06-05-2024

A busy week this week. Starting the brand new week with Danish school as per the usual Monday.

This week we have kristi himmelfartsferie so many things will be happening.

For those who don’t know what Kristi Himmelfartsdag is:

“Ascension Day ranks among the oldest of all Christian holidays, with evidence suggesting it was celebrated by some as early as A.D. 68. The Biblical account of Christ’s Ascension immediately follows the giving of the Great Commission to His watching disciples. He ascended from the Mount of Olives and promised that that would also be the place where He would someday return to set up His Kingdom on the earth.

To many Danes today, Ascension Day is simply one of the many paid off-work days. Nevertheless, churches in Denmark hold special services on Ascension Day, and there are sometimes torch-lit processions around the church building to represent Jesus’ entrance into Heaven.

Traditionally, fruits and vegetables were “blessed,” and farmers held the belief that a sunny Ascension Day indicated a hot, lengthy summer, while a rainy Ascension Day meant a likelihood of crop failure in the year ahead.”

(Taken from this website: https://publicholidays.dk/ascension-day/)

Most people will have the day off to relax, and some Dane’s like to take the day after the holiday off. They will spend the long weekend in their kolonihave or their sommerhus.

I’ll be staying behind and doing some work alongside my Danish man for majority of the week. I’ll rest when I’m dead, I guess haha.

Hello everyone! So some folks over in the Marigold Bridge server have been asking about doing another event, since the Secret Santa we did last December went pretty well. And since Coco Day, February 27th, is coming up, doing an event soon seemed like a good idea. But... things like Secret Santas and other such exchanges take a lot of time and planning! So... I thought we could do something else--a different type of event, and one I've run before for other fandoms.

A Fandom Friendly!

What's a "Friendly?"

A friendly, according to the Wikitionary, is "a game which is of no consequence in terms  of ranking, betting etc." In this case, it's a competition with no winners or losers--this is purely for fun!

What is the Coco Fandom Friendly?

The Coco Fandom Friendly is a relaxed, week-long, fandom-wide competition (so you do not need to be a member of the server in order to participate) that fandom members of all ages and levels of skill can participate in. It also does not require any type of stressful commitment--either you participate or you don't! Essentially you will create a fanwork (or fanworks) of any kind about your favorite character(s), and the characters that get the most love win!

Wait, so the CHARACTERS win? Not one of the participants?

That's right! The participants do not win or lose! In this competition, you are not fighting against anyone else. Instead, you are trying to help your favorite characters win by creating fanworks of them!

Is there a prize of any kind?

Not really--just the excitement of participating in a fandom event, and knowing that you helped your favorite characters in a competition.

What kind of fanworks are allowed?

Anything! They can be art, writing, music, animation, photography, fan videos, etc. Entries can also be gen (no shipping), or feature nearly any ship (with some exceptions--see below). AUs and fancharacters are perfectly fine as well! Just make sure it relates to Coco, of course.

Is there anything that's not allowed?

Yes. There are a few things that are UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES allowed:

1) Not SFW entries of any kind (this is an all-ages competition, so please keep it tasteful!) 2) Entries using other people's art or writing (such as a fanvid that uses other people's artwork) 3) Entries involving any ships that feature incest or adult/child ships (I don't think I need to elaborate here)

Can I submit things I've created in the past?

Nope! Your entries must be completed during the week of the competition, which will be February 21st through February 27th.

But what if I'm not good at art/writing/anything??

It doesn't matter how good or bad you are! The only thing that matters in this competition is how much time you put into what you make! That's why you will earn points based on how much time you spend on your entries.

When you work on your entry (or entries--you can make as many as you want!), you need to time yourself (using a stopwatch app, an actual stopwatch, or just looking at a clock to see when you started and when you finished), and then when you post the entry, you will say how many minutes you spent on the piece, and what characters are in it. Each minute you spend on the piece is worth half a point.

