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Homixide got the whole world blowing h5 😂🤦🏽‍♂️

2023.05.29 23:08 LovableJackassv4 Homixide got the whole world blowing h5 😂🤦🏽‍♂️

Homixide got the whole world blowing h5 😂🤦🏽‍♂️ submitted by LovableJackassv4 to Atlantology [link] [comments]

2023.05.23 15:10 blackkettle Five Week Trip Report: April-May; Kansai, Kanto; Previous long-term resident family

Preamble:

We are a family of three. I previously lived in Japan for about 10 years. My wife is Japanese from the Kansai region, and we have a 6 year old son born and raised abroad, but who speaks/reads/writes Japanese at a native or near-native level for his age. My wife and son traveled back to Osaka several times during Covid, but I did not join them due to the additional logistics requirements at the time, and the sense that it would not be particularly enjoyable. Prior to covid we would typically spend about 4-5 weeks a year in Japan, but this was our first long day-in-the-life trip together in the past four years.
It was a phenomenal trip, and I wanted share what we did. Our trip is probably a little bit unconventional compared to most of the reports here as we all speak Japanese and are very familiar with Japan having lived there for quite some time in the past. Our main goals for our trip were to provide our son with immersion opportunities, to meet family, and to visit with old friends. We lived for many years in both Osaka and Tokyo and I have relatives in Shizuoka. We also love craft beer, games, and quirky museums; I think our trip itinerary reflects all of this.

General Pre-trip Preparation:

Our son is a second-year kindergartener in Zurich, Switzerland, but he also speaks Japanese and attends a Japanese school part time. He's very outgoing and enjoys new adventures (probably because we have been dragging him around to San Diego or Osaka almost every year for most of his life). This year we thought it would be interesting if he could experience a real Japanese elementary school during our stay. To this end about 2 months before we left, my wife contacted the local elementary school near her parents house in Osaka and inquired about the possibility of doing a short 'study abroad' (体験留学) at some point during our stay. To our surprise she received a prompt reply from the school principal, who was very enthusiastic about the prospect, and happy to arrange all the details upon our arrival. Apparently he had previously worked at an international school and had a very positive outlook on this sort of interaction. Final details were to be determined on site in a short family interview in order to get a sense of our son's Japanese ability and disposition.
We typically spend our long-term stays with our relatives but this time we decided to break our trip up into several stages: Osaka at Home, Osaka at Large, Return to Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka at home. The remainder of the report is broken up accordingly.

Part 1: Osaka-at-Home I.

The first week we flew in to Osaka KIX from Zurich via Seoul, and took the Hello Kitty Express :-) directly into Umeda where we met up with family and went straight to a Yakiniku experience at Yakiniku Toraji on the B2 floor of the Lucua building at Umeda. At first we planned to make the journey home to drop off our luggage but after we realized that the airport express now drops you off at essentially the Lucua B1, we decided to just head straight to dinner. Needless to say, it was epic. We grabbed some bread and pastries for the following morning and headed home with mom and dad.
GENERAL ANECDOTES:
Masks; Even on first arrival it was clear that we made the right decision to come after the covid restrictions finally lifted. Everything was open, and people were out. Roughly 90+% of people were still wearing masks everywhere, but this percentage steadily declined over the duration of our stay to, I would say, 65%-70% by the time we left on May 20th. We chose not to wear them, and my MIL/FIL were also not wearing them. At no point during the trip did I feel there was any concern about this in either direction. Anyone traveling in the near future should feel completely free to go whichever way you prefer.
During the first week we sorted out our jet lag, and spent a lot of time roaming around conbinis and the supermarkets remembering all the little delicious nothings that Japan has to offer. We stayed with mom and dad in Ebie, Fukushima, right on Yodogawa. This is about 5 min bike ride from Nodahanshin station, and 10-15min ride to Fukushima station or Umeda. We made all these rides many times during our stay! We made some mellow probing adventures:
Prepaid SIMs. I still have to answer emails and typically work on-and-off during these trips. One of the reasons we are able to do it is because I work in IT. This means it's always important to get a good prepaid SIM. On my last visit, four years ago I was able to find a great deal on a prepaid SIM at Yodobashi in Umeda, so one of my first orders of business was to repeat that experience this time. However after discussing with the sales and purchasing a SIM with 50GB for 1mo @ Y8000, I found out that it did not permit tethering. This was stated as a 'possibility' in the fine print and when I asked at purchase time the sales person said they couldn't guarantee it but thought it should work. I gambled and lost. This was quite annoying given the main purpose of purchasing a high volume prepaid SIM was for tethering to my laptop. Anyway as a result I discovered the eSIM tech which was also supported by my iPhone 14. I ended up buying another eSIM plan using Ubigi and this worked great and supported tethering without issue throughout my trip. It also worked great for our short return stop in South Korea. I'll never go back to prepaid physical SIMs and I still cannot believe that Docomo is still blocking tethering in 2023. Completely ridiculous.
Exercise: I am an avid swimmer and cyclist. Since we typically stay for around 1 month I like to be able to continue my swim workouts while we are in Japan. Cycling isn't a problem since we end up biking and walking all over the country anyway. I always join the Konami Sports Club network for 1 month as a regular member the first day we arrive. They provide a bunch of different plans and most of the Type III and Type IV gyms in the network have a 25SCM lap pool. If you join the network you can use any of facilities anywhere in the country, which is great if you spend time in more than one city. The Type III and Type IV facilities all have really great bath house areas as well, with multiple sento-style baths and usually a big sauna. You need to make sure that you join and quit on the same day (or at least in the same week) so that your membership will be properly cancelled at the end of the first billing cycle. This might be tough if you don't speak Japanese well, but if you do the staff is super accommodating and will definitely help you make it happen. In addition to the exercise, one thing I really like about doing this is that it gives me another day-in-the-life experience; it's like living there again; doing things that locals do. The Kitahama facility in Osaka is particularly nice; It's a new one and it's my favorite.
Internet Cafes: I worked on and off during the trip and usually do work days at local internet cafes. The three I liked best during this trip were:
Cycling: We keep a couple of momma-charis at my in-laws place, including one with a kid-seat on the back. We did plenty of riding and my son loves the unique-to-him experience of riding on the back of the bike. We considered getting him his own bike this year, but eventually decided against it due to the complex traffic. Osaka is pretty easy to get around in by bicycle in terms of terrain - there are very few hills in the city proper, however the traffic is a little bit gnarly. Midosuji street is a great example of this. It runs in a mostly straight line from Umeda/Osaka station, across Oebashi and Yodobashi past Osaka city hall, and down through Dotonbori to Namba. It's a cool little ride if you have the time and inclination and it is mostly flat. It runs only in one direction for most of this length however many Japanese cyclists seem to not be aware of this fact. I was surprised/amazed/terrified by how many people I encountered riding against the flow of traffic on this quite busy street. Plenty of mama-charis with kids on back as well. It's pretty chaotic and not for the faint of heart! That said I enjoy the rides and the people watching and the adventure that a little chaos can provide as long as you keep your eyes open.
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LOCATIONS, FOOD AND ADVENTURES
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BEER
As I mentioned, we love craft beer, and we particularly love Hazy IPAs in all their various forms. We made it a point in this trip to explore this aspect of Japan as it seems to have really exploded in popularity since our last visit. We followed (hazy_mmy)[https://www.instagram.com/hazy_mmy/?hl=en] for some great ideas outside the brewpubs.
We wrapped up this mini pub crawl with a walk through the Kitahama/Yodoyabashi area in the evening. This is more of business district but it actually has some interesting novel historical sites. There are a number of cool Meiji Era buildings with large explanatory placards. These are predominantly in Japanese and maybe a bit obscure, and you also won't be able to enter most of them, but if you are into this sort of thing it's can be a fun bonus. I'm guessing google translate in photo mode can get you most of the way through the placards:
there are a bunch more, these just happen to be the ones that caught our eye as we passed by on our mini pub crawl.

