#Local Spur

[thorsenmark]

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars. Icelandic Proverbs A view looking to the northeast and night skies with the Milky Way overhead. This was while staying in a yurt at an Airbnb outside of Cortez, Colorado. With the clear night skies that evening, I was able to set up my Nikon D850 SLR camera on a tripod and then align it with the Milky Way. The rest was setting an ISO to capture as much light as I could without adding any noise, an appropriate shutter speed to avoid any streaks with the stars, and opening up the aperture to bring in as much light as I could for an image captured. I later used DxO PhotoLab 7 to perform post processing.

[spikyiwaizumi]

Ok, this might sound like a silly question, but how do you start your fics? Like, i have an idea of where I want things to go but have no clue how to start. I think I'm just overthinking

not a silly question at all!

you can start a fic so many different ways, but I totally understand that actually starting is daunting… once you get rolling you’ll probably be fine!

personally, a line comes to me after the story marinates for the right amount of time in my head and I have to write it down or I’ll explode (but that’s not useful advice I don’t know how to Get Haunted)

real advice, when you start a story — there are endless ways to do it.

-> usually in a story there’s an Inciting Incident which sets the chain of events in motion - if you know where you want to go, maybe you could work backwards and see how the characters would get there? what sort of events would bring them along to this conclusion?

eg. if yaku realises he’s in love with kuroo, what causes that? why would he not realise it sooner? what interactions/events do you need to show the reader of their relationship to illustrate this?

-> it’s good to start with an attention grabbing line, immerse the reader right into the action and have them asking a question — why is that character saying that? how did they get into this situation? etc.

eg.

“The Double Double hotel and casino was an unlikely place to incite revolution.” (taken from the book I’m currently reading, but for a fic it can be less Dramatic)

-> starting just before the momentum gets rolling, or when the momentum gets going is a good idea too! you can always flesh out the context later, through flashbacks or other characters referring to events. this is a good way to start with the Interesting Event but also fill in the How Did We Get Here question

but: you don’t have to do that. all of these are suggestions! one of the great things about writing is that you can be free about it, particularly when you’re writing fic :3 you could even start with the bit you have and see where that goes!

I hope that helps a bit… I think the main thing is to start writing. remember you can always just. rewrite stuff, delete, edit once you figure out the story!! (most of the time I don’t know what my story is about until I’m wading knee deep in it)

good luck, I’m rooting for you!

[manygeese]

Okay just imagine a demigod grandma with an enchanted candy bowl that just. keeps replenishing itself with those strawberry candies and werthers caramel

Her name is Dorothy and she’s A. A daughter of Hecate who only uses her magic for this, B. Camp Half-Blood’s resident grandma, and C. Universally adored, especially by younger campers.

Julie, daughter of Ares, asks for a pony for her birthday? Guess who wrangles a horse into camp to make that little girl’s day. It’s DOROTHY‼️

Mark, son of Apollo, wants someone to read his bedtime stories to him? Guess who volunteers to read him Goodnight Moon. It’s our girl DOROTHY‼️

Harold, son of Athena, needs someone to pose for the painting he’s working on? Guess who stands still for three hours to let him get the shading just right. You know her, you love her, it’s DOROTHY‼️

Nobody knows how this 70 year old demigod got to her big age, but they DO know about all the adventures she went on in her youth! All you have to do is ask Dorothy about her high school years and she WILL yap about how she and her best friends Ethel and Barbara went on a quest instead of going to prom.

[elvendorx]

notes:

liverpool, man city and man united are not options bc i think james (a southerner) has like someeee lowkey gloryhunting qualities as a football fan but not ENOUGH for him to be a fan of a team in the north, a part of england he has never set foot in (or at least hadn't aged like 5 when he got into football)

james has strong "support my dad's team" and "supports an 'underdog' that is actually a pretty solid/successful team" vibes

therefore london teams are acceptable for a kid from the west country, close enough for him to claim a loose connection through spending a lot of time there as a kid/it being his dad's team

james has "underdog but not a real underdog" supporter qualities

an important aspect of this (for me, a james/sirius and sirius®ulus obsessive) to consider is that regulus also supports a london team, but not the same london team as james, so the team that regulus supports has a bearing on the team james supports

