#*the superior potato form* i will take no criticism at this time

[venustrape-arch]

today was wholesome 🧡

[give-grian-rights]

Hermitcraft - Basic History of Teams!

Alright. Buckle in.

Only a few days from now, and Hermitcraft 10 will begin! If you're new, I hope this helps!

Hermitcraft has existed for over ELEVEN YEARS now! While very few have been here for every single season, with the exception of our lovely Tumblr Resident, and official Tumblr Sexy Man Joe Hills, and our derp Xisumavoid.

You are under NO obligation to watch every season. There are probably few, if any, active users in this community who have. It's just not possible to watch it all. You don't need to watch the previous seasons to enjoy our community space! While there are a lot of back-references, for MOST people, it doesn't extend to lore and actions any older than season 6.

Most of the Hermits are associated with specific other members, despite ALL OF THEM taking turns collaborating, interacting, and sometimes building whole new dynamics and factions in the process. Some of the team-ups that you'll see referred to in fandom-spaces and the occasional one-off mention from our creators, include:

(Season 5) NHO, New Hermit Order - Docm77, Ethoslab, Bdoubleo100, and VintageBeef. Living in a jungle while having "fights" with others. Attempts to tax those who enter their jungle, had traps around it, and criticized the then-popular AFK Fishing Farms. Bdoubleo100, or Bdubs, especially enjoyed stealing from these. (Season 5-6) Convex, or ConCorp - GoodTimesWithScar and Cubfan135. One group I am the least familiar with unfortunately. They built a brand around the Vexes, with their business having pretty extreme low-morals that includes pollution and war profiteering.

(Season 6) ArciTects - Very close to be naming "BuildStone", it was proposed by and founded by Grian to Mumbo, later giving an invite to Iskall85. The purpose of this alliance was for builders to help redstoners, and redstoner to help builders. It accumulated in the ATTEMPT of founding the "greatest shop in the history of Hermitcraft", Sahara. It was, hilariously, a very large failure. Grian miraculously managed to entirely ruin the system with a single baked potato. No, I don't know how.

(Season 6) G-Team & Team STAR (Superior Tactical Alliance for Retaliation) - The Hermitcraft Civil War, consisted of a long list of minor conflicts in which various members of Hermitcraft blamed other people for pranks they committed, eventually spiraling into the confusion that was The Civil War! G-Team: Grian, TangoTek, Iskall85, Joe Hills, ZombieCleo, StressMonster101, and iJevin. Team STAR: Docm77, WelsKnight, FalseSymmetry, ImpulseSV Xisuma, RenDog

Mumbo Jumbo acted as a mole in Team Star, for the G-Team. He created this commercial for Team STAR. Team STAR made a very iconic diss track, which was soon remixed. It is a...Very iconic piece of Hermitcraft fandom. The result was Joe Hill's Response, in his short video also remixed by the same creator. Albeit missing the additions of the totally real voices of the other G-Team members

(Season 6) Area 77 & The Hippies - (I didn't finish Hippies POV and i didn't watch anything of Doc or Scar's POV of this unfortunately) Area 77 was founded by (unsurprisingly) Docm77, and GoodTimesWithScar, where they were doing experiments and studying abonomalies. SOmehow, this lead into Grian, once again, turning against them and forming The Hippies with the help of Ren, with Impulse soon joining. The conflict primarily consisted of them griefing Area 77 with flowers.

(Season 7) Boomers Demolition - Early game business formed by TangoTek, Bdoubleo100, and ImpulseSV which consistedo f almost exclusively non-duped TnT demolition, and was very fun!!

(Season 7) The Mycellium Resistance/HEP (Hermitcraft Environmental Protection) Hermicraft 7 saw Grian introduce the Hermitcraft Mayoral Election, created with the idea of putting Mumbo in as a puppet-government. If I had a nickel for every time Grian tried to start a puppet government (at this point) I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice. Grian and Mumbo lost. In it's place was GoodTimesWIthScar. As Mayor, they had further control over the shopping district. Scar's promise was to replace the shopping district's Mycellium with grass. Despite very happily admitting that grass looked better, Grian, in a moment of nostalgia, decided to replace some Mycellium. Scar proceeded by putting caution tape around the area. This spiraled into The Turf War

Mycellium Resistance: Grian (Mother Spore), ImpulseSV, RenDog, XBCrafted, iJevin, Ethoslab, StressMonster101, Docm77, and Mumbo Jumbo HEP/Mayor Scar: Scar, Bdoubleo100, Keralis, Xisumavoid, TangoTek, Cubfan135, FalseSymmetry, Mumbo Jumbo, who joined due to them having the better vault. Etho had intended on being a double-agent, selling information to Scar. His information, however, was useless on purpose and decided to pledge full loyalty to The Resistance.

(Season 8) Boatem Hole - Grian, Mumbo Jumbo, GoodTimesWithScar, ImpulseSV and PearlescentMoon more or less stumbled and tripped into forming a group after innocently stacking boats and crafting tables and crystals on a pole, dubbed Boatem Poll. They then proceeded to create a hole down to bedrock, and eventually into the void, called the Boatem Hole. It was a large plains biome which was turned into varying mountain terraforming and the like from all of them and was connected in some small ways.

(Season 8) The Big Eyed Crew - Bdoubleo100, Keralis, and TangoTek. Tango did not, in fact, have big eyes and instead wore sunglasses to compensate. They had a town and shopping area and was occasionally dragged into pranks by the Boatem Crew.

(Season 8) Octogon/Goatem - Docm77 and RenDog! Main rivals with Boatem (thus the Goatem - pole of goats) had a mega business, game-breaking creations, and jaw-dropping spidery teal-and-deepslate creations. Weird Science!

(Season 9) Soup Crew - ImpulseSV, PearlescentMoon, GeminiTay. Made the CRAZIEST combo-base where all their different themes blended into a cohesive build

(Season 9) Buttercups - Grian, MumboJumbo, and GoodTimesWithScar. What's up, Buttercup? They formed after an incient where Scar and Grian blew up a massive, complex tunnel bomber in Doc's base. They could not understand how to repair it, and left a few diamond blocks before conflict started. They dragged Mumbo in, and had a robot fight with...

(Season 9) The Perimeter - Docm77 and RenDog. Doc's base, known as The Perimeter, teamed with Ren to attack the Buttercups using walking redstone creations to do a robot fight. Due to an issue with one of the server's plugins, they all re-logged, breaking one of the bots and ending with Buttercup's bot to do more harm to itself than the Perimeter's, but ultimately the destruction did prevent Doc and Ren from getting any further. Ren and Doc then launched flying TnT dupers, which looked like butterflies, towards all of the Buttercups' bases and camp. They stopped them both, with one butterfly destroying The Perimeter's own bot even further.

I am so sure that I'm missing some, but I am losing my mind with all this trying to remember them all!! I hope this could give people an idea of who they might enjoy watching!

[robot-riot]

You think you're gonna take us down? Well Mechanical Man you just try it! You're gonna ride that rail out of town cause it's a

ROBOT RIOT!!

Welcome one and all, organical and mechanical alike to the Robot Riot! Here we're going to pit robots and their meatbag pals against one another to see who is the truly superior team!

What exactly does that mean? Up to you! Are they playing Monopoly? Are they fighting to the death? Who knows! Either way it's a Robot Riot! Maybe they're having a joke competition, then it's a Robot Laugh Riot. Vote using whatever criteria you want; I will not judge you. Publicly. Probably.

So before we get to that little submission form, a couple rules.

Each team must consist of 1 robot + 1 organic buddy pal partner colleague etc. AI count, so duos like Master Chef + Cortana or Epsilon + Carolina qualify, and pets count, so duos like Data and Spot or Jimmy and Goddard count.

The only qualifiers are that the relationship must have received some kind of attention from the narrative (ex Boyd and Huey but not Boyd and Dewey), and the relationship must be positive (ex Data and Geordi, Data and Riker) or neutral (ex PotatOS and Chell, Norm and Doofenshmirtz). If you're unsure or the canon is unclear, it'll go to the judges.

I am still on the fence about trios; tentative ruling is if the relationship is strong on all three sides feel free to submit it, but specify which two you'd prefer to submit as a duo just in case I decide not to do trios.

Don't spam submissions! Numbers aren't even going to be the only factor in choosing who gets in anyway so it's not even guaranteed to help, but if I suspect you're spamming one duo I may disqualify them. One submission per duo per person.

One duo per submission! If you have more than one duo, submit them separately, please.

No ocs (sorry), no characters from Harry Potter or Critical Role, no real people.

Submissions will remain open till Sunday, August 13, 2o23, which will give you plenty of time and me a chance to get through my current tournament.

And here's the submission form:

Obligatory tagging some other polls for visibility under the cut:

@crossovershipstournament @obscurecharactershowdown @retirement-home-rumble @blue-character-brawl @orangecharactersmackdown @steve-smackdown @bugcrimesbracket

[midnightactual]

Critical Analysis & Tactics IV (CAT-4): Yoruichi vs. Soifon Part A

How strong is Yoruichi? That’s actually a very involved question. I’ve decided to create a series of articles detailing my thoughts on the matter by looking at military incidents and confrontations involving her. This is the fourth, and you may consult the others at your leisure:

CAT-1: The Hollowfication Incident

CAT-2: The Central 46 Trial Breakout

CAT-3: Yoruichi vs. Byakuya

CAT-5: Yoruichi & Soifon vs. Aizen

CAT-6: Yoruichi vs. Yammy

CAT-7: Yoruichi, Kisuke, & Isshin vs. Aizen

CAT-8: Yoruichi & Co. vs. Yhwach

CAT-9: Yoruichi vs. Askin

I’ve obliquely talked about this fight before (here) as it relates to Yoruichi’s disinclination to use her zanpakutō, but not in great detail. It says quite a lot about their respective powers and abilities, but to an even greater extent it reveals the exact nature of their relationship prior to Yoruichi’s departure from the Seireitei. These are all matters which I feel there are points of confusion and misunderstanding on by others. Given that, I’m going to give my own perspective on all these issues.

Since the is a long post, let me as usual put the basic conclusion here up front: this fight wasn’t particularly serious in terms of physical danger, as Yoruichi was hardly trying and Soifon radically underestimated her abilities. This fight is far more about psychology and mutual understanding of one another.

01. I’ve discussed this in the past (here), yet it bears not just repeating but additional emphasis: Yoruichi is at her absolute weakest ever during the Soul Society arc, as she herself alludes to in chapter 119:

She drops Ichigo like a sack of potatoes despite him being injured and slumps against the wall because she’s so winded, and openly comments on the fact that she’s wildly out of shape. It’s abundantly clear that she isn’t performing at anywhere near her previous or future maximum abilities during this arc.

02. Yoruichi’s attire also bears some scrutiny. Notice how she’s dressed above. She has on her stretchy pants, and we know from earlier scenes with Ichigo in chapter 116 that she’s wearing a turtleneck (plus you can see the sleeves poking out of her jacket). Also notice her footwear. All throughout Ichigo’s bankai training, Yoruichi is wearing shoes with integrated greaves. These appear to be flats based on the shoes she wore as a Taichō (and which Soifon still wears as one) but modified to suit her preferences. By the time she fights Soifon, however, her outfit has notably changed, as seen here in chapter 157:

The turtleneck has been replaced by the keisen shōzoku-inspired top, as she later reveals and which even here is evident from the lack of sleeves. The shoes have also been replaced with boots instead (which are capable of dispensing anken). She has cloth wrapped around her arms, and her shins are wrapped in gaiters. She only wears this variation on her outfit when fighting Soifon. (As seen in CAT-6, when she later fights Yammy, she’s wearing an outfit identical to when she trained Ichigo.)

In reality, gaiters largely exist to protect against scratching, puncture, or friction. The wraps on her arms are similar to puttees, and serve a similar function, while the remainder of her scarf functions like a neck gaiter. One might ask why she’d discard hard greaves for soft gaiters, and the answer is that their protective power is actually likely superior.

As noted in CAT-3, in chapter 117, Yoruichi completely halted Byakuya’s release of Senbonzakura using a cloth ribbon, and as noted in CAT-5, in chapter 177, did similar to Aizen. I would suggest that that cloth ribbon is special, and that her arm wraps, gaiters, and neck gaiter are made of the same material. I would also suggest so is her hair wrap, given it repeatedly survives Shunkō, to include her Raiju Senkei form where electrical Kidō is literally running through her hair. What this cloth material is and what its exact properties are remains unknown, but it seems incredibly durable. (Given it appears to be a tan color, it might not be related to the Ginpaku Kazahana no Uzuginu of Byakuya’s scarf, but it could be the same material but processed or treated differently, possibly explaining the immense value of that scarf beyond mere rarity.)

This assertion is supported by the fact that during the actual fight, in chapter 157, Yoruichi both takes and deals several blows to areas protected by these garments, suggesting they were made specifically for fighting with Hakuda:

A question becomes apparent at this point, which is: where did Yoruichi get this stuff? More than likely from the storage depot above the study chamber, which is likely where she also got the first outfit she used for this mission (since she obviously didn’t bring it with her to Soul Society given she came as a cat). In other words, I think it’s very clear that Yoruichi specifically equipped herself to fight against Soifon, knowing she would likely be dealing with Hakuda and might have to use Shunkō and dressing to compensate for her own weakness.

03. Yoruichi and Soifon’s reunion is very telling regarding how truly familiar they are with one another. Here’s how it starts:

I want you to pay attention to how close Yoruichi is before Soifon notices her approach. Part of this is due to Yoruichi’s speed, but remember: she’s not flash stepping at anywhere near her optimum, and would be conserving her energy heading into battle. Part of this is due to Yoruichi’s stealth, but remember: Yoruichi felt Renji’s ambient reiatsu approaching even at a notable distance through solid matter. Soifon doesn’t notice Yoruichi until the very instant before she’s tackled off of Kiyone. (The closing-in panel at top-left suggests the bottom panel is indeed Yoruichi’s own perspective, as she hits Soifon in the very next panel.)

But I want to make a point regarding reiatsu detection before proceeding: Shinigami who are very familiar with each other will naturally detect one another’s reiatsu at distances at which other, more powerful Shinigami won’t. An example of this is Rukia detecting Ichigo’s approach before Byakuya does in chapter 581, presumably due to the nature of Ichigo and Rukia’s bond:

And another example is Yoruichi and Yūshirō detecting one another at a great distance in the Soul King’s Palace in chapter 628, while not noting anyone else on either end, presumably because they’re related:

In other words, people with strong bonds should have a distinct advantage in identifying one another even if one part is moving quickly or attempting to conceal themselves. This suggests that Yoruichi and Soifon do not actually share such a bond, a point which will repeatedly be made over the course of their fight, but especially two pages later back in chapter 153:

Stop and think about their situation. Soifon can see the eyes and skin color of Yoruichi at this range, and likely also feel her reiatsu... and she still doesn’t recognize her. How many dark-skinned, gold-eyed people are there in the Seireitei who wear orange jackets and move quickly and stealthily? It’s worse than the translation here lets on, by the way:

The original Japanese here at the bottom-left is, “何者だ貴様!!” which translates to Romaji as “Nanimonoda kisama!!” Yes, that kisama. The literal translation would be something like, “Who are you, you bastard!!” I think Soifon calling Yoruichi “kisama” is all the proof you need to firmly establish she has no idea who this is, and doesn’t recognize it as Yoruichi until she hears her voice. I also think that reaction panel firmly dispels any idea that Soifon is acting and doing this just to insult Yoruichi, because this is a face of shock:

It’s very obvious that Soifon is surprised by the fact that she’s seeing Yoruichi again, despite all those visual indicators, which is... strange, and perhaps suggests something about Soifon’s powers of observation. Regardless, this can be taken in contrast with the next page, and Yoruichi’s reveal:

Which is surprisingly playful. Yoruichi isn’t stressed at all here, and remains fairly upbeat and comparatively unperturbed for the first section of the fight until Soifon tears the (breakaway?) sleeves off of her uniform. It’s pretty clear that Yoruichi doesn’t go into this fight expecting a hard slog, even if she took precautions with her outfit. Indeed, I would say she expected it to be merely a performance review.

The point remains: Soifon didn’t identify Yoruichi until well after they’d made contact, and past the point when it should’ve been obvious who was accosting her.

04. Starting in chapter 154, we’re treated to repeated scenes presenting Yoruichi and Soifon as equals:

This first panel makes it very clear visually, and that sets the tone for what follows.

It’s also echoed in the way that they trash-talk each other.

