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debbiechanclub · 6 months

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bestie…. i fear i need finlay match recommendations 😗

Bestie. I have loaded you up with 20 matches. I told you if you give me an inch where Finlay is concerned, I will take a mile.

Now, first things first. All but three of my recs are on NJPW World (and two are free to watch without an account). If you don't have an account, I'm more than willing to share my login with you in the name of spreading the gospel of Debbie Chan.

That being said, if you think you might want to sign up for an account, now is a GREAT time to do it because they're actually launching a brand new website this Thursday (11/9), complete with apps for Android and iOS, which they didn't previously have. It's only $9 USD/month, so I think it's well worth it. However, you won't be able to sign up until Friday, after the new site is live. Additionally, as part of the overhaul, they're upgrading a massive portion of the archive footage, and, unfortunately, nothing from prior to 2021 will be available to watch until they put it back up. (All my recs except for one on YouTube are from 2021 on.)

Again though, I will absolutely share my login with you (and you'd be able to log in right away and watch as mine is an existing account). Just let me know!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, onto the recs! And my apologies because this... is long.

FYI: I've listed these in chronological order, and they're best viewed in that order as it really helps to tell the story of how Finlay became who he is today :)

FinJuice vs. G.o.D (YouTube) - YouTube comes in clutch for a pre-2021 match! This is good viewing because 1) FinJuice was a well established and fairly successful tag team, and don't even get me started on all the messiness of Juice running around with Jay in Bullet Club Gold while Finlay is literally leading real Bullet Club now; and 2) Since overtaking Bullet Club in March, Finlay has almost exclusively feuded with G.o.D. (he finally put an end to it this past weekend at Power Struggle). And it's crazy seeing Finlay's evolution from then to now.

2021 New Japan Cup Quarter Final vs. Jay White (3/18 show) - This was a HUGE win for our boy because, going into this match, Finlay was on an 0-12 losing streak against Jay. And he and Jay will be forever intertwined because they came up in the NJPW dojo together and were roommates and best friends and everyone constantly compared Finlay to Jay (they still do now), and that created a MASSIVE chip on his shoulder that lead to him clocking Jay over the head and subsequently taking control of Bullet Club. So yeah. V. important match in the lore of Finlay.

2021 New Japan Cup Semi-Final vs. Will Ospreay (3/20 show) - I hope you're ready for a lot of Ospreay, because he and Finlay have history. Back in 2021, Ospreay defeated Finlay in the semi-final of the NJ Cup and then went on to win the tournament and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. This plays into why Finlay is gunning for Ospreay now.

Resurgence 2021 vs. Jay White - This match was for the NEVER Openweight Title. Jay retained... but Finlay eventually went on to win that title after taking over Bullet Club, which also used to be Jay's.

G1 Climax 32 vs. Juice Robinson (7/26), Will Ospreay (8/2), and El Phantasmo (8/10) - Finlay returned to Japan for the first time in over a year for the G1 Climax 32, and he had a really strong showing. This was when I first started to get the brainrot for him. I really recommend watching all his matches from that tournament... but these three are the most important to Finlay's character because of his history with Juice and Will and what would come later with ELP and Bullet Club.

Burning Spirit 2022 vs. Will Ospreay (9/25 show) - This match was for the IWGP United States Championship, the very one and same that Ospreay currently holds and that Finlay destroyed with a giant mallet at Power Struggle this weekend. Ospreay retained back then. But I have a feeling (and sincerely fucking hope) that there's a new title in Finlay's future.

NJPW World TV Championship Tournament vs. ZSJ (YouTube) - After coming up short in the G1 Climax 32 and against Ospreay (again), Finlay still had a chance to win the newly created NJPW World TV Title; and then ZSJ eliminated him in the second round. I really think this loss was the straw that broke the camel's back and really set the stage for Finlay's frustration and his comeback as the leader of Bullet Club.

2023 New Japan Cup vs. Tomohiro Ishii (3/6 Anniversary Event, free to watch without an account!), Tama Tonga (3/19), and Sanada (3/21) - And we've reached Bullet Club Finlay! Finlay's match against Ishii was the first match of the tournament, and no one―absolutely no one―expected him to come out in Bullet Club gear with Gedo, of all people, in his corner. And not only that, but he handily disposed of Ishii. He made it all the way to the final where he lost against Sanada, but he sent a loud and clear message during the entire tournament that this was a new David Finlay (and I was a goner).

Capital Collision 2023 vs. AR Fox (YouTube) - I think you've seen this one? But including it because it's a good match and also the night Finlay recruited Clark Connors, the first member of what would become Bullet Club War Dogs (and I was there!).

Wrestling Dontaku 2023 vs. Tama Tonga (5/3 show) - Remember how I said that Finlay eventually won the NEVER Openweight Title after taking over Bullet Club? This was when he did it.

Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-Jo Hall vs. El Phantasmo - This. This is the match and night that ruined me forever. After kicking ELP out of Bullet Club (basically because he was and is close with Jay and didn't respect Finlay), Finlay defended the NEVER Openweight Title against him and proved that he could back up all the shit he was talking. But besides that, this was the night the War Dogs were formed. I highly recommend also checking out the end of the IWGP Junior Tag Title match just so you can see Drilla Moloney turn on United Empire and join Bullet Club. It quite honestly altered me forever.

G1 Climax 33 vs. Tama Tonga (7/26), Eddie Kingston (8/8), and Will Ospreay (8/10) - Did I mention that Finlay has spent most of this year feuding with Tama/G.o.D? They tried to kill each other in this year's G1, and it was fantastic. He and Eddie also tried to kill each other. But Ospreay beat him in the quarter-finals. Just more fuel for why he's going after Ospreay now.

12-Man Elimination Match: Bullet Club vs. G.o.D. and Intergalactic Jetsetters (10/1 show, free to watch without an account) - Because I would be remiss not to rec a match with all the War Dogs (and Chase is there, too). This is a fun one, if not a bit of a clusterfuck. (And shout-out to Kevin Knight, who I also adore.)

Destruction in Ryogoku 2023 vs. Tama Tonga (10/9 show) - This is the last of Finlay's singles matches against Tama, and unfortunately he lost the NEVER Openweight Title back to him (which I don't think anyone expected). But it's a good match and Finlay looked strong despite his loss. And now that I know he likely (hopefully?) has a new belt coming to him after the start of the year, I'm honestly okay that he lost. (Because Tama doesn't even have the title anymore, believe it or not).

So there are my Finlay match recs. I'm well aware this is overkill lmao, but I really am excited that you want to know more about him, and I want to do him justice. Because he really is my favorite guy, and he deserves to be recognized as his own wrestler and person not just in relation to Jay or Juice or anyone else.

But I won't blame you if you don't watch all of these, because I know I went insane 😂

#david finlay #bullet club #match recs #i... really do have the brainrot huh #this is my magnum opus #this and hit me like bang #asks

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aestheticvoyage2023 · 1 year

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Day 84: Saturday March 25, 2023 - “Hi-king Boots”

This post contributed by Audrie after a pretty sunset hike in her old backyard, Saguaro National Park, with our boy in his Hiking Boots. What’s even better? This was the first time in almost 9 years Audrie ever said “I want to make today’s post” - Yes Ma’am!!

It was a sunny Saturday, after a cold-spelled-sonoran-springtime week in the Old Pueblo. And with a rare weekend spent at home, all together as a family, William and I lingered in our afternoon, out on the patio, skin drinking in those solar rays, as my son-shinned before me; in his whizzing and whirling around the yard with his dogs, and dace moves, and his dazzling wonderment in his world, warming my heart from the inside out. As a parent, you can never have enough of these moments, watching the child you created in total awe. The innocence, the joy, the candidness in all they do — A tiny human that we grew and is now growing into his own life and ways and wildness— Like a small off stream fed by a mighty river. We were between belly laughs and refereeing the doggie-bit-face-games, when my bright-eyed-dusty-blond-smiling-child sauntered over requesting “diaper off.” I complied, naked potty training time is more safe outside anyway, where the hose is handy, and we can talk about where the dogs potty, and where he should, ultimately someday hopefully soon, potty do his potty business in his potty. With a shirt on his shoulders and nothing from the waist down, he continued his play, in and out of the plastic ice-cream-truck he’s put about 10k foot-miles on (all be it mostly in reverse) over the last few weeks since it joined our most favorite toy line up here at home. Apparently still unsatisfied with the level of nakedness, he jogged back over to me and said “shirt off” and tugged at his shirt. “You wanna be a totally nakey-baby buddy?” and very assuredly he nodded in affirmation and said “Yeshh!” So then there he was stark naked, looking like he was getting away with something big, having apparently even more fun than ever climbing in and out of his ‘Ich Ceam Guckk’ and periodically turning around to snack on his plate of berries and pretzels he had placed on the rear of it. When he tired of this he was ready to up the nakkey-anty-antics, and he shuffled back over and said “bubbles bubbles!” while pointing over to his bubble making machine. “You want bubbles to go now?” “Yeshh!” And as I filled the battery powered bubble producer, he started to spin his gears some more and decided he needed to also be hoisted into his blue porch swing, so he could swing through the bubbles…. naked. This kid. So this is what we did for the next 30 minutes. Until he wanted down and “uh ohhh…..” points at puddle on the patio, “pee pee potty” yeah, oops, mom missed that one, “Its okay buddy, lets wash it off and clean you up.”

We played like this until both my shoulders and all of William’s cheeks were a little more than rosy and reluctantly we went inside and put his clothes back on, where we read books together on the couch until daddy came home from errands and it was time to get ready for a family sunset hike. Dad put on his hiking boots, and William couldn’t help but look enamored, “Boots!” “Yep! Those are Daddy’s Hiking Boots!” and the longing envious look on William’s face sparked the memory of a tiny pair of hiking boots that have sat on the nursery dresser for more than two years… The ones I secretly had a friend purchase when the first pregnancy tests came back with two lines, way back in September of 2020. The smallest pair I could find would be 5 sizes too big for him by the time he was born, but served the trick to surprise and tell my partner that our hiking duo would be a trio soon. And with a drive up the mountain, and some sage, and one of the expensive digital readout pee-sticks, and these tiny boots, up there on that windy point we were able to celebrate with smudging smoke the welcoming intentions we were beginning to hold for this speckle of cells growing inside my belly. Setting our minds around this conception and pulling towards us the coming reality of parenthood, and the definitive divineness of the budding and bloom of life. I had no idea then, that days would look like this now… Plastic Ish Ceam Guchs, and bubbles, naked baby booty scooting and scorching all over my patio; I couldn’t have known the person that was doubling by the moment inside my body, the globule of cells that was unfolding, would eventually unfold to become this sun-shiny-sweet-son-of mine.

I asked William if he would like to wear some hiking boots just like daddy. Of course his answer was a big “Yeshhh!” And soon enough I was finagling his feet into these tiny yellow lace up boots. Although they appeared as they should, I’m not totally confident I ever got his heels completely down into the shoe pad, and he probably had a gap on at least one of them the entire hike even after adjusting them twice. But he wouldn’t have let on, he wore those boots so big and proud “HI-KING-Booots!!!” with a dimple to dimple grin. There would have been no way to know the child that would wear these boots, but if I could have dream-designed him/her, I don’t know that I ever could have come up with the perfection and wildness and wondrous son that stomped proudly up and down the trail today; a trail that lay under a smiling crescent moon, in a sunsetty southwestern sky, surrounded by the outstretched arms of a million saguaros, and the peaks of the same four mountain ranges that raised me. Jake and I take pause a lot to just ooh and awe over his total beauty. Our beautiful boy. Our Boo-Boo. And in moments like these it leads me back to that mountain top day, and all the days since, that were intended and asked for him, in our prayers to the universe, in the sage we’ve burned, in the counts of the heartbeat heard on his sonograms, in the deep first gazes into his gray-blue-baby eyes, in the late afternoons when he sunk into sleep latched to my breast, in the night hours spent reaching out to feel his breath; asking for a kind soul, a loving heart, and someone that wouldn’t play small in this big world. We still don’t fully understand who and how and what all William will be. But for now, as this little stream continues to grow, pick up speed, and pull further from the river, we enjoy these awesome moments spent sharing his splendor. For I know the stream does not exist without the river, but eventually the stream steams far enough ahead and away from the mighty-mother-river that to an onlooker the waters appear different; separate. So I will continue to pour the best of what I have into him, while I still can and while he still remembers he is connected back to me. And all this journey into motherhood reminds me to take pause, and remember my own headwaters, my mother river, and all the mothers and grandmothers before them that poured out their heartiness into those tiny streams that became roaring rivers that fed me, and now feed my son, in his very own hiking boots.

Song: Eric Hutchinson - Everybody’s Gotta Beating Heart

Quote: “I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” - John O'Donohue

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oneweekoneband · 3 years

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Scrambles

To me, at least, this is the big one. I originally listened to BTMI!’s discography in chronological order, but if I was trying to get someone into them right away, I would probably tell them to listen to Scrambles first. As a collection of great songs, as a coherent album, as a testament to what BTMI! could achieve, it’s my first pick by...well, not a long shot, considering I love a few of their other albums almost as much, but I will say that it always comes out on top in my rankings.

Of course, there’s a lot of personal bias here; Scrambles came to define my high school experience in part because of its regrettably-relatable lyrics that convey an all-consuming anxiety and frustration with the world around you. That might seem like a strange thing to experience nostalgia for, but for better or worse, that is exactly what it invokes for me.

