#also I drew this during a 5 hour bus trip. enjoy the lines that look seismograph-esque

[argiopi]

on the backs of your mothers

[xxfanfiction-emo-trinityxx]

His Smile Will Keep You Safe - Chapter Four

Warnings: stalking (?), harassment, angry Dallon (if that counts)

Word Count: 5 101

The following days much resembled the past day. Usually you travelled during the night, which allowed enough time during the day to prepare the venue. While the others helped installing the electronics, taped cables to the stage, or tuned instruments, you sat at your laptop, and dug through heaps and heaps of pictures you had taken. Lucas was fascinated by how many good shots you had taken, and after every concert he made you post three or four of the best ones on social media for the band.

You were unfamiliar with managing a band’s Instagram page, but you quickly learned to imitate the words of whoever had posted the previous tour photos. Sometimes posts appeared that you had not made, and since they were signed off with Dallon, and sometimes Ryan, you assumed the two musicians also had access to the page, and sometimes liked to share experiences on there.

The fourth concert on tour was a festival. The band played in the afternoon, which gave you the rare opportunity of taking pictures in the daylight. Also the stage was so big, that Lucas suggested you should work from the stage, which opened a whole new, and yet unexplored range of angles from which you were able to document the two artists.

Almost a week into the tour, you still had not managed to find a proper explanation for the emotions that had sparked inside your chest when you had first seen Ryan play. It still threw you off every time he as much as smiled at you with his beautiful smile; and your heart grew at the sight.

Between shows and during meals and literally whenever he had a free moment, he came over to where you were, and started talking to you. It was not obtrusive, in the contrary. You enjoyed his company, and he always gave you the feeling of being safe around him. Maybe that was connected to how he had interrupted Lars and you on the very first day of tour, you were not sure, but even if Ryan was not paying you company just so Lars would leave you alone, he was comfortable to be around. He had a way of asking questions and striking up conversations without making it too personal.

In fact, he had never really asked you any personal question since he had asked if Lars and you had history. You appreciated that. It did not feel right to share your heart and soul with anyone on the tour bus yet, and Ryan seemed to understand. And while you got to know each other merely by talking about random things that came to mind, you found yourself admiring the drummer more and more.

It was crazy, because it had just been one week that you knew him, but he drew you in. Of course he was not bad to look at; his dark eyes held warmth you could not explain, his blue hair was soft looking, his smile lit up the darkest rooms.

But it was not just his looks, or his behaviour. It was undeniable that you felt special every time he held a door open for you, or smiled so triumphantly into your camera when he noticed you taking pictures. It was not only that, but what you would have described as the atmosphere around him. It was like the air surrounding him was cleaner, fresher, comfortably warm, and everything felt safe when he was close. He radiated peace, and yet he got so bubbly and cheerful at times that it made you laugh gleefully at his enthusiasm. You two clicked, and it was like both of you had silently agreed on keeping each other close.

While your fondness of Ryan grew from day to day, hell, hour to hour, the same could hardly be said about how you felt about Lars. The technician had left you alone after the first concert, just as you had told him to, and for two blissful days you had hoped it would never change, but it did.

It started out with him standing by your bunk every morning, causing you to almost getting a heart attack of the unpleasant kind as soon as you had sat up. He constantly tried to guilt trip you into spending time with him, or worse, into touching him.

He brought coffee, which in itself would have been nice if you had not told him several times that you had stopped drinking coffee because the caffeine made you jittery.

He constantly tried to get you food, which also would have been nice, but you preferred getting the food yourself.

He asked if you could help him with the electronics, which was in itself bullshit, because no matter how good you were at photographing, you had not the faintest clue about the technology needed to light up a stage.

Every time he got the chance, he tried to trap you in a room with him, and so far you had only escaped by pure luck.

You were thankful for every second Ryan was by your side because Lars did not dare approaching you while Ryan was around.

And while all the physical advances by Lars made you want to scream, the words made you feel not better in the slightest. It started out with the usual pic up lines, which you waved off, ignored, or answered in the most negative ways imaginable.

Then the innuendos started. They made you feel uncomfortable, and the mere thought that you once had shared the bed with a man who was now trying to pressure someone, you, into an intimate relationship like this made you angry beyond words. And it made you feel sick. It was not like you had not told him to leave you alone. You had lost count of how many times you had told him phrases like “I am not interested in you”, “Leave me alone”, “I don’t want you to touch me”, or “I don’t want your attention”.

And by now even the rest of the crew had started to notice that something was going on. You had the definite feeling that Lars hoped to use them indirectly as a weapon against you, as if you would stop speaking up against him if they were around.

But you knew this game.

He had done exactly this before. He had stopped you from ending things with him after you had found out he had cheated the first time, by making you afraid of what the other people might think.

“You don’t want to seem ungrateful for having a boyfriend,” he had said, and you still felt your stomach acid bubble up when you remembered how he had guilt tripped you into staying with him.

And having a mental illness that already made you believe everyone hated you and that you were worth nothing had only made it easier for him.

But not anymore. You were your own person. If the others thought you were being ungrateful, then that was their problem, not yours. It was not your job to please anybody. Your job was to take pictures. And that was all. You had rights, including the right of choosing who was allowed to touch you, and now, years after the terror Lars had put you through, you knew of these rights, and were prepared to make use of them.

But after the first week things escalated.

