#Check out my friend!!! Their photography is superb!!!

[cinnamon-flame]

Pigeon studies

Okay so long story short, my love for pigeons reignited over the last few days and I drew only pigeons for like a week to the concern of everybody who saw me enter that state of mind.

The first three are drawn based few different pigeon shots I found, the two after that are referenced from my weirdly pixelated vacation pics and the last one is so high quality because my bestie @wilczuuu let me use one of their gorgeous photos for reference.

Also just for fun I filmed the last one as a timelapse to see that that would look like

I struggle a lot with bird anatomy and while these drawing made me get a firmer grip on that, I'm still super confused about that. So if anyone has some experience with drawing birds and would like to share some tips I would be very thankful.

[starclock30]

Don’t Fall For This Minecraft Server Host Scam

They might be used as a group project or, because the article states, in self-guided studying. The article talks about how to modify the world as an educator as a way to make educating easier and on your own phrases. Following the pointers I make on this paper, you will have the ability to create and use on-line learning with ease. Below, you will see resources I have checked out and deemed helpful to making a profitable on-line learning atmosphere. This paper comprises sources to assist teachers who discover themselves thrown into the web learning environment for the foreseeable future navigate with better ease. With all these questions arises another: how do I transition my face-to-face studying surroundings into a web based type? Additionally, the use of Minecraft means that kids can both reveal what they’ve learnt within the session and by consolidating their learning through the sport, remember it later. Other typical suggestions includes comments reminiscent of “my children learnt about the connection between real life and video games well”; “excellent for mixing enjoying with the curriculum”; “amazingly fantastic, partaking and educational”; “I love the concept. Feedback has been overwhelmingly optimistic; in the project’s first three years of faculty visits, all attending kids reported that they enjoyed the session and will relay one thing they'd learnt.

It’s nice to see all of them engaged at the identical time and stepping into something like this, and it’s related as properly because of what they’ve been hearing about on the news” (verbal feedback from a trainer observing a session in a school for children with SEN). It's getting just a little long within the tooth, and that is readily obvious in some of the bottom, sky, and weather textures as properly because the naked-bones buildings and whatnot. Sudhirtiwari et al., (2020) created a website that takes an in-depth look at studying theories as effectively. Culatta (2020) has constructed an internet site stuffed with learning theories that can help with instructional design. Our help crew can only help with inquiries associated to VPS administration and a few other again-end issues. Uni and help teach them - wonderful idea”; “It is superb for youths to be artistic - it is an effective alternative to learn”; and “my son beloved it and got here again on all three days to strive something new”. For example, a secondary faculty scholar reported anonymously by way of written suggestions that “It was an amazing lesson and I assumed the Minecraft made it so I could learn more about it and perceive it better” (Determine 4). Kids and teachers recognize being able to discover novel research areas that link to their instructing and learning curriculum in higher depth than they would usually be capable of do and with access to relevant expertise, and being able to take part in associated palms-on demonstrations and ask in-depth questions about them.

In lots of instances, they remark that children who would generally exhibit decrease ranges of social-communication are interacting and collaborating with their friends (e.g. “It was nice to see our college students engaged. The most obvious downside is that the great majority of gamers on any given server are villains. Have you ever ever wondered why video games which are performed on computers are preferred to games for different platforms? Do you take pleasure in roleplay dungeon-crawling games like D&D? Their website contains specific pages for each of the numerous studying theories, like Culatta’s web site. As a student completing my master’s diploma in Academic Expertise, I am learning from an Instructional Designer and I'll share what I have discovered with you, the reader. photography blogs , expertise, Instructional Design, ID, alternate forms of educating and learning, cell studying. When designing a web-based learning atmosphere, you first need to be taught more about studying itself. There are additionally associated web sites included to do extra research into a specific idea of interest.

Minecraft Schooling Edition (a smooth expertise) makes use of the traditional Socio-constructivist theory during which students be taught via doing with others. Each idea has its own web page in which you will see an summary about the idea, the appliance of the idea, examples, rules and references to the books that supplied the information. Each web page lists the contributors of the speculation, key ideas, and additional assets and references from which the data was discovered. There are various learning theories on the market, and good resources to read with the intention to narrow down your view. Both method, a dedicated server is a superb choice to ensure your server has the power and sources it needs to do what you need. It’s permitting them to discover on their very own phrases at no matter level they need, it’s an awesome leveller. For instance, comments resembling “The session was an important success and the pupils actually loved it. They nonetheless speak about it now months afterwards which is a testament to the best way the session was delivered” and “They have remembered the expertise and due to this fact have remembered the content” have been submitted via nameless on-line questionnaires which are despatched to participating teachers every college 12 months. In particular, they tell us that using Minecraft makes the session “fun, enjoyable and different” to their commonplace faculty classes, and that it helps them to grasp the content being discussed.

[lakiceva]

kNOWledge workshop!

Name of activity: participation in the kNOWledge workshop

Date:  started 1st of November

Approximate number of hours: 1-2 hours a week

Type of activity: service, creativity

Learning outcomes: 

 Demonstrated how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

 Showed commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

 Demonstrated the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

Okay so for the first time since I started going to IB I am participating in something which was organized and run by IB students outside the school. Namely, two of my friends and colleagues, Tibor and Irina, went to America in November of 2019 to Dayton for a student exchange in a youth leadership program. Those 3 weeks prepared them for making their own workshop. The workshop was supposed to be held in an American library here in Banja Luka, however, due to the pandemic, some of our workshops were held online via Google Meet. However, Tibor and Irina managed to get approval for holding the workshops in person. I think their workshops are superb because they are flexible - they don’t focus mainly on one topic but listen to the participants, such as me, and try to make their workshops as interesting as possible by adjusting the topics to the wishes of participants. 

Their main interest is to try and make an workshop where the main aim is to share knowledge (which explains the title). So far, we have done a workshop on psychology and on Visual arts. More has been done on Visual arts: creative workshops including drawing with different tasks: for example, sinesthesia, the merging of different senses or perhaps presenting for example smell as colours or sound as a picture and also a visual presentation of what the quarantine meant to us. We even had to visually present ourselves, through a drawing or anything visual. The next task, at the moment, is to make a series of works of art since the main task is conceptual art. I’m personally thinking taking up photography since I have been attending classes of Visual Arts until recently, because of my own personal reasons, and have made a lot of works of art including techniques in aquarell, acrylic etc. Anyways, I have gone off topic. As you may have, or may have not seen in my previous posts, I am keen on photography in all forms and value my a e s t h e t i c, thus I have decided to make my task about photography. I already have some photographs I could use but maybe I’ll even make some new ones. I am sure happy to see my peers making something which is new and refreshing, especially when the dark time we are in right now is considered. 

Reflection:

I would especially like to engage in youth activism because it is my wish for some time now and it was mentioned that youth activism as a topic is possible. What can I say? These workshops are something rare I saw in a while since everyone tends to “get it over with” but Irina and Tibor really engage with everyone and try to truly spread knowledge in a fun and engaging way. The only thing bothering me is that I don’t know if I’ll be able to attend the meetings in person since the second year of IB is hard and demanding thus I don’t have much time. However, I will truly try to attend these workshops because much can be heard from everyone. You can check out Irina and Tibor’s workshop’s instagram page here 🤩🤩🤩

Some of screenshots from the previous workshops:

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Time to start working on my bookmark hellhole again. Now we find:

- writing tips/references I’ll never use but saving them gives the illusion of being an active and dedicated writer (don’t mistake, the fact that I am doing this reorganization thing at all is because I am procrastinating on writing the next chapter of my wip. My procrastination skills are superb.)

- Teen Wolf fanfic that a good soul recommended to me and I lied and said I’d check them out :’) now I barely remember what Teen Wolf was about at all. Maybe nobody actually knows what Teen Wolf is about, if it is about something.

- The food timeline

- a video of Sebastian Stan

- pictures of Sebastian Stan

- some feminist article that says nothing we didn’t know

- the timeline of historical terms/slang for sexual things, which I suppose belongs in WRITING REF because of reasons

- aaaaah the ebay search for “yankee candle mountain lodge”, because the Mountain Lodge candle isn’t for sale in my country but buying it from abroad costs a lot of money so, um, in case you were wondering what to get me for Christmas, just saying

- the Yankee Candle website. Granted, I buy my candles at a physical store because they give me lil stamps on the card and once the card is complete I’ll get a free candle. I miss going into a store that sells Yankee Candles and sniff all the candles, but I think that sticking my nose in things is not exactly the most courteous action during these times.

- online instructions to make artsy stuff, which I’ll never do, but again, the illusion that I will ever do them at some point in the future.

- the time traveler function on the Merriam-Webster website

- g...gregorian chants?

- various articles that if I didn’t read back then.....

