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heart-strong · 3 years

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The Strongest Sense

Couple: Aaron Hotchner and enby Spencer Reid

Summary: (hurt/ comfort and fluff) After a long case and not enough sleep Aaron finds Spencer awake in the kitchen having intrusive thoughts.

WC: 2.6k

CW: talk about 5x01 (Aaron getting stabbed, Spencer getting shot), misgendering, nightmare, Haley's death mentioned, thoughts of self-harm (not actually self-harming tho), panic attacks, and mental illness mentioned. Tell me if I missed something, I’ll add it no question.

A/N: So about a month it was 2 in the morning and I was feeling really shitty about myself and my bestie just said "Evie you get really depressed when you're tired." and so I wrote the original draft of this and then went to bed. The wonderful @hermes-creature betaed for me go check them out!

read on AO3

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Aaron shifts in the thick blankets, not opening his eyes just yet. Finally home after a week and the detailed case, he is happy to be in his bed. But as he turns his body into his pillow, Aaron registers the weight and sound of Spencer's weighted blanket on top of him. Times like this make him realize why Spencer likes the blanket; the weight makes it easier to sink into the bed. Except the blanket being on Aaron means Spencer is not in bed. He reaches out to his left just to double-check and feels the sheets cold. Aaron opens his eyes and turns to his nightstand, seeing it is only a quarter past two. He shucks off the blankets overpowering him and grasps for the pajama pants on the floor. The ones Spencer asked him to take off, "I want to feel your skin on mine, Aaron." Locating them, he shucks the cotton pants on and leaves the bedroom without another wasted second.

As he walks further down the hall and descends the stairs, the light brightens until he reaches the kitchen threshold. Spencer has curved his back over the kitchen island with lunch meats, a box of fruit snacks, and crackers with baggies, post-its, and markers are strewn around. Aaron has done this before; he walks to the other side of the kitchen island to the sink, pulling out two mugs and filling the tea kettle with water.

Spencer will have nightmares that don't wake Aaron. Then he will be up for a while before he can't sit still anymore. He leaves the bed to make or rearrange the lunches, reading a book, listening to music from his childhood to help him fall back asleep on the couch. This is a habit, but it doesn't make Aaron worry any less. Now he sets the stove alight and finally looks at Spencer.

Spencer's hair is sticking up in the back and right side, probably from watching Aaron sleep. His glasses are perched on the bridge of his nose, and one leg is tucked under an arm, contorting his body to be comfortable. He recognizes the oversized sweatshirt as his own as Spencer's one hand is swallowed up by the sleeve and atop his knee. Aaron also notes it's the knee he got shot no less than a year prior; the leg isn't covered in any fabric. He is currently scribbling a note on a blue post-it. When he secures it onto Jack's sandwich bag, he looks up at Aaron.

"Hey," Spencer whispers, careful not to wake Jack even though the boy could sleep through a hurricane.

"Hi," Aaron smiles, and as he hears the water start to boil, and turns it off before the whistle sounds. "What kind?"

"Peppermint, please."

"Of course." Aaron pulls out the box with the tea, taking out two bags and pouring the water, walking around to where Spencer is and sitting before he speaks again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but then you got out of bed for nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing,' Spence? You weren't in bed. You are half of my everything." Aaron reaches for Spencer's hand, but the younger man does not respond. Not even to flinch away as he sometimes did when the nightmares were most horrific.

"I wanted to cut," Spencer says as he weaves his fingers with Aarons.

"Baby, you could have woken me up." He feels 80 pounds heavier. What had he done to make Spencer not want to wake him when he thought of such dark things. Nothing Hotchner, he thinks to himself, Spencer's mental illness speaks louder when he's tired. At least that's what he thought; after long nights on a case, it always seemed harder for Spencer to find peace in his brain.

"Was it anything specific?" Aaron asked. Sometimes old cases where the team lost the unsub or victims hunted Spencer at night.

"Next week's going to be a year since I got shot and you were stabbed, Aaron."

"Oh." Aaron didn't realize it was that close; he still got pain all over because of that day. Or more like night. Time. That awful time.

"And it's hurting again," Spencer says. He got that far-off look that lets Aaron know to not interrupt, to just let him ramble. Making sure to tighten his grip on Spencer's hand but otherwise leave it be. "The dream was me getting shot, and it hurt just as bad. And then you were there. You were sitting above me, holding me. But then, where my hand was, on your shirt started to feel damp. The blood was soaking through your shirt. You fell unconscious, and I was sitting there helpless. The rest of the team took care of the press and Myers, and you're just bleeding out while I can't even hug you. Then I woke up, and my leg was hurting, and I just felt the dream both emotionally and physically, and I didn't want to tell you because it's the same day Foyet stabbed you. I didn't want to remind you. I just started thinking, if I need another surgery, how long will I need to stay back? How long will I hinder the team more than help? How long would I have to rely on your help so I can do basic things? Why would you want to help me again?"

"Hey, Spencer." Aaron can't let this go on further. "You just finished up a week-long case that ended with you needing to run to catch the unsub. Your knee probably hurts because you were on a plane not 12 hours ago, and you haven't been sleeping well since we were on a case. Your brain is overworked and now overthinking, Baby. Now, I am not trying to downplay your pain in any way, but this week has not been easy. Can we go back to bed? I can prop up your knee, and we can stay up talking. Give me all your thoughts, so you don't have to hold them to yourself. That sound okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Spencer lifts the cooled tea to his mouth, finishing the rest. "But I can't walk," he added, suddenly laying on prime puppy eyes. "Can you carry me?" finishing it off with grabby hands blooming out of his sweatshirt sleeve and directed to Aaron as he stands reaching across the island for his tea.

He laughs, shaking his head down at Spencer. Aaron then pushes the hair that's fallen into his eyes away, tucking it behind his ear and moving into Spencer's arms. "I guess I can do that, but just this once. Can I finish my tea?"

"I guess." Spencer pouts as he wraps his arms around his boyfriend's middle.

Aaron drinks the room temperature drink while his fingers comb Spencer's hair flat. Spencer nuzzles into Aaron's abdomen, pressing his nose to his boyfriend and breathing in deep. A gesture that comforts them both, Spencer's weight on Aaron and loving his body no matter the damage. Because their job has damaged them physically. But Aaron prided himself that he could pick up Spencer and hold him the way he needs when the worst thoughts run rampant.

Aaron sets the cup back on the kitchen island and places his now empty hand into Spencer's hair. Spencer looks up at Aaron when his hands go to the nape of his neck, and Aaron can't help himself.

"Would a kiss help your pain?"

"It couldn't hurt more."

Moving one hand to Spencer's jaw and leaning down, they connect in a chaste kiss. It ends quickly with Aaron just melting into Spencer, kissing a trail from his mouth to jaw to neck, and hugging the younger man.

"Babe, I'm so sleepy." Spencer wines.

"Okay," Aaron laughs into Spencer's neck. "Shall we go back to bed?"

Aaron feels Spencer nod rather than sees it. He scoops up Spencer, taking his hand from Spencer's jaw and looping it under his knees. It earns a squeal from Spencer and makes Aaron smile.

Back in their room, Aaron sets Spencer on the big armchair in the corner of the bedroom surrounded by stacks of books. Spencer picks up a book off the top of one stack as Aaron flicks on the lamp on his nightstand. Usually, this chair is also adorned with Aaron's pressed suit he chose for that day. But tomorrow there is no work; tomorrow is a day in bed with his love and his son shuffling through the Netflix movie choices.

After setting Spencer down, Aaron grabs the glasses for water they both have on their nightstands and fills them with fresh water from their bathroom. Then back in the bedroom, Aaron sets up pillows halfway down the bed. He walks back to Spencer and picks him back up, kissing the top of his head. Then placing him on the bed and holding his knee gently as he adjusts the pillows perfectly for Spencer.

"Um, Ar, can you get another squishy one? There's more in the corner of the closet."

"Of course, my Love." Aaron lowers Spencer's knee to the pillow, squeezing his shin, and walks to the closet. After rummaging in the closet between Spencer's cane and brace, he finds one. "Is this one good?" He raises it above his head and squishes it for Spencer to see. It collapses immediately.

"Yes, and babe, my glasses are on the dresser, please?"

"Yes, anything else, my Prince?"

Spencer swallows before responding, "Gender-neutral pronouns?"

Aaron turns, glasses limp in his hand, looking at Spencer sitting in their bed. Not 20 minutes ago, Spencer told Aaron he wanted to cut when he woke. Now he didn't want to be a 'he.'

"Sweetheart, wait is that okay," Spencer nods to the fifth nickname that night. "How long have you been feeling these things? The self stuff and self-harm."

"I took some classes really early on in undergraduate, and I was intrigued. Then I went into the bureau, and Gideon told me how to look professional, and since he left, I kinda have been looking at things more."

"Spence," Aaron walks back to the bed and joins Spencer, handing them their glasses. "It's been about two years since Gideon left. Why haven't you told me."

"We weren't together. And then we were, and I didn't feel like myself because I didn't have Gideon to tell me what to do, how to look, and I had all these thoughts and you. God Aaron, you were so solid until, well."

"Yeah." They both knew they didn't have to say what the 'until' was. Aaron sits on the bed, placing the pillow below Spencer's knee. "I can't believe it hasn't been a year. And Jack, I am unbelievably glad I have you and Jessica, but sometimes he doesn't understand she's not coming back, and my little boy breaks my heart."

"Aaron, you don't have to," Spencer takes Aaron's hand and drags him closer to their body.

"No, Spence, I said we'll share our thoughts."

"But I don't want you to be sad."

"Do you want to change the subject?"

"Only if you want to," Spencer says. "But I want you to hold me, please. Like when I have panic attacks?"

"Of course. "Aaron takes the blankets where he folded them back before he placed Spencer in the bed and fit to their body. "Do you want your weighted blanket, or will it hurt more?"

"Can you take it off, please and be my weighted blanket tonight?" Spencer cards their hand through the short hairs by their boyfriend's ear before he leans away, picking up the 20-pound blanket and throwing it off the bed. "Thanks, Baby."

"Hey, that's your nickname." Aaron lies back down, slides his hand up their side, under their shirt, and swings his leg between Spencers, scooting as close to their side he can possibly get without hurting. "Unless you don't want that anymore. We can come up with others. I really,"

"Aaron, Babe. I just said it to throw you off. You can keep calling me 'Baby.'"

"Okay." He breathes out, thumping his head on Spencer's shoulder and moving his other hand up to Spencer's throat. Aaron feels the blood rushing beneath his fingers and threading them through the hair on Spencer's neck. "But," he looks up to meet Spencer's eyes. "What do you want me to call you?"

"Partner?" Spencer speaks as if they were answering Aaron when at work about the timeline for the geographical profile.

"Okay. I can do that." Aaron lays his head on Spencer's heart, still looking up at them. "What do you want Jack to call you? Do you want to tell Jack?"

"Jack can call me Spencer or Spencie like he does already." Spencer won't make eye contact as they sink their head into the fluffy pillow behind their head. "We just have to talk to him about it. I know of this book for kids. It's a chapter book, but super simple, and we can read it to him. It's a way to explain to kids transgender and pronouns."

"That sounds perfect. Do you want to tell the team?"

"Well, and don't be mad, but Penelope already knows and kinda Derek. I just told him that I was doing self-talk in gender-neutral pronouns recently, and he just told me to keep him up to date."

"Spencer, I am so sorry that I made you feel like I would get mad at you. We work with people and kids constantly going through similar things, and they are always afraid of telling their significant others. They think they'll leave them because of it. I understand. And with Penny."

"Right." and as Spencer realizes what Aaron said, they shoot up in bed. "Oww," They scream as their knee-jerked when they sat up.

"Hey, you okay, Baby?" Aaron sits up as he was relocated to Spencer's lap when they sat up. He then grabs Spencer's face on both sides and strokes his thumbs over their cheekbones.

Spencer nods with a whimper that sounded to be a close resemblance to a positive confirmation. "You didn't make me feel bad. It's exactly what you said. It's just harder to tell significant others rather than friends sometimes. Especially when friends are in the queer community."

"Well, I'm glad you told me, baby." Aaron kisses Spencer's cheek. "do you want to lay down again?"

"Yes, please. How you were before was really comfortable."

"Okay." Aaron lowered Spencer's head back onto the pillow. He slotted himself snugly to Spencer's body, one arm up to their shirt and the other brushing back the hair that had fallen into Spencer's eyes. "like this?"

"Yes. Um," Spencer wriggles their shoulders into the pillows then wraps their arms around Aaron. "I like being able to look at you like this. And your body is nice pressure."

"So much so you might fall asleep?" Aaron's dancing his fingers back against Spencer's artery.

"No." Spencer then yawns, covering their mouth with the sleeve of the sweatshirt sleeve tucked under their thumb, making 'sweater paws.'

"My pretty Spencer, you need to sleep," Aaron says. "You'll feel better after a long night's sleep, and if you don't, still thinking those bad things, I'll call the team phyc."

And there, in the warm glow of the bedside table lamps and the weight of their boyfriend, their accepting love-of-their-life boyfriend, Spencer shuts their eyes. Feeling safe as they feel their own blood rush and touch of Aaron's fingers.

"I love you, Spence," Aaron mouths into their throat.

And in response, Spencer tips their mouth to Aaron's hair. "I love you, Aaron." Making sure their nose is full of Aaron, as it's the strongest sense.

