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helloadmn101 · 2 years ago

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How to Choose a Good Custom Cabinet Makers Baltimore MD

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cabinet makers Baltimore MD

. While some might quote prices that come within your budget, others might charge exorbitant rates. Since, you'll not want to exceed your stipulated budget, choose the manufacturer whose charges fit into your budget. Therefore, accept a custom cabinet’s manufacturer who is trustworthy, reputable and affordable.

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chainofclovers · 4 years ago

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@little-brisk tagged the entire internet a la livejournal, and I will do the same! Answer these if you wanna answer them.

1. Name/Nicknames: off to a great start by refusing to put my real name here! however, my fandom nickname is CoC or just “coc” which makes me laugh

2. Gender: (cis) woman, lazy femme, lesbian

3. Star Sign: scorpio! i’m not scary but i am very much a scorpio

4. Height: 5′3″ (i’m actually a bit taller than 5′3″ but it sounds like I’m saying “I’m six and three-quarters years old!” to say I’m 5′3.5″. But I am between 5′3″ and 5′4″.

5. Time: 9:28 a.m. eastern time

6. Birthday: November 4. My birthday is pretty much always me being filled with election anxiety, recovering from election anxiety, or experiencing the day of a massive election. I do not recommend being born at the start of the month in which an unstable democracy re-ups itself!

7. Favourite Band: right now it’s The Weather Station!!!!!!

8. Favourite Solo Artist: Dusty Springfield

9. Song Stuck in My Head: hahahah “Black Rainbows” by Cut Copy because I used a line from the song to title a fic I wrote yesterday

10. Last Movie: watched I Care a Lot last weekend

11. Last Show: my wife and i are about to start watching season four of Dix Pour Cent (Call My Agent) on Netflix. it’s so good!

12. When I Created This Blog: summer 2014!

13. What I Post: feelings about fictional women and real women

14. Last Thing I Googled: “torrey peters” (I’m reading Detransition, Baby right now and it’s so good and I wanted to know a bit more about her!)

15. Other Blogs: I have a website and a tumblr under my real name. That tumblr gets no use anymore and hasn’t for years.

16. Do I get asks?: Not super often, but sometimes! I get asks when I request prompts or ask questions, and sometimes I get really lovely anon (or not anon!) asks out of the blue. I rarely get anything nasty.

17. Why I Chose My URL: because it’s the same as my (nearly) meaningless fic pseudonym

18. Following: 306

19. Followers: 1020

20. Average Hours of Sleep: probably about 7?

21. Lucky Number: 22

22. Instruments: lol, I used to play the clarinet and you should feel glad I don’t anymore. Haven’t since middle school!

23. What I Am Wearing: I am still wearing my pajamas, which are some olive green sweatpants and a brewery t-shirt and a grey sweatshirt

24. Dream Job: I don��t entirely know my answer to this question. My dream life is a writing life, and I have as close to that as I can without literally quitting my job in order to write only the things that I, specifically, want to write. And I don’t want to do that because my feelings about my day job exist on the spectrum of like to love pretty much daily. Even if I’m usually stressed out I am very, very privileged and blessed in my work.

25. Dream Trip: Mexico City but probably not until I’ve learned more Spanish. I’d love to go back to the UK at some point. And I want to explore more of Canada! Oooh and the plains here in the U.S.

26. Favourite Food: homemade bread, by itself or with salted butter or with spicy peanut butter or with butter and radishes. i also love spicy food, especially thai curries, and vegetables (esp broccoli and broccoli rabe) roasted until they’re a little crisp, and lots of different potato-related foods, and the best thing I’ve cooked recently is salmon in a miso-maple glaze and the best thing my wife has cooked recently was this chickpea dish with greens and lots of cheese, omg

27. Nationality: american. womp womp

28. Favourite Song: "time (the revelator)” by Gillian Welch

29. Last Book I Read: the last book I finished was the care and feeding of waspish widows by Olivia Waite (fun book with a terrible cover, MAYBE IT’S JUST ME but if I’d written a book in which a fat forty-something woman is rightfully and happily an object of great sexual desire I’d be miffed if my book came out with a stock photo-style portrait of two thin women in their early thirties at most)

30. Top 3 fictional universes I would love to live in:

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo because reading that book was like meeting new friend after new friend and I really missed them after the book was over! I gave the book to one of my aunts for Christmas and she told me she felt like she’d just met a bunch of new people, and it made me so happy that she had that reaction too.

I am not cut out for a life on the run but all the outdoor settings on the show Wanted are so beautiful so I would be willing to live there and aid and abet Chelsea and Lola if they needed help. I’d return to my own reality the second I met one of those massive Australian bugs, though.

I know I’d be so miserable but Battlestar Galactica was really, really immersive TV for me and I think I’m decent in a crisis and I guess if I lived in the world of BSG I’d find out for real.

#about me #meme #a good old fashioned internet survey #personal

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pastafossa · 3 years ago

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Flufftober 2021, Day 7 - Meddling Friends

You can track my progress here on my Flufftober list, and you can find the official flufftober tumblr here!

Ship: Steve Rogers x Reader Rating: SFW Wordcount: 1,609 Warnings: None, just friends trying to do the best they can to get Steve a date.

Modern dating was still a bit of a mystery to Steve.

It wasn’t like he… like he hadn’t been on dates. He had, no matter what anyone else would argue. He was ancient—not dead. But a good half of the places he’d have taken you to back in his time didn’t exist anymore. On top of that, how he might ask you on a date was just as confusing. What counted as old-fashioned as opposed to romantic? Flowers? A letter? Standing on your lawn with a ‘boombox’ like in that movie he’d watched? If so he was out of luck, because he was pretty sure those boxes were just as dead as his awareness of how this all worked. It certainly didn’t help that once word got out that he was looking to ask you out, everyone began to hunt him down to offer advice on both how he should ask and where he should take you to.

Thor’s suggestion, given with great cheer and much back-slapping, was to take you on a hunt.

“Seek out something large and ferocious! Something that shall get the blood pumping, hm? At least five lengths longer than you should do. Though… No. No. Ten! Ten lengths! So there is fight enough for the both of you.” Thor clapped him on the shoulder. “Should you have no such creatures that satisfy on Midgard, I will fetch you one.”

Steve… didn’t think that was the right way to go.

Tony’s suggestion, meanwhile, was a bit more upscale than he was comfortable with.

“Look, I get you haven’t done this since before the stone age,” Tony said absently, tapping away at his phone. “But trust me, we’ve advanced since the days of offering a sabertooth pelt. I know a place, beautiful view of the skyline. Normally booking’s three months in advance, but between you being a Capsicle and me being, well, me, I’ll get you in. She like sushi?” He scoffed before Steve could answer. “What am I saying? This place is amazing. If she doesn’t like sushi before she goes, she’ll like it after. Sent you the link—that’s the bunch of little words and letters that are blue, not black—in your email. Just call them, let ‘em know I sent you. By the way, I really, really think we need to change that email. Steve-dot-rogers-fifty seven? Really?”

And while a view of the skyline sounded romantic, it only took him one fumbled google search to see that it cost roughly six hundred dollars per person. After checking to make sure his heart was still beating, he ruled that out. Even aside from the cost, it looked a little more formal than he was comfortable with.

When it came to Natasha, however, she took a different route, as she usually did. That included almost startling him out of his skin when he flicked on his light and found her seated in a chair in his living room. She blinked at him slowly, completely unruffled by his reaction.

“Nat, God. How long have you been sitting here?”

“Too long. You’re late by about thirty-eight minutes. Unusual for you.” She flicked one hand at a stack of paper on his coffee table, one that very much hadn’t been there this morning when he’d left. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you how to ask her out, or where to take her.” He hesitated, mildly suspicious. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

“But I may or may not have gone through her publicly accessible social media accounts. And talked to her friends. And her family. And accessed her S.H.I.E.L.D. file. That stack is roughly ten years of interests, hobbies, internet surveys, and locations she’s expressed interest in visiting.”

“I can’t read this,” he objected, narrowing his eyes at the stack of paper as if it were about to bite him. “That sounds… that’s private, I can’t just—”

“One of them is literally just a, ‘My Top Tens’ survey she shared with her friends, Steve. We’re talking about what her favorite season is, not secrets.”

“It’s still—”

“It’s got her favorite flowers, and what color they are.”

His eyes slid slowly down to the stack of paper, and for a moment, he reconsidered.

“Just think about it. And let me know if you have anything else you want to know. I’ll find it.”

Clint’s suggestions were, perhaps, the most sensible, but they still didn’t feel quite right.

“Take her somewhere exciting!” Clint assured him as they jogged down the hall of the Compound, alarms blaring around them. “You know, water skiing. Paragliding, with good views. Gets the adrenaline pumping. That sort of thing.”

“Is now really the time to be doing this? We don’t even know what’s going on.”

“What’s going on,” came Tony’s voice over their comms, “is that Point Break just ported in with some massive twelve-legged Cujo slash T. rex hybrid… thing, on a chain, shouted, ‘For Brother Steve!’ and let it go into the woods like it was Bambi. We need to get it before it devours a herd of school children. Or finds the zoo and decides an elephant would make a good mother.”

Clint sighed. “This is a bad day for me to have forgotten my T. rex tranq arrows, isn’t it?”

In the end, it was Bruce that gave him the best advice.

Bruce continued working through his bowl of cereal, considering Steve as Steve groaned. He’d written down the suggestions, but each and every one he went over just seemed… off. There was just so much information from Natasha, every restaurant he looked for with a skyline view was exorbitantly expensive, he didn’t know how to water ski, and the twelve-legged, T. rex-dog hybrid had already been very reluctantly tranquilized and sent back to wherever it came from—though only after Thor had winked and loudly whispered, “a little smaller next time, Brother Steve? I understand. ‘Tis more intimate.”

“I have a suggestion,” Bruce said quietly.

Steve scrubbed his hands down his face. “If it involves T. rexes or social media, I’m afraid it won’t work.”

Bruce paused, thinking as he poked at his bowl of Lucky Charms. “I know I'm normally the one advocating thinking, but in this case I think you might be overthinking.”

“How so?”

Bruce rolled one shoulder easily, completely calm. “She already likes you. You’ve already spent time together doing fun things you enjoy, just as friends. So just go to her as you, since that’s who you want her to date. Not Clint or Nat or Tony. As for where you go, it’s you that makes it romantic, not the location. But that’s just me.”

Which was how he found himself on your doorstep, shifting from foot to foot, flowers in one hand. It was old-fashioned, maybe, but it was also more him, and to be honest, Bruce’s advice that he go to you as himself had been the only thing that made sense when he finally dug down into it. If you wanted to go on a date with him, if you said yes, he’d take you to a movie or maybe dancing. He knew you liked movies based on how many times you’d taken him, and he… thought you might like dancing if it was with him, and even if he had to set something up himself.

Yet his thoughts all fled the second you opened the door, your brows arching up in surprise. “Steve! Wasn’t expecting you. You here as Avengers Steve to evacuate me, or is this personal?”

“I… personal.” He cleared his throat, and it was only then you seemed to notice the flowers. Before he could overthink it, he continued. “Look, we… I was wondering… we’ve just spent a lot of time together, and I was wondering if you wanted to… spend more time. Together. In a more… personal way.”

Great job, Rogers.

Your smile slow grew as he spoke, tripping over his own feet, and he winced, waiting for you to laugh or maybe just shut the door in his face.

“I would love to spend more time together, especially if by, ‘more personal’, you meant a date.”

He searched your expression, your eyes for some sign that you were joking, but you were… completely serious. Something inside him went warm, even as the tension in him began to ease because you’d said yes. “You mean it?”

“I’ve liked you for a while now,” you confessed, carefully reaching out to take his free hand, tangling it with yours. He stared down at your twined fingers, still half in shock that it had worked. He’d known you enjoyed his company; it was one reason you’d both become friends, but he’d never expected anything like this. “Was kind of hoping this would happen, but I didn’t want to push it.”

“That I understand,” he said quietly, stepping in just a little closer, now that he knew that his want for that kind of warmth, that kind of closeness might be reciprocated. “So… maybe we can start slow. I’d like to take you to dinner and a movie. I have a lot of those still on my list, half of which were recommended by you, so…”

“Increasing your cultural awareness is a lovely date idea,” you laughed, your free hand reaching down to brush over the flowers. “Did you plan for that tonight, since you brought flowers?”

He chuckled, holding them out to you. ��Almost forgot about those. I wanted those here when I asked.”

“How’d you know these were my favorites?” you whispered, taking them in with a quiet sigh, breathing them in.

“Just a lucky guess.”

-x-

Tagging Team 🌊Every Fic Wave🌊 (to be added to the tag list, click here): @sictrnstgloria @ancientbeing10 @viviaceae-blog @moonyinthestars @caswinchester2000 @lov3vivian @ownerofthehighground @claire-of-asgard @tripletstephaniescp @catsnow14 @hopplessdreamer @theheartshaker @somanyyumypeoplejustletmehave1 @pastamomma

#flufftober2021 #steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #fluff #steve rogers #captain america #fic #ficlet #steve rogers imagine #look at thor he's being so helpful #poor steve #just go with your heart #in which bruce is basically the disney cricket that dispenses the true advice

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keelywolfe · 4 years ago

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FIC: Just Swimmingly ch.4 (BAON)

Summary: Jeff doesn't know where they are or where they're going, but he knows one thing. It's probably not good.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Established Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Additional Tags To Come

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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Read it on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

By the time the van came to a stop, Stretch still hadn’t woken up. Not that it mattered very much, there wasn’t a thing Jeff could have done to change their situation. At the moment, they were very much outnumbered, overpowered, and even if he’d had a clue where they were, it wouldn’t have done them any good. Before they dragged him out of the van, one of the thugs yanked a bag over his head. Blinded, he struggled to stumble along as two guys pulled him out, trying not to cry out as they led him barefoot across crumbling asphalt into a building with rough carpet.

