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ailbhe) wrote2025-07-27 04:48 pmPercy Jackson
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cakewrecks_feed) wrote2025-07-27 01:00 pmSunday Sweets: Wonderland Treats
Ever wish that real life wasn't so ... real-lifey?
Me, too.
So let's take a little break from boring ol' reality today with an imaginary vacation down the rabbit hole, to a magical place called ...
(By Vsem Tort)
... Wonderland!
A place full of tea parties and roses and magic mushrooms:
Why, it sounds like a party already!
And this cake is a party for my eyeballs; check out those edible ink illustrations pulled straight from the book! Fantastic.
But Lewis Carroll's classic, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland has inspired all kinds of wonderlands, should you feel suddenly inspired to create your own wonder-cake. There's also Tim Burton's interpretation:
(By Fatma Ozmen Metinel)
Tweedledee and Tweedledum! (Way way waaaaay cuter here in fondant - sorry, Tim.) And could that Queen of Hearts BE any more Helena Bonham Carter? So much detail. I love that the platter goes along with the theme, too; kinda would have ruined the effect to plunk this masterpiece down on a Chinet.
Then, of course, there's the 1951 Disney version:
(Submitted by Melissa G. and made by Jacques Fine European Pastries)
How dead-on is the door knob?! (And is it weird that he was always my favorite character?)
But no one ever said you can't mix them all up; it is Wonderland after all. Here are Tim Burton's Alice and Queen of Hearts sharing space with the Disney cast of characters:
Sheer madness! But the best cakes usually are.
Oh me, oh my, are we done already?
(By Cakes by Shelli)
No, don't worry your little pink nose, we still have much more muchness to see.
Like this classic take on The White Rabbit:
(Submitted by Lauren B. and made by Nevie-Pie Cakes)
... looking dapper in his party finery on this hand-painted cookie, which sounds exactly like something you'd eat at a Wonderland tea party.
But be careful. Wonderland can also be a dangerous place ...
You just might lose your head.
Or get in big trouble for painting the roses red ...
(By Design Cakes)
Still, it's a beautiful effect on a cake! Amiright, or amiright, Your Majesty?
(By Sweet Ruby Cakes)
Ooookay. Nevermind. Love the dress, by the way! That collar is killer.
Well, the clock's a-ticking; it's almost time to go ...
(By Tiffany's Baking Co.; pic courtesy of Torrence Photography)
... but not without taking a minute to give a hand to this baker and his/her subtly stunning cake. Teacups and mushrooms and pocket watches, oh my! Just wonder-full!
And speaking of, I don't think you could stuff any more wonder into this last cake; it's chock full of wonderment, right down to the props on the table:
(Submitted by Sierra & made by Karen Portaleo of The Highland Bakery)
I love the bottom layer, with the Mad Hatter peeking out from under his hat, as if to say one last goodbye. [sniffle]
Aww, I'm not ready to leave!
Do you think we can go to to Neverland next?
[Note from Jen: Heck yeah! It's going on the list!]
Happy Sunday!
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-07-27 08:53 am
cimorene) wrote2025-07-27 01:32 pmDriving lessons update
Total cost:
Application fee: 25€
Driving lessons: 875€
ADHD tax: 152€
Incorrect. That was my total cost thus far, but I forgot the fees for the theory test and the driving test! I have now reserved a time for the theory test on August 14.
Theory test fee: 40€
Driving test fee (not booked yet): 99€
Total: 1191€
I'll have to take the bus to Turku to take it at the nearest Ajovarma office. ( Read more... ) I have been studying the badly-translated textbook that came with my driving class (and also the good Swedish translation and occasionally the Finnish original, for clarity) and going through the test practice questions. I passed the first full practice test I took yesterday, but at about 70%, so I'm trying to make it so I know the answers to all the questions.
Friday I had a second lesson with the driving simulator, and it was much better than the first one. It was fun actually! But I completely failed to manage to start the car on a hill again (I failed to do this in my first simulator lesson like 8 times in a row and the teacher, after coaching me through the steps and explaining it, just gave up and reset the lesson lol) and had to reset it. Now I've read in the textbook I realize it's because the hill in the simulator was too steep for the instructions he gave me the first time (on a gentle slope you only need the brake, but on a steep hill you need the parking brake as well - terrifying).
BONUS OFF-TOPIC FUN FACTS: READING AND BANNING
- After we watched the season finale of the Murderbot show, and I discussed it extensively with both my sister (who is extremely ALL CHANGE IS BAD CHANGE) and waxjism (who is not, but was annoyed because the show felt too YA for her, although she didn't HATE it), I reread the books. I had reread All Systems Red before the show; last week I reread it again, then all the others, and then I read the newest short story, Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (about ART and its crew). And after that for days I just wanted MORE and didn't want to read anything else, but the next novel isn't out yet; I reread Artificial Condition again and started Network Effect again, and skimmed through the tags on AO3 and Tumblr to see what people are saying... but it wasn't really satisfying. When I'm interested in a ship that is non-sexual in nature, I rarely find what I want from fandom, and that's what happened again (though there is some gen friendship fic and some queerplatonic fic on AO3). I can't begrudge people their desire to sexualize nonsexual relationships, because I've definitely thought that was fun before. I wrote Finding Nemo slash (and I stand by that). But when you don't want to read that, and I don't, your odds are simply worse, because there's less of it.
