#also good luck with college!!!!! its tough but i know ya can do it!

[fixing-bad-comic-art]

Lol I just got a person who draws furry fetish (balloon?) art say similar things about my edits on @kitties-pryde Side blog maybe they’re the same person?

They were saying similar things and it looks like they found me through here and went through my blog. They told me that “maybe (I) should go to college and build (my) portfolio instead of ruining other’s art.” Which is funny because that’s literally what I’m going to school for! You know, ruining others art. And that “women (drawings) are allowed to show cleavage…” and “if it were so bad that women who work (there) would say something” says the man unprompted to a strange woman on the internet.

I just straight up blocked them but I like your clap backs so maybe you have something witty to scream to the air :)

djsjs a. how did i never realize that was your side blog, b. i think i got that guy like as an OG sjnsnsj, i think ive had him blocked for months now bc he was commenting on every single post and like theres a point when it stops being funny and starts being annoying.

im sorry he found you but at least we can both rest in the unshakable truth of bidoofs law and the block button

[cvtqr]

cammed

series master list

chapter one; touché, jaeger

content warning; public sex, cheating, wall sex, unprotected, cream pie, slight degradation 

the sun was setting as you walked out the front doors of your dormitory, closing them behind you. hearing your phone quietly ring, you pulled it out from the waistband of your skirt.

‘hello’

babe, are you guys almost here? games about to start and the other girls need historia

‘leaving now, hist just got here’

alright, if i can’t catch you before it starts we’re still on for dinner... right?

‘yeah of course. good luck reiner, win one for me.’

your life right now made you feel like you were in some cliche romcom. dating the college football superstar, best friends with the head cheerleader, all the cliches made you feel like you were still in high school. historia has been your best friend since birth, so of course the two of you hadn’t split up entering college. she had the cheer scholarship, you had the brains to get in with an application. you met reiner through mutual friends, but you couldn’t figure out why he fell for someone like you. usually, in the movies, the hot popular guy falls in love with the hot popular girl... but that wasn’t you, it was more like your best friend. you were more laid back, just wanting to get your degree.

your relationship with reiner was... slow, to say the least. it’s almost the end of your freshman year of college and he seems to be more focused on football than you. but you don’t blame him, he just wants to be successful with his passion. you do hate the fact that you have to take care of yourself all the time. he’s never able to stay the night, as he has training early in the morning. sometimes you wish that he could just be more available to you.

running out down the small path, you stopped in front of a car full of people. this was the way all friday nights were. you were picked up by a jammed pack car holding historia and a bunch of other people, before driving off to the football field. opening the car, it was really full tonight.

“you’re gonna have to sit on someone’s lap, just for the ride” jean said with a grim smirk on his face

“hist you’re tiny, sit on ymir’s lap”

ymir of course not having a problem, pulled the small blonde into her lap with a grin on her face. you then hopped into the car, taking historia’s previous spot.

arriving at the field, historia had to run off to her team and get a lecture by the coach on why she has to stop being so late. after giving her a hug for good luck, you wandered off to the concession stands.

“just a pretzel, please”

receiving your snack, you were about to walk over to the bleachers until you heard your name being called over the short fence.

“Y/N!”

letting out a sigh, you ran over to the voice calling you over.

“quiet down, unnecessary attention.”

lifting his helmet off, he used his large hands to pull your head into his, capturing his lips with yours.

“and? ya look pretty tonight, what if i want people to see my gorgeous little girlfriend.”

“don’t you have a game to play, tough guy?”

talking to your boyfriend, you felt like someone was piercing into the back of your head. people were probably watching the two of you, but no... that wasn’t the feeling. it felt like one person had their eyes glued to you. saying goodbye to your boyfriend, you started to walk over to the bleachers. they were packed with people and you had no one to sit with. your eyes started to scan looking for either bertholdt or colt, two quiet boys you seemed to get along well with.

bertholdt was reiner’s best friend. you noticed him the first time you met everyone. he was always following reiner around like a lost puppy, but reiner seemed to love his presence. when you and reiner started dating, he left you guys alone most the time, but he’s still was always around. colt you also met through reiner, on campus. you really strengthened your friendship after visiting reiners hometown over mid-winter break. while you and reiner were babysitting his cousin, her best friend tagged along, who was the little brother of colt.

you were getting a little nervous until you heard someone call your name and wave you over. jean kirstein, from the car. jean pissed you off on so many levels, but he also made you feel safe in a way. running over to where he was, you took a seat in between him and his best friend.

“hey marco! kirstein.”

“ouch... you’re so cold sometimes, y/n”

jean always had to make a dramatic comment no matter what the situation was. settling into your seat, you stayed quiet for the most part after that. the game was close to being over when you got up from your spot.

“gonna use the bathroom, ill be right back.”

you didn’t actually have to pee, just needed a moment away from the screaming and loud noises. running towards the extra, empty parking lot. you felt someone grab your arm, dragging you into the darkness. about to scream, you felt a hand cover your mouth.

“shhh, its just me.”

wiggling out of his grip, you pushed him into the brick wall. he let out a chuckle, surprised you could shove him like that.

“you dipshit, i thought i was getting kidnapped.”

you felt rough hands pull you by the waist into his chest.

“yeah well anyone would want to get their hands on a pretty girl like you, i’ve warned you about wandering at night by yourself... haven’t i?”

“touché, jaeger”

his slender fingers found their way up your thighs and under your skirt, teasing the hem of your panties.

“not here jaeger, i have to get back to-”

“back to the boyfriend, yeah.” - he didn't stop though, he snuck his hand down to make contact with your clit, rubbing small, soft circles around it. “remember our agreement though? if you want, i can break it... show everyone your-”

“fine. make it quick.”

“you don't make the rules here, ill take as much time as i need.”

eren jaeger was popular around campus, not in the same way as reiner though. he wasn't some big shot blonde football player, just well known for being a jackass. his reputation started in the beginning of the year. he was a pretty low-key guy, just down to fuck almost anyone who asked. but then he'd just break their hearts, but girls always still tried getting him to fall for them.

he released your skirt and pushed you back up against the wall. as you both switched positions, you could see the faint red in his eyes, pulled out by the street light.

his lips found yours, roughly shoving his tongue into your mouth. once he felt that was enough, he flipped you over on the wall. to avoid scraping your face or getting your shirt dirty, you pushed your hands up onto the wall. you heard the familiar unbuckle of eren’s belt, and the shuffling of him trying to free his erect cock.

brining his hand in front of your mouth, he cupped it a bit. knowing what he wanted you to do, you spit right into it twice. he then brought his hand back and lathered his cock with your saliva. pulling the bottom of your skirt up to your waist, he pushed your panties to the side before slowly sliding himself into you. 

not bothering to care about the stinging you might've been feeling, he brought himself back out before slamming right back in. repeating and repeating, going at a roughly fast pace.

“‘ren sl-... slow down.”

“shut up, whore. you should... fuck- should know your place by now.”

letting out a whimper, you felt your fingertips push so hard into the wall, bound to leave a scratch. you then had them peeled off the concrete wall, as eren pulled both of you backwards. pulling out, he spun you around and pushed you back up onto the wall. 

he brought your thigh up to meet his hip, before thrusting himself back into you.

“your little pussy takes me so fuckin’ well”

clenching around him from his words, you let your head fall down onto his shoulder.

“want me to fill you u-”

he was cut off by the sound of your phone ringing. brining your head up, you went to go pull your phone out and hit decline... but eren beat you to it. he took your phone and hit accept, holding it up to your ear.

babe?

‘r-reiner!’

nice win, right?

‘y-yeah you were... you were amazing as always’

cuz i was thinkin’ of you. anyways i'm heading to the locker room, you with bert?

you felt yourself start to panic at the heat of the moment. you were on the phone with your boyfriend as you were getting pounded by the biggest dick on campus. he was ruthless. not bothering to slow down or stop, he just thrusted in harder and faster than before.

‘no actually-’ you were about to let out a moan but you covered it up with a cough ‘just i-in... the bath- the bathroom’

you okay?

‘yeah i’m... fine, 'm fine. ill see you in a few’

alright, love you

‘i love, love you too.’

right when you hung up you choked out a load moan that's been building up. without warning, eren came and shot right up inside you. of course he wouldn't make you cum at a scene like this.

pulling out, he pushed the seeping cum back up with his fingers, before pulling your panties back in place and fixing your skirt. 

“now go hangout with your boyfriend while your full of my cum.”

“eren-”

he turned you around back out of the darkness and playfully smacked your ass before giving your back a little push.

“i promise i’ll make it up to you, now run along like a good girl.”

giving him a frown, you made your way to the exit of the locker room. you stood there waiting for reiner, clenching your thighs together. 

dinner with reiner was sweeter than usual. most times after a game you were dragged to a loud diner with all his friends, forced to hangout with them. but tonight, reiner just wanted it to be you and him. nothing special though, just a quick food joint. walking back to your dorm, you felt the guilt build up in your chest like it always did. 

arriving at the front door of your single-person dorm, reiner pulled you into a soft, sweet kiss.

“practice is canceled tomorrow, i can stay for once.”

of course, the one night you're stuffed to the brim with another man’s cum.

opening the door, you let him in. the two of you laid kissing on the bed, before he tried sneaking his hand up your skirt.

you felt yourself start to internally freak out. if he were to finger you right now, he'd just be met with a load of cum. 

“i-im on my period.”

reiner was always understanding, so of course he was in this position.

“ok, that's fine. we can just cuddle and watch a movie.”

“sounds good” after placing a kiss on his cheek, you got up to go put a pair of sweats on, before returning back to your bed.

he must've been worn out from the game, as he almost immediately fell asleep in your arms. you couldn’t help but feel guilty, thinking about eren. do you wish it was him laying in your arms right now? no. reiner is everything you could ever ask for. you knew he deserved the world, you don't want to hurt him like you are  now. 

but you knew what would happen if you didn't give eren what he wanted.

and that'd be even worse.

[scholasticbabe]

Hey loves!

I've been thinking about my application process and how I though I had done my research before hand, but how the process took me for a complete loop. I know some of you guys are applying to college this fall (woot,woot!) and I thought I'd share some of the misconceptions I had about the college process that could help out some of you babies joining appblr’19, don’t say I never gave ya’ anything!

The process stops after you apply: I'm sorry to break it to ya’, but you know how after long night of essay writing and college research you silently whisper to yourself that it will all be over in a couple of weeks? whelp you would be dead wrong. This process is for the long haul. Be prepared to sign financial declarations and school documents til your fingers bleed after you officially applied. Oh and don't forget those oh so fun moment when the school didn't get a document you thought you sent in. Just know that after January there still gonna be work to do.

College is expensive but the application process, not so much: if you’re like me, you budgeted for the application process and also if you're like me you went way over budget. Those unexpected fees will smack you straight in the face like nobody's business, so you might wanna hold off on all those treat yo’ self moments until after you've secured the bag!

You can prepare for rejection: inevitably during the college process you will face rejection (this can increase and decrease by the amount of selective schools you apply to) and we all like to pretend that we aren’t prone to it or the famous excuse of “pshhhh i didn't want to go their either way” (we all know that person who claims they knew they were gonna get rejected but did it for fun). The point is there’s  no way you can prepare yourself for the hit to yourself worth when you get that rejection and THAT’S PERFECTLY OK, itS ok to aim for something and not get it. The key to getting through the college application is not to be immune to rejection, ITS TO LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE SITUATIONS IN A HEALTHY WAY!!

