#Flowers in Pittsburg

[annieqattheperipheral]

if ovi's gretzky record beating goal comes from scoring on flower-- goalie he's scored on the most-- magic is def real

fyi:

Jan 2, 2025: wild @ caps

Mar 27, 2025: caps @ wild

[lee-annwrites1]

For Me?

quinn hughes x female oc

part one, Quinn?

notes-

small intro, i plan to dabble in this since my last one was too confusing and time consuming.

—

JUNE 22ND, 2018 - Vivienne

My heart raced as I caught sight of the old house on the lake. I haven’t been in years, yet the excitement I’d always gotten as a child only grows. The scent of pine and the sound of distant birds seem to piece together the fragments of my childhood I thought I’d forgotten.

Stepping out of the car, I hear the distant shouting and laughter of my childhood friends. I wonder whether a reunion between us will be as effortless as it once had, or will time make its own complicated story.

The floorboards creek as I step inside, the stale smell of untouched wood fills my nose, making me sneeze. “Vivienne!” Mom calls from outside, and I peer my head out the front door.

“Yes?” I question, catching sight of her kneeling in front of the small and clearly dead flower boxes placed on both sides of the steps.

“Be a dear a grab me some water for these?” She asks, and I nod my head. Water likely won’t help their decaying state, but I’ll let her try.

The glass’s are dusty, and the sink spurts when I turn it on. A clear indicator no one’s been here for a while.

I step back outside, feeling the heat of the once hidden sun that now shines brightly in the mid day sky.

“Thank you Vivy.” She smiles gratefully at me as I return the favour. I retreat to the house, immediately searching for my room.

Down the hallway on a left turn, a room with tall and wide windows stays. I drop my bags beside the double bed, and approach the windows. The house stands atop a slight hill from the water, where narrow wooden stairs cascade down toward the dock. Trees scatter along the walk, and a large deck can be seen from the corner of my window to the left outside the kitchen.

I smile, remembering all the nights I’d spend with my friends from back home in Pittsburg, counting stars from the window. We lied about how many shooting ones we’d see, just to impress each other. The thought makes me nostalgic.

—

I sink deeper into the freshly cleaned patio chair, before reaching for my class of lemonade. Hours passed as we cleaned, though we are no where close to being finished. The thought makes my head spin.

“Is it just how you remeber?” She asks, referencing the now pink sky that cascades over top of the lake.

“Better I think.” I mutter, still impressed by the view. Pittsburg could never compete with this.

She grins, then takes a sip of lemonade. Her frail fingers clutch the glass closely, her shaky hands provide no statue of help.

I hear a knock on the front door. “I’ll get it.” I say, patting her gently on the shoulder as I navigate my way to the front door.

I try to make out the face on the other side of the frosted window, but fail. I twist the knob, opening the door.

“Hi.” I smile out, unsure of what to say. Jack smiles with a flash of teeth, holding his hands together politely.

He speaks up, “My mom sent me here to ask if you wanted to join us for dinner tonight?” His confidence only grew since last we’d seen each other. Which comes as no surprise to me.

I laugh at the awkwardness, a trait of mine that I despise. I clear my throat, “We’ll be there.”

He nods and turns away without a word, skipping down the front porch steps. I hold the door and watch him walk toward the path in the trees we’d created all those years ago.

I shut it and return to the deck, unable to hide my grin. “Who was it?” Mom questions, glancing at me.

“Jack,” I reply quickly, taking a seat. “He invited us for dinner at theirs tonight.”

She snickers, “Ellen sent him?”

“It was obvious.” I chuckle back.

—

My clothes feel tight against my skin, bearing the weight of seemingly constant nerves. Mom doesn’t spiel as she habitually does, rather, she keeps a quiet demeanour. There’s plenty to say, just no need to say it.

My interaction with Jack replays numerous times on the short distance to the Hughes home. Was he as nervous as I am right now? Presumably not, knowing him.

Mom’s grip on the wine bottle she carries increases. I’m not the only one with unsettling nerves.

