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nerves-nebula · 26 days

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betcha thought u saw the last of me huh

been in a major writing slump for the past year, and now and conquering my writing slumo to hopefully get over all of my other ones so here u go this is inspired by a post a long time ago that i can’t find ab everyone falling back into old habits at the farm house and i can’t remember if it was april or casey who set them into shape but i needed an excuse to make it faggy

the farmhouse itself was nothing like the sewers. warm wooden walls, sunlit windows, and soft carpet were a very dramatic change from the damp, cold walls of the sewer, made colder by the presences within them.

it was a change, for sure, but raph couldn’t help but think it was a welcome one.

everyone could tell something had changed between them, between everyone. eggshells littered the floorboards during short, awkward conversations, before the occupants retreated back to their designated spaces.

some things lingered, though. what is it that people say—it takes twenty one days to form a habit? well, raph has been doing this for nineteen years, so beat that. he’s spent almost two decades walking on autopilot, not thinking twice about anything until it became a threat, picking up after everyone, cooking, cleaning. the list carried on.

and for the better part of two decades, his siblings had accepted that. some smart people online can say whatever they want, but a few weeks in the farmhouse can’t undo years of habit. but it was fine. it was fine if he spent a good few hours of his day cleaning up mikey’s paint. it was fine if donnie’s gadgets were scattered across the table. it was fine if leo left dishes in the sink from a meal he couldn’t be bothered to share.

it was fine.

raph was fine.

his brain woke him up early. it always did. he had to make breakfast and clean up the mess everyone probably made after he turned in for the night, and donnie probably hasn’t showered in awhile, so he needs to get on that and-

“you’re thinking too loud.” a voice grumbled from below him. that was odd. casey was never up this early. that was new. “quit it.”

“…sorry.” raph muttered, lifting his head from casey’s chest. that was relatively new too. he saw the way mikey looked at them, like he knew something they didn’t. he and casey were old friends, even if the bed thing was new. “i didn’t know you were up.”

“oh, im up alright. i’m up to make sure that you aren’t.”

…

“huh?” he asked, his eyes narrowing in confusion as he glanced up at casey’s face. his hair was tousled with sleep, leaving his eyes actually visible in the soft light of dawn. the warm sun hit the brown irises perfectly, casting them in honey.

“you heard me.” casey yawned, tossing a tan arm over his eyes. the long, thick strands of his uncut hair splayed across the pillow in tendrils. slithering out across the cotton to root their host into the mattress. “you’re sleeping in.”

…

that’s new too.

his mind screamed in protest. he didn’t do well with change; he never had. that was his routine—his new one. he woke up early, made breakfast, ate as much as his body would allow him, and then some, and then cleaned. leo would wake up next, take his fill, not clean his plate, and fuck off to god knows where. then mikey would emerge, and then donnie. april came down a few hours later, and then finally casey would wake up. it was never like this; he was never last.

some part of him, deep inside his psyche, begged for a break. sleeping in would be nice. he couldn’t think of a place he’d rather be than right here—casey’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, holding his head against the soft flesh of his stomach while absolutely shrouded in blankets. he hadn’t been this comfortable in years.

he was wasting time. dad never liked waiting for breakfast.

dad wasn’t here, and frankly, he could go fuck himself.

it took twenty-one days to form a habit. how long does it take to break one?

without a word, raph settled back into casey’s body and closed his eyes.

—:—

the next time he woke up, casey was still under him. the sun was higher in the sky, now painting the walls in golden rays as opposed to the vibrant pinks and blues of dawn. his friend's hand ran across the ridges of his shell, rendering him practically immobile. his limbs were loose with contentment, and his vision was hazy as he flicked his eyes around the room.

“mornin’. again.” casey grinned down at him, that gap-toothed smile wide, and pleased with his own poor joke. his fingers never stopped their soothing motions on his carapace, though, so raph decided to let it go.

his eyelids felt heavy as he forced them to stay open, blinking sleep away while flexing his body. every finger, every toe, arms, legs, and then finally his neck as he lifted his head from casey’s warmth.

“what time is it?” he asked, pushing his body up into a sitting position, much to his mind's dismay. everything in him was screaming to lay down again, to soak up casey’s warmth like the man was a rock in the sun. he may as well be with his body temperature.

casey helped him up, his big hands steady against his biceps as he manoeuvred raph into a sitting position in front of him. the sheets pooled around their waists as raph leaned his head against casey’s shoulder. the room was so cold now.

“c’mon.” raphs shoulder was prodded gently, and he raised his head to gaze into where casey’s eyes hid behind his hair. his voice was soft and low, like a vibration in the air.

maybe that could explain the tingling in his spine.

bare, tan feet hit the floor first, before his hand gently tugged the turtle off the mattress. still dazed with sleep, he stumbled, leaning into casey’s side to take the weight off of his unsteady legs. the stairs were the hardest to conquer, with all three of raphs fingers grasping casey’s wrist while they manoeuvred down the steps.

a muffled scolding sounded from the next room, and raph felt something inside of him freeze. it wasn’t dad splinter. splinter usually yelled, or even just spoke, but he never tried to make himself quieter. maybe the humiliation of everyone else knowing you were in trouble was part of the punishment.

“i swear to fucking god.” the voice spoke, tone controlled yet flaming. “i’m done watching him pick up after you guys. i love you, you’re my friends, but you need to get your shit together.”

his brain didn’t quite comprehend who was speaking until he heard the next voice.

“it’s not that big of a deal.” leo’s familiar tone punctured the air. raph refused to allow the sound to stab him like the knife it always was. “he’s done it forever! i’m sure he’s used to it by now!”

“that doesn’t mean it’s fine, leo!”

“april, w-we’re all getting better…aren’t we? i mean, we clean up after ourselves decently...”