It’s a cliché that high school is a stressful time – though I think people who say that tend to be thinking about the pressures of trying to “find yourself,” “fitting in,” gaining autonomy from parents, etc. I’m not saying that those things didn’t concern me, but for some reason my anxiety about the future was running something like a decade ahead of me. And so I found myself imagining a future in line with fears about what might happen if I followed Jeff down the path of “Stand There Until You’re Sober” – unable to move forward in life “’cause I can’t grow up.” The songs on Scrambles took this kind of stress one step further, and I found myself identifying with the chorus of the Springsteenian anti-anthem “Fresh Attitude, Young Body”: “If you don’t find a steady job now, / If you don’t find someone to love now, / Oh, you will die freezing cold and alone.”

Is that ridiculous, for a high school kid to be thinking that far ahead? I still don’t know. Capitalism puts an absurd amount of pressure on people to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives from what feels like a young age, and I was facing a serious dilemma that a lot of musicians face: I wanted to try playing in a band for a living, but I also wanted to have some kind of stable future...and unfortunately, these two things rarely go hand-in-hand. So I worried a lot over whether I would be able to make the right choice for myself; would I move on with my life and get a job that I probably wouldn’t like, forever resenting the fact that I didn’t choose music? Or would I choose the music and watch my life fall apart because I wouldn’t be able to earn enough to gain any kind of independence, still living with my parents like the narrator of “25” (which is, by the way, one of BTMI!’s catchiest-ever songs) at 25 years old? Many of the songs on this album perfectly capture that tension, which I think extends beyond my own specific situation – anyone who’s felt the crushing pressure of a hegemonic system coming down around them, whispering threats of a future spent scrambling to catch up with their peers in their ears when they can’t sleep at night can probably relate to the lyrics of this side of Scrambles.

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There’s the personal angle, but then there’s a social/political one (which wasn’t entirely without personal meaning to me – but I’ll get to that in time). “9/11 Fever” mocks the ultra-patriotism-turnted-opportunistic-exploitation that so many American engage in for the anniversary of the terrorist attack. And while that’s the most overtly political song on the album, plenty more go for the throat on issues in the politics of the punk scene. “Stuff That I Like” rides a killer riff as Jeff skewers the “fucking cocaine parties” that “fucking freak him out” (another gem later on: “I gotta take a piss in the cocaine room, / What is this? The line for lines? / It’s a long line for lines.”), as well as the “booming bass and the shitty DJs” of the clubs. The song ends with a condemnation of the limited possibilities of “going out” to “have fun”: “The gates rise up like / ‘What’s up? You’re in prison, confined by alcoholism / And lack of better decisions for having fun on the weekends.’” “Gang Of Four Meets The Stooges (But Boring)” attacks bands that purport to be on the “cutting edge” but have no respect for the other bands they share a bill with.

Best of all is “(Shut) Up The Punx!!!”, a mile-a-minute monologue from Jeff on the fucked up “holier-/hipper-than-thou” attitudes that make the punk scene look bad from the outside set to one of the band’s most frantic ska-punk freak-outs. The lyricism in this song is really on another level – take just the second line in: “When we all march to the beat of the same different drummer, / The steps start to come off like clockwork.” And for all this wordiness, Jeff somehow manages to make the phrasing fit rhythmically into the song, using the intensity of the music to emphasize key parts, eg. the swelling of horns leading into the descending breakdown that matches “I’d rather be vomiting and I despise vomiting and BLECH!” The chorus sums it up: “This non-conformity feels like conformity, / Why should anyone believe in our community? / This organization doesn’t feel like anarchy ‘cause / We’re suiting up to have the same identity.”

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My love for this song is intimately connected with my feelings on the state of punk rock circa my time in high school (and the first couple years afterwards). Jeff mentions in the notes on Quote Unquote that this song is about “a very small portion” of the punk community that he’s met, and I believe him, but to this kid who spent his adolescence stuck in the Canadian capital Ottawa, an unsurprisingly hostile environment to the development of a healthy punk rock scene, it feels like this song was about every second band I’d heard of. The too-cool-to-care hipsterism of the early 2010s was in full swing at that point, and many kids I knew had fallen into that attitude. And the musical tastes and scenes followed suite. There was a bizarre amount of implicit pressure to identify a band with a specific sound or scene, adopt a particular fashion sense or way of performing that played to audience expectations within a certain genre. But in spite of all this, I felt like I couldn’t just sit and stay angry about it; the dismal state of affairs was also a cry for help, a call to action to change the way things were. That’s why I love the fact that “(Shut) Up The Punx!!!” is more than just a stream-of-thought criticism – the lyrics were inspiring to someone like me who felt disillusioned with the very scene they aspired to be a part of: “Smile big, hug bigger, talk big, act bigger, / Stop judging do something, shut the fuck up do something!”

There’s the personal anxiety angle, and there’s the sociopolitical angle, but some of the best songs on Scrambles just do a great job of capturing specific feelings. The lilting “Wednesday Night Drinkball” (which feels a bit like a sequel to “Stand There Until You’re Sober” both musically and lyrically) starts with a great example of this: “There’s nothing less fun than being exhausted / From hours of not doing a damn thing at all.” “Saddr, Weirdr” is a reflection on the loneliness of moving, which, while packed full of wacky percussive noises and bells, also contains a rather poignant observation that always gets me: “I just threw out another gift, / I know it had a bit of thought but / Mary we won’t talk soon, / I have no use for Crocs now, / And I have no use for gifts.”

“Sort Of Like Being Pumped” closes out the album by putting one of those feelings that can be hard to describe into words. On a quiet, muted guitar accompanied by a rather beautiful (if you can believe it) banjo riff that phases in and out of the mix, Jeff describes one particular moment at the end of a workday when he watched the sunset from the train home. In addition to the simple but important sentiment conveyed about appreciating brief moments of happiness, the song also once again demonstrates Jeff’s knack for the killer phrase, the one line you can repeat until exhaustion: accompanied first by Laura Stevenson’s harmonies, then exploding without warning into a blistering punk outro, we hear over and over again the chorus that stresses that one brilliant instant, a seemingly never-ending build-up to the climax as if Jeff is trying to drag it out as long as possible, maybe make it last forever: “When I saw / When I saw / When I saw / When I saw / When I saw / THE SUNSET!”

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#Bomb The Music Industry!#BTMI!#Scrambles #Punk #Punk rock

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Thursday, March 25, 2021

Poll: Learning setbacks a top concern for parents (AP) Parents across the U.S. are conflicted about reopening schools. Most are at least somewhat worried that a return to the classroom will lead to more coronavirus cases, but there’s an even deeper fear that their children are falling behind in school while at home. Sixty-nine percent of parents are at least somewhat concerned that their children will face setbacks in school because of the coronavirus pandemic, including 42% who say they’re very or extremely worried about it, according to a new poll from The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Nearly as many, 64%, say they are at least somewhat concerned that in-person instruction will lead to more people being infected, but it’s only 33% who say they are very or extremely worried about the risk. That tension reflects the fears of a nation on the cusp of a widespread return to classroom teaching. More than a year after the pandemic started, more schools are now opening their doors to students or plan to do so in coming weeks.

Home school (US Census Bureau/Numlock) Since 2012, the rate of homeschooling in the United States has been pretty steady at about 3.3 percent. Then the pandemic hit, and according to the U.S. Census during the period late April to early May 2020, roughly 5.4 percent of households with children reported homeschooling. To be clear this isn’t doing school at home—they adjusted for that—it’s yank-the-kids-out-of-the-district homeschooling. By fall, that number was 11.1 percent of households opting for true homeschooling rather than virtual learning through school.

Damage from virus: Utility bills overwhelm some households (AP) Millions of U.S. households are facing heavy past-due utility bills, which have escalated in the year since the pandemic forced Americans hunkered down at home to consume more power. And now, government moratoriums that for months had barred utilities from turning off the power of their delinquent customers are starting to expire in most states. As result, up to 37 million customers—representing nearly one-third of all households—will soon have to reckon with their overdue power bills at a time when many of them are struggling with lost jobs or income. A study done by Arcadia, which runs a service that helps households lower utility bills, found that the average past-due amount by those in its network was roughly $850.

Is bad news the only kind? (NYT) Bruce Sacerdote, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, noticed something last year about the Covid-19 television coverage that he was watching on CNN and PBS. It almost always seemed negative, regardless of what was he seeing in the data or hearing from scientists he knew. When Covid cases were rising in the U.S., the news coverage emphasized the increase. When cases were falling, the coverage instead focused on those places where cases were rising. And when vaccine research began showing positive results, the coverage downplayed it, as far as Sacerdote could tell. But he was not sure whether his perception was correct. To check, he began working with two other researchers, building a database of Covid coverage from every major network, CNN, Fox News, Politico, The New York Times and hundreds of other sources, in the U.S. and overseas. The results showed that Sacerdote’s instinct had been right. The coverage by U.S. publications with a national audience has been much more negative than coverage by any other source that the researchers analyzed, including scientific journals, major international publications and regional U.S. media. “The most well-read U.S. media are outliers in terms of their negativity,” Molly Cook, a co-author of the study, told me. About 87 percent of Covid coverage in national U.S. media last year was negative. The share was 51 percent in international media, 53 percent in U.S. regional media and 64 percent in scientific journals. Sacerdote is careful to emphasize that he does not think journalists usually report falsehoods. The issue is which facts they emphasize. Still, the new study—which the National Bureau of Economic Research has published as a working paper, titled, “Why is all Covid-19 news bad news?”—calls for some self-reflection from those of us in the media. Sometimes our healthy skepticism can turn into reflexive cynicism, and we end up telling something less than the complete story.

As Europe’s Lockdowns Drag On, Police and Protesters Clash (NYT) In Bristol, an English college town where the pubs are usually packed with students, there were fiery clashes between the police and protesters. In Kassel, a German city known for its ambitious contemporary art festival, the police unleashed pepper spray and water cannons on anti-lockdown marchers. A year after European leaders ordered people into their homes to curb a deadly pandemic, thousands are pouring into streets and squares. Often, they are met by batons and shields, raising questions about the tactics and role of the police in societies where personal liberties have already given way to public health concerns. From Spain and Denmark to Austria and Romania, frustrated people are lashing out at the restrictions on their daily lives. With much of Europe facing a third wave of coronavirus infections that could keep these stifling lockdowns in place weeks or even months longer, analysts warn that tensions on the streets are likely to escalate. In Britain, where the rapid pace of vaccinations has raised hopes for a faster opening of the economy than the government is willing to countenance, frustration over recent police conduct has swelled into a national debate over the legitimacy of the police—one that carries distant echoes of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.

Subterranean playgrounds—and refuge (Atlas Obscura) Thought to be the world’s only city with an underground master plan, Helsinki began excavating tunnels through bedrock in the 1960s to house power lines, sewers and other utilities. City planners quickly realized that the space could also be home to retail, cultural, and sporting attractions—and that it could shelter the city’s population of 630,000 in the event of an invasion from its neighbor to the East, Russia. Today, nearly 200 miles of tunnels snake beneath Helsinki, providing a weatherproof subterranean playground. But hidden behind the bright lights are emergency shelters fitted with life-sustaining equipment: an air filtration system, an estimated two-week supply of food and water, and cots and other comforts. “It’s comfortable and safe,” says Eija Kivilaakso, Helsinki’s chief underground planner. “If it’s raining, you can drive into the city center to an underground car park and go straight into department stores from elevators. You can dress for comfort instead of in cold-weather clothes. If the weather is not comfortable, people choose the underground.”

Cars become home for Spain’s pandemic casualties (AP) When the social worker called to tell Javier Irure that he was being evicted, the 65-year-old Spaniard couldn’t fathom that he could end up homeless after five decades of manual labor. “I grabbed some clothes, a few books and other things, wrapped them up in a bed sheet and told myself, ‘I have one more roof to put over my head: my car,’” Irure said from inside the old Renault Clio compact that has been his shelter for the past three months. Irure belongs to the multitude of economic victims of the coronavirus pandemic. He managed to avoid getting COVID-19, but the labor slowdown caused by restrictions on movement and social activities the Spanish government imposed to control the spread of the virus proved lethal to his financial stability, and he lost his apartment. The pandemic has been particularly hard on Spain’s economy due to its reliance on tourism and the service sector. The country’s left-wing government has maintained a furlough program to reduce the impact, but over a million jobs have been wiped out. Catholic aid organization Cáritas Española said earlier this month that around a half-million more people, or 26% of all its aid recipients, have reached out for help since the start of the pandemic. Like Javier, some are living in their cars.

Writer faces prison after calling Polish president ‘moron’ for confusion over U.S. electoral college (Washington Post) Polish writer Jakub Zulczyk says he is facing up to three years in prison after he called Poland’s president a “moron” for saying he did not understand the U.S. electoral college system. Writing on Facebook on Monday, Zulczyk said that a district prosecutor in Warsaw had filed an indictment, using an article in Poland’s penal code that prohibits insults against the head of state. The writer said he had not been contacted by the prosecutor and had found out about the indictment from a Polish news site. International rights groups have criticized Duda’s ruling Law and Justice party for clamping down on freedom of speech and an independent judiciary. Freedom House, a U.S.-based group, has called Poland’s laws related to insults “harsh” and noted that libel should be a criminal, rather than civil, offense.

Rohingya refugee camp fire (Reuters) A devastating fire that tore through a sprawling Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh killed 15 people and left tens of thousands homeless, the United Nations said Tuesday. More than 550 people were injured and 400 remain missing. The fire began Monday afternoon at Balukhali camp, one of several such settlements in Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh, which is home to nearly 1 million Rohingyas who fled from neighboring Myanmar.

North Korea fires short-range missiles in challenge to Biden administration (Washington Post) North Korea fired off multiple short range missiles last weekend after denouncing Washington for going forward with joint military exercises with South Korea, according to people familiar with the situation. The missile tests, which have not previously been reported, represent North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s first direct challenge to President Biden, whose aides have not yet outlined their approach to the regime’s nuclear threat amid an ongoing review of U.S.-North Korea policy. For weeks, U.S. defense officials warned that intelligence indicated that North Korea might carry out missile tests. The regime elevated its complaints about U.S. military exercises last week when Kim’s sister warned that if the Biden administration “wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink.” The tests put renewed pressure on the United States to develop a strategy to address a nuclear threat that has bedeviled successive Republican and Democratic administrations for decades.