And also reflected in the visual framing of their exchanges; these panels are clearly designed to kind of ‘reflect’ one another. Take notice here of Soifon’s further trash-talking: she’s asserting that she was a better warrior than Yoruichi even when Yoruichi was her Taichō! How’s that for confidence? And it should tell you a lot about how Soifon looks back upon Yoruichi’s tenure, which we’ll get into later.

This apparent equity is also reflected in them trading hits. Yoruichi’s injury seems more grievous, given she’s coughing up blood, but Soifon doesn’t seem to regard it as a more notable injury than she herself suffered, nor does it actually impact Yoruichi’s performance any more than Soifon’s does her. (Nor will Soifon’s strikes with Suzumebachi seemingly do anything to slow Yoruichi down as the fight goes on.)

This sense of equity will persist right up until after Soifon reveals her shikai and starts to speed up, at which point she will reveal that she’s been “going easy” on Yoruichi and that (in her mind) they’re not equals.

I think it’s because of this rather thorough visual symbolism (and Yoruichi’s reactions of surprise as Soifon’s performance) that many people walk away with the impression that Soifon and Yoruichi are equal in performance, not just in this fight and this arc, but throughout Bleach. We already know, however, from (01), that that simply isn’t true: Soifon here at her maximum output can only just rival Yoruichi at her weakest.

This is emphasized by the fact that Soifon will go on to fail to score two consecutive hits with Suzumebachi on Yoruichi, and by the fact that we know (from her escape from Byakuya with Ichigo) that Yoruichi isn’t going all out with her flash steps here either. This is not only Yoruichi at her weakest, this is also Yoruichi fighting in a very conservative fashion. And Soifon still can’t take her out despite earnestly trying.

05. The motivations of both parties are rather plainly established. Soifon’s motivations are revealed by the panels above with her, “Which of us... is the better warrior?!” and, “Now do you see? I’m better than you!” remarks. This further emphasized by a panel in chapter 158:

Soifon is obsessed with proving she’s better than Yoruichi, and rubbing Yoruichi’s face in the fact.

Yoruichi, meanwhile, rather obviously turned up to see where Soifon was at in terms of her progression, as chapter 154 alludes to:

Yoruichi is there to see whether Soifon has filled her proverbial shoes. This shouldn’t be surprising as we know from Soifon’s flashbacks in chapter 159 that:

Yoruichi added Soifon to her bodyguard unit in the first place because she “[admired her] skills” and was “expecting great things from [her].”

In other words, Yoruichi showed up to see how Soifon had been getting on in terms of her skills for all this time, and seemed to largely expect a fairly casual encounter (although she was prepared for it to escalate). She wasn’t anticipating Soifon’s mindset and drive to actually try and kill her. Soifon, meanwhile, is resolute in her determination to punish Yoruichi for what she regards as having been abandoned.

Click here for Part B!

[ghostsofmemories]

Insect Poison Update #1

Before you check out this post, please remember that the fight against police brutality is still happening, and education is critical. All proceeds from this shop are still being donated to the BLM organization and will continue to be. More designs have been added since the original post was made, so be sure to click the link to find something you like.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, feel free to jump over to my WIP introduction! I should mention that Aaron Bennett’s has been changed to Jack Bennett because I had a cool title idea for chapter 2 and needed to change his name for it to work.

So, I managed to spit out the first chapter in a couple days! It’s been difficult, but also way more fun than I was used to writing being (probably because I’m writing something I actually enjoy—who knew I was capable??). I wrote every day for five days in a row, counting today, which is wild and something I haven’t done since my NaNoWriMo days (AKA the first time I wrote this book).

Chapter 1 of the book is basically an intro to Robert and Ramona’s dynamics as (twin) siblings and a short look into how their mother interacts with them. I know the prose for this chapter could use some more work, but I think there’s a lot of character here that I liked exploring.

The chapter has three scenes: a scene where the twins are at the lake together, a scene where they’re eating dinner with their mom, Emily, and their older sister Lori, and one where they’ve stayed up late to eat cookies their mom baked for Church on Sunday.

(oop this update turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be) (CW for like, one teeny mention of drugs)

Scene 1: overhand throws are superior

In this scene, Robert and Ramona leave the house to go to the lake at the end of the street, which they’re not supposed to go to by themselves. They get into a bit of an argument that ends with a pair of shoes in the water.

The lake wasn’t big or clean or pretty, but they didn’t care much about those things. They didn’t mind the algae that tugged at their ankles or the rocks that are so sharp they gave off the impression of wanting to cut you open. It was all they’d ever known.

Since they weren’t supposed to be at the lake, they also weren’t wearing their swimsuits. They swam in their T-shirts and shorts, with Ramona’s sweater lying where the sand and the grass met. Their shoes were tucked underneath it, as if anyone would want to steal their too-small shoes with cracks in the rubber and holes in the fabric. As if their appearance wasn’t protection enough.

The water was cold enough to bite. It made their jean shorts cling to their legs, and they swam stiff and tight so they didn’t have to feel the friction. They did that for two hours; they were rebel children, breaking all the rules.

^ this part was overall just pretty fun to write, and the last sentence is definitely my favorite because of what happens next:

“Mom’s going to be so mad when we get home,” Robert said, treading water and staring his sister down. He didn’t see himself in her face the way everyone else did. Maybe it was because he spent more time with Ramona than he did with mirrors. Maybe it was because she wore her hair in two, rust colored braids and his was short and brown and untameable. Maybe it was because he almost never liked Ramona, but usually, he liked himself.

“Mom’s going to be mad,” he said again. She wasn’t going to be, but Ramona played along anyway. She kicked her legs a little faster, trying to keep her chin above the water like her brother could.

“Too bad,” she said, “we’re already in the water. She can’t do anything.”

The twins knew their mother wouldn’t be mad. She wouldn’t be mad if they were there for four hours. She wouldn’t be mad if they waltzed into the house dripping wet from their hair and clothes, right onto the freshly mopped kitchen floor. She’d mop it again without a second thought. She’d ask them how their afternoons went.

I love this part because I got to explore how Robert and Ramona almost want to get in trouble if it means someone will pay attention to them. They want to get caught and be told no about something, but their mom is so absent minded (and high) that they can get away with whatever they want. In this chapter and probably further ones, we get to see them test exactly how far they can go.

Here’s the part where the fight gets introduced: Ramona’s ready to leave and Robert isn’t, but he also doesn’t want to stay by himself (even though he’d never admit that). He tells Ramona to give her the sweater she’s holding, presumably to dry himself off a little. Instead, he tosses it into the lake.

Sweatshirts weren’t exactly known for being aerodynamic and eleven year old boys weren’t exactly known for their underhand throws, so it didn’t go far. It landed pathetically into the shallow part of the water where their older sister used to take them to catch tadpoles in the spring (they would bring them home in buckets and tupperware and try to have their very own front yard aquarium. Their mother always spotted them and made them march back to the lake and dump dozens of them back into the water).

“Robert!” Ramona yelled, stepping into his space. He put his hands behind his back and stepped even closer. “Go get it!”

“It’s your sweater,” he said. He smiled and bent down to pick up a rock, mostly because it looked like the sort Ramona would bring home and put in a box with three dozen others. He forced his hand into his wet pocket and let it sit there, wrist deep in clinging fabric with a rock clenched in his fist. Later, on the way home, he’d toss it into the grass and never think about it again.

We can see here that Robert is a little unhinged and manipulative, and really wants to get a rise out of his sister and see what she’ll do. Her response is to be even more unhinged and manipulative:

Robert watched as she sat down to put on her shoes. He saw her stand up and toss his sneakers right into the water, one after the other, socks still tucked inside.

Eleven year old girls weren’t known for their underhands, either, but their overhands could be surprising if they put some energy into it. The shoes sunk into the bottom of the lake, and the twins stared at one another as if to agree, just this once, to end the fight before things got worse.

Ramona didn’t smile. She took no pleasure in being wicked. Still, she’d be the first to admit that she took more than a little pleasure in her brother’s silence.

Scene 2: pork and potatoes and corn.

Time for dinner! This scene was fun and mildly uncomfortable to write.

Emily Bennett was nothing if not a creature of habit. She thought this was her greatest secret, something to hold close to her chest, but the things she tried to hide were always smeared down to her sleeves.

“Just in time!” She said, her smile wide enough to call a canyon. She still had silverware in her left hand and a stack of cups in her right, and stared at the next seat in line instead of looking at the twins. Her mind was only at rest when her body was in motion, and even then she struggled to drown out the noise. “We’re having pork and potatoes and corn. Go get your hands washed so you can eat, and let your sister know it’s dinner time.”

And a little later:

You kids are so quiet these days,” she said, setting her glass on the table. Condensation was already forming on the outside of the glass. The twins took turns shifting in their chairs, trying to escape from a heat that didn’t seem to bother their mother or Lori. “What have you been up to?”

The three of them looked at each other, trying to decide who would take one for the team. When eyes settled on Ramona, she spoke up. “I re-organized my rock collection this morning,” she said, and took a bite of mashed potatoes to avoid saying anything further.

“Oh, that’s nice honey. You’ll have to show me later.”

Ramona had no intention of showing her mother the newly cleaned and sorted rocks, and Emily had no intention of looking. They were simply humoring each other.

“Mhm. I think I might have found some amethyst.” Ramona was thought amethyst was her mother’s birthstone (it was, but after no comment from her mother about it, Ramona was sure she’d gotten it wrong).

“How’s the corn?” Emily asked, taking a bite of it and following it immediately with large gulps of water. The glass was half empty.

Lori spoke up. “Good. Same as always.” She wished, for a moment, that she could rewrite the sentence in her mother’s mind. It’s good, mom. Did we get it from the store or the farmer’s market? Could you show me how to cook it the way you do? She didn’t bother with these types of questions because Emily never taught her things when she asked. Lori couldn’t recall the last thing her mother had taught her.

I can’t really describe it, but the family dynamics are exactly how they need to be. I want there to be a certain feeling of tension and uneasiness when everyone is in the same place, but a tension they’ve all gotten used to. 

The last scene is when the twins are stealing cookies and getting ready for bed, which I’m not sure is totally necessary but I think it further shows their dynamics so it can stay for now.

“I’m tired,” Ramona said, trying to dip her cookie into a glass of milk she’d almost finished. “I think I’m going to go to bed.”

“I’m not tired,” Robert said, popping open a tupperware dish and reaching into it carefully, like the cookies might disappear if he moved too fast. “Want another one?”

“We have to leave some, otherwise mom’ll notice.”

“She won’t do anything about it,” he said, pushing the bowl across the table to her, “you can have some more.”

“I don’t want anymore. I want to go to bed.” Ramona stood to rinse out her cup at the kitchen sink, the tile cool and grounding under her feet. Robert left his glass on the table and the cookie bowl with the lid half on. 

“Fine, I’ll just go to bed, too.”

Not to continue telling every bit of psychology surrounding the characters’ actions, but this part is interesting because again, both of them are aiming to get caught and get into trouble, but they refuse to do it without the other. Robert starts everything and Ramona finishes it before it gets too far.

The chapter ends with them getting ready for bed and Ramona hearing her dad’s truck pull into the driveway, meaning he’s home for a weekend before his next set of deliveries and destinations and whatnot. I think I want this to be the inciting incident, but I have to work on it more and figure out what I actually want to happen here.

Overall, the chapter clocked in at 2802 words, and I think after I go back and add some more description and imagery (which is definitely where I’ve fallen short so far), it should end up around 3000-3200. I really enjoyed writing this chapter (I think this book is by far the most exciting project for me, and is going to help me figure out what I want to write from now on), and I want to talk more about how my process is going, but I think that’ll be a separate post where I talk more about process and music and all those little things that go into a writing session for me.

If you have any questions about the story or characters, want to get added to the taglist, or just have anything to say about it in general, make sure you do that in an ask so I can be sure to see it! My notifications are sketchy but I’ve never had an issue with ask notifications. 

Taglist: @coffeeandcalligraphy​ @alicewestwater​ @fliiik-art​

[tikkisaram]

Poetic Patriarchy in Ireland — Part I: Poetry Against Women

It is no secret that poetry offers a plethora of positive effects, be they as extreme as bringing someone out of depression or as simple as putting a smile on their face. Poetry has done a world of good for me and I would not be devoting so much of my spare time to it if it did not. However, we must acknowledge the fact that on multiple occasions in the past, poetry has shaped our world in a decidedly negative way. This can be seen clearly in the history of Ireland and the rights of women there. This blessay will cover how poetry led to the oppression of Irish women and will additionally give an overview of the female poets in Irish history. It will thus answer the oft-asked question, namely — why is the vast majority of Ireland’s internationally-renowned poets male? In my research I have not been able to find an essay exploring this question; I am thus honored to be the first.

During Celtic times, Irish women had more or less equal rights with men. There were many famous female role models for young girls and boys to look up to; these included the legendary queen Méabh and pagan goddesses such as Mórrígan. Unfortunately, the poems that would have been told during this time period were never written down, so we do not know how women were portrayed in them. It is probable that they would have been portrayed positively, considering the equality of gender roles present in that society.

Literacy reached Ireland in the fifth century and came alongside Christianity. While Christianity is often critiqued for its portrayal of women, Christian women in Ireland then were just as strong as their male counterparts. St. Brigid of Kildare is one of the most important women in Irish history; she was a nun — a profession usually associated with conservative tradition. Yet the teachings of the bible didn’t restrict her from being strong and independent. In fact, St. Brigid was close friends with one of Ireland’s first poets - Dubthach maccu Lugair. Dubthach and the other poets of the time were overwhelmingly not sexist. One of the most notable works of early Irish poetry is the prosimetrum by Táin Bó Cuailnge. The first recensions in this beautifully written collection are in celebration of Queen Méabh; she is treated as an equal — if not a superior — to her husband. Other strong female characters follow her, including the sovereignty goddess Macha, the villainous Morrígan, and Gráinne, who shows great power in her taking control of her own sexuality. These are only some of the most notable women to feature in these poems; were I to list them all, it would take all day!

In those days, composing poetry was one of the most lucrative professions in Ireland. This was due to the many kings across Ireland employing personal poets, known as ollams. These ollams were required to have hundreds of original poetic stories ready upon request for the king. What a shame that so many of these doubtlessly great pieces of work have been lost forever! These poems celebrated Irish royals, Biblical figures and figures from Celtic Mythology, including the strong women from each of these sources. My favourite piece is the poetic narrative An Banshenchas, written in 1147 by Gilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside. This is the ultimate piece of feminist writing from the bardic period of poetry; it celebrates many notable women, from what the author considered to be the beginning of time with God’s Eve up to 1030 with Gormlaith ingen Murchada, a queen who stood as a symbol between the relationship of the native people of Ireland and the Viking settlers. This is not a celebration of one type of woman — we see so many different personalities and characterisations, from the somewhat passive Miriam to the perseverant and powerful Étaín. There is truly a woman in this collection for anyone to relate to, which is a testament to the feminist nature of a poem written 990 years ago in supposedly sexist times!

The most prestigious position a poet could get in this period of time would be Ollamh Érenn, or the Chief Ollam of Ireland. They would sit next to the high king of the country and be commended by all. Out of all of the documented ones, a single woman held the title — Uallach ingen Muinecháin. Since she was the first famous Irish female poet, one would think that her work would be taught to all, yet none of it survives. Were it not for her obituary in the Annals of Innisfallen, this trailblazer would have been forgotten entirely.

But ollams were not the only type of poets around; they were in fact only one subset of the poetry grouping known as filid. The type of filid that is best known today is a bard. Bards were actually the lowest position a poet could take, but the word has become synonymous with poet in the context of Ancient Ireland. Ancient Irish poetry is commonly referred to as bardic poetry, even by many scholars, despite the term's inaccuracy. It is often stated that it is unknown if any of these bards were female (Walker, 1786). However, the previously mentioned Muinech and Sadhbh Ó Mailchonaire are two factual exceptions. As with Muinech, Ó Mailchonaire’s works has been lost and the most famous record of her is her obituary. (Unknown, 1447) There are also some other potential candidates as ancient Irish poets, although once again these women’s works do not survive to this day. Agnes Carkill was a poet who performed for King James IV of Scotland in 1512 and there is speculation that she hailed from the Antrim family, Mac Fhergail, which would have been her maiden name (Bourke, 2002). Walker who spent years researching bards, speculates that the Caoine was written by a woman; most scholars agree with this opinion. The Caoine is a weeping lament, which was performed by women at funerals; its practice has spread from Ireland as far as Libya and Egypt. It is best known today for being the origin of the banshee myth. Women were also associated with the poetic form amhráin, which is a poem that’s sung, a practice which became prominent in the 16th century. It is also possible that many of the anonymous poems were written by women, especially since many of these poems feature distict feminist undertones, such as the spectacular St. Brigid’s Prayer which has since been translated by Brendan Kennelly.

