#Party Bus in Palo Alto

[cheaplimorides23]

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[nadiafm]

( camila morrone, cisfemale ) hey ! have you seen NADIA PEREZ around ? they work as a ICE SKATING INSTRUCTOR at big bear resort, but they must be off their shift by now. well, if you do see them can you let me know ? they’re 21 years old & they’ve been working here for 11 MONTHS. they tend to be +AMOROUS & +CONVIVIAL, but can also be -LICENTIOUS & -WARY. the other employees have labeled them THE ROMANTIC. thanks a lot ! gold hoops , floral mini dresses , pink lipgloss , overly dramatic eyeshadow , freckles specked across your nose , mascara running down your cheeks , tequila shots chased with salt and lime , lana del rey blasting in your headphones , mirror selfies , golden hour , glitter and rhinestones , blue raspberry dum dums , piled up books you keep forgetting to read.

hey y’all !! i’m so excited for this wow. i’m sam, i’m 22, and i live in pst !! i’m a sucker for cooking shows and dogs and candles. but more importantly...this is my freaking baby nadia, an absolute idiot with a heart of gold ! i already know this intro is going to be too long but bare with me i will include a tldr at the bottom i promise. also hmu on discord to plot ! capricornmom#1278

here is nadia’s pinterest & here is her playlist

aesthetics : gold hoops , floral mini dresses , pink lipgloss , overly dramatic eyeshadow , freckles specked across your nose , mascara running down your cheeks , tequila shots chased with salt and lime , lana del rey blasting in your headphones , mirror selfies , golden hour , glitter and rhinestones , blue raspberry dum dums , piled up books you keep forgetting to read

character parallels : jackie burkhart ( that 70′s show ) rachel green ( friends ) , cassie howard ( euphoria ) , brooke davis ( one tree hill ) , bianca stratford ( 10 things i hate about you ) , april ( palo alto ) , erica vandross ( flower ) , gigi & triple a ( booksmart ) , snooki ( jersey shore ) , jessica day ( new girl )

full name : nadia paloma perez

birthday : july 23, 1998

zodiac : cancer sun , pisces moon , pisces rising . god help this emotional ass girl

nationality : american 

religion : roman catholic

sexual & romantic orientation : bisexual , biromantic

hometown : aventura , florida ( 20 minutes outside of miami )

languages spoken : english ( fluent ) , spanish ( fluent ) , french ( still learning , takes it in school , somewhat conversational )

likes : candy ( sour punch straws , lollipops ) , watching soccer games ( messi stan till she dies ) , rex orange county , writing , magazines , making empanadas with her abuela , romantic comedies ( her fav is how to lose a guy in 10 days ) , tequila sodas , sex , lana del rey , chipotle burritos , iced chai lattes with almond milk from starbucks , gossip girl , craft beer , margaret atwood

dislikes : quinoa , nuts in things like salad or cookies , star wars , watching golf , oatmeal , church , screamo music , california ( a grudge ) , spoiled rich kids , condescending business majors , quentin tarantino ( and his avid fans )

BACKGROUND

Born and raised in South Florida, a little aways from Miami ! Her mother, Paloma, was an Adventura native while her father, Santiago, was an immigrant from Argentina. Her parents met in college when Paloma was studying abroad in Argentina. They fell in love, rather quickly, and the rest was history. They had planned on moving back to America together, but Santiago’s visa was denied. So, after only four months of knowing each other and 2.5 months of dating, they got married. 

Turns out sometimes you should know your partner better before getting married !! shocker right. It wasn’t so bad at first, though. They were young and in love and their honeymoon phase seemed to last forever, until it didn’t. 

By the time Nadia was born, they’d already begun to realize each other’s faults and flaws. Santiago was a good looking guy, and with his thick Argentine accent, he tended to come off as overly friendly and at times overtly flirty. Paloma was jealous and needy. It never seemed to mesh well when she thought her husband was flirting with every other mom in the neighborhood. 

So, for the majority of Nadia’s childhood, all she remembered from her parent’s marriage was them fighting. She had a close relationship with the both of them, though, and she was particularly close with her father. He was her biggest supporter !! Always hyping her up. He was the one signing her up for sports like soccer (they’re a huge soccer family, the only time her parents weren’t fighting was during Argentina games), gymnastics, dance, and ice skating. Her favorite was soccer, and her for most of her adolescent years, her dad coached her team. They formed a really close bond because of it. 

The marriage was sort of non exinsistant at this point, but in some sort of last attempt to salvage any love they might have had for each other, Santiago and Paloma had a baby. It was more Paloma’s idea than anything. Santiago, at that point, was only sticking around for Paloma. She was seven when her little sister was born, Caterina, and Nadia absolutely adored her. They may have been seven years a part, but they were the best of friends. 

When Nadia was twelve, she woke up with a note on her bed side table. It was from her father, and it read:��“Nads, I’m so sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to your face. I wish I was stronger. I am so proud of you and I promise I will be in touch. Te amo. Papa” He hadn’t left anybody else a note, and not even a word to her mother. As close as she was to her mother and sister, she couldn’t help but blame them for her father leaving. Still, she was pretty certain she’d hear from him soon. That he’d come back once he cleared his head. Only, he didn’t. 

Word spread pretty fast around school about what had happened. Suddenly, Nadia was a charity case. PTA moms were coming up to her and offering to bring her lunch or dinner, if she needed it. She was the girl who’s dad left them high and dry. It didn’t help that on top of that, her body was going through changes much more rapidly than any of her friends. She already had gotten her period, and by the time she was in seventh grade she was wearing a D cup bra. So in addition to the sudden spotlight as the girl without a dad, boys started treating her differently. Boys that had never talked to her previously suddenly wanted to be her friend. In eighth grade, Hayden Walker rolled up a small piece of paper and shot it like a basketball into her cleavage. He high-fived his friends after and thanked her for the backboard.  

So middle school was rough. And while Nadia had had one or two boyfriends during that time, she’d never gone past kissing them. That’s not how the rumors went, though. That was the part that hurt the most. The things people said, especially the things girls said about her. Girls she thought were her friends. 

At the end of eighth grade, during the summer before high school, she got a text from her dad. The first one in 2 years! She’d idolized him her whole life, so obviously she was ready to forgive him as soon as she heard from him. He told her he was living in California and Nadia was like, I’m sold! Let’s go! Only her mother was like...are you fucking insane you are not going to California to visit that man. Long story short, she found a cheap cross country bus ticket and essentially ran away from home to see her dad! He was shocked she had come at all, despite his text message leading her to believe he wanted to see her. Apparently it was more of a courtesy text, a text so he could let go of the guilt of leaving an entire family behind. Because in the two years he’d been gone, he managed to start a new one. He had a new wife, and two newborn twins. 

Nadia was pretty furious, but she stayed the summer anyways. She had full intentions of starting high school in California and not going home to Florida. Things were tense at her father’s, though. Her “step mother” obviously didn’t like having her around, and though her bond with her father was slowly rekindling, there was still a sort of distance between them. But they were trying to make it work, at the very least. 

Then came the end of the summer. Nadia had made a few friends around the neighborhood, and was invited to an end of summer kickback with a bunch of high schoolers. Naturally, she lied about her age at the party. She was 14, but told everyone she was 16, and everyone seemed to overlook her baby face thanks to her ass and tits. At the end of the night, a boy drove her home, and the two ended up hooking up in the car. Apparently she had misjudged how much her father actually cared, because he’d waited up for her to come home, and after seeing car headlights out front, he’d stormed outside to find her in the car with a high school boy, half naked. After allowing her to gather her bearings, he essentially humiliated her right there on the front lawn, screaming about how irresponsible she was amongst other things. The majority of the conversation has since been blacked out from her mind, but she’ll never forget the look on her dad’s face when he said, “you’re nothing, you’re just like your mother, and i don’t want you anywhere near my family.”  whew !! ya girl was hurt.  

So, obviously, she was back on the way to mom’s ! Honestly at that point her mom wasn’t even mad at her for leaving she was just thankful she was back. 

GODDD okay this is getting long so I need to wrap this up. I haven’t even gotten to personality KJSHG Okay let’s wrap up high school in one bullet point. Basically she sub consciously searched for every man’s approval because she lacked the approval she needed from her father! This meant lots of boyfriends and never saying no. In her four years of high school, she was maybe single for a total of like ... seven months. not seven consecutive months lmao, 7 months in between relationships. 

one of those boys was connor perch, her first official boyfriend freshman year ! they were really sweet n young and nadia really thought she was in love. but then she gave him a blowjob and this mf recorded it ! and nadia found out after the fact, asked him to delete it, he said it was just for himself to look at, only to find out he’d sent it to his friends a few days later. so that basically set the precedent for how she’d be treated the next four years of high school ! she tried to act like it didn’t bother her but dang. high schoolers can be very mean !

oh my god i seriously have to wrap up okay this will be quick. basically when she was a senior in high school she went on a ski trip to big bear and met a boy named ethan, who she like fell in love with so fast like literally a week give it a rest girl. he was from Colorado but when she left they kept in touch and basically talked every day for the rest of the school year and throughout the summer. She’d decided to apply to Boulder University to be closer to him because this time it really felt like the real thing ! SURPRISE AGAIN ! She got to school and found out he had a girlfriend. She was really mf heartbroken over that. But did she learn her lesson? No. Does she still fall in love with anyone who looks in her direction? Yes. 

Okay and lastly she has been working all sorts of jobs throughout college because her mom is helping her pay for tuition and rent so she’s gotta cover spending money ! She ended up getting a job at Big Bear Resort during her last winter break as an ice skating instructor because she used to do ice skating back in the day. Now she works at Big Bear during her school breaks and on some weekends ! 

TLDR/Tidbits

Hopeless romantic with major daddy issues

Will overanalyze every interaction she has with anyone because she thinks they might like her

EXTREMELY GULLIBLE 

Probably will have a crush if you are even remotely nice to her 

Really dumb but means well. Literally no common sense. Complete bimbo

Cries A LOT. Complete crybaby. Happy or sad she’s probably crying

Heart of gold!! She really always means well even when she fucks up so bad I SWEAR her heart was in the right place 

Can outdrink anyone. She would drink a 6ft5in, 200 pound man under the table any day

Tequila is her choice of drink, but vodka is for her #sadgirlhours

Obsessed with Rosalía, Lana Del Rey, & Rex Orange County. And also 2010 bangers. Anything she can shake her ass to !

She pretty much used to exclusively wear mini dresses because when she realized everyone was just gonna sexualize her anyway, she was like FUCK IT, i’ll show my ass n titties n legs. Except it’s fucking like negative degrees in Colorado so she can’t do that ! Bummer. (she’ll still probably find ways to wear mini dresses)

Obsessed with makeup!! She loves doing adventurous things with eyeshadows and lipsticks  like ok euphoria 

Kinda crazy. Major crackhead vibes especially when she’s drunk! She loves going out, she’ll go out on a Tuesday, she just likes to have fun ok and dance on tables and make out with cute people

She’ll have a one night stand but just know for HER she’ll probably get attached. I’m so sorry it won’t last that long but she’ll pine for at least a week

ok that is all i’m so sorry for this shit show of an intro but here is a messy list of wc !

[thesavorysecret-blog]

An Interview with Matt Parker of Grillbird Teriyaki on How To Start and Grow a Thriving Restaurant

Nate: Hello and welcome. You’ve found “The Savory Secret’’ where we talk to and learn lessons from founders on starting and growing a thriving restaurant. I’m your host Nate Ver Burg. Our guest on the show today is an artist and designer who had a dream of opening a restaurant, but he had a problem. He didn’t have any money. What’s worse, he opened his restaurant just months prior to the statewide COVID-19 mandatory dining room closures. Today we’re gonna learn what he did to obtain the initial money needed to start his restaurant, and whether his recession-proof planning prior to starting his business would enable them to endure the forthcoming pandemic response. Matt Parker, it’s great to have you on the show today.

Matt: Hey Nate.

Nate: Hey there. So let’s start at the beginning. Tell me a little bit about where you grew up and some of your upbringing.

Matt: Yeah, for sure. So I grew up in a little town called Half Moon Bay, which is in Northern California, just south of San Francisco, so really idyllic, wonderful town, a little beachy town. And back in the ’80s, it was just a really cool place for a kid to grow up. We had the beach. We had mountain biking. And as I got older and kind of grew up a little bit and started to form, you know, my own identity, the town, I kind of outgrew that town. So I moved to Palo Alto and went to high school out there and kind of finished off my school in Palo Alto. You know, I grew up with my grandparents as a kid and then moved back in with my mother who was a single mom and we had a great relationship and she was really supportive of me growing up and being kind of whoever I wanted to be and, you know, allowing me to sort of experiment and explore who I thought I was or wanted to be.

And so I had a pretty eclectic childhood. I was really…I tried out a lot of different things. I tried a lot of different arts. I was always involved in theater and in visual arts. And I got to…you know, I did Rocky Horror Picture Show when I was a teenager and I went to San Francisco and hung out with friends on the weekends and just got to do a lot of fun stuff that I might not have been able to do if I had a more traditional upbringing. But my mom was pretty laid back and really trusting and kind of let me be who I was. I worked, from the moment I could get a job, I worked.

So at 14, I got a job at a movie theater and loved that job and fell in love with cinema and old movie theaters. And I think that was sort of the first…my first kind of introduction into what it feels like to be taken out of reality and put into something more fantastical, I guess. And it started to, you know, heavily influence my love of design and my love of eating out and just sort of being immersed in something aesthetically different and beautiful than the real world.

And so that all kind of transitioned into me working in restaurants, going from movie theaters to then working in cafes and then into restaurants and then just sort of, you know, falling in love with the, I guess the sort of magic of dining, but also the environment. I’ve always been sort of aesthetically-guided and so I love what it felt like to eat at nice restaurants and what it felt like to be served by professional servers and what really good food played it up in a really interesting way felt like.

So that’s something from a very young age I was always inspired by. And you know, that all kind of you know, led me to go to art school, right out of high school, which didn’t really work out for me. I was a little, you know, 18 years old and I didn’t really have any stories to tell and I didn’t really know myself and I didn’t really get any good work done. So I kind of tried that out for about a year and then I moved back home and kind of went to some community colleges and of course just kept working in restaurants. And then when I was about 20, I decided I needed to leave home and grow up. And didn’t really know where I was wanting to go, but I knew I just couldn’t stay at home anymore.

So I bought a bus ticket to Seattle and came up here about 20 some odd years ago and stayed in a boarding house for a couple of months and, you know, just hit the streets every day looking for work. And finally got a job at a little cafe in Belltown, which is no longer there, but that’s kinda what started it all off, at least for me in Seattle. And then my culinary sort of journey and art journey as well.

Nate: Yeah. So tell me, like you mentioned the movie theater experience. What was it that captivated you so much?

Matt: In Palo Alto, there’s a series of vintage movie theaters. And so as soon as I turned 14 and was able to work, I got a job at one of these movie theaters. And these were landmark theaters, so they showed foreign films and independent films. And at that time I was obsessed with cinema. I was obsessed with foreign films and, you know, just unique independent cinema. And I fell in love with these old movie houses that were built in the ’20s and the ’30s. I just love the architecture. I love the feeling of being in them. I loved all the fun, the weirdo movies that they showed and it just really influenced my art and my creativity at the time. I mean, back then it was all I thought about. It’s all…I was obsessed. I was literally obsessed about movie theaters and old ones and I just loved being in those rooms.

