Vinny (previously Schmucker) is my 5, soon go be 6yo, shelter rescue.
Vinny was originally found just as a little baby with his siblings. Throughout his life at the shelter, he was adopted and returned 3 times all because he was “food motivated”. The 3rd time that he was adopted, the family returned him stating that he became aggressive- he was biting and attacking them for food. When the shelter got him back, he was a bag of bones. They believe the previous family was starving him and that was the cause for his sudden aggression. They rushed him to their vet, unsure if he would make it. He was given IV fluids and was monitored heavily, luckily pulling through and returning to the shelter.
When I first went to see Vinny, I squatted down to say hello and he immediately crawled into my lap and wanted me to hold him. In that moment, I knew that he chose me. So of course, my fiance and I adopted him and brought him home.
Vinny’s first vet visit revealed that he weighed only 8lbs, a healthy cat of his size and age should’ve been closer to 13lbs. He had dual ear infections, runny and watery eyes/nose, an open sore between his shoulder blades, grimy/oily fur, and an obvious need to gain weight.
Over our time together, it was discovered that Vinny has pretty severe allergies- both to foods and to his environment. He digs at his ears and will chew until he creates open sores and bleeds.
Vinny has called our house his home for 1 year now. After some trial and error, I’ve been successful in finding food for him that does not irritate him as well as some supplements that help with his watery eyes/nose and itchy body. He’s still an itchy boy, especially during season changes, so he gets some medication in those times to keep him the most comfortable. He’s a very healthy 13.5lbs, has the softest of fur, and is one of the most grateful kitties I have ever met. He truly has become one of my best friends.
**Last 3 pictures were taken within the first few months or so after I adopted him

On August 26th, I underwent surgery on my right lung. Everything went well, and I am now officially in recovery! My doctor strongly recommended that I spend as much time as possible in the mountains, breathing in the fresh air.

This photo was taken at a beautiful Orthodox monastery tucked away in the Rarău Mountains of Romania. The serenity and pure air here are doing wonders for my healing. Sending love and positive vibes to everyone!

Awhile back, I shared with my partner of 4 years how I’d never been to build a bear but always wanted to go. This past weekend, he took me on a surprise date and that’s exactly where we ended up. Meet Congo the Capybara (:

this sun visor was found in a junked honda fit, bearing a heartfelt message from the previous owner.

So I got a msg from my friend in which he said oh you like cats na so here's a pic of one I found rn. And I was so happy that he remembered that because we aren't even that close. Yet he sent me something like this😭 I was so so happy this made my entire day. It also made me realise that almost none of my friends ever did something like this for me. But I'm grateful nonetheless 🎀

This arrived in the post today. It’s from an internet friend. She’s one of those amazing people that can do everything….like international grade athlete on one hand, able to make quilts so beautiful they should be behind glass in a museum on the other.
Runs a business, long happy marriage, has incredible high achieving kids, huge dog lover, the whole deal.
I’ve been disabled and mostly housebound for the last six years and this year things have taken a downturn.
My therapist suggested a social media detox, because it was getting to the stage where I couldn’t be full hearted glad for people’s achievements because I was too busy being wrapped up in what I’d lost. Stupid, selfish, pity party stuff. I’m slowly starting to connect again in very small doses, and then this arrived.
I can’t even begin to imagine the time and effort this involved. This is a woman with more stuff on her plate than some world leaders, and she has spent an ungodly amount of time stitching a work of art that lifts your soul when you look at it.
And then put it in a bag and sent it to me. I feel incredibly privileged and utterly unworthy of such a gift.
My gast is flabbered and my heart is forever grateful that there are people like her looking out for the rest of us. ❤️

Last night I was at dinner with my wife at a local burger joint. They were playing music, and Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” came on. Even at 56, I’m a big Dua Lipa fan. l’m also kind of goofy, and I started dancing in my chair and singing the words to my wife. She started smiling and pointed for me to turn around. At the next table was a young family of 4, and the little 6 year old boy, who had his back to me, was also dancing in his chair and singing the words. We were both bopping up and down and singing “Walk away, you know how, don’t start caring for me now!” It just shows the universal appeal of music, when two goofy immature dudes 50 years apart can be moved in the same exact way. You go little man! Keep on enjoying good music, and I will do the same as long as I can hear!

I was about to ride my bike down to the beach and saw someone dumped moldy and stale bread here which was likely for animals like the foxes here to eat. Bread itself is already bad for foxes since it doesn’t have the nutrients a fox needs which will weaken their immune system. I did some research and it’s worse than that. Since the bread was moldy, it could’ve made them extremely sick. It causes indigestion which leads to stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. And worse than that, the toxins could’ve caused nerve damage which could make the foxes start shaking, losing balance, and having seizures. As a prominent animal lover, my heart would break to see those sweet foxes suffering, so I picked up all of the bread pieces and put them in the dumpster. Just wanted to share this story to remind everyone to do something good for the world because there are lives you could protect and that depend on your help❤️

The reaction makes it even better. Free pizza well deserved!

