. 

The same bitter, broken, boy he’d been for nearly a decade. It was almost refreshing that he’d stayed the same. One familiar tongue in cheek remark and the upward turning of his eyes and it’s as though you’re both 17 again, more worried about the Professor’s overloaded tactics lectures and class exams than...well, a war raging on beyond the confines of what used to feel so safe. Of what, despite its dilapidated and decaying structure, still somehow felt safe. After everything it had so clearly been through, it was still standing, and that had to be a sign.

You didn’t know if it was being here again, or being surrounded by familiar faces for the first time in years that was keeping your chest warm, but you sincerely hoped the others were feeling it too. For the first time in so long, despite the current state of ruin that had fallen on Garreg Mach, the fragility of the surrounding circumstances, the rabid bloodlust that had overtaken Dimitri, the uncertainty of what the next few months would hold...

At long last, you could feel it. Something you thought was lost long ago.

Hope.

You consciously tried to remember a time before the war as you took your leave of the training grounds and walked toward the corridor of classrooms. Felix was right, it was useless to train if your mind was otherwise occupied. It was a miracle they were still mostly intact, and you found yourself picturing your Academy days, drifting into a daydream as the sound of your shoes on the cobblestones drifted gently away, replaced by the sounds of a bustling courtyard. 

Remembering your first day as a Blue Lion was an easy feat as you took the seat that used to be yours, in the very back of the room, where the professor would often catch you reading instead of listening to their lectures. It was one of those days, where you felt it necessary to do anything but pay attention that you’d find where you belonged, in of all places, detention.

Quietly scrubbing the blackboard thanks to your indiscretions, joined by Sylvain, who had pestered Felix into “accidentally” knocking an inkwell all over him, his desk, and the floor, Felix, who refused to apologize for the action, and Ingrid, peacefully standing in the doorway of the classroom, experiencing great joy at the hands of the two of them. Sylvain, who was meant to be mopping the floor, kept finding “missed spots” conveniently where Felix was working at cleaning the desks, knocking into him with the handle as he’d pass by and further annoying him, Ingrid suppressing her urge to both laugh at the action and scold each of them for being a nuisance to the other. It wasn’t long before Felix had stolen the mop from him and backed him up against the wall, Sylvain both smiling playfully as he looks down at him and holding his hands up, Ingrid shaking her head, bringing you into the world they’d created for themselves, “You’re free to crack either of them over the head with the broom in the closet if they get to be too much. I won’t tell the Professor.” “Tempting as that may be...” You joke, turning to watch along with her, drying your hands with one of the rags. “They are fairly entertaining.” “Don’t encourage them.” She warns, laughing a little as Sylvain sighs heavily,  “Alright, alright. Enough. You can’t kill me with the ladies watching, especially not with such a blunt object.”

“Watch me.” Felix grumbles, shoving the handle into his chest with a thud and storming back to put the supplies away, Sylvain sporting a pout and rubbing where it’d hit, “Too far...noted.” He mutters, heading for the assist with extreme caution, leaving you to crack a smile as you take the dirty water out to the bushes, Ingrid assisting despite not being in trouble. “Sorry about them.” “Don’t worry, I find them entertaining. I look forward to the day Felix has finally had enough.” “That...is not a day I’d like to imagine. Planning Sylvain’s funeral won’t be fun, especially when a body can’t be found.” She jokes, the both of you laughing as you head back to the classroom, “Hey, are you two ready to quit quarrelling? They’re going to start serving dinner any minute!” “I never wanted to start. Goddess sake.” 

Ingrid went on to invite you to dine with the three of them, something that greatly pleased Sylvain while simultaneously displeasing Felix. If there was anything he hated more than Sylvain’s antics, it was being forced to socialize, especially with people he didn’t already know. He’d chosen civility as a basis, but your disregard of Sylvain’s advances, and the fact you made Ingrid happy, quickly changed his mind. You didn’t know when exactly he’d started considering you a friend, but somewhere between the first time he’d called you a fool out of annoyance and long nights in the library studying by candlelight, you assumed he enjoyed your company, even if he’d never say as much.

“How did I know I’d find you here?” came his voice, startling you out of the depths of your mind. You hadn’t noticed the tears on your cheeks, brought on by days that would never happen again, until you turned toward the sound, him standing in the doorway, softening slightly when he saw the state of you. “I don’t know why you insist on torturing yourself.” he continues, heading inside the classroom, hesitating slightly as he passed his old desk. 

“Fe...” You manage, wiping at your face, “It ended so...suddenly. Everything changed so fast. I just want...something to hold onto. You have to know what that’s like.” You attempt, looking over at him once again, him reluctantly levelling with you, sitting in the seat beside and looking across at the blackboard. “I do. And thinking of everything we didn’t get to do will only cause you pain. It’s foolish to sit here and think “what if” when there’s a war going on. If we are going to win, we need to keep our minds clear.” He says, looking to you. “After we’ve won, I’ll sit in the cathedral and help you light as many candles as you see fit. But for now...” he trails, rising once again, “...let me walk you back to your room. It’s dark out.” 

You agreed with no words, rising and pushing your chair in like you’d done a thousand other times and taking his hand as he led you off into the night, holding on tightly. If this was yet another dream, you weren’t letting him go that easily. 

Knowing you were in need of comfort, and not realizing just how much of his own was needed, he allowed this to continue all the way to your door, dropping your hand and turning toward you, your better judgment leaving you as you stepped forward, wrapping your arms around him. 

The following few seconds were quiet as he was tense, his arms eventually finding their place around you. It wasn’t the first time, nor the first willing time, but likely the most necessary time for both of you. And in a few seconds more, it was over. He pulls himself away, clearing his throat. “Sleep off the rest of your nonsense...save it for later.” “You sleep too...if anyone tells me you went back to the training grounds after this...”

“Tch.”

“Exactly my point. Please rest yourself.” You found yourself near pleading. The deaths of those you didn’t know weighed so heavily, you didn’t want to imagine what losing someone so dear would mean. He merely shakes his head a little in response, turning to leave, “As you wish. Goodnight.” 

 “...Fe?”  He sighs, turning back toward you, “What? Need a bedtime story too?” “Do...you really think we’re going to win this?” You question, playing with your hands, unsure if you wanted an answer or just another minute of company as a gently and uniquely sly expression takes hold of him, his arms folding at his chest.

“Do you really think with the four of us together again, there’s any chance we’d lose?” He questions back, the warmth in you returning, that hopeful, optimistic feeling taking you over once again. “Of course not...goodnight Fe...thank you.”

“That’s what I thought. Enough of the foolishness...and get inside. Catching cold also does us no favors.” He says, an irritated tone that you knew by now was code for worry overtaking his voice, leaving you to smile and enter your room, gearing up to face the next day ready for what it throws at you.

All the while, Felix waits idly by to hear the clicking of the lock, the guarantee of your safety, before taking himself back to his own room, gently reminding himself of the pledge for “blades, blood, and battle” he’d made long ago, there being no time for anything but, no matter how it felt to finally hold your hand.

[jalapeno-princess]

Give It a Try

Mark Tuan X Male Reader

Word Count: 3.2K

Genre: Fluffy with a tiny bit of angst

Summary: You and Mark have been tip toeing around each other’s feelings for the last few months but that’s because you’re afraid to give him your all. However, after coming to the conclusion that he genuinely cares for you and wants to take things further between the two of you, you no longer see the point in preventing things to blossom in to something beautiful.

A/N: This was requested by @xavi-in-kpopland​ this is actually my first time writing a male x male story so I hope you enjoy it! I’m sorry if it doesn’t reach your expectations :( but thank you again for requesting! (Based on the song Fire by the Pointer Sisters)

I'm ridin' in your car You turn on the radio You're pullin' me close I just say no I say I don't like it But you know I'm a liar 'Cause when we kiss, ooh FireLate at night You're takin' me home You say you want to stay I say I want to be alone I say I don't love you But you know I'm a liar 'Cause when we kiss, ooh Fire

“I can feel you looking at me. You’re not exactly discreet about it Mark. Stop that. You’re supposed to keep your eyes on the road. If we die tonight because you can’t keep your eyes off of me, I’ll kill you.” His adorable high pitch laughter that you loved yet hated so much because of the effect it had on you echoed throughout his car and overpowered the playlist of songs he claimed reminded him of you. 

