#and then i end up wishing i chose a different playlist 30 seconds into the drive

[lookalivesunshine2007]

me and my last handful of brain cells trying to choose the perfect playlist for the four minute drive to the grocery store

[ygo5dsmonth2019]

It’s that time of year, everyone! We’re so excited for this year’s Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Month! This year, four of us are hosting, and we’re so excited to see what everyone creates to celebrate 5D’s!

Now, finally, after a lot of chatting and planning, we’re ready to share the themes with you!

Day 1 (July 7th): A Hero of Planetary Proportions

From humble origins to historic achievements, this hero’s got quite the track record. Rev up 5D’s month with us! How do you celebrate Yusei’s birthday?

Day 2 (July 8th): A Well-Loved Story

From the Fortune Cup, to the Dark Signers, to the WRPG, to Crash Town, to the Ark Cradle; this beloved story was a ride from start to finish. But which part was your favorite?

Day 3 (July 9th): Easy Listening for the Busy Duelist

Got a playlist you want to share? It can be for a character, a season, or the overall series. Come on Eileen, share it with us!

Day 4 (July 10th): Friends From Unexpected Places

Everyone has a favorite series, all the way from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! to VRAINS. But what would happen if our 5D’s heroes came across duelists old and new? Whether you prefer to rev it up, high five the sky, or get your game on, show us what you come up with!

Day 5 (July 11th): King for a Day

He’s fast! He’s furious! He’s a little bit of a (jack)ass, but you’d better believe he loves his friends (and his cup ramen)! Got any favorite Jack moments? Show the King some love today!

Day 6 (July 12th): Darling, Dearest, Demented, Dead

There were seven Dark Signers. Who’s your favorite?

Day 7 (July 13th): To Redeem or Not To Redeem?

Which character deserves to be redeemed for their crimes? Or, maybe they don’t? Tell us what you think.

Day 8 (July 14th): The Good, The Bad, and The Western

Let’s see how some of the characters would look in Crash Town, or in the wild Wild West in general! Break out your desert ponchos and give your favorite character a duel gun!

Day 9 (July 15th): The Blooming Black Rose

This bright red beauty is easy to fall for—no witchcraft necessary! Fierce, powerful, and loyal, Aki makes for a quite the opponent! What’s your favorite thing about the Black Rose?

Day 10 (July 16th): Free Day I (Me, Myself, and I!)

Our first free day! Use it however you want, or use it as a day to introduce yourself!

Day 11 (July 17th): If Things Had Been Different...

We’ve all thought about what would happen if our favorite series was... in a coffee shop?! Here’s where you can give us your favorite AU, any crossover, or maybe even give us a glimpse of the timeline Z-ONE came from! Anything is on the table for this one.

Day 12 (July 18th): I Can Go the Distance

Lovable and hardworking, this Satellite sneak makes for a family man and a skilled duelist! Do you have a soft spot for this mother bird? Show us what you love about Crow!

Day 13 (July 19th): Psychic Heaven or Psychic Hell?

The Arcadia Movement is a controversial subject. Is it a cult, or is it something else? Show us, or tell us, what you see.

Day 14 (July 20th): Family, Found

Which Team are you on?

Day 15 (July 21st): A Sparkling Piece Of Self

We all make OCs—and for many of us, they’re the start of friendships, self-journeys, or simply fun and mindless explorations into another world! If you have an OC, share them with us! We’ll give them all our love. ️

Day 16 (July 22nd): Tiny, But Mighty

If you spend a day with him, you’re sure to have your hands full, as this little machinist packs punch as big as his heart! What do you love about Rua/Leo?

Day 17 (July 23rd): The Little Fairy Queen

The duel spirits whisper eagerly about this one: she may be small, but she’s no easy opponent! Bow down to the queen! Show some love for Ruka/Luna!

Day 18 (July 24th): My Own Worst Enemy

Divine. Rudger. Rex. Z-ONE. There are so many antagonists to chose from! Let us know which one is your favorite!

Day 19 (July 25th): Synchro Sweethearts

Do you have a favorite Synchro Monster? Is it one of the Signer’s legendary dragons, or is it something else? Show us! Synchro Monsters aren’t banned here!

Day 20 (July 26th): Free Day II (Support Your Fellow Creators!)

Our second free day! Use however you please, or use it to shout out your favorite fanfics! Give some artists, or some writers, some well deserved attention.

Day 21 (July 27th): Canon? Never Heard of Her.

There are always things we wish we could change—especially in this fandom! *cough4Kidscough* If given the chance, what would you change?

Day 22 (July 28th): Those Unruly Satellite Kids

Team Satisfaction, or the Enforcers? Either way, we love our favorite duel gang, and we think they need some more attention.

Day 23 (July 29th): Good Captains Go Down With Their Ships

We ALL have a favorite ship. Which one is yours?

Day 24 (July 30th): Scars and Lumps and Bruises

All of our favorite characters have felt some kind of pain or anguish. Which moment stood out the most for you?

Day 25 (July 31st): Bright Crimson Bonds

The Crimson Dragon gave us bonds that can’t be separated. Take today to honor this mighty god!

Day 26 (August 1st): When The Day Met The Night

This day is all about contrasts! There’s plenty of light vs dark to play with in this series—characters, settings, and plot lines! Carly vs her Dark Signer counterpart, or Yusei vs Z-ONE, or maybe even Yusei vs Jack. What do you think when you hear ‘contrasts?’

Day 27 (August 2nd): The Ringleader, Unsatisfied

Once full of unbridled confidence, this brooding team leader is still seeking the meaning of satisfaction. He’s trying his best, though! Do you have a favorite Kiryu moment? Throw some love in this ex-Dark Signer’s direction!

Day 28 (August 3rd): You Deserve More Fanart.

You heard the title! There are many characters in the series: who do you think is under-appreciated?

Day 29 (August 4th): Man of Wires, Nerves, and Steel

Armed with nothing but a big ol’ smile and a supercomputer of a brain, Bruno inevitably stole our hearts and kept them until the bitter end. Share some of your favorite Bruno/Dark Glass moments with us!

Day 30 (August 5th): Free Day III (What’s On Your Mind?)

Our last free day! Share something with us—anything you want! We’re excited to have you here and celebrating Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Month with us!

Day 31 (August 6th): Going My Way!

We’ve reached our journey’s end. What does the future hold?

[goodproofingwater]

Wildfire Records: Breaking America - Chapter One

Word count: 2710

Warnings: sexual content, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, yep we gettin right into it lads

Playlist:

How Soon Is Now - The Smiths

How Did We Get So Dark - Royal Blood

Press play when you see the *

For the third morning in a row, Andy awoke in a hotel room he didn’t remember booking, with a girl that he didn’t remember meeting. It was always the same these days, getting woken up by his new manager, recording for hours in the morning and then partying until the early hours. Of course, this was everything that the redhead had wanted, but it was hard to remember that when he was awoken at 7am yet again and had to maneuver himself from underneath another woman who he couldn’t remember the name of.

*“Up!” David spoke, and Andy groaned at the sound of his manager's voice, an alarm clock that he would have thrown out of the window if it had been an actual device.

“What time is it?” Andy spoke, shifting a slender leg from his body as he sat up in the bed.

“It’s 7:30, we need you up and in the studio in an hour.” David handed Andy his coffee, and the redhead let out a sigh before he sipped it.

