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spicyclover · 11 months

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Unplanned | Part eight

Summary: You are pregnant with Mick. It’s not going as planned; it’s not planned. Everything happened so fast, and everything was chaotic. Mick has a hard time accepting it. You have difficulty realizing that two of you may not be raising this child.

Hope you’ll enjoy this part. Let me know in the comments section!

I'm open to requests.

Thank you, and Enjoy! :)

Lots of love, xxx Spicy Clover

The following day, he jumps on the next plane available for Canada, which is a three-connection, but he doesn't care at this point. He waits hours for his next connection at the Charles de Gaulle airport. Trying to think about what to say or do.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are forced to land at the Ottawa International Airport due to a snowstorm at the destination point. We apologize for the inconvenience. We sincerely apologize, and our stewardesses on the ground can assist you to redirect you to the next available flights. Thank you for your understanding.”

Mick looks through the window and sees the white expanse covering the airport's ground. The runway was covered with heavy snow, but he could see the plows clearing the runways quickly to allow the aircraft to land safely. Dressed in a little sweater and a T-shirt. He regrets not thinking about Canada’s complicated weather, especially at this time of year. Of course, it’s cold in January, and there’s snow. It’s not Australia, after all. He also regrets not putting a hoodie in his bag. He knows full well that he will catch his death once he gets out of the heat of the airport.

All the passengers on the plane complained about the change of direction, and several disgruntled people were already praising the company’s complaint. Mick looks up and knows full well that it’s not their fault. All of eastern Canada is blocked because of this storm.

However, he is thinking about what he will be able to do next. How will he get to Quebec City? He thought about the various options as the aircraft suddenly landed on the runway. He clings to his seat, taking a deep breath. He never liked to fly, let alone in a storm. The bell that says the seat belt is no longer necessary rings, and everyone rushes into the aisles to pick up their luggage as quickly as possible. Something else Mick doesn’t like. Being glued to strangers, he sits quietly in his place and waits for people to come out to get up and take his bag. He crosses the hallway and follows the arrows that lead him to security. He goes through customs quickly and ends up at the airport gates. He sees people pulling out their winter jackets and big boots. "I really should have dressed." He mumbles to himself, crossing his arms around his body to keep his body warm.

He went to the reception desk to be put on the next flight to Montreal, but it would not leave for three days. “It’s too long.” A little stress invades him, and he wonders how he will reach his destination if no plane lands in Montreal for the next few days. So he sits on a bench and thinks. “I have to get to her.”

He finally finds the best solution to his problem. “If I can’t fly to her. I’ll do what I know best. I’ll drive to her." He got up to determine and went to the car rental service.

Renting is the best option right now.

After five hours of difficult driving through the snowstorm, he finally arrived at his destination. The city is completely buried under the ton of snow that fell during the night, the streets are deserted, and it makes the landscape breathtaking. The snow covers the entire St. Lawrence River. He even sees people on snowmobiles, making tracks on the fresh snow to cross the river. Mick knows snow, but snow like this never happens. He never thought that when he came to Quebec, he would be blown away by his landscapes. The sun is rising, setting in the sky.

They spoke about her home. She described the island where she lives. Ancestral houses, fields as far as the eye can see and the different villages of the island. The bridge that connects the island to the city is old but beautiful. Everything seems asleep under its snow mountains, yet several people are already beginning to unfold their entrance, and children are waiting for the school bus. Fortunately, the road is perfectly cleared of snow, allowing Mick to admire the landscape without danger.

He easily finds the house. He remembers as if it were yesterday the description she gave him of her parents' house. She described the landscape and the atmosphere of the place, and he felt it strongly. He exits his vehicle and is surprised that the snow reaches his calves. He tightens his sweater against his body and approaches the house's porch. The lights inside his lit, and he still sees Christmas decorations. The tree shines with a thousand lights. He rings the bell.

A chime agitates and produces a magnificent symphony that mixes with wind and snow. He stands there for a few seconds without a sound and hops on the spot to warm up. Then, he hears through the door a person approaching.

"Yes?" asks the lady, opening the door.

She's staring at Mick from top to bottom, probably wondering what he's doing in a weather like this, dressed like this. Mick looks up at the woman in front of him, and she doesn't look like Y/n, and he feels embarrassed to disturb her. He blushes when he stutters.

"Um... I don't think I have the correct address. I'm sorry to bother you." He quickly steps back and is ready to go down the stair when suddenly.

"Mick," he hears a voice in the distance.

She approaches the entrance door and lets her face be seen in the door frame. A smile from on his face. It's her, and it's really her. He can't believe it. It seems like ages since he last saw her. Her hair is brighter, and her skin is radiant. She seems to radiate for miles. She has a worried look on her face. He's shaking like a leaf, and his face seems frozen from the cold.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, taking him by the arm and drawing him into the hall. "Come, come in. You will catch death."

She closes the door behind him, and the other woman leaves at the end of the long corridor in a room unknown to him, leaving them alone. The young woman helps him take his shoes off, grumbling about not dressing enough for the temperature. She guides him into the living room, sitting him in front of the fire to warm him up. Mick doesn't say much, but he thanks her. He's thankful she didn't throw him like an old sock in his car so he could get out of the country. She leaves in another room, and Mick takes the time to look around at the pictures in front of him sitting on the mantel. He rubs his hands close to the fire, hoping to warm up. She comes back a few minutes later.