- oh boi guys this is so boring

- I think one was a podcast that dissed Glee but it doesn’t exist anymore

- cookie recipes but I hate baking cookies because I have a small oven so you either make like 2 cookies at a time or they’re too close to each other and go all together, so it’s not great

- lots of things that don’t exist anymore. Things can die quickly on the internet

- slime videos from my slime phase

- needle felting instructions, which I never actually tried

- an etsy store from when I wanted to buy wooden sunglasses. I never bought any but I already own nice sunglasses now... wooden sunglasses are cool tho

- 403 Forbidden. Jeez judging from the name it’s a recipe site, that’s intense

- more fic recs that get immediately yeeted in the fic folder so I can forget about them there but at least they’re in order

- more videos and pictures of... you know

- a couple BBC HardTalk (which my mom watches) videos, which I told my mom I’d watch

- other random stuff that either went in ESSAYS or MISC or in oblivion

- an entire folder called “mcu press tour things” *facepalms* (I decide that not even my appreciation for Sebastian Stan can save these bookmarks). The folder also includes, for some reasons, tips on how to grow vegetables, writing tips, something I have no idea about, a Japanese cake I can’t get all the ingredients for in Italy anyway, and more Asian recipes

- “5 places where to get bubble tea in Milan” it doesn’t even include the ones where I have in fact been. (There was a very, very, very good one but I’m afraid that it might not have survived the lockdown. Fingers crossed it’s still there when I’m allowed there again...)

- aerial photography!! My great true love.

- I love fanfiction, because only in fanfiction you can find things called “Becoming Human by sparkly_butthole”

- oh no, cute lbgt+ things that cost money

- more Asian recipes, but they’re hard to make without access to many ingredients or tools 😭

- way too many videos of the MCU cast again, they just go away, shoo

- makeup tutorials??? I don’t??? wear makeup??? why

- sorry to all my friends who told me to check out fics and I lied and said I would. At least I bookmarked them...?

- Peter Holoda, an incredible pole dancer

Oof enough for today...

[dragon-kazansky]

A rose in London - Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 10 - Concerned

When the carriage came to a stop you hurried over to it, happy to see Sherlock was alright. When you had found out he hand't returned home, and no one could find him, you panicked. You had made your way over to Baker Street where Inspector Lestrade tried to tell you the details. You were more concerned about Sherlock's well being than the murder that took place, but made some mental notes anyway.

When message was received that Holmes had been found, you demanded to be taken to him. Lestrade took you to the crime scene where Sherlock would be taken.

When he climbed out of the carriage you couldn't help yourself and pulled him into a hug. Sherlock was not expecting that, but he welcomed it all the same. He returned the gesture.

It was a nice feeling to be held by you.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" You pulled away to look up at him. "No one knew where you were, I was going out of my mind." You spoke so quickly. Sherlock was touched you were so worried, but he needed you to calm down. He took your face into his hands and looked at you.

"I'm fine. A little hiccup happened, but I'm alive."

You took a deep breath and reached for his hands, holding them in your own.

"Where were you? Where did you go?" You still looked so worried.

"I had to get information."

"I should have gone with you."

"No. It was safer for you at home."

You gave a sigh and let go of his hands, turning away. You felt a little angry at his insistence on protecting you from whoever he had gone to see. You had an inkling of an idea, which made your heart sink in your chest, but it hurt more that wouldn't tell you anything. You stepped away from him.

"We have a crime scene to look at." You muttered.

Sherlock watched as you began to walk away from him. He closed his eyes for a moment, angry with himself he had upset you. He hoped when things calmed down, and he could guarantee you were safe, he would tell you everything.

"We've checked everything, sir. No sign of a break in." The pair of you were taken to the scene of the crime. You chose to ignore Sherlock's presence as you looked around. "The butler didn't hear a thing. So, body in the bathtub. His eyes were wide open and the only thing missing was-"

You had stood next to Clark to hear the details, but Sherlock's knocking on the wall was disturbing the brief. You both turned around to see what he was doing.

"-his ring, sir." The officer finished.

Sherlock came to stand by your side, hurt when you turned away from him again and moved to put distance between the pair of you. He turned his attention to the tub. He touched the inside and rubbed his fingers.

"Why did you drain the water?"

"Out of common decency." The officer by the window said.

"Crime is common. Logic is rare. The decent thing to do is catch the killer, not provide comfort for the corpse." Sherlock sprayed something up in the air. He then sat down and examined the situation.

He began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" You asked, unimpressed with his attitude.

"What is that?" He pointed to something beside him, ignoring your question. Two could play at this game, apparently. You glared at him from where you stood.

"Jasmine bath salt, sir." The window officer picked it up and smelt it.

"Superb. Probably comes from a larger container. Either be in the pantry, high up where it's warm and dry, or in a linen cupboard with a vent. And constable you could do worse than to check the ground near the rear window for any sign of footprints not your own. Data, data, data, I cannot make bricks without clay." He looked at you.

You just shook your head silently.

The room was emptied as everyone went to off to look in those places that had been listed. You remained for your own benefit, not giving Sherlock the idea you would give up because he upset you.

Sherlock gave another spray and watched as he thin dust was sucked into the crack between the panels on the wall.

Interested, you walked over to him. Putting your feelings aside, you looked at him for answers.

Sherlock gave a few more sprays before knocking against the panels. The sound was different between the two he knocked against. One was hollow on the other side. Sherlock looked you in the eye as he touched the wood and a door opened.

You rolled your eyes.

He pushed the door open and looked at you again.

You pushed past him and walked inside first. Sherlock followed after checking no one had come back.

The room wasn't very big, but there was a lot of stuff in it. On the far side was table littered with artefacts, it was sitting under a painted illustrated of two people with wings, sitting in front of a blue and gold pyramid. Blue velvet curtains were hanging open over the illustration and on either side of the curtains were symbols you did not recognise.

A shiver ran up your spine.

It reminded you of the book Ratheram had shown Sherlock. The one which contained spells in it, supposedly.

You let Sherlock examine the room, knowing you would only miss something if you tried yourself. You didn't need to feel humiliated as well today.

Sherlock knelt down by the table and picked up many things, slipping them into his inside coat pocket. His name was called from behind. He quickly hid a small book with a feather in it into his coat and stood up.

For his sake you wouldn't say anything.

Two officers, Clark being one of them, came into the little room.

"Was it in the cupboard or the pantry?"

"The pantry, sir. I don't know what to make of this." Sherlock walked past them. You followed him silently. "Excellent work."

You still refused to believe that Black Magic was real. There was no doubt in your mind that Blackwood had done this, after all, Rotheram was his father. It was only a matter of time before Lord Blackwood came for him, but there was no way this was done with magic.

You were sure Sherlock knew the same.

The only problem was proving how he did everything. That, and Blackwood was still out there somewhere.

Sherlock, once back outside, offered to help you into the carriage. You chose not accept his help and climbed in on your own. You didn't meet his gaze as he sat across from you, requesting to be taken to your address.

"Are you going to be upset with me all day?"

You didn't answer. You kept your gaze focused outside.

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I was drugged." He said nonchalantly.

You snapped you gaze to him instantly, "drugged?"

Sherlock was happy you were looking at him again. He nodded.

"By Irene Adler. I wasn't going to tell you because I want to protect you. This case is far more dangerous than I originally thought.  I don't think John would ever forgive me if something happened you on my own accord."

"You're protecting me for John's sake?"

"Yes."

"I see..." You lowered your gaze to your hands resting in your lap. He was doing all of this for John. Of course he was. He was worried John would be upset further if he found out Sherlock wouldn't let you tag along with him.

"I didn't want to say anything because Miss. Adler cannot be trusted." His gaze remained on you.

"I can look after myself, you know." You still refused to meet his gaze. "I don't need protecting all the time. I want to join you on this case because I'm interested. I want to learn from you and... you're my friend."

Sherlock smiled.

"Ah, you consider me a friend? Good. You're my friend too."

Finally you looked up and smiled at him.

"I was worried about you. I feared something had happened. I was so happy when I heard you were fine. Just... Sherlock, please know you can trust me. I want to be useful to you."

"You already are."

You smiled softly.

"Shall I come round first thing in the morning?"

"Please do. I'll have a cup of tea waiting for you."

The pair of you just smiled at one another.

When the carriage reached your house you let Sherlock help you out. He walked you to your door.

"Let me know if something comes up." You told him.

"You'll be the first person I come to." He winked.

You leaned up and placed a kiss to his cheek.

"Be careful, Sherlock."

He nodded and watched you disappear inside your home. He turned back around and climbed back into the carriage, a goofy grin on his face. He promised to never upset you like that again. He didn't think his heart could take it.

