#Bounce out blitz online

[polarkits]

Bounce out blitz online

* Age and weight restrictions apply to all activities. Some of K-Blitz’s notable accomplishments include releasing fifty-two songs in fifty-two weeks and dropping a new single every Saturday through 2015 for the NewSoundSaturday series. So we really do have something for everybody… Edmonton Music Award Nominee, K-Blitz is a Hip Hop artist and performer who’s known as a prolific songwriter with diverse musical leanings. We also have the Virtual Reality and Laser Combat to entice the gamers out… Fancy just chilling out? We also have our beautiful Blitz Restaurant or our cosy Bu nker Bar. Test your skills of these here in this free online billiards game.

​ ROF 59 is an Activity Centre in Newton Aycliffe with a wide variety of activities with something to suit everyone of all ages and abilities! With over 50 trampolines, including a dodgeball court and foam pits! New additions to the trampoline park include, Trench run which is a suspended platform leading to a 9 foot foam pit, Military hoops and dual balance beam.Ī sensory room for everyone and a softplay area for under 6 years.From adventure climbing walls to suit all ages with no climbing experience necessary, to our huge 20m Wall Climbing and Bouldering if you’re up for more of a challenge, and for the thrill seekers how about the 19m Dropzone, 200m Outdoor Zipline, or the new Extreme Indoor Zipline Assault Circuit. Already a Shockwave Unlimited Subscriber Log in below Free Online Games and More is the ultimate destination for free online games, freeload games, and moreThis is your chance to play games 24-7, with a ton of great categories to choose from - Action Games, Adventure Games, Card & Board Games, Jigsaws Games, Kids & Family Games, Music & Photos Games, Puzzle Games, Racing.

[energylifetime]

Online bounce out blitz game

With multiple levels and a quest to reach the highest level and score possible, Bounce Out is the perfect way to start your Saturday morning off right, and you can now play it for free right here on Games. You can win in these surprising rewarding physics games by bouncing. Some games that use bouncing are billiards, basketball, marbles, and just bouncing a ball. But watch out, the puzzle gets crazy as balls bounce every which way. Try the three game modes and use the special balls to clear out some of the bin. This reset doesn't stop you from continuing on where you left off, but the timer won't stop ticking down even if the board resets, so watch out! What's more, you'll need to watch out for black balls that fall randomly into each level, as they can't be moved. Bouncing is a fun game mechanic that often relates to gravity. Jump into the challenge of Bounce Out Blitz Move the bouncy balls around the bin to line up three of the same to remove them. If you do happen to run out of moves, the board resets. This twist on classic match-three play is timed, and you'll only have a certain number of moves to eliminate the required number of balls for that level. Balls must be matched in a straight line vertically or diagonally, but the design of the board itself eliminates the possibility for straight lines horizontally. In the original Bounce game, the player controls a black ball. Use the links or keys (underline letters) to navigate through the screens. Click, Enter or Space will make the ball start moving. Bounce Out from Gamehouse offers level based play that challenges you with lining up three or more like colored balls on a hexagonal grid. Use the mouse or left and right arrows to move the ship. It's been so long that the only deep variations I remember without having to ponder are against the Pirc, the Nadjorf, Caro-Kahn Advance, and the lines of Semi-Slav/Meran.Today's Game of the Day will have you swapping and bouncing balls in a timed race to the finish. Share Free Code GameHouse Bounce Out Blitz Install exe Free Code GameHouse and Download GamesHouse Bounce Out Blitz Install exe, Play a Free GameHouse Daily for your Kids.Find your favorite GameHouse example Game Bounce Out Blitz and Download Games Online Full Version with Free Code. I joined for the tactics training to get my brain back in the right frame of mind. Below is one of my games against the Crafty engine preset at 2400 this month, compare that to the quality of my blitz games and it's night and day. Serial: Its necessary to disconnect from Internet when you register. Knicks takeaways from Friday’s 113-98 win over Bucks, including a 21-point comeback. With three unique challenging game modes theres something for everyone. I just started playing blitz, but I find myself comforable in the same range (again, account is new, not even five game I think, so don't go off of it).ĭeep Fritz 12 says my rating is 2070 this month since coming back to the game (that's standard 90min time controls) right now so my problem seems to be is board vision when playing blitz chess or faster. Its a Blitz Bounce into some frenzied fun with Swapper, kick back and puzzle over Strategy, and for a little twist slip into Slider. My bullet rating is 1579 (based on nearly 2,000 games), it was a 1700ish until this month when I started playing again and it dropped to 1300ish in days, took a few days of playing 3-5 hours a day to bounce back to the 1600 range. In Blitz youll find the perfect mix of adrenaline and benefits, combining online challenges with an excellent brain training tool. I took off from chess for a good 3-4 years and my account is new so results may look backwards. Blitz: Minigames is an online multiplayer game in which you can test your abilities in different minigames, facing off players from all around the world, included your best friends.

[viktheviking1]

Blitz gets ready for a date

"You look fine!" Loona shouted. Blitz was scampering from one room to the next, tossing rejected clothes to the side. Loona followed close behind him, catching most of the discarded garments. The pile in her arms was growing at an alarming rate.

"Fine isn't good enough!" Blitz hopped towards the bathroom as he tried to put some skinny jeans on, "Do you know the last time I went on a real date? Not a set up date, a real date."

Loona rolled her eyes, "Like two weeks ago?"

"Wrong!" Blitz started shoveling his way through the cabinet under the sink, shoving Loona's large makeup stash to the side, trying to gain access to his own, "That was a booty call, and it didn't even work out! He had gonorrhea and refused to wear protection."

"I really didn't need to hear that." Loona said, as she watched Blitz try to get a good wing with eyeliner that had definitely expired.

"And she had a third n*pple. Which I was just going to make a joke about it and move on but then she asks me if I like it, saying that it was expensive. She gave herself a third n*pple on purpose!" He said, struggling to match the wing on the other side.

"Okay, I really didn't want to hear that." Loona couldn't wipe the image from her mind.

"Ahh! How did I not see that!? This shirt is stained, now I have to start over!" He shouted, crawling past her to get back to his pile of laundry, throwing the rejects again, "Point is, I haven't had a real, emotions-included date in years."

Loona caught the clothes he threw, "Wait . . . Emotions included? You can't be serious."

"As serious as that guy's case of gonorrhea!" He gave up on the laundry pile and began relooking through the pile in her arms.

"Stop bringing that up!" Loona gave up trying to catch any of the clothes, and watched as they landed on the TV, in the walkway, and in the kitchen sink, "And are you sure you're ready for that . . . ? I mean, just yesterday you were a mess over-"

"Over a case of beer, I know." He sighed, holding the last shirt from the pile, and sat on the couch, "Look sweetie, I met a nice guy online and we've been talking for weeks now. He has a kid too, he laughs at my jokes, we watch the same shows, and . . . I don't know, he gets me."

"That explains why you've been giggling like a school girl at your phone constantly. Wait, did you say weeks? And you haven't met up yet? Is he hiding something?" Loona sat down next to him, her weight sinking her side down, causing him to bounce.

"No, well he was, but he told me. And then there was some stuff with his ex. And you know, I had st- . . . stuff going on so.” He shrugged, “For a bit we thought we were just going to be friends but things just worked out." He paused, smiling, before catching himself and cleared his throat, "Anyway, I want to look nice, but everything is either dirty or not the vibe so uh . . ."

Loona just looked at him, surprised to see him giddy about a person other than her, then sighed, “Well, if you want you can raid my closet too."

His face lit up and his tail swished back and forth, "Really?"

“Yes, but you have to get permission before trying anything on. Because the moment you do, it'll rip holes in it and it will officially be your shirt."

“Cool!” He skittered away on all fours, and she was left unsure if he had actually heard her or not.

Want to know who the date is with? Find out here:

[ladyanaconda]

Helluva Dad Vol. 1: Murder Family

"Dad, dad, dad! Wake up, dad!"

Striker grunted as he covered his head with his pillow, but it was no use as the intruder hopped on his bed. "Kiddo, unless there's a wild animal or a homeless drunk inside the house, go away and let me sleep."

"Daaad, you promised that you'd take me along to the living world this time!"

Striker took a peek at the clock on his bedside table. "Not at 5:36 AM, boy. Couldn't you wait until I'm actually awake?"

"What am I supposed to do 'till then?"

"I don't know, use your imagination."

"But dad-" Out of patience, Striker bared his teeth at his son, tail rattling. Jake raised his hands defensively. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving."

Once the door closed shut, Striker went back to sleep… For about thirty seconds, that is, until the door slammed open and Jake jumped into his bed again, screaming in fright and knocking the air out of his father.

"What the fuck, Jake?!" Striker all but shrieked.

"There's a spider in the living room!"

"... What?"

"Spider!"

"And why didn't you squash it?!"

"It's a big spider!"

Striker's eye twitched. With an irritated grunt, he got off the bed, rolled up a porno magazine on his bedside drawer, and stomped his way towards the living room, Jake trailing closely behind.

"I can't believe it, A son of mine is afraid of a tiny, insignificant…" Striker trailed off and stopped in the doorway. A hog-sized hellantula was tearing the couch apart with big, sharp mandibles. "Boy, go get the rifle."

Once the issue with the spider was taken care of, Striker found himself unable to go back to sleep after the fiasco, so he went to the kitchen and poured himself a big cup of black coffee before making breakfast. Thankfully, Blitzo wasn't inside his fridge this time around, though he made a mental note to go get some more groceries.

As he served the fried eggs and wild hog bacon, Jake walked into the kitchen. He was covered in sweat like he had spent an hour lifting five-ton weights. "Dad, wouldn't it have been easier if we cut up the spider's carcass and take it out piece by piece?" he whined.

"And make a bigger mess I'll have to clean up? No, thank you." Striker placed one of the plates in front of his son. Jake frowned.

"Puaj. Tomato."

"Stop complaining and eat, boy. It's good for you."

They are in silence for the first few minutes. Striker would subtly glance in Jake's direction every now and then, smirking internally at the boy's expressions while he begrudgingly ate his vegetables.

"So, ready for today?" he asked casually.

Jake's expression brightened. "How's the living world like? Is it cool? Does it look anything like hell?"

"You could say so. The only difference is that there are humans living there instead of demons."

"Humans? What are those?"

"Well, you've seen the clients at I.M.P, right? They used to be humans during their lifetime. When they died, they came to Hell and became Sinner demons because they did bad things in life. However, some of them have..." Striker toyed with his bacon as he thought of a proper word. "...pending business with someone in the living world. Our job is to finish that business in the client's stead.

"So… The people who go to I.M.P. are dead humans who want to fuck up someone who fucked them up in the living world?"

Striker snapped his fingers. "Bingo. You're getting the hang of it, kid."

"Hey, dad, think I could use the-?"

"No."

"Hey, you didn't let me finish!"

"Sorry, kiddo. I thought you were going to ask if you could use the blessing-tipped rifle." Striker replied, his eyes reflecting off the knife he was using to butter his toast.

Jake laughed nervously. "Speaking of which-"

"No."

"Come on, dad! When will you let me use those?"

"When you're ready, not a second sooner."

"And when will I be ready?"

Striker dropped his fork to place a hand on Jake's shoulder. "We'll both know. Until then, finish your breakfast."

*HB*

"Moxxie, stop shaking. You're gonna shoot our only hellhound!"

"Wow, I feel so loved here."

Striker watched, uninterested, as Moxxie pointed the crossbow with shaking arms at a photo depicting a human family. "If this were real, he'd already been dead."

"You're not helping, Striker," Millie growled before focusing back on Moxxie. "Just take a deep breath, and let it out."

"But it's a family. Under what circumstances would we ever need to kill a human family?"

"Who knows? Maybe if that's what the client wants." Striker said matter-of-factly as he polished his pistol.

Moxxie wasn't convinced. "Maybe like a shitty dad, or a mob family. That's understandable. But to eradicate an entire innocent-seemingly in this instance-upper middle-class family bloodline?"

Loona frowned. "Hey!" You don't know they're innocent! This kid probably sets dogs on fire, maybe this girl gets off bullying Australian kids online, and this guy…"

"That guy definitely watches," Jake added grimly.

"Couldn't have said it better, little guy." Loona shared a fist bump with the impling.

"Exactly! Humans are full of secret nasties. It's why so many of them end up here."

"But-"

Striker had enough. "Allow me, Mildred." he stomped his way to Moxxie and picked him up by the throat. "Look, wimp, guilty and innocent aren't our business. We're assassins, not charity workers. Killing a target," he swiftly aimed his pistol at the photo and fired a clean shot at the woman's face, leaving a hole in its wake. His point made clear, Striker locked gazes with Moxxie, hissing. "Now pick a bloody target before I throw you out the window."