I’d always been in awe of my own home on the lake, but nothing compares to the Hughes. It’s stunning, nearly every time I catch a glimpse. Its exterior is coated in a dark hazel stain, emphasizing the grain of the wood siding.

The front door stands out with a forest green colour, which coordinates with the window trim. The deck lines the right side, turning to the back for a breathtaking view of the lake. The left of the house is a grassy yard, filled of childhood memories of football.

Mom knocks on the front door three times, causing a rush commotion through the door. Ellen opens it in a heartbeat. “My girls!” She smiles sweetly, wrapping my mother then me into a hug.

“How have you been?” Mom asks, following Ellen inside. I glance around the room, tuning out their conversation. The living room stays the same on my left, stairs on my right. The kitchen is at the end of the open room, with a deck similar to my own.

Ellen shifts her gaze to me, “Your so beautiful dear, just like your mother.” She compliments with a hand pressed against my cheek.

“Thank you.” I smile, unknowing how to respond.

“I know it’s been a while, but the boys are downstairs if you’d like to say hi.” She suggests with a. raised brow, and I nod in response, eager to escape.

I lead myself to the stairs as quiet as possible, incase the boys notice me before I do them. I turn the corner to catch sight of three boys standing around a pool table, their backs turned to face away from me.

They argue with thrown hands, aggressively pointing out different plays. Jack seems to be the most heated, his face contorted into a aggravated mess.

“What are you on?! Go left pocket and hit off the side.” I recognize Jacks voice from earlier, I watch his hands talk with him.

“Too risky.” A slightly deeper voice says, who stands in the middle.

“No risk no reward, just do it Quinn.”

Quinn.

“Viv?”

—

Part two here

[delilaahh9]

Fictober Day 6! 🤎

Pies! - Rutger McGroarty

October 13th, 2024

5:18 pm

To Rutger, having a Canadian girlfriend was no different than an American girlfriend, until September last. October was all fall, Halloween and.. thanksgiving which he wasn’t used to being so early in the autumn season, which meant he ate 3 big meals about 2-4 times every month for 3 months.

She had been baking all afternoon for their dinner at her grandparents, y/ns parents were supposed to fly in to Pittsburg last night but the flight got cancelled, so it’s just rut and y/n and her grandparents who moved to Pittsburg after living in Toronto for 10 years, which y/n loved since now that she moved with rut, she gets to see them more often.

There was so many ingredients stocked in the house, Rutger couldn’t tell what was for thanksgiving and what wasn’t, so when he cut up an Apple and put it on a plate with some peanut butter, he wasn’t expect his girlfriend to seem so frustrated.

“Rut those were for the pies!” She groans and puts her head in her hands on the counter.

“Babe, it’s 1 apple, I’m sure it’s fine”

“I’ve never made it with just 4 apples what if it turns out weird” Worry began to settle in her, something she’s always done is want to impress her family and she looked to baking for this, and succeeded since now she gets signed up to bake things for all family events.

“Baby. Your family loves all the things you bake, one apple won’t make a difference, but if it makes you feel better I will go to the market and buy you one apple to make you happy”

“No don’t do that, just make some soup or something for dinner since your hungry”

“sounds like a plan, tomato or chicken?”

“You know the answer to that” she whispers to him and he smiles while placing a kiss on her head. “Chicken it is”

He spent the rest of the evening helping her bake for the dinner tomorrow and asked around a million questions about her family.

“Your grandmas isn’t allergic to flowers right-”

“Rut” she sighs and turns to him, making him freeze with the scrub brush in his hand.

“My family is going to love you, I don’t want you to stress over it ok? You know so many things about them just by me telling and you remembered that’s amazing. I love you so they’ll love you I promise”

He smiles back at her and continues to do the dishes while she finishes packaging up the food.

[andreabaideas]

In a DJATS secret Santa,who would get whom,and what would they get each other?

Well , good and very funny question!

