#Wilcox Manager

[santaclaralocalnews]

On Wednesday, April 26, for the first time in 15 years, the Santa Clara Bruins varsity baseball squad defeated their crosstown rival Wilcox Chargers. Starting pitcher Sam Sylvia tossed a one-hit shutout as Santa Clara knocked off the Chargers by a 3-0 final.However, in Friday’s rematch Wilcox would bounce back with a vengeance.Early on it looked like the Bruins might come away with the series sweep. Read more news at svvoice.com

[fatehbaz]

Goldstein and Mahmoudi point to what, on appearance, is a relatively new phenomenon: namely the use of digital technologies in contemporary forms of surveillance and policing, and the way in which they turn the body into the border. [...] [T]he datafication of human life becomes an industry in its own right [...] [with the concept of] “surveillance capitalism” - a system based on capturing behavioral data and using it for commercial purposes [...] [which] emerged in the early 2000s [...].

In contrast, scholarship on colonialism, slavery, and plantation capitalism enables us to understand how racial surveillance capitalism has existed since the grid cities of sixteenth-century Spanish Mexico (Mirzoeff 2020). In short, and as Simone Browne (2015, 10) has shown, “surveillance is nothing new to black folks.” [...]

[S]urveillance in the service of racial capitalism has historically aided three interconnected goals: (1) the control of movement of certain - predominantly racialized - bodies through means of identification; (2) the control of labor to increase productivity and output; and (3) the generation of knowledge about the colony and its native inhabitants in order to “maintain” the colonies [...].

---

Identification documents and practices can, like so many other surveillance technologies, be traced back to the Middle Passage [...]. [T]he movement of captives was controlled through [...] slave passes, slave patrols [...]. Similar strategies of using wanted posters and passes were put in place to control the movement of indentured white laborers from England and Ireland. [...]

Fingerprinting, for example, was developed in India because colonial officials could not tell people apart [...].

In Algeria, the French dominated the colonized population by issuing internal passports, creating internal limits on movement for certain groups, and establishing camps for landless peasants [...]. In South Africa, meanwhile, the movement of the Black population was controlled through the “pass laws”: an internal passport system designed to confine Black South Africans into Bantustans and ensure a steady supply of super-exploitable labor [...].

On the plantation itself, two forms of surveillance emerged - both with the underlying aim of increasing productivity and output. One was in the form of daily notetaking by plantation and slave owners. [...] Second, [...] a combination of surveillance, accounting, and violence was used to make slave labor in the cotton fields more “efficient.” [...] [S]imilar logics of quotas and surveillance still reverberate in today's labor management systems. Finally, surveillance was also essential to the management of the colonies. It occurred through [...] practices like fingerprinting and the passport [...]. [P]hotographs were used after colonial rebellions, in 1857 in India and in 1865 in Jamaica, to better identify the local population and identify “racial types.” To control different Indian communities deemed criminal and vagrant, the British instituted a system of registration where [...] [particular people] were not allowed to sleep away from their villages without prior permission [...].

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In sum, when thinking about so-called surveillance capitalism today, it is essential to recognize that the logics that underpin these technologies are not new, but were developed and tested in the management of racialized minorities during the colonial era with a similar end goal, namely to control, order, and undermine the poor, colonized, enslaved, and indentured; to create a vulnerable and super-exploitable workforce; and to increase efficiency in production and foster accumulation. Consequently, while the (digital) technologies used for surveillance might have changed, the logics underpinning them have not.

---

All text above by: Sabrina Axster and Ida Danewid. In a section from an article co-authored by Sabrina Axster, Ida Danewid, Asher Goldstein, Matt Mahmoudi, Cemal Burak Tansel, and Lauren Wilcox. "Colonial Lives of the Carceral Archipelago: Rethinking the Neoliberal Security State". International Political Sociology Volume 15, Issue 3, September 2021, pages 415-439. Published June 2021. At: doi dot org slash 10.1093/ips/olabo013. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[nenelonomh]

detoxification and behavioural addiction

a detox, short for detoxification, refers to the process of removing toxic substances from the body. medically, detoxing is an essential step in addiction recovery. it helps individuals safely eliminate toxic and addictive substances from their bodies while managing withdrawal symptoms. it’s crucial for those with physical and psychological signs of substance dependence.

i believe, personally, that everyone has a 'drug of choice'. this isn't necessarily a substance but can be a hobby or activity. even a person. addictive behaviour arises from a desire to escape an undesirable reality through fantasy living. daydreams about a better life can drive these behaviours.

a negative example of a 'drug of choice' could be excessive eating. it's a compulsive behaviour and a coping mechanism for some individuals. some studies suggest that the brain's reward pathways involved in addiction may also play a role in binge eating.

a positive example of a 'drug of choice' is someone who dances, compulsively and as a coping mechanism. this person may use dance as an outlet - to express themself. it allows them to focus on the present moment and can reduce stress and anxiety.

obviously, this behaviour becomes an issue when it is dangerous, and excessive. this is a reason to detox.

too often, the word 'detox' is thrown around online, without many people understanding what the process actually is.

your body naturally eliminates toxins through organs like the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs. no special diets or expensive supplements are required for this process. detox diets often include laxatives, diuretics, teas, and other products. however, evidence doesn’t support their effectiveness for toxin elimination or sustainable weight loss. your healthy organs already handle detoxification efficiently.

detox is only the initial step towards recovery. it's super important to seek professional help if needed, find people to talk to, understand your vulnerabilities and triggers, and set boundaries.

the key is to find a healthy outlet, your 'drug of choice'.

finding a healthy outlet involves discovering activities that nourish your well-being and provide positive emotional release. consider your interests, passions, and what brings you joy. reflect on past experiences - what activities made you feel fulfilled.

some ideas for different activities include:

running

dancing

playing music

gardening

yoga

cooking

pay attention to how different activities make you feel. choose something that energizes you rather than drains you. mix physical, mental, and social outlets. avoid overcommitting - balance is key.

something to be aware of is the mind-body connection. it's the intricate interplay between our mental and physical health. it recognizes that our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours significantly impact our overall well-being.

for further reading:

how the mind-body connection works | nick morgan ph.d. - psychology today

narrowing down the choices: binge eating and food obsession | claire wilcox m.d. - psychology today

drug of choice | the free medical dictionary by farlex

can you become addicted to a person | courtney telloian - psychcentral

is addiction a disease? | psychology today

understanding how hobbies can become addictions | hector badosa - hobbies blogs

is your hobby actually an addiction? 5 signs you have a behavioral addiction | ashwood recovery at northpoint

the role of hobbies and interests in addiction recovery | magnified health systems

can you be addicted to a person? | ariane resnick, cnc - verywellmind

the difference between an obsession and an addiction | Christine hammond, ms, lmhc - psychcentral

~~

thank you for reading! this post is more of a collection of ideas that i wanted to share; to get out.

if you have any questions, send an ask! be sure to check out the further reading links!