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thelightofthingshopedfor · 4 years

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Fic author ask meme

haha so @veliseraptor tagged me literally months ago, as in so long ago I have no idea when it actually was, and I didn’t get all my answers typed up until...now. actually a lot of them were typed up a few months ago and then I finally finished this yesterday on the plane home. no, I don’t know why either

Author Name: 100indecisions on AO3

Fandoms You Write For: it's pretty much all Loki at the moment and has been for the last several years. I've written for other fandoms in the past and I have others on my WIP list, but yeah, it's like 95% Loki.

Where You Post: everything is on AO3, and I do mean "everything" because I get obsessive about that sort of thing. I do still have an FFN account under ladymoriel and most of my fics are reposted there, although none of my most recent fics are because I haven't gotten around to digging up cover images for them. also FFN sucks but I crave attention/validation and there are still some people who only use FFN, so I'll get around to it at some point.

Most Popular One-Shot: for some reason “the state of my head” has 1,157 kudos on AO3, so I guess it would be that one.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: technically “the adventures of tiny Loki and Thor (and friends),” because it’s a multi-chapter fic (boy is it ever) and it has 1,020 kudos, but if we’re talking actual planned fic it would be “the kindness of strangers” at 623.

Favorite Story You Wrote: man, I don’t know. I’m partial to “I am a time bomb ticking away the hours to blow your world apart” because I like my headcanon and I think I structured it well, and “all this that is more than a wish is a memory” gets points for being the longest thing I’ve actually finished. but honestly I don’t know that I have a single favorite.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: haha well I'm sure there's been more than one, but if we're talking about the fic I was most nervous to post, I think that honor would go to my Grandthorki fic "I will kiss you till your breath is found," which is the most explicit AND most fucked-up fic I've written so far. I was nervous about...so many things with that one.

How Do You Pick Your Titles: probably 99% of them are song lyrics. sometimes I'll start with a specific song that's relevant to the fic itself in some way, but I also have a whole list of song lyrics that sound like good titles to me whether the rest of the song has anything to do with the subject of the fic. often I'll come up with a good lyric early in the process, just like "oh yeah I've had this hanging around in my list for ages and it works here"; otherwise, once I've finished or nearly finished a fic (or much earlier, actually, if I'm obsessing over an aspect of writing it that is...not actually writing, which happens a lot), if I still don't have a title I read through my whole list and make a much shorter list of titles that seem to fit this fic. if nothing from there seems just right, I’ll go hunting through my iTunes library and then Google for semi-relevant song lyrics. on occasion, though, the title comes first or otherwise shapes the direction of the fic, like with "I will kiss you till your breath is found"--I had a vague idea of what I might want to do, but it was very vague and I hadn't committed to it, and then I just happened to listen to some Sufjan Stevens and went "heyyyyy I know exactly what to do and it's terrible and I'm gonna do it, I have a title now, I have to do it"

Do You Outline: it depends on the fic. for long ones, at a minimum I'll write a bulleted list of plot points I need to hit, which often ends up being basically two or three pages of a zero draft that I then struggle to turn into actual prose...and then I often re-do the outline at least once or twice as I go along so I can compress it into something more useful that fits on one page and I can cross stuff out as I go. (if a list can’t fit on one page/view, there’s basically no way I can hold all of it in my head at once.) I often end up with shorter lists of scenes I still need to write and specific things to hit during revisions, too. for short fics it's not really necessary, although I often do still write up something similar if I've let it drag out over way too much time and I can't keep straight what I wanted to do with it. (don't be me.)

How Many of Your Stories are complete: welllll, as a rule I don't post WIPs because I know myself well enough to know that that way lies several different kinds of madness, so in general, my only completed fics are what's up on AO3, and everything there is complete. in practice that's not 100% true because I'm very bad at deadlines and I have a few different fics where I couldn't finish in time and I either posted the first chunk of the fic that still functioned as a self-contained story even if it wasn't the full story I'd planned to write, with the intention of properly finishing it later, or I did the same thing but worse because the part I posted was...not really a complete story. in my defense I've only done the latter a couple times, and in the case of "going down to nowhere" I really thought I'd be posting the rest soon because it was all written, it was just extremely rough, and for various reasons I still haven't gotten around to revising and posting the remaining 80% of the fic. (as far as the opposite issue goes, I have 0 finished fics that I haven't posted anywhere, because I'm too obsessive about being complete to do anything else. I think I do have one old, extremely short, very bad Lost fic on FFN that I never reposted to AO3 because I decided it sucked...and if we're being completely technical about it, I have some stories I wrote as a little kid that are technically fanfic because they featured licensed characters, but nobody wants to see those. all the other old stuff I haven't posted, including at least two Neopets fics, never got finished and that's the only reason I never posted them anywhere.)

In-Progress: uhhhh. well, this made me realize my posted WIP list is out of date, not because I've finished anything on it but because I have MULTIPLE short fics that were supposed to be QUICK so I figured I didn't need to bother putting them on the list and then they weren't quick because I am so fucking bad at 1) sitting down and actually writing and 2) finishing anything. But yeah, basically what’s on there.

Coming Soon: fuck, I don’t know. Half the fics on my WIPs list are ones I thought I could crank out in one or two sittings, AND YET. But I’d like to finish the rest of my Whumptober fic soon, because that one really should be pretty easy...and I’d also like to finish the short little Endgame fix-it I thought of on my way out of the theater, where 2012!Loki hops universes and revives IW!Loki...and then there’s the even older IW/Endgame fix-it that’s basically just “everything is fine because I say so, let’s have a little recovery”, especially because I’m like 90% sure that one’s almost done but probably some of it needs typing up and then it all needs stitching together...oh, and finally getting around to finishing typing one of two notebooks reminded me that the other theoretically short fix-it where the Guardians pick up both Thor and Loki is also nearly done, I just need to finish typing it. so...one of those, probably.

Do You Accept Prompts: in theory, although I...don't think I get prompts often enough to know one way or another? plus my brain is The Worst, so my general reaction to actually getting a prompt is basically "that's interesting but I have never had an idea in my life, ever, and apparently I'm not starting now", with an added element of social anxiety or something because it's Somebody Else's Idea and that puts a mental block on my ability to develop it as my own idea. so...anyone's welcome to send me prompts, with the understanding that I might well never do anything with it and if I do, it might take literal years.

Upcoming Story You’re the Most Excited For: I also don’t know. I mean, in recently typing up some older stuff (like the one where the Grandmaster decides publicly executing Loki sounds like a fun idea, from which I posted a couple excerpts recently) I got excited about those again, which is a good reminder of why I want to stay on top of my typing, but I don’t know if I’m more excited for one specific fic than others.

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions: I have no idea who might have answered this months ago so I’ll just say that if you read this post and you want to answer these questions, please consider yourself tagged. yes, that means you.

#fanfic #writing #ask memes

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killjoytrait · 5 years

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🌸 : meet the simblr

i came across @hurtsim‘s post of this and he indirectly tagged everyone reading, so: here! (i also thought it would make a good first post) rules are to share your simself, traits, aspiration, anything you want to!

i tag everyone reading that wants to do it (+ also @simending because he just followed me and i’m nothing if not excitable)

i also answered the same 125 questions that you can find below the cut

happy simming! i look forward to my new life of attempting to be a simblr

1. what is your full name? dana marie [redacted]. 2. what are your nicknames? dani, red. just call me dani. 3. birthday? july 22nd. 4. what is your favorite book series? probably the percy jackson series. it was a big part of my younger years. 5. do you believe in aliens or ghosts? both. 6. who is your favorite author? rick riordan i guess? or rainbow rowell. 7. what is your favorite radio station? i don’t really listen to the radio often enough to have one. 8. what is your favorite flavor of anything? in general i like almost chocolate anything. fruit-flavored wise my favorite is blue raspberry or strawberry. 9. what word would you often use to describe something great or wonderful? in a meme context or a more serious one? bc i’ll say that something is ‘lit af’ but i’ll also say it’s fantastic or wonderful, etc. 10. what is your current favorite song? i can’t narrow it down to one, so a few are “play it cool” by monsta x, “the eve” by exo, “killing me” by ikon, “bellyache” by billie eilish, “youngblood” by 5sos, and “high hopes” by p!atd. 11. what is your favorite word? to be honest, probably ‘fuck.’ 12. what was the last song you listened to? "promise” by ateez. 13. what tv show would you recommend for everyone to watch? avatar: the last airbender or steven universe. 14. what is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? spirited away. or coco. 15. do you play video games? not as often as i would like to, but heck yeah. 16. what is your biggest fear? being alone/forgotten. oh and holes. 17. what is your best quality, in your opinion? i can be funny sometimes. and my eyes are a nice color? 18. what is your worst quality, in your opinion? i can be really moody. also i’m anxious and sad like 25/7 so that’s not fun. 19. do you like cats or dogs better? cats. 20. what’s your favorite season? fall. spring would be alright, but it’s too rainy and also allergies. 21. are you in a relationship? i am, yes. 22. what is something you miss from your childhood? not having responsibilities. 23. who is your best friend? one of my first friends i made in my short college stint. (and also my ex-girlfriend) 24. what is your eye color? green. 25. what is your hair color? strawberry-blonde, ginger, whatever you call it. 26. who is someone you love? i love my handful of close friends. 27. who is someone you trust? my girlfriend. 28. who is someone you think about often? like forty different korean boys, i don’t even know. also my girlfriend. 29. are you currently excited about/for something? a convention i’m going to next month. 30. what is your biggest obsession? i don’t even know. it’s a tie between kpop and sour gummi worms. 31. what was your favorite tv show as a child? arthur! living that pbs kid life. 32. who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? no one. 33. are you superstitious? i can be, yeah. 34. do you have any unusual phobias? i’m trypophobic which is kind of unusual? i probably have others that i can’t think of though. 35. do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? i take 99% selfies, so both. 36. what is your favorite hobby? spending hours downloading cc and constantly remaking sims instead of actually playing my game. 37. what was the last book you read? i have no idea. i haven’t been able to finish a book since high school. 38. what was the last movie you watched? i really don’t know, yikes. 39. what musical instruments do you play, if any? i can play the opening of ‘welcome to the black parade’ and that’s about it. 40. what is your favorite animal? sloths. i love sloths. 41. what are your top 5 tumblr blogs that you follow? they’re all amazing so i dunno. 42. what superpower do you wish you had? shapeshifting. 43. when and where do you feel most at peace? probably asleep. or just lowkey chilling with my friends. 44. what makes you smile? tons of things; the moon, stuffed animals, my friends, a comfy hoodie. i might be a sad bitch but i’m a smiley sad bitch. 45. what sports do you play, if any? i don’t. 46. what is your favorite drink? i only really drink water, sprite, or lemonade. 47. when was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? like two years ago? 48. are you afraid of heights? i’m afraid of falling. 49. what is your biggest pet peeve? customers being rude to people in the service industry. 50. have you ever been to a concert? mhm. 51. are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian. 52. when you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? an artist, a pop star, or an actress. 53. what fictional world would you like to live in? ugh probably the harry potter universe but only under the conditions that i am magical and get to attend hogwarts. (based on my location i would be at ilvermorny but no thanks) 54. what is something you worry about? everything. 55. are you scared of the dark? absolutely. 56. do you like to sing? constantly. 57. have you ever skipped school? of course. 58. what is your favorite place on the planet? i’d say my room but i currently hate where i’m living so i dunno. 59. where would you like to live? a bigger city. not sure where exactly. 60. do you have any pets? i have three fish. 61. are you more of an early bird or night owl? night owl. 62. do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunrise, even though I rarely see them. 63. do you know how to drive? not really. 64. do you prefer earbuds or headphones? earbuds. 65. have you ever had braces? no. i need them though. 66. what is your favorite genre of music? kpop isn’t technically a genre, but that. along with pop punk and alternative. 67. who is your hero? i don’t really have one that i can think of. batman? 68. do you read comic books? i used to. 69. what makes you the most angry? injustice? tons of things make me angry and that’s not a list i’m about to get into. but also terfs. 70. do you prefer to read on an electronic device or a real book? it depends on how long the book is or where i’m reading. 71. what is your favorite subject in school? it was history. i’d go become a history teacher if i wasn’t so bad at college. 72. do you have any siblings? yes. 73. what was the last thing you bought? a nasa hoodie. 74. how tall are you? 5′10 or about 177cm. 75. can you cook? vaguely. 76. what are three things that you love? the sound of rain when i don’t have to be outside, being asleep, and lgbtq+ rights. 77. what are three things that you hate? going to sleep, screaming children, and biphobia. 78. do you have more female friends or male friends? female. 79. what is your sexual orientation? bisexual. 80. where do you currently live? the usa. 81. who was the last person you texted? my best fren. 82. when was the last night you cried? last night. 83. who is your favorite youtuber? probably lavendertowne. 84. do you like to take selfies? yeah. 85. what is your favorite app? probably youtube? or spotify. 86. what is your relationship with your parent(s) like? my relationship with my dad is pretty good, and i don’t really have a relationship with my mom, nor do i want one. 87. what is your favorite foreign accent? um, southern brit? i also just enjoy listening to other languages even when i can’t understand them. 88. what is a place that you’ve never been to, but want to visit? literally anywhere outside of the usa. i’ve never left the country. but especially rome. 89. what is your favorite number? 4, 7, and 35. 90. can you juggle? absolutely not. 91. are you religious? not really? 92. do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? space. 93. do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really, no. 94. are you allergic to anything? i’m lactose intolerant and i get seasonal allergies. 95. can you curl your tongue? nope. 96. can you wiggle your ears? nah. 97. how often do you admit that you were wrong about something? i’ll admit it when it’s a friend or when the person hasn’t made me mad. 98. do you prefer the forest or beach? the forest. i can’t stand sand. 99. what is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? “just, you do you, and fuck everyone else.” from my dad 100. are you a good liar? yeah. 101. what is your hogwarts house? ravenclaw. 102. do you talk to yourself? constantly. 103. are you an introvert or extrovert? ambivert, but closer to the introverted end. 104. do you keep a journal/diary? no, i’ve tried and i can never keep up with them for more than a week. 105. do you believe in second chances? depends on what they’ve done, but usually no. 106. if you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? turn it in. keeping it would cause me too much stress. 107. do you believe people are capable of change? once again, it depends on what they’ve done. 108. are you ticklish? sometimes? 109. have you ever been on a plane? not one that was off the ground. 110. do you have any piercings? yes, seven. 111. what fictional character do you wish was real? steve rogers. 112. do you have any tattoos? not yet, sadly. 113. what is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? staying alive. 114. do you believe in karma? yes. 115. do you wear glasses/contacts? yeah, my eyesight is awful. 116. do you want children? no. 117. who is the smartest person you know? i really don’t know, 118. what is your most embarrassing memory? every moment of middle school. 119. have you ever pulled an all-nighter? so many times. 120. what color are most of your clothes? black. 121. do you like adventures? i love them. 122. have you ever been on tv? i don’t think so? maybe in the background of my local news or something? 123. how old are you? twenty. 124. what is your favorite quote? “sometimes i can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives i am not living.” from extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer. 125. do you prefer sweet or savory foods? sweet!

if you actually read this far, thank you for being interested or at least bored enough to read!

