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Did you know jellyfish don't have a brain? They also don't have hearts or a central nervous system. They do however have a collective of nerves forming a nerve net. This allows them to sense and respond to stimuli such as touch, light, and temperature. Despite this, they can still perform complex behaviors, including swimming, feeding, and even learning. These are just a few facts I'm going to go over about jellyfish in this blog entry. Let's start off with a few basic facts about jellyfish. They are about 95% water. They have no brain, heart, or bones. Their tentacles are covered in tiny stinging cells called nematocysts. These cells fire microscopic harpoons that inject venom. They mostly drift with ocean currents rather than actively swimming long distances. Jellyfish have existed for over 500 million years, making them older than dinosaurs and some species have remained relatively unchanged for millions of years. The box jellyfish is one of the most venomous marine animals in the world. The species known as the “immortal jellyfish”, Turritopsis dohrnii, can revert back to its juvenile form after reaching adulthood, potentially repeating its life cycle. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Now I'll go ahead and do a myth vs. fact jellyfish addition too. Myth #1: All jellyfish are deadly. Fact: Most jellyfish stings are painful but not life-threatening to humans. However, species like the box jellyfish can be extremely venomous. Myth #2: If it’s dead, it can’t sting you. Fact: Even dead jellyfish can still sting. Their stinging cells (nematocysts) can fire after the jellyfish has washed ashore. Myth #3: Jellyfish are fish. Fact: Despite the name, jellyfish are not fish. They’re in the phylum Cnidaria, making them more closely related to corals and sea anemones. Myth #4: Jellyfish don’t have eyes. Fact: Some species do! Certain box jellyfish species have surprisingly complex eyes that can detect light and shapes. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Box Jellyfish This section will be dedicated to the box jellyfish, the most deadly of the jellyfish. Currently we know of around 51 species of the box jellyfish which are grouped into 2 orders and 8 families. Stings from some species, including Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi, and a few others, are extremely painful and often fatal to humans. This venom is delivered by contact with it's tentacles. The most venomous box jellyfish is the Chironex fleckeri, commonly known as the Australian box jellyfish or sea wasp. It has extremely potent venom that attacks the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. and the more severe stings can cause intense pain, cardiac complications, and in rare cases, can be fatal if not treated quickly. It’s primarily found in the coastal waters of northern Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Immortal Jellyfish The immortal jellyfish is the species Turritopsis dohrnii and it’s famous for its unusual ability to essentially “reset” its life cycle. It can revert from its adult stage back to its juvenile polyp stage and it can do this process multiple times. This process is called transdifferentiation, where specialized cells transform into different types of cells. When stressed, injured, or nearing the end of its life, it can transform its adult cells back into immature cells and return to its earlier polyp stage. From there, it can grow into a new adult again. Is it truly "immortal"? No, not really. It can still die from things like predators, disease, or environmental changes too. These jellyfish are actually super tiny, about the size of your pinky nail. Scientists are currently studying them to learn more about aging, cellular regeneration, and stem cell processes. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Moon Jelly This is the most common species of jellies, and likely one you've seen. This species is hardy and super easy to care for, and often found in aquariums. It's found in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide and most common in bays, estuaries, harbors, and coastal waters. Usually about 10–16 inches (25–40 cm) across. Has relatively mild venom, generally harmless to humans. Feeds mostly on plankton and small marine organisms. Moves by gently pulsing its bell, drifting with currents. Good news, you can have these as pets. Here's a few key things to know or have if you're going to do that: You're going to need a kreisel tank and they cannot live in regular tanks and thrive. These types of tanks will allow them to float suspended in the water, prevents them from getting stuck in corners, and creates a gentle current for them that they need to survive. Moon jellies are very soft-bodied and they can tear easily if they touch any type of hard surface or filters. They are very sensitive to water quality. Because of this you'll need to keep the tank temperature around 60–70F (15–21C). Of course, it will have to be a salt water tank with strong filtration and keep the water clean at all times. Clean water is critical because jellyfish have no immune system like vertebrates. For food, they'll eat mostly baby brine shrimp or specialized jellyfish food blends you can order online and they'll need to be fed 1-2 times daily. Because they lack complex digestive systems, uneaten food must be cleaned out quickly to prevent water quality issues. Keep in mind, even though they look simple enough to care for, they are not beginner pets and require a lot of care and work. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To end, I'll leave you with a few pictures I took of jellyfish at the Ripley's Aquarium.

Tonight's blog is all about the farm animals of the ocean, sea bunnies, sea sheep, and even sea pigs. These are three adorable, oddly named creatures that sound like they belong in a barnyard but actually can be found on the sea floor. Yes they have fuzzy "ears", leafy "wool", and even look like little pig blobs, but they have almost nothing in common except for the cuteness factor. So, if you've never heard about these weird little guys before, and you're unsure what they look like, here are some pictures of each, and some facts about each species to start off with. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sea Bunnies The "fur" is actually composed of tiny, rod-like structures called caryophyllidia, which act as sensory organs. The two antenna-like appendages on their head are called rhinophores, used to detect chemical scents in the water to find food and mates. Sea bunnies are toxic. They consume sponges containing toxins and store these compounds in their bodies as a defense mechanism, making them unpalatable to predators. So don't be confused by how cute and fluffy they look, however although toxic, they are generally considered harmless to humans, but their delicate bodies should never be touched. While they are usually white with black spots, they also appear in yellow, orange, or brown varieties. They are very small, usually measuring less than 1 inch (2.54 cm). They are found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Despite their name, they are marine mollusks and do not have gills like a fish; they have exposed, feather-like gills on their rear. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sea Pigs: They inhabit the deepest parts of the ocean, often called the abyss, across the globe. They are deposit feeders, eating decaying organic matter, bacteria, and carcasses that fall to the seafloor. Their skin is toxic, containing chemicals that can break down red blood cells, which helps protect them from predators. They move in large groups, often facing the same direction to navigate currents, and sometimes act as "babysitters" for juvenile crabs that hide on their backs. Generally 1.5 to 6 inches (4 to 15 cm), though they can reach up to 8 inches. They are found on the ocean floor at depths of 4,000 to 16,000 feet. They are actually a type of deep-sea cucumber. While they share the "sea" name, they are distinct from sea slugs (which are gastropod mollusks) and belong to a different phylum entirely. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sea Sheep (The Leaf Sheep) Found in shallow tropical waters near Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is famous for being one of the only animals in the world that can photosynthesize, using stolen chloroplasts from algae (a process called kleptoplasty) to convert sunlight into energy. First discovered in 1993 near Japan's Kuroshima Island. Found in shallow tropical waters, they feed exclusively on Avrainvillea algae. They often graze together like a herd of sheep and group together with other sea sheep. They have an average lifespan of 6-12 months. These slugs are hermaphroditic organisms, meaning they are both female and male. Also, leaf sheep can lay between 2,000 and 4,000 eggs. The eggs hatch in four days. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I hope you enjoyed learning a few things about these cute creatures, and tomorrow's blog will include some photography of fish I've taken myself

Today's blog is going to be about one of the strangest creatures inhabiting the ocean - the goblin shark. With its elongated snout, pale skin, and a jaw that can snap forward in an instant, it looks more like something from a science fiction movie than a real fish that should be in the ocean. This lil guy is rarely seen and not a lot is known about it, yet this mysterious shark has been swimming in our oceans for over 125 million years, earning its nickname as a “living fossil.” They are from an ancient family called the Mitsukurinidae family from the early Cretaceous period, and they haven't changed much since they coexisted right along side the dinosaurs and are the last remaining species of their kind. Why haven't they changed much in millions of years? That's due to their habitat - living in the deep sea - an environment that is incredibly stable compared to the surface world. Down there, temperatures are cold, light is nearly nonexistent, and conditions don’t fluctuate dramatically over time. When an environment stays consistent for millions of years, animals that are already well adapted to it don’t face strong evolutionary pressure to change, thus is the case for the goblin shark. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A few quick facts about the goblin shark species: Goblin sharks live in deep water, usually 300–4,000 feet below the surface. Their skin looks pink because their blood vessels show through their semi-transparent skin. They have a long, flattened snout filled with electroreceptors that help them detect prey in total darkness. Their jaws can shoot forward in less than a second to grab prey. This makes it one of the fastest jaw projections among sharks. They mainly eat deep-sea fish, squid, and crustaceans. Goblin sharks can grow up to about 10–13 feet long, though most are smaller. They are rarely seen alive because they live so deep in the ocean. The first goblin shark was discovered off the coast of Japan in 1898. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The goblin shark is a big reminder about how much we don't know about our planet, or the species that reside here along side us. Living close to 125 million years, but never seen by human eyes until little over a hundred years ago, and living at such depths that they are still rarely seen today. Pictures and information about them are extremely rare, and most of what scientists understand comes from the few specimens accidentally caught in deep sea fishing nets. Until technology allows us to explore the deep ocean more freely, the goblin shark will likely remain one of the sea’s most mysterious and least understood predators. Although the goblin shark may look intimidating, it poses no real threat to humans. Its survival across millions of years highlights how stable and mysterious the deep ocean environment truly is. Studying species like the goblin shark not only helps scientists understand marine ecosystems, but also reminds us of the importance of protecting habitats we don't know all that much about yet.