❤️nene

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Richard Madden born June 18th 1986 in Elderslie.

Richard was raised by his mother, Pat, a classroom assistant and his father, Richard, who worked for the fire service. He also has two sisters, Cara and Lauren.

His parents were “hippies”, he says, and their house was pretty open, with friends always piling in for big vegetarian meals. Madden spent a lot of time outside, in the woods behind their house. He has several injuries: he shows me where he shot his dad’s old air pistol and blew off part of his finger, then managed to wreck the same finger when he nailed a wooden plank to his skateboard, then crashed it, so apart from the Hippie parents it was much like most of our own days as bairns.

Despite growing up wanting to be an actor, Richard was very shy during his childhood. To overcome this, at age 11, he joined Paisley Arts Centre’s youth theatre program. In 1999 he was given the lead role as Sebastian Simpkins in BBC1’s children’s TV comedy series Barmy Aunt Boomerang, that’s him aged 12 in the first pic with co-star Toyah Wilcox.. By 2000, he’d made his feature film debut in the Iain Banks adaptation, Complicity.

After high school he was accepted to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland and in 2007, he graduated.

Less than two years later, Richard had a recurring role as Dean McKenzie on the 2009 BBC series Hope Springs. Soon after, he landed the role of Ripley in the 2010 movie Chatroom, a film about a group of teenagers who encourage each other’s bad behaviours after meeting online. In the same year, Richard played punk band Theatre of Hate singer Kirk Brandon in Worried About the Boy, a TV film about the life of British singer-songwriter Boy George.

In 2011 Richard landed his breakthrough role as Robb Stark in the HBO fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones. Also in 2011, he played gay paramedic Ashley Greenwick on the short-lived British comedy-drama Sirens. During hiatus from filming Game of Thrones in 2013, Richard was cast to star as Prince Charming in the 2015 Disney film Cinderella.

Richard won his first Screen Actors Guild award in 2014 for the Discovery Channel mini-series, Klondike. He played Bill Haskell, one of two adventurers who travel to Yukon, Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. He further enhanced his reputation as a good actor when he appeared in the BBC drama Bodyguard in 2018, the following year he played Lieutenant Joseph Blake in the film 2017 and was Elton John’s manager/lover in the biop of the star Rocketman.

In January 2019 Madden won a prestigious Golden Globe for his role as war veteran David Budd in the BBC show Bodyguard. He also appeared in the 2019 war movie 1917.

We last saw Richard in the movie, Eternals, which was okay, but nothing great, he is one of several actors being touted as the next James Bond,

Last year Richard starred in the Amazon Prime series Citadel, I've watcheit and was not really impressed with it,I think he does pull of the American accent well, but I noticed there have been people saying he doesnt, Madden revealed he spoke in the accent for two years straight to prepare for the series. The show has been earmarked for a second series. Richard is set to appear in the feature film Killer Heat next, it is in post production.

In July 2019, Madden received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. When asked about his personal life during a New York Times interview following speculation about his relationships and sexuality, Madden stated: “I just keep my personal life personal.”

Madden was recently named one of ‘Scotland’s Sexiest Men' following a new study that identifies the most attractive features for men, he has competition though, also in the running are Bathgate’s David Tennant and Glasgow’s James McAvoy,

Richard, quizzed on what he would like to do next he sad “I’d like to do something in comedy. It’s nice to not… I mean we go to work every day and we’re like, ‘You’re gonna die today,’” he said, adding that he wanted to “do something fun for a minute.”

[bikinikillarchives]

bikini kill (kathleen hanna, kathi wilcox, billy karen, and tobi vail) portraits by Sophie Howarth, taken at the 1996 summersault festival.

"Summersault Tour Portraits 1995 - 1996 Australia. I created this artwork as a gift for Stephen Pavlovic whose personal archive is currently featured in the Powerhouse Museum's Unpopular exhibition (along with some of my own archive, this artwork included.) On display in all its aging glory, the original, with discolored sticky tape and my 90s hand-writing (which I notice has evolved over the years), hangs well 30 years on. The portraits were taken of the Summersault Festival tour party December 1995 - January 1996 and show artists and tour workers; band members, catering team, tour managers, staff from Pav’s office, DJs, skaters, boyfriends, girlfriends, Maurice the nanny, Rancid fitness trainer, friends and more."

[slashingdisneypasta]

Oh my lord, I just saw a thing on Pinterest that said: Of course I cum fast- I'm a busy man. I have places to be.

And first of all- hysterical. 10 out of 10. This man will not be shamed.

Second of all, of course- Here are the Horror Men I think would abandon you after cumming themselves VS The ones that would never leave you high and dry like that (Indented):

Warnings: Orgasm denial, selfish fucking/loving

(Most of) These men in this post:

Animal The Cannibal: If Manny calls on him I bet he would go 😅 Sorryyyyy.

Billy Loomis: He likes the feeling of you cumming around him too much for that. Don't get me wrong- he is a pretty selfish lover. It's just that, part of his pleasure happens to come from yours.

Bo Sinclair: Nahhhhh. It's not that he's wanting to be kind to you- he just thinks it's a mark of a sissy if he can't get his lover to cum for him. It's for bragging rights.

Bubba Sawyer: Yeahh... sorry Y/N. If one of his brothers call on him he will ALWAYS go.

Candyman: Look, its not always!, so don't get me wrong- Daniel is a good lover. I'm sure he is. But at times he just... doesn't have the time 😅

Captain Spaulding: Sorry doll, he's got like 3 insane middle aged children running about not cleaning up their messes and he's gotta get on that shit XD

Chop Top Sawyer: If you've got his attention, which you certainly do if you're engaging in sex with him, then he's all yours. He's all for you.

Chucky Lee Ray: He's full of bullshit but he is also quite busy so... take this as you will.

Dr Suave: Ain't nothin' gonna keep him from the face you're gonna make sweet thing... (*Cough* Sweet talker)

Drayton Sawyer: GENUINLEY REAL BUSY!! He'd stay if he could!! Don't sulk though, he'll get pissy at you.

Freddy Krueger: Damn, you're waking up! Well- Goodluck!~ (This asshole)

Harper Alexander: This man is Buckman's bitch- he literally pimps himself out for him 😅 So... yeah... Maybe you could talk to Buckman? Ask him not to call on Harper during the hours of 5-8pm On Friday Nights please??? 😆

Inkubus: Not his style.