He kept as quiet as he could, trying to not only listen in case they said anything useful, but also for Stretch, praying to a God he hadn’t spoken to since he was fifteen and his father threw him out that they didn't hurt Stretch. Jeff could survive a few bumps and bruises, but he didn't know how much Stretch could withstand. Intent was key when it came to Monsters, he knew that much, and these guys seemed to have plenty.

At first, he tried to keep track of where he was being led. An impossible effort when the twists and turns of being dragged along left him too disoriented to know his way up or down. They seemed to walk forever until his captors suddenly stopped and Jeff was shoved down into a chair. Rough hands grabbed at him, rope suddenly binding his wrists and ankles. He didn’t struggle as he was tied, only tried to tense his muscles as much as possible, some shitty internet meme he vaguely remembered reading said that it could help slip free later.

Turned out memes weren’t the best source for escape plans. When they were done, Jeff subtly tried to move and the best he could manage was a painful rope burn. The ropes felt like they were wound through the slats in the chair and unless Houdini decided to make good on his possible return from the other side, Jeff was going nowhere fast.

He could hear their captors moving around, muttering too low to be understood and the other sounds might have been more rope. Tying up Stretch, maybe, he hoped that’s what it was; at least if they were together, that was something, hell, that was everything right now.

The bag suddenly getting ripped off his head made him gasp, flinching from the glaring light pointed directly into his face. Squinting, he could barely see the shadowy figures standing behind it, but he was sure he could see a cell phone pointed in his direction.

“Say your name,” a rough voice demanded.

“Andy—” he began automatically. “No, Jeff, I’m sorry, Jeff! My name is Jeff!” There was nothing else and Jeff shifted, grimacing as the ropes dug in. It was on the tip of his tongue to go on, to blurt that he worked in public relations, that he was nobody important and not worth ransoming. He bit the inside of his lip to keep those rambles from pouring out. Partly because it was probably stupid to tell kidnappers your value or lack thereof, and partly because of Edge. He’d always told them to never offer more information than was necessary and yeah, he’d been talking about board games at the time, but Jeff doubted that Clue was where Edge learned that particular rule. If these assholes wanted more info, they could damn well ask.

Either his name was all they wanted or they already had whatever other info they needed. Jeff didn’t even have a chance to try squinting through the too-bright light when one of them came towards him and yanked the bag back over his head. He sat there, sweat beading on his face and his own breath threatening to smother him as he listened to their captors moving around next to him.

“He can’t talk,” one of them said disgustedly. “He’s still wasted.”

Stretch. That meant he was right next to him, thank fucking god.

The rough sound of a slap made Jeff tense, protests bitten off when the same voice cursed and there came the sound of someone rubbing their head, “What the fuck, man!”

“That’s exactly how we want him, dumbass! He doesn’t need to talk, all they need is a good look at him. Come on, they’re waiting.”

Footsteps and then the sound of a door closing. Jeff strained to hear if anyone was still in there with them around his own breathing loud in his ears, his pulse thundering. There was nothing, no shuffle of feet against the floor or the creak of a chair. Jeff waited a little longer, curling his chilly toes against the rough carpet.

Nothing. Jeff took a long, slow breathing, trying to calm his racing pulse. He needed to be cool right now so he could try to think of something. Even if the Embassy was willing to give these assholes whatever they wanted, they sure as hell couldn’t count on that saving their lives. He was no strategist, his degree was in sociology, for fuck’s sake, but. Stretch always called him Handy Andy and it made him feel like someone different, someone braver who could stand up to a violent asshole on a bus and help Stretch with crazy experiments involving swinging bottles of Diet Coke rigged with automatic mentos dispensers. Jeff might not be the best for this situation, but Andy was sure as hell gonna try.

“Stretch,” Jeff said softly. He waited for someone to shout or a slap followed by a demand that he shut up. When none came, he went on, soft and urgent, “I know you can't hear me, but, just in case you can. It's gonna be okay. I know you're big on promises and I'm promising you right now we're getting out of this. I promise you." If he could glean anything of what Jeff was saying, he hoped he could hear that much. At least maybe he wouldn't be afraid.

"i sure hope so, i didn't get this far in life to get dusted by a low rent group of third rate scooby doo level villains. seriously, they tied us up with rope, were they out of packing tape at ‘kidnappers ‘r’ us’ or were they just eager to try the knots they learned in boy scouts before they got kicked out."

Okay, that wasn’t quite the last thing he’d expected, but it was close.

"Stretch?" Jeff gasped out. He couldn’t see a damn thing through the bag, but he could hear a muted popping sound. Suddenly, the bag was gone, far gentler than before and then he was blinking up into Stretch’s smirking face.

Jeff looked around a little wildly and next to him was another chair, the still-tied ropes hanging from the rungs in loose coils.

“yeah, sorry. i woke up back in the van, didn’t want to tip them off. wherever they buy their roofies must not have given them a dosage chart.” Stretch settled his hands on Jeff’s shoulders. “hold still, this is a lot easier than fighting with knots.”

It was the gentlest and shortest teleport he’d ever felt. Only a brief disorientation and when his vision cleared, he was sitting on top of the ropes that had just been binding him.

Jeff scrambled to his feet, swiping his sleeve across his sweaty forehead. Holy shit, maybe he should take up praying again more regularly, this was the fastest service he’d ever gotten. “Can you get us outside?”

His heart sank as Stretch shook his head. “that's gonna be a no. with the bags on our heads, i couldn't see where we are. shortcutting is tricky, it's dangerous to teleport blind. that's how you end up stuck in walls or halfway inside a table or some shit.” Stretch waved a slender hand at the chairs. “dangerous, not impossible. a few inches above where i was sitting was a pretty safe bet to get out of the ropes, but anything else is more likely to get us dead than on the street.” He frowned, glancing around the room thoughtfully. “plus, i'm not going anywhere without a little intel. they’re fucking idiots, but they knew enough to drug me and how to do it. that's not information you can just look up on a wiki-how.”

“Okay,” Jeff took a deep, steadying breath. "So, what do we do, then?” He glanced at the door. “Can you pick locks?"

"sure,” Stretch said absently. He was looking around the room. It was a storage room of some sort, there was more dusty furniture aside from the chairs, including a rickety desk, and metal cabinets lined the walls. “but i can't do much about the door being barred. i heard something get braced against it when they went out.

"Oh. Right."

“yeah,” Stretch agreed, “at least one of them has a brain cell or two rolling around up top, enough to get them this far. but the road trip is over and it’s time to pay the tolls.” Stretch shook his head disgustedly. "first rule of kidnapping is never leave the kidnappees alone. seriously, i'm getting my cues from netflix and even i know that.”

His eye lights paused in their survey of the room, brightening. Jeff followed his gaze and saw in one corner there was an honest to god old-fashioned rotary telephone pushed into the far corner of the desk, nearly buried under the clutter.

"can't be that easy, can it?” Stretch marveled. He picked it up the handset and held to his skull, then sighed unhappily. “nope. no dial tone, no surprise there, no one has a landline anymore. don’t you worry though, little phone.” Stretch gave it a soft pat. “you’re gonna be real useful in just a minute. seriously, this is just embarrassing. my first kidnapping attempt and they locked us in a room with an entire arsenal.”

“I must be missing the vendor in the corner willing to hand over gear if we do a mission for them,” Jeff joked weakly.

“everything is an arsenal if you’ve got the skills.” Stretch rummaged through the desk and came up triumphantly with…a paperclip? He set it on the desk, adding a pencil, some scotch tape, and what looked to Jeff like an old tube of superglue. “kidnapped by the ebott equivalent of the america’s dumbest criminals, fuck me. edge is going to be up my ass for a month.”

“I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit.” It was easier to be calm in the face of Stretch’s ease. “I think six months is the bare minimum.”

“i really wish you weren’t right.” Stretch glanced around the room again, this time directing his gaze upward. “hm, that’ll work.” Tall as he was, the ceiling was still out of reach even for him. Stretch pulled one of the chairs over, ropes trailing behind it like tentacles, and stood on it, reaching for the smoke detector. Jeff could only blink in confusion as he yanked it right off the ceiling.

"You're going to burn down the building?” Jeff asked. Not that he didn’t trust Stretch, but, uh, that seemed extreme for a first escape attempt. “That’d get us out, but I don't think we'll be any more alive."

"nah, just need some parts,” Stretch jerked his head towards the door. “keep an ear on the hallway, will ya, in case they remember that leaving us alone is probably stupid."

“Got it.” Jeff went to the door but before he could press his ear to it, Stretch called his name.

"hey, kiddo, i'm gonna get us out of this." Stretch offered him a familiar, lopsided smile. "i know i don't look like much, but i've been known to keep my head in a bad situation."

"You already saved me once,” Jeff said honestly, "why wouldn't I believe you now?"

Stretch’s pale eye lights flickered with memory, his expression briefly tightening. How did he remember that horrible night in that parking lot, Jeff wondered, what nightmares haunted Stretch’s sleep? He knew something happened after the ambulance took him away, but he’d never heard the entire story. After he’d been released from the hospital, he’d been wrapped up in healing enough to start his new job at the Embassy and as time passed, he hated to ask, didn’t want to dredge it all up again, not when everyone was slowly getting past it. Besides, the others had their own shit to deal with, what with the attack in California and everything happening in Ebott. His trauma was his to handle and that was the end of it.

At the desk, Stretch got to work, humming the ‘mission impossible’ theme under his breath as he dissected the phone and smoke detector with a makeshift screwdriver made from a bent paperclip taped to a pencil. His hands were as deft and easy as any demonstration he’d done for the local kids and Jeff could only marvel at his ease.

“How can you be so calm?” Jeff blurted, wincing even as the words escaped. He hadn’t meant to say it, didn’t want to distract him. Stretch only flicked a glance his way, both browbones raised.

“me?” Stretch snorted, “i am not calm. beneath this gorgeous cookie crust exterior is a honey pie of a person who would start shitting themselves if i could grow the prerequisite equipment. but we're gonna be okay.”

“How do you know?” Jeff hated the faint pleading in his own voice, he shouldn’t be distracting; Stretch was as stuck here as he was and with his HP, it was even worse. He was supposed to be the one helping Stretch, he’d promised, and the best he could do was lookout.

“you seriously think red isn't already on it?” Stretch asked and as terrifying as Red could be, thinking about him right now eased some of the aching fear that was settled in Jeff’s stomach. “all he needs is a clue and we’re gonna get him one. i only hope he can keep edge from razing the city and salting the earth beneath it until then. people might be a little tetchy about that and i’m not even sure you can come up with a press release that’d cover ‘sorry about starting city-wide armageddon, my bad.’”

Before Jeff could think of a reply to that, either an agreement, or a protest that a little chaos could be excused considering the circumstances, he heard footsteps coming from down the hallway. Panicked, he hissed out, “They're coming!”

“fuck, okay, okay.” Stretch scrambled over and set some kind of contraption on the floor near the door that was all waggling wires and circuit boards. He grabbed Jeff by the wrist and dragged him along. “over here, come on, this a harder trick, but you can do it. i need you to hold as still as you can. if you move, they might see you, you get me?"

Jeff managed a hasty nod as Stretch shoved him into a corner, cramming them both in tight, out of the way. "don't move, don't talk,” Stretch reminded him, a low murmur close to his ear. The slim, bony arms around him were comforting and even knowing that Stretch couldn’t physically protect him, having him towering overhead as he caged Jeff against the wall felt oddly safe.

Then something happened. He didn’t know how to describe it. It felt like a heavy curtain fell over the world, everything going distant and muffled, even his vision greying like he was about to faint, only he’d never felt so awake. There was a sudden popping explosion as the door swung open and collided with Stretch’s contraption, but it sounded miles away, the kidnappers’ curses as muffled as if they were speaking from another world.

He didn’t move, held perfectly still even as that curtain slowly grew claustrophobic, nausea starting to churn. Jeff closed his eyes, swallowing convulsively and just went he thought he couldn’t stand it a moment longer, that he either needed to move or he’d start screaming, it was suddenly gone and Stretch was stepping back.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Stretch was pale, sweat showing visibly on his skull. "are you okay?" Stretch asked.

“Me?” Jeff blurted. He caught hold of Stretch’s arms to brace him as he wobbled on his feet. “I’m fine, what about you!”

"i’ll be okay.” Stretch wiped his face on the sleeve of the crummy shirt he’d been forced into with a grimace. “i pulled us halfway into the void. it works, but it burns a lot of juice. the assholes booked it out of here, but more importantly, they left the door open."

The door was opened, they could leave, and yet, Jeff found himself blurting out, “They��ll get away!”

“no,” Stretch said grimly. “they’ll look for us first, thinking we couldn’t have gotten too far. these guys aren’t gonna ditch and run that fast, they know too much. think about it. drugs work on monsters but how do they know what kind and how much? lucky for me, skeleton monsters are different. our systems are finicky, we’re hard to drug. whoever tipped them off about how to roofie me didn’t know that.”

His sockets narrowed suddenly, Stretch turning away to look in the rusty cabinet next to them. “oh, honey,” he said gleefully, “jackpot.”

Jeff joined him, peering into the cabinet as Stretch cautiously wrenched it open. “What did you find?”

He held up a bottle of bleach and said, smugly, “just some nice, normal household chemicals. they can be lots of fun if you know how to mix 'em up and i'm a one hell of a bartender. but first.”