South Koreans Are Furious Over Housing Scandal (NYT) The 10 people bought $8.8 million worth of land in an undeveloped area southwest of Seoul, registering it for farming and planting numerous trees. It’s a common trick used by shady real estate speculators in South Korea: Once the area is taken over for housing development, the developers must pay not only for the land, but the trees, too. A national outrage erupted this month when South Koreans learned that the 10 people were officials from the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH)—the government agency in charge of building new towns and housing—suspected of using privileged information to cash in on government housing development programs. The incident has thrown President Moon Jae-in’s government into crisis mode just weeks before key mayoral elections that are largely seen as a referendum on him and his party ahead of next year’s presidential race. Young South Koreans are saying they are fed up with corruption and the president’s failed policies on runaway housing prices. The LH scandal is now set to become a critical voter issue in Mr. Moon’s final year in office. President after president has promised to make housing more affordable in South Korea, but real-estate prices have kept soaring, undermining public trust.

Massive cargo ship turns sideways, blocks Egypt’s Suez Canal (AP) A cargo container ship that’s among the largest in the world has turned sideways and blocked all traffic in Egypt’s Suez Canal, officials said Wednesday, threatening to disrupt a global shipping system already strained by the coronavirus pandemic. The MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged container ship that carries trade between Asia and Europe, became grounded Tuesday in the narrow, man-made waterway dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. An Egyptian official blamed a strong wind in the area for the incident. Egyptian forecasters said high winds and a sandstorm plagued the area Tuesday, with winds gusting as much as 50 kph (31 mph). The Egyptian official said tugboats hoped to refloat the ship and that the operation would take at least two days. The Ever Given, built in 2018 with a length of nearly 400 meters (a quarter mile) and a width of 59 meters (193 feet), is among the largest cargo ships in the world. It can carry some 20,000 containers at a time. About 12% of world trade by volume passes through the canal connecting Europe and Asia.

Work affects bosses, workers differently (Bloomberg) A new survey of 30,000 workers in 31 countries by the popular gaming and social networking service Microsoft found that 61 percent of business leaders said that they were striving, while just 39 percent said they were surviving or struggling. That 61 percent living their best life is markedly out of step with the entire rest of society—23 percentage points higher than the average worker—where 54 percent said they are overworked, 39 percent described themselves as exhausted, and straight up 41 percent of people said they are considering just leaving their jobs, a level of burnout not seen before.

#headlines #news

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malgal7777 · 3 years

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Hiking with Tracy 2021: Week 2 - 1/10 thru 1/17 training.

Week 2 down and what a week it was! Started out fairly mellow. The hikes within the first weekend included two very familiar local beauties: Point Pinole and Sibley Volcanic Regional Park. These two are my personal favorite stomping grounds. Hiking the perimeter of Point Pinole is always a pleasure. A easy 3 mile perimeter walk with views across the water of Marin to start and Vallejo/Martinez to end. Gorgeous moss covered trees within the peninsula and plenty of bird wildlife to adore as you walk. So serene and calming. It is my happy place. Sibley is a bit rockier and tons of inclines to keep you sweating. The mileage here is up to you. You can do a 1 mile loop or switch back on trails and do 8 miles! I used to just do the Loop top, not aware that a whole expanse of land lay right in front of me. I just had to go through the cattle gate (at the time, I didn’t realize you were allowed past those gates). And it was like walking into Xanadu! It had just rained (I LOVE hiking in the California rain) so the rolling hills were nothing but lush greenery. I honestly remember my gasp of astonishment. An acknowledgment of what I had been missing!

Both of these parks are also off-leash dog parks. So bring your best friend(s), I always do. My dogs are definitely off-leashers. They get hives when I try to put their collars on. They’re quite a team, not much into other dogs, they like to explore, dig and run, run, run!!

But, the most notable thing about these hikes this week is I wasn’t alone. I had company! My West Coast “G” accompanied me at Point Pinole and Ms. Lisa V joined me at Sibley. Can I just say that when you’re among good company time does fly. I couldn’t believe how fast we marched through these parks. I guess I’m usually daydreaming about the beautiful skies and what I’m going to do with all that money when I win the Powerball...hmmm. Sorry, I digressed! It’s a great way to catch up with friends. The fresh air definitely allows a person to open up and talk. Which I feel is a very cathartic release (am I using that word correctly?). It’s been a pretty stressful year for EVERYONE. There’s not one person on this planet who hasn't been affected by the pandemic one way or another. Fresh air is the great reliever. So, if you’re feeling the stress, just walk out your door and BREATHE!!

The week itself, I am proud to say, was filled with a couple of victories! I introduced running back into my routine to help with building endurance. The goal was to run for 30 minutes straight without stopping. So, I slapped on some headphones and ran around a 4 block radius in the neighborhood, doing a big loop. Now, between you & me, I think I walk/hike faster than I actually “run”. I’m pretty slow. I actually think I saw an old woman pass me while taking her dog for their morning walk. AND the first two times I did not make the 30 minutes. First time, 17 minutes, tops - and I stopped not once, but a few times in between. But, I was determined so I got back out there and the second time, 25 minutes - and I stopped not once, but a few times. But they are not kidding when they say “Third time’s a charm!” because on my third outing, I DID IT! 30 minutes, continually running. AND I got 5,000 steps before 8am! Which lead to my other victory, which was I made over (sometimes way over) 10,000 steps 6 out of 7 days!! I was very proud of myself.

So, the second weekend hikes were NOT so mellow. I think I may have killed my family. We were going to check out the Palo Alto park that just opened to the general public in December, Foothills Park. I guess the rich people have been keeping the riff-raff out for decades. The ACLU sued and prevailed and now hordes of the middle class are stretching their legs on hollowed wealthy ground!! From reports I’ve been reading, it’s quite nice. But, we’re going to wait on that one. Everyone is heading there, so they close the gates early and there’s nothing worse than hiking with too many people on the trail anyway. Pretty much what you’re trying to get away from. But note rich folks of Palo Alto...the Alberts will be back! (maniacal laugh; maniacal laugh)!!

So we headed to the East side of the bay to Sunol Regional Wilderness. WOW! Fantastic. I’ve been here before. It’s the regional park with a couple of really cool rock formations: Cave Rock and Little Yosemite. Don’t get too excited when you read “Little Yosemite”. If Yosemite was your whole body, Little Yosemite in Sunol Regional Wilderness is your pinky fingernail. Not to say it’s not beautiful, because it is, it’s just “Little Yosemite” is a bit misleading. That’s just one person’s view, you do not have to agree with it. Also, when we arrived, there was a East Bay Hiking Challenge happening in the regional parks so the parking lot was PACKED!! Luckily we found a spot pretty quickly but now there were tons of people around and they were all heading towards, yup you guessed it, Little Yosemite. So the Alberts headed onto another trail near the car and what a delight! No people. Beautiful trail along the Alameda creek and spectacular views. I wanted to do the full loop but we got ourselves into quite an incline that just WOULD NOT STOP. Up, up, up...That’s when the Alberts broke down and the mutiny began. Do we continue? The trail down has got to be within the next turn. I wanted to continue, but my poor family was done. Even the dogs were done. We had to start carrying 13 year old Stella, our chihuahua. I think she actually fell asleep in our arms! They of course, were right. No need to kill ourselves and the dogs and by the time we got back to the car we had done 5.5 miles up a very steep incline. So it was a success.

On Sunday, I was on a reconnaissance mission for one of my April routes, the Bay Trail that runs from Emeryville to Richmond. My goal in April is to go all the way to Richmond and back. Sunday, I made it to the Albany bulb and back, which was a total of 10 miles!! Let’s just say, my dogs are barking! I started the trail with my bestie Sarah and her dog Tyson. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be walking along the water with friends. Sarah & Tyson got their steps in and then left me to get my walk on. Since the sounds of traffic aren’t exactly rewarding, I put on my headphones and the dulcet tones of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast Revitionist History filled my mind with tons of “what ifs...”. By the end of the walk I was grooving to the Dr. John Pandora station and Professor Longhair was urging me to “get my Red Beans cooking”.

It’s going to be hard to beat this week. But, I aim to please so stay tuned for me to get my “Red Beans cooking”!

Remember if you can, please support Oakland Public schools by sponsoring me at: https://runsignup.com/tracyalbert

Better yet, register yourself and create your own personal goal at Ride 4 Reason: https://rideforareason.weebly.com

#hikingwithtracy2021

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amygeeunit · 4 years

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The Quarantine Chronicles: These Last Five Years & What I Thought I Wanted

There’s nothing like being alone in your own thoughts at 1:00am in the midst of a global pandemic... Instead of aimlessly scrolling through my Instagram timeline or checking my bank account with all the money I have saved from not going out, I’ve had time to think about what the 28 year old, almost 29 year old Amy needs versus wants...

I think in high school or at some point in our lives we have all fallen victim to “By the time I’m age this, I want to have x, y and z.” At 16, I thought at 25 I would have my life 85% figured out. Pretty funny concept now that you think about it, right? I actually laugh at how naive or how troublesome it is to have these unrealistic goals and tag an age onto them... I pictured myself living in a nice apartment, potentially dating someone, or if not just focusing on my career. Fast forward to 2020, besides this year being a complete clusterf*ck, I’ve had extra time to sit down and think of these last five years in a nutshell.

All I remember from 2015 was going to Vegas, still working in retail, having foot surgery and getting into CSUF. The rest is foggy because it’s been five years. Huh? I thought 2015 was last year...

2016 seemed to be one of my better years. I started at CSUF, went to Iceland, interned at Rastaclat, ended up getting a job at Rastaclat, entered into my first serious relationship, moved back out to Orange County and felt like at 24 - 25 I was killing the game (or so I thought.)

2017 wasn’t too bad. I graduated from CSUF in the spring, went to Oahu, continued on in my relationship and spent a majority of my time focusing on my career.

2018 is when life started to get real interesting. My pup, Ben G, passed away while I was out in Illinois visiting my cousin (long story to save for another post,) I started a new job at Pretty Great LLC, traveled to escape 99% of the time, started taking birth control that made me bloated, emotional and feel weird and moved back to Moreno Valley. During this time, my relationship started to crumble due to lack of communication, the wave of grief I was experiencing and everything in else in between that couples go through. I started going to therapy in July and in August, I had my first panic attack. In September, I decided I needed to get as far away from my life as possible. I booked a flight to Japan to visit Sarah since she was stationed out in Yokosuka. Yokosuka has a naval base and is about an hour from Tokyo. I talked to my boss at work a few weeks prior and asked for a week and a half off. Luckily, he was one of the most understanding and best people I have ever worked for in my career so far. Most bosses would have told you to “Get over it” or “Figure it out.” Rob Myers was a saving grace for me that year for letting me have my time off to not think about life.

While I was in Japan, I remember the time change messing me up quite a bit. I think it took around three days for me to finally be okay without passing out in the middle of the day. In short, this trip changed me. It changed how I traveled, it changed how I process emotions, it changed my outlook on life, it changed many things for me. I came back from this trip and my relationship was virtually over. I didn’t know how to feel, I didn’t know what to do, it just sort of fizzled like a candle using its last part of the wick. October came and I spent my birthday in Big Bear with my parents. I remember crying in the cabin when we got back from Octoberfest. I don’t think it really hit me that I was single, with no friends around and that 27 was already a shit show on day 1. I visited my best guy friend and his sisters in Arizona at the end of October to make up for the previous weekend. I had no idea that November could get any worse for me, but it did. It was two days before Thanksgiving, November 20th, 2018.

I was driving from Moreno Valley to Santa Ana one morning on my way to work. I took my normal route, left at my normal time, a pretty standard commute. About 2 miles from work, I was at a stop light. At this stop light I waited for about 30 seconds while the other cars went. The light turned green. As I was pressing my gas to accelerate, out of nowhere, a semi truck plows its way through the intersection and t-bones my driver’s side. I remember screaming. I remember it being like a scene from a Final Destination movie where the victim doesn’t know that death or uncertainty is upon them. In that moment, I remember thinking “This is it.” My reflexes shifted real quick and that was it. I remember pulling off to the side of the road leading up to the 5 freeway. I felt like my soul left my body for seconds then came back. I was shaking. I called my dad first and let him know what had happened. I called my mom and then the insurance company. I exchanged words and information with the driver. I remember being upset, but I couldn’t yell or get any words out. I just went by the protocol of what to do when you get involved with an accident. Sure, I have been rear ended before, but never t-boned and let alone by a damn semi truck. This accident passed, I was awarded some half ass money and in the midst of it all, I remember being so mentally drained that I cried out for help on Instagram Stories... I remember going through survivors guilt. I remember saying to myself “Why am I still here? There are people that die in accidents or by drunk/distracted drivers all the time... Why do I still have to live this life of pain and suffering?” In my mind and in 2018, I never knew how to take pain and suffering very well. I didn’t know it would shape me for what these next couple years would throw at me.

December came and went. It was like a sigh of relief for me to know that the vicious cycle of the 2018 rollercoaster was coming to an end. At this point, I kind of gave zero f*cks as to what happened in life. A few days before Christmas, I visited my Grandma in Illinois and my grandparents’ grave site. I think my trip to Illinois was some type of closure to my 2018 year. I hadn’t been back to Illinois since my Grandma’s funeral in 2011. It was a cold and frigid trip. It was the first trip I had ever driven by myself. The only cool thing was running into Ja Rule at the Palm Springs Airport (before the Fyre Festival documentary came out, otherwise I would have yelled at him.) He was on my flight to Chicago. Jeffrey Atkins, you sneaky motherfucker, you! How I wish I would have known about you tricking people with that one guy... I ordered a “Survived 2018″ crewneck from this small online business store, went to Disneyland with my mom on Christmas and threw caution to the wind.