The two of you had just finished watching the new Keanu Reeves movie that recently came out and Mark’s been begging you to go and see it with him as soon as he saw the movie poster posted up at the mall. At first, you rejected him just to play around with him but deep down you knew you were going to give in to him. You’d do anything for the beautiful boy behind the wheel; he meant a lot to you. More than you wanted to admit out loud to him and even to yourself. 

You enjoyed playing hard to get; something about knowing that the most admired and desired guy on campus having eyes for nobody else but you sent fire to your bones. You knew you had Mark hooked, but you wanted to make sure he was in it for the long run and that his intentions were pure. The last thing you needed was for the most popular guy in school to dump you like you were nothing and leave you in the dust, making you look like the biggest loser at your university. 

To your dismay, the more time you spent with him, the faster you began losing your resolve; but it was inevitable. You and Mark have been fooling around with one another for almost four months now. There was a little voice in the back of your head telling you that he would’ve left a long time ago if he didn’t have at least some kind of romantic feelings for you and you were well aware that Mark was where you kept your heart. It took you a while to accept your feelings for him, but you loved Mark. 

Although some people may consider it too early to really know how far your feelings went for him, when it’s love you just know. There was a warm feeling in your chest every time you’d spend time with him and once he would drop you back to your apartment, you were left feeling empty and counted down the hours until you got to see him again. You wanted to wait it out a little bit more to see that he was worth risking your heart for. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust him. No; in the last four months, he’s shown you nothing but kindness, support, patience and generosity. 

He helped you learn to love who you were and to embrace your sexuality. It’s just that you’ve been hurt a few times in the past by assholes who thought it would be funny to pretend that they too were interested in guys knowing that you were one of the only people who genuinely did not care if everyone knew your gender preference when it came to your significant other. Knowing who he was and who his friends were, you were afraid to let Mark in your life the day he approached you in your religion class asking you for help. 

All the girls in your class were extremely obvious about their attraction for him and you couldn’t blame them; he was indescribably good looking and quite the charmer. But from what you heard through the grapevine, Mark had no interest in girls. There were days where you found yourself daydreaming about what it would be like getting to date him, hold hands with him, go on cute little dates with him and to kiss those plump lips of his; but that’s all you had thought would happen. 

If someone were to tell you months ago that you’d be in a complicated relationship with Mark, you’d laugh in their face. You didn’t know when your tutoring sessions turned in to meeting up with him to get food at two in the morning, or cuddling with him while he played video games over at your apartment, but it was in those moments where you’d find yourself questioning the status of your relationship with the older boy. The two of you were more than friends but less than lovers and you knew it was because you weren’t ready to take things further just yet. 

If you were to put a title on what you and Mark were, you had a feeling things would only go downhill from there and you didn’t want to lose him before you could really enjoy being with him. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him hesitantly moving his hand towards your lap; something he always did whenever you’d go on drives together. Most of the time, you’d swat his hand away even if you wanted nothing more than to intertwine your hands together. There were days where you allowed him to hold your hand or to even pull you in to his embrace, but for the most part you would always push him away the second you felt his touch. 

Whenever you’d see him flush in embarrassment from the rejection, you felt a pain in your chest and you hated being so rash towards him. Especially because he treated you as if you were the most delicate flower. Sooner or later, you were going to have to give in to him before he finally gave up on this frustrating game of car and mouse. You had a huge feeling he was probably getting tired of how cold you would act towards him but not once did he complain or force you to do something you didn’t want to which was what you admired about him the most. 

Unfortunately, for the last few days your mind has been all over the place. You couldn’t help but overthink that the longer you kept pushing Mark away and prevented things from blossoming between the two of you, that he would soon grow tired and find someone who was willing to treat him the way he deserved. Mark could get anybody he wanted; this you knew was true and you didn’t know why he settled for someone like you, but you weren’t going to continue to push him away. Tonight, you planned on allowing whatever it was going between you and Mark; a fling of some sorts turn in to whatever it is that he wanted for the two of you.

 Since he didn’t seem like he was going to initiate anything, you reached over the console and pulled his hand on to your lap before intertwining your fingers together. Seeing his breath hit at your sudden movement made you smile softly to yourself. Was this man really going to be twenty-seven years old in a couple of months? Sometimes you’d forget how old Mark really was because of how childlike he’d act around you. 

“Are you—is everything okay?” His question caused you to look at him in curiosity. 

“I’m fine. Oh—are you not okay with this?” As you were about to pull your hand away, he tugged on it all but gently and brought yours hands up to his lips before placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. Your heart rate began increasing as soon as you felt his lips on your skin; in the few moments that he’d kiss you, whether they were chaste kisses against your cheek or passionate, steamy make out sessions, any moment spent with his lips on any one of your body parts sent your body in flames. 

“No no—I’m okay with this—more than okay. Trust me. I just—I’m not used to you initiating things like this. You’re always so quick to push me away, so it’s taking a little longer for me to get used to your clingy side—ow! When did you become so strong? Just wait till we park y/n, you’re going to regret that.” 

You playfully rolled your eyes and squeezed his hands as you turned your attention back to the road. “Ooooh, I’m so scared.” His little giggle at your sarcasm made you blush. God, this man was going to be the death of you. 

“Hey y/n do you—would it be okay if—ah, never mind.” When it was just the two of you, Mark would always be so shy and soft spoken sometimes. It wasn’t something you were used to, even after months of getting to know the real him. The Mark that nobody else got to see. To the world; his friends, your professors and fellow classmates, Mark was an extremely outgoing, talkative and an all-around guy. He had this aura about him; a kind of confidence that made people gravitate toward him. 

He portrayed himself to be such a dominant and superior individual but when it was just the two of you, he could turn in to the biggest ball of fluff. Although he didn’t say it, he never had to. It was obvious that Mark was whipped for you, and you were hoping by the end of tonight you’d prove to him that you felt the same exact way. 

“What is it?” Once he got to a stoplight, he turned and looked at you with an unidentifiable look on his face before shrugging indifferently. “Is it alright if I come over tonight? I kinda don’t want to let you go just yet.” You could tell it took him a lot of courage to ask you something he knew you’d probably say no to. Hearing that he wanted to spend more time with you sent warmth to your cheeks. How could you say no to him knowing that he wanted to stay with you just a little while longer? Especially because you had an idea of what was going to happen as soon as you both reached your place. “Hmm, I don’t know. I’m actually kinda tired. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Oh—uh—yeah, sure. That’s fine.” His nose sullen demeanor pulled at your heartstrings and you found yourself reaching over to humorously pinch his cheek. 

“I’m fucking with you Mark. Of course you can come over. You can even stay the night if you’re too tired to drive home. I washed your clothes from the last few times.” He nodded in agreement and the small grin that was slowly growing on his face from the change in your tone caused you to mirror his expression. Just a couple of minutes later, he was pulling up to your apartment and ran over to your side to open the door for you. It was his actions that proved to you that he harbored romantic feelings for you and it always made you feel almost childlike. 

You couldn’t explain the way Mark made you feel. But all you knew, was that nobody else has ever made you feel so important, so needed; wanted—loved and it scared you because you were sure nobody ever could. He helped you out of the passenger seat and grabbed at your hand; not giving you any time to process anything before pulling you towards the lobby. 

Out of all the skin ship the two of you shared, holding hands with Mark had to be your favorite. He had such pretty fingers; they were so long and skinny and his hand practically swallowed your tiny ones whole. You always felt so safe with him and you could feel the confession of love for him at the tip of your tongue. When he saw you walking towards the elevators, he let out a snicker and you rolled your eyes; you knew exactly what he was laughing at from past experiences and you weren’t having it. 

“What now Tuan?”

“Nothing—it’s nothing—you live on the second floor yet you always take the elevator. You are the definition of lazy—what the hell do you do in your free time? Bench press your television? Your biceps are getting bigger and your punches are harder—okay I’ll stop. I just thought it was cute but fine—be an asshole.” 

The bickering stopped right as you reached your apartment and you made your way in with Mark trailing right behind you. He’s been over to your place a few times, so he knew where everything was and he even had a few of his things scattered throughout your apartment. A couple of his jackets were in your closet, he had a pair of shoes on the shoe rack and there was his shampoo and body wash in your shower. You knew he wouldn’t leave all his things over at your place if you were just someone he was messing around with. 

“Thirsty?” He shook his head in disagreement before throwing himself on your couch and turning on the television. You on the other hand wanted to give yourself some time to prepare what you were going to tell him. 

