Thorn Wilde

I like going to the café at the university library in my city. Good, cheap coffee (they always just assume I'm a student, so I get the discount), lovely atmosphere, always people around but not too noisy.

I wonder how they managed to pass it off as St. Peter's Basilica when there's clearly a red London double decker in the background....

It's spelled daikon. I made a cake! Three layer sponge cake, drenched in orange juice (not too drenched, just so it's not dry). On first layer, strawberry slices. On the second, banana slices. Top layer, a metric f*cktonne of whipped cream and whatever strawberries you have left. Om nom nom!

Thank you so much, Lisa! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

I make a fairly decent one of those as well.

Where do you guys get off being so wonderful? Thank you all and hugs all around! <3

*hugses*

A type of brandy. Like Cognac, only not from Cognac but from Armagnac. I'm kind of a snob when it comes to alcohol. I like single malt whisky (my favourite is The Balvenie, a Speyside), dry white wines (LOVE Chablis), dark and strong red wines (Spanish Rioja, Italian Amarone), spicy rosé wines (there's a Portuguese one called Pink Elephant which I adore), dry champagne (preferably actually from Champagne; Moët & Chandon, I love you), good ales, bitters and porters (there are so many good microbrews), Hendrick's gin and Koskenkorva vodka (the one called Nordic Berries is gorgeous served ice cold). Of course, if I just want to get drunk I'll drink anything that strikes my fancy as long as it goes down.

Right, then! Food from Friday's dinner party! I was fully intending to photograph all the food and make it all pretty... but I mostly forgot. Menu was as follows: Starter: Gyoza (Pan-fried Japanese pork dumplings with soy and sesame oil dip) Soup: Tom Ka Gai (Thai chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, chili & green curry) Main course: Bulgogi (Korean marinated and grilled beef, served with kimchi salad and rice) Dessert: Ginger ice cream (home-made, covered in roasted coconut flakes and served with kumquat compote) And here are some very bad photos:

I agree that Apple Maps is stupid, and all the lawsuits are ridiculous. I don't really care about their devices and have no experience with iOS, but I maintain that OSX is the most stable and user friendly operating system I have ever used. It does what it says on the tin. I like that. It took me a little while to get used to the UI, but once I did going back just felt wrong. And the fact remains that as a musician, Mac has all the best software.

My friends are generally between 18 and 40 years old. Some older than that, too. This has nothing to do with my friends. My friends are perfectly normal. Well, I say normal... Anyway, it's not like I haven't got close friends. I have an immediate circle that I'm very close with and where this isn't an issue. This is a question of new groups I enter. My classes at school and university, colleagues in a work place, etc.

Ah, well. The moon is a fairly constant thing. I will have other opportunities to see a supermoon.

It's raining here, so still no moon for me...

Hiya! You're very welcome.

Not all those points really fit me, I think. I talk to people at parties, for instance. However, at bigger parties I tend to be among those who sit chatting in the kitchen rather than those tearing it up in the living room. And I don't feel anxiety about going out, seeing lots of people. I even look forward to it when I'm in the right state of mind. But too much just feels like a hassle, and I love having an excuse to leave early. I really like this chart. I'm so sick of having people tell me I'm shy. I'm not shy. Anyone who actually knows me knows I'm not the least bit shy. I just like being on my own, and when I've been around people for a while I need to recharge.

*hugs*

Thanks, you guys! <3

The Presidents of the United States of America––Naked and Famous

Raja's a tiger-tiger, though, isn't he?

I always end up feeling a little bit on the outside. It's nobody's fault but my own. I don't do well in large groups. I used to be the one who just sat in the corner. I'm better now, I can talk to people and partake in group activities, but I invariably keep everyone a little bit at arm's length. Not that I don't share or discuss, I'm quite open most of the time, just that I keep me, the person I am on the inside, the quirks of my personality, a little bit on the inside. So I keep my distance, emotionally, to everyone but maybe one or two people whom I end up clinging to for dear life. And I always find myself disappointed when it turns out that I'm not as important to them as they are to me, because they have other people in the group, while I don't. Thing is, it always feels, at first, like I've come into a group that's perfect and lovely and where I get along with everyone and everyone's so nice to me and we all love each other. Which is true, as far as it goes. But then some people get to know each other better, and they break off into smaller groups that sometimes overlap, and I just... don't. I stay mostly on the outside, and occasionally I grab hold of a person in one of the groups and drag them out to play with me for a bit, before they wander back into their pack again and I end up wondering, what did I do wrong? Why aren't I part of a pack? When did these groups form, and where was I? Then the bad thoughts come. Maybe they just don't want me to be part of their packs? Maybe they were just pretending, and I don't really belong here and when they're nice to me they're just being, well, nice? Nobody really likes me, they all just pretend so they won't hurt my feelings, and when I leave a room they're happy I'm gone because I was so annoying. I wonder what they say about me when I'm not there. I wonder if they say anything at all. Then I become sad and depressed, I spend more time away from the groups, more time inside myself, digging a hole, trying to figure out where I went wrong, thinking there must be something terribly wrong with me that makes it so people don't like me, even though, rationally, I already know, the answer's right in front of me, clear as day. I should have been there more. But I'm an introvert. That's not the same as shy. I used to be shy. I'm not really shy anymore. Maybe sometimes, a bit, in the beginning, but I get over it quickly. I don't feel anxious about being in the same room with other people, or about getting to know new people or talking to them or anything. In fact, give me a glass of wine and some good background music and nobody would believe I was ever crippled by social anxiety. I'm just an introvert. Which means that when I've spent some time with people I feel really tired and exhausted and want to be somewhere else for a while. I prefer smaller groups, conversation to raucous partying, nights in with a few friends to nights out with lots of them. So, I leave early. I go home, make a cup of tea, watch a movie or do some reading or writing or play the guitar for a bit. On-my-own activities. I even like it when Magpie works night shifts sometimes, because it means that I can have some just-me time where I don't have to pay too much attention to the needs of anyone else. I'm also very empathetic, so being near other people can be very exhausting because I constantly have to care so much. It's in my nature. And that's why I never belong. Because I'm there for a bit and then I sign off, and when I get back things have changed, people have formed packs, groups, clans, families and I'm left wanting to be a part of them with no way inside. I want to belong. I just don't know how...

It's all cloudy here, so no moon for me... I caught a glimpse of the one last year or the year before, though. That was crazy.

Oooh, ligers! Love! <3

Yaaaay! What a fantastic ending! I really, really loved it! Bay and Issac all happy and everything is wonderful and oh my god i think I might cry! Fantastic work, my dear, you have created such a wonderful story, and I am so, so happy to have been along for the ride! Love you!!

Thank you!! So happy you enjoyed it.