On the desk was another little contraption that was mostly wires and tape. Stretch picked it up and walked over to squat next to a wall outlet. Carefully, he pushed it into the socket. There was a sputtering spark and a tiny red light blinked to life.

“there we go.” Stretch stood, dusting off his hands. “i don’t even want to think about how pants-shittingly angry edge probably is right now, but we can’t let them get the ransom that asgore is probably going to pay and we sure as hell can’t let them get away.”

He grinned then, wickedly sharp for all that his teeth were blunt. “so, how’s about we have some fun, yeah?”

Jeff nodded determinedly. Fuck, yes. If he was going to add to his repertoire of nightmares, he was damn well going to make sure someone else paid for it, in spades.

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #by any other name

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jasonskysys · 4 years ago

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Week 5 - Digital Citizenship 1: Political Engagement (Social media VS Political Engagement)

Well well well, what an interesting topic this week? As a citizen, it is also important for us to at least understand a little bit about politics. With social media being so popular nowadays, especially during the pandemic, what's exactly is the relationship between social media and political engagement? What can social media do to it?

What is Political Engagement?

Political engagement can be defined as a cognitive process and when the brain becomes stimulated by external stimuli, in this case relating to politics, elaboration occurs. The elaboration mentioned here means not just the connecting of thoughts and recognizing the new information as important and relevant but also a process that leads to having an attitudinal reaction. Political engagement is a necessary precursor for political participation and thus important for a vibrant civic culture.

But I often ask myself, how effective is social media towards political engagement? Politicians are spending more and more money on social media? Why so? Perhaps the video below can answer that question for us, let's take a look ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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How Social Media is Shaping Our Political Future?

So why politicians spent more than 70% of their budgets for advertising through social media? What has it got to do in winning elections and what benefits that can obtain? Barack Obama is the first presidential candidate to use this medium. This shows that social media has changed the game, allowing incumbents and newcomers alike to speak directly to constituents on everything from policy to what they had for dinner. It's not that old-fashioned and traditional way anymore? The way that they communicate now, it's totally different from what they were used to be doing 5, 10 years ago. Some of the older politicians had gone through the phase and those who couldn't adapt, they are out of the game. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you name it. Politicians nowadays can share almost anything on the internet - "what they had for lunch", "new pet?". Victoria Bonney had talked about how social media is shaping our political future, had a look! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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The survey finds that, aside from voting, relatively few people take part in other forms of political and civic participation. During the old days, it is hard to connect a politician with a normal citizen but after the social emerges, it somehow connects politicians together with everyone else around the globe, even if that person doesn't even live in your country but they still support you because they like what they see through social media. Mostly people get involved in politics to get their problems solved such as healthcare, poverty or financial problems. Research found out that older generations likely to vote more than younger generations but now younger generations more likely to post comments on political or social issues!

Through social media, they can still be anonymous if they chose to, therefore they can post anything they want which links to freedom of speech. Through social media, they are more motivated to be talking about political issues.

Social media really plays an important role in political engagement and if politicians that are smart, they had already realized it long before it became so popular. It is really a good way in connecting people together through it. But something that great also comes with its disadvantage. Some politicians had started some negative trend through social media and further influencing their followers in doing the what they are doing. Some followers just follow blindly and this may give a bad impacts on the politician itself or to the country. A great example will be Donald Trump's "Chinese virus" Tweet which now start to cause Asian hate in the United States with elderly Asian get beaten up without any reason on the streets and this is getting bad, it must stop!

To conclude, social media had a really huge impact on political engagement but its about how you utilize it. Social media should be something that is used to spread peace and love around the world and not hate. It is important that politicians, people who serves the community set up a good example in demonstrating how to continue spread love across the world using social media.

List of Reference

Ahmad, T., Alvi, A. and Ittefaq, M., 2019. The Use of Social Media on Political Participation Among University Students: An Analysis of Survey Results From Rural Pakistan - Taufiq Ahmad, Aima Alvi, Muhammad Ittefaq, 2019. [online] SAGE Journals. Available at: <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244019864484> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Bournemouth.ac.uk. n.d. Understanding political engagement | Bournemouth University. [online] Available at: <https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/projects/understanding-political-engagement> [Accessed 4 April 2021].

Knowledge@Wharton. 2020. How Social Media Is Shaping Political Campaigns - Knowledge@Wharton. [online] Available at: <https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-social-media-is-shaping-political-campaigns/> [Accessed 4 April 2021].

Lee, R., Smith, A., Schlozman, K., Brady, H. and Verba, S., 2012. Social Media and Political Engagement. [online] Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Available at: <https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2012/10/19/social-media-and-political-engagement/> [Accessed 4 April 2021].

Wike, R. and Castillo, A., 2018. Political Engagement Around the World. [online] Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. Available at: <https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/10/17/international-political-engagement/> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

#mda20009 #digital communities #swinburne university of technology #week 5

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years ago

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Survey #387

“today i woke up, & i hate myself”

What common problem have you never experienced? The loss of a close family member (that doesn't include pets). Alternatively, what's an uncommon problem you have experienced? Homelessness. Do you know anyone who opposes marriage equality? I sure do. What was the last thing you got really emotional about? Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty premiering. What's the longest amount of time you've been ill for? I don't really know. I don't get sick a lot at all. Who is your closest male friend? Girt. Do you know anyone who hunts for meat? Sadly. I say "sadly" because it's not like they need it. Have you ever lived with a boyfriend/girlfriend? Yes, although I wasn't a technical resident. I was there all the time, though. What do you wash dishes with? Sponge, scrub brush, rag, something else? A sponge. Is there anything you prefer to do the old-fashioned way? There's probably something, but I can't think of anything. Do you put your glasses and mugs right side up or upside down on the cabinet shelf? Upside-down. What was the worst part of your childhood? My parents fighting. Have you ever seen a high school relationship last long-term? (like 10+yrs) Yeah. Do you know any cancer survivors? Quite a few. Leftover pizza for breakfast... yay or nay? Good shit, man. Do you personally know anyone who's a psychopath or sociopath? I don't think so. What is your most used kitchen appliance? Lately, it's been the apple slicer. I've been on a real apple slices + peanut butter kick lately. What is something that you would personally like to be remembered for? For being a caring person towards all living things. Have you ever been diagnosed as clinically depressed before? Yes. Do you like bowling? Yeah, it's fun. Do you own binoculars or nonoculars? What do you use them for? No. Do you ever wish you had a telescope on the roof or attic to stargaze? Yeah, that'd be cool. Have you ever had to deal with someone close to you going off to war? No, thankfully. Who do you feel you have the most in common with? Sara, easily. Who in your life causes you the most stress or negative feelings? My damn self lmao. Have you ever had a teacher that also taught your parents? No. My parents didn't grow up in NC. What’s one thing that people definitely CAN’T count on you for? To remember like... anything. What about something they definitely can count on you for? Someone to listen to encourage them. What’s one food that you want to try but haven’t yet? I've always thought macaroons look good. Do you have anything planned for the summer? No. Do you walk fast or slow? Slow. Would you consider yourself an adrenaline junkie? No. What is a common slang word from where you live? Plural "you" does not exist. It's "y'all," lol. What’s the scariest thing you’ve accidentally found on the internet? *shrug* Probably something as a kid, going on those sketchy websites with loads of games and stuff. Thinking of every Halloween costume you’ve had, which one was the most creative? I don't think I've had any creative costumes for Halloween. What’s one random city you want to visit? It's not exactly "random" as it's a popular location, but anyway, I would love to visit Venice. What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math. When was the last time you ate cake and what type of cake was it? That's a good question, actually. Maybe my niece's birthday in February? I don't remember what kind of cake it was. Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? No; I don't have any. Do you like snowy winter days or do you prefer rainy days? SNOWY! Name 3 things you find most beautiful in nature: Mountains, large waterfalls, and desert dunes in the wind. If you could ask one person one questions and get a completely honest answer who would it be and what would you ask? Jason. I'd ask if he thought I was emotionally abusive. What is your favorite winter activity? Building snowmen. Who is the greatest singer who is no longer living? Freddie Mercury. What is your idea of heaven? I don't know, really... I have to ask myself IS there a heaven in eternity? Living forever just... doesn't appeal to me. "Living" is an odd word to use there, but hopefully you get it. Existing on and on and on and on seems like it'd just be a drag, but at the same time I do like the thought of feeling relentlessly happy and peaceful with my loved ones. I guess that would be my definition of it, if it does exist. What’s one of the scariest things you’ve ever done? ODed. Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? Just once, on my 16th birthday because I was at Jason's place and all of his family was watching it. I had absolutely zero interest, but we wanted to hang with the family. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Canada. Do you watch American Horror Story? I haven't in years. It was Jason's and my first "show," and the first season was excellent. I lost interest in the second one, honestly. I'd be up for watching other seasons, though. How many relationships have you been in this year? None. What's your favorite cereal? Probably Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That's also the only cereal where I can happily drink the milk afterwards. Twitter or Facebook? Facebook. Do you like to paint your nails? No. What's the coolest place you've ever been to? Disney World, probably. Have you ever punched anyone? No. What's something you wish you knew how to do? Cook. :/ I really need to make an effort to learn. It'd be great to not rely on a microwave for the rest of my life. What's a celebrity that everyone likes but you don't? *shrug* What food do you eat the most? Probably bread in some form or another. That really needs to stop. Green or purple grapes? Either one, but they have to be firm. I cannooooooot with soft grapes. Have you ever cried over a text? Yeah. What's the background of your phone of? My lock screen is this pretty, simplistic periwinkle color with "work on you for you" written on it. It's one I plan on keeping for probably a long time because I connect to it so deeply with my stupid damn head frequently demanding I have to improve "for Jason" to prove him wrong. Which is a very unhealthy mindset to have, I know. My home screen is a cute lil Mark edit someone made with a very similar pale blue background, so my phone is just currently an #aesthetic. Do you have a Snapchat? No. What's your favorite sports team? (if you like sports)? I don't like sports, but I'm biased towards the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team because of my dad. Last thing you ate? I had Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast. Do you take a lot of selfies? Definitely not. I just hate how I look so much; it takes way too much effort for me to get an "acceptable" one. Do you prefer strawberries or cherries? Strawberries. I hate cherries. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Maybe like, three. -_- Our A/C is still out, and it was like, 87 in the house last night. It was impossible to sleep. Do you listen to music daily? Not EVERY day, but usually. Biggest insecurity? My weight. Do you play video games? Not as much as I used to. I'd probably play way more if I actually had a PS4 + the games I'm DYING to have. Do you consider yourself lazy? "Yes, but a lot of it is also health related for my lack of energy and motivation." <<<< This for me as well. What recently made you laugh? I was watching a bit of The Nanny with Mom yesterday. We love that show. Do you like gummy bears? Yep. What was the last song you listened to? I'm randomly hooked on "My Nocturnal Serenade" by YOHIO. Like, I've known the song for a long time, but NOW I'm bingeing it???? Describe your mom with one word. Selfless. What's the biggest turn-off? Probably being misogynistic. But being a cocky ass is definitely high up there, too. What fish scares you the most? Mfkng whale sharks terrify me. How do you feel about snails? They're cuties!!! What's your favorite app? Pokemon GO. Would you rather time travel into the past or future? The future, to see what's coming. I feel like you could come back with some pretty valuable information. What is the saddest song you've ever heard? I think "Terrible Things" by Mayday Parade has to come on top. What insect do you hate the most? I was reminded that stag beetles exist last night, and omfg those. Well, "hate" is the wrong word, really, I'm just terrified of them. Would you ever have a wild animal as a pet if possible? I 110% want to rescue an opossum, emphasis on "rescue." I'm not plucking one from the wild or anything like that. I would be in HEAVEN raising one of those angels. Are there any decorations that makes you happy? (lights, candles, plants..) I love those beds decorated with fairy lights, and just Christmas lights in general. Halloween and Christmas decor tend to give me sparks of happiness when I see 'em. Does race matter to you when it comes to dating? Not at all for me. When was the last time you painted something? Not since I was still in school and took a Painting course. When was the last time you really felt alive, and what were you doing? I have NO idea. What is one question you would like an answer to? Why the worst things tend to happen to good people. Name one favorite thing to do with kids while babysitting. I don't babysit, but if I was to be in charge of a kid, I'd love to teach them to play video games from my childhood. Playing Pokemon with my niece and nephew is always a blast, ahhhh. Name one flavor you like. Strawberry is pretty consistent. Name one thing you are hoping for. Venus' new terrarium soon... big sigh. I can't for the life of me find one that's a reasonable price and also adequately sized. I'm willing to put the rest of my cash into it, but Mom is helping, so I can't just buy the first one I see. Then I'd need more substrate, I seriously want a temperature gun and hygrometer, a cool hide, sticks and stuff for cover... It's going to be expensive, but I want Venus to have a truly proper environment she can thrive in. Write the name of one of your imaginary friends from when you were younger. Oddly enough, I can't remember the imaginary wolf that was my "friend." I say "oddly" because his whole idea was important to me as a weird-ass kid. Name one girl's name that starts with a "J" that you like. "Justine." Name one boy's name that starts with a "J" that you like. Maybe "Jaxson." Have you ever been kissed? Yeah. Have you ever feared that you would be killed? It's never been like, a fear I actively worry about. I just acknowledge it's always a possibility for anyone. What is the last great opportunity you missed? This was quite a while ago by now, but I'd say by dropping out of school, I really let photography opportunities slip since I became the newspaper photographer...