Mark, I love you. You mean a lot to me. I’m sorry for giving you such a hard time these last few months but thank you for not giving up on me—us these last few months. I’m ready now. I’m yours if you’ll have me. 

You wanted to say it all, but you felt as if you were going to throw up just thinking about it. “Hurry up over there, I’m lonely.” You took in a deep breath before making your way back in to the living room. 

It was now or never y/n, whatever happens, happens. 

If he didn’t end up feeling the same way, then you could just kick him out and pretend as if none of this happened but deep down you knew there was no way you could ever forget this; forget him. There was no way. Mark was tattooed on your heart and etched in to parts of your soul that you were so scared of what would happen to you if he were to end your relationship. You took a seat at the end of the couch, giving yourself some space away from him but he wasn’t having it. He got up from his spot on the couch to reach out for you and pulled you on top of his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around your waist as he placed his chin on top of your shoulder. 

No matter how many times you’d find yourself in this position with him, you could never stop the blush that always seemed to grow on your cheeks at the close proximity. 

“Mark.” He hummed in curiosity against your neck and waited for your response before saying anything. “Can I ask you something?” The nod against your cheek made you giggle; his stubble tickled as it rubbed against your recently shaved skin. 

“What are we? Better yet, what am I to you. Like—what do I mean to you?” Feeling him pull away as soon as those words fell from your lips worried you. You knew it was too good to be true. There was no way Mark could ever look at you in the way that he wanted to. Tears were brimming at your eyelids and you were so upset with yourself from ruining things. Right as you were about to try and take back what you had just asked, you were being thrown on to the couch as he roughly brought his lips to yours. He brought his hands up to your face and cupped both of your cheeks; his mouth felt hot on yours as he molded your lips together perfectly. 

His kisses never failed to send your body to flames and it felt as if electricity was running through your veins. Mark deepens the kiss; his lips were chapped but tasted like fried chicken and beer; a combination you were used to seeing how that was his favorite food and alcoholic beverage pairing. He licked and sucked on both your top and bottom lips before he brought your tongue in between his teeth. To your dismay, he pulled away to catch his breath and placed his forehead against yours while plopping himself on top of you. 

“Mark, get off of me! You’re so heavy you ass—“

“You’ve never complained about being a bottom before—will you stop hitting me? Why aren’t you this physical in bed? Anyways, before you ruin the mood with your brash commentary, if it wasn’t already obvious, I have feelings for you and to sum it all up, I love you. I know why you’re afraid of love and I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, but you can trust me. I hope you know that and I hope you do or at least plan on learning how to. My feelings for you are sincere. I don’t know exactly when my little crush on you turned in to this beautiful thing called love, but I love the effect it has on me. I love the effect you have on me. You mean so much to me y/n and if you give me the chance, I’d love to be yours. I’ll take good care of you. I promise.” 

He brought his pinky out to yours and you looked up at him to make sure his expressions matched his words. You stole a kiss from the corner of his mouth and twisted your pinkies together. 

“Okay. Let’s do this.” You tried to push him off of you but he gave you a knowing look and made it even harder for you to try and escape.

“Mark—“

“You didn’t tell me how you feel yet. You’re not going anywhere baby. I know you love me too, you just have to say it.” Hearing the term of endearment was going to take some getting used to, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t like how it sounded coming from his pretty lips.

“Wow, cocky aren’t we? Bold of you to assume that I love you. Where’d you get that idea?”

“I don’t know if you are aware of this, but when you doze off sometimes you murmur things. Maybe it’s your conscience but I swear I heard you confessing what I’m assuming is your feelings for me, how thankful you are for me and how you’d love to be mine—“ you covered his mouth to prevent anything else from coming out and hid your face in the crook of his neck to prevent him from seeing how crazy he was driving you. 

“Whatever! I love you! There? You happy? Oh, and I just—before I say anything this is going to be the only time I’m ever going to say sappy shit so listen closely. Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you for being so patient with me and not running away no matter how much of a dick I was. You mean the world to me Mark and I really don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I hope that getting to love you every day is enough to pay you back for everything you’ve done for me in the last few months. You’re amazing, and I love you.” He grinned down at you and you could feel butterflies growing in your tummy the longer he looked at you with so much love and adoration. 

“I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that. Now kiss me.”

You had a hold on me right from the start A grip so tight I couldn't tear it apart My nerves all jumpin', actin' like a fool Well, your kisses they burn, but my heart stays cool

Well, Romeo and Juliet Samson and Delilah Baby you can bet A love they couldn't deny My words say split But my words they lie 'Cause when we kiss, ooh Fire

Ooh fire Hot kisses like fire Burn me up with fire I like what you're doin' now, Fire Touchin' me with fire Touchin' me, burnin me with fire Take me home Fire Kisses like fire

[rogerjharding]

Essay in the #OurOtherNationalDebt collection in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Full report and responses to it available here: https://www.ourothernationaldebt.com/

FULL TEXT:

The coronavirus has illuminated who is truly indispensable in modern Britain.

While some are confident this will bring about new-found respect and reward for working class people, I’m sceptical. The financial crash also brought the sense that things wouldn’t be the same again, and they weren’t, but not for the reasons we hoped. Working class people rarely fare well during or after economic turmoil and, with the financial crash in the rear-view mirror, many of us know it.

I worry an anger is building in many working class communities about how inequitably the current costs and risks are being shared. Just like the idea ‘we’re all in it together’ after the crash, the idea this crisis is the same for all of us just isn’t ringing true. The disconnect presents fertile ground for polarisation, pessimism and populism to grow.

The pain in communities is raw and real – and it risks being deepened by middle class activists and commentators too readily racing to talk about the ‘opportunities’ this time presents. Working class movements can, however, start to think – carefully, cautiously, compassionately – about the things we can win together if we stick together. The young people at RECLAIM kicked this off with a rapid response campaign to thank #TheIndispensables but we will need to have a medium and long term plan if we’re to make sure Britain’s working class comes out of this time stronger and more united.

Right now, YouGov polling for the Times Red Box suggests that there’s a reasonable degree of togetherness but in a recent report the Collective Psychology Project highlighted that there’s a fairly consistent progression in collective emotional responses to major events. The initial ‘heroic’ phase is met with high altruism and is then followed by a ‘honeymoon’ phase of great togetherness and optimism. However, this relatively quickly gives way to a long ‘disillusionment’ phase marked by increased polarisation, feelings of abandonment and concerns about the limits of the response.

It is hard to say whether we have reached a disillusionment phase of this crisis, but the toll on people’s mental health is already clear. Ipsos Mori polling for Kings College London finds that half of us feel more anxious and depressed and 29% are finding lockdown extremely difficult (or expect to) in the next four weeks (notably rising to 42% for 16-24 year olds).

Working class people are already experiencing greater threats to their jobs (as reported by the Resolution Foundation), living in more densely populated areas (as covered here by the FT), not having enough space at home (as reported by the JRF), not having as much access to decent green spaces (as reported by CABE), having poorer lung health due to being more likely be exposed to air pollution (as reported by Asthma UK), being more likely to have underlying health conditions (as reported by the King’s Fund), finding it harder to get online or have enough devices for everyone at home (as reported by the Sutton Trust), having less ability to home school (also reported by the Sutton Trust), having less access to affordable food (as reported by the Food Foundation), being less able to access cheap credit (as reported by the Centre for Social Justice) and low paid workers are disproportionally represented in the key worker jobs that expose them and families to increased risk (as reported by the IFS).

Put even more starkly, Office of National Statistics data shows that living in the poorest neighbourhoods means you're twice as likely to die from the coronavirus as people living in the richest ones.

Strangely, I’m not sure that horrific reality is the thing likely to generate the most anger. Having a shorter life due to your postcode was already the pre-coronavirus reality. Instead it’s often the subtle, more visible things that anger people more.

Who is (not) in the room always shows in a crisis

Being working class often makes you acutely aware of the little ways people unconsciously reveal they’re better off. Despite us now being physically separate, social media, video calls and simply how we talk about our lockdown experience is giving people greater insight into ‘how the other half lives’. People won’t easily forget their sneak-peek into the bigger, nicer, greener space of others doing less essential work or making fewer sacrifices.