Recently I was talking a lot of fish talk with @Kazuma Satou and @Zariel and it gave me an idea for some new blog entries. I haven't updated my blog in awhile, and I've pretty much done all blog entries of photography I've taken, so this is a new one for me. Since I'm studying fish and working towards a PhD in Marine Sciences, I thought it would be fun to do several entries focused on fishy friends and fun fishy facts It won't be all fish, I'll also focus on different types of marine life as well. I want to try to do one entry a day this week, mostly to brush up on facts myself and this helps with my studies too so it's win/win. Maybe someone can learn something too or at least be entertained for a few minutes Today I will talk about the almighty Mola Mola, otherwise known as a sunfish. These are my absolute favorite fish simply because they look so dorky and are silly little guys (I like my fish how I like my men, what can I say? LOL). If you've never seen one, they look like someone didn't know what a fish looked like and tried to draw one: A few quick facts about the Ocean Sunfish: They weigh between 250 - 1,000 KG (or 545 - 2,200 pounds). They can be up to 1.8m long (around 5ft 10 inches), and specimens up to 3.3m (10ft, 10 inches) tall have been recorded from fin-to-fin height. The largest one on record was records in New Zealand and weighed 2,300 KG (5,100 pounds). Sunfish are not wide and have virtually no width and are a flat fish. It recieved its name because it likes to sunbathe on top of the water and is commonly seen floating around at the surface of the water. In German, it is also referred to as Schwimmender Kopf, or "swimming head", and in Polish, it is named samogłów, meaning "head alone", because it has no true tail. The earliest known fossils of the sunfish date back to the Holocene period, around 11,700 years ago. There is a freshwater version of sunfish but it is not related to the Mola Mola and is part of the Centrarchidae family. The Sunfish shares a lot of characteristics with the Puffer fish and was originally mistakenly classified as part of the Puffer fish family. Likely due to the fact they have beaks to eat with instead of teeth like a Puffer fish. It was believed in early research that Sunfish just drift along with the ocean current to travel, but recently species have been recorded traveling 26 KM (16 miles) in a day and actively hunting at 200m (650 ft) and below and they can go as fast as 3.2km an hour (1.9 miles an hour). A sunfishes main predators are Seals, Sea Lions, Sharks, and Killer Whales. Not a lot is yet known about Sunfish because they haven't been researched extensively, and we are only recently discovering more about their mating, eating, and migration patterns. There was a lot of misinformation about them up until recent years as well. For example, their diet was once thought to consist mainly of jellyfish and Gelatinous Zooplankton, but in recent years it's been determined they consume mostly Flounder, Eel, and Squid. As for their lifespan, we still don't even know that because it's not yet been documented in their natural habitat, though it's believed they may be able to live around 25 years. Another type of Sunfish is the Giant Sunfish, which is slightly different to the Mola Molas, although they are in the same family. These are considered to be the largest bony fish and weight up to 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb) and is usually 3.3 m (11 feet). They are easily distinguishable from Mola Molas as they are much wider and have bumpy bodies: Sunfish pose no harm to humans and are often docile so if you find yourself diving next to one, you don't need to worry as they will likely ignore you, and you can probably get a really cool picture next to a HUGE fish~! I'm thinking tomorrow's entry I might do crabs, but if you have suggestions let me know in the comments~

So today's blog is going to be about octopus, the most intelligent invertebrates in the ocean. I'll do some quick facts, as well as some info about how smart these guys are, and go over some ways to tell octopus apart from squid. There's so much I'd like to cover about them, but I don't want to write hundreds of paragraphs, and it would be super easy to with these guys. They have complex nervous systems, advanced camouflage abilities, and remarkable problem-solving skills, they challenge everything we think we know about animal intelligence and are very interesting little guys to be around or research. Let's do a few fun facts about these guys first: An octopus has three hearts. Two pump blood to the gills, and one pumps it to the rest of the body. Fun fact: the heart that pumps to the body actually stops beating when they swim, which is why they prefer crawling. Octopus blood is blue because it contains hemocyanin, a copper based molecule that helps transport oxygen in cold, low oxygen ocean environments. About two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are in its arms, not its brain. Each arm can taste, touch, and even move semi-independently so it’s almost like they have eight tiny brains. Some species, like the Mimic Octopus, can impersonate other sea animals such as lionfish, flatfish, and sea snakes. They can change color, texture, and even body shape in seconds. Octopuses can open jars, navigate mazes, and remember solutions. They’re considered among the most intelligent invertebrates on Earth. Because they have no bones, an octopus can squeeze through any hole larger than its beak, which is about the size of a coin in many species. Each suction cup can taste what it touches. That's the equivalent to if you could taste with your fingertips. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Octopus vs. Squid: Knowing the difference. Octopus: Has a round, soft body. Mostly found on the sea floor. An Octopus has a rounded shaped head. Octopus have eyes on the top of their heads. They are solitary creatures and do not live in groups. They can be seen with babies sometimes, as they care for their young. An Octopus only has 8 arms, and does not have tentacles like the squid does. Squids: They have a very triangular shaped head and their bodies are long as opposed to the Octopus, which is more round. Squids have 8 arms and 2 tentacles. Their eyes are on the sides of their heads. Squids have been known to live in groups and can often be found with other squid. They are usually found in the open ocean and not on the sea floor like an octopus. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The smartest animal of the ocean? Octopuses are considered the most intelligent invertebrates on Earth, with complex nervous systems and around 500 million neurons distributed throughout their bodies. Unlike most animals, a large portion of their neurons are located in their arms, allowing them to process information and move semi-independently. This unique setup contributes to their impressive problem-solving abilities. In laboratory settings, octopuses have been observed opening screwtop jars to reach food, navigating mazes, recognizing individual humans, and even escaping from secure tanks. They are capable of learning through observation and remembering solutions to tasks long after first encountering them. Their intelligence makes the octopus one of the most remarkable thinkers in the ocean. When faced with a new obstacle, an octopus will explore it with careful, deliberate movements, testing and adjusting until it finds a solution. Studies have shown they can distinguish between shapes and patterns, remember successful strategies, and adapt when circumstances of their environment change. Their ability to rapidly camouflage by processing visual information and altering their skin in real time also reflects advanced neural control. Rather than reacting automatically, octopuses demonstrate curiosity, memory, and problem-solving skills that suggest a highly developed and independently evolved form of intelligence. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and walked away with a little more info about octopus!~

Before we begin: no, this is not Snake Head Terror. There will be no low-budget CGI here, probably no screaming people, and, possibly unfortunately, no chainsaw showdowns with a 50 foot long snakehead. We’re talking about real snakeheads today. I know he said I don't have to credit him, but I still want to say that @Kazuma Satou gave me a ton of facts for this blog and I appreciate him for it, (and for listening to me ramble about fish the entire last week lol). Before we begin, you might be wondering what the heck is a snakehead and the first image that comes into your mind is probably something from a movie. There are over 50+ species of snakeheads that are divided into 2 different groups: Channa and Parachanna. The 2 main types I'm going to be talking about today are Northern Snakeheads and the Ceylon Snakeheads both from the Channa groups. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A few facts about Ceylon Snakeheads: Incredibly dangerous, even to their own species, they will eat smaller members of their own species. They don't stay in one place for long. when food becomes scarce they move to other ponds by jumping on the ground and they can survive without water for a while. They can heal fast, with bruises from walking across land healing within a day. Can grow up to 10–13 inches (25–33 cm). They don't hesitate to attack humans and if you put a finger into the water they'll swim toward it at lightning speed and try to bite it. They're fast swimmers and when they feel like they're under attack, they stir up the mud to make water unclear. They're easy to catch if you just slowly place a net in front of them and tap their back they'll swim straight into it. The Ceylon is one of the smaller snakehead species and often referred to as the "Dwarf Snakehead". Habitat: Streams, rivers, ponds, and wetlands. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A few facts about Northern Snakeheads: Originally from China, Russia, and Korea and is classified as an invasive species in the United States. Can grow up to 4 feet (about 1.2 meters) long and weigh up to 15 pounds. Like the Ceylon, they "walk" by wiggling on land from one body of water to another and can breathe air for several days. Eats fish, frogs, crustaceans, insects, and sometimes small birds or mammals but if it fits in their mouth, they will eat it. They prefer sluggish waters with dense vegetation, but can inhabit canals, rivers, and ponds. They are highly adaptable to temperatures ranging from 32F - 90F(0C - 32C). A female Northern Snakehead can lay up to 100,000 eggs per year and they can double their population in as little as 15 years. Northern snakeheads are respected among some Chinese fishermen for their virtue, as parent snakefish are known to sacrifice themselves to protect their young. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Myths VS. Facts: Snakehead edition. Myth #1: They can crawl for miles on land. Fact: They cannot go on epic cross-country journeys. They can survive out of water for a short time if kept moist and may wriggle short distances to reach nearby water and they are not planning to attack any local towns. Myth #2: They attack humans. Fact: There are no confirmed cases of Northern Snakeheads hunting people. They’re aggressive toward other fish (especially when guarding babies), but you are not on the menu unless you go sticking your hands in the water or aquarium you have them and then yes, they will dart at your hand and likely try to bite you because they'll think it's a food source. Myth #3: They’re venomous because they look like snakes. Fact: They are not venomous and not at all related to snakes despite the name. Myth #4: They’ll completely destroy every ecosystem instantly. Fact: They are invasive in parts of the U.S., and they can compete with native species which is a real ecological concern, but they are not machines of mass destruction (despite that movie lol) Ecosystem impact varies by location. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I hope you enjoyed reading this, and tomorrow we will be covering Sea Bunnies~! And of course, I had to throw this in here for @Zeref, his favorite movie LOL

Today I'm going to do my blog on two of my favorite marine creatures - seals and sea lions. I worked with these guys over the Summer at the zoo so I got a lot of hands-on experience dealing with both. Much like the Sunfish from my previous blog entry, I can also say these guys are complete silly little dorks too. Seals make the most hilarious faces and sea lions have personalities that are as giant as they are. A lot of people confuse them for each other and it's easy to do so, since they are usually housed together at the zoo. Hopefully after this blog you'll be able to identify who is who the next time you see them~! First off, I'll start with a few differences between seals and sea lions: If you see them in a zoo encloser, they are probably swimming. One way to tell who is who is seals swim by using their back flippers in a side to side motion, and sea lions tend to use their large front flippers. When you look at their heads, you'll notice that sea lions have visible external ear flaps, whereas a seal just has tiny holes where their ears are. Sea lions have much longer necks compared to seals and they often sit upright, and a seal will usually lay flat and scoot around on land. Size-wise there is a pretty big difference. Sea lions are up to 10 feet long, weighing up to 1,000 pounds, and seals are around 5-8 feet long and only weigh up to 300 - 400 pounds usually. If you see one "barking" and making a lot of loud noises, chances are you're looking at a sea lion as seals tend to be quieter and make softer grunts. So in summary > If it's screaming at you, has ear flaps, and it's walking on land, you're probably looking at a sea lion, and if it's being quiet like a ninja, earless, and flopping around on land, odds are it's a seal. Here is a good chart to use when comparing: And now for a real picture, you can immediately spot some of the differences, noticing the "hole" on the seals head for ears compared to the obvious flapped ears of the sea lion. The flippers also make it very obvious which is which, with the sea lion having those large and outward facing flippers. Also this picture makes it very easy to note the difference in how their necks look, with the sea lions being much longer. I'll leave you with a few fun facts about seals and sea lions. Seals can sleep underwater and can surface for air without waking up. Seal pups are born very fluffy with white fur, and later shed it. Sea lions are highly intelligent and can solve problems, recognize patterns, learn tricks, and remember commands. A seals whiskers are able to detect even the smallest of water movements, allowing it to hunt fish in dark or murky waters. Male sea lions are known to be extremely aggressive and get much larger than the female sea lion. During mating season they become extremely territorial. A seal can reach speeds of up to 15-20 miles per hour and a sea lion can reach speeds of up to 25. Sea lions have been known to dive as deep as 600 feet. Seal moms and pups find each other in seal colonies through sound alone and are able to identify each other's individual "voices". I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll see you tomorrow with more fish

I'm going to continue doing some fish blogs for awhile since I'm having some fun writing them and people seem to be interested in them. So my question is, what fish or marine animal would you like me to write about in upcoming blogs? I'll eventually get around to all suggestions, and it can be any type of fish, shark, or marine life animal. So far I have a list of upcoming ones for: Oarfish Anglerfish Any other suggestions anyone has?

