Are you playing Pokemon Go? So am I! I’m on team blue. To start, I chose Pikachu!
So far, this game has encouraged a lot of walking outside despite the hot weather. Gotta catch’em all!
Dungeons & Dragons
My friends and I started playing Dungeons & Dragons recently. I didn’t realize it had so many rules but at the same time also allows for a great deal of imagination.
We did play one night with premade characters but at our last session we made up our own. I am Aarilyn Sweetwater (the last name I read off a can of radler) a High Elf cleric!
Kracie DIY Donut Kit
Time for another DIY kit post! This time I made Kracie’s Doughtnuts. This one didn’t have any microwaving involved. At least that’s what I gathered from the instructions (I can’t read Japanese but there were no pictures of microwaves).
There were the typical packets of powder that turned into dough and icing. There was also sprinkles and crunchy bread-crumb like things.
These are what my donuts looked like after the mold. There was a vanilla and chocolate dough. As you can see mine are far from perfect!
And finally here they are after I decorated it with icing, and sprinkles. Doesn’t it look like a five year old did this? It’s all the same once they make it in my mouth anyway!
Like all the kits, the eeriliy taste like the thing they are supposed to be. So doughnuts. Nuts right?
#BlackLivesMatter
The past week, I cleansed a lot of my social media feeds. First, it started with all the people who failed to see that Black Lives Matter’s sit-in on the parade was important. They failed to hear their fears of the police, using the argument of “exclusion”.
BLM weren’t saying that LGBTQ police officers weren’t allowed to march. They merely didn’t want armed, uniformed officers promoting an institution that often makes them feel unsafe. If you back at Pride’s history, it was originally founded on protests, not the colourful corporate thing it is today.
As honoured guests at the parade, I believe that BLM’s message deserved to be heard. Are honoured guests supposed to be complacent and be token eye candy? Exclusion is not a great argument regardless because is exclusion for one day bigger than lives eliminated forever? Police officers are an entity that if individual officers aren’t deciding to question the system, the deaths than they are just as complacent in letting it happen.
If you’re reading what’s happening in the USA and still don’t get what BLM was protesting for, maybe just keep silent and educate yourself. I for one stand as an ally to my friends and POC.
I Don’t Know How to Swim
As I said in my cottage photo post, we tipped the canoe over the canoe. I didn’t know how to swim. I had a sudden panic attack but thankfully had a life jacket on. Also, as I discovered, the water wasn’t that deep. I ended up holding the canoe as Nash dragged it to shore.
In that moment, I decided that I should probably learn how to swim. If conditions were different, water deeper, farther offshore, we may have been in some trouble.
I’ve had lessons when I was a child but I seemed to have some fear of drowning that makes me not want to dunk my head in water or lie on my back. Deep down, I mentally don’t think I can float even when people try to guide me through the steps but I’ll try a little harder.
I’ll make a personal goal to learn how to swim enough to survive.
Drake Pin
My latest accessory is this Drake Views pin from The Yetee. I ordered it a few months ago but it was on pre-order and took forever to ship. Now it’s here and I can bring this tiny 6 God with me.
Cottage Adventures
I spent the long weekend at my uncle’s cottage near Haliburton. There was little cellphone signal so I was unplugged for most of the trip. It allowed me to relax and appreciate my surroundings.
On Saturday we set off belated Canada’s Day fireworks. I’d never done them before and it was funny to get a lot of “that’s it?!” reactions as we lit each fuse. Now I can appreciate those giant displays that the city puts on.
Teddy made the trip with us and I spent some time with him watching sunsets.
Nash came along for the trip too.
After some rain there was a beautiful rainbow in the distance.
I also tried canoeing for the first time. However, when I tried it was windy and we tipped over the boat. Thank goodness for life jackets because I can’t swim! I also happened to be wearing my Apple Watch but it survived the few minutes in water. Weirdly, so did Nash’s LG G3. I guess our devices are a lot stronger than advertised.
I avoided canoeing the rest of the time and took some photos of the others doing it instead!
Teddy was always curious what people were doing on water.
Here are some more various photos of Teddy and nature:
It was a fun and relaxing long weekend!
The 47
There’s a kind of inconspicuous place nearby that my friend Ricky and I went in out of curiosity one day. I don’t think we were expecting to be eating therefore I did not bring my camera so excuse my terrible phone photos.
The menu is a sharing menu so we ordered a few things as a snack. We began with some wings in a puttanesca style sauce.
Next up was the grilled octopus with a garlic almond salbitxada sauce.
Then we had a board with a variety of things: Bulgarian fried cheese, cheesed stuffed sausage and a paste of ground egg plant, tomatos and peppers.
This is a decent place to grab a drink and a snack!
Unplugging for The Weekend
It’s rare for me to unplug myself from the internet but I’m currently at my uncle’s cottage and there isn’t even adequate cellphone service . I’ll let myself relax a little. I left my computer at home (this is a pre-written post).
This will be a weekend of taking nature photos, exploring, hanging out with family and enjoying the moment. It’s seriously hard for me to leave the internet behind but it’s probably good for my sanity once in a while!
Happy Canada’s Day!
Happy Canada’s Day! I’m proud to be born Canadian. Our ideals, values and freedoms are something we often don’t think of day to day but with all the political happenings around the world recently, I couldn’t be more happy that Canada is my home.
Tiana Feng 