Unlike my sister, I didn't hate the show, but I was even more annoyed by what Wax called "YA" writing choices than she was. I'm not sure if she can stand to watch it with me when the next season comes out, because I find it very hard to shut up when I'm annoyed at tv. I am happy with the casting and have no problem with the acting - all the things that I disliked are what I consider objectively bad adaptation and writing choices. But it was still fun and watchable when considered as its own work in isolation from the books! Just weirdly and unnecessarily YA in tone. - For fans of banning/blocking, the action, you'll be pleased that I banned someone from my design blog
designobjectory last week! I like all ages and periods of decorative arts, but my blog contains a lot of my special interests - midcentury modern, Bauhaus, Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and Swedish and Finnish design (mostly 20th c). Somebody reblogged one of my MANY posts of Finnish midcentury light fixtures by Finnish lighting titan Lisa Johansson Pape (one of the many times I've posted a variant of her 44 cm. diameter metal pendant lamp shade, which is still in production by Innolux)... anyway, somebody reblogged it with a comment sort of like "This is the ONE Scandinavian modern thing I like lol. I hate light birch furniture!" My blog is extremely heavy on light wood because of my strong interest in Swedish and Finnish 20th century design! So I blocked them. First I asked Wax if that was too unreasonable and she laughed a lot and said that it's never unreasonable to block people on your own blog. Maybe a little weird though. I mean, probably. But it's so thrilling and satisfying to block someone.
- Ever since DW made it so you can type @ + username to create the little username embed (waxjism), I have completely switched to it and whenever I want to use the version that links to another site I forget what the code is and end up having to google it. I mean, to search the DW faqs. This is the third time it's happened. That's because it's user name, with a space between. I always forget that.
smartbitches_feed) wrote2025-07-27 08:00 amSBTB Bestsellers: July 12 – July 25
The latest bestseller list is brought to you by cheese, a crisp diet sodie, and our affiliate sales data.
- The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Viscount in Love by Eloisa James Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Voyage of the Damned by Frances White Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder by Bellamy Rose Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- At First Spite by Olivia Dade Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Book People by Jackie Ashenden Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian Amazon | B&N | Kobo
- Maid for Each Other by Lynn Painter Amazon | B&N | Kobo
I hope your weekend reading was tasty!
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dw_community_promo2025-07-27 03:10 amXMEN100 IS BACK
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xmen100 is a weekly drabble challenge for the X-Men!o1. Join the community & you can JOIN AT ANYTIME!!
o2. Read the rules/FAQ. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.
o3. Once you're a member and have read the rules, be prepared to join a team.
04. Start writing once the prompt is posted!
This first prompt will be last two weeks, from July 27th to August 10th.
torachan) wrote2025-07-26 11:47 pmDaily Happiness
2. Then in the evening I went straight from Irvine to Dodgers Stadium to see My Chemical Romance. Next year is the 20th anniversary of the Black Parade, so the tour, which started this month (I think this is only like the third date), is doing the entire album plus a second set. So it was long, but awesome.
3. Tomorrow I have to help out with the second day of grand opening, too, so I'm just finishing up this post, having something quick to eat, then getting to sleep as soon as possible as I have to get down there by eight to help set up, but while I'm not looking forward to that part of it, or the fact that I didn't get any weekend off (and can't take tomorrow off as planned because I have a meeting in the afternoon), it is a huge relief that this store seems like it will be successful.
4. Chloe!
sovay) wrote2025-07-26 11:24 pmHow she'll greet me when she meets me when my ship gets in to port
post_secret_feed) wrote2025-07-27 12:06 amSunday Secrets
The post Sunday Secrets appeared first on PostSecret.
post_secret_feed) wrote2025-07-27 12:04 amPostSecret BackStory
Dear Frank,
I sent this secret to you 13 years ago at the age of 19. That year you selected it for the Christmas themed secrets on your website. In the years since I sent this secret, I wish I could say suicide never crossed my mind again. But it did and I spent a good part of my 20’s deeply struggling with my mental health. For so long it felt like a failure that after sending that secret, there were a lot of moments where I actually didn’t feel glad I didn’t kill myself.
However, throughout the years I’ve learned and come to accept that maybe for me, a person who has struggled with their mental health their whole life, and most likely always will, that maybe there isn’t exactly one light at the end of the tunnel and no one moment when everything falls into place and I never have desires to leave this life. Rather there are countless tunnels with breaks of light scattered throughout them.
And those breaks of light are what I’m always glad I stuck around for. For every time I wanted to end my life, I have 20 reasons I’m glad I didn’t-
Still getting to see my favorite band that saved my life perform all these years later. Graduating undergrad and grad school. The feeling I got when I stood at the top of the world at my first national park. Falling in love with my first love. Meeting my soulmate best friend in college. Seeing the pyramid in Mexico, dancing through Lavender fields in France, eating pasta in the piazza in Italy. The day I met my dog for the first time.
I have a house now with my own art studio, a partner of 8 years, a crazy Husky, backyard chickens, a garden. I became a therapist myself and work with a lot of folks going through what I went through. I still read postsecrets.
I have a 401k, health insurance, bills, a credit score, a budget. I go grocery shopping every Sunday.
And while the latter half of those are not the most enjoyable things per se, it often feels like a miracle I have gotten to and get to experience them because younger me never imagined myself functioning enough to experience any of it, let alone living long enough to.
I’m here. I am still alive. I’m doing well day to day considering the deep struggles with mental health I’ve had my whole life and where I used to be. And 13 years later, I’m still glad I wasn’t successful in killing myself and that I’m alive.
Warmly, with gratitude.
Thanks for sharing your hopeful message. So glad you got to see the rest of your story. Not everyone gets a happy ending, but I do know that those who experience the most suffering and frustration early in life have the potential to feel the most joy and accomplishment later.
The post PostSecret BackStory appeared first on PostSecret.
brokenframe) wrote in vidding2025-07-26 09:32 pm