Secret Santa :

Rod gets : Daisy. He gets her an (very needed) alarm clock ⏰. Reaction : She laughs and keeps It. She really likes It... It keeps being ignored half of the times though, as Daisy comes late half the times, less times than she did before,so Its a good progression XD.

Daisy gets : Bernie.

She gets her a homemade collage made with the borrowed (stolen) photo album of Simone as a kid, then copies It , gives the álbum back, and with those copies in color, she makes a cute glittery sparkly collage, mainly for the lolz, secretly to include her in her personal family.

R: she adores It, and Its stands proudly in one of her House walls, much to Simone's embarrassment and Daisy's delight.

Bernie gets : Karen.

She gets her a black leather jacket and a black velvety choker necklace .

R: she likes them a lot.

Karen gets : Simone. She buys her a book of black feminist inspiring women.

R: she likes It.

Simone gets : Graham. She knits him a scarf with little guitars. (because she doesnt know what to gift him).

R: He fucking loves it.

Graham gets : Teddy. He gets him a whisky bottle.

R: He IS delighted.

Teddy gets : Camila. He gets her a flower bouquet because he doesn't really know her, (and he doesnt really care tbh)...To make It better he also gets a pink Teddy bear for Julia. R: she likes It but IS slightly dissapointed. Julia Its very happy.

Camila gets : Lisa. She gets her a candid artsy photo she made of Lisa in the studio while visiting Warren. R: Lisa thanks her and seems very happy, she likes the photo, but secretly she finds It boring. She like fun gifts not sentimental ones.

Lisa gets : Warren. She buys Victoria's secret underwear for herself and just gives him the empty bag. R: He IS the happiest of them all with the implications.

Warren gets : Eddie. He gets him a yoga book so he can relax for fun. Also an anti stress ball. R: He scoffs It ...At first. Then he uses It all a lot more than he would admit out loud.

Eddie gets (Drumroll) : Billy!. He gets him a Pittsburg pirates cap (yup that TV series one).

R : he (begrundingly because the origin source) loves It.

Billy gets : Rod. He gets him a week in a luxury Spa and a written promise of making the group calmer or at least less feral, and that he and Daisy will argue less.

R: The spa thing Its very well received, the pact thingy Its unbelieved though...It last just a week , which IS 6 days 23 hours and 59 minutes more than Rod predicted...And then when the pact gets Broken, he uses the Spa for the following week, so that he has 2 weeks of peace XD.

Thats It!

[sheetmusiclibrarypdf]

Remembering Billy Strayhorn, born on this day (1915-1967)

Remembering Billy Strayhorn, born on this day (1915-1967).Best Sheet Music download from our Library.Please, subscribe to our Library.1941 HITS ARCHIVE: Take The “A” Train - Duke Ellington and Billy StrayhornDUKE ELLINGTON "Daydream" BILLY STRAYHORN (1968)Billy Strayhorn: DiscographyBrowse in the Library:

Remembering Billy Strayhorn, born on this day (1915-1967).