Part 2. Osaka-at-Large

We spent roughly our first two weeks in Osaka, but in order to get a change of pace and give our family a break, we opted to spend the second week in an apartment-hotel near Umeda. This was a great decision and a lot of fun. We were able to host friends, had even better access to Umeda and could relax and enjoy the city from a fresh angle.
We spent 7 nights in the rooftop luxury suite at Minn Kita Umeda and it was epic. My wife booked this about 6 months in advance and it was worth every last yen. The room was spacious and quiet with two large comfy beds. The bathroom included a deep Japanese style bath. There is a large rooftop deck with a jacuzzi overlooking Lucua/Umeda/Osaka station. This view at night was phenomenal. At present there is also a ton of highrise construction going on behind Grand Front which my son got a kick out of (and me too). The apartment has a large kitchen and living room space as well, and we used it to host some visits from friends.
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LOCATIONS, FOOD AND ADVENTURES
I ended up working most of this week so we only managed one major adventure.
BEER

Part 3. Return to Tokyo

For our third week we returned to Tokyo to visit old haunts and old friends, and take in the even bigger city. We headed up early on the Nozomi shinkansen after checking out of the Minn. We bought bento in Shin Osaka station and our son picked out a shinkansen shaped Ekiben box to bring back for school lunches.
We previously lived for about 7 years in Jiyugaoka, and planned to spend time there meeting friends, but we decided to stay in an area we were less familiar with in order to get a fresh perspective on the city. We spent 6 nights at the Blossom Hotel Hibiya which is about 5 min walk from Shimbashi station. It's a highrise with the hotel on the top. We had a room facing Tokyo Tower with a great view. The rooms themselves were clean and comfy with the external wall composed of a single huge bay window. The city scape was amazing night and day.
I ended up having to put out fires at work again during this week even though I had tried to take it off, and this put a little bit of a damper on some exploration plans, but we still managed to see all our friends and make a go of the time. Also since we already spent almost 10 years in Tokyo altogether, we didn't feel nearly as pressured to check out multiple tourist sites and focused on eating, drinking, and meeting with friends.
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LOCATIONS, FOOD AND ADVENTURES
BEER
Tokyo is overflowing with great craft beer these days!

Part 4. Shizuoka

After our stay in Tokyo we started making our way back to Osaka for the last segment of our trip. On the way stopped off in Mishima for one night to visit my relatives. Here we stayed at the Toyoko-Inn Fujisan Mishima-eki. This is a no frills spot but it had nice clean, quiet rooms and a surprisingly good breakfast buffet. We wandered around Mishima in the afternoon then had a big Yakiniku family dinner with my relatives at Anrakutei Yakiniku. I tried Horumon for the first time and actually enjoyed it!
The next day we headed to Mochimune for one of our long planned trip highlights:
It rained heavily in the evening and all through the night, but this made for a fun trip to the nearby 7-Eleven, and a good excuse to just hang out and tap the keg while watching Doraemon reruns on the big screen TV in the room. In the morning the weather had cleared up so we took a long walk on the beach which is just a few minutes from the hotel. The walk from the hotel back to Mochimune station is also quite nice if the weather permits. Truly amazing experience. Also requires booking several months in advance.
OUT OF CHARACTERS - SEE COMMENT FOR FINAL TRIP SEGMENT
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2023.05.03 15:26 kiplet1 [City of Roses] no. 25.5: what’s On the Radio – an Audience – some God-damned fools – there was a Gate

