#san francisco bucket list

[jeep-momma]

One of the ways to fill my need for adventure was creating bucket lists. I have mini-bucket lists and a bigger bucket list. One of those items involved family get-aways. These trips created great bonding moments with my sisters. This was my first one and I wish I would have started this tradition earlier in my life!

[pallanophblargh]

Post-vacation clarity in the form of... word vomit? Sure!

First: so very lucky. So very fortunate. Grateful. That I FINALLY got to cross off a bucket-list vacation and see some massive trees and beautiful mountains. Everything I could have imagined! And it's definitely worthy of a re-visit, once time has passed and I've recovered financially.

Second: I'm so amused that my slight trepidation regarding the potential for "culture shock" was unwarranted. See, if you're a rather unsocial midwesterner schooled in the ways of "Minnesota Nice" aka Advanced Passive Aggression, you might be worried about venturing into more direct/easygoing/outgoing cultures. I was delighted to take a vacation from blatant pettiness and passive aggression during my time out west. And honestly? I miss it. San Francisco was pretty agreeable, all things considered, and I will make a point to revisit.

Third: I loved taking the train! And at the same time, I'm heartbroken for the way passenger trains have to operate in this shithole country. Please. I just want so many trains. At all hours, in every direction. And, if it's NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE, for assholes to not drag enormous tractor tires onto the tracks. (Fuck you, Utah.)

In conclusion: I'm so happy I went, and now I have to go through my photos while I reluctantly pick up where I left off here. And yes, California, if I can, I absolutely will be back. Thanks for having us.

[teedeekay]

I got to cross TMBG on my birthday off the bucket list in 2016 when I traveled to San Francisco to complete the life mission. I was surprised when a crew member presented me with a show poster, which he got the Johns to autograph for me! 😭

[sibylsleaves]

What kind of vacations do Buck and Eddie like to go on? Do they prefer the beach, mountains, or places where it snows? Also one more in terms of older established Buddie. Do they retire in LA or do they live and travel in a RV?

I think they do a lot of road trips!!!! Buck always drives. as a Californian I am biased but there are SO many beautiful and fun places to visit in California so yeah i think they do a bunch of road trips, including camping trips to Big Sur and Yosemite and Joshua Tree, go river rafting in the American River, a trip up to San Francisco (they let Chris hang out and get room service by himself in the hotel for one night to go to some gay bars), San Diego to go to the zoo, and they definitely find a great adaptive snowboarding place in Big Bear or Mammoth or Tahoe for Chris to try out (Eddie also has never skiied in his LIFE so he and Chris are just going down the bunny hill together while Buck cheers them on). They probably do venture out of California to do some of the national parks in Utah/the Grand Canyon/etc and they absolutely do at least one trip to Vegas just the two of them (Buck does NOT win it big at poker but Eddie loves him anyway).

I also picture them doing a big road trip up the coast of California for their honeymoon but again I'm biased because that's what my parents did for their honeymoon 🥰 They stay at the Madonna Inn and crack up at the over-the-top kitschiness, and they stay at a cute little B&B in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

And they definitely do many trips out to Texas to see the Diaz family, like at least twice a year.

For retired Buddie, I think they retire in LA but they travel pretty frequently and finally hit some of the international trips on their bucket lists (Buck for sure takes Eddie to Peru and shows him all the places he used to hang out when he lived there).

[landwriter]

WIP Game 📝

Tagged by @im-not-corrupted and @that-banhus. Thank you pals!

rules: list your WIPs and describe them

Because I do not hate myself and also am on mobile I will only list the WIPs I am actively working on! Have only been able to write for the first time this month like, this past weekend, but here’s the three I went to immediately:

Lighthouses - the seventies san francisco humans AU! 20K from a Spotify wrapped prompt and still not done! the timeless tale of an oblivious homosexual moving to The Big City and falling in love with his new (off limits) best friend that he’s in a writing course with. ft. near misses, attempted feelings confessions via Literary Reference, falling in love over landline, the chest hair agenda, furtive jacking off, cigarettes, and a surprise virginity kink. Guest starring all the historical queer ephemera I can squeeze into it! which is. a lot

