Momma & Me Sailor Bear Boy & Girl outfits *Bargain for Babies item
My First Pony – Mulan  MESH * Bargain Item

***UPDATE:  ELYSIA HAS FOUND A NEW HOME IN CALIFORNIA!

I’m so happy to introduce you to Elysia.  Elysia  is currently available directly from me for $342.00 US.  If you are interested in purchasing Elysia, please click the Buy Now Pay Pal button just above.  Clicking the button allows you sign in securely to the Pay Pal system.  If you don’t have a Pay Pal account, Pay Pal can still securely process your payment using most debit or credit cards… after clicking the Buy Now button, just choose the “Don’t have a Pay Pal Account” option.   I do not charge for shipping… that’s my gift to YOU!

Elysia is made of a wonderful fabric from Sassy Bears & Fabrics.  It’s a gorgeous shade of teal with a darker backing.  These fabrics give such a lovely dimentional effect.  Her inset muzzle and chest are made of white Sassy “cashmere,” and her rear paw pads and inner ears are a pale aqua ultra suede.

Elysia  measures in at 4 inches standing.    She has bent arms and straight legs with wire armature.   The best way to imagine the proportions of my bears is to look at the photos of them in my hand.

Elysia  has sweet blue eyes with a touch of aqua in them.  She has a stitched in undereye white accent and a sewn in upper eyelid.  She is shaded with a bit of  black around her eyes and just a hint of deeper aqua in her ears and above her nose.  dove gray around her nose, mouth and ears.  Her face has been deeply sculpted using invisible internal stitches.  Nose is stitched in teal colored silk floss.

Both her arms and legs have an internal armature that allows Tris  to hold soft poses.  You can turn her  feet out and lightly bend her wrists and elbows. She looks like such a shy little thing in the picture above!

Elysia’s neck ruff is made from white tulle.

I couldn’t help but take a photo of little Elysia with the lilacs.  They are in full bloom right now.  I think she likes them as much as I do!

As always, I’ve paid very close attention to making sure that my miniatures have all the detail and intricacy of a much larger bear.  I am also a stickler for proportion.  I really like for them to pass for a full sized artist bear until you see a  picture of one in my hand.

Tris  will arrive lovingly gift boxed and with hers own photographic Certificate of Authenticity.  Elysia is a one of a kind.  I can not and will not duplicate her.

If you have any questions, please feel free to eMail me at:

wildthymeorig@aol.com

As always, thank you for your continued interest in what I do, and thanks for taking a peek at little Elysia!

If you’ve seen your Photos on my Posts & you want some Credits, you’re definitely right here -> CREDITS.

But if your not there or you don’t want me to post your photos just message HERE, HERE & HERE then i will delete as long as you want

Thanks for Appreciations!! Love lots xx… 

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If you guys also want to re-posts my posts please do CREDIT my BLOG or my CREDITS. Because not all the photos that i posted here in my Blog is mine. And also Post/Link me back your post so i can check it out! Thanks for understanding!

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For more Awesome Photos y’all can Follow me on Polyvore [My fashion taste] also on my  Pinterest , WeHeartit, My Tumblr, My Twitter, LIKE My Facebook Page, My Fashiolista, My Deviantart and more sites to come

Check out my sites for more & Great Posts! Thanks for all the supports!

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If y’all Love to Read Stories like on Wattpad like Romance, Fan Fiction & etc… Just visit my Wattpad and y’all will see All the Stories that i made. I am good at writing story on Script layout. Hope y’all enjoy it! Thanks… Here it is my WATTPAD!

]]> http://ireneirving.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/wish-bear-with-weighting-tutorial/ Thu, 09 May 2013 17:27:19 +0000 irene http://ireneirving.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/wish-bear-with-weighting-tutorial/ http://dreamshadow59.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/let-me-pinch-your-ass/ Thu, 09 May 2013 02:58:54 +0000 dreamshadow59 http://dreamshadow59.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/let-me-pinch-your-ass/

My office doesn’t have a window, my furniture doesn’t match, and vacation has been almost entirely disallowed.

But at least I like the people I work with.