Since graduating high school, I've mostly been working fast food, studying japanese, and drawing repeat repeat repeat... That was until I took the JLPT n4 test in december. I failed it. But ya, I did. I learned a lot about how the test works and how to study for it. I'm still studying as much as I can, but now I have a new goal! I'm drawing a manga for Silent Manga Audition! I'm still studying japanese for N3.... which is the next hardest test. the thing is I almost passed the test, and I just don't want to take it again! I have a lot of goals now, and I'm making progress in them so its ok! On top of that, I'm starting a phelubotomy course starting in April so I don't have to keep working in fast food. My job is chill, but sometimes its brain numbing. yknow? So now I have so many things on my plate, the manga contest (may 10th is the deadline), JLPT n3 (next december), and work. Its kind a lot but it keeps me busy! In January I was feeling pretty down bc I was just waiting for my test results, but now I have things to do which is nice! I've only completed one page of my manga, so I kinda need to lock in and work on that. I'm gonna do that right now, but just to give u guys an idea of what its about, the title is "I had a Dream where I Learned how to Skateboard, so I turned it into a Reality!" But ya, lots of things going on. But I'm locked in!!!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHHH☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

I'm posting this a little later than I wanted to today, but I haven't been feeling the greatest over the last 24 hours and I've had a bit of a fever. I'm feeling better now though so decided to post this before I go back to bed. Today I'm doing a little info-blog about stingrays and manta rays, their differences, similarities, habits, and hopefully a lot of facts you'll find interesting about both species. First, let's talk a little about the differences between stingrays and manta rays. Stingrays: Flat, diamond-shaped, or circular bodies. Their habitat is usually coastal waters and sandy or muddy areas. For food they scoop or suck prey up from the sand. They have a whip like tail that may have one or more stingers depending on the species of rays. Likes to be buried in the sand. Manta Rays: Much larger than stingrays, they have triangular pectoral fins and cephalic lobes near their mouth. They are more often found in large open areas of the ocean. They do sometimes come to the coast as well but they typically prefer more open areas. They are filter feeders and swim with their mouths open. Their tails are very thin, short, and they do not have stingers. They migrate and are very social. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Some easy ways to tell the difference between stingrays and manta rays: The easiest way is size. Stingrays are much smaller, usually 1-6 feet, and manta rays are huge reaching sizes of up to 23 feet across. Stingrays are often sitting on the sea floor or in shallow areas, manta rays are usually in deeper ocean areas near reefs. Another good way is to look for the mouth. The mouth of a stingray is on the underside, designed for bottom feeding, and the mouth of a ray is on the front of their body and they are usually swimming with it wide open for filter feeding. So if you've got a huge fish swimming at you with its mouth wide open, odds are it's a manta ray. Here's a good image for visual with a manta ray on the left and a sting ray on the right: The above picture also helps you visualize the shape, you can see the sting rays are much rounder and the manta rays appear to have wings. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ While neither species is aggressive, it is important to remember that stingrays, while not aggressive by nature, can become defensive, and use their tails to protect themselves and sting, especially if stepped on. Manta rays are generally very gentle, curious, and don't have a stinger to harm you with. Manta rays = ocean puppies, stingrays = spicy sand pancakes. Here are a few parting facts you might find interesting about both: Giant manta rays can grow up to 23 feet (7 meters) across. Stingrays often bury themselves in sand with only their eyes sticking out. Manta rays have the largest brain-to-body ratio of any fish. They show signs of intelligence, curiosity, and even self-awareness. Some researchers believe they may recognize themselves in mirrors. Despite their size, mantas eat tiny plankton. Stingrays eat clams, shrimp, worms, and small fish, and they use their powerful jaws to crush shells. Female mantas usually give birth to one pup at a time and sometimes only every 2–3 years. Stingrays are part of the cartilaginous fish family, meaning their skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone Manta rays can live 40–50 years, possibly longer. Stingrays can detect tiny electrical signals from prey hiding in the sand. Mantas are known to leap completely out of the ocean. Scientists aren’t 100% sure why but it could be possibly for communication, mating displays, or just showing off. Stingrays usually have between 2-6 pups at a time. The spot pattern on a manta ray’s belly is like a fingerprint with each one having a different one. Researchers use these patterns to identify individuals. See you guys tomorrow for my snakehead blog~! I hope you enjoyed reading this one.

A couple weeks ago I went on a really nice hiking trail with @Zeref and took a buncha pics. The day was one of those really nice ones with the perfect blue skies we've been having a lot of lately. Another perfect weather day too which is always nice for walking. I've really liked going out for hikes and walks lately and just being in the quietness of nature. I think that's really good for mental health too. Being able to be somewhere quiet and relax and just enjoy the peacefulness of being alive. It's definitely helped me. I really liked this particular place we went to because they had all different types of trails depending on what kind of hiking experience you were wanting to have such as ones for more experienced hikers or flatter ones that were only around a mile long for people not that experienced. We kind of stuck to the latter ones because I wasn't really feeling climbing up a buncha complicated things that day lol ~ Anyway I really wanted to share the pictures from there because I thought it was a really lovely place I'll put most of these behind spoilers so it's not to overwhelmed with pictures: Out in the wooded part of the trails: I really liked this tree because it was a place people could carve their initials on ~ And here's some pictures of the sky ~ Lastly, I just thought the paintings on the building were pretty ~

A few weeks back @Zeref and I went on a sunset river cruise on the Belle of Louisville. For a little background information, the Belle of Louisville is a steamboat that is still in operation and was built in 1914. Per Wiki- "She initially operated as a passenger ferry between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas. She also hauled cargo such as cotton, lumber, and grain. She then came to Louisville in 1931 and ran trips between the Fontaine Ferry amusement park near downtown Louisville and Rose Island, a resort about 14 miles (23 km) upriver from Louisville. From 1934 through World War II, she operated a regular excursion schedule. During this time she was outfitted with special equipment to push oil barges along the river. She also served as a floating USO nightclub for troops stationed at military bases along the Mississippi River." & Now you can take fun trips on her during the day or take an evening sunset cruise which is what we did : D Sorry the pictures aren't that great but the sunset from the boat was really pretty and we were pretty fortunate that we were on a smaller cruise & the boat wasn't packed. It was easy to walk around and get views from all sides of the boat without having to wait for other people standing around. These are pictures of the sunset from the boat: These are pictures coming back into the city after dark: Note ~ The bridge pictures are the walking bridge as it's known here, it constantly changes colors & you can walk across it from the Louisville side to the Indiana side and end up in Jeffersonville. These were prior to leaving while the boat was still docked & daylight pictures going upriver: That's all for now, hope you guys enjoy the pics ;D

Cleeve Abbey is a medieval monastery near the village of Washford in Somerset and was founded in 1198 by William de Roumare with monks from Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire of the austere Cistercian order. The abbey was not among the more distinguished abbeys of the Cistercian order and suffered from poor governance and financial troubles. Although towards the end of its existence its fortunes, and living standards, had improved. A fact demonstrated by the expensive high status tiled flooring it had gained by then, some of which has amazingly managed to survive. The abbey church took several decades to construct and was of a conservative cruciform design with a aisled nave with seven bays, the transepts each had two side chapels. To the south of the abbey church a cloister was built surrounded by the domestic buildings. The abbey grounds were defended by a water filled moat and a gatehouse. The abbey was closed in 1536 by Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The abbey church was demolished so it could no longer be used as a place of worship but unusually the rest of the monastic buildings were left untouched and became a private house and passed though several owners one of whom was Robert Radcliffe the 1st Earl of Sussex who was granted the house in 1538 by the King. Cleeve declined in importance and by the early 17th century had become a farm and was extended by the construction of a farmhouse. In the 1860's the abbey was acquired by the Luttrell family of Dunster and George Luttrell began repairs to arrest the decay of the buildings at this time the site ceased to be used as a farm and was divided up into three rented cottages. Excavations on the site by George Luttrell in the 1870's supervised by the archaeologist CH Sampson traced the extent of the abbey church and discovered evidence of other buildings and features. Today Cleeve Abbey is one of the best preserved medieval Cistercian monastic sites in the country. Several of the buildings not only survived but survived surprisingly intact and are still habitable including the gatehouse, the 15th century refectory with its impressive roof, while the dormitory is one of the finest examples in the country. The abbey is now in the care of English Heritage and is a Grade 1 listed building and scheduled ancient monument. The Gatehouse where charity in the form of food, clothing or money was distributed. The arch on the left led to the Chapter House, the stairway led up to the monk's dormitory on the floor above. The top floor of the building on the right was the refectory. Inside the monk's dormitory. The amazing carved ceiling of the refectory. (an incredible survivor considering that this room was used for storage when the buildings were used as a farm) A closer look at one of the carved figures. All that's left of the Abbey church are the bases of the pillars of the nave. The Chapter House once stood between where the ruined walls are. The room with the round window was the Sacristy. The dormitory occupied the whole of the upper floor. The door on the far right was the night stair from the dormitory to the church so the monks didn't have to go outside on cold evenings. On the left of the ruined wall was the Warming Room where a fire was lit in the winter months so the monks could come in from the cloister and warm themselves. The 13th century tiled floor in the original refectory, an amazing survivor. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog.