Jack Dante: It depends on where his head is. It's hard to keep him in one place for long- if he's got his head in the clouds, his show is on, or he's got 'work to do', he'll literally just take care of himself and then fuck off. (If you manage to hold his attention though he WILL go until you fall asleep and then be there waiting when you wake up again. Stamina for days, I swear).

Jason Voorhees: The chances are, if you've gotten Jason to engage in... the act!!... then its gonna be all about you, anyway. He might not want to cum. It's in his nature to take care of the people he loves, anyway. So it's kinda the other way around, here... but voluntarily.

Jedidiah Sawyer: Too sweet. Plus, without a family shooing him this way and that anymore, he's suddenly got so much more time on his hands! Haha.

Jerry Dandridge: If he's sleeping with you his full attention is on you, and very little will have to power to stop it.

Kieran Wilcox: I love the idea that this too-cool-for-school, bastard guy- has really bad stamina (: So (: Yeah (:

Leslie Vernon: This asshole 😅 He's like sorry sweetie, I have preparations to do, *Forehead kiss*, love you so much, see ya! (He's being genuine, too. This is not a line because he's being lazy or selfish- He gets tunnel vision something fierce).

Lester Sinclair: I swear he hates leaving you unfulfilled, he really really hates it, but sometimes he just needs a little something to keep him happy before going to see his brothers and he doesn't have time to take care of you. He will when he gets back!! He promises.

Max Grief: He just wouldn't wanna leave you displeased. He wants to make you happy (:

Mayor Buckman: This one genuinly makes me laugh XD This man, oh my lord. Someone will knock on the door and he'll be OFF- forgetting in his eagerness to be do Town Duties that he first has duties to you goddamnit!-

Mental Manny: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh what a dick. I'm sorry, but a dick appointment with Manny is just that- an appointment. And like any asshole with an appointment book he will decide once he's got what he wanted out of the transaction that oh, sorry, time is up! He has to go preach to some devotees for an hour. Bye sweetheart!~

Michael Myers: You just know he would. He does not care.

Mickey Altieri: Just not a selfish lover. It's equal with him.

Midnight Man: He might think its a game... 😅

Monty Hewitt: Well fuck, who knows what Hoyt might saw off him if he ignores him this time?? Please believe him when he says he wants to stay though, he really fucking does.

Otis B Driftwood: 'I'll go around back and take control, like I always fucken do'- Otis has clearly got a complex for being the Big Man in Charge, yes. And this is part of the reason he will leave you high and dry... the other part though is him being a DICK.

Patrick Bateman: Like Michael, he doesn't care. You can finish up yourself while he gets his keto dinner started.

Pennywise: I feel like with Penny its marathon sex or it's nothin', so yeah you're gonna cum. Do not fear.

Rocco The Clown: No way in hell will anyone ever tear him away from you. Oh, no. He (And I) would like to see them try.

SHERIFF HOYT: BECAUSE HE'S SHERIFF HOYT. HE IS EXACTLY THAT PINTEREST QUOTE.

Stu Macher: Would also genuinely say that 😅 Will answer every beck and call of Billy's and so thinks he's a very busy man. Call him back though and he probably will listen to you. Sorry Billy.

Stuart Lloyd: Okay- this man has probably not had sex for a LONG time- if ever. So yeah- even the muse gets ignored during that time XDD 😅 He~ is~ desperate (:

DBD The Clown: Sometimes he's too tired, which is understandable I suppose, but the asshole part?? He giggles about it. I mean, after that he coughs because he has not taken care of his body, but first he definetly giggles =_=

DBD The Deathslinger: He ain't as young as he once was- you just gotta give him a moment to breath XD Usually. Sometimes he will just smirk at you and leave, though. Cuz he's an EVIL COWBOY.

The Djinn: Not his style- Part 2.

The Man: He just would =_=

The Taxidermist: Like Stuart he is has been very dry for a very long time and he is NOT about to mess up this chance.

Thomas Hewitt: I would say he's the same as Bubba... but Thomas is a little tougher. Unless Luda Mae tried to call him away... you're good. He'll always finish you off before answering anyone else. (And Luda Mae wants grandbabies too much to pull him away XDD )

Vincent Sinclair: Sex is a whole night with him. He will have planned to have the whole evening and through the night without an interruption, so you don't run into any problems like this ^^

Winslow Foxworth Coltrane: Nahhhhhhh. He's likin' what's going on here too much. Not even Otis on cocaine with a gun will separate him from you.

[silver138]

Perfectly Flawed - Chapter 23

word count - 1.9k warnings - one curse word Summary: Lina, Penelope, and Spencer uncover some things…

As Gideon and Elle head towards Hotch to fill him in on what we've learned, I rush back to the room Penny and I are in, eager to see what other information can be uncovered. I'm walking in and about to start searching for answers to the latest questions we have when I nearly run into Spencer, who says, "Lina! You're back! Hey, Garcia, she's right here!"

Entering the room, with Spencer right behind me, Penny spins in her chair to face me and says, "Ah! There's my right-hand woman. Lina, what did you find out while you were out?"

"Uh, h-hang on, Pen...Spence, did you want to read this real quick? I think I took some decent notes..." I say, handing him my notepad as I quickly start looking up any info I can find on these five people, starting with Roxanne Waters.

"Y-yeah...wow, these are pretty thorough..." I hear him mumble as I start pulling up what Ms. Waters has been up to since high school.

As Spencer brings Penny up to speed, I find that Roxanne's been bouncing from one thing to another, first with different majors in different colleges, never finishing more than a semester in any one program, to different jobs within the same company.

"How has she been able to stay with the same company, yet gone through so many different jobs?" I muse to myself, nodding when I see her father owns the company. "Hmm, makes sense..." I say, sighing.

"Uh, here's your notepad, Lina," Spencer says, setting it on my desk and pulling up a chair as Penny wheels over to see what I've come up with.

"Ah, checking out the resident Mean Girl, Class of '96?" Penny says, looking over at my screen.

I nod and hum in acknowledgment. "Mmm-hmm. Seems like she was kinda...flitting from one thing to another, never committing, until...I don't know, maybe her parents got fed up and just gave her a job? See? That's her dad's modeling company," pointing at her workplace files. "But she's still going from one thing to another, an assistant to everyone from the CEO to the various managers..."

I bite my lip, and Penny asks, "What were the jobs of the first two victims?"

As I pull it up on my screen, Spencer quickly reads, "Ashley Naldi is a journalist, and Jennifer Wilcox is a fashion designer."

"Looks like Ms. Naldi works at Vogue, and Ms. Wilcox just had some of her work featured in the October issue," I say, scrolling through the information, stopping when I see something that could be damning.

