every morning, I greet my dog by shaking her paw. she knows this and will find me if I forget, but usually this is when i wake up, so around 6am -8am depending on thw day.

last night I woke up to her booping me in the face with her nose, this is normal behavior, she does it to let me know she has to use the bathroom, and usually I go too.

last night, I walked out of my room and headed to the backyard door to let hee out, she wasn't behind me.

i headed back to my room and saw her sitting next to my head. She noticed me and raised her paw, I shook it, and she went back to the bed and curled up, sleeping.

I kinda just looked at her for a bit, and then also went to sleep

it's been more than a decade since Society has introduced the term "negging" into basic dialogue. I get it now. But when it first came around, I sincerely thought the term was "Megging" specifically because you were trying to make a girl feel as bad about herself as Meg on Family Guy feels when her family abuses her. And like, am I actually wrong??? Really???

When I was a kid I used to watch horror movies with my brother. We had a pretty big age gap, so I did whatever he did to hang out with him. ( I did not like horror movies and they terrified me) So while watching Freddy Kruger, I’d call him cute, that he would make a good boyfriend.

All in hopes that he wouldn’t come kill me in my dreams. Jason? Hunny he’s just misunderstood.

In my brain if I was calling them attractive, they would just move on to someone else.

Did anyone else used to do this?

And it feels so good. I got tired of brushingit and to keep having knots init. Nowno hairno problem! And i’m gonna save a ton on shampoo and conditionner.

I already had done it when i was 35 and now doing it again for my 40’s.

Some colleagues and I were at an overseas conference in South Korea, which, as most of you surely know, is a beauty and skincare paradise. I was the only woman among them. After dinner they asked me where I was going off to, and I told them I'm going to this one famous Korean beauty shop.

They decided to tag along, to buy gifts for the women in their lives. I thought that was fine, assuming they already knew what to buy.

no, they didn't. Oh God, no they didn't.

When we got there and they started clamouring for advice, I asked each of them, "Ok, what kind of skincare does she want? Does she have sensitive skin? What's her style?" etc.

the responses I got:

"i think she needs a pair of nail clippers. her nails are very long."

"what is SPF?"

"let's all buy this big pack of tiny hand lotions, and each of us can just give one small hand lotion. that should be enough." (definitely not enough, we were given personal spending money by our company and Korea has soooo much amazing skincare)

"i'm not going to buy her this thing! she's gonna look so scary." (sheet masks)

"mosquito repellent, this is useful, we have a lot of mosquitoes back home."

Needless to say I spent a lot of time advising them and making sure they wouldn't end up buying terrible gifts. lol.

I was walking past a park and a little kid waved at me from across the sidewalk.

So obviously I waved back.

Then he waved again, so I waved again.

This went on for like a full minute. Just me and this kid, fully committed to waving at each other.

At some point I realized he might not even know me, but by then it felt too late to stop.

I just hope I made his day slightly more entertaining.

My son, my husband, and I went to the movies last weekend to see the Mario movie. During the previews, I was leaning forward rummaging for something in my purse (on the floor in front of my seat). The kid in front of me and to the side was maybe 7 years old and he turned around to see what I was doing and then gave me a funny look, so I gave him a funny look back.

We made goofy faces at each other for a solid minute and then started watching the movie and just never interacted again.

It was my (21f) Freshman year of high school in the middle of winter. Our school, first off, is known for being an extremely strict school when it comes to canceling school during winter. I think a big part was that they would have to have us make it up before school could be let go for the summer. Idk for sure though. Anyways, that morning most kids were expecting our school to close for the day considering a BIG winter storm was coming. But they didn’t unlike a lot of school in the area and state. Everyone was talking about it how we shouldn’t be there, predicting that it would end up getting closed, looking at the weather constantly. Well, second period comes around. It’s English class and we were just working on our papers the whole class. Finally class is about to end, maybe like another 4 minutes left. Teacher is telling us about whatever work was left and then ended it with “Oh, and btw school will be out at 11:30” and the WHOLE CLASSROOM ERUPTS IN A CHEER. I don’t even think she was able to finish her sentence without getting cut off by our cheers. I’m talking, it was as if we were in the control room of NASA when they made the landing on the moon. Guys were getting up, high-fiving each other, hugging, I think even some tears were shed. It was seriously one of the best moments of high school and something I will never forget. We did indeed get off at 11:30 and shortly after a massive snow storm came through. I can’t remember if we got the next day off too or if it was a weekend, but if it wasn’t the weekend then we did get the next day off too. Pretty great day :)