[funshinebf]

bled from my asshole again today btw. is just as unpleasant the second time as it was the first. like i definitely bled way less. but the ideal amount of blood to come out when you shit is actually none so like im still not hitting that goal unfortunately

[navree]

called it last episode that something about the invasion was zod related, glad to know that it's basically zod and brainiac working together in tandem and that they're likely to be the big overarching threats

[tenthdocter]

My brother's travelled all the way up to Manchester to watch United with his friend who's wn Everton fan. So I'm looking out for him while I watch it just in case they might show him. (But I'm obviously hoping united lose. Sorry bro haha)

[ugartecoco]

noooo the roma preseason tour got cancelled i wont see my meow meow after all 😭

[thorsenmark]

An Oak Tree and a View to the Milky Way by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the south-southwest while taking in views of the night skies at a bed and breakfast that a friend and I were staying overnight in Cuba, NM. To capture this image, I had brought a Sirui tripod that I use with my travels because of its weight, an RSS tripod head and a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED Lens. The rest was making adjustments to the ISO and shutter speed so that I could capture an image in about 15 seconds time and minimize any star trails. I later used NX Studio that Nikon provides to make basic adjustments and then exported a TIFF image to Viveza 3 for final adjustments.

[foldingfittedsheets]

There was this park near where I grew up. I remember we’d just moved to the area so I was around six and we drove past and saw this waterfront area. My parents decided to check it out so we went for a walk. It was a lovely park, there’s a lazy slough, lots of trees, extremely picturesque. My parents ambled along the trail enjoying the nature while my siblings and I ranged around in their orbit like excitable moons.

Then I saw something odd. Something vibrantly alive down by the water that was entirely the wrong color. I called back my vital scouting info and my family gathered around me. We looked down the steep verge toward the slough, screened by underbrush. We couldn’t quite make out what it was. The only thing we could agree was that it certainly wasn’t a duck. However it was about duck sized and roughly duck shaped. It just wasn’t a duck.

This led to some heated debate amongst my siblings and I but we were forbidden to scramble down the muddy hill to harass the mystery animal. Reluctantly we continued down the trail, speculating wildly when a chicken popped out of a bush in front of us with a train of several chicks.

We froze. The chicken did not. She placidly herded her little puffs across the trail, pecking happily for seeds, unbothered by our proximity. My family had not yet delved into farming and this was the first time any of us kids had seen a chicken up close. It was like a fairytale thing, a creature we had seen over and over in books was suddenly here in the wilderness of the park. We all realized the mystery creature had likewise been a chicken.

Another couple came up the trail and saw us staring.

“Is this your first time at the park?” They asked?

We nodded.

They informed us that this park had become a dumping ground for unwanted chickens. Once the chickens were dumped they were park property and the locals didn’t mind the eccentric additions at all. No one looked after the chickens, but they got on surprisingly well.

As the years went by we visited the park regularly. Signs were added to warn people not to dump off chickens or they’d be fined. They were also excluded from snatching the existing chickens. The hope was that the chickens would eventually run their course and the park would go back to normal.

It did not.

Instead the menagerie grew. Peacocks cropped up occasionally, turkeys; and one visit we saw guinea fowl. But there were always chickens. Eventually feed dispenser were installed so park goers could pay a quarter to enjoy the motley flocks.

Because we’d moved into a house with land my mom started up a chicken coop and we got our very own chickens at the feed store like proper folks. The first rooster we had was a gentleman, politely clucking at us when came into the coop, but the second proved troublesome a year later. He either adored or hated me. Every time I entered the coop he’d dance and flounce and brandish his spurs.

My mom didn’t want to off him frankly she didn’t know how at that point but his fascination ended with him flying at me and the rooster was sentenced to banishment.

We drove to the park.

We saw him there for years afterward, clucking dutifully around a small flock of hens. He did pretty well in exile.

Anyone who’s kept chickens knows that eventually there’s always a tragedy. Ours happened when a neighbors dog broke into our coop and slaughtered the flock. I was absolutely distraught, my lovingly hand reared chicks all decimated in a flurry of senseless bloodlust. I have not loved a chicken since. They are too fragile to bear it.

After a few days of mourning my mom offered that she knew where to find some more chickens. To make up for the massacre she planned a night raid with us. We stayed up past our bedtime and drove to the park with tarp covered kennels in the back of the truck.