"Thank you," he said, taking the hot chocolate in his icy hands.

He shudders and shivers from the cold. She watches him for a few moments before returning to the corridor. She returns with warm clothes and a vast warming blanket. He puts on the clothes, and she tenderly wraps him up like a child in the blanket and caresses his hair. Despite all the anger, she may feel. At this very moment, all she wants is his good. He puts his head between the palm of her hand, taking the time to feel her warmth, keeping her contact a few moments before it is interrupted.

“What are you doing here, Mick?" She asks tenderly as she sits on the couch next to him.

He doesn't know what to say at first. So, he lets his eyes look at the room. He notices the house is small but extremely warm and cozy. The mix of wood and cream makes the home very welcoming and not intimidating. Nothing like his house. He feels good here, and he hopes she is too.

“I... He’s searching for the words he spent hours practicing on the plane and in the car to her house. “I came to see you.” He admits locking his ocean-blue eyes in hers.

“Mick, what did you really come to do? Are you not with Nina?” She wonders with a touch of bitterness in her voice.

He feels the bitterness in her voice, and he feels terrible. Bad because he wants her to know so many things all at once, but she doesn't seem able to listen.

She didn’t want to show him that he hurt her, but she couldn’t help but wonder what happened to the other. "Why is he here? Did the other girl leave him? Is that why he came here?" All those questions invade her mind immediately, and she feels her tear coming up. Her throat tightens.

“No. No. I...” Words struggle to get out, and Mick feels increasingly uncomfortable. His cheeks turn red, and he mumbles an apology again. “I broke up with Nina.” He finally confesses, looking at her in the eye once more.

“Oh, sorry about you.” She isn't sorry for a bit but doesn't feel better either. Strangely, she feels weird about all this.

He takes a sip of his hot chocolate. All the sentences he prepared, all the words and promises he made up on the plane, are gone. He wants to tell her the world and even more. "How can he describe how she makes him feel if he doesn't even have the words?" He wants to kiss her, to prove to her that he'll be hers, and only hers by now. But he knows for sure that a kiss isn't the right idea. She needs explication, and quickly. All this situation makes him anxious and stressed.

“No. No. No. She's not important to me.” He puts his coffee cup on the table and turns his body towards the young woman. “I want you.” He mumbles, taking her hands gently in his own.

“Mick...”

“No, listen to me! I screwed up, I know. I shouldn’t have left you alone all this time, and I’ll have. I want to be there for you, with you. I want you to be close to me. The few days we spent together have opened my eyes, and I know what I want now. I...”

"Don’t say it," she implores with eyes full of water.

“I need you to know that. The few weeks without you were the worst weeks of my life.” He approaches her hand and rubs her cheek tenderly. “I don’t just want to be involved in your life because of the baby, our baby. I want to be involved because I...”

“No, stop, Mick.” She says, pushing him away. “You can’t say that when it’s only been a few weeks since you walked out on me, kissing your girlfriend in my face. I can’t... I don’t want those words coming out of your mouth. You’re being unfair to me.” She cries out as she leaves the room in tears.

She hates hormones. She hates the control it has on her. She can't have a proper conversation that doesn't involve tears and screams since the start of her pregnancy. She feels so frustrated with herself and doesn't want to say more things to Mick. She storms out of the room, slamming the bathroom door. Her hormones make this situation somewhat upsetting, a real drama. She locks herself in the bathroom and lets herself slide to the ground.

He has no right to come back like a flower and ask him to forgive him for the weeks of pure sadness that he made her live. He has no right. She bursts into tears and brings her knees back to her chest. She did her best with her growing belly, a little more rounded by her 15 weeks of pregnancy.

On his side, Mick’s remorse seizes him, and he feels at his worst. How she feels and expresses it is worse than he could have imagined, and he never wanted that to happen. He sees the woman who welcomed him, and she approaches him with a compassionate smile.

"Don’t worry. It’s hormones. She’s just upset about the situation, but once she’s calm, she’ll talk to you.” She said as she sat beside him, offering him a comforting pat on the back. "Don’t worry about it. I know that you have good intentions."

"How do you know?" He questions down.

"Well, I talked with your mother a few hours ago. She's a very persuasive woman.” She giggles slightly to relax the atmosphere and reassure him. "She cares about you very much."

“You are her mother?”

“Yes." She nods. "You should go see her."

"I don't think it's the right idea. She hates me." He mumbles, wiping a few tears down his cheek.

"She doesn't hate you. She's upset and pregnant, which are two things that don't go together. Knowing my daughter, she’s probably doing a thousand scenarios in her head, so I think you can go and reassure her." She taps his shoulder gently before getting up again. "You have to lift the handle a little to unlock the door. And a little tip, don’t talk too much. Let her open to you.” She winks at him before heading outside.

Mick nods and gets up from the couch. He listens to her choking sobs with his ear glued to the bathroom door. A pinch in the heart invades him, and he unlocks the door without difficulty. She barely has time to look up as he’s already hugged her. Letting her go through her emotions. She wants to struggle and get away from him, but deep down, she doesn’t want to. She allows her tears to stain his sweater. Mick gently cradles her. She feels good in his arms, reminding her of the day he took her in his coat to keep her warm.

