#Springfield decorated

[bigdogproductions]

Cityscapes in downtown Springfield, IL.

[artworksstore]

I have just added the Bird's Eye View of Savannah print to my Society6 Store. This store offers additional products created from this design. Please visit the store by following this link: Bird's Eye View

[mflormov]

CBS CARPOOL KARAOKE FT. CHAPPELL ROAN 11/24

For this project, I designed and built Christmas decor into a car while ensuring camera visibility and passenger safety. I reset decorations in between shots and added design details to create a unique and festive environment. At the end of the day, I reset the car and cleaned up all traces of decor. I used zipties to secure decorations then cut and hid them to hide visability of zipties and hid a miniture santa suit piece by piece throughout the car for fun viewer engagment.

[quarlesfurniture]

No matter your sleep style, comfort needs, or budget, Sealy® is a proud supporter of every person and bedroom in your home. Explore the collection at Quarles Furniture and find the quality sleep you need to take on tomorrow.

Request a quote- https://quarlesfurniture.com/sealy/

[peacelovefrog]

[betterthaneverservice]

Solid Foundations, Exceptional Craftsmanship, Springfield, MO's Trusted Concrete Contractors

Rely on the expertise of our Concrete Contractors in Springfield, MO, to build a foundation of strength and beauty for your projects. From driveways to patios, our skilled craftsmen deliver top-notch concrete work, ensuring durability and precision. Transform your space with confidence, as we bring decades of experience and unmatched quality to every concrete endeavor. Choose reliability, choose Springfield's premier concrete professionals. Feel free to contact us at 417-209-0054 or visit our website betterthaneverservice.com for details.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The "religious liberty" angle for overturning the overturning of Dobbs

Frank Wilhoit’s definition of “conservativism” remains a classic:

There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288

Conservativism is, in other words, the opposite of the rule of law, which is the idea that the law applies equally to all. Many of America’s most predictably weird moments live in the tension between the rule of law and the conservative’s demand to be protected — but not bound — by the law.

Think of the Republican women of Florida whose full-throated support for the perfomatively cruel and bigoted policies of Ron Desantis turned to howls of outrage when the governor signed a law “overhauling alimony” (for “overhauling,” read “eliminating”):

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/this-is-a-death-sentence-for-me-florida-republican-women-say-they-will-switch-parties-after-desantis-approves-alimony-law-34563230

This is real leopards-eating-people’s-faces-party stuff, and it’s the only source of mirth in an otherwise grim situation.

But out of the culture-war bullshit backfires, none is so sweet and delicious as the religious liberty self-own. You see, under the rule of law, if some special consideration is owed to a group due to religious liberty, that means all religions. Of course, Wilhoit-drunk conservatives imagine that “religious liberty” is a synonym for Christian liberty, and that other groups will never demand the same carve outs.

Remember when Louisiana decided spend tax dollars to fund “religious” schools under a charter school program, only to discover — to their Islamaphobic horror — that this would allow Muslim schools to get public subsidies, too?

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/louisiana_n_1593995

(They could have tried the Quebec gambit, where hijabs and yarmulkes are classed as “religious” and therefore banned for public servants and publicly owned premises, while crosses are treated as “cultural” and therefore exempted — that’s some primo Wilhoitism right there)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-francois-legault-crucifix-religious-symbols-1.4858757

The Satanic Temple has perfected the art of hoisting religious liberty on its own petard. Are you a state lawmaker hoping to put a giant Ten Commandments on the statehouse lawn? Go ahead, have some religious liberty — just don’t be surprised when the Satanic Temple shows up to put a giant statue of Baphomet next to it:

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/17/639726472/satanic-temple-protests-ten-commandments-monument-with-goat-headed-statue

Wanna put a Christmas tree in the state capitol building? Sure, but there’s gonna be a Satanic winter festival display right next to it:

https://katv.com/news/offbeat/satanic-temple-display-installed-at-illinois-capitol-next-to-nativity-scene-menorah-decorations-snake-serpent-satanic-temple-springfield-christmas-tree

And now we come to Dobbs, and the cowardly, illegitimate Supreme Court’s cowardly, illegitimate overturning of Roe v Wade, a move that was immediately followed by “red” states implementing total, or near-total bans on abortion:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/15/paid-medical-disinformation/#crisis-pregnancy-centers

These same states are hotbeds of “religious liberty” nonsense. In about a dozen of these states, Jews, Christians, and Satanists are filing “religious liberty” challenges to the abortion ban. In Indiana, the Hoosier Jews For Choice have joined with other religious groups in a class action, to argue that the “religious freedom” law that Mike Pence signed as governor protects their right to an abortion:

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/21/legal-strategy-that-could-topple-abortion-bans-00102468

Their case builds on precedents from the covid lockdowns, like decisions that said that if secular exceptions to lockdown rules or vaccine mandates existed, then states had to also allow religious exemptions. That opens the door for religious exemptions to abortion bans — if there’s a secular rule that permits abortion in the instance of incest or rape, then faith-based exceptions must be permitted, too.