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''under the graveyard'' by ozzy osbourne

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purplesurveys · 3 years ago

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1278

Social Media Survey

[joybucket]

What is your favorite social media site? Either Twitter or YouTube, though I never use YouTube as a social media site per se so I guess this round goes to Twitter.

Do you use...

facebook? myspace? twitter? snapchat? instagram? youtube? pinterest? bzoink? another site with message boards? tumblr? deviantart? xanga?

Facebook

Do you get on Facebook every day? Yeah pretty much all throughout the day. I used to never use it, like never ever; but back in college all announcements were coursed through Facebook so I was technically required to be on it regularly, and it was from there that I began to see memes and start to be more active. I’m a shitposter more than anything though and I rarely ever post stuff of my own. How many FB friends do you have? I have 679 at the moment but I want to get rid of like 500 of them; it’s just such a long list to go through so I never get to proceed with my unfriending spree lol.

Have you ever been on a deleting spree? HAHA I just mentioned that. I’ve always wanted to, but like I said 679 is already such an exhaustive list for me, and that’s considering I only started touching my Facebook in like 2019. I can’t imagine people who started Facebook in like 2009 and have 4000 friends aka most people I know.

Have you blocked a lot of haters? I don’t have haters; at least I’m not aware of any that I have. Not that it’s something I care about at this point.

Do you get bullied online a lot? No, but that’s also because I don’t really open the channels for people to send in hate. I don’t have Q&A handles like Curious Cat and I never pick out that option in Instagram where people can send in questions.

What's your favorite Facebook app? Oh I never use Facebook for their apps. Are those still even a thing...? Anyway, I mainly go there to be on the hunt for stupid memes I can reshare or to watch videos that are either funny or informative.

Are you a fan of selfies? I don’t mind if other people do it, but I think I’m honestly bad at selfies so I almost never take them. I’ve never figured out my angles or what filters look ok on me.

Has anyone ever called the police on you because they didn't like your status? No but I have had my posts reported because they were deemed ‘offensive.’ Which is weird because my posts that have been taken down are those that speak out against disgusting men, which says a lot about Facebook runs their shit more than anything else.

Are you in any facebook groups? I’m in nearly a hundred groups, both private i.e. for school purposes, and public.

Are you the admin of any groups? Nah. Too much time and effort needed out of me.

Do you report abuse to group admins whenever you see it? Yes. I report the post then leave the group.

What could make Facebook better? They could put more effort into detecting and banning troll farms.

What year did you start using Facebook? I made an account in 2012 because of a high school class that required us to upload this specific video-format homework onto Facebook (which in hindsight is such an insensitive homework considering that was nearly a decade ago when the Philippines was still severely behind in internet connection speeds?? Ugh). But I didn’t start actively using my account until around two years ago.

What is your current profile picture of? Myself, posing in front of the sunflowers in school during the recent graduation season.

Did you like the old Myspace better than Facebook? I was never a regular user of Myspace, so...

What are some of your favorite boards? I’ve never had a clue what the purpose of Pinterest was. I mean I have an account...but I’ve also never gotten the hang of it?? so I never touch it hahaha.

Have you ever done a craft you saw on Pinterest? Well no, because I’m terrible at arts and crafts anyway.

Do you have a Dream Wedding board? If so, what's on it? No.

If you have a Dream House board, what does your dream house look like? Ok fine this one I did start hahahah but I don’t even remember what I added on there anymore. I’m sure it was filled with modern-style houses with minimalist interior design.

Do you wish they'd bring the "like" button back? I’m not even aware of this option.

Do you have a Bucket List board? Not aware of this either.

Which do you like better: Just Girly Things or And That's Who I Am? The second one sounds less childish. < Same, and it sounds like it covers more.

Do you have a board for tattoos you like? If so, what are some of your faves? No. The only one I ever made was the house one, then Pinterest quickly became boring from there when I realized there wasn’t much else I could do besides making mood boards.

Do you have a "Random" or "Miscellaneous" board? No.

Have you ever reached the maximum number of boards? No.

Do you have any secret boards? No.

Have you ever had a Pin deleted because of copyright laws? No.

Do you have a Color board? No.

Do you have an About Me board? If so, what's on it? No.

YouTube

Do you have a YouTube channel? If so, what is it? Technically I do but I only have it so I can tailor video suggestions to my interests and so that I can like videos and subscribe to channels I like.

What kind of things do you post on YouTube? I’ve never posted any video on there, not even private ones. I’m also not the type to comment.

What do you like to watch on YouTube? These days YouTube serves as a stress reliever for me, which is to say I would typically go for humorous BTS-related compilations because there are sooooo many hilarious channels that make these great videos haha. Occasionally I’d go back to channels or series that I used to frequent, like Good Mythical Morning, Buzzfeed’s Worth It and Unsolved, Try Guys, Watcher, etc.

Are you subscribed to any channels? To so many.

Do you watch any vlogs? If so, what ones are your favorite? Hm probably Jiwoo’s, though her channel is called Mejiwoo. I find her content calming and conversational and basically fun to binge-watch when I’m not looking for anything super super particular to watch.

If you have a channel, how many subscribers do you have? 0. I’m just a lurker.

Will you subscribe to my channel? (msg me if you want a link!) Only if it’s really fit to my interests, I guess.

Do you watch music videos? Rarely; not a fan of MVs in particular. I only really ever put an exception for BTS.

Have you ever watched a TV show on youtube? Well no since their copyright team works hard and works fast lol. I do watch entire video game walkthroughs from time to time.

Have you ever worked out to exercise videos on youtube? No, I can’t care less about working out tbh.

Have you watched Amanda Todd's famous video? No. I’m scared that it might be too upsetting or triggering for me.

Have you ever looked up how to do something on YouTube? Not really, I prefer looking up articles that can teach me step by step in words.

Do you get a lot of hate comments on youtube? No, I’ve never posted anything on there.

How long have you been a youtuber? Never been.

Instagram

Do you post on Instagram a lot? I do 1-3 Instagram stories in a week, I would say. As for posts, I only have 4 in total and I don’t really feel the pressure to add more. I just post when I feel the want to.

Have you ever posted a poll on instagram? Nah, I’m not too sure if anyone would participate so I’ve never tried. If you don't have an iPhone, do you wish you could use Instagram? I’m pretty sure other operating systems can also use Instagram...

Do you have any followers? Around 50, I think.

Do you like Instagram filters? I’ll use them sometimes to make my stories appear prettier.

Twitter

Do you think twitter is stupid? Hehe show me at least one person who doesn’t think so. < Coming from someone who regularly uses Twitter, agree. It is crazy stupid but stupid is what I’m there for. Which is honestly not always such a bad thing to me - I like that people are more themselves, more stripped-down, vulnerable on Twitter. People always seem to want to show off their best selves on Facebook and Instagram, so I’m actually kind of grateful that there is at least one social media out there where people can just be their clumsy, goofy selves.

How often do you tweet? Probably a maximum of five a day. Nowadays I’m on there mostly to just scroll through my timelines.

Do you get on twitter every day? Yes, both on my personal and fan account.

Bzoink

Do you make a lot of surveys? I never make them but I try to take them as often as I can.

Do you take a lot of surveys? Haha sorry, was one step ahead of you. Yeah, I do.

Do you post in the message boards? Nah. I dunno if I’m even permitted to check the message boards on Bzoink considering I don’t have an account.

What types of surveys are your favorite? Categorized surveys like this one or countdown ones can be fun, but at the end of the day I like sticking to the classic random survey.

Do you have friends on here? Not on Bzoink, but here on Tumblr yes! There’s a number of people here I like keeping up with :)

Do you post all your secrets on here? Again, not on Bzoink; but yep I share pretty much everything here.

What type of survey do you think I should make next? Anything but basic/about me-themed ones that will ask for my name and eye color and weight.

Do you read peoples' answers to your surveys? I’ve never made a survey.

Do you think you are good at making surveys?

Do you try to make unique surveys?

What type of surveys do you want to see more of?

Random

This or That

Scattergories

Have You Ever

Are you like me?

About You

Personal, Deep Questions

Girly

Music shuffle

Would You Rather

Do you have this in your bedroom?

Long

Short

All About Your Crush

Fashion

Make-up

School

Music

Your health

Your friends

Confessions

Girl Confessions - how different is this from just confessions? Hahaha

R-Rated

Controversial topics

Myspace

Did you have a myspace when you were in high school? I started an account in like 4th grade when Myspace was ~big, but I didn’t find it fun and everyone my age was on Friendster anyway, so I was largely inactive.

Do you use myspace now? No. Is it still even around? I have no clue.

Do you miss bulletins? I didn’t get to join in on the fun so there’s nothing to miss.

Did you like customizing your profile with the old myspace? Not attributed to Myspace but I did have a lot of fun customizing my Multiply and Tumblr accounts back in the day. That was a period where I really got to learn and play around with HTML :)

Did you have music on your profile? Not on Myspace again but I did on Multiply! I had a cute little playlist that played the songs immediately as soon as you landed on my page hahaha.

Did you learn HTML when you used Myspace? Tumblr, yeah. I believe the skills are still there but I’ll definitely be a bit rusty.

Did you have a customized cursor? Oh, no. Wasn’t a fan of those as I found them a bit tacky.

Did you use glitter graphics? Also found those tacky haha no, I never used those.

Do you remember posting glitter graphics on friends' pages? Nope.

Did you make "dolls"? I don’t recall ever making those.

Did you use photo captions? Not sure what this is referring to so let’s just say no.

Did you have a photo slideshow on your profile? Hmmm nope, I don’t think so.

Xanga

Did you have a Xanga account back in the day? No. It wasn’t big here so I had never heard of it until I started taking surveys on here and heard people mentioning Xanga, actually.

Do you have a xanga account now? No.

Did you post photos and quotes on your xanga page? I never had any.

Snapchat

Do you use snapchat? I did; I was superrrrr active on there for a time. It kind of just got old at one point, though, and my feed got more and more dead until I too just left my account dormant altogether.

What is your favorite filter? There were a lot of cute ones on there that helped me be more confident with taking selfies but my favorites have to be the dog and flower crown ones.

Tumblr

Do you understand Tumblr? I had a better handle of it when I ran a fan account that required me to be more active; but now that I really just go on here to take surveys I just use the basic functions and nothing more. But yeah, I understand just enough to get by.

Do you use Tumblr? Yeah. Even on the days I don’t post surveys, I regularly go on here to keep up with friends I like keeping up with like Elisabeth, Lane, Steph, Lina, Julie :)

Other

What forum sites did you use to love that aren't around anymore? There was one message board I frequented for this girly/tween magazine I used to collect, but I won’t share the name.

Are there any other great social media sites that you recommend? I think this survey was able to cover all the main ones I use.

Do you use a photo editing site? If so, what? I use apps instead of sites to edit my photos.

Do you ever use BeFunky.com? Nope.

Do you use a video editing site? If so, what? Nah, I rarely have to edit videos in a super intricate, detailed way. Apple’s video editing features suffice for me.

Have you ever downloaded fonts? Very occasionally since it’s never necessary.

Have you ever used photobucket to upload an image? No but I remember going on there back in the day to look for images. I never uploaded any, though.

Do you use iTunes? Not anymore. I have an account on Spotify now.

Do you listen to music on Pandora? No, never used it.

#surveys #survey

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things2mustdo · 4 years ago

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By Hara Estroff Marano published March 1, 2007 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016

HEM : Why do you believe that adolescence is an artificial extension of childhood?

RE : In every mammalian species, immediately upon reaching puberty, animals function as adults, often having offspring. We call our offspring "children" well past puberty. The trend started a hundred years ago and now extends childhood well into the 20s. The age at which Americans reach adulthood is increasing—30 is the new 20—and most Americans now believe a person isn't an adult until age 26.

The whole culture collaborates in artificially extending childhood, primarily through the school system and restrictions on labor. The two systems evolved together in the late 19th-century; the advocates of compulsory-education laws also pushed for child-labor laws, restricting the ways young people could work, in part to protect them from the abuses of the new factories. The juvenile justice system came into being at the same time. All of these systems isolate teens from adults, often in problematic ways.

Our current education system was created in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and was modeled after the new factories of the industrial revolution. Public schools, set up to supply the factories with a skilled labor force, crammed education into a relatively small number of years. We have tried to pack more and more in while extending schooling up to age 24 or 25, for some segments of the population. In general, such an approach still reflects factory thinking—get your education now and get it efficiently, in classrooms in lockstep fashion. Unfortunately, most people learn in those classrooms to hate education for the rest of their lives.

The factory system doesn't work in the modern world, because two years after graduation, whatever you learned is out of date. We need education spread over a lifetime, not jammed into the early years—except for such basics as reading, writing, and perhaps citizenship. Past puberty, education needs to be combined in interesting and creative ways with work. The factory school system no longer makes sense.

What are some likely consequences of extending one's childhood?

Imagine what it would feel like—or think back to what it felt like—when your body and mind are telling you you're an adult while the adults around you keep insisting you're a child. This infantilization makes many young people angry or depressed, with their distress carrying over into their families and contributing to our high divorce rate. It's hard to keep a marriage together when there is constant conflict with teens.

We have completely isolated young people from adults and created a peer culture. We stick them in school and keep them from working in any meaningful way, and if they do something wrong we put them in a pen with other "children." In most nonindustrialized societies, young people are integrated into adult society as soon as they are capable, and there is no sign of teen turmoil. Many cultures do not even have a term for adolescence. But we not only created this stage of life: We declared it inevitable. In 1904, American psychologist G. Stanley Hall said it was programmed by evolution. He was wrong.

How is adolescent behavior shaped by societal strictures?