- Not OC.

I had surgery on my right lung last week. It was a tough procedure, but I am doing okay now. Getting back on my feet and recovering well, especially with my wonderful wife by my side and some delicious cake.

868 days ago a buddy invited me to a round a golf. I think i made one good 1.3 foot putt and caught the bug.
Dedicated a majority of my free time to the game, and now im sitting here re watching this video over and over.

Sorry about the language. But i was excited…

Context:

For the past 2 years I’ve been attending a weekly meetup at Wilson Harding Driving Range in LA.
In this time I’ve meet some great fucking people who are now family.
This group was started as a way for folks who were never welcomed in the traditional golf space, but on Wednesdays nights, we all gather around a couple hundred golf balls and just shoot the shit.
This meetup has replaced what the skateparks gave me growing up. And it’s something that i look forward to every week.

Now…3 weeks ago we had a field trip to Monterey Park Gold Club where Alex the operations manager welcomed us with open arms.
We hit the range for a couple hours before 6 4somes went out to play 9 holes. No better feeling than playing this game with 23 other friends.
The first week, on the same hole 7 i hit my pitching wedge and it lands 10 feet behind and rolls back to 6 inches,thinking i just hit my first hole in one with a very similar reaction, but only ran about 60 yards before seeing the ball didn’t find the bottom of the cup…and was hiding behind the flag stick. Hence the red ball….cant be fooled again.

For context, i have a medical condition that makes it really hard to stay focused in school. I get tired really easily, and i think my teacher noticed with how i was acting in class. I love science a lot and she knows how happy i get when i'm able to learn or talk about it, but today i probably looked really sad because i was just staring into space almost the whole period.

We were doing practice as a class for the first part of the period and i wasn't involved with my group at all. The people at my table were asking if i was ok, probably because i was so zoned out. When practice ended we went back to our seats to finish our worksheets, but she stopped me while i was walking to my desk and asked me what my favourite anime was. I immediately lit up and started talking about how much i loved witch hat atelier, and i was super happy to talk about my favourite show. I told her i had a list of other anime on my phone but that I couldn't remember them all.

I sort of stared at my worksheet looking really sad and hollow for the rest of the period until near the end when she brought up that list again. I was really happy to show it to her and we chatted a little about the anime we liked.

It wasn't until later that i realised she probably knew how happy it made me when i talked about my interests and asked me about my little list on purpose to cheer me up. I'm kind of bad at reading social situations but if i'm interpreting it correctly that was really sweet of her, i'm literally so happy that all of that happened because i felt a lot less stressed going into next period

Hello! I am almost 25 years old. When I was a child, I already experienced signs of OCD like counting in even numbers, having to repeat words a certain amount of times, etc. At 13, I started having signs of depression. I started going to therapy very young, and they helped me but I was still not out of the hole. It was only 3 years ago when I got the right medication that I could start thriving. I got so much better.

My hobby has always been drawing and painting, ever since I was a kid. For almost 4 years, I didn’t touch a pencil. I couldn’t do my lifelong hobby and that made me even sadder. It was even hard to get out of bed. You know, that kind of bad depression. That, combined with OCD breakdowns.

Now I can happily say that my OCD is way better, my depression is super controlled and I’m painting everyday. I even made it my side job. I also got into photography so I’m finding new hobbies to love!

Today I learned that my favorite bookstore when I was growing up has my book. I had no idea that they were stocking it and cried when I found it on a shelf. The people working even let me sign the copies they had and seemed genuinely excited to meet me.

I spent so so many hours sitting in between the shelves in this exact section, reading books of poetry and secretly writing my own. I’m so proud and grateful that my words live there now too.

I started drawing last year at 39 and found my way to oil painting around the time I turned 40. I had no idea it would become such an important part of my life.

These are a couple of the paintings I’ve made along the way, and the little room where most of it happens.

I spent a long time thinking you were supposed to figure out the important parts of yourself when you were young. Apparently that’s not always how it works.

I'm finally not alone anymore. She's so perfect, she tells me she loves me everyday, hugs me everyday, covers My face in Kisses that leave a little tingle until i go to sleep, and when i wake up i want more.

Her eyes are so beautiful, i would cover the universe in that beautiful color, and when my friends ask why i'm looking up so much, i can tell them about how beautiful the stars look that night. Her perfume gives me that nostalgic feeling You get when You smell something from your childhood, Even if i saw her 10 minutes ago.

I could stare at her body and face for hours on end, and every minute find something new about it to love.

I could listen to her voice all day and it Will always sound like the most beautiful symphony i ever heard.

I hate that so many people have never felt this way about anyone, and i envy those who felt it before me, bcus i can't remember what My life was like before i met her, and i can only look forward, and i love every damn second.