#Bless Kimmy for all eternity

[jlf23tumble]

Quarantine Tag Game

Thanks @newleafover, I luv you (and these bits of whimsy)!

Are you staying home from work/school? I’m a freelancer, so my work life has changed not one bit (except I have more of it to do because a colleague in the UK has the virus, so I’m taking her workload on).

Are you a homebody? Not really? I mean, I work at home, so I’m literally home a lot, which means I *really* like to get out and about. Fortunately, we’re still allowed to walk around our neighborhoods in SoCal, but that could change any second! I really miss just grabbing a cup of coffee or lunch or drink with friends, though. Popping into a museum. Going out to dinner. Stuff like that.

Any event you were looking forward to that got cancelled? WonderCon! I love going and seeing all the costumes and the panels and the various booths/fun things for sale. I’m hoping against hope my Stormzy show in May doesn’t cancel, but that’ll be my first concert that does.

What movies have you been watching recently? I’m not a big movie gal, and I have so much TV to get through, so I’m gonna say none.

What are you doing for self-care? The weather has been outstanding, so I’ve been making myself go for walks every day (which has also forced me to overhaul my music mix, hooray!); I need to make myself do my shoulder stretches, but that’s an eternal self-care issue. Other than that, checking in with friends and family has been helpful, ditto doing things that are more creative around my regular workflow (all these pube moodboards, and in another week or so, a collab with @kerasines on Witcher recaps). I’m drinking a cranberry and gin at the mo, so I’ll count that, too!

What shows are you watching? God bless Netflix, I finished the Witcher, Drive to Survive (season two), and Interior Design Masters; still watching Next in Fashion, and I’ll probably start up The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and any of the Great British Bake Off serieseseseses I missed. My Netflix account was hit-or-miss for months, so I’m eternally grateful that it’s functioning now, I have so many shows to watch ay yi yi.

What music have you been listening to? Perfect day for this question as I was just this afternoon digging into peppy tunes for my walk mix...spotify’s telling me the new Dua Lipa album, Britney Spears, Stromae, Amy Winehouse, Little Mix, Arctic Monkeys, Harry’s bunker playlist, Johnny Cash, and Little Mix.

What books are you reading? It feels like a moot point right now, but my brother got me a great book that compares NYC and LA, cultural point/tourist attraction by cultural point/tourist attraction; I’m thisclose to finishing Lily Allen’s autobiography, too.

I’ll tag @alienfuckeronmain, @harryincamp, @setsailtomorrow, @statementsue, @42mins!!

#mannnnn do i love doing these #consider yourself tagged too! #i never know how much people want to Reveal lol

[carumens]

sunflowers at night snippet: the founding legend

tagging:@florhiver @jess---writes @annaalexiswrites @katabasiss @omgbrekkerkaz @aetheriium @sleepyscribbling @katherinescribbles @naturallysweetnloaded @maskedlady @writing-kimmi @endymions @chellewrites 

The village of Romello was founded by a fake saint, a broken heart and a sunflower seed.

Many, many years ago, so many that nobody could tell exactly how many, there was a great drought that affected all the country. Crops withered, rivers and ponds evaporated, the rich soil of the forests hardened and cracked, and the animals died one after another, leaving behind a dry path of bones and hardened skin. A great migratory wave took place, people from the villages fled to the big cities where a drought wasn’t much of a problem, or in search of other lucky villages that had somehow been able to avoid falling in the dry grasp of the Great Drought.

Around that time, Saint Valbanera left her natal village along with the boy she loved. Back then she wasn’t a saint, of course, and the boy had a name. They didn’t take anything with them, except a rachitic pony, a saddlebag with bread and water, and the last sunflower seed left from last successful crop five years before. Valbanera had been keeping that seed in hope that someday, when the drought came to an end, she would be the one who would be able to start a new sunflower crop. Sunflowers were Valbanera’s favorite flower, because they were in love with the Sun, in the same way that she was, and because even if the Sun abandoned them every night they would always follow his unlikely path to be waiting for him when he came back the next morning.

So, Valbanera, the boy she loved, and a rachitic pony left together. They were happy, the three of them, even if their tongues were always parched and their feet blistered, and their skin flayed by the sun and the dry air. They were happy because they had each other, and they walked and walked for weeks, for months, leaving behind deserted villages and tree cemeteries. After two months, the rachitic pony became a part of the abrasive landscape they were trying to escape. They mourned him for a minute and continued their way.

