The Boardwalk in Atlantic City, just a couple months ago. I ended up going on a road trip to NYC and since I was all the way up there I decided to stop in Atlantic City, NJ. I'm really glad that I did now. Half of the stuff I ended up taking pictures of isn't even there anymore.
I haven't seen any pictures from this part. Or if I did then maybe it looks so different that I just didn't recognize it anymore.
It really was a beautiful day at the beach.
I'm not sure what church that is, but it was really interesting looking.
I just really liked the bright colors on this building.
I saw some pictures that showed all of this fencing in a totally different area of town.
Kind of wondering if this place is still intact. I haven't seen any pictures of this building. Its right next to the beach, so it might be gone. I know one place I had lunch at before I left was wiped out.
This is a split aerial before and after in atlantic city.
that boardwalk was ripped up like toothpicks and it was strong enough for cars to drive on.
It's kind of nice to see that not everything near the beach was destroyed.
There was and still is tons of sand in the streets.
part of the boardwalk.
If you want to donate money to the Red Cross <--- click there to help with the Hurricane Sandy Relief effort. I will be donating as much as I can. Also you can buy some stickers or sunglasses <--- click there to go to my ebay account. I will be donating as much as my profits this month as I can afford to. I'm hoping to give at least 25% or more. It just depends on how many sales I make. I have posted way more items then I usually have posted at one time. So hopefully I'll be able to raise a decent amount.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
"Even if you hate me, I won't love you any less." ~Notti A friend of mine said that seemed to be a little depressing. When I asked her why she said because she didn't want to imagine anyone hating me. It really wasn't meant to seem depressing in any way. It was more of a statement of where I stand. If every I care for you or love you there isn't anything that will change the way I feel. My love is unconditional, no matter what form.
Are we human, or are we dance?
This line as most would know it as a line from a song by The Killers. It was taken from a journalist by the name of Hunter S. Thompson.
In this song, dancer is used as a metaphor for an orchestrated, rehearsed act. Something without individuality. Without emotion and in a sense a hollow act. A dancer has no room for individuality when in groups, like a person in society, they have to follow an exact pattern that everyone else does. If you have ever seen a dancer make a mistake it is very noticeable.
So when he says are we human or are we dancer, he is comparing someone who is human. Not as a species or living being, but as a quality. Human meaning emotional and individual, with the ability to think for oneself. Then the word dance is also used as a quality, not as a noun. Which is why there is no 's' at the end. Because he does not mean a bunch or group of dancers, but rather he is asking if the world is full of people with the quality of a dancer. Are we individual or are we all following an exact pattern that everyone else does in society?
For the majority I think we are dancer, but there are a rare few who chose to be free thinkers and keep their individuality. I am human.
This is my Roxy Roo.
~Notti by Nature
Sunday, September 9, 2012
The creepiest shack in the North Caroline country side. This is scary movie old.
Its all full of crap empty chemical bottles or some sort. Didn't bother looking to closely. I was afraid to touch most of the stuff on the floor. That and I was a little afraid to fall through the floor. I think a large portion of what is on the floor is part of the wall that fell in and some of the ceiling.
I kind of wonder if this was always outside or if it was in the building at any point in time. Its the country so it wouldn't surprise me if whoever lived in this building whenever it didn't look like this bathed outsdie.
Trash, branches, parts of the building.
The creepy hay rooms window were boarded up. Why would the creepy room full of hay be the one that was boarded up? This is not a place you want to end up with a stranger.
There was this wall in the hay room that was boarded up with wood that didn't match the rest of the wall. Behind the wall was this ubber creepy brick wall coar. If you were there you could tell at some point there were bricks where the opening in the brick wall is. Scary.
Lets not think about that creepy building anymore. Lets see some graffiti. Yes, that says ninja!
~Notti by Nature
If you really like my blog and want to help support some of my travels and adventures check out ebay and get some street art stickers. <--- just click there. Also if you mention this blog post I'll send you a post card from where ever I happen to be if you mention this post when you order a Notti by Nature sticker pack. (thats one of the ones that is all Notti face stickers and I <3 Notti stickers)
and this was the lake. I'm just kidding. This was a nasty green swampy thing I came across on the way to the lake. This was creepy and it smelled like foot cheese and dirty diapers. I actually went to Tucker Lake in Benson, NC. It was fantastic, there was so much to do, the water was nice and the crowds weren't to bad for labor day.
They have this amazing thing called Hexagon, this thing has tow ropes on it and it pulls you around the lake in a large Hexagon and you can wake board or knee board, out in the water there are some ramps and "rails" that you can do tricks off of. It's one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
I think I was looking pretty alright at the beach. I didn't feel over dressed, or underdressed in any way and my hair, what can I say. It was doing cute things being blown around in the wind all day.