Having a big or small college list matters: we've all experienced seeing people at our schools apply to either a large amount of school or a very selective amount, and there are endless debate as to why which is more effective, but my thing is your list is complete shit if you wouldn't want to attend want to attend every school on your list.  IF THERE’S ONE THING I WOULD TELL EVERYONE APPLYING TO COLLEGE, IS TO REALLY TAKE THE TIME TO CREATE A LIST WHERE YOU WOULD COULD END UP ON ANY SCHOOL ON THAT LIST AND BE FINE. This is easier said than done, but just know its not the size of your list but the quality of schools on it (P.s this does not mean all Ivies, widen your horizons!)

You will get to visit all the schools you’re considering: this may be an international student thing but I know alot students ended up not getting to visit their top choices (or any of their schools at all). Especially if you're applying to schools that maybe far away, get comfortable with those investigative skills BECAUSE YOU WILL NEED TO DECIDE OF YOU LIKE THE SCHOOL ON LIMITED EVIDENCE.

Your essay is the most important part of your application: *super controversial one* but for every youtuber you watch with perfects score that tell you that their essays got them into *insert ivy here*, tell them to go take a hike. Now hear me out, the essay is a great opportunity to set yourself apart and squeeze yourself through the door but make no mistake, those stats matter. The essay is essential a marker for candidates with similar stats for that school. In my opinion the application is like a pie INVOLVEMENT AND STATS MAKE UP 70 PERCENT AND THE ESSAY IS THE OTHER 30. So try your best to get as much of that 70 percent as you can and then worry about that 30.

Ok so admit you were guilty of at least one of these (and if you're not, you're a lucky bitch). I’m sure there are plenty more misconception we all have about the apps process and you’ll probably discover some of your own, but ultimately this process isn't everything and it should be one of those things where it's what happens in the end that matter most. To my oldies but goodies, good luck on your college journeys, and to my newbies: buckle up it's gonna be a tough year but it'll be worth it, I  think.

-Georgia

[airmom]

Do u have any tips for the new school year like work/beauty/crushes?

is it for high school or college? hehe because I feel like theyre both SO different but Ill try to make some broad advice/tips

📚💭☆ mindfulness and practicing positive thinking: its so hard trying to be positive esp if you are foreign to it or have trouble changing your way of thinking, but find small words or sentences you can keep telling yourself like, “my value is not made up by my grade,” or “I will do my best.” Practice a few days before school starts, so this way, when you enter school it won’t be so hard to keep these positive thoughts settled.☆ set up goals before or on the first day of classes when you receive your syllabus: once you have a clear set up of what you’re aiming for, you’re more likely to keep that goal instead of rolling with it, also teachers teach differently so when you have a syllabus be mindful of it and atleast try to figure out how they work or think as a person.☆ try and ask for help: always try, even if it feels like you can’t do it, keep trying. your teachers are fully aware if you’re trying or not, don’t be afraid to ask for help (push away the prideful feeling of doing it yourself, you’re going to end up pushing yourself into more stress, trust me)☆ study: please please study, go to your local library and take some time out of your day to study, dont study on your bed or in a place you feel too comfortable in. if you’re a procrastinator like me, try to force yourself tbh, its all about self-discipline!! know that the grade does not own you, you own the grade.

👒👜👡☆ skin-care: okay everyone’s skin is different and there will be a ton of trial and errors until you’ve found the perfect products for you and to get the results you want. 1. if you have sensitive skin like me, don’t pick up toners, serums, moisturizers in one setting and use them all at once, this can cause irritation and/or break outs. start off with a cleanser, serum, and moisturizer first and then add more into your skin-care routine if you choose to do so. 2. if you have acne, sleep with aloe vera on your face or egg white, sea salt is also really good for acne but dilute with water and wash it off. tea tree is also pree good (again if you have sensitive skin, get yourself some tea tree oil moisturizer (my favorite product is Keeva, works really well)). Stay away from cinnamon, lemon, anything that you know will be harsh on your skin. 3. as you know, put on sunscreen the sun may be beautiful but he sure isn’t too nice on delicate skin. 4. eat lots of vitamin c (oranges, potatoes, kiwi, etc) or use products with vitamin c, this helps you make more collagen on your skin which helps skin renewal. 5. wash your sheets/pillow covers once a week, dead skin and oils sit there after sleeping so clean sheets = clean skin. 6. clean ya make-up brushes. 7. dont forget yOuR WaTEr!!!☆ hair-care: 1. try to not put your hair in a bun so much if its dry, previously dyed, etc, your not letting your hair cuticles breathe 2. when you condition your hair comb it through and let your hair feel detangled and work through everything 3. use sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners, just sayin, also use hydrating masks in your free time ykyk 4. some ways to lighten up your hair without bleaching can be through lemon, water, and honey, apple cider vinegar with water, or going out to soak in the sun with chamomile tea in your hair (brew the tea, let it cool, and add)! 5. you can speed up hair growth process by braiding your hair, aloe vera masks, massaging your scalp, letting your natural oils soak in your scalp for more time (might be gross and greasy but it helps), or talking nicely to your hair (im serious). 6. putting your hair up in a towel or scrubbing your hair with it can create frizz so refrain from doing that, also sleeping with your hair wet.☆ foods: EAT HEALTHY I KNOW JUNK FOOD IS GOOD AND STUFF BUT EAT AS HEALTHY AS YOU CAN. the only reason you may not find healthy foods good is because your body is not used to it, introduce your body to vegetables and fruits, a healthy body = a higher percentage to a healthy mind-set

💕📱☆ crushes: honestly crushes are so fun to have but its all fun and games until they get a s/o (LOL), but if you like someone, don’t set yourself up for the rejection you already given yourself. tell them, don’t limit yourself from the possibilities that can happen from it, you can grow from it or you can achieve something nice from it. from my experience, love never really works out if you ask for it, work for it and let opportunities fall into your hand instead of forcing it. also, gorlies, thoydies, goydies, stay away from much much older men, women, and theymen, they aint it.☆ friendships: they say that once you graduate the friends you have wont be your friends anymore and it can happen. some may check up on you and all but it can happen. if your friends have shown signs of abuse towards you, unfriend them. if you have a gut instinct about a friend, follow it. its okay to feel like an outcast, its okay if having too many friends is too much. keep the people who make you feel happy and help you grow.☆ social media: give yourself a break from electronics and social media, like…i cant explain how much better you could feel if you do.☆ relationships: if your s/o is abusive in any way, leave them. if you feel sad/depressed with them, leave them. you’re not here to fix them, they’re and you’re here to fix yourselves. if they don’t treat you with respect, offer you a comfortable environment, and encourage you to be a better person then be prepared for a tough time. thats it, thats all i gotta say.

AH OK I HOPE THIS HELPS A BIT!!!! GOOD LUCK FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

[shadows-taller]

bucky, 41, getting together story💘

this took way too long and I have no excuse. also it’s super long and I got carried away. whoops. usually I don’t like using the whole y/n thing but I feel it was unavoidable here. anyway. I hope you enjoy!

“I know it’s 2am but can we meet up”

The absolute best thing about getting a text from a wrong number is the sheer fun you can have fucking with the person who texted you. For example, Wanda got a wrong number one time detailing how her child was a disruption to this woman’s daughter and how she was no longer invited to this family’s barbecue. For a solid four days she pretended to be this kid’s mother, and it only ended when the soccer mom threatened to call the cops. To date, that’s your best wrong number story, and to be fair, it isn’t even yours. 

You haven’t had much luck as far as messing with strangers, your first and only attempt being the incident at the Apple Store in Times Square when you were drunk. Needless to say, you haven’t gone back to the area in a long time.

Ever since moving to New York, you’ve learned that the people are friendly when you get to know them and treat them like people rather than tourist attractions. You might even call yourself one, on occasion - god knows your whole family back home thinks you’re some sort of socialite now that you’re in the big city.

Most of the time, you’re just lucky if you go out to lunch with Wanda or Val once a week. That and the debate club you frequent once a month, held at a bookstore a few blocks down from your street. The only interaction you have with men is in class and the guy who works at the bookstore on weekends. He’s seen you at your worst, from the morning to get a book for class and in the evening when you just finished a part of a series and need to find out what happens next. And dressed in pajamas in both situations. No way will you strike up conversation with him anytime soon, that’s way too embarrassing.

All this to say, school doesn’t make for much wiggle room in your schedule. And your social skills have become a bit lacking thanks to this fact

Luckily, today, a Saturday, has left you enough time not only to get ahead on your studies, but also to get lunch with Wanda, go to the library and the small museum in your neighborhood (because you’ve always wanted to but, again, time is a cruel mistress), and be back home with enough daylight left to make a decent meal for yourself.

Of course, some fucker has to text you in the middle of the night with some bullshit like;

Unknown: i know its 2am but can we meet up

You hear the buzz on your nightstand, wake up enough to reach over and turn your phone on, and type out a response as well as your still mostly-asleep brain can.

You: who’s this?

Prepared to fall back asleep, your head has barely hit the pillow when your phone buzzes again. And then a second time, to add insult to injury.

Unknown: james, from ur anthro class?

Unknown: ur my partner for the project

Groaning, you sit up and prop a pillow behind you. Reaching for your glasses, you prepare to let the guy down, too tired to mess with him. But just as you’re typing out a sorry, wrong #, he messages you for a third time in a row.

Unknown: u know, with Banner? The man who cant answer questions for shit

Now that makes you wake up a bit. Not only because Dr. Bruce Banner is, in your opinion, one of the best anthropology professors at your college, but because he’s helped you pursue your degree in that exact subject area. Dr. Banner’s been a huge impact on your academic success, and this guy is just flat-out wrong about him.

You: first of all, why the fuck are you messaging me (or anyone) at 2am

You: second, wrong number. but banner’s a genius and you’re wrong.

Now you’re fully awake and ready for a debate. It’s why you joined a debate club - sometimes, the need to argue should be directed in more fulfilling avenues. But it’s 2 AM, for chrissakes.

Unknown: i didnt say he wasnt a genius. he just cant answer questions.

You sigh.

You: what sort of questions could you possibly have that he couldn’t answer

Unknown: why do you care anyway

You: it’s kind of my major, smartass

Unknown: shit alright its about this project on like African masks

You: there’s lots of those can you narrow it down

Unknown: i dont know how to! thats my problem

You: did he give you parameters for the assignment?

At this point, you decide to add this guy as a contact, even if out of pity for his apparent lack of skill in the field of anthropology. Maybe this could become a thing, you help him in anthro, he helps you in… whatever he studies? That’s a good question, actually.

Wrong # James: yeah he told us to write on african masks

Wrong # James: like write abt them not like ON on them

You: ok. Well what did you talk about in class?

Wrong # James: masks? from different regions

You: so like what masks from different regions looked like?

Wrong # James: ya

You: did you have a favorite?

Wrong # James: not really?

You: well maybe you should do some research on that and find a region that has masks/symbols that interest you

You: and also get your partner’s number lmao

Wrong # James: ur more helpful than he was tho

You: tough shit u still need to talk to him

You: what major are you anyway

Wrong # James: biomechanical engineering

Wrong # James: so like the opposite of anthro

You: true

Wrong # James: sorry abt waking you up btw

You: it’s no big deal lol

Except that it kind of was. You look at the clock, and it reads nearly 2:30.