Her sobs subside, and her breathing resumes a normal rhythm. She feels her body relax more and more and closes her eyes, happy to have him back by her side. She gently detaches herself from him to take a handkerchief and blow her nose. She laughs and implores him not to watch her blow her nose. He laughs but does what she says, and he looks away.

They remain for a moment in silence, sitting in the bathroom, enjoying the presence of the other. When Mick’s stomach starts to gurgle strongly, she finally decides to get up. He helps her get back on her feet, and she giggles when she hears his belly gurgling. He blushes heavily when he mumbles an apology. She leads him to the kitchen and orders him to sit down. She takes out a pan and removes the pancake preparation that she made a few hours ago from the fridge.

He takes the time to admire her. Her cream hoodie, which he recognizes from the RIC store, suits her perfectly. She seems cozy and warm while the sun sets on the kitchen windows. As always, the light from the mighty sun reflects on her magnificent strawberry blonde. Mick wants to put his hand in her hair and smell that sweet smell of honey again. Her perfume intoxicates him. He's lost in her beauty that he doesn't even realize she talked to him.

"What?" He mumbles, a bit embarrassed to have been cough daydreaming.

"Do you want maple syrup on your pancake?"

He nods, and they eat in silence. Mick thanks her multiple time for her kindness, and she laughs. She finds him sweet. He is sweet. All those things he says and how he tells them makes her heart go. Butterflies in her stomach. She rests a hand on her belly, rubbing it distractedly, listening to Mick mumbling about his recent discovery about their baby.

The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes she hasn't been fair to him either, especially about the baby. She knows they have to talk about it eventually, but right now wants this peace and quiet moment, without drama, to continue forever. She's lost in her thought and hasn't realized he is asking her a question.

"Hum?"

"How is he?" He asks again, pointing at her baby bump.

"Oh, everything is fine. The baby is perfectly healthy and strong and has a strong heartbeat."

"Really?" Mick’s eyes light up, and she smiles affectionately.

"Yeah! Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure." The spark in his eyes makes her smile even more.

She gets her phone and headphone and comes back quickly. She sets the devices on his head and searches her playlist for the baby songs. She hasn't stopped listening to it since the doctor gave her a record.

For a few seconds, he can't hear a thing. But, little by little, the beats are listened to. Regular and strong. Tears of joy appear in his eyes. This is Mick's first time hearing his baby’s heart beating. Even if it’s not live, he is filled with joy. He smiles fully and gently puts his hand against the young woman’s belly. He caresses tenderly and can no longer hold back his tears. The emotion is strong. He never thought he would be so moved by a very small being not yet born. Seeing him move makes her move, and she wipes her tears. She is more than happy to be able to share her moment with him finally. She ties her fingers to his and puts her head against his shoulder.

"Come with me at ROC this weekend." He mumbles once the recording of the heartbeat is finished. "We have much to discuss, but I want you close, and I don't want this to end."

Mick’s heart beats a thousand a second, and his nervousness makes him blush. To reassure himself after this proposal, he caresses his stomach. God, he can’t wait for the baby to move, for him to feel it too.

She hesitates to accept his request and doesn’t want to find herself in a situation she doesn’t like again. And even more, this is a public event, and many people will be there. It’s one thing to meet his family at home and stay in a private setting, but it’s another to make this story public. He feels his hesitation, and he cannot help but add.

"My friend Sebastian is going to be there. I really want you to meet him. It’s like a second father, a mentor to me. And I want him to see the person who’s going to... I hope... share her life with me." He whispers at the end of his sentence, barely inaudible.

Her heart goes wild, and the butterflies in her belly fly away. She feels light and happy. Happy that he offers her. Glad he chose her. Glad she could finally tell “us” after these weeks of loneliness.

"Okay." She says. "I'll go with you."

Tag list:

@tyna-19 @ironcowboycopnickel @dreamerrosie @gagaga167 @primadonnasdream @sachaa-ff @majx00 @lissimountf1 @mloyer @playboygeniusphilanthropist @sugarbabygirlofdaddy @pleasedontfollowimlost @blueleonor basicallyherondale mariar31

#mick schumacher #mick schumacher x reader #mick schumacher imagine #mick schumacher fluff #f1 #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #unplanned #pregnancy

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thebunnycruise · 5 months

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Less of a question and more of a comment, Im sorry if its in the wrong spot lol, I just had to say this. I promise it’s not a hate comment, and sorry for the length.

I have never in my life seen something that has made me feel so physically ill. I feel genuinely sick reading this, and mentally exhausted from it. I have never read anything that has ever made me want to do something about these topics so badly. I hate this comic, and feel every fiber of my body crumble that I can’t do anything to help these women. It’s such an uncomfortable and painful feeling to see such heinous acts being done to people who i know are just down on their luck and never deserved this. I hate to sound cliche, but this was the eye opener of the fucking century.

You should be proud of your work, you’re doing something that I haven’t ever seen work as effectively and as potently as this.

One question I guess; I unfortunately can’t donate, but what else could us readers do? This comic destroyed me and I’m genuinely desperate at this point to see some happy ending come out of this, and I don’t know what I can do.