[City of Roses] no. 25.5: what’s On the Radio – an Audience – some God-damned fools – there was a Gate
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two sweetest passions
Whatever’s playing on the radio dissolves in distorted feedback, a little Ennio Morricone, a little 3 Mustaphas 3, it mutters to itself. She shifts in the driver’s seat, leaning forward, watching the man in the black suit through the side windows of the SUV. Continuing this exotic kick, murmurs the radio, let’s feast our ears on these East African rhythms from the Lagos Music Salon. He’s stepping off the sidewalk, there by the welter of bicycles, heading across the greening yard toward the pink-painted house, climbing the steps to the cramped front porch, a big man, unkempt brown hair and beard. Empty hands, one of them lifted to knock. She frowns. Cocks her head. Sits up behind the wheel. Yesterday she said her prayers and thank yous, coos the radio, morning heat crowding her room and thighs, and she leans down again, looks out the side window. The man in the black suit’s talking to someone in the doorway. Yesterday the rains were rather heavy, sings the radio, and the man in the black suit yanks his elbow back, leans in to throw a punch.
Her brow quirks.
Her hand yanks open the passenger door feet kick off the seat the floorboard into a shallow dive over the sidewalk tuck and roll to come up running yellow blur foot leaping middle step then hitting porch and barreled through the front door left ajar a pushing leap her running shoe slaps the wall a spring momentum lofting over the bannister tumble a flip over heels over head as one hand pulling flash that lights the hallway steps and clutter through the doorway scuffle black suit pink head feet a-thump the floor her blade a whip swung down and back a half-step lunge “Iona!” and the blade-tip stops dead there, an inch, perhaps, from blinking eye. The man in the black suit’s hauled Chazz around, held tight to meet her thrust. “Do you?” he says, voice rough.
“Your pardon, ma’am, Devil,” says Iona, taking one step back. Her sword still up. “I did not recognize the wizard.”
“Everyone, please,” says Ysabel, down at the other end of the dining table. “There’s no need for swords, or shields.” The others beside and behind her, the little man holding his book to his naked chest, the man in the baggy coveralls, the woman in the robe. “Put up yours as well, mother.”
“What, this?” says the woman at the one end of the sofa, white hair wild about her head, and a little silver paring knife in her hand. “What could I possibly do with such a wee point.”
“Let the Devil go,” says Ysabel, to Mr. Keightlinger. “We’ll hear you out.” But as Chazz leans forward into a step away Mr. Keightlinger tugs him back, tightening his grip full of turtleneck, “Good sir!” cries Chazz, with a choke. “You’ve secured our attention. There is no need!”
“You,” says Mr. Keightlinger, over Chazz’s pink bald head, to Ysabel. “You might have something. You might not. I need to know.”
“What might this something be,” says Ysabel.
“You have it, you’ll know.”
“But what if I don’t?”
He shakes his big brown head. “You won’t want to know.”
“Ridiculous!” cries the woman at the other end of the sofa, her white hair done up in braids. “Mother, please,” says Ysabel. Taking a step toward Mr. Keightlinger, toward Chazz, toward Iona wary in the doorway. “Well,” she says. “It’s you who’ve pressed most firmly for this dilemma. How would you see it resolved.”
“I am aware,” growls Mr. Keightlinger, a flick of his free hand, annoyed, and then, “Your shirt. Take it off.”
She stops, halfway along the length of the dining table. The woman in the gauzy robe lifts a hand, opens her mouth as if to say something. “You address,” says Chazz, “a Queen, sir,” and Mr. Keightlinger shakes him, once, “Your sweater,” he growls, “take off your sweater. I need to see. If you have it.”
“Draw, Chazz,” says the woman on the sofa, “Iona, go on. Cut him down. Someone!”
“Gammer Duenna, you will be still,” says Ysabel, and then, to Mr. Keightlinger, “First, you must let him go.”
“He stays in the room,” says Mr. Keightlinger. “Everyone stays in the room.”
“You’d have an audience.”
“Collateral,” says Mr. Keightlinger, pushing Chazz stumbling into the end of the table, crash, and steps past him, down the table, up to her standing quite still, and “Ma’am!” cries Iona, and a stern “Hold!” from Ysabel. “This will be done in a moment.” Mr. Keightlinger doesn’t so much nod as shrug, and she lifts her sweater up and over her head and off.
“Bra,” says Mr. Keightlinger, but she’s already turned her back to him. “You’ll need to undo it,” she says.
Delicate clasp of it pinched by thick fingers pressing her skin, prodding as satin straps fall away. She holds the cups of it in place. “I have never,” says the woman on the sofa, “in all my days,” but turns away from a look from Ysabel. Those fingers, pressing the base of her neck. “Please,” he says, pushing, turning her about before him as she lets the bra fall to the floor. Looks up, away. In the shadows above, just under the ceiling, styrofoam wigstands and mannequin heads crowd along the picture molding, each of them painted, thick lines and curls in red and black, fixed rictuses of joy, wonder, and delight, and here and there a wicked sneer. Those spatulate fingers twisting, paling her skin, she winces, “Surely,” she says, “by now, you know?”
He stops, fingers along her sternum, index snug in clavicle-notch. His small eyes, reddened, squinted, brown, between snag of hair and snarl of beard. “You killed him,” he says, and takes a step back. “Didn’t you.”
She looks at him, then. “I seem to recall swatting something,” she says.
“His name’s yet known,” says Mr. Keightlinger, backing away. “Should’ve finished the job.” Turning to go, past glaring Chazz, Iona stepping aside. The door slammed shut behind him.
The man in the baggy coveralls is the first to make a move, a sound, coughing, and Ysabel snatches up her sweater, shoves herself into it, “Ma’am?” Iona’s saying. “Did he harm you?”
“Frost and blight,” says one of the women on the sofa, and “Blast and rot,” the other. Chazz mutters, “Why is his heart not here in my hand.”
“Shall we go?” says Iona, holding out a hand. “Home?”
“Yes,” says Ysabel, but then, frowning, “no,” she says. “No.”
•
It’s dark, up under the rafters. She lifts a paper bag over her head, climbs after it, up a brief ladder bolted to the wall, and crouching out onto planks laid across the joists there, a makeshift floor. Far below a pop and splatter, whoops, shrieks of laughter. On her knees she’s striking a match, lighting the fat wick of a small brass lamp, setting the glass chimney in place, the light warming about her, her brown coat, her white-gold shock of hair. She drags the bag over, Powell’s, it says, and reaches in to pull out books, thick paperbacks with worn covers and creased, curled spines, star-spattered nightscapes and otherworldly pastels, fiery starships, lumpen aliens, The Romulan Way, Norstrilia, the titles say, Floating Worlds, in sober type, in colorful, wildly shaped logos, Caravan Stars, Titan, Brightness Falls from the Air. She sets to methodically peeling off price tags, little perforated squares of yellow and red, big white UPC labels. Someone says, “Hey,” and she looks up to see Anna, clinging to the ladder. “C’mon down. The champagne’s – not that bad, actually.”
“Come on down,” roars Gloria, somewhere below, laughter in her words.
“I’m putting these away,” says Marfisa, stacking a couple of books by a low wooden box, The Thurb Revolution, The Sardonyx Net, and “So,” says Anna, leaning an elbow on the floorboards. “This is what an outlaw’s lair looks like.” Tucked up close to the rafters, at the flickering edge of the lamplight, a rumpled sleeping bag, some discarded clothing. Leaned against a truss a wooden baseball bat. “I don’t need much,” says Marfisa, stacking up more books.
“Still,” says Anna, “now you can run out to IKEA, get yourself a shelf. Maybe even a bed.”
“She can,” says Marfisa, her back to Anna, a book in either hand.
“And?” says Anna. “Look, Marfisa. At all we got done, together, in a day.”
The sheepskin collar of that coat rises gently, in a sigh, as she sets the last two books with the others. “You gave a pot of money to, her,” she says. “We went shopping. For clothes.”
“And art supplies,” says Anna. “The computer, the champagne – that spark, in her eyes?” A yelp from below, “Ladies, come on! I’m about to fire this thing up!” Anna smiles. “And, also – the books,” she says.
“And you?” says Marfisa, turning about, sitting herself on the floor. “What did you get, from all of this?”
“It’s not the money, Marfisa. It’s not the stuff. Didn’t you feel it? We can help each other.”
Marfisa snorts. “With what,” she says. “We’re just some God-damned fools who said a wrong thing, once, to, to the wrong damned woman.”
“Here we go!” yells Gloria somewhere below, but Anna, stricken, leans her elbows on those planks, “Don’t say that,” she whispers. “It’s more than that. You know it.” Marfisa looks away. “And more than just us,” says Anna, a little more than a whisper now. “There’s others, out there. Left, lost, in the shadows, when she turned her face away.” Reaching out a hand. “We can help them, too.”
