#Belarus yoga

[arnaerr]

15 Questions

tagged by @lucien-lachance thanks as always <3

1. are you named after anyone?

Not really. Btw my full name is Vladislava which translates as ''the one having power/glory'' :))

2. when was the last time you cried?

hm...a month ago maybe? i don't remember why. I wish I cried more often tbh, it feels good to let go all emotions that were building up

3. do you have kids?

No, and not interested in it at all.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yeah.

5. what sports do you play/have you played?

I'm not really a sports person bc of my health issues, but I do hike a lot :)) also sometimes dance and do yoga.

6. what's the first thing you notice about other people?

Accessories and clothes?? idk

7. eye color?

Green/hazel

8. scary movies or happy endings?

Bittersweet endings :')

9. any special talents?

I'm able to recognize and specify birds by their sounds or looks only. And I'm good at reading maps, especially when in the wild. Mushroom picking and recognizing mushrooms in general. Good sense of style and makeup skills (here are some of my fav eye looks that I did in the last months)

Also, I'm funny :3c

10. where were you born?

Belarus. But luckily I moved to Poland 9 years ago.

11. what are your hobbies?

Painting (what a surprise), hiking, reading, listening to music, going to concerts and museums, belly dancing, weaving.

12. do you have any pets?

No, but I want to :c

13. how tall are you?

180 cm/5'11''

14. fave subject in school?

Languages in general, Astronomy (yes we had astronomy)

15. dream job?

To not work at all :)) fuck capitalism. Just live in a cosy mansion and paint traditionally whatever I want

[unhonestlymirror]

Liet is not an art person, but he's really good at business. He's a car seller, the head of a quite huge corporation (you'll never guess because most of the time he dresses like he lives in the woods). He sits on the Internet as often as Cillian Murphy (he doesn't know meme culture at all). He likes it when people explain memes to him.

Latvia is a popular singer. His appearance and voice will not leave any girl indifferent. He's also a good writer (Belarus has a secret shrine full of his poems and pictures). He would have had an even bigger fanbase if russia (who has no talent but an evil heart) didn't try to sink him by giving ridiculously big amounts of bribery to people who can shadowban Latvia. Nevertheless, even with such an environment, Latvia is more popular than Lithuania, although Lithuania is on much better terms with other countries.

The life of an artist often leaves you without a penny in your pocket, so Latvia often asks Lithuania for a bit of help. Liet grumbles a lot ("Get yourself a normal job that could provide you with a piece of bread in hard times and old age, and for the love of Perkūnas, stop drinking that much."), but he always helps.

Belarus works in IT, so she can afford to stay inside and not go anywhere. However, due to her soft heart, she's often robbed by scammers on the Internet. She loves yoga, bragging about buying expensive stuff for 0.01 $ on Aliexpress and Latvia's songs. She and Estonia play Minecraft in Discord. Estonia is the only person who knows her little secret about the shrine to Latvia.

Ukraine loves chatting and making something with her own hands. Thus, she changes her jobs quite often, but her favourites are: a stewardess, a manicurist, a university lecturer, a doctor, a taxi driver... In terms of job variety, she's no different from Barbie. She loves making art, she's the art. She's also straightforward to the point that people perceive her as extremely rude, she loves arguments and she laughs a lot. Children love her, but she's a bit scared of them. Loves talking with Lithuania because he always listens to her with attention.

[morgenlich]

🧸 💤 &🎭 for Belarus

🎶 👽 &😺 for Russia

(Please)

headcanon asks!

🧸) A headcanon about their childhood

she was a deeply weird and morbid child though it feels a bit like cheating to say that asdfcv. she was also the type who was always late to dinner and never wanted to go inside

💤) A headcanon about their sleep

she's the kind of person who will sleep for about four hours, get up, do yoga or something, then go back to sleep for four hours. also she wakes up at like 5am of her own free will.

🎭) A headcanon about what they lie about

again it feels like cheating but her feelings. including (sometimes especially) to herself.

🎶) A headcanon about music

he simply does not keep up with contemporary music at all. like he'll tune into e/urovision (well. [gestures]) and sometimes will choose the top 40s radio stations but in general he does not seek out new music lol

👽) A headcanon about a weird quirk of theirs

LMAO where to start with him, he's a deeply weird guy. i'll go with: he absolutely cannot stand having things in even numbered quantities because he's extremely superstitious. every room in his house has an odd number of chairs, if he's buying idk onions for a recipe that calls for two he'll buy a third, etc.

😺) An animal related headcanon

he's been cursed to have extremely bad vibes so most animals instinctively shy away from him :((

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 6.21

Holidays

Alzheimer’s Awareness Day

Atheist Solidarity Day

Baby Boomer Recognition Day

Banjo Lesson Day

Bill Murray Day

Create a New National Day Day

Day of the Martyrs (Togo)

Father’s Day (Egypt, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Syria, UAE)

Ferris Wheel Day

Flag Day (Greenland)

Flag Burning Day

Global MND / ALS Awareness Day

Go Skateboarding Day

Het Meetjesland Day (Belgium)

International Climate Change Day

International Flower Day

International Anirida Day

International Music Day (f.k.a. World Music Day)

International T-Shirt Day

International Yoga Day (UN)

LP Day

Martyrs' Day (Togo)

Migraine Solidarity Day

Naked Hiking Day

National Aboriginal Day (a.k.a. First Nations Day or Indigenous Peoples Day; Canada)

National Arizona Day

National ASK Day

National Create a New National Holiday Day

National Day of the Gong

National Dog Party Day

National eGiving Day

National Heroes’ Day (Bermuda)

National Jimmy Day

National Professional Medical Coder Day

National River Tubing Day

National Seashell Day

National Selfie Day

National Wedding Day

National Yard Games Day

Obscenity Day

Onion Day (French Republic)

Reaping Machine Day

Reserves Day (UK)

Shades for Migraine Day

Short Story Day (Africa)

Show Your Stripes Day

Stock Up On Antiperspirant Day

Suffolk Day (UK)

SYNGAP1 International Awareness Day

T-Shirt Day

Turner Syndrome Awareness Day (UK)

Ulloortuneq (Greenland)

World Day Against ELA (Spain)

World Giraffe Day

World Handshake Day

World Hydrography Day

World Kamasutra Day (India)

World Motorcycle Day

World Music Day (Paris, France)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Gin and Tonic Season begins

Johnnie Walker Day

Lambrusco Day

National Cookie Dough Day

National Smoothie Day

Peaches and Cream Day

Red Apple Day (Australia)

3rd Wednesday in June

National Healthcare Estates & Facilities Day (UK) [3rd Wednesday]

Independence Days

Greenland (Assumed Self-Rule; 2009)

New Hampshire Statehood Day (#9; 1788)

Principality of Aigues-Mortes (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Aaron of Brittany (Christian; Saint)

Alban of Mainz (Christian; Saint)

Aloysius Gonzaga (Christian; Saint)

Day of the Crab (Pagan)

Engelmund of Velsen (Christian; Saint)

Eusebius of Samosata (Christian; Saint)

St. Henry (Positivist; Saint)

Henry Ossawa Tanner (Artology)

Leufredus (a.k.a. Keufroi; Christian; Saint)

Martin of Tongres (Christian; Saint)

Meen (a.k.a. Mevenus or Melanus; Christian; Saint)

Onesimos Nesib (Lutheran)

Ralph (Christian; Saint)

Sam Kinison Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Skateboarding Day (Pastafarian)

Solstice [1st Day of Summer in Northern Hemisphere] (a.k.a. ... 

Acophony (G’BroagFran of Anti-Music; Church of the SubGenius)

Alban Hefin (a.k.a. Litha or Midsummer; Celtic, Pagan) [4 of 8 Festivals of the Natural Year]

Aimless Wandering Day

Anne and Samantha Day

Aymara New Year (Año Nuevo Aymara; Bolivia)

Cuckoo Warning Day (it will be a wet summer if the cuckoo is heard today)

Daylight Appreciation Day

Day of Private Reflection

Day of the Martyrs (Togo)

Feast of the Great Spirit (Native American)

Fête de la Musique

Finally Summer Day/Finally Winter Day

Hump Day (Tasmania)

Indigenous New Year (We Tripantu; Año Nuevo Indígena; Chile)

International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice

Into Raymi (Incan Sun God Festival; Sacsayhuamán Andes Mountain Natives)

Jaanipäev (Estonia)

Jāņi (Latvia)

Juhannus Day (Finland)

Kupala (fertility rite)

Kupala Night (Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Russia)

Litha (Wiccan/Pagan; northern hemisphere)

Midnight Sun Festival (Nome, Alaska)

Midsomarsblog (Norse celebration of fishing, trading & raiding)

Midsummer

Midsummer Baal (Celtic)

National Celluma Light Therapy Day

National Daylight Appreciation Day

National Day of Greenland

National Energy Shopping Day

Polar Bear Swim (Nome, Alaska)

Saint Jonas' Festival (Lithuania)

Solsticio de Invierno (Bolivia)

Sommar Börjar (Sweden)

Tall Girl Appreciation Day

33-1/3 Day

Tiregān (Iran)

Wadjet (Ancient Egypt)

We Tripantu (winter solstice festival in the southern hemisphere; Chile)

Wianki (Poland)

Willkakuti (Andean-Amazonic New Year; Aymara)

World Humanist Day

World Peace and Prayer Day

Yule (Wiccan/Pagan; southern hemisphere)

Sub-Human Cannonball (Muppetism)

World Humanist Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 29 of 60)

Premieres

Ain’t She Sweet (WB LT Cartoon; 1952)

Alpocalypse, by Weird Al Yankovic (Album; 2011)

Anna (Film; 2019)

The Bling Ring (Film; 2013)

The Blue Umbrella (Pixar Cartoon; 2013)

Bon Ives, by Bon Iver (Album; 2011)

Chinatown (Film; 1974)

Cocoon (Film; 1985)

Creepin on ah Come Up, by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (EP; 1994)

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, by Richard Wagner (Opera; 1868)

Donald and the Wheel (Disney Cartoon; 1961)

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, by Elton John and Kiki Dee (Song; 1976)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Animated Disney Film; 1996)

Impact is Imminent, by Exodus (Album; 1990)

Lifeforce (Film; 1985)

Lilo & Stitch (Animated Disney Film; 2002)

The Litterbug (Disney Cartoon; 1961)

Minority Report (Film; 2002)

Mr. Tambourine Man, by The Byrds (Album; 1965)

Monsters University (Animated Pixar Film; 2013)

Moves Like Jagger, by Maroon 5 (Song; 2011)

The Parent Trap (Film; 1961)

The Promise of Joy, by Allen Drury (Novel; 1975)

Return to Oz (Film; 1985)