For example, say you spend an hour working on a fanfic about Héctor and Imelda. That's 60 minutes, and with each minute being worth half a point, that's thirty points for each character (so 30 points for Héctor and 30 points for Imelda--it's not split!).

Is there a limit to how many points we can earn?

Yes--you can only earn up to 100 points per character (which would mean spending like... not quite 3.3 hours on something). So don't feel the need to only earn points for one character--you can earn points for as many characters as you want! Share the love!

How do I submit an entry?

Any time between February 21st and February 27th (so, starting at midnight, EST, on the 21st, and ending on 11:59 PM, EST, on the 27th) you can post your entry with the following formatting:

Coco Fandom Friendly Entry [Title] Characters: ____ Minutes

As well, YOU MUST TAG THE POST WITH #COCOFANDOMFRIENDLY ! This is extremely important!! If you don't, I might not see your entry!!

What characters are we earning points for?

The characters are split into three categories, and there will be a winner for each. These categories are...

Primary Miguel Héctor Imelda Ernesto

Secondary Elena Coco Óscar & Felipe Julio Rosita Victoria Chicharrón Pepita Dante

Minor Enrique Luisa Socorro Manny & Benny Rosa Abel Carmen Berto Gloria Franco Gustavo Frida Ceci Emcee Misc. Alebrije (includes fancharacters) Misc. Character (includes fancharacters)

In order to earn points for the characters, they must be involved in the piece, and you must list them by name in the entry format. In order for them to be involved in the piece... it depends on what kind of piece you’re doing--for art, the character just has to be in the picture. For something like writing or fanvid, however, a brief mention or glimpse of a character doesn’t count--the piece has to focus on those characters.

So... I think that covers everything! Remember, don't start working on your entries until February 21st at midnight EST!

If anything about these rules seems unclear or if you have any other questions, feel free to send an ask to this blog, and I'll help you as best as I can.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading?  #69

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

What Did I Read This Last Week?

Save Your Breath by Melinda Leigh

#6 Morgan Dane

Romantic Suspense

Olivia is kidnapped, Sharp’s determined to find her, and Morgan and Lance are by his side sifting evidence and getting closer to a rescue.  This was another fab entry in a gritty, suspenseful series.

WHAT AM I READING NOW?

Unearthed by Cecy Robson

#1 Death Seeker

Urban Fantasy

WHAT WILL I READING NEXT?

Simply Love by Mary Balogh

#2 Simply Quartet

Historical Romance

Feeling more and more at home.

9/19/17

It’s been a lovely week. I am a very happy study abroad-er right now. So many things have started clicking for me, and though it took a lot longer than I expected, I am very thankful that I feel this way. There are several reasons for this shift, or perhaps it’s better to say progress, and a lot of these reasons are from this past week.

1.      A group of friends and I took a little road trip on Friday to the Volta Region, which is the region just to the east of the Accra region (where I live). It usually only takes about an hour to drive, but there was a lot of traffic on Friday evening, so it took closer to 2.5 hours.

 We also got a very late start-- I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about this in the past, but almost everything starts late here, so consistently that people say Ghana has their own time system, GMT (Ghana Main Time). This usually does not bother me at all because I’m chronically late myself, but on this particular occasion, we planned on leaving at about 3 pm and ended up leaving our hostel at 7 pm, running some errands, and then actually leaving Accra at 8 pm. Wild.

 The drive was lovely, though—some of our Ghanaian friends have cars, so we didn’t have to take a bus, which was nice. About an hour outside of Accra, I looked out the window and saw stars. I hadn’t seen the stars in 5 weeks. It was beautiful. There is a bridge going over the Volta River that connects the main part of Ghana to the Volta region, and then you are surrounded by mountains and green and clear skies. Magical.