Thank you for this question! And sorry for ruining your mood, I think... TL/DR: Giving a shit is free. I recall this one lady being interviewed by a local news reporter regarding her views on the homeless problem in her neighbourhood, and she said something that stuck in my mind: "The more I have to [pick up] human feces, the less empathy I have." I think that one comment really hit home why we're at this point in society. People connect with the characters on the Bunny Cruise because we see their backstories, how they got to where they are, what they've lost along the way, what they dream of for the future, and how they've suffered in trying to reach for that dream. But, even though we know the guy OD'ing on the sidewalk passed out in his own sick must have had a life, have dreams, it's not something we think of in the moment. The difference between the Cruise and real life is that the girls have each other to support them through it, but we will walk over or side-step the heroin addict on the sidewalk without a second glance. That "mentally drained" and "physically ill" feeling is the cognitive dissonance talking. It's when we're forced to confront an perspective that challenges our way of thinking, or in this case, face a fear that perhaps the only difference between us and 67, 10, the twins, or that guy on the sidewalk, is just pure luck. For a lot of us, this is something very uncomfortable, and it's much easier to put it out of our heads and move on with our lives. And politicians take advantage of this fear and apathy far too often. Famously, Mark Sutcliffe (Calling you out, asshole), the recently elected Mayor of Ottawa, campaigned on zoning land for more large, single-family homes rather than more compact, affordable housing. He called it "preserving the community and keeping it safe", but we all know what that really means by now. Or they will call for increased police spending and promise to be tougher on crime (which Sutcliffe also did). Because having bad luck or being neglected and abused by capitalism is a crime now... I think the easiest thing to do, is to just think about it, and speak up when the issue comes up. All too often, things like homeless shelters, affordable housing projects, and safe injection sites, don't get built because people don't want to think about the people living on the fringe of society. But the thing is, people with nowhere to go have to go somewhere.

I donate to a women's shelter because I've worked with women fleeing violence in the past, and it's an important cause for me. I also realize that I am in a very fortunate position to be able to pay rent and have a little left over to put toward charity work. But speaking up and spreading the word is free. The next time someone wants to veto a safe injection site project, speak up against them, ask them what millionaire real estate firm is lining their pockets. Vote for that city councilor campaigning to build shelters and affordable homes. Have a relative who says "the homeless deserve what's happening to them"? Shut them down, ruin that christmas dinner. They sound like a dick anyway.

It's not much, but I think if we can all treat our fellow humans a little better instead of kicking them to the curb, we can make a bit of a difference in the world.

#ask the bunny cruise #ask me anything

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oldbutnotyetwise · 4 months

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My Last Happy Birthday To My Dear Elizabeth

As my ALS marches on stealing more and more from me, the lists of my “Lasts” continues to grow. In the past few weeks I had my last Christmas and my last New Years. This week I shared my daughters birthday with her, the last one I will ever share with her. Next year by the time her birthday rolls around I will be long gone from this earth.

I enjoy my time with Elizabeth, this year for her birthday Robin and I ordered in food from her chosen restaurant, had desserts from an area bake shop, watched a movie and then played some Mexican Train Dominoes, which is a bit of a family tradition. It was a quiet but nice afternoon and evening. As much as I was enjoying this time I will admit that I was struggling a bit, but I managed to hold it together until after Elizabeth had left to go home. Elizabeth had just gone out the door to go home when the emotional floodgates burst open, the devastation of knowing that I will never again be with her on her birthday sharing the joy of her reaching another age milestone. No more birthday cards or gifts to buy for her, it’s done, it’s over, she will carry on without me as she should, just as I have after losing my own parents. I suppose it’s this whole circle of life thing.

While Elizabeth was here I had joked with her that I was struggling with this whole having a Middle-Aged Child. Earlier in the day I had shared this lament with my Step-Mother, but I gained little sympathy from her as she pointed out that all of her offspring are well into their senior citizenship. Intrigued or perhaps depressed at this thought when I shared it with her, Elizabeth pulled out her phone and goggled the average life expectancy of a female in Canada, and learned it is 84.47 years, so having just turned 42, she was indeed “Middle-Aged”. There is no disputing that she does actually look 10 or 15 years younger than her actual age.

There was a time Elizabeth and I would plan adventures for her birthdays. For her twenty-third birthday I flew to New Zealand to spend three and a half weeks touring the south island with her in an old rental car we named Sputter. On her actual birthday we were backpacking across lush green mountaintops, going from warm sunny weather into an ice storm and back to warm temperatures as we came down out of the mountains. This was only time I ever had Elizabeth all to myself on her actual birthday, it also lives on as one of my favourite memories. For her twenty-fifth birthday I picked her up in Ottawa and we drove to Quebec City for a few days, this also coincided with a brutal cold front that was setting record low temperatures for the month of January there. We booked a walking tour and the poor guide must have thought us crazy, it was only the two of us on the tour, he added a lot of church interiors to the tour just so we all didn’t freeze to death. When Elizabeth’s twenty-seventh birthday was rolling around she was living in England and we decided to meet in Paris for her birthday adventure. I met her at the Charles DeGaulle Airport and together we hauled our suitcases onto the subway and found our way to our rented apartment for the week. Okay if I’m being honest here, Elizabeth found our way to the apartment, I just followed along like the well behaved parent I was. We walked all over Paris for the entire week, and on Elizabeth’s actual 27th birthday were standing on top of the Eiffel Tower together, another life highlight for me.