Oaths - my ongoing longfic (ok it’s longfic for ME, just bog-standard novella length for fandom at large) about bandit Hob and cursed elphin twink Dream, aka Gloam’s Excuse To Go On About Landscape, set in 1539 in Selkirkshire. Now with trochaic tetrameter! THANKS, Banhus (but really.) A historic AU based on the ballad Tam Lin with a historically & regionally accurate amount of belief in the existence of fairies and the supernatural. May seem like a love story or adventure. Is actually just 50k+ on the concept of going home. Currently working on trying to make people cry buckets at the last chapter

Shaper of Forms - haven’t talked about this one yet anywhere (incredibly) but @softest-punk caused it back in January and if I ever finish this and publish it you can forward your complaints directly to them. Part paean to queer sex and part uncomfortably personal dissertation on the enormous joy and persistent devastation of being human and existing in an imperfect body. Bones and blood and grieving and envying flowers and all that. Horribly earnest.

I hope this whets y’all’s appetite because knowing something I’m working on is at all anticipated is such an enormous motivation!!!

tagging @moorishflower @delta-pavonis @teejaystumbles @hardly-an-escape and anyone who wants to share!!

[charlesandmiranda]

2/6: Universal Studios Japan

No one reading this would be surprised to know that Charles believes Steven Spielberg makes the best American monster movies. (Charles talking) Jaws has scared me since I was a very small child, and my first love, probably even before Batman, was dinosaurs, in part because of Jurassic Park. USJ, Universal Studios Japan, still has some of the rides that Universal Studios Florida has gotten rid of (hold for booing). We started our day with the Jaws ride, which was maybe an hour or so wait. The wait was not so bad, because USJ includes really nice Jaws movie settings, in order to entertain you while waiting there are lots of movie sets and displays. The ride itself is maybe five minutes long. It is a boat ride in which a shark appears and attacks the boat, eventually being electrocuted. The "driver" of the boat has a shotgun that she uses to shoot the shark. It is very fun and, somehow, cute?

Because of Charles' stomach issues, we could not take the Jurassic Park ride, but the park itself was very cute and fun. It felt like, to speak to Charles' childhood, Dinosaur Land at max volume and quality. There is an interactive raptor. He is very cute.

We happened to be at the park during an event (I think?) called No Limit? I'm not sure if it's a seasonal thing or what but about halfway through the day they had a parade that ran thru some of the main thoroughfares of the park, with floats from some of the most popular areas. I feel like it was the kind of thing that in the US, it would be easy to treat it like it was cringy, but there was a kind of earnestness to it from the crowd that made it really fun. The Pokemon float at the very end was probably our favorite!

We did ride a Hello Kitty ride, in a more kid-friendly section of the park -- It was similar to a teacup ride. There was a lot of theming for the Minions, Peanuts, and a lot of areas that were themed after a super idyllic US, with a Central Park area, a San Francisco area, and a kinda 1950s diner looking restaurant area.

Also there is a Universal Monsters "Rock and Roll" Show that was previously in the Universal Studios Florida park, back in the ......early 90s??? and it appears to be running completely unchanged since then haha. It was..........something. I honestly felt like I needed 2 or 3 drinks beforehand to fully enjoy it. The main reason we went was because it's hosted by Beetlejuice, and we wanted to see what Japan's ideal of Beetlejuice was like. Japanese Beetlejuice is pretty funny.

Bottom line, TL:dr, but we had a really fun time at USJ! It alternated between being pretty cold and pretty mild, which was probably the only 'bad" thing about it, but that's a very minor gripe. It was awesome to check off the bucket list item of seeing these nearly extinct attractions like the Jaws ride and the Rock and Roll show.

From here, we moved on to our accommodations in Osaka, where we stayed up thru today (2/9 at time of writing), so stay posted on our days in Osaka coming soon!

[oldguardleatherdog]

Folsom Street Fair: I Service The World

Hey folks! Bruzr here on a short break from keeping the kink world spinning.. another Folsom Street Fair is upon us, and I'm up to my furry haunches in tasks, stress, putting out emotional fires, and trying not to get too lit up myself.