One effect is the creation of a new segment of society just waiting to consume, especially if given money to spend. There are now massive industries—music, clothing, makeup—that revolve around this artificial segment of society and keep it going, with teens spending upward of $200 billion a year almost entirely on trivia.

Ironically, because minors have only limited property rights, they don't have complete control over what they have bought. Think how bizarre that is. If you, as an adult, spend money and bring home a toy, it's your toy and no one can take it away from you. But with a 14-year-old, it's not really his or her toy. Young people can't own things, can't sign contracts, and they can't do anything meaningful without parental permission—permission that can be withdrawn at any time. They can't marry, can't have sex, can't legally drink. The list goes on. They are restricted and infantilized to an extraordinary extent.

In recent surveys I've found that American teens are subjected to more than 10 times as many restrictions as mainstream adults, twice as many restrictions as active-duty U.S. Marines, and even twice as many as incarcerated felons. Psychologist Diane Dumas and I also found a correlation between infantilization and psychological dysfunction. The more young people are infantilized, the more psychopathology they show.

What's more, since 1960, restrictions on teens have been accelerating. Young people are restricted in ways no adult would be—for example, in some states they are prohibited from entering tanning salons or getting tattoos.

You believe in the inherent competence of teens. What's your evidence?

Dumas and I worked out what makes an adult an adult. We came up with 14 areas of competency—such as interpersonal skills, handling responsibility, leadership—and administered tests to adults and teens in several cities around the country. We found that teens were as competent or nearly as competent as adults in all 14 areas. But when adults estimate how teens will score, their estimates are dramatically below what the teens actually score.

Other long-standing data show that teens are at least as competent as adults. IQ is a quotient that indicates where you stand relative to other people your age; that stays stable. But raw scores of intelligence peak around age 14-15 and shrink thereafter. Scores on virtually all tests of memory peak between ages 13 and 15. Perceptual abilities all peak at that age. Brain size peaks at 14. Incidental memory—what you remember by accident, and not due to mnemonics—is remarkably good in early to mid teens and practically nonexistent by the '50s and '60s.

If teens are so competent, why do they not show it?

What teens do is a small fraction of what they are capable of doing. If you mistreat or restrict them, performance suffers and is extremely misleading. The teens put before us as examples by, say, the music industry tend to be highly incompetent. Teens encourage each other to perform incompetently. One of the anthems of modern pop, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, is all about how we need to behave like we're stupid.

Teens in America are in touch with their peers on average 65 hours a week, compared to about four hours a week in preindustrial cultures. In this country, teens learn virtually everything they know from other teens, who are in turn highly influenced by certain aggressive industries. This makes no sense. Teens should be learning from the people they are about to become. When young people exit the education system and are dumped into the real world, which is not the world of Britney Spears, they have no idea what's going on and have to spend considerable time figuring it out.

There are at least 20 million young people between 13 and 17, and if they are as competent as I think they are, we are just throwing them away.

Do you believe that young people are capable of maintaining long-term relationships and capable of moral reasoning?

Everyone who has looked at the issue has found that teens can experience the love that adults experience. The only difference is that they change partners more, because they are warehoused together, told it's puppy love and not real, and are unable to marry without permission. The assumption is they are not capable. But many distinguished couples today—Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, George and Barbara Bush—married young and have very successful long-term relationships.

According to census data, the divorce rate of males marrying in their teens is lower than that of males marrying in their 20s. Overall the divorce rate of people marrying in their teens is a little higher. Does that mean we should prohibit them from marrying? That's absurd. We should aim to reverse that, telling young people the truth: that they are capable of creating long-term stable relationships. They might fail—but adults do every day, too.

The "friends with benefits" phenomenon is a by-product of isolating adolescents, warehousing them together, and delivering messages that they are incapable of long-term relationships. Obviously they have strong sexual urges and act on them in ways that are irresponsible. We can change that by letting them know they are capable of having more than a hookup.

Studies show that we reach the highest levels of moral reasoning while we're still in our teens. Those capabilities parallel higher-order cognitive reasoning abilities, which peak fairly early. Across the board, teens are far more capable than we think they are.

What's the worst part of the current way we treat teens?

The adversarial relationship between parents and offspring is terrible; it hurts both parents and young people. It tears some people to shreds; they don't understand why it is happening and can't get out of it. They don't realize they are caught in a machine that's driving them apart from their offspring—and it's unnecessary.

What can be done?

I believe that young people should have more options—the option to work, marry, own property, sign contracts, start businesses, make decisions about health care and abortions, live on their own—every right, privilege, or responsibility an adult has. I advocate a competency-based system that focuses on the abilities of the individual. For some it will mean more time in school combined with work, for others it will mean that at age 13 or 15 they can set up an Internet business. Others will enter the workforce and become some sort of apprentice. The exploitative factories are long gone; competent young people deserve the chance to compete where it counts, and many will surprise us.

It's a simple matter to develop competency tests to determine what rights a young person should be given, just as we now have competency tests for driving. When you offer significant rights for passing such a test, it's highly motivating; people who can't pass a high-school history test will never give up trying to pass the written test at the DMV, and they'll virtually always succeed. We need to offer a variety of tests, including a comprehensive test to allow someone to become emancipated without the need for court action. When we dangle significant rewards in front of our young people—including the right to be treated like an adult—many will set aside the trivia of teen culture and work hard to join the adult world.

Are you saying that teens should have more freedom?

No, they already have too much freedom—they are free to spend, to be disrespectful, to stay out all night, to have sex and take drugs. But they're not free to join the adult world, and that's what needs to change.

Unfortunately, the current systems are so entrenched that parents can do little to counter infantilization. No one parent can confer property rights, even though they would be highly motivating. Too often, giving children more responsibility translates into giving them household chores, which just causes more tension and conflict. We have to think beyond chores to meaningful responsibility—responsibility tied to significant rights.

With a competency-based system in place, our focus will start to change. We'll become more conscious of the remarkable things teens can do rather than on culture-driven misbehavior. With luck, we might even be able to abolish adolescence.

The Adolescent Squeeze

Before 1850, laws restricting the behavior of teens were few and far between. Compulsory education laws evolved in tandem with laws restricting labor by young people. Beginning in 1960, the number of laws infantilizing adolescents accelerated dramatically. You may have had a paper route when you were 12, but your children can't.

1600s

1641 Massachusetts law prohibits people under 16 from "smiting" their parents

1800s

1836 Massachusetts passes first law requiring minimal schooling for people under 15 working in factories

1848 Pennsylvania sets 12 as minimum work age for some jobs

1852 Massachusetts passes first universal compulsory education law in U.S., requires three months of schooling for all young people ages 8-14

1880s Some states pass laws restricting various behaviors by young people: smoking, singing on the streets, prostitution, "incorrigible" behavior

1881 American Federation of Labor calls on states to ban people under 14 from working

1898 World's first juvenile court established in Illinois—constitutional rights of minors effectively taken away

1900s

1903 Illinois requires school attendance and restricts youth labor

1918 All states have compulsory education laws in place

1933 First federal law restricting drinking by young people

1936 & 1938 First successful federal laws restricting labor by young people, establishing 16 and 18 as minimum ages for work; still in effect

1940 Most states have laws in place restricting driving by people under 16

1968 Supreme Court upholds states' right to prohibit sale of obscene materials to minors

1968 Movie rating system established to restrict young people from certain films

1970s Supreme Court upholds laws restricting young women's right to abortion

1970s Dramatic increase in involuntary electroshock therapy (ECT) of teens

1980s Many cities and states pass laws restricting teens' access to arcades and other places of amusement; Supreme Court upholds such laws in 1989

1980s Courts uphold states' right to prohibit sale of lottery tickets to minors

1980 to 1998 Rate of involuntary commitment of minors to mental institutions increases 300-400 percent

1984 First national law effectively raising drinking age to 21

1988 Supreme Court denies freedom of press to school newspapers

1989 Missouri court upholds schools' right to prohibit dancing

1989 Court rules school in Florida can ban salacious works by Chaucer and Aristophanes

1990s Curfew laws for young people sweep cities and states

1990s Dramatic increase in use of security systems in schools

1992 Federal law prohibits sale of tobacco products to minors

1997 New federal law makes easier involuntary commitment of teens

2000s

2000+ New laws restricting minors' rights to get tattoos, piercings, and to enter tanning salons spread through U.S.

2000+ Tougher driving laws sweeping through states: full driving rights obtained gradually over a period of years

2000+ Dramatic increase in zero-tolerance laws in schools, resulting in suspensions or dismissals for throwing spitballs, making gun gestures with hand, etc.

2000+ New procedures and laws making it easier to prosecute minors as adults

Currently spreading nationwide:

New rules prohibiting cell phones in schools or use of cell phones by minors while driving

Libraries and schools block access to Internet material by minors

New dress code rules in schools

New rules restricting wearing of potentially offensive clothing or accessories in schools

New laws prohibiting teens from attending parties where alcohol is served (even if they're not drinking)

New laws restricting teens' access to shopping malls

Tracking devices routinely installed in cell phones and cars of teens

New availability of home drug tests for teens

New laws prohibiting minors from driving with any alcohol in bloodstream (zero-tolerance)

Proposals for longer school days, longer school year, and addition of grades 13 and 14 to school curriculum under discussion

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zerowasteinitiative · 4 years ago

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19 SIMPLE ZERO WASTE GIFT IDEAS

If you’re trying to find the perfect zero waste gift you might think it’s an impossible task but fear not, we’ve put together a bumper list of ideas to get you started. So if you’re looking for a zero waste gift you might be wondering exactly what all this zero waste malarkey is all about. Donations & Good Causes 1. Charity Donations Donating to charity is a great gift especially if it is a cause that you both feel strongly about. If you’re after a few ideas consider donating to the British Heart Foundation. They do great work funding research into heart and circulatory diseases. Plus they accept donations of furniture and electrical items which they pick up for free. So you can stop unwanted stuff from going to waste and support a charity. Alternatively, pick a local charity and support your community. Pet rescue shelters, homeless shelters and children’s hospitals are all great causes. 2. Plant A Tree Deforestation and the climate emergency are two of the biggest environmental challenges we’re facing. Planting a tree is a great zero waste gift that helps fight climate change. The reward of clean air and a bright future for generations to come is a gift that keeps giving. 3. Volunteer To Help Maybe the gift of your time is the best thing that you could give. Whether you help your friend or loved one to move house or give them an extra hand looking after the kids you’re offering will be warmly appreciated. Alternatively, if they volunteer for a charity or run a small business offer to give them a hand. Whatever way you choose to help you’ll not only give them a gift they really appreciate but also get to spend a bit of quality time together as well. 4. Invite Them To Dinner A meal is a zero waste gift that lets you spend time together and stops food from going to waste. If you’ve too much food to eat, freeze or preserve then inviting friends and family over to share it with you is the perfect solution. 5. Days Out and Tours A day out or tour is a fun experience that creates great memories and that you can enjoy together or separately. 6. Regift Old Presents So you might be thinking right now, “I can’t give someone an old present I don’t want!”. Well, that is actually a great zero waste gift and most zero wasters would love to know something is getting reused rather than being thrown out. If your gift is still in good condition or hasn’t even been opened then there is no reason that someone else can’t make use of it. Just make sure you know who gave it to you in the first place as it could be a bit awkward if you regift your present to whoever gave it to you to start with! 7. Reuse Gift Boxes and Wrapping Paper This isn’t necessarily a gift in itself but it is still a great way to cut down on waste. If you hang on to gift bags, decorative boxes and wrapping paper you can reuse them saving you money and making best use of them. Go hunting for those old rolls of wrapping paper as well. A little foraging could mean you don’t need to buy any new wrapping paper, cards or tags. But if you really want to cut out waste then forego the wrapping paper altogether. 8. Second Hand Clothes Not all clothes need to be brand new. You can get some great second hand clothes from charity shops or on websites like eBay. Some people only buy clothes for a specific event and then never wear them again. So you can pick up some clothes that are virtually brand new and save a lot of money at the same time. This is also a great way to avoid being lured into the cheap, wasteful and exploitative world of fast fashion. 9. Vintage and Upcycled Furniture This is a great zero waste gift as it stops perfectly good furniture from going to waste just because someone thinks it doesn’t fit the look of their living room or bedroom any more. Vintage and upcycled furniture also looks amazing when done correctly. 10. Second Hand Toys A poll by the British Heart Foundation found that over a quarter of parents have thrown away toys that are undamaged and still in working order. Their survey of 2,000 parents also highlighted that, on average, children have four toys they’ve never played with. Those are some pretty scary stats right there! Reusing second hand toys is the easiest way to prevent perfectly good toys going to waste. Second hand toy shops and charity shops are a good place to start if you’re looking to pick some up. You could arrange a toy swap with friends or family with children of a similar age or that have outgrown their toys. By swapping them you buy less whilst your kids still get the thrill of something they haven’t played with before. Toy libraries are also a great way to mix up your toys without buying new. 11. Second Hand Books If the zero waster in your life is an avid reader then they’re sure to appreciate some second hand books. You can find a great selection of second hand books in most charity shops as well as from websites. You could even pass on books that you have read and are finished with. They will be appreciated even more if they come with a personal recommendation! 12. Audiobooks They’re a great way to enjoy books when you are on the go or if you just want to chill out and relax without staring at a screen or page. Listening to a book also brings it to life in a way that reading it can’t do as well. 13. Kindle E-books For those who would still rather read their books doing it digitally means less books kicking around the house. If they don’t already own an e-book reader then a Kindle would make a fantastic gift that can be used again and again. Instead of buying a new one you can check websites for second hand ones. Before you go and buy anything though it is worth checking if your intended recipient actually needs it. A zero waste gift can still create waste if it isn’t required so always keep that in mind too. 14. Reusable Coffee Cup Takeaway coffee cups are a massive generator of waste as they cannot be easily recycled due to their plastic lining. The best solution is a reusable coffee cup that you can use over and over again. Our bamboo coffee cups are made from naturally sustainable bamboo making them the perfect alternative to disposable cups. 15. Safety Razors Another source of single use plastic waste that can be easily avoided is disposable razors. Safety razors are a much more sustainable alternative and make a great zero waste gift. They are built to last and are usually made of materials like bamboo, steel or chrome. The only waste created is from the steel blades. Whilst you can recycle the steel they often aren’t allowed as part of kerbside recycling as they pose an obvious safety risk. 16. Bamboo Toothbrush It is estimated that we throw away 264 million plastic toothbrushes in the UK every year. That’s a lot of plastic waste that we can easily avoid by switching to a more sustainable alternative like these bamboo toothbrushes. They are hygienically sealed using a plant-based biodegradable eco wrap made from tree cellulose. You can even subscribe and get them sent out as often as you need them. 17. Bento Lunch Box We are all guilty of grabbing a quick lunch on the go when we’re busy at work but these are also a huge source of single use plastic waste. A little planning in advance can help cut this out as well as cutting the cost of lunch as well. 18. Reusable Cutlery Disposable plastic cutlery are one of the ten most common plastic objects found on European beaches. So if you are looking for a zero waste gift that means you can eat out without adding to single use plastic pollution a reusable cutlery set is ideal. 19. Zero Waste Books If you’d like to help someone with advice on their zero waste journey then there are some great books available which make fantastic gifts. -------- Visit our website: https://zerowasteinitiative.com/ Source: Internet 🌳 Zero Waste Initiative - Less Trash More Life ! 🌏 Let's Save The World While There's Still Time !