It is also worth mentioning fictional female poets who appeared in ancient Irish stories. One of the characters who appears in Acallam na Senórach, the longest surviving work of medieval Irish literature, is Créide. She is described as a fine poet who invites males to a hostel in order to judge their poems. Créide is one of the first fictional poetry critics, but unfortunately she is not celebrated to the extent that she deserves to be. The Daughter of úa Dulsaine appears in a story by Cormac mac Cuilennáin (who died in 908), where she is one of the most popular poets in Ireland and travels around the country and abroad to show off her poetic prowess. Some suggest that this account is based off a true story and mac Cuilennáin just added the fantasy elements (Nicholson, 2016).

Another feminist fact about Ancient Irish poetry is that what we know today was as alliteration was named after women. It was referred to as “brichtu ban, brechtaib ban”, which roughly translates as “charms of women”. (Stifter, 2016) This technique is found in almost all surviving bardic poetry from its inception to its end. I do find it odd that such a prevalent term was named after women’s ability to speak in an enchanting manner, and yet that this very same society supposedly would not let these women write their hypnotic words down.

Compared to other countries Ireland has quite a lot of surviving poetry, but it’s only a small selection of what was written at the time. Many recorded works of poetry were destroyed in 686 AD after the Saxons raided Ireland, and again in 798 AD when the Vikings settled. Their cultures were more sexist than that of the Celts and their prejudice might be another reason why there are so few works that are credited to a woman from this period. The Saxons and Vikings were not completely able to destroy Celtic culture and bardic poetry, however, despite their best efforts; the bardic tradition managed to continue for hundreds of years after their arrival.

Poetry in Ireland began to shift during its Tudor conquest between 1529 and 1603. Queen Elizabeth brought the first English poets over to Ireland as she was claiming land, one of the most famous examples being Sir Walter Raleigh. This sexist poet’s writings did not have much influence on the Emerald Isle; in fact, in Éirinn he is most notable for the assumption that he planted the first potato in Ireland, even though this is pure speculation and it is far more likely this was done by a Spanish man or woman. (McNeill, 1949)

After England conquered the country in 1601 and Hugh O’Neill surrendered, bardic schools began to shut down. One of Ireland’s most infamous literary controversies — the Contention of the Bards — occurred during this time period. The bards attacked each other through verse, and it brought the end to their influence on the country. Bards were now just known as poets and it was becoming rare for poetry to be one's full-time occupation. Since there were no more kings, poets had to adapt and find patronage from the English settlers. Most of these settlers wanted their poems in English, not Irish, and thus a shift in language began to occur. Many refused to take part in it as it interfered with their Catholic beliefs; those wealthy enough migrated to Catholic countries in continental Europe to study poetry in college. Unfortunately, no one would fund these poor Catholic writers, so almost all of their work has been lost. As Protestant England was an extremely sexist society (even when it was ruled by a queen, ironically), women were discouraged from becoming poets as well.

The harsh Penal Laws put in place in Ireland by England forbade the teaching of the Irish language and poetry to Catholics. To circumvent this people pretended (often unsuccessfully) to be Protestant, or else taught children in secret 'hedge schools'. Hedge schools kept the tradition of Irish poetry alive, but if people were caught teaching in them or being secret poets they were arrested and punished. In Cork in 1584, 71 men an 1 woman were arrested. She was named Mary-ny-Dononoghue and dubbed by the presentation to the jury as “she-barde” and “rhymer”.

Before we get into the bleak sexism, I’d like to bring up two notable female poets who existed in the 17th and 18th centuries: Mary Monck and Charlotte Brooke. Both women come from wealthy backgrounds and married rich men, so they were able to avoid punishment as a result. Monck was multilingual and spoke English, Latin, Italian and Spanish. Many of her works can be found in the 1775 collection Poems by Eminent Ladies, which is definitely worth a read. Unfortunately for some reason in this collection Monck is miscredited as Mrs. Monk! Brooke was homeschooled by her father, who was also a writer. She was interested in the Irish language and became bilingual through hours of study. She not only wrote poems, but translated them too; yet despite being just as talented as her male counterparts, if not more, she was never accorded the same respect as them. Her poetry is rich in storytelling and employs a multitude of techniques, including an effective application of the most obvious ones: rhyme, repetition and rhythm. Monck is also very skilled in her writing; we will discuss possible reasons for why they have been forgotten by history later.

We see the first signs of widespread sexist poems in Ireland during this time frame. Epithalamia made their way to Eirinn in the writings of Dáibhí Ó Bruadair. While epithalamia in theory do not have to be sexist, almost all of the ones written during these times treated the women as inferior to men. There is also the establishment of poetry circles that would only allow male members; the most notable of these was Seán Ó Tuama’s and Andrias MacRait’s Maigue Poets. (Joyce, 1961)

Aodhagán Ó Rathaille’s aisling was invented in this time period and it constitutes one of the most uncomfortable forms of poetry I have ever witnessed. Aislings are set in dreams where women appear to the poet; often the woman appearing in such a dream is an anthropomorphic depiction of Ireland. This poetic brought the Mother Ireland concept into popular culture. Filmmaker Pat Murphy summed up it best when describing Mother Ireland in an excellent 1991 documentary about that subject: “[Mother Ireland] is not a positive image, the associations I have with it are not positive ones, I actually think it’s a wrong thing to do – to call a country after a woman – because it gets into those kind of areas where a country is to be won, or penetrated, or ploughed. And it means that women aren’t seen for themselves”. (Crilly, 1991)

Unfortunately, the concept of Mother Ireland did not stop at one poem; it was featured in several of Ó Rathaille’s aislings, as well as aislings written by other men. The concept transcends the aisling form and poets such as Thomas Moore began writing poems about Mother Ireland. The most notable of his poems about this oppressive concept is The Origin of the Harp, which inspired an equally sexist painting by Daniel Maclise in the 19th century. Even Roisin Dubh, which was an innocent poem about a man being in love with a woman, was weaponised by Owen Roe Mac Ward and turned into a poem about Mother Ireland. It has been widely sung by masses since the 18th century, unknowingly (or not) oppressing millions of women.

Well Tikki Troops, that was a lot to take in for part one, was it not? I decided split this blessay into parts because I did not want to overwhelm you all! The next blessay will cover 19th century poetry up today; despite covering a much shorter period, there are more poems that exist in its time frame. How will Irishwomen combat this Mother Ireland archetype — or will they at all? How will the most famous Irish poets, including Becket, Joyce, Heaney, Wilde and Yeats fit into this narrative? You’ll find out next time! But be patient with me as I try to perfect part two. :^)

Bibliography

Bourke, A. (2002) The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. NYU Press.

Cahill, S. E. (1983) ‘Reexamining the acquisition of sex roles: A social interactionist approach’, Sex Roles, 9(1), pp. 1–15. doi: 10.1007/BF00303105.

Collins, G. and Wickham, J. (2004) ‘Inclusion or Exploitation? Irish Women Enter the Labour Force’, Gender, Work & Organization, 11(1), pp. 26–46. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2004.00219.x.

Conroy, A. and Dickinson, T. (2018) ‘Male adolescent suicidality: a literature review’, Mental Health Practice, 21(8), pp. 50–55. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2018.e1293.

Crilly, A. (1991) Mother Ireland [Documentary Film]. Aired on Channel 4, U.K.

Hanlon, N. (2015) ‘The Role of Men in Gender Equality_Eire Report’. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2011.5369.

History of the Potato (no date). Available at: https://www.potato.ie/history-of-the-potato/ (Accessed: 20 March 2020).

Joyce, M. (1961) ‘The Poets of Maigue’. The Capuchin Article.

McNeill, W. H. (1949) ‘The Introduction of the Potato into Ireland’, The Journal of Modern History, 21(3), pp. 218–222.

Meaney, G. (1991) Gerardine Meaney Sex and nation : Women in Irish Culture and Politics. ARTIC PRESS.

Morrison, T. G., Speakman, C. and Ryan, T. A. (2009) ‘Irish university students’ support for the human rights of lesbian women and gay men’, Journal of Homosexuality, 56(3), pp. 387–400. doi: 10.1080/00918360902728871.

Nicholson, T. (2016) A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity. Troubador Publishing Ltd.

Owens, R. C. O. (1984) Smashing Times: The Irish women’s suffrage movement 1889-1922. ARTIC PRESS.

Patterson, R. A. (2015) ‘Women of Ireland: Change Toward Social and Political Equalityin the 21st Century Irish Republic’. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20151008154655/https://martindale.cc.lehigh.edu/sites/martindale.cc.lehigh.edu/files/Patterson.pdf (Accessed: 9 December 2019).

Stifter, D. (2016) ‘Metrical systems of Celtic traditions’, North-Western European Language Evolution 1983 & University Press of Southern Denmark, p. 58.

‘The Present Duty of Irishwomen: The Contribution of Irish Women as documented in the Archival Record’ (2016). Irish Archives Source.

Unknown (1447) ‘Annála Connacht’. Walker, J. (1786) Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards. Dublin: Printed for author, by L. White.

[lovemesomesurveys]

5,000 question survey series--part thirty-five

3301. When someone is 'crazy' why do we call them 'nuts' or 'fruitcakes'? Yeah, I don’t know how those sayings got started. I often wonder how a lot of our sayings and such got started.

3302. What's the dillio? *shrug* 3303. Where did the slang term 'dillio' come from? Isn’t it “dealio” as in, “what’s the deal” or “what’s going on?” 3304. How many even whole numbers are there between -5 and 5? 4. 3305. What words can you make useing only these letters: E N O? No, eon, on, one.

3306. What's the differance between foods that are low fat and foods that are lite? I feel like lite refers to lite everything and not just fat? I don’t know, I really don’t pay much attention to that. 3307. White or brown rise? I don’t like rice. 3308. Can you be content if you are physically uncomfortable? I can’t, no. 3309. What is the differance between discomfort and pain? Discomfort is more mild. 3310. What is the most uncomfortable thing you can think of? For me it’s being hot. That’s more like miserable than uncomfortable, but yeah. 3311. What do these names make you think of: britney spears? “Toxic.”

walt whitman? “I Sing the Body Electric.” buddah? A Buddah statue.

william shakespere? “To be or not to be, that is the question.” pablo picasso? His self-portrait and his paintings using shapes and the way he painted people.

adam ant? Not familiar with him. franz kafka? ^^^^ nietzche? ^^^^ madonna? “Like a virgin, touched for the very first time.” orson scott card? frieda kahlo? Her eyebrows. :X

god? Love, forgiveness, mercy. salvidor dali? The melting clocks painting.

david bowie? Labyrinth. jesus? Salvation.

lars ulrich? Metallica. jim henson? Muppets. 3312. What are your favorite games to play? I love board games. 3313. Are you quick to judge something as stupid just because you don't understand it? I’m guilty of that. 3314. Are you obnoxious to others? No. 3315. Do you feel superior to anyone? Absolutely not. 3316. Shouldn't people take a good look at themselves before they criticize others? Yes. 3317. Which is better and why: writing or saying obnoxious things about someone who isn't around to defent themselves or saying it straight to them? Which do YOU do more often? I know it’s best to speak up and say something if I had an issue with someone, but I tend to just not say anything at all. 3318. Do you appologize too often? Yes. I’m always quick to blame myself for everything 3319. Does your mind play tricks on you? Yes. 3320. Have you read (any of): the bible? the koran? the torah? the kama sutra? the satanic bible? 3321. Do you own any possetions that you hide from parents, friends, visitors? Old diaries and letters.

What? Well, they’re personal. 3322. Why does the cheese stand alone? I guess cause it smells or something. 3323. Do you watch any soaps? No. I find the acting and story lines just absolutely awful. 3324. Have you learned something new today?/ Stuff in the news. 3325. Do you believe in an 'oversoul' of all humanity? What? 3326. Have you invented your own style, just for you? It’s nothing unique.

3327. have you invented your own religion, just for you? No. 3328. What files have you recently downloaded? I don’t remember. 3329. Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard but I think: Uh, of course they should be heard. They have a voice and should be able to use it just like anyone else. 3330. Do you dance around a lot? No. 3331. Is the unexamined life worth living or not? What. 3332. What are you like when you're at your most beautiful? I never feel beautiful. 3333. What are you like when you are at your worst? I don’t even want to be around me. 3334. Why do you hide things about yourself?/ I just don’t feel comfortable talking about certain things or I’m sure how to talk about/express them. 3335. Why is anything 'too personal' to talk to others about? It just is. 3336. Why should we be embarressed, afraid, or appologetic for ANYTHING we think, say or do? I don’t know, that’s just how it is sometimes. 3337. Can true freedom exist in this world of doubt and guilt? Well, you can not let it weigh you down. 3338. What do you have no control over? Life. 3339. Do you own a vibrating pillow? No.

How about a vibrating back massager? No. 3340. Can you dance away your emotional pain? No. 3341. When you dance is it a celebration of life? I don’t dance unless you count a head bob and maybe a little arm/shoulder movement lol. 3342. When do you feel the most immortal? I don’t. 3343. Are you more of a painting, a poem or a song? I’m a sad song. 3344. Is lonliness a crowded room full of open hearts turned to stone? Blah. 3345. Is YOUR heart ever stone? I feel like my health, especially my mental health, has hardened me in some ways. :/ 3346. Are we alltogether all alone? No. 3347. Does life end in a happily ever after way? It depends on what you believe and where you go after you die. 3348. What's the warmest part of your body? Right now my entire body. It’s so hot in here. D: 3349. Are you more verbal or visual? Depends? 3350. What do you long for? For better days.

3351. True or false: When someone hates you it is because:

they're jealous of you? Not necessarily, but sometimes.

the things you say are frightening to them because what you say makes them think about things they would rather avoid thinking about? Perhaps.

they don't understand you? That can be a reason. 3352. True or false: When you hate someone it is because: I don’t hate anyone.

you're jealous of them? the things they say are frightening to you because what they say makes them think about things you would rather avoid thinking about? you don't understand them? 3353. Have you ever been fascinated by someone who hated you? I don’t know of anyone hating me. 3354. Since the human brain has defense mechanisms against feeling bad (meaning the brain lies to itself to avoid feeling bad about something it said or did) how can we ever know if we are truly being honest? Well mine must be broken cause I feel that all the time.

How do we know our brains are not tricking us into believeing we are good people when we aren't all good?/ Actually, I really hate the person I’ve become over these past few years and I pray it’s my brain making me think that and that it’s not really true. :/ 3355. How highly do you value innovation? I think it’s great?  3356. Is there a name where all the people you've ever met haveing that name had something in common with each other(ex. all the jens you've ever met had blue eyes)? Yeah, I definitely feel like there were a few examples of that, but of course I’m failing to think of any at the moment. 3357. Are you focused more outward or inward? Uhh. 3358. What is the most affectionate nickname you ever came up with for someone? I call my doggo a precious angel. lol. 3359. Are the questions STILL still interesting this deep into the survey? I guess interesting is the word for it. They’re.... something. Some are a bit out there. 3360. If someone else makes their desicions based on their intuition instead of on facts and proofs what do you think of that person? Sometimes our intuition about certain things is right. 3361. Do you trust your own intuition? Sometimes. 3362. Finish the phrase... danger is the: just keep: never trust: the way I live my life: don't change: maybe someday: 3363. Would you rather live in Frodo's world or Harry Potter's? Harry Potter. 3364. Do you believe that the dead are with us? Their memory is and we see and hear them around us in various things.

If yes in what form? ^^^^ 3365. Do you believe that those who haven't been born are with us? Like they died in the womb? Well, I believe in heaven and I believe that an unborn fetus would go there.

If yes, in what form? ^^^ 3366. Are you made of timid stuff? What. 3367. Is there anyone in this world who is not CRAZY? We’re all a little mad. 3368. What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Short becomes shorter when you add “er.” 3369. Can you mashed potatoe? I never got what kind of dance the mashed potato is.

Can you do the twist? Nah. 3370. What does your family do for thanksgiving..or if you don't celebrate it what do you picture when you think of thanksgiving? We have a nice Thanksgiving dinner. 3371. What is your earliest memory? I have some memories from preschool. 3372. Have you ever taken an IQ test? Yeah. What do you think of those things? IQ is one of those things that’s difficult to really define. You be smart in different areas. I always think of that Albert Einstein quote that says, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” 3373. How do you make 'fishcakes'? I don’t know. I’ve never had ‘em and I’ve never made them. I have no desire to either. 3374. Which is the better band..the offspring or the damned? The Offspring. 3375. Do you ever think about world destruction? No, not really. 3376. Do you think humans are becoming more robotic? Yes. I definitely feel that way. 3377. Do you think we'll ever be replaced by robots? Oh, it’s happening. 3378. What do you feel a part of? Hmm. 3379. Does it freak you out to know that yogurt is ALiVe?? It’s weird to think that there’s good bacteria for you. 3380. What current band d o you think is doing something particularly interesting or innovative? *shrug* 3381. Golf course, do you remember? Remember what?