“no, the house is clean because raph is still cleaning up after you guys like he’s your mom!”

casey’s hand tightened a fraction on his shoulder, and he looked back down at him with a grin. “how about we go outside, yeah? it’s s’posed to be real nice out.”

before raph could complain or comply, he was already being led in the other direction, hearing the voices fade back out. he opened his mouth, and casey cut him off. “i know you’re hungry. i’ll getcha something. wait outside for me? ‘kay?”

and like that, he was gone. the door closed behind him as raph turned his eyes to the tree line, plush with vibrant leaves and dark soil. remnants of dew still clung to the blades of grass, shining brightly in the light of the sun.

the wood of the patio was warm against his feet, and he leaned his elbows to the railing, licking his eyes into the woods. his eyes were still heavy, and the place around his neck where casey’s arm previously lay left a pleasant scorch sinking into his skin. still, the voices from inside bounced in his skull. at least the yelling was familiar.

somethings never change.

thaNKK YOUUU !!! this was SO CUTE UGH. you get the first neglected art i've been able to make in a while

#nnstuff #nnart #ask #asks are sweethearts #neglected fic #teenage mutant neglected turtles #neglected art #tmnt raph #casey jones

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mellyssageverse · 3 months

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Eclipsed

This is a prologue to a ZoLu(Nika) story I am working on. I’ll be posting about it on Tumblr before uploading anything to my AO3 account. You can find the post that inspired the story here.

Summary: Sun God Nika is accused of a crime he did not commit. Nika goes into hiding to avoid being hunted by other Gods who wish to have him replaced. This inadvertently plunges the world into darkness, triggering an ice age. Only one human has faith that Nika will return the Sun.

Prologue

Zoro landed harshly on his back, the impact sending a jolt of pain through him. Standing tall above him, Kuina wore a smug grin, her wooden sword pointed mockingly at Zoro's chest.

"Another win, just like always." Kuina teased in that sing-song voice of hers.

Zoro's nostrils flared in irritation.

"Damn it! I would've had you if I wasn't nursing this stupid injury!" Zoro growled, swiftly rising to his feet and forcefully shoving Kuina's wooden sword to the side.

“Excuses, excuses…” Kuina tutted disapprovingly, shaking her head. Her sword rested casually on her shoulder, and her free hand found a place on her hip. “If you keep that up, how do you expect to become the world’s greatest swordsman? Attitude matters, you know.”

Zoro clenched his teeth in frustration.

“It’s not an excuse! I got sunburnt, and it’s messing with my movements.” Zoro argued. His face was turning redder than his sunburnt arms.

Kuina laughed and playfully pinched Zoro's cheek.

"Aww, you’re just sun-kissed, that's all.” Kuina teased. “Serves you right for taking a nap out in the garden.”

Zoro swatted Kuina’s hand away.

“I like the warmth.” Zoro crossed his arms, adopting a slight pout.

Kuina burst into laughter.

“You’re like a little kitten! Always finding a sun spot to nap in.”

Zoro gritted his teeth, reacting by grabbing his wooden sword and attempting to attack Kuina. However, she effortlessly blocked his strike.

“You’re too predictable when you get upset.” Kuina remarked, a wide grin on her face. Swiftly, she swiped her sword at Zoro’s feet, causing him to tumble. Sticking her tongue out, Kuina hurriedly darted away, leaving Zoro fuming on the ground.

Zoro sprang back to his feet, determinedly trailing after Kuina. Although Zoro had only been training at Isshin Dojo for a year, he was already second in the class… below Kuina. Her remarkable prowess fueled an unparalleled motivation within him. Witnessing Kuina effortlessly defeat opponents, even grown men, often left Zoro awestruck. He marveled at the fact that this young girl possessed such remarkable skills with her sword.

In the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, Zoro pursued Kuina, driven by a desire to emulate her strength. The main entrance of the extensive garden seemed to welcome the children’s friendly chase. Zoro finally caught up, panting slightly, as Kuina greeted him with her radiant smile. Seating herself in the middle of the garden's pathway, she invited Zoro to join her. Feeling slightly out of breath, Zoro settled down beside her in the warm glow of the sunlit garden.

“I can see why you enjoy napping in the garden so much.” Kuina remarked, running her fingers through the soil. “I don’t think I ever got a chance to tell you how it was blessed.”

Zoro, catching his breath from the run, attempted to feign disinterest, but his raised brow betrayed his curiosity.

“What do you mean by 'blessed'?” Zoro inquired.

Kuina gracefully rested her hands on the ground, leaning back as the sunlight embraced her face. With closed eyes, she spoke solemnly, allowing the warmth to touch her.

“A few years back, before you joined the dojo, it was a harsh winter. Our garden struggled,” Kuina recounted. “Others in the village depend on us for food, especially in tough times. But that year, even feeding ourselves was a challenge, yet people still turned to my father for help.”

Zoro sat in contemplative silence, his brows furrowed, reflecting on the hardships faced by Kuina and the villagers.

“One night, I couldn’t sleep. The cold and hunger were keeping me awake, and then I saw a light outside my window. At first, I thought the sun had risen too early, but then the light disappeared. When I looked out, there was someone standing in our garden.” Kuina recalled, a fond smile playing on her lips. “I thought he was crazy…”

“Crazy? Why?” Zoro asked, no longer attempting to hide his interest.

Kuina opened her eyes, turning to face Zoro.

“It was freezing, but he was wearing sandals and summer clothes!” Kuina shared, her eyes gleaming with delight at Zoro's interest. “At first, I thought he might be a traveler trying to steal from our garden in the middle of the night. With so little food to go around, I couldn't let him do that. So, I grabbed Wado-“

“Kuina, no!”

“Yes! And then I ran out to the garden-“

“Why didn’t you wake up your dad?!” Zoro interjected, his jaw hanging open in disbelief at his friend’s bold move to confront a stranger in the dead of night.

“I was worried the man would be gone by the time I woke him up! So, do you want to hear what happened, or are you going to keep interrupting?” Kuina pouted.

Zoro reluctantly closed his mouth, biting his lip to refrain from further interruptions. Pleased to see Zoro finally staying quiet, Kuina continued her story.

“So I grabbed Wado, jumped out my window toward the man, and pointed my sword at him. I warned him that if he took anything from our garden, I'd strike him down where he stood. He turned to face me and... and he laughed.” Zoro could only imagine how Kuina reacted to being laughed at, knowing well that his friend disliked being underestimated. “His grin was so wide… I was convinced he was a madman! Then, he plucked one of the unripe tomatoes.”

Zoro gasped, unable to suppress his reaction. Kuina, well aware that she had Zoro completely enthralled, purposefully paused for dramatic effect.

“What did you do?” Zoro eagerly pressed Kuina to continue.

Kuina smirked.

“I swiped my sword down, aiming to slash at the hand that dared steal from our garden.” Kuina leaned back, gazing at the corner of the garden closest to her window as if reliving the moment. “But I missed… he was so fast, I barely registered him bouncing over me. When I turned to face him again, I was blinded by the same light from before. Suddenly, the man looked different. His hair turned white, dancing like fire. I found myself surrounded by a radiant glow, and then it hit me... I had tried to strike down a God.”