The show, this night in Washington DC, had ended, and you were sitting backstage on your own. The opening band was at the merch table, signing autographs, and Ryan and Dallon were both in the showers, while Bill and Lucas were packing up the things on stage.

You were sitting on a table in the changing room backstage, legs crossed, elbows resting on your knees while you clicked through the camera, and looked at the pictures you had taken during the day. You had started feeling comfortable round the crew so that you often just took random snaps on the bus or during sound check.

You liked taking pictures of Ryan the most. The way his hair fell into his face, his dark eyes his pink lips, all of these attributes made it addicting to capture him. You loved playing with the light that fell onto his features, how his hair sometimes covered half of his face in shadow, or how golden sunlight made his eyes glow in the warm colour of orange amber.

And when he caught you taking these pictures, he smiled.

He smiled so widely, that you thought it could never fade of his face again. His eyes squeezed together adorably, the skin around them crinkling joyfully while dimples appeared in his cheeks, which made him even cuter.

Not that you said any of these things out loud, you did not even allow yourself thinking them most of the time, but that did not stop you from taking these pictures.

Now, sitting on this table backstage while the chatter of happy fans sounded from outside, and the running water from the showers created a pleasant background noise, you looked through these pictures, realizing you had almost taken fifty in a row of Ryan on the bus today.

Shaking your head with a fond smile, you continued clicking to the next picture as the door to the stage opened. Out of reflex you looked up, and sighed when you saw that it was Lars who had entered. That he closed the door behind him was no good sign.

“Hello my love,” he cooed, making a cold shiver run down your spine.

“Not your love,” you replied immediately before looking back to your camera.

You still hoped that ignoring him would make him realize that you wanted nothing to do with his manipulating ass, but deep inside a part of you knew that it did not work like that.

“Did you take many sweet snaps of me,” he asked, approaching you now.

You felt your heart speed up, and adrenaline started being released into your body, preparing you for defence, which inevitably was going to be necessary. Not answering, you turned your camera off, but kept it in your hands, as suddenly Lars appeared in your line of vision. His fists slammed down on the table on either side of you, caging you, his face mere inches away from yours.

“I don’t like the way you keep ignoring me, doll,” he hissed, grabbing your chin with one hand painfully.

“Don’t touch me,” you screamed, and with all the force you could muster, you pushed him away from you, giving you enough space to jump of the table.

Within a split second he had run forwards again, and was about to either grab you, or hurt you, but you, in complete panic, screamed again.

“Don’t touch me, don’t touch me! Leave me alone,” your voice was so loud that it cracked and it was painful in your ears, and seemingly in his too, because he stopped and held the palms of his hands over his ears. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

The adrenaline that thankfully was already full on flooding through your body, made it possible for you to sprint to the door, and tear it open, just as Dallon, very wet, just holding a towel in front of his body poked his head out of one of the bathrooms.

“What’s going on in here,” he asked, is voice dangerously low, as if he was warning Lars not to move an inch.

You barely noticed the bassist though, because you had already stumbled outside. Your camera, hanging on your side by the strap around your neck and one shoulder, crashing into your back with every second step you took, but you did not care. Your feet carried you away and away from the room where Lars had threatened you, and bursting through a couple of doors, you soon found yourself curled into the tiniest ball in a corner of your bunk bed.

The curtains to your bed were drawn, only a tiny gap allowing you to keep an eye on the door of the department. Shaking terribly you had covered yourself with your blanket so on first glance it would look like it was only your blanket thrown in the corner of the bunk. Your heart was beating so fast that you feared you would faint, and it hurt, feeling it crash against your chest repeatedly.

You knew you should not feel tired, but you did, and tears started welling up in your eyes. So you crawled deeper into the corner, curled tighter together, the camera pressing into your hip uncomfortably, and you tried to sob as quietly as possible, just to make no sound whatsoever.

You heard the voices outside, the trunk got opened and closed, and the door to the bus was used several times, but no one came into the bunk area. You were still shaking, silent tears running over your cheeks, as suddenly the handle of the door moved, and a moment later a thin beam of orange light peeked into the room. Someone, who was taller than you, slipped in, and immediately closed the door again.

Alarmed you held your breath, scared that Lars had found you now, and while all the others were busy, he would take his revenge. Instead the familiar voice of another man quietly called your name. It felt like big chains were falling off your heart as you recognised Ryan’s voice, and quickly you croaked an answer. A second later the curtain at your bed was pushed aside.

“You in here,” he asked.

His voice was very quiet, calm, but sounded relieved, as if he had been looking for you.

“Yes,” you answered; your voice was wet with tears, and raspy from crying.

Reaching his hand for the switch of the small lamp that was installed in all the bunks, Ryan turned on the light. His eyes flickered over the matrass until he spotted your eyes blinking out from underneath the blanket in the corner.

“What happened,” he asked, moving along the bunk, the curtain falling over his back so if anybody entered the room they could not see you.

He was not asking if you were okay, because it was obvious that you were not.

“I-“

You hesitated. No matter how badly you wanted Ryan to understand what was going on, why you were so scared of spending time alone, you did not feel like going through the events back in the venue again.

Ryan seemed to understand, so he nodded, and quickly stepped to the door.

“She’s in here, we can go,” he announced.

Then he closed the door again, and came back to your bed. Once again he slipped under the curtain, his arms resting on the edge of your matrass, and he lay his chin down on his forearms.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, you know,” he finally spoke, “but if you want to, I’m here to listen to you, I promise. And I won’t tell anyone what happened. Okay?”