#ZeroWasteLifestyle #zerowasteliving #zerowaste #sustainability

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Why The Truth About Britney Spears Is So Elusive

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Britney Spears is one of the most-covered and least-known celebrities of the modern era. She is a millennial icon whose songs were the soundtrack of a generation. A choreographed contradiction from her earliest burst onto pop stardom, the singer became a blank canvass for anyone carrying a paint brush. The FX docuseries The New York Times Presents “Framing Britney Spears” is an attempt to find the artist’s place in the gallery. It is also searching for Britney’s whereabouts in general. Spears was placed into a conservatorship when she was 26 years old. That was 13 years ago this month, and she has been petitioning the court to have that changed.

Britney’s conservatorship, overseen by her father Jamie Spears, has been profitable. With a net worth of over $60 million, maybe too profitable to ever get resolved. It could be a form of life imprisonment and wannabe jailers appear to come out of the woodwork regularly in Britney’s career. Spears also currently has a restraining order against Sam Lutfi, one of her former managers.

According to “Framing Britney Spears,” court documents call the singer a “high-functioning conservatee.” Britney’s fans point out their favorite star released four albums, went on three world tours, performed a sold-out five-year residency in Las Vegas, was paid $15 million to be a judge on The X Factor, and put her name on a billion-dollar perfume line. Yet, she has been deemed incapable of taking care of her finances or life, and even when she can drive.The case is being proceeded over by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny.

For a pop queen in exile, Spears hasn’t been invisible. She’s been spotted at Starbucks with her boyfriend, Sam Asghari. She’s posted clips of her dancing, working out, painting, and giving impromptu fashion shows on Instagram during the coronavirus lockdown. Her posts, of course, only fuel the fire of conspiracy theorists, regardless of their apparent mood or meaning. Spears’ song titles like “Work Bitch,” “I’m a Slave 4 U,” and “”Out from Under,” could also be read as messages concerning her career.

Spears commands loyalty, and her fans love her. This is poignantly evident in Chris Crocker’s viral 2007 YouTube plea to “Leave Britney Alone.” The #FreeBritney movement rose up spontaneously after the conservatorship. The fan-produced podcast “Britney’s Gram” has dedicated itself to getting information to the public. Miley Cyrus shouted “Free Britney” during a performance. Paris Hilton and Rose McGowan have shown support. Britney’s mother Lynne Spears has been known to “like” comments with the #FreeBritney hashtag.

Samantha Stark, the director of The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears, freelanced as a choreographer while making the two-step into video journalism. Writing at The New York Times for the past 8 years, she also produced and directed episodes of The Weekly. Stark spoke with Den of Geek about the difficulties of reporting on Spears’ conservatorship, and the future of journalism in a changing media climate.

Den of Geek: What drew you to Britney, of all the cases?

Samantha Stark: We started filming this before a lot of these court filings about the conservatorship started happening. The original concept was to look back at media coverage of her through this 2020-then-lens, post-MeToo and post when things like talking about mental health are more mainstream. There’s not as much stigma. Looking back at the media coverage of her from the early 2000s feels so shocking now. That was the original concept. Then while we were filming, these court filings started pouring in.

Could you have picked two better names for this case than Wallet and Judge Penny?

Right? There are a lot of similar names that run throughout it. You have Jamie Spears and Lynn Spears and Jamie Lynn Spears. You have a lot of Kevins, just like a ton of Kevins running throughout. There are a lot of Sams also in Britney’s story. There are a lot of re-occurring names. But yeah, Andrew Wallet.

What’s the first misconception “Framing Britney Spears” will clarify for the casual Britney Spears fan?

A huge misperception of her, that I had going into the project, is a lot of people think that the creation of her image and the music that she does and the way her shows are and the outfits she wears are other people’s decisions. But what I learned over and over again was how much of a say in her early career, including “Baby One More Time” at the very beginning, she had in her image and the way she was presented. How involved she was creatively in every show she did and every music video she made, particularly at the beginning of her career. I think a lot of people think she’s this puppet that was sexualized as a teenager and didn’t know it. And I think, from talking to the people who worked with her then, that that was her. She had a really big say in that.

From my unscientific survey, asking everyone I came into contact with “what’s the first thing they think of when they think of Britney Spears”: A lot of people say, “Oh, that time she shaved her head,” or “the picture where she shaved her head.” One of the reasons it’s called “Framing Britney Spears” is there seems to be these very few still-image frames in our collective subconscious, that burned into us when we remember her.

We went into it wanting to figure out how we could learn what was behind the frame, outside of the frame. I think a lot of people don’t realize all the different factors that were leading up to that point. A lot of people don’t realize that she was going through a custody battle then and how important her role as a mother was to her, or is to her still. There’s a lot of pulling back the curtain we could do.

Danny Ramos, the photographer we interviewed, was one of the only people doing video during the big paparazzi explosion. We wanted to talk to him and use his video, so you could see what was happening outside of the frame. He describes the time with the umbrella, that’s another big photo that people remember, like the head shaving. What people don’t realize is how upset she was that day because she was trying to see her kids and wasn’t able to. And how much he pushed her buttons before that happened, some deep buttons. So that’s outside of the frame.

Another one is the central mystery of our film. I think a lot of people don’t know that Britney Spears is still in a court-sanctioned conservatorship and that, for most of the 12 years, her father was the one in charge of her personal, medical, and economic decisions. He controls what happens with her money. The central mystery of our piece is something that Joe Coscarelli, one of our reporters, says in the film: “She’s living the life of a busy pop star, and yet we’re told she’s at risk constantly.” How is someone who can live the life of a busy pop star also be so at risk that she can’t make basic decisions for herself like medical-care decisions, where she lives, contracts, what to do with her money?

Britney’s lawyer, Adam Streisand, mentions a health report he wasn’t allowed to see, and was told by the judge it was justified withholding. I’ve seen a lot of reported diagnoses on the internet. Do you have any idea what that report said specifically?

Absolutely not. I think that’s important. Part of the difficulty with reporting on conservatorships, Britney’s and also any conservatorship, is that a lot of it has to do with medical records. Also, they do have court investigators that go out and interview the people involved. They have different kinds of people who submit reports about the person, and they’re protected under HIPAA and also allow the person some privacy.

Britney has signaled recently through her court filings that she doesn’t want her records to be sealed, that she wants people to be able to see them. But that’s particularly with her estate, which is different from the medical records. Who knows if she would want people to see that report also? But her conservators and lawyers in the past have decided it’s against her best interest. That’s something else interesting about conservatorships, is that other people decide what is in the person’s best interest. As Britney is performing in Vegas, other people are deciding for her what’s in her best interest all the time.

Since we don’t know anything about that report, we don’t know if Britney has a mental health diagnosis. She could not, there could be nothing actually in that realm. A lot of people like to speculate what kind of mental illness she might have, but we don’t know if she even has one. I think that’s important to remember.

Britney’s request for an outside independent party taking conservatorship seems like the most rational solution to the situation. Why is this so difficult?

That is the question. It seems as if Britney requests, “I don’t want my father in charge of being a conservator of the estate. I want this trust, Bessemer Trust, instead.” Yet her father is still in charge. That is legal. The judge made that decision. We don’t know why. A lot of questions about the conservatorship system, as a whole, have been brought up during this process. When someone is under a conservatorship, they are under a conservatorship because it’s considered that they cannot act in their own best interest. Conservatorships are mostly given to the elderly with Alzheimer’s, because a lot of people try to take advantage of people with Alzheimer’s and get them to sign over their money or their wills. And this was put in place to protect those people, which is really necessary.

It’s confusing because Britney is not. It’s a very unique situation, they always say, but we don’t know why.Jamie’s argument is that he has been doing a good job on this for the past 12 years. Her estate has grown, and that if he gets taken off and a whole new company takes over, it can harm her. Bessemer Trust does this professionally. They manage people with gigantic estates’ money all the time. So, the merits of that argument are questionable. But the judge decided that way. She’d left the door open. She didn’t decide he’s definitely staying on. She didn’t do an emergency suspension. That’s what they were asking for. They could still file to remove him.

These legal processes take a really long time, and as they’re happening, everybody’s getting paid. Britney’s estate pays the lawyers on both sides. She pays for her own lawyers, and then she pays for the lawyers arguing against her own lawyers, as well as the conservators’. That is oftentimes what happens with the conservatorship system. That’s also a place where people point to as something that could be a systemic issue in conservatorship systems: are these lawyers always acting in her best interest while also getting paid as long as the conservatorship is in place?

Is Britney a hostage, or is this a self-imposed exile?

I have no idea. We don’t know. Another really hard part of reporting this is there’s such a strong circle around Britney, seemingly controlling who she interacts with, because of the conservatorship, that we can’t talk to her. And she has not said anything publicly on her social media. Through her court documents, she said she appreciates the long “informed support” of her fans and that she “doesn’t want this battle hidden away like a family secret.”

Those were quotes from her court documents written by her lawyer, Sam Ingham, who legally is responsible for speaking for her since she’s not legally necessarily supposed to speak for herself. She could. So, that’s a mystery. Why isn’t she saying anything? Is it because there are people around her stopping her, or is it because she doesn’t want to say anything? Maybe Britney doesn’t want to talk to anyone about this. We have no idea. It makes it very frustrating to report on.

Just because you report on something doesn’t mean you agree with it. Do you think Spears speaks in code on her Instagram posts?

I don’t know. I have looked at every post since 2015 and some before that. It’s really fascinating to look at. Something about her Instagram that I love was this period of time where she was posting a lot of herself with her kids. It was just so beautiful to see her as a mom, because I know from talking to people close to her, that’s the number-one thing she’s ever wanted, to be a mom and to be seen as a mom. So those are really moving to me. Whether or not she’s speaking in code with other things, it’s so hard to tell because they’re always so surprising what she puts up there.

It seems she’s been doing it consistently, even in her songs throughout her career.

Yeah. It is interesting to listen to some of her songs now that we’ve seen all this come out in court. Even the song “Overprotected.” Listening to that now, wow. It has such a different meaning knowing that she does not want her father to be “protecting” her. A lot of her music videos and music has this bondage theme. Britney is often seen in chains or in cages. Also, a lot of themes of people taking from her, like “Gimme More.”

I think people haven’t taken that seriously, but when you look at it and you think of these as art and expression, even if she doesn’t have a song-writing credit on the songs a lot. Felicia [Culotta], her assistant and friend, who’s been with her for most of her career, said she would go into the studio and talk to the people who were writing the songs about what was happening in her life. And they would often write songs based off of what she was saying, which I guess is standard in the industry. I didn’t know. But we can draw our own conclusions to why there is such a big theme, yeah, of bondage and of people taking stuff from her.

Britney was a trendsetter musically. She explored dubstep, and she really is the face of the millennials. Do you think the #FreeBritney movement will also become a millennial icon?

Well, one of the things I find so compelling about the #FreeBritney movement is talking to Kim Kaiman, who was the marketing director at Jive Records. She was the person who met Britney when she first came in at 15, and decided how to market her, what her image was going to be. She very much expressed that she wanted it to be based off of who Britney actually was as a person. She describes her as “your friend that you kind of idolize a bit and look up to, but is the same as you, has the same hopes and dreams as you have.” And the 12, 13-year-old preteen age was who they were marketing her towards, I think she really connected with that.

Kim says she captured so well the dichotomy of what a teenage girl is. Teenage girls want to be grown women, but they’re also kids. It’s this wanting to be sexy and in control feeling that she captured that really spoke to these young people. Almost everyone in #FreeBritney who I talked to was in their late 20s or early 30s. So they were that age then. They were those kids that she was being sold to. I feel like the idea that she’s your friend really carried over, because they’re like, “This is my friend that they’re doing this to. I have to go stop it,” from what they said to me.