I would like to introduce you to the amazing woman who has the good fortune, or perhaps misfortune of sharing half my DNA, Elizabeth Louise entered this world on a cold January day at 3:58 p.m. at the Niagara Falls General Hospital. She was named after two of her great-grandmothers. If memory serves me correctly she was 6 pounds 8 ounces and measured 17 inches tall. I was there when she made her entrance, but in all honesty it’s all a bit of a blur to me now.

She grew up being a happy child, an active child and a pretty well behaved child, yes and dare I say it, a very cute child.

We moved to a country home where Elizabeth stayed with my wife and I, until she moved to her Mom’s the summer she was fourteen. Elizabeth and I always got along very well, she was a good helper and like to learn so she and I would be building or fixing things in the workshop, or changing electrical fixtures in the house or working on the truck or tractor. I was a runner and when I would go for a run Elizabeth would often join me on her bike, carrying my water bottle. During the run we would have the nicest conversations, away from all other worldly distractions. It is one of the things I am very grateful for, that Elizabeth and I were always able to talk.

When she finished the University of Ottawa she went to New Zealand and Australia living in each country for six months. Later she moved to England and lived in Leeds for a year, using her grandparent’s British Lineage to get her a work Visa. After returning to Canada she lived in Toronto before meeting a partner who she followed out to Victoria for several years, and then down to Colorado for several more.

She has worked for Ikea in four different cities and three different countries. Then in her thirties she decided to go back to school where she qualified as a welder which is the career she continues to pursue.

Elizabeth has always been somewhat fitness oriented, maybe she thought it looked like fun all those years earlier when she rode her bike beside me as I ran. One year she gave me the gift of running with me in a Father’s Day 5K in Ottawa, it was her first race. It was cold, it was raining and there was a large hill on the course. We finished that race side by side but she was in tears and physically spent. I thought that might have been both the start and the end of her running pursuits, but it turned out she was no quitter. We ran numerous other races together over the years, and in time I no longer had to wait for her, it was her waiting for me. In time she has beaten just about all my running records, and done several marathons compared to my one. If that wasn’t enough she then took up Triathlons and eventually completed an Ironman, finishing under her goal of fourteen hours. Now days she is also competing in fitness competitions through her gym, in her last one she won her age category and was the third female overall. She was, and continues to be a fitness machine.

Now the person behind all these achievements also happens to be one of the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful people you could ever meet. Yes, you’re right I am very biassed, but I’m also right about this. She makes me so very proud, she will live on long after I am gone, and where she goes, a part of me will always go with her.

Sometimes in life we search far and wide for inspiring people or great stories, but sometimes we should stop and look a little closer to home, because sometimes those around us have stories just as amazing as those we seek out. Such is the case with Elizabeth, this beautiful, kind, wise, world traveller, adventurer, athlete and all round incredible person. She also happens to be my daughter, my legacy, and my best contribution to trying to make this world a better place.

#als #Elizabeth #Last Birthday #Love My Kid

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innervoiceartblog · 6 months

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Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood (1939) is best known for her searing explorations of feminism, sexuality, and politics in books like The Handmaid’s Tale (1986), a dystopian novel that takes place in a United States, which has become a fundamentalist theocracy where women are forced to have children. She started writing the book on a battered, rented typewriter while on a fellowship in West Berlin. The book became an international best-seller. Atwood’s daughter was nine when it was published; by the time she was in high school, The Handmaid’s Tale was required reading. Atwood once said, “Men often ask me, ‘Why are your female characters so paranoid?’ It’s not paranoia. It’s recognition of their situation.”

Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario. Her father was an entomologist and the family lived for a long time in insect-research stations in the wilderness. She was 11 before she attended a full year of school. About growing up in near isolation, Atwood said: “There were no films or theatres in the North, and the radio didn’t work very well. But there were always books. I learned to read early, was an avid reader and read everything I could get my hands on — no one ever told me I couldn’t read a book. My mother liked quietness in children, and a child who is reading is very quiet.”

One day she was walking across a football field on her way home and began writing a poem in her head and decided to write it down. She says: “After that, writing was the only thing I wanted to do. I didn’t know that this poem of mine wasn’t at all good, and if I had known, I probably wouldn’t have cared.”

Her first novel was The Edible Woman (1969), about a woman who cannot eat and feels that she is being eaten. Atwood likes to write in longhand, preferably with a Rollerball pen, and is even the co-inventor of the LongPen, a remote signing device that allows a person to write in ink anywhere in the world using a tablet and the internet. Her books include Alias Grace (1996), Oryx and Crake (2003), and The Heart Goes Last (2015).

About the writing life, Margaret Atwood says: “You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch. Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you’re on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.”