HELLO GUYS, ITS BEEN AWHILE AND THIS ENTRY IS FOR THE MONTH OF PRIDE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES, THE EVENT WAS HELD IN AYALA MALLS 30TH IN PASIG. THIS EVENT HIGHLIGHTS THE ;GBT COMMUNITY WITH GRAPHIC AND WRITTEN NOVELS THAT ARE FOCUSED ON THE LGBT COMMUNITY, THERE ARE ALSO TALKS THAT FOCUSED ON HEALTH MAINLY THE TOPIC OF H.I.V. THIS EVENT IS ALSO HAD ANIME THEMED TRINKETS THAT FOCUSED IN LGBT. ALSO THEY HAD A FREE TESTING FOR H.I.V AS SEEN THER PICTURES, THAT IS ME WITH MY FRIENDS. THE PHOTOBOOTH WAS SO CUTE AND THE COLORS WAS MY FAVES. THE PEOPLE WHO ATTTENDED THE EVENT STARTED TO COME AROUND AFTERLUNCH SO IT WAS LUCKY THAT THIS EVENT WAS HELD INDOORS, THANKGOODNESS FOR AIRCONS, I ALSO HADE A SOLO PICTURE IN THE HPOTOBOOTH, SO THERE IS THE FREE TESTING AND THE DOCTORS WAS SO DISCREET THAT PRIVACY WAS UTMOST IMPORTANT TO THEM. ALLIN ALL THE EVENT WAS A SUCCESS

We drove to the river front the other day to the Indiana side to watch the sunset and I thought it ended up being really pretty so I decided to share some pictures from it. I won't make this a long entry because I don't have much else to say or add with this. This is from the Indiana side of the Ohio River looking towards Louisville, Kentucky. Usually I'm over on the other side taking pictures because we live on the riverfront but it was nice seeing it from the other side looking towards the larger skyscrapers. I thought the sunset reflecting on the water with the bridge in the back looked really lovely Plus it was very peaceful just having milkshakes and watching the sunset. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some better pictures because we are going on a sunset cruise on the Belle of Louisville boat :3

I've been in Chicago for what feels like forever even though it's only been a few weeks. Sunday I got back home to Kentucky. Luckily the plane ride isn't so long and I didn't feel tired when I got home so @Zeref and I decided to take a mini road trip out towards the countryside of Meade County, KY. There's a steakhouse out there we wanted to meet some of my aunts and cousins at for Sunday dinner. The drives about 45 minutes to an hour so a pretty nice long drive out there with a lot of pretty scenery along the way. I took a buncha pictures of everything. The sky was so beautifully blue! I also got some really pretty shots of the Ohio River when we went over it on the bridge. I thought I'd share those from that day here since it's been awhile since I posted a blog entry. First I want to put my favorite ones here ~ the rest will be behind the spoilers The first ones are when we were crossing over the Ohio River and the rest are all pictures from the countryside scenery as we were driving out. Everything has gotten so green now that Spring is here and the sky was perfect that day. I'll put the rest under spoilers here. These are pictures from my Great Aunt's farm such as views from her property and the old barn that has been there for 60 something years. The rest under this spoiler are just pictures of the Kentucky countryside. There's also a few more of the Ohio River in these. That's all for now but I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures ^^

I won't be back to AF for a little while again so I wanted to post a blog entry and some of the pictures I've taken this past week before I leave. These are all from my road trip back to Chicago with @Eris and @Sarada. We really had a fun time. We got a bit turned around and ended up in Missouri instead of Illinois the first night.. yeah yeah my bad LOL By the time we realized we had gone the wrong way we just decided meh, whatev's, let's go see St. Louis, so, we did! What would a road trip be anyways without some adventure? I've really enjoyed being back home. The reasons why I'm here are for mental health reasons so it's a bit personal and not exactly the best situation to be home for. Despite how I'm feeling I've felt more at peace since being home. Seeing the places I used to go to, meeting up with friends, seeing my family, staying in my dad's house. It's made me feel relaxed, safe, not stressed out, and just peaceful which is better than I've been in what feels like a really long time. Everything has just been kind of building for months and then kind of came crashing down at once. I decided to try a black and white photo which is not something I usually do. I tried the first one with an angle of a street I liked and the second one is downtown Chicago. I really like the way the black and white looks on the first set it kinda gives it a really old look. Not sure about the second one I think I like the way the colored one looks more. The ones below this spoiler are from the road during our trip here. The sunset that day was so pretty coming through the clouds that I had to take some pictures of it! Another one of my favorite things to take pictures of is the city lights at night. It was a bit cloudy as usual in Chicago this time of year, but I kinda think it just adds to the atmosphere. Or maybe I'm weird but I've always liked foggy and cloudy Chicago when I can look up at the huge skyscrapers and can't see the tops because they are in the clouds ~ Most of these are in and around the Chicago Tribune building which is right at the main center of the Magnificent Mile and the other is from out on Navy Pier. Below is just a few pictures of when we first headed out to walk around. The last picture is at The Field Museum. The Field Museum might look pretty familiar because it's been in a lot of movies such as Night At The Museum which is actually a movie I really like : D I guess that's all for now. I really wanna say thank you to all my friends though on AF who have been there for me lately. You guys mean the world to me

As the title states I would like some more friends, currently I only really talk to my mum, dad, brother and university class. I would enjoy having some additional people to talk to.

LAST FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WAS THE DAYS SOLELY FOR THE TOY CON, THE EVENT WAS SO FUN AND ALLOT OF PEOPLE ATTENDED THE EVENT. THE EVENT EVEN HAD TALKS ABOUT AN UPCOMING MOVIE TITLE "QUEZON:" A HISTORICAL MOVIE THAT TELL THE STORY ABOUT THE PRESIDENT MANUEL L. QUEZON , WITH THAT BEING SAID. I CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH IT AT THE CINEMAS, IT IS A PIECE OF HISTORY SELDOMLY TACKELD. BUT THE DETAILS OF THIS WOULD BE IN ANOUTHER BLOG , THE MAIN FOCUS OF THI EVENT WAS ANIME TOYS AND COLLECTIBLES FROM THEB PRESENT AND THE PAST. HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM THE EVENT ITSELF, AND BY THE WAY, I ATTENDED ONLY THE 2ND DAY (SATURDAY) MEET PLUMBER, ONE OF THE PAWMPLOYEE OF THE EVENT, HE WAS SO CUTE AND WELL BEHAVED. SHENRON AND LITTLE GOKU \ AND OFCOURSE THIS IS PSYDUCK, WITH A MASSIVE MIGRAINE A CHUBBY KRILIN FOR THE WIN, SO CUTE AND EXPENSIVE, >.<!!! KARASUNO TOBIO KAGEYAMA WITH HIS JERSYE IS SO HOT!! PRIII!!!! A TOGEPI INSIGHT, BUT WHERE IS MISTY??? AND OFCOURSE, ANYA FORGER IS OUT IN AN ADVENTURE WITHOUT HER LOVING PARENTS, OR EVEN BOND. THE PEOPLE ARE STILL ARRIVING UNTIL THE NIGHT TIME, BUT THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN LIKE 5PM. AND YES IT IS STILL SUNNY. A VIEW FROM THE 2ND FLOOR WITH A ZOOM OF 2.4 FROM MY PHONE, TAKING PHOTOS AND TRYING THE ZOOM ASPECTS OF IT.

Brean Down is a headland between Burnham on sea and Weston super mare in Somerset and at the far end of it stands a fort. Brean Down Fort was a Victorian naval fortification built in the 1860s and designed to protect the Bristol Channel against a possible Napoleonic invasion. The fort is one of the "Palmerston Forts" which were built in several locations round the coast following a Royal Commission report about the defence of the United Kingdom prompted by concerns about the strength of the French navy. The name comes from Lord Palmerston who was Prime Minister at the time and promoted their construction. Some of the fort's buildings like the officers quarters and barrack block survive as do the gun emplacements. The fort was originally armed with seven 7 inch guns in three gun positions although the fort never saw any action apart from gunnery practise. The end of the fort's operational life came to a sudden and dramatic end on the 6th of July 1900 when a soldier named Gunner Haines fired his rifle down the ventilation shaft of no 3 magazine. The magazine at the time contained three tons of gunpowder and the resultant huge explosion caused massive damage to the fort and as a result the fort was closed down. No one really knows why Gunner Haines did this because he did not survive to explain his action. With the start of the second world war the fort was rearmed with two 6 inch naval guns and searchlight batteries and was used as a testing site for experimental secret weapons. The foundations of the second world war barracks can be seen outside the fort. During the 1980s and 90s the original buildings were renovated and made safe so that people could visit the fort in safety. The fort is now in the care of the National Trust. A general view of the fort and its location. The barrack block. Inside the barrack block. Nothing survives of the original interior except a fireplace at one end. A world war two gun emplacement. The ammunition for the gun would have been stored in the compartments under the emplacement and along the side wall. The original 1870s gun emplacement and ammunition store. The officer's quarters. This is the most well preserved building on the fort and still has its interior walls, sadly it is not open to the public. Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting.

The Blaenafon Iron Works which started producing iron around 1789 is the best preserved blast furnace of its time to survive from the beginning of the industrial revolution. Because the blast furnaces couldn't be allowed to cool down, unless it was for repair and maintenance, they were operated 24 hours a day seven days a week. For 12 hours each day men worked in the blistering heat of the furnaces constantly at risk from fire, molten iron and poisonous fumes. The molten iron would be at 1500 degrees Celsius which is hotter than molten lava. The ironworks also employed many children who often worked up on the top yard an area level with the tops of the furnaces where children under 13 and as young as 5 spent their days breaking ore for the calcining kilns that removed the impurities from the ore before it was fed into the furnaces from the charge houses built on the very top of the furnaces. The gases rising up from the furnace below and filling the charge houses would be at around 200 to 300 degrees Celsius. In 1842 government inspectors discovered 185 children under the age of 13 working in the ironworks, a quarter of them were girls. The workforce lived on the job in rows of small two storey terraced houses, which while small they were well built, the museum has a number of these set out as they would have been at different times. There was also a company ran shop on site that sold the basic necessities of life, however the prices charged were high and in the 1830s the shops provided a tenth of the company's profits. The iron works is a World Heritage Site and many of its structures are Grade 1 listed. This is a model, appropriately made of iron, that shows how the works would have looked when working. A general view of the works showing the foundry, the cast house for no.2 furnace and the Ballance tower. The balance tower is the most impressive of the remaining buildings. It's a water powered lift that lifted goods 80 feet up to the level of the top yard. I had two platforms and the weight of the top platform lifted the bottom platform up. Another view of the cast house for no. 2 furnace and beyond that the foundry. The row of worker's cottages which were about 300 feet away from the furnaces. The mound in the centre is the base of a huge chimney stack for the boiler houses that once stood in front of the cottages, about where the railings are today. A view of the remains of furnaces 4 and 5, both of which have lost their cast houses. These are two of the calcining ovens on the top level beside the tops of the furnaces where the ore was prepared to be fed to the ever hungry furnaces below. I found the whole iron works to be a fascinating and interesting place to visit. So thank you for reading my blog and I hope you found it interesting.