You nodded, still buried deeply in your blanket.

Carefully Ryan reached out a hand, and pulled a corner of the blanket away, revealing your knee, which he patted gently. The small contact between Ryan’s hand and your trousers made you shiver comfortably, and some of the tension fell away, making you relax finally.

“Are you scared of someone,” he asked.

You knew that while he had refrained from asking too personal questions during the past week, he ached to help you.

Quietly you nodded.

“Someone on the bus?”

Another nod.

For a moment he seemed to be considering something, biting his lip. The motor of the bus turned on, and seconds after the huge vehicle started moving.

“If you need anything, you know you can always talk to me, right,” he finally said, obviously having pushed whatever he had been thinking about earlier, out of his mind.

“Thank you,” you mumbled.

Ryan gave you a sweet smile, and dove out from under the curtain. Judging from the sounds that followed he had climbed into his own bed underneath yours and pulled the curtain closed. You had no idea for how long you had been curled into this tiny ball, your eyes still fixed on the door to the living area, before you fell asleep, chased by nightmares.

~*~

Unbeknownst to you, Dallon had had a talk with Lars. He had heard your cries in the room backstage, and when he saw you escape the way you did, he felt a rage bubble up in his stomach he had never felt before. He had immediately guessed that Lars had tried to force something you did not like, and being the father of a girl himself, the mere thought of anyone touching his daughter, even if she would be in her mid-twenties, ignited white burning rage.

Even though he had not been dressed in anything but a towel, he had warned Lars to stay away from you, and by the intimidated expression on the technician’s face, he assumed Lars had understood the warning.

Later he had asked Ryan to check on you, not disclosing the whole truth, only mentioning that you had seemed upset.

After Ryan had crawled into his own bed, he could not stop thinking about what could have happened. He liked you, a lot. He adored the way you always spoke your mind, and how you were so passionate about your work. Seeing you so scared and upset him, made his heart break.

But he knew that pushing you to tell him anything would only cause you to shut yourself off, so he had to wait until you decided to tell him yourself. He wanted to help you so badly, hold you and tell you that he would keep you safe, but he was not sure if you would allow him to, and he was bad at handling rejections. He knew he would cut himself off from everyone should you deny him to help you, so he did not risk it, not yet at least. And so he stayed awake, always keeping his eyes fixed on the gap in his curtain, making sure nobody would approach your bed.

~*~

The following days were hard for you. Every second you were scared you would be left alone and Lars would try to get to you again. Dallon made sure he was always close by, but you did not know that, and even though Ryan did not know who exactly had scared you so much, he too made sure never to be too far away.

During the shows you stayed in the area that was shielded by security, and during the days, when everyone was working, you were always sitting in the bus together with the bands, or you locked yourself in one of the tiny bathrooms until you were sure somebody other than Lars was on the bus with you.

Being in a state of constant alarm was exhausting, and you found yourself waking up in cold sweat from nightmares.

All of this went on for four days without further incidents, and then, all of a sudden, in just one moment of distraction, you found yourself alone on the bus.

You were sitting on one of the sofas, laptop on your knees. It was late at night, one of the nights in which you were traveling, and Bill had stopped at a gas station, where everyone had decided to get dinner. When Ryan had asked you if you wanted to join, you had said that you just wanted to finish going through these pictures real quickly and would join them in a minute. Now this minute had stretched in almost ten minutes, and suddenly the handle of the door toggled.

You did not look up, until the person was standing right in front of you. Their shins were almost touching your knees, and you had to put your head into your neck to be able to see their face. Recognizing Lars, you flinched and automatically leant away from him. Every cell in your body was disgusted at the mere thought of his touch.

“Could you please take a step back, I feel uncomfortable,” you asked as politely as possible, but he only shuffled closer.

You tried to pull your legs away, but he had already leant down, his hands pressing against the back rest on both sides of your shoulders, his face right in front of you.

“I think you haven’t understood what it means to be mine,” he whispered.

His breath smelled badly, like rotten meat, and you wondered how you had never noticed before.

“I’m not yours,” you spit, refusing to be intimidated by him, even though his physical presence alone was far more impressive than yours.

You had no clue what the best tactics were to get out of this situation. Play along and then run when least expected? Attack? Argue?

“You were, and you ran away, but only to come back to me once more. We’re destined to be together, how can’t you see that,” he asked, his mouth brushing along your ear, causing you to whimper in disgust.

“Leave me alone,” you begged, but he only shook his head.

“We are one,” he mumbled, “we belong together. You know that. Why can’t you admit it?”

He was looking at you again, his eyes flickering closed as he lowered his head to kiss you. Using the moment, you pushed him off of you, not with your arms as you had done last time, but with your feet which you had pulled up on the sofa. With full force you pressed your feet into his stomach and pushed him off, using the back rest to stabilize yourself. Unluckily he was not as surprised by your attack as you had hoped.

Instead he had you cornered against the wall the same second you had jumped up to run. In a desperate act you tried to punch him but within a split second he had pinned your arms over your head against the wall, holding you so tightly that you were sure it would leave bruises.

Panic washed over you, wave after wave after wave. Your heart was pumping in your chest, screaming and beating against your ribcage, and you did the same against his restraints. You struggled and scream with as much air as you were able to get into your lungs. Blood was rushing in your ears, and you did not know if it was from fear or because you were about to pass out. But either way, you would not go down without a fight.