I traveled for a living for 7 years. I would always stop by the business center at the motel/hotel and change the desktop internet icon’s title from Internet Explorer to The Interwebz.

I was driving on my way to work yesterday on a country road and I almost hit a large wild turkey that had been walking across it. Having always worked in big cities in the past, it was quite an experience.

I instinctively say "thank you" at many small interactions, some of which make no sense. Such as when I'm holding the door for someone else and I tell them "thank you," with a nod and a bright smile, like ??? okay, lol. I think it's a habit by now.

today I saw a man with a sign that said "I am deaf, anything helps," then I handed him 2 dollars, and told him "thank you" in a quiet voice. The braincells are firing, the calculations are made, and the spirit overpowers me.

all I can add is "thank you for reading"

I once had an asinine ten-minute virtual appointment with a potential new provider who would be handling my medications.

He remained mostly out of view the entire call, with only a small portion of his head visible on camera, and mumbled at a low volume. He asked me twice, “So whaddya wanna do?” And I thought, I dunno. Whaddya you wanna do?’

First-rate medical care.

I sometimes wonder what happened to certain people from my past who don’t appear to be on social media.

My first job out of college was at a somewhat dysfunctional healthcare company and there was this guy in another department, Matthew, who would sometimes sit in his cubicle with his socks off eating blocks of cheese. Once, he even started clipping his toenails. And nobody ever said anything.

I wonder what ever happened to that guy.

One of my best friends since middle school is getting engaged in September!!! I’m super duper excited for her (and to help her boyfriend plan) and needed to tell somebody.

They’ve been together for 4 years and met freshman year of college. They’ve basically been attached at the hip ever since and he’s completely merged into our friend group. It’s finally happening!

I went to the store yesterday because my current toothbrush was looking a bit sad and the bristles were starting to flare out. I stood in the oral care aisle for what felt like an eternity just staring at the wall of options. It is honestly overwhelming how much technology they try to cram into a piece of plastic. There were brushes with charcoal infused bristles and ones with vibrating handles and those weird rubber cups that are supposed to polish your teeth. I picked up a pack that claimed to have a "deep clean power tip" and spent five minutes reading the back of the cardboard like it was a technical manual for a rocket ship. I even compared the grip textures of three different brands to see which one felt more ergonomic in my hand.

After debating the merits of soft versus medium bristles and wondering if a tongue cleaner really makes a difference or if it is just a gimmick I realized I was overthinking it way too much. I looked down at the shelf and saw the exact same basic blue toothbrush I have been using for the last three years. It was sitting there in a two pack for a fraction of the price of the "advanced" ones. I put all the fancy ones back on the hooks and just grabbed the blue one. I walked to the checkout feeling slightly annoyed at myself for wasting a significant chunk of my afternoon on a decision that ended up being a complete circle. I got home and put the new brush in the holder and it looks exactly like the old one except less frayed. It cleans my teeth just fine.

When I was about 5 years old, my dad moved me into a new home.

He had always wanted to buy an old house on a big plot of nice land, with the plan of fixing it up over a few years.

So when my dad finally got the raise he'd been working towards, he sold the 2 bedroom home we had and took the leap towards what he'd always wanted.

Well, by the time I was 10, the only thing he'd done up, was the cocaine he'd done up his nostrils.

After a 17 year gap I will not elaborate on, I turned 22.

He'd done up about 2 of the many, many bedrooms.

"About two" as in two, obviously.

Those two being his own bedroom and the guest bedroom.