Some of the challenges to abortion rules seek to carve out religious exemptions, but others seek to overturn the abortion rules altogether, because the lawmakers who passed them explicitly justified them in the name of fusing Christian “values” with secular law, a First Amendment no-no.

As Rabbi James Bennett told Politico’s Alice Ollstein: “They’re entitled to their interpretation of when life begins, but they’re not entitled to have the exclusive one.”

In Florida, a group of Jewish, Buddhist, Episcopalian, Universalists and United Church clerics are challenging the “aiding and abetting” law because it restricts the things they can say from the pulpit — a classic religious liberty gambit.

Kentucky’s challenge comes from three Jewish women whose faith holds that life begins “with the first breath.” Lead plaintiff Lisa Sobel described how Kentucky’s law bars her from seeking IVF treatment, because she could face criminal charges for “discarding non-viable embryos” created during the process.

Then there’s the Satanic Temple, in court in Texas, Idaho and Indiana. The Satanists say that abortion is a religious ritual, and argue that the state can’t limit their access to it.

These challenges all rest on state religious liberty laws. What will happen when some or all of these reach the Supreme Court? It’s a risky gambit. This is the court that upheld Trump’s Muslim ban and the right of a Christian baker to refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. It’s a court that loves Wilhoit’s “in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”

It’s a court that’s so Wilhoit-drunk, it’s willing to grant religious liberty to bigots who worry about imaginary same-sex couples:

https://newrepublic.com/article/173987/mysterious-case-fake-gay-marriage-website-real-straight-man-supreme-court

But in the meantime, the bigots and religious maniacs who want to preserve “religious liberty” while banning abortion are walking a fine line. The Becket Fund, which funded the Hobby Lobby case (establishing that religious maniacs can deny health care to their employees if their imaginary friends object), has filed a brief in one case arguing that the religious convictions of people arguing for a right to abortion aren’t really sincere in their beliefs:

https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20230118184008/Individual-Members-v.-Anonymous-Planitiff-Amicus-Brief.pdf

This is quite a line for Becket to have crossed — religious liberty trufans hate it when courts demand that people seeking religious exemptions prove that their beliefs are sincerely held.

Not only is Becket throwing its opposition to “sincerely held belief” tests under the bus, they’re doing so for nothing. Jewish religious texts clearly state that life begins at the first breath, and that the life of a pregnant person takes precedence over the life of the fetus in their uterus.

The kicker in Ollstein’s great article comes in the last paragraph, delivered by Columbia Law’s Elizabeth Reiner Platt, who runs the Law, Rights, and Religion Project:

The idea of reproductive rights as a religious liberty issue is absolutely not something that came from lawyers. It’s how faith communities themselves have been talking about their approach to reproductive rights for literally decades.

The Clarion Science Fiction Writers’ Workshop (I’m a grad, instructor and board member) is having its fundraiser auction to help defray tuition. I���ve donated a “Tuckerization” — the right to name a character in a future novel:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/clarion-sf-fantasy-writers-workshop-23-campaign/#/

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/11/wilhoitism/#hoosier-jews

[Image ID: Moses parting the Red Sea. On the seabed is revealed a Planned Parenthood clinic.]

Image: Nina Paley (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moses-Splits-Sea_by_Nina_Paley.jpg

CC0 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en

 — 

Kristina D.C. Hoeppner (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/40406966752/

CC BY-SA 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

This is one for the humans! S/O is planning a surprise birthday party for them and is trying their best to keep it a secret, but the birthday gurl is getting suspicious!

(GFL) Angelia, Kalina, and Helianthus's S/O planning a birthday party for them

I meant to write this on the day of my actual birthday but oopsies, that chance has already passed.

Being an intelligence agent, nothing escapes Angelia's notice for long.

S/O had tried to avoid her for some strange reason, always dodging the question when she asked them what they were up to.

So she tailed them one day without them noticing. Something that was simpler than she was expecting, honestly.

And they had bought...a cake?

Finally watching them enter their room, she decided to enter after S/O, who was lovingly setting up a lightly decorated room with a singular balloon, with a lone cake on their table.

(Angelia) "...This is the saddest room I have ever seen."