Baby T and Mr Bear first met on Christmas day and ever since, whenever Baby T has ventured out of the house, Mr Bear has followed. He has been a constant companion out of doors – hospital visits, train rides, supermarket forays, trips to the capital – from the mundane to the magnificent, Mr Bear has been at Baby T’s side.

Baby T-Bone seems to enjoy this burgeoning friendship and you will often see one or another of Mr Bear’s limbs flailing about as Baby T wrestles with him in the comfort of the pushchair, a good old game of rough and tumble. He is also keen on biting Mr Bear’s nose (something readers of the last post will note is a bit of a Baby T speciality). The two are a happy pairing; certainly from Baby T’s perspective (though he is yet to get to the stage where the occasional absence of Mr Bear is problematic).

But what about Mr Bear in all this, with his wet nose, flailing limbs and increasingly bobbly fur? This week, I’m inviting you to take a moment and consider the life of the childhood bear. The things they see, the games they play, the secrets they hear, the fun they have and the risks they run in befriending our babies and toddlers. I was reunited with my own bear from younger years recently; Barnaby, a growling Merrythought. Formerly my pride and joy, he still holds a very special place in my heart. He is beautiful. Baby T likes the look of him too, but after Barnaby nearly got covered in Baby T’s poo I’ve thought it better to keep a bit of distance between the two of them.

Anyhow, I got Barnaby when I was about 7 or 8 so he is well loved without being dogeared or ever having been lost. I fear this will not be Mr Bear’s fate. With the recent warm weather the foot muff is off the buggy and it is surely only a matter of time before Mr Bear is thrown from its cosy comfort to languish on the pavement below. But perhaps it’s not Baby T that Mr Bear or other babies’ soft companions should be worried about. No. We parents may be their biggest foe.

This weekend Daddy-O did a bad thing. He spilt coffee on Mr Bear. Poor Mr Bear – he had already been relegated to the shopping basket (face down) on our seaside stroll, Mummy K and Daddy-O fearing that he may be heading for a fall. Little did we know that worse was to come as Daddy-O knocked his cup of scalding hot black coffee all over poor, faithful Mr Bear. Thank goodness Baby T was asleep and didn’t have to witness this terrible accident. It looked something like the photo. Bad, very bad.

Photo posed by model

Thankfully though, this tale has a happy ending – a quick dab with some baby wipes and Mr Bear was as good as new… (almost, he now has a very strong coffee-aroma – he may be facing a cycle in the washing machine; again, poor thing, what did he do to deserve such suffering?) The experience got me thinking about the adventures that await Baby T and Mr Bear – will their friendship continue to blossom or might Mr Bear be trumped in Baby T’s affections by some other character – Hector the hedgehog perhaps, or some all-singing all-dancing bear such as the one we bought him this weekend? We’ll see, but I like the cut of Mr Bear’s jib and I hope he’ll long be a part of Baby T’s life, parental clumsiness permitting!

Special thanks to “Brave to Just Be Me” at Tumblr

Every child’s spring should jump in puddles, play in the wind, involve something with baseball,  and watch for birds and flowers to return.

I enjoy each of those things, but one holds a special place in my heart. Baseball! A few years back, we wanted to attend opening day festivities for the Minnesota Twins when they were still playing in the Metrodome. Sadly, my husband was travelling, and it was too overwhelming to make the six hour round trip during the middle of the week with, at the time, three small children.  I had long, sad faces.  The kind of faces where suddenly you realize your children could be eyelash models.

During the day I hatched a plan that I thought would be the best alternative given the circumstances.  I sent everyone out to play when we arrived home from school, under the guise that they needed to enjoy the beautiful day.  I reassured them I would call them in when supper was ready. While they were outside playing, I stripped beds and dug out every white sheet and chair that we owned.  When called in for supper, they arrived to find our living room transformed into the Metrodome West, replete with hot dogs and popcorn.  We spent the most magical evening watching the game, and enjoying the fact that at our Metrodome, you could lay on the floor.

I was reminded of that magical time when last Friday evening, I watched my youngest start hauling one blanket at a time up the stairs while I was busy organizing in the basement.  My husband, eyebrows raised, asked,  “What are you doing with all these blankets and when are you going to pick all that up?” Her swift response mentioned that she was having a meeting with her stuffies.