Tags:

@awyr @fandombeehive @charmed-asylum  @sigynbandraoi-blog  @procrastinatingmurder @madshelily @phantomofhogwarts @photography-to-all

[hopesong7]

LENS Ch.1

Summary: Sometimes, the universe aligns, and you make friends with a stranger. Sometimes, that stranger is actually multiple people and life just got a bit more interesting.

Genre(s): Fluff, Comedy, lil bit of Angst (Maybe), BTS (It’s a genre now)

Contains: Things that make me feel fuzzy, photography, social media, things I know nothing about but have googled extensively, and the power of friendship.

Word Count: 1405

Note: This is an introductory chapter. BTS makes their entrance in the next. This one is mainly to help understand a bit more about you - as the reader - and introduce background characters that will be referenced repeatedly and brought up often.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To say that you were excited was an understatement. 

Striding through the doors, you were met with Wonderland, quite literally. Alice in Fantasy Book was a cafe you’d had eyes on for awhile. Photos of it’s delectable treats had crossed your feed one too many times. Now, here you sat, Eun-ha practically vibrating with excitement beside you.

“Haru said she was on her way,” You informed her, taking a sip of your drink. You were ignored, the model opting to gaze at the decor in awe. You couldn’t blame her. The walls themselves were a sight to behold, canvases portraying various scenes from the novel. When coupled with the other various decorations - of which an abundance were hearts - it was simply awe inspiring. You wished you’d brought your camera, but supposed your phone would have to do for now. A gasp of awe caught your attention and you turned to see Haru making her way to you. While Eun-ha was a classic beauty, and you maintained a rather flattering appearance, Haru radiated the softest of auras. 

“Ah, you look stunning,” Eun-ha complimented. Purple hair - pastel, of course - covered pink ears as the up-and-coming singer took her seat.

“Oddly Cheshire today,” You teased, eyes on her striped sweater. Haru only shrugged with a cheeky grin. The three of you shared a small laugh, quickly placing your orders. “I can’t believe we’re all here,” You admitted as the waitress walked away. You were so glad she spoke English.

“I can’t believe it either,” Eun-ha agreed. “The fact that we’re all here in Tokyo… When was the last time we were all in the same city?”

“Too long,” Haru muttered. 

“So why are you two around,” you inquired, head tilted in curiosity. 

“I’m in between shows,” Haru admitted. “I just finished up in Osaka, so we’re taking a break before heading back home.” The singer took another sip of her drink before the two of you turned on Eun-ha.

The model gave a dismissive wave, “In town for a clothing shoot. The real question is why our darling ____ is here and not back home in lovely South Korea.” You smirked, tracing the rim of your glass and giving the waitress a polite nod as she delivered your orders. 

“I am here,” you snuck a quick bite, “because I really wanted to eat at this cafe.” Your admission earned nothing but flat looks of disbelief. “I kept seeing photos,” you defended, gesturing at the rather adorable caterpillar sushi in front of you. “I’ll probably make a vlog later today, take some photos.” You shrugged, “Honestly, I don’t have anything planned right now.”

“No jobs scheduled,” Eun-ha repeated, clearly shocked.

“I’m on sabbatical,” You joked. “Only photos I’ll be taking are for me and Instagram.” From there, the three of you devolved into casual chatter, occasionally squealing at how utterly adorable everything was. A trio of girls, all suckers for the wonderfully weird world of Alice in Wonderland. The fun ended once Haru’s phone chimed, her manager calling her back to the hotel.

“We can walk you back,” You offered. The two of you were obstinately ignoring Eun-ha paying behind you. You’d tried splitting the bill, but the model had refused, citing that it was “her duty” as the eldest. Eldest by three days, but you weren’t bitter. Nope, not at all. 

Haru shook her head, “No, they’ve sent someone to pick me up. You two should go explore, send me some photos!” You rolled your eyes, grabbing her into a hug. Eun-ha soon joined, obnoxiously resting all her weight on the pair of you.

“Yah! Get off me, you giantess,” your words were muffled by the sweater in your face, but she got the message, releasing you with a laugh. “Aish,” you muttered, trying to fix your hair. Haru merely snickered, seemingly unruffled by Eun-ha’s antics. 

“We should really meet up again soon,” Haru said, watching as a sleek car rolled up, the driver clambering out to open the door for her.

“Definitely,” You and Eun-ha agreed. “I'll message you,” You promised, giving her a wave as the door closed and the car sped off.

“I need to go too,” Eun-ha admitted sheepishly. “My flight leaves in a few hours and I need to pack.” 

You nodded sadly, “Where to now?”

“London, actually.” She pulled you into a hug. “Stay in touch, okay? And keep those videos coming, your last cooking attempt had me in tears,” She admitted with a laugh. 

You giggled, giving her a punch in the arm. “Next cooking video, you’re going to be in it,” You swore. The two of you laughed. For all the grief Eun-ha gave you, she wasn’t much of a cook herself. The only difference between the two of you was that she was capable of using a knife without injury, as opposed to your ongoing battle to not bleed everytime you walked by one. The two of you shared one last bittersweet goodbye before finally separating.

You made your way to your hotel room, grabbing your camera. Not the one reserved for photos, sadly, but rather the one you used when filming. Setting it up on the tripod, you double checked the lighting, adjusted the settings, and started recording.

“Hello everyone! I wasn’t sure if I was going to video today, but I’m in Tokyo, so I couldn't resist. It’s rather beautiful here and I just got back from lunch. Eun-ha and Haru were able to make it, so we dined in wonder! No joke though,” you shifted on the bed and leaned forward, “We went to that cafe I’ve been dying to try! It’s called Alice in Fantasy Book and not only was the food and service superb but, the decor-'' You stopped, blinking meaningfully at the camera. “I died,” you said solemnly, “and it was so worth it.” You sat back, running a hand through your hair, “You all have known me awhile, okay. Aesthetics, themes, anything like that? You know I’m going to be into it. This place was honestly gorgeous you guys. They had chairs like the at the Mad Hatter’s table, Queen of Hearts theme was there, the waitresses were all in Alice's dress and-” You muffled a scream with your hands. “The walls were some of the most stunning things I have ever witnessed. They were painted with scenes from the novel and the artwork, oh my goodness. I think I fell in love with the walls,” You admitted sheepishly. “If any of you get the chance, especially my Alice in Wonderland fans, I advise you to go.”

“Anyway! It’s my second day here, yesterday I just walked around. I probably spent too much money shopping but meh,” You waved a hand at the thought. “My Pokemon collection has grown and I have more Luigi merch. That is all that matters. I’ll probably wander around some more tonight, take a few nightlife photos, but what I’m really excited about is tomorrow.” You rubbed your hands together, smiling gleefully. “I,” You proudly announced, “am going to drown myself in art! There are so many art museums here and I’m ready. There’s one focused on photography specifically, so you know I’m going there. I won’t keep this video so short - I have standards - which is why when I’m finally done editing, you all will have a lovely montage of me making a fool out of myself yesterday, playing in three, two-” You stopped recording, a grin on your face, “One.”

Whipping out your computer, you started editing, removing any awkward silences that might have snuck their way in first. Next came the audio, double-checking that it didn’t cut out randomly. It had happened once when you first started, and you’d been paranoid since. The montage was already done, simply needing to be stitched into the clip from tonight. You internally thanked your past self, who’d had the foresight to get ahead. Triple-checking everything and making sure you didn’t miss something, you finally nodded, loading it up to your account and sending out a quick tweet that your new video was up. Instagram was treated to a selfie and the same message.

You stood, stretching, and grabbed your camera bag, the light of Tokyo shining through your window. For all that it was late, you had the oddest feeling that something good was going to happen tonight. It could wait until after you got coffee, though.

[myhouseidea]

Private Sunset is a project designed by Egue y Seta in 2019, covers an area of 97m2 and is located in Barcelona, Spain. Photography by Vicugo Foto.

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.

“We call this “Private Sunset”, but we might as well have called it Private Sunrise, for this attic is framed just by that, the sun setting and coming up again for those who spy on it from these two superb terraces (east and west / sea and mountain oriented) with outdoor cinema, pool, jacuzzi, bar, barbecue and outdoor dining. If these do not evoke a great party with friends until the break of dawn, step in and check out the inside. If you´re not in particularly festive mood, don’t worry, we´ll do our best to pass it on to you. If we fail, we hope you agree at least and after reading, this is without a question one hedonistic, festive and outgoing urban refuge.