(S/O) "GAH! A-Ange?...Wait a second, I'm working hard on this!"

Angelia chuckled, stepping into the room much to S/O's flustered dismay.

(Angelia) "So, you've been trying to dodge me to set up a birthday party? You could've told me to help out, S/O."

(S/O) "That defeats the purpose of it being a surprise, Ange."

(Angelia) "You surprise me with how easy it is to tease you still."

She gives them a quick peck on the cheek as she smiles warmly at S/O's efforts.

(Angelia) "But, thank you, S/O. It's not necessary to do this, but I appreciate it anyway."

She walked out of the room, her prosthetic arm nonchalantly waving.

(Angelia) "Make sure it looks better by the time I get back!"

Angelia teased.

Kalina is just extremely nosy when it comes to Non-Operation affairs, so she'll find out S/O is planning a party for her in no time.

But her heart skips a beat when she realizes that they're even going through the effort.

For their sake, she won't say a word about it, letting them think it was a surprise.

After all, they were trying so hard to keep a secret about it!

Too bad she looks at everyone's finances since it was her job to account for Griffin's spending, as well as seeing how rich everyone was.

Her love for money is how she found out about S/O's party, seeing how they had bought a lot of birthday supplies like cake, balloons, and other silverware.

(Kalina) "Hm...should I tell them?...Nah! I wanna see how far this can go!"

Being second in command of Griffin, nothing escapes her eyes.

Especially S/O's suspicious behavior on how they refuse to even speak to her all of a sudden.

At first, she fears that she may have been to harsh on them at some point and were giving her the silent treatment, but that didn't make sense.

And if S/O was planning something more drastic, they would be far less obvious about it.

But as soon as she sees S/O leave Springfield's cafe with a cake, she immediately knows what they're doing.

(Helianthus) "S/O."

They yelp in surprise, almost dropping the cake before Helianthus rushes to prevent it smashing onto the floor.

(Helianthus) "...T-Thank you for the cake. But it's unnecessary to hide it from me."

(S/O) "Hah, guess I'm not very good at hiding things."

(Helianthus) "Not really, no."

She smiles and helps them carry the cake back to their room.

(Helianthus) "Besides, you know I don't need something as big as a party for my birthday. I have you, and that's enough."

(S/O) "Well now you have me and some cake!"

(Helianthus) "I suppose I do."

The smile she has doesn't disappear for the rest of the night.

[johnthestitcher]

FEZtival of Trees sponsored by the Melha Shriners of West Springfield, MA. Fundraiser/raffle. I am next to the 'Tool Tree' made with a 6-foot step ladder and decorated with tools. Bf is in front of a Santa inflatable decked out with beachwear. There are 40 differently themed trees this year; Bf & I usually put our raffle tickets in ones that have free booze with them (I don't need a tree full of toys).

[swforester]

A soul effigy decorates the grave of Mrs Mary Ely. The Ely family was big in this area during the 18th century. I grew up on Ely Ave in West Springfield.

Longmeadow Cemetery 1/25/25

[luis-serra-kennedy]

homewrecker Luis preview (the "home" he's wrecking was already a toxic dumpster fire before he got involved)

Luis starts leaving, but something makes him stop dead in his tracks and spin around to stride right up to Leon's desk.

“I have to try,” Luis mutters, under his breath. Then he puts his hands on the desk and looks right into Leon's eyes as he speaks louder. “Fais l'amour avec moi.”

“I don't speak Spanish.”

“That was actually French,” Luis seems a little amused by Leon's mistake, but doesn't laugh in his face. “Spanish is my native tongue, but I spent some time in France, it's good to mix things up sometimes.”

“Whatever. Just speak English or get out of here so I can do my job.”

“Fais l'amour avec moi,” Luis repeats. “Make love with me.”

“Oh my god,” This is far from the most forward anyone's been with him, but for some reason it still makes his whole face heat up and he looks down at the desk, away from Luis's warm gray eyes. But then he's looking at Luis's nice hands, staring at the rings decorating a couple of his fingers. “My boyfriend wouldn't like that.”

“Well, where is he? Your boyfriend. I don't see him, he home, in a back room..?”

“He's in South America on some stupid boy's trip with his friends,” Why isn't Leon just telling Luis he doesn't want to sleep with him? “I wasn't allowed to go because apparently it's just for boys, not ‘pretty boys’ and I would ruin their manly vibe.”

“That's stupid, pretty boys are the best, you're beautiful, it's crazy to make you stay home. But I suppose I shouldn't complain, you're here and he isn't, so… What he doesn't know won't hurt him. I bet I can get you off better than he ever has,” Leon's resolve is crumbling, and unfortunately it seems like Luis noticed. “Please. Your boyfriend is having fun in South America without you, don't you think it's only fair for you to have some fun without him?”