Zoro felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. Threatening a God was unheard of, it was an act that usually led to merciless consequences. Entire villages had been wiped out in the past for displeasing Gods, and Zoro knew the gravity of the situation Kuina had unwittingly stepped into.

“I suddenly became so scared. Wado slipped from my grip, and I found myself on my knees, pleading for mercy. He laughed again, and I was certain I had just cursed the entire village.” Kuina's smile softened. “But then, he knelt down to my level. Can you believe it? A God... kneeling! He even patted my head. Though his touch was warm, I remained frozen in shock. He took hold of my hands and handed me the tomato. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was suddenly ripe.”

“He moved past me, strolling through the garden. His light grew brighter and brighter, casting a radiant glow. Turning to give me one last smile, he vanished into a beam of sunlight, absorbed by the rising sun.”

Kuina's eyes brimmed with happy tears as she recounted the memory. Zoro struggled to fully grasp the significance of his friend's experience.

“Are you telling me you met Nika?” Zoro inquired, recognizing that only the Sun God could wield the power of the sun to disappear in such a manner.

Kuina nodded.

“After he left, the garden flourished with growth. I rushed inside to share Nika’s blessing with my father, and we were able to extend that blessing to others.” Kuina explained, running her hands over the soft soil of the garden. “It still amazes me that, even after all this time, the ground blessed by Nika retains its warmth.”

Zoro couldn’t resist reaching toward the garden soil. The warmth he had enjoyed during countless naps turned out to be Nika’s blessing all along.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I wouldn’t have napped here if I knew the ground was sacred.” Zoro admitted, a tinge of guilt in his tone.

“I don’t think Nika minds. He seemed gentle that way.” Kuina reassured. “He's unlike what I've heard about other Gods. He’s unique, for sure, but I believe he genuinely wants to help others.”

Zoro observed Kuina's affectionate expressions as she spoke about Nika. If Kuina held the Sun God in such high regard, he must truly be an extraordinary deity.

“Nika is definitely my favorite of all the Gods.” Kuina declared, as if sensing Zoro's thoughts.

Zoro continued running his hand along the warm, blessed soil. In that moment, Zoro decided that Nika was his favorite God too.

Chapter 1 can be found here.

#one piece zolu #zolu #zolu fanfic

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raining-starshine · 2 years

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Tears falling down at the party

(Saddest little baby in the room)

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kaelsmiscellany · 5 years

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No Harsher Praxis (snippet)

With @raspberrycoffeecake sharing bits of their own fic inspired by my mess of a Sturmling post, I thought I’d share a bit of my own...

enjoy!

As much as Alina would like to sleep in she finds herself rising with the sun. Next to her Nikolai murmurs, clearly starting to wake up himself. She bends over and kisses his cheek. “Sleep,” she whispers. “I’ll be back soon.”

She has work to do.

Getting out of bed she goes to Nikolai’s wardrobe and digs around until she finds a coat. It’s a little long on her, but it will do the job she needs just fine. She staggers a little as she heads out, the fur lining the coat tickling and teasing her bare skin. She does her best to ignore it though, it would only be a distraction now. She instead thinks about the fit Genya would throw if she saw Alina going out as she was: improperly dressed, hair still half up from the wedding, all the rest a tangled mess.

The guards in the hall jump to attention when she steps out of the royal chambers. She nods at Tamar, who nods back, then begins to follow. Alina would prefer to go it alone, but she knows an escort is expected.

The dungeon in the Grand Palace itself hasn’t been used in well over a century, not since the one in Os Alta was build. But the Darkling is no ordinary prisoner, it’s only right to keep him close.

More guards start at her appearance when they reach the dungeon, not sure what to make of it. “Stay here,” she tells Tamar. Gathering a ball of light, she opens the door that leads to the dungeon proper and steps onto the cold stone stairway.

Closing the door she begins to descend, her light never wavering. The stairs even off into flights eventually, leading to different halls, but she keeps going deeper. Until she reaches the lowest level, where no light ever reached. Any prisoners here didn’t have windows, or even the whispered promise of fresh air.

Except for last night they haven’t seen each other since his trial. The months feeling ever so long. She draws herself up straight, letting the coat fall open, and paying no mind to the way her body reacts to the cold. The only thing she lets bother her is how uncomfortable her sticky thighs have become during the walk over. Even that falls away as she approaches the Darkling’s cell.

He’s sitting on the hard slab that’s now his bed, but shoots up to his feet when he sees her. Although he nearly falls over with his hands behind him. His gray eyes consume what she shows him, and she lets him have it.

He even approaches when she beckons him closer. Her empty hand reaching up to loosen his gag. “Alina…” His voice is full of anger and disappointment.

“You’ve brought this on yourself,” she reprimands. “You could have stopped at any point, but you didn’t. I know the names of every person who died in Novokribirsk, of the people you killed when you attacked Os Alta, and you will be punished for each and every one of them, Aleksander.”

He recoils at his own name. She wonders when the last time he heard it was. Baghra? Some distant lover? Was it during his childhood? Or more recent?

“Who told you?” He hisses, shock now warring with anger. Yet he answers before she can. “Baghra.”

Alina nods. “Your name, and my training, were the price she paid for you to live.” Baghra might have agreed with the latter begrudgingly, but that hasn’t stopped her from being her regular charming self when Alina goes to her. “Although by the end I wonder if she’ll regret her choice.”

He returns to the bars, gray eyes flinty. “I’m hundreds of years old, Alina. I doubt you’ll be able to do anything to me that I have not already experienced in some fashion.”

“That remains to be seen, I’m an apt pupil after all,” she answers. “I’d say last night was a new experience for you.” His expression hardens. “It might take a thousand days, or perhaps a hundred thousand, but there will come a day when Nikolai will give you an order, and you’ll obey. Gladly, without question.”

Her pronouncement earns her a sneer. “No, Alina, I will not. Not to him, or any other otkazat'sya you might find. I was not made to please princes, and certainly not kings,” his voice is low and dangerous. Despite everything, something in her shivers in delight. “No. I will find a way to escape and it will be I that punishes you.”