#TheWritersAlmanac

#margaret atwood #Canadian #poet #writer #other lives #author #the handmaid's tale #TheWritersAlmanac

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despazito · 1 year

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i have lived in canada for a while (not as a citizen) and i'm wondering if it's worth it to move up there permanently. You said it's p bad there but I'm in the states. I don't often hear criticism but what do you think? Better or worse overall than the states?

you'll have better rights theoretically but

most of our progressive policies were ratified on the federal level, but provinces are in charge of their own healthcare and education for instance. and most provincial govts now are conservative. so most provinces rn are in a battle/stalemate between ottawa trying to improve shit like hospitals and sending funding to the provinces while the provincial government hoards it and keeps making cuts and taking things away. for instance abortion is legal in canada but my home province of NB has whittled it down to like a single clinic bc of our fundamentalist premier

housing is less affordable, there's fewer huge cities so many careers pigeonhole you into settling in either toronto,montreal, or vancouver so competition for rent can be insane

a lot of shit is more expensive here, telecom is monopolized by 3 corpos and has like the highest data rates in the world. same with our major grocers

a lot of fields like tech will pay lower wages than the same position at an american company so much that some Canadians purposely seek out american employers

our healthcare system is currently being starved in an effort to begin privatizing it, so we don't really have private options atm so you'll wait forever to see a doctor

abortion and gender affirming care is theoretically legal everywhere but NOT equally accessible everywhere. local govts are usually regressive.

if you're disabled and want accommodations they may politely ask whether you'd like to kill yourself instead

its not great but anything looks nice in comparison to a steaming dog turd. there's really no winning unless you have the capital and sadism to become a gentrifier in some poor rustbelt town lol

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slafkovskys · 5 months

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How did Josh and singer’s first date go??? I don’t think we’ve explored that yet!

🪩

“she wants something normal,” emma explains to the man who had been pestering her about her best friend all week. josh was perched at her kitchen table, head in his hands as he took in her words, “one guy rented out the yankees stadium or something so they could have dinner at home plate just because he wanted to impress her. she doesn’t want that. she called me crying after asking why he couldn’t have just taken her to some italian place.

“yes, she’s got a name, a few grammy’s, and what have you, but beneath all of that, she’s no different than you or me. she’s a human being, josh,” the blonde sends him a gentle smile, “you could show up with flowers and take her on a picnic and she’d probably be over the moon because no one’s ever done something like that for her.”

and josh takes that and runs.

she flies into ottawa the night before and it just so happened to be one of the last nice days in the city before the winter weather would sweep in that josh pulls up to the apartment she rents for when she’s in town. he’s got a bouquet of her favorite flowers and she raises an eyebrow when she spots the wicker picnic basket in the back of his jeep.

“really?” she’s shocked, “no one’s ever taken me on a picnic before.”

“it’s a pretty day and i haven’t been on one in a while,” josh bought the basket approximately three hours earlier, “so i thought why not? something lowkey.”

“i’m excited.”

they spend hours in brady and emma’s backyard pretending they don’t find the two peeping their heads out of the kitchen window or see emma shoving brady by the back door when he lingers. she giggles over her peanut butter and jelly josh had expertly whipped up, “i feel like i’m in middle school and my parents are chaperoning.”

he feels his stomach drop, “i-i’m sorry. i wanted us to be somewhere…”

“where no one would recognize me?” she finishes for him when he trails off. ashamed that he had ruined it, he nods his head. she leans over and pecks his cheek, causing him to look at her with wide eyes, “josh, this is the most fun that i have had in a long time, even if we do have mom and dad watching everything we do.”

“so, would it be a bad idea to ask for a second date?” he’s hopeful when he asks, heart thrumming against his ribcage.

“it wouldn’t.”

#josh norris #joshxsinger #jess writes

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ppenvs3000w24 · 4 months

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Blog 3: The Privilege of Driving to Nature

Mcintosh described privilege as “an invisible knapsack of unearned assets ... of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks” while Oxford describes it as “a special right or advantage that a particular person or group of people has” (Noel, 2000; Oxford University Press Editors, 2024). My personal definition of privilege kind of relates to my country, Nepal. When I think of privilege, I think of the rich tourists who go to Nepal to summit Mount Everest. Not only can they afford the expensive tickets, but they are also able to sit around doing nothing at the base camp while waiting for ideal weather conditions to summit the Mountain. They don’t even have to carry all their heavy equipment; that’s the job of the Sherpas; all they must carry is whatever they feel like carrying. At the same time, the Sherpas must plan their whole year around when and how many rich tourists they can help summit the Mountain. They are not afforded the opportunity to worry about their lives or how taxing carrying all the heavy equipment is on their body. If they don’t risk their lives, the families that rely on them risk starvation for the season, as growing their own food and making money through alternate pathways is nearly impossible. I am frequently reminded of the video where a Sherpa carried a dying tourist all the way back to safety, only for the tourist to go back home, become a celebrity, and not acknowledge the Sherpa who saved their life until the internet forced them to (Zachary Rogers, 2019). I believe the ability to scale Mount Everest, sometimes multiple times, without putting in much effort is the best representation of privilege for me.