Still screaming as loud as you could, you prepared to bite whatever came close enough to your face, and you would take no pity, even if it would be his nose.

But before Lars was able to do anything more, the door flew open, crashing into the wall, and he got pulled off of you. Not even looking up at who had come to your rescue, you scrambled away as far as possible from your offender, who got pushed against the wall of the driver’s cabin.

Now, with growing distance, you recognized the mess of hair that belonged to Dallon. He had pinned the shorter male against the door, pressing his lower arm against Lars’ throat to keep him in check. You could not understand what Dallon was saying, too loud was the rushing of blood in your ears.

Walking backwards, you suddenly noticed a voice that brought comfort and a feeling of safety, but the words were hard to make out. Searching for the source of the voice, your eyes met a pair of dark brown ones. Ryan was standing in the door into the bus. His arm was stretched out, as if he was talking to a wounded animal. Recognizing him, and the offer that the arm represented, you quickly pushed away from the counter you had been pressing against, and ran over to where he was. Quickly Ryan wrapped his arms protectively around you as you collided with his chest, burying your face in the fabric of his shirt.

Carefully he guided you outside of the bus, allowing you to take deep breaths of the cool night air. He did not ask what had happened, he had seen enough. You were sobbing into his shirt, and he felt tears dripping from your cheeks, but he just held you as close as possible, rubbing soothing circles into your back, while cooing quietly. After a while your sobs died down, but you kept standing pressed against him, your first curled into the back of his shirt.

He smelled like safety. You could not say what exactly it was, but he was warm, so warm, and he even smelled warm. The steady movement of his chest with every breath and every heartbeat comforted you. He was alive, and you could feel it.

He had wrapped you into his arms, the same way a freezing person got wrapped into blankets. The soft little noises he made calmed you down, and the sound of his voice was the only thing you wanted to hear for the rest of your life.

Eventually your arms lost their strength and your fingers their grip on his shirt. Exhaustion overwhelmed you, and you stepped back. Your eyes were burning terribly as you looked up at Ryan, but he just had a soft smile on his face. Only now you noticed Dallon standing next to the two of you, quietly watching. When you moved, he made a few steps forwards.

“I talked to Lucas. Lars won’t be allowed into the bunk area anymore, so he’ll sleep on the sofa from now on. And the rest of us agreed to always make sure somebody is around, okay,” he explained slowly, with a calm voice.

But in his eyes you could see that Dallon thought Lars deserved a far bigger punishment than this.

You nodded, not sure how to thank them.

“Also he said that you are together, or were,” Dallon added, “and I just wanted to tell you that a relationship, or whatever you two used to have, is not consent by default. Consent never is the default. So if anyone ever tries to make you feel bad about saying no, remember this, okay? Promise?”

Once more tears started stinging in your eyes, and letting go of Ryan, you quickly hugged Dallon, who patted your head.

“Let’s get you to bed,” he finally decided.

You nodded and wiped your eyes with the back of your hand. Ryan wrapped an arm around you, and led you back to the bus. Inside the other crew members were sitting, and Lucas had his hands pressed into his sides, staring down on Lars, who looked up once you entered.

At the sight of Lars sitting there you stiffened immediately, even with Ryan’s hand on your shoulder. A mixture of fear and anger washed over you, and you were torn between running away and punching him.

“I wanted to apologise for my behaviour earlier and how I treated you during this tour so far,” Lars spoke. It was one of the few times he actually sounded sincere. “I should have respected your wishes, and promise to never approach you again without your permission. Please forgive me.”

The fear you felt was slowly being sucked away, but instead of the mercy he was hoping for, you only felt rage. Staring down at him, you blew air through your nose, and shook your head slightly.

“Yeah, you better,” you replied, and then, without giving him a second look, you walked through the tiny kitchen, and disappeared behind the door to the bunks.

Ryan followed closely after you, and closed the door behind him. You were leaning against the ladder of your bed and rubbed your eyes. Walking over, he stopped a few feet away from you, and waited for you to speak up.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” you finally mumbled.

“Not at all, that’s how,” Ryan replied with a gentle smile on his lips, “any decent person would have done what Dal and I did. There is really nothing to thank us for.”

“Your shirt is all wet now, from me crying into it,” you noticed, and much to his relief, Ryan heard you giggle tiredly.

“It’s just water and salt, it’ll dry,” he answered.

For a while you stood in silence, before you told him you wanted to dress into your pyjama. Ryan left, giving you some privacy, and waited outside the door. Once you had finished dressing, you poked your head outside to call for him. A thought had started creeping into your mind, and you were too tired and exhausted to resist the urge to ask.

“Can you stay with me,” you asked shyly once you had crawled into your bunk, “I mean, would you mind sleeping up here tonight?”

Ryan’s eyes widened, and secretly he was overjoyed that you had asked. Nodding quickly, he climbed up the ladder, and squeezed himself into the bunk next to you. The curtain that was drawn as always allowed the two of you some privacy, and dimmed the bright orange light at the ceiling enough to create a cosy atmosphere.

As soon as Ryan had settled next to you, you felt the tension leaving your body. He had folded one of his arms under his head; the other hand was pushed under his chin. He looked so cosy and peaceful, lying next to you like that.

The peace and feeling of safety he radiated made you shiver comfortably, and you smiled at him sleepily. His heart made a little jump at the gesture, and following an instinct, he reached his hand out to brush a strand of hair out of your face.

