#this is from a bay area local news site lmao

[imwritesometimes]

this would be like.... a dream come true for me

[boggirlsummer]

Wet Hot American Summer

August 18 Zoey and I thought we fixed the leak in my tent but we were wrong. I spent the early morning inching away from a puddle that finally pushed me out around 8 am - time to get up anyway. Too rainy to cook or make coffee and I left camp aimlessly. I could barely see anything through the smoke and clouds which threw a wrench in my non-plan to drive around and take photos out the car window. Grand Tetons and Montana and Wyoming were up there on my teenage bucket list (lmao, dream big!), mostly for the landscapes and western vibes and maybe a few cathartic renditions of Wide Open Spaces. I just hiked all summer so I feel like I earned a few days of all-american automobile tourism.

Cozy

Decision fatigue is a ball buster on solo trips (and in life) and sometimes I refuse to change course even when it’s clear that a plan isn’t going to work out. I drove around Tetons alternately listening to the directions and making random navigational decisions, so Google kept yelling at me to make a u-turn. Eventually I got annoyed with both of us and stopped for snacks at the general store. I’ve been making my way through all the kettle chip flavors and so far honey dijon is the best and korean bbq is the worst.

Drove straight through to Yellowstone hoping the storm would let up, but by the time I got there it was 50 degrees with rain expected all afternoon. I thought it would be SUMMER once I left the Bay Area, so all my sweaters and warm jackets are in vacuum sealed bags that I don’t have the space in my car to open. I wasn’t loving the idea of being wet and cold in Yellowstone all night so I talked the campground lady into refunding my site reservation and headed for Big Sky, Montana.

I felt bad leaving without seeing any of the Yellowstone sights so I stopped at Old Faithful on my way out. I knew laughably little about what I was looking at and when a bunch of people started gathering I thought to myself, is this thing gonna explode or something?? And ya turns out that’s the entire point, it shoots a bunch of water and steam into the air every few minutes. I bought a cup of coffee and watched halfheartedly. The only other attraction I know about is the rainbow glory hole and there was so much traffic to park in the lot I said screw it and went on to Montana.

No LTE between Yellowstone and Big Sky and I was without a place to sleep - luckily my sister was available to do some emergency concierge work for me. I eventually found a nice campground near town but the obscene number of bear country warning signs freaked me out. I backtracked to Big Sky to buy a $50 can of bear spray, what a rip. Feeling beat today so I made it up to myself with a bowl of chicken curry ramen and a Sapporo. It was no nugget curry, but it did the job ☺️

Reading the bear spray instructions before bed - you’re supposed to use it once a charging bear is two to three seconds from reaching you. Wtf. I can’t do anything in two seconds. Finished Year of the Monkey at last. Almost fell asleep with a candy wrapper in my pocket, instant death. Also I got my period and I’m worried this is going to attract the bears.

August 19 I broke my own rule. I drove to Bozeman this morning and had a chicken fried steak at the Western Cafe, “The Last Best Cafe.” I had a nice chat with two old guys at the bar, initiated by ME! We talked about my trip so far and books (I was reading Walden Two and one of the guys had Woman in the Window with him, and we agreed that both authors are pretty nuts). Good time all around and then one of them secretly bought my breakfast 🥰 I’ve only ever had creepy men buy me drinks at bars so free CFS with no strings attached was a revelation. My smile lit up the cold dark streets of Bozeman.

Too early for hostel check-in so I killed some time hanging out in a coffee shop and wandering around Main Street. When I’m alone in a new city I usually get on the apps, it’s fun to hang out with a real LOCAL and have an AUTHENTIC experience. I did this on my first night in Sydney last year and my date won $7,000 at a bar raffle he’d been going to every week for three years and then bought us a night’s worth of top shelf shots, bad coke, and dumplings. Obviously I was his good luck charm so I should’ve gotten a cut of that $$$ but whatever… Eventually we went back to his depressing loft outside of the city. It was barely furnished and full of his shitty art and luckily he didn’t have any condoms so I was able to decline sex without feeling guilty (I had condoms of course but didn’t disclose). He tried to fuck me again around 4 am and I was so confused I thought he must have found a condom while I was briefly sleeping. He had not. I snuck out at 6 am and caught the bus back to the city. Not the most restful night but nice to get away from the hostel for a little while. But ya I updated my Hinge location to Bozeman and got hella conservative men swiping on me 🥴 My profile isn’t anything crazy but I don’t think I’m giving off Megyn Kelly vibes. Are they playing some sort of sexual bingo? Are they out to stealth me? Seems sus.