2019 was interesting, but not as heavy as 2018. I called 2019 the year where I “rushed to get back to normalcy.” I realized the commute to PG was getting tiring pretty fast, I accepted being single and got back into dance. Dance saved my life, point blank. Whether it was subbing, teaching, training or being on a team, it brought back a sense of joy and also established new friendships along the way. I started a job at a marketing agency in March 2019 that was a short commute and about 6 months in, I realized this was something I wasn’t a fan of. It took me a while to realize that that was okay to feel uneasy about the jobs I once knew.

If I had to rate 2019 on a point scale, I would say it was a 6/10. I felt like the last few months I was suppose to be back to normal and healed from a lot of things I kept to myself. Dating people was weird because 1. I felt behind. What I mean by that was I thought by age 27 - 28, I would have met my “person,” by now. As I seen other friends get proposed to, plan their weddings and start their families, I started to feel like the odd woman out. Was there something wrong with me? Am I that complicated or hard to love? Are my values not aligning with people I like? Am I going to be that person that gets married at 40 or even at all? Will I always be the friend and not the potential girlfriend or wife? Who knows? 2. The reciprocity factor of it all and setting boundaries. 3. I don’t think I ever got over everything that had happened in my first relationship because we never cheated on each other, our trust when out without each other was never questioned and there was a best friend component in it. I was filled with regret, frustration and memories I forced myself to black out even after going to therapy and journaling it. Fact: I dread my birthday each year. I don’t like my birthday in general, but October I have mixed emotions about. The anniversary of my Grandma’s death is on 10/13, my Grandpa’s birthday is 10/14 and my birthday is 10/20. I spent the last couple months of 2019 drinking more than usual, especially after my friend, Beka, passed away suddenly in November. December came and went. I had my first trip to Puerto Vallarta and enjoyed some much needed beach time. I had this “idea” that I would move to the east coast with Sarah because I wanted to start over. That idea went out the window. I ended 2019 with buying a new car after having paid off my Kia Forte back in 2016.

It’s now 2020 and boy... It has been a shit show for the world I feel like. I can’t even begin to describe what a rollercoaster of emotions everyone is feeling right now, but I do have one word for me personally: gratitude. I started off the year so uneasy with finding out my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer again for a second time. I remember going into February with no expectations, yet I had expectations (weird right?) Without going into too much detail I felt like that quote by DJ Khaled saying “Congratulations, you played ya self!” I was constantly frantic about work, friendships, relationships, my future, dance, my parents, basically everything. I was a walking, talking ball of stress. March came around and I downloaded Bumble (yup, I went there) and matched with a really nice guy who actually knew two of my nurse friends. Then, COVID-19 was in full effect in the states and suddenly the idea of dating or wanting any kind of human interaction made me cringe... I had to politely excuse myself and move on. I checked in on friends and they checked in on me.

I’ve spent more time with my parents, more time on myself and then it finally clicked: I am where I need to be in this exact moment. I don’t want to date anyone in quarantine, I don’t want to understand or have expectations for another human like I’ve been searching for these last 6 months. What the fuck, Amy? You are everything you need right now and it is not in another person. I’ve danced in quarantine, I’ve cried in quarantine, I’ve laughed in quarantine, I’ve journaled in quarantine, I’ve found myself again in quarantine. As easy as it sounds for most people, the concept is quite large. Since I was 18 years old, I have ALWAYS wanted to live by myself and try it out. It’s ten years later and in the midst of this uncertain time period, I know that 2020 is the year that I finally accomplish this. So, in short, 2021 I’ll be back on the “dating” field or whatever, but 2020 is my year to literally work. on. myself. This includes: my relationship with myself, my relationship with my friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers, etc., my health regiment, my mental health, my physical health, my emotional health, I think you get the point, right? In a time where some of us feel alone, I feel secure. My days vary and maybe I’ll post something tomorrow where I say “That post was trash, quarantine was terrible,” and while it is on most days, I’m so grateful to connect more deeply with people on a spiritual and conversational level. I was tired of hiding behind my day-to-day busy routine when I finally came to terms with myself.

We are all in this together. We are all processing what we need and want. I use this blog as a way to express and share what so many people keep to themselves. Maybe you can relate, maybe you think I’m too out there. Either way, to each their own.

Until next time.

#quarantine #quarantinechronicles #bloggingfromquarantine

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csnews · 5 years

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As More Diverted Floodwaters Head Their Way, Dolphins Keep Dying in Louisiana

Julie Dermansky - May 10, 2019

As an unprecedented amount of floodwater makes its way down the Mississippi River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway for the second time this year. Done to prevent New Orleans from being flooded, the action marks the first time the spillway, which diverts the Mississippi’s nutrient- and pollutant-heavy freshwater into Lake Pontchatrain, has been opened twice in the same year.

The historic opening of the spillway is happening in the midst of an ongoing and mysterious dolphin die-off in the Gulf of Mexico and the same week that the United Nations released its most comprehensive report on the state of biodiversity.

The report warns that the rate species are going extinct is speeding up and can only be slowed by simultaneously combating climate change and directly protecting species and their habitats. But in Louisiana, despite more frequent and intense extreme weather and the current dolphin die-off, the local, state, and federal governments are showing little political appetite to deal with either.

Only yesterday the Corps announced it would open the spillway again this year, but quickly moved up the planned date of May 14 to May 10 after regional rainfall caused the Mississippi River to rise 6 inches in 24 hours, with more rain expected this weekend.

The diverted freshwater will make its way from Lake Pontchartrain to the Breton and Mississippi Sounds, where a dolphin die-off is underway. The Breton Sound, a fish- and oyster-rich estuary where salt and freshwater meet, is located about 35 miles southeast of New Orleans and leads into the Gulf of Mexico. Historically, freshwater from the Mississippi River fed the sounds, but devices like locks and dams have drastically reduced the water flow into them over the years, creating more brackish environments than normal. These water-control mechanisms, created to protect human developments along the Mississippi River, allow for controlled releases such as the one today.

A Meeting Postponed

This morning, May 10, inclement weather postponed a meeting scheduled for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the lead agency investigating the dolphin deaths to meet with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF); the Army Corps of Engineers; the National Audubon Society; and local officials and fishermen in St. Bernard Parish to discuss how to respond to the dolphin die-off.

“Everything is weather-related in Louisiana,” said Randy Myers of LDWF when he alerted me of the postponed meeting. His comment comes off as particularly poignant in a state where climate science deniers continue to govern as if humankind's role in climate change were insignificant.

On May 1, Gov. John Bel Edwards tripled-down on climate denial at the Grow Louisiana Coalition “Oil and Natural Gas Industry Day” in Baton Rouge. Edwards acknowledges that the climate is changing but diverges from mainstream climate science by saying he is unsure what humanity's role is. His stance is echoed by his administration’s efforts to welcome new oil and gas industry projects in the state, including numerous petrochemical plants.

‘This is not normal’

George Ricks, a fishing charter boat captain, and founder of The Save Louisiana Coalition, was disappointed that the meeting with NOAA was canceled. He and other fishermen in St. Bernard Parish have taken to monitoring the recent dolphin die-off on their own. I accompanied him on a monitoring trip on May 7. We found three dead dolphins in three hours.

“This is not normal,” Ricks said, visibly upset when our boat approached each dolphin. In the 52 years he has been out on the water in this area, he had only come across two dead dolphins, and those were likely killed by boat strikes, he told me. This year he started spotting dead dolphins on April 10. Two were found within two miles of each other. Since then, he has documented 36 dead dolphins, including the three we found that day.

Ricks cringes when he hears people talk about how natural it is for freshwater from the river to come into the estuary. “If the Mississippi River was a babbling brook, we would be OK,” he says, “but we are talking about the second-most polluted river in the United States, loaded with benzene, mercury, phosphates, nitrates, all the fertilizer from farming practices — the same river causing the dead zone in the gulf every year, but that is what we have emptying into our estuaries, and this is the result of it. These animals just can’t take it.” For oystermen, the opening of the spillway is always a cause for concern because it leads to plummeting water salinity levels as the freshwater suddenly dilutes the estuary’s brackish waters, which can kill the oysters they harvest.

Watching for Impacts

Today, an LDWF press release said the agency is continuing to monitor the area’s fish and wildlife, an effort began with the first spillway’s opening on Febuary 25. It is monitoring Louisiana’s oyster, shrimp, and crab populations, as well as impacts to federally managed marine mammals and sea turtles.

“It is likely some oyster beds will see an impact, especially if salinities remain low and water temperatures rise,” said Patrick Banks, LDWF Assistant Secretary for Fisheries, “but we are confident that the areas will be able to rebound just as Mother Nature intended.”

St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis declared a state of emergency today due to the second spillway opening because it will impact hundreds of his parish’s residents who depend on the local seafood industry. The parish government wrote in a statement on its social media page that preliminary feedback from the LDWF suggesets the dolphins might be suffering from freshwater lesions due to the Bonnet Carre Spillway’s openings, but the science isn’t conclusive on the die-off’s cause. Ricks doesn't think enough is being done to uncover the cause of the dolphins’ demise. He wonders if politics are preventing an aggressive investigation into the die-off and believes that if the public became aware that the river’s water is implicated in killing dolphins, then public opinion might turn against the diversion projects, which are key to the state’s Coastal Master Plan to rebuild and protect Louisiana’s diminished coast.

These projects, the proposed Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton sediment diversions, are part of the state's plan to reduce coastal land loss. While the projects have wide support, they required a waiver from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, to all construction without further study of whether they will harm marine mammals, including dolphins.

I asked the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries when it last monitored the dolphin die-off situation. Myers told me the agency is activity monitoring but couldn't tell me the specifically the last time the agency checked in the Breton Sound. With more Mississippi River water headed that way, Ricks plans to keep a watchful eye on the area, with or without the help of government agencies.

A Glimpse of the Future?

Criticism of the two proposed diversion projects comes mostly from oystermen and charter boat operators but the projects’ supporters readily dismiss the criticism, saying the state has to do something to protect and rebuild the disappearing coast. Louisiana has been losing coastal land for decades due to damage done by the oil and gas industry, extreme weather events and sea level rise worsened by climate change and subsidence, among other causes.

Ricks insists he isn’t just opposing the sediment diversions because the projects will impact his business. He also points to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers report, released in March, on managing the Lower Mississippi River Delta. According to this report, “the morphologic modeling results for the diversion scenario analyses show net land gain in the near vicinity of the diversion outlets and net land loss farther away from the outlets.” In other words, these types of projects would likely build the same amount of land in one area that they erode elsewhere.

Ricks sees the report as a vindication of his belief that the sediment diversion projects could end up destroying as much land as they create.

Warnings Coming True

In March, NOAA forecasters noted the high risk of “major flooding due to well-above-normal precipitation, snowmelt, saturated soils, and frozen ground” in areas feeding the Mississippi River this spring.

And this week, NOAA reported that 313 river gauges across the United States showed levels above flood stage. All but five of those gauges were in the U.S. heartland, mostly within the Mississippi River watershed.

Just last year federal scientists warned that impacts to the Gulf of Mexico region, such as worsening floods, heat waves, and sea level rise, will intensify as the globe continues warming. While a global chorus of scientists say there is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, that time is quickly running out.

#news #wild #death #cetacean #dolphin

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bountyofbeads · 5 years

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Gunman in Dayton Had History of Threatening Women, Former Friends Say https://nyti.ms/2T7A0DV

Gunman in Dayton Had History of Threatening Women, Former Friends Say

By Campbell Robertson, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Timothy Williams | Published Aug. 5, 2019 | New York Times | Posted August 6, 2019 |

DAYTON, Ohio — The police on Monday were still trying to determine what motivated a gunman in Dayton to kill his sister and eight others, but people who grew up with him were conducting a different kind of investigation, looking back for any signs that might have foreshadowed his explosion of violence.

For more than a few, and for women in particular, these signs were not hard to find.

“I don’t want to say I saw it coming,” said Mika Carpenter, 24, who met the gunman, Connor Betts, 24, at a summer camp when they were both 13. “But if it was going to be anybody it was going to be him.”

Like others who knew Mr. Betts as a teenager, Ms. Carpenter recalled his dark and often violent jokes, including riffs about “bodily harm” that led many to keep their distance.

“He was kind of hateful to women because they didn’t want to date him,” she said. Still, she became friends with him because, she said, she saw that he had a good side.

Mr. Betts often expressed concerns to her about having dark thoughts, she said.

“I remember specifically him talking about being scared of the thoughts that he had, being scared that he had violent thoughts,” said Ms. Carpenter, who cut off contact with him in 2013 after he lashed out at her during an online chat. “He knew it wasn’t normal.”

The police in Dayton were quick to caution on Monday that much about the shooting early Sunday morning was still unknown. There was still no clear motive, nor an understanding of how three people — Mr. Betts, his sister and a mutual friend — all went out together and one ended up shooting the other two. The friend, who has not been named by the police, was shot in his lower torso but survived; the sister, Megan Betts, 22, was killed.

“It seems to just defy believability that he would shoot his own sister,” said Dayton’s police chief, Richard Biehl, at a news briefing on Monday morning. “But it’s also hard to believe he didn’t recognize that was his sister, so we just don’t know.”

On Saturday night, the three drove together to the Oregon District, a stretch of bars and clubs that is usually crowded on weekends. They separated at one point but remained in touch, the chief said. The police have no indication that the sister or mutual friend knew about the weapons Mr. Betts would later use in the shooting.