After five months, Valbanera and the boy she loved left behind the eternal lonely desert and entered the Pierce Mountains. After five months and eight days, they found paradise. Paradise is always relative, and given the circumstances, paradise was a valley between two sharp mountains with some scattered half-dead pine trees. Half-dead was the best they had found in almost six months of desperate wandering, so they settled there, in a cave they found after some hours of searching because they did not dare to bring down one of the few standing trees in kilometers just to build a shabby hut. To their surprise, the cave’s walls were humid, not dripping wet, but slightly moisty, and after months of digging in the proximities of cacti to satiate their asphyxiating thirst, they did not have any qualms in venturing inside the cave and licking the walls there where they could feel the humidity with their fingers.

That night, as they smiled into each other’s mouths, reveling in their luck ―because they had found a place, because they were alive, because they were together― the real inhabitant of the cave attacked them. It was a black bear, a scrawny starved thing, but they were scrawny starved things too. The bear had the advantage of being angry. In one quick movement it teared off one of the legs of the boy Valbanera loved. A shout choked in her throat as she scrambled to him, ignoring the wild terror of her heart, drowning out the bears growls in favor of the boy’s painful screams. She took off her muddy sweaty shirt, knotted it around the ripped limb uselessly. Valbanera´s lungs were wheezing for air; her face was wet with tears and blood. She breathed through the panic and looked up, searching for something to stop the bleeding. There was nothing but rocks and dry sand. The bear was no longer there.

The boy Valbanera loved died quickly. She didn’t know how much time passed until his eyes closed because she didn’t have a watch, but it felt like seconds and centuries at the same time. She wished she had a watch.

“Find a new safe place, build a home,” he said through his white lips, “and name it after me.”

Her eyes closed at the same time that his last breath left his lungs. When she woke up the next morning, among dried blood and still wet tears, the black bear was looking at her, his snout dark with the boy’s life.

Valbanera scrambled backwards, then came forward again to grab the boy’s empty body. The bear didn’t move. Then a rage came over her and swiped away the fear. She picked up a rock and threw it to the bear. The bear ran deep into the cave.

“Where are you going!” She shouted. “Come back, come back and fight me! Come back and eat me alive!”

Then she saw that the bear had left some plants and herbs behind.

This scene was repeated for two weeks, these words the only ones that left Valbanera´s mouth, the plants and herbs and moisty rocks the only thing that went in. On the first day of the third week, she couldn’t bear the smell of the corpse anymore, she couldn’t bear its purplish hue nor the black fingers and falling skin. She picked up the body of the boy she loved, hating herself for the gags that constricted her throat when the dead skin touched her. When she stepped out of the cave, the sky was cloudy and the air heavy. She dragged her feet, and the corpse, to a clear esplanade. There were sick-looking weeds growing through the cracks in the floor. She dug a hole with her hands, ignoring the pain when her fingers started to burn and blood sprouted under her nails, and buried the body. Just when she was about to fill the hole again, Valbanera remembered the sunflower seed that she had kept in her pocket ever since she had left her natal village six months before. She took it out, dropped it inside the poor tomb and covered it and the body with the dry soil again. Valbanera cried over the grave for one whole day, her tears drying up as soon as they hit the stirred earth.

One week later it rained. A shower of long-kept water and mud. The rainfall lasted for another whole month, in which neither her nor the bear went back to the cave. They lived under the downpour in comfortable solitude, and the tears falling from the sky mixed with the tears falling from her eyes. A sunflower grew from the grave of the boy she had loved ―the boy she still loved― and the bear and Valbanera added sunflower seeds to their previous scrawny diet.

Three years later, there were enough trees in the valley for her to tear one down and build a hut, next to the thriving sunflower field that grew over the land under which her love slept. One frizzy morning a group of six people appeared at the door of her house. They had been walking for more than a year, they said, and she was the first contact with another human being the had had in that time. Valbanera invited them to come in and told them her story.

“Can we stay here?” A filthy kid asked.

“Is the drought still not over?” Valbanera asked back.

“No,” a withered old woman said, “only here the rain has reached.”