William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967), Billy Strayhorn, was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train", "Chelsea Bridge", "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", and "Lush Life". On November 29, 1915, a child was born at the Miami Valley Hospital in the city of Dayton (Ohio). The baby had serious problems with rickets and the doctor who delivered the baby told his parents, Lilliam and William Thomas Strayhorn, that he had little chance of survival. They did not even bother to choose a name for him and on the birth certificate they only registered him as “boy” Strayhorn. At five years old, “boy” Strayhorn was very little (he looked two years younger than he was), with a round face and quite cheeky. His parents decided to name him William and regularized the birth certificate. Meanwhile, the Strayhorns had settled in Pittsburg (Pennsylvania). William's first contact with a piano was at his maternal grandmother's house in North Caroline, where he spent long periods of time: “My grandmother played the piano, and she taught me several of the songs she performed in church, such as “When the roll.” is called up yonder I'll be there” which was my mother's favorite. Williams' house in Pittsburg lacked a piano and he could not continue his musical exercises there, so he looked for a job as a delivery boy in a drugstore and with the money he saved he was able to buy his desired instrument. At the age of 12, William enrolled in classes at Westinghouse High School where he studied for five years. During that time he was part of the school's Senior Orchestra as a pianist and began to compose music combining elements of jazz with classical music. In 1935, William – who from now on I will call him Billy – premiered a musical titled “Fantastic Rhythm” at Westinghouse High School, which featured a chorus of dancers and a band led by him. Among the ten songs that made up the work is the one titled “My Little Brown Book,” which Duke Ellington recorded with his orchestra on June 26, 1942. Before meeting Duke Ellington, Billy formed a trio in 1937 with clarinetist Jerry Eisner and drummer Calvin Dort under the name “Mad Hatters.” Their first performance was at Billy's Club. The owner liked what he heard and ended up hiring the group to entertain every weekend for a year. The music they performed were Strayhorn compositions such as “Something to live for”, which we will find again a few lines below. Billy also played regularly at the Rakuen Lake resort on “solo piano.” His reputation grew in Pittsburgh and several bands in this city hired him as an arranger. “Crawford Grill #1” was an institution in Pittsburgh. It opened its doors towards the middle of the first decade of the 20th century at the hands of businessman William “Gus” Greenlee. It was a beautiful three-story place. The boss's office was located on the third floor and only VIP people could enter. The first floor was a jazz club where blacks and whites could dance to good jazz and where there was never any problem in this regard. The second floor was a restaurant called the Rumpus Room of Crawford Grill that offered two offerings. The first one was called “Chill Night” and the protagonist was Greenlee, but in the kitchen. The second was known as “Jewish Night” and the star was Helen – the wife of a businessman – also in charge of the kitchen. This floor was where Duke Ellington and many of his musicians visited when the orchestra was performing in Pittsburgh. David Perelman, a young student at the University of Pittsburgh's College of Pharmacy who loved jazz, had heard Billy Strayhorn play on several occasions. He was amazed by his music and wanted to give him a hand in any way possible to get him out of the anonymity of being known only in Pittsburgh. David's best friend was a pharmacy student like him named George Greenlee and he was Gus Greenlee's nephew. One day he told him: “George, I know a boy who is one of the best musicians I have ever heard in my life and it doesn't seem like he has any chance of making a big leap. Your uncle knows all the great musicians, could he introduce you to any of them? George agreed. After midnight on December 1, 1938, George entered his uncle's club and went up to the second floor since he knew that Duke Ellington was with him. Once Gus introduced him to his nephew, he turned to Duke and said, “ Duke, I have a good friend who has written some songs and I would like you to listen to them.” George knew it was almost impossible for the musician to refuse in front of his uncle, so Duke responded, “Well, why don't we meet at the Stanley Theater tomorrow after my first screening?” And the appointment was closed. The next day George had met Billy in front of the theater at one in the afternoon. They entered it and went to Duke's dressing room, which was very spacious with a table and several chairs and a piano located on one of the walls. They found him reclining in a chair with his eyes closed. Next to him was his valet. George introduced him to Billy and Duke without opening his eyes told him: “Sit down at the piano and let me hear what you've done . ” Before starting to play Billy commented: “Mr. Ellington this is the way you play the song “Sophisticated Lady” . And he performed it exactly the same as Ellington did on stage. When he finished he said: “Now, this is the way I would touch it.” Billy changed key, substituted several chords, and played it at a slightly faster tempo. When Duke finished, he didn't make any comments to Billy, but he said to his valet: “Tell Harry to come” (Harry Carney, baritone sax player in his orchestra). When he arrived, Duke said to Billy, “ Can you play the same thing?” Strayhorn not only played the same thing, but continued with other songs composed by Ellington, such as “Solitude” but interpreting them in his own way. This time it was Carney who left the dressing room and returned with singer Ivie Anderson and saxophone player Johnny Hodges. The whole group surrounded Billy and he dared to play his songs like “Something to live for” which he also sang. During the entire time that Strayhorn was playing, Ellington remained behind him and at one point placed his hands on the shoulders of the now pianist, as if to show him what he was feeling.

