#we had a power outage so i decided to read an actual physical book!

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (7-13 Apr 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 If This Is As Far As We Go (BeauRadley) - 124K, stucky no-powers AU - after a year of being phenomenal hookup buddies, bucky ends their arrangement & throws steve into a tailspin - slow burn, angsty, oblivious steve slowly realizing his true feelings, good supporting cast

😊 Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid (Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert) - cute graphic novel about art students forming a softball team to exploit a financial aid loophole

😍 Death in the Spires (KJ Charles, author; Tom Lawrence, narrator) - historical murder mystery set in 1905 Oxford - another KJC absolute banger: incredible sense of place, fantastic characters, perfectly done 'whodunnit' tension and a HIGHLY SATISFACTORY resolution. Loved every word

💖💖 +76K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

The Man, the Myth, the Legend (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: gen, 2.9K - Holster's beatboxing skills brings all the a capella groups to the Haus - a short, fun, funny, outsider POV fic

Say it louder for the people in the back (redhook) - MCU: shrinkyclinks, 14K - reread, forever fave - sometimes you just get a yearning to reread the best glory hole fic ever written

In Focus (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: zimbits, 6K - Jack's photography eye knows what's up before his conscious brain does

Entering Orbit (museaway) - Star Trek AOS: spirk, 30K - good post-AOS canon-divergent fic where Jim goes home to Iowa to escape the press & Spock joins him

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Conan O'Brien

QI - series S, ep 13

Game Changer - s6, e5 {Bingoception}

Um, Actually - s9, e4

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Dawn of Justice" (s21, e14)

D20: Adventuring Party - "We're Running on 200%" (s16, e14)

Death In Paradise - s11, e4-8; s12 e0-8, s13 e0-8

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Working - How to Be Both a Critic and a Creator

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #10: Of the Reaching Green

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep10 "Of the Reaching Green"

Short Wave - How Climate Change And Physics Affect Baseball

Consider This from NPR - Bad Omens Or The Cycle of Nature? How The Ancient World Viewed Eclipses

⭐ Armchair Expert - Anna Kendrick [Rerelease from 1/9/23]

Today, Explained - Is college still worth it?

The Sporkful - Jewish Food Is More Than Matzoh Balls

WikiHole - BEYONCÉ (with Zoë Chao, Nat Faxon and Poppy Liu)

⭐ All Songs Considered - Songs to make you laugh, with 'Weird Al' Yankovic

In Defense of Fandom - Season 2 Episode 2: Putting my theory to the test

Dinner’s on Me - Orville Peck

⭐ Switched on Pop - Chasing old sounds: Djo's "End of Beginning" with Joe Keery

⭐ 99% Invisible #577 - The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant Persons

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Ada Limón

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Brown Mountain Lights

Short Wave - The Order Your Siblings Were Born in May Play a Role in Identity and Sexuality

⭐ Code Switch - How Frederick Douglass launched generations of Black and Irish solidarity

⭐ Decoder Ring - Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

⭐ Imaginary Worlds - African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #11: Promises Promises

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep11 "Promises Promises"

What Next: TBD - Does Google Suck Now?

Short Wave - What To Know About The New EPA Rule Limiting 'Forever Chemicals' In Tap Water

Code Switch - Reflecting on the legacy of O.J. Simpson

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Atlas Obscura Live: Two Places And A Lie

Dear Prudence - I Lost a Lot of Weight and Now I Enjoy Being a Mean Girl. Help!

It's Been a Minute - The car culture wars; plus, the problem with child stars

Endless Thread - RIP Lil Miquela

Shedunnit - You Probably Imagined It!

Armchair Expert - John Cena

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - [One Shot] A County Affair: Prologue

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Bonnie Raitt

Lowrider Oldies

Huge House Anthems

Djo

Classic Soul BBQ

A LA SALA [Khruangbin] {2024}

Presenting Khruangbin

Happy Beats

'80s One-Hit Wonders

Feel-Good Classic Rock

#sunday reading recap #bookgeekgrrl's reading habits #bookgeekgrrl's soundtracks #death in the spires #no surprise that kj charles can write the *fuck* out of a mystery #bunt! striking out on financial aid #we had a power outage so i decided to read an actual physical book! #comics & graphic novels are really the only physical books i read these days #fanfic ftw #dropout tv #got all caught up on death in paradise which i continue to watch with 50% affection 50% annoyance #mfred tipped me off to khruangbin and i love them #bonnie raitt #djo #vibe check podcast #switched on pop podcast #99% invisible podcast #decoder ring podcast #all songs considered podcast #code switch podcast #imaginary worlds podcast #armchair expert podcast #shedunnit podcast #worlds beyond number podcast #worlds beyond number: fireside podcast #wikihole podcast #endless thread podcast #it's been a minute podcast #the atlas obscura podcast #the sporkful podcast

[hermit-pistol]

conspiracies and confessions (mista x reader)

This is for @honey-pea as the result of the 100 follower raffle! Yes it’s goofy...but I love it so- enjoy!  :>

You never thought that you would ever become a member of a gang, yet here you are. When Bruno Bucciarati asked you, just a common pickpocket, to become a member of Passione, you couldn't believe it. 

"You're joking, right?" 

"Passione is no joke. I think that you would fit in well. While we may have differing backgrounds, I treat my gang like family." 