Naruto is know for it's large cast of lovable characters but as of episode 112 of the original series I can definitively say that Rock Lee is easily my favourite character in the series. Everything from his positive demeanor, to his underdog background is so very beautifully shounen, he's so very cheesy with his background of fighting back against those who didn't believe in him, finding comfort in Might Guy and rising to become a splendid ninja. But what I think makes him special is just how genuinely sympathetic, yet still endearingly passionate in the face of absolute failure and misfortune he can be. An example of what I've expressed comes from his legendary fight against Gaara in the preliminaries before the finals of the Chunin Exams. When he is defeated by Gaara we learn that he will never be able to return to being a shinobi due to the severity of his injuries, this causes Lee to question his future and everything up until this point becuase of his ethos being to never give up and that with hard work even he can become a splendid ninja but in spite of it all he keeps a positive outlook and whole heartedly believes he will one day recover with perseverance. Eventually Naruto finds the legendary healer Sanin Tsunade who is famous for her healing capabilities, however she urges Lee to quit being a shinobi due to his only option being life threatening surgery, at this point, desperate for an answer he asks Might Guy what to do, in a highly emotional climax both Lee and Might Guy decide that in order to coninue his dream he must never give up as that is his nindo, his ninja way. In the end he displays something so beautifully simple, that passion and perseverance will always pay off and that even in the worst of times we can continue to be better for ourselves and for those we love. Rock Lee is my favourite because he's corny and goofy and simple and so emblematic of what I love about shounen anime.

Bodium Castle is an impressive fortress, built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II. The castle has no keep and all the rooms and chambers are built around the outer defensive wall. This was characteristic of castle architecture in the 14th century. Sadly, while the exterior of the castle has survived largely intact the interior has not, although enough of the walls and foundations survive to allow some reasonably educated guesses about the interior layout. The castle has a round tower at each corner and a square tower in the centre of each wall, two of these towers contain the entrances. The castle is surrounded by a huge moat that gives the impression that the castle is standing in the centre of a lake rather than surrounded by a moat. Access to the main gatehouse was via a small octagonal island in the middle of the moat connected by bridges, one of which may have been a drawbridge. The gatehouse itself comprises two imposing towers and had three portcullises. Today the castle is accessed by a bridge going strait to the central island but the original access route was via a bridge set at 90 degrees to the castle entrance making it hard for an enemy force to charge the main gatehouse. The access to the postern gate was a much simpler affair with little defensive capability. However the postern was very low and narrow and the gatehouse featured murder holes in its ceiling. Viewed from the edge of the moat the castle has all the appearance of an impressive and powerful fortress but it is questionable if it was really intended to be a fortress. The outer wall has some quite large windows in it which are certainly weak points in its defensive capabilities. Indeed it has been questioned if this was really a fortified manor house designed to impress visitors rather than a castle because despite it's three portcullises and murder holes in the ceiling of the gatehouse the arrow slits in the upper levels are unsuitable for this purpose and some military historians have raised questions about the design of the the crenelations and suggest that they may have been purely decorative. However, the castle was involved in two conflicts. In 1483 during the wars of the Roses it was placed under siege by Richard III's forces and surrendered. During the English Civil War the castle was attacked by the Parliamentary forces and following its capture the castle was slighted, meaning that it was deliberately damaged so it could not be used as a fortress this involved destroying the interior buildings and bridges. It has also been said that the moat could be drained fairly quickly by any attacking forces. The castle's 28 garderobes (toilets) discharged into the moat, so the castle was effectively surrounded by an open sewer so even if the attackers drained the moat it would not have been a pleasant area to cross. But whatever your opinion of its defensive capabilities, when viewed from a distance it presents the perfect image of a powerful fortress set in the middle of a lake and the very essence of what a mediaeval castle should look like. Which is why it appears on the covers of so many books about castles. Today the castle is owned by the National Trust and is a protected Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument. The main gatehouse and a classic image of an English castle surrounded by a moat. The postern gate, more a sort of tradesman's entrance. It was too narrow for a cart to pass though and too low for a horse and rider to pass through. It has been suggested that in the 14th century it was intended as the servants and tradesmen’s entrance. Another view of the heavily fortified main gatehouse and all that's left of the building on the central island. A view of the main gatehouse and one of the side walls. One of the side walls of the castle, the large windows were a weak point in its defences. The interior of the castle was destroyed after it fell to the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War. The various doorway openings in the wall give an hint of the upper floors of the castle. Another interior view showing the locations of doors and fireplaces in the upper floors. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and found it interesting.

The hovercraft museum is on the seafront at Lee-on-the-Solent and is situated in one of the iconic Type J hangars within “Seaplane Square”, an important part of the former HMS Daedalus Royal Naval air base. The Type J hangers are all Grade II listed buildings and provided essential storage and maintenance facilities for seaplanes in the early 20th century and also played an important role in the development of hovercraft which were invented by British engineer Christopher Cockerell in the 1950s and developed by Saunders Roe. The SR.N designation stands for Saunders Roe Nautical. It is the world's only hovercraft museum. It has a collection of over 50 hovercraft of varying types and sizes. The collection includes both military and civilian hovercraft. Among the hovercraft on display are two of the craft from the 2002 James Bond film "Die Another Day" Sizes range from small one man hovercraft to the mighty SR.N4 "The Princess Anne" the worlds largest civilian car carrying hovercraft which could carry 427 passengers and 60 cars in its cavernous car deck. SR.N4 hovercraft operated between Dover and Calais for 30 years. The service eventually ceased because not only was such a huge craft expensive to maintain and operate but also the opening of the channel tunnel meant they lost their competitive edge on journey times across the channel. Only one of these magnificent machines survives and sadly it is no longer operational. The mighty SR.N4 hovercraft "The Princess Anne". The car loading ramp on the SR.N4. The orange ladder you can see is the access ladder to the flight deck. Inside the cavernous car deck which could hold 60 cars. Part of the passenger compartment on the port side of the SR.N4. There was another one on the starboard side giving a total of 427 seats. The flight deck of the SR.N4 "Swift", and sadly all that remains of the Swift. The BH7 military hovercraft designed for strategic operations and rapid deployment. An SR.N6 twin prop 'Super 6'. This is one of the hovercraft used in the James Bond film "Die Another Day". Three one man hovercraft. One of the SR.N4's four propellers, each blade is 21 feet long. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog entry and found it interesting.

Hello, hello AF. I have never made a blog in my entire life but I have decided to put one together focusing on something I love: Gaming. I'll review games I've played here or games that I am playing at the current time. For my Runescape friends on this site I will also be reviewing new releases in OSRS related to bosses or new content. You can look for guides here in games I play regularly and have a lot of familiarity with coming too. I will be putting together my first official guide and entry on the next post and look forward to posting some gaming guides that which will help anyone out who is also a gamer like myself.

The story of Glastonbury Abbey story starts somewhere around 670AD when a Saxon church was built on the site, this was later replaced with a much larger Norman church, which was destroyed in a fire in 1184. The ruins we see today are all that is left of the Great Church which replaced the Norman church and work on it was started in 1189. You only have to look at what remains to get some idea of how huge and impressive it must have looked when it was finished. In 1191 while excavating in the abbey cemetery the monks found, buried at a great depth, a wooden coffin which reportedly carried an inscription claiming it contained the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. The bones of King Arthur were re buried in the abbey in 1278 in a black marble tomb at a service attended by King Edward I. Some historians claim that the bones had nothing to do with King Arthur and that it was all just a publicity stunt to gain the abbey more funds for its rebuilding programme, but who now knows what the truth is. When you stand in front of the sign and look at the place where the tomb stood it's not easy to dismiss it and walk away, the legend of King Arthur is as strong today as it was then. By the 14th Century the Abbey was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England and controlled huge tracts of the surrounding land. But things didn't go on forever, and the end came in 1539 as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII. The Abbey today is a grade 1 listed building and scheduled ancient monument. The view from the choir towards the Lady Chapel. The two huge pillars are all that is left of the supports of the tower and transepts. The railed off area is the site of the High Altar. (the sky colour was create with a filter) A view into the Lady Chapel. There was originally a floor going the full length of the chapel, the bridge walkway is a modern addition. Part of the outside wall of the Lady Chapel. This is, or was, the Abbot's kitchen and is the only complete building of the Abbey that remains. The sign marking the place where the tomb of King Arthur was sited. Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you found it interesting.