Wrong # James: still its kinda late

Wrong # James: I feel bad now

Wrong # James: (…)

Wrong # James: do u wanna meet up sometime? when its not 2am? I need so much anthro help

The smile on your face is wide, because you were just about to suggest the same thing. You take a second to think about your response, but another message comes through before you can send something.

Wrong # James: nvm thats weird pretend i didnt suggest it

You: no! I was actually going to ask you the same thing. god knows I could use some calc help

Wrong # James: calc is so much easier than anthro shut up

You: math is the work of the devil

You: so you free tomorrow?

Wrong # James: ya is 4 good?

You: sure! Campus library?

Wrong # James: yea

You: wait I don’t know what you look like

Wrong # James: tall, brown hair?

You: that’s half the school population

Wrong # James: I’ll be in a stark industries shirt with a leather jacket and a dark green backpack, in the little area behind the sci-fi stuff

You: good that actually does narrow it down

Wrong # James: Wait I don’t know ur name wtf

You: it’s y/n

Wrong # James: see u tomorrow then, y/n

–

It’s 3:00 and you have an hour ‘til you meet up with James, so you’ve decided to stop by the little grocery store near your place to get some snacks. You don’t know what he’ll like, so you get some water and a few different types of candy, as well as some fresh fruit. On your way to the library, you stop by the bookstore to get another copy of one of your favorite books for anthropology - Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. You figure James might appreciate a more compelling, interesting read in the midst of textbooks and scholarly articles.

You come to the register and put the book on the counter, eyes cast down like usual. The guy at the counter, somehow always working when you’re there, takes it and rings you up. As you hand him your member card, you glance up to see oddly familiar white lettering. And a leather jacket. And a secondary glance tells you that his name-tag reads James (Bucky). You feel yourself pale as you look up at his face.

“Holy shit.”

He just looks at you, confused.

“Is there something wrong?”

For the first time since your first visit to the store, you look him straight in his pretty blue eyes. You get a sudden burst of confidence, and your shocked expression melts into a nonchalant shrug, smirk dancing at the edge of your lips.

“No, just this random asshole texted me at 2am asking to meet up.”

//send me a prompt

[zecretsanta]

To: @therealhousewivesofhyrule

From: @silvershoelaces

Happy holidays! 

Phi didn’t have much before she volunteered to be frozen, but now she had even less.  Her foster parents, already elderly when she participated in the simulated Mars mission forty-five years ago, were long gone.  And she’d sold all her stuff on eBay when she quit college in anticipation of participating in the Decision Game.  The only things she had left were what remained of her bank account, the clothes she was wearing, and the brooch she had had since she was a baby.  She didn’t even have knowledge about the outside world, now that it had changed so much, so the street smarts she’d prided herself on for twenty years?  May as well have been Star Trek trivia for all the good they’d do her.  As much as she valued her independence, it looked like she had no choice but to take Old Man Sigma up on his offer to take her in, at least until she found out whether her bank, which had been all but destroyed during the Radical Six chaos, would be able to recover the funds in her account.  Besides, the test results were coming in today.

Phi began to pace back and forth where she was waiting in Warehouse A, uncharacteristically anxious.  Everything that had taken place since she had been dragged into this insane series of events at the beginning of the AB Game had already changed her life completely.  But this news, knowing if she had a real, blood family, could change it just as much.  And the call was supposed to come in any minute now….

“Phido, how ya been?” chuckled an obnoxious, grating voice.  “It’s been furever, hasn’t it?”

Lagomorph.  Knowing that Sigma and Akane, two people she hadn’t known before, but now cared about and trusted, had conspired to make the thing, did not fill her with any love for it.  It was still as obnoxious as ever.  Phi spun around to see the main screen lit up with the face of that…creature.

“What do you want?”

“You’ve got a call from Master Kurashiki.  I have a hutch you’ll want to take it.”

Admittedly, she did.  In fact, that’s what she had been waiting for.  Akane was on Earth, or what was left of it anyway, and so Akane was the one who was receiving the results of her genetic test.  If she had any family—any whatsoever—she intended to contact them and see if they could help her get back on her feet, make ends meet, learn about her real parents, or whatever.  That is, if they cared.

“Yeah, put her through, Zer—I mean, Lagomorph.”  It wasn’t surprising that she had messed up the bunny’s name, since it had been nearly a year in her consciousness since she had first heard it, and less than a day in real time.  And she’d been used to calling it Zero, too.

Lagomorph chuckled with some sort of psychotic glee and disappeared as Akane’s face showed up on the screen.  In front of her was a large box with a return address claiming to be from the International Genetic Database.

“Good day, Phi,” Akane said with a gentle smile.  “I hope you are doing well.”

“Yeah, yeah, Akane.  No need to be so polite with me,” Phi retorted, knowing full well that Akane was equally polite when they were the same age, and that telling her not to be polite did nothing.  She was just like that.  “You got the results, right?”  Of course, she knew the answer to her question was already on-screen.

“Yes, I did.  Would you like me to open them for you, or do you prefer privacy?”

“Whatever, I’m sure you don’t know any of the people I might be related to anyway,” Phi scoffed. “If there even is anybody left, I don’t care if you see it.  Hell, if you do know them, maybe you can send ‘em my way.”

“If that is what you wish, I will open it for you now,” Akane said, pulling a letter opener out of somewhere off-camera.  It had a rabbit on the handle.  How much did this woman like rabbits?  What a weirdo.  Akane, obviously oblivious to Phi’s thoughts, used the letter opener to slice the tape on the outside of the box.

Inside there was a heavily padded envelope, with a memory card taped to it.  The memory card was the same type of card used in the facility, which honestly was surprising to Phi.  For whatever reason, she had assumed that all of the technology in Rhizome Nine was specially made for the AB Project.  Clearly that assumption was wrong.

Akane leaned over the camera, completely obscuring it as she fiddled with whatever device was in front of her.  Presumably, she was inserting the memory card into her computer, but Phi couldn’t tell.  When Akane finally sat down, she didn’t look Phi in the eye, instead focusing intently on the information onscreen.

“So how’s it looking?” Phi asked eventually.

Akane let out an audible gasp.  Good timing.

“I knew it,” Phi laughed darkly.  “I have no living relatives at all, do I?”  It was just her luck.  No known living relatives in the days before genetic testing could prove that assumption wrong, no living relatives now.  She was destined to be alone.

“It says here…your closest living relative is…no, that can’t be true.  His younger sister…is this what he meant?  April nineteen…”

“What?!”

“The test results say that your closest living relative is…Dr. Klim.”

What the hell?

No, seriously.  The old woman must have been more senile than Phi thought.

“What.  The.  Hell.”  Phi was ready to hear that she would never find anybody.  But this?  This was beyond her expectations.  This was insanity.

“There aren’t too many remaining members of the Klim family, but Sigma is, in fact, your closest genetic match.  You share 50% of your DNA with him.”

“What.  The.  Hell.”

“It will likely be easier for you to believe me if I provide you with the documentation, so you may look through it yourself.  There is more of interest in there, and I expect you will wish to take the time to peruse the files on your own.  I’ll mail them to you, and send the physical items to the printer in the Director’s Office.”

Phi turned on her heels and ran toward the Director’s Office, completely abandoning the conversation without so much as a goodbye.  If the old woman was messing with her, she’d get hers.  If she was telling the truth, well…Phi was sure she’d accept an apology later.

And in minutes, there it was on the computer screen in front of her.  A detailed analysis of all her chromosomes, possibilities of various genetic disorders, her likelihood of immunity to Radical Six, and a list of partial matches in the system for her DNA.  Akane was right, too.  Sigma’s DNA was a 50% match for her own.  But something else caught her eye….

“Phi, what are you doing?” asked a voice behind her.  She spun around on her swivel chair.  The spitting image of Sigma’s younger self, dressed with the robot suit covering  all but his head, was standing before her.

“Hey, Kyle.  Glad to see you.  While you’re here, help me with this.”  Phi gestured with two fingers, beckoning him closer, and he obliged.

“What do you need?”

“I got my results back from the IGD today.  Looking for any family I might possibly have.  But does this seem right to you?”  She pointed toward Sigma’s name on the screen.

“Oh my, that does seem rather peculiar,” Kyle said.  “If this is true, then this means that—”

“Sigma is my father,” Phi said, as Kyle continued, “Father is your brother.”

“How did you come to that conclusion, Phi?  From what you two have told me, you were originally the same age.  Your mind is considerably younger than his at the moment, but chronologically, you are only two years younger than he is.  So doesn’t it stand to reason that—”

“Yeah, but check this out.  Right here, on the other side of the page.”  Phi gestured at another name on the screen, a name that was also a 50% match.  Diana.

“Do you know this Diana person?”

“Yeah.  I do.  But look.”  Phi pointed to the screen again.  The word deceased was written below the name, in bolded red font, but Phi was more interested in the line in between.  “She and I also share 50% of our DNA.“

“Perhaps she is your long-lost sister, then,” Kyle said, his voice louder and slightly higher in pitch.  He sounded excited.  Phi had never seen Kyle get so emotional before.  There went her theory that his mind was secretly more robotic than one of the GAULEMs.  “And if you and Father share half your DNA, and this woman also shares that much DNA with you, then Father—”

“—isn’t related to her at all.”

It was strange to watch Kyle’s reaction to the information.  He had clearly been excited before, but although it showed in his voice, his facial expression had barely changed.  And now, although she could tell he was dejected through the rest of his body language, his face was similarly blank in expression.  He really did grow up inside the robot suit, huh?  Its face was more expressive than his real one.

“But if Father and this woman are not related, then that means…”

“It means I have to be the missing link between them.  Hence, their child.”

Kyle looked at her blankly.  Phi could tell that this particular blank stare, unlike his previous gaze, was deliberate.

“It’s not that unrealistic.  A few months ago, when we were trapped in the Mars mission test site—actually, that was forty-five years ago, wasn’t it?  Not the point.  Anyway—at the testing site, there was a machine.  Akane told me about it.  It’s the machine she and Junpei used to survive, the one she took Clover and Alice to a few days ago.  It’s a device that allows people to travel between timelines without SHIFTing.  It’s not inconceivable to send someone back, say, twenty or thirty years.”

“But even if we are to believe that such a thing is true, that means—”

“That you’re my younger brother, you dork.”

—————————————————

“—And that’s when I smacked him and told him that his story about a cat cursing him with puns of all things made no sense.”

“Ahahahaha!  I always wondered if there was a story was behind his puns, but that story is an absolute farce!”

Kyle and Phi had been sitting on the floor and talking for an hour now, and Kyle was relieved to see that Phi’s tough persona had faded somewhat.  Despite his determination to be kind and polite to everyone, he had honestly been quite intimidated by her demeanor.  He had never lived in an environment with sarcasm, and consequently had had trouble interpreting the intention of Phi’s frequent snarking.  But as she opened up to him, he found himself increasingly able to cope.

“Tell me, Phi.  What was Diana like?  She was the woman Father loved, wasn’t she?”