He wasn't joking about that, once you passed Polpo's test and gained a "stand" of your very own, the other members of the gang welcomed you, surprisingly.

There was Narancia, an energetic young boy, Fugo, a little reserved in nature, Abbacchio, who hated your guts (or so you thought, anyway), and Mista. 

Oh, Mista. 

You probably got along the best with him. You two had the most in common, he was just so easy to talk to! More often than not you would be up until the early hours of the morning giggling about some stupid internet videos or chatting about the latest gossip. 

You would be lying to yourself if you said there were times where you thought of him as more than a friend. But, you didn't want to spoil the good relationship that you already had, although it may have been platonic in nature. 

Until then, you appreciated what you had.

----

It had been a little over a year since you joined Bruno's gang, and you could say that you had really found your home there. Another member had joined as well, going by the name of Giorno Giovanna. He was good, strong both physically and mentally, and was your team's secret weapon as of late. 

Given the nature of the missions from the boss lately, your group had been living in a tiny room inside of a turtle for longer than you would have liked. Between missions, everyone was grumpy and irritable, either camping out on the couches or floor or complaining that there weren't enough drinks in the mini-fridge. 

It also didn't help that Trish Una, the boss' daughter that they were in charge of protecting... was extremely demanding. 

After a couple of weeks of living in the furthest thing from paradise, Bruno decided that it was time for a change. 

"I've booked us a place for a couple of nights." It seemed as if everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. "It's only fair since we've been working so hard lately." 

"Is there a pool?? I wanna go swimming!" Narancia all but yelled as he stood up from where he was slumped on the couch, excitement shone in his eyes. 

"Did you get a hotel, Bucciarati?" Abbacchio leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. 

"I didn't, the boss did. He's looked so favorably upon us that we each get our own rooms too." He raised his eyebrows, which could barely be seen behind his bangs. "Pretty neat, huh?" 

"It's about time that we got some reward for our hard work!" Mista pumped his fist into the air. Sex Pistols cheered as well, probably at the thought of all the gourmet food that they were about to eat. 

"When do we get to go?" You asked, never looking up from your book. You had started it that morning. 

"Tonight, actually. Be ready to check-in in about an hour or so." You could hear a loud 'YAY' from under Mista's hat. How cute! 

---

Within the next hour, you were laying on a plush hotel bed, continuing your reading. Bruno, Giorno, Trish, and Abbacchio were relaxing in their own rooms, but you distinctly remember Narancia saying that he was going to drag Mista and Fugo into the swimming pool. He had also asked you to go, but at that time you had found that you preferred the quiet company of a book compared to screaming children (Narancia included) at a public pool. 

It was about the paranormal, one of your favorite subjects. Nothing beats reading about creepy facts in a hotel room in the early evening, right? Your mind was racing when you heard a knock on the door. 

Throwing your book on the bed, you padded along the plush carpeting to the doorway, looking outside the peephole. It was Mista, looking around. A big smile crept onto your features as you undid the deadbolt. "Helloooo~ welcome to my crib." You giggled at your stupidity. 

Thankfully, Mista appreciated your goofy sense of humor. "You dork, if you're gonna talk to me like that for the rest of the night I should probably leave." He said in a serious tone, obviously joking. 

"Yeah, be my guest." You settled back into your comfy spot in the middle of the bed. "I thought that you were going to be at the pool with the other guys?" 

"Eh, I told them that I would join them in a little bit. The Pistols wouldn't stop complaining about wanting to see you, though." He took off his hat momentarily to let out his mischievous stand. They circled around you chanting your name. "We've missed you!" they spoke in unison. 

"I saw you all yesterday. Talk about clingy." You giggled. "I've just been reading." 

"Ooh what about?" Mista asked as he sat down on the bed next to you. You always loved when he was interested in your hobbies.

"It's about creepy stuff. Did you know that if you wake up in the middle of the night it could be because your body senses someone was staring at you?" 

"I did not, but that's absolutely terrifying." He let out a nervous laugh. "Uh...now that the adrenaline is kicking in we should read it together. I didn't need sleep tonight anyways." 

"Good idea." You opened the book, with the Sex Pistols nestling themselves in between the two of you. 

After reading for about 30 minutes or so, Mista pointed out one interesting fact himself. He was so close to you, and you hoped that he didn't hear your racing heart. 

"It says that to avoid the influences of mind control, you should craft a hat out of...tinfoil?" Pffft. "Y/N I know what we have to do now." 

"Oh yeah? Where are we gonna get it? I most certainly don't have any tinfoil on me..." 

"Abbacchio. He has to have some. He does all sorts of crazy shit to his hair." You shrugged your shoulders. You decided to let him take responsibility as the two of you left your room to make the short walk down the hall. 

One embarrassing encounter later, you had learned that Abbacchio did not have your 'fucking stupid tinfoil' and proceeded to cuss you out accordingly.

Luckily, the little convenience store down the road carried some. You picked up a pair of scissors as well, and were soon walking back to the hotel laughing about what was to come. 

"Okay Pistols, do you guys want hats too?" Mista asked once the two of you had returned to the room. They all squealed with joy. Well, there was your answer. 

You un-boxed the scissors and started cutting the first strip of the foil. It made such a satisfying sound. 

You started with 6 small strips for each of the pistols. Once they were cut, you formed the easily-malleable substance into small cones. 

"C'mere guys." You placed each one on their heads, which fit perfectly. Next you set to work making two larger ones for Mista and yourself. 