A sunlit smile crosses Alina’s lips. “So you say.” Closing the coat back up she turns. “We will see each other again soon, Sasha.” She can just barely see him start at the nickname. Yes, she thinks as she begins the long climb back up, this will be quite the experience.

#Alarkling #Alina Starkov #The Darkling #Nikolina #Nikolai Lantsov #Grishaverse #gonna be kinky and hopefully hot af #beggar the heart and make it crawl

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talabib · 3 years

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A Roadmap To Getting Out Of Debt

In the twenty-first century, many millennials are deep in debt. They’re struggling to pay their rent and working in insecure jobs. Despite being in their twenties and thirties, they find themselves a long way from owning their own home or having enough money to ever start a family. And this generation has had some rotten luck – after the 2008 economic crisis, years of austerity have only made things worse. For so many young people today, lasting financial security is a passing daydream.

If you’re in the same boat, it’s easy to despair. But there’s good news – help is on the way. You’ll discover the fundamental truths about your relationship to money, and the hang-ups that hold you back. And you’ll find a roadmap to getting yourself out of debt, effective budgeting, and appreciating the simpler things when the simpler things are all you have.

If you’re struggling with your finances, it may be because the circumstances are outside of your control.

Are you one of those people who can’t bear to check their bank balance at an ATM? Do you push warning letters from the bank under a pile of magazines, far out of sight? You’re not alone.

If your finances are a mess, take a breath. While it’s important to take ownership of your situation and take steps to get back on track, not all of it is your fault. When it comes to money, one thing that puts many people at a disadvantage is a lack of financial knowledge.

Consider the state of financial education. In UK schools, there is none – not a single class on the subject. So when, at 16- or 18-years-old, students leave for either work or university, most don’t have the faintest idea about savings, debt, or mortgages.

Instead, financial education is a job that’s often left to parents. And that can be a lottery – lots of people aren’t born to parents who know about money. Though they might be able to teach lots of other valuable things, it’s a rare few who’ll know about, say, investing or mortgages.

As well as being disadvantaged by a lack of financial education, lots of young people are also affected by the broader economic situation. Since the 2008 financial crisis, many people have struggled through no fault of their own. In the United Kingdom, things are especially dire. The Conservative government has watered down protections that once guaranteed job security and rising wages. And, with secure work hard to come by, it’s become more difficult to put money aside – whether toward a pension, for a home, or even to avoid going into debt.

This financial insecurity is a much bigger problem than individual failings. In January 2019, the average UK household debt stood at £15,400. It’s clearly a bigger problem than people overspending on holidays, clothes, and trendy furniture they’ve seen on Instagram!

While there are concrete things you can do to improve your financial position, it’s important to remember: it’s not all your fault.

When it comes to money problems, there’s often one big emotion at the heart of it all, and that’s shame.

Imagine a happy family: two beautiful kids, a big house in the suburbs, both parents with stimulating, fulfilling jobs.

Except one of the parents keeps a shameful secret: through a mixture of generosity and carelessness, he’s spent far more than he can afford on credit cards and saddled himself with significant debt. For months, he’s not said a word of it to his spouse, but now that debt has begun to disturb the family’s financial security.

It’s a situation that’s far too common. And, just as this hypothetical parent found, with shame comes silence and a desire to stick your head in the sand and try not to think about it. You let the phone ring when the bank calls, hide your bank statements, and change the subject whenever money comes up. Shame prevents you from taking action when you’ve dug yourself into a hole.

Sometimes, the financial problem is bound up with other, deeper feelings of shame, too. Take the Jane’s own story. When she was 21, her father died, and she inherited £10,000. But rather than save the money for later in life, she used it to travel to Bali. Soon, it was all gone. The secret shame of frittering away her inheritance pained her for many years.

This is where admitting your problems comes in. Whether it’s credit card debt or a lost inheritance, the best thing you can do is be accountable. Because only then can you deal with it. Owning up to your flaws doesn’t mean beating yourself up; it helps you to escape the terrible blanket of silence and inaction that shame throws over you.

In the case of Jane, if she’d opened up about spending her inheritance on a holiday, perhaps she wouldn’t have felt so dreadful. When you’re blinded by grief, it’s natural to want to escape to somewhere far away. Perhaps she would have found out that it’s what many people would’ve done in a similar situation.

By owning up to your mistakes, you reduce the shame you feel. Because after you’ve done that, it’s no longer an awful gremlin on your back but something that you are in the process of setting straight.

If you think social media is causing money problems, take a step back to get your finances under control.

When you’re just scraping by financially, it can be disheartening to scroll through social media and see people living perfectly curated lives. Endless snaps of infinity pools, beautiful sunsets, or horseback rides through sunlit fields can make you feel like you’re missing out. It can also make your own financial situation worse.

Take this example from Mary as a warning. While on maternity leave in 2018, she spent countless hours scrolling through Instagram and admiring the beautiful rooms she saw there, dreaming up ways to improve her own under-furnished house. Even though she was in debt, she began to spend lots of money on redecorating.

For Mary, this redecorating spree included buying stylish rugs, a fig plant, and expensive paint. Pretty soon, her Instagram account began to mirror those she’d been inspired by, but underneath the facade was lots and lots of debt.

What, exactly, had happened? Having seen all these amazing rooms, she had been sucked into an online life of keeping up with the Joneses. On top of that, taking pictures of her newly decorated and styled rooms was contributing to a cycle of envy and spending.

Happily, there are a number of ways to avoid this kind of behavior. The first is to do something real and get away from the images of other people’s lives. Try something that doesn’t involve the internet: like going for a walk or meeting a friend.

Second, when comparing your life with someone else’s supposedly perfect one, ask yourself if you’d actually swap places with them and give up everything you have. Would you sacrifice your family and friends? Would you give up your home and all the things you cherish, and instead inherit the other person’s? Chances are you’d think twice.

This leads us to the final thing you can do: remember that a lot of what you see online is an illusion. Those “perfect” lives are rarely perfect. When someone posts a picture of their sunny balcony, you don’t see the argument they had that morning with their spouse. You don’t hear about their parent’s health problems. Remember, we only see what others want us to see.

Finance can be a feminist issue.

Here’s a shocking statistic: in the United Kingdom, 64 percent of those who struggle with debt are women.

Whether that’s because more women than men are in lower-paid jobs or that women have more unpaid commitments around family life, it highlights one thing: when it comes to money, there is a big gender disparity.