This has been a difficult and frustrating week around these parts; I'm not the only one feeling this way. There's a generalized anxiety tinged with irritation in the air, and the return of wildfire smoke to San Francisco the past couple days isn't helping. Was it three years ago already that we had half a dozen fires going at the same time?

But even so, the show must go on! Folsom Street Fair is our high holiday season, and although it's off to a slow start, we're keeping the customers satisfied. By "customers" I mean the 300,000 kinksters, rubberists, leather enthusiasts, and pervs of all kinds that descend on my neighborhood to make the pilgrimage and chalk another one off the bucket list.

After all, now that I'm "Ancient San Francisco Leather" I have the obligation to help make sure the people who visit us now, who have dreamed for many years of attending this event, have the best time of their lives while they're here and making their dreams come true.

Back to work1 Time to shower, scrape the head, gear up and pup TF out. Smell ya later! 😈 -bruzr

[mashmaiden]

♦️ and ☯️ for Kensi, Deeks, or Densi for the head canons list. 🙂

♦ - quirks/hobbies headcanon

A few months after Rosa came to live with Kensi and Deeks, she came home from a shopping trip with a 1000 piece puzzle of Times Square at night. When she mentioned it was somewhere she always wanted to go, they not only added it to their travel bucket list, but they immediately set up a folding table by the couch and began completing the puzzle together. At least a few nights a week, they rotate picking a movie or a show to watch, and work on the puzzle as they enjoy each other's favorite entertainment. Deeks chooses "classic" movies like The Wild One and Goonies (well at least what he considered classics), and Kensi chooses her favorites like Titanic, and the John Hughes library of films. Rosa usually suggests newer movies and shows - her most recent favorite show was Shrinking - and everyone's favorite lists get expanded.

After Times Square was completed, other beautiful landscape puzzles stacked up - Yellowstone, San Francisco, London, even the Santa Monica Pier. There were other variety of puzzles thrown in, like movie scenes, or abstract art. But mostly, beautiful sights around the world. The only unspoken rule - puzzles of places MUST be photographs. They wished to bask in the real look, not an artist's rendering (no offense to artists).

For Rosa's 18th birthday, Deeks and Kensi presented her a box containing their biggest challenge yet, a 4000 piece puzzle of a new Time Square nightscape. Inside the box, tickets for the three to spend a week in New York over Christmas break.

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

Deeks doesn't hate camping as much as he lets on. He doesn't even need to "glamp" to consider the idea. He'd prefer not to be completely unprotected out in the middle of the desert, that is too reminiscent of difficult work cases. But give him a designated campground, a decent tent with an air mattress inside, and at least an outhouse available for use, and he's more than happy to spend a few days in the woods enjoying nature and roasting marshmallows over the fire.

A few months after they got engaged, Kensi and Deeks took a roadtrip over a long weekend to see the Grand Canyon in the fall. Deeks surprised Kensi by pulling into a KOA about an hour from the South Rim. He fell even more in love with her seeing the joy on her face as he pulled the tent and supplies from where he hid them in his truck bed. Together they assembled the tent, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and then snuggled in on the bouncy airbed in their tent.

The next few days were spent hiking the beautiful canyon, horseback riding around the camp, exploring the nearby towns of Flagstaff and Williams, and spending the evenings in the hot tub (yeah, he chose a place that had some amenities!). Sure, they had to make an emergency run to Walmart to pick up a few more supplies (Deeks may have underestimated Kensi's love of s'mores), but despite Deeks's initial reservations, this was an experience he'd be willing to repeat again and again - and they did!

[veryace-ficrecs]

Titans Tower Attack AU Fic recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :) 

I Have Come Back To You Broken (take me home) by LylaRivers - Rated T

His Replacement stares at him with glassy, unfocused eyes, his begging for mercy long since silenced. Jason doesn’t dare let himself think about how the Replacement had pleaded for Robin to save him.

aka the obligatory Titans Tower au because I love these two reluctant siblings and everyone needs a hug.

dry your smoke-stung eyes by destiny919 - Rated M

"If you knew I was coming, you must know it ain't for a tea party," Jason growls through his helmet, scrambling to get his plans back together. "What, B so eager to get rid of you that he sent you here without any armor?"