"Mista look at me!" Number 7 floated around the comforter.

"MEEESTA! Number 3 ripped my hat!" Number 5 cried as he sat on your shoulder. The thought of knowing that he wouldn't be susceptible to mind control comforted him even though his hat was’t in the best condition.

You stopped your work and examined his hat. "Number 5, it looks fine to me. Big Brother won't pierce your brain waves today. Dry those tears." 

"O-okay." He sniffled. By this point you had finished the hats. You and Mista decided to take pictures of each other to see how ridiculous you looked. 

"I look like a pointy toe." You laughed out loud as you walked to the bathroom mirror. "Let's take a picture together!" 

"Alright." He was at your side, and just before you took the picture he decided to sling an arm around you. In the moment you jumped, therefore ruining the picture. "Lemme see! You gotta send this to me." 

You looked at the result of your stupidity: a blurry picture produced by shaky hand syndrome. "Uh, let's take another one." You readied your camera, determined to make memories. 

This time when Mista put his arm around you you didn't even flinch. It felt...natural. 

The two of you were having a good time until the power went out. You could barely see your hand in front of your face, and the Pistols started screaming. "M-mista!" You could hear the whimpers of Number 5 from the other room. 

"I'm coming guys!" Mista called. "Y/N gimme your hand." You reached around the bathroom blindly, and instead made contact with his exposed midriff. Oops. 

"Sorry, sorry!" You could hear the humility in your voice as you trailed your touch over his arm to eventually reach his hand. It felt quite warm. Yours were just clammy from being a nervous wreck. 

Soon all of you were huddled together on the bed again, using cell phones for lighting. "A hotel having a power outage..seems a little strange, don't you think?" You asked. 

"Is this our next conspiracy?" Mista smirked. You still couldn't take him seriously with his tinfoil hat on. 

"Yes, Mista. The conspiracy of the idiot in the hotel room. How spooky." Your heart stopped when you heard the scratching on the door. 

"W-what was that."

"You're asking me?" Through the dim phone screen lights, you could see a worried expression cross his handsome features. "I guess that means that we have to check it out." 

"We? This is all you buddy." You gave him a playful shove, although the tone present in your voice was anything but. 

Mista got up and straightened out his outfit. He walked up to the peephole on shaky legs. "There's..no one here." He breathed a sigh of relief. 

"That's weird." You relaxed a little, the Pistols curling up in your arms, tinfoil hats scratching you.

That's when the thumping started. 

Mista was still at the door terrified. "Come here!" You mouthed, and he wasted no time in sprinting back to the bed. "Mista, I'm kind of freaked out." 

"It's okay, I am too." He opened his arms, inviting you in. You fell into them without a second thought. The Pistols joined in as well, and soon all of you were a giant ball of cuddling and crinkled tinfoil. 

You felt his heart race as you pressed your ear against his chest. You figured that since you might not get another opportunity like this you might as well confess your blossoming feelings. 

"Mista I have something to say..." His dark eyes bore into yours. 

"Sure, what's up?" The thumps were growing louder and more frequent now. 

"I really enjoy spending time with you, and you've really helped me find my place in Passione. You're definitely the member that I've grown closest to and I appreciate that, but over the past year, I've realized that maybe..." You tightened your grip on his torso.

"Maybe what? That you have romantic feelings?" 

You were shocked. "Well, you took the words right out of my mouth." The Pistols let out a collective 'oooh'. You could have sworn that you heard a distinct, 'Mista has a girlfriend~' taunt coming from one of them...probably Number 3.

The thumping was so loud at this point, you let out a scream holding onto Mista for dear life. It seemed as if the door were about to fall off of its hinges. The door eventually swung open violently. With the intensity that it had made contact with the wall you could tell that the flimsy hotel drywall was cracked. 

The lighting provided by the emergency exit signs brought out the outline of a figure, with a flowing garb and...ears? 

Thoughts were racing through your head. You whispered over to Mista, watching the figure carefully, "I think I know what that is, I read about it in my book earlier. Page 343. It's a catboy." 

"A catboy?! What...I thought those were only-" 

"A cryptid? A figment of the imagination? Me too, but we are not your average goons. We are prepared," Your eyes looked up, indicating to your hats, "I think we should rush him. The book says that they're not that violent." 

"I'm following you on this one Y/N." He was too scared to look at the figure standing in the doorway. It was surprising that it hadn't yet made a move. 

"Okay, 3.." 

"2.."

"1.. CHARGE!" Mista leapt off of the bed and ran up to the creature, tackling him to the floor, his tinfoil hat flying off.

"TAKE THAT CATBOY!" You screamed as the two wrestled on the ground, and as if on cue the lights turned back on. 

"Get off of me!" The figure turned out to be Giorno Giovanna, wearing a robe and hair curlers. "Why are you attacking me Mista, why are all of you wearing those ridiculous hats, and most importantly why am I a catboy?" You could sense the anger in his voice, which was very uncharacteristic of him since he was usually so level-headed. 

"I-" you started, taking off your hat and shamefully placing it on the bed. "We were just having a little bit of fun. Then the power turned off and we got paranoid. I'm sorry Giorno." 

"I noticed the power went out so I went to check on everyone else, I did not expect to have you lock me out of your room and then be tackled to the floor." Giorno adjusted one of his rollers that had fallen out of place due to the beatdown. 

