Ponce, Puerto Rico

May 8, 2023

Everyone is posting their international trips on Instagram/Facebook.

I'm here, getting super excited about planning a day trip to a mall in Queens!

🤭

A Day Trip to Frenchtown, New Jersey

Even though I’ve lived in New Jersey for almost half my life, there are many corners of this small state I still haven’t visited. Enter Frenchtown, a small river town I learned about randomly on social media a few years ago. Located on the westernmost border of the state, this charming borough immediately went on my list of places I wanted to visit, with its historical roots, eclectic vibe, and…

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The glorious matatu daladala life part 4: religious pluralism edition

Five Dads Go Wild 2024: Sooke Edition

The 2024 edition of Five Dads Go Wild took four dad bloggers to Sooke, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. Here's what we got up to.

Last month, we embarked on a Five Dads Go Wild adventure on Vancouver Island. Except, two of the dads injured themselves just before the trip and we called in a local sub. So, it was just four dads on this #5DadsGoWild excursion. And maybe it wasn’t all that wild, because we stayed at a resort? Maybe we’re just getting older. In any event, I thought I’d take a moment to recap a few highlights…

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Pieve di Santo Stefano a Sorano

Filattiera (Lunigiana)

📸 Jowaers

In thirty minutes walk

In the sparkling river bed of Baluon Pool

The deep cold waters of Parigusan it Pari (Where Priests Bathe)

Rest

View Deck

So last week, we went to this two-hour trek to see a green river in San Roque, Libertad, Antique. By 1 PM we were done and I was famished, weak and empty-minded. On the bus, I learned that I lost my two-year old phone with no lock and with everything in my life.

For someone who avoids social media as much as I can, I realized how much that phone contained, from travel photos, movie downloads, ebooks, IDs and passwords. But before I arrived home, I have already moved on by 70%.

I was able to recover my old number, bought a new phone and retrieved the old settings from cloud. It was a painful, lesson-teaching and expensive experience I had and I am still wondering if the trip was worth it. Those fat centipede, black snake, weird feeling of being lost and not found and dragging-right-foot-tiredness makes me sad and in awe at the same time.

Still, I was safe and fine. Thank God.

Always try to get some hot chicken in Nashville!

darkner Xiao, lightner lumine 👹✨

In a another world, Peak of Combat has a plot that involves Time Travel Shenanigans which puts V in one of the Funniest Situations.

every year on your wedding anniversary osamu convinces you to take your ring off and go wedding cake tasting at local bakeries while pretending that the two of you are still engaged

A YouTube thought

I've been binging this gentleman's videos for some days now. If you like train travel, or ferry travel, this is for you.

It's quiet travel. You won't hear Kuga's voice and you won't see his face. But you will see where he goes and what he sees, and what he eats and drinks. The subtitles reveal quiet enthusiasm about just about everything, a dry wit, and a gentle sense of humor.

My favorites so far: the Stove Train—a tiny Japanese "nostalgia`' service running on a little local train line somewhere out in the back of beyond, where they'll grill your dried squid on a coal-fired stove—and a luxury sleeper train running through snowy country. (There's also a much longer version of this. Extremely restful.) Kuga also travels on international trains in the US and Canada, and in Europe.

Very soft-spoken (so to speak) virtual tourism: highly recommended.

What kind of dates would Gaz, Laswell, Valeria, and Alejandro take you on? (Assuming they had the time lmao)

I'm sick as hell but your blog gives me lots of lovely things to think about while I recover- have a wonderful day ❤️🙏

Hello! I hope you'll get better soon, being sick is just about the worst thing you can be, I was sick not too long ago as well! I'm glad to hear my blog can give you something nice to think about, that was my intention!

Dates with Gaz, Alejandro, Valeria and Laswell

Gaz: He’s a simple man, so he’d likely take you on rather simple dates. Something along the lines of going to the cinema, or maybe taking a walk in the park with him. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy for him, sometimes he just likes being able to spend time with you alone as well, so it’ll be an indoor date where you watch a movie  and cuddle with each other on the couch. Gaz can be a rather touchy guy if you allow him to be, so he’ll likely nuzzle into you a bit as he holds you close. If it was up to him you’d be blankie burritoed until you couldn’t move and would be reliant on him to carry you to bed. However, he also loves watching movies. While he may not be the biggest fan of anime he’ll watch it with you if you absolutely insist on it. Loves, and I mean loves, discussing the movies you’ve watched together afterwards. From the soundtrack to the visuals, the story to its message, he loves spending time with you and telling you all his thoughts about the movie. Saying something sophisticated makes him feel smart, and you actually agreeing with him makes him feel good too. Even if you’re not as movie-literate as he might be, he can still appreciate you listening to everything he has to say about it. If you do listen to him then he’ll invite you to another bucket of popcorn, it’s all on him, even if you insist on paying for him instead. Gaz just loves winding down with the one he loves, so he doesn’t always need to have the most exciting dates. As long as he gets to spend time with you, even in complete silence as you both do what you want, he’s a happy man.