We crept down along the gravel parking lot, looking up into the trees, spotting the telltale lumps of shadows that meant chickens. We quickly developed a strategy. We picked a chicken branch, creeping close underneath. Then we reached the end of the branch and gave it a good shake until the roosting chicken glided down to the ground in confusion. It was easy to scoop them up and we went home the proud new owner of a handsome flock of chickens.

The Take a Chicken Leave a Chicken park is still a beloved feature of its neighborhood to this day.

[madlori]

My ankle journey

I am sharing this with all you good people on the dash because I am so fucking mad it took so long for me to learn it and if I can spare one (1) person the agony it will be worth it.

So for like...oh, 8 or 9 months, I've been struggling with pain/inflammation/tendinitis in my left Achilles tendon. I don't know what caused it. It just started up (welcome to middle age, this shit happens). It wasn't severe enough to be debilitating, but it was annoying and limiting. It was also intermittent, in that some days it would be very painful and other days hardly at all. The kind of shoe I was wearing affected it a lot.

Now, I have bone spurs on both heels (it's just a thing that happens as you get older sometimes). I'm also aware that heel pain is usually the result of tight calf muscles that pull and irritate the tendon. I tried stretching that calf muscle. You know the stretch, this bitch right here:

I did it all the time. I also iced the ankle after walking for awhile, hoping to avoid inflammation. Results were...unsatisfying.

I went to:

A chiropractor

A podiatrist

A physical therapist

A bodywork coach

They all gave me some variation on the "strengthen your calf muscle, stretch your calf muscle" advice. I continued doing this without results.

I was getting frustrated, and a little afraid that this was just my life now. Finally, I thought...maybe some targeted massage might help. I asked for rec on a local FB site and was pointed to a woman who specializes in therapeutic massage including cupping, etc.

I went to her a week ago.

She spent over half our first session working on my left lower leg. Within about 10 minutes of making my eyes water, she uttered the sentence I did not know I had been waiting to hear:

"Oh, it's your soleus."

Excuse me, what?

"It's your soleus that's the culprit. It's all tied up and stiff." She started digging into it and I felt literal sparks run up my leg as she released adhesions and got the muscle moving a little. When she finally put the leg down, it felt like it was on fire with all the blood rushing into it.

She said, "You'll need to stretch your soleus. It'll clear up, but it'll take a bit of time - tendons take ages to heal."

But I HAVE been stretching.

"No, you haven't. The usual straight-leg calf stretch only stretches the gastrocnemius, that's the big belly muscle in your calf. That's not your problem. That stretch doesn't stretch the soleus. Don't worry, I'll show you how to stretch it."

My mind is spinning.

So here are the muscles in question:

The gastroc (as the pros call it) just attaches down the back but the soleus runs underneath it from the knee around the side to the heel. The lower part above the ankle is where it typically gets tight and forms adhesions.

To stretch it, you do the same calf thing where you put your foot back and press your heel to the ground, but you have to do it with your KNEE BENT:

The bent knee keeps the gastroc from engaging. It's one of those selfish muscles (like traps) - if you give it an inch, it'll just take over and prevent other muscles from working or stretching. There are other ways to stretch the soleus but this is the easiest and you can literally do it anywhere. I've been doing it while standing and waiting for things (the elevator to come, the toast to toast). You just put the heel back and bend the knee. It's kind of like curtseying.

The minute I did this stretch, I could FEEL where it was pulling on my tendon. I knew that THIS had been the problem.

The massage therapist also told me to stop icing my heel. She said icing is for an acute injury, but a more chronic aggravation needs heat, to increase blood flow for healing. She recommended elevation with heat every day (I've been doing it in bed during "phone before bed" time).

I have been doing the soleus stretch at least half a dozen times a day for almost a week, and the ankle is at least 70% better. It is still a little tight and tender, but the improvement is significant. I think a few more weeks will have it feeling normal.

I am...blown away by this. This massage therapist was able to pinpoint an issue in only a few minutes that eluded all the other professionals I saw. I can't wait to go back to her and have her solve all my other problems, tbh.

[bog-witch-blair]

I'll be flayed alive for this but I think the whole "only real champagne comes from Champagne" thing is dumb. Even more so when you realize that there are foods that legally can only be made at specific areas in the world.