We´re welcomed by an open kitchen with central isle, black design appliances and reconstituted limestone door fronts, crowned by greenery. Over these, just like over a stage, indirect lighting hosts itself within a black corrugated sheeting that conceals, under its industrial appearance, an entire domotized high fidelity sound system. Say “in My Mind” is blasting off and the cocktail on your hand is fruity and cool, for the night has just begun. On your right, the living room, with its armchairs and its comfortable sofa facing an oversized TV set, offers itself as central lounge and a hinge articulating all areas of the home. From this spot you can not only view the kitchen and the dining room, but also both terraces and the interior garden. In here, you can operate, through a digital interface, all multimedia contents and lighting scenes available for the home. That guy at the back is not excatly turning green with envy… it’s just the light that manages to pick up the pool and surrounding leaves tones.

In the dining room, the bottles and their colourful liquors shine through the black metallic wicker door fronts, becoming the perfect backdrop for a solid oakwood table pushed against a colourful Warhol print. Please take a sit under this chandelier for what we are about to tell you is quite shocking: The forged concrete is not such, but micro-cement. If you’re not flipping out just yet, let us grab the mobile, put the RGB lights on and pour you another one while you listen to “Iron” and pretend you didn´t see those two scaping into the guests bedroom.

They get in and hit the bed overlooking the jacuzzi and its terrace, even though they do not need to slide the doors open to immerse themselves in a garden. Under a false skylight and against steel effect tiled wall, they have all the greenery one needs to set into a tropical, warm and exotic kind of mood while the pavement crawls up the headboard wall and invades the ceiling in order to create an open wooden canopy flanked by mirrors. We won´t tell all things you could see reflected in those but will only add behind this plane you can find a compact walk-in closet and a bathroom perfectly integrated. Here, the bluish hexagon tile with geometric pattern gracefully overlaps to rose-gold taps and fixtures, cement like finishes and black joinery for a masculine yet sophisticated look and feel. Before you leave, you peak at yourself in the rounded mirror, and oh! Your quiff needs to be retouched for new guests keep arriving.”

Private Sunset by Egue y Seta Private Sunset is a project designed by Egue y Seta in 2019, covers an area of 97m2 and is located in Barcelona, Spain.

[makinoemii]

  “Travel is never a matter of money but of courage”. -Paolo Coelho-

Stressful week? Want to unwind and escape away from City life? I bet we’re on the same shoes or maybe not. Some love to go to work because work is work and we need it to sustain our daily needs. Some go to work because they have to in order to survive. And some work not because of their self but because some members of the family depends on them. And what keeps me driving to go to work despite the fact that I love traveling and adventures? Right! I need to go to work because my family needs me and nature’s waiting for me to discover them.

I intend to write my thoughts about my unanticipated wonderful experiences together with different people, student, etc. Throughout my journey for this year “2018”, I’ve met different people and amazing experiences which made my year wonderful and memorable.

  Let’s start from my hometown in Tabuelan, Cebu. Located in the northern part of Cebu, you’ll found a wonderful white sand beach. Two years ago Maravilla White Sand beach was not very popular until a resort called “Tree Sunset Beach Resort” meters away from Maravilla went viral online for its unique concept that was very suitable for young adults to hangout with and have fun away from the city. After that resort became popular the public beach of Maravilla became a spot for those whose on their budget or a group of people having their team building or just chilling along the beach.

And this was my favorite in Maravilla White Sand beach, the sunset. The place very much comparable to Boracay because in Maravilla the sunset’s so wonderful and Instagram worthy to those who love photography.

If you love to beach as your prenup or pre-wedding photos, Maravila’s the best location. It’s not too crowded and it has a long shoreline and wonderful spots for your partner. Take note no need for you pay just to do photo shoot in the whole place. 🙂

So how to go to Maravilla? That’s a good question. All you need to do is to go to Northbus terminal. You have options depends on your comfort zone.

You can take “Inday Meme Bus” that will go directly to Maravilla public white sand beach. But this bus is not like “Ceres bus liner if your familiar”. This is an ordinary bus and the seat’s not really spacious. Mostly the bus is crowded over the weekend because most of the local’s from Tabuelan will go home.

Take a V-hire if you want to save time. However; there’s no guarantee that the V-hire will go directly to Maravilla. Some V-hire’s will pass by the beach and some will just have their stationary at the public Market. Because the other V-Hire’s will be heading to Tuburan. So you need to take a motorcycle that would take you to Maravilla.

The third option is most likely the same with the V-Hire. Take a bus “Ceres bus liner.” Going to Tabuelan-Tuburan, and once you reach Tabuelan public market take a motorcycle to Maravilla.

So the choice is yours and Maravilla’s waiting for you guys. 🙂

  Next stop, let’s have the latest viral instagramable destination within your reach in Cebu City, @Neri’s Ville Selfie Corner. Expected expenses are the following:

P100 per way by motorcycle or (habal-habal) and that’s per person. The motorcycle can accommodate 2 people. Before it was only P80 per way, however due to its popular in demand they’ve increase the fare because of the waiting fee. But if you have car then your good to go.

P50 for the entrance,parking fee at Neri’s Ville when we went there if you have your own car was for free.

Jeepney fare if your from Ayala or Colon in Cebu City take a Jeepney that will go directly to “Pit-os” Talamban or 62B & 62C jeepney code. Fare was less than P20 each.

Operating hours; From Mondays-Sundays 8AM-& 7PM.

And always be a responsible visitor, follow the Leave no Trace policy guys.

  During our visit, the owner herself was painting some inspirational travel line’s along the stairs and in the entrance part there was a constructions on going. The place was really cute and don’t expect that they have an expansive place once you enter Neri’s Ville selfie Corner.

We had our first stop at their mini hobbit house. We couldn’t ask someone to take us this photo so we set our small tripod and use the small Bluetooth remote in taking the photo.

Even though we reach the place around 9 o’clock in the morning, group of people were already there mostly occupying the hobbit house. And we we’re not given the chance to take some photos because they’ve stayed longer like no plans of going out so that other guess will have the chance to take photos.

So what we did, was just took a selfie together with my pretty student “Yoyo” her English name at the back the yellow mini hobbit house.

This was one of my favorite spot, in front of this was a spider swing.

And of course the most popular one, the Bali inspiration of everyone this spot was considered the most popular online.

Probably our number spot, since the scenic view’s like a painting and it was pretty amazing when we check the photo after the criminology student took this for us. “Thanks to them”.

I had a shot conversation with the owner and she told me how there mini garden went viral suddenly. She said “someone visited their place, took some photos then that person posted their photos in Social Media account, Boom! It became suddenly a hit, especially millennial babies love posting photos that has a nice and interesting ambiance. To their surprised, they suddenly open their place to the public and tried their best to upgrade and do a lot of stuffs to make it more interesting. One thing that made this all worth it, was motorcycle drivers was able to have extra income because people from time to time visit the place especially to those who don’t have their private transportation. And I really adore the owner because she’s very open for suggestions and improvement of their place though it was not that really a huge place. Keep it up!

After Neri’s Ville we went to Balaman to chase the sunset. And this iconic color hanging bridge was located in JVR’s Island in the Sky Resort.

Before we had our visit at JVR we head first in Manunggal Peak to had a short hike however, they wont allow us to do so unless we have a guide. We reached the place almost 4pm and we tried our best to haggle not to have a guide instead we will pay an entrance fee that they have before for P80. But they insisted that it was not okay, we need to have a guide for them to allow us to reach the peak. It was disappointing because the motorcycle was already a total of P300 back and fort then we will pay another P400 even though it was already late. So what we did, we gave up and head directly @JVR Island in the Sky Resort.

For only P50 you’ll have a great sunset view from this resort. There was a new resort nearby calles Florentino and their sunset view was very awesome too.However; I wanted to be more unique and capture nice nature view with my Coco.

Coco’s smile while we chase the sunset was so precious. I’m glad that she liked this resort to forget the unfortunate experienced when we went in Manunggal.

Thank you so much Coco for trusting me in taking a great adventure with you on your stay here in Cebu.

As the sun sets let the peace and harmony be with you Coco to ease the pain and burden you carried after your Mom passed away. I hope that you’ll remember all the good things that you had together with her and strive for happiness in life. Fighting!

      Best of Top of Cebu Restaurant.

Before we end our journey on that day, we need to fill in our hungry stomach. From JVR Island in the Sky Resort, we went to Sirao Peak for a short hike even though it was already dark and called my friend nearby to fetch us and take us to Top of Cebu.

My apologies for the quality of the photo. Meet Juan or John one of my hiking buddy who lives nearby and we ask a favor since we were lucky on that night that he’s available to fetch us from Sirao Peak after our short hike.

We waited for around 20-25 minutes before our dinner was served. We ordered, Busay express as I remember, sisig rice and fiesta rice and for our main course was chicken adobo sa gata and grilled pork belly. While waiting for our food, our three San Mig Light was served first so we had time talking with one another.  For more details please visit their Facebook Page.

For your reference you can check out their menu. I did not personally took the photo for this menu. I’ve search through google’s image and it was the same menu as what I have in my phone.