Since you did not protest, and instead melted into the touch, he pulled up all of his courage, and wrapped his arm around you, pulling you against him. Immediately you cuddled into him, your nose close to his neck, your lashes fluttering against his chin. You smelled lovely, and Ryan found himself hoping he could protect you from all the evil in the world.

Slowly your breathing calmed down, and after a while Ryan noticed that you had fallen asleep, taking deep, even breaths. Allowing himself to finally let down his guard as well, he too relaxed and closed his eyes, falling asleep with you safely wrapped in his arms.

Chapter Five

[shooktim-blog]

Even an ardent student of history may not be aware of the fact that the United States has had nine official capitals since we first started our great experiment in democracy. If you are a fan of historical facts, you probably knew at least a few of them: Philadelphia, New York and Annapolis. But, in fact, there have been 9 official seats of government in our 243 years of existence and today I want to recognize all of them.

1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The City of Brotherly Love has actually been the official U.S. capital on several different occasions, starting when it was the home of the Continental Congress. It once again served as the U.S. capital while our permanent one was being built in Washington, DC.

A couple of years ago I returned to Philadelphia to spend a couple of days and joined a tour around some of the city’s most important sites. Spending a few hours walking around Old City, I learned a lot even though I had considered myself to be fairly well versed in early American history. It was the ideal way to visit some of the country’s most important sites from the house where Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to Independence Hall and many, smaller stops in between. The story of Philadelphia truly is the story of America, and it’s important that every visitor to the city absorbs as much of it as possible.

2. Baltimore, Maryland

In 1776, British troops began to close in on Philadelphia, forcing the Continental Congress to flee to Baltimore. Since it’s in my home state of Maryland, I’ve certainly visited Charm City a time or two and have come to really appreciate it over the years.

My first memory of Baltimore was of a young kid, there on a short vacation with my family. The only thing I remember is the Inner Harbor and the world famous National Aquarium, which is why I was so happy to experience it again more than 30 years later. The Inner Harbor was perhaps the best idea the city has ever had, this pedestrian friendly waterfront features lots of options for food, shopping and sightseeing. What I think is the star of the experience is the National Aquarium. Routinely listed as one of the best in the country, this massive aquarium first opened its doors back in 1981, and while it still bears the design marks of the early 80s, even today it’s a fun place to spend a few hours. From the standard tour featuring every kind of water dwelling creature you could imagine, to special exhibits like the new one about Australia, there’s always something new to see and do here. Next to the aquarium is another fun site, the Historic Ships in Baltimore. Featuring 4 historic vessels, it’s a great way to learn more about maritime history.

3. & 4. Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania

To be fair, Lancaster was the capital for only a day, but York held the title for about 9 months in 1777-78. Both cities find themselves in a great part of Pennsylvania, what many call Amish country.

Two hours from the Washington, DC metro region, less than three from New York City and a veritable stone’s throw from Philadelphia, the Lancaster and Hershey regions of Pennsylvania are amongst the most convenient in this part of the country. While Hershey could easily complete your short break or even a longer stay, there’s a lot more to see and do in the surrounding areas including a personal favorite, Amish country and the Strasbourg Railroad. Strasbourg is one of the few operating steam locomotives in the country, and visitors get a taste of the grand era of railroading when they visit. At the heart of the attraction is taking a ride on the train itself. The tour into the farmlands of Pennsylvania takes about an hour round-trip and is a fun way to get out and see more of the surrounding countryside. Plus there’s the thrill of being in a steam train, which is really what drew me there in the first place. In addition to the train there’s also a train museum, with many examples of classic trains on display. You’ll see a lot of families at Strasbourg, but from my experience it’s also great for adults without kids.

5. Princeton, New Jersey

For a few months in 1783, the American government once again had to flee Philadelphia, but this time due to frustrated Continental Army soldiers demanding back pay. So, the delegates temporarily relocated to Princeton. I’ve never been, but it looks like a lovely place.

6. Annapolis, Maryland

Practically in my backyard, I find myself in Annapolis at least once a week and while it’s a lovely city, most people don’t know that it too was once a capital of the United States. I consider myself somewhat well versed in American history and was surprised at the importance Annapolis had in the formation of the country. I had no idea that it was the American capital from 1783-84; I had no idea that all the early Presidents spent a considerable amount of time in the city and I had no idea the Treaty of Paris was ratified in the state house in 1784.

Walking tours are a great way to learn about a new city and Annapolis is no exception. Given its age, there is a long tradition of ghost stories in and around town so we jumped on a ghost tour to learn about the city’s history in a different way. Annapolis Ghost Tours runs one of the highest ranked tours in the world, giving guests the option of a traditional ghost tour or a haunted pub crawl.

7. Trenton, New Jersey

Barely a capital, Trenton was home to the Congress of Confederation for just a month and not much happened during this time when the Founding Fathers met in a tavern. I’ve never been to the New Jersey state capital but, like Princeton, I imagine that I’d enjoy spending a couple of days exploring the historic city.

8. New York City

For five years, the American government met in New York City and it was during this time that many important developments took place. It’s where the Constitution was ratified and where Washington took the oath of office as the first American President. Of course, New York today is one of the world’s most popular cities to visit and there are any number of ways to occupy your time during a trip, including stopping by the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

An entire day could be spent roaming the battle deck, marveling at the planes and even seeing a space shuttle up close and personal. This really is one of those museums perfect for just about everyone; just give yourself enough time to see it all.