Last weekend, once I was out of the hospital, my friends, my sister and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. A little mental health walk as we called it lol Those can actually do wonders because it kind of lifted my spirits when I was feeling really down. The Dogwood trees in the area are blooming now, as are a lot of the other trees, and things just looked really pretty so I took some photos to share of it I really love Spring once everything starts blooming and the trees are coming back. The temperature is always just perfect too usually between 50-60 and I'm not hot or cold and I feel good being outside and taking walks. Dogwoods and Cherry Blossoms are some of my favorite trees when they are blooming ~ I think the pink ones in the photos are Cherry Blossoms and I'm not sure what some of the other ones are such as the red trees. The whole neighborhood area is blooming with them right now though ^^ Anyways hope you guys like the photos. Hopefully I can get back to creating blog entries again soon after I start to feel a little better. I think I messed up resizing some of the photos but it'll haveta do for now lol

I was looking back on some of my favorite Springtime photos today and thought I'd share those ~ I'm really hoping to get some pictures like this in a few weeks once the flowers really start coming out Some of these are from the parks, some from my dad's neighborhood, and some from my dad's garden. Every year he always does tons of flowers and I've always kind of wanted to be able to do that too but I was honestly never very good at it. I've somehow gotten to be pretty good with plants this past year though so I'm trying to expand into planting some on my balcony this Spring. I think my favorite photos from this are the pink trees (not sure what they are) that belonged to a house near my dad's and the neighbor said I could take pictures of it. They are probably some of my favorite flower pictures that I've taken and I hope you enjoy them too ~! I'm trying to get out on the river soon as well and take some pictures of the sun setting over the Ohio River but with the flooding and all I'm not sure that's going to happen this weekend x.x If it gets a bit better possibly during the week next week I'm hoping to get out on the boat Welp, I'm going to just post these here this time instead of under a spoiler

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. I went out with @Zeref and my friend from school who is known for being a little.. interesting lol I know I'm crazy but she's next level. Anyway, the plan was nachos but we ended up on about 10 different side quests. One of those side quests ended up with us in a graveyard so we walked around looking at old graves (some were from the early 1800's) and I took some pictures. That was actually kinda nice because graveyards are a nice place to take pictures. I'd have preferred to do it at dusk for the darker aesthetic feels but I also don't really want to be in a graveyard at night lol At least not in the particular neighborhood we were in. Here's some pictures from the cemetery: We also ended up hanging out on my roof for awhile and I took a few pictures there. You can see the river and all of downtown from there. I personally prefer it at night with all the lights twinkling but it's harder to take pictures at night: The next ones are from today. It was raining all day which kind of matches my mood tbh ~ I mostly just laid in my bed and stared out the window watching the storm moving in. There's been a lot of stuff I'm working out in my head recently and I know how to fix it, but it's also not that easy. Well, maybe it would be, but then I overthink it and I talk myself out of it. There are times I wish I could turn my emotions off and simply not feel anything, for anyone, ever again. I think it would be much better than whatever the hell I'm feeling lately. Well, that rambling aside, it's really kinda nice to watch storms here. We are so high up I can see really far in the distance such as the storms coming in and even rain falling far away. Being so high up is also a really great place for taking pictures of the storms since you get such a good view and when I'm laying around in bed it's nice to cloud watch and think. Last one is still just the rainy pics but you can see that little street better where all the pretty white trees are ~

Spring is coming soon, and while it's not exactly my favorite season (much more of a Winter person), I am looking forward to seeing all the flowers. You really can't go wrong with flowers as the subject of your photos' or take a bad picture of them. Nature is definitely one of my favorite things to photograph and Spring always creates the perfect backdrop for any photo in my opinion. With so many parks around the area that I'm living in right now I'm hoping to be able to get out and take some walks and a lot of new photos this season. When I think about Spring the #1 thing that also comes to mind is new beginnings which is kind of where I'm at in my life. Working through a lot of different feelings and emotions and trying to let go of the past and work on my present & future. I'm hoping to start a new chapter in my life in more ways than one. There are some days when that feels more difficult than others, I suppose today would be one of those days but I'm trying to deal with it as best as I can. The beginning of things can be scary, whatever that is, whether it's a new chapter in your life, new love, new school, new whatever. With me, there's just a lot I need to process for this next chapter of my life but I'm hoping it blooms into something beautiful that I can look back on some day and be happy that I took the steps that I'm taking now. Here's a few photos I took last Spring to look back on ~ The butterflies are from the Chicago Butterfly Gardens that you can walk through and most of the flower pictures I believe are all from my Dad's yard.

I've decided to make a blog on here mostly to post my photography because I love to take pictures. Mind you, I'm under no circumstances a professional photographer, I just like to take pictures of things I find pretty. That'll mostly be nature such as flowers, animals, sunsets/sunrises, water scenes from when I'm out on the boat (I'm studying to become a Marine Biologist so I'm on the water quite often), snow scenes or architecture because I'm quite fascinated with buildings. I'll also probably ramble here occasionally about whatever's going on in my life or my mind at the time. For now I'll just start off with posting some of my favorite pictures I've taken. Most of these were taken in Chicago, Illinois. I'll always keep these behind spoilers so they don't overwhelm the page. You can just click on it to view the picture. Chicago at night: Some water scenes: Random architecture & parks: Welp., that's all for now. I'm still sorting through some of my old photography so I'll try to do that tomorrow and post some more of it in my next entry on this. It's just a matter of organizing it but I seem to not have a lot of time during the week with classes going on. By the time I get home half the time I just get in bed anyway and play on my phone.

I thought it would be fun to post some of my older photos today ~ these particular ones were some of the first I took when I started doing photography. All of these are from the neighborhood I was living in with my dad at the time when we had a pretty good snowstorm. I snuck out of the house in the middle of the night and walked around taking pictures of the snow scenes. The neighborhood was so peaceful and quiet and I just remember it being a great memory, one of my favorite in fact. I did edit these on PS such as with the lighting and color, which is something I don't do as much now. These days I do enhance colors on photos but that's about it. I still think these are pretty though with the way I edited the lighting/coloring/adding bokehs. Anyways, I hope you like looking at them ~

I got the most random text from my mom last week where she texted me "I'm in Vegas!!" I'd no idea she was even going or how she got there lol It seems like she had a good time though and she sent me a ton of pictures. I won't share any of the actual Vegas photos, they are mostly just blurry pictures of old people partying in casinos lmao While they were in Nevada they rented a car and did some sight seeing through the mountains and visited my step-dads brother who also lives there. Some of these views are from outside of his home I believe. It would be really awesome to step outside of your house I think and have that kinda view lol ~ it's much different than my city views here, though I like both of them in their own ways. Oh and the last picture I think is from one of the little towns they were visiting through. She asked me if I could clean up some of the photos on PS for her and enhance the coloring so I did and she said I could share them. That's all there really is to this post is I just wanted to share the really stunning mountain views she had

I decided to go on a walk today, which ended up turning into this 4 hour-ish journey venturing around my neighborhood and the parks in the area. I had planned to go sometime this weekend but all morning had 0 motivation and was only sitting around on the couch feeling sad from the events of this past week. I decided to force myself to get up, get dressed, and dragged myself outside, much against my own will (and believe me I protested A LOT) lol ~ I ended up being really glad that I did. I went to see some of the trees that are blooming first, then visited the parks, and after that I decided to walk around some of the streets behind my house where there are a lot of old Victorian era houses built in the 1800's. Old Louisville is pretty much made up of these huge beautiful houses that have really cool architecture, big tree-lined streets, and beautiful gardens. You can Google "Old Louisville" actually and see some way better pictures than mine under images. It's really such a beautiful neighborhood, and while I do miss Chicago often, I think this is one of the prettiest places I've lived. Despite being right next to downtown, walking around here is very peaceful and there's so many cool things to look at. There was a street I can see from my apartment windows (I'm 17 floors up so I can see pretty much everything) that was lined with blooming white trees I wanted to visit so that was my first stop. Below in the spoiler are pictures from that. I initially thought these were Dogwood trees but turns out they are called Callery Pear trees. These are from my walk down a couple of the streets in Old Louisville. The Magnolia trees are already blooming and I love those ~ I really like the architecture on a lot of these older houses too. The details are really cool to look at and I noticed some of them even have things like Gargoyles on them and just really intricate patterns carved into them. I love those huge round windows a lot of houses in this style have too ^^ Below is one of the Victorian mansions in the area known as the "Pink Palace" and it's part of the ghost tours around here (Old Louisville has ghost stories about pretty much every single house lol). Apparently there is a ghost named "Avery" who lives in the home and is a protective and peaceful spirit. He usually appears to residents to help them. Two such stories I've heard were 1 a woman was taking a bath in an apartment in the basement part of the house when Avery appeared to her. She freaked out (naturally) and jumped out of the bath just a few minutes before a cement block came through the window because robbers were trying to break in and the block would have hit her. Another story is Avery appeared to residents right before a fire broke out leading them to the kitchen were the fire had started and they were able to put it out before it did any major damage. This is another supposed haunted Victorian Era mansion called the Conrad-Caldwell House, or just the Conrad Castle. I actually did a historic ghost tour of this place back at Halloween and it was super interesting. It was built between 1893-1895 and it's currently a museum. I'm not sure how many ghosts are supposed to be in the house, but I've heard somewhere around 9 different past residents haunt the home. They've done several TV shows such as Ghost Hunters on the property as well which is kinda neat. That's all I have for now, hopefully you enjoyed looking at the pictures. I'm thinking about taking a walk to the riverfront tomorrow, so I may have another batch of photos to share

There hasn't been anything particularly interesting to post about in my blog lately, just been trying to get through school days and life in general. I've been going through some confusing emotions and trying to learn how to let go of some things from the past which have been harder than I expected. In some instances I think it's easier to hang onto past things or people because you've held on for so long that it becomes all you've really known and even when it's hurting you, you don't want to let go of them or the situation. Even when it hurts at least pain lets you still feel like it's with you or a person is with you even when they aren't. In my case, I'm tired, and above all I'm tired of hurting and waiting for someone that is never coming back and that's really just something I've accepted. I feel like I deserve to move on and be happy with someone in the present instead of constantly living in the past and never moving forward. Though this is all a little personal and I guess that's really all I want to share about it at this time. On the happier note though I have decided to let myself find something in the present to be happy with and I'm proud of myself for that much. Onto some pictures since of course this is still my photography blog lol ~ These are some of my favorite pictures I took from the roof of our house back in the Summer during a really pretty sunset over the city & I hope you like looking at them too Under the spoiler