One of my light room preset was responsible for this awesome photo. Thanks a lot Coco for the wonderful dinner we had together with Juan.

Give your best smile after dinner 🙂 It was so funny that our outfit was too sporty during our visit. But who cares right? We’re here to eat and enjoy the wonder city lights view on top.

This is #CEBU a must photo you ought to take once you dine and visit Top Of Cebu.

As for my personal thoughts about the food? Guys, it was superb! I gave it two thumbs up! Top of Cebu’s a sister restaurant of Lantaw but my honest opinion will go to Top of Cebu. Their food was really tasty, of course Lantaw’s food was tasty as well but Top of Cebu was for me ahead 2 points when it comes to serving and variety of cuisine and its taste. Both have a reasonable price, and serving time was completely the same. But the food was really different and interesting, plus its wonderful ambiance.

Somewhere in Malubog Lake in Toledo, Cebu.

Our next destination for our second day was a hiking morning @Mt.Tagaytay in Toledo, Cebu.

Mt. Tagaytay in Toledo, Cebu was pretty amazing and was really good for beginner hikers.

However; we were not lucky enough as we arrived because the weather was not good and it was already raining. We had our stop at a local house and we can’t afford to hit the trail on that rainy day. We were so lucky that the owner of the house invited us over and she gave us another option where we should go since the weather’s not with us.

Our guide kuya Nilo took us to the mini falls and we hike along the stream.

But unfortunate event happened after we took this photo together with my student. The water suddenly went up and there’s no way for us to cross that river going back.

Coco with the country’s national animal. 🙂

Before we reach this part of the river, check out my first photo. We need to hike up to the mountains and find our own trail so that we can go back. Our supposed destination was the mini falls because of its rock formation, the tunnel and also going to the lake after this mini falls. But we were not lucky enough to achieve our plan. We gave up and went back for our safety. Good thing that our guide was part of the barangay official so he was very kind and also worried a lot since I am with a foreigner. Hopefully next time we will be able to achieve our goal. Total budget that we spent for this trip was the following:

P80 each for the habal-habal or motorcycle ride. Before it was P60 each but a sudden increase was expected as Mt. Tagaytay became popular online.

P100 V-hire Express, from Cebu to Toledo. But you need to tell the driver to drop you at Brgy. Magdugo. Landmark was Julies bakeshop and motorcycles are already lining once you reach the place.

The total experience was priceless though we were not lucky enough to reach our destination. Well there’ll be a next time, hope to make it happen soon.

How come the water suddenly went up after I took this photo. 

Just keep smiling and going, it’s not the end of the day. Tomorrow will be a better day for us.

  Disconnect to connect, together with Mr. Bacalla at Bacalla woods and campsite in San Fernando, Cebu.

After our unfortunate yet memorable experience in Toledo, we directly went to Bacalla woods to stay for overnight. Best thing to do if you want to have a reservation is to contact them directly through this number 09238256945. They’re more active if you contact them directly, compare through Facebook and Instagram.

FYI: BASIC OVERNIGHT camping fee is P200 including breakfast on the next day, maintenance of the campsite and for the usage of cr, electricity, drinking water and kitchen.

For DAY USE its P100 per person, 1-7 years old is for free, 8-12 years old will be 50% off.

You can bring/cook your own food for the rest of the meals w/no extra charge.

Please bring your own tents, hammocks, sleeping bags if you only wanted to pay the basic camping fee.

THE FF: ARE THE RENTAL RATES: Hammock P150 each, Tent for two pax P300, Tent for four pax P600 and Tent for ten pax P1000. Payag Igloo for 4 pax is P800 and Room, P1300.

Just to give you an idea of what we can do here, please click this link.

For Final booking transaction, please deposit 50% down payment to BDO checking account name: Ian Vicent Bacalla, account number will be given to you through text confirmation. Or send the downpayment thru Palawan Express Pera Padala to Ian Vincent Bacalla, mobile number: 09238256945.Then send them the tracking number.

First DP first serve basis, they need to book your activities ahead of time. Strictly Leave no Trace Policy. LET’S HAVE A PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE WITH NATURE AND IT’S INHABITANTS. CHILL DOWN AFTER 10PM. DRINK MODERATELY.

Here’s how to get there: From South Bus Terminal ride a ceres bus going to San Fernando. When you reach Pitalo Church a few meters aways you will be approaching a bridge near Pulchra Resort. The first street on your right is “Eskina Ilaya, get a motorbike for P90 each. The campsite is 7Km away from the National Highway Main Road.

Quite long right? This was the exact message we received after we sent our down payment through Palawan Express. We arrive the place around 9pm.

After we settled our things in our Igloo accommodation I boiled some water for our noodles.

It was indeed a nice night to reflect for our adventures as we sat down eating our cup of ramyeon. For our night at Bacalla we considered ourselves lucky enough because we own the whole place. No other guest so we really felt at home in the woods. No signal? Not a problem, you really need to get disconnected to get a proper connection with people thru real communication.

We had a wonderful sleep and was able to wake up early because of the awesome morning breeze. Our breakfast was served ready as we head to the table and sat down. Played at the hammock a bit to relax and feel the morning breeze. Everything’s pretty refreshing and great.

Our wonderful Payag Igloo accommodation. Credits to Coco for this photo.

Indeed, life’s better at the mountain. 

Yoyo was very happy that she saw her favorite quote “LIVE LAUGH LOVE”. 

So here we go, the most iconic and popular spot in Bacalla, their Bali inspiration infinity swing.

Leaving Bacalla Woods with a big smile. Thanks a lot Yoyo. 🙂

Everything went well, we had an awesome experiences and memories that we can treasure as Yoyo’s heading back to Taiwan very soon. Please check this link.

The link on top was our last adventure in the south of Cebu. We did the full course canyoneering in Badian, Cebu. And chase the sunset in Basdaku, white sand beach in Moalboal before they go back in Taiwan.

Meet Yoyo, she’s my best buddy student. We had a lot in common, and shared wonderful adventures together. See you in Taiwan. 

            Unanticipated Attractions in Cebu, Philippines Stressful week? Want to unwind and escape away from City life? I bet we're on the same shoes or maybe not.

[witchbydavidcain]

Witch

Witch a nanowrimo novel by Lord Malinov

Art is accusation, expression, passion. Art is black charcoal crushing white paper.

— 

Gunter Grass, The Tin Drum 

 1. Prologue

I’m writing this book because I believe my wife is a witch, that she has magical powers. Looking back with twenty/twenty hindsight, I thought she was a witch from the beginning, since the very first time we met. In a way, she showed me who she was right away, revealed her true form, so to speak. I realize now that she never does that with anyone else. From the start, I was different. I like that.

But my mind wasn’t there. I never dreamed that she was really a witch. I wasn’t open to the idea. I dismissed the connections, the visions and coincidences, just assumed the strange things that had happened were the result of an overactive imagination, fueled by the usual assortment of recreational intoxicants and being under-fed and over-tired. I thought maybe I was a bit mad, long before I thought seriously about her being a witch. It just made more sense to me.

I guess her having powers doesn’t necessarily make her a witch, but you know what I mean. She’s clearly a human being; she spends her days doing ordinary human things, so I don’t think she’s an alien or some other kind of supernatural being. I don’t think she shows any signs of possession. I haven’t seen her shape-shifting or anything dramatic like that. Sorceress, wizard, high priestess in some dark occult religion, perhaps. I’m just going to call her a witch. It suits her. I can wrap my head around that.

The thing is, the reason I’m writing all this down, is that lots of strange stuff has happened since I met her and I want to make a record of it, just in case. Sometimes it scares me senseless. I don’t know what I mean. If something should happen to me, I was going to say, but I don’t think anything is going to happen. In case some one needs to understand what has been going on with her. I’ve been a front-line witness to years of witchy behavior. I just think I should write it all down.

At the very least, it’s an interesting story. Maybe that’s why I want to write it down, because I don’t have anyone I can tell it to. I can’t even imagine who I’d seriously discuss this with. They’d think I was crazy or seriously laugh at me. Married to a witch. I’m dying to tell someone about it but I’m going to keep my mouth shut. This will have to do.

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m not calling her out, not accusing her, not trying to bring her to justice or salvation or whatever I would be doing if I made her witchiness public. So I haven’t called any church elders; I haven’t been in contact with a witch hunter. Nor have I forbidden her from cleaning the house using magic. I’m quite happy, being married to a witch. It’s very nice.

I joked about the house cleaning but from what I’ve gathered witchcraft doesn’t work that way, cast a quick spell and the house is clean or transformed into a castle. That would be a good trick, of course, but that would be more of a Jeannie sort of thing. Witches are more subtle than that. They don’t make things happen as much as they smooth the path that leads wherever they want to go. They can help or hinder.