Maybe there is a god looking out for him, because the phone rings and saves him from trying to answer Luis. He hoped Luis would just get bored and give up and go find someone else to hit on, but he's unfortunately persistent. He stands back and patiently waits while Leon takes the call and writes down the time slot the caller wanted.

As soon as he puts the phone down, Luis is back at his desk. “If you don't want this, just tell me. Tell me no. But I need to hear it from you. All you've said is that your boyfriend wouldn't like this, but what about you? Does Leon want to have some fun?”

“I can't just sleep with you right now, I have a job. Maybe if you're still here in a couple hours when my shift ends.”

“I have all the time in the world for you.”

Luis sits down on the couch and makes it 15 minutes, fidgeting and bouncing his leg, before getting impatient and getting up and leaving. Leon finds himself oddly offended. The guy was clearly desperate to sleep with Leon and claimed to have all the time in the world, but couldn't even make it 20 minutes? He's also disappointed and relieved in equal measures. He was into the concept of sex with someone who wasn't strong enough to leave him covered in bruises the next morning, but Krauser will kill him if he gets back and finds out Leon was cheating on him.

Nope. Luis comes right back in and gets back on the couch, now with a book to read while he waits. Luis never struck him as all that intellectual, but apparently there is more to him than meets the eye. He looks up occasionally to check on the clock and, when he catches Leon's eye, winks. The second Leon's shift ends, Luis jumps back up and rushes back to Leon's desk, grinning.

“So where are we doing this?” Luis asks, way too casually for someone who's asking a person to cheat on their long-term partner. “My car? Recording booth?”

Leon almost yells at him to try to be a little discreet, but everyone has left, so there's no real reason to. “Have you ever heard of these cool things called houses that are private and have beds?”

“I don't have a house or a bed, I have a couch. A couch in the living room that belongs to the girl I broke up with three days ago. She's been nice enough to not kick me out thus far, but if I bring home a man to sleep with, I'll be getting thrown out.”

“Jesus Christ. I can't believe I'm about to cheat on my boyfriend with a bum,” And yet he has no desire to back out of this, even after learning Luis Serra is an even bigger loser than he suspected. “I guess we can go back to my place… But you're doing laundry and vacuuming the whole place after. I'm dead if he gets home from his trip and finds dark hair in my bed.”

[artworksstore]

This is a digitally remastered and enhanced reproduction. It is based on the 1891 lithograph produced by the Morning News in Savannah, GA. The original copy contained signs of wear and tear, discoloration, small rips, and stains. Some minor imperfections remain. However, the completed print’s restoration presents a colorful characterization of life in Savannah, Georgia in 1891. The map features over 100 places of business, public buildings, railroads, canals, parks, and churches. Small insert images at the top and bottom include the Board of Trade Building, the Chatham County Court House, the historic De Soto Hotel, Guckenhelmer & Sons Wholesale House, and Altmeyer & Co's. Dry Goods Store. The original artist was German-born Augustus Koch. Kotch served in the Engineers Office of the Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War as draftsman, and then later as an officer. He was a prolific artist producing a number of bird’s eye view illustrations.

[thegeneralstore]

This is a good store for fresh locally grown produce, honey, jam and even locally grown meat. They even have some nice holiday decorations too.

[angelosearch]

After I graduated from college I sucked at file management and lost a lot of what I wrote in those years. I do have some stuff printed, though. I'm starting to transcribe some of my poems/essays/etc. for safekeeping.

I'm going to share this poem here because it's about writing but I want ya'lls opinion too (poem and poll under the cut).

Writer's Anxiety

Hi, I'm [angelosearch]. I'm a writing major. I'm a student of writing. I write. I write a lot. But I'm not a writer nor poet nor essayist nor author nor artist. Just a writing major. All my writer friends have a "writer's ego," but what if the ego is a no-go more concerned with grade pointed resume sectional blog posts than being pretty or clever with words? Scratch that, I am concerned. So concerned that I shrink at the sound of their sentences dancing above me, floating over my work even with each page I read, word I write, no matter how many cups of coffee or sleepless nights, my words come out sloppy. I watch them wear their writing effortlessly like those who only wear clothes that fit them, but my family never had the money to replace the things I outgrew, so maybe my poetry spills out my bra a bit while your sleek fiction fits your tongue like a glove. I can cover it up with scarves, an outerwear of excuses knitted with "I did this at the last minute"s and "I got writer's block on this one"s.