3382. Which is more important, books and cleverness or friendship and bravery? Books and cleverness. 3383. If i promise to miss you, will you go away? You don’t gotta miss me. 3384. stool, ball, powder...Can you think of a 4th word that connects these three? Nope. 3385. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? You. 3386. Why are blondes considered 'dumb'? I don’t know why that became a big joke. 3387. What's more important..intuitiveness/creativity or factual knowledge and practicallity? They all are. 3388. Who are the two worst terrorists you can think of? All terrorists are horrible. 3389. What is jello made of? Gelatin, which consists of collagen from animal skin, bones, and connective tissue. 3390. Pick a country: Sweden. What do you believe is wrong with that country? I don’t know. 3391. Do you have strong opinions? About some things. 3392. Do you do what it takes to stand up for those opinions? I generally keep to myself. 3393. Have you ever been to a rally, protest or demonstration? No.

If yes was it effective and in what ways? 3394. When people say, 'yeah it sucks but there's nothing I can do' do you believe them? Usually there’s something. 3395. Do you know what you can do to make this world a better place? No, I don’t.

Do you care? I care, but I really don’t know what I could do. I guess this relates to question 3394 and there is something I could do, but what? 3396. Why is peace so important anyway? Do you enjoy violence and hatred?

Why is freedom important? We should be able to make our own choices, but in doing so you also pick the consequences. People tend to overlook that last part. 3397. As long as you have your house and your family and you can go to the movies and the mall who cares about peace and freedom. Right? Uh, wrong. 3398. Do you try to avoid anything involving work? These past few years you could say that. 3399. If you are not actively wrking to stop the horrors and injustices of the world (war, hunger, poverty) than aren't you partially responsible for them? I can’t be responsible for everyone. Should we try and do what we can to help? Well, yes. We don’t have to, though. That goes along with that whole freedom thing, too. 3400. Are you in denial? I don’t think so.

[sonofhistory]

James Monroe and Pierre Stephen Du Ponceau

“ . . . I soon formed a friendship with Laurens, and Hamilton, as well as with Major Monroe, then Aid de Camp to Lord Stirling, and since President of the United States . . . With Monroe I corresponded almost daily, although our quarters were little distant from each other. 

The friendship between James Monroe and Pierre DuPonceau began in February of 1778 while Monroe had been serving as aide-de-camp to General Stirling. The first account of a letter between them is from May 7th, 1777 concerning books [x]. Numbering numerous friends during his time at Valley Forge, of the foreign officers he became close with the Marquis de Lafayette and DuPonceau. Closest, was DuPonceau whom Monroe built a lifelong relationship with. Two years his junior, DuPonceau was contrasting to Lafayette. His nearsightedness and weak lungs ill qualified him for military service but he showed himself through his many abilities. He was fluent in English and had been brought over to America as the secretary of Baron Von Steuben, on whose staff he was serving. 

Their friendship brought not only combradiery but gave Monroe the chance to work on his French (which he'd stopped studying since dropping out of college) and gave him insight in the philosophes. An enthusiastic supporter of the revolution, the Frenchman viewed it in terms of the liberal theories of the Enlightenment rather than simply a quarrel between mother England and her child colonies. For DuPonceau, the American conflict was a large step in a great movement that would liberate other peoples into inspiration to combat tyranny. The two young men shared many of the common tastes in reading. When camp duties were not pressing, they would visit each other every single day and write to one another on the days that they did not. Comically, as DuPonceau stated this in his autobiography, they wrote letters to one another despite having “quarters [that] were little distant from each other . . . “

They discussed and lent books on one another. April of 1778, while at Valley Forge, Monroe borrowed the plays of Nicholas Rowe. DuPonceau also lent Monroe James Watson’s sermons which presented Christianity with deistic principles. The two also shared an appreciation for another writer’s deist views, Mark Akenside. These religious studies would lead Monroe on a path that caused him not to shape his opinions, judgment, focus or advice upon the nature of religion but rather (taking from his ideals on family and friendship) wished others to find comfort in themselves or the people they loved rather than religion. 

In a long poem, “Pleasures of the Imagination”, Akenside expression deistic concepts and defended superior virtues of ancient Stoic philosophy. It was a point of view of great appeal for young Monroe. Monroe was hypersensitive to criticism in a downfall with his shy ambition and was overly concerned that failure to achieve his goals may be his lack of ability. Stoicism offered him refuge from self-doubts and built a habit of reserve in Monroe that became more marked as he grew older. 

From his reading and correspondence with DuPonceau, it is evident that Monroe no longer thought of the American Revolution in the petty, narrow terms of a family conflict between the King and his subjects. He now viewed the war as the first step to a global struggle to free mankind from effects of baneful despotism. This sense of commitment to a movement for political freedom had a profound effect upon Monroe. Thus Monroe, for the rest of his life, worked to convert the ideals of the Revolution into a basic reality of American life. In a letter of April 11th, 1778 Monroe wrote to DuPonceau of his fondness for Akenside and was pleased that he enjoyed him as well. He also hoped that DuPonceau recovered from his illness and urged him to avoid “despondency” (a state of low spirits caused by loss of hope or courage). To help him in his boredom, he sent him books by Rowe and Foster with religious sentiments. 

Pleasant hours spent with DuPonceau and his books gave Monroe a brief repost from the duties of an aide-de-camp. At a party given by Baron Von Steuben coined a “No-Pants Flaming Shot Party” now it is mentioned not only the attendance of Monroe but of DuPonceau. The Frenchman wrote of his sixty years later and recalled vividly the moments:

“Once with the Baron’s permission, his aides invited a number of young officers ,to dine at our quarters; on condition that none should be admitted, that had on a whole pair of breeches. This was of course, understood as pars pro toto; but torn clothes were in indispensable requisite for admission; and in this the guests were sure not to fail . . . the guests clubbed their rations, and we feasted sumptuously on tough beef-steaks and potatoes, with hickory its for our dessert. In lieu of wine, we had some kind of spirits, with which was made salamanders; that is to say, after filling our glasses, we set the liquor on fire, and drank it up, flame and all. Such a set of ragged, and at the same time merry fellows, were never brought together. The Baron loved to speak of that dinner, and of his Sans-Coulottes, as he called us.”

After a banquet held to celebrate the treaty between France and the United States, Monroe staggered back to his hut and scribbled a letter to his French friend to answer DuPonceau’s request for some books:

“Affection, gratitude and every motive which can weigh on the feeling mind induce me to write you a long letter; extreme fatigue, the stubborn labor of yesterday, the real inability interposed powerful obstacles. They are insuperable. I rely on your candor, let my unfeigned congratulations on the joyful cause which produced yesterday’s event plead my pardon. I cannot answer each part of your letter, such a practical or rather prosaic flight. ‘for each seems either;” the language is prose but the thoughts are poetry. I have only to commit you to the guidance of your favorite she-saint; hand in hand walk thro the celestial bowers of happy Paradise; fondest pair! most desirable state!

but pure eloquence is more sublime than the parade and rhapsody of language; then in plain language so towering are your thoughts, so great your expectations that I fear sending you any of our books. A plain and simple collection only well adapted to a retir’d clergyman; come in when at leasure and you shall chuse for yourself; they are all at your service.“

Despite the short interlude of their time spent together, the effects their relationship produced upon Monroe were profound as not only have the great company of a close friend but the intellectual challenges to keep him preoccupied. In a letter to President James Monroe decades later under date of June 5th, 1822, DuPonceau spoke of "the quiet & retired life which choice & inclination have long made me prefer to the bustle of this intriguing world." [x] He sums up his feelings in referring to a long letter which Monroe wrote him on the basis of their youthful friendship as comrades in arms: "Had I been ambitious of places here was a fine opportunity afforded me to obtain that end, but I preferred my Independence. . . ." [x] Of this long letter, DuPonceau mentioned in his autobiography, “After his elevation to the Presidency, he [Monroe] wrote me a long letter, expressive of his remembrance of our former friendship.” [x] When Robert Vaux desired autographs of such men as Monroe and Jefferson, he wrote to Du Ponceau [x]. 

[all-about-wannaone]

1/100 Ways To Say I Love You

Pairing: Hwang Minhyun x Reader

Genre: Fluff 

Prompt: “Pull over. Let me drive for a while.” 

Words: 2156 

A/N: And it is finally the 29th of November!! This simply means that I am done with my examinations and my requests for Wanna One are now OPEN!! I will be doing the usual scenarios and oneshots, both prose and bulletpoints (NO SMUT), reactions, as well as written ships! This is something new that I intend to do for Wannables and it’s just something that seems pretty fun to me. :) Hence, if you would like to request, head over to the askbox, DMs or even submit a post too of a description of yourself! Character traits are preferred as well as likes and dislikes, but physical descriptors are okay too! :) Without further ado, let us get into the very first scenario that I have been dying to share since my hiatus and I hope that all of you would enjoy it! 

“Cameras, checked. Emergency chargers, checked. Phones, checked. Wallets, checked. Cables, checked. Petrol at its full, checked. What else could I possibly be missing?”

“How about these lunchboxes that you spent such a long time on? It’ll be a waste if you left them at home, won’t it?” A familiar voice asked, as he held onto the lunch bag that I had placed them in.

I looked up from the boot of the car, only to be greeted with a playful smile and a gentle shake of the head. Carrying the bag, he walked to the car’s back door to hang the lunch bag onto the hooks behind the seat, ensuring that the contents would not spill in the car.

“Anyway,” he said, closing the door and joining me as I arranged the last few things neatly, “where are we going?”

Curiosity was clearly laced in his voice, but I shook my head and smiled, saying, “It’s a surprise. You’ll find out once we get there.”

“Ehhh… But it’s okay, all these add on to the excitement later on and I cannot wait to see what it is that you have planned out for me.” He replied with a wider smile than before, his eyes turning into little crescent moons, as he made his way to the passenger seat.

Yes, this was my boyfriend, Hwang Minhyun, who had participated in Produce 101 Season 2 to get a second shot at achieving his lifelong dream; to become a successful singer. Unfortunately, this was not an easy task for Minhyun and his fellow members of Nu’est, especially when he faced endless judgement and criticisms from viewers for contributing to the (already) unfair playing grounds.

However, this did not stop them from participating and giving it their all throughout the show,  and he was eventually rewarded with love and affection from “national producers” who had finally seen that they were just like all the other trainees with a common goal in mind. Furthermore, he was also given recognition for his role in forming the legendary “Sorry Sorry Team 2” with his strategic outlook and caring personality towards the trainees who were very much younger.

Nicknames such as “Hwanggallyang” and “Nation’s CEO” began to surface, and he had come in 9th place with 862,719 votes. He had finally achieved his dreams with a second shot by being a member of the highly anticipated (and very well loved) final group, Wanna One. Sadly, a viewer could never forget how much tears he had shed that day, simply because another Nu’est member did not make it in. He did not cry for himself, but he cried for others, who could only stand and smile proudly as he walked up onto the triangle to sit himself on the coveted final 11 places.

He was never one to be emotional, and the only times he cried was when his fellow member, Baekho, had choked him as a prank. The other took place in Japan when JR apologised for being the reason Nu’est was not doing as well as they had expected. And now, here he was again, tears flowing down his cheeks as he poured out all the emotions of guilt and sorrow to the viewers and members. In fact, even when he had an entire day off for his members and I before he officially moved to the shared dorm with the rest of Wanna One, he still could not help but to tear up a little at the thought.

That was my first time seeing the happy-go-lucky, positive and strong Minhyun crumble. We did not go out for a fancy dinner that night, instead settling for stay-at-home movies with Garrett’s popcorn and take-out korean food. Truth be told, we did not need anything fancy or elaborate, because all we needed was to be in one another’s company. It was understandable really, especially when we had stopped communicating for 4 months straight for both our sakes. It was our second time seeing each other in 4 months (the first being at the finals) and it brought about a bittersweet feeling.

Later, it was almost as if we had no time for each other anymore. The both of us needed to work and for him? It was only going to get busier. With a countless number of advertising offers, variety show invites, as well as preparing for their showcase and debut, it was not hard to see why he lost such a drastic amount of weight in 2 weeks, with eyebags becoming more prominent over time.

Of course, when he did get a hold of a phone from the staff, he would assure me time and time again that I did not need to worry. He was well taken care of, well-fed and most importantly, happy. Hence, I did my best to keep it that way, cheering for him in spirit as Wanna One snagged awards across all music shows and broke records as a brand new boy band with the biggest debut  showcase in Kpop history, as well as the debut music video with the highest number of views in 24 hours. Conversely, I could not help but to worry, especially when it came to my knowledge that they barely slept, but this was the most I could do for him at that point; keep being supportive.

After what seemed like an eternity had passed, Wanna One had finally gotten their well-deserved break after 4 weeks of back-to-back promotions with “Energetic”, and that was when I started planning for a day trip out to his hometown, Busan.

It might not seem like Minhyun, especially when he was allergic to salt, but he always talked about how much he had missed the seabreeze in Busan and feeling the waves on his feet as they lapped on the many sandy shores that Busan has to offer. Next, he would move on to the scrumptious and fresh seafood, which he obviously took a whole load of pride in, constantly mentioning that he would bring me back someday.

It was almost impossible, but with the kindness and understanding from my superior, I had managed to get an entire day off to bring him back home. I prepared the itinerary beforehand, ensuring that I knew the route to Busan with the help of my trusty old GPS. Furthermore, I started to research on the activities that we could possibly do, as well as contact his older sister, Sujin, to see what else the both of us could do from an insider’s perspective. Lastly, I took it upon myself to prepare his favourite food, which was a typical lunchbox consisting of scrambled eggs, rice, Spam and kimchi cooked in sesame oil, as well as kimbaps and freshly steamed sweet potatoes.

Today was the day, and Minhyun was already getting comfortable in the passenger seat. His eyes were closed and the sun soon began to illuminate his already beautiful features as I drove. It was a beautiful day indeed, perfect for a road and photography trip to Busan. The sun was high in the sky and there were spots of white puffy clouds decorating the cerulean blue sky, and I could not help but feel a sense of calm and tranquility.

By now, Minhyun was already asleep and I definitely understood. According to him, these 2 days were truly meant for them to catch up on their sleep and spend some time with their loved ones, and even though he needed his beauty sleep, he made it a point to visit the people he loved anyway. He went home to visit the rest of his fellow members the day before, and today was his last day of freedom as they still had to prepare for their upcoming fan meets and concerts, both domestic and international.

As I continued to drive, especially along the highway, my eyes were already stinging with sleepiness and I had absolutely no idea why. Perhaps it was because of how excited I was to see my boyfriend again, which led to me only sleeping in the wee hours of the morning, but I fought back the urge to close them anyway.

I need to get Minhyun back to Busan in one piece and besides, this was supposed to be a road trip, not a death trip.

With that, I decided to turn on the radio, but I ensured that the volume was not too loud, just so that Minhyun could continue with the beauty sleep that he truly deserved. Hence, the car had been in state of pin-drop silence, only with the occasional light snores from Minhyun, the aircon and the music and occasional commentary coming from the radio.

Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a groan, only to look at Minhyun and realise that he was shifting in his sleep with furrowed eyebrows. His mouth began to move, but all I could hear were incoherent words that made absolutely no sense, so I asked him to repeat what he had just said.

“Are you tired?” He asked, sitting up straight with squinted eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness. Then, he proceeded to stretch his long limbs by stretching out his arms, while rotating his neck and shoulders to ease the tension from sleeping in such an awkward position.

“U-uh… I’ll be fine Min. Just… go back to sleep.” I stuttered, but he only responded, saying in a soft voice, “I know when you’re tired, and that’s when you turn on the radio. How long more to the next rest stop?”

“45 minutes?” I replied, sounding as if it was more of a question than a statement, and we were soon back to the comfortable silence as always. He was a man of few words, so silence was completely normal for the both of us.

“Pull over. Let me drive for a while.”

“Are you crazy? We’re in the middle of a highway!” I said, baffled at his sudden suggestion, and he only chuckled, “That’s what shoulder lanes are for. Come on, just stop the car and I’ll take the wheel.”