Moxxie fell to the ground with a loud thud. Millie handed him the crossbow again; he aimed the tip of the arrow at the father's face, trying to imagine it was Striker.

"I just think it's a bit excessive and we could be a bit more selective, is all."

Blitzo slammed the door open at that precise moment, startling Moxxie into firing the arrow. It bounced all around the room, hitting the computer, making a second hole on the photograph, and striking the bottom of the eel tank. Moxie jumped into Millie's arms while Striker quickly picked Jake up from the eel tank when he noticed it wobbling.

"Daad, I nearly had it!"

Blitzo caught the arrow just before it struck the client's skull. "...our newest client!"

The eel tank fell and shattered, spilling its contents all over the floor. The eels burst into electricity, setting the entirety of the room on fire.

Striker frowned at Jake, who was stunned into silence. "To think that could have been you."

"Damn it, Moxxie! I just bought those eels!"

They were forced to evacuate the building as the firefighters arrived and did their job. Striker was sure that this little incident didn't leave a good impression on the client, but surprisingly she didn't cancel. Guess she really wanted that person 86'd.

"Way to go, jughead," Jake told Moxxie sarcastically as they watched the firefighters carry the eels into their truck.

"Shut up, you little brat," Moxxie murmured.

Millie frowned at him. "Mox, don't talk to Jake like that!"

"He started it!" Striker rolled his eyes. Moxxie is 'supposed to be the adult who shouldn't stomp down to a child's level.

Wait a minute. "Did anyone save the fancy book?"

"You mean our only ticket to the other side?" Luna slipped out the blue, fancy-looking tome from her clothing without bothering to look up from her hellphone. "Yeah, got it."

"And that's why you're my favorite, Loonie!"

"I thought my dad was your favorite." Jake pointed out.

"Who says I can't have two favorite people? Your dad's my favorite employee and Loonie here's my favorite adopted daughter. You get a tweat now!"

Millie drew the chalk pentagram on the nearby wall. The lines glowed an eerie red color as the circle expanded and the area inside transformed into a forest. The portal was open.

"Cool! Can I draw it the next time?"

"Maybe. Let's get this over with."

Striker would never admit it out loud, but he found these trips to the living world… relaxing. The air smelled cleaner, like trees and nature instead of sulfur, ash, and lava-like Wrath. Its landscapes were more varied, prettier, and calm, at least compared to Hell's ecosystems. This place was particularly breathtaking; a wide lake surrounded by forest and mountains with the sun setting, giving the sky reddish colors that reminded Striker of Bombproof's mane.

Jake seemed to be having similar thoughts. The impling was looking all over the place, eyes wide. "Whoah…"

"Hey, hey, hold your horses!" Striker picked his son up by the shirt before he could dart into the woods. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I wanna look around, dad! This place is so neat!"

"It's your first time on the surface, right? Don't worry, Jakey!" Blitzo pulled Jake into a hug. "Just stick close to uncle Blitz and everything will be fine!"

"Sides, you and I got a very important job! We're going to keep an eye on... Well, the house, just in case something goes wrong!"

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Millie, I might be a kid but I'm not stupid."

"Oh, I know you aren't, Jakey." Millie chirped, ruffling the boy's hair.

Blitzo, Striker, and Moxxie silently moved closer to the house and leaned against the wall. The former two peeked through the window. It seemed like a normal-looking household with a mom, dad, and two kids. The target was coming out of the kitchen, platter in both hands.

"That's gotta be her." Blitzo chuckled darkly. "Ready to do your cowboy thing, Striker?"

As he was about to point his rifle, Striker glanced sideways to Moxxie. The cowboy sneered. "Actually, Blitz, this one's far too easy. We should let Moxxie have her."

Moxxie blinked. "Me?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, I don't see another Moxxie around here, do you?"

"He's right, Mox. This one's simple enough for you to handle."

Moxxie's face fell after peering into the house. "It's just a happy mother who just got out of the hospital."

"You snooze, you lose, Mox."

Striker readied his rifle, taking a few steps back to aim. He set his eyes on the blonde human female, licking his lips in anticipation. "I've got you, bitch."

"Wait, are we actually killing a family?" Moxxie asked.

"No, don't be a puss. We're just killing a mother." Striker positioned the rifle as it clicked.

"Yeah, we're ruining a family," Blitzo added cheerily.

"B-But… hold on, hold on. Let's just think about it."

He was pulling the trigger when the rifle was suddenly pushed upwards. The movement made the bullet miss its target by a few inches, hitting a mirror instead.

"Why, you-!" Striker grabbed Moxxie's throat, hissing and rattling his tail.

"What the fuck was that, Moxxie?!" Blitzo snapped. Moxxie seemed to go into a panic attack of sorts, prompting Striker to release him.

"I'm sorry!" he cried, tears in his eyes. "They just seemed so wholesome and happy, I panicked!"

Striker rubbed his temple, murmuring under his breath while Blitzo facepalmed. "Get the fuck over it, you baby dick-!"

PAM!

Striker roared in pain as a bullet blasted through the wall, hitting him in the arm. He gripped the wound as blood scurried out of the wound. Fuck, and on his aiming arm!

"New hole! Scatter!"

"Dad!"

Jake's voice brought Striker out of his daze. The last thing he saw before something struck his head was Millie picking his son up and fleeing the scene. Everything went black afterward.

…

As consciousness returned, Striker felt as if he had been trampled over by a stampede. His head hurt like hell and his wounded arm was no better. He tried to move but found himself unable to. Something was binding his hands behind his torso.

"Striker! Wake up, partner!"

"Wha…? Moxxie?" As his eyes got adjusted to the darkness, Striker realized he was tied up in a bizarre chair, hands tightly bound behind his back. Moxxie was in a similar dilemma on the chair to his right. "What the fuck?!"

"Thank satan you're awake! We're in deep shit!"

"You think?" Striker hissed. "Moxxie, I swear, if those bloody humans don't kill you, I will!"

"Hey, you can't blame me for us getting caught!"

"Oh, really? None of this would be happening if I had hit the target and been done with it! God damn it, Moxxie, I had a clean shot and you made me miss!"

"H-How can you kill a mother and leave orphaned children when you have a kid yourself?!"

"Because that's what we were paid for, for Satan's sake!"

They could have continued to argue if it weren't for the two presences in the room. As they looked around, they saw the two kids from before. He might have confused the little shits with implings if they had horns and red skin; their glowing red eyes and devious sharp grins would make the sadistic smirks of the Princes of Hell look like nervous smiles.

Moxxie chuckled nervously. "Well hello there, little ones. Aren't you cute?"

The children spoke simultaneously in a low, almost inhuman voice. "It's nice to have new critters to play with."

If he didn't know any better, Striker might have thought they were in the Cannibal Colony back in Hell. The entire room was adorned with human heads, limbs, and even organs. The 'food' on the table consisted of a roasted fully-grown man with livers and kidneys as side dishes.

"Moxxie, when we're out of this ordeal, I'm going to fucking pummel you." Striker hissed.

They struggled against the ropes, but the kids had made a surprisingly good job with those knots. They were good enough to impress even Striker himself, and he was an ace when it came to tying up knots. Sadly, there was little he could do with an injured arm and Moxxie's wimpy little arms were hopeless. Striker growled. If only he could reach his knife…

A light outside the window caught his eye. Then a second appeared, then a third, fourth, as if someone was lighting up torches. Striker paled.

"Jake!"

"Millie!"

Both imps shared a concerned glance. The girl pulled out a serrated knife on Moxxie; to Striker's surprise, the wimp pushed the chair backward and fell on top of her. He took advantage of the distraction, using his tail to pull his knife out of his boot and expertly slice through the ropes. Once free, Striker sent the boy flying against the wall with a kick. Moxxie, too, had managed to free himself with the girl's own knife.

Striker tipped his hat with his good arm. "Not bad, wimp."

"Can you move?"

"I'm not limp, it's just a scratch." Striker wrapped his red bandanna around the wound and pulled out his pistol. "Now let's blow a hole through that bitch's skull."

*HB*

Jake had never been so frightened in his entire life. Well, maybe that time when he nearly got eaten by a serpent, but it was different. At least his father had been there to save him. But this time it was him who got hurt and there was nothing Jake could do to help. He tried to save Millie when she got K.O.'d, but he stood no chance against a fully-grown human and was knocked out as well. When he regained consciousness, he found himself tied to a stake in-between Millie and Blitzo.

"Striker had that fucking shot. Goddammit, Moxxie."

The crazy woman was cackling evilly as she held up a torch. "Satan! We return your filthy creatures back to the pits of Hell! May the root of evil remain honored as we continue thy work!"

The torch landed a few feet away from the logs, setting them aflame. The fire rose up around them as Martha laughed maniacally… until she realized they weren't screeching in agony. Blitzo snorted.

"Yeah, that's not exactly how it works, lady. Sorry, your fire doesn't actually hurt us, but I mean I could fake it if that'll get your dick hard."

Jake blinked. "She's a dude?"

"Grown-up stuff, kiddo. You should ask your daddy about it."

"Well, I'll just shoot you in your smart ass mouth!" Jake gulped as Martha pulled out a rifle on them.

"That would be more effective."

"Blitzo!"

Jake closed his eyes shut, whimpering as he heard the familiar click on the rifle. There were two gunshots, but he heard no screams from Blitzo, Millie, or his own throat, and no searing pain. Jake opened an eye warily. There were two smoking holes in the sockets where Martha's eyes once were. Her body collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

A few steps back were none other than Moxxie and dad, both holding their pistols.

"Moxxie! Striker!"

"Dad!"

"You're not getting your god damn paycheck for this one, Moxxie!"

As Moxxie untied the ropes, Jake jumped right into his father's embrace, wrapping his arms around his neck. Meanwhile, Moxxie and Millie hugged and nuzzled each other affectionately.

"I'm sorry, sir. I compromised our objective and put us in harm's way. It won't happen again. I promise."

"Apology accepted." Blitzo pulled Moxxie into a hug, but Striker noticed he was whispering something threatening (apparently), judging by Moxxie's expression.

He waited until Blitzo let go to punch Moxxie with such force that he fell to the ground.

"What the fuck, Striker?!"

"I keep my promises, Mox."

*HB*

Striker wasn't very fond of parties. Frankly, he just wanted to go home, fall to his bed, and sleep, but Jake begged him to stay a little longer to eat cake. After what the boy just went through, he didn't have the heart to say no, so he conceded. Besides, the look on Moxxie's face was fun to look at. He had no idea what put the wimp in such a mood, but he had the feeling it had to do with what remained of the target's bloodline.

"You sure you can ride back home with that arm? I wouldn't like to lose my best shooting asset!" Blitzo protested as he climbed onto Bombproof's saddle, Jake seated in front of him.

"Big deal, it's just a scratch. Nothin' to worry about, Blitz." Striker grabbed the reins with his good arm, the injured one resting on a sling.

Bombproof moved at a slow pace, so it'd take them longer than usual to get home. Millie had once suggested that he and Jake move to Imp City; there was a vacant apartment in the building she and Moxxie lived in and she'd be thrilled at the idea of being neighbors (Moxxie, of course, didn't share the sentiment). Striker regretfully declined the offer (to Moxxie's relief). He was a country person at heart and would rather stay in Wrath. Besides, he wanted his son to experience the ups and downs of rural life.

A loud yawn made him look down. "Tired?"

"No, just resting my eyes," Jake said simply, but the exhaustion in his voice said otherwise. Striker chuckled.

"How about you 'rest yer eyes' for a while, then? I'll wake you up when we get home."

"Really, dad, I'm not tired…" Jake trailed off as he leaned back against his father, resting his chest against his chest.

Striker smiled a bit as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Surely not, kiddo. Surely not."

[theashemarie]

don’t you let me go | pearlina proposal fic

[Marina’s done her research on how to propose, and has been rehearsing everything in her head for months. Sometimes, when Pearl isn’t home, she stands in the mirror and practices, watches her own face, and feels really silly. But she wants to do this right. She has the ring. Now she just has to take the plunge.]

A note to future readers: I wrote and posted this during the final splatfest before I could find out the results or how it will impact everything. This piece takes place post-final splatfest but it's pure wish fulfillment. Plain and simple.

[Crossposted on ao3.] [Story title from here.]