Take the gender pay gap. It’s barely shifted since 2012. And even though there’s been lots of publicity and discussion around the issue, it’s not getting any better. Why? In short, because there’s a continuing lack of transparency.

In many workplaces, pretty much the only thing that employees aren’t allowed to discuss openly is money. Specifically, how much each of them is earning. With this level of secrecy, it’s hard for women to know if they’re being paid more, or less, than their male colleagues.

There are other forms of gender discrimination around finances, too. In the United Kingdom, so-called “pink taxes” mean women pay more than men for the same products, like razors and deodorants. And the menstrual cycle itself is punishingly expensive, costing an average of £4,800 over the course of a woman’s lifetime.

But one of the biggest strains on a woman’s finances comes after having children. In fact, in the United Kingdom, statutory maternity pay is so low that lots of women end up in poverty if they don’t have savings or a wealthy partner to fall back on.

Then, as well as costing a lot to clothe and feed, having a child also means that women’s careers stall. When they do return to work and ask for part-time or flexible hours, they’re often denied the career opportunities they might have expected to get pre-pregnancy.

The British campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed sets out just how little progress has been made. According to their figures, every year, 54,000 women are pushed out of their jobs due to pregnancy; a third of employers say they avoid hiring women of childbearing age; and 44 percent of working moms say they now earn less than before they had children. Even now, in 2020, we have so much further to go.

Concrete goal-setting is the best way out of financial difficulty.

If you’re in financial difficulty, the way forward can sometimes look like a swampy landscape, with no obvious route ahead. And when you’re trying to find your way out of that swamp – either by setting your finances straight or changing your behavior around money, you need clarity.

The best way to achieve that clarity is when you can see there’s an end in sight – which is where setting goals comes in. You should form them with one very important consideration in mind: your happiness. It’s important to ask yourself: What, at the end of the day, makes you happiest?

This is crucial because you might find that what you thought you wanted doesn’t actually bring fulfillment. Let’s say that you spend lots of money on furniture, clothes, and accessories because you like keeping up with your friends. Yet, when you really get down to it, you find the joy you get from these purchases quickly wears off. And the debt you’re building up is giving you anxiety attacks. Perhaps your long-held goal of having more cash for shopping isn’t such a good idea after all. It might be something you should discard.

Instead, reappraise and find the right goals. For Jane, this process involved writing down what she wanted to achieve and detailing exactly how each goal would make her happy. One aim was to buy her own home, a place where her children could play safely, and she could entertain friends and family. In thinking about how this would make her feel fulfilled, she noted that the stability of home-owning over renting was important to her mental well-being, that her children’s safety and contentment were crucial, and that seeing her friends and family made her happy.

Once you’ve clarified what your big goals are, you’ll be able to set lots of smaller goals to help you get where you want to go. That might be saving money by taking a packed lunch to work every day, or it might mean answering the phone to your creditors and not using your credit card for a month.

Taking incremental steps will get you back on an even financial footing, especially if you do so alongside budgeting.

Review your finances systematically and make a clear budget so you don’t overspend.

As we’ve just learned, if you want to reach your financial target – whether that’s getting out of a mountain of debt or saving up for a house – you need to get clear on what your goals are and take small steps to reach them.

Of course, you still need a handle on your finances, so the next thing to do is set a budget. Happily, there are five steps that can help you construct your own saving and spending plan to budget successfully.

The first involves taking a good look at your spending habits. Take a look back at your spending over a period of six months. You’ll probably see some patterns emerging – perhaps you spend too much on Prosecco from the corner store, or maybe you buy too many lottery tickets. It might make uncomfortable reading, but unless you can spot your patterns, you won’t make progress.

Second, look at your income and outgoings. Work out how much money you’re bringing in on a monthly basis. This is how much you have available at the start of each month. Now consider your fixed outgoings – these are the things you can’t do without, like rent, taxes, or childcare costs. If your outgoings exceed your income, then you really do have to rethink some of your fundamental commitments.

In step three, analyze your other regular outgoings. That includes the expenses that aren’t vital to your survival but enhance your quality of life – think Netflix or a magazine subscription. Go through these and cut out the ones you can do without. But if you can afford to keep some extra expenses, don’t be too hard on yourself. We all need a little pleasure, even when budgeting.

Step four asks you to consider your variable expenses. These are things that change each month, like food, or fuel for your car. Although they’re essentials, you can often shop around for cheaper deals.

Finally, step five is to look at what you have left. Once you’ve subtracted your essential living costs and non-negotiable outgoings, you’ll have a final sum that you can choose to save, use to pay off debt, or spend on things you love. It might take a little while to work out the right balance, and that’s totally fine.

Budgeting isn’t all bad. There are also upsides to frugal living.

Budgeting can be a real slog: it’s no fun living on plain noodles, having no heating on cold days, and spending nights in when all your friends are going out. Struggling with financial pressure is hard.

But, while this kind of austere life is OK – even needed sometimes – remember that life is short. You can still enjoy yourself while watching what you spend. Being frugal with your cash may even help you appreciate some things you might previously have overlooked.

First, it’s time to flip your perspective so you see that buying new things isn’t the only way to happiness. Instead, find pleasure in hunting out used items that have real charm. If you’re looking for furniture, thrift stores are treasure troves with all sorts of items, often well-made and full of character. The same goes for clothes – you can fill a wardrobe with stylish retro outfits from the hangers of second-hand shops.

Second, experiences are better than possessions. Rather than spending what money you have on material things, why not plan a forest picnic, a day out to a museum, or a morning swim in the sea with a friend? All are much cheaper than a new designer rug or marble kitchen-top, and more satisfying, as you’ll remember them long after the event.

Third, a frugal lifestyle is more eco-friendly. Saving the world is a powerful motivator to cut down on harmful consumerism. What’s more, on an individual level, two of the most important changes you can make for the planet are limiting air travel and cutting out meat – both of which are, happily, also wallet-friendly!

Fourth, don’t hide your money problems away. When you’re open about your frugal lifestyle, it can influence other people too. Hearing that others aren’t spending on expensive lifestyles can be a great relief, and by explaining your situation, you help soften attitudes toward those that also struggle with money.

Last, and perhaps most important of all, as you move away from materialism, you’ll find that it’s still possible to be generous. You can show someone that you care without spending a fortune on gifts. You can give them something much better than hastily chosen bath products or a set of candles – and that’s your time and attention.

