Fifteen Minutes of Scrawl

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15 cities I've never been to, but would be interested in traveling to

I hope to get back to traveling more soon, so let's get some ideas down! This is a non-exhaustive list. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Belmopan, Belize New Orleans, USA Donegal, Ireland Marrakesh, Morocco Douglas, Isle of Man Glasgow, Scotland Mumbles, Wales Wadi Musa, Jordan Porto, Portugal Athens, Greece Florence, Italy Istanbul, Turkey Cairo, Egypt Cape Town, South Africa (Prompt by Eleanor Pratt) Photo by Alexander Popovkin on Unsplash

Thoughts on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 8, episode 20

Time for part 1 of the tell-all! Okay that random Moroccan guy who said hi to Emma was definitely a producer plant Okay, not sure all of these intros are needed Elise is READY to chuck Emma right under that bus Wait are both Elise and Forrest 6'3"? Oh Emma doesn't like lying, does she? Elise, Michal has rejected Laura so like them not being together isn't a result of her "not picking" him LISA HAS DEMON BLUE CONTACTS IN Wow Lisa is straight up telling Elise that she's going to be a bitch to her because Elise triggers her insecurities by just existing Hey, Rick, being selfish is a "reason" Laura, the "splash pad" is the thing you're going after Rick for? Like yeah, that wasn't awesome, but he did SO much worse TBH, I'm surprised Jovon is back in the Philippines Ziad, what are you talking with these folks about? Ziad, you kinda volunteered to give up some privacy for this show Aw I'm glad Forrest got a job where he likes ...

15 things I learned from 15 different first dates

Recently, my friend Sonia wrote an incredible list of men she'd dated since her first boyfriend entitled "The one...". Her list was so insightfully written that I got inspired, so here's my take on that idea: "15 things I learned from 15 different first dates" From the man who mentioned in motley ways his family's impressive cumulative cop count, I learned that I do not like men propositioning me for a second date on the first (they usually pick up on this eventually) From the man who was a costumed blind date, I learned that my self-cherishment can be easily crumpled (friends always help iron it out though) From the man who drove in from the suburbs to grab a generic chain-brand coffee with me, I learned that sometimes men are actually better looking than their profiles would suggest (this is not a guarantee) From the man who only walked with me in a park, I learned that men really do think negging will work (it will not) From the man who thought he was...

Working on my cryptid novel idea, part 3

Okay, I've finally started writing the novel that I did some stream of consciousness posts about ( "Stream of consciousness about a novel idea I have, part 1" , "Stream of consciousness about a novel idea I have, part 2" , and "Stream of consciousness about a novel idea I have, part 3" ). Now, I want to keep it unpublished, but I also want credit for working on it (lol). So, with that in mind, I'll do a post like this when I've worked on it for a bit, and you can shoot me a message if you'd like access to the Google doc. NB: While there will be multiple posts in this vein, I will not link them to each other because the text will remain the same, so linking to part 1 from part 2 (etc.) won't yield any new information. Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash

15 ideas for bookstores for Chicago Indie Bookstore Day 2026

So, if you don't know, every "year, Chicagoland proves itself to be the dream destination for book lovers and readers of all ages!" "Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) is a one-day national party celebrating indie bookstores on the last Saturday in April. Across the country, each store creates its own unique events—including guest authors, special kids’ story times, readings, contests, giveaways, sales, and more. In Chicago, we do the Chicagoland Bookstore Crawl." "This year, Chicagoland is BACK with 80+ bookstores joining the celebration with our annual Chicagoland Bookstore Crawl! Each year, independent bookstores across the greater Chicago area–from Antioch to Homewood and St. Charles to the Loop–the Chicagoland Bookstore Crawl encourages book lovers to indulge in bookstore tourism by visiting 10 or more stores in a single day." "At each bookstore you visit, you'll get a stamp! No purchase required. But, of course, showing your independent bo...

Thoughts on 90 Day Fiancé: The Single Life season 5, episode 11

Time for some chances legitimately denied and others illegitimately given. Natalie's brother seems cool Penny Dreadful is a fun drag name Uh, Gino, I'm 100% sure Jasmine would've taken you to a drag show if you had let her do ANYTHING Oop Natalie's brother is getting straight to the point Good question if Gino has filed for divorce! Hey, Natalie, also maybe don't bring a date to your daughter's graduation without checking with her Okay, Tony, dancing doesn't automatically lead to sex Also, you could communicate how you felt in a better way Like, giving Tony the greatest benefit of the doubt, he felt super uncomfortable about dancing and so initially said he didn't want to, but he did want to have fun with Vanya and he didn't handle it well Side note, didn't Tony go clubbing without Vanya? Like she can't dance with other guys? Tony, if Vanya had like a long term dance partner, that's one thing, but a rando she dances with for like 5 minut...