Mr. Betts fatally shot one person in an alleyway before turning his fire on his sister and their friend, the police have said. Nine people were killed and at least 27 others were wounded, including 14 who were shot. Others had cuts and injuries from the stampede of fleeing people.

The police said on Monday that Mr. Betts had purchased an AR-style pistol online from Texas, but had modified the gun with a pistol brace to improve stability. He also had a drum magazine that could hold 100 rounds, the police said.

Mr. Betts had up to 250 rounds of ammunition and fired at least 41 shots, Chief Biehl said. Six officers fired a total of 65 rounds at the gunman, killing him as he tried to enter a bar, where many people had taken refuge when the shooting began.

“I ran, I got trampled, I lost my shoes,” said Jessica Westover, 23, who was among the hundreds of people who gathered on Sunday night at a crowded vigil in the Oregon District. They mourned the dead and cheered the actions of emergency medical workers, but some also expressed anger over inaction on gun control.

When Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, stepped to the microphone to say a few words, some shouted “Do something!” and drowned out his remarks. A chant soon broke out: “What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!”

Mr. DeWine planned to hold a news conference on Tuesday morning to announce proposals to address gun violence and mental illness.

For many who grew up alongside Mr. Betts in the quiet Dayton suburbs, the shooting had summoned uneasy memories.

“He wanted to scare people, he really enjoyed it,” said Hannah Shows, who became friends with Mr. Betts when they were in the seventh grade. She recalled his talk of guns and gore, but chalked it up at the time to his being a 13-year-old boy.

But in ninth grade, Ms. Shows discovered she was named on a list that Mr. Betts had made of people in the school. The list threatened violence or sexual violence toward those who were on it, most of them girls, said Ben Seitz, 25, whose girlfriend at the time was also included.

Ms. Shows said she was never told the details about the threats, but the principal had asked her, “Is there any reason he would want to hurt you?”

Ms. Shows said she had assumed she was on the list because Mr. Betts had expressed interest in her and she turned him down. “After that, it turned into cold hatred the way he stared at me,” she said.

“People knew he was this way,” she said. “A lot of people could have helped, but no one did anything about it.”

Asked about the list from high school, Chief Biehl said that, even if the reports were true, he would be wary about making any connections.

“I’m a little bit reluctant, even if there’s such evidence, to interpret it 10 years later as somehow this is indicative of what happened yesterday,” he said.

At a brief talk with reporters later on Monday, the chief said he expected the investigation to be lengthy. Detectives were continuing to look at phones, computers and videos to understand what happened and why, though he added that there was no evidence that the shooting was a hate crime.

“I think there will be some familiar themes that will emerge from this investigation, so it will not be a surprise in some regard,” Chief Biehl said. “I think there are some unique aspects of it that we perhaps have not seen in other shootings.”

He declined to say what those unique aspects might be.

Here Are the Nine People Killed in Seconds in Dayton

The gunman’s victims ranged from a graduate student to a grandfather, a young mother to longtime friends.

By Farah Stockman and Adeel Hassan |

Published Aug. 5, 2019 | New York Times | Posted August 6, 2019 |

Two were friends from work, enjoying a night on the town. One had recently given birth and was finally getting out of the house. Another had just gotten a new job at a place he loved.

The crowd outside the Ned Peppers bar in Dayton, Ohio, had much to celebrate on Saturday night and the small hours of Sunday morning. But in an instant, their festivities turned into deadly chaos as a gunman clad in black opened fire with a military-style rifle and a large-capacity magazine. Nine lives were cut down and 27 more people were injured in a matter of seconds before police officers shot and killed the gunman.

Those who died left behind at least eight children, and countless friends, co-workers, classmates and family members struggling to grasp how so much could be lost so senselessly. Here is what we have learned about each of them.

Megan Betts

Ms. Betts, 22, was the younger sister of the gunman, Connor Betts. She attended Wright State University, a commuter school in the Dayton area, where she studied earth sciences and was expected to graduate next year. The university posted a message on Facebook offering counseling services to students.

Ms. Betts was a graduate of Bellbrook High School, where she played in the marching band along with her brother. Another former member of the band, Alex Gerbic, recalled her as very outgoing and kind. “She was a very bubbly personality,” Mr. Gerbic said.

According to a résumé she posted on LinkedIn, Ms. Betts spent much of the summer in Montana working as a tour guide at the Missoula Smokejumper Visitor Center. Last summer, she supervised children’s water activities at an urban park, according to Trish Butler, director of marketing and community engagement for Five Rivers MetroParks in Dayton. She also worked at Bed Bath & Beyond and Pier One.

Monica Brickhouse

Local media outlets reported that Ms. Brickhouse, 39, grew up in Springfield, about 20 miles from Dayton. She lived in Virginia Beach for a time, where she worked for Anthem, the health insurance company, according to WAVY, a television station in Portsmouth, Va. The station reported that Ms. Brickhouse had recently transferred to Dayton to work for Anthem from home.

At the time of the shooting, Ms. Brickhouse was out with a friend and co-worker, Beatrice Warren-Curtis, who also was killed. Anthem’s chief executive, Gail Boudreaux, sent a memo to the company’s employees describing the two women as dear friends “known for their positive energy,” according to the TV station.

A Facebook user, Brittany Hart, posted on Sunday that she had been close with both women and was shocked at their loss. In her post, Ms. Hart remembered Ms. Brickhouse as “like another aunt to me” and someone “I always wanted to tag along with.”

Thomas J. McNichols

Mr. McNichols, also known as Teejay, was 25. He was the father of two girls and two boys, and was living with his aunt in the Westwood neighborhood of Dayton.

“He loved to have fun, and every time I seen him, he was either laughing or smiling,” said Jevin Lamar, a cousin of Mr. McNichols who grew up in Dayton and has since moved to Los Angeles. “At family events, he was playing kickball. He was a great father, a great brother. He was a protector. He protected his family. He protected his sisters. He just was just happy.”

Lois L. Oglesby

Ms. Oglesby, 27, was the mother of a 6-year-old daughter and a newborn girl, according to a message posted by the Miami Valley Community Action partnership, where Ms. Oglesby’s mother has worked for almost 23 years. The agency is collecting funds for funeral costs as well as the long-term care of Ms. Oglesby’s two children.

According to The Dayton Daily News, she worked at a day care center, and grew up attending church and going to drill team. She was a former student at Sinclair Community College.

Nicholas P. Cumer

Mr. Cumer, 25, had just five more days to go in his internship at Maple Tree Cancer Alliance in Dayton, the final requirement for his master’s degree in exercise physiology from St. Francis University in Pennsylvania. Then he planned to take a permanent position that Maple Tree had offered him.

“He really wanted to spend the rest of his life working with cancer patients,” said Karen Wonders, Maple Tree’s executive director. “Most 25-year-olds don’t think that way.”

Two colleagues had just bought a house and were celebrating on Saturday, and they took Mr. Cumer along to show him the best his new home city had to offer. “If you’re going to go out in Dayton, that’s where you’re going to go,” Ms. Wonders said of the Oregon district, where the shooting took place. The two colleagues were injured in the shooting.

The Maple Tree Cancer Alliance guides patients through exercise sessions during their treatment, and Mr. Cumer, who had worked full time since May, was responsible for 20 patients.

“One of the things that stands out about Nick is that for every single one of his patients, he made them feel that they were the most important person in the world,” Ms. Wonders said. “That’s not something you can teach.”

Working with cancer patients, “we’re accustomed to heartbreak,” Ms. Wonders said of her staff. “We’ve lost some very special people — patients — to us this year. What caught people off guard is, now it’s one of our own. We’re the ones who are strong for everybody else. Now the tables are turned.”

Derrick R. Fudge

Mr. Fudge, 57, spent the last day of his life with his entire family — all 100 of them — at a cookout by a reservoir in Springfield.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us — now it’s the best memory,” said Twyla Southall, his younger sister. “He was sitting at the table, laughing, eating and drinking.”

Mr. Fudge was with his son and 10-year-old granddaughter, whose house was devastated by a recent tornado in the area, Ms. Southall said. They had just repaired the home, and Mr. Fudge was looking forward to painting the girl’s room.

“We were actually celebrating an aunt’s victory over cancer,” Ms. Southall said on Monday after visiting a funeral home to make arrangements for a service on Aug. 10. “She’s not sick anymore, but it wasn’t her that we would have to worry about.”

Mr. Fudge, who grew up in Springfield with two sisters and three brothers, worked as a cook at several restaurants, Ms. Southall said. When he was a child, she recalled, he was hit by a train while playing, and lost three toes.

On Saturday night, he had gone out in Dayton with his son to celebrate a friend’s birthday. His son escaped without injury. “He loved life and he loved his family,” Ms. Southall said of her brother.

Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis

Ms. Warren-Curtis, 36, grew up in Wilmington, Del., and had moved to Virginia, where she worked in the Virginia Beach office of Anthem, the health insurance company. She was in Dayton visiting a co-worker and close friend, Monica Brickhouse, who also was killed in the shooting.

“She loved her family, especially her mom; she enjoyed traveling to watch her nephew play basketball and hanging out with her niece,” recalled her friend Lakisha Jarrett. “She loved to go to the football games to see her favorite team play, the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Ms. Jarrett said that she met Ms. Warren-Curtis, or Nikki, as her friends called her, in 2000 when they both worked at Coleman & Associates in Norfolk, Va.

“We instantly clicked,” Ms. Jarrett said. “She touched many lives with her presence. You were guaranteed a laugh or two, and maybe even three, if she was around. She was just full of life.”

Friends mourned her on Facebook as someone of strong religious faith who loved traveling. She posted photos of herself walking a beach in Cancún. When the film “Black Panther” came out, she posted that she would take children to see the film if their mothers could not afford tickets.

“Living life as He has designed for me to do!” she wrote. “I am who I am! Confident never cocky!”

Saeed Saleh

Saeed Saleh, 38, grew up in Eritrea and emigrated to Ohio about three years ago, according to Yahya Khamis, a leader of the Sudanese community in Dayton, which assists Eritrean immigrants, most of whom are recent arrivals. “Most of the Eritreans have been in Sudan,” Mr. Khamis said. “We understand each other. We speak the same language.”

Mr. Saleh lived in Dayton with his wife and a young daughter, while two other children live in Eritrea with his mother, Mr. Khamis said. Like many African immigrants, he said, Mr. Saleh held down several jobs, working at a warehouse and driving for a car service.

The Oregon district of Dayton, where the shooting took place, is a magnet for drivers looking for fares, and Mr. Khamis said he believed that was probably what Mr. Saleh was doing there on Saturday night when the gunfire broke out.

“He was a very good guy, he was very quiet,” Mr. Khamis said, adding that on Sunday, he had spent time with the family. “His wife was crying all day, and they had a lot of pictures with him and his daughter.”

Logan Turner

Logan Turner, 30, worked as a machinist operating computer-controlled tools at the Thaler Machine Company in Springboro, about 12 miles south of Dayton. After three years on the job, he had already gained a reputation as one of Thaler’s top employees, according to Greg Donson, the president of the company.

Mr. Turner was earning an associate degree at a vocational school and working as server at the Whiskey Barrel Saloon when Mr. Donson met and recruited him. Mr. Donson said Mr. Turner soon distinguished himself as an intelligent, hard worker with a good attitude.

“He was quickly working his way to the top,” Mr. Donson said. “A very positive person, with a big smile. Just a great guy.”

The governor of Ohio pushed for a ‘red flag’ law after the Dayton shooting.

(THIS IS NOT ENOUGH, BAN WEAPONS OF WAR, LARGE CAPACITY MAGAZINES AND UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS. ANYTHING LESS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH)

Two days after being drowned out by shouts of “Do something!” at a vigil for mass shooting victims in Dayton, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio announced proposals on Tuesday that he said could reduce such shootings and limit gun access for people with mental health problems.

Mr. DeWine proposed adopting a version of a “red flag” law, which would allow the authorities to take firearms from a person deemed by a court to be dangerous.

He also said he would ask the General Assembly to pass a law requiring background checks for all firearm sales in the state, with some exceptions, including gifts between family members.

Mr. DeWine, a Republican endorsed by the National Rifle Association, encountered an angry, grieving crowd Sunday evening in Dayton, where nine people were killed in an entertainment district by a gunman with a history of misogyny and violent threats. Mr. DeWine was delivering condolences when his speech was interrupted with chants of “Do something!” that made it impossible to hear the governor. Later, some in the crowd chanted “What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!”

Mr. DeWine, who took office in January, had previously spoken in support of red flag legislation, but the Republican-led Legislature never took up the proposal.

His latest ideas could face skepticism from both sides of the political divide: Democrats are unlikely to find the proposals sweeping enough, and Republicans lawmakers are often loath to consider any legislation that would curb gun rights.

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olycam · 5 years

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March 2 - A time you were proud of yourself? A time you were ashamed of yourself?

OK. I’m running a little behind. Have had a busy couple of days.

For a time when I was proud of myself, it doesn’t happen often. My issues, of course. But this really didn’t hit until after everything settled out.

It was a few years ago. I had been with <redacted> for about a year as a contractor and was making a bit of a reputation for my talents. I was working in the NOC doing network troubleshooting and was stuck with on-call weekends once a month. Right at the end of my shift on Sunday evening, all hell starts breaking loose. And the worse kind of hell - intermittent connectivity issues. But for all customer facing sites and apps.

We’re working for hours and can’t find anything. Of course, now there are too many people on the troubleshooting call and it’s mostly chaos. Finally, me and another guy just start going hop-to-hop to trace the path by showing the next hop route. This network is massive, so this is not exactly a simple thing to follow. Finally, I get to a router and I fucking find it - a ping-pong loop. Mind you, this is no where near the hosting area, but for those of you networking geeks out there, this was the needle inside the needle stack inside the haystack. A bad routing config on an aggregate router that was added about 12 hours earlier that suddenly intercepted 25% of the traffic in from the Public Internet.

