#St Andrews first aid

[paisleyphotographs]

Emergency Training at St Mirren Stadium

In recent weeks, the St. Mirren Stadium has become more than just a hub for football excitement. It has transformed into a vital training ground for emergency services, fostering collaboration and readiness in the face of potential crises. With Scottish Ambulance Support units, Scottish Fire and Rescue, and St. Andrews First Aid teams converging, the stadium has become a nucleus for honing…

[ruinedholograms]

(2012)

• Tame Impala - Lonerism

• Purity Ring - Shrines

• Beach House - Bloom

• Julia Holter - Tragedy, and Ekstasis

• Oneohtrix Point Never - Rifts

• Grizzly Bear - Shields

• David Byrne + St. Vincent - Love This Giant

• Iamamiwhoami - Kin

• First Aid Kit - The Lion’s Roar

• Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

• Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/Golden Mile

• Andy Stott - Luxury Problems

• Tim Hecker + Daniel Lopatin - Instrumental Tourist

• Four Tet - Pink

• Andrew Bird - Hands Of Glory

• Melodys Echo Chamber - Self Titled

• Björk - Biophilia Remixes (Death Grips)

• Foreign Body (Liz Harris) - Mirroring

• Demdike Stare - Elemental

[luckyricochet]

Raw, Real, Red || Character Intro

E I L I D H H A M I L T O N

I don’t really care what happens. If the Germans want to kill me, they can have at it. I can’t stand any of this any more. I feel horrible but I am horrible.

Split between her Anglo-Scottish parentage, Eilidh Hamilton has always had a foot in two countries, but life and the war have a way of choosing for her where she will be at any given time, whether she likes it or not. While her parents and brother aid the war effort from London, Eilidh remains relatively isolated in St Andrews as her grandmother's sole caretaker. Eilidh’s dual identity has never bothered her before, but it means that when she finds herself adrift from both of the places to which she belonged, she can't help but feel twice as unmoored.

Notes below the cut

All right, just right off the bat: Eilidh is a Scottish Gaelic name and pronounced AY-lee (though the first syllable can soften in Scottish accents so it sounds more like EH-lee/Ellie, listen here.) Was it a common name in 1920s Britain? No, but I was determined she would have a Scottish name and it’s one of my favorites.

When I was toying with the idea of this character, I initially conceived her as either English or American. My best friend thought that since I did my undergrad studies in Scotland I'd be able to write a British perspective convincingly, and then I thought, if that's the case then the character should really be Scottish, not English. And thus Eilidh was born, albeit with English blood as well to make her appearance at Thorpe Abbotts a little easier to explain. Although I'm not Scottish myself, I have a lot of fondness for the country as a result of the time I've spent there and feel like I am putting a lot of myself in Eilidh when I write about her sentiments about Scotland—and so at the risk of making her a self-insert, I had to have her be an alumna of my university, the University of St Andrews, and live in the town too. It can be seen in the top left photo, which I took from the top of St Rule’s Tower.

FC: Hannah Dodd

[partisan-by-default]

The pop superstar is being praised for her “incredible” donations to food banks in the U.K. cities that hosted her Eras Tour this month.

The Guardian reports that Swift, 34, made the largest individual donation ever to Cardiff Foodbank in Cardiff, Wales, where the “Fortnight” singer performed on June 18.

“This will provide the weight equivalent to feeding 1,200 people three meals a day, for three days – or 10,800 meals. This will be 2.5 weeks of what we typically distribute,” said the charity’s chief executive, Rachel Biggs.

“The breathing space Taylor’s donation has given us will enable us to lift our heads and shift our focus from the food bank to the creation of a sustainable operation supporting people who currently need our help with support to address the root cause of poverty and financial support to set them on the path to not needing our aid anymore,” added Biggs.

Meanwhile, in Liverpool, where Swift performed three shows from June 13 to June 15, the chief executive of St Andrew’s Community Network called her donation the “most incredible gift.”

“Because of rising prices, rising need and falling donations, we’ve been having to subsidize our food ourselves for a long while,” said Rich Jones, the charity’s exec.

“But it’s fair to say that Taylor Swift has essentially paid our food bill for 12 months – and that gives us the breathing space to focus on fundraising efforts going forward,” Jones added. “To really look at how we can achieve our ambition of ending the need for food banks in the first place through financial advice, income maximization work, welfare benefits and work.”

[scotianostra]

On January 23rd 1570 James Stewart, the Regent Moray on the abdication of Mary Queen of Scots, was murdered in Linlithgow.

The assassination by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh was the first known assassination with a firearm.

Scotland at the time, like much of Europe, was in the depths of a very divisive period, racked by deep religious and political divisions. While James Stewart was a popular Regent with many Scots Queen Mary’s supporters were seeking to undermine his rule, and following the Regent’s reprisals against one of the opposing clans, the Hamiltons, members of the Hamilton Clan decided to kill Moray.

James Hamiltonbegan to stalk theEarl of Moray in late 1569, following him from town to town awaiting an opportunity. Hamilton trailed the Regent across much of Northern England and the Borders and through Perth, Glasgow and Stirling, finally finding his perfect opportunity at Linlithgow on 23rd January 1570 he shot him from a balcony overlooking the street.

After a desperate ride, closely pursued by the Regent's men, Hamilton made it to the safety of his triumphant kin in Hamilton According to Moray's contemporary George Buchanan, the getaway horse was provided by Lord John Hamilton, Abbot of Arbroath. Buchanan wrote that the fatal shot also killed the horse of one of Moray's companions. Regent Moray dismounted, wounded below his navel, walked to his lodging and died the same day at Linlithgow Palace in the hour before midnight.