"Sorry man, let's talk about it tomorrow morning? When emotions aren't getting in the way." Mista gave a goofy grin, and Giorno rolled his eyes in response and bid them a barely audible 'good night' as he walked down the hallway. 

Once again, it was just you, Mista, and the Pistols. At least the lights were back on again. "You're gonna have to explain that catboy thing to him later, he seemed very disturbed." 

"Will do, but back to earlier-" He sat back down on the bed with you, grabbing your hand softly. "Did you really mean all those things you said?" 

"I really did, there's no one else that I would rather be an idiot with, idiot." You laughed and placed your discarded tinfoil hat onto his head. 

The Pistols cheered, with Number 5 shedding a few tears in the process, "Man, I just love a happy ending." 

"I think that a sleepover is in order?" You playfully nudged him. 

"Count me in."

#100 follower special #jojos bizzare adventure x reader #jojos bizarre adventure #jojo #jjba #jojo x reader #guido mista #mista #mista x reader #guido mista x reader #jojo part 5 #yeah this is a lil like a crackfic but #i can picture mista doing this #bc hes a goofy gunman #honey-pea #i hope you like it!!

[wellnessroutines]

8 Natural Tips For A Better Sleep

Sleep. It's a crucial part of life, however while some individuals could drop off into dreamland the minute their head strikes the cushion each evening, others lay awake for exactly what seems like an endless time awaiting the sleep gods to ultimately take over their body. And considering that the quantity and also top quality of our sleep has a significant influence on our physical as well as psychological health, and consistent rest starvation can reduce our performance and also alertness, create us to put on weight, make us feel clinically depressed, and also damage our body immune systems, it's imperative that we make it a priority.

The just problem is that, despite having the very best intentions, a lot of us have a hard time to obtain a sufficient quantity of sleep each night. Hectic routines, unwell youngsters, chronic discomfort, life anxieties, and consistent sleeping disorders could as well as will make obtaining a strong 8-hour sleep sesh really feel impossible, yet with a little preparation as well as prep work, it is possible to make sleepless evenings an exemption as opposed to a rule.

I'm very fortunate that I don't usually have troubles in the sleep division, yet that had not been constantly the case. Actually, I spent the greater component of a year in my mid-20s seeing physicians and trying various sleep helps, as well as after investing an evening in a sleep center where nothing 'of passion' was discovered even though I was getting up 10+ times each night, I made a decision to take matters into my own hands.

I was ill as well as fed up with being unwell and also tired all the time, and also established out on an objective to cure my rest problems myself. I review countless sleep books and write-ups, and through a great deal of experimentation, I developed great deals of fantastic organic tips for a far better rest that have actually shown successful not only to me, but to a number of my friends and also household members over the years.

And given that I understand there are heaps of people available that struggle to capture an adequate amount of Zs each night, today I'm collaborating Yogabed ™ to share 8 of my ideal natural tips for a far better sleep.

1. ADHERE TO A RIGOROUS SLEEP SCHEDULE

While I have constantly been a little bit of a night owl, age as well as experience has proven to me that keeping a stringent sleep schedule, EVEN ON THE WEEKEND BREAKS, is paramount in maintain sleep problems away. The more unpredictable my rest schedule is, the a lot more tough I locate it to sleep as well as remain asleep. This was a little bit of a disappointment when I was a care free 20-something with late-night strategies every weekend break, today that I'm the mommy of a tough 5-year-old who wakes up at the daybreak every. solitary. day., preserving a normal sleep timetable is actually quite very easy for me. Certainly, I make exemptions for special events or when I'm on a due date, yet as a general policy, I aim to go to bed and awaken at the same time each day.

2. ACCESS LEAST HALF AN HOUR OF EXERCISE

Yup. As aggravating as it is, bodily activity, or absence thereof, truly does influence our ability not only to go to sleep, yet to stay asleep also. Obviously, this does not mean you should run a 10K race on your lunch break everyday, but the a lot more energetic your way of life, the much less likely you are to experience in the rest department.

3. LIMIT CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL

If it depended on me, I would go after a glass of white with a cup of jo all evening long, but the reality of the issue is that this is not only extremely unhealthy, however it would have destructive results on my rest. As well as considering that I am an unpleasant human being when I'm not well-rested, I make a mindful initiative not to consume alcohol any kind of caffeine after 12:00 pm, and also on the nights I seem like enjoying a little vino, I aim to restrict myself to one glass. 2 tops.

4. ASSESS YOUR SLEEP ENVIRONMENT

If you have troubles dropping and/or staying asleep, opportunities are you have actually already read the significance of guaranteeing your bed room is conducive to a good evening of sleep. There are a variety of things you could do to aid - splurge on a comfy set of sheets, deny your thermostat, buy a white sound manufacturer, limit TV-watching as well as checking out to various other rooms in your house, etc. - yet the largest game-changer for me was purchasing a pair of power outage blinds. While I like getting up to all-natural sunlight, living in an apartment in a big urbane city indicates there are whole lots of sounds as well as lights throughout the night, and obstructing it all out really does create a much more zen sleep encounter for me.

5. UNPLUG

Life as an independent, work-at-home mom is wonderful and also versatile, yet it also makes it incredibly difficult to turn function off at the end of the day. I constantly really feel like I must be doing MORE, when I recently found myself looking at the ceiling agonizing over my relentless checklist of points to do a couple of weeks ago, I determined to try and disconnect myself an hour prior to bed each evening. It made such a difference! By giving myself time to properly relax as well as loosen up prior to creeping into bed, I discover I have the ability to clear my mind as well as sleep quicker. Give it a try!