TLDR: i’m a disaster bi.

(credit for the lovely traits overlay goes to @/cupidjuicecc)

#meet the simblr #that's not a tag but it is now #about me #depression tw #anxiety mention #only lightly passed by #but i want to be safe #ts4 #simblr #ts4 simblr #*mine

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yellowishsoap · 5 years

Photo

-GET TO KNOW ME-

this took me so much time to edit omg

this tag was made by @awolzai and i wasn’t tagged but it was such a fun idea i wanted to be part of it!

so the point of this is to make a simself and put whatever you want your followers to know about you! (if you can’t tell i love pizza and popcorn)

i want to tag @turquoiseesims @tropicalmuffin @melloncollieme

after the cut there’s like +100 question you can do if you want!

1. What is your full name? Javiera

2. What is your nickname? Javi, some of my friends call me Javivi, i used to be called soap

3. Birthday? May 26

4. What is your favorite book series? Harry Potter, it’s the only book series i have finished.

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? tbh both.

6. Who is your favorite author? Stephen King, he’s just, amazing.

7. What is your favorite radio station? I don’t listen to the radio :(

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? POPCORN or cheese

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? a spanish/chilean slang: “bacan” it like cool

10. What is your current favorite song? "Do It All The Time” by I Don’t Know How But They Found Me

11. What is your favorite word? idk something with the sound “sh”

12. What was the last song you listened to? Killer Queen by Queen lmao

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? Friends bc it’s like a classic and i love it

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? Grease or some Disney Movie.

15. Do you play video games? YES

16. What is your biggest fear? to be left completely alone

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? i'm really comprehensive

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? I can’t be mad with someone for more that a few minutes.

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? why do i have to choose? why can i like both???????

20. What is your favorite season? Autum!!!!

21. Are you in a relationship? Yes<3 uvu

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? The magic of christmas and havin zero responsabilities

23. Who is your best friend? i haven’t seen her in months :(

24. What is your eye color? kinda brown kinda green eyes

25. What is your hair color? brown uvu

26. Who is someone you love? my bf and my mom and my doggo

27. Who is someone you trust? my bf and my friends

28. Who is someone you think about often? my bf<3 asdasdas

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? CHRISTMAS

30. What is your biggest obsession? the sims i guess? i’ve been playing to much these days

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? SPONGE BOB

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my bf, again, i don’t have to many male friends

33. Are you superstitious? kinda

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? sickness? hospitals?

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind

36. What is your favorite hobby? drawing, tho it’s been months since the last time i drew

37. What was the last book you read? Doctor sleep, I was re-reading it

38. What was the last movie you watched? Bohemian Rhapsody uvu

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? a bit of ukulele

40. What is your favorite animal? i really ike a lot of animals tbh but i love sphynx cats

41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? @cowplantplumbob @sixamart @selvamorada @madgnomes @awolzai

42. What superpower do you wish you had? teleportation

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? when i’m at home after a really long day and i can chill

44. What makes you smile? the stupid jokes we made whit my bf

45. What sports do you play, if any? haha no

46. What is your favorite drink? tea! (also sprite)

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? a few months ago

48. Are you afraid of heights? ugh yes

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? people doing things slowly

50. Have you ever been to a concert? no, i have to take a plane to go to see someone on my country :(

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? no

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? a doctor

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? harry potter, i’d love that

54. What is something you worry about? almost everything

55. Are you scared of the dark? yes

56. Do you like to sing? yes but just in the shower

57. Have you ever skipped school? yeah a lot

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? my city’s cinema

59. Where would you like to live? i like it here, but i’d like to live on another country maybe

60. Do you have any pets? YES a doggo

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? an early bird

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunrise

63. Do you know how to drive? nope

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? earbuds

65. Have you ever had braces? nop

66. What is your favorite genre of music? i don’t really have a fave

67. Who is your hero? don’t think i have one

68. Do you read comic books? yes

69. What makes you the most angry? when people try to force their opinions on others

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? real book

71. What is your favorite subject in school? culture & tendencies

72. Do you have any siblings? yes, one sister uvu

73. What was the last thing you bought? spotify

74. How tall are you? 1′63 m

75. Can you cook? kinda asdas

76. What are three things that you love? rain, movies and my bf

77. What are three things that you hate? loud noises, sweating and headaches

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? more female friends

79. What is your sexual orientation? bisexual

80. Where do you currently live? Chile

81. Who was the last person you texted? my mom

82. When was the last time you cried? yesterday lmao

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? right now i’ve been watching lilsimsie a lot

84. Do you like to take selfies? sometimes

85. What is your favorite app? idk instagram?

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? good, i love my mom and talking with my dad is cool

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? i can’t choose, french? british???

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? uk

89. What is your favorite number? 26

90. Can you juggle? nooo :c

91. Are you religious? yes

92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting? AAAA YES

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? eeehh sometimes

94. Are you allergic to anything? dust xd

95. Can you curl your tongue? no

96. Can you wiggle your ears? no

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? always?

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? forest

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? “talk with them and you’ll feel better”

100. Are you a good liar? yes

101. What is your Hogwarts House? hufflepuff

102. Do you talk to yourself? yes

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? introvert

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? sometimes

105. Do you believe in second chances? depends

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? i need that money i’m poor i need to print homework

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? depends

108. Are you ticklish? sometimes

109. Have you ever been on a plane? yes

110. Do you have any piercings? no, but i want

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Baymax

112. Do you have any tattoos? no :cc

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? to accept that one facebook friendship request

114. Do you believe in karma? yes

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? glasses

116. Do you want children? yes

117. Who is the smartest person you know? my dad

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? so many

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yesss

120. What color are most of you clothes? black

121. Do you like adventures? yess

122. Have you ever been on TV? no

123. How old are you? 19

124. What is your favorite quote? “Juventud, divino tesoro, ¡ya te vas para no volver! Cuando quiero llorar, no lloro... y a veces lloro sin querer...” ( "Youth, divine treasure, you're leaving now to not return! When I want to cry, I do not cry ... and sometimes I cry without wanting to ... "

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? sweet

aaaaa im tired adas

#get to know me #about me

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hallucinosims · 5 years

Photo

Hi here’s the get to know me tag let’s get to knowing

I was tagged in this by @gunthermunch

125 questions under the cut, if you do decide to read i suggest getting a snack first

I tag @emovatore @humanitys-shortest @liliithvatore if you haven’t done it yet

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Elio

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? Lee and Leo are the go-tos in real life but I get called Hall on here and I think that’s a rad nickname too

3. BIRTHDAY? Feb 5th

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? I am a slut for the Percy Jackson series and Leo Valdez was one of the reasons why I started going by Leo more often then my full name

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? Yes yes absolutely yes. One, earth really can’t be the only planet in a universe with infinite possibilities to have life on it, you know? And ghosts is more like a spirit thing.

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? oooh fuck me up this is a hard one uhhhhhh Classic author probably Edgar Allen Poe but Contempoary I’d say Tony Kushner

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION? the Musical Theatre station

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? I don’t really like... food. I don’t enjoy it. But I guess I like savory over sweet

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? neat

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG? Liar by Queen or Greek God by Conan Gray

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? I-Cunt-tic, pronounced like iconic but... you know

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO? Please Never Fall in love again Ollie MN

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? Kidding, that Jim Carrey tv show that premiered this year. Beautifully edited and told story

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN? I’ve seen Bohemian Rhapsody 6 times this month alone so probably that on wards

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? yes

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? dying in the same place i was born

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? my empathy

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? the depression (tm)

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? idk, i’m not really an animal person

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? fall

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? nah

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? playing in the ika playscape

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? i have quite a few best friends but when im at school/work then my good friend Julio

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? a very doe eyed dark brown

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? i re-dyed my hair black recently so let’s go with that

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? my mom

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? my dad

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? myself

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? going to denmark to be a farm gay on my semester off

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? currently Sims, Queen, and Falsettos (the musical)

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? i didn’t have cable but there is no way in hell i’m saying cyberchase so, Mia and Miguel

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE? Julio

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? very

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? none that i can think of

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT?i actually really enjoy both

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? sims

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? True West, it’s a really good play

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? ...Bohemian Rhapsody for the 6th time

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? most stringed instruments i can figure out pretty quickly but i’m best at guitar and piano

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? humans

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? i follow over 5k people i don’t even know who i follow

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? basically Kirby. I want the power to take others powers

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? in michigan on rainy afternoons in my bunk bed with my laptop on my lap. Or like, the floor of a bookstore

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? loaded question

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? I used to do competitve dance, competitve cheer, biking, and volleyball

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? watah

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? like a week ago to my grandma, she likes getting post cards in the mail

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? i used to be. not so much anymore

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? people who saunter. We got places to be fellas

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? yup!

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? i’m to anemic to be either

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? a performer

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN? i’m actually not to into media that take place in other... wait i take it back i wanna live in Hobbiton

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? breathing

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? ehh sometimes

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? It’s a part of my career so hopefully

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? i’m skippin school rn

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? manhattan Lower East Side

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I live in the Upper West Side right now and it’s aight but it’s not the LES

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? nope

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? i just dont sleep

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER?sunrises

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? nah

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? earbuds

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? yee

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? anything

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? Tony Kushner

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? yee and before you ask my fave is Deadpool

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? when people be on some bullshit

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? real book

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? IN High School I loved history

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? one sister who is ten years older than I am

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? ... iced coffee despite it being 30 degrees out

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 5′3

75. CAN YOU COOK? I’d like to think so. Wish I had a oven tho

76. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? music, my family (sometimes) I’m trying to love myself so let’s throow that one in there

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? people who stroll/saunter, when people are on their bullshit, dark chocolate

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? male “friends”. But, I know a lot more girls that I keep up with more often.

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? lesbian

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? Manhattan, Upper West Side

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? Me mam

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Thursday in my Theatre class but we were all crying so i’ll let it slide

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? i don’t really watch anyone consistently

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? i do

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP? tinder

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE? prety solid i love them both even if my mom hates my sexuality and threatened locking me at home when i came out to herelol

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? italian

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT?Copenhagen! I’ve wanted to go to Denmark since I was ten

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 7

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? Nah son

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? defenitly a lot less than my story style insists lol. I do believe in God tho

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OR THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? LOADED QUESTION BECAUSE I WANNA EXPLORE BOTH

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? ehhhhhhhh no

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? strawberries and some medicine that i can’t remember the name of

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? yes i’m a lesbian it’s what we do

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? nah

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? Literally anytime i’m wrong about soomething. I love being exposed, put in my place, roasted.

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? Forest so I can find my mans... my MOTH mans

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU? you know what you want, don’t let your concerns get in the way of your ambitions

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR? Yes

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? Ravenclaw

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? Deadass I talk to myself more often than otherpeople

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? introverted

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? yee

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? I give everyone I can think of second chances because i’m a forgiving sone of a bitch and yet they continue TO BE ON SOME BULLSHIT

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? THat be mine i may be forgiving by moral compass be broke as hell and I haven’t eaten in like 3 days because i’m so broke

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? When I’m answering this question for a job application i sure do

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? tragicallu

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? yes

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? i have 5 holes in my ears and a nostreil piercing

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? Mark Cohen or LEO VALDEZ

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? yes 2, one chest, one forearm. But that’s only because I don’t have money i need more

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? move to new york

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? yes and she’s a bitch

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? both

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? eventually I feel like I would make a pretty solid kid

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? my dad

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? Being high for three days straight

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? i just finished pulling one

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOU CLOTHES? black as you can see by my simself i really do dress pretty much only in black because i aged poorly out of my goth phase

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? yeeee

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? Yep, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Trade Show stuff, probably for school or local news a few times

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 18

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? Know in your soul like your blood knows the way from your heart to your brain, know that you’re whole. - HEdwig and the Angry Inch

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? This is a really boring last question but savory but if you made it this far i’ll expose myself a little more. I’m black and Jewish, I go to a performing arts Conservatory, and this took me so long to answer because I hooked up with someone in Brooklyn last night and i had trouble getting back to my dorm.