The Rocketeer (Film; 1991)

Smoking: The Choice is Yours (Disney Educational Cartoon; 1981)

Sweet Child o’ Mine, by Guns n’ Roses (Song; 1988)

The Te of Piglet, by Benjamin Hoff (Spiritual Book; 1993)

Toy Story 4 (Animated Pixar Film; 2019)

A Walk on the Wild Side, by Nelson Algren (Novel; 1956)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Film; 1966)

World War Z (Film; 2013)

Today’s Name Days

Adalbert, Florentina (Austria)

Margareta, Naum (Croatia)

Květa (Czech Republic)

Sylverius (Denmark)

Kaari, Karlotte, Karola, Karoliine, Karolin, Lota (Estonia)

Into (Finland)

Silvère (France)

Adalbert, Florentina, Margot (Germany)

Methodios (Greece)

Rafael (Hungary)

Ettore, Silverio (Italy)

Imula, Maira, Rasa, Rasma (Latvia)

Silverijus, Žadvainas, Žintautė (Lithuania)

Salve, Sølve, Sølvi (Norway)

Bogna, Bogumiła, Bożena, Florentyna, Franciszek, Michał, Rafaela, Rafał, Sylwery (Poland)

Metodie (România)

Maria, Valeria (Russia)

Valéria (Slovakia)

Florentina, Silverio (Spain)

Flora, Linda (Sweden)

Earl, Earline, Errol, Fatima, Ofelia, Omar, Omarion, Ophelia (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 173 of 2024; 193 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 25 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 10 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 4 (Geng-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 2 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 2 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 22 Sol; Oneday [22 of 30]

Julian: 8 June 2023

Moon: 11%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 4 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Henry]

Runic Half Month: Dag (Day) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 1 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 1 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Cancer (The Crab) begins [Zodiac Sign 4; thru 7.22]

Summer [Season 3 of 4; thru 9.23]

[brookston]

Holidays 4.14

Holidays

Air Force Reserve Day

American Dictionary Day

Americas Day (Honduras, Mexico)

Anfal Genocide Memorial Day

Black Day (South Korea)

Blessing of the Salmon Nets (Northumbria)

Bon Jovi Day (New Jersey)

Cake and Cunnilingus Day

Children’s Day (Peru)

Children with Alopecia Day

Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan)

Cuckoo Day (Old England)

Day of Mologa (Russia)

Day of (No) Silence (GLSEN)

Day of the Georgian Language

Day of the Skater

Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives)

Dictionary Day

Donate Life Blue & Green Day

Draw MegaMan Day

Dreams of Reason Feast Day

Ex-Spouse's Day

414 Day

Global Roller Day

Grand National Ladies Day (UK)

Gujarat (Fire Service Day; India)

International Goalkeeper Day

International Moment of Laughter Day

International Silambam Day

Kids’ Yoga Day

Kinetoscope Day

Look Up at the Sky Day

Lundkommardagen (Puffin Arrival Day; Norway) 

Meme Appreciation Day

Milwaukee Day (414)

Moirang Day (a.k.a. Victory Day; India)

National Bracelet Day

National Dolphin Day

National Donate a Book Day

National Gardening Day

National Kick Balls Day

National Love Our Children Day

National Not Ashamed of Jesus Day

National Perfume Day

National Reach as High as You Can Day

N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande)

Orange Day (Japan)

Pan American Day

Pathologists’ Assistant Day

Peregrine Falcon Appreciation Day

Peter Capaldi Day

Pigeon Day (French Republic)

Reach As High As You Can Day

Samjinnal (Arrival of Spring; Korea)

Secret Service Day

Spring Hula Hooping Day

Tempting Fate Day

Takayama Spring Festival (Japan)

Thingyan begins (Water Festival; Burma)

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Day of Service (South Africa)

World Chagas Day

World Quantum Day

Youth Day (Angola)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Espresso Italiano Day (Italy)

International Laverbread Day

Laverbread Day

National Grits Day

National Pecan Day

Oreo Cookie Cheesecake Day

Saison Day

Tannat Day (Uruguay)

2nd Sunday in April

Air Defense Forces Day (Belarus, Russia) [2nd Sunda

Global Day to End Sexual Abuse [2nd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 14 (3rd Week)

Animal Control Appreciation Week [2nd Full Week in April]

Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week Week [3rd Week in April]

Astronomy Week — Spring [thru 4.20]

Cleaning For A Reason Week [begins 2nd Sunday]

National Coin Week [3rd Week in April]

National Dog Bite Prevention Week [3rd Week in April]

National Public Safety Telecommunications Week [2nd Full Week in April]

National Student Employment Week [2nd Full Week in April]

National Volunteer Week Week [3rd Week in April]

Neurodiagnostic Week [3rd Week in April]

Organize Your Files Week Week [3rd Week in April]

Pan American Week [Week of 4.14]

Independence & Related Days

Jonja Island (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Lawfords (a.k.a. Kingdom of Lawfords; Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

New Year’s Days

Hindi New Year (a.k.a. …

Assamese New Year

Baisakhi (Parts of India)

Bisket Jatra (Nepali New Year)

Bohag Bihu (Assam Valley)

Cambodian New Year

Chetti Chand (Parts of India)

Guḍhī Pāḍavā [1st Day of Chaitra]

Hari Raya Yep Tahun Baru (Indonesia)

Malayali New Year (Kerala)

Nyepi Day (a.k.a. Day of Silence; Bali)

Ougadi (Mauritius)

Pi Mai (Laotian New Year)

Ramayana begins

Sajibu Nongmapanba (Cheiraoba, Manipur, India)

Telgu New Year

Thingyan begins (Burma)

Ugadi (Parts of India)

Vaisakhi (Parts of India)

Kerala New Yea (India)

New Year's Day (Assamese, Bengali, Burmese, Sikh, Khmer, Lao, Nepali, Oriya, Sinhalese, Tamil, Thai, Tuluva; Southeast Asia) [Sidereal Vernal Equinox]

Sidereal New Year (South and Southeast Asian) (a.k.a. …

Aluth Avurudda (Sri Lanka)

Biju Festival (Parts of India)

Bisu (Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka and Kerala, India)

Bizhu (Chakmas in Mizoram, Tripura and Bangladesh)

Bohag Bihu (Assam, India)

Buisu (Tripura, India)

Bwisagu (Bodoland region of Assam, India)

Cheiraoba (Parts of India)

Choul Chnam Thmey (Cambodia)

Jur Sital (Mithila region of Bihar, India and Nepal)

Khmer New Year (Cambodia)

Maha Vusubha Sankranti (Parts of India)

Oriya New Year (Parts of India)

Pahela Baishakh (Bangladesh and West Bengal, India)

Pana Sankranti (Odisha, India)

Pi Mai (Laos)

Puthandu (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, India and Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka)

Rongali Bihu (Parts of India)

Samjinnal (Korea)

Sangken (Khamti, Singpho, Khamyang, Tangsa in Arunachal Pradesh and Tai Phake, Tai Aiton, and Turung in Assam, India)

Sinhala (Sri Lanka)

Songkran (Thailand)

Tamil New Year (Parts of India)

Thingyan (Myanmar)

Tuluva New Year (Parts of India)

Vaisakhi (Punjab, North and Central India, Nepalese New Year in Nepal)

Varusha Pirruppa (Tamil New Year; Mauritius)

Vishu (Kerala, India)

Water-Sprinkling Festival (Yunnan, China)

Festivals Beginning April 14, 2024

Alphretta Wine Festival (Alpharetta, Georgia)

The Chocolate Expo (Long Island, New York)

International Rose & Wine Festival (Shreveport, Louisiana)

New Haven Restaurant Week (New Haven, Connecticut) [thru 4.19]

Ocean City Restaurant Week (Ocean City, Maryland) [thru 4.19]

Seville Fair (Seville, Spain) [thru 4.20]

Vinitaly (Verona, Italy) [thru 4.17]

ZagreDox (Zagreb, Croatia) [thru 4.21]

Zilker Kite Festival (Austin, Texas)

Feast Days

Abushibarei (Ryukyuan)

Adolph Hitler Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Albategnius (Positivist; Saint)

Ambedkar Jayanti (India)

Ardalion (Christian; Martyrs)

Bénézet (Christian; Saint)

Bernard of iron (Christian; Saint)

Caradoc, Benezet, John, Antony and Eustace (Christian; Martyrs)

Carpus of Thyatira (Christian; Saint)

Domnina of Terni (Christian; Saint)

Elfin Choirs Congress (Shamanism)

The Extremes (Muppetism)

Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Artology)

Galungan (Celebrating Victory of Dharma over Adharma; Bali)

Henry Beard Delany (Episcopal Church (USA))

Justin (Christian; Martyr)

Lambert of Lyons (Christian; Saint)

Lidwina (a.k.a. B. Lidwina of Schiedam or Lydwina; Christian; Saint)

Look Up at the Sky Day (Pastafarian)

Marianne’s Day (Pagan)

Maryamma (Goddess of the Sea; Hinduism; Everyday Wicca)

Peter González (Christian; Saint)

Sommarsblot (Norse)

Three Smiles Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus (Christian; Martyrs)

Victor Borisov-Musatov (Artology)

Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays

Eid al-Fitr celebrations continue (Islam)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Historically Bad Day (Lincoln shot, Titanic hit an iceberg & 9 other tragedies) [1 of 11]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 17 of 60)

Premieres

About Damn Time, by Lizzo (Song; 2022)

American Psycho (Film; 2000)

Batman vs. Robin (WB Animated Film; 2015)

Beach Blanket Bingo (Film; 1965)

Beauty and the Beast (WB MM Cartoon; 1934)

The Big Bad Wolf (Disney Silly Symphonies Cartoon; 1934)

British Steel, by Judas Priest (Album; 1980)

Buddy’s Garage (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Bye Bye Birdie (Broadway Musical; 1960)

The Candle in the Wind, by T.H. White (Novel; 1958) [Once and Future King #4]

Cannery Roden (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1967)

Diver Down, by Van Halen (Album; 1982)

Execution Dock, by Anne Perry (Novel; 2009)

The Fair-Haired Hare (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Farewell Waltz, by Milan Kundera (Novel; 1972)

The Fate of the Furious [F&F #8]

Girl Happy (Film; 1965)

Grape Nutty (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1949)

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Novel; 1939)

The Hash Shop (Oswald he Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

The History of Sexuality, by Michel Foucault (Philosophy Book; 1976)

Iceland's Bell, by Halldór Laxness (Novel; 1943)

Insulin’ the Sultan (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1934)

The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison (Novel; 1952)

Iron Maiden, by Iron Maiden (Album; 1980)

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, by Public Enemy (Album; 1988)

Keeping the Faith (Film; 2000)