“She was beautiful and kind.  Kind of a softie if I’m being honest.  She was the one who probably wanted to avoid conflict the most.  And I was drawn to her when we were living together, because she was warm, and caring, and she made me feel like I wasn’t alone in the world anymore.  And that’s why it hurt so much when she betrayed us.”

Unexpectedly, tears started to slide down Phi’s cheeks, and her voice cracked on the word “betrayed”.

“I don’t understand,” Kyle said hesitantly, staring at the tears.  “If she was so kind, why would she—”

“I don’t know!”  Phi exclaimed.  “I don’t know what would possess her to throw the future of the world away and drag me out of that shelter when she knew my living would mean the spread of Radical Six.  And I can’t even ask her because she’s de—”

“It’s because she loved you very much,” Sigma said.

Kyle and Phi looked up.  Kyle’s father—no, their father—was standing in the doorway, a nostalgic look in his eyes.  He stepped into the room.

“Of course, she loved everyone she spent time with at the Mars mission test site, but our team in particular was very dear to her.  She kept telling me about it while we were working together here on the moon.”

“Telling you about herself and Phi, you mean?”

“Yes, and all the other members of the Decision Game too.  After we lived together, she said, she felt like we were a family.  All nine of us.  And I couldn’t fathom just what had gone on in there—I had just finished the AB games when I was whisked away to the past again, when my arms and eye were freshly…removed…and here was this woman who knew me, who knew Phi, and kept talking about this Carlos and Mira and Junpei, and I had no idea who any of these people were or why she knew them.  The stories were overwhelming at first.  But it did seem as if she and Phi had some sort of important connection.  And when I met them again, decades later, Diana and Phi did seem to grow very close, very quickly.  Is this about Diana?”

“Yeah, I think she’s my mom,” Phi said flatly.  Considering the circumstances, Kyle would have expected her to put more emphasis on the information, but with Phi being Phi, that expectation was…overly ambitious.  Of course, his father’s response was more emotional.

“Excuse me?!”

“Calm down, old man.  The test results are right here.”  Phi got up and sauntered over to the computer to log in again, and Sigma briskly walked across the room to try to slow her down.  Between his age and her determination, not to mention the fact that Kyle was still sitting on the floor between them, he was no match for her.  She sat down and started typing.  Sigma stepped around Kyle.

“Can you at least explain what you’re talking about?” Sigma sighed.  “Or is that too much to ask?”

“No, dad,” Phi groaned.  “I know you too well.  You won’t believe me until I show you the files.”

“Don’t dismiss me that readil—‘dad?”

Kyle couldn’t help but let out a snicker as he stood up.  “Yes, dad, you need to look at the files.”

Sigma released an exasperated groan.  “Kyle, what sort of nonsense has Phi put into your head?  You don’t have to go along with whatever she says.”  The thought of Phi conspiring with him for the sole purpose of bothering his father was even funnier to Kyle than her blatantly having addressed him as “dad”, and he laughed harder.  Phi, to his surprise, started laughing with him.

“I’m not kitten about this,” Phi smirked, invoking the cat pun for absolutely no reason at all.  “If you think I’m lion, then you should check this out.”  Phi pointed at the screen again, at Diana’s entry in the “deceased” dataset.  Sure enough, the entry read that roughly 50% of her DNA was a match for Phi’s.

“Now, unless you two are distant cousins, the fact that I also share this DNA with you”—she traced her finger across the screen toward Sigma’s entry—"means that somehow, you two got it on and I was the result.  Kind of like an antimatter bomb, really.”

Kyle didn’t understand what she was referring to with regards to the antimatter bomb, but it was true that Phi had a rather explosive personality.  And shockingly, Sigma was not reacting to Phi’s teasing with anger.  Perhaps Kyle could do the same?

“This situation, it turns out, is purrfect for Phi.  She no longer has to go back to Earth and claw her way into success.  Is it not pawsible for her to stay here, with us?”

The icy glare Kyle received from Phi indicated that he had perhaps gone too far in his puns, but Sigma began to laugh.  “Is that how you two see me?  As an old man who won’t stop making dad jokes?  Maybe you two are sort of similar after all.”  He shook his head.  “It’s not impossible, but I don’t think so.  If you two want to prank me, try to convince me of something more outrageous.”

Sigma turned around and began to exit the room.

“But if you really mean it,” he said, waving his hand over his head in a dismissive goodbye without turning around, “forward that mail to my box and I’ll take a look.  Have fun.”

Sigma left.

“Well, that was fun,” Phi said as soon as he was out of earshot.  “And if it turns out this is real, I think I’m going to have a hell of a good time teasing him.

“So you aren’t sure, Phi?” Kyle asked.

“Well, it seems pretty reasonable.  Better than anything else I can come up with, anyway.  And as much as I don’t think I’m anything like that dork, having a dorky dad is better than not having one at all.”

Kyle attempted to smile, but his face must not have been doing what he intended for it to do, because Phi recoiled slightly at his expression.  He stopped trying.  “I am glad to finally have a sibling if nothing else.  Living every day of my life surrounded by GAULEMs and no living creatures was not torturous, but it was also far from the pleasant family life I envisioned as a child.”

“I can’t guarantee I’ll be a good older sister,” Phi said, “but I can be sure to tease you now and then.”

“I can ask for no greater pleasure,” Kyle replied. “I knew we had a connection.”

[gardenpeony71-blog]

Ask Sam Mailbag: 01.18.19

After watching the Lakers game and reviewing box score from the loss to the Nuggets I see a team with no go-to guy and no special playmaker who can score and get others shots and make them better, no defense, no shooting. Where do we go from here with this team?

Craig Chandler

Sam: Hey, what about how difficult it is to do one of these Ask Sam columns on a nine-game losing streak? Anyone thinking about me! So, how about looking at it this way: There's no great way to consider what's been going on with the Bulls lately other than to reassure you that,

The sun'll come out Tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar That tomorrow There'll be sun Just thinkin' about Tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs And the sorrow 'Til there's none When I'm stuck a with day That's gray, And lonely Carrying a nine-game losing streak and feeling eek! I just stick out my chin And Grin, And Say, Oh My The sun'll come out Tomorrow So ya gotta hang on 'Til tomorrow Come what may Tomorrow, tomorrow maybe they'll win tomorrow You're always A day Away

Quvenzhané Wallis with an assist from Sam Smith

I do not profess to be a NBA coach evaluator but it seems to me this team is not playing up to its potential. There certainly appears to be enough talent on this team to accidently win a game once in a while. The players seem upset about this especially after the Denver loss. I think it is not too early to judge Coach Boylen. From afar it seems this team is not responding to his coaching. My question is while I am a full fan of Paxson, I wonder why not name Boylen interim as most teams do instead of giving him a two year contract?

Dwayne Corry

Sam: I need to straighten at least that out. Jim Boylen did not get an extension. He was on an assistant coaching contract through the 2019-20 season matched with Fred Hoiberg, which is standard. When an assistant is promoted to head coach whether called interim or not it is routine for the assistant to be given a slight bump in salary—same as Larry Drew in Cleveland—for the additional duties and responsibilities. Boylen got that as soon as he acceded to the job as does every coach in that situation. He was already under contract through the end of next season and still is with the appropriate addition for being asked to do more as would be with any of us in most any job. I don't disagree with the absence of an interim title because your statement to the players should be we are serious and this isn't a substitute teacher, so put away your spit balls and whoopee cushions (what? they don't do that anymore?).

OK, it doesn't look like it sometimes, but a Western Conference trip in the midst of trades, injuries and reworking a playing system in the middle of the season isn't exactly a stable time. The Bulls say after every season everyone is evaluated and I assume that will be the situation again. But Boylen also has not had a training camp or a chance to hire his own staff or much consultation about personnel. Tough to judge.

I know you don't pay too much attention to college hoops, what are your thoughts about Zion? I know a guy who knows a guy that says he may not be worth a long term investment due to his style of play and weight... his knees may not hold up. I personally think he may be a tweener... he may be too short for a power forward and he may be slow/ heavy for small forward. Great athlete and great college player, but I don't see him being close to a superstar in the NBA. if we end up with him, where does he play? Can he play small forward? We already have 2 guys at power forward in Markannen and Carter.

Joe Dobrzynski

Sam: If he's as good as many suggest, then he plays wherever he wants. True, I don't watch much college ball—lately the NBA ball I have been watching has been bad enough—but I have ventured to a Duke game on occasion and see some flaws, like shooting, though I have yet to give him a physical. A lot of top picks don't work out. It happens. No matter what the NBA GMs say now, everyone wanted Greg Oden and not Kevin Durant. The kid looks like he could be a star, and, especially for the Bulls that's what they lack. I like Markkanen and LaVine a lot, and believe if you get them a star to attract some attention instead of all of it going to them they will be much better. Maybe the Duke kid does fade out. Who knows. Remember Brandon Roy who went from Rookie of the Year surprise to high school coach? But the draft is about taking a chance on a star. There are no guarantees. He looks to be the biggest star in this draft. I'd have no hesitation. And imagine if I were actually watching.

Can your remember NBA players from former generations who seemed way too athletic and powerful for their body to handle the rigorous of the league longterm? D-Rose comes to mind, Zion scares me, Larry Johnson? Jordan and Lebron do not really qualify to me, they are exceptional athletes as well, but their bodies did not seem as freakish as Zion's and Rose's jump, stop and acceleration ability was off the charts.

Sven Ruppert

Sam: Injuries are bad luck; Zion would be good luck.

Pundits everywhere, including those attached to the Bulls, are all salivating over Zion Williamson - and the Bulls are fast amassing a record that could make ZW a possibility in the next draft. My question is - in terms of fitting in with the Bulls - is Zion more of a short 4 on a team that seems all "4ed-up", or more of an oversized 3 who will have trouble guarding smaller, quicker players at that position? (a Jabari Parker with less range?). I know he's a talent, but who sits when he takes the floor and is he a Boylen-kind-of-guy?

Dennis Novak

Sam: I can see where the fan interest is going. As I suggested, I'm fairly confident he's Boylen's type of guy. It's not that difficult to fall in love with someone special.

What a great job the Nets have done so far this year. After arguably the worst NBA trade ever in 2014 it appeared the Nets would take a decade to recover. They traded away their draft picks for 2014, 2016 and 2018. In addition Boston got to swap picks with them in 2017. Success didn't seem possible until they could finally get their draft picks from 2019 going forward. The playoffs, maybe in 2024. Halfway through the season and they are 23-23 after winning an amazing game against the Rockets. The GM, coach and team are to be congratulated. The are an incredibly resilient bunch of unrecognizable and discarded players. Treveon Graham, Joe Harris, Rodeons Kurucs, Jarret Allen and D'Angelo Russell were their starting lineup against the Rockets. Against the Rockets they were down by 14 with a few minutes to go in regulation and tied it. In overtime, they were down by 6 with about a minute to go and won it. They help define resilience. This team finally has their own 1st round pick this year and chose winning to tanking. They have skipped the tank to build a winning culture. Kudos to a really great team. Can you make your magic now happen for the Bulls?

