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royal & langnickel

To fill out my brush roster, I ordered a 7-pack of Royal & Langnickel brushes for $5.50. When it arrived, the pouch was hanging open and most of the brushes had fallen out in transit. Only 3 were left. I thought about getting a refund, but Walmart’s return policy requires me to physically retur...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - Aug. 18, 2025

watercolor arc

Currently going through a watercolor arc. It happened like this: In March, the monthly medium for the Habitica art group was watercolors. I decided to try it out and bought a cheap Cotman watercolor set with 12 color “bricks” and a brush. I had no idea what I was doing. Hadn’t done any form of paint...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - Aug. 14, 2025

candy-colored storefronts

So I mentioned the candy-colored storefronts in Ireland. Generally, the body of the building is painted one solid color, with trim (e.g., windowsills and doorframes) in a secondary color, and possibly a tertiary color. Mid-trip, I started recording the more interesting color combinations I saw. Some...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - Aug. 10, 2025

retrospective on belfast

I’m not blind: I know we were fed a bunch of propaganda on our Belfast black cab tour. Like, I have no doubt everything Eamonn said was true. We saw a Protestant neighborhood honoring a militia commander and glorifying Oliver Cromwell’s slaughter of Catholics. We also saw a Catholic neighborhood whe...

Comments: 3 Words: 253

Achaius (Lvl. 46) - Aug. 8, 2025

noodles

It’s just one of those days. I left the office to get lunch (drunken noodles at the Thai place down the block) and when I came back, I just stood at the security turnstile like a lump. Not moving. Waiting for the plexiglass doors to swing open. After an awkwardly long time I remembered you have to s...

Comments: 0 Words: 208

Achaius (Lvl. 46) - Aug. 6, 2025

uncrowned

Okay, vacation’s over. Time for random dental emergency. To back up, for roughly 10 days before the start of my vacation, I’d been getting a foul taste in my mouth at random intervals every few hours. Couldn’t figure out what it was. At one point I thought it was water contamination, but that wasn’t...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - Aug. 2, 2025

war and peace

Belfast still bears the scars of the past. I vaguely knew this, but didn't realize how deep they run or how many people see it as an active ongoing conflict. We got an exclusive black cab tour of West Belfast. Actually I'm not sure what was "black cab" about it...it was in an unmarked gray van and t...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - July 31, 2025

giant's causeway

Another day in Northern Ireland, with the Union Jack and the Red Hand of Ulster flying from the flagpoles. The towns here feel different. Less candy-colored, more somber and worn down. "IRA" and "End internment" scrawled on walls. Today we went to the Giant's Causeway, an incredibly cool formation o...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - July 30, 2025

the old days, the old war

Yesterday we went to a museum dedicated to recording and preserving methods of craft from old rural Ireland. The farmers back then lived hardscrabble lives and were incredibly resourceful with the little they had. They made ropes and chairs and thatched roofs from straw, baskets and cradles from ree...

Comments: 0 Words: 507

Achaius (Lvl. 46) - July 29, 2025

a dog's day

It's sheepdog day!! but first, Kylemore Abbey The abbey was located in a castle manor. Now, there's castles and castles. Cahir Castle is like a fort taken by orcs three eps before the Battle of Helm's Deep. Kylemore Castle is like the setting for some trending YA romantasy with a rakish dissolute y...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - July 27, 2025

by the grace of saint brigid (the tale of dave)

We began with a brief stop at Saint Brigid's Well. It's an active shrine frequented by pilgrims; Dave said a group is coming this Sunday. The pilgrims recite a chant and walk five times sunwise around the statue of Brigid. (Quick quiz: Imagine a bridge. Now imagine yourself on the island countercloc...

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Achaius (Lvl. 46) - July 26, 2025

for sale 52br 10b

We went to Killarney National Park for more breathtaking mountain views and a horse-drawn carriage ride around the Muckross House and Friary/Abbey grounds. (My phone wants to correct "horse-drawn" to "horse-dragon." Not this time, phone.) The horse's name was Scooter. "He's the fastest horse we have...

Comments: 3 Words: 667

Achaius (Lvl. 46) - July 25, 2025

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