The King of Torts, by John Grisham (Novel; 2003)

Kinky Boots (Film; 2006)

The Legend of Korea (Animated TV Series; 2012)

Let’s Dance, by David Bowie (Album; 1983)

The Missing Piece Shel Silverstein (Children’s Book; 1976)

Mixed Master (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

Much Ado About Mousing (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1964)

The Notorious Bettie Page (Film; 2006)

Off the Deep End, by Weird Al Yankovic (Album; 1992)

The Pebble and the Penguin (Animated Film; 1995)

Put Me in the Zoo, by Robert Lopshire (Children’s Book; 1960)

Put-Put, Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1968)

Renfield (Film; 2023)

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (Radio Series; 1930)

Rocket Man, by Elton John (Song; 1972)

Say Anything (Film; 1989)

Shift: First Shift — Legacy, by Hugh Howey (Novel; 2012)

Spark (Animated Film; 2017)

Thank You For Smoking (Film; 2006)

Ultra, by Depeche Mode (Album; 1997)

Webster’s American Dictionary (Book; 1818)

The Wild (Animated Film; 2006)

Today’s Name Days

Elmo, Erna, Ernestine (Austria)

Maksim, Valerijan, Zdravko (Croatia)

Vincenc (Czech Republic)

Tiburtius (Denmark)

Lehe, Lehte, Lehti (Estonia)

Taito (Finland)

Ludivine, Maxime (France)

Elmo, Erna, Ernestine (Germany)

Aristarhos, Thomais (Greece)

Tibor (Hungary)

Abbondio, Ignazio, Lamberto (Italy)

Agape, Gudrite, Strauja (Latvia)

Justinas, Vaišvydė, Vaiva, Valerijonas, Visvaldas (Lithuania)

Ellinor, Nora (Norway)

Berenike, Julianna, Justyn, Maria, Myślimir, Tyburcjusz, Walerian, Waleriana (Poland)

Pahomie (Romania)

Maria (Russia)

Justína (Slovakia)

Lidia, Tiburcio, Valeriano (Spain)

Tiburtius (Sweden)

Martin (Ukraine)

Caradoc, Carey, Cary, Hudson (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 105 of 2024; 261 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of week 15 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 6 (Wu-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Nisan 5784

Islamic: 5 Shawwal 1445

J Cal: 15 Cyan; Oneday [15 of 30]

Julian: 1 April 2024

Moon: 38%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 21 Archimedes (4th Month) [Hippachus]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 27 of 92)

Week: 3rd Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 25 of 31)

Calendar Changes

April (a.k.a. Aprilis; Julian Calendar) [Month 4 of 12]

Saille (Willow) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 4 of 13]

[miniaturetalecrown]

Hetalia Character Profiles - New Zealand

Character's Name: New Zealand, Zee (by Alfred and Matthew), Kiwi (by Jake), Kiwi-Fruit (also by Jake), Rachel Victoria Kirkland (1840-1945), Rachel Victoria Mhairi Smith (1945-1990), and Rachel Victoria Mhairi Smith-Beilschmidt (1990-present), Rach (by Ludwig, Alfred, Matthew, and Jake), Darling (by Arthur).

Age: Human - Baby, toddler and child (1840-1880), Teenager (1880-1918), Appears 18 after 1919. Nation - 184.

Height: 5”11 (180cm).

Physical Description: Tall, joint tallest female nation with Laura (Belgium) and Natalya (Belarus), Rachel has a strong hourglass figure and has superhuman strength like her older brothers, Alfred (America) and Jake (Australia). Rachel takes after both her Aunt Shannon (Ireland) and Aunt Mhairi (Scotland) in appearance.

Eye Colour: Emerald green like Arthur (England), Uncle Dylan (Wales), Aunt Shannon, and Aunt Mhairi.

Hair Colour/Style: Long light brown curls, which is super thick and reaches down to the middle of her back. Rachel usually has her hair tied up into a ponytail when she’s working out with Ludwig (Germany) or doing business. Rachel leaves her hair down the rest of the time. Ludwig often complains about how much hair Rachel leaves everywhere.

Other Physical Traits: Freckles across her nose which she inherited from Arthur . Rachel also has her ears pierced, her septum pierced, a bird tattoo on her left shoulder, and a tattoo on her right leg. Like Shannon and Mhairi, Rachel didn’t inherit the infamous Kirkland eyebrows.

Personal Appearance/Style: Rachel wears mostly black, reds, blues, and purples. Rachel grew up wearing long dresses with corsets in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Rachel was relieved to stop wearing corsets in the 1910s/1920s. Now, Rachel’s wardrobe is full of comfy t-shirts, blue and black jeans, short dresses, and short skirts. Rachel also wears Ludwig’s clothes, especially his t-shirts.

Verbal Style: Rachel mostly speaks with her New Zealand accent; she can also speak in a posh English accent (which she used when she was in upper class company as she was growing up). Rachel also speaks fluent German, and her New Zealand accent is only slightly noticeable.

Education: Rachel was educated by Mhairi as a child/teenager along with Jake. Mhairi taught both the same despite the pressures to educate Rachel differently based on gender. Rachel also went to University, unlike Alfred and Jake and her cousin, Matthew (Canada). Rachel gained her degree in English Literature from Edinburgh University in 1925.

Occupation: Diplomat. Rachel also helps out at bird sanctuaries in her spare time.

Past Occupations: A military nurse during both world wars, a fighter pilot during the Second World War, and a nurse.

Skills, Abilities or Talents: Rachel is a talented artist and even painted Arthur’s portrait in the 1920s, Arthur still has the portrait over his fireplace. Rachel also has the ability to understand birds. Rachel has also written a romance novel, which she wrote in the 1950s. Rachel enjoys knitting and still knits sweaters for herself.

Positive Personality Treats: Friendly, compassionate, good sense of humour, and animal lover.

Negative Personality Traits: Stubborn like Arthur, can be judgemental and too sharp-tongued.

Sense of Humour: Sarcastic, sharp, and witty.

Physical/Mental Illnesses or Afflictions: The most mentally stable of her siblings/cousins. The world wars didn’t affect Rachel as much as other family members or Ludwig. Jake tries to avoid Rachel when she’s on her period, as she used to lose her temper with him when they were teenagers, Jake even warned Ludwig to not go near Rachel when she’s on her period without chocolates and flowers.

Hobbies/Interests: Playing Rugby with Jake, painting, drawing, yoga, bird watching, cooking, snowboarding, skiing, and swimming.

Favourite Foods: Fish and chips, Ludwig’s homemade chocolate cake, and pavlova.

Most Important Personal Items: Her diamond engagement ring, her silver fern necklace that Ludwig gave her, and her photo album.

Person/Friend Close to Character: Rachel is closest to her husband and best friend, Ludwig. They’ve been together since 1895 and have known each other since the 1850s when they met as toddlers. In 1987, after Rachel’s independence from the British Empire, Ludwig proposed to Rachel on a beach in New Zealand, and in 1990 the couple would get married with both their families and friends present. Ludwig is protective of Rachel and won’t let anything happen to her. Rachel worries about Ludwig when he works too much and his lack of sleep.

Background: Rachel was born on the 6th of February 1840 and was raised by Arthur. Rachel is Arthur’s youngest child and only daughter. Arthur spoiled Rachel as a young child and was/is protective of her. Rachel has two older brothers, Alfred was about 18 when she was born, and Jake was about three. There’s also Rachel’s older cousin Matthew who was about 14. Matthew also helped Mhairi and Shannon look after Rachel. Both Mhairi and Shannon acted as governesses to Jake and Rachel. Dylan also helped with Jake and Rachel. Rachel used to help Dylan with his sheep.

[alightineverydarkness]

A Correction (For Jonathan Franzen)

As I stand in the sand, staring, enhanced, far into a field in front of me through the lens of a high-end rangefinder, measuring distances and angles to upcoming aims, and the smoke where our last shell hit is clearing, the colonel is repeating the word corrections behind me. I'd just relayed to him the distance and angle of our last hit, and he and the lieutenant are calculating new firing data taking into account wind speed, temperature, and our previous hit: the corrections. I cannot overstate the importance of the corrections, says colonel. A lieutenant colonel comes by, takes out of a pocket of his uniform what looks to be a page from a book, tears it up into neat rectangles and throws it down on the sand: there's your wind speed, boys, he says.

Bits of the page fall in a rough ellipse, like a soft vase broken upon soft sand. He takes two big, meter-long steps to the middle of the ellipse: that's four meters a second. Tear the page, throw it to the ground: there's your corrections. It was as if he was addressing me — I'd just finished re-reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen yesterday in bed (a yoga mat on wooden floorboard). I look around: is there anyone I could tell the whole story I see here?

Dear Jonathan Franzen, I'm sure you're so, so tired of this shit, but I have a correction. The gist of it is so simple and poignant even you couldn't make that shit up. It's "Ukraine", not "the Ukraine". No definite article, as with other countries — we're just like them. The Corrections refers to my country, in passing, as some kind of enclave or region, while Belarus, which gave gave free rein to Russia to launch their missiles from their territory, is treated with greater respect in the same sentence. I'd always suspended my disbelief there, choosing to refuse the notion that this book that made me wipe away tears on the subway, that I forced upon my reluctant friends, was written by an American man, who sees Ukraine and me just as one would expect, and the story is a lie, all sound and fury that adds up to nothing at all. Twenty years later, the, the echoes: a Z on a tank crushing charred civilian bodies, and a guiding light, Zelensky, the president.

I'd chosen to believe it was a slip on the part of your editor, no big deal, they would've fixed it if they looked over the text one more time. Hell, I was saying "the Ukraine" occasionally until like the fifth grade. Now I am standing in the sand in a uniform, in my pocket a phone randomly buzzing with friends chat's Discourse On Franzen. I find a moment to read a screenshot from the Meduza, a Russian media interview, and am crestfallen. How could he speak to Russians, how could he say these things! A friend says, I never managed to get past one tenth into The Corrections, I hated the guy. I think of attempting to respond, how, yeah, I know, I hate him, what a fucking jackass, I related so hard. No time, instead I just type 'he also calls us 'the Ukraine' in the book', but the message won't go through.

Now, late at night, again where I finished The Corrections yesterday, I'm imagining you tell your editor, a shadowy figure, over a desk in a dark room, the light from a desk lamp turning your glasses all walleye, 'The "the" stays. I know what I'm about'. You may or may not be smoking a European cigarette. Didn't happen, who cares.

Have you ever considered laser eye surgery, Jonathan. I'm clutching a $10,000 rangefinder, the smallest in its class, in the middle of a sand storm. The wind has picked up. The rangefinder's laser stumbles over sand in the air, returning a distance value of D = 8.3M. 'Not good', I yell to the colonel.