This guy on the other hand. I think maybe he wasn't wearing quite enough. Especially considering there were lots of kids around. Not only was he wearing a speedo, but it was at least a size small on him. Thank you guy, your speedo was so tight when you stood up near me I knew for a fact that you were indeed circumcised. If you have to stop every once in a while because your wanker pokes out of your speedo its not big enough for you sir! After being accosted by this gentlemans man meat I decided to find a bit of shade farther down the beach.
This is the lovely little spot I ended up in, but this sweet spot was only visited briefly.
For this was far to hard to resist! Trampolines and water slides? I think yes. I went on the trampoline and jumped until my legs felt like jelly and I fell over at least a dozen times. If you think jumping on a trampoline is hard then this is just craziness. If you have been on one you know what I'm talking about, but if you haven't then imagine this. You are jumping on a trampoline, soaking wet while the trampoline is bouncing and moving about under you. That pyramid looking thing is also hard to climb when you are wet. I got all the way to the top and then fell off. The lake was so much fun. Jumped off the diving board, went on the rope swing, and had a great time. After the lake I went to look at houses in the area.
Unfortunately for me this run down shanty was the only one in my budget. No really, this is the only thing I could afford to buy in this area, but I didn't really look at houses to buy. Just looked around at some of the run down old houses and farms. This was my favorite one.
This one was my second favorite run down old building. It kind of reminded me of Bethel, Alaska (where I was born, if you weren't aware) except in Bethel this building would still be in use. They don't stop using buildings up there until they literally fall to the ground.
After a long day swimming I was starving. So food had to be found. This bowl of whatever is what I found. Actually this is what the person I went with had. I tried the BBQ chicken, the locals like it alot, and I would guess a lot of other people might like it. In my opinion though it had to strong of a vingar taste. I ended up just getting chicken tenders and fries. This right here in the picture though. This is brunswick stew. Its very popular in the American South I guess, no one really knows the true origin of it, there are a couple different places in the states that claim it in addition to some claim to German origins, which is where I would think something like this would start.
Anywho, brunswick stew looks nasty, smells even worse, but it is FREAKIN' AWESOME!!! If I have the time I'd like to go back to this place and have it again. Oh yeah, I didn't mention where I got it. They have this at Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q. I had never heard of it, but I guess its a small chain restaurant in North Carolina.
On the way back to Clayton from the lake there was this swimming pool with the nastiest green water in the whole world. So gross! You can't even see how bad it looks from this picture. If I can I will get a better picture of it later, but this is as close as I got before whoever lived on the property asked me what I was doing. I said I was taking pictures of the nasty pool. Then he said if I didn't get off his property there was going to be trouble. He looked pissed and serious. In a sort of scared panic I decided weirding him out was probably my best option so I half yelled in a weird voice. Play the video below to hear what I said and in what voice.
He looked more annoyed, very confused, maybe even a little scared. It worked though, he stopped coming toward me and I ran off. Sometimes my need to take pictures of things gets me in the strangest situations.
What you are about to read below is a hot mess of adorable cuteness. This is for Dawn, who has graced me with a new travel buddy. Sir William Guthrie Cunningham III. I am glad that I will not have to go on the rest of my east coast travels all by myself. Thank you Dawn for parting ways with him. He says you will be missed and he will think of you often. :)
Today we went on an adventure. It started with a great feast of sandwiches and chips. Then we ventured off from our dining place and headed for Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC. The place where the Carolina Rollergirls were going to have a bout to the death against Cincinnati, but alas we came across a rogue band of ninjas and dinosaurs. Sir William was very brave and defended us all.
When we arrived we had more troubles.We were warned via sign not to enter. Our desire to see the derby bouts though was far to great. We crashed through the fences, ignored the warnings and flags and went forth.
Sir William found us great seats, where upon it was suggested that we take a look at the little shop that was set up on the arena floor.
Oh it was such a pleasant surprise to find all things involving derby, and only derby. Helmets, skates, pads, hot pants, everything any derby player or enthusiast could ever dream of. I was also excited to know that roller skaters is all they cater too. Derby City Skates is their company name, they are amazing and really know their stuff.
One of the ladies helped me get properly fitted in to a fantastic pair of boots, pick out a really nice plate, wheels. The whole shebang. Dang do these look fantastic. I can't wait until I can see them again with the plates mounted, wheels on and on my feet again.
If I had cash in hand...lets just say I would have left broke.
Safety is sexy. Not only that, but if you have dreams of being a derby girl you will have to have all the safety gear not only to play, but to even practice with the team.