As a true connoisseur of blanket forts, I knew exactly what the twinkle in her eye meant.  Being the youngest and the only one home that evening, she was creating her own fun.  There was a party (which actually had some serious conversation) going on between one little curly-headed girl and a whole bunch of stuffed animals, snuggled safely in the confines of their fleecy abode.

Eventually, my freckled-face sweetie emerged with the results of the meeting.  The item on the agenda was who among them would be able to attend the school field trip to the Teddy Bear Clinic. Enter the music and words from the Charlie Brown special where Snoopy wants to visit the little girl in the hospital.  Only one stuffie allowed!  Would it be Joe, the teddy bear who saw a sweet little girl through nights of terrors after her brother was killed, but who has a penchant for mischief?  Would it be Bacon, the pig, who loved a little girl at grief camp and who has a secret life as a superpig? How about Reed-y bear made from her brother’s clothes?   Or Pork Chop, another pig who came home with us after a swim meet and likes to lounge by bedroom windows? The only catch for tomorrow’s field trip is the stuffie might get a shot and possibly a cast. After a lengthy discussion, a decision had been made.

Curled up in my arms, she confided only Reed-A-Cheetah, who teaches others about loving in the face of tragedy, was brave enough to go on the adventure. Right there with those tiny arms wrapped in mine, messes didn’t matter, because I knew that imaginations were alive and well. Mine was the only house on the block with a VIP board room, and more importantly, one stuffy brave enough to protect little girls lives here.

The 20-year show biz veteran was casual and comfortable in his New York Knicks t-shirt as we sat down to talk about his career, his favorite music and movies, and most importantly… his penis.

It is worth noting… David Krumholtz is a pretty weird guy.

Like the wry, sarcastic, Jewish older brother I never had, Krumholtz spent our time together going back and forth between replying earnestly… and completely fucking with me.

When I joked about his Jewish mother possibly being the reason for avoiding his own stunts in 10 Things I Hate About You, he jumped all over it. “She said, ‘You know what? You got a long career ahead of you kid, because you’re extremely talented.’ And she was right… so yeah I didn’t do my own stunts. And thank goodness because now I am able to provide mirth to the world.”

It’s probably a good thing. Based on the coordination of the Chosen People, he might not have survived to go on to be the lovable miser that he is today.

We spoke about his experiences working on the 2004 bio-pic Ray and observing Jamie Foxx turn in an Academy Award winning performance.

“Yeah it was cool, man. He actually had prosthetic eyelids put over his eyes so he couldn’t see. Jamie Foxx is a really sweet and funny guy. It was just cool to be a part of something like that.”

It was around this moment of sincerity that the conversation really went completely off the rails.

After sharing with me some of his favorite movies (Coming to America and The Tree of Life) and his favorite musical artists (Wu-Tang Clan and Led Zeppelin), Krumholtz started to really dig deep in order to describe his true artistic passions.

“I listen to the silent hum of my penis, every… fucking… night. And that is the music, that gets me through the hard times.”

Clearly the Hollywood humorist is comfortable talking about his schvantz… but what about other bedroom topics?

When I commented on the great career he has had despite his own joking, he upped the ante. “Yes, I’m unbelievably successful. I’ve had many women… want to do things to me.”

“I have shit on the faces of many famous actresses during sex.”

He went on to assure me, “You’d be surprised how many of your famous, headlining, top card actresses… like to get shit on… in their face… by someone like me.”

He proudly claimed that he had “garnered the reputation as the shitter of the (Apatow) group.”

“I’m the shitter. Jonah Hill’s the pisser. Seth (Rogen) will vomit on you. Jason Segel is the bleeder, which no one likes. Jay (Baruchel) will squirt, because Jay has a vagina. And Paul Rudd lactates.”

It was like I was getting to know all my favorite comedic actors personally! Who knew that “Paul Rudd’s milk is sweet?”

It was at this point that someone, overhearing our conversation, started to question what I was going to do with this information. Dave and I assured her that we went to the same synagogue and there needn’t be a cause for concern.

As things wound down and he reminded me that he didn’t want me stalking him. “I want nothing to do with you after this interview. This is the end.”

It was pretty fitting finale to our time together considering he will appear along side the rest of the Apatow/Stoller/Goldberg crew this June in This Is The End (in theatres June 12^th).