“Fine, wait outside I need a shower.” David rolled his eyes but otherwise did as he was asked, not wanting to be a part of whatever morning routine the 26-year-old had. When David had taken the job as a manager of a new solo artist, he hadn’t realised it was going to be such hard work. Other artists he had worked with had been fresh-faced and eager; Andy was a rich boy with talent that knew it. It was a challenge to control him the way that Fieldworks needed, but luckily he had a pretty big weakness that the company were not shy to exploit.

Andy sipped his coffee slowly, glancing around the room and sighing as he saw the smatterings of powder that he hadn’t even bothered to clear up the previous evening. It was always the same, he always managed to find a girl who wanted to party just as much as him, always had the means to find what he needed. He just wished his intoxicated mind chose a wider variety of girls.

The latest woman remained sleeping, unsurprising as he could vaguely remember reading 5am on the clock after their last tryst, her auburn hair sprawled across the pillow. With her face covered, she could almost have been the woman he wanted. But she wasn’t. He hadn’t seen Victoria in over a month.

An hour later Andy was in the vocal booth singing lyrics that had been written for him by a team of writers he had yet to meet. He would have put up more of a protest if the lyrics didn’t sound so similar to Josh’s, and he wondered if that was a deliberate move. Considering the wildfire clause being in his original contract, it wouldn’t surprise him if fieldworks were making deliberate moves to replicate the sound of The Dangers with his voice. Of course, he felt terrible about this, but he knew that the boys would do well on their own.

Despite Andy’s intention of nothing changing but who they were working with, the rigorous schedule of studio time and partying (which was beginning to feel like part of the job more than anything) meant that he rarely went back to his house. The record company had given him a credit card that he used without question, and as the studios that they rented were closer to south London it even made sense that he stayed somewhere closer.

He wouldn’t let on how much he missed his friends. Sure he was living his dream in that he was recording music every day, and that music was going to be published and promoted across the world, but it felt wrong that he didn’t have anyone from home to share it with. He had full intentions of going to visit, but as if fieldworks knew, they would book in more and more studio time.

Perhaps it was for the best. If there was anything his choice of women indicated it was that he still had strong feelings for Victoria, and seeing her with Josh would only hurt no matter how happy they were together.

He hadn’t heard anything from them in days which was strange even when they weren’t close anymore. Danny always kept him up to date with what was going on when he could, and it was only a week later when Andy saw a Facebook advert for a show at the same bar they had met the girls at that he realised why they hadn’t been in contact. They hadn’t wanted him to know.

“David, I’m going to a gig tonight.” He spoke matter-of-factly, daring the man to disagree and surprised when he didn’t.

“Fine. Let’s us know where you end up so we can send a car..”

Walking into the familiar venue made Andy's stomach turn. He had come so far from the person he had been when he had first stepped foot in here, didn’t feel like the same person who had been on the stage where Josh now stood, plugging in his guitar.

He leaned against the bar as he watched them set up, pleased they hadn’t replaced him but it felt wrong to be this side of the crowd.

“Good evening everyone..” Josh spoke, flashing a smile to the crowd that waited for them, cheering. It seemed that Wildfire was still doing a great job of promoting them even after he had left. “How are we all doing tonight?”

The interaction with the crowd was much different from Andy's. Josh was polite and charming, Andy's had radiated the cocky frontman vibe he had cultivated over the years.

“This ones called How Did We Get So Dark..” *the drums kicked into the intro, Josh's fingers moving along his guitar at an impressive speed as the sound that was inherently him blasted from the speakers. He was using a pedal to switch between guitar and bass sounds, and it worked perfectly. How had Andy missed how talented his friends were? There had been so much untapped potential.

As he sipped his whiskey and leaned back on the bar, he let his eyes scan the room for the real reason he had come to this place. It wasn’t long before he found her, standing at the side of the stage holding up a phone which panned from the crowd to the stage. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, her leather skirt clung to her, a sheer black bodysuit caressing the gorgeous figure he had dreamt about only the night before. Fuck how he wished he could get his hands on her. He still remembered how her nails felt digging into his back, the taste of her skin as her head fell back in euphoria. Was she still with Josh? Could he tempt her back to him now they had had some time apart? She had chosen him over Josh first of course. Only one way to find out.

The set finished and he ordered a round, a waitress placing down a tray full of drinks and shots on the table they were sitting at.

“Oh we didn’t order…” her beautiful blue eyes met his own, and for the first time in months, he felt like he could breathe.

“Not gonna turn down a couple of drinks with an old friend are you?” He spoke, and grinned at Danny who stood, pulling him into a hug.

He hadn’t realised how much he missed his friends. Sure he knew that he missed playing music with them, but seeing them in the flesh after so long made him realise how little interaction he had had with people he wasn’t fucking or working with.

“How’ve you been man?” Josh grinned, hugging his friend, the bad blood completely forgotten as he was so happy to see him. Of course, Josh had spent a whole lot of time angry at Andy, but it was in the past now and everything seemed to work out well.

“Yeah all good thanks, recording almost every day is tiring though. How about you? You guys killed it up there! Those pedals you’re using dude, so sick.” Andy grinned and Josh and him bonded again over guitars. Andy told him all about the guitars that were in the studio he was working at, and even invited him along to see them.

“Excuse me, don’t I even get a hello?” Her voice was like honey to him as she pushed past Josh and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was clearly drunk with how open she was being with him, but considering he had done a gram to build up the courage to be here he was in no place to judge. “Hi, asshole.”

Her lips were dangerously close to his neck, her breath running along him reminding him of her filthy words as he pounded into her. The cocaine that diluted his bloodstream was clouding his judgment and he knew it, but he could have sworn he felt her hand linger on his chest as she pulled away. This prompted words from him that were loaded in ways he wasn’t sure she would understand, “Miss me?”

He smirked and she chuckled, shaking her head, “nice to see you haven’t changed.”

She passed a shot to Juliet first before doing the same to everyone else, and they all stood in a circle, clinking their glasses together in a toast before they knocked them back.

His eyes darkened as he watched her swallow the harsh liquid, and although he had missed Josh, he could still feel the tension between Victoria and himself. He would sell his soul for another chance with that beautiful woman.

The evening went even better than he had thought. In fact, though he would never admit it to anyone, he had been sure that they would kick him out of the bar. He knew the sacrifice when he signed the solo contract, but he had hoped more than anything that they would still let him into their lives. As much as he tried to make out that he didn’t care, he cared deeply for his best friends even if his actions didn’t always show it.

As if she could read his thoughts, Andy looked up and met her eyes, a blush in her cheeks telling him that she had been looking for a while. He sipped his whiskey once more, allowing the burn to push him further along the journey to deep intoxication and she looked away only to glance down and grab her drink.

“Josh..” she whispered, leaning into his neck and grazing her lips there for a second, “baby someone’s going to notice…”

The blonde had been snaking his hand up his girlfriend’s skirt almost the second they had sat down, the mixture of the adrenaline, the booze and the fact that she could see she had worn his favourite bra making it impossible for him to keep his hands from her. He now had two fingers inconspicuously pressed inside of her, and he kissed softly at her cheek as he moved them a pace delicious enough to feel amazing but slow enough that she wasn’t gasping for air.