6. ESTABLISH A BEDTIME ROUTINE

When my child was a child and also waking up a million times a night, every person told me I needed to develop a bedtime routine for her to ensure that her body would certainly concern recognize that as soon as we began to do specific points - change right into our jammies, brush our teeth, checked out a publication together, etc. - it was time to wind down and go to rest. I've adopted a similar regular myself, as well as it truly does help send the proper signals to my body that the day is pertaining to a close.

7. KEEP STRESS AT BAY

Even though I don't battle with sleep problems on the routine, I absolutely have difficultly dropping as well as remaining asleep when something is worrying me. I believe this is typical of the majority of people, and also could be extremely tough throughout times of intense stress. Unfortunately, it's not constantly feasible to limit these situations, however several of these ideas to soothe stress normally may aid keep points workable so you could obtain a far better night of sleep.

8. SPEND IN THE RIGHT MATTRESS

While every one of these suggestions really assisted me locate my means back to a good evening of rest when I was knee-deep in severe rest starvation, one of the important things that aided me the most was buying a good bed mattress. I had been sleeping on a bed that was older than I care to confess, and also constantly discovered I slept much better when I was taking a trip on business, and also when someone suggested the concern may be my cushion, it actually obtained me thinking. I eventually decided to use my annual bonus to spend lavishly on a brand-new bed, and also it made such a big distinction. I have considering that updated my cushion a few times, and each time I do, I am impressed at the results.

So when the outstanding individuals at Yogabed ™ asked if they can hook me up with a brand-new mattress when we relocated right into our brand-new residence last weekend, I hopped at the possibility. The stairs of our brand-new residence has very little swing room, and since my other half and I decline to sleep on anything various other than a king-sized mattress, we were a little stumped as to exactly what we were going to do.

As it transforms out, the Yogabed ™ comes packaged in a box, and also we had absolutely no concerns obtaining it up the stairs, so it was a win!

Now, I understand what you're thinking.

How does a king-sized mattress fit into a box that size?

We wondered the very same thing, but after reducing open the box as well as removing the air-tight plastic covering, we were entrusted a high-end foam mattress that is perfect comfortable.

The bed mattress is comprised of the Yoga exercise Comfort System ™, which is an advancement split system specifically developed to efficiently sustain the body by dispersing weight evenly and also minimizing pressure factors that create thrashing. It also featured 2 totally free Yogabed ™ Pillows, has a Zip-n-Wash removable cover featuring THERMOCOOL ™ high efficiency fabric, and also with a 101 evening no-risk trial and also a 1o year guarantee, you truly cannot go wrong.

Oh, and did I state I'm supplying $75 off a cushion? Just see the Yogabed ™ website and utilize the discount coupon code 'Meraki75' during the checkout process!

Moving is never ever fun, but we're so thrilled to have formally relocated right into our new residence, as well as thanks to our brand-new Yogabed ™, we're well-rested and delighted and also prepared to go explore our new area and make brand-new memories as a family.

Don' t fail to remember to capitalize on the $75 off voucher when you get your Yogabed ™ utilizing the code 'Meraki75' throughout the checkout process!

If you found these all-natural tips for a better rest valuable, please share them on Pinterest!

Optional brand accepted language you may use in or after the article:

 Yogabed is consisted of the Yoga Convenience System ™, an innovative layered system particularly designed to optimally support the body by dispersing weight evenly and also lowering pressure points that create throwing and also turning.

#exercise #Fitness #fitness women #get fit #Health #pilates exercises #total fitness #weight #workout

[far-off-flower-fields]

Don’t mind me just find more random questions to answer to distract me until I’m tired enough to sleep.

How many times each morning do you press the snooze button? I don’t usually have to set alarms these days.

What time of day do you like to shower? Night

When you go out to eat, what sides do your order with your food? Usually no sides because I’m not rich and if I have to pick between a side and a dessert I will get dessert.

What do you spend more money than necessary on?  I’m bad with money, toys probably, or clothes. I buy second hand, but I shouldn’t be buying anything that isn’t specifically planned in advance right now since I need to save to move.

What video game or computer game are you best at?  I’m really bad at games, so maybe Sims 4 or something. I like games, I play them when I have the energy, I just really suck.

How do you normally come across new music?  Spotify, sometimes my Fiance.

What do you keep your keys on?  A turtle keyring.

Is your favorite color different than your favorite color to wear? Not really, I wear a lot of pastel colours, and they’re my favourites. Although I also wear neutrals and black if I’m doing a different look since my wardrobe is like 4-in-1 because I’m a million people at once. 

Do you buy books or get them from the library?  I used to read all the time, I’d go to the library and hire like 7 books and go through a book a day. Now I can’t concentrate so I just don’t read. I have several books in my posession that I need to read though if I ever get better.

What section of the food pyramid do you neglect the most?  I say fuck the food pyramid.

Do you check PostSecret weekly?  I have no idea what that even is.

What do you use your stovetop for most?  Sitting things on. Or pasta. I made hokey-pokey the other month though to use up the last of the syrup someone bought.

Do you notice the impact of the economic recession? Yes, I saw so many posts on Gumtree of people having to give up their pets for financial reasons and it was really heart breaking.