Krumholtz’s responses to my prodding were generally the ravings of a lunatic, but there was one thing he said that I believe sums his career up nicely.

“On my tombstone, I think it will read, ‘I sneak up on you.’”

He was referring to his quietly successful career. Though, after this interview, I fear that one day he really might actually sneak up on me… possibly with his dick out.

You can and should see Dave Krumholtz in Teddy Bears, premiering June 1^st at the Seattle International Film Festival and in Numb3rs, now available on Netflix.

And remember to occasionally look over your shoulder.

FOSTER WILL BE MAKING HIS WAY TO CALIFORNIA VERY SHORTLY!

I’m so pleased for you to meet Foster.  A one of a kind artist teddy bear in miniature.     Foster is currently available directly from me for $342.00 US.  If you are interested in purchasing Foster, please click the Buy Now Pay Pal button just above.  Clicking the button allows you sign in securely to the Pay Pal system.  If you don’t have a Pay Pal account, Pay Pal can still securely process your payment using most debit or credit cards… after clicking the Buy Now button, just choose the “Don’t have a Pay Pal Account” option.   I do not charge for shipping… that’s my gift to YOU!

Foster is made from a gorgeous longer pile fabric that has a lovely sheen to it.  It’s a soft tan, with long guard hairs.  Foster has an inset muzzle and inner ears made from cream micro plush.

Foster measures in at 4 and 1/2 inches standing.  He has bent arms and straight legs with wire armature.   The best way to imagine the proportions of my bears is to look at the photos of them in my hand.

Foster has soft gray-blue eyes with an undereye white accent and a sewn in upper eyelid.  He is shaded with a bit of deep chocolate brown around his eyes, nose and inner ears.  His face has been deeply sculpted using invisible internal stitches.

Both her arms and legs have an internal armature that allows Foster  to hold soft poses.  You can turn his  feet out and lightly bend his wrists and elbows.  His rear paw pads have tiny toes that have been stitched and shaded.  Foster does not have front paw pads.

Foster’s neck ruff is constructed out of a pretty silk bias cut ribbon which I’ve gathered and ruched.  The ribbon is a lovely mix of cornflower blue, turquoise and teal.  His ruff is not designed to be removable.

As always, I’ve paid very close attention to making sure that my miniatures have all the detail and intricacy of a much larger bear.  I am also a stickler for proportion.  I really like for them to pass for large bears until you see a  picture of one in my hand.

Foster will arrive lovingly gift boxed and with his own photographic Certificate of Authenticity.

If you have any questions, please feel free to eMail me at:

wildthymeorig@aol.com

As always, thank you for your continued interest in what I do, and thanks for taking a peek at little Foster!

Playing with puppies
Skipping across ropes
Splashing in the rain
Flying paper planes.

Collecting shells
Sleeping with teddy bears
Impervious to bruises and pain
Chasing paper planes.

White coat and sham syringes
Chalk and wooden rulers
Mashed biscuits and melted chocolates
Black grease and screw-drivers.

It’s not about engineer, doctor, teacher or chef
but about seeking, about falling and rising.
It’s not ‘what’ but about ‘how’ we dream
all of which began with Paper Planes.

]]> http://aixarica.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/488/ Fri, 03 May 2013 13:36:52 +0000 Arica http://aixarica.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/488/ http://stargiftshop.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/mothers-day-gifts/ Thu, 02 May 2013 00:05:10 +0000 stargiftshop http://stargiftshop.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/mothers-day-gifts/ http://chicagobearsstudycasepack7salevi.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/nfl-chicago-bears-4pk-study-kit-case-pack-96/ Wed, 01 May 2013 04:47:02 +0000 claudelleizr002123 http://chicagobearsstudycasepack7salevi.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/nfl-chicago-bears-4pk-study-kit-case-pack-96/ You can buy !Nfl, Chicago Bears 4Pk Study Kit Case Pack 96 here. yes, we have “!Nfl, Chicago Bears 4Pk Study Kit Case Pack 96″ for sale. You can buy !Nfl, Chicago Bears 4Pk Study Kit Case Pack 96 Shops & Purchase Online.