The kid quirks a smile that makes something churn in Jason's gut. "Something like that."

A Recipe for Disaster by Calypso_Rambles, JUBE514 - Rated T

“You’re crying.”

That’s the Red Hood, standing in the doorway into the hall, a hulking figure filling the frame, head tilted in question and hands on a gun that’s pointed to the floor. He looks uncertain, head tilted to the side like a goddamn bird.

“What?” Tim asks, because Tim is confused– he knows this is Jason Todd, kinda hard to miss with the red helmet and when the dude tried to blow up Dick and Bruce about a week earlier in the same outfit, but what the actual fuck is he doing in San Francisco–

“You’re crying.” Red Hood repeats, forgoing a one handed grip on his weapon to gesture to his– well– his everything.

Tim moves his hand up to his cheeks because he is definitely not crying over something as stupid as his dinn–

Huh.

Okay.

Maybe he is.

✦✦✦

Tim and Jason make food, drink and talk about parents. Jason was meant to kill this kid, but plans have a way of being derailed.

red chrome by envysparkler - Rated T

Tim had a ringing headache, squeaked past hour forty of no sleep, and was now hallucinating vaguely menacing shadows with red helmets.

(Jason’s attack on Titans Tower ends up going very differently.)

sick day by envysparkler - Rated T

Tim isn’t sick.  He isn’t.  He just isn’t sure when a floating red bucket joined the Teen Titans.

whiplash by envysparkler - Rated T

Tim just wanted a quiet night in the Tower to lick his wounds.  Unfortunately, the Red Hood has other plans.

carry you home in my teeth by windupclock - Rated G

Jason takes his helmet off before he goes to deal with his replacement. He’s not expecting a hug. He gets one.

Last Request by destiny919 - Rated T

"Any last words, Replacement?" Red Hood casually crouches down in front of him. "Or how about a last request? I'm feeling generous. I'll do you one last favor before I clip those little wings. Whatever you want. Sky's the limit."

There's only one thing he's ever really wanted from Jason Todd.

Little bird by Ididloveyou_once - Rated T

Tim knew he was fucked if only for the way that his brain was chanting Jason, like a litany. So he definitely didn’t need to hear the cold, mechanical chuckle or the chillingly delighted 'lucky me' to know that this was not good.

He took a second to look down at his coffee mournfully.

Then, he threw it at Hood’s helmet and bolted down the Tower corridor.

Or: Tim is supposed to be at Gotham Academy for a parent-teacher conference. Hood has other plans (Titans Tower AU).

Problem Children by eggmacguffin - Rated T

After his dad finds out about Robin and reacts...badly, Tim flees to Titans Tower to lick his wounds and figure out what hell he was supposed to do next. The tower was empty for the weekend, and he had until the end of it to come up with a plan, any plan.

The tower does not stay empty.

[margridarnauds]

tagged by @cicelythereaper (Thank you!)

relationship status: single

favourite colour: I love blue -- cerulean blue, ice blue, electric blue.

last song i listened to: "Dangerous" from Epic: The Musical

songs stuck in my head: "Would've, Could've, Should've" -- Taylor Swift

last thing i looked up: "Joseph Falaky Nagy The poetics of absence in Celtic tradition" (I know, incredibly glamorous and unpredictable.) (In my defense, I saw it on a German Wikipedia page and I needed to see if it was real or a Chat GPT thing since they HAVE created citations for him that aren't accurate before...as part of my ongoing hobby of Collecting Spurious Celtic Studies Citations from it.) (If anyone's in contact with him, don't tell him I didn't know that that was a real lecture of his.)

favourite food: Teriyaki chicken with rice, pork belly (either with ramen/rice or without), hot dog lattices, pavlova.

dream holiday: God it's hard, isn't it? Like, the problem with travelling a lot these days is that I get to travel to a lot of places, but I almost always want to return and see more and do more, so much bucket list is always growing longer.