And so when I worked, got to work for one, it was like such a great job. And I had so much fun and I got to, of course, I got to work with adults. So which I had always loved working with, you know, being around older people. So I get to work with the cool kids at the time and kind of find myself through them. I get to work in these old movie places and bop around the catacombs of these spaces and find tons of ephemera and of course just like feed my desire for film. And so films and going to bookstores and magazines, those are all like the way that I fed my creativity at the time. You know, obviously there was no internet.

So this is just how, you know, I learned to identify, you know, with myself and who I wanted to be or who I thought I wanted to be. But yeah, that was really like the escapism part of it was fantastic. I mean, back then I would think that I lived in a different time. I would consider that. I was like, I lived in my own movie of my own creation. And that was like some me, like in Paris in the 1920s, like that’s sort of how I identified at 14 years old. And yeah, it just really kind of set me on, you know, this creative path.

Nate: You know, you started to get into restaurants and things like when you moved up to Seattle. How did you take that creative mindset and start applying that into the restaurant space?

Matte: Well, I didn’t at first. I mean when I moved here I was, you know, an artist and I was a visual artist. I was a painter. But I also loved working in restaurants and I had done some restaurant work back in California. And so that’s just where I naturally fell into. And so, you know, waiting tables or busing tables back then that, you know, paid the bills. But I of course, I loved the energy of it. I loved the hours. I loved all the people you end up meeting. I loved the sort of debauchery and the chaos of it all. And it worked perfectly as a creative person because you’re just also surrounded by creative people all the time and the hours are great. You know, you’re up late, you have your days free.

So they were pretty much separate for the next 10 years. So I kind of made a move to be a creative person in Seattle. You know, I worked as an artist. I created some events and produced art events and did group shows. And then I also worked in restaurants and waited tables and just…and bopped around different restaurants over the next decade. And so they were all fairly kept separate for most of my 20s. And it wasn’t really until my early 30s that I actually merged them together after, you know, just a kind of a series of bad life choices had kind of brought me to kind of a new…kind of starting over, I guess. And part of that starting over was to kind of tap back into my creative side and merge my love of food and art together.

Nate: So what did that look like, merging those two things? Like in practical ways, like what was that all about?

Matt: Yeah, so you know, the restaurant business is, you know, it’s very fun, but it comes with a lot of consequences. And so for me, I developed a drinking problem in my 20s, and by the time I was in my early 30s, it was, you know, kind of…I pretty much exhausted all other outcomes of positivity. So I had to change my life. And so I quit drinking to end up saving, you know, my relationship with my girlfriend who’s now my wife, but at the time. And through that process of quitting drinking, not working, getting rid of all of my friends and basically self-quarantining myself at home in order to kind of break the shackles of those old habits, I kind of tapped back into this creative side that I hadn’t had in years. And that manifested into a new business where I was starting to…I did event design.

And so in the beginning, nobody really would hire me to decorate their party. They all wanted catering. So I would cater their event totally illegally. Like out of my apartment. I would just make all this food. And then on my own time and my own dime, I would do all the decorations. I designed the little menu cards and design the little tablescapes. And again, I had no money. So everything I started making was like out of folded paper and cardboard and recycled materials. And I just kept doing that. And I just, you know, in the beginning it was just one party at a time and one party a month. And I would go out and hustle for business and I’d go to friends’ little boutique shops and ask them if I could do a window display for them or I’d go to the rental company, the event rental company, and ask them if I could do a tablescape for them. And then I would do it, I’d photograph it, and then I’d send it to blogs and wait for someone to respond to it.

And so I just kept doing that. And eventually I would get hired. Eventually a friend hired me to do their birthday party and I would decorate their party. And again, I had no money and they didn’t have any money. And so everything was made out of cardboard and, you know, these…and trash basically. But one client after another, you know, started to kind of build into this little business where I started to kinda make a little bit of a name for myself and every event I would shoot it and send it off to blogs. And every once in a while, a blog would post the story and then I’d get a lot of attention and then I would kind of get on the radar of different editors of wedding magazines or whatever.

And so then I started to kind of be a little bit more enrolled and involved in the wedding industry and in the event industry. And so I started getting hired more and more. And the things that I was trying to do differently was I was trying to just create these kind of immersive, all encompassing events that were really creative and not typical sort of decor. So I always talked about how my events always kind of looked like an anthropology window display. Like they were really over the top and they were…kind of used a lot of recycled materials and that’s kinda what I did. And I did that for a good year or so.

But the thing about event work is… And also that kept me close to sort of the food world and the restaurant world. And I had done so much catering in my 20s and so much restaurant work. So it was always connected, the event world and the restaurant world were always sort of tied together and it kept me close to that world.

Nate: So all these events that you were doing, were you still being forced to cater these, like from home, like you’re talking about or did you eventually just transition that to just do the design side?

Matt: Yeah, yeah. Like within like three or four events, I stopped cooking out of my apartment and just was beginning to get hired just to do design work. So that was great. That wasn’t gonna be sustainable. And so then I, of course, I started working with caterers and working with event planners and working with others in building out these events and doing pieces if not the whole event for them. And so I did that for a little while, like a year or two years. And each time getting a little bit more attention, each time, getting a little bit more press. And it was great and it was…and I was like just cruising. I felt so good about myself, you know, I was like a year sober and I was just like so excited to be not thinking about my old self. Like I was totally rewiring myself through creativity. And that was really great.

And that year I got married and you know, I was like starting off my life with my wife and we were moving and it was just fantastic. But, you know, event work is sort of like freelancing. I mean, you just don’t really know when the next paycheck’s gonna come. It’s like months and months away. So I would work three months on a job and of course I didn’t know how to charge appropriately for it. So, you know, I’d make a little money and then I’d run out of money and then I’d wait for the next job and it would just be…it just wasn’t sustainable. I mean, I really didn’t know how to run a business at all.

So eventually through that, my wife got pregnant and we needed obviously a little bit extra money. And so I started…I got back into the game. After a few years off of restaurant work, I started working for Skillet. And Skillet obviously was that food truck in 2007 that Josh Henderson started. And by 2009, they were about to open up their first diner in Capitol Hill. So I opened that shop with that opening crew and that was a…it was a great part time job. You know, I already had, you know, a decade and a half of experience under my belt. So I came in with a handful of other people knowing how to run a restaurant and how to work that restaurant real well. And that was great. It was a really fun job. But at the same time, I started to do some graphic design for the staff.

I think it started with me doing like a business card for one of the managers. And then Josh saw it and asked me to do a flyer for one of his…some little pop up or something at the time. And so I did a flyer and then he liked it. And then I did another flyer and he liked it. And then I got this idea, I was like, oh, I think I could start to do this more. I had always done graphic design, but never really professionally. So I went to Josh and I convinced him to let me take over all the creative at Skillet. And Skillet was about…you know, it was a couple years old but had just started to kind of break through with this brick and mortar space and they had this bacon jam food line and they were thinking about opening a second store. So they were kind of like growing up. And so I convinced him to let me take over the sort of brand identity and let me kind of rework some things and clean it up and kind of make them, you know, play with the big boys a little bit more.

Of course, I had no idea what I was doing. I just would go home, learn about, you know, read about what a brand guide was and then copy that and then come back and talk to Josh and convince him that I knew what I was talking about. That’s exactly what happened. And I took over Skillet’s brand and started to kind of rework logos and you know, come up with new brand identities and new menus and just all the graphic design elements and merchandise that went along with Skillet in those first couple of years. And that kinda got me on this designer path with him. And then by the end of that year, Josh was, was like, ‘’Hey, I’m kinda done with Skillet. I’m cashing in my chips. This isn’t fun anymore and I’m gonna start a new restaurant group to tell new stories and I want you to come with me.’’

And so he grabbed me and the chef and our PR lady and the four of us basically started Huxley Wallace Collective. And he had a new business partner. And right out of the gate, we had three projects. We had three restaurants to build. First one was Westward, the second was the Hollywood Tavern. And the third was a collaboration-partnership with Cone and Steiner. And so he tells me to show up at this architecture meeting to talk about what Westward is gonna look like. And so I went…that’s basically how I started my restaurant design career is I just showed up and then learned everything I could learn about how to design a space.

And so then I designed Westward with Josh and it was so fun, you know. It was like such a labor of love and it was our first sort of flagship restaurant we were gonna be debuting with this new restaurant group. And it’s just…there’s so much energy behind it. And we had this amazing space on the waterfront and we had such a great story to tell aesthetically. And I just poured my…everything I had into that restaurant. And you know, half of it I made and designed and painted myself and the other half we had collaborated with artists on and it was so, so much fun. And then we opened Westward and it was so busy and got… It was just great energy. I love that very beginning of that space. But that’s really what kind of got me started in doing restaurant design.

Nate: Wow. And how long were you with that group building those restaurants?

Marr: I would think I was with Huxley Wallace for like five or six years. And almost to the end, in a way, they…you know, once we started building, we never stopped building. So we did 13 restaurants together in five years.

Nate Wow. That was a lot. So, and you were involved with the design side of all of those?

Matt: For sure. So, you know, and I just kept inching my way up the ladder to where I’ve learned some more things and then I would convince everyone that that’s the role I needed to be. So I kind of sort of self-proclaimed myself the creative director as a way for me to kind of oversee all creative and aesthetic decisions for the business. So not just designing the interiors and the exteriors of the restaurant and obviously working with architects to make those happen, but the uniforms, the coasters, the website, every piece of copy, every Instagram message, every ad, every tote bag. I mean, everything visual that the guest would see, including the staff, I had a say in.

Nate: Did you ever deal with that imposter syndrome of feeling like, like who am I to be doing what I’m doing? What was going on in your head at that point?

Matt: Yeah. I mean, most of everything I do is I just make it up as you go along. You know, I mean, you’re just faking it. And I would just, for so many months, there would be…I literally wouldn’t know what I was talking about. But I’d go home and learn about it and work it out, practice it, and come back the next day pretending I was an expert in it. And so I did that a lot, but then it just…but it just gets easier and, you know, it feeds off of itself. So, you know, with every event I was doing, or every little, tiny creative project or little editorial I do for a magazine or photo shoot, you know, I just would learn more and more about how to put things together and how to build events better and how to design better.

And of course, once you start building restaurants, you start working with architects and contractors and project managers and all these meetings, you know, they just inform you and you just listen and pick up on what they’re talking about. And so the next time you know how to talk the talk. And so of course every job just got easier that way. And I found, you know, I just would quickly learn about what I liked and what I didn’t like and how to make those things that I wanted happen. But I just, I always think of like my 20s as sort of being in a fog just because of kind of partying too much and just not being focused and not being the man I wanted to be and being frustrated by that. And then once I gained some clarity in my early 30s, everything got easier. You know, everything’s starting to fall into place.

You know, I started to have a family and, you know, work was working out and I just had a lot more opportunities and, you know, just, I just have better luck after I stopped screwing around. Yeah. I mean, you know, I still…you don’t really…we get older and we know some things, but, you know, we really don’t know everything. And, you know, I just had a birthday a couple of days ago and it still feels like I’m 20 years old. You know, I still feel like I have the same big questions. I’m still searching for the man I ultimately wanna be. I’m a lot farther along. I’m way more processed, but, you know, we’re still like children sometimes in our minds and we’re never satisfied with who we are. Ultimately, I think, you know, we could always be better.

I’m certainly proud of myself and I’m proud of, you know, my accomplishments and how far we’ve come. And I’m so proud of my family and my wife and everything she’s worked so hard for, for us. It’s amazing. But yeah, at the same time, it’s like, I do feel like we’re just faking it. We’re getting away with something we shouldn’t be. Like the world’s gonna catch on. They’re gonna catch on that I’m a fraud. We’re gonna see it. But I, you know, I mean, I don’t know. It’s like you just, just try to be truthful all the time and keep going and we’re…you know, be persistent. Don’t give up and just keep working it until it works.

Nate: Yup. That’s good. Well, let’s take just a moment and introduce our sponsor today. It’s a company called TableTop. Are you familiar with them, Matt?

Matt: No, I don’t think so.

Nate: Yeah. So TableTop is leading in the restaurant industry as a low-cost, easy-to-use, all-in-one front of house and back of house restaurant solution. So they include everything from POS and inventory management and supply chain, legitimate AI forecasting, automated ordering, and now a mobile ordering with TableTop ToGo. So whether your restaurant needs a commission-free mobile ordering platform that’s completely turnkey and can be set up quickly or you just want to become more profitable, TableTop empowers you to take back control of your brand and the customer experience from beginning to end. So a question for you, Matt, TableTop, they’re always developing new products to help restaurants become more profitable and solve real problems, what have you seen over your years in the restaurant space that if you had a tech team that worked on your behalf that could tackle a problem that you’ve seen, what would you have them go after first?

Matt: Yeah, I mean I think the big picture is that technology and hospitality, you know, are more intertwined now than ever and will continue to be so. As we figure out ways to meet the customer where they need to be, you know, technology is gonna be our friend and partner in that. Especially for me as somebody who’s doing a fast casual counter service, all-takeout restaurant that does online ordering and eventually delivery, you know, I’m always searching for new ways to connect with customers wherever they are, and it’s usually through their phones. And so certainly we’re in such a fun space right now where restaurants have at any scale can have access to millions of people really quickly. And, you know, thank goodness, for our mobile life.

And as we continue to be more autonomous and requiring less service but still having high expectation, you know, this is where kind of where we’re gonna need to be headed. And so for me, I’m always looking for those new platforms or channels to reach customers in really new and interesting ways that’s still…and I can still convey or I can still share the warmth, the intimacy and this passion that we have for food and sharing food together. So I think that’s definitely something that I’ve been thinking of now more than ever with corona, you have to really rethink like, what is the future of dining and you know, how are we gonna navigate this new normal moving forward. So yes, some interesting stuff going on there for sure. And it’s pretty much everything…all I’m thinking about right now

Nate: For sure. And actually right now TableTop, to address the whole COVID-19 situation is offering a 60-day trial of their mobile ordering platform. So restaurants can start accepting online orders directly commission-free. So there’s no more need for all the delivery tablets with the high commissions, whether you can put all those commissions back into your own pocket. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees, no commitments, just low-cost, easy-to-use, smart restaurant management tools to make your life easier. You can check out, TryTableTop.com and see for yourself.

So Matt, you were just talking about how you, you know, you’ve done all this in this restaurant design world and you know, obviously involved in those restaurants as they were getting going. What was it that created that spark in you to wanna go out and create your own?

Matt: Right. I mean, you know, it’s something I’ve, I think I’ve always had the dream for. I’ve have lots of dreams and lots of passions. And of course, having my own thing is something I’ve been thinking about for decades, right? But you know, I’ve always been in service to others and to other dreamers and that’s sorta how I learned, you know, how to do what I do. You know, like having a child, it’s…you never really think the timing’s right, but you do it anyways and then you just kind of push through it and find yourself on the other side, a decent parent. Same with running a business or opening a business, I mean, it’s almost like there’s never a great time. You just have to take the plunge.