“No-one's gonna notice if you stay quiet..” he slurred in her ear, kissing her cheek softly as his thumb ran softly over her clit.

“Fuck..” she moaned as quietly as she could, “J, I think Andy already has..” she looked over at the redhead once more, biting her lip at the look he was giving her.

“Nah, he’s been looking at you like that since he came over..” he whispered once more, ghosting his lips over her neck once more and looking up at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“J..” she giggled, licking her lips and touching his hand, “later baby..”

He groaned, kissing her softly as he pulled back, “fine, but I’m gonna make you cum so hard when we get home..” he smirked against her lips and she kissed him passionately as he helped pull her skirt back down to an acceptable length.

Andy watched as the two kissed, sipping his whiskey as her azure orbs danced to him, his body alight with the way she looked at him. Did Josh notice the way his girlfriend was looking at him? The lip biting, the lust filled eyes, the glances which his cocaine clouded mind told him that she had been thinking about him just as much while he had been away? Surely not, or maybe he didn’t care enough to notice those glances? Maybe the novelty of being with someone who had chosen Andy first had worn off for him and he was getting bored?

He could have sworn he saw lust in her eyes as she sipped on her whiskey and coke, glancing at him, and she finished the last of it before she stood up. “Anyone want another?”

Andys eyes ran over his former lover, remembering how his hands had gripped her hips on the sink the first time they had slept together, and as if she could read his mind she sent a smile his way.

Watching as she walked away, his drug-addled brain told him that the smile was a sign. She had been sitting there thinking about him and now she wanted him to follow her. They could use the excuse of getting more drinks to sneak into the bathroom and fuck one last time. Well maybe not one last time, he would have her whenever she wanted him. He felt guilty for a moment before he looked to see Josh already deep in conversation with Juliet, and he wondered once more if the younger man even cared about Victoria. He didn’t know how lucky he was, and even if he was with her now, she had been Andy's first...

Fuck it.

Andy stood, swaying a little as he moved from the table to where she stood at the bar. His hand touched the small of her back and she turned, glancing up at him with an innocent expression that made him desperate to unravel her again.

“Need a hand with those drinks?” He slurred, his thumb rubbing against her back as his hand slipped further down.

“It’s fine..” she spoke, moving slightly away from him as she motioned to the tray. Victoria could tell from Andy's eyes that he was high. More pupil than colour, the brown hues that looked down at her caused a knot in her stomach that she couldn’t explain. Time had enabled her to forgive him, but even after months, it was difficult to forget that he had been so close to ruining her relationship.

“Well uh... it’s good to see you..” he bit down on his lip and she turned so that her elbow was resting on the bar, her hand on her other hip. His head was spinning being so close to her, being able to look into those eyes, being able to smell that mix of coconut and her perfume.

“It’s good to see you too..” she smiled, and just when she thought he was being genuine, his hand slipped to her waist and he pulled her close.

He had waited too long for this, had needed her more than anything and now she was here. God, she was beautiful. He had forgotten this feeling that blossomed in his chest when he was around her, and it was only increased by just how much coke he had taken before he had arrived. He had been chasing that feeling since he left, but none of the red-headed girls he had taken to bed had even come close. Andy's other hand moved to hold her face and he ignored the voices in his head that told him this was a bad idea. He felt like he could breathe again now that he had her in his arms and he didn’t care about anything else. She had given him the sign that she wanted him, right? Surely that’s why she was looking at him like that?

“God I fucking miss you baby..” He whispered almost desperately, and before she even had time to respond, his lips were on hers.

[raaven-nerd]

the epic mega tag of tags

I’ve been inactive for an eternity so I got tagged in a bunch of things by a WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE (THANK YOU ALL FOR TAGGING ME I LOVE YOU ALL <3) 

So i decided to combine all these tags into ONE MEGA TAG!!! I’m sorry if I don’t have every single tag that people have tagged me in, because I was kinda... inactive lol 

I honestly have no idea how many questions are in here, but I’m really excited to answer all these questions. Subtle hint for you guys to ask me questions lmao!! My ask box is always open ;)

//INTRO//

Time: 9:00AM (i’m on summer break, i’m not ditching school rn lol) 

Name: Michelle

Nickname: Mich (pronounced mish,,) and Michy (fun fact: all my friends spell this differently but the correct spelling is michy!! At least that’s how i spell my nickname lmao)

Gender: Female

Nationality: Australian

Star Sign: Cancer

Height: like 157cm LMAO i’m really short

Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw (hence my branding lmao)

Languages Spoken: English, Cantonese (but badly), Japanese (but only because i learn it at school)

Dream job: GOOD QUESTION LMAO umm something medical?? But like if i was remotely talented, doing something creative would be really cool.

How many pets do you have: 1, I have a pet dog named Pepper

What am I wearing: A T-shirt from last year’s school musical that’s way too big for me and black shorts (and by that i don’t mean a T-shirt that was like part of my costume,, i mean like a merch kinda t-shirt?? but not really merch bc i was in the musical) 

Instruments/sports played: I don’t play any instruments ,, well i play ukulele badly lmao, and i play soccer and volleyball for grade sport :)

//ABOUT THE BLOG//

When did you make this account? Like,, 2 years ago?? YIKES

Why did you join studyblr? Honestly i don’t remember why,, probably bc i wanted to get better at studying and get more motivated

How many followers do you have? Surprisingly around 4800

Why I chose my url: because i’m a nerd,, and my hogwarts house is ravenclaw

//BELOW THE CUT//

Things about my personal life :000 (get that juicy goss!! lol not really tho my life is pre uneventful)

Study tips and my study routine I guess? Just about how i study lol  

Music/Book/Film/TV faves and other related thingos (aka how cultured am i?? again not really tho i’m just trying to make this sound interesting lmao) 

And some more just RANDOM things lmao (like some of these things get really random lol) 

//PERSONAL//

What are three basic facts about you? Okay so whenever a teacher asks me to introduce myself at the start of the school year, my default interesting fact is “I have a dog” and every single year the teachers are super amazed that i have a pet dog and it’s absolutely hilarious bc everyone else is like “I’m not sharing any personal information with you guys”, and the teacher ends up interrogating me about my pet dog.

That’s not a basic fact lol um.. My birthday is on the 15th of July, I’m the youngest of 3 siblings and I graduate in 2020 :))

What was the best part of your day today? Ngl this is actually a really hard question for me to answer because I am NOT in a good mental state right now… but probably watching Joe Sugg’s new vlog. That was a good way to spend a study break. OR REPLYING TO THAT ANON MESSAGE OMG everyone sending me messages saying that they’re glad to see me back just wow ;; i can’t believe people even noticed i was gone it���s just ahhughsgs thank you all so much <33 

Relationship status: um… single… yeah let’s just leave it at that

who is the first person you go to in a crisis, when you’ve had a hard day, or when you need to vent? Well… my best friend would be the first person i go to.. Except we’re on holidays right now and they have the worst reply game (bc they’re kinda not allowed to talk to me,,, it’s complicated lmao)

what is your love language? (if you don’t know it, there are plenty of love language quizzes on Google! I definitely encourage you to look it up and find it out for your benefit!) :ooo I did a quiz for this ages ago BUT I GOTTA DO IT AGAIN bc i forgot LOL 