This moment also tells us a lot about who makes decisions and what informs them. There’s one example that features frequently in discussions at RECLAIM. In early March, during the government’s new daily press conference, ministers and scientists provided guidance on what to do if you suspect someone in your home has the virus. It encouraged those self-isolating ‘to use a separate bathroom’ if possible. This obviously isn’t bad guidance, but the assumption this was more important to cover than how, for example, you deal with isolating in an already-overcrowded home, is telling. I similarly doubt the need for guidance – then flouted in at least one notable case – on whether you can use your second home will be forgotten either.

Some working class people will also be asking themselves why it is that old unemployment and housing benefit rates (the improvements noted in Ashwin Kumar’s essay) aren’t good enough now that it isn’t just them who need to claim them.

This sore created by the coronavirus is only likely to increase when our divides are further exposed by the lockdown easing. People will spot that middle class professionals are more able to continue to work from home and that middle class young people are benefiting from more home-schooling and tutoring (as reported by the Sutton Trust). The young people we support at RECLAIM already often flagged the state of their high street and related areas as top of their list of local economic concerns. Boarded up shops and ever-decreasing visitors are visible signs of something not being right, and sadly many high streets will look a lot worse when the lockdown ends.

In this context it’s not surprising that people hanker for the past. While activists on Twitter enjoy sharing slogans about how ‘we can’t return to normal, because normal was the problem’, much of the British public have been enjoying nostalgia. Recent research from Thinkbox, the TV marketing body, reveals a lockdown surge in the number of us watching old TV, with Last of the Summer Wine and Only Fools and Horses repeats doing especially well. Spotify has seen something similar, with increased subscriber use of ‘throwback’ playlists.

Part of why we get comfort from the past is that we see it through rose-tinted glasses. Comparisons (many unhelpful) are regularly drawn between this crisis and WW2. Our national mind’s eye view of the end of the war is the street celebrations of VE day. Many hope for something similar at the end of this period. What we don’t tend to reflect on is the disillusionment and anger many people felt soon after 1945.

While some people cautiously but thankfully dreamt of us building back better, many just wanted done with Britain. David Kynaston’s Austerity Britain notes that in spring 1948, just weeks before the creation of the NHS, a Gallup poll found that 42% of people wanted to emigrate (up from 19% in 1945). We also tend to ignore the post-war resurgence of antisemitism on the streets of our cities, showing that hatred and division can quickly re-emerge.

Turning anger into accountability

It’s hard to know what the exact dividing lines will be this time, but in crises there are always those who encourage working class people to fear one another. White people encouraged to fear people of colour, working people in towns and villages told to be wary of those in cities, southerners to suspect northerners and vice versa, and longer-standing residents urged to fear more recent arrivals. As Kitty Usher notes in her essay, one new split in this crisis might be those furloughed and those not.

We face a double threat here – populists on the right exploiting divisions and some on the left being parasitic on people’s pain. There are some who get excited by a crisis, despite all the human misery, because they see this as a necessary price for change. It’s often not even subtle: at one recent webinar for organisers I heard a left activist happily tell people ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited by all this’. Those don’t feel likely to be the words of someone who spends a lot of time truly listening to working class people.  

We need to get past the anger and turn it into a drive for real accountability. The list of policy, societal and business responses needed to do justice to those leaning into risk or having to get by with even less is huge. This collection covers a good number of starting points on wages, job security (see Andrew Pakes’ essay), the strength of our social security (see Ashwin Kumar’s essay), housing (see Rachael Orr’s essay), our approach to immigration (see Satbir Singh’s essay) and much more. This will all be vitally important to honouring the country’s other national debt, but so will ensuring working class people have a permanent seat around the country’s top tables, regardless of which party is in power and whether we are facing good times or bad.

We need much more direct involvement of working class people in the decisions that affect our lives, starting with specific youth assemblies as part of the national commission outlined in the introduction to this collection. At every layer of society – not just in the professions, business and politics but in charities and funders too – we need class inclusion to be a core equality concern.

There is a very real risk an unrepresentative charity sector becomes more distant from the country when the register of which organisations survive is taken (as noted on race by Charity So White). As work we supported young people on last year showed, the current approach of some charities inadvertently alienates young working class people. If organisations in any sector want to build back better they will need to look as much at their own practice as the changes they demand in others. At RECLAIM we’re reshaping our work and are pleased to see a growing number of organisations work with us and the young working class people we support to go on co-discovery processes to work out the specific changes needed in their field.

Finally, we all need to get better at explicitly calling out those that sow division amongst working class communities. Emerging research from the US shows this is the best framing approach to counter hateful populism. This approach means campaigners on economic issues getting more comfortable explicitly talking about race and immigration, rather than always hoping to pivot away from them. This also means helping everyone to feel included by being explicit about how policy ideas deliver for working class people whether white, black or brown, a more recent arrival or someone whose family has been here for generations. Most importantly, to be successful this requires campaigners getting as busy delivering better communication messages to the unconverted as they can be debating how best to fine tune them with the choir.

That we owe working class people is so beyond question it unites the Guardian, Telegraph and FT. This situation is also changing so quickly that it’s hard to know what exact prescription of proposals will do their contribution and sacrifice justice. The only way to know for sure is to have working class people round the table when it’s decided. This should be a central legacy of this crisis, the idea that essential workers are essential voices. Working class people more than have the talent, strength and ideas to finally steer the country they so obviously drive. It’s time for all of us to make it happen.  

Roger Harding is Chief Executive of RECLAIM, the Manchester-based charity powering young working class people to change the country today and lead it tomorrow. He is a trustee of Victim Support.

@Roger_Harding

[vintageeskimos]

Ahhh beautiful Florence. The time of Renaissance art, and the Medici family.

This post is the continuation of my trip with Ashley, Emily Mac., Emily D., Rachel, Mallory, and now Megan! If you haven’t read my first post about Bologna, I recommend you do so here.

We left Bologna and took a 30 some-minute train ride to Florence. I have always been in love with Florence. It is a city I could revisit over and over again. To be honest, this was my third time in this gorgeous city. Most of us girls have been here before as well: Ashley, Megan, Emily Mac., and Rachel. So it was only Emily D. and Mallory whom have never seen it’s beauty.

In short here is what I recommend:

Florence:

Yellow Bar – not a bar, but a restaurant that serves homemade pasta daily

Monkey Bar – awesome dive bar

Viktoria Lounge Bar – modern bar lounge w/ great cocktails & service

Ditta Artigianale -Best cafe/bar to grab a caffè, brunch, and/or breakfast 

50 Sfumature di Gusto – my favorite restaurant in Florence

Once we arrived, we found our way to our airbnb. Unfortunately, it was too early to check-in so we decided to find a place to grab a bite. Nearby we found a place called Yellow Bar.

I didn’t realize until we sat down and everything, but Ashley and I have been there before. Crazy thing is when we studied abroad in Rome, three years ago, we each had a class that brought us on a class trip to Florence. And both of our classes ate at this exact restaurant where they make fresh pasta daily. I can see why we ate here because it is good AF. The only downside is that it is always packed with tourists, but in a big and famous city, such as Florence, you will always see them roaming around.

I knew exactly what I wanted as soon as I saw them making the fresh pasta: Freshly handmade gnocchi con gorgonzola (potato pasta with gorgonzola cheese)

(Left: The amazing gnocchi con gorgonzola)

(From left to right: Ashley, Mallory, Emily Mac., Rachel, Emily D., Me)

(Left: Ashley and I fooling around on snapchat. Right: Drinking every last drop of my wine)

Yellow bar is the place to be when you are hungry in Florence. Nothing fancy in atmosphere, but super appetizing food.

As you can tell, Megan wasn’t dining with us because her train from Rome was arriving a bit later on. After we filled our stomachs with food, we made our way to our Airbnb.

Now let me tell you something, this Airbnb looked AMAZING in photos online, but the internet doesn’t do it justice. The place was HUGE and every window in the apartment had a breath-taking view.

I was obsessed and if I was a millionaire I would have bought that place right on the spot. Between the huge kitchen, spacious bedrooms, comfy living room, incredible views, and location, I was hooked.