Would you enjoy living somewhere where it's sunny all the time? Absolutely not. The sun gives me headaches and migraines. 

What is it that you always seem to lose?  My will to live xD Honestly though I lose like everything because I have to keep my entire life in a single room of my parents house rn.

Have you ever broken any bones?  One, because I couldn’t handle the thought of going to work. I’m more prone to tendon damage.

What is your winter coat like?  Which one? I have a mint green one which is waterproof and fluffy inside, I have a brown duffle coat one that flares out a bit, and I have a grey long coat. I also had to declare bankruptcy.

Do you keep dirty clothes in a hamper, or on the floor?  Both, I have a system.

Which decade's music do you like best?:  I can’t pick. 

Can you focus on studying if there's music on?  Yes, as well as I can really focus in general.

In what types of situations do you demand absolute silence?  When I have a migraine or sensory overload.

Did you do well at fitness testing in grade school?  NO. PE is the only class I failed.

If you had to choose a wardrobe to steal, who's would you pick? No, I have worked hard on mine to get it to the point its at.

If you had to pick one thing to bring back from the 90's, what would it be? Most of that stuff has already come back in one form or another, or never really gone away. Like you can get the toys second hand, furby has been rereleased like 3 times, clothes you can also still get second hand and the styles are pretty easy to copy anyway. 

What about the 80's?  Same as above.

Do you share any of your music taste with your parents?  I share parts of my music taste with pretty much everyone, I have a really varied music taste, there isn’t a single genre I can say that I hate all of, there are ones I’m fairly unfamiliar with but I always loved music so I like a lot of it.

Could your parents tell when you would fake sick? I was sent in whether I was sick or not so there was no point in even trying. Only way I was allowed off was if I literally threw up in front of them which didn’t happen much, or the few occasions where my allergies gave me conjunctivitis.

Do you own more shoes or less shoes than the average person? More.

Do you still have anything from when you were a baby?  I have a Quasimodo plushie that I had when I was like 3. My parents always threw everything away or gave it away so I don’t even really have baby pictures, except like one I got from my grandparents place when they died.

Are there any stores that send you e-mail newsletters? A couple, but that’s just from buying things in the past.

Do you think people overuse the word "random"?  Now not so much, but back in the 00s and early 10s it was used a lot more.

How often do you floss?  Never, my teeth are a bit overcrowded so I can’t fit the floss in without pain and bleeding. 

Do you use hairspray much?  Never, I used it for a couple of stage shows I was in when I was a lot younger and that was about it.

Who is your favorite painter? I don’t really have one because there are so many, if I’m picking out of just the really famous ones then either Monet or Van Gogh.

Are art museums interesting or boring to you?  Interesting

What subject in school do you feel is the least necessary? PE needs significant changes to be at all worth the cost of running it. Once I hit my 20s I found out that there actually are some physical activities that I enjoy and missed out on. I think they should make it more free-form, if the concern really is health then surely letting people find and do the fitness tasks that work for them is better. If I’d been brought into a gym with actual gym equipment and they explained, okay, this does this, and this does this, try things out with a spotter and see what you like and what works for you, I’d have been much better of and have had some degree of physical fitness by now. They could also have offered option modules where instead of forcing everyone to do the same shit they let you pick, then I’d have been able to do yoga and dance and skipped out on the team sports they were pushing that literally lead to so much bullying and injuries because it’s about being competitive so they can send they sport inclined kids off to do competitions and win the school more money for the sports department and it’s a big nasty cycle of, damage some kids in favour of others, and lie to them all while making it compulsory for several years. Sorry this is a big ol’ sore spot with me because it is hugely indicative of many of the issues with many school systems in general, and while kidding on it’s for the youth, is actually just hurting them. FUCK. 

When you were a kid, what games did you always play on the playground? I had like two modes, there was the days where people would play with me and we’d mash-up characters from the shows/movies we were watching (mostly charmed, totally spies, and xmen) and play as them in this whole made up world. Other days I’d walk around the tennis court trying to stay on the lines if it was empty or I’d just walk around the school daydreaming.

Do you enjoy power outages or do you get annoyed? I’m scared of the dark so I’m more afraid than annoyed. If I’m in the right situation it can be okay, but I never am because I don’t live with my Fiance and we can never afford candles.

Do you know how to use an ATM?  Yes.

How about write a check? No.

Are you in to your heritage much?  Sort of, not of my specific family, but Scotland’s cultural history and the like is interesting.

Are you pretty politically correct?  I resent that term, it’s like the term “cancelled” where some brat decided to make it into something controversial to be nice, and considerate, and tactful, or to hold others accountable and expect them to hold themselves accountable. These are basic things you should be doing, do you need to use slurs? NO what are you losing by not using them? Nothing. What are you gaining by using them? Nothing. We gain nothing as a society by being intentionally offensive or winding folk up. You’re not thought provoking, we already came to the conclusion that certain things are shit, the next step isn’t to continue with your jokes, it’s to stop that shit and do the right thing to the best of your ability. FFS what does it cost people to just be nice? NOTHING.

What is one fashion trend you'll never understand? Some of the shoes the now are, lumpy and weird? Like they stick out in places I can’t imagine being practical. Also mullets.