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Nfl, Chicago Bears 4Pk Study Kit On Blister Card” Case Pack 96 Please note: If there is a color/size/type option, the option closest to the image will be shipped (Or you may receive a random color/size/type).

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“In a world where everyone seems to be larger and louder than yourself, it is very comforting to have a small, quiet companion.”
-Peter Gray

 It’s about having a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and most importantly, a beautiful soul. 

Well, here goes

I have been ordered to write this blog (lol) as having bit of lousy time and feeling deflated at the moment.

So, just like Peter Pan needs happy thoughts to fly, I need happy thoughts to bring a smile to my face.

These are not just happy thoughts and memories but things I like aswell.

1: Blossom on trees

2: White sandy beaches (ooh holiday dreaming) (large glass of something cool)

3: Fresh Bedding

4: Smell of fresh baked bread (yum)

5: Old musicals (love them)

6: The smell of proper fresh ground coffee ( just don’t make me drink it ) bleurgh

7: Crackling log fires

8: Fresh baking

9: Christmas

10: Ballet

11: Fresh cut grass ( lovely smell, does nothing for hayfever)

12: remembering holidays

13: Hugs

14: Teddy bears ( bit of a collection). Ssssshhhh

15: Comedy’s (we all need a giggle)

16: Chocolates.   ( should be first)  oink oink

I think this list is making me hungry, all I can smell is bread and cakes….yum yum

Might have to watch a film, maybe a musical so I can sing……… Apologies if it rains…..

I have a smile on my face and a gurgling tummy ( mmmmm food)

These are a few of my favourite things……..oooh might have to watch the sound music (fave)

Yep…need to have a sing song

Edited with BlogPad Pro

I worry about T. I really do.

Two slices of cold pepperoni and anchovy pizza, one more beer, and the upload went through. I shut my computer down, brushed my teeth, and curled up alone in my motel bed with both pillows hugged up under my head.

Wished you would txt again to ask to catch up for a coffee one day. Told myself if you did, I’d txt back with a ‘No.’ and hit send before I could backspace the full stop and add ‘thanks, but maybe next time.’

I didn’t get any sleep, but I had a dream that I can’t remember. I know I can’t remember it because I’m sure I was on one of my harder walks (I always climb something when I walk in my dreams, and manage to not fall off it) when my phone rang to ask me how soon I could be at the meeting place.

I’d already handed the key back in, and the engine was running. I cancelled my coffee and made straight for the sale yard.

Why do you always turn up on my walk — you and I OK with each other — smiling with me like what happened never happened?

You should have seen the cotton growing up against the bales, or the tree beside the highway with all the teddy bears nailed like Koalas to it. I swung up a private driveway and parked across the gate; collected balls of cotton from the highway in my yellow hi-vis shirt.

Still felt too embarrassed to take a picture of it with all the trucks and traffic coming past.

It never bothered me before that you didn’t go for teddy bears.

The first bear I completed was Molly bear, she was hard work, especially as her clothes were knitted  in 4ply (seemed to take forever to knit up) but I was pleased with the result. She stands at 18 inches with floppy leg joints so she can sit in any position. She’s dressed (clothes are removable) in stripey polo neck jumper, lilac shorts and little white ankle socks and pink shoes with a stripey bow.

Next to be completed was Joey Bear.

He’s a small bear standing at 8 inches. Quick to knit up as his body including the shoes are knitted in one piece and he comes dressed in some baggy overalls ready for play.

After knitting Joey had to knit a girl teddy to keep him company, so Hannah bear was created using the same pattern

Both teddies and clothes are knitted in DK with white ankle socks knitted in for Hannah.  The dress was fun to do, it is an eyelet pattern in yellow yarn with green trim to match her shoes, so she looks like she is in her Sunday best.

I love the way these little bears take on a character all of their own despite being knitted up from the same pattern, something that doesn’t happen with the commercially mass produced bear. Well maybe I’m just prejudiced here!

Last bear to be finished was Matty bear, yes these bears are named after my grown up children.

Matty is a very different type of bear, based on a Classic Teddy design he measures in at 14 inches. He is knitted in a chunky merino yarn in toffee and cream which is lovely and soft, making him a very cuddly bear and a  smart one in his waistcoat.