#get to know me tag #hall posts #saviorhide #long posts

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negatopoji · 6 years

Text

get to know me

1. What is your full name? (For safety reasons I'm not going to put this :3)

2. What is your nickname? ageha

3. What is your zodiac sign? Gemini

4. What is your favourite book series? Manga maybe d.grey-man?

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Yep

6. Who is your favourite author? 芥川龍之介　Akutagawa Ryuunosuke or 治太宰 Osamu Dazai

7. What is your favourite radio station? N/a

8. What is your favourite flavour of anything? Maybe red been, or sweet cream?

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? ”Oh cool” but apparently I'm pretty emotionless when speaking

10. What is your current favourite song? Ace - illion

11. What is your favourite word? 我儘 wagamama, it means selfish

12. What was the last song you listened to? High five - ROACH

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? Dad of light

14. What is your favourite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? The imitation game or silent hill

15. Do you play video games? Yes

16. What is your biggest fear? Dying from sickness or from something I can’t control too early

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? My eyes

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? My personality

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? Dogs but I love eve most

20. What is your favourite season? Autumn

21. Are you in a relationship? No

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? Having no responsibilities

23. Who is your best friend? Kaylin

24. What is your eye colour? Hazel

25. What is your hair colour? Currently orange naturally black

26. Who is someone you love? Kaylin and eve

27. Who is someone you trust? Kaylin

28. Who is someone you think about often? Kaylin and my mum

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? Going to Japan with Kaylin, and going to school

30. What is your biggest obsession? What to do with the empty space I have in my life.

31. What was your favourite TV show as a child? I didn't grow up with a tv

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? Kaylin

33. Are you superstitious? A little?

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Zombies, they scare me

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? In front if I looked better

36. What is your favourite hobby? Maybe doing make up but I also do this as a job

37. What was the last book you read? No longer human, by Dazai I'm currently reading it. And finished was a book of short stories I read again by Akutagawa

38. What was the last movie you watched? The isle of dogs

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? Saxophone, and flute.

40. What is your favourite animal? Maybe ducklings?

41. What are your top 5 favourite Tumblr blogs that you follow?

42. What superpower do you wish you had? Speaking all languages

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? In my house and around my plants

44. What makes you smile? Eve

45. What sports do you play, if any? I used to play soccer I would like to take up boxing

46. What is your favourite drink? Coffee with milk no sugar

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? A month or so ago when I wrote to send out my pictures and write a note to Japan.

48. Are you afraid of heights? I'm afraid of the things I'm on breaking so if I'm high I can’t save myself?

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? People who don’t say the truth

50. Have you ever been to a concert? Many

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? No I used to be but not anymore

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? A rock star

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? mmm maybe the one from kyou kara maou? But the demon side

54. What is something you worry about? When I'm going to die.

55. Are you scared of the dark? No more I'm afraid of bad things outside in the dark

56. Do you like to sing? Yes

57. Have you ever skipped school? Yes

58. What is your favourite place on the planet? behind my middle school there was this forest with a slightly spongy floor and it was amazing to just round around there. I miss it very much and it was very relaxing and wonderful to go.

59. Where would you like to live? In a forest around nature

60. Do you have any pets? Eve my black cat and ouro my snake

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? Early for sure

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Rises, a star of a new is always wonderful.

63. Do you know how to drive? I do

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? Both, depends on what I'm doing

65. Have you ever had braces? Yes

66. What is your favoruite genre of music? Soft rock, rock or alternative

67. Who is your hero? Kaylin;m she's been though so much with me, and has seen me at my lowest and has been threw all my medical issues and has heard me talking abut death and wanting to die. And she always is there for me. She is one of the most wonderful people in my life and is my family.

68. Do you read comic books? Yes

69. What makes you the most angry? When people are ignorant

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? Both depends on what it is, but typically real books.

71. What is your favourite subject in school? Art, biology, math, and social studies

72. Do you have any siblings? Yes

73. What was the last thing you bought? Quinoa

74. How tall are you? 158.5 cm

75. Can you cook? Yes

76. What are three things that you love? Eve, Kaylin, and every morning I am alive

77. What are three things that you hate? Ken; my mothers ex husband, ex friends who are too self centred, and ignorance

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? Female

79. What is your sexual orientation? Straight-Iso? I think no one is straight or gay because I can look at a man and think “he's attractive” but I don’t think id sleep with one.

80. Where do you currently live? Canada

81. Who was the last person you texted? My friend Julia

82. When was the last time you cried? A few moments ago

83. Who is your favourite YouTuber? Zero Punctuation

84. Do you like to take selfies? Yes sometimes, but not always

85. What is your favourite app? Spotify

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? Rough

87. What is your favourite foreign accent? Any are okay

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? Hmm maybe Finland?

89. What is your favourite number? 11 or 19

90. Can you juggle? Kind of haha

91. Are you religious? Not at all

92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting? Both are very interesting

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? Not at all

94. Are you allergic to anything? Yes, sunlight, rain water, bagels, morphine

95. Can you curl your tongue? Yes

96. Can you wiggle your ears? No

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? If I am wrong I will admit it

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? Forest

99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? ”This too shall pass”

100. Are you a good liar? Sometimes

101. What is your Hogwarts House? I think Gryffindor

102. Do you talk to yourself? Sometimes

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Introverted extrovert

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? No

105. Do you believe in second chances? Yes but it depends

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Turn it into the police

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Yes but only if they want to inside deeply

108. Are you ticklish? Not anymore

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Many times

110. Do you have any piercings? Yes lots

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Rosette Christopher she was nothing but goodness

112. Do you have any tattoos? Yes

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? To allowing myself to be happy

114. Do you believe in karma? Yes but sometimes things just happen

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Both

116. Do you want children? Never

117. Who is the smartest person you know? I think everyone is smart in different ways

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? Hmm I try to not allow myself remember the embarrassing things

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Yes many times

120. What colour are most of you clothes? Black

121. Do you like adventures? Sometimes

122. Have you ever been on TV? Yes

123. How old are you? 27

124. What is your favourite quote? ”This too shall pass”

125. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? Umm mildly sweet?

tag 5 people that would be interested

@crazyanime3 @kikusaurus @miss-arlert-orihara-watanuki @quietlyobscure

and anyone else who’d like to . :3

#get to know me #negatopoji

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rbtlvr · 6 years

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a start to that johavi fic?

taz anon, i am not deserving of your ideas but i hope it’s ok if write about them! here’s a snippet i just wrote up on that johavi prompt that yes did make me tear up a little darn you taz anon. also this is not finished so it ends abruptly and the formatting is really weird sorry:

Time lost meaning when you were dead, it seemed. Coffee with Julia and Magnus every, what, six months? Or was it six days? Johann would always ask Kravitz the time when he passed through, watching the reaper flick through a few watches (each for a different plane) before he got the time, the date.. the decade. Lup sometimes showed up with new battle scars and crazy stories about Taako’s new business gigs, which always seemed to be changing, never stable. And she’d always return to her lich form, never staying too long. So most of Johann’s time was spent understanding these changes, composing pieces based on the world he watched below, through a blurry yet reflective sea of water. He saw Angus growing up, he saw Magnus growing old. He saw Magnus die some years ago, and as much as it hurt.. he was happy now. And Johann had a small house near Magnus and Julia’s place, so that was a plus. But the one change Johann the Bard never prepared himself to face was an 80 year wait. It was a wait so long that the knock and the news shook his pale, thin frame to the ground. The words from Kravitz’s own mouth as he passed through the plane, skeletal and dark, the news that Avi had passed on. That Avi, his Avi, was coming back to him. The past two minutes were a blur of tears, and of quick movement. Befofe the astral pool even opened, Johann was booking it. His violin was tucked under his left arm, and he could feel his heart pounding even in his right wrist. His legs never did move that fast in life, he never felt this alive when he was. But the water began to ripple, and his eyes sprouted new tears just the same. Halted in his tracks, the bard watched the portal start to glow as it once had for him, and for Magnus too. And there.. there he was. How simple it seemed. Avi, no longer old and brittle but as the man he once knew. Tumbling dark curls, thick eyebrows, his dark skin just as soft and freckled and.. he looked just as perfect. Johanns body moved without hesitation or meaning, but he ran forward and grabbed onto Avi for dear life, something so fragile yet beautiful. He cradled himself in the mechanic’s arms, sobbing out his name, and for once not trying to stop the floodgates. He felt those arms grip him back, felt tears that weren’t his own, heard his own name muttered like a prayer in Avi’s quiet voice. The two stood like that for what seemed like hours, no, months, until Johann finally spoke with his low and shaky voice: “Thank the gods you humans have short lives. I just..” He swallowed, wiping his eyes. “I just couldn’t wait any longer to see you again.” “Me either, me either.” Avi leaned down and caressed Johann’s cheek, his soft hand running circles into the bards back. “You’re so beautiful, Johann. God, babe, I.. I love you so much, I missed you so much, I-“ the mechanic began to list just as quickly as his tears fell. Yet he was was cut off by shaky hands and a firm tug, two pale and nimble hands pulling him down into an equally firm kiss. Johann began to run his hands up through Avi’s hair, while a pair of tanned hands found their way to the bard’s slender shoulders. The sound of a rosewood violin clattering to the floor rang barely audible, as they grabbed one another like a life raft, lips and tongues intertwining in some dance that seemed to never end. Each time one stopped to breath, another few words of love would fill in the gap. By the time they seemed done, by the time Avi was rocking with Johann gently in the embrace, another form came running up to them, much taller than both and with two dogs in tow. “Magnus..!” Avi began to cry again, not daring to let go of Johanns tender hand as he hugged his long lost friend. Magnus seemed to be tearing up too.. it always seemed that way at reunions. “Avi, it’s so good to see you again.” Magnus rested his calloused hands on the shorter man’s shoulders, his tired eyes sincere. “I told my wife all about-“ “You have a wife?” “Yeah.” Magnus smiled proudly. “My wife, Julia. I told her about you when I told her everything. And I’m still finding things to tell her. Avi, you made such an impression on everyone who came to the HQ, and- and Johann?” He turned “I’m so happy for you. Avi.. I can say for sure that since I got here, Johann hasn’t stopped loving you for a minute. He wrote songs and, and poems, and hymns.” Burnsides turned to the bard, smiling. “Johann kept your memory clear as day for me.” “That’s.. god, I..” Avi clasped a hand over his mouth, eyes tearing up as Johann nodded and slowly picked up the rosewood violin. His hands naturally formed a chord, he breathed deep. Avi watched his love play a few note tune that seemed familiar, far too familiar, and a wave seemed to crash as he remembered why. This song, this progression of chords had been in Avi’s dreams for decades. Without images, without words, just the singing of a violin that awoke him each time with tears. This song was a message that never left him- that Johann had never left him. As Johann pulled away the bow, he gazed at Magnus and whispered a quiet, shaky ‘thank you’ through a sincere, inspired gaze. Avi repeated those same words, as he sobbed and ran towards Johann. His body wracked with sympathy and empathy and sheer thanks, it felt as though these floodgates were no longer gates, but a door that would never lock again; he was broken but useful. It seemed now, even now, that they were all that way. Magnus turned with a full heart during this exchange and began the quiet walk back to his house. Julia was already gazing out the window, waving a cloth in her right hand and laughing with pure joy. Avi saw this figure in the window, and gazing at the two houses, he spoke quietly: “What’s this?” “Magnus is calling it Refuge II. He.. he built me that smaller house. With his bare hands.” Johann smiled. “He built us a house, and he’s making a room in his own for well.. for Angus, when the time comes. He’s making a place for everyone.” “How is that even allowed? So many different kinds of people in one plane- isn’t there a place we each go?” “Yeah, I thought that too. But the Raven Queen’s in a tough spot here; she’s got three people she knows who saved the world and she owes them a little something.” Johann took Avi’s hand and began the walk back to his humble home, before one word nearly stopped him then and there: “Four.” A voice came from behind, cockney in accent and deep in tone. Kravitz, coming by to close the portal. “What?” “Four. She has four people who saved the world. Lup, Barry, myself, and you, Johann.” Kravitz smiled, his scythe disappearing into thin astral air. “Without your music- no, without you- no one would’ve been able to carry on the fight.” “I guess.” “No, there’s no guessing.” Avi pulled him forward, kissing his cheek. “No guessing at all.” At that point, a voice far too recognizable yelled from the barely opened portal. Taako, of course. Who else would it be, yelling at Kravitz through a planar rift which it was probably dangerous as hell to be near. “I told you they were into each other! You owe me ten bucks, bubeleh! And tell Maggie I say hello!” The voice laughed, before Kravitz groaned and ripped the portal once more, going skeletal as he passed through with wallet in tow.

hey thanks im crying??? this is really fucking good like. holy shit thank u for writing this??? and sending it to me??? holy fuck

also so ppl can see, bc submissions are weird like that, this is by @astronomutual, who... for some reason its not letting me @ but. yeah. go check em out

#johavi #taz #the adventure zone #LEMME KNOW IF LIKE. U DIDNT WANT ME TO PUT IT IN THE TAGS??? AND ILL DELETE EM #BUT LIKE. THIS DESERVES TO BE SEEN #submission

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tamboradventure · 4 years

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Meet the Team: The Many Faces of Nomadic Matt

Posted: 4/30/2020

It takes a village to keep this website going. From tech and coding to design to fixing bugs getting readers books when downloads fail to scheduling social media or running the forums, I have a lot of help. I simply couldn’t run the website, write, travel, eat, sleep, or anything in between if I didn’t have the support and help of an amazing group of people.