The company that owns this apartment must have many within the city because they have a lot of people working for them. A guy named Nico checked us in and recommended a lot of places for us to go that weren’t swarmed with tourists

Here is what he wrote down for us:

Bars:

Mayday– ask for Marco

King Grizzly

Clubs:

Yab

Bamboo

Life Club

Restaurants:

Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco

Santo Bevitore

I Raddi

Sostanza

Antico Noé 

Gelato:

Vivoli– 100 years old

Procopio– try pistacchio (local “mercato di sant’ambrogio”)

Perché No

Leather Shops:

Mercato di San Lorenzo “Medici”– the famous leather market of Florence (I don’t recommend it because it is sketchy AF and contains hit-or-miss type of products. Maybe check it out and buy a leather wallet or pretty scarf, but don’t go big)

Borgo Dei Greci – on that street there are shops

To be honest, we didn’t stop by any of the places (besides the leather market) because we didn’t have enough time in Florence to see, do, and eat everything. But I still have this list in my possession and next time I return I will be sure to check them out! Feel free to as well and let me know what you think!

Once Vico cleared everything about the apartment we settled down and relaxed for a bit. Megan called me soon after letting me know she checked into her bed & breakfast. Megan planned to stay one night there and the second night at our place because Emily Mac. had only planned to stay one night in Florence so she could visit her friend in Germany.

Megan came over to our place and was amazed just as we all were when we walked in. Before we knew it, the sun was down and dinner was on our minds. We have been eating out so much that I thought of preparing a home-cooked meal to save some money. It also helped that our kitchen was gigantic and there was a grocery store literally below our apartment complex. I wrote down a list of things to buy and we made our way to the grocery store.

Thank god it was so close, but the steps leading up to our apartment were killer- at least we got some exercise in.

My menu of the night included:

parmigiana di melanzane

platter of mixed cheeses

platter of mixed meats

salad

olives

bread

a lot of wine & prosecco

I was really excited to start cooking, but like what I have said before in my previous post:  I love to cook but I am pretty bad at it (sometimes…well maybe according to Italian cooking standards). But THIS time, I got it pretty damn right…

(Left: Our antipasto Right: Megan slicing the bread)

(I mean LOOK at that beauty! It truly was a masterpiece)

I am getting hungry just looking at it to be honest. Once we finished dinner, we bought more bottles of prosecco to prepare for a night of craziness. I cleaned up everything as fast as I could, Ashley blasted a sick playlist of songs, and all us girls got glammed-up.

Another amazing thing about this apartment that it has this long bright vanity in the hallway where us girls can throw our makeup on our faces. Here are some drunkenly taken photos of us pregaming and prepping…

(Left to right: Rachel, Ashley, Mallory)

(Left to right: Emily Mac., Rachel, Ashley, Mallory, and Me)

Now this is where it becomes a bit difficult to remember (at least in the order of things). I am pretty sure the first thing was we met up with Megan because she went back to her apartment to get ready after we ate dinner. So we headed in that direction towards her place. From there I am pretty sure we just followed the crowd or maybe I looked up a bar on TripAdvisor near me, but regardless we ended up at this place:

Monkey Bar looked really cool from the outside. It is like a metal-rock-alternative dive bar where you can grab an awesome beer or down a few shots. We decided on shots (tequila of course) I can’t remember the bartender’s name, but he was really cool and we had an awesome conversation with him about politics and music- he even took a shot with us.

Before we knew it we were roaming along the streets looking for the next bar to hit up. I am pretty sure the following bar we ended up at was Viktoria Lounge Bar

It was filled with people and even had a DJ playing old-school songs (meaning songs we jammed out to in middle school). It is a really hip modern bar with friendly staff and yummy cocktails. I realized that this was the exact same bar Luigi and I went to when we were in Florence the last year.

(Left: I forgot the name of the cocktail, but damn it was lovely)

(Top right image-from top left to bottom right: Mallory, Emily D., Megan, Rachel, Emily Mac., me, and Ashley)

(Bottom right image- from left to right: Rachel, Emily Mac., and me)

We stayed there for a decent amount of the night. Many cocktails and shots later, we decided to walk back the way we originally came and stopped at a club that seemed pretty poppin’.

 The Red Garter was this Irish pub meets Live Karaoke club. We entered the bar to discover a sea of Italians and Americans all over the place. I also realized it was another place that Luigi and I also stopped at while we were in Florence the year before. It was so difficult just to reach the front bar. Once we got our drinks we walked around to the back where some random drunk Americans were belting out “Livin’ On a Prayer”. Quickly, we turned back into the previous room where the music actually didn’t hurt our ears. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice place to dance, meet some people, or to get hit on by Italian men, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I knew I needed to be drunker to have more fun there.

(Photos provided by Google Images)

Once we had enough of sweaty people we took a breather outside and walked towards one of the bridges that connects Florence across the Arno river. It was so beautiful with all the lights along the waterside we took drunken photos of all of us.

After all the snaps and laughs, we made our way back to our apartment in search of food…Unfortunately some of the girls spotted this “pizza” place but it was the most disgusting pizza I ever saw. I mean they were hungry and drunk, so I don’t blame them for making the spontaneous decision of eating it. Afterwards, they all regretted it. Also, I am pretty sure they overcharged the girls knowing that they were drunk which really pissed me off. We finally arrived at the apartment and I reheated all the leftovers of the parmigiana di melanzane and stuffed my face.

The next morning I opened my eyes to a stunning view right outside my window:

(No exaggeration, also no filter)

I also woke up next to Emily Mac. beside me which was a huge problem once I looked at the clock. She was suppose to take a really early flight that morning to Germany, but overslept and missed her flight. Thankfully enough she was able to purchase a ticket for the next flight to Germany that day and was out the door before most of the girls were awake.

Rachel and Emily D. were actually awake when she left because they both preplanned and purchased tickets to see Michelangelo’s Davide. They invited me as well when they bought the tickets, but I already had seen him twice and figured I would save the 20 euros.

I am usually an early-riser because I sincerely appreciate an nice cappuccino and warm cornetto (croissant). I searched on TripAdvisor for a local bar I could grab some colazione (breakfast).

Little did I know, but I found one of the best bars there was for breakfast: Ditta Artigianale. This cafe/bar was top-notch coffee and food. Real artisan coffee beans and products used throughout their entire menu. Ashley, Mallory, Megan, and I had a very appetizing breakfast.

(My go-to breakfast: Cornetto alla crema & un cappuccino (Croissant with cream and a cappucccino)

We waited there for Rachel and Emily D. to show up so they could grab something as well and then we all went back to the apartment so Megan could settle in with her things. At the apartment we discussed about what we wanted to do for our last full day in Florence. Mallory was pretty tired from the night before so she wanted to stay at the apartment to sleep and would meet up with us later. So Rachel, Emily D., Megan, Ashley, and I strolled around the majestic streets of Florence with our first stop being the famous Duomo-Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. 

The cathedral and Duomo is unbelievable to look at. It’s so detailed and gigantic, it’s hard to believe how they constructed it thousands of years ago! It is really cool to see it in person again because I had just finished watching the first season of the new tv show, I Medici (Medici: Masters of Florence) which features the famous and handsome actor, Richard Madden as Cosimo Medici (previously known for his role as Robb Stark in The Game of Thrones). The show is set in the early 15th century and revolves around the Medici family and how they became filthy rich and legends of the Renaissance era. Cosimo Medici commissioned Donatello to help design and Brunelleschi to lead construction of the Duomo. It was a crazy idea back then, but with help from the Medici bank account (literally they invented the bank and owned everything), it became possible.

This leads me onto the next portion of our Florence stroll: The tombs of the Medici family and the San Lorenzo leather market. My friends- Ashley, Megan, Rachel, and Emily D.- all wanted to check out the leather market while I went to see the tombs of the Medici family. Thankfully, they were right next to each other so it wouldn’t be a problem meeting up later on.

Here is a lovely photo of the girls, standing on the steps just before the market, promoting their new single, “Meows of Florence” brought to you by a drunk night in this gorgeous city:

(Top left to bottom center: Emily D, Ashley, Megan, and Rachel)

And here is a lovely photo of me standing at the back entrance of the Medici chapel:

So we went our separate ways and I entered inside the tombs of the Medici Family. Inside the chapel there were treasures of gold, silver, and plaques of tombs everywhere the eye could see.

There were gifts from Popes, kings, queens, royal families, and so many more. In my head I was thinking, “Damn, how could the medici family put all this stuff in their house?”. When you walk upstairs you enter into the Marble-licious (yes I just said that) chapel of the extended Medici family, but while I was there most of the tombs and statues were going through restoration.

I was standing in the middle of the room with my face towards the ceiling just in awe of everything around me. Talk about resting in peace!