They stayed, and build another house. One night they brought Valbanera a present, to thank her for her hospitality. It was a black bear. They cooked it for dinner, and while her teeth fought with the rough meet, Valbanera cried. It had been years since she had last cried.

The population in the valley grew, rumors about an Eden made of sunflowers and pine trees spreading beyond the coarse mountain range and the haunting desert. At one point, when Valbanera´s fingers were wrinkled and her skin thick and eyes old, there were four hundred and ninety-nine inhabitants in that little oasis. The kid who had asked her for her blessing that first night so many years before, who was now a grown-up charming lad, knocked on her door one afternoon.

“My wife has given birth,” he said. “We are five hundred people now.”

Valbanera smiled from her esparto hammock. “Congratulations.”

“The villagers have been talking,” he said, bending his head. “We think it’s time to give a name to this place.” When Valbanera didn’t say anything, he continued: “There are some names that are favored―”

“Romello,” said Valbanera, raising from her hammock.

“Excuse me?”

“This village,” she said, holding his gaze, “is to be called Romello.”

For some unknown reason to him, the boy felt his heart stuttering and a wave of sadness took over him as he looked into those timeless black eyes.

“Of course,” he said.

Valbanera died the next day. She was buried in the center of the village, where not many months later the construction of a church would start.

Or so the legend went.

#writeblrs #wip: sunflowers at night #original story #nanowriting #nanowrimo 2018

[slowly-killing-me-bangtan]

If Kim Seokjin was a boyfriend.

*Where has this gif been all of my life wth?*

s/o basically dies whenever Jin makes that face.

they consider themselves blessed.

Y’ALL I’M SCROLLING DOWN JUST TO NOT SEE JIN’S FACE, THAT LITTLE SHIT’S MAKING ME FLUSTERED DAMN YOU KIM SEOKJIN AND YOUR PRETTY FACE.

did i ever tell you guys that Kim Seokjin’s one of my biaswreckers?

all of ot7 are my biaswreckers tbh kill me right this minute.

ANYWHO.

psht he wouldn't confess to you first, it’d be the other way round because mr handsome over here is so angelic that he doesn't notice someone crushing on him.

also he’s friendly, would prefer everyone as friends.

and so he’d be shocked when s/o comes out with it one day.

no, like, honestly, shocked.

imagine a kdrama gasp.

the man’s got a degree in film, after all.

s/o would cry because they just confessed their love for kim seokjin and all the latter can really do is just be in a state of... shock.

because yeah he thinks he’s beautiful (i strive for that type of confidence) but kimmy seokjinny can be insecure too.

like, man’s had friends all his life.

didn't expect someone he considered a friend to confess to him out of the random.

but he’d also be shocked because he likes you too!!!

praise to the lord!!!

he’d never thought that the feelings would be mutual???

and suddenly he’d be delicately holding s/o’s tear stained cheeks and s/o would just be shocked like boi wyd? (BRB MAKING A DRABBLE WITH THIS)

seokjin would laugh because he’s currently the happiest man alive.

would ask if they’re allowed to kiss s/o.

who responds with laughter and then they kiss and YAY COMMENCE THE KIMMY SEOKJINNY WITH BABY MONTAGE.

would feed s/o 25/8.

no bae of seokjin’s is going to be left starved.

s/o might as well have no hands because all seokjin does is feed them with their own.

GIVES S/O LOTS OF LOVE.

would cuddle.

cute.

would collab w s/o for eat jin.

would start doing challenges within eat jin.

would stop doing those challenges because FOOD IS TO BE APPRECIATED, NOT DEPRECIATED LIKE TAKE YOUR SWEET BOTTOMED TIME.

RESPECT THE FOOD AND IT SHALL RESPECT YOU BACK.

imagine me doing that in the shia lebouf tone.

he and s/o would have matching chopsticks tbh, like the finest of chopsticks only for his king/queen.

i keep on scrolling up to see jin’s face I’M LITERALLY PERFORMING MY OWN DEATH HERE.

y’all would last like a million years because seokjinny’s love for s/o is eternal.

I’M SCROLLING UP AGAIN.

KMS.

I'm out.

thanks for reading :)

#kim seokjin #seokjin #seokjin bts #jin #jin bts #bts imagines #bts fluff #bts scenarios #bts #seokjin boyfriend #seokjin fluff #seokjin imagines #seokjin scenarios

[cgsolano]

Ciao ciao 2019. Here we are, 2020.