The incident was described in the contemporary diary of Robert Birrell, second mention of the week for the Edinburgh Burgess.

'The Earl of Moray, the Good Regent, was slain in Linlithgow by James Hamilton of Bothwell-haugh, who shot the said Regent with a gun out at ane window, and presently thereafter fled out at the back, and leapt on a very good horse, which the Hamiltons had ready waiting for him; and, being followed speedily, after that spur and wand had failed him, he drew forth his dagger, and struck his horse behind; whilk causit the horse to leap a very broad stank; by whilk means he escaped.'

The 17th-century historian David Calderwood described the shot as such:

"with a hacquebut, through a tirleis window (shuttered), from a stair whereupon were hunge sheets to drie, but in truthe, to hide the smooke, and make the place the lesse suspected'

Hamilton left the country and went to France where he offered his services to the Guise family, kinsmen of Mary. He was asked to assassinate Gaspard II de Coligny, however he refused, stating that a man of honour was entitled to settle his own quarrels, but not to murder for others.

Hamilton's uncle, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, was captured at Dumbarton and tried and convicted of "art and part" in the Regent's killing. He was hanged at Stirling in April 1571, I hope to pick up on this in a few months for a post about him.

At least two of Bothwellhaugh's letters home were intercepted and kept by the English Secretary of State William Cecil. One letter asked a servant of Mary Queen of Scots to send him financial aid because he had lost "all he had to live on for her Majesty's service." Another, written after the Archbishop's death tells younger brother David Hamilton that he is sending to him with their brother, John Provost of Bothwell, his long guns, pistols and a bulletproof breastplate.

The Hamilton family were declared rebels in October 1579 by the Parliament of Scotland following the capture of their strongholds at Hamilton and Draffen in May. On 21st October 1579 and 10th November, the parliament heard a narrative of the Regent's murder. James Hamilton was called "of Woodhouslee" and "of Woodhouslee alias Bothwellhaugh" in the record. He was said to have shot Regent Moray twice in the belly and navel on 23rd January 1570, with a gun loaded with two lead balls. By his flight to France he had taken responsibility for the treason and murder.

The parliamentary account was derived from the testimony of Arthur Hamilton of Myreton (or Merington), Captain of Hamilton, who was executed in Stirling for his part in the murder on 30th May 1579. James Hamilton's brother Arthur, who was said to have held James's stirrup at Linlithgow (for the getaway) was questioned at Stirling in May 1579, but several lords spoke for his life to be saved.

Four other Hamiltons were accused of directly participating in the Linlithgow murder at the assize at Stirling in May 1579, including, David Hamilton, son of Hamilton of Mirington, laird of Sillerton, they denied the charge but were imprisoned. The main perpetrator, James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, was still in France: in the letters of the English ambassador Lord Cobham his title was spelled "Bodilaugh", perhaps an indication of how the name was said.

[galarian-weezing-on-prep]

love and respect to my fellow sex workers both former and current who had normal introductions to the industry

my introduction sounds made up

i was at a leather bar and the guy who wanted to demo single-tailing couldn't get anyone on the st. andrew's cross to stay there for more than 30 seconds and i was like 🙋‍♂️ hey buddy you know i can handle stingy pain, put me in coach

and so i got whipped for like a solid ten minutes with intermittent makeouts until i came lol

back was a mess of blood and i was at the side getting some first aid to prevent infection and cleaned up and whatever and an agent walked up and handed me a card and said, "You put on a really great show! Have you ever thought about erotic modelling and performance?"

and that was how i became a sex worker

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF OUR LADY OF PROMPT SUCCOR The Patroness of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana Feast Day: January 8

The French Ursuline nuns first arrived in Louisiana in 1727. The nuns established a convent and founded what is the oldest school for girls in the territory of the modern-day U.S., Ursuline Academy, which educated the children of European colonists, Native Americans, and those of the local Creole people, slave or free. The Spanish sisters came to assist the growing school in 1763 after Louisiana fell under Spanish control.

In 1800, the territory came back under French possession, and in 1803, most of the sisters, fearing the anti-clerical sentiment of the French Revolution, fled to Havana, Cuba. When Louisiana passed into the control of the United States, the sisters sent the President a letter asking if their property rights would be honored by the new government.

Short of teachers, Mother Saint Andre Madier requested sisters from France to come to America to aid the struggling convent. She wrote to her cousin, Mother Saint Michel Gensoul, who was running a Catholic girls boarding school in France at the time. The Catholic Church was suffering the wrath of the revolution under Napoleon. Mother Saint Michel, knowing that the Church was in distress in both her homeland and abroad, approached Bishop Fournier of Montpelier to request a transfer. Bishop Fournier felt unable to afford the loss of another nun, as many had been killed or fled during the revolution, and advised Mother St. Michel that only the Pope could give this authorization.

Pope Pius VII was a prisoner of Napoleon at the time, and Mother St. Michel knew the unlikelihood of the Pope even receiving her letter. She prayed before a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and said: "O most Holy Virgin Mary, if you obtain for me a prompt and favorable answer to this letter, I promise to have you honored at New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor."

Sending her petition on March 19, 1809, Mother St. Michel received a letter from the Pope Pius VII granting her request on April 29, 1809. Mother St. Michel commissioned a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus. The workman carved her flowing robes so that she would appear to be moving quickly. Bishop Fournier blessed the statue and Mother St. Michel's work.