A Sherpa carrying a heavy load for a climber on Mount Everest summit

Privilege plays a huge role in nature interpretation since people who are not privileged enough to experience nature interpretation do not even know what nature interpretation means. To the immigrant parents living in the Greater Toronto Area, nature and nature interpretation are not even in their mindset. Their mind is filled with how to support their family, whether they can afford rent this month, and if they can finally buy a car to open more job opportunities. I witnessed my parents go through this as my dad would work night shifts at a Petro Canada and then go to college all while relying on whether this bus would arrive on time. This posed an economic barrier for my parents to experience nature and nature interpretation, which was one of the five factors mentioned in this week’s assigned reading on ‘Why Don’t More Minorities Come?” (Beck et al., 2018). In the same chapter, the authors proposed that public transportation from urban areas to interpretive facilities would greatly alleviate the car economic barrier (Beck et al., 2018). I believe this is a great idea, as I experienced this myself while living in Ottawa, where I did not have a car. I wanted to visit Gatineau Park however, you cannot reach the park without a car or paying for a cab. The city provided free shuttle buses from urban downtown Ottawa to Gatineau Park to alleviate this barrier.

Shuttle bus at Gatineau Park

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For a Better World. In Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For a Better World. Sagamore Publishing LLC. https://sagamore.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781571678669/pageid/152

Noel, J. (2000). Notable Selections in Multicultural Education. Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

Oxford University Press Editors. (2024). Privilege - Definition. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/privilege_1

Zachary Rogers. (2019, June 6). Man saved from certain death on Everest criticized for thanking sponsors instead of savior sherpa. ABCNews4. https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/man-saved-from-certain-death-on-everest-criticized-for-thanking-sponsors-instead-of-savior-sherpa-mount-ravichandran-tharumalingam-gelje-zone-rescue

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datzyuk · 4 months

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2023 wrap up post under the cut ⬇️ bc this blog is basically my diary

this year flew by!!! here are some highlights

completed four semesters of grad school. 4.0'd it all!!!! only one more semester to go!!

visited four more national parks (death valley, isle royale, crater lake, and the redwoods)

saw a moose! and banana slugs! and elk! all in the wild

went to games @ two more NHL arenas (ottawa + montreal)

visited a new state (wisconsin)

started a new role @ my company during the craziest period my team has ever experienced and i survived!!!

visited two more star wars filming locations + one that will be used in an upcoming show (i will be very obnoxious abt it when it drops)

rented a car on vacation for the first time! and ofc i chose a very hilly location w insanely narrow roads. only got one flat tire during the trip tho!!!

tried thimbleberries :-) also had a thimbleberry donut!

visited another canadian province (quebec) and ate sooo much poutine

watched 76 movies!! not a record but i enjoyed quite a few of them

visited another country (portugal)

some of the goals that i set for myself at the beginning of the year included

finish the yr with fewer unread books than i started it with. unfortch i started w 74 unread books and i currently have 75 books. but i am proud of myself for showing restraint @ used bookstores

save $$$ while i'm still living at home w my parents. i did save a shit ton despite all of the traveling.

get out of the house more. definitely failed this one BUT i think it's understandable. work + school kicked my ass.

for 2024 i'm just gonna roll over my goals. hopefully once i'm done w my degree in april, i'll have more time to do the things i want to do. but i DO want to add a fourth goal. EAT MORE SOUP.

anyways here are nine pics from my 2023

#2023 has been alright !!!!!#too much time spent working or studying #but there will be less of that in 2024

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ottawarealtor · 6 months

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Welcome to the Weekend Everyone! Do you know anyone looking to live in Westboro area and next do a park and school and walking distance to all the shops, cafes and restaurants? We might just have the right spot and everything is updated including kitchen, bathroom, appliances, lights and more ......It also included a 1 garage parking and 1 surfaced parking spot

106 HARMER AVE #2, Ottawa K1Y 0V1 Listed for Rent at $2699/ Monthly + HYDRO+ Includes Garage parking plus drive way ( 3 cars ) Renovated - Large and Spacious 2 Bedrooms - 1 Den - 1 full Washroom

Welcome to Trendy Wellington Village with this renovated from top to bottom Apartment on second level of Brick Triplex sitting on a large corner lot across from a school. This spacious 2 bedroom + Den apartment comes with 2 parking spots which includes a covered garage and all newer appliances including your own Washer and Dryer in unit. As you walk in to the building there is a shared foyer which leads to the stairs taking you to upstairs access and upon entering the unit you get into a large living room with lots of windows and easy access to the Den which can be used for a home office. The living area opens to right into a large formal dining area which is private from the bedrooms but has easy access to the newly renovated kitchen with SS Appliances, quartz counters and plenty of cupboard space. The two bedrooms are good size and are down the hall where you have the stacked laundry and new bathroom with standup shower. Walking distance to park, shopping, cafes and more Book your Showing Today!

Watch the video walk through of the unit in link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlEDXTJOh0c

#ottawa #homes #realestate #sunday #soldbysorin #westboro #hintonburg #harmerave #westbororealtor #westbororealestate #ottawarental #ottawahomesforrent #ottawarealstate

#ottawa #westboro #for rent #hintonburg #harmer ave #westboro realtor #westboro real estate #soldbysorin #triplex #homes #ottawa rental #ottawa homes for rent

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thedurvin · 5 months

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I wanted to watch the movie "Soylent Green" so I searched and it's rent-or-buy on a bunch of apps but free on one: O'Town Life, which besides this one dystopian movie from 1973 is just local news footage and home movies from the town of Ottawa, Illinois???