And so, you know, for me, I was not working at Huxley Wallace anymore. I moved on and I had worked for a year or so for some corporation designing some retail spaces and not a big fan of that work environment. Then I was freelancing and doing a lot of freelance work and designing and doing creative strategy for entrepreneurs and other restaurant owners around town and around the country. But again, like freelance, like I was telling you before, it’s so inconsistent. And so I was like applying for jobs at, you know, corporations and nothing was really working out and I just knew I was like, this is not for me, like I am not cut out for office work. I’m getting a little old and tired to be waiting tables. So what else?

And, you know, being a creative director for a restaurant group is, you know, kind of an impossible job. Like nobody’s ever really hiring for that. I certainly invented that position for myself, so I know that it just doesn’t exist. So I didn’t really know. I was like at this place where I was like, I don’t really know what I should be doing. I don’t know how we’re gonna be making any money, but I need to get out of the house and I need a place to go. I need something to do. And so I started to think about the dozens of restaurant ideas that I’ve had and was like, well, what would a restaurant look like that doesn’t require a lot of people to work at it? It could fit into any size space. It wouldn’t cost a lot to open. What would that look like? And one of those ideas, that was teriyaki chicken. It was something that I was like, well, what is something that we all eat but we never talk about? What is a truly Seattle dish that has never really been anointed as such, but what is accessible, what is affordable? And that’s where teriyaki chicken… And who hasn’t made a move on it in years?

So that’s where I kind of landed on chicken last year and I was like, okay, I can…I think this is what I wanna do. I also had a feeling that this year we would be in a recession. And so I had no idea about a pandemic, but I did have a feeling that there might be a…2020 might be a recession year or 2021 might be a recession year. So what would a recession-proof restaurant look like? And it was small. It was under $15 a plate. It was counter service and all take out. Of course, it was in a neighborhood that didn’t have any competition or was in a food desert. It wasn’t supported by Microsoft or Amazon locations or employees.

And so that’s kind of where teriyaki chicken started to really get exciting for me. And I started to kind of start looking for spaces. And keep in mind, I have no money. I have no real savings. I’m just like dreaming at this point. But I’m dreaming and I’m looking at properties and I’m searching around the city looking for little spaces and starting to talk to my colleagues and my friends in the business and getting some support and some encouragement from them and getting some ideas.

And so we’re driving around… And I’m looking at everything outside Seattle because at this point I’m still like, I’m just done with working in Seattle. It’s not the best place to run a small business. And I’m just, I’m more and more convinced that the suburbs is like really where I should be. I need to be where there’s parking lots and where there’s mommy’s and little league teams and that kind of, that density. And I’m not gonna find it in South Lake Union. I’m not gonna find it in Capitol Hill or Belltown or any place with like really high rents and really like sort of punitive permitting and long permitting wait times and all that stuff.

So, but anyways, I live here in West Seattle and I’ve been driving around the city like I normally do, and I keep passing this building every week. And then the light bulb goes off, and I see this building that I’ve driven by hundreds and hundreds of times. And I’m like, oh, I think that might be something I can work with. So there’s this old Pizza Hut that had been vacant for almost a year and just collecting graffiti and looking pretty tired and boring, but it’s on a corner and it has a parking lot and it has an old fashioned big sign on the corner. And it’s a pretty decent sized space and there’s nothing going on and it’s surrounded by housing. So I look into it and it took me about…it took me about a week to find the owner and the broker and I finally get in touch with them and, you know, start to work out a deal. And then the next thing I know I’m like signing paperwork and looking to raise money.

Nate: Wow. So did you go to people that you knew or how did you start raising money?

Matt: Yeah, so I wrote a list down of like 33 people, friends, colleagues, family that I all thought had more money than me. And I wrote a business proposal and I built a deck, a creative deck which I was really good at making at this point because that was kind of my graphic design bread and butter. So I created a really beautiful, slick deck, sent it out, asked for, you know, asked for money and/or possible investors. And I got out of 33 people, I got 32 nos and one yes. And that one, yeah, that one yes was a substantial investment for me at the time, but it certainly was only like maybe a quarter of what I needed. But that got me started. And then the rest I just put on credit cards.

Nate: Wow, you really took the risk and just did it.

Matt: Yeah. And so that investment plus a lot of credit cards and you know, obviously it’s something I don’t recommend everyone doing, but I knew I needed to work really quickly and I knew how to build restaurants cheaply. I was already… I had done… After all these restaurants we had built, every one of them became more and more expensive. You know, it started off at…you know, they would be like million dollars and then $2 million and $3 million and then $3.5 million restaurant build outs. And those are just crazy numbers and you just…I just, at this point, I was like, I’m done with that. Like, what can we do? How can we open a restaurant for like $100,000? Like, what would that look like?

And so we certainly tried that. And you know, this space came with a walk-in cooler and a hood. And I thought I was like, great, but of course, you know, these projects just, they reveal so many more problems than you ever expected. And this was, you know, surely the case too. Like, you know, there’s so many issues and so expensive. But you know, ultimately we, you know, we got this place opened in like four months, four and a half months, and we made it happen and we did it for not a ton of money and not a lot of investors or anything like that.

So, you know, I think West Seattle is such a special community. I’ve lived here for, I don’t know, 11 years now and I love it here. And I think people who live here love it here too. And we’re all very nosy and we’re all very interested in what’s going on in our neighborhoods and when anything new comes along. So even…like right from the beginning, there was eyeballs on the project and the community knew what was happening and was anticipating it opening. So when we opened, we opened really strong and was, right out of the gate, was super busy.

And I had no idea what I was doing. Even though I’ve been doing this my whole life and I’ve been running restaurants and operating them in different capacities and different roles, there’s just…every restaurant I’ve ever opened has been…it’s just different and they’re really hard and they come with so many challenges. And this one was no different except that it was just mine. But we just kept hustling and we just kept failing and getting back up and opening again. And maybe we closed for a day or two and…oh, we closed so many times in the first couple of weeks because we would literally just run out of food and we didn’t have any…I didn’t have enough staff and I didn’t really even have a prep schedule. I didn’t have any of my recipes written down. They were all like written down on like different scraps of paper. And so every day… There was no schedule in the beginning. It was wild.

And we all just worked so many hours, like we were just here from morning, noon and night and then overnight just cooking just to keep up. And so that went on for like a month. And then sort of after that first month we were starting to…you know, I’m going through some people, like I need some better people. I’m listening to some smart people help me out here and there. So things are getting a little easier week by week, but then coronavirus starts to come down and become a much bigger deal than I certainly thought it was. But then something kind of remarkable happened, which was nothing changed.

Nate: Right. So you stayed open at that time for takeout, correct?

Matt: Yes. So we have a small dining room. It had five tables in it. Nobody really ever sat in them except just to wait for their food. So it wasn’t really even being used anyways. All of our food was already coming out in to-go ware anyways, even if you ordered it for here. So we didn’t really have to do anything. I just took those five tables and chairs out, removed the water pitcher and the tea maker and all the to-go ware and put some signs in the window and put in a, you know, a Purell machine and we got hooked up online for online order pickup, for curbside pickup. And that was it. And it was like no lapse in anything. Yeah. And so that’s been kind of how we’ve been rolling this last month and a half through the grace of God and just, you know, this community. We’ve been so fortunate to stay open and to stay steady and, you know, I get to keep nine guys employed with jobs and, you know, we get to make food every day. So all very grateful for that but I have…you know, but I think that we also checked off a series of boxes that needed to be checked off by the consumer in order for that to be an easy choice.

And so that’s kinda like where we’re at, at the moment. So from the very beginning, forming a truly neighborhood community experience was like the most important thing. And so in the very beginning, in the first three or four weeks, I would spend minutes talking to every single customer in line, just getting to know them and asking them where they’re from and are they close and all sorts of stuff. And people would wait for like 30, 40 minutes, you know, for food here and…because basically I just never stopped talking. And I did that for two reasons. One, of course I wanted to meet my customers and introduce them to me and our story and let them know that we’re neighbors too and my kid goes to their kid’s school and all that, but at the same time we were so busy that I needed to sort of slow down how fast people were ordering and give my kitchen some sense of a break in the tickets because the tickets were just coming out of the machine, dropping to the floor and it would just be like nonstop. And so people would just have to wait for forever.

So it was a little bit of a two-pronged strategy there. And I’m sure I think a couple of people got upset with that, but you know, it is what it is. And so I think that’s part of our sort of charm and one of our little secrets to our success right now is just that I just truly deeply care about people and especially the people that come to Grillbird. I’m truly interested in their lives and I want them to be fed and I wanna take care of them. And so from that perspective, it’s like it’s just super crucial that we, that Grillbird is synonymous with local and community and West Seattle neighborhoods. So that’s a huge part. I think our food is super tasty, but I also think it’s priced right. And even though folks still have to wait from time to time a little longer than they expect to, I do think it’s quick and we fall into that kind of fast casual kind of fast food, but good fast food kind of vibe that I think people are into.

Nate: Right. I think it’s pretty remarkable that you first of all had the foresight to see that there could be an economic downturn, but the fact that you designed your restaurant with that in mind and then here to have this happen and you’re still going strong in the midst of this while many other restaurants who were just business as usual, they’re…many of them are closed and obviously some are offering takeout, but they’ve seen such a huge decline. And meanwhile, you just moved a few tables away and you’ve, you know, you’ve still got your core business there. That’s pretty incredible.

Matt: Yeah, I mean it’s bittersweet for sure because, you know, some of these people are some of my closest friends and they’ve shut their restaurant down and they’ve laid off people or they’ve been laid off. So it’s not something I’m proud of in the way that I’m trying to gloat about that. It just is what it is, you know. But yeah, I don’t know. I mean it’s just a right time, right place, right sort of series of dials that were turned and believe me, some of it was intentional and some of it just happened the way it happened.

But now I’m certainly convinced more than ever that for me at least in Grillbird and the future of Grillbird or the future of any restaurant I’m doing, you know at this point it’s gonna be more like what we’re doing here. It really won’t involve tables or chairs. It’s really gonna involve fast takeout, automations, use of technology, delivery, drop off zones, kiosk, like anything that however I can meet the customer wherever they are gonna be now or in the future is what I’m interested in. And how to do that with a great experience of course, right? How do you make…how do you create a great take-home experience? Well, I’m asking myself that question right now, so I’m working on it.

Nate: Wow. So tell us those who are not in the Seattle area, how can they learn more about you and your restaurant? And those that are in the Seattle area, obviously you mentioned your West Seattle, how can they find you and when they do show up, what are your favorite couple of things in the menu they just have to try?

Matt: Sure. So you know, for those not living in Seattle, teriyaki chicken is kind of a thing here. If you’re a longterm Seattleite, you’ll see a teriyaki shop in every neighborhood, every half mile or so. They’re everywhere. There’s hundreds of them. And, you know, it’s for me it got me through my 20s when I was poor. It got me through my 30s. Now I feed my…you know, it feeds my kids. So it’s a thing that I think that we all…we’re all familiar with. It’s generally really affordable and you get a lot of food. And so you know, just like every city has a dish that makes their city, their city, I think Seattle teriyaki is specifically Seattle and it’s certainly done a certain way up here with char grilled chicken and a much sweeter teriyaki sauce and it’s lots of food for a good price.

So that’s kind of what Grillbird’s all about is great value, but also we’re doing a few things differently that others don’t. And, you know, I love the shops. I love all of those shops in town. They’re all good, they’ve all taken really good care of me. So I have nothing bad to say about those guys, but I knew that there’s a few things that we could do differently to meet the modern customer. And one of those is that our sauce is gluten-free. So it’s no big secret. We just use tamari and not soy sauce in the restaurant. So it’s wheat-free tamari and that’s what makes it gluten-free. And you know, we have gluten items on our menu. We’re not a gluten-free restaurant per se. We just happen to have quite a few options, and certainly when I’m designing new items now I’m considerate of our gluten-free and celiac community.

Our chicken is Halal-certified and we can do whatever we want. And so we have some really…I think we have some interesting stuff. Like for instance, we do a pork shoulder teriyaki, you know, which is just a slow, low braised pork shoulder that we finish with teriyaki on the grill. We also do a pot roast teriyaki. Again, another slow, low braised meat dish. Our steak, we sous vide and then grill. And so it’s a really high quality steak. We have a fried cauliflower, which is gluten-free and served with a nori ranch dressing, which I love. So I think we’re trying to stay pretty playful and just kind of doing our thing the way we do it. I wouldn’t say we’re even comparable at all to any of the regular teriyaki shops. It’s just gonna be different. You know, it’s just made by different people. I have a Western style kitchen, I mean, and that all kind of comes through. And ultimately it’s just sort of my food and my style, and I just wanna make yummy food at a decent price for neighbors. I mean that’s it.

Nate: Excellent. Well, Matt, it’s really been great to have you on today. Again, I’m gonna mention our sponsors TableTop, they’re offering a 60-day trial of their mobile ordering platform so you can start accepting online orders directly, all commission-free. Again, there’s no contracts or hidden fees or commitments. It’s just low cost, easy to use, smart restaurant management tools that’ll make your life easier. Again, you can visit TryTableTop.com to activate your 60-day trial today.

Well, Matt, it’s been so great having you on today and I really appreciate you sharing everything you have.

Matt: I really appreciate meeting you, Nate. Thank you.

Nate: Thank you again for joining us today on “The Savory Secret.’’ I’m your host, Nate Ver Burg. We invite you to click subscribe to receive all of the latest interviews from founders as we discuss lessons they’ve learned on starting and growing a thriving restaurant. Until next time, enjoy some delicious food and we’ll talk to you again real soon.

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2019 vue par Alain Damasio : “L’horizon désirable vient par l'écologie”

Qu’est-ce qui a changé pour toi en 2019 ?

Alain Damasio – Beaucoup de choses ! Jusque-là, je n’avais jamais “préparé” la sortie d’un livre. En réalité, je n’avais jamais sorti un livre attendu, car lors de la publication de La Horde, il y a quinze ans, j’étais complètement inconnu. J’ai donc découvert ce qu’était l’attente d’un livre [Les Furtifs a dépassé les 100 000 ventes réelles, et a été élu livre de l’année par Livres Hebdo, ndlr]. Je me suis retrouvé pris dans une exposition médiatique que je n’avais jamais connue. Je suis dans une petite starification. Ça perturbe beaucoup le rapport que tu as avec toi-même. L’espèce de tranquillité d’esprit, l’anonymat quand tu te balades, c’est fini. J’ai perdu ce truc ultra-précieux d’être transparent. Même en manif ! J’en ai toujours fait, des manifs, pas la peine de me remercier d’être là ! (Rires)

Tu t’es senti libéré d’avoir publié Les Furtifs ?

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Quand je finis un livre, j’ai toujours une sensation géniale. Tu te dis – c’est très con, mais : “Je peux mourir.” (Un blanc) Ma fille est à côté, elle fait une drôle de tête ! (Rires) J’ai versé tout ce que je voulais dire à ce moment-là de ma vie dans ce livre. Donc j’ai eu le soulagement d’aboutir à quelque chose. Un livre univers comme ça, c’est un temps énorme d’accumulation. La Horde s’étalait sur sept ans : quatre ans de sédimentation dans le Vercors, et trois ans en Corse à écrire. Sept ans de ma vie ont été mobilisés. Pour Les Furtifs, j’ai écrit le chapitre 1 en 2012 ! Ça a marqué toute une durée de ma vie.

Quelles sont tes plus belles rencontres de l’année ?