Marfisa shifts, leaning away, over toward the low wooden box, there by her books. “Are you ready, Anna, for an outlaw’s life?” Anna draws back her hand, a pinch of a frown. Marfisa moves something from the top of that box, an empty horse’s head, bulging black eyes, flop of a snout. “When the Glaive and the Guisarme find out what you’ve done,” she says, “and for whom,” as she lifts the lid of the box, and a wash of golden light spills up and out to overwhelm that little brass lamp. Anna, blinking, catches her breath. “You’ll want to take some,” says Marfisa. “Against that day.”
“The money, is nothing,” says Anna, her voice gone husky. “The bank gets its due. And I’ve signed his name before, at his request.”
“Your tracks are covered?”
“I shouldn’t,” says Anna, looking up at Marfisa in all that light. “Not yet.”
“Not yet,” says Marfisa. Darkness falls as she lowers the lid.
•
“It’s just the Montage leftovers,” she says, leaning back against the counter, sweatpants and a white tank top. Over the stove the microwave’s lit up and roaring. “I thought you were going out with Reg.”
“You could’ve asked, is all,” she says, there by the shelf in an oversized sweatshirt, legs bare. “It’s the principle of the thing.”
The gentle chime of a doorbell, and she tips her head, a gesture of that striking nose, “Is that him?”
She shakes her head, blond hair austerely swaying side to side. “Not yet.”
“Well, I’m not expecting anyone,” she says, as the microwave bleeps, goes dark. She turns to open its door.
Rolling her eyes she heads off out of the kitchen across the open living room, dark wood paneling and grey-green shag that softens her peevish stomps. Again the gentle chime, followed almost immediately by a pounding knock on the door she opens to see Ysabel, in her long white coat, and her scowl brightens into a smile. “Hello, darling,” she says.
Ysabel’s looking past her. “Is she at home?” she says.
Smile sours to pout. “You could’ve just called,” she says, and then, calling out, “Chrissie! It’s for you!”
“Hey,” says Chrissie, stepping out of the kitchen, bowl in one hand, fork in the other. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve had a day,” says Ysabel, looking down, away from Chrissie to Ettie there beside her, and then up and back to Chrissie again. “Come out with me,” she says, all at once. “Tonight,” she says. “Right now.”
“All right,” says Chrissie, after a moment.
•
Dim pink light shimmers pulsing from the drumbeat somewhere else, close pink-painted walls, dingy white carpeting, a low white rumpled couch. A silver pole in the middle of the room, bolted to floor and ceiling, and she steps around it, black cloak purpled in that light, and Ysabel’s long white coat gone pink and shadowed purple, and the spangles of Chrissie’s black dress softened, dulled, her hand in Ysabel’s, looking about the little room. “So,” she says. “This is Thursday?”
That cloak spreads lifting arms to reach for the hood and “Wait,” says Ysabel. “Don’t.”
“I am her majesty’s to command,” says the Starling, hoarsely hushed.
“Your,” says Chrissie, almost, a breath of a word, looking from the shadowed wings of the cloak to Ysabel eyeing her sidelong from a step away, letting go her hand. “Go on,” she says, to Chrissie. “Look at her.”
“I,” says Chrissie, “I am.”
“No,” says Ysabel. “Go and look at her.”
A smile creeps over Chrissie’s lips. “All right,” she says, stepping back. “I guess I’m her majesty’s – ”
“Don’t,” says Ysabel, sharply.
And Chrissie says, “All right,” and another step back, and then around and past the pole. Leaning down in her brief black dress to look up, into the shadows under the hood, and a glimmer there, pink light shimmering, caught in crystal, on silver filigree. “Ysabel?” she says, a whisper, bare arm reaching up to jolt back as rustling a cloaked arm lifts a hand to meet hers, there, at the edge of the hood, fingers brushing, grasping, drawing back.
“You’re,” says Chrissie, “you’re her – ”
“No,” says the Starling.
“I’ve but a brother,” says Ysabel.
“Is this some kind of a,” says Chrissie, and then, “how,” she says, stepping back, bump against the pole.
“Smoke, and mirrors,” says the Starling. “Powders and creams.”
“I guess,” says Chrissie, “we know you’re not the funny one,” and the Starling frowns.
“Chrissie, please,” says Ysabel. “Look at her, and tell me. Do you – think, she’s,” and the thrumming drums, the half-heard synthesizer stabs. That pink light, pulsing. “Do you,” says Ysabel, as Chrissie’s fingers interlock with the Starling’s, the two of them breathless watching her, the Queen. “Do you want her,” says Ysabel.
The Starling closes her eyes. Chrissie, swallowing, lifts her head, a nod, or possibly a sigh.
•
Two residential streets, a simple intersection, the pavement of it painted in a great circle, yellows and whites, a sunflower faded by weather and traffic, opening under harshly blue-white streetlights. Houses sit comfortably at three of the corners, windows lit here and there against the fallen night, and at three of the corners there by the sidewalks little kiosks built of scrap lumber and windfall, painted in primary colors dimmed with age. He’s there by the sign that says Central Square, a bulletin board beneath it papered with notecards and flyers and photos, lost dog, Yamaha keytar cheap, web design made easy, paleo prepped 4 you. A beard, a mustache thick about his lips, dark hair lankly brushing the shoulders of his warmup jacket, blue and grey. Out in the intersection, Jessie in her puffy pink and orange parka, yellow hair struck colorless in the close bright light. They’re both looking over the fourth of those four corners, where a new house rises up, sheets of plywood cut around what will one day be doors and windows, paper sheathing wrapped about, yellow and white, and spars and beams of a second storey and a third reaching up, raw lumber pale against the dark night sky.
“There was a gate,” she says. “A red gate, and little lights, strung from the trees. There were more trees.”
“The Bedroom Spared,” he says. “The Second Breakfast Nook. The Singing Room and the Smoking Porch. The Heartstone.”
“All the,” she says, “rugs, everywhere you went there were rugs on top of rugs.”
“We had a Rug Day,” he says. “You had to bring something for the floor to get in. Leo brought a strip of carpet from the airport.”
“Leo,” she says, looking over at him on the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets. “John,” she says, but then, “no. Michael. Michael John Lake.”
“Luke,” he says, turning away. Heading back down the sidewalk, the cars parked alongside, to a boxy dark sedan. He opens a door and leans in, wrestling with the stuff crammed into the back of it.
She’s frowning as he comes back toward her, a roll of sleeping bag in one hand, a wad of blankets tucked under an arm. “Let’s go,” he says, stepping up onto the curb before the unbuilt house.
“I, uh, Luke,” she says, hurrying after him, “we shouldn’t,” up shaky steps onto a narrow plywood porch. “It’s all right,” he’s saying, as he steps through the empty hole of the front doorway, “I doubt they’ve installed an alarm system yet.”
Inside the darkness thick, abruptly shaped by skeletons of walls, enfilades of two-by-fours limned faintly by the streetlight. “What if someone sees us,” says Jessie, hushed.
“No one saw us,” he says. Over there serrated angles, a couple of stringers hung from ceiling to floor out in the middle of what will be a room, and planks laid atop each deckled edge, a makeshift staircase. Creaking up he does. “Shit,” says Jessie, following after, careful steps in the middle of each board. “We don’t have to stay here,” she says, arms out for balance, the drop to either side.
“I won’t spend another night in that car,” he says, up there somewhere, rustle and thump. He’s tossed the sleeping bag up another floor and he’s stuffing the blankets up after. “The cash,” she’s saying, stepping away from the edge. “We don’t have to save it anymore.” He’s jumped up grabbing the floor above, feet kicking for purchase against a lumber strut. “Little help,” he grunts. She steps up, hands on the seat of his jeans, pushing, “There’s a motel up on Powell,” she says. “Let’s go get a damn room. Sleep in a bed.”
He’s reaching down, and grabs the hand that she holds up. “No,” he says. “We have a plan. We’re sticking to our plan. We’re getting the apartment.” He braces himself to pull, but she’s standing still, “The rent,” she says. “Without a job, there’s no way – ”
“We go on as we mean to go on,” he says.
“But,” she says, and “Do you trust me,” he says.
“Yes?”
“Do you believe me,” he says, resettling his grip, and she nods. “Then we go on,” he says, and pulls her up.
Out past the unroofed back of the house restless, lightless trees, stirred by the hissing rush of wind. The starless sky above brushed with light from the city below, and off that way, far off, towering buildings lifted, lit up, and rising among them warning lights winking about the towers of idle cranes. “Look at that,” he murmurs, low and close, there by her ear. “How do you hold hands around something like that.”
“We’re gonna freeze up here,” she says.
“No,” he says. “I’m almost back to myself. Soon,” he says. “Soon.” And then, “Just,” he says, “tell me.”
She turns a little, in his arms, to look at him. “I need to sleep,” she says. “We have to get up stupid early, so nobody sees us sneaking out of – ”
“No one will see us,” he says. “Tell me. Tell me her name.”
And Jessie says, “Isadora.”
https://preview.redd.it/2ou3n9r6qlxa1.png?width=35&format=png&auto=webp&s=721b51ebee8b72f7cdfe22da0417ed30d29db32e
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2023.04.27 16:51 vampiresquidling Queer-friendly haircut for 2a/2b hair?