Many miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Two historical events are especially associated with the Virgin. The first occurred in 1812 during the eruption of a great fire in New Orleans devastating the Vieux Carré. The Ursuline convent was facing imminent destruction as the winds blew the terrible fire toward the Plaza de Armas.

An order was given to evacuate the convent, however at that moment, a nun named Sr. St. Anthony (Marthe Delatre, daughter of Antoine Delatre) placed a small statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on a window seat and Mother St. Michel began to pray aloud, "Our Lady of Prompt Succor, we are lost unless you hasten to our aid!"

The second major miracle occurred in 1815, three years after the disastrous fire. General Andrew Jackson's 6,000 American troops faced 15,000 British soldiers on the plains of Chalmette. On the eve of the Battle of New Orleans, New Orleans residents joined the Ursuline sisters at their convent in the French Quarter to pray throughout the night, imploring the help of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

On the morning of January 8, the Very Rev. William Dubourg, Vicar General, offered Mass at the altar on which the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor had been placed. Cannon fire could be heard from the chapel. The Prioress of the Ursuline convent, Mother Ste. Marie Olivier de Vezin, made a vow to have a Mass of Thanksgiving sung annually should the American forces win. At the very moment of communion, a courier ran into the chapel to inform all those present that the British had been defeated. They had become confused by a fog and wandered into a swamp.

The Mass ended with the singing of the Te Deum, and an annual Mass of Thanksgiving has been held January 8 ever since.

Pious believers of New Orleans pray before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, asking for her intercession whenever a hurricane threatens the city. During hurricane season, prayers are said at every Mass in the city during the Prayers of the Faithful requesting Our Lady of Prompt Succor's intercession and protection. After Hurricane Katrina, prayers were made to Our Lady of Prompt Succor asking for the quick recovery of the damaged city and surrounding area.

On June 13, 1928 - the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, Pope Pius XI declared the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor as the Patroness of Louisiana.

[houseofbrat]

Well, well, well...

I knew there were public relations games at hand once Roya Nikkhah wrote this:

“The country is struggling on so many fronts and big changes within the monarchy might not chime well with the times. I think Charles realises that the main changemaker will be William, who will have more licence to do it [as monarch] and Charles has decided to be the ‘steady-as-we-go’ monarch, providing the stability and continuity the country needs now.”

Because five days later, the Daily Mail had an article regarding how 20% of the staff is going to be on the chopping block.

'There is a real feeling that the staffing at all the palaces is too heavy,’ said one insider. 'There are far too many assistants to assistants. The King and Queen would prefer to pay people proper wages top to bottom but have less people. 'For instance, there are chefs for them and chefs for the staff. Why, they ask, can’t there be one lot of kitchen staff for everyone?’

The King and Queen eating food made by the same chefs as the ones that fix food for the plebes! Hey, even "frugal" Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip didn't do that! That is nothing to sneeze at. Eliminating TWENTY PERCENT of staff is a huge change of how things work behind the scenes in the monarchy.

However, for some reason, the BRF needs to project "stability" right now. As if they are not under siege from outside forces. Or internal problems.

It's already been established that they know there is a coming shit storm regarding Andrew. Then, naturally, there is the continuing Harry problem. No surprises there.

Why would they be worried about more problems? Was there some kind of preventable problem/scandal that most people don't know about? Or didn't know about?

Gee, it doesn't have anything to do with Gordon Rayner's creative writing project from 22 August, does it? You know, the one where "Kate is keen to do more." She's still going to work, you know? You didn't forget that did you? She's not some kind of loose canon that needs to be reined in by the King and Queen. Oh, no siree! She tells people in advance what she's doing. The peeps at the top are always aware!

She and her husband will always follow the directions of the sovereign! We know because that's why William was seen driving Andrew to church two weeks ago, regardless of William's "well-known hostility" to Andrew.

Now the plan is to say that they didn't want Kate's pregnancy--you know, the magical pregnancy that hardly anyone noticed--to distract from the coronation festivities. That Will & Kate didn't want to detract from the King's first year on the throne. That they didn't want to take away from everyone remembering the late Queen Elizabeth II. (Cue the PR shield that is the late QEII!) That the new princess won't stop Kate from fulfilling her duties in the short term. Because she's all about the "work," y'all!

That's why Russell Myers got the exclusive news that Will & Kate were going be at St. David's Cathedral in Wales to remember QEII on Friday. (KP didn't announce it; it was a strategic leak.) Just like Will & Kate will be attending more than one rugby game this year. They attended the Rugby World Cup in France separately, so that one parent can be at home with the new baby at all times. They are working parents, y'all! Don't you forget that they are working hard, just like everyone else in the UK! These are tough times in the UK. The heir to the throne and his wife work, work, work, work! That's what they are known for, right? "Work."

Roya Nikkhah's latest puff piece comes as no surprise to me today. Complete with an "aide" commenting about how William's "focus is always on getting on with the job and focusing on his work.” Because as the "aides" say William is “very keen” to work. William is a workaholic now, y'all! Don't forget that this article is basically straight from Kensington Palace given that an "aide" was quoted/mentioned FOUR times! (I do wonder what pr firm they hired to come up with this "work" strategy. Same pr firm that they'll use later this year when this "work" strategy doesn't completely pan out?)