It has been a busy few weeks, just hope they become toys to treasure. Shall give my hands a rest for a few days and plan what to do in May!

Yup. It’s gonna be huge. Then I looked up the competition again. They’re giving away 100 of these things a week. A HUNDRED. That means we’re all going to win one. It also means it’s more likely that it’s going to look like this:

I don’t mind. A win’s a win. This is a lie. I mind a great deal. Still, I have two babies under two, so I’m sure that it’ll be well loved when it arrives.

My last win was on March 18th. That was the longest prize drought since I started this venture. The prize was a day pass for a soft play centre (Gambados) in Glasgow. I received the confirmation email, but then heard nothing at all. I’ve had to email them back two or three times, but still no joy. Finally, my wife contacted them directly today and we’ve been advised that the pass will be posted out. It’ll be fun for the kids when we get it, but it feels a bit crappy that you have to chase someone for a prize. It’s like having to remind a friend to bring around your own birthday present. It’s a gift – give it to me!

Quick question – do many of you use adblocker and form fillers to help you complete competitions? I know that, if you use a combination of the two, you can very quickly go through competitions on websites that force you to complete surveys. If anyone’s interested, I could put a tutorial online to show you what I do…

Thanks to those of you who have given me such a warm welcome on Twitter (@PostmanSpotting). Follow me if you’d like to hear similar nonsense to that which you find here.

The children, awake as they shake stillness from their wooden cots,
Hide remnants of their ignorance, beneath the tangled threads of a shagged sheet.
Through the holes of what once a stranger’s robe,
Unfamiliar, yet the only family they’ve ever known,
Their eyes fixate on the twinkling sky; the only time their heads held high.
And the stars in splendor catch their disillusioned gaze,
As they reminisce a light that once was.

The children, who never sleep, would watch, watch the scarlet streamers
Dance, leap across the crooked cracks as the fiery pit awaits its cue.
The roof, heavy with miseries, stretches its arms to embrace them,
Falling into the blackness of their eyes, it falls forever.

In their beds, warm for the first time, a warmth they never knew existed,
They burn––quietly, content, alone––
Their only comfort; teddy bears with broken arms.

And for once the pain of internal wounds cease their pounding.

© Copyright – All rights reserved – Melindafoshat.wordpress.com – April 21, 2013

I remember back in the office jillibee (bear) was the bear that was always kidnapped .. fun memories for sure he helps me relieve my stress at work by just staying by my side for me to hug .. one of  the things i like to collect ♥

“bears were created to protect you from monsters specially in your sleep.”

#bearlove #gift #huggies

I was pretty sad. I drove home and stayed there for a couple of hours but I felt restless. I decided to get in my car and just drive. It was only after I was on I-95 that I decided to head to Baltimore. It was the city where I was originally born and I lived the first five years of my life until my parents decided to move to nearby Glen Burnie (where I spent the rest of my childhood and teen years until I went to the University of Maryland).

I drove to the North Linthicum light rail station and took the light rail into the city. (It’s cheaper than the parking garages in Baltimore.) I initially went to Harborplace where I ate a late lunch at a Johnny Rockets then walked around, where I took these pictures. I hadn’t been in Harborplace in several months but I was pleasantly surprised to find a store that’s dedicated to McCormick’s spices. While I can get most of the spices in my local supermarket, there were a few spices I hadn’t seen before like cocoa chili powder.

Harborplace also had this general store that engaged in a bit of seafood humor.

I saw these interesting egg people in the windows of H & M.

I can remember when the second floor of the Light Street Pavilion used to be full of mainly fast food outlets (some were national chains like Subway while others were locally owned yet provided quick meals like hamburgers and fried chicken), small boutiques, and Hooters restaurant. That pavilion has been renovated and only Hooters remains in its original place. Everything else that was on the second floor has been replaced with just two businesses—the second floor of the H & M store and a new attraction that has opened at Harborplace over the past year: Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium.

I can remember when I once visited a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum that is located on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland a few years ago. I went with my now-ex-husband, his sister, her then-teenaged son, and one of her son’s friends who came along with the family on that trip. We went to the museum on a night when we planned on visiting the Boardwalk but it rained so we decided to go to the museum instead. Since I saw the Ocean City one, I decided to check out the Baltimore version just for the heck of it.