I've dreamed of going to Egypt ever since I was a little girl; I've looked into all-inclusive group tour packages that wouldn't be *monstrously* expensive that would involve Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and Abu Simbel. It would be expensive, more expensive than I'm used to paying without someone on the other end compensating me for my expenses, but it would be a once in a lifetime kind of expense for a once in a lifetime trip.

Obviously, my heart's in Ireland, but it's always a matter of..."Do I want a holiday there or do I want to live there?" I'm never living in San Francisco, New York, or Amsterdam. For professional reasons, I might have to live at Dublin at some point because there's so MUCH relating to the field there, but I don't think I'd *really* be happy there. But those are all places that I've either enjoyed staying in...or enjoyed aspects of (in the case of NYC and Dublin). With some places in Ireland, it's the reverse where I know that 2 weeks or even a month isn't enough and it'll never really be enough unless I'm actually living there and I'm working there. I love going, and I take every opportunity to go, and I'm always grateful for the opportunity, but it's also never really enough, either.

I'd love to go back to the Netherlands, visit my friends there, see more of the country besides a few cities, grab the Miffy merchandise I didn't get ahold of last time, down my weight in Stroopwafels. I'd love to visit Japan one of these days, I feel like that's almost an inevitability at this point.

I'd love to go back to Norway for more than 24 hours, as Cicely knows, I've been drooling over a specific fine dining place in Norway that is set on an actual fjord and has an underwater level (If I had unlimited money, I WOULD spend a week or two in a submarine exploring the deep sea, though I wouldn't be doing it with carbon fiber.) I'd love to go to the Viking Ship Museum, I'd love to explore some of the country outside of Oslo, especially since that *is* where my ancestors are from and, not to be like "I'm Actually™ Norwegian™", but...my paternal grandfather actually was in contact with his cousins from there; it isn't a MASSIVELY distant thing like, say, the German or Scottish side of the family. Even if that's the fucked up side of the family.

I'd love to spend a week or two scurrying around London, seeing all the museums, possibly making a private trip to Whitechapel to give my regards to the victims of the Whitechapel Murders. I'd love to spend a month or so scurrying around France, especially Paris, Versailles, and Brittany. Closer to home, I've dreamed for ages of getting to spend a night or two in St. Augustine and getting to see the city at night, since we always have to leave before I can do the ghost tours. I'd love to go to Colonial Williamsburg at least once before I move from the States to somewhere else.

But. I love traveling, even when it doesn't always love me, since I have notoriously bad luck with it, and there's a lot of the world I still want to get to, and there's a lot I still want to do and see.

tagging: @fallenidol-453 @niccolodigenova @tybaltsjuliet @marzipanandminutiae @violetcancerian

[kaisacobra]

that’s really reassuring advice and it actually helped me write a few paragraphs as of today. From the outside looking in that’s crazy to me that you thought second best wasn’t that good but just like you said everyone’s gonna be critical when it comes to their own work. (Just would like to once again say your writing is captivating and it’s an example of how I’d like to write someday✨)

I figured they wouldn’t be making an appearance, I thought they’d make be mentioned but it would make sense that R’s life is all about Tara right now, fits the dialogue immensely👌🏼

Is there any particular locations in Brazil that you’d recommend to sometime going for the first time? It’s on my bucket list and I’ve been interested in learning a new language (either Portuguese, Tagalog or German) because I actually wanna move out of the country, I reside in one of the most expensive places in California and the cost of living nowadays is insane.

I don’t know any of the rules when it comes to just about any sport but I love watching them because they’re so intense 🤯. I was wondering if you could possibly recommend any Portuguese artists that you enjoy listening to? I love music and listen to just about everything except for screamo and regularly go to concerts, last person I went to go see was Deorro in San Francisco 🥹.

-☘️

OMG😭😭😭 THAT'S SO COOL!!! Yeah, baby steps can take you far when it comes to writing! I'm super sure you're gonna write something amazing, buddy! I hope I get the chance to read it🤭

About the locations, I could spend a whole day talking about it. Brazil is a BIG BIG country with tons of different local cultures and it all depends on what you like to do most when you're traveling. I'll try to make some suggestions though.