Kate just made the comment, “I’ve been there and done that,” because she didn't want to detract from the coronation festivities. Just like she may or may not have drunk champagne at polo. (It was just photo assumption by lazy journalists & die-hard fans! LOL!!) She didn't look pregnant at Wimbledon because The King ordered her to just slay looks while wearing green! Because Kate is all about "getting on with the job!"

I'm sure no one with half a brain will remember that babies take nine months to gestate. Or that Kate has pictures from three other pregnancies that they can compare to 2023.

I'm sure there will be no upcoming problems for Will or Kate in the UK press regarding the nation's new princess. It's not as if the UK press wants to write about controversy! (Or the basement baby!)

[perfectlypreservedpie]

I got tagged by @boarix and @atombonniebaby to do the music tag so here is my taste!! I have a lot of repeat artists lolol. This was fun thank you for tagging me! <3 <3

P - Palomino - First Aid Kit

E - exile - Taylor Swift 

R - River Crossing - Carter Burwell

F - Far Away - Junip

E - End of Line - Daft Punk

C - California - Joni Mitchell

T - Timber Hearth - Andrew Prahlow

L - Light My Love - Greta Van Fleet

Y - Yellow - Coldplay

P - Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae

R - Roslyn - Bon Iver, St. Vincent

E - Emmylou - First Aid Kit 

S - Second Chances - Gregory Alan Isakov

E - Eat Your Young - Hozier

R - Right where you left me - Taylor Swift 

V - Voulez-Vous - ABBA

E - Eyes on Fire - Blue Foundation 

D - Dead Man’s Hand - Lord Huron

P - peace - Taylor Swift

I - Into the Mystic - Van Morrison 

E - Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron

I'm tagging @nukacoola @rad-roche @druidgroves @hubflower-wine @oasis-of-words @theartofblossoming @voidbirb @portergage @irish-dancing-queen @watchyourdigits @lyriumrain @themojaveexpress @edaworks @twosides--samecoin @sirmanmister @murderboner420 @adventuresofmeghatron @acorncoffeeformysweetheart

[paisleyphotographs]

Emergency Training at St Mirren Stadium

In recent weeks, the St. Mirren Stadium has become more than just a hub for football excitement. It has transformed into a vital training ground for emergency services, fostering collaboration and readiness in the face of potential crises. With Scottish Ambulance Support units, Scottish Fire and Rescue, and St. Andrews First Aid teams converging, the stadium has become a nucleus for honing…

[rattlinbog]

Books Read in 2022

January

The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog: The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit by Patricia Monaghan 

The Unpassing by Chia-Chia Lin

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine 

February

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

The Beauty and the Terror: The Italian Renaissance and the Rise of the West by Catherine Fletcher

The Desolations of Devil’s Acre (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #6) by Ransom Riggs 

Eifelhelm by Michael Flynn 

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer 

March

The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (reread)

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

April

The Parted Earth by Anjani Enjeti 

Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar 

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy 

The Last Blue by Isla Morley 

Lone Stars by Justin Deabler 

All the Young Men: A Memoir of Love, AIDS, and Chosen Family in the American South by Ruth Coker Burns

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

May

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (reread)

As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker 

LaRose by Louise Erdrich

A History of Native American Land Rights in Upstate New York by Cindy Amrhein 

June

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties by Dianne Lake and Deborah Herman

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W.E.B. Dubois 

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez 

A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske 

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

July

No Exit by Taylor Adams

The Wanderers by Meg Howrey 

A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

Calypso by David Sedaris

My Antonia by Willa Cather 

The First English Actresses: Women and Drama 1660-1700 by Elizabeth Howe

English Animals by Laura Kaye

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

August

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang 

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman (reread)

The Latecomers by Helen Klein Ross 

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

September

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak 

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Country Roots: The Origins of Country Music by Douglas B. Green

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Golden Gates: The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream by Conor Dougherty

Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson (reread)

J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys: The Real Story Behind Peter Pan by Andrew Birkin

The Lost Ones by Anita Frank

October

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates

The Reddening by Adam Nevill

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

November

It Happened in the Smokies... A Mountaineer’s Memories of Happenings in the Smoky Mountains in Pre-Park Days by Gladys Trentham Russell

Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey by James Rebanks 

Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres 

I Was Told There’d be Cake: Essays by Sloane Crosley

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin

December

Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait by Bathsheba Demuth

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (reread)

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (reread)

Mrs. Death Misses Death by Salena Godden

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

[she-karev]

Amber Karev Character Sheet

Personality

MBTI: ESTJ-T

Description: Amber Karev is fiercely independent with a guarded heart and a tough life. Her rough attitude is a result of growing up in and out of the foster system as well as having two older brothers who taught her how to take care of herself. Like Alex she speaks fluent sarcasm and always has an insult ready, but only conveys it when she has to making her more pleasant than her brother was in his intern year. This reserved and fiery front is her defense mechanism she portrays to keep people at a distance. Her true self beneath that is a caring, considerate and funny woman that only her nearest and dearest know is there.

Appearance

While Alex takes after their father, Amber takes after their mother with her long blonde waves and blue eyes. Her classmates and bosses immediately assume she’s a dumb blonde because she looks like one, but she proves them wrong. Her attire is mostly light blue scrubs due to how she spends three quarters of her time at the hospital. Her casual wear is plain dark t shirts or rock band tees with skinny jeans and boots, converse or vans. On special occasions she wears a colorful pantsuit with a pretty blouse, but she also wears black dresses with strappy heels. At work her hair is always up in a ponytail or bun, and she wears her makeup in a clean simple style.