9. Washington, DC

Finally! The one capital that everyone should know and my hometown, the District of Columbia. In 1800, Washington officially became the capital of the country and hopefully it’s the last. It’s also, I think, a fun city to visit – especially if you know where to go and what to experience.

Our nation’s capital, all of the important monuments and memorials are found here, many of which line the beautiful National Mall. Also along the Mall are some of the best museums in the world, the always free to enter Smithsonian Institution museums that cover everything from American History to Air and Space and some smaller, more unusual ones as well. But we’re not just about museums and monuments, in recent years the city has seen a shift in demographics and old neighborhoods have come back to life. Explore new restaurants and bars in Barracks Row or head to Georgetown to do some high-end shopping. DC is also well located, an easy drive, bus or train ride from Philadelphia and New York so there’s really no excuse NOT to visit the capital city region.

The post Paying Homage to the 9 Capital Cities of the United States (Yes, 9) appeared first on LandLopers.

[jqnotjq]

Waiting for dinner last week.

So, uh, what’s new? Anything interesting going on?

It was a wild couple of months even before the rona hit, with lots of good stuff and very little bad, thankfully.

I officially started in my new role with Duo on January 6th, and worked my last shift in Support at the end of that month. It was bittersweet to be leaving the team – on the one hand, I was ready for a new challenge and excited to start my new role, but on the other hand, I really liked that team. I’m a few months removed from things now, of course, but I still try to pop in and post something stupid, or stay in touch with people on the team. My experience with the team definitely set me up for doing well in CS, though, and the transition to the new team has gone well.

It’s definitely a change to be on the proactive side of the customer relationship, but it feels like I’m more able to build connections with them when compared to Support, which is definitely what I was looking for. I get along really well with my CSM partner, and it’s been fun getting to know everyone else, too.

We travelled to Ann Arbor for an internal summit at the beginning of February, which kicked off 20 days of being away from SF for me. I mostly stayed in a hotel while I was there, and it definitely made me feel like a tourist in my own hometown. It was a good bonding experience for me with the new team, though, and Becca and I were able to play a show at the Ann Arbor Distilling Company on Valentine’s Day after also playing there during my visit for a week in January.

Made the team go to all my favorite places while we were in town.

The real reason I come back to A2 is to see Danielle.

Tiny Corner Concert

It’s true.

If you’re interested in seeing us play, there’s a playlist with the whole show here – 

I’ve also decided to start doing weekly live-streams of me playing covers or whatnot via my YouTube channel, just to stay in practice and keep my mood on the up and up. You can see the set I did this week here – 

It’s nearly all covers, but I have enough material to play four more shows; I’ll end up having nearly five hours of music recorded. Becca and I are also in the process of writing some honest to goodness ORIGINAL songs, finally. Trying to make the most of our time stuck at home.

My visit to Ann Arbor was followed by a few days in Austin; I got to see my friends Tiffany and Kat, who I definitely don’t get to spend enough time with. Lots of good food and good times were had. It’s nice to have friends in all these different places. Working for a company who’s home office is in my hometown really helps to keep me connected to people I care about; I strongly recommend it, if you can arrange it.

Oh hey, Austin.

Me and Kat!

This is not Tiffany; I didn’t get a picture with her.

After getting back from Austin, I actually got to relax in the City for a couple of weeks. Managed to hit my first party bus, and got to go to the RSA conference for the first time.

Of course, I don’t like to settle down for too long, so I went on a cruise from Miami to Key West to Cozumel and back in early March. Clearly the best time to be traveling. I almost decided not to go, since the rona was on the rise, but I’m glad I ended up getting that time out and about with people, since we went right into work from home and shelter-in-place when I got back.

I’d been on a cruise way back in 11th grade, which means I wasn’t old enough to enjoy it. This team featured significantly more alcohol, which seems to be the main attraction on these things. I don’t think I would go on a cruise again, but I was glad I did this one. I shared some of my favorite pictures from the trip on my Instagram – 

View this post on Instagram

My favorite shots from a great long weekend with some of my favorite people.

A post shared by Jessica Drew Quiroga (@jqnotjq) on Mar 9, 2020 at 11:02am PDT

We had rough seas a couple of nights, and I get very sick on one of them, but luckily Ben was there to make sure I was okay and didn’t die. He and I had a bit of a fling on during the trip; it was nice to have a “cruise boyfriend”. Definitely a change from my trip in high school. The only real downside of the trip was that my blue glasses, which I love, blew off the side of the ship on one of the windy evenings.

I’d been keeping an eye on the news while we were on the ship, because I’m incapable of surviving without internet access even while I’m far away from civilization, so I knew that there were Bad Things coming when we landed. While on my return flight, we got a notice from our CEO that we were going to be working from home starting the next day. My living situation didn’t really allow for me to do that, given the fact that I spend most of my day on calls and deal with secure information, so I was considering taking a flight back out to Michigan, and staying somewhere that I’d have some privacy. It wasn’t ideal, but I had to work. Luckily, my CSM, Caroline, and another CSM on the team, Jenn had me covered.

I was able to stay with Caroline for a couple of weeks while Jenn was traveling, but once she was back in town, I moved into her place. 

Caroline’s had a nice big kitchen table for us, and a great view over the top of the city to the bridge. She ended up going back to stay with her family in the Midwest, so I was on my own for a week, but once Jenn was back in town, I migrated to her place. I miss my Coliving friends, but it’s really nice to sleep in my own bed again. Jenn is super awesome and kind, and adopted two kittens right after I moved here, so it’s been really nice. 