OKAY i did it! I used 5lovelanguages.com so yeah.. Just in case anyone was wondering? But I guess my love language is quality time/words of affirmation and from highest to lowest it’s quality time (9), words of affirmation (8), physical touch (6), acts of service (4) and receiving gifts (3) 

what are the little things in your life that make you happy? Lmao all my friends bc we’re all SHORT AF.. but seriously,, just really small things can make me so happy, just being able to spend time with my friends makes me really happy?? Like we can just sit in (comfortable) silence, but i’ll be so content to just be there with my friends..  Quality time with friends?? thanks love language Does that count idk how to answer this

What is your favourite thing about yourself? Um physical thing?? Probably my hair tbh.. But like my actual fav thing about myself is um the fact that i’m empathetic, generally pre organised and good w/ time management and i can like teach myself stuff?? or maybe how i could be having the worst day of my life and i’ll still want to spread positivity and good vibes?? Yeah that’s pre cool 

what accomplishment in your life are you most proud of? Uhh i got dux of english a few years back? I was in the top 10 of 4 subjects last year so that’s pre cool? But tbh the accomplishment i’m most proud of is probably just going to the school I go rn.. OR surviving last year lol 2018 was a mess 

What’s one piece of advice to yourself a year ago? GIRL things are gonna be tough. Like really hecking tough. But it’s not worth it to hold grudges, there’s no point letting fear of what could happen stop you from doing things you want to do and you will survive and you will be stronger because of it. Don’t let what other people say about you get you down, yes, it sucks to hear people speculating about you and your private life, but they have no idea what’s actually going on, and they’re just curious . No one has anything against you. You are loved, and you are worthy, and you are strong. You got this.

what is a skill you wish you had? To play guitar!! Or to be able to sing!!

Name three places you’d like to go to. Richard Rodgers Theatre to watch Hamilton, Music Box Theatre to watch Dear Evan Hansen and the Warner Bros Studio Tour in London. (but also, Japan, London and New York)

//STUDY & ACADEMICS//

What’s your degree/favourite subject? Uhhh it was drama but i dropped that and the 2019 school year hasn’t started yet so.. Who knows?

What motivates you to study? The fact that I gotta do well and get good marks in order to get into a good uni course… and the fact that i just want to keep getting better,, and i don’t want to disappoint people and i also don’t want to do badly bc yikes its real competitive at my school so like lowkey fear of failure

What time do you do your best studying? Tbh it really depends, it’s either the morning not long after i wake up (esp if it’s holidays or the weekend), right after i get home from school, or like late at night if i get a burst of motivation (like sometimes i’ll end up studying from 10:30 to 1am which isn’t sustainable if i have to get up at 7 for school) 

Best self care tip for exam season? Don’t spend your time around people who get really stressed out. It only makes you more stressed, and you don’t need that extra worry. Positive vibes only. Stay chill!

Do you listen to music when you study? Yeah. I just listen to music with no lyrics and I’ll use @studyquill​’s playlist :DD

Where do you do your best studying? I do pretty much all my studying at home so.. home?? but i have this spot at school that i like to go to in the mornings when no one’s at school yet because it’s super quiet and i can get some quality work done there 

What’s your go to thing when studying? Write notes, do practise questions, draw summary mind maps and try to recite my notes from memory

//MUSIC//

put your music library on shuffle, list the first 15 songs

Oh boi this is going to be interesting

How Would You Feel - Ed Sheeran

Part of Me (Bonus Track) - Dear Evan Hansen

If I Could Fly - One Direction

Better Man - 5 Seconds of Summer

If I Could Tell Her - Dear Evan Hansen

Somebody to Love - Queen

Moving Along - 5 Seconds of Summer

Candy Store - Heathers the Musical

Cabinet Battle #2 - Hamilton

Guns for Hands - Twenty One Pilots

Sunrise - In The Heights

The Judge - Twenty One Pilots

Radio Ga Ga - Queen 

Defying Gravity - Wicked 

Shine a Light - Heathers the Musical 

Song stuck in your head: for some reason Acid Rain by Cimorelli just randomly came into my head when I woke up this morning?? so that i guess lol 

Last song you played: Alaska by Maggie Rogers

What are you listening to right now? well right now it’s Shine a Light lmao

what are your 5 favourite songs right now? THIS IS HARD OMG okay um Photograph by Ed Sheeran, Shout Out To My Ex by Little Mix, Fire Away by Niall Horan, Walking in the Wind by One Direction and I discovered Light On by Maggie Rogers today so that too!!

What’s your favourite lyric right now? Darling you don't have to hold it/You don't have to be afraid/You can go 'head and unload it/'Cause you know it'll be okay

Fave artist? GOOD QUESTION.. I don’t have an answer lmao but I like 5SOS, Ariana Grande’s new songs, Ed Sheeran and the soundtracks to quite a few musicals but that doesn’t answer the question lol 

//FILM, BOOKS & TV//

Last movie you saw: I rewatched Crazy Rich Asians :))

Top three TV shows: lol i don’t watch TV but all times favs include Gravity Falls and The Simpsons annnnndd um… yeah I really don’t watch much TV lol

What are your favourite books? All time fav is Harry Potter, but rn my fav is probably 13 Reasons Why (i know it’s also a TV show so i might check it out!!)

Which ones are you currently reading or want to read? Right now, I’m reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I’m only a few pages in though.

What’s the most recent book you’ve read? Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

//MISCELLANEOUS// 

Describe your favourite colour without saying the name! Soft colour of love

What’s your favourite season? Probably autumn

Favourite animal? My pet dog lmao (i really like dogs but i love so many animals but we’ll just say dogs)

Last thing you googled: ‘fire away lyrics niall horan’ because i wanted to check i had the right words lol

How many blankets you sleep with: 1

If you could be a celebrity, who would you be? Probs Emma Watson or Ariana Grande

What is the last text you sent? Ummm i’ll check AND i quote “I AM,,, somewhat certain that’s correct bc like.. I don’t have any confidence in myself”  I was talking to my friend about an assignment lol

Average hours spent sleeping? 7-8 ish??? But during the school term, it could be more like 6-7 but still ain’t that bad???

WOW THAT WAS LONG if u actually stayed throughout all of this and read it all,, (which no one probably did) umm dm me your fav lyrics of the moment? yeah do that lol i wanna meet some new people 

[charger-batteries]

LG Wing 5G Review

The wildest phone of late 2020, the LG Wing ($999) has a unique swiveling screen that brings a breath of fresh, creative air to the stale world of rectangular smartphones. Its T-shaped two-screen layout makes it the ultimate phone for multitaskers who like to take notes while in Zoom meetings or access both music and maps while driving. It also has a Gimbal video mode that simulates a Steadicam attachment. I wish this innovative device were a slam dunk, but the phone is extremely heavy, and underpowered for the price. The promise of using two screens at once also falls a little flat when you realize that third-party apps likely won't take advantage of the new design.

Perfect to a 'T'?

The LG Wing looks like a big, thick, but ordinary smartphone. At 6.67 by 2.93 by 0.43 inches (HWD), it's roughly the same width and height as other large flagships, and thicker by about 0.1 inch. But whoof, it weighs 9.17 ounces. I called the 8-ounce iPhone 12 Pro Max too heavy, so this one is a brick—though there's a reason for that. Push the bottom of the screen up and clockwise, and boom! The phone is in a "T" shape, with the large screen above in landscape orientation and a smaller screen below.