I was hesitant, but I could tell that he was serious, and so I did. Without a single word, he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, and I too did the same. We walked past each other to get to the opposite sides, and we were back in a flash, except that the roles had reversed. He began to adjust the seat to make up for his long legs and body, strapping in, after he had helped me with my seatbelt too.

“So… Babe, where are we going then?”

And that was when I started to notice that he was studying the GPS, swiping at the screen to find the destination. When he had finally noticed it, he clicked on the red pin and grinned from ear to ear.

“Busan… So this was where you wanted to bring me today? Home at last?”

I nodded, wanting to apologise for ruining the surprise, but he had stopped those words from coming out by giving me a soft and grateful kiss on my lips. For some reason, he still managed to get me all flustered and my cheeks felt a familiar warmth spreading through it. By now, I was pretty sure that I had become a cooked lobster at that point.

“Aigoo… You’re so cute,” he said, pinching my cheeks and ruffling my hair, but he became a little more serious now, “Thanks babe. I really appreciate it. I’m sorry I’ve not been able to see you often, but I’m still grateful for you standing by my side, whether physically or spiritually. There were times when I wished that I could be back with you in my arms more often and I know I’m not a man of many words, but I just wanted to say that I miss you a lot and —“

Only the Almighty knew where all the courage came from, but I took the opportunity to silence him with a kiss. It was soft, innocent, sweet and full of longing. Indeed, being separated for the past 8 months was no easy feat, but here he was, by my side, even if it was just for a day.

“You talk too much Min. I’m glad you liked the surprise, but how about we start driving now? Or we’ll never be able to get there.”

He laughed heartily at the comment, and pressed on the accelerator, cruising through the highway at a steady pace now. Once again, it was back to the silence that we were used to, but not until he said, “Don’t worry princess. I will wake you up when we get there and I will be okay. In fact, I can’t wait to show you what Busan has to offer, but for now, just sleep. I promise, we’ll get there in one piece.”

Request here! 

Submit a post here! (For longer descriptions of written ships!)

Check out my other stuff here!  

[ramajmedia]

10 Best Quotes From Forrest Gump | ScreenRant

Released 25 years ago in 1994, the critically acclaimed and widely beloved film Forrest Gump, starring the beloved Hollywood icon Tom Hanks, remains one of the best films of the modern age of Hollywood. The film tells the story of a man named Forrest Gump, who was deemed an idiot due to his low IQ, but who continually proves that he's an extraordinary man through his key roles in major moments in history.

RELATED: Star Wars: 10 Inspiring Quotes About Hope

Forrest's kindness and compassion are the defining traits of his character, beyond his amazing ability to take part in history. In addition, Forrest, and those around him, are also shown to have great amounts of wisdom about the world they live in. Here, we take a look at 10 of the film's most meaningful quotes.

10 "Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing."

Over the course of the sprawling epic film, the relationship between Forrest and his former superior Lieutenant Dan undergoes many, many changes. Lieutenant Dan never seems to like Forrest for quite some time, but soon enough, the two realize that they're all the other has, and that the universe keeps putting them back together again and again.

Later in their lives, Lieutenant Dan gives Forrest some sage financial advice: investing in Apple stock.

9 "It happens."

During his amazing journey on foot across the country, Forrest winds up developing quite the following, including people who come to him looking for ideas and inspiration. One of those people is a man trying to find a slogan to put on bumper stickers.

At just the time when the man is questioning Forrest, Forrest runs, undeterred, through a pile of dog feces. This prompts Forrest to observe, frankly, "It happens," leading the man to develop a new brand of bumper stickers that say "S--t happens."

8 "I don't know if we have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze, but I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happenin' at the same time."

The entire film Forrest Gump makes the case that, though Forrest may not be the smartest man in the world from an intellectual and IQ standpoint, he truly does have a level of understanding and wisdom that most people could only hope to have.

RELATED: The 10 Most Inspirational Stan Lee Quotes

In the film's closing act, Forrest's wisdom is perfectly encapsulated as he visits Jenny's grave and tries to make sense of the way the world works. He accepts that life is somehow both destined and random all at the same time - a concept perfectly reflected in the film's touching image of a feather floating away from young Forrest Jr.

7 "What's normal anyways?"

Forrest's mother is his staunchest advocate for the entire film, and there are truly no lengths to which she wouldn't go in order to ensure a better life for her son. During her fiercest episodes of advocacy and protection, Mama makes a good point when she notes, "What's normal anyways?"

Forrest Gump continually shows that underestimating people will get you nowhere in life. Forrest's magical journey is just an extraordinary example of that fact. But from day one, Mama has known that normal isn't what it's always made out to be. Normal is overrated.

6 "From that day on, we was always together. Jenny and me was like peas and carrots."

The relationship between Forrest Gump and Jenny Curran is one of the major storylines in the entire film. From childhood onward, Forrest is hopelessly in love with Jenny, the girl of his dreams and one of the only people to ever accept and understand him.

Though their journey takes many unconventional and taxing turns as they grow into young adulthood, their first meeting is as sweet and innocent as could be, when Jenny allows Forrest to sit ext to her on the bus. As Forrest observes, "From that day on, we was always together. Jenny and me was like peas and carrots." And in the end, they really were.

5 "I'm not a smart man. But I know what love is."

Despite all the time they spend apart, Forrest never stops being in love with Jenny. Even after learning all that she has suffered from, and even after enduring countless hardships on his own, Forrest remains almost blindingly in love with his beloved Jenny - even if she seems to refuse to acknowledge the fact that he's capable of loving her.

RELATED: Top 10 Tom Hanks Movies, According To IMDb

When Forrest makes this confession - "I'm not a smart man. But I know what love is." - it's a heartbreaking, breathtaking moment of clarity in the film. Jenny may have known and understood Forrest all along, but it's in this moment that she's first allowed to really know Forrest, and all that he really is capable of.

4 "Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea..."

"You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That...that's about it."

The friendship that forms between Forrest Gump and Bubba Blue is one of the purest things in the entire movie.

Before Bubba's tragic death, he makes it clear that he would like to go into business with Forrest in the shrimping business. But long before that offer of working together, Bubba gives a monologue on shrimp that deserves its own entry.

3 "Mama says stupid is as stupid does."

Both Forrest and Mama have very frank ways of saying things, and very keen understandings of the way the world works. When young Forrest first meets Jenny, she asks him if he's stupid or something, to which Forrest answers, "Mama says stupid is as stupid does."

RELATED: The Lord Of The Rings: 10 Facts About Frodo They Leave Out In The Movies

It's not really clear what that means, honestly, especially in the context of answering Jenny's question regarding Forrest's own intellect. But there's no denying the simple, fundamental truth of that observation, the kind of wisdom found in all of Mama's words about the way of the world.

2 "Run, Forrest, run!"

Arguably one of the most quoted lines from the movie comes very early on in the film, when young Jenny implores a young Forrest, "Run, Forrest, run!" From a young age, Forrest is clearly a gifted runner. This earns him respect and renown in his youth, in his college days on the football field, in service, and later in life, when he begins running just because he wants to.

Running seems to be one of the few things in life that provides Forrest clarity, and it's no wonder, therefore, that this brief line from a fleeting moment in the film's first act has come to be one of the most memorable quotes from the entire movie.

1 "My Mama always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.'"

Given the significant role that Mama plays in the film, it's no wonder that the best known and most beloved quote from Forrest Gump should be yet another one of her keen observations. As Forrest relates it, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Given Forrest's own amazing life journey, that statement is more than accurate.

It's also clear inspiration for Forrest's own later conclusion that life is both fated and random, planned and mysterious. Forrest's life is just about as random and destined as things could get... just like a perfectly organized chocolate box.

NEXT: Tom Hanks' 10 Most Iconic Roles

source https://screenrant.com/best-quotes-forrest-gump-movie/

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #SJA7: The Last Sontaran

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Timestamp #SJA7: The Last Sontaran

Sarah Jane Adventures: The Last Sontaran (2 episodes, s02e01, 2008)

  Earth’s mightiest potato meets Bannerman Road’s exemplary half-forms.

Sarah and Maria gaze at the night sky, talking about their adventures together and everything that lies on the path before them. That next adventure materializes at the Tycho Project’s radio telescope in Goblin’s Copse as Professor Nicholas Skinner and his daughter Lucy search for alien life. Strange lights buzz about in the night sky, but upon investigation, the Skinners disappear.

The night lights intrigue Sarah Jane, who asks Mr. Smith about them in the morning. This interrupts Luke and Clyde, who have been learning about battle strategies using a computer game. Mr. Smith believes that the lights are meaningless.

Meanwhile, Alan has received a job offer. He and Maria have a lot of thinking to do.

The Bannerman Road Gang heads to Goblin’s Copse to investigate the lights. The space is large and they feel like they’re being watched. The facility is abandoned, which piques Sarah Jane’s interest. Lucy bursts in and tells them that something is in the woods before collapsing. When she comes to, she tells Sarah Jane her story. She believes that the mysterious being has her father, and both Clyde and Luke go to investigate. They are pursued by a familiar (but cloaked) figure and eventually find his spacecraft.

Lucy falls asleep, so Sarah Jane talks to Maria about the news that is bothering her. Alan’s job offer will take them to the United States, and while Sarah Jane readily accepts the news, Maria doesn’t want to leave.

Chrissy visits Alan and receives the news. Alan is apprehensive, but Chrissy says that he must take the job.

When Lucy awakens, she tells Sarah Jane and Maria about the lights. Sarah Jane believes that they are drones. Professor Skinner returns, though he’s not quite himself, and says that the lights were merely ball lightning. He kicks Sarah Jane and Maria out, but Sarah Jane knows that something is wrong.

Luke and Clyde call Sarah Jane and show her the spacecraft. She disables the cloak with her sonic lipstick, revealing a shape that she knows from her encounter with Linx and Styre. Before she can contact UNIT, the Sontaran returns and captures them. He is Commander Kaagh, but his superior warrior prowess doesn’t stop Maria from distracting him so they can all escape.

Sarah Jane tells Clyde that they need to return to the telescope. They attempt to reason with Skinner, but find him under the control of the Sontaran and meddling with satellites. Before Sarah Jane can disable the mind control device, Kaagh captures them. Meanwhile, Luke and Maria sneak in via the ventilation system.

Kaagh is intrigued as to how Sarah Jane knows his people. He is the sole survivor of the fleet that the Tenth Doctor defeated. He has vowed vengeance on Earth for the humiliation of their defeat. His plan is to use the Tycho radio telescope to steer Earth’s satellites into nuclear reactors, therefore triggering nuclear annihilation.

Clyde protests and Kaagh says that he will make a good experimental subject. When Sarah Jane steps in front of Clyde, Kaagh shoots her. Luckily, she’s only stunned because she is to be taken back to the Sontaran homeworld to stand trial for the Doctor’s crimes.

Luke and Maria rescue Clyde, prompting Kaagh to give chase through the complex. They narrowly escape through a hatch to the woods beyond. Sarah Jane awakens, locked in a room with Lucy without her tools. Sarah Jane convinces Lucy to help her rig up a tool to escape.

While Alan and Chrissy talk over the job offer, Maria calls her father and asks him to visit Mr. Smith. Of course, Chrissy crashes the party as the gang learns about probic vents, and Alan covers by saying that it’s a live-action roleplaying game. Chrissy sees through the lie and learns that the Bannerman Road Gang fights aliens. She’s eager to help save Maria.

The kids break into the Sontaran ship and scavenge for anything they can use to defeat Kaagh. Clyde runs interference as Luke mixes chemicals. Maria reveals her news to Luke, leaving Luke distraught over losing his friend. She focuses him back on task as Clyde leads Kaagh back to the telescope.

At the telescope, Sarah Jane and Lucy jam the dish’s transmissions as the program nears completion. Professor Skinner investigates and is trapped in the room as the ladies escape. They reunite with Clyde and Lucy tries to disable the program.

Chrissy and Alan arrive as Kaagh frees Professor Skinner. Elsewhere, Clyde and Sarah Jane find Luke and Maria on the run from the Sontaran drones. Sarah Jane disables the drones with her newly-recovered sonic lipstick, then dispatches Clyde and Maria to disable the telescope dish while Luke helps Lucy. Luke stops the countdown at 3:33 after figuring out that the program was constructed in base 6 notation. Because, you know, six fingers.

It’s a good thing that Kaagh doesn’t count using his toes.

Clyde and Maria are trapped by Kaagh and Skinner. They are returned to the control room where Kaagh activates Lucy as a sleeper agent. Lucy restarts the program as Kaagh holds them all at gunpoint. Kaagh is only stopped by Chrissy as she jams her designer shoe in his probic vent. Sarah Jane disables the Sontaran devices in the Skinners while Maria drugs Chrissy so she won’t remember the event.

The Bannerman Road Gang forces Kaagh back into his ship, which no longer has weapons, where he returns home to Sontar. When Maria asks if that’s last they’ve seen, Sarah Jane tells her that she hopes so. However, no matter how far someone goes away, she never considers them gone.

Chrissy wakes up in the Jackson house. Maria tells them that she’s decided they should follow the job offer. Six weeks later, Maria stops by to take one last look at the attic and to say farewell. Sarah Jane says that it’s like she’s saying goodbye to her daughter, but she’s happy for the Jacksons.

The Bannerman Road Gang says goodbye to one of their own. Chrissy tells Sarah Jane that she remembers everything, but promises not to say anything. Later that night, Clyde, Luke, and Sarah Jane gaze upward at the night sky, hoping for the best for their friend.

Sarah Jane consoles them with a few words of advice: “I learned a long time ago that if you’re missing somebody, just… look up at the night sky. Whoever it is, wherever they are, chances are they’re looking at the stars just like you. Sometimes, for all its size, the universe isn’t such a big place after all.”

  One of the things I admire about Sarah Jane Smith is that she recognizes her limitations. As soon as she understood that the threat was a single Sontaran, she was ready to call in the cavalry. Luckily for us, she didn’t get the chance because this story provided a wonderful chance for the team to work together. Especially the kids, who really carried the bulk of the plot.

Sarah Jane seems lighter of heart this time around, and Mr. Smith has developed a personality and a sense of humor. That was helpful because it lightened the tone of the show while still bringing a meaningful story to bear. It bridged the gap between Doctor Who and Sarah Jane by bringing a mutual monster to the table, but it didn’t forget to explore the characters and their relationships.

The farewell to Maria was touching, and the impact on our team is noticeable. I felt for each of them as they lost part of their tight-knit family.

Internal references to the last season of Sarah Jane aside, this episode also made use of franchise callbacks such as the green Sontaran blood and the Marie Celeste.

I also admired how this Sontaran was less comical and more menacing. He’s also been hiding in Goblin’s Copse for a while fixing that ship because it’s been a while since they tried to poison the Earth. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the plot device of trying to destroy the planet by smashing satellites into nuclear power facilities. The kinetic energy alone from all of Earth’s satellites impacting the planet would be devastating, but trying to use inherently stable nuclear power plants as fuel for the fire doesn’t cause a bigger boom. Just a messier one.

  Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

    UP NEXT – Sarah Jane Adventures: The Day of the Clown

  The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

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Superior Song Writing

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Superior Song Writing

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Do you like the idea of taking a thought, and turning it into something tangible?…

Something that has the power to give someone goosebumps – or make their eyes watery with emotion?

So many people have hidden talents that they suspected they might have, but wasted them because they never planted the seed and watered it.

You might be pursuing a dream in music, but ‘missing a piece of the puzzle’….this missing piece of the puzzle could be holding you back from becoming a legend one day.

Songwriting is an art that anyone with an interest in music can master – in fact, the more you are affected by music, the higher your chances of success.

I know what you are thinking…. ‘all the best songs have been written’… ‘all the best rifts are taken’. This is nonsense. Language and music is infinite…. poetry is infinite – and that’s what songwriting is…. poetry in the form of music.

With the history of music at the click of a finger, thanks to technology, tools and resources – your favourite riff can be moments away from being sampled, twisted and moulded to your liking. Now all you need is a song. There has never been a better time to learn the art of songwriting.

Don’t be put off if you don’t play an instrument or are unable to sing. Songwriting is a very rewarding art that is treasured as much as painting, sculpting, or writing.

A great song can stick around forever. It’ll be played endlessly on the radio, covered by different artists and in all manner of styles, and butchered by karaoke wannabe’s. Your work could easily be passed through the ages….

Enjoyed by countless generations. What a legacy right?

A lot of artists are just too busy to write their own songs…

There is a HUGE demand for songwriters out there…. not only will songwriting give you extreme satisfaction – Knowing your songs are being sung by others passionately, but it has the power to make you a lot of money…. can you imagine kissing your boss goodbye because of the royalties you are earning passively? It’s possible if you have the passion!