Une de mes grandes rencontres a été celle avec Yan Péchin [guitariste ayant travaillé avec Miossec, Bashung, Higelin, et qui a signé la bande originale des Furtifs, intitulée Entrer dans la couleur, ndlr]. C’est vraiment un guitar hero, transporté d’une autre époque. Ce qu’on a fait en janvier sur l’album a été dingue. Il a composé huit titres en quatre jours. J’ai joué avec lui sur scène, parfois avec le groupe Palo Alto. Faire de la scène, pour moi qui suis dans le polissage de chaque paragraphe, a aussi été une découverte incroyable. C’est l’extrême inverse de l’écriture, puisque c’est du one shot. Yan a un côté écorché, perché, il joue en permanence. Fin 2018, j’ai aussi rencontré le philosophe Baptiste Morizot [auteur de Sur la piste animale, Actes sud, 2018, ndlr], qui m’a beaucoup aidé sur Les Furtifs.

Tu préfaces d’ailleurs son nouvel essai, Manières d’être vivant, qui sort en février chez Actes Sud…

Oui ! Ça, c’était mon défi de l’année. Son livre est excellent. Il va encore plus loin que les précédents.

Comment l’as-tu rencontré ?

Coup de bol total ! Je le connaissais vaguement par une copine qui m’avait conseillé de le lire. Un jour, j’ai fait une rencontre où il faisait partie des orateurs, à Science Po Paris. On a bu un coup après. Il y a eu un feeling énorme. On a la même base culturelle en philo : c’est un gros deleuzien, nietzschéen. Il a ce côté philosophe de terrain, il sort tout le temps, et j’adore randonner aussi. Je lui ai fait lire Les Furtifs quand je travaillais dessus, il m’a fait des retours. Et ce n’est pas un gars qui te dit : “Ouais, super, c’est génial !” Il te secoue !

Je l’ai lu en même temps, et on a fait du pistage ensemble… C’est la personne qui m’a le plus impressionné ces cinq dernières années, et qui m’a le plus changé. Il a modifié ma perception du vivant. Il m’a agrandi. Tu es un peu plus profond, un peu plus large, un peu plus haut… Ton volume de compréhension du monde a poussé des parois, après avoir discuté avec lui. Quand on mangeait ensemble, j’y allais en me préparant mentalement. Cette rencontre a amélioré des moments clés du livre.

Et il t’a proposé de faire la préface du sien…

Oui. Je voulais être à la hauteur, ça a été une grosse pression, car c’est de la philo. On avait beaucoup échangé par mail. Il m’a conseillé de m’appuyer là-dessus. Comme j’ai mon approche d’écrivain, ça lui amenait quelque chose, j’arrivais en oblique sur ce qu’il faisait. Avec Yan, j’ai vu quelqu’un créer en temps réel. Et avec Morizot, j’ai vu un mec penser, une pens��e vivante.

>> A lire aussi : Alain Damasio, activiste SF et guide spirituel d'une génération rebelle

Tu as fait des découvertes musicales ?

Sous l’influence de Yan, j’ai écouté son album culte, fondamental pour lui, et qu’il avait en commun avec Bashung d’ailleurs. C’est un album de Talk Talk qui s’appelle Laughing Stock (1991), un chef-d’œuvre de six titres. Tu ne peux pas l’écouter en faisant autre chose, tu es obligé de rentrer à l’intérieur.

J’ai aussi joué avec la chanteuse Mood. Sur scène, elle est passionnante, elle est dans la pure sculpture de l’air. C’est une claque en live. Enfin, je suis revenu à des amours punks, avec The Distillers. La chanteuse du groupe, Brody Dalle, a fait un album en 2014, et j’adore ce qu’elle dégage, sa voix. Elle a une puissance grave incroyable. J’ai aussi découvert grâce à Rone [son ami, qui a composé le morceau Bora Vocal, sur lequel on entend Alain Damasio, ndlr] le groupe Sleaford Mods. C’est dingue. Ils sont deux : un mec assez trapu, puissant, qui balance des textes sociaux sur un rythme post-punk. Je trouve ça ultra-intéressant. C’est vers ça que j’aimerais aller si je continue à faire de la scène. C’est bien speed. J’ai regardé un live sur Youtube : il te tient pendant une heure en tension.

Politiquement, comment tu définirais 2019 ?

L’année a été très stimulante, enthousiasmante, grâce aux Gilets jaunes notamment, et à ce qui se passe autour de la pensée de l’effondrement, comme Extinction Rebellion. Je vois la jonction se faire entre les luttes anticapitalistes et les luttes écolos. Il y a une convergence naturelle, qui n’a pas été provoquée, que personne n’a voulu mettre en place. Je rencontre des gens pour qui c’est évident que l’ennemi commun est le capitalisme extractiviste. Et qui veulent cohabiter avec le vivant autrement. L’horizon désirable vient par l’écologie, c'est un renouement avec le vivant. C’est une vraie bonne nouvelle.

D’un autre côté, on est revenu aussi à la répression la plus standard. Moi qui parle beaucoup des régimes de contrôle, je trouve qu’on est dans une logique disciplinaire très simple : police, armée, interdiction de manifs, arrestations préventives, etc. Quand tu discutes avec David Dufresne, tu le sais. Il l’a calculé. On a fait plus de manifestants blessés en quelques mois de mouvement des Gilets jaunes qu’en vingt ans.

>> A lire aussi : 2019 vue par David Dufresne

On va voir jusqu’où on est capable d’aller, et de résister à ça. En tout cas, nous sommes à un niveau de violence tel que, pour moi, c’est le retour de l’action directe qu’il va falloir mettre en place. C’est un gros changement que j’observe. Le vieux débat “violence / non-violence” a vraiment muté. Ce n’est plus “violence ou non-violence”, c’est “violence et non-violence”, articulation entre actions de masse où le nombre compte, et actions directes avec des groupes plus resserrés pour aller chercher les responsables de ces systèmes. Les niveaux d’écoute sont tellement faibles par rapport aux masses mobilisées qu’il faut passer à autre chose. On le sent chez les Gilets jaunes, dans la mouvance du Comité invisible, ou encore dans Extinction Rebellion. Il y a une porosité à ça, à cause de la répression. J’ai l’impression qu’on comprend enfin que l'un et l'autre ne sont pas exclusifs. Comme le prouvent d’ailleurs les exemples de Gandhi et Mandela.

Des projets en cours ?

Mes deux prochains projets, c’est une série radio qui se fera avec Floriane Pochon de Phaune Radio et sera de la SF, et une série télé. Si ça voit le jour, ça va être cool ! Pour résumer, le scénario c’est “Game of Sapiens”. La Terre s’autodétruit autour de 2060-2080. Les gens qui le peuvent se réfugient en Antarctique. Ils voyagent dans le temps, mais systématiquement en 2400, où 10 000 survivants habitent dans une sorte de Taïga avec des lacs. Là, un nouvel équilibre s’est développé dans le rapport entre technologie et vivant. Tous les modèles anthropologiques coexistent. L’enjeu c’est : quelle communauté va donner le futur modèle de Sapiens ? Quel type d’espèce humaine on veut être ? On est en contact avec Netflix. Potentiellement, ce sera pour 2021 !

Propos recueillis par Mathieu Dejean

Dernier livre paru : Les Furtifs, éd. La Volte, 704 p., 25€, disponible sur Les Inrocks Store

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[whuie]

patrick k. pyo / 24 / webcomic artist awake at 5am thanks to creepypasta

snippets: born and raised in palo alto; an only child whose parents worked late; spent a lot of time at childhood friend danielle's family bookstore/cafe where he fell in love with stories (and her); proud of the fact that he was more popular in third grade than he was in high school; the kid you always wanted in your group project; started making (mostly scifi) webcomics in early high school under the name p. mercury and blew up in popularity around sophomore year in college thanks to his series "dream state"; was a barista and freelance copyeditor in l.a. for the income to support his work; his comic is being adapted for a netflix series and he can't stop talking about it… or worrying about it; bit of a diva; also lowkey anxious and bad at tactful confrontation; easily excited and easily impressed (and tries to impress everyone); not great at keeping secrets or masking his emotions (don’t tell him abt surprise party plans til last minute so he can't accidentally ruin them); has reminders and memos for everything because he's forgetful (so if he's a mess you know he's going thru something); goes to ballroom dancing classes; serious when it comes to his work

aesthetics: color-coded post-its; secret sketches of strangers on a bus; pen tucked behind an ear; watching the sunset from a porch; mouthwash before a meeting; dancing alone in front of a mirror; impromptu toasts; mildly tipsy and loud-but-not-bad karaoke; late-night writing with coffee; ties sorted by color; ketchup on everything; love poems; free calendars; large popcorn at the movies

needs: friends/acquaintances in the industry who maybe helped him in; cast/production crew working on his comic-to-netflix series dream state (see req here!); a mentor in the industry; a girl he dated and whose heart he broke bc he’s only ever been in love with one person; fellow writers or artists for a writers’ workshop; people whose work he's edited; fans of his comics; people who only knew him by his pseudonym; people who doubt his qualifications; old friends; cousins; friends of dani's that make him nervous or jealous; a roommate who will be *eyes emoji* when a famous girl starts coming over??; anything!!

[jetsetgopartybus]

Phone: (650) 800-8682

Address: 100 E Middlefield Road, Mountain View, CA 94043

Website: https://www.jetsetgopartybus.com

Email: jetsetgopartybus@gmail.com

JetSetGo Party Bus & Limo provides safe and affordable Party Bus rental and Sprinter limos for your special event in Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Francisco Bay Area.

[bangtanitalianchannel]

[ARTICOLO] I BTS incontrano Vogue a L.A. – Ed è “Hella Lit”

““Wow, ma quello è Raf?” chiede J-Hope – il main dancer dei BTS – entrando di colpo in un’appariscente suite situata nel quartiere di Downtown Los Angeles e arredata con divani color senape, e dirigendosi verso il centro della stanza, dove su degli stand sono appesi jeans attillati e western top. “Sembrano costosi” mormora, studiando le strisce di gros-grain, poi richiama l’attenzione degli altri membri della band nel momento in cui questi arrivano: “Ragazzi, è Calvin Klein!”

Il decimo piano dell’hotel è stato completamente chiuso al pubblico per questa settimana di novembre in modo da poter accomodare i sette membri del gruppo K-pop, giunti negli U.S. in occasione della loro prima significativa esposizione ai media americani: James Corden, poi Jimmy Kimmel, una memorabile performance agli AMAs (il primo gruppo coreano a parteciparvi), e Ellen DeGeneres, con una sfilza di interviste rilasciate nel mentre. Durante il loro penultimo giorno hanno raggiunto un nuovo traguardo, diventando la prima band K-pop a girare un servizio fotografico completo con Vogue, che ha loro proposto un tour divertente e spensierato della città che hanno conquistato con il loro successo.

Entrano nella stanza uno alla volta – Jungkook, il più giovane, è davvero incredibile dal vivo, non appena arriva cala un silenzio percepibile che lo coglie leggermente di sorpresa. Si dirige subito verso la zona dedicata al make-up per ricevere eventuali ritocchi, canticchiando tra sé e sé nell’attesa. Gli altri membri si precipitano verso gli snack ammucchiati su una credenza: ramen istantaneo e scatole di Pocky, Cheetos e Fritos croccanti, lattine di Coca Cola, fette di Castella, Americano ghiacciati, e densi frullati che aiutano a mantenere la forma fisica contenuti in borracce turchesi, confezionati separatamente e allineati con una precisione millimetrica.

La collezione di Raf in tessuto di jeans per la primavera 2018 (poi fotografato sulle Kardashian-Jenners) è puntualmente apprezzato; dopo ciò, i ragazzi escono per cambiarsi in privato e tornano per un controllo di gruppo. Essi sono estremamente meticolosi con riguardo ai vestiti: “Sono perfezionisti”, ripete orgoglioso un membro dello staff per cinque volte durante la giornata. Gli orli sono risvoltati, disfatti e riappuntati finché non si trovano appena sopra la caviglia; Jungkook si concentra su una cintura finché non calza a pennello, mentre Jimin e Suga confrontano tra loro orecchini con catenine d’argento, che sfiorano i colletti a causa della loro lunghezza. Jin entra con prontezza, alza le spalle alla vista di un paio di stivali da cowboy blu fiordaliso, e si mette in bocca una fetta di Castella.

Dopo circa 45 minuti, i ragazzi si accomodano su uno dei divani color senape e iniziano a raccontare con piacere i momenti salienti della settimana appena passata –l’incontro con Post Malone agli AMAs, Panda Express all’aeroporto – per poi passare alle loro espressioni preferite di slang americano. “Insegnaci qualcosa!” chiede il leader RM, in precedenza Rap Monster. Uno degli editori propone ‘lituation’, un misto tra ‘lit’ (nb: acceso, fantastico) e ‘situation’ (nb: situazione).

I loro occhi brillano come se avessero appena ricevuto in regalo un nuovo, splendente giocattolo. “Lituation! È hella lit (nb: ‘davvero fantastico’, gioco di parole con riferimento al testo di Mic Drop)!”

E lo era davvero.

Ormai, tutto quello che c’è da sapere sui BTS è trapelato nelle interviste. ‘BTS’ sta per ‘Bangtan Sonyeondan’, o ‘Bulletproof Boy Scouts’; la scorsa estate, avendo notato un successo crescente negli U.S., hanno aggiunto il nuovo significato di ‘Beyond The Scene’. La boy band, composta da sette membri, ha debuttato nel 2013 tramite la Big Hit Entertainment, un’agenzia di intrattenimento di Seoul che ha rivestito un ruolo di importanza minore. Inizialmente la loro musica era influenzata maggiormente dal rap e l'hip-hop. Nel 2015 hanno cambiato direzione e tracce dance energiche come "Dope" e tracce EDM come "Save Me" hanno attirato l'attenzione di un pubblico più internazionale nonostante la Big Hit rimanesse focalizzata sull'Asia.

Tutto è cambiato lo scorso maggio all'edizione del 2017 dei Billboard Music Awards, quando i BTS sono volati a Los Angeles per accettare il premio per Top Social Artist indossando i loro completi di seta firmati Saint Laurent e il successivo fermento su Twitter (la piattaforma social preferita dalla band) ha attirato l’attenzione del resto del mondo. Da quel momento l'attenzione nei loro confronti è aumentata a dismisura e quando i loro voli per la West Coast sono stati programmati, la stampa e i fan erano già pronti all'attacco. Al loro arrivo a L.A. sono stati accolti da una folla urlante di ragazze e ragazzi che si accalcavano contro la linea delle guardie di sicurezza che avevano formato un muro umano per proteggere i ragazzi.

Il viaggio a L.A. è stato una sorta di fenomeno pop mai più visto dall’arrivo dei Beatles a New York (o l’arrivo dei One Direction, beh, ovunque) ma di una rilevanza diversa. Per molti americani di origine asiatica ha significato molto vedere questi sette coreani celebrati su scala mondiale. In Corea i coreani sono rimasti meravigliati di vedere un gruppo loro arrivare così in alto (curiosamente i BTS sono esplosi prima all’estero, vincendo il loro primo daesang o altro premio importante coreano solo nel 2016). Anche i ragazzi lo sanno. Durante la giornata trascorsa con loro, hanno passato molto tempo beatamente sbalorditi dalle attenzioni nei loro confronti.