I don't think we should regionlock food. I mean I get why it's like that. But still..

[reasonsforhope]

"In some cities, as many as one in four office spaces are vacant. Some start-ups are giving them a second life – as indoor farms growing crops as varied as kale, cucumber and herbs.

Since its 1967 construction, Canada's "Calgary Tower", a 190m (623ft) concrete-and-steel observation tower in Calgary, Alberta, has been home to an observation deck, panoramic restaurants and souvenir shops. Last year, it welcomed a different kind of business: a fully functioning indoor farm.

Sprawling across 6,000sq m (65,000 sq ft), the farm, which produces dozens of crops including strawberries, kale and cucumber, is a striking example of the search for city-grown food. But it's hardly alone. From Japan to Singapore to Dubai, vertical indoor farms – where crops can be grown in climate-controlled environments with hydroponics, aquaponics or aeroponics techniques – have been popping up around the world.

While indoor farming had been on the rise for years, a watershed moment came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when disruptions to the food supply chain underscored the need for local solutions. In 2021, $6bn (£4.8bn) in vertical farming deals were registered globally – the peak year for vertical farming investment. As the global economy entered its post-pandemic phase, some high-profile startups like Fifth Season went out of business, and others including Planted Detroit and AeroFarms running into a period of financial difficulty. Some commentators questioned whether a "vertical farming bubble" had popped.

But a new, post-pandemic trend may give the sector a boost. In countries including Canada and Australia, landlords are struggling to fill vacant office spaces as companies embrace remote and hybrid work. In the US, the office vacancy rate is more than 20%.

"Vertical farms may prove to be a cost-effective way to fill in vacant office buildings," says Warren Seay, Jr, a real estate finance partner in the Washington DC offices of US law firm ArentFox Schiff, who authored an article on urban farm reconversions. 

There are other reasons for the interest in urban farms, too. Though supply chains have largely recovered post-Covid-19, other global shocks, including climate change, geopolitical turmoil and farmers' strikes, mean that they continue to be vulnerable – driving more cities to look for local food production options...

Thanks to artificial light and controlled temperatures, offices are proving surprisingly good environments for indoor agriculture, spurring some companies to convert part of their facilities into small farms. Since 2022, Australia's start-up Greenspace has worked with clients like Deloitte and Commonwealth Bank to turn "dead zones", like the space between lifts and meeting rooms, into 2m (6ft) tall hydroponic cabinets growing leafy greens.

On top of being adaptable to indoor farm operations, vacant office buildings offer the advantage of proximity to final consumers.

In a former paper storage warehouse in Arlington, about a mile outside of Washington DC, Jacqueline Potter and the team at Area 2 Farms are growing over 180 organic varieties of lettuce, greens, root vegetables, herbs and micro-greens. By serving consumers 10 miles away or less, the company has driven down transport costs and associated greenhouse emissions.

This also frees the team up to grow other types of food that can be hard to find elsewhere – such as edible flower species like buzz buttons and nasturtium. "Most crops are now selected to be grown because of their ability to withstand a 1,500-mile journey," Potter says, referring to the average distance covered by crops in the US before reaching customers. "In our farm, we can select crops for other properties like their nutritional value or taste."

Overall, vertical farms have the potential to outperform regular farms on several environmental sustainability metrics like water usage, says Evan Fraser, professor of geography at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and the director of the Arell Food Institute, a research centre on sustainable food production. Most indoor farms report using a tiny fraction of the water that outdoor farms use. Indoor farms also report greater output per square mile than regular farms.

Energy use, however, is the "Achilles heel" of this sector, says Fraser: vertical farms need a lot of electricity to run lighting and ventilation systems, smart sensors and automated harvesting technologies. But if energy is sourced from renewable sources, they can outperform regular farms on this metric too, he says. 

Because of variations in operational setup, it is hard to make a general assessment of the environmental, social and economic sustainability of indoor farms, says Jiangxiao Qiu, a landscape ecologist at the University of Florida and author of a study on urban agriculture's role in sustainability. Still, he agrees with Fraser: in general, urban indoor farms have higher crop yield per square foot, greater water and nutrient-use efficiency, better resistance to pests and shorter distance to market. Downsides include high energy use due to lighting, ventilation and air conditioning.