If you like the beach: Brazil has a lot of littorals so you could find a good beach in almost all of our states. There's Rio de Janeiro, if you like places with vivid nature and historical national landmarks (the Christ, national parks, the bond of Pão de Açúcar mountain). There's also smaller states with killer beaches and a calmer vibe like Florianopolis, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte (although I would recommend João Pessoa City in Paraíba and Pipa or São Miguel do Gostoso in Rio Grande do Norte)

If you like historical places: We also have a lot of those but my favorite gotta be Minas Gerais. Cities like Tiradentes and Ouro Preto are very pretty, full of history and great great cuisine. Also, there are places like Gramado City in Rio Grande do Sul that are big on germanlike architecture and have a great christmas and new years celebration.

If you're more into big cities, São Paulo is gonna be ideal. (Also sorry i got carried away)

About Brazilian artists, some of my favorites are Jão, Bruno Gadiol, Day Linns, Tinn, NX Zero and Ludmilla (Who's playing in Coachella this year). However, if you wanna have the true brazilian experience you gotta listen to Seu Jorge, Maria Bethania, Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Belchior and Ney Matogrosso. (And this is only MPB/Bossa Nova, don't get me started on Samba and Pagode)

I'm so sorry this got so long but I'm just a very passionate brazilian with an immense love for my culture😭😭

[supernoondles]

2024

In my haste of class planning and making the most of my time in the bay, as I moved to LA for work in December of 2023, I completely forgot to write my year in review. So now I tell that it was a great year!

It was a year of milestones: I finally finished my PhD and graduated over the summer, spent the fall funemployed and traveling, and the last month moving and preparing for what, at least right now, seems to be my dream job. Yet when things are too good, I harbor a greater fear it could all come falling down.

I write this sitting on a plane from SFO to LAX (wretched airport) because 1) it was conveniently timed with my brother and his fiance (!)’s flight back to the Netherlands, and 2) I had airline credit from when I got COVID and could not make my friend’s wedding in Florida. In 2023 I got a PhD, my brother got a bachelor’s, and I got COVID from my mom when we went to Boston for said brother’s graduation. Last night (which isn't technically 2023, but 2024 starts, for me, when my health insurance card finally arrives in the mail and I get in a classroom with students) I hung out with my friends, who largely live in San Francisco, in the endless Asian strip malls of Union City. “When you get to the suburbs, SF and LA aren't so different,” said a friend. This has helped quell my anxiety about the move: that driving 30 minutes to neon plazas of Rowland Heights was semantically and experientially the same as the imitation mission plazas of the East/South Bay. (Since starting to read City of Quartz, again part of my migration south, I have thought: how funny that the lasting impact of the Spaniards, besides white supremacy, is their architecture. How funny it is that Asian immigrants now occupy these sites of worship.) This year, despite being filled with drama and (claimed) abandonment and reconciliation (or not despite, perhaps because of?) was the year of my mostly queer, entirely Asian diaspora friend group. In LA I believe I will have everything I need except for them (so although I'm scouting, I know what a rarity and a privilege I've had).

To put my move in perspective, I haven't changed geographic regions since I started college. Leaving high school was exciting (I couldn't wait) and for the last decade of my life I've had solid friends and community, as well as my family nearby. Sure, it's just the other major metropolitan area in the same state, but the distance is non trivial! For the first time in my adult life I don't have a reserve of people who are willing to hang out on a moment’s notice. For the first time in my adult life I am also living alone. I have loved the control (especially around having a clean house), but I get lonely very easily.

This year my Canadian partner left the PhD program and moved far away (back to Canada) to my immediate and eminent grief. I'm better now: daily calls help, as does begging for attention, as does turning an old friend into a lover. Japan was a sex vacation. Banff was a sex vacation. Oahu (where my lover’s aunt lives) was a sex vacation. 2023 was the year of having really good sex: public sex in a Petaluma park, sex in a ryokan with paper thin walls, hookups of varying but generally positive quality. As a consequence of my partner leaving, I finally became a real slut. It's been liberating, except for the fact that, even as of writing, I never heard back about my Medicare application so I was fucking uninsured. Out of the many indulgent days of unemployment vacation, two instances have stuck with me: hiking 12 miles while it was snowing in Banff to two teahouses nestled amongst glaciers, and landing at LAX after a sleepless flight from Japan, with a grueling 7 hour drive back to the bay ahead of us.

