#Spotted While Roaming in Aotearoa New Zealand:
A shaggy dog races into a river with a frisbee in his mouth and immediately drops it and steps on it without noticing.
Mysteriously, he now can't find the frisbee!
He gives his human a confused look.
Where did it go!
WHERE DID IT GO?!
A man (70s?) wearing a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat is chilling in a car in a shopping centre carpark, reading a paperback copy of a Judith Krantz novel.
Moments later, his wife bustles along, clothing store purchases in hand.
He looks up and greets her with a quiet smile.
A young human (7?) is facing a formidable dilemma. They want a pack of Hubba Bubba chewing gum but they don't know which flavour! (Oh no!) They consult Mum's expertise and serious bubble gum conversation follows. This is a VERY difficult decision.
In a cafe: A tiny human (2?) has discovered a Sharpie in Mum's handbag and realises that her face is the PERFECT canvas.
If she just draws a line on her nose... here...
and a squiggle on her cheek... like this...
this project will be a MASTERPIECE.
Mum will be SO impressed when she notices!
A man (60s?) with a big bushy beard and a generous tum, wearing high vis and work boots is riding a bright green pushbike. In the front basket, a Jack Russel terrier is sitting, swaddled up in a tartan blanket against the cold. A tiny babushka and friend on a mission.
(Continued Below)
Any typos spotted in this post have lost their full stops. (Oh no!) if spotted, please remind them to check under their feet (paws?) and maybe suggest they get a multi pack of chewing gum. That way they can try all the flavours! (Yay!)
(Posting early because I'm a little bit under the weather--nothing too serious!--and think I might need the extra sleep tomorrow morning😊
)
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Also if anyone would like to support the typos in their epic mission to spot things, you would be hugely appreciated. They have a rather marvellous Patreon with an archive of over 400 posts now and a Buy Me a Coffee too. (Thank you!🌻
😊)
https://linktr.ee/Georgepenney
#Spotted While Roaming in Aotearoa New Zealand:
A shaggy dog races into a river with a frisbee in his mouth and immediately drops it and steps on it without noticing.
Mysteriously, he now can't find the frisbee!
He gives his human a confused look.
Where did it go!
WHERE DID IT GO?!
A man (70s?) wearing a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat is chilling in a car in a shopping centre carpark, reading a paperback copy of a Judith Krantz novel.
Moments later, his wife bustles along, clothing store purchases in hand.
He looks up and greets her with a quiet smile.
A young human (7?) is facing a formidable dilemma. They want a pack of Hubba Bubba chewing gum but they don't know which flavour! (Oh no!) They consult Mum's expertise and serious bubble gum conversation follows. This is a VERY difficult decision.
In a cafe: A tiny human (2?) has discovered a Sharpie in Mum's handbag and realises that her face is the PERFECT canvas.
If she just draws a line on her nose... here...
and a squiggle on her cheek... like this...
this project will be a MASTERPIECE.
Mum will be SO impressed when she notices!
A man (60s?) with a big bushy beard and a generous tum, wearing high vis and work boots is riding a bright green pushbike. In the front basket, a Jack Russel terrier is sitting, swaddled up in a tartan blanket against the cold. A tiny babushka and friend on a mission.
(Continued Below)
#Spotted While Roaming in Aotearoa New Zealand
Two small humans (2 & 4?) are walking through a supermarket while munching bananas. In the chocolate aisle Mum says carefully, "We don't want anything here do we? We've got yummy bananas."
Youngest Small Human cackle-roars: "Chocolate!"
Two men (20s?) are walking on a riverside track while having a raucous Dungeons & Dragons conversation. The topic is Silliest TPK* and they're howling with laughter over each other's stories of daft players doing very daft things. One upping each other with every step.
A small human (5?) and Grandad are rolling through town in a vintage 80s hot pink corvette.
Their magnificent car beast is a bit battered around the edges, but to them, it's the coolest ride in town.
Shades on.
Blasting ACDC's Thunderstruck.
A dapper small human (4?) wearing tartan trousers and a wooly red jumper is strutting down the street while clutching a large cookie to his chest.
Whenever he sees someone new, he holds his cookie up like coveted prize.
He's the Dapper Cookie King and they're all his (cookie adoring) subjects.
A vivacious woman is talking to a friend. She seems to have forgotten that she's holding a large bouquet of lilies and is gesturing with them to punctuate her words, waving them through the air like an extravagant fan. Wafting sweetness.
(Continued below)
🧵
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about kindness since I've moved here to Aotearoa New Zealand and would like to share some thoughts. (Please bear with me!):
1. Kindness is learned. People are taught kindness by other people. We are creatures that learn by example.
2. Kindness is not a weakness. To thank people, to acknowledge they're human, to perform small acts that barely cost the individual anything, but mean a lot to others, makes for a much stronger community.
3. Kindness is a long term investment. It doesn't come with the quick thrill of a throw-away cruelty or snark. There's no fire in the belly or roaring fuel-like rage. It's quiet, its payoff is gentle. You sometimes never see the impact, or even feel it, but its tiny ripples can have large effects.
4. Kindness builds bridges between different groups, creating infrastructure for push-back and positive change. A society that values kindness is less accepting of the everyday casual--and calculated--cruelties the larger world throws around. A kind society resists normalising monstrousness.
5. Kindness is every day. On a micro level. It isn't grand gestures. If performed by everyone around you, it can even become invisible because it's taken for granted as a base-level standard for human behaviour. It only becomes visible when an outsider views it and can see it more clearly.
(Continued below)
Who wouldn't want a guide to the "Best Worst City on the Globe!"? Impress your friends and torment your enemies with intrepid feats of armchair travel!
All subscribers to our magnificent newsletter will receive their very own ebook copy of A Tourist's Guide to OverLondon, written in imaginary collaboration with the OverLondon Guild of Rat Catchers.
It's got pictures and diagrams and everything! If you like #terrypratchett #sff #montypython or just plain oddness, this may be for you!
(And if it's not your cup of tea, that's perfectly fine! You can always have a cuppa and ruminate on the daftness of authors making things that aren't their actual books for sale because they decided to procrastinate for an entire week last month. Why? No one knows!)
https://www.overlondon.net/visitors-guide
Hello There! Welcome. 
I'm George Penney, a #sff #comedy #fantasy #mystery author who writes with my lovely partner, Tony Johnson (AKA the Kraken). I also sometimes write snort laugh #books under the name Evie Snow, which are in the process of being republished. I have a couple of podcasts too.
I'm a cultural omnivore and am interested in a ridiculously wide range of topics from #history to #art to #music #science #travel #plants #animals #cats and I love anything #weird and wonderful.
Until recently, I house sat globally full-time so people who've followed me for a bit would have seen me around recording the various sagas of my (mainly) feline overlords.
Lately I have settled in a delightful small city in Aotearoa New Zealand and I frequently share bits and pieces from my wanderings out and about.
I love meeting new people, so feel free to say hi!😊 I might take a little bit to reply because I'm usually a bit behind on a writing deadline but I do my best to get back to everyone.
George Penney