She and I cook a bunch, and I do a lot of Zoom/FaceTime/Webex calls with friends back east, so I’ve been able to stay in a good mood while we’re sheltering in place. We’re still allowed to go out to exercise, so I’ve been doing walks in Golden Gate Park every couple of days, and we’ve got a lovely view from the top of our building, so I’m able to get outside often enough that I don’t feel trapped. It’s a very lucky situation I’ve found myself in, where I’m able to work from a stable home situation, and just have to make sure that I’m following appropriate social distancing and hygiene protocols. 

The view from our roof

Cooking

The view from my desk

Jazzy and Disco

Very few people out and about, thankfully

“Kill me”

Mask time while heading out for groceries

I couldn’t get up for an hour and a half

Shhhh, they’re sleeping

Catching up on Deep Space 9

She’s a monster

Delicious pasta

Headed out for groceries

Jazzy likes to climb up my body to get onto my shoulder and then nip at my hair and face

Poloroids from my going away karaoke party along with some framed art from my friend Jess

Still hot potting at home

Jenn and I out on a walk to retrieve my car from Sunnyvale

The happiest I’ve ever been in my life

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Took a nice long walk with @jenniferjanekwokalypse today; my second long one this week! Glad to be able to still get out and exercise while all this is going on.

A post shared by Jessica Drew Quiroga (@jqnotjq) on Apr 12, 2020 at 5:55pm PDT

Sheltering-in-place with a friend has really helped keep my mood up; I’m really glad Jenn was willing to let me take up space at her place for the next while.

Any surgery stuff I’ve wanted to do has been pushed off to an undetermined time, obviously, as our medical system deals with everything happening, but I’m not feeling too down about it. I worry a lot about my friends from the hospital, on the front lines, or anyone I know that doesn’t have the option to just work from home, or who has already lost their jobs. I’ve been trying to check in on people and chat here and there, or schedule game nights online, just to give some sort of distraction from things. In these “unprecedented times”, as every email I’m getting from any place that has my email has called them.

But I hope everyone reading this is healthy and as safe as possible, and hopefully we all see each other out and about soon.

-Jessica

I Can Only Think About You So, uh, what’s new? Anything interesting going on? It was a wild couple of months even before the rona hit, with lots of good stuff and very little bad, thankfully.

[ragincagein4life]

USS Indianapolis

I haven’t posted a Ragin’ Cagein’ review in months; a grave offense on par with Nicy Poo’s hair (wig? spray paint?) in our next film: USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage.  You probably haven’t heard of this movie because Cagey Kins churns out blockbusters (we’ll use that term very loosely) like he needs to pay back the IRS after bankruptcy…oh wait.  Before pressing play, I decided to do a little research on the old Goog to see what pops up.  It currently has 5.1/10 stars on IMDB, which is actually pretty good for our resident screamer.  But then I saw the review on Rotten Tomatoes…9%...me thinks we found a winner.  If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching this tasty treat, here is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExSDMWJhm_Q

Before diving in (pun intended…too soon?) here’s a little background on the event this movie attempts to recreate on screen, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Her sinking led to the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. On 30 July 1945, after a high-speed trip to deliver parts for Little Boy, the first atomic bomb used in combat, to the United States air base at Tinian, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 while on her way to the Philippines, sinking in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 900 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 317 survived.

U.S.S Indianapolis

Needless to say, this was and still is an incredibly tragic moment in U.S. history that should be treated with respect.  So why was Nic Cage chosen to star in this film?  Great question.  And why I am choosing to review this movie in my snarky voice?  Because it’s my duty as an American! (No it’s not). 

I’ll be honest, I’m already pretty excited to watch this movie because it’s been several months since my last Cage experience and the opening credits is like a desert oasis when I saw this…

A FILM BY

MARIO VAN PEEBLES

Jesus take the wheel.  Or should I say helm?  Anyway, on with the show! 

“There will always be war until we kill our own species.”   

With writing like that, I’m shocked this wasn’t a shoe in for an Oscar Meyer hotdog.  Alas, the graphics are horrendous!  It looks like a computer game played on Windows 95.  Already this plot is tough to follow, one minute NC is writing a letter to his wife (I assume), the next we’re following two young seaman on their romantic interludes (unfortunately isn’t not with each other).  Then we switch to a Japanese submarine where of course all the lighting is red (EVIL!) and they’re sacrificing themselves when it doesn’t even seem necessary.  New characters are introduced in practically every scene with “subtle” foreshadowing about sharks, specifically, their rows of sharp teeth and that humans are at the bottom of the food chain when swimming in the ocean.  

Wait, is that Tom Sizemore?  He’s actually looking pretty good (thank you Dr. Drew and Celebrity Rehab) and I’m glad to see he’s still making war movies...even if they star a melted candle in a wig (seriously though, what is going on with Nic Cage’s face??  His complexion looks gray).  

One of the more flattering shots I could find.

And the glorious writing just keeps coming.  “This isn’t a minstrel show..this is the UNITED STATES NAVY.”  Another cutting line from a naval officer.  Seaman are notorious for dicking around at minstrel shows.