Man Interviewed Says He Doubts His Abilities To Judge Good and Bad, Proceeds To Judge.

Man says, how can you write off an entire country just because it's got an evil tyrant at the helm. I tell the man: my American, no one's writing anyone off; in fact, we're writing it all down. I tell him: my dude, Russia is a country all right, with a history, and its days are numbered, and it's about fucking time we took a long hard look at what the history of that country actually was. And I tell him that I was born in a country that saw that history unfold at its front door and had been a long-suffering neighbor in a house that had been robbed many a time. Even in my 27 years, Ive had a front row seat, and I hated the view.

Who wrote who off? I hold the people accountable. What happened to all the "would you kill Hitler?" party talk, I remember that was a thing at parties. Or do Russians usually say 'I'd probably sit it out and try not to think about it'? Can that be cured? These people have a Hitler, and it's been twenty years, and nothing's happened!

Man says, now's the time to come to Russia and support those opposed to the government. Now's the time to spend time, money, and mind there, pay taxes, now is the time to pay for Russian oil to make sure the inflation does not hit too hard those poor Russians that are opposed to the regime, even if you end up mostly sponsoring a genocide. Can't forget about those good Russians, they're good folks, they didn't vote for him, never hurt a fly, they've sat at home and been real quiet for twenty years, cause Russia is scary stuff.

Man says, did someone expect literature to prevent this? Aren't books a bit like apples, and would you blame yourself if you ate apples from a Russian garden and the apple trees could not stop the war? Oh, man. Did you buy the apples? Aren't apples a bit like gas and coal, and would you blame the EU if it paid 35 billion euros (this happened) to Russia and it didn't stop the war? No, dude. Both with the apples and the gas, I'd feel pretty fucking shitty and complicit.

Here's the thing, man. Ukraine is a country. Always has been. Our history has not differed much from many countries of the world you would not deny agency like that in an interview to a Russian media. An American seems to believe this is, again, about America, and boy does that help Russia — let's doubt Ukraine exists, make it about the superpower beef thing, and if the battlefield (that I just happened to have been born on) gets genocided a little, well, tough. Russia is killing Ukrainians, but yeah, they meant the USA, who cares, starts with U, a dictator gets confused. No.

Russia and us, we had a history for centuries, from way before the Native Americans were first told to beat it. We sat next to a bully all school year and he beat us up and took our lunch every day. This is not a war between Russia and the USA. We did not 'become involved in a proxy war' — I can't believe I have to say this — the Russian Army entered Ukraine and Russian soldiers began a genocide, murdering, raping, torturing and putting into camps people of all ages, starving us to death in besieged cities, capturing and stealing our grain supplies, burning our literature in schools and libraries. Their methodic, perverted cruelty, their giddy slaughter, is aimed at Ukrainians specifically, it is the culmination of centuries of shit they put us through, hating us, envying us — this is not new. This is just the end of the school year, when the quiet kid calmly takes off his glasses and socks the bully in the jaw, hard.

Every day since February 24th ranks somewhere among top-100 worst days of my life. And you speak as if I am an idiot, fooled into obeying something I don't understand, while I just want the murder to end and I ask the USA for ammo.

This laser I am holding is so powerful, I could probably pop people's eyes like popcorn.

As an artillery man, let me make this plain: I WANT THE M777. I THINK IT IS GOOD, AND I LIKE IT. I want one so bad, I want to learn how to operate it. I have been training on weapons using 6000 mils but this rangefinder switches to 6400 NATO mils with a couple of clicks, and I am almost as adaptable, too. I'll type up a neat manual for my fellow artillery men if there's no Ukrainian one, and I want to fire the M777 at Russian soldiers that are trying to kill me, that are killing as I type this. I have a mind of my own and there is no moral wrong in me wanting this. I, newly a Ukrainian soldier (because I did not want to die), am asking for weapons (because I do not want to die); it just so happens that the Ukrainian president does, for the first time in my life, speak for me, and is relaying my message to the world. It is a feeling I have never known before, and it brings me to tears if I think about it too much, a sun of righteous anger so bright it makes my eyes burn.

If I could hit a sniper in the scope with this laser, it would probably hella completely fry up a brain. Man, it's like that bit in Infinite Jest.

On The Simpsons, I hit Jasper in the eye with my laser: 'My cataracts are gone. I can see again!'; then he is gruesomely obliterated by a 120 mm shell.

My twelfth New Year's was marked by my first attempt at willful abandon of consumerism. Year after year I'd seen, with increasing clarity, various hints my parents would drop regarding how unaffordable for us the presents I wanted were: a German H0 gauge train set, a camera; but I chose to not understand, and my parents would somehow deliver. Perhaps, my train set was one of the simpler, passenger variety ones (an engine, three identical cars), but it was of the very same brand I'd carried around catalogues of, with my set present in the back pages. It became a permanent fixture on the carpet in my room for years, even though the motor of the train quickly took in hairs and dust from the carpet, and the train wouldn't depart unless I gave it a push or dragged it along. Seeing an object from a catalogue of a German toy company materialize in my bedroom was my first taste of the realness of a vast, unfathomable world beyond Ukraine. Idly sitting in school and considering the fact that colorful pictures of train models in catalogues reflected reality, that these trains existed somewhere in the world, and were played with by kids like me, made my head spin, like trying to imagine how much a million of something is.

Next year, at twelve, I thought, it's time to be an adult and help my parents out a bit. I asked them for a Monopoly, equating my willingness to embrace a less identity-shaping present with maturity (unlike the train, I knew I had no way to play it daily), and thinking a board game had to be cheap enough to save the sides of the transaction the awkwardness. I'd played Monopoly before, with my cousin and her cool and beautiful friends (and occasionally in less terrifying company) a few times. It is all an anxious blur, but the first time we played it I was probably somewhere between the age of admiring the craftsmanship on the car figurine, and wanting to put it in my mouth.

On the evening of New Year's Eve, my father came home at the usual time, with a shopping bag in his hand that seemed to carry a flat box — which had to be my Monopoly, had to be. He did come into my room and put the bag on my bed, standing by it with a stilted smile. He wished me a happy new year in his ironically formal, uncool way; the bag contained a local generic version of Monopoly, called Monopolist. I wasn't then privy to the pitfalls and virtues of generic products; the thrift of a plain cereal or apple juice; the box seemed identical to my best recollection of real Monopoly, and yet, in the substitution of one sans serif for another and dethroning of monocled Mr. Moneybags, all magic had somehow been drained from the box.

I knew my father couldn't have possibly bought the wrong game by accident: some of his most prized possessions were a Parker pen, a vintage Levi's belt with a beautiful relief buckle, a Hohner harmonica. His stoic insistence on only buying licensed CDs in a country that record labels barely knew existed meant that his Bowie catalogue was sadly lacking, limited to 1995-2003 and a hits compilation. He prided himself on having never been a smoker; his possessions over many years amassed light signs of wear, but were, otherwise, anonymous, as if out of respect for the things, or in preparation for inevitably having to sell them. He seemed intent on living by the slogan the best or nothing, and life had taught him a hard lesson on how often he'd have to choose the latter.

'That Monopoly is SO expensive!' my father finally said, wrinkling his nose in mock disbelief, his smile now seeming apologetic, and I smiled too. We sat on my bed quietly, both feeling guilty despite having done nothing wrong, both smiling to make each other think we were happy. Somehow, for no reason at all, this evening had become one of the saddest of my life. I loved my father and pitied the both of us so, and there was nothing I could do.

The properties on the board, when they came to me, instead of the sophisticated Park Lane and Pall Mall, were all Kyiv streets: the stuffy, hot Khreschatyk, that as a kid I couldn't see for all the tourists, Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard, which I only knew as a drudgery of smog and traffic on the way to my father's office where I pirated Bowie mp3s. The dream of worldliness had been evicted by the smell of printer ink.

Instead of weighty and peculiar metal player tokens of Monopoly there were plastic cones, instead of festive red and green figurines of houses and hotels — cardboard disks with house and hotel icons. Their cardboard was thick, layered like cheap cake, with a little sharp bump on one side of the circle where it had been machined out of a larger cardboard piece.

I took a few out of a ziplock bag they came in, made sure they held nothing of interest on the reverse, and limply put them down. I surveyed this newly conquered domain, disheartened by how barren it was, my face flushed with sudden hot disappointment. Who could stay in a hotel like this, who could flatten themselves to the two-dimensionality of this cardboard disk? Could I ever ask that of any of my few and precious three-dimensional friends? And as my room over the years had gradually become shameful to me, embarrassing to show to my school buddies, so had this box, in a matter of minutes, because it too contained evidence, fresher and more incriminating, of how poor and dull our family surely was. I finally saw a fundamental truth so clear it was like steam had been wiped off a mirror in my mind.

I never dared to inflict upon my father the shame of playing that game; the next morning, I quickly stowed the box away on a low shelf under old coats in the wardrobe, and never once took it out after. Years later, whenever it caught my eye as I took my father's old coat, the word MONOPOLIST in generic font, an unplayed game's silent reproach, was a punch in the heart, a rush of guilt to the head.

What has the private Ukraine in my head known but this? Very little. A much-corrected history of taught inferiority, the state of being lesser, existing as a Russia with a twist. Our history books that I was taught on looked lame, seemed fanatical, and were subjective: and our history seemed impossibly unfair. I couldn't internalize the terrors we'd been through as a kid. How easier it was then to almost anticipate the Western leftist discourse: we must've been stupid to let ourselves get genocided so often, #peace.

Actually! In the 12th century, Moscow pops up on the map (Kyiv has been around for over six centuries, and a capital of proto-Ukraine, Kyivan Rus, for three). The Mongols siege Kyiv and occupy, eventually ceding control to Poland and Lithuania. By the 15th century things get so dire under Poland that a due rebellion is carried out. Meanwhile, the Golden Horde export us as slaves to the Ottoman Empire, totaling about 2 million people over the next two centuries. Then, in the 17th century, Cossack Hetmanate, the direct ancestor to Ukraine, is established through another rebellion, and finds itself surrounded by the same tedious enemies: Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania to the West, Tsardom of Muscovy to the East, and Ottoman Turks to the south. The Cossacks, an anarchic, cosmopolitan and intelligent bunch, had little respect for the antiquated imperial wretchedness surrounding them, and had no rulers but instead a hetman — military leader that was elected democratically. Unable to watch their way of life fall by the wayside, Russia struck deals with Cossacks, until in 1775 Russian Tsar gave an order to her general to occupy the Cossack Sich, as a state that had no right to exist. Enter the night of Ukraine: we are nowhere, split between Austrian and Russian empires for the next 150 years. Ukrainian language is banned from study and use. Ukrainians are serfs — peasant slaves for sale, including our most beloved poet and painter, Shevchenko, his self-portrait now on the 100 hryvina bill. WWI reaches us a colony in the process of self-determination, again, fighting for our right to exist, but the world turns inside out, and Ukrainians from fighting outward must switch to fighting inward, on different sides of the front. Now it is so dark blinking makes no difference. The USSR comes, and in modernized misery, starves millions to death by exporting all our grain in 1930s Holodomor. Millions die in WWII and millions in Soviet repressions. The light comes moments before I open my eyes: a chance to catch our breath, 30 years of freedom, 27 of which I have lived. There's no way it really was as bad as the history books say, right? Watch this, Russia says.