"Says here the models were from the Waters' agency, it's possible Ms. Waters was there during that shoot..." I say, cross-referencing between different windows, trying to see if any of the dates line up.

"Found something! October 11th through 15th, some receipts indicating Ms. Waters stayed at a hotel in the same city where the photo shoot was taking place!" Penny says, turning from her computer to look at us.

I hum and say, "Yeah, but the shoot was for 2 weeks, she left after one? Did different models come in?" I continue scrolling through receipts and plane tickets, following the trail. "No, it's looking like she was the only one to leave, and someone else from the company came in to finish the shoot in her place..." I reveal.

"Do you think something happened to make her leave or need to be replaced?" Spencer asks, looking over from my screen to Penelope's.

"Not sure, but that's something else to add to the list of questions..." Penny says, tapping on her keyboard. 

"Do we know what hotel Ms. Waters is in while she's here?" Spencer asks, and I quickly pull it up.

"Yup, seems she's staying at the same place the reunion's being held, the Ritz-Carlton," I tell him, starting to check on where Sabrina Sadler and Lucas Davies are lodging as well.

"You checking the areas for the profile there, Reid?" Penny asks, turning in her chair to look at him.

He hums and starts, "Mmm-hmm. Hey, Lina, where are Sabrina Sadler and Lucas-"

  "-Davies staying? Already got it. Ms. Sadler is at The Georgetown House, and Mr. Davies is at the Sonder Georgetown C&O." I cut in, getting a smile from him when I turn to face him. I blush and shrug, saying, "I...kinda figured it'd be prudent to look up where they were staying too, just in case."

He continues grinning at me for a moment, then goes back to the map he has spread out on a spare table, marking all the relevant spots. His mouth bunches up to one side, deep in thought.

"What are you thinkin', Doc?" I ask him, turning around in my chair to face him.

"The crime scenes aren't that far from each other, so the unsub is probably somewhere in the 1 to 5-mile radius. It's more likely they're closer rather than farther away..." he says, tracing over the map with his fingertips and frowning slightly.

"That's good, right? Less area to cover to find the unsub?" I ask.

"In theory, yes. But this part of the city is so densely packed with people, it'll be near-impossible to keep people away to properly comb the area to find him..." he says.

"But, they're still gonna send people to patrol it, right?" I ask, standing up to look over at the map.

"Well, probably for at least a little while, if only as a precaution so there aren't any more attacks," Spencer says, sighing and sitting down in a nearby chair.

Penny looks over at us and says, "Hey, why don't you two go get some coffee, maybe grab something from the vending machine, and I'll tell Hotch and the others what we've found,"

I look over at Spencer, then back at Penny, and ask, "Um, are you sure? Shou-shouldn't we stay here, try to find anything else?"

She gives me a smile that's more of a grimace and says, "Well, for the time being, we're kind of...on pause. Until something happens, or someone decides to offer any more information, we're kind of on standby."

Spencer looks over at me and shrugs, then turns to Penny and says, "Alright. We'll be back. Thanks, Garcia."

Smile growing wider and more playful, she says, "Well, if you really want to thank me, you can grab me a pack of Skittles from the vending machine," and hands him some change for the machine.

I grin and grab some money as well, and say, "Yeah, that's doable. Be back in a bit, Pen."

  Following Spencer out of the room, we make a stop to grab some coffee, then head to the vending machine. Spencer gets Penny her Skittles, and I spot a pack of Twix and swiftly punch in the code for it. After I retrieve and open it, I ask, "Hey Doc, want one?" holding the package out in offering.

He gives me a small smile as he deftly snags one of the bars, giving me a quiet, "Thank you," as we head back.

  I grin and say, "No problem, Doc." taking a bite from my bar.

After we head back to Penny, Spencer hands her the Skittles, which she gleefully takes, ripping the bag open. "Have I ever told you that you're my favorite doctor, Reid?" I give Penny an amused look, raising my eyebrows. She gasps and says, "Ohmigosh, that's right! There are two of you now! Sorry, Lina!"

"It's ok, Penny. Just means I gotta work harder," I say with a small laugh.

"Well, far be it from me to try to deter you from that..." Penny says, grinning.

Hotch then comes in, giving a quick, hard rap on the door, and says, "Reid, Garcia," He takes a small pause, then adds, "Aschebrooke. You all can head home, but safe to say we'll be coming back in tomorrow. Rest up, we're going to need to bring our A-game to find this unsub before he does more damage."

"Will do, Sir," Penny says, as she starts putting the computers on standby for the night.

Grabbing my purse again, I help Penny with the computers, as Spencer leaves the room with Hotch. After everything is set for the night, Penny and I make our way to the elevators, and on the way there, I see Hotch talking to Spencer, a hand on his shoulder. Spencer nods and gives him a tight smile, then walks towards the elevators, satchel slung across his body.

We take the elevator down and, waving to Penny as we leave, Spencer and I start walking to the station. As we walk I ask him, "You ok, Doc?"

"What do you mean?" he responds, hands in his pockets. 

"Dunno, guess I'm just...checking in? I don't know about you, but I'm going to try my best to get those crime scenes out of my head so I can sleep tonight." I say quietly.

His demeanor softens, and he takes his hands out of his pockets and runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah, it's...quite a lot at first. Sorry to say it, but you tend to get used to it after a while."

"Well, I know I'm new to this, but, if you need to talk about anything, or just...need to get your mind on lighter topics, you can text or call me," I tell him, smiling gently at him.

A small smile emerges on his face, and he says, "Thank you but, shouldn't I be saying that to you?"

I shrug and say, "I suppose, but that's...just...kind of what I do," 

"On a different note, you're going to be able to sleep in your own bed tonight instead of in a hotel, so that's gotta be a nice change, right, Doc?" I say, which causes Spencer to give a small chuckle.

"Yeah, that is going to be nice, I've got to admit!" he says, grinning.

Reaching the station, we go to sit on the bench to wait, but the Metro pulls up, and instead, we board and sit down. Letting out a small breath, I gently rub at my temples and stretch my neck to loosen my muscles, then turn to look at Spencer.

"So, your usual tomorrow?" he asks me. I nod and go to tell him he doesn't have to, but he stops me and says, "I've gone a week without a coffee buddy, I'll gladly get yours, too. And some decent coffee, at that."

I flash him a smile and say, "Thanks, Doc. No one else would drink coffee with you?"

He sighs, shaking his head and saying, "Not really. Not after the first cup, at least."

I snort and say, "Ah, well, there is that..."