Everyone talks about writer's block, but what about writer's anxiety? That feeling you get when you realize everyone in the room knows what they're doing but you--or at least that's how they seem. How can they stay so cool as an epiphany slips out their lips? They just put rhythm to the meaning of life and said "Thank you." They fill out their toques and denim jackets, readers grown into writers clad in unbuttoned unbridled confidence... I want to feel that way. I want to write that way. BUT every poem feels like a car swerving into unmanageable metaphors or else a train traveling one way on a single track with no transfers to blandly named towns called Springfield or Coddington. BUT every fiction has a world like a piece of paper sparsely decorated with cardboard characters wearing cheap, floral-print adjectives, endings arriving contrived or premature. BUT every essay is stuck in one form, a record clichely repeating the same facts about your life: "my parents are emotionally divorced" "neither of them went to college" "I feel like I don't belong" "I don't belong-don't belong-DON'T BELONG."

My friends tell me that I am wrong but it sounds like that knee-jerk compliment you get get right after you say "I'm ugly."

Why does nothing I write sound right? I want to know where new style begins and no style ends. I want to think the world just isn't ready, but I'm not that conceded. I can't believe it. I can't assume I'm a writer because I write--most can form words on paper, but not everyone can turn a confession into an expression called art.

End poem!! I think I wrote that in 2013 (The spring of my junior year).

[lboogie1906]

Perry Watkins (April 13, 1907 - August 14, 1974) was the first African American set designer on Broadway. He was a stage painter, makeup and costume artist, producer, and film art director.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he attended Hope High School where he and a friend hand-wrote and decorated a daily newspaper called “The Foolscape.” Awarded a scholarship to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design, he studied figure drawing and still life.

Despite having his paintings displayed at the Springfield Museum and the Providence Art Club, he struggled financially and worked as a waiter, chauffeur, insurance salesman, reporter, draftsman, and commercial illustrator. He applied to the Federal Theatre Project with a sample production and was employed.

Starting as a stagehand and becoming assistant technical director at Lafayette Theatre, he began a flurry of work, painting drops, dying costumes, and operating the lighting for Macbeth, designing sets for The Case of Philip Lawrence, Haiti, Plays of the Sea and Horse Play, as well as designing the costumes for Androcles and the Lion. He created sets for Mississippi Rainbow for the Chicago Negro Unit of the FTP and for the Los Angeles Negro Unit’s revival of Run Little Chillun!

He made a breakthrough, becoming the first Black Broadway set designer when he was commissioned for Mamba’s Daughters. He was permitted to take the drafting and art exam for admission into the Set Designer’s Union. He passed it easily and became the first African American to be admitted. He taught in the Rose McClendon Workshop Theatre and the following year designed the set for the revival of The Big White Fog at Lincoln Theatre.

In 1944 he served as the assistant technical director for Walk Hard, which was shown in Harlem and on Broadway. He co-produced Beggar’s Holiday. It was a success, showing one hundred and eight performances.

He ventured into film and television, working on art direction and design for films such as Hercules in New York, Come Back, Charleston Blue, Across 110th Street, and Gordon’s War. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[variousactionfigures]

#32

For a very long time, the US Coast Guard has effectively operated as a smaller navy. But rather than fight on the high seas with battleships bristling with cannon, it simply made do with various patrol boats & cutters. Until WWII it mainly played the role of intercepting alcohol smugglers & the like. This all had changed by the time RD 3/c Alvin Cooke had enlisted.

Now, the Coast Guard didn't merely prevent drug trafficking or save wayward boaters, it defended the boundaries of the nation.

Alvin is an example of what was called the Beach Patrol, watching the shores of the United States for U-boats or raiders landing to cause havoc.

For this he is dressed in the sensible undress blues, the middle ground between the stuffy dress blues & the unsightly dungarees (which for many years were not authorized to be worn off a ship). There were no decorations, no neckerchief, only a rating if one had earned it. There was no piping to keep clean, not even any buttons on the cuff.

For equipment he carries a fairly typical set of equipment for someone who isn't posted far from the nearest galley.

Alvin is armed with the even then aging & superseded M1903 Springfield, all the newest M1 Garands going straight to the front.

While some patrolled in boats or on horseback, his unhappy lot is to negotiate the soft sand in his boots & curse the failings of his Dismounted Leggings

Alvin is special for several reasons: firstly he is yet another type of non GI Joe action figure & his uniform is custom made - that set of undress blues can't simply be bought, I had to modify an existing knock off uniform. Considering everything, it turned out fantastically well. There are a few things I'm still working on before I can call him complete, but he's pretty darn close.