Alejandro: I can see his dates being a bit more exciting than Gaz’. Alejandro is a rather active man and loves some action, so he’d likely love something along the lines of going to an amusement park. His stomach can handle quite a lot, so even the rougher rides won’t be too much of an issue for him. He just hopes that you can take just as much as he can. However, if you like going to amusement parks then you’ve scored with him. It doesn’t only have to be the rollercoasters you’ll be riding, though, sometimes he just loves going to a haunted house with you as well. He’d love it if you’re a scaredy cat about this sort of stuff who clings onto him for safety and reassurance. He’ll laugh a bit about you being so absolutely adorable, and call you out on being a bit scared, but he won’t shoo you away for holding onto him. In fact, he’ll encourage it. Alejandro doesn’t scare easily, he thinks haunted houses to be quite funny, especially with you. Please do hold onto him, though, he loves feeling like the stronger, trusted person who’s with you until the end of it all. He wants nothing more than to be someone you can rely on, even if it’s just something stupid. He certainly also wouldn’t mind going to a tunnel of love with you. Since he doesn’t need to always be so serious with you, he likes goofing around and giving you a big old kiss when he can. His favorites are the rollercoasters, though. He’s loved those ever since he was a child and wants to share that joy with you. Just hearing you scream and laugh with joy makes his heart flutter. He enjoys looking at you as the rollercoasters get to the scary part, all the while you’re either pale or laughing. It warms his heart to spend such a wonderful day with you and no one else.

Valeria: Unlike Gaz and Alejandro, even on date nights she needs to show off just how powerful of a woman she is. Ergo she’ll take you on dates where you’ll be eating some fancy food. Don’t even think about paying yourself. Besides, chances are if you’re a normal worker, then you likely won’t be able to afford the food anyway. However, going to a restaurant every once in a while would be kind of boring in and of itself, so Valeria would like to couple something like that with something else. The Christmas market is in town? There’s a musical you’d like to see? You just wanna go stargaze? Valeria is down for it all. Although she’d need some convincing to go stargazing with you since being outside is a huge risk for her, being seen even more so with you. Other than that she’d amuse herself greatly upon watching a play. She never got to see any when she was a child, even if she had always wanted to see something along the lines of a good musical. And now that she can she won’t let anything at all take that away from her. You better be ready to hear about some new musical or opera in town that you’ll be visiting. An opera she’s always wanted to see would be Carmen, so if that one’s ever in town she’ll be taking some days off to watch it with you, doesn’t matter what she has to do. As long as she gets to be fancy with you and show off to you just how great of a partner she really is, she’s happy. Besides, would you really pass up the opportunity to see her in either a beautiful gown or a fancy suit? Whichever she wears entirely depends on how she’s feeling that evening and how dominant of a person you are.

Laswell: Like Valeria, she’d prefer something fancy. Laswell can afford it these days, so she, too, would take you to a fancy restaurant before going somewhere else. I guess it would entirely depend on what you’re into. If you’re really into astronomy then you’ll go to a planetarium, if you’re really into marine biology then she’ll be taking you to the biggest aquarium nearby. Laswell is flexible like that, but she does prefer something where she can learn a thing or two as well, so she’d love it if you were into going to museums. Doesn’t matter what kind, it’s hard to gross her out with anything, or even bore her with whatever it is you’re into. As long as there’s a museum or an exhibition nearby you can be certain you’ll be going there at some point. However, if she has a few days off, then Laswell isn’t above flying somewhere with you either. A vacation with her is also her ideal version of a date. Just you and her spending time with each other, in the city, in the mountains, at the beach. Doesn’t matter where, Laswell has seen enough in this world, but she never gets to see any of it with you, which is a real shame in her eyes. Besides, she knows a lot of languages as well, so it’s not like you’ll ever have to actively worry about not being understood wherever it is you’re going, she’s got you covered. Laswell loves getting to see all sights with you, so you can be certain she’ll take a few pictures with you as well. Whether you’re doing a goofy pose in front of the tower of Pisa, looking tiny in front of the Sphinx, or absolutely beaming as you regard a temple in Kyoto, Laswell will treasure all of these moments in her entirety for as long as she can. The pictures are just an added bonus.

actually the best part of an AU where Annatar simply does not revert to evil, but does eventually admit to having been evil, is if he stays on good terms with Khazad-Dum forever and one day in the mid-Third Age the dwarves palantir-call him like, “Hey, Annatar, we think we found one of your old guys? Could you come get them out of our mineshaft?”

Celebrimbor, leaning over Annatar’s shoulder: ‘One of his old guys’ as in a Maia, or as in an evil monster?

Dwarves: Yes. That is, it killed Durin, and the survivors of his party say it was a nightmare of fire and darkness.

Annatar: We’ll be right there.

Annatar a couple days later, peering down a deep, deep mineshaft both physically and spiritually: Holy shit, it’s Dave. [to Celebrimbor] Star-gem, stand back. Everyone else, too. [leans further down the shaft] HEY, DAVE, KNOCK IT OFF! I’M TRYING TO RUN A FAIR AND STABLE GLOBAL ECONOMY UP HERE!