I've lived my adolescence in books and mp3s, my adulthood in screens and on keyboards of word and melody. I've been inside yet looking in, I let the world tell me about the country outside my door. I was told who I was, like many here. Fundamentally, I think, it just wasn't obvious, growing up, that one couldn't blame the newly free Ukraine for dowdiness and boredom of my childhood. When I was born, it had only existed for three years. But unlike Russian propaganda, the authority of a foreign people that have never tried to genocide you, but still saw you as lesser, we were not immune to. This ends now, though. The scales fall off eyes country-wide and now we know everything Ukraine has been told about Ukraine was either wrong or a lie.

When I was a musician, I would occasionally venture into Europe, whose point of view on us I had internalized, to play a show, and I would feel a refugee for the time spent, always conscious of my behavior and clothing, always worried about breaking some unspoken rules in this high society, always wanting to fit in. I'd agree with most of what Europeans had to say about Ukraine, complicit, I'd even pile on about how terrible Ukrainian music is, how bad the architecture, how insufferable the arts community. I had something to prove, speaking my acceptable English, wearing my one good my coat (my father's), playing the best music I could make — all to back up a claim that I am, while second-rate by origin, the same; yet I felt like an exotic animal all the more I tried. People seemed intent on sussing out what was different (bad different) about me, what character flaws exactly it entailed that one was a Ukrainian. And familiar blameless guilt would return, be it in a Berlin bar or meeting the eye of an airport official, who lingered on my passport for a bit too long, while I would be repeating a flawlessly pronounced 'thank you, have a good night' in my head, which would still come out hoarse, rushed, or mangled.

We were always told we were stupid. An ex-colony does not get to hang out with empires. All the cool bands are playing tonight: NATO, European Union, The Human Rights, but the bouncer says, looking away, sorry, buddy, not tonight. Have a night of your life.

The lies, the lies, why did I ever listen. On day one, German Finance Minister Lindner told Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine's Ambassador, that Ukraine had mere hours left and there was no use in helping us now — he was wrong, or he lied. He probably had his best apologetic smile on, too. Mere hours ago, then, Putin had refreshed Russians' memory on the big, strategic, infuriating things they've been taught about Ukraine. If his nose grew for every lie told, he would've violently destroyed the camera and sniffed the inside of the camera person's brain.

If I had listened to Minister Lindner and his German authority, I may have never had enlisted, instead cowering in the bathroom, guilty, waiting for the rocket.

If I listen to American leftists now, I am told Ukraine either never existed, or is all Nazis, for not wishing to return to Mother Russia's rotten womb. Gee, I wonder who told them that. They're all for peace, naturally; shame "peace" in this case means stop struggling and enjoy the rape. And naturally, our rejection of surrender is seen as fighting in someone else's interests — because weren't we Russia just recently?

You call this a proxy war, which echoes the Russian narrative, assuring that rare Russian soldier that didn't hate us already — by killing a Ukrainian in his home he is somehow fighting the USA. He is freeing a colony from its new empire. It's a shame that by this logic we are all not only Ukrainians, but also American agents.

I'm done believing we're the stupid ones. I'm done listening.

The fascist Russia's Z, a badly-drawn half-swastika, I discovered, has at least one deeply true meaning — Russia had no plan B for this war, and this cowardice and chaos is it, the last, the only plan. What we've been through already contains an entire alphabet of erasure, destruction, mass murder, in specific events, and this is its last letter, their last attempt. The fascist of today gets no chance: he is knocked out before he can finish drawing his swastika. Soon, after this, we will finally be free.

I don't know why the past was what it was, why a litany of our faults to a melody unresolved. Where we are thrust now the only possible music is stripped of harmony and only the rhythm, a fish skeleton of a waveform, remains. To write the first chord, we play on towards a beat of our own, the mortar launch a kick, the crash on Russian metal a cymbal, until nothing is left but the pulses of our in-phase hearts.

We have been fucked with by nerd ass jock empires all our life. Now at this war I have proof everything I've been told about us was a lie. I discovered that we are wonderful. 

I printed your college literary zine, man. Small Craft Warnings, Swarthmore College. I was so fascinated by the possibility of a sudden plunge, on the internet, out of time or place, into a wealth of young and careless poetry, that it just about made me dizzy. I wanted to print up and read a whole lot of them, go through them like historical documents, and I dutifully started with the exact edition where you took over as editor, and your future wife's long, ambitious poem about anniversarial dismemberment, was. I read your poem too, and a short story about the church, and it gave me hope, that I also didn't always have to write the way I do now. It made you seem more human, more real. And that Russian media interview was a correction, Jonathan Franzen, and now you are farther away.

God, what terrible timing, I thought, for about a millionth time in life. I'd just given my girlfriend an ebook of The Corrections I had hastily bought for eight bucks off eBooks.com. It was then only downloadable as some disgusting DRM-infested riddle of a file that neither of us have, and never will, manage to open. Brimming with due anger, I then pirated an .epub for her, but the chapter breaks and spacings were all messed up. I just wished I could somehow put my well-used paperback into her hand from here, to reach her from this war. The chapter name font was gorgeous, the title page for THE MORE HE THOUGHT ABOUT IT, THE ANGRIER HE GOT in that first edition being one of the prettiest pages I'd seen in a book.

I don't know if she'll finish the book now, though. Jonathan Franzen, it turned out, to a Ukrainian, is an ambassador of the country of This-shit-again-land. You can kind of foresee it in the Lithuania chapter, I guess. I don't know if they really were the struggling exporter of sand and gravel pictured in The Corrections then, but they certainly make state of the art thermal scopes now.

Today I called my girlfriend to tell her all this, we exchanged loud, ironic, exaggerated hellos. Then, clipped chunks of her voice telling some story I'll never hear, then an air raid warning, and then my phone went dead, and I lost my heart.

[medicoabroad]

Yoga Day Celebrations in Belarus

[marwahstudios]

Brahma Kumaris from Russia Presented Cultural Program at Marwah Studios

New Delhi: A group of 30 nationals from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Ukraine belonging to one of the largest spiritual bodies of Brahma Kumaris in Russia presented a electrifying, colorful, entertainment program highlighting India and Russian relations through art and culture at Marwah Studios, Noida Film City.

The only truth is music. Music is the shorthand of emotion. Music can have a calming effect on mind and soul. We are thankful to Brahma Kumaris for selecting Marwah Studios as a venue for this powerful cultural program performed by the members of Brahma Kumaris in Russia. We have always believed that Love, Peace, and Unity can be achieved through art and culture. We are already associated with 7500 events where we have highlighted these terms. Marwah Studios could also attract three million visitors from 156 countries so far and have created a World Records for us,” said Dr. Sandeep Marwah President Marwah Studios, and Chancellor of AAFT University at the inauguration of the cultural Program.

A Cultural group under the name and banner of Divine Light Group created and conducted by B K Santosh Kukreja. Brother Shasha of Divine Light Cultural Group anchored the program. BK Vidhatri Senior Raj Yoga Teacher spoke on the ideology of Brahma Kumaris, whereas B K Rachna highlighted the Art and Cultural Wing of Brahma Kumaris.

B K Poonam National Coordinator for Art and Culture Wing of Brahma Kumaris, B K Krishna Zonal Coordinator, B K Urmila & B K Alpa Executive Members, B K Bhawna Area Coordinator, B K Rajni, B K Sheetal, B K Sunaina, B K Dinesh active members were also present there.

The event was attended by large number of people from all over India and students of AAFT School of Performing arts. The performance was supported by ICMEI- International Chamber of Media and Entertainment Industry, AUA- Asian Unity Alliance and AAFT University.

Later Dr. Sandeep Marwah presented the Life membership of WPDRF-World Peace Development and Research Foundation to all the dignitaries present there and membership of Indo Russian Film and Cultural Forum to all the thirty artists from Russia and other countries.

[themarketinsights]

Wellness App Market is Booming Worldwide | Noom, Meditopia, My Possible Self, Headspace

Latest Study on Industrial Growth of Wellness App Market 2022-2027. A detailed study accumulated to offer Latest insights about acute features of the Wellness App market. The report contains different market predictions related to revenue size, production, CAGR, Consumption, gross margin, price, and other substantial factors. While emphasizing the key driving and restraining forces for this market, the report also offers a complete study of the future trends and developments of the market. It also examines the role of the leading market players involved in the industry including their corporate overview, financial summary and SWOT analysis.

Major players profiled in the study are:

Headspace (United States), Clue (Germany), Noom (United States), Meditopia (Germany), Results Wellness Lifestyle (United Kingdom), My Possible Self (United Kingdom), Deliciously Ella (United Kingdom), Flo (Belarus), Sleep Cycle (Europe) and Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock (Europe)

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Scope of the Report of Wellness App

Wellness App, which are designed for mobile platforms, promote a healthy lifestyle and range from specialized activity tracking, sleep analysis, nutrition management, and mindfulness apps, to general wellness monitoring solutions. Wellness apps use engagement techniques to help users adopt healthy behaviors and monitor their physical, psychological, and behavioral states. The vast array of general health and wellness apps available include nutritional apps like LoseIt and MyFitnessPal that help you track your eating and exercise habits and lose weight, fitness apps like Strava, Fitplan, and Aaptiv, sleep trackers like Sleep Cycle, and mental wellness apps like Calm, Headspace, and Happify.

The Global Wellness App Market segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below:

by Type (Exercise and Weight Loss, Diet and Nutrition, Activity Tracking, Others), Device (Smartphones, Tablets, Wearable Devices), Operating system (IOS, Android)

Market Opportunities:

Raising Awareness about the Importance of Physical Exercise through Introduction of Various Health Programs and Emerging Number of Fitness Center and Gyms

Market Trend:

Increasing Popularity of Customized Yoga Apparel in Wellness App

What can be explored with the Wellness App Market Study?

Gain Market Understanding

Identify Growth Opportunities

Analyze and Measure the Global Wellness App Market by Identifying Investment across various Industry Verticals

Understand the Trends that will drive Future Changes in Wellness App

Understand the Competitive Scenarios

Track Right Markets

Identify the Right Verticals

Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Oceania, South America, Middle East & Africa

Country Level Break-Up: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Russia, France, Poland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand etc.