We cleaned it up and stabilized everything. I got to sleep by 5AM, had to get up for 7AM to talk about it to Management (from home at least) and my boss told me to go back to bed. The next day, he recommended me for direct hire. Two years after I thought my career was shattered along with my confidence, I was back.

The thing I’m most ashamed of is how I abandoned my family after I got married. My Ex never wanted to be around them and I allowed that to happen. My mother barely ever saw her granddaughters. We lived 20 minutes from her. 25 minutes from my brother and his wife. We only saw them a couple times a year. I was embarrassed about how my wife acted around them. I was ashamed of not standing up to the situation. I suffered in silence by myself, not wanting to burden my family with my problems. What I didn’t see until much later - after I moved 300 miles away - was that they weren’t ashamed of me. That they wanted to help me and my kids. That they were there for me no matter what. I just couldn’t see it.

#march blog a day #blog a day #mbad

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jennygoeseastbay · 5 years

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2018 in Review

So I used to do one of these every year on my Livejournal, and I completely blew it off in 2017 because I kind of abandoned that medium, and because the last month of that year was complete consumed with packing and moving. I’m not entirely certain I want to get more active on here, but for now this is a good place for me to post this, simply to have the written record of my existence that I need in order to process all that has happened and reflect on how it has helped me to grow and improve as a person. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I might even backtrack and do one for 2017 next week, because I like to be complete in my self-documentation. ;)

01. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before? Visited Washington DC for the first time.

Visited the Los Cabos region of Mexico for the first time.

Closed a major gift from someone who had not already had decades of cultivation from their University.

Visited even more areas of California that were new to me, including Anaheim, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, and Lake Tahoe (I guess that also includes Nevada since we stayed in Carson City)

Visited Ashland Oregon for the first time.

Sold a piece of real estate. Phew!

Practiced Yin Yoga. (And walking meditation!)

Engaged in a yoga hike!

Also tried yoga with goats!

Attended WonderCon

Attended a county fair.

Road a bicycle somewhere other than a residential street

Tried kayaking

Ran a trail run race

02. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I never really make concrete resolutions, just some general proclamations about eating better, and putting more time into fitness and writing. Of these three things, the one I was most successful at this year, surprisingly enough, was eating better. In September I realized that it was time for a physical tune-up, and so I rejoined WW after a long time away, and though I still have a few pounds to go, I’ve been happy to have gotten a bit sleeker after dialing back the bread and cheese. I also attended a writing group called Shut Up and Write a couple times, and I’d like to become more of a regular at their cafe sessions in 2019, because I’ve found that their method (literally a concentrated hour of shutting up and writing) has been helpful the two times I’ve gone.

03. Did anyone close to you give birth? My dear friends Drew and Kelly had their first child in September. And my friend Lynn had her second child, a little girl, just a couple weeks ago. 04. Did anyone close to you die? Not super close, but a professor at UC Davis who I had worked with closely, passed very unexpectedly right before Halloween. 05. What countries did you visit? Mexico! Finally broke in my current passport with a new stamp! 06. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018? Good novel progress. Or more discipline on some other fiction and an essay that I just started tinkering with. A legit boyfriend. 07. What date(s) from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

January 2 was my first day on the job at UC Davis.

January 7 was a super fun evening at the Museum of Ice Cream in SF

January 13-15 was a wonderful weekend in Seattle where I got to meet my nephew Apollo for the first time and photograph his first swimming lesson for his parents.

January 20 was my second Women’s March outing in Sac with my friend Jade and her little ones.

January 27 was a day when I got to play tour guide for my friend Gricel and her husband when they were in SF visiting for the first time.

Feb. 10 and 11 was a fun weekend in Berkeley and SF, being silly and singing loudly with my former Cal colleagues who had become dear friends.

March 23-25 Was my whirlwind Anaheim weekend at Wondercon, and I got to catch up with my friend Mike, whom I’d not seen in a couple years.

March 30-April 1 was an epic road trip weekend, the first of what my friend Maya and I now call our Girls Gone Sensibly Wild excursions. We drove to Santa Barbara and visited the deserted UC campus there (it was closed for spring break) and also enjoyed an amazing live show featuring Dave Hause, Dan Andriano, and Cory Branan, among others at the Cold Spring Tavern. And then got a joint membership at Peachy Canyon Winery on our way back, because it was one of the few establishments open on Easter Sunday.

April 22 was Earth Day, and prompted me to venture out to Marin for an impromptu yoga hike at Rodeo Beach.

May 14 was my first appointment with a new hair stylist who would also unexpectedly become a trusted friend.

May 24 was my first time seeing Depeche Mode live, and it was incredible.

June 8-10 was my second of two hit it and quit it Chicago trips (although really, the first one wasn’t so much Chicago as it was Joliet) this year, and allowed me to reconnect with my dear friends Drew and Kelly (Drew finished his PhD at UChicago and I attended his commencement and hooding), have a day at the zoo with my friend Dawn, and also road trip to WI with my friend Mary for a beautiful and moving Lights Festival experience together.

June 30 was the day I attended my first ever CalShakes performance with Maya and our mutual friend Paola (Girls Gone Sensibly Wild continued!), and Maya also got me on a bike for the first time in ages, thanks to LimeBikes being available at the Pleasant Hill BART station. We took a short, wobbly, but fun ride down the Iron Horse Trail.

July 1 was the day I learned to kayak and surprisingly got myself through 5 miles of the Russian River without tipping over or running out of steam.

July 26 saw me reuniting with my dear pals Shannon and Glenn, when they were visiting the Sac area for a wedding.

July 27-29 was the weekend I drove up to Ashland to enjoy some time with my friend Debbie and to experience the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the first time.

August 3-6 was when I somewhat unexpectedly had the delight of hosting my friend Clarise for a weekend visit. We drove down to Pacifica for the International Dog Surfing competition and I schooled her in the ways of California wine as much as I could with my limited knowledge.

The following weekend, August 9-13, I had a lovely time hosting and touring around with my 16 year old niece, and got to introduce her to the joy that is Santa Cruz. And yoga with goats!

August 30-Sept. 4 was when I hosted (this is a recurring theme in August, isn’t it?) my Aunt Sherrie for local sightseeing and a road trip up to Lake Tahoe.

Sept. 22-24 saw me heading down to L.A. for my cousin Katie’s wedding and some work meetings. It was the first time in ages that I got to connect with that specific branch of my family, and get to know them a bit better.

Sept. 29 was my first AFSP walk in Sac. And i was joined by Jade, her visiting mom, and her three little ones.

Sept. 30 was the really long hair session with Mason that helped solidify that we were legit friends (and included a shared sunset from the window of his hair studio!) and a quick follow up appointment on Oct. 3 allowed us to enjoy a rainbow and storm together.

Oct. 19-21 saw Maya and I doing another Girls Gone Sensibly Wild road trip. Back to Peachy Canyon to pick up some wine, and also Pismo Beach and Santa Maria for our first visit to a really lovely winery called Foxen.

Oct. 26 was quite possibly my all-time favorite Brian Fallon performance. It was just him alternating between his acoustic guitar and an electric piano, and he was joined by Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, who also did his own acoustic set.

Oct. 27 I got to introduce my new friend Torrey to the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, and we did a fun wine and Halloween candy pairing and some epic day drinking.

Nov. 3 saw me reuniting with my Cal crew and a sprinkling of East Bay friends at Fillmore Karaoke, for an epic night of loud singing as an early celebration of my 40th bday. So much wine. Actually too much, but for a birthday, that’s acceptable!

Nov. 4-6 I was in Indianapolis for work, and though the work part wasn’t particularly memorable, I was super honored and thrilled that my BFF Dawn drove all the way down from Joliet IL with her two boys to have dinner with me on my first night there.

Nov. 9 was an epic Local H show in Sac. Also a welcome break in the midst of a period of forced solitude, after the Camp Fire residual smoke prompted my whole office to work from home for about a week to protect us from the terrible air quality.

Nov. 18 was the day we had the beautiful service honoring the life of a beloved professor who passed.

Nov. 24-29 was my trip to Cabo with my Aunt Sherrie, and was also my official bday celebration.

Dec. 9-12 was my DC trip, which also allowed me to catch up with my friend Max, who lives in Baltimore, and my friend Stacey, who also happened to be there for her own work purposes.

Dec. 15 was my full day of yoga retreating at Green Gulch Ranch in Marin, and then I drove to the East Bay to catch up with Maya at Calicraft, which is one of our favorite craft distilleries in the area.

Dec. 16 was a white elephant celebration in Pleasant Hill that allowed me to unexpectedly meet a new, interesting friend.

08. What was your biggest achievement of the year? So far, meeting all expectations at my new job and closing a major gift earlier than is required. Also not losing my shit during the condo selling process, even though there were a lot of reasons to do so.

09. What was your biggest failure? I wrote VERY little fiction. But I did dip my toe back into writing in general, so I guess there’s that. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I took a tumble at home that left my tailbone a bit tender about a month ago. But otherwise, no, pretty healthy, even after getting rear-ended in my car! 11. What was the best thing you bought? Various travel tickets, both air and rail. A beautiful new necklace that I found at the holiday market in D.C. All the concert tickets that provided soul-fueling live music.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Mine! I adjusted to a new job and an unfamiliar setting and managed to acquire a few new friends while also maintaining the East Bay friendships that meant the most to me. 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Who else but certain immediate family members? 14. Where did most of your money go? Rent. Travel. Wine, and to a lesser extent, craft beer, now that I’ve picked up a taste for stouts and sours. 15. What song will always remind you of 2018?

Anything off of Sleepwalkers by Brian Fallon

Anything off of Be More Kind by Frank Turner

Chariot by Gavin DeGraw

Tall Green Grass by Cory Branan

16. Compared to this time last year, you are: Thinner and sleeker, weight-wise

More willing to make room for others and open my life and space to them (friend and lover both) Still as sleep-deprived as ever 17. What do you wish you'd done more of? Novel writing, as always. Flirting. And kissing. 18. What do you wish you'd done less of? Angsting over adulting-related things that were either beyond my control or that ended up working out just as they should.

19. How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?

I’m driving to Santa Cruz on Xmas Eve and treating myself to an overnight stay so that I can indulge in my happy place and a sunset hike. Also get to celebrate Boxing Day for the first time with my friend Jade and her brood back in Sac.

20. How will you be spending/did you spend New Year’s Eve? Original plan was to hang at my friend Jade’s place with her kids, movies and snacks. But just learned the wee ones are ill, so now I’m not sure what I’m doing. That was how I spent last year (the original plan, that is), with the main difference being that last year I also went to a two-hour yin workshop beforehand, which was how I discovered my current yoga studio, and discovered how much I enjoy yin practice in general. 21. Did you fall in love in 2018?

No. But I made more effort to pursue it, and had more options than I think I’ve ever had in a single year. Which was kind of encouraging even if each one was relatively short-lived.

22. How many one-night stands? I always laugh when I read this question. How about I just wink knowingly and say a lady never tells? 23. What was your favorite TV program? Supernatural. iZombie. To a lesser extent, Riverdale, even though I’m still pretty behind on that one. Sons of Anarchy (which I know is old but I’m playing catchup via Netflix and Hulu) And as a guilty pleasure, Total Divas. And of course, I'm still casually following WWE on the WWE network, though the only thing I’m finding compelling aside from the women’s matches are the Brits featured on the UK specific programming. 24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No, I don't think so. 25. What was the best book you read? I finally got into the Harry Potter series and I’m really enjoying it. I just finished the Order of the Phoenix, and have the next installment requested from the library. 26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Not entirely new, but my appreciation for Cory Branan was reinforced and amplified after seeing him in Santa Barbara. And I’m also on a rediscovery tear with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Cold War Kids.

27. What did you want and get? Reassurance that this move to Sac was the right next step, after I settled in to my new role relatively easily. 28. What did you want and not get? Romantic love for an extended period. More down time. 29. What was your favorite film(s) of this year? Bohemian Rhapsody, even though I know it had some historical inaccuracies.

A Quiet Place was hard because of the ending, but decent as well.

And the latest Halloween was hella satisfying, especially since I caught it after needing an escape after learning about the passing of the professor I mentioned earlier.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I prepped for my Cabo departure, went exploring at the Cosumnes River Trail, which is also a bird sanctuary, and caught the movie Widows with my work friend Christine. Then she took me to Panera for dinner. Couldnt’ do much more than that since I had a 5 am flight the following morning. I turned 40.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Love, as always. 32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018? Activewear as much as possible. But never enough. 33. What kept you sane? My friends. The various trips I took and rock shows I attended. Junk food. Wandering in nature.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Jensen Ackles. Tom Hiddleston. Charlie Hunnan. Idris Elba. My taste doesn't change much. 35. Who did you miss? Dawn. Becca. Kelly and Drew. Stephanie and Scott. Rob. Elspeth. Mike K. Jason. 36. Who was the best new person you met?

Ellen

Mason

Torrey

Anthony

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018 Never underestimate my own ability to adapt to new situations, and to handle my own shit like a boss. I had a few challenging things thrown at me, namely the condo selling process, and the logistical gymnastics that followed after having to bring my car in for a bumper repair following a recent rear-ending, and though I felt tested by both of those situations, I ultimately succeeded at navigating both of them to a positive end.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I’m always starting over....

I don’t wanna waste the nights in my life

But I never fit in, or felt home in my skin.

I’m waiting on a big love, baby.