Like its Ocean City counterpart, the Baltimore location has a main museum (known as the Odditorium) that features all kinds of oddities. I took a photo of a few of them but there were a lot of oddities that were crammed in that museum. The one advantage of visiting the Odditorium on a weekday afternoon during the school year was that it was mostly empty so I was able to help myself to the hands-on activities that the museum provided. (I can imagine that those activities would be crowded with kids on weekends and during the summer.) I had a good time viewing all of these oddities, including the ones I photographed.

This large statue of a penny was created using actual pennies.

The giant green circle in the nex photo is an actual jade coin! The sign invited the public to touch it for good luck. I did so in the hopes that my current bad luck will change for me soon.

The next photo shows a typical room in the Odditorium. As you can see, each room was crammed with an oddity. By the way, that statue of the tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur in the center of the room was made from the foil that wraps Pop Tarts.

The most memorable part of the Odditorium was the numerous models of buildings that were created from matchsticks. Those matchstick buildings included Hogwarts Academy (from the Harry Potter books and movies), the Sydney Opera House, the World Trade Center in New York City (prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001), the St. Louis Gateway Arch, the Eiffel Tower, and the Washington Monument.

The entire Ripley’s attraction had three components. I only saw the Odditorium one since it’s the main part of the facility. There is also a mirror maze and a 4D moving movie theater but those other features cost extra so I didn’t check them out. (I’ll probably check out the 4D moving movie theater at a later date since you can visit that one separately without having to tour the entire Odditorium again.)

After the Odditorium, I walked over to the Pratt Street Pavilion where I visited It’s Sugar, which is basically a candy store on steroids. There are so many different types of candy on sale there that anyone who’s a total sugar addict could easily drop a lot of money buying huge amounts of candy.

It’s Sugar also sells candy and treats in giant sizes, which would appeal to parties, large families, or people with huge appetites. One example is this giant 2 pound version of Rice Krispies and marshmallow squares.

The store had underwear made from candy.

It’s Sugar had a few non-edible items on sale, such as these teddy bears from last year’s R-rated hit movie Ted.

After visiting It’s Sugar I walked out of the Pratt Street Pavilion and towards the Power Plant, where I saw this artist at work.

I also saw a display announcing the creation of a new monument in Baltimore dedicated to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

After a brief stop at the Barnes & Noble store in the Power Plant, I walked on towards the nearest bus stop on the Charm City Circulator’s Green Route. I walked towards the area where Baltimore’s long-notorious red-light district known as The Block is located. One pretty amusing irony: There’s a church located just around the corner (note the cross-shaped sign on the left side of the photo below) from one of the less-than-reputable businesses located in The Block.

Here’s another shot of The Block. I have to admit that The Block has managed to maintain its seedy reputation while other cities have managed to eliminate their red-light districts through urban renewal. (For example, if you really want to know what Times Square in New York City was like before Disney, Sanrio, and other companies moved in, I highly recommend that you rent either Urban Cowboy or Taxi Driver.) The porn theaters and strip clubs managed to stay in business all these years despite the rise of home video and Internet porn.

The Charm City Circulator’s Green Route was located just a stone’s throw away from The Block. I saw this one woman waiting at the same stop who dressed like she was a hooker. (I had no idea if she was a prostitute who had just gone off-duty and was waiting for the bus to take her home or if she was a woman who was just wearing a sexy outfit for the heck of it. I had no intention of asking her either.) Eventually the bus that I was waiting for arrived and I boarded it. I rode it until it reached Fells Point, where I got off.

It has been at least five or six years since I last visited Fells Point so it was really nice to be able to visit the area again. I knew I was in Fells Point when I saw the sign for Bertha’s, a seafood restaurant which is an institution there. (It’s not unusual to see cars in the Baltimore-Washington area with bumper stickers that says "Eat Bertha’s Mussels.")