If you are a man on Hinge with a naked photo on your profile I WILL screenshot it and I WILL make a collage of my collection once I have enough material and I WILL sell it as a NFT and I WILL make $0 cuz y’all are freaks. This is the tamest one I’ve got, text me if you want a photo of a naked man covering his junk with a pineapple.

Ooooieee hostel is grungy and subterranean and not the kinda place you want to spend many conscious hours in. I took myself to the movies to escape - another thing I really missed last year. I saw The Night House, which I would describe as an architectural horror? I’ve been thinking about architecture a lot lately, this cool site Zoey sent me has some interesting interviews and stuff. In the movies I ate an entire bag of sour gummy worms and a box of junior mints.

Had a freaky bookstore experience earlier today, not the first time this summer. I originally wrote a longgg paragraph about synchronicity here but I got self conscious and started wondering if hearing other people’s stories about synchronicity is like listening to them talk about their dreams. I personally love talking about dreams (call me and tell me about your crazy dreams!!) but things definitely get lost in translation and sometimes they’re straight boring (like when my old coworkers and I used to dream in Excel, fucckkk). So I get why people find it annoying and here at Bog Girl Summer we can’t afford to alienate any of our readers. All I will say is that I walked into a bookstore today with synchronicity very much on my mind, went to the psychology section to buy a baby Jung text, and there saw a literal sign that said “Staff Pick, Introductory Jung: Synchronicity.” So yes, I bought it. Don’t forget y’all - I have a psychology degree so please don’t come after me about confirmation bias and all that lol. It’s very possible that in this summer of upheaval I’m desperate for some kinda sign that I’m on the right path. Let me have this one 😘

I also bought this postcard which spoke to me because most days I feel like I’m trying to drink out of a firehose

[ambrosiaicecreem]

THE WORLD OF THE MONTOLVO’S | NEW BRANDO

In today’s lore post of The Montolvo’s, I’m going to be talking about where exactly this story is taking a place: a city-state called New Brando.

WHERE IS NEW BRANDO LOCATED?

New Brando is located in what would be real-life Florida, and even more specifically the most southern part of it. In this story, I don’t strictly stick with pre-made Sim locations and geography. New Brando is an independent city-state on the continent of Northern America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and a neighboring city-state by the name of Brefast. 

WHEN WAS NEW BRANDO FOUNDED? 

New Brando’s origins date back to 1867. Originally beginning as just a regular city, it was founded by Damon Brando, a decorated lawyer graduate who just so happened to be a creature of the night himself. With the assistance of his growing coven, New Brando soon turned into a powerful city-state within decades. 

New Brando was founded as a secret safe haven for vampires. Damon Brando knew that he was the best person to create and rule over such a city, and thus he implemented a strong society that still stands to this day in 2020. 

WHAT IS IT LIKE IN NEW BRANDO? 

New Brando has a population of roughly 8,461,023, with about 48% of that population being vampires. Vampires still remain in secrecy in New Brando, despite its intention of being a safe haven. To the general public, they’re still just urban legends, but only a select few percentage of humans know the truth. 

The vampire-human relationship within New Brando, thanks to the strict policies that have been in place since the beginning, is surprisingly peaceful. It is absolutely forbidden for any vampire to hunt humans within New Brando. Damon Brando established this rule as it was imperative that vampires and their existence continue to remain safe from any potential threats. Instead, there are a multitude of Blood Banks available within the area. The humans who work at these Banks are part of the percentage that know about their true purpose. 

The vampire-vampire relationship within New Brando is, surprisingly, distant. Many vampire covens, such as the Montolvo coven, stick to themselves. It isn’t impossible for vampires of different covens to interact with each other, but due to just the general feelings of only being with trusted individuals, it isn’t as likely for such relationships to form easily. 

Culture-wise, New Brando has a lot of Mediterranean influence. While there are plenty of shared cultures within the city-state, majority of the architecture, historical sites, and restaurants are all Mediterranean. 