--Brian Fallon, “Her Majesty’s Service”

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crazymelisblog-blog · 5 years

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The Rape

Now I'm 19, I meet a guy who ask me to the movies. My stomach turned, hands sweaty and all my intuition was saying no. But I didn't listen. I said yes. He picked me up around 4pm said "we need to stop by my pad" he ended up living far! At the time I never traveled more than 5 miles from my house unless I was going to Mexico. We went east and I was lost! We went into the house he didn't take me home. He had a friend stay with me so I wouldn't leave. 3 months later his friend walked me to the pay phone, because he started realizing that he was going to get in trouble. I called my mom her words "your dad dont want you back" I said mom I have no idea where I am. She said do you have a place to sleep then stay. Little did she know I was sleeping on the floor with a guy who didn't let me out. So I stayed. The friend said sorry, and I said no worries I don't have a place to go anyway. The rape happened every weekend like clockwork. Then we moved. And it continued. I'll write more later it's making me sick.

Well ok sooo in this "relationship" this man in his reality thought I was happy he was happy "we could have had the world" the words he used in aug 2018. But anyway no matter what everything I did was because "I loved him" if I cried it was in his eyes because he made love to me. If I was just laying there it was "because I was in such awe over how we made "love" he would say "i left you speechless" of I got up and went to the bathroom he would say "yeah that was a good ride" so life went on like this until march of 1993 when I found out I was prego he says "its not mine and if it is you were standing on your head to get my swimmers up there" he took to get an abortion. Now in may I got pregnant again this time he said "you must really want my baby" I was 5 weeks when I made the call to a friend I called her and she came and took me. my daughter now 25 is my savior. He didn't see her till she was 5 then again later at 14 and and at 23. Her husband contacted him to help her have a relationship. I was hurt, pissed and felt betrayed.

#rape #broken #alone #fear #my life #accepting my life

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thecollegefootballguy · 6 years

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2018 Top Games of the Week: Week 3

So week 3 is gonna be interesting. We’re wrapping up non-conference play but some good conference games are already cropping up.

The weather might be one of the biggest stories of the weekend. Some of the more interesting games such at West Virginia at NC State and UCF at North Carolina have been cancelled. I’ve tried to take these cancellations into account but things might change by Saturday so we’ll see if all of these games end up being played.

The Top Ten Games of the Week

10. #21 Miami FL 1-1 (0-0) at Toledo 1-0 (0-0)

I have no freaking idea how this game came about. Was Miami bribed? Were they blackmailed? Either way, a very odd scheduling quirk that has brought the Miami Hurricanes to Toledo, Ohio. Just for the strangeness factor alone I think you should watch but, who knows, there might be an upset factor.

9. Vanderbilt 2-0 (0-0) at #8 Notre Dame 2-0

Another strange matchup is Vanderbilt’s road trip to South Bend. I can’t tell you whether the Commodores will actually pose much of a threat to Notre Dame, but Vandy looked better against their scrub opponents than ND did against Ball State.

8. Georgia Tech 1-1 (0-0) at Pittsburgh 1-1 (0-0)

The ACC Coastal looked like a lock in the preseason. That all changed when Miami got manhandled by LSU in Arlington. Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh have already hit big road blocks this season, but non-conference games won’t decide the division, games like GA Tech-Pitt will.

7. #1 Alabama 2-0 (0-0) at Ole Miss 2-0 (0-0)

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I saw those 2014 and 2015 games with my own two eyes! Allow me a little daydream...

6. #22 USC 1-1 (0-1) at Texas 1-1 (0-0)

Two of the biggest brands facing off can’t crack the top 5. Oh well. They should have played better, maybe we’d be talking about this game more instead of considering rewatching the 2006 Title Game before flipping to live football featuring other teams instead.

5. #5 Oklahoma 2-0 (0-0) at Iowa State 0-1 (0-0

I don’t think I need to explain this one all too much. Iowa State’s road upset in Norman was one of the best moments in the regular season last year. Now, for the revenge tour, the Sooners have to win in Ames. OU looks good, real good, but they had the best offense in the country last year and couldn’t beat the Cyclones.

4. #10 Washington 1-1 (0-0) at Utah 2-0 (0-0)

Washington is still the PAC-12 favorite by a nice margin, but the Huskies are clearly beatable if the right team makes the right plays. Rice-Eccles has proven to be a very tough place to visit and with USC’s embarrassing showing against Stanford the PAC-12 South looks like an open race. Utah has extra incentive to upset the favored Huskies if it will launch their own division title campaign. They are, after all, the only South team not to appear in the PAC-12 CG yet.

3. #17 Boise State 2-0 (0-0) at #24 Oklahoma State 2-0 (0-0)

I have to say, I’m very excited about this game. Boise State is always good but they’re starting to show flashes of Kellen Moore-era Boise. The Broncos haven’t yet played a marquee opponent, but they have the perfect opportunity against Big 12 stalwart Oklahoma State. For the past decade, the Cowboys have been one of the most consistent winners in the Big 12, though I feel like they’re flying a bit under the radar so far this season. It’ll be a nice win for OK State, but a huge victory for the Broncos which could catapult them to New Year’s.

2. #4 Ohio State 2-0 (0-0) vs #15 TCU 2-0 (0-0)

Sure, it’s technically a neutral site game, but this game is being held in Arlington, only a few miles away from Fort Worth. I hope it looks like a TCU home game, it would raise the temperature a bit on Ohio State, who could use a challenging test against a quality opponent. Needless to say, if the game goes against expectations and the Buckeyes lose, it would be a boon to the Big 12, giving the league two Playoff hopefuls, and it very well could sink the Big Ten’s hope of making the Playoff.

1. #12 LSU 2-0 (0-0) at #7 Auburn 2-0 (0-0)

The Tiger Bowl is one of those great early season conference rivalries that helps add spice to an otherwise dull slate. Both Tiger squads want to challenge Alabama as top dog in the SEC West. Auburn is obviously bona fide, having beaten the Tide in their last meeting. LSU was looking a bit shaky for a while, but their very strong showing against Miami has them back in the thick of the SEC conversation. The winner will be on a collision course with the Crimson Tide to decide the SEC West.

5 Group of 5 Games of the Week

5. Troy 1-1 (0-0) at Nebraska 0-1 (0-0)

C’mon Troy, you didn’t get Boise but you here’s a second chance!

4. Fresno State 1-1 (0-0) at UCLA 0-2 (0-0)

Fresno has the opportunity to score a big win over a big brand who is currently reeling from two consecutive losses. Do it for the G5, do it for the Valley.

3. #23 Arizona State 2-0 (0-0) at San Diego State 1-1 (0-0)

We’re moving out of the realm of “wouldn’t it be nice?” and into “this could definitely happen”. Arizona State’s win over Michigan State last week has put the Sun Devils into the top 25. San Diego State has had some experience taking down top 25 teams at home. Can SDSU sweep their home and home with ASU?

2. South Florida 2-0 (0-0) vs Illinois 2-0 (0-0)

South Florida should win. That is the expected outcome. The Bulls should get a second consecutive win over a P5 team and further their march to New Year’s.

1. Houston 2-0 (0-0) at Texas Tech 1-1 (0-0)

A big swing game for a G5 team hoping to crash the NY6 Bowls that doubles as the re-ignition of an old conference rivalry? Sign me up.

FCS Games of the Week

4. #6 Eastern Washington 2-0 (0-0) at Washington State 2-0 (0-0)

This is an FCS upset red alert.

3. #25 Rhode Island 2-0 (0-0) at Connecticut 0-2 (0-0)

This is an FCS upset red alert combined with an old regional rivalry that used to have a traveling trophy based upon the kidnapping of a mascot. PUT IT IN MY VEINS.

2. #22 South Dakota 1-1 (0-0) at #11 Weber State 1-1 (0-0)

A good non-conference game featuring two upstarts in stalwart conferences.

1. #13 Nicholls State 1-1 (0-0) at #16 McNeese State 2-0 (1-0)

Two solid Southland teams face off in an early season game which will help decide the Playoff pecking order.

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sitkowskiryan · 6 years

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tag yourself, shit my american history professor says

“fuck it, i’m supposed to take notes”

“I befriended the cheif’s daughter...twice”

“a long fucking walk back to that ship”

“300 at bannan republic, mother fucker!”

“fuck that song”

“soldiers taunting eight year old kids”

“‘all men are created equal’ fucking love this one”

“you wanna go through your friends bag, find drugs, and smoke them”

“ray and i are going out back [ to do drugs ]”

“you smell *stabs*”

“it’s no wonder why professors show up drunk

“there’s a lot of shit happening”

“i am fucked”

“who the fuck is that?”

“does that calculator do other shit?”

“british were kicking ass in the first years”

“i don’t like mexico...you forget you can’t drink the water and then you are in your room all weekend”

“we have all been there...not allowed back”

“fucking burn his house down”

“shay’s rebellion: shit went wrong”

“courtney don’t quote that!”

“let’s take the party bus back to the dorms”

“throw all their shit outside”

“get drunk, get rifles”

“you can’t send your ‘policemen’ and arrest me”

“Why not fucking crush these guys?”

“holy shit, it’s washington”

“you know he fights dirty too”

“those bastards”

“fuckin’ a, i’ll do that”

“he fucking marches out there on a white horse”

“those scrawny bastards!”

“thousand of miles away from anyone...with his 400 slaves”

“he steals all that shit from john locke”

“[ about the french ] they understand, they get it”

“big army? fucking dangerous”

“can’t run around naked in the corridors!”

“old white dudes that’s what it is”

“bastard of a founding father”

“aaron burr doesn’t give a shit”

“disney land, but with muskets”

“they are blowing shi-ships up!”

“princeton boy, five foot tall”

“you’re driving, i’m drinking”

“if you come to ohio, we’ll kill your ass”

“future president...terrible person [ william harrison ]”

“you from new jersey? i won’t hold it against you”

“burn that shit up”

update from today’s ( 4/6 ) class

“the old man is rambling again, oh shit”

“you, you could go either way. i see the shit you write [ talking to me about liking me as a student ]”

“sometimes i do a little dance for them [ the security cameras ]”

“as if we are going to steal all this paper!”

“i’m trying to start a revolution”

“next time lie to me”

“america’s first drug dealer [ jefferson ]”

“i don’t care that he grew weed and sold it to his virginian friends”

“boom. it’s getting hot in here”

“it just fucking pumps him up [ the embargo act ]”

“you can do it at royal farms when you are waiting for your chicken”

“i didn’t make this shit up”

“i don’t even need glasses, i’m just playing the part”

“is that all me? god help me. [ he saw my notebook with all of these ]”

“if you publish this, i want a cut. write that one down”

“#disappointed”

“text jay, tell him he fucked up”

“you’re from delaware? i won’t hold it against you”

“baltimore was fucking shit up. are you going to write that one down? [ i shake my head ] god dammit. you win some, you lose some.”

“margaritas and fort mchenry, yay its friday!”

“‘fill in the blank’ country”

“there he is much more romantic [ andrew jackson ]”

update from today’s ( 4/25 ) class

“me, jesus, and michael jackson”

“it was like jaws man”

“let’s go defeat nature! hopefully you come back”

“the american story: you are in this shit hole”

“its the peakaboo the government is playing with us”

“you know how many indians i killed? hella. i can’t even count”

“*messes up powerpoint* shit”

“i don’t wanna take it for work, i wanna go for fun [ steamboats ]”

“it’s like titanic only 100 years earlier”

“don’t fucking wave at me, i’m grumpy”

“maybe i’m not hard enough”

“what happens there you don’t remember. i think i have a good time there”

“they got to start paying me more”

“that’s not turning me on unless its amazon prime shipping”

“[in a spanish accent] i want to say spain...no”

“looks like you got in a fight with a couple alley cats”

“really nice pieces of wood”

“fuck it, look at my nightstand”

“journalling with my buddy and indian friend”

“burn down the capital”

“good? no”

“who wants a woman that works?”

“why would you want kids? they ruin everything”

“[snickers] he is a mormon?”

“gonna act a little funny if a guy is staring at you all day every day with a gun”

“fibbers and phonies”

“[singing] ain’t got no time for me”

“[singing] thoreau is just singing for you”

“we broke up, i can make fun of her”

“aw i love key racks!”

“here’s the back staircase for your servants so no one has to see them”

“i’m not liking small pox”

“[kid says “i hate school”] i want that on a shirt”

“oh i quit”

“[after giving an inspiration speech about how we are adults] maybe i was wrong?”

“that’s janky”

“make a deal with me”

“i feel like bob barker”

“that’s how homeless people in new orleans get you”

“suddenly there’s 5 of them with guns and you’re like take the 20″

“none of this could be real, i’m just making shit up as i go”

last update 5/9/18

“happy friday guys, happy fucking friday”

“that’s not true [ mouthing “it’s true”]”

“poe is like make sure my fucking name is on this”

“not romance as in love and kissy kissy”

“student government, what the fuck are they doing?”

“this all leads to old uncle walt whitman”

“i’m not a farmer boy”

“poles are friends”

“who were the tories? i dated her in highschool”

“i’m not giving up on you. [points at me] write that shit down”

“but i am your cheerleader”

“i hate south carolina that’s gonna be in there [ the final ]”

“i’m throwing dots on the wall and if you step back you’ll see the picture”

so my professor didn’t want his name shared, but i truly loved his class and look forward to every time i went! my class was rather rude to him and he said that this list is a bit horrifying to him because at some times you can see him give up on students or in the class. i just wanted to say that he deserves to never have a class like mine again and that he knows that at one person benefited from this list. so please remember to be nice to your professors/tutors/teachers because it almost made me cry hearing him speak about how defeated he felt with the majority of my class!