 The Volta region is full of natural beauty—I know I mentioned in my last entry that it’s been difficult adjusting from the easy peace of Minnesota to the city life here, but this weekend made me so excited to explore the rest of Ghana. We didn’t have time this weekend to go hiking at all, but I definitely will need to track down some trails. The mountains are calling, as they say.

 Because we got such a late start, the hotels we stopped at were already full, or didn’t have enough rooms for all of us. One offered us their conference room for free, so we hauled spare mattresses and sheets up the stairs (actually, the guys did, because god forbid any of the women show they have physical ability), and set up camp in the big open space. Not what any of us were expecting, but hey, it worked and it was FREE. (Normally, hotels are only about 100 cedis per room, which is about $25, but free is even better, right?)

 On Saturday morning, we got breakfast/lunch, which consisted of coconuts in the car and then rice and chicken 5 minutes later. But no one can say we skipped a meal. This was actually my first coconut experience here!!! We pulled up to a coconut cart (they are literally everywhere in Ghana), and then waited for the men running it to come to the car so we could order. Then, they use the biggest knife in the world to cut a little opening in the top, with one a piece of the hull hanging on like a lid. You drink the water/juice (delicious), and then hold your hand out the window with your drained coconut, and someone comes back to cut it open for you so you can eat the meat, using the aforementioned lid as a spoon. It was like a drive-through, only nothing I ordered was cancerous or just preservatives disguised as food.

 We spent Saturday at a hotel pool, lounging and swimming and reading. I fell asleep in the sun for a while, BUT did not burn at all, so I consider that a big win! Then, we headed home, stopping for snacks at one of the intersections, which was crazy—you pull up to an intersection, and your car gets SWARMED. 10 hands might be reaching in through one window—that’s 40 hands in one tiny car (plus our own hands!!!). It was a little overwhelming, but a very good way to run a business. The way back was much shorter, and it was nice to have the feeling of returning home.

2.      We went to the beach!!! I’ve been wanting to go ever since I saw the Google images of the beaches here, but for some reason it hadn’t worked out before now. Most mornings are cloudy here before the sun burns off the moisture, so we left at 2 pm for the trotro station. We took two trotros to get to the beach, which really was not that bad (probably about 45 minutes total). You pay 20 cedis to get into the beach on weekends, BUT you also get a free chocolate milk drink which was absolutely fabulous (I understand it was not really free, but I also understand that I really enjoyed it).

 As soon as you walk in, there are hosts waiting to usher you to various outdoor restaurants/ bars, men with horses offering beach rides, and various other business people who are on it—like they are good. One woman came up to me and started poking around my neck and found a knot in my back in about 3 seconds, and then said, “Sister, you need this” and continued to massage me and tell me about her collection of oils and butters and lotions. I am a sucker for massages, but I’m so used to saying no to people at this point that I politely brushed her off me. As soon as I did this, I thought, what have I done!!! That felt amazing!!! Come back!!! But alas, she was already gone, so I was left to live with my decision.

 Soon my spirits were back up—I drank all of my chocolate milk and I was ready to explore the beach. Ceci and I went straight for the ocean, jumping in and out of the waves, body surfing when possible, and feeling the current pull our feet out and then let go again. It was amazing. We were both grinning ear to ear—playing in the water is one of the most simple joys, and I hadn’t swam in natural water since camp, so I was over the moon.

 Then, we tossed a Frisbee around for a bit. I think some of you have played with me before, so you can probably imagine how it went on my end, especially playing with actual Frisbee players. They were kind to me, but I could feel my ego shrinking (I always claim I can at least throw, though I never can catch, but that didn’t even seem to be true on Sunday), so I bailed and walked back to our table to sit with the rest of the group.

 I was sitting there for a few moments, chatting, and then I heard a voice behind me say, “Hello again, my sister.” Oh my gosh. There she was. The masseuse! I was so excited. So I paid 10 cedis for 10 wonderful minutes, and she worked it. It felt amazing, even though the sand and salt acted as extra-intense exfoliators.