Education

She has just as much brains as she has brawns due to how she skipped 4th and 9th grade and attended a private high school where she was salutatorian and outside hitter for the girls’ volleyball team. She got straight A’s in all of her classes but it was biology she thrived in marking her first step towards medicine. After high school she had the choice to attend Amherst University as well as Cornell but decided to attend Iowa State University due to the low tuition and financial aid. It wasn’t until her sophomore year she decided to pursue a career in medicine due to how easy it is for her to understand the human anatomy and the thrill she gets when she watches a surgery. Her immediate understanding and excellent studying habits has allowed her to finish undergrad in three years and attend New York University for medical school. Her decision to attend NYU is mostly because of the scholarship she was able to get but also partly to get away from her family and the trauma they caused her. Despite her financial gain she barely made ends meet to pay for the housing, food and books in medical school, so she took a controversial route to pay her bills. Amber spent her nights in her studio dorm webcamming to strangers on an adult entertainment site. She used a fake name and wigs to hide her true identity. It was in match day that she found out she got into the general surgery programs in Mount Sinai, UCLA, St. Luke’s and Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She decided to work at Grey Sloan due to most of her role models working there in spite of her estranged brother working there too.

Relationships

Romantic

Amber is proudly pansexual and has had an extensive love life prior to moving to Seattle. However, these relationships were short lived with the longest lasting a month due to her guarded heart.

Maya Bishop

After a bad day at work where everyone found out about Aaron almost killing her, Amber heads to Joe’s where she meets Maya Bishop and they hit it off that night. The next day she meets Maya again when she comes in after a call and they then go out on a date. They casually date for a month until Amber asks her to be her date to Alex and Jo’s wedding. They mutually breakup as Maya tells Amber she’s not ready for commitment yet.

Andrew DeLuca

At the beginning of her intern year Amber finds herself attracted to Andrew, with encouragement from Carina, she asks him out unaware of what Alex did to him causing him to rush off not giving her an answer. Later she finds him yelling at Carina stating that Amber is the last person he would date breaking her spirit. She is cold to him after this and insults him when given the chance. However, he helps her treat a teenage girl at a homeless community after Amber helps her run away from social services, so she won’t go back to her abusive mom and her boyfriend. They become amicable after that, and Andrew starts to see the kindness beneath the cold image she presents. At Alex and Jo’s wedding Andrew drunkenly kissed Amber causing her to slap him but tells him she was flattered. She then has dreams in which they are married causing her to become flustered around him at work unbeknownst to him. However, he finds out from a drunk Levi causing him to be shocked. He begins to develop feelings for her after helping her and they have their first kiss. Andrew asks Amber out on a date starting their relationship officially.

Atticus Lincoln

Amber meets Link on his first day where he casually flirts with her causing her to be flattered. He asks her out on a date when helping her scour for new apartments. She rejects him however when she discovers Jo is his best friend and Link also agrees given his friendship with Jo.

Familial

Alex Karev

Due to their parents neglect and abuse, Alex had to take on the role of a parent for Aaron and Amber. Alex helped her with her homework and did her dutch braid that he learned especially for her. Amber naturally looked up to him as a role model and saw him as a surrogate father growing up. He then left for college when she was 10 causing her great anguish for leaving her with their mother. Her resentment grew as he left her again when she was 16 after Aaron attacked her due to a psychotic break. Eight years later Alex discovered Amber in the lobby getting ready for an interview where she greets him coldly. Amber makes it clear to Alex on her first day that she came to Seattle for the program and not her brother who abandoned her. Their relationship continues this way for a while until Alex sincerely apologizes for leaving her behind and not being there when she needed him causing her to cry and her resentment to lessen. They begin to mend fences after that to the point Alex asks Amber to move in with him after discovering she lives in a hotel. They bicker and argue like regular siblings but are quick to defend each other when they see danger lurking in the corner.

Jo Wilson

They met the day of Amber’s interview and became coworkers shortly after that. After Amber helps Jo confront her abusive ex-husband and protected her when he tried to attack, they become close friends and confidants. Amber is ecstatic that Jo is gonna marry Alex and become her sister-in-law and is touched when she asks her to be her maid of honor. Amber see’s Jo as the sister she always wanted and the same applies for Jo who tries to look out for Amber like any other big sister. Jo helps give Amber life and love advice when she needs it, and Amber helps Jo with whatever she needs. After the wedding they openly call each other sisters.

Aaron Karev 

After Alex left Aaron took on the role of parent for Amber who at the time was sad but grateful to at least have Aaron. He supported their family by becoming a mover and went to every volleyball game and debate when their mother never attended. However, Aaron had a psychotic break due to inheriting their mother’s schizophrenia causing him to attack Amber one night and land her in the hospital with a stab wound. Amber was scared of her brother by then causing them to drift apart and stop speaking all together when Amber left for college. 

Helen Karev

Her relationship with her mother is delicate at best due to her resentment and blaming Helen for her trauma. They started to mend fences when Helen finally got better to the point where Amber finally forgives her when she visited Seattle.