#scarycis #american history #tag yourself #tag urself #tags #george washington #aaron burr #alexander hamilton #james madison #thomas jefferson #college life #college quotes #professor quotes #he is honestly my favorite professor #quotes #laugh #humor #please just read and love it #but i'm princeton boy five foot tall

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thewanderingboomerang · 6 years

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We visited Vienna at the end of February 2018. We arrived in Vienna at lunch time on a bus from Bratislava.

https://thewanderingboomerang.com/2018/04/16/bratislava/

The taxi from the bus station to our hotel was 15 euro. We stayed in 25 Hours Hotel after a long search on Air BNB and booking.com. I read about this hotel on a Vienna travel blog and made a note of it. I did my usual accommodation research and found that the Air BNB options were more expensive than 25Hours Hotel. The other hotels were also more expensive and old fashioned in comparison. I can’t recommend this place enough. It’s modern, the staff were friendly, it’s right beside the town hall/museum quarter and close to the metro.

The icing on the cake was the spa, the free yoga classes and the eco friendly shampoo and soap that was cruelty free! This hotel was made for me.

We stayed in the standard double room (98 euro). You can stay in a room with a bathtub on the balcony for 187 euro. Sadly that was out of our price range, but the outdoor bathtub nearly tempted me. I suggested we stay one night in the room with the bathtub and one night in the standard, but they don’t let you use the bathtubs in the winter months 😦

I should also note that I write this blog purely because I enjoy it and I don’t get paid to advertise hotels. I only recommend places I truly love. Thankfully they have hotels Berlin, Cologne, Dussledorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Paris and Zurich. I will definitely stay in 25Hours again in future.

https://www.25hours-hotels.com/en/hotels/vienna/at-museumsquartier

We checked into the hotel and walked to Naschmarkt. This outdoor market is 1 mile long and has been running since the 16th century. It was such good fun bantering with the vendors. They shout at you “where are you from” and “try this, it’s an aphrodisiac”. You will get bombarded by vendors giving you free tasters. We nearly had enough samples to fill us for lunch. They vast array of hummus and olives in all different flavours and colours is worth a visit alone. With plastic free fresh produce, falafels and walls of spices and teas it’s a vegans delight. Don’t miss this! On Saturdays they have a flee market at the end of the mile long strip. I was also pleased to find hot mulled wine stands along the market as it was below zero temperatures that day!

http://www.naschmarkt-vienna.com/

We walked to the Opera House in the hope of getting tickets, but we were unsuccessful. I would suggest researching online before your trip and booking in advance. The tickets can range from approximately 45-150 euro. You can get tickets for 3-4 euro if you are willing to spend half a day queuing for standing tickets, and then willing to stand for the entire show. It was a bitter cold day and our time was limited in Vienna, so we opted out! The queue is indoors for the most part.

We took a walk around and stumbled across Hofburg Palace and the Palmhaus. Go in for a nosey or make reservation to make sure you get a table.

Café Demel is another tick on the tourist list. You can walk in and buy from the shop or queue at the back to get a seat in this beautiful café. We didn’t fancy the queue and opted out!

After exploring on foot all we were exhausted and slightly numb. It was an extremely cold day, so we went back to the hotel to warm our bones in the sauna, before heading back out at night time to the Town Hall. Over the winter months this Town Hall Ice Rink runs daily. You can pay for the whole day of skating, but we were pretty wrecked after an hour of fast skating around the rink and through the trees. This was probably our highlight of Vienna. Do not miss this!

Thankfully our hotel was 5 minutes from the Town Hall or we nipped back to the hotel for dinner at 1500 Food Market. I was able to request a vegan pizza. We went up to the 25Hours hotel rooftop bar to check out the snowy balconies before bed. The restaurant and rooftop bar were busy. I reckon it’s a popular place for the locals at the weekend.

The hotel staff suggested we go to the Burggasse area for Breakfast. It was a 5 minute walk from the hotel. This is a popular place for the locals, and we had breakfast in das mobel café. It had vegan options on the menu and vegan brownies so I was in my element.

I ordered the vegan black bread (coloured with charcoal) with coconut carrot spread and pink chickpeas. Really delicious! I wish we had time to come back here so I could try the rest of the vegan options.

Burggasse is right beside the metro so we jumped on the train to Schonnbrun Palace.

Schonbrunn Palace is a UNESCO world heritage site. The palace has 1441 rooms, and Mozart played here at age 6. You can stay in the palace, if you are willing to part with a good chunk of your spending money.

We walked around the grounds in the snow and sunshine, and found ballet dancers, water features, a zoo, and a café in a monument at the top of the hill to the rear of the palace.

The grounds also have a palmhouse and botanic gardens (7 euro), an orangerie (3.50 euro), maze, labyrinth, playground (5.50 euro), Hapsburgian Imperial Stables and rose gardens, but we had tired ourselves out by then. You could easily spend a whole day here and it’s free to walk around. There’s an apple strudel show outside the Café Residenz every hour (6 euro). You get a sample, the recipe and a free hotline service when making it yourself at home and need help. They also have a panorama train that takes you around the grounds (7euro, 50mins). If you have a Vienna Pass everything is free!

We booked the short tour to go inside the palace and I got a sneaky photo inside the main hall. The audio guide for the tour was interesting and helpful to understand what you were looking at. Don’t do the tour without this!

14.50 euro (short tour 22 rooms)

17.50 euro (long tour, 40 rooms),

or free with a Vienna Pass.

We got the metro back into the city centre and jumped off at St. Stephens Church. It’s free in, but you pay to go to the roof in the smallest lift I’ve ever seen. If your claustrophobic, climb the 343 steps instead. I went up to see the tiled roof but be warned it was bitter cold up there. You can also do a tour of the catacombs below.

There’s also a rooftop bar called ‘Lamee‘ that has a free view of the church roof tiles, although you’ll have to buy a glass of wine or a coffee to sit there.

We walked to Vegiezz for lunch. This is a chain vegan restaurant and we saw two on our walks around the city.

After a long day and a lot of walking, we went back to the hotel for our last go in the spa before dinner.

We went to Glasc briesl for dinner. It was a 5 minute walk from the hotel and suggested by the travel guides provided by the hotel. Good food and decent prices. The Vegan dish only 9.80 euro. I was surprised by the prices. I was warned how expensive Vienna was, but our most expensive meal was in Bratislava.

Our flights were in and out of Bratislava so we booked our train back to Bratislava for 10 euro. When booking the train back to Bratislava we booked online with ‘Go Euro’. It told us to use the ticket machines at the station and use the code to print our tickets. This didn’t work and we ended up in the help desk. They only printed them for us out of pity! I would suggest printing the tickets in your hotel or buy the tickets on the ‘OBB‘ website only. You can also buy tickets at machine in Haubanhof Train Station really easily. There was a Starbucks in the station with a vegan option! They had run out unfortunately. Bring food with you!

There were no vegan options in Bratislava airport! In fact the two food options left a lot to be desired. Eat before you go or bring food with you, vegan or not!

Things we missed in Vienna

Belvedere Palace – (UNESCO) 20 euro or Free with Vienna Pass

Vienna Opera http://www.viennaconcerts.com

St. Peters Church – oldest (and apparently nicer than St. Stephens)

St. Michaels Church – large crypt, 4000 corpses including mummified corpses.

Hofburg Palace – in between the church and the gate, there is a small excavation with a glass covering. Archaeologists found remnants of a roman settlement.

Vienna City Hall – (we didn’t enter the building, just ice skated in front of it! In the summer there is a film festival where the ice rink lives in winter.)

Votivkirche Church

Austrian Parliament Building

Burgtheater – Austrian National theatre

Hundertwasset Haus – It is considered cultural heritage. You can visit the house for free and take pictures from outside. The museum is 12 euro or free with Vienna Pass.

Kunsthauswein Museum

Church of Assisi

State Hall, Austrian National Library – (7 euro or free with VP, 10am-6pm) 200,000 value books and a beautiful building.

Albertina Museum – Monet and Picasso and highly recommended (12.90 euro or free with VP)

Time Travel Vienna – multimedia shows, 50 cinemas (19.50 euro or free with VP)

Capuchin Church + Imperial Burial Vault – resting place of emperors and empresses (free with VP)

Leopold Museum – (13 euro or free with VP)

Mumok Museum – Pop art, cubism futurism, surrealism (11 euro or free with VP)

Natural History Museum – largest and oldest meteriote collection (10 euro or free with VP)

Bank Austria Kunstforum – Modernism, Impressionism, Avant Garde and Van Gogh ( 11 euro or free with VP)

Melk Abbey Church

Johann Strauss Apartment

Sigmund Freud Museum

Kunsthistorisches Art History Museum

Zentralfriedhof Cemetery – 2.5milion tombs including Beethoven)

Karl Marx Hof – 1km long. Longest single residential building in the world (19th district)

Watch an Ice Hockey match

Palais Coburg Wine Cellar Tour – stunning according to a travel blog I read.

Outdoors

Prater – large public park with 250 attractions including a Ferris wheel, Madame Tussauds, Prater Museum, Planetarium, indoor skydiving, bungee jumping etc. Free entry, pay per ride. Closed Nov-Mid March, however the Ferris Wheel remains open.

Vienna Ringstrasse – former medieval city walls, 5.3km. You can rent bikes and cycle or there’s a tram that covers the route.

Volksgarten + Augraten parks

Lainzer Tiergarten – Hike (U4 subway, end of the line Huttledorf 25 mins from Vienna) red line = longer route and orange line = shorter route. Lunch at Rorhaus after.

Krapfenwald Outdoor Pool – 4 euro

Oberlaa Therme Wien – Indoor + Outdoor thermal pools

Kahlenburg or Cobenzi hills – good views.

Wienerwaud – Viennese forest and Heuriggendof Grinzing restaurant (expensive)

Am Himmel – outdoor area with Celtic horoscope tree and Oktogon Restaurant (bus 38a/U4 towards cobenzi)

Danube Island – recreational area, sports and beach activities, water playground, swimming. restaurants and free concerts in the summer.

Wakeboarding at Donaukanal – summer only

River Cruise

Shopping

Mariahilfer Strasse – shopping street

Karntner Strasse – Vienna High street

Kohlmarket – luxury Shopping

Kirchengreasse, Lindengrasse, Neubaugrasse – hipster shops

Spittelburg street – shops/cafes, closed sundays

Local food + Drink to try

Apple strudel

Chicken Schnitzel – Figlmuller’s has repution for being the best schnitzel, so expect a mass of tourists.

Goulash

Chocolate Torte Cake – Café Demel

Mineral Drinking water from the taps comes straight from the alps

Wine – Vienna is one of the few capitals in the world that produces it’s own wine

Food and Drinks

Café Central – UNESCO building

Café Speri

Lugeck – recommended for traditional Austrian food (reservation required).

Wratschoko Gatwirkschaft – Austrian style food in 1800’s pub

Gasthaus Kopp – recommended on a travel blog I read.

Mini Restaurant – Hungarian food recommended on a blog, reservation required.

Hotel Sofitel – roof garden + sunset views

57 Lounge + Restaurant – tallest building in Austria

Lamee Rooftop – views of St. Stephen’s Church

Miranda Bar

Sign Lounge

7th + 8th district – night clubs and bars

Vegan food spots we missed

Le Burger – Austrian chain restaurant that drove out mcdonalds from the main shopping street. They serve low card lettuce wrapping instead of bread.

Tian– wonderful vegetarian restaurant

Vegetasia – 100% vegan Taiwanese

YAMM – vegetarian, self service (2.70 euro per 100g) expensive, near Opera

Kostlich – 1-2 vegan options, lunch only

Weltcafe – ethically sourced and organic, 2 vegan options

Brass Monkey – vegan Cupcakes

Harvest – vegetarian, vegan options. Lunch menu (weekdays) and Sunday brunch.

Veganista – vegan ice cream

Pinocchio – Pizza with vegan cheese option (hole in the wall)

Deli Bluem – vegetarian, lots of vegan options + organic breakfasts

Swing Kitchen – 100% vegan fast food (8 euro meals)

Fett + Zucker – vegan cakes

Nom Nom Vegan Bakery

Bio Bar – vegetarian, ask for vegan options

Blue Orange – bagels + sandwiches with vegan options – English menu

Cupcakes Wien – vegan options

Delicious Vegan Bistro – beside Naschmarket but hard to find. Lunch + dinner Pizza and juice bar.

Easy Going bakery – vegan cake pops and cake

Landia – vegetarian with vegan options

Pirata – 100% vegan sushi

Dr. Falafel – vegan options

Mikkamakka – 100% vegan, self service local dishes

Rupp’s – vegetarian Irish pub with cheap vegan options

Café Telegraph – Omni – Serves Avocado Burger

Simply Raw Bakery – zoodles, savoury crepes, raw pizza + cupcakes

Die Bio Bar Von Autun – 100% vegan across the street from Simply Raw Bakery. Serves Schnitzel and Goulash

Hollerei – vegetarian with vegan options

Motte Am Floss – beet burgers on the Danube rover. (The café upstairs is cheaper)

Nimmersatt – 100% vegan + Organic take out

Maran Vegan Bistro – 100% vegan supermarket + deli counter

Formosa food – 100% vegan Asian food including curry soy schnitzel

Loving Hut – 100% vegan on Favouritenstrasse

Vegana Indiana – 100% vegan, gluten free + seasonal

Voodles – 100% vegan

Elmira – 100% vegan

Uli’s Veganeria – 100% vegan

Tuwi – 100% vegan

Salonpafond – vegetarian options, organic locally sourced food

vegan in Bratislava – http://www.thewanderingboomerang.com

You can have a look at my Bratislava and Vienna Pinterest Board

https://www.pinterest.ie/wanderboomerang/bratislava-%2B-vienna/?eq=bratislava&etslf=5933

If you have any more tips or good vegan places we missed in Vienna, I’d love to hear! Please comment below.

Enjoy your trip, and return safely,

the wandering boomerang 🙂

Check out my other vegan + travel blogs…

Vienna We visited Vienna at the end of February 2018. We arrived in Vienna at lunch time on a bus from Bratislava.

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