I’ve seen a few weird things but you never know with undocumented visual evidence. Maybe I was seeing things. It’s not a big part of my case, anyway. But I have seen some weirdnesses.

Although I live with her, I can’t claim to know everything she does magically. All I can attest to is what I’ve witnessed, what I’ve seen, heard and felt.

I’ve never seen anything float, blink into or out of existence, talk or transform.  Just to be clear, there haven’t been any parlor tricks, no stage-type magic, no bright balls of light and big bangs. Nor does she ever wave a wand. I don’t even think she has one.

What I have seen, let’s say, that proves she is a witch, has been her success. It seems like luck is always on her side. She can do things that I’m not sure she should be able to do, things I know I couldn’t do. She can foresee the future, too often for it to be mere coincidence; she always seems to make lucky guesses, always has the right cards, so to speak. She knows things, things she shouldn’t be able to know, like who’s going to win or what exactly I’m thinking. She talks to animals and plants and clay and food. I think they listen to her. And I’ve never heard any voices but I suspect they respond. Stuff goes on that I really don’t get.

Going back to the beginning of our relationship, I think being a witch made my wife an incredible photography model, the best I’ve ever worked with. I still get inquiries about some of the photos we took and we didn’t take that many. Weirdest session I have ever had, both of them, but the pictures worked out in a way that only a witch can arrange. That’s my theory, anyway.

Being a witch certainly made her a superb business manager. Compared to me, no question. When we met, I was pretty much floundering, trying to get enough work to get enough cash to get my business started. I barely made rent, sometimes.

Back then, I would bug guys for weeks trying to get work. They’d usually tell me they’d find something for me but not now, later and later rarely came. Sadly, that’s how I got most of my work, bugging friends and friends of friends and people I met at the bar until someone gave me a job, taking pictures, doing design work, arrangements, junk like that.

Pushing so hard, my popularity, never my strongest suit, started really crumbling. Friends didn’t answer calls, stopped answering my emails, started to avoid me altogether because they knew I’d have to say what I had to say, that I’d ask them for work and they’d have to say no.

Even so, I did all right, most of the time, but I wasn’t getting ahead. I started having doubts about my career choice, considered getting a suit job somewhere. I might have given up. I was getting desperate. Then I met a witch.

When she was in charge, she’d call some guy up and hand me three jobs. Then she’d call another guy and I’d have five more. In the first week, she arranged more work than I had found in six months. There was hardly enough time to do it all. She kept me on track. I started to get ahead.

Then she started dropping names and talking about pie-in-the-sky business hook-ups, million-dollar accounts and late-night deals where all we’d have to do is cash the checks. I thought she was getting happy and just dreaming out loud until she started bringing in the accounts, the deals, the checks. She knows her witchy business.

After a while, the grind of production started wearing me thin, so I told her that I wanted to change our direction, take me out of the trenches and start letting me provide the visions. Two weeks later, I had a new office and a whole new game plan. It was like she snapped her fingers and made it all happen. I didn’t even struggle with the transition. She told me what I needed to know, where to be and what to do. I paid close attention, did as I was told and the inevitable victory was won.

With a witch, success is just business as usual. When obstacles arose, she took care of them. I can’t swear there was magic involved but the way our troubles vanished was clearly incredible. Our deliveries were on time and our competition invariably failed. Her grasp of the details was nearly perfect. I don’t remember her ever missing a trick. Unbelievable, really. Fantastic. Supernatural.

As a wife, as a friend, as a lover, a witch is where it’s at. She knows me and knows my needs and desires. She knows what to say. She knows how close I want her to be. She guides me through life casually, sweetly, delightfully. Every day is a pleasure.

Am I spell-bound? Am I under her control, voodoo hexed and enslaved? Am I happy because she has cast a spell that makes me happy? Am I her minion, her human familiar? Do I have any free will at all?

I’m sure I’ll never know. But I don’t mind.

Having said all of that, I feel a bit stupid, saying my wife has magic powers. I’m not a child, reading wizard novels about fairy tales and fantastical elf-lore. I don’t even like that stuff, really. Some of it, maybe, I mean, I’ve watched the movies but I don’t take it seriously. I keep my feet on the ground.

I don’t know if I’ve seen ghosts but I have felt some creepy paranormal stuff, energy and cold and unexplained noises while hanging out with friends in abandoned buildings when we were younger. A few times, we did the whole nine yards, dressed in robes and summoning spirits, waiting in the dark for EVPs and someone getting scratched. We’ve all had supernatural experiences. It’s not that weird. The world is full of dark energies.

And witches, apparently.

I know what most people know about paranormal stuff, the occult, hauntings, vampires, wizards, all that stuff. I watch the shows, see the movies. Some of it seems cool but most of it’s just for fun. I’d never really given it any thought. I never really thought it would impact my life.

When I think about it, though, apart from your basic Halloween witch decorations, I didn’t know that much about witches when this started. It wasn’t even a question I thought to ask, no more than I’d ask about mummies. Werewolves are cool. I wonder about them.

So, when I was still taking the pictures, I used to work with this young woman sometimes. She was like my assistant on big jobs. I didn’t really know her that well but after a few jobs together, she told me that she was a real live modern day witch. I made some stupid jokes which I could tell annoyed her but then she told me lots of stuff I never knew about witches.

Actually, she said my wife was a witch. She was the first to say so and the only person since. She didn’t help me when I took the witch pictures but I’m pretty sure she’d seen them. The first time she met my wife, after my wife left, she told me that my wife was a really a witch too. I asked her how she knew and she told me.

Witches are people of the old religion. They come in every shape and size and nationality and walk of life. They are connected to nature in ways that the rest of us aren’t. They can do things, they know things, they can see things and foresee things. You may never know when a witch is right next to you, even though you see them every day.

What you will see, if you watch carefully, is an inner peace, a connectedness, a serenity that controls the world rushing in chaos around her. The energies she commands glides her though life, like a melody, like a summer breeze, like a rainbow on the wing. She may whisper and mumble, she may wave her hands and unfocus her eyes while you are talking to her, but she’ll know exactly what you mean and precisely what is really going on. Witch life is a style, a power, a production.

On those wings, we keep soaring higher.

After that talk with my assistant, I watched more movies, shows, stuff like that, too, to learn about witches.  They have an interesting culture.

My wife owns an assortment of things any witch would have; there is no disputing that. But other women I have known have had the same kind of witchy things in their homes and I don’t think they were witches at all. Crystals and Celtic designs and Tarot cards and spirit bowls and incense and candles. What woman doesn’t have candles? I don’t think we can conclude anything from objects alone.

She has most of those things on a shelf. I call it her witch shelf. She never responds when I say things like that, like it isn’t worth responding to. Because it’s true or because it’s ridiculous, I’ll probably never know. I’ve tried to talk to her about being a witch but she either walks away, changes the subject or makes a joke out of it. I don’t know what that means but I am convinced that she will not talk about it.

There are other things she has on her witch shelf that are more damning, like the witch books. They aren’t very good reads, lots of circles and affirmations and goddess talk that goes round and round in, well, circles. She said they are research but I don’t know what she’s doing research for. Having them on the shelf is not conclusive that she is a witch but it is evidence. Church ladies don’t have witch stuff on display.

Lots of popular culture shows witches hanging out in groups, stirring cauldrons and dancing in the moonlight. I don’t think my wife goes in for that kind of witchery. I mean, I don’t think she really spends any time hanging out with other witches.

Not that I’m aware of, anyway. I suppose she might be turning into a rabbit and hopping off for a coven meeting after I go to sleep. They say witches sometimes transform into animals so that they can do mischief without the limitations of human form. Or they fly on brooms. Lots of witch stuff is supposed to happen at night. I wouldn’t think I would miss her going out but I do sleep pretty soundly. And she may be casting sleep spells on me. Who knows?

But, seriously, she doesn’t have any friends like that, wearing witchy symbols or talking witch talk. She’s more of a loner. I’m pretty sure they have loner witches. That’s probably a thing.

So it’s not the company she keeps that makes me think she is a witch. It’s the way she behaves, some of the weird stuff I’ve witnessed and our continuing successes that make me believe in her witchness. I guess I don’t really have any proof. Maybe she isn’t a witch. But it sure seems like she is.

Of course, its not all about the good stuff that has happened since we got together. There have been times when it frightens me. I don’t mean that she has caused me fear but thinking about her being a witch has scared me. I don’t know. I suppose she scares me. In a good way.

She’s always been good to me but I’ve been careful to stay on her good side. Her goodwill has always been important to me, because, if I’m being honest, I’ve always been a bit afraid of her. I sort of did that instinctively, from the beginning. I knew from the very start that I did not want her mad at me. It wasn’t anything she said or did. There wasn’t any violence in her behavior or even in her language. She was always kind of sweet when I was around anyway. But I glimpsed her power, I guess. I felt the force of her psychic energy. I could feel the cold push of her intense will. After an hour, I’d seen enough to keep me subdued and obedient. I fear her lovingly.