I keep doing this on the last day of the year... I was thinking of starting yesterday, but I guess there are things that never change... So yes, here we are... at the doorstep of 2020. A new year, a new decade.

Twenty years ago I was still living in Texas, working for Motorola. Making preparations for the infamous Y2K --which was such a big disappointment. A big nothing burger. Ten years ago, I was living here in Illinois, working for Kraft. Going through the motions of their Leadership Program. And now, I am entering 2020 building software at Walgreens. More mature, growing a beard and with a lot more salt in my hair --the pepper is clearly getting overpowered.

2019 was not a bad year. Before we go into the chronicle of the year, here’s my takeaway from it...

I was able to remain healthy, the same as my family. More than ever, I realize that without health you have nothing. A friend of mine, Kim, passed away from cancer. It did hit me, because she was such a good person. Full of life, laughs, art, music, love for her daughters and her husband. I have a painting I bought from her hanging in my room. She started making these to support her cancer treatments. In the end, she passed away peacefully at her home and surrounded by her family and closest friends. Godspeed, Kimmy.

Make every effort to remain healthy. Eat well, try to squeeze in some exercise --even if it is not at a gym: park your car the furthest you can so you can walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to the store and carry your bags. If you can’t change your circumstances, don’t let the circumstances change you. Don’t let stress take over your life. Beat anxiety. And if you see that the circumstances are changing you, change them instead. Someway somehow.

I also had the chance to make significant new connections and rekindle existing ones.

One of these new connections was so unexpected and a blessing to me. She lives her life with no regrets. She lives by her beliefs and is true to herself and what’s important to her. She’s all out there. ALL! And I love that! Because not everybody is or can be --or is willing to be. And it’s such a refreshing thing to see and learn and feel. Not everybody walks the talk, and she’s passionate about walking her talk, unfiltered. This year I became a better person because of her.

So, make the effort to make interesting and new connections. There’s a whole world out there. And connecting with people just enriches your own life. Go and rekindle your interesting old connections as well. You never know what new surprises you’ll get from people you thought you know.

I also reminisced about being young (a teen), and having my own problems and challenges. Sabina turned 14, and she’s in 8th grade. Making a decision on what High School to attend, and making it happen, is such a big deal --at least here in The Chi. Studying, prepping for the placement test, taking tutoring on weekends, HS open houses, homework, practice tests, gymnastics, friends,, family. Wherever she lands, I know she’ll do great.

Support the teens in your life. It is such an emotionally fragile stage. They look up to you, adults. They really do. And I am happy to say that we were able to support her every step of the way.

Finally, I am receiving this new year with open arms. Completely open to opportunities and challenges --even if they rock the boat hard. Even if they change the life I’ve known for the last 2 decades...

And talking about boats... If I can leave you with a thought:

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life,  having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts to build a new earth,  we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”

― Sir Francis Drake

This 2020, dare more boldly. Be happy, and be well. Happy New Year!

Now, below is my personal account of 2019... So, if you’re interested, keep reading!

So, here’s the customary account of 2019...

I ended up at 50% goal, again... I tried to read 12 books this year, but I ended up at 6. Not great, but here we are... Can I read more? Sure. Do I spend inglorious amounts of time on wasteful activities? Absolutely. But you know, some of these wasteful activities also give me joy. So, are they really wasteful? Something to think about. Anyways, this is what I read this year:

Bad Blood -- This book is INSANE !!! I absolutely loved it! A story of greed, ego, tech and deceit It has everything! I’ve been in the medical devices/pharma world for a little over 5 years now, and this account of events is completely crazy. Go pick it up, now!

Netflixed -- This was another great book about our beloved streaming company. The epic battle between Netflix and Blockbuster has no equal.

The Road to Chapultepec Park -- This dystopian book was marginally ok. I picked it up because 1) it’s the end of the world and 2) because it talks about the journey from the US to Mexico City by a group of people during the end of the world as we know it due to climate change. Chapultepec Park, which I know and have walked, becomes a sanctuary during this time and people are trying to get there by any means.