All that dream shopping was tiresome and it was very hot in the arena. So we decided to get ice cream with sprinkles. Sir William demanded all the red sprinkles as tax for having the great idea of perusing the skate table.
After we got our tasty treat we went back to our seats and enjoyed the bouts. It turns out there was no battle to the death. As interesting as that would have been I am glad no beautiful ladies were beheaded or slaughtered.
The first bout the Carolina Bootleggers handed out a major spanking. The final score was 271 to 38. In the second bout though it was not so much as a spanking as a light pat on the bum. I believe the final score was 192 to 173. The Black Sheep did not let the All Stars win it easy.
After the bouts we meandered about until we found Smoothy King. I must say blueberry banana smoothies are the best way to cool down after several hours in a hot arena. Smoothy King, Sir William hales you.
Friday, August 31, 2012
It's late August. As always I took time to remember my favorite part of the end of summer. It seemed almost as though kids that grew up in Rural Alaska got an exempt card from nature from feeling the end of summer blues. Waiting for the salmonberries to become ripe and ready for the picking was the highlight of the year. At least for me. These berries have a soft and gentle sweetness that you just can't adequately describe with words, with just a little tart bite at the end, similar to a raspberry.
So I decided to google these berries. Search after search I kept finding information on something similar to this berry, but it just wasn't the same. When I looked up salmonberries I kept finding picture after picture of a berry that was similar in color to what I knew as a salmonberry, but it was a high bush berry.
This ^ is what my searches kept coming up with. I kept thinking that can't be right. Thats not what I call a salmonberry. So I did a little searching. This high bush berry is actually a salmon berry. The berry I knew grows only a few inches off the ground.
This one right here ^, the one I grew up calling a salmonberry is known to the rest of the world as a cloudberry. How strange is that? I had also always just assumed that since no one I ever came in contact with had ever heard of this berry that it must also be only native to Alaska and Canada. I was wrong about that too. Rubus Chamaemour grows in several cold places all over the world. In Alaska and Canada (which I already knew) some places in Maine, Minnesota and a few other northern states on the east coast, Russia, Norway, Finland, Northern most parts of Asia and even occasionally in the northern parts of England. It literally grows all over the world, at least the northern regions of the world.
It is highly sought after and is considered a delicacy in every part of the world it grows in. I wonder if the people that covet this berry know how many places it actually grows in. I am guessing, like me, they probably don't and just assume it is native to their area. The cloudberry also goes by these common names, bakeapple (in Atlantic Canada), Knotberry and Knoutberry (in England) Averin and Evron (in Scotland).
Doing all this research on my favorite berry has made me want them even more. Which makes me glad that I will be in Maine in a few short weeks. I hope I can find a place that has them, or at the very least has a jam or some other preserve made from them. Dear Google, thank you. I got schooled.
One of my favorite things about going to roller derby is some of the silly things that go on there. This was at one of the Hard Knox Roller Girls bouts in Knoxville, TN. Knuckles is the dog that won the race, he is one of the mascots for HKRG. Sphere this is the other mascot. The bear is Chilly and he is the mascot for the Knoxville Ice Bears, which is a hockey team. I don't know what the sharks name is if he has one but thats a mascot for the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN. I have been out there. I'd say that is one of the best aquariums I have ever been to. I know the bee is a mascot for some radio station in knoxville, but I'm not sure which one. This is from a few weeks ago, but I figured I'd post it.
I'm in the Raleigh area in North Carolina right now. I'm excited about seeing the Carolina Rollergirls. I'll probably get some sort of video or at least some pictures when I go to that.
~Notti by Nature
Friday, August 24, 2012
This is an interesting looking building that I came across in Mr.Olive, North Carolina. I thought about tagging it myself, but sometimes I just like to leave things the way I found them. This building is for the locals. It has local character and I didn't want to change it.
~Notti by Nature
Friday, August 3, 2012
Never Stop Believing. Sometimes I think people need to be reminded of things like these. I'd mainly like people to never stop believing in themselves, but it would be nice if more people believed in humanity. Each one of us can go out every day and do one small act to make the world a little better.
“I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me. ”
I sprayed this in a few different places where I've seen people selling drugs, I'm guessing they probably wont be doing that in those spots until these get covered up.
Ready to hit the streets. If you are going to be working with spray paint for any extended period of time you should make sure you have a good respirator mask. You don't want a build up of aerosol mist in your lungs. Short term it can cause nausea, vomiting, head aches and confusion. Long term you can end up with brain damage. Its not as common, but you can also get lung infections and pneumonia. Spray safe, not stupid! ~ Notti By Nature.