It’s not just me writing and posting about my travels. I have a big group of full-time staff helping juggle everything.

I realized a lot of you don’t realize that so, today, I wanted to introduce the team to you.

So, without further ado, here’s they are:

Erica

Erica has been working for me for almost six and a half years and is the events director of The Nomadic Network, our travel community. She keeps this community thriving. In her own words:

I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Virginia. During a quarter-life crisis at age 21, I chose to finish my last year of college on an adventure in Qatar! From that moment on, my life revolved around traveling cheaply with the money I earned from waitressing. That budget got me to teach English in Isaan, Thailand, and South Korea; farm on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean and Costa Rica; and volunteer in rural Zambia. At age 26, I returned home to Connecticut, determined to get a job in travel. Soon after, I met Nomadic Matt at a travel meet-up in NYC, and the rest is history.

I whole-heartedly believe that traveling makes friends of strangers, and the more friends there are in the world, the more peace there is in the world.

13 Facts about Me

At 15, I helped build a schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

1. I cooked an American Thanksgiving feast for my Thai co-English teachers in Thailand where barely any of the mashed potatoes, carrots and peas were eaten so my host-grandmother fed in to the monks for the following week unbeknownst to me.

I’ve cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love, twice!

I once hunted for possums on the island of St. Vincent with a bunch of Rastafarians. We caught four and made soup. I was a vegetarian at the time.

In Costa Rica, I stayed at in a sustainable living community called Rancho Mastatal, where I learned how to farm yuca, make beer out of turmeric, and build a house out of cob.

I spent 11 days on a coconut water only fast at a yoga retreat in Cambodia, twice

I taught English in South Korea for 14 months and was able to easily save enough money for 21 months of non-stop travel. I also taught the students how to use “boo” colloquially.

This music video I made used to be one of the top hits when you searched for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Zambia, my friend and I were given a live chicken as a present. We were vegetarians, so we traded it for a pair of second-hand jeans in the town’s market.

I got 19 people (the students and teachers on a FLYTE trip) into an airport lounge in Ecuador for free. I think that’s a travel hacking record!

My college education was entirely free. How? I got a ton of tiny scholarships (I applied for everyone I could get my hands on) that added up, being a Residential Assistant in the dorms, and studying in Qatar actually saved me money (in the most expensive country in the world).

In Korea, I dated a guy who spoke no English and we basically communicated through drawing pictures and reciting American rap lyrics.

Last summer, I took a trip to Tunisia with some friends. I wish I could have stayed longer – what a cool country!

Chris O.

Chris joined the team as the part-time manager of the forums back in 2015. Since then, he’s transitioned to full-time and has branched out into the Superstar Blogging program and helps me with all of our various admin tasks. In his own words:

I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and spent my formative years listening to punk rock, reading Star Wars novels, and generally getting up to no good. After ditching my lifelong plan to be a lawyer, I decided to give travel a try. I headed to Costa Rica on a whim and have never looked back! It wasn’t long after that trip that I took a break from university (where I was studying history and theatre) to move to a monastery in Japan in 2007. I’ve more or less been wandering around ever since. Some notable adventures include taking the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia and Mongolia, walking the Camino de Santiago twice, and going on a 10-day road trip around Iceland with complete strangers.

When I’m not traveling, I live in Sweden and can be found reading, writing, or hanging out with my rescue dog, Grimo.

13 Facts about Me

I spent nine months living in Buddhist monasteries.

I lived in a tent for a year.

I was once stalked by a jaguar and chased by a crocodile — on the same trip.

I haven’t had alcohol in 16 years.

I’ve broken all my fingers and toes, and my nose three times, and I’ve fractured both my wrists.

I worked on an organic farm for 11 years.

I co-owned a restaurant in Canada.

I grew up next door to Avril Lavigne.

I wrote a book (and am working on another one)

I played inter-mural Quidditch in high school and was our team’s Seeker.

I have a Star Wars tattoo.

I’ve been vegan for 15 years.

I have a scar from a fight that broke out over which Norse god was “the best.”

Chris R.

Chris, aka The Aussie Nomad, is a (kinda) former blogger who does all the tech and development work for the website. He keeps it running, fixes any errors you find, and deals with my constantly changing design desires. In his own words:

I’m living the good life in Western Australia by the beach with my amazing family. I got into the world of blogging after quitting my job, backpacking around Europe and, as all Aussies do, undertaking a working holiday in the UK. Like all of us who travel and fall in love with it, nobody wants to go home afterwards.

That adventure got me into creating a travel blog many years ago, which is how I first came to know Matt. I have since repurposed my IT skills from my old life and formed my own business to help out other bloggers with their websites.

13 Facts about Me

I love Belgian beer (and I even married a Belgian).

I’ve worked with Matt the longest out of anyone here. (Take that team!)

I took off to backpack Europe when I was 29.

I’m an advocate for Vegemite and believe all visitors to Australia must try this national treasure.

One of my favorite activities is to take a long road trip, especially with family and friends.

I have no idea how four-way stop signals in the U.S.A. don’t all end up as accidents.

I do not drink Fosters. It’s a terrible beer. No one in Australia actually drinks it.

I like to think of myself as an amateur photographer.

I failed kindergarten as I wouldn’t say goodbye to the teacher.

My first job was working in a supermarket.

I can’t sleep on a plane – no matter how long the flight is.

I can name every Thomas the Tank Engine character thanks to my son.

I don’t drink coffee or get people’s love for it. Tea all the way!

Raimee

Raimee does all of our social media and content marketing. She schedules posts, tweaks my terrible photos so they look good on Instagram, builds out our content calendar, analyzes data, edits video, creates digital marketing campaigns, and designs our social media graphics! In her own words:

When I was just 14 years old, I took my first international trip to Honduras and Belize with my family. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on experiencing new cultures, connecting with people from all walks of life, and learning about myself and the world through the power of travel! After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing from Michigan State University and four years as a digital marketing specialist, I realized that corporate life was not for me. My insatiable need to experience the world beyond a desk led me to search for a job-related to travel. I’ve followed this blog for many years, and now I get to work for it remotely while I strategize, manage, and report on the social media accounts — and I love every second of it!

13 Facts about Me

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter. I’ve read each book at least 10 times. If I told you how many times I’ve watched the movies, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I once hung out with Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter!) at a Red Wings game in Detroit, and actually kept my cool the whole time (side note: He’s a SUPER nice guy!)

Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour in London was one of the best days of my life.

My mom was obsessed with the 80’s horror movie Evil Dead directed by Sam Raimi, so she named me after him.

After having visited about 30 countries, Iceland is still my favorite.

My biggest travel dream is to take a road trip around New Zealand!

I try to read 1-2 book(s) EVERY week!

I used to play the saxophone (and I wish I still did!)

I conquered my fear of heights by jumping off a cliff in Croatia — twice!

I love languages and was close to being fluent in German during college.

I’ve acted in a few independent and short films and as an extra in some network TV shows (I even have an IMDB page!)

In another life, I would have been a film director/producer. Maybe some day!

My favorite number is 13.

Carmela

Carmela is the Executive Director of our non-profit FLYTE that makes travel accessible to underserved youth from across the country. She handles anything and everything from fundraising, working with our partner schools to plan student trips abroad, connecting with our incredible donor community, and managing our volunteer team.

Born and raised in New Jersey, I had the privilege of taking my first international trip when I was 3 to visit my family in the Philippines where I refused to ride the local jeepneys because they didn’t have seatbelts! Since then, my love for travel has evolved. In 2012, my husband, Raymund, and I took a round the world honeymoon that was supposed to scratch the travel itch (lol). We came back home to NYC for a few years before taking the leap to become full-time remote workers, and have lived all over the world ever since.

When I’m not running FLYTE, I love planning trips (even if they’re not my own), practicing yoga, hiking, rock climbing, reading, eating, and eating cookies (which are their own food group, in my opinion).

I LOVE Math! I have a degree in it, taught statistics to college students, and few things make me happier than a well functioning Excel spreadsheet.

I come from a family of educators. My parents were both teachers before they immigrated to the US from the Philippines in the 70’s. Before I left to travel, I worked for the Chancellor of NYC Public Schools, the largest school district in the country, and now running FLYTE is pretty much my dream job because it combines my love for education with travel.

The Notorious BIG and I share the same birthday. Juicy is one of my favorite songs.

I still don’t fully understand how to use Twitter.

I like suspenseful movies & TV shows, but hate the feeling of being in suspense, so I often read what happens before watching so I can relax and enjoy my viewing experience.

My favorite cartoon is Alvin & the Chipmunks. I still have an Alvin doll that I was gifted on my 1st birthday. It bears no resemblance to the actual Alvin Seville anymore.

I attended an all girls high school and a women’s college – that environment there largely shaped who I am today.

My guilty pleasure is watching Terrace House – the Japanese equivalent to the Real World.

My dad has an identical twin brother and they used to play tricks on me and my cousin when we were younger. It’s equally funny and traumatizing.

I hate raisins, especially in cookies.

I’m an only child, but have over 30 first cousins. I love them as if they were my actual siblings.

Raymund and I met in Hawaii. For that, and many other reasons, it’s my most favorite place in the world.

I know every lyric to every song from the Sound of Music.

Nomadic Matt

And, finally, there’s me. You probably know a lot about me after twelve years of blogging (sometimes I forget how long it’s been), but here’s a quick refresh:

Growing up in Boston, I was never a big traveler. I didn’t take my first trip overseas until 2004. That trip changed my life and opened me up to the possibilities the world had to offer. One year later, I went to Thailand, where I met five backpackers who inspired me to quit my job and travel the world. In 2006, I left for a yearlong backpacking trip — and have been “nomadic” ever since.

13 Facts about Me

I love politics as much as I love travel and will debate for the joy for it.

I love to cook.

When I was in high school, I was my state’s champ in “Magic: the Gathering.” I know — super nerdy, right? It got me a free trip NYC with my friend (who came in number two!).

I always worry about the future and often use my time back home to develop skills needed for the Zombie Apocalypse. Shout-out to my prepper friend Vanessa for teaching me about seeds!

I once met Paul Giamatti on the streets of NYC and he was as grumpy as I imagined.

I am an unabashed Taylor Swift fan.

I don’t drink coffee.

I believe aliens exist. It’s mathematically impossible they don’t.

I’m terrified of flying.

I learned to swing dance so I could throw myself a Gatsby-themed birthday party.

Both sides of my family came through Ellis Island and you can see their names on the wall where they list all the immigrants.

I used to be the head of a program by the Massachusetts Sierra Club that promoted energy efficiency.

I went to college to be a high school history teacher.

***

So there you have it! The Nomadic Matt team! It’s weird to think this blog I started to simply be online résumé for freelance jobs now requires eleven people to run. I always thought the more systems, automation, products, and passive income I set up, the easier it would be. I could just sit on a beach. But it seems the more we do, the more we create, the more projects I tell the team we’re taking on, the more help we require. I guess that is the nature of the beast but I would have it no other way. I love what we do here. We help a lot of people realize their dreams.

And a guy couldn’t ask for better co-workers to help make that happen.

P.S. – We’ve launched a new Patreon where you can get stories and tips I don’t share on this blog, a private Facebook group, phone calls with me and the team, live Q&As, postcards from the road, signed copies of my books, and much more! Click here to get access!

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines, because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com, as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it, as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those 70 and over)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all those I use — and they’ll save you time and money too!

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voguingtodanzig · 7 years

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AFTER LONG LAYOFF, PAVEMENT OFFSHOOT SPIRAL STAIRS RETURN TO THROW POIGNANT ‘DAGGERS’ (3 months ago on Clyrvnt)

By Raymond Cummings

Time was, Scott Kannberg’s strongest songs — from Pavement's iconoclastic “Hit the Plane Down” and pugnacious b-side “Stub Your Toe” to something like Preston School of Industry’s spindly “The Idea of Fires” — took flight on a riff and a prayer. These tunes were catchy, brusque and instinctually wrought, 7"-worthy wonders party-crashing the LPs or EPs they happened to come packaged along with. Doris and the Daggers is the Stockton, Calif., native’s fourth post-Pavement album and his second as Spiral Stairs, but it’s his best album because it arrives without those sonic M-80 firecrackers of yore. His songwriting here is eclectic, self-assured, mature and heartfelt, reflecting time’s unyielding march and a heavily stamped passport. A few weeks prior to the release of Doris and the Daggers, I interviewed Kannberg via telephone.

I thought you were back in California. When did you move to Mexico? We were. We moved back to Los Angeles in 2013, I think. We’ve been here in Mexico for like the last 10 months, in Merida, in the Yucátan. My wife’s parents, we lived kind of near them. They decided to move to Mexico because they had a house here in Merida, and we had an opportunity to be close to my parents and be close to them in Mexico. Then, in the end, we wound up following them to Mexico. I’m not sure how my parents feel about that. And also, Australia’s so far away, and we were spending so much money on travel. And I wanted to make music, and the people I make music with are in the States. We wanted to move back to San Francisco, but a lot of my friends from San Francisco are moving to L.A. At that time, L.A. was still pretty cheap, and it felt like San Francisco on the east side of town. But in the three years we lived in L.A., it got so expensive.