This session ended with these words from Duke to Billy: “Well, I want you in my organization. I have to find a way to integrate you into it. I have to figure out how to do it once I get back to New York.” In 1939, Billy Strayhorn accepted the conditions, whatever they were, to collaborate with Duke Ellington. He told him that he should go to New York and the Harlem neighborhood. He even told her that the easiest way to get home was to take the “A” train and get off at the Sugar Hill station. In the first meeting between Strayhorn and Ellington at the latter's home, the conductor asked his new collaborator if he remembered a song of his that he had played when he met him at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh. Billy knew that he was referring to the song titled “Something to live for,” which became the first song that the orchestra recorded composed by him. The date was March 21, 1939 in New York. The vocalist was Jean Eldridge. If we take a look at the credits of the album we will see that Duke Ellington appears as a co-composer. Those were the “tithes and first fruits” that Billy had to pay to the Duke. Something that was quite common. During 1939, Billy Strayhorn composed a song based on the instructions that Duke gave him so that he could find his house in Harlem. He also wrote him a letter that says: You have to take the A train / to get to Sugar Hill and get to Harlem / If you miss the A train / you'll realize you've missed the quickest way to get to Harlem / Hurry, get on the train, it's coming / listen to how The rails vibrate / All aboard, let's get on the A train / We'll soon arrive at Sugar Hill in Harlem. Strayhorn wrote “Take the 'A' Train” for Ellington, but from the outset he had serious doubts about whether the song was really appropriate for his orchestra to perform. I was not at all sure that in “Take the 'A' train” those hallmarks so present in Ellington's works were perceived. It seemed like a song more appropriate for Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. For all this he decided to keep the score in a drawer, but at that time a decision was going to modify the rules that until now governed between composers and North American radio stations. ASCAP – The North American Society of Authors and Publishers, similar to our SGAE – made the decision to increase the royalties that radio stations had to pay by almost 400% if they wanted to broadcast music composed by any of their members. This fact sparked a dispute between ASCAP and the radio stations. The first measure that the authors' society took was to prohibit songs by its members from being broadcast on the radio, which was a hard blow for Ellington, since all of his work was registered with ASCAP. Duke met with his son Mercer and Strayhorn (who were not members of ASCAP) and asked them to show him all the music they had written. As the two were preparing to deliver their works to Ellington, Mercer watched as Strayhorn stood up, read a sheet of music, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash can. Mercer picked up the sheet music, read it, and told Strayhorn, “Don't throw this away. "It's very good." And this is how “Take the 'A' Train” found its way into Duke's hands. The song had an excellent reception from the listeners of the different radio stations in which the Duke's orchestra performed it. On February 5, Ellington's band recorded it in Hollywood. These were the musicians: Rex Stewart (c); Wallace Jones (t); Ray Nance (t); Lawrence Brown (tb); Tricky Sam Nanton (tb); Juan Tizol (vtb); Barney Bigard (cl); Johnny Hodges (ace); Otto Hardwick (ace); Ben Webster (ts); Harry Carney (b.s.); Duke Ellington (p); Fred Guy (g); Jimmie Blanton (b); Sonny Greer (R).

“Take the 'A' Train” became the orchestra's “signature theme” for more than fifteen years, replacing “Sepia Panorama.”