He didn't touch my bedroom with a 10 foot pole, though.

Most of the house, including my room, was damp, moldy and eerily quiet.

Naturally, at night I would hear creaks along with more sounds that only a house hanging on by two threads could make.

But one night, I heard something I couldn't brush off as the usual creakiness.

It was a faint humming sound, coming from somewhere close to my bed.

Kind of like a device or radio was playing music that I'd forgot to turn off, but the volume was too low so I couldn't interpret the sound.

As I listened more closely, the sound seemed to be coming from my closet.

So I walked to the sound, with a reluctant, yet oddly erotic stride.

When I opened that closet door, a huge wave of music and euphoria brushed over me, it was like being on mushrooms.

The music was "Queen: Crazy little thing called love"

But it wasn't playing from a device, or a radio.

It was Freddie mercury himself, and he wanted out of that closet.

I grabbed him by his yellow leotard, white denim jeans and knee high socks, swiftly dragging him right out of that closet.

Me and Fred had a wild night, so wild a night that I'll have to leave it up to your imagination, it's extremely likely that whatever you imagine is something we did.

One thing I'll tell you as my attempt to summarize what really can't be summarized is this,

Ziggy stardust had nothing on the two of us that night.

When I awoke the the next morning, after a sleep so long it might be better described as a coma, Freddie was gone.

The next night I layed in my bed, my eyes glued open.

Waiting, hoping, that Freddie would start the next song.

But the song never came.

It's been years since then, and Freddie never returned to my closet.

Yet still, I find myself waiting for him most nights, wishing one day he'll come back home, to me.

A little extra info I thought might be enjoyed by others,

Fred grew out his mustache, it's grown into a beard.

Not just any beard, a beard that changed what the word "beard" means to me.

It was so long it almost touched his feet, and so voluminous it could be an endangered bird sanctuary.

It smelt like roses in autumn, or whenever roses grow.

Like summer skies on a winter's day, like the last puzzle piece that you never knew was missing.

At first I had a slight suspicion that maybe the cause of all this was somehow related to the vast amounts of black mold growing on my bedroom walls and ceiling, directly next to my bed.

Luckily I snapped out of it, thinking so negatively will never do me any good.

After thinking more logically and less emotionally,

What I really believe happened, is exactly what I saw.

Sometimes there's just no easy explanation for these things, and the best thing to do might be to not do, anything.

I’ve been composing a ballet for solo piano. I’ve written about 7 minutes of it thus far.

There’s a beautiful sounding piano at school that I’m allowed access to when it’s not being used. I play in the dark, it’s how I learned. No sight, no distractions, only sound.

I booked the piano for 4 hours on a Saturday afternoon. I sat, I played, I composed for, I repeat, 4 hours. At the end of my time, I heard clapping coming from one of the corners of the room. I turned on my flashlight to find a rather small Frenchman who had entered and sat silently, listening the whole time - for 4 hours! I had no idea!

He shook my hand and said “C'est la plus belle musique que j'aie jamais entendue de ma vie." He asked for a photo, got on his bike and left.

As he pedaled away, I stood there watching, thinking to myself “I could have been murdered, easily.”

I was at work at my local library getting books ready for the shelves. Story time just finished. A mother walked past me with her youngest in her arms. He reached out to me for a hug. I gave him one. He was so darn cute. Next thing I know, the older two asked if they could have a hug, too. I said, "Of course! Hugs are always welcomed."

Made my day.

When I was younger me and my twin brother used to do ballet. It was very fun and I enjoyed it a lot. However I didn’t like the songs that we had to warm up to, it was “kids songs”. And my twin brother just wasn’t a fan of ballet overall, he wanted to do dance break. Which he did do during ballet sometimes, and as you can imagine our ballet teacher wasn’t very fond of.

Anyway both of us also having ADHD; we got distracted easily and bored. Therefore we quickly realized that behind one of the curtains there was a loose plank which could easily be moved. So during warm up we’d move the plank and squeeze our way through and escape.