I was happy that I had another chance to visit the Sound Garden, a music store that has gotten write-ups in national publications like Rolling Stone magazine. At that store one could find not only current hit CD’s but also music from relatively obscure artists. The store also sells vinyl records and DVD’s. I used to tell my husband "One of these days I gotta get you to the Sound Garden." (I’ve visited that store previous times on my own.) I knew he would’ve loved that store. However we never got our act together so we never visited Fells Point together so I never got a chance to introduce my husband to that store. Now that we’re divorced, I’ll never introduce him to that store. Oh well. It’s his loss since he’s the one who wanted this divorce.

The next two signs are of an art gallery (charmingly named How Great Thou Art) that had a cool looking sign and an outdoor art piece dedicated to the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

Another art gallery displayed this painting on its outside wall next to the gallery entrance. It’s Edgar Degas’ Before the Race. It’s pretty unusual to see a painting permanently hung outdoors.

I walked past this empty storefront that had this sign that made me glad. Kilwin’s is opening in Baltimore soon. I’ve visited the Kilwin’s that’s located in Melbourne, Florida when I visited the area twice with my ex-husband and I wrote positive praises of the place each time. (You can read them here and here.) When I saw Kilwin’s for the first time, I assumed that it was a locally-owned Melbourne store. I first realized that there was Kilwin’s in other places when I went to the shopping area in Annapolis and I saw a Kilwin’s there. (Since I took that photo below, I learned that a new Kilwin’s had just opened near the church where I attend my weekly support group meeting for people who are separated or divorced. I can now visit Kilwin’s without having to travel to Melbourne, Baltimore, or Annapolis. I now have a new temptation to resist each week. LOL!)

I ate dinner at Brick Oven Pizza, which probably ranks among my favorite pizza parlor. It’s a locally owned mom-and-pop place and what’s really cool is that you can order pizza with all kinds of toppings, including ones that aren’t commonly found in other pizza places (such as spam). I used to tell my husband about this place and how I loved for the two of us to eat one meal there. My husband once even toyed with the idea of the two of us spending a weekend in Fells Point where we would go shopping, eat at local establishments, and go drinking in some of the many bars and pubs in the area but I only heard him mention the idea once or twice and we never acted on it. Now that we’re divorced, my ex-husband will have to go there on his own (or with that other woman he left me for) if he wants to experience the place.

After divorce court this morning but before I headed to Baltimore, I changed clothes into something more casual including this t-shirt that I purchased at Katsucon two months ago that says "Hedgehogs: Why Don’t They Just Share the Hedge?"

That t-shirt was a definite conversation starter at Brick Oven Pizza since the woman who took my order noticed it and we ended up in a conversation about our pets (including my hedgehog and her dog and cat). She had so many funny antecdotes about the antics of her pets that I suggested that she start a blog about them. I think she would get readers, especially if she included photos.

After dinner I walked over towards the Broadway Market where there was an announced meeting I learned via Facebook. Members of Occupy Baltimore and Luminous Intervention announced this joint action where they were doing a public debut of this new video game called Tax Evaders. People were instructed to meet about a block from the place where the video game would be debuted in order to not arouse the suspicions of the local authorities. One of the organizers pointed where we would walk to once the organizers finished with setting up the equipment. That person pointed in the direction of this wall mural that looked so nice that I took a photo of it.

A portion of the wall mural spilled over to this Bank of America building, where we would ultimately meet.

Once the equipment was set up, we walked over to the parking lot in the back of the Bank of America building where activists had set overhead equipment where the video game was shown on the side of the building. The location was selected because Tax Evaders skewers those rich mega-corporations who have gotten away with paying little to no taxes—including Bank of America.

The activists managed to rig the video game with the X-Box Kinnect so people can play the game using their whole bodies as the controller.

I saw the video game in action and I was impressed. I was too tired to play the game myself because of all the walking I did plus showing up in divorce court early in the morning. I took a few still photos with the Canon camera but then switched to the video camera in my smartphone because I realized that video was a better way to show how the whole display worked. Here’s a short video of what the whole set-up was like.

If you like what you see in both the photos and video, you can play the video game yourself online right here.

After seeing that video game, I walked a few blocks to the nearest stop on the Charm City Circulator’s Orange Route. I boarded the bus then got off at a stop that was closest to a light rail stop. I then took the light rail back to the North Linthicum stop (where my car was parked) and drove home. I was totally exhausted and drained by everthing that went on that day so I basically went to bed when I got home.