☆ Reblogs appreciated! ☆

------

After the splatfest ends, Pearl and Marina pass out for at least twelve hours. At the studio, they change clothes by touch because they can barely keep their eyes open, scrub makeup off, smile only with their eyes because their cheeks hurt so bad, and hold each other up as they stumble to the car. At home, they stagger in and shuck off their shoes. The bed catches them as they fall. Sometimes, they sleep curled up together, sometimes Pearl sprawls out so wide that Marina has to nudge her over to her side of the bed, sometimes Marina sleeps on her back like she’s dead and Pearl wakes up just to check for her breath.

In the morning (or afternoon), Marina is usually the first one to rise. She takes a shower, brushes her teeth, stretches her sore muscles, and gargles some warm salt water. Pearl snores loudly, but only after splatfests. Her vocal cords rattle in her chest. Marina pulls the covers down and crawls back into bed to wait.

Pearl wakes eventually, but it’s slow, like she’s rising from the grave. Marina knows she’s close when she starts muttering. Then, she twitches, first her fingertips, then her arms, then her legs, then she rolls over. Her eyes flicker open eventually and the first thing she sees is Marina, peering at her with exhausted but bright eyes. Pearl usually tries to say something, but her throat is in shreds and Marina shushes her.

Pearl showers. Marina sits in bed with the blankets pooled in her lap and checks the news on her phone. It’s always splatfest related. Marina quickly gives up trying to learn anything new about the world, content that it didn’t end in the last fourteen hours.

Pearl emerges in a shirt down to her knees and with her hair pulled back. She angrily sloshes salt water around her mouth while she’s standing there, because she hates that she has to do it, but she knows that Marina will shame her if she doesn’t. After she brushes her teeth, they have breakfast.

Today it’s eggs. They don’t talk as Marina scrambles them. Pearl pulls bits and bobs out of the fridge to dump in—mushrooms, spinach, bell peppers—and she blitzes them in the food processor because she’s too tired to handle a knife. The eggs end up good if a little mushy and they eat quickly.

They don’t talk for the first twelve hours. Vocal rest is important, but it kills Pearl a little. They have to communicate by writing or texting. Marina’s handwriting is careful, exact, while Pearl’s is loopy and messy, quick scribbles because she’s impatient. She stomps around now that she’s awake and she often takes to the studio, where she slams her fists against the keyboard in an attempt to compose. No vocals though. She never really gets very far.

It doesn’t matter who won the splatfest, not really. They don’t talk about it and, at the end of the day, it’s just a festival, more for Inkopolis than for them. It’s just their job to create hype.

And create hype they do. Their voices need days to recover and their bodies are sluggish. Marina never wants to wear another pair of tights again and she always swears them off (only to begrudgingly tug them back on as soon as they get to work on Monday), while Pearl declares that she’s done with jumping. Her knees are weak, like rotten wood, but, soon enough, she’s bouncing around like nothing happened.

They spend the day by themselves. Marina likes the quiet and Pearl can’t stand not being able to talk to Marina. So, they do their own thing. Marina sits in a rocking chair and reads, glasses perched on the end of her nose, while Pearl attempts to compose, attempts to play a video game, or succeeds at online shopping. They don’t need a popcorn machine, but she orders one anyway, along with a couple heating pads and Marina’s favorite brownie mix.

Then, that evening, they go out together. Sometimes bowling, sometimes to an arcade, sometimes to dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall place that Pearl found online. Today, because it’s the day after the final splatfest, there’s a carnival in a field on the outskirts of the city. Pearl hugs close to Marina’s back as they ride out on the motorcycle, and, once they get there, vocal rest comes to an end.

Pearl hops off the bike, stretches her arms over her head, her cropped hoodie riding up to give Marina a beautiful look at her freckled stomach, and yells, “I’m gonna eat until I throw up!”

Her voice cracks in the middle and she breaks off to cough once she gets it out. Marina laughs and puts her hand on the small of Pearl’s back as they begin to walk. “Just don’t throw up on me.”

Pearl gives her a huge grin. “Then stay out of my splash zone.”

Marina shakes her head, but she can’t help but smile in return. Surreptitiously, she unzips the pocket of her leather jacket and sticks her hand inside, just to make sure that the small box is still there.

+++

This has been coming for a while. Marina’s done her research on how to propose, received a lot of unwanted advice from anyone who saw her with the ring (namely, the jeweler, a man on the train, and Callie, who squealed so loud that Marina had to fake an illness to get out of a recording session later that evening because she couldn’t hear out of her right side), and has been rehearsing everything in her head for months. Sometimes, when Pearl isn’t home, she stands in the mirror and practices, watches her own face, and feels really silly. But she wants to do this right.

She didn’t know when she was going to do it. She never planned that far—just knew that it needed to be after the final splatfest. After all that stress, all that performing, all that pretend fighting. When they were flying high on a job well done, a tradition properly brought to a close. That was the perfect time. The ending of one thing, the beginning of the rest of their lives.

She’s been carrying the ring around for weeks now, just in case. She didn’t want Pearl to find it and she was open to seizing an opportunity, even if it went against her post-final splatfest instincts. She was really winging this whole thing, had been since she crawled out of Octo Valley and took a chance on a small little inkling with dozens of piercings who wanted to start a band. It’d brought her this far, her instincts, her gut, her trust in Pearl. Who was she to look the right moment in the face and say no?

But, that never came. Instead, things went according to plan. They sang their lungs out and danced their feet off. Marina went stage blind and Pearl almost slipped off the edge a few times. They finished strong and they brought all of Inkopolis together by dividing them. And now, they’re here.

This is the night. The lights are bright, a multitude of colors that flash and dance across their skin. Pearl’s rings catch the light and she jabbers excitedly as she points out all the junk food. She pulls Marina by the hand from stand to stand and begins to rank all of the fried food on a tastiness scale that only she understands. Marina follows along and gives her opinion on funnel cake, fried mac and cheese bites, corndogs, spiraled potatoes. All the while, Pearl glances at Marina with something behind her eyes, something that Marina can’t place. It’s not bad—in fact, it warms her through, but it almost makes her falter a few times.

After they down a few slices of pizza and share some fried ice cream, they set their sights on the rides. Pearl beelines to a large saucer and it makes Marina queasy to see it spin like that (among other things). She bows out and sends Pearl on by herself.

While alone, she tugs the box out. She doesn’t dare open it. She’s looked at it enough already: a small, simple silver band, etched with P + M. It’ll match Pearl’s other jewelry, won’t be too conspicuous, and she knows that Pearl isn’t a fan of gems or sparkles. She prefers the bluntness of silver, the glint of a thick band under stage lights.

Marina takes a deep breath, holds the box between her hands like a prayer, and tries to give herself the strength to do this. This amazing, crazy thing. This thing that will ensure that things never have to change. This thing that will guarantee that they’ll always be together, no matter what.

+++

They ride a swing ride, one that flies them in a large, leisurely circle. Marina, overcome, flings her arms and legs out like a child and Pearl lets out a chiming, free laugh. She copies Marina and, together, they yell wordless joy as they go in circles. After, a few people recognize them, and they pose for a couple pictures. Pearl, always hungry for the camera, flourishes her arms out. Marina, more subdued, makes sure that her high-waisted skinny jeans are angled just so, and puts her hands on her hips.

They go back to food after that. Over a heaping plate of fried mushrooms, Pearl looks out at the crowd, at all the couples and the children and the siblings, and her eyes are shining with all the lights. Marina swears she falls in love with her all over again right there.

“Are you going to miss it?” Pearl asks after she swallows down a mushroom. Marina, unsure, makes a confused sound. “All the splatfests,” Pearl clarifies.

Marina considers that. Will she? It was something new to look forward to, something she did only with Pearl, and staying up all night writing the announcements and the results every month were some of the most peaceful, reassuring moments of her life. Pearl is quieter and softer when she’s tired, and they shared their first kiss during one of those all-nighters. Worn down, exhausted, they merely fell together that night. One second, Pearl was leaning her head against Marina’s shoulder and the next she was looking up at her with slightly parted lips. They kissed like gravity, like it was inevitable, and, after, neither was sure who initiated. They stared at each other and it was like terminal velocity. Suddenly Pearl was in Marina’s lap, shoving her cold hands around Marina’s face so she could pull her closer. Marina wrapped her arms around Pearl’s back and pulled them flush. She swore she could feel all three of Pearl’s hearts, racing each other in a rat-a-tat rhythm.

“A little,” Marina answers, once she realizes that she’s been contemplating the question for a few too many beats. Her face is warm at the thought of that first kiss and Pearl peeks at her with a coy expression that says that she knows exactly what Marina was just thinking about.

“Things change,” Pearl continues. A flash goes off as someone takes a picture of them and Pearl glances up just in time for another to go off. She scowls in their direction, ever the protector of their private moments, and the poor teen scurries off. Then, she turns back to Marina and grabs her hand, rubs her thumb along her palm. “But you’ll always have me.”

+++

Marina almost chickens out. There are multiple opportunities, but she doesn’t take them. Instead, she allows herself to be dragged around the carnival. She examines the rides with a critical eye, taking them apart in her mind to figure out how they work, and points out a few interesting pieces of mechanics. This makes Pearl smile fondly and shake her head. She squeezes Marina’s hand. “So cute when you’re geekin’,” she mutters, and Marina shoves her lightly.

They ride a few more gentle rides, including the carousel. Pearl climbs on top of an ostrich and lets out a loud whoohoo! as soon as it starts moving. Marina, on an accompanying zebra, forgets herself for a second, because the sight of Pearl so carefree does something pleasant to her insides. She smiles to herself and when she looks it up its to Pearl beaming at her, leaning all the way back with her hands wrapped around the pole. It takes all of Marina’s combined will not to lean over and kiss her right there.

Eventually, eventually, the evening is coming to a close. They snack on a few more fried desserts, share a funnel cake and lick powdered sugar off their fingers. Pearl doesn’t barf, not even after riding a few more spinning rides, and they decide to close things out on the Ferris wheel. Marina gazes up at it and she feels a stone form in her stomach because this is it. This is the moment, isn’t it?

Her whole body feels like it’s working on a different frequency as she climbs on next to Pearl. Sher nerves sing, her hands shake, and her leg bounces. Pearl, mistaking the twitchiness for nervousness, places her small hand on top of Marina’s. Marina, with her hands vice gripped around the safety bar, merely grimaces at her.

They sail around a few rotations, staring off at the bright lights of the city, gazing down at the carnival and all the people below them. Pearl points things out, clearly trying to distract Marina from her anxiety, and Marina tries to pretend to be interested as she fumbles around with the zipper on her jacket pocket.

The Ferris wheel stops at the top. Marina nearly chokes on her own tongue as she gazes out at the dark sky in front of them, illuminated by the soft glow coming off the city. She feels like she can see forever.

“Marina...”

Everything slows down. Marina turns, hand fisting around the box in her pocket. She looks and Pearl is watching her with wide, terrified eyes. It makes Marina let go of the box.

“Pearl?”

Pearl shakes her head and grabs Marina’s hand. “Sorry, I was just enjoying the moment. Look, I have something...”

Pearl digs around in the pocket of her white shorts. Marina feels her whole body come back online then. The seat is jiggling as Pearl’s boot drums against the floor and Pearl’s hand is warm, hot almost. Just there, Marina can see a band of skin on her stomach as she shifts to get better leverage.

“You little shit... Get out of there! Ah! Got it! Okay, sorry.” Pearl smiles a little shyly and it’s the first time Marina’s ever seen that expression on her face. She looks... She’s glowing with the lights and with the blush on her cheeks and Marina literally can’t get her mind to keep up with all this.

“Look.” Pearl takes a deep, stabilizing breath. It rattles out of her chest, catches just there, and she swallows thickly. “I know this is sudden, but I can’t take it anymore.”

Pearl holds her hand out. Between her fingers, there’s a small gold band, the same color as her eyes, with a single, small stone affixed, flush, in the metal.

Marina’s mind crashes to a halt. Her perfectly rehearsed speech, her best laid plans, all leave her. All that’s left is the warm summer breeze and Pearl, looking at her with the most vulnerable expression Marina’s ever seen. It’s devastating to see.

Pearl takes another deep breath. This one comes out a little cleaner, free of all the cobwebs of nerves now that she’s got the ring out. “Look. I love you. So fuckin’ much. I love you so much it keeps me up at night sometimes... And I love it! I love waking up and seeing you there! And watching you play with your hair! And the way you tap your pencil against your lips when you’re thinking! And the way your brow furrows when you’re concerned! And the way you touch things you don’t recognize, all careful! And the way you love machinery! I love watching you discover new things about Inkopolis, and I love that I’ve been by your side this whole time! I just... I love you! And, Reena... I wanna keep loving you.”