Looking for a place in the area where my wife can get her 2a/2b hair cut and not have to worry about people being rude to her! She prefers a skin fade with a little length on the top, and she's had a lot of trouble in the past with people cutting her hair inappropriately for its texture (and has also had difficulty with stylists being homophobic in other areas we've lived in in the past).
Google has informed me that there are some places/stylists (Tanya's, Perfections, and Sarah Holthaus at Salon Lofts) that specialize in cutting curly hair. We are both visibly-queer people, and my wife is more masc-presenting, so I'm trying to scope out our options in advance to prevent her having a bad experience. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Edit: I’m assuming the downvotes are from homophobes, lol. Everyone reading this can rest assured that my wife and I will continue our extremely gay and joyous Cincinnati existence and will have even better hair going forward than we already did :)
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2023.04.16 19:44 Sharp-Put4724 Shannon Twins Playboy Timeline

Okay I tried to get a bit of a timeline together, but basically my belief is that, while they were from a dysfunctional and vulnerable background which fits Hef’s pattern of exploiting young, disenfranchised women, Hef more or less ‘met his match’ with the Shannon twins.
In my opinion they frequently change their narrative and appearance based on whatever perspective garners them a certain amount of attention. From Playboy to their tv appearances on Big Brother, Botched, Rob & Chyna, their business ventures like their salon, trips to Dubai, and current public opinion on Playboy, I feel that the twins are notoriously opportunistic.
It does not mean the relationship with Hef wasn’t abusive, and their was obviously an incredible power imbalance, but I do not think that the pregnancy/abortion was because of a pregnancy from Hef.
Feel free to discuss/fill in any gaps
Screenshots are from their ‘Hef is dead’ hoax, from ‘The Dirty’ (blech, I know, but back in the day they actually were giving interviews to Nik Richie that have been scrubbed from the internet), and their trip to Dubai ——————
The twins officially move into the mansion and become girlfriends and by October 2008 are in full ‘new GND’ promotions
https://www.today.com/today/amp/wbna43400715
In October 2008 ‘The pair have both been busted for aggravated battery, after Karissa reportedly hit a woman over the head with a beer bottle at a party in January before both "jumped" the woman and left her concussed.’
Last November[2007], Karissa was also arrested after kicking her twin sister in the face, E! Online said
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/hefs-teen-twins-busted-for-battery-20100118-mfdn.html
They describe becoming girlfriends in an interview published by the NY Post :
All three women say they were not recruited for the show, specifically — and had no idea when they moved into the mansion 12 months ago that Holly, Kendra and Bridget were on the verge of leaving — or that the E! channel was looking for replacements. “They were filming the last few episodes [of Season 5] while we were unpacking,” says Karissa. “We never saw it coming.” Harris first met Hef at last year’s Playboy Halloween party and says she was frightened when she first learned that they wanted her to do the show.
Hef later shared in an interview to launch their July/August 2009 double issue how they became girlfriends
In fact, he said Madison played matchmaker as she was preparing to leave the Playboy Mansion, and it was her handiwork that sparked his relationship with the Shannon sisters. “It was Holly that first said to me, ‘You know who would really like to be your girlfriends, is the twins’,” he said, “And I said, ‘You’re kidding’!” “That’s where I got the first clue that the twins were really interested in hooking up,” he said. Hefner said Madison first met the identical twins while she was working as an assistant photo editor at Playboy. “She was overseeing the test shoots that we were doing for the five Playmates, six if you count the twins as two, for our 55th anniversary issue,” Hefner recalled. “The twins were one of the five contestants who were competing that were competing for the 55th anniversary and Holly was overseeing that.” “The truth of the matter is Holly actually knew the twins beforehand, in other words, before she left,” he said.
They did a promotional interview with Crystal where they discussed living at the mansion JH: You're both so much fun on the show. Can you tell me about your first time at the mansion? Karissa Shannon: The first time we came to the mansion they were filming the show and we were testing for the 55th Anniversary Playmate and we had so much fun. It's like a big family here. JH: What did you think, Kristina? Kristina Shannon: Same thing. [Laughs.] JH: Did you ever think you would be living there? Karissa: Not at all! I knew when we came here we didn't want to leave so it's good that that came true
By January 2010 Hef announced their breakup, but the twins would be staying in the guest house
"The Shannon Twins are growing up," Hefner tweeted. "They're moving to the Playmate House with my blessing so they will be free to do other things."
"They've been hanging out with a lot of the other Playmates, and they see these girls travelling across the country to do promotion," Hefner told E! Online. "They would like to be doing that, too.
The change of address means that the twins will now be regarded only as "friends". "Were looking forward to moving to the Playmate House, But we still love Hef & want to remain close," the twins said in a Twitter message.
https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/split-hugh-hefner-twin-girlfriends-kristina-karissa-shannon-move-playboy-mansion-article-1.196544
By July 2010 rumours of Karissa making 2 sex tapes surface, one with her boyfriend Sam Jones III and the other with Heidi Montag:
https://www.tmz.com/2010/09/08/karissa-shannon-sex-tape-sam-jones-iii-playboy-vivid/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hAQLfEAoZZE&pp=ygUWc2hhbm5vbiB0d2lucyBib3RjaGVkIA%3D%3D
https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/08/radar-video-interview-playmate-admits-i-made-a-sex-tape-with-heidi-and-spence
She broke up with him when she and Kristina had a chance to move back into the Mansion in August 2011. This coincides with his arrest and later incarceration, as well as Crystal Harris breaking off her engagement with Hef
https://www.tmz.com/2011/06/16/playboy-playmate-karissa-shannon-smallville-boyfriend-sam-jones-iii-break-up-dumped-lie-con-bait-and-switch-sister-kristina-shannon/
On their ‘Botched’ appearance, they admitted to drinking alcohol while taking a higher dose of Percocet than prescribed.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3263501/amp/Twin-Playboy-models-slammed-surgeons-risking-lives-mixing-alcohol-pain-meds-undergoing-procedure-fix-botched-80-000-breast-augmentations.html
The reporting is from the January breakup, but an article published in 2016,shared in an interview that they had been kicked out of the mansion for dating other men:
The 84-year-old "Playboy" founder flipped out in January after the blonde girls, 20, flouted his no-boyfriends house rule by inviting partners back for sessions under the sheets.
Karissa Shannon said: "After a couple of weeks, Hef was getting a little bit upset about the boyfriends, so he wanted us to move out.
"We need to update people about what's going on. We were not allowed to have boys in the house. That was the absolute number one rule -- no boys allowed. "That was one of the main reasons we moved out. But living there and being seen out with other guys, Hugh was tripping."
Their infamous December 2016 Hef death hoax
With this statement:
“Pop in on us from time to time and tell our mom in heaven we have been good girls,” they cheekily added in their tribute. ” ‘May the wind always be at your back, And the sun always upon your face, And May the wings of destiny carry you a loft to dance with the stars!’ Forever love, your Twins!” M
Their statement after his death “He was everything to us. No matter what happened in our lives he was always number one and ALWAYS had our back,” Karissa and Kristina Shannon said in a statement. “Our love we shared was unconditional something many don’t get to experience in life. He helped us understand who we were. We had enough memories and fun to last”
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2023.04.10 17:11 No-Investigator2869 Tipping in a Loft Salon