Have you ever tried to write a song? If you haven’t been shown where to start or how the process works, it can be pretty frustrating…. I used to believe it was an art reserved for a lucky few like John Lennon or Bob Dylan.  You know….

Only the most musically gifted. It wasn’t until a friend introduced me to ‘the process’ of songwriting…. Where my love for music flourished into a complete passion…. And I was truly amazed how long I had ignored the concept of writing my own songs. Why I hadn’t done it earlier?

If you’ve ever dreamed of writing a song, but stopped because you’ve never written a song in your life before, and can’t shake the feeling that it just might be something you’d be good at – then this book is for you.

If you’ve ever tried your hand at songwriting before, and nothing’s turned out the way you hoped – then this book is for you.

If you’ve ever written songs that you’re happy with, but can’t expand your creative horizons – then this book is for you.

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in the arid desert of writer’s block, then this book is for you. If you’re a prolific songwriter with racks of demo tapes and a thirst for marketing knowledge, then this book is for you, too!

This book is for everyone who wants to learn more about the art of songwriting.

Having ‘leverage’ is important if you are already a musician. Now if you are great at performing cover songs…. or, you collaborate well with your manager and band at singing someone else’s songs that’s fine… the trouble is that you have no say or leverage in where your career is going. You gotta do what your manager says, the band could replace you – the songwriter could disagree with your style of singing.

With songwriting skills YOU are the one in the driver’s seat. You are the one who has final say on its creative direction. You are the one who gets the royalties. Simply put, it is the difference between being a poor artist or a wealthy artist.

I’ve written this course to cater for all levels of experience: for people who know absolutely nothing about songwriting, but also for those who want more details about the craft and the industry too.

This course was created with the intention of giving you a boost into the world of songwriting through instructing you in the major aspects of the industry.

So I’ve tried to include real meat-and-potatoes stuff (like how to actually write the songs, and where to get inspiration from) as well as the more technical, insider’s tips like how to market yourself successfully, where to turn for more information, and who you need to know in the music industry.

When I decided to write a book on songwriting, it was purely because I’m sick of all the encyclopedia-style textbooks on the subject. Personally speaking, I don’t think it really gels with the industry or with what you’re trying to do. I think that songwriting is more about having fun than memorizing detailed instructions and following them to the letter – and it’s definitely not about wading through weighty tomes of cross-referenced, super-detailed information.

Here’s what “Songwriting Success – The Ultimate Guide To Writing And Selling Your Songs” has inside:

Everything you need to know about writing a song – from the very basics right through to the “complicated” stuff (I’ve put the word ‘complicated’ into inverted commas because, really, even the “complicated” stuff is still easy because it is in a step-by-step fashion)

Everything you need to know about becoming a professional songwriter is contained within this book.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a good ear for music, an unshakeable sense of rhythm, a way with words and lyrics, or just the feeling that you might be good at this: by the time you’ve finished reading the sections of this book that apply to you, you’ll be ready to start making money off your songwriting ideas.

We’re going to look at the creative and the business side of things: from the actual how-to-get-a-good-idea right through to marketing your stuff to industry insiders.

Discover how songwriting can earn you a living. I give you a run down of the songwriting process and all the things you’ll be involved in as a professional songwriter from writing music and lyrics to composing and marketing.

You’ll learn what is actually in a song in my detailed chapter on “The Basics and Complexities of Structure”

The one fatal mistake that you cannot afford to make when including rhyme in your songs.

Find out all the nitty-gritty secrets that you definitely WILL need to write songs that are successful, marketable, saleable, and chart topping… all the things you want your songs to be!

Lyrics in DETAIL. You’re going to learn all about lyrical (word-based) tools that you can place conveniently throughout your song to jazz it up and make it sound really polished and smooth.

Discover the four absolute most-important traits and abilities of a successful songwriter.

And that’s not all!

Not by a long shot.

One thing that most successful songwriters plan out carefully BEFORE writing any lyrics to their song. This secret is about the closest thing you can get to a guarantee that the song is going to make listeners – sit up and take notice.

Everything you need to know about Rhyme. There’s just something eminently satisfying about listening to a song with a polished rhyme – it sounds finished. Writing un-clichéd rhymes isn’t easy to do, and it tends to be an acquired skill, rather than something you’re born with. But don’t fret… I’m going to break it all down for you.

Stuck for song ideas? I show you where to find them! You’ll soon be capturing great stories and insights to tell in your lyrics, melodies and rhythm.

HOW TO BE A SELF-CONFIDENT SONGWRITER. Seriously, you’ll never be able to write anything if you can’t even put pen to paper without editing it – without rereading it, analyzing it for flaws, assessing it critically. I show you silence your inner critic and skyrocket your confidence in your own songwriting ability!

You’ll gain step-by-step information on how to market your songs.

Uncover my essential tips to creating the melodies themselves… even if you don’t know how to play a musical instrument!

Publishers: Who they are, why you need one, and how to get one of your own!

Everything that you need to include in a submission package to a publishing company.

Networking: How to do it and why you should

Tips for managing your budget when cutting a demo.

Entertainment attorneys and you – What you need to know.

All about how to collaborate and write songs with someone else. Discover how to find them and how to work together so that you make the old saying ‘two heads are better than one’ a true statement.

With 100s of songs being written and submitted to record companies around the world every day, it’s absolutely essential that you make your song stand out. That’s why I’ve dedicated and entire chapter to “Making Your Songs Memorable”.

Find out how to find your own style. When you’re marketing your songs, you’ll be expected to know what category of music your songs fall under. This will enable you to market your music to the people who are looking for that kind of music – the publishers, performing artists, and record companies that are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

Powerful advice on how to use melody to add strength and meaning to your songs.

And much more….

Well you’ve just seen above how comprehensive “Superior Songwriting – The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Selling Your Songs” is.

I’m serious when I say that you won’t find any more powerful book, course, or advice around on how to write and sell your songs. Of course I can’t apply the advice for you, but I am giving you the advice you need to MAXIMIZE your chances songwriting success. 

Of course, to sweeten the deal even MORE, I’m also going to throw in….

TWO Amazing Super Bonuses (Amazing Value) — yours to keep, no matter what you decide!

I want to make sure you have everything you need to immediately guarantee that you maximize your singing potential.

So if you act TODAY, then you’re guaranteeing yourself that you’ll receive the super-low pricing of Superior Songwriting: The Ultimate Guide To Writing And Selling Your Songs

PLUS FULL ACCESS to the following TWO Super Bonuses…

How do you know what your voice sounds like? Have you ever recorded yourself? Did you know that your voice doesn’t sound the same to you than it does to everyone else?

That’s why I’ve included the Singorama! Mini Recording Studio so that you can record and playback your voice right on your computer. You can also stay on pitch with the Virtual Piano or you can sing along with pre-recorded scales.

Sick of writers block? Ideas not flowing the way you’d like?

That’s where this powerful mini-book comes in.

I’ve created this book to provide lessons, and most importantly – practical exercises – to skyrocket your level of creativity in your song writing.

You’ll discover:

My cutting edge method of how to flesh out your song ideas

Practical exercises designed to increase your vocabulary

Awesome exercises that have been engineered to get more ideas coming to the front of your brain, so that you can keep that creative flow going, without experiencing the frustrations of song writers block!

My favorite online software that aids my songwriting no-end

Other brain exercises to boost those creative neurons!

Your 8-Week DOUBLE Risk-Free Guarantee:

Of course, you don’t have to decide now. Instead, grab our risk-free offer, use Superior Songwriting for up to 8 weeks, and watch firsthand to see if your song writing skills improve!

Protection #1

If you’re not absolutely thrilled, just e-mail me within 8 weeks (that’s 56 days) for a complete 100% refund. No questions. No hassles. Right up to the last day of this guarantee.

Protection #2

Even if you cancel, your efforts won’t be for nothing. You’ll get to keep the FOUR Super Bonuses as my way of saying “Thanks.” That’s a guaranteed gain, no matter what you decide!

… I literally take ALL of the risk for you because that’s how much I believe in this system.

Picture this: It’s a year from today (or a lot sooner), and you’ve become the highly impressive songwriter you’d always dreamed of being — with a lot less effort than you expected.

You have a shoebox FULL of manuscripts that could literally have the earning power of a stack of novels.

Your songwriting mastery has attracted the interest of collaborators and publishers alike, not to mention the awe and respect of your friends and family.

Now, stop and look back on today. Considering that you’ve now become a fantastic songwriter and have written some amazing songs that you are proud of, what price tag would’ve made it a good investment?

today only, and only on this page… You’re price is a FRACTION of that…

Cut that price in half… and you’re STILL not close!

As ridiculous as it sounds, you won’t even pay a quarter of that today! Today only, and only from this presentation, your total investment in ‘Superior Songwriting’ (valued at $220), including ALL the bonuses (valued at $89.85) is ONLY:

Just 1 Payment Of Only $49.95

Add it all up, and the total value will shock you: over $300… And even at that price, this is a total bargain… Yet, just by taking action today, the ENTIRE ‘Superior Singing’ System, with all the bonuses, PLUS the Super Bonus is yours for only $49.95…

Start Using Superior Songwriting in the next 5 minutes!

If you request it on the order form, our system will allow you to access the Superior Songwriting – The Ultimate Guide To Writing And Selling Your Songs members area immediately, so you can start learning amazing singing skills within five minutes!  Even if you have never downloaded something from the internet before it comes with instructions it’s so easy!

Zero shipping costs.

No waiting time, forget having to wait weeks for postal delivery.

No risk of products lost in the mail or damaged.

You receive Superior Songwriting – The Ultimate Guide To Writing And Selling Your Songs at a lower price because it costs us less to produce.

How To Place Your Risk-Free Order

The fastest way to order is directly online with ClickBank’s SECURE SERVER. Clickbank is one of the internet’s most trusted online retailers specializing in digitally delivered products. Keep in mind that when you use ClickBanks’ order form, we do not have any access to your credit card information at any stage, ClickBank is one of the most widely used and secure online retailers and you can be certain that your details are completely secure.

Keep in mind that when you use my order form on ClickBank’s Secure Server, you can access Superior Songwriting instantly so you can start learning how to write and sell your songs today!

Superior Songwriting The Ultimate Guide To Writing And Selling Your Songs

is available via instant download. Note: If you order Superior Songwriting online, it’s yours risk-free for an incredibly low $49.95

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I look forward to getting a letter from you, telling me about your experience with Superior Songwriting and about all the people you have impressed with your new found vocal skills. Even though I get an enormous amount of mail, please write to me. I’d love to hear your success story!

To your success,

Stuart Sinclair

P.S. If you already happen to be musician of some kind, you completely owe this to yourself to try…. You could literally be the next Johnny Cash…. If you don’t give it a good try, you will die wondering.

P.P.S. Wouldn’t it be cool to have other people cover YOUR songs? Creating a song that lives far longer than you ever dreamed? 

[melvinaok08-blog]

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DIVISIVENESS AND SELF-DESTRUCTION IN THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT

DIVISIVENESS AND SELF-DESTRUCTION IN THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT by Anselma dell'Olio

(Read at the May 1970 meeting of the Congress to Unite Women, New York; published in the Chicago Women's Liberation Union Newsletter, July 1970)

I have come to announce my swan-song to the women's movement. I am returning to the hordes of women living out their lives in quiet desperation. And I go with the sorrow and in the depths of despair known only to those who fall defeated just as they think that victory is in sight. I can think of no greater cruelty. Disappointment is far too mild a word. I have been destroyed. Defeated by myself perhaps, with a big push from my sisters in the struggle. I have decided to speak to you, instead of leaving quietly, in the hopes of preventing others from being destroyed and defeated as I have been. I learned 3½ years ago that women had always been divided against one another, were self-destructive and filled with impotent rage. I thought the movement would change all that. I never dreamed that I would see the day when this rage, masquerading as pseudo-egalitarian radicalism under the "pro-woman" banner, would turn into frighteningly vicious anti-intellectual fascism of the left, and used within the movement to strike down sisters singled out for punishment with all the subtlety and justice of a kangaroo court of the Ku Klux Klan. I am referring, of course, to the personal attacks, both overt and insidious, to which women in the movement, who have painfully managed any degree of achievement, have been subjected.

These attacks take different forms. The most common and pervasive is character assassination; the attempt to undermine and destroy belief in the integrity of the individual under attack. Needless to say this generally takes place behind the woman’s back. Another form is the "purge". This is also done by devious methods and usually takes the form of phone calls to the woman's friends or group-members, sometimes followed by a meeting carefully convocated without the knowledge of the woman to be purged. In other words, the ultimate tactic is to isolate her. If she has a close friend in the group, that friend is told the group finds their relationship destructive. The power of suggestion and collective attack is used to elicit grievances or problems that are likely to exist in any relationship. These are then played upon and the friend is co-opted if that is at all possible… and this is made attractive as she is offered to be taken to the bosom of a whole new set of "friends" who will applaud her courage and second her decision should she show signs of faltering. If the friend persists in her loyalty and insists that the only honest thing to do is to confront the woman personally, the deed is exposed -- but the damage is done. The rape of the ego is accomplished in any case. Before we got it from men, now we’re getting it from our sisters -- and often from those who espouse the pro-woman line the most strongly. Those whose surface personalities are the least "forceful", the most "feminine" or "womanly" -- and who do they attack? Generally two categories -- some women are unlucky to fall into both -- achievement or accomplishment of any kind would seem to be the worst crime. Write a book, publish an article, appear on TV, be interviewed in the newspapers, start a theater group dedicated to feminist principles, make a film, be asked to give a lecture and do it well so that you're asked back again or referred to other places. Do anything, in short, that every other woman secretly or otherwise feels she could do just as well -- and baby, watch out, because you're in for it. If then, God forbid, you should also have the qualities of the second category open to attack, buy yourself a suit of armour, or head for the Himalayas; that is, you are assertive, have what is generally described as a "forceful personality", if you "come on strong" even if you're talking about potato chips… if, in short, you do not fit the conventional stereotype of a "feminine" woman -- if you are a bitch -- forget it baby, it's all over, unless you have the patience of Penelope, the shell of an armadillo and the perennial optimism of Voltaire's "Candide" -- in which case what the hell do you need the women's movement for anyway?

If you are in the first category (an achiever) you are immediately labelled a thrill-seeking opportunist, a ruthless mercenary, out to make her fame and fortune over the dead bodies of selfless sisters who have buried their abilities and sacrificed their ambitions for the greater glory of Feminism. Productivity seems to be the major crime -- but if you have the misfortune of being outspoken and articulate, you are also accused of being power-mad, elitist, fascist, and finally the worst epithet of all: A MALE IDENTIFIER, AAARRGGG!!

The interesting thing about these attacks is that they are seldom if ever, logical, consistent, or in good faith. Whether the attack takes the form of back-biting invective, or even more insidiously a "straight-from-the-shoulder" "We're telling you this for you own good" or "everybody agrees with us" or a last ditch "my politics are superior and you're a decadent sell-out" and "you'll be ostracized if you don’t go along," it (the attack) is invariably couched in the best New Left-cum-Women's Lib rhetoric.

To emerge unscathed from this kind of assault is impossible. The effects I have observed, to name just a few, are 1) gradual or immediate decrease in productivity; 2) an upsurge in self-doubt; 3) depletion of whatever ego-strength had been salvaged from our pasts or recovered during the early stages of the movement; 4) an increase in impotence and passivity coupled with a rampant paranoia (completely justified); 5) a severe dropping off of self-confidence and faith in one's ability; 6) a detailed and obsessive self-examination for real or imagined sins which is completely useless since the mind-fucking has destroyed objectivity.

I do not feel that I have stated the case too strongly. However, my intention was not just to bring this festering sore into the open, but to suggest some concrete guidelines to correct the situation, before we lose or destroy some of the best minds this movement is ever likely to have.

1)      Beware of criticizing achievements by others in the movement. Examine your conscience; are you sure you are not being motivated by jealousy or envy?

2)      It is natural for a woman to feel creatively "blocked". Perhaps hose who have broken through the "block" can help you. That's what this movement is all about.

3)      Fear of competition is nothing to be ashamed of if you can admit it and confront it and not allow it to cloud your opinions of another's accomplishments.

4)      Watch your motives when you are telling another woman "what's good for her" or when you are criticizing other peoples' relationships. (i.e. "I think your friendship with X is destructive.")

5)      Be cautious about using movement rhetoric to justify personality conflicts or personal grievances.

6)      Don't fall into the trap of confusing leadership qualities with a desire to "be a leader". In the same vein, don't confuse achievement or productivity with a desire to be a leader.