Although it helps to be accountable for your financial problems, it’s important to understand that it’s not all your fault: your upbringing, gender, and the broader economic climate all play a part. When you are ready to take control of your financial situation, know that concrete goal-setting can really help. Just don’t forget to live your life.

Action plan: Try coloring in to help you save money or pay off that debt.

To help you manage your finances better, take a sheet of squared paper and, for each time you make a saving or debt-payment, color in a box. By making your progress visual, you’ll be able to track just how far you’ve got to go before you can afford that dream holiday or clear your student debt.

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anneedmonsonus · 4 years

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My Husband’s Big Deck: Our Backyard Renovation

Blame my shrunken, shriveled brain, but somehow I have totally neglected to share a big part of our home renovation here on the blog – our new patio and deck, which is about thirty times nicer than what we had there before (pics a little later in this post).

I’ve shared our outdoor entertaining area makeover so much on my social media, but somehow I have totally forgotten to share it on the blog. Blame my shrunken, shriveled brain, because the deck is one of my favourite things we’ve done here, renovation-wise. It has added so much functionality to our house and improved how we live and entertain. Sometimes I wish we had done it years ago – but then maybe we wouldn’t have appreciated it as much? We have always liked to have family and friends over and to entertain, but having the deck just makes it much easier and more pleasant. It feels like we’ve added another room onto the house – and a very appreciated room at that, now that we’ve gone from just two people living here with a dog to a family of five. (Yes, I count the dog, the neediest dog in the world, who sleeps on our bed every night with her head on the pillow, tucked in as she demands (and deserves. We are merely her disciples).

I love myself a little walk through renovation memory lane, so this is what our outdoor area looked like when we bought the house, nine years ago:

It was depressing, dark sunroom with disgusting fibreglass roof. Bleh. I distinctly remember being at the home open, and a woman walking into the sunroom and grimacing. It was gross. Meanwhile I was all heart-eyes like, “Oh wow! ANOTHER room!” Genuinely joyous. It’s funny because when I was house-hunting I had been looking at all these much, much smaller apartments and villas (in more desirable, but more expensive suburbs, such as Leederville and Applecross) and this was the first proper ‘house’ I visited. It was also unfurnished, and even though it’s by no means a big house, and I know it’s not the ‘done thing’ these days to sell a home unfurnished, to me it felt like it added to its feeling of spaciousness. It felt big and full of potential. So despite its uglier features, like the sunroom, I was genuinely smitten by this seemingly huge house and its bigger block and all the beautiful trees.

Not long after we moved in, Mr Nerd and I gave the sunroom a really budget makeover with white paint and new roof panels. I blogged about that little reno here. It brightened it up a lot and made it much nicer to sit under, and also doing the mission brown windows white and replacing the roofing panels made the INSIDE of our house seem much brighter – and we had it that way for years. So even though it was a pain to paint, it was worth doing!

I dug out the old 70s bricks and we did poured limestone which was a great idea until it went mucky and looked like this:

The sunroom was not the biggest room and with four doors/entrances, it always felt sort of limited in regards to how you could place furniture. It wasn’t really an ideal space to put a table and chairs, for example.

I started to become obsessed with the idea of enjoying a meal, at a table, outside (probably right around the time Little Nerd started solids, strangely enough). And after a while Mr Nerd became obsessed with the idea of knocking out the sunroom completely and building a deck there instead, with a new patio roof. At first I wasn’t keen on the idea of decking at all, although I have always loved it. I knew that decking generally tends to be much more expensive to do than paving. So why not do paving? I also figured we could probably lay pavers ourselves, too, and save some money.

But Mr Nerd wanted a deck and he fought me on it and eventually I agreed – but I wanted it done professionally. (I know, I’m fickle. I’d be happy to lay pavers ourselves but if we want a deck I want to pay the right people to do it properly). I think it was partly because I knew if we did it ourselves, with a toddler and a baby in tow, it would be the kind of project that would take a looong time and our yard would become even more of a mess. Don’t get me wrong, I know kids don’t care – ours genuinely LOVE playing in renovation rubble and hiding Paw Patrols amidst tools and lumber. This isn’t about the kids, it’s about me! I sound like a brat, but I could just picture me, Little Nerd, a soon-to-be-crawling baby and everyone else tripping over tools and half-finished decking for months and feral just-had-a-baby me couldn’t stand the thought of it. Plus, this deck Mr Nerd had in mind just kept getting bigger and bigger. He thought it would be a good idea to extend it all the way past the house. In the end I even wondered if the deck was going to be too big. (That wasn’t meant to sound dirty but it sort of did, I’m sorry).

We hired TJP Carpentry to do our deck. Mr Nerd was keen to give it a crack but I went sort of feral and insisted that we get it done professionally and I’m so glad we did. It was done much faster (and much better!) than we could have ever done it ourselves. As a bonus, it was all done in time for Christmas and we had a beautiful Christmas Day here. I can’t recommend Tim and his team enough (it was actually a wonderful House Nerd reader who recommended HIM to me in the first place, for which I will always be thankful!)

The patio was by Great Aussie Patios, who also did our new carport. We got four quotes and they weren’t the cheapest but they were the only ones (of that lot) who were happy to do a skillion roof (a flat, angled roof) as opposed to a more traditional gabled patio design. I think we could have gone either style and it would have been fine, but with the new Scyon Walls cladding the house looks a bit more modern and the skillion roof seemed to be a better fit.

Once we knocked the old sunroom out, the difference in the light in the house was huge – it felt so much brighter. I actually became quite hesitant about doing another patio to replace it – an even bigger patio this time – and running the risk of the inside house becoming quite dark (both our living spaces, study and kitchen wrap in an L-shape around the deck).

But see those white panels above the gutters and between the ceiling of the new patio? They make a MASSIVE difference. Those panels are made of Sunpal Sunlite sheets, a polycarbonate product that uses Solarsmart technology to give 99.9% UV protection while letting in a truckload of natural light. They’re pretty amazing! They’re opaque so they can be used as privacy screens as well, and they let us boost up the ceiling height of the patio while also covering the less-than-attractive roof.

The ceiling of our patio is SolarSpan Insulated Roof Sheeting. Even when it’s really hot, it never feels too uncomfortable to sit outside on the deck, it does stay a nice temperature.