Bruce Roberts

Sam: Well, it has been my philosophy in avoiding the indignity and fraud of losing on purpose because losing makes you a loser. I fear it is occurring with the Bulls to some extent, though I am facing some ambivalence considering the two months lost to injuries and the coaching change and the hole so deep that perhaps it might be best for the rest of this season to not try so hard. Though I wince when I even think about it. The losing model guarantees you nothing, and I agree, good for the Nets for putting a very nice team together. But their problem with some good trades—and I still count the Jimmy Butler one good for the Bulls—is that they have yet to have that transcendent star and are last in the league in attendance. Maybe in free agency this summer? Winning is a curious thing. It only seems understandable when you examine the successful teams. But that is the best team I've enjoyed from Brooklyn since the '56 Dodgers.

After reading your take on Jabari Parker being back in the rotation after their loss to the Lakers, it made me think back to when you've said you're not a fan of his demeanor towards the media. Too terse, always on the defensive, etc with Zach Lavine being basically the polar opposite. That said, It made me wonder who have been some of your favorite players to speak to over the years?

Nicholas Hill

Sam: First regarding Jabari; his attitude and demeanor were awful when he came to the Bulls. Why, I never could figure. All everyone said was he was different, but not evil. Actually, since the benching, which wasn't a great idea, and in the return he's been much better. The point wasn't so much he wasn't cooperative. There were plenty of guys to talk to who are terrific people; but it was the way he was answering simple questions with defiant, one word answers. It's mire an insult to people at their jobs, failing to give respect to someone's job. Jabari never once was asked back then an unfair or even probing question. Anyway, he's been fine lately, if not detailed. All just about everyone in media really asks for is simple decency.

The truth is there are so, so many really good people in the NBA, kids who came from difficult backgrounds who are grateful for the opportunity, friendly, savvy and eager to help. Some of my favorites over the years for being open, outgoing, helpful and friendly were Elton Brand, Larry Bird, Steve Kerr, Magic Johnson, Phil Jackson, Joe Dumars, Kyle Korver, Jerry West, Jordan (pre-championships), Isiah Thomas, Johnny Kerr, Joe Caldwell, Chet Walker, Horace Grant, Charles Barkley, Mack Calvin, Wayne Embry, Brent Barry, Grant Hill, Bill Cartwright, Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose and too many more I'll regret leaving out.

I really don't have an opinion on Boylan yet as a coach, but I have read "experts" opinions on the internet which feel the Bulls young talent is not developing since he took over (They were all hurt under Hoiberg so nothing to really compare). Do you feel there is acceptable growth in the Bulls players as individuals and as a group under the watch?

Jason Doll

Sam: I know from being a parent we shouldn't monitor growth by the week or month. I know it's different in sports, and there have been some setbacks the last month or so. But let's be real, as it were. It's a month with a new coach, players off injuries having lost their preseason and yadda, yadda. I know no one likes hearing it and a losing streak headed to the bottom of the league and a succession of blowout losses is depressing. We saw plenty of good things from LaVine pretty much until the coaching change and plenty from Markkanen, who came back strong against the Nuggets. The glimpse showed you he has a lot of stuff. Carter is that tough guy the Bulls always talk about. The Bulls talk about growth, too, but I assume they mean over a season and not a losing streak. We should know a lot more by summer when the Bulls make Williamson player/coach/primary stockholder and the new team logo.

The Wolves (while not amazing) have twice as many wins as the Bulls while playing in the Western conference. Meanwhile, the Bulls are actually worse this year. If the future success of the Bulls (drafting Zion) has nothing to do with the assets/players acquired in the Butler trade doesn't that mean GarPax lost that transaction?

Matthew Ruth

Sam: Curious way of looking at that. Though I am going to Williamson's Hall of Fame enshrinement in September. I think the Bulls would make that deal again, and I'm fairly sure the Timberwolves would not, and certainly not Thibodeau, which probably would mean he still was working there. I'm still on board for LaVine, Markkanen and Dunn for Covington and Saric.

I'm interested to see what happens the rest of this season. Apparently, Boylen will be gradually introducing more pace. Let's see how Dunn plays as that happens.I think he's a very solid player and that he can play faster than we've seen. But can he see the court well & drop dimes on the run? Can he take more 3's and still make a good % of them? It's hard to assess his fit into an offense they aren't really running yet. Hopefully, we'll know enough after 39 more games to make a sound decision. For that matter, if we draft a point guard it can still be a competition for the starting job. Dunn would be an awfully strong player to have coming off the bench. The great teams have player like that – who might start elsewhere – on their benches. Why not us? But from the Nuggets game there's no doubt in my mind now that the tank is on. Boylen's comments are a dead give-away. Yes, it's "a season of discovery"… yet another one. Anyway, I'm giving the game ball to RoLo – 17 & 6 in 19 min. on 8-10 shooting plus some nice intangibles. Everybody else mostly stunk.

Art Alenik

Sam: When the season started the No. 1 question on most lists was Kris Dunn, and I think it still is. The Denver game was disappointing—yes, in many respects—the way Dunn made a point after the Lakers game of apologizing, which I didn't think was necessary as bad games happen, but then didn't do much again. End of bad trip, altitude, a team making 20 threes. It may have looked worse than it was. Dunn has had some very effective games, and his numbers are respectable at 12.5 and 6.5 coming off missing two months. But I'm still having difficulty figuring out what he exactly is in this era of high scoring, hot shooting point guards.

I don't think sixth man is a horrible thing, though many NBA players, like Parker, have disagreed. It seems like a nice way to make a living. Having a guy like Dunn coming in as a combo guard may be the stuff of an excellent team. I don't think the Bulls have fully made up their minds on Dunn and it's hard to get a read from Dunn about how he'd deal with such a competition and situation because he is so guarded. Hey, he's a guard in case you missed that one. I get it. He's only played a bit more than a month, so it's not so much the tank as many of the the questions don't have answer yet.

Who is Zach Lavine as a ball player or are you still waiting to see? He is having a good statistical year and the team is not winning. I see a talented offensive player with an innate ability to score and on the defensive end someone who will not be a difference maker. Will he be more than a great scorer? Is it fair to start the Jamal Crawford comparisons and if that's the career he has, is it good enough for the Bulls to continue to keep him on their rebuilding roster? If he continues to put up just under 24, 4, and 4, will there be serious suitors on the trade market? Is he the person the Bulls should be building a team around or will his need to have the ball on the offensive end, hinder the progression of young players?

Tim Koncel

Sam: I don't think it's either you're Michael Jordan or James Harden or you're Shaun Livingston. I like Zach as a player a lot. Many don't like him as much as I do. I don't worry about the defensive component as much since James Harden seems to have done OK without it. Yes, Harden is a build around, and maybe Zach isn't quite that player, but he makes tough shots, takes tough shots, can get to the basket and is a good shooter and great athlete. Who are the Bulls to say that's not good enough for them? Enough with these Shaquille Harrisons and David Nwabas who compete like crazy. That's not the NBA. Maybe it's the NBA bench, but they're in every draft. In the second round. Zach has a chance to be a star, and those are the players the Bulls need to be accumulating. Zach has flaws, but this is his first full season back after his ACL and has never started more than 47 games in an NBA season at 23 years old. I think the Bulls these days are pushing him toward too much two-point play, and he's a willing player trying to do what is asked. My guess is he's not so sure it's what's best. But he's trying to be a good teammate and professional. The Bulls could do a lot worse. And have. More often than not, someone else's spouse or date isn't exactly who they seem from your vantage.

Its not so much the recent turmoil that has made me anxious about the rebuild it's just that even on a "good" night (not getting blown out at Utah on 2nd if back to back), the way the bulls are losing - take 9 more shots shoot a decent percentage but make 9 fewer 3s - is troubling given both the analytics or really, math (you can score more counting by 3s) and trends in the nba. In other words - isn't the urgent need drafting or signing guys who either can hit the 3 or have potential to be good 3 point shooters. I suppose if valentine can come back he would fit that description.

Guy Danilowitz

Sam: I'm fairly sure that's obvious to them as well. Yes, they could use some Valentine, and Holiday made threes (in streaks). I'd look at it as a larger issue if this were the final version of the team. I've mentioned the need for a wing player who can make plays off the dribble and shoot, a backup big man, preferably a defensive seven footer to tag team with Wendell Carter Jr., perhaps a point guard and, certainly, shooting. I'm not sure how the team sees it, but I can see Carter, Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine as core players going forward. There may be others, but they're still on audition regarding play or salary. There's another high draft pick coming and a big money free agent or two this summer. Probably not one of the top two, but I believe a good player and maybe two. I don't see Markkanen or LaVine yet as that No. 1 option to build around, so they have to show as well, and they still are very young. Can you get a No. 1 in the draft? Maybe. If not in free agency, what about an ensemble and a lead like Dirk Nowitzki, who was good enough to be the best player on a title team and several close. Markkanen could be that good. If this were Year 4 I'd be more worried. There are a lot of moves still to make.

The Bulls now reportedly refuse to buy out lopez if he cant be dealt knowing he is going to the Warriors. Will garpax throw away a couple million over this fight and not buy him out since he obviously has zero trade value? Or is he the head of the "leadership council" so someone we need to play out his contract? Maybe we can do lopez a favor a favor, give him his entire salary in a buyout so we can get another extended run of felicio playing 20-30 minutes a night....need to see how his development is coming along again....or just burn that money too with asiks and jabaris and cam paynes and play carter jr 48 minutes a night?

Jake Henry

Sam: OK, you’re frustrated and needed to lash out and vent. I’ll wait a bit. OK, ready? Carter was almost out for six weeks, it seemed the other day, so what was the hurry to offload Lopez? And then he was. The Bulls late Friday said Carter actually could miss two to three months after further reevaluations of his injury by hand specialists when the team returned to Chicago. And so now perhaps surgery. Another bad break in a broken season. But more than that this is a larger issue for the NBA that it won’t face; it’s another rich get richer, and the Bulls aren’t rich now. What some top teams apparently are doing—I can’t say I know for sure the Warriors are among them—is telling agents to get their players released or bought out for a small amount and they’ll bring them in on a minimum to give them some money back and then they can add playoff money and maybe be on a title team and their team gets nothing because these teams won’t trade because they are waiting for the buyouts.

So a team like the Bulls trying to get something for a player like Lopez or Jabari Parker gets shut out and the team like maybe the Warriors or Celtics or Raptors or Rockets gets to pick up a player without giving up anything. The NBA has said it wants to level the playing field for all teams and open up trade opportunities, but this buyout period inhibits trades and discriminates most against losing teams like the Bulls trying to add a player or draft pick. The NBA should eliminate the buyout fraud period because it helps just the few top teams, and the Bulls are right to say they won’t grant a buyout because it is being used against them by the top teams to help hold them down. It baffles me why anyone would be mad at the Bulls other than maybe Lopez’ family. And since when are fans upset because the Bulls won’t be able to make more money? Talk about entering Bizarro world.

With your comments on how sloppy Gobert was and with what should be a realization that, against the better 7 foot centers, Wendell Carter may always be overmatched, I have to respond to a comment you made a couple of weeks ago regarding a player who is truly a top 3 center in the league, Nikola Jokic.

After watching him destroy Portland with a 40/10/8 performance, I think that you need to make an effort to actually watch a few Nuggets games so you can make a more informed assessment. In doing so, he totally outplayed the guy who should be the Bulls starting center, Jusuf Nurkic, who is averaging 15.2/10.2/1.36Blks in just 27 minutes per game. Jokic 19.7/10.2/7.6 with a career .356 3PT% is far more valuable to his team than any other center including Embiid. His 21 career triple doubles in 270 games places him second all time behind Wilt's 78 which, if he stays healthy until he is 30, he will eclipse.