I've had a strange last week-ish when it comes to emotions. I don't really know why I can't get mine in check lately. I feel like I'm going from one moment of extreme happiness to the next moment an hour later to extreme sadness. I probably actually have a good idea why, which confuses me even more, but I don't think I'll get it under control until I figure out this situation. I've spent the last few years not having any type of real feelings for anyone else, and honestly I was fine with that. There was 1 person, and this 1 person only, who I haven't seen in awhile & he never knew how I felt to begin with, but I'm not going to get into all that here lol ~ and then I went and caught feelings for someone, ew. I was debating telling them until they called me and started telling me about some girl they had just started dating. I don't think I've really felt "okay" since that happened last week. While that hurt I also felt kinda.. glad? After I really thought about it. Mostly because I feel like I'm getting feelings for someone else and those bother me even more because I can't figure out if I really am or not. Also that person lived in Brazil and while we've met once before IRL I always felt like he was just using me for various things and as if I was just someone to talk to when there was nothing better going on. When I look back on it all though I realized I never said *anything* to him at all about anything I felt and basically was just living out whatever I thought we were/could be in my head. May have been a good thing though. As far as the other person goes, I haven't figured that out yet either, and I feel nothing but extreme confusion with whatever I'm feeling there. I mostly just want to go out into the woods and scream at a tree about it. I don't know how I went from years of being content with just me and understanding that was all it was ever going to be, to being hurt by some idiot and absolutely losing my mind about another guy at the same time. Though neither of them know/knew and odds are I won't tell this other person either. I never know how to confess that to someone so instead I just put up cryptic Discord messages and try to hope they are psychic or something lmaoo All that aside though I went up to the roof today to think about all this and there was the most magnificent sunset I've seen in a long time I sat up there watching it until all the colors had gone from the sky. That's what I have pictures of today for this, so I hope you enjoy looking at them and sorry about the rambling. Piccys below vvv There is also a short video I took of it: https://i.imgur.com/ei92yRX.mp4

Welcome back to confirmation biases. Last time, I explained that to avoid confirmation bias, you'd have to view a perspective on both sides. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do. So, what did I mean by viewing a perspective on both sides? Well, simply put, I meant what I said. You find both proving and disproving evidence of a topic. Well, how do you do this? Think of it this way - "Does this evidence give clear evidence that this might be right? If not, is there any counter evidence?" If the answer to this is yes, congratulations - You've found sound evidence that does not confirm that your belief is 100% right. At the most, you've most likely only confirmed a very small portion of your claim. If the answer to this is no, however, you then look for counter evidence. Counter evidence to see if your not-clear evidence is incorrect. Let's use an example, again. You're investigating a murder. You have solid evidence that the murderer is a 15-year old child from... I don't know, Kentucky. However, you know that this one piece of evidence doesn't confirm it, and therefore, look for counter-evidence. Then, you do find counter-evidence. You find counter-evidence that they're not from Kentucky, and that they're actually from New Jersey. So, you put both of these aside and begin battling out which seems more likely. If, however, you can't find a conclusion, then set them aside for later until you find more evidence/counter-evidence. Once you have enough, argue with yourself, then make your case. This has been Week One of Logic Lessons with L, stay tuned for Week Two, which we'll be discussing about planning and unplanned executions of... anything.

The story is about a woman who discovers that she has supernatural abilities after kids in her city begin to go missing and must locate a book called The Ruthisian Codex to gain mastery over her powers and find the people responsible for the kidnappings. The lead character's name is Phia and the first chapter explores her seemingly normal life as a budding caterer. Throughout the book, I will describe certain dishes that she makes in detail and include the recipes at the back of the book. I may also include pictures but I'm not 100% certain yet. I'm also considering starting a Discord & hosting monthly virtual brunches where people can create their favorite foods from the book & we can all show our creations & hang out for a few hours. Making recipe videos for YouTube or live streaming myself preparing the dishes is also another idea I have. Phia's abilities and back story all center around Ancient Egyptian mythology and religion. Her love of cooking, her romantic interests, and some of her other hobbies are all tied into the Egyptian deities that she identifies with the most.

I love LOVE reading! Personally, I've always been a physical copy type of girl and rather not get a digital copy/e-reader. AND, I will buy books I love however, I do have a library card because... that **** is expensive....(I'd be broke with all the books I'd want to buy lol). When I was younger I had lived in Vancouver for a solid two years after that I wanted to move back home and needed to lug all of my books back with me. I never realized how much I loved reading until I had 3 suitcases of books and a duffel bag of clothing. *Priorities* I don't mind audio books, they're usually my go to when I can't sleep or have a long drive ahead of me....can't...use my hands ^^; When I was in University, I always felt a little like Hermione from Harry Potter, as I would usually be done most of my textbooks before the course truly started. I am a fairly fast reader and like to have a varied selection of books on the go. I can be a slightly annoying person when I get into a good book - my sister used to get angry at me as I would usually ignore everything around me until I was completed a story. Basically, I'm really good at ignoring the world around me when I have my nose in a good article or story. I'm always inspired by the authors of novels and how much research that must go into their work. I mean to create such captivating stories you must know a decent amount of a topic to be able to describe places, situations and actions. For example, you can't write a believable story about a climber if you know nothing about climbing, or it would be a pretty empty story line with no body. I always thought it would be such a fascinating job to become a writer because it gives you an outlet to learn as much as you can and share that knowledge in a variety of ways, although, I have always felt a disconnect from idea to paper. Those who are creative enough to come up with an idea and then bring that idea to fruition - you're amazing in my eyes and I thank you everyday. Here's a short list of some books I've read this past year - keep in mind, I read almost everything haha so it might not be up your alley (no particular order) - An Invisible Library (by Genevieve Cogman) "Series" - Deadly Outbreaks (by Alexandra Levitt) - The Memory Illusion (by Julia Shaw) (really neat book, read if you like to learn about memory in the use of crime, and whether or not its possible to implant memories on people) - Sleeping Beauties (by Stephen King) - Death by Video Games (by Simon Parkin) - The Rules of Magic (by Alice Hoffman) - The Bone Season (by Samantha Shannon) "Series" Mime order - How Can I help? A Week in My Life as A Psychiatrist (by David Goldbloom) - The View from the cheap seats (by Neil Gaiman) - The Night Circus (by Erin Morgenstern) - The Goldfinch (by Donna Tartt) - An Orchestra of Minorities (by Chigozie Obioma) - Lost Connections (by Johann Hari) - Sapiens (by Yuval Harari) General Recommendations: - Margaret Atwood is my favorite author .....so anything? haha - Haruki Murakami another fav auth (start with 1Q84) I also really enjoy poetry authors I would recommend (and are probably already known) - Rupi Kaur - B. Abbott (I have High Poet Society, but he has two books now I think?) - Lang Leav - John Donne Anyways, maybe I'll add more posts about books :3 I feel like, getting to know a person's reading list, really lets you get to know the person. And of course, here's a pic I am currently working on

so heyo anime fans and otakus its me Otaku. i have not posted for a while because I've been... actually there is no excuse I've been exploreing diffrent places on the net and I've found a community. This community i will not share the name of due to it being similar to 4chan and i don't want to get banned for that. Anyways i will still post on here but not as much or maybe not at all (sorry about the contradictory sentences) This website has a great community and I'm glad you all welcomed me. I dunno maybe i will continue to use both now this has been unbanned from my assigned laptop. I know i said i was back in February and well i lied ima be honest i dunno if ill stay for that long i cant predict future me, but i have gotten better I've been going to therapy and have been on something that makes me feel better about myself so i am struggling still but with different issues. like i cant seem to socially interact with my peers or i cant seem to leave the house unless one of my friends drag me out to "hang out" so i have to appear normal. but skools been fine i started this year the academics is easy im attempting to transfer to higher level classes at the moment, i hate my classmates. Summer was fun i went to metrocon and attended pannel rooms and got some kool merch. dunno what else to say but ill try to be more active

Over the UK May Bank Holiday weekend, 2nd to 5th May 2025, I went to the West Somerset Railway's Spring Steam Spectacular. The railway has held these steam galas since the mid-1990s and I have attended most of them and have photographs of every Spring Gala since 2002. What's so special about these you might ask, well on a normal day the railway will run 4 or 5 trains in each direction per day with 2 or 3 steam locomotives in use. On a gala there could be up to 16 trains in each direction and 9 or 10 steam locomotives in service and they also run goods trains which gives some variety to what you can see, so you can see the appeal for railway enthusiasts like me. A brief bit of history. The railway originally opened in 1862 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway between Taunton and Watchet and was built to the broad gauge of 7 foot and a quarter inch it is a single line railway with loops at several place along the route where trains could pass each other. Watchet was at that time a major port on the River Severn as well as an industrial centre and exports from the port included flour, limestone, textiles, iron ore, paper and in later years car parts. On my first visit to Watchet in 1979 the port was still working and it was interesting watching ships come in, the whole port are was of course shut off from the town because of quarantine regulations, today the port continues to exist as a marina. But back to the history, the inhabitants of Minehead looked at the railway that ended in Watchet and wanted the railway to come to their town and they got their wish in 1874 when the line was extended to Minehead, this explains why the station building at Watchet is at a right angle to the station platform rather than parallel to it. In 1876 the Bristol and Exeter Railway became part of the Great Western Railway and in 1882 the line was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge. Williton station, one of the passing points, still has evidence of its broad gauge origins in the large space between the platforms it also has an original Bristol and Exeter Railway signal box. From the 1930s to the 1960s Minehead became a popular tourist destination and attracted thousands of holiday makers each year a so unlike many branch lines the station at Minehead can take a 12 coach train. But the line was included in the infamous Beeching Report as one that could be closed and even the opening of a Butlins Holiday camp in 1962 wasn't enough to save the railway and the last train ran in January 1971. But that wasn't the end of the railway. In February 1971 a group of local business men investigated the idea of acquiring the line and running it as a private all year round commuter service to Taunton, for various reasons this plan didn't happen and today the line operates as a heritage steam railway, which is where we came in at the start of this blog entry. The railway today runs from Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, to the coast at Minehead and at 20 miles is England's longest Heritage railway and has 10 stations along its route, it is regarded as one of the country's premier heritage railways it still has a connection to the main line and on occasion special charter railtour trains, sometimes steam hauled, arrive at Minehead from places like London Paddington. I had a really enjoyable 4 days on the railway and the weather was warm and sunny which made waiting around between trains very pleasant. I took a huge number of photographs, some of which are below. When you look at these photos remember that all of the locomotives in them were rescued from a scrap yard as rusting heaps and have been beautifully restored to working order by their owners. The demonstration goods train arriving at Blue Anchor station behind heavy freight locomotive no. 2807. Built in 1905 the loco is the oldest surviving working GWR loco. A train in the landscape. A passenger train on its way from Dunster to Blue Anchor. A beautifully restored GWR Manor class locomotive no.7812 Erlestoke Manor departing from Crowcombe Heathfield station Two trains passing at Williton. Note the wide gap between the two tracks as a result of the station being built as a broad gauge station. GWR Saint class loco no.2999 Lady of Legend (running as 2986 Robin Hood for the gala) passing through Stogumber station. The area on the right was once the goods yard but is now a beautifully kept garden and picnic site, and a nice place to just sit and enjoy watching the trains go by. 2807 on the turntable at Minehead station. This is how you turn 76 tons of steam loco round so its facing the right way for the return journey, and yes, the crew push it round by hand! Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you found it interesting and informative.