What do you wear when you exercise?  Ummmm depends what I was wearing immediately beforehand, if it’s fine then I just stick with that since I don’t do anything especially heavy-duty. If it’s not, I just grab some sort of top and shorts or leggings, whatever I put my hand on first honestly. A lot of the time I’m just wearing onesies with little monsters all over and they’ll do the job so I just stay in them.

What is usually the last thing you do before you go to bed? It varies, sometimes I put on some rain sounds or something. The only consistent thing is that I have to go to the loo whether I need to or not, that’s one of those things I assumed literally everyone did but it turns out they don’t and I just held onto the methods that were used to toilet train me as a bub xD If I’m alone I also have a system I have to use to check the doors are locked or I can’t sleep and have to get back up to check, but I don’t have the house to myself that often so...

[eacci]

The Wasted City book is a collection of work that combines compelling insights on circularity by external professionals, experts, and thinkers with a case-based approach. The latter is pursued by various specialized individuals working directly with CITIES’ international team, casting light on inspiring initiatives that are breaking the linear mold. In total, 16 cases are explored; spanning scales, from the hyper-local to the regional, sectors including food, energy and material waste while focusing on sharing, commodity brokerage, and empowerment. As there is no ‘one-size’ solution to make a city circular, the presented cases demonstrate the heterogeneity of approaches, all of which are critical to further the development of circular cities. Let us introduce you one of them – Brooklyn Microgrid, which builds a peer-to-peer energy market for locally generated renewable energy that is driven by the very community it serves. Alex Thibadoux, our independent researcher, went to get to know them better, read the conversation with Scott Kessler below below.

©Brooklyn Microgrid

Can you tell me what you do at Brooklyn Microgrid?

I am the Director of Business Development

What is the mission or purpose of Brooklyn Microgrid?

It is to test out the concept of community microgrids and the technologies needed to make them a reality.

Does that involve using blockchain technology?

It does, yes. The sort of technology platform that the microgrid is based around uses a blockchain based platform called Transactive Grid.

How large is your organization?

Pretty small still. I would say there are about 30 of us involved in the project.

 What about your collaborative network? Who are you working with, and do you have any kind of partnerships or any other organizations that you are working with?

Yes, we most recently announced our partnership with Siemens because they are providing a microgrid controller. We also have a partnership with PECI, which is a not for profit that is focused on energy efficiency and does a lot with community engagement around energy. We are also partner with Avale Services who is the installer for our meters and technology. Those are our sort of key partnerships at the moment.

 Are you set up as a for-profit company?

Brooklyn Microgrid is a B corp, so we have both profit as well as community and sustainability in our mission. Brooklyn Microgrid is wholly owned by LO3 Energy at the moment. The plan is once Brooklyn Microgrid is more fully developed, we would actually sell a majority share in Brooklyn Microgrid to the community members and the community organizations so that it is truly a community-run organization.

 How is it financially supported right now? Do you have fees? How does it work?

Right now it is supported by initial investment into LO3 Energy. We are also seeking some grant funding from municipal sources, and in the future it will be sort of a mix of funding sources with LO3 providing funding, as well as there being some membership fees of some sort, perhaps transaction fees. There are a variety of different business models that we need to sort of test out and see which one is the most appropriate.

How big is the grid network currently?

Well, the Transactive Grid proof of concept was in a one block area in Brooklyn, so about ten participants on that block, and we shut that down about two months ago and are currently rolling out our next forty meters. Therefore, it is safe to say we will have forty prosumers involved in the network shortly. We will simultaneously start recruiting pure consumers.

©Brooklyn Microgrid

Can you explain to me a little bit how the blockchain technology works?

So, blockchain is basically just a distributed database, a distributive ledger, so that you and I have the same information at the same time and any time any new information is added, we simultaneously get it at the same time. So there is no central storage facility for data. There is no bank or credit card intermediary where every time you want to do a transaction you have to route it through them. You and I can have a direct peer to peer transaction. So, what that means for us is that folks can both buy and sell energy directly from their neighbors. Sort of having each person with a solar panel acting as a generator and then anytime anyone else needs energy, they can just source that from them directly via blockchain technology. The way that the market currently works is that there is always some form of some retail energy intermediary so that they are buying energy from the generators, then selling it back to consumers.

As far as how you run the organization, can you tell me, do you have any reporting mechanisms? Or how do you get together for meetings and make self-assessments and decide what to do next, with Brooklyn Microgrid?

Brooklyn Microgrid is still a pretty small group. The folks that are focused on us are all pretty much working in the same office. While we have a regularly scheduled weekly update for the entire team, we are sort of small enough and in such close proximity still that staying updated isn’t really all that hard.

 What sectors of the economy do you think you have the most influence on, or will in the future when the technology grows?

The utility sector and the energy sector. Sort of one in the same, but slightly different. We can have very far reaching impacts, because obviously everyone is a participator in the electric grid.

It looked like some of the press was talking about having backup energy supplies. Is that a large angle or is it more of an environmentally friendly energy production technology?