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Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Global Wellness App Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Wellness App market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary – the basic information of the Wellness App Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges & Opportunities of the Wellness App

Chapter 4: Presenting the Wellness App Market Factor Analysis, Porters Five Forces, Supply/Value Chain, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent/Trademark Analysis.

Chapter 5: Displaying the by Type, End User and Region/Country 2016-2021

Chapter 6: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the Wellness App market which consists of its Competitive Landscape, Peer Group Analysis, BCG Matrix & Company Profile

Chapter 7: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by Manufacturers/Company with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regions (2022-2027)

Chapter 8 & 9: Displaying the Appendix, Methodology and Data Source

Finally, Wellness App Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies.

Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/buy-now?format=1&report=197367#utm_source=DigitalJournalVinay

Contact Us:

Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)

AMA Research & Media LLP

Unit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJ

New Jersey USA – 08837

[spirityogafoundation]

Hatha Yoga teacher Training in Rishikesh | Spirit Yoga Foundation

No life is possible without sun, as it is primordial source of energy on earth. It sustains all life forms from microscopic to gigantic animals. #Natraj_asana under #YTTC is surrendering to deity which is governing the entire universe. Align your inner matrix with the geometrical pattern of stars. It infuses light, energy and divinity within you.

One can worship sun in a dozen ways, representing all months of a year. It expresses your love, gratitude and devotion to life-sustaining sun. #Hatha_yoga is must in #teacher_training usually practiced in pristine environment of #Rishikesh. 

                                             Spirit Yoga Foundation

[uschi-the-listener]

August 30th 2015

submariner

who thought his only skill

was driving a submarine

jumped ship

accidentally on purpose

in Hawai'i

and learned his craft

.

piano tuner/technician

self-taught

brilliant

but ashamed

of being self-taught

.

serial monogamist

never married for love

did not believe he could be loved

bargained for sex and attention

and supported wives and their children

no kids of his own

.

married for the 4th time

finally, for love

loved for 8 years

in all his whole life

8 years

.

composer

woke up every morning

with a song in his head

no words, just a tune

and could play it

if he made it to the piano

before it drifted away

there is no record

he did not record

couldn’t read or write music

all gone

ashes now

.

musician

piano of course

though not all tuners can play

and most players can’t tune

accordion, his first instrument

and was a child prodigy on it

picked it up one day and

just

played

folk melodies he had heard

his grandmother singing

in the kitchen

also played guitar

and anything else

he picked up

learning to play

ukulele

on his actual death bed

played in a band

until Wife#3 mocked him

out of it

they even had gigs

.

driver

loved driving

killed cars

driving all over

because nobody brings

the piano

to the tuner

loved being stuck

in traffic

snacks; music; naps; shoes off; audiobooks

.

Buddhist

shore leave in Thailand

monk begged him to let

the English class

hear an American

talk for a week

In exchange

Buddhism

and the wonders

of back room Bangkok

where sailors

aren’t allowed to go

always the rule-breaker

.

Catholic

raised Catholic

by parents who

dropped him off

on Sundays

he never thought about it

just did Catholic things

and walked home

not incompatible with

Buddhism

.

immigrant

born to mismatched parents

in a former concentration camp

a salt mine

possibly premature

mom was 12

a street kid in Berlin

first English was swear words

dad in his forties

a Freedom Fighter from Belarus

probably not his real dad

.

refugees

back when that was possible

probably crypto-Jews

but we will never know now

she died young

he died not talking

.

boy

brother of

a little sister

who died

at age 7

and his parents

forgot

that he existed

and grieved

every holiday

he loved her

first of many deaths

that came close to him

.

death had his number

knew where he lived

recognized him

wanted him

he held off

not long enough

but tried

because of love

last of his line

.

man

shy loner

traveler

went everywhere

did a lot

loved a good sunset

looked like a Polish leg-breaker

but was a sweet and tender

flower child

death finds them

delicious

.

husband

not perfect

but good

and kind

and silly

generous

a little crazy

often drunk

.

but with a healthy grip

on intimacy

on friendship

vying for the honor

of making his final wife

his wife for love

feel lucky

feel like she grabbed

the brass ring

almost the case

.

she rejected diamonds

and chose the cheapest

wedding ring

they could find

and he made a dramatic joke

out of proposing

after a year of living together

.

married at the Beverly Hills Courthouse

with a cardboard wedding cake

in the “chapel”

and a reception with the sole witness

at Starbucks

.

Honeymoon

driving up the coast

just dicking around

Best. Honeymoon. Ever.

.

lover

romantic

sexual

funny

passionate

a little kinky

a lot kinky sometimes

m.y.o.b.

.

friend

there for me

with pep talks

scoldings

consolation

as needed

fun

.

playing board games

winning losing winning losing

playing drunken cowboys

with pretend whiskey

made of iced tea in old bottles

dancing in the living room

yoga

cooking together

baking bread

just

fun

.

all gone now

ashes

dead person

we breathed

his last breath

together

took a picture

showed no one

.

beloved

mourned

gone

ashes

.

and memories

and the occasional

piano part

in the back of a closet

.

and the whisper

of a tune

when I wake up

and I can never

quite

catch it

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 4.14

Holidays

Air Force Reserve Day

American Dictionary Day

Americas Day (Honduras, Mexico)

Anfal Genocide Memorial Day

Black Day (South Korea)

Blessing of the Salmon Nets (Northumbria)

Bon Jovi Day (New Jersey)

Cake and Cunnilingus Day

Children’s Day (Peru)

Children with Alopecia Day

Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan)

Cuckoo Day (Old England)

Day of Mologa (Russia)

Day of (No) Silence (GLSEN)

Day of the Georgian Language

Day of the Skater

Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives)

Dictionary Day

Donate Life Blue & Green Day

Draw MegaMan Day

Dreams of Reason Feast Day

Ex-Spouse's Day

414 Day

Global Roller Day

Grand National Ladies Day (UK)

Gujarat (Fire Service Day; India)

International Goalkeeper Day

International Moment of Laughter Day

International Silambam Day

Kids’ Yoga Day

Kinetoscope Day

Look Up at the Sky Day

Lundkommardagen (Puffin Arrival Day; Norway) 

Meme Appreciation Day

Milwaukee Day (414)

Moirang Day (a.k.a. Victory Day; India)

National Bracelet Day

National Dolphin Day

National Donate a Book Day

National Gardening Day

National Kick Balls Day

National Love Our Children Day

National Not Ashamed of Jesus Day

National Perfume Day

National Reach as High as You Can Day

N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande)

Orange Day (Japan)

Pan American Day

Pathologists’ Assistant Day

Peregrine Falcon Appreciation Day

Peter Capaldi Day

Pigeon Day (French Republic)

Reach As High As You Can Day

Samjinnal (Arrival of Spring; Korea)

Secret Service Day

Spring Hula Hooping Day

Tempting Fate Day

Takayama Spring Festival (Japan)

Thingyan begins (Water Festival; Burma)

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Day of Service (South Africa)

World Chagas Day

World Quantum Day

Youth Day (Angola)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Espresso Italiano Day (Italy)

International Laverbread Day

Laverbread Day

National Grits Day

National Pecan Day

Oreo Cookie Cheesecake Day

Saison Day

Tannat Day (Uruguay)

2nd Sunday in April

Air Defense Forces Day (Belarus, Russia) [2nd Sunda

Global Day to End Sexual Abuse [2nd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 14 (3rd Week)

Animal Control Appreciation Week [2nd Full Week in April]

Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week Week [3rd Week in April]

Astronomy Week — Spring [thru 4.20]

Cleaning For A Reason Week [begins 2nd Sunday]

National Coin Week [3rd Week in April]

National Dog Bite Prevention Week [3rd Week in April]

National Public Safety Telecommunications Week [2nd Full Week in April]

National Student Employment Week [2nd Full Week in April]

National Volunteer Week Week [3rd Week in April]

Neurodiagnostic Week [3rd Week in April]

Organize Your Files Week Week [3rd Week in April]

Pan American Week [Week of 4.14]

Independence & Related Days

Jonja Island (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Lawfords (a.k.a. Kingdom of Lawfords; Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

New Year’s Days

Hindi New Year (a.k.a. …

Assamese New Year

Baisakhi (Parts of India)

Bisket Jatra (Nepali New Year)

Bohag Bihu (Assam Valley)

Cambodian New Year

Chetti Chand (Parts of India)

Guḍhī Pāḍavā [1st Day of Chaitra]

Hari Raya Yep Tahun Baru (Indonesia)

Malayali New Year (Kerala)

Nyepi Day (a.k.a. Day of Silence; Bali)

Ougadi (Mauritius)

Pi Mai (Laotian New Year)

Ramayana begins

Sajibu Nongmapanba (Cheiraoba, Manipur, India)

Telgu New Year

Thingyan begins (Burma)

Ugadi (Parts of India)

Vaisakhi (Parts of India)

Kerala New Yea (India)

New Year's Day (Assamese, Bengali, Burmese, Sikh, Khmer, Lao, Nepali, Oriya, Sinhalese, Tamil, Thai, Tuluva; Southeast Asia) [Sidereal Vernal Equinox]

Sidereal New Year (South and Southeast Asian) (a.k.a. …

Aluth Avurudda (Sri Lanka)

Biju Festival (Parts of India)

Bisu (Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka and Kerala, India)

Bizhu (Chakmas in Mizoram, Tripura and Bangladesh)

Bohag Bihu (Assam, India)

Buisu (Tripura, India)

Bwisagu (Bodoland region of Assam, India)

Cheiraoba (Parts of India)

Choul Chnam Thmey (Cambodia)

Jur Sital (Mithila region of Bihar, India and Nepal)

Khmer New Year (Cambodia)

Maha Vusubha Sankranti (Parts of India)

Oriya New Year (Parts of India)

Pahela Baishakh (Bangladesh and West Bengal, India)

Pana Sankranti (Odisha, India)

Pi Mai (Laos)

Puthandu (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, India and Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka)

Rongali Bihu (Parts of India)

Samjinnal (Korea)

Sangken (Khamti, Singpho, Khamyang, Tangsa in Arunachal Pradesh and Tai Phake, Tai Aiton, and Turung in Assam, India)

Sinhala (Sri Lanka)

Songkran (Thailand)

Tamil New Year (Parts of India)

Thingyan (Myanmar)

Tuluva New Year (Parts of India)

Vaisakhi (Punjab, North and Central India, Nepalese New Year in Nepal)

Varusha Pirruppa (Tamil New Year; Mauritius)

Vishu (Kerala, India)

