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Did you know that there’s still a Toys Я Us that you can shop at in New Jersey? Did you know that there are anime pop-ups at the mall? Did you know that the Jonas Brothers also something something? I don’t know much about them or what they did, but they have a thing here, too. I’m talking about American Dream. A wild mall in New Jersey.

Sunday October 12th, 2025

Let’s send some postcards to friends!

If I’m sending postcards, my friend Tony in Michigan is at the top of the list!

For fun at trivia I used this postcard for notes and then filled it in with a message to Tony later.

I love this postcard. This was bought from a local artist at a small pop-up stall.

This next postcard is being shipped out to our friend Mariaisabel in The Bronx.

It is made from an ink cartridge box with some Washi tape.

The cool S really pulls it together.

Want to see some drama about this version of the letter S?

Check this out.

On the back of this postcard I wrote about my partner Lauri’s birthday and how I need more ink for my printer.

This next postcard is off to my friend Jerry in Nebraska.

I have suggested that we retire in the same home one day.

The following postcard is off to Quebec to my friend Drew.

I tell him stories about the nunchucks that I recently bought, as well as the dumb “Reverse Diamond Generator” that I created in Minecraft.

The Reverse Diamond Generator is a machine that I built in a public server where players may input diamonds. These diamonds move through a Rube Goldberg machine and after many steps are eventually converted into coal.

Hilarious.

The final postcard is being sent to Chad and Lisa in Austin, Texas.

I chat about the nunchucks again and I share that a friend here does the same thing that Chad does and watches a horror movie every day of October.

Wednesday October 15th, 2025

Dear reader, you don’t need me to tell you this.

As you are well aware, the midpoint of October is when egg nog begins to show up in grocery stores.

I. Love. Egg nog.

I also have this mystery postcard to share with you.

I forgot to write down who this postcard went to and what we spoke about.

I’m going to assume it went to Tony and that I talked about egg nog.

Friday October 17th, 2025

This postcard to Tony does have saved notes, so I will tell you about it now.

But first a story.

In 1999 I fell off of a car and broke my middle-ear bone.

I have lived with hearing loss for a long time because of it.

Today I had an appointment with an audiologist who tested my hearing and also my potential hearing (if the bone weren’t broken) to chart how much of my hearing could be repaired if I were to have surgery.

This is what I have written about on this postcard to my friend Tony.

Saturday October 18th, 2025

Let’s live the American dream!

By which I mean, “Let’s go to American Dream!”

A bus and a train take us to Manhattan where we take another bus ride under the water into New Jersey and are dropped off directly at the mall.

Oh, there’s a Gundam pop-up thing happening today!

Also a Jonas convention.

Here’s Gundam pop-up shop.

The line is long, we’ll come back later to see if it’s easier to get in later.

Our primary reason to visit here is for a Candy Land milkshake.

[edit: I have since learned that my partner Lauri wanted to go to the mall and that the milkshake was a bribe. Lauri is the primary reason for the visit to American Dream on this day.]

One of these bad boys.

I loved the Princess Lolli and the Queen Frostine which I’ve had previously. This time I’ll try the Sloppy Gloppy.

Oh no.

This was a bad idea.

I’m not one of those chocoholic types.

This milkshake was not meant for me.

So. Much. Chocolate.

I’ll stick to the milkshake that comes with a slice of cheesecake, thank you very much.

The King Candy looks good, though.

A decision for future Levi that he looks forward to making!

Time traveling future Levi here from 2026. I’ve been trying to find good things to do in the winter and going to American Dream again would be a good fit for this. I wonder if there are other malls in and around NYC that I haven’t been to, yet? Adding the Premium Events at American Dream calendar to the NYC Calendars & Events page.

Did you know that American Dream still has a Toys Я Us?

I love this place.

We revisit the Gundam pop-up event and are able to get in, but I currently have some Gundam models that I need to build before I can think about buying another.

There’s another anime pop-up here for Nexus Gate as well.

But our day has been filled and we must return home.

Back to the bus stop.

And back to our home in Queens where one of our cats (Penny) loves to bury herself under and inside of things like a weirdo.

I will end this post here.

Tomorrow is a dark day and should have a post to itself.