There are a number of angles to be honest. There is grid resiliency, which is making sure that the electric grid saves power in the event of an outage. We had a hurricane in New York City about four years ago that knocked out power to a portion of the city, so we are looking to prevent events like that. There is a sustainability angle in that we are providing a new revenue stream for owners of solar panels and providing them more choice. So you can choose whether or not you want to offset your own consumption or whether or not you want to sell it on the market, given what the realtime cost of energy is. We think you will get better return on your solar panels. We think that will drive outside investment into the area and spur further renewable development, and there is also a circular economy angle where that money that used to be going to green power, so it may be going to sort of wind farms located a distance away from New York City, that money is now going to your neighbors. So, it is staying within the community and providing the economic benefits from within the community and also the environmental benefits, because when you are financing a wind farm that is a while away, the benefits of that wind farm, from a local standpoint, happen near by, and your actual neighborhood here in Brooklyn doesn’t get any cleaner. When you are sending money to your neighbor, you actually are probably coming close to offsetting some electricity that would have come from a smoke stack nearby and therefore, in some micro way, improving the air of your local community.

 If you are producing electricity, do you have the ability to sell it at whatever price you want or is it always at a market rate?

The point is to establish a free market where buyers can set what is their willingness to pay and sellers can set what is their minimum willingness to sell. So you can set your rate, and say “I don’t want to sell any energy under x price.” The downside of that of course is that there has to be a buyer on the other side who is willing to meet you at that price. So we really see this operating in sort of a free market environment. We always want people to get electricity, and so there will always be that lowest possible rate from traditional energy sources, but we think if folks are willing to pay more for a premium product, like local, clean energy, they should be able to do so.

 Do you think this service is a niche role in the city or do you think it could be more widespread and be fairly common?

Oh, I think it could be very widespread and common. There is physical resiliency and then there is the virtual marketplace. So the physical resiliency, you would have to work within the existing distribution network or create new microgrids, and that definitely takes time and is a little harder to do. We are doing that in Brooklyn. We think the virtual marketplace can scale very quickly. In order to buy and sell energy among each other, we actually don’t need any new infrastructure beyond just a few new meters installed. So we think that has the opportunity to scale pretty fast. The physical community microgrid portion scales as well. You obviously have some engineering studies that go along with that, so it is a little slower, but you know we also think that is a compelling story for many parts of US and in other parts of the world.

Is there anything that is preventing your growth right now?

You know, I wouldn’t say preventing it, because we are growing pretty fast, but we definitely are facing off with regulation in each of the markets that we want to work in, and for the most part we are finding very friendly regulators. They are interested in what we are trying to do. They all see electric markets eventually going down this road. They want to be careful and make sure consumers are protected as they go there, and so there is a lot of existing regulation that doesn’t really allow some of the things that we are trying to do. We are working with regulators to try and figure out either how do we get a white space where we can just test this out and show that it works, or what does it take to sort of roll back some of this regulation? So yeah, I would say regulation tends to be what we come up against.

Additionally, is there anything else that could help you grow or be a more mainstream technology?

Yeah, what we are tying to do right now is set up demonstration projects. Find a number of sites across the globe where we can test out the technology, both from a use case standpoint- so there is a number of different ways you can use blockchain technology in our platform and we want to test each one- as well as testing out cultural fit, because regulation varies, culture varies, economics vary depending on where you are, and all of those things are going to impact how people adopt this.

©Brooklyn Microgrid

Do you have a vision of Brooklyn Microgrid for the future? Is it similar to how it is now, but just larger or do you expect growth in different ways?

It is growing both in terms of width- in terms of number of people enrolled, it is growing that way- and in depth- in terms of what the functions the microgrids providing is. At first, we only have this sort of sale of energy supply, where it is a peer to peer transaction of certain amount of electrons. Eventually where it starts to go is you begin to transact device control. So you sort of virtually store some of your energy on your neighbor’s battery, if that makes the most economic sense. You can transact energy efficiency and demand response. Finally it goes into the real-time economics of operating the grid. So figuring out what is the cost to get energy from Point A to Point B? What are the losses involved in that and pricing that appropriately? That sort of looks like, every time a transformer is used, we know how much that costs. Every time a substation is used, we know how much that costs, and all of these things eventually roll into the idea of basically energy exergy, which is like energy productivity. So right now we really value energy supply and the amount of electrons. What we want to start actually value is how well are those electrons actually used, because that is equally as important. So eventually developing large incentive for utilities to maintain the most efficient and adaptable grid that they can, and making so that energy is much more localized and we don’t have this spread out network where you know we have centralized generation located at a distance away from where it is consumed. Instead we have lots and lots of community microgrids that are all supported by a larger macrogrid, but the microgrids are really the heart of it.

 So, the energy that is produced for the microgrid doesn’t necessarily go back to the larger grid?

In the future, I would say some microgrids are probably exporting energy to larger grids. They probably have a surplus, and other microgrids are running a deficit and are importing. It is all going to be based on location and the people using that microgrid, so there are a number of different factors there, but yeah, that is sort of how they balance among each other. But each one can sort of operate on its own if need be.

Do you have to install any kind of infrastructure to connect them all right now?

Yes. You know, you can do this now on the back of the existing electrical infrastructure, and most utilities are set up so they all have network that could be thought of community microgrids, even though they aren’t operated in that way. The idea is, allow them to sort of separate if need be, and that doesn’t involve installing too much more equipment.

©Brooklyn Microgrid

Do you have a rough timeline that you are working on now?

Like I mentioned, we are installing the next 40 meters at the moment. At the end of next year, we would probably like to be up to around 1,000 prosumers and consumers if we could be. We are definitely planning on moving pretty fast next year for Brooklyn, and then LO3 is looking to get its other demonstration projects up and running next year as well. So in addition to Brooklyn Microgrid, we should have some other sites come online.

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