 On the way out, we grabbed Fan Ice, which is perhaps my favorite thing in the whole wide world, besides my cat, and a lot of other things, but it’s really good ice cream. The trotro rides home were damp but happy, and the shower to get all the sand off was even happier. It was a good day.

3.      I finally got to go to Tot-to-Teen, the school I’ll be working with for the rest of the semester. I met the head of the English department and the head of the upper school, and they both made me feel so welcome. I talked to them a little about expectations, and it sounds like because the age group I’d like to work with are preparing for an important test, I won’t be able to actually lead a class, but I can act as a teaching assistant, which I am more than happy to do.

It felt SO nice to be back around kids. I think working at the school will really help me feel more at home here. I’ve been missing camp so much, mostly because of the wonderful kids I got to work with every day. There is not much else that makes me feel as whole as working with youth, and I’m so glad that I had this summer to show me that. Now, I get to spend the rest of my life with youth, and that thought makes me so excited.

I start tomorrow officially (finally!), and I’m not really nervous, but maybe I should be. I’m not sure how different classrooms are here from the U.S., and I’ve never worked in a formal classroom before, so I only know my own experience as a student and all the skills I learned as a counselor this summer. I’m sure it’ll be enough, mostly because it has to be enough. Classic.

4.      The weather. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s actually been reminding me of fall weather at home, though of course it’s much hotter here. I just mean that when I get out of class in the afternoon, the sun is shining full on, it’s super warm, I have my backpack on, I get to go home and eat…It just feels familiar. I can’t really explain it, but I’m loving it, and I know it is never necessary to explain the things you love, so I’ll take it.

5.      It was a friend’s birthday last night, so we went out to a pretty fancy place in Accra called Coco Lounge. I don’t think any of us realized just how fancy it was—there was a dress code, and one of the guys in our group almost wasn’t let in. It was wild. There were mostly foreigners there, and it seemed like a lot of business deals were going on in dark corners.

 We had our own little area, sort of a round room that extended from the main dining room. It was beautiful. I’m glad I had already eaten, because the prices were definitely higher than I’m used to. Fortunately, beer prices are pretty much the same anywhere you go, so I sipped my Guinness and enjoyed the good company.

 The servers deliver a special cake if there’s a birthday, so out the cake came with an conga line of servers dancing to Danza Kuduro (apparently the birthday song the restaurant has chosen). It was pretty wonderful. Noah, the birthday boy, even got up to dance with the servers before sitting down to enjoy the cake. 

 It was just such a pleasant, normal, evening, you know? It made me very thankful for the people I’ve met here.

So there you have it—my first week feeling more at home, 5 weeks in. I know this has been quite long, so thank you for taking the time to read! Sending you all good vibes this week.

Episode #222

Mom and Pop Art Season 10, Episode 19 | April 11, 1999 I work two jobs. I go to bed when the sun is still out. I got by by watching these on my phone while I was at work. Today I found out the cable company I use doesn’t support the FXNow app through android. Also it won’t work on my iPad cuz it’s too old. So now I have to put off sleep for this stupidass blog that I don’t even try writing well. To speed things up, I write these entries while I watch and go back and change stuff if I turn out to be wrong about stuff. Anyway, this episode is about Homer being bad at building things and accidentally becoming an artist. Anyway, this episode kinda sucks. The first act is reasonably funny but that good. The ending is lame. There’s a part where Homer makes fun of Matt Groening and a big pencil comes into frame as if he’s being erased by Matt, the most hands-on show creator that ever lived. It reminded me of these radio ads that used to air that publicized The Simpsons moving from Sunday to Thursday nights. A bad episode, I feel like people kinda like this one but it’s bad

THE B-SODE:

King of the Hill: "Ceci N'est Pas Une King of the Hill" Season 8, Episode 9 | January 25, 2004 Why are decent King of the Hill screencaps so hard to find. Anyway in this one Peggy becomes an artist but it turns out mean cityfolk are making fun of her and calling her retarded. Dale wears armor for some reason. I’m going to bed