In between the patio going up and the deck, I took your advice. Upon urging from many house nerd readers, I cut back the trumpet vine that had been engulfing the big dragon tree in our garden from the day we moved in here. I cut it back by hand, with like a snippy thing, because my darling hubby won’t let me near his chainsaw, and dragged it all out to green waste collection. It took more than two days to cut it all back as much as possible, and I had blisters on my blisters and biceps on my biceps by the end of it, but it was the most satisfying garden project ever. It’s impossible to actually remove the trumpet vine completely, it must stay, and for those who asked why I didn’t cut it back completely, it’s because our block slopes from one side to the other and with the hedge completely gone there would have been no privacy between our garden and our poor neighbours. No walking around naked.

Oddly, when I was cutting back the trumpet vine, I actually uncovered the long-petrified remains of two other (much smaller, long-dead) dragon trees. I figured whoever planted the first one must have done three at once, probably not realising how big they can get, or either planting three for luck and hoping one would take – which it sure did.

Now – something I obsess over. Wood! I obsessed over wood when we did our kitchen benchtops. I obsessed over wood when it was time to do the deck, which we chose Pacific teak for. I like jarrah, which seems to be the most commonly done in Perth, but we wanted something lighter in colour, simply because our internal vinyl plank floors are a light oak colour and we wanted the deck to be lighter as well.

I did think about composite decking, like Trex, but they’re expensive. And even though composite decking products have come a long way and have so many advantages, to me there is still nothing that beats the look of real timber. Despite my research, I’d never even heard of Pacific teak until Tim texted me a pic. “Do that,” I said. It was exactly what I wanted and had been hoping to get. Here in Perth it’s usually slightly more expensive than jarrah, but less expensive than Tasmanian oak and blackbutt.

It actually does look so, so beautiful in its unfinished, un-oiled state too – look at it! Look at those soft, Scandinavian-inspired whitewash-ey looking tones.

But because of our block orientation, the deck unfortunately cops a beating from the full brunt of the late afternoon summer sun) we definitely needed the protection of an oil, and so oiled it was. But then it brought out these delicious honey tones. So, I’m happy.

We’ve still got bits of our backyard to go until I will finally feel like, “We’re done!” I still want to paint the old pavers – and that bit of old poured limestone beneath where the deck is – we want to pull that up and extend the lawn. And see what we call ‘the sandpit’, which is basically a spot where we used to have our old limestone and stone slab ‘coffee table’ – that sandpit will go (don’t feel too sorry for them, the kids have a new, upgraded sandpit now and it’s a truly awesome one… but that’s a blog post for a different day).

In the meantime here are the trades and suppliers we used – if you have any questions – let me know. Maya x

ALFRESCO ENTERTAINING AREA MAKEOVER – TRADES AND SUPPLIERS

DECKING TJP Carpentry

DECK OIL Feast Watson

CLADDING Scyon Walls (Stria)

PATIO Great Aussie Patios

GUTTERS AND DOWNPIPES Westcoat Perths Roof and Gutter Restoration Specialists

PAINT AND COLORBOND COLOURS Monument (dark charcoal) and Dulux Natural White

The post My Husband’s Big Deck: Our Backyard Renovation appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/11/15/my-husbands-big-deck-our-backyard-renovation/

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chriskarrtravelblog · 5 years

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Summer reading: British book settings

We visit the places that inspired iconic summer scenes in the works of some of our favourite authors.

It is the brightest day you ever saw. The sun is sparkling on the water… The tide is in, and the fishing boats are dancing like mad.” Charles Dickens, writing to a friend in 1841, simply loved Broadstairs and nearly every summer from 1837 to 1859 he escaped to the Kent seaside resort in order to work on his bestselling novels away from London’s bustle.

Most notably he put the finishing touches to David Copperfield while ensconced at cliff-top Fort House – now known as Bleak House – and modelled his character Betsey Trotwood on local resident Miss Mary Pearson Strong: the latter’s aversion to donkeys passing in front of her home on Victoria Parade was transformed into Betsey’s “incessant war” against the donkey-boys. “Jugs of water, and watering-pots, were kept in secret places ready to be discharged on the offending boys; sticks were laid in ambush behind the door…”

Broadstairs in Kent with a view of Charles Dickens’ cliff-top Bleak House. Credit: Credit: Andrew Beck/Alamy Stock Photo

You can follow a town trail around Broadstairs’ cobbled squares and fishermen’s cottages to discover Dickens’ haunts, and tour Bleak House, today offering luxury B&B-style accommodation that includes the author’s original bedroom, with use of his study overlooking the fabulous horseshoe of Viking Bay. Miss Strong’s cottage has become the Dickens House Museum, where Copperfield fans will recognise the square gravelled garden and old-fashioned parlour.

With sun and warmth (hopefully) filling our days, now is the ideal time to visit the places that have inspired iconic summer scenes in the works of some of our most popular authors: from picnics on the Cornish coast with poet John Betjeman (“Sand in the sandwiches, wasps in the tea” – ‘Trebetherick’) to walking amid woods with Wordsworth.

Jerome K Jerome originally intended Three Men in a Boat (1889) to be a serious guide to the Thames, “its quiet backwaters, its sleepy towns and ancient villages”. But the tale quickly turned instead into a classic of British humour charting the accident-prone rowing holiday of the eponymous three men and Montmorency the dog. Heading upriver from Kingston, London, the heroes niggle about ‘loud’ blazers and burnt breakfasts; sense the centuries slip back to 1215 and imagine themselves waiting to witness King John set his seal on Magna Carta at Runnymede.

Passing Cliveden Woods in Berkshire (“In its unbroken loveliness… perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river”) and Cookham, they rejoice in feeling “like knights of some old legend, sailing across some mystic lake into the unknown realm of twilight, unto the great land of the sunset…” and crash into a punt of disgruntled fishermen.

You, too, can cast off for all sorts of excursions on the Thames (without the mishaps), including from London, Windsor, around Cliveden, Henley and Oxford: hiring rowing boats or picnic punts, going on sightseeing trips or themed cruises (www.visitthames.co.uk).

And while Jerome’s not-so-doughty heroes, dampened by a little summer rain, abandon their holiday at Pangbourne, you would do well to explore further. As the Water Rat says in children’s favourite, The Wind in the Willows (1908), “there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”.

Kenneth Grahame’s tale of Mole, Badger, Ratty and Mr Toad grew from bedtime stories he told his son Alastair while living at nearby Cookham Dean, plundering his own dreamy childhood memories of the river, woodlands and wildlife; Grahame lived his final years at Pangbourne.