Hello! Question - when you go to someone who has their own salon space do you still tip 20%? I feel confused only because the person is the sole business owner so they already get to pocket the full price of the service (understanding they also then have business-owner-responsibilities/costs, but they set the price too.)
submitted by No-Investigator2869 to eyelashextensions [link] [comments]

2023.04.04 18:01 MilkbottleF Four Tales

Tower Theatre

There are, of course, public and private theatres, basement stages, cabarets in lofts, studios and outdoor theatres; and there are theatrical salons and audition halls, local play houses and supper shows.
But that is not enough for me. I have invented a tower theatre. Nothing suits my plans better than the spire of a Gothic cathedral.
I transform the ninety-metre-high octagon into an arena-like theatre in the round. I nail up balconies that end hanging in space beyond the tracery of the windows, buttressed on the weathered heads of apostles and trumpeting angels that stand at various heights on the outside walls.
The mere fact that a play is being given in a cathedral lures hordes of visitors. I have sent word to every provincial theatre and to the drama schools, and I welcome all hopelessly deluded, self-taught actors and desperate dabblers, carefully, tactfully casting all the roles.
On opening night my octagonal hall is packed. The balconies creak, and at first I am afraid they might collapse or that a trumpeting angel may crumble under the load. Following the first act, the players exit behind a wooden partition whose door opens into empty space.
Unsuspecting, they step through to what they suppose will be an adjoining room, and they crash immediately to the cobblestone pavement surrounding the cathedral. But I have planned ahead and made arrangements that someone down below will get them quickly out of the way. The tower bells ring out between the scenes and it is virtually impossible to hear the screams of falling actors. Then comes the second scene. Players are waiting to enter from the spiral staircase. In the first scene I have used one pasha, twelve servants, a princess, one Don Juan, and seven chamberlains; and the second act will cost me one pasha, a princess, one Don Juan, and three ministers of state. By the end of my play I have used six pashas, seven princesses, seven Don Juans, thirty chamberlains, five ladies' maids, nine ministers of state, and one troubadour, all of whom I have kept hidden in the draughty spiral stairway until their cues.
The applause breaks with the intensity of a hurricane, but I am worried. I cannot possibly come up with enough actors for a repeat performance. And I leave town the same night, regretting again the death of so many players.
But they have their scene, those who probably would not have had the chance otherwise.
Isn't that obvious!

The hotel

I spent only one night in this hotel. It stood prominently on the jetty and you could hear the sea, the remarkable harmony of its thrusts. I had paid for two nights in advance, but they refused to give my money back when I left the next day.
In this odd hotel you were expected to sleep on ladders, bent over the top rung like a hanged or dead person being packed off to a mass grave over someone's shoulder. I had just stretched out on the floor -- my question whether there were any beds had brought nothing but laughter -- when I was jerked to my feet by my room-mates with the advice that I'd better hang over a ladder if I did not want to die.
That night one draught of fish after another squirmed and slid over the floor, in every room, even the pantry and basement, fish as long as your arm, and sharks that slashed at anything in their way. I could not understand how my roommates were able to sleep so soundly through it all, much less that there were people who had rented rooms for several months, and at rates that seemed incredibly high.
I felt strange. I packed at once and left early in the morning.

Baan: Description of a City

Situated at the marshy end of a saltwater gulf, Baan is a great city of gallows and hundred-armed cranes. They stand in countless groups, deeply, firmly anchored in the levelled plane that supports the city, resembling emaciated brawlers who spin and turn, lift and lower their wiry, angular arms. Every building in Baan has at least one ring of iron, concrete, or wood secured to its roof. Because of their weight and bulk, churches, opera houses, casinos, palaces, and factories have several rings. Even kennels and news-stands have them.
If a springtide is reported, or if an avalanche is seen crashing down the mountains at whose foot Baan sprawls, the arms of the cranes and gallows swiftly begin to lower and fasten their metal hooks, clamps, and anchors into the rings. The buildings, standing on the ground compact and mobile as boxes, are hoisted quickly and remain swaying and creaking in the air until all danger has passed. Arms of smaller cranes come out of the windows to snag various lighter objects, such as pigsties, lawn chairs, billboards, boat-houses, taxi cabs, each of which also is fitted with a ring.
The tide rages over empty ground. Many belongings, kennels, bicycles, water troughs, or children's wagons, may not be hooked in time, and they fall victim to the surging saltwater and are washed away. But what are those losses compared to this metropolis, swinging safely high and dry. Under the fierce blows of flood and avalanche, the cranes and gallows begin taking up slack and start to sway, and if strong wind accompanies invading water and snow, entire quarters of the city begin to gyrate and creak ominously. Buildings crunch their corners together hard enough to splinter windows and make plaster crack and crumble, but nothing more serious happens.
Many sleeping people are rolled from their beds when the houses are lifted. Tables and cabinets ram against walls.
Singers topple over at the opera houses, curtains falling in heaps about them. After the water has run its course and the mountain has strewn its frozen debris, the buildings are lowered. Following an earthquake, extreme care is taken to ensure that structures are not put down in pits or craters, or left to stand on the rim of fissures. Slowly the city sinks and settles into place. The bits and pieces, houses and huts, are set down, and churches are manoeuvred carefully to hastily consecrated ground.
Hardly a building ends up on its previous site. New boulevards and prospects unfold and are duly inspected and soon put to good use by the inhabitants of Baan. Neighbours have disappeared without a trace. Luxury hotels turn up in the slums and whole villas perch on jetties. Swiftly Baan grows accustomed to its new character, and the cranes are cleaned and re-oiled.
-- Christoph Meckel [Tr by Brian Harris and Christopher Middleton.] Selected from The Figure on the Boundary Line: Selected Prose (Carcanet, 1983). See also:

A Transformation:

Tribute to the Master, Composed by Me

HWAT IF INSTEAD OF "CHRISTOPH MECKEL," IT WAS CALLED "CHRISTOPH SCHMECKEL" AND IT WAS JUST FOR THE FELLAS?
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2023.03.24 23:42 orangeybigapple I am 27 years old, make $80,000 working as a Social Media Producer in NYC and this week was my birthday!