"È ancora difficile credere che stia accadendo davvero", ha detto Jin. "È un sogno."

Sono le 3:45 del pomeriggio e i ragazzi sono finalmente saliti sul party bus (com’è possibile viaggiare per L.A. con un piccolo entourage se non in questo modo?). Alla fine si contano: sette star del K-Pop, tre direttori di Vogue, una crew di quattro uomini per il video, un manager, una guardia del corpo, un traduttore, un truccatore, un assistente e il guidatore. Il resto del team (tre altre guardie del corpo, due hair stylist e un makeup assistant, altri manager e due addetti stampa) segue in Escalades nere scintillanti. I sedili sono rivestiti di pelle e il bus è dotato di luci colorate e di un palo argento al centro. Ci sono anche degli snack: bottiglie di Coca Cola tenute nel ghiaccio, distribuite dai ragazzi, pretzel ricoperti di yogurt, barrette Kind e un sacchetto di nacho cheese Doritos che Jimin ha preso tutto contento (“Sono i miei preferiti!”).

"Questo è il tipo di luogo in cui fare una festa?" Ha chiesto Jin mentre guardava il palo con sospetto. Una volta spiegato loro che quel bus porta le persone da un club all'altro ("così la festa non si ferma mai") il gruppo è rimasto sbalordito ("Wow, americani..."). Così J-Hope ha collegato il suo telefono e ha messo una selezione delle loro canzoni preferite: "Havana", "Dirty Pop". Si sono scatenati per la prima volta dopo giorni lasciando lo stress per gli AMAs alle loro spalle. Sembravano pieni di energia repressa.

Il basso fa tremare le pareti e V raccoglie due tappi abbandonati di Coca Cola e li mette vicino agli occhi, ghignando e scoppiando a ridere selvaggiamente. Jin e RM a turno si muovono provocativamente e saltellano attorno al palo in modo drammatico, finché anche ogni membro del team e dello staff sta ridendo.

Perché i BTS sono così popolari?

Sono lontani dal primo artista sud coreano a fare un salto negli Stati Uniti – le SNSD con la loro hit virale “Gee”, tra cui Rain, che famosamente sconfisse Stephen Colbert come personalità più influente per il Time del 2007 (come votato dai fan) – ma l'attenzione attorno a loro sembra diversa. È una questione di tempismo: al momento giusto, hanno trovato un gruppo appassionatamente leale chiamato Army, che ha perso la testa, è cresciuto rapidamente e ha consegnato i suoi ragazzi alla notorietà internazionale. Tuttavia, c'è anche il corrente paesaggio mediatico da considerare. È il motivo per cui i Billboard Music Awards hanno segnato un punto di svolta – i media hanno visto il potenziale di visualizzazioni e la crescita esponenziale di copertura mediatica che ha seguito è sembrata alle volte, per lo sgomento degli Army, ipocrita.

Prendete James Corden, per esempio, che ha attirato delle ire per aver assecondato i fan. Peggio ancora sono stati quegli intervistatori americani che non avevano fatto alcuna ricerca e hanno spesso posto con superiorità domande ignoranti - “Ballate?” quando sono conosciuti per questo. È stato difficile per gli Army guardare interviste esigue, condotte da persone che a malapena conoscevano (a cui sicuramente non interessavano) i loro ragazzi, solo per l'attenzione che avrebbero potuto portare; in molti casi, sono stati trattati come una novità asiatica.

Eppure il mondo della moda sembra impaziente di accoglierli in maniera più equilibrata, qualcosa che i ragazzi apprezzano molto. Hanno indossato Saint Laurent di Anthony Vaccarello per entrambe le comparse sui red carpet americani; spendono molto tempo a preoccuparsi di orologi e orecchini e nel documentare i loro look quotidiani. Sul party bus, mordono cautamente i loro hot dog ricoperti di mostarda, attenti a non farne cadere una goccia. Sono grandi fan di marche come Gucci, WTAPS e Calvin (e Raf, se per questo), seppure in Corea il prezzo di CK sia alquanto salato per via delle tasse di importazione. “Che ne pensa di uno sconto di gruppo: un pacco da 30 camicie di Calvin per $30, come suona?” propone Jungkook, ridendo. “Siamo d'accordo?”

Lo scorso autunno, i BTS sono stati avvicinati da un cameraman fuori da un famoso chiosco di hot dog vicino ad Hollywood. Il filmato è diventato virale e rumor che la band avesse cancellato un “meet and greet” senza alcun motivo si sono diffusi rapidamente. Ovviamente, la verità è che non ci sarebbe mai dovuto essere un meet and greet, ma un servizio fotografico privato con questo magazine: il proprietario ha firmato un accordo standard, parte del quale stipula che l'evento sia chiuso al pubblico. In seguito, l'account Twitter del chiosco posta l'esatto orario a cui la band sarebbe arrivata e incoraggia i fan ad andare.

Il bus accosta trovandosi davanti almeno tre crew di giornalisti, inclusi l’ABC News e il TMZ, e una folla di fan in attesa: il servizio fotografico non è più possibile. Per attenersi al programma, il team è obbligato a spostarsi qualche quartiere più lontano per continuare. Alla fine alcuni cameraman riescono a trovare la nuova location: un uomo particolarmente aggressivo comincia a urlare i suoi diritti di fronte ad un bodyguard (che non capendo l’inglese rimane letteralmente imperturbato). Il servizio deve obbligatoriamente interrompersi e i ragazzi mettono piede di nuovo sull'autobus.

“Perderete tutti i vostri fan americani ancor prima di diventare famosi” urla rincorrendoli.

“Che cosa ha detto?” chiedono una volta saliti di nuovo sopra il bus. Sembrano essere sulle spine, anche se principalmente confusi dalla situazione e dal panico scaturito. I team di trucco e parrucco si affrettano ad applicare olio di essenze erbali dietro i loro colli e si offrono di fare loro dei rilassanti massaggi alle spalle.

Una volta che le sue affermazioni vengono tradotte, tuttavia, la tensione diminuisce e loro ridono.

“Ringraziatelo per essersi preoccupato per noi!” dice J.Hope sorridendo.

“Sì, grazie davvero!”

Anche il team della Big Hit, sebbene apertamente contrariato, sembra in cuor proprio elettrizzato. “I paparazzi erano qui!” dice uno di loro passando. “Questo significa che siamo davvero diventati famosi, eh?”. Flash back al 2014 quando i BTS sono arrivati ad LA per filmare un reality show, American Hustle Life, in cui hanno imparato la cultura hip-hop. In una memorabile scena, i ragazzi sono stati mandati in strada per approcciare con molto poco successo delle ragazze random e per invitarle a partecipare al loro video musicale. Adesso, hanno un team di sorveglianza e il TMZ interessato a loro.

Assistiamo ad uno scenario più allegro da Dave and Buster’s, la catena di sale giochi per adulti, dove ai ragazzi vengono date carte da gioco illimitati per essere lasciati liberi. La pista in una sera infrasettimanale è tranquilla, solo un paio di famiglia con figli piccoli che passano il tempo; non viene prestata molta attenzione al bel gruppo sul fondo. Jungkook e Jin si fiondano sulla macchina di Dance Dance Revolution e si sfidano, i loro palesi stivali da cowboy che si muovono frenetici sul tappeto. Suga e Jimin afferrano un gioco di spari in prima persona mentre J-Hope e RM cominciano a tirare a canestro. Al di là della sala, V attira l’attenzione di un bambino - “Mamma, erano in TV ieri sera!” - e scatta un selfie insieme a lui, prima di rivolgere la sua attenzione al macchinario in cui lanci palloni grandi quanto il tuo palmo attraverso diversi cerchi. “Aspettate, questo è davvero difficile!” dice, chiamando Jimin per fargli fare un giro (Jimin ne lancia un paio nei cerchi giusti senza alcuna fatica).

La loro energia è contagiosa e sembra anche infinita. Dopo aver terminato il servizio fotografico ed essersi inchinati all’intera crew di lavoro, i sette ragazzi risalgono sul loro Escalades e ritornano immediatamente all’hotel. Si dirigono verso le loro stanze separate, si cambiano indossando abiti puliti e continuano un’intervista che era stata interrotta quel pomeriggio. Il giorno dopo, di buon mattino, appaiono da Ellen, si dirigono poi direttamente al LAX (N/B: l’aeroporto di Los Angeles) e ritornano a Seul per cominciare le prove degli show di fine anno, allenandosi fino a tarda notte.

Non ci sono dubbi che siano stanchi, ma nonostante questo sorridono e continuano a lavorare. Probabilmente la bellezza sta in quella semplicità: sette giovani ragazzi che si godono il viaggio.”

Traduzione a cura di Bangtan Italian Channel Subs (©Cam, ©CiHope, ©Clara, ©lynch) | ©Vogue

[deansdirtylittlesecretsblog]

All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You

Title:  All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You

Author:  Dean’s Dirty Little Secret

Summary:  Sam hitches a ride back to Palo Alto and meets a mysterious woman.

Characters:  Sam Winchester x female reader (?)

Word Count:  2415

Warnings:  nsfw, smut, explicit language, explicit sexual content, oral sex (both receiving), rough sex, angst

Author’s Notes:  Written for @chaos-and-the-calm67 80’s Writing Challenge. My song was “All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You” by Heart (x)(x). I started writing this a year ago after hearing the song on the radio and an image of Sam walking in the rain came to me. Bev’s challenge prompted me to finish it. There is no dialogue in this fic.

***My work is not to be posted on any other sites without my express written permission.***

It was fucking pouring, of course, the rain coming down so hard he could barely see his hand in front of his face. He’d left his goddamn jacket hanging on the back of the cabin door, the cabin that was now two hundred fifty miles behind him.  

Sam was cold, wet, and tired. He’d been walking for hours, catching a ride here and there, going maybe fifty, seventy-five miles before his feet would be pounding the pavement again. Now he was stuck in the rain on the side of the road, cold and miserable, Palo Alto still almost four hours away. He been trying to get a ride for the last twenty minutes, but it was late, there were hardly any cars on the road, and those that were didn’t seem willing to pick up a guy who looked like a drowned rat. For the first time in two years, he found himself wishing he’d hear the roar of the Impala bearing down on him. He’d deal with seeing Dad and Dean if it meant getting out of this rain.

He’d resigned himself to finding an abandoned building or something to spend the night in, or at least until the rain stopped, when a pair of headlights swept over him, the car coming to a stop twenty yards away. He ran to catch it, not wanting whoever was inside to change their mind. He pulled open the door and peered inside.

A woman sat behind the wheel, maybe a couple of years older than him, a shy smile on her face. She gestured for him to get in, which he did, apologizing for dripping water on her seat. She shrugged it off, put the car in gear and pulled back onto the road.

She asked him where he was going, offered to drive him as far as she could, still smiling. He wasn’t used to women picking him up when he hitchhiked, they were (rightfully) nervous to pick up strange men on the side of the road. But she seemed completely at ease, asking him questions, listening closely to his answers. He liked her right away; she had a calming presence. Even when their conversation naturally faded away, he didn’t feel awkward or weird, like he so often did when riding with strangers. He relaxed, staring out the window, the weeks of hard work and exhaustion catching up with him.

He’d been in northern California, near Crescent City, working since school had gotten out in May. He was due back for the start of classes in a week. Hoping to save some of the money he’d earned over the summer, he’d opted to hitchhike back rather than take a bus. That had been three days ago and he’d done more walking than riding. It felt good to sit.

He was only half awake, so groggy that he thought he might be imagining things when he felt the car slowing and turning. He opened his eyes and sat up, not realizing he’d slumped in his seat, or how close to sleep he’d actually been.

The car was parked in front of a hotel, lights off, engine still rumbling. She was sitting in the seat beside him, hands folded her in lap, staring down at them, a curious look on her face. He opened his mouth to speak, to thank her for the ride, figuring this was the end of the line, but before he could say anything, she turned to him, her arms going around his neck, her lips on his, kissing him. Surprised, he kissed her back, his hand cupping her cheek, his body leaning toward hers across the small seat of the car.

She was the one who pulled away first, the question clear in her eyes. He nodded, his response prompting her to grab her purse from the back, shut off the car and get out, hurrying inside the hotel office. He scooped his backpack off the floor and unfolded himself from the small, economy-sized car, stepping under the awning covering the sidewalk outside the rooms. He leaned against a pillar that he wasn’t sure would hold him and waited. He wasn’t used to a woman taking charge, reining him in. He was the one that needed to be in control, the one who dictated what happened every step of the way. This was new to him.

It wasn’t long before she emerged from the office, took a sharp right and started up the stairs. He followed.

He caught up with her outside the door to the room. She was leaning against it, waiting. As soon as he was close enough, she grabbed the lapels of his wrinkled and damp shirt, guiding him back to her mouth, continuing the kiss as if it had never ended. Sam took the key from her hand, reaching past her to unlock the door, pushing her backwards into the room, kicking the door closed behind him. He dropped his backpack to the floor, his fingers intertwined with hers, dragging her into the bathroom.

He’d been on the road for days and before things went any further, he wanted to wash the grime from his body. But he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. While the water heated for the shower, he peeled her out of her clothes, dragging his tongue over every inch of naked skin, taking back the control he craved, he needed. Once she was naked in front of him, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, he picked her up and set her on the edge of the sink, and dropped to his knees in front of her.

The scent of her arousal flooded his senses, her quiet moans as he dragged his nose up her thigh shot straight to his cock, hardening it instantly. He wanted to devour her, consume her, but he forced himself to take his time, to let his lips drift over her soft, silky skin, her hips rising to push toward him. His tongue darted out, a slow swipe through the lips of her pussy, a groan leaving him as her taste assaulted him. She gripped the edge of the sink with one hand, the other tangling in his long hair, tugging him closer, begging him to stop teasing under her breath.

His hands slid up her thighs and around her ass, cupping it in both hands and pulling her forward, diving in, his tongue sliding inside of her, a shudder running through her, her thighs trembling around his head.

God, she tasted so fucking good, felt so fucking good. He hadn’t been with anyone in months,not since he’d hooked up with a sorority girl at one of the hundreds of parties that always seemed to be happening on campus. She’d been drunk, he’d been mostly drunk, and it had been the sloppiest, least satisfying sex he’d ever had. But, this, this was going to be mind-blowingly good. He knew it, could feel it in his bones. This woman knew what she liked, what she wanted, and from the noises she was making, she wasn’t afraid to vocalize it.

The room was filling with steam, his body dripping with sweat, her body convulsing as the orgasm rocked her. When he finally released her, she slid to her feet, clinging to him, panting. He yanked off his clothes and pulled her into the shower with him, using the soap to massage and caress her. She was trembling and moaning by the time he rinsed the soap from their bodies and turned off the shower.

After that, she couldn’t keep her hands off of him, ripping the towel from his hands even though he’d barely wiped the droplets of water from his body, her body pressed to his, her hand closing around his cock, stroking him roughly. They stumbled their way out of the bathroom to the bed, hands everywhere, lips connected, bodies thrumming with desire.

He pushed her to the bed, his hand between her legs, two fingers deep, her body open and ready for him after the things they’d been doing in the shower. He pumped his fingers and pressed his thumb to her clit, her back arching, a gasping squeal falling from her lips, her hips bucking wildly as she came again.