Quick side note. I Googled “minstrel shows” and this was the first image that came up:

Apparently this form of entertainment originated in the 19th century and was performed by white people in black face.  Later on, especially after the Civil War, these shows were performed by actual black people.  Did Steve Bannon write this movie?  Maybe NC Skat Cat’s gray bloat-face pays homage to the human trash pile who also served in the Navy:

Fun fact, you’ll find the picture on the left in the dictionary under “Melanoma” 

Well, the Japanese torpedoes finally hit and the U.S.S Indianapolis melts into lackadaisical chaos.  You might be thinking, “But Katie, doesn’t that phrase contradict itself?”  You are correct, however, the actors in this movie make it an art form on par with Method Acting.  It’s a delightful combination of screaming yet jogging, shrieking orders while lazily jumping off the ship.  Is it time for the sharks to arrive?  

Well, the ship is gone, the men are drifting in the water and I wish the sharks would hurry up so I don’t have to listen to this horrendous dialogue.  I’ll be honest, I was zoning out until random people were pulled under.  Oh, and Tom Sizemore’s character is begging for morphine...how appropriate.  The best part of the water scenes is NC rowing his raft with a comically small ore as seen at the beginning of this delightfully dubbed clip: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MoXLSU_s84 

This movie is abysmal.  Each scene lasts a couple of minutes that either depict ridiculous shark attack scenes or late night confessionals by the survivors about their love lives or the afterlife. 

“Do you think it’s luck who lives and who dies? “It was his time.”

Oh. Was it?

But in all seriousness, this event is considered the worst Naval disaster in our nation’s history where hundreds of men lost their lives in terrifying ways.  They were stranded for four days in shark infested waters while their distress calls went unanswered.  So, yeah...kind of a big deal and not surprisingly, this movie and the characters don’t do it justice...at all.   I think the most fitting line of movie was spoken one of the rescuing soldier:

“This is a class A clusterfuck.” 

Indeed.  I need a pallet cleanser (or an enema for my eyes).

So the men are rescued and there’s still about 30 minutes left in the movie and what comes next feels like it should be a different film altogether.  There’s a lot going on:

-One character, nicknamed ‘Bama’ (gross), marries his best friend’s pregnant girlfriend after he dies at sea.

-Some of the surviving soldiers get together to throw a party the night before the trial.  “What trial?” you might ask...

-Nic-y kins is on trial for not “zig zagging as an evasive maneuver” and “failing to abandon ship in a timely manner” (wait what?) aka you weren’t prepared for a possible attack by the Japanese and didn’t react appropriately.  Basically, the military fucked up big time and are trying to throw him under the bus.  As you can see, our military likes to repeat history.  

-OH SHIT!  During the trial the United States Military calls the Captain from the Japanese submarine that attacked the USS Indianapolis.  Slap in the face to Wig Master Cage.  But I think he lied on the stand to help Cage...blooming friendship on the horizon? 

-NOT GULTY...on one count but they found Cage guilty for not zig zagging.  What is going on in this movie.

-Okay I’ll admit, there’s a scene between NC and the Japanese Captain about forgiveness that I actually kind of liked.  

-I take that back because the movie ends with NC shooting himself in the head.  WHY?!

-The most powerful part of this movie is the ending credits.  Two veterans describe the experience of the shark attacks followed by actual footage of the rescue.  So basically the parts that Mario van Peebles had nothing to do with.  

I think it’s pretty clear how I feel about this movie.  Two hours of actors bumbling on screen, desperately trying to recreate and pay homage to a tragic moment and failing miserably.  I don’t recommend this movie to anyone, even if you’re under the influence of anything...weed, alcohol, paint thinner, etc.  That said, I give this movie 1/5 Ragin’ Cageins.

But not everyone feels the same way.  The following 9/10 star review is from scottwolf-26710 on IMBD:

I am wondering whether the people who posted bad reviews saw the same movie as I did, It was historically good , acting fair, story excellent CGI a little cheesy. But overall very entertaining. I studied this incident and knew an old sailor, who helped off load the bomb on Tinian. Maybe the movie didn't have enough sex and foul language for the people who gave it bad reviews.

You might be on to something old Scotty boy.  I would have enjoyed “U.S.S Indianapolis” so much more if there was a budding love story throughout.  Perhaps something like this:

After abandoning his ship, NC is brought to a raft by a shark who, unlike his brothers and sisters, doesn’t see humans as food.  Rather, he feels a strong connection towards them...maybe even love?  

NC is confused himself.  He should hate the sharks, after all, they’re killing his men!  But there’s something about that first shark, the one he believes saved him that night.  Or was it just a dream?  His mind tells him to remember his wife!  But his heart keeps remembering those beautiful, black shark eyes.  

Over the next four days, NC and the shark steal wanting glances and NC even hits the shark with his tiny ore to cover up his true feelings.  NC knows they can never be and the shark understands that if he truly loves this melting wax figure, he should let him go back to his wife.  

During one particularly lonely night, NC spots his savior in the water just below the raft.  The shark swims quietly to the surface- he knows he shouldn’t be here but the connection is too strong.  As the shark breaks the surface, NC simply says “It’s you.”  With that, the two begin a passionate affair lasting until daybreak.  

On the day of the rescue, the sea was extra salty with the lovers’ tears.  As NC sails away, he looks back one last time and says a silent goodbye to the creature who saved his life but stole his heart.  Just before the screen fades to black, he whispers, “In another life.” 

El Fin 

Potential movie poster?

With that dear readers, I end my review of this ghastly film.  Stay tuned for the next post and if you have any requests, please submit in the comments.

Peace, love and wigs xo