How do you like living in Mexico? Merida’s a pretty cool place; it’s really growing because it’s a real safe city. A lot of people from Mexico City and Monterrey are moving their families here, so it’s kinda bursting at the seams. But I don’t know any Spanish. Well, I know a little bit. You kinda have to know a little Spanish. There’s a lot of expats here. We have some friends, my wife knows a little Spanish. The food’s amazing, the culture’s amazing, the climate’s a little too hot for me. [Laughs] So, it’s okay, for a while.

I feel like, of all your solo records, Doris and the Daggers is the one that fits together best as an album. There’s normally albums where one or two songs stand out as “the singles”; the Preston School of Industry albums had that, to an extent. This one doesn’t have that; it feels like a whole. I try to create a comfortable listening experience. I look at it as two sides, like a vinyl record; I don’t make it for a streaming or CD kind of world, because I don’t know that world, really. I don’t know how bands like the Beatles made 35-minute records. The goal is to make it so that a listener is interested for 20 minutes, and then they turn the record over, maybe revisit the other side at another time.

For this record, I recorded probably 15 songs with Justin [Peroff, drummer of Broken Social Scene] and Matt [Harris, former bassist of the Posies], and then another 15 with others, and the songs really fit together well as a cohesive kind of thing. I never really try for singles, but I guess I can definitely see the Preston records as having more singles, or “single”-type songs.

This also feels like a more personal album, like you’re really putting yourself out there. I think so, too. There’s an emotional theme to it, I guess. I’ve been listening to a lot of those kinds of records — I really started to get into Lloyd Cole, who has sly lyrics, but they’re emotional. Maybe it comes from that. But maybe it’s that I’m older, more at ease with my songwriting.

One of my favorite songs from the album is “The Unconditional,” which conveys nicely what it’s like to be a parent as children reach that age where they can start making demands. Was there a particular moment that inspired this? I had the riff, and I had the basic music of the song. It was kind turning into this kind of Van Morrison-y thing, with horns. I had a rough idea of some of the lyrics, but a lot of these songs I actually made up the lyrics driving, or riding my bike. Behind our house in L.A., we had this amazing hiking trail. I’d go out there every day and listen to these songs, and whatever popped into my head, I’d jot down. Basically, you’re driving your kid to school and these things pop out of their mouths. [Laughs] I’ve always liked songs people wrote about their children. Everybody does that at some point; I wanted to have one.

Has your daughter heard it? Yeah! She loves it. She knows all the lyrics. She pronounces some of the words wrong. The thing I’m always amazed by with kids is how they retain the language. She’s saying some pretty complicated words. We let her watch little YouTube videos of people playing with toys, and I think that’s where she gets most of it from.

“No Comparison” was a surprise. It flows with the album, but it’s very staccato. It’s almost like disco. How did that one come together? I’ve always been a big fan of the Talking Heads. That’s where it started. I like the Happy Mondays, and I’ve always liked a good dance beat. Originally, “No Comparison” wasn’t intended to be like that, but it kinda morphed into it. The synthesizer element came way late. Kelley Stoltz, when I went up to do some things with him, he added those synthesizer lines; they’re so brash and funny-sounding that I had to keep them. This was my stab at a song off of Remain in Light or something, or something off of Flesh and Blood by Roxy Music. I did that in Pavement, too; “Passat Dream” was a dance-y kind of song. They come out every once in awhile.

I feel like this album has a lot of little touches that bring something special, like how on “Dance,” every time you sing that word in the chorus, there’s a horn stab. Yeah! The horn guys I had were incredible. That song took a real turn. If you heard the demo, it’s completely different — it sounds more like an early Wire song. It went in another direction when I got the horns on there, and I asked this friend of mine, Doug — who actually plays in a Roxy Music cover band — to play on the song and make it sound like Roxy Music. [Laughs]

I know that your longtime drummer, Darius Minwalla, passed away before recording started. Knowing that the vocal at the end of the title track was his really adds something — it’s kind of left-field without the context, but it’s emotional if you know. Can you tell me a bit about him? That vocal was a snippet from a video we put together for a tour from maybe 2004 or so, because Darius kinda came on after [Preston School of Industry's] Monsoon. It was kind of fitting to place it at the very end of the record, because the whole record is emotionally part of him, and I wanted to have his voice in there somehow.

A couple of these songs are about him. “Exiled Tonight” is about a dream I had. It was the last song I was going to record the vocals for. I didn’t have any good vocals, and I came into the studio one day, and the engineer stopped me halfway through and said, “Those lyrics are terrible.” I said, “I know they are.” He said, “Come back tomorrow.” That night I had this dream, where Darius is stuck in the afterlife, and it was a kind of a sign that I had to finish the song so I could finish the record. Another song, “Angel Eyes,” has a verse about him, that the very last song he ever played on drums was “No More Heroes” by the Stranglers.

I think it was a freak accident. He had a bad heart that he didn’t tell anybody about; he had a heart attack and died a month before we were supposed to record up in Seattle. It kinda threw everyone for a loop. It sent me in a different direction for this album.

He was a great guy. I’d known him a long time. He seemed pretty happy in his life. When I moved to Seattle in the early 2000s, he was the Posies’ drummer; Matt Harris, who played on Doris and the Daggers, was the bass player for the Posies. After the Monsoonrecord, Darius started playing with us; he’s the drummer on The Real Feel. After I left Seattle, I moved to Australia, and we lost touch for four or five years. He was supposed to play on Doris.

Justin from Broken Social Scene was really good friends with Darius, too, and he called me up and asked if he could drum.

“Exiled Tonight” seemed, to me, like a touring travelogue. With Pavement, you were touring constantly. Do you miss the touring life? I do miss it. With Pavement, in the old days, we worked it pretty hard. We did every single show anybody asked us to do. We did it on a shoestring budget. I think it kinda wore us down in the end. The reunion tour was great because it was at a much bigger level, and we had a crew and could stay in hotel rooms; it was like a nice vacation, really. This solo stuff is still shoestring, but it’s still touring, and I’m excited about it. I’m going next week to play SXSW, six shows there, then we’ll do a West Coast tour in April, an East Coast / Midwest tour in June.

Eight years separate The Real Feel and Doris. Do you have a big backlog of unreleased songs? Sorta. I didn’t really write that many songs after The Real Feel. But the way I do things, it takes me a long time to get up and running, and when I do start writing songs, I write a lot of songs. I try to use most of them on the records or as b-sides. Most of these are from the last few years. Some of them date back to The Real Feel era, but they sound a lot different than they used to. I’ve already written my next record, and I’m ready to record that!

You’re way ahead of the curve. I don’t wanna fool around. I don’t think you need to, anymore; you can kinda just put things out when you wanna put 'em out. I’m not gonna wait another eight years.

What does the song title “AWM” stand for? It stands for “Always Wanted More.” It’s about my ex-wife. Chrissy was a big part of Pavement; we split up in 2003 or 2004. She’s still around, in San Francisco. She comes to shows. It was tough. It was pretty tough times in Seattle, after the divorce, but then I met Sarah, and things changed after that. I’m much happier.

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5hfanfiction · 7 years

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Come Back, Be Here - Chapter 2

1 year later…

Lauren rushes through the Miami airport with her luggage in tow. Today she is finally going to be reunited with her wife.

At least she hopes so.

The attack did happen and when it did, Lauren realized that the news had it all wrong. It was not terrorist threat, it was a promise. The lady that Lauren co-owns her art studio with had a basement in her house and so Lauren drove to her house immediately after she watched Camila’s plane take off. Lauren knew the minute the first attack happened that she was right to get Camila on that plane and to safety. That didn’t mean it hurt any less though.

Luckily the attack was nothing too severe, but the main thing that was damaged was the only thing that could reunite her with her wife: the airport. In the cities next to theirs, everything was almost obliterated. Vero had called Lauren a couple of hours later to inform her that Camila’s plane had landed safely in Miami.

After the attack, Lauren tried every single day to get a plane to Miami, but during the attack so many had been destroyed along with the airport. Not only did she have to wait for the new airport to be built, but she had to wait for more planes to arrive as well. Even then, there was a waiting list to get on a plane. Lauren checked the website everyday, and finally after 3 months of being on the wait list, Lauren got a plane ticket. It was a relatively long process and she hated the fact that even when she arrived at the airport, her wife would not be there waiting for her.

The green-eyed girl tried every day for a year to get a hold of her wife, but she was not able to. Every time she called the number that used to belong to Camila, a man picked up and told her she had the wrong number. She still doesn’t know why her wife never tried to contact her. Even if Camila lost her phone, Lauren knew she had her number memorized. Everyday for the past year, Lauren had to wonder if Camila hated her for what she did or worse, if Camila was even okay.

The brunette exits the airport and breathes in the salty Miami air. Her lungs haven’t felt the salty air swirling around in them for nearly two years. Lauren left the United States with Camila two years ago and she has not returned until today. The slight rain hitting the top of her head snaps her out of her thoughts and she hails a taxi and has the taxi drop her off and the closest school to the airport. All day, Lauren goes down her list of schools in the Miami area in search of her wife. She knows Camila loves her job, so she figures her wife got another job teaching music at one of the schools here in Miami. Unfortunately, no one by the name of Camila Cabello is employed at any of the schools Lauren goes to.

After a long and incredibly exhausting day of searching, Lauren retires to her favorite pub. She orders an Angry Orchard and then grabs a napkin and a pen from the bartender and starts writing down places that her wife could be.

Bookstore

Music store

Beach

Coffee shop

Camila and Lauren spent their time together at all of those places so those would definitely be the first places that she’d look. Camila absolutely adores books, music, and coffee. However, Lauren doesn’t really think that 80% cream and 20% espresso should even be considered coffee, but Camila always labelled it as such.

“You here for the live music?” Lauren raises her head up when she sees some sit on the bar stool next to her. The girl is beautiful. She has dark skin and dark curly hair. The cropped top she’s wearing shows off her toned abs and the shorts show off her equally as toned legs.

Lauren realizes she should speak up, even if she doesn’t want company. “No.” She shakes her head and returns to her list. The green-eyed girl is really in no mood for small talk. The only person she even wants to see right now, she can’t find.

“You should stay, she’s amazing. The best in town.” The girl assures the green-eyed brunette next to her.

“Look.” Lauren sets her pen down and spins on the stool to face the girl next to her. She holds her left hand out in front of the two of them. “I’m married and I’m looking for my wife so I’m really not interested. I’m sorry.”

The dark-skinned girl chuckles as she takes Lauren’s hand to admire the ring. “Beautiful ring. I actually have one of those too.” She raises her hand up as well and Lauren’s eyes widen when she sees the diamond on the girl’s finger. Lauren silently curses herself for being so unnecessarily rude to the poor girl.

“I feel like such a jackass. I’m sorry.” Lauren runs her fingers through her hair and offers the girl to her right an apologetic smile.

“It’s perfectly fine. You seem stressed so I won’t hold it against you. I hope you find your wife.” She extends her right hand and dangles it between the two of them. “I’m Normani, by the way.”

Normani. Lauren’s heard that name before. But from where?

The green-eyed girl quickly takes the awaiting hand in hers and shakes it. “Lauren.” She smiles before taking another sip of her beer and picking up the pen so she can finish her task. She hears the faint sound of the strumming of a guitar, but she tunes it out as she studies the napkin in front of her, trying to decide what place she should look next.

“She’s starting.” Normani claps as she turns to face the small makeshift stage at the back of the bar. Lauren takes another sip of her drink and as soon as she does, a raspy voice fills her ears, one that she would recognize from anywhere. The green-eyed girl chokes on the mouthful of beer and grimaces as it slides down the wrong way. This gets Normani’s attention and the girl swivels back around to check on the girl beside her.

Lauren just offers a thumbs up showing that she will be okay. When she finally gets her coughing under control, she spins around in her bar stool so quickly that she almost falls off of it. She vaguely hears the girl next to her ask if everything is okay, but she doesn’t answer. She is too busy taking in every detail of the younger brunette sitting on a bar stool on the stage 20 feet from where she is sitting.

The young teacher is wearing a white cropped shirt with the word “Stussy” written on it and a pair of dark denim jeans with holes in the knees. Her naturally wavy hair is slung over her right shoulder and she has a content grin on her face as she looks out into the audience. Lauren’s heart is beating so fast that she swears Normani can feel the vibrations of it from where she’s sitting. The green-eyed girl wants nothing more than to just rush on stage and take her favorite brunette into her arms and never let her go, but she doesn’t want to overstep her boundaries. A lot can change in a year. She knows that.

Her thoughts are interrupted when she feels a hand cover her own, the one gripping the bar stool under her with so much force that her knuckles are turning white. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Normani questions as she takes in the appearance of the green-eyed girl sitting next to her. She’s worried that if she grips the bar stool any tighter she’s going to break it.

“I have.” Lauren whispers as she tears her eyes away from the hand on top of hers and focuses her attention back on the most beautiful girl in the room. Her wife.

“She’s pretty, huh?” Normani smirks at the visibly shaken girl next to her. Camila seems to have this affect on a lot of people, men and women. However, the dark-skinned girl can tell by the way Lauren is looking at Camila that there’s something more there than just physical attraction.

“Perfect, as always.” Lauren answers as she watches Camila position her mouth in front of the microphone again. Her voice fills Lauren’s ears for the second time today and Lauren is worried that her heart is about to explode.