Water-Sprinkling Festival (Yunnan, China)

Festivals Beginning April 14, 2024

Alphretta Wine Festival (Alpharetta, Georgia)

The Chocolate Expo (Long Island, New York)

International Rose & Wine Festival (Shreveport, Louisiana)

New Haven Restaurant Week (New Haven, Connecticut) [thru 4.19]

Ocean City Restaurant Week (Ocean City, Maryland) [thru 4.19]

Seville Fair (Seville, Spain) [thru 4.20]

Vinitaly (Verona, Italy) [thru 4.17]

ZagreDox (Zagreb, Croatia) [thru 4.21]

Zilker Kite Festival (Austin, Texas)

Feast Days

Abushibarei (Ryukyuan)

Adolph Hitler Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Albategnius (Positivist; Saint)

Ambedkar Jayanti (India)

Ardalion (Christian; Martyrs)

Bénézet (Christian; Saint)

Bernard of iron (Christian; Saint)

Caradoc, Benezet, John, Antony and Eustace (Christian; Martyrs)

Carpus of Thyatira (Christian; Saint)

Domnina of Terni (Christian; Saint)

Elfin Choirs Congress (Shamanism)

The Extremes (Muppetism)

Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Artology)

Galungan (Celebrating Victory of Dharma over Adharma; Bali)

Henry Beard Delany (Episcopal Church (USA))

Justin (Christian; Martyr)

Lambert of Lyons (Christian; Saint)

Lidwina (a.k.a. B. Lidwina of Schiedam or Lydwina; Christian; Saint)

Look Up at the Sky Day (Pastafarian)

Marianne’s Day (Pagan)

Maryamma (Goddess of the Sea; Hinduism; Everyday Wicca)

Peter González (Christian; Saint)

Sommarsblot (Norse)

Three Smiles Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus (Christian; Martyrs)

Victor Borisov-Musatov (Artology)

Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays

Eid al-Fitr celebrations continue (Islam)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Historically Bad Day (Lincoln shot, Titanic hit an iceberg & 9 other tragedies) [1 of 11]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 17 of 60)

Premieres

About Damn Time, by Lizzo (Song; 2022)

American Psycho (Film; 2000)

Batman vs. Robin (WB Animated Film; 2015)

Beach Blanket Bingo (Film; 1965)

Beauty and the Beast (WB MM Cartoon; 1934)

The Big Bad Wolf (Disney Silly Symphonies Cartoon; 1934)

British Steel, by Judas Priest (Album; 1980)

Buddy’s Garage (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Bye Bye Birdie (Broadway Musical; 1960)

The Candle in the Wind, by T.H. White (Novel; 1958) [Once and Future King #4]

Cannery Roden (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1967)

Diver Down, by Van Halen (Album; 1982)

Execution Dock, by Anne Perry (Novel; 2009)

The Fair-Haired Hare (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Farewell Waltz, by Milan Kundera (Novel; 1972)

The Fate of the Furious [F&F #8]

Girl Happy (Film; 1965)

Grape Nutty (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1949)

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Novel; 1939)

The Hash Shop (Oswald he Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

The History of Sexuality, by Michel Foucault (Philosophy Book; 1976)

Iceland's Bell, by Halldór Laxness (Novel; 1943)

Insulin’ the Sultan (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1934)

The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison (Novel; 1952)

Iron Maiden, by Iron Maiden (Album; 1980)

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, by Public Enemy (Album; 1988)

Keeping the Faith (Film; 2000)

The King of Torts, by John Grisham (Novel; 2003)

Kinky Boots (Film; 2006)

The Legend of Korea (Animated TV Series; 2012)

Let’s Dance, by David Bowie (Album; 1983)

The Missing Piece Shel Silverstein (Children’s Book; 1976)

Mixed Master (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

Much Ado About Mousing (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1964)

The Notorious Bettie Page (Film; 2006)

Off the Deep End, by Weird Al Yankovic (Album; 1992)

The Pebble and the Penguin (Animated Film; 1995)

Put Me in the Zoo, by Robert Lopshire (Children’s Book; 1960)

Put-Put, Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1968)

Renfield (Film; 2023)

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (Radio Series; 1930)

Rocket Man, by Elton John (Song; 1972)

Say Anything (Film; 1989)

Shift: First Shift — Legacy, by Hugh Howey (Novel; 2012)

Spark (Animated Film; 2017)

Thank You For Smoking (Film; 2006)

Ultra, by Depeche Mode (Album; 1997)

Webster’s American Dictionary (Book; 1818)

The Wild (Animated Film; 2006)

Today’s Name Days

Elmo, Erna, Ernestine (Austria)

Maksim, Valerijan, Zdravko (Croatia)

Vincenc (Czech Republic)

Tiburtius (Denmark)

Lehe, Lehte, Lehti (Estonia)

Taito (Finland)

Ludivine, Maxime (France)

Elmo, Erna, Ernestine (Germany)

Aristarhos, Thomais (Greece)

Tibor (Hungary)

Abbondio, Ignazio, Lamberto (Italy)

Agape, Gudrite, Strauja (Latvia)

Justinas, Vaišvydė, Vaiva, Valerijonas, Visvaldas (Lithuania)

Ellinor, Nora (Norway)

Berenike, Julianna, Justyn, Maria, Myślimir, Tyburcjusz, Walerian, Waleriana (Poland)

Pahomie (Romania)

Maria (Russia)

Justína (Slovakia)

Lidia, Tiburcio, Valeriano (Spain)

Tiburtius (Sweden)

Martin (Ukraine)

Caradoc, Carey, Cary, Hudson (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 105 of 2024; 261 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of week 15 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 6 (Wu-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Nisan 5784

Islamic: 5 Shawwal 1445

J Cal: 15 Cyan; Oneday [15 of 30]

Julian: 1 April 2024

Moon: 38%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 21 Archimedes (4th Month) [Hippachus]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 27 of 92)

Week: 3rd Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 25 of 31)

Calendar Changes

April (a.k.a. Aprilis; Julian Calendar) [Month 4 of 12]

Saille (Willow) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 4 of 13]

[brookston]

Holidays 4.5

Holidays

Accelerate ACL Awareness Among Young Women Day

Babu Jagjivan Ram Jayanthi (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, India)

Bell Bottoms Day

Children’s Day (Palestine)

Chungmyung Day (North Korea)

Day of the Palestinian Child

Easter Island Day

First Contact Day (Star Trek)

45 ACP Day

405 Day

German-Americans Day

Global Crowdfunding Day

Go For Broke Day

Golden Rule Day

Guy Fieri Day (Ferndale, California)

International Calm Day

International Day of Conscious (UN)

International Dimetrodon Day

International OCNDS Awareness Day

International Poppers Day

Jumatul Bidah (Bangladesh)

Lady Luck Day

Make Your Children Laugh Day

National Biomechanics Day

National Body Care Day

National Dandelion Day

National Flash Drive Day

National Gold Star Spouses Day

National Maritime Day (India)

National Nebraska Day

National Read a Roadmap Day (a.k.a. Learn to Read a Roadmap Day)

National Self Care Day

National Star Phone Certification Day

National Wear Blue for Child Abuse Prevention

Origin of the Species Day

R.E.M. Day

Sikmogil (Arbor Day; South Korea)

Talk Talk Day

Veto Day

Western Hemisphere Ports Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Molasses Day

National Caramel Day

National Deep Dish Pizza Day

National Raisin and Spice Bar Day

Peeps Day

1st Friday in April

Bandcamp Friday [1st Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Hospital Admitting Clerks Day [1st Friday]

International Infection Preventionist Day [1st Friday]

International Kids Yoga [1st Friday]

National Volleyball Day [1st Friday]

National Walk to Work Day [1st Friday]

Orphan’s Day (Egypt) [1st Friday]

Poet in a Cupcake Day [Friday of 1st Full Week]

Student Government Day [1st Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 5 (1st Week)

American Crossword Puzzles Week [thru 4.7]

Independence & Related Days

Pangasinan Province Day (Philippines; 1850)

Festivals Beginning April 5, 2024

Blessing of the Fleet (Darien, Georgia) [thru 4.7]

Bonita Springs Food Truck and Music Festival (Bonita Springs, Florida) [thru 4.7]

Boudin Festival (Scott, Louisiana) [thru 4.7]

Coliseum International Music Festival (Minsk, Belarus) [thru 4.6]

Culinary Cabaret (Franklin, Massachusetts)

Lake County Fair (East’s, Florida) [thru 4.14]

Pig Cookie’ Contest (Newport, North Carolina) [thru 4.6]

626 Night Market (San Diego, California) [thru 4.7]

Spring SF Restaurant Week (San Francisco, California) [thru 4.14]

UNwineD (Panama City, Florida) [thru 4.6]

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum VII (Pagan)

Æthelburh of Kent (Christian; Saint)

Albert of Montecorvino (Christian; Saint)

Anthony Horowitz (Writerism)

April Showers Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Arthur Hailey (Writerism)

Becan of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Booker T. Washington (Musicology)

Derfel Gadarn (Christian; Saint)

Easter (Christian) [original date; 33 C.E.]

Ethulburga of Lyminge (Christian; Saint)

Festival of Kuan Yin (Chinese Goddess of Healing, Mercy, Compassion & Forgiveness; Everyday Wicca)

Fortuna Publica (Festival of Good Luck; Ancient Rome)

Bring Fairies’ Welcome Party (Shamanism)

Gerald of Sauve-Majeure (Christian; Saint)

Hero (Positivist; Saint)

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (Artology)

Jules Dupré (Artology)

Juliana of Liège (Christian; Saint)

Maria Crescentia Höss (Christian; Saint)

Mariano de la Mata (Christian; Blessed)

Nones of April (Ancient Rome)

Pandita Mary Ramabai (Episcopal Church (USA))

Passover begins (at Sundown; a.k.a. Pesach; Judaism) [Nisan 15]

Pizza Day (Pastafarian)

Robert Bloch Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Ruadhán of Lorrha (Christian; Saint)

Scuzzina (Muppetism)

Sunning of the Buddha (Tibet)

Ta’anit Bechorot (Firstborn Fast Day; Judaism) [14 Nisan]

Tigernach of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Unbidden Three Day (Fear, Jealousy & Love; Celtic Book of Days)

Vincent Ferrer (Christian; Saint)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Cold Food Festival [105th day after Dongzhi] (a.k.a. …

Hanshi Festival (China)

Hansik (South Korea)

Tết Hàn Thực (Vietnam)

Hebrew Calendar Holidays [Begins at Sundown Day Before]

Shabbat HaChodesh (שַׁבָּת הַחֹדֶשׁ) [26-27 Adair II]