7)      As long as we have rejected the masculine definition of "feminine behavior" let's not fall into the trap of feeling antagonism towards women with forceful or assertive personalities.

8)      Remember there are all kinds of ways to manipulate. Manipulation can be exerted just as much by a docile, sweet-natured person as it can be by a forceful person -- and it's a good deal less obvious, therefore more potentially dangerous.

9)      Women with aggressive / assertive personalities have been getting flack all their lives for not being "lady-like" or feminine enough. They didn't join the movement to get the same shit from their sisters just because the words have changed from "unlady-like" to "male-identifier".

10)   A desire for power is no more an automatic consequence of a forceful personality than it is of a non-forceful one.

11)   "STRONG" women do not necessarily want power. "WEAK" women do not necessarily NOT want power.

12)   Participants in consciousness-raising sessions should learn to deal with personal animosities towards members of the group openly and honestly and explicitly during the session itself, WHILE THE MEMBER UNDER DISCUSSION IS PRESENT.

a) The discussion should be motivated by a genuine desire for mutual enlightenment rather than a subterranean desire for a personal attack.

b) The discussion should foster group unity and a better understanding of how women perpetuate their own oppression on each other and thus remain divided, just as men have divided us all along.

c) The group should keep in mind the destructive potential of such a discussion, especially if critiques of personalities come into play.

d) If the discussion at any time shows signs of being or becoming a personal attack, it is the responsibility of each woman to intercede immediately, and draw attention to this fact.

e) No matter what happens, we should always have the assurance of mutual support. If differences cannot be resolved, discuss the possibility of splitting into different groups openly before doing so, with all members of the original group present.

One last plea: If we women are ever to pull ourselves out of the morass of self-pity, self-destruction and impotence which has been our heritage for as long as we can remember, then it is perhaps even more important that we be as supportive of each other's achievements and successes and strengths, than it is for us to be compassionate and understanding of each other's failures and weaknesses.

[drdonckeandmdposts-blog]

IF THE WORD DUTY WAS EVER PERSONIFIED, Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was the carrying vessel. Do you admire individuals who carry deep convictions? How about one who exemplified his convictions in action, while also accepting the repercussions both good and bad? Patrick Cleburne's is an intriguing story of an Irish Immigrant who struggled in sheer determination to make his way in life. Cleburne rises through the military ranks as a non West Point Graduate to become a gallant Major General whose men adored him. This is a true story of what hard work and determination can accomplish.                             Patrick Cleburne was born in Ovens, County Cork, Ireland, on March 16, 1828, at Bride Park Cottage to Joseph Cleburne, a doctor, and Mary Anne Ronayne Cleburne. He was the third child and second son of a Protestant, middle-class family that included 2 brothers and a sister.  His mother died when he was eighteen months old  His father remarried Isabella Stewart and there were three half-siblings born to this union: Isabella, Robert, and Christopher. At age eight, the family moved to Grange Farm, near Ballincollig. While residing their Cleburne attended Church of Ireland Reverend William Spedding’s boarding school. His father would pass away unexpectedly of typhus in November 1843, having contracted it from a patient. “Ronayne,” as the family called him, was expected to carry on in the family profession of medicine. Cleburne's formative years while a child in Ireland were critical in the formation of a very grim and determined man. 19th century Ireland  was a land ruled by feudal landlords who would drive their non rent paying tenants away with the bayonet. He attempted to become a physician and apprenticed for two years in an apothecary. When he failed the entrance exam at Trinity College, Dublin, he could not dare to face his family. Thus he enlisted in the 41st Foot in the British army. He found army life in Dublin to be extremely mundane. For three and a half years, Cleburne was posted at a barracks in famine-stricken Ireland. He served during the turbulent months of the 1848 Young Ireland Rebellion and was promoted to corporal on July 1, 1849. The 1840s were years of extreme political and social unrest in Ireland. The crisis deepened after the Irish potato crop failed in 1846. Relations between landlords and tenant laborers deteriorated quickly. Laborers, who usually paid in potatoes, could not pay their rents. Landlords then demanded cash for rent, but with no crop to sell landlords had no cash. It was a vicious cycle that erupted in widespread violence. Hungry, desperate laborers revolted and some landlords were murdered. Cleburne’s regiment was assigned to assist local police in evicting tenants that could not pay. He found himself in the position of guarding food from his fellow countrymen to protect his own social class and the oppressive English government. The famine continued and thousands died in poverty in their homes, by the roadside and in the streets. It is estimated that up to 500 people died in Cork City per week, Food riots and looting increased. Cleburne returned home to find his own family farm in arrears for six months rent. On September 22, 1849, he paid £20 for his discharge from the army and received his papers. In the space left on the discharge for a statement of character was written, “A good soldier.” Cleburne kept the paper for the rest of his life.                                                                                  Cleburne and his family decided to journey to a new life in America in the decade before The American Civil War. Cleburne loved his new country. His family would split up as job opportunity presented soon after arrival in America. Patrick would eventually land in frontier Helena Arkansas poulation 600. Just months later he learned that two physicians in Helena, Arkansas Hector Grant and Charles Nash needed a druggist to manage their store. Nash told Cleburne they needed a competent prescriptionist who could manage the entire shop. In a month, Cleburne had brought complete order to and become the manager of the Grant and Nash Drugstore. As compensation he received $50 a month, a room in the back of the shop, and meals he took with Dr. Grant. He would eventually through grit and diligence earn his way to become a full partnered small businessman. He then dedicated himself to the study of becoming a lawyer. He would soon after be selected a delegate to the Democratic Convention in 1858. Cleburne never owned slaves and often voiced his opposition to the institution. Yet he strongly valued the right and desire of a section of the country to govern itself. Once the American Civil War begins, Cleburne joins the Confederacy purely out of an adoration and loyalty for a society that accepted him and simply gave him a chance. Much of his philosophy was based on witnessing the Irish fight for independence in his homeland.                                                                                            After enlisting He quoted; "If this [Confederacy] that is so dear to my heart is doomed to fail, I pray heaven may let me fall with it, while my face is toward the enemy and my arm battling for that which I know to be right.”  Sadly, that wish would tragically be fulfilled.   The Yell Rifles were formed in the state to become part of the First Arkansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Cleburne was elected it's colonel. The First Arkansas was attached to the Army of Tennessee, the main Confederate force in the western theater. Cleburne was promoted to brigadier general in March 1862, and participated in the Battle of Shiloh in April and in the 1862 Kentucky Campaign. At the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky, on August 30, Cleburne was struck in the face by shrapnel and forced to leave the field. He remained away from the army until his recovery six weeks later, He returned to duty for the Battle of Perryville in October. On December 14, 1862, he was promoted to major general. He then commanded at Stones River. During 1863, Cleburne participated in major battles at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. On November 27, 1863, his division made a critical stand at Ringgold Gap, Georgia, while as the rearguard protecting the retreating Confederate army. His scant division of 4,000 men managed to fiercely hold back 15,000 of General Joseph Hooker’s Union troops. Cleburne received a Congressional citation from the Confederate Government for his brilliant performance. On January 2, 1864, Cleburne made his most controversial decision ever. He gathered the corps and division commanders in the Army of Tennessee to present a very radical yet extreemely logical proposal. The Confederacy was unable to fill its ranks due to a lack of manpower. Cleburne's correct yet politically charged "Memorial" was designed with the idea to arm the southern slaves for Confederate military service in exchange for their freedom. It was most thoughtfully and brilliantly crafted. However the proposal was not well received at all. Most knew that it was a political time bomb that would stir great controversy. In fact, Jefferson Davis directed that the proposal be suppressed. It was met with so much controversy that it virtually scuttled any chance of Cleburne's further promotion in the ranks. Here is a copy of the full text:                                                                                                                               Commanding General, The Corps, Division, Brigade, and Regimental Commanders of the Army of Tennessee General:

Moved by the exigency in which our country is now placed we take the liberty of laying before you, unofficially, our views on the present state of affairs. The subject is so grave, and our views so new, we feel it a duty both to you and the cause that before going further we should submit them for your judgment and receive your suggestions in regard to them  We therefore respectfully ask you to give us an expression of your views in the premises. We have now been fighting for nearly three years, have spilled much of our best blood, and lost, consumed, or thrown to the flames an amount of property equal in value to the specie currency of the world. Through some lack in our system the fruits of our struggles and sacrifices have invariably slipped away from us and left us nothing but long lists of dead and mangled.  Instead of standing defiantly on the borders of our territory or harassing those of the enemy, we are hemmed in to-day into less than two-thirds of it, and still the enemy menacingly confronts us at every point with superior forces. Our soldiers can see no end to this state of affairs except in our own exhaustion; hence, instead of rising to the occasion, they are sinking into a fatal apathy, growing weary of hardships and slaughters which promise no results. In this state of things it is easy to understand why there is a growing belief that some black catastrophe is not far ahead of us, and that unless some extraordinary change is soon made in our condition we must overtake it. The consequences of this condition are showing themselves more plainly every day; restlessness of morals spreading everywhere, manifesting itself in the army in a growing disregard for private rights; desertion spreading to a class of soldiers it never dared to tamper with before; military commissions sinking in the estimation of the soldier; our supplies failing; our firesides in ruins. If this state continues much longer we must be subjugated. Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late. We can give but a faint idea when we say it means the loss of all we now hold most sacred — slaves and all other personal property, lands, homesteads, liberty, justice, safety, pride, manhood. It means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by all the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision. It means the crushing of Southern manhood, the hatred of our former slaves, who will, on a spy system, be our secret police. The conqueror’s policy is to divide the conquered into factions and stir up animosity among them, and in training an army of negroes the North no doubt holds this thought in perspective. We can see three great causes operating to destroy us: First, the inferiority of our armies to those of the enemy in point of numbers; second, the poverty of our single source of supply in comparison with his several sources; third, the fact that slavery, from being one of our chief sources of strength at the commencement of the war, has now become, in a military point of view, one of our chief sources of weakness.

The enemy already opposes us at every point with superior numbers, and is endeavoring to make the preponderance irresistible. President Davis, in his recent message, says the enemy “has recently ordered a large conscription and made a subsequent call for volunteers, to be followed, if ineffectual by a still further draft.” In addition, the President of the United States announces that “he has already in training an army of 100,000 negroes as good as any troops,” and every fresh raid he makes and new slice of territory he wrests from us will add to this force. Every soldier in our army already knows and feels our numerical inferiority to the enemy. Want of men in the field has prevented him from reaping the fruits of his victories, and has prevented him from having the furlough he expected after the last reorganization, and when he turns from the wasting armies in the field to look at the source of supply, he finds nothing in the prospect to encourage him. Our single source of supply is that portion of our white men fit for duty and not now in the ranks. The enemy has three sources of supply: First, his own motley population; secondly, our slaves; and thirdly, Europeans whose hearts are fired into a crusade against us by fictitious pictures of the atrocities of slavery, and who meet no hindrance from their Governments in such enterprise, because these Governments are equally antagonistic to the institution. In touching the third cause, the fact that slavery has become a military weakness, we may rouse prejudice and passion, but the time has come when it would be madness not to look at our danger from every point of view, and to probe it to the bottom. Apart from the assistance that home and foreign prejudice against slavery has given to the North, slavery is a source of great strength to the enemy in a purely military point of view, by supplying him with an army from our granaries; but it is our most vulnerable point, a continued embarrassment, and in some respects an insidious weakness. Wherever slavery is once seriously disturbed, whether by the actual presence or the approach of the enemy, or even by a cavalry raid, the whites can no longer with safety to their property openly sympathize with our cause. The fear of their slaves is continually haunting them, and from silence and apprehension many of these soon learn to wish the war stopped on any terms. The next stage is to take the oath to save property, and they become dead to us, if not open enemies. To prevent raids we are forced to scatter our forces, and are not free to move and strike like the enemy; his vulnerable points are carefully selected and fortified depots. Ours are found in every point where there is a slave to set free. All along the lines slavery is comparatively valueless to us for labor, but of great and increasing worth to the enemy for information. It is an omnipresent spy system, pointing out our valuable men to the enemy, revealing our positions, purposes, and resources, and yet acting so safely and secretly that there is no means to guard against it. Even in the heart of our country, where our hold upon this secret espionage is firmest, it waits but the opening fire of the enemy’s battle line to wake it, like a torpid serpent, into venomous activity.

In view of the state of affairs what does our country propose to do? In the words of President Davis “no effort must be spared to add largely to our effective force as promptly as possible. The sources of supply are to be found in restoring to the army all who are improperly absent, putting an end to substitution, modifying the exemption law, restricting details, and placing in the ranks such of the able-bodied men now employed as wagoners, nurses, cooks, and other employe[e]s, as are doing service for which the negroes may be found competent.” Most of the men improperly absent, together with many of the exempts and men having substitutes, are now without the Confederate lines and cannot be calculated on. If all the exempts capable of bearing arms were enrolled, it will give us the boys below eighteen, the men above forty-five, and those persons who are left at home to meet the wants of the country and the army, but this modification of the exemption law will remove from the fields and manufactories most of the skill that directed agricultural and mechanical labor, and, as stated by the President, “details will have to be made to meet the wants of the country,” thus sending many of the men to be derived from this source back to their homes again. Independently of this, experience proves that striplings and men above conscript age break down and swell the sick lists more than they do the ranks. The portion now in our lines of the class who have substitutes is not on the whole a hopeful element, for the motives that created it must have been stronger than patriotism, and these motives added to what many of them will call breach of faith, will cause some to be not forthcoming, and others to be unwilling and discontented soldiers. The remaining sources mentioned by the President have been so closely pruned in the Army of Tennessee that they will be found not to yield largely.  The supply from all these sources, together with what we now have in the field, will exhaust the white race, and though it should greatly exceed expectations and put us on an equality with the enemy, or even give us temporary advantages, still we have no reserve to meet unexpected disaster or to supply a protracted struggle. Like past years, 1864 will diminish our ranks by the casualties of war, and what source of repair is there left us?  We therefore see in the recommendations of the President only a temporary expedient, which at the best will leave us twelve months hence in the same predicament we are in now. The President attempts to meet only one of the depressing causes mentioned; for the other two he has proposed no remedy. They remain to generate lack of confidence in our final success, and to keep us moving down hill as heretofore. Adequately to meet the causes which are now threatening ruin to our country, we propose, in addition to a modification of the President’s plans, that we retain in service for the war all troops now in service, and that we immediately commence training a large reserve of the most courageous of our slaves, and further that we guarantee freedom within a reasonable time to every slave in the South who shall remain true to the Confederacy in this war. As between the loss of independence and the loss of slavery, we assume that every patriot will freely give up the latter — give up the negro slave rather than be a slave himself. If we are correct in this assumption it only remains to show how this great national sacrifice is, in all human probabilities, to change the current of success and sweep the invader from our country.

Our country has already some friends in England and France, and there are strong motives to induce these nations to recognize and assist us, but they cannot assist us without helping slavery, and to do this would be in conflict with their policy for the last quarter of a century.  England has paid hundreds of millions to emancipate her West India slaves and break up the slave-trade. Could she now consistently spend her treasure to reinstate slavery in this country? But this barrier once removed, the sympathy and the interests of these and other nations will accord with our own, and we may expect from them both moral support and material aid. One thing is certain, as soon as the great sacrifice to independence is made and known in foreign countries there will be a complete change of front in our favor of the sympathies of the world. This measure will deprive the North of the moral and material aid which it now derives from the bitter prejudices with which foreigners view the institution, and its war, if continued, will henceforth be so despicable in their eyes that the source of recruiting will be dried up.  It will leave the enemy’s negro army no motive to fight for, and will exhaust the source from which it has been recruited. The idea that it is their special mission to war against slavery has held growing sway over the Northern people for many years, and has at length ripened into an armed and bloody crusade against it. This baleful superstition has so far supplied them with a courage and constancy not their own.  It is the most powerful and honestly entertained plank in their war platform. Knock this away and what is left? A bloody ambition for more territory, a pretended veneration for the Union, which one of their own most distinguished orators (Doctor Beecher in his Liverpool speech) openly avowed was only used as a stimulus to stir up the anti-slavery crusade, and lastly the poisonous and selfish interests which are the fungus growth of the war itself. Mankind may fancy it a great duty to destroy slavery, but what interest can mankind have in upholding this remainder of the Northern war platform? Their interests and feelings will be diametrically opposed to it. The measure we propose will strike dead all John Brown fanaticism, and will compel the enemy to draw off altogether or in the eyes of the world to swallow the Declaration of Independence without the sauce and disguise of philanthropy. This delusion of fanaticism at an end, thousands of Northern people will have leisure to look at home and to see the gulf of despotism into which they themselves are rushing.