Liste D'acteurs Français - Wikipédia

Ceci est une liste d'acteurs et actrices français notables, classés par ordre alphabétique selon leur nom de famille. Louis de Funès i9000 , l'un des acteurs comiques français les plus populaires de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, ici dans Le Petit Baigneur (1968). Nous transformons d'abord les films en liste d'acteurs. Morgan Freeman est reconnu comme l'un des acteurs plus grands acteurs dans le monde,ce n'est donc pas une surprise qu'il soit sur cette liste. Ce qui me gęne, c'est qu'il con ait des acteurs formidables qui ne feront jamais la carričre qu'ils méritent parce que les castings sont en partie phagocytés par les dynasties cinématographiques. https://www.kiwibox.com/Serrano93Trevin/blog/entry/143340605/mod-liser-le-r-seau-social-des-acteurs-para-cin-ma-des-an/?pPage=0 de la norme, le deborahéveloppement de nouveaux simples plus outils, la possibilité d'execution de code de la version 2.0, le mécontentement et la deborahésillusion de certains acteurs put des LMP qui n'évoluent pas, cette situation pourrait changer dans les prochaines années acteurs, mais en 2012 ce in'est encore pas le cas. Mes acteurs français, pas forcément tous mes prénérés, mais ceux que j'aime selon l'ensemble des movies (selon les rôles en fait), plus ou moins bien. 10- Ainsi le Théâtre du Soleil, constitué trèersus essentiellement d'acteurs internationaux. Parcourez la liste des comédiens français connus pour trouver un comédien cédčbre âgé de 40, 50, 60 ans ou plus ainsi que les jeunes acteurs qui se sont fait remarquer au théâtre. Cette suppression est aussi le gage d'une grande incertitude pour francais acteurs les acteurs économiques, et donc l'assurance qu'ils prendront tous des mesures approximatives. Il tourne avec Alain Resnais , René Clément , Claude Lelouch , Philippe de Broca , Jean-Pierre Melville , Gérard Oury , Jean-Luc Godard … et devient l'un des acteurs fétiches de Claude Sautet avec qui il tourne trois films 18 Durant les annéha sido acteurs francais 1970 , l'acteur alterne drames, movies engagéh et comépasses away et beds'impose comme d'un des acteurs français populaires plus les. Parmi l'ensemble des acteurs noirs, le cas des acteurs caribéens, citoyens français de longue time, urévèle ce jacobinisme normatif. Si l'identité des acteurs meterséridionaux est de facto ancrée dans le cinéma méridional et en particulier dans celui de Pagnol, ils n'y sont pas confinébeds. La différence est que, contrairement aux acteurs de Guédiguian, engagéersus francais acteurs avant tout dans le projet de leur auteur, les acteurs du cinéma méridional classique éraienr solidaires non seulement de l'auteur Pagnol, mais à travers lui avec toute une région et pat extension de la country.

30-04-2024

There’s an Ikea next to my work and it’s funny to see a clash of something Swedish while living in Denmark.

27-04-2024

{1}

I just started my first job in Denmark (I’ve worked outside Denmark for many years). My role is to package and label online orders for a department store. It can be tedious at times but it’s easy and will help me break through the job market while I’m still working on my fluency in Danish.

{2}

Spring is in full force in the city and the sun sets around 20:50. This gives me more pep in my step and motivates me to get outside more (which I shamefully admit I’ve hidden myself away inside for a majority of winter). I can’t wait for the weather to get even better. I have a small bucket list of items for the following months that I’d like to accomplish.

Have a spring brunch

Eat outside at a cafe

Visit a museum

Have a drinking night out with friends

Decorate my apartment balcony with potted flowers and nice furnitures

Eat healthier

Become more active

Let’s see if I can check everything off within the next couple of months