The main screen is a 6.8-inch, 2,460-by-1,080 AMOLED at 395ppi. The smaller one is a nearly-square, 3.9-inch, 1,240-by-1,080 OLED display at 419ppi. Unlike with folding phones, the two screens aren't designed to be used as one fluid display: They're a primary and a secondary panel. On the glossy back of the lower screen, there's a triple-camera stack. To use those cameras, you hold the phone up as if it were a cross to ward off vampires.

Once you get past the coolness, you'll notice some flaws. The color balance isn't very saturated, especially in comparison to Samsung phones, which really punch up the colors. There's a single, loud, aggressively tinny speaker on the bottom; USB-C or Bluetooth headphones are a must. (There's no 3.5mm headphone jack.)

The hinge moves smoothly, and LG says that it's rated for at least 200,000 rotations. It doesn't hold at any location other than zero and 90 degrees; once you push it, it's going to swivel automatically on a spring until it snaps into place.

Shockingly for something this oddly shaped, the phone has an IP54 rating for water resistance. The internal components have a spray-on waterproof coating; how long it will hold up with the parts constantly moving is hard to say.

Performance That Doesn't Really Take Flight

The Wing's Qualcomm 765G chipset benchmarks below where I'd expect. I didn't see any problems in video calling, web browsing, or movie watching, even while multitasking on two screens, but high-performance games that aren't optimized for the device may have issues. The included game, Asphalt 9: Legends, was fine; it's designed for the phone. In the extremely high-test but popular open-world adventure game Genshin Impact, occasional stutters somewhat marred the gameplay experience.

The Wing scores 7,946 on PCMark Work 2.0; 596 single-core, 1,858 multi-core on Geekbench; 318 on Basemark Web; and 17fps on-screen, 21fps off-screen with the GFXBench Car Chase graphics benchmark. By comparison, the $699 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G scores 12,705 on PCMark Work 2.0, 392 on Basemark Web, and 45fps and 52fps on the GFXBench tests. It's clear that the Wing is operating at sub-flagship performance levels. Its scores are closer to those of the LG Velvet and the OnePlus Nord N10, two midrange phones that cost at least $300 less than the Wing's premium price.

The Wing does have flagship levels of RAM, though, and that's important. The 8GB of RAM is needed to keep all of that multitasking running.

How We Test Phones

The giant 4,000mAh battery runs out of juice surprisingly quickly. With the main screen in portrait orientation and the smaller screen hidden, the Wing streamed video over Wi-Fi for 9 hours, 15 minutes before conking out. Any recent large-size Samsung or Apple phone will surpass that by two hours or more.

The Wing has wireless charging and Qualcomm QuickCharge 4, allowing for fast charging using USB-C PD adapters at up to 28W.

Middling Connectivity

LG does not sell an unlocked, all-carrier Wing. There are two different hardware models: a Verizon/AT&T version and a T-Mobile version. I tested a Verizon model.

You shouldn't expect to see 2Gbps speeds on the Wing; 800Mbps will be more like it. The Wing uses a Qualcomm X52 modem, which we've previously seen run into trouble with AT&T's network (see our LG Velvet review). The X52 doesn't have a problem with Verizon 4G, but where flagship X55 phones will see peak speeds on Verizon's the 5G network, phones with the X52 modem will only use half of Verizon's millimeter-wave spectrum and see slower speeds. (To be fair, that difference will only show up in near-ideal circumstances in a limited number of cities.)

The T-Mobile version of the Wing can presumably handle T-Mobile's mid-band 4G as well as any other phone on the market. However, my Verizon-locked phone can't connect to T-Mobile's network, so I couldn't test its performance there.

5GHz Wi-Fi reception was about on par with the iPhone 12 Pro and behind the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Using an attenuated signal from a 100Mbps source connection, I saw around 8Mbps on both the LG Wing and the 12 Pro, and 35–40Mbps on the Note 20 Ultra. The iPhone 12 mini, on the other hand, frequently dropped that attenuated connection.

Software as Unusual as Its Hardware

The Wing runs Android 10, which is a year old at this point. It will get an upgrade to Android 11, but LG is notoriously slow to provide OS updates, so you'll have to wait for your carrier to push it. Upgrades beyond Android 11 are unlikely.

The Wing's software has been thoroughly customized to take advantage of its unusual form factor. When you swivel the top screen open, it switches from displaying the Android home interface to offering a carousel of dual screen–friendly apps: Asphalt 9, the gallery, the camera, YouTube, and Maps. There's no immediately obvious way to look at any other app on the main screen while it's horizontal. However, if you open an app while the screen is in portrait orientation and then rotate the screen, the app will stay open (sometimes adjusting well to the change of orientation, sometimes ending up displayed sideways).

Once revealed, the bottom screen displays a small version of the Android home screen. Among the icons at the bottom of the small screen, you now have pairs of apps that will open together, such as YouTube and Chrome, or Google Maps and YouTube Music.

Most of the time, the two screens operate independently. This comes in handy. My most frequent use was to pop open LG's QuickNote or Microsoft's OneNote on the bottom screen and jot notes while reading a web page or watching a video on the top screen. The Music-Maps combination looks great for driving, but there's one big UI failure: no Skip Ad button on the small screen, leaving you to endure long ads instead of your favorite playlist. A texting-and-Maps combination isn't bad if you're lost (but please pull over before texting).

You can also read two web pages at once. That's convenient, but the top page is in Landscape mode and the bottom one is small. They're certainly readable, but it isn't as natural an experience as, say, two side-by-side, portrait-style pages on the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

The Ecosystem Pitfall

The Wing's ambitious form factor looks destined to fall to the ecosystem pitfall that a lot of innovative phones have run into over the past several years.

There are four companies with enough market share to drive third-party app and accessory development. They are Apple, Google, and, to a lesser extent, Huawei and Samsung. Even Samsung hasn't done that well at it; the only success I can think of is Samsung making sure creative apps are compatible with its S Pen. Unfortunately for everyone, attempts to promote innovative APIs by other OEMs have universally failed. We saw this with the dual-screen Kyocera Echo and ZTE Axon M, and with Asus's convertible phone-tablets.

LG's dual-screen case for the V60 and the most recent round of foldable phones work around this problem by working with standard Android apps. But the Wing has two screens, with different sizes and aspect ratios, that aren't next to each other and don't form a single rectangle together, and third-party developers don't plan for that.

The result: I don't think we're going to see many games that use the second screen, or third-party camera apps that build on LG's innovative control scheme. LG has announced a few software partners—Rave, Tubi, Ficto, and Naver (which is big in Korea)—but they aren't companies well-known in the US.

Cameras: a Gimbal Gambol

The LG Wing has a main 64-megapixel camera on the back that defaults to taking 16-megapixel photos by combining every four small pixels into one brighter one. The camera has a "2x zoom" option, but it's digital zoom; it just crops the middle out of a 64-megapixel image. I found those resulting zoom shots to look quite good. They didn't seem dimmer than shots taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and they were plenty sharp. There's also a 13-megapixel, 117-degree wide-angle camera on the back, and a 32-megapixel pop-up selfie camera on the front.

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the LG's sharpening is more aggressive, but I like that. Photos taken with this camera really brought out the texture of bricks and the stubble on my face. The Wing's primary camera is flagship level, no question about it. You may like it more or less than other flagship cameras, but I think that comes out to a matter of taste.

