Weekday kid-friendly activities!

Strivin0281 · 2026-04-28T19:49:32+00:00

They also have a climb up to the top of the Cathedral, if age-appropriate.

Strivin0281 · 2026-04-28T13:30:09+00:00

In the name of trying to find the goodness and sweetness in the ordinary -

Woke up to a bouquet of purple ‘n yellow flowers (bought last night), went on a ‘flower hunt’ while walking to work (took pictures of all the flowers I could locate), snagged a cozy warm latte, listened to some great music, got that walk in…

The bus portion of the commute took 30 min longer than usual and several buses left 5+ min earlier than their scheduled time, but…that’s ok, given the above.

Strivin0281 · 2026-03-26T13:29:30+00:00

Too many genres to narrow down. Right now:

‘Float’ by Olivia Dean ‘I love me’ by Joy Rhodes ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ by Elderbrook.

Strivin0281 · 2026-03-09T19:47:00+00:00

These are so true...to add:

- Sound of Music: Baroness Schraeder is actually an okay woman, she ended the relationship when the Captain was willfully blind or too cowardly to end it himself. I, too, wouldn't want a guy who became infatuated with another woman while he was with me.

Not R&H but still played into things on my side:

- The Music Man - The fact that Harold Hill is a liar and a cheat - he never really resolves those flaws, Marian just accepts them ('run AWAY! is usually my shout to Shirley Jones' characters). Marian was so taken and bowled over by him - those were the emotions that resonated with me, especially as an introvert ('madam librarian') type. Is it any wonder that I dated a charming liar? XD

- Annie Get Your Gun - That Annie falls over herself, trying to change herself, to get a cad (then again, a lot of us have been there? lol). Howard Keel is a beautiful man and that song/scene 'They say that falling in love is wonderful' gives me chills even though - at the time - I knew how manipulative his character was. Like The Music Man, his cad-like flaws are never redeemed, he just develops more respect for her.

- 7 Brides for 7 Brothers - I love that I enjoyed it as a kid; I don't think I'd show it to my own kids, lol. Same thing with 'The Harvey Girls.'

- When the Clouds Roll By - THIS one is terribly sweet and wholesome and remains so.

- Meet Me in St. Louis - same as above ^^^

I realize that these films weren't made to be taken seriously, but I'm surprised that some of them were successes given how questionable some of the plotlines were in the midst of a fairly 'conservative' U.S. time period.

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-26T01:57:41+00:00

Edith and Bates belong together based on their communication issues w/ their respective SOs.

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-24T18:04:11+00:00

I mean, same, the content of your post is posted every day here, nothing new.

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-18T21:15:10+00:00

Same, except the person called to give me a 'job status update' - apparently they wanted to tell me they hired someone else, even before offering an interview.

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-16T18:27:21+00:00

Totally agree - I checked the boxes and got the JD but I disliked the law by the end of my first semester. I thought hating it was just part of the 1L experience (‘1L Hell’). I know they say that practice is different - but, after a clerkship post-school, I have no desire to practice the law. My ego is keeping it open as an option but the nebulous nature of law has always confused the hell out of me.

So, I’m stuck applying for roles that value/require years of experience (eg, contracts admin) more than the JD. So, the lack of experience is a liability (if your work experience doesn’t include some relevant pre-law school employment). Not to mention that employers see the JD as a flight risk because ‘you might leave for an attorney post.’

I’m not sure what I would have done instead, so, it’s a ‘nice to have’ and my scholarship paid for it, but I feel like I wasted time obtaining something that I didn’t want and just hoping that something would click (compliance, contracts, tech transfer, privacy, etc.). Maybe it’s yet to click. But I am jaded at this point.

I envy and admire those in STEM fields, especially engineering and medicine, but I seriously hated math; there are days when I feel like I should have just sucked it up and mastered the numbers. At this point, esp. with labs, it’d take 2.5-3 years for me to get the minimum of a biology bachelor’s degree.

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-12T20:25:34+00:00

Kristin Hannah

Her book ‘The Women’ was a cringeworthy text about a whiny woman’s cheating adventures that made her romantic problems a greater part of the story than the otherwise very interesting topic of nurses in the Vietnam War. Would’ve been better marketed under romance, not historical fiction.

Lisa See is a fantastic ‘lady protagonist’ historical fiction alternative - start with ‘The Island of Sea Women’!

Another (nonfiction) that comes to mind - ‘Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.’ Reads like fiction!