Peggy Flynn

Sam: So why would the Bulls want Nurkic if Markkanen actually played as well as Jokic Thursday? And as one correspondent from above mentioned, it was game ball for Lopez playing against Jokic. Jokic is terrific. Yes, I did see the Nuggets play. And, unfortunately, up close Thursday. They're pretty good; if they think they are contenders, Golden State straightened that out earlier in the week. But they've built a very good team; good for them. Yes, I know, the snarky Nurkic thing is the Bulls deal to move up in the draft to take Doug McDermott. The Nuggets took Nurkic, whom they traded for Plumlee, and Gary Harris. They obviously did better, but it's only fair to judge at the time. And I know not a single Bulls fan ever wrote me asking that the Bulls please draft Nurkic. And moving up in the draft from outside the lottery to inside the lottery is always viewed as a coup and was that night. What's so great about Nos. 16 and 19? Like to have those picks again this season instead of a lottery pick? The Bulls were at least aggressive in search of talent. It didn't work out. It happens in the draft a lot. But it made sense. I still can't figure out why Doug can't make more shots.

Anyway, as for Jokic, he's really good. I agreed that. All I believed, and I still do, is he's not an MVP candidate and maybe a top 20 NBA player. Which is very good. The Bulls would like to have a top 20 player. But he's still not even been in one playoff game in his career and has been playing pro ball five or six years. It takes actually being on the winning team in one playoff game before I make someone a top 10 player and MVP candidate. He's having a terrific season. I'd still like a look at his games this spring. Get back to me then. I can be persuaded.

While I used to enjoy the three-point shot I've come to dislike them over the past five years or so as the league as gone so heavily towards them. I don't so much mind that the big man has been de-emphasized, though I wasn't rooting for that either. The NBA has always been my favorite sport/league to watch as it has the best athletes in the world, and because they're not wearing helmets or padding, you can really see that athleticism displayed every game. All the three-point shooting has reduced the number of times per game that players are attacking the hoop and thus displaying their otherworldly natural talents. Of course they still do so some, but now it seems the top goal is to draw contact and a foul and actually attempting to make the shot is just a bonus. Much like baseball has become too much about home run, strikeout or walk, basketball is too much three point shot or free throws. I may be a bit hyperbolic but the emphasis on efficiency in sports - which I understand makes sense in terms of impacting winning - is making them less aesthetically pleasing and thus less fun to watch.

Steph Curry is great and fun to watch, but in terms of his natural athletic and physical talents, where do you think he'd have stacked up in the NBA of the 80s and 90s?

Cameron Watkins

Sam: I feel like the sergeant driving the car in the MASH movie who was always grumbling, "Damn Army" about the behavior of the crazy doctors. Damn Analytics! Again! But relax, not nearly as bad as baseball. I always say great players would be great in any generation and it goes backward as well. Curry wouldn't have the freedom to roam like he does, and some coach would bench him for shooting way out there. Back then they made you throw it inside or sit down no matter how many you made in practice. But Curry is much more clever with the drive than just his shooting. He would be a player like Cleveland's Mark Price, who was a small man and great shooter and one of the best pick and roll guards I ever saw. At least before Steve Nash. Price was a great shooter and multiple all-NBA player and would have been many more if not for injuries. But playing with a seven footer in an era of great centers, his major responsibility was to make his center look better than him. That would have been the difference for Curry, who would have been an All-Star, and better than his dad, who could shoot about as well, but couldn't dribble.

What is Boylen doing with these rotations? We leaves the starters in deep each game, evidenced by the game against the Nuggets when Lavine, Dunn, and Markkanen were all on the court with 6:30 left in the 4th down 35. Also, in the beginning of the 3rd, (which is when most teams go on their run) Boylen usually keeps the starters in for the first 8 minutes with no subs, allowing the Bulls to get blown out. The lineup of Dunn, Lavine, Hutch, Markkanen, and Carter is -29 in terms of point differential. This is not something that should be happening with the talent. It's time to stop allowing the starters to continue to make mistakes and let the rest of the bench contribute, as they have recently outplayed the opponent's bench

Adam Richard

Sam: Venting, also? I've gotten plenty today. I'm not sure you want to see Selden, Harrison, Felicio and Blakeney against Denver's starters. I'm not getting as much mail asking for them to play more as much as you you may think.

Source: https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/ask-sam-mailbag-011819

[jessefandomunited]

Euphoria, Take My Hand - Glasvegas//Life of the Party - Shawn Mendes//Co-Pilot - Letters To Cleo//Be Careful What You Wish For - Wayfarers

Sorry for the stall, i’ve been at work and I like answering these on the computer rather than my ipod >.

Euphoria, Take My Hand - Glasvegas: For this song, it’s an interesting sound, it’s kind of like…smooth rock i’ll call it XD. It’s not super intense and its not super slow. The words are interesting as well, my take away is that he just doesn’t want to feel heartbreak anymore and he just wants to be happy, to which i say, Good luck with that mate heartbreak is apart of life. Sorry i’m a little off topic. I think this would go good with “Louder Than Bombs” honestly I didn’t like the movie but i feel like with all the heartbreak in this movie, it relates pretty well with it. I mean the whole family is in deep depression and i feel like they all wish that they could just move on , and be happy again, but the past keeps pulling them under again and again. Goodness…..i’m sad now….LETS GET TO A HAPPY SONG PLEASE XD.

Life of the Party - Shawn Mendes: This song is really sweet, i love it, thought i did honestly expected it to be a faster pace song with the name “Life of the Party” but i guess i was just thinking of the Jonas brothers “Live to Party “ XD. But ya it’s a sweet love song about how the guy is admiring her kind of spontaneous attitude and telling her to reach her dreams. Honestly i think this could fit really nicely with either “The Education of Charlie banks” or “The Double”. For Charlie Banks, I think it fits because Charlie is scared that he snitched on the tough guy on the block, which is basically a death sentence, and also just being in college and trying to find your place, is a big theme in this song and movie. For “The Double” I feel like Simon is trying so hard to find himself, but he really doesn’t know who he is, and he wants to kind of put himself out there, but is scared to, Which i think fits the song as well.

Co-Pilot - Letters To Cleo: Okay, I love this song, it Is soooo friggin adorable and im like awwwwww. So sweet, annnyway. The basis of this song is just saying that they don’t care what anyone else says because they’re so infatuated with their significant other that they don’t need anyone elses approval, and saying that they can kind of just face the world with them and be okay. And honestly i’m going to have to go with the most #relationship goals pairing of them all, i think you guys know who i’m talking about, American Ultra. If they ever made a 2nd one of this movie I could so see this as an opening to the movie. Just them shooting all these bad guys together, i think it be really cute ^w^.

Be Careful What You Wish For - Wayfarers: I think this is probably my favorite song of all, the beat is rockin and the whole song is about showing how sometimes fame and money isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and sometimes it can lead down a bad road. At least that’s what I got out of it. Anyways, I can 100% see this in “Now You See Me” any of the movies really, both business tycoons were very full of themselves and prideful before The Horsemen knocked them down a few pegs. I think this would be really good for the opening of the third movie , kind of just showing all the people that the horsemen had “defeated” so to speak then showing business men looking around nervously, maybe a headline or two of the horsemen’s endeavors, ect, Idk i think that be really cool.

Well this has been a blast, and “Be careful what you wish for, is now going on my dance party playlist on spotify XD. Thankyou for all these , it was really fun

[vents-rants-and-thoughts]

3pm 30/08/20

Further Education and Future plans (spoiler I don't have any yet)

It's been about a year since I've stopped studying and I'm not going to be studying this academic year either and its been a bit stressful. I didn't go to university because Im still not sure what I want to do and I'm so scared of wasting time and money studying something I'll not actually get into.

I've talked about this in therapy before I left education and my therapist told me that it was completely normal not knowing what I want to do and that I just need to find my niche.

Since I was in school I found it hard to enjoy things which is so frustrating, when I was around 14 I started to hate art which ya know what you only have one hobby and only one thing you're good at its kinda shit when you start hating it (que nervous laughter). More recently I've been trying to get more into it again like I said before I think I've lacked the motivation to do it.

So trying to find something I want to do, like reeeaally want to do, find something I'd enjoy has been tough. Studying put me under a lot of stress. I did enjoy the course I was taking after I left secondary school, I spent 3 years doing a fashion and production course.

As much as I love making things sewing and designing one of my favourite classes from the course was the bussiness class. We learnt about the different jobs in the fashion industry and we made business plans talked a lot about fashion retail and starting bussiness and I really liked it.

For someone who's more reserved and shy and with my anxiety I find it surprising how Idk how to say it like I think I have leadership qualities and that I have a good mindset for management i would like to develop those skills more but its not something I think I can do.

Mostly because of self doubt and anxiety thinking I'm not good enough or smart enough but also a big reason why I don't think I'd be able to go into doing business courses and such is because of being dyslexic. My dyslexia isn't super bad but I didn't get a lot of support for it while I was in school and it's been quite a struggle, long essays and exams are really really difficult I feel a little more difficult than most. It's kind of made me pussy out of those studies.

I don't talk about it and I don't think I've ever told anyone how much I enjoyed bussiness studies, I don't talk about it because I don't want to have to explain why Im habong doubts about it because it feels like one of those situations where saying its because of my anxiety or because of my dyslexia makes it sounds like I'm making excuses which I'm sure a lot of people going through similar things will feel the same.

This is just something that's been on my mind a lot, being 20 a lot of people keep asking me what my plans are what's the dream job what am I studying which is I think is a little unfair to put that pressure on young people, it's good to think about what you might what to do in the future but it's not okay to put unnecessary pressure on 16-18 year olds to make them think they HAVE to know what they want to do for the rest of there lives. It's not fun having panicking and crying for hours over something that doesn't need to be figured out rn.

Anyway if you're in school college university or studying in anyway I wish you the best of luck and hope youre enjoying your classes, if not and you're just like me I hope you're enjoying however you're spending your time :)

[marcusssanderson]

Michelle Obama Quotes To Inspire More Love and Humanity

Looking for inspirational Michelle Obama Quotes? Here ya go!

Michelle Obama is an American lawyer, university administrator, and writer who’s also the wife of former U.S. President Barack Obama.  She was the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, becoming the first African-American to serve the role.

During her tenure as First Lady, Obama played a key role in advocating for poverty awareness, education, health, and women empowerment.  As an educated, intelligent, and independent-minded woman, she served as a role model for women and is also considered a fashion icon.

Born in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, Obama is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Following her graduation from law school, she worked as an associate in the Chicago branch of the firm Sidley Austin, where she met Barack Obama. She married Barack in 1992 and the couple has two daughters.

Michelle played a major role in her husband’s presidential bid, scaling down her own professional work to attend to campaign obligations.

In 2018, Michelle published “Becoming”, her autobiographical memoir where she writes about how experiences from her childhood in Chicago helped guide her life path. The inspirational book quickly became one of the hottest titles of the decade.

A successful lawyer who juggled the roles of being a wife, mother and a professional, Obama has clearly tapped into her Everyday Power. In that respect, here are some powerful inspirational Michelle Obama quotes.