They face other challenges, too. As Seay notes, zoning laws often do not allow for agricultural activity within urban areas (although some cities like Arlington, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio, have recently updated zoning to allow indoor farms). And, for now, indoor farms have limited crop range. It is hard to produce staple crops like wheat, corn or rice indoors, says Fraser. Aside from leafy greens, most indoor facilities cannot yet produce other types of crops at scale.

But as long as the post-pandemic trends of remote work and corporate downsizing will last, indoor farms may keep popping up in cities around the world, Seay says. 

"One thing cities dislike more than anything is unused spaces that don't drive economic growth," he says. "If indoor farm conversions in cities like Arlington prove successful, others may follow suit.""

-via BBC, January 27, 2025

[stvrnioloslvt]

five minutes, a chris sturniolo blurb

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"oh- fu...fuck, chris," you screamed as your boyfriend plunged his dick into you, pushing your legs to your chest while keeping you folded on the backseat of the mini van. the beautiful pink satin fabric of your dress pooled around your waist, giving chris all the freedom to spread your legs as much as he pleased.

you cried, eyes rolling to the back of your head while chris buried his face in your neck, resisting the urge to suck a purple hickey on your neck right before the ceremony. the boys' idea of leaving you two alone for a couple minutes to retrieve food from a local pub was a terrible idea given the fact that you and your boyfriend ached to jump at each other.

and that's exactly what you did when they left, chris' hands immediately feeling your body. you whimpered, clawing at his jacket-clad shoulders to ground yourself as your orgasm approached steadily, unknowingly clamping down on your boyfriend’s dick.

"chris, please," you moaned once more, jaw going slack as your climax hit you suddenly, making you twitch and tremble in his arms. chris' hands grabbed your hips to thrust into you even harder, the mini van completely shaking under the strength of his actions.

chris groaned as his cock throbbed violently, way too lost in pleasure to even care about the fact that he was most definitely gonna finish inside you, his cum likely dripping from your leaking cunt soon. if anything, the thought of his cum slowly seeping out of you throughout the day only spurred him on, finally pushing him over the edge.

"fuck," he whispered tiredly, "that was much needed."

© stvrnioloslvt

ও

ও a.n: i'm ever so sorry, I've been feeling feral for these fucking suits I just need them to pound into me and bruise my cervix or something (matt ver up next).

[the-palelady]

cowboy!ghost that’s driving cattle across the west when he stops into a small town to rest for a few nights.

he visits the local doctor for some medicine to take along with him while he travels when he is instead met with you, the cute nurse that so kindly hands him the sack with various herbs and medications inside.

you remind him of the side effects to which he gives a curt nod, not ignoring the flush that sits high on your cheeks when he utters a, “yes ma’am.”

you have the spurs on the back of his boots jingling a tad bit louder as he walks out and he decides then and there that maybe he can stay in town for a few more days.

[ozzgin]

Have you ever considered——a yandere cowboy?

Honestly, I'm not too familiar with cowboys, so I don't think I'd be able to do something authentic and serious by any means. However... content: gender neutral reader, parody

Yandere!Cowboy is really rather terrible at his job. He considers himself a bandit of the Wild West, a skilled countryman in blue jeans and polished spurs. Now, to his credit, he does have the best intentions; it's the delivery that lacks. He's simply too clumsy.

Yandere!Cowboy nearly drops his drink when he sees you stepping foot in the local pub. Are you new in town? He would've certainly known if someone like you lived around him. Breathtaking. Quite literally, actually. He inhaled so sharply, he accidentally gulped down the straw he was chewing on to seem exceptionally mysterious. Now he's stuck with a piece of wheat halfway down his throat.

Yandere!Cowboy smirks to himself when you rush to his aid, placing him onto the floor and inspecting his features. Gosh, your hands are all over him. Clearly you're onto something, you cheeky little cat.

"You've got some beautiful eyes," he whistles, trying to maintain a sharp jaw and a relaxed pose.

"Perhaps it's better if you stop talking," you softly warn him, "you're foaming. I'll see if I can pluck it out with my hands."

You dab your handkerchief at the corners of his mouth. Uh huh, you're definitely the one. He ain't letting this one go.