Assets and Debt

Retirement Balance: $36,428 in a Roth IRA, $4,571 in an individual brokerage account, and $19,960 in a 401k. Right now I contribute 6% because my company’s match policy maxes out at 3%. I’ve always contributed this much regardless of my salary progression to max out my company’s policy. I’ve been at the same company for the entirety of my salaried career so this is all of it too!
I go to my Dad for pretty much everything money-related. I’m very lucky to have a father who opened up a Roth IRA for me at 22 and practically forced me to open up my own brokerage account a little before I turned 26. Right now I contribute $250 a month to my Roth and $250 to the S&P 500 at the end of every month. This is an automatic payment out of my bank account so I always leave enough in my checking account for this to avoid a late fee. My dad is huge on maxing out a Roth IRA so my parents match the other $3,000 each year. I would have significantly less in my Roth IRA without this and I’m extremely grateful. Apart from this and my phone bill I’m financially independent and would love to make a little more money soon so I can max out my Roth IRA on my own. (It’d really be ideal if I stayed on my parents' family plan for my phone though haha.)
As mentioned before, I really didn’t want to open up a brokerage account at first because I was (and still am) extremely intimidated by the whole process. Eventually I gave in and we settled on an automatic payment to the S&P 500 so I really don’t have to think about things. As usual, my dad was right and I’m really proud of that $4,571 since opening it up. I contribute the same amount regardless of how well the market is doing too to make it easier. I also do not touch this money ever because my spending habits can be all over the place (I’m working on it!)
Savings Account Balance: $1,580 in emergency savings
At the height of the pandemic this was up to $10k. I paid NYC rent while living with my parents until my lease ended and then kept living between my house or my BF’s to save as much as possible. Living at home really messed with my relationship with my parents (and my independence honestly) so I scrambled back to NYC in June of 2021 and furnished this apartment with the majority of my emergency savings. My boyfriend lives with me now but he didn’t then, so this felt AWESOME knowing I did it by myself. I’d ideally love for this number to be much higher so I’m working on it. It’s admittedly been hard because of my spending habits.
Checking Account Balance: $551.63
As mentioned above, I contribute $500 at the end of every month so I like to keep that amount in my checking account. I put all expenses on my credit cards and only pay rent and utilities directly from this account at the end of the month when I get paid.
Credit Card Debt: $0

Income

Income Progression: I started as a “mommy’s helper” when I was 12 years old for some families on my street and quickly became the resident babysitter on the block as I got older. This was great money in high school in addition to my jobs! Through high school and college I worked as a cashier at a bakery, a receptionist at a hair salon, a day-camp counselor, an associate at Skechers (this was easily my favorite because 3 of my best friends worked there at the same time), a wedding videographer, and the front desk of a camera equipment facility at my college.
I’ve been working in social media (with a focus on video production/editing) for 6 years, two years of which were internships. I’ve been at my current job for just shy of 4 years now at an advertising agency in NYC. I graduated college in 2018 with a 6-month fellowship at a pretty big news website as a video producer making $22/hour. I was one of about 50 interns (15 of which were also part of my graduating class). The job description was identical to that of an Associate Video Producer and the only difference was the pay. I remember being devastated when I wasn’t offered a salary of $50,000 like some of the people in my intern class.
For the next 6 months I was living the unemployed life. This was a super dark time in my life and I remember feeling so worthless. The amount of unanswered applications really got to me and I really wanted someone to just give me a chance. During this time I made due by walking and watching more dogs than I can count (S.O. Rover and Wag!) and wrote a ton of freelance articles. Fun fact, I only heard back from companies during my employment that I had connections at. (I was ghosted or immediately rejected from every other company I applied to. Connections. Are. Everything.)
Finally, I was hired as a Video Editor working on a TV network account. My starting salary was $60,000 which I was super happy about at the time so I didn’t even bother negotiating (huge mistake!) I only made this salary for about 9 months before the pandemic hit and I was partially furloughed. My salary was cut by 20% for the next 6 months. Making $48,000 obviously wasn’t fun but I was living at home at the time and my only real expense was the rent I was still paying in NYC so I was still able to save a good amount at this time. I also got Fridays off because of this and it was a DREAM!!! I’ve never been more productive honestly so I’m a hugeeee fan of the four-day work week trend going around right now. Right around my 2-year anniversary I got Wa 15% raise to $69,000. 11 months after that I was promoted to Social Media Producer and my current salary of $80,040.
Monthly Take Home: $4,413.40

Expenses

Rent: $1100 (my boyfriend and I currently share a lofted studio for $2200/month)
I’ve been in my current apartment for just shy of 2 years now which is a big deal considering I left every apartment prior to this after my 1 year lease ended! Our current lease is up in September and we’re DYING for more space.. I’m really nervous considering the housing market in New York so TBD on how that’s gonna go.
Electric: $35ish in the winter (my share). My share of the bill can go up to $115 or so over the summer which is brutal.
Subscriptions:
Gym: $92
Apple Music: $10.99
Pet insurance (my share): $24.40
Wifi: $54.99 (I cover Wifi in full and my boyfriend covers Youtube TV for us)
Debt Payments: I’m very lucky that I have $0 debt after school.
Parental Help: Phone plan, Streaming services (Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBOMax, etc. and their Roth IRA match for me every year).