Watch first lady Michelle Obama’s final White House speech

Michelle Obama quotes from her speeches and interviews about life, success, love, and education

1.) “Being president doesn’t change who you are – it reveals who you are.” – Michelle Obama

2.) “How hard you work matters more than how much you make.” – Michelle Obama

3.) “Success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square.” – Michelle Obama

4.) “We need to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation. We have lost our way. And it begins with inspiration. It begins with leadership.” – Michelle Obama

5.) “You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.”  – Michelle Obama

6.) “My most important title is still “mom-in-chief.” My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world.”  – Michelle Obama

7.) “Together, we can help make sure that every family that walks into a restaurant can make an easy, healthy choice.” – Michelle Obama

8.) “I hate diversity workshops. “Real change comes from having enough comfort to be really honest and say something very uncomfortable.”  – Michelle Obama

9.) “I think that people are tired. They’re tired of the same old kind of politics. People want a new tone to politics.” – Michelle Obama

10.) “I am so tired of fear. And I don’t want my girls to live in a country, in a world, based on fear.” – Michelle Obama

More Michelle Obama quotes about life, America and our future

11.) “You see, our glorious diversity—our diversity of faiths, and colors and creeds―that is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are.” – Michelle Obama

12.) “If you are a person of faith, know that religious diversity is a great American tradition, too. In fact, that’s why people first came to this country: to worship freely. And whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh―these religions are teaching our young people about justice, and compassion, and honesty. So I want our young people to continue to learn and practice those values with pride.” – Michelle Obama

13.) “Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down, and trust your instincts. Good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don’t hurt. They’re not painful. That’s not just with somebody you want to marry, but it’s with the friends you choose. It’s with the people you surround yourself with.”  – Michelle Obama

14.) “We should always have three friends in our lives. One who walks ahead who we look up to and follow; one who walks beside us, who is with us every step of our journey; and then, one who we reach back for and bring along after we’ve cleared the way.”  – Michelle Obama

15.) “My father’s life is a testament to that basic American promise that no matter who you are or how you started out, if you work hard you can build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids.” – Michelle Obama

16.) “To the young people here, and the young people out there: do not ever let anyone ever make you feel like you don’t matter, or like you don’t have a place in our American story—because you do. And you have a right to be exactly who you are. But I also want to be very clear: this right isn’t just handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every single day. You cannot take your freedoms for granted.” – Michelle Obama

17.) “When you are struggling, and you start thinking about giving up, I want you to remember something that my husband and I have talked about since we first started this journey nearly a decade ago—something that has carried us through every moment in this White House and every moment of our lives—and that is the power of hope. The belief that something better is always possible if you’re willing to work for it and fight for it.” – Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama quotes about the American dream

18.) “It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division, of anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country. Our hope that if we work hard enough and believe in ourselves, then we can be whatever we dream, regardless of the limitations that others may place on us.” – Michelle Obama

19.) “It’s the hopes of folks like my dad, who got up every day, do his job at the city water plant; the hope that one day his kids would go to college and have opportunities he never dreamed of. That’s the kind of hope that every single one of us—politicians, parents, preachers, all of us—need to be providing for our young people. Because that is what moves this country forward every single day: our hope for the future and the hard work that hope inspires. So that’s my final message to young people as First Lady. It is simple.” – Michelle Obama

20.) “I want our young people to know that they matter. That they belong. So don’t be afraid. Do you hear me? Young people, don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourselves with a good education. Then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope, never fear, and know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.” – Michelle Obama

21.) “For all the young people in this room and those who are watching, know that this country belongs to you—to all of you, from every background and walk of life. If you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are part of a proud American tradition—the infusion of new cultures, talents and ideas, generation after generation, that has made us the greatest country on earth.” – Michelle Obama

22.) “I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as “us” and “them” – he doesn’t care whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above…he knows that we all love our country…and he’s always ready to listen to good ideas…he’s always looking for the very best in everyone he meets.” – Michelle Obama

23.) “Make no mistake about it, whether it’s health care, the economy, education or foreign policy, the choice we make in this election will determine nothing less than who we are as a country — but more importantly, who we want to be. Will we be a country that tells folks who have done everything right but are still struggling to get by, “tough luck, you’re on your own”? Is that who we are?… Or will we honor that fundamental American belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper and if one of us is hurting then we’re all hurting? Who are we? That’s what this election is about.” – Michelle Obama

24.) “Barack and I were both raised by families who didn’t have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable ��� their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves.” – Michelle Obama

25.) “We’re here because we believe that everyone in this country should do their fair share, plain and simple. Which means that teachers and firefighters shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires. Not in America. We believe that if you work hard, you shouldn’t go bankrupt because someone gets sick. You shouldn’t lose your home because someone loses a job. Not in America. And after a lifetime of hard work, you should be able to retire with some dignity and some security. That’s what we believe.” – Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama quotes about success

26.) “We have this window of opportunity; we have a chance to make something real happen. Something possible happen, to live beyond our fear — think about that, and help us. Help lift us up, help us fight this fight to change — transform — this country in a fundamental way…. This chance won’t come around again.” – Michelle Obama

27.) “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” – Michelle Obama

28.) “One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.”  – Michelle Obama

29.) “The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation.”  – Michelle Obama

30.) “If your family doesn’t have much money, I want you to remember that in this country, plenty of folks, including me and my husband. We started out with very little. But with a lot of hard work and a good education, anything is possible—even becoming President. That’s what the American Dream is all about.” – Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama quotes about education

31.) “Changing the big picture takes time.. and the best things to do is focus on the things that we can make in our lives if we’re doing all that. That becomes the collage of real change”  – Michelle Obama

32.) “It’s easier to hold onto your own stereotypes and misconceptions, it makes you feel justified in your own ignorance. That’s America. So the challenge for us is, are we ready for change?”  – Michelle Obama

33.) “Studying in countries like China isn’t only about your prospects in the global marketplace. It’s not just about whether you can compete with your peers in other countries to make America stronger. It’s also about whether you can come together and work together with them to make our world stronger. It’s about the friendships you make, the bonds of trust you establish and the image of America that you project to the rest of the world.”  – Michelle Obama

34.) “The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.”  – Michelle Obama

35.) “Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.”  – Michelle Obama

36.) “Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say you’re going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.”  – Michelle Obama

37.) “I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend. And I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.” – Michelle Obama

38.) “Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady.” – Michelle Obama

39.) “Being your First Lady has been the greatest honor of my life, and I hope I’ve made you proud.” – Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama quotes from her memoir, Becoming

40.) “My job, I realized, was to be myself, to speak as myself. And so I did.”– Michelle Obama

41.) “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”– Michelle Obama

42.) “If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.”– Michelle Obama

43.) “This may be the fundamental problem with caring a lot about what others think: It can put you on the established path.”– Michelle Obama

44.) “Am I good enough? Yes I am.”– Michelle Obama

45.) “We needed now to be resolute, to keep our feet pointed in the direction of progress.”– Michelle Obama

46.) “Everyone on Earth, they’d tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.”– Michelle Obama

47.) “Time, as far as my father was concerned, was a gift you gave to other people.”– Michelle Obama

48.) “The easiest way to disregard a woman’s voice is to package her as a scold.” ― Michelle Obama

49.) “Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result” ― Michelle Obama

50.) “No one, I realized, was going to look out for me unless I pushed for it.” ― Michelle Obama

Which inspirational Michelle Obama quote was your favorite? What other Michelle Obama quotes would you add to the list?

Michelle Obama is a strong and intelligent woman. During her husband’s presidential bid, Michelle diligently campaigned on his behalf, traveling across the country, giving talks and making public appearances.

Besides, Obama offered her support for Hillary Clinton during the later’s 2016 presidential campaign. She made several high-profile speeches in favo

[joycey4]

in which Kira marries a giant.

One of the things you’re warned about when first moving to Denmark is how difficult is it to make friends with Danes. Part of the reason is due to the culture; they aren’t overtly open and outwardly friendly like North Americans. The second is because foreigners tend to move. Why attach yourself to someone who’ll eventually leave? In a stroke of luck, I did not face this difficulty.

Less than a month into our first semester, Doni was shopping at a Strøget boutique and got to chatting with one of the employees. Having spent a couple years abroad in the States during both high school and college, they understood the difference native friends could make and invited her over for dinner. Doni brought me. This is how I got to know Kira and Henri. The rest, as they say, is history.

Kira Soiree

Kira Soiree

Kira Soiree

Henri

  The Pilgrimage

Getting to CPH from Australia was a journey and a half (more on that in the next post). First the first time ever, I had a stopover in Dubai. Not long–2 hours–but long enough to scope things out I thought. How wrong I was. It didn’t take long for me to learn how large an airport it really is.

From my inbound flight I boarded a bus with a few other passengers destined for our terminal. From previous experience, I imagined this transfer taking 3 minutes tops. But no. The bus went for a solid 20 minutes at normal speed, with a 5-minute traffic stop in between. Google informed me that the airport spreads over 7,200 acres of land. I couldn’t imagine having to walk that.

  By the time I reached my gate, boarding was soon to commence. That meant not getting to washing a corpse that was beginning to rot. Instead, I pull my phone out of my bag to catch the photo for this here blog. As my arms raise, so does my bag, which I realize much too late is open. In the next second I watch in silent horror as the contents of my purse go tumbling down the escalator. There was a slight partition to my left so most of the 100+ passengers waiting there didn’t see it. But the handful of seated directly in front of the moving stairs did and those whose backs were against it heard.

As I began hoping over the steps to collect my stuff before it reaches the bottom, a looker in an impeccably-tailored suit sets his items down races over from his seat to help me. I suspect later on that I missed my house keys in the scramble. Never did see them again. He smiles and makes sure I’m good before returning to his abandoned items. I fluster and beeline it to a seat in the opposite direction.

Arrival

One thing I’ll say about living in Denmark was that it was nourishing for my self esteem. Not that it was ever really low, but it wasn’t topping the charts either. It was what it was and I was fine with it and myself. Plus I had far more important/interesting things to focus on. But living there was good for it. Hydrating, as oblivious as I frequently was much of the attention that came my way.  However, it did not escape my notice that I was only complimented on my hair was when it was curly or in a fro. CPH continued to give.

I landed just after 1pm and headed straight to the exit where my homegirl awaited me. We then headed 5 steps to the Starbucks where ya gurl was in need of a jet-lag preventing pick-me-up. I place my order and go stand next to my friend. Minutes later we hear one barista asking his colleague if the name written on the pomegranate green tea was “Jo-kuh”. The colleague points in our general direction and tells him it’s for “the beautiful girl right over there.” I start looking around to move out of the way of the girl whose beverage it is, when I realize he was referring to me. In all my busted non-glory. I collect my beverage and immediately check the name at the bottom. Y’all it said “Joyc”.  My knees almost give out. #Denmark

CPH

After a 4-year absence, it was nice to find Copenhagen the same. Everything was the familiar, except for the presence of Starbucks in the city. When I was there it was explicitly restricted to the airport and Ørestad shopping mall.

Photo ©: Visit Copenhagen

I stayed, as I do, at Henri’s Danish-decored flat in the central neighborhood of Christianhavn. From her bathroom you can catch a glimpse of the Vor Frelsers Kirke (The Church of Our Saviour) spire. During her visit (I can’t remember whether the first or second), mom insisted on climbing to the top because she likes to do dangerous and unnecessary things. Despite not wanting to, I of course then had to go to she’d be okay. Parents.