Marina’s body takes over. Dumbstruck, she fishes into her jacket pocket, tugs the ring box free, because she can’t believe this. “Pearl...” It’s all she can manage. She holds the box out and Pearl’s brow wrinkles as she looks down at it.

Marina watches as Pearl computes everything and she recognizes the instant that it hits her. Pearl’s eyes widen and she looks up with a mouth that slowly widens into an excited gasp. “No fuckin’ way!” She darts forward, grabs Marina’s face between her hands, and kisses her. It blazes through them, from Pearl to Marina, and Marina can feel the ring’s shape against her cheek as Pearl pulls her closer. Marina’s body relaxes, her stomach releases from its complicated pretzeling, and she allows herself to be swept up. The seat sways under them as Marina pushes back, slides her hands along the bare skin of Pearl’s stomach, and Pearl laughs against Marina’s lips as she brushes against a sensitive spot. Marina, emboldened by the laugh, merely deepens the whole thing. She feels Pearl’s lips part, just there, and she almost loses herself.

Below them, a few people let out a few whoops. A woman yells a loud congratulations! and Marina pulls away, suddenly aware that they have an audience. Pearl lets out a small keening noise at the interruption but then seems to come back to herself. She grins up at Marina, unabashed, and waves over the side, to the delight of their onlookers.

“Is that a yes?” Marina asks. She feels like she’s being lit up from the inside, like she could sail up and live amongst the stars in the sky.

“I thought I was asking you!” Pearl cries, face split in two by her brilliant smile. She has tears in her eyes, Marina realizes, and it makes her chest jump.

“Yes,” Marina says simply. It’s all she can manage. After all that planning, all that rehearsal, and that’s all she has to say. “Yes,” she repeats. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

+++

As they climb out, equipped with two new rings, the ride attendant gives Pearl a high five. Marina, giddy, overcome, can’t help but lean close as they walk away. A few people snap pictures but neither of them care.

“That was perfect. How’d you do it?” Marina asks as they walk toward the parking lot.

Pearl, knowing that she’s been had, merely grins up at her. “I might’ve bribed the dude running the ride. I’ll never tell.”

Marina lets out a chiming laugh. Pearl squeezes her hand and presses as close as she can while walking. Together, they head home.

Together, they head into the future.

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #103: New Tour New Me (7/12/19)

These kids don’t skip a week, huh?

First up- ‘nother leg of the Bandito Tour coming this fall! It’ll just be a quick blitz across the United States, so... mostly markets that have had nearby shows within the last year... sorry, Asia and South America... and BIG sorry, Africa. But hey, at least the West Coast finally gets to hear “Chlorine”! No, I haven’t forgotten, Tyler Joseph. And hey, the announcement banner of them looking like two Plaid Dads may or may not be a clip from that Columbus music video from last week. We’ll see...

The boys accompanied the announcement with the “release” of the second Location Session. It’s just a standalone version of the version of “Cut My Lip” we heard from the Entercom Storyteller performance from a few weeks ago in Brooklyn, and the coordinates included in the title match up with that location, seemingly confirming that these Sessions are just going to be recordings of unplugged performances and not some grander conspiracy leading to a map towards Dema... probably.

Festival d’Ete Quebec had one of the largest audiences to a show the band has ever seen. They paid the city back with a duet of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” where Josh climbed on Tyler’s shoulders to harmonize while sitting down. Iconic.

The trip to Quebec gave us a few good interviews from the Great White North. I appreciate this interviewer for doing a good job of letting Tyler’s sassiness bounce off of him and getting him to give an actual thought-out response to the “influences” question that seems to exhaust. We also got more Quality Content from Entercom featuring Tyler talking about Fortnite and trolling Brendon Urie.

“Chlorine” took a big dive on the Bubbling Under chart after losing its Location Session boost... but it’s still gaining at pop radio... I’ll never understand this song’s commercial performance, but I do understand that it’s a bop.

The lads finally seem to be getting some rest, though they’ll soon be flying off to Bern, Switzerland for Gurtenfestival. It’s a smaller fest, but it’ll get the ball rolling for over a month’s worth of summer festivals in Europe.

Oh, and Ned’s Bayou has an online store. Rad.

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[kejserclark07-blog]

Electrum Stratis Wallet

Stratis is one of the original regarding a range of blockchain advancement platforms. It seemed to be initially like platform wherein developers could very well easily produce their own exclusive blockchain. Stratis wanted his or her platform to be the most recognized blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) tailored to get use simply by organisations. On the other hand, since firing, Sratis possesses increased the scope regarding their project. They wish to build up out the larger blockchain development circle that will undertake often the likes of NEO in addition to Ethereum. Can Stratis truly compete in this highly competitive space and provide an attractive alternative to help these blockchains? In that Stratis review, we is going to attempt to answer of which question by taking the deep-dive on the project. We will look into the technology, team members and one of a kind advantages of its blockchain. I will also analyse often the STRAT token and whether you must think of that. Let�s bounce in. Precisely what is Stratis? Stratis started out as a project that wanted to assist business logistics with a BaaS model. However, as the particular demand for developer ecosystems provides grown, therefore way too have the ambitions involving Stratis. They are now trying to build up their personal developer blockchain. There are many other projects that are wanting to do this but typically the main variation between them all and Stratis is it is definitely using C# for Microsoft�s. NET structure as the developing words of the blockchain. Ethereum has one particular advantage around Stratis in that the idea was your 1st smart contract community, on the other hand the use of often the Solidity programming language may possibly be it is weakness. Stratis uses a far more acquainted programming language and may accomplish the same blockchain structures and include sidechains since well. Stratis is definitely gaining on Ethereum, releasing C# smart agreements while an alpha in May well, as well as alpha sidechain help in August. This brings Stratis with par along with leading sensible contract blockchains. In truth, for numerous companies Stratis is definitely the popular solution since blockchain knowledge isn�t all that popular at the older, more traditional tech companies. These kind of older technical companies perform have armies regarding software engineers familiar with C# as well as. NET framework and happen to be most likely to pass over programming a good blockchain along with Solidity whenever they can use the more familiar C#. Stratis offers this comfortable programming language, and often the ability to use just about all the same features in order to develop a feature-rich blockchain with the ability to include sidechains together with sensible contracts. This will allow often the old-guard tech firms to simply build their very own blockchain solutions on the particular Stratis main company, trying to keep their own projects split up and safe on sidechains. There are certainly promise, but it may need time to realize the eye-sight of Stratis. Let�s create a deeper search into the project and it is related STRAT lieu that powers the community. Understanding Stratis Stratis was made as its own blockchain the fact that also offers a new suite of development equipment in C# that allow companies to make use of the safety of its blockchain to construct their own chains. This specific saves assets for this companies who also don�t need to have to hire brand-new blockchain developers as well as edit all their legacy software to work alongside a new platform. In the core Stratis is usually an updated, enterprise warm and friendly version of Bitcoin. It is very more worldwide, it�s more rapidly, and it moves aside from the resource famished Proof-of-Work mining of Bitcoin. Then it adds the Stratis program that permits sidechains, sensible contracts and this addition involving decentralized software. Stratis deviates from various other blockchain projects by way of working with the C# programming dialect. With over 6 thousand C# developers the idea aims to mesh very easily with often the existing devices of standard technological companies across this globe. Electrum Stratis Wallet has established a new package of tools together with assets for builders in order to help them to build up their own blockchains, and even that also offers the use of its blockchain as a mainchain for you to secure included sidechains. nStratis Advancement Platform The nStratis blockchain developmnent platform developed for businesses Additionally , that offers consultancy services with regard to businesses that want to be able to use blockchain technology, nevertheless don�t understand where or maybe how to get started. For instance, they might advise a fintech company, featuring them how blockchain technologies can be used to verify funds usually are being transported to the proper people, to track transactions, and to validate consumer personal. Stratis Team This main managing company to get Stratis could be the Stratis Class Ltd that is based around the city of London. They are comprised involving some fairly experienced coders with expertise in company program and blockchain. Stratis was founded throughout 2016 simply by the current TOP DOG, Chris Trew. Chris possesses over 10 years regarding working experience in Enterprise IT. He or she is also a backend developer who has got constructed numerous applications around C# and ASP. INTERNET. They started to cut his teeth in the blockchain ecosystem within 2013 and functioned like a volunteer on typically the Blitz project. Stratis Team Members Some of this Stratis Team Members Chelsea is as well joined by Nicolas Dorier who designed NBitcoin basically as a learning exercise. NBitcoin is now one of this most comprehensive cross-platform bitcoin frameworks. They in addition has composed a good book on blockchain programming in C#. Nicolas has also done some work on Bitcoin�s primary job. The STRAT Token Often the Stratis blockchain employs Proof-of-Stake (PoS) as it is opinion modus operandi, and the particular STRAT token as the local token on the networking. Because Stratis uses PoS it means there�s simply no reference intensive mining required to protected the network, nor almost any expensive computer hardware required. It absolutely was developed while a low pumpiing cryptocurrency and holders have the ability to produce rewards by staking cash, if they have sufficient to run a node. Operating the masternode requires staking 250, 000 STRAT, which often has a value of $392, 500 at the $1. 57 price on The month of september 7, 2018. That�s definitely out of reach to get most, but there is converse of adding lower tier nodes that require significantly less gold coins. The primary aim of the STRAT expression is as gas for that network, or a way to pay money for network deals. Naturally you can also purchase it like a speculative investment, together with the coin is listed in well over a new dozen programs, including Binance, Bittrex and even HitBTC. Binance STRAT Register at Binance and Buy STRAT Tokens As of September seven, 2018 the STRAT lieu is #49 on Coinmarketcap. com with a marketplace limit of $155, 347, 489. That�s at a associated with $1. 57 with a moving supply connected with 99, 004, 672. Stratis hit an all-time great price of $21. twenty-one on January 8, 2018. Stratis was one regarding the first profitable ICO�s, raising 1, 1000 BTC back in June/July 2016. This success led these to start their own ICO software in May 2018 to help other people observe the same success. Is considered certainly the generous supplying, but could spell signs of trouble at the business. ICO Popularity in Diminish When Bitcoin rose around level of popularity most other cryptocurrencies struggled to find an market. So, that they turned to the ICO like a new way to gain industry acceptance, and to raise budget to continue advancement. That�s how Stratis obtained its begin in 2016. ICOs became much more popular inside 2017 any time Ethereum started hosting bridal party on its blockchain, permitting companies to help bypass the long together with expensive procedure for creating their particular own blockchain. That 12 months saw nearly one, 500 ICOs launched and even $5. 6 billion throughout funds raised. It was not all of good news though like over 50% of all those ICOs were failures. Possibly even worse was the particular nearly $1 billion lost by simply investors to fake ICOs. These losses came the attention, and ire, of presidency regulators. That put a damaging light on ICOs. Soon after major online mainly because networks like Google, Facebook or myspace plus Twitter banned advertisings for ICOs on their particular platforms. ICO prices fell across the field in addition to people started to be increasingly cautious projects releasing new coins via an ICO. Going down ICO Demand Amount connected with funds raised via ICO is usually declining. Source: ICO Info 2018 still recognizes the good volume of ICOs, just about all sees even more and more projects steering clear of the negative stigma regarding ICOs. A lot of have long gone to the airdrop in order to distribute tokens, and even so other people will be opting for you to hold private revenue, offering their coins in order to venture capital firms and large net-worth individuals rather than offering them to typically the public. This telephone calls straight into question the decision connected with Stratis to release a great ICO platform in May possibly 2018. In most respects that seems as if the particular management team is jammed in the past. Certain 2016 was initially just a pair of short years back, although in the cryptocurrency earth two years is like only two many years. A turnkey ICO remedy at this point seems to fly in the face of the negative view associated with ICOs and the improving authorities scrutiny. Stratis Remains to be an invaluable Blockchain Even even though the launch of ICO platform makes it look as if Stratis will be out of feel along with the rest of this cryptocurrency sector, it is always a robust and extraordinary blockchain task. And although the value of typically the STRAT coin has slipped all over 2018, that�s a great deal more a feature of the all round decline within cryptocurrency trading markets. A new $1. 57 price tag now is nevertheless the more than 22, 000% gain from the $0. 007 ICO price of the coin. That�s a new pretty hefty returning in just over 2 many years. Stratis has also lately already been listed in the Microsof company Azure Market, which was basically a big win with regard to Stratis founder and CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Chris Trew. Electrum Stratis Wallet isnt necessarily an recommendation of Stratis as a good assignment, but rather because the coin is prepared in C# for the. INTERNET framework. The. NET construction was developed by means of Microsoft, and because of Microsoft windows company usage the. ONLINE platform and C# developing words are equally set in every single industry. As typically the developer on the. NET framework Microsoft contains a huge stake in the endurance together with growth of the system and the C# dialect, producing acceptance of Stratis by simply Microsoft almost a new offered outcome. Microsoft Azure Statement by Stratis upon Microsof company Azure Company�s using legacy systems built along C# and. NET may find the transition to help a blockchain solution will probably be easiest and most cost effective when using the Stratis solution. Almost all of these businesses currently have C# developers which might be reassigned to a good blockchain project, and they�ll help to make quick progress thanks in order to their familiarity with C#. Unfortunately regarding Stratis typically the blockchain world advances extremely quickly. Their C# package was vaporware right up until May possibly 2018, meaning there were some sort of number of projects of which involved to and surpassed Stratis. And Electrum Stratis Wallet , which usually sounded and so progressive throughout summer of 2016, wasn�t all of that revolutionary any time it was release seeing that a beta mainnet product or service in Late 2017. It may be unfortunate, but the Stratis team appears to end up being operating on a much more slowly pace than new projects, in particular those coming from Japan. The early excitement over Stratis hasn�t translated to early adoption. In fact, additional than the acknowledgement into the Azure Current market, the largest partnership so that far is to use Earth String, an unknown international the fact that is looking to affect often the seafood logistics company having a blockchain remedy. A person optimistic development is typically the newest relationship with BRITAIN Meds, this fastest expanding online drug store in the particular UK, just announced upon September 5. BRITISH Medications plans on using this technology to be able to enhance person safety and to improve typically the UK Meds provide company. Conclusion Startis has got the difference of being the 1st successful ICO, and continues to be remarkable to this moment, nonetheless some state that needs to step up its game if it doesn�t desire the distinction of initial successful ICO to be the biggest differentiation the project at any time reaches. While it has strong technology and the solid alliance with 'microsoft', the idea isn�t seeing this type of adoption it requires. If it can leveraging it is strengths there can be still wish for expansion inside of the blockchain business because it offers a few worthwhile and helpful use-cases. This inclusion of the Stratis program in the 'microsoft' Azure industry is a big win, together with option traders have to be happy with often the 22, 000% return since ICO, even if the price connected with typically the coin has recently been sliding inside 2018. Entrepreneur sentiment could be going down, but there�s still a lot of good to become said for STRAT. Typically the establish of an ICO platform doesn�t seem to be the best move around in 2018 as government government bodies currently have been taking aim on ICOs, but fortunately Stratis has several other software trends and partnerships. Likely a enterprise blockchain option inside C# may not necessarily noise as technologically innovative or attractive as some other blockchain assignments, but it is just these kinds of nuts-and-bolts variety applications which have been frequently the particular most useful and profitable. In fact, the use of C# makes Stratis more attractive for you to conventional tech companies with older systems, since they wil have to start through scratch in order to move as well as integrate their very own programs along with blockchain technologies. The Stratis solution exhibits real guarantee, but we will need to wait and see if they can certainly truly deliver.