THE LAST WEEKENDS OF MARCH WAS MORE OF A COMBINATION OF TIREDNESS AND FUN TIMES, BECAUSE OF THE TOY-CON PRELUDE WHERE BOTH ANIME AND TOY ENTHUSIASTS CAME TOGETHER FOR THIS FUN-FILLED EVENT. THERE ARE ANIME ITEMS THAT I REALLY LOVED TO BUY BUT IT WAS EXPENSIVE AND OUT OF MY BUDGET , HENCE I JUST WENT THERE TO TAKE PICTURES OF SOME OF THE COSPLAYERS AND ALSO MY FRIENDS THAT I DID NOT KNOW WHERE ALSO THERE AS A NORMIE OR IN COSPLAY THIS EVENT WAS FOR FREE BUT FROM WHERE I LIVE IT WAS ABIT FAR SO I NEED TO TAKE THE TRAIN AND RIDE A MOTORCYCLE TAXI WHICH IS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE, THE EVENT VENUE WAS AT THE CRYSTAL PAVILLION IN OKADA, ONE OF THE CASINO/MALL/HOTEL IN THE METRO. THIS WAS A BIG VENUE. AND ALOT OF ACTIVITIES WERE GOING ON ALL AT ONCE. A PLACE FOR MERCHANTS TO SELL THEIR GOODS, FOOD STALLS, A RACING ALLEY FOR TAMIYA, A STAGE AT THE MIDDLE WHERE PERFORMERS DO THEIR THING, MAY BE IT SINGING OR DANCING. AND THE CHARMANDER WAS INEXPENSIVE AND THE TRADING CARDS WAS FROM A GACHAPON TOKEN GAME. I REALLY LOVE THAT IT WAS ALL SANRIO AND MY FAVE CHARACTER WAS ALSO THERE

LAST MARCH 8 AND 9 ONE OF THE ANIME EVENTS HERE IN METRO MANILA WAS HELD AT AYALA CIRCUIT MALLS IN MAKATI. ALOT OF ANIME CONGOERS WERE PRESENT IN THE SAID EVENT. THERE ARE GAMES WHICH YOU CAN WIN MASSIVE PRICES. LIKE BIG STUFF-TOYS AND FREEBIES SUCH AS CHIPS, BALLPEN AND STICKERS. THE EVENT WAS FROM 10 AM TILL 9 PM. THE EVENT WAS ALOT OF FUN FOR ALL AGES. THE COSPLAY COMPETION WINNERS SHARED A WHOPPING PHP 4,000.00 AND PHP 1,000 WORTH OF VOUCHERS THAT CAN BE USED TO BUY STUFF FROM THE MERCHANTS AT THE EVENT. THE 1ST PICTURE IS THE GRAND WINNER OF THE COSPLAY COMPETITION, THE SECOND IS ME WITH THE ONE WHO IS KNOWN AS MASTER JOE, I WON PLAYING HIS GAME "COIN TOSS". AND LASTLY MY FRIENDS/A COSPLAYER WHO COSPLAYED AS LUFFY GEAR 5. AT THE END OF THE EVENT I WAS BOTH TIRED AND HAPPY BECAUSE OF THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT COMING FROM FELLOW COSPLAYERS & CON GOERS THAT JUSTR MADE THE EVENT MORE FUN AND WORTH WHILE.

I've been going through some of my old photography from Chicago and I've realized how much I miss it. I usually just ignore feelings when I can, especially sad ones, but I suppose it hit me really hard today/last night. I know I have to be where I am right now for school but I don't know how else to put it other than it sucks. I miss the school I was going to there, I miss my friends, I miss living down the hall from my sister, I miss the little store I went to on the way home from school, I miss sitting by the lake, I miss going to the aquarium and the Beluga whales I got to play with sometimes while doing class credits, I miss being near my dad, I miss walking downtown at night listening to music, I miss the trains and subways, I miss the little spot I'd sit at on the river walk and do my HW, I miss going to Grant Park, I miss riding the electric scooters downtown, I miss going to the shopping center in Rosemont, I miss going to all the anime conventions around there, I miss doing silly things like the time the power was out and for some reason me and some friends just went Naruto running in the park lol, I miss the apartment I lived in, I even miss he way the air smelled (which is weird for it being a city). I just miss a lot of things and I've never felt so homesick. Oh well, I guess I really have no choice but to just get over it. Here's some picture I had taken from the place I used to sit quite often and have lunch at. I had a specific bench that was "mine" lol

Hello, anime loves and otakus today's topic is burnout and all that, take care of yourselves. Idk if I should be writing about this I want to be like hey I'm okay just tired you know. So as you might have known or noticed I have been slightly or drastically less active at the start of my holiday break which started on the 21 or something. I did post and respond in the forums for a bit but it was hard to keep up so I stopped I didn't go outside or talk to anybody for about the majority of the 2 weeks that we got off. Near the end of the break, I was forced to go out and some family came down to wish us a happy new year and holidays (Btw happy new year, I Can't believe it's 2025 it still feels like 2019). We have been back at school for about a week maybe a couple of days I'm not doing well at tracking the time right now. Over break I just isolated myself by playing games, watching anime, and streamers to the point where I would stay up all night to finish an anime or continue my game I started to slowly forget to do important tasks and became sucked into the reality of my computer. I mostly stayed in sweatpants and a hoodie as well it was cold out but it never snowed or at least I never noticed it did. I don't think I have agoraphobia I just don't like to leave the house or being contained in a space with lots of people, cons are fun even though they are busy. I like to go and interact with the community. So I'm currently struggling to connect with my peers and I suppose my friends. Not only that but I'm starting to get behind on my studying and school work not significantly but as I'm writing this at 3 in the morning I have 4 assignments not started all due by the end of the week (Dw I probably will get them done). My family is starting to get annoying again they said it's normal to be like this and I should go to social groups and get a job to help fix it (I don't think they get the point of why I'm struggling). What can you do at this point? Luckily none of my classmates has noticed or paid attention to me and I'm pretty sure my friends don't care. Don't worry If you're taking this as me leaving or taking a break from the forums you are incorrect, I love the community and would love to keep interacting with you guys, and playing forum games is one of the joys of my day. I will not be responding or playing games as much until I get caught up with my work which should be maybe a couple of days or even a month. I still will be active on here just not as much. Thanks for the support - Otaku

I was bored so i just drew a picture or two , so here i am , sharing them My first on is this 2020 picture .. and heres the second one : a picture of a cute nurse girl stay safe everyone , plus i'd like to hear your opinions of these pictures , thank you

Definitely feeling weird with how things are going right now. Looking forward to some more normalcy here hopefully soon. Its also been such a busy week, I feel out of the loop. Out of the life loop haha. I hope everyone is doing alright and taking care of themselves. Take this time to re-eval life Here's a creepy cat dog thing to add to this strange day.

I'm kind of, fascinated with old stuff. REALLY old stuff. And while I've never found anything particularly outstanding to other people maybe, i always treasure what i do find. and today, i wasn't really expecting to find anything! i was just out in my backyard garden, picking through stones from the freshly cultivated soil, because i do find a lot of gemstones in my garden after hoeing it, and i think they're pretty. i kind of have a little of collection of them. but then i saw something that caught my eye, a bright red rock with something sticking out of it. and at first i thought it was just like, another type of rock mixed in with the red rock, but when i picked it up and looked closer, i knew what i was seeing was the back end of a fully-intact shell. and i was like, wow! i have to break this thing open. Sure I could've kept it the way it was, but i knew inside were probably layers of more shell fragments that were more interesting to look at to add to my collection. So I grabbed a hammer, and split the thing in half, and this is what i found. I'd never found anything containing a fossil fully intact before...just the ghostly remnants of an imprint of something no longer there. but look, there it is, that's a fully intact shell. how cool is that! you can see lots of other bits of imprints of shells that are no long there, too, all over the stone, which is what most of my rocks look like. But holy cow, this shell is still here. And it's not the only one. Theres a couple here and there, sticking out in different ends of the rock. I like to go out and hunt for stuff like this, because it's fun. But I never expected to find a fossil sitting in my own backyard. These are the other interesting fossils ive acquired the imprinted leaves I actually got at a festival in one of those old-fashioned towns, that kind of preserves the way it used to be when it was founded in the 1800s. The limestone to the right of it is a block of a bunch of shell fragment and coral imprints, theres a fossilized reed in there i found on my grandpas property as a little kid, and i found this one a couple years ago while camping out in the woods. anyways, i was SO super stoked about this, i just had to post something. Also I noticed my blog title was kind of similar to someone elses, so i tried changing it, but im not very creative LOL

Today I ran into some pricks that pissed me off so much I wanted to roll up and jaw check them. Sometimes when your really struggling and keep your struggle to yourself you'll run into a few of these particular people who believe because you struggle or live in poverty your at fault or you made poor choices. They believe they can say whatever they want. Be held to a different standard then working folk. It's never that simple though. While its true many people can drag themselves out of the worse situations and when many put their mind to it they can overcome, every circumstance is different. You can't paint one entire brush on a whole canvas. You're not gonna get a different color. I'm not one for excuses. If I did something wrong I can admit it. I'm the type of guy that won't ask for help if I can avoid it. When I do ask for help-and it isn't often- its a hand up. Not a hand out. But then you have these group of people who undermine the very meaning of struggle. They're so blessed with people in their life that CARRIED them or could use money carelessly without any repercussions. They'll utilize nepotism and explain to you your faults are the reason you failed in life. Nevermind they have 5 or 7 people in their life to lean on. Those of us that have to brave and endure alone when we have no one. Or someone who needs to lean on US. And when we do take the risk-the chance to reach out- we're looked at as indolent. We working people who barely make ends meet. I'm really tired of running into these sort of people. Entitled shits who think they own everyone. Or everything. Quite a few people have to adapt a survival-like mentality just to survive... but i've been told countless times by countless people people are good. You can't adapt a survival mentality and leave room for morality. That's bullshit. Only people who can do that are people who never got their hands dirty. These people I ran into today. Hell I swear. Their shit must gold.