Riding in silence, I see my stop coming up, and, signaling for the Metro to halt, I give Spencer a small wave and tell him, "I'll see you tomorrow, Doc."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lina," he says, returning the wave with a small smile as I head off the vehicle and start on my way home.

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[gulfportofficial]

Literally leaving the country next week so I doubt I'll get shit all time for writing but I was busy cracking myself up at lunch so I figure I'll just put that here for the feeling of satisfaction.

It was difficult to manage any kind of sensible thought against this persistent feeling of wonderment. He felt shaken yet stilled by it even when he woke up. Winnowed down to his very core. He’d never loved someone this way in his life, not that it was something that needed admitting, but here it was, apparently possible to do so more.

Why shouldn’t he admit it, he thought, suddenly. It wasn’t on principle in general that he didn’t announce it. He had no trouble being clear. No, rather it was just that those specific words felt like losing ground in a situation in which it was crucial that he didn’t. As if the thing itself depended on not saying it.

No matter. Billy was still sleeping. He looked so lovely when he slept on Kaua’i. The scrunched up worry he’d used to carry over even to dreams was gone now, and he simply looked sweet and peaceful. Cornelius’ impulse was to kiss and kiss and kiss him, to feather his beautiful face with the lightest of touches, until there was nothing else in the world but their kissing each other.

There were, however, other things to think about.

As, for example, this situation with the white sugar and the Naval issue regalia. 

Which he had promised not to interfere in. 

But had he? Really? He had promised not to interfere in Billy’s employment, as spurious and doubted a promise as it was, but did that count for the other things? He could maintain an acquaintance with Mr. Wilcox as a separate matter, could he not? 

He remembered then that Wilcox meant to visit the refinery here again today, at such time as which he would quickly discover that there was not and had never been an English Mr. Cook in their employ (unless there was, of course, but it would be impossible to be that lucky. And Cornelius was not a servant. Either way, Henry Wilcox would recognize his face.)

He felt sure he could work around that somehow. The need to lie low today and the need to find out more were in sharp competition, but this was the sort of problem a man lived to solve.

[bearterritory]

Griz the Bear Leads Cal to Big Game Win

Golden Bears Continue to Own Stanford

PALO ALTO - It may not have been quite as dramatic as Chase Garbers' game-winning touchdown run in 2019, but Trond Grizzell - a walk-on who had played a grand total of one career snap heading into this season - added "Big Game Hero" to his growing resume on Saturday.

The Cal wide receiver caught two touchdown passes - part of a career-defining performance - and the California football team won its third Big Game in a row with a 27-15 triumph over Leland Stanford Junior University at Stanford Stadium. The game was even more lopsided than the score indicated, as a successful 2 point conversion by the Bears was erroneously negated by the referees and a last minute sure touchdown was sacrificed by Jaydn Ott (who decided to take a knee instead at the five-yard line to burn clock instead of score) which would have made the score at least 36-15.

Grizzell caught scoring passes of 9 and 54 yards and finished with career-highs of seven catches and 136 receiving yards, as the Golden Bears won the Big Game for the fourth time in five years, the longest win streak by California since the Jeff Tedford era. Cal has also not lost at Stanford since 2017. But perhaps more importantly for the Bears than their mastery over their rivals down on The Farm is the fact that they remained bowl-eligible with the win.

"It was a big day - dare you say, 'Big Game Hero'," Travers Family Head Coach Justin Wilcox said. "He's going to be in the conversation. From a year ago, Trond has made as big a jump as anybody. He cares deeply about football and the team. It matters to him, and it's great to see a guy like that who puts in the work."

Grizzell's touchdown grabs helped the Bears (5-6, 3-5 Pac-12) establish a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter. He also caught a 21-yard pass from quarterback Fernando Mendoza on a 4th-and-7 play in the fourth quarter that helped sustain a game-clinching scoring drive.

"Trond is a special player," said Mendoza, who won his first Big Game as Cal's starting quarterback. "He's a vertical threat, so we had a couple of plays drawn up for him. I regard Trond as one of my best friends. We built amazing chemistry together. So when he's out there, I trust that I know what he's going to do."

Mendoza also set career-highs with 294 passing yards and three touchdowns, while running back Jaydn Ott was a workhorse with 166 rushing yards on a career-high 36 carries. Ott also went over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career (2,079).

"There are a lot of people who are part of this game. I've seen grown men on the field crying real tears," Ott said. "It means a lot. I got to see it last year, so I knew coming into this game how much it meant to people. I'm glad we came out on top."

Ott scored on a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter to help Cal build a 21-6 lead, but the Cardinal answered back with a Hail Mary pass (and its only touchdown of the game) to cut it to 21-12. They then managed to hit a second very long field goal (of 53 yards - they had earlier scored on a 50 yarder) near the end of the third quarter, but would get no closer as the Bears proceeded to grind yards and pull away.

California put together the pivotal drive of the game, marching 75 yards on 13 plays and scoring the game-clinching touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Mendoza to Jeremiah Hunter early in the fourth quarter. After Stanford failed to answer and turned the ball over on downs, the Golden Bears managed to burn nearly 7 minutes of clock on their last drive - including Ott's unselfish play of breaking away for a sure touchdown run but stopping at the 5 yard line and taking a knee with a little over a minute left in the game. "I didn't need to score again," Ott said. "I would rather not give them back the ball then just make another touchdown."

"It's a huge win - obviously for the team's goals but also the Cal community, the players, the student body," Wilcox said. "I don't know there's a better 30 minutes to an hour in the year than when you win the Big Game and retain the Axe. It's a great feeling and I want the guys to enjoy it."

Wilcox improved his coaching record in the Big Game to four wins with only two losses - one of which happened in a 24-23 heartbreaker in 2020 where the Bears had more than half their starters out due to strict Covid protocols from the University during the pandemic, while Stanford kept out no players for the contest. It was later revealed that more than a dozen of the Cardinal starters had tested positive either immediately before or shortly after the game.

The Golden Bears close out the regular season on Saturday at UCLA at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Cal will be going for their third win in a row and will become bowl-eligible with a victory.