Taking a deep breath, trying to steady himself, he pulled her legs around his waist and eased into her, taking his time, burying himself inside of her before slowly pulling out, so slow she was digging her nails into his ass, her hips rising to meet his, her thighs trembling. He kept it up until he couldn’t take anymore, his control snapped and then he was pounding into her, the cheap headboard slamming into the wall, the bed squeaking, her cries filling the room. He tangled his fingers in her hair, tipping her head back, desperate to run his tongue over her neck, nipping, biting, sucking, marking her. He slammed forward one last time, buried to the hilt, shuddering as he came.

He rolled to his back, his fingers drifting across her skin, grimacing as his cock fell against his leg. It was only then that he realized he wasn’t wearing a condom. He pushed himself up, turning to her, apologies flying from his lips, but she only smiled, pushed his hair from his face, and kissed him softly on the corner of his mouth.

Sam smiled at her, let her push him to his back, let her straddle him, her hands on his chest, his on her waist, her breasts brushing against him as she leaned over to kiss him, her pussy brushing against his already hardening cock. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think straight, not when she was rocking back and forth, using him to get herself off, her slick covering him, her nails leaving red welts on his skin when she dragged them down his chest. He was so far gone it took him a minute to realize that she was lowering herself onto him, moaning as he filled her.

This time it was over quickly, both of them wound so tight that they came quick as lightning, completely satisfied. She crawled out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom, and he could hear the water running. She returned a few minutes later, falling into the bed beside him, her head on his arm. They dozed, comfortable in each other’s arms.

She woke him a couple of hours later, her lips wrapped around his cock, her tongue moving in this crazy way that had him gasping and moaning, and pushing himself into her mouth, groaning when he hit the back of her throat. He was about to come, let loose down her throat, when she released him with a wet pop, pushed herself to her hands and knees, looking coyly at him over her shoulder.

He entered from behind, pounding into her, skin slapping against skin, his fingers digging into her hips. She pushed back against him, her head resting on her arms, her fingers twisted in the sheets on the bed. She was moaning, obscene sounds that made his blood boil with need. When she reached between her legs, her fingers sliding through the lips of her pussy, grazing her clit, brushing his cock as he slid in and out of her, he couldn’t hold back his own grunts of pleasure.

It went on like that for hours, sleeping, then waking to have sex, doing things he’d only ever imagined doing. She was insatiable, all over him, wanting him again and again until he collapsed at dawn from sheer exhaustion, unable to keep his eyes open a minute longer.

When he finally woke, the sun was not where he expected it to be; it was shining through the curtains at an odd angle, on the wrong side of the room for early morning. He pushed himself up on his elbows, expecting there to be a warm body beside him. Instead, there were cold sheets and a piece of paper with the hotel name embossed on top, neat cursive writing sprawled across it.

I am the flower, you are the seed. We walked in the garden, we planted a tree. Don’t try to find me, please don’t you dare. You’ll live in my memory, you’ll always be there.

She was gone and he didn’t even know her name.

Nine years later

He recognized her as soon as she opened the door, as soon as she opened her mouth and started to speak. His memory was flooded with the sounds of her pleasure, her moans and gasps, her screams of ecstasy. It had been nine years since he’d seen her, nine years since that night. He knew she recognized him as well; she did a double take, stepping back in surprise, a startled ‘oh’ coming from her. He did his best to keep his composure, introducing himself and Dean as agents Wilson and Wilson (no relation ma’am).

She cleared her throat and invited them in, smiling helpfully, answering all of Dean’s questions. Sam was frozen, quiet, letting his brother lead the questioning, trying desperately to ignore Dean’s curious glances, and the subtle hints that were an attempt to get him to speak.

They were nearly done, all of the questions asked and answered, their business cards in her hand, when a little girl, probably around eight or nine years old ran into the room. She bounced up to them, smiling shyly, shaking both of their hands politely.

He couldn’t stop staring at her, at her long brown hair, and her hazel eyes, eyes that changed color with the light. Eyes that looked too much like the ones that stared back at him in the mirror.

She walked them to the door, her hand on Sam’s arm as she opened it, squeezing it gently. She didn’t need to speak, he could see everything he needed to know in her eyes. He smiled at her, ruffled the little girl’s hair and followed his brother to the car.

They  were almost back to the motel when the text message came, the one he’d been expecting ever since he’d handed her his card.

Please, please understand. I’m in love with another man. And what he couldn’t give me, Was the one little thing that you can.

He dropped the phone into his lap and rubbed a hand over his face, ignoring Dean when he asked him if he was okay.

The answer would have been no.

Forever:  @jensennjared @mrswhozeewhatsis @the-mrs-deanwinchester @official-shipper @brooklyn-writes-flangst @climbthatmooselikeatree @mamapeterson @katnharper @raeganr99 @skybinx-blog @grellsutcliff105 @arikas5744 @faegal04 @the-girl-of-your-nightmares @mrsjohnsmith @mogaruke @courageoussam @nerdwholikesword @growningupgeek @bkwrm523 @iwriteshortstuff @for-the-love-of-dean @nichelle-my-belle @deandoesthingstome @andiamsoinlovewithyou @pizzarollpatrol @misswhizzy @supernatural-jackles @waywardjoy @awkwardnerdqueen @valee-ppiew @superbluhoo2 @deansbaekaz2y5 @roseangel013bf @jencharlan @kickasscas67 @neanealuv @deanscherrypie @kittenofdoomage @tjforston @purgatoan @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms @sckslife @sis-tafics @youwerelikeadream @i-dream-of-dean @impala-with-wings @bringmesomepie56 @basmaraafat @oriona75 @ultimatecin73 @gemini75eeyore @vote-for-pedro @tom-is-in-my-tardis @percywinchester27 @mysteriouslyme81 @faith-in-dean @that1seniorchick @milkymilky-cocopuff @atc74 @s4m-w1nch3st3r5287@demonangelimpala @justacaliforniandreamer @xxsugarturtle @findingfitnessforme @asxualgallavich @petrovadixon @colorfuluniversewhispers @love-kittykat21 @velcr0kitty @spookypeyton @frickfracklesackles @ria132love @shhhs3cret @harleenquinzzel @icantfindacreativeurl @gallifreyansass @anotherotter @kaitlynmarie1120 @giftofdreams @not-moose-one-shots @you-didnt-see-that-cuming @emoryhemsworth @fangirlofeverythingme @goldenolaf25 @nanie5 @cameronbraswell @luulaachops @upon-a-girl @goofynerd-67babylove @deanandsamsbitch @juanitadiann

Sam girls: @anotherwinchesterfangirl @sammit-janet @blushingsamgirl @withoutaplease @appleschloss @winchester-bait @kayteonline @miss-devonaire @frankiea1998 @samwinchesterfluffandsmut @impalaimagining @ellen-reincarnated67 @isabellarose5150 @saxxxology @lenawiinchester @captainemwinchester @feelmyroarrrr @dragon-tail @klaineaholic @avengedqueen26 @boxywrites @laurenphilpott16 @rebeccathefangirl @maddieburcham1 @wonderless-screwup @pretttypadalecki @baconlover001 @untitled39887 @thepoet1975

[blackresearchcentral]

The Black Panther Party's Black Community Survival Conferences

Sickle Cell Anemia Testing (Photo by Bob Fitch)

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was a revolutionary black nationalist organization founded in 1966. 

In 1972, the Black Panther Party held three conferences for the black community in Oakland, California.

These "survival conferences" were organized with the goal of promoting the development of grassroots institutions to help an under-served population meet their own needs outside the municipal, state or federal systems.

During the first event from March 29-31, the Panthers conducted a voter registration drive, led drills for “panther cubs”, tested people for sickle cell anemia, and had free grocery distributions for thousands in attendance.

Free Grocery Distribution at the first survival coference (Photo by Bob Fitch)

The next conference on May 13, 1972 championed the support of a new local political platform - with co-founder and chairman Bobby Seale for mayor of Oakland and fellow member Elaine Brown for Sixth District city council seat, who ran their campaigns on a "Community Survival Ticket".

Black Panther Party Newspaper, May 12, 1973 - Vol IX No. 30 (Source: It’s About Time BPP Archive)

(Source: It’s About Time BPP Archive)

Top: Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown on the campaign trail, 1972 

Bottom: Sickle cell anemia testing during Bobby Seale’s campaign for mayor of Oakland, California, 1972

(Photos by Steven Shames)

When the curtains were drawn open at the second conference, 1,500 bags of groceries were revealed all laid out on the stage. These were distributed by the Black Panther Party during this Black Community Survival Conference at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (also known as the Oakland Auditorium). (Source: East Bay Times)

“Let it shine, let it shine! Let the power of the people shine!” (”Elaine Brown - Councilwoman”, “Bobby for Mayor”, “Re-elect Ron Dellums”, and “Shirley Chisholm for President” can also be seen here)

“I’ve lived through some hard times here in the ‘land of plenty’, with the U.S. government talking about a sale for this and a charge for that, while we the people starve!” (“Bobby Seale for Mayor of Oakland, “Endorsed by the People”, “Vote for Survival”)

“Last night I dreamt all my friends came over to see my new room and play in my yard. But I sleep in the kitchen with my sisters and thee are rats in the lot out back.” (The ad in the back says “Large Luxury Homes With A View - the three and four-bedroom houses with ? and family rooms range from $75,000 to $?”. The poster the boy holds reads “People’s Free Co-operative Housing Now!”, “Bobby Seale for Mayor of Oakland” “Elaine Brown for Councilwoman.”)

Flyers for Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown's political campaigns by Emory Douglas (via Its About Time BPP Archive)  

You can see some primary documents relating to the campaigns here and here.

The final conference would be held on June 24, 1972 at De Fremery Park, which was known to the Panthers and locals as "Lil Bobby Hutton" Park in honor of their first official member Bobby Hutton.

Two women with free bags of food at the People’s Free Food Program, Palo Alto, California, 1972 (Photo by Steven Shames)

You can see how people felt about these services. This is from  (Source: Billy X. Jennings/It’s About Time BPP Archive)

Although a single project on this scale was never done before, serving the community was nothing new for the Panthers.

Members of the Black Panther Party stand behind tables and distribute free hot dogs to the public in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 1960s (Photo by  David Fenton/Getty Images via HuffPost)

This was just one of many proactive community initiatives of the organization. Party members continued to serve in other capacities such as police patrols, providing free clothing and shoes to people in need, providing free and relevant education at their elementary school (Oakland Community School, formerly the Intercommunal Youth Institute), providing free breakfast for children, providing transportation by bus for people to visit incarcerated friends and family, providing escorts for senior citizens to their medical appointments, providing an emergency ambulance service, establishing free health clinics (dental, blood testing, etc), establishing legal clinics, and much more.

Free clothing distribution in New Haven, Connecticut, 1969

Leonard Colar helping a woman with her shopping as part of the Black Panthers’ Senior Escort Program, 1973

Black Panther children in a classroom at the Intercommunal Youth Institute, the Black Panther school, Oakland, California, 1971

(Photos by Steven Shames)

The Black Panthers began their breakfast program  at St. Augustine's Church in January 1969, feeding poor and inner-city children. By the end of the year, their local project took on 10,000 children all over the country. They were soon serving full meals to 20,000 children on a daily basis.

“It is my belief that we black people need gas and electricity on cold and dark days; doctors and medicine in times of sickness; breakfast, lunch, and dinner in times of hunger.” (Revolutionary Art by Emory Douglas via Its About Time BPP Archive)  

The program was so effective that Jesse Andrews, California state treasurer, went so far as to say the Panthers were feeding more children than the United States Government.

J. Edgar Hoover in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 1967 (Photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto via LBJ Presidential Library/University of Texas at Austin)

In 1969, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who sought to dismantle the organization through a massive counterintelligence operation, boomed his frustrations outright:

“The BCP (Breakfast for Children Program) promotes at least tacit support for the Black Panther Party among naive individuals and, what is more distressing, it provides the BPP with a ready audience composed of highly impressionable youths. Consequently, the BCP represents the best and most influential activity going for the BPP and, as such, is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for. “

Black Panther Party Newspaper, Vol XII No. 25 - 1/15/75 (Source: It’s About Time BPP Archive)

Police in Oakland, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Chicago spread lies to manipulate public opinion, conducted raids, harassed participants and children, and outright destroyed food and packaging in attempts to disrupt the party’s progress.

The media had their own take on Panther activities as well running articles with mixed perspectives on what the breakfast program meant for the Panthers and the communities they served. 

Lionel Wilson speaks before the Oakland Chamber of Commerce in 1977 (Photo Credit:  Oakland Public Library)

As a result of the voter registration drive of 1972, thousands of black voters were registered. When Bobby Seale ran for mayor the next year after his release from prison (time served for his radical protests of the 1968 Democratic National Convention), he came in second to the incumbent mayor John Reading out of a total of nine candidates. In 1977, Lionel Wilson was elected the first black mayor of Oakland, California - thanks in part to the work of the Black Panthers.

Long after the activism of the Black Panther Party ended with the dismantling of the group in 1982, their services continued in other forms.

Inspired by the actions of the Black Panthers, the United States Department of Agriculture revisited and permanently implemented the School Breakfast Program for children in 1975, which had begun as a two-year pilot program the same year the Black Panther Party was established. It currently feeds over 13 million students across the nation every day.

A Black Panther Party member speaking to children at breakfast (Photo by Steven Shames)

In addition to this, more than half (53%) of the infants born in the U.S. participate in the USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which was another Black Panther initiative.

You can learn more about these social programs here and here.

The survival programs of the Black Panther Party are also detailed from their own perspective and through primary resources here.

Promotion featured in a Bay Sunday news broadcast (CBS5 KPIX-TV) on the legacy of the Black Panther Party as seen in the video below

Even the Black Panther’s Sickle Cell Anemia Program was not immune to sabotage attempts by U.S. intelligence agencies. Here is the cover of their paper’s May 7, 1972 issue.  (Source: It’s About Time BPP Archive)

Black Panther Party alumnae carried on the mission of the Black Panthers in their own ways, especially in regards to health.  

Ericka Huggins joined by her Black Panther friend and husband John Huggins at a “Free Huey” rally (John Huggins was gunned down by a member of the black nationalist US Organization at UCLA in 1969, part of a strategic operation by the FBI)

Ericka Huggins initially joined the Black Panther Party after seeing a photograph of Huey Newton on a hospital gurney bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to the stomach as an Oakland police officer stood over him laughing.

The catalyst then for her interest was an emotional concern related to health.

A newspaper account of the story by the Associated Press...the media’s perspective

In his book Revolutionary Suicide, Huey describes how police officers handcuffed him to a trolley and beat him after he had been critically wounded in a shootout with police. When he spat blood on them, they covered his face with a towel, and beat him some more. Huey wrote that a young man, Dr. Finch, committed suicide after Huey's first trial.

In later years, former members Angela Davis and Jonina Abron became involved in the National Black Women’s Health Project.

Seated with her fellow colleagues in 1989, Abron stated in an interview:

“You know, one of the points in the Black Panther Party’s program was ‘We demand decent healthcare for black people and I see my own involvement in the Black women’s health project as, you know, part of that continuum. I’m still, you know, in my own way trying to work on that particular part of the problem.”