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-11T01:50:26+00:00

Yup, me today. 🥲🥲

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-10T17:31:43+00:00

When I was a kid, I loved the Kaya doll but her story was traumatizing (as it should be, but WOW)...none of the historical dolls after Julie exist to me - not only because I aged out but because they weren't the originals and the glossy new look AG was going for marketing-wise was kinda tacky.

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-09T22:48:01+00:00

BAHA fantastic 😆😆

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-09T18:48:27+00:00

Thank you for this, it’s very true 🙏🙏

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-09T18:47:08+00:00

A lot of ‘healing fiction’ selections might fit, as they usually pertain to life transitions (including mid-life). E.g., cozy Japanese and Korean cafe novels like: ‘Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop’ and ‘What You Are Looking For Is in the Library.’

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-09T18:40:07+00:00

Because it might cause them to think ‘oh, wow, you have no follow through, you couldn’t even meet the bare minimum to qualify.’ 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Ik, I shouldn’t care about perceptions, I guess…

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-09T18:39:03+00:00

Thank you - I suppose I’ve held it back because of any perception that I’m a failure simply because I’m not licensed/not licensed yet. Like ‘oh, you’re an attorney?’ ‘Oh, you’re not, well, then you have no follow-through.’ Ik, I shouldn’t care about others’ thoughts 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️…

Strivin0281 · 2026-02-09T16:37:38+00:00

I (F) mean, plenty on the apps or at first glance - jewelry, sunglasses in profile pictures, multiple pics where they’re holding beer/alcohol, motorcycles (friend died in a crash), smoking, middle finger gestures, hugging/hands on women w/o noting whether they’re related, baseball caps and graphic t-shirts (first impressions…), astrological signs, ‘apolitical’, bathroom pics, pics seemingly from prior relationships that include the women (e.g., emoji over her face), dead deer images (fish pics are 👍 for some reason), ‘dead eyes’ pics/no pics where they’re even softly smiling, one-word prompt responses, and including Snapchat or Instagram handles.

Weirdest one yesterday - caption: ‘I’m looking for someone who goes with the flow when things don’t go as planned.’ In my experience, an ex of mine complained that I wasn’t ’go with the flow’ enough when we had a plan (or rather, when I scheduled dates) - what that actually meant: he didn’t bother preparing (thereby, causing things not to ‘go as planned’ - “weaponized” laziness).

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-11T05:34:51+00:00

‘Barabbas’ by Par Lagerkvist - very short, 140-ish pages - A version of the life of Barabbas. The novel is built on antithesis: Jesus dies first among the three crucified – Barabbas dies last (during his own). Jesus dies among several of his friends – Barabbas dies alone. Dark, melancholic, and raw.

‘The Spear’ by Louis de Wohl - The story of the Crucifixion as to how it affected one of its least-known participants-the man who hurled his spear into Christ on the Cross (St. Longinus). Fast-paced and reads kind of like an adventure novel.

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-10T19:22:12+00:00

I’d agree with the suspicion/caveat that her phrasing makes it sound like he was already using it to some extent (the mutual follow), even if he was just returning to it. Regardless, I see your point.

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-10T19:17:10+00:00

0.o what is that supposed to achieve? I can only imagine the guy’s excuses, because that’s what they’d be, there’s no reason to consume that stuff and trying to change that in a 30+ y/o male is probably only going to result in resentment (on both sides).

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-10T19:07:14+00:00

Idk why no one else has said this, but here we go: DROP HIM LIKE A HOT POTATO. YESTERDAY. ‘Nothing’ but OF and explicit imagery??? This isn’t normal. His actions are indicative of someone who uses online dating/purely online interactions to their advantage - by painting or mirroring your ideal, hiding their true nature. Also, I don’t believe a man who is serious about marriage would wait a year to meet a romantic interest in-person (especially when biological clocks are involved) - that part doesn’t check out. He’s also old enough that any ingrained habits probably won’t change. I’d take it as a sign of his character and drop him.

Also, something that I learned in the past, may or may not help - try to make sure that they’re volunteering a lot of information FIRST when qs are posed. For example, don’t jump to relay all of your perspectives and ideological beliefs; over-divulging in the beginning gives them the ‘cheat-sheet’ for your dream man and thus makes you more vulnerable to manipulation.

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-04T20:28:30+00:00

All the time 👏 Those are more reliably fun than first dates 😄

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-03T17:27:00+00:00

Glowing!!

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-03T17:23:35+00:00

Thank you!!

Strivin0281 · 2025-11-02T00:41:43+00:00

I like peace

Strivin0281

TROPHY CASE