Anyway it's a fine dystopian police-procedural if you can handle the levels of sexism you'd expect from that genre in 1974, although since you probably already know the twist it's kind of a letdown at the end. Nonetheless I'd love some of y'all to watch it and tell me how you read the relationship between Thorn and Sol, because to me it felt like a gay couple with a big age difference but I'd be pretty surprised if that's what they were going for.

#durvin saw a movie #soylent green

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jeanricher · 7 months

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Buying or renting, which is best for you and your family? It can be a hard decision. Find the answer in our attached blog!

#buying tips #buying vs renting #home buyer #ottawa homes for sale #ottawa realtor #liveloveottawa #ottawa real estate #kw #yow #ottawa

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wttt-dirus-work · 1 year

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Ontario (Headcanon)

This is the first province, here we go!

Ontario, the home of the federal governement.

Here's the flag:

Ontario is the most populous province with 14,951,825 (2022). The country’s capital is Ottawa, and the province’s is Toronto (population of 2,731,571 in 2022), who’s the third most populous city in North America (without Mexico City) after New York City (8,804,190 in 2020) and Los Angeles (3,694,820 in 2020).

She’s younger than Québec in term of existence, since she appeared in 1790s, when the Province of Québec was ripped in half by the loyalists and farmers coming from the US after their Independence. She know New York by reputation, but it’s mainly Toronto and Buffalo who interact. She knows French and can speak it, but refuse most of the time, because her province is mostly English-speaking and the old rivalry between French/English speaker is still there. Yet, because of the Franco-Ontarien (French speaking people from Ontario), she will speak French when Québec is on her side to defend themselves against the hate towards her because the country parliament is in Ottawa.

(Here's the Franco-Ontarien flag)

The Franco-Ontariens are proud of their language despite Québécois looking at them like their lesser than them (mostly linked to the rivalry between Ontario and Québec, the kind of way New Jersey and New York hate each other but got each other back; many feds workers are from Québec since Ottawa and Gatineau are close). She can kind of see why Québec only speaks French with them, and will sometimes answer in French, but the communication is mostly in their native language since they can understand each other (Québec speaks French and Ontario answer in English).

There’s also the fact that people outside of Toronto hate Toronto, and people from Toronto hate everyone else. Some people compare them to “People who would like to live in NYC but can’t afford the rent”. Note: I do not know enough about Toronto people to say if it’s true, all I know is city people are colder than country people and in a “mind your own business” mindset, despite our friendliness. It’s also the most expensive place to live in the country, seconded by British Columbia.

She has cold winter and warmth summer, and the south of the province isn’t as cold as the rest, but the north can be freezing. She mainly lives in the south, with a cool body temperature (12°C/53°F in summer and around -20°C/-4°F in winter). Northern Ontario is a main source of metallic minerals. She leads in production of nickel, gold and silver, second to British Columbia for copper.

She doesn’t really have any friends, with part of the west wanting the Conservative Party as the majority that can’t happen because of the lack of population, and because of the old stereotypes of Ontarians thinking they are the centre of the universe (some of them do, like everywhere else). She’s one of the few ones going to the actual meetings with Cana, with Nunavut and Québec being the ones who’s never there. The former because of the inability to exit his Territory on road (and doesn’t really care about having a friendship with colleagues who can’t really differentiate him and Northwest Territory) and his hunting/fishing/living his best life; and the latter who doesn’t need Cana to help her managing her government.

Ontario is a loner, and sometime resent the Federal parliament to be in her province, but is resigned to her fate, kind of like California. She doesn’t really have good relationship with the rest of the provinces as stated before and is now used to it.

For the sport teams, she mainly root for the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays, and is always kind of happy having debate with BC (Canucks), Alberta (Flames and Oilers) and Québec (Habs) about who got the best hockey team, and she likes it because it gets them at least speaking together.

She’s the second biggest provinces (6’5), behind Québec (6’7), and fourth with the territories added to the mix, behind Nunavut (7’), Québec and Northwest Territory (6’6) (For the curious, Alaska is 6'10, Texas 6'3 and Cal 5'10). She’s white skinned with freckles, chestnut hair usually in a low bun under a Senators toque (beanie, a toque is a beanie guys), green eyes and glasses. She usually wear a beige vest, a Maple Leafs shirt, black sneakers, and pale skinny jeans. Don’t worry, if it cold enough she’ll get a winter coat and boots, but since she mainly lives in the south, she doesn’t really need to.

Fun fact about Ontario: She got four of the five Great Lake shared with the Midwest in her province, and her main sources of energy is from nuclear power (She’s salty about her government allowing the burial of radioactive nuclear waste in exchange of money). Despite being the most populous province, she got way less cases of Covid during the pandemic than Alberta/Saskatchewan.

Also, I think she would be kind of awkward in social interactions, because she’s not really close to any personifications, and despite living in the most populous areas, she got some kind of social anxiety.

Here she is, witness to yet another dispute between Cana and Alberta, both looking at her for her approval, and she tries to not support any of them, because both of their ideas are terrible.

Masterpost here

#wttt canada #wttt ontario #welcome to the statehouse #welcome to the table #headcanon #wtttsh #wttt #ben brainard #Dirus think

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