Tag Archives: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

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Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

There are so many physical places I wish still existed!

When I was a kid, there was a dollar theatre in one of the towns we moved to. I believe it closed down a year or two after we arrived there, but for a little while we could see older movies there for only $1 per person.

I miss record stores, too. They were a great place to browse and find new music. The one I visited was always playing various records as background music, so you could also discover new artists and songs just by asking the employees what was currently playing.

Chain bookstores still exist in my city, but many secondhand, niche, and indie bookstores have long since shut down, especially since 2020. You could find so many unique books in them, and they had a much calmer ambiance than the places that also sold, say, home decor and candles.

Now some clothing stores are sadly disappearing, too. One of the ones I shopped at for many years is trying to get all of their customers to order online, so I’ve switched to other stores that have my size in stock so I can see how clothes fit and feel before buying them. Clothing and shoes are two things I avoid ordering online due to how much variation there can be in size and feel from one brand to the next. There is no consistency there.

When I was a teenager, I used to walk laps in the mall with my friends. From what I’ve read, many of today’s teens don’t do that much anymore because some malls no longer allow unaccompanied minors in them and because parenting standards for when kids should be allowed to go out by themselves have shifted in many families.

Some of the malls in my city are busy, but others are terribly quiet or have even shut down. I wish the culture would shift back to a time when it was okay for teens to hang out at malls when they’re not in school. There’s nothing wrong with online interactions, but I think many people of all ages could do with more in-person socializing as well.

These are a few of the places I miss. How about all of you?

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

I thought all of these videos were amusing and worth checking out, and I’m including a few caveats for those of you who might need them:

Learn to Solve an Integral (A Calculus Parody of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful”) AP Calculus BC.

This is Mitchell Gaiser‘s only video ever on YouTube which definitely makes this unique. You don’t need to know anything about boy bands or calculus in order to enjoy it.

What Free Range Chickens Actually Look Like 

Farming While Beige posts videos about raising chickens, eating eggs and chickens, sustainable agriculture, social justice, and similar topics on his channel. (This particular video does not include any political content, but some of his other videos do for anyone reading this who prefers to avoid such topics). It’s simply about the reality of raising thousands of free range birds on a small farm. For example, he shows how he feeds his birds and where they spend their days.  I love his dry sense of humour.

Cucumber Ice Cream from 1885 

Tasting History is a cook who makes old recipes from just about any culture or historical era you can think of, includes combinations of flavours that most people in modern times have probably not tried. It’s such a fun way to explore history and learn a little about the many generations that have come before us.

The Powerful Way Kids Understand Medical Trauma

Dr. Bayo shares all sorts of educational videos about health, medical care, chronic illness, and similar topics. I loved seeing her commentary on this video that showed how child directed medical play can help kids process the emotional side of cancer treatments. The little girl in it is adorable and handling her treatments well.

Edgar Allen Poe Reads His Hatemail 

Eleanor Morton has created satirical and other types of comedic videos for years. This video does not include any political content, but she does occasionally poke fun at political figures from the U.K., the U.S. and other countries elsewhere on her account, so once again viewer beware if you avoid that stuff. I think her literary skits are her best ones, so keep an eye out for her C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien content in particular if you want to do a deep dive on her.

Things My Third Graders Said to Me This Week (Last Week of School)

Keldric Holmes is a third-grade teacher who shares a weekly top-ten list of things his students say to him during the school year. His students are brutally honest and hilarious in the way that only kids can be. Do note that there are occasional and brief references to possibly triggering things like drug use, body shaming, domestic violence, negative talk about food, weight, and diet, etc because not all kids are fortunate enough to grow up in safe and appropriate homes.  They clearly love Mr. Holmes, though, and most of their comments are about silly kid logic as opposed to heavier subjects.

Lawn Bubble.

James Callender found a gigantic bubble of water underneath his grass in July of 2015, so obviously he decided to try to pop it. Clink on the link above to see if he succeeded.

Cat in a Heated Blanket.

Lacy Babcock seems to have stopped making YouTube videos about five years ago. This is the only video I’ve seen from her again, but it includes a cat who has reached peak levels of coziness thanks to a heated blanket.  As someone who has essentially no experience with cats, I never would have guessed one would make this much noise out of what I presume is deep happiness.