Note: The stairs aren’t blocked at the top. They just keep getting narrower and narrower. At a certain point you just sort of twist and crawl one at a time until you can only curl your arm around to touch the top and come back down. Like the stairs, the railing gets smaller too. It’s somewhat frightening.

The Big Day

The starting point for the festivities was Nyhavn. Not far but far enough from Henri’s place and warm enough outside that I was ready to hop in a cab or bike it. But my homegirl persuaded me to hoof it.  She set off in heels and I trailed behind praying to God I wouldn’t sweat out my outfit. We made it to the ship with 10 minutes to spare.

Photo © Arina Artemenko

From Nyhavn, the boat went south along the Københavns Havn past the Knippelsbro Bridge to the Langebro Bridge before turning back and venturing towards the sound (Øresund) and out to sea. Departure was punctual bridges will only be lifted for scheduled appointments. It you’re late, tough.

The occasion was intimate and sweet. K and hubby had planned the cruise so that we could enjoy the harbour sights and and then sunset out in open waters. I sat at a table with the brides closest pals who came in from abroad (R. from Goa and J. from Japan), a work colleague, and Migui (yes that Migui) and his then fiancé (now wife).

    Photo credit: Jackie, Sadly, I lost the photos that were on my phone when I updated.

The cake was made from scratch by Kira’s friend. It was one of the best I’ve ever had. Its maker also happens to be an olympic athlete. Madeleine is a curler of the Danish olympic team. See her in action below, but please ask Google to explain. I cannot.

The day after the wedding I ventured out of the city to Kira’s home in the suburbs for lunch with the family and international crew. It was a really nice time.

    Everything Else

On her day off, Henri and I hopped of a couple city bikes (when have been majorly upgraded from the tired bike people constantly chucked into the canals to so sweet electric ones) and rode about my old stomping grounds. On my own, I stopped by my Danish optometrists in search for a new pair of specs.

Vedi Optik (website & Facebook). These guys. Despite the 5 years that had passed since I purchased the spectacles I’m wearing in the photo above (and being there only 3 times before), I was entirely taken aback when they greeted me by name. They said they always remember their favourite customers, offered me espresso and spent the next hour with me picking out my current pair. #Denmark

Capping the happy trip was Joe, David and Nils. J&D are officially homeowners (as is Migui!). Nils of course was traveling and returned the day before I let. We paid to the watering hole he tends and he happily fixed me tea.

Note: Joe works for a Danish interior design & ceramics studio in Amager called Arhoj. Super cute stuff. Check it out!

Berlin

I managed to squeeze in a very short trip to south during the week. What was supposed to be 2 nights turned into 3 when my flight, the last one out, was cancelled altogether. AirBerlin (shortly before they went bankrupt) put me up in a hotel for the night, fed me and reimbursed my cab fares (I’d just given away my train pass). Sadly, KaDeWe (which was right around the corner from the hotel) was closed and I wasn’t able to pick up clothes.

Although short (too short), I had a good time hanging with Doni, visiting with the twins, hitting up my favourite Neukölln eateries + Leysieffer (at Stadmitte) with Ms Angie, and catching up with New Life pals and all of my Berlin moms (minus one). Summer in Berlin, though (actually it was only May). On the day I was to fly out I ended up taking 3 showers before I got to the airport, and another that night. Yuck.

Love them.

Next up: Musings

Destination Wedding #2: The Nielsen-Andersen Copenhagen Cruise in which Kira marries a giant. One of the things you're warned about when first moving to Denmark is how difficult is it to make friends with Danes.

[starwarslover422363]

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Bad NHL refs, P.K. Subban and ‘Super Teams' (Puck Daddy Countdown)

(In which Ryan Lambert takes a look at some of the biggest issues and stories in the NHL, and counts them down.)

7 – Officiating

We’ve known for a long, long time that the refereeing in the NHL leaves a lot to be desired. Part of that is the rulebook, which is weirdly vague in too many spots, but which simultaneously leaves way too much leeway for dumb stuff to happen.

Take for example, oh I don’t know, the goal Nashville didn’t score in Game 6. Look what happened on that play. Happens all the time. There’s a shot from a low angle, and it looks like Matt Murray has it. Referee Kevin Pollock straight-up stops skating, because it’s a judgment call and Murray’s a good goalie and all that. But because Pollock stopped skating, he didn’t see the puck trickle loose. It was awful positioning and a no-effort play from the ref.

But the league also has the ability to review plays of exactly this type — on the basis that a ref may have blown a whistle despite a “continuous play” — but didn’t use it. Why? My theory, unfounded by probably right, is that the league didn’t want to undermine one of its officials in so public a setting. That kind of thing happens with shocking regularity.

And you can’t say the refs didn’t know they blew it, because they gave the Preds four power plays — including a kinda-long 5-on-3 — to the Penguins’ zero. Didn’t help because the Nashville power play was horrible for most of the playoffs. It’s like that time several years ago the umpire blew an out call at first base in the ninth inning of a perfect game: The refs “kicked the [crap]” out of this one, and all the apologizing or make-up calls in the world don’t make up for the what-ifs that one dumb, wrong whistle.

Unfortunately there’s no real way to fix the issue. The “ref blows the play dead when he can’t see the puck” call is one where creating any wiggle room is tricky. Make it a two-whistle system? That’s weird. Would be tough to make work. Let play continue even after a goalie has it covered? That’s bad. Will get someone killed.

So the NHL’s official stance on this kind of has to be: “It sucks, but here we are.” Same as it ever was. Classic NHL.

6 – Copycats

One of the best things in the wake of any Stanley Cup Final that always makes me laugh is the 29 — soon-to-be-30 — other teams’ various media members asking something along the lines of, “How close is our team to doing this?”

The reason it’s so funny is you get a lot of deluded-ass people who clearly have no idea what teams actually need, even if they cover them every day. Take the Bruins as an example. I read something yesterday that they need a few defensemen, a good coach, a backup goalie, and Kris Versteeg, and they’re in the conversation. Like, come on. Tuukka Rask is gonna be 30 next year. Patrice Bergeron 32. David Krejci 31. Zdeno Chara 40. Look at their contracts. Look at their coach. Look at their GM. In what universe is this team a few minor roster tweaks away from being Cup-competitive?

The sad reality is that there are probably like four teams in the league that are truly elite, and maybe four or five more that can get deep in the playoffs if a few bounces go their way. That’s almost a third of the league, fair enough. Then another third or so is in decline (this includes the Bruins), a little less than that are in the middle of rebuilds. A few are mired in the basement for other reasons, mostly “dumb management.”

People can’t to evaluate their teams properly, or can’t objectively. I get that, it’s fine. But the number of teams that are “close” to replicating the Penguins can be counted on one hand. That’s the reality.

5 – Hiding Subban

Honestly the whole kerfuffle about PK Subban not talking before Game 6 is the dumbest thing in the world. Honestly, who cares? No one was going to ask him any sort of question that was going to illuminate literally anything we didn’t already know about Game 6 and the battle the Preds were facing and all that.

And it’s not like he begged out. Subban, to his credit, never saw an interview he didn’t want to give. It wasn’t a distraction. It didn’t matter. Who cares. Shut up.

4 – The Top 100 players

I love love love love love that even after winning his second straight Stanley Cup, Jim Rutherford was still like, “Can you [expletive]ing believe Evgeni Malkin isn’t one of the top 100 players in NHL history?”

The extent to which Malkin is undervalued is truly incredible. You hear occasionally that Sid Crosby is fourth all-time in era-adjusted points per game, but Malkin honestly isn’t that far behind and if we’re being honest he’s spent basically all of his career as a top-five player in the league. The fact that the Penguins have both of them at the same time is a tribute to how lucky the Pens got in their tanking days — not that they were necessarily trying to tank at the time — but also how good both Crosby and Malkin are and have been forever.

What a blessing to have one of them. Most GMs would push their own mothers in front of a bus to acquire either. But to have both? It’s impossible to underscore how truly lucky Pittsburgh is.

(We’ll get to more on this a little deeper down the list here.)

3 – The Predators

Speaking of which, the Predators have the makings of a team that’s going to be pretty damn good for years to come. The only guys currently on the roster who will be 30-plus next season are James Neal, Cody McLeod, Matt Irwin, and Pekka Rinne. Maybe they re-up Mike Fisher, too.

But other than that? This is a young team. And it’s damn good. It was sunk by poor goaltending, injuries, and bad luck in the Final. Maybe Juuse Saros is the starter next season. That’d be a smart play.

But the thing is, there also aren’t a lot of bad contracts on this team at all, and there’s a decent amount of cap space. Rinne’s is bad. Craig Smith makes too much money. Neal’s is a problem but not a huge one.

Obviously Ryan Johansen needs a big, expensive extension and he’s earned it. Same for Viktor Arvidsson. Pontus Aberg might get a nice chunk of change. Maybe David Poile needs to figure out a way to jettison Neal. But probably not.

Maybe they trade a defenseman for a little more offensive pop. (And it should be Josi if they do.)

But this is a smart club that’s well-positioned for success in a division in decline. Gotta like their chances to go deep next spring too.

2 – Expansion draft prep

The other cool this about this offseason, now that the Cup Final is over, is that word of various deals Vegas is making ahead of the expansion draft is leaking out.

We knew for a while what their deal with Chicago probably would be, but now Anaheim and maybe Ottawa have deals in place too (as of this writing). I love it. The speculation is fun.

I was telling someone the other day, I hope there are like 50 trades in the next week as everyone gets their ducks in a row.

This is chaos. It’s awesome. I wish there were an expansion draft every summer.

1 – Super teams

It occurred to me while watching the Warriors not-blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals for once that the Penguins are probably the closest thing we’re going to have to a super team in the NHL.

Crosby and Malkin are both among the top-five players in the world. Depending on your feelings on Phil Kessel, he’s probably in the top 30 to 50. If Kris Letang had been healthy, that’s another top-30 guy no problem. Matt Murray’s probably an upper-tier goalie as well, though the body of work is obviously tough to judge so far.

And just given the nature of the two sports, the ability of any NHL team to add even a few players to make the kind of impact Kevin Durant did for Golden State is difficult, especially given the salary cap differences between the NHL and NBA.

But I gotta tell ya: It would be pretty fun to see the Penguins somehow find a way to add, like, Connor McDavid, Brad Marchand, Vladimir Tarasenko, Erik Karlsson, Hampus Lindholm, PK Subban, and Carey Price. Just to see what would happen. What do you think? Like 150 points?

The NHL’s regular season is already irrelevant in a lot of ways, so why not just create like two or three super teams and let them have a clash-of-the-titans-type Final? Maybe just for one year. It would rule.

(Not ranked this week: Not going to Lowell.

Three guys who went to my college won a Stanley Cup on Sunday. Add in the fact that the school also produced a hockey genius like me, and I gotta tell ya: No one is better or smarter. Bless you, Ron Hainsey. Bless you, Scott Wilson. Bless you, Chad Ruhwedel.

If you didn’t go to UMass Lowell, well, I feel sorry for you. Your life must be so empty.)

— 

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All statistics via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)