[kiruuuuu]

Don’t worry, generic or not, I appreciate every compliment, @tubby-custard68! Thank you ❤ And this prompt is fantastic: I love Bandit/Jäger, I can feed @magehir‘s obsession with Blitz/Rook and I seem to enjoy writing about drunk people for some reason. I hope you like it! (Rating T, fluff/humour, ~1.5k words)

.

“Look, is it normal for Germans to be absolute snobs about beer?”

Bandit side-eyes the young Frenchman next to him curiously while he pays for his smokes. He distinctly remembers Jäger telling him to be nicer to Rook despite the fact they’re all at least ten years older than him and the only one who really cares about him is Blitz. Even so, he insists on dragging his boytoy wherever they go which is fair enough, Bandit supposes, he does the same with Jäger as well when the SAS operators go out for drinks, only Jäger isn’t as timid and young and desperate to fill silences as Rook. “Yeah”, he replies in an effort to humour him, “we invented and perfected beer, I’ve not found a single foreign brand that I like.”

“Oh! They have ice cream!” Excitedly, Rook bounces over to the small freezer and peers inside, making Bandit sigh inwardly.

“Make it quick. And are you sure you want to spend all the money you just withdrew on -” He trails off as he turns around, finding the Frenchman with an armful of various popsicles and even a few tubs of Ben and Jerry’s as well as a comically guilty expression. “Jesus Christ, when people ask you to buy a round, they don’t mean fucking ice cream, you moron, put it back. My God, just being in the same room with you must be like herding kittens.”

“Elias doesn’t complain”, Rook chirps, pouting slightly but at least sorting the ice cream and returning it to the freezer, leaving only an almond Magnum that admittedly looks very tempting right now. Rook pauses momentarily before reaching into the cold box once again, fishing out a second one and approaching the till to pay.

“He’d never complain. You could probably piss in his mouth and receive heartfelt thanks for it.” The cashier is now looking at him weirdly so he leaves the store they spotted on their way back to the pub and shakes one of the cigarettes out of the pack, places it between his lips. It’s not that he dislikes Rook, it’s more that he prefers the Frenchman to not be anywhere in his vicinity. Before he can light it, however, there’s a popsicle shoved under his nose. He blinks once, twice, unsure what to do because he does like Magnums. “I hate almonds”, he says and Rook rolls his eyes.

“Don’t be a bitch”, he says which, okay, he deserves that one, so Bandit puts away the cigarette and instead rips open the wrapping. “And don’t pretend your boyfriend is much better. We’re all wearing rose-coloured glasses here and it’s not going to kill you to admit it.”

“Tell yourself that, I’m not the one completely dick whipped here.” The chocolate breaks between his teeth with a satisfying crunch and distracts him from the fact that Rook isn’t walking next to him anymore but rather has stopped, staring after him with an entirely unamused expression. “What?”

“Remember when his car broke and you were unfailingly on time for a week because you offered to give him a lift and didn’t want him to feel bad about being late? Because I do. And you weren’t even together then, that’s how desperate you were.” Bandit scowls at him and earns a chuckle in return. “How do I know about this? You whined to Elias. Endlessly.”

“Now’s the perfect time to shut up, baguette du fromage, it’s not like you’re any better. You hover around him like a mother hen – I get second hand embarrassment just from the way you coo over the idiot.”

“But that’s my point. We’re in the same boat, we both are stupidly in love with a German dork.”

“Speak for yourself”, Bandit grumbles and turns away to keep walking. He’s getting oversaturated with young operators who think they know better than him despite the fact he could theoretically be their dad. A horrifying thought. “I got the better deal, in any case. My dork knows how to suck dick at least.”

“Yeah? You really want to go there?”, Rook asks and tries to sound challenging which gets undermined by his face flushing a cute shade of red. “Why does everything have to be a competition with you?”

“Oh, we can make it a competition. About which of our boyfriends is the bigger dumbass.”

“What does that even mean?”

Bandit ponders his own suggestion for a short while as they both eat their ice cream in silence. “How about… we keep buying them alcohol and the one who refuses first wins. And don’t think it’ll be easy, Marius is wary now because I do things to him drunk that he wouldn’t let me do to him sober, so he’s got a strong incentive not to end up shit-faced.”

Rook grimaces at the mental image. “Really, I don’t need to know what you grandpas get up to in your free time.” And the only reason why Bandit doesn’t immediately retort something equally as snide is because he’s actually looking forward to the challenge now. They negotiate the rules the rest of the way until the youngling finally agrees right before they dive back into the thick, stuffy air of the pub they left about half an hour ago, maybe more. They ended up taking their time, surprisingly. Bandit suspects Blitz and Jäger sent the two of them away together on purpose, hoping they’ll end up bonding over God knows what even though they’re nothing alike and share next to no common interests.

A high-pitched shriek reaches their ears even before they spot Bandit’s teammates and they look at each other dubiously, both of them realising it’s Blitz who produced that noise. They find the two huddled by a corner table, fighting over a phone and sporting wide, goofy grins that immediately spark a feeling of dread in Bandit. “You’ve never been sent to the principal? Really?”, Jäger is asking incredulously as they approach the table, only to completely abandon whatever it is they were doing as soon as he catches sight of Bandit. He basically catapults himself out of his chair and wraps himself all around him, leaving entirely too wet kisses on the side of his neck and face and mumbles: “Hey babe, you were gone forever.” Blitz follows him suit, not to be bested by his friend, and hums contentedly into Rook’s shoulder after embracing him tightly.

They’re wasted. Rook and Bandit exchange another glance, this one decidedly bemused. Even in their shared exasperation, Rook mouths babe at him and smirks. “Hey, croissant, what is it that bees make out of pollen again?”, Bandit wants to know.

“Honey?”

“Yeah? What is it?”, Blitz replies dazedly and Bandit snorts at Rook’s defeated expression.

“The fuck did you guys do while we were away?”

“Okay”, Jäger starts and interrupts himself by sucking so viciously on Bandit’s skin that it actually hurts, “okay, look. We didn’t – Elias found some money after all and we were bored and there’s this Rice Purity Test online and -”

“You’re a depraved human being”, Blitz tells him gravely and the two devolve into helpless giggling again, much to their boyfriends’ dismay.

“How much did you drink?”

The two Germans untangle themselves from their lovers and start counting, correcting each other to the point of having to start over, dropping references to their test results that leave them breathless and holding on to each other for support as they slowly delve deeper into hysterics and it’s hopeless. Nowadays, they rarely get to spend time alone so Bandit can understand the sentiment of wanting to catch up, shoot the shit, whatever, only this definitely went too far. He forgot that they’re notorious for enabling each other. Rook watches the whole thing both resignedly as well as extremely amused, mirroring Bandit’s mood perfectly and isn’t this just great. They get to bond after all, even if it’s over the combined stupidity of two people that unfortunately do mean a lot to them.

“Let’s cancel the challenge”, Bandit tells him with a sigh, “we both lose.”

Rook laughs good-naturedly, making Bandit realise he’s not actually that bad after all. Maybe they can have other competitions in the future – it’s rare enough that Bandit can mock someone else for being as ridiculously infatuated as he himself is. “Yeah. I agree. Let’s just get them home, I think they’ve had enough.”

“Are we going hooome?”, Jäger picks up on the most important part of what they just said and melts against Bandit once more, all eager and loose limbs. “Are you going to do the thing again?”

“Of course I’m going to do the thing. You look so pretty when you cry.”

“Oh my God”, says Rook and this is an added bonus to keeping him around because Bandit thoroughly enjoys the scandalised expression on his face that only worsens when Blitz starts whispering in his ear as well.

[casualcreationgentlemen]

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[kateemmerson]

Musings of a Café Writer living #LocationFree

Living #LocationFree for the past 5 years is often met with wide eyes, scrunched up noses, and some weird questions. I know it might sound like nothing more than terrifyingly homeless mixed with exhilaratingly glamour-filled champagne parties on yachts, Instagram style.

It honestly falls somewhere smack between these two extremes.

While it may be very real that digital nomads (aka global nomads, remote workers, location free, etc.) might not have one permanent base to call “home,” we are certainly not “homeless.” We have a gazillion ways we each live into this lifestyle, and we can pretty much make it up as we go along – if we don’t like somewhere, we can move on to more suitable spaces, cities, countries (Covid and visa/passport reliant of course). Plus, folk living this lifestyle are not doing so because they have zero responsibilities, no partners, kids, animals, etc. – we are all working and contributing to society in some format. We have just figured out the best way to earn the required dollars en route – whether working remotely for a company, working in the digital online space, working in the country they are in, running global companies, have property investments, Bitcoin, or business investors – any type of work is possible, to be honest! The worklist is as varied as your creative brain allows … with the added benefit of freedom from a location. Of course, we sleep in beds too! Whether in fancy hotels, rented homes, snazzy apartments, Airbnb options, co-living, house-sitting, or any combo of the above. What binds us together as a tribe is that we are not bound to one location for work or life. There is a sense of freedom, mobility, choice, and possibility!

Possibility of options, countries, cultures, environments, lifestyle, etc

Right now, I’m chilling in a quaint café on the prom of Portobello (see pic taken at Miros <<<) with the quieter than usual buzz and banter as “we-are-in-weird-lockdown-life-but-still-allowed-out” vibe. I’ll soon be self-isolating again before I make my way to my mum in the UK for Christmas, so I am making the most of a little thrill of being outdoors at Edinburgh’s Seaside. There is a delicious light shimmering off the sea and bouncing off the clouds, reflecting the changes in the sun as we edge towards winter solstice. After 7 years of spending most of my time in summer or what travel agents refer to as shoulder seasons, I am fondly referring to my current city of choice as Edinburrrrrrr.