Friendships

Levi Schmitt

Amber kept her distance from the other interns who responded the same as well. Vikram Roy found out about her past with Aaron and told the others who made fun of her behind her back and stared at her like she was a freak. However, Levi Schmitt felt sympathy for her and offered her his lunch when she ran from the cafeteria after being stared at. After that they bonded fast to the point where Amber goes with him as his date to a Bar Mitzvah. While Amber mocks him playfully she appreciates him and his sincerity. Levi is the only person outside her family who sees behind her apathetic act and brings out the good friend in her. Their friendship grows stronger after the wedding when Amber confesses her feelings for DeLuca to him and helps him with his crush on Nico Kim. They are consistently there for each other and help when one of them has a crisis. After a year Amber considers Levi her person and vice versa.

Jackson Avery

Jackson felt sympathetic towards her due to being one of the few people Alex told about her attack and made sure she wouldn't be punished for her past after it was exposed. After that she became his wingman, and they became good friends. They help each other with their relationship problems and often work together on cases. He feels the need to protect her like she's his little sister and she returns the favor seeing him as a surrogate older brother. There are times their significant others call into question about their relationship convinced it's more than platonic but Jackson and Amber are quick to deny it and state they don't see each other in that way. There was a time they were living together in his condo after Andrew kicked her out of their apartment. He helped her after DeLuca broke up with her and she helped him get back together with April after her second divorce.

[hrh-henrywales]

About Henry:

There is no fate but the one you make for yourself.

And then there is also the fate you are born into.

There was no mistake on what Henry’s role would be in his life. Every since he was born, he knew. Hell, millions of people knew before he did. The third child of the Crowned Prince of Wales. Fourth in line to the throne, so far. Even if he knew he didn’t have half the commitments his older brother Phillip, or his older sister Bea had, that didn’t exactly spare him of the duties that came along with belong to a Royal family. And not just any Royal family. The British Royal Family.

Whether or not people believed in monarchies any more, there was always a sort of invisible pull that managed to get the world’s attention on the British Royal family, no matter how many other monarchies there were in Europe, they were the ones always in the public eye, always prawn to news, gossip, scandals, paparazzi following every move they made. And whereas his brother, and younger sister Bea more or less devoured every bit, Henry never did. Not when he was young, and much less now that he’s an adult young man.

He never lacked of anything he needed to be happy, and it would be a lie to say that he lacked the love of his family because of that. He had that too, even if most times he felt like an outsider, and like everyone thought of him being an oddball because he didn’t like to draw people’s attention. Ever since he was a child, he loved to hide in the horse’s barn, to take care the horse his grandfather had given him for his fifth birthday. He also hid at the barn to practice with his guitar and violin, the one true time he felt like he was being himself. That, and also writing. He loved to write, and not something in specific, but whatever came to his mind.

The barn was his safe place, right until Shaan, his personal aid ever since he could remember came along and reminded him of his engagements for the day. There, and the music room where the piano was. His mother’s piano, and he was good at playing it too.

More than anything, it was a safe place where he could be at peace with himself, with the knowledge he didn’t have to pretend for everyone else, not only the fact that he didn’t like being in the public eye, but also that he was gay, something only his sister Bea knew, and who he had sworn in secrecy about it.

After finishing high school at Eton Academy, like all males in the British family did, he took a gap year while he decided what to do, or where he wanted to go next. Most of that year he dedicated himself to master his skills at polo, and swimming, and was also relishing on the fact that he got to live alone for the first time, making Kensington Palace his home; or at least, as alone as a royal Prince could be.

In the end, he decided to move away from the hectic life of London, and he enrolled at St. Andrews School, in Scotland, and there he had a glimpse of what a normal, almost regular college life was. He was always grateful for that sense of normality Scotland provided for him during those years, and it is now a place he held dear to his heart. 

After 4 years, and with a degree on International Affairs, he enrolled in the Royal Air Force, where he spent a whole year learning his way around aircrafts and helicopters, and also enjoying the fact that to the men on his squad he was simply another one of them, and not a royal person.

Once his time on the Royal Air Force was done, he took a year to travel, going to Greece, Egypt and Italy. He was always obsessed with what are considered the three cradles of civilization, but more than that, he got to see a whole new aspect of the world in itself to which he didn’t have any access growing up, behind the guarded walls of Buckingham Palace. Ideas started to stir in his mind, but he has yet to put them all down and think what can it be done, how could he actively help some of the major concerns in the world, with something more than just a nobility title.

So, you can now find him at Oxford University, when he is about to start a Masters in Economy and Global Politics. One step at the time, in the hope for a better world.

[theimpossiblescheme]

We... like two artificial gods, Have with our needles created both one flower, Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion, Both warbling of one song, both in one key, As if our hands, our sides, voices and minds, Had been incorporate.

Playlists for Myoraselle and Iphegenia

01. somewhere out there - linda ronstadt and james ingram | 02. a midsummer night's dream, op. 61, mwv m13: no. 5, intermezzo - felix mendelssohn | 03. ragtime - neko case | 04. among angels - kate bush | 05. to a poet - first aid kit | 06. i don’t wanna miss a thing - vitamin string quartet | 07. body - sleeping at last | 08. poison arrow - allison russell | 09. dawn - jean-yves thibaudet | 10. sleeping sideways - lucy st. louis | 11. j'ai demandé à la lune - ghostly kisses feat. louis-étienne santais | 12. riders on the storm - jewelle blackman | 13. in my arms – plumb | 14. dark night of the soul - loreena mckennitt | 15. stardust - tatiana eva-marie and michael valeanu | 16. nocturne pour violon et piano - lili boulanger | 17. dreaming on a world - tracy chapman | 18. there beneath - the oh hellos | 19. the light in the piazza - audra mcdonald [listen]