Diary

Day 1:
9:15am: I roll out of bed (I’ve been working on going to bed and waking up earlier and am failing). Since it’s Friday I order pick up from the Starbucks down the street and pick up H and my usual orders. I’ve been known to get into funks where I order Starbucks every day for H and I. Right now I only allow myself Friday Starbucks to combat this. I pre-load my card in $25 increments so technically this order was free.
9:30am: I’m back and ready to start my work day. I anticipate a pretty quiet work day today and since it’s my birthday this weekend I really want a haircut. I found an amazing place in Chinatown months ago that I want to go back to because I’m not trying to spend a ton of money. I call and make an appointment for 5pm
4:30pm: I leave my apartment and get ready to catch the Subway to Chinatown. $2.75
5:40pm: I chopped a few inches off and my hair hasn’t been this short since I graduated college. I’m especially obsessed with my hair because of the price. $51.60 with tip!
5:45pm: I make it to the subway and get ready to go home. $2.75
6:15pm: I make it home and greet my dog and get him dinner. As I’m going through my closet and trying to figure out what to wear for my birthday celebration tomorrow, I get a FaceTime from one of my friends from home. She made it to the city (she’s staying at a mutual friend's place) and is wondering if I want to grab dinner and drinks with them. I accept and start to get ready.
H has been out all day watching March Madness games with his friends so I make sure to give our puppy some extra treats and love while I’m home. After a long shower I throw on my coat and get ready to meet my friends for dinner.
7:15pm: I make it down to the Q with 1 minute to spare before the next downtown train. Always a win! $2.75
7:45pm: I greet my two friends L and P and we immediately start discussing what we’re craving for dinner. We eventually settled on a Mexican place just a short walk away. We get large specialty margaritas, an order of guac and chips, and three orders of enchiladas. It honestly was not the best dinner considering we didn’t get our drink orders until we were halfway through our entrees. Upon getting the bill, we noticed that the restaurant charged a 20% tip with our orders so we split the bill evenly three ways! $76
After dinner we make our way back to P’s apartment. After a couple more hours of catching up I decided to call an Uber home. $22.91
Daily total: $135.85
Day 2:
9:30am: I wake up and am already so excited for the night ahead. (That’s my excuse because I decided to break my Starbucks rule right after I wake up). This time I do have to reload my card. $25.00
9:45am: I make a quick trip to the grocery store for some breakfast supplies for H and I. I’m cooking today! $15.78
Our dinner reservation isn’t until 8pm and I have no plans before then so I lounged for most of the day. At one point H and I decided to take our dog to the dog park for an hour before starting to get ready for the night ahead.
H picks up the car to the restaurant. We went to a pizza place that makes pizzas up to 10 feet long and it was such a fun night. One of my best girlfriends and I share a birthday three days apart so we decided to celebrate together this year. The final bill is $1402.20 and I am happy to put my Amex down for the 4x credit card points. (Fun fact: I have not paid for a flight out of pocket in two years since having this card. I love it!) People will be paying me back though, so my share is only $78.
We spent the rest of the night bar hopping and ringing in my birthday at midnight. It was honestly such a great night. When we were finally done dancing and ready to turn in, H and I caught a cab with one of my best friends and her boyfriend since we live close. H picked up the tab as well as my drinks throughout the course of the night so it was technically free!
2:20am: We arrive home and start getting ready for bed. I start chugging water hoping I’m not hungover on my birthday. (I swear my hangovers get worse every year).
Daily total: $118.78
Day 3:
10:30am: My steady water intake from the night before definitely helped because I woke up not hungover! I spent the morning cuddling up to H and my puppy on the couch while I answered several “Happy Birthday” phone calls from my family members. I seriously have the best family in the world and I’m so grateful for my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that still take the time to this day to make the day feel special!
12:00pm: Five of my friends from home show up at my apartment because we’re planning to all go to a birthday brunch together before they catch their trains home. We settle on a fun diner and H joins us! Since it’s my birthday, my friends and H all split my meal for me so it was free.
2:00pm: My friends grab their bags from my apartment and we start to say our goodbyes. I’m so happy they were all able to come in for the weekend to celebrate!
4:00pm: Since I’m not as full from lunch anymore I decide it’s time for my birthday Starbucks. I always try to order something expensive since it’s free!
7:00pm: After a nap and some lounging on the couch, H asks me what I want for dinner. I settle on sushi and H ordered UberEats for us.
The rest of my birthday consisted of watching Netflix, taking a 30 minute shower and doing a face mask before crawling into bed. It was truly such a nice and relaxing birthday after the night before. 10/10.
Daily Total: $0
Day 4:
8:30am: It’s Monday and it feels very much like it because it’s pouring outside. I spent much of the day working from my couch instead of my desk because it felt right.
12:30pm: H stays home on Mondays too and neither of us feel like making lunch. I venture out and buy us some Sweetgreen for lunch. $28.69
2:00pm: Today is an extremely slow day at work so I decided to subway to my friend's apartment to pick up some of the leftover pizza from Saturday night earlier than planned to avoid rush hour. I want this pizza to be our dinner tonight so I can avoid cooking again. $2.75
3:00pm: After some catching up with my friend I returned to the subway with pizza in tow! $2.75
3:30pm: On my way home I stop by the local smoke shop and see my friend Mary Jane. Since she’s legal now in New York I’m seeing her more often. $135.20
4:30pm: I’m going to a friend’s Bachelorette next month and one of her bridesmaids just sent the itinerary for the weekend ahead. She asked us to Venmo her for a couple of the activities ahead of time. This is going to be my first Bachelorette I’m attending so I don’t have much to compare to, but this entire process has been so organized in my opinion and the bridesmaids have done a great job at keeping it as affordable as possible. $70.62
7:30pm: I finish out the rest of my workday and heat up some of the leftover pizza from Saturday in the airfryer for H and I. I love enjoying my Monday nights watching the Bachelor with a glass of wine in hand, so I pick up a bottle of wine from a shop right off the subway. $16.32
After a couple glasses of wine and “the most dramatic episode ever of the Bachelor” H and I start getting ready for bed.
Daily total: $256.33
Day 5:
8:30am: I roll out of bed and start getting ready for my workday. I had to shoot a couple pieces of content this day so I didn’t spend much of the day sitting down which was really nice. I currently work on a couple food brands’ social media content doing anything from food styling, food photography, video content, etc. It’s a lot of fun and definitely allows me to tap into my creative side.
12:30pm: Since I worked through my lunch while eating more leftover pizza, I decided to get a gel manicure during my lunch break. This is a habit I picked up after my last promotion and I don’t regret it. I’m really trying to prioritize self care the more I get older. $46.59 with tip
5:30pm: I finish out the rest of my work day and start to get ready for some dinner plans with a friend who couldn’t make it Saturday night.
7:00pm: I say goodbye to H and my puppy and catch the train downtown to dinner. $2.75
10:30pm: My friend and I spent hours at this restaurant gossiping and ended up being the last two people there! Oops! It was a cute little Indian restaurant and reasonably priced considering the amount of food we ordered. We split the bill down the middle. $69.44
11:00pm: I arrive home after getting myself a cab home instead of taking the subway. I had a bad experience not too long ago and I like to avoid going late at night if possible. I know it’s not the best financial habit but tonight I feel anxious. $22.20
Daily total: $140.98
Day 6:
9:30am: I totally stayed up way too late scrolling on TikTok last night after dinner so I sleep in super late this morning. Thankfully today is just a meeting day for me so I settle in at my desk and try to imagine my Keurig coffee is Starbucks instead.
12:30pm: H had to stay home today from work because of an arrest warrant that went wrong on the street of his office building (scary!) I have a buy-one get one free deal at Chipotle that’s going to expire soon so I offer to buy us lunch. $17.42
Tonight H and I have dinner plans with one of his best friends and his girlfriend P. P and I also have birthdays just a couple days apart so the four of us decided to celebrate together.
5:30pm: I stop working and start getting ready for our 8pm reservation. We’re going to Il Mulino which is one of our favorites but definitely more of a special occasion restaurant due to the prices.
7:30pm: H wants to take a taxi to dinner so he offers to pay. We get to Il Mulino just in time for our reservation and had such a great night. After a few hours we notice that we’re the last table at the restaurant and H makes a joke that I did this the night before too. (I promise this is not a typical thing for me haha). H splits the tab with P’s boyfriend.
10:45pm: I order H and I an Uber home and we call it a night pretty much immediately. $17.16
Daily total: $34.58
Day 7:
8:30am: Another day of meetings for me. I have a couple of client meetings where I have to present some of the content I’ve made in the last couple of weeks that all went well.
12:30pm: H stayed home again today because we’re planning to visit his family this weekend and we need to pack. I’m really jealous because H has leftovers from our dinner but I don’t so I have to go out and buy lunch. I buy myself some chili and a piece of bread from a place near our apartment. $10.89
6:00pm: I polish off the rest of the day by brainstorming a couple more concepts for the month ahead with my Social Media Manager. Around 6:30pm H’s dad picks us up (he drives to Manhattan every day) and we start driving home to H’s family’s house. Although we always run into traffic, H and I like doing this because it’s easy with our puppy and we avoid paying for a train.
8:00pm: H’s dad picked up a pizza on the way home for all of us to enjoy and we’re starving by the time we get back to the house. After dinner we caught up with H’s brother and watched some Netflix before going to bed.
Daily Total: $10.89
Weekly Total: $697.41
Reflections: This was definitely an expensive week for me but I do identify as a messy spender for a reason. I don’t typically go out to eat as much as I did this week but it was my birthday and I definitely celebrated! (If this were my weekly total every week I wouldn’t be able to keep my credit card debt at $0 so do keep that in mind). I’ve been working on saying no more to things if I don’t think they’re worth the money and my friends and I tend to cook in our apartments together more than going out anyways but it certainly is interesting seeing how much money I can waste by cutting corners like subways and cooking lunch/dinner. As I mentioned in the Assets and Debt section I don’t touch any of my investments for a reason because the amount of money I spend month to month can be drastically different. Here’s to a much more frugal next week of spending!
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