Remember my cold water swimming escapades on Iona that I shared earlier this year? I will manage one more cold dip this month, which means I will have been cold water immersing for 6 whole months! I didn’t even know that I wanted to try it before starting my significant retreat and detox process on Iona. I’m still in a bikini with no warm booties, gloves, or wetsuits like many swimmers – just keeping it real and semi mad. Even if my swims are super short -they still count as a cold water blitz of energy and immune-boosting habit!

  This week, I launched my fifth book, and I feel like a kid in a Christmas Santa store, to be honest. It’s some insights, sharing, and tips from living the last 5 years #LocationFree. I also interviewed 16 other souls (between 40 and 60 years of age) living in similar ways to me. It’s a super exciting collection of tips snd stories for anyone who is intrigued about the possibility of downsizing, packing up, and living and working globally.

One of my all-time favourite things to do when I travel is sitting in a café or restaurant on a beach somewhere – from Malaga to San Fran, Cape Town to Skala Eressos. I simply need my laptop and a strong coffee or a fab glass of vino, depending on the time of day. And always water – and usually a kitty somewhere close by. I seem to attract them and consider myself a bit of a cat-whisperer. Did you spot the content kitty on my book cover?

There is an element of pure delight that is elicited when I can look up from my computer and see water – waves, sand, pebbles, sheep munching seaweed (yes 100% on Iona!), people laughing, kids playing, folk squealing in the waves and that heady aroma of sun, sand, sea, and sun-lotion. Or the smell of rain mixed into it more often than not, here in Edinburrrrr.

I find myself in this glorious city for most of winter 2020, exploring somewhere North. I am still officially #LocationFree and will be for the foreseeable future. I was only planning to be location free for one year, to figure out what country I wanted to live in, but it turns out it’s been too much fun, and here I am five years later.

Ooooh, the cafes you will find when not in your hometown. From dingy and downright skanky, to glamorous, elegant, and exotic; to simple family-run salt of the earth to trendy hipster vibes with a gazillion delicious choices; or the simple paired back local café that only serves one type of coffee and eggs – just the way you like them: the smells, the chalkboards, the conversations, and the locals. The cakes and the decadent treats made with love – from the latest LA trend to grandma’s secret pistachio and rose water recipe. A café is always filled with possibility – and is still the first place I seek out to feel like a “local” in a new spot. It’s one of my “settling-in” hacks I share in my book “10 Lessons for Living #locationFree

So I find myself with a big grin on my chops as I own the fact that I am a café writer. It can be a table on a busy cobbled street, a hotel lobby with glorious views of the pool, a tiny spot perched precariously on a hill, or my all-time favourite, seaside café!. Anywhere in the world, this will put always put a smile on my face.

If there is some Latin Salsa or Bachata music drifting out of the speakers even better, offering the quiet promise of a party as day turns to night….that will always make me type faster and get through my workload ready to pop on my salsa shoes and have a whirl on the floor.

I don’t even need earphones, really –in fact, my ears always get sore trying to wear earphones, no matter the brand or style! I usually welcome the buzz around me and find ways to switch off when I need to focus.

I have amassed a few “offices’ around the world that I have stamped my name on. To this day, there is one table at Gialos on Skala Eressos where we run writing retreats, which is known as Kate’s office. Although I didn’t get to work there in 2020, I know it is waiting patiently for me 2021. I am usually sitting at my “desk” by 6 am before the rest of the sleeping Greek village stirs. While the restaurant is still being cleaned and set up for the day – George will even stop his daily prep to bring me a double greek Coffee. Or as we order there – ena diplo hellenico para kalor!

PIC: This one below taken at my “office” Gialos in Skala Eressos when the world cup was on (and my Argentinean partner at the time was in Russia supporting his team) 

It’s always about the views, to be honest. I find vistas open up my creativity and thinking. Sea trumps everything for me – being able to sit outside and feel the sunshine and breeze is high on my list of needs. When not working, I also love to be a fly on the wall, simply watching people. I can make up stories in my head ad Infinitum. Travelling a lot on my own, I also love to smile and then connect, laugh, and chat with total strangers. It’s bizarrely natural for me to make random comments and speak to people I walk past or sit next to. I will always talk to cats and dogs and stop owners for a cuddle of their four-paws if allowed. I guess that’s why I have found it relatively easy to be location free. What’s the point in staying separate and cut off from others– even when communicating from behind a mask nowadays, we can still connect energetically and with a twinkle in our eyes.

  PIC – The awesome Malaga crew where I pulled together a writing group and started my book 10 Lessons for Living #locationFree exactly one year ago!! Note the lovely views right on the sea! 

Wi-Fi is surprisingly not always high on my agenda, as I prefer working offline with fewer distractions when in writing/blogging mode. In fact, I will often choose cafes that do NOT have Wi-Fi – especially if I am running a writing group – as that just distracts everyone.

My challenge to you today is to visit a local café and watch the world unfold around you! Make it an adventure if you haven’t done it for a while. Take your laptop, a great book, or your journal to pen some thoughts. Let me know what you find on your café outing – I’d love to hear what great conversations you engage in or inspired ideas you come up with when sitting with a different view.

A dear friend just sent me this on Whatsapp this morning – so I will do my level best to simply keep on writing from my heart wherever I am. I just have to. What about you?

“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate, and the governor is out of the country, and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.” Alan W Watts

WANT SOME INSPIRATION ABOUT POSSIBILITY? GRAB MY BRAND NEW BOOK  10 Lessons for Living #LocationFree 

Do you wish you had the courage to follow your dream, to quench your wanderlust? To downsize, pack light and explore the world while still working? Do you honestly think others are able do it because they’re younger, richer, are single and have fewer responsibilities, with no kids to tag along?

Wrong. That’s simply not true. This book will show you that it’s possible no matter what your age! Do you really want to play it safe just because you’re no longer in your twenties, waiting on tables as you backpack around the world?

Musings of a Café Writer living #LocationFree was originally published on Kate Emmerson - The Quick Shift Deva

[coldlipsmag]

The story of 90s High Times in London, by Graham Bendel

Graham Bendel is a writer and filmmaker. Like many of us, he’s DJed, been in bands, and stayed out beyond the bedtimes of sanity. And it’s led to some brilliant, inspired work. Having the legend of a close family member who published Nabokov, Burroughs, Trocchi, Beckett, Henry Miller and Valerie Solanas is a good rumour to have floating around you with the dust of dawn, and in this case, brilliantly true. Bendel’s film on the legendary punk lyricist, Vic Godard of Subway Sect is called Derailed Sense, and is a brilliant masterpiece in slamming together a good punk story. Do seek it out. Here, he reflects on the good old days of 90s clubland, and the tunes that marched the sounds of the underground…

But I was looking for something else.

And then… Smashing stumbled drunkenly into my life. Or I into it.

Smashing was a night that took part in West End venues, such as old 60s haunt Bootleggers, The Gaslight, and most infamously, Eve’s Club on Regent St, which was home in-a-way to the Profumo Scandal. The night was run by the stylishly oddball collective of Matthew Glamorre, Martin Green, Adrian Webb and Michael Murphy; and the clientele were straight, gay, bi, drag queens, the odd mod, fashion freaks, popstars, indie kids, punks, divas, beatniks, eternal goths and glorious people who defied categorisation. The music policy was unashamedly retro but anarchic and fresh next to the customary glut of house, hip hop and funk. West End clubbers were in for a surprise – if they got in. Even Prince, as the rumour goes, was refused entry for insisting on a VIP enclosure.

My early memories of Smashing were watching excitable DJ Michael Murphy, after playing Sparks’ Beat The Clock, putting on another record only to see that people weren’t dancing with apt enthusiasm, so he’d take it off, smash it up, throw the broken record at the dancefloor and complain “You’re all cunts!” Not quite Fat Boy Slim. Dancing zealously to The Stooges – in just his underpants? –was also something of an eye-opener.

It’s fair to say that Punk had a fair amount of influence on the proceedings. One time, speaking loosely of anarchy: I lost half my tooth after a feverishly-executed game of Pass The Parcel. Or there was the time when we were all ‘Reborn’ in a bizarre ceremony hosted by flamboyant impresario Matthew Glamorre. And so many other things, half-forgotten, half-remembered.

Smashing was a high-camp, chaotic experience curated by endarkened people very familiar with the best of clubland past: The Batcave, Alice in Wonderland, Taboo, The Blitz; but it was entirely different from any of these. And yes, people did run around the club on speed, and pogo to Shirley Bassey records and throw incredible attention-seeking but unselfconscious shapes to Bowie /Moog records /X-Ray Spex, or a live performance from, say, Jayne County. Leigh Bowery – dressed as some kind of nocturnal Michelin Man – tripped the light fantastic next to Jarvis Cocker or Courtney Love; and women, unpestered by the usual club types, would be scantily clad and proudly so by the end or beginning of the night. It was decadent, bohemian, and extremely silly. No one was too cool to join the Conga (around the club or into the street) or high-kick it to the Bugsy Malone soundtrack. Martin Green, by the way, was probably one of the most influential DJs of the 90s, in my humble opinion, rating alongside more recognised pioneers such as Andrew Weatherall, Harvey or Gilles Peterson.

When he came on, your ears would be blessed with weird 60s film scores, Moog records, funky tracks off forgotten/unknown rock LPs, easy listening anthems, Roxy, Millie Jackson and punk rock. His selection was eclectic, funky and insanely lateral – in a time before the internet, general open-mindedness and random playlists.

There were other clubs too, and many of The Smashing regulars would frequent them. The weekend drill was this: Friday was Smashing (at Eve’s Club) and Saturday would be either Blow Up at the Laurel Tree pub in Camden, or maybe Magick at Wildes in Chinatown. You’d usually try and turn up to all three of them,

Blow Up was run by Paul Tunkin and featured himself, Ian Jackson and Andy Lewis(now Paul Weller’s bassist) on the decks upstairs, and often, in the midst of the jumping up down to The Who, Wire or bouncing around to a Northern soul gem – it felt like the ceiling would collapse, as it seemed to bend to the pressure of all those stomping feet. Downstairs were the Karminsky Experience who’d supply all the lounge, kitsch and exultant grooviness: Quincy Jones, Mancini, Big Jim Sullivan or maybe just some killer soul 45 no one had ever heard of. And Blur’s Graham Coxon could be found on the floor, by the bar, drunkenly writhing amongst attendees.

Magick was run by Adil and Saul, and was funkier, dirtier and rockier than Smashing or Blow Up – and on a good night, was the best club you’d EVER been to. Wildcat Will (from The Sandals/Tongue Kung Fu), Smashing’s Martin Green, Chris Sullivan, Paulo Hewitt and my good self would often guest. Music policy was anything goes: but Hendrix, Serge Gainsbourg, funk and Rare Earth were the essential, catalytic ingredients. And it was always crowded, cramped and stifling, but in a good way. Even Keanu Reeves had to queue.

Memories of that night are aptly quite hazy, though one thing always tickled me. There was a story, perhaps apocryphal, about an attractive lady who, mid-dance, suddenly but subtly ‘unloaded one’ onto the dancefloor. Not so much a gesture of criticism, I’m told, but most probably, a from-the-gut, spontaneous compliment – though I’m sure a “isn’t this a great night!” would have sufficed. But that’s drugs for you. Speaking of which, I did actually see Robert Downey and David Thewlis – not to be outdone by Coxon at Blow Up – both crashed out on the floor. And there was nudity, fights, and varying degrees of fear and loathing in the nights to follow.  [Editor of Cold Lips, Kirsty Allison, graced the decks at Smashing, one blurry, blurry teenage night…]

So there you have it, the 90s – yet another decade where you could let your hair down, your trousers down, and ultimately your self down.

…

This is a version of ‘Hightimes in the Nineties’, an article by Graham Bendel published exclusively in the sold out Cold Lips II. Support the ongoing work of Cold Lips by getting a copy now from our online store.

[wallpaperpainter]

9 Reasons Why People Like Rdp Service | rdp service

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned schools about an admission in ransomware attacks during the pandemic, with attackers base Alien Desktop Protocol (RDP) admission that acquiesce academy advisers to log in to commune servers remotely.

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While the FBI’s active is awkward in its own right, it’s not the affair that keeps K-12 cyber aegis able Doug Levin up at night.

Levin, a above administrator of the State Educational Technology Directors Association who now active the consulting close EdTech Strategies, is added anxious about what happens back millions of accessories that accept been removed from the aegis of academy commune firewalls for bristles months are reconnected to commune networks in August.