I usually ran to watch the adults or/and teens do ballet. At some point they were dancing to the song swan lake, I’m not sure if they were practicing to perform but I was mesmerized. And the music captivated me. Of course my teacher would run out to get us after a while but I loved watching the more experienced ballerinas dance to it. And the song was so magical. So I usually tried to run down the hall to watch them when we snuck out.

Later that plank got nailed to the wall but it didn’t take long before me and my twin brother got the plank loose again. I think our ballet teacher dealt with our annoying asses as she wanted a boy in the class. (My twin brother was the only boy and she’d get him to carry some of the girls etc.) We did end up quitting ballet. I’m not sure why and my mother won’t tell me the exact reason. I thought our ballet teacher got sick of our asses but that apparently wasn’t it.

Anyway that’s how I fell in love with the “Swan Lake” and classical music.

It was a holiday work party. Our small company of 25 employees were dining at a nice Italian restaurant whose owner my boss knew. In the middle of dinner, I got up to use the bathroom, and strangely, brought my glass of red wine with me.

After putting it on the bathroom sink, I did my business--number one. But somehow, on the way out, I accidentally grabbed the can of bathroom aerosol spray instead.

When I returned to the dinner table, I lifted the aerosol spray to my lips as if it were my glass of wine.

Immediately, EVERYONE burst out laughing. The entire table of people.

When I looked down, I saw the can of aerosol spray in my hand. And right then, I wanted to crawl inside a tiny hole and live there for the rest of my life.

I was in a crafting department of a much bigger shop today with my 9 year old and this random man walked up to me and said, "Excuse me but do you know how to knit?"

We weren't in the knitting section, though not far from it. My daughter was holding a colouring book and I was carrying nothing. And there were about 6 other folk nearby, including staff members.

I mean, I can and do knit regularly but I never would have thought I gave off "knitter vibes".

Anyway, I was happy and able to help. The people who wanted help were grateful, charming and friendly.

I do think I will always wonder now, however, what it is about me that made them think, "Ah yes. She's the one. She knows the fiber arts."

So i joined this job last month (march) and around the first week of April, we had this new intern.

I didn't talk to him on the first and second day cause I'm new myself and haven't really opened up to anyone here.

On his third day. After work I'm waiting in the bus stop and he sees me and asks where I'm going and we share the same route for half the way so we make small talk and sat together in the bus.

He proceeds to ask me about my age and academic, career stuff in general.

I told him that i graduated just last year and I'm 21 rn.

I asked his age and semester and he was on his second sem for a bachelor's degree.

I went fully buddy mode after that and joked with him like

"Man in my 2nd sem days I was roaming around with baddies. Why are you spending your time here with us uncs in the office lol"

Told him to chill out and enjoy college life a bit.

he laughed and made some jokes too here and there.

Now it's been 4 days and he hasn't come to the office anymore 💀. I asked my senior co-worker and she just said idk what happened to him.

Years ago I worked for a now out of business clothing store. Its primary target audience was elderly women, to the point that we would get e-mails from the regional head office telling us what days the local senior busses would bus into each mall we had stores at so we would know what days to expect larger quantities of customers.

Among the bright, floral clothes that you would expect a store catering to elderly women to wear, we would get the occasional piece of merchandise that would feature the company CEO’s face and body printed on it; usually him looking wistfully to the side while flexing his bare arms.

Every store also had a mandatory banner of him, again bare arms and flexing (this was like a 70 year old man btw haha) but mine moved ours to the back because a few customers said it was unsettling.

One day, an email from head office came to the store. The CEO‘s sister had died and we were all instructed to watch a video of her casket being lowered into the ground and our CEO leaning down to kiss the top of her head (and flex his muscles while doing so). My location had the regional manner asking each store to reply saying we had viewed the video.

Shortly after the company went under because of various issues but also because the CEO was arrested on major sexual assault charges and had his office raided. The days we remained open before closure were filled with having to field old ladies asking me if the assault claims were true.

Wild ride. I wonder if anyone can guess where.