“So this is a song I wrote a couple of months ago. It’s called ‘Everything Has Changed.’ Hope you enjoy it.” Camila addresses the audience for a brief moment before refocusing her attention back on her guitar and strumming the familiar chords.

All I knew this morning when I woke Is I know something now, know something now I didn’t before And all I’ve seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles And your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you, know you, know you

Lauren’s heart soars when she hears the mention of green eyes and a small smile tugs at her red lips. She watches how Camila mindlessly takes her lip into her mouth as she strums the guitar that she is balancing in her lap.

'Cause all I know is we said hello And your eyes look like coming home All I know is a simple name, everything has changed All I know is you held the door You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

And all my walls stood tall painted blue But I’ll take 'em down, take 'em down and open up the door for you

And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies the beautiful kind Making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel like

Lauren is completely blown away, but not at Camila’s voice. She always knew her wife could sing like an angel. The brown-eyed girl would sing in the car, the shower, while she was putting her make up on. Really any chance she got. Every single time she did, the green-eyed girl would stop what she was doing and listen. Lauren’s always been her biggest fan. However, today, Lauren is blown away because Camila would never sing for anyone, but her. She always encouraged Camila to do these kinds of gigs, but Camila would never agree to the idea. She always assured Lauren that if she ever got on stage, she would pull an Aubrey from Pitch Perfect and puke all over the stage and everyone sitting near it.

I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you, know you, know you

Come back and tell me why I’m feeling like I’ve missed you all this time And meet me there tonight And let me know that it’s not all in my mind

She wipes a tear that has managed to escape from her eye after hearing the bridge. That part hit Lauren hard because she has been missing the girl sitting in front of her for the past year. Her body is overcome with so much relief that Camila is okay though. However, she can’t help but think that the girl singing right now is not the same girl she watched fly away from her a year ago.

I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now I just want to know you, know you, know you

All I know is we said hello Your eyes look like coming home All I know is a simple name, everything has changed All I know is he held the door You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

All I know is we said hello So dust off your highest hopes All I know is pouring rain And everything has changed All I know is a new found grace All my days, I’ll know your face All I know since yesterday is everything has changed

Camila strums the last note on her guitar and Lauren, along with everyone else in the bar, jumps to her feet and starts clapping like a proud mom. A small smile tugs at her lips as she thinks back to the times when Camila would play a new song that she had wrote for her. Lauren would always put her hand over her heart and dramatically voice that she was a proud mom after the song was over. Camila would always smirk and say “proud daddy, maybe.” The green-eyed girl would always blush furiously and slap Camila’s arm. Her wife would always call her daddy to get under her skin and she hated it. However, at this moment, she is sure that Camila could call her that and she would just kiss the smirk off her face.

The young artist slowly stands from her bar stool and makes her way to the stage at the back of the bar. Her shaking legs are making walking an extremely difficult task though. Lauren stops within 5 feet of the stage and wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans as she watches Camila pack up her belongings.

What if she doesn’t forgive her? What if she hates her for what she did?

Lauren doesn’t think she can move and she sure as hell cannot form a coherent sentence. Instead, she just chokes out the one word that has been lingering on her tongue since the moment she saw Camila on the stage.

“Camz.”

______________________________________________________

Song: “Everything Has Changed” By. Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran

#UPDATE #series #non AU #slash #camren #angst drama #romance fluff #submission #come back be here

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the-record-columns · 4 years

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March 11, 2020: Columns

Just Call Mule...

Harold ‘Mule’ Ferguson

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

I first met Harold “Mule” Ferguson in the early 80’s when I began my long-time association with the Rotary Club of North Wilkesboro.

It was years before I was actually invited to join the club, and I then worked for Thursday Magazine, predecessor to The Record, and we began printing the program for the Wilkes Agricultural Fair which the Rotary Club sponsored. Mule was a faithful Rotarian; the club’s president 1986 to 1987 and was honored as the Distinguished Rotarian of the Year, 95-96. He tirelessly worked to raise money for Rotary to fund community projects of all kinds, even organizing the very successful Balloons over the Blue Ridge hot-air balloon rally for several years.

Mule and his wife, Debbie, continued to support Rotary and its projects long after his active membership had ended.

By the time I got to know him, he had retired from Lowe's and was running full-out on his new job, enjoying life. Mule and Debbie have been just about anywhere that is worth going to, and seen about everything worth seeing. And if you were lucky enough to see one of his travelogs, it was a treat like no other.

Mule loved to fly.

I cannot begin to tell how many times I would see him flying one contraption or another over the Wilkesboros. We would kid him about having a flying lawn chair and he would simply laugh and tell us that about anything could be made to fly with the right equipment. When pressed about the safety of his collection of exotic aircraft, which was sometimes called “Mule Ferguson and his Famous Flying Machines,” he would cut his eyes at you for a brief serious moment and say, “Never lose sight of somewhere to land.”

And, he never did.

As time passed, I became more and more impressed with the way he embraced change. The cameras and ancillary equipment he used in his Pumpkin Creek Video Productions business was always state of the art. And, he was never satisfied unless he had the absolute latest, best, and most innovative equipment on the market. “It takes good equipment to turn out good work.” he would say.

But, mainly I want to remember Mule today as the good, kindhearted person he was. Some years ago I was allowed to interview some Wilkesboro citizens for Mayor Mike Inscore’s project to preserve more history of the town. Mule was doing the editing work and called to tell me he had just finished the piece I did with Ray Stroud, and wanted me to come by. He knew how much I thought of Ray and said he just wanted me to get to see it first.

Just call Mule.

He was also a musician and singer and performed for us at The Record’s ChickenFest and at our veterans events. He traipsed around the saw briars and chiggers of Dellaplane helping me, and The Record's editor Jerry Lankford, as we tried to locate and film the burial place of the hand, yes I said hand, of Otto Wood the Bandit, Wilkes County's most prolific and famous desperado. This was the first of several Otto Wood trips; from filming famed bootlegger Thurmond Sparks down in Antioch, to traveling to Salisbury to the site of Wood's fatal shootout with police in 1930. And he wouldn't even let me give him gas money.

Just call Mule.

Countless times we would get a call here at The Record from someone needing help with a video transfer or some other electronic problem. I would look up Mule's number and tell them to call. I would always tell them that, if for some strange reason he can't help you, he will know who can. One lady I sent to Mule's office in Town Hall called me back and said she felt as though she had been in the control room at NASA.

Just call Mule.

A few years ago, I got to go on a Rotary Honor Air Flight taking 130 World War II veterans to Washington D.C. There was some kind of link to some kind of site I needed for a presentation I was working on about the flight for a meeting at the North Wilkesboro club. I was told that this particular “computer guru” was the only person who could do what I needed, and I called him.

On the day of the meeting I went by to pick up the disc and he told me what I wanted “...couldn't be done,” going on to say “...equipment to do what you want does not exist.”

It was 2:30 and the meeting was at 6:30 that evening. I left very agitated and called Mule on my way back to the office. “Bring it to me” he said, “I'll look at it.”

In two hours he called me back to pick up the disc for my program which ran perfectly at the meeting. As he refused any payment, he remarked he was glad to help his Rotary Club anytime.

Just call Mule.

The problem with this column is not what to put in, but what to leave out.

I suppose I will end it for now with a note about the preparation for Mules memorial service and reception, which were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on this Saturday past. A fella named Peter Kulsziski had been working on two video pieces—one was about Mule and his connection to the start and growth of MerleFest, and the other about Mule and Debbie. As irony (or good karma) would have it, Peter finished them and on Monday afternoon emailed them to Mule and Debbie, and they got to see them. As many of you know, it was Monday evening when Mule became suddenly ill.

Well, on Thursday, Bill Hurd was working on the two videos to play at the reception after Mule's funeral, and was having some difficulty. He knew I had copies as well and called and asked me to forward them to him, which I gladly agreed to do. When he expressed his concerns in a technical language that may as well have been Greek to me as the saying goes, I instinctively knew I could help.

Before I gave it a thought, I said in pure reflex, “If what I send gives you trouble, just call...

And I caught myself.

Bill knew exactly what I was going to say, and I smiled and felt just a bit less sad.

Rosie The Riveter: March is National Women’s History month

By HEATHER DEAN Record Reporter

During WWII, women were entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers, with more than 310,000 women, making up 65 percent of the total workforce, which was only 1 percent pre-war.

Almost everyone in the world is familiar with the morale boosting poster bearing a young woman in work overalls, a red polka dot bandana, flexing her bicep with the tag line “We can do it!”

This was “Rosie the Riveter” a fictional patriotic character of the hard-working women who kept the military factories humming, giving hope of those caught in the midst of another world war, some still reeling from the last.

Oh. Did I say fictional character? Fun fact, there were several real life women, who inspired editorials, songs and several posters of Rosie.

I grew up watching PBS. It was about the only station that would come in, in the era of rabbit ears and (gasp) having to walk to the TV and turn the channel manually, in an age where there was actually something good to watch. I heard the words “Thank you to the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation” over and over.

Who was this lady, besides someone who used her privileges and wealth to make sure I had fantastic programming? Turns out, she was the first of many Rosies…

Rosalind Palmer (Roz to her friends) was born on June 25, 1924, in Brooklyn, N.Y. She went to the best schools, dreamed of attending college. But at the age of 19, like many women, she was recruited during the war effort, and served selflessly on the night shift as an assembly line worker at the Vought Aircraft Company in Stratford, Conn. A riveter on Corsair fighter planes, F4U marine gull-winged fighter airplanes, and this girl not only did her patriotic duty, she also broke records for speed on the production line, while advocating for equal pay for her female co-workers.

Enter Igor Cassini, a syndicated newspaper columnist. Roz’s story caught his attention, and Cassini wrote about her in his “Cholly Knickerbocker” column. And the rest as we say is history.

In 1942 Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb wrote the song, "Rosie the Riveter." which was recorded by Kay Kyser and The Four Vagabonds, their inspiration was Cassini’s column.

Roz was not our ‘only’ Rosie, but she was the first. She and other women like her became sensations. Norman Rockwell drew his version of Rosie for the cover of the May 29, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. His model was also a riveter, Mary Doyle Keefe from Vermont. Mary died in 2015. His Rosie, still in overalls, work goggles on her head, and machine oil smeared on her face from the hard and dirty work is shown eating a sandwich from her lunch pail as her riveting gun rests on her lap, the American flag waving in all its glory behind her, her foot placed firmly on the cover of Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

J. Howard Miller drew a Rosie poster for Westinghouse war factories, and is the aforementioned one that we still see today. The model for that Rosie was Naomi Parker Fraley, who was photographed working in the machine shop at the Naval Air Station in Alameda, Calif., in a red polka dot bandana. Naomi died in 2018.

Other Rosies of note were Geraldine Hoff Doyle of Michigan, who worked in a Navy machine shop as a metal presser during World War II — she died in 2010 — and Rose Will Monroe, who worked as a riveter on B-24 and B-29 planes at the Willow Run Bomber Plant near Detroit and featured in a promotional film for war bonds. Rose died in 1997.

Rosalind P. Walter sacrificed her opportunity for furthering her education in serving our country. This led to her using her inherited and married wealth to supporting public television; as the documentaries and other programs helped fill in the gaps. In total she helped produce almost 70 well known and loved shows.

The Rosie collective left a lasting impact on future generations for women, forever changing the workplace, once dominated by men. You see, the call for women to help was supposed to be temporary… they were expected to leave their jobs when men came home from war. When the men did return, seeing the selfless efforts of their women, men could no longer claim superiority over women.

Rosalind P. Walter, the last of the Rosie’s, died last Wednesday, March 4, 2020. But even in death, Roz left women across the world a message: “March forth.”

The apple of God’s eye continues to twinkle

By AMBASSADOR EARL COX and KATHLEEN COX

Special to The Record

As a regular traveler to Israel and one who has lived among the Jewish people, although I am not Jewish, I am continually amazed at how this land and its people manage to maintain their sense of balance, direction, and joie de vivre being surrounded by enemies on every side.

Israelis unceasingly confront crisis after crisis yet somehow their spirits remain high and their collective moral compass stays true to their love of life (all life), freedom and democracy, and their faith in God.

Israel’s list of woes is practically unending. Under constant attack from terrorists in Gaza in the south and Hezbollah to the north, Israel is the only civilized country in the world whose very existence is threatened on an almost daily basis by its hate-filled neighbors all around. It is the subject of worldwide BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaigns trying to topple its economy and is unceasingly maligned by the left-leaning media and the United Nations.

Yet, in spite of the emotional stress and turmoil inflicted on this tiny nation, Israel continues to flourish. Even during this time of worldwide panic over the Corona virus, Israel continues to cautiously host tourists. Until the recent outbreak, restaurants and hotels were full to overflowing. The streets were crowded with pedestrians, cyclists, and shoppers. People gathered day and night on streets such as the famous Ben Yehuda Street and Jaffe Street not to protest or create violence, but rather to dance, sing, and celebrate life, family, friends and faith.

For almost two decades my wife and I have been pro-Israel advocates. As a Christian broadcaster and journalist, my focus has been on telling Israel’s side of the story – truthful and fact-filled. It’s frustrating to be constantly met with opposition from the mainstream media which is bombarding the world with misleading messages about Israel and her people and always portraying them as villains and the reason there is no peace in the Middle East. The fact of the matter is tiny Israel is the only oasis of stability and freedom in the region.