The best part of the chapel are the breath-taking tombs of Lorenzo il Magnifico (Lorenzo the Magnificent) and his brother, Guiliano Medici that were partially finished by the one and only, Michelangelo.

On Lorenzo’s tomb (shown in bottom left image) Dawn is depicted as waking up from a long night’s rest with Dusk about to pass out from tiredness. On Guiliano’s tomb (shown in bottom right image) Day is portrayed as a super jacked buff man just chillin’ there with an unfinished face with Night shown as a beautiful sleepy sleek woman you would see in some Venus razor commercial.

I know my descriptions are really bad, but I like to write how I talk and that is basically it. I would highly recommend to check out the Medici Chapel if you have time, but definitely do some research before you go or at least book a tour so you know what you are looking at. This was actually my second time here with my first time being with my Late Renaissance Art class when I studied abroad in Rome.

Afterwards I met up with the girls in the leather market (which they were surprisingly easy to find). Some girls bought some little gifts to take home to their families and we continued walking towards the classic Ponte Vecchio.

Ponte Vecchio is this gorgeous old bridge- and I mean OLD. But today it is filled with hundreds of expensive, EXPENSIVE, jewelry shops. So in other words, it was a great way to spend some window shopping time. I can dream right?

We made our way to the other side of the city and browsed around some random shops. A couple of the girls got some nice gelato while I was in desperate need of an Arancino (fried rice ball with mozzarella). Unfortunately, arancino is a classic food item from the south of Italy, not the north. So when I asked these random Italian girls in a shop where I could find one, they looked at me like I had two heads. It was getting a bit late and our stomachs were growling so we wanted to grab some lunch nearby, but something that wasn’t too big. That being said because we planned to go all-out for our last dinner in Florence that night.

Along the river we found a cute tiny restaurant with a spectacular riverside view:

Il Ristoro Dei Perditempo

(Photos not mine, but provided by Google Images- except for the top left photo of mixed meats- that one I did take).

This tiny restaurant was owned by a very sweet family and their food was delightful! (Especially the fresh cut meats). Nothing blew my mind about the spot, but I would take this restaurant as a nice place to catch up with an old friend (A solid 4-star rating).

The sun was setting on a beautiful autumn day so we made our way back to our apartment, but of course stopping at some shops along the way. Here is what we ran into on the streets of Florence:

We finished our last shopping spree by stopping at Zara, H&M, MAC cosmetics, and a street market with local artisans. It was a great day spent in this hypnotizing city.

The night was falling upon us and we had to figure out a place to eat for our last dinner together. I originally tried to reserve a table at two other restaurants but they were already booked for the night. I don’t blame them because it was a Saturday. I finally found this excellent hole-in-a-wall restaurant with pretty convincing reviews on TripAdvisor:

50 Sfumature di Gusto (50 shades of taste)

I swear I found the golden ticket when it comes to restaurants. The food was PHENOMENAL and a feast for the eyes as well!

This was by far my favorite restaurant in Florence. 5-star rating for food quality and accommodating service. If you want to eat there definitely reserve, and DEFINITELY eat their meat/filet. I ate the filet with gorgonzola and it was life-changing.

We rolled onto our stomaches out the door- we were so full. Somehow we got back to the apartment and since it was our last night, Megan, Ashley, and I decided to get drunk…again. I mean, I didn’t know when we would all be together again so I figured why not? All the girls (besides Megan and me) had to take an early train to Milan to catch their flight home so being hungover wasn’t the best option. Emily D. and Mallory got a drink at MayDay that was just below our apartment, but I was feeling more party-hardy that night. To make things easier on us, Ashley, Megan, and I just decided to hit up the two places we went the night before: Viktoria Lounge Bar and The Red Garter. It was a night of shots and endless snapchat videos and photos…

I totally woke up regretting those last rounds of shots, but I got up in time to say goodbye to everyone. It was so sad really. I wish I could relive those moments again in Bologna and Florence, but I have high hopes for another Europe trip this upcoming summer/fall. After Megan and I said our goodbyes to the girls and our apartment’s stunning view, we trucked our luggage and hungover bodies to my favorite cafe bar, Ditta Artigianale for another deserved cornetto and caffè macchiato.

  It was getting late and I needed to catch my train back to Naples. Megan had a train to Rome right after mine so we walked together through the historic streets of Florence one last time to say goodbye to all those beautifully sculpted booties.

What a trip…until next time, ladies! ;)

Florence Ahhh beautiful Florence. The time of Renaissance art, and the Medici family. This post is the continuation of my trip with Ashley, Emily Mac., Emily D., Rachel, Mallory, and now Megan!

[backseatstorytime]

10/31/2016, 6:05pm - riding waves.

Before I begin, you might be wondering why there was a sudden jump from mid-September to Halloween. I've been thinking on it, and I decided not to write everything out in chronological order. There isn't really anything that necessitates everything to be in order, at least not here, so I figured I'd allow myself the luxury to write about whatever story felt right for the time.

If you'd want to follow the stories chronologically, I'm leaving the date and time in the title and you can sort the posts out alphanumerically. Otherwise, please do enjoy these time travel adventures, and as always, thank you endlessly for reading and for your support.

Oh, and also as always—Names, dates, times, and specific details have been modified to protect my riders' privacy. If you have reason to believe that your story is being told and you'd prefer it not to be shared, please message me and I'll be more than happy to take it down.

Jokes have an incredibly short life expectancy. While some can live for way past their lifespan, most jokes are beaten to death right out of the gates. The rise and popularity of memes, these widespread jokes that everyone manages to catch one way or the other on the internet, combined with the speed of communication and transfer via the internet allows for people to spread jokes within hours. The consequence of this, however, is that jokes get played out as quickly as they surface. Harambe, for example, was an incident so strange that it was hard not to find the overwhelming if not completely sardonic support funny. The whole #DicksOutForHarambe was so absurd that I couldn't help but find it hilarious. It was funny when the jokes started to surface, and it was funny for maybe a few weeks after the meme made its journey around the world. Past that, it started to stagnate and stale. Within a month and a half or so, Harambe became a lazy word that people would throw into a mad lib hoping it would get a cheap laugh. It's a month into 2017, and no one talks about Harambe anymore.

Jokes don't live long. They're waves in the ocean—they rise, they crash, they resurge, and they return to the gentle ebb and flow of water. Good jokes rise to unbelievable heights with an awesome impact. They die down and may have an aftershock leading into another hysterical uproar, but after a certain point, they go from being the greatest thing ever to being "so last week," so to say. Such is life; we hear, we laugh, we move on.

There's a reason why a good chunk of famous comedians are how they are—comedians are storytellers. They know the right words to use, when to pause, which phrases to inflect. Most importantly, they know exactly at what point the joke is no longer funny. They know when it's slowing down, what can  keep the joke going, and when to end the joke. If jokes are waves in the oceans, comedians are the surfers. They ride, they weave through the flumes and channels, and they take control of the wave.

Obviously you don't need to be a famous comedian to know how to do this. I know a handful of people who can stretch a joke far without hitting the breaking point, but I don't think I have ever met anyone who could do that like Laurence.

I was a little wary of driving on a holiday, especially Halloween. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I figured that it was going to be a hectic evening, at least traffic-wise. I pulled over to a residential area, put on a Halloween playlist, turned my app on, and waited.

Halloween was pretty quiet. Usually I don't have to wait longer than twenty minutes to get a ping, but I was there for about half an hour before I got a call from a guy named Laurence. I drove by St. Joseph's into the TV studio district of Burbank and picked up a gentleman with a cane. He hobbled over, I got out of the car to help him, and off we went.

Laurence was an actor. He said he primarily did commercials and voiceovers, and he finished with a fairly nice gig. He lived in the heart of LA with three other housemates, and while he said he was on the border of living as a starving artist, it seemed like he was happy where he was.

Traffic was piling up, partly because of parents taking their kids to go trick or treating but mostly because of adults wanted to get out of dodge and home as soon as possible. As we drove down Alameda and we passed by a ton of kids in costumes, he told me,

"I'll let you know ahead of time, I give you full permission to run over any of these little shits if they get in our way."

There's the wave.

I laughed. I thought that things were going to end there, but he rode that wave and made the most of it.

"I mean, come on, everyone is dressed like a monster today, how am I supposed to know the difference?!" "Oh I'm sorry officer, I thought that if I drove right through that ghost, I would just phase right past it!" "I thought that kid dressed like a werewolf was roadkill!"