In low light, it's hard to compare the LG and the Samsung because they make consistently different exposure decisions. In my tests, the LG always went for a longer exposure: 1/10 when the Samsung chose 1/20, or 1/30 when the Samsung chose 1/60. That results in more detailed images, but with a greater risk of blur if you don't hold the camera still. (I noticed this when whipping out both phones to take a quick snapshot indoors. The LG was blurry at 1/24, while the Samsung was sharper at 1/40.) The LG may have been using a longer exposure because the sensor isn't as sensitive as the Samsung's. Photos taken on the Samsung have more saturated colors in low light; the LG's images look a touch washed out.

I ran into one irritating problem: In low light, when taking photos of objects at short distances, there were sometimes problems with focus lock, resulting in blurry images. This tends to happen on high-megapixel phones that don't have some sort of focus assist light, and it can be frustrating. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a focus assist sensor, so it does better in those situations.

The Wing's Portrait mode is particularly fun and notable because of its filters. Sure, it can do the usual background blur and "stage lighting" where it blanks out the background. But it can also turn the background into a cartoon or an outline, making for a great effect I haven't seen on other phones.

A neat Dual Recording video mode lets you capture videos with the front and rear cameras at the same time—great for YouTubers. The videos can be saved as two files or one. A whole bunch of phones a few years ago had this feature, but it's been less common in the past two years.

The Wing's Gimbal mode, which imitates a Steadicam, appears to be magic, and it is—of the sleight-of-hand variety. The Gimbal mode relies on a 12-megapixel, 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera that's rotated 90 degrees relative to the other cameras on the phone. I've seen this trick once before, on the Moto One Action, which used a rotated camera to let you take horizontal videos while holding the phone vertically.

In Gimbal mode, the phone captures up to 1080P video—that's 2.1 megapixels. Think of the 12-megapixel sensor as divided into six 2-megapixel rectangles, and your field of vision as a moving 2.1-megapixel window onto that larger panorama. With a real gimbal, you're moving your camera around. With this, you're just moving a virtual window onto an extremely wide-angle fixed field of view.

There are a bunch of options to play with in the Gimbal mode. You can lock the view so that when you move the phone around, the frame stays still. You can let the frame move, but only on the horizontal axis, preventing vertical shake when you're walking. You can pan with a joystick rather than by moving the phone. (You can't zoom, because you're already using all the pixels.)

The best thing about the Gimbal mode is the panning and what that does to your mind. Typically, when I shoot a video with my phone, I try to keep the frame still because moving the phone around with my hand introduces some wobble and a kind of motion that can be distracting. But the digital panning on the Wing's Gimbal mode is perfectly smooth and feels very professional. That's really nice.

There are a few downsides to this. For one thing, you can't combine pixels to detect more light. On the main camera, the default mode is to combine four 0.8-micron pixels into 1.6-micron pixels for 12-megapixel images; with 1080p video, you can do further pixel combination because you only really need 2.1 megapixels at one time. The gimbal camera says it has 1.4-micron "big pixels," but since it can't ever combine them, images are dimmer and basically useless at night.

Also, at least some of the anti-shake is digital, and you can see it in the resulting video. The gimbal camera has a hexa motion stabilizer to physically reduce shake, but of course it's not going to be as smooth as if you had a real gimbal. When I created intense shaking by skipping along the street while I took video, I could see some distracting digital tearing in the image as the algorithms tried to keep it together.

Will the Wing Be a Thing?

The Wing is a genuinely innovative product. Its Gimbal mode can enable some great filmmaking. Its two screens let you pair passive activities (streaming videos, watching webinars) with active ones (researching on IMDB, taking notes) for a rich, engaged experience.

On the other hand, it's really heavy, performance isn't what I expect from a $1,000 phone, and, most importantly, I don't have faith in LG to further develop and expand the software ecosystem for the form factor. The phone's basic app experience isn't likely to improve or expand with time.

Gimbal mode is cool, but real gimbals aren't that expensive. A DJI Osmo Mobile 3 or Om 4 gimbal costs $80–130. Pair that gimbal with a $699 iPhone 12 mini or Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, and you have better overall phone performance at a lower price than the $999 Wing. Of course, having to tote an extra gimbal around isn't quite as convenient, which is part of the point of the Wing.

There's an old lyric from the British rapper The Streets that always comes into my head for phones like this: "Cult classic, not best seller." When you're out with friends and you flip open an LG Wing, you're going to get comments and stares. You'll be a cool weirdo. Then you can pan around the table with your Gimbal mode, capturing reactions. If that's your game, it'll be a fun one.

[ridleykemp]

Pandemic Notes #3 (Things I love)

It’s windy and gray outside, which means that by the time I finish writing this, the skies will open up and it’ll be one of those Texas spring deluges that generates flash flood warning and tiny toad spawns. I don’t dislike days like this, and in the right mood, I kind of dig them. They’re interesting and there’s been little enough of that going around of late.

I’m loving the way that social media has become list-and-meme driven like it’s 2005 again. The sense of social in social networking had been almost choked out of it. But what do I know? I’m an old LiveJournal guy who still remembers the markup for hiding stuff behind a cut.

Anyway, one of the more popular lists going around right now is the one where you name ten things that most people like that you don’t. It’s a fun exercise and I think I may have even responded to one of them on Twitter, but today, I think I’m going to name ten things that I love right now; ten things that are giving me good feelings in the here-and-now. My therapist would be proud. In no particular order:

1. My cat, Winjamin Failclaw

This doofus is determined to make the most of my home-bounditude. He’s an oddity in that he used to be a lap cat but isn’t so much anymore. He instead prefers to wait until I am at least somewhat-reclined and climbs up on my chest with his paws over my shoulder. This is not optimal for video conferencing. Well, it is not optimal for me. He doesn’t seem to mind in the least. He’s getting on in years so it’s nice to seem him become more affectionate as time goes by.

2. These pens now that I got the #$^%^ ink working

A few years ago, I got a nifty Lamy Safari fountain pen and bought some beautiful ink to go with it. And, after a while, I stopped using it because it just never seemed to work worth a damn. The ink, unlike the spice, did not flow. Also, I wasn’t thrilled with the medium-sized nib I had on it.

So, I thought I’d get a finer nib and it turned out that you’re pretty much better off just buying another pen. It’s easy to switch the nibs on ‘em. The new pen came with some generic ink and it worked perfectly with either nib. I finally put two and two together and looked up how to thin out ink. It turns out you…add water. Yep, that’s all there is to it. And now the fancy ink works beautifully, even with the fine nib. Simultaneously happy and embarrassed. These pens are a real joy to write with, but I feel kinda dumb that it took so long to figure out what was wrong.

3. My apocalypse playlists

Just a little something to get me through the night. The first one, my favorite, is mostly soft and sad. The second is instrumental (a lot of post-rock, if that’s your bag), and the third is industrial. Enjoy!

4. My wife Nicole

Here’s where my luck really kicks in. It turns out we really enjoy spending time together and tend not to get in each other’s way. Working from home these last three weeks has been tough on me, but it’s nothing to do with her. Instead, she’s making me feel loved and welcome in small, surprising ways that have helped keep me moving when it would be far easier not to.