[anchorandrope]

random as fuck but if you had the opportunity to handle one book to matt vines and one book to jeffrey azoff, which one would it be? i'd love to also know why but i respect if you only wanna give the name!

i love this question omg?? smart and hilarious at the same time!

if i had the chance to give them a book, i would love to personally write them. i will write two books, one for vines and one for azoff - same concept but different executions because they are different people. the title would be something like "matt vines / jeff azoff dictionary" and it would be a dictionary of every insult of the english language, including slangs (with the actual definition of each insult) but at the end of each definition, i would include an example of that insult used in phrase where i can remember them moments where they fucked things up! for example:

greedy: having or showing an intense and selfish desire for wealth or power. e.g: jeff azoff is greedy for how he managed the situation around "vote with kindness" during a global pandemic.

i would love to include a "for reference" to include sources that prove this (videos, pictures, etc.) just for them to see how publicly idiots they are, in case they don't know yet <3

BUT unfortunately i don't write books and these books don't exist, at least as far as i know, so if you wanna know what book that already exists i'd handle some of these options with a handwriting dedication of mine:

"harry potter", the dedication says "there are more people on earth that believes that jk rowling was expelled from hogwarts and that is why she wrote harry potter than people who are fully convinced your client is straight"

"public relations: strategies and tactics" by wilcox and cameron, the dedication says "this is the first book i read when i entered college to study public relations, start here" (its funny because this is actually true hajdhakdbs)

"me" by elton john (his autobiography), the dedication says "maybe you can work out your lack of empathy with this one"

after answering this, i genuinely believe that handling them one of these options will heal my fangirl soul a bit lmao

and just to clarify in case a vines / azoff serial dick sucker see this: im aware they are not the only ones responsible, yet they are their managers! huge decisions are, in fact, approved or even thought by them! hope it helps!

[dandeliicnsarchiived]

a starter for @angelk1llr // Claire Daniels & Jenna Wilcox

" Um, hello? Anyone here? " Claire called out as she stood outside the doorway, she was lucky enough that she managed to open it but passing the threshold? Not enough luck there for the newly turned hybrid. The Eldest Atlas could have at least mentioned that she needed to be invited in places, being new to the vampire life was something that she couldn't really look up online.

Angrily taking out her phone to text Tyler in all caps, she groaned; maybe loud enough so someone could hear and thankfully someone side. The anger subsided for the time being as she tried her best to look friendly. Seeing a blonde woman, it finally clicked why Tyler sent her here instead of Victoria. He wanted her to check out the woman in charge so she could validate his feelings.

Chuckling somewhat, Claire crossed her arms over her bust and parted her lips to speak. "Now I know why Tyler Atlas sent me here, you are stunning, gorgeous eyes too. And usually, the pretty ones are always smart as Hell." It was almost as if in that moment, she completely forgot why she showed up in the first place. Clearing her throat, she finally decided to ask the question that would give away what she was. " Um, if you're comfortable with it, could you invite me in? If not, I'm completely fine with talking you like this!"

[turnthepagevn]

who are the other characters in the tags? i just realized-

WELLLLLL

Ellie Waite is your coworker, and also Robin's best friend! We love and cherish Ellie in this house.

Josh Pickman is your ex, who recently got a job in the same building as you! He is awful! Writing him makes me feel like I need to punt something.

Susan Gilman is your manager, and also a potential friend, should you choose to spend time with her

Mags Wilcox is your former best friend. There's some very bad blood there, but she respects your wish for her to stay the hell away from you.

I'll be posting their designs soon~

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Nevertheless, the system persisted, and without basic changes. For all the public clamor and widespread dissatisfaction, parole survived relatively unscathed. How could failure and unpopularity have had so little impact on the continuity and structure of policy? The answer is to be found, first, in the functions that the program did fulfill for several types of officials within criminal justice. The day-to-day advantages that they gained from administering the system far outweighed (for them) its apparent defects.

The most vigorous champions of parole, those who gained the most from its operation, were the prison wardens. Their support was critical to the survival of the system and it was unwavering, despite some gradual diminution of their authority over parole decisions. Before 1925, wardens dominated the parole boards. They usually served as one of the three members; the meetings were held on their grounds, at the prison; and at least at the start, the inmate’s record of institutional conduct probably counted for most, if for no other reason than as a carry-over from the time when parole was defined as a reward for the good inmate. After the mid-1920’s, however, the parole system built up its own bureaucracy. It became more independent of the department of corrections and moved away from the warden’s direct control. He no longer served on the committee, the final decisions were more frequently made in the state capital, and institutional behavior ranked well behind an inmate’s prior record in importance as a release consideration.

As Warden Lewis Lawes of Sing Sing told a New York investigatory committee:

‘I have never attended a meeting of the Parole Board. I have never been requested to. . . . I did attempt at first to make a good warden’s report and recommendation; but when I found they didn’t read it or pay any attention to it I will admit my efforts became very perfunctory.’

The Wilcox study in Pennsylvania found that “good conduct in prison does not inevitably lead to parole, nor do minor disciplinary infringements always prevent release. Eighty percent of those paroled at the minimum had perfect prison records. But it is also noteworthy that 80 percent of those refused parole had maintained good conduct in prison.” And the Attorney General’s survey cautioned that

Parole should not be used as a device for solving some of the problems of prison administrators. Prison administrators . . . are liable to employ it as a good time regulation or reward rather than as a correctional device.

Nevertheless, wardens had good reasons to continue to support the program and to resolve in their national meetings that parole was “an essential element in protective penology.” Some of them did manage to keep the boards under their sway: in such states as New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey, the warden still had the most to say about who went out on parole. In many cases, too, a warden could persuade a board to take into account his own prejudices in any one particular instance. Hence, the following dialogue in the Montana parole board meeting:

Case of Fred Albo, a Mexican, was considered. The Clerk read the history. Governor: Hold him I think. Secretary of State: Go to it. Attorney General: It makes no difference if he is a Mexican. Clerk: The Warden hates Mexicans and recommends him. He must be a good man. Governor: All right, don’t hold him.

(One cannot be certain, of course, whether the warden was very impressed by this inmate or whether he simply wanted to get rid of a noxious Mexican.)

More important, whatever the boards assumptions about the significance of the prior record, the warden could thwart the opportunity for release for any especially troublesome inmate. Boards would not pay attention to minor infractions or necessarily release someone who minded his own business inside. However, the inmate who was far out of line would suffer, and wardens as well as convicts understood this. Wardens, or their principal keepers, were very often present throughout board deliberations; but at any rate it was they who made up the dockets and so they had ample opportunity to tell the board about the bad cases. In Pennsylvania, for instance, the inmate who “carried coffee from the mess hall, cursed an officer, refused to enter his cell, and stole and drank shellac,” did not win release at the minimum. In effect, wardens had a veto power, and their ability to blackball was sufficient to serve their own disciplinary ends well.

“Complex and difficult as is prison management under the best conditions,” insisted one Indiana official, “it would be immediately more difficult without the parole law. The prisoner looks upon the parole as the reward for good conduct and steady industry and does his best to earn it.” Or, as Pennsylvania’s Wilcox concluded: “The power possessed by the state under parole laws . . . provides penal administrators with a club which is even more effective than the old ‘good time’ laws in inducing internal discipline. Prison managers generally favor parole for this reasons.