But I’ve also done business with her, watched her deal with people who did not please her. She can be very forceful when she needs to get her way and some people are foolish enough to stand in her way. There are usually two phases of her anger, when this happens. First I suspect that she causes them pain in ways that never quite come back on her. Then she foretells a terrible future for them.  And it happens. I’m not kidding. People are ruined, broken, disgraced, ostracized. They get sick and die. I mean, I don’t know if she cast a spell and made them die but she did predict their demise. She tells me when deals are going to fall apart, when companies are going to collapse, when partnerships are doomed and she’s always right. It’s spooky. And scary.

Actually, to be safe, I long ago adopted the attitude that she’s always right. It seems like the best approach to life with a witch. Do what I’m told and enjoy the benefits. And it’s worked, so I’m sticking with it. I’m doing too well to jeopardize this gravy train of happiness. Besides, she is always right.

I haven’t mentioned writing this book to her. I hope she doesn’t mind.

[lotsasmilesphoto]

Happy Monday, all!  Once again, we’ve survived another week.  But I’m feeling good (cue driving guitar hits by Muse (my favorite version)).  The weather in the Pacific Northwest has been simply superb for autumn photographing (look for a post on that later this week); the rains haven’t quite settled in yet.  So we’ve been able to get outside and enjoy it in full.  I love this time of year.

This also happens to be a very busy time (when is it not?).  Between playing outside while we can, demanding projects at work (yes, believe it or not, I do have a day job, though I wish I could be a full time photographer!), and running the multimedia department for the rapidly approaching Kumoricon, my life has been insanely crazy.  So I have just this one image that I posted on 500px this week.This photo has a fun story behind it.  We were attempting to locate a really cool overhang nook in the side of a cliff in Canyonlands National Park for sunset, recommended by a friend.  Unfortunately, we made the mistake of relying on a webpage for the hike directions.  This didn’t work so well in the park, where we quickly lost all cell service.

First, we went the wrong direction entirely, just to get to the trailhead.  We eventually found it, but as we neared the cliff edge, we lost the trail and couldn’t find the next cairn to point us in the right direction.  Without the website, we were on our own, wandering aimlessly in an ever widening radius from the last cairn.

As the sun inexorably sank toward the horizon, we became more desperate to locate our destination.  We climbed on top of rocks and around outcroppings to get back on track – to no avail.  I ultimately had to give up (not something I do easily) and set up the tripod in the best spot I could find, lest the sun disappear without me.

This was one of the resulting shots.

When we got back to our rental, we looked it up.  We found we were searching in the wrong area, though we were close.  However, due to the angle of the cliff at that time of year, we wouldn’t have seen much of a sunset, even if we were successful.  So in the end, I probably got better shots where we ended up.  Some things just work out that way.

But lesson learned: print trail descriptions, or at least have destination coordinates on-hand!

While I didn’t get many pictures out on social media this week, I did get a bunch of new photos up on Picfair, now available for stock licensing.  If you’re in need of photos for your blog or business, I invite you to check it out; directly support an artist without the expensive middleman!  Here are the ten new images.

A sunset scene from #CanyonlandsNationalPark, and lots of new #photos available for #stocklicensing! Read the #story behind the photo here! #canyonlands #photoblog #adventure Happy Monday, all! Once again, we've survived another week. But I'm feeling good (cue driving guitar hits by…

[mypubliclands]

Mustangs capture attention at the 2017 Tevis Cup

Endurance racing is not for the faint of heart, or mind or body. If you compound that with an animal who cannot talk to you, it adds to the challenge. But challenge is what drives endurance racers and riders. Endurance riding is a popular sport in the horse world that is dominated by Arabian horses. Some riders, however, prefer wild horses because the horses are natural trail horses who possess the stamina, intelligence and toughness to do these races. Do not worry, unlike other types of horse racing, endurance horses must pass several veterinary examinations and get several rest stops during the races, which can last as long as 24 hours.

The Tevis Cup 100 Mile One Day Western States Trail Ride is an internationally known race that takes place annually in Auburn, California. The town of Auburn dubs itself "the Endurance Capital of the World," as it holds at least two endurance races with long histories, the Tevis Cup 100-Mile Endurance Equestrian Ride, established in 1955, and the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, started around 1977. This year, six mustangs started the Tevis Cup on August 7, 2017. Five mustangs finished, and four mustangs completed the grueling race.

Dr. Jennifer Mather, an equine veterinarian, horse trainer and endurance rider from Grass Valley, California, rode the Tevis on her mustang, Ivan, a seven-year-old gelding from the Eagle Herd Management Area. Dr. Jennifer and her friend and client, Danielle Alfaro, both participated in the 2016 Reno Extreme Mustang Makeover. Dr. Jennifer was paired with a horse she named Buster, and Danielle with Ivan. After the Makeover, Buster found a home with a new adopter. One of Dr. Jennifer's friends asked her if she could haul a horse home from the adoption should she win the bid. It turns out the friend won Ivan! Dr. Jennifer knew that Ivan was a quirky, high-strung horse, and offered to help her friend continue his training. Dr. Jennifer trained him for two months and ended up keeping the horse.

In the spring, Dr. Jennifer started working with Ivan and conditioning her Arabian mare for the Tevis Cup. Ivan needed remedial work after the long winter; he was reactive, energetic and bucked when she rode him. She started to look for another home for him. Just ten weeks prior to the Tevis, her mare pulled up lame. Without another horse to ride, she thought, why not try Ivan instead? Ivan had plenty of energy and stamina. Dr. Jennifer entered Ivan in the Wild West Ride, a weekend-long event in June with several races on U.S. Forest Service-managed lands, near Grass Valley. On Friday, Dr. Jennifer entered the 30-mile ride. Even though Ivan was out of control and running into the bushes at the start, the duo finished in seventh place. On Sunday, Dr. Jennifer rode Ivan in a 25-mile event, where they placed third. Two weeks later, Dr. Jennifer took Ivan to race in the Gold Country 50 and Ivan finished, despite very high temperatures. Ivan clearly had potential as an endurance horse. When Dr. Jennifer asked an experienced Tevis racer and friend if she thought Ivan could do Tevis, the answer was, "Yes, if you ride him properly." Dr. Jennifer entered Ivan in the Tevis.

At Tevis, Dr. Jennifer and a friend started last because both had misbehaving horses. They rode their unruly horses together. The horses started overtaking those in front of them. By the stop in Forest Hill, Ivan was tired. However, he got a second wind at Francisco, because Dr. Jennifer thought Ivan may have recognized the trail. He even tried to take a shortcut across the river about 10 miles from the finish. The team finished with 25 minutes to spare! Needless to say, Dr. Jennifer is no longer looking to rehome Ivan. She plans to keep doing endurance rides with him. Their next ride is the Virginia City 100 on September 16. Good luck Ivan and Dr. Jennifer!

Mark Montgomery has adopted several mustangs and rides endurance races on them. Mark has ridden the Tevis several times and has sold several to other riders. This year, Mark rode his horse, MM Remington, to the finish but they did not complete due to Remy not passing the final vet check. Remy recovered quickly as his electrolytes were a little unbalanced. Mark's former horse, MM Chief, who he sold, raced and completed this year under the guidance of rider Juliana McElroy, who is only 15 years old.

Mark still has at least three endurance horses and only one rider! What does one do? He leases horses to other riders. The following is from Australian rider, Erin Krahnen, who with her mother, Simone, leased two of Mark's horses for Tevis. Erin said:

"My family has been involved in endurance riding in Australia for over 30 years, and having completed the Tom Quilty many times (Australia's "Tevis"). We wanted to have a go at completing the Tevis as well. Our first attempt was in 2015, when I rode Mark's horse, MM Cody. Unfortunately, I was pulled at Lower Quarry with only a few miles to go. Mum was riding another horse and was pulled earlier in the day. We kept in touch with Mark and planned to try again this year, after Mark visited Australia in 2016 and rode one of our horses in the Quilty to a successful completion."

"This year, I again rode MM Cody, and Mum (Simone) rode MM Woodrow. Mark had done a superb job conditioning them for the tough track, and both horses felt strong, fresh and happy throughout the day. I've ridden all of my life, however, almost exclusively on Arabians or Anglo-Arabians (Arabians crossed with thoroughbreds), so it certainly was exciting to ride the iconic Tevis on an American Mustang.