5. My ridiculous hobby and all the toys associated with it

I am not a musician. Not. Even. Close. However, I’m worse at singing than anything else, so I have to find some other way to scratch that itch. Thanks to the sounds of Side 3 of Genesis’ Three Sides Live, I am a keyboard guy. I love the sounds, I love the feel, I love the way they work, I love composing, and I especially love playing along with songs I, um…love. That’s too many “loves” for one sentence.

Anyway, I’ve been collecting and playing the things since I bought Kevin Corrigan’s Sequential Prelude back in high school. I’ve owned, at one time or another…too many to list. They’re a marvelous hobby to sink myself into when I can’t leave the apartment and need to dump some anxiety.

6. Baking bread

Yeah, I know everyone’s doing this now, to which I say: “Good for everyone!” I’m using an absurdly slow sourdough recipe that is finally yielding the kind of results I’ve been hoping for since I baked my first loaf of bread. It takes a couple days to make, but I’m finally getting all of the elements that I’ve been looking for.

It’s also just weirdly satisfying to do something like this as a reaction to difficult financial times. It feels like I’m contributing (I can feel Nicole’s side-eye here as she’s doing the lion’s share of shopping and cooking) in a way that is very hands on way.

7. This ridiculous little espresso maker

Nicole bought this because she doesn’t care for drip coffee. $30 on Amazon and with some seriously sketchy reviews (“Tends to explode”), but for the price, it can’t be beat. It’s not especially…espresso-y…but it’s a good, strong bracing splash of coffee to start one’s day.

It’s lasted a few years already and it paid for itself in about a week, so, yeah. Love this little guy. He’s my best friend first thing in the morning.

8. The pond

Staying in one place generally means you don’t get a lot of variety in your view. We’re fortunate in that we chose a place to live that has far more windows than most apartments. Most of what we can see is “other apartments” which can be amusing, especially when the lady across the street is throwing things at her mother, but otherwise…they’re apartments. On the other hand, we also have the pond. Yes, I know. It’s really just a runoff collection tank to help alleviate floods, but it’s still pretty pond-y. We get ducks, coots, and egrets. We get turtles and snails. We also get snakes and bats, which have their charm but are more charming at a distance. It’s also directly west of us, so we get some pretty decent sunsets.

9. Our giant bathtub

Our bathtub is huge. When you’re depressed and bored and just kind of over it, a giant bathtub is a big plus. I’m 6’3” and I fit in it pretty comfortably. And, since we don’t pay for water (directly, at least), we can be a little lavish in our usage of said tub.

I know, baths aren’t for men. But, what a waste of time to worry about what is and isn’t for “men”. Baths feel good. That’s plenty for me. I’ll let y’all argue about who they’re for while I’m having a good soak.

10. You

Yep, I got all hokey and sentimental at the end of this, but it’s true! In our little space capsule, bound for six weeks or six months into the future, connections are different than they were. I hate hate hate talking on the phone, so this internet is pretty much it for me. Seeing what y’all are doing, what you’re going through, and sharing reactions is a huge help for me right now.

Things still suck, but not everything sucks, if that makes any sense. Thank you for being there, for being here, for being wherever you are in these strange, unmoored times. Saying that makes me think “Gee, I wish Kurt Vonnegut could write about this era,” which is a true thing to think. But, it would also be a good time for John Steinbeck, J. G. Ballard, or Kazuo Ishiguro. Of course, the definitive work may have already been written by Emily St. John Mandel, huh? OK, that was a bit of a digression. I’ll end it here. Take care of yourselves, ok?

[sarahtree93]

Here is the first of a few posts about specific parts of my wedding day! I’m starting with the music because it’s probably the easiest, haha. I’ll list the songs we used from start to finish and give you a little explanation about why we chose each song.

Ceremony:

Still Into You – Ashley Tisdale cover. This is the Paramore song but we used the cover because it’s more chill and fitting for a wedding. This was the song that our parents and grandparents walked down the aisle to as well as the groomsmen and Tyler. I wanted to have all those people walk down the aisle because I just like it when weddings have that. I don’t have any more complicated explanation than that! As for the reason behind choosing this song: Tyler had said one time early in our relationship that every time he heard this song, it made him think of me so we kind of adopted it was one of our songs. It’s really sweet and this cover is super pretty!

1, 2, 3, 4 – Plain White T’s. This is the song my bridesmaids, the flower girls, the ring bearer, and I walked down the aisle to. I’ve known since I was a teenager that I wanted to use this song for my wedding. If you haven’t heard it, go read the lyrics and/or listen to it, it’s so perfect for a wedding.

God Gave Me You – sang by my uncle. I really love the Michael Henry and Justin Robinett cover of this song and I had always wanted my Uncle Darryl to sing at my wedding so I got him to do his own cover of this cover while we did our hand washing and our signing stuff. It was so beautiful, I wish I had taken a little more time to just listen but of course I was pretty focused on what we were doing, haha.

Must Have Done Something Right – Relient K. Tyler and I have both been fans of Relient K for a very long time and this song is really cute and upbeat so we used it for everyone to walk out at the end of the ceremony. It was a lot of fun!

Reception:

Sugar – Maroon 5. This was the song that played when the wedding party as well as Tyler and I walked into the reception and were introduced by Kerri. I partially chose it because they are at a bunch of weddings in the music video but also because it’s a cute and fun song.

Don’t Go Home Without Me (Acoustic) – Lights. This was our first dance song. Tyler loves Lights and I’ve grown to like her too since getting together with him and this song is so lovely. The funny thing is our friend also used this song for her wedding earlier in the same year. She used it during her ceremony though and had a couple friends sing it so we figured it was different enough for us to still use it! It was perfect.

Mom – Garth Brooks. Tyler chose this song for his dance with his mom and it was very fitting. She also loves country music so it was a good choice.

Cinderella – Steven Curtis Chapman. The father-daughter dance song…for about 30 seconds.

Everybody Needs Somebody to Love – The Blues Brothers. The father-daughter dance song for real! So my dad and I pretended we were doing a normal dance to one of the most used father-daughter dance songs…but that’s really not us. My dad isn’t really a dancer at all so we learned this song as well as the dance they do in the movie (with a few modifications) and performed it for everyone. It was a huge hit!

  Run the World (Girls) – Beyonce. I used this song for the bouquet toss because I didn’t want to use Single Ladies, haha.

Hot in Herre – Nelly. For the garter toss! The best part of this was the look on my dad’s face when Tyler put his head up my dress to get the garter with his teeth…priceless.

From there, I just had a playlist of various popular songs for the dance and my sister and I shared a beautiful moment dancing to The Time by The Black Eyed Peas…it was almost as though we had choreographed it (we did not).

I had thought about using Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye as an exit song but Tyler wanted us to just sneak out when we were ready to go so that’s what we did. We still said goodbye to some people who I knew we wouldn’t see again for a long time but we didn’t announce our exit.

So, those are the main songs from my day! What are your thoughts? Feel free to share the music that you used at your wedding!

The Music of Rowemance Here is the first of a few posts about specific parts of my wedding day! I'm starting with the music because it's probably the easiest, haha.