01. i’m on my way - rhiannon giddens | 02. wouldn’t it be loverly - julie andrews | 03. i who have nothing - brian may feat. kerry ellis | 04. reach out and touch (somebody’s hand) - diana ross | 05. a midsummer night's dream, op. 61, mwv m13: no. 6, allegro - felix mendelssohn | 06. ah! non giunge uman pensiero - pretty yende | 07. a million dreams - alex porat | 08. wilderland - anaïs mitchell | 09. some things fall away - kim blanck | 10. les amoureux scaphandres - ingrid st-pierre | 11. rooms on fire - stevie nicks | 12. baltimore - audra mcdonald | 13. orfeo ed euridice: atto II. balletto - christoph willibald gluck | 14. there is music in you - whitney houston | 15. call my name - ghostly kisses | 16. refur - sigur rós | 17. you’re not alone - allison russell feat. brandi carlile | 18. make someone happy - doris day | 19. the song of hope - rosalie craig [listen]

[scotianostra]

On 11th June 1560, Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland, died.

A longer post than I am used to, but I think it is necessary to set the scene for the reign of Mary Queen of Scots and why she had such a torrid time as Queen.

Mary is perhaps best known as the Mother of Mary Queen of Scots but there was a lot more to her than this, she was a very powerful woman. From her description you can tell where her daughter got her looks and height, Mary at age of eighteen was tall and attractive with auburn hair, was married to Louis II of Orleans, Duke of Longueville, who held extensive estates in Normandy and the valley of the Loire. The marriage produced two sons unfortunately the Duke died of smallpox in 1537 leaving her a widow at twenty one.

Enter James V King of Scots who had also lost his spouse Madeleine of Valois, if you remember from a previous post Madeleine was a fragile woman prone to sickness, the harsh Scottish climate was blamed for her early demise aged just 16 but she had been a sickly child before moving to Scotland.

Also in the frame for Mary’s hand was a certain Henry VIII of England, Henry by now, he was now looking for wife number 4. An exchange between the two is said to have gone something like this, he remarked on her fine stature she retorted with the witty repartee that although her body was big, she had a very small neck, perhaps alluding to Anne Boleyn’s neck having the misfortune of connecting with and axe severing her head from her body!!

Mary was married to James of Scotland by proxy in Paris in May 1538 and at in person at St Andrews after her arrival in Scotland. The couple had two sons James born in 1540 and Robert a year later, the two died within a few days of each other in April 1541.

Meanwhile relations between James and Henry were at a low, Henry called James to meet him at York, Henry even sent his tapestries there in preparation of the meeting in September 1541, James snubbed him, saying his wife was pregnant and he did not want to leave her. The snub  might have been part of the reason that the armies of Scotland and England met at Solway moss the following year, it was a crushing defeat by the English and James died the following month, on his deathbed he would hear that his wife had given birth to Mary Queen of Scots. Although there were few soldiers killed at Solway Moss, more than 1200 of James’ army were taken prisoner, amongst them some of our top nobles. Henry was determined to impose his will on the weakened Scottish kingdom and permanently end its alliance with catholic France.The Treat of Greenwich was signed agreeing that the young Queen would be taken to England and brought up in the English court of Henry, then married to his son, it was largely agreed to by those nobles who were prisoners of the English, although not entirely.

The Scottish Parliament dissmissed the treaty out of hand and big bad Henry sent an army to lay waste to Scotland and force the treaty through, the phrase “I lyke not thys wooyng.” is said have derived from historian, Patrick Abercromby’s account of the war that followed, although it would not be popularised till many years later by Walter Scott, since then it was used regularly.

After a Scottish defeat at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in September 1547, French military aid weakened English resolve and increased the power base of Mary of Guise, who remained in Scotland, but to protect the young Queen Mary Stewart was sent to France in 1548.

The government of Scotland was first entrusted to James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, as Regent, like many before and after him he would change sides over the years, first being firmly encamped as a protestant before becoming a catholic and in 1554, he surrendered the regency to Mary of Guise. The Guises had trained her well in the craft of Government, but little could have prepared her to deal with the unreliable Scots, the reformation was in full swing and the Protestant Lords did not trust a catholic Regent. She had no confidante to turn to and communication with France took time. She had to rely on her family’s recognition of the strategic importance of a Scottish alliance for both France and the Catholic Church. Of course the Protestant Lords were unhappy that ties with the Catholics of France were becoming stronger but were encouraged by the crowning of Elizabeth I in 1548 and they hoped to gain advantage through this. The country was more or less in a state of Civil war as events leading to the Reformation took hold.

Among the Regent’s ambassadors were the Earl of Argyll and Lord James Stewart, Earl of Moray, both professed Protestants. When the Mary of Guise stationed French mercenaries in Perth, both abandoned her and joined the Lords of the Congregation at St Andrews, where they were also joined by John Knox. Even Edinburgh soon fell to them in July, as Mary retreated to Dunbar. On 25 July 1559 a truce and treaty promised religious tolerance, the truce did not last long.

The Lords of the Congregation had established a provisional government. However, Mary of Guise was reinforced by professional French troops, strengthening her hand and it looked at one stage as if she had the upper hand, victory was in her grasp. Fighting continued in Fife. All seemed lost for the Protestant side until an English fleet arrived in the Firth of Forth in January 1560, which caused the French to retreat to Leith. The following month the Scottish Lords of the Congregation signed The Treaty of Berwick and the Queen of England, sent an English land army into Scotland to join their Scottish allies in besieging the French at Leith.