He was riffing off various scenarios, and something about his delivery made it never not funny. As I laughed around ten quips later, I turned on Cahuenga and Laurence rode off the wave. He told me that a left was coming up in about a mile, and he started telling me about how every single driver he's gone with would get in a left lane to prep for the left when all the lanes had a legal left turn. "It's the weirdest thing! I always tell them, 'Oh, you can use any of the lanes to turn left,' but every single one of them gets to the left!" He talked this through and I listened through it until I realized I went straight on the street I was supposed to make a left on.

"W-wait, what... wha... did you just..."

And at this point I was apologizing profusely, but Laurence started laughing.

"I literally spent the last five minutes talking about turning left! Then we get to the turn and you go everywhere but left!"

I was still apologizing between laughs, and he spent the entire time of me U-turning ragging on me.

"I mean... did I give the right direction? I was saying left, right? Left!" "Look, if you just wanted to take me off the trail and make out with me in a back alley, you could've just asked! I'm not a difficult man to please!"

He was having a good time at my expense, and honestly I was having a pretty good time, too. Laurence said not to even worry about it, that everyone makes mistakes, but he didn't fail to let me know that that was the funniest mistake he'd ever seen. As I made the U-turn and turned right, he began:

"Okay, now on the LEFT, you're going to see the freeway entrance. When you see it on your LEFT, you're going to turn LEFT. Not right, not straight, LEFT. Now, which way are you turning?" "L-left!" "YA GODDAMN RIGHT, BOY."

I was still laughing at this as he started talking about various things. We talked about Fleetwood Mac, about George Clooney as Batman, about expensive homes and how the toilets better be flushing sparkling water at the prices they're selling houses. Each time he brought up a new topic, he rode a new wave. He knew which moments to tell jokes, how to deliver and ride out jokes, and when to move on. He was so good at this that I hadn't realized an hour had passed on the trip and that we were about ten minutes away from his place. He told me,

"Alright. So we're going to be turning on Chico. Once we pass it, you're gonna see shit change. You won't see these million dollar homes and kids in costumes anymore, you're gonna be seeing chain link fences and kids who're dressing up on Halloween as lower class kids who can't afford a costume. So if you're ever looking for a place to move to, don't look past Chico. If you don't wanna get shot or mugged, don't go past Chico. If you have any shred of love for yourself, don't go past Chico. Now, what lessons have we learned today?"

"Turn left and don't go past Chico?"

"YA GODDAMN RIGHT, BOY."

We got to Chico and he started to point out where the line between Chico and the rest of LA. "Don't be fooled by that Chipotle on the street corner! Once you pass this plaza and turn, things start to look a little less clean around here."

"Oh, so is it like Haunted Mansion in Disneyland where it makes like a change from elegant to haunted?"

For the first time on the hour long car ride, Laurence went quiet.

Did I say something wrong? Was Disneyland a bad example? The silence was unnerving since we'd been nonstop talking the whole trip.

"Disneyland."

Finally, a word. But he didn't sound pleased.

"DISNEYLAND???"

Nope. Not pleased at all.

"Boy, do I look like I can afford Disneyland? You know what a guy like me gotta do to afford Disneyland?!"

And there went the last wave, rising higher and higher.

"You know how many organs I gotta sell to go to Disneyland?!" "That's why I ain't having no kids, I'm gonna have to sacrifice one of them just to get in the park!" "I'll be asking Satan, 'Ey boy, you got Venmo? What you take, cash? Check? Firstborn child?'" "You know how many virgins I gotta throw down in a volcano to afford a ticket to Disneyland?" "I ran outta virgins and I started throwing dogs down there! One of these bitches gotta be a virgin, dammit!"

He went off. His jokes were dark, unruly, and, frankly, hilarious. He rode that wave all the way home, and by the time he got out of the car, I was still laughing on the way home. Apparently he had a great time as well, because he gave me a $5 tip.

That Halloween trip has been one of my favorite trips to date. It was nonstop conversation and jokes, and I think I spent the whole trip laughing. I finished driving after that one trip simply because I wanted to end the night on a high note.

It's always rare to meet people with that innate sense of delivery and humor. I'm sure he's practiced and mastered the craft after a while, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. This has always been my go-to story when people ask about funny moments driving, and I'm glad I got to share it here.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for riding this crazy wave with me.

[givencontext]

My Must-Own Albums

When I recently upgraded my cell phone I lost a lot of music that I had imported from my CD collection and transferred from computer to phone for years. I also lost one of my favorite audiobooks that I listen to repeatedly. This has me pondering if I should pull out the old CDs or if I should just pay for these again in a digital format that can live in the cloud. Of course, when it comes to music, I am also a subscriber, so I find myself making more playlists and stations and not buying albums. Sometimes I neglect my love of music because I am so busy listening to audiobooks, but lately I’ve been feeling prone to stress, depression, and panic attacks, so I’ve been giving my brain a break and busting out some of my favorite tunes.

I go to a lot of concerts. One my pro-tips is to look up the set list on setlist.fm and make a playlist of all the songs for all the bands for a show. This allows me to refresh myself on my favorite songs and brush up on the lesser known acts. I recently made this playlist for an upcoming Breaking Benjamin show. I had a ton of their albums on my old phone. I also recently saw Bush (playlist) and Gavin Rossdale asked how many people had their Sixteen Stone album. It was one of the first CDs I owned. All of this got me thinking about how we rarely buy or even stream entire albums anymore. I assume this changes the way albums are made, and I found this Forbes article that agrees with me.

Considering all of this, I wanted to reflect on some of the albums that shaped my life that I will always feel a need to own and listen to in album form. Most of these are motivated strictly by nostalgia with very little musical expertise behind my decision. Bear with me, then share your favorites in the comments.

The Grand Illusion – Styx

This is the first album I owned that didn’t have an image of Strawberry Shortcake or a Care Bear on it. One of my older sisters either gave this to me or left it behind when she moved out. Either way, it was mine, and it was sort of creepy and weird, and I loved it. Some of Styx’s greatest hits come from The Grand Illusion, but if you haven’t listened to the entire album, you are missing out. When I saw them in concert, I lost my mind when they started with the actual song “The Grand Illusion,” because I have attended a LOT of concerts and at the beginning of each one I have had this song in the back of my head…

Welcome to the Grand Illusion Come on in and see what’s happening Pay the price, get your tickets for the show!

I was seriously ecstatic. Plus, my tickets were free, but we all know there’s deeper meaning to that “pay the price” lyric, don’t we? If I could see Styx perform this album from beginning to end, that would seriously be a highlight of my life, but starting their show with this familiar old favorite that started the album definitely took me back to my childhood. This album is almost as old as I am, and we both still have a lot going for us. I recently woke up with Fooling Yourself stuck in my head, and my family only thought it mildly weird that I was busting my moves to it while making my breakfast. Every song on this album is wonderful, and there are only eight of them. If you want your kids to grow up appreciating music, introduce them to this Styx album early.

Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys

If you were a teenager in the late 80’s/early 90’s, chances are you already own this and have owned numerous copies of it over the years in various formats. This was a monumental album for me, because, let’s face it, I was a (lower) middle class white girl growing up in a small town in Arkansas. Thank god for the little while that our cable company provided MTV, because it introduced us to things like this. Brooklyn was like a foreign country to me, and showing a rap video that featured a guitar solo by Slayer’s Kerry King… let’s just say this was a brilliant way to capture the attention of my metal head friends.

This is one of those albums that I listened to end-to-end so many times that when I hear a song from this album when it ends I automatically start to sing the next song. Paul Revere is probably my favorite rap song ever. I have no shame. I am sure there are better songs and better albums, but this was literally the soundtrack to so much of my youth. It’s a keeper.

Doolittle – The Pixies

I first learned of the Pixies when a boy put “Here’s Comes Your Man” on a mix tape for me, and I still wasn’t sure if this boy liked me or not… I just thought he had killer taste in music. To be frank, no one ever liked me, so assuming he didn’t like me was perfectly reasonable. It was also reasonable to buy Doolittle on my next trip to the “record store” and proceed to wear that cassette out. This is an album that runs like one big, long, complicated song to me. You start with Debaser, end with Gouge Away, and everything in between is sort of a blur. But it’s awesome. When I listen to my iPhone music on shuffle and it gives me just one song from this album, it’s just weird. You have to listen to the whole thing.