Moreover, wardens found themselves locked into the system once it was in operation. They were compelled to favor its perpetuation for the critical reason that any talk of a diminution in the availability of parole (let alone its outright abolition) provoked substantial inmate hostility - and wardens did not enjoy suppressing riots. Under indeterminate sentences, any effort to restrict parole had to mean significant increases in time served. Almost invariably, then, wardens were eager to see more and more paroles granted to keep peace among the inmates. Joseph Moore, chairman of the New York State Board of Parole, complained that wardens were directing inmates’ anger at parole boards and away from themselves. “The Parole Board finds it advisable to hold a large percentage of prisoners beyond their eligibility for release and we have abundant evidence that prison officials disapprove of this. Unfortunately, this feeling whether purposely or not is conveyed to the prisoners and it is permitted to be a general idea among them that so far as the prisons are concerned they would be glad to release them but the hard-boiled Parole Board holds them up.”

In much the same way, the warden of the penitentiary in Washington State kept up a running battle with parole board members. Because they were (in his view) too strict about release, his own job of preserving good order was more difficult. In fact, the warden “usually placed about five or ten men on the Docket who had served a long time, but who had no present chance for release. Why? Because when a ‘con’ has put in a lot of time and is denied any chance for a hearing before the Board, resentment occurs, and if there is enough of that, trouble occurs inside.” That same warden resisted all efforts to abolish parole for three-time losers: “Such prisoners could not be controlled . . . [and prison administration would be impossible.” The warden of the Illinois State Penitentiary at Stateville, to choose one case from many, knew the truth of that argument first-hand: in 1937, responding to a newspaper crusade, the parole board cut back on releases (granting only 3 from 274 applications), and in short order the warden had to contend with a hunger strike. Or, to turn the point around, the warden at Charlestown, Massachusetts, consistently recommended parole “because he expected it to improve discipline. He proved correct in his anticipation as there has not been a riot or outbreak in State Prison since parole went into effect.” In sum, the wardens were parole’s warmest friends. They supported the system and were eager to keep the numbers granted parole as high as possible - always excepting that cult case which had to be made into an object lesson.

Legislative committees investigating parole found the wardens’ conclusions not only well-taken but almost unanswerable. No matter how critical they were of one or another part of the system, they were reluctant to restrict release procedures for fear of undercutting prison officials’ power. The New York Crime Commission, a tough group with little good to say for parole, moved very cautiously for fear of disturbing the wardens’ authority. Not only the wardens but representatives of the state parole board took pains to inform the Commission just how critical parole was to discipline. “It is your opinion,” Senator Caleb Baumes, the chairman of the Commission, asked the head of the parole board, “that you create and maintain a better morale, if you please, amongst the prisoners generally, if they know that system is in vogue?” To which the chairman replied: “Absolutely.” The Commission accepted the argument, and as eager as some of its members were to abrogate the board’s right to release inmates immediately at the minimum, they did not dare do so. “If you tell 3,000 men in the prison,” concluded one of the most law-and-order-minded members of the Commission,

that they are likely to be held from months to five or six years more, you will make a hell on earth of every prison in the State. . . .3000 men expect . . . from all the years of practice by the Parole Board . . . that they will be released at the end of the minimum, and if you tell them that now it is likely or probable that their time will be extended beyond the minimum . . . they are going to insurge and feel vicious, and you can not blame them, no matter how heinous was their original offense.

His conclusion was clear: “If we are to go ahead on any rough and ready method of extending sentences and taking that definite hope away from them, the consequences will be extreme.” True, public opinion (and his own instincts as well) would prefer to “make them serve indefinitely.” But “we cannot do it without smashing prison discipline.” It was this kind of reasoning that helped to preserve parole, no matter how poor its reputation or inadequate its practice.

- David J. Rothman, Conscience and Convenience: The Asylum and Its Alternatives in Progressive America. Revised Edition. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2002 (1980), p. 183-187.

Image is from the Handbook of the New York Reformatory at Elmira, showing the parole board finishing a meeting and releasing an inmate - on the left hand side. c. 1916.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Richard Madden born June 18th 1986 in Elderslie.

Richard was raised by his mother, Pat, a classroom assistant and his father, Richard, who worked for the fire service. He also has two sisters, Cara and Lauren.

His parents were “hippies”, he says, and their house was pretty open, with friends always piling in for big vegetarian meals. Madden spent a lot of time outside, in the woods behind their house. He has several injuries: he shows me where he shot his dad’s old air pistol and blew off part of his finger, then managed to wreck the same finger when he nailed a wooden plank to his skateboard, then crashed it, so apart from the Hippie parents it was much like most of our own days as bairns.

Despite growing up wanting to be an actor, Richard was very shy during his childhood. To overcome this, at age 11, he joined Paisley Arts Centre’s youth theatre program. In 1999 he was given the lead role as Sebastian Simpkins in BBC1’s children’s TV comedy series Barmy Aunt Boomerang, that’s him aged 12 in the first pic with co-star Toyah Wilcox.. By 2000, he’d made his feature film debut in the Iain Banks adaptation, Complicity.

After high school he was accepted to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland and in 2007, he graduated.

Less than two years later, Richard had a recurring role as Dean McKenzie on the 2009 BBC series Hope Springs. Soon after, he landed the role of Ripley in the 2010 movie Chatroom, a film about a group of teenagers who encourage each other’s bad behaviours after meeting online. In the same year, Richard played punk band Theatre of Hate singer Kirk Brandon in Worried About the Boy, a TV film about the life of British singer-songwriter Boy George.

In 2011 Richard landed his breakthrough role as Robb Stark in the HBO fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones. Also in 2011, he played gay paramedic Ashley Greenwick on the short-lived British comedy-drama Sirens. During hiatus from filming Game of Thrones in 2013, Richard was cast to star as Prince Charming in the 2015 Disney film Cinderella.

Richard won his first Screen Actors Guild award in 2014 for the Discovery Channel mini-series, Klondike. He played Bill Haskell, one of two adventurers who travel to Yukon, Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. He further enhanced his reputation as a good actor when he appeared in the BBC drama Bodyguard in 2018, the following year he played Lieutenant Joseph Blake in the film 2017 and was Elton John’s manager/lover in the biop of the star Rocketman.

In January 2019 Madden won  a prestigious Golden Globe for his role as war veteran David Budd in the BBC show Bodyguard. He also appeared in the 2019 war movie 1917.