As I knew I would be leaving the bay area in 2022 (do you sign a year before you start in any industry besides than academia?), in 2023 I whittled away at my bay area bucket list. While I never managed to get up Sutro Tower, I did go to the Fallorons, which, despite my throwing up twice, was everything a birder could have wanted. (I took two boat rides this year, the other at Cape Cod when my brother begged for us to vacate his suffocating studio, and in that one I saw a great white shark attack. How lucky I am!) As usual, I went to many shows. New this year were shows my friends performed in! The past winter had the most rain I’d ever seen in the bay area, so I did a lot of hiking amongst the luscious green east bay hills, which stayed green until May. This made me also really happy, but I don't want my relationship to the bay area (like it is for so many people I know who have moved) to be one defined by lack.

One thing I will not miss, however, is West SF’s fog. This summer, as well as the ending of Daylight Savings time, particularly pushed me to my limits. As I get older my need for two daily hours of direct sunlight exposure grows more dire. The other lowlights of the year were having to replace my phone screen twice, and, after a decade in the bay, finally having my car broken into. I found it ironic that it was not because of petty theft (I also never leave anything in my car), but a TikTok trend encouraging teens to steal Kias and Hyundais. At least they failed with me!

In 2023 I organized a really big (600 people) party for a conference. I wrote a paper with my friends about power dynamics for the same conference (which usually only talks about “technical” things) which was also the last chapter in my thesis. Thanks, advisor, for believing in me. As the party was on Halloween, I hosted a costume contest. The winner for scariest costume was my labmate who put a photo of our advisor (my other one) on a programmable LED screen strapped to his chest.

In 2023 I also started getting paid an hourly wage that made me happy looking at the number doing contract work with an old undergraduate mentor. Beyond this, and the volunteer labor, and the paper/thesis writing, I did not do much of “working” this year: also part of the reason why this year has been awesome.

Thanks to an Asians with dyed hair and pronouns art accountability club, in 2023 I made more art than I had in past years. I did gouachetober and the occasional digital illustration. I did not, however, accomplish what I sought to do during my unemployment: dedicate myself to being a full time artist and making something great. (In retrospect, rest, recuperation, and being excited for my job instead of burnt out from my PhD was the more important goal, and I definitely achieved that!) I feel like one’s relationship to their creative practice is a lifelong evolution (mine certainly is), and at least I had time to slow down and think about how I want that to shape out (the answer which is, more than it has been.) I didn't sew much of significance (a robe with black cat fabric I bought in Japan, a very hungry caterpillar Halloween costume, a Pokémon fanny pack) this year. It was, however, a great year for video games: I really enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom (timed well with my COVID recovery), Super Mario Wonder, Pikmin 4, and I wouldn't say I “enjoyed” it, but I did play the Scarlet Violet DLC. My brother started playing Pikmin Bloom (so I have been playing it more) and I also “play” Pokemon Sleep every night. The best thing I watched was Beef. I listened to a lot of Caroline Polachek.

At a zine making workshop at Sour Cherry I got a 4x6 photo print of a cat that says, Wow! I'm looking forward to the future! That's the energy I'm approaching this new year with (I'm going to hang it in my office for my students). I am looking forward to adopting cats. My only resolution is to work less than 40 hours a week. Recapping how I did with last year's resolutions, I 1) did not really exercise more consistently, but I did run more consistently, and did a 5K with my dad on Thanksgiving! (Middle school me would never imagine.) 2) am unclear if I developed a more methodological way to conduct literature reviews, because my thesis related work was mainly copy/pasted from my old papers, and 3) did very much enjoy my last year in the bay. Here's hoping I can find community, nature, and food (rip China Lounge, I love you so much) as good in LA.

[systemadministratorclu]

To anyone asking why Sonic went on a road trip with Tom instead of just using Google Maps and running to San Francisco......

.......Congratulations, you missed the whole point.

Yes, Sonic could do that, and yes he knows he could do that.