When they were that age, she was sold as this perfect, all-American girl. Kevin Wu, who’s one of the #FreeBritney organizers, says this in the film. He was saying finding out that she wasn’t perfect, that time where she was super vulnerable to people, and she was having public issues. I hate saying meltdown because I really don’t know what it was. But the vulnerability that she showed there really, really speaks to this group, and also, I would say, that age bracket in general.

I keep quoting people, but Felicia, it’s not in the film, said “Britney was judged and criticized for who she was. Even when she came out as a teenager, she was judged and criticized for being too sexy. A lot of people who are kind of these outsiders or people who were bullied or LGBTQ people, they were judged and criticized for who they were when they were younger, and so there’s this connection. They can relate to each other.” She said, “Britney relates to them as well.”

There’s kind of this counterculture fandom that the #FreeBritney people are like the people who were bullied when they were younger. And it is kind of millennial. We want to be more open talking about mental health. We don’t want bullying. We want diversity. I do think that it really speaks to that.

You worked extensively with the #FreeBritney movement players. In the review, I wrote you treated them like stringers. How do you rate them as journalists?

I would not say that we treated them like stringers because we did all our own reporting ourselves. We have our own journalists. Liz Day, who’s featured in the piece. Everything that they were finding out and bringing up we independently investigated and verified, absolutely. But I will say, I think they became their own investigators for themselves. There weren’t people doing investigations into it when they first started in 2019. And so, they definitely became their own investigators trying to dig up court documents. But we definitely did that ourselves.

But part of the story is that they became these investigators, so we do feature that in the story. It’s fascinating. Some lawyers are involved with #FreeBritney, and they know how to find the publicly available court documents. They would take them and put them online and highlight them. And as soon as a new court document would come out, like if Sam Ingham, Britney’s court-appointed attorney, would file something new, they would know immediately and post it online and dissect it. But we did that ourselves too.

It’s so much easier for us to do it because we have a full infrastructure set up for it. These people were spending so much time. The reason they started doing the investigating is because there wasn’t any media covering it, and they really wanted that. They wanted people to look into this. And so, they started doing it themselves, and it got a lot of attention. Then the media did look into it.

We had an investigation into her conservatorship in 2016, so we were one of the only people to be looking at it in that way. It was by the reporter who’s in the film, Joe Coscarelli. They did this “Is Britney Spears Ready to Stand on Her Own” questioning: is she ready to not be in this conservatorship? A lot of people are interested in it because of what they started digging up.

I see it similar to the hijacking of right-wing hashtags by the K-pop stans or what’s happening right now with the GameStop stock. The community is bringing the attention and journalism is keeping up with it.

The fact also that the age of a lot of these people means they’re so adept at internet culture and social media culture. They are using social media in a sophisticated way to get people to pay attention to them, for sure.

Do you think Britney had any idea how creepy the Star Search Q&A with Ed McMahon was, or was she just blindsided by the stupidity of it?

I think you can look at her face and be the judge of that. She was 10, but she handled it very well. I think it boded for the future of men asking inappropriate things to her. She just kind of like, “It depends. Boys are mean. It depends.” She kind of shook it off quite well as a ten-year-old.

And you see her in our piece later, when there are men asking her inappropriate questions, she sidesteps it in a really good way, in a really way that’s interesting to watch.

The shocking one was her being told about a mother saying that she wanted to shoot her because she was a bad influence.

The wife of a governor, by the way. That’s the kind of thing that you look at and you wonder would it happen now? I think we’ve come some way of not trying to shame people for their sexuality, but who knows?

There’ve always been persistent dark rumors about Britney, along with other celebrities who reach a certain tier. Why do you think people are so eager to demonize them?

Well, I wonder if that is still true today. I feel like it was very true during this height of the tabloid era, like 2004 to 2009. We’re not as eager to enjoy celebrities’ crashing and burning. If they’re going to rise, they have to fall, that kind of narrative. I feel like our culture is not as into that now. I think we’re less mean-spirited. And I don’t know. That’s what I was trying to figure out this entire time making this piece. Like, why? Why Britney? Why are we, as a culture, consuming all of this?

The reason that there was paparazzi around her all the time is because it sold. We consume that. It sold the magazines better than any other light “storylines.” I don’t know why. I mean, just my opinion, maybe the idea of what could be beautiful in society and perfect in society was so narrow that people were resentful of that. The majority of the US Weekly readers were women, so the majority of people buying those photographs were women. Is it because this ideal was so narrow back then that people became jealous and resentful of her? Now, I think the standard of beauty has opened up much wider, but that’s just my guess.

One of the experts says she’s never seen anyone successfully terminate a conservatorship. If Britney does succeed, will that upset the guardianship designation in the future?

Only time will tell. Who knows? I mean, if there are issues within the system that need to come to light, I think it would help them come to light.

Just because we’re Den of Geek and you’re from The New York Times, I have to ask, are you at all related to Tony Stark?

You know, I get that question a lot, and the true answer is we don’t know.

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The New York Times Presents “Framing Britney Spears” debuts Feb. 5 on FX and FX on Hulu.

The post Why The Truth About Britney Spears Is So Elusive appeared first on Den of Geek.

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years ago

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Survey #420

lol blaze it (i’m funny i swear)

In your opinion, which fast food place has the best fries? Without a doubt, Bojangle's. Good. Shit. Are there hurricanes where you live? Yeah, they're common here. What do you hate the most about yourself? I'd really rather not get into this right about now. What song are you listening to right now? "Beast of Gévaudan" by Powerwolf. What was your first concert? Alice Cooper. Also my only concert. What’s your favorite Johnny Depp movie? Alice In Wonderland. Who did you last say “I love you” to? My sister. Do you like pumpkin pie? Anything pumpkin-flavored is a hell no from me. Do you know anyone named Austin? Knew, rather. Do you know anyone who is having a baby? My friend recently announced she and her husband are having their second child in December. What was the last thing you cried about? Just PTSD. Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk? I like both, but I prefer chocolate. Do you think you are an argumentative person? Definitely not. How many deep dark secrets do you have? Two or so, idk. What was the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten? Some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings with one of the hottest sauces. Wanted to die. ... Yet I continued to get that one whenever I went for years lmao. Who last called you sexy? I don't know. Would you class yourself as a good role model? In some ways, but in a lot of other ways, no. Are you scared of the dark? No. Do you have a motto? No. Who did you last see on webcam? The doctor that overlooks my TMS progress. Do you need a haircut? I need a trim for sure. How would you react if your mother told you that she was pregnant again? Well, considering 1.) she's way past menopause and especially 2.) she's had a complete hysterectomy, y'know... that's kind of impossible. She also hasn't been with a guy in many years, so she would have to be joking. You log into Facebook and see the red ‘1’ notification next to the message icon. Who do you want it to be? -___- Would you rather exercise alone or with other people? ALONE. You will NOT see me exercise in front of other people. What is the most difficult or involved video game you’ve ever played? The most involved is DEFINITELY World of Warcraft, and I guess you could consider it the hardest too, given some of the much more difficult things I've done in it. It itself isn't a hard game whatsoever, but you can pursue some really hard achievements. Ever watch the show Supernatural? If you have, then what’s your favorite episode? I used to love it, but just stopped watching eventually. My fave episode... Man, it's been too long to remember many. Probably one of the funnier ones. I remember I specifically liked the bit where they were in your everyday comedy show, as well as the one where I THINK Dean kept trying to prevent Sam from dying. I just remember the "Eye of the Tiger" bit that is pure gold. Ever heard of flavored honey? If so, what’s you’re favorite flavor? Oh, no, but that sounds good. Do you remember what your favorite show was when you were little? Yeah, Pokemon. Do you put anything besides cheese on grilled cheese sandwiches? Besides butter, which I think is pretty standard, no. When it comes to books, what do you think is the “perfect” amount of pages? Uh, I dunno. It depends on the book. I don't really care about page numbers. Would you ever be interested in going scuba diving? Yeah. Out of all of your friends/relatives, who would you say has the best vocabulary? Girt, probably. Are any of your fingers or toes deformed? What about the nails? I don't think so? When is the last time you cried? I was sobbing earlier today, fun stuff. Would you ever date somebody that has been divorced more than once? Most likely not. ESPECIALLY at my age. What are some stereotypically nerdy things that you like? Oh god. WoW, M:tG, big glasses, anime (does that count? idk really), video games... a lot of stuff, really. Have you ever attended a wedding that ended where the bride and groom didn’t actually get married? What happened? Y I K E S, no. That would be SO uncomf. What scares you the most about becoming a mother (hypothetically, if you don’t want to have children)? Actually raising it properly, physically and emotionally. Would you ever want a job in fashion? What would you enjoy about that type of job? No. Would you ever be a surrogate mother? No. What do you think would be the best and worst parts about being a twin? It'd be cool to have someone you feel an almost supernatural connection towards, but I'd also feel like I wasn't as "original" as I would be if I was born alone. Do you feel that your childhood was more rough compared to others around you? I mean it wasn't awful at all, but sure, in some ways compared to at least someone. How would you react if you found out today that you were actually adopted? Well today I'm a wreck, so don't tell me. I want to know that I wasn't lied to for 25 years. Have either of your parents ever cheated on one another before, that you know of? How would you react if you found out today that one of them cheated? I'm not entirely clear on this, but I'm 90% sure Dad cheated on Mom with his now-wife. Dad also accused Mom of cheating, but I HIGHLY doubt that's true. Do you like cleaning and organizing? Not really. How would you react if you found out you were infertile? If you don’t plan on having kids to begin with, what is a long-term goal you’d be crushed to find out was impossible to achieve? Fuck having kids. I'd be a terrible mother. So to answer the other question, I'll be pretty, pretty sad if I can't get permission to spread Teddy's ashes at Yellowstone. Would you take your dream job if it were out of the country? Well, obviously not considering my dream job is a meerkat biologist, and I'm not moving to Africa. Have you ever been robbed? No. Is anyone close to you an alcoholic? Not anymore. Dad was, but he's recovered. Have you ever dumped anyone? Yes. What kind of tea do you drink? I hate tea. Do you know anyone in a gang? No, and I hope I never do. What’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for you? Risk his fucking sanity and health to try to hold my fucked up self up. What is your orientation? Gay? Straight? Metrosexual? Anything other? Bisexual. I've kinda been questioning pansexual of the late, though. I don't know. Have you ever done anything really dangerous or illegal with friends? Not to my memory. Name three feelings you’re feeling right now: Regret. Hopelessness. Loneliness. And the reasons for these feelings? Take a wild fuckin' guess. How do you feel about your life right now? It's an actual dumpster fire. Is it easy for you to like yourself? Why or why not? Fuck no. Because there's just not very much TO like about me. Even on my good days, I see flaw after flaw in myself. What subjects come naturally to you? English, some aspects of science. What subjects do not? Math, economics, politics, history... Do you read more fiction or more non-fiction books? Definitely fiction. When I read a book, I want an escape from the real world. How has today been for you? BOY HOWDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What did you do? Went to TMS therapy. Sat on the Internet. Cried. :^) Are there any candles lit in the room you’re in? No. Are there any lava lamps near you? No. I want one, though. Do you like cats or dogs better? Cats. Are any of your friends a pothead? Yes. What’s a goal you’re trying to accomplish soon? Start losing weight again. That'd be pretty goddamn grand. Are you a high maintenance person? Definitely not. The last time you yelled as loud as you could, what was the reason? I was having a nightmare. Have you ever been heartbroken? For sure. Who did that to you? First Dad, then Jason. Did you go through an ugly stage as a kid? Boy, did I. The last type of sandwich you made or ate: A pb&j. The last time you spent most of the day in bed: Literally every day. I do just about everything in bed. Pathetic, I know. The last friend or acquaintance you made: Ummmm idk. The last thing you took pictures of: A hydrangea bush. The last time you were scared: Now. The future is terrifying, my friend. The last thing you looked up online: The definition of a word to ensure I was using it correctly. The last thing you disagreed with: So I've been watching John Wolfe's old stream of him playing Alice: Madness Returns, and he went on a total soapbox about smoking being okay essentially because we're all gonna die eventually from something, and I really disagreed with it. Does your house have a separate laundry room? No, just like a closet. Do your parents still help you financially? I'm still entirely dependent on them. Does your car have a backup camera? No. Have either of your parents ever been in trouble with the law? Not to my knowledge. Have you ever had a pet that lived to be really old for its breed/species? REALLY old, no. Teddy was definitely up there, but beagles have lived longer. What was the last strong scent you smelled? Lysol. Have you ever told someone to their face that they were ugly? Christ, no. Is your bed against more than one of your walls? No. Have you ever been attracted to someone’s parent? Don't think so? Have you ever pole danced before? No. Have you ever broken into someone’s house? No. Have you ever seen a live bat? Yes. What is the most amount of money you’ve spent on a meal before? I dunno. Have you ever taken a woodshop class? No. How much time do you spend on Facebook, if you have one? Funny you ask, because as of today I decided to take a break from it for awhile. I've found it's nothing more than a breeding ground for envy and making me feel like a horribly incompetent adult. Has a teacher ever made you hate yourself/your work? I had one photography teacher in college that I was NOT a fan of. He was super, super hard on everyone, like to an unnecessary degree. We were students, not pros. Have you ever been on the barrier or front row at a concert? No. Are your parents supportive of you? Somehow.

#survey #surveys #random questions

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lovemesomesurveys · 4 years ago

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800 questions survey part 11

501) What’s your favorite party game? I like board games or card games like Cards Against Humanity.

502) Is it acceptable or unacceptable to smack a child as form of discipline? I think it’s absolutely unacceptable to smack a child. There’s no reason to hit a child at all, I don’t care if you call it “discipline.” There’s other ways to do that.