[coleruth]

After I flew back to the mainland to have my computer looked at, we stayed several weeks out in the Abacos. Greg’s mom flew in for one week and rented a house in Hope Town. Vince secured a job at a local charter company and we waited another week in limbo to see if there might be enough work for Greg, but it didn’t pan out. Around that same time I was in negotiations to take on a new and massive project that would require me to work around the clock for the next six weeks. We decided it was time to head back to Florida.

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Louise arriving by boat.

Louise at the wheel!

“Our” house, to the left.

Charming Hope Town!

Another Hope Town house

Houses in Hope Town

Tahiti Beach, a long bike ride along the island.

Cool sea weed shapes on Tahiti Beach

Louise treats us to ice cream.

I got the blue one.

The special boats they make on Elbow Cay.

Hope Town Lighthouse doors

We got back on March 13th. It was a grueling return. A storm system was projected for the 14th, and since New York was getting hammered with snow, the weather gurus anticipated that yet another would follow on its heels. If we didn’t make it back ASAP we would be left on the West End of the Bahamas for 2-3 weeks. Word on the street was that the only marina on the West End was without internet, or had been a week prior. On the 10th I got the assignment, so getting stuck without internet on the West End was a risk I couldn’t take.

On March 7th we made it around The Whale, which is a point in the Abacos island chain where any vessel that draws more than three feet must exit the inner waters through a relatively narrow opening, and then return through an equally narrow opening. When winds are from the wrong direction these passages are treacherous, so we had been stuck waiting for a week in Treasure Cay, where a caravan of Dream Charter boats piled high with college kids on Spring Break had decided to hang out and torture us old folks with their late-night drunken dinghy  rides. Under better conditions I might not have minded since Treasure Cay’s beach is reputedly one of the best in the world… but not when it’s blowing 30-40 knots!

We knew we had to hurry to make our weather window to get back across the Gulf Stream but we hated having to rush through this area of the Abacos, which is rumored to have great snorkeling, so we plotted a course after the Whale that allowed for quick stops several days in a row.

Greg with his pig friend on No Name

En route to Turtle Key we diverted to No Name Cay where Greg had his picture taken with the wild pigs. Then we sailed wing-on-wing (my favorite sail configuration) right up to the harbor entrance and stayed overnight at Black Sound Marina (Greg chose it because he liked the name) where the facilities were minimal but we paid less than anywhere else on our trip. We left around 9 a.m. the next morning and stopped for snorkeling at Nunjack Cay where nurse sharks and rays crowd the shallow waters along the beach because they get fed by tourists. I had hoped we’d beat the crowds but the Dream Charter boats got there first and several other tourist boats came in after us. I suppose that’s the state of wildlife in the year 2017. As predictable and organized as the dolphin routine at Sea World. It made me feel rather jaded.

That night we stayed at Powell Cay, which I enjoyed a lot more. We took a short trail across the island to the eastern side and walked for an hour or so along the beach, collecting empty conch and sea biscuit shells (a kind of inflated sand dollar). A barge had sunk in the harbor and just before sunset we swam to it and checked out the fish, and startled a super-long-tailed ray. Powell Cay is for sale, by the way, if you’re in the market for an island and have seven mil.

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West side of Powell

Shell hunting on Powell

Water clarity at Powell

Moon over Powell

Blowing the conch horn

Sweet potatoes

The next day after we pulled up anchor we went snorkeling off the northern end and Greg caught a big lobster that I served up for a sushi lunch with these amazing Japanese-style sweet potatoes. Then we sailed on to Allans-Pensacola, a tiny, uninhabited, y-shaped low-lying spit of land near the end of the northern Abacos. It was so quiet. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to dilly-dally. I wish we’d had time to stop at Spanish Cay or go north to even more rarely visited islands.

That day I wrote only one word in my notepad: “lentils”. It took me a minute just now to remember why. We had run out of ice several days prior and were living on lentils and rice. Maybe in July, during my low season, I’ll post some recipes and a series of linked recipes along the lines of “How to eat lentils and rice for three days without it feeling like you’re eating lentils and rice for three days”. I guess it’s easy to romanticize the trip now because here we are, surrounded by water so brown you can’t see down more than a foot – water I would only get in if you paid me and then with the guarantee of an immediate shower. But not everything about it was glamorous.

Lentils, day 1, with Chris’s cranberry ketchup.

  The next day we sailed with the spinnaker up for the second time. The first time had been on our Gulf Stream crossing, just prior to the squall, and because it kinda jinxed us we looked at it with suspicion, but Greg hauled it out set it up and it dramatically increased our speed in the light winds. We passed a ton of boats that day going in the opposite direction. They gave us the thumb’s up and one even radioed to say how good we looked with the shoot up. Greg was on cloud 9. But it was a long day with light and variable winds and we barely made it to Great Sale Cay before dark.

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Leaving Allans-Pensacola.

Under spinnaker

Lentils, day 2, soup and Persian rice salad

This was yet another island where I read there was good snorkeling, but we just didn’t have time to check it out. We tucked in shortly after dinner and woke up accidentally even earlier than planned because of the time change, and we left before 5 a.m. It started off hopeful enough. For a while we had wind and the moon lit up the water until an incredible sunrise split out over the horizon, with no land in sight.

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Sailing by moonlight

Greg waking up

Sunrise at sea

We stopped at Mangrove Cay for lunch and the wind died. Afraid that it might not pipe up again, we pulled down the sails and motored. And motored. For almost twenty-four hours. I hate motoring. Though for once I was glad we were under power when, as we neared the edge of the Bahamas – yep, you guessed it – we hit a squall. This time we were prepared. Greg veered off-course to avoid the center of it. I went down below and took a little video that shows how calm it was and then how, when the squall hit, we actually heeled over even though we had no sails up. Here are some (we think) rather amusing short clips of the experience. It doesn’t look All That!

The wind was behind us as we crossed the Gulf Stream – what little wind there was – so it blew diesel smoke into the cockpit. It was nauseating. I knew it would be a bit stressful to sail across the Gulf Stream at night. A massive Disney cruise ship passed a quarter mile or so behind us. Other large vessels would appear as pinpricks of light on the horizon and then increase in size, sometimes two or three at a time, and we’d have to watch all of them as they appeared to bear down on us from different directions.

When we entered the Port Lucie Inlet, I pulled up a photo of us from the day we left, several months prior. We looked so excited and happy. Now, exhausted and less-than-happy to be back, I took another shot. (We actually don’t look so bad! Though maybe a bit cold…)

We made it!

This is the first day since we got back that I woke up without work to do (though I received a few emails as I wrote this), so I decided an update was long overdue. Especially as a recently received an email from someone asking if we were back… We are, and we are actually still living on the boat. We got a slip outside our old apartment and we’re saving up for a house. We’ve decided this is as good a place as any to drop anchor – especially with the islands and the ocean at our door.

If you’ve followed along on our journey, I hope you found it entertaining. If you’re a visual type, you might find this interesting. It’s a map Greg made by exporting our GPS tracking… complete with amusing notations. We had a blast and can’t wait to go out again. Maybe next time to the Exumas, or Cuba. But definitely not without refrigeration.

On that note, I’ll leave you with this link to my sailing playlist on Spotify. It’s how I get through those days when, as Melville’s Ishmael said, I start feeling the need to knock the hats off people’s heads – because everything in me says it’s high time I put out to sea.

  The home stretch After I flew back to the mainland to have my computer looked at, we stayed several weeks out in the Abacos.