We last saw Richard in the movie,  Eternals, which was okay, but nothing great, he is one of several actors being touted as the next James Bond,

James is currently in the Amazon Prime series Citadel, I've watched the first three episodes and am not really impressed with it,I think he does pull of the American accent well, but I noticed there have been people saying he doesn't pull it off, Madden revealed he spoke in the accent for two years straight to prepare for the series. The show has been earmarked for a second series. Richard is set to appear in the feature film Killer Heat next.

In July 2019, Madden received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. When asked about his personal life during a New York Times interview following speculation about his relationships and sexuality, Madden stated: “I just keep my personal life personal.”

Madden was recently named one of ‘Scotland’s Sexiest Men'  following a new study that identifies the most attractive features for men, he has competition though,  also in the running are Bathgate’s David Tennant  and Glasgow’s James McAvoy,

[adamwatchesmovies]

Suburban Commando (1991)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

From the setup, you expect Suburban Commando to be fairly straightforward. It probably won’t be good but by following its formula, it might entertain kids. Inexplicably, the film misses all of the easy opportunities given to it and doesn’t even manage to meet the meagre expectations placed upon it. At best, it has a couple of meme-worthy scenes. You won’t remember this movie down the line.

Intergalactic warrior Step Ramsey (Hulk Hogan) has finally defeated the villainous General Suitor (William Ball) but just barely. His superior suggests he take a vacation, which sees him become marooned on a backwater planet - Earth. Attempting to blend in with the locals until his ship repairs itself, he befriends Charlie Wilcox (Christopher Lloyd), an unappreciated architect working for Adrian Beltz (Larry Miller).

A warrior from a distant world finding himself out of his environment and befriending a local to kill time is not a new plot. The thing is, usually these types of stories have the outsider pair up with a kid. You can see why after this movie. Having a grown man mess with Ramsey’s high-tech gear and try to be a superhero just doesn’t feel right. When Ramsey gets in trouble because he misunderstands stuff we take for granted, you keep thinking Wilcox should have a tighter leash on him. It gets weirder because Wilcox has a son you think is going to be Hulk Hogan’s sidekick. It's like he was added as an afterthought, but the role has more to offer than Shelley Duvall's. She plays Mrs. Wilcox and has nothing to do.

The character arcs are clumsy and predictable. Charlie’s biggest obstacles are a pair of redneck neighbors who steal his parking spot (a subplot that never gets resolved), his underappreciative boss, and a stoplight. Okay then. Step Ramsey (whose name is distracting because it sounds so much like Chef Ramsey) might as well be a robot. Hogan is little more than a prop dragged around from one episodic gag to the next. Even if he could act, he isn’t given the opportunity to. At least his physical prowess is well used in the film’s best scenes, all of which include a mime whose luck has run out.

It all builds towards an ending that’s uninspired and generic but at least Suburban Commando is harmless. If you’re thinking this is going to be one of those “so bad it’s good” movies, you will get a couple of laughs from the scenes where it steals from Star Wars wholesale but those moments come and go quickly. After that, you’re stuck watching a movie that makes you wonder why anyone bothered. (On VHS, January 17, 2020)

[kaitlin-murphy]

"After John James Audubon (American Woodsman)" 2021.

Vintage posters, Franklinia alatamaha seeds, cotton, antique frame, plywood, plexi, glue, hardware, vintage lumber, iron oxide stain, light-reactive sound device, 1950s sound recordings of Vermivora bachmanii, vintage darning egg, vintage needle and spools, Sturnus vulgaris skull, wool socks knitted by Bobby Wilcox, original wallpaper digitally designed using copyright free historic images, printed by SpoonFlower Inc, self-published zine.

I was invited by Goucher College Curator and Director of Exhibitions Alex Ebstein to create this installation for the "Rediscovering Goucher's Lost Museum" exhibition in fall 2021. Documentation photos generously made by Vivian Marie Doering @vivianmariephoto on Instagram.

Artist Statement:

“On the whole, the task of turning Audubon’s original images into marketable engravings proved to be an extremely labor-intensive process that relied, almost immediately, on the work of dozens of artisans, often working directly under Audubon’s ever-critical eye. But the work process went well beyond the engraver’s shop. Unseen and unheralded others likewise made a critical contribution to the project: the papermakers who produced the huge, high-quality sheets Audubon required; the copper smelters who turned raw ore into clean ingots; the miners who extracted the ore from the earth in the first place; and so forth, back through all the prior steps of production. In that sense, The Birds of America was not just an extensive work of art, not just an example of the sole genius of the lone, struggling artist. It was, rather, an ambitious business venture that relied on a complex labor process and an extensive supply chain, an enterprise in which the artist became not just the designer of the work, but the administrative manager of dozens of people, many of whom could be called artists in their own right, and a marketer to prospective customers, many of whom he had to track down wherever he could find them, on both sides of a very wide ocean.”

--Gregory Nobles, John James Audubon: The Nature of the American Woodsman, 2017. p103

Beyond the ‘supply chain’ of compensated workers existed a backdrop of the truly Unseen and Unheralded – the enslaved Black people whose supportive labor was violently coerced; and the work of Maria Martin, an ‘artist in [her] own right’ whose labor was given, and taken, freely due to her faith and her standing as an unmarried, white woman in the Antebellum South. Utilizing the exquisite Martin-Audubon collaborative painting, "Bachman's Warbler", as a jumping-off point, this installation is a visual exploration of the cultural and structural scaffolding that made such erasure possible during that era, as well as two examples of natural history showcased by the painting that have been lost and found - the now extinct Bachman's Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii) for which this painting and a few short sound recordings are our best documentation of the species' existence, and Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha) a species native to the southeastern US that narrowly avoided utter extinction thanks to the collectors John and William Bartram, and that now exists in scattered cultivation across the country.

This project is not meant as a wholesale ‘cancel’ of John James Audubon or early American naturalists – whose work, at times disturbingly tainted by prevailing beliefs and customs, nevertheless paved the way for the scientific fields of biology and ecology today. This installation is, rather, an acknowledgment of the conflicted entanglements between history, nature, people, race, gender, ideology, belief, imagery, and power.

Collections are essentially a grandiose form of appropriation, recontextualizing objects for myriad purposes. This installation plays with two traditions: collections and appropriation, by appropriating and recontextualizing Audubon’s work, as well as other historical illustrations from various collections, and using metaphor and allegory as tools to tell the story. It would not have been made possible without the help, labor, and/or support of many unseen and unheralded, including the anonymous archivists at the Internet Archive, New York Public Library Digital Collections, and Cornell’s Macaulay Library, collectors on Ebay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, and Bazaar in Hamden, the production team at Spoonflower, and most especially Alex Ebstein, Bobby Wilcox, Seth Adelsberger, Denise Wilcox, Patti Murphy, Wyatt Hersey, Jenny Rieke and Oona McKay.