“Unless students, teachers, and administrators are IT experts, it’s not out of the branch of achievability that they accept had malware alien to their device,” Levin says. “We accept apparent a fasten in the cardinal of COVID-related phishing scams, and malware can be alien through the sites that users accept visited, the links they accept clicked on, or the actual they’ve downloaded — and additionally through home routers that aren’t actual secure. If you got your router from Best Buy or the cable company, you ability not accept afflicted the settings on it. Bad guys apperceive that, and they attending for accessories they can compromise.”

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He adds: “What I anguish about is that back all those accessories are reintroduced to academy commune networks, they’ll canyon forth malware or ransomware.”

Remote learning’s IT aegis challenges

The abrupt about-face to alien acquirements this accomplished bounce brought abounding challenges, including how to accumulate accessories and networks secure.

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While K-12 leaders grappled with actual priorities such as how to bear high-quality apprenticeship remotely, how to ability and appoint every apprentice online, and how to acknowledgment stakeholders’ abstruse questions, it would accept been accessible for leaders to discount cyber aegis — or at atomic not accord this affair the abounding absorption it deserved.

Learning and alive accidentally raises a few altered cyber aegis challenges, Levin says, depending on how a academy arrangement has set up its IT infrastructure. “A lot of this depends on what accoutrement schools were application and how able they were to go absolutely virtual,” he explains.

If academy and commune cadre accept been logging in from home to applications hosted locally on academy commune servers, those admission charge to be defended so that hackers can’t accretion admission into commune networks. “In the best of circumstances, schools accept deployed basic clandestine networks [VPNs] to assure these admission and ensure that alone accustomed users could admission bounded servers,” Levin says.

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School advisers application RDP admission to log in to bounded commune servers from home is the book the FBI warned about in June. The bureau empiric that “cyber actors are acceptable to admission targeting of K-12 schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, because they represent an adept ambition as added of these institutions alteration to ambit learning,” ZDNet reports.

A growing cardinal of academy systems are application cloud-based applications instead of hosting software on bounded servers. In these cases, acceptance and advisers accept been accessing software anon from the billow instead of logging in to commune servers. “In general, their aegis aspect charcoal abundantly unchanged,” Levin says.

However, in the blitz to axis to alien acquirements about overnight, abounding schools and alone agents “have called to use new apps and casework they accept not absolutely activated or vetted,” he says. These cloud-based apps and casework ability not be actual defended and may be affected to breaches.

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KUHN: FLUKY BOUNCES AID IN SWAMP RABBITS' WIN OVER JACKSONVILLE

Greenville's puck pressure leads to first win of the week BY: Jordan Kuhn, Greenville Swamp Rabbits BOXSCORE GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Greenville Swamp Rabbits received a fair amount of puck luck in the third period, and turned a 1-0 deficit into a lead that turned into a 5-3 win over the Jacksonville Icemen on Saturday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Matt Marcinew posted four points, Ryan Bednard made 25 saves and the penalty kill continued to hold strong on both of the Icemen's power play opportunities. Marcinew converted 1:13 into the third period after a dump-in that went very wrong for Jacksonville. The puck ricocheted off the end wall and came right out in front for a tap in. While Jacksonville responded just 30 seconds later on a fluky goal of their own, a left wing shot from Brendan Warren, Greenville did not relent. Marcinew scored his second of the night on another strange bounce. Liam Pecararo's high rising shot from the high slot glanced off the high glass, and after a bounce off of Outhouse, Marcinew finished it off with a tap in at the side of the goal. Kamerin Nault completed the third period of errors with an empty net goal off of a Jacksonville defender to add the insurance tally. Down 1-0 throughout the entirety of the first period, and into the midway point of the second period, the Swamp Rabbits finally struck. On the power play, after a failed clear by Jacksonville, Adam Rockwood held the offensive zone, and on a one-timer from Marcinew, Jacksonville goaltender Griffen Outhouse appeared to have the puck covered, but Jacob Pritchard bashed home the loose puck to tie the game. Three minutes later, Greenville took a lead they would not relinquish. A shot from Brett Beauvais was heading wide of the net, and after a misplay by Outhouse, Pecararo pounced on the loose puck and found the open four-by-six to get the 2-1 lead. Chase Lang got the scoring started for Jacksonville at the 1:50 mark of the first period on a rebound. Mitch Jones completed Jacksonville's scoring on a slap shot from Mitch Jones. Greenville's puck pressure gave them 45 shots on goal, including a blitz of 19 in the opening period, which they were unable to score. The Swamp Rabbits complete their busy week in Atlanta to take on the Gladiators on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Catch the action on the Swamp Rabbits Broadcast Network, or watch on ECHL.TV. Get Social: Follow the Swamp Rabbits and get behind-the-scenes coverage like never before on the team’s official Facebook and Twitter pages! Contact a Swamp Rabbits Account Executive at 864.674.PUCK (7825) for information on 2019–20 ticket plans, special group rates and hospitality opportunities and secure your seats today! Get the latest Swamp Rabbits gear by visiting the “Hop Shop” online at Shop.SwampRabbits.com to browse the full collection of fan wear and novelties! Read the full article

[theeroticbookreview]

Release Blitz: Mother Trucker by Aria Cole

Amazon 

  Rocco O’Riley lives the life of a hermit. Alone on a secluded island, he outfits custom big rigs and shares his work with the world streaming to millions online. He never thought the new visibility would bring him fame and wealth, but with no one to share it with, the days in his workshop are long and empty, his success hollow until one night when a violent storm leaves a woman washed up and helpless, stranded alone with him on his little island. When Primrose Weatherford found herself abandoned on the side of a flooded road, she never thought a rugged stranger would be her saving grace and the sexiest thorn in her side at the same time. The owner of O’Riley’s Big Rig Rehab is burly, brooding, and not used to making polite conversation with pretty women. Especially ones that make him want to hand over his heart and love her for the rest of his forever. But can Prim handle all that Rocco's offering, or will this reclusive beast in a trucker hat run her off once and for all? Warning: The size of Rocco’s big rig is eclipsed only by his huge alpha heart. His rough-around-the-edges life softens when sweet Prim enters it, upending his carefully cultivated existence in a storm of epic proportions. Buckle up, dangerous curves ahead!  

“Isn’t there a rule about wearing white on rainy days?” The timbre of his voice tingled like sparks against my skin. “This one took me by surprise,” I whispered, tucking soaking-wet locks behind my ear. “You and me both.” I narrowed my eyes, sensitive nerves pricking in places they hadn’t since, well, pretty much…ever. I felt his gaze crawl over me, the thin white cotton of my button-down shirt obviously see-through by now. I gulped. He backed away, adjusting the angle of his worn trucker’s hat. Another crack of lightning lit the sky as I practically drooled over the startlingly golden-bronze shade of his skin, damp with rivulets of rainwater. The thundering in the distance was matched only by the thundering of my heart in my ear drums. Could he hear it? God, I hoped not. “My car stalled,” I finally blurted. “You mean that golf cart you got there?” He assessed my trusty little blue demon behind me. “That thing brings a lot of words to mind, but car isn’t one of them. Piece of shit maybe, but not car.” He moved up the short driveway, slapping at the rusted tailgate of a vintage Ford pickup. “And what do you call this?” I hollered at his back, rain still sliding down in determined drops, soaking into my bra and pebbling my nipples. Or was it him, all strong and manly looking? I hated it, either way. I vowed to banish all of the white shirts in my closet the minute I arrived home. “This”—he smacked the truck—“is my baby.” He reached the door of the garage, eyes on me again. “If that old thing impresses you, you should see my big rig.” My mouth shot open, embarrassment burning my cheeks as I thought I very well should turn around and stomp away, but I had no car and my phone battery was long dead. The sixty-minute drive home from work every day was a killer in the best of times, impossible on the worst days, apparently like this one. “I’m not sure what’s worse: enduring this storm or your corny jokes.” His chiseled features shot into an amused half grin that caused my heart to riot in my chest. “You’d be wrong to assume you’ll be the only one suffering.” His eyes made a point of coasting up and down my drenched form before he huffed and pushed off the doorjamb and descended into the darkness of the garage, door closing behind him. I frowned, missing his presence in a way I wasn’t altogether comfortable with. “Mother trucker.” I pushed through the door he’d just disappeared behind, surprised when blinding white light blasted my eyes. Shiny chrome toolboxes towering over raw pine workbenches worn soft with years of use surrounded me. “This is the cleanest garage I’ve ever seen.” I brushed my fingers along one pale workbench. “This isn’t my real shop, just the one I use for filming.” “Filming?” I raised an eyebrow. “Got a local cable show I don’t know about?” “More like half a billion followers streaming online.” He slung one heavy, denim-clad thigh over the nearest Harley, settling himself soundly as if he was made to be there. The broad stretch of his shoulders caught my attention. I fully appreciated the way his broad body swallowed up the space, so much so that the big bike looked small in comparison. A thrill of desire shot through me, blood hammering through my veins to a pounding rhythm. My mouth was suddenly dry, pain cracking my throat as cartwheels bounced around my diaphragm. Mother trucker. “Gotta confess, sweetheart, you’ve had me pegged. I’m a Harley man at heart, but my specialty is trucks. Leno called me in to rehab a classic Ford, and the LA Times did a piece. It’s been a circus since.” I gulped, taking in his words, still stumbling at how downright hot he made me under the engine. I cracked a smile at my own pun, suddenly wondering why the hell I’d found myself at this garage during this storm. Served me right for taking a new way home from work, but flooding had already caused a backup on the bridge out of town, so I’d thought it might be worth my time to take the scenic route home. Well, now the bridge on the edge of town was washed out, and I was stuck on a tiny strip of land that separated the river from the ocean. The only establishment on the island? This one. Luckily, from the outside it’d been well-lit, and with the promise of a power cord and a wrecker calling, I’d been fighting with my purse and about to knock on the door of his garage when he’d caught me outside in the downpour. “This place is pretty incredible.” “Thanks.” His gaze followed me shrewdly as I wandered the edge of the garage, between the motorcycles, modern and vintage, finally catching sight of myself in a full-length mirror in the corner. “Oh shit.” I crossed my arms over my shirt, horrified that I’d been so stunned by the perfection of this place that I’d forgotten I’d worn white and was soaked through. “Why didn’t you say anything?” “Can’t blame a guy for enjoying the view while it lasts.” I huffed, pulling down a coat that hung from a rack beside the mirror. I shrugged it on, folds of black leather swallowing me like a warm hug, the scent of what I imagined was him enveloping me, seeping deep into my bones and melting them like warm butter. Prickles of desire spun up through my nerves, and I did my best to tamp them down. “Do you have a charger?” I suddenly remembered my phone, pulling it from its place in my bag. He was at my side a moment later, lazy grin holding me captivated until I was stupid. “You look good wrapped up in my favorite jacket.” He winked once before spinning on a boot and leaving me all by myself, his scent clinging to me. “Coming, sweetheart?” he threw from across the room, big shoulder resting on the door frame. “Name’s not sweetheart.” I followed, dragging my feet because I knew…I just knew that whoever he was, this wouldn't end well. There was no way. I’d had my fair share of run-ins with arrogant, gorgeous men like him. I’d learned to steer clear. “What else should I call the lost little puppy that’s landed itself on my doorstep?” I bristled at his words, the feminist brewing inside me dampened by his overt and rogue sexuality. This son of a bitch was intoxicating. I met him chest to chest, hovering a moment. “Call me Primrose Weatherford.” His eyes grew ride, mouth popping open to respond before I moved without thinking and pushed past him and straight into his house, walking in like I belonged there, when really I felt for my own sanity that I should be running out. “Prim, huh?” he sang from behind me. “Not even a little bit surprised.”  

    Aria Cole is a thirty-something housewife who once felt bad for reading dirty books late at night, until she decided to write her own. Possessive alpha men and the sassy heroines who love them are common, along with a healthy dose of irresistible insta-love and happily ever afters so sweet your teeth may ache.For a safe, off-the-charts HOT, and always HEA story that doesn't take a lifetime to read, get lost in an Aria Cole book! Follow Aria on Amazon for new release updates, or stalk her on Facebook and Twitter to see which daring book boyfriend she's writing next! Sign up to get a NEW RELEASE ALERT from me! http://eepurl.com/ccGnRX Twitter - Facebook - Goodreads - Instagram - Amazon    

Read the full article

[alexllove-blog]

Day 1

Kick-start your day at Nanyang Old Coffee in Chinatown with a traditional Singapore breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, toast slathered in kaya (coconut jam) and a cup of kopi (local coffee). Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, this café serves toothsome cuppas made with beans roasted in a little sugar and butter.