The point she referenced was introduced on March 29, 1972 by Huey Newton to the official cannon of the Ten Point Program as a revised point number 6 - no doubt a result of the burgeoning health politics evident in the planning of the first survival conference. This demand for “COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE” read in full:

“We believe that the government must provide, free of charge , for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventative medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide ourselves with proper medical attention and care.”

Clearly, the Black Panther Party was at times rife with controversy but they are still known for the positive impact they made on the communities they served.

Read more about the party's contributions to healthcare in the book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination.

(Source: It’s About Time BPP Archive)

The Black Community Survival Conferences were not limited to the location of the Black Panther’s center of influence in California. There is evidence that survival conferences were held in other cities across the United States as these flyers for programs in Houston, Texas and in Detroit, Michigan confirm.

So...how do black communities across the nation survive in the conditions of the 21st Century? What lessons can we apply to our current struggles across the globe? Like the Panthers did in their time, we, too must answer these questions for ourselves.

‘I Gerald Ford am the 38th Puppet of the United States.’

‘They tell me there ain’t no jobs - what’s a person to do in order to survive?’, “For Temporary Work Lineup Here” (”Bobby Seale for Mayor of Oakland”)

“Food Conspiracy - [ME. conspiren; L. conspirare, to breathe together, agree in thought, unite] 1. any substance taken into and assimilated by a plant or animal to keep it alive and enable it to grow. 2. a plan agreed upon, the group taking part in such a plan; hence, 3. when high prices threaten the community, the poor unite, cut costs, in order to survive.” (’Things ain’t good until we the people get together for survival.’)

Revolutionary Art by Emory Douglas (via Its About Time BPP Archive)  

A clipping from the Black Panther Party’s newspaper (Credit to BPP Archivist Billy X. Jennings)

As Bobby Seale once stated...

“If there are no concrete programs to pull the people together...,to unify them, then we are doing nothing.”

After all is said and done in the course of our history, with many of the same persistent challenges facing us today, one question remains...

[happiness-in-oblivion]

Senior Szn No. 2: Thoughts on Moving

~~ Full Disclosure: This post is quickly becoming an excuse to post all the beautiful parts of this state, so get ready for more pictures than actual words. But hey, a picture is worth a thousand words ;) ~~

I am 100% sure that when it comes down to pulling out of my driveway for the last time, I will bawl my freaking eyes out. That’s because despite being an Aquarius, I have emotions.

Let’s make this perfectly clear: these are my current thoughts on leaving New Mexico (AKA the land of enchantment). I am not saying that I currently hate my state or that I never had fun; on the contrary, I’ve enjoyed all eighteen years here. But it’s time to talk a bit about the current state of Albuquerque, NM. 

Yes, the same Albuquerque that brought the nation Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. The same Albuquerque that has (don’t fight me on this) the best green chile around. 

Because I don’t want to make this a post that seems to be hating on my hometown, I will begin with all the positives.

Pros

1. diversity and mexican/latin@ empowerment

The OG homies and I at the local paleteria. Let me tell you, this is the place where I come to break my healthy eating. Also, that happens often.

In 2016, New Mexico was announced as having the largest Hispanic population at 47%, with California coming in second at 36%. So I guess you could say that we slay. 

From what I’ve mostly encountered in ABQ, being cultured is something to be extremely proud of. Albuquerque is filled with multiple perspectives, and we function. Now, I did say mostly, because I have encountered some dumbasses that thought calling me “lamb chops” and telling me my Greek father had to lower his standards to marry my Mexican mom was actually funny. But that kind of ideology is quickly shut down.

I thought this kind of inclusion was extremely common. In that sense, I guess I was in this naive bubble. When I spent the summer in California with my dad in 2016, I was a bit shocked by the state with the second highest population of Hispanics.

BTW, we were staying in Palo Alto, which is definitely important to mention. We had to drive to a separate city limit to eat flautas and Caldo de Rez, which we found weird. And then, as we drove down El Camino Real and took a random turn, we found a run down street that was filled with Spanish signs advertising hair salons, supermarkets, etc. The blatant street segregation was the biggest culture shock I’d ever received.

The only true purpose of that little rant was to emphasize how wonderful New Mexico is. Although there are definitely neighborhoods that are predominantly Hispanic, New Mexico’s roots proudly seep into culture and diversity. Good segway… :)

2. proud (albu)quirky culture

New Mexicans pride themselves when it comes to: breakfast burritos, green chile, luminarias, flamenco, and so on.

Now that I’ve stated the obvious, I’ll talk about my personal favorite part of Albu-quirky. Because of the diverse community that Albuquerque fosters, we have really cool and local spots to just chill and hangout. As I write this, I am thinking about the countless coffee shops and bookstores that display a bit it of our very common quirkiness.

Pretty rad mural outside of Zendo. I often come here when I am trying to wear my cool new glasses and baby blue turtleneck, if you know what I mean. This mural is one of countless examples of beautiful downtown art.

When it comes to coffee shops, I think Albuquerque has a very desired vibe. After taking a few classes, I usually end up at Winning Coffee. Located right across the street from campus, Winning is where hippies come with their wild dogs while they gain insightful stories from homeless people. I’m not lying. it’s also located next to a movie poster store that features classics (even from Audrey Hepburn!). When you walk inside, you’re greeted by refreshing and new art on the wall with every passing week, a calendar filled with poetry slams, and a makeshift bookstore by a retired man who sells amazing vintage cover books for cheap. I mean, c’mon, what is not to love?

You see, other than Starbucks, most coffee shops around here aren’t chains, so they each have their own unique style and vibe. Depending on the mood, I may end up at Winning, or I may go down one block and sit in the bucolic setting that is Limonata (yes, like the drink). Here, you can enjoy homemade crepes and empanadas. And I don’t usually drink caffeine, but their chai’s are to die for.

Limonata: “Good Food, Good Coffee, Good People”

Also, I can’t forget the fact that this obviously looks like a house, because it definitely was. The bathroom literally has a bath tub that they have expertly filled with plants to make you experience a jungle in a few minutes.

Heck, there’s a coffee shop in Taos called World Cup that has different currencies as its wallpaper. it’s literally a hole in the wall, and people simply pin new and refreshing culture on the wall for the heck of it.

That adobe architecture though, am I right?

4. cheap concerts

Although I have not been to a concert in a hot second, that does not correlate to a decline in awesome ass shows in this city. In fact, this past summer Khalid came on over, and most of my friends hopped into the venue with at most an $80 ticket. (Let me point out that I am upset that I didn’t go and had I not been in another state I would have quickly hopped in as well)

I will admit it’s not always fun when an artist you really enjoy didn’t include New Mexico in their tour because they don’t think we’re in the country. BUT, the ones that do include us experience a great crowd. And, not being New York does have its perks. Cheap tickets for an unforgettable night? Perfect bargain.

I was in seventh grade when I attended my first concert. The tickets were $35 to see Sara Bareilles and OneRepublic. I went with my little sister and my friend and her mom. The venue was in our local casino, which includes an open view of the beautiful sky and a scenic landscape as the background. Right after the opening band, Harper Blynn (check out their collab with Sara Bareilles too), my sister and I went to their bus in an attempt to meet them, and meet them we did.

When they found out it was our first concert ever, they gave us a free signed copy of their CD, took pictures with us, and signed their names all over my seven-year-old sister’s arm in Sharpie. It was AWESOME.

5. badass nationwide events 

If there is one thing that New Mexico is known for, it is for our rad balloons. You know, as in hot air balloons?

Every year, Albuquerque is home to the International Balloon Fiesta, where hot balloon aficionados can come and either display their artwork of a balloon, or sip some Piñon coffee and eat a breakfast burrito while watching each beautiful hot air ballon go up into the most spectacular sunrise.

Seriously, to come to this thing requires a lot of might from Burqueños. I mean, I enjoy watching the balloons over the interstate on my way to school, but I am never in the mood to wake up at four in the a.m. only to wait in an hour of traffic to battle for a parking spot a mile away from the park grounds. On top of that, you’re pretending not to freeze your ass off as you slyly inch closer to the balloons with fire.

This is not the only time Albuquerque is seen internationally. We also have the Lantern Festival in October, where people can enjoy a mini version of a hot air balloon (basically). But hey, that’s not all.

I had to talk about Festival Flamenco Internacional. OMG. What a week. Every June, the National Institute of Flamenco brings incredible flamenco artists to teach classes and perform. For a week in the year, people between New York and Japan fly to Albu-quirky to learn from the hottest (artistically and literally) artists.

This picture has an incredible story, so hear me out. So all summer, my friends and I fundraised to see these amazing people and their art. Well, the opening night of the week, our director managed to sneak us into the very prestigious gala as waitresses and servers. After the amazing show where I spent the entire time internally crying, we returned to the party only to find our dance idols on the dance floor. They were regular people jamming to salsa music. It was so surreal! And then, our amazing director asked them for a picture with all of us. I am hugging Claudia Cruz to my left, who was one of my teachers for the week. Throughout the week, we had genuine conversations, and she even told me I was a good dancer with a followed wink. She messages me on facebook to remind me that I’m awesome and she can’t wait for the day to come when I visit her in Spain. Like, are you kidding me?!

(Also picture from left to right: Claudia Cruz, me, Sage, Marco Flores, Agueda Saavedra, Madison, and Jose Manuel Alvarez)

6. nature

This is another given that comes hand in hand with living in New Mexico. Although I will admit sometimes I may not be a complete outdoorsy person, I do genuinely enjoy the beauty of NM. I mean, the mountains that surround Albuquerque prevent pollution from reaching the sky that blesses the citizens with orange and red hues with every sunrise and sunset. Also, there are countless hikes to go on, and the view is spectacular. It’s a tradition with family and friends of ours to go on a weekly hike during the summer. Then, we go to Marble Brewery and enjoy tacos and beer (I don’t get any beer; oh well).

This was the view after a hike on the mountains during Thanksgiving Break.

Just a casual picture taken by my friend while hiking around Tent Rocks. Nothing too unusual, right?

Current Cons

Now that I’ve extensively covered all the amazing things that NM has to offer and have probably already lost several readers, I will go into the initial motivation behind this post. Although I admit now that after writing all the things from above, it seems like the list below doesn’t deserve to be mentioned. But trust me, it needs to be.

1. violence

Albuquerque got recognition from the NYTimes, and not the good kind. BTW, this was published in 2014, and it claims that the “rate of violent crime in Albuquerque is nearly double the national average.”

Don’t get me wrong - violence in ABQ has always been present. Before, however, it was usually localized violence. By this, I guess I mean that if you knew the places to avoid, you didn’t ever have to actually witness the gang violence or the constant murders. In other words, you could live in Albuquerque reading of the violence but never having to ever witness it. 

Well, that has definitely changed.

During this past week, a homeless man has exposed himself to my dance class, my mom witnessed a man piss on the side of my neighbor’s house while walking our dog, and a lot more serious stuff (trigger warning ahead).

Specifically, a man was hanging onto the side of the bridge overlooking the major freeway for 13 hours. This happened literally right outside of my house. As we drove back form church, we saw a herd of policemen trying to calm this poor man down. He did not yield until 1 a.m., and he was transported to the hospital safely. It was absolutely horrible. Even worse?

Two days later, my friend told our group chat that her stepfather (who is a cop) had to respond to a call that a sixteen-year-old boy was on the side of a different bridge. As the cops approached the bridge, he jumped. He didn’t die; instead, he is faced with irrecoverable brain injury. 

Like you’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now. How the hell did Albuquerque become so violent? From the influx of desperate homeless people walking down Central, to the shooting that happened right outside of my dance institute, Albuquerque has definitely become a place where violence is beginning to occur on a regular basis. And the worst part? I think I am starting to become numb to it. It’s not normal to think these things are normal.

2. 49th in education

So, this report is from 2017. Believe it or not, this is actually a step up from 2016. We were a solid last in the country for education. And I genuinely didn’t think that education in my state was that bad. That’s because, despite me absolutely despising my school, we are number one in the state for education. That means that while I was receiving a buttload of homework and a ridiculously difficult education, other public high schools would rank as an F on academic abilities. But do you know what I think of all of this? It’s fucked. 

I don’t know if this is nationwide, but I didn’t know it was not normal to spend most of the day studying for statewide tests. In other words, New Mexico had the SBA (Standardized Based Assessment). Most of my school day involved multiple choice questions and answering reading comprehension questions that would be featured on the annual standardized test. And trust me, it’s not the teacher’s faults. Most teachers were forced to stick to this because if students did not receive good scores, teachers and schools would be in major jeopardy. 

This kind of thinking didn’t end in elementary school. While I was supposed to be reading a new chapter for a striking English book in sixth grade, we’d instead sit in front of our computers, reading pointless passages about horses and spaceships that we gave no fucks over and were expected to write an analytical essay comparing the breed of horses with the flight of spaceships. You’re thinking, wtf? Exactly. It’s pointless.

**I am now begging you to actually click the link I am posting here, because it’s definitely the most important one here. Enjoy this slam poem, “Love Letter to Albuquerque Public Schools.” In it is Olivia Gatwood, a personal inspiration of mine that I got to meet and speak with in September and will see again in April.**

3. “land of entrapment” / “university near mom”

This one is really silly and I guess I put this as a comedic conclusion. I guess in a gruesome way, because of the education many teenagers receive, we seem trapped (bringing the infamous nickname above). I know that personally, before I actually took college courses outside of the state, I did not picture myself at any top-ranked college. In fact, some people around me don’t even consider a college. Not because they’re too lazy or not into higher education, but because it is not practical. It is not practical to attend college courses if you have family  members that need an income from you now, not in four years.

I hate when people judge other’s circumstances. Genuinely, Albuquerque students will often end up at the University of New Mexico, which is not a bad university at all. And yet, in this land of entrapment, it is also humorously deemed the “university near mom.”

I guess what I mean is that after all this effort and living in this weird ass situation of shootings and standardized testing, my generation still feels trapped, constantly looking to move. And that’s what happened to me. I was given a glimpse of what independence looked like, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to leave New Mexico.

I’m glad I wrote this post. At the end of this, I wonder if anyone is actually left after this long rant that was both good and evil. And yet, I already see the day I miss this place coming sooner rather than later.

Thanks for sticking around. :)

[cheaplimorides23]

Experience the ultimate party bus adventure in Palo Alto with Cheap Limo Ride. Our stylish and spacious party buses are perfect for any occasion, from birthdays to corporate events. With plush seating, state-of-the-art amenities, and reliable service, we guarantee a night to remember. Whether you're cruising through downtown or heading to a special venue, Cheap Limo Ride ensures you arrive in comfort and style. Book your party bus in Palo Alto now and let the festivities begin.