She died of dropsy on 11th June 1560. Her body was wrapped in lead and kept in Edinburgh Castle for several months. In March 1561, it was secretly carried from the castle at midnight and shipped to France. Mary, Queen of Scots attended her funeral at Fécamp in July 1561. Mary of Guise was interred at the church in the Convent of Saint-Pierre in Reims, where Mary’s sister Renée was abbess. A marble tomb was erected with a bronze statue of Mary, in royal robes, holding a sceptre and the rod of justice in one hand. The tomb was destroyed during the French revolution.

Of Mary’s five children, only her daughter Mary survived her, and we all know what happened to her……..

This blog post here gives more detail on Marie here https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2012/10/01/marie-of-guise-queen-of-scotland/

Pics are of the Lady and plaques remembering her at Edinburgh Castle and South Leith Parish church, the stained glass is at The Magdalen Chapel in The Cowgate, the only the only stained glass that survived the Scottish Reformation in its original location.

[usafphantom2]

See how was the secret mission that made Joe Biden arrive in Ukraine without Air Force One

Surprisingly, the U.S. president visited the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. For the last part of the trip, Joe Biden renounced plane transport.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/21/2013 - 12:40 PM in Military, War Zones

The world was surprised on Monday (20/02) when U.S. President Joe Biden visited Kiev, Ukraine, for the first time since the beginning of the war, almost a year ago. Biden did not land at Kiev airport, arriving in the Ukrainian capital through a well-planned operation and executed in a few hours.

Biden did not fly to Kyiv-Boryspil Airport or any of the other airports in or around the Ukrainian capital because he is very risky in the country that has been covered by the war by Russia for almost a year.

According to several news agencies, Biden took off from Andrews Joint Air Base, southeastern Washington with a Boeing C-32 at 04:15 local time, on February 19 - with the so-called "SAM060" (SAM for Special Air Mission) instead of the usual "Air Force One".

In addition to the employees on board the modified 757, there were only a few journalists selected on board who previously had to deliver their mobile phones. They were informed on Friday and instructed to wait for details on Saturday, with the subject: "Arrival instructions for the golf tournament".

They were instructed to arrive at Andrews air base at 2:15 a.m. local time on Sunday. Both were prohibited from reporting any details for 24 hours.

Several hours before Biden's visit, the sky over Poland was visited by two U.S. Air Force AWACS E-3B Sentry jets and a single Boeing RC-135W 'Rivet Joint' signal intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft. Routine air traffic scanning can easily be interpreted as preparations for the announced visit of the President of the U.S. (POTUS) to Poland, which was announced to take place between February 21 and 22.

A whole series of aircraft is available to the U.S. government. At the Munich security conference last weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris and her delegation traveled with two jets - a Boeing C-32 and a Boeing C-40 Clipper, a military version of the 737-700.

U.S. President Joe Biden on the right and his national security advisor Jake Sullivan on board the train to Kiev. (Photo: AP/ Evan Vucci)

The flight made a stop to refuel after about seven hours in Ramstein, Germany, then landing at Rzeszow-Jesionka airport in Poland, at 7:57 p.m. local time. From there, Biden drove in a car convoy to Przemysl Glówny, where he got on a train that took him to Kiev on a trip that lasted It is the same route used to transport large amounts of aid and hundreds of thousands of refugees going in the opposite direction.

U.S. President Joe Biden after arriving by train in Kiev. (Photo: AP/Evan Vucci)

The train arrived around 8 a.m. in Kiev, where Biden met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On the morning of February 20, Kiev was surprisingly quiet. Public transport was partially interrupted in the city center and public spaces released.

Finally, around 12 p.m. local time, the first filming of President Joe Biden leaving the monastery of São Miguel along with President Volodymyr Zelensky was published on social networks.

Zelensky and Biden honored the Ukrainian soldiers killed during the conflict, since operations in Donbass in 2014, at St. Michael's Monastery and took a short tour of the city.

The leaders held a joint press conference where strong words were shared by Biden condemning the Russian aggression and emphasizing Western solidarity with Ukraine. Biden said:

"When Putin launched his invasion almost a year ago, he thought that Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could survive us. But he was completely wrong.

President Joe Biden leaves Air Force One upon arriving at a military airport in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, February 20, 2023. (Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The visit also announced promises of delivery of new equipment totaling US$ 500 million. The U.S. will provide more artillery equipment along with HIMARS ammunition and new sanctions will also be imposed on individuals and companies still operating in Russia, supporting their invasion of Ukraine. Biden also announced other “critical equipment”, including anti-shielded systems and air surveillance radars. But no combat jets yet.

The media audience was only allowed to make the itinerary public when Biden had already left again - again by railroad towards Poland. On the night of the 20th, Biden landed in Warsaw with the C-32 aircraft.

The White House national security consultant told the American media that Russia was informed “some hours” before Biden’s trip to Kiev. This was done "to mitigate the situation". He did not go into detail about how accurate or vague the information was and how Moscow reacted.

Overview of a Boeing C-32 Air Force One aircraft at Jasionka Airport, Poland, on February 20, 2023. (Photo: Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS)

POTUS' visit to Ukraine signals the West's continued support for Kiev. With the official statement of the White House noting that “last year, the United States built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic and humanitarian support – and that support will last.”

Tags: Military AviationC-32AUSAF - United States Air Force / US Air ForceWar Zones - Russia/Ukraine

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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