Small Fry -- So, everyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of Steve (Jobs), but not an Apple fanboy. I’ve read a lot about Steve but this book, written by Lisa, his daughter, gave me a completely different view of Steve and his life. There were new things I learned about him, and I realized this book humanizes him, a lot. He had his own problems, and insecurities (!!!), and demons to exorcize, and amends to make, he bit his nails. I absolutely loved it.

Midnight in Chernobyl -- Wow. This book was such an amazing read. This book, which can be considered an end-of-the-world type book, was crazy --and more because it was REAL! This is the very well researched account of what happened before, during and after the Chernobyl catastrophe more than 30 years ago. You can’t even imagine. Go get it!

The Handmaids Tale -- This is another dystopian book. And before I watched the series, I wanted to read it. What a harsh world... and with all that’s been happening in real life, not only here in the USA but in other countries, it is such a cautionary tale. I will not spoil it, but this is a very good read about a very bad world.

I’ll try to read at least 8 books this 2020. If I can’t do 12, maybe I can do 8 since I’ve been doing 5-6 books a year for a while now. And whatever goes above and beyond that, it’s all for the win.

I also traveled a little here and there. The highlights were, in some chronological order, as follows...

Las Vegas for the Dynatrace Perform conference, staying at the Cosmo, which was amazing! I want to go again. Vegas is such an amazing place! I don’t think I did any shows or concerts this time :-( But I did go to a couple of cool places: TAO and Marquee. These were amazing venues and great experiences.

We went to Holland, MI. We were there for a bat mitzvah for one of Sabina’s friends. This was such a great experience! The small town is amazing and has great breweries and things to do.

Ah, and Mexico in the summer. Never ever disappoints. Had the chance to see family and old friends in Mexico City, Queretaro and Tequisquiapan. Great food, great chats, great activities. This time we flew directly into Queretaro instead of Mexico City. What a difference! Way smaller airport, no traffic, no waits. And the drive from Queretaro to Tequisquiapan is just 20 mins --compared to the 3+ hours we would normally drive from Mexico City due to traffic and distance.

I also went to Monterrey, Mexico. There is some very interesting stuff happening there... I will not say more, but there’s stuff happening. I had the chance to reconnect with old friends during this very short trip and to eat amazing tacos. Those norteños really know their meats.

Sports and concerts? I went to see the Rockies vs Cubs, Giants vs Cubs, Packers vs Bears on opening day, Knicks vs Bulls, Nets vs Bulls, Cowboys vs Bears for Santiago’s birthday and Bulls vs Hawks. Definitely a lot of sports this year! And I’ve really enjoyed it. Santiago absolutely loved his first football game. There was this specific run that Trubisky did and scored... Santi and I hugged and jumped and screamed. What a moment. I don’t think we did as many concerts as we should. We did go see the Chicago Sinfonietta and it was outstanding.

Other things we did... A couple of times to Steppenwolf Theater --which I don’t think we do enough. Teatro ZinZanni which we did for Adriana’s birthday and was absolutely amazing, BATL Axe Throwing which is insanely fun, Hamilton for Sabina’s birthday which she loved, Champions of Magic for Christmas Eve for the whole family, Lincoln Park Zoo to see the lights, watched Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, and had a memorable Christmas Eve dinner at Tocco in Winnetka, IL. For New Year’s we’re going to Bodega Sur, which will be amazing for sure.

Health? Well, as I mentioned, I kept myself out of trouble. Continued with the excuses to not exercise more. However, I think I ate well all things considered. I was able to maintain my weight throughout the whole year --which is a huge accomplishment in my mind. If I’m not exercising, at least I am eating well and not gaining weight. I tried to do some personal training/gym, but I almost died... I guess I need to come back little by little. I’ll try other avenues and see how it works out.

I grew a beard. And I like it.

I’ve also been learning (or trying to) some Italian. And it has been going well, I think. I listen to Italian podcasts and follow Italian people on Instagram. I use Google Translate a lot and it has definitely helped me. I listen to Italian music in my car. La dolce vita, baby!

Finally, I’ve been cooking a new tech concept with a friend of mine... Let’s see how that develops in 2020. We think there’s potential. This has to do with Blockchain... and has a social conscience. So it’s geeky, and it helps people. What else could I ask for?! Stay tuned...

Well, I guess that’s that... 2019 was a very good to all of us. And we are grateful about all things experienced and received. Let 2020 be as good, or better! Thanks for reading!

#2020 newyear byebye2019