[severteknoloji]

Hastanelerdeki Görünmeyen Tehlike, Hacker'ların Hedefinde

Siber güvenlik firması Palo Alto Networks tarafından yayınlanan bir araştırmaya göre, hastanelerdeki internete bağlı görüntüleme cihazlarının çok büyük bir kısmı eski işletim sistemlerini kullanıyor. Firma, bu cihazların %83'ünün, hackerların kullanabileceği açıklıklar içerdiğini ve güncellenmesi mümkün olmayan eski yazılımlar ile çalıştığını söyledi. Bu sayı, 2018 yılından bu yana ciddi bir şekilde arttı ve Microsoft'un bu yılın başlarında Windows 7 desteğini kesmesi ile daha da ciddi boyutlara ulaştı. Cihazların ciddi bir miktarı, Microsoft'un desteklemeyi 2014 yılında bıraktığı Windows XP de dahil olmak üzere çok daha eski işletim sistemleri üzerinde çalışıyor. Bu görüntüleme cihazlarının arasında X-ray'ler, MRI'lar, mamogramlar ve CAT tarama cihazları bulunuyor. Araştırma, bir kez daha, internete bağlı cihazların herhangi bir bilgisayar gibi düzgün bakım gerektirdiğini gösteriyor. Akıllı ampullerden termometrelere kadar pek çok ev cihazı, kendileri için üretilmiş basit işletim sistemleri ile çalışıyor. Ekibin kontrol ettiği görüntüleme cihazları gibi daha karmaşık olan cihazlar ise bilgisayarlar ile aynı işletim sistemini temel alan sistemleri kullanıyorlar ve bilgisayar gibi gözükmeseler de, bilgisayar gibi davranıyorlar. Güvenlik uzmanlarının belirttiği üzere işletim sisteminizi güncel tutmak, hacker'lara karşı yapabileceğiniz en etkili savunmalardan biri. Ancak güncellemeler durduğu zaman bu durum, hacker'ların açık aramayı bırakacakları anlamına gelmiyor. Bazı durumlarda üreticiler eski bir sistemde bir açık bulunduğunda güncelleme sunabilirler ancak bunun garantisi bulunmuyor. Hastanelerdeki cihazları hedef almak için hacker'ların pek çok farklı nedeni var. Örneğin görüntüleme ve diğer tıbbi cihazlar – infüzyon pompaları ve hasta takip sistemleri gibi – fidye yazılımı saldırılarının hedefi olabiliyor. Hastaneler geçmişte de fidye saldırısı ile sıklıkla karşılaşan kurumlar olarak öne çıkıyor ve hastaların hayatları söz konusu olduğu için, çoğunlukla ellerindeki tek seçenek istenilen ücreti ödemek oluyor. Bir başka örnek ise cihazların işletim gücünün kripto para birimi üretmek için kullanılması. Bu tür bir saldırı ve kullanım da cihazların aşırı ısınmalarına veya düzgün çalışmamalarına sebep olabiliyor. Cihazların saldırılara açık olmalarının tek sebebi eski işletim sistemleri kullanmaları da değil. Genellikle tıp çalışanları e-postaları, bu cihazlar ile aynı ağda çalışan bilgisayarlarda açıyor ve e-posta kullanıcılarına yönelik phishing saldırıları, tüm uyarılara rağmen halen internet üzerindeki en etkili hack yöntemlerinden biri olarak öne çıkıyor. Araştırma, hastanelerde ve diğer işletmelerdeki toplam 1,2 milyon internete bağlı cihazı inceledi. Bu sayı fazla gibi gözükebilir ancak işletme analiz firması Gartner'ın söylediğine göre, 2019 yılında 4,8 milyar internete bağlı cihaz bulunuyordu. Palo Alto'nun söylediğine göre hastanelerin görüntüleme cihazlarını güncellemede sorun yaşamalarının sebeplerinden biri, bu güncellemelere direkt olarak Microsoft gibi yazılım üreticilerinden ulaşamamaları ve kendilerine cihazları satan üçüncü parti satıcıların güncelleme sunmalarını beklemelerinin gerekmesi. Bu sistemin iyileştirilmesinin gerektiği de açık bir şekilde görülebiliyor. Read the full article

[garudabluffs]

A close-up of Willie Nelson and Trigger in 1978.

Trigger The life of a guitar.

The guitar—a Martin N-20 classical, serial number 242830

“Django had actually played a steel-stringed Selmer guitar, but to Willie, its mellow, plucky tone (a product of the tortoiseshell button Django used as a pick) sounded like a gut-string. Like his Martin.”   

“ Willie’s endless party ended—momentarily—in late 1990, when years of unpaid taxes caught up with him. Federal agents invaded his Pedernales ranch and confiscated everything they could get their hands on. One thing they didn’t take—maybe the most valuable thing on the property—was the guitar, which was sitting on Willie’s bus, parked just down the road from the main house. Willie was in Hawaii during the raid, and when he heard that his guitar had been spared, he asked his daughter Lana to send it to him, just to be safe. She grabbed the guitar and got it back to her dad.”                                        

READ MORE https://getpocket.com/explore/item/trigger?utm_source=pocket-newtab

would whoever stole from Boston Logan Airport in 1980 the Martin OO-18 guitar purchased from Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto,CA. please return to me? Thank you for your consideration - you’re a HERO!

[toomanysinks]

VDOO secures $32M for a platform that uses AI to detect and fix vulnerabilities on IoT devices

Our universe of connected things is expanding by the day: the number of objects with embedded processors now exceeds the number of smartphones globally and is projected to reach some 18 billion devices by 2022. But just as that number is growing, so are the opportunities for malicious hackers to use these embedded devices to crack into networks, disrupting how these objects work and stealing information, a problem that analysts estimate will cost $18.3 billion to address by 2023. Now, an Israeli startup called VDOO has raised $32 million to address this, with a platform that identifies and fixes security vulnerabilities in IoT devices, and then tests to make sure that the fixes work.

The funding is being led by WRVI Capital and GGV Capital and also includes strategic investments from NTT DOCOMO (which works with VDOO), MS&AD Ventures (the venture arm of the global cyber insurance firm), and Avigdor Willenz (who founded both Galileo Technologies and Annapurna Labs, respectively acquired by Marvell and Amazon). 83North, Dell Technology Capital and David Strohm, who backed VDOO in its previous round of $13 million in January 2018, also participated, bringing the total raised by VDOO now to $45 million.

VDOO — a reference to the Hebrew word that sounds like “vee-doo” and means “making sure” — was cofounded by Netanel Davidi (co-CEO), Uri Alter (also co-CEO) and Asaf Karas (CTO). Davidi and Alter previously co-founded Cyvera, a pioneer in endpoint security that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks and became the basis for its own endpoint security product; Karas meanwhile has extensive experience coming to VDOO of working, among other places, for the Israeli Defense Forces.

In an interview, Davidi noted that the company was created out of one of the biggest shortfalls of IoT.

“Many embedded systems have a low threshold for security because they were not created with security in mind,” he said, noting that this is partly due to concerns of how typical security fixes might impact performance, and the fact that this has typically not been a core competency for hardware makers, but something that is considered after devices are in the market. At the same time, a lot of security solutions today in the IoT space have focused on monitoring, but not fixing, he added. “Most companies have good solutions for the visibility of their systems, and are able to identify vulnerabilities on the network, but are not sufficient at protecting devices themselves.”

The sheer number of devices on the market and their spread across a range of deployments from manufacturing and other industrial scenarios, through to in-home systems that can be vulnerable even when not connected to the internet, also makes for a complicated and uneven landscape.

VDOO’s approach was to conceive of a very lightweight implementation that sits on a small group of devices — “small” is relative here: the set was 16,000 objects — applying machine learning to “learn” how different security vulnerabilities might behave to discover adjacent hacks that hadn’t yet been identified.

“For any kind of vulnerability, using deep binary analysis capabilities, we try to understand the broader idea, to figure out how a similar vulnerability can emerge,” he said.

Part of the approach is to pare down security requirements and solutions to those pertinent to the device in question, and providing clear guidance to vendors for how to best avoid problems in the first place at the development stage. VDOO then also generates specific “tailor-made on-device micro-agents” to continue the detection and repair process. (Davidi likened it to a modern approach to some cancer care: preventive measures such as periodic monitoring checks; followed by a “tailored immunotherapy” based on prior analysis of DNA.)

It currently supports Linux- and Android-based operating systems, as well as FreeRTOS and support for more systems coming soon, Davidi said. It sells its services primarily to device makers, who can make over the air updates to their devices after they have been purchased and implemented to keep them up to date with the latest fixes. Typical devices currently secured with VDOO tech include safety and security devices such as surveillance cameras, NVRs & DVRs, fire alarm systems, access controls, routers, switches and access points, Davidi said.

It’s the focus on providing security services for hardware makers, in fact, that helps VDOO stand out from the others in the field.

“Among all startups for embedded systems, VDOO is the first to introduce a unique, holistic approach focusing on the device vendors which are the focal enabler in truly securing devices,” said Lip-Bu Tan, founding partner of WRVI Capital. “We are delighted to back VDOO’s technology, and the exceptional team that has created advanced tools to allow vendors to secure devices as much as possible without in-house security know-how, for the first time in many decades, I see a clear demand for security, as being raised constantly in many meetings with leading OEMs worldwide, as well as software giants.”

Over the last 18 months, as VDOO has continued to expand its own reach, it has picked up customers along the way after identifying vulnerabilities in their devices. Its dataset covers some 70 million embedded systems’ binaries and more than 16,000 versions of embedded systems, and it has worked with customers to identify and address 150 zero-day vulnerabilities and 100,000 security issues that would have potentially impacted 1.5 billion devices.

Interestingly, while VDOO is building its own IP, it is also working with a number of vendors to provide many of the fixes. Davidi says that VDOO and those vendors go through fairly rigorous screening processes before integrating, and the hope is that down the line there will more automation brought in for the “fixing” element using third-party solutions.

“VDOO brings a unique end-to-end security platform, answering the global connectivity trend and the emerging threats targeting embedded devices, to provide security as an essential enabler of extensive connected devices adoption. With its differentiated capabilities, VDOO has succeeded in acquiring global customers, including many top-tier brands. Moreover, VDOO’s ability to uncover and mitigate weaknesses created by external suppliers fits perfectly into our Supply Chain Security investment strategy,” said Glenn Solomon, managing partner at GGV Capital, in a statement. “This funding, together with the company’s great technology, skilled entrepreneurs and one of the best teams we have seen, will allow VDOO to maintain its leadership position in IoT security and expand geographies while continuing to develop its state-of-the-art technology.”

Valuation is currently not being disclosed.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/24/vdoo-secures-32m-for-a-platform-that-detects-and-fixes-vulnerabilities-on-iot-devices/

[fmservers]

VDOO secures $32M for a platform that detects and fixes vulnerabilities on IoT devices

Our universe of connected things is expanding by the day: the number of objects with embedded processors now exceeds the number of smartphones globally and is projected to reach some 18 billion devices by 2022. But just as that number is growing, so are the opportunities for malicious hackers to use these embedded devices to crack into networks, disrupting how these objects work and stealing information, a problem that analysts estimate will cost $18.3 billion to address by 2023. Now, an Israeli startup called VDOO has raised $32 million to address this, with a platform that identifies and fixes security vulnerabilities in IoT devices, and then tests to make sure that the fixes work.

The funding is being led by WRVI Capital and GGV Capital and also includes strategic investments from NTT DOCOMO (which works with VDOO), MS&AD Ventures (the venture arm of the global cyber insurance firm), and Avigdor Willenz (who founded both Galileo Technologies and Annapurna Labs, respectively acquired by Marvell and Amazon). 83North, Dell Technology Capital and David Strohm, who backed VDOO in its previous round of $13 million in January 2018, also participated, bringing the total raised by VDOO now to $45 million.

VDOO — a reference to the Hebrew word that sounds like “vee-doo” and means “making sure” — was cofounded by Netanel Davidi (co-CEO), Uri Alter (also co-CEO) and Asaf Karas (CTO). Davidi and Alter previously co-founded Cyvera, a pioneer in endpoint security that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks and became the basis for its own endpoint security product; Karas meanwhile has extensive experience coming to VDOO of working, among other places, for the Israeli Defense Forces.

In an interview, Davidi noted that the company was created out of one of the biggest shortfalls of IoT.

“Many embedded systems have a low threshold for security because they were not created with security in mind,” he said, noting that this is partly due to concerns of how typical security fixes might impact performance, and the fact that this has typically not been a core competency for hardware makers, but something that is considered after devices are in the market. At the same time, a lot of security solutions today in the IoT space have focused on monitoring, but not fixing, he added. “Most companies have good solutions for the visibility of their systems, and are able to identify vulnerabilities on the network, but are not sufficient at protecting devices themselves.”

The sheer number of devices on the market and their spread across a range of deployments from manufacturing and other industrial scenarios, through to in-home systems that can be vulnerable even when not connected to the internet, also makes for a complicated and uneven landscape.

VDOO’s approach was to conceive of a very lightweight implementation that sits on a small group of devices — “small” is relative here: the set was 16,000 objects — applying machine learning to “learn” how different security vulnerabilities might behave to discover adjacent hacks that hadn’t yet been identified.

“For any kind of vulnerability, using deep binary analysis capabilities, we try to understand the broader idea, to figure out how a similar vulnerability can emerge,” he said.

Part of the approach is to pare down security requirements and solutions to those pertinent to the device in question, and providing clear guidance to vendors for how to best avoid problems in the first place at the development stage. VDOO then also generates specific “tailor-made on-device micro-agents” to continue the detection and repair process. (Davidi likened it to a modern approach to some cancer care: preventive measures such as periodic monitoring checks; followed by a “tailored immunotherapy” based on prior analysis of DNA.)

It currently supports Linux- and Android-based operating systems, as well as FreeRTOS and support for more systems coming soon, Davidi said. It sells its services primarily to device makers, who can make over the air updates to their devices after they have been purchased and implemented to keep them up to date with the latest fixes. Typical devices currently secured with VDOO tech include safety and security devices such as surveillance cameras, NVRs & DVRs, fire alarm systems, access controls, routers, switches and access points, Davidi said.

It’s the focus on providing security services for hardware makers, in fact, that helps VDOO stand out from the others in the field.

“Among all startups for embedded systems, VDOO is the first to introduce a unique, holistic approach focusing on the device vendors which are the focal enabler in truly securing devices,” said Lip-Bu Tan, founding partner of WRVI Capital. “We are delighted to back VDOO’s technology, and the exceptional team that has created advanced tools to allow vendors to secure devices as much as possible without in-house security know-how, for the first time in many decades, I see a clear demand for security, as being raised constantly in many meetings with leading OEMs worldwide, as well as software giants.”

Over the last 18 months, as VDOO has continued to expand its own reach, it has picked up customers along the way after identifying vulnerabilities in their devices. Its dataset covers some 70 million embedded systems’ binaries and more than 16,000 versions of embedded systems, and it has worked with customers to identify and address 150 zero-day vulnerabilities and 100,000 security issues that would have potentially impacted 1.5 billion devices.

Interestingly, while VDOO is building its own IP, it is also working with a number of vendors to provide many of the fixes. Davidi says that VDOO and those vendors go through fairly rigorous screening processes before integrating, and the hope is that down the line there will more automation brought in for the “fixing” element using third-party solutions.

“VDOO brings a unique end-to-end security platform, answering the global connectivity trend and the emerging threats targeting embedded devices, to provide security as an essential enabler of extensive connected devices adoption. With its differentiated capabilities, VDOO has succeeded in acquiring global customers, including many top-tier brands. Moreover, VDOO’s ability to uncover and mitigate weaknesses created by external suppliers fits perfectly into our Supply Chain Security investment strategy,” said Glenn Solomon, managing partner at GGV Capital, in a statement. “This funding, together with the company’s great technology, skilled entrepreneurs and one of the best teams we have seen, will allow VDOO to maintain its leadership position in IoT security and expand geographies while continuing to develop its state-of-the-art technology.”

Valuation is currently not being disclosed.

Via Ingrid Lunden https://techcrunch.com