A toast and kopi set at Nanyang Old Coffee

Once you’ve fuelled up, take your time exploring some of the area’s historic religious sites. Sri Mariamman Temple, built in 1827 and noted for its colourful tower of deities, is the island’s oldest Hindu temple, while the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum houses sacred Buddhist heirlooms. The rooftop garden also makes a serene spot to relax in.

Visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and museum in Tanjong Pagar

Before lunch, dive into local literary culture at The Moon, a bookstore and café where at least half of the selection comes from female authors. Littered with Books, located in a beautiful Chinese shophouse, is another indie bookshop where author Noelle Q de Jesus will discuss the intersections of literature and tennis on 15 June.

The Moon serves Haldi Doodh, a golden turmeric milk

Meander over to Esquina, where you can take advantage of the well-priced lunches created by head chef Carlos Montobbio, who works culinary magic with his take on contemporary Spanish cuisine. Near the entrance, the many signatures on the white column from decorated chefs who’ve dined here testify to the restaurant’s enduring prestige.

Ultra Singapore takes place at Ultra Park, right across Marina Bay Sands

Running all afternoon until late on 8 and 9 June, Ultra Singapore is the republic’s biggest annual electronic dance music (EDM) bash. This year’s headliners include such electro heavy-hitters as Martin Garrix, Skrillex and Josh Wink. Those looking for something a little bit more downtempo can head to arts enclave Gillman Barracks from 28 to 30 June for the Singapore Art Book Fair, a homage to all things print.

The Last Caffè at Pasta Bar

If you’re not busy dancing the night away at Ultra Singapore, head back to Chinatown for dinner and drinks. Choose from 11 delicious signature handmade Italian pasta dishes at newly opened Pasta Bar on Keong Saik Road or, alternatively, indulge in succulent modern Asian dishes such as truffle duck fried rice and Singapore chilli soft-shell crab at funky eatery Xiao Ya Tou.

Wrap up the evening with a few pints from craft beer hawkers Smith Street Taps, which just reopened following Chinatown Complex’s three month closure for renovations.

Day 2

Tuck into brunch at Wakey Wakey, where standout dishes include buttermilk waffles with maple syrup and fresh fruits and an assortment of grain bowls. Next, follow the sound of thundering drums downtown to the DBS Marina Regatta, where from 1 to 2 June the annual dragon boating festival takes over the bay area with food, family-friendly festivities and, of course, teams of rowers competing in long boats mounted with dragon heads.

Enjoy a hearty brunch at Wakey Wakey before heading out into the city

From here, grab a taxi to Orchard Road and shop ’til you drop during GSS: Experience Singapore. Starting 21 June, this revamped five-week retail blitz replaces the Great Singapore Sale with a stronger focus on local brands and designers. Expect deep discounts at some of the stretch’s coolest boutiques.

Guests enjoy a highly personalised experience at the omakase dining room at Fat Cow

Take a lunch break at Fat Cow, a Japanese wagyu specialist surreptitiously located in Camden Medical Centre. The signature wagyu sandwich (S$88) usually sells out, but recent “mini donburi” menu additions such as histumabushi (eel) and seared salmon prove this local favourite is no one-trick pony.

Pop Art & Bubbles’ Joochiat Shophouses in Red (Photo credit: Linda Preece Photography)

Sated, take a short walk over to Royal Plaza on Scotts to check out “Pop Art & Bubbles”, an exhibition from Australian artist Linda Preece showcasing landmarks like the Merlion splashed in bright, vibrant colours (until 12 June).

The Paris Opera Ballet (Photo credit: Julien Benhamou)

Then, take a break at your hotel and get tickets online to one of two special dance performances later tonight. First, the three-time Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir leads INALA – A Zulu Ballet from 19 to 22 June at the Sands Theatre, while the Paris Opera Ballet performs works from three celebrated choreographers at the Esplanade Theatre from 21 to 23 June. If you’re not in town during those dates, check showtimes at The Projector, a beloved indie cinema that breathed new life into Golden Mile Tower’s previously defunct screening rooms.

For dinner, grab a table at Frieda. Located at the Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore, it focuses on modern German and Austrian fare served in a laidback environment. Try the salad with goat cheese; classic weiner schnitzel; or beef consomme with semolina dumplings.

Madam Fan Bar specialises in innovative cocktail creations

Finish the night off by popping over to the intimate Madame Fan Bar, where award-winning mixologist Davide Boncimino plays with ingredients that he freezes, cooks and even bakes himself in the adjacent Cantonese restaurant’s kitchen.

Day 3

Have an early breakfast at your hotel, and make sure to pack your swimsuit before you hop in a taxi to Kent Ridge Park for a morning hike along the peaceful Southern Ridges. Going east on well-marked pathways, you’ll pass a World War II battlefield, zigzag through secondary rainforest on an elevated platform and walk the Henderson Waves, which at 36 metres is Singapore’s highest pedestrian bridge.

Move among the treetops as you hike the Southern Ridges

Stop at Mount Faber Park and refuel with a casual lunch and panoramic views at Arbora, where dishes include slow-cooked pork ribs with Mexican spices and sweet pickled vegetables; as well as a hearty Fisherman’s Stew made with lobster, scallops, squid and abalone.

Then zip into Sentosa by cable car for an afternoon at the beach. The island has three – Palawan is best for families, Siloso caters to thrill-seekers and Tanjong is good for adults thanks to its eponymous beach club. Once you’ve soaked up the sun, learn about Sentosa’s colonial history on a heritage bus tour, offered all month as part of Singapore’s bicentennial celebrations.

Dine with a view at Arbora

Consistently voted the world’s best airport, Changi Airport seems unlikely to relinquish the honour anytime soon thanks to the arrival of Jewel, its sparkling new mixed-use attraction that’s full of surprises. Plan to spend at least a few hours here – there are more than 250 shops and dining venues to explore; hedge and mirror mazes; the misting Foggy Bowls and interactive slide sculptures; and the Shiseido Forest Valley, with hiking trails, bouncing nets and the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.

Shiseido Forest Valley at Jewel

End your day at East Coast Park with a sunset stroll along the water and dinner at East Coast Lagoon Food Village, Singapore’s only beachside hawker centre. Aside from its scenic setting, this food haven gets high marks for its ranks of accomplished hawkers. Try the sambal stingray at Stingray Forever, char kway teow (fried flat rice noodles) at Choon Hiang or fish-head curry at Eastern Red Seafood, plus black sesame paste or pomelo mango sago at Zhen Jie Traditional Homemade Dessert.

SEE ALSO: What to eat, see and do at Jewel Changi Airport

This article was originally published in the June 2019 issue of SilverKris magazine

The post 3 days in Singapore: The June 2019 edition appeared first on SilverKris.

[thefaeriereview]

Blitz: Blood and Sand

https://ift.tt/324MBN5

  General Fiction (cozy small town fiction)

Date Published: August, 2019

Publisher: Pen & Key Publishing

    A tiny town. A broken tavern. And one woman searching for a place to belong.

Logan Cole is used to getting her way and what she wants more than anything is for her father to get out of jail and restore her old life in New York. All she has to do is wait for his scandals to fade and the online rancor against her family to subside. Low on cash and out of options, she takes a bus north looking for anonymity and stops in the smallest town she can find: Ramsbolt, Maine.

When she stumbles into Helen’s Tavern, she finds a place in need of a make-over and a grandmotherly woman who could use some help. Soon, she finds herself growing fond of the bar, Helen, and the town. She’s even found a friend in Grey, the local plumber. The tiny town puts her at a crossroads: keep hiding her identity to preserve her new reputation or let down her guard and reveal her true self to the people she’s grown to love. But the choice is ripped from her hands when tragedy strikes the bar and saving it requires every tool at her disposal.

Can Logan find a true home among the people of Ramsbolt Maine?

The Collected Stories of Ramsbolt is a series by Jennifer M. Lane, award-winning author Of Metal and Earth and Stick Figures from Ramsbolt. Fresh and heart-warming, the series tells the stories of a small town looking for belonging.

Excerpt

Chapter One

  Logan Cole had never been on a bus in her life. As she stretched her legs and stumbled onto the sidewalk at the tip of Maine, she cursed the eight hour learning experience and swore never to do it again.

The last stop before the border was less like a terminal and more like a dead end. No benches, no depot, no ticketing window. And no taxis. Just a little yellow house with leaning porch surrounded by scruffy blueberry shrubs. At least it wasn’t sweltering out.

She yanked her black Rimowa suitcase, one of the few things the FBI let her keep, from the bottom of the bus. She gave the driver a wry smile and thanked him for the trip. It wasn’t his fault a woman coughed and crinkled candy wrappers the whole way, and that guy with his earbuds in behind her never learned to sing.

“Six hundred miles better be far enough.” She mumbled to herself as she dragged the suitcase down the sidewalk, fumbling for her phone in her purse. It was a habit she still hadn’t broken, opening apps to fill a void, but she’d deleted Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of them when the threats started pouring in. Eight months, four court cases, a thousand stories in the news, and she still hadn’t gotten used to being without social media. Being disconnected was better than scrolling through contempt, though.

“Battery’s almost dead. Map won’t load. Damn it.” She walked back the way she’d come, past quaint little houses and blueberry bushes, back to the bar she’d seen a mile or so before. It was across from a cheap motel with moldy siding and mildewed plastic chairs. The bar itself was windowless and brick. Definitely not the kind of place where someone would look for one of the wealthiest people in the country. Or someone who used to be.

She paused at an intersection and started a text to her mom, a quick note to say she was far from the gossip and rumors, safe from tabloid headlines squawking about a Cole Curse, and nowhere near the internet trolls who flooded her notifications with threats, saying they knew where to find her and what they would do to her when they did. All because of her father.

She waited among the cigarette butts and rusted beer caps while her text bounced its way to France.

Delivered. Three dots appeared. Her mother’s reply came slow.

Good luck. Lay low. I'll send money if I can. Try to blend in.

Logan sent back a smiley face and a greeting for her aunt and uncle.

Letting her phone fall back in her purse, she swallowed hard and tugged hem of her T-shirt down over her jeans. Her heart pounded so loud she wouldn’t be able to hear traffic if there’d been any. But the intersection was dead. The only other animate object in that town was the little orange hand blinking on the stop light, telling her not to walk.

The light changed and a little white man blinked, urging her to cross the street before it was too late. By the look of the town nothing was urgent. The only signs of life were two cars in the bar’s parking lot. They could be abandoned for all she knew.

A countdown timer marked off the seconds. Eleven. Ten.

Left to the motel. Straight to the bar. Neither option looked all that inviting.

For the first time since she left New York, rage, hot as the surface of the sun, boiled within her. She was supposed to be in an air conditioned office somewhere, running a foundation. Sipping a latte that came from cart. Logan kicked a beer cap into the street, and it skittered into a pothole.

Five. Four.

The little man on the pedestrian signal had his whole life together. He had purpose and goals and a job. He had an identity, and everyone knew who he was. Logan had all of that until her father screwed up, and the government charged him with money laundering and took it all away. All she had left were some comfy pants shoved in a suitcase and a cell phone plan she couldn’t afford. She squeezed the handle of her suitcase so tight her knuckles turned white.

Two. One.

The Do Not Walk signal blinked, and she crossed the street defiant.

The sidewalk rippled. Uneven slabs of concrete were mere islands, broken by the freeze and thaw of ice, lost in a sea of weeds and road dirt. She faced the bar.

When she opened that door, she would find herself in a whole new world. There would be questions. What was her name? Where did she come from? Maybe they would recognize her right away from the newspapers, the tabloids, Twitter. She wasn’t prepared for any of it, and she never would be. She didn’t even know how to fill out a job application. What was she supposed to say? I’m a Yale graduate with a degree in Art History, the daughter of a felon, and I’ve come to scrub your bathroom?

The sun would set in a few hours, and that motel did not look hospitable. The keys to a job and a cheap apartment were somewhere in that bar.

Taking in a shaky breath of Maine air, she held it in until her lungs soaked it up, then let out a steady stream of all she had left.

“Get in there and prove your mother wrong. You are still a Cole and Coles do not give up. We don’t stand on the sidewalk and talk to ourselves, either.”

Her whole future lay ahead of her. She just had to get by until her dad set it right. Shoulders back, head up, she opened

About the Author

A Maryland native and Pennsylvanian at heart, Jennifer M. Lane holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Barton College and a master's in liberal arts with a focus on museum studies from the University of Delaware, where she wrote her thesis on the material culture of roadside memorials. She is the author of the award-winning novel Of Metal and Earth, of Stick Figures from Rockport, and the series of stand-alone novels from The Collected Stories of Ramsbolt, including Blood and Sand. Visit her website at https: //https://ift.tt/2CDNy6o

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