Islamic Moveable Calendar Holidays

Quds Day (Iran, other Islamic Nations) [Last Friday of Ramadan]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Nēmontēmi, Day 1 (of 5) [Aztec unlucky or fasting days, taking place between 4.5-4.18]

Premieres

Adventure Time (Animated TV Series; 2010)

Air (Film; 2023)

Amadeus (Film; 1985)

The Art of Vacationing (Disney Cartoon; 2012)

The Barnyard Concert (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Brockmire (TV Series; 2017)

Bullwinkle’s Battle Plan or Civil Defense (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 360; 1965)

Calamity in Kent, by John Rowland (Novel; 1950)

Carnegie Hall Concert, recorded by Chicago (Concert Album; 1971)

Carrie, by Stephen King (Novel; 1974)

Clowning (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

The Crystal Brawl (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1957)

Die Fledermaus, by Johann Strauss (Operetta; 1874)

Donald’s Dog Laundry (Disney Cartoon; 1940)

Double Trouble (Film; 1967)

Flying Oil, featuring Farmer Al Falfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Glee Worms (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1936)

It Must Be Love (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Kiddin; the Kitten (WB MM Cartoon; 1952)

The Little Mole (MGM Cartoon; 1941)

Live and Let Die, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1954) [James Bond #2]

Married… with Children (TV Series; 1987)

The Marrying Man (Film; 1991)

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Gory or Moose’s in the Col’ Col’ Ground (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 359; 1965)

Monkey Man (Film; 2024)

Moon Pilot (Film; 1962)

Moonraker, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1955) [James Bond #3]

National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (Film; 2002)

One Dance, by Drake (Song; 2016)

Pete Kelly’s Blues (TV Series; 1959)

Plastered in Paris (The Inspector Cartoon; 1966)

Pretty Baby (Film; 1978)

Shazam! (Film; 2019)

A Single Happened Thing, by Daniel Paisner (Novel; 1955)

Something To Be, by Matchbox Twenty (Album; 2005)

Spinning Mice (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1935)

The Sugarland Express (Film; 1974)

Super Mario Bros.: The Movie (Animated Film; 2023)

Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting, by Charles Ives (Symphony; 1946)

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, by Horace McCoy (Novel; 1935)

Tracy Chapman, by Tracy Chapman (Album; 1988)

The Tracey Ullman Show (TV Series; 1987)

Unicorn Store (Film; 2019)

Van Wilder (Film; 2002)

We Are the World (Song; 1985)

Today’s Name Days

Crescentia, Vinzenz (Austria)

Irena, Vinko (Croatia)

Miroslava (Czech Republic)

Irene (Denmark)

Ireene, Irene, Reena, Reene, Rena, Renate (Estonia)

Ira, Irene, Irina, Iro (Finland)

Irène (France)

Crescentia, Juliana, Juliane, Vinzenz (Germany)

Giota, Giotis, Panayotis, Panagiotis, Panagis, Panagos, Panagiota, Panayota, Panagioula, Panagoula, Pani, Panikos, Panos, Panousos, Pegie, Pegy, Takis, Tota, Toula, Yiota, Yiotis (Greece)

Vince (Hungary)

Cenzo, Eva, Vincenzo (Italy)

Mirjama, Vidaga, Vija, Virdžīnija (Latvia)

Irena, Rimvydas, Zenius, Zenonas, Žygintė (Lithuania)

Eiril, Eirin, Irene (Norway)

Borzywoj, Irena, Wincenty (Poland)

Agatopod, Teodul (Romania)

Miroslava (Slovakia)

Vicente (Spain)

Irene, Irja, Nanna (Sweden)

Chandra, Ethelburga, Irene, Irina, Tyler, Tylor (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 96 of 2024; 270 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 14 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 20 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 27 (Ji-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 26 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 26 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 6 Cyan; Sixday [6 of 30]

Julian: 23 March 2024

Moon: 13%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 12 Archimedes (4th Month) [Pappus]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 18 of 92)

Week: 1st Week of April

Zodiac: Aries (Day 16 of 31)

[minthepin]

Day 50: After making some tea, shoveling goat shit, daily yoga and picking fresh veggies my time here has come to an end. Filled with good energy, @manongoute and I are off to travel around Belarus! Thank you @shantidom.by for an incredible week! - - - #belarus #travelblog #travelblogger #vegan #yoga #yogagram #yogi #igdaily #vsco #vscocam #photooftheday #instagood #instafood #instadaily #travel #travelphotography #pictureoftheday #nature #naturephotography #naturelovers #sunset (at Ivyanets)

[avengerscompound]

Misson Report

Mission Report: A Captain America Fanfic

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1214

Rating:  T

Square filled: @happystevebingo - Mission Report, @star-spangled-bingo - Accidentally Married

Warnings:  None

Synopsis:  Mission Report, 18 Nov 2019.  HYDRA base operating out of Spa.  Captain S. G Rogers, and Agents, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and 42 sent to infiltrate the base.

Mission Report, 18 Nov 2019

Day 1, 2 Nov 2019

Agent Black Widow (name withheld), Agent Hawkeye (name withheld), Captain Steven Grant Rogers and Agent 42 (name withheld) of the Avengers Initiative were sent to infiltrate what was believed to be an undercover HYDRA operation on the west coast of the United States of America.  The community was working under the title of the Hydration Facility and had its base of operations by the Slates Hot Springs.

Agents Black Widow and Hawkeye would be remotely observing the operation, acting as back-up, extraction, and remote surveillance.  Captain Rogers and Agent 42 would be sent in under the cover of a couple wanting to take part in the retreat and use the hot springs.  It was assumed that Captain Rogers would be recognized and the hope was that if HYDRA were focused on him being there, the attention being on him would allow the agents to do what they needed to do.

Upon arrival Captain Rogers and Agent 42 were greeted warmly.  No pretense was made by any of the ‘staff’ that Captain Rogers was anyone other than Captain America.  They treated him like a celebrity and while he was not asked to pose for any photographs or sign anything, the reception staff did inform him he was their favorite Avenger and his accommodations were upgraded from the standard room to the honeymoon suite.

A Stark Tech infiltration chip was placed on the computer at the front desk by Agent 42.

The rooms provided were very comfortable.  The suite provided had two rooms with a large bath with views over the ocean and a king-sized bed.  The hotel also provided champagne though Captain Rogers and Agent 42 elected not to drink it.

Both Captain Rogers and Agent 42 were invited to dine at the retreat’s communal dining room.  The meal was vegan and primarily consisted of lentils. There the plans for the following day were laid out.

Day 2, 3 Nov 2019

Captain Rogers and Agent 42 started the day with yoga and then had a breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt with the rest of the people at the retreat.  Other attendees spoke about philosophies such as reaching inner peace and healing the planet. It was discussed later if they had this belief system twisted at some point and the retreat was perhaps a way to recruit the rich and influential of California given the cost of the retreat.  If not it was definitely a money-making venture and potentially a way to collect data on those attending.

Agent 42 broke into the office of the manager while Captain Rogers kept him distracted.  She placed both a Stark Tech infiltration chip on the computer and a voice-activated recording chip in the room.

The rest of the day passed without incident.  Both Agent 42 and Captain Rogers made use of the hot springs.

Day 3, 4 Nov 2019

Agents Hawkeye and Black Widow made contact.  No files were found on any of the computers indicating that any kind of HYDRA operation was taking place.  They had decided to call in for an area scan to see if there were any hidden underground facilities attached to the facility.

Captain Rogers joined the group for a beach run while excusing Agent 42 saying that she was feeling unwell.  While alone Agent 42 explored the building, planting more bugs and searching for hidden rooms. Nothing of note was found.

Day 4, 5 Nov 2019

Agents Hawkeye and Black Widow were unable to find any sign of hidden underground facilities or secret entrances.

Captain Rogers and Agent 42 were informed of a communal wedding ceremony that would be taking place for any members of the group who desired to participate.  Everyone at the facility would be in attendance

After some discussion of the legality of the ceremony Captain Rogers and Agent 42 decided they would participate in the wedding.  Agent 42 insisting that: ‘It would be like one of those weddings at Burning Man.’ And that there would be no legal binding made. The decision was made to participate as it would ensure everyone would be in attendance allowing Agents Black Widow and Hawkeye free reign to explore the facility.

Day 5, 6 Nov 2019

The day started early, Captain Rogers and Agent 42 were separated from each other to prepare for the ceremony.  Preparation involved meditation, being scrubbed clean and body painting. The following ceremony took place with around 100 participants, Captain Rogers and Agent 42 taking center stage.

During the ceremony Agents Black Widow and Hawkeye were unable to find any evidence of any kind of secret operation, money laundering or other illegal activity.  The lead pointing out Hydration Facility as a cover for HYDRA appears to be false. The bugs in place will remain active for six months to make sure, but I feel confident saying that the facility is clean and exactly the facility they claim to be.

One small detail that should be mentioned.  The wedding was legally binding.

Captain Steven G. Rogers

Fury looked up from the report and looked from you to Steve.  “So you spent a week infiltrating some kind of hippy wellness spa and accidentally married each other?”  He asked.

Steve gave a curt nod.  “It would seem that way.”  He said. “It was very relaxing if that’s of any consolation.”

Fury’s expression didn’t change, but he flicked through the papers again.  “I suppose that is one way to force you to take some actual time for yourself.”

You glanced at Steve out of the side of your eye and saw him smirking.  You always had trouble reading Fury, but Steve seemed to read him like the back of a book.  You supposed Fury was finding this very funny.

“So, newlyweds?”  Fury said putting the papers down.  “Should I buy the bride and groom a new toaster?  I suppose you don’t need to go on a honeymoon now?”

Steve shook his head.  “No, I supposed not.”

“Do you need help filing for an annulment?”  Fury asked. “I can certainly send things through some channels to hurry it along.”

Steve smiled and reached out taking your hand.  “We talked about it. We’ve been delaying it anyway because of work.  We’re calling it divine intervention on the issue.”

“Well, mazel tov,” Fury said getting up and offering his hand to Steve.  You both stood and Steve took his hand and shook it. “Take a week off if you like.  Have a proper honeymoon.”

“No, we can’t.  There’s a situation in Belarus we need to look in to.”  Steve said.

Fury turned to you and shook your hand.  “You sure you want to stay married to him?”

You laughed and nodded.  “Yeah, I think I’ll keep him.  He’s alright.”

Steve wrapped his arm around your waist and the two of you headed out of the office.  “Don’t work too hard,” Fury called. “And close that door.”

“Maybe we can spend a week in Paris on the way home.”  You said as you both headed back towards Steve’s office.

Steve gave you a little squeeze.  “That could be possible.”

You nudged him.  “We could go looking for another HYDRA base in a spa again.”

He laughed.  “Yeah. I guess that would work.”