But Sonic doesn't want to do that.

Remember, he's leaving Earth to go to a place where he will be COMPLETELY alone. As in there won't even be anyone else there for him to pretend he's friends with. No Crazy Carl to mess with, no Maddie to try to do yoga with, no kids playing baseball to watch. No movies, no TV, no music or food or comics or even animals. Nothing that gives life any kind of meaning, nothing that makes life worthwhile. And this is what he has to look forward to for the rest of his life.

Really the fact he makes a bucket list is appropriate, because Sonic is (metaphorically) dying. By going to Shroom World, he's losing everything that gave his life meaning. He knows he won't be living there, he'll just be existing until he dies. This is brought up multiple times, as Mushroom World and Sonic's ten years alone are mentioned quite a bit.

This also ties into why Sonic is mad about Tom leaving Green Hills. Tom has everything Sonic has been wanting for ten years, and he's just leaving it behind, and Sonic just can't figure out why he would do that.

Sonic made up a bullshit reason for Tom to drive him to San Fran so that, at least for that trip, he could at least try to have a meaningful interaction with an actual other person. And he succeeded.

For his part, Tom learned that he didn't need to go to a big city and leave the people he cares about to (essentially) make a difference in someone's life. He finally saw himself the way everyone else did, because of this stranger from another world who had the ability to go anywhere on the planet but chose Green Hills, and chose Tom to be the person he looks up to. The person he wants to be like.

It was that road trip that made Sonic decide he didn't want to run anymore. He finally had what he'd wanted for ten years, and he was not about to let it be taken away. That road trip gave his life a new meaning, something to live and fight for and protect.

And Tom? He finally realized everything he wanted was already right there in Green Hills. By taking that road trip, he didn't just save someone from dying. He gave that person a new life, and a place they could call home. And nothing he'd do in San Francisco would ever mean as much as that.

So yes, Sonic could have just gone by himself. Alone, like he had been for ten years and was planning to be forever.

But Sonic is a person who was not okay with the life he had.

And when a person is not happy with the life they have, they change it. Even if that means no longer doing what is 'safe'.

Sometimes you have to take a risky chance, like running back with a fish on your head to beg a guy to drive you somewhere, to find the life you want.

[lostintime-liketearsinrain]

Top five destinations?

Ooooo, so apart from number 1 i’ll pick places on my bucket list (countries or cities)

North Berwick in Scotland (for memories)

Iceland (for the scenery and the aurora borealis)

Japan (for the culture and historic architecture)

San Francisco (for the Golden Gate bridge and architecture)

Hawaii (for the scenery)

Thanks for the ask nonny!

[cuteasducks9]

for the ask game :)

uranus, agittarius, 9H

Hello friend, thanks for these 🧡

uranus ⇢ what things do you think should change in society?

Where to even begin... I would say how people treat eachother - kindness is so important. Mistreating people for not being who you want them to be; basically end all hateful phobias. World peace would be nice lol.

sagittarius ⇢ what places would you like to travel in the future?

Number 1 on my bucket list is to travel around Canada. Number 2 is to go to California and visit LA and San Francisco. I really want to go to New York to visit my brother as well.

9H ⇢ what languages ​​would you like to learn?

Spanish, French and German. But I don't think I will ever have the patience to do it haha.

[lboogie1906]

Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was a singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music." She made her name playing at the Blue Angel nightclub in New York City, and the hungry i in San Francisco. At the Tin Angel, also in San Francisco, she recorded Odetta and Larry with Larry Mohr for Fantasy Records. A solo career followed, with Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues and At the Gate of Horn. Odetta Sings Folk Songs was one of the best-selling folk albums. She appeared on Tonight with Belafonte, a nationally televised special. She sang "Water Boy" and a duet with Belafonte, "There's a Hole in My Bucket". Martin Luther King Jr. called her "The Queen of American Folk Music". The duo Harry Belafonte and she made number 32 in the UK Singles Chart with the song "There's a Hole in the Bucket". She is remembered for her performance in March on Washington, at which she sang "O Freedom". She described her role in the civil rights movement as "one of the privates in a very big army." #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm1VJwrLKcj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=