The measure will at one blow strip the enemy of foreign sympathy and assistance, and transfer them to the South; it will dry up two of his three sources of recruiting; it will take from his negro army the only motive it could have to fight against the South, and will probably cause much of it to desert over to us; it will deprive his cause of the powerful stimulus of fanaticism, and will enable him to see the rock on which his so-called friends are now piloting him. The immediate effect of the emancipation and enrollment of negroes on the military strength of the South would be: To enable us to have armies numerically superior to those of the North, and a reserve of any size we might think necessary; to enable us to take the offensive, move forward, and forage on the enemy. It would open to us in prospective another and almost untouched source of supply, and furnish us with the means of preventing temporary disaster, and carrying on a protracted struggle.  It would instantly remove all the vulnerability, embarrassment, and inherent weakness which result from slavery. The approach of the enemy would no longer find every household surrounded by spies; the fear that sealed the master’s lips and the avarice that has, in so many cases, tempted him practically to desert us would alike be removed. There would be no recruits awaiting the enemy with open arms, no complete history of every neighborhood with ready guides, no fear of insurrection in the rear, or anxieties for the fate of loved ones when our armies moved forward. The chronic irritation of hope deferred would be joyfully ended with the negro, and the sympathies of his whole race would be due to his native South. It would restore confidence in an early termination of the war with all its inspiring consequences, and even if contrary to all expectations the enemy should succeed in over-running the South, instead of finding a cheap, ready-made means of holding it down, he would find a common hatred and thirst for vengeance, which would break into acts at every favorable opportunity, would prevent him from settling on our lands, and render the South a very unprofitable conquest. It would remove forever all selfish taint from our cause and place independence above every question of property. The very magnitude of the sacrifice itself, such as no nation has ever voluntarily made before, would appal [sic] our enemies, destroy his spirit and his finances, and fill our hearts with a pride and singleness of purpose which would clothe us with new strength in battle. Apart from all other aspects of the question, the necessity for more fighting men is upon us.  We can only get a sufficiency by making the negro share the danger and hardships of the war. If we arm and train him and make him fight for the country in her hour of dire distress, every consideration of principle and policy demand that we should set him and his whole race who side with us free. It is a first principle with mankind that he who offers his life in defense of the State should receive from her in return his freedom and his happiness, and we believe in acknowledgment of this principle. The Constitution of the Southern States has reserved to their respective governments the power to free slaves for meritorious services to the State. It is politic besides. For many years, ever since the agitation of the subject of slavery commenced, the negro has been dreaming of freedom, and his vivid imagination has surrounded that condition with so many gratifications that it has become the paradise of his hopes. To attain it he will tempt dangers and difficulties not exceeded by the bravest soldier in the field. The hope of freedom is perhaps the only moral incentive that can be applied to him in his present condition. It would be preposterous then to expect him to fight against it with any degree of enthusiasm, therefore we must bind him to our cause by no doubtful bonds; we must leave no possible loop-hole for treachery to creep in.  The slaves are dangerous now, but armed, trained, and collected in an army they would be a thousand fold more dangerous; therefore when we make soldiers of them we must make free men of them beyond all question, and thus enlist their sympathies also. We can do this more effectually than the North can now do, for we can give the negro not only his own freedom, but that of his wife and child, and can secure it to him in his old home.  To do this, we must immediately make his marriage and parental relations sacred in the eyes of the law and forbid their sale. The past legislation of the South concedes that a large free middle class of negro blood, between the master and slave, must sooner or later destroy the institution. If, then, we touch the institution at all, we would do best to make the most of it, and by emancipating the whole race upon reasonable terms, and within such reasonable time as will prepare both races for the change, secure to ourselves all the advantages, and to our enemies all the disadvantages that can arise, both at home and abroad, from such a sacrifice.  Satisfy the negro that if he faithfully adheres to our standard during the war he shall receive his freedom and that of his race. Give him as an earnest of our intentions such immediate immunities as will impress him with our sincerity and be in keeping with his new condition, enroll a portion of his class as soldiers of the Confederacy, and we change the race from a dreaded weakness to a position of strength.

Will the slaves fight? The helots of Sparta stood their masters good stead in battle. In the great sea fight of Lepanto where the Christians checked forever the spread of Mohammedanism over Europe, the galley slaves of portions of the fleet were promised freedom, and called on to fight at a critical moment of the battle. They fought well, and civilization owes much to those brave galley slaves. The negro slaves of Saint Domingo, fighting for freedom, defeated their white masters and the French troops sent against them. The negro slaves of Jamaica revolted, and under the name of Maroons held the mountains against their masters for 150 years; and the experience of this war has been so far that half-trained negroes have fought as bravely as many other half-trained Yankees. If, contrary to the training of a lifetime, they can be made to face and fight bravely against their former masters, how much more probable is it that with the allurement of a higher reward, and led by those masters, they would submit to discipline and face dangers.

We will briefly notice a few arguments against this course. It is said Republicanism cannot exist without the institution. Even were this true, we prefer any form of government of which the Southern people may have the molding, to one forced upon us by a conqueror. It is said the white man cannot perform agricultural labor in the South. The experience of this army during the heat of summer from Bowling Green, Ky., to Tupelo, Miss., is that the white man is healthier when doing reasonable work in the open field than at any other time. It is said an army of negroes cannot be spared from the fields. A sufficient number of slaves is now administering to luxury alone to supply the place of all we need, and we believe it would be better to take half the able-bodied men off a plantation than to take the one master mind that economically regulated its operations. Leave some of the skill at home and take some of the muscle to fight with. It is said slaves will not work after they are freed. We think necessity and a wise legislation will compel them to labor for a living. It is said it will cause terrible excitement and some disaffection from our cause. Excitement is far preferable to the apathy which now exists, and disaffection will not be among the fighting men. It is said slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties. We have now briefly proposed a plan which we believe will save our country.  It may be imperfect, but in all human probability it would give us our independence. No objection ought to outweigh it which is not weightier than independence. If it is worthy of being put in practice it ought to be mooted quickly before the people, and urged earnestly by every man who believes in its efficacy. Negroes will require much training; training will require much time, and there is danger that this concession to common sense may come too late.

P. R. Cleburne, major-general, commanding division D. C. Govan, brigadier-general John E. Murray, colonel, Fifth Arkansas G. F. Baucum, colonel, Eighth Arkansas Peter Snyder, lieutenant-colonel, commanding Sixth and Seventh Arkansas E. Warfield, lieutenant-colonel, Second Arkansas M. P. Lowrey, brigadier-general A. B. Hardcastle, colonel, Thirty-second and Forty-fifth Mississippi F. A. Ashford, major, Sixteenth Alabama John W. Colquitt, colonel, First Arkansas Rich. J. Person, major, Third and Fifth Confederate G. S. Deakins, major, Thirty-fifth and Eighth Tennessee J. H. Collett, captain, commanding Seventh Texas J. H. Kelly, brigadier-general, commanding Cavalry Division                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Patrick Cleburne was a very shy and unassuming figure with a quiet determined inner drive. Yet he carried an undeniable emanation of authority and competence about him. He was extremely introverted, often avoiding social situations. He was extremely shy around women. That would change abruptly on January 13, 1864. Cleburne acted as best man at the wedding of close friend and superior commander William Hardee to Mary Lewis Forman near Demopolis, Alabama. There he first laid eyes on twenty-four year old Susan Tarleton, maid of honor to her best friend, “Mollie” Lewis. The wedding guests left the next morning by steamboat for Mobile, where Cleburne spent the remainder of his furlough, his first since the war began. Their he proposed to Susan only days after meeting her. She hesitated in her decision but did not discourage him. In February, he received another furlough and returned to Mobile. He later wrote to a friend, “After keeping me in cruel suspense for six weeks she has at length consented to be mine and we are engaged. I need not say how miserable this has made me.” A fall wedding seems to have been planned.                                                                                                          Unfortunately, the war woulde come between Cleburne and Susan Tarleton after he departed Mobile in early March 1864. They would never see each other again. Like countless other soldiers and their loved ones back home, the couple tried to stay in touch by mail. The shy, formal, no-nonsense general would reveal another side of his character in his letters to Miss Tarleton. The letters, said aide Leonard Mangum, “were often revelations, even to one who knew him well, as to the depth of his feelings. Devoid of all approach to sentimentality, they were full of a most sweet and tender passion."                                                                                                         Before the tragic and fatal charge at the bloody Battle of Franklin Tennessee that Cleburne seemed to know would be his last he reluctantly but bravely did his duty. Despite seeing the futility of a successful assault, he accepted his final order, stating to his superior commander Lt. General John Bell Hood, "I will take the enemy's works or fall in the attempt." His closest aide stated, "Well General there will not be many of us that get back to Arkansas." Cleburne's response: "Well Govan, if we are to die, then let us die like men." Govan would survive the blody morass to see Arkansas once again. But by that day’s end, in the words of his former Adjutant Captain Irving A. Buck, ‘the inspiring voice of Cleburne was already hushed in death’                                                                     Cleburne rode to a site called Breezy Hill just before deployment of his division and surveyed the Union defenses down on the Harpeth River that flowed through the once sleepy town of Franklin. As he peered through a borrowed snipers telescope he spoke aloud to no one in particular, "They have three lines of works." "And they are all completed." "They are most formidable." Cleburne advanced on horseback in a charge with his men directly into the center of the Union Line. The horse that bore him was shot from under him. Asking to borrow another, Cleburne placed his feet in the stirrups to mount just as that animal was struck by a cannonball and killed. Cleburne drew his sword and charged on foot at the center of the line where he could see the Bonnie Blue Flag being raised on the parapet. He was struck some 50 yards from the trench line by a bullet in the heart and died instantly. Major-General Patrick Ronanyne Cleburne's body was taken to nearby Carnton plantation. He was lain out for morning on the porch along with General John Adams, General Hiram Granbury, and General Otho Strahl, all who perished in the bloody trenches at Franklin. He was initially interred at Rose Hill near Franklin. His body was soon moved to St. John’s Church, Ashwood, Tennessee. Cleburne had passed this cemetery just days earlier during the advance into Tennessee and remarked that it was ‘almost worth dying for, to be buried in such a beautiful spot’. In 1870 his body would be moved once again for the final time, this time returning to his adopted State in Arkansas, where he remains in Maple Hill Cemetery, Helena.                                                                                                           Back in Mobile, Susan Tarleton waited anxiously for any kind of word from the man she loved dearly. Union raiding parties had cut all telegraph lines into the city. Six days after the Battle of Franklin, as she walked in her garden she heard a passing newsboy shout: “Big battle near Franklin, Tennessee! General Cleburne killed! Read all about it.” She fainted dead away. After spending a year confined to her bedroom in “deepest mourning,” Susan Tarleton reluctantly re-entered life. In 1867 she married Captain Hugh L. Cole, a former Confederate officer and an old college friend of her brother’s. Less than a year later, she died unexpectedly of an apparent brain effusion. While growing up in Ireland Patrick Cleburne learned valuable lessons of the harsh realitys that life often presented. He also developed an incredible work ethic. While in the British army, he had learned patience, discipline, self-control, and how to live a life of self-denial. He also came to deeply appreciate the position and suffering of those at the mercy of tyrannical authority in the form of a far too powerful central government. Those lessons served him well as the leader of the men he drilled and prepared to go into battle with. Duty is not just following orders. It is seeing that some ideals and some causes are bigger than one's self, and duty in its deepest sense is the following orders that one does not always agree with. One of his closest friends, Lt Gen. William J. Hardee said of Cleburne after his death, "He was an Irishman by birth, a southerner by adoption and residence, a lawyer by profession, a soldier in the British army by accident, and a soldier in the southern armies from patriotism and conviction of duty in his manhood."

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The Worldwide Technique Of Aldi Based On The UK Market

The International Strategy Of Aldi Based On The UK Market

You need to seek the advice of the suitable professionals with regard to your specific transaction or scenario. Wikipedia - click the up coming post - In this text we will examine among the extra critical issues as you are accessing your store's situation. By sprouting seeds, nutrients including amino acids (the constructing blocks of proteins), sugars within the form of glucose, and even vitamins and minerals turn out to be more out there and absorbable. Try to step by step increase fiber to 30 to 50 grams a day and embody soluble or viscous fiber (legumes, nuts, seeds, entire grains, vegetables, and fruit), which slows sugar absorption from the intestine. In the e book, Cordain recommends consuming a every day intake of 55% lean protein or fish, and 15% each of fruit, vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Protein exists in virtually all the pieces that moves and makes sounds, or in nearly any animal. It isn't truthful for individuals who earned the suitable to be on this country the exhausting method while illegals from the identical international locations are available in here and think they deserve what they don't work for.

Sorry, no way out of that. There are particular types of fish that you need to watch out for as well. There are just a few questions concerning these vegetables; is it protected to eat sprouted potatoes and how do you stop them from sprouting? They can train you proper train form and reply any questions you may need. Family-oriented. Create a place that can accommodate the entire family, from the adults to the tots and infants. How to Substitute Spelt for White Flour The best way to Make Bread With Historic Grains How to use Spelt Flour Once you Bake The Spelt Food regimen Find out how to Cook Spelt Spelt Flour or Entire Wheat to Shed weight? At some point after this happens, you might notice fine white fuzz masking the seeds. Whereas Aldi's launch of their new "trial" shops may appear to be an attempt to capture center earnings buyers, it could finish in disaster.

I am positive that most consumers would gladly pay a 1 or 2% premium for accepting credit playing cards thus invalidating Aldi's claim that they don't seem to be accepting credit score playing cards to prevent, the consumer, cash. Save scraps for art initiatives. The place doable, Aldi get their products from local suppliers, which can also be good because it helps to support local industry so there may be native responsiveness as nicely because it is useful for the setting because of a lowered carbon footprint. No business is immune to innovation, not even these with an extended tradition and sturdy psychological roots. People are consuming foods with elements that they cannot even pronounce and utilizing merchandise which can be crammed with toxic chemicals. Eating fiber wealthy foods has been the primary desire of many nutritionists in the case of weight reduction and sustaining a wholesome way of life. Less than five years later, after opening three hot-dog cart, opened the Carl Karchers Drive-In Barbecue in Anaheim, California, which the primary burger on the menu was. So there they are - 5 ways the yellow cylinder man used to persuade me (and practically everyone round me) to fortunately walk away with six shammies. Dollar General Conover locations This festival also celebrates the native cheeses and meats which become available on the market, there are dolls made from squash and marble sculptures.

When you've got a companion in well being you may take up a passion like golf or squash. The values of love, affection, caring, sharing, respect for elders, trusting and being trusted can create wholesome relationships and sound nation. Basically, the higher pair of sneakers will probably be such that you could take it to a shoe repair company and have it re soled over and over, and have the leather-based re completed time and again. Otherwise, a coach carly handbags may be purchased at a lower price of coach outlet. They could value solely few bucks, however they also have very low value. Sauces and broths must be low fat, except totally organic. You may be very acquainted with information in Medias covering the picture of commerce union folks holding placards and getting for their strikes and stroll outs.

The interview process could begin with a name for recruitment or the potential workers might obtain only an invite to start the face to face interviews with the hiring workers at Aldi. These type a membership function to take care of the welfare of employees of a certain manufacturing unit or institution. Household Greenback just lately announced plans so as to add tobacco, PepsiCo beverages, and identify model cosmetics from L’Oreal and Maybelline because it looks to drive visitors and seize higher share of its customer’s wallet. Inventory is down over 50 p.c, falling over 5 p.c today after competitor Sprouts Farmers Market lower its forecast, and analysts suppose the corporate needs to rethink an growth strategy that, in hindsight, seems to be unfocused and overly ambitious. Attempt to honor one night off, but use it if you should to play catch-up if the schedule goes awry because of weather or illness.

These running a dollar store must frequently network with different businesses. I'm trying to work out what number of factors I must be on a day. This may very well be very rewarding, and it is not going to seem as if you're working out. For example, in case your target is a thousand visitors per week, then look at your website statistics and study the place the vast majority of your guests are coming from. Processed foods are handy however they don't seem to be "real" food. This doesn't imply no processed or cooked foods must be eaten. I'm simply an Aldi fan and thought this info may show useful. Aldi is cheaper than Walmart with far superior high quality. The meat counter runs perpendicular to this counter to the left, with the deli parallel to this counter on the far facet. MarketingThe reply to this query is a resounding ‘YES’. Completely not. But, it certain does enhance your success ratio. Walmart’s gives the three elements of the service product bundle. I've private experience of giving pure healing vitality and research have confirmed the ‘Reiki’ power switch actually modifications DNA in constructive ways, just as air pollution and water pollution does in unfavorable methods in people.