"I feel the best thing about Cody and Woody was their willingness to keep moving, and eat and drink anything that was offered to them. They never seem to feel tired or 'fizzy,' but instead were just really smart and focused on their job without wasting energy. Woody and Cody look after themselves incredibly well and are so easy-going and sensible. I felt really lucky to be given a horse like Cody to ride; he is the safest, most surefooted horse I've ever sat on, and never took a wrong step throughout the difficult rocky terrain. I believe both Cody and Woody are consistent performers in American Endurance Ride Conference rides, with many wins and best conditions to their records. Mark has done a great job with them, and not only are they great endurance horses, they are also well-mannered and friendly horses to handle in every aspect—unfortunately, Cody wouldn't fit in my suitcase!" Erin added.

Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer, Simone, Erin, Juliana, and Mark for their efforts to finish the Tevis Cup!

UPDATE: Mark and Woody just won the Virginia City 100. Congratulations!

[lizziethereader]

Amazing Booklrs Tag :-)

Queenie, the absolutely wonderful person behind @shadowtearling created this great tag spreading some booklr love and, I’m so honored to say this, mentioned me in one of her categories. Thank you! I was also tagged by @lilymaidofgallifrey and @logarithmicpanda, thank you two, too! You’re lovely people with delightful blogs!! 

I’m copying the “rules” from their post:  It’s a Booklr shoutouts tag to tell the world of lovely people you follow! Let’s gush about wonderful people and give each other some love. Rules are simply to answer the questions as truthfully as you can :)   [I tried choosing one person for each prompt, I really did. But it just wasn’t meant to be]

1. Who is your first follow/mutual?

my real-life friends @floatingcandyfloss and @lloydoholic, love you! <3 

2. Name a booklr you think is smart. 

So many people in our community are incredibly smart. I think one of my favorites is @dukeofbookingham - The Duke manages to mix advice, humor, and academic insights all into one blog 

3. Who would you want to have a lunch date with?

@flamingmirrorbookish because she has been such a great supporter for such a long time, she helped me with my thesis so I owe her lunch at least, and I think it’d be really lovely to just hang out and gush about books :) 

4. Name a booklr you think is sweet.

@the-bibliophiles-bookshelf, @stargirl-carraway, @books-and-cookies, @tilly-and-her-books, SO MANY SWEET PEOPLE in our community! 

5. Who would you want to have as your best friend (or is already your booklr best friend)? 

I’d love to have @bibliophilecats as my best friend because then I could come visit her kitties! (and do lots of other cool stuff together too, of course) :)

6. Name an underrated booklr.

@i-breathe-therefore-i-read has a wonderful blog and is really nice! same goes for @lilymaidofgallifrey and @rat-librarian, as well as @manuscripts-dontburn!! 

7. Who has the same (or similar enough) taste as you in books?

This one is tricky. I share an interest in certain books with lots of people, but I’m not sure I share an interest in lots of books with the same person? Or I may not be aware of it.  Maybe @alwaysbringabookwithyou ? And even if not, Grace is awesome and everybody who does not already follow her should check out her blog, I think :) 

8. Who writes the best reviews?

@howlsmovinglibrary, @whilereadingandwalking, @shadowtearling all write wonderful reviews, and I also have to mention @bookcub who recently started compilation posts wherein she compares different books of a certain genre (those are awesome!)

9. Who has the best bookish pics? 

I love pictures by @theardentbiblio, @macrolit, @the-book-ferret, @clockworkbibliophile are all wonderful photographers that come to mind 

10. Who do you want to do a buddy read with (that you haven’t yet)? 

I’d love to do a buddy read with @bookcub, @logarithmicpanda, @the-forest-library, @anassarhenisch, or @baldursgatekeeper ! (not necessarily all at once, though :D )

11. Who keeps the Booklr spirit alive? 

Well, first of all, I feel inclined to say everyone who interacts with me, of course. But also @slytherin-bookworm-guy with his questions. They bring so much interesting stuff to my dash! Oh, and also @kraken-spines who organized an awesome short story project last summer! 

12. Name a booklr who you think is doing the lord’s work (however you want to interpret that lol). 

@booksforthoughts, @alwaysbringabookwithyou, @just0nemorepage, @thereadingchallengechallenge, @happybibliosaurus and all the booklrs who provided and provide me with book photography challenge prompts! :D Thank you, lovelies! 

13. Name a booklr you think is creative. 

@immzies-adventures-through-books, for sure! 

14. Name someone who got you into a book/series.

@anassarhenisch is superb at giving recommendations and has gotten me into quite a few books already. 

15. Name a booklr you think is funny.

@reading-goblin. @lost-in-a-story, @books-are-portals, and @flamingmirrorbookish are the first ones that come to mind :)

[thefiia]

Holiday Cooking

Me and my dear friends went to Poland for vacation. With all the money and no supervision that we had, it came as a no surprise that the food consumed was McDonalds, KFC, takeouts etc. Side note: since we, teenagers and young adults if I may, are in search for themselves, shall I say that self love comes with self care, and thus, we decided to lead a healthier lifestyle. Having had several consultations with a dietician, endocrinologist and grandparents, in addition to loads of books that we purchased, we came up with a plan of our food-consuming-habits-changes. Less fried, more plants, etc. The results were:

1. Tomatoes, omelette, broccoli, chicken. Was perfectly done for my taste. Wouldn’t change a thing

2. Khachapuri with chicken breast. The chicken breast is a good energy source, but melted cheese is way too heavy for a stomach. Next time choose food with less cheese. It still was a great teamwork, and the pleasure we`ve got from eating was worth the cheese.

3. Pyrogi/ Pirogi with meat. Since we went to Poland, we felt obliged to try and make Perogy by ourselves. It was followed by some cultural enrichment - we went into long debates over dumplings and their origins, and read up how this dish is connected (originated) from which country and culture. Here I had some further thoughts in connection to our English Literature lessons (the way food enriches and supports the culture, being an agent of unity and bond between people of differing cultural backgrounds).  Anyway, they turned out pretty bad. Uneven, some were under- and some overcooked, the meat was cheap and tasted like cardboard. It also takes lots of time to make them, so the personal reflection over the process will follow at the end.

4. Rice with veggies, soy sauce and I some meat. With eastern origins (although fused with European cuisine), it was more of a lesson for me, to see and learn eastern culture through taste

5. Zucchini sticks with homemade honey mustard sauce. This was awesome, but we had to change the instruction a little bit, and substituted deep frying with baking.

6. Then more Zucchini with home-made bread (no yeast) and eggs benedict

7. Asparagus, steamed tomatoes, eggs

8. One of the biggest projects – Beef Wellington. That was fun! Totally worked together, were checking with the multiple sources and all in all – had fun

9. Braised pork with vegetables and Mac`n`Cheese again

10. Home-made croissants with tuna and tomatoes. Instant reflection - I should do more investigation before actually cooking (used wrong dough)

11. Zucchini (actually a twin sibling of Zucchini, but much more beloved and eaten in Slavic kitchen) with mayo and tomatoes. What would I change here, is actually the entire dish. Incredibly greasy, with flour, mayo (!!). It is just too much wrong decisions. Alternatively substitute frying with backing, and mayo with seasoned Greek yogurt (or homemade mayo).

But the dish triggers some memories in me, from when I was little and we had home parties with relatives. We had some nostalgia time, shared our childhood experiences…

12. English muffins without stuffing. This is just a really nice way to start a day. They are simple, basic and yet superb. Got withing few minutes. Not really much to reflect on, a total success.

13. Portuguese egg tarts, a.k.a. Pastéis de Nata. Simple, delicious. Instant reflection session - be more dedicated. I went away for about 15 minutes to finish a chapter in my book, and couple of them got burnt… Still edible though.

Reflection:

This was a great project, both implying its size and emotional impact it had. Although I cannot assess out physical state, but with filtered food you have filtered thoughts! I certainly got healthier attitude, more energy and cleaner nutrients. Throughout the process I gained a lot of knowledge of food value, the criteria one should choose the ration and benefits of each food. 

The project frequently was at the risk, for fast- and instant food are still captivating and hard to resist. Therefore, I grew patience and self control, got a clearer head with a better self-management skills and determination. Apart from that, the planning was the main part of the whole experience, demanding beforehand research, investigation and thorough structuring. Initiating the project and bringing it to life was a hard yet highly healthy exercise. And without the support from my friends, I would not achieve as good of a result as I did. The collaborative work is an art  one has to learn to master, but once obtained - it becomes endlessly beneficial for every party.

Most importantly, it gave me insights on such fields as Nutritient Science, Cooking and Photographing. Drawn into the process I was inspired to continue cooking and recording my path. Therefore, I create a website as a distinct CAS experience, where I will share my cooking journey.

http://foodforcasone.tilda.ws/ - the link to the future site

Comparing the starting with the ending point, I can see how much I have improved, in both the understanding of food, its preparation and the execution of the composition in the photography that I do.

In any case, the journey has only begun.