503) Can a heterosexual male ever wear pink? Uh, yes. It’s a color.

504) Is it criminal to wear socks with sandals? Absolutely. Haha.

505) If you were captain of a ship, what would you call it? *shrug*

506) If you were to join an emergency service which would it be? I wouldn’t join an emergency service.

507) If you were to join one of the armed forced which would it be? I can’t. I wouldn’t be cut out for it, anyway.

508) What’s the worst thing about being your gender? The monthly unwanted visitor definitely sucked. I had horrible PMDD. I don’t have one anymore, though.

509) What’s the best thing about being your gender? I just like being a female.

510) If you swapped genders for a day how would you spend it? Let’s be real, I’d be doing the same thing (nothing) but doing it as a male, ha.

511) If you were exiled what country would you choose as your new home? Uhhh.

512) Have you ever made someone cry? Yes, but it was never intentional. <<<

513) Have you ever starred in a school play? No. Never even tried out for a play.

514) Were you a member of any celebrity fan club? Jonas Brothers and Drake Bell back in the day.

515) Have you ever been a member of any other club? I was an active member and board member for the psych club in community college.

516) If you could have a full scholarship to any university what would you choose to study? I wouldn’t go back to school if you paid me. I’m finished with it. <<< Saaaame.

517) What’s been your greatest ever day? Hmm.

518) What historical period would you like to live in if you could go back in time? I wouldn’t mind going through the 90′s again. They were the best, <<< Yesss, that would be fun. It’d be interesting experiencing it as an adult.

519) What would you bring along to an idyllic picnic? Sandwiches, pasta salads, and cheesecake. 520) What’s your favorite children’s story? A few of my favorites when I was little were The Berenstain Bears, Little Critter, various Little Golden Books books, Amelia Bedelia, etc. When I got to like 4th and 5th grade I got really into Goosebumps, Nancy Drew, The Babysitter’s Club, Sweet Valley High, Ramona and Beezus, Judy Blume books, etc.

521) What movie ending really frustrated you? And how would you change it? For some reason I can never seem to think of an example when prompted, but there’s been plenty of movies with wtf endings.

522) What three things do you think of most each day? Health related things mostly, but I’m also a scheduled, routine person so I’m always thinking about stuff relating to that i.e taking my medicine, eating, drinking.

523) What do you call your evening meal? Dinner Tea or Supper? I just call it dinner.

524) What do you call your after meal sweet? Pudding or Dessert? Dessert.

525) If you had a warning label, what would yours say? Warning: Sensitive and awkward.

526) Have you ever got sweet revenge on anyone? I’m not a revengeful person.

527) Have you ever been to a live concert? Yeah, a few.

528) Have you ever been to see standup comedy? Nope.

529) Have you ever needed stitches? Several times.

530) If you could invent brand new baby names what would they be? I don’t feel like attempting to come up with any.

531) Do your dreams ever tell you to do anything? I rarely remember my dreams, but I do know is that they’re just super random and weird.

532) Who’s your favorite radio 1 DJ? I don’t listen to the radio.

533) What’s the best way to your heart? Hopefully I can find a guy that is very patient, understanding, caring, and trustworthy. A nice sense of humor, too.

534) Do you know your own mobile phone number off by heart? I do.

535) If you were a fashion designer, what style of clothing or accessories would you design? I have no idea, I’m not creative.

536) Do you ever laugh at things you shouldn’t? I have to laugh at myself sometimes, otherwise I’ll cry, in certain situations. <<<

537) Have you ever been in a submarine? Yeah, a ride at Disneyland.

538) Have you ever walked out of a cinema before the film was done? Ha, I saw one of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies when I was like 12 in theaters, at night, and I was a big scardy cat. My cousin and I ended up running out to the lobby, which wasn’t any better because the concession stand closed up and the lobby was empty. I remember a car pulling up out front and that scared us so we ran back into the theater with our moms lol. I want to also mention this was the night before I was going to have a big surgery... not sure why we thought that was a good idea. Maybe to take my mind of the surgery?

539) What song would you say best sums you up? I don’t know. There’s several with relatable lyrics that could very well be talking about me cause they fit so well.

540) Do you have any old friends you wish you could meet up with again? I do miss some of my former friends.

541) What’s your favorite Nursery Rhyme? Hmm.

542) Do you prefer metric or imperial measurements? Metric is the one I’m familiar with.

543) Who’s your favorite monarch of all time? I don’t have a favorite monarch.

544) What was the last thing you ate? I just had ramen a bit ago.

545) What’s your favorite farmyard animal? Horses.

546) If you could choose one celebrity to be the father/mother of your child who would it be? I don’t want children.

547) What would you do if someone proposed to you tomorrow? Uh, no.

548) What are your 3 favorite internet sites? Tumblr, YouTube, and Twitter.

549) How high can you jump? I can’t jump at all.

550) Which fictional character do you wish was real? Tony Stark.

#personal #text #survey #surveys #800 questions #501-550

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erikmaza · 4 years ago

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Best of Wmag.com: 17 from ‘17

Friday was my last day at W magazine. Today, I join Town & Country as its new Style Features Director. The last day was not at all as I had planned it. Instead of being in the office, I was in Pittsburgh, where my flight to New York from L.A. had been rerouted a day earlier because of the bomb cyclone. By the time I landed and got to One World Trade, it was already mid afternoon, and I didn’t have time to appreciate that it had been nearly two and a half years since I joined the magazine. In a way, it’s a perfectly fitting ending—working on the internet doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for reflection. You move fast, for long periods of time, make snap decisions, some that you regret in hindsight, others that proved prescient, and you do this ad nauseam, somehow ideally calibrating the magazine’s values with the internet’s appetites, hoping that along the way you publish good stories that will make people pause and enjoy a good piece of writing or a beautiful image. As I look back on my tenure there, it’s remarkable that in such a short period of time we grew the site’s modest audience to its size today, and that we did it, for the most part, with pride. That’s a testament to a great and tireless team of writers, editors, social media and visual wizards—some of whom I recruited from as far away as Miami!—who were dream colleagues—collaborative, funny and smart as hell. Picking my favorite pieces from the last year was not easy, but it was a reminder that all the hard work paid off.

What it Feels Like for a Woman, and James Comey—By Nell Scovell

The Women of the Women's March—Words by Katherine Cusumano, Video produced by Karine Benzaria, images by Driely S, Victoria Stevens, Hannah Sider, and Tyra Mitchell.

Paris Hilton Invented Everything You’re Doing in 2017, and She Knows It—Words by Emilia Petrarca, images by Mayan Toledano, styling by Caroline Grosso, visuals by Biel Parklee, video by Kelly Bales.

How the Whitney's Riskiest, Most Political Survey in Decades Came Together—By Fan Zhong

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The 14 Types of Street Style Stars You Meet in Paris—By Mike Albo, short by Aaaron Christian.

Plus, Chameleons of Frieze New York—By Mike Albo, short by Aaaron Christian.

Why is Fashion So Obsessed with Space?—Words and illustrations by Marisa Acocella.

Plus, What Happens at Ralph Lauren's Polo Bar After Dark?—Words and illustrations by Marisa Acocella.

Glenn O'Brien Could Do Everything Except Live Forever—By Linda Yablonsky

Plus, insightful remembrances of Jim Walrod (by Diego Hadis) and Liz Smith (by Michael Musto.

How Eckhaus Latta Finally Got Mainstream Fashion’s Attention—By Stephanie Eckardt

Inside the Surreal Scene at Donald J. Trump's Inauguration—By Dan Duray, images by Benedict Evans.

Plus, Kyle Munzenrieder on Ivanka Trump; Brooke Marine on Rosie O’Donnell; and Stephanie Eckardt on New Yorkers Against Trump, with images by Matt Bernstein.

Queen Elizabeth Plots Some Twists For the Next Season of the Royal Family, TV's Longest-Running Soap Opera—By Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Things Vetements is Over—By Kyle Munzenrieder

Life Ball 2017: A First-Hand Account of the World's Most Explosively Decadent, Supermodel and Drag Queen-Packed Charity Gala—By Isaac Oliver

Plus, the best RuPaul’s Drag Race recaps in the biz, by Kyle Munzenrieder.

Meredith Hagner, Search Party's Favorite Narcissistic Millennial, Explains How to Be a Successful Social Media Stalker—By Brooke Marine, video by Rebecca Scolnick and Karine Benzaria

Troian Bellisario On Life After “Pretty Little Liars”—By Lauren McCarthy

Why Renata is the Real Star of Big Little Lies, According to Renata—By R. Eric Thomas

Plus, Marisa Meltzer on Celeste, Miriam Bale on Jane, Maud Deitch on Bonnie, Allyson Shiffman on Madeline, and Brooke Marine on the year in TV. (We really, really loved BLL.)

Don't Look Like Vladimir Putin—By Horacio Silva

What I Learned About Love From My 80-Year-Old Dad—By Bob Morris, illustration by Jonny Ruzzo

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National Examiner, November 23

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Sean Connery -- remembering a legend

Page 2: Stars to the Rescue -- Hollywood’s real-life heroes -- Patrick Dempsey, Sofia Vergara, Sean Penn, Danny Trejo

Page 3: Harrison Ford, Rihanna, Mark Harmon, Jamie Foxx, Donnie Wahlberg, Tom Cruise

Page 4: Barbra Streisand -- the way she was -- Barbra in her movie roles

Page 6: Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne have been swindled by identity thieves

Page 7: Vision Quest -- keep a sharp eye for signs of going blind

Page 8: For decades before his death in 2017 Jerry Lewis hosted the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon and now comic Kevin Hart has picked up where Jerry left off

* Some parents measure how tall their kids have gotten by marking their height on a wall but you can measure preemie Logan Ray’s amazing growth by comparing him to a Superman action figure

Page 9: Tony’s Mystic World -- the all-seeing eye

* Righty or Lefty? Where you sleep says a lot about you

Page 10: These are cold times for Hot Pink Photo Booth a small business in Washington D.C. that has been shuttered by the pandemic but the event service’s founder Tri Trinh has come up with a cool idea -- he’s running a winter coat drive

Page 11: Your Health -- understanding your body’s symphony of sounds -- snap crackle pop

Page 12: Country’s reigning king and queen Tim McGraw and Faith Hill just celebrated their 24th anniversary of marriage and despite some highs and lows their love is stronger than ever and they’re in it until death do us part

Page 14: Dear Tony, America’s Top Psychic Healer -- poor communication causes many problems, Tony predicts a new movie being made about Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister of New Zealand who got the COVID outbreak in her country quickly under control and was reelected in a landslide

Page 15: Judi Dench’s goldfish died when it was very little and she gave it the kiss of life and it grew to be six inches long

Page 16: Cover Story -- Untouchable! Remembering the great Sean Connery

Page 18: Replacing sugary drinks with diet versions may not be healthier for the heart

Page 19: Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell went on their first date in 1983 but it was unforgettable because someone called the cops on them

Page 20: Beyond Bond -- Sean Connery’s stellar career

Page 22: You spend a third of your life in bed so clean linens should be one of your must-do chores -- think of the drool and sweat and dandruff and other castoffs you leave between the sheets so ideally you should launder your sheets weekly but a recent survey found that Americans go for up to a month between washes

Page 24: The lockdown has reminded everyone how hard educators work but one Michigan first-grade teacher went further when she saved the life of a student’s grandmother

Page 25: The homeless animals board Eduard Seitan’s craft two by two and this modern-day Noah sails them through the skies to safe loving homes -- by teaming up with the rescue groups Pilots N Paws Eduard has transported more than 40 critters to safety so far

* When Tony DeMatteo’s 13-year-old daughter asked for a Pirates of the Caribbean theme party he wanted to make her wish come true so he built her a 50-foot pirate ship on the front lawn

Page 30: The Good Doctor -- 7 signs your body is running low on B12

Page 40: Where has Designing Women’s Delta Burke been? That’s what a lot of people have been asking for years but in October the star was spotted running errands in Los Angeles

Page 42: Baldie but Goodie -- hot stars who belong to the clean pate club -- Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Stanley Tucci, Patrick Stewart, Howie Mandel, Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Billy Zane

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Marisa Ramirez and Donnie Wahlberg shoot Blue Bloods on the streets of NYC (picture), Bob Newhart says laughter is the secret to his enduring relationship with wife Ginny who he wed in 1963, Ron Howard and wife Cheryl just marked the 50th anniversary of their first date, January Jones began decking the halls hours after Halloween ended, Kyle Richards opened up about fixing her nose, Hugh Grant jokes movies give a false promise of happily ever afters and he’d like to do a sequel to one of his comedies like Notting Hill that shows what happened after those films ended, bassist Wolfgang Van Halen the son of the late Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli says there’s no truth to internet rumors he’s going to replace his famous dad as lead guitarist in the rock ‘n’ roll group Van Halen

Page 45: Shia LaBeouf runs in Pasadena (picture), Skai Jackson and Sasha Farber outside the Dancing with the Stars studio (picture), Ewan McGregor and Krysta Rodriguez are dead ringers for fashion designer Halston and Liza Minnelli on the NYC set of Simply Halston (picture), David Crosby apologized for his lackluster response when someone asked him about Eddie Van Halen, Colin Jost flashed a brand-new band on his left ring finger during his appearance on Saturday Night Live on October 31 a week after he tied the knot with Scarlett Johansson

Page 46: Your home is your castle unless you have noisy neighbors in which case it can feel like a living hell but there are many effective ways to handle noise from inconsiderate neighbors without going all Rambo on them

Page 47: Faded Beauty -- freaky fashion products from the past

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