WHAT ARE THE AREAS IN NEW BRANDO? 

There are 4 major areas in New Brando: Old Brando Village, Fort Brando, Brando Hills, and New Brando City. 

Old Brando Village is a quiet village on the outskirts of the city itself. It is surrounded by the mountains and is nestled in the forest near Lake Damia. Old Brando Village was the initial starting point of New Brando, and after Damon expanded into where the capital city is today, the village was kept and upheld for those who preferred a more quiet lifestyle. 

Notable people who live in Old Brando Village are the Montolvo Coven and Camellia Pineda. 

Fort Brando is a large, stone fortress that resides hidden in the forested coast of New Brando. Locals and tourists alike journey to visit this fortress that had been created in the event of any wartime. Those who have visited will say that there’s no way to get inside of the fortress, which was done on purpose. Fort Brando has been used as the secret vampire council headquarters, and it is the current home of Damon Brando himself, who has not been seen by human eyes in a century. 

Brando Hills is similar to Old Brando Village where it is a quiet, countryside landscape on the outskirts, but it is inhabited by the rich vampire covens that have the money to pay for the elaborate mansions of the area. 

Last, New Brando City, or just simply called New Brando is the actual city that most people refer to. Majority of the population here is human. The city is most known for its elaborate nightlife, beautiful port side ocean views, and diverse marketplaces.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: 

I spent way too long trying to make a map for this

If y’all caught that New Brando was named after Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure then I want you to send me a message so I can congratulate you LMAO 

Game wise, New Brando uses Windenburg, Forgotten Hollow, the beach part of Brindleton Bay, Granite Falls, and Glimmerbrook

If you actually read all of this i love you i hope you have a great day <3

[goodson]

I got a new job that means I'll be travelling lots to Seattle from Europe, and I'm doing my first site visit next week. I get like one day completely alone in the city not on the work campus, and I'm wondering... If someone had like just one day in Seattle what would be good to see? Especially stuff that's cool to do alone? Thanks so much, I hope this isn't intrusive, I know no one from Seattle !

mmm!! ok so like lets be real im Not That Creative or Exciting so like these are going to be very mellow things. im not here to make you trek across the city so ill try to split it up by location

capitol hill

go to melrose market if you wanna just see a lot of cool artisan shit thats super fucking yummy and pretty and stuff. theres this restaurant in there called sitka and spruce and its truly unreal 

molly moons is a local ice cream place that rules and theres one on the hill right across the street from cal anderson park and if its nice out u should walk around cal anderson or just lounge on the turf thats my favorite activity 

seattle is super into speakeasys and i know there are some in belltown and like fremont? but im never there so i dont know them lmao what i do know is uuum knee high stocking co and needle & thread are both on the hill and i havent been but ive heard nooothing but good things. n&t is reservation only but u go into an already cool and fancy restaurant and theres this fuckin bank vault door with a fancy vintage phone that you call up to its very neat

lotta good secondhand shopping on the hill as well

elliot bay book company rules and has a nice lil cafe as well

more northern stuff

kerry park has the sickest view of seattle

greenlake park is my fave place on the planet, especially if its sunny out. very good pokemon go here. it is also close to my favorite bar on the planet, little red hen. it is cowboy themed and they give you too much alcohol and also theres a squaredancing floor. embrace american culture

wallingford, fremont and ballard are all just generally like… very cute? like you can wander around and find good food and stuff veeeeery easily. musashi and tilth and kabul in wallingford are the best (all restaurants)

the space needle et all can choke but that area is actually really cute?? like the vera project rules and theres the siff cinema right there which plays a lot of really cool movies

downtown and etc

i mean go to pike place if u want. its fun i like it i still go all the time. good food nice folks. mee sum pastry rules and is so cheap. avoid storyville coffee they seem very fancy and cool but theyre affiliated with this really heinous and evil church.

the seattle art museum is cool and i love it but also if you just wander through pioneer square theres a billion galleries that are all really lovely and its like a generally cool place to be 

the seattle public library is SO fucking cool like for real its a piece of architectural genius and its just so cool to see

tsukushinbo is my fave restaurant check out their lunch specials know theres like always a line outside the door before they open and if you wanna go there for dinner you need a reservation

theres the panorama if youre into watching movies on huge ass screens!

this is all i do im a simple lad