While being forced to live in a very tough neighborhood, somehow Israelis manage to carry on celebrating life while the Palestinians continue to carry on celebrating death by strapping explosives on the bodies of their little ones and sending them off to suffer a martyrs death. By the way, dying as a martyr is the only way a Muslim is assured of their entrance into Islam’s heaven. It’s the reason so many Palestinian mothers encourage their children to participate in this murderous performance.

Israel, known as “The Start-up Nation,” is constantly contributing to the betterment of mankind. They lead the world in the advancement of science, technology, medicine and agriculture, to name only a few. Their sense of belonging and connection miraculously allows them to rise above their circumstances creating positives where, naturally speaking, one would expect negatives.

Israel’s existence is somewhat paradoxical. While dancing in the streets embracing life and hoping for peace, Israelis must also be about the business of building bomb shelters. In fact, bomb shelters are standard fare on all children’s playgrounds. Just part of the “normal” equipment the same as swings and sliding boards.

Yes, Israel is dealing with the Corona virus just like most of the rest of the world. Some have even attempted create fake news that Israel is responsible for the virus! While certainly not the cause, it would not surprise me one bit if Israel were to produce the solution. Long live Israel and may it continue to be a light unto the nations.

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zhumeimv · 4 years

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New Wonder Woman 1984 Footage Is Extremely Revealing

Date: 2019-11-02 22:00:02

[aoa id=’0′][dn_wp_yt_youtube_source type=”101″ id=”EvMp-YIkPX0″][/aoa]

Diana of Themyscira isn’t afraid to speak truth to power… or, failing that, to just kick power’s ass.

WarnerMedia unveiled new footage from the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 at their HBO Max presentation this week, and it features Gal Gadot’s Diana engaged in a brawl in an unlikely place: inside the…

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mikemortgage · 5 years

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Argentines return to Europe to escape economic uncertainty

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Tomas Ruiz embraced his father one last time at the Buenos Aires airport before he boarded a plane in search of a new life in Ireland. His sister recently did the same when she moved to Spain.

Like many other young Argentines, the siblings hold European passports by descent, and they are returning to the home countries of their grandparents — far from Argentina’s sizzling inflation, high unemployment and sharp currency depreciation.

“My country’s situation prompted me to take this decision,” Ruiz said as he finished packing his bags for his trip to Dublin surrounded by photos of his family and friends on the wall. “It was a constant frustration to live constantly on the edge, barely making it to the end of the month.”

Ruiz studied gastronomy and was employed as a cafe manager in Argentina’s capital. But even when he worked extra shifts, he couldn’t manage to save money, and for months he had been living with his mother to save on rent.

Outside his room, family members left him and his sister farewell messages on a chalkboard. “I love you and I’ll miss you,” his mother wrote. Others said: “The best is yet to come,” and “Crpe diem,” Latin for seize the day.

It’s not the first time Argentines have sought shelter in Europe in times of economic uncertainty. Hundreds of thousands emigrated to the old continent to escape hyperinflation in the early 1990s and an economic meltdown in 2001 and 2002.

Now, Argentines are losing purchasing power to a nearly 50% annual inflation rate — one of the world’s worst. Many have also protests President Mauricio Macri’s decision to cut subsidies, leading to a spike in the costs of utilities and public transportation.

Last year, the Argentine peso lost more than half its value to the U.S. dollar following a run on the local currency, causing the government to seek a record $56 billion bailout loan with the International Monetary Fund to try to come out of the recession.

“As a result of the economic crisis and the devaluation, more young professionals are thinking about a future in Europe,” said Alejandro Servide, director of professionals and recruitment process outsourcing at Argentina’s branch of Randstad, the world’s second-largest staffing company.

As part of the austerity measures aimed at balancing the budget, Macri’s administration has laid off thousands of government workers and slashed funding for dance, science and other programs. Hundreds recently protested outside the headquarters of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina’s main agency for science and technology.

“The science sector is suffering because these budget cuts ordered by Macri endanger the continuity of scientific activity,” said Alberto Kornblihtt, a molecular biologist. “This is undoubtedly contributing to a brain drain that we’ve suffered at other times (of crisis) in our country.”

There are no official statistics available on how many Argentines have moved to Europe. Argentina’s immigration directorate said it is nearly impossible to keep track of the number because Argentines leaving the country don’t have to provide information on their destination or how long they’ll stay.

But academics, research groups and consulting firms agree there has been a rise in the number of people leaving, especially among young, educated Argentines — just as there was during the nation’s worst crisis 17 years ago.

Back then, millions were plunged into poverty, more than 20 per cent of the population became unemployed and many reportedly went hungry in a country that is one world’s biggest producers of beef, soy and wheat.

“When Argentina goes through these profound crises, people search for options, and just like it happened in 2001-2002 when nearly 800,000 Argentines went abroad, today we’re living through perhaps the initial phase,” said Ariel Gonzalez, executive secretary of the Center for International Studies at the Catholic University of Argentina.

“That means that there’s a sector of society — the middle and high class professionals — who are eyeing a Plan B, which is that if the crisis deepens, one of the options would be to go abroad.”

Servide said Randstad Argentina carries out about 160 daily interviews for surveys. One of the questions they ask is whether if given the chance, they would be interested in living abroad. “About 80 per cent tell you yes,” he said.

Manuel Miglioranza, a 26-year-old lawyer, is moving next month to Toulouse, France. Although he doesn’t have dual Argentine-French nationality, he’s going to take French lessons and find a job through a temporary work permit allowed through a treaty between the two nations.

“The economic situation in Argentina is not helping. You can’t progress unless you work for the state or you have dollars,” he said. “I know many people who are leaving.”

Millions of Europeans flooded into Argentina in the 19th century to escape war and poverty back home, which has been a source of pride for the country.

“Argentina gave peace to those who were escaping war, freedom to those escaping religious persecution, and bread and work to those escaping hunger,” said Horacio Garcia, director of Argentina’s National Migration Directorate.

“Of the last six presidents, four of them were first-generation sons of immigrants,” Garcia noted. “Their fathers came to Argentina with a cardboard suitcase, and they saw that their children in a short amount of time became presidents of the nation. That hardly happens anywhere else in the world.”

By the 20th century, a strong workforce along with export earnings from agricultural products and beef had helped turn Argentina into one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Argentines were also among “the most Europeanized and educated people in Latin America,” Gabriela Nouzeilles and Graciela Montaldo write in their anthology “The Argentina Reader: History, Culture and Politics.”

“Their literacy rate (about 90 per cent) was the highest by far. Until 1945, the country boasted the highest per capita income on the continent, the most extensive urbanization, the largest middle class, as well as the best newspapers, universities, and publishing houses.”

But political mismanagement and lower prices for agricultural products that form the country’s economic backbone have for decades led to cyclical booms and busts.

The Spanish government recently launched an initiative that allows a limited number of descendants of Spaniards living in Argentina without a Spanish passport to seek a special three-month work visa. Once they find a job, they can request Spanish nationality and bring their families. There were 76,328 Argentines officially registered by mid-2018 in Spain.

“There are many, many Argentines living here. We’re like pigeons — everywhere,” quipped Paz Pucheu, an Argentine now living in Spain.

The 25-year-old radio and television announcer went to Barcelona in 2017 when “things got really complicated” in Argentina. She began working at a restaurant and eventually landed a job at a local radio station.

“Like other Latin American countries, Argentina was a Spanish colony. With friends now we joke around that we’re colonizing our colonizers,” she said.

—-

Associated Press journalists Paul Byrne and Demian Bio in Buenos Aires, Aritz Parra in Madrid and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

from Financial Post http://bit.ly/2UzrLjc via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

#IFTTT #Financial Post

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canaryatlaw · 6 years

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mmmm. today was fine, just kinda long. feel like this week’s been long already. although technically I’m almost done being that I only have a night class tomorrow and nothing on Friday, so I’m most of the way through. but yeah, today was fine. I woke up to my alarm at 11:20 and got ready, and started trekking to school. It was like 29 degrees out and lightly snowing, but I thought I’d go to the red line because it wasn’t all bad out. I generally implement alternative travel methods when temperatures start to get under 30, but for one degree I was willing to brave the elements. got to school, dumped my stuff at the PAD office, and went to civil rights. it was fairly interesting, we’re mostly still doing stuff we covered in con law so it’s nothing new really, but it’s not the utmost thrilling stuff. civil rights law basically revolves around constitutional law, because it’s all about your rights under the constitution. so it’s good enough for now. After class ended I went back to the PAD office and hung out until approximately 3:05, at which point I grabbed my purse and walked down to Michigan Ave (the eastern most city block) and got on a bus that took me up the road to where Ulta is so I could get my hair cut. I used to go to the gym up there with some frequency last year before I started PT so I knew how to get up there easily enough. I realized in the beginning of December that because how my month was gonna be just that crazy (flying to california for two days, finals, back to NY) there was no way I was gonna be able to fit in a haircut appointment, and I was coming up on ten weeks since at that point, and I didn’t wanna get it cut while in NY because I don’t trust anyone but my hairdresser with my hair lol because she knows what I want, so I knew my hair was gonna be sooooo ridiculously long by the time I got in to get a haircut, and it was sooooo long lol it was totally out of control and had basically taken on a life of its own, so it was basically driving me nuts and I was very happy to have my pixie cut (more or less, anyway) back with just the right amount of bangs. I always enjoy talking to my hairdresser and chatting about our lives, she’s really sweet and is definitely like, invested in my law school journey haha like she was like “I feel like we were just in first year!” and I was like yeah me too haha. so that’s always pleasant. She’s pretty expensive as far as haircuts go, but I don’t mind because I like her and I know she’s not going to fuck up my hair, so I’m fine with paying a little more for her. When I was done there I hopped on another bus route that didn’t take me back to where I left on Michigan, but on the other side of the school block, so it was good enough. I wanted to get some starbucks and was looking at stuff on the mobile app because they have a much larger menu on there when it comes to non-coffee options, but all their steamers and the like are pretty heavy calorie wise (because they have the calories listed on the app), but I saw the “pink drink” (I still feel so ridiculous saying that) was only 140 calories for a grande, so I ordered that from the app as I walked up to the store, then stood there for a few minutes before grabbing my drink and walking back to school. I heated up my dinner, more of the chicken pasta leftovers, which I’m trying to think of a better name for as a dish, because the most appropriate one would probably be chicken parmesan pasta, because it’s chicken and pasta in a parmesan sauce, but that invokes the image of fried chicken cutlet with tomato sauce and mozzarella plus pasta, so I can’t use that lol but I don’t really have a better name for it (oh well). I ate that and then went up to class for secured transactions. I have fairly mixed feelings on the class so far. When I do the reading I’m generally pretty lost, but when I actually get to class I find that I can understand what’s going on pretty well, at least a lot better than I could in bus orgs last semester, so that’s an improvement. Our prof is kind of an oddball but I like him, he’s an adjunct who actually is a main prof at one of the other law schools in the city (which is about on par with us rating wise and such). and he wrote the textbook, so you know he knows what he’s talking about. I answered a few questions because I was shaking my head to one thing he asked so he wanted me to elaborate, which I was able to do pretty well. First week he asked how to pronounce my last name, because he was inclined to use the Italian pronunciation which is in fact correct, but isn’t how the Americanized version is pronounced (it mostly turns around a g that’s silent in the Italian), but I said I was fine with him using the Italian, so he does that and it always makes me smile a little. so yeah, it wasn't a half bad class, even if it’s not quite my favorite subject. I ended up on the train home with my one sort-of friend from that class (the one who was always hanging out in the PAD office that most people regard as annoying but I think I’ve built up a tolerance to him at this point) along with another guy from the class who is basically a gunner, he’s pretty cringeworthy, but I try not to judge because I know that’s probably how some people see me when I get super interested in adoption law or child advocacy legal drafting when it’s obvious I care quite a bit about the material, when the others might not be on that level. and plus I try not to be an asshole to people for no reason, or even if I just personally find them to be annoying, so I kept these thoughts to myself. I was debating whether to implement alternative travel methods by transferring to the brown line, but decided not to because it was still like 29 out, and the walk home was fine. Got home, got some food, and decided to watch the new episode of 9-1-1 first. it’s a pretty overdramatic show, and obviously has a lot of unrealistic parts, but it is at least entertaining, so I’m good with it for now. Tonight’s episode main centered around a plane that crashed into the pacific ocean after losing all flight control, and rescuing people from it, and how the captain stayed in the sinking plane to rescue this woman who had her legs pinned even after everyone had been told to get out, and he got her out and back to her little boy and it was very sweet. There’s still this plot going on with the family whose daughter attempted suicide that they now have in this strange plot about basically being held by the department of social services because somehow its her family’s fault and she shouldn’t be allowed home?? I have no idea where these ideas came from because they aren’t from reality, that’s for sure. Sigh. When I finished I decided to go ahead and watch Riverdale being that I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. Ngl, it was a pretty meh episode. All the stuff with Archie and Veronica’s dad was really just weird, especially with the strange wrestling bent it took. Jughead’s plot is just plain ridiculous at this point, his writing is soooooo inconsistent and now he apparently hates the north side for no conceivable reason, and is suddenly the voice for the south side and the apparently massacred POC in the town like 80 years ago?? Idk, weird. Betty’s family plot tends to be pretty cringeworthy, mostly because her parents are horrible people, so that’s not looking great. Yeah, didn’t really like the episode much. Oh well. After finishing it I started getting ready for bed pretty soon after and here we are. It’s a little past 1 am now and though I don’t have to get up in the morning I would still like to get a good night’s sleep so I will leave it here. Goodnight my dudes. Stay awesome.

#daily journal #January 2018

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