True Blue – Madonna

I have never listened to much pop music, but EVERYONE listened to Madonna. This was new when I was about 10 years old, so I have no idea how I came up with the money or got to the store to buy this cassette, but I owned this and listened to it nonstop. I even sang these songs over the phone to my very first boyfriend. He must have thought I was really cool… because he eventually married me. Thanks, Madonna!

An Innocent Man – Billy Joel

This is another one that someone gave me. My dad was a Walmart truck driver, and working for Walmart meant we got to go to the “Sample Store.” One glorious day my mom came home from the Sample Store with a reasonably sized boom box and a cassette. This was an official upgrade from my record player, because I could take it outside! Nevermind that it had a nice big “S” melted into the side of it to designate it as a sample… my music just got portable! Thank goodness my mom had the foresight to understand that a portable cassette player called for a cassette! She probably picked whichever one was cheapest, but however it happened, she brought home Billy Joel. This was prior to whatever spending spree helped me get True Blue. Let’s just say that my friends and cousins were subjected to a LOT of Billy Joel. I might still remember the dance we choreographed to Uptown Girl.

State of Euphoria – Anthrax

Now, when we start to get into metal, we run the risk of this list going on and on and on, so I will wrap up today’s list with State of Euphoria and let’s assume there might be a related post somewhere in our future. This was not my first metal album, and it doesn’t necessarily tie to any significant event in my life. I never even saw Anthrax in concert until a few years ago. This is just a really good album, and I have been listening to it for 30 years. I think this was the album that made me realize how smart heavy metal could be. It includes references to books I had read and movies I had seen. I was 100% certain that me and these guys would have been friends. It also had a brilliant song that used the F word a lot. To my 12 year old self, this was glorious. But I could play the A side of this album without getting in trouble, and I played it so much that my mom would hum along to Be All, End All. This is just a brilliant album that every metal fan should own.

Do you have a list of must-own albums? What are you listening to lately? Leave a comment and let me know!

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[jaigeddes]

Turn Up the Music in Studio – Dec’18 Mix

As 2018 comes to a close, we normally find ourselves in a bit of a lull as our clients start shuttering projects for the holiday season … that behavior isn’t too crazy as there are parties and trips to take and between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, and everyone seems to have a lot going on. This is fairly normal for a residential architecture firm, except this year we are busier this November and December then we have ever been and as a result, I have been digging deeper and deeper into my studio playlist to keep myself energized as I put in some longer than normal hours.

One thing that brings me great happiness is when I play something that few people have ever heard of before … and they like it. With the current mix of people in my office, playing something that nobody has heard before is depressingly easy (they irreverently claim “youth” as the main reason they have never heard of the music I play for them) but I still think finding something that they like is a worthy goal.

So combine longer hours at the office with my goal of finding and playing music that exposes my office to something they enjoy and you get my current playlist …which I’d guess achieved a ±90% “I’ve never heard this before” rating.

Maybe you’ll fare better and have heard some of these songs before… or not. Okay, let’s get to it.

All Them Witches – Charles William While they are musically categorized as a “Metal” band, don’t let that fool you or put you off. Sure, they play loud at times but I have never wanted to whip my hair around or hold a lighter up during one of their songs. My typical response is that I do whatever it is I’m doing a little bit faster than I was previously.

I have two things about this video that might provide additional entertainment value to the song … First: Watch the right leg of the drummer, it’ll help show you how the bass drum is driving the beat. If you were me, you will also get a kick at the pattern of the hi-hat. Second: Stick around to the 2:30-minute mark and you’ll see what a rock-n-roll band looks like.

Bonus Track – When God Comes Back I don’t know many metal bands that play with a Rhodes keyboard, this seems more like stoner rock to me. Either way, if this song is playing while you’re working out, go ahead and slide an extra 40lbs onto the bench press, you’ll be able to lift it.

Matt Simons – I’m Already Over You Matt received his college degree in Jazz Saxophone Performance and you can definitely hear the jazz influence in his music. While this is probably not his most popular song, I like the keyboard … a trend I noticed that makes an appearance on a few of the songs on today’s list.

Leon Bridges – Coming Home Hailing from my backyard in Fort Worth, Texas, Leon Bridges has a great throwback sound and a wonderfully smooth voice that is reminiscent of 1950’s crooners Otis Redding and Sam Cooke.

Bonus Track – Smooth Sailing From the genius that is the NPR “Tiny Desk” series, in this song you can get a better feeling for just how good a voice Leon Bridges actually has –

Passafire – Submersible I only recently discovered Passafire and for the last several months, they’ve figured heavily into my playlist rotation. Formed in 2003, they are a reggae band made up from students that were attending the Savanah College of Art and Design … that’s right, it’s a reggae band from Georgia … that makes total sense.

If you want to get your groove on, this is a good group to put on your radar.

Agnes Obel – Familiar Another new artist for me – I originally discovered her from tracking down the music from a “Peloton” fitness ad (which was September Song if you are interested, as you should be).

Pay attention at the 1:35-minute mark. That is still Agnes singing, it just has this interesting male timbre to it that made me go searching to discover who had contributed additional vocals to the track. I learned that Agnes sang that portion herself and had it slowed down to give it the sound that it has. Pretty cool I think.

The Temptations – Papa was a Rolling Stone This is definitely a throwback song for me – but you know how I like a solid bass line. A psychedelic soul song that was originally written for the Motown group The Undisputed Truth. It was re-written as a 12-minute song for the Temptations that went on to hit #1 on the Billboard chart and take home 3 Grammy’s … Most of the time all I can think about is how pissed I’d be if I was in The Undisputed Truth and didn’t get the new version.

But the Temptations are amazing AND this video has them singing the song on Soul Train. If you are like the people in my office and don’t know what Soul Train is, you need to go here  … you can thank me later.

Marvin Gaye – Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) Probably my most favorite Marvin Gaye song – which is saying something because all of Marvin Gaye’s songs are amazing … and it also has one of the best bass line hooks ever. This is one of those songs that I think everyone will know until I ask the folks in my office and learn that nobody has ever heard this song before.

Nappy Roots – AwNaw I don’t know what to tell you other than I like this song. Whenever it comes up in my musical rotation, you had better watch out because I just might start bustin’ a move … also, this track is best listened to with the volume turned up. Recorded in 2002, there are a handful of songs from this period that is similar in sound to this one … maybe it’s the unexpected addition of the organ that pushed this one onto the list. Do yourself a favor and try to make it at least to the 45-second mark of the song before you punt out. Besides, it was either this song or Trick Daddy and In Da Wind

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Rascal King This is one of my favorite bands from my college days. Affectionately referred to as “The Bosstones” they are a hybrid ska-rock band and have been around since the early ’80s. They have never experienced huge commercial success but their fans are fairly passionate about the group. My favorite album from them was the 1993 studio album “Don’t Know How to Party” but I couldn’t find any videos from that album so I went with the Rascal King.

Fun fact – there have been 15 members of this band through the years with only 4 being there the whole time; the lead singer, the bass guitarist, the tenor saxophonist, AND THE DANCER!  If you watch the video, the conductor is the dancer – Ben Carr. I can’t tell you how many times I practiced perfecting his moves. (FYI – The dancer in this video towards the end is not the dancer)

The Green – Love I I haven’t met anyone in my life who has heard of The Green – which probably wouldn’t be the case if I lived in Hawaii. The song I have included here is off their debut album, which was named iTunes Best Reggae Album of 2010. I first heard them in an ice cream parlor when my wife and I first brought my daughter there on vacation back in 2011 and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime I wasn’t going to include this song in today’s post but it fell into the “Everybody needs to know this song” category. In fact, I’m not sure that we can be friends if you choose to dislike this song. Another great bass line, the genius of David Byrne both musically and from a performance standpoint, what’s not to like? I typically try to avoid providing commentary on the video because they are only here as a medium to allow people to hear the song I am talking about, however, I specifically chose this version BECAUSE of this video.

So there you go – hopefully, there are some new songs and bands in today’s post that are worth adding to your office playlist. This is the 5th entry into my “What Am I listening to” series. Just in case you make it through today’s list and you’re hungry for more., here are the links to the previous four:

Turn Up the Music in Studio

Turn up the music in the studio

What am I listening to anyways?

Architects and their Deserted Island Music

Turns those speakers up to 11 and have a great week!