Summer is made for children’s adventures, and for Winnie-the-Pooh fans an ‘expotition’ to Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, where A A Milne set his whimsical tales in the 1920s, is a must. Or share a slightly later era of innocence and adventure Swallows and Amazons style with Arthur Ransome: boating in the Lake District or Norfolk Broads.

Romantic poet William Wordsworth famously wrote of spring daffodils in the Lake District, but for a summer ramble head with him to south Wales where his ‘Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey’ recall a return visit with his sister Dorothy in 1798.

The cult of walking tours taking in Picturesque ruins, Nature and dramatic scenes of beauty was in full swing, and these delights are still on offer today on the Wye Valley Walk through the wooded gorge along the river to the medieval abbey, with:

“…steep and lofty cliffs,

That on a wild secluded scene impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion…”

For Wordsworth, memories of such scenes refreshed the soul with “sensations sweet” long after visiting.

A 40-mile drive from Tintern into the Cotswolds and the Slad Valley reveals another walk through unforgettable summer scenes: of Laurie Lee’s Cider With Rosie (1959), his bittersweet memoir of the sunny uplands of a vanished youth and semi-feudal way of life.

The hauntingly lyrical book gave the world its image of the Cotswolds as the epitome of quaint, rural England, “with cattle, brilliant as painted china, treading their echoing shapes” and beech trees sunlit “as though clogged with wild wet honey”.Wander the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way through village and woodland of the Slad Valley, dotted with posts inscribed with Lee’s poetry; visit Holy Trinity Church where the author is buried and the ancient Woolpack inn where he liked to drink – real ale rather than cider!

There is more honey and nostalgia in one of the most famous couplets in English poetry:

“Stands the Church clock at ten to three?

And is there honey still for tea?”

Rupert Brooke posed the question in 1912 while abroad and pining after ‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’: conjuring up visions of lying “flower-lulled in sleepy grass”, gazing at the Cambridge sky as hours and centuries blur. Two years later he would write of dying in “some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England”, but ‘Grantchester’ is suffused with the idyllic summer happiness of a quintessential English village.

Brooke lived in The Old Vicarage (now home to novelist Jeffrey Archer), gathering luminaries like Virginia Woolf around him while pursuing a fellowship at King’s College, Cambridge three miles away.

You can walk or punt along the River Cam past Grantchester Meadows to the village and visit the church, which dates from the 14th century. Then take afternoon tea including sandwiches, cakes and scones in The Orchard Tea Garden, the pavilion where Brooke and his friends tucked into refreshments when it was too rainy to sit outdoors (booking required; the village also boasts numerous good pubs).

For a memorable finale to your summer reading, bask in the evocative descriptions of the ‘Author’s Prologue’ to Dylan Thomas’s Collected Poems (1952):

“This day winding down now

At God speeded summer’s end

In the torrent salmon sun,

In my seashaken house

On a breakneck of rocks…”

The “seashaken house” is the Dylan Thomas Boathouse below the cliff on the water’s edge of the west Wales town of Laugharne, where the author enjoyed a purple patch of creativity in his Writing Shed in the four years before his untimely death in 1953.

After peeking into the cluttered shed, relax over bara brith (Welsh fruit bread) and tea on the Boathouse terrace. Then revel in views over the Taf estuary as dusk hovers towards “dogdayed night” and:

“My ark sings in the sun

At God speeded summer’s end

And the flood flowers now.”

8 For more literary travel ideas, see http://www.britain-magazine.com

The post Summer reading: British book settings appeared first on Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture.

Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture https://www.britain-magazine.com/features/history/british-literature/british-summer-book-settings/

source https://coragemonik.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/summer-reading-british-book-settings/

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kirkgwatson6 · 7 years

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One Gigantic Influences of Magic Selfie Mirror Photo Booth Hire Leeds.

Tips That Ensure Perfect Pictures All The Time

Stroll into the inspiring art of photography! There’s all sorts of strategies so that you can learn. Because photography is personal to the people, it might be difficult to get techniques which will get across what you really are trying to accomplish. The information provided below may help you to learn how to start.

To adopt a great picture, move closer towards your subject. Getting up close gives you a greater conceptual focus, and blots out background distractions. In addition, you get the ability to let your subject’s face to get the star from the shot this is especially impactful with portraiture. Tiny details can be missed in case the subject is significantly away.

Portrait digital photography might be altered and manipulated in software to ensure they are resemble traditional art forms. There exists a number of digital software in the marketplace, but the standard is regarded as Adobe Photoshop. In many cases, it is possible to turn your ordinary photo into a form of art piece just by loading it into Photoshop and picking out the appropriate filter.

Simplicity is often the step to snapping that great photograph. You don’t should mess with a variety of different color and motion settings to produce a beautiful photograph.

If you are photographing nature, avoid taking photos including a sky that may be overcast. For those who have too much gray sky in your photo it will make it look muted. If you cannot avoid capturing an overcast sky in your shot, go for black and white as an alternative to color photos.

However, if there’s a lovely blue sky, make use of it as often as you would like to however, you should still be familiar with light.

In spite of the general view that sun-filled days alllow for good pictures, the reality is a sunlit day can make for bad pictures Direct sunlight casts shadows where you don’t would like them, highlights areas of the photograph you’d rather keep dark and could make your photograph’s subject squint or shut his eyes. If you’re goint to take pictures outside, get it done very first thing in the morning or perhaps before sunset.

Another handy photography tip requires the camera’s shutter. Learn about the shutter speeds. A camera comes with a selection of settings. P,M,A and S are some of those options. Program mode is indicated through the “P”. This mode will completely automate the shutter and aperture selection process. When you don’t understand what you’re shooting, make use of “P” setting.

If you are going on a journey, begin taking photos if you leave to document your trip. Don’t forget to take pictures of your journey, as it might provide images as memorable as the destination itself. An airport has many interesting things to take photos of, so add those to your vacation diary of photos.

When attemping your knack at photography, you have many different techniques you can utilize that will assist increase your shots. Photography can be for everybody, however, the methods and designs vary for every person. Hopefully these tips have given you with a starting place for your photos..

The post One Gigantic Influences of Magic Selfie Mirror Photo Booth Hire Leeds. appeared first on The Topic Gallery.

from The Topic Gallery http://www.denalioverlook.net/one-gigantic-influences-of-magic-selfie-mirror-photo-booth-hire-leeds/

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