1941 HITS ARCHIVE: Take The “A” Train - Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

Original recording of the famed Ellington theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG4Tte6XGkA Quincy Jones said these words about Strayhorn's song : “Take the 'A' Train” was the Holy Grail. It identifies a population, it identifies a lifestyle: that of the “Harlem Renaissance”. It's incredible. It covers everything and says it all in 32 bars.” In this article I have only talked about a couple of songs composed by Billy Strayhorn. I will remedy this in another article in which I will write exclusively about the songs, which in my opinion and with due prudence, I consider the most emblematic of his extensive and brilliant discography. Here and now I want to record that Billy Strayhorn was one of the best American composers of all times, but he has passed through the history of music like a ghost in the shadow of Duke Ellington, but not through his fault: “Every time who had a harmonic or melodic problem my eyes were drawn to Billy Strayhorn. We talked to each other and everything was focused. He was not, as has often been commented, my alter ego. “Billy Strayhorn was my right hand, my left hand, my brain waves in his head and his in mine.” Billy Strayhorn died in May 1967 and for thirty years he remained practically invisible to historians, musicologists, the specialized press, disk jockeys... In 1996, the professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism wrote a biography dedicated to Billy Strayhorn entitled "Lush Life" and it seems that perhaps this work (which has been one of my sources for writing this article) will encourage the world of jazz to take serious care of one of its most creative and daring musicians. On August 28 and November 15, 1967, Duke Ellington and his orchestra paid a heartfelt tribute to the memory of Billy Strayhorn. They titled it “…And His Mother Called Him Bill.” All of the songs on the album were Strayhorn compositions, including some that had not been recorded until then. The musicians were: Duke Ellington (p); Mercer Ellington (t); Cat Anderson (t); Herbie Jones (t); Cootie Williams (t); Clark Terry (flug); Lawrence Brown (tb); Buster Cooper (tb); Chuck Connors (btb); John Sanders (vtb); Johnny Hodges (as); Russell Procope (as); Jimmy Hamilton (ts); Paul Gonsalves (ts); Harry Carney (bs); Aaron Bell (b); Jeff Castleman (b); Steve Little (d).

DUKE ELLINGTON "Daydream" BILLY STRAYHORN (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJyDQajAoxk Duke Ellington (1968) Daydream (Billy Strayhorn) Johnny Hodges (alto sax).

Billy Strayhorn: Discography

Read the full article

[joedaytoday]

Summer Break 2023 - More Flowers

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Dale and I went to brunch this morning at Pittsburg Blue in the Galleria. We both got the tuna poke bowl. I had a Bloody Mary too. After brunch we stopped by Bachman’s and got more annuals. I’ll plant them tomorrow. 

[jimludwigsblumengartenflorist]

Pittsburgh Flower Delivery

[national-hockey-gay]

—natalie wee

[flowerontheice]

[parkwayfloristinc15220]

Mother’s Day Flowers in  Pittsburgh, PA

[honeysouthside]

Marc-Andre Fluery Lockscreen Edit

THIS IS MINE PLEASE DONT SAVE OR TAKE AS YOUR OWN

[brubauer]

Four more years of Fleury! 🌸 (via VGK instagram)

[holtbyvevo]

[borntobew]

No matter what I am so proud of our team

We did so amazing this season, without a fucking doubt. But, unfortunately, no more 3lieve. We can still hope that Flower and the Golden Knights will go all the way. He'll get his 3lieve. He deserves it. This season was full of injuries and ups and downs and laughs and all the good stuff that any fan could ask for. Maybe the caps will go all the way. Ovi will get his cup. Can't say that he doesn't deserve it, even though I think I want it more. I love my Penguins, I love Sidney Crosby. I love the man who is score, evgeni Malkin, and I love jake Guentzel for pulling us as far as we've gotten through the playoffs. I'm proud of Sid, for everything he's accomplished, even just tonight, tying Yzerman. We swat away the haters like flies, because we don't need them. Let them hate. Let them know that we will come back. We made it this far once again, to the second round, and they'll watch us go further next year. And u know what? I ain't angry. We just won back to back cups. Somebody else deserves it. They really do. We'll miss our boys till next season, but hey, they get a longer off season. But no day with the cup. Next year. We can do it again

I BELIEVE.

[vgktwitter]

favourite tweets from the december 14th game against the penguins; flower edition 

[pandaprincess44]

I just might cry